No Athiests In Foxholes?

In 2005 the Vietnam Archive at Texas Tech University in Lubbock interviewed veterans from the November 1965 Battles of the Ia Drang Valley, which had been immortalized in the 1992 book We Were Soldiers Once, And Young as well as an eponymous 2002 movie starring Mel Gibson. During the actual battle Bill Beck was an assistant machine gunner whose actions at a clearing called Landing Zone X-Ray earned him a Silver Star. In an hour-long videotaped interview Beck is very candid about his emotions throughout the battle.

His three-man machine-gun team ended up being a duo—because their ammo carrier stayed on the helicopter after seeing his buddies getting shot. So Beck and his gunner ended up in an exposed spot with just tall grass to protect them. Before long his gunner was severely wounded, and Beck had to take over the gun—calling for a medic between bursts. 

"Lo and behold here comes a medic, but I only saw part of his name-tag: N-O-L-L. Blonde-haired kid, slight build...I told the General about him later, but they never found out who he was. I did years of research myself, but never found him." Beck and the medic are taking fire, kneeling over the wounded gunner, bandaging him and...praying. "We prayed. We had, like, a minute to pray." The battle is raging. "Somehow this guy and I start talkin' about God and stuff. I'm cryin', the fear had just jumped on me...we're prayin' to God out loud. I remember cryin' real tears. I'm makin' false promises y'know: If you get me outta this, I'll do this and that. I'm not proud of that. But I was scared enough to seek Him out."

Presently the medic carried off the wounded gunner, leaving Beck alone to cover a wide area filled with attacking Viet Cong.

"Anyway, I got everything straight, and—what I wanted to interject here is, the fear left as fast as it came. When I got back to business [with the machine gun] the fear was all gone. It was like the nicest calm you wanna experience...serenity or something. I don't know how to put it into words." The interviewer asks "How did that happen?" Beck is baffled "I don't know..."

I'm watching the interview and yelling at the TV: "Hello! What did you just pray for?" I suppose in the heat of battle, a scared kid forgets his panicked prayer. But 45 years later, when describing that prayer, followed by total peace—and, oh yeah, knowing now that the gunner survived—wouldn't it occur to Beck that his prayer had been answered? The interviewer certainly seemed to be leading Beck toward that conclusion. But the old warrior just couldn't make the connection.

Stop me if you've heard this one: an angel walks into a foxhole...

The Sky Isn't Falling! The Sky Isn't Falling!

On C-SPAN this morning, Slate Magazine's Dahlia Lithwick listed several expansive Commerce Clause decisions since FDR, and observed that the Republic has not yet crumbled under the weight of Federal mandates. Yes, America has groaned for 75 years under the spreading girth of that power—without total collapse.

Liberal law professors now use this same ratchet-effect principle to justify FDRs breathtaking expansion of Federal power as a natural "progressive" trend. But FDR only got his way by bullying the court (ever heard of "the switch in time that saved nine"?) and then flooding them with a torrent of regulatory legislation, only some of which they could stop. Honestly, if a typical American today were told that the Federal government has the power to stop her from growing beans or carrots on her own land for her own use, she would deem that un-American. But such power has lodged with the Feds since Wickard v Filburn in 1942.


Listening to proponents of Obamacare describe the magical effects of increased government power—besides prompting me to mention LBJ's failed-and-costly war-on-poverty—reminds me of the old saying "what one generation tolerates, the next adopts as its standard". The US Supreme Court today will hear oral argument about the constitutionality of Obamacare's individual mandate, which the government is justifying under...the Commerce Clause.


The court has been friendlier and friendlier to expanding government power for several generations now. But in recent decades the fruit of that power has begun to be harvested, and Americans don't like its taste.


If the individual mandate in PPACA (see why I call it Obamacare?) is held to be constitutional by five black-robed progressives, the sky may once again not fall. But does anyone doubt there's a limit to the number of straws a camel can carry? That there's a water temperature above which a frog will explode? That there's a slope too slippery to stand on?


America has been heading in the wrong direction since Woodrow Wilson: we are not Europe or even Canada. We do not want to be like the other nations. So here's my prayer for the week: "God save the United States and this Honorable Court!"

Who's Lookin' Out For You At The Pump?

Bill O'Reilly, host of his own top-rated nightly news analysis and commentary show on Fox News, is arguably America's leading spokesman for Non-Partisan Populism. His signature claim is to be a non-ideologue lookin' out for The Folks. His targets for outrage have varied from states not passing Jessica's Law, to judges soft-on-pedophiles to dishonest/dangerous politicians like Barney Frank. In the face of recent spikes in fuel prices, O'Reilly is again outraged by oil company profits, blaming American energy firms and "speculators" for the high cost. 

He has recently enlisted former CNN Business reporter Lou Dobbs as an ally, who points out that prices are rising in America, even as we have surpluses of certain fuel blends—proof, he says, that oil isn't operating on a free-market, supply-and-demand basis. The pair only give short shrift to the fact that crude oil is traded as a worldwide commodity priced in U.S. dollars, never even hint that Fed Chairman Bernanke's printing-press inflates prices, and then they gloss over OPEC's manipulation of global supply. They do criticize Obama's failure to approve the Keystone pipeline from my native Alberta, but save their ammo for big U.S. oil companies like Exxon/Mobil and Chevron, and the ever-nameless Speculators.

