Allegorical Commentary on Events of Today
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 Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her. -Ruth 1:14 (NKJV) When Orpah married her one son and Ruth married her other son everything to Naomi seemed to be going pretty good. Unexpectedly so since she had just lost her husband. Years before she and Elimelech had become refugees in a new land because of a devastating famine back home in Israel. But now her two sons were married. Life had regained some normalcy. About ten years later both of her sons passed away. By then bread was again plentiful in her home country. So Naomi decided to have a heartfelt talk with her two daughters'-in-law. She explained why she wanted to return home to Israel; then tried to convince them a more promising future lay ahead for them if they would choose to remain in their own country. Naomi explained she had no close family members obligated by Israeli custom to marry them, that they would most certainly find husbands for themselves if they remained in Moab. Interesting name, Moab. Some render its literal translation, "Who's your daddy?" Or, "What's your father?" The name begs questions such as, "What's your heritage?" "Wherein lies your national loyalty?" Figuratively, "Who's your daddy going to be?" was laid heavily upon both Orpah and Ruth. Both answered truthfully, honorably. Possibly both without later regret. Ruth, we know for sure. Immigrants before our country was founded encountered similar loyalty issues when discussing with family members their misgivings and hopeful prospects before boarding ships to sail here. The same "daddy" dilemma remains today. Whether boarding a plane or fording the Rio Grande these questions should be answered truthfully and honestly, "Will all of me make the trip? Or will my druthers remain in the past, in the old country?" Respectfully, lovingly, Orpah made her lifetime choice. Gave Naomi a kiss goodbye and returned to her village, her home in Moab. Her daddy, her future progeny would continue to be descendants of Lot: Abraham's nephew, a son of Abraham's brother, Haran. Unlike Orpah who honorably made her choice to remain in her own country; some immigrants today arrive here dishonorably, without any intention at all of accepting George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, or John Adams as their father(s). Americans during the Revolutionary War disparagingly labeled such part-time immigrants, even a few of their longtime neighbors: Tories. Even today some arrivals identify with La Raza, holding Mexican flags while standing around blazing American flags. Others cross over as global citizens, possessing in their minds a "right" to start voting here immediately, without even asking first. These individuals detest the Ellis Island model of assimilation, claiming they're doing us a big favor by multiplying our country's diversity. But Ruth said: Whereas Orpah walked away, Ruth clung to her mother-in-law. Would not let Naomi go without her. Begging can be honorable. Sometimes, deep down we have no choice but to entreat, desperately plea for a necessary to us outcome. "Don't talk me out of going with you," Ruth plead. Then her negotiation: "I'll go with, stay with, be one with, worship with, die with, and turn to dust with you. If not, may God judge me as harshly as He would the worst of sinners." We, like Ruth, have the right to negotiate, to beg if necessary, to be presumed armed and dangerous. Everyone around the world has the right. Rights are like that. They generally apply to everyone, regardless where an individual lives, including gun free states and countries that have disarmed their citizens. Meaning every individual everywhere has the God-given unalienable right to arm himself with sufficient force or negotiation prowess to help level or bring to his reasonable advantage any playing field disadvantages he might encounter. As part of the negotiation, Ruth made a momentous pledge to Naomi. Not knowing what her future held; that she would become a great grandmother to King David, a great great grandmother to King Solomon, and either the 34th or 43rd great grandmother of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. (Matthew and Luke seem not to have come to an agreement on the actual number.) Still, not knowing what her childrens' childrens' fortunes might bring, Ruth clung to Naomi. She had made a purchase, a purchase of a relationship, not just some sizzle. As part of the negotiation Ruth also determined Naomi would not face her senior citizen journey alone. Negotiations usually have such a result. Both parties benefit, come out winners; because each side has something to offer the other side. America is aging. Like Naomi, Americans not only have something to offer those who move to our shores; Americans also have needs. That's where Boaz comes in. As it turns out, a most grateful Boaz. For as it turns out, he was aging also. Upon arrival in her new home country, Ruth set about doing what she could to bring food home to their table. While in a field picking up stray grain left behind by some reapers, Boaz looked up and took notice of her, then asked around, "Whose woman is this?" Or maybe he asked, "Who's her daddy?" Hearing she had been married to one of his kinsmen, one thing led to another, to a delightful another. Until the day "she fell on her face, bowed down to the ground, and said to him, 'Why have I found favor in your eyes, that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?' And Boaz answered....'" It has been fully reported to me, all that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband, and how you have left your father and your mother and the land of your birth, and have come to a people whom you did not know before. -Ruth 2:11 (NKJV)
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"Do you know that the world evangelists are all dead? All except Dr. Billy Graham. D.L. Moody has gone; R.A. Torrey is no more; J Wilbur Chapman has passed; Billy Sunday has finished his work and now my very dear and personal friend, the world-famous Gypsy Smith, has also gone on and, sad to say, there are very few on the horizon capable of filling the shoes of those whose names are household words throughout the world." -The Passion for Souls, Oswald J. Smith, 1950 Evangelist Dr. Billy Graham, a good man, faithfully reminded us year in and year out, for decades, that most individuals experience a single Hour of Decision in their lifetimes. Some, more. Others never grasp at their personal opportunity to repent and believe the Gospel, to choose life over death for eternity. Graham's delivery and his life as a whole was not flashy. Nor was it boastful. His forever message: "We're all sinners. Our good deeds and best intentions will never be sufficient to our needs. And everyone 'within the sound of my voice' needs to rely on Jesus for his or her salvation."
