Who Watches the Watchmen?

Friends, and I say this because I have friends who are "Birthers". I have heard many say that President Obama should have shown his birth certificate then "all of this would have been done." Friends, here's my question, to whom should he have shown his birth certificate? Yes, that's it, who should have seen it? I don't think it should be Donald Trump.

So what qualifies someone to become President? Article II, Section 1, Clause 5 of the Constitution sets the principal qualifications one must meet to be eligible for the Presidency. The President must be a natural born citizen of the United States who is at least thirty-five years old and been a permanent resident in the United States for at least fourteen years.

As for what it means to be a "natural born citizen," this didn't become contentious until after the Civil War with Reconstruction. It became a sticking point because suddenly potential presidents, citizens of the Southern United States, had sworn allegiance to a foreign power, the Confederate States of America.

The Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution defined citizenship primarily in the first sentence of Section 1: "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside." The rest of the amendment dealt with reconstruction issues and certainly not to any person born after 1868.

In fact, the Fourteenth Amendment made the term "natural born citizen" obsolete.

Here's the end: According to this State of Hawaii Certificate of Live Birth Barack Obama was born in the state of Hawaii (not a territory since 1959) and is a citizen of the US.

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What is missing from the constitution is who checks these qualifications for each candidate? Why? Because until Barack Obama there hasn't been a major party candidate suspected of not meeting these eligibility criteria. This brouhaha came up because nobody knew the answer to the question "Who watches the watchmen?"

As for me, I assumed (yes, I know what that means) that whether it be in his home state of Illinois, or whoever certifies ballots before the primary or general election, or Hillary Clinton, or the Democratic Party itself; I assumed someone, somewhere asked if he was a citizen and found a satisfactory answer.

This is who's supposed to check this stuff out, whether by law or by simple common sense. Then again, what's so common anymore.

Why isn't anyone else asking if this was checked out before we voted? Pundips (my combined word for "pundit" and "dip$#!%") everywhere have barked at the President, I haven't heard of anybody who has asked about those who were supposed maintain the integrity of our federal elections. Then again, you get more mileage complaining about the President then you get complaining about a faceless bureaucrat leading a faceless bureau.

Friends, it's time to watch the watchmen.

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And if the presentation of this Certificate of Live Birth isn't enough, if you suspect it's a fraud, well then SUE! Don't be Trump and make a media circus of "checking its authenticity yourself." I would think that any citizen would have the right to ask in court if their President was born in this country or not. Somewhere there's a lawyer who would love to take this to either Congress or the Supreme Court or both. In a land of Checks and Balances there's someone who should be willing to host this lawsuit. Quit complaining and do something! SUE 'EM! Get your answers outside of the court of public opinion and put it in a court with the teeth to do something within the law to enforce the law.

That's how we do things in a nation of laws.

A Very Good Question

We Can Know is a ministry that contends that the rapture will happen on May 21, 2011. That's in 23 days. They also say that the world will be destroyed five months later on October 21.

That being said, if the rapture is less than a month away, why do they still maintain their donations page? It just seems that if you're still seeking donations you must not have much confidence in your prophecy.

What Now?

This one's for you, Donald!

This article by Rachel Rose Hartman is posted on today's Yahoo News:

The president had released his certificate of live birth in 2008, but many "birthers" said the absence of a long form birth certificate prompted questions about Obama's birthplace of Hawaii. In recent weeks potential GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump has brought birther questions into the forefront of the media.

"At a time of great consequence for this country--when we should be debating how we win the future, reduce our deficit, deal with high gas prices, and bring stability to the Middle East, Washington, DC, was once again distracted by a fake issue," Pfeiffer said. "The President's hope is that with this step, we can move on to debating the bigger issues that matter to the American people and the future of the country."

So now, all you "Birthers," what now? Can we now get on with the affairs of state and get out the Birther controversy?  Not yet, for one, Donald Trump is going to take credit.

Trump on Wednesday took full credit for the release.

"I feel I've accomplished something really really important and I'm honored by it," Trump said at a press conference held during his pre-scheduled visit today to New Hampshire. Trump noted that people have long been requesting the document, but Trump was the only one who got the president to release it. Trump suggested Wednesday this development will boost his own potential presidential candidacy.

Yes Donald, you've done something important, you've distracted a nation, you've gotten Sarah Palin's support, and you've made Bill O'Reilly sound reasonable to lefties nationwide and that's truly something. Of course, he's not done yet.

Trump said he and others are still going to have to assess the document's authenticity. We're "going to look at it. We have to see if it's real, if it's proper," Trump said. But he added that he's "sure it's the right deal" and is looking forward to moving on to more important issues such as OPEC and China. 

"He and others are still going to assess the document's authenticity." It just goes to show that we are a nation of voyeurs, we aren't going to believe anything unless we see it ourselves. This doesn't make us leery of politicians and their words, it makes us selfish because only our opinions matter. "It's not a fact unless I say it is." It also goes to show he and "Birthers" everywhere are never going to be happy until Barack Obama is out of office. So it goes...

