The Last Best Hope

This election season has elicited feelings of great passion from several artistic people who have devoted their energies to fighting for the cause.  Here's another great video.  This one found on Brutally Honest.

Gangsta Government

An enjoyable rap video with a great message found on Lucianne.

It's Mourning In America

Jon McNaughton Paints A Thousand Words ---The Forgotten Man

Sorry the blog has been so quiet lately, but personal issues trump posting at times.  I should be very active during the home stretch of election season.  Keep watching.

This video above was sent to me from my friend, Paul, a retired lawyer and unsung conservative warrior.  The narration is done by the artist and painter, Jon McNaughton, who explains his art and why he wants the Dems defeated in November.

New CatholicVote.org Video: THE DREAM 2010

It's best to watch this video on the large screen.  Click on the right corner of the video window where the arrows are to let this one fill your screen, then sit back and get goosebumps.  It has to be one of the best motivating videos CatholicVote.org has produced so far, and that says a lot as they are all excellent productions.

Ilario Pantano's Speech At Rally Against Ground Zero Mosque

This man is running for Congress in North Carolina.  I witnessed this speech in person and wish him much success in his endeavors.

The speech is electrifying...once you get past the clapping.  He has tons of courage and conviction, no doubt from his years of active service in the US Marines.  What a great president he could make one day...  The future is looking brighter.

I figured I should include this video below as well, so everyone has a better understanding of who this man is. 

RALLY AGAINST THE GROUND ZERO MOSQUE --> A Success With 40K In Attendance!

Pamela Geller of Atlas Shrugs

The crowd at the Rally Against The Ground Zero Mosque was estimated to be around 40,000, and it was, by my own account, a very lively 40,000.  It was not an angry, restless crowd like the one a few blocks to the East, which spewed lies and hatred, but a very focused and determined group of people with full knowledge of why the Ground Zero Mosque should not stand.  I am proud to say I was part of this group of 40K, and that I raised my flags high and cheered on an excellent group of speakers.

There were people I never heard of who gave enthusiastic, empassioned speeches intermingled with great speeches from familiar faces in person and on screen.  Mike Gallagher (in person) held little back and said it wonderfully straight, which is what the crowd wanted to hear.  John Bolton was also very effective on screen.

As I stated, there were some surprises.  Rosa Leonetti was a family member of one killed in the attack on 9-11.

Another standout was Congressional candidate, Ilario Pantano of Wilmington, NC, who had everyone's attention with a speaking style that cannot miss.  I've heard few politicians speak with such conviction.  The media will hate him, of course, for his military career and conservatism.  But we will see more of this man, especially after he is elected, I have no doubt.  And after that, I see him going places.

Geert Wilders, the Dutch MP, gave an excellent speech that brought us all back to that terrible day and put it all into perspective.  My favorite part is this:

"Among those lost were people from 55 nations, people of every religion and every persuasion. No place on earth had a more multi-ethnic, multi-racial, and multi-lingual workforce than New York’s proud towers.

That is exactly why they were targeted. They constituted an insult to those who hold that there can be no peaceful cooperation among people and nations without submission to Sharia; to those who wish to impose the legal system of Islam on the rest of us.

But New York and Sharia are incompatible. New York stands for freedom, openness and tolerance.

New York’s Mayor recently said that New York is “rooted in Dutch tolerance.” Those are true words. New York is not intolerant. How can it be? New York is open to the world.

Suppose New York were intolerant. Suppose it only allowed people of one persuasion within its walls.

Then it would be like Mecca, a city without freedom.

Whatever your religion, persuasion or gender is, in New York you will find a home. In Mecca, if your religion isn’t Islam, you are not welcome."

Urban Infidel was there...somewhere near the stage, and has a full report.  Donald Douglas of American Power flew in from California to be there as well, and gave a very complete photo essay worth checking out.  Pam was there, too, on stage along with Robert Spencer.  Just heard from El Marco who has a wonderful collection of pics.  For my trip to Ground Zero (more pictures), click HERE.

Some more photos from the day....  As before, click on them if you want to see them LARGER.

Nations united

40,000 stretched back a few blocks

Dutch MP, Geert Wilders

Congressional candidate, Ilario Pantano

More of the 40K

Radio talk show host, Michael Gallagher

A very brave lady displaying her sign to those wacko's a few blocks down...

