At first glance it’s logical to question the parallelism and connection between two seemingly disparate things.  Bear with me though, to see if you might not agree.

World War I was halted in the late Fall of 1918.  For the next six months a conference of nations took place in Paris, ending with the Treaty of Versailles, a document that re-drew borders of European countries, defined reparations paid by some nations to others and some opine, planted the seeds for World War II a mere two decades later.  To the later there is, to this day, some conjecture.  There is little argument, however,  that the losses of WWI moved all nations to reticence regarding capricious or swift entrance into another such devastating conflict.  Germany eventually was moved to a conquest and destruction mentality by the despotic Adolf Hitler, but that is a story for another writing.

As Roosevelt ran for his unprecedented third term as U.S. President in 1940, Britain was under seize of the Blitzkreig attacks by Germany.  Notwithstanding this or the appeals for assistance by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, an isolationist view was held by many if not most in the U.S.  The feelings were so strong that to insure re-election, Roosevelt had to promise that as President he would not take the nation into a “foreign” war.  The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, changed the isolationist view of citizens and Congress alike and the U.S. was no longer an observer of the conflict but a willing and aggressive participant.

The U.S. went blindly into the 2008 election season, wooed by the emotional oratory of a little known, experience deficient, community organizer who promised “change.”  Now, some two years later, all but even the most die-hard liberals and socialists are terrified at what this “change” has wrought.  And some liberals are looking at the situation in a similar manner as the Watts riots of a few decades ago when the rioters finally looked at the situation and saw, too late, that at their own hands they had destroyed their own homes and neighborhood.

If Obama had not been elected, we might have rocked along, enduring the indifference, stupidity, thievery, and self-serving actions of most lawmakers without there being a call to arms of the thinking electorate.  It seems that there was a dearth of this educated and thinking segment of the population in the previous election.  The early, post election,  discussions about the leftist turn of the government turned to angry shouts and ultimately to ACTION.  The Tea Party came into being and is permeating the fabric of the nation.  The Tea Party is, in my view, a misnomer.  It is really not a party at all, but a grass roots movement of citizens who are sick and tired of working hard only to see elected officials mismanage, take, give away and otherwise squander our national assets and way of life.  A listing of the grievances against Obama is too long to print.  Everything from taking over private companies, the appointment of 35 non vetted, non accountable czars, many of which have fascist and communistic leanings or alliances in their history, the non enforcement of laws and lie after lie,  only touch the tip of this malevolent iceberg.

So, if the “sleeping giant” that is the U.S., awakens as it did in December of 1941, and moves back to a nation that rewards productivity and the traits on which this Nation was formed and does not reward the opposite, Obama’s effect will be the modern day epitome of Pearl Harbor.  If so, then TORA, TORA, TORA!

As Independence Day, more commonly known as the Fourth of July, approaches,  patriotic and thinking American’s thoughts are focused on the valor of our founding fathers who, under intense pressure and at significant personal risk, signed the document that declared independence from Great Britain. Granted, fireworks, picnics, parades, laughter and relaxation occupy much of the time on this day of yearly respite, but that too was encouraged by one of our most famous and courageous founding fathers.  After signing the Declaration of Independence 234 years ago on July 4, 1776, Samuel Adams wrote the following to his wife Abigail.

“The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America.  I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival.  It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty.  It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more.”

The Declaration of Independence was followed by the U. S. Constitution and later the dynamic Bill of Rights.  Today these documents are under siege.  We have a President who seems to disregard and even attack the very documents that formed this great country of freedom and opportunity.  This attack has, thankfully,  served to heighten  many American’s awareness and understanding of the wisdom of the drafters and signers of these great documents and the foundation on which this country was built.  Further, many have seen these attacks as a call to action and have responded.

Unless we return to the foundational principles and faith in Almighty God I am afraid our country is gathering speed on an irreversible downhill slide.  With such a return, our best years may be in front of us.  It’s not too late!  The devastation, designed and implemented over the last few years can be reversed…..but not if we continue on the current course.  Second Chronicles 7:14 says; “if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.“  God is sovereign and, therefore, this is truth.