To be clear, The Reverend Billy Graham did not always simply "state" such. Sometimes he preached such. Really preached it. Most of the time he spoke and counselled like any of us will when in a group or a one-on-one encounter. But occasionally he stood behind a pulpit to "preach the Gospel." That's likely how most of us will reflect back on his life. We will remember the arenas, the tens of thousands walking or driving in rich and poor countries alike to hear him, and the countless lost souls responding to the verses of Just As I Am, Without One Plea while drawing close to prayer and counseling in their appointed hour of decision.
Billy has his detractors. Including those that label his preaching foolishness. An unintended consequence of lobbing this silly volley at Billy is its similarity to honoring Trump supporters by calling them Deplorables. "Who would have thunk?" St. Paul rightfully, dutifully, enthusiastically called his own preaching foolishness.
Pridefully he did so. Not so much because preaching for him was in and of itself a fool's act. But because Paul had questioned within himself, "How loud will I have to scream, yell, rant, and rave to get this crowd's attention? How long will it take to impress upon these people the importance of this one hour? Their most important, pressing hour. Will it take two? Four? Six hours? It means little to me. I have all day and all night." It's much like the one big question every comedian asks himself at least once or twice over a lifetime, "Now that I've told the joke, must I also explain it?" That was Paul's and Billy's dilemma. How to explain the ridiculously obvious without sounding or looking silly. (Or the dilemma of how to spell dilemna.)
And the obvious was. The obvious message that required the hooplah of preaching was: "We're all sinners in need of God's grace, of a savior." But the obvious for many is not so obvious for many others. Incredulity steps in the way. Life experiences also. People influential in life: peers, seniors, parents, siblings step in. Consequentially, after life happened, for so many of us, "His light lit up our darkness and our darkness didn't go away." -John 1:5 (TTP)
Let's try, momentarily, to picture two very dark rooms. The light switches are both off. There are no windows for entrance of person or light. And the doors into each of the rooms are shut tight. One of the rooms is completely empty. The other room is full of tables, chairs, lamp stands, and inexplicable clutter. Let's note, with great certitude, when the light switches in both rooms are turned on; the empty room will be wholly filled with light, "not a smidgen" of darkness remaining. Contrarily the room full of furniture and clutter will be possessed of "shadows of darkness."
Such is the state of the world: replete with empty room and full room people. The glaring attribute of an "empty room" is his basic, rudimentary belief that God exists. Or even that god exists. In contrast a "full room" has lost his early intuition that everything around him was made, that he owes a maker reverence and gratitude.
From this world of men, not of this world, God crafted, then called Billy Graham to carry the Gospel to crowds full of mostly "full men." To them he proclaimed the Gospel in the most effective way "full men" are ready and willing to receive it. He preached it. And he preached it again....
 We have listened to the hype for decades. It's a serious matter to apply for a FISA warrant. We're assured abuse is rare. Former President Obama is quoted by The Guardian: "When it comes to telephone calls, nobody is listening to your telephone calls," ...the program is "fully overseen" by "the [FISA] court, a court specially put together to evaluate classified programs to make sure that the executive branch, or government generally, is not abusing them". -To The Guardian "What I can say unequivocally is that if you are a US person, the NSA cannot listen to your telephone calls … by law and by rule, and unless they … go to a court, and obtain a warrant, and seek probable cause, the same way it's always been, the same way when we were growing up and we were watching movies, you want to go set up a wiretap, you got to go to a judge, show probable cause." -To Charlie Rose  It's difficult for citizens of a nation to stick together when some of them are permitted to act as a law unto themselves while others know if they break the law they will be prosecuted to the full extent of that law. A rift between the treatment of lawless and lawful over time can only be expected to obtain increasingly greater animosities. Add to the rift non-citizens: dreamers, illegal border crossers, and those that overstay visas; the occasionally difficult will most certainly become perpetually complex.  So today the #SchumerShutDown is inevitable. What explains the transformation of our soundly established republic into a heartless, tyrannical democracy? Why do both houses of Congress answer to whiny, squeaky wheeled protesters instead of to voters that elected both houses of Congress and a president to build a wall? To end DACA? To curtail chain immigration and revive our once wholesome merit based immigration system? Why is Congress so noncommittal to rebuilding our military, strengthening our economy, reigning in profligate spending, and reducing the intrusive role of government in our private lives? The answer? Invariably? "We don't have sixty votes."
