World Gone Mad

Too Funny and Sad For Words

2008-09-24T14:18:00.002-05:00

McShame? Obamanation? These Are My Choices? Yeeesh!

2008-09-17T15:16:00.002-05:00

The Lesser of Two Evils?

2008-07-23T14:04:00.003-05:00

I often wonder when I hear people say, "you just have to vote for the less of two evils" --

Will they try to make that lame argument when they stand before the Judge of the Universe? I rather think not. So why rely on it now?

Hmmm...perhaps there is a better way:

Supreme Potentate Anthony Kennedy Is...

2008-06-25T17:44:00.004-05:00

...the UBER-LEGISLATOR!

It does not even matter that a child was viciously and violently raped. It does not matter that the people of Louisiana voted for the death penalty for that crime through their duly elected representatives. All the correct legislative procedures were followed, but it is all useless.

The only thing that matters is, what does U.S. Supremist Court Ruling Potentate and Lord High Mucky-muck Anthony Kennedy think?

We do have a king, after all! His name is King Anthony Kennedy.

Californians Worship the Law God

2008-05-16T10:04:00.003-05:00

It must be cool to be a judge on the California Supreme Court. All you have to do is write a bunch of stuff, and millions of citizens just do whatever you say.

It's amazing how Californians will bend over (oops -- poor choice of words) for almost anything. They'll go for just about anything as long as the person saying it is wearing a black robe. You'd think they were worshipping the Law God or something.

Forget worrying about all those Christians setting up a theocracy -- California as usual is way ahead of the curve.

They' ve already set up a judiciocracy out there.

Arminian Grace, How Sweet the Sound!

2008-02-05T12:17:00.000-06:00

Arminian Grace
(To the tune of Amazing Grace)

Arminian "grace!"
How strange the sound,
Salvation hinged on me.
I once was lost
then turned around,
Was blind then chose to see.

What "grace" is it
that calls for choice,
Made from some good within?
That part that wills
to heed God's voice,
Proved stronger than my sin.

Thru many ardent gospel pleas,
I sat with heart of stone.
But then some hidden good in me,
Propelled me toward my home.

My poor, dead neighbor,

Such a fool!

Didn't choose from sin to flee

I had the sense
to change my heart

But he's not smart -- like me!

When we've been there
ten thousand years,
Because of what we've done,
We've no less days
to sing our praise,
Than when we first begun.

(With apologies to John Newton)

(From Timmy at Provocations and Pantings; the bolded verse is my addition.)

A New Low in Language-Twisting

2007-09-27T09:02:00.000-05:00

Planned Parenthood's spokesmouth told the Aurora City Council that, no, Planned Parenthood had not committed fraud when it used a developer's name instead if its own name in applying for building permits to build an abortuary, although of course they didn't mention that in the applications either.

No, no. You don't understand. You see, Planned Parenthood was "taking a low visibility approach," she said.

We didn't commit fraud, you see. We were just taking a low visibility approach.

O Lord, Look Down from Heaven, Behold

2007-08-20T14:34:00.000-05:00

O Lord, look down from heaven, behold
And let Thy pity waken:
How few are we within Thy Fold,
Thy saints by men forsaken!
True faith seems quenched on every hand,
Men suffer not Thy Word to stand;
Dark times have us o'ertaken.

With fraud which they themselves invent
Thy truth they have confounded;
Their hearts are not with one consent
On Thy pure doctrine grounded.
While they parade with outward show,
They lead the people to and fro,
In error's maze astounded.

May God root out all heresy
And of false teachers rid us
Who proudly say: Now, where is he
That shall our speech forbid us?
By right or might we shall prevail;
What we determine cannot fail;
We own no lord and master.

Therefore saith God, I must arise,
The poor My help are needing;
To Me ascend My people's cries,
And I have heard their pleading.
For them My saving Word shall fight
And fearlessly and sharply smite,
The poor with might defending.

As silver tried by fire is pure
From all adulteration,
So through God's Word shall men endure
Each trial and temptation.
Its light beams brighter through the cross,
And, purified from human dross,
It shines through every nation.

Thy truth defend, O God, and stay
This evil generation;
And from the error of their way
Keep Thine own congregation.
The wicked everywhere abound
And would Thy little flock confound;
But Thou art our Salvation.

-- Martin Luther

God, Allah, What's the Difference?

2007-08-16T16:22:00.000-05:00

Yet another sign of the End Times in a World Gone Mad -- a Dutch clergyman by the name of Tiny Muskens (I swear I am not making this up) claims it's OK to call God "Allah" because "God doesn't mind what he is called."

Hmmm. What about Exodus 3:15?

"God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘The Lord [1], the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations."

I don't see any mention of Allah in there . . . or anywhere else in the Bible for that matter.

Note: The footnote in the ESV is also instructive. It reads: [1]The word Lord, when spelled with capital letters, stands for the divine name, YHWH, which is here connected with the verb hayah, “to be” in verse 14.

Rove Exit Shows Bankruptcy of Bush Policies

2007-08-16T08:24:00.000-05:00

Rove exited stage left because he & W. knew the jig was up after the immigration fiasco. They tried one too many times to pull one over on the conservative base & got caught red-handed. End of story.

The sad part is that they succeeded so many times, but at the price of destroying the Reagan coalition.

Thanks to these "geniuses" it will now be at least ten years before the Republican Party regains control of Congress and the White House.

Words To Live By?

2007-07-11T21:17:00.001-05:00

Seen on a t-shirt in downtown Chicago:

Arrive.
Raise hell.
Leave.

Memo to RNC . . . NOT ONE MORE DIME!

2007-06-10T18:02:00.000-05:00

To: Republican National Committee

From: A Fed Up Voter & Contributor

Re: I WILL NEVER VOTE FOR GUILIANI, McCAIN OR ROMNEY!!! DO YOU HEAR ME?

Never, never never. Not one single vote.

There's more.

