USING NAMES TO DISGUISE REAL MEANINGS

Old friend Ben Blankenship gave me permission to pass on his article to you, below:

"Doing your "civic duty" or else.

"Did you get your tax return in on time? Attaboy, citizen. I'm sure Washington appreciates your timely "contribution."

"That's the term also used for your portion of the payroll tax that goes to fund Social Security.

"The term is a misnomer in both cases. You have no choice in either. But it's par for the course among bureaucratic agencies.

"Back during my own government days fronting for USDA programs, it was a no-no to call handouts to farmers by their real name, "subsidies." And in those early days of what we now have come to know as political correctness, a much bigger no-no was to call the Soviet Union and its satellite countries "Communist." Too harsh: The correct designation was Centrally Planned. How loopy.

"Similarly, Washington economists don't refer to a decline in the gross domestic product as such, but a period of negative economic growth.

"We have clearly reached the point of letting big government shape, not only our lives to a great extent, but also our expressions. Without government, who in the world would have thought up "affirmative action?"

"Worse, as we bend over backward to be fair to all for the sake of cultural diversity, sensitivity and such, bad things can result.

"How about the stout convict (er, detainee) who was led into an Atlanta courtroom last month, without cuffs, by a small female officer. There were no cuffs because "studies" have shown that jurors are unfairly influenced when a person on trial is wearing handcuffs. Result: Brian Nichols broke free and killed four people, including his guard. They paid a dear price for political correctness.

"As hard-right columnist Ann Coulter put it: "I have an idea that would save money and lives: Have large men escort violent criminals. Admittedly, this approach would risk another wave of nausea and vomiting by female professors at Harvard. But there are also advantages to not pretending women are as strong as men, such as fewer dead people."

"Speaking of the consequences of bending over backwards for the sake of political correctness, how about that recent dog-bite death in Spotsylvania County. According to news accounts, police had already answered several complaints about the dogs before the fatal attacks occurred.

"Common sense, back in the days when there was still some, would have meant hunting down the dogs the first time they misbehaved and shooting them on the spot. Problem solved. But do it today and those PETA and ASPCA lawyers would tie up county courts for years extracting payoffs.

"Reminds me of the time a few years ago when a man in south Stafford encountered a bear threatening him and messing up his garbage. He shot it dead. I cheered. Yet, Sheriff Charlie Jett's boys (er, deputies) landed on him and exacted a stiff fine. He was lucky they didn't throw him in jail.

"It's not that governments set out to control your every action. They start with tiny steps. First they encouraged the development of filter-tip and low-tar cigarettes. Then you could no longer smoke in the office, then not outside closeby. It's for our own good, you see.

"Now there's a push on for a national ID card for the sake of protecting us against illegal immigrants and other bad guys. It sounds logical, simply replacing an existing drivers' license, right?

"No, that's just for openers. I liked the idea until the other day when I read a column by Melanie Scarborough in the Washington Post about what some states are already doing to extend the drivers' license reach. Do you have any books overdue at the library? Your license is suspended. By the way, if your license is your de facto national ID, how come the yo-yo's at DMV manage them?

"Failed to separate recyclables in your trash? Pay the fine or give up your license to drive. It could happen.

"The same fear was behind another columnist's opposition to the proposal to create private investment accounts in the Social Security system. That good idea would likely lead, columnist Robert Samuelson wrote, to much greater Washington control over the stock and bond markets. Bureaucrats would decide which funds workers could invest in, and then begin controlling the funds themselves. Stocks of cigarette companies and gun makers and casinos would be barred for sure.

"Meanwhile, snoozing over in the corner are our congressional guardians of the public purse. According to the blogger, Power Line, "Entitlement programs are a disaster: they are out of control budget-busters, on automatic pilot, that are eating up the federal budget and, if left unchecked, will guarantee tax increases for a generation. [The Senate has rebuked] the Bush administration's effort to make even token reductions in the rate of growth of Medicaid, voting 52-48 to restore all Medicaid reductions. The administration had proposed trimming the proposed Medicaid budget by a whopping 1 percent--as usual, not cutting Medicaid, but merely reducing its exploding rate of growth. Even this modest effort was too much…"

"Trusting my tart remarks haven't upset the grief counselors, I'll sign off for now as your friendly watchdog, occasionally angry but never vicious, and on a short leash."

Ben called it by it's right name(s), didn't he? Good for Ben!