 And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Senate Majority Leader Reid, that all the nation should be taxed. And this taxing was first made a mandatory healthcare fee when Obama was president of America. -Luke 2:1 (TTPV) Those were cruel, dark days, especially considering where we once had been under President Reagan. Heralding, "It's morning in America." a glowing brightness spread across the land, Carter's malaise was forgotten while Reagan's economy flashed and boomed. Then the encroachment of an ever dimming evening sky as HW boasted of a distant "Thousand Points of Light." Clinton's night skies were mostly a downpour and overcast. A few stars occasionally broke through the fog of W. Then, too soon, after Obama's Apology Tour the lights went out. Completely. The heavens turned to brass, withholding their economic blessings. Four hundred long, painfully wasteful years passed us by.
 For the invisible things of him since the creation of the world are clearly seen, being perceived through the things that are made, even his everlasting power and divinity; that they may be without excuse: -Romans 1:20 (ASV) Injustices are not catastrophes. Not even longstanding injustices. Especially longstanding injustices. Because catastrophes by definition are unexpected, larger than life, generationally rare one time events. Catastrophes are not found hidden among trends, well established conditions, nor long held traditions. Catastrophes are specifically unique. Injustices are Status Quo. So. When faced with an injustice, call your congressman, not 1 (800) PRO-TEST.
 Alabama Senatorial candidate Judge Roy Moore certainly has his detractors. He was already unpopular among DC's swamp creatures for pushing back against two US Supreme Court decisions: the Ten Commandments monument controversy and his stand against legalization of same-sex marriage. In both instances he exercised his God-given unalienable first amendment right to express and act according to his religious beliefs. Both times as a result of his steadfast will to remain true to his beliefs, he was removed from office as Alabama's Supreme Court Chief Justice.
 ...the question is whether or not the campaign vacationed in Russia. That’s the premise of the entire scope of your questioning, and the point we’ve tried to make over and over again and will continue to make is that the campaign didn't. ...Sarah, I just have one more question. So on the issue of vacationing, are you saying there was no vacation when it comes to the overall arch of the campaign? But what about the individuals? What about individuals that could be suspected of vacationing? Are you vouching just for everyone in total or individuals or what? ...these charges have nothing to do with the campaign because I was there, there was no vacation, holiday or sabbatical in Russia. So, let’s see what Mueller does, but the dam is not breaking. Had the lawyer real stuff to deliver, Donald Jr. and the others would be in far deeper legal trouble. It turned out to be an incompetent vacation, an amateur vacation, comically failed vacation. That does not erase the fact that three top Trump campaign officials were ready to recreate. I want to talk about two things tonight, first of all I want to talk about the idea that Donald Trump, or members of the Trump family, or members of the Trump campaign vacationed with representatives of the Russian state to affect the outcome of the 2016 election. Ladies and gentlemen, this is a fairy tale, This is a steaming plate of bullshit. Why are President Trump and his spokespeople denying they took a vacation? There is no law against taking a vacation. As a matter of fact vacations are known to restore the soul, raise a sagging spirit, refresh a worn out expended body. Vacations are popular for bringing families together. Vacations take us away from the familiar and staid, transport us often to the destinations of dreams.  Obstruction of Justice or Entrapment? The latest Democratic Party effort, in light of recent disclosures the DNC and Hillary Clinton paid hard cash for Russian propagandists to alter the outcome of November's presidential election, is to turn President Trump's Russian collusion defense into an obstruction of justice coup. They point gleefully to Nixon's demise. He didn't do any wrong, but covered up for those who did. He obstructed justice. His only allowed options were impeachment or resignation. But what if knowledge of Nixon's sad turn of events gave rise to a Debbie Wasserman Schultz as head of the DNC/Hillary Clinton conspiracy to entrap Donald Trump? What if they designed their scheme with federal prosecutors in mind? What if they hired lawyers to distance themselves from the Russians they hoped would make up fatal, terminal defamatory "facts" about Trump's past and present? What if they didn't care what the baseless charges would be, just so long as most any "catastrophe too good to waste" was sure to drop in their laps, the Holy Grail: obstruction of justice leading to impeachment or resignation.
