MY HEROS

I JUST WONDER WHAT OBAMA,HIS SUPORTERS,OR THE REST
AND THE LEFT WING MEDIA WOULD HAVE DONE .
CRABBY


> This is a truely inspired story.
> a great read about our troops who we sometimes take for
> granted.
>
> > WHEN THE MUSIC STOPPED
> >
> > For those who are unaware, at a military theater, the
> > National Anthem is played before every movie..
> >
> > From a Chaplain in Iraq : I recently attended a
> showing
> > of ' Superman 3 ' here at LSA Anaconda. We
> have a
> > large auditorium
> > we use for movies, as well as memorial services and
> other
> > large gatherings. As is the custom back
> > in the States, we stood and snapped to attention when
> the
> > National Anthem began before the main feature.
> >
> > All was going as planned until about three-quarters of
> the
> > way through The National Anthem the
> > music stopped.
> >
> > Now, what would happen if this occurred with 1,000
> 18-22
> > year-olds back in the States?
> > I imagine there would be hoots, catcalls, laughter, a
> few
> > rude comments; and everyone would
> > sit down and call for a movie. Of course, that is, if
> > they had stood for the National Anthem
> > in the first place.
> >
> > Here, the 1,000 Soldiers continued to stand at
> attention,
> > eyes fixed forward. The music started
> > again. The Soldiers continued to quietly stand at
> > attention. And again, at the same point, the
> > music stopped.
> >
> > What would you expect to happen? Even here I would
> imagine
> > laughter, as everyone finally sat
> > down and expected the movie to start.
> >
> > But here, you could have heard a pin drop. Every
> Soldier
> > continued to stand at attention.
> > Suddenly there was a lone voice, then a dozen, and
> quickly
> > the room was filled with the voices
> > of a thousand soldiers, finishing where the recording
> left
> > off:
> >
> > "And the rockets red glare , the bombs bursting
> in
> > air, gave proof through the night that our flag
> > was still there. Oh, say does that Star Spangled
> Banner yet
> > wave, o'er the land of the free,
> > and the home of the brave."
> >
> > It was the most inspiring moment I have had here in
> Iraq .
> > I wanted you to know what kind
> > of Soldiers are serving you here. Remember them as
> they
> > fight for you!
> >
> > We need to be ever in prayer for all our soldiers at home and abroad. For many have already paid the
> ultimate
> > price.
> >
> > Written by Chaplain Jim Higgins
> > LSA Anaconda is at the Ballad Airport in Iraq , north
> of
> > Baghdad
>

Happy Easter

I recieved this E-mail today & wanted to share
Crabby

Take a few moments and enjoy a wonderful Easter story…



Happy Easter!

God made it so easy for His "gift of Easter" to be received by us, and
this story conveys just how easy it is to have a fresh, new life in Him.
Edith Burns was a wonderful Christian who lived in San Antonio, Texas.
She was the patient of a doctor by the name of Will Phillips. Dr. Phillips
was a gentle doctor who saw patients as people. His favorite patient was
Edith Burns.



One morning he went to his office with a heavy heart and it was because of
Edith Burns. When he walked into that waiting room, there sat Edith with
her big black Bible in her lap earnestly talking to a young mother sitting
beside her. Edith Burns had a habit of introducing herself in this way:

"Hello, my name is Edith Burns. Do you believe in Easter?" Then she
would explain the meaning of Easter, and many times people would be
saved.

Dr. Phillips walked into that office and there he saw the head nurse,
Beverly. Beverly had first met Edith when she was taking her blood
pressure..

Edith began by saying,"My name is Edith Burns. Do you believe in Easter?"
Beverly said, "Why yes I do."
Edith said, "Well, what do you believe about Easter?"
Beverly said, "Well, it's all about egg hunts, going to church, and dressing
up." Edith kept pressing her about the real meaning of Easter, and finally
led her to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.
Dr. Phillips said, " Beverly, don't call Edith into the office quite yet. I
believe there is another delivery taking place in the waiting room.



