Monthly Archives: August 2018

End of an Era? Jeremiah Johnson Makes His Way Into the Mountains

28 Tuesday Aug 2018

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I’m bettin’ on forgettin’ all the America that we knew…

Robert Redford says its his final film. That may say something else too.

That Redford might be hanging it up has the unmistakable feel of an era passing. For many, his face — from sandy-haired California boy to weathered mountain man — has charted half a century of something intrinsically American. His Sundance Kid, his Jeremiah Johnson, his Bob Woodward are figures of rigorous self-determination. From the young C.I.A. agent in “Three Days of the Condor” to the aged sailor in “All Is Lost,” they are smooth-sailing romantics whose quiet ways are violently capsized.

An unmistakable feel of an intrinsically American era passing.

Let that sink in. Try to deny it if you will. Eastwood is wrapping up what could be his final screen work. And what this signals is not just the end of two legendary movie careers. It’s something more. The intrinsically American part. No John Wayne. No Elvis. No television worth the watching. A “post literate” population little resembling the Posterity. Tweets…

So, what now?

Hope Rises: A Call to Purge the Church

27 Monday Aug 2018

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It’s a call in the strongest, most straightforward terms imaginable. It’s a response more powerful and more informed than anything we could have hoped for. And that magnitude inspires hope anew.

Unless you’ve been under a rock (or glued to the TeeVee), then you’ve heard about the abuse scandal in the Catholic Church. Not the generalities, rumors, and bad jokes, decades old; but the hard and very fact specific allegations and supporting evidence as most recently manifested in the Pennsylvania grand jury report. I wrote much about that and the Vatican’s limp-wristed response thereto in last week’s TPC column.

One comment to TPC asked about news of “good” apples:

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Now comes a whole barrel of good news apples. Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, former  apostolic nuncio (a diplomat or ambassador) to Washington dropped a bomb on the corrupt hierarchy of the Church.

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You can and should read his 11-page letter, at the above link in Scribd format, or HERE, in plan text. The rot truly go all the way to the top.

I say “read” the letter knowing full well that half cannot and most of the other half will not. We are a “postliterate” society. (Read more on that concept HERE – try to understand it from the perspective of a writer; “postliterate” looks a lot like illiterate [all I shall say on that for now]). Anyway,

Vigano’s missive cuts to the heart of the nature of what’s wrong on many different levels. Fully comprehending, he even touches on the utter confusion which moots the understanding of morality (thus often preventing proper identification of major problems when they come up):

Father James Martin, S.J., acclaimed by the people mentioned above, in particular Cupich, Tobin, Farrell and McElroy, appointed Consultor of the Secretariat for Communications, well-known activist who promotes the LGBT agenda, chosen to corrupt the young people who will soon gather in Dublin for the World Meeting of Families, is nothing but a sad recent example of that deviated wing of the Society of Jesus.

The Pope’s (tempted to place that title in quotation) performance in Dublin was weak at best – and was rightly criticized. But even some of those who are critical are so confused from the start as to be completely ineffective (the pot and the kettle, in other words). Take this ignorance – from a somewhat sympathetic source – for example:

“So much has been covered up by bishops in the Catholic Church,” the woman said. “I was so small when I was abused, not by a member of the Church but it was covered up by the Church.

“Everyone knew, my mother, the teachers in school, everyone but that was back in the 70s and everyone was so afraid of the Church.

“It was important for me and other victims, to be here today, to use Pope Francis’ visit as a stage for protest, to force change in the Church – that bishops must no longer be allowed to cover up child abuse.

“Ireland has come so far, with the ‘Repeal’ movement and LGBTI marriage rights and now in Ireland we are going to send a message to the Church together.“

Read that again. “Ireland has come so far…” She suffered abuse, horrible abuse. That is a problem faced by so many, on many continents, for years. But she fails to see the interrelation among the various evils. In fact, she views some of them as progress. The repeal movement refers to the recent legalization of child murder in IRE. Progress? LGBTI “marriage” is progress? I understand the aforementioned Father Martin was live and in full force in Dublin – connect those dots. What then, exactly, can the message be from the people of the Emerald Isle to the Church?

