[With all the chaos on the world and national stage, it may be a good time to look at the wisdom of our third president. Much of what he said would be scandalously politically incorrect today... yet, it's truth would remain. And the truth shall set us free, but only if we take heed.]
Responsibility & Effectiveness of Government
The care of human life and happiness, not their destruction, is the legitimate responsibility of a good government.
A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have.
A wise and frugal government, which shall leave men free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned – this is the sum of good government.
That government is best which governs the least, because its people discipline themselves.
Livingston County, NY – Judge Robert Wiggins dealt a major setback to New York Governor Cuomo and Mayor Bloomberg in the lawsuit brought by Liberty Counsel against the same-sex marriage law (“Act”). In response to the flagrant violations of the New York state constitutional and legal procedures, Liberty Counsel filed suit in the New York Supreme Court against the Act, which was signed into law on June 24, 2011, by Gov. Cuomo. The state asked the court to dismiss the case, but yesterday afternoon, Judge Wiggins sided with Liberty Counsel on the Open Meetings complaint, ruling that the case may proceed to trial. Liberty Counsel represents New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms and several other plaintiffs.
New York law requires that a bill be printed and in its final form on the desks of the legislators three days prior to a vote, unless an emergency exists. Gov. Cuomo ignored the provision and declared an emergency, stating that waiting three days would deprive same-sex couples of marriage. Judge Wiggins wrote: “Logically and clearly this cite by the Governor is disingenuous. The review of such concept altering legislation for three days after generations of existing definitions would not so damage same-sex couples as to necessitate an avoidance of rules meant to ensure full review and discussion prior to any vote.” The judge then wrote that “although the disregard for the statute seems evident, the Court feels constrained to not rule on the Governor’s certification of necessity.”
In a letter to Monsieur A. Coray, dated October 31, 1823, Thomas Jefferson wrote “At the establishment of our constitutions, the judiciary bodies were supposed to be the most helpless and harmless members of the government. Experience, however, soon showed in what way they were to become the most dangerous; that the insufficiency of the means provided for their removal gave them a freehold and irresponsibility in office; that their decisions, seeming to concern individual suitors only, pass silent and unheeded by the public at large; that these decisions, nevertheless, become law by precedent, sapping, by little and little, the foundations of the constitution, and working its change by construction, before any one has perceived that that invisible and helpless worm has been busily employed in consuming its substance. In truth, man is not made to be trusted for life, if secured against all liability to account.”
Our third president was well aware of the problems posed by a renegade judiciary… a judiciary more concerned with precedents set by it’s own members than with legislation by representatives elected by the people. As he noted in his letter, this third branch of government was to be a helpless and harmless administrator of laws and regulations coming out of the other two branches. It just didn’t work out that way as the egos of these men and women in black robes pushed them to the point where they now sit in judgment on the other two branches as a mafia godfather ruling with an iron hand.
It’s sometimes interesting watching the Republican presidential hopefuls argue and debate as they discuss the various issues facing our country today. Yet, there is one issue no one seems to want to take on. We have seen time and time again the best laid legislative efforts slapped down by a judiciary that has placed itself as the in a position, not just of administering the law, but of judging the law and even creating new laws.
Unless the problem is resolved, it could short circuit any kind of legislative effort to restore sanity our part of the world. To make matters worse, some courts, in Massachusetts, for example, have even taken it upon themselves to order legislatures to pass laws that meet their dictatorial demands.
We have even seen the courts overrule the will of the people after a referendum on homosexual marriage in California. Just recently, they have stuck their Pinocchio like proboscis into the efforts of Arizona and Alabama to make up for the national government’s failure to live up to it’s responsibility to protect the citizens against foreign invasion.
The death of Anwar al-Awlaki has caused quite a stir in this country. He became an al Qaeda leader, helping plan attacks on Americans and encouraging those who carried them out. He became a key figure in an organization dedicated to destroying, not only our government, but our whole way of life.
Some, primarily libertarians, are scandalized that there was an operation carried out purposely targeting an American citizen. They said that because of this citizenship, al Awlaki should have been afforded the due process of our criminal justice system.
