Michael Bresciani
A sorry presidential speech amid solemn memorials and tributes
By Michael Bresciani
I joined many Americans on September 11, 2010 who watched the many tributes and memorials given to honor the lives of those murdered in the terrorist attacks of 9/11. The dignified and respectful reminders met the lowest point of the day at the speech of President Barack Obama.
The sincerity and choking seen in the remarks of former President Bush stood in stark contrast to the cold and lifeless expression and rhetorical droll of Mr. Obama. It was the content of the speech and its introductory remarks that make it a speech sure to go down in history as most forgettable.
Spoofs on Obama's speech are now showing up across the internet and while many of them are truly funny there wasn't much humor on that day of remembering. I found myself in tears yet once again as I watched the gory details one more time, I was not ashamed of my tears or anything else until I heard the President's speech.
Mr. Obama said we are not at war with Islam but we were attacked by "a sorry band of men." Rather than being the leader of the free world it made the President seem like the monarch over the imaginary kingdom of political correctness. Only those who live in the happy little land of naiveté and have summer homes on the sandy shores of spineless could really appreciate the President's speech.
Bloggers have spoofed Obama's speech with claims that we were attacked by Paul McCartney and Wings. Others are questioning why it takes billions of dollars to fight a small band of men. Yet others saw parallels in the President's remarks and the grand old fictional story of Robin Hood and his, "band of merry men."
No one could have been more scathing and yet enigmatically, just as meaningful, as Doug Powers who wrote this in Michelle Malkin's blog. "A sorry band of men"? "Only Barack Obama could make a murderous global Islamic terrorist organization sound like the Bay City Rollers. That's just one step away from "wascally wabbits" isn't it?"
I posted an article online and on my own site two days before the 9/11 memorials entitled "Pastor to Burn Quran — Media to Burn Conscience." The response to this article taught me a lot about America. The responses to the article proved to me that the general opinions of most people are not always in sync with news and media organizations, conservative or not, that feed us endless sound bites and clips, analyses and commentary.
I wasn't trying to support the burning of the Quran nor was I trying to give reasons for not burning it. I centered in on the hypocrisy and the name calling that the Pastor Terry Jones had to endure not just from those in the "religion of peace" but from so called peace loving Americans. Pictures of crazed crowds of Muslims across the globe were augmented, embellished and bolstered by newsmen and pundits spewing forth guile against the Gainesville Florida Pastor.
Pictures of rioting Muslims burning the U.S. flag and Pastor Jones in effigy were followed by name spewing commentators and pundits, all American, who it seemed were having their own riot although a bit more controlled. Thoughts of my dad's old saying kept coming to mind. He always reminded us that "Two wrongs don't make a right."
Every time I heard a new tirade leveled at Pastor Jones, it served to remind me of an old saying that circulated around the churches of the seventies and eighties. Anyone who slipped or fell from favor or grace in the church's eyes was not treated very well. Some were expelled and others would face half a lifetime of shunning before anyone would give them the time of day. This fostered the saying that, "The church has the only army of soldiers that shoots its own wounded." America at large is not a nation that has ever shot its wounded, let's not start now.
I braced myself for nasty emails and blog remarks that would make me cringe. They never came. In fact all the responses were at least civil and many were in full agreement with the point of my article. I must say I have always been proud of this nation even though I preach, prophesy and pound against its slide into immorality, liberalism and apathy. I found myself experiencing a new wave of pride for her once again because of these well thought out responses and the lack of vitriol I was expecting.
Sadly, some sites, although very few, that usually post everything I submit quietly declined the article. Now that the entire matter is sliding off the top of the news cycle I wonder if they see their fears were unfounded.
Fear, that's the other matter I've been speaking to lately. With threats of violence from the Muslim world on one side and rejection from the make believe world of political correctness on the other, some Americans find themselves constrained to that fragile middle ground where walking on eggs seems easier by comparison.
Have we forgotten that America is supposed to be the place where we not only respect what others think but we can still stand on our own ground and fearlessly traipse around or strut about without worrying about what is underfoot. Broken eggs upset chickens far more than people.
Mr. Obama stated that those who attacked us on 9/11 were just a few people who "perverted" the otherwise great religion of Islam. Perhaps the President has forgotten that those who still have faith in the God of the Bible and the Bible of God still think supporting the gay agenda and abortion are very seriously perverted positions to take. To be fair, how can millions who think these things are perverted receive what the President now declares as perverted? It is the definition from the divine that wraps it up for us not a Presidential proclamation.