NOT ONE MORE DIME UNTIL THE RNC, BUSH AND HIS CRONIES IN CONGRESS STOP THE MADNESS ON SHAMNESTY!!!

Any Republican who votes in favor of this abomination WILL PAY IN THE NEXT PRIMARY -- I WILL GIVE TIME AND MONEY IN THE PRIMARY TO SEE THAT THEY ARE TARGETED FOR DEFEAT!!!

Any questions?

Senator Kyl, THE PEOPLE DON'T WANT YOUR "REFORM!"

2007-06-08T12:36:00.000-05:00

To:
Sen. Jon Kyl

June 8, 2007

No one can believe the unmitigated gall you had last night, after your fellow Senators had refused a second time to invoke cloture on your bill, to appear in front of the cameras and say, "We'll be back."

Sir, you will not be back. Your bill will be killed the next time you try to resurrect it, and every single time after that.

It will be killed, as it so richly deserves to be, because the American people know a pig in a poke when they see one. We have been fooled by politicians like Ted Kennedy, John McCain and youfor decades.

No more.

You said this is "not over." Let me tell you, sir, what is "not over." What is not over is the ongoing effort of the American people to stop politicians like you from ruining our country. WE WILLSUCCEED because we are in the right, and you are not.

What IS over is your political career. Put a fork in it. It's done.

Solving the Immigration Problem "Once And For All"

2007-05-29T14:54:00.000-05:00

President Bush today told dissenters to his immigration "reform" debacle they should all just shut up, because, if he has his way, his bill will "solve the problem once and for all."

For once, the President is being honest with us on immigration.

This bill will solve the immigration problem "once and for all" -- by erasing the border between the U.S. and Mexico.

Then immigration won't be a problem any more. Because there won't be a United States any more. It will all be just one big Mexicali-america.

Problem solved.

They're Illegal? Really? Then What About . . .

2007-05-18T16:14:00.000-05:00

This is hysterical . . .real, live Surrender Monkeys at the Federal Building in San Francisco!

And, they were told to leave -- because their handlers didn't have the proper City permit to have a live chimpanzee! Is this real-life San Francisco, or what?

At the end of the article, the reporter quotes the inevitable animal rights protester, who delivers the Line of the Day:

"Bringing chimpanzees into a crowded situation ... shows this group's disregard for the law, since it's generally illegal to have chimpanzees in San Francisco."

Oh, really? Generally illegal? Then what about ...

The Picture of the Day -- the real Cheese Eating Surrender Monkeys themselves-- is here.

Immigration Abomination

2007-05-18T11:32:00.000-05:00

The Bush/Kennedy/McCain "compromise immigration reform" bill they are trying to fast-track should be run out of town on a rail. John McCain is finished as a serious Presidential candidate, too.

This is amnesty by any other name. The ruling political class (which includes Bush) thinks they can fool all the dumb fundamentalist Christians one more time.

Here is a picture worth a thousand words -- the draft markup (some 400 pages, mind you!) of the bill photographed next to the Holy Bible. Guess which one is bigger?

Oh, and this is not the final version of the bill either -- that is reported to be over 1,000 pages.

Call and email Congress now -- Hugh Hewitt has links here.

This horror must be stopped, and stopped now!

A Dark Day In America -- May 3, 2007

2007-05-04T13:27:00.000-05:00

A day that will live forever in infamy -- the United States House of Representatives, abusing the very freedoms purchased for them in blood by thousands of Christians and others who founded our country on the Biblical principles of freedom and liberty -- passed by the shameful vote of 237-180 a so-called "hate crimes" bill which will lead quickly and inevitably to the criminalization of Biblical preaching on homosexuality.

George Washington, John Adams, Sam Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin and the other Founding Fathers would be turning over in their graves if they could see this abomination.

Every single U.S. representative should hang their head in shame.

We must all pray for our beloved country. We must pray that President Bush will veto this bill, which is likely to pass the Senate.

Release the Transcripts Now!

2007-04-26T20:49:00.000-05:00

Atlas Shrugs has a nice compilation of the growing evidence that links Cho to Islam, including the news that Cho was quoting verses from the Koran in some of his videos.

Release the transcripts now! We, the American people, have a right to know if there is a connection with Islam.

Show Us the Video of Cho

2007-04-19T20:34:00.000-05:00

What do they have to hide? The guy's dead, for crying out loud.

If Cho was not a Muslim, why not post the entire video and all of the other documents, and put all the speculation to rest? The fact that so much is being withheld certainly makes one suspicious, no? Could the authorities be holding back because there are Islamic ties shown in the videos and they are afraid of a backlash?

I say, let the truth out and let the chips fall where they may.

ISMAIL AX

2007-04-17T13:00:00.000-05:00

Could it be that the Virginia Tech mass murderer is a Muslim? Some news reports indicate the words, "ISMAIL AX" were written on his arm.

Point No. 1. "Ismail" is the usual English spelling of "Ishmael" in the Koran.

Point No. 2. A passage from the Koran describes Ibrahim taking an ax and destroying idols:

Ibrahim Confronts his People and Rejects their Idols

He left his father after he lost hope to convert him to the right path, and directed his efforts towards the people of the town, but they rejected his call and threatened him. By Allah, he said, I shall plot a plan to destroy their idols. He knew that a big celebration was coming soon, where everybody would leave town for a big feast on the riverbank. After making sure that nobody was left in town, Ibrahim went towards the temple armed with an ax. Statues of all shapes and sizes were sitting there adorned with decorations. Plates of food were offered to them, but the food was untouched. "Well, why don’t you eat? The food is getting cold." He said to the statues, joking; then with his axe he destroyed all the statues except one, the biggest of them. He hung the ax around its neck and left.

Not sayin', jes wonderin' . . .