Adams punctuated his belief in the power and sovereignty of our Creator when upon signing the document for which this day is named he uttered these words; “We have this day restored the Sovereign to whom all men ought to be obedient.  He reigns in heaven and from the rising to the setting of the sun, let His kingdom come.“  In another punctuation of this document’s impact on the world,  Adams and Declaration author,  Thomas Jefferson, the only signers of the Declaration of Independence who later served our Nation as its President, died on the same day: July 4, 1826, ironically the 50th anniversary of the Declaration’s signing.

I was reminded today of these quotations by Bob A., a close friend and a God fearing patriot.  I am now reminding all who read this of the same.

IF YOU READ AND AGREE WITH THESE WORDS, PLEASE DO TWO THINGS…they will only take a minute and they will have a great impact.

First, PLEASE COMMENT BELOW AS AN ENCOURAGEMENT to us and others.

Secondly, SEND A LINK TO THIS BLOG to friends and your e-mail list as a further encouragement to others to join in prayer and to make a commitment to help return our Nation to its former glory and the glory of ALMIGHTY GOD.

There is probably no one in America who;  is of voting age, has any amount of money, has or is looking for a job, can read and has a lick of sense,  that does not have some level of concern about where our country is heading and what our future holds economically.  Consider me in this group, although some might question the “lick of sense” issue.

As if you haven’t made your own mental list of what we are now facing here is a good start.

FINANCIALLY we have staggering US debt that has tripled in just the last 2 years through stupid, non productive, pork barrel spending, designed, arguably, to further control a portion of our population hell-bent on getting something for nothing and increasing political power.  Globally, we see all of Europe, especially Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain drowning in a sea of debt from decades of egregious spending patterns that allows people to retire in their 50′s with salaries almost equal to their working wages.  Continental Europe’s dominate currency, the Euro, is in grave peril.  Even though our own financial house is built on sand, there is an occasional flight to US Bonds, illustrating that we are probably just the tallest midget in the room.

In SOCIETY, un-employment is expanding.  The tax burden is increasing in spite of  historical data that shows that by  reducing tax rates production is increased and tax revenues rise.  Counter intuitive but true.  The resulting unrest in our society is growing exponentially.   The entitlement driven group on one side faces off against  over burdened taxpayers and job producers on the other resulting in growing polarization within our society.  Often this battle breaks down along racial lines.

POLITICALLY there is also exploding polarization.  Obama has proven to be an empty suit, devoid of both truth and the experience to deal with issues apart from spending money we don’t have to to solve problems created by spending too much money.  The housing bubble was caused by “encouraging” people to borrow  excessively to buy houses they couldn’t pay for and then ask prudent people….tax payers….to pay for these excesses. Barney Frank and Chris Dodd should be pillared for their part in this fiasco.   When there was recent move to require 5% down on loans to potential house buyers, Dodd said,  “that is unfair because then only people who could afford it could buy a house.”  These people live among us folks…..and they vote….and sometimes they are elected to lead us.  God help us!  The reason for our impending collapse is so clear that Stevie Wonder could see it…..a pervasive entitlement philosophy that perpetuates enslavement to a lack of responsibility.

These issues put you and me in between the catalytic duo of….mortar and pestle. Our global world is the mortar, The American People (I hate to hear politicians use this phrase….it seems so hollow given what they try to do to us) are the collective material contained therein and our liberal government is the pestle…grinding away at our minds, wealth and future.  This precipitates volatility in all segments of economic life WORLDWIDE.  We have to do something to prepare for the  retirement or worse yet, incapacitation, that we inevitably face   The question, therefore, is where do you invest your assets?

Understand that this is not to be considered as personal investment advice for you.  I simply lay these thoughts out for consideration.  The DJIA is currently at roughly 10,000.  I doubt it will be there a year from now.  I bet it is either significantly higher or significantly lower.  Likewise, interest rates are at almost all time lows.   For them to decline would mean severe recession or depression.  Rising interest rates would signal inflation, which if taken to the extreme could be “run away inflation.”   Gold is currently priced at about $1200 an ounce, only slightly below its all time high.  My guess is that it will be above $2000 or below $500 an ounce a year from now but not at its present level.

We have never been in the global peril we are in today regarding sovereign stability of currency worldwide.  The consideration of a hedge using gold or silver has the lustre never before seen.  Gold did reach $800 an ounce in the early 80′s but did so largely on the fear of runaway inflation.  Currency collapse was not a  major fear at that time..  The threat of major sovereign currency problems does exist today.  Thus, gold could have some value as a hedge in many portfolios.