Because now so much is known about the Islamic religion since 9/11, the day of thinking it is either a great religion or a religion of peace is fading fast. Knowing the means by which Islam was birthed, the character and nature of its founder, its stated goals of world dominance and the long running history of its adherents, are now what is leading many to believe the entire religion is perverted. Al Qaeda seems like only one of many militant wings of Islam but is no more perverted than the rest of it in total.
It is known the world over that, the stated claim of Islam is to dominate the world. What blazoning hypocrisy is prevailing among those who would die to defend the separation of church and state that makes them want to cozy up to a religion where there are no lines between politics and the tenants of Islam and it is still a religion bent on world dominance? Here is where we see that PC is not only un-American and wrong but it is able to make complete fools of very highly educated men and women.
It requires no genius to see that the Islamisation of the world is the very clearly stated political goal of Islam. Whether great or perverted, Islam has a political agenda; will we wait until the constitution is replaced by Sharia law before admitting this, God forbid. Will we wait until some rogue nation like Iran has got the bomb and a means of delivering it, before we admit that Islamic evangelization does not preclude violence?
We must not tuck the memorials away in our memory and get back to being the biggest dumb kid on the block, with open arms for every whacky new doctrine from the realms of the fantasy founded fickle world of political correctness or the realm of religions our fathers never knew.
The lack of inspiration in Mr. Obama's speech was equaled only by its insipidity but even that is not the point. The real point is that we are still awaiting the admission from this President that our own predominate religion, Christianity, is a great religion and it presents a Savior that one day will see the kings and princes of all nations admitting that all greatness, majesty and dignity was offered and proclaimed in the simple gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Such inspiration was often seen in our founding fathers and the prophets, bards , musicians and poets that chronicled and encouraged our citizens and statesmen as they traversed together across the noble panorama we call; the history of America.
In 1832 Dr. Samuel F. Smith penned these words as the last stanza to the well known hymn "My Country 'tis of Thee." This song speaks of a time when America knew what a great religion was because it understood that there was one very great King who left glory to come and give his life as a ransom to deliver men from their sins.
Our fathers' God, to Thee,
Author of liberty,
To Thee we sing;
Long may our land be bright
with freedom's holy light;
Protect us by Thy might,
Great God, our King.
© Michael Bresciani
September 15, 2010
I joined many Americans on September 11, 2010 who watched the many tributes and memorials given to honor the lives of those murdered in the terrorist attacks of 9/11. The dignified and respectful reminders met the lowest point of the day at the speech of President Barack Obama.
The sincerity and choking seen in the remarks of former President Bush stood in stark contrast to the cold and lifeless expression and rhetorical droll of Mr. Obama. It was the content of the speech and its introductory remarks that make it a speech sure to go down in history as most forgettable.
Spoofs on Obama's speech are now showing up across the internet and while many of them are truly funny there wasn't much humor on that day of remembering. I found myself in tears yet once again as I watched the gory details one more time, I was not ashamed of my tears or anything else until I heard the President's speech.
Mr. Obama said we are not at war with Islam but we were attacked by "a sorry band of men." Rather than being the leader of the free world it made the President seem like the monarch over the imaginary kingdom of political correctness. Only those who live in the happy little land of naiveté and have summer homes on the sandy shores of spineless could really appreciate the President's speech.
Bloggers have spoofed Obama's speech with claims that we were attacked by Paul McCartney and Wings. Others are questioning why it takes billions of dollars to fight a small band of men. Yet others saw parallels in the President's remarks and the grand old fictional story of Robin Hood and his, "band of merry men."
No one could have been more scathing and yet enigmatically, just as meaningful, as Doug Powers who wrote this in Michelle Malkin's blog. "A sorry band of men"? "Only Barack Obama could make a murderous global Islamic terrorist organization sound like the Bay City Rollers. That's just one step away from "wascally wabbits" isn't it?"
I posted an article online and on my own site two days before the 9/11 memorials entitled "Pastor to Burn Quran — Media to Burn Conscience." The response to this article taught me a lot about America. The responses to the article proved to me that the general opinions of most people are not always in sync with news and media organizations, conservative or not, that feed us endless sound bites and clips, analyses and commentary.
I wasn't trying to support the burning of the Quran nor was I trying to give reasons for not burning it. I centered in on the hypocrisy and the name calling that the Pastor Terry Jones had to endure not just from those in the "religion of peace" but from so called peace loving Americans. Pictures of crazed crowds of Muslims across the globe were augmented, embellished and bolstered by newsmen and pundits spewing forth guile against the Gainesville Florida Pastor.
