Please Remain Silent Mr. Jihad

In another craptacular move, the Comrade and Chump is making the FBI and CIA read our enemies the Miranda rights. Yup, good ol' Barry treating our Islamo-fanactic opponents as if they were a petty criminal here in the states. This guy is truly a clear and present danger to our troops and our country.
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=100731
The Obama Administration has ordered the FBI and CIA to inform terrorists overseas that they "have the right to remain silent" before probing them for information to save American lives.
According to Weekly Standard report by Stephen F. Hayes, a senior Republican on the House Intelligence Committee has revealed that "the Obama Justice Department has quietly ordered FBI agents to read Miranda rights to high value detainees captured and held at U.S. detention facilities in Afghanistan."
Hayes noted that former CIA Director George Tenet said Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammad refused to cooperate with officials when he was captured March 1, 2003.
"I'll talk to you guys after I get to New York and see my lawyer," Mohammad demanded.
Mohammad did not enlist the services of a lawyer until months after his capture and interrogation. But, according to the report, Tenet wrote in his memoirs that intelligence extracted from the terrorist saved countless American lives.
"I believe none of these successes would have happened if we had had to treat KSM like a white-collar criminal – read him his Miranda rights and get him a lawyer who surely would have insisted that his client simply shut up," Tenet wrote.
Hayes said, "If Tenet is right, it's a good thing (Mohammad) was captured before Barack Obama became president."

Modesto City Council Candidate Says Local Law Enforcement Officers Are Murderers

Beware Modesto. This man and some of his backers are making claims without facts or proof and are painting people and departments with a broad and hate filled brush. Is Robert placing these officers in harms way with their lies and fact less acquisitions? I say yes.
http://thehive.modbee.com/node/14093?page=1

Why don't you provide some quotes regarding holloway....
Submitted by Stanford4Modesto on Tue, 2009-06-09 18:48.
Where is that support?
And yes you are correct - I am calling the deputies murderers for hire.
And I do have facts. I have presented many of them.
Are you one of the deputies that brutalized and murdered Craig Prescott?
Maybe they should vote for you instead, right?
Who do you run with? Rogue cops of the Stanislaus County Sheriff's Department?
Or the DA's office?

Thanks You Congressman Forbes

Finally a congressman who is willing to call out Comrade and Chump B. Hussein Obama when he lies and tells half truths.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpQOCvthw-o

Comrade B. Hussein Obama's Illegal Raiding Of Private Companies

via CSNNews.
http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=48791
36 Congressmen Ask Obama to Return Authority Over Auto Bailout to Congress--But White House Says Its Not Over-Reaching Its PowerFriday, May 29, 2009By Fred Lucas, Staff Writer
Rep. Steven C. LaTourette (R-Ohio)
White House (CNSNews.com) - A bipartisan coalition of 36 members of the House of Representatives--including 30 Republicans and 6 Democrats--has sent a letter to President Obama asking him to return to Congress its constitutional legislative authority to oversee the bailout of the auto industry.In December, Congress failed to pass a bill authorizing a bailout of Chrysler and General Motors. President Bush and now President Obama, however, proceeded with a bailout process even without legislative autority. That process has cost the taxpayers billions of dollars and given the Executive Branch unilitaral and unprecedented authority to control what happens to the two major auto companies.“While we are mindful that time is of the essence, we are respectfully requesting that you return the Auto Task Force to its important advisory role to you and your Administration, but also return the Congress’ Constitutional legislative prerogatives before it further disrupts the lives of people who work at Chrysler or live in communities that depend on it,” says the letter.The White House is defending the work of the President’s Auto Task Force and is insisting that the president has not seized unconstitutional authority over the matter.The bipartisan coalition of congressmen who signed the letter to Obama are worried about the practicial economic consequences of the steps he has taken in the auto bailout as well as the constitutional implications for the role of Congress. “We are grateful to you and your administration for the leadership demonstrated. However, decisions being made by the Auto Task Force, and in the bankruptcy proceedings in New York, are more than troubling,” the letter said, referring to the Chrysler bankruptcy proceedings. On Thursday, General Motors reportedly reached a deal with bond holders and the Treasury Department to go into bankruptcy. Because of decisions made by the task force, the letter says, 9,000 workers at Chrysler plants will lose their jobs and 789 Chyrsler dealers have been slated to shut down. Rep. Steven LaTourette (R-Ohio) who wrote the letter, said the GM bankruptcy could lead to 100,000 dealership-related jobs nationwide and the closing of 14 GM plants. “The president is being ill served by the auto task force. They’re making decisions that I think are making a tough situation much worse,” LaTourette told CNSNews.com. “Now the president has off-loaded it and delegated it to this unelected and inexperienced – at least as far as the car business is concerned – automobile task force.” “For a bunch of folks who say they don’t want to be in the day-to-day operation and don’t want to manage the old Chrysler and the new Chrysler into bankruptcy, they sure seem to be doing that – telling them how much they can spend on advertising, rejecting opportunities to avoid bankruptcy for both Chrysler and GM,” he said. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs responded that the task force is not making direct decisions on employment, and said that 75 percent of auto dealerships remained open. “These are decisions that are made by companies about what it is they believe is the best path toward renewed viability for their company,” Gibbs told reporters Wednesday. “If it weren’t for the task force on autos, and if it weren’t for the president's intervention, a hundred percent of those dealerships would be gone, a hundred percent of those plants would be closed.” The letter states, “While we are mindful that time is of the essence, we are respectfully requesting that you return the Auto Task Force to its important advisory role to you and your administration, but also return the Congress’ constitutional legislative prerogatives before it further disrupts the lives of people who work at Chrysler or live in communities that depend on it.” The Bush administration initiated the federal bailout of the auto industry with $17.4 billion in bridge loans going to Chrysler and GM in late 2008. Congress had rejected an auto bailout, so the Bush administration tapped the $700 billion Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP), even though Congress had only authorized those funds to be used for financial institutions such as banks and credit unions. Earlier this year, President Barack Obama expanded the program to include at least $1.1 billion toward covering the cost of Chrysler and GM warranties during the restructuring. But members of Congress are concerned because the task force sets viability standards, allowing it to dictate terms to the auto industry. Rep. Thad McCotter (R-Mich.) said shutting Congress out leaves a worse deal for the taxpayers. “In the 70s, we had the Chrysler bailout where the taxpayers were paid with interest because at the legislative level you had people representing all these interests bringing them together and forging a workable plan,” McCotter, who signed the letter, told CNSNews.com. “What you’re seeing with the Auto Task Force is what was once an advisory group is now in the process of driving the entire process, deadlines, and bankruptcies for Chrysler and with GM the increasingly likely bankruptcy. Who do they answer to? They do not directly answer to the citizens.” McCotter is also displeased that the auto restructuring is being supervised through TARP, but said the law is so wide, he sees no legal conflict in using the TARP money. “It was wide as the Grand Canyon to allow the executive branch to do what it’s doing,” he said. Gibbs said that the administration does have “a major role to play.” “I think we are playing it in a way that is preserving and protecting as many jobs as possible, protecting as many communities as possible, and hopefully restructuring -- working to restructure an auto industry that has fallen on vastly hard times, and that we're doing all that we can to move that in a different direction,” Gibbs said. Still, members of Congress faulted the president for saying that the Chrysler bankruptcy would “not disrupt the lives of people who work at Chrysler or live in communities that depend on it.” “The White House auto task force seems to be pursuing policies that export the manufacturing base of the American economy,” Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) said. “Our economic strength and our national security are dependent on the automobile, steel, aerospace and shipping industries. We must protect and strengthen these vital industries.” Further, the letter stated that employees made concessions across the country without knowing their plant would be closed. Gibbs said Congress clearly has input in helping to revive the auto industry. “Congress certainly is involved in auto decisions, obviously as it relates to setting fuel mileage standards that the President worked on last week, as well as proposals to create tax incentives to trade in older cars that aren’t doing as well on fuel mileage, to both increase auto sales and reduce our dependence on foreign oil,” Gibbs said. “But I think the vast majority of members I think are appreciative of the efforts of the task force each and every day in order to keep as much as we possibly can in a viable auto industry here in America.”

Why The Outcry Over This?

