Steeple Chase

Recently I drove from my home in Northwest Ohio to Elizabethtown, Kentucky (about an hour south of Louisville) for a speaking engagement. My wife traveled with me as we left of Friday afternoon, spent Friday night with our daughter and her family near West Chester, Ohio, then drove to E-town on Saturday and returned to the Dayton Airport on Sunday (Pat flew to Washington D.C. and I went home). The Sunday morning 3.5 hour drive from Elizabethtown to Dayton was revealing. It was a beautiful sunny day, and we passed hordes of little towns in addition to Louisville, Cincinnati and Dayton during our drive. We also drove by many fast-food restaurants.

During our 207 mile trek we passed many churches. Their steeples pierced the air on this glorious Sunday morning. We left E-town at approximately 9:30am in order to arrive in time for Pat’s 2:30pm flight. We must have driven by nearly 200 churches in that short time, but very few of the parking lots were full. Many of the off-road fast-food establishments were quite busy, however. The contrasting scenes of the plastic restaurants versus the brick, clapboard and stucco churches struck me as symbolic of the issues confronting our nation at this time. My Saturday speech was entitled “Why Liberty? Why Now?” and focused on the absolute necessity of liberty for the health of our faith, our families and our freedom. Yet….our northern drive on that Sunday morning suggested that faith and family were losing their importance for us just as I feared our liberty might be. We have become a nation of people engaged in “trivial pursuits” apparently with little concern about enduring principles or important matters.

Just as our liberties are being eroded by increasing government meddling, our faith may be undermined by our greater reliance on government for many of our basic needs. It is government involvement, too, that has weakened our families by creating a plethora of programs that shift our reliance from family support systems to government bureaucracies. Those lonely steeples that adorned the skyline along Route 65, Route 71 and Route 75 are stark illustrations of how our government and all its noxious side effects have diminished the importance of institutions and beliefs that our ancestors held dear. Our forefathers died for faith, family and freedom, and this generation appears to be willingly complicit in their devaluation. The all-encompassing, all providing, all powerful government has replaced Almighty God, a strong family bond and individual liberty. And many of us have allowed it with nary a whimper.

Faith can be renewed by carefully considering the wonders around us, or it can be jarringly introduced via an epiphany. Family’s importance can be preserved through conscious efforts and continual outreaching and support—freely given—for one another. To reclaim our liberty is more difficult. We must fight for it. We must rescue our freedom from the grasping clutches of a too-powerful government. For me and I suspect for many others, faith and family are integral components for freedom. I believe that I alone could endure the coming serfdom, but I do not want my children and grandchildren to suffer the indignities and repression. My personal faith in a just and merciful Lord moves me to be worthy of His gift and His grace. Liberty is a gift directly from Him in my view, and to ignore its importance in everyone’s life is to deny His Lordship. A support system of some nature, and a burning passion or faith of some sort is vital for preserving, defending or recapturing freedom.

Our new technologies are terrific resources for retrieving data or for instant communication with others all over the globe. The danger is that so much of our personal communication is becoming digitally mediated. We may have thousands of “friends’ but may not recognize them on the street. Our bonds of mutual support become somewhat tenuous because our relationships are momentary and fleeting, and our commitment to one another is probably not so firm. We may share ideals and ideas. We fear the same outcomes and dangers, but we do not KNOW one another. Thus, for our conviction for freedom to thrive we must build stronger ties with our families, our friends….and our digital associates. The floating “zeros and ones” in the ether resemble the lonely spires of the little churches scattered across the landscape. For freedom to prevail we must rebind the bonds that hold us together. For great undertakings to succeed there must be trust….in our leaders, in our fellow laborers and in our purpose. Trust can only be built through knowledge and personal contact.