After being called back in the doctor's office, Edith sat down and when she
took a look at the doctor she said, "Dr. Will, why are you so sad? Are you
reading your Bible? Are you praying?"
Dr. Phillips said gently, "Edith, I'm the doctor and you're the patient" With
a heavy heart he said, "Your lab report came back and it says you have
cancer, and Edith, you're not going to live very long."
Edith said, "Why Will Phillips, shame on you. Why are you so sad? Do you
think God makes mistakes? You have just told me I'm going to see my
precious Lord Jesus, my husband, and my friends. You have just told me that
I am going to celebrate Easter forever, and here you are having difficulty
giving me my ticket!"
Dr. Phillips thought to himself, "What a magnificent woman this Edith Burns
is!"
Edith continued coming to Dr. Phillips. Christmas came and the office
was closed through January 3rd. On the day the office opened, Edith did not
show up. Later that afternoon, Edith called Dr. Phillips and said she would
have to be moving her story to the hospital and said, "Will, I'm very near
home, so would you make sure that they put women in here next to me in my
room who need to know about Easter."
Well, they did just that and women began to come in and share that room
with Edith. Many women were saved. Everybody on that floor from staff to
patients were so excited about Edith, that they started calling her Edith
Easter; that is everyone except Phyllis Cross, the head nurse.
Phyllis made it plain that she wanted nothing to do with Edith because she
was a "religious nut". She had been a nurse in an army hospital. She had
seen it all and heard it all. She was the original G.I. Jane. She had been
married three times, she was hard, cold, and did everything by the book.

One morning the two nurses who were to attend to Edith were sick.
Edith had the flu and Phyllis Cross had to go in and give her a shot. When
she walked in, Edith had a big smile on her face and said, "Phyllis, God
loves you and I love you, and I have been praying for you."
Phyllis Cross said, "Well, you can quit praying for me, it won't work.. I'm
not interested."
Edith said, "Well, I will pray and I have asked God not to let me go home
until you come into the family."
Phyllis Cross said, "Then you will never die because that will never happen,"
and curtly walked out of the room.
Every day Phyllis Cross would walk into the room and Edith would say,
"God loves you Phyllis and I love you, and I'm praying for you."



One day Phyllis Cross said she was literally drawn to Edith's room like a
magnet would draw iron. She sat down on the bed and Edith said, "I'm so
glad you have come, because God told me that today is your special day"
Phyllis Cross said, "Edith, you have asked everybody here the question,
"Do you believe in Easter but you have never asked me."
Edith said, "Phyllis, I wanted to many times, but God told me to wait until
you asked, and now that you have asked." Edith Burns took her Bible and
shared with Phyllis Cross the Easter Story of the death, burial and
resurrection of Jesus Christ. Edith said, "Phyllis, do you believe in Easter?
Do you believe that Jesus Christ is alive and that He wants to live in your heart?"
Phyllis Cross said, "Oh I want to believe that with all of my heart, and I do
want Jesus in my life "Right there, Phyllis Cross prayed and invited Jesus
Christ into her heart. For the first time Phyllis Cross did not walk out of a
hospital room, she was carried out on the wings of angels.



Two days later, Phyllis Cross came in and Edith said, "Do you know what
day it is?" Phyllis Cross said, "Why Edith, it's Good Friday."
Edith said, "Oh, no, for you every day is Easter. Happy Easter, Phyllis!"



Two days later, on Easter Sunday, Phyllis Cross came into work, did some
of her duties and then went down to the flower shop and got some Easter
lilies because she wanted to go up to see Edith and give her the lilies and wish her a Happy Easter.

When she walked into Edith's room, Edith was in bed. That big black Bible
was on her lap. Her hands were in that Bible. There was a sweet smile on
her face. When Phyllis Cross went to pick up Edith's hand, she realized
Edith was dead. Her left hand was on John 14: "In my Father's house are
many mansions. I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and
receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also."
Her right hand was on Revelation 21:4, "And God will wipe away every tear
from their eyes, there shall be no more death nor sorrow, nor crying; and
there shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away."



Phyllis Cross took one look at that dead body, and then lifted her face
toward heaven, and with tears streaming down here cheeks, said, "Happy
Easter, Edith, Happy Easter!"
Phyllis Cross left Edith's body, walked out of the room, and over to a table
where two student nurses were sitting. She said, "My name is Phyllis Cross.
Do you believe in Easter?"

