Norman Oklahoma Bookstore to host Tom Spence book signing

Thirty days has September, April—oh wait—April 30^th is the big book signing event in Norman, Oklahoma.  That’s right, on the very last day of this month, western Oklahoma author Tom Spence, will be selling and signing his books at Hastings Book Music & Video in  Norman, Oklahoma on Saturday, 30 April 2016 from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m.  Hastings is located at 2300 West Main Street in Norman, Oklahoma.  

Tom will have a variety of books published by Tate Publishing.  Two of the most hard-hitting books, especially for those in western Oklahoma, are Throw Away Kids and PoMo Poverty.  In these companion selections, Tom goes beyond identifying society’s problems; he brings us to solutions that don’t wait on the government to fix or ignore the problems.

Tom is an ordained minister in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church and the pastor of the congregation in Burns Flat, Oklahoma. 

As a pastor, he returned this past summer from his second trip to Africa to train pastors and church leaders in Kenya and Uganda.  He has served as moderator of the Red River Presbytery but perhaps is best known as the guy who gives out wristbands that read:  GOD LOVES YOU – LOVE ONE ANOTHER.

He is a retired U.S. Marine Corps officer that served in all four Marine Divisions, including a tour training reservists.  He has served in Iraq and Kuwait, Japan, Korea, the Philippines, aboard Marine bases on the east and west coasts of the United States, and has a substantial amount of service afloat.  His final tour was as a program manager in charge of maintenance and modifications of Marine Corps ground training systems and simulators around the globe.

Tom served as both student and instructor at the Marine Corps Base, Quantico, Virginia—the Crossroads of the Corps, and proudly boasts that he successfully avoided a tour in the Pentagon for his entire career.  Tom wrote two books specifically about the Marine Corps.  The first was a first person collection of observations and anecdotes titled Sea Stories.  The other was Christianity for Marines.

Tom will also have with him, two unique books with fast moving dialogue where two men—The Conversation—and two women—Going Up—drop their defense mechanisms and actually talk about important things.

Please join Tom on Saturday 30 April 2016, buy a few books, and get a cup of coffee or something to eat at this one stop for everything store

Check out this review  and interview conducted by Serious Reading for Tom’s novel set against an end times background—Even the Elect.

Book Signing by Tom Spence

Hastings

 2300 West Main, Norman Oklahoma

30 April 2016

1:00 – 3:00 p.m.

It's time to send Trump to Republican Boot Camp

Who’d a thunk it?  Trump could win the nomination.  Right now he can’t win the election, not because Hillary or Bernie has anything more to offer, but because it is really hard for the mainstream Republican Party to get behind Trump.  Clearly half of the party wants someone else.

All of the candidates have pledged to support whomever wins the party’s nomination but there is support and there is lukewarm support.  Right now it is very hard for half of the party to get behind Trump but he may be the party’s nominee.

What are the viable options?

The open convention will eventually produce a nominee.  That does not mean that the party will get behind that nominee.  The nominee needs the enthusiastic support of the party.

So what is the party to do?

It is time to listen to the Americans that are coming to the Republican Party and to think out of the box.  It is time to consolidate, coordinate, and indoctrinate.  Republicans must get the party behind the new Donald Trump.

Who?  What?

It is time to send Mr. Trump to Republican boot camp.  He has the best chance of winning the party’s nomination but isn’t really a Republican.  He has brought some new issues and new people into the party but he has also alienated part of the party and the country.

Republican boot camp refines the best that Trump has and discards the worst of the man’s traits.

Boldness—by all means that needs to be refined and pumped up.

Arrogance—confidence is one thing, hubris and arrogance are not traits that anyone wants in a president.

Deal Maker—for all of his faults, Mr. Trump will not want to face four years of gridlock with congress and surely will be constitutionally checked if he tries to circumvent the lawmakers by those detested executive orders.  Encourage him to bring on everything he has as a deal maker.

Put downs—these need to go, especially for various ethnic groups and the disabled, and yes—even the media.  If you can’t handle the heat from the debate moderator, you sure won’t fare well with Putin.  Personal, ethnic, and other demeaning quips have to go.