Nation of Cows -- Part II

2006-10-27T05:38:00.000-05:00

Pat Buchanan hits the nail on the head here

...what is taking place, what has taken place, is a bloodless coup by judges who have arrogated to themselves the powers of legislatures to make laws and remake society in their own image -- without recourse to referenda or free elections. When judges in New Jersey can order legislators to write new laws that conform to their ideology, laws the people have not demanded, but viscerally and violently oppose, we have ceased to be a free country or a democratic republic.

"Who rules?" That is what is at issue in New Jersey...

Such judges need to be defied and they need to be impeached. Not obeyed.

Right on, brother! Preach it, preach it! Where is the spirit of Andrew Jackson who said, "The [U.S. Supreme] Court has made its ruling. Let them enforce it."???

We have become a Nation of Cows.

The peoples' rejection of God has by default led us to a place where we have deified the legal process. Since many reject God as a higher authority, they look to The Law, as pronounced by a few so-called Solons in black robes, as if it were holy writ. A godless people seeks oracles in legal pronouncements when in fact those pronouncements have no moral authority and in fact should be treated by morally informed people as null and void.

That's Me, All Right!

2005-12-08T16:17:00.000-05:00

Did you know that I am part of a "rump of hard-core, know-nothing religious fundamentalists?"

I am! Who knows, maybe you are, too.

That's what Princeton professor Peter Singer thinks of me, and all Christians:

"Writing in the fall issue of the magazine “Foreign Policy,” the professor of bio-ethics predicts, 'By 2040, it may be that only a rump of hard-core, know-nothing religious fundamentalists will defend the view that every human life, from conception to death, is sacrosanct.'" He cites the Terri Schiavo case as the turning point.

No doubt the founders of Princeton would turn over in their graves at a rate of several thousands of RPM's if they heard this coming from the mouth of a faculty menber at the institution they founded.

Singer is right about one thing. The Terri Schiavo case (which I blogged on extensively here; see the March 2005 entries) was the turning point. It just didn't turn things in the direction he thinks it did.

Music Is Your Only Friend, Until...?

2005-12-08T10:28:00.000-05:00

Oh, my, my -- one could go on and on for hours about this one -- the appalling pop-ification and de-Christianizing of even ostensibly Christian funerals.

The best line of many memorable lines in this wonderful piece (I'm not sure the writer is a believer) is that nowadays, one's funeral is "the last me moment."

Here is what most of your friends and mine actually believe:

"To us hymns are just half-remembered school songs; prayers are comforting but broken spells; God's name has been sullied by hypocrites and zealots; death -- we're betting, though we hoped to be wrong -- is no glorious hereafter but the great bugger-all. Without faith, all we have is now, each other and the songs we grew up with, which embody our lives' meaning, our love affairs and losses. What sounded profane to our parents is to us sacred. Pop is our only ceremonial music and, in the years to come, it will provide our unlikely requiems."

In other words, "music is your only friend, until the end."

This is so terribly, terribly, sad, and it speaks volumes about the vacuousness of a postmodern culture that has rejected God. Let the debate begin. Either Christ has a proper place at a funeral, or He has a place nowhere in society or culture.

[Hint: for those of you who didn't grow up in the late sixties or early seventies -- lucky you -- the title of this post is taken from a famous song by The Doors called, "When The Music's Over (Turn Out the Lights)." You can see the relevance.]

Non-Compliance in the Face of Postmodernism Is No Vice

2005-12-08T09:38:00.000-05:00

Al Mohler issues a stirring call to the church -- we must never give in to the false god that threatens to overrun our culture, the false god of postmodernism:

"We don't get to choose our times. We don't get to choose our challenges. We didn't choose to live in a post-Christian age. We didn't choose to confront the postmodern mind, but this is where we are, and it is time that we become a post-compliant church. While all is shaking and shaken around us, the one thing that cannot be shaken is the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ, and this kingdom is visible in His church.

In a post-Christian age, confronted with the challenge of the postmodern mind, the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ is called to be a post-compliant people. Anything less is just another form of spiritual surrender."

Deconstructionism At the Mall, And Everywhere

2005-12-07T09:56:00.000-05:00

Albert Mohler has a good column on the closing of the postmodern mind. Here is a small taste:

"In both its hard and soft forms, deconstructionism has filtered down to the popular culture, even to those who never heard of Jacques Derrida but have been nonetheless infected with this postmodern mentality and this subtle form of subversive relativism and subjectivism. You can hear Derrida in the discourse of adolescents in the mall. You can hear it in the conversation on the nightly news. The closing of the postmodern mind is the opposite of what postmodernism claimed to be its aspiration. Postmodernism claimed that this new postmodern age--with the end of modernity, the demise of scientific objectivity, and the openness to new forms and understandings of truth--would lead to an opening of the mind. But as is always the case, the totalitarian opening of the mind always ends with the radical closing of the mind. There is nothing less tolerant than the modern ethos of tolerance. There is nothing less open than the modern idea of open-mindedness. In the darkening sky and the gathering clouds, we see the haunting closure of this supposedly open mind."

"Fish-Eyed Sacks of Loathsome Bile and Infamy"

2005-11-16T16:36:00.000-05:00

I could not have said it better myself. Listen to Tony Blankley eloquently pleading with President Bush and our facile and servile Republican leadership:

"Now the Watergate babies have grown old -- and age has not improved them. They plan to finish their careers as they started them -- in defeatism, betrayal and national dishonor. Oh, that America might see the last of these fish-eyed sacks of loathsome bile and infamy: Unwholesome in their birth; repugnant and stench-forming in their decline.

Now another Republican president has grown weak and struggles to hold on to his war-making powers. I am heartened that President Bush is finally fighting back. He should veto any bill that would grant Congress even a syllable of war-fighting strategy. Mr. President, don't believe a word of their legislative prose. They have defeat in their hearts, and they mean you ill. Stand and fight with veto pen and executive order in hand. Rally with defiant words those of us who would yet be your honored supporters. Let the long suffering people of Iraq know that you will fight furiously for their redemption, and will be deaf to the impleadings of the weak and defeatist here in America."