Time is working against us as we attempt to save our republic. To be victorious we should first restore the foundational elements that we will need if we are successful. We must rebuild our family relationships, renew our commitments of faith and to our Lord, and strengthen our ties with other patriots who are dedicated to our nation’s rebuilding. This task is too difficult to undertaken for small token numbers of passionate people. We need the Lord’s assistance, our families’ blessings and our people’s strength before we can claim victory for future generations. To reach back to the old hymn: “Blest be the ties that bind.”

cearlwriting@hotmail.com

www.littlestuff-minoosha.blogspot.com

  

A Legacy

As the proud (very, very proud) grandfather of 3 (soon to be 4) wonderful young people and children, one of my greatest concerns is what type of legacy I will leave for them. I don’t mean legacy in the way that most career politicians use the term….a notable political achievement. No, the legacy that I seek is the one that is firmly implanted on their hearts and their characters. Each of them has unique talents and abilities that equip them well for becoming producers and contributors as they mature. For any living thing to flourish it must have the proper atmosphere or environment. My hope as I mold my legacy is that I do enough to provide my grandchildren with a healthy environment for their personal development.

Like many people I have a desire that I want my grandchildren to remember me, but I prefer that they always recall what they have learned from me. My own maternal grandfather was a great source of wisdom for me as I was growing up, and even though I do not get to spend as much time with my grandchildren as I enjoyed with Grandpa, I would hope that I influence them in a similar fashion. Although I have many preferences and priorities, I do not necessarily want to teach them what to think, but I do wish to help them to learn to think rationally. Certainly I hope that they become warm-hearted and generous, but I wish their minds would lead their hearts. There are innumerable opportunities for helping others, so it requires discernment and reason to choose the best method for achieving the most good.

If I were given absolute control over my grandchildren’s futures, I would bless them with the 4-F’s for their futures. Faith, family, freedom and fun are the cornerstones for a well-squared life in my view. It begins with faith because as a Christian, I understand G_d’s wisdom, mercy and grace. They have sustained me in my darkest times, and counseled prudence when I become too self important. Family is the anchor of this worldly life. If one is blessed to have a loving, forgiving and helping family, then most of life’s obstacles can be surmounted. Freedom is a gift from The Almighty, secured by His Son, and nourished by a loving family. Without liberty….without freedom…life can be robotic and unfulfilling. My definition of fun in this context is “doing what you love and loving what you’re doing.” A typical working lifetime is more than half a century long. To endure 50 years of drudgery damages the spirit. Fun at work, at play, at home or where ever is an important aspect of a complete life.

Obviously I want my grandchildren to share my faith and its comfort, but that is a personal matter between each of them and Him. Young people who are convinced that they are immortal often fail to see the need for a Savior. My prayer is that they discover and accept Him sooner rather than later. The supportive family dynamic is something that their parents, their grandmother and I can nurture each and every day. We must remember that our anxieties or impatience can sometimes undermine our desire to build the strong reliable family unit. My passionate desire to have my grandchildren yearn for liberty is one that I rant, rave, preach and speak about quite frequently. My fear is that my intensity may be somewhat off-putting for my beloved progeny.

Fun is a more difficult concept to transmit. The best method for doing so is to live it. Allow the kids to learn by observation and osmosis. We must encourage them to find their talents and their niches without pounding them into the round holes of our expectations and hopes for them. We must be willing to permit them to develop as square pegs as long as they do so with integrity and honor. The results will be worth it.

The beauty of a legacy of this nature is that it need not be probated. No attorney or the government will get a piece of the action when my grandchildren claim their inheritances. Who knows….they may try to tax it before I take my leave from this earth. If so, I’ll fight it. A legacy is a terrible thing to waste….paraphrasingly speaking.

Our Tuesday show will air tomorrow from 6:00-7:00pm on 1370 WSPD.  www.wspd.com

Comment: cearlwriting@hotmail.com

www.littlestuff-minoosha.blogspot.com

Littlestuff Weekender12-18-2010

This “Weekender” will be somewhat transitional as we move from such cheery subjects as secession into more positive ones like family, communities and compassion. A reader accused me of whining and moaning about the state of affairs in our country but said that I didn’t do anything proactively for change. He may be correct, but Jeremiah has an entire book in the Bible dedicated to him. Personally, I may be handicapped by my past experiences. As a former broadcaster and college teacher, I am aware of how shallow our knowledge is about the matters of liberty, freedom and personal responsibility.


