It is a sad thing - albeit, not surprising - that Former Alaska governor Sarah Palin felt she needed to resign. She has been relentlessly hounded and harassed by the media since the day Senator John McCain asked her to be his Presidential running mate. One of the most recent attacks on Palin was by comedian David Letterman, which spawned a variety of articles and blog comments, mostly negative and mostly anti-Palin. This is an excruciatingly depressing commentary about the general mindset of our supposedly "Christian" nation....

The feud was initiated when CBS "Late Show" host David Letterman made a joke that Palin's daughter got "knocked up" by New York Yankee third baseman Alex Rodriguez during their recent trip to New York. Letterman also said the hardest part about the Palins’ trip to New York was "keeping [former New York Gov.] Eliot Spitzer away from her daughter."

Palin appeared on NBC's "Today" show on June 12, to speak with Matt Lauer concerning this issue. "He (Letterman) doesn't have to apologize to me," she said. "I would like to see him apologize to young women across the country for contributing to that thread that is throughout our culture that makes it sound like it's okay to talk about young girls that way."

We at The Refiner's Fire support Palin in her efforts to defend her family from the Letterman's of this world, and suggest that people remove the scales from their eyes and begin to realize that crude jokes against their fellow man are NOT acceptable. She is merely defending herself against yet another crude and insensitive attack; this one from someone who makes his living by making fun of people, telling stupid jokes and perpetuating the idea that dumb is "cool."

During the Presidential elections Palin and her family were forced to endure endless bashing by the media because of her then-pregnant teenaged daughter. Ironically, while Palin's "dirty laundry" was made a central issue of the elections, the sea of Black jokes about President Obama being sent around the world via email were mysteriously kept under wraps, along with any mention of the Muslim heritage that he proudly spoke of in his June 4, 2009 speech in Cairo.

For some reason it seems that most people do not feel that Palin has a right to defend her family. It has apparently never occurred to them how they would feel if it was their families being attacked. Instead, they are viewing this as a political issue, with Palin being "the bad guy" who is making "desperate attempts to remain in the limelight."

But this is nothing new; it's typical human nature. The Israelites and the "mixed multitudes" (i.e., Gentiles) who joined Moses in the exodus from Egypt, instead of being grateful that YHWH (Yahweh) had delivered them from a life of slavery and was in the process of teaching them how to live Godly lives while taking them to "the promised Land," began to whine and complain that the only thing He was giving them to eat was manna from heaven (see Numbers 11). Many didn't bother to see "the big picture"; they were only interested in the here and now and in satisfying their carnal desires.

Today most people still don't bother to view the "big picture"; they selfishly seek instant gratification and never-ending personal entertainment - no matter what they have to do, or whom they might offend or hurt in the process. YHWH (God) isn't even in the picture for most people. Hardly anyone remembers that YHWH gave us rules to live by, including the fact that we are to love our neighbors (Mark 12:28-31, John 13:34-35, Luke 10:25-37, Matthew 5:43-48, etc) - meaning, "Treat other people as you would like them to treat you" (Luke 6:31).

Everyone has an opinion; and today, hardly anyone holds back, especially since the advent of the Internet where it's safe to mouthe off without fear of being smacked in the teeth by someone who doesn't agree with you. Judging from the myriad sarcastic anti-Palin comments on this particular issue, it seems most aren't intelligent enough to recognize that Letterman's joke was insensitive and in extremely poor taste; and it suggested to the mindless masses that poking fun at someone else's expense is an "okay thing" to do. Not only was Letterman using crude sexual innuendo in reference to Palin's daughter; he was using off-color "street language" (the language used by the uneducated, dumbed-down, back-alley hoodlums who can't utter a complete sentence without the use of a cussword, and who often resort to violence in order express themselves) to describe the act of getting pregnant - which happens to be a gift from God.

Unfortunately, this is the very mindset of many Americans today. The growing popularity of television "reality shows" are proof of this as they show people functioning in their most basal, primitive states while they compete for the big prizes, resorting to cussing and physical fighting and other school-yard bully behavior. And the throngs, including many Christians, see nothing wrong with this....

Everything God has deemed "good" is being viewed as "bad" today, and vice-versa. The world is truly teetering on the brink of insanity in its quest to make the abnormal normal and the unacceptable accetable. "Tolerance" is the buzzword of the day.

Unfortunately, those supposedly "tolerant" types can't find it in their hearts to be tolerant of those who just want to fight back against the Letterman's of this world, those loudmouths who use their celebrity status to make fun of, or harass others.

The end times as described in the Books of Daniel and Revelation are upon us...but not many seem to realize this - or much less, care.