We all should weigh these assets in light of our own time horizon, risk tolerance and return objectives as we allocate assets to the various classes of investments.  Seek good counsel.  Think outside the box.  Consider the track record of those giving you advice.  Also, consider how your advisor is being paid…..by transactions or by value provided.  Move cautiously, but move!

When making investment decisions today, how does it feel to be between the mortar and the pestle?

In response to a friend’s request for my analysis of Obama’s overall leadership I wrote the following and chose to post it on JTIU……..

I look at almost all economic and political decisions today through glasses of earned cynicism bordering on complete distrust. I believe that Barry Soetero / Barack Obama, or as I refer to him BS/BO…inference fully intended….is:

#1….COMPLETELY IN OVER HIS HEAD. ..He has never done anything politically of redeeming value. In the Illinois house and in the U.S. Senate he voted “present” more times than he voted no or yes…..I must add that he was actually present in body very little in the U.S. Senate. He has no idea what he is doing in the Gulf either related to the spill or from a PR stand point. He has shown his ineptitude on everything from thinking the U.S. has 57 states to thinking that by the “Health Scare Plan” will reduce costs and increase quality.

#2…FOCUSED ON EITHER; WEALTH RE-DISTRIBUTION, U.S. ECONOMIC DESTRUCTION, OR COMPLETE TYRANNICAL RULE….OR ALL. Every decision is in conflict with the American will and/or common sense and in some cases the rule of law….I believe history will confirm this. His nomination of Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court, even though she imposed an unconscionable edict disallowing military recruiting to take place on the campus of Harvard, and a similar nomination of activist Judge Robert Chatigny, CT, who has a history of extreme leniency on sex offenders to the 2nd Circuit Court of N.Y. are but two of numerous appointees that give credence to this view.

#3….ONLY A PUPPET OF SOMEONE OR SOME GROUP…..POSSIBLY GEORGE SOROS….He is getting courage and power from somewhere. It’s hard to tell from where. It seems to come from a powerful force with unlimited capital and a perverse socialistic ideology. That could easily spell SOROS.

#4….THE CONSUMATE NARCISSIST….and therefore a significant risk of self serving results is injected into his decision making. This is a concrete fact. Watch him walk, smile/smirk, always putting his hand on the shoulder of the one whose hand he is shaking….a sign of either genuine caring or complete superiority….guess which. “The buck stops here…I am the President”….but it is George’s fault…or BP’s, or whoever he can find to hide behind. But he is great on the stump….if his two teleprompter friends are buy his side.

Just a few thoughts….I have more but they are significantly less complimentary than those just stated.

So, now it’s OK to take advantage of our OWN oil resources (remember “Drill, Baby Drill!” and all of the angst THAT idea brought to the left?), the President decides to ‘secretly’ (can you say “blatant reverse psychology manipulation of the press”?) go visit our brave soldiers in Afghanistan, AND we’re pledging to get tough on terrorism….something STINKS. Have we ever heard him (our Marxist President) say or do ANYTHING even remotely indicating he even likes this place? Likes our independence? Respects our honorable military?…nope…I don’t buy it.

Of course, he’s never faced an upcoming election period that could cost his Socialist agenda dearly, either. I have a feeling he will do everything he can think of to make himself appear to be something he’s not, nor has any intension of being between now and this November. I bet he even becomes (falsely) more of a ‘centrist’ by all appearences…but don’t fall for it! I certainly won’t…

Amidst all this chaos…God loves me…

Obama schooled the Republicans when he invited them to a meeting with him ostensibly designed to change the atmosphere in D.C. from rank partisanship to “Cum-Bay-Ah” time.  Get the picture…BHO standing stately on a podium elevated 3 feet above his subjects who were dutifully seated, hands folded and at attention, in front of him.  Missing were his teleprompters so he did have a degree of mental nakedness, having only his quick wit and pearly white plastic smile, modeled after Nancy Pelosi, to keep him in charge.  He made one admission, that he wasn’t quite as open as he had promised.   He quickly minimized his error by stating that almost all debate concerning the health care bill was televised on C-SPAN.  The meat of the crafting took place in Harry Reid’s office, but that fact eluded Obama’s steel trap mind.  Hard to believe isn’t it…..a disingenuous Barry Soetoro aka BHO.