If the Muslim cleric had been shot by someone stepping out of the shadows as he entered his New York City apartment, or if he were gunned down as he enjoyed a night at the theater in our nation’s capitol, then it would really be a problem with our government just exterminating someone they determine to be an enemy of the state. It’s not that this sort of thing, assisted “suicides” and the like, have never taken place – justified or not. This case, on the other hand, is just very visibly public.
I recently saw an advertisement for a seminar on the US Constitution where the presenters took great pains to emphasize the fact that it was a non-partisan look at the document. This got me to thinking, most every such session does the same thing. Years ago, no one would have thought otherwise. What happened?
Despite what some judges would have us believe, the constitution is the same as it was a hundred years ago, or for that matter, two hundred years ago. Of course there have been amendments, but for the most part, they have clarifications. Yet there were some that changed the philosophy of parts of the document. Allowing senators to be elected by the people rather than keeping them tethered to state governments was one instance. Permitting a graduated income tax was another. Not all change is for the better.
But why, recently, do people feel the need to emphasize that a study of the constitution is a non-partisan endeavor? Could it be that one political party takes offense at the idea of people – the common folks who made this country great – want to know the rules by which the governmental games are to be played? If the people know what the limits of governmental power are, then they are in a position to holler “FOUL” when those limits have been exceeded. This would put such a crimp in the unauthorized expansion of power both parties have pursued.
Atlanta, GA – Today the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in a 2-1 opinion that the individual mandate in Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“ObamaCare”) exceeds the authority of Congress and is unconstitutional. The court also ruled that the remainder of the law could continue in effect. The Court ruled that Congress cannot “mandate that individuals enter into contracts with private insurance companies for the purchase of an expensive product from the time they are born until the time they die.” The Eleventh Circuit case involved 26 states. Liberty Counsel’s case, Liberty University v. Geithner, was argued on May 10, 2011, at the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. A ruling on that case has not yet been issued. Read more of this article »
I thought it would be good to let a few days pass before commenting on a verdict that so many thought was astounding miscarriage of justice in the Orlando courtroom. I purposely tried to avoid the melodrama on the nightly news, the morning news and the evening news. Unfortunately, it was impossible to block the voyeuristic accounts of the tall tales coming out of this sensationalized trial.
People watched this like they watched a soap opera – loving some of the actors and hating some of the others. There was an emotional response to the tragic death of young child. As sad as this was, the idea behind a trial such as this is to deal in the facts of the case… not a thirst for revenge.
What was obvious from the reports that I could not miss was that the prosecution could not even tell the court how the poor child died, let alone when and at whose hands. What was also obvious was that the girl’s mother was what we, who have studied psychology and tend to use technical terms, would call a whack case. I am not aware of any Florida law against such a malady. Read more of this article »
Nashville, TN – The Tennessee State House of Representatives passed a resolution urging each county to permit the Ten Commandments to be posted in their respective courthouses. The resolution passed unanimously 98-0, with two abstaining from the vote. The resolution reminds Tennessee lawmakers of America’s rich history. Both citizens and their elected officials alike have respected the Ten Commandments, their profound influence on the formation of American legal thought, and their fundamental place in the history of law and government as a whole.
The resolution states that the United States Supreme Court “has even upheld Sunday closing laws, which originated in the Fourth Commandment’s exhortation to remember the Sabbath Day and keep it holy.” Throughout Washington D.C., there are countless depictions of the Ten Commandments that can be found as a testament to the undeniable role of the Decalogue in America’s legal tradition, including the displays adorning the Supreme Court Building, the Library of Congress, the National Archives, the Ronald Reagan Building, the federal courthouse, and the Chamber of the United States House of Representatives. Read more of this article »
So many of the words and warnings delivered by America’s Founding Fathers are appropriate for today. Consider this sage counsel from America’s first and greatest President, George Washington: “Government is not reason; it is not eloquence; it is force! Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.” I was reminded of these words when I read the following report out of the State of Indiana.
Overturning a common law dating back to the English Magna Carta of 1215, the Indiana Supreme Court ruled Thursday [May 12, 2011] that Hoosiers have no right to resist unlawful police entry into their homes.
