Dad opened the door and I gave him an ear-full. My 84 year old black dad who is a minister in Maryland called me here in Florida.  He said Maryland is considering passing a same sex marriage law. Assuming his Christian denomination would oppose such a law, Dad called his Bishop regarding info for a planned protest.

To Dad’s shock and horror, the Bishop said they decided not to protest the law because several of their ministers support the law. Then, the Bishop added, “Don’t worry Rev. Marcus, you will not be forced to marry anyone you do not want to marry.”

I told Dad the Bishop was incorrect about him not being forced to perform gay marriage ceremonies. I explained the left’s tactic of “incrementalism.”  For example. Smoking went from being confined to the back of the airplane to being banned from airports. I guarantee that after Maryland passes their same sex marriage law, eventually all ministers will be forced to comply with the law or lose their license.  Dad could even be sued for discrimination or charged with a hate-crime.

Dad told me about the gay lobby fighting every year at their annual conference for his denomination to approve ordaining gay clergy. He said despite several defeats, they come back stronger every year. I told Dad liberals are relentless in their efforts to further their agenda. They never go away. Dad said, “I am just following what the Bible says. And yet, they call me homophobic.”

I told Dad, “phobic” implies mental illness. Think about that. If you disagree with men having sex with men, the left says you are mentally ill and in need of therapy.

Dad is a lifelong Democrat and Obama fanatic.  I flooded Dad with examples of the anti-Christian/anti-God culture war that is going on in our country.  I informed Dad that the majority of those who are fighting to dismantle everything he believes to be right, live in “his” Democratic Party. Dad listened.

Lloyd Marcus, Proud Unhyphenated American

Last week, we recorded the choir portion of my new soon to be released patriotic song. The vibe of the session was awesome!

Music master producer/recording engineer, Frank Starchak, displayed his typical brilliance. I auditioned singers for the project…selecting seven singers to sound like 700.

Before the session, singers emailed me asking, “How can I hear the song to rehearse?” I laughed. Frank does not work like that. As a matter of fact, the singers did not hear the full song until the end of the session.

Frank is an extremely kind, gentle and patient slave driver in the recording studio. I felt a little sorry for the singers because I knew what was coming. Frank pushed each singers ability to hear notes correctly; maximized and stretched their vocal talents. My Magnificent Seven Singers met the challenge, each singing a ga-zillionth extremely difficult parts including various harmonies, octaves and keys changes. Yes, Frank worked them extremely hard and they loved every minute of it.

At the end of the session, Frank did a rough mix of the full song to allow the singers to hear what they had accomplished. The result was breathtakingly beautiful, moving Kelly Manke to tears. Though exhausted, each singer said they had a ball! For a few of them, it was their first time working in a recording studio like that. It was challenging and fun.

Special thanks to my Magnificent Seven Singers: Steve and Anita McPherson, James, Tim and Kelly Manke, Audrey Rumsey and Linly Bennett – seven singers recorded to sound like a seven hundred voice mass choir. Wow!

We ended the session holding hands as Steve McPherson led us in a prayer of thanks for a very special wonderful record session.

I can hardly wait for the release date for the world to hear my new patriotic song titled, “We Are Americans”.

Lloyd Marcus, Proud Unhyphenated American

Our 40th president’s birthday earlier this month caused me to reflect upon how Ronald Reagan impacted my life.

In 1981, I was a young singer/songwriter, clueless about politics, when Ronald Reagan won the presidency. An event planner asked me to perform at an Inaugural Ball.

Reporters asked, “Why are you here and why do you like Reagan?” I could not help noticing the baffled looks on their faces upon hearing my reply. “I like Reagan because every time I hear this man speak, I feel good about my country and myself.”

I later learned that as a black person, I was suppose to hate Reagan. Democrats said Reagan’s talk about welfare reform was “code” for his racism and hatred of blacks. As I said, I was young and clueless regarding politics, codes and such. And yet, in my gut, I knew Reagan was a good man.

My aunt hated Reagan. She said, “Reagan wants to cut my check!” Even as a non-politically informed person, I noticed my Aunt’s bold and arrogant sense of entitlement in her voice when she said, “My check!” Here is a woman who from as far back as I can remember lived in the projects on welfare. I do not ever remember her having a job. In fairness, if my Aunt had a disability which prevented her from working, I never knew of it, as it was not visible. She had five kids and a boyfriend, but no husband.

Her daughter got pregnant really early out of wedlock with both the new teen mother and her baby adding to the welfare roll. My Aunt’s drug using sons, my cousins, impregnated girls out of wedlock, repeating the welfare government dependency cycle.