One cannot expect any organization, religious or political, to correct its mistakes if half of those mistakes are mistaken for successes. As I’ve noted before a full purge is in order. Vigano gets it and calls for it: the best of this “good apple” good news:

Francis is abdicating the mandate which Christ gave to Peter to confirm the brethren. Indeed, by his action he has divided them, led them into error, and encouraged the wolves to continue to tear apart the sheep of Christ’s flock.

In this extremely dramatic moment for the universal Church, he must acknowledge his mistakes and, in keeping with the proclaimed principle of zero tolerance, Pope Francis must be the first to set a good example for cardinals and bishops who covered up McCarrick’s abuses and resign along with all of them.

Even in dismay and sadness over the enormity of what is happening, let us not lose hope! We well know that the great majority of our pastors live their priestly vocation with fidelity and dedication.

It is in moments of great trial that the Lord’s grace is revealed in abundance and makes His limitless mercy available to all; but it is granted only to those who are truly repentant and sincerely propose to amend their lives. This is a favorable time for the Church to confess her sins, to convert, and to do penance.

Let us all pray for the Church and for the Pope, let us remember how many times he has asked us to pray for him!
Let us all renew faith in the Church our Mother: “I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church!”
Christ will never abandon His Church! He generated her in His Blood and continually revives her with His Spirit!
Mary, Mother of the Church, pray for us!
Mary, Virgin and Queen, Mother of the King of glory, pray for us!

Since the letter was delivered the Pope has been silent on the matter(s). Something tells me he (and certain associated figures) will not go quietly. It is up to the Faithful, then, to make some noise. Vigano is veritable shouting from the rooftop. I reiterate my call to arms.

***

There was another comment at TPC which I had thought to re-address. This one:

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…blah, blah, blah … heretical, mid-witted blah…

In hindsight, I think my short reply was enough:

He dismisses with false interpretation and rampant speculation, all Trinitarian Churches, presumably in favor of his own organization which he doesn’t even mention by name. (I did cut out a few of his links; if he won’t name it, I won’t promote it).

Totally off subject, he presents a fake problem and then offers no solution. He fails to realize (or does not care that): there are many ways to interpret a dream; there is quite a bit of Bible prior to Revelations; The Trinity is real and Holy; more than a few countries boasted Christian death tolls to rival his (oddly unstated) number of murdered heretics, and; his misuse of Rev. 17:4, taken all the way through the cup, results in utter and self-defeating blasphemy. His use of Colossians 2:8 is projection. Fortunately, the same Christ who told us to pray in the Name of the Father, the Son, and of the Holy Spirit also warned us about false prophets.

And the same Christ will never abandon His Church!

A good and happy Monday to you all.

This will Most Certainly Help the National Waistline

24 Friday Aug 2018

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Olive Garden offers a limited $300 annual pass to the pasta trough.

Olive Garden is bringing back its Never Ending Pasta Pass this year for the fifth time. The offer now comes with an annual option that enables you to get all the spaghetti and meatballs, salads, and breadsticks you can handle for 365 days a year, for a mere $300, MarketWatch reports.

Nom, nom, nom. Yo, G! BMI’s up, IQ’s down!

Young black and white pigs feeding at the trough.

While slop supplies last.

If You Must Revenge, Try to Get the Target Party Right

23 Thursday Aug 2018

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Chalk this one up to most people being idiots. That, or general anti-Christian sentiment.

Yesterday’s TPC column, syndicated here, on the recent Church abuse report has generated interest. The episodes detailed therein are the tip of a deep, dark iceberg. The abuse calls out to Heaven for justice. But any justice needs to be tailored to the appropriate offenders, the actual offenders.

A man in Indiana got it wrong.

A Catholic priest was beaten while praying at his church in Merrillville, Indiana, and authorities are investigating the attack as a hate crime.

The Rev. Basil John Hutsko told police he was attacked Monday morning inside the St. Michaels Byzantine Catholic Church as he was praying in the sacristy.

The attacker “grabbed him by the neck, threw him down on the floor and immediately started slamming his head against the floor. Both sides, front and back,” Merrillville Police Chief Joseph Petruch told CNN affiliate WBBM.

The assailant left Hutsko battered, bruised and unconscious. And during the assault the attacker yelled, “‘This is for all the little kids,'” Petruch said.

