That I May, Having Done All, Stand.

Why? I don't know...

2010-11-27T16:40:00.001-06:00

http://tostand.wordpress.com/

Why? I don't know...

2010-11-27T16:40:00.000-06:00

http://tostand.wordpress.com/

Will it be today?

2010-11-17T22:28:00.002-06:00

You have to wonder when I will actually post something profound and thought provoking. It's been so long now. But alas today is not the day.

Hang in there, it's coming.

Election Day!

2010-11-02T06:05:00.000-05:00

My Pictorial Endorsement for Tuesday!

2010-10-29T00:40:00.001-05:00

4 Days Remain

2010-10-28T23:40:00.004-05:00

This Tuesday each one of us has a chance to honor those who sacrificed for our freedom to VOTE. Will you choose to throw that away or take a moment and make informed choices?

In the end don't forget to pray for all those involved. As an Election Judge it is important for us to pray for Candidates, their families and every person involved in the process during an election. I hope you take the time to do this before and after you vote next Tuesday.

I recommend the non-partisan Christian Citizenship Ministry for election information!

It's Time. Are You Ready?

2010-10-11T21:28:00.006-05:00

The countdown begins...

21 Days

21 days until you decide to stand and be counted or keep silent and get in line with the rest of the lemmings.

What choice will you make and will it be an informed one? There is always time to do the right thing.

Obama Porkway: Road Built With Stimulus Money Will Bear President’s Name

2010-06-21T19:39:00.002-05:00

(From Michelle Malkin's Site: DO NOT miss the link at the very end....it's worth it.)

By Doug Powers • June 19, 2010 11:26 AM

**Written by guest-blogger Doug Powers

I’m only guessing that, when it’s completed, Pres. Barack Obama Parkway in Orlando, Florida will lead straight to the Magic Kingdom:

Is it too soon to name a road after President Barack Obama? A new road being built through Orlando will have his name.

Roads in Orlando honor some of our greatest presidents, from Washington to Jefferson and now Obama.

On Friday, Orlando leaders made President Barack Obama Parkway the first road under construction in the nation named after our 44th president, and surely one of the few in history to be named after a sitting president in his first term.
[...]
Two hundred jobs will be created to build the first $10.5 million phase of the road, which will connect with Metrowest Boulevard.

Most roads that are constructed are paid for with taxpayer dollars, but the fact that the first new road named after Barack Obama is being funded by his beloved “stimulus” is only appropriate.

If you’re in Orlando looking for this road, it’s just a mile west of the intersection of Hope and Change, and a half-mile east of the corner of Shovel and Ready. Why did local officials decide to name the stimulus road after the president? Because “A Blatant Attempt to Bankrupt America Boulevard” wouldn’t fit on the sign.

President Obama has a long way to go before surpassing Robert Byrd on the “stuff named after me that somebody else paid for” list, but if enough taxpayer money keeps being dumped into “shovel ready” projects, he’ll catch up in no time.

A photo of the Obamas, Joe Biden and Hillary taking their first drive down Pres. Barack Obama Parkway is here.

**Written by guest-blogger Doug Powers

Choosing Leaders

2010-04-27T12:46:00.004-05:00

This Thursday, Friday and Saturday I will take part in the MN GOP State Convention. I will be a seated delegate and Marty is currently an alternate.

I take each role I have seriously whether it be mom, wife, employee or representing my district to help choose who will be endorsed and then possibly elected to lead our state in various positions. In the near future I will post my thoughts and experiences from this weekend from a perspective as a partisan "tea partier" and separately as a non-partisan Director of an organization dedicated to certain principles regardless of party label.

I hope you will enjoy reading my account and will keep me, and all those involved, in your prayers.

He is not here.

2010-04-04T21:01:00.002-05:00

After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.

There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.

The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; He has risen...

Matthew 28 1-6

You can't tell me there's not creepy similarities!

2010-03-25T15:18:00.003-05:00

Planned Parenthood Pushes Intensive Sex Education for Kids as Young as 10

2010-02-09T00:56:00.001-06:00

Monday , February 08, 2010

By Ed Barnes

A new report by the International Planned Parenthood Federation is advocating that children as young as 10 be given extensive sex education, including an awareness of sex's pleasures.

The report, "Stand and Deliver," charges that religious groups, specifically Catholics and Muslims, deny their young access to comprehensive sexual programs and education.

"Young people's sexuality is still contentious for many religious institutions. Fundamentalist and other religious groups — the Catholic Church and madrasas (Islamic Schools) for example — have imposed tremendous barriers that prevent young people, particularly, from obtaining information and services related to sex and reproduction. Currently, many religious teachings deny the pleasurable and positive aspects of sex." the report states.

Click here to read the report.

The report demands that children 10 and older be given a "comprehensive sexuality education" by governments, aid organizations and other groups, and that young people should be seen as "sexual beings."

"Young people have the right to be informed about sexuality and to have access to contraceptives and other services," Bert Koenders, the Netherlands Minister for Development Cooperation, wrote in the foreword to the report. It was his organization that helped fund the report.

The report argues that sex education should be "recast" to show sexuality as a "positive force for change and development, as a source of pleasure, an embodiment of human rights and an expression of self."

Much like a U.N. report released last August that advocated teaching masturbation to children as young as 5, "Stand and Deliver" has set off a wave of protest among religious and conservative groups.

Ed Mechmann, spokesman for New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan, charged that Planned Parenthood was "trying to teach children sex without values and that sex is a matter of pleasure and done without consequences."

He said religions like Catholicism and Islam teach sex as part of a much bigger picture and that Planned Parenthood was trying to de-link sex from traditional values.

"It is part of an effort to get children to reject traditional values and accept a liberal American-European view," he said. "In many traditional countries — Catholic and Muslim — it won't work and should be seen as cultural imperialism."

Mechmann also charged that Planned Parenthood's report was compromised because it has a financial stake advocating the changes. "The difference between Planned Parenthood and us is that we don't make money off what we teach and say. They do. They make money off contraceptives and abortions," he said.

Michelle Turner, president of the Maryland-based Citizens for a Responsible Curriculum, said Planned Parenthood was simply trying to eliminate parental say.

"What are they trying to do? They are trying to eliminate the role of mom and dad in the family," Turner said. "For Planned Parenthood to decide that governments, private organizations and religious organizations should make decisions about kids' sexuality is just going too far."

"It is part of a bigger push to change the way we think about sex," she said. That sex is all about pleasure and there are no consequences. They are wrong. No matter how much we teach children, some will make mistakes. They will forget. And Planned Parenthood doesn't want to deal with that," she said.

"They see religious groups, especially those that counsel abstinence and waiting until marriage, as bad guys," she added. "We aren't."

Planned Parenthood said it was unable to comment because the report was issued by its European office and it was unable to contact them.

Goodnight, John Boy

2010-02-04T20:54:00.002-06:00

Why 'The Waltons' Are Still Worth Watching

By Anne Morse|Published Date: February 02, 2010

(This article is worth the read!!)

The Revolutionary Holocaust:

2010-01-25T00:10:00.008-06:00

Live Free...Or Die

Watch Documentary: Click Here

"A groundbreaking hour long special where Glenn Beck takes us back in time to examine the roots of socialism and communism and the evil that followed.

We all know about the horrors of the holocaust where the pure evil Hitler inspired claimed the lives of millions of innocent people. But most do not know about the millions upon millions of lives lost in a different genocide of the Ukrainian people under the Stalin regime.

This special also takes a look behind the iconic fashion symbol of Che Guevara showing that the myth doesn't tell the story of the man who was a blood thirsty killer. We meet a family who saw first hand what a monster the man was.

They know the cost of communism and you will too when you hear their story, and who can forget about Mao Zedong? A leader responsible for 70-million deaths during his reign. All communist. All killers. We will show you things you've never seen but need to."

Video from The Revolutionary Holocaust...

CONTRIBUTING EXPERTS...

Hello Old Friend

2010-01-25T00:07:00.002-06:00

So it's been some time since I last posted here but my last one is just as relevant as ever, unfortunately.

Hmmm, what else to say in this one... nope that's it.

5 Reasons the Fahrenheit 9/11 Trailer Is Relevant Today

2009-10-29T12:53:00.000-05:00

"You can make people do anything if they're afraid."

Hmmmmm, that's very interesting. Ok, Let's see how many more similarities I can find.... or would it be hypocrisy since this video is targeting the "evil" Republicans and Conservatives, not sure. Oh, how things "change" don't they?!

Here's some that stand out to me:

1) Playing on fear (currently: healthcare, swine flu, etc. etc.)

2) Congress not reading the bills (or should I say, STILL not reading them)

3) Government being non-transparent (or should I say, secret)

4) The "elite" as our leadership... gee sound kind of like having tax payers pay for things like weekly cocktail parties at the White House, etc.

5) And then there is the golfing....apparently it was an issue since it was even in the trailer but why bring that up right?! (esp. since our Obama has now out paced our last President by doing more rounds in 9 months than Bush did in almost 3 yrs...)

I'm sure I'm wrong and you guys will explain that in detail to me but wow it sure seems oddly similar...

The River is Rising

2009-10-05T21:27:00.006-05:00

It can be easy to feel like we can’t make a difference, like the problems of this country let alone this world are just too big or that there are too many to tackle. That is completely understandable, especially when we try to do it alone. The key is realizing we are far from alone. In fact when you start looking around these days you will be surprised to find people from all walks of life all over the United States are finally standing up and speaking out. But the river is rising in America...

People trying to secure the basic values we used to share and not try to tear down. People trying to protect a Constitution and one that is not a “living” document but a constant and secure one. That way we can count on its protections and for all Americans.

There is a momentum building in America to refortify the basic but sacred foundations of our country. The question is; are you going to join those that have started to stand and speak out or remain seated and silent?

People can make any excuse they want but the bottom line is there is something everyone can do. Just find something you care about. An issue, a hobby, whatever and if you want you can find a way to take that and make a difference in our world. Today you don’t have to rely on the newspaper or media, etc. You don’t have to be a big shot or know “somebody” to get your voice heard.

Get online with sites you can relate with and leave comments, get a blog going, join something like facebook, and start going to rallies. You will meet people who are like-minded and can relate to! These are just a few ideas but start getting involved somehow. Then the rest gets easier as you meet people and make connections!! It’s then that you realize that you are really not alone in this! And then the momentum continues to build. The river keeps rising...

I don’t know about you but I am awake now. I am not going to allow my country to be destroyed by anyone or any political party or person when the generations before us worked so hard, sacrificed so much and died to give us the freest nation in history. I owe it to my children to fight back. Now does that mean violently? At this point, absolutely not!

We must use all the non violent means possible to stop what has been happening to our country. Saying nothing is just not acceptable anymore. Going on with our lives like nothing is happening is not acceptable. Acting like everything will just be ok is not acceptable. The torch is passed and it is up to us.

How can we in good conscience go to a family get-together, a tee ball game, a restaurant, etc. and just ignore the fact of the reality that our culture, our very Republic and freedoms are under attack. We can put our heads in the sand and pretend it isn’t happening as we have for some time now. And while we did that our freedoms were eroding away and being worn down little by little so that we would not notice. Pretty soon we won’t be able to ignore it anymore. Of course the problem then is it will be too late to do anything about it.

However, for now I can still speak out and that means you can too. So it isn’t too late. And right now that momentum I was talking about is picking up great speed. Will you join in or keep pretending there isn't a problem?

I hope we will all wake up and stand together to fight against what is probably one of the greatest internal threats this country has ever faced in order to protect our Republic. It is our turn to fight for freedom not only for our current generations but all the future generations of this great country. Can you feel it yet, I can, the river is rising!

The River Is Rising

Written By: Michael W. Smith (click on title to see video)

I feel it, I feel it, I feel it in my bones
And I just don't think I can hold it anymore
The river is rising, flowing out of me
And I'm coming alive, I'm coming alive

I'm gonna dance and sing and move my feet
'Cause the river is rising, flowing out of me
Got to let the world know, take it to the streets
Got to dance and sing and add a shout of praise

Hallelujah, the river is rising
Hallelujah, the river is rising

I feel it, I feel it, I feel it in my bones
And I just don't think I can hold it anymore
The river is rising, flowing out of me
And I'm coming alive, I'm coming alive

I'm gonna dance and sing and move my feet
'Cause the river is rising, flowing out of me
Got to let the world know, take it to the streets
I got to dance and sing and add a shout of praise

Hallelujah, the river is rising
Hallelujah, gonna dance and sing and add a shout of praise
Hallelujah, the river is rising
Hallelujah

Oh, oh, oh, oh, the river is rising
The river is rising, oh, oh

I feel it, I feel it, I feel it in my bones
And I just don't think I can hold it anymore
The river is rising, flowing out of me
And I'm coming alive, I'm coming alive

I'm gonna dance, sing and move my feet
The river is rising, flowing out of me
Got to let the world know, take it to the streets
Got to dance and sing and add a shout of praise

Hallelujah, the river is rising
Hallelujah, got to dance and sing and add a shout of praise
Hallelujah, the river is rising
Hallelujah, got to dance and sing and add a shout of praise
Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah

School's In but Truth is Out

2009-09-25T12:35:00.012-05:00

You might be asking yourself what is this? Well, let's go straight to the "source" and let them tell you. Here is the explanation from their website:

What is the Story of Stuff?

From its extraction through sale, use and disposal, all the stuff in our lives affects communities at home and abroad, yet most of this is hidden from view. The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world. It'll teach you something, it'll make you laugh, and it just may change the way you look at all the stuff in your life forever.

And here is their video:
(Although if you want to watch the four part series posted further below you will see the full video with the rebuttal. This is just an option for those who wish who don't have a lot of time or don't wish to see the full video twice.)

WHY IS THIS A BIG DEAL?

7,000 schools and churches and organizations are now playing this across the country.

Maybe you have heard about this. What if you haven't? Do your family members know about it? What about your neighbors and friends?

