Candidate Rundown

Here is my take on the Presidential Candidates as of today:

Mitt Romney

In a movie, Groucho Marx once said, “Are you going to believe me, or your own eyes?” That’s funny – except when it is the theme of a presidential candidate. The more you hear Mitt Romney, the more you are presented with that choice. Yes he has changed is mind on some important beliefs. Yes he says now that he will be the best conservative candidate with the highest ethical and moral standards. Yes I want to believe him. But what he has done (or not done) in the past show up to be problematic. Perhaps if he were to be faced off with Hillary Clinton, I would vote for Mitt. Why? They both need you to consider Groucho’s question.

Mike Huckabee

Where Mitt hates for people to ask him questions about his religious beliefs, Mike Huckabee loves it. Typically the questions come from people every good Baptist preacher wants to evangelize anyway. In a debate setting, when someone fires up one of those questions to the candidates, where the other candidates stumble over their words, or where they end up sounding sanctimonious, Huckabee clearly nails the moment. He is very good. Yet when it comes to world politics, his joke about sleeping in a Holiday Inn Express last night rings all too true. In this world, there is no time to sit down in the oval office and ask yourself the question about how you think you should handle world politics.

Fred Thompson

No matter who wins the nomination, the first thing he should do is name Fred Thompson as his running mate. Then we could continue his role as Arthur Branch in Law and Order, the TV show. Each candidate has some glaring weaknesses and needs somewhere to go to clear the fog. Walk into Fred’s office, sit down and have him lean back in his chair and explain the choices. Or, in a tough political situation, send him out to the press to explain things in such simple terms that people wonder why they didn’t think of it. From a technical sense, Dick Cheney was probably the best VP a President ever had. If he had a shortcoming, it was simply image. Fred’s appeal IS image. And he is politically savvy, too.

Rudi Gullianni

Rudi Gullianni to me is the anti – Hillary candidate. If she is the Dem’s candidate then Rudi should run against her. He has some past baggage, alright. But she has a whole baggage compartment. So, the reasonable choice there would be for baggage to cease to become an issue for Rudi. Apparently, the militant Palestinians would hate to see Rudi become President. They could stomach anyone else, but Rudi. That is a huge plus for him in my book.

John McCain

John McCain might be the best choice. Conservatives love his military stand. His armor against Democrats in this area is superb. He could even silence John Murtha and John Kerry. The problem that traditional Republicans have is his apparent softness on immigration. However, if he was a bridge-builder on that issue, it might be what saves the Republican Party. The Republican Party needs to address how it will entice Hispanics into it over the next several decades. Its chances of winning future national elections depend on that issue more than any other.

Hillary Clinton

I wrote a post on the question of who you would like to see answer the “Red Phone” in a time of international crisis. Another way to view that question is who would our adversaries hate to see answer the Red Phone? You can believe that our new President is going to be challenged. Other leaders, both allies and adversaries will need to feel out how our new President will handle crises. The scariest to me? Hillary Clinton. Why? No rudder. I think she should have a standard disclaimer. “Whatever she says today, is subject to change tomorrow.” Her “expertise” in politics is the ability to shamelessly contradict herself. She brings to mind another Groucho Marx quote: "Those are my principles, and if you don't like them... well, I have others."

Barak Obama

If you are worn out by tradition and want to redefine America, then Barak Obama is your man. He will bring change to America. Where we have debated about whether the words “under God” should be in the Pledge of Allegiance, Barak Obama personally omits every word from “I” to “all”. I believe that if you are mad at America because it hasn’t done enough for you, then Barak is your man. I predict that if he becomes President he will be severely tested on the international front. No one would have gone from being in a State Legislature to being President of the United States is such record time. He represents the dissatisfied people of the country in my opinion. And there are unfortunately many people who are dissatisfied.

John Edwards

John Edwards is a medical malpractice trial lawyer. He is a good one. His training and experience is that through the right amount of logic, emotion, reasoning (his reasoning), and drama he can convince people how they are getting the short end of the stick. This ability is always dependant upon the belief that there is a great check-writer that can pay treble damages. Thus, he is most effective when he is against someone. What would happen if he became that “someone”. Once you become the ruler, it is hard to keep up the fight against the ruler. But my biggest concern about Edwards is his training. I saw it when he was Kerry’s running mate in ’04. He has been trained to say ANYTHING if it will win over the jury or further his cause. He is not believable to me. He cares more about the outcome than the path it takes to get there.

I believe these elections are very important. I believe that the most recent assassination in Pakistan is a grim but important reminder that the most important consideration is our President's outlook of our relationship with the rest of the world.

The War Where Death is the Weapon for One Side and Life is the Weapon for the Other

With the murder of Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, the militant Islamists of the world have confirmed again that the most efficient way to influence the politics of a country is assassination. It worked in Lebanon a couple of years ago when the Syrians eliminated Rafik Hariri also a former Prime Minister. Both Hariri and Bhuto deplored the outside influence of the radical Islamists in their country. Both countries, right now are holding hugely important elections. For the vast majority of people in all these Middle Eastern countries, the desire to live free from the influence of the radically religious fanatics is again being thwarted.

As I prayed this morning about this, I was reminded of another time in this region. The lives of the people were being controlled by the ultra-religious rulers who stifled and controlled their people with burdensome rules. All the while, security of the area was provided by the super-power nation of the time. It was into that scene that God sent a messenger. He didn’t come from the outside, indeed, his father was a high ranking religious official.

I love studying about John the Baptist. And lately I have been praying that God would bring the Muslim people their John the Baptist, their man with the Spirit of Elijah. It seems like the right time to me. What he did for Israel 2000 years ago was phenomenal. For those longing to get closer to God, but knowing that cruel religious control was not the answer, John prepared them. He opened their hearts so they could recognize their salvation when He appeared. I really sense that today’s Muslims are ready for that.

It is easy to forget that they too are sons of Abraham. They have been cruelly misled and controlled for too long. They need our prayers today.

Christmas of Love and Hope

I hope your Christmas was wonderful. Ours was. We traveled to our son and daughter-in-law’s home on Christmas Eve and stayed with them. We got to attend Christmas Eve service at our old church. Every time we make the journey to attend there, I understand more and more how precious that little church and its people are. The attendance was smaller than past Christmas Eve services. But the warmth that we felt from our loved ones there really allowed me to fully engage the Christmas Spirit.

Today, the day after Christmas we received a few more cards from friends. One was from an old college friend who lives in Portland. His family typically constructs a state of the art news letter that is always fun to read. We don’t see them anymore so we look forward to their newsletters. After the typical blah blah blah stuff, Joe summed up his letter by saying, “I won’t close this year with a wish for world peace, because it increasingly seems like a wasted wish and a lost cause. Humans will never get along while there is organized religion to keep us at each other’s throats, and as long as we have a government that is more interested in stirring up trouble than really working for cooperation.”

