Monthly Archives: November 2012

Open letter to President Obama (Part 168.6)

November 13, 2012 – 7:05 am

Dan Mitchell Explaining Why “Taxing the Rich” Is a Precursor for Going after the Middle Class

Published on Apr 13, 2012 by

_________________

 

President Obama c/o The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr. President,

I know that you receive 20,000 letters a day and that you actually read 10 of them every day. I really do respect you for trying to get a pulse on what is going on out here.

Raising taxes is not the answer but we must lower spending in order to balance the budget. That is the lesson from history too.

This should be a lesson for Obama and any Republican out there that wants  to raise taxes:

Tax Hikes Are Economically Destructive, Politically Poisonous, and Completely Ineffective at Reducing Red Ink

July 3, 2012 by Dan Mitchell

Back in April, I explained that I would accept a tax increase if “the net long-run effect is more freedom, liberty, and prosperity.”

I even outlined several specific scenarios where that might occur, including giving the politicians more money in exchange for a flat tax or giving them additional revenue in exchange for real entitlement reform.

But I then pointed out that all of those options are unrealistic. And I’ve expanded on that thesis in a new article. Here’s some of what I wrote for The Blaze.

The no-tax pledge of Americans for Tax Reform generates a lot of controversy. With record levels of red ink, the political elite incessantly proclaims that all options must be “on the table.” This sounds reasonable. And when some Republicans say no tax hikes under any circumstances, there’s a lot of criticism about dogmatism. Theoretically, I agree with the elitists.

So does that make me a squish, the fiscal equivalent of Chief Justice John Roberts?

Nope, because I’m tethered to the real world. I know that there is zero chance of getting a good agreement. Once you put taxes “on the table,” any impetus for spending restraint evaporates.

But even though I’m theoretically open to a tax hike, I am a de facto opponent of tax increases for the simple reason that we will never get a good deal. We won’t get sustainable spending cuts. Not even in our dreams. We won’t get real entitlement reforms. Even if we hold our breath ‘til we turn blue. And we won’t get the “Simpson-Bowles” tax reform swap, where taxpayers give up $2 of deductions in exchange for $1 of lower tax rates. Let’s not kid ourselves. In other words, reality trumps theory. Yes, there are tax-hike deals that would be good, but they’re about as realistic as me speculating on whether I’d be willing to play for the New York Yankees, but only if they guarantee me $5 million per year.

I then point out that a budget deal inevitably would lead to bad policy – just as we saw in 1982 and 1990.

Here’s the bottom line: There is no practical way to get a good deal from either the Democrats in the Senate or the Obama Administration. Notwithstanding the good intentions of some people, any grand bargain would be a failure that leads to higher spending and more red ink, just as we saw after the 1982 and 1990 budget deals. The tax increases would not be relatively benign loophole closers. Instead, the economy would be hit by higher marginal tax rates on work, savings, investment, and entrepreneurship. And the entitlement reform would be unsustainable gimmicks rather than structural changes to fix the underlying programs. Ironically, when a columnist for the New York Times complained that Republicans were being unreasonable for opposing tax hikes, she inadvertently revealed that the only successful budget deal was the one in 1997 – the one that had no tax hikes!

The last sentence is worth some additional commentary. As I explained in a previous post, the only bipartisan budget agreement that generated a balanced budget was the 1997 pact – and that deal lowered taxes rather than increasing them.

Some people try to argue that Bill Clinton’s 1993 tax hike deserves some of the credit, but I previously showed that the Administration’s Office of Management and Budget admitted – 18 months later! – that the nation would have triple-digit budget deficits for the foreseeable future.

What changed (and this is where Bill Clinton deserves credit) is that the nation enjoyed a multi-year period of spending restraint in the mid-1990s.

And when policy makers addressed the underlying disease of too much government spending, they solved the symptom of red ink.

____________

Thank you so much for your time. I know how valuable it is. I also appreciate the fine family that you have and your commitment as a father and a husband.

Sincerely,

Everette Hatcher III, 13900 Cottontail Lane, Alexander, AR 72002, ph 501-920-5733, lowcostsqueegees@yahoo.com

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Bill Clinton, Cato Institute, President Obama, spending out of control | Comments (0)

Christopher Hitchens’ debate with Douglas Wilson (Part 7)

November 13, 2012 – 6:10 am

Christopher Hitchens vs. Douglas Wilson Debate at Westminster Theological Seminary, Part 7 of 12

PART 3

5/15/2007 07:42 AM

Christopher Hitchens

Here is a minor example of how the complacency of the religious allows them to be rude (and crude) in a manner which they might not so easily permit themselves in everyday discourse. I am quite familiar with the verse from the Psalms that describes me as a fool, and corrupt and abominable as well. (In my book, God Is Not Great, I point out that the psalmist was so delighted with this conceit that he reproduced it almost word for word at the opening of Psalm 53.) No great surprise—and no real offense taken—to find myself similarly dismissed as a dumb and vain ingrate in the epistle to the Romans. It’s true that I never asked to be saved and don’t want anyone to be martyred for me—or to martyr themselves against me, for that matter. All I ask of the apostle Paul is that he and his followers and emulators leave me alone.

On the much more pertinent question of the origin of ethical imperatives, which I believe to be derived from innate human solidarity and not from the supernatural, let me likewise offer an instance from each Testament. Let us assume that the tales can be taken at face value. Is it to be believed that the Jews got as far as Sinai under the impression that murder, theft, and perjury were more or less all right? And, in the story of the good man from Samaria, is it claimed that the man went out of his way to help a fellow creature because of a divine instruction? He was clearly, since he preceded Jesus, not motivated by Christian teaching. And if he was a pious Jew, as seems probable, he would have had religious warrant and authority NOT to do what he did, if the poor sufferer was a non-Jew. It is belief in the supernatural that can make otherwise decent people do things that they would otherwise shrink from—such as mutilating the genitals of children, frightening infants with talk of hellfire, forbidding normal sexual practices, blaming all Jews for “deicide,” applauding suicide-murderers, and treating women as Paul or Muhammad thought they should be treated.

I have nowhere claimed nor even implied that unbelief is a guarantee of good conduct or even an indicator of it. (I have sometimes thought that atheists have a slight superiority in one respect, in that we come to our conclusions without any element of self-centered wish-thinking about death.) But an atheist can as easily be a nihilist, a sadist—even a casuist.

On the matter of Stalin and the related question of secular or atheist barbarism, I shyly call your attention to chapter seventeen of my little book, which attempts an answer to this frequently asked question. Until 1917, Russia had been ruled for centuries by an absolute monarch who was also the head of a corrupt and bigoted Orthodox Church and was supposed to possess powers somewhat more than merely human. With millions of hungry and anxious people so long stultified and so credulous, Stalin the ex-seminarian would have been a fool if he did not call upon such a reservoir of ignorance and servility, and seek to emulate his predecessor. If Mr. Wilson would prefer to compare like with like and point to a society that lapsed into misery and despotism by following the precepts of Epicurus or Spinoza or Jefferson or Einstein, I will gladly meet him on that ground.