More interesting, is look at the vocal opponents. Hmmmm. To tell you The Truth......seems a bit strange and quite revealing at the sametime. What were the motives of Tom O'Brien and Russell Harrison?

http://www.modbee.com/local/story/194505.html

Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2008
Modesto planners OK Tivoli project
Council next for plan for homes, stores; critics claim 'bait, switch'
By GARTH STAPLEYgstapley@modbee.com
A vision for east Modesto's first big-box stores combined with a huge housing development narrowly squeaked by planning commissioners late Monday.
The 4-3 vote sends the Tivoli project to City Council members Feb. 26. They will decide whether to seek annexation for 454 acres northeast of Sylvan Avenue and Oakdale Road.
Tivoli's key feature is 67 acres of megastores, which are expected to draw shoppers from around the region. Plans include as many as 3,193 new homes ranging in size from apartments and condominiums to regular houses and ranchette-sized estates.
City to view long-planned Tivoli project
Proposed Final Tivoli Specific Plan - Acknowledgments
Proposed Final Tivoli Specific Plan - Chapter 1
Proposed Final Tivoli Specific Plan - Chapter 2
Proposed Final Tivoli Specific Plan - Chapter 3
Proposed Final Tivoli Specific Plan - Chapter 4
Proposed Final Tivoli Specific Plan - Chapter 5
Proposed Final Tivoli Specific Plan - Chapter 6
Proposed Final Tivoli Specific Plan - Chapter 7
Proposed Final Tivoli Specific Plan - Chapter 8
Proposed Final Tivoli Specific Plan - Chapter 9
Environmental Impact Report Vol 2 - Table of Contents
Environmental Impact Report Vol 2 - Chapter I Introduction
Environmental Impact Report Vol 2 - Chapter II List of Commentors
Environmental Impact Report Vol 2 - Chapter III Comments & Responses
Environmental Impact Report Vol 2 - Letter A
Environmental Impact Report Vol 2 - Letter B
Environmental Impact Report Vol 2 - Letter C
Environmental Impact Report Vol 2 - Letter D
Environmental Impact Report Vol 2 - Letter E
Environmental Impact Report Vol 2 - Letter F
Environmental Impact Report Vol 2 - Letter G
Environmental Impact Report Vol 2 - Letter H
Environmental Impact Report Vol 2 - Letter I
Environmental Impact Report Vol 2 - Letter J
Environmental Impact Report Vol 2 - Letter K
Environmental Impact Report Vol 2 - Letter L
Environmental Impact Report Vol 2 - Letter M
Environmental Impact Report Vol 2 - Letter N
Environmental Impact Report Vol 2 - Letter N.1
Environmental Impact Report Vol 2 - Letter O
Environmental Impact Report Vol 2 - Letter P
Environmental Impact Report Vol 2 - Letter Q
Environmental Impact Report Vol 2 - Letter R
Environmental Impact Report Vol 2 - Letter S
Environmental Impact Report Vol 2 - Letter T
Environmental Impact Report Vol 2 - Letter U
Environmental Impact Report Vol 2 - Letter V
Environmental Impact Report Vol 2 - Letter W
Environmental Impact Report Vol 2 - Letter X
Environmental Impact Report Vol 2 - Letter Y
Environmental Impact Report Vol 2 - Letter Z
Environmental Impact Report Vol 2 - Chapter III Letter AA
Environmental Impact Report Vol 2 - Chapter III Letter BB
Environmental Impact Report Vol 2 - Chapter III Letter CC
Environmental Impact Report Vol 2 - Chapter III Letter DD
Environmental Impact Report Vol 1 - Table of Contents
Environmental Impact Report Vol 1 - Chapter I
Environmental Impact Report Vol 1 - Chapter II
Environmental Impact Report Vol 1 - Chapter III
Environmental Impact Report Vol 1 - Chapter IV
Environmental Impact Report Vol 1 - Chapter V
Environmental Impact Report Vol 1 - Chapter VI
Environmental Impact Report Vol 1 - Chapter VII
Environmental Impact Report Vol 1 - Appendix A
Environmental Impact Report Vol 1 - Appendix B
Environmental Impact Report Vol 1 - Appendix C
Environmental Impact Report Vol 1 - Appendix D2
Environmental Impact Report Vol 1 - Appendix D1
Environmental Impact Report Vol 1 - Appendix E
Environmental Impact Report Vol 1- Appendix F
On The Hive: Adam Ashton's After Deadline blog
PDF Graphic: Tivoli proposal
');
}
//-->

Concept papers also show a 14-acre elementary school, with an adjacent park of comparable size doubling as a rainwater basin.
Favoring the project were commissioners Kent Newswander, Ted Brandvold, Patricia Gillum and Chris Tyler. Commissioners Tom Berglund, John Sanders and Carolina Bernal voted "no," mostly because the plans eventually could transform quiet, rural McReynolds Avenue into a busy street.

Tom O'Brien, who lives west of the area in the proposal, accused developers of pulling a "bait and switch" by changing the plan sold to Modestans in 2001. Voters at that time indicated support for 2,448 homes -- 793 fewer than the current estimated maximum of 3,241. Also, the 2001 concept showed only a few acres of small stores -- nothing like the 67 acres of big-box shopping on the current concept plan.
Proponents have said the changes reflect the wishes of city officials concerned about a dearth of shopping for east Modesto residents, and market preference toward homes on smaller lots.
Russell Harrison, a civil engineer whose home also is west of Tivoli, agreed with O'Brien.
"No wonder people are frustrated and don't vote for taxes on roads, because they don't believe it's going to happen," Harrison said, referring to the 2006 failure of a sales tax hike that would have provided millions of dollars for road projects. "People voted on a plan, and the plan was changed. You're doing it again. Please have a little more respect for the voters of Modesto."
Harrison and O'Brien said Tivoli's huge commercial component would make more sense to the north, close to Riverbank's Crossroads shopping center.
"I would only assume that somebody in Modesto said, 'We're going to lose sales tax dollars,' " Harrison said. "It didn't have anything to do with good planning; it had to do with dollars."
Jim Hurst, who has lived on a small street within the Tivoli area for 32 years, said he worries that people coming and going could affect his privacy.
"There will be all sorts of activities that are not compatible with the lifestyle we have," he said.
Tivoli developers calmed many of the fears of Mable Avenue residents, whose ranchettes eventually would be surrounded by the huge stores, by promising a buffer layer of estate-sized lots between the old ones and the stores. Perhaps more important, developers agreed to block off Mable at Oakdale, keeping shoppers from overrunning the quiet street.
Patty Lundy, of the League of Women Voters of Stanislaus County, said the league supports Tivoli because its stores would employ residents, and because the plans call for 924 housing units priced to be affordable for low and very-low-income families.
Al Gonzales, who farms nearby, said Tivoli's land is cursed with hardpan and would not support high-yield crops or orchards.
"This land is perfect for houses," he said. "It couldn't grow anything except grass for cows."
Monday's four-hour-plus hearing largely ignored the fact that the single largest landowner within the Tivoli area does not intend to develop anytime soon.
Tom Trombetta, who owns the area's northeast quadrant, has said he will go it alone when he's ready, though he won't fight the plan to build up the rest.
Bee staff writer Garth Stapley can be reached at gstapley@modbee.com or 578-2390.

Poor Tex In Modesto

Here you go fellow Hiver's. This is truthseekers aka Tex, and rumored to be first named Tom.....my source is working on this, doing what he likes....having post removed because his nickname, which he told me in person, is Tex. But do not make mention of it because he believes that when he attacks Modesto city council members, law enforcement officers and departments, and Stanislaus county employees, he will be outed and his real name will be attached to his lies.
I believe he is actively involved in one or more local council seat races to get his friends elected. I imagine to continue to protect his identity and thus being held responsible for his many fabrications, slander, and libels. Here is the post that had Tex riled....

T#X
Submitted by jheaton on Mon, 2009-06-01 13:55.
You know exactly what I was saying and what I meant. But that does not matter to you. And that's fine.
You are no better than your drunken monkey sidekick GM. At least you are good for a laugh once in awhile because other than that, lying and fabricating for Stanny is all you do.

I also have been told that the Modesto Bee has published letters from Tex and there may also be an article about him. If anyone knows of this article please foward it to me so a may post it.

