Category: Life as we know it

Life Continues On…

The weather these past few days has been absolutely lovely…perfect, really. I have really enjoyed spending some time outside, treasuring each sunny, warm day–because I know that winter will soon be here, and I probably only have a month of glorious weather left. 🙂 

Job update: still unemployed. Yeah. It’s been a rough week, and I’ve felt very discouraged…but, I have a few new leads that sound like awesome opportunities, so I’m praying that the Lord will bless me with one of them! God has consistently provided for all of my needs, and it has been an amazing lesson in learning to trust Him. 

Church update: I’m fairly certain that I’ve found the church I will attend! Still praying about it…but it seems like a great church with an amazing pastor (who preaches the Gospel and the Truth–and I walk away each Sunday with something new to ponder)…

Politically, it’s interesting living in a “swing” state. I’ve been learning a lot about Pennsylvania politics lately, and have found that it’s strikingly similar to California–in that two cities (Philly and Pittsburgh) control the entire state politically, even though the rest of the state is rural and mostly Republican. Yeah–that’s just like California! Also, I have found that Governor Rendell caters to Philadelphia with pretty much everything he does. While Governor Schwarzenegger doesn’t cater to L.A. and S.F., past governors have most definitely done so. I am enjoying learning about way my new state runs politically 🙂 

On a national level, I’m ready for this election to be over. I have been so amazed at the unashamedly biased media, and with all the schemes that are being pulled. Like someone hacking into Palin’s email? That’s a complete invasion of privacy! Yet, you don’t hear the media slamming the incident as much as I think they would had it been Obama’s email. Nope–not biased at all. I just am tired of the political machine, and I can’t wait until my generation steps in and changes the way politics are done. I have great hope that we will be the ones who push aside partisan politics and stop fighting partisan battles. That’s not what it’s about! That’s not at all what our Founding Fathers intended, I believe. Anyway, November 4th can’t come soon enough. 

Other news: I’m not very good at “being still”, but I’ve had a lot of time to practice lately. 🙂 Being unemployed has been such a challenge for me! I would much rather be busy and be occupied all day with tasks and assignments…but, instead, I’ve had many days with nothing to do…and I’m learning to appreciate this time. 

All in all, life is good. As my favorite Ginny Owens song states, “You never said it would be easy–You only said I’d never go alone.” And that is indeed true in my life. 🙂 It’s not easy, but I know He’s in control, and He’s right by my side.

Feminist Army Aims Its Canons at Palin


Feminist Army Aims Its Canons at Palin
Because womanhood is a state of mind.

By Jonah Goldberg

Whether or not Sarah Palin helps John McCain win the election, her greatest work may already be behind her. She’s exposed the feminist con job.

Don’t take my word for it. Feminists have been screaming like stuck pigs 24/7 since Palin was announced as McCain’s running mate. (Are pig metaphors completely verboten now?)

Feminist author Cintra Wilson writes in Salon (a house organ of the angry left) that the notion of Palin as vice president is “akin to ideological brain rape.” Presumably just before the nurse upped the dosage on her medication, Wilson continued, “Sarah Palin and her virtual burqa have me and my friends retching into our handbags. She’s such a power-mad, backwater beauty-pageant casualty, it’s easy to write her off and make fun of her. But in reality I feel as horrified as a ghetto Jew watching the rise of National Socialism.”

And that’s one of the nicer things she had to say. Really.

On Tuesday, Salon ran one article calling Palin a dominatrix (“a whip-wielding mistress”) and another labeling her a sexually repressed fundamentalist no different from the Muslim fanatics and terrorists of Hamas. Make up your minds, folks. Is she a seductress or a sex-a-phobe?

But this any-weapon-near-to-hand approach is an obvious sign of how scared the Palin-o-phobes are.

Gloria Steinem, the grand mufti of feminism, issued a fatwa anathematizing Palin. A National Organization for Women spokeswoman proclaimed Palin more of a man than a woman. Wendy Doniger, a feminist academic at the University of Chicago, writes of Palin in Newsweek: “Her greatest hypocrisy is in her pretense that she is a woman.”

It’s funny. The left has been whining about having their patriotism questioned for so long it feels like they started griping in the Mesozoic era. Feminists have argued for decades that womanhood is an existential and metaphysical state of enlightenment. But they have no problem questioning whether women they hate are really women at all.

Since we know from basic science that Palin is a woman — she’s had five kids, for starters — it’s clear that these ideological thugs aren’t talking about actual, you know, facts. They’re doing what people of totalitarian mind-sets always do: bully heretics, demonize enemies, whip the troops into line. 