— CH

Related posts:

Christopher Hitchens’ view on abortion may surprise you

Christopher Hitchens – Against Abortion Uploaded by BritishNeoCon on Dec 2, 2010 An issue Christopher doesn’t seem to have addressed much in his life. He doesn’t explicitly say that he is against abortion in this segment, but that he does believe that the ‘unborn child’ is a real concept. ___________________________ I was suprised when I […]

Christopher Hitchens discusses Ron Paul in 3-2-11 inteview

Max Brantley in the Arkansas Times Blog reports that Ron Paul is leading in Iowa. Maybe it is time to take a closer look at his views. In the above clip you will see Chistopher Hitchens discuss Ron Paul’s views. In the clip below you will find Ron Paul’s latest commercial. Below is a short […]

Evangelicals react to Christopher Hitchens’ death plus video clips of Hitchens debate (part 3)

DEBATE William Lane Craig vs Christopher Hitchens Does God Exist 07 Below are some reactions of evangelical leaders to the news of Christopher Hitchens’ death:   Christian leaders react to Hitchens’ death Posted on Dec 16, 2011 | by Michael Foust   DEBATE William Lane Craig vs Christopher Hitchens Does God Exist 08 Author and […]

Evangelicals react to Christopher Hitchens’ death plus video clips of Hitchens debate (part 2)

DEBATE William Lane Craig vs Christopher Hitchens Does God Exist 04 Below are some reactions of evangelical leaders to the news of Christopher Hitchens’ death: Christian leaders react to Hitchens’ death Posted on Dec 16, 2011 | by Michael Foust DEBATE William Lane Craig vs Christopher Hitchens Does God Exist 05 Author and speaker Christopher […]

Evangelicals react to Christopher Hitchens’ death plus video clips of Hitchens debate (part 1)

DEBATE William Lane Craig vs Christopher Hitchens Does God Exist 01 Below are some reactions of evangelical leaders to the news of Christopher Hitchens’ death: Christian leaders react to Hitchens’ death Posted on Dec 16, 2011 | by Michael Foust Author and speaker Christopher Hitchens, a leader of an aggressive form of atheism that eventually […]

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Current Events | Comments (0)

The stimulus program did not help, but getting government out of the way would!!!!

November 13, 2012 – 1:07 am

Government Must Cut Spending

Uploaded by on Dec 2, 2010

The government can cut roughly $343 billion from the federal budget and they can do so immediately.

__________

The stimulus program did not help, but getting government out of the way would!!!! Take a look at this great article that goes over several examples through history.

The great Ronald Reagan famously said (and I am paraphrasing, since I do not remember the exact phrase) that the most dangerous words in the English language were “I am from Washington and I am here to help you.”

Those are very wise words, especially when we think of the damage politicians have done because of their impulse to “do something” when the economy stumbles. The problem is not that there is nothing that needs to be fixed. The problem is that the crowd in Washington is far more likely to make things worse rather than better.

And who better to explain this than Thomas Sowell.

Sowell starts his most recent column by explaining that politicians who want to “do something” almost always want to expand the burden of government spending, but he notes that this approach has meant deeper recessions and more economic suffering. And he cites Warren Harding as an example of a President who rejected the notion that bigger government was some sort of economic elixir.

…you might think that the economy requires government intervention to revive and create jobs. It is Beltway dogma that the government has to “do something.” History tells a different story. For the first 150 years of this country’s existence, the federal government felt no great need to “do something” when the economy turned down. Over that long span of time, the economic downturns were neither as deep nor as long lasting as they have been since the federal government decided that it had to “do something” in the wake of the stock market crash of 1929, which set a new precedent. One of the last of the “do nothing” presidents was Warren G. Harding. In 1921, under President Harding, unemployment hit 11.7 percent — higher than it has been under President Obama. Harding did nothing to get the economy stimulated. Far from spending more money to try to “jump start” the economy, President Harding actually reduced government spending.

Can we learn any lessons from Harding’s anti-Keynesian approach? Assuming we want more growth and less unemployment, the answer is yes (and we can also learn the lesson that Hoover was a moronic statist from the very beginning).

President Harding deliberately rejected the urging of his own Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover, to intervene. The 11.7 percent unemployment rate in 1921 fell to 6.7 percent in 1922, and then to 2.4 percent in 1923. It is hard to think of any government intervention in the economy that produced such a sharp and swift reduction in unemployment as was produced by just staying out of the way and letting the economy rebound on its own. Bill Clinton loudly proclaimed to the delegates to the Democratic National Convention that no president could have gotten us out of the recession in just one term. But history shows that the economy rebounded out of a worse unemployment situation in just two years under Harding, who simply let the market revive on its own, as it had done before, time and time again for more than a century.

Allow me to actually quibble with what Sowell wrote. Harding didn’t “let the market revive on its own.” He helped the economy grow faster by shrinking the federal budget. As Jim Powell explained in National Review, “Federal spending was cut from $6.3 billion in 1920 to $5 billion in 1921 and $3.2 billion in 1922.”

That’s a stunning statistic, akin to cutting more than $1.5 trillion from today’s bloated federal budget.

Sowell  also cites the achievements of the Gipper. Since I’ve posted some powerful comparisons of Reaganomics and Obamanomics, this is music to my ears.

Something similar happened under Ronald Reagan. Unemployment peaked at 9.7 percent early in the Reagan administration. Like Harding and earlier presidents, Reagan did nothing, despite outraged outcries in the media. The economy once again revived on its own. Three years later, unemployment was down to 7.2 percent — and it kept on falling, as the country experienced twenty years of economic growth with low inflation and low unemployment. The Obama party line is that all the bad things are due to what he inherited from Bush, and the few signs of recovery are due to Obama’s policies beginning to pay off. But, if the economy has been rebounding on its own for more than 150 years, the question is why it has been so slow to recover under the Obama administration.

By the way, Sowell also could have mentioned what happened in the United States immediately after World War II. The Keynesians were predicting a return to depression because of big reductions in government spending and the demobilization of millions of troops. But as Richard Vedder and Jason Taylor explained for the Cato Institute, the economy quickly adjusted and rebounded precisely because politicians didn’t revive the New Deal (and, as you can see from this video, President Reagan understood this bit of economic history).

Sowell also explains how FDR made a bad situation worse in the 1930s.

A great myth has grown up that President Franklin D. Roosevelt saved the American economy with his interventions during the Great Depression of the 1930s. But a 2004 economic study concluded that government interventions had prolonged the Great Depression by several years. Obama is repeating policies that failed under FDR.