HABEMUS PAPAM - WE HAVE A POPE

The white smoke has come out of the Sistine Chapel chimney, the bells are ringing wildly. In Rome, people are flooding into St. Peter's square. Rome's police are not prepared. People pushing baby strollers stream across seven lanes of traffic, trying to reach St. Peter's on time to see the new Pope come out onto the balcony and be introduced. They want to hear his first words to the world. Their waving and cheering just keeps increasing.

Now, a mere 30 minutes after the bells started pealing, St. Peter's is packed as well as the street leading to it, as far back as the camera can see. And we are still seeing shots of people flooding into every street leading there. The roar is deafening.

Now the doors on the balcony are being opened. The cheers are growing. The cardinal appears. He announces the name of the new Pope: Joseph Ratzinger, who takes the name Benedict XVI. They prepare for him to speak. The cheers swell up, still growing and growing.

He begins to speak and they are silent. He praises John Paul II and asks God to use such a humble one as himself. From the air, the camera shows that every street and piazza visible from the air is packed with humanity.

After his benediction the cheers begin again. People are still rushing through the streets toward St. Peter's. The bells begin again.

To tell the truth, this is the Pope that I prayed early this morning that they would choose. Dean of the Cardinals, one of the closest to John Paul II and one of his oldest friends, possibly the one he would have chosen. He is also conservative as to doctrine. Once thought of as liberal, he did not move away from the church, it moved away from him. He holds to the truth of the Bible and the established doctrine of the church.

The Catholic church will continue in health. This is a good Pope. God has blessed us again.

WE SHALL NOT SOON SEE HIS LIKE AGAIN

This is what I emailed my grandson during the death vigil for the Pope:

"Having a busy day, yet keeping watch with the pope as he is dying.

"Just now listening to a Pole tell how the Pope helped set Poland free from cruel communist dictatorship under the USSR, when he came to Poland as new Pope in 1979 and spent 2 weeks there, over the objections of the puppet government, and surrounded by about ¼ of the entire population in the streets – so much that the communists did not dare move against him. A man of great courage. His support for Solidarity, the Polish labor union led by Lech Walesa, helped it work to bring the communists down eventually.

"As you know, it was this Pope, with Reagan and Thatcher (and also Solzhenitsyn, the Russian dissident, philosopher and writer,) who helped bring down the Soviet Union, and to set all of Eastern Europe free from its dictatorship and military occupation. It was almost entirely because of their actions that the ‘Iron Curtain’ wall in Berlin was torn down by a great mass of people one day in October, 1989, followed by one Eastern European country after another throwing off the communist yoke in just a few weeks. We may not soon see their like again – yet I hope and pray we will.

"Many do not know of his stature as a philosopher, but he was a professor of philosophy when he became Pope, and wrote seminal philosophical works. The site http://www.theologyofthebody.net/ is one place to get an idea.

"All over the world people were amazed at how young people connected with him and flocked to him.

"He was so remarkable as a person – attractive and charismatic; living under the Nazis as a slave laborer, barely escaping being sent to a death camp; then under communist rule of Poland; a stage actor in Poland before becoming a priest; then studying in an illegal, underground seminary; fluent in 8 languages, speaking some others capably and dozens more a little; very vigorous and athletic, loving skiing, mountain climbing and hiking and continuing these after becoming pope at 58; and too energetic for his staff to keep up with. A remarkable teacher. Prolific writer. Yet despite so much activity, a very spiritual man. Those around him believed he was always turned toward God. They observed him much in prayer.

"He especially spoke of the role of suffering in our lives, and then lived that out later in full public view. He believes that the dignity of human life is not achieved by trying to shape our lives mostly to avoid all suffering or even inconvenience. And that we are most fully human when we are united with others in their suffering.

"He spoke out against the killing of Terri Schiavo right after she was deprived of food and water. In fact, he had said earlier that no one should ever be deprived of food and water; that they are not “artificial care” but basic needs. Oddly, he had to have a feeding tube inserted himself on the last day of Terri’s life. He also came out against the death penalty after meeting with the nun who wrote “Dead Man Walking,” and has opposed it ever since.

"Never as strong after nearly dying from 2 bullets from an assassin (and later forgiving the muslim assassin, and securing his release), then crippled later by arthritis and Parkinson’s disease, he has lived out his own teaching about suffering.

"The time around the passing of the ‘giants among us’ is the best time to learn about them. Their lives are our teachers. Usually, a great wealth of eye-witness information about them is available that is almost impossible to find later."

We are just in the beginning of appreciating this Pope's example and his epocal writings.

John Paul Two, we miss you.