Obama'a buddy exposes him
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Posted:Mar 23, 2008 5:13 pm
Last Updated:May 10, 2024 3:21 am 639 Views
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Barack Obama Embellishes His Resume
Don’t get me wrong - I’m a big fan of Barack Obama, the Illinois freshman senator and hot young Democratic Party star. But after reading his autobiography, I have to say that Barack engages in some serious exaggeration when he describes a job that he held in the mid-1980s.I know because I sat down the hall from him, in the same department, and worked closely with his boss. I can’t say I was particularly close to Barack - he was reserved and distant towards all of his co-workers - but I was probably as close to him as anyone. I certainly know what he did there, and it bears only a loose resemblance to what he wrote in his book.
Here’s Barack’s account:
Eventually a consulting house to multinational corporations agreed to hire me as a research assistant. Like a spy behind enemy lines, I arrived every day at my mid-Manhattan office and sat at my computer terminal, checking the Reuters machine that blinked bright emerald messages from across the globe. As far as I could tell I was the only black man in the company, a source of shame for me but a source of considerable pride for the company’s secretarial pool.
First, it wasn’t a consulting house; it was a small company that published newsletters on international business. Like most newsletter publishers, it was a bit of a sweatshop. I’m sure we all wished that we were high-priced consultants to multinational corporations. But we also enjoyed coming in at ten, wearing jeans to work, flirting with our co-workers, partying when we stayed late, and bonding over the low salaries and heavy workload.
Barack worked on one of the company’s reference publications. Each month customers got a new set of pages on business conditions in a particular country, punched to fit into a three-ring binder. Barack’s job was to get copy from the country correspondents and edit it so that it fit into a standard outline. There was probably some research involved as well, since correspondents usually don’t send exactly what you ask for, and you can’t always decipher their copy. But essentially the job was copyediting.
It’s also not true that Barack was the only black man in the company. He was the only black professional man. Fred was an African-American who worked in the mailroom with his . My boss and I used to join them on Friday afternoons to drink beer behind the stacks of office supplies. That’s not the kind of thing that Barack would do. Like I said, he was somewhat aloof.
…as the months passed, I felt the idea of becoming an organizer slipping away from me. The company promoted me to the position of financial writer. I had my own office, my own secretary; money in the bank. Sometimes, coming out of an interview with Japanese financiers or German bond traders, I would catch my reflection in the elevator doors–see myself in a suit and tie, a briefcase in my hand–and for a split second I would imagine myself as a captain of industry, barking out orders, closing the deal, before I remembered who it was that I had told myself I wanted to be and felt pangs of guilt for my lack of resolve.
If Barack was promoted, his new job responsibilities were more of the same - rewriting other people’s copy. As far as I know, he always had a small office, and the idea that he had a secretary is laughable. Only the company president had a secretary. Barack never left the office, never wore a tie, and had neither reason nor opportunity to interview Japanese financiers or German bond traders.
Then one day, as I sat down at my computer to write an article on interest-rate swaps, something unexpected happened. Auma called. I had never met this half sister; we had written only intermittently. …[several pages on his suffering half-sister] …a few months after Auma called, I turned in my resignation at the consulting firm and began looking in earnest for an organizing job.
What Barack means here is that he got copy from a correspondent who didn’t understand interest rate swaps, and he was trying to make sense out of it.
All of Barack’s embellishment serves a larger narrative purpose: to retell the story of the Christ’s temptation. The young, idealistic, would-be community organizer gets a nice suit, joins a consulting house, starts hanging out with investment bankers, and barely escapes moving into the big mansion with the white folks. Luckily, an angel calls, awakens his conscience, and helps him choose instead to fight for the people.
Like I said, I’m a fan. His famous keynote speech at the Democratic National Convention moved me to tears. The Democrats - not to mention America - need a mixed-race spokesperson who can connect to both urban blacks and rural whites, who has the credibility to challenge the status quo on issues ranging from misogynistic to unfair school funding.
And yet I’m disappointed. Barack’s story may be true, but many of the facts are not. His larger narrative purpose requires him to embellish his role. I don’t buy it. Just as I can’t be inspired by Steve Jobs now that I know how dishonest he is, I can’t listen uncritically to Barack Obama now that I know he’s willing to bend the facts to his purpose.