In previous posts, I have cited both Sowell and the Wall Street Journal to make this very point, but I also call your attention to this post referencing the seminal work of Robert Higgs, as well as this video on the pernicious role of government intervention in the 1930s.

Last but not least, check out this video to understand more about FDR and his malignant views.

P.S. Fans of Professor Sowell can read more of his work here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. And you can see him in action here.

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan, spending out of control | Comments (0)

Veterans Day 2012 (A look back at Okinawa)

November 12, 2012 – 2:27 pm

—

Photo of Walter M. Dickinson

LT. COLONEL WALTER M. DICKINSON SR., age 97 met his Heavenly Father on December 14, 2018. He was the son of Ruby and Walter M. Dickinson of Worcester Massachusetts.

–

This portion below appeared in an article I did for the Saline Courier about 18 months ago:

I went to the First Baptist Church in Little Rock from 1983 to 1997, and during that time I became friends with Walter Dickinson Sr. In fact, we used to attend a weekly luncheon together on Thursdays.
Just this week I was told that Mr. Dickinson fought in War World II. I called him up yesterday, and he told me his story.
In 1939 Walter joined the National Guard in Wooster, Mass., where he grew up. He was activated in January 1941 and was trained in Fort Benning, Ga. The military moved him down to Little Rock, and that is where he met his future wife, Carlice, and their first date was at Little Rock’s First Baptist Church in downtown Little Rock in 1943.
He was shipped out in May 1943 to Leyte Island in the Philippines, but before he left, he told Carlice if she would wait for him, then he would marry her upon his return. He did that in December  1945 at the First Baptist Church of Little Rock.
Dickinson remembers Easter Day, April 1,1945, like it was yesterday. He landed as an infantryman on the island of Okinawa in what was the largest amphibious assault in the Pacific War, and lucky for the Americans the Japanese were not there to meet them on the beaches. Instead, they were dug in the side of the mountain waiting for them.

He was a 2nd Lieutenant, which was the group that got wiped out the most. Dickinson said that he was a replacement lieutenant.
The main objective of the operation was to seize a large island only 340 miles away from mainland Japan. The plan was to use Okinawa as a base for air operations on the planned invasion of Japan.
On April 20, 1945, Dickinson was hit by shrapnel, and he was sent to the army hospital in Guam. He got fixed up and then prepared for the invasion of Japan. However, President Truman had two atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and Japan surrendered  shortly before the invasion of Japan was to begin.
Japan lost over 100,000 troops, and the Americans suffered more than 12,500 dead and 35,000 wounded at Okinawa.
Walter Dickinson will turn 89 in three months, and he is still active today. He received the Purple Heart, and after the war he got his law degree from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville and set up his practice in Little Rock.

Related posts:

War Hero Joe Speaks and D Day pictures

 Below I have the story of Joe Speaks who fought in Europe and was captured twice by the Germans. Photo by Associated Press American GI’s clamber into a landing craft as they prepare to hit the beaches along France’s Normandy coast in June 1944. The World War II operation was part of the massive Allied […]

D-Day Landings,”Saving Private Ryan” most frightening and realistic 15 minutes ever

Saving Private Ryan – Omaha Beach Part 1 – HD Saving Private Ryan – Omaha Beach Scene Part 2 – Super High Quality Saving Private Ryan – Omaha Beach Scene Part 3 – Super High Quality Saving Private Ryan opens with a 30-minute cinematic tour de force that is without a doubt one of the […]

Real American Heroes Series part 1 Leon A. McDaniel of Mt Ida, Ark (part B)

Leon McDaniel’s picture Okinawa – At the Emperor’s Doorstep” episode from “WWII: GI Diary”….. This old 1978 TV docu-drama was narrated by Lloyd Bridges and told the stories of real soldiers/sailors/pilots and their first-hand experiences in battle. Archival footage and good background music really made the stories come alive…..about 25 episodes were made. Video converted […]

Real American Heroes Series part 1 Leon A. McDaniel of Mt Ida, Ark (part A)

President Reagan and Senator Barry Goldwater present the fourth star to General Jimmy Doolittle during a White House ceremony in the Indian Treaty room, OEOB. 6/20/85. I love the movie “Pearl Harbor” with Ben Affleck and it tells the story of Jimmy Doolittle.  He was born in 1896 and died in 1993. He is pictured […]

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in War Heroes | Comments (1)

Veterans Day 2012 Roy “Roxy” Oxenrider survived Korean War’s Toughest Battle

November 12, 2012 – 10:49 am

—

Roy D “Roxy” Oxenrider

Photo added by Volunteer #46577499

Roy D “Roxy” Oxenrider

BIRTH
DEATH 15 Dec 2013 (aged 81)
BURIAL
Smith-Rosemont Cemetery

Benton, Saline County, Arkansas, USA
MEMORIAL ID 121824360 · View Source

–

Below is an article that was published in November of 2010 in the Saline Courier:

Saline County War Hero

Bryant resident Roy “Roxy” Oxenrider Survived Korean War’s Toughest Battle in 1950

The Battle of Chosin Reservoir took place in Korea from November 26, 1950 to December 11th. The United Nations (UN) forces included soldiers from  South Korea, United States, and the United Kingdom. The UN forces numbered 25,000 soldiers and 2836 were killed and 7500 suffered cold related injuries. The Chinese had 120,000 soldiers and 35,000 killed.

China had entered the conflict just days earlier and huge numbers of Chinese Soldiers swept across the Yalu river, surrounding the UN troops at the Chosin Reservoir. A huge battle in freezing weather followed, and the UN troops were able to cut through Chinese lines in what can be described as a fighting withdrawal.

Roy Oxenrider has been a Saline County resident for over 30 years and currently both he and his wife Mildred live in Bryant. He was born near Harrisburg, PA. Below is his story concerning his experience in the Battle of Chosin Reservoir:

On September 13, 1949, age 17, I entered the U.S.Army through the recruiting center in Philadelphia, PA. After basic training in Ft Knox, KY, I was sent to Ft Benning, GA for advanced infantry training with the 3rd Division. Four days after the Korean war broke out, my name was posted on the board for duty in Korea.

I was assigned to 1st Battalion, 32 Regiment, 7th Division, Company A. On December 1, 1950 the weather started to clear around noon and the Corsairs appeared to give us cover. Someone yelled, “Able Company on the road.” I jumped out of my foxhole and started toward the road and realized my ROK soldier,  Joung He Su, was not by my side, this was unusual. I was between the road and railroad near the front of the truck column when I turned to look for Joung He Su. As I turned, I heard a plane and just looked up in time to see a napalm dropping from the bottom of the plane, prematurely hitting in our perimeter area. I jumped for a nearby foxhole but did not make it all the way in. You could smell the scorch of my clothing. The men coming across on their way to the front of the truck column were hit by napalm. There were 10 to 12 men completely on fire and several others with blotches of fire on them. We yelled for them to roll in the snow. I believe Joung He Su to be one of those that was on fire because I did not see him anymore. We still were having to fight hand to hand with the Chinese as the men were burning.

