The Angel of Death Visits Missouri

Timothy Birdnow

"That ye shall say, It is the sacrifice of the Lord's passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses."

Ex11:27

There may not have been any Smitten Egyptians yesterday, but there was certainly a smoting, and this passage is entirely mete. The Angel of Death passed over us yesterday here in St. Louis. He came in many guises and from many directions, a legion of destruction marching through our city from the south, the north, and the west, ever eager to reach across the great river to visit death and destruction to those of the prairies of Illinois.

Last Sunday an F-5 tornado formed directly on top of the city of Joplin in the southwestern corner of Missouri, demolishing Joplin like a child demolishes a cities of tinker toys. On Good friday last month we were visited by a band of tornadoes here in St. Louis, and large swaths of the metropolitan area - particularly around Lambert St. Louis International Airport - were destroyed in their fury. My own father, working as a security guard in an office building in Bridgeton, was spared what would likely have been death; a tornado went right down the street, destroying homes on the other side of the street and sparing his building. He sits at the guard station in front of the great wall of glass...

Yesterday looked to be even worse.

They came on like avenging angels, or demons escaped from the Bottomless Pit, in a series of waves. Hail, from pea sized up to softball sized and larger, plummeted from the skies, breaking windshields and windows. One news channel had a photograph of four pairs of arms holding a hailstone larger than a basketball. Lightning was visible, although not our main concern; too much of the storm's energy was diverted to the tornadoes. Rain fell sporadically. The skies lightened then darkened until day turned to night.

I was in Dutchtown when I saw it. Dutchtown is a crumbly old section of south St. Louis, a place formerly inhabited by German immigrants (now long gone; it's part of the ghetto). I was there to show an apartment, and the woman who made the appointment was late. She called the office and they asked me to wait, although it was clear she had no idea where this was located. (They often don't.) I waited, against my better judgement. Radio reports made it clear that a tornado had been seen in Arnold, a suburb due south of the city, and a funnel cloud was moving north along I55 through Affton - headed straight for me. When hail began to drop I decided it was time to go.

There it was; moving at 35 miles per hour and coming from the southeast; a funnel cloud. Angry black with a swirl and a tail nipping at the ground, it walked along the Earth like some great monster from prehistory. I was torn; I wanted to SEE it and yet knew the sensible thing was to seek shelter immediately, because that thing could spawn a demon tornado, but I so wanted to get a good view of it. I had a camera; perhaps a photo of a tornado being born would present itself? I thought to stop the car and watch it pass, but caution overrode my wrecklessness. Men who fail to listen to their instincts end up dead. I drove on, giving the beast a wide berth.

But it was heading directly north, and was likely to shake hands with my mother. I called her, warning her to get into the basement and stay there. It took a while for the beast to leave the north county area, but it never turned into the tornado everyone feared. We were spared.

In fact, much of the metropolitan area was spared. Like the Angel 0f Death, this murderous storm seemed to pass us over.

But I fear for Illinois; it was warm and sunny, and southern Illinois is a wide, flat prairie (except in the far south, the "Little Egypt" area, where Illinois' Ozark Mountains will give them some protection) and perfect ground for tornadoes. Indiana offers little better, and so was likely scraped like an icy windshield by these terrible storms.

Joplin is still searching through the rubble for survivors; 1500 people are missing. Fortunately, the storm front did not choose to damage this place any further.

Barack Hussein Obama took a moment out of his busy schedual of drinking Guinness and pretending to be an Irishman (I'm of the Connamara O'Bama's, don't ye know!) to send condolences. He has sent FEMA to the scene, although it's unclear whether he has formalized a national state of emergency for the community. He's likely to be a bit more responsive to Joplin than to the communities in Mississippi and Alabama; Missouri is a swing state, and he has to take care of some Democrats - such as Claire McCaskill - who are in tough re-election bids. Also, Joplin was a community that tended to vote Democratic. Now, if this had happened in Joanne Emerson's solidly red district in Southeastern Missouri...

George Bush was criticized fiercely for not returning to Washington on August 30, the day the Levees in New Orleans broke, yet here Obama is enjoying himself in Europe for a solid week, and the media makes no mention of the fact. Why didn't he return immediately? Why not after two days? Bush overflew the affected area on Friday, three days after the disaster; Obama can't seem to be bothered. He'll visit Joplin on Sunday, a solid week after the catastrophe. His visit is counterproductive; security will clog up streets and block access to emergency services. Large digging machines are trying to sift through the rubble to rescue trapped people. All this activity will constitute a security risk, so doubtless these rescue workers will be pulled off the job to protect the President. Better he should stay home, but the anointed one will not miss this photo-op.

At any rate, Obama's presence in Joplin is much like the flies buzzing around the destroyed buildings looking for corpses (yes, Mr. President, you DO pronounce that corpses in this case); he's just another carrion eating parasite. Better he remain in Europe, where he feels comfortably at home anyway.

We have dodged a major bullet in Missouri yesterday. One must wonder at this; was it pure luck, or did the prayers of the faithful spare the city? Was this a warning for Americans to repent? We have certainly changed the incorruptible God for corruption in all forms, and may be reaping the penalty thereof. America has decline morally, and too many people saw nothing wrong with that. Remember Bill Clinton? People thought his immorality was humorous, and re-elected him knowing he was a shameful man. America voted for Obama, not bothering to acquaint themselves with his support for partial birth abortion because they wanted someone to restore the economy i.e. they cared nary a wit about placing a mass murderer in office if he could fix their 401K's. For years we have not cared about what is righteous, but what is pleasant to us. Perhaps we are receiving a warning; repent or have God's protection withdrawn? We have seen our economy collapse, and now nature is punishing our land. Entirely natural, of course, as I have made the case repeatedly, but supernatural, perhaps?

Mysticism aside, we have a lot of hard work cleaning up, and we will have to fight the cockroaches on the Left who will use this disaster to their advantage. We are much like Nehemiah, who had to post guards on the walls of Jerusalem to protect the workers who were rebuilding the city. We'll have to rebuild the physical structures, and fight the liberals who will try to seduce the public with claims that this is a result of global warming, and demand that we centralize everything. It's a tough road ahead.

But as for me, I offer a prayer of thanksgiving, for the Angel of Death has passed over. We have been spared. At least for now.