David Adams, a respected voice of conservatism in Kentucky, has announced that he is suspending his involvement with the widely regarded political blog, "Kentucky Progress" to take a position as a consultant with the Rand Paul exploratory committee. MORE HERE

7/2/2009 10:00:00 PM By BlueGrass Bulletin

It’s understandable that there might not be a lot of enthusiasm for the public to know that organizations supported partially by taxpayer dollars have garnered the attention of state Auditor Crit Luallen for their “excessive spending” and “inadequate oversight.”

And no … we’re not talking about Congress or the Kentucky General Assembly.

Rather, we’re referring to the top five officials in the Kentucky Association of Counties spending “nearly $600,000 in two years on travel, meals and other expenses.”

Then there’s the matter of Kentucky League of Cities Executive Director Sylvia Lovely’s $315,000 compensation package. It’s very taxpayer-friendly like of Lovely to decide “she would discontinue several corporate perks, including … holding League functions at a restaurant co-owned her husband.

I wonder if she will also now reverse the league’s recent decision to stop complying with reporters’ open-records’ requests. Even if she does, it will be with all the enthusiasm of a vegetarian at an Independence Day hog roast.

Dear Grammar Guy:

If the platform by which we communicate to the world is called "Twitter," then why do we call any discrete instance of it a "tweet"? Shouldn't we call it (or perhaps one who engages in it) a "twit"?

--Terminologically Confused

Dear Terminologically Confused,

You have a great point. Of course, the term 'twit' and the term 'tweet' have two entirely different conno...

[Sorry, your 140 character limit has been exceeded. Sorry for the inconvenience--The Twitter Team]

Well, we have knock down, drag out discussion on Biblical interpretation going on in the comments section of a previous post. So, while we're on the topic, maybe the chief combatants, Lee and Thomas, could address something that I have been chewing on for a year or two, which is encapsulated by some things Wendell Berry said in his essay "The Burden of the Gospels." It is well within the parameters of the discussion on the other post, and might help to focus things a bit.

Here's the section that interests me:

I need to say also that, as a reader, I am first of all a literalist, as I think every reader should be. This does not mean that I don’t appreciate Jesus’ occasional irony or sarcasm ("They have their reward"), or that I am against interpretation, or that I don’t believe in "higher levels of meaning." It certainly does not mean that I think every word of the Bible is equally true, or that literalist is a synonym for fundamentalist. I mean simply that I expect any writing to make literal sense before making sense of any other kind. Interpretation should not contradict or otherwise violate the literal meaning. To read the Gospels as a literalist is, to me, the way to take them as seriously as possible.

But to take the Gospels seriously, to assume that they say what they mean and mean what they say, is the beginning of troubles. Those would-be literalists who yet argue that the Bible is unerring and unquestionable have not dealt with its contradictions, which of course it does contain, and the Gospels are not exempt. Some of Jesus’ instructions are burdensome not because they involve contradiction, but merely because they are so demanding.

The proposition that love, forgiveness and peaceableness are the only neighborly relationships that are acceptable to God is difficult for us weak and violent humans, but it is plain enough for any literalist. We must either accept it as an absolute or absolutely reject it. The same for the proposition that we are not permitted to choose our neighbors ahead of time or to limit neighborhood, as is plain from the parable of the Samaritan. The same for the requirement that we must be perfect, like God, which seems as outrageous as the Buddhist vow to "save all sentient beings," and perhaps is meant to measure and instruct us in the same way. It is, to say the least, unambiguous.

But what, for example, are we to make of Luke 14:26: "If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own also, he cannot be my disciple." This contradicts not only the fifth commandment but Jesus’ own instruction to "Love thy neighbor as thyself." It contradicts his obedience to his mother at the marriage in Cana of Galilee. It contradicts the concern he shows for the relatives of his friends and followers. But the word in the King James Version is "hate." If you go to the New English Bible or the New Revised Standard Version, looking for relief, the word still is "hate." This clearly is the sort of thing that leads to "biblical exegesis."

>My own temptation is to become a literary critic, wag my head learnedly and say, "Well, this obviously is a bit of hyperbole -- the sort of exaggeration a teacher would use to shock his students awake." Maybe so, but it is not obviously so, and it comes perilously close to "He didn’t really mean it" -- always a risky assumption when reading, and especially dangerous when reading the Gospels. Another possibility, and I think a better one, is to accept our failure to understand, not as a misstatement or a textual flaw or as a problem to be solved, but as a question to live with and a burden to be borne.

And it came to pass in the Age of Insanity that the people of the land called America , having lost their morals, their initiative, And their will to defend their liberties, chose as their Supreme Leader that the person known as "The One"

He emerged from the vapors with a message that had no meaning;but He Hypnotized the people telling them, "I am sent to save you. My lack of experience, my questionable ethics, my monstrous ego, And my association with evil doers are of no consequence.For I Shall save you with Hope and Change."

"Go, therefore, and proclaim throughout the land that he who Preceded me is evil that he has defiled the nation, and that all he Has built must be destroyed."

And the people rejoiced, for even though they knew not what "The One" would do,he had
promised. That it was good; and they believed. And "The One" said "We live in the greatest country in the world. Help me Change everything about it!"

And the people said, "Hallelujah! Change is Good!" Then He said, "We are going to tax the rich fat-cats." And the People said "Sock it to them!" "And redistribute their wealth."