In a 3-2 decision, Justice Steven David writing for the court said if a police officer wants to enter a home for any reason or no reason at all, a homeowner cannot do anything to block the officer’s entry.
Justice Robert Rucker and Justice Brent Dickson dissented from the ruling, saying the court’s decision violates the Fourth Amendment of the US Constitution. Read more of this article »
The shootings of at least 18 people (6 killed, at least 12 wounded) in Tucson, Arizona, has predictably ignited a firestorm of anti-gun, anti-right, and anti-anything not “liberal” diatribes from the typical big government talking heads in Washington, D.C., and New York City. Anti-freedom congressmen railed for more gun control, including resurrecting Bill Clinton’s so-called Assault Weapons ban, and other laws restricting “high capacity” magazines (the assailant reportedly used a Glock 9mm in the attack).
If the newly elected Republican majority in the US House of Representatives has a political death wish for 2012, they will stupidly facilitate more gun control legislation. If there is anything the vast majority of grassroots Americans (from just about anywhere) are absolutely sick and tired of, it is gun control legislation. The vast majority of Americans firmly support the right of the people to keep and bear arms, the shooting in Tucson notwithstanding. In fact, since the hastily passed Assault Weapons ban expired, a majority of Americans has been truly educated regarding the intrinsic protection that personal firearms possession affords. Thanks to notable researchers such as John Lott, most Americans understand the veracity of writer Robert Heinlein’s sagacious counsel: “An armed society is a polite society.” So true.
I invite readers to study Lott’s recent column regarding the Arizona shootings at: http://tinyurl.com/4939z9c
I just spoke last week to a packed house here in my home State of Montana (with more than 500 people in attendance who came out on a Tuesday night in sub-zero temperatures to hear me), and I would estimate that twenty percent of them (or more) were carrying their own personal side arms. I would pity the poor idiot who would have attempted to duplicate Loughner’s attack in that assemblage. Obviously, guns in the hands of the citizenry are far and away more of a deterrent to violent crime than a contributor to it. Read more of this article »
[James Renwick Manship, Sr. is the author of the 2010 “Second to None: America’s Washington”, and “A Civil Air for America: An Eagle Eye View of George Washington’s Boyhood Rules of Civility” in 2008. Formerly a Member of the Board of Visitors of Mount Vernon with the father of Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell, for over a dozen years Manship has been one of America’s foremost Living Historians of George Washington. This was written in response to the display of historical ignorance by Ron Chernow on the pages of the New York Times.]
Like few movements in American History, the Tea Party movement has demonstrated both impact and staying power. Staying power is shown from the Ron Paul supporters March on Washington in July 2008 to the 9-12 Rally in 2009, to a similar event in November 2009, to the ObamaCare Protest Rally in March 2010, the Tax Tyranny Day Rally at the Washington Monument on April 15th, to the Glenn Beck Restoring Honor Rally on 8-28, to the 9-11 Patriots March up Constitution Avenue, and the 9-12 March on the Capitol from the Washington Monument. One George Washington Living Historian was at most events and is in the NY Times photos by Drew Angerer reading a Bible passage (Psalm 37) to the Citizens assembled. GW also calls for UPROAR Unite Patriots Recover Our American Republic.
And the “Staying Power” is not confined to the City of Washington, but seen in Rallies All Across America. “Impact” is shown “Sea to Shining Sea” by the Primary Election defeats of “RINO Republicans” such as Murkowski of Alaska, Bennett of Utah, to Castle of Delaware and other Tea Party supported candidates. Democrats are shivering in fear of what General Election Day may bring. All together, millions and millions of Americans are getting up and getting out to protest both party’s Elites in Government ignoring their wishes. “No more!” Voting Citizens uproar. Read more of this article »
Many of us grew up in Sunday School and church. We have heard the great Bible stories over and over. We heard about the story of how Moses’ mother defied Pharaoh and hid her little baby boy in bulrushes. We heard the story of how Moses killed the Egyptian taskmaster defending a Hebrew slave and later became the great deliverer of God’s people. We heard the story of young David going out alone against the Philistines’ greatest warrior, Goliath. We heard the story of how Saul’s servants refused to carry out the king’s order to murder the priest Ahimelech. We know well the story of Daniel who defied his government’s order to refrain from praying. The names Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego are very familiar to us. We heard our teachers and preachers extol their courage in defying the government’s order to bow to the image of their emperor. We remember that John the Baptist went to prison (and was eventually beheaded), not for preaching the Gospel, but for criticizing the king for his immoral behavior. We certainly recall the story of Simon Peter who bluntly told his civil magistrates, “We ought to obey God rather than men.” We know that the Apostle Paul wrote many of his epistles from inside government prisons. We certainly recall that before John penned the Revelation, he had been banished to an island-prison by his civil authorities.
