The Source

Merry Christmas from The Source

The Christmas Rifle
by Ryan B. Anderson

Pa never had much compassion for the lazy or those who squandered their means and then never had enough for the necessities. But for those who were genuinely in need, his heart was as big as all outdoors. It was from him that I learned the greatest joy in life comes from giving, not from receiving.

It was Christmas Eve 1881. I was fifteen years old and feeling like the world had caved in on me because there just hadn't been enough money to buy me the rifle that I'd wanted for Christmas. We did the chores early that night for some reason. I just figured Pa wanted a little extra time so we could read in the Bible.

After supper was over I took my boots off and stretched out in front of the fireplace and waited for Pa to get down the old Bible. I was still feeling sorry for myself and, to be honest, I wasn't in much of a mood to read Scriptures. But Pa didn't get the Bible, instead he bundled up again and went outside. I couldn't figure it out because we had already done all the chores. I didn't worry about it long though, I was too busy wallowing in self-pity. Soon Pa came back in. It was a cold clear night out and there was ice in his beard. "Come on, Matt," he said. "Bundle up good, it's cold out tonight." I was really upset then. Not only wasn't I getting the rifle for Christmas, now Pa was dragging me out in the cold, and for no earthly reason that I could see. We'd already done all the chores, and I couldn't think of anything else that needed doing, especially not on a night like this. But I knew Pa was not very patient at one dragging one's feet when he'd told them to do something, so I got up and put my boots back on and got my cap, coat, and mittens. Ma gave me a mysterious smile as I opened the door to leave the house. Something was up, but I didn't know what..

Outside, I became even more dismayed. There in front of the house was the work team, already hitched to the big sled. Whatever it was we were going to do wasn't going to be a short, quick, little job. I could tell. We never hitched up this sled unless we were going to haul a big load. Pa was already up on the seat, reins in hand. I reluctantly climbed up beside him. The cold was already biting at me. I wasn't happy. When I was on, Pa pulled the sled around the house and stopped in front of the woodshed. He got off and I followed. "I think we'll put on the high sideboards," he said. "Here, help me." The high sideboards! It had been a bigger job than I wanted to do with just the low sideboards on, but whatever it was we were going to do would be a lot bigger with the high side boards on.

After we had exchanged the sideboards, Pa went into the woodshed and came out with an armload of wood - the wood I'd spent all summer hauling down from the mountain, and then all Fall sawing into blocks and splitting. What was he doing? Finally I said something. "Pa," I asked, "what are you doing?" You been by the Widow Jensen's lately?" he asked. The Widow Jensen lived about two miles down the road. Her husband had died a year or so before and left her with three children, the oldest being eight. Sure, I'd been by, but so what?

Yeah," I said, "Why?"

I rode by just today," Pa said. "Little Jakey was out digging around in the woodpile trying to find a few chips. They're out of wood, Matt." That was all he said and then he turned and went back into the woodshed for another armload of wood. I followed him. We loaded the sled so high that I began to wonder if the horses would be able to pull it. Finally, Pa called a halt to our loading, then we went to the smoke house and Pa took down a big ham and a side of bacon. He handed them to me and told me to put them in the sled and wait. When he returned he was carrying a sack of flour over his right shoulder and a smaller sack of something in his left hand. "What's in the little sack?" I asked. Shoes, they're out of shoes. Little Jakey just had gunny sacks wrapped around his feet when he was out in the woodpile this morning. I got the children a little candy too. It just wouldn't be Christmas without a little candy."

We rode the two miles to Widow Jensen's pretty much in silence. I tried to think through what Pa was doing. We didn't have much by worldly standards. Of course, we did have a big woodpile, though most of what was left now was still in the form of logs that I would have to saw into blocks and split before we could use it. We also had meat and flour, so we could spare that, but I knew we didn't have any money, so why was Pa buying them shoes and candy? Really, why was he doing any of this? Widow Jensen had closer neighbors than us; it shouldn't have been our concern.

We came in from the blind side of the Jensen house and unloaded the wood as quietly as possible, then we took the meat and flour and shoes to the door. We knocked. The door opened a crack and a timid voice said, "Who is it?" "Lucas Miles, Ma'am, and my son, Matt, could we come in for a bit?"

Widow Jensen opened the door and let us in. She had a blanket wrapped around her shoulders. The children were wrapped in another and were sitting in front of the fireplace by a very small fire that hardly gave off any heat at all. Widow Jensen fumbled with a match and finally lit the lamp.

"We brought you a few things, Ma'am," Pa said and set down the sack of flour. I put the meat on the table. Then Pa handed her the sack that had the shoes in it. She opened it hesitantly and took the shoes out one pair at a time. There was a pair for her and one for each of the children - sturdy shoes, the best, shoes that would last. I watched her carefully. She bit her lower lip to keep it from trembling and then tears filled her eyes and started running down her cheeks. She looked up at Pa like she wanted to say something, but it wouldn't come out.

