How could the folks around these ladies not see the approaching train wreck, how could they not have been whisked off the squirrel-cage of celebrity life, and rescued by a contented quietude? Why are there so many amazing stories of American success in the pop entertainments that end in such heart-breaking squalor? Jimmy Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Elvis Presley, Keith Moon, Michael Jackson, Cass Eliot, Hank Williams, Jim Morrison, Tupac Shakur, Keith Whitely and on and on and on…

Whitney Houston’s heartbreaking demise brings up so many unaccountable questions. But, I am reminded of a quick tale that Mark Steyn had once told about his only encounter with Ms. Houston. I paraphrase, but the gist was that Steyn had been a guest speaker at an event that also featured some sort of an appearance by Houston, and he found himself briefly alone with her on the far side of a security cordon. Awaiting her arrival on the far side of the street was a dense sea of her entourage, and various other groupies and hangers-on.  In the few words they exchanged, Steyn was struck by how empty and souless her existence seemed, even then. There was no one nearby they cared about her, there was only a vast throng of media and entertainment parasites hoping to get their daily piece of her.

Finally, in the end, she was utterly, utterly consumed.

Why does this happen, seemingly so often, to such gifted folks? And why do others seem to escape it?

For an insight, consider Connie Smith..

Connie Who?

Dolly Parton once famously quipped: “There are only three lady singers: Barbara Streisand, Linda Ronstadt, and Connie Smith. All the rest of us are just pretending.”

Connie Smith began a remarkable Country Music career in the mid-1960′s, after “Whisperin’” Bill Anderson heard Smith sing at a local hoe-down talent show in southern Ohio. Anderson quickly arranged to have some demo recordings made of Connie, and within months, she’d been signed to RCA’s Nashville branch by none other than Chet Atkins himself.

To this day, Connie Smith’s recording of Anderson’s “Once a Day” remains the longest chart-topping debut single, staying at Number One on Billboard’s Hot Country chart for over 8 weeks. In less than a year, Smith had been launched from complete Ohio Hill-Jack obscurity to Country Music Super-Stardom. In this sense, Connie Smith’s trajectory was much the same as Whitney Houston’s: Young, extremely gifted, and groomed by the top talents in the field. From 1964 until 1967, Connie Smith was the reigning Queen of the “Nashville Sound”, and charted over 12 Top Ten hits, and she continued with couple dozen Top 40 hits right through the early 1970′s.

Soon, Connie was all over the place: Television appearances, the Grand Ole Opry, movies, the works. Everybody, everywhere, seemed to be grabbing at little pieces of her amazingly bright star.

But, something happened on the way to Connie Smith’s Whitney Houston-like rendezvous with destiny: The dizzying pace, the money, the fame, fell away as thoughts of loneliness and desolation (and suicide) began to creep in, and Connie consciously backed away. Having been raised a Christian, like Houston, she instead leaned more heavily into her Christian faith, eventually becoming a Born Again evangilical in the early 1970′s. She started insisting that she be allowed to record Gospel and Christian-themed music, and was even threatened with expulsion from the Grand Ole Opry for making extensive evangelical entreaties during her performances.

But, by then, she had her God, her faith, her family, and all the other trappings seemed small and unimportant. The hole in her heart of seeming emptiness and despair was filled with God, and Connie Smith finally stepped away entirely from the entertainment industry while raising her family, only occasionally venturing out to sing for charity work, or as a guest on some other artist’s recordings.

Connie Smith is recognized by most Country Music artists and critics as probably the most gifted and overlooked voice talent in the history of the genre. She is regarded by many as the inheritor of Patsy Cline’s mantle, for her heartfelt voicing interpretations, her range, and her emotion. In this realm, Connie Smith’s voice belongs to the same incomparable category as Whitney Houston’s.

Of course, Smith’s life had its storms, it’s challenges. But, Connie Smith knew to whom she ultimately belonged.