The academic feminist left has scared the dickens out of mainstream men and women for so long, the liberal establishment is terrified to contradict feminists’ nigh-upon-theological conviction that female authenticity is measured by one’s blind loyalty to left-wing talking points. This is a version of the Marxist doctrine of “false consciousness,” which holds that you aren’t an authentic member of the proletariat unless you agree with Marxism.

It works like this: If you don’t agree with feminist scolds, you’re not a real woman, even if you’re a very feminine working mom. But even if you’re an actual man — never mind a childless feminist who looks like a Bulgarian weightlifter in drag — you’re a “real woman” solely because you nod your head like a windup clapping monkey every time you read the latest editorial in Ms. Recall how they christened Bill Clinton the “first female president,” too.

But here’s the fun part. Feminists are hooked on their own Kool-Aid; they actually believe the stuff they say. The shrill, angry women you see on MSNBC claiming to speak for all women actually think they do. But they don’t. They speak for a few left-leaning women in faculty lounges, editorial boardrooms and that’s about it.

Mainstream liberals have been in captivity for so long, eagerly accepting their ritual beatings, that they’ve gotten Stockholm Syndrome and convinced themselves that Gloria Steinem and Co. are the authentic voices of women everywhere.

Stop laughing.

The reality is that there is an actual reality out there, and it doesn’t look anything like what feminists see beyond the rims of their ideological blinders.

For instance, immediately after the Palin announcement, the priestesses not only ruled it “sexist” for McCain to pick a woman but also said it was strategically dumb — “insulting to women!” — to think any real women would switch support from the beatified Obama to that old devil McCain. 

Well, according to a Washington Post/ABC News poll, there’s been a 20-point swing among white women from Obama-Biden to McCain-Palin. Did this “ideological brain rape” suddenly induce an epidemic of false consciousness?

Of course not. Nor are women mindlessly switching loyalties because there’s a woman on the ticket. What the Palin pick has demonstrated, however, is that the Feminist-Industrial Complex is a fraud. Disagreeing with self-described feminists doesn’t mean you’re anti-woman. Usually it just means you’re sensible.

And for that lesson alone, we should all be grateful.

— Jonah Goldberg is the author of Liberal Fascism: The Secret History of the American Left from Mussolini to the Politics of Meaning. 

© 2008 Tribune Media Services, Inc.

— Jonah Goldberg is editor-at-large of National Review Online.

Internal Dialogue

Those who know me know that I tend to think about things in depth and for a long time. I love to “ponder” ideas–hence the name of my blog. 

Today, as I answered phones and filed documents at my temp assignment, I began to have what I call an internal dialogue about my current status in life. I really don’t like to answer phones, and I’m bored with being a temp…but, I need money to pay rent and buy food, so I told myself that I can’t complain. I don’t feel that I’m “above” any task or position (after all, Jesus–the Creator of the Universe– was a carpenter and He washed His disciples’ feet…I can answer a few phone calls!)–but at the same time, I have a bachelor’s degree. And why did I go to college to earn my bachelor’s degree? To get a better job…a job that I love and that suits me well, a job where I can serve others and make a difference in the lives of others. 

But what is it that I want to do with the rest of my life? What “job” will satisfy me? That’s where I’m stuck. I have an awesome opportunity to start fresh, to find something I am passionate about–a job where I am challenged, but also where my skills and talents are utilized…but what will that be? What on earth do I want to do? 

In the meantime, I take whatever assignments I can get from the temp agency, and I’m very grateful! If nothing else, this time of my life has been humbling and thought provoking…now if I could only figure out what I want to do next… 🙂

PS–Great article by Michael Reagan (son of President Ronald Reagan) about Sarah Palin.

A few thoughts…

So, I keep reading articles and hearing stories about how Sarah Palin does not represent “most women”, and how she’s actually causing women to take a “step backwards”. What the heck?! Who decided that “most women” support abortion (among the other arguments I’ve seen)? And why on earth does Palin’s candidacy mean that women are taking a step backwards?! I’ve seen articles about Palin being against “rights for women”. That is a bunch of bologna! Where do these people come up with this stuff?

I am an educated, pro-life (or as the left would say, “anti-choice”) woman, and I have thoroughly researched the campaign issues of the day. I choose who I support based upon their voting record, their policies, and their values. Just because I’m not a Hillary Clinton-ite, or a feminist, doesn’t mean that I’m less of a woman for that. I’m not unintelligent, and I’m not someone who jumps on the bandwagon. And I’m voting for Sarah Palin.