Once, when I applied for a marketing job at a big accounting firm, my then-supervisor called HR to say that I had exaggerated something on my resume. I didn’t agree, but I also didn’t get the job. But when Barack Obama invents facts in a book ranked No. 8 on the NY Times nonfiction list, it not only fails to be noticed but it helps elevate him into the national political pantheon.
Posted: July 9th
From the Analyze this blog... A liberals blog
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Obama Gaffes keep adding up
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Posted:Mar 23, 2008 4:58 pm
Last Updated:May 10, 2024 3:21 am 629 Views
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Lynn Sweet
The scoop from Washington Anti-Clinton YouTube ad aftershock. Chicago woman owns rights to "1984." Sends warning shot. | Main | Sweet blog special: At dinner: Rove , Bush aims quips at Obama's swimsuit photo. Compares him to Hastert. Ouch. Transcript. »
Sweet column: Obama's gaffes start to pile up.
WASHINGTON -- Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign, 46 days old on Tuesday, has run into some speed bumps, created because of a series of missteps magnified because he is under microscopic scrutiny.
It's too early to say whether the gaffes slow Obama's momentum -- or if they become barricades, extracting a more significant price for the Illinois Democrat's White House bid. They are getting noticed.
Consider the items that have been accumulating since Obama announced on Feb. 10:
• Marking the anniversary of the March 1965 "Bloody Sunday" in Selma, Ala., Obama, speaking at a church, said his parents got together "because of what happened in Selma." Obama was born in 1961.
• Obama told Larry King on CNN -- asked about that anti-Hillary Rodham Clinton YouTube ad, a doctored version of a spot created for Apple computers -- "We don't have the technical capacity to create something like that."
Obama did not know what he was talking about. Any professional media consultant can manipulate images on video. Turns out the creator -- unmasked last week as a political operative who worked for a firm overseeing the technical side of Obama's Web site -- made it at home on a Mac.
• Obama, asked if homosexuality was immoral, in the wake of comments by Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Gen. Peter Pace, sidestepped the question. After pressure from gay groups, Obama issued a statement stating he did not agree with Pace "that homosexuality is immoral."
Cynicism is like terrorism?
• One of Obama's stump lines is that the biggest obstacle he fights is not any of his rivals, it is cynicism. He used a variation of it during a reception he hosted at a conference here sponsored by AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. Displaying a tin ear, Obama said that one of the enemies is not "just terrorists" or "just Hezbollah" or "just Hamas" -- "it's also cynicism."
• The Tribune dug this up: Obama, in his memoir, Dreams of My Father, writes of a story in Life magazine that influenced him -- about a black man trying to bleach his skin white. No such article could be found in Life or Ebony.
Insider or outsider?
• Another Obama stump line -- he said it again Tuesday morning to the Communications Workers of America here -- is that "I've been long enough in Washington to know that Washington needs to change." He is running against Washington yet his campaign is populated with political professionals who are Washington insiders.
• Obama's embrace of some rhetoric used by rival John Edwards is getting attention. Edwards, in a 2003 speech made for his first presidential run said, "I've spent enough time in Washington to know how much we need to change Washington."
Bill Burton, an Obama spokesman, said in reaction to the Obama stumbles: "If there are people looking for a candidate running to be the darling of the Washington insider crowd, this campaign is not for them. We are encouraged by the growing, unflinching support of Americans who believe we can transform our country by changing our politics."
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Clinton Lie Kills Her Credibility on Trade Policy
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Posted:Mar 23, 2008 4:46 pm
Last Updated:May 10, 2024 3:21 am 615 Views
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What is the proper word for the claim by Hillary Clinton and the more factually disinclined supporters of her campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination -- made in speeches, briefings and interviews (including one by this reporter with the candidate) -- that she has always been a critic of the North American Free Trade Agreement?
Now that we know from the 11,000 pages of Clinton White House documents released this week that former First Lady was an ardent advocate for NAFTA;
now that we know she held at least five meetings to strategize about how to win congressional approval of the deal; now that we know she was in the thick of the manuevering to block the efforts of labor, farm, environmental and human rights groups to get a better agreement. Now that we know all of this, how should we assess the claim that Hillary's heart has always beaten to a fair-trade rhythm?