The Far Left, Alt-Right, Muslim Brotherhood, Iranian & Pakistani Wings of the Democratic Party10/8/2017 
Sometimes it’s a good idea to press a button when we want to know what we are up against. We troubleshoot lots of problems that way, including coffee makers and computers. Occasionally by trial and error, other times by established troubleshooting techniques we discover our premises, assumptions were all wrong. President Trump pressed the NFL owner button the other day, discovered the assumption “We’re all Americans” was disappointingly flawed, quite erroneous.
Maybe he knew deep down what the eruption of the Left would look like when he pressed the “SOB” button. Or perhaps he was just plain curious what would happen if he pressed another button, over there. We can only speculate if he knew how Speaker Ryan or Senate Minority Leader Schumer would react. What is becoming clear with the passage of time is a majority of regular NFL game consumers expect players and coaches to respect our flag, to stand in honor of the singing or playing of our national anthem. Football audiences by booing and tuning out revealed they object to the politicization of our flag and national anthem.
Now is the time for Americans to reclaim liberalism; that which progressives commandeered, confiscated, stole from middle America early in the twentieth century. The Left has so stomped on liberalism, trashed liberalism, rejected and scoffed at liberalism; we can only expect, like a ruthlessly abused pet, liberalism is ready to bolt, flee, escape its current twenty-first century fascist handlers. Wary of its adoption by the likes of Woodrow Wilson, Margaret Sanger, and Franklin Delano Roosevelt; liberalism during the early 1900s suffered severe cuffs, beatings, hunger, rough language, humiliation, and angry outbursts. Liberalism patiently through FDR’s and LBJ’s wars on poverty, through Obama’s war on the 1% is still waiting like Martin Luther King, Jr. waited for an opportunity to exclaim, “Free at last! Free at last! Thank God almighty, I’m free at last!”
“NAACP calls it quits. Admits their policies failed. Everyone that isn't Black is a racist now & they don't know how it happened.”
That’s how The Time Travel Pundit responded to a @NAACP Tweet on Twitter last night which read: “Pardon of Arpaio is explicit embrace of the racist policing practices that leave communities fearful of very ppl who should protect & serve.” 
Across the South and North lie buried the remains of soldiers who fought and died during the Civil War.
They are America’s own.  This Is What Democracy Looks Like: When Dems Abandon The Working Class Sharia is to Islam what Natural Law is to Nature’s God, what the Law is to Judaism, what Liberty is to Americans, what Critical Theory and weaponized Political Correctness is to The Left, and what the Gospel is to Christianity.
 Cleansing or rebirth? Which is the meaning, a proper understanding of baptism? Both. Though according to Joseph Campbell, writer of The Hero with a Thousand Faces rebirth is ascendant, rises to greater importance in an individual’s heroic quest to make a difference or to become all one can be. Campbell includes St John’s gospel account as evidence rebirth is greater, when Nicodemus furtively met with Jesus after nightfall. I am said, “You must be born again.”
 We can’t be sure what is going on in Washington, DC that is; because liberal firebrands like Senator Jeff Flake can appear on Bret Baier’s Special Report at Fox News masquerading as a conservative without push back, can write a book Red State takes seriously titled: Conscience of a Conservative, and can have a Red State article written about him titled: Senator Jeff Flake’s Commonsense Call To The GOP To Face Washington Dysfunction.
 Congress either budgets by keeping revenues and expenses equal or Congress swindles. Those are the two options available to Washington’s politicians. We can count on one hand the number of politicians of either party that consistently vote against spending bills violating the principle of authorizing only what a taxpayer can afford. Meaning Congress is 98.44% pure, a pack of swindlers: those who promise much more than they can deliver.
 The Power of The Purse is a budget, not a willpower of House members to act decisively and not a willingness to “shut down the government;” but a budget. Without a budget a purse is almost always empty, useless, and defenseless. With a budget, an honest to goodness budget that balances (what other kind of budget can there be?) a purse remains solvent, generally ready to supply the needs of most any circumstance, expected and unexpected.
 General Robert E Lee As Americans we own what we work for. It’s been that way from the beginning, confirmed July 4, 1776, when a working team of Americans declared the United States free from British rule. Over and over again without using the words own or ownership its signers attested to an individual’s, a local government’s, a state’s, and a nation’s right to govern and dispose of what they considered theirs without interference by outside agents.
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About The Pundit
This retired window washer now provides instruction on the benefits and perils of time travel through focusing an allegorical lens on the present. Archives
February 2018
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