There is a scene in the Humphrey Bogart movie The Treasure of Sierra Madre where the treasure hunters are cornered by some pretty bad hombres who claimed to be federales. Despite the hazardous situation, Bogart asks where the badges are. In anger, the outlaw leader responds, “Badges? We ain’t got no badges. We don’t need no badges. I don’t have to show you any stinking badges.”
This is kind of the spirit of what we heard when Barack Hussein Obama declared, “With or without this congress, I will keep taking action…” during the State of the Union message. For a President to say this of the entire legislative branch of our government shows a complete contempt for our constitution and the separation of powers the founders built into our nation’s fabric.
This is the man who considers the constitution that was designed to protect rights of individuals through restraint of government to be a hindrance to the implementation of his schemes to change the world for the good of us poor, ignorant folks who still cling to our God and our guns. That is, those of us who are too dimwitted to know any better. Never mind that we have other plans for our money, resources and our lives. The anointed one and this minions are people who know how we should live… and we should just just quietly follow them.
Many years ago, C.S. Lewis noted, “Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive”. We have been told that expansion of the national government power is for our own good. We are told that the power of government will keep bad things from happening. We are told that the government can give us better health care if only we are willing to sacrifice our potential well being for the good of the overall society.
Unfortunately, it is the power of government that keeps good things from happening. It is the excess of regulation and interference that has destroyed not only jobs, but entire industries. It has turned happy, prosperous cities into towns struggling with despair and joblessness. The President’s answer to this problem is to expand the unemployment insurance. This is indicative of the myopic approach to all our problems… just think about it. If city after city lands on the skids and survives on the unemployment insurance that former Speaker Nancy Pelosi says creates jobs, will there not come a point when more cities are taking than giving and driving the rest into poverty? How about us as individuals – when more of us are surviving on resources of those who earned them?
In the The Treasure of Sierra Madre, the impersonators came to a bad end. They pretended to be people with authority and power to protect the people. They were not people with authority and power to protect the people. They were liars and thieves. They paid the price and suffered the fate of an imposter. What will be the price that Barack Hussein Obama pays for the destruction of America… both now and forever.
[We live in a secularized world of nation states in which traditional religion, especially Christianity, is unwelcome. Rooted in the “Enlightenment,” this view supports a secularized and authoritarian public square enforced by government and that progress requires forcing religion ever backward into remote corners of society. In short, America has become a secular theocracy with a civic religion of national politics (nationalism) occupying the public realm in which government has replaced God.]
During the Enlightenment, nationalism became the new civic religion, in which the nation state was not merely a substitute for the church, but a substitute for God, and political religion benefited from being more tangible than supernatural religion in having the physical means of violence necessary to enforce mandatory worship and funding. Nation states provided a new kind of salvation and immortality; one’s death is not in vain if it is “for the nation,” which will live on.
This “myth of religious violence” lived on with legal theorist John Rawls who claimed that the modern problem is a theological one and the solution is political. For Rawls, since people believe in unresolvable theological doctrines over which they will kill each other, a secular state must rule. Similarly, Stanford law professor Kathleen Sullivan, a secularist, has claimed that as a necessary condition for peace to avoid a “war of all sects against all,” religion must be banished from the public square.
Washington DC – The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously decided that under the First Amendment churches are entitled to a “ministerial exception” and thus dismissed a wrongful termination suit against the church. In Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church v. EEOC, the Court recognizes that the ministerial exception applies beyond the head of a religious congregation to others, such as the teacher in this case, who are viewed as ministers or those carrying the message of the Church.
Chief Justice John Roberts stated that, “By requiring the Church to accept a minister it did not want, such an order would have plainly violated the Church’s freedom under the Religion Clauses to select its own ministers.” He also states that to award compensation such as back pay “would operate as a penalty on the Church for terminating an unwanted minister, and would be no less prohibited by the First Amendment than an order overturning the termination.”
[This came to me yesterday and it had so much common sense about government regulations and their enforcement that I felt I had to share it.]