cause & effect

This could cause another shot to be heard around the world.
Crabby



================================================================================
===============> ">> WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 16, 2009 - National American Legion Commander David
K. Rehbein> is "deeply disappointed and concerned" after a meeting with>
President Barack Obama today to discuss a proposal to force private> insurance
companies to pay for the treatment of military veterans who> have suffered
service-connected disabilities and injuries. The Obama> administration recently
revealed a plan to require private insurance> carriers to reimburse the
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) in such> cases.>> "It became apparent during
our discussion today that the President> intends to move forward with this
unreasonable plan," said> Commander Rehbein. "He says he is looking to generate>
$540-million by this method, but refused to hear arguments about the> moral and
government-avowed obligations that would be compromised by> it.">> The
Commander, clearly angered as he emerged from the session sai!
d,> "This reimbursement plan would be inconsistent with the mandate> '... to
care for him who shall have borne the battle...' given that the> United States
government sent members of the armed forces into harm's> way, and not private
insurance companies. I say again that The> American Legion does not and will not
support any plan that seeks to> bill a veteran for treatment of a service
connected disability at the> very agency that was created to treat the unique
needs of America's> veterans!">> Commander Rehbein was among a group of senior
officials from veterans> service organizations joining the President, White
House Chief of Staff> Rahm Emmanuel, Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki
and Steven> Kosiak, the overseer of defense spending at the Office of
Management> and Budget (OMB). The group's early afternoon conversation at The
White> House was precipitated by a letter of protest presented to the> President
earlier this month. The letter, co-signed by Commander> !
Rehbein and the heads of ten colleague organizations, read, in part,> "There is
simply no logical explanation for billing a veteran's> personal insurance for
care that the VA has a responsibility to> provide. While we understand the
fiscal difficulties this country> faces right now, placing the burden of those
fiscal problems on the men> and women who have already sacrificed a great deal
for this country is> unconscionable.">> Commander Rehbein reiterated points made
last week in testimony to both> House and Senate Veterans' Affairs Committees.
It was stated then that> The American Legion believes that the reimbursement
plan would be> inconsistent with the mandate that VA treat service-connected
injuries> and disabilities given that the United States government sends
members> of the armed forces into harm's way, and not private insurance>
companies. The proposed requirement for these companies to reimburse> the VA
would not only be unfair, but would have an adverse impact o!
n> service-connected disabled veterans and their families. The Legion> !
argued that, depending on the severity of the medical conditions> involved,
maximum insurance coverage limits could be reached through> treatment of the
veteran's condition alone. That would leave the rest> of the veteran's family
without health care benefits. The Legion also> pointed out that many health
insurance companies require deductibles to> be paid prior to payment for any
benefits are covered. Additionally,> the Legion is concerned that private
insurance premiums would be raised> to cover service-connected disabled veterans
and their families,> especially if the veterans are self-employed or employed in
small> businesses unable to negotiate more favorable across-the-board> insurance
policy pricing. Finally, The American Legion also believes> that some employers,
especially small businesses, would be reluctant to> hire veterans with
service-connected disabilities due to the negative> impact their employment
might have on obtaining and financing company> health care !
benefits.>> "I got the distinct impression that the only hope of this plan not>
being enacted," said Commander Rehbein, "is for an> alternative plan to be
developed that would generate the desired> $540-million in revenue. The American
Legion has long advocated for> Medicare reimbursement to VA for the treatment of
veterans. This, we> believe, would more easily meet the President's financial
goal. We> will present that idea in an anticipated conference call with White>
House Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel in the near future.">> "I only hope the
administration will really listen to us then.> This matter has far more serious
ramifications than the President is> imagining," concluded the Commander.>>>
---> If you no longer wish to receive e-mail from us, please visit>
http://capwiz.com/legion/lmx/u/?jobid=119525667&queueid=3059717491.>>

Gone home

This Obituary is of a fine young Christian man . His life had a large impact In the community, last Sunday I heard that 18 young souls were saved Sunday after his Funeral Friday.

This is a poem That Jeremy his older brother wrote in remembrance of JO JO.
MY BROTHER JOSEPH

As I lie here with you looking at the time,
My mind begins to wonder, and I can't stop asking why.

Why should someone so full of life be laying in this bed,
He should be out roping or hunting with me instead.

He should be out hanging with his many buds,
Running through a meadow or walking in the woods.

I can see you in a slough, knocking down a duck,
Or out in West Texas, shooting a buck.

Running through the bottoms, chasing down a hog,
Listening to you brag, how you've got the better dog.

Why, oh why, I keep asking, is it your turn to fly?
Up into the heavens, way up into the sky.