I overheard my mom commenting to my dad about how her sister practically lived in the Johns Hopkins Hospital Emergency room. At the slightest cough, off my Aunt went with her child to the emergency room. But why shouldn’t she? It was free.

So, you can understand my being taken back a bit hearing my young seemingly healthy Aunt who had lived her whole life, totally dependent on government, trashing Reagan for daring to suggest she do something for her freebies or receive a little less.

Over the years, I have grown to have compassion for my Aunt. Our lives are a manifestation of what we believe. Tragically, my Aunt had little or no confidence in her ability to succeed in America. I believe the Democratic Party promoting that America is a racist country and blacks can survive only via democrat legislated government programs contributed to my Aunt’s distorted view of her country; the greatest land of opportunity on the planet for all who choose to go for it.

Ronald Reagan inspired me to believe in myself and America.

I believe you can tell a lot about the character of a person based on how they treat “the little people”; people who can not advance their career or social standing.

On TV, a former secret service agent told a great story about Ronald Reagan confirming, in my mind, Reagan’s greatness. The agent said he and Reagan had been out horseback riding. Upon their return, Reagan always prepared his horse to be put away. On this occasion, due to Alzheimer’s disease, Reagan could not remember the procedure for putting away his horse. The agent felt bad for Reagan and was visibly upset. Reagan feeling compassion for the agent said, “It’s OK.”

Rather than feeling pity for himself, Reagan chose to comfort his bodyguard/secret service agent. I found the secret service agent’s story quite moving and a window into Reagan’s character. The Bible speaks about Jesus, the master, washing his servant’s/disciple’s feet. I believe Reagan’s attempt to comfort the secret service agent was, in essence, washing his servant’s feet; thus, displaying Reagan’s greatness as a leader. Inspired, I penned a tribute song to Ronald Reagan, respectfully borrowing Mrs. Reagan’s nickname for the president titled, “Ronnie Stayed The Same”.

Despite all of his landmark achievements, Ronald Reagan never forgot who he was. Reagan knew how to connect with us, the American people and we connected with him. Mr President, we miss you.

Lloyd Marcus, Proud Unhyphenated American

Along with their ever-present accusation that anyone who criticizes or disagrees with America’s first black president is a racist, class envy is the centerpiece of Obama’s re-election campaign.

It is extremely disheartening that the president of the United States believes he can win the votes of a majority of Americans by exploiting the sin of covetousness and hatred for the rich. In every speech, Obama claims that the rich are not paying their fair share. Please excuse my frankness, but Obama is lying.

Here are the facts.

Half the country — yes, I said half — do not pay taxes at all. Zero! The majority of federal income taxes (70%) are paid by the top 10 percent of income-earners. http://bit.ly/pgh5Wh As for Obama’s claim that we can solve America’s financial problems by forcing the rich to pay more, it is despicable, manipulative, and hate-inspiring nonsense. There are only 8,000 Americans who earn over 10 million dollars per year. If Obama confiscated all their money, it would finance our government for only 24 days. Then what?

What group of Americans will Obama attack next by trashing and demonizing them to gain public approval to confiscate everything for which they have worked hard, suffered, sacrificed and risked all for “government” redistribution?

Our national debt has tripled since Obama has been in office. Now, I know that that does not mean a lot to most Americans. Well, allow me to put it in perspective. Every minute, we spend 3 million dollars that we do not have, borrowing most of it from China. Every minute! Our debt is bankrupting the future and enslaving our great-great-great-grandkids.

So, you can understand why I find Obama’s rants about the rich not paying enough and how people will die unless Republicans raise the debt ceiling so disingenuous and unsupportable.

But there is a much greater issue at hand. Who does this man (Obama) think, we, the American people, are? The Obama administration and his media minions are trying to convince us that the entitlement-minded OWS lowlifes represent “mainstream Americans.” They are lying.

I represent mainstream Americans. I began working when I was about ten years old. I had a paper route and worked pulling copper out of old motors for my neighbor across the street, Mr. Buddy-Roy, in his backyard. At 15, my dad got me a work permit, and I acquired my first real job during the summer at Park Sign Co. in Baltimore. There I learned how to silk-screen signs.

Interesting sidebar: experience prompted Berry, the owner of Park Sign, to always get his money upfront for political signs, because if the candidate did not win the race, Berry would not get paid.

Back to my point. Like me, most Americans do not believe they are entitled to the fruits of a fellow American’s labor. And yet, this is who Obama thinks we are and desires us to be.