A machine gun had started firing on us and small arms fire was coming from the high ground on the left. We managed to cut down enough of them to move up to take our place at the rear of the truck column. The trucks were not moving. A Chinese MG on the high ground to the left was firing. It was accompanied by a hail of small arms fire. My squad went down the bank on the right side of the road to the edge of the reservoir. We used the bank for cover to get behind the MG to knock it out. As we moved along the reservoir edge we came to a little opening, like a cove. As I started across the open space, the MG switched fire zones. I was shot through both thighs, and knocked to the ice. There was no pain. Perhaps because of the extreme cold, I did not yet know that I had been hit.

My buddy and squad leader, Harold Verseman, was behind me, and said, “Come on, Roy, get up. We got work to do.” I thought my feet had slipped from under me on the ice, but as I tried to rise, I couldn’t move. I was paralyzed. I called to Harold, “I can’t get up, I’ve been hit.” Harold turned, came back through a storm of bullets, the ice chipping and shattering around him and me as well. He got me by the arm and pulled me to the bank out of the line of fire. How he escaped being hit, I will never know. Of one thing I am certain, Harold Verseman saved my life. I could not have gotten off the ice by myself. I had dropped my carbine. Harold called a medic, turned to get my carbine, but it was gone. Someone had picked it up. He turned, and said, “Roy. I’m sorry, but I have to go.” He left at a run for the head of the column.

The medics cut my pants in a cross pattern, bandaged my legs, and carried me up the bank to a truck. They moved other wounded forward in the truck bed. I was placed parallel to the tailgate. My head was on the driver’s side. By this time, a Corsair plane had knocked out the Chinese MG. The truck began moving. I was in the last truck in the column. One thing that sticks in my memory is the courage of the soldier/truck drivers who manned those improvised ambulances loaded with wounded. Any man who slipped into the seat of one of those trucks was committing suicide. All knew it, but it stopped none. The trucks never lacked drivers. As one was hit he would be dragged out, another took his place. I think they deserved our nations; highest award. The Medal of Honor. Each of those guys was a hero. There was only one narrow road. The Chinese could concentrate fire on the driver. They had the advantage of the high ground on the left, looking down the driver’s throat. Blown bridges and road blocks also slowed the column. It was a nightmare scenario.

By the time we reached the first blown out bridge our fifth driver had been killed or wounded. This time the truck went into a shallow ditch on the right and leaned at a 45% angle, exposing the rear of the truck to direct enemy fire. The Chinese were firing into the truck, wounding and killing already wounded men. The bullets sounded like great gravel thrown against the truck, only much louder. My arm was jammed against the tailgate, as bullets hit the steel it felt like my arm was being torn off.  The Chinese were now streaming down the hillside. John Parker of A Company got out, followed by a wounded officer. I kept trying and finally was able to roll over the top of the tailgate. As I felt, my rib cage hit on the trailer hitch, knocking the wind out of me. I thought, this is it. I can’t move. The Chinese will shoot me because I can not walk.

This thought enabled me to roll into the ditch and crawl into the brush with the wounded officer and Parker. We hid until dark. We heard screams, grenades and shooting. We knew no one else would get off that truck alive. That scene haunts me to this day. Some of those men stuck fast, frozen in the their own blood. I knew there was nothing I could do. Nevertheless, the self questioning has never stopped. I can still hear those cries for help. The bitter cold helped some like myself because blood froze so that one did not bleed to death, but to others it was tragic.

The officer wanted to follow the road. Parker and I did not agree with him. We parted. Parker had no shoes, only socks. He had suffered a stomach wound at the perimeter. The medics had removed his boots since he was unable to change his own socks, and placed his feet in a sleeping bag to prevent frostbite. I had extra socks under my shirt and an extra pair of insoles. We put the insoles on the bottoms of the first pair of socks, then pulled on the second pair to hold the insoles. It wasn’t much in that -25 degree to -40 degree weather, but better than what he had. When it is that cold, a few degrees did not seem to make much difference. I had regained some feeling in my left leg. Finding a tree limb for a crutch, we followed the RR, moving cautiously throughout the night. At one point, the Chinese walked by us. We lay doggo among the dead, there were so many they never noticed us. We left the RR, too many Chinese. We must have gone around the back (west) side of Hill 1221.

Next day we would go a short distance, stop, listen, then go on again. We did this all day. After dark we came to a village. It must have been Sasu. John was in bad shape. he could not walk. His feet were frozen. Pushing open the door of a L-shaped Korean house, I remember the frightened faces of the elderly couple who lived there. There were three other GI’s in the hut, one badly wounded. We decided we three unwounded would leave early in the morning to find our lines. I left my .45 pistol with one round for John, and promised the two of them to send help if we found anyone. Next morning, December 3rd, in total darkness, the three of us left. I moved very slowly, but the other two men did not leave me.

 Throughout the morning we were fired upon by the Chinese. About 10 AM several marines stood up and zeroed in on us with their rifles. I thought, My God, we have come this far, and now our own people are going to shoot us. They came out to us, two marines slung their rifles, picked me up, carried me bodily for some distance. They loaded us into a 3/4 truck that was brought out of the Marine perimeter. We told them about our other two buddies in the Korean village, and they promised to go find them. In 1988, scanning some morning reports I had requested, I learned that John Parker was flown out on December 3rd on the same plane I was on. I don’t remember leaving the truck. Perhaps I passed out.The next memory is being loaded onto an airplane. My litter was dropped in loading. I came to for a brief few seconds. A temporary airstrip had been completed at Hagaru-ri. We were flown from there to a clearing station, then to Osaka Army Hospital in Japan. In an article I later read, one of the pilots described the wounded evacuees as filthy, unshaven, stinking from dried blood, the smell of smoke, gun powder and unwashed bodies. He was not critical, merely literal and honest in his description.Roy Oxenrider received three battle stars, the Purple Heart Metal, National Defense Service Metal, Field Medical Badge, United Nations Service Metal, Korean War Presidential Unit Citation, Good Conduct Metal, and the Combat Infantry Badge.

Everette Hatcher is a regular contributor of the Saline Courier and he is the fourth generation in his family to work in the broom manufacturing business. Everette and his wife Jill have four children and live in Alexander.
Related posts:

Veterans Day 2011 Part 8 Leon McDaniel of World War II (second post)

Okinawa – At the Emperor’s Doorstep” episode from “WWII: GI Diary”….. This old 1978 TV docu-drama was narrated by Lloyd Bridges and told the stories of real soldiers/sailors/pilots and their first-hand experiences in battle. Archival footage and good background music really made the stories come alive…..about 25 episodes were made. Video converted from really old […]

Veterans Day 2011 Part 7:You have heard of Jimmy Doolittle, but what about Leon A. McDaniel?