If anyone on the “right” ever said anything like this about women on the “left”, I KNOW the media would pounce on those individuals! 

And that’s all I’m going to say about that for now…

In the Words of Ann Coulter…

Here’s a great article written about Sarah Palin–from someone whose opinion I generally don’t like to read…but I agree with this article written by Ann Coulter…I will write more about my personal views on McCain and Palin later, but for now, here’s what Ann said…McCain/Palin 2008!

THE BEST MAN TURNED OUT TO BE A WOMAN
by Ann Coulter
September 3, 2008

John McCain’s choice of Sarah Palin, governor of Alaska, as his running mate finally gave Republicans a reason to vote for him — a reason, that is, other than B. Hussein Obama. 

The media are hopping mad about McCain’s vice presidential selection, but they’re really furious over at MSNBC. After drawing “Keith + Obama” hearts on their denim notebooks, Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews stayed up all night last Thursday, writing jokes about Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, the presumed vice presidential pick. Now they can’t use any of them. 

So the media are taking it out on our brave Sarah and her 17-year-old daughter. 

They claimed Palin was chosen only because she’s a woman. In fact, Palin was chosen because she’s pro-life, pro-gun, pro-drilling and pro-tax cuts. She’s fought both Republicans and Democrats on public corruption and does not have hair plugs like some other vice presidential candidate I could mention. In other words, she’s a “Republican.” 

As a right-winger, Palin will appeal to the narrow 59 percent of Americans who voted for another former small-market sportscaster: Ronald Reagan. Our motto: Sarah Palin is only a heartbeat away! 

If you’re going to say Palin was chosen because she’s a woman, you’re going to have to demonstrate that the runners-up were more qualified. Gov. Tim Pawlenty seems like a terrific fellow and fine governor, but he is not obviously more qualified than Palin. 

As for former governor of Pennsylvania Tom Ridge and Democratic Sen. Joe Lieberman, the other also-rans, I can think of at least 40 million unborn reasons she’s better than either of them. 

Within the first few hours after Palin’s name was announced, McCain raised $4 million in campaign donations online, reaching $10 million within the next two days. Which shortlist vice presidential pick could have beaten that? 

The media hysterically denounced Palin as “inexperienced.” But then people started to notice that she has more executive experience than B. Hussein Obama — the guy at the top of the Democrats’ ticket. 

They tried to create a “Troopergate” for Palin, indignantly demanding to know why she wanted to get her ex-brother-in-law removed as a state trooper. Again, public corruption is not a good issue for someone like Obama, Chicago pol and noted friend of Syrian National/convicted felon Antonin Rezko. 

For the cherry on top, then we found out Palin’s ex-brother-in-law had Tasered his own 10-year-old stepson. Defend that, Democrats. 

The bien-pensant criticized Palin, saying it’s irresponsible for a woman with five children to run for vice president. Liberals’ new talking point: Sarah Palin: Only five abortions away from the presidency. 

They claimed her newborn wasn’t her child, but the child of her 17-year-old daughter. That turned out to be a lie. 

Then they attacked her daughter, who actually is pregnant now, for being unmarried. When liberals start acting like they’re opposed to pre-marital sex and mothers having careers, you know McCain’s vice presidential choice has knocked them back on their heels. 

But at least liberal reporters had finally found someone their own size to pick on: a 17-year-old girl. 

Speaking of Democrats with newborn children, the media weren’t particularly concerned about John Edwards running for president despite his having a mistress with a newborn child. 

While the difficult circumstances of Palin’s pregnant daughter are being covered like a terrorist attack on the nation, with leering accounts of the 18-year-old father, the media remain resolutely uninterested in the parentage of Edwards’ mistress’s love child. Except, that is, the hardworking reporters at the National Enquirer, who say Edwards is the father. 

As this goes to press, the latest media-invented scandal about Palin is that McCain didn’t know her well before choosing her as his running mate. He knew her well enough, though admittedly, not as well as Obama knows William Ayers. 

John F. Kennedy, who was — from what the media tell me — America’s most beloved president, detested his vice president, Lyndon Johnson. 

Until Clinton interviewed Al Gore one time before choosing him as his vice presidential candidate, he had met Gore only one other time: when Gore was running for president in 1988 and flew to Little Rock seeking Clinton’s endorsement. Clinton turned him down. 

To this day, there’s no proof that Bill Clinton ever met one-on-one with his CIA director, James Woolsey, other than a brief chat after midnight the night before Woolsey’s nomination was announced. 

