A Matter of Honor

What does honor look like to those who have none? Do those without integrity recognize those who do have integirty?

The reason I am writing about this today is simple. Yesterday, when Mitt Romney withdrew from the Presidential race, he did so with great passion, integrity and honor. The sincerity simply rang from his voice and emanated off him in waves.

Imagine my surprise when Newsweek correspondent, Howard Fineman, wrote an article in regards to Mitt Romney's withdrawal and speech:

Here lieth the campaign of Mitt Romney, victim of the mistaken belief that the only way to succeed in national Republican politics was to turn yourself into something you are not. Or maybe the campaign revealed what his closest friends never imaged him to be. They thought he was a decent classy guy. But maybe he really is a soulless throat-cutter who would do and say anything to win.

I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and say that he was a good fellow who didn't know enough about national politics and listened to people who gave him bad, cynical advice.

Wow, I was so enraged when I continued reading his column, which you may do here, but moreso, I was completely flabbergasted at his take on Governor Romney's campaign, his sincerity, his beliefs, his values and finally, his withdrawal speech. How could anyone, seeing what I saw yesterday and over the last year. Take a listen and tell me what you see:



I remember as the speech went on, I kept begging the televised Mitt Romney to please not quit. With emotions already running high because of the difficulties we've run into with Alvin's kidney transplant I was already at breaking point. I listened to him speak, and his words struck a chord in my heart and tears poured down my face as the Voice of the American Conservative Movement was silenced by those who do not recognize honor, integrity, strength and courage.

But let's take a look at honor, or lack thereof, and what it does for you.

An honorable person is trusted by friends and family. An honorable person will always do what is right, even at great personal cost. An honorable person will even lay down his life for that of family, friend or even a stranger. An honorable person is one that can be counted on, regardless of circumstance, to come through in the end. This, I believe, is Mitt Romney.

There was a time in history when an impugned honor resulted in a dawn meeting with dueling pistols or swords. Now, it seems as if honor is considered an archaic value of the past. But not to followers of Jesus Christ, honor has always been and always will be a critical value in those who wish to follow in the steps of our God.

And so to one with no honor it is inconceivable that another may have honor. This person would have no compunction in perpetuating lies and falsehoods because they are commonplace to him or her and therefore expected in all who cross their path. This is Howard Fineman. Through his tainted and liberal eyes he saw nothing of what I saw yesterday, nothing of what you just watched yourselves.

This is an eye opening experience. I always knew liberals looked at this differently from conservatives, but even I was shocked at how diametrically opposed these "truths" were.

Today, as Alvin and I were driving home from the hospital we were listening to Glenn Beck. A few days ago, he (Glenn Beck) did a fantastic monologue, completely infused with humor and sarcasm, on the "racism" of Hillary Clinton. You had to hear it to know that it was a joke from beginning to end. Alvin and I nearly wrecked the car we were laughing so hard as we listened to him. This morning, a young wanna-be journalist for The Lantern, a college newspaper for Ohio State University. Huh, the Buckeyes. Imagine my surprise. Dear little Frankie Blechschmidt (I'm sure he prefers to be called Frank) somehow completely missed that Glenn Beck is not only a radio talk show host, t.v. show host covering politics, live and culture with a wildly humorous slant and didn't notice the tongue-in-cheek way in which Glenn Beck did his schtick on Hillary Clinton. This is what dear little Frankie who is not ready to be let loose on the world wrote:

Beck's Slanders Antics Pollute Airwaves, TV

If you have wandered down High Street lately, you have most likely seen the advertisements for "Glenn Beck on Headline News" with the words "Cut the Crap" written in bold letters on the sides of COTA buses.

For those unfamiliar with Beck, he is the opinionated host of the heavily conservative radio show, "The Glenn Beck Program" and can be seen each weeknight on his CNN Headline News show.

Personally, I enjoy tuning in to his show every once in a while just to see what crazy, hypocritical things he has to say and because the media lacks well-balanced political opinion radio shows. Last week, however, he said something that made me fear for the well-being of voters and their exposure to slanted media coverage.

On his radio show Wednesday, Beck went on about a 20-minute rant on how Hillary Clinton is a racist and anyone who supports her or her policies is probably one too.

His proof? First, he said her policy to remove troops from Iraq is racist and only benefits whites because the Army is 71 percent white and only 11 percent black. Next, he said her policy to raise taxes on the rich clearly hurts minorities and the "American Dream" because seven of the top 10 richest professional athletes are black and one is Hispanic.

He also had similar outrageous claims of racism in regard to health care reform. Finally, he even went as far as to contend Hillary's lack of support for oil and coal companies has some underlying racist sentiment as well (because oil and coal are black).

Wow.

Although Beck repeatedly said he was merely providing the "facts," he is obviously ignoring the fact that, according to the 2000 census, 75 percent of the American population is white. Almost any policy could be construed as beneficial to whites. Furthermore, an overwhelming percentage of America's wealthiest people are white. Beck's use of professional athletes misrepresents the truth.

Now I am not trying to get on a soapbox to promote Hillary Clinton, but she was clearly being victimized. She is not a racist. Her policies are pretty sympathetic toward minorities, if you ask me.

In reality, Beck is just the latest in a long line of conservative spin doctors. These pundits will always be around and that is fine - it is a free country. I just hope anyone listening to his or similar shows during this election season will think critically before they start believing everything they hear. Most college students can easily find the flaws in these skewed arguments, but there are so many Americans who will believe anything.

With our nation's economy and foreign relations in shambles, voters should not cast their ballot based on their favorite pundit's opinion. It is unfortunate that whoever actually does win the Democratic primary will have to face a barrage of twisted arguments from people such as Beck. Here is an idea for you, Glenn: Why not talk about the Republican candidates' views on various issues rather than create myths about the policies of Democrats? I guess that would not build your ego or push your agenda enough.

It is clear Glenn has not "Cut the Crap" as his advertisements allege. There is still plenty of that. He has just cut out the facts and logic.

Frank Blechschmidt is a junior in economics and journalism. He can be reached at blechschmidt.3@osu.edu.

Did I mention that this piece by Glenn Beck was a parody? Did I mention it was comedy? Did I mention it was meant to make people roll in the aisles clutching their stomach as laughter rolls out of them in waves? Hence our near accident. Dear little Frankie didn't get that. How, how in the world did he miss the critical part of the whole piece? Why did The Lantern newspaper not stop, look and double check their sources before letting this child write this column. It makes them look like fools!

I smack my forehead at the sheer, undiluted stupidity displayed in this column. And yet once again, I am given proof that liberals have a filter that clearly eliminates any sense of reason, logic or truth and clearly humor, and leaves only illusions similar to the drug-induced LSD driven hallucinations of the sixties. And this is who we're supposed to turn the nation over to?

God help us.

And if you still don't know how funny Glenn Beck can be. Here's a picture I just pulled off his website called McCain and Abel.

And many thanks to Keeley at Wanderer in a Strange Land for this wonderful award. Keeley, you made my day. I have wondered often lately if I make any difference in this world at all. You gave me just the boost I needed. Thank you.

What would I do without all my Blogland friends. You all are truly amazing!

Wait 'til you read what I'm going to blog about tomorrow! Britain, in all their wisdom, have decided to install parts of Sharia law (such as death for adultery and harsh punishment for women who act, crud what was the phrasing, anyway, it essence gives a man the right to beat the hell out of his wife for talking back or kill his daughter for being raped. Oh yeah, I'm digging up all the details right now.