LOOKING TO THE FUTURE

2 Apr

A famous quote I once heard seems apropos to a movement in our nation today.

“Society’s needs come before the individual’s needs.”

For the past 50 years our society has been undergoing a transformation perpetrated by free-spirited liberals describing themselves as “progressives” and who somehow feel this moniker “more expressly” depicts their intellectual capability to adapt to our changing times.

It’s simply “second star to the right, and straight on till morning” for these unbridled Lost Boy liberals whose intent is to fundamentally change the value system of Americans by gradually tipping the scales of morality from right to left.

These self-ordained avant-gardes aspire to carry the torch of liberalism across America and into the lives of each and every family — even if it means redefining the family as we know it.

What liberals refer to as the “progressive movement” is actually the strategic desensitizing of America to the boundless immorality of the left by methodically pushing the limit on our nation’s social value system until resistance begins to waver.

Once the boundary has been destabilized, a subsequent relentless attack ensues designed to eradicate the influence of Christianity from every culpable faction in America.

Christians must also share in the blame.

When Christian conservatives fail to put their faith into action by asserting their belief system with an equal amount of fervor, they’re as guilty for relinquishing their rights as liberals are for pillaging them.

The success of the progressive movement is predicated on the understanding that the elimination of morality cannot be achieved expeditiously, but sequentially.

When Roe v. Wade was passed in 1973, the restrictions on abortion varied with trimesters and the viability of the fetus in the womb. In subsequent years, we saw liberals gradually challenge these restrictions until an infant could be murdered during any period of the pregnancy — or even afterward in the case of a “botched” abortion.

Movies that now air in prime time on the ABC Family Channel, in my youth, would have been rated “R” or restricted. However, via a gradual desensitization to strategically increased levels of violence and promiscuity on television, images which would have created an outrage 20 years ago are now generally accepted.

The ABC Family programming slogan, “a new kind of family,” aptly describes what liberals refer to as “progress.”

Another prerequisite for the progressive approach to be successful is for the liberal flag to be bolstered by those who would outwardly appear as educated, well-spoken, even “spiritual” individuals.

The Gospel of Matthew warns us about these “false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.”

Liberals understand their deception and manipulation must be disguised.

The progressive movement thrives on an incessant tenacity which does not perceive defeat as a setback, rather another step toward the metamorphosis of our society.

Liberals value this societal change over an individual’s moral compass.

Oh, the aforementioned quote: Adolf Hitler, April 12, 1921

– Mark Caserta

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McKinsey: Only 14% Of Obamacare Exchange Sign-Ups Are Previously Uninsured Enrollees

2 Apr

OBAMACARE
Avik Roy, Forbes Staff

The Obama administration has, for months now, been peddling nice-sounding numbers as to how many people are gaining health coverage due to Obamacare. But their numbers have been inflated on two fronts. First, not everyone who has “selected a marketplace plan” under Obamacare has actually paid the required premiums, payment being required to actually gain coverage. Second, only a fraction of people on the exchanges were previously uninsured. A new survey from McKinsey gives us a better view into the real numbers. Of the 3.3 million people that the White House has touted as Obamacare exchange “sign-ups,” less than 500,000 are actual uninsured people who have actually gained health coverage.

Many Obamacare ‘enrollees’ aren’t actually enrolled

McKinsey, the leading management consulting firm, has been conducting monthly surveys of the exchange-eligible population under the auspices of its Center for U.S. Health System Reform. McKinsey’s most recent survey, conducted in February with 2,096 eligible respondents, found that only 48 percent had thus far signed up for a 2014 health plan. Within that 48 percent, three-fifths were previously insured people who liked their old plans and were able to keep them. The remaining two-fifths were the ones who signed up for coverage on the Obamacare exchanges.

McK enroll Feb 2

Of the Obamacare sign-ups, only 27 percent had been previously uninsured in 2013. And of the 27 percent, nearly half had yet to pay a premium. (By contrast, among the 73 percent who had been previously insured, 86 percent had paid.)

Put all those percentages together, and you get two key stats. Only 19 percent of those who have paid a premium were previously uninsured. Among those that the administration is touting as sign-ups, only 14 percent are previously uninsured enrollees: approximately 472,000 people as of February 1.

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A FATHER’S LOVE LETTER

31 Mar

This is an inspiring love letter which could change your life – in 5 minutes.

THE CROSShttp://www.fatherheart.tv/inspirational-videos/

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Mark Caserta: Watch and share Red Skelton’s inspiring monologue on America’s flag.

30 Mar

Watch Red’s thoughtful presentation on what the flag means to our great country.  Then consider the protests from the NFL players and support from the owners and the National Football League.  You may see things differently.