As I lay here looking out into the night,
I feel the answer coming, coming into sight.

You see our Lord and Savior has a plan for you,
Then it came to me, and in my heart I knew.

He knows how much influence you have down here on earth,
And if we are to meet up again, we've got to get in church.

This was your purpose, this was your task,
You were an angel, sent to us behind a Joseph mask.

Written by: Jeremy Westmoreland


HUGHES SPRINGS - Joseph Dale "Jo Jo" Westmoreland was born on October 12, 1992, and left the world to be with the Lord on Wednesday, February 18, 2009l. Joseph was a Christian and an active member of Crossroads Missionary Baptist Church. Jo Jo was a Sophomore at Hughes Springs High School. His passion in life was for Football, Ridin' and Ropin', Baseball, Hunting and spending time with his friends.

Joseph is survived by his parents, Roger and Paula Westmoreland of Hughes Springs; two brothers and one sister-in-law Jeremy and Stephanie Westmoreland and Justin Westmoreland, all of Hughes Springs; his grandparents, Horace and Linda Jones of Hughes Springs and Eddie and Phyllis Westmoreland of Queen City; aunts and uncles, Debbie and Bradley Dennis, Peggy Stark, Penny and Steve Campbell, Mina and Charles Priddy, Ricky and Trudy Taylor and Jimmy and Jennifer Goodson, all of Hughes Springs, Derik and Kathy Wasson of Queen City, Chantay and Don Crews of Kansas City, Kansas and Whitney Treadway of Atlanta; one niece and nephew, McKinley and Karter Westmoreland of Hughes Springs; a host of cousins and friends. Jo Jo is also survived by his best friend Nick McGuire and a special coach Chris Edwards both of Hughes Springs.

Joseph is preceded in death by his brother, Roger Dale Westmoreland Jr.; his grandmother, Marjorie McKinney Westmoreland and his uncle Danny Joe Westmoreland.

Funeral services will be at 2 p.m. on Friday, February 20, 2009, at Mustang Stadium at Hughes Springs High School with the Rev. Dan McGuire and the Rev. Larry Neeley officiating. Burial will be in Sardis Cemetery in Hughes Springs under the direction of Reeder-Davis Funeral Home.

Visitation will be from 3-8 p.m. today, February 19, 2009, at Crossroads Missionary Baptist Church. Following visitation, a candlelight service will be held at 8:30 p.m. at Mustang Stadium.

Memorials may be made to the Jo Jo Westmoreland Memorial Scholarship Fund at First National Bank of Hughes Springs.

Death of a Nation

Thank you, President Bush

This post by Ms.Swirsky is a trbute to my #1 COWBOY,George W Bush. I believe he is a man that truly loves this Country & has been put down by opposition ,but he has kept the faith & did not drop the ball. Years down the road his greatest will be duly recognized
May God Bless this great American.
Crabby


Thank You, President Bush
Posted in: Guest Commentary
By Joan Swirsky
Thursday, January 08, 2009 - 9:17:34 AM ETDigg this story!
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As I type this article, I think of the figurative-millions of both mundane and serious things I’ve done over the past seven-and-a-half years with absolute confidence in America’s safety. That confidence was inspired by the steadfast leadership and unblinking courage of President George W. Bush, as he faced our country’s most deadly enemies and succeeded in preventing another ghastly attack on American soil after September 11th.

I know, I know. Let me count the ways that Republicans and conservatives have railed against our 43rd president’s deficit spending, his refusal to pardon the American border-guard heroes Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean, his “going socialist” with multiple bailouts, and his departure from any other number of bedrock conservative principles.

And let’s not forget the hysterical leftwing-media and their minions who did everything in their power to undermine the president – during wartime –by writing revisionist-history books and articles, compromising national intelligence (and therefore security), waging bogus lawsuits, and engaging non-stop in their typically childish temper tantrums.

Yet in spite of all their sound and fury, President Bush kept a steady course, delivering on his promise to keep America safe “All this time,” writes law professor Thane Rosenbaum in the Wall St. Journal, “Americans have been safe from suicide bombers, biological warfare and collapsing skyscrapers, while the rest of the world has been on red alert.”

Yes, by transforming the intelligence services and other institutions charged with our security and preparing the United States military to meet the challenges of the 21st century, the president allowed all of his critics to be secure in their own homes.

