Steve Benson and the Whore of Babylon

"In the Benson household the enemies list included: Martin Luther King, who, I was taught, was a notorious liar and a rabble-rousing communist.... and, last but not least, John F. Kennedy, who, I was told as a fourth grader on the day of his assassination, got what he deserved."
http://ffrf.org/legacy/fttoday/1999/December99/benson.html

The above recalled by Steve Benson, grandson of the Mormon Pope Ezra Taft Benson.  While one of the Twelve LDS leading Apostles,  the elder Benson served in the Eisenhower cabinet.

I'd never hold the sins of someone's parents against him.   Unless, of course, he repeats them.


Steve Benson, AZ Republic, 9/23/2015

"It is also to the Book of Mormon to which we turn for the plainest description of the Catholic Church as the great and abominable church [i.e., the Whore of Babylon]."
-- Mormon Doctrine,  Bruce McConkie, LDS First Council of the Seventy.



Steve Benson, AZ Republic, 9/27/2015

In the vein of a noble tradition:

President Honors Disobedient, Disruptive Student

Ahmed Mohamed brought a "clock" in a box to high school in Irving, Texas, and got in trouble after he disrupted class and frightened the English teacher.  For some reason the President of the United States, in a knee JERK reaction, interjected himself, declared Ahmed a victim and invited him to the White House.



A disobedient, disruptive student should not be honored by the President of the United States. After showing the "clock" in a box to his science teacher, the science teacher told Ahmed: "Nice job. DO NOT SHOW IT TO ANYONE ELSE." Instead of obeying the science teacher little Ahmed went to English class and plugged the thing in and it started making noise, disrupting the English class and frightening the poor English teacher, who as one might expect had no idea what the contraption was and why it was being activated in English class.  Perhaps if the President and others did not encourage disobedient, disruptive students, something might get accomplished in the public schools. Students might even learn to read and write in English class....more

Moreover, it is "more probable than not" that bright young Ahmed's naivete concerning the problematic nature of his contraption is disingenuous, especially after he was warned by the science teacher not to show it to anyone else.  That the high school principal and district superintendent are Latino is omitted and for some reason irrelevant to this story, which is being positioned to highlight American racism.

As a parent with children in public schools and a member of their middle school's site council,  I'm fed up and infuriated by the disingenuous excuses students and their parents make for bad behavior. Just last month my young daughter went to the nurse's office with her friend who has diabetes and needed an insulin injection.   Besides insulin they also keep extra clothes there for children with dress code violations.   An irate lady teacher dragged in a boy "by the ear."  What did I do wrong wailed the boy.  The infuriated teacher yelled:  "You have a picture of a woman with naked breasts on your t-shirt!"  I could go on and on.

Is America Still a Colony?

Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina (CNN 9/3/15) thinks English is the official language of the United States.   Does Carly actually think America is still a colony and Queen Elizabeth is our monarch?

My family is filled with grandmas who spoke Spanish, Gaelic, Italian, Portuguese and German.   After three and a half years of high school Spanish, my son can't understand a word they say on Univision, the American Spanish language TV channel.   No one on the planet would understand my broken Gaelic.  The American version of English has worked out well as a common language for business, politics, and  the dinner table.   I've always considered English a foreign language, but thank God I didn't have to learn Portuguese!

But if you want to watch Univision or talk to grandma in Italian, knock yourself out.  It's a free country.  No offense Queen Elizabeth, you're a lovely lady, but that's why we fired your ancestor King George III in the first place.

Slainte (cheers)!

Michael Ignatieff: The Rude Guest

I am offended by Michael Ignatieff's rude rebuke of the United States for allegedly not helping Europe during its latest crisis.  Mr. Ignatieff himself is an immigrant, an ungracious guest of the United States who has a job among the privileged elite at Harvard University.

The United States has the most generous immigration policy in the world.  My children go to public schools with children who are recent immigrants and refugees that the U.S. has taken in from China, Somalia, Sudan, Eritrea, Latin America and other foreign lands.  There are over 41,000,000 foreign-born immigrants living in the United States today.  A million more are given visas to live in the U.S. permanently every year.   U.S. immigration laws are mostly guidelines and tens of thousands more show up each year without a visa and live here mostly unmolested once they navigate the border, their children receiving free education and health care.  Any child born in the U.S. is automatically a citizen no matter where their parents came from or how.   Does Europe offer that. Indeed, has Europe or Canada ever offered to help at all with the millions of Latin American immigrants clamoring at the U.S. door?

America is now in its second century of saving the world.   Too many Americans have given their lives in America's ill-fated wars of good intentions:  brothers, sons, schoolmates and friends.  Too often America has been called upon to save the world because Europe couldn't or wouldn't deal with problems it created.   Is it too much ask that Europe take the lead on dealing with a problem on its doorstep so that America can focus on fixing the very grave problems in the U.S. today, and deal with the millions already knocking on America's door...not Europe's.

Linda Valdez and Immigration: Argumentum Ad Hominem

Extolling Germany's offer to take in Middle East asylum seekers (America's Shame, 9/11),  Linda Valdez claims that "In the land of liberty [US], however, huddled masses from south of the border are not welcomed."  This is an odd, abusive claim by someone named Valdez who holds a coveted job at the Arizona Republic.  In fact her claim is very much at odds with reality.  The US has the most generous immigration policy on the planet.   There are 41,000,000 immigrants living in the US today.   Half are from south of the border.  Indeed, the US has the third largest Latino population of any country in the world.  The US gives permanent residency visas to a million new immigrants each year.  Tens of thousands more arrive each year without permanent visas (or visas of any kind) and live here unmolested once they navigate the border.   If their children are born here, they are automatically US citizens, regardless of their parents immigration status.  If they're poor, and most are, their children get free medical care.  Regardless of where born, all the children from "south of the border" receive free education at public expense.   What would make Ms. Valdez happy?  That the US have no borders at all.   Isn't the US pretty close to that anyway.  Why is it that "progressives", who rejoice in the rule of law when county clerks are jailed for not handing out marriage license, are appalled when the rule of law is applied to US immigrants?

In the meantime three of the Republican candidates for US president come from Latino families.  And my Arizona kids go to public school and church with immigrants from all over the world:  Latin America, Somalia, China, Sudan, Cameroon, Eritrea, the Philippines.  One's dad who went to Camelback High became a citizen last month.  It shouldn't be a Shocker.