In the meantime, smoke screens everywhere are blowing around distracting the nation from what are important affairs of state. We the people need to hold the feet of elected officials everywhere to the fire to govern to benefit the lives of all Americans.

On the other hand, I want to see the birth certificate for The Donald's hair, that thing can't be American made.

Thanks to all the Good People of First Pres Marshall and Glory Be to God!

Last Sunday was my first Easter at the First Presbyterian Church in Marshall, Texas. It was a wonderful and glorious experience.

We celebrated and celebrated! We welcomed a new member into the Body of Christ as Jerry and Lea's baby was baptized. We celebrated as Lea joined the church. We celebrated as newborn Elizabeth Fern was paraded through the congregation by her proud grandmother. We heard a minute for mission about the Texas Wildfires and collected an offering through the PC(USA)'s One Great Hour of Sharing program.

We sang and we celebrated. This comes with special thanks and praise to God for Georgia and Al, our wonderful worship team. We three selected the music, Al and I do the hymns while Georgia picks out all of the instrumental pieces, and they led us in song!

We read scripture and interpreted the word of God. And if you missed the sermon, click "Come and See" on the Podbean gadget on the right side of the screen for the audio. Or you can get both the audio and text here.

We joined family and friends. Above all, we worshiped the Resurrection of the Lord. This is above all what we celebrated.

For Marie and I it was a joyful time with our newest friends and family. It was a glorious day and we all praise God!

Redneck Detailing

Yesterday, I saw a Dodge Caravan painted in a camouflage motif with Louisiana plates. I would love to hear this half of a conversation in front of a judge...

Yes your honor, I hit the Dodge.

Yes your honor it was parked.

No it wasn't moving at all.

No your honor I didn't see it.

Wasn't that the general idea behind a camo paint job?

Sure, that line of reasoning wouldn't work since the van was at the hospital, but still, wouldn't it be great!

And Another Open Letter

Dear Cajun Tex Restaurant,
Let's start here, your food is very, very yummy. This is why Marie wanted to try the salmon on your Lenten menu. But we found out last Sunday that the Lenten menu ended because you are out of the items on it. Friends, if you're going to have a Lenten menu you shouldn't run out two weeks before Lent ends.

Crawfish aren't kosher, Paul

Another Open Letter

Dear Jaguar Driver,
Congrats to the candidate in the 5th District that you support. The way you parallel park I wouldn't trust you to pick the winner of a two-horse race in the fifth given three choices. When you parallel park in two spaces you show the world that you are more important, your car is more expensive, and the rest of us can walk from downtown as far as you're concerned. You show that your candidate will protect your interests and the interests of every Jaguar driver in Harrison County, Texas and that is someone every farmer, rancher, and oilman in East Texas can get behind! Oh, and if you're the candidate so much the better.

Hoping you get a flat on the highway and your cell phone is dead, Paul

Hall of Notorious, er, Fame

Two sports stories dominated the weekend, Manny Ramirez, baseball slugger, retired from the game and Tiger Woods, former immortal golfer, is showing signs of his old prowess. The tie that binds, right now they are both more notorious than they are famous.

Allegedly Manny has tested positive for "Performance Enhancing Drugs" for the second time in his career. In professional baseball, these drugs are either steroids or the drugs used to mask the use of steroids. They make good players great and great players the greatest of all time.

As for Tiger, it's not his game that suffered, it was his marriage and his bank account; and ever since those took their hit his game did suffer. This weekend he showed signs of the old Tiger on the links and the TV ratings for last weekend's Master's Golf Tournament spiked accordingly.

The question that has dominated sports talk this weekend is "Should people root for these men?" They are greats in their sports; and both cheated, one on his sport and the other on his wife. I've been decidedly Old School about the matter, both cheated and neither should prosper. It seems pretty easy until you look at other sports immortals.

Ty Cobb was a racist and used his spikes to break up double plays and other players. Babe Ruth was a drunk and womanizer. Lawrence Taylor is on probation for "patronizing" an under-age hooker. OJ Simpson needs no introduction. What do these men have in common? They are in their sports' Halls of Fame.

Some say that players in Major League Baseball's so-called Steroid Era should go into the hall with special notes on their induction plaques explaining their places in the game. Some say players like Manny, Roger Clemens, and Barry Bonds should wear the "Scarlet S" on their bust in Cooperstown. Some say they should be in a special place in the Hall of Fame so we can celebrate their achievements while not forgetting their indiscretions.

But maybe this is unnecessary; if we don't forget Ty Cobb's short comings we won't forget Manny's. Maybe.

It is said America celebrates the scoundrel. The shame is the truth in that statement. It's true in sports. It's very true in politics. It is said that those who have the deepest talent also have the deepest flaws. That sure seems to be true too.

