Legacy

God "hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth" (cf. Acts 17:26). 

Imagine living in an 1860 world when slavery was a regrettable out of your control reality, how would you handle it?

A small crowd gathered one day in 1906 in front of the Lexington Presbyterian Church. They were watching as a piece of history was about to disappear. The memory of the church’s most famous deacon, Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson, still lingered in the minds and hearts of many Lexingtonians. ...

The Rockbridge Bible Society, of which both Jackson and Robert E. Lee were members (Lee once serving as its president), had met on the first Saturday of every month at 11 a.m. in the building being demolished. But the structure, which sat next to the main church sanctuary and consisted of one large room, was best remembered for being the location of Jackson’s Sunday school for slaves and free blacks. ...

This building had stood as a constant reminder that Jackson was an enigma: a poor, uneducated orphan from the mountains of western Virginia who would graduate from West Point; a shy, backward young man who would become a competent debater and professor at Virginia Military Institute; a staunch Calvinist Presbyterian who questioned the doctrine of predestination; and a fearless Confederate Joshua who would teach slaves and free blacks the way of salvation. (Richard G. Williams Jr., The Washington Times - Friday, May 5, 2006)

ROANOKE, Va., July 29 -- A memorial window of Gen. "Stonewall" Jackson was unveiled in the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church today. The congregation is composed of negroes. The window was erected by the pastor, the Rev. L. L. Downing, the money for its purchase coming wholly from negroes.

The Exercises were largely attended by both races, the Confederate camps of Roanoke and Salem and the chapters of the Daughters of the Confederacy. There were addresses by white citizens of Roanoke.

Downing's father and mother were members of a Sunday school class of negro slaves taught by Jackson at Lexington before the war, and to-day's exercises marked the realization of an ambition Downing has had since boyhood, to pay fitting tribute to the Confederate commander.

The picture presented on the window is that of an army camping on the banks of a stream, the inscription underneath being Jackson's last words: "Let us cross over the river and rest in the shade of the trees." (The New York Times, July 30, 1906)

As he gradually grew worse, and his physicians and friends became alarmed about his condition, he was calm, resigned, even joyous, at the prospect.

Noticing the sadness of his loving wife, he said to her, tenderly: " I know you would gladly give your life for me, but I am perfectly resigned. Do not be sad. I hope I may yet recover. Pray for me, but always remember in your prayers to use the petition, 'Thy will be done.'"

When he saw the number of surgeons who were called in, he said to his medical director, Dr. Hunter McGuire: "I see from the number of physicians that you consider my condition dangerous, but I thank God that, if it is His will, I am ready to go."

When his wife informed him that the doctors thought his recovery very doubtful, he was silent for a moment, and then said: "It will be infinite gain to be translated to heaven." When later, on that beautiful Sabbath day, he was informed that he could scarcely live till night, he engaged for a moment in intense thought, and then replied: "Very good, very good; it is all right."

Dr. McGuire thus concludes a deeply interesting paper on the wounding and death of Jackson: " He tried to comfort his almost heart-broken wife, and told her he had a good deal to say to her, but he was too weak. Colonel Pendleton came into the room about I o'clock, and he asked him: 'Who is preaching at headquarters to-day? 'When told that the whole army was praying for him, he replied: 'Thank God—they are very kind.' He said, 'It is the Lord's day; my wish is fulfilled. I have always desired to die on Sunday.'

"His mind now began to fail and wander, and he frequently talked as if in command upon the field, giving orders in his old way; then the scene shifted, and he was at the mess-table in conversation with members of his staff; now with his wife and child; now at prayers with his military family. Occasionally intervals of return of his mind would appear, and during one of them I offered him some brandy and water; but he declined it, saying: 'It will only delay my departure and do no good ; I want to preserve my mind, if possible, to the last.' About halfpast one he was told that he had but two hours to live, and he answered again feebly, but firmly: 'Very good; it is all right'

"A few moments before he died he cried out, in his delirium: 'Order A. P Hill to prepare for action! Pass the infantry to the front rapidly! Tell Major Hawks'—then stopped, leaving the sentence unfinished. Presently a smile of ineffable sweetness spread over his pale face, and he said quietly, and with an expression as if of relief, ' Let us cross over the river and rest under the shade of the trees;' and then, without pain, or the the least struggle, his spirit passed from earth to the God who gave it." (Rev J William Jones, D. D., Christ in the Camp, 1904)

"The time of my departure is come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give to me at that day; and not to me only, but also to all them that have loved his appearing" (cf. 2 Timothy 4:6-8).