The Trip To Ground Zero

WTC cross from Ground Zero Rubble now at St. Peter's Church

Hoping this doesn't sound too self-indulgent, I'd like to first relate my trip to Ground Zero today and share some photos before posting on the RALLY AGAINST the Ground Zero Mosque (sometime tomorrow).  My intent is to encourage others to make the same pilgrimage to Ground Zero without feeling daunted by traveling to New York City.

I started from home (in the Harrisburg, PA area) at 4:30am in my fancy rental car (my own car has a slow leaking rear left tire I've put off fixing).  The rental is a racy, black Dodge Charger which turns heads and makes me feel like Bill Hickman (chasing and then being chased by Steve McQueen) but only cost me less than $25 per day.  I arrived at my commute point in Carteret, NJ known as the Shop Rite grocery store.  They could have towed me, so don't do this!  I did it to walk a half block to the bus stop to pick up the #116 NJ Transit bus  to take to the Port Authority Bus Terminal located a block or two from Times Square.  But I came realize I could have driven through the Lincoln Tunnel bearing left and then taking the exit ramp to the right to park the car at the same place the bus was heading (Port Authority Bus Terminal).  Lesson learned at little cost.  Lucky me.

Then things got easy, travel-wise.  From the Port Authority you go downstairs to the subway and take the 'E' train straight to Ground Zero (WTC).  It's the last stop, so you can't miss it.  And when you climb the stairs you are there.  I climbed the stairs and met with a thick crowd of people, and made a short walk to  Ground Zero in time to hear names being read.  Unless you somehow acquire a press-pass you won't get in where the families are, holding their framed pictures of loved-ones.  They deserve their intimacy together without the general public crowding them.  Two years ago I sat with the press and it was horribly sad to watch the relatives of the departed and to hear the names of the victims being read aloud.

While I was diverted elsewhere, I realized that I was missing a camera battery and the other was running low, and that Sony didn't make the batteries for my 5 year old camera anymore, I did a quick check in nearby camera stores.  No one had them, or the memory stick that is also obsolete... until I stopped by J&R Music World, Computer World, Camera World, etc... mega store with cafeteria on mez level (with electrical outlets available to customers).  They had the memory stick adaptor and elusive batteries.  Hence the plug from me.  Now I'm in business.  More photos taken here and there since the Rally wasn't until 2pm.

Stopped by St. Peter's Church, the home of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton's conversion to the Catholic Church.  Met Father Dave, nice man, heard my confession, gave me absolution in the corner by the candles.  Beautiful church inside and out.  See photos.

Later when I searched for the Rally AGAINST the mosque, the police kept pointing me toward the pro-mosque rally, saying that it would end at 2pm and ours would start at the same location.  They all seemed to parrot the same story, so I hung around listening to a lot of hate speech from crazy, fringe lunatics, who seemed to believe that the rest of us are racist and don't believe in freedom.  When I asked them how Iran treats homosexuals, they preferred to change the subject.  It's so awful how these nut-jobs stain such a sad occasion with their antics.  But they seem to know of no other way to express their fear and loathing of the attacks on 9-11 than to turn on the establishment they counted on to protect them.

At 2:30 I asked a police woman when our rally would start and she said that our side got discouraged and left!  She must have remembered she was on Bloomberg's dole.  Then another policeman told me it was a few blocks west on Park St.  And there it was....(to be continued tomorrow...).

WWGD?

The hate-filled lunacy of the other side...

Not to mention the gross hypocrisy...

To view my jumbled pictures LARGER, 'click' on them.

St. Peter's Church interior

Mennonites sing every year at Ground Zero

NYPD riding crotch-rockets

Thinks 9-11 was an "inside job"

Praying Muslim...notice no one impedes him.  He is free to pray.

Freedom Tower under construction

"America Rising" Is Making The Rounds

This is the political ad everyone is talking about.  It's been out since January, and its popularity has ebbed and flowed at times, but keeps getting stronger. 


WARNING:  An obscene gesture appears during viewing (flipping the bird by Sen. Harry Reid D-NV).

Hat tips to several, including Saving Common Sense and Paul Gleeson via American Thinker.

7 Quick Takes On A Friday, (9-3-10)

Once again it's Friday and I am taking part in 7 Quick Takes, hosted by Conversion Diary, in which seven personal items, thoughts, or observations, that are hopefully interesting, are shared by me with all of you. 

