Shazam!

Gomer Pyle, USMC, in his 80s, just got married to some guy from Hawaii; some player from Notre Dame had a dead virtual girlfriend who really wasn't alive; and the media are reporting that we've been out of the recession since March of 2009. Well as Gomer would have said, "Golly!"

I really don't give a flip who Jim Nabors, who played Gomer, marries and can't really find a reason to understand why Notre Dame's Manti Te'o's private online non-love-life matters, either. But then again, as we enter 2013, let's consider all of the crazy things we never thought people would talk or care about.

For example, there are now more "Real Housewives of Wherever" shows on cable than one could ever keep track of. And each crowd has less class than the one before it. A self-proclaimed "redneck" family with a girl named Honey Boo Boo is tearing up the TV ratings, and some other bunch of similarly situated folks from West Virginia are challenging them with some other show in which the real-life stars are trying to be more backward.

Lance Armstrong has confessed to doping (shocker) in order to win that riveting sport of bicycle racing, and now we have a whole new cast of characters who are allegedly guilty of using some type of performance enhancing drugs to win at -- you guessed it -- Major League Baseball.

The president of the United States makes no secret of his belief in global warming, redistributing wealth and pushing aggressive gun control. He wants to grant amnesty to illegal immigrants but really doesn't think we should get serious about border control, which of course is how we got into the entire mess in the first place.

And then there is that bubbling and clearly almost aged recovery we've been in. I don't know about you, but I saw very little if any evidence of it. As best I can tell, the "recovery" was basically made up of endless new apartment projects that rose from the inner cities to the suburbs so that all the folks who lost their homes or couldn't buy one could begin a permanent march toward the joy of paying rent.

I haven't bothered to check, but I'm sure the papers are proclaiming that crime is down, although in the past five months about every area near me has been hit by bandits and thieves, where at one time no one could even imagine such activity.

But of course we all know that gun violence is now suddenly out of control and that we absolutely must get weapons out of the hands of everyone but those in the business of stealing and not registering them, so they can have a clear shot at all of us without the threat of self defense.

Thank goodness we have another riveting Super Bowl to keep us all entertained, and I'm sure the halftime talent won't lip-sync, just like Beyonce didn't lip-sync at that in-your-face inauguration. And I'm sure that those multimillion dollar Super Bowl ads will be just as witty as ever and likely cause us all to race from our chair and purchase two times as many bottles of beer or chips or whatever than we would otherwise. By the way, can you remember who won the Super Bowl last year? How about two years ago?

And we can all sleep better at night knowing that John Kerry is now our secretary of state, right? Between Kerry and the president's nominee for defense secretary, Chuck Hagel, I'm guessing we should be headed toward complete unilateral disarmament within a matter of months.

Well, at the very least we've got the Republican Party around to save the day. John McCain can teach us all how to compromise with anyone on any issue at a moment's notice. And for those who are completely uncompromising, enjoy being part of that all-white, all-male permanent Republican minority.

I know, the tone of this whole thing is sarcastic and really should be more cheerful. But, hey, we live in a day in which zombies and vampires are the hottest trend, so it should be trendy to focus on the dark side.

The bottom line is we have had no economic recovery in this country, our entertainment programs honor just plain ignorance, and the politicians and their pals make very little sense. Our liberty is drifting away, and we all got a nice little tax hike in the form of the payroll deduction tax increase in that effort to "spare the little guy" from the "fiscal cliff."

Looking at all this crazy stuff, I guess we can repeat what Gomer also used to say: "Shazam!"

And isn't it amazing, all those years ago, he was a homo, and it wasn't news?

Yeah. A LOT of news gets surpressed...

Genesis 13:13

Now the men of Sodom were wicked and were sinning greatly against the LORD.

Genesis 18:20-21
20. Then the LORD said, "The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous
21. that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know."

Genesis 19:4-7
4. Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom--both young and old--surrounded the house.
5. They called to Lot, "Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them."
6. Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him
7. and said, "No, my friends. Don't do this wicked thing.

Psalms 12:8 The wicked freely strut about when what is vile is honored among men.

Ain't this just FABULOUS?? More?

Isaiah 3:9 The look on their faces testifies against them; they parade their sin like Sodom; they do not hide it. Woe to them! They have brought disaster upon themselves.

2 Peter 2:13b Their idea of pleasure is to carouse in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their pleasures while they feast with you.

Ezekiel 16:49-50
49. "`Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy.
50. They were haughty and did detestable things before me. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen.

2 Peter 2

1. But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them--bringing swift destruction on themselves.
2. Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute.
3. In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.
4. For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment;
5. if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others;
6. if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly;
7. and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men
8. (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)--
9. if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment, while continuing their punishment.
10. This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the sinful nature and despise authority. Bold and arrogant, these men are not afraid to slander celestial beings;
11. yet even angels, although they are stronger and more powerful, do not bring slanderous accusations against such beings in the presence of the Lord.
12. But these men blaspheme in matters they do not understand. They are like brute beasts, creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and destroyed, and like beasts they too will perish.
13. They will be paid back with harm for the harm they have done. Their idea of pleasure is to carouse in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their pleasures while they feast with you.

But there IS hope!!!

1 Corinthians 6:9-11

9. Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived:
Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders
10. nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.
11. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

If you could NOT change, you would be in most pitiful shape...

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.