The Liberty Pole

No way in hell.

2010-10-25T14:42:00.000-07:00

Imagine this coming Tuesday, when we all go out to the polls for the off year election. Picture yourself going in, casting your votes, and coming out and seeing some guy from who-knows-where, going in behind you. You might think it's nothing at first-Americans are from all over, right?

Then it turns out this guy isn't a citizen after all, and his one vote turned the tables on the election results in your entire area.

You'd be pretty miffed, right? I mean, it's a citizen's right to vote. But this scenario may not be as far away from reality as we think:

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/10/24/states-weigh-letting-noncitizens-vote/

As the daughter of a naturalized citizen, I consider this a slap in her face, as well as mine. The thought that all the effort my mother put into gaining her rights to vote was for nothing? It's sickening.

I understand people want to have a say in what's going on, and I am glad they want to get involved. But if we just let anyone vote, the next thing you know, people with interests invested in OTHER countries will be coming in and voting America into its own oblivion. If just anyone could vote there would be absolute anarchy. I for one do not intend to let my rights be taken away from me like that. I don't go to France or Japan and screw around with their affairs, why would I let someone from Italy or Pakistan screw around in mine?

My mum went through the citizenship program to gain her right to vote. Citizenship programs welcome immigrants into the American family and also give you a knowledge of and pride for your country, so you can make better decisions at the polls, no matter your political party. In fact, most people I know who are naturalized citizens value their citizenship and rights more than natural born citizens do!

To say my mum and the millions of others who earned their citizenship did it for nothing is an utter insult. And to let than insult slide, to let just anyone vote, would be nothing short of disastrous.

You might as well elect bin Laden for Congress.

American Exceptionalism

2010-05-20T10:02:00.000-07:00

As many of you know, Texas has been fighting on the battleground of schoolbooks recently. What will children across the country learn, because, as many of us realize, Texas schoolbooks lead the nation. One thing that has made it into the text books is the belief in American Exceptionalism. In a clip on Fox News today, James Rosen (one of their anchors) noted that one of the proponents against American Exceptionalism has been our 44th president. In April, while in France, Obama was asked “if he subscribes to the belief that America is uniquely qualified by its origins and history to lead the world” by a reporter there. In other words, the president was asked if he believed in American Exceptionalism. His response is alarming, albeit not unexpected. He replied, “I believe in American Exceptionalism, just as I suspect the Brits believe in British Exceptionalism and the Greeks believe in Greek Exceptionalism….” He continued to say that the US would “not always be right” and that he sees no conflict between regarding America as exceptional and valuing other countries’ contribution to the world. (story anchored by James Rosen at Fox News)

There are several gaping flaws in this. Firstly, Greece was a poor choice in that, as they the people have been rioting and the country is on the verge of being bankrupt (with Germany and America bailing them out). England, while in a better situation than Greece at the moment, is struggling against the socialist system that they’ve put into place as much as most of Europe is now. While these two countries ruled a good portion of the world at one time, they have since declined (and quite a bit of it through socialism). Second, someone truly needs to get this man a dictionary, because he obviously doesn’t understand what the word “exceptional” means. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, exceptionalism is “the condition of being different from the norm.” So that begs the question of how can everyone be exceptional? I am a big fan of individualism, but there is a difference here that cannot be ignored. To have exceptionalism, there must be a normality that it is judged by. There will always be those that are better and worse at certain things, and that includes countries. Not everyone can be leaders. And lastly, to the point of this gaping flaws in his argument, it’s come to the point where I, personally, simply do not believe most of what comes from his mouth. When promises simply become ‘campaign promises’ that we aren’t supposed to believe, one must wonder when we can believe anything. He certainly hasn’t stood by anything except his distribution of the wealth and his health care. He’s standing by those two things in which the American people do not want very nicely. He also has a habit of going on apology tour for this country, showing that he leans more to the side of his blief that we're "not always...right" than in American Exceptionalism.