And the people said, "Show us the money!" And then He said, "Redistribution Of wealth is good for everybody" And a plumber asked, "Are you kidding me? You're going tt steal my Money and give it to the deadbeats??" And "The One" with his minions in the media ridiculed and taunted Him,and the plumber’s personal records were hacked and publicized.One lone reporter asked, "Isn't that Marxist policy?"

And she was banished from the kingdom! Then a citizen asked, "With no foreign relations experience and having zero military experience or knowledge, how will you deal with radical Terrorists?"And "The One" said, "Simple. I shall sit with them and talk with them and show them how nice we really are; and They will forget that they ever wanted to kill us all!"

And the People said,"Hallelujah!!We are safe at last, and we can beat our Weapons into free cars for the people!"Then "The One" said,"I shall give 95% of you lower taxes." And One, lone voice said,"But 40% of us don't pay ANY taxes." So "The One" said,"Then I shall give you some of the taxes the fat-cats Pay!"

And the people said,"Hallelujah!! Show us the money!"

Then "The One" said,"I shall tax your Capital Gains when you Sell your homes!"And the people yawned and the slumping housing market Collapsed.

And He said, "I shall mandate employer- funded health care for EVERY worker and raise the minimum wage. And I shall give every person Unlimited free health care and medicine and transportation to the clinics."

And The people said,"Give me some of that!"

Then he said, "I shall penalize employers who ship jobs Overseas." And the people
said,"Where's my rebate check?"

Then "The One" said "I shall bankrupt the coal industry and Electricity rates will skyrocket!" And the people said, "Coal is Dirty,coal is evil,no more coal! But we
don't care for that part About higher electric rates." So "The One" said, "Not to worry. If Your rebate isn't enough to cover your expenses, we shall bail you Out.
Just sign up with ACORN and your troubles are over!"

Then He said,"Illegal immigrants feel scorned and slighted.Let's grant them
amnesty, Social Security, free education,free Lunches, free medical care, bi-lingual signs and guaranteed Housing..."

And the people said "Hallelujah!!" And they made Him King! And so it came to pass that employers,facing spiraling costs And ever-higher taxes,raised their prices
and laid off workers.Others simply gave up and went out of business and the economy sank like Unto a rock dropped from a cliff.

The banking industry was destroyed.Manufacturing slowed to a crawl.And more of
the people were without a means of support..

Then "The One" said,"I am the "The One" -The Messiah - and I'm Here to save you!
We shall just print more money so everyone will Have enough!"But our foreign trading partners said unto Him, "Wait A minute.

Your dollar is not worth a pile of camel dung! You will Have to pay more..." And the people said,"Wait a minute. That is Unfair!!"

And the world said,"Neither are these other idiotic programs you have embraced. Lo, you have become a Socialist state and a second-rate power.Now you shall play by our rules!"

And the people cried out,"Alas, alas!!What have we done?" But yea verily, it was too late.The people set upon"The One" and spat upon him and stoned him, and his name was dung.

And the once mighty nation was no more;and the once proud people were without sustenance or shelter or hope.

And the change"The One" had given them was as like unto a poison or plague that had destroyed them and like a whirlwind that consumed all that they had built.

And the people beat their chests in despair and cried out in anguish," Give us back
our nation and our pride and our hope!!"

But it was too late, and their homeland was no more.

You may think this is a fairy tale, but it's not.
You are in it and the nightmare is just beginning!

I am suspending publishing of the Kentucky Progress blog immediately to take a position as a consultant with the Rand Paul for U.S. Senate Exploratory Committee.

More about that soon.

This site has been both very hard work and a lot of fun. I expect to return to it at the conclusion of this new project. Meanwhile, the site with its existing posts will remain up as will my contact information at the top of the page.

I've met a lot of fantastic people in my decade of political activity and during the 4 1/2 years on Kentucky Progress. Hope to see you soon!

David

Coincidentally, the document that declared the independence of the United States was officially sanctioned on 04 July 1776 in Philadelphia and the turning-point battle of the Civil War that preserved the resulting Union was fought on 04 July 1863 at Gettysburg. Thus, in the span of little more than one average lifetime as measured by today’s standards, the nation was founded and saved. Actually, the Constitution was officially ratified in 1788 and the first president and first Congress officially took office and “founded” the nation in 1789, so the actual birth and salvation of the new country took place in the span of just one lifetime.

The Revolutionary War had been on for more than a year when the Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776. The Battles of Lexington and Concord in April 1775 were battles that took many lives. By the end of the day, British troops had lost 273 soldiers, while the Colonists lost only 94. Eighteen of these Colonists had died during the battle at Lexington. The Revolutionary War had begun. So…the nation was birthed and saved through the shedding of much blood. An estimated 25,000 U.S. soldiers lost their lives in the eight-year Revolutionary War, and an incredible 624,000 died in military action during the four-year Civil War, nearly half of all deaths in all the wars in which this country has engaged.

Nearly all the deaths and all the many times more in number of the wounded have occurred in the never-ending battle against tyranny of one kind or another, whether the despicable despotism of the British in the 1770s or inculcated by monster dictator Adolf Hitler in the 1930s-40s or the tyranny of terrorism inflicted upon this country on 09 September 2001 by monster Muslim Osama bin Laden. The battles against tyranny will never end, and the major – almost only – bulwark against tyranny today is the United States, to which the nations of the world look to be the international stabilizer.

Tyranny
The muffled sound of drum and fife
And musketry in mortal strife
And voices raised in anger, pain,