Women And Minorities Are being Used By The Leftist In America

With the nomination by Comrade B. Hussien Obama of Sotomayor, the proof the left, and for many of the democrats , is that they use minorities, women, and homosexuals. They need these people to continue to appear as victims of the "racist" American system. This evil process is played out all the way down into local community politics. Where the "homeless" are also included. While Sotomayor has a wonderful life story, so does Judge Janice Rogers Brown, Clearance Thomas, Miguel Estrada and many others. I like this quote by LaShawn Barber"I don’t wonder why Justice Brown subjects herself to harsh criticism and scorn. It’s not complicated. She believes in ideals that transcend herself. On a much smaller scale, I get the same treatment. Since I’ve been blogging, I’ve discovered just how overtly bigoted white liberals can be, while paying lip service to “equality” and “diversity.” Because they hear what black liberals say about me, they suddenly feel bold enough to cross the line as far as race is concerned. "
That is because many white liberals derive power and personal satisfaction by targeting conservative minorities and woman. They do not "know their roles" in these racist and bigoted eyes. They also carry around a self inflicted guilt of seeing their "whiteness" as a sin.


http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/kirsanow200505170812.asp
May 17, 2005, 8:12 a.m.The Dems’ Post-Nuclear NightmareThe problem of Janice Rogers Brown. By Peter Kirsanow
To Democrats, Janice Rogers Brown is the scariest nominee to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals in the history of the republic. Since her nomination nearly two years ago, she has been the subject of the most vitriolic and persistent attacks ever leveled against a nominee to the federal bench other than Robert Bork and Clarence Thomas.
The black sharecropper's daughter, born in segregated Alabama, has been excoriated as a closet member of the Ku Klux Klan who, at least according to the Senate minority leader, would like nothing better than to return America to "Civil War days." Left-leaning political cartoonists depict her as an Aunt Jemima on steroids, complete with exaggerated physical features typically found only in the racist literature distributed by hate groups. She's been called insensitive to the rights of minorities, the plight of the poor, and the difficulties of the disabled. Her opponents warn that she is "the far right's dream judge" and that "(s)he embodies Clarence Thomas's ideological extremism and Antonin Scalia's abrasiveness and right-wing activism." And her opponents are plentiful, a who's who of Left-wing advocacy groups: Planned Parenthood, Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, NAACP, NOW, People for the American Way, National Abortion Federation, Feminist Majority, and the American Association of University Women, just to name a few.
SCOTUS on the MindWhat's driving the hysteria? Three things: demographics, abortion (more specifically, the doctrinal approach that produced Roe v. Wade), and impending Supreme Court vacancies.
As Professor Steven Calabresi of Northwestern University Law School has noted, Democrats are determined "not to allow any-more conservative African-Americans, Hispanics, women or Catholics to be groomed for nomination to the High Court with court of appeals appointments." And John Leo observes that abortion politics also is driving the opposition to filibustered nominees like Justice Brown.
As I noted in an earlier piece, pro-life minority nominees represent the perfect storm for Left-leaning opposition groups: non-conformist role models from the Left's most reliable voting blocs who may one day be in a position to reconsider Roe v. Wade. In that regard, Janice Rogers Brown could well be the Storm of the Century: A black female who has been nominated to the court viewed as a springboard to the Supreme Court and who may not view Roe as the zenith of constitutional jurisprudence.
Thomas Sowell adds the kicker: "What really scares the left about Janice Rogers Brown is that she has guts as well as brains. They haven't been able to get her to weaken or to waver. Character assassination is all that the left has left."
Indeed, Justice Brown's intelligence and steadiness are plainly apparent throughout the scores of California-supreme-court opinions she's written over the years. Their lucidity and precision reveal a person unlikely to go searching for penumbras and emanations; someone disciplined in interpreting the nation's laws without resort to European precedent or, as Justice Thomas puts it, "the faddish slogans of the cognoscenti." Put simply, Janice Rogers Brown's copy of the Constitution doesn't have a respiratory system.
Some of Brown's detractors dress up their opposition in legal garb. They contend that she "disregards legal precedent" but fail to cite a single case in which she's overturned existing law. They also allege that she lacks the qualifications to be a judge, ignoring ten stellar years on the California supreme court.
The biggest howler, however, is the claim that Brown "disregards the will of the people as expressed through their legislators." This, despite the fact that she dissented when the California supreme court struck down the will of the people (as expressed through their legislators) requiring parental notification in the case of a minor's abortion. Moreover, Brown wrote the main opinion upholding Prop. 209 — the referendum outlawing racial preferences that was overwhelmingly supported by the people but rabidly opposed by many of the same groups now opposing Brown's nomination. California voters duly punished Brown for disregarding their will by returning her to the supreme court with 76 percent of the vote.
The Substantive CritiqueThe only charges against Brown meriting serious consideration were posed by Stuart Taylor in a May 2, 2005, National Journal piece in which he examined Brown's nomination and described her as "a passionate advocate of a radical, anti-regulatory vision of judicially enforced property rights far more absolute than can be squared with the Supreme Court precedents with which judges are supposed to comply." (NR's Ramesh Ponnuru has made some similar criticisms.) Taylor's description is largely based upon a review of two speeches given by Brown a few years ago and her dissent in San Remo Hotel v. San Francisco.
Taylor acknowledges that in her confirmation testimony Brown pledged to follow precedent, even when she disagrees with it, but he maintains that Brown has commented favorably on Lochnerism. ("Lochnerism" is a term derived from the 1905 case Lochner v. New York that struck down, on specious 14th Amendment grounds of economic liberty and "freedom of contract," wage and hour and worker-protection laws. Among other things, "Lochnerism" maintains that the state police power shouldn't regulate private commercial transactions. In some ways Lochner is the obverse of Roe). Brown has stated clearly that she doesn't support a return to Lochner.
Taylor cites Brown's San Remo Hotel dissent to suggest that she might invalidate laws that have the effect of redistributing wealth. He argues that such a radically expanded view of judicially protected property rights is simply another form of judicial activism — one that trends toward the libertarian/conservative side of the philosophical spectrum — but activism, nonetheless. To drive the point home, Taylor asks, "How would Republicans react if a Democratic president nominated an advocate of radical redistribution of wealth or Marxism?"
Taylor's critique, the best by far regarding Brown, is thoughtful and substantive, but suffers from at least two infirmities: First, Taylor places too much weight on Brown's speeches. While sentiments expressed in a nominee's speeches may illuminate how that person may behave as a judge, in Brown's case we're not operating with a blank slate. She's compiled an extensive library of opinions while serving on the California supreme court the last ten years. That record reveals a judge committed to steadfast adherence to precedent and textual interpretation. There's nothing in her opinions, including that in San Remo Hotel, outside of the legal mainstream. Critics who charge that Brown might give in to Lochnerian impulses if she were elevated to a United States Supreme Court unchecked by appellate review should consider that her position on the California supreme court provided numerous opportunities to be a judicial activist, yet she took advantage of none of those opportunities. Besides, if one's philosophical meanderings and musings in speeches, debates, or lectures are presumptive of how such nominee will rule as a judge, 90 percent of those who've ever taught a law-school class, given a luncheon address, or participated in an ABA panel discussion would be disqualified. Only the intellectually incurious would remain.
Second, Taylor's reading of Brown's San Remo Hotel dissent finds an urge to radically expand property rights where others find an unremarkable interpretation of the California constitution's comparatively broad takings clause.
San Remo Hotel involved San Francisco's hotel-conversion ordinance that requires owners of hotels that serve the poor, elderly, and disabled to pay a substantial fee to the city whenever the owners seek to convert their property to tourist use. The fee, amounting to 80 percent of the construction costs of the units to be converted, would be paid into the city's Residential Hotel Preservation Fund for the poor. Taylor suggests that Brown's dissent from the majority opinion upholding the law indicates she "would invalidate laws redistributing wealth from one group to another." Obviously, such invalidation could affect much New Deal and Great Society legislation, including Social Security and Medicare.
But Brown's dissent is not nearly so expansive. Rather, it's wholly consistent with mainstream (although, admittedly, libertarian-leaning) jurisprudence that holds that broad societal burdens may not encumber the property rights of a discrete or insular class of individuals. Moreover, Brown was referring only to laws pertaining to real property rights, not legislation that may otherwise have the effect of redistributing wealth (Social Security, etc.).
Janice Rogers Brown is no extremist. She's tough, smart, principled, and conservative. She's the embodiment of everything that challenges the worldview of liberal elites. Teamed with a Justice Thomas on the U.S. Supreme Court, she would threaten the Democrat political imperatives cited by Professor Calabresi. Teamed with justices that don't embrace the doctrines of a "living, breathing constitution," she would threaten the political imperatives cited by John Leo.
Two sitting Supreme Court justices are in their 80s; two are in their 70s. Retirement naturally beckons. There could be as many as four high-Court vacancies in the next few years. Nuclear winter fast approaches the Left.
— Peter Kirsanow

A Letter From Patrick J. Flynn.

Patrick is spot on here. And Dr. Keyes and his support of America's Independant Party is on the verge of creating a true and viable third party.