What if this was a so called "right wing" slanted video?

Does any of it belong in our schools?

PLEASE WATCH ALL FOUR PARTS.
It is worth the investment you put into it. Educate YOURSELF on what LIES our children are being taught.

BOTTOM LINE:

If there are this many incorrect "facts" that can be proven or even fairly questioned, what on Earth is it doing in SCHOOLS???

And what are YOU going to do about it.

The "Mainstream" Myth You Need to Know About

2009-09-21T22:05:00.024-05:00

------------------------------

I will provide for you information on cases regarding three murder investigations handled VERY differently by our media, our President, our government, etc.

You decide if you think the "news" in this country is dead. You decide if you think the news AT ANY LEVEL is fair or giving us, the American people a fair shake using a "just the facts" kind of approach.

Let's begin with this intro to get us started...

A Tale of Two Murders

Two heinous crimes. Two different reactions from the government and media to the murders of George Tiller and William Long.

June 11, 2009 - by La Shawn Barber
"Which received more front-page headlines, statements of outrage, condemnation, sympathy, and resulted in apologetic genuflecting: the murder of a 67-year-old man who made his living as a late-term abortionist or the murder and wounding of two young military recruiters on duty?

What do mainstream media and liberal bloggers find more newsworthy: a white, anti-government, schizophrenic “Christian” who murdered the notorious Dr. George Tiller or a black, America-hating, anti-military Muslim who murdered William Long, a young soldier?"
A Tale of Two Murders (cont.)

BUT IT DOESN'T END THERE...

CBS Skips Killing of Pro-Life Activist; ABC Sees ‘Flip Side’ to Killing of Abortionist Tiller

Pro-Life Advocate Murdered Outside Michigan School While Protesting Abortion

Tiller v. Pouillon Murders

There are so many more articles showing the enormous bias in coverage it would shock most of you. It just depends on the issue or the people you want to research.

And this post is only the tip of the iceberg.

WARNING: This Post is Sexually Graphic. But as an adult, YOU MUST MAKE YOURSELF AWARE.

2009-09-14T17:45:00.011-05:00

When will these companies finally do enough to make us STAND UP?

APATHY OR ACTION?

Abercrombie & Fitch (A&F) continues its pattern of pushing pornographic-themed material into mainstream America. Abercrombie & Fitch (A&F) has just begun offering their "New College" line of T-shirts.

The first A&F t-shirt pictures a young girl opening her blouse - exposing herself. A&F titles the image: "Show the Twins".

The second picture is of a female running nude. A&F titles it: "Female streaking encouraged."

The next Abercrombie & Fitch T-shirt is entitled: "Female Students Wanted for Sexual Research"

(I ADDED THE LOWER TWO PICTURES: "Tie me up, don't tie me down" and "Math Tutor plus Bed minus Clothes divide Your Legs equals Anatomy Lesson")

Abercrombie & Fitch does not merely sell a popular line of clothing – they sell a lifestyle. And because A&F clothing is popular among teens and college kids, the influence of their sex-as-recreation lifestyle is widespread.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention reports that Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) remain a major public health challenge in the United States. CDC estimates that approximately 19 million new infections occur each year— almost half of them among young people 15 to 24 years of age.

TAKE ACTION
Send an email to Abercrombie and Fitch. Ask them to pull their sexualized shirts.

After sending your email, call A&F at 614-283-6500 (press "0" to speak directly to a real person).

American Family Association | P O Drawer 2440 | Tupelo, MS 38803 | 1-662-844-5036

Before you go... Did I mention, these garments ARE NOT on Abercrombie's website. Gee, I just can't imagine why.

I have just three questions...

WILL YOU....
1) Remain silent on this?
2) Spend a penny at Abercrombie & Fitch?
3) Spend a penny at Hollister (their affiliate)?

Some Well Needed "Medicine"

2009-08-31T20:04:00.008-05:00

Proverbs 17:22: “A cheerful heart is good medicine...”

Click Tim Hawkins Picture above to go to his website.

AMERICA WAKE UP! A simple argument of government out of control presented as if life was a musical....

2009-08-27T13:50:00.008-05:00

Our God Saves - Part Two

2009-08-20T17:04:00.005-05:00

On Tuesday morning this week God protected countless people. People driving, people walking, children playing and my mom. What could have been an unimaginable tragedy ended up with only minor property damage and not a single scratch to my mom who was able to walk away.

In what appears so far to be a now minor event, perhaps what could be described as a "black out" but not a stroke or seizure or anything of that nature, my mom "took out" as my daugter says in her three year old wisdom, two stop signs before knocking over a fire valve and power box. In doing so turned the car over onto the driver's side. Therefore single handedly wiping out the power and cable to three blocks for a few hours and most likely totaling "the good car" as they put it.

The pictures below show how the car ended up as well as the "live" wires from the power company's box and broken fire valve. Thank God there wasn't a fire or that no one touched them before the police arrived!

The bottom two pictures are from two days later after the power box had been fixed but you can see the basic idea of what it looked like before my mom tried to "redecorate" the town home complex where I live.

Click to enlarge:
You never know what life brings with a phone call or a knock on the door (which is what I got on Tuesday from my boss while waiting for my mom to arrive). In a single moment everything can change. But in a single moment you can remember just how unbelievably blessed you are. I have to wonder how many times this happens and we don't realize it. Something to think about if you ask me.

Our God Saves.

Our God Saves - Part One

2009-08-19T20:44:00.002-05:00

Wow. The more I hear this song the more I love it. The more I sing it, the more it gets into my heart and I feel stronger and more able to take on anything that might come my way.

We sang this on Sunday at church. Today, I am sharing this with you because I will soon be telling why this Sunday (including this song) helped prepare me for what happened to me this week, specifically yesterday.

People might sometimes diminish regularly going to church and worshiping in person. This is a perfect example of why God teaches us and wants us to do just that.

I'll explain a little more about this week's events soon (with pictures even).

For now just take a moment and listen to this song and its powerful lyrics. They might just seem like just normal "christian music" words but let them really sink in. Even sing them - shout it out!! They are wonderfully powerful words. Words that can free you and help you with anything.

My Cousin: PVT BRANDON JONES, USMC

2009-08-14T12:13:00.007-05:00

It is definitely worth noting that there are many ways to serve our country and many different callings on our lives. This post is not meant to diminish the contributions each of my family makes everyday. However, this is an accomplishment and sacrifice I need to share with each of you.

Brandon, just saying "thank you" to those who choose to serve and protect our country feels like such an inadequate way to express just how much we support you and are praying for you. I am a very proud cousin and want you to know that we are praying for you guys every day!

Click image to enlarge.

Information You Are NOT Being Told

2009-08-08T09:37:00.003-05:00

FREEDOM!

2009-07-04T02:09:00.007-05:00

Freedom in America for 233 years...

Let us NEVER forget those brave men, knowing their very lives were at stake by even signing their name to that piece of paper, concluded with these powerful and profound words;

“And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.”

Dear Minnesota,

2009-06-30T14:16:00.006-05:00

You can call a comedian a Senator...

but the joke's on us.

And just in case you forgot the kind of "man" we are getting...

Articles by Katherine Kersten

Mpls Star Tribune

Vulgar mockery of Christians: Is this what we want in a U.S. senator?

Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008

I get it — Al Franken is a serious senatorial candidate despite his penchant for the pornographic. Franken’s one-liners about rape and oral sex and his leering fantasies about big-busted women were just for yucks, right?

Last June, DFL bigwigs chose to forget about their man’s decades-long record of sexual crudity after he hooked the endorsement by putting on a serious face and saying “sorry” at the party’s convention.

But Franken didn’t apologize for another aspect of his trash-talking shtick. He’s aimed some of his most offensive material at religious believers, particularly Christians.

Why hasn’t this been aired in public? We in the press are too busy searching through Sarah Palin’s junior high yearbooks and tracking down the filing dates of Joe the Plumber’s tax returns.

Meanwhile, Franken gets a pass for making a joke of the life and death of Jesus Christ.

Franken finds Christ’s crucifixion to be a barrel of laughs. For example, in his 1999 book, “Why Not Me?” he wrote about his discovery — as a fictional former president — of “the complete skeleton of Jesus Christ still nailed to the cross” during an archeological dig. At the Franken Presidential Library gift shop, visitors can buy “small pieces of Jesus’ skeleton.”

“We would like to display Jesus’ skeleton at some future point,” Franken went on. “It’s merely a matter of designing and building an exhibition space … . Until then he’s very comfortable in a box down in our basement near the geothermal power station.”

Very funny. Anybody want to try a joke like that about Mohammed?

Franken also wrote a Saturday Night Live monologue for Jesus Christ that appeared in a magazine. After poking fun at Christians’ belief that Jesus was both God and man, he had Christ speculate on having the hots for Mary Magdalene:

“If Mary Magdalene looked like Barbara Hershey, I might have thought twice about this celibacy thing. I mean, the real Mary Magdalene was about four foot two, 135 pounds. And with bad teeth yet.”

In Franken’s world, God has a mouth as foul as Franken’s. In one book, he has God refer to books about liberal media bias as “total bullshit.” Later, he describes God as having his head “up his ass.”

But Franken saves his sharpest barbs for those weirdos, Catholics.

In 2006, he and a guest on his Air America radio show joked about Eucharistic communion wafers — sacred to Catholics as the body of Christ — and compared them to chips and guacamole. In “Dog Confessional,” a proposed sketch for Saturday Night Live, Franken depicted “a series of dogs, played by cast members, confessing to a priest,” according to the Washington Post. NBC refused to air it.

In another book, Franken described greeting a New York audience with the words, “Isn’t Cardinal O’Connor an asshole?”

Franken’s campaign did not return a phone call seeking comment.

If a 12-year-old kid spouted this stuff in a schoolyard, he’d be hauled to the principal’s office and told to grow up. But in today’s surreal political climate, a guy who lobs insults like these has a shot at one the highest political offices in the land.

We’re used to slanderers of Christianity getting government arts grants. But Franken wants more. He’s asking us to send him to what’s been called “the most exclusive club in the world” — and to serve us there until 2014.

Our nation’s founders wanted the Senate — as Congress’ upper house — to balance with a sober, long-term perspective the much more numerous House of Representatives, whose members serve only two-year terms and are supposed to reflect the people’s shifting sentiments. Senators serve six-year terms, and were intended to be the nation’s wisest councilors — equipped to discern and protect the country’s broad, enduring interests.

“The use of the Senate,” explained James Madison in 1787, “is to consist in proceeding with more coolness, with more system, and with more wisdom, than the popular branch.”

For this reason, the Constitution entrusts the Senate with unique powers — its members conduct impeachment trials, make treaties, and give the president advice and consent on important appointments, including Cabinet secretaries, ambassadors and federal judicial nominees with lifetime tenure.

A Minnesota senator represents the whole state, not a smaller, relatively homogeneous congressional district, as House members do.

If Franken is elected, can he represent all the people of Minnesota — including Christians — for whom he has repeatedly shown disdain?

Posted in Main, Politics, Al Franken | 324 Comments »

Franken’s Porn-O-Rama is no satire

Wednesday, June 4th, 2008

In the last few months, I’ve gotten a flood of emails from readers suggesting stories about Al Franken and his follies. This vein could be a rich one to mine, given Franken’s years of motor-mouthing on Saturday Night Live and Air America Radio, and his collisions with taxing authorities across the country.But I’ve let the Franken stories blow by, overwhelmed by their number. However, things changed last week when Franken’s 2000 Playboy article — “Porn-O-Rama” — got stuck in my e-mail filter.

I know what you’re thinking: Kersten’s got one of those prudish, Jerry Falwell-style family filters designed to snare anything that would raise a slight pink on your grandmother’s cheeks. Not so. Mine seems to screen primarily ads for male enhancement products and overly creative animal films.

Why then did my e-mail filter crash closed on Porn-O-Rama?

In his Playboy romp, Franken fantasized about oral sex delivered by a machine, as well as sex with combinations of females who fit the Playboy view of women as big-breasted automatons, panting at the prospect of servicing the likes of Franken. That’s why they call it fantasy, I guess.

I wonder how many DFL officials will be able to pull Porn-O-Rama through their Internet filters and read it before the party endorses its candidate for U.S. Senate this weekend. I wonder, too, whether folks like Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Attorney General Lori Swanson, whose campaigns took money in 2006 from Franken’s so-called Midwest Values PAC (yes, you read that right) will feel compelled to return those bucks on truth-in-advertising grounds.

Last week, spokesman Andy Barr articulated the Franken campaign’s official defense as follows: “Al understands, and the people of Minnesota understand, the difference between what a satirist does and what a senator does.” Key Democrats like Reps. Betty McCollum, Tim Walz and Keith Ellison already have rejected Camp Franken’s attempt to explain away Al’s excellent adventures in Playboyland. Will others follow?We’ve often heard Franken described as a “satirist.” The label makes him sound respectable, even sophisticated. We associate satire with some of literature’s greatest names. If applicable, the term explains and excuses Franken’s work, placing it squarely in the literary mainstream.

Does Franken qualify as a satirist?

To find out, I pored over dictionaries and literary compendia. Webster’s online dictionary was typical. It defined satire as “trenchant wit, irony or sarcasm used to expose and discredit vice or folly.”

In other words, satire is serious business. A satirist mocks a problematic situation in order to bring it to public attention, correct or reform it. He blends comedy and censure in the service of mankind’s improvement.

Take Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal,” perhaps the most famous satire in the English language. In this work, Swift, an eighteenth century Irishman, suggested that poverty-stricken Irish families could survive by selling their numerous children to wealthy landlords to eat. Swift’s grim humor is a vehicle for what he called his “savage indignation” at England’s grievous injustice regarding the Irish.

The Greek dramatist Aristophanes used a lighter touch in his classic satire, “Lysistrata.” In this ribald play, the women of Sparta and Athens withhold sex from their husbands for a larger purpose: to bring an end to the Peloponnesian War.