No sooner did I read that, then an old Christmas Carol popped into my head. I googled it and I knew it was the Holy Spirit who prompted it. The song was written by a man who had just received news that his son was wounded in the Civil War. His wife was killed in a fire two years earlier. But the Spirit of Christmas so profoundly touched him that he wrote this:

I heard the bells on Christmas day

Their old familiar carols play,

And wild and sweet the words repeat

Of peace on earth, good will to men.

And thought how, as the day had come,

The belfries of all Christendom

Had rolled along the unbroken song

Of peace on earth, good will to men.

And in despair I bowed my head

“There is no peace on earth,” I said,

“For hate is strong and mocks the song

Of peace on earth, good will to men.”

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:

“God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;

The wrong shall fail, the right prevail

With peace on earth, good will to men.”

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Over 160 years later, the belfries of Christendom still declare that hope of Peace on Earth, Good Will to Men.

Humble Yet Secure

Just a humble stable

But so secure in His mother’s arms.

He came to humble shepherds

And was sent by His Father above.

A humble King, a humble Lord,

Yet so secure when crowned with thorns.

How could He be the two in one,

Unless He was God’s Son?

Just a humble carpenter,

But so secure as Son of Man.

He came for humble people,

And was sent by His Father above.

A humble King, a humble Lord,

Yet so secure when crowned with thorns.

How could He be the two in one?

He must be God’s Son.

Humility, security

Are these the gifts You have for me?

Humility and security,

Only You could give these for me.

A precious,

Helpless baby . . .

But so secure.

Debbie Ausherman, 2003

When the Going Gets Tough for our new President

Of all the campaign issues, I think the most important one (notice I said “most important” not most popular, or most considered) is the one of how our new President will be able to hold up in the international arena. Take a moment and imagine your favorite candidate being confronted by say, the Iran Hostage Crisis, or 9-11 or the Cuban Missile Crisis. Does he or she have what it takes to get our country through it? This is a job where failure is not an option. Repercussion of that failure last for generations.

Take Jimmy Carter and the Iranian affair. He completely froze when a group of students took over our American Embassy in that country. Embassies have a unique status. It is as if those properties are part of the country that the ambassadors represent; not part of the countries where they are located. Attacking a country’s embassy is legally the same as attacking the country. So, for the “students” to attack our embassy with the blessing of the people who just took over their country, a particular response was mandatory. Carter froze. Our people remained in captivity for over 500 days. The details of what transpired over that period of time mark some of the bleakest times in American foreign relations.

The thing to know here is that when elections came, Ronald Reagan defeated Carter. As Reagan was being inaugurated, the Iranians were setting in motion the release of the hostages. Where they tied Jimmy Carter’s crack negotiating teams in knots, they immediately gave up the hostages as Reagan became President. Were there some backdoor deals to make it happen? Yes there were. But the deals were delivered with a clear message; a velvet glove over a rock-hard fist. “Let our people go – right now!” Even though Reagan was immediately successful, the 500 days of allowing the Iranian Islamists to have their way with us took its toll. We pay the price today. Indeed one of the “students” is now their leader. And he has learned well. Have we?

With the whole menu of candidates out there, we have many choices. But if you simply apply the Carter / Reagan filter to the list, then it really sorts out quickly. Would your candidate be a Carter or a Reagan?

Here is my list

Obama - - - Carter

Edwards - - - Carter

Biden - - - Reagan lite

Clinton - - - (which way do the polls show she should go today?)

Giuliani - - - Reagan

Thompson - - - Reagan

Romney - - - Where’s the money in this deal? What are the percentages?

Huckabee - - - Jimmy Carter II

McCain - - - Reagan

Imagine this: Iran announces that it is closing the Straits of Hormuz. All the oil that travels that way is immediately stopped. Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Dubai are all on the phone pleading for immediate intervention. Then the red phone rings. It is Iran's new best friend Vladimir Putin. He is about to give our new President a threat. Who do you want to see taking that call?

Answer the Question, Mitt

If you were running for office and someone challenged you with this question, what would you do? “Don’t you Christians believe that Jesus was born of a virgin?”

Would you cry “Foul! You’re just bigoted! What my church believes is none of your business!”

Or would you say, “Yes, Jesus was born of a virgin. Mary conceived Jesus by the Holy Spirit. Do I believe that? I absolutely do!”

The other day, Mike Huckabee reflexed an observation “Don’t Mormons believe that Jesus and Satan are brothers?” I was thrilled when I heard that he had thrown that question out there. Is it an appropriate question when considering who will be the best candidate for President of the United States? Perhaps it isn’t for some people. For me – I want to see Romney answer the question.

Now Romney is an interesting guy. When asked the question: "When you were campaigning for Governor of Massachusetts weren’t you for abortions?" He has a great answer. “Yes I was and I was wrong.”

Regarding illegal immigrants, he has also allows himself the right to change his mind, declaring now a much more conservative opinion than he once had.

Perhaps the change of mind was because he has weighed the logic of the arguments and found he was on the wrong side of the issue. Or perhaps he weighed the voter support and found that his stance on these issues was a loser. Politicians tend to do that.

My point is that we know Romney is a politician first. He has the proven ability of letting go of strong positions to gain support. He will also allow himself to reconsider important issues. So, Mitt Romney, here is a question. And all the Christians are watching. Consider it carefully.
Do you believe that Jesus and Satan are brothers? Do you worship Satan’s brother?

If he says “yes” then I don’t think I am going to vote for him. Hey its just me. Yes it is a litmus test. It is the mother of all litmus tests.

If he says he has thought about it and now answers “no, I changed my mind.”, – I am not going to vote for him then either.

Scott Elliot has some further observations about it.

CIA Punked by the Iranians

So did you hear that the CIA has suddenly determined that Iran gave up its quest for a nuclear device way back in 2003? If the CIA’s new epiphany is true, then seriously, Ahmadinejad deserves the Nobel Prize. But on the other hand, if it is true, then he should be committed to an asylum. This is because over the last 4 years he has given tirade after tirade about how he was going to nuke the infidels. Iran has suffered dearly from sanctions and boycotts all the while they could have been the darlings of the entire world. Why would he have unilaterally complied with the IAEA, concealed that fact, and then suffered the wrath of the west? Look at Libya. Qaddafi freely trades with the West. His country has known no better prosperity than since he publicly renounced his nuclear ambitions and opened his doors for verification.

If you check, you will see that no other intelligence agency around the world agrees with this assessment. Just over the weekend, the British stated in this article that the CIA’s ability to assess information in the region is known to be deficient. Its own assessment comes to a much more sinister conclusion. It believes our CIA has become victim to some Iran disinformation. Add that to the extreme pressure of not wanting to be blamed for Bush starting another war and you have a perfect scenario for this off-the-wall- report to suddenly appear.