Patrick J. FlynnState ChairmanAmerica's Independent Party of Michigan:
The World is Changed.This was the opening line in the cinematic version of The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring. In the story, we were being informed that things are to be as they never were. A great ominous force was gathering with a goal to dominate and oppress. I thought it very appropriate indeed as an allegory to open this letter.Whether at the tea parties, in the workplaces, throughout the streets, in the homes and churches, there is one theme that prevails in the hearts of conservatives. Our culture, our liberty, our sovereignty and all that we hold dear is now threatened as it has never been threatened before.Some say that we are just meandering through the repetitious cycle of liberal/conservative leadership. It is flippantly suggested that this time is not unlike the Carter and Clinton years and we just have to sit tight and prepare for our turn. Dear friends, this is nothing like the previous eras of liberal power shifts. We are witnessing and having to endure nothing less than pure historical tyranny and a systematic dismantling of our free civilization. We are indignant over the fact that the people we have elected who are in the places of leadership whom we trusted to prevent this evil either cannot or will not do so. The current power-driven government talking heads must be replaced with principled leaders who possess the will and courage to stand against this atrocity and molestation of all that is good.
This administration, intoxicated with societal adulation, has succeeded in casting a spell of sorts upon the entire world. In this enigmatic trance behind the synthetic veils and ethereal chants of hope and change, we seem to barely notice the recent and significant encroachment of a massive government machine upon the very foundations of a free people.

Testimony against Notre Dame University &Father Jenkins, witnessed before God and manNew spending and planned debt are now at levels beyond the scope of comprehension. Federal intrusion in the private sector augments daily. The floodgates of global, unrestricted, taxpayer-funded child killing and human embryonic destruction have been thrown open. National security is compromised to the wiles of our sworn enemies, and we are virtually promised upcoming criminal prosecution for sharing and proclaiming certain portions of the Sacred Scriptures. Is this the hope and change which they branded and marketed throughout most of 2008? I assure you it most certainly is. They were just banking on the fact that most Americans were thinking of something entirely different. Their wager paid off nicely.A strong prevailing theme in the hearts, minds, and souls of principled conservatives that is building movement and unity of purpose is the reality that the two-party system is not only incapable of restoring sovereignty and liberty, it is actually responsible for things as they stand. An entirely new party based upon pure foundational and constitutional principles will be necessary if we are ever to rebuild our blessed republic. Let's review the recent events of South Bend, Indiana, as a real-life, real-time vignette. This was not just a school that forgot its foundation, carelessly tainting its commencement ceremony with the wrong speaker. This was a true assault upon our sacred values, a treacherous strike that was launched with the arrogant and unfortunately accurate assumption that moral and spiritual leaders were indifferent enough, incapable, or simply afraid to confront. People of real faith across denominations realized this attack as unprecedented in its severity and impact. They were moved to respond with their voices, their hearts, and their presence to pull back the shroud and push this outrageous scandal onto the world stage. Who was there standing as witnesses to the truth against this dreadful lie? Not the Republicans. Not the Democrats. Only one party had the moral character, the will, and determined principles to participate in this righteous resistance. America's Independent Party was there on the streets, on the campus, and in the jail giving witness against the dismantling of our civilization by a nameless force that continually feeds on the innocent blood of pre-born children.As one of the state chairmen of America's Independent Party, I was in South Bend. I was there as a concerned American. I was there as a husband and a father of eight who cares what kind of culture my children will inherit. I was compelled deep within my spirit to join Dr. Alan Keyes to enter the Notre Dame campus to witness the truth of the school's own stated foundations to the administration, the faculty and the student body. We were peacefully praying and proceeding forward with the visual reminders of our nation's silent holocaust. We were arrested and jailed. We were violated, dishonored and handed over to the civil authorities. Days later, the university's authorities arrested and jailed members of the clergy as well. All this while the world's most famous Catholic institution of higher learning was moving forward with its plans to honor the master of global child killing and host the poisoning of the minds of our young adults with his lies.
"Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter."
Isaiah 5:20
It was in the St. Joseph County Jail's holding cell in the company and fellowship of Dr. Keyes and the other witnesses that I realized that no effort for righteous truth was ever successful in this great society without this level of sacrifice and determination. From the American Revolution to the emancipation of slavery to the elevation of women to full citizenship, freedom fighters and witnesses for truth have sat in jails across this land. Some have even shed their blood to ensure freedom and truth to their posterity.This is the heart of our party: its people, its commitment to principle, its grass-roots values, its rejection of power politics, its recognition that life is the unalienable right granted by Almighty God, and its understanding that if you cannot care for the most vulnerable among us, you cannot care, period.AIP is different from the other parties. We have a concise platform based upon the foundations for good and effective government laid down by our founding fathers. We hold our leaders and candidates to their affiliation of this platform. The Democrats and Republicans have platforms as well, but they are virtually meaningless. Candidates can take or leave the platform in piece or entirety without consequence. Remember Arlen Specter? He was an enemy of the socially-conservative Republican Party platform, yet he enjoyed the approval and endorsement of his fellow Republicans for decades until he departed the ranks and joined the Democrats. Then he was chastised by his party, not for his leftist politics, but because he reduced the number of Republicans on Capitol Hill. Do you honestly think we will be able to confront the atrocities we now behold in this regime run amok, with the weak and relative leadership we have seen of late in the GOP?Additionally, America's Independent Party has a commitment against self-service. After a thorough vetting process, we will support any candidate from any party that is willing to affiliate with our principles embedded in our platform. As long as they uphold in practice their affiliation, they can count on our help. Unlike the other parties, if they fail to perform according to their affiliation, we will publicly withdraw our support for their candidacy or office.Now, most people think of political independents as those who wander somewhat bewildered between decisions during campaigns. They associate independents with not being able to make up their minds. The true spirit of the independent is, however, far from this. The true independent is capable of espousing strong principles and decisively selecting authentic representative leadership as our forefathers have done. AIP embodies the true spirit of independence straight from the pages of the nation's foundational documents. We reject the dependence on deeply engrained, power driven political machines and their dysfunctional self-elevating politics. We turn away from the debilitating options offered to us by the two party structure of having to choose the lesser of two evils in a country as great and accomplished as ours. The time for America's Independent Party has arrived and there may not be a moment to lose. I am writing to you today for two purposes, the first of which is to briefly inform you of our party, our goals, and our commitment. I hope I have accomplished that. Secondly, I write to you to confidently ask you for your financial support for the tasks that lay before us. These efforts to restore our liberty and sovereignty will require resources just as any other worthy movement would. We need you to help us with your donation. If every reader of this letter were moved to give just five dollars, we could advance our efforts to establish sound government substantially. Please consider your gift to America's Independent Party. Donate at:http://selfgovernment.us/contribute.phpOr mail your donation to:
America's Independent Party17195 Silver Parkway #336Fenton, MI 48430I urge you to visit AIP's web site at www.AIPNEWS.com Click on our Platform link. Sign the Personal Affiliation Agreement and be part of the restoration of our great republic.The World is Changed.... We must respond with principled leadership!I thank you in advance for your participation and your financial help for America's Independent Party.Most sincerely,Patrick J. FlynnState ChairmanAmerica's Independent Party of Michigan

"Empathy," in Liberalspeak, is nothing but raw political power

Ann Coulter hits another ball out of the park with this article.