Perhaps you have experienced a similar situation: walking into your living room to find your spouse sitting on the floor, the vacuum cleaner flipped upside down, the bag sitting across the room, the bottom cover removed, and screws strewn about. Around your spouse is a collection of small devices – a pencil, a screw driver, scissors, a paper clip – clearly the tools of choice in unearthing whatever they are looking for. Older vacuum cleaners in particular have an affinity for catching string in the rotating brush in such a way that it becomes so tightly wound, causing the whole thing to stop working. The tightly wrapped string has the strength of steel. No tool can clear it in one easy swoop, testing the patience of even the most even-keeled individuals. It takes intention, precision, and a whole lot of persistence to unwind it.
Regulatory red tape in Washington is a little bit like that. It has become so tightly wound around American businesses that it is inhibiting business owners and entrepreneurs from focusing on the operation of their businesses. And its steel-like strength leaves many business owners feeling frustrated or helpless.
Not all regulations are bad, nor are all regulations completely inconsistent with free-market principles. The ability of the federal government to set parameters for the basic protection of American citizens is important – this is true in areas of fraud protection, prescription drug safety, preservation of natural resources, among many others. But the lack of accountability in the regulation process has allowed the red tape to begin to choke seeds of innovation and competition that are so vital to business success. Americans from small business owners, to manufacturers, to farmers, to property owners are affected.
A recent major investigative report by the Los Angeles Times sheds light on what all this “war on terror” is actually costing—and actually accomplishing. According to the report, “A decade after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, federal and state governments are spending about $75 billion a year on domestic security, setting up sophisticated radio networks, upgrading emergency medical response equipment, installing surveillance cameras and bombproof walls, and outfitting airport screeners to detect an ever-evolving list of mobile explosives.
“But how effective has that 10-year spending spree been?
“‘The number of people worldwide who are killed by Muslim-type terrorists, Al Qaeda wannabes, is maybe a few hundred outside of war zones. It’s basically the same number of people who die drowning in the bathtub each year,’ said John Mueller, an Ohio State University professor who has written extensively about the balance between threat and expenditures in fighting terrorism.”
Montana Republican Congressman Denny Rehberg lent his support for ceding more power and authority to the federal government’s emerging police state by supporting HR 1505, the “National Security and Federal Lands Protection Act.” This monstrous bill empowers the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to confiscate to itself tens of thousands of acres of land across the US northern border. This is for “national security” reasons, of course. Gag!
My friend, Dr. Ed Berry, has written a very astute summary and analysis of HR 1505 on his web site, PolyMontana.com. I am going to be borrowing heavily from his research in this column.
Dr. Berry rightly notes that the DHS is the giant head of no less than seven federal agencies: Transportation Security Administration (TSA), US Customs & Border Protection (CBP), US Citizenship & Immigration Services (CIS), US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), US Secret Service (SS), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and US Coast Guard (USCG).
Barack Hussein Obama made a campaign appearance today at Engine House Number Nine. It was a closed audience for the President to make some sort of point about how his jobs program would keep firefighters on the job and our homes and children safe. It must have been a small, exclusive group inside as the firehouse just is not that big.
Because the man has only concern for himself and his agenda, with none for the world around him, it was obviously not a problem to shut down streets all around the fire house for hours. These security plans were even more intrusive as trucks and vans were denied access to the area hours earlier. Normal Americans, considering the area, that had the common sense not to vote for this man, sat in lines of traffic on major highways all around the Chesterfield County site, while The One pandered to his larcenous base.
While this is a major inconvenience to the good people of central Virginia for a short time, it is minor compared to the inconvenience and disruption Obama and his henchmen have inflicted on the entire country. However this really is nothing unusual for a community organizer and ACORN attorney from Chicago.
There has been much speculation lately about Governor Cristie joining the GOP presidential race. It has been inspired in part by Republican establishment types shaking in their boots that they may have a genuine conservative representing “their” party. The other part of the equation is people who genuinely believe he is the answer to defeating the pretender in the White House.
I must admit that when he is taking on the unions and the press I am right their cheering along with the rest his fans. He has the chutzpa we need in this world of political correctness and cowardice. It’s kind of like the attitude of the t-shirt I saw in a store window along the Asbury Park boardwalk many years age, that said, “Welcome to New Jersey, Now go home”. People are responding to a leader that is not afraid to speak up and stand against the prevailing “wisdom”.
The problem comes when he partakes of the conventional “wisdom”. Governor Cristie does this with disheartening and frightening frequency. Of course, the agenda driven formerly mainstream media hasn’t really given the public much of a heads up on some of his more controversial positions.