Not that I have an opinion or anything like that . . .

Hapless Dupes

2005-10-20T10:26:00.000-05:00

Jonathon Chait, writing in The New Republic, unfortunately hits the nail on the head for religious conservatives:

"There are two basic ways to think about President Bush's relationship with the religious right. The first is that Bush is a genuine ally of social conservatives who, while often cagey in public, takes every opportunity to advance their agenda. As liberals would phrase this interpretation, Bush is a tool of the religious right.

The second--utterly diametrical--theory is that Bush is mainly interested in harvesting votes from religious conservatives in order to implement an agenda dominated by his economic backers. In liberal-ese: Social conservatives are hapless GOP dupes.

At this point, five years and two Supreme Court nominations into the Bush presidency, we can arrive at a definitive answer. And the verdict is: hapless dupes. ...

The Sad, Sad Gullibility of Christian Leaders

2005-10-12T09:01:00.000-05:00

Here is the previously "confidential" information Karl Rove told Dr. James Dobson about Harriet Miers, in Dr. Dobson's own words:

[he told me that] "Harriet Miers is an evangelical Christian, [that] she is from a very conservative church, which is almost universally pro-life, that she had taken on the American Bar Association on the issue of abortion and fought for a policy that would not be supportive of abortion, that she had been a member of the Texas Right to Life."

OK, let's break that down. There are four points being made by Rove here:

1. HM is an "evangelical Christian" from a very conservative church. Let's assume this is a factually accurate statement.

2. HM's church is "almost universally pro-life." Leaving aside the fact that this is not the same thing as saying that Harriet Miers herself is pro-life (although no doubt that was the implication Mr. Rove wanted to leave in Dr. Dobson's mind), let's assume this statement, too, is truthful and accurate.

3. HM has "taken on the American Bar Association on the issue of abortion and has fought for a policy that would not be supportive of abortion."

This statement is, at best, a gross distortion. The fact is, Ms. Miers, along with many other lawyers, tried to get the ABA to go from a pro-abortion position to a neutral position. Clearly, it is one thing to say that the professional organization which represents you should not take a position on abortion, and entirely another thing to say that that organization should take a position opposing abortion. The former tells you absolutely nothing even about what the proponent's personal views on abortion are, let along how the proponent might rule as a judge. My guess is that Mr. Rove knew these facts very well. My question is, why didn't Dr. Dobson? Didn't he check out these claims independently before endorsing Ms. Miers?

4. HM "had been a member of Texas Right to Life." This is an accurate statement, as far as it goes. Interestingly, however, Mr. Rove apparently neglected to add that at other times, HM had been a Democrat, and either personally or thru her law firm's PAC had donated money to Hillary Clinton, Al Gore, and others who are clearly pro-abortion.

Here again, the question that fairly leaps off the page is, why didn't Dr. Dobson or his staff check out Mr. Rove's claims? Has our Christian leadership come to the point that it blindly accepts any claim of a Republican President?

If this is all it took to convince Dr. Dobson to support Ms. Miers, as Dr. Dobson's own statements on his broadcast would lead one to believe, we are in a sorry state of affairs indeed.

Any Old Excuse to Spend

2005-09-13T08:58:00.000-05:00

Here is the text of an email I sent today to my congressman. Any old excuse will do for the Spendocrats to spend other peoples' money:

It is reported on page one of today's Wall Street Journal, a source of usually impeccable reliability, that Congress intends to delay the extension of President Bush's tax cuts. In other areas, as well, there appears to be a new mood of "spend, spend, spend" created by Hurricane Katrina. No matter that private institutions are actually picking up most of the tab for relocating and housing displaced citizens.

Well, I guess any old excuse will do. Apparently there is no limit to politicians' insatiable appetites to spend other peoples' money. To say that many Republicans are going along willingly is simply another article in the growing indictment against the current Republican Party leadership.

The Face of Christian Compassion

2005-09-06T12:41:00.000-05:00

Sept. 4: Faith Crossing Church member Amanda Fowler, left, prays with evacuee Charleetha Lawrence at church in Texas.

Oh Happy Hurricane!

2005-08-31T09:13:00.000-05:00

While many are likening the havoc of Hurricane Katrina to "hell," even this catastrophe may truly be a blessing if it drives souls to the refuge found in Christ alone. Spurgeon writes:

"In seasons of severe trial the Christian has nothing on earth that he can trust, and so he is compelled to cast himself on God alone. When his vessel is capsizing, and no human deliverance is at hand, he must simply and entirely trust himself to the providence and care of God. Happy storm that wrecks a man on such a rock as this! O blessed hurricane that drives the soul to God and God alone!"

And Now for Something Completely Different...

2005-08-10T16:43:00.000-05:00

The senility prayer --

God, please grant me the senility to forget the people I never liked anyway,the good fortune to run into the ones that I do like, and the eyesight to tell the difference.

(HT -- Mark Lawry)

I Don't Care For His Music, But . . .

2005-08-02T13:54:00.000-05:00

See if you can name the person who recently gave the following testimony:

"The point of the death of Christ is that Christ took on the sins of the world, so that what we put out did not come back to us, and that our sinful nature does not reap the obvious death. It's not our own good works that get us through the gates of Heaven."

"...The secular response to the Christ story always goes like this: He was a great prophet, obviously a very interesting guy, had a lot to say along the lines of other great prophets, be they Elijah, Muhammad, Buddha, or Confucius. But actually Christ doesn't allow you that. He doesn't let you off that hook. Christ says, No. I'm not saying I'm a teacher, don't call me teacher. I'm not saying I'm a prophet. I'm saying: 'I'm the Messiah.' I'm saying: 'I am God incarnate.' . . . So what you're left with is either Christ was who He said He was—the Messiah—or a complete nutcase. . . . The idea that the entire course of civilization for over half of the globe could have its fate changed and turned upside-down by a nutcase, for me that's farfetched."

Who said this? U2 lead singer, Bono. You can read the interview here.