How many of these NFL Players protesting by “taking a knee” during the National Anthem would even pledge their allegiance to the flag of the United States?

And remember, their act of taking a knee is not done in the manner we usually think of, such as for prayer, to honor or show respect.  They simply don’t have a chair to place their backsides in!  If they had a chair, they would remain seated.

 

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RED SKELTON’S PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

An inspiring monologue from a true American Hero

red skelton

Commentary on the Pledge of Allegiance

by Red Skelton

As a schoolboy, one of Red Skelton’s teachers explained the words and meaning of the Pledge of Allegiance to his class. Skelton later wrote down, and eventually recorded, his recollection of this lecture. It is followed by an observation of his own.

I – – Me; an individual; a committee of one.
Pledge – – Dedicate all of my worldly goods to give without self-pity.

Allegiance – – My love and my devotion.

To the Flag – – Our standard; Old Glory ; a symbol of Freedom; wherever she waves there is respect, because your loyalty has given her a dignity that shouts, Freedom is everybody’s job.

United – – That means that we have all come together.

States – – Individual communities that have united into forty-eight great states. Forty-eight individual communities with pride and dignity and purpose. All divided with imaginary boundaries, yet united to a common purpose, and that is love for country.

And to the Republic – – Republic–a state in which sovereign power is invested in representatives chosen by the people to govern. And government is the people; and it’s from the people to the leaders, not from the leaders to the people.

For which it stands

One Nation – – One Nation–meaning, so blessed by God.

Indivisible – – Incapable of being divided.

With Liberty – – Which is Freedom; the right of power to live one’s own life, without threats, fear, or some sort of retaliation.

And Justice – – The principle, or qualities, of dealing fairly with others.

For All – – For All–which means, boys and girls, it’s as much your country as it is mine.

And now, boys and girls, let me hear you recite the Pledge of Allegiance:
I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic, for which it stands; one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
Since I was a small boy, two states have been added to our country, and two words have been added to the Pledge of Allegiance: Under God. Wouldn’t it be a pity if someone said that is a prayer, and that would be eliminated from schools, too?
Red Skelton

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TOMBLIN CHOOSES A VOTE OVER THE LIFE OF A CHILD

30 Mar

Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin vetoed a bill that would have prohibited abortions after 20 weeks.
Tomblin said, in a statement released by his office on March 28, his reason for vetoing the bill was because it was unconstitutional.
“I have vetoed HB 4588 because I am advised, by not only attorneys from the legislature, but through my own legal team that this bill is unconstitutional.”
Tomblin said while he believes there is no greater gift of love than the gift of life, he had to veto the bill.
During the regular session, Sen. Erik Wells asked for the bill to be read in it’s entirety, explaining it was unconstitutional and he was prepared to bring that to the attention of the Legislature.
Wells said it was amazing to him the Legislature would be so quick to protect West Virginians rights when it came to Freedom of Speech, the Right to Bear Arms, but legislators were quick to “trample the rights of women in West Virginia.”
Tomblin said his legal team were not the only ones advising him the bill would do more harm than good.
“The bill is also problematic because it unduly restricts the physician-patient relationship,” Tomblin said. “All patients, particularly expectant mothers, require the best, most unfettered medical judgment and advice from their physicians regarding treatment options.”
Tomblin said the medical community had also advised him the bill would have jeopardized the health of pregnant women.
“The medical community has made it clear to me that the criminal penalties this bill imposes will impede that advice, and those options, to the detriment of the health and safety of expectant mothers,” he added.
Known as the abortion bill, House Bill 4588, is the second one Tomblin has vetoed since the legislative session ended on March 8.
Tomblin also took issue with the budget bill, vetoing several aspects of it on March 19.
tomblin

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FROM THE CHURCHILL CENTER

29 Mar

CHURCHILL
When Churchill visited Harrow on October 29 to hear the traditional songs again, he discovered that an additional verse had been added to one of them. It ran:

“Not less we praise in darker days
The leader of our nation,
And Churchill’s name shall win acclaim
From each new generation.
For you have power in danger’s hour
Our freedom to defend, Sir!
Though long the fight we know that right
Will triumph in the end, Sir!

Almost a year has passed since I came down here at your Head Master’s kind invitation in order to cheer myself and cheer the hearts of a few of my friends by singing some of our own songs. The ten months that have passed have seen very terrible catastrophic events in the world – ups and downs, misfortunes – but can anyone sitting here this afternoon, this October afternoon, not feel deeply thankful for what has happened in the time that has passed and for the very great improvement in the position of our country and of our home? Why, when I was here last time we were quite alone, desperately alone, and we had been so for five or six months. We were poorly armed. We are not so poorly armed today; but then we were very poorly armed. We had the unmeasured menace of the enemy and their air attack still beating upon us, and you yourselves had had experience of this attack; and I expect you are beginning to feel impatient that there has been this long lull with nothing particular turning up!