Porn-O-Rama is no satire. Franken doesn’t condemn Hugh Hefner’s pornographic world — he embraces it. The piece is a celebration of the Playboy philosophy, laced with effusions about the glories of Internet porn.

Today, parents and teachers are struggling to prevent such smut from overwhelming our culture. Ellison reacted to Franken’s lewd Porn-O-Rama joke about his sixth-grade son’s supposed report on bestiality by saying, “I have to ask myself, can I explain it to my 11-year-old daughter? I’d have considerable difficulty.”

How about Barr’s second point — that Minnesotans will “understand” that Franken’s conduct as a “satirist” is irrelevant to his potential conduct as a senator?While a man’s sense of humor is only one part of his personality, it tells us something essential about him — it bears the DNA of his character, you might say. That’s why you would be surprised to learn, for example, that a friend you believed to be a devoted father and husband — respectful of his wife and a model for his children — was guffawing publicly about his fantasies of sex with other women.

We understand instinctively that the lives of real human beings cannot be separated into compartments.

Posted in Main, Al Franken | 170 Comments »

Al Franken and the Accountant from Hell

Wednesday, April 30th, 2008

I want to know more about this half-wit accountant, Allen Chanzis, who keeps getting blamed for Al Franken’s failures to pay every tax known to man. After all, Franken’s no two-bit bar comedian who can claim he’s never made a dime to offset his bar tab.

Even before his current attempt to get to Washington to enact tax laws that apply to the rest of us, Franken was in the Cadillac club of high-end comedians. One would assume he has a stable of accountants and lawyers housed in his servants’ quarters.

At least Keith Ellison could claim that his serial campaign finance violations involved obscure laws that bite you only when in elective office. But Franken’s failure to pay income taxes in 17 states, failure to pay workers compensation premiums, failure to pay disability premiums and failure to file corporate tax returns pretty much takes the wind out of the “gosh, I forgot” argument.

At least, that’s what I first thought. But then our chief law enforcer—Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman – announced that he has no problem with this kind of serial law-breaking. In a Saturday interview, Freeman morphed into a big softy:

‘It appears to me that this is some carelessness in his personal business,’ Freeman said of Franken. ‘Nothing criminal, nothing malicious, nothing nasty. I’m guessing most people have something [similar] in their life, where they forgot to pay their property taxes or workers’ comp.’

Fair enough, but I want the same consideration for Think Again miscreants when they skirt the edge of what is legal. When Downtown Dan “forgets” to put money in the parking meter, JonR “forgets” his driver’s license at home, Tiny Litess “forgets” the speed limit is 30 mph in town, and Average Guy “forgets” that he’s supposed to pay for the overpriced gas at the pump, I demand equal treatment from County Attorney Freeman.

And after Freeman clears these four upstanding gentlemen because they exhibited “carelessness in … personal business,” I expect that each will have a shot at a run for the Senate so that they can create laws for the rest of us shmucks. Yes, I know; they may also need qualifications for such high aspirations, such as a career as a high-end comedian.

Does Franken still have a pulse in his political life? I’ve stopped trying to guess. Stand-up comics enabled by half-wit accountants weave wonders in this world.

PETA Upset About Obama's Leathal Strike Against Helpless Fly

2009-06-18T18:31:00.010-05:00

The White House quickly responded....

Ahh, The President loves flies and his new fly, bug catcher thing that PETA sent. Oh, it's called a Katcha Bug Humane Bug Catcher. It allows you to catch a bug and release it without hurting it.

He is using it in this picture here to my, ahh, right. In fact, um, he is moving a fly "killer", a spider (chuckles) to a different location without harming it due to this new thing. He, ahh, The President, wants to express his gratitude to Peta for the thoughtful gift. Thank you.

PETA wishes Obama hadn't swatted that fly during interview

(Click link above for full article)
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Fascist States of America? Yes. But It's Not Too Late.

2009-06-11T19:41:00.000-05:00

I could hardly believe what I was hearing last night while listening to the radio. Poof that sure enough we have entered an extremely dangerous time in our nation's life. Real evidence of fascism.

So I'm thinking to myself, what will our nation look like soon? What will "we the people" keep allowing to happen? But I'm not hearing much noise being made or even much news about this. Maybe it's just the way the family business, the American dream, story of theirs that made this a real jolt for me.

AMERICA MUST WAKE UP! Quit caring about political party labels! We have run out of time to be playing games with party politics. Before it is too late we need to come together and realize what is truly happening and what has been happening for quite a while to our country. It has been slow and gradual but has proved to be an effective process.

Don't think this is a big deal? Or that it affects you? It does. And if you are not absolutely outraged by the end of this article then you do not believe in the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of the United States of America and the Bill of Rights. I honestly can not see a way those documents and freedoms they proclaim don’t vastly conflict with the road we are heading down. And heading down faster each and every day.

First let me give you excerpts from an interview two days ago with Fox News Host Gretchen Carlson of Fox and Friends and Glenn Beck. She is upset because her parent's car dealership was one of those that is going to be closed.

Carlson stated, "I'd like to get a hold of the car czar too. Never did I think personally that I would need to get a hold of him, but now I do because my parents have owned a General Motors dealership in Anoka, Minnesota, for 90 years and they were terminated last week and they would like to know why. They would like to know why from the car czar."

"It said you would no longer be part of the new General Motors. Apparently there was criteria, but let me tell you this Glenn - they haven't lost money. They are a profitable operation. Their objective, they met at 103 percent. You can't go higher than that and yet they are being terminated. There are 80 employees who will not have jobs anymore. My parents lay awake at night worrying about those employees."

"Many, they all had a meeting yesterday in the state of Minnesota, but here is the ironic thing - there was a dealership that was closed in the first round in the metro area of Minneapolis. That person was able to get a meeting with GM executives last week for an hour and a half. And lo and behold Monday night, that dealership is back in business. Now you tell me this isn't about who you know and who you can speak to."

What she is referring to is the intervention by Minnesota Senator Amy Klobachar (D) in the closing of a dealership owned by Paul Walser outside of Minneapolis. After Sen. Klobachar's involvement GM reversed their decision and allowed the dealership to remain open.

Carlson went on to say, "There was government intervention with a political person who was able to set up that meeting. But I thought this was supposed to be that you were closing dealerships because they weren't performing."

In addition she explains that GM threatened not to honor warranties on the remaining vehicles in the closing dealership lots if they did not agree to GM’s terms.

"It gets worse because by Friday (June 12) terminated dealers by GM have to sign what's called a wind-down agreement. And if they don't sign it, they have a gun to their head - they will not get any warranties on any of the vehicles that are currently sitting in their lots, which the judge [FNC contributor Andrew Napolitano] tells me is illegal."

Judge Napolitano confirmed that federal law required GM to fulfill the obligations under the warranty and such agreements can not alter those terms. However, Carlson stated there is a “gag order” being forced on the dealers that forbids public discussion about this.

Carlson stated, "There's also a gag order in the agreement - a gag order that says you can not speak to anybody other than your employees unless you get GM's consent."

Now, it might seem redundant but I think it's important. Last night I heard the interview Glenn Beck had with Gretchen Carlson and both her parents, who own the dealership she was talking about in the above excerpts. I can't do this interview justice except to share it in its entirety and allow them to speak directly to you.

I ask that you read it carefully and listen to their story. Listen to the story of two regular Americans whom you probably hadn’t even heard of before today. Owners of a private business that has been in their family for 90 years and in a blink of an eye watched the government just takes it away, with no questions asked.

GLENN: From Radio City in Midtown Manhattan, third most listened to show in all of America. Hello, you sick twisted freak. Welcome to the program. Glad you're here. Yesterday on the TV program well, let me start earlier than that. Gretchen Carlson who is on Fox and Friends, she's the one in the middle. She's the girl. And I went in yesterday and she was she had a bee in her bonnet and it was all about I'm sorry for the bee in the bonnet thing. Stu just looked at me. I'm sorry, I think I did get that from the Ingalls family growing up. I'm sorry. So she was all up in arms because of the bailouts and what's going on with the auto industry. Well, as I continued to talk to her, I realized that her family owns a car dealership and has for 90 years, and it's a successful, profitable one. Made 103% of their goal last year. And now all of a sudden they made the first round of cuts. Now all of a sudden they're out of business. Meanwhile Gretchen finds out that somebody who didn't make the first round of cuts meets with a congressman or senator. We'll get the story from her. And all of a sudden they're back open for business. What is going on in our country? Gretchen Carlson is with us now. Is this your mom and dad, Gretchen, on the phone?

CALLER: I hope they're with me. They are in Minnesota. I'm here in my office in New York. And by the way, I don't mind the bee in the bonnet because Little House on the Prairie was from Minnesota.

GLENN: See what I mean? See what I mean? Hi, Karen and Lee, how are you?

CALLER: Pretty good, pretty good, thank you.

CALLER: We're both here.

GLENN: Good. Wow, Lee, you are I mean, Karen, you sound like my mom there. My parents were from or my grandparents and my mother was from Minnesota, and you just, that was a flashback there for a second.

CALLER: Well, but she's probably just as proud of you as we are of our daughters.

GLENN: No, uh uh, no, I don't think so. Anyway, so tell me the story here, Lee. Your father

CALLER: Yes, sir.

GLENN: Or was it your father started the business?

CALLER: He started the business back in 1919 on Memorial Day and it was a Dodge dealership and they immediately turned it into a Chevrolet dealership and then over the years they acquired other lines like Buick, Olds, Cadillac. And we had those for many, many years and then we became what they call a metro dealer and we built a new store, and the rules at that time were you could only really have one line to be a metro store and so we went to bat and we were able to keep Cadillac and we gave up Buick and Olds. And so we've been sitting here now for 31 years in a new building and operating selling Chevrolets and Cadillacs.

GLENN: Okay. Now, Gretchen tells me that you guys made the first round of cuts.

CALLER: That's right.

GLENN: And then you didn't make the second round.

CALLER: No. We got the registered letter and the FedEx and the first sentence says we are not renewing your Chevrolet or your Cadillac franchise. And then went on to explain.

GLENN: You've been in business for 90 years?

CALLER: Yep.

GLENN: 103% of goal last year?

CALLER: Yep.

CALLER: And we haven't had a losing month since the Eighties when there was 21% interest rate, you know, on anyone that bought a car. And even through all this, and the interesting thing is that we know for sure that some dealers who were kept are losing money. And the other kind of upsetting thing is the one that was given the dealership back, it seems somewhat political because it's very hard to determine. I don't think any of the big conglomerates, i.e., the dealers who owned six, seven, eight, nine, ten franchises in around the Minneapolis area, this particular person that was cut and was reinstated is one of those. Otherwise it's hard to tell if any of them have lost a dealership. But they have a gag order on you. You are not supposed to tell. And Mr. Henderson said, well, he is not going to tell because he doesn't want to ruin your business. Well, when you get a letter, FedEx on a day that they determine you are going to get the letter, it's only fair to your employees to let them know what it says. We can't go around pretending. Because you can't appeal if you done tell, either. So that's what happened to us.

GLENN: Okay. Did they have any criteria in did they have any reason why they cut you guys?

CALLER: Well, they claim that they have some criteria like profitability, sales, your capital standard, if you have enough capital in the business, your customer satisfaction. But they won't say which one they are using or if it was a conglomeration of them or if it was something else or if it was your location. I think that was, too.

GLENN: How are you doing on all of those?

CALLER: Well, we're wonderful. We're way over our percentage of where we should be capitalized. We've been profitable. And our CSI, in fact in our sales CSI, I think we're the top dealer in the city of Minneapolis if not second or third and our service is in line with everybody else. And it could be location. They are looking at where these dealerships are placed and what kind of a number of people that we're representing. And I suppose that might have had something to do with it.

CALLER: Yeah, but we're on the freeway with 13 acres.

GLENN: Wait, wait, wait. What do you mean what kind of people you represent?

CALLER: Numbers of people, I suppose, in our area of influence.

CALLER: Glenn, my dad's being too nice.

GLENN: Yeah, tell me, Gretchen.

CALLER: Well, this is why my dad's been so successful in business. Because everybody loves him. And this is why this will be a humongous blow to this community because everyone knows that (inaudible) run this dealership to the Nth degree and they will give you the best service possible. My dad's being too kind because they don't know why they were cut, Glenn.

CALLER: No, we don't.

CALLER: What they are telling you is that they are profitable and I interviewed two more dealers on Fox and Friends this morning who are also profitable and they don't know why they were cut. So when is America going to wake up and say that they want answers about why free enterprise is under assault in America. That's what I want to know.

CALLER: Well, and here's the thing. About three weeks ago or two weeks ago before they said they were going to cut all these dealers you had, you know, 13 acres, you had your building, we have a body shop, we're profitable, we employ about 85 people, sometimes up to 100 full time, healthcare, everything. And you had a certain worth to your dealership which obviously was a fair amount. All of a sudden and last Tuesday we had nothing, nothing but a white elephant building and hard to employ employees were going to try.

GLENN: I have to tell you that I never even considered the fact that you have, for 90 years, legacy now gone. That's it. My husband's been a dealer for years and he has credentials including the Time dealer of the year, Time magazine dealer of the year in Minnesota, and he was the runner up in the national contest. And he's been the president of every bank board and hospital board and church board. And, you know, I wish they would just come and visit us working at our dealership and the people we service. And they love coming. And we have a huge area of influence. I'm wondering if what they are going to do is they are going to take it away from us and give it to someone else and all our dealer franchise was now are negated. We have no rights.

CALLER: No.

CALLER: Nothing. They have taken everything away.

GLENN: So you have over $4 million worth of inventory.

CALLER: Right.

GLENN: If you didn't sign the gag order, which means that you're talking now, if you don't sign the gag order, you won't they are saying to you that you can't sell the cars. They're yours, right? You bought them from them.

