The American Poet

For that 3 billion people, approximately half the world’s population that lives in such dark, cruel poverty and ignorance they have never received a personal phone call the beginning of a new year has little relevance. For such today will only be another day of simply trying to survive. But this new year holds no promise of improvement for any, whether they live in dark poverty and ignorance or in the more advanced nations, and the EMP (electro-magnetic pulse) of a nuclear explosion will instantly plunge the most advanced nation into darkness and savage barbarism the thin veneer of civilization being only that, a thin veneer. The History Channel and some others have focused on religion here of late, with particular attention being given to the Apocalypse and Armageddon. Then there have been programs focusing on the Devil, on heaven and hell, the Da Vinci Code, the Bible Code, and much more, all of this evidencing much interest in the End Times as it is referred to. In the midst of so much uncertainty and with dangers threatening throughout the world it is not surprising people are searching for some sanity in the midst of so much insanity, for some hope that things may yet turn out well and world leaders will yet come together for the sake of world peace. But there is virtually nothing in view to offer any such hope. On the contrary, things seem to be getting worse as though world leaders are purposely set on a blind, lunatic course in fulfillment of those End Times prophecies and the destruction of the world! Our own leadership continues to refuse to secure our borders for the sake of slave labor from Mexico thereby actually inviting nuclear terrorism and those shoulder fired missiles at aircraft, refuses to do those things necessary to secure America’s heritage, culture, and language, refuses to stop making war and ruinous trade agreements for the sake of profits, all of these being obvious lunacy! That is, unless you accept the doctrine power corrupts and blinds those who attain positions of power and authority. And being blind leaders of the blind, in the words of Jesus “both will fall into the ditch.” Taking an excerpt from George Will reflecting an awareness of my own writing on the subject of tobacco, here is an excellent example of the blindness of such leaders in America: Philip Morris is America's largest maker of cigarettes, a product legal to use but problematic to merchandize legally. Cigarettes are stigmatized by common sense and all state governments. But because those governments are increasingly addicted to cigarette tax revenues, the governments must be careful not to make cigarettes so expensive they do not sell well. The Illinois Supreme Court's ruling stimulated the market for ``tobacco-revenue munis.'' Those are municipal bonds backed by tobacco revenue streams resulting from a real fraud -- the Master Settlement Agreement. In 1998, 46 states conspired to seize $246 billion from companies that sell products made from a commodity -- tobacco -- the cultivation of which was then subsidized by the federal government. Tobacco subsidies totaled $528 million from 2000 through 2004; then the government paid $10.1 billion -- that number again -- to terminate the tobacco quota system. The MSA rests on the fraudulent claim that smoking costs the states huge sums, principally because of health care costs. Actually, smoking makes money for governments, for two reasons. Cigarettes are the world's most heavily taxed consumer product (state taxes range from 5 cents to $2.46 per pack; the federal tax is 39 cents). And many smokers die prematurely from smoking-related illnesses, curtailing their receipt of entitlements for the elderly. There is one problem with the states' plans to divvy up the money extorted from the tobacco industry: The MSA may be declared unconstitutional. The U.S. Constitution says (Article I, Section 10): ``No state shall, without the consent of Congress, ... enter into any agreement or compact with another state.'' A federal district court is being asked to declare that 46 states have done just that. The states' ability to continue treating the tobacco industry as a ``budgetary Alaska'' -- the last frontier for exploitation -- depends on brisk sales of cigarettes far into the future. So all 50 states, which in 2004 reaped $12.3 billion in cigarette taxes, have an incentive to carefully calibrate these taxes so as to maximize revenues. They want high taxes, but not high enough to cause large numbers of smokers to quit the habit that is so lucrative to states… It is a part of the living hell on earth that we human beings are given to addictions of various sorts. One may grant divinity provided the beauty of flowers, but foxtails and tobacco? What source these? Especially when one considers the essential role tobacco played in America becoming a nation. Still, it is an evil system of government that takes from the poor to give to the rich, which in fact is what the government has done in extorting the tobacco companies and punishing the poor who are disproportionately smokers. But this was the obvious outcome of such litigation, unless those involved were blind leaders of the blind. Yet what else is the power to tax but the power to destroy? And this is the blind course of our Triune Dictatorship: The destruction of America! Some have expressed wonder why I continue to write of these things? The best answer is to be found in the Old Testament: Ezekiel 3:17-21: Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me. When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul. Again, When a righteous man doth turn from his righteousness, and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumblingblock before him, he shall die: because thou hast not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he hath done shall not be remembered; but his blood will I require at thine hand. Nevertheless if thou warn the righteous man, that the righteous sin not, and he doth not sin, he shall surely live, because he is warned; also thou hast delivered thy soul. But the preaching of the prophets of the Old Testament is marked by their failure to turn the wicked aside from their path to destruction. Take for example, if it was possible to remove all homosexuals from the universities and their product schools, our judiciary and Congress who doubts America would be made a safer place for women and children, that the morality of our universities, schools, courts and Congress would be markedly improved with a corresponding improvement of morality in all of America? But in spite of the evidence this would be the happy outcome of such action, who believes it can happen? Still, the warning of the following judgment by failing to take such action remains. My equation Knowledge plus Wisdom equals Peace (k+w=p) is marked by the failure of world leaders to exercise wisdom. We live with this failure in there being the knowledge to destroy the world, but not the wisdom to save it. And America stands in imminent danger of such a failure of wisdom. Iran does intend to “wipe Israel off the map,” and Iran finds agreement with a billion Muslims throughout the world. China depends on all other nations to destroy themselves leaving that nation the “winner.” The third world nations like Mexico continue to breed without accountability demanding bread of civilized nations. Taken all together, a Satanic witch’s brew guaranteed to bring about the fulfillment of the prophecies of the Bible.