But we must learn to be equally good at what is short and sharp and what is long and tough. It is generally said that the British are often better at the last. They do not expect to move from crisis to crisis; they do not always expect that each day will bring up some noble chance of war; but when they very slowly make up their minds that the thing has to be done and the job put through and finished, then, even if it takes months – if it takes years – they do it.

Another lesson I think we may take, just throwing our minds back to our meeting here ten months ago and now, is that appearances are often very deceptive, and as Kipling well says, we must “…meet with Triumph and Disaster. And treat those two impostors just the same.”

You cannot tell from appearances how things will go. Sometimes imagination makes things out far worse than they are; yet without imagination not much can be done. Those people who are imaginative see many more dangers than perhaps exist; certainly many more than will happen; but then they must also pray to be given that extra courage to carry this far-reaching imagination. But for everyone, surely, what we have gone through in this period – I am addressing myself to the School – surely from this period of ten months this is the lesson: never give in, never give in, never, never, never-in nothing, great or small, large or petty – never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy. We stood all alone a year ago, and to many countries it seemed that our account was closed, we were finished. All this tradition of ours, our songs, our School history, this part of the history of this country, were gone and finished and liquidated.

Very different is the mood today. Britain, other nations thought, had drawn a sponge across her slate. But instead our country stood in the gap. There was no flinching and no thought of giving in; and by what seemed almost a miracle to those outside these Islands, though we ourselves never doubted it, we now find ourselves in a position where I say that we can be sure that we have only to persevere to conquer.

You sang here a verse of a School Song: you sang that extra verse written in my honour, which I was very greatly complimented by and which you have repeated today. But there is one word in it I want to alter – I wanted to do so last year, but I did not venture to. It is the line: “Not less we praise in darker days.”

I have obtained the Head Master’s permission to alter darker to sterner. “Not less we praise in sterner days.”

Do not let us speak of darker days: let us speak rather of sterner days. These are not dark days; these are great days – the greatest days our country has ever lived; and we must all thank God that we have been allowed, each of us according to our stations, to play a part in making these days memorable in the history of our race.

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HOW TO APPLY FOR OBAMACARE EXEMPTION

29 Mar

This is important. The Obamacare individual mandate is falling apart. If you want to apply for exemption fill out this form. Hardships have been broadened to include most anything, including not being able to afford the premium if you’re prior policy was cancelled. If you’re interested, here is the link to the HHS application. Pass it on.

https://www.healthcare.gov/exemptions/

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Progressives on the run

28 Mar

The more I study it, the more I believe that liberalism is a disorder of the cerebral cortex – One which causes memory loss, an inability to discern the truth, and a blatant disregard for the facts.

I find it amusing, if not somewhat unprofessional, that the liberal columnists for the Herald-Dispatch (self-proclaimed professional writers/journalists with years of experience) feel like they have to combine efforts in an offensive against a lil’ ole’ “back woods” conservative columnist and post negative comments about my pieces.

The truth is, a dozen “untruths” from multiple liberals still cannot outweigh a single truth from a conservative who simply trusts in God and the Constitution.

I’m not quite sure how someone proclaiming Christianity can claim the policies of this president are “error free” yet the Word of God is flawed. How does that work exactly?

And how does one spend more time defending the rights of LGBTs than defending God’s Word. It’s true we are exposed by the fruit we bear and by the words we speak!!!!

So, bring it on progressives! The fact that you’ve chosen to step into my world proves you fear the truth. Oh, and if you haven’t read the end of The Book – we win.

And as they say, “You ain’t seen ‘nuthin yet.”one bill at at time

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Mark Caserta: Dictators like Vladimir Putin only respect strength

27 Mar

putinMar. 27, 2014 @ 12:00 AM

President Obama once asked Vladimir Putin for “space” to focus on winning his 2012 re-election bid so he would be better “positioned” to “deal” on controversial issues.

While chatting with outgoing Russian president Dmitry Medvedev during the Nuclear Security Summit in Seoul, Korea, Obama said he would have “more flexibility” on issues such as missile defense after he secured the presidency.

Rolling cameras and hot microphones picked up the following “private” exchange as Obama leaned forward toward Medvedev:

President Obama: “On all these issues, but particularly missile defense, this, this can be solved but it’s important for him to give me space.”

President Medvedev: “Yeah, I understand. I understand your message about space. Space for you…”

President Obama: “This is my last election. After my election I have more flexibility.”

President Medvedev: “I understand. I will transmit this information to Vladimir.”

This exchange between presidential “comrades” captured by the White House press pool and Russian reporters characterizes the foreign policy appeasement strategy employed by Barack Obama.