CALLER: Uh huh.

GLENN: And you won't get any warranties on these cars.

CALLER: What will happen, as I understand it, it's very confusing. I'd have to ask a Chrysler dealer, I suppose, because they are in the middle of it. But I think what you have to do is you have to sell those cars to another dealer or something like that at a loss so that they can then retail the car and cover it with warranties. Once we're terminated, we can no longer do any warranty work, you see. So if we don't sign this thing and send it in, what happens is they will put us in the bankruptcy court and the judge has the authority to probably terminate us within a week, you know.

CALLER: But Glenn, here's the deal. They got a gun to their head because they have to sign this thing by Friday. Keep in mind that they filed an appeal which General Motors, by the way, never even informed them that they could file an appeal. They just happened to find out. They got that in by Monday night. Now you are telling me that of all the GM dealers who have been cut and all the ones that possibly are filing appeals that somebody was actually looking at those appeals on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and giving them an answer back and by Friday they have to sign this agreement or they're dead.

CALLER: Well, and we don't even know to whom we are appealing. That's, we just said to the review committee we don't know if it's the government, we don't know if it's General Motors. We have absolutely no idea. And then at the end when you're all done, you have you're forced to give them your customer, all your customer base and your customer service base and then you have to say, well, that's good; now you've cut us. And if you want to put up someone else three miles from us, we have to agree to that. So it's

GLENN: This is unbelievable.

CALLER: It is unbelievable that they can do that to private enterprise.

GLENN: Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It was originally life, liberty and property.

CALLER: Right.

GLENN: I mean, the only thing they haven't done is taken your property.

CALLER: I know, but

GLENN: They have taken everything you've had of worth.

CALLER: Completely.

GLENN: They have made it worthless.

CALLER: Well, and you know the other night I had a dream about our employees. I know all of our employees and their families and, boy, you know, in this economy if we can't keep them on, what are they going to do?

GLENN: Lee, what are you going to do? You've been doing this forever. What are you

CALLER: We'll keep operating here and we have an excellent body shop.

GLENN: Selling what?

CALLER: Well, we'll sell used cars. We've always had a good used car operation. And we'll try to expand that and we'll also go, have to go look for other franchises, whatever that may be, if there's anything at all out there that would be possible, you know.

CALLER: You know what that's going to be, Glenn? That's going to be a foreign dealer. So as much as we're trying to promote patriotism and buying American here which I've done my whole life, now the answer ironically may be to have somebody like Volkswagen or Honda come in. I mean, how crazy is that?

CALLER: Well, and now all of our customers, if and when they get rid of us will be at least a 30 minute drive. And so for getting their services or even buying the car. What's going to happen is they are just really going to lose most of our Chevy buyers. That is basically what is going to happen unless, of course, they choose someone else and us and put them in a location very, very close. It's quite amazing when you read the documents. It's taken away every right you ever had. And think of these people who just may have purchased a dealership and paid big money for these franchises and now they have nothing. They're gone.

GLENN: Have you guys, have you thought about suing for any sort of restitution?

CALLER: You can't do that according to this agreement.

CALLER: That's why I said the gun's to your head, Glenn.

GLENN: Wait, wait, but if you done agree to the agreement.

CALLER: Well, if you don't agree to it and don't sign it, like I say, in a few weeks dealers in that position will be terminated immediately rather than given this time of six to eight, ten, twelve months to wind down your business.

GLENN: So what are you going to do? Are you going to sign that agreement or are you going to stand fast and roll the dice that at some point sanity prevails?

CALLER: Well, everybody we talk to, we were at a big meeting Monday with all these dealers that have had something happen to them and we don't know what. Nobody said anything at the meeting. But it was highly recommended by the attorneys that were there, it would be very foolish if you don't sign it. Because it's your only chance to hang on and see what happens down the road.

CALLER: Well, and if you sue, you have to pay all of General Motors' lawyer fees. That's in the contract. Whether you win or lose, you have to pay them. And our lawyer said they charge about $1500 an hour. I mean, you could be in the millions. So you could lose, which you probably would, against General Motors. You know, you can't really fight the factory.

GLENN: No, you are not even, you are not in the fight against General Motors anymore.

CALLER: No.

GLENN: You are in the fight against the unions, the government and General Motors.

CALLER: Yes.

GLENN: Big business, big labor and big government. This is, this is fascism. This is what happens when you merge special interests, corporations and the government. And you know what, guys? If people like you don't take a stand and I'm not suggesting that you, you know, don't sign or do sign. That's up to you. You've got a lot riding on it. But at some point you know what poem keeps going through my mind is, you know, first they came for the Jews. People, all of us are like, well, this news doesn't really affect me; well, I'm not a bondholder; well, I'm not in banking industry; well, I'm not a big CEO; I'm not on Wall Street; I'm not a car dealer; I'm not an autoworker. Gang, at some point they are going to come for you.

CALLER: They are. If they can do this, they can do anything.

CALLER: And you know what, Glenn, you know who is paying their $1500 an hour general legal fees for General Motors?

GLENN: We are.

CALLER: The taxpayer. The taxpayer is paying that and that's why people should care about all of this and they should also care because their taxes are going to go up when dealerships like my parents go under. Because how are the communities going to pay the tax revenue that Main Motors in Anoka, Minnesota was giving to the City.

CALLER: Yeah, that really is, that is completely true.

CALLER: It's just a big chain reaction that will have a tumbling effect, there's no question.

CALLER: Even the gas station across the street where we fill up all our cars is going to take a big hit. You are right, Glenn. People don't realize how important. And Lee and I were trying to figure out what plan General Motors has to be profitable. I mean, how many cars do they

GLENN: Here it is. Here's their plan. Their plan is the government is going to give $4500 rebates if you buy one of these cars. You buy a car, you get a you turn in your junker, you get $4500 to the next car. Let's play that out. That's a second GM bailout and then other side it is protectionism. Because now you have to protect this big American company, big American labor that your tax dollars are at stake. So you've got to protect it. The minute we go down the road of protectionism, look up Smoot Hawley, the minute we go down protectionism, it's over, game over. Because other countries will do the same thing and then you're in trouble. Then you've got then you're over in this global economy.

CALLER: Well, who's going to pay the $4500? It's going to be the taxpayers.

GLENN: The taxpayers. The taxpayers.

CALLER: It is. And it's going to be those people who are I mean, it's so crazy. And eventually I can tell you one thing. Our employees here at Main Motor have it figured out. They might not have had it figured out two or three weeks ago, but they hear the writing on the wall loud and clear. And I think the rest of the American public will figure it out, too. We hope so. We hope so.

GLENN: Okay. Lee, Karen, thank you so much. And Gretchen, you stay in touch with me and let me know what's going on, all right?

CALLER: Thank you very much for having us on.

CALLER: Thanks for your time.

GLENN: You bet.

CALLER: We really appreciate it and keep up your good work.

GLENN: Thanks a lot. We just love your daughter. She's great. Thanks a lot. Thanks, Gretchen.

CALLER: Bye bye.

So now I ask you, where is your outrage? What will you do about it? Do you understand that eventually, if it hasn't yet, the government will eventually take what you have too?

AF1 Spotted Again?

2009-06-09T21:27:00.004-05:00

Was it really strong winds due to a storm, as was reported, that knocked down a tree on the White House's North Lawn today?

Or does this picture show a different culprit?

Stop The Insanity

2009-06-09T20:46:00.006-05:00

Aside from our collective protection (i.e. our military/police) name a program that our government has been in complete control of AND was a SUCCESS. Go ahead and take your time.

I don't really feel I need to say too much because I believe your lack of responses, at least lack of accurate responses, will say it all.

So why in Heaven's name are we allowing so much power to be turned over to the government? Banks? Car companies? Health-care? What's after that and where will the line be drawn?

All these programs and spending might have good intentions behind them and I'll give you that. But, for example, name a country where these have been done and actually worked? Why are we refusing to look to examples all around us to see if the paths we are trying will work out well? I don't see what is so complicated about that idea!

We have to wake up before we are fighting FOR our freedoms, rather than simply to PROTECT them.

What was that phrase again? Do you remember that line? How does that go again?

We the government? No.

Oh, that's right...

"WE THE PEOPLE..."

I'm having a "reflective moment" and would love to hear your answers...

2009-06-03T17:31:00.005-05:00

Feel free to just "cut and paste" the following and then insert your comments when you respond.

What did you want to be when you grew up?

Did it change when you were in high school/college?

Did you end up doing what you wanted? Why or why not?

If not, do you wish you had and are you/will you still pursue those dreams? Why or why not?

(UPDATED) Left and Right? WRONG.

2009-05-26T20:21:00.000-05:00

Is this what you think of when you think of Left, Right, Liberal, Conservative, Democrat, Republican, etc.?

Well, it's actually more like this and let me explain...

Totalitarianism

Anarchy

1. Articles of Confederation (1777)...too close to anarchy and didn't work
2. US Constitution (1787)
3. Republican Party (today)
4. Democrat Party (today)

Here's the point.

Today we are focused ONLY in the PURPLE area illustrated below:

We are missing the big picture illustrated in the PURPLE area below:

It is vital we wake up and realize that we are arguing in between #3 and #4 all while we continue to move farther and farther from our Constitution!!

Your thoughts?

No, Mr. President...

2009-05-17T13:54:00.002-05:00

"American "Progressivism" The History and Future

2009-05-15T23:35:00.011-05:00

Forgive my lack of personal remarks at this time but I haven't had a lot of spare time lately and I take my personal thoughts very seriously as I hate being misunderstood. So, I wanted to share these articles. However, your comments will help direct what my personal thoughts should more specifically address.

I will begin with a series of articles by R.J. Pestritto on "American Progressivism" and remember, your thoughts are very much welcomed especially if you agree with or would consider yourself to be a progressive.

R.J. Pestritto

Shipley Professor of the American Constitution at Hillsdale College

Many on the left today call themselves “progressive,” and they do so not just because it’s a nicer way of saying “liberal,” but also because they very much intend to revive the political principles of America’s original Progressives, from the Progressive Era of the 1880s through World War I. Why would leftist politicians, like Mrs. Clinton, purposely identify themselves with this Progressive movement?

The reason is that America’s original Progressives were also its original, big-government liberals. Most people point to the New Deal era as the source of big government and the welfare state that we have today. While this is perfectly accurate, it is important to understand that the principles of the New Deal did not originate in the New Deal; rather, they came from the Progressives, who had dominated American politics and intellectual cultural a generation prior to the New Deal.

We have no less an authority on this connection than Franklin Roosevelt himself. When FDR campaigned in 1932, he pointed to the Progressives – and in particular to Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson – as the source of his ideas about government.

In terms of the personalities who made up the Progressive movement, some are familiar to us and others are less so. The movement was comprised of well known politicians like Woodrow Wilson and Theodore Roosevelt; but it was also comprised of intellectuals and writers who are less well known but who have been very influential in America. There were folks like John Dewey, who was America’s public philosopher for much of the early 20^th century. Even less well known was Herbert Croly, but Croly was highly influential, since he founded and was the first editor of The New Republic – which became the main organ of Progressive opinion in the United States, and is still one of the most important journals on the Left today. I should add here that Woodrow Wilson actually fell into both of these categories – he was both a well known politician and president, but also was, for decades prior to his entry into politics, a prominent intellectual (a college professor and president of Princeton) who wrote many books and influential articles.

As I’ll explain in my next piece, these Progressives wanted a thorough transformation in America’s principles of government, from a government permanently dedicated to securing individual liberty to one whose ends and scope would change to take on any and all social and economic ills. Here’s the order of the points we’ll consider in the pieces to follow:

1) What did Progressives think about the American founding, and why did they want to eradicate its principles?

2) How did we get today’s excessively powerful presidency from the Progressives?

3) What was the connection between Progressivism and Socialism? Were the Progressives actually Socialists?

4) What are some of the critical connections between Progressivism and what’s going on in our country today?

II. The Progressives and their Attack on America’s Founding

As I mentioned in my last piece, America’s Progressives aimed for a thorough transformation in America’s principles of government. While our founders understood that our national government must have the capacity to be strong and vigorous (this is why the Articles of Confederation were failing), they also were very clear that this strength must always be confined to very limited ends or areas of responsibility; government, in other words, while not weak or tiny, was to be strictly limited.

The Progressive conception of government, on the other hand, was quite the opposite; Progressives had an “evolving” or a “living” notion of government (yes, we get the term “living constitution” from the Progressives), and thus wanted government to take on whatever role and scope the times demanded. The Progressives reasoned that people of the founding era may have wanted a limited government, given their particular experience with George III, but they argued that people of their own time wanted a much more activist government, and that we should adjust accordingly.

Quite simply, the Progressives detested the bedrock principles of American government. They detested the Declaration of Independence, which enshrines the protection of individual natural rights (like property) as the unchangeable purpose of government; and they detested the Constitution, which places permanent limits on the scope of government and is structured in a way that makes the extension of national power beyond its original purpose very difficult. “Progressivism” was, for them, all about progressing, or moving beyond, the principles of our founders.

This is why the Progressives were the first generation of Americans to denounce openly our founding documents. Woodrow Wilson, for example, once warned that “if you want to understand the real Declaration of Independence, do not repeat the preface” – i.e. that part of the Declaration which talks about securing individual natural rights as the only legitimate purpose of government. And Theodore Roosevelt, when using the federal government to take over private businesses during the 1902 coal strike, is reported to have remarked, “To hell with the Constitution when people want coal!” This remark may be apocryphal, but it is a fair representation of how TR viewed these matters.

In the next piece, we’ll consider how the presidency was transformed under men like Wilson and TR.

III. How the Progressives Originated the Modern Presidency

As I explained in my last piece, the Progressives wanted to disregard the Constitution in order to enlarge vastly the scope of government. As a practical matter, how was this to be done? It happened in a variety of ways, but principal among them was a fundamental change in the American presidency.