Now that we know from official records of her time as First Lady that Clinton was the featured speaker at a closed-door session where 120 women opinion leaders were hectored to pressure their congressional representatives to approve NAFTA; now that we know from ABC News reporting on the session that "her remarks were totally pro-NAFTA" and that "there was no equivocation for her support for NAFTA at the time;" now that we have these details confirmed, what should we make of Clinton's campaign claim that she was never comfortable with the militant free-trade agenda that has cost the United States hundreds of thousands of union jobs, that has idled entire industries, that has saddled this country with record trade deficits, undermined the security of working families in the US and abroad, and has forced Mexican farmers off their land into an economic refugee status that ultimately forces them to cross the Rio Grande River in search of work?
As she campaigns now, Clinton says, "I have been a critic of NAFTA from the very beginning."
But the White House records confirm that this is not true.
Her statement is, to be precise, a lie.
When it comes to the essential test of the trade debate, Clinton has been identified as a liar -- a put-in-boldface-type "L-I-A-R" liar.
Those of us who covered the 1993 NAFTA debate have frequently expressed doubts about the former First Lady's recent statements. We never heard anything at the time about her dissenting from the Clinton Administration line on trade policy. And we knew that she had defended NAFTA in the years following its enactment.
But fairness required that we at least entertain that notion--promoted by the lamentable David Gergen, himself a champion of free-trade policies while working in the Clinton White House--that Hillary Clinton had been a behind-the-scenes critic.
We had to at least consider the possibility that, at the very least, Clinton had been worried that advancing NAFTA would trip up her advocacy for health care reform, that she had made her concerns known and that she had absented herself from pro-NAFTA lobbying.
This was certainly the impression that Clinton and her supporters sought to create as she campaigned in Wisconsin, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Indiana--states where worried workers want to know exactly where the candidates have stood and currently stand with regard to trade issues.
But that impression was a deliberate deception.
And we must all now recognize that when Hillary Clinton speaks about trade policy, she begins with a lie so blatant--that she's been "a critic of NAFTA from the very beginning"--that everything else she says must be viewed as suspect.
~ The Nation Online
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Obama Caught Lying to Canadians
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Posted:Mar 23, 2008 4:35 pm
Last Updated:Mar 23, 2008 5:49 pm 768 Views
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Barack Obama – Caught Lying. Again.
Recently, Sen. Barack Obama was caught lying about his campaign’s assurance to the Canadians about NAFTA. Barack adamantly denied that it ever happened. BUt then those pesky Canadians produced a memorandum that recorded the meeting. Ouch.
(Don’t take my word for it – I’m just a conservative hack trying to make sure Barack does not become our next President. Here it is from one of the biggest “progressive” blog sites on the planet – replete with time-lines of Obama’s lies).
So what else has Barack lied about this week?
His insistence that he has “fully responded to every question posed by reporters” in regards to his involvement with political fixer Tony Rezko.
Not according to his home town news paper:
As recently as Sunday, on ABC’s “This Week” program, Obama’s campaign strategist, David Axelrod, insisted that Obama has fully responded to every question posed by reporters. But this is not so.
For months, Sun-Times investigative reporters have had a standing request to meet with Obama, face to face, to get answers to questions such as these:
• How many fund-raisers did Rezko throw for Obama?
• Obama is donating $150,000 to charity that Rezko brought into the campaign. But how much in all did Rezko raise?
• Did Rezko find jobs for Obama backers in the Blagojevich administration or elsewhere?
• Why did Obama only recently admit – after Bloomberg News broke the story – that Rezko had toured his South Side mansion with him in 2004 before he bought it?
Dribs and drabs of people’s lives have a most unfortunate way of coming out in trials.I hope the RNC and Sen. McCain’s campaign’s teams are paying close attention to how Obama reacts when the spotlight and the pressure are on. I hope we take the gloves off and go after Obama. There’s a lot there to go after.
by ~Urbangrounds
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Barak Obama on his granny:She's a Typical white person
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Posted:Mar 23, 2008 4:29 pm
Last Updated:Mar 23, 2008 8:53 pm 695 Views
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Posted on March 20, 2008 by mrpinkeyes
Barack Obama has been trying to dig himself out of the hole he has dug for himself because of his very close relationship with reverend Jeremiah Wright. The more he tries to dig out, the deeper he gets.