I challenge Christians to objectively look at the great stories of Bible heroes (in both testaments) and observe how many times they are noted for either being martyred for defying a civil authority, or, perhaps, for being delivered from death for defying a civil authority. The stories of defiance to civil government (in one form or another) comprise a great percentage of all the stories contained in the Bible–perhaps even a majority of them. Read more of this article »
Yesterday, Judge Henry Hudson of the US District Court for the District of Virginia ruled in favor of Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli’s lawsuit claiming that Congress overstepped it’s bounds when it required individuals to purchase health insurance from a private company. This individual mandate is the lynch pin of the entire ObamaCare hustle. Without it, the entire plan begins to disintegrate.
The government’s case failed to recognize that there really are limits on the power of the national government. As with other nefarious maneuvers by this administration, there is a firm belief in the concept of divine right of the executive branch to make or alter the rules of engagement to suit their purposes.
As Mr. Cuccinelli describes the two basic aspects of case:
First, Virginia argued that the individual mandate was beyond the power of Congress and the President to impose under the Constitution. Specifically, Congress claimed that their regulatory power under the Commerce Clause allowed them to order you to buy their government-approved health insurance, even if you decide not to buy health insurance. Read more of this article »
[Editors note: I received this from a friend today and felt the message was so important that I had to share it.]
This month as we focus on the birth of our Saviour, let us also spend time praying for the unborn and for our government’s response to choose life.
Today December 1st, let us pray that all Christians and Pro Lifers would not remain silent on the mass murder of God’s image in the womb, the innocent unborn.
Pray for abortion clinics all over the USA to close. For more prolifers to join us in prayer in front of clinics, regardless of the personal cost.
For congressmen and governors to act and not wait any longer on righting a 37 years’ wrong. Read more of this article »
I am going to borrow heavily from two outstanding columns that appear on my son’s website, LibertyDefenseLeague.com. One author, Russell Longcore, is a publisher; the other, Wilton Strickland, is an attorney. Both are avid proponents of State sovereignty and independence.
Longcore’s column is entitled “Edwin Vieira on Secession, New World Order and the American Republic.” See it at: http://tinyurl.com/longcore-on-secession
Strickland’s column is entitled “Staying Away From The Federal Courthouse.”
See it at: http://snipurl.com/strickland-avoid-fed-court
Both of these gentlemen share my conviction that the only chance we have to maintain and defend liberty in these United States is for free and independent states to rise in righteous indignation against the onslaught of federal tyranny that is rapidly destroying our republic. America–as one nation–is beyond redemption. The federal government is too arrogant, too malevolent, and too drunk with power to ever allow itself to be returned to the principles of federalism and constitutionalism. And this is true no matter which of the two political parties is in charge. Read more of this article »
Just looking over the yesterday’s news makes me wonder what country I’m living in. It certainly is not the country I grew up in. Each story shows how, incrementally, we are giving up one freedom after another. I say giving them up, because as each abomination is visited upon us, we fuss a bit, then adjust the line backward that we will not permit our government to cross. While the British monarch was rightfully called a tyrant, his impositions were nothing compared to the governmental intrusions we are tolerating today. Let’s look at a few of the stories: Judge Blocks Key Portions of Arizona Illegal Immigration Law
Talking heads will be ranting about this one for weeks as a Clinton appointed judge followed the Democratic put a hold on some key provisions of the bill, such as the portion that recognized the illegality of an illegal alien applying for a job he is not legally entitled to hold. If employers are supposed to be checking on the eligibility of a job applicant, where is the logic of permitting those who do not qualify to apply in the first place?