I also have a very sinister assessment. I believe the CIA’s #1 mission is its own self-preservation. They found it totally unacceptable for Bush to declare another war based on information they had provided. Truth is obviously the casualty here. It ceased to be a consideration. I think that they also feared that the next Republican President could pull the same trigger. This assessment then has a double punch. It not only attempts to prevent Bush from declaring war on Iran, it attempts to take a very important issue out of the whole election campaign, thus giving Democrats a pass on perhaps the most important issue that this country faces.

It has to be very hard for President Bush to maintain his momentum against evil with his own agency cutting his knees out from under him - again.

Ric, Chuck back Huck

When you look over the field of candidates for President, a quick glance will tell you that some candidates will automatically get certain votes from certain kinds of people. For example: Dennis Kucinich has a lock on UFO spotters, those captured and released by space aliens, and probably space aliens themselves. Ron Paul has those who want to disband the military right after he uses them to disband the IRS. Barack Obama has the chain-smokers. But who has the tough-guy vote? That’s a demographic that to this point has not been claimed. Well not anymore. Two remarkable endorsements have just come out:

Republican Mike Huckabee, former Governor of Arkansas has just pulled in two of the greatest tough guys.
NATURE BOY RIC FLAIR is backing Huckabee for President. Surely you know who that is:
The Nature Boy says:

"It's a tremendous honor to offer my support to such an outstanding leader as Mike Huckabee" Flair said. "His authentic conservative qualifications and level of executive leadership experience are unmatched by his opponents. And like I always say, to be the man, you've got to beat the man and Mike Huckabee is the man. Whoooooooo!"

However, if that isn't enough, Chuck Norris, the toughest guy of all is supporting Huckabee too. Here is a short vidoe where Huck and Chuck tell you how it is:




You can't make this stuff up!

What Happens in Las Vegas . . .

I need to talk once again to you Democrats. Did you see the recent Democratic Presidential Candidate debate from Las Vegas on CNN? Did Wolf Blitzer do a good job by asking good questions? Did your candidate do well? Do you think the American people have a better understanding of the Democratic candidates?

Just a few more questions. Do you enjoy being conned? Do you enjoy being taken for fools? Do you enjoy being manipulated?

The Democratic Party must believe that you have no problem with that. It is hard for them to disguise what they did. They put on a carefully choreographed performance and called it a “debate” Their level of respect for voters is very revealing here. Please glance at this article; well, if truth is important to you.

This will only continue and get worse until you demand that they treat you with dignity.

Truth Seekers R Us

I have been writing about how the press and the culture it represents has been misrepresenting the truth in an effort to not only steer the upcoming elections but to control our future. You can say it has always been that way. However it seems to me that this effort has increased exponentially over the past few years.

As it turns out, the Editors of Investors Business Daily agrees with my observations. They have done a series on this very issue. They go into pretty good detail. Investors Business Daily is widely read and fiercely independent. You can read their series here.

There are three things that continue to amaze me:

One is the fact a huge percentage of our population remains unaware that they are being given false and incomplete information by the main stream media for the purpose of controlling their beliefs.

The second is that when they are shown that they are being lied to they defend the media forces that are lying to them.

The third is that the truth cannot be hidden in this day of the internet, but people simply refuse to get it, preferring to be willingly lied to. That means that they would rather live in a world created by this culture and its media than they would in a world of truth and reality. Why? Reality scares them.

Each person who comes to understand the truth of this needs to turn around and address the culture and its media to tell them that their co-dependant relationship is over. Here is a good way to explain it:

Neo: I know you're out there. I can feel you now. I know that you're afraid... you're afraid of us. You're afraid of change. I don't know the future. I didn't come here to tell you how this is going to end. I came here to tell you how it's going to begin. I'm going to hang up this phone, and then I'm going to show these people what you don't want them to see. I'm going to show them a world without you. A world without rules and controls, without borders or boundaries. A world where anything is possible. Where we go from there is a choice I leave to you.

Fifth Estate Goes Renegade

There is a new study that again confirms a topic I recently have been writing about. I have been concerned that the liberal press has been editing news on the war in Iraq to support liberal politicians' ignorant and dangerous positions. While that is no secret, I believe strongly that this situation does not absolve us from pursuing the truth. It is out there. And we need to go get it. Do you recognize the same problem regarding election coverage?

Rick Noyes of Newsbusters states:

The study, released Monday from the Project for Excellence in Journalism (PEJ) and Harvard’s Shorenstein Center, found newspapers and broadcast TV outlets devoted far more time to covering the Democratic candidates than the Republicans and that the tone of those stories was much more favorable to the Democrats, mirroring the results of a Media Research Center study released in August.

In other words, this study done by PEJ confirms another one done several months ago. The mainstream press has cashed in the last of its integrity and is shamelessly joining the campaign for the Democrats. If we want to know the truth, we need to understand where not to look. To what extent are they slanted? The study found that it is more slanted than the radio talk shows that they accuse of being biased! Noyes explains:

According to a new study, those news organizations that hold themselves up as the most neutral and professional — big newspapers, the broadcast networks and taxpayer-subsidized National Public Radio — are actually producing campaign stories that are the most tilted in favor of Democrats, while online news and talk radio have actually been the most balanced.

I have some liberal friends who get all their information from the mainstream media. What are they afraid of? It's too bad. Know the truth and the truth will set you free!

Truth from the Source

This is not official US Military news. This is not unofficial information from unnamed sources but made official because it was whispered to an AP reporter. It is from one of the heads of one of the most influential tribes in Iraq and it is told to us by an American reporter who is not on anyone’s payroll. Al Qaeda in Iraq is defeated. In his most recent article. Michael Yon reports

“Al Qaeda in Iraq is defeated,” according to Sheik Omar Jabouri, spokesman for the Iraqi Islamic Party and a member of the widespread and influential Jabouri Tribe. Speaking through an interpreter at a 31 October meeting at the Iraqi Islamic Party headquarters in downtown Baghdad, Sheik Omar said that al Qaeda had been “defeated mentally, and therefore is defeated physically,” referring to how clear it has become that the terrorist group’s tactics have backfired. Operatives who could once disappear back into the crowd after committing an increasingly atrocious attack no longer find safe haven among the Iraqis who live in the southern part of Baghdad. They are being hunted down and killed. Or, if they are lucky, captured by Americans.

Well, we have certainly heard similar things over the years, what makes this different? Yon goes on to explain:

Sheik Omar, who has gained the respect of American combat leaders for his intelligence and organizational skills, said the tough line against al Qaeda is also enforced at the tribal level. According to Sheik Omar, the Jabouri tribe, too, is actively committed to destroying al Qaeda. So much so, that Jabouri tribal leaders have decided they would “kill their own sons” if any aided al Qaeda. To underscore the point, he went on to say that about 70 Jabouri “sons” had been killed by the Jabouri tribe so far.