With the fall of the Berlin Wall and the supposed dissolution of the Soviet Union, it was widely assumed that communism was no longer a threat to our country. President Reagan had won the victory and we could relax and let our guard down. Unfortunately, we forgot Wendell Phillips warning that “Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.”
Washington, DC – The U.S. State Department is promoting an anti-Israel propaganda campaign. The extent of the campaign and the misinformation raises serious concern. The most recent misinformation surfaced last week when the U.S. issued a “warning” to all U.S. citizens the day of Glenn Beck’s “Restoring Courage” event on August 24 in Jerusalem.
On the same day, the Consulate General of the United States released an “Emergency Message” stating that “Jerusalem is under a heightened Security Alert.” U.S. citizens in Jerusalem were told to “exercise extra vigilance and avoid large crowds during upcoming rallies and religious holidays, particularly in and around Jerusalem’s Old City.” The “warning” continued: “On Wednesday, August 24, 2011, there will be a rally held near the south east [sic] corner of the Old City.” The areas where the “Restoring Courage” event was being held “are off limits to official U.S. Government personnel from 4:00 p.m. until 10:00 p.m. on that day due to recent clashes in the area.”
Beck’s event began at 5:00 p.m. in the exact area referenced above. “As one who spoke at Glenn Beck’s event outside the Southern Wall of the Old City on August 24, I can say that the U.S. State Department’s ‘warning’ was false political propaganda designed to advance an anti-Israel agenda,” said Mat Staver, Founder of Liberty Counsel and Dean of Liberty University School of Law. “There had been no ‘clashes’ in the area prior to the ‘Restoring Courage’ event, and there were none during or after the event,” said Staver. “When U.S. citizens who attended Glenn Beck’s event learned of the State Department’s ‘warning,’ they were outraged because they knew it to be untrue,” Staver added. Staver also said, “At the event I spoke with Israelis who work in the highest level of government. If anyone would have had intelligence suggesting danger, these people would have, and yet they appeared at the event.
Thousands of Christians joined Texas Governor Rick Perry in Houston Saturday as he and many others recognized the failure of the solutions of man and looked to the creator of man. It is doubtful any of the formerly mainstream media had any comprehension of what was taking place.
History records that when an impasse was reached during the deliberations that produced our constitution, they turned to prayer for the wisdom and good will to complete their task. Yet today, this seems to be a rather quaint solution to the sophisticated elites. These are the same sophisticated elites that have had such a huge hand in creating our problems.
The assembled throng was encouraged toward personal repentance as the first step to restoring our nation. Most of those attending and those watching the video feed are well aware of their flaws and the need to make changes in their own lives. It’s not that we can achieve perfection, but without recognizing our own shortcomings and confessing them, we are in no position to intercede for our nation.
With all the one-upsmanship going on in the nation’s capitol, there is a serious cause for concern no matter what the final outcome of the debt ceiling “crisis”. In one wing of the capitol is the old-school Senate with primary concern for propriety, seniority, rules and power. Just on the other side of the rotunda, are some old timers who feel strongly about respect and tradition, but sprinkled among them are some new-comers not so much concerned with waiting in line until they achieve position and influence as they are in turning the lumbering ship of the republic away from the iceberg of debt that threatens to sink the entire country.
These Tea Party backed congressman completely changed the conversation, and, hopefully, will motivate the leaders to be guided more by principle than expediency. Some would argue that we don’t have time to do the thing the “right” way. Some call these true Americans hobbits and unAmerican. They are wrong! These naysayers claim we just have to get it done now. This is the same thinking that has guided congress for years and, as Dr. Phil would say, “How’s that working out for you?” It would seem that any objective observer would understand it’s time for a different approach.
While we can applaud their efforts to bring sanity to the debate, this whole process is illustrative of the deeper problem we have in the US. Each legislative body has, in turn, shot down the work of the other with the House actually passing two bills and the Senate… who knows what will happen in this graveyard of patriotism and common sense.
The news this morning reported some Republican senators, John Cornyn and John McCain in particular, have indicated they would be agreeable to some government revenue increases. This is why the Republicans find it difficult to push through any kind of smaller government agenda. There are always those in their number who want to appear reasonable and not rock the boat too much.
