Why is Conservative Media Crumbling?

Trump supporters and progressives (ah but I repeat myself) are all gleefully reporting that Glenn Beck's media empire is crumbling. He's had some layoffs and those eager to see him go away and stop making them feel guilty and stupid are celebrating.

I think Beck will probably be alright. Like any businessman, he has had to respond to changes in the market and in the political climate - particularly so in his case. Beck had the audacity to speak out against the agenda of the progressive socialist movement in America. Beck is a victim of the same phenomenon that took down PJTV, is damaging FOX News and threatening other conservative media outlets.

And the threat is named Donald J. Trump!

And I'm typical of the kind of people who are seen as threatening conservatism. I'm one of those crazy #NeverTrump guys who won't ever vote for the Donald under any circumstances. As I've repeated ad nauseum, the lesser of two evils is sometimes neither. The only problem is that as the fear of a loss of power and a rise of influence of the conservative wing of the party gripped died in the wool Republicans, many leading Republicans came over to the Donald. Even Newt Gingrich called Trump our best hope. People like me responded, "If he's our best hope, we have no hope." One by one I've canceled my subscriptions to conservative media newsletters from Gingrich, Breitbart and Drudge, all of whom seem to have gone over to the dark side. Breitbart's Trump support, however seems to be waning as it's subscriber list falls to cancellation after cancellation by disgusted conservatives. Breitbart must be spinning in his grave at his namesake website's earlier near-endorsement of Trump. Now Glenn Beck, the once great uniter of the conservative wing of the Republican Party is feeling the wrath of the Trump herd.

Glenn Beck chose sides in the Republican primary and Trump supporters are angry about that. They've projected their anger and frustration onto a hero figure who has been willing to say or do anything to pander to them in order to get their votes. These people are so frightened and angry that they are stampeding and in a stampede, the herd looks for a big noisy bull to follow. Sadly, if that bull runs off a cliff, the herd will probably follow. It's all about emotion and momentum once the stampede has begun. Anyone who gets in the way of the charging herd, either has to move fast or get trampled. More than a few conservative leaders have hoof prints on their backs right now - at least the honest ones who care more about what happens to this country than they do about how much political power the Republican Party possesses at the moment.

A friend and Trump supporter told me that "Sometimes you just have to choose a herd." For the reasons above, I don't believe that's true. I'm more of a flock kind of guy. I like to know my Shepherd is someone I can trust. If I can't trust him, I'm out of the flock. It's a Christian thing. I don't expect those for whom faith in God is "silly religious stuff" as one Trump supporter described Glenn Beck's approach to media to even begin to understand taking a stand on principle.  So here we stand in the breach and we will not be moved. We may be overwhelmed and defeated, but we will never surrender. We will never give up.

You have chosen the form of the Destructor!

Trump has done exactly what his Democrat allies like George Soros and the Clintons had hoped he would do. He's torn the conservative movement in two and probably will bring down the Republican Party to boot - ushering in the United Socialist States of America or the People's Republic of America or maybe the People's Democratic Republic of American - any version of which will being neither democratic, nor a republic, nor, for that matter will it be "of the People". Trump will likely be nominated with a minority of the votes and with 30-40% of Republicans vowing to never vote for him under any circumstances - a sure recipe for a Clinton/Sanders victory. We have chosen the form of the destructor and he is Trump!

We're seeing the rise of a new National Socialism in America, manifest in the form of so-called Progressivism. Progressivism is a deadly dangerous idea that has led to much misery and death over the past century or so. The idea of a powerful nationalist America first movement has been tried before both here and more successfully in Europe. The 2016 election looks like 1933 all over again only here in America instead of Germany.  In a bit of eerie deja vu, this year's election looks like it's going to be between Communist socialists and National socialists with the Republic being consigned to the ash heap of history as was Germany's Weimar Republic.

Over the past century, we in America were tempted to leave our constitutionally limited government model in order to create great governmental power. We created this ever more centralized power in response to real external threats. We were told we needed to centralize power, ostensibly to protect the peace, health, liberty and safety of the American People. Sadly power attracts the corruptible and in the end, neither our peace, our health, our safety and above all, our liberty will be safe from those to whom power is everything in the world worth having.

God protect us from those who want to save us.

© 2016 by Tom King

How Does Track Palin's Wedding Make Sarah a Hypocrite?

Britta Hanson & Track Palin (center)

Apparently Iraq war veteran Track Palin and his high school sweetheart got ahead of themselves according to the media and the couple may have been expecting when they got married. Of course, the press is gleefully calling it a shotgun wedding and the nastier bloggers are calling Palin a hypocrite because she opposes unfettered sex education and schools handing out condoms. Sarah, they chortle, promotes abstinence and yet has two kids that apparently didn't abstain.

