FDR in the Light of Reality

In "Confessions of a Recovering Democrat," Burt Prelutsky punches through the myth about Franklin D. Roosevelt to say what he really accomplished:

The fact is, Roosevelt simply introduced an American form of Communism, one the country was willing to swallow. There were no gulags or show trials; instead, there was an alphabet soup of new federal departments and bureaucracies, whose sole purpose was to diminish the power of the states and its citizens. FDR tried and pretty much succeeded in turning the federal government into a grotesque, power-crazy, creature that was all mouth and no brain. Compared to Roosevelt, Dr. Frankenstein was small potatoes.

Roosevelt can’t even be credited with leading the country out of the Great Depression. If anything, as others, including Amity Shlaes in her terrific book, “The Forgotten Man,” have pointed out, his economic policies undoubtedly prolonged the nation’s agony. In a move that would have delighted such knuckleheads as John Edwards and George Soros, FDR kept increasing taxes during the 1930s. Only an old time lefty or a modern-day Democrat would ever imagine that the solution to a financial malaise would be to increase the tax burden on businesses and individuals. It took World War II, not Roosevelt’s left-wing machinations, to get America back on its feet.

Like Prelutsky, my folks were registered Democrats, and they also worshipped the ground FDR walked on. That was the spin the elitists put on things, and in that simpler age when good people thought they could trust our institutions, people believed it.

Yet the truth is, FDR's policies exacerbated the Great Depression, and dealt a tremendous blow to the freedom and small government America was intended to operate by. This country has not been the same since FDR's administration...and it has been to our detriment.

Blues in a Baptist Church

I attended the Biker Feed and preceding church services at South Canyon Baptist Church this morning, and it was great.

A couple of guys from the Christian Motorcycle Association, Rich and Bud, spoke at the service, telling about their ministry and how they came to Christ. Bud said he came from a very rough background: alcoholic parents, running wild in the streets of Albuquerque, doing and selling drugs, and all sorts of stuff until God got through to him and changed his life.

They also played, sang and led some very excellent Christian blues. I didn't know there was such a thing, but I enjoyed it very much. So much of the music today is just trash: guitar that sounds like some kid in his basement, male singers that sound like zombies and female singers that whisper or whine their lyrics in a monotone. That goes not only for the secular music, but the Christian music that has sadly followed the style trend.

But blues hasn't been affected by this sickening trend. That's why if I listen to any secular music that's come out in the last 10 years or so, it's more than likely Kenny Wayne Shepherd or something like that. But these guys had some good blues riffs that praised God, got your foot to tapping and hands to clapping. Since it was in a Baptist church, some might have swallowed their snuff (I grew up Baptist, so I can say that), but I think they'll recover. Everyone I saw there seemed to really enjoy it, too.

Afterward, the church had a free lunch for bikers, church members and anyone who wanted to come. Jeff Slathar, the pastry chef at the Colonial House Restaurant, spent most of the past week smoking, seasoning and otherwise preparing some delicious beef brisket (the Rapid City Journal had a big article on these preparations in the Food section of the Wednesday dead-tree edition). And man, was it good! Didn't need them, but I had to have seconds.

So all in all, it was a fairly unconventional Sunday, but a very good, refreshing one. I'm going to have to do some looking around for some Christian blues CDs now!

Argus Leader Fights Information Overflow

Randell Beck at the Argus Leader has finally explained why his paper has had a near-blackout (137 words of coverage, not naming the alleged perpetrator) on the Hildebrand/Schuldt embezzlement story: they're helping us poor unwashed masses fight "information overflow."

Plenty of media outlets across the state (and elsewhere) "outed" the guy, and that's their choice.

It's not ours. Ironically, our attempt to set a standard of fairness has become, to a radical few, evidence of a coverup. And so it goes.

The true believers out on the blogosphere - that strange world in cyberspace where the political and social fringes thrust and parry - can make life miserable for an everyday media elitist like me. Few rules and no standards apply.