Who are you, treasured readers? I don’t know who you are. I do not know what you know. I have no clearly defined matrix for identifying how much, how often or why you read “Littlestuff.” So, allow me to share my target demographics with you, and please do not be offended by my descriptions of you. You are relatively unsophisticated in the matters of political theory, economic theory, Constitutional law, systematic theology and political strategy. Certainly some of you are well read in one or more of these disciplines, but for the most part, you have a rudimentary knowledge of them. As do I. My role for this daily column, as I see it, is too increase my awareness (and yours) of these various fields of study, then attempt to integrate them into a coherent game plan for our nation. Fortunately, for you and me, most of the heavy lifting has already been completed. The Framers and Founders possessed an extensive knowledge of these areas, and Almighty God has “breathed” His Word to provide guideposts for our lives. As I sit before this keyboard every day, I attempt to capture, to understand the historical wisdom available to us and within 700-1000 words to transmit it to you. Please take note that as I structure my columns, I am learning with you.

More books and authors:

Historical fiction by the Shaara’s, Michael and Jeff.

Fantasy by Orson Scott Card

History by Victor Davis Hanson (classical period)

Historical and legal analysis by Mark Levin

Richard Viguerie, G.K. Chesterton, J.R.R. Tolkien, Michael Lewis, Bernard Lewis, George Orwell.

Two books by Nathaniel Philbrick: “Sea of Glory” and “Mayflower.”

More poetry: Robert W. Service

This list is not exhaustive, but if you read everything by every one of these authors, you will not need another list until next Christmas. 

During the Christmas season I often found myself in a somewhat reflective mood. As we were returning from my sister’s home yesterday following the Earl Family’s Christmas dinner, I was struck by how things have changed over the past half-century or so. When I was a young dude, we would have a Christmas noontime get-together at my paternal grandmother’s home. My dad was the eldest of eight, and everyone would attend except for when one uncle was serving in the military. It was a large and raucous crowd. All of my Dad’s siblings lived within 20 miles of Grandma’s house. There were no excuses for not attending. On the maternal side we would go to Grandpa and Grandma’s on Christmas Eve. Again, my mother was the eldest of eight children. Two of her siblings lived outside of a 25 mile radius. They both had lived in various places as one pursued his Ph.D. and the other worked with the Marriot Corporation, but when it Christmas eve, they came home. The Wenner household like the Earl’s was overflowing with people and laughter.

It’s different today. First, our families are smaller. Instead of loud noises of joy, there is the hum of discussion. Our families have scattered. My little nuclear family of four has spent 13 years living out of state and away from “home.” I sense that the notion of family unity and invincibility has been lost. We’re no longer this strong, tightly knit unit of people with common purposes and common blood. We are now scattered little islands whose roots are not so great a priority.

In many ways our small towns and communities reflect the changes in our families. The towns are smaller now and some of the traditions have become too big or too expensive to continue. Maybe, in lieu of developing 2, 5 or 10 acre estates on the fringes of the metropolis, people would be better served to work with the small towns to rebuild, to renew the community. Maybe I shouldn’t view “It’s a Wonderful Life.”

Comments: earl4sos@gmail.com or cearlwriting@hotmail.com www.littlestuff-minoosha.blogspot.com

Fair Thee Well

My ears are buzzing with your silent questions. Charlie, what about the poor? And, and …the underground economy? Well, take heart, Binky; we have some answers for you. The Fair Tax as currently designed does have an allowance for those who have lower incomes. Generally, I would find such an offset to be discriminatory because it does seem to impose a “progressive” element to the levying of the tax. There is, however, a mitigating aspect that I find acceptable. When implemented, the Fair Tax would provide a “prebate” to EVERYONE that represents 23% of the federally-designated poverty line for each respective household or person. For example, a single person living alone would receive a monthly prebate via direct deposit of $207.58. This figure represents 23% of the 2010 poverty level income of $10,830.00 for one person. For a family of four the prebate amount would be $422.63 which is 23% of the 2010 poverty level income for four of $22,050.00. So, the poor, the rich and the in-between would ALL get a direct deposit at the beginning of every month which, to some degree, minimizes the effect of the tax on individual taxpayers.