You know, so what that? Palin has two grandchildren out of the deal. She seems happy about it.  Her kids are taking responsibility for their mistakes. How is that bad? Protecting our kids from the consequences of their actions is what got us a generation of irresponsible kids in the first place.

The president, on the other hand, said he doesn't want to punish his girls with a baby if they make a similar mistake. Since when is a child a punishment, especially when the family is happy to have the child and the mom's willingly take responsibility for the life they have created? I think Palin's kids are admirable.

I mean either it's just sex and therefore innocuous or it's not - libs can't have it both ways. I'm pretty sure the kids knew what they needed to do to prevent a pregnancy. I've never heard Palin come out against contraceptives as is being reported. She has come out against schools providing contraceptives to kids and describing, perverse sexual practices to minors. Sarah Palin believes it should be the responsibility of families, not the government to teach our kids about sex.

In the heat of youthful passion, Sarah's kids apparently chose to take a risk. Then, they both took responsibility when they lost the bet. That's not hypocricy. That's character!  We all make mistakes. It's what we do afterward that shows who you are.

I advocate abstinence too. I think having sex is an intense and life-changing experience. I've only slept with one woman in my life and we've been together 37 years and been absolutely faithful to our vows. We trust each other completely and much of that is because we chose to treat sex as a sacred act between life partners. I think that's a valuable lesson to teach our children. People who see sex as some form of recreation do not understand why anyone would want to believe that sex should hold such a special place.  That's where the disconnect is between the two sides of the debate over sex education.

If you believe sex is a sacred thing between men and women, then it's very important for you to teach your children about that within the family circle. We want our kids to know that if they decide to engage in that act, they'd better be prepared to make a lifelong committment and take responsibility for the consequences. If you allow public opinion to lower the bar on sex for your family, you find yourself intractably at odds with your own beliefs.  I would rather have a president who is consistent in her beliefs and teaches her children that life is a sacred thing and that you must be responsible when you create life.  I'm less comfortable with one that teaches that an unborn child is something that should be prevented or killed if it's going to spoil your kid's youthful partying.

I don't buy that sex is no big deal and obviously Mrs. Palin and her family do not. I say God bless 'em. Track and his high school sweetheart were obviously committed to one another. He'd been off to war and they got ahead of themselves. It's not all that hard to understand. Can nobody be sympathetic with how they could get carried away by passion? That happens a lot in war time and for crying out loud they were planning to get married anyway - been dating forever. It's amazing how unforgiving and nasty liberals can be if the "sinner" is a Christian. No Christian claims to be perfect. Quite the contrary. Every weekend, we sit in church and listen to pastors tell us we're all sinners and that we must depend on Christ entirely for our salvation.

Because we aim at a higher standard doesn't make us hypocrites. It makes us idealists. Let me repeat. It's not so much that we make mistakes, it's what we do afterward to make it right that reveals our character.

Have the Palin kids had their troubles - yep!  Kids do that, especially preacher's kids and the children of celebrities. I think it has something to do with being in the glare of the spotlight that's on your parents. In the Bible, Solomon advises parents to, "Train up a child in the way that he shall go and when he is old he will not depart from it."  Solomon never promised that, no matter how thoroughly you trained up your children, they wouldn't gallop over Fool's Hill sometime during their teens. Teens do that. It's how they figure out who they are and why they were born. Let the parent who is sinless cast the first stone. And, if you're not a parent, you're still a child, so put down the rocks!

I wish Track and Britta all the blessings in the world. They are a lovely couple with a supportive, close-knit family. Wouldn't it be nice if every young couple had that starting out?


Tom King

Who's Yahoo?

The 44% Solution to the Coming Media Propaganda Blitz.

My home page is currently on Yahoo.  I say currently because I'm not sure I can stomach it too much longer.  I don't know if anyone else has noticed, but since the passage of the health care bill, Yahoo News, never exactly a bipartisan organization anyway, has poured on the stories about how wonderful it is now that Obamacare is ours. If you watch their headlines, you'll see that Americans are doing a happy dance in the street for joy now that all those millions of injured, starving, sick people have been dragged up out of the ditches where they've been dying without hope and miraculously healed.

And now, all of a sudden, there are evil conservative terrorists springing up everywhere threatening the brave Democrats that voted for health care at grave personal risk.  They leave coffins on lawns, they threaten to blow up policemen and murder our beloved president.  I expect global warming to start heating up any day now.

For crying out loud, at least they could be subtle about it instead of wearing flower leis and singing the "I Love Obama" song.

Try watching some of the other mainstream news media and see if something is not rotten in the state of America.  See whether or not you begin to see a propaganda campaign cranking up.