Those waves of often-strident opinion, salted with just enough fact to seem credible, wash against us - resolute and seemingly endless, like the sea itself. If good editors - and we are blessed with many of them here - are not on guard, standards can easily be pushed aside.

Yeah, and I've got some ocean front property in Arizona I know you'd be interested in.

At least Mr. Randell Beck has condescended to come down from Mount Olympus and address the grievances of us lowly, ignorant mortals. I suppose we should at least recognize that.

How stupid does Beck think people are? The answer to that could probably be measured by the subscriber numbers of the Argus Leader, I suppose.

At last count, the South Dakota War College had pegged 11 cities, both in and outside South Dakota, with more than a dozen media outlets reporting on this. This list includes Washington D.C.'s Roll Call.

Besides, a lack of information or a lack of charges has never stopped the media (or the Argus Leader) before. Remember Bob Sahr?

HT to Bob Schwartz at the South Dakota Moderate.

Cohabitation Takes the Low Road

The dead-tree edition of the Rapid City Journal featured a column by Dr. Val Farmer on why cohabitation is bad for marriage. I found an online copy at PineAndLakes.com.

Dr. Farmer says that while cohabitation has gone up 1,200% since 1960, there are some serious downsides to it. Here's the typical profile of who you'll be joining if you decide to cohabitate:

Studies show it is generally the poor and less educated, less religious, divorced or those growing up in a home where there has been parental divorce, no father present in the home, or high levels of marital discord.

Do these groups reflect your values, or who you want to be?

Here are some of the negatives:

About half of all cohabiting relationships in this country end within five years

Cohabiters who eventually marry have a higher divorce rate than those who do not live together before marriage.

People who cohabit have a higher risk of suicide, depression, chronic and acute illnesses, accidents and lower productivity.

Among cohabiting couples with no plans to marry, 17 percent report partner abuse. Among cohabiting couples with plans to marry, 14 percent report partner abuse. Only five percent of married couples report partner abuse.

Children are almost 20 times more likely to suffer physical or sexual abuse in these households.

With all these pros for marriage and cons for shacking up, no wonder God said marriage was the way to go.

Tammy Faye's Popularity

When Tammy Faye Bakker Messner died recently, I admit I was a bit puzzled by the positive (sometimes glowing) media coverage she received. After all, usually when a high-profile Christian dies, the media reaction is similar to what they gave Rev. Jerry Falwell: good riddance, you intolerant Bible-thumper!

In the 38 seconds I spent trying to analyze and figure this out (all Tammy Faye's contribution to Christianity warranted, in my opinion), I concluded that since it was so hard to take her seriously with her caked-on makeup, et al, that the media felt it safe to praise her, since she presented no credible threat.

In reading Paul Edwards' TownHall.com column today, I think I was in the ballpark, though (since I've never spent any significant time keeping tabs on Tammy Faye in her Bakker years or post), I had no idea of the details of her "non-threatening" nature. It seems Tammy Faye, despite her clown makeup, was far more trendy these days than I realized:

How Tammy Faye managed to endear herself to the mainstream media is no secret. She was a ubiquitous guest on Larry King Live and King became the major conduit for the re-imaged Tammy Faye post PTL. The American viewing public was frequently reminded that Tammy Faye Messner was not the same Tammy Faye Bakker of televangelism fame. She had changed, without losing her trademark make-up.

No longer was Tammy Faye singing gospel songs and spinning evangelistic yarns in fund-raising efforts for the PTL empire. Tammy Faye had moved to “the good side,” first hosting a television show with the openly gay Jim J. Bullock and later as a regular on the VH1 reality show “The Surreal Life,” where she starred alongside a porn star and a rapper. As CNN reported in its obituary, Tammy Faye became an icon for the gay and lesbian community, embracing them without confronting their sin.

And thus her secret: she extended the love of God without demanding respect for God in return. Hers was a “gospel” of love, peace, unity and harmony—sans repentance. You could be anything and do anything and still be loved by the god of Tammy Faye.

If it were only so, we could do whatever we wanted with no consequences. But it isn't so.