It was an apparent reference to the clergy sex abuse scandal that has rocked the Catholic Church in recent years. Just last week an explosive grand jury report out of Pennsylvania detailed decades of abuse of children by more than 300 priests in that state.

“I have enough there to say it’s a hate crime,” the police chief said.

That’s why the FBI has been called in on the case.

Efforts by CNN to reach Merrillville police and Hutsko on Wednesday were unsuccessful.

Detective Sean Buck of the Merrillville Police Department told CNN that Hutsko was attacked in a dimly lit area and was unable to provide many identifying details about the suspect. The priest lost consciousness during the attack, Buck said.

A fellow priest said Hutsko has never been accused of sex abuse.

“He’s a very dedicated priest and hardworking and in good standing, it’s just a random act of an innocent priest,” the Rev. Thomas Loya told CNN affiliate WGN.
Loya said he’s not surprised by the attack because of the recent headlines.

“The stories are very ugly, you know, let’s face it, and very unbecoming of the church so I can see where some people might become enraged,” he said. “But at the same time people get enraged and do this to an innocent priest and that’s not going to help or solve anything.”

Hutsko sustained bruises to his head and was treated at a hospital and released. No one’s been arrested so far in the case.

Surprise, surprise, but CNN missed something here. Odds are the police missed it. Post-literate Americans have no idea. Certainly, the attacker overlooked something (unless he knew something about this specific priest or, more likely, just didn’t care).

The Byzantine Catholic Church is the GREEK Byzantine Catholic Church. Greek. Orthodox. That’s different from the Roman or Latin Catholic Church. While not as prolific as their Protestant Sisters, there are some 20 or so “Catholic” Churches. Similar but different. Different Rites, histories, hierarchies, etc. As I’ve noted previously, the Eastern, Orthodox branches have not suffered many of the modern afflictions of the Latin Church of Rome.

At least get it straight before going all vigilante.

Hon. Ben “Cooter” Jones on the Fall of Silent Sam

23 Thursday Aug 2018

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And the fall of the South. And of the West.

I did not know Jones attended UNC. How he tells it: poetic and powerful:

Fifty plus years ago I would look out at Silent Sam from my window in Battle Dorm and try to imagine what it must have been like to have gone off to war in those days. I thought of Sam as maybe a youth from somewhere like Tarboro or Clinton or Hickory. He was of good heart, I figured, maybe 18 or 19, a bit thin, a bit afraid. He was of that tough North Carolina stock, that “salt of the earth” fellow whose character is reflected in the State’s motto: “Esse Quam Videre.” To be rather than to seem.

He could have been my great great Uncle Gabriel Jacobs, who was killed at Fraysor’s Farm pursuing McClellan in his escape to the river. He was 21. He, in turn, was named for his great great great grandfather Gabriel Jacobs, a slave who was freed by his master John Custis in Northhampton County, Virginia in 1695.

Our South is a land of many secrets and many truths.

The radical trash who tore down Silent Sam and those academic idiots who enable them are not worthy to walk on the same ground as Gabriel Jacobs. Silent Sam will rise again, and we, not they, shall overcome.

The great shame of it is that Sam’s rifle must have been unloaded.

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Full Take on the Catholic Abuse Report and Response – From TPC

22 Wednesday Aug 2018

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As promised yesterday:

READ THE WHOLE COLUMN AT TPC

Or, here:

22 August 2018

[Perrin Lovett] – Horrific New Light Shed on the Crisis in the Roman Catholic Church (That Crisis Which Threatens All of Christendom)

Christianity is one of the three fundamental pillars of Western Civilization (along with the Greco-Roman legal legacy and the European nation-state). And, of the three, it is arguably the most important. The West cannot stand without it. Our enemies know this and that is behind the constant globo-secular attacks on the Faithful and the Church. Those assaults, however, are likely not the worst obstacle to our continued functioning religion and way of life.