A new movie called "The God That Never Was" was recently released. In his movie, progressive director Brian Fleming comes to the shocking conclusion that God does not exist.  I am stunned.  He also thinks that Christians are scary stupid.  Whoa!  I didn't see that coming.

Fleming quotes an "alarming" statistic - at least he thinks it's alarming.  He says 44% of Americans believe Jesus will come in their lifetimes.  Now, my question is, "Why does he think that's an alarming statistic?"

Is it because (A) He thinks such a belief can only be held by dangerous right wing militia gun nuts OR..........

(B) Because he thinks it might be true and he just realized his last movie was about how Jesus doesn't exist.

The fact that 44 of every 100 Americans truly believes Jesus is on the way, sort of indicates to me just how bad things have gotten.  Jesus said before the end you would see signs of the impending apocalypse.  He said that in the same way we see signs in the trees and weather that tell us that winter is coming, so would it be in the days of His coming as well.

Well, I don't know about you, but I'm starting to see the leaves dropping.

So, if 44 out of every 100 of us believe that Jesus has loaded up the bus and is fixing to come after us, maybe we should be hanging out together more, treating each other like we would want to be treated, lifting each other up to stand through the coming trial, instead of bickering endlessly over fine points of doctrine.

Forty four percent is a voting block that could carry any election.  Forty four percent could end hunger, reduce poverty and change the very government of our country with our votes.  I don't believe the remaining 56% of the country is quite that organized that they could defeat us if we were determined. There are at least 20% or so that are Ayn Rand atheists that would vote with us.

Till 2010, then, how about lets lift each other up with prayer and friendship.  Let us Christians hang together. We are a peaceful army, which, if led by God, is a force against which no potentate can stand.  We will not let them define us. We will not let them label us.  We will stand firm for God though the heavens fall 'round us. We need not lift a weapon or plant a bomb. We need dig no trenches or don helmets and flack jackets. Angels will stand between us and evil men. God will fight for us and if He is with us, who can stand against us.

Be of good cheer my brothers and sisters.

And if you find a better home page than Yahoo, would you let me know.  I don't know how much more smugness I can take.

I'm just sayin'

Tom King

Enough Already With the Redneck Jokes

If we want to hear redneck jokes, we'll tell 'em ourselves. We're better at it anyway.

You know the snide comments from all those Yankee pundits on the liberal news media about those of us who prefer a climate where we don't have to thaw out our oxygen in the winter just to breathe are getting just a little old. To hear them tell it, we're all a bunch of ignorant, in-bred, dull-witted hayseeds whose only religion is NASCAR. Now, while I do admit Dale Earnhardt had a couple of thriving congregations in his day, I maintain that even Yankees have a few collections of individuals that tend to carry things a little over the top.

Three words - New York City.

I rest my case.


Since the Civil War, there has been a steady campaign of slander against Southerners (and even Texans for that matter). The idea that we are invariably racist has been particularly pernicious.

"Particularly pernicious."  Say that 3 times fast in Boston and see how sophisticated you sound!

Look, even back in the 1800's, not all of us in the South were pro-slavery.  During the civil war, there was a thriving guerrilla campaign carried out against the confederacy here in East Texas by locals, who, like Sam Houston, believed secession in that particular case and for those reasons was just plain wrong! The idea that all southerners are slow-talking racist redneck hicks is just not true. 

Many Union soldiers during the Civil War were southerners serving against their own neighbors and family- a long way from home because they believed in doing the right thing. Everyone knew it was about slavery, no matter the high-toned rhetoric. There was a lot of fine talk about states rights, but like today, the real reason for the government's action was somewhat other than what was being put forward by the rebellious states. Everyone in the South knew the war was about the cost to wealthy Southerners of losing all that free slave labor. But, not everyone in the South turned their eyes from the true cost of that vile institution.

We must take a lesson from the one that God taught Abraham Lincoln. You must do what is right and for the right reasons. Merely to preserve the Union was not sufficient for God to bless the Union Army. It took the Emancipation proclamation to secure God's favor and open Lincoln's eyes. In return for his recognition of the true reason for the war, God sent Abe a hard-driving general named Grant and rallied the support of good men and women behind what was now perceived to be openly a war to end slavery.

Ultimately, our founding documents make clear that the rights of the individual trump the rights of the state, the nation, and even the rights of the county and the city. That's what "all men are created equal and are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights" really means.

Like another man who shares my surname, I too look forward to a day when all men are judged, not by the color of their skin, the style of their clothing, the accent of their speech, their religion, or the place where they are born, but by the content of their character. 


I'm just sayin'


Tom King - Flint, TX (secret guerrilla hideout in the piney woods)