http://www.anncoulter.com/
I FEEL YOUR PAIN. NOT THEIRS. YOURS.May 27, 2009God save us from liberal "empathy." After President Barack Obama announced his empathetic Supreme Court nominee this week, Judge Sonia Sotomayor, we found out that some people are more deserving of empathy than others. For example, Judge Sotomayor apparently "empathized" more with New Haven, Conn., government officials than with white and Hispanic firefighters who were denied promotions by the city on the basis of their race. Let's hope she's as empathetic to New Haven residents who die in fires fought by inferior firefighters as a result of her decision. In the now-famous firefighters' case, Ricci v. DeStefano, the New Haven Fire Department administered a civil service exam to choose a new batch of lieutenants and captains. The city went so far as to hire an outside consultant to design the test in order to ensure that it was job-related and not racially biased. (You know, just like all written tests were pre-screened for racial bias back when we were in school.) But when the results came in, only whites and Hispanics scored high enough to earn promotions. Such results never entice Democrats to reconsider their undying devotion to the teachers' unions that routinely produce students who can't read, write or do basic math. Obviously, disadvantaged children from single-parent homes suffer the most from inadequate public schools -- and their tragic outcome bedevils the entire society for the rest of the students' lives. Instead, Democrats hide the failure of government schools by punishing the high-scoring whites, Asians and Hispanics, who presumably learned everything they know at home. (If only successfully applying a condom were relevant to firefighting, public school graduates raised in single-parent homes would crush the home-learners!) So naturally, New Haven city officials decided to scrap the exam results and promote no one. Seventeen of the high-scoring whites and one high-scoring Hispanic sued the mayor, John DeStefano, and other city officials for denying them promotions solely because of their race. The district court ruled that there was no race discrimination because the low-scoring blacks were not given promotions either -- citing the landmark case, One Bad Apple v. The Rest of the Barrel. (That's the sort of sophistry we're taught in law school.) Concerned that Sotomayor's famed "empathy" might not shine through in cases such as Ricci v. DeStefano, the Democrats are claiming -- as Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs said on MSNBC -- that she was merely applying "precedent" to decide the case. You know, just like conservatives say judges should. This was an interesting claim, in the sense that it was the exact polar opposite of the truth. To be sure, there is "precedent" for racial discrimination by the government, but Plessy v. Ferguson was overturned in 1954 by Brown v. Board of Education. If Sotomayor had another case in mind, she wasn't telling: The lower court's dismissal of the firefighters' case was upheld by Sotomayor and two other judges in an unsigned, unpublished opinion, titled, "Talk to the Hand." Not only that, but Sotomayor's fellow Clinton appointee, Jose Cabranes (who sounds like an "empathetic" fellow), issued a blistering dissent from the appellate court's denial of a rehearing specifically on the grounds that the case "raises important questions of first impression in our Circuit -- and indeed, in the nation." A "case of first impression" means there's no precedent. If there were a precedent, it would be a case of, at least, "second impression." If it were merely "empathy" that explained liberal judges' lawless opinions, one might expect some liberal judges to have empathy for the white and Hispanic firefighters being discriminated against today, and others to have empathy for the hypothetical black firefighters discriminated against in times past. But all liberals only have empathy for the exact same victims -- always the ones that are represented by powerful liberal interest groups. As Joe Sobran says, it takes a lot of clout to be a victim. Thus, the media and Democrats seem to find successful Hispanic attorney Sotomayor much more "empathetic" than successful Hispanic attorney Miguel Estrada. After aggressively blocking Estrada's nomination to a federal appeals court during Bush's first term solely on the grounds that he is Hispanic and was likely headed for the Supreme Court -- according to Senate Democrat staff memos -- now Democrats have the audacity to rave that Sotomayor will be the first Hispanic Supreme Court justice! If Sotomayor is not more empathetic than Estrada, liberals at least consider her more Hispanic -- an interesting conclusion inasmuch as Sotomayor was born in New York and Estrada was born in Honduras. Forty-four of 48 Senate Democrats voted to filibuster Estrada's nomination to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, with congressman and professional Hispanic Raul Grijalva assuring them that just because "he happens to be named 'Estrada' does not give him a free ride." The truth is liberals couldn't care less about Sotomayor being Hispanic. Indeed, liberals often have trouble telling Hispanic people apart, as James Carville illustrated on "Good Morning America" Wednesday morning when he kept confusing Miguel Estrada with Alberto Gonzales. "Empathy," in Liberalspeak, is nothing but raw political power. COPYRIGHT 2009 ANN COULTER

Sotomayor: Who And What She Is.

For all of his faults, and there are many, one thing Comrade and Chief B. Hussein Obama is not is shy about his quest to reshape America into a purely federal government run nation. He already has shown that he will break the law to do so. The thuggish takeover of Chrysler and GM and the banking system. So it would only make good political sense for him to put into place the machine that will make the illegal legal. And Sotomayor is willing to help make Barry's dream, or nightmare, a reality. She was taped saying,"This month, for example, a video surfaced of Judge Sotomayor asserting in 2005 that a “court of appeals is where policy is made.” http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/15/us/15judge.html
And forget about the snarky disclaimer she adds, she is a smart enough person to know that by saying, “And I know — I know this is on tape, and I should never say that because we don’t make law. I know. O.K. I know. I’m not promoting it. I’m not advocating it. I’m — you know.” http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/15/us/15judge.html
she can play bot sides of the political fence. Most people learn this trick around the first grade.
She also comes across as a racist and bigoted person.
“I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't’t lived that life,” said Judge Sotomayor. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/15/us/15judge.html
Alrighty then. So she has opened the door for others to question her on race and gender. She is the one who made these claims. She is the one alluding to the thought that white men are not able to rule wisely on certain issues because they are, TA DA! white. I guess by that logic Abe Lincoln stumbled into his decisions about slavery.
While I am at it, she is believes that gun ownership is not a right granted to us by our constitution. "It is settled law," Sotomayor and the Second Circuit held, "that the Second Amendment applies only to limitations the federal government seeks to impose on this right." http://www.reason.com/news/show/133722.html
Even the circus known as the 9Th Circuit Court of Appeals in Nordyke vs. King ruled;
We therefore conclude that the right to keep and bear arms is "deeply rooted in this Nation's history and tradition." Colonial revolutionaries, the Founders, and a host of commentators and lawmakers living during the first one hundred years of the Republic all insisted on the fundamental nature of the right. It has long been regarded as the "true palladium of liberty." Colonists relied on it to assert and to win their independence, and the victorious Union sought to prevent a recalcitrant South from abridging it less than a century later. The crucial role this deeply rooted right has played in our birth and history compels us to recognize that it is indeed fundamental, that it is necessary to the Anglo-American conception of ordered liberty that we have inherited. We are therefore persuaded that the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment incorporates the Second Amendment and applies it against the states and local governments.
http://www.reason.com/news/show/133722.html
So what we have here is president BHO following through on what he said he wanted to do, and for that, I give him credit. What is even more worrying, is for one, he is just getting started, and two; he was able to fool just enough fools to get elected.

Sonia Sotomayor: Courts make policy full clip

She is looking to make law and not rule on it. She has also stated that gun ownership is not a constitutional right. President B. Hussein Obama and his staff have intentionally picked a female,hispanic, and radical leftist for a reason. He believes, and for the most part correctly, the the Republican party is go easy on her because of her race, thus allowing her lefist views to go unchallenged. BHO is a clear and open racist. And to make matters worse, he is an angry one at that. Make no mistake, BHO was to reshape America into a socialist, racist country where free thinking is illegal.....

Christianity and conservatism: Christian doctrinal orthodoxy and conservative political philosophy

This guy is awesome!