In his speech about race relations, Obama admitted that he had indeed been in the church to hear some of Jeremiah Wright’s controversial comments. This is the opposite of what he said just to days earlier, when he denied ever hearing any of these comments. It is also a 180 degree turn from his statement that his church isn’t controversial. Obama has been caught in two lies on this story already.
He refused to distance himself from his racist, anti-American spiritual advisor, pastor, and great friend. Instead he said it was the fault of society that the good reverend was forced into being a racist. He even threw his grandmother under the bus, saying she was a racist. In other words, blame whitey.
Today Obama tried to twist his way out of the fact that he threw ole Grammy under the bus. This is what he had to say:
But she is a typical white person who, uh, if she sees somebody on the street that she doesn’t know there’s a reaction that’s been been bred into our experiences that don’t go away and that sometimes come out in the wrong way and that’s just the nature of race in our society.
A typical white person? SCREW YOU Barack Obama. Not all white people are afraid of black people, you bigot. As you can see, I am getting pretty pissed off here. This man is the person who said that he sees not a red state America and a blue state America, but a United States of America. Really? It seems to me that he really doesn’t see a red America and a blue America, he sees a black America and a white America, and not a United States of America.
Barack Obama has obviously taken the reverend Wright’s racist sermons to heart. How can we expect Obama to unite a country while he holds this resentment to white people in his heart.
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Christian Scarecrows
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Posted:Mar 23, 2008 2:54 pm
Last Updated:Mar 23, 2008 5:56 pm 702 Views
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I can hear the song from the Wizard of Oz where the Scarecrow keeps singing if I only had a brain.
Thtas how I look at liberal people who profess Christianity. Gullible to the point of believeing so many things from people such as Hillary Clinton and Barry Obama.
I am not a huge John McCain fan by any means. However when I look at the issues and the policies of him versus the same of the other two; it is clear of the choices he is a mountain better, and more qualified.
The Political speech of barry O was perhaps pandering to people who want everything done for them, but he cant get by those who recall what he says with his hypocracy and lies.
Last week he is on tape saying he didnt know abiout and was not present during his pastors hate speeches.
This week he admits in his speech that he was and that he says its wrong. What is the difference between last weeks comments and his speech? He was falling in the polls. Thats the difference.
He never even apologized really. He actually tried to make a rationale of his pastors speech.
Yet some people get taken in. People with little discernment. You know, you could show them the tapes, they are on CNN of him lying; and they would not pay any attention. They hold fast to the lies.
He threw his grandmother under the bus by misrepresenting what she was talking about too.
They are under investigation for issues with Michelle's salary doubling after he became a Senator.
There is an old saying, run with the dogs and smell like the dogs. His Pastor is an extreme racist tied into an extremist racist religion, no different than Assyrian Racism. Barry has attended for 20 years, quoted the extreme thinking in his books. He was married by this man and his have been sitting under this extreme teaching for all of their lives.
Yet Barry is unaffected? Right. He quotes him in his books. He quotes the extremism in his book.
Christians should have a righteous anger about who this man is and they should do everything they can to expose this racist for what he is.
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Nice Huh?
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Posted:Mar 23, 2008 2:30 pm
Last Updated:Mar 23, 2008 4:46 pm 610 Views
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YOU WILL FIND THE SECRET SERVICE VIEWS ON THE PERSONALITIES OF PAST PRESIDENTS TO BE QUITE INTERESTING.
For those who don't know... Capt. Denny Keast flies for UAL and flew many SAM's (Special Air Mission's) for the White House.
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I flew 4 Presidential support missions in the C-141 out of Dover AFB, DE.. Two for President Johnson and two for President Nixon.
Johnson was a first class jerk and on the two occasions I flew for him, if the Secret Service and their Liaison in the Pentagon hadn't intervened, we would have had to stay on the airplane for hours while he ( Johnson) was off somewhere. Nixon never required that and the four (4) stops we made with him he was cordi al to the Secret Service and to me and my crew.
We had a neighbor when I lived in DC who was part of the secret service presidential detail for many years. His stories of Kennedy and Johnson were the same as those I heard from the guys who flew the presidents' plane
Yes, Kennedy did have Marilyn Monroe flown in for secret "dates," and LBJ was a typical Texas "good ole boy" womanizer. Nixon, Bush 41, and Carter never cheated on the ir wives. Clinton cheated, but couldn't match Kennedy or LBJ in style or variety.