Unfortunately, I believe we’re witnessing this president mirror mistakes eerily similar to the appeasement strategies offered by Western democracies in the 1930s that eventually put Adolf Hitler in a position to start World War II.

In what some have termed “moral cowardice,” Britain and France attempted to mitigate Germany’s demands through negotiation and compromise. But Hitler perceived this as weakness and was emboldened to heighten his aggression.

After seizing power in Germany, Hitler pursued a foreign policy thirsty for undoing the effects of the Treaty of Versailles, which banned him from re-arming his military and regaining territories lost at Versailles.

Hitler was desperate for more land, especially land rich in fossil fuels. And he was prepared to gamble that other European powers would be reluctant to go to war to stop him. He knew Europe’s economy was still recovering from World War I and military prowess had become secondary to bolstering social welfare programs.

As Hitler’s forces penetrated deeper into Poland, Great Britain and France were eventually forced to declare war on Germany, hence World War II.

Is Vladimir Putin, a man who once called the collapse of the Soviet Empire “the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century,” once again testing the backbone of Western democracy?

While Putin isn’t Hitler, he’s certainly ambitious enough and his potential for devastation is greater than anything the world has ever known.

Our nation was reminded of the dangers of liberal appeasement in Ronald Reagan’s “A Time for Choosing” speech in 1964.

“…Every lesson in history tells us that the greater risk lies in appeasement, as this is the specter our well-meaning liberal friends refuse to face — that their policy of accommodation is appeasement and it gives no choice between peace and war, only between fight and surrender. If we continue to accommodate, continue to back and retreat, eventually we have to face the final demand — the ultimatum. And what then?”

Appeasement has a bad track record. And untenable tyrants only view it as a sign of weakness.

Dictators like Vladimir Putin only respect strength.

Mark Caserta is a conservative blogger, a Cabell County resident and a regular contributor to The Herald-Dispatch editorial page.

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Mark Caserta: We must choose the right path for our future

25 Mar

progressive v liberaMar. 20, 2014 @ 08:55 AM

The Herald-Dispatch / 2014

Our nation is at a crossroads where the choices for our future could not be more distinctly different in nature.

One path, conservatism, represents traditional, time-honored values with God’s Word and our nation’s founding documents serving as the principle, unshakable foundation on which our lifestyle and our ideology must align. Conservatives believe God is in control.

The path of progressivism represents an “innovational” system of values for “thinkers” who leverage the Constitution or the Bible only when convenient. Morality rests on a sliding scale and shifts with time in order to better align with an individual’s ideology. Progressives believe man is in control.

At this point in history, progressives are emboldened by their success and indeed flourishing in their movement. Unfortunately, while liberals have been tenacious in their attack on America, too many conservatives and Christians have watched from the sidelines.

After all, Jesus is coming soon, so why bother?

But what if our Lord doesn’t come for another generation? Considering the liberal resolve to fundamentally change America, what could our nation look like in 25 years if progressives continue to be successful?

Abortion might have no limitation in our society. Getting rid of an unwanted child could be as simple as getting rid of a headache. Despite the fact the Supreme Court ruling in Roe v. Wade gave some consideration to the viability of the baby, progressives have gradually “shifted” the mindset removing that consideration in many instances.

Our nation could see legislation re-introduced allowing partial birth abortion (PBA) and live birth abortion (LBA).

In a PBA, the doctor delivers a substantial portion of the living child outside the mother’s body while leaving the head just inside the womb. The baby is then killed by removing the brain by suction. The LBA is not really an abortion at all, but intentionally denying the baby care after a “botched” abortion.

The family unit may not look anything like it looks today. Progressives incessantly pursue universal same-sex marriage recognition for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender partners.

But understand liberal ideology demands removing all limitations, so where will it end?

Liberal “theologians” suggest amending the Bible to accommodate what it clearly calls “sexual immorality” and “unnatural desires.” But once God’s Word is negated as the benchmark, what will be acceptable? The available data on the unlikely marital “unions” already taking place is mind-numbing!

Organizations such as the North American Man/Boy Love Association (NAMBLA) will begin to flourish in the wake of liberal advancements. NAMBLA, according to its website is, “the love of a man for a boy, and of a boy for a man.” Is this acceptable to liberals? What networking of immorality will follow?

Understand, we not only choose our own paths, but we help to keep them open or closed for future generations. Today, both paths remain open. But what choices will our children have?

Liberalism exists to “open” a wide, inclusive path to destruction and to “close” the path paved with God’s Word and our Constitution.

Choose the right path now while we still can.

Mark Caserta is a Cabell County resident and a regular contributor to The Herald-Dispatch editorial page.

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