The nasty secret is that too many Republicans just don’t subscribe to the smaller government thinking that our founders handed down to us. Unfortunately we have been unfaithful keepers of our heritage and have allowed smooth talkers in fancy suits to convince us that they are on our side then go back to DC and vote for more spending and more borrowing. They point to the President’s willingness to talk about spending reductions as indications that a deal is possible.
Yes, he has talked about billions in reduction in such things as Medicare and other such programs. First, he is talking about programs many people benefit from and arbitrary cuts would infuriate them… hopefully at the Republicans. He totally ignores all the governmental waste that only benefits the chosen few… the unions, foreign dictators, and academic hair brains and their esoteric experiments like treadmills for sea creatures. 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 »
As Army engineers opened floodgates holding back the mighty Mississippi River in Louisiana, we saw one more act in a play that has been going on as long as most of us can remember. That plot of that play is to ravage the small town and country folks, who tend to be more conservative, for the benefit of the more progressive cities. There is a certain numeric logic to sacrificing the welfare of around 25,000 for the benefit of the urban areas… yet something just feels wrong about the whole operation.
For years, the urban areas have been draining the finances of the rest of the nation as their leaders, not only promise their residents so much more than they can pay for, then prove to be models of inefficiency in executing their plans. Usually, it is not quite as dramatic as physical destruction of family farms and small towns, but they have been sucking the lifeblood from their more rural neighbors for a long, long time.
Reactions from comments like “This is our home. How could we leave our home?” to the lady for whom the thought of losing her home made her so sick she was throwing up at work were a far cry from the ungrateful whining years before when, with some justification, those displaced by Hurricane Katrina could do nothing, but complain about how little they were getting in government help. Read more of this article »
We see all sorts of histrionics inside the beltway as our government faces yet one more showdown in the struggle to provide all the promised porkbarrel perks to the voters without totally bankrupting them. The Democrats say they see the problem, but tell us the needs are just too pressing in so many areas that it is impossible to significantly cut spending in any areas. About the best the Republicans can come up with is a plan to balance the budget in about five years.
Less than that, we are told would be “irresponsible”. It is somewhat understandable that expecting those, including government employees, to deal with a cut off of the flow of taxpayer funds is a little too much to expect. Psychologically it would appear difficult to pull the plug on programs that came about with “bi-partisan” support. Even Republicans have their pet programs they want to see continue in spite of the economic difficulties.
Speaker Boehner’s position that increased taxes are off the table is a welcome start. We can hope that he and the rest of the GOP contingent will hang tough on this. The proposal that any increase in the debt ceiling be accompanied by an equal reduction in spending is a good idea and represents symbolism that will put the progressive socialists in a terrible bind. To get the funds they need to carry out their schemes, they have to give up part of them. Read more of this article »
Back in February of 2010, I appeared on Neil Cavuto’s FOXBusiness TV show to talk about the emergence and effectiveness of America’s Tea Party movement. I warned FOX biz host Charles Payne that I was very concerned about the Tea Parties being infiltrated and taken over by big-government neocons.
See my interview on Neil Cavuto’s show (hosted by Charles Payne): Click Here
With more than a year having gone by since that interview, I believe the concerns I expressed on FOX were more than warranted. I am seeing more and more Tea Parties fall into the same trap, as did their predecessors back in the “Conservative Revolution” of 1994 and ‘95.
Right here in my home State of Montana, voters overwhelmingly threw the liberal Democrats out of both State houses and replaced them with Republicans who campaigned on strong conservative rhetoric. But what has happened since? Neocon Republicans in leadership positions squashed the best legislation and bullied compromised, big-government legislation through both chambers. The result: big-government neocons, once again, stymied and squashed the efforts of constitutionalist GOP legislators. Read more of this article »
Those of us who hold hard core conservative beliefs will often find ourselves thinking of unreliable Republicans as RINOs. To the three readers not familiar with the term it stands for Republican In Name Only. Many fine examples of this designation are Lindsey Graham, Richard Lugar, and the wicked witches of Maine. While it is true that these often deviate from Republican orthodoxy, the title relies on a central assumption that we must give serious consideration.
The assumption is that the normal Republican is a small government conservative. Unfortunately, this may just be wishful thinking on our part. The thing we must remember is that before Barry Goldwater came along, people like the progressive Nelson Rockefeller represented a large portion of the party. Later Pat Robertson brought many Christian conservatives into the party. Ron Paul has more recently brought many young libertarians into the fold. Yet few of these newcomer groups have managed to make deep inroads into the power structure. The old guard still clings to power.