If he had done nothing else, that would have been more than enough for me. Because without safety, a country – just like a family, just like a patient in a hospital – is as good as dead. Today, over 300-million Americans can thank President Bush for keeping them safe while they, themselves, enjoyed seven-and-a-half years of doing a figurative-million things without worrying about the next terrorist attack on our shores.
How did he do it? In the face of savage pummeling, plunging poll numbers, a treacherous Fifth Column, and worldwide threats from not one but multiple terrorist regimes – all intent on “humbling” big bad America – he let our enemies know that any threat to our safety would be met with a draconian response.

Did he promise to bomb Mecca and Medina, unleash our nuclear weapons on threatening nuclear countries like North Korea, or tell Iran’s madman and his puppet thugs in Hamas and Hezbollah that he would defend a democratic Israel come hell or high water? We’ll never know the answers to the first two questions, but the president has been the best friend that our staunch ally in the Middle East ever had, even while the Arabists in the Pentagon and the State Department tried mightily to undermine his support of Israel.

Thank you, President Bush, for keeping all of us safe!

SPEAK SOFTLY…CARRY A BIG STICK

Just how did President Bush go about striking fear into the hearts of our Islamic-fascist enemies? He never used – as they routinely do – menacing language or outright threats. Not once did he lose his temper or pound his bully pulpit. He tried on multiple occasions to appeal to their “sensitivities” and “humanity,” but clearly these qualities were non-existent.

What did he say that so clearly resonated in the ossified hearts of those who celebrated 9/11 by dancing in the streets and who gleefully held up as gruesome trophies the heads of Americans they had cut off at the neck?

When President Bush said, “bring it on,” our enemies believed him! They watched:

· Our Commander-in-Chief topple the murderous tyrant, Saddam Hussein, and free 25-million people to vote – for the first time in their lives – in free elections.

· America’s heroic fighting forces topple the tyrannical Taliban and allow 25-million people in Afghanistan to vote – for the first time in their lives – in free elections.

· Their fellow terrorists bomb Bali, Spain, Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, London, Madrid, Glasgow Denmark, Istanbul, Algeria, India, the list goes on – but not dare bomb America!

· The Patriot Act being enacted in 2001 by an overwhelming majority in Congress, and they knew that its conditions – allowing law-enforcement agencies to monitor communications of suspected terrorists within the U.S. – would severely compromise their nefarious plots.

· Our president defying the “opinions” of the so-called experts and armchair generals who urged him to hoist the white flag of surrender in Iraq, but instead sanctioning the Surge which effectively won the war!

· The typically anti-American citizens of France, Germany and Italy – having seen non-stop anti-Bush coverage for the better part of a decade – vote for conservative, America-admiring leaders and ardent supporters of President Bush.

· The powerful liberal media try to destroy the president, while he turned a deaf ear to their incessant blather, and instead focused his laser-like attention on defending our country.

· And waited as the “lame duck” president exhibited as much energy and determination to defend our country in his waning days in office as he had on September 11, 2001.

· Our Islamic-fascist enemies within and outside of our country – both jealous of and reviling the American way of life – prove to be the cowards they really are, literally scared to death to mess with our take-no-prisoners president.

Thank you, President Bush, for your belief in the power of freedom, for your undying support of our troops, and for always putting the interests of America light years ahead of fickle polls and feckless critics.

THE LEFT’S MYTHS VS. HARD REALITY

The president’s enemies on the left have always been fueled by unquenchable envy at his power, which they lust for above all other things – even national security! Spurred on by irrational hate-based emotion – their signature attribute – they entertain the utopian dreams of pre-adolescent children everywhere, who want peace and love and everyone getting along.

Aided and abetted by a leftist media and their bosses – most of them holdovers from the angry “peace and love” 1960s – they rely on a largely uninformed public that prefers glitzy images to historical facts, as well as corrupt organizations like ACORN, which is being investigated in several states and has been indicted in many others for voter fraud.

As the president’s former advisor, Ed Gillespie, has written, the myths the left subscribes to can be exploded by simple – pardon the word – facts!

Did the president’s “go it alone” policy, as the left erroneously insists, ruin America’s standing in the world? Not even close! In fact, the U.S. acted with a multilateral coalition of nations to remove Saddam Hussein from power; had approximately 40 countries supporting us in Afghanistan as well as every NATO ally; was joined by more than 90 nations in sharing terrorist-network information; and succeeded in expanding NATO membership, strengthening ties to China, Japan, South Korea, India, Georgia, Ukraine, Kosovo, Brazil, Mexico and Central America.