Yesterday I heard someone on the radio say "You can have the pretty good moral people and I'll take the deeply flawed star because the stars are more fun to watch." I want to say that's horrible. It's giving up on being better. It glorifies a status quo that has no choice but to fall deeper and deeper into its own despair.

But I must acknowledge this, I have no real good idea about how deeply I live into that same hole myself with the stars I love to watch. It's the glass houses thing. Everyone loved Kirby Puckett and then we found out he had a mistress for eighteen years and he shoved her in the apartment where he hid her from the spotlight.

What I do say is that as Christians we are held to a higher calling. We should root for stars who do what they do the right way. We should never hold to the "if you ain't cheating you ain't trying" perspective and we should root for people who live their lives the same way. We should also remember that as Jesus once said, "Let he who is without sin..."

An Open Letter

Dear Wal-Mart Customers,
I know that while we were in school we often asked when we would ever use the skills they tried to teach us. Dear friends, let me give you a hand. First, reading at a first grade level, whether in English or Spanish, isn't a bad thing. Integral calculus is over most of our needs, but surely we can still all count to twenty. Let's again combine these skills into a real life word problem: When you have more than twenty (20) items, STAY OUT OF THE LANE THAT SAYS TWENTY (20) ITEMS OR LESS.

Thanks for understanding, Paul
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Dear Air Traveler,
We know that you're more important than the rest of us, but there's a reason they board the back of the plane first and it's not so that you won't have any overhead bin space. Please, causing a boarding log jam in the front of the plane because you can't wait to board is silly. On a side note, we all have to wait the same amount of time for checked bags, it's not worth the rush.

Just trying to help, Paul
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Dear Fellow Motorist,
I know you're the only one on the road, but if you run your Mazda Miata into my Nissan XTerra, physics teaches us that two pieces of matter cannot occupy the same space in time. Physics further teaches us that your aluminum piece of sporty car will probably get crushed by my Crossover Utility Vehicle. By the way, why are you using a Miata to tow a kayak?

Just wondering, Paul
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Dear Paul,
You realize of course that nobody is going to pay attention to your "unsolicited advice," don't you.

Just sayin', Paul

Facebook Has Marked "Rock and Roll Devotional" as Abusive!

Well gang, this is it, I am now an enemy of the Facebook state...

Facebook's Dire Warning

Since you can't read the text, let me share what it says. I have been warned by Facebook: "You are trying to post content on Facebook that has been marked as abusive. You may request to have this block lifted from Facebook by contacting us below. Please note that we're unable to reply to every bug report at this time, but we may contact you for more details about the issue as we investigate the report."

Well, I honestly don't know why this warning has come to pass.  So if you want to check out today's posting, check out  today's entry at Rock and Roll Devotional. The whole blog can be found here.

Facebook, saving people from hate speech since 9:30 this morning.

When Others Have Moved On

It's coming up on six years ago that Hurricane Katrina ravaged the Gulf Coast, particularly greater New Orleans. I had just been ordained and installed as Pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in Berryville, Arkansas when Katrina struck. I hardly knew anybody in town and was just becoming more familiar with the community when I was accosted by a woman who worked at the local print shop. She wanted to know what my church and I were doing to help New Orleans.

At that moment there was a UHaul at the local Wal-Mart loading supplies to the Gulf. They were getting all sorts of supplies-the stuff that you get when you don't know what to get-and getting it ready to go the New Orleans. There was no plan really, just load the truck and head south. At the time, nobody really knew the full extent of the damage, people just wanted something done now.

In the end, considering the roads, the scope of the disaster, and the National Guard, I don't know who finally received the supplies on that truck. Did it make it to New Orleans? Or Mississippi for that matter? Or anyone who was displaced by the storm? Who knows? I'm not sure if anybody really does.

This woman was upset that I said I was checking to see what the denomination was doing. She wondered how I could be so callus not to go down and buy a ton of water to send to Louisiana at that moment. I gave her a lousy answer because I didn't have a good answer for her, but as I said, the ink wasn't even dry in my shingle. I didn't know what to say or do.

Well, one of the reasons I'm a fan of the Presbyterian Church (USA) is that the church and Presbyterian Disaster Assistance take a long term approach to helping people overcome the woes of disaster. This article provides a look at what the church is doing and continues to do five years after most disaster relief agencies left New Orleans.

There is still work to be done, and thank God for people like Presbyterian Disaster Assistance for their continuing work on the Gulf Coast and wherever God's good creation needs the church to be God's hands and help the miracle happen.

It's been a long time since I just put up a music video, and I'm not quite sure what prompted me to seek this one out, but I'm not sorry. It's hard to imagine that this gem of progressive rock came from a six piece band out of Topeka, Kansas.

One night when I was in college I saw Rich Williams, the guitar player on the left side of the video, playing pool in a 3.2 beer bar in Topeka. Ah, nostalgia...