There is often a significant gap between the party rank and file and those making important decisions. Yet their rhetoric is supportive of the common man and his liberty. They even welcome the support of the Tea Party. Unfortunately, their actions often are more for the benefit of the wealthy donors and special interests… just with a little more subtlety than the Democrats. We need only look at the recent selection of RNC Chairman Reince Priebus who was thought to be best able to smooze donors and raise money. True, money is important but the leadership continuously subordinates the desires and welfare of the poor schlepps who take to the streets and get the job done on election day to the wishes of those who pay the bills. Read more of this article »
During the first American Revolution, many of the unsung heroes were men of the cloth who would preach about salvation for mens souls and the relationship of the same men to each other and the world around them. They spoke of the revelation of God to the world beyond scriptures in the nature of creation itself, and along with it, the concept of natural law which recognized the worth of each individual… and the rights, natural rights, that came along with this unique position.
Ignored by many historians, blinded by the “separation of church and state” mantra, was the role Jonas Clark played in Lexington MA on April 19, 1775 when British troops marched into town looking for Samuel Adams and John Hancock. He had been working with the men of his congregation, preparing them for the time when it would be necessary for them to defend their homes and families. His followers were among the first on the scene to stand their ground against their masters from across the sea.
John Peter Muhlenberg, a Lutheran pastor in Woodstock VA, upon hearing of the fighting in the northern colonies, preached a sermon on Ecclesiastes 3, then removed his clerical robe to reveal the uniform of general in the Continental Army. He then went on distinguish himself in numerous battles to rid the new land of foreign oppression and control. Read more of this article »
President Kennedy once said, “Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men.” I don’t think he would mind if we add stronger women as well. I believe he had a very good point, one that applies to our current struggle to retain the freedom our forefathers gave us through their blood, sweat and tears. Many pray for a change in the leadership of our country. Others, following the Biblical mandate pray for wisdom for our leaders as they rush headlong into destruction. Still others pray for a new crop of citizens to come along and do battle to set things right. This last one may be closest to what the former President was advising us to do.
Sure the Obama administration appears to be doing everything in its power to bring about the change they ambiguously promised. We can, and must, pray for a change of heart in the White House. However, it is within the realm of possibility the Almighty may tell us “no”. Just as he told the Israelites that they needed to go and clear the promised land themselves… and suffered because they did not complete the job. It is entirely possible, that He will not dramatically clear the snake pit of Washington with a wave of his all powerful hand. He may waiting for us to be willing to be part of His plan rather than sitting on the sidelines. He may be looking at us to take advantage of the freedoms we have been given as Americans and put people in office that will stand against the increasingly dictatorial tendencies of Barack Hussein Obama.
We need to send people to represent us in the nation’s capitol who will agree with Thomas Jefferson when he said, “I have sworn upon the altar of God, eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.” We don’t need, indeed we cannot afford, to send those to Washington who seek to work “across the aisle” and compromise with the enemies of freedom and make their machinations slightly less onerous. These are dangerous times and we need men and women of courage who will stand for victory rather than compromise which only leads, ultimately to defeat. Read more of this article »
The formerly main stream media is all atwitter about the possibility of a government shutdown. To their feeble minds that see this overpaid, overcontrolling bureaucracy as the provider of all things good and worthwhile, this is one of the most calamitous events to ever befall our wonderful country. Yet, it appears that even with the progressives media cheer leaders, neither side in the budget debate seems to have quite the same emotional connection to preventing the discontinuance of state services.
Even Harry Reid, who sees the government as the ultimate good, is committed to allowing the shutdown if, for some reason, the budget does not provide sufficient money to fund the slaughter of innocent babies. To Reid and many of his compatriots, protecting a woman’s ability to destroy her offspring is even more important than the fiscal well being of his country. One has to wonder where they think the blood money will come from when the treasury runs out of money and the Chicoms turn off the money spigots.
One has to conclude that Reid and company don’t understand the depth of our budgetary blues or that their highest good is the demise of innocents… predominantly black infants. Actually both would seem to be the case, as would a complete lack of economic comprehension. Read more of this article »
Rock and Roll Revolution, almost a “theme song” by the Who.