“When the President took office, America had trade agreements with only three countries, versus 14 today,” Gillespie says, “with three additional agreements awaiting Congressional approval.”
Did the president’s tax cuts benefit only the wealthy, at the cost of investment in healthcare, education, and the (bogus) issue of global warming? (I added the “bogus”).The Bush tax cuts, Gillespie adds:

· Afforded our country its longest run – ever – of uninterrupted job growth, 52 straight months.

· The creation of 8.3 million jobs.

· Six consecutive years of economic growth [when] real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by more than 17 percent, a gain of nearly 2.1 trillion dollars.

This is no small feat, given that President Bush inherited a recession from his predecessor and that, according to a study by the International Monetary Fund, “9/11 cost the U.S. economy about $75 billion in lost GDP — not counting property losses of well over $100 billion. The U.S. also incurred future yearly costs of roughly 0.75 percent of GDP to pay for greater security, another big hit.”

Keith Marsden, former adviser at the World Bank and a senior economist in the International Labor Organization, writes further of the president’s extraordinary economic record, saying that in comparison to other advanced economies over the past eight years:

· U.S. output expanded faster since 2000 than did most advanced economies.

· The average per-capita consumption of the U.S. population…was second only to Luxembourg's.

· 84.7% of the population was covered by health insurance in 2007, an increase of 3.6 million people over 2006.

· Life expectancy rose to 78 years in 2006.

· The U.S. employment rate…has remained high by international standards.

· The unemployment rate averaged 4.7% from 2001-2007, in comparison with a 5.2% average rate during the Clinton years.

· The cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan has been largely absorbed in a relatively small increase in the defense budget (to 4.1 percent of GDP in 2006 from 3.8 percent in 1995). A much higher proportion of U.S. income was devoted to the military during World War II and the Korean War.

All this in spite of the fact that the immigrant population of the U.S. grew by nearly 10 million from 1995 to 2005, reaching a total of 38.5 million, according to the World Bank.

Is the president and his administration’s deregulation policy responsible for our current economic crisis? Sorry, but it was the president himself who, way back in 2001, warned in his first budget that the size of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were a "potential problem" that "could cause strong repercussions in financial markets, affecting federally insured entities and economic activity." In early 2003, he warned that F&F posed a “systemic risk” and called for a new regulator of these corrupt entities. In the fall of 2003, he called for a new federal agency to monitor F&F, and in 2005, Alan Greenspan, Chairman of the Federal Reserve – under Reagan, Bush I, Clinton, and Bush II (until January 2006) – also issued a stern warning about F&F.

Columnist Wesley Pruden reminds us that, “Sen. Charles Schumer, a Democrat of New York, and Rep. Barney Frank, a Democrat of Massachusetts, did more than any other 10 men to insulate Fannie Mae from nosy regulators and effective federal supervision. Fannie and her senior executives…grew rich on taxpayer largesse while blowing on the kindling of the fire that melted the subprime housing market.”

Pruden left out Democrats Chris Dodd, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and legions of others who, like Schumer and Frank, consistently rejected the president’s calls for oversight and accountability. And look what’s happened since they took power in 2006!

· Consumer confidence has plummeted.

· Gasoline prices have gone up and then down and are now escalating again.

· Unemployment has increased dramatically.

· Home equity has dropped by multi-trillions of dollars, and millions of homes in foreclosure.

· The Dow has plunged precipitously, with Americans losing trillions in their stocks, bonds, and Mutual Funds investment portfolios.

Thank you, President Bush, for the six years in which you presided over our booming economy and low unemployment rate, and for your continued support of free markets and entrepreneurism.

SO MUCH GRATITUDE, SO LITTLE TIME

*** The No Child Left Behind Act – your brainchild, Mr. President – championed the first-time-ever accountability for both teachers and students by empirically measuring the skills of the former and the test results of the latter. This resulted in fourth-grade students achieving their highest reading and math scores on record, eighth-grade students achieving their highest math scores on record, and also a halving of the achievement gap between black and white students. And let’s not forget that under your watch, Mr. President, federal spending on education increased by nearly 40 percent and Pell Grant funding – to help more than 5.5-million students attend college –nearly doubled.