She’s been married four times. Most were quick fizzles, and after her third marriage disintegrated in the late 1980′s, Smith swore she’d never marry again. But, she tried again in 1997, marrying singer/songwriter Marty Stuart. He summed up Connie Smith’s career, and the success of their partnership and marriage. It is a stark contrast to so many other bright lights that zoom across the firmament of America’s pop pantheon, and fade away in sordid and heartbreaking ends.

Says Stuart:

“…Keep the Lord the center … and commit.”

http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/rick-santorum-just-had-dinner-white-nationalist-bob-vandervoort

They are arguing the entire conservative movement is complicit in a war against “other races.”  Their mudslinging knows no bounds.  The links for these accusations are a simple circular bounce back to the allegations made by other nutjobs.  While we cannot know the intentions or motivations of any person, the indictment of Robert Vandervoorst is spurious at best.  This is circulating around Facebook.  It isn’t possible to substantiate because the ideas are not supported by any evidence. They are like the nonsensical accusations of racism against the Tea Party, a presumption of racism based on dissent from the liberal policies of the far left wing of the Democratic Party.

Several Republicans are pulling back from statements about this conference because of leftwing attacks due to this ridiculous attack.  This kind of assault will be coming to a website near you.  You won’t hear any apologies from the Democratic establishment as to any wingnuts supposedly associated with them.  You also won’t hear of any media outlets asking them questions.

http://spectator.org/blog/2012/02/11/cpac-immigration-and-racism-ac

http://www.irehr.org/issue-areas/race-racism-and-white-nationalism/item/395-alert-white-nationalist-to-speak-from-podium-at-cpac-2012

Crossposted at Looktruenorth.com

Jobs are created in the subsidized industry. However, the prosperity government planners promise does not materialize because the industries that would have grown are deprived of funds and languish. The government planners could not foresee which industries will grow (and may not care if it serves a political purpose). Countries that choose this approach have seen few successes and far more catastrophes.

The reason centralized, government winner-picking approaches so frequently fail is not just because the government picks the wrong industry to support. No, when governments make their choice, the country’s leaders create bureaucracies and legislation directing the country’s limited resources into the government’s chosen path. Should circumstances change and the projections of the government experts prove to be incorrect, or other opportunities arise; the country is slow or unable to adjust. In economic theory, this is called “path dependency”.

Stalin’s Russia picked manufacturing over its other industries, Asian governments picked memory chip production over other goods, politicians in US picked housing over other sectors of the economy, and Obama picked one particular solar cell type over other energy sources. All these picks proved to be wrong. Industries deprived of funds were unable to create the future and the people suffered—Suffered at the whims of government officials who were supposed to serve them.

So is Santorum picking winners and losers like a central planner? I have read a lot of comments here on Redstate concerned that Santorum is doing just that. They believe that his proposed 0% tax on manufacturing corporations, favors manufacturers at the expense of other industries. The thinking is that by lowering taxes on manufacturers, taxes must be higher on other industries thus discouraging production in these other industries and forcing the US on one path (manufacturing) and inhibiting our ability to pursue more profitable industries. As we have seen, concerns over a country creating a path dependency by picking winners and losers are justified –if there were no other economic considerations.

If there were no other considerations, Santorum’s policy of focusing on manufacturing would be of grave concern. However, there are other factors to consider. While economists agree that discriminatory government policies may create dangerous path dependencies, they also agree that tax policy should be directed in a way that:

1) Generates revenue with the fewest distortions and
2) Creates the least amount of damages or unintended consequences.

Our high corporate tax rates have caused corporations around the world to avoid locating in the US, but some industries more than others. Certain industries are more sensitive to differences in world tax rates than others. Pharmaceutical companies still locate in the US because the access to research centers is worth the higher tax rates imposed. However, the benefits of locating in the US do not always outweigh the costs imposed by our tax system.