Sure employers should be held accountable, but should not the other half of the combination be called into account as well? Considering the fact that these are unregistered Democratic voters, the picture becomes a little more clear. In spite of the wishes of the good people of Arizona and the support of most of the rest of the country, an activist judge ignored the law and backed the Obama regime in holding the door open to those who ignore our laws and national well being, yet hold the key to more progressive control. Read more of this article »
In a bizarre ruling that lacks honesty, constitutional reason and plain old common sense, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 Monday that a Christian organization (or any organization for that matter) on a public college campus cannot determine its own membership and leadership rules.
You may remember that in April, The Family Foundation hosted a luncheon with attorneys from the Alliance Defense Fund who were involved in the case, Christian Legal Society v. Martinez. This case arose when the University of California Hastings College of Law in San Francisco denied recognition to CLS, including equal meeting space and most means of communicating on campus (the first time in the school’s history that they had denied such recognition to any organization). The reason? Although CLS welcomes everyone to all its activities and events, CLS would not agree to eliminate its Statement of Faith requirement for officers and those who select them, the voting members. Hastings deemed CLS’s Statement of Faith and its interpretation that Christians should not engage in extramarital sexual activity to violate the religion and sexual orientation portions of its nondiscrimination policy. Hastings has since interpreted its rule as prohibiting all groups from excluding anyone from voting membership or leadership on the basis of beliefs of any kind. The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Hastings’ decision.
The Supreme Court Monday in a decision written by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg stated that the “accept-all-comers” policy was constitutional. Essentially, Hastings Law School now requires that any club that receives university approval must allow anyone to join – including leaders – even if those individuals are antagonistic to the mission and purpose of the organization! In other words, the College Republicans would have to allow Democrats in their leadership, and visa versa. Read more of this article »
The recent ruling by a Federal judge that the National Day of Prayer is an unconstitutional exercise of the national government should come as a surprise to no one. The courts have been moving in that direction for the last hundred and forty or so years. They have moved from affirming the value of Christianity in maintaining the public good to neutrality to outright hostility at times.
The aptly named US District Judge Barbara Crabb noted that she was not opposed to prayer or that her ruling should not be interpreted as disparaging its value. However she was basing her decision on “case law”… and therein lies the problem. What she is really saying is that she is not looking at the constitution… she is not looking at statutes enacted by legislators… but that she is looking at the decisions of other judges. That somehow these men and women in black robes were equal, if not superior to our founding documents and the elected representatives, at least in their own minds and in the minds of those who choose to accept their self-serving pronouncements.
The rulings she cited came, for the most part, from people hostile to the founding principles and citizen values. These people, were of the opinion that laws and documents did not necessarily mean what their creators intended them to mean, but what the judiciary could decide they meant as whims took hold. For many of us this is called “legislating from the bench”, and is the reason selection of judges is vital. The results of this deification of the judicial branch are self evident. Read more of this article »
Sometimes we see such large numbers, we have trouble comprehending their magnitude and relating them to other massive expenditures. This video puts the current debt and financial commitments of the Obama administration into perspective. Without this perspective, it is impossible to do more than say, “Wow, that’s a lot of money!”
With this perspective, it is possible to see the damage being done to our country. With this perspective, how can one sit back and do nothing as they say the honor our founding fathers. This massive debt, combined with the planned intrusions into our lives dwarfs anything the British monarch did in Patrick Henry’s day.
Look into the eyes of your children, grandchildren, nephews and nieces… then decide what you are going to do about this.
“There’s to be no volunteers!” declared Nick Balzano, president of the Service Employees International Union’s Allentown, PA chapter. The cause of his consternation was a 17 year old Boy Scout from nearby Center Valley who, along with friends and fellow scouts, cleared a 1000 walking path in Allentown’s Kimmets Lock Park.
The scout, Kevin Anderson, a junior at my son’s alma mater, Southern Lehigh High School, was working toward Eagle Scout and was looking to do something to improve the community. The SEIU local, still smarting from recent member layoffs, was looking out for the welfare of its members. The service in the union’s name certainly was not for the benefit of the citizens of Allentown.