Your interest and in and concern for young people was also demonstrated, Mr. President, by some cold hard statistics. During your tenure, teenage drug use declined by 25 percent, and the abortion rate was at its lowest since 1974.

***Presciently, Mr. President, you proposed a plan to “fix” the Social Security system, which you knew was due to go bankrupt by 2017, just eight years from now. The opposition, predictably, didn’t like your plan. But you knew, as radio co-hosts Perry Atkinson and Bob Just have described, that “the Ponzi scheme known as Social Security [is simply] a government “slush fund.”

Again addressing the concerns of our aging population, Mr. President, you initiated the market-based Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit program, affording over 40-million Americans better access to prescription drugs and a savings (over the next five years) of approximately $240 billion. That is not to omit that your children’s S-CHIP health insurance program resulted in a decrease of 800,000 uninsured children from 2001 to 2007.

***The Patriot Act – under your watch, Mr. President – finally allowed the FBI and CIA to share information and wiretap terrorists’ phone calls, both forbidden by the politically-correct sages of the former administration. Thanks to this Act – and with the help of our military – nearly 5,000 terrorist plots have been thwarted (many which targeted our country) and untold numbers of America’s enemies have been arrested, imprisoned, or deported, and worldwide terror attacks have decreased by 40 percent since 2001.

***Compassionately, Mr. President, you addressed the problem of homelessness more aggressively than did any of your predecessors by initiating the “Housing First” program. As a result, there has been a 30-percent decline in chronically homeless people; their numbers declining from 176,000 to 12,400 people, according to one quite-persuasive census.

***Again, compassionately, Mr. President, you were solely responsible for initiating the most magnanimous HIV/AIDS (and malaria and tuberculosis) treatment program in history for the African continent. In 2003, only 50,000 Africans were taking antiretroviral drugs, but today that number has reached 1.3 million! As PajamasMedia.com reports, ”The President created the $30-billion Emergency Plan for Aids Relief, and extended it this year with $48 billion to train 140,000 healthcare workers who specialize in HIV prevention and treatment. The rock star and activist Bob Geldorf openly acknowledged that the president `has done more than any other president’ for Africa.” Not incidentally, trade with Africa has doubled during President Bush's tenure But your keen interest in human health didn’t stop in Africa, Mr. President. In our country, you increased the budget for the National Institutes of Health by 38 percent – from $17.1 billion to $23.7 billion, and you increased funding for t\he National Science Foundation budget from $4.4 billion in 2001 to $6.0 billion in 2008.

***To protect the sanctity of the United States Constitution, Mr. President, you appointed the esteemed jurists John Roberts and Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court, both of them intellectual scholars who will continue – I trust – to uphold their oaths to “defend and protect” this most cherished document of our Founding Fathers.

***Protecting our environment did not escape your attention, Mr. President. During your terms in office, air pollution decreased dramatically, both wind and solar energy production nearly doubled, and nearly $18 billion was devoted to the research and development of alternative energy technologies. And all credit, Mr. President, for protecting more than 27-million acres of Federal forest and grasslands and wetlands.

Thank you, President Bush, for your prescience, compassion and wisdom in addressing the most urgent issues in America and around the world.

CHARACTER, DECENCY, MORAL CLARITY, CLASS

Jim Towey, president of Saint Vincent College in PA and the president’s director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives from 2002-2006, writes that in spite of the calumny the president has endured, he “kept his head up and soldiered on. He took the criticism in stride… reading a daily devotional …signing letters to the families of the fallen”…”

Towey continues: “Mother Teresa was asked at the end of her life whether she was discouraged because after decades of caring for the dying and destitute in Calcutta little seemed to have changed. She replied, `No. God doesn't call me to be successful. God calls me to be faithful.’ George W. Bush was faithful. He had a charge to keep and he kept it.”

It is now known, as Towey mentions, that for many years, President Bush and First Lady Laura Bush privately visited thousands of injured veterans, and met, again privately, with many hundreds of families whose relatives had been lost in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Why did this information emerge only in the waning days of the Bush presidency? Because like all of the facts cited above of the president’s extraordinary accomplishments, the virulent leftwing media – the public’s main source of information – purposefully withheld this information because members of the Fourth Estate take their goose-stepping marching orders from the leftist honchos who still believe – empirical evidence to the contrary - that big bad America is the root cause of the world’s problems. Good news about America is anathema to them, and anyone with President Bush’s unabashed love for our country and moral clarity is especially loathsome.