Immigration—let him build the wall if he has to, but he needs to be more inclusive on the real solution.  Not every Republican wants every illegal immigrant run out of the country.  Not every Democrat wants an easy amnesty package.  The immigration solution for our nation of immigrants lies somewhere in between for the immediate fix; then there must be a workable and enforceable policy for going forward.

Commander in Chief—none of the candidates have ever been a commanding officer or even had military service.    The nation has real enemies.  Big talk for campaign sound bites doesn’t kill the enemy.  Colorful metaphors do not send terrorists running for cover.  Cavalier comments do not inspire victory.  The nominee, and in this model Trump is presumed as that person, needs to get better military counsel.  Trump need to be under the tutelage of General James Mattis for a week.  The retired general may summon as many assistants as he deems necessary, but the campaign stops for a week in April just to get this most crucial part right.  This is a time without speeches or interviews.  This is training. 

Taxes—the other candidates put more effort into this.  Let them synergize a little and come up with the best of everything.

Debt—the other candidates put more effort into this.  Synergize!

Obamacare—it is easy to bash it but before it is just wiped off the face of the earth, there had better be something on the table that is more than what it replaced.  People wanted it because what came before was not effective for most people.  Some of these people were fooled into thinking it was going to be something for nothing but enough were discontent with the state of health care in our nation to elect representatives that enacted this law.  Republicans need to be the party that addresses this issue with eyes wide open.  The founding fathers had wisdom and vision beyond anything the world has known before, but health care was not even the vaguest of concepts when they drafted what many in this party hold a sacred documents.  Conservative principles with creative and resourceful legislation that honors individual and state rights can still address this issue.  The party is running out of time to bash Obama and Obamacare.  Once they are gone the question becomes, what do you have that works?  A new administration will soon need to address the healthcare needs of the nation.  The Democrats would say that healthcare is a right.  Just saying, no, it’s not is not a solution.  This is a big one and the individual bickering and vitriol among the candidates needs to stop and post-Obamacare solutions for the nation need to be ready to go.

Christian base—it doesn’t matter if the Pope thinks Trump is a Christian or not, but it would go a long ways towards assuring this very viable part of the party if he was more conversant about this faith.  He needs to understand that being a tough guy before your enemies is one thing but the command that Jesus gave to those who follow him was to love one another.  That one needs to be evidenced more.  Many think that makes Christians wimps.  Not the case.  We are the ones who speak the truth in love to each other so we can grow in grace.  We need to teach our presumptive candidate how to do this.  If necessary, I will spend two days with him.

Efficacy—if Trump wins the presidency and the Democrats control the legislature, we should not expect much to improve.  The matter of the Republican nominee needs to be settled on 16 March 2016.  Unless there is a major turning of the tide from the current trend, everyone needs to get behind Mr. Trump and Mr. Trump needs to undergo a makeover.  He needs to keep those things that are bringing in new Republicans and get rid of those things that alienate and denigrate American.  That is not who the Republican Party is.  The efficacy—the ability to effect desired change—comes only with a Republican majority in both houses.  The party needs to get beyond executive bickering and bolster bids for the legislature.

There are surely other areas but this needs to be 15 days in April so that by May every Republican is looking forward to a November victory and has a candidate that they can support.  Paradigms shift. Who adjusts first and most effectively?

Establishment Republicans need to open their eyes to the discontentment in doing the same thing over and over.  That dog don’t hunt.  Get the message.  That’s why you can’t rack up enough votes to win.  Most didn’t see Trump coming.  Then didn’t believe he would last this long.  Now he is a reality and likely the Republican nominee.

The traditional model is that you become a Republican before you become a Republican candidate.  That model is no longer in play.  Trump will very likely be the party’s nominee.

The question is, will he be a Republican candidate with a bit of the wildcard in him or a wild card with just enough Republican seasoning to get on the ticket?

Republicans can fight for the nomination to the bitter end and get the latter, or rally and organize as Republicans have traditionally done for decades and get behind the former.

It is time to get behind Donald Trump, hold a 15 day Republican boot camp in April, and win the election.

Let’s not discuss the four year alternative.

In the shuffling madness...