Let’s see how long this story takes to get to the main stream media. It means the surge is working. It means that good Iraqis don’t hate Americans. It means that the “we must leave so the killing will stop” lie is put to rest. And it means that Democrats in Congress have been wrong about Iraq.

If this holds (always remember that war is fluid and things can change), then the implications are huge. It means that Iraq is morphing into a country that resists Islamofacism from any source. It means that Iraq will have matured beyond the point where they would tolerate militant Islam as being their oppressive government. They will go from being the most dangerous place to live on the planet to being a peaceful part of the modern world. They would be a model for other countries who are being held down by oppressive Islamic regimes.

Read the whole article here.

Insist on the Truth

One of my favorite sources for news about the conflict in Iraq is a war correspondent Michael Yon. He works for no news bureau. He simply blogs and asks for donations. This makes him very independent.

He doesn’t usually comment on the obvious news filter that exists today, but in his most recent article he talked at length about it.

Here is an important question for every Truthseeker reader. There is overwhelming evidence that all three major networks plus CNN and the major news services, AP, Reuters, and BBC, filter and slant news about the Iraq conflict. Knowing that, do you then seek other sources of news to find out what reality is or do you simply accept what they are telling you? Are you insulted that these news organizations attempt to guide the masses with their carefully shaped version of reality or are you simply OK with their version?

Michael Yon doesn’t have an editor or boss that steers the subject matter. What you see is what you get. In this article, he is not only disappointed in the media; I sense he is disappointed in us as well. He expresses a little bit of my passion. In his recent article titled “Resistance is futile: You will be (mis)informed” he comments, “America seems to be under a glass dome which allows few hard facts from the field to filter in unless they are attached to a string of false assumptions.”

In July of this year, Michael tried to offer an article to AP. The Americans and Iraqi Army found a mass grave of civilians killed in Baqubah by Al Qaeda.. This was absent from the news reports while unsubstantiated stories of Americans killing Iraqis were being published. (Remember Murtha and the Haditha Marines) Michael, who was with the military when the mass grave was discovered, documented what he had found. He offered his story, complete with pictures to the AP, under the assumption that AP would like a factual, on the scene account. His offer: “Would you publish the truth of this story if I gave it all to you for free?” AP was not interested! They told him that no military report or AP reporter new of the story, so – no story. He sent them a picture that he took of the AP correspondent who was with him and the General who investigated it. AP has yet to respond back. Meanwhile, months later the Haditha Marines have been exonerated!

Today, he writes about how Iraq is a different place because of the efforts of General Petreaus. There is a tremendously important story breaking but there is no interest in it. He is concerned that we don’t understand that because of a disingenuous media that long ago decided the outcome and for political reasons is sticking to that scenario. He laments, “No thinking person would look at last year’s weather reports to judge whether it will rain today . . .”

Thinking person? You mean a person who is not afraid to challenge a media with an obvious and proven agenda?

If more people in America were aware of the truth about the conflict in Iraq they would cease to be fooled by the rhetoric they hear from the press and the Democratic leadership. The Democratic Party line dovetails nicely with the mainstream media storyline. What ever their excuse is for not allowing the truth to be told, what is the American peoples’ excuse for failing to be truthseekers?

Quiz

Test for you! Who said it?

1)"We're going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good."

A. Karl Marx
B. Adolph Hitler
C. Joseph Stalin
D. None of the above

2) "It's time for a new beginning, for an end to government of the few, by the few, and for the few...and to replace it with shared responsibility for shared prosperity."

A. Lenin
B. Mussolini
C. Idi Amin
D. None of the Above

3) "(We)...can't just let business as usual go on, and that means something has to be taken away from some people."

A. Nikita Khrushev
B. Jose f Goebbels
C. Boris Yeltsin
D. None of the above

4) "We have to build a political consensus and that requires people to give up a little bit of their own...in order to create this common ground."

A. Mao Tse Dung
B. Hugo Chavez
C. Kim Jong Il
D. None of the above

5) "I certainly think the free-market has failed."

A. Karl Marx
B. Lenin
C. Molotov
D. None of the above

6) "I think it's time to send a clear message to what has become the most profitable sector in (the) entire economy that they are being watched."

A. Pinochet
B. Milosevic
C. Saddam Hussein
D. None of the above

Answers:

(1) D. None of the above. Statement was made by Hillary Clinton 6/29/2004
(2) D. None of the above. Statement was made by Hillary Clinton 5/29/2007
(3) D. None of the above. Statement was made by Hillary Clinton 6/4/2007
(4) D. None of the above. Statement was made by Hillary Clinton 6/4/2007
(5) D. None of the above. Statement was made by Hillary Clinton 6/4/2007
(6) D. None of the above. Statement was made by Hillary Clinton 9/2/2005


Here is the source of the quiz.

It appears as of today that Hillary Clinton will win the nomination for the Democrats. I don’t believe that she will take any chances on her running mate. I believe she will pick Barak Obama. That would give them a pretty solid left of center to extreme left coalition. It would also guarantee the full resources of the mainstream media and the money and power of Moveon.org. This team would not have to venture very far to the right at all. Hillary’s ability to talk at times as a centrist will be enough to bring in the needed extras to put them over the top. The centrist voters they could fool into voting for them would be gravy and will be ignored after the inauguration.

To the Top of the Continent

In September we went to Banff in Alberta, Canada. I have never been to a more beautiful place. Even though Banff is virtually straight north of home, it is on the other side of the Continental Divide in the Rocky Mountains. The Banff/Lake Louise area is similar to the Yellowstone area in the way that it is, for some reason, a uniquely beautiful location with more wonders per square mile than you could imagine . It reminds me that God loves beauty and he created a few incredibly beautiful places so that we can enjoy them, too.

This is Mount Rundle. It is over 10,000 feet high. Most of the peaks there are.


We're 9,600 feet high (courtesy of a tram).


I love this sign. Which road shall we take?

Bursting their Bubble in the Big House

In two weeks, the Oregon Ducks have gone from unranked to being ranked 13th in the nation. The Michigan Wolverines, Oregon’s opponent two weeks ago plunged from 5th to unranked. Oregon’s win in the Big House was the primary reason it was boosted so high, so fast. And, one play in that win has become one of the most talked about in college football so far this year. It was nationally televised. The most revealing part of this TV coverage was the reaction of the Michigan fans at the end of this clip. The Big House is one of the most intimidating places for opponents to play. To see the expressions of disbelief on the fans’ faces was priceless.

Thanks to Addicted to Quack for this YouTube video.

Fear the Ducks!

It is football season again. I get the most excited over my alma mater, the Oregon Ducks. When someone would make fun of the fact that our team mascot was a “duck”, I would inform them that we weren’t just ducks. We are Mighty Fighting Ducks! I give you two observations to prove my point.