1. I was sitting in a truck stop lounge TV room, trying to unwind from a long day's driving, when an old episode of CSI Miami started.  Someone told me it was from the first season, which is something I wouldn't have known, not having seen the show much at all.  I don't own a TV.  During most of that episode it appeared that the evidence was strongly suggesting that a Catholic priest was suspected of molesting a teenage altar boy, when in fact (we find out at the very end) that his mother killed his father, the boy then told the priest who planned to go to the authorities.  The mother then killed the priest, but first blamed the priest for knowing that her husband was abusing her and still giving him Communion every Sunday.  I simply wonder if Jerry Bruckheimer, the producer of this and other CSI shows, has it in for the Catholic Church.
   
   
2. I've decided that rather than have my sensibilities attacked at every opportunity, I would forsake TV for already run, previously successful, tried, tested and true TV shows already on DVD...like Dragnet, for instance.  There is nothing quite like watching Jack Webb and Harry Morgan argue with hippies about personal responsibility, property rights, and drug laws.  THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT!  Not only that but the older, more gritty version of Dragnet in black & white is also available on DVD here and there, anyway.  It's funny to see some of the same extras from the show in the late '60's in their younger days in B&W in the'50's
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3. Apple makes a very sturdy phone, able to withstand great punishment, and even drowning.  Yes, I mean the iPhone!  In a scene reminiscent of an old Timex commercial, my cat, Buster, kicked my iPhone off the edge of my truck's sleeper bunk bed (yes, I left it there) into his water dish below.  It floated half submerged for around 86 miles of driving through North Carolina before I began to wonder where I'd left it.  I pulled over and went pale when I saw it floating face down.  When I picked it up I noticed water beneath the glass screen keypad.  After much shaking of the phone I made sure it was switched off, laid it face down on a towel, and waited impatiently for a whole day.  The next morning I switched it on and it functioned like new (once I recharged it).
4. On September 11th I will be at Ground Zero in the morning for any commemoration that might be planned, and then to Park & Broadway for the rally against the Ground Zero Mosque at 2pm.  The last time I was at Ground Zero, I acquired a press pass for the '08 commemoration  (by showing my blog which has my real name, and showing my driver's license, and also doing  a bit of begging) and sat in full view of the podium where I took lots of pictures.   The rest of the public had no view whatsoever due to trees and grandstands, so I wonder how likely I'll be  getting inside this year.
5. In a week or two I'll have to go back to the Dr.'s office (per my employer) to get another official reading of my blood pressure via industrialized medicine.  I went off the blood pressure meds last October and have kept it down naturally by walking and eating right.  I have added apples to my diet for the last six months after not being able to eat them for the previous three and one half years without my guts cramping up (resulting in a mad dash to the men's room).  My gall bladder was removed in October '06, which had an adverse effect on my digestive system.  I couldn't eat any kind of fruit after that...until six months ago.  Go figure.  The apples are helping the BP a lot.
6. I got an email yesterday from Lila Rose asking for emergency donations to Live Action.  Seems like a worthy cause since they're pro-life, and they've been exposing the mischief of Planned Parenthood all over the country via hidden camera interviews.  The girl has guts, no doubt.
7. The Mother Teresa stamp will be unveiled by the US Postal Service on Sunday at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington DC.  Seems there were actually some groups that had a problem with the post office issuing such an honor to a religious person.  But over 146,000 people signed the petition in support of the stamp at CatholicVote.org.  The stamp goes on sale Tuesday (after Labor Day) at your local post office.

RALLY AGAINST GROUND ZERO MOSQUE --9-11-10, NYC

I know this is short notice, but for those of you who can make it by 9-11-10 to Manhattan, NY, there will be a rally in protest of the planned mega-Mosque at Ground Zero.  We are asked to NOT bring ANY signs, no matter how clever, but only 9x12" American flags.  FYI, Walmart sells Annin American flags made in the USA that are 9x12".  Grab them while you can.  

See details of the rally HERE.  

If you are Catholic and are looking for another reason to go, you can always stop by St. Patrick's Cathedral where Archbishop Dolan calls home.  They are on 5th Ave in Midtown.

I plan to do both.  And now a word from Andrew Klavan:

hat tip on Klavan video: Matteo