Barring some all-new, trivial and probably false story about Palin — her former hairdresser got a parking ticket in 1978! — the media apparently intend to keep being hysterical about McCain’s alleged failure to “vet” Palin properly. The problem with this argument is that it presupposes that everyone is asking: “HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?” 

No one’s saying that. 

Attacks on McCain’s “vetting” process require the media to keep claiming that Palin has a lot of problems. But she doesn’t have any problems. Remember? Those were all blind alleys. 

Unfortunately, for the ordinary TV viewer hearing nonstop hysteria about nonspecific “problems,” it takes a lot of effort to figure out that every attack liberals have launched against Palin turned out to be a lie. 

It’s as if a basketball player made the winning shot in the last three seconds of the game and liberals demand that we have a week-long discussion about whether the player should have taken that shot. WHAT IF HE MISSED? 

With Palin, McCain didn’t miss. 

COPYRIGHT 2008 ANN COULTER 
DISTRIBUTED BY UNIVERSAL PRESS SYNDICATE 
4520 Main Street, Kansas City, MO 64111 

Discouraged…

Today is the first day that I have felt discouraged…and it surprised me, because I became discouraged after a great interview at a lobbying firm. They said they won’t be making a decision for at least two weeks due to their workload right now…and for some reason, that immediately made me feel discouraged about being out here, even though I think they really like me. 

I have to remember that I KNOW I’m here for a reason, and that God clearly led me here. He isn’t going to abandon me! He has been completely faithful thus far and I have been fed, clothed, housed. 

But I’m still fighting discouragement…

In other, happier news–“The Office” season four came out on DVD today, and two of my friends are coming over tonight to watch it. I preordered mine from Best Buy, so I was able to pick it up at 10am today. We had a two-day “Office” marathon this weekend, so we are ready for season 4! 

It’s going to be a good night 🙂

–You Never Let Go–

When clouds veil sun
And disaster comes

Oh, my soul, oh, my soul
When waters rise
And hope takes flight

Oh, my soul, oh, my soul

Ever faithful
Ever true
You I know
You never let go

When clouds brought rain
And disaster came

Oh, my soul, oh, my soul
When waters rose
And hope had flown

Oh, my soul, oh, my soul

Oh, my soul
Overflows
Oh, what love, oh, what love
Oh, my soul
Fills hope
Perfect love that never lets go

Oh, what love, oh, what love
Oh, what love, oh, what love
In joy and pain
In sun and rain

You’re the same
Oh, You never let go

–David Crowder Band

Hurricane Gustav…

Today is a gorgeous, cloudless day in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania–the kind of day when you long to be outside in the sunshine…but I just can’t enjoy the weather fully, knowing that tomorrow Hurricane Gustav is going to hit New Orleans and the Gulf Coast…

Names of people we grew to love keep coming to mind…Miss Linda…Pastor Walker…The Taylors…The Oliviers…Jimmy…Brunilda…and so many more. How are they doing? Did they get out of the city? And I can’t help but wonder how the homeless men and women we met are going to get out of the city…

Now the city is more than just buildings to our team–it’s made of real people who are about to endure another terrible storm. Who knows if the levees will hold! Who knows if all the improvements to the canals and the pumps have worked…this storm is the first test of all the work over the past three years.

It breaks my heart to think that all of the hard work that has been done to rebuild New Orleans might be washed away by this storm…but I am reminded that God is in control and He will take care of His people…

All we can do is pray–and we ask you to join with us as we pray for our beloved New Orleans…

Sarah Palin…

I have been doing some extensive reading about the political accomplishments of Gov. Sarah Palin from Alaska–and have been nothing short of impressed. This woman has brought some incredible reforms to her state and has changed “politics as usual”…and I think McCain has made a genius choice for a running mate.

I must admit that I had never paid attention to Alaskan politics in the past, but after reading about Gov. Palin today, I am intrigued. Some may say that the VP is just a figurehead–but I don’t see this woman as the type to just sit around and observe what’s going on: she is the type to step up and take action to clean up the messes around her.

I’m much more excited about this election each day–first, with Obama choosing Biden (because to me, it seems like McCain’s chances just went up), and now with McCain choosing amazing Sarah Palin, it’s shaping up to be an interesting election! 🙂

 

[Update: Been reading about the Dems response, about her lack of experience with foreign policy and how it’s the same as Obama’s…um, slight difference–she’s a VP candidate, not a Presidential candidate. I think that’s an okay difference!]