Somehow, amidst the rising swamp of postmodernism, this entertainer apparently "got it."

Selling Us Out, Along with Terri Schiavo

2005-07-14T09:20:00.000-05:00

Here is a very, very telling story from former Congressman Martin Frost on Senator Frist's sellout of religious conservatives in, of all things, the Terri Schiavo case. It discusses the now-famous exchange on the Senate floor between Sen. Frist and Sen. Levin over the meaning of the law Congress passed in March of this year, supposedly to assist Terri Schiavo's parents. The federal courts relied heavily on this floor exchange to deny relief to the Schiavos.

Read the story, which includes the key portion of the exchange between Frist and Levin, and you tell me what you think is going on.

I've said it before and I will say it again -- religious conservatives cannot and should not trust the current Republican Party leadership. Whether through criminal negligence, or by deliberate strategy (and I have good reason to suspect the latter -- some of the evidence for this appears below on this blog), the Republican Party leadership is selling us out.

Not a Kid Gone Mad

2005-06-29T16:05:00.000-05:00

...a bit cranky, sometimes, tho! This is our youngest, Matthew, our gift of God.

-------------------------------------------------------
This message was sent from a T-Mobile wireless phone.

Republicans Play Patty-Cake with the Clintons

2005-06-23T16:35:00.000-05:00

The latest Dick Morris column describes disgusting moves by Republicans who claim to be "conservatives" and who ought to know better -- fawning all over Hillary Clinton, of all people:

"The most recent Fox News poll shows Hillary Clinton has reached an all-time height in popularity with a favorable-unfavorable rating of 52-39...[H]er growth in popularity has been stimulated and animated by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (Ga.), Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, Sen. Rick Santorum (Pa.) and the other Republican stalwarts who have fallen all over themselves to appear in public with Sen. Clinton (D-N.Y.), hyping and ratifying her positions on terrorism, national defense, sex on television and medical-record privacy. Her popularity is also getting a boost from the arranged marriage between former Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton — a nuptial orchestrated by current President George W. Bush so he could use Clinton’s visibility to improve the public impression of his response to the tsunami disaster. All those card-carrying Republicans are using Bill or Hillary to help their own careers by moving their images to the center, in the case of Newt, or to center stage, in the case of Santorum and Frist."

This is further proof, if any were needed, that the phony Republican Party leadership cares nothing at all about conservative principles, or about the religious conservative base.

The "Republican Leadership" Is a Joke

2005-05-24T09:14:00.000-05:00

The cave-in of the so-called Republican "leadership" last night to the Socialist-Democrats over President Bush's Constitutional right to have his judges confirmed is discouraging, to say the least.

The Republicans have established that they can be persuaded to drop their principles for a price.

But hey, they preserved the dignity of the Senate, right? What's a few thousand abortions every day when we're talking about something really important like the dignity of the Senate?

Who Killed Terri Schiavo?

2005-03-31T22:02:00.000-05:00

Who killed Terri Schiavo?

"Not I," said her husband. "I was only carrying out her wishes."

"Not I," said her husband's lawyer. "I was just doing my job."

"Not I," said the probate judge. "I was just following the law."

"Not I," said the Governor. "I don't have the power to save her, even if I am the supreme executive of the State of Florida under the Florida Constitution, and expressly empowered to protect the rights of all Florida citizens. That's just not enough."

"Not I," said our nation's chief executive. "I've done everything I can do. Who do you think I am, the President of the United States or something?"

"Not I," said the Congress. "After all, didn't we come back from vacation to pass a law?"

"Not I," said the federal judges. "We know a hot potato when we see one. No mere Act of Congress can force us to take action!"

"Not I," said the pastors and religious leaders who passed by without a word.

"Not I," said the doctors, the sheriff's police, the nurses and the hospital attendants. "We were just following orders."

"Not I," said Terri Schiavo. "I wanted to live."

Make No Mistake, The Schiavo Case Has Been Thirty Years In the Making

2005-03-30T21:59:00.000-05:00

Ever since Roe v. Wade, Congress has punted time and time again on the issue of when life begins -- or to put it in the language the Left loves -- who qualifies as a "person" entitled to the protection of the Fourteenth Amendment. Of course, the real issue is, WHO GETS TO DEFINE IT. If you have the power to define who a "person" is, then in very real terms -- like in Terri Schiavo's case -- you literally have the power to decide who lives and who dies.

Congress could have passed a statute defining a "person" under the Fourteenth Amendment to mean "a human zygote from the moment of conception." But they didn't. You have to ask, why not?

The answer is, Congress found it politically easier to pass the ball to the courts, where the Supremist Court and lower federal courts ruled time and again to narrow the definition of "personhood" for Fourteenth Amendment purposes until, voila all of a sudden it's permissible to abort a child up until the moment of birth. Now, the death-worshippers will use the Schiavo case to narrow it more, at the other end of life. If Terri Schiavo is not a person, then of course it's legal to kill her.

Every time one of these horrendous court decisions came down, all the Republican politicians did was cluck their tongues and say, "Isn't it awful?" and then stick out their hands for more campaign contributions. Of course, it made a good fundraising line. They could say they needed more money so the next Supreme Court justice wouldn't be a "judicial activist." Then, after all the reporters left, they breathed a sigh of relief that they didn't have to put their name on a roll call vote.

After thirty years of this political football, this game of pass-the-buck, is it any wonder the federal courts refuse to hear the appeals of the Schiavo family? They're no dummies. They've seen this play before -- Congress trying to pass the buck to them, hoping they will take the heat But the judges are too smart to take the heat. They're not going to agree to retry the case de novo, no matter how many statutes Congress passes telling them to do that.

Now, the executive branch has joined the other politicians in Congress, hiding behind the judiciary, hoping no one will notice, letting the unelected judges take the heat. It's all enough to make a person cynical.

Put another way, it's corruption. And it's been going on for thirty years.