President Reagan and Senator Barry Goldwater present the fourth star to General Jimmy Doolittle during a White House ceremony in the Indian Treaty room, OEOB. 6/20/85. I love the movie “Pearl Harbor” with Ben Affleck and it tells the story of Jimmy Doolittle.  He was born in 1896 and died in 1993. He is pictured […]

Veterans Day 2011 Part 6 (A look back at Okinawa)

This portion below appeared in an article I did for the Saline Courier about 18 months ago: I went to the First Baptist Church in Little Rock from 1983 to 1997, and during that time I became friends with Walter Dickinson Sr. In fact, we used to attend a weekly luncheon together on Thursdays.  Just […]

Veterans Day 2011 Part 5 (A look back at the “Battle of the Bulge”)

The Lost Evidence: The Battle Of The Bulge (1/5) This article was published in the Saline Courier about 18 months ago: When we celebrate July 4th we are focusing on the freedoms that so many soldiers have fought for over the last 234 years. That focus has been highlighted for me since my son Hunter […]

Veterans Day 2011 Part 4

  This is taken from an article that appeared in the Saline Courier about a year ago: Bravery is not just limited to one generation, but Americans have had it in every generation. It makes me think about those who are currently serving in our military. Jon Chris Roberts who is graduate of Benton High […]

Veterans Day 2011 Part 3 (A look back at World War 1)

I was born in Tennessee and everyone in Tennessee knows the name of Alvin York. Above is a clip about his accomplishments in War World I. Cara Gist of Shannon Hills tells me that her grandfather Herbert S. Apple of Salado, Arkansas (near Batesville) fought in World War I. He served in France and fought […]

Veterans Day 2011 Part 2 (Bataan Death March)

My longtime friend Craig Carney is originally  from Jacksonville, and  he told me a couple of years ago about a friend of his parents from Jacksonville, Arkansas named Silas Legrow. Legrow  was going to speak at the Jacksonville Museum of Military History on April 17, 2008 about his experience in the March of 1942 when […]

Veterans Day 2011 (Black Hawk Down and North Little Rock’s Donavan “Bull” Briley)

The Background Facts of The Black Hawk Down (1/7) Uploaded by WarDocumentary on Feb 14, 2011 The movie Black Hawk Down was based on an actual event that took place in Mogadishu, Somalia. This documentary explains the event. _______________________________ On October 3, 2003 my son  played quarterback at the Arkansas Baptist High School Football game […]

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in War Heroes | Comments (0)

Open letter to my congressman Tim Griffin

November 12, 2012 – 8:15 am

November 12, 2012

Congressman Tim Griffin, c/o Little Rock Office, 1501 N. University, Suite 150, Little Rock, AR 72207

Dear Congressman Griffin,

I have met you several times and I have always enjoyed visiting with you. I got to hear you speak at a town meeting at Shannon Hills about a year ago and I must say that you did a great job showing how our country is heading to Greece if we do not tackle entitlement reform in a serious way or we will not control our spending. The issue of runaway spending is one of the issues that I wanted to talk to you about today. 

We got to stand up to President Obama on two issues this week. On the fiscal cliff we need to tell him four things that I got from Dan Mitchell of the Cato Institute:

I have written a lot on the blog in the last year about the debt ceiling argument. It has been one of the top issues I have dedicated my time to and as result of coming up with interesting issues like that I have experienced over 300,000 hits in the last 12 months on my blog.

Basically on my blog I have spent most of my time on budget issues and the pro-life issues but I also deal with popular culture and sports.

I have written lots of your Tea Party friends in Congress too about this issue of the debt ceiling issue, andI have written a series of letters to the Speaker of the House John Boehner. Here is how I start out in some of those letters:

I know that you will have to meet with newly re-elected President Obama soon and he will probably be anxious for you to raise taxes and  federal spending, but he will want you to leave runaway entitlement programs alone. When that happens then you have one thing you can hold over his head and that is the debt ceiling.

You must stand up to him and tell him that you can not raise it. In December of 2012 or January of 2013 at the latest we will be shutting down the government if we don’t increase the debt limit according to the LA Times. You got to listen to the Tea Party heroes like Rep. Todd Rokita,  Ben Quayle (R-AZ), Jeff Landry (R, LA-03),  Raúl R. Labrador , Tim Huelskamp,  Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI),  , Brooks, Mo (AL – 5), Buerkle, Ann Marie (NY – 25),Chabot, Steven (OH – 1),Duncan, Jeff (SC – 3), Fleischmann, Chuck (TN – 3) ,Gowdy, Trey (SC – 4) ,Griffith, H. Morgan (VA – 9) , Harris, Andy (MD – 1) ,Huizenga, Bill (MI – 2) , Mulvaney, Mick (SC – 5) , Pompeo, Mike (KS – 4) , Ribble, Reid (WI – 8), Rigell, E. Scott (VA – 2) , Ross, Dennis (FL – 12) ,Schweikert, David (AZ – 5), Scott, Austin (GA – 8) , Scott, Tim (SC – 1) , Southerland, Steve (FL – 2) , Stutzman, Marlin (IN – 3) , Walberg, Timothy (MI – 7) , Walsh, Joe (IL – 8),and Woodall, Rob (GA – 7) .

_____________

Mr. Griffin, I have a lot of respect for you because of your conservative views and your defense of the unborn. Now, will you join that group of 66 brave Republicans that voted against the debt ceiling  and oppose it this time around? We must require the passing of the Balanced Budget Amendment before we okay an increase the debt ceiling!!! If not then we will continue to have our credit level downgraded.  Last time you voted for the debt ceiling increase because you said if we did not do it then our credit level would be downgraded but three days later our credit level was downgraded anyway.