Such is the legacy of the servant of God in all ages and in all dispensations.



¹By Unknown - Derivative (crop) of: File:Photograph of General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson - NARA - 526067.tif, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4949147

Thy Will be Done

Every day, another Confederate memorial living on "borrowed time." Yesterday, a conservative publication "reproved" another such episode attempting to accrue support for a national sanction of J.E.B. Stuart High School in Falls Church, Virginia. Unfortunately, those who continue that 157 year agenda to purge every semblance of faith, honor, and Truth from America are continuing to succeed. While most of the rest don't know or care to know who J.E.B. Stuart even was.

"Seeing a brigade preparing to charge on his left. Gen. STUART and his staff dashed down the line to form troops to repel the charge. About this time the Yankees came thundering down upon the General and his small escort. Twelve shots were fired at the General at short range, the Yankees evidently recognizing his well-known person. The General wheeled upon them with the natural bravery which has always characterized him, and discharged six shots at his assailants. The last of the shots fired at him struck the General in the left side of the stomach. He did not fall, knowing he would be captured if he did, and, nerving himself in his seat, wheeled his horse's head and rode for the protection of his lines."

West Point graduate Stuart first served under his friend and kindred spirit Stonewall Jackson in the Shenandoah Valley. Union Maj. Gen. John Sedgwick, said that the 31 year old Stuart was "the greatest cavalry officer ever foaled in America."

And in like fashion, was West Point graduate and Virginia Military Institute professor Stonewall Jackson, well studied in the tactics and the art of war, having visited fields of battle of the Napoleonic wars of Belgium, France, Germany, Switzerland, and England. However, he was even more familiar with the battles of the Bible, e.g., those incurred as Moses lead the children of Israel through the wilderness, Joshua's conquest of Canaan, the civil wars during the times of the Judges, the wars of Saul and David, the wars of the kings of Judah, the wars of the kings of Israel, and foremost, the Battle of Armageddon!

Jackson is arguably the greatest general in American history, ever snatching victory from situations full of peril, regardless of ever overwhelming odds! "Unlike" Grant by his own admission, "the vice of intemperance [drunkenness] had not a little to do with my decision to resign [from the military]." 

Unable to succeed in civilian life, Grant eventually reenlisted. Shortly after the fall of Fort Sumter, Lincoln offered Robert E. Lee the field command of all Union armies. An offer Grant was never to receive until a "desperate" Lincoln gave it in essentially the final year of the conflict. After Shiloh, the Northern press blamed Grant's drunkenness during battle for high casualties, and after Grant's Wilderness Campaign concluding with the assault on Cold Harbor (over 80,000 casualties⁴), North and South alike castigated him as "The Butcher."

However, Jackson and Stuart, even as they drove themselves and their men to the limit of "flesh and blood" endurance against hopeless odds, their men would follow them anywhere as the "Stonewall Brigade" song "Stonewall Jackson's Way" attests:

Silence! ground arms! kneel all! caps off!

Old "Blue Lights"³ going to pray.
Strangle the fool that dares to scoff!
Attention! it's his way.
Appealing from his native sod,
In forma pauperis to God,

And they had one more thing in common: Jackson biographer, Robert Lewis Dabney, writes "It was the fear of God which made him so fearless of all else." Yes, Jackson felt "as safe in battle as in bed" for he knew: "The LORD saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the LORD'S" (1Sa 17:47).


"Stonewall Jackson's Way"

Come, stack arms, men! Pile on the rails,
Stir up the camp-fire bright;
No matter if the canteen fails,
We'll make a rousing night!
Here Shenandoah brawls along,
And burly Blue-Ridge echoes strong,
To swell our brigade's rousing song
Of "Stonewall Jackson's way."

We see him now, -- the old slouched hat,
Cocked o'er his eye askew;
The shrewd, dry smile, - the speech so pat,
So calm, so blunt, so true.
The "Blue-Light Elder" his foe knows well.
Says he, "Says he, "That's Banks, -- he's fond of shell;
Lord save his soul! we'll give him ---;" well,"
In Stonewall Jackson's way.