I’m seeing and hearing all of the political rancor reach all time highs, perhaps it’s an all time low, and I am thinking that it should all be accompanied by Jethro Tull’s Locomotive Breath.

In the shuffling madness of the locomotive breath…

Between offering everything for free (paid for by 12 rich people and the Department of Defense) and Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire, I wonder if we can sink any lower.

I say elect them all.  Send them all to Washington D.C. and then build a wall around them and cut off all communication to the outside world.

America is obviously divided as to which direction we need to go.  That comes with attempting this thing call self-government, but somewhere along the way we have lost the ability to communicate in a civil manner.

In exchange for what we have lost, we have gained the knack of appealing to the lowest common denominator.  People cheer for kicking people out and keeping them out, getting something for nothing, or just blowing somebody to bits.  The rodomontade of Trump, the evasiveness of Clinton, the spitting contests of the also ran republicans, and the mindless following of the Bern has left us at a loss for this election year.

By the time we get down to just two, we will wonder--are there no more men or women of courage and character left in this nation?

Has our process become so ineffective that acrimony must prevail?

I say no!  I say that courage and character can win in our electoral process.  I am looking for the first candidate to confess his or her sins and commit to a campaign commensurate with the presidency that is promised if victorious.

Does anyone in the field have the backbone for this?  Now is the time to step forward.

It is time to form the next administration...

I am not sure who our next president will be.  I can’t say that I am thrilled about any of the leading contenders.  That doesn’t mean that we can’t start getting the new government organized sans whoever emerges as victor.

What?

Hear me out on this…

President—Usually by now I have a fair picture of whom I will likely support.  This year is surely an exception.  George H.W. Bush is only 91, gets around on a scooter, but is eligible for another term.  I wonder if he would give it a go one more time.  He was also the last commander in chief with any active duty military experience.

I am not sure who will get the chief executive position, but we could start forming up the teams for taking care of business at the end of this election mess.  Here is what I propose.  If you throw your hat in the ring for president, you also accept these terms and conditions:  I will serve in any capacity that my country needs for the next 4-6 years.  If you can’t handle that, your basic enlistment oath or oath of office as a military officer will surely scare you out of commanding men and women who commit to so much more.

None of the top contenders have any military experience.  It is not a requirement but it sure does help.  When I hear Cruz talk about carpet bombing or Trump try to act like he has any military acumen every bone in my body aches.  Clinton is probably the most disrespectful and patronizing of all the candidates when it comes to the military.  Sanders thinks we can balance the budget by cutting the Department of Defense.  I would really like to see him live as a soldier or Marine for one year, improvising when the materials you need are not provided, and believing that you can do anything with nothing because you have done so much with so little for so long.  These folks—as well as some others—probably don’t have much going for them as far as being commander in chief, but they might offer something of value to the country in another capacity.

We have some standing positions and some positions associated with special tasks that need to be accomplished quickly.  I don’t like the term Czar so I will use quarterback instead.  It’s more American.

VP – General Jim Mattis.  Just because.  We want him a heartbeat away from being president.  Our enemies do not.  Let’s run him for VP on both tickets.  Every asset that we have will be engaged.  This man will do great things in that environment.

Chairman, Joint Chiefs – General Joe Dunford keeps his job through the first term of the new president.

National Security Team – Dr. Ben Carson.  We need some out of the box thinking in this area.  I don’t think he has the gonads to stand toe-to-toe with Putin and tell him “that dog don’t hunt,” but he can give our next president more viable options in dealing with legitimate world leaders as well as the thugs masquerading as one.

Budget Quarterback—Colin Powell.  He doesn’t cut his own party any slack when they are full of it and won’t let the Democrats spend us into oblivion.  Here’s how this will work.  For every $700 million worth of budget cuts, you may add $1 of tax somewhere.  Put it all on the table until there is a plan to get rid of the deficit and do the things that are truly important.  National defense is exempt from cuts for the first four years.  Once we have knocked the terrorists down to size, then even this can go on the table.  Position is terminated after 6 years.

 Budget Running Backs—Rand Paul and Bernie Sanders.  Let’s hear both extremes and everything in between, but there is no gridlock.    Position terminated after 2 years.