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Everette Hatcher, 13900 Cottontail Lane, Alexander, AR 72002, cell ph 501-920-5733, lowcostsqueegees@yahoo.com, www.thedailyhatch.org

_________

Related posts:

Letters I have written to Congress about the debt ceiling debate

There were 66 brave Republicans that voted against the debt ceiling increase in August of 2011 and I have written posts about 49 of them. Again today we have newly re-elected President Obama coming back for another debt ceiling increase and we need more brave Republicans who will not give in.  I have corresponded with […]

Roll Call of 66 Republicans who voted against debt ceiling increase in 2011

Dan Mitchell of the Cato Institute wrote a very good article and I agree with most of it. However, I do take exception to just one part. He is right to get on to USA Today for calling this current Congress the most unproductive since they only passed 61 bills. Dan rightly pointed out that […]

Mark Pryor responds to me concerning Debt Ceiling email (Part 1)

The problem with the debt ceiling is very clear to me. We need to get serious about cutting federal spending. I am so upset about it that I have emailed over 100 emails to Senator Pryor concerning specific spending suggestions. I get emails from back from Senator Pryor like the one below. This means that […]

Hitting Debt Ceiling soon

There were 66 brave Republicans who voted against the debt ceiling increase last time in the House and I am hoping more will jump on board this time around. Columbia Tribune reported: U.S. on track to hit debt limit, Treasury says Associated PressThursday, November 1, 2012 WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. Treasury officials said yesterday they […]

Open letter to Speaker of the House John Boehner (Part 3 on debt ceiling)

John Boehner, Speaker of the House H-232, The Capital, Washington, DC 20515 Dear Mr. Speaker, I know that you will have to meet with newly re-elected President Obama soon and he will probably be anxious for you to raise taxes and  federal spending, but he will want you to leave runaway entitlement programs alone. When that happens then you […]

Open letter to Speaker of the House John Boehner (Part 1 on debt ceiling)

John Boehner, Speaker of the House H-232, The Capital, Washington, DC 20515 Dear Mr. Speaker, I know that you will have to meet with newly re-elected President Obama soon and he will probably be anxious for you to raise taxes and  federal spending, but he will want you to leave runaway entitlement programs alone. When that happens then you […]

Obama’s March 16, 2006 speech against raising debt ceiling

Obama’s March 16, 2006 speech against raising the debt ceiling is here: The fact that we are here today to debate raising America’s debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. It is a sign that the U.S. Government can’t pay its own bills. It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from […]

Raising the debt ceiling again so fast?

It seems to me that we should stop raising the debt ceiling so much or we will end up like Greece. Below is some great information from Reason Magazine: Uploaded by ReasonTV on Mar 1, 2011 [Editor’s Note: Go to http://reason.com/blog/2011/03/01/raising-the-debt-limit-it-just for details, charts, and links] Some say the world will end in fire and […]

Federal government spending money so fast they will pass debt ceiling before election

Sen Obama in 2006 Against Raising Debt Ceiling Uploaded by RepCliffStearns on Jun 20, 2011 Rep. Stearns on the House Floor cites Sen. Obama’s opposition in 2006 to increasing the debt ceiling, 6-14-11 ________________________ It has greatly troubled me for sometime that the federal government spends so much over their budget every year. That is […]

China calls U.S. debt a “ticking time bomb” while the Congress keeps raising the debt ceiling

US Vice President Joe Biden (L) and his granddaughter Ashley arrive in Beijing for his visit to China and Mongolia. China is the biggest foreign holder of US debt and the country’s state run media have delivered a barrage of criticism of Washington’s handling of its near-default crisis, which it has described as a “ticking […]

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Current Events, President Obama, Prolife, spending out of control, Taxes | Comments (0)

Tennessee going after Petrino?

November 12, 2012 – 7:33 am

I heard a rumor on Friday that Kentucky was going after Bobby Petrino and today I read in the Knoxville Paper that Petrino would be a good fit for Tennessee. Where will Bobby land?

John Adams: If not Jon Gruden, how about Bobby Petrino or Tommy Tuberville?

John Adams
  • By John Adams
  • govolsxtra.com
  • Posted November 11, 2012 at 8:12 p.m.

Although Tennessee has yet to announce

footballcoach

Derek Dooley will not return for a fourth season, let’s not get bogged down with formalities. At some point, Tennessee will announce the obvious, and the pursuit of another coach finally will become official.

Some fans apparently believe the pursuit already has succeeded, and that Jon Gruden has agreed to become the next coach once a few trivial details are worked out. I applaud the possibility in that Gruden would give UT a Super Bowl-winning coach as well as a national celebrity — not a bad combination for a football program whose relevance is receding by the game.

In fact, hiring Gruden make so much sense, I would be OK with him bringing along Mike Tirico, his booth buddy on “Monday Night Football,” as defensive coordinator. And if they want to coach Saturday’s game against Vanderbilt, so much the better.

But suppose, for some bizarre reason, the Gruden-to-Tennessee deal falls through. Then, where would UT athletic director Dave Hart look?

Hint: As of this writing, Bobby Petrino is still out of work (he won’t be for long).

I realize some people are offended by the circumstances that resulted in the former Arkansas coach being unemployed. The synopsis: He had an affair with a young woman whom he also put on the back of his motorcycle as well as the athletic department’s payroll. One more thing: He lied about the relationship to his boss.

Counterpoint: He wins games. Lots of them.

In weighing Petrino’s off-the-field baggage against his on-the-field success, it’s worth noting that he isn’t the first prominent coach to socialize with a woman outside his immediate household. It’s also worth mentioning that lying is simply a business technique for most coaches.

But it’s not as though you would be asking Petrino to marry you or baby-sit your kids. You would just be asking him to do a job.

Do you check the integrity of your pest-control guy? Do you do a background check on your roofer? And in your last conscious thought before the anesthesia is administered, do you wonder about your surgeon’s character or his skill?

I don’t mean to dismiss integrity as a virtue. I just want to put the situation in perspective.

UT football is in danger of falling off the national map. It’s on the verge of four losing seasons in five years. It can’t afford to make the wrong hire.

Based on what Petrino accomplished at Arkansas, UT would be foolish not to consider him. He faced some of the same challenges there that he would face at Tennessee yet succeeded quickly and dramatically, improving Arkansas’ record in each of his four seasons and taking it to a No. 5 national ranking in his last year.

 

Whom else that UT could get (not counting Gruden, of course) has better credentials for the UT job?

There’s nothing wrong with Texas Tech coach Tommy Tuberville’s credentials, unless you are disturbed by the video that shows him slapping an assistant coach upside the headphones during Saturday’s victory over Kansas. Of course, some UT fans might find that appealing, given their current lack of affection for UT’s defensive staff.

Tuberville rebuilt Ole Miss from the ruins of NCAA probation in the late 1990s. He led Auburn to an unbeaten season in 2004 and is 20-15 in three seasons at Texas Tech. Moreover, he’s good in big games — and against big-time coaches (see Nick Saban for details).

Maybe UT would prefer someone younger (Tuberville is 58). But I would be more concerned about a coach’s lack of experience than his age.

UT should be looking for someone who has proved himself in a couple of programs, not for a couple of seasons.

This isn’t a job for an up-comer. Tennessee needs a proven winner.

And if the coach is a proven winner in the SEC, that’s even better.

John Adams is a senior columnist. He may be reached at 865-342-6284 or adamsj@knoxnews.com. Follow him at http://twitter.com/johnadamskns.