I like Country and Folk songs better than Rock, yet this song has a powerful message in the lyrics if you listen to the words beyond the screaming and throbbing Rock music genre.
From Wikipedia…
“Won’t Get Fooled Again“ is a song by the rock band The Who. Written by Pete Townshend, it combines guitar power chords with heavily processed organ and synthesizer sounds to create a textured, atmospheric introduction that explodes into the verse. It tells of a “revolution of revolutions” in an endless cycle, where “the change it had to come, we knew it all along” but each successive new regime turns out to be just like the old one, so that straight away it’s time once again to ”pick up my guitar and play, just like yesterday, then I’ll get on my knees and pray we don’t get fooled again”. Read more of this article »
There have been multiple studies exploring the positive relationship between church attendance and civic involvement. The most recent I’ve come across one by The Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning & Engagement (CIRCLE). To those who understand the balance between depending on the grace of God and working out their salvation with fear and trembling, it is not surprising to see proof even from secular researchers that frequent attendance at worship services is an indicator of greater involvement in community betterment activities – both civic and political. While it is can be argued about the cause and effect relationship, the fact remains that study after study shows that Christians tend to be better citizens… helping out in their communities, taking responsibility to help the disadvantaged and campaigning for the candidates of their choice.
Given that some activities follow the liberation theology radicalism of Jeremiah Wright, it can still be said that though some are misguided, the desire to make a better world and stand up for their fellow man is manifestation of the same James 1:27 that tells us “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” While we may not agree with their approach, this desire is closer to the ideal we are working toward than that of someone selfishly living only for themselves… and we can pray for their redirection and increased understanding. Read more of this article »
“The United States has alienated its allies, dismayed its friends and inadvertently gratified its enemies by proclaiming a confused and disturbing strategy of preemptive war. With our allies disunited, the world resenting us and the Middle East ablaze, we need [new leadership] to restore life to the global war against terrorism.“- Jimmy Carter
Funny how those words ring so true, but at the wrong time. The sad reality is that those words, uttered by Jimmy Carter, were said in 2004 in the Presidential campaign of John Kerry, and designed as an attack on then-President George W. Bush.
It was slightly more than a year after the start of the Iraq War and an insinuation of the myth that America waged that war unilaterally, which is not true despite the breathless claims of leftist politicians and pundits. At its inception, the campaign in Iraq – and its predecessor in Afghanistan – was waged by more than sixty nations, all of which were cavalierly dismissed by the Democrats. Read more of this article »
[A few days ago, I received this from Congressman Forbes and thought I was worth passing on.]
Fifty-five years ago, the House Judiciary Committee considered a bill that would affirm one of the cornerstones upon which our nation was built. Although opposed by a small minority of the American public at the time, the bill received overwhelming support by Americans and members of Congress. The bill passed unanimously out of the Judiciary Committee, unanimously in the House of Representatives, and unanimously in the Senate before it went on to be signed into law by President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
The legislation was H.J.Res.396 and it declared the official motto of the United States to be “In God We Trust.” Read more of this article »
[The late Francis Schaeffer often cited Rutherford's work, Lex, Rex, translated "The Law and the Prince", as one of the earliest arguments for the right of the people to reject and replace an unjust government. Written in 1644 it came more than a century before American patriots threw off the chains of the British monarch. It goes beyond the simplistic, compliant interpretation of Romans 13 popular in many ineffective churches and takes a big picture view of the relationship between people and their government.]
For the lawfulness of resistance in the matter of the king’s unjust invasion of life and religion, we offer these arguments.
Arg. 1: That power which is obliged to command and rule justly and religiously for the good of the subjects, and is only set over the people on these conditions, and not absolutely, cannot tie the people to subjection without resistance, when the power is abused to the destruction of laws, religion, and the subjects. But all power of the law is thus obliged, (Rom. xiii. 4 ; Deut. xvii. 18-20 ; 2 Chron. xix. 6 ; Ps. cxxxii. 11, 12 ; lxxxix. 30, 31; 2 Sam. vii. 12 ; Jer. xvii. 24, 25,) and hath, and may be, abused by kings, to the destruction of laws, religion, and subjects. The proposition is clear. 1. For the powers that tie us to subjection only are of God. 2. Because to resist them, is to resist the ordinance of God. 3. Because they are not a terror to good works, but to evil. 4. Because they are God’s ministers for our good, but abused powers are not of God, but of men, or not ordinances of God ; they are a terror to good works, not to evil ; they are not God’s ministers for our good. Read more of this article »
Some shy away from Rand Paul because traditional Republicans get nervous around people that actually believe something and speak up about it… going after the prevaricating bureaucrats rather than treating them with the deference of fellow club members. To my thinking, even his approach was tepid when measured against the damage done to our country.