1. This year, so far, we are 3 – 0. The first game we beat the Houston Cougars (more on that later). The second game we trounced Michigan in the Big House. And now we have just beaten the Fresno State Bulldogs.

2. Our mascot has always been the Disney duck. Years ago, Oregon got permission from Walt Disney himself to use Donald as our animal representative. Every decade or so there is a push to change the mascot to something more formidable. After all, Donald doesn’t strike fear into the opposition the way Cougars or Trojans or Bears do. A couple of years ago, in an effort to look tougher, Donald started doing push-ups at football games. Every time we would score, Donald would go out onto the field and count off the total amount of points on the scoreboard. I’ve seen some high scoring games where Donald had to do a lot of push-ups.

In our first game against the Houston Cougars this year, Donald noticed that their Cougar mascot was doing the same thing. Every time they would score, he would go out onto the field and do push-ups. Hey! Donald does the push-ups! Not some goofy guy in a cat suit. See what happened next:

Donald got suspended for unnecessary roughness. I wonder if they check mascots for steriods? This looks like 'roid rage to me.

Here's Looking at You, Kid

I remember a movie plot one time that revolved around a scene where a man was peering though a telescope across the skyline of a city. He focused in on a window of a tall building across town only to see a man peering through a telescope back at him. That’s what I thought of when I came across this picture taken by the Hubble Telescope. It is appropriately named The Eye of God.

I know that I sometimes forget that He always sees me. While we are diligently searching for him, he is always very aware of us. If for a brief moment we could focus a telescope on God, would we find him busy working on something else? I don’t think so. I think we would see him looking at us – not missing a thing. Sometimes we would like it if we could hide from him. I remember when our daughter was just two, she would cover her eyes, thinking that it blocked our view of her. Having been caught getting into her mother’s dresser drawer, she wanted to disappear. But she had little understanding that when a parent looks upon his child, he does it with love.

ONE Idol Who Invests His Fame

Lately I have been really down on the idols of our society. That would be the entertainment stars and the sports stars who have become more than just rich. They have become idolized. They lead an unreal life that is not just one of luxury, but of super-celebrity status, whom we grant permission to live outside the boundaries of decency and civility.

Many have taken this idol status and used it as a license to live lustful and deviant lives. Michael Vick is such a person. Lindsay Lohan is another. Believe me, I am not as upset at them as I am at our society that needs them and pays them. This world has lavished riches on them and they have responded by not only ignoring decency but by displaying their disregard for it.

Still others have used it for political voice. Over the past decade many celebrities have, for some reason, been granted a political voice. We all too easily gave a microphone to Rosie O’Donnell and listened to her “view” on politics as she bellowed her opposition into silence. There are many other idols such as Sean Penn and Susan Sarandon who also used their celebrity currency to push their radically socialist opinions into the heads of their unquestioning fans. I believe that for many of these people who have become political, the world travel and exposure have shown them scenes that are very disturbing. Not having a box for it and not having God in their lives they grasp at humanist socialist solutions and use their celebrity status to sell it.

Well, I have been amazed at one person who has used his celebrity status quite differently. This man is surprisingly a believer in Jesus Christ. His favorite scripture is also mine. John 8:32 “Know the truth and the truth will set you free.” He states in the following You-Tube session that he actually didn’t have much use for Christians or the Church. The interview is of Bono. His interviewer is Bill Hybels of the Willow Creek Community Church. This segment is 8 minutes of an hour long session. Watch this segment and then click on the link to watch all of it. He sets the standard for how an idol can invest his celebrity capitol to change the disturbing things that he has seen around the world.

This is Segment 4. See all the segments of this incredible interview here. Find Segment 1 and go through them all.

Here is the question that is haunting me. OK Dave, you are not Bono. You don't have that kind of celebrity clout to change the world. But you are known in your world. You have capital with your friends and neighbors. Are you as motivated by Christ's passion and peoples plights to demand that their world be changed?

Muslims dig and find the truth

I reported earlier that Israel Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had approved giving millions of dollars to the Fatah leaders in hopes that their legitimacy would grow and Hamas’s would weaken. But somehow Fatah managed to give at least $3.5 million to Hamas soldiers.

In another act of kindness Olmert has now given permission to the Palestinians to dig a trench across the Temple Mount to replace a faulty electrical line. The trench is long and deep. Archeologists are furious. Observing from afar they can see where engraved stones have been dug up by the heavy equipment and tossed in the rubble. Experts are convinced they have uncovered a wall of Herod's Temple.

Although the major news sources have refused to give this much attention at all, the digging is a huge issue on many fronts. Muslim clerics have been blatantly claiming that there never was a Jewish Temple there. According to them the stories about a Jewish Temple are all lies. It's very ironic that they are the ones who are digging up the proof that it is there. Another huge issue is that the Temple Mount is an international historical site. There should be international outrage, but there is only silence. Then there is the obvious faith issue to everyone who is of Jewish or Christian faith. The stones that are being uncovered were undoubtedly from a wall from Herod’s temple, the same Temple that Jesus himself walked through. I visited many of the traditional sites in Jerusalem. They are just that; sites that “are traditionally believed to be ones that Jesus visited." No one has uncovered something specifically from Herod’s Temple before.

As I explained in my last post on Prime Minister Olmert, he is a favorite of the secular Israelis. They believe that the less they care about their religious past, the better chance of survival they have. They not only reject the thought of God coming to their rescue, they embrace the idea that capitulation to the Palestinians is the path to their future.

I believe there is another front to seriously consider. Remember the first Indiana Jones movie where Indy sneaks into a temple in the jungle and steals an ancient artifact? He soon realized that he touched off a huge mechanical chain reaction. Well, I believe the Palestinians’ digging could also touch off something huge. And I don’t think it will be mechanical. The very Temple where Jesus stood and spoke to every generation from then until now is being revealed. It existed. It is there just as the gospels said it was.

If you research it, you will learn that there were some amazing supernatural incidences that happened around the Temple Mount in the 1947-48 war and again in the 1967 war. In one incident, a large group of Palestinian soldiers were forced back from attacking and slaughtering a small group of Israeli soldiers. As they approached the Temple Mount they were confronted by a large image of a foreboding Father Abraham. There are other instances of Israeli’s becoming invisible and Palestinians being confused. What might happen in 2007?

The Palestinians don’t care that God told David that His temple was to go there. Prime Minister Olmert doesn’t care. Many of the Israeli people don’t care. The international community doesn’t care. Only the “powerless” believers and the Jewish faithful still care. I know that God still cares too. Let’s see what happens.

Want to read about it? Look here and here.

Galations 6: 7

How many of us are guilty of idol worship? "Never!" you say?