We all remember our classmates who smoked dope, cut classes, and dropped out versus the kids who studied, worked hard, and became doctors. According to Obama, in his “community organizer” way of thinking, the Democratic party, and the Occupiers, the kid who became a doctor is a selfish, greedy rich person who achieved his success on the backs of the poor dope-smoking dropouts.

Please do not think I am saying everyone who is poor smokes dope. Reasonable people get my point.

Obama and company have launched a war on achievement, portraying the highly successful as selfish villains and everyone else as lowly peasant-saints who are suffering because the rich are hogging it all. Clearly, Obama is exploiting man’s susceptibility to the sin of covetousness. And to all you Christians who buy into Obama’s “fairness” garbage, shame on you. Jesus was not a socialist.

When Judas scolded Mary for pouring her expensive ointment on Jesus’ feet rather than selling it and giving the money to the poor, Jesus scolded Judas, saying, “The poor you will have with you always.” In essence, Jesus was saying there will always be those who smoke dope, cut classes, and drop out of school. Liberals’ relentless efforts to legislate equal outcomes never work. For one thing, humans are diverse in their desires.

The Obama and company vision for America is incompatible with what has made us great. Do we really want to become a nation where government dictates and caps wealth, which they redistribute equally? Heck no!

Freedom to be all one can be is the magic ingredient which has made us the most extraordinarily successful nation on the planet. America is a guy laboring in his basement to build a better mousetrap in an effort to improve the fortunes of his family and himself. Great wealth is his reward for providing rodent relief to millions. If the Obama administration confiscates huge chunks of the successful mousetrap-maker’s profits, what incentive is there for him to invest more time, funds, blood, sweat, and tears to improve his product?

It is extremely depressing and sad to think of our great country becoming as Obama sees us — a nation of entitlement-minded losers, all dependent and helpless without government. As I stated, that is not who we are as a people. We are Americans!

Incredibly, we have a leftist president who simply does not get it. We must vote Obama out in November 2012.

Lloyd Marcus, Proud Unhyphenated American

A new weekly feature from Lloyd Marcus…

Lloyd’s Life Lessons: Forgive!

I have learned that forgiveness is extremely important. In my youth, I was care giver for an elderly neighbor dying of Cancer. On his death bed, he uttered, “I have forgiven my brother”.

The night before my mom died, she phoned a relative and forgave her ending a 40 year grudge. Apparently, God’s children are lead to forgave before leaving this world.

Sometimes forgiveness can be impossible in our own strength and requires divine help.

Years ago, a couple were house sitting for us while Mary and I were out of town. Mary owned and loved an expensive Blue Fronted Amazon parrot. Mary trained the bird to sit on her shoulder. She took it to fairs and festivals; always a crowd-pleaser.

Before leaving town, Mary specifically instructed our house sitters not to take her parrot outside.

Upon returning home, we saw all our neighbors outside looking up into the trees. Elke, the wife half of our house sitting couple had taken Mary’s parrot outside to show-off. Mary’s beloved bird was gone; it flew away.

Heartbroken, angry and devastated, Mary hated Elke. Forgiveness was impossible.

While as a Christian Mary knew she had to forgive Elke and despite much praying about it, Mary simply could not forgive her.

We attended a church service in which the speaker spoke on the importance of forgiveness. The speaker prayed with Mary and the miracle happened. Mary forgave Elke. Praise God!

Forgiveness does not mean you keep unpleasant people in your life. Some people are best loved from a far. I am careful about who I allow in my life, surrounding myself with people who celebrate me rather than simply tolerate me.

However, I will not allow the poison of holding a grudge against anyone to infect my soul.

Lloyd Marcus, Proud Unhyphenated American

A new weekly feature from Lloyd Marcus…

Lloyd’s Life Lessons: Grateful For The Old Wise Man In My Life.

Whenever I mention sports to my wife, her eyes glaze over. Thus, I preface my comments saying “This is not about sports. It’s about life”.

Quarterback Tony Romo of the Dallas Cowboys pro football team masterfully lead his team down the field to pending victory. All they needed to do was kick a short field goal to win the game. Romo was supposed to spot/hold the ball on the ground for his kicker. Unbelievably, Romo dropped the ball destroying his kicker’s opportunity to kick the winning field goal.

With only minutes left in the game, Romo sat on the sideline heartbroken with his head hung low.

Former pro football coach John Madden was one of the TV announcers. Madden said, “Somebody needs to tell Romo to get his head up. This game is not over and he still has to lead his team”.