The Politicians Who Just Passed By

2005-03-30T09:27:00.000-05:00

Terence Jeffrey's column today on Townhall about says it all:

Horrified that a disabled woman was being deliberately starved and dehydrated to death in their own country, many good neighbors went to the inn where Terri was now imprisoned and reportedly attempted to peacefully bring her a drink of water. Police arrested them.

Thus in America, in 2005, law and morality were turned upside down. Those who sought to take an innocent life were defended by judges. Good Samaritans were jailed.

This event will be remembered as a giant signpost along the highway leading America down into the Valley of Death. We are being driven down that highway by judges who are a law unto themselves.

If liberal judges now remove the Ten Commandments from every public building in the land, if they jackhammer the Decalogue from the walls of the Supreme Court itself, they would only symbolically re-enact the real act of vandalism they have already committed: "Thou shall not kill" has been denied the full force of law in this republic.

You can kill human embryos for medical research. You can kill an unborn child up to the moment of birth. You can kill a helpless, disabled woman.

Who's next? Who knows? Our Founding Fathers believed the right to life is an inalienable gift from God. Now, liberal judges play God, taking the right to life from innocent people as they deem fit.

They will continue to do so until our legislators and chief executives -- who take oaths to defend our rights -- work up the courage to use their own lawful authority to stop them.

"Woe unto you who call good evil and evil good."

Show Us Your Legal Authority, Governor

2005-03-28T16:58:00.000-05:00

The Governor claims:

"I don't have powers from the United States Constitution or – for that matter from the Florida Constitution – that would allow me to intervene after a decision has been made."

Well, Governor -- show us the beef. Post your legal authorities on the Internet so all can see them.

Surely if the "controlling legal authority," as Al Gore would put it, is so overwhelming, we will all be convinced.

Gov. Bush Washes Hands of Schiavo Matter

2005-03-28T09:41:00.000-05:00

http://www.scrappleface.com/MT/archives/002135.html

(2005-03-27) -- In a symbolic move, designed to show Terri Schiavo's supporters that he has done all he can do to spare her life, Gov. Jeb Bush today publicly used a disposable moist towlette to "wash his hands of the matter."
"I find nothing deserving death in this woman, but I'm only the supreme executive of Florida," the governor told a crowded news conference. "Perhaps if our constitution called for a balance of powers to protect our citizens against judicial abuse, I could do something. But as it stands, she is in the hands of the judges. It's their job to determine what is truth. If she dies, it's not my fault."

In related news, Gov. Bush continued his Easter tradition of pardoning a Florida citizen chosen by a statewide poll of judges. This year's candidates for pardon were Mrs. Schiavo and burglar who had killed a homeowner during a break-in.

The burglar won in a landslide.

Worse Than The Nazis

2005-03-26T21:03:00.000-05:00

We are worse than the "good Germans" in Nazi Germany in at least one respect -- they at least had guns pointed at them, with the threat of prisons, concentration camps, or worse if they disobeyed orders.

We don't even have that excuse. We're going along of our own free will.

We are even more blameworthy than they were.

"We Must Obey God Rather Than Men."

2005-03-25T14:07:00.000-05:00

Thus says the Word of God, in Acts 5:29.

What say you, Governor Bush?

Mr. President?

Governor, You've Got the Power

2005-03-25T13:56:00.000-05:00

"It is frustrating for people to think that I have power that I don't, and not be able to act," Bush told The Associated Press on Thursday. "I don't have embedded special powers. I wish I did in this particular case."

Governor, I respectfully beg to differ. Not only do you have the power of the executive under the Florida Constitution, you have the duty in starkest moral terms to side with life, and not death.

The whole world is watching.

Alan Keyes and Dr. D. James Kennedy Agree: It is Gov. Bush's DUTY To DISOBEY Judge Greer's Order

2005-03-25T09:02:00.000-05:00

Dr. Kennedy's exhortation from yesterday.

Alan Keyes article from yesterday.

The moral authority exists. The legal authority exists.

What is the Governor waiting for? Either there is a higher moral law, or there isn't. If there is, then he must follow that higher law.

...But What We Get From Our Leaders is Mumbo-Jumbo

2005-03-25T08:48:00.000-05:00

Here is Gov. Bush, attempting to explain why he has refused to exercise his executive powers under the Florida Constitution. Fasten your seat belts:

"We never said that unilaterally we would do something that's against the court. I've been asked to do it by a lot of people — a lot of the advice I'm getting over the Internet and over television and the like. I know that there were lots of rumors of things that aren't accurate. I have a duty to uphold the law and I have been very consistent about that..."

The "advice I'm getting over the internet" includes the email I sent, which is summarized in the post below.

This situation calls for Christians, men with a backbone, to stand up and be counted. But instead, we get gobbledygook from Gov. Bush.

From Pres. Bush we get: "I'm going to sit back and watch the courts make their decisions."

You call this leadership? How much money did we send in to the Republican Party over the past 32 years when they promised us over and over they were going to undo Roe v. Wade?

Meanwhile, Terri Schiavo is being starved and tortured to death.

...And Bill Bennett Agrees, Too

2005-03-24T11:39:00.000-05:00

"Governor Bush pledged to uphold the Florida constitution as he understands it, not as it is understood by some Florida judges. He is the rightful representative of the people of Florida and he is the chief executive, in whom the power is vested to execute the law and protect the rights of citizens. He should use that power to protect Terri's natural right to live, and he should do so now."

Bill Bennett and Brian Kennedy, NRO Online 3/24/05

Ann Coulter To Gov: Do Your Duty

2005-03-24T11:04:00.001-05:00

"President Andrew Jackson is supposed to have said of a Supreme Court ruling he opposed: "Well, John Marshall has made his decision, now let him enforce it." The court's ruling was ignored. And yet, somehow, the republic survived.

