Someone said Didn't agree with Obama, but Respected

I wouldn't say they respected Obama. 

I disagreed on a lot of things, but he was most certainly more of a gentleman than what we have now.

My my the howl we heard, the character assassinations..Total disrespect. After all, he is black, you know, and a lot of the disrespect came from people who don't particularly like black..

Of course a lot of that howl was led by the right wing commentators , talk hosts, Trumpites....

The saddest thing is that a terrific - good thought - initiative of Obama's was lost, diluted, washed away in all the howl and particularly in the bickering about Obamacare. 

I do so wish the media would go back in and identify that,initiative, let it be known.

What was that initiative? Obama felt that too many black men were not being the fathers they should, and wanted to work to reverse that situation.  Sort of like those two movies made by the consortium in Albany Georgia (Courageous and Fireproof). Worth getting ahold of. 

Soon after Obama was in office I saw huge stand up displays in my primary care waiting room of the HMO I use. The displays explained fully what the need was, not in initiative language but in urging men to be better men and fathers, giving them ideas, inspiriting them,. giving them direction to resources.

So why are not "conservatives" remembering this?  Because they are not true to the label they adopt. They are not true conservatives  That's my story, and I'm sticking with it.

From Chaplain Jason Olson - no go back

Growing up as a Jewish child in America, I was once told by an Irish Catholic schoolmate not that I should “go back” to Eastern Europe where my ancestors emigrated from, but that I should “go back” to the gas chambers.

“Go back” is language we should not be using in 21st century America.

Stakes in the Ground, and a Populist's Grandfather

Thomas Jaworek is the conservative mayor of Kallstadt Germany, where Friedrich was born and then left as a teenager. The mayor said that if our president were to visit, he hoped he would at least leave Kallstadt with a changed view on migration, citizenship AND BELONGING. After all, Friedrich was a migrant. 

Born in 1869 into a modest family that ran a small vineyard, Friedrich initially worked in a barbershop in a neighboring town. But opening his own barbershop in Kallstadt proved difficult. There already was a barber in town. Friedrich was also expected under German law to serve in the military for some time.

“The stifling lack of opportunity in the village seemed to close in on him. Without any apparent opportunity for a better life, he saw what lay ahead was dreary, difficult, and poor,” author Gwenda Blair wrote. “He seemed to have no choice but to leave."

The 16-year-old found his escape by migrating to the United States, where he arrived in 1885.

He later came back and married a Kallstadt local, Elizabeth Christ, but eventually returned to the United States. Local authorities considered him to be a draft dodger.

My Mother's immigrant German ancestor did a similar thing. As soon as he was naturalized in Wisconsin, he made a beeline back to Germany and brought back an apparent sister, within a month. He had also left that land due to the military requirement that he didn't want. (I am told that while there, his wife - descendant of an early American Culver Pilgrim - bore twins in a situation we know nothing about.)

More than a century on, one of his grandsons is pursuing a hard-line immigration policy that — if it had been in place in the 1880s — would have likely disqualified Friedrich from staying in the United States.

Now, after his racist tweets targeting four critical minority lawmakers, some residents said he is not welcome and that even his distant link to the town is a source of embarrassment. Beatrix Riede, 61, who heads an association for women in the town, said, “I can only wish Americans that they will elect someone who turns on his mind before saying something,”

t's about stakes in the ground, and our attitude, now that we are here.

About Stakes in the ground, and Immigrant Grandfathers

The Kampf GGF of my children's mother, like the GGF ancestor of my mother - and like Friedrich of my earlier post - was an immigrant from Germany, coming in the 1800's into the US speaking a different language and with different customs.  The reception was not squeaky perfect, but they worked through it in an atmosphere more tolerant to "more people".

I loved Tony, a retired UofW professor, who - in retirement, was making violin bows. Tony came as a child with his father from Italy, and spoke of being dirt poor; no socks, hardly any food, woefully inadequate abode.

I asked him how he got to be a professor from that situation.

He said he and those like him were shunned and beat upon a bit by the English speaking kids from families that were already here.  (Some would say "they had a stake in the ground already.") So?  So he bore down and studied, studied, studied. That's all he could do. No TV...  Tony was a very fine man, a friendly but refined air about him, who taught and uplifted a great many people.

He didn't come to our country with the credentials or criteria that Steven Miller is driving his country's government to establish for people to be allowed to immigrant.

I'd add, as noted in a post about Ellis Island in 1909, that in that year, they were allowed in without visas or any paperwork at all. They just had to get here and step off the boat.

Yes, there is a reason for all things.  And there is unreasonable, too.  We need to be aware of the human elements of history, and of people who did HUGE things for, or in, this country who came from laughable origins. History of most any era of the USA shows that some, without any potential evident up front, have gone on to do HUGE things, leading to giant steps in advancement of technology, health, culture....

It's about stakes in the ground, and our attitude, now that we are here.

Thinking about Word of Wisdom, and being wise about it.

This, written on facebook as a comment on the following:
https://hiracumorah.org/2019/07/01/misunderstandings-regarding-the-word-of-wisdom/

Ah, the wisdom part! You are very brave in your assessment, and I think you bring out the wisdom part which satisfies a great need. Love the way you expressed it.
There are many things that are not written in that scripture, yet it remains our reference even when insisting upon many things that are not written therein and ignoring things that are written.
Context is really important in so many things, and I think the Savior, when traveling physically on this earth, brought the context alive in many things... OK, call it the spirit of the law versus the letter of the law.
Moderation in all things. That thing that was in common dialogue when I joined the Church in the '70s, but isn't spoken much now. (Many things are that way.)
I will add a comment that may not be popular with the letter of the law people.

Green tea - in moderation of course - is known unargumentative as a healthy thing, and it does not alter the mental state.Strictly as a matter of discussion, when you do a lot of research on gout, and on kidney issues, you may find that a SMALL amount of coffee will help the kidney discharge Uric acid. (The issues of uric acid need to be known, visit an assisted living or other old folks adobe.)

At 79, I don't presently take prescription medicine (i.e., chemicals) and don't smile broadly with friends who do all what, and only what, doctors say... won't do anything until talking to the doctor... I've seen too much damage among my broad and close extended family and friends.
To continue: much coffee is of course destructive, in the physical sense. Some believe that caffeine, without being within a roasted* bean product, has relative acceptability. I couldn't argue with that. Moderation. 

*roasted: Inflammation and irritation is identified with likelihood of a part of our body becoming cancerous. Charred foods, etc. are part of that picture. I am glad to now know it. I am a 14 year big C survivor; it was stage 3.

Soft drinks. I diverge from you. There are a few of us who have learned that soft drinks, ESPECIALLY without moderation, are really bad for the gut and for the urinary system. I used to indulge significantly - before my surgery (colon, and later, bladder). A manager warned of his own experience. I am happy to be without ANY soft drinks. It just simply, and definitely, is not worth it. 
NOT all of us are the same, but why push it? Later more than sooner it must might have an affect on our self sufficiency and resilience; ability to get along sometime without close attendance and chemicals.. Natural laws of God. That's my story, sticking with it. No, I am not a W.O.W. fanatic. But I do think.