Madden was saying leadership is understanding it is not about you. As the Bible says, “To whom much is given, much is required”. You do not have the luxury of sulking over your mistakes. True leadership is putting the needs of your team before your needs. Now, get your head together and get back out there and LEAD!

There was something heartwarming about the strong wise old coach mentoring the young quarterback.

A psychologist on TV said fathers are not particularly necessary. She said there is nothing a boy needs to know that can not be taught to him by his mother. I thought,“This woman went to college to learn this nonsense”.

Boys and young men crave male bonding and mentoring by respected elders. This is why so many single parent household fatherless boys join gangs.

We need more Godly men teaching boys how to become men.

The other day, I called my 84 year old dad for counsel regarding a matter that was “bugging” me. As usual, dad came through with wise advice. I thought, “What a blessing it is that I can still reap the benefits of dad’s character, wisdom and experience”.

At 84, dad’s brain is still sharp as a tack!

Lloyd Marcus, Proud Unhyphenated American

Alas, another Black History Month…or as the left likes to view it, their annual “Opportunity To Exploit Race Month.”  It is the month in which liberals attempt to convince us that race relations in America have progressed very little since the days of police unleashing dogs on civil rights activists.

Rather than presenting a balanced, honest look at black history, leftist schoolteachers and the media say America is still racist and whites should feel eternally guilty.  Also included in the left’s message is that blacks must continue to vote monolithically for Democrats in order to keep rich white Republican racists at bay.  Yes, for the most part, Black History Month is a propaganda tool of the Democratic party.

Black history is woven with remarkable blacks who strove for excellence and achieved major success.  Knowledge of such black pioneers would inspire black youths and help them realize how blessed they are to be born in America, the greatest land of opportunity on the planet.

America is unique in that you can grow beyond your family history and humble beginnings.  Most folks around the world are destined to walk in their parents’ footsteps.  If your dad was a peasant worker, you will be a peasant worker.

In America, countless hugely successful blacks came from humble beginnings.  This is why it so offends me to hear black politicians and the media constantly telling blacks that they are not functioning on an equal playing field.  Such rhetoric inspires resentment, hopelessness, and a “why should I try” attitude in black youths.

Consequently, 70% of black youths drop out of high school, and many enter a life of crime.  These self-serving black politicians are selling their lie to black America solely for political reasons — to keep blacks voting for their supposed saviors and avengers, the Democrats.

Allow me to address this “equal playing field” trap.  Folks, nothing in life is equal or totally fair.  I am sorry, but some folks are born thin and beautiful.  In some cases, they may have an advantage.  But in regards to minorities not having opportunity, there is not enough racism in America today to stop anyone from achieving anything.  To blacks who “want” to believe that America is systematically keeping them down, I say stop whining and making excuses, get up off your butt, and go for your dreams.

It drives me crazy hearing black and white liberal intellectuals discussing the problems in the black community without any references to blacks taking personal responsibility for their behavior/choices.  Every solution offered by the left to deal with urban black issues revolves around more taxpayer spending and more failed government programs.  And no discussion of problems in the black community would be complete without including the classic excuse, “it’s the white man’s fault.”

Now, I know that some blacks reading this article will respond like a black radio show host did while interviewing me: “Sounds like you don’t like your own people.”  Wrong!  I say these things because as a Christian, I love not just blacks, but all people.  And I want what is best for them.

While some blacks may find comfort and think it racially loyal to keep blaming “whitey” for everything, black youths are going to h— in a hand-basket.  Blacks have epidemic school dropouts and 70 percent out-of-wedlock births, and half of black babies are aborted via an organization founded on racism, Planned Parenthood.  Blacks are actively involved in a self-induced genocide.

This is why I do not give a hoot about what black racists and self-serving poverty-pimp politicians think of me for suggesting that my fellow blacks assume responsibility for their own lives.  Lives, after all, are at stake.

Ironically, liberals claim to want black empowerment.  News flash: personal responsibility is black empowerment!

Here’s a little of my personal black history. Back in the ’70s when I was in my mid-twenties, I repented from my life of drugs, sex, and rock ‘n’ roll to become a born-again Christian.  My desire to share the “good news” of my new relationship with Christ led me to prisons to minister to inmates.  I was struck by the high number of gifted and talented blacks who were incarcerated solely because of their negative attitudes.  Thank you, Democratic Party.

Black History Month should not just feature “how America done us wrong.”  It should also celebrate the greatness of our extraordinary nation and how both blacks and whites sacrificed blood, sweat, and tears to make things right.  Rather than Black History Month being exploited as a divisive tool for extortion, allow the truth of our history to bring people together.

Lloyd Marcus, Proud Unhyphenated American