"We brought a load of wood too, Ma'am," Pa said. He turned to me and said, "Matt, go bring in enough to last awhile. Let's get that fire up to size and heat this place up." I wasn't the same person when I went back out to bring in the wood. I had a big lump in my throat and as much as I hate to admit it, there were tears in my eyes too. In my mind I kept seeing those three kids huddled around the fireplace and their mother standing there with tears running down her cheeks with so much gratitude in her heart that she couldn't speak.

My heart swelled within me and a joy that I'd never known before filled my soul. I had given at Christmas many times before, but never when it had made so much difference. I could see we were literally saving the lives of these people.

I soon had the fire blazing and everyone's spirits soared. The kids started giggling when Pa handed them each a piece of candy and Widow Jensen looked on with a smile that probably hadn't crossed her face for a long time. She finally turned to us. "God bless you," she said. "I know the Lord has sent you. The children and I have been praying that he would send one of his angels to spare us."

In spite of myself, the lump returned to my throat and the tears welled up in my eyes again. I'd never thought of Pa in those exact terms before, but after Widow Jensen mentioned it I could see that it was probably true. I was sure that a better man than Pa had never walked the earth. I started remembering all the times he had gone out of his way for Ma and me, and many others. The list seemed endless as I thought on it.

Pa insisted that everyone try on the shoes before we left. I was amazed when they all fit and I wondered how he had known what sizes to get. Then I guessed that if he was on an errand for the Lord that the Lord would make sure he got the right sizes.

Tears were running down Widow Jensen's face again when we stood up to leave. Pa took each of the kids in his big arms and gave them a hug. They clung to him and didn't want us to go. I could see that they missed their Pa, and I was glad that I still had mine.

At the door Pa turned to Widow Jensen and said, "The Mrs. wanted me to invite you and the children over for Christmas dinner tomorrow. The turkey will be more than the three of us can eat, and a man can get cantankerous if he has to eat turkey for too many meals. We'll be by to get you about eleven. It'll be nice to have some little ones around again. Matt, here, hasn't been little for quite a spell." I was the youngest. My two brothers and two sisters had all married and had moved away.

Widow Jensen nodded and said, "Thank you, Brother Miles. I don't have to say, May the Lord bless you, I know for certain that He will."

Out on the sled I felt a warmth that came from deep within and I didn't even notice the cold. When we had gone a ways, Pa turned to me and said, "Matt, I want you to know something. Your ma and me have been tucking a little money away here and there all year so we could buy that rifle for you, but we didn't have quite enough. Then yesterday a man who owed me a little money from years back came by to make things square. Your ma and me were real excited, thinking that now we could get you that rifle, and I started into town this morning to do just that, but on the way I saw little Jakey out scratching in the woodpile with his feet wrapped in those gunny sacks and I knew what I had to do. Son, I spent the money for shoes and a little candy for those children. I hope you understand."

I understood, and my eyes became wet with tears again. I understood very well, and I was so glad Pa had done it. Now the rifle seemed very low on my list of priorities. Pa had given me a lot more. He had given me the look on Widow Jensen's face and the radiant smiles of her three children.

For the rest of my life, whenever I saw any of the Jensens, or split a block of wood, I remembered, and remembering brought back that same joy I felt riding home beside Pa that night. Pa had given me much more than a rifle that night, he had given me the best Christmas of my life.

Solid Conservative Principles

In his new book, “Do the Right Thing,” former presidential candidate Mike Huckabee lays out what he sees as basic conservative principles. The Republican Party needs to run back to, not continue to run away from, these very simple tenets of conservatism.

Lower taxes are better than higher taxes.

The purpose of government is to protect us, not to provide for us. We should provide for ourselves.

The best government is self-government.

If there must be a form of civil government, it should be as limited as possible and as local as possible. The most local government is ideal in that it is closer to those being governed and therefore more accountable to the governed.

Peace for a nation is best achieved by having a superior military capacity than those who pose a threat.

Government should facilitate and not complicate the free enterprise system.

Excessive taxation, regulation and unmitigated litigation lead to job migration.

Government intervention and regulation should be the court of last resort and not the first option in anything.

Mothers and fathers raise better children than governments do.

Government should undergrid the basic family structure and not undermine it.

The Constitution and the Bill of rights were written to limit and restrict government from interfering with the right s of it citizens, not to keep citizens from exercising their rights.

Blagojevich / Obama / Clinton

The Barack Obama staff is supposed to come out today with its version of who talked to whom in the ObamaSeat controversy. Word is that Rahm Emannuel’s multiple contacts with Rod Blagojevich and his staff will be downplayed.