Chief Trade Negotiator—Donald Trump.  OK, he said he was good at this.  Let him prove it.  Press release and press conferencing authority withheld.

Representatives and 1/3 of the Senators—elect anyone but the incumbent.  You had your chance and chose gridlock and acrimony.  Go home.  We need to do this for the next 12 years.  Let’s get into true representative government and out of the professional politician business.  If you are elected, you know that you have 2 or 6 years respectively to serve your country before some fresh blood and fresh thinking shows up to take the torch.

Health Care Quarterback—Joe Biden.  With two Governor appointed representatives from each state and territory and 50 at large experts selected from a group of volunteers by the Quarterback, these people will put together healthcare  legislation that replaces all previous legislation and sits well with at least 75% of Americans.  This needs to begin in May 2016 so it can be enacted in May 2017.

National Goals

·         ISIS defeated in 2 Years.  Every other terrorist threat by the 3^rd year.

·         Develop a Health Care System that is good for American and can be afforded by any American willing to work.  Time limit:  3 months.  That’s right, we have debated this for too long.  Let’s find what is right for these United States of America.  This team can begin before the election.

·         Budget balanced in 6 months to include a 5 year debt free plan.  Budget quarterback to stay in place for 6 years to deal with audibles that must be called from time to time.

·         We will take care of our veterans with special attention to those who served in harm’s way.

Lead, follow, or get out of the way.  We have had more than enough grandstanding to last multiple lifetimes.  You are either getting us to the solutions that we need or you can get out of the way and watch others do what you said couldn’t be done.

Is there more to be done than this short list?  Yes, but this is our focus from 1 February 2017 until America is right side up again.

Remember, if you threw your hat in the ring to be the chief executive then you should be willing to take any assignment that your country deems necessary.   If you served in the military, you might just get called up one more time.  If you have skills that can get us out of this mess that is 21^st century America, then you should be compelled as a patriot to take on whatever is needed.

It’s time to American Up!  Let’s get organized now and start doing the things that we need to do.

Whomever--Mattis--That's the Ticket!

Here is the deal on the 2016 Presidential Election.  It really is this simple.

The candidate that can get General Jim Mattis to sign on as his running mate wins and will be safe from terrorist attack.  Every terrorist would know with certainty that they are just a heartbeat away from annihilation.

My contemplation as to how to vote is complete.  I am voting for Whomever-Mattis.  That’s the ticket.

Semper Fidelis!

Must we always demonize our political candidates?

The images of Donald Trump and swastikas and other Nazi images have suddenly become ubiquitous online.  I will admit that Trump is not my favorite candidate and I don’t like much of what he says, but must we demonize him?  Obama was portrayed as the Anti-Christ.  Again, I don’t care for his political and personal views, but must we demonize him?

This whole line of characterization is not about the politicians but about our impotence as a nation to exercise the blessings of liberty with any degree of maturity.  It is no wonder that democracies seldom survive more than 200 years.

I would like to remain the single exception to the demise of self government.  Is anyone ready to be a responsible member of the electorate?

Let’s set aside our pettiness, acrimonious bickering, and national vitriol and get back on track preserving the blessings of liberty for ourselves and our posterity.  Let’s be the people we are blessed to be as Americans!

Narcissist in Chief?

Donald Trump did not attend what was the 7^th Republican televised debate.  He made sure that would be the news of the day and that everyone would be talking about him.  He held an event for veterans.  Good for him.  The problem is that Mr. Trump always does what is good for him. 

This time veterans were there to be manipulated for his glory.  He is trying to do the same with Christians but the reality is that it is all about him all the time.  Washington has enough narcissists already.  We surely don’t need a narcissist in chief.

Yes, Trump has donated to veterans causes before but to use his own words as he addressed his previous social and business relationship with Hillary Clinton, he expected something in return.

I am not thrilled about any of the candidates from either party.  Each has their strength and weaknesses but Trump is consistent in everything being all about him.  I expect to see his concern for veterans and Christians or whatever group he is courting on a given day to fade away as soon as it doesn’t satisfy his grandiose view of himself.