Related posts:

Bobby Petrino’s first interview since affair and his effort to put his marriage together

Some people have praised the way the University of Arkansas handled the firing of Bobby Petrino, and I am part of that group. However, if he puts his marriage back together I think it would be great if he returned as our head football coach at Arkansas. He has fallen from the top. He had […]

Bobby Petrino to Texas in 2013?

When I started thinking about which school would have the best chance to get Bobby Petrino in 2013, I immediately thought of Tennessee because they are in the SEC. However, there is a downside to being in the SEC. The pressure to win the conference is about the same to win the national championship. Actually […]

Bobby Petrino was a great coach and babysitter

Everybody admits that Bobby Petrino was a great coach. Take a look at this comment from Chris Smith of Forbes: Petrino has plenty of time to find a new job, and he is likely to receive several offers. Morally repugnant as he might be, Petrino’s on-field performance has been stellar. Through eight seasons as head […]

Bobby Petrino unloads one of his two Fayetteville homes

Bobby Petrino and Jessica Dorrell Bobby Petrino always had plans to live in Fayetteville the rest of his life. Why else would he have committed to the 18 million dollar buyout in his contract. He also showed that he had longterm plans to stay in Arkansas because he invested 2.5 million in a home here. […]

Is Bobby Petrino through or will he return as a top coach in the future?

Bobby Petrino and Jessica Dorrell I was so happy a few months ago with the Razorbacks’ football future firmly in Bobby Petrino’s hands. Things were going so well.  I mentioned to a friend that I was 16 back in 1977 when Lou Holtz led the Razorbacks that season to a 11-1 record and a third […]

You can buy Bobby Petrino’s motorcyle!!!

I wish the Bobby Petrino series of mistakes never started last fall. It all started with eating lunch with a young lady that was not his wife and she said, “When are you going to get around to kissing me?” The Arkansas Times blog reported today:   A Twitter from Mallory Hardin at Channel 4 […]

Bobby Petrino had the whole world at his feet

Bobby Petrino and Jessica Dorrell I read this blog this morning about Bobby Petrino and the verse “What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?” (Mark 8:36) really made me think a lot about our perspective on life. Bobby Petrino and the Lesson of Good Friday Posted: […]

Bobby Petrino’s actions and the fallout from them

Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino Sometimes we lose perspective on what is really important and I thought I would share this below. Will Davis Jr. is a Christian pastor and here are his thoughts: The Sad Case of Bobby Petrino 11 Apr Bobby Petrino, the three-year football coach of the Arkansas Razorbacks, has been relieved of […]

Bobby Petrino and the issue of Integrity

A good article I came upon below: A Question of Integrity Posted by Jerry Godsey in Adultery, BLOG, Family, Featured, How To Be a Man, Leadership, News Media, Sports | Monday, April 16th, 2012 If you are a college football fan, you are pretty aware of the Bobby Petrino scandal at the University of Arkansas. […]

Opinions on the morality of Bobby Petrino

Bobby Petrino and Jessica Dorrell I have read a lot of opinions throughout the USA on the morality of Bobby Petrino and I wanted to share with you some of their thoughts: 1. Columbus Ledger Enquirer 2. Marissa Levy at Fordham Law 3. Curmudgeon’s Attic 4. Vanderbilt Law School Bobby Petrino bears witness: Character Counts! […]

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Current Events | Comments (0)

President Obama should be protecting unborn children!!!! (Part 4)

November 12, 2012 – 7:14 am

Church History & Abortion

Uploaded by on Sep 30, 2010

This 10.5 minute Power Point presentation gives statements from Church leaders (early and late) regarding the Christian Church’s opposition to abortion.

__________________

These posts are all dealing with issues that President Obama did not help on in his first term. I am hopeful that he will continue to respond to my letters that I have written him and that he will especially reconsider his view on the following import issue. President Obama should be protecting unborn children!!!!

Should abortions be permitted in the case of rape or incest?

 

When the subject of abortion comes up, rape and incest are often used as an emotional appeal designed to deflect serious consideration of the pro-life position: “How can anyone deny a hurting woman safe medical care and freedom from the terror of rape or incest by forcing her to maintain a pregnancy resulting from the cruel and criminal invasion of her body?” The emotion of the argument often precludes serious examination of its merits.

First, it is important to note that the incidence of pregnancy as a result of rape is rare, with studies estimating that approximately 1 percent to 4.7 percent of rapes result in pregnancy. Thus lobbying for abortion on the basis of rape and incest is like lobbying for the removal of red lights because you might have to run one in order to rescue someone who is about to commit suicide. Even if we had legislation restricting abortion for all reasons other than rape or incest, we would save the vast majority of the 1.8 million preborn babies who die annually in the United States through abortion.

Furthermore, one does not obviate the real pain of rape or incest by compounding it with the murder of an innocent preborn child. Two wrongs do not make a right. The very thing that makes rape evil also makes abortion evil. In both cases, an innocent human being is brutally dehumanized.

In both cases, an innocent human being is brutally dehumanized. Finally, the real question is whether abortion is the murder of an innocent human being. If so, abortion should be avoided at all costs. In an age of scientific enlightenment we now know that the embryo even at its earliest stages fulfills the criteria needed to establish the existence of biological life (including metabolism, development, the ability to react to stimuli, and cell reproduction); that a zygote is a living human being as demonstrated by its distinct genetic code; and that human personhood does not depend on size, location, or level of dependence. Thus, abortion should be avoided even in cases of rape and incest.

For further study, see Hank Hanegraaff, “Annihilating Abortion Arguments,” available through the Christian Research Institute (CRI) at http://www.equip.org.

Proverbs 17:15:
“Acquitting the guilty and condemning the innocent-the LORD detests them both.”

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Prolife | Comments (0)

Open letter to President Obama (Part 168.5)

November 12, 2012 – 7:12 am

 

President Obama c/o The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr. President,

I know that you receive 20,000 letters a day and that you actually read 10 of them every day. I really do respect you for trying to get a pulse on what is going on out here.

Why not be wise with your money like Romney has done? Why is that a bad thing?

Since Mitt Romney Won’t Defend Himself, I Guess It’s Up to Me to Debunk the Left’s Tax Haven Demagoguery

July 14, 2012 by Dan Mitchell

Earlier this year, I defended Mitt Romney and Bain Capital from the absurd accusation that they did something wrong by utilizing low-tax jurisdictions.

So-called tax havens, as I’ve explained on many occasions, play a valuable role in the world economy. Indeed, they should be emulated rather than persecuted.

In a follow-up post, I mocked ABC News for a ridiculous non-story as they tried to make Romney appear guilty for following good business practices.

The issue has become hot again, so I talked about Romney and tax havens with Jason Riley at the Wall Street Journal.

Dan Mitchell Defending Tax Havens (and Mitt Romney) on Wall Street Journal Online TV

Published on Jul 13, 2012 by

No description available.