The information below is accurate: The elder Bush and current president Bush make it a point to thank and take care of the air crews who fly them around. When the president flies, there are several planes that also go, one carries the armored limo, another the security detail, plus usually a pres s aircraft.
Both Bushes made it a point to stay home on holidays, so the Air Force and security people could have a day with their families.
Hillary Clinton was arrogant and orally abusive to her security detail. She forbade her , Chelsea, from exchanging pleasantries with them. Sometimes Chelsea, miffed at her mother's obvious conceit and mean spiritedness, ignored her demands and exchanged pleasantries regardless, but never in her mother's presence. Chelsea really was a nice, kindhearted, and lovely young lady. The consensus opinion was that Chelsea loved her Mom but did not like her. Hillary Clinton was continuously rude and abrasive to those who were charged to protect her life. Her security detail dutifu lly did their job, as professionals should, but they all loathed her and wanted to be on a different detail.
Hillary Clinton was despised by the Secret Service as a whole. Former President Bill Clinton was much more amiable than his wife. Often the Secret Service would cringe at the verbal attacks Hillary would use against her husband. They were embarrassed for his sake by the manner and frequency in which she verbally insulted him, sometimes in the presence of the Secret Service, and sometimes behind closed doors. Even behind closed doors Hillary Clinton would scream and holler so loudly that everyone could hear what she was saying. Many felt sorry for President Clinton and most wondered why he tolerated it instead of just divorcing his "attack dog" wife. It was crystal clear that the Clinton's neither liked nor respected each other and this was true long before the Monica Lewinsky scandal. Theirs was genuinely a "marriage of convenience."
Chelsea was much closer to her father than her mother, even after the Lewinsky scandal, which hurt her gravely. Bill Clinton did in fact have charisma, and occasionally would smile at or shake hands with his security detail. Still, he always displayed an obvious air of superiority towards them. His security detail uniformly believed him to be disingenuous, false, and that he did nothing without a motive that in some way would enhance his image and political career. He was polite, but not kind. They did not particularly like him and nobody trusted him.
Al Gore was the male version of Hillary Clinton. They were friendlier toward each other than either of them were towards former President Clinton. They were not intimate, so please don't read that in. They were very close in a political way. Tipper Gore was generally nice and pleasant. She initially liked Hillary but soon after the election she had her "pegged" and no longer liked her or associated with her except for events that were politically obligatory.
Al Gore was far more left wing than Bill Clinton. Al Gore resented Bill Clinton and thought he was too "centrist." He despised all Republicans. His hatred was bitter and this was long before he announced for the Presidency. This hatred was something that he and Hillary had in common They often said as much, even in the presence of their security detail. Neither of them trusted Bill Clinton and, the Secret Service opined, neither of them even liked him. Bill Clinton did have some good qualities, whereas Al Gore and Hillary had none, in the view of their security details.
Al Gore, like Hillary, was very rude and arrogant toward his security detail. He was extremely unappreciative and would not hesitate to scold them in the presence of their peers for minor details over which they had no control. Al Gore also looked down on them, as they fi nally observed and learned with certainty on one occasion. Al got angry at his offspring and pointed at his security detail and said, "Do you want to grow up and be like them?" Word of this insult by the former Vice-President quickly spread and he became as disliked by the Secret Service as Hillary. Most of them prayed Al Gore would not be elected President, and they really did have private celebrations in a few of their homes after President Bush won. This was not necessarily to celebrate President Bush's election, but to celebrate Al Gor e's defeat.
Everyone in the Secret Service wants to be on First Lady Laura Bush's detail. Without exception, they concede that she is perhaps the nicest and most kind person they have ever had the privilege of serving. Where Hillary patently refused to allow her picture to be taken with her security detail, Laura Bush doesn't even have to be asked, she offers. She doesn't just shake their hand and say, "Thank you." Very often, she will giv e members of her detail a kindhearted hug to express her appreciation. There is nothing false about her. This is her genuine nature. Her security detail considers her to be a "breath of fresh air." They joke that comparing Laura Bush with Hillary Clinton i s like comparing "Mother Teresa" with the "Wicked Witch of the North."