Earlier we discussed the embedded tax on current products and services. I’m going to provide an example of how those hidden costs accumulate. This analysis will not be exhaustive, but I do hope that it will be illustrative. Let’s use bread for our example. It’s a commodity that is purchased by nearly every household in the nation. To arrive at a true number for embedded taxes on bread, one would have to pro-rate all the federal taxes paid by the farmer, the grain elevator or buyer, the miller who grinds the flour or cracks the grain, the baker, the supermarket and all the miscellaneous shippers, truckers and handlers who facilitate the movement of the grain. Also, included in the final tally would be the pro-rated federal taxes for the seed distributor, the fertilizer provider (if used) and whatever extraneous treatments are needed to preserve the crop. Who knew that a tiny little grain of wheat or oats or barley or rye would be such a prolific generator of tax dollars for Big Brother and lots of paperwork for the private sector? Now that “faith of a mustard seed” analogy makes more sense, doesn’t it? There’s lots of power in those little seeds or grains.

When considering the example cited above, please remember than your dedicated public servants in Washington have been considering a Value Added Tax for debt reduction (yeah, right). Every step in the process from seed to bread to seed that adds value to the tiny little botanical grain would add more tax. Sneaky S.O.B.’s want your money, but also want to hide its collection from you.

There is a huge benefit that results from the Fair Tax that is often overlooked or minimized. When taxes are paid on final consumption, then every drug dealer, hooker, criminal thug and international tourist will be paying “their fair share.” Also, every individual who has entered the United States illegally will contribute to the tax coffers when they purchase something. In other words, a broad range of the underground economy will be forced into the sunlight merely because of their needs for routine products and services. When that inbred Saudi Prince brings his extended family and retinue of servants to Cleveland while commandeering an entire wing of a world-class hospital, his lavish lifestyle will generate a large sum of Fair Tax receipts….and no prebate for Abdullah.

So, you may ask, when the Fair Tax merely offsets the embedded tax, how can that be revenue neutral? How can those limited sources of money…minus the prebates…actually equal all the dollars collected from the hundreds or thousands of taxes that are in the government’s quiver today? It’s simple, Boy Wonder. No exemptions. Let me repeat that. No exemptions. No special clauses in the code. No non-profit ruses. No artificially structured entities to game the tax code. We all ride on the same pond, but we can choose our own boat. New Lexus versus used Lexus. Bakery bread versus Bunny Bread versus day old bread. Sears or Jenn-Aire. Freedom…it’s a beautiful thing. Political freedom is vital for a nation to thrive economically, intellectually and politically. Perhaps, just perhaps when the semi-comatose sheeple of our nation savor the taste of economic freedom, they will understand how desirable liberty is. Maybe then, they’ll finish the job.

Tomorrow I’ll explore how I believe that the Fair Tax can be sold, promoted and implemented.

Comments: earl4sos@gmail.com or cearlwriting@hotmail.com

Many Thanks

It’s time for this curmudgeon to get maudlin and weepy. The past year has been so event-filled and my life has been so blessed, that I thought this is the perfect time for me to slobber my thanks to all who’ve helped me along the way. Please understand that it is impossible for me to thank everyone who has supported me in any way during the course of my life. Some people were helpful when I was unaware of their efforts, and others have been there each and every day for years. So by necessity, this will be a rather generic, broad based expression of my gratitude.


First, thank you to my parents, Betty and Ervin Earl, who invited a little stranger, suffering from whooping cough, into their lives more than 6 decades ago. Thanks, too, to my siblings, Karen and David and their spouses, Dave and Deb. All my nieces, nephew, grand nephews and nieces.

Highest praise and greatest thanks to Pat, my bride of 41 years, and to her family…my collection of in-laws and outlaws. Kelly and P.J. have ALWAYS been supportive of Dad and his passions, and now Kevin and Heather are learning to tolerate them, too. Shaun, Erin and Sully are my motivators, and pretty cool young people as well.