BHO proceeded to either; not answer the questions posed him, answer them partially but sell his agenda in the process or make promises that history indicates he has no intention of keeping.  In general he was quintessential Barrack Hussein Obama.  But, like Br’er Rabbit of childhood story fame, he was in his element.  He looked like the winner.  So much so he has offered, almost begged the Republicans, to do it again.  Please conservatives, don’t fall for this ruse again …he’ll eat your lunch with excessive style but devoid of substance.

Bipartisanship doesn’t work.  Sensible, historically proven, well thought out strategies do.  Try them for a change.  For example:  out of control spending got us into this mess…continuation of the same will not get us out of it.  Will more liquor cure an alcoholic?

Lower tax rates increase revenue flow into the tax coffers.  It has worked for a century through republican and democratic administrations.  Democrat John F. Kennedy recognized it and it worked for him.  Higher tax rates thwarts the engine of job creation…small business.  It has been true for decades, why go against history.

Health care payment models and insurance is broken.  Fix it with a common sense strategy and commonly applied tactics not a twisted distorted Edsel like plan applied through auction and barter among those elected officials turned poker players….with our ante.

Don’t give Obama a forum where he is at his lying best.  He’s self destructing…….let him go….do your best Ole….don’t throw him in HIS brier patch!

No Big Orange fan, of which am one,  felt comfortable when Lane Kiffin was announced as Head Coach of the Tennessee Volunteers in December of 2008.  Many, including me, were very happy to see Phil Fulmer go.  He had let the program slide into virtual oblivion and few singers of Rocky Top were excited about what the ensuing years would be under his continued tutelage.  Fulmer exited with his head held high and exuding tremendous class.  His replacement entered completely devoid of same.

Kiffin spent much of the press conference, called to announce his hiring, talking about what a bad guy Al Davis was.  Davis is the owner of the Oakland Raiders who had fired him after a brief tenure.  The reasons seemed to be that Kiffin was an arrogant, narcissistic flake.  Davis should know, he’s not much different…..but he signs the paychecks.  Tennessee should have talked with Davis before hiring this “narrow Lane”…..they might, as a result, have continued their search beyond Kiffin. Tennessee fans cringed, saying “this guy may know a lot of X’s and O’s, but he seems to be terribly deficient in the class category.”  Our worst fears were soon realized.

Over the next weeks and months Kiffin proceeded to offend most coaches in the S.E.C., the hierarchy at the NCAA and skiddish Vol fans alike with his out of control mouth.  He also came under fire for potential recruiting violations.  This issue might still be an open one…..only time will tell.  I must admit that as the 2009 season went on I never lost my concern that orange blood, I mean the beautiful Tennessee Orange, was not coursing through his veins.  I was, however, smitten by the revitalization that he seemed to bring to the Vol football program and despite the good ole “yard dog whippin’” that Virginia Tech put on us in the Chick-Fil-A Bowl, I thought that Tennessee might be up-ticking in the football market.  It was not to be…..at least for about 80 hours.

When Pete Carroll left as head coach of U.S.C. for the NFL, Kiffin bolted Knoxville for the vacated position.  Some of his assistants who also departed in lockstep with him, proceeded to back track and try to talk recruits they had rushed so strongly for the previous weeks into changing their minds and follow them to Trojan country.  It may have worked…we will see.

All of this was a severe body blow to Tennessee, the football program, fans and players.  But after 3 days of whirlwind activity by the U.T Athletic Department, tons of cyber ink and wasted work time by Tennessee faithful, and speculation by the college football world, Tennessee announced on Friday that Derek Dooley had been named as Tennessee’s 22nd football Coach.  WHO????  Derek Dooley….son of the extremely successful Georgia Bulldog Coach and A.D..   The initial fears of the Tennessee faithful were and for many may still be that U.T. made a panic move and picked quickly so as to not lose the recruiting battle that will rage over the next 2-3 weeks.   I must admit to have been one of the skeptics.