Yet Paul is setting the pace as the new legislators move into the seats of power inside the beltway. They have been sent to Washington to rock the boat and turn the government back into an organization working for the people who pay taxes and suffer from excessive and unrestrained regulation and interference. This hearing was one small skirmish in the battle to regain our freedom. Rand Paul cannot this win the battle alone. Read more of this article »
The Old World method of measuring human value was, and still is, by the group. Whether tribe, clan, city-state, color, ethnic, or gender, the Old World, ancient and modern, measures by the plural unit. Individuals had and have no value of themselves but only as they were and are part of a collective.
When Y’shua Jesus died on the cross, the veil of the Temple at the Holy of Holies parted from the top down. The individual believer in the congregation had, for the first time, a face-to-face, one-on-one relation with his Creator. The Creator, Himself, had validated each individual for the first time. Thus, the Individual became the cornerstone for later human value measuring systems: socio-political, philosophical, religious, educational, economic, etc., henceforth and forever. Western Civilization, America, English Law, civil Rights, the ‘democratic’ process, etc., all sprang from that single event. (Greco-Roman ‘democracies’ were 95% slave throughout their entire histories.) Biblical principles are still today the foundation under Western Civilization and the American way of life.
Many social systems attempt to borrow ideas of “democracy” without the basic premise in The Individual. Such a system is only superficially and temporarily ‘democratic.’ The cornerstone of the democratic process is The Individual and the cornerstone of the value of The Individual is Y’shua Jesus! It is not possible to have one without the other. There is only One Source – there is no other. Read more of this article »
“This is a saaad day for the women of Virginia” was the sound bite that was played and replayed on radio and television stations around the Commonwealth of Virginia on the day that the General Assembly voted to require abortion clinics to adhere to much the same standards as hospitals. Forget the fact that women have died because facilities were not adequate to handle the emergencies of an abortion gone wrong… that was a small price to pay for the convenience of easily killing one’s offspring.
In some ways, it is kind of useless trying to make such places safer, since, by definition half the people who come onto the premises die before they leave. Yet, it is a step in the right direction. How, one would ask, is making abortions safer a step in the right direction. The pro-death crowd understood immediately – mourning the fact that the new regulations would cause more than half the of Virginia’s clinics to close their doors.
This may be the first time that the progressive left recognized the reality that heavy regulations close business and increase unemployment. We can hope that the lesson, that put the squeeze on one of their sacred cows, will carry over to other areas of government action. We can also hope that they care about business and workers who are not about perpetuating this American holocaust. Read more of this article »
The recent CPAC conference in the nation’s capitol made a brief splash and now it’s gone. Many opponents of the President’s policies were present to stir the crowd with firey rhetoric heard from few elected public servants anywhere, and even fewer inside the beltway. It was, perhaps, cathartic for those who attended. And many attended… but many did not.
The newly influential presence of the group that bills itself as “homosexual conservative” was a stumbling block to many. A great many well known political figures skipped this year’s event because of the highly visible involvement of GOProud.
Objections came on two levels. The first, and the one most expected, was based on the concept that homosexuality is wrong, as described in various scriptures, such as Leviticus 20:13 “If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.” (NIV) Read more of this article »
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by Congressman Randy Forbes
A recent major investigative report by the Los Angeles Times sheds light on what all this “war on terror” is actually costing—and actually accomplishing. According to the report, “A decade after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, federal and state governments are spending about $75 billion a year on domestic security, setting up sophisticated radio networks, upgrading emergency medical response equipment, installing surveillance cameras and bombproof walls, and outfitting airport screeners to detect an ever-evolving list of mobile explosives.
Montana Republican Congressman Denny Rehberg lent his support for ceding more power and authority to the federal government’s emerging police state by supporting HR 1505, the “National Security and Federal Lands Protection Act.” This monstrous bill empowers the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to confiscate to itself tens of thousands of acres of land across the US northern border. This is for “national security” reasons, of course. Gag!