http://www.renewamerica.us/analysis/hutchison/090226
Issues analysis
Christianity and conservatism: Christian doctrinal orthodoxy and conservative political philosophy
A brief history of conservatism: Part 16
February 26, 2009Fred Hutchison, RA analyst In the last essay in this series, part 15, we discovered in history a strong correlation between Christian spirituality and the vitality of Western culture. However, spirituality by itself is not enough. Issues of truth and doctrinal orthodoxy are equally important. A spiritually charged people who faithfully declare God's Truth can turn the tides of history. Therefore, let us now turn to questions of doctrine.In this essay, part 16, we shall explore some of the logical correlations between Christian doctrinal orthodoxy and conservative political philosophy. When I speak of orthodoxy, I mean the great truths of the historical creeds and the confessions of the church.In the first essay in this series, I proposed that the five streams of conservatism have always had a positive influence on Western culture. This is particularly true of Christian conservatism — when the doctrine is orthodox and the truths of the faith are propagated boldly and without compromise.Christian truth claims transform EuropeThe truth claims of Christianity preoccupied the scholars at the monasteries and universities of the 11th through the 13th century. They pursued the truth with extraordinary enthusiasm, zeal, and intellectual vigor. Watering down the truth to pander to the crowd — as is so often the practice today — would have been unthinkable to these zealots.Interestingly, some of the learned debates of scholars in the 12th century were attended by large crowds of ordinary people — who shared in the general zest for truth. Never has a common people been so enthusiastic about the battle for truth. Never have students burned with such intellectual excitement and displayed such an earnest striving after Truth — with the possible exception of the students who sat in the olive groves of Plato's Academy, or the students who walked in the gymnasium colonnade of Aristotle's Lyceum, and were called the "peripatetics," or the students who walked in Zeno the Stoic's colonnade which overlooked the Agora of Athens. However, the enthusiasm of the European "scholastics" was ultimately shared by perhaps a thousand-fold more students than ever sat in Plato's Academy olive groves, or strolled in Aristotle's colonnade. As marvelous as the teachings of the Greek philosophers were, it was a small-scale enterprise compared to the Medieval European universities, and ill timed in history for a maximum cultural effect. Plato, Aristotle, and Zeno appeared after the golden age of Athens was over — and the culture was set in its ways.In contrast, scholasticism appeared shortly after 1100 A.D., when European civilization was brand new. Therefore, scholasticism had a seminal influence in molding of the culture of Europe when it was impressionable and pliable. The twelfth century was particularly flexible and dynamic, and the developing culture was rapidly changing.The greatest of the "scholastics" was St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274). His works are still included in the Western literary canon. The "Thomists" — scholars who specialize in Aquinas — still appear on the scene when there is intellectual ferment among people who have a renewed interest in metaphysics.Scholasticism gives Europe the edge in rationalityFrom almost the beginning of the civilization of the High Middle Ages, Europe had a uniquely rational culture. Scholasticism was formally developed in the early decades of the 12th century. European culture was then in a very early stage of formation, because the civilization was born in the second half of the 11th century. Europe became the premier society of rationality and remained so until the early days of the 20th century. The historical advantages of Europe were mainly advantages of reason and the educated intellect.Other natural advantages of Europe like navigable rivers and natural harbors had to be aggressively exploited by intelligent men. The proliferation of wind mills, water mills, and machinery for cutting stones and hoisting stones betokens a society of restless minds seeking to solve practical problems. The slumbering minds of the Dark Ages had to be awakened to such tasks. Scholasticism and education in the Cathedral schools and monasteries were a key stimulus for that awakening of the mind.The scholasticism of the universities and monasteries was a truth-seeking venture sponsored by the church. Therefore, it was Christianity that gave Europe its edge over other civilizations in its rational powers. The triumph of scholasticism was a triumph of doctrinal orthodoxy. During the scholastic debates of the early 12th century, orthodox views soon triumphed over heterodox and heretical views.Thus, European culture was shaped and enlightened by the theology of doctrinal orthodoxy. Most of the remainder of this essay will be devoted to establishing the affinity of doctrinal orthodoxy and conservative political philosophy.Conservative vs. modernismJust as conservative theology (i.e., orthodox doctrine) is compatible with conservative political philosophy, liberal theology is compatible with political liberalism and progressivism — i.e., the politics of modernism.Liberal theology can be characterized as modernism wrapped in a Christian package. Modernism is the common enemy of conservative theology and conservative political philosophy. None of the links between Christianity and conservative political philosophy that we shall explore in this essay are applicable to the nominal Christianity of liberal theology. Conservative theology and conservative political philosophy are the friends of reason and civilization. As we shall see in the next essay, Modernism in the 20th century has fallen to a shocking state of intellectual and moral decadence and has become the enemy of reason and of civilization.A tight theology and a loose political philosophyThe fact that there are logical connections between conservative theology and conservative political philosophy does not imply a perfect fit. There are points of tension. Therefore, It is a loose fit, not a tight fit. A loose fit is good enough for a political philosophy, but only logical precision is acceptable for orthodox theology. Whereas the great creeds of the faith required an exacting precision of language and concepts, political philosophy needs only to provide a good general fit, like clothes purchased off the shelf that need not be custom tailored for a perfect fit.Beware of doctrines that are woven too loosely and political philosophies that are woven too tightly. Loose doctrines are an invitation to heretics. Tight political philosophies collapse into narrow ideologies, which are not amenable to debate. Such ideologies alienate natural allies and make political compromise impossible.Perfectionism and political disasterWe just came through a political campaign in which the search for the perfect conservative candidate led to the mutual assured destruction of all the conservative candidates. As the ground was littered with conservative bodies, John McCain, a moderate candidate whose chances had long been written off, stepped forward and claimed the Republican nomination. He was beaten by a vague and inexperienced liberal Democrat named Barack Obama.Perfectionism is suicidal in politics. I speak as one who was guilty of insisting upon the perfect conservative and fought against the imperfect conservative candidates who might have won.As a sadder and wiser man, my mission now is to unite the five historical streams of conservatism. That would be unfeasible if all five groups were perfectionists or defined their cluster of ideas as narrow ideologies. The five schools of conservatism can only work together if a loose fit is tolerated. A loose fit allows each of the five schools of conservatism to learn from each other. Each of the schools has its own special wisdom that is needed by the conservative movement as a whole.Now let us turn to the central theme of this essay. To wit: There are affinities and logical correlations between Christian doctrinal orthodoxy and conservative political philosophy. A theologian could write tomes on this subject, but we are limited by space and time to consider a small sampler of the affinities.Man has a nature"I believe in God the father almighty, creator of heaven and earth." This first line of the Apostle's Creed confesses that God is the creator. If God created man, he also designed man. If man has a design, he also has an innate nature. An integrated design is not subject to material change, but is fixed over time. Thus, human nature is fixed throughout the centuries and is universally shared by all mankind. Modernists almost universally deny that man has a universal nature — and insist that man is a construct of culture, environment, economics, and biology. In contrast, doctrinally orthodox Christians and political conservatives almost universally insist that man has an innate nature.Modernists believe that human nature is in flux and that men were essentially different in former centuries. Therefore, they are skeptical about the wisdom of the past. In contrast, theological conservatives and political conservatives insist that man has always been essentially the same. Therefore, they cherish the wisdom of the past.Here we get a look at the great gulf between modernism, on one side, and conservatism on the other. We also observe how theological conservatism lines up with political conservatism in opposition to modernism.Human nature and legislationIf man has no nature, but is a construct of society, as liberals think, the legislator will tend to think that he can fashion a better man through social engineering programs. In contrast, if man has a nature based upon a design that is fixed and unchanging, as conservatives believe, social engineering programs designed to change human nature can only inflict injuries upon man or stifle his nature.Seventy years of social engineering by the Soviet Union failed to change human nature the slightest amount. The relentless attempt to change human nature turned the entire society into a wretched and joyless prison filled with dysfunctional people.In contrast to the soviet tyrants, the thoughtful conservative legislator will review proposed legislation to determine if it runs against the grain of human nature. He will examine a proposed new law in an attempt to ascertain whether it is oppressive to human nature or whether it will provide wholesome boundaries in which man can flourish.Political conservatives and theological conservatives will usually unite to oppose social engineering programs. Liberals and communists generally favor such programs. It is patently obvious why conservatives are invariably anticommunists and why historically, many liberals have had a secret sympathy for communism. This offers us a clue as to why poorly informed conservatives have long had difficulty in differentiating between liberalism and communism.Although Christian conservatives and political conservatives generally agree in their opposition to social engineering programs, Christian conservatives put the emphasis of the principle that only divine grace can change the human heart. Traditionalist conservatives emphasize that government social engineering projects rend the delicate social fabric. And Libertarians are primarily concerned with how government programs interfere with individual initiative.In Adam's fall we sinned allDoctrinal orthodoxy requires one to see that although man is harmoniously designed with an innate nature that was originally good, his nature has been fatally corrupted by original sin. I like to think of man as having a well-designed constitution that has been contaminated.Man is "totally depraved" in the sense that the contamination of wickedness has reached all his faculties and every part of his constitution. Man is not totally depraved in the sense of being absolutely evil, for that would be absurd.The most evil of men — like Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, and bin Laden — started with an innate propensity to sin, and willfully pursued evil thoughts and evil deeds through various stages of development. In the fullness of time, they brought forth a highly developed evil, if not an absolute evil. The human lifetime is too short and the developmental process is too slow to produce an absolute evil. In like manner, a saint is overtaken by death long before he can realize a perfection of holiness.This being understood, orthodox doctrine traditionally holds that there is no human faculty that has been left pure and uncontaminated by original sin.The evangelist Charles Finney is regarded by some doctrinally orthodox theologians as a "pelagian" heretic, because he limited the scope of original sin. He asserted that the mind and the will was not automatically contaminated with original sin — and that man is as sinful or as righteous as he chooses to be. Finney preached the gospel on the assumption that men can choose their way into faith.To the contrary, the doctrinally orthodox reformer Martin Luther taught us that 1) all of our faculties, including the mind and the will, are contaminated by original sin; 2) we are in bondage to sin until God sets us free through His grace; and 3) faith is a gift from God. Man was originally good but became bad through Adam's fall. The opening lines of the McGuffey Reader were: "In Adam's fall we sinned all.""Original sin" was inherited by all of Adam's progeny — meaning all mankind. The harmony of the original design was disrupted by the deep-seated wickedness of the human heart. It is not possible for us to return to Eden and regain the original harmony and goodness of God's design by relying on human strength and making human efforts. That is why we need a Savior.Man is a contradictionTraditionalist conservatives like to say that "man is a contradiction" and is capable of evil. This is a mild, common-sense view of the dark side of human nature. It is what the daily experiences of life and the lessons of history consistently teach us about man.There is a tension between this view and the orthodox Christian view, but when it comes to politics and legislation, most differences seem to fade away.Once again, we observe the loose fit of conservative theology and conservative politics. These two groups are easily united in political ventures against liberals who have convinced themselves, God knows how, that man is inherently good.The bewitching of the conservativesThe ascendancy of liberalism unites the conservatives to the extent that their eyes are open to perceive a common enemy. One of the reasons conservatives were not united in the last election cycle was that the eyes of many were blinded in such a way that they failed to perceive the rise of leviathan out of the pit — that is to say, the rise of the far left into power.Why were they blinded, deceived, and bewitched? One reason is that they slipped away from conservative principles. A Christian who forgets biblical truths can backslide and be deceived by the world and the devil. A political conservative who loses his grip on conservative principles can be deceived by the liberals or compromised by deals with moderates.Some conservatives tried to balance conservative principles with incompatible modernistic concepts. As we shall see in the next section, this practice debilitates the conservative and induces a slide down a slippery slope to the left.Wishful thinkingWhen liberals deny the palpable reality of the dark side of human nature, they reject all the lessons of life and experience. Such a denial suggests a powerful delusion or a childlike naivete.During my late teens, around the time I was thinking about becoming a conservative, I remember telling a liberal college instructor that his arguments were based on "wishful thinking." The stubborn notion that man is inherently good was behind much of his naivete. We live in a broken world, and it does no good to wish otherwise as a naive child might do.The willful denial by liberals of the evil that lurks in the human heart has, in some cases, an element of malice. Such a denial suggests a primal rebellion involving an indignant rejection of the harsh reality of the broken world in which they find themselves. "I refuse to believe that men are the rascals and knaves which they appear to be. Therefore, I insist that they are otherwise." The malice inherent in their rebellious denial is sometimes turned against conservatives who are pessimistic about human nature.Can fallen man become virtuous?Some theological conservatives believe that although man is depraved, he can cooperate with a development process leading towards virtue with the help of "common grace," an empowerment from God for the believer and the unbeliever alike. Through common grace, a "noble pagan" like Roman Emperor and Stoic philosopher Marcus Aurelius had reached some degree of light on truth questions. He knew the difference between good and evil, and between virtue and vice. By all accounts, he made significant headway in his quest for virtue and wisdom. However, common grace without the special grace that comes with conversion to Christ is not enough. For all his virtue and wisdom, Marcus Aurelius wasted the substance of Rome with futile, tactically foolish wars against the northern barbarians. He persecuted the Christians. He designated Commodus — his foolish, malicious, and delusional son — to be the heir to his throne. Socrates was wrong. The rule of philosopher kings is no panacea.Conservatism can be problematicThere is a problematic dichotomy with a creature who has a good design, but has become evil through rebelling against his Designer and resisting his design. According to Aristotle, virtue consists of thoughts and actions in agreement with the design of man. Vice consists of doing things that are "against nature" — that is to say, against the nature and design of man. This is not an intellectually easy nor intuitively obvious concept. A distinction must be made carefully made between a good design and a deep corruption.Due to the failure to make this distinction carefully, fault lines have formed among conservative theologians and conservative political philosophers. The fault line can form from two kinds of errors: 1) downplaying human depravity by overemphasizing the goodness of the design; and 2) downplaying the goodness and harmony of the design, due to a preoccupation with human depravity. The first error might lead one to trust in man too much and to slip towards the left, theologically and politically. The second error might lead one to reject Natural Law philosophy, which is indispensable to a coherent systematic theology and a rational conservative political philosophy.The difficulties do not end here. The conservative must carefully distinguish between the sinful nature and the habitual propensities that have developed from a long series of choices. A mistake here can lead to all kinds of sloppy thinking. Theologian John Gregory Mantle characterized this sloppy thinking by referring to self-righteous Christians as those who have built learned behavior upon a corrupt root.The opposite error is to downplay the wickedness of a sinner by making the excuse that the person is merely following bad habits. This error leaves out a moral appraisal of the long series of wicked choices that were made to develop the bad habit. One can justly refer to someone as an "evil man" if he has spent a lifetime cultivating evil patterns of behavior. Certain criminal psychologists have determined that hardened criminals often start cultivating evil imaginations in childhood and perform many experiments in turning the thoughts into deeds. Through such experiments, they become proficient in increasing stages of evil. (See Inside the Criminal Mind by Dr. Stanton Samenow.)A tutelary paradoxI have always had a pessimistic view of human nature, and at the same time have always been optimistic that individuals can eventually fulfill the destiny inherent in their design — with the help of divine grace. However, the developmental process of maturing and getting ready for one's ultimate destiny can be very long and very difficult. Many stray from the straight path that leads to the fulfillment of their destiny.Some folks think that a potential destiny and manifest depravity are an impossible contradiction. I regard both dimensions of human nature as a tutelary paradox that can lead one slowly to wisdom and personal growth. The paradox is a motivator to seek help from God and to be delivered from the sins and vices that might bar one from fulfilling his destiny.The particular and the universalSome libertarian conservatives and some traditionalists emphasize the particular and unique qualities of individuals to such an extent that they doubt that man has a core nature with universal qualities. The denial of universal human nature of underlying the individual particulars is why some libertarians reject the idea of a universal moral law. The confusion of not seeing the forest of human nature for the trees of individual particulars can be cleared up by a refresher course in Aristotle or St. Thomas Aquinas. Both men taught us how to differentiate "essence" and "accidents." Aristotle's universals subsist as the "essence" of particular things. In other words, one's core human essence — that is to say, one's humanity — is universal. The "accidents" are those superficial, tangible details, particularities, and eccentricities that make a person a unique individual. Recognizing the unique personality but ignoring the underlying personhood is an error of logical distinctions; e.g., "He is a rascal and a clown; therefore he is not a human being." The error is insulting because it is reductionistic.Precisely because Aristotle's and Aquinas' thought was so deeply woven into Western culture, the West was long able to avoid extremes in collectivism and extremes in individualism. The West lost this facility in direct proportion to the decline of metaphysics after 1800 A.D. The political liberals of the present time swing wildly between collectivism and a lawless, atomistic individualism. It is no accident that metaphysics is anathema to them.The existential mistakeAnother Libertarian mistake is of the Existentialist type. It involves a failure to differentiate between essence and existence. Existentialists are obsessed with finding an "authentic" mode of existence. It is an extreme version of the American quest for a self-defining and trendy "life-style." Such preoccupation with modes of existence tends towards the neglect of "essence," the inner humanity that exists independently of one's modes of existing. Aristotle or Aquinas can clear up the problem by clarifying the difference between essence and existence.Why cannot man be content just to exist and not be so concerned about his personal modes of existence? Because man is a finite, contingent, insecure, proud being who must attach himself to the world by raising a banner that he exists. "Look at me. I am right here, right now, and am expressing myself in a unique manner. Therefore, I exist!" The man who is spiritually mature enough to completely dispense with "raising the flag" is very rare. However, an obsession with "raising the flag" of existential self-expression is a sign of abnormal insecurity and immaturity.Unlike man, God's essence is the same as his existence, because he is complete and self-contained in the perfection of his being. If he "raises the flag," it is purely an act of love and never an attempt to ground or vindicate his existence.Those who can't differentiate between essence and existence do not understand man. Those who think God has modes of existence does not understand God.The West used to have a good balance between individual creativity and archetypal forms in the arts and literature. Now, the existential quest for radical individuality of expression has thrown the arts and literature into chaos.A universal moral lawAll designs have rules of operation. When one buys a new kitchen appliance, there are always written directions about how to