Let’s review the gist of the case against Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. Essentially, everyone is up in arms because Blagojevch was willing to take money (in the form of campaign contributions) in return for something of value (a Senate seat). It seems pretty universal, even among his fellow Democrats, that Blagojevich was out of line, and perhaps crossed into criminal behavior.

The Source then is curious how that is different from a similar scenario a few months earlier. Then, Senator Hillary Clinton was willing to take money (in the form of campaign contributions to pay her debt) for something of value (her public support of Barack Obama.) Why are Democrats not up in arms about that behavior? What discussions were there between Obama and Clinton? Who on their staffs were involved? Even more importantly, were similar discussions made between the two in relation to Clinton’s appointment as Secretary of State?

We should be just as outraged over the Clinton/Obama exchanges as we are over the Blagojevich/Obama scandal. Obama, and his staff, are already at least knee-deep in the Illinois scandals and know it. They should start discussing the Clinton scandal sooner rather than later.

Fired Up! Firing Blanks

The Source will never agree with Roy Temple, Jean Carnahan and their anonymous minions at Fired Up! Missouri. We expect them to mislead, misquote and misunderstand. That is their nature. But even The Source was shocked to read one of the latest missives posted at Fired Up!

Bob Boldt, one of the few Fired Up! posters to ever use his real name, recently launched an inflammatory post aimed at President George W. Bush. “The Sole of a Thankful Nation” is Boldt’s farewell to Bush, and is rife with comparisons to dictators like Pol Pot and Hitler. Boldt certainly has every right to dislike Bush, and to voice that dislike. The way he does it is irresponsible and ugly. Fortunately, in this democracy, men like Boldt are free to be ugly, but he should ask himself what would have happened to him had he wrote such a thing under Pol Pot or Hitler.

Boldt also plays fast and lose with several facts. For instance, any “thug justice” Iraqi journalist and shoe-tosser, Muntazer al-Zaidi received was from Iraqi security, not “Amerikan” hands. Most sources say al-Zaidi received “minor injuries,” not broken bones.

For Boldt to call Bush a “criminal and mass murder” is ridiculous, and he probably knows it. Bush is Commander in Chief, but every stage of the Iraqi war was approved and funded by Congress, as well as being planned and executed by the appropriate military structure. Just because you don’t like the war, Mr. Boldt, that doesn’t make the participants criminals. To say so is to malign not just your president, but every soldier serving under him.

Finally, for Boldt to “fervently hope and pray” that harm will come to Bush is an insult to all who worship God Almighty. Prayer is not a weapon.

The Source asks, in the name of democracy and the spirit of Christmas, that Roy Temple remove this offensive post. We know the likelihood of Roy or Jean listening to us is small, but maybe our loyal readers can pipe in as well. Perhaps then they will do the right thing.

Paul Weyrich

The Source would like to take the opportunity to send out our heartfelt regrets and condolences to the family of Paul Weyrich. Weyrich died in his home last Thursday at the age of 66.

Weyrich was an innovator in conservative politics. While working in Colorado in the early 1970’s Weyrich meet beer baron Joseph Coors. Weyrich shared with Coors his vision of creating a vast conservative think tank to help battle the liberal media. Coors was so impressed that in 1973, he donated $250,000 to help create the Heritage Foundation.

The Heritage Foundation began to take hold during Ronald Reagan’s administration stimulating White House policy ideas on issues ranging from abstinence sex education, to trickle down economics and national defense. Heritage has also worked closely with the Young Americans Foundation to fight the indoctrination of far left liberal educators in high schools and colleges across America by promoting conservative ideas in classrooms and offering a wide range of internships to help develop future conservative leaders.

Weyrich was most passionate about social issues. He was one of the nation’s leading advocates against abortion long before pro-life initiatives were one of the major platforms of the Republican Party.

Twelve years ago, Weyrich was diagnosed with a debilitating spinal injury. In 2001, he was confined to a wheelchair. Then, in 2004, doctors were forced to amputate both of his legs. Weyrich’s physical limitations could not detour him from his passion. He continued to surge forward and spoke at conservative rallies and conferences across the nation through the 2008, elections.

Weyrich was a pioneer and a champion of the conservative political movement. He will be sorely missed.

2008 Presidential Election Facts

This is making the rounds around the internet. Keep this in mind when you hear talk of a Democratic mandate.