Under the system of our founders, government was to have sufficient strength and energy to accomplish its ends, but those ends were strictly limited by the Constitution. The principal way in which the Constitution keeps the government within its boundaries is through the separation of powers. As readers of The Federalist and of Thomas Jefferson know, the point of separation of powers is to keep any one set of hands from wielding all of the power in national government.

The Progressives, especially Woodrow Wilson, hated the separation of powers for precisely this reason: it made government inefficient, and made it difficult, if not impossible, to expand the power of government so that it could take on all of the new tasks that Progressives had in mind. So they looked to the presidency as a way of getting around this obstacle.

Under the original system, the president was merely leader of a single branch, or part, of the government, and thus could not provide leadership of the government as a whole. In his book Constitutional Government, Wilson urged that “leadership and control must be lodged somewhere.” The president, Wilson pointed out, was the only politician who could claim to speak for the people as a whole, and thus he called upon the president to rise above the separation of powers – to consider himself not merely as chief of a single branch of government, but as the popular leader of the whole of national politics. Wilson even contrasted the “constitutional aspect” of the presidency – its constitutionally defined role as chief of one of the three co-equal branches of government – to the “political” function of the president, where he could use his connection to public opinion as a tool for moving all of the branches of government in the direction called for by the people.

It was in this way that Wilson believed the original intention of the separation of powers system could be circumvented, and the enhanced presidency could be a means energizing the kind of active national government that the progressive agenda required.

In the next piece, we’ll consider whether the principles of the Progressives made them socialists.

IV. Progressivism and Socialism

Since the Progressives had such a limitless view of state power, and since they wanted to downplay the founders’ emphasis on individual rights, it is only natural to ask if they subscribed to socialism. There are several things to consider in answering this question.

First, when considering the relationship of progressivism to socialism, we must be clear that we are talking about the similarity in the philosophy of government; we are not suggesting that America’s progressives were the kind of moral monsters that we see in the history of some socialist or fascist regimes (although it is the case that their racial views – particularly those of Woodrow Wilson – were indeed morally reprehensible).

Second, we must also bear in mind that there was an actual socialist movement during the Progressive Era, and prominent progressives such as Wilson and Theodore Roosevelt were critics of it. In fact, Wilson and Roosevelt both ran against a socialist candidate in the 1912 election (Eugene Debs). The progressives were ambivalent about the socialist movement of their day not so much because they disagreed with it in principle, but because the American socialist movement was a movement of the lower classes. The progressives were elitists; they looked down their noses at the socialists, considering them a kind of rabble.

Keeping these points in mind, it is, nonetheless, the case that the progressive conception of government closely coincided with the socialist conception. Both progressivism and socialism champion the prerogatives of the state over the prerogatives of the individual. Wilson himself made this connection very plain in a revealing essay he wrote in 1887 called “Socialism and Democracy.” Wilson’s begins this essay by defining socialism, explaining that it stands for unfettered state power, which trumps any notion of individual rights. It “proposes that all idea of a limitation of public authority by individual rights be put out of view,” Wilson wrote, and “that no line can be drawn between private and public affairs which the State may not cross at will.” After laying out this definition of socialism, Wilson explains that he finds nothing wrong with it in principle, since it was merely the logical extension of genuine democratic theory. It gives all power to the people, in their collective capacity, to carry out their will through the exercise of governmental power, unlimited by any undemocratic idea like individual rights. He elaborated:

“In fundamental theory socialism and democracy are almost if not quite one and the same. They both rest at bottom upon the absolute right of the community to determine its own destiny and that of its members. Limits of wisdom and convenience to the public control there may be: limits of principle there are, upon strict analysis, none.”

Roosevelt, too, argued for a new conception of government, where individual natural rights would no longer serve as a principled boundary that the state was prohibited from crossing. He called in his New Nationalism program for the state to take an active role in effecting economic equality by way of superintending the use of private property. Private property rights, which had been serving as a brake on the more aggressive progressive policy proposals, were to be respected, Roosevelt argued, only insofar as the government approved of the property’s social usefulness. He wrote:

“We grudge no man a fortune in civil life if it is honorably obtained and well used. It is not even enough that it should have been gained without doing damage to the community. We should permit it to be gained only so long as the gaining represents benefit to the community. This, I know, implies a policy of a far more active governmental interference with social and economic conditions in this country than we have yet had, but I think we have got to face the fact that such an increase in governmental control is now necessary.”

In the next and final piece, we will consider the some of the most important connections between the original progressives and the resurgence of progressivism today.

V. Progressivism and the Current Crisis

There are important connections between America’s original Progressive Era and the crisis we are facing today, and it is useful to consider these connections on two levels.

The first connection is at a general level, and concerns our abandonment of the Constitution. The present crisis did not appear out of nowhere, and didn’t simply begin with the election of Barack Obama. Politicians of both parties spent the better part of the 20^th century disregarding the Constitution, as they looked to have government step up to solve every conceivable human problem. Thus it ought to be no surprise that the Constitution’s limits on government aren’t even part of the conversation today as our politicians debate the new interventions in our economy and society that seem to come daily.

Such a state of things would have greatly pleased America’s original progressives. As I’ve endeavored to explain in these pieces for the newsletter, progressives believed that the role of government should be determined not by our Constitution, but by whatever the needs of the day happened to be. This is why they sought to eradicate talk of the Constitution from our political discourse; today, that goal seems to have been realized.

The second connection between the original Progressive Era and our situation today has to do with policy. The progressives knew that our original system of government was not capable of handling all of the new tasks that they had in mind for it. So they envisioned creating a vast set of bureaucratic agencies. They argued that Congress should enact very broad and vague laws for supervising more and more facets of the American economy and society, and then delegate to the bureaucratic agencies the power and discretion to enact specific policies. Both Woodrow Wilson and Theodore Roosevelt conceived of government in this way.

The New Deal certainly went a long way toward implementing this progressive vision, and what we have seen in our own situation with TARP and the various other interventions is simply greater steps toward the progressive plan. Our Congress has simply said to the Treasury agencies: here’s a trillion dollars, here’s all the legal authority you need, now go out, determine what is in the public interest, and spend and regulate accordingly. That is the progressive vision of government, in a nutshell.

For more on the Progressives, two of my books may be of interest:

1) American Progressivism, which I co-edited with American historian William Atto, contains a basic introduction to progressive ideas written by Professor Atto and me, and then several selections from the actual writings of Progressives like Wilson, TR, Dewey, Croly, and others.

2) Woodrow Wilson and the Roots of Modern Liberalism, which is a much more in-depth look at Woodrow Wilson and how he was central to originating the liberalism that dominates America today. This is for those who are really interested in history and political theory.

Want to know how I feel today as I spend some time reflecting on the past, future and present? Well this just says it all.

2009-05-14T19:14:00.008-05:00

Click Here if you would rather "hear" these wonderful lyrics. It is a beautiful song.

Be Lifted High

Sin and its ways grow old
All of my heart turns to stone
And I'm left with no strength to arise
How You need to be lifted high

Sin and its ways lead to pain
Left here with hurt and with shame
So no longer will I leave your side
Jesus, you be lifted high

You be lifted high
You be lifted high
You be lifted high in my life
Oh God
And I fall to my knees
So it's you that they see
Not I
Jesus, you be lifted high

And even now that I'm inside your hands
Help me not to grow prideful again
Don't let me forsake sacrifice
Jesus you be lifted high

And if I'm blessed with the riches of kings
How could I ever think that it was me
For you brought me from darkness to light
Jesus, you be lifted high

You be lifted high
You be lifted high
You be lifted high in my life
Oh God
And I fall to my knees
So it's you that they see
Not I
Jesus, you be lifted high

Oh, come on. I couldn't pass this up.

2009-05-13T18:37:00.008-05:00

And this isn't even all of them!! It doesn't even include our gaffe machine himself, VP Biden!

Why Parents MUST Be Vigilant At All Times

2009-05-12T18:01:00.005-05:00

KIDZ BOP Happy Meal Collectors CD #8

Available in Happy Meals Only

Seems harmless enough. Right? You could probably say we are over reacting but this is what my 3 year old needs put into her mind? I don't agree and frankly I don't think my other children (5 and 8) need it either.

Is this appropriate material for their ages? Should it be packaged and promoted as such? Well, you tell me...

Tracks

1. Kryptonite
2. Complicated
3. Sorry
4. We Got The Beat
5. KIDZ BOP World

Let's just take a look at some of the lyrics for just the first three songs on this particular happy meal toy.

1) Kryptonite (by 3 Doors Down)

I took a walk around the world to
Ease my troubled mind
I left my body laying somewhere
In the sands of time
I watched the world float to the dark
Side of the moon
I feel there is nothing I can do, yeah

I watched the world float to the
Dark side of the moon
After all I knew it had to be something
To do with you
I really don't mind what happens now and then
As long as you'll be my friend at the end

If I go crazy then will you still
Call me Superman
If I'm alive and well, will you be
There holding my hand
I'll keep you by my side with
My superhuman might
Kryptonite

You called me strong, you called me weak
But your secrets I will keep
You took for granted all the times I
Never let you down
You stumbled in and bumped your head, if
Not for me then you would be dead
I picked you up and put you back
On solid ground

If I go crazy then will you still
Call me Superman
If I'm alive and well will you be
There holding my hand
I'll keep you by my side with my
Superhuman might
Kryptonite

//Oh whoa whoa// 3x

2) Complicated

Uh huh
Life's like this
Uh huh, uh huh
That's the way it is
'Cause life's like this
Uh huh, uh huh
That's the way it is

Chill out, what you yellin' for?
Lay back, it's all been done before
And if, you could only let it be
You will see

I like, you the way you are
When we're drivin' in your car
And you're, talkin' to me one on one
But you become

Somebody else
'Round everyone else
Your watchin' your back
Like you can't relax
You tryin' to be cool
You look like a fool to me
Tell me

Why'd you have to go and make things so complicated?
I see the way you're actin' like you're somebody else
Gets me frustrated
Life's like this you
You fall and you crawl and you break
And you take what you get, and you turn it into
Honestly, you promised me
I'm never gonna find you fake it
No no no

You come over unannounced
Dressed up, like you're somethin' else
Where you are ain't where it's at you see
You're makin' me

Laugh out, when you strike a pose
Take off, all your preppy clothes
You know, you're not foolin' anyone
When you become

Somebody else
'Round everyone else
Your watchin' your back
Like you can't relax
You tryin' to be cool
You look like a fool to me
Tell me

Why'd you have to go and make things so complicated?
I see the way you're actin' like you're somebody else
Gets me frustrated
Life's like this you
You fall and you crawl and you break
And you take what you get, and you turn it into
Honestly, you promised me
I'm never gonna find you fake it
No no no
(No no no)
No no
(No no no)
No no
(No no no)
No no

Ooh, chill out, what you yellin' for?
Lay back, it's all been done before
And if you could only let it be
You will see

Somebody else
'Round everyone else
Your watchin' your back
Like you can't relax
You tryin' to be cool
You look like a fool to me
Tell me

Why'd you have to go and make things so complicated?
I see the way you're actin' like you're somebody else
Gets me frustrated
Life's like this, you
You fall and you crawl and you break
And you take what you get, and you turn it into
Honestly, you promised me
I'm never gonna find you fake it
No no

Why'd you have to go and make things so complicated?
(Yea yea)
I see the way you're actin' like you're somebody else
Gets me frustrated
Life's like this you
You fall and you crawl and you break
And you take what you get, and you turn it into
Honestly, you promised me
I'm never gonna find you fake it
No no no

3. Sorry (by Buckcherry)

Oh I had a lot to say was thinking on my time away
I missed you and things weren't the same
Cause everything inside it never comes out right
And when I see you cry it makes me want to die
I'm sorry I'm bad, I'm sorry I'm blue, I'm sorry about all things I said to you
And I know I can't take it back
I love how you kiss, I love all you're sounds, and baby the way you make my world go round
And I just wanted to say I'm sorry:
This time I think I'm to blame it's harder to get through the days
You get older and blame turns to shame
[Pre-Chorus]
[Chorus]
Every single day I think about how we came all this way
The sleepless nights and the tears you cried it's never too late to make it right
Oh yeah sorry!
[Chorus]

*******

You may have a different opinion but as for my family, we plan on sharing our strong feelings with McDonald's about this happy meal toy. They are inappropriately targeting these very young age groups with concepts and lyrics that are far too old for them and may very well not agree with many of their customer's values. It is not McDonald's job to parent my children but it is upsetting they think this is ok to put in a happy meal.

As for KIDZ BOP, well clearly I won't be purchasing their products.

It was a great reminder of how important it is for us as parents to remain vigilant. It is up to us to protect the values of our family, what we are all choosing to be exposed to and the development of our children.

The Pictures You Weren't Supposed to See

2009-05-11T18:50:00.023-05:00

"Hey, anyone seen my ride?"

So what did our government REALLY spend OUR $328,835 taxpayer dollars on? Well, here below is the only picture included in this post that I didn't alter myself, which by the way cost NOTHING. I don't even have Photo Shop!!

So here is the one picture they have released:

Was it worth $328,835?

Happy Mother's Day

2009-05-08T12:22:00.004-05:00

I wanted to pass along a really accurate e-mail/poem I received. I think it pretty much says it all.

Before I was a Mom,
I never tripped over toys
or forgot words to a lullaby.
I didn't worry whether or not
my plants were poisonous.
I never thought about immunizations.

Before I was a Mom,
I had never been puked on.
Pooped on.
Chewed on.
Peed on.
I had complete control of my mind
and my thoughts.
I slept all night.

Before I was a Mom,
I never held down a screaming child
so doctors could do tests.
Or give shots.
I never looked into teary eyes and cried.
I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.
I never sat up late hours at night
watching a baby sleep.