operate the appliance and what one should not do with the appliance, lest it malfunctions and becomes dangerous to the user.Since man is a designed being, there are rules and laws concerning what he may do that are salutary to his nature and what he may not do lest he destroy himself and his neighbor. These rules, laws, and precepts are the same for all people. Therefore, a universal moral law must exist. The moral law has been unchanging and universal ever since man has been on earth. Considering that man is a designed being, Is there an instruction booklet for man, provided by the designer? Yes. We call it the Bible. The one thing on which the Old Testament and New Testament are in perfect agreement is the core elements of the universal moral law that are summed up in the Ten Commandments. Old Testament ordinances that were specific to Israel and were not universal in applicability were abolished in the New Testament — but not the precepts of the Ten Commandments.Many modernists deny the existence of a universal moral law, and call such things the "value judgments" of individuals. They assume that because a modernist will often invent his own moral cosmos, the moral law of conservatives is the same kind of personal invention. They give this presumption away when they claim that the command against adultery is a personal value judgment. Not so. A universal moral law is the exact opposite of a made-up value that is unique to the individual.One's positions on innumerable political issues will hinge upon whether he thinks there is a universal moral law, or dismisses such laws as individual "value judgments." For example, consider an example of a free-floating value judgment: "The babe in the womb is part of my body. I can do anything I want with my body. Therefore, I have the right to kill the baby. My free choice to do so makes it right."The first sentence is contrary to scientific fact. The second sentence is contrary to natural law and biblical teaching. The third sentence is contrary to the universal moral law. The fourth statement comes from the funny farm of solipsism. This cluster of concepts ignores the spiritual reality that the babe in the womb is a person.The invention of tailor-made value stances of this kind pander to personal comfort and unrestrained lusts. They promise freedom from consequences and from personal responsibility. In contrast, authentic moral laws require self-denial, develop personal virtue, and promote the general good of the family, the neighborhood, and the community.The self-contradictory nature of modernismIn contrast to the fault-lines of conservatism, modernism has stark contradictions. As we have seen, the conservative fault lines can often be reconciled or reduced to a loose fit. However, it is dubious whether the contradictions of modernism can be reconciled or made to work together.Modernists say: 1) man does not have a nature; and 2) man is inherently good. These two propositions are contradictions. If man does not have a nature, he cannot be inherently good, or inherently bad, or inherently anything.Modernism posits an impossible contradiction and is therefore a false world view.Modernists have an absurd view of the world. It is no accident that Sartre came to believe that life is absurd.If men were angelsJames Madison, the principal author of the Constitution wrote, "If men were angels no government would be necessary." We would not need police or a justice system to punish evil doers. Liberals, who believe men are good unless they are mentally ill, or emotionally damaged, sometimes propose that we substitute therapy for criminal punishment. A liberal judge in my home town let a child molester off on probation in order that he could get "therapy." Was this morally deranged judge impeached? No, he was defended by the liberal press and was re-elected.Some liberals say, "Society is the cause of criminality. Therefore, let us fix the root causes in society, instead of punishing criminals."When there is a crime wave, conservatives talk of hiring more police and building more prisons, and liberals talk about therapy and social engineering projects. A Christian who believes in the fall of man must be skeptical that therapy can make an evil man good or that social programs can cure the real cause of crime that lies in the darkness of the human heart.In the novel The Lord of the Flies, English school boys were cast adrift on an island and quickly reverted to savagery. When a seaman came to rescue them, a boy named Ralph realized how far the boys had sunk into depravity. He wept for "the end of innocence and for the darkness of the human heart." The boys were delivered of the illusion that man is naturally good, and it hurt to give up this pleasant illusion.When I was on the college debate team, an argument was made that welfare programs do not corrupt the beneficiaries because "people have an innate desire to work." This point was baldly asserted on the grounds that man is naturally good and therefore tends to prefer virtue to vice.That kind of thinking prevailed when the New Deal and Great Society programs were designed. The result was a great mass of welfare families who remained on the government dole for generations. Their idleness multiplied their vices and shattered their families. They did not sit at home studying the Aristotelian virtues.Rights and dutiesIn our political culture today, those who shout the loudest about rights are the most likely to deny duties. This is the behavior of the dead beat, the moocher, and the con man. While I expect such moral decadence from liberals, I am embarrassed to confess that some libertarian conservatives carry atomist individualism to extremes and demand rights while denying duties.If man has a nature, he must have both rights and duties connected with that nature. Governments that respect human nature are obliged to protect the innate rights of an individual against the infringements of other men. Since human nature is constant, these protections should be enduring principles of law. At the same time, no one should be offended when the legitimate duties of citizenship are called for.If man has rights, he must also have duties. It is inconceivable that the creator would design man to soak up rights and deny duties. The man who demands every benefit but shuns every duty is despicable. He is a parasitic narcissist. It is unthinkable that man was designed to be this way.To suppose that man is here solely to serve only his private ends calls into question the idea that man really has the innate dignity that warrants special rights and privileges. We can't have it both ways. Either man has both rights and duties, or he has neither.Self-governmentIf man has both rights and duties, the full flourishing of his nature would require that he exercise himself in meeting those duties. If man is capable of arousing himself from self-seeking activities to carry out his duties, the unavoidable implication is that man is capable of governing himself — or, to some degree, moral and self-disciplined men who are thoroughly socialized as responsible members of the family and the community are capable of governing themselves.The capacity of men to govern themselves makes it possible to have a Republic of free men and a limited role for government. The greater part of the government will be self-government. The lesser part will be civil government. It is no accident that at a time when individual self-control is in decline, an increasing number of citizens are calling for an increased scope of government programs and government regulation.The restoration of self-government It is not enough for conservatives to fight against the expansion of government. They must show the way — through example and teaching — to the restoration of self-control by individuals.It is not enough to be virtuous and to teach the classical virtues to the populace. The preaching of righteousness, holiness, personal responsibility, and self denial, long absent from America's pulpits, must be restored. Perhaps an entire generation of pandering seeker-sensitive ministries must pass from the scene, so that a new wave of godly men, with their hearts on fire for truth and zeal for righteousness and holiness, might rise up from the grassroots of America. The sharp edges of doctrinal orthodoxy, which have been blunted and rounded off in the fear that someone will be offended, must once again be a razor-sharp two-edged sword.This has happened several times before in American history. That is why we have had such a long run of self-government and personal freedom.Freedom within boundariesAll designs are integrated with boundaries and limits. This truth is known to every engineer and architect. If man is a designed being, all of life must be conducted within limits. Virtually all doctrinal and theological conservatives understand this.However, liberals and modernists frequently talk about the absence of limits on the possibilities of an individual. This popular idea passes for wisdom and enlightenment, but it is a notion so filled with fantasy and folly that even a child should know better.All ideas about a life without limits are destructive to man. Many Americans are lured to their doom by the pied piper of "no limits." They boldly throw off boundaries, thinking it will set them free and they can then do the impossible.This is madness, of course. Man is a created being and therefore is finite and is obliged to live within boundaries, like them or not. Get used to it.God has placed each of us on earth according to "appointed times," and has established the "boundaries of our habitation" (Acts 17: 26). He has put us in a particular place at a particular time to do business for Him in a particular station in life. Our lives have starting and ending times, and the community, province, or nation in which we live has boundaries. Every kind of work we might do is hedged about with duties and boundaries. God himself has established these "boundaries of our habitation." We flourish and find our freedom within these boundaries. Everyone who knows they are not God but are mere created men should understand this in the marrow of his bones. Unfortunately, 20th century modernism promotes a powerful delusion that we are gods, and not men, and therefore have no limits. As we shall see, in the next section, it was Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) who opened this pandora's box to poison the souls of 20th century men.ConclusionChristian doctrinal conservatism, allied with conservative political philosophy, is a good antidote to Nietzsche's nihilistic modernism. Christian conservatism is uniquely potent in fighting modernism.Therefore, Christian conservatism is indispensable as one of the five branches of conservatism. Without it, the other branches will be in constant danger of being seduced by modernism and drifting to the left.© Fred Hutchison
RenewAmerica analyst Fred Hutchison also writes a column for RenewAmerica.

Andy Griffith - Whoa Mule

BBQ Staples

With 80 consecutive days off this summer, like every summer, the ritual known as backyard grilling takes its proper place as the second most popular summer activity. Golf, of course, is number one but it makes for a strong 1-2 punch! So last night sitting around the aroma of Kingsford and steaks, the discussion about what are the top 3 bbq must. The ones that are chisled in stone. "Ice cold Keystone and George Jones on the stereo" I stated. Since I was in my backyard running the show this night, the Master of the Grill. One buddy said "lawn furniture that is comfy and a fly swatter." Excellent choices too. Other top choices from the backyard grill cabinet were, horseshoes, dartboard, lawn dart(very high risk since I still have the metal tipped ones!).
So all this discussion about the three things that are a must has lead to a blog entry. So here are mine;
1- No brainer....Ice cold beer
2- Stereo with plenty of Jones, Haggard, Lefty, and Waylon
3- Any type of grilling meat from National Market
and a honary mention would be a can of OFF. I think that should have been my number one from the way I am scratching today!