Professor Joseph Olson of Hemline University School of Law, St. Paul, Minnesota, points out some interesting facts concerning the 2008 Presidential election:

Number of States won by: Democrats: 20; Republicans: 30

Square miles of land won by: Democrats: 580,000; Republicans: 2,427,000

Population of counties won by: Democrats: 127 million; Republicans: 143 million

Murder rate per 100,000 residents in counties won by: Democrats: 13.2; Republicans: 2.1

Professor Olson adds: "In aggregate, the map of the territory Republican won was mostly the land owned by the taxpaying citizens. Democrat territory mostly encompassed those citizens living in rented or government-owned tenements and living off various forms of government welfare..."

Blagojevich / Obama Follow-up

Today Barack Obama was pressed on the communications between his staff and Blagojevich or his staff. Obama, who promised complete transparency during his campaign, promptly hid behind federal investigators.

We aren’t sure why federal investigators, who have some explaining of their own to do, can stop the president-elect from releasing the simple results of his “internal audit.” If Obama wanted to he could discuss the basics without harming any ongoing investigation. Simple questions can be answered today, like who talked to whom.

With Blagojevich himself looking like he wants to spill the beans, maybe as soon as this afternoon, Obama should be ahead of the curve with his information. How bad would it look for the new administration if Blagojevich “scoops” them by detailing his contacts with Obama staffers or advisors?

Clearly, Barack Obama continues to break campaign promises before he is even inaugurated. Sadly, the mainstream media has also started his honeymoon early, and can’t seem to press him on critical changes from his days on the stump. Both Obama and the media need to be held to account.

Who is Fitzgerald Protecting?

U.S. District Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald is known as a tough, unrelenting prosecutor. It was Fitzgerald who prosecuted Scooter Libby, using the barest of trails of evidence. Fitzgerald does not, it seems, make many mistakes. All his moves are carefully calculated.

If all his moves are calculated, then his premature charges against Rod Blagojevich, and the press that followed, were very curious choices. Fitzgerald essentially ended his investigation early, and stopped any further illegal activity in its tracks. But, an actual crime is easier to prosecute than a conspiracy to commit a crime. Why stop this crime before it went any further? The only possible answer is that Fitzgerald did not want to investigate certain individuals. Someone was getting in too deep.

So who is Fitzgerald protecting? It certainly can’t be Blagojevich. He is in too deep to save. It isn’t Blagojevich’s chief of staff, he just isn’t important enough. The only reasonable assumption is that Fitzgerald is protecting either someone who would have paid for access (or “naming rights”) to the seat, or an aide to that someone. It is likely that someone was about to step over the line and Fitzgerald knew he had to stop it or face prosecuting a big name Democrat, one obviously much more important than Blagojevich.

If you doubt the scenario, ask yourself this. What prosecutor would stop a drug deal before the actual sale went down? What prosecutor would pass on the opportunity to gain more evidence, both against their primary target and other possible wrong doers? What prosecutor would risk their entire case by arresting a suspect before the actual crime was completed?

It is great that Patrick Fitzgerald wanted to charge Rod Blagojevich for these unthinkable crimes against democracy. But what is clearer is that it takes two, or more, to commit the crimes for which Blagojevich is charged. There is a man, or men, on the other side. Fitzgerald’s actions shielded those men from prosecution. We can only assume he knew what he was doing.

Obama Team's Role in Blagojevich Scandal is Still Unclear

Yesterday, the Barack Obama transition office announced that no member of Obama’s staff had “inappropriate discussions” with disgraced Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. It is nice that they did an “internal audit” but The Source thinks maybe someone else should make the determination what is “appropriate.”

We have to note that the Obama/Blagojevich story is an ever-changing event. Before the arrest, David Axlerod said on a Sunday news show that Obama had actually spoken with Blagojevich regarding the appointment. Later he said that he had made a mistake, and Obama himself has not spoken with the Governor. The Source does believe Blagojevich was at the meeting Obama had with Governors in Philadelphia last week. There is no word if they spoke there, maybe because no one has asked Obama.

Then, word came from the Obama camp was that there had been no staff contact with Blagojevich at all. Now, that claim has been changed to “no inappropriate discussion.”

With Rahm Emmanuel as a potential link to conversations with Blagojevich or his aides, we wonder what the next new admission will be.

Congratulations, Kay

Kay Barnes finally won something, and this time we can actually say we agree with her success.

In today’s Roll Call, Stuart Rothenberg lists several awards for 2008 Federal elections. Among his awards were Biggest Long Shot Loser, Best New Name in Congress, and Most Overhyped House Candidate.

It is in the latter category where Kay Barnes finally wins. Up against three other nominees, Rothenberg picks Barnes as the most overhyped and gives this reason:

“…but my vote goes to Barnes, a former Mayor of Kansas City who once was paraded through Washington, D.C., as evidence of the Democrats’ strong early recruiting but who lost by 22 points to Republican Sam Graves (Mo.).”

So, congratulations Kay. The Source bets that isn’t something you ever expected to read here.