Silence! ground arms! kneel all! caps off!
Old "Blue Lights" going to pray.
Strangle the fool that dares to scoff!
Attention! it's his way.
Appealing from his native sod,
In forma pauperis to God,
Say ""Lay bare Thine arm; stretch forth Thy rod!
Amen!" That's "Stonewall's way."

He's in the saddle now, Fall in!
Steady! the whole brigade!
Hill's at the ford, cut off, we'll win
His way out, ball and blade!
What matter if our shoes are worn?
What matter if our feet are torn?
Quick-step! we're with him before morn!
That's "Stonewall Jackson's way."

The sun's bright lances rout the mists
Of morning, and by George!
Here's Longstreet, struggling in the lists,
Hemmed in an ugly gorge.
Pope and his Yankees, whipped before,
"Bay'nets and grape!" hear Stonewall roar;
"Charge, Stuart! Pay off Ashby's score!"
In "Stonewall Jackson's way."

Ah! Maiden, wait and watch and yearn
For news of Jackson's band!
Ah! Widow, read, with eyes that burn,
That ring upon thy hand.
Ah! Wife, sew on, pray on, hope on;
Thy life shall not be all forlorn
The foe had better ne'er been born
That gets in "Stonewall's way."

(John Williamson Palmer, 1825-1906)


The Richmond Examiner, regarding the "Flower of Cavaliers": -- in "No incident of mortality, since the fall of the great JACKSON, has occasioned more painful regret than this. Major-Gen. J.E.B. STUART, the model of Virginian cavaliers and dashing chieftain, whose name was a terror to the enemy, and familiar as a household word in two continents, is dead, struck down by a bullet from the dastardly foe, and the whole Confederacy mourns him. He breathed out his gallant spirit resignedly, and in the full possession of all his remarkable faculties of mind and body, at twenty-two minutes to 8 o'clock, Thursday night. ...

About noon, President Davis... said: "General, now do you feel?" He replied, "Easy, put willing to die, if God and my country think I have fulfilled my destiny and done my duty." ... As evening wore on the paroxysms of pain increased, and mortification set in rapidly. Though suffering the greatest agony at times, the General was calm, and applied to the wound, with his own hand, the ice intended to relieve the pain.

During the evening he asked Dr. BREWER how long he thought he could live, and whether it was possible for him to survive through the night. The doctor, knowing he did not desire to be buoyed by false hopes, told him frankly that death -- the last enemy -- was rapidly approaching. The General nodded, and said, "I am resigned if it be God's will; but I would like to live to see my wife. But God's will be done." Several times he roused up and asked if she had come.

To the doctor, who sat holding his wrist and counting the fleeting, weakening pulse, he remarked, "Doctor, I suppose I am going fast now. It will soon be over. But God's will be done. I hope I have fulfilled my duty to my country and my duty to my God."

At 7 1/2 oclock it was evident to the physicians that death was setting its clammy seal upon the brave, open brow of the General, and told him so -- asked if he had any last message to give. The General, with mind perfectly clear and possessed, then made dispositions of his staff and personal effects. To Mrs. Gen. R.E. LEE he directed that the golden spurs [presented to Major-Gen. Stuart by the "Ladies of Baltimore"] be given as a dying memento of his love and esteem of her husband. To his staff officers he gave his horses... . Other mementoes he disposed of in a similar manner. To his young son, he left his glorious sword.

His worldly matters closed, the eternal interests of his soul engaged his mind. Turning to Rev. Mr. PETERKIN, ... he asked him to sing the hymn commencing,

"Rock of ages cleft for me, 
Let me hide myself in thee," 

he joining in with all the voice his strength would permit. He then joined in prayer with the ministers. To the doctor he again said: "I am going fast now; I am resigned; God's will be done." And thus the dashing soldier "fell on sleep," and left behind the record of a noble life, and a simple trust in Christ — the prophecy of a blissful immortality, where charging squadrons and clashing sabers never disturbed the "rest that remaineth for the people of God.".

As Richmond mourned in the darkness, "songs in the night" were forever quenched, and men of honor fell silent, the night the Confederacy died.

Was a war between brethren God's will? I think not!

Six "things doth the LORD hate," And a seventh, "he that soweth discord among brethren" (cf. Proverbs 6:16-19).

Were Stuart and Jackson conformed to God's will? Of that, I have no uncertainty!