Before I was a Mom,
I never held a sleeping baby just because
I didn't want to put her down.
I never felt my heart break into a million pieces
when I couldn't stop the hurt!
I never knew that something so small
could affect my life so much.
I never knew that I could love someone so much.
I never knew I would love being a Mom.

Before I was a Mom,
I didn't know the feeling of
having my heart outside my body..
I didn't know how special it could feel
to feed a hungry baby.
I didn't know that bond
between a mother and her child.
I didn't know that something so small
could make me feel so important and happy.

Before I was a Mom,
I had never gotten up in the middle of the night
every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay.
I had never known the warmth,
the joy,
the love,
the heartache,
the wonderment
or the satisfaction of being a Mom.
I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much,
before I was a Mom.

May you always be overwhelmed by the Grace of God rather than by the cares of life.

YOU can make a huge difference THIS THURSDAY...

2009-05-04T17:46:00.005-05:00

Prayer...America's Hope.

"May your unfailing love rest upon us, O LORD, even as we put our hope in you."

Psalm 33:22

Join the nation in prayer THIS Thursday for The National Day of Prayer. You can find an observance in your community by clicking on www.ndptf.org/events. If nothing is happening in your community, consider joining one of the virtual prayer meetings by phone.

Watch the National Observance in the Cannon House Office Building in Washington DC live on Web Cast at www.ndptf.org from 9am-12noon EST.

www.nationaldayofprayer.org

100 Days of Change for the Family

2009-04-30T08:30:00.002-05:00

For background information on the video above, read FRC Action's article "A ChangeWatch 100 Day Edition: Change You Can Bereave In"

When Did Our 'Problems' Become 'Emergencies'

2009-04-29T22:20:00.005-05:00

Seriously....CLICK HERE

.

My One Year Blogger Anniversary

2009-04-29T18:39:00.006-05:00

The main reason was for me to have something to help me relax and it has certainly done that over the last year. I doubt this next year will be any less unpredictable than last. However, there is no doubt in my mind that we are a stronger family in order to face whatever may come our way. I certainly know I am more grateful for...well, everything. Including those who share your thoughts with us and those who read my often crazy posts in anonymity.

I was just reflecting on the differences between this spring and last. I decided to look back and see just exactly when I started blogging and sure enough it was today! Since that "old" blog was in a format I could not update and I'm the only one that has access, I thought it fitting to share what that first post said. I certainly would have never guessed I would be trying to refrain from posting too often!!

Thank you for a fun and enlightening year with those who have been with me since day one and those who joined along the way. I very much look forward to another year of making you wonder if I am sane!

So from April 29, 2008 I give you my premiere post:

You Asked For It...But Keep Your Expectations Low!

I never really gave it much thought, the idea of starting my own blog that is. I love to read the blogs of my friends and I guess if you check regularly so my efforts won't be in vain, and have patience when I can't write much from time to time, I'll give it a shot.

Emily suggested this course of action, like I don't have enough to cram in my 24hr day. But I am not known for my vast intelligence at times (reference "Jonah") so here goes. I should be in bed but I am up with a migraine, surprise surprise. Even though I live on my own, have a husband, daughter and two step-sons, I can still (and pray will always) hear my mom in my head telling me to go to bed! On that note I will do the responsible thing and force myself to get sleep. You see, either way Abby (my daughter) will awake and share her discovery of the new day with me. With or without my consent!

I will add on and change things on my new blog as time permits and of course as I learn more about this new contraption called a blog.

Yikes, I feel old. Blessings to you all!
Britt

"Countdown with Truth and Proof" - A New Series!

2009-04-22T17:53:00.012-05:00

First, let me say how I much I disdain Keith Olbermann on MSNBC. I think he is a very angry, vile, and untruthful man (to put it nicely). So to help counter such bias I have started a new series on my blog.

This is a friendly conversation or perhaps even challenge, especially for those who watch shows like his (or get all their news from MSNBC) but anyone who wishes to challenge my conservative stance on issues is more than welcome to join in. I just want to know why you, for example, agree with Keith Olbermann on a topic. Then, what specifics can you offer to me and the readers of this blog that will help explain and back up that position.

I will in turn offer a rebuttal but I will, in my humble opinion, INCLUDE FACTS TO BACK MY RHETORIC UP. This would be something I feel is missing when Mr. Olbermann spews his hate filled comments and extreme views...all while acting as if he was a "journalist" offering unbiased "hard news."

And thus, the title of my new series.
COUNTDOWN W/TRUTH AND PROOF

(Feel free to number your comment topics for me so that I may easier counter each comment topic offered...since it is a "countdown" after all.)

Finally, here are a few links for past posts to help you better understand my bias:

Why am I a Conservative?

Our Future and Our Past: A Discussion

Let's get our heads out of the sand! You with me?

RIP: My now very large paperweight.

2009-04-20T23:27:00.004-05:00

What more can I say, thanks for the years old friend.

(No I have not lost my mind...I thought this would be funny. Don't worry.)

Oh, ya. That's why he lost..

2009-04-18T08:04:00.005-05:00

A brief venting by me:

It's just like Pres. Obama's people talking about how he will talk bipartisanship but basically there isn't much he can do if the other side doesn't agree with them and change their current stance.

THAT'S NOT "BIPARTISANSHIP."

And having an opposing opinion about "gay marriage" is not ALWAYS because of "religious" reasons.

Careful here come, those "religious" people....RUN!

Plus if you disagree with one party so much....that's why there is an alternative!!! So just go with the real deal, the folks that already "agree" with you. Go here for the article that lead to my vent.

McCain deserved to lose! That article shows a GREAT reason why he did.

.

Homeland Security: I guess I am an "extremist" but are you serious?!

2009-04-17T19:34:00.003-05:00

I couldn't have said it better so I once again give you...

Glenn Beck: You Might Be an Extremist If...

April 17, 2009 - 13:17 ET

Watch Glenn Beck weekdays at 5 p.m. ET on FOX News Channel

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano says an agency report warning of potential rise in activity by right-wing extremists didn't violate anyone's rights and is only meant to help cops do their job.

But the one thing our government doesn't seem to understand anymore — and this was on display quite clearly on Wednesday — is that being concerned about your country doesn't make you an extremist.

If you attended tea party, you were called — quote — "steeped in insanity" by The L.A. Times; "nutjobs" by The Washington Post; and your actions were seen as quote "not really family viewing," by CNN.

And then you had the activists.

Left-wing blogs like Daily Kos not only mocked the tea party attendees as GOP plants, they also spoke publicly about infiltrating the events along with groups like ACORN. They were adamant that us extremists would never be able to get together, but they were wrong — I haven't heard a single report of violence. Imagine that kind of peace at a Code Pink protest or a G20 summit?

Meanwhile, the government says you may be an extremist if you, "feared, predicted and anticipated a cataclysmic economic collapse in the United States..."

OK, so people like Alan Greenspan are fine because they never saw it coming, but I'm an extremist? That's government logic for you.

You might also be an extremist if "you incorporated aspects of an impending economic collapse to intensify fear and paranoia among like-minded individuals...."

Guilty — except that it's not about intensifying panic, it's about preparation.

A few weeks ago I did that whole "War Room" special about a global economic collapse and it was endlessly mocked on shows like Colbert. But last month the Pentagon itself held a two-day war-gaming session on how our enemies might use the crisis to cripple us.

Does that make them extremists too? Where is Colbert now?

Let me get this straight: Bush and Obama put us on the hook for $12.8 trillion, but I'm the extremist?

Lawmakers stuff $20 billion in pork and earmarks into spending bills, but I'm the extremist?

We have to beg the Chinese to keep loaning us money, but I'm the extremist?

Supreme Court Justice Ginsburg and Harold Koh who will help run the State Department, both talk about trans-nationalism and, by definition, a diminished role for the Constitution, but I'm the extremist?

I believe in the Constitution, the Founding Fathers and the American people. Does that make me an extremist or does it make me someone who loves his country and refuses to sit idly by as it's "reshaped" and "redefined"?

More than 300,000 people stood shoulder-to-shoulder across the country yesterday to send a clear message to both parties: Our country is off track and no one is listening.

And what's President Obama's response? A statement: "The president is unaware of the tea parties and will hold his own event today."

And people still wonder what we're so upset about.

A great explaination of what the Tea Parties are all about!

2009-04-15T19:22:00.004-05:00

What the Tea Parties Are About

April 15, 2009 - 12:23 ET

This is what the tea parties are about:

It's about spending — too much spending, to be specific. The idea that a business is too big to fail is anti-American; we've always been for the underdog.

It's about putting my family — my children — under $12.8 trillion in debt; all it took was two presidents and six months.

It's about the idea that we're all socialists now.

It's about the idea that the government can force companies, banks and states to take money and the strings that are attached to it, that they didn't want.

It's about power — too much power going to federal government.

It's about corruption — too much corruption, in both parties.

It's about the rule of law — that no one is above the law: if you're here legally or illegally, it applies-never too rich or powerful.

It's about if you write the tax code you should pay your taxes.

It's about the Republic, not mob rule.

It's about the concept of free speech — we've been called insane, lunatics and worse, just for speaking out.

It's about the years of lies from both parties — a Republican Party that claims to be for small government but gives us Medicare Part D that's got $17 trillion in unfunded liabilities.

It's about hypocrisy — both parties claim to be the most ethical, but we get corruption and not one damn person in Washington to speak out against it.

It's about the media that gets into bed with one party and has moved so far left that it can't even begin to see we're not extremists, we're moms and dads who just want to have a Republic for our children; but they can't see it.

But I'm the extremist.

Bush and Obama spend or put us on the hook for $12.8 trillion, but I'm the extremist?

Cap and Trade without any plan on who pays the taxes or where the money goes, but I'm the extremist?

States are looking to apply retroactive taxes — that's like changing the rules in the middle of the game — but I'm the extremist?

Vilifying AIG executives, without any law being broken, just for accepting money they were owed, but I'm the extremist?

Bush and Obama have taken over and want to take over banks, car manufacturers and insurance companies, but I'm the extremist?

The politicians in the House and Senate stuff $20 billion in pork and earmarks into spending bills when we have to beg the Chinese to loan us that money, and I'm the extremist?

A Supreme Court justice and Harold Koh, who will help run the State Department, talk about trans-nationalism and by definition a diminished role for the Constitution, but I'm the extremist?

Politicians openly talk of the Fairness Doctrine — or its ugly twin, "localism" — and curtailing my free speech, but I'm the extremist?

Unions and big labor politicians want to take away the right to a secret ballot, but I'm the extremist?

I believe in the Constitution. I believe in the Founding Fathers. I believe in the American people. When did believing those things make someone — anyone — an extremist?

I'm not the extremist.

I learned something from a lawyer friend of mine who won lots of cases in front of judges and lawyers — I asked him how he won so many cases. He said it's easy: If the law supports my client's position I argue the law. If not, I argue the facts. If the facts don't support my client's position, I just attack the opposition.

They can't attack the message, so I guess they have to target the messenger.

By Glenn Beck

And Let me just add my two cents...AMEN!!

Wow. What a great movie!

2009-04-14T17:34:00.005-05:00

I just finished watching a movie called "Faith Like Potatoes" and I have to admit the name seemed really odd to me. However, it is without question one of my absolute favorite movies of all time.

Movie Information:
This South African movie is based on an inspiring true story. A white farmer, of Scottish descent, grew weary of conditions in Zambia, and decided to migrate down to South Africa. He set up a farm in KwaZulu-Natal. Starting with almost nothing, he struggled desperately to survive, until a personal encounter with God changed his life and fortune.
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Jesus Went to Hell and I Hate Religion

2009-04-09T13:26:00.012-05:00

I hope I have your attention because if you read no other post I hope you read this one.

Personally I believe we have screwed up so much of Christ's message and "organized religion" is often so hypocritical, watered down and politically correct it is doing more harm then good. We need to fellowship together but as God intended when He spoke of it in the Bible. My opinion on how to have eternal life instead of torment...it's simple. In fact, if it's complicated it isn't what God taught. All we have to do is simply ask for forgiveness and repent of those things that lead us away from Christ and instead work to fulfill His Word in our lives each day.

Forget religion, forget church, forget all of it. This Easter take just ONE MOMENT alone and take an honest account of your life and beliefs. God said being a good person isn't what He asks. A lot of good people will be among those that will go to Hell. Not because God is mean, but only because of their own choice to reject a life founded on Christ and the Bible. No one said it's ever fully attainable. Only Christ was able to achieve that but our job is to try each day and when we fail, ask forgiveness, repent and get back up again. God doesn't force Himself upon us just as He doesn't intervene every time we would like in our lives. Free will means we take the good with the painful.

And having vast Biblical knowledge or being a Christian leader, holding a pastoral position, etc. won't cut it either. There will be plenty of those in Hell too. In fact those in Christian leadership are held to a higher standard as they are in a position to either teach the full Truth of God's Word or not. They are not if they water it down, ignore those pesky tough issues and perhaps focus only on the happy parts. There is no in between in God's eyes and they are held responsible for how they lead those in their care. Are they leading them towards Christ or are they actually leading them away from Him?

Jesus wasn't Presbyterian, Methodist, Catholic, Evangelical, etc. etc. We made those groups. So while the Bible does teach the importance of fellowship with other believers it doesn't mean you have to pick a "group" or "denomination" to belong to. It is important to find a Bible believing church that isn't afraid to speak the Truth as written in God's Word. This is especially vital in areas where Christians are persecuted for their beliefs and these days it could just as easily happen to you. But asking God for salvation is simple. Living as Christ calls us to live is an ongoing journey and one that won't always be easy but will always be worth it.

Do you believe Jesus Christ died on the cross? Do you believe He went to Hell and rose again in order to forgive us of our sins? Do you believe this is the only way for us to stand before God forgiven and free when we die, rather than condemned to Hell? If not, please ask yourself why?