Writer Arnold Ahlert says that, “Unfortunately, recognizing the difference between good and evil has become Western culture’s greatest liability. Nowadays it has become necessary to bring the `reasoning’ of moral relativity, multiculturalism, and non-judgmentalism to every equation. The result? Moral paralysis Virtually every American politician in both parties talked about the necessity of removing Saddam Hussein. George W. Bush did it! Why? Because he dared to defy the moral paralysis that deems talking about wrongness – as opposed to acting against it – is sufficient.”

When the president addressed the Israeli Parliament (the Knesset) in June on the occasion of Israel’s 60th anniversary, he recalled how 11 minutes after Israel was declared a state, America – on the order of President Harry Truman – was the first nation to recognize Israel's independence.

“What Bush didn't say,” writes political science professor and author Paul Kengor, “was that not only was America alone then, but so was its president – who recognized Israel in defiance of his staff, from Secretary of State George Marshall to Secretary of Defense James Forrestal…”
Of course, the American public never learned about this speech because the media cannot tolerate the similarities between Truman and Bush, or the distinct possibility that their bête noire will achieve the same exalted status and sterling legacy as the man from Independence has.
“History will say that we misunderestimated George W. Bush,” writes Andrew Roberts. “I am writing, of course, about Harry S Truman, generally regarded today as one of the greatest of all the 43 presidents, and the man who set the United States on the course that ended decades later in the defeat of Communism. If the West wins the modern counterpart of that struggle, the War Against Terror, historians will look back in amazement at the present unpopularity of George W Bush, and marvel at it quite as much as we now marvel at the 67 per cent disapproval rates for Truman throughout 1952.”

Commenting on the president’s “internal fortitude” and “equanimity,” columnist Charles Krauthammer writes: “Bush is much like Truman, who developed the sinews of war for a new era (the Department of Defense, the CIA, the NSA), expanded the powers of the presidency, established a new doctrine for active intervention abroad, and ultimately engaged in a war (Korea) -- also absent an attack on the U.S. -- that proved highly unpopular. So unpopular that Truman left office disparaged and highly out of favor. History has revised that verdict. I have little doubt that Bush will be the subject of a similar reconsideration.”

Throughout the Bush presidency, Americans have seen a man with unfailing modesty, character, decency, moral clarity and class. He was as consistently gracious to his critics as they were consistently rude and rabid. He never wavered in distinguishing good from evil and freedom from tyranny, or, as he explained in his second inaugural, “the moral choice between oppression, which is always wrong, and freedom, which is eternally right.”

On January 1, 2009, President Bush, speaking from his ranch in Texas, said: “As my time in office comes to a close, I thank the American people for trusting me with the honor of serving our great country. It has been a tremendous privilege…”

Thank you, President Bush!

one more of a dying breed

This man was one of a dying breed" he was proud to be a American & served his country well. He was one of the best brick mason in the country, one of the best sons he supported his aflicted Mother and his dad when he was sick, also the best Uncle ever .

Crabby old man

LINDEN - Graveside services for Harry A. Crowe Jr., 90, of Longview, formerly Linden, will be 10 a.m. Tuesday, October 28, 2008, at Linden Cemetery, with the Rev. Don Phelps officiating, with Masonic rights and military honors. Arrangements are by Reeder-Davis-Schindler Funeral Home. Mr. Crowe died Friday, October 24, at his residence.

He was born January 28, 1918, in Sulphur Springs. Mr. Crowe was a U.S. Navy veteran of World War II, having served on the USS Wasp. He was a member of VFW Post No. 1183, a 32nd degree Mason and a member of the Bricklayers Union.

Mr. Crowe is survived by: one daughter and son-in-law, Katherine and Bobby Cotton of Longview; one son and daughter-in-law, Robert and Gwen Pollak of Longview; one nephew and wife, Dewayne and Glenda White of Hughes Springs; and one niece and husband, Diane and Chuck Hughes of Austin; six grandchildren; four great-grandchildren; and numerous other nieces and nephews.

Mr. Crowe was preceded in death by his parents; and wife, Katherine.

Donations may be made to Heart'sWay Hospice in Longview.

The body may be viewed Monday, October 27, 2008, and the family will will receive friends from 5-7 p.m..

Online guestbook may be signed at www.reeder-davis