Well my brother called me this morning and said, “do you remember how we said we felt when Ronald Reagan spoke the day after he was elected…..proud to be an American and excited about the future.”   He urged me to listen the Dooley’s news conference and see if I had a similar feeling with this hiring.  I did and am sold……and I’m not an easy sell.  Only time will tell whether Dooley will return Tennessee to top 5 -10 status in NCAA division one football.  I think he has all the ingredients to be successful….7 years as an assistant with Nick Saban, a fabulous football heritage, great recruiting skills, a brilliant mind, the consummate work ethic and is a fiercely independent thinker.  But the real thing that makes me a convert and makes me feel that I will not be embarrassed by an off the rails coach is that this is a man of conviction and class.

I also watched Kiffin’s introductory news conference at U.S.C……..what a difference between Dooley’s obvious character and Kiffin’s lack of same.  Kiffin still doesn’t get it in terms of his self centered worldview.  As I watched I wondered what he is teaching his children and what kind of reflection it is on his father and his upbringing.  Stupid me….his father went with him to U.S.C..  Commitment and honor be damned….take the best deal you can get, shake the dust from your feet and leave the broken promises and carnage behind.

Tennessee may have taken a severe body blow, but we have dodged a major bullet.  If you have to deal with a cancer, do so early before it grows.  Thanks Lane and good riddance!  Let’s go Dooley!!!!

Well the “House of Ill Repute” we know as Congress is up to their old tricks again….pun fully intended.   Typical of the transaction discussion between the prostitute and the potential john, where the outcome has been determined and they are simply haggling over price,  Harry Reid and his thieving henchmen have negotiated price with some of their fellow tricksters to insure the passage of the economy wrecking health care plan.

Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA) held back on her vote until Reid used $300 million of  OUR MONEY to pay for her vote.  Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL) stuck us where the sun doesn’t shine with his similar transaction.  Senators Chris Dodd (D-CT) and Max Baucus (D-MT)  negotiated sweet deals for their states in trade for their votes.  Vermont, Massachusetts and other states likewise obtained largess from our pockets for their services….sic.

But the real culprit that confirms the use of the name prostitute for these Senators is Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE) who held his vote ostensibly because of a strongly held position against abortion language in the proposed bill.   Reid simply negotiated the going rate for “Corn-Shucker” Nelson’s vote and the trick was done….so to speak.  Trading of the vote for concessions his State has since said they do not want is bad enough.  Using the killing of defenseless humans as his currency of trade is the ultimate in filthy actions.

If you think the words used here are too strong, consider this.

Prostitution is defined as; “the act of offering or devoting one’s talent to an unworthy use or cause.”   Pimping is defined as; “the act of soliciting or  procuring the services of prostitutes.” A Principle is defined as; “a personal rule for right conduct.”

Given these definitions,  it is clear that Ben Nelson, violated principles of conduct for which he swore on the Bible to uphold when he negotiated with Reid who solicited Nelson’s use of his position in an unworthy manner. Many of his fellow Senators followed suit.

Seems pretty clear to me!  If it quacks like a duck, and if it walks like a ……..well, you know the rest!

An article in yesterday’s Washington Post clearly shows the gap between the RESPONSIBILITY our government has and the ACCOUNTABILITY or lack of accountability to which they are held.  The article  confirms  that the I.R.S. expects  to answer only 71.2% of the calls made to the agency in 2010.  They are elated that the number is up from 70% in 2009.  Further, of the calls that are answered it will take 11 minutes and 38 seconds to actually get someone on the phone.  This is an increase of almost three minutes over the ridiculous time required in  2009.  Also, the I.R.S. is not responsible for the answers given by their agents over the phone.  It is estimated that as many as 40% of the answers to questions asked of the employees on these calls is incorrect and could cause serious problems to the individual if they use this inaccurate information in filing their return.

Now let me understand……upon calling the I.R.S. I have only a 2 in 3 chance the call will answered…..after a wait of almost a quarter of an hour and the answer to my query will likely be wrong!  Imagine how long your company would stay in business with this standard of performance.

The standard in my company is that every call will be answered on the first or second ring, by a live person, with a pleasant voice that indicates to the caller that we are pleased that they called us.  Further, their problem will be solved in some way as quickly as possible.  And we are held accountable for the answers we give.   If we did not  conduct business in this manner we would not be in business long.   The key is that individually and collectively we take RESPONSIBILITY and we are ACCOUNTABLE.   Our very existence depends on it.