""And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son" (cf. Romans 8:27-29).


¹ By Unknown - Stuart, - in the public domain due to copyright expiring.

² By Unknown - Jackson, - in the public domain due to copyright expiring.

³"Blue Light": a brilliant light used to illumine the field of battle; alternately, a military commander whose God-fearing life burns as brightly as his namesake light.

⁴To end the war, Grant repeatedly attacked during the summer of 1864. His first campaign against Lee's Army of Northern Virginia became known as the Wilderness Campaign. Grant's Army of the Potomac, numbering approximately 120,000 men, advanced across the Rapidan River into a place in Virginia known as the Wilderness. It was called the Wilderness due to the large number of trees and dense ground cover in the area. Lee met Grant's army, in the Battle of the Wilderness on May 5 and 6, 1864. Despite having just one-half the number of men that the Union had available for the battle, the Confederates succeeded in blunting the Union advance.

Unlike other Union commanders before him, Grant refused to retreat. He ordered his men to flank Lee's army and advance to Spotsylvania Courthouse. The Army of Northern Virginia managed to intercept Grant's force, and the Battle of Spotsylvania Courthouse lasted from May 8 to May 19, 1864. Again, Lee's men stopped Grant's army. Grant, however, continued to advance, meeting Lee's men at the Battle of Cold Harbor on June 3, 1864. In a little over one hour, the Union Army suffered seven thousand casualties.

The Battle of Cold Harbor marked the end of Grant's campaign to defeat the Confederacy easily. During the month or so of fighting, the Union suffered almost sixty thousand casualties to the Confederate's twenty thousand. Despite the tremendous difference in the numbers of men killed and wounded, Grant had a large supply of troops in reserve, and the Union was able to recover from these high losses.

⁴Ohio History Central, Ohio History Connection, "Wilderness Campaign"
References
Dee, Christine, ed. Ohio's War: The Civil War in Documents. Athens: Ohio University Press, 2007.
Grant, Ulysses S. The Civil War Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant. New York, NY: Forge, 2002.
Grant, Ulysses S. The Papers of Ulysses S. Grant. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, n.d. McFeely, William S. Grant: A Biography. New York, NY: Norton, 1981.
Official Roster of the Soldiers of the State of Ohio in the War of Rebellion, 1861-1866. Akron, OH: The Werner Company, 1893.
Porter, Horace. Campaigning with Grant. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1961.
Reid, Whitelaw. Ohio in the War: Her Statesmen, Generals and Soldiers. Cincinnati, OH: Clarke, 1895.
Rhea, Gordon C. The Battle of the Wilderness, May 5-6, 1864. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1994.
Rhea, Gordon C. The Battles for Spotsylvania Court House and the Road to Yellow Tavern, May 7-12, 1864.
Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1997.
Roseboom, Eugene H. The Civil War Era: 1850-1873. Columbus: Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society, 1944.
Simpson, Brooks D. Let Us Have Peace: Ulysses S. Grant and the Politics of War and Reconstruction, 1861-1868. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1991.

"TRADITION"

The Constitution¹

The Constitution "NEVER" explicitly or implicitly refers to the often-abused delaying tactic that plunders the time and focus of legislative bodies, referred to as "the filibuster." Constitutionally, "the filibuster" is an ad hoc "TRADITION," a consequence of the constitutionally granted authority of each house of Congress to implement legislative protocol.

In times past, when dignity, honor, and intelligence were the mainstay of legislative process, deference was shown to the opinions of "least of the assembly." Today, bereft of these constraining attributes, "TRADITION" without constitutional mandate, e.g., "the filibuster," MUST be eradicated!

Two thousand years ago there was a "Constitutional" crisis regarding the "Law of Mosses," a political and religious expediency of contemporary and earlier centuries had compiled an "augmented and unwritten" Oral Law of "TRADITION," preferable to the "Law of Mosses" (the "Torah that is written").


Obviously, not an originalist or textualist among them! Well, the 'expedient' ones keep their Oral Tradition and their "nation" for but thirty more years!

Consider Jesus' warning regarding the "tradition of men."

"In vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men... laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men... Full well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your own tradition... Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition" (cf. Mark 7:7-13).

Trump would do well to eradicate "tradition" unfounded in the Constitution, e.g., "the filibuster."