If Gov. Jeb Bush doesn't say something similar to the Florida courts that have ordered Terri Schiavo to die, he'll be the second Republican governor disgraced by the illiterate ramblings of a state judiciary. Gov. Mitt Romney will never recover from his acquiescence to the Massachusetts Supreme Court's miraculous discovery of a right to gay marriage. Neither will Gov. Bush if he doesn't stop the torture and murder of Terri Schiavo."

Ann Coulter, March 24, 2005

In Ann's column today, she agrees with my point below -- the use of national guard troops by President Eisenhower is a sound historical and political precedent for Gov. Bush to intervene and: (1) take Terri into protective custody pending a full state investigation; or (2) carry out an administrative order for the reinsertion of Terri Schiavo's feeding tube; or (3) both.

It's hard to argue with this logic. When will Gov. Bush adopt it? Time is running out . . .

The Whole World Is Watching

2005-03-24T09:21:00.000-05:00

The following is my email sent to Hugh Hewitt a short time ago:

Hugh, I have to reluctantly disagree with your comment on last night’s show that civil disobedience is not called for here.

When the laws of men are in direct conflict with the higher moral law of God – and they clearly are here – a Christian’s duty is clear. He must stand for God’s law no matter what the consequences, even if that means civil disobedience. Peacefully, yes. Prayerfully, yes. Reluctantly and as a last resort, yes.

But stand he must.

The Christians in ancient Rome interposed themselves between gladiators and their victims, and died for their trouble. Pagan Rome became Christian as a result. We must do no less.

Momma, Where Were You When They Tried to Kill Terri Schiavo?

2005-03-24T08:49:00.000-05:00

"The temple of justice has been defiled." -- Judge Kenneth Starr, during the Whitewater scandal

“Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just.” – Thomas Jefferson

"If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do? -- Psalm 11:3

Will Pres. Bush Just Sit Back and "Watch the Courts Make Their Decisions?"

2005-03-23T17:34:00.000-05:00

The following was sent via email to President Bush:

Dear President Bush,

A short time ago you were quoted as saying:

"This is an extra sad case, and I believe in a case such as this, the legislative branch, the executive branch ought to err on the side of life, which we have. And now we'll watch the courts make their decisions.”

Sir, with all due respect, is that all you can do? Sign a bill? Are you going to simply sit back and watch the courts make their decisions, or rather not decide, in favor of Mrs. Schiavo’s continuing to live? We know from history that once this line is crossed, it will be extremely difficult if not impossible to reverse its devastating effects -- not to mention, of course, the irreversible death of Mrs. Schiavo. Either all human life is sacred, or it is all vulnerable to whatever political wind blows at the moment.

When the southern states attempted to violate the Constitutional rights of black students in the 1960’s, presidents stepped forward and exercised their executive powers. They sent in federal troops to ensure the rights of those minorities were protected. The right to life is even more fundamental than the right to a racially desegregated public education.

I beg you to take action. Do not listen to your political advisors who urge caution. This is a clear case of the law of man standing in direct opposition to the law of God. Your duty as a Christian is clear – stand for God’s law, no matter what the consequences.

Our prayers are with you in this difficult and trying hour for our God-given freedoms and for our country.

Sincerely,

Gov. Bush, Obey The Laws of God, Not the Laws of Men

2005-03-23T10:20:00.000-05:00

It is almost a foregone conclusion the U.S. Supreme Court will not hear the appeal of the parents of Terri Schiavo.

A political precedent for Pres. Bush to intervene and order federal marshals or troops in to prevent carrying out Judge Greer's death order does exist. Traditionally, the federal government has deferred to states in matters involving guardianship and family law. However, presidents have exercised their executive powers to intervene in desegregation disputes in the South during the 1960's.

If President Bush declines to intervene, the next step would be up to Gov. Bush. The issue he will face, while painful, is clear: should he obey the laws of God, or the laws of men? He cannot do both.

As a Christian, his duty is clear -- he must stand on the side of life, no matter what the cost. Let us pray and work to that end, and then go and do likewise.

Does Suffering Fit the Christian for Heaven?

2005-03-07T10:47:00.000-05:00

In his article, "A Good Reason for Evil," Greg Koukl of Stand To Reason suggests:

"God's purpose for creating us was to develop us into certain types of people who were fit to spend eternity with Him. He does that by conforming us to His image by helping us grow through the process of living in a fallen world."

So, in the suffering of the Christian, is it God's purpose to fit him for heaven?

I am going to have to search the Scriptures to see if this is so. If it is, it would have direct and dramatic impact on things such as work, trials, sickness, unsaved relatives, etc. for the believer. It would put a whole different light on the daily inconveniences of life, which we in postmodern America are so fiercely devoted to stamping out at all costs -- just turn on the radio to any commercial station and get an earful of that!

The reason for this fierceness is, of course, that postmodern man has abandoned God, and as Koukl correctly points out, has enthroned himself as god. As god, the Imperial Me cannot ever be troubled, pained, or inconvenienced by anything. So the purpose of life becomes making me happy (i.e., making me feel good) at any cost. Thus, postmodern man demands a god in his own image, one whose sole purpose is to make life for me happy and pleasurable.

Devotion: No Lasting City

2005-03-07T10:02:00.000-05:00

"For here we have no lasting city..." Heb. 13:14a (ESV)

The city of man, which unsaved mortals are so fond of, is intended to be permanent. Men put their most strenuous efforts into constructing buildings, streets, parks and monuments. They imagine these will last forever, and so employ painstaking architecture and expend vast sums of money to build ever greater edifices of stone, brick, glass and steel.

Yet on September 11, 2001, two towering skyscrapers -- the vaunted gems of man's supposed wisdom and power in the city that perhaps most graphically represents the city of man in our day -- fell to the ground in only minutes. What more compelling evidence could there be of the fact that the city of man -- however lasting it may seem -- in reality is transient, and is indeed passing away?

The Christian, however, looks not for the city of man but the City of God. The child of God knows, for he has graciously been taught, that "here we have no lasting city." The City of God, which is the Christian's true home, will never pass away.