Balzno told the city council that he was looking into filing a grievance against the city for allowing volunteers to do work that should have been done by union personnel. Then, showing a little of Tony Soprano persona added, “We’ll be looking into the Cub Scout or Boy Scout who did the trails.” Showing surprising awareness of the damaged public relations, SEIU spokesman Matt Nerzig jumped into the act, telling reporters Balzano’s response was “unauthorized and insensitive“. So young Mr. Anderson may be blessed to continue walking about on unbroken kneecaps. Read more of this article »
[Note: My son, Tim, writes today's column. He is an attorney who received his Juris Doctor degree from Cumberland School of Law at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama. He is a former felony prosecutor for the Florida State Attorney's Office and now owns his own private law practice. He is the author of a soon-to-be-published new book, entitled FREEDOM FOR A CHANGE.]
September 17, 2009 not only marked the celebrated day of the approval of our Constitution by the Constitutional Congress in 1787 (which had to be ratified by 9 of the 13 STATES–not the majority of the PEOPLE), it also marked another, what I call, LAY case, reflecting the power and control of the federal government over individual, local and state affairs, and the submission of its lowly subjects, We the People.
Some of you may have learned of the principal of Pace High School in Pace, Florida, Frank Lay, who was charged with violation of an order entered by Federal Judge Margaret C. “Casey” Rodgers, prohibiting him, the teachers and the staff of Pace High from praying or holding any religious ceremonies at school or at school functions, which originated out of a lawsuit brought by the ACLU. As you have likely already guessed, sometime after the order entered (and was actually consented to by Lay), Lay had a prayer conducted at a Pace High staff function (a building dedication with no students present). This was deemed a violation of the court’s order and Lay was charged with contempt of court.
Lay had a hearing on the contempt charges on Constitution Day, September 17, 2009 at 9:00 a.m. (CDT). Hundreds of people stood outside the federal courthouse in Pensacola, Florida, showing their support for Lay, their disgust with the federal government, or just their interest to see what would happen. (A few even showed their protest against Lay.) It appeared as though it was a pep rally of sorts with high-school kids chanting, “We Love Jesus, Yes We Do, We Love Jesus, How ‘Bout You!” and other similar chants. Around 11:30 a.m., much of the crowd began marching around the federal courthouse (which sits downtown Pensacola) seven times, to sort of re-enact and metaphorically demonstrate the judgment of God falling on the city of Jericho in the book of Joshua, as if to suggest that they wanted God to condemn Judge Rodgers, or that Judge Rodgers was attacking Lay and she was the sole evil presented in this case, or other similar theories to that effect. Read more of this article »
A recent Rasmussen poll tells us the half all Americans believe hate is growing in our country. This is based, in large part, on recent killing of a notorious abortionist, an American soldier at a recruiting station and the attack on the holocaust museum in Washington. Thirty five percent consider them to be isolated incidents. The rest, just don’t know if or what to think. While it’s difficult to generalize from three incidents, many people are busy doing just that.
It seems those that tend to feel more vulnerable and insecure see greater generalized hatred… women (57%)… unmarried (62%). They seem to be responding more on emotion than actually looking at the details of each incidents. Each killing is unfortunate, the ending of one life and ruination of another… not to mention the families involved. However, was an irrational hatred the driving factor in each case?
It seems that today, we have a difficult time thinking about and overusing the word “hate”. For instance, homosexuals believe that they are the victims of hate crimes whenever anyone opposes them or their goals. If a preacher tells his congregation about the sinful nature of their actions, they say he is preaching hate. They may be disingenuously playing the part of a victim, having realized a little sympathy when they are supposedly harassed by someone who simply disagrees with them or their agenda. In some ways believing that your adversaries irrationally despise you is less damaging to the ego than accepting that they may have good reasons that may actually be correct.