By Constitutional Convention - U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15795309

The Fellowship

"Why the pain?" "Why the suffering?" "Why does it have to be so hard," my father agonized with labored breath? I did not have an answer, I did not understand "the fellowship of His sufferings."

"Think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you, but rejoice, inasmuch as you are partakers of Christ's sufferings" (cf. 1 Peter 4:12-13).

Why rejoice as "partakers of Christ's sufferings"? "That we "may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death" (cf. Philippians 3:10).

Partaking of and sharing in His sufferings, We come to know Him in ways passing all understanding. In "the power of His resurrection" we have absolute certainty of His resurrection and our own. "And being made conformable unto His death" we "have ceased from sin" (cf. 1 Peter 4:1).

"But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him" (1 Corinthians 2:9).

The intimacy of "the fellowship of His sufferings" perfected in "fiery trial" may transcend even this.


By Awesomoman - Own work, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=8060468

Kindred Spirits

Pearl Harbor

Burning  of the USS Arizona¹

My uncle swam away on December 7th, but many of his fellows trapped in hulls of sunken ships continued to "tap" until Christmas. In the weeks that followed, he and the few who remained resurrected those hulls, and the sea bleached bones they contained.

One moonless night my 90-something father revealed a latent agony long sanctioned to silence. Some days after the Battle of Buna, he and the few who remained, returned to the beach of Buna in total darkness to retrieve the bodies of their fellows buried in the sand.


¹By Photographer: UnknownRetouched by: Mmxx - File:The USS Arizona (BB-39) burning after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor - NARA - 195617.tifThis media is available in the holdings of the National Archives and Records Administration, cataloged under the ARC Identifier (National Archives Identifier) 195617.This tag does not indicate the copyright status of the attached work. A normal copyright tag is still required. See Commons:Licensing for more information.English | Español | Français | Italiano | Македонски | മലയാളം | Nederlands | Polski | Português | Русский | Slovenščina | Türkçe | Українська | Tiếng Việt | 中文（简体） | 中文（繁體） | +/−This is a retouched picture, which means that it has been digitally altered from its original version. The original can be viewed here: The USS Arizona (BB-39) burning after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor - NARA - 195617.tif. Modifications made by Mmxx., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=18147474

Fireside Chats

State of the Union Fireside Chat

The Governor of New York in 1929 faced a challenge, political opponents controlled the media. Press reports and editorial commentary consistently reflected partisan biases. He realized his continued political success required frequent direct and intimate dialogue with the electorate. Yet, his only recourse for such a dialogue was facilitated by the newspaper media!

At that juncture, the man, who would be president, implemented the new technology of "radio" that allowed him to speak directly to the populace, undistorted and unmodulated by a hostile media. His "fireside chat" communiqués continued through the traumatic days of war.

There is a man today who would be president who must also "bypass" the media of today by creatively implementing the technologies available today to engage in "fireside chats" with the electorate regarding another Leviathan "media"!

This is what a man who would be president did today, "bypass" the " Leviathan" media!


By Unknown or not provided - National Archives and Records Administration, Franklin D. Roosevelt Library (NLFDR), 4079 Albany Post Road, Hyde Park, NY, 12538-1999., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=43420258

The Old Gray Lady

New-York Daily Times, September 18, 1851.

The New York Times in a face saving Friday letter to its readers as a consequence of the "late Tuesday night" election results, allegedly "aim[s] to "rededicate [themselves] to... report ... America and the world honestly."

The NYT wrote "late Tuesday night, our newsroom turned on a dime and did what it has done for nearly two years — cover the 2016 election with agility and creativity," unfortunately the NYT no longer considers facts and accurately quintessential to journalism, had it done so it would have been unnecessary to turn on a dime to accommodate the "late Tuesday night" reality!

"The Gray Lady" then blamed Trump’s "sheer unconventionality" for the NYT's and other news outlet's failure to estimate his support, essentially conceding that the NYT is no longer a bastion of Truth amid other news outlets.

While pledging to "hold power to account, impartially and unflinchingly" it exempted itself, and offered this unmerited "weasel word" commentary "We believe we reported on both candidates fairly during the presidential campaign. You can rely on The New York Times to bring the same fairness, the same level of scrutiny, the same independence to our coverage of the new president."