Likewise, the Secret Service considers President Bush to be a gem of a man to work for. He always treats them with genuine respect and he always trusts and listens to their expert advice. They really like the Crawford, Texas detail. Every time the president goes to Crawford he has a Bar-B-Q for his security detail and he helps serve their meals. He sits with them, eats with them, and talks with them.. He knows each of them by their first name, and calls them by their first name as a show of affection. He always asks about their family, the names of which he always remembers. They believe that he is deeply and genuinely appreciative of their service. They could not like, love, or respect anyone more than President Bush. Most of them did not know they would feel this way, until they had an opportunity to work for him and learn that his manner was genuine and consistent. It has never changed sinc e he began his Presidency. He always treats them with the utmost respect, kindness, and compassion.
Please pass this on. It is important for Americans to have a true inside understanding of their President. And also the woman who is currently a candidate for president..
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Malchus, the Slave Whose Ear Was Cut Off
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Posted:Mar 23, 2008 11:56 am
Last Updated:May 10, 2024 3:21 am 543 Views
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by Dr. Ralph F. Wilson
When Jesus was betrayed by Judas and arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane, St. Peter cut off the ear of Malchus, a servant of the high priest, who was then healed by Jesus This is the story of Malchus...
"You are my ear, boy," says Caiaphas the High Priest to his servant Malchus. "Now go! Tell me what's happening." His words are sharp.
Malchus hasn't been a boy for years, but he is in no position to protest. In fact, Malchus takes pride in being servant to the most powerful Jew in Israel. When he ventures out of the temple into Jerusalem proper, people who know of him treat him with respect.
"We're so glad you're here, Malchus," they say. "How may we help you, Malchus?"
His special talent is listening, hearing. As reigning high priest in an intensely political environment, Caiaphas has many enemies. Malchus is indeed his ear in the city.
Lately, he has been dispatched to learn about Jesus, prophet of Nazareth, who is visiting for Passover. Malchus listens as Jesus teaches in the temple colonnade called Solomon's Porch.
"I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life," Jesus is saying. "No one comes to the Father, but by me."
What arrogance! thinks the servant. He moves among the crowd incognito, ear open for a seditious comment he can report back to his master.
"Come to me, all you who are weak and heavy laden," Jesus continues, "and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me. For I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls."
Strange, thinks Malchus. How does arrogance fit with gentleness and humility. Malchus sees arrogance and pride up close every day. What is this?
"You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them," Jesus is saying now.
Not only Gentile rulers are like that! reflects Malchus. All rulers want to flex their muscles and make others jump -- at least the rulers he's familiar with.
"Not so with you," Jesus continues. "Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your slave, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."
Strange words! Amazing words to this slave. So Jesus sees himself as a servant, not a would-be dictator. So different from Caiaphas!
"For the of Man came to seek and to save what was lost," Jesus concludes.
Who's lost? wonders Malchus.
Gradually, he begins to recognize the Teacher's followers. An astute observer of body language, Malchus focuses in on one man, Judas. Ambivalence is written all over him. So Malchus befriends him and arranges for a discreet meeting with Caiaphas.
Now it is night, Passover night, and Malchus goes on a hush-hush mission with temple soldiers -- and Judas. They move into the Garden of Gethsemane. Suddenly, they encounter someone and soldiers converge, their torches casting eerie dancing shadows among the gnarled olive trees. Malchus, breathing hard, catches up.
Jesus is standing, somehow calm amidst the confusion. "Who are you looking for?" he asks.
"Jesus of Nazareth," is the retort.
"I am he," says Jesus.
Now, with supreme hypocrisy, Judas kisses him to confirm the identification and the soldiers move in. One disciple flashes a sword and begins to brandish it wildly.
Malchus is struck, blood gushing from his head. The blade has sliced his ear clean off. He clutches at his head to stop the bleeding and drops to one knee. Blood is pouring down his neck, drenching his cloak. He begins to wobble, blackness is engulfing him.
Then a sudden warmth. Pain ceases, and the flickering light of the torches reappears. Jesus is kneeling before him, right hand covering his wound. All Malchus can see is the man's eyes filled with a gentleness and love that melt all enmity.
"You'll be all right, now," Jesus assures him.
A soldier jerks Jesus to his feet and the spell of the moment is broken. Malchus reaches up to feel his head. The ear is there -- all of it. His ear is whole, the bleeding stopped, only his blood-soaked cloak to indicate that there ever was a wound.