Pictures of rioting Muslims burning the U.S. flag and Pastor Jones in effigy were followed by name spewing commentators and pundits, all American, who it seemed were having their own riot although a bit more controlled. Thoughts of my dad's old saying kept coming to mind. He always reminded us that "Two wrongs don't make a right."
Every time I heard a new tirade leveled at Pastor Jones, it served to remind me of an old saying that circulated around the churches of the seventies and eighties. Anyone who slipped or fell from favor or grace in the church's eyes was not treated very well. Some were expelled and others would face half a lifetime of shunning before anyone would give them the time of day. This fostered the saying that, "The church has the only army of soldiers that shoots its own wounded." America at large is not a nation that has ever shot its wounded, let's not start now.
I braced myself for nasty emails and blog remarks that would make me cringe. They never came. In fact all the responses were at least civil and many were in full agreement with the point of my article. I must say I have always been proud of this nation even though I preach, prophesy and pound against its slide into immorality, liberalism and apathy. I found myself experiencing a new wave of pride for her once again because of these well thought out responses and the lack of vitriol I was expecting.
Sadly, some sites, although very few, that usually post everything I submit quietly declined the article. Now that the entire matter is sliding off the top of the news cycle I wonder if they see their fears were unfounded.
Fear, that's the other matter I've been speaking to lately. With threats of violence from the Muslim world on one side and rejection from the make believe world of political correctness on the other, some Americans find themselves constrained to that fragile middle ground where walking on eggs seems easier by comparison.
Have we forgotten that America is supposed to be the place where we not only respect what others think but we can still stand on our own ground and fearlessly traipse around or strut about without worrying about what is underfoot. Broken eggs upset chickens far more than people.
Mr. Obama stated that those who attacked us on 9/11 were just a few people who "perverted" the otherwise great religion of Islam. Perhaps the President has forgotten that those who still have faith in the God of the Bible and the Bible of God still think supporting the gay agenda and abortion are very seriously perverted positions to take. To be fair, how can millions who think these things are perverted receive what the President now declares as perverted? It is the definition from the divine that wraps it up for us not a Presidential proclamation.
Because now so much is known about the Islamic religion since 9/11, the day of thinking it is either a great religion or a religion of peace is fading fast. Knowing the means by which Islam was birthed, the character and nature of its founder, its stated goals of world dominance and the long running history of its adherents, are now what is leading many to believe the entire religion is perverted. Al Qaeda seems like only one of many militant wings of Islam but is no more perverted than the rest of it in total.
It is known the world over that, the stated claim of Islam is to dominate the world. What blazoning hypocrisy is prevailing among those who would die to defend the separation of church and state that makes them want to cozy up to a religion where there are no lines between politics and the tenants of Islam and it is still a religion bent on world dominance? Here is where we see that PC is not only un-American and wrong but it is able to make complete fools of very highly educated men and women.
It requires no genius to see that the Islamisation of the world is the very clearly stated political goal of Islam. Whether great or perverted, Islam has a political agenda; will we wait until the constitution is replaced by Sharia law before admitting this, God forbid. Will we wait until some rogue nation like Iran has got the bomb and a means of delivering it, before we admit that Islamic evangelization does not preclude violence?
We must not tuck the memorials away in our memory and get back to being the biggest dumb kid on the block, with open arms for every whacky new doctrine from the realms of the fantasy founded fickle world of political correctness or the realm of religions our fathers never knew.
The lack of inspiration in Mr. Obama's speech was equaled only by its insipidity but even that is not the point. The real point is that we are still awaiting the admission from this President that our own predominate religion, Christianity, is a great religion and it presents a Savior that one day will see the kings and princes of all nations admitting that all greatness, majesty and dignity was offered and proclaimed in the simple gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Such inspiration was often seen in our founding fathers and the prophets, bards , musicians and poets that chronicled and encouraged our citizens and statesmen as they traversed together across the noble panorama we call; the history of America.
In 1832 Dr. Samuel F. Smith penned these words as the last stanza to the well known hymn "My Country 'tis of Thee." This song speaks of a time when America knew what a great religion was because it understood that there was one very great King who left glory to come and give his life as a ransom to deliver men from their sins.
Our fathers' God, to Thee,
Author of liberty,
To Thee we sing;
Long may our land be bright
with freedom's holy light;
Protect us by Thy might,
Great God, our King.
© Michael Bresciani
The views expressed by RenewAmerica columnists are their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of RenewAmerica or its affiliates.
(See RenewAmerica's publishing standards.)