We are an exceptional country. We fought the only true revolution, where we did not replace tyrants with tyrants (according to Ronald Reagan) and, as a colony, won against an empire and against all odds. We continued, and fought to keep ourselves together and to free all men, no matter their color, in the Civil War. We fought to free the world in two world wars and have been struggling against communism and terrorism since. We are exceptional. To be told anything less is degrading and a lie. The world knows this, even if they won’t admit it, because they flock here from all countries. They flee overbearing governments and poor economies just so they can come to the Land of the Free. We have set a precedent for the world to follow though few truly can.

हेल्लो?

2010-05-12T23:10:00.000-07:00

Testing testing....Why is the title doing that?

Tyranny, Like Hell, is not Easily Conquered

2010-03-22T09:08:00.000-07:00

I’ve been involved with the Tea Party movement since July of 2009. Ironically enough, July 4, 2009. Last night I found myself in a bar and grill with a bunch of my friends that I’ve formed a bond with from my local tea and others. We have been battling this take-over of the health care system and government control for nearly a year now, and last night they broke through with enough votes to pass the monstrosity. A friend of mine, who left Russia when she was five, was nearly in tears with the understanding that we may well be on the way towards what she ran from.

Over the last months I have done a lot of thinking. I have pulled together with people from all over, discussed things with those with opposing views, and really thought hard and searched for answers from all places. I have dove into our founding documents and other historical texts along with political commentary from today and the last century. I have prayed more for the state of my country in the last months than I ever felt necessary in my formerly mundane life.

In my search, I seem to have found more questions than answers after last night. I’ve always been an idealist, and it’s only been since I’ve hit a sort of maturity after a couple of very hard, very stupid years of my life, and I’m happy to say I’ve come out a better person because of it. A stronger, more devoted person, but my ideals often make any sort of defeat feel larger and more overbearing than it might truly be. This country… I have so much respect for it. We have fought oppression and slavery at every turn since our foundation. We waged war against England, our protector and mother country, to gain independence beginning in 1775 (actually declared in ’76). Brother fought brother in the Civil War to free every man in the country, and women’s rights followed. We fought two World Wars to keep Germany and their allies at bay from quite literally taking over the world and putting it behind the bars of a dictatorship. Then, we spent what seemed like an eternity, and the better part of half a century involved in a cold war against Communism. We now fight a war on terror, but our so-called ‘Commander in Chief’ (wish he’d act like it) refuses to go in to win. Regardless, we, as Americans, have always fought to spread freedom across the world. It is who we are. So I find myself asking ‘why?’ with a gut-wrenching feeling pulling at my heart. Why, when we’ve fought so hard and so long against tyranny, when our nation was formed in a way that should have set up blocks against it, have we fallen into the complicity of government control?

Versions of that question have been ripping and tearing at my mind and soul for a while now. I would venture to say that we lost our Republic last night. When the people so boldly speak out and say ‘We can’t stand for this!’ in a Republic, the government is required to listen. When they ignore, forcing it through by arm-twisting (among other things, I’d say) then how can we reason anything other than the loss of our beloved Republic that we have fought so hard to keep? (That is not to say that it cannot be regained through hard work on her citizens' part.) The questions then must be asked: how much else, between March and November, can they push through, and what other tactics will they take in order to insure their own survival? The government, those that we have elected into office, have chosen, by a majority, to ignore the American people. They have forsaken the oaths that they have taken to uphold the Constitution and will use as many underhanded tricks as they can muster to keep their jobs. I do wonder where it all stops? Does it become too much now, when we teeter on the edge (if not over the edge) of a horrible change from our founding? Or will it be too much when a soft tyranny turns to hard? When we really do become like Soviet Russia? Our Republic was shot down last night. Our way of life was smeared. We The People of the United States were ignored and told we were too stupid to realize what is really good for us.