In the case of Dr. Tiller, without getting in the head of the shooter, it’s kind of hard to understand the details of his motivation. However, automatically assigning Scott Roeder’s motive to a blind hatred of Dr. Tiller ignores the fact that, to him, it may well have been just a logical response to a situation where he saw the courts repeatedly thwarting the will of the people and their elected legislatures. We have the situation aptly described by Frederic Bastiat when he said, “When law and morality contradict each other, the citizen has the cruel alternative of either losing his moral sense or losing his respect for the law. These two evils are of equal consequence, and it would be difficult for a person to choose between them.” Read more of this article »
The death of George Tiller was all over the media eager to show the hypocrisy of the pro-life movement. The same media that tells us that Islamic terrorists are aberrations wants to paint all of us who value the lives of the unborn with the same brush of violence. Most responsible groups have condemned this action saying the taking of human life is always wrong.
The sixth commandment tells us the “Thou shalt not kill.” Dr. Tiller was breaking this commandment every time he put on the garb of a healer and ended the life of an innocent creation of God. The question of whether it was the right thing to do has and will be discussed ad nauseum. On one hand, one has to look at the potential lives that would be saved by stopping this man’s work. On the other hand we have Deuteronomy 32:35 (NIV) which says, “It is mine to avenge I will repay. In due time their foot will slip; their day of disaster is near and their doom rushes upon them.”
It is clear we are not to seek to inflict justice upon unjust humanity. That is not our job. We may feel offended by the actions of others, but it is really God whose plan for life is being rejected. The offense to Him is far greater than anything our sensibilities may feel since He is the one who created the tiny beating heart.
Taking a life to save an innocent is something we have to look at as this has been an accepted practice when a police sniper will sometimes take out an armed madman holding a school full of children hostage. Hardly any one quibbles with this action. Moses even killed the Egyptian while protecting a fellow Israelite. These cases both involve immanent danger to someone, and it could even be danger to one’s self that would justify a violent, lethal response. Read more of this article »
Apparently some ideas are only wrong if they are expressed by the wrong people. If George Bush would have said that a white male would make better legal decisions than a Latino female, he would have touched off a firestorm of protest from Chris Matthews, Katie Couric, Keith Olberman and the rest of the usual suspects that would have continued until he left Washington. On the other hand, The One who currently occupies the White House has nominated to the Supreme Court a woman who has said just the opposite… that a Latino woman should be making better decisions than a white male.
Lady Justice
What makes one statement acceptable, even admirable, and the other despicable? Why is discrimination in one direction acceptable and in the other direction unacceptable? It would appear to depend on who is helped and who is hurt by the action. The statue of lady justice seen at various courthouses around the country has a blindfold over her eyes and a scale for weighing arguments on their merits, not on the basis of who is making them.
In appointing an empathetic Associate Justice, the President is loosening, perhaps totally removing, the blindfold, encouraging the judiciary to rule differently depending on the societal group to which they belong and which group would benefit. Can anyone say identity politics? This taking note of the person, not the legal principle, has only one word to describe it… discrimination!
Part of the process of any group integrating itself into American society is gaining the acceptance based on their actions not on their appearance. This is what Dr Martin Luther King Jr sought when he said, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” This is an ideal we all can, and should, share. It is the ideal the Sonia Sotomayor soundly rejects. Read more of this article »
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It’s sometimes interesting watching the Republican presidential hopefuls argue and debate as they discuss the various issues facing our country today. Yet, there is one issue no one seems to want to take on. We have seen time and time again the best laid legislative efforts slapped down by a judiciary that has placed itself as the in a position, not just of administering the law, but of judging the law and even creating new laws.
The death of Anwar al-Awlaki has caused quite a stir in this country. He became an al Qaeda leader, helping plan attacks on Americans and encouraging those who carried them out. He became a key figure in an organization dedicated to destroying, not only our government, but our whole way of life.
I recently saw an advertisement for a seminar on the US Constitution where the presenters took great pains to emphasize the fact that it was a non-partisan look at the document. This got me to thinking, most every such session does the same thing. Years ago, no one would have thought otherwise. What happened?
I thought it would be good to let a few days pass before commenting on a verdict that so many thought was astounding miscarriage of justice in the Orlando courtroom. I purposely tried to avoid the melodrama on the nightly news, the morning news and the evening news. Unfortunately, it was impossible to block the voyeuristic accounts of the tall tales coming out of this sensationalized trial.