How many of us follow the lives of celebrities. You know, movie stars, sports stars, royalty, etc. How many of us buy their stuff, go to their new movies, go to their games, etc. I know I shouldn't be meddling with this topic. It is not fun to talk about it because we all have our favorites. But I am really put off by the Michael Vick thing. It has shown up as something that doesn't necessarily divide us, but as something that illuminates the size of the already existing chasm between us and the celebrities we worship.

We get a free look at the mental state of Michael Vick. Apparently he would throw two dogs in a pit where they would fight until one was nearly dead. According to Senator Byrd the fight would last for hours. Then Vick would take the dog that was losing and further torture it until it died. Each time, he would use a new unique way of torturing to death the dog that lost.

The ironic thing about what has happened the last few weeks revolves around the scripture, "Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap (Galations 6: 7). I know God put dogs on the earth to be a loyal and faithful companion to us. Michael Vick's hobby and sideline sport was the brutal and grotesque slaying of these loyal animals. When he and his friends were caught, the prosecutors gave the friends plea bargains in exchange for their testimony against Michael Vick. Some people on the other side of this chasm were incensed. "Where was their loyalty?" Some statements were even made that those who ratted Vick out were as good as dead. Loyalty?

Now the NAACP in Atlanta has come out with an official statement that says Michael Vick should not be banned from football. After all, where is our compassion for Vick?

Compassion?

Further, today, Stephan Marbury, NBA guard for the New York Knicks told reporters that he didn't see anything wrong with what Vick was doing. "It is a sport! Is it any different from killing a deer?"

I feel like that AFLAC Duck after hearing Yogi Berra talk. My jaw drops open to speak but nothing comes out. I am not sure how Stephan Marbury goes about hunting deer, but, yes, it is very different.

The purpose of this rant isn't to heap condemnation on these wealthy idols of our society. The verse I quoted above isn't simply a Bible verse. It is a law, like gravity. We all get the fruit of what we have sown. But the purpose is for us to take another look at what our society's worship of these people has turned them into. They are not like us. They are more like the gods of Greek mythology who demanded worship but had no identity with the people at all. They have different values. The have different ideas about right and wrong, about justice. Occasionally we can make one of them face reality for brief moments, but rarely do we even want to lower them from the ranks of idol.

I want to do that now. Because of this Michael Vick episode, I am looking at super-stars differently now. They have been handed everything the world has to offer. But it is far from the abundant life that Jesus said he came to bring us.

When Dealing With A Fool, Make Sure He Is Not Similarly Engaged

Photo of Ehud Olmert (he is the one on the left)

Israel is experiencing a new low. I read just recently that most of the citizens in Israel are secular and do not believe in God. Following that tract then, most of the people want Israel to make some kind of peace with the Arab world. They see the religious issues as simply obstacles to peace. Holy sites? Let the Palestinians have them. They believe that the Arabs’ heartburn is really over the Israelis religion. No religion, no more heartburn.

Israel’s Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert is immensely unpopular. However, he is for the most part, secular. He has, in all likelihood lost his majority. But no one wants an election because they fear that Benjamin Netanyahu, someone who believes in Israel’s biblical destiny, will come to power. Thus, even though Olmert has proven to be an uncharacteristically bad leader, they stick with him. They figure that their best chance is to get peace through his efforts of capitulation.

Recently, the capitulation plan leaped forward when Olmert released some Palestinian prisoners and Israel disbursed millions of dollars to Mahmoud Abbas, the leader of the Fatah party. The plan was to take advantage of the split between Fatah and Hamas. If they could underwrite Fatah, then perhaps they could help their popularity with the general Palestinian population. Hopefully that would lead to a major Fatah victory in their next Palestinian election and the militant Hamas party would find itself out of power. Then Israel could negotiate with Abbas and his Fatah party about the West Bank and about setting up a real Palestinian country. The millions of dollars that Israel released was a huge thing because all money had been cut off for a very long time. The Fatah government and their security forces were finally able to be paid. Can you imagine how Abbas must have felt? They experienced hardship for so long and now they were receiving MILLIONS! Can you imagine his popularity! He had money and he had the power. He could disburse it in ways that would help his people the most.

But wait! Something happened! In the rush to spread the wealth, $3.2 million went an unexpected direction. Who could blame Abbas if he disbursed too much to hospitals or to orphanages. Being the man with all the money, it probably was pretty hectic deciding who gets money and who doesn’t. I am sure his headquarters was a pretty busy place.

But no, the $3.2 million did not go to help the sick or the orphaned. It “accidentally” went to the HAMAS MILITARY!! Abbas “accidentally” paid his “enemies” $3.2 million! He is reported to be really embarrassed about it.

Poor Ehud Olmert. He has put his money and his faith in Mahmoud Abbas. Israel has spent the last year holding onto the theory that Abbas would overcome the dangerously militant Hamas party. They fought a small war with Hamas and they suffered so much for this plan. Hamas was out of money and losing popularity. Then, somehow a clerical error happened and some of Israel’s millions ended up breathing life into the very terrorists they have been fighting against.

Things are very complicated in the Middle East. They are never as they seem. Olmert has chosen to back a man who learned everything he knows from Yassar Arafat. Mr. Olmert is a fool.

Read about the payday for Israel's enemies here: Hamas Payday

Adventures in Truth Seeking

Three things that you don’t want to hear in a tattoo parlor:

1. “Eagle?! I though you said beagle!

2. ”We ran out of red, so I used pink instead.”

3 “Bob has two ‘O’s in it, doesn’t it?”

_____________________________

_______________________________________________





______________________________________________

Moving Testimony

Three buddies die in a car crash, and they go to heaven.

There, they are all asked, "When you are in your casket and friends and family are mourning, what would you like to hear them say about you?"The first guy says, "I would like to hear them say that I was a great doctor of my time, and a great family man."
The second guy says, "I would like to hear that I was a wonderful husband and school teacher who made a huge difference in our children of tomorrow."
The last guy replies, "I would like to hear them say, 'Look! He's moving!"

OK, one more:

My Dad Is Better Than Your Dad

Three boys are in the school yard bragging about their fathers.
The first boy says, "My Dad scribbles a few words on a piece of paper, he calls it a poem, they give him $50."

The second boy says, "That's nothing. My Dad scribbles a few words on a piece of paper, he calls it a song, they give him $100."

The third boy says, "I got you both beat. My Dad scribbles a few words on a piece of paper, he calls it a sermon...and it takes eight people to collect all the money!"

Who You Gonna Call?

There is a scene in the 1984 comedy, Ghosts Busters where they are in the basement of their headquarters being confronted by a shrieking EPA agent. “Shut that thing down!” he yelled as he is pointed to a big electronic device on the wall that somehow housed all the spooks that the Ghost Busters had captured.