But the crowd has moved on now, torchlight diminishing, voices receding. Malchus is alone.
"You are my ear, boy."
Oh, yes! He must run to report what had happened. He must get up and run.
Somehow he cannot. The drive to please his master is gone. He cannot forget those gentle eyes boring into his soul. He cannot forget the hand on his face. He hears Jesus' words again, "You'll be all right now." Words of concern -- for him, an enemy, deeply involved in the plot to silence the Teacher. He is an agent of Jesus' arch enemy, yet Jesus heals him. It doesn't make sense.
Finally, Malchus gets to his feet and returns to the palace. The courtyard is astir with news of Jesus' capture. "The Nazarene is inside being interrogated right now," says one. "The elders have gathered to try him."
Malchus returns to his room and removes his stiffening cloak and tunic. He washes the caked blood from his shoulder, arm, and face, and soaks his hair and beard to dissolve the remaining blood. All the time he stares at his ear in the mirror. It is whole, undamaged, without pain.
What have I done to this kind, gentle man? Malchus asks himself.
The rest of the day is a blur. He follows the multitude to Pilate's quarters, hears the Roman's pathetic attempt at washing his hands of the matter, and goes behind as the crowd surges up the narrow streets to Golgotha, just outside the city. By the time Malchus arrives on the hilltop, Jesus is hanging from a cross, his body and face mutilated almost beyond recognition.
Malchus is aghast at what he has done, at his part in this ugly business. Jesus' words flood back, "… To seek and save the lost." Surely, I am lost, says Malchus. I have shed innocent blood.
Now Caiaphas arrives, puffing, strutting, taunting. So vengeful, so petty, so filled with hatred.
Malchus burns with shame. He kneels, but no one is watching as he pours out his agony and begs forgiveness. Thunder cracks. Wind blows. As Malchus strains his ear -- his whole ear -- he can hear Jesus' unbelievably gracious answer to his cry: "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."
Malchus rises. The man they call "the ear of Caiaphas" is different, for this slave's ear now listens for a new Master.
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A Broken Chrysalis
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Posted:Mar 23, 2008 11:52 am
Last Updated:Mar 23, 2008 4:17 pm 623 Views
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by Dr. Ralph F. Wilson
It's truly amazing what a girl will do for love.
My wife, Jean, and I lived next door to each other for ten years before we were married. My sophomore interest in high school biology had sparked a live caterpillar collection. Their home was a shoe box, covered with screen wire. When I went on vacation, Jean fed them faithfully with leaves from her willow tree. She hated it.
Finally the caterpillars stopped their incessant crawling and chewing, attached their tails firmly to a stick and lay still, sheathed with a shiny leather-like case. For weeks they seemed to be dead, unmoving in their tiny gray wrappings. I removed the screen and waited.
One by one, the gray cases began to twist and turn violently, and suddenly split open. A beautiful butterfly emerged. It stood for hours gently moving its wings, pumping fluids into them to extend them fully. Then the butterfly soared gracefully away on the breezes of summer, leaving nothing behind but a broken chrysalis to indicate its former bondage.
The chrysalis and butterfly suggest the empty graveclothes of our risen Lord. When Peter and John heard the news that the Lord's body was gone from the garden tomb, they ran all the way from their lodging. Peter entered the tomb and "he saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus' head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen" (John 20:6-7, NIV). The graveclothes once wrapped continuously around the body now lay collapsed, mute testimony that the corpse they had once shrouded had now emerged in life.
The bondage of death is broken. Christ is risen! We can face tomorrow with the assurance that Jesus is in fact alive to help us, to guide us, to give us hope for the future. And since He is living, our problems are not insolvable. The broken chrysalis of His graveclothes proclaims that Christ is Victor even over death. Because He lives, nothing is impossible.
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Easter memories.
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Posted:Mar 23, 2008 11:46 am
Last Updated:May 10, 2024 3:21 am 569 Views
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I do not really have a lot of them. When I was young I used to go to the Lutheran Memorial Camp just to be a part of the sunrise service. That was in the 70's.
After that it was just going to Church as normal. I just never really liked the holliday services. They were just too out of the norm.
I think it is good that People enjoy it. I just do not see any real purpose to it.
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