Manufacturing is, by its nature, very competitive and in our global marketplace the benefits of locating in one country over another may be very small. As such, our high tax rates may, be killing this industry. If this is true, lower (or even 0%) tax rates on manufacturing (even at the expense of higher rates on other industries), may result in stronger growth and even greater tax revenues than our current system (even though under Santorum’s plan the corporate rate is 0%, those who own the stock will pay taxes as will the employees) Santorum expresses this logic well when he states:

“Why are we going to treat retailers and Wal-Mart and restaurants and florists different than we treat manufacturers? Because retailers don’t move their operations to China. They don’t move them to Mexico. Because we have to compete for those jobs, and if we don’t effectively compete, we lose those jobs”

Additionally, manufacturing industries also create good paying jobs at all skill levels. People currently requiring public assistance might instead be employed in jobs that relieve the public doles. Thus, rather than harming the economy, Santorum’s plan could shrink the size of government and bring in greater tax revenues. Therefore, while some might consider Santorum’s plan unfair to non-manufacturers, we conservatives should remind ourselves of one simple principle:

Taxes should be imposed not for the purposes of fairness but to raise tax revenue in the most effective manner possible.

Advice he could offer the remaining candidates regarding what to expect from, and how to handle, the Obama Media.

Mr. Cain’s opinions as to which issues are the most critical we face as a nation because of the Obama Administration.

Mr. Cain’s strategy for making America more energy independent.

Will Mr. Cain’s new web site, www.cainconnections.com, encourage conservatives to become precinct committeemen to strengthen the Party?

Here’s the interview, which I hope you’ll watch:

It was refreshing to see Herman Cain again — he seemed relaxed and happy.

And ready for future battles. I hope and pray more conservatives will unite and organize inside our Party as — well, you know the rest.

Thank you.

ColdWarrior
————————–

In 2012, will YOU become a “voting member” of the Republican Party in your precinct?

Where it all started. Twitter @kaltkrieger
Learn how to GOTV at The Concord Project and at Procinct and Unified Patriots.

According to the New York Times Caucus Blog, the Romney campaign bused students in from colleges on the Eastern Seaboard to ensure that he had enough supporters there to enable his victory in the straw poll.

…Straw polls indicate very little. The voting pool is affected by who attends the conference — 44 percent of voters were students — and by special efforts campaigns can make to bring in supporters for the vote. In each of the last two years, Mr. Paul was the victor, but others said this was more a mark of his campaign’s organizational ability than its true support…

….The Romney campaign also worked aggressively behind the scenes for a strong showing, including busing students from colleges along the Eastern Seaboard to show their support….

Do I care? Not really. This is all well within the rules of the game, but let’s not pretend that this is some “severely” impressive display of the strength of Mitt Romney with conservatives.

Crosspost

In the last 4 years, I have heard numerous people on numerous occasions refer to President Barack Obama as a “Messiah” for the left. I’ve even scarce heard Obama referred to as the Anti-Christ. I disagree with both of those labels. Barack Obama is no messiah; certainly not in the sense that he arrived miraculously to save destitute people. President Obama obviously esteems himself as one to whom the law of the Lord does not apply, adding and subtracting from it as he sees fit. The liberty he has taken with the words of God will be responded to by one higher than I. The book of Revelations tells us that “God will take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.” (Rev. 22:19) Such an attitude of superiority, such a proud look, is called an abomination in Proverbs 6. When Barack Hussein Obama views the words of God as beneath him, he elevates his own status to something no human is worthy of attaining. The real Messiah, the Son of God, Jesus Christ, “thought it not robbery to be equal with God,” but not even Jesus made himself of that reputation. (Phil. 2:5-8) Barack Obama is no messiah.

While Obama is not the Anti-Christ either, he is most certainly anti-Christian.

Let me start with this. His foreign policy is one that shuns God’s chosen people, Israel, and emboldens radical Islamists who hate us and the one true God. His philosophy toward Islamic violence is one of “Judge not, that ye be not judged.” But what Mr. Obama fails to understand is that this passage is talking about individual relations, not international politics or governmental diplomacy.