 

The real threat is inside. Many in Europe, in America, and elsewhere have been aware of this phenomenon for years. But last week a story surfaced which renewed the call to alertness and action like nothing I have ever seen before.
In a blog post last week I first examined the spectacle, one seemingly lifted from the pages of a gothic horror novel. A Pennsylvania grand jury released a 900-page report detailing over 1,000 cases of predatory sexual abuse, committed by some 300 priests and other leadership figures, over many decades, at various PA Catholic parishes and institutions.
Read The Report HERE. ***WARNING: This is among the vilest evil imaginable.***

We, the members of this grand jury, need you to hear this. We know some of you have head some of it before. There have been other reports about child sex abuse within the Catholic Church. But never on this scale. For many of us, those earlier stories happened someplace else, someplace away. Now we know the truth: it happened everywhere.

Remember that PA is but one of 50 states in one of about 195 countries with practicing Catholic populations. PA has roughly 3.5 million Catholics out of 1.285 billion worldwide (or .0027%). Out of such large numbers, even in the Keystone State alone, the percentage tally of abuse incidents and victims is statistically small. However, the concern should be huge. The real problem is with the priests and the hierarchy. These are clergymen who, direct abuses aside, simply cannot administer their offices effectively.
After reading more of the cases than I cared to, I discerned a pattern: abuse, cover-up, abuse, cover-up, shielding from civil justice, insanely slow administration of Canon justice, and denial. Why and how did it take so long for this to become public knowledge? Parishioners have literally been held hostage and forced to pay (hush money) for the abuse. Such a tragedy is beyond belief. It’s beyond systemic corruption. It is indicative of the embedded presence of Lucifer and his evil.
I, along with others, call for a purge. A macro purge would involve reversing Vatican II and probably Vat. I as well. At the operational level, every single identifiable satanist, atheist, sodomite, pederast, communist, and globalist in the Church must be removed. (It would be just to remove many from the world, period).
Without a substantial overhaul, traditional Catholics are left with three choices: 1) continue to suffer; 2) withhold money and support in protest until reform comes, or; 3) leave (one notes Orthodox Churches do not seem similarly afflicted).
Picture from Vatican News.
On Monday, August 20th, Pope Francis responded via a Letter to the People of God. Therein he admitted:
Looking back to the past, no effort to beg pardon and to seek to repair the harm done will ever be sufficient.  Looking ahead to the future, no effort must be spared to create a culture able to prevent such situations from happening, but also to prevent the possibility of their being covered up and perpetuated.
One will note that among the various Biblical passages cited, Matthew 18:6 is absent. But, Amen!, we do need action. Some are already contemplated what I suggested above and the withholding of financial support. But, in testament to the force and nature of this trouble, even as some talk about a purge, others busy themselves building bridges and fomenting better relations with the enemy. Yes, wolves are eating the flock. So bring in more wolves! Madness.
Picture by browniecheesecake.com. And no offense offered to actual wolves, our lovely if noisy woodland friends.
The recent report, while very specific, is also somewhat applicable to the general and greater tribulation of the whole Church in the West. I recall a late article about the decline of Southern Baptists and other Protestants in South Carolina. The decline of Southern Baptists. In South Carolina. The Bible Belt. Said article paints a partial picture of post-Christian “culture.” It isn’t a Rembrandt: ”The share of Americans who identify with Christianity is declining, while those who say they have no religion is growing rapidly.” Remember the important pillar of that which we like to call Civilization…
The numbers are shocking. In less than a decade, while gaining 11 new Baptist church buildings, SC lost 78,516 church members. At this rate, in a few years, the state might only have 50,000 Southern Baptists, each attending his own, individual church… Unity?

This is the result of decades of decline, confusion, and degeneracy in society generally and, specifically, in the parishes. In a time and place where literally anything goes (unless it makes sense), people look for refuge in the Church. Increasingly, in place of sanctity and safety, what they find is more anything goes, worldly conformity, virtue signaling, postmodernism, taboos, rock n’ roll services, Churchianty, cotton candy theology, and, in many cases, outright evil.
This decline cannot stand. If it does, then we will not.
**A Note about Facebook: Your author is barely on that spy tool service. As such, please leave your comments and interactions here via the convenient “Post a Comment” feature immediately below.

Fellow Terry College of Business (UGA) grad Brother Perrin Lovett is a true renaissance gentleman & scholar. A recovering attorney, he’s into guns & cigars, and the US Constitution. Apublished author, Prepper columnist &YouTube personality, and an acclaimed blogger, TPC is very proud to have our old friend on board as the C.F. Floyd Feature Writer of National Affairs.