In the scene the Ghost Busters were trying to convince the police to not listen to the EPA agent. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you! You have no idea what you are dealing with!”

Then they started covering their heads and running towards the exit as they realized that the policeman had to acquiesce to the authority of the EPA agent and turn off the switch. Moments later, all hell broke loose, literally, as all the spooks escaped and ran amok through New York.

It’s a funny scene. I remember it because the EPA agent had absolutely no wisdom, no sense of reality of what he is dealing with, and yet couldn’t help but act on his absolute authority. To me, he is the personification of the Democrats in Congress and the Senate with regards to their authority and the issue of the Iraq War.

“Shut that thing down!”

Those who understand the situation in the Middle East reply, “I wouldn’t do that if I were you. You have no idea what you are dealing with.” Like the character in the movie, that fact has no impact on the Democratic leadership. They have the authority and they are going to throw the switch. In the movie, what happened next was funny. I am sure the reality of what happens next after shutting down the war in Iraq will not be funny.

Like the EPA agent, it is apparent that the Democrats in power in Washington have no understanding or fear of the demonic forces that are now being held at bay. They don’t understand that these forces have no appreciation of the conventional rules by which we abide. The Democrats came to power in the Senate and Congress because those who were in power before allowed them to. We live here by rules that we all have agreed upon. Democrats won in enough elections to gain the majority. Republicans surrendered their seats to them. This “convention” has no meaning at all to the evil forces who will be allowed to roam the world at will, when we shut down the war in Iraq. Borders mean nothing, existing laws mean nothing, existing authority, customs, and cultures mean nothing. Like the ghosts who were liberated to freely terrorize the city, these evil forces will be suddenly liberated to terrorize the world.

You can laugh at this analogy. But if you read it, then someday you will remember it. It will be a day when you are done laughing. Who you gonna call, then?

4th of July

Today is another birthday of our Country. Happy 4th of July! For me, it is always worth celebrating. It is also my mother's birthday. This year I cannot make it to her party (the first time we have missed it that I can remember). So I am dedicating this post to her. In my life, our family cannot separate the two birthdays. The 4th of July is about celebrating Mom's birthday with sparklers and firecrackers. And celebrating our country's birthday is all about making a birthday cake and gathering around home. I will miss it this year.

So anyway, I thought I would search out a nugget of truth for my Truthseeker blog for this occasion. Below is a statement that was made on my mother's 3rd birthday by the President of the United States. He is talking about the Declaration of Independence and the troubling notion that we have come far and are perhaps now more modern than those who signed it.

About the Declaration there is a finality that is exceedingly restful. It is often asserted that the world has made a great deal of progress since 1776, that we have had new thoughts and new experiences which have given us a great advance over the people of that day, and that we may therefore very well discard their conclusions for something more modern. But that reasoning can not be applied to this great charter. If all men are created equal, that is final. If they are endowed with inalienable rights, that is final. If governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, that is final. No advance, no progress can be made beyond these propositions. If anyone wishes to deny their truth or their soundness, the only direction in which he can proceed historically is not forward, but backward toward the time when there was no equality, no rights of the individual, no rule of the people. Those who wish to proceed in that direction can not lay claim to progress. They are reactionary. Their ideas are not more modern, but more ancient, than those of the Revolutionary fathers.

That was written by Calvin Coolidge on the 4th of July, 1926. It helps us to remember that some very special things like the principles that established our country - - and my mother - - grow more valuable with age.

Under the Bridge

I was all alone as I waded down the Ninilchik River in Alaska. The sun was shining and the weather was warm. My waders kept my feet and legs insulated from the icy water that rushed passed me to the Cook Inlet about a mile downstream. In the week that I had been on the Kenai Peninsula, I had fished several rivers and caught Halibut on a rolling deck in the ocean. I had experienced “combat fishing” on the Russian River and fished late into the evening on the Kasiloff River. My two fishing buddies, Norm and Ray took an opportunity to go out for one more halibut fishing trip, so I dropped them at the charter launch point and headed for the Ninilchik. Now I was standing in the middle of it all alone. I was awe-struck by the beautiful setting. The river, about as wide as a big one-lane road meandered through meadows and around big rocks. Upriver it passed under the highway bridge. Downriver, it meandered back and forth through a meadow that led through a village and the mouth.

The beauty, warmth, and solitude allowed me to think about a recurring dream that I had as a boy. I hadn’t thought about it in years, but it was fresh again, prompted by the desire to catch a fish. The dream was a scene where I as a young boy was pulling a fish from a stream that ran through our pasture. As I was pulling the fish from the stream, without looking, I knew my Dad was walking up behind me. I grabbed the fish, turned around and held it up for him. I was laughing and he was beaming. I loved that dream. The problem was that it was just that. My Dad was a wonderful father, but he never took me fishing. My whole childhood, he worked 6 days a week. The one day he got off we worked to keep the farm going. He promised but we never went fishing. Other boys my age went fishing with their dads.

So as I stood all alone on the Ninilchick, I called out to God. “Father, this place is so beautiful, would you spend some time with me, here? Would you walk with me? Would you show me what to do; where to go? Do you have time to spend with me? I know you must be busy but can we go fishing together?”

When I said that last bit, I could feel a bit of anger that I had held for all those years towards my Dad. As I sat and retied my salmon rowe bait, I repented of that immature resentment that I had somehow harbored all these years. The emotion of the moment caught me by surprise. Sitting there in the sun, with that beautiful river flowing by, I felt God’s tender presence and the strong desire to be with the Lord. I told him that His presence, enjoying this stream with me was what I longed for. Actually catching a fish was not nearly as important. As I stood up, I asked Him which way we should go. I had been heading downstream, but I sensed the desire to go upstream, wade under the bridge, and follow the river as it turned left and headed east.

I made my way slowly upstream, sometimes on the bank, sometimes in the water. I fished the holes and still water as I went. Earlier, downstream I had caught two steelhead. Normally I would be elated, but I had to release them as I was after 30 lb. king salmon. Upstream I was not even getting steelhead bites. I entered the shade of the bridge and stepped into deeper water. As I did, I was still directly under the bridge when I glanced up ahead of me and saw an odd looking little man on far bank about 40 yards ahead of me. Beside him sat a very large black dog with white eyebrows and a grayish white muzzle. It was staring at me, not with any kind of alert, but with eyes that indicated I was of no threat to him.

The little man had seen me first. He was pacing back and forth on the bank, alternating glances at me and glances into the river below him. I kept slowly approaching him, but I had to walk from the middle of the stream to the opposite bank. The bank he was standing on was about 6 feet higher than the water level. My bank was more like a beach, directly under the bridge.