Thomas Paine said, “Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered.” He did not say that it is impossible, but it is not easy. Tyranny threatens us now, and has been threatening for some time. While it threatens, we still have ways to fight it. The primaries have passed, and we have candidates poised (in most areas) for the November elections. Help them. Pray for them. Campaign for them and do whatever you can to put true CONSERVATIVE men and women up in DC. At the very least we can stall Obama on his attempts to bring this country down until we can vote him out in 2012. While they ignored our laws last night, we still have them and the idealist in me cannot let me believe that there is not a way out of this. I refuse to roll over and give up to these people. That is what they want, and I refuse to give in. Last I heard, twelve states are ready to sue over this bill. I’m proud to say Texas is one.

I urge you to look to our founders and their words on how they meant to set this country up. Thomas Jefferson said, “Congress has not unlimited powers to provide for the general welfare but only those specifically enumerated.” Patrick Henry said, “Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect everyone who approaches that jewel.” John Adams, in much the same light, said, “Liberty must at all hazards be supported.” And finally, Thomas Paine urged, “What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value.” We must be stead in our fight for our Republic. It has not moved away from us for good, at this point, but their certainly trying up in DC right now. Remember how our forefathers valued our Freedoms. Remember that Liberty is dear to us, as it is to human kind. While mankind has always had a habit, in small groups, of trying to subdue their fellow man, those that are meant to be subdued will rarely stand for it. It is in human nature to be free, and I can believe nothing less.

Waco Tea Party

2010-02-20T20:36:00.000-08:00

Waco, Texas, is not very big in the grand scheme of things. It's the stopover from Austin to Dallas, and it was well known in the 50's for the massive tornado that rocked the Alico building, and in the 90's for David Koresh. Some may think of the Dr. Pepper museum, and others of President George W. Bush that has a ranch just outside of Waco in Crawford. What people should think of when they think of Waco, Texas and the small communities around are the passionate people that make up the Waco Tea Party. Lead by the enthusiastic Toby Marie Walker, this community has been on fire for the rights of all Americans since April of 2009 and will go strong as long as we are needed.

Today, 20 February 2010, the citizens of Waco and the cities surrounding met in the Palladium in downtown Waco along with many officials running for different offices. There's no question in the Tea Party's mind that Chet Edwards, democrat congressman for District 17, must go in the November elections, but our fine hosts treated us to a panel today consisting of Dave McIntyre, Chuck Wilson, Timothy Delasandro, and Bill Flores. Rob Curnock, Edward's opponent in the last election, decided to skip out early in hopes that he could appoint one the men at his table to answer the questions for him. Neither Curnock or his stand-in were on stage today.

Brilliant speakers like Michael Sullivan, Michael Simon (Waco Tea Party's own webmaster and co-founder), Deborah Johns (who went head against Cindy Shehan in Crawford and has been touring with the Tea Party Express), and Ann Mazone were there today. I was very honored to be asked to give a short testimonial speech as well along with several others. Joe the Plumber also made a guest appearance and speech.

Now, some of the media has been trying to link this mad man in Austin, Texas to the Tea Parties. I have been to Waco Tea Parties before and work as closely as time permits with them, and I can say from personal experience that this is absurd. The people that were in that building today care deeply for their country, and we hope to pull it out of the hole that Obama has launched us into. This country is ours to keep, and We The People have a right and a duty to keep her and to even restore her if necessary. I grew up in a family that loved to discuss politics, but rarely have we been as active as we have been within the last year. America is waking up, echoing Toby's favorite shout of "Wake up Waco!" and we're frustrated, we're angry, and we're struggling to gain control of a country spiraling dangerously out of control. We are anything but this deranged man that flew a plane into an IRS building.

Thomas Jefferson wrote in our Declaration, "… that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed; that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute a new government." I think it's high time that we start altering this government with our votes. Pelosi's lapdogs like Chet Edwards will be voted out in November, and we will replace