 

*Reprinted from The Piedmont Chronicles.

*My goal is to have the TPC column syndicated nationally or at least regionally. By posting the entire structure here I have achieved minimal syndication. A start.

A Hardened Political Viewpoint Test for a Squishy Era

22 Wednesday Aug 2018

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This, from James Burnham via Vox Day, is interesting. It frames or reframes the issue anew in light of the watering down of what popularly defines “conservative” and liberal.” See where you fit:

IT IS NOT TOO DIFFICULT TO DEVISE a fairly accurate diagnostic test for liberalism. In individual and group experiments over the past several years I have often used, for example, the following set of thirty-nine sentences. The patient is merely asked whether he agrees or disagrees with each sentence—agrees or disagrees by and large, without worrying over fine points.

1. All forms of racial segregation and discrimination are wrong.
2. Everyone is entitled to his own opinion.
3. Everyone has a right to free, public education.
4. Political, economic or social discrimination based on religious belief is wrong.
5. In political or military conflict it is wrong to use methods of torture and physical terror.
6. A popular movement or revolt against a tyranny or dictatorship is right, and deserves approval.
7. The government has a duty to provide for the ill, aged, unemployed and poor if they cannot take care of themselves.
8. Progressive income and inheritance taxes are the fairest form of taxation.
9. If reasonable compensation is made, the government of a nation has the legal and moral right to expropriate private property within its borders, whether owned by citizens or foreigners.
10. We have a duty to mankind; that is, to men in general.
11. The United Nations, even if limited in accomplishment, is a step in the right direction.
12. Any interference with free speech and free assembly, except for cases of immediate public danger or juvenile corruption, is wrong.
13. Wealthy nations, like the United States, have a duty to aid the less privileged portions of mankind.
14. Colonialism and imperialism are wrong.
15. Hotels, motels, stores and restaurants in the Southern United States ought to be obliged by law to allow Negroes to use all of their facilities on the same basis as whites.
16. The chief sources of delinquency and crime are ignorance, discrimination, poverty and exploitation.
17. Communists have a right to express their opinions.
18. We should always be ready to negotiate with the Soviet Union and other communist nations.
19. Corporal punishment, except possibly for small children, is wrong.
20. All nations and peoples, including the nations and peoples of Asia and Africa, have a right to political independence when a majority of the population wants it.
21. We always ought to respect the religious beliefs of others.
22. The primary goal of international policy in the nuclear age ought to be peace.
23. Except in cases of a clear threat to national security or, possibly, to juvenile morals, censorship is wrong.
24. Congressional investigating committees are dangerous institutions, and need to be watched and curbed if they are not to become a serious threat to freedom.
25. The money amount of school and university scholarships ought to be decided primarily by need.
26. Qualified teachers, at least at the university level, are entitled to academic freedom: that is, the right to express their own beliefs and opinions, in or out of the classroom, without interference from administrators, trustees, parents or public bodies.
27. In determining who is to be admitted to schools and universities, quota systems based on color, religion, family or similar factors are wrong.
28. The national government should guarantee that all adult citizens, except for criminals and the insane, should have the right to vote.
29. Joseph McCarthy was probably the most dangerous man in American public life during the fifteen years following the Second World War.
30. There are no significant differences in intellectual, moral or civilizing capacity among human races and ethnic types.
31. Steps toward world disarmament would be a good thing.
32. Everyone is entitled to political and social rights without distinction of any kind, such as race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.
33. Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and expression.
34. Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression.
35. The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government.
36. Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security.
37. Everyone has the right to equal pay for equal work.
38. Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions.
39. Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.

Depending on the time of day, I agree with three or four of these statements. I think that makes me a reactionary conservative. How’d you do? Again, this isn’t the grandkids political test.

A Plea of Justice and a Reminder to the Mass Media

22 Wednesday Aug 2018

Posted by in Legal/Political Columns, News and Notes

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Michael Cohen’s plea agreement (which oddly does not mention “Russia” even once):

THE DEAL

And, in a somewhat related article, the WSJ editorial staff reminds the “free and independent” media that they might want to actually act free and independent:

Falling for the Trap

“Journalists who don’t like what the president has said about the press might want to start behaving like objective reporters instead of liberal political activists.”

That just might help.