So many of the words and warnings delivered by America’s Founding Fathers are appropriate for today. Consider this sage counsel from America’s first and greatest President, George Washington: “Government is not reason; it is not eloquence; it is force! Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.” I was reminded of these words when I read the following report out of the State of Indiana.
The shootings of at least 18 people (6 killed, at least 12 wounded) in Tucson, Arizona, has predictably ignited a firestorm of anti-gun, anti-right, and anti-anything not “liberal” diatribes from the typical big government talking heads in Washington, D.C., and New York City. Anti-freedom congressmen railed for more gun control, including resurrecting Bill Clinton’s so-called Assault Weapons ban, and other laws restricting “high capacity” magazines (the assailant reportedly used a Glock 9mm in the attack).
[James Renwick Manship, Sr. is the author of the 2010 “Second to None: America’s Washington”, and “A Civil Air for America: An Eagle Eye View of George Washington’s Boyhood Rules of Civility” in 2008. Formerly a Member of the Board of Visitors of Mount Vernon with the father of Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell, for over a dozen years Manship has been one of America’s foremost Living Historians of George Washington. This was written in response to the display of historical ignorance by 
Many of us grew up in Sunday School and church. We have heard the great Bible stories over and over. We heard about the story of how Moses’ mother defied Pharaoh and hid her little baby boy in bulrushes. We heard the story of how Moses killed the Egyptian taskmaster defending a Hebrew slave and later became the great deliverer of God’s people. We heard the story of young David going out alone against the Philistines’ greatest warrior, Goliath. We heard the story of how Saul’s servants refused to carry out the king’s order to murder the priest Ahimelech. We know well the story of Daniel who defied his government’s order to refrain from praying. The names Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego are very familiar to us. We heard our teachers and preachers extol their courage in defying the government’s order to bow to the image of their emperor. We remember that John the Baptist went to prison (and was eventually beheaded), not for preaching the Gospel, but for criticizing the king for his immoral behavior. We certainly recall the story of Simon Peter who bluntly told his civil magistrates, “We ought to obey God rather than men.” We know that the Apostle Paul wrote many of his epistles from inside government prisons. We certainly recall that before John penned the Revelation, he had been banished to an island-prison by his civil authorities.
Yesterday, Judge Henry Hudson of the US District Court for the District of Virginia ruled in favor of Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli’s lawsuit claiming that Congress overstepped it’s bounds when it required individuals to purchase health insurance from a private company. This individual mandate is the lynch pin of the entire ObamaCare hustle. Without it, the entire plan begins to disintegrate.
By Rachel Sargent
I am going to borrow heavily from two outstanding columns that appear on my son’s website, LibertyDefenseLeague.com. One author, Russell Longcore, is a publisher; the other, Wilton Strickland, is an attorney. Both are avid proponents of State sovereignty and independence.
By Victoria Cobb
The recent ruling by a Federal judge that the National Day of Prayer is an unconstitutional exercise of the national government should come as a surprise to no one. The courts have been moving in that direction for the last hundred and forty or so years. They have moved from affirming the value of Christianity in maintaining the public good to neutrality to outright hostility at times.
“There’s to be no volunteers!” declared Nick Balzano, president of the Service Employees International Union’s Allentown, PA chapter. The cause of his consternation was a 17 year old Boy Scout from nearby Center Valley who, along with friends and fellow scouts, cleared a 1000 walking path in Allentown’s Kimmets Lock Park.
[Note: My son, Tim, writes today's column. He is an attorney who received his Juris Doctor degree from Cumberland School of Law at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama. He is a former felony prosecutor for the Florida State Attorney's Office and now owns his own private law practice. He is the author of a soon-to-be-published new book, entitled FREEDOM FOR A CHANGE.]
A recent Rasmussen poll tells us the half all Americans believe hate is growing in our country. This is based, in large part, on recent killing of a notorious abortionist, an American soldier at a recruiting station and the attack on the holocaust museum in Washington. Thirty five percent consider them to be isolated incidents. The rest, just don’t know if or what to think. While it’s difficult to generalize from three incidents, many people are busy doing just that.