There is a way to really know and if you want the answer all you have to do is honestly 100% give your life to Christ and do your very best to follow His Word each day. If after six months nothing has changed your original belief, then you haven't really lost anything. However, if it has then just think of what you almost missed out on but have now gained.

I can promise you will never regret it.

From our family to yours, have a happy and blessed Easter!

A simple song. A profound message.

2009-03-26T14:06:00.011-05:00

I know I say this often, but I really hope you take a moment to not only watch this video but truly listen and hear the lyrics. It is a message I know I benefit from being reminded of. Plus I can imagine we all could use a regular reminding of the consequenses of our decisions.

It can be easy to miss the big picture and/or see the true path we start heading down if we don't remain strong in our ongoing battle to do the right thing, no matter how big or small a situation/decision may seem at the time.

And it stems from one of the simplest of songs.

"Slow Fade"

So apparently I am a "homophobe." Really?!

2009-03-24T20:59:00.008-05:00

Set aside the actual issue mentioned in this clip and any partisan angle. Now, define "homophobe" which comes from the term "homophobic."

I was under the impression it meant a "FEAR OF" but apparently it has been redefined, as many terms have (i.e. tolerance), to mean anyone who even remotely disagrees with any part of a homosexual issue.

My taxes pay his salary and I expect those in elected office to act like an adult and deal with the issue at hand without this kind of misleading childish schoolyard name calling.

Please, if you disagree just explain to me where I am wrong with my analysis.

Where in our Constitution? Did they ever answer that? Let me know.

2009-03-24T20:35:00.004-05:00

I didn't hear how what they are doing is Constitutional and thought it was a great question. Frankly, an easy question. Aren't they supposed to be some of the "smartest" people in government? Was it just me or did I miss their answer?

What are your thoughts?

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This Atheist has it right!

2009-03-20T19:37:00.013-05:00

I know not everyone who reads my blog is a believer. Therefore, I ask that all of you take a moment to watch this short video. I love his perspective and he is right. As a born-again Christian (who adamantly disdains "religion") if I truly believe what I say I do, I can't just sit by silently. Frankly, I need to work more on this. Now there is a line where you become that person that people cross the street in order to avoid...and I admit I cross the street too. But I digress.

No matter what perspective you have this is worth watching. Anyway, this self proclaimed atheist has it absolutely right and it is something all self proclaimed "Christians" should pay attention to!

So now, in honor of Easter, I know it is a while yet but I love Easter. Unlike Christmas it is filled with such a deep sadness at first and then such joy. That powerful few days always moves me.

Please take a moment to set aside any disbelief and simply focus on the words and images. I hope it blesses you but if not then you haven't really lost anything.

Bush refuses to criticize Obama: He 'deserves my silence'

2009-03-17T22:30:00.006-05:00

Bush refuses to criticize Obama in Canada
By ROB GILLIES

CALGARY, Alberta (AP) - Former President George W. Bush says he won't criticize President Barack Obama because Obama "deserves my silence," and says he plans to write a book about the 12 toughest decisions he made in office. Bush's speech Tuesday at a luncheon in Calgary, Alberta was his first since leaving office.

He declined to comment about the Obama administration like former Vice President Dick Cheney. Cheney said Sunday that Obama's decisions are threatening the nation's safety.

Bush says he doesn't know what he'll do in the long term but says he'll write a book that will let people determine what they would have done if their most important job was to protect the country.

**Classy. Need I say more.**

Inauguration Day Irony....even funnier now than it was that day!

2009-03-16T12:09:00.007-05:00

During the inauguration the White House website was temporarily unavailable. I noticed this when I watched the transition of this page. I couldn't help but see the unintentional but hilarious irony...

Then not long after President Barack Obama was sworn in they put up the "new" White House Website which premiered like this...

They were right. Change has come to America. The irony from that day just seems even more applicable as the days go on.

It's worth mentioning that I am not thrilled with what the alternative would have been (McCain....ya, not much difference). But at least we can see what America is like when a single party (especially one with the political ideals of redistribution, big government, etc.) has this much power and control.

I hate political parties and our founders (especially our first President) warned us against creating them for the sake of keeping the Republic strong and so we don't destroy it!

Gee, I simply can't imagine why they would have been concerned, things are great. Don't you think?!

Just Words? Just Numbers? Well, how about a little perspective.

2009-03-15T13:45:00.008-05:00

I read this and thought it was just too good not to pass on. You can find the link to this online if you click HERE.

What does one TRILLION dollars look like?

All this talk about "stimulus packages" and "bailouts"...

A billion dollars...

A hundred billion dollars...

Eight hundred billion dollars...

One TRILLION dollars...

What does that look like? I mean, these various numbers are tossed around like so

many doggie treats, so I thought I'd take Google Sketchup out for a test drive and try to get a sense of what exactly a trillion dollars looks like.

We'll start with a $100 dollar bill. Currently the largest U.S. denomination in genera

l circulation. Most everyone has seen them, slightly fewer have owned them. Guaranteed to make friends wherever they go.

A packet of one hundred $100 bills is less than 1/2" thick and contains $10,000. Fits in your pocket easily and is more than enough for week or two of shamefully decadent fun.

Believe it or not, this next little pile is $1 million dollars (100 packets of $10,000). You could stuff that into a grocery bag and walk around with it.

While a measly $1 million looked a little unimpressive, $100 million is a little more respectable. It fits neatly on a standard pallet...

And $1 BILLION dollars... now we're really getting somewhere...

Next we'll look at ONE TRILLION dollars. This is that number we've been hearing so much about. What is a trillion dollars? Well, it's a million million. It's a thousand billion. It's a one followed by 12 zeros.

You ready for this?

It's pretty surprising.

Ladies and gentlemen... I give you $1 trillion dollars...

(And notice those pallets are double stacked.)

**Note from me...see the guy standing on the far left hand bottom corner?!

So the next time you hear someone toss around the phrase "trillion dollars"... that's what they're talking about.

(step by step calculations & dimensions are here for those who may be interested)

The 9.12 Project

2009-03-13T18:21:00.010-05:00

Mission Statement for "The912Project.com"

This website is a place for you and other like-minded Americans looking for direction in taking back the control of our country. It is also a place to find information that will assist you in navigating the rough waters we face in the days, weeks and months ahead.

We suggest that you start in your own homes. Talk to your family about the Values and Principles. Discuss the importance of what the Founders designed for America.

Hold or attend a weekly meeting in your neighborhood or town. Communication with your neighbors is vital to the process of protecting our country. Gather in living rooms, coffee houses or restaurants. Share your thoughts and ideas.

Visit this website often. Make use of the resources that are linked here. Share the ideas and resources that have worked in your home or town.

This is a non-political movement. The 9-12 Project is designed to bring us all back to the place we were on September 12, 2001. The day after America was attacked we were not obsessed with Red States, Blue States or political parties. We were united as Americans, standing together to protect the greatest nation ever created.

That same feeling – that commitment to country is what we are hoping to foster with this idea. We want to get everyone thinking like it is September 12th, 2001 again.

Ask yourself these questions:

Do you watch the direction that America is being taken in and feel powerless to stop it?
Do you believe that your voice isn’t loud enough to be heard above the noise anymore?
Do you read the headlines everyday and feel an empty pit in your stomach…as if you’re completely alone?

If you’ve answered YES, then you’ve fallen for the Wizard of Oz lie. While the voices you hear in the distance may sound intimidating, as if they surround us from all sides—the reality is very different. Once you pull back the curtain, you realize that there are only a few people pressing the buttons, and their voices are weak. The truth is that they don’t surround us at all.

We surround them.

At the origin of America, our Founding Fathers built this country on 28 powerful principles. These principles were culled from all over the world and from centuries of great thinkers. We have distilled the original 28 down to the 9 basic principles.

So, how do we show America what’s really behind the curtain? Read the nine simple principles. If you believe in at least seven of them, then we have something in common.

Welcome.

**Personal Note From Me: There is such a high demand on this new website that you might encounter this statement, "The server is temporarily unable to service your request due to maintenance downtime or capacity problems. Please try again later."

It's worth it so don't give up! This is something we should all take very seriously, no matter our political leanings.

The "Change" we can believe in huh? So how's that workin' so far?

2009-03-09T22:33:00.004-05:00

Prime Minister Brown gave President Obama an ornamental Pen Holder made from the timbers of the Victorian anti-slave ship HMS Gannet. This was especially touching since oak from the Gannet's sister ship, HMS Resolute, was carved to make a desk that has sat in the Oval Office in the White House since 1880.

President Obama was also given a framed commission for HMS Resolute. And a first edition of the seven-volume biography of Churchill by Sir Martin Gilbert.

President Obama gave Prime Minister a box set of 25 Classic American DVDs. Oh, did I mention President Obama sent back a bust given to us after 9/11 of Winston Churchill?

President Obama canceled the customary joint press conference (apparently on account of snow) but later decided to allow limited press availability, leaving out more than a dozen British reporters. President Obama seemed bored during the Oval Office meeting, acknowledged Britain's status as America's closest ally, and left the prime minister to go visit Boy Scouts. Report later was that President Obama was "too tired" to offer proper welcome.

The only thing I'll say is this: Respect and Tradition.

But hey, don't take my word for it...

Snubbing Britain: Obama offends a country
From the Union Leader: Sunday, Mar. 8, 2009

Barack Obama was supposed to make the rest of the world like, if not love, America again. With his charm and sophistication, he would show our cultural superiors overseas, particularly Europe, that America had graduated from cowboy chauvinism to coffee-shop worldliness.

Then an actual European visited the White House, with the whole world watching. Oops. As the British -- or "the Brits" as the President called them during a brief press availability -- might say, the President dropped a clanger, all right.

On their first official visit to the United States, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and his wife came to the White House bearing the traditional grand gifts. The prime minister gave Obama a pen holder carved from the remains of the HMS Gannet, a warship that once ran anti-slavery missions along the African coast. The desk in the Oval Office is made from the wood of the Gannet's sister ship.

Brown also gave the President a first edition of Sir Martin Gilbert's seven-volume authorized biography of Winston Churchill. This was apparently a response to Obama's having ungratefully sent back to England in January a bust of Churchill lent to the United States after 9/11.

Obama's gift to Brown? A box of 25 DVDs.

Then Obama canceled the customary joint press conference on account of snow and held a small press availability, leaving out more than a dozen British reporters.

The President acted bored by all of it, rotely acknowledged Britain's status as America's closest ally, and left the prime minister to go greet some Boy Scouts. The socially sensitive Britons went bonkers.

The Independent, a left-wing British newspaper, editorialized that Obama gave merely a "stale paean to the 'special relationship.' "

In a news report, it wrote, "Brown faces humiliation" and "The trip is in marked contrast to the hospitality lavished on Tony Blair by George Bush when they met for the first time."

The entire British press was inflamed with outrage that the American President had treated the prime minister of Great Britain so shabbily.

No one would have thought that George W. Bush could be made to look like a sophisticated gentleman compared to Barack Obama. But Obama just did it.

(end of the article from the Union Leader)

My final thoughts are...really?! NO ONE would have thought that George W. Bush could look like a sophisticated gentleman, especially compared to Barack Obama. I did and I highly doubt I am alone.

I'll say it again:

Respect and Tradition.

Click on picture above to go to a previous post of mine.

The Matter of Abortion

2009-03-09T00:40:00.006-05:00

By Regis Nicoll
2/13/2009

Devilish Thoughts

“Readers are advised to remember that the devil is a liar. Not everything that Screwtape says should be assumed true even from his own angle.” (C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters)

It has been nearly 70 years since C.S. Lewis made public a mysterious correspondence that became known as The Screwtape Letters. The “letters” contained advice, instructions, and warnings from a senior demon to a junior demon about the handling of an earthling in his “care.”

As disclosed in the last of the letters, Wormwood, the pupil, failed his commission. He has never been heard from again. It has been noted that his disappearance had some connection with a ravenous meal Screwtape, the tutor, enjoyed sometime shortly thereafter.

Recently, new correspondence has come to light that bears eerie similarity. With moist palms and brow, I share it with you now . . .

CLICK HERE

Being Conservative and Gay

2009-03-06T13:41:00.003-06:00

Glenn Beck took a call today and it is worth your time to read this fairly brief transcript - Click Here.

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BLOG ALERT!!

2009-03-05T13:52:00.008-06:00

I've been informed you need to visit this site for "the good of the world." So I urge you for the good of the world to please check it out!

LIPPY HAS SOMETHING TO SAY

CLICK HERE ... really, right now...don't delay!
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Our Future and Our Past - A Discussion: PART FIVE

2009-03-03T21:04:00.011-06:00

PART FIVE: Republican Socialists, The Evil of Socialized Medicine and What free-market in health-care?

I don't have time right now to expand on my thoughts on these matters. However, let me start by saying that I agree with these articles and leave it at that for now. I didn't want to wait to share these brief articles with you and will expand upon my take on all this soon. I hope you don't wait for my additional comments before you feel free to share your thoughts and opinions.

What free market in health-care?
March 3, 2009 by Don Watkins

Republican Socialists
by Alex Epstein (December 31, 2008)

The Evil of Socialized Medicine
By Andrew Bernstein (Washington Times, September 26, 2004)

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Let's get our heads out of the sand! You with me?

2009-02-27T13:43:00.009-06:00

Information that is worth your time...that is, if you truly care about staying involved in our current events.

TODAY'S SPOTLIGHT: Mr. Glenn Beck

Your thoughts?

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Our Future and Our Past - A Discussion: PART FOUR

2009-02-23T23:45:00.010-06:00

PART FOUR: The Constitution, Slavery and America's Founders

I was recently asked the following about this series in the comments under PART TWO.

"Also, what about the changes in our reality? These principles were set up in a time when our gov't didn't recognize women, or people of color as 1st class citizens. We had to make a change. It's sort of what I call the "We know better now" principle."