Barack Hussein Obama made a campaign appearance today at Engine House Number Nine. It was a closed audience for the President to make some sort of point about how his jobs program would keep firefighters on the job and our homes and children safe. It must have been a small, exclusive group inside as the firehouse just is not that big.
There has been much speculation lately about Governor Cristie joining the GOP presidential race. It has been inspired in part by Republican establishment types shaking in their boots that they may have a genuine conservative representing “their” party. The other part of the equation is people who genuinely believe he is the answer to defeating the pretender in the White House.
With all the one-upsmanship going on in the nation’s capitol, there is a serious cause for concern no matter what the final outcome of the debt ceiling “crisis”. In one wing of the capitol is the old-school Senate with primary concern for propriety, seniority, rules and power. Just on the other side of the rotunda, are some old timers who feel strongly about respect and tradition, but sprinkled among them are some new-comers not so much concerned with waiting in line until they achieve position and influence as they are in turning the lumbering ship of the republic away from the iceberg of debt that threatens to sink the entire country.
As Army engineers opened floodgates holding back the mighty Mississippi River in Louisiana, we saw one more act in a play that has been going on as long as most of us can remember. That plot of that play is to ravage the small town and country folks, who tend to be more conservative, for the benefit of the more progressive cities. There is a certain numeric logic to sacrificing the welfare of around 25,000 for the benefit of the urban areas… yet something just feels wrong about the whole operation.
We see all sorts of histrionics inside the beltway as our government faces yet one more showdown in the struggle to provide all the promised porkbarrel perks to the voters without totally bankrupting them. The Democrats say they see the problem, but tell us the needs are just too pressing in so many areas that it is impossible to significantly cut spending in any areas. About the best the Republicans can come up with is a plan to balance the budget in about five years.
By Chuck Baldwin
Those of us who hold hard core conservative beliefs will often find ourselves thinking of unreliable Republicans as RINOs. To the three readers not familiar with the term it stands for Republican In Name Only. Many fine examples of this designation are Lindsey Graham, Richard Lugar, and the wicked witches of Maine. While it is true that these often deviate from Republican orthodoxy, the title relies on a central assumption that we must give serious consideration.
During the first American Revolution, many of the unsung heroes were men of the cloth who would preach about salvation for mens souls and the relationship of the same men to each other and the world around them. They spoke of the revelation of God to the world beyond scriptures in the nature of creation itself, and along with it, the concept of natural law which recognized the worth of each individual… and the rights, natural rights, that came along with this unique position.
President Kennedy once said, “Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men.” I don’t think he would mind if we add stronger women as well. I believe he had a very good point, one that applies to our current struggle to retain the freedom our forefathers gave us through their blood, sweat and tears. Many pray for a change in the leadership of our country. Others, following the Biblical mandate pray for wisdom for our leaders as they rush headlong into destruction. Still others pray for a new crop of citizens to come along and do battle to set things right. This last one may be closest to what the former President was advising us to do.
The formerly main stream media is all atwitter about the possibility of a government shutdown. To their feeble minds that see this overpaid, overcontrolling bureaucracy as the provider of all things good and worthwhile, this is one of the most calamitous events to ever befall our wonderful country. Yet, it appears that even with the progressives media cheer leaders, neither side in the budget debate seems to have quite the same emotional connection to preventing the discontinuance of state services.
There have been multiple studies exploring the positive relationship between church attendance and civic involvement. The most recent I’ve come across one by 
By Daniel James Wood
By Congressman Randy Forbes
by Samuel Rutherford (1644)
by James Fletcher Baxter
“This is a saaad day for the women of Virginia” was the sound bite that was played and replayed on radio and television stations around the Commonwealth of Virginia on the day that the General Assembly voted to require abortion clinics to adhere to much the same standards as hospitals. Forget the fact that women have died because facilities were not adequate to handle the emergencies of an abortion gone wrong… that was a small price to pay for the convenience of easily killing one’s offspring.
The recent CPAC conference in the nation’s capitol made a brief splash and now it’s gone. Many opponents of the President’s policies were present to stir the crowd with firey rhetoric heard from few elected public servants anywhere, and even fewer inside the beltway. It was, perhaps, cathartic for those who attended. And many attended… but many did not.