As I walked up it, he spoke in such a manner that almost sounded like we were in the middle of a conversation. “There are 5 right below me. I can see them. There are another 4 where you are, under the bridge.” He was now kneeling and pulling pieces of a small fly rod out of his backpack. “We’re all alone,” he continued. “There are a bunch of people at the mouth of the river digging clams. Wasting their time. Here is where the real action is.” Now he was plunking his hook in the water, allowing it to go to the bottom and then jerking it up. “I’ll show you they are down there. Then you will believe me,” he said with excitement in his voice.

At that point, several things were running through my mind. This little man was very odd looking. Everyone on the river wore the same uniform. Fishing vest, sunglasses, ball cap, and hip waders were all the standard wardrobe. This little man was wearing a blue wool plaid jacket, blue coveralls, and an odd looking black hat. His hair was long and curly as was his full beard. Even though there was no gray in his hair, the skin on his face was very wrinkled and looked like he had spent many an Alaskan winter out in the elements. His eyes were large and dark. Fishermen wore sunglasses so we could see the fish in the water. He wasn’t wearing any, but he was claiming he could see all these fish below us. I wondered if he wasn’t looking at logs below the water’s surface, or perhaps he had spotted some more steelhead.

He continued to plunk his line into the water and jerk up. “We’re the only ones here,” he said again. “I’ll show you that these fish are here.” Suddenly, the still water below him exploded. A good sized king salmon leapt into the air, hit the water and raced to the opposite shore. He let out a whoop as his little fly rod became a lightning rod and he hung on as it jerked up and down, left and right. The fish’s energy was only increasing as it crisscrossed the little river in an effort to get unhooked. Suddenly the water stopped churning and went silent. The fish had succeeded in losing the hook. “Whoo hoo,” he yelled. “I hooked that one in the ass! Now do you believe me?”

I admit I am not a very good fisherman. But I have learned a couple of things. One thing I learned was when you see something like what I just saw, you rig your hook with the same setup and you get it in the water, fast.

“Bait won’t work,” the little man said. “Do you know how to do the Kenai flip?” The Kenai flip is a legal snagging cast used by the locals for fish that are not responding to lures or bait.

“Yes, I know how” I replied as I sat down to rig my pole with the right hook, leader length, and weight to do the Kenai flip.

“That fish stirred up the others,” my new friend told me. “Some of them are headed towards you beneath the bridge.” As I waded back beneath the bridge, he caught another. “I got this one in the mouth!” he yelled as he played it along the bank. I was now below the bridge flipping my line into the water and jerking it up when the weight hit the bottom. I could see ripples in the water; proof that he was right. His action was moving the fish down river.

But as I walked away from him, down river giving chase, something then occurred to me. The scene seemed surreal, that was plain enough. But my recent prayer suddenly came back to me. “Would you spend time with me? Would you have some fun with me? Would you show me what to do, like a dad would do?” Even though this man is pretty strange, I thought, “Lord if this is you, I am absolutely crazy to be walking away from you.” So I abruptly turned around and started fishing towards the little man who was still wrestling with his big salmon.

Now walking under the bridge towards him, I encountered the deepest water yet. I suddenly noticed that one of my waders was taking on ice cold water. I was in the shade, under the bridge working to about 20 yards from the little man standing in the sunshine when the water exploded around me. My rod bent over and nearly jerked from my hand as beside me, not 10 feet away a huge king salmon lunged to the surface. I had my drag set pretty tight but he easily stripped out line as he took off down river in an effort to get unhooked. I let out a yell and I could hear the little man yell back, encouraging me on.

Suddenly then the line went slack as I could see the big fish change directions and head directly towards me. I reeled as fast as I could to take up the slack, all the while backing up towards the beach under the bridge. But when the fish saw the bank coming up, he abruptly turned and headed across the river again towards a partially submerged log. “Oh no you don’t!” I yelled as I tightened my drag down some more and pulled with all my might. I knew if he got under the log he would be able to catch my line. I pulled again and just got his head turned in time. But there were more logs and he headed for the next one. Again I got his head turned in time and again he race towards me, causing my line to go slack. I reeled in as fast as I could. Things were looking good. I had him headed towards the beach and I knew he had to be tiring.

But I was also aware of the eventual fate of this fish. You see, it had a dorsal fin. It was a native and when I got him to shore, (if I got him to shore), I was going to have to release him. The rules were strict that we could keep only hatchery kings like the one that I had caught on the Kasilof River a few days earlier. This was a much bigger fish. He was mad at me for disturbing his peace. But at this point he was cooperating. I had him heading my direction a second time and I new I just needed to back up and bring him onto the beach.

But there is a funny thing about king salmon. I think that is why they are called kings. He took one look at the beach, turned his head down river and with more energy than even before, he took off. My drag on my reel was cinched down as hard as I could get it but it did no good. This king shot off down river, leaving a wake as he went. My reel was singing loud in protest as he shot past the two logs and over a little rock ledge to a pool below. Suddenly I saw my weight flip up in the air towards me with the leader and hook following behind. Somehow he had pulled off his hook. I watched his wake as he disappeared around the next bend.

I was far from disappointed about how this battle had ended. I knew he was destined to be set free. The fact that he did it himself only added to the thrill. The fish was huge. The battle was thrilling. I yelled out with pure elation only to hear the little man behind me adding to my cheers. “That was sure a lot more exciting than clam digging, wasn’t it!” he boomed out. I couldn’t agree more. I turned around to see him and his big dog on the bank behind me. He had real joy in his eyes as he spoke again. “Have a great Holiday!” Then he turned and stepped into the forest. His dog lingered just a bit longer, looking at me, then also turned, following on the little man’s heals as they both disappeared up a small trail.

It was suddenly quiet. I was standing in the middle of the river. Sun was bathing me in warmth and I was all alone. The water was quiet around me. I strained to catch a glimpse of the old man but he had vanished. I looked around to hopefully see another witness. I wanted to ask someone, “Did you see what just happened? But, there was no one.

If someone would have walked up then, he wouldn’t have understood. Here was a 56 year old fisherman standing in the middle of a river with tears streaming down his cheeks. A dam had burst inside of me and waves of emotion were causing me to let loose with some tears. I was remembering what I had prayed earlier. I was also remembering everything the little man had done and said. His disdain for the people digging clams at the mouth of the river when the real prize was here under the bridge was humorous. But I felt convicted, because I spend way too much time on and put way to much importance in my own version of clam digging. His ability to see the fish, his joy at showing them to me, and then his elation when I caught one were the things that I kept remembering.

Now I wrestle with this next part. Probably a good fisherman would have turned back into the water to see how many more he could hook. But I made my way to the bank, sat in the sun, embraced the solitude and simply enjoyed what had just happened as I inconspicuously wiped tears from my eyes. I also allowed my logic to take over, thinking that if the little man was not a divine being, he certainly was someone who God used. But why does everything that he said have a depth of meaning for me? Why do I remember bits of our conversation days later only to realize that each thing he said speaks deeply to me?