If Obama knew anything about the substance of the faith he claims, then he would know that Israel was a nation that God used Abraham to begin and expand. In Genesis 12, God called Abraham and promised to make of him a great nation. As part of this promise God gave Abraham another guarantee, saying, “I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee.” Maybe this passage is over Obama’s head, even though he sat in church for years under a man, Jeremiah Wright, who loudly and proudly proclaimed the very idea – “God bless America … No, no, no! God d*** America!” Maybe brother Barack slipped out for a smoke break during that rant. But I for one don’t trust the doctrinal integrity of a man who is notorious for curse laced rants and a conspiracy theory that is somewhere in the realm of ideas thought up by Ron Paul supporters. Someone who entertains the idea that whites in power fabricated AIDS as a means of genocide for black Americans is not one who I care to see my president seeking religious consultation, if ya know what I mean.

Barack Obama and the left frequently talk about their desire to see justice – unless of course justice includes those who don’t share their values, or lack of values. Obama’s definition of “fair” is really not fair at all, and certainly not scriptural. The Bible says nowhere “Render to Caeser the things which are yours.” So when Barack Obama goes on TV to say that his tax policy is one he developed from Christian teachings, he is lying straight through his tobacco stained teeth. Obama referenced Luke 12:48 saying “For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required.” This chapter begins by encouraging people to worry less about life’s essentials such as food and shelter for God himself will supply them. Christ also suggests to his disciples that they will be better off storing up eternal treasures in Heaven rather than sitting on temporal wealth here only to have it ceased after death. The verse Obama referenced is actually speaking of a servant’sindividual responsibility to make much of what he has been left to tend to. Our president took the Word of God completely out of context to reinforce his unjust tax policy. Flip over to James 2:9 and you’ll read, “But if ye have respect of persons, ye commit sin.” Obama has made himself a transgressor of the law in this aspect.

What is really appalling to me is the arrogance with which Obama disregards the inspired words of God. He speaks to us as if he is a shepherd to a vast and ignorant flock. But it is he who is a blind leader. He interprets Scripture as he sees fit, and he ignores it when it indicts him. Barack Obama complains that favoritism in capitalism is grotesque, while he simultaneously shows favoritism in his socialism by granting waivers and offering bailouts to some organizations but not to others. Obama’s warning of the evil of Wall Street’s special interests is silenced when he and his Democratic colleagues make shady deals with that same evil. As I’ve always heard, an ounce of practice is worth more than tons of preaching.

A more recent example of Barack Obama’s mischievous use of faith is his insolent attitude toward religious healthcare facilities. A “contraception rule” that interferes with any church’s ability to guide its own involvement in unwanted procedures is a slap in the face of America’s freedom of religion. There is no room for compromise here. The only compromise is for the federal government to respect liberties granted by God, and to uphold liberties protected by the Constitution. Any government influence on the safe practices of any religion is transparently anti-American. And while we’re on this, for anyfederal tax dollars to go to any organizations that offer abortions is, to use Romney’s new favorite adverb, severely anti-Christian.

We Christians are taught in I Timothy 2:1-2 to pray for our leaders, and I do. We Christians are taught in Romans 12:18 to strive to live peaceably with all men, and I do. I will continue to pray for President Obama and his family, as I work to see them removed from office. I pray that the Lord will guide our leaders this year in dealing with a below-par economy, unrest in northern Africa, corruption below our southern border, hatred toward our ally Israel, and the potential of a nuclear Iran, among other things.

Barack Hussein Obama is certainly anti-Christian. This should do more than discourage us Christians, though it is very frustrating. It should encourage us, and even embolden us, to be better Christians. The United States of America will not prosper because of Obama’s presidency, but the citizenry of the Unites States can prosper her in spite of Obama’s presidency. God help us.

Brent Hyatt

(Cross-posted from http://therightwrites.wordpress.com/2012/02/12/barack-obama-not-the-anti-christ-but-certainly-anti-christian/)

Trey’s site is here.

Moe Lane (crosspost)

Trey’s site is here.

Moe Lane (crosspost)

Ted’s site is here.

Moe Lane (crosspost)

Ted’s site is here.

Moe Lane (crosspost)