The NYT which was once known for presenting "fact" as "fact" and signing "opinion" as "opinion" concluded with this contextually ludicrous sales pitch, once again spurning the word "factual" : "We cannot deliver the independent, original journalism for which we are known without the loyalty of our subscribers."

Cursory inspection of the internally conflicted letter suggests the authorship of a journalistically challenged college intern, however, the signatories are Arthur O. Sulzberger Jr. Publisher, and Dean Baquet Executive Editor.

The NYT's failure to maintain the journalist standards of truth, accuracy, objectivity, fairness and public accountability, has caused truth to fall in every street in America.

"And judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter. Yea, truth faileth; and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey: and the LORD saw it, and it displeased him that there was no judgment" (Isaiah 59:14-15).

The classic document appended below must be required reading for every student of journalism, for it chronicles the demise of "The [Old] Gray Lady"

 To our readers,

When the biggest political story of the year reached a dramatic and unexpected climax late Tuesday night, our newsroom turned on a dime and did what it has done for nearly two years — cover the 2016 election with agility and creativity. After such an erratic and unpredictable election there are inevitable questions: Did Donald Trump’s sheer unconventionality lead us and other news outlets to underestimate his support among American voters? What forces and strains in America drove this divisive election and outcome? Most important, how will a president who remains a largely enigmatic figure actually govern when he takes office? As we reflect on this week’s momentous result, and the months of reporting and polling that preceded it, we aim to rededicate ourselves to the fundamental mission of Times journalism. That is to report America and the world honestly, without fear or favor, striving always to understand and reflect all political perspectives and life experiences in the stories that we bring to you. It is also to hold power to account, impartially and unflinchingly. We believe we reported on both candidates fairly during the presidential campaign. You can rely on The New York Times to bring the same fairness, the same level of scrutiny, the same independence to our coverage of the new president and his team. We cannot deliver the independent, original journalism for which we are known without the loyalty of our subscribers. We want to take this opportunity, on behalf of all Times journalists, to thank you for that loyalty.

Sincerely, Arthur O. Sulzberger Jr. Publisher
Dean Baquet Executive Editor

By The New York Times - ProQuest Database, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=29474845

Foghorn Leghorn

Foghorn Leghorn¹

Couldn't help but remember the immortal words of Foghorn J. Leghorn: "I WON!" "I WON!" "I WON!" but after a bit, he contemplated: "there must have been some way I could have lost." That is how I felt listening to Trump's post election address: "There must have been some way we could have lost."

As Trump waxed ever more "conciliatory" during his victory celebration, pledging to be a president “for all Americans” and calling for unity, the "some way we could have lost" became ever more apparent as he continued "to sell out the Red States mandate" just minutes after it delivered him victory. Can't help but wonder "who gelded the fair haired stallion."

A president has NO warrant to pledge to be a president for those who by intimidation, bribery, and corruption weave the web of deception recently revealed.

A president has NO warrant to pledge to be a president for those who abhorred the Constitutional mandate of law.

And, a president has NO warrant to pledge to be a president “for all Americans”! His only oath or affirmation must be "to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the CONSTITUTION of the United States."


¹Description
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Googleware

Lovelace algorithm, 1843.¹

Imagine the ability to abort free speech at will, and to do it dynamically and retroactively. Google has the capability to squelch internet content, such as this, using a stealth search algorithm, an algorithm adaptable to the highest bidder.

Google since inception has analyzed "every" user interaction, parsing sentences into constituent elements, e.g., nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives... compliant with grammar and punctuation, processing it with an ever-evolving proprietary ultra sophisticated artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm. As with any new technology, "Googleware" can conform to either good or evil, "aye, there's the rub."

I routinely publish a variety of commentary on my Google based blogs. To verify search engine retrieval, I recently copied and entered strings of text from random posts published over a number of years. In "EVERY" case, when Google Advanced Search searched for the exact string, the link for the post immediately popped up, "EXCEPT" when the words "Clinton" or "Obama" in conjunction with a less-than flattering "adjective" were contained in the post.

Google's dynamic and retroactive search algorithm at Google's inclination prioritizes and enhances some Web content while eliminating other content from search results effectively sanctioning it to silence.

Google's search algorithm has changed the course of history in every context, contingent on the highest bidder. In a "political" context, the ramifications span the better part of two decades, with the freedom of speech the most critical casualty.