With the government there is no accountability at any level.  When was the last time you heard of a government worker….I mean employee….and there is both a difference and a distinction between the two…..getting fired.   Today we see even  President BO’s actions illustrate that he can say what he needs to in order to get what he wants and then do as he wishes…in total disregard to his promises.  It is beyond frustrating that government is allowed to continue to be sub-mediocre in performance without punishment.

The situation is getting worse.  Government is the only sector that has grown during this recession…in both numbers and salary levels.   Add to this the fact that only half of eligible taxpayers actually pay taxes  (this represents 1/3 of all US citizens) leaving the burden to the other half…..of which you and I are a part. You can easily see the problem we face.   Bigger government plus fewer taxpayers equals a snowball of disaster rolling downhill and gaining speed.  The time to solve the problem is getting shorter and the hurdles increasing.  We better wake up as a Nation or we are doomed……if it is not too late already.

Breaking news……newspaper headlines read as follows:  “Boston Fans Pull For Yankees“……”IBM Buys Apple Computers For All Employees“………”Southerners Forget War Of Northern Aggression“………”Dr. Oz Eats A Cheeseburger“……..”Democrats Scream For Tax Reductions“…….”Bill O’Reilly Asks Question And Allows Respondent To Answer“……..”Hell Freezes Over“.  Are you kidding me….these things would NEVER come true.   Well, they are equally as likely to occur as is the title of this post.

I was raised in the hills of East Tennessee.  The University of Tennessee was known as “the Hallowed Hill” and its football team was, and still is despite its mediocrity in recent years, a revered institution.  When I was a kid we didn’t have the quantity of orange paraphernalia that is available today……shortage of orange dye I suppose.  I didn’t have enough money to buy any even if it was available.  My how I love that Tennessee orange!  My wife may be the only “Big Orange” (aka Tennessee) football fan who hates it.  Along with the fight song,  ‘”Rocky Top”, non Tennessee fans unilaterally hate Tennessee Orange but Tennessee fans, by and large, love it.

In addition to loving the color Tennessee orange, I was taught to pull for Tennessee and against Georgia Tech.   Said differently, Tennessee supporters were “for Tennessee and whoever played Georgia Tech”.  Those were the days when Tech was in the S.E.C. and a formidable opponent of my Vols.  Bobby Dodd, an ex Tennessee All American and native of Kingsport , Tennessee, was the Tech head coach….a traitor….what’s not to be against!  Tech, in an idiotic executive decision, moved from the S.E.C. to the Atlantic Coast Conference and Tennessee fans turned their ire toward another arch rival, Alabama.  “We don’t give a d____ ’bout the whole State of Al-a-bam”…..well you know how that goes.  Georgia then raised its level of play and became Tennessee’s arch rival on the field and in the recruiting wars.  And then came the Florida Gators!   UUUGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!  For almost two decades the Gators have been the nemesis of the Volunteers….tough to beat and even tougher to take…..you know what I mean.

With that as a 6 decade backdrop one can see how hard it is for me to say that I am going to pull for Tim Tebow and the Florida Gators in the S.E.C. Championship in Atlanta on Saturday.  There, I have said it.  It hurt a little but having said it I feel better.  How could anyone pull against Tim Tebow.  OK, I have done it for the 4 times he played against my beloved Vols.  But I couldn’t pull against family could I?

Amid the current plethora of swaggering, street dancin’,  struttin’ players that fill the rosters of college and pro teams alike, and the ones who find it necessary to stick up a Seven Eleven, Tim Tebow wafts as a true breath of fresh air.  No one can challenge his tremendous ability as a football player. ….but there are many with tremendous athletic ability.  What truly makes him stand out is his outspoken stand for Christ and his Christian worldview.  Last year’s three finalists for the Heisman trophy, Colt McCoy of Texas, Sam Bradford of Oklahoma and Tebow said that the thing they had in common for which they were most grateful was their faith.  Very little was made of that.  The A.P.  didn’t carry it.  ESPN didn’t play it up.  But I guess we would be asking too much to expect the Christian worldview to be heralded by the  “mainstream” press….what ever that means.

Well, Saturday night I’m going against my Tennessee tradition and pull for Tim Tebow……and the Gators too.  I neither like nor dislike the Tide in this situation….they are a good team with a smart coach.  I’m just pulling for the good guy!  Don’t “go Tiger” on us…Tiger Wood that is…..and let us down Tim.  Chomp-Chomp…..Go Timmy!