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.