The vast majority of our founders believed that the Constitution was inspired by God. Therefore, it has inherently built into it ways to adjust to issues/injustices that the men at the time did disagree with and in addition issues they could not fathom. However, I don't believe that negates the power and thoroughness of that document as it stands. It was built to change but not easily, which is a good thing. When our government moves quickly it often makes mistakes we pay for later.

I challenge those who feel our founders created a document that isn't fit or is out of date for today, and/or that a God inspired document couldn't foresee what the future held and would be able to adapt properly, to do further research.

Starting with the links to these articles:

The Bible, Slavery and America's Founders

A Tale of Two Constitutions

A Godless Constitution?: A Response to Kramnick and Moore

Our society is extremely ignorant of the actual writings of our founders, myself included and I am working on that. I blame our educational systems for this lack of knowledge of our history but that's a whole different topic for another day.

*

Our Future and Our Past - A Discussion: PART THREE

2009-02-21T23:32:00.011-06:00

I am taking a different approach to this series. Let me know if you guys like it better or not. I can use all the feedback I can get.

I want to add personal thoughts and outside sources. In this post I want to share a few quotes I find profound and relevant, even today.

PART THREE:
Founders of our Republic and framers of our Constitution in their own words.

"Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."
-John Adams

"Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports.... And let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion."
- George Washington

"Neither the wisest constitution nor the wisest laws will secure the liberty and happiness of a people whose manners are universally corrupt. He therefore is the truest friend to the liberty of his country who tries most to promote its virtue, and who ... will not suffer a man to be chosen into any office of power and trust who is not a wise and virtuous man."
- Samuel Adams

I find these quotes as relevant today as they were when the Constitution was created. The current events we see on our news everyday proves the accuracy of these statements. And they are only a small sample of our founder's thoughts and warnings during the infancy of our Republic.

Here are the links to previous posts (in order) within this series in case you missed them:

Why Am I A Conservative

Our Future and Our Past: An introduction to a series of discussions

Our Future and Our Past - A discussion: PART ONE

Our Future and Our Past - A discussion: PART TWO

Photoshop of the day:

2009-02-20T21:34:00.007-06:00

Schmucky says “Let them eat pork”

By Michelle Malkin • February 20, 2009 05:44 PM

Our wonderful friend and Photoshop guru Tennyson Hayes has returned with yet another delicious take on Beltway snobs. In response to Sen. Chuck Schumer’s derision of Americans who care about the pork in the porkulus, Tennyson powders up Schmucky and tops him off with Marie Antoinette’s big white wig.

Perfect:

___________________________________________________________________
And In case anyone missed it here is the inspiration for this great Photoshop picture. I give you Sen. Schummer speaking for us, no wait...I, and a lot of us don't agree, someone should tell him to stop speaking for people he is clearly out of touch with. Oh well, without further adieu the esteemed Senator...

Let's Play: What's Missing From This Picture?

2009-02-18T19:22:00.014-06:00

I friend of mine told me I should check out Rachel Maddow's website. So I did. After a general overview of her website on "Air America" I noticed this "poll" and thought to myself, wait, where's the rest of the options? Apparently there aren't any other options. Hmmmmm. Regardless of political party or opinion of President Bush's administration, one has to wonder why these are the ONLY options provided.

I'll leave it at that and you can answer that pending question yourselves.

Our Future and Our Past - A Discussion: PART TWO

2009-02-18T18:08:00.014-06:00

PART TWO:
The Challenge for Each of Us to Learn and Pass on to the Next Generation the Fundamental Truths and True History of the Foundation of This Nation

One example is the following book and brief explanation of each principle provided below:

5000 Year Leap: A Miracle that Changed the World"
by W. Cleon Skousen

Discover the 28 fundamental beliefs of the Founding Fathers which they said must be understood and perpetuated by every people who desired peace, prosperity, and freedom.

These beliefs have made possible more progress in 200 years than was made previously in over 5,000 years.

The following is a brief overview of the principles found in The Five Thousand Year Leap, and one chapter is devotes to each of these 28 principles.

Principle 1 - The only reliable basis for sound government and just human relations is Natural Law.

Natural law is God's law. There are certain laws which govern the entire universe, and just as Thomas Jefferson said in the Declaration of Independence, there are laws which govern in the affairs of men which are "the laws of nature and of nature's God."

Principle 2 - A free people cannot survive under a republican constitution unless they remain virtuous and morally strong.

"Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters." - Benjamin Franklin

Principle 3 - The most promising method of securing a virtuous people is to elect virtuous leaders.

"Neither the wisest constitution nor the wisest laws will secure the liberty and happiness of a people whose manners are universally corrupt. He therefore is the truest friend to the liberty of his country who tries most to promote its virtue, and who ... will not suffer a man to be chosen into any office of power and trust who is not a wise and virtuous man." - Samuel Adams

Principle 4 - Without religion the government of a free people cannot be maintained.

"Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports.... And let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion." - George Washington

Principle 5 - All things were created by God, therefore upon him all mankind are equally dependent, and to him they are equally responsible .

The American Founding Fathers considered the existence of the Creator as the most fundamental premise underlying all self-evident truth. They felt a person who boasted he or she was an atheist had just simply failed to apply his or her divine capacity for reason and observation.

Principle 6 - All mankind were created equal.

The Founders knew that in these three ways, all mankind are theoretically treated as:

1. Equal before God.

2. Equal before the law.

3. Equal in their rights.

Principle 7 - The proper role of government is to protect equal rights, not provide equal things.

The Founders recognized that the people cannot delegate to their government any power except that which they have the lawful right to exercise themselves.

Principle 8 - Mankind are endowed by God with certain unalienable rights.

"Those rights, then, which God and nature have established, and are therefore called natural rights, such as are life and liberty, need not the aid of human laws to be more effectually invested in every man than they are; neither do they receive any additional strength when declared by the municipal [or state] laws to be inviolable. On the contrary, no human legislation has power to abridge or destroy them, unless the owner [of the right] shall himself commit some act that amounts to a forfeiture." - William Blackstone

Principle 9 - To protect human rights, God has revealed a code of divine law.

"The doctrines thus delivered we call the revealed or divine law, and they are to be found only in the Holy Scriptures. These precepts, when revealed, are found by comparison to be really a part of the original law of nature, as they tend in all their consequences to man's felicity." - William Blackstone

Principle 10 - The God-given right to govern is vested in the sovereign authority of the whole people.

"The fabric of American empire ought to rest on the solid basis of the consent of the people. The streams of national power ought to flow immediately from that pure, original fountain of all legislative authority." - Alexander Hamilton

Principle 11 - The majority of the people may alter or abolish a government which has become tyrannical.

"Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes ... but when a long train of abuses and usurpations ... evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security." - Thomas Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence

Principle 12 - The United States of America shall be a republic.

"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America
And to the republic for which it stands...."

Principle 13 - A Constitution should protect the people from the frailties of their rulers.

"If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary.... [But lacking these] you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself." - James Madison

Principle 14 - Life and liberty are secure only so long as the rights of property are secure .

John Locke reasoned that God gave the earth and everything in it to the whole human family as a gift. Therefore the land, the sea, the acorns in the forest, the deer feeding in the meadow belong to everyone "in common." However, the moment someone takes the trouble to change something from its original state of nature, that person has added his ingenuity or labor to make that change. Herein lies the secret to the origin of "property rights."

Principle 15 - The highest level of prosperity occurs when there is a free-market economy and a minimum of government regulations.

Prosperity depends upon a climate of wholesome stimulation with four basic freedoms in operation:

1. The Freedom to try.

2. The Freedom to buy.

3. The Freedom to sell.

4. The Freedom to fail.

Principle 16 - The government should be separated into three branches .

"I call you to witness that I was the first member of the Congress who ventured to come out in public, as I did in January 1776, in my Thoughts on Government ... in favor of a government with three branches and an independent judiciary. This pamphlet, you know, was very unpopular. No man appeared in public to support it but yourself." - John Adams

Principle 17 - A system of checks and balances should be adopted to prevent the abuse of power by the different branches of government.

"It will not be denied that power is of an encroaching nature and that it ought to be effectually restrained from passing the limits assigned to it." - James Madison

Principle 18 - The unalienable rights of the people are most likely to be preserved if the principles of government are set forth in a written Constitution.

The structure of the American system is set forth in the Constitution of the United States and the only weaknesses which have appeared are those which were allowed to creep in despite the Constitution.

Principle 19 - Only limited and carefully defined powers should be delegated to government, all others being retained by the people.

The Tenth Amendment is the most widely violated provision of the bill of rights. If it had been respected and enforced America would be an amazingly different country than it is today. This amendment provides:

"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."

Principle 20 - Efficiency and dispatch require that the government operate according to the will of the majority, but constitutional provisions must be made to protect the rights of the minority.

"Every man, by consenting with others to make one body politic under one government, puts himself under an obligation to every one of that society to submit to the determination of the majority, and to be concluded [bound] by it." - John Locke

Principle 21 - Strong local self-government is the keystone to preserving human freedom.

"The way to have good and safe government is not to trust it all to one, but to divide it among the many, distributing to every one exactly the functions he is competent [to perform best]. - Thomas Jefferson

Principle 22 - A free people should be governed by law and not by the whims of men.

"The end of law is not to abolish or restrain, but to preserve and enlarge freedom. For in all the states of created beings, capable of laws, where there is no law there is no freedom. For liberty is to be free from restraint and violence of others, which cannot be where there is no law." - John Locke

Principle 23 - A free society cannot survive as a republic without a broad program of general education.

"They made an early provision by law that every town consisting of so many families should be always furnished with a grammar school. They made it a crime for such a town to be destitute of a grammar schoolmaster for a few months, and subjected it to a heavy penalty. So that the education of all ranks of people was made the care and expense of the public, in a manner that I believe has been unknown to any other people, ancient or modern. The consequences of these establishments we see and feel every day [written in 1765]. A native of America who cannot read and write is as rare ... as a comet or an earthquake." John Adams

Principle 24 - A free people will not survive unless they stay strong.

"To be prepared for war is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace." - George Washington

Principle 25 - "Peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations -- entangling alliances with none."- Thomas Jefferson, given in his first inaugural address.

Principle 26 - The core unit which determines the strength of any society is the family; therefore the government should foster and protect its integrity.

"There is certainly no country in the world where the tie of marriage is more respected than in America, or where conjugal happiness is more highly or worthily appreciated." Alexis de Tocqueville

Principle 27 - The burden of debt is as destructive to human freedom as subjugation by conquest.

"We are bound to defray expenses [of the war] within our own time, and are unauthorized to burden posterity with them.... We shall all consider ourselves morally bound to pay them ourselves and consequently within the life [expectancy] of the majority." - Thomas Jefferson

Principle 28 - The United States has a manifest destiny to eventually become a glorious example of God's law under a restored Constitution that will inspire the entire human race.

The Founders sensed from the very beginning that they were on a divine mission. Their great disappointment was that it didn't all come to pass in their day, but they knew that someday it would. John Adams wrote:

"I always consider the settlement of

America

with reverence and wonder, as the opening of a grand scene and design in Providence for the illumination of the ignorant, and the emancipation of the slavish part of mankind all over the earth."

Book Summary Provided by: Learn The Constitution

(Link for information provided above HERE)

Our Future and Our Past - A Discussion: PART ONE

2009-02-16T19:32:00.001-06:00

Let's start with an explanation of this series of posts. Earlier this month I posted a very abbreviated explanation of why I am a conservative. Click here for a link to my post "Why am I a Conservative?" That got me thinking (which can be dangerous) and I decided it would be interesting to have a more detailed explanation and/or discussion on specific "conservative" topics from time to time. Click here for a link to my post "Our Future and Our Past - An introduction to a series of discussions."

I admit for some this will be boring, for some this will be interesting. I do hope anyone and everyone, who wishes to gain more detailed information or explanation from alternate sources, will take the time to read and/or watch the information posted in this series.

At this point I simply wish to put out information and keep my personal take out of it. Mainly because a lot of this is non-partisan research. My opinions are often viewed as very "partisan" (even though I am neither a Republican or Democrat). However, I will then post comment(s) on these posts and sometimes I will wait to comment until others have shared their thoughts and/or questions.

Let me know if you have any topic/issue suggestions for future posts!

PART ONE:
The US Constitution and Jurisprudence

Just to get things started let's begin, at the beginning. When is the last time/if ever you read IN FULL the Declaration of Independence, US Constitution or Bill of Rights? I admit that I can't remember and after this is posted I commit to reading each one line by line. Will you?

How to Read the Constitution: Self-Government and the Jurisprudence of Originalism (Article Link)

Judicial Independence and the Role of the Judiciary (Video Link)

Republic v. Democracy (Article Link)

Don't misunderstand, this is far from an exhaustive list of resources on this topic but I think it is just enough to get things started. There will almost certainly be other posts on the same or similar topics as ones that would have already been addressed in this series.

*

Where's the transparancy we were promised during Obama's campaign? And where is his missing "Position Paper" on government transparancy?

2009-02-14T14:21:00.023-06:00

During the campaign, Obama released a position paper stating his commitment to open government. As president, he said, he would not only insist on transparency in his own administration, he would press Congress to revamp its practices as well.

Obama has no constitutional authority to set rules for Congress, but he suggested he would use his influence to see to it that Congress doesn't conduct its work "in the dead of night and behind closed doors."

In the first major piece of legislation pushed by Obama, transparency was missing.

CLICK HERE for the link to the full article from which I quoted above from the Los Angeles Times entitled "Missing from Congress' stimulus negotiations: transparency."

CLICK HERE for an interesting read on President Obama's take on ethics in government - by shining the light on lobbying, federal contracts, tax breaks and ear marks.

Barack Obama on transparency in government. Mountain View, CA - November 14, 2007.

So what are we to make of all of this?

JUST RELEASED: A New Valentine Candy Heart

2009-02-14T13:16:00.001-06:00