_____________

Since nobody has claimed that Romney violated U.S. tax law, this kerfuffle only exists because the left wants to create the impression that tax havens are bad and then tar the GOP’s presumptive nominee with guilt by association.

Brian Garst of the Center for Freedom and Prosperity nails the issue in his column for the Daily Caller.

People who invest or bank overseas do not hate America. Oftentimes, they are simply banking where their money is earned to avoid the hassle of exchange rate and wire transfer fees. …It’s also smart practice to diversify. …Mitt Romney should not be cowed into shame over his banking practices just because he doesn’t strictly park his after-tax earnings in American banks, but should instead seize the opportunity to more aggressively defend against populist attacks on financial privacy and explain the benefits of jurisdictional tax competition.

That’s good advice, but I’m not holding my breath waiting for Romney to defend Switzerland and other jurisdictions with good policy. That would require an underlying belief in freedom and liberty, which seems to be lacking.

But you would think that he might respond by noting that many top Democrats directly invest in tax havens, and that presumably all of them – as I noted in my WSJ interview – are indirectly invested in these financial centers.

P.S. It’s probably a lost cause, but I’m an old-fashioned guy who thinks that people shouldn’t blatantly lie, so here’s my obligatory complaint that many politicians, journalists, and policy folks are repeating the debunked assertion that so-called tax havens deprive the U.S. Treasury of $100 billion per year. Obama threw around that make-believe number in the 2008 campaign, as seen in this video. But as shown in the final video of this post, the $100 billion figure was concocted out of thin air by a former John Kerry staffer, who confessed he made up the number when the Congressional Research Service asked for his methodology.

_______________

Thank you so much for your time. I know how valuable it is. I also appreciate the fine family that you have and your commitment as a father and a husband.

Sincerely,

Everette Hatcher III, 13900 Cottontail Lane, Alexander, AR 72002, ph 501-920-5733, lowcostsqueegees@yahoo.com

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Cato Institute | Comments (1)

Christopher Hitchens’ debate with Douglas Wilson (Part 6)

November 12, 2012 – 7:09 am

Christopher Hitchens vs. Douglas Wilson Debate at Westminster Theological Seminary, Part 6 of 12

Douglas Wilson

I am glad that you found my response mildly amusing. I am also grateful we share an appreciation for Wodehouse. And I am extremely glad that you would like me to begin talking about the death of Christ for sin—which I fully intend to do. But the pattern the New Testament

gives us is to address the need for repentance first and then to talk about the need for faith in Christ as Savior. Within the boundaries of our discussion, repentance would be necessary because you have embraced the internal contradictions of atheism, all for the sake of avoiding God (Rom. 1:21; Ps. 14:1-2). So we will get to the gospel, but I am afraid I am going to have to ask you to hold your horses.

So, back to the business at hand, the business of intellectual repentance. Dismissing something as casuistry is not the same thing as a demonstration of casuistry, and refusing to answer questions because the

other guy is being evasive is quite a neat trick . . . if you can pull it off.

I am afraid you misconstrued my acknowledgement that—with regard to public civic life— atheists can certainly behave in a moral manner. My acknowledgement was not that morality has nothing to do with the supernatural, as you represented, but rather that morality has nothing to do with the supernatural if you want to be an inconsistent atheist. Here is that point again, couched another way and tied into our topic of debate.

Among many other reasons, Christianity is good for the world because it makes hypocrisy a coherent concept. The Christian faith certainly condemns hypocrisy as such, but because there is a fixed standard, this makes it possible for sinners to fail to meet it or for flaming hypocrites to pretend that they are meeting it when they have no intention of doing so. Now my question for you is this: Is there such a thing as atheist hypocrisy? When another atheist makes different ethical choices than you do (as Stalin and Mao certainly did), is there an overarching common standard for all atheists that you are obeying and which they are not obeying? If so, what is that standard and what book did it come from? Why is it binding on them if they differ with you?

And if there is not a common objective standard which binds all atheists, then would it not appear that the supernatural is necessary in order to have a standard of morality that can be reasonably articulated and defended?

So I am not saying you have to believe in the supernatural in order to live as a responsible citizen. I am saying you have to believe in the supernatural in order to be able to give a rational and coherent account of why you believe yourself obligated to live this way. In order to prove me wrong here, you must do more than employ words like “casuistry” or “evasions”—you simply need to provide that rational account. Given atheism, objective morality follows . . . how?

The Christian faith is good for the world because it provides the fixed standard which atheism cannot provide and because it provides forgiveness for sins, which atheism cannot provide either.

We need the direction of the standard because we are confused sinners. We need the forgiveness because we are guilty sinners. Atheism not only keeps the guilt, but it also keeps the confusion.

— Douglas Wilson

Related posts:

Christopher Hitchens’ view on abortion may surprise you

Christopher Hitchens – Against Abortion Uploaded by BritishNeoCon on Dec 2, 2010 An issue Christopher doesn’t seem to have addressed much in his life. He doesn’t explicitly say that he is against abortion in this segment, but that he does believe that the ‘unborn child’ is a real concept. ___________________________ I was suprised when I […]

Christopher Hitchens discusses Ron Paul in 3-2-11 inteview

Max Brantley in the Arkansas Times Blog reports that Ron Paul is leading in Iowa. Maybe it is time to take a closer look at his views. In the above clip you will see Chistopher Hitchens discuss Ron Paul’s views. In the clip below you will find Ron Paul’s latest commercial. Below is a short […]

Evangelicals react to Christopher Hitchens’ death plus video clips of Hitchens debate (part 3)

DEBATE William Lane Craig vs Christopher Hitchens Does God Exist 07 Below are some reactions of evangelical leaders to the news of Christopher Hitchens’ death:   Christian leaders react to Hitchens’ death Posted on Dec 16, 2011 | by Michael Foust   DEBATE William Lane Craig vs Christopher Hitchens Does God Exist 08 Author and […]

Evangelicals react to Christopher Hitchens’ death plus video clips of Hitchens debate (part 2)

DEBATE William Lane Craig vs Christopher Hitchens Does God Exist 04 Below are some reactions of evangelical leaders to the news of Christopher Hitchens’ death: Christian leaders react to Hitchens’ death Posted on Dec 16, 2011 | by Michael Foust DEBATE William Lane Craig vs Christopher Hitchens Does God Exist 05 Author and speaker Christopher […]

Evangelicals react to Christopher Hitchens’ death plus video clips of Hitchens debate (part 1)

DEBATE William Lane Craig vs Christopher Hitchens Does God Exist 01 Below are some reactions of evangelical leaders to the news of Christopher Hitchens’ death: Christian leaders react to Hitchens’ death Posted on Dec 16, 2011 | by Michael Foust Author and speaker Christopher Hitchens, a leader of an aggressive form of atheism that eventually […]

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Atheists Confronted, Current Events | Comments (0)