¹By Ada Lovelace - http://www.sophiararebooks.com/pictures/3544a.jpg, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=37285970

The Gray Lady

New-York Daily Times, September 18, 1851.

The day after the 2012 election the New York Times editorialized an in your face Barack "Hussein" Obama victory after months of denial of Obama's Islamic affinity.

The newspaper that once affirmed, "Fact is presented as fact, and opinion is signed as opinion" now presents "opinion" as fact and fact as "opinion"! The bias of this "yellow rag" is editorially emblazoned for all to see, having endorsed every Democratic nominee for president since 1960! And once more "The Gray Lady" has endorsed the old gray lady!





By The New York Times - ProQuest Database, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=29474845

The Gray Lady

New-York Daily Times, 9, 18, 1851.

The day after the 2012 election the New York Times editorialized an in your face Barack "Hussein" Obama victory after months of denial of Obama's Islamic affinity.

The newspaper that once affirmed, "Fact is presented as fact, and opinion is signed as opinion" now presents "opinion" as fact and fact as "opinion"! The bias of this "yellow rag" is editorially emblazoned for all to see, having endorsed every Democratic nominee for president since 1960! And once more "The Gray Lady" has endorsed the old gray lady!





By The New York Times - ProQuest Database, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=29474845

Legion

Gustave Doré nigra-lux

"My name is Legion: for we are many."

FBI Director James Comey on Friday evening revealed the existence of 650,000 emails of sufficient import for the FBI to “reopen” Hillary Clinton’s criminal investigation, perhaps a full complement of her personal email, pristine and without deletion. Consequently, Clinton's campaign was in free fall! However, on this All Hallows' Eve a legion from the abyss came to her aid. Just hours ago, the so-called Department of Justice (DOJ) interceded for Clinton with a letter to Congress essentially wresting control of the investigation from the FBI:

“... will continue to work closely with the FBI and together, dedicate all necessary resources and take appropriate steps as expeditiously as possible,” assistant attorney General Peter J. Kadzik.


Contrary to Kadzik, mutual acrimony and mistrust characterize the schism between the FBI and the "ethically challenged and politically motivated" Department of Justice. The DOJ has used every opportunity to impede the FBI's investigation of the Clinton Foundation, and recently succeeded in suppression of the investigation. It is now evident that during the yearlong investigation the DOJ was running interference for the alleged "nonprofit" corporation, pressuring corporate CEOs and foreign regimes to accommodate six-figure speaking fees for Bill Clinton.

The DOJ's overbearing presence in the investigation into Clinton’s emails that concluded in July mandated, after cursory inspection, the destruction of all computers that were part of that investigation. If the DOJ enforced that provision, could it not also mandate the destruction of the Weiner laptop and all backups of its contents after cursory inspection, preempting prosecution of the most egregious security breach in US history!

And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes. And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, Who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains: Because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him. And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones. But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him, And cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not. For he said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit. And he asked him, What is thy name?
And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are many (Mark 5:1-9).

The Gatekeeper

Gate Keeper, Srivaikundam

FBI Director James Comey a few hours ago made a revelation now reverberating throughout the political pre-election world. The discovery of additional emails pertaining to Hillary Clinton’s personal email account, of sufficient import for the FBI to “reopen” her criminal investigation.

The files were discovered during an unrelated investigation of former Congressman Anthony Weiner's illicit, sexual correspondence with a 15-year-old girl. But how did files intended for "Hillary's eyes only" end up in Weiner's smut laden archives?

Clinton's quintessential aide Huma Abedin shared a laptop with her husband Weiner. A laptop she also used at State to send, receive, and print emails after transferring them to/from her various Yahoo, State Department, or Clinton server accounts. By using an unencrypted, unsecured and unauthorized network, she circumvented prescribed State Department protocol, breaching security. She also breached security by using unsecured and unauthorized hardware i.e., a personal laptop and printer.


It appears that she often transferred, sent, received, and printed emails without being aware of the classification of the content, suggesting additional lapses in security.

The volume of her email traffic was very significant because she is essentially Hillary's interface and gatekeeper to the world.

Abedin's frequent breaches of security may be of sufficient import for the FBI to “open” a second investigation.


By sowrirajan s - Flickr: Gate Keeper, Srivaikundam, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=16248864

A Line in the Sand

Russia has drawn a line in the sand, and "appropriately" so, regarding the al-Qaeda rebels brigades the US is backing in Aleppo Syria. The current administration has once again coerced America into supporting the terrorist caliphate Osama bin Laden founded.