This villainizing impulse works for Bill when there's a human face, like a George Soros, a Paul Krugman or a Sean Penn. He's even made hay against the corrupt SEIU, but mostly by keying in on certain high-ranking individuals. O'Reilly will name Exxon/Mobil and disclose their quarterly profits, but has never once named a Speculator. He should start with Southwest Airlines, famous for their savvy use of oil futures contracts to control the single-greatest cost-driver. But he won't name any Speculators, because they are people who you and I can identify with—people who must have fuel to operate their businesses and pay their employees and supply America's needs.

Oil, alas, is too big for any individual, or even a handful of companies, to affect its price. Exploration and refining companies act rationally, are publicly-traded and make no bones about wanting to find and sell more oil. That gooey black stuff is the single most significant energy source to growing middle-classes in emerging nations, and to sustaining prosperity in established ones. As goes oil, so goes the world. (Your humble scribe, by the way, believes oil is abiotic—not a fossil-fuel—and its ubiquity "proof God loves us". But that's a whole 'nother article.)

So, who are the real oil villains? Those who can-and-do affect the supply and price. These controllers are always, ever and only... 

1. Governments. The letter "C" in OPEC stands for Countries. Exxon/Mobil is powerless to drill in the ANWAR, or on any other U.S. Federal Lands, without Obama's permission. Royal Dutch Shell can't take any oil out of Nigeria without government approval. And these companies pay huge tribute (royalties) to host nations (or provinces, or states). And, of course, my Blue-state friends pay almost double the taxes at their pump compared to us Red-staters. And don't forget Saudi Arabia, who can turn the spigot on at will, literally flooding the market with crude—or turning it off to drive up the price.

2. The U.S. Federal Reserve Bank. This privately-owned bank (with government-appointed governors) controls the the U.S. dollar—the exclusive currency for oil. (Anybody notice food prices lately?)

The good news is that we elect the person who can affect, more than any other individual, the price of oil. The President of the United States appoints the Fed Chairman and controls drilling on Federal Lands.

But Obama protests that he can't affect the price of oil. Really? How does Crown Prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz manage to pull off the trick? Easy: he has the oil. Turns out it actually is supply-and-demand after all. Trouble is, you need supply in order to demand. America has voluntarily surrendered to the Saudis by refusing to drill, frack or explore...despite U.S. Geologic Survey reports showing that we have more recoverable reserves than Saudi Arabia (who guard the true measure of their reserves as a State Secret).

Newt Gingrich makes a compelling case for getting back to $2.50/gallon gasoline...without even touching the Federal Reserve. Meanwhile, Obama sits on his hands whining and complaining and blaming others for high prices. And yesterday U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) pleaded to the Saudis for increased production.

Mr. O'Reilly, these are your many tax dollars at work, willfully preventing us from accessing our own oil at home. How about aiming your impressive bloviation at the real villains?

I Walked A Mile With Pleasure

I walked a mile with Pleasure; she chatted all the way;

But left me none the wiser for all she had to say.

I walked a mile with Sorrow, and never a word said she;

But, oh the things I learned from her when Sorrow walked with me.

— Robert Browning Hamilton

Back in the 1970s my friend Barry McGuire sang a song based on Hamilton's poem...this was after his Eve Of Destruction days. Contrary to the gist of these particular lyrics, Barry had become one of the most upbeat and joyful people I've ever met. Along these lines, A. A. Milne's Eeyore is probably the most beloved pessimist in the world.  Who else responds to a cheery morning greeting by saying: "If it is a good morning... which I doubt." Or upon being acknowledged at a gathering, replies: "Thanks for noticing me." Or would offer this gem on his own birthday: "What are birthdays? Here today and gone tomorrow."  

Eeyore isn't alarmed by problems. In fact, when things really do go bad, he's usually the first to see the bright side: "However, we haven't had an earthquake lately." Or: "The nicest thing about the rain is that it always stops. Eventually." Eeyore doesn't have more problems than anybody else—Rabbit seems always in a pickle, Tigger is a walking disaster zone and Pooh's appetite causes more trouble by lunchtime than most folks experience in a year— while Eeyore really only has two major issues: his tail keeps falling off and his house keeps falling down. Neither situation upsets him all that much.  

We don't love Eeyore because he's gloomy, we love him because of his steady persistence in the face of trouble. The little stuffed donkey must have read his bible at some point along the way, especially the part where Jesus' favorite problem-maker, Peter, wrote the following:  "Friends, don't be surprised when life gets really difficult, as if something strange were happening to you." We know from history that the troubles faced by those early believers were not trivial. In Hebrews we learn they were "...tortured, their backs cut open with whips... chained in dungeons... died by stoning... sawed in half... killed with the sword."  Kind of puts my problems into perspective. And what was the silver lining to be found in those situations? "They placed their hope in the resurrection to a better life."

When we want our kids to learn math, we give them... problems. Like their dad, our daughters struggled to learn arithmetic—sometimes to the point of tears. This is not pleasant, of course, but when the light finally goes on over their head and a problem is solved, that big smile is a well-earned triumph. If our highest goal for our kids was that they never experience anguish or frustration, we wouldn't insist they learn to tie their own shoes.  

Believers in Jesus have, among all people, reason to smile in the face of our troubles. For one thing, God does take care of us. Our problems do not completely swallow us up when we walk with him. And ultimately, we can be joyful because we know the end result—Christ-like character and everlasting good times in heaven. St. Peter concludes: "Be glad that you are in the very thick of what Christ experienced. This is a spiritual refining process, with glory just around the corner. Take it in stride. Trust God. He knows what he's doing, and he'll keep on doing it." 

A TEXT

Even though Jesus was God's Son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered. 

— Hebrews 5:8