Take heart, Christian. Your city lies not far ahead.

Justice Scalia Speaks Truth to Power

2005-03-04T09:46:00.000-05:00

There are so many sterling nuggets of truth in Justice Scalia's Roper v. Simmons dissent that it is difficult to pick out the finest. Here is a sampling:

"...all the Court has done today...is to look over the heads of the crowd and pick out its friends."

"Because I do not believe that the meaning of our Eight Amendment, any more than the meaning of other provisions of our Constitution, should be determined by the subjective views of five Members of this Court and like-minded foreigners, I dissent."

"Words have no meaning if the views of less than 50% of death penalty states can constitute a national consensus."

"By what conceivable warrant can nine lawyers presume to be the authoritative conscience of the Nation?" (Good question, that!)

"What kind of Equal Justice under Law is it that -- without so much as a "Sorry about that" -- gives as the basis for sparing one person from execution arguments explicitly rejected in refusing to spare another?" (But of course, we all know that consistency is just the hobgoblin of small minds, Justice Scalia. Didn't you go to law school?)

"If juries cannot make appropriate determinations in cases involving murderers under 18, in what other kinds of cases will the Court find jurors deficient?"

"Though the views of our own citizens [who voted in favor of permitting juries to impose the death penalty on murderers under 18] are essentially irrelevant to the Court's decision today, the views of other countries and the so-called international community take center stage."

"...whereas the Court is not content to accept what the States of our Federal Union say, but insists on inquiring into what they do, (specifically, whether they in fact apply the juvenile death penalty that their laws allow), the Court is quite willing to believe that every foreign nation -- of whatever tyrannical political makeup and with however subservient or incompetent a court system -- in fact adheres to a rule of no death penalty for offenders under 18."

"More fundamentally, however, the basic premise of the Court's argument -- that American law should conform to the laws of the rest of the world -- ought to be rejected out of hand. In fact the Court itself does not believe it."

"To invoke alien law when it agrees with one's own thinking, and ignore it otherwise, is not reasoned decisionmaking, but sophistry."

And here is the clincher:

"In a system based upon constitutional and statutory text democratically adopted, the concept of 'law' ordinarily signifies that particular words have a fixed meaning." (How passe, Justice Scalia. How unsophisticated you are! Don't you know that in deconstructed, postmodern America, words have absolutely no fixed meaning? Surely with such plebian views, you are no longer qualified to pass on such important issues.)

Once again, we see that postmodernism carries within itself the seeds of its own destruction. Once judicial elites arrogate unto themselves power, and in the process rob the People of their God-given rights, the "result will be to crown arbitrariness with chaos," as Justice Scalia puts it in the closing sentence of his dissent.

Then, of course, it is but a short path to brutal tyranny. And, of course, the first act of the tyrant would be to eradicate all traces of postmodernist thoughts and actions. Thus does postmodernism -- like all human philosophies -- self-destruct.

Nation of Cows?

2005-03-02T11:43:00.000-05:00

So the U.S. Supremist Court has ruled that no state can impose the death penalty on anyone under 18 --now what? Will there be a single voice raised in the White House or the Congress against this despicable outrage?

We now have a majority of Supremist Court justices (plus one waffler) who have no qualms whatsoever about overruling the will of the duly elected representatives of the people (that means YOU and YOUR CHILDREN). What's worse, they are more willing to trust European countries and the United Nations than they are the considered judgments of American juries!

In other words, your vote doesn't count, your jury service doesn't count, your elected state representatives don't count. You are nothing. We, the nine Wise Men and Women, will decide everything important for you. We smart people just feel like this is the right thing to do, and you dumb people will just have to go along with it.

Do I exaggerate? Read Justice Scalia's brilliant dissent -- he guts the majority's non-reasoning and exposes it for what it is.

I will blog later with some of the dead-on quotes from Justice Scalia's dissent -- which, like his brilliant dissent in Lawrence v. Texas and his many others, should be required reading in all our law schools.

For now, though, the question is whether freedom-loving citizens will do what freedom requires them to do -- march in the streets against these tyrants in black robes! These in-justices are systematically dismantling brick by brick the freedoms our Founding Fathers built so carefully (and prayerfully) into our Constitution.

Will anyone care? Will George Bush speak out? Does anyone even realize what's being done to them?

Or are we now a Nation of Cows?

"The Fool Hath Said in His Heart:" Illinois Republicans Lose Minds

2005-02-26T13:09:00.000-05:00

So what is the response of Illinois Republicans to the scandalous George Ryan jury-stacking move of emptying Death Row? Well, get this:

An IL state legislator wants to change the standard of proof for the death penalty phase of criminal cases, from "beyond a reasonable doubt" to "beyond ANY doubt."

Can you believe this? IL Republicans don't have the guts either to: 1) admit George Ryan is a fraud, or 2) abolish the death penalty, so what's their solution? To create a standard of proof for imposing the death penalty THAT CAN NEVER BE MET!

There is absolutely nothing that can be proven "beyond any doubt." Don't believe me? Just give it a try with a skeptical person. It's a joke to set the standard of proof so high that it can never be met, then turn around and claim you are "reforming" the death penalty.

Can this state political party be saved?

BTW, the next time your atheist or agnostic friend tells you they don't believe God exists, ask them what standard of proof they are using! Experienced trial lawyers will tell you the standard of proof (which has two parts, who has the burden of proof and what the burden is -- preponderance of the evidence, clear and convincing, beyond a reasonable doubt) determines the outcome in the vast majority of cases.

So, if the standard of proof the atheist/agnostic is using to determine whether God exists is: "proof so obvious that no one can doubt it" (like handwriting across the sky or some such), that person is a fool according to the Bible's definition ("The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God.")

Only a fool would apply a standard of proof so high that no one could ever meet it. Anyone who does that is not a reasonable person at all, no matter what they say, but a fool.

Just like the Illinois Republicans.