The "Obama Clinton" tag team in 2009 began legitimating, emboldening and supporting Islamists in their ascendancy over much of the Middle East. The tag team's covert logistical support in Libya armed the al-Qaeda franchises that eventually consummated the Benghazi attack.

Obama literally raced to the cameras, in May 2011 to take credit for killing al-Qaeda notable Osama bin Laden just hours after his body bobbed beneath the wake of the USS Carl Vinson. On a sequent campaign event, he reminded his admirers: "I promised to go after al Qaeda and bin Laden, and we did it," and during the final presidential debate he took credit for having "decimated" "Al Qaeda's core leadership."

Today, the Obama Clinton tag team is still undeterred; Obama promoting logistical support for Al Qaeda rebels in Aleppo, and Hillary, a "no-fly zone" in a situation that may have “nuclear” implications.

Dmitry Kiselyov, head of Russia's international news agency Rossiya Segodnya, warned that any “impudent behavior” in Syria could have “nuclear” implications. Kiselyov further clarified, if US bombers target official Syrian military forces. “We’ll shoot them down,” a warning not to be taken lightly. Kiselyov has previously affirmed that Russia has the capability of “turning the USA into radioactive ash.”

"Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation" Romans 13:1).

"Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation" Romans 13:1).

By Charles Levy from one of the B-29 Superfortresses used in the attack. - http://www.archives.gov/research/military/ww2/photos/images/ww2-163.jpg National Archives image (208-N-43888), Public Domain, Link

The Day the Internet Died

Solomonic Wisdom

Judgment of Solomon, Gustave Doré

The following couplet of Solomonic wisdom is not a contradiction:

"Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him" (Proverbs 26:4).

"Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own conceit" (Proverbs 26:5).

 To answer a fool or not to answer a fool is a matter of discernment. Will answering refrain him from being wise in his own conceit, or will answering make you like unto him? That is the question.

A New World

Maracanã Stadium¹

When Ait Said’s left leg broke the sound echoed throughout the arena. He wasn’t the only gymnast who failed to negotiate a vault. Jake Dalton came close to landing on his face, and 2013 world bronze vault medalist Kristian Thomas fell. Andreas Toba injured his knee during floor exercise and had to be helped off the floor."

Mark Williams, the U.S. men’s coach commented on the obvious: "There’s a different feel to the one in the [Rio] competition arena than the one in the [U.S.] training gym."

It is obvious that "everything" at Rio 2016 fails to meet prescribed standards. Even Reuters headlines "Rio's Olympic Air: Dirty, Deadly and No Cleaner Legacy from Games."

When an 80-foot section of a newly constructed Rio seaside bike path collapsed in April, "at least two people" fell to their death."

The Maracanã Stadium is an island amid a cesspool of garbage, sewage, a menagerie of dead animals and thousands of dead fish, and deadly “super bacteria.”

The opening ceremony focused on climate change and how to "promote peace with the planet" – the preeminent theme of the event. The most political Olympiad since the 1936 "Hitler Olympics" featured simulated images of a melting polar ice cap and rising sea levels inundating millions of square miles of shore line around the world.

Rio 2016's legacy may eventually also include a Global Zika Epidemic or other viral conflagrations!

Rio 2016's motto is "A new world." Perhaps "A Brave New World"?


Updates:

Cyclist Van Vleuten, leading the women's road race, suffered a traumatic crash on the Vista Chinesa descent Sunday, as did her male counterpart Vincenzo Nibali on Saturday as he lead down the "same" descent. Apparently, the course was not appropriately contoured/banked for cars much less for a cycling competition. An investigation is in order to determine if frequent automotive crashes had been reported on the descent prior to its selection as a road race venue.

“Green Games for a Blue Planet” Rio 2016, in the opening ceremony chastised the world for failure to maintain climate control. Another pool turn green today; failure to maintain something as basic as pH. The only effective outdoor/indoor hygienic solution has been the Rio mandate that competitors keep their mouths closed during competition.

¹By Erica Ramalho/Portal da Copa/Março de 2013 - http://www.copa2014.gov.br/pt-br/dinamic/galeria_imagem/15037, CC BY 3.0 br, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=26924555

The Twilight Zone

A Man Without a Country