I would like to thank Doctors Brunner, Conlan, Huntington and Puhl for patching me together for the long and exhausting campaign. Also, kudos to the LPO for its support, to the party leaders particularly Kevin Knedler, and to all the candidates who shared lit drops, fair booths, parade floats and speaking engagements. Thank you, too, to the Liberty groups, Patriot organizations, Tea Party affiliates, 912er’s, We By For’s and others who asked us to address them. Finally, to all the civic organizations who invited us to participate during their candidates’ nights….thank you.

To our many friends, both long-time and newly found, thank you for believing in me, for your tireless efforts and most of all, for your encouragement. To our Facebook friends and Littlestuff-minoosha readers, thanks for sharing laughs, rants and events with us. And most of all, thank you’s to the 178,000 plus people who were not afraid to “split” the vote…who believed in the principle of liberty, smaller government and less government intrusion.

Thank you to my Lord for giving me an appreciation of freedom that can only come from an awareness that I am and have been forgiven, that I live under grace and am a child of God.

Comment:  earl4sos@gmail.com

Littlestuff Weekender-11-13-2010

 Sometimes I believe that I’m becoming schizophrenic. On one hand I see the massive growth of our increasingly oppressive government. I see it’s heartless, mindless and soulless appetite that smothers the will and the initiative of our people. I see its unencumbered march toward total control extinguishing the sparks of liberty that God has placed within each of us, and I want to hunker down, to be alone, to tend my garden and pretend that it’s not happening. On the other hand, my anger, passion and my sense of justice are energized. I want to scream from the rooftops and mountaintops that Liberty is worth fighting for. I want to challenge and impede the monster’s movement every step along the way. I want to fight and resist with every fiber of my being. I do not want to submit, and I shall not.




 Many people are drawing benefits and receiving subsidies from Big Government. Their allegiance or their indifference has been purchased. I have reason to believe that the government is going to give me a Rolex for Christmas….excuse me, the Winter Holidays. Isn’t that what it means to be on a watch list?



 I’ve figured this out: I’m too late smart, and too soon old.



 Fortunately, I have discovered that Grace is not a cashier at Kroger’s.



 The Book of Proverbs (22:7, NIV) warns us “the borrower is servant to the lender.” Benjamin Franklin and other Founding Framers warned us against profligate spending and debt. Yet, for the past century we have childishly ignored their cumulative wisdom. We are now at the stage where we borrow to meet our debt payments, and still, the clowns in charge talk about reducing expenditures to 2008 levels. Why not 1908 dollars adjusted for inflation? They provide all kinds of reasons, alibis and excuses for not engaging in a serious and effective fiscal blueprint. Well, my fellow citizens, I have some advice for you in light of government’s irresponsible behavior. Sign up for Rosetta Stone and learn Mandarin Chinese.



 It seems likely that many of you share my frustration with the apathetic attitudes of many of our family, friends and neighbors. Now we know how the Old Testament prophets felt. Jerusalem was conquered, and the people were dispersed….one thousand, nine hundred forty years ago. It’s true, if we do not learn from history, we are condemned to repeat it.



 I love Christmas. I cherish the message of hope. I love spending time with my family. I enjoy the kitchen smells, the fragrance of pine and the non-stop Christmas music.



 For the past year, I have traveled Ohio. I have made some wonderful new friends and re-connected with some old friends. I have been blessed. Thank you, one and all.



 Comments welcome: earl4sos@gmail.com or cnpearl@woh.rr.com















 My family has provided a phenomenal support system for me. Pat, my wife of 41.67 years (so who’s counting), daughter Kelly, hubby, Kevin and youngin’s Shaun and Erin plus son P.J., spouse, Heather, and little one, Sully have all been so supportive and encouraging. I love them all, and I’m so proud that I get to share their lives.



 Dear career politician,

Stop spending MY money. Stop spending Pat’s money. Stop spending my children’s money. Stop spending my grandchildren’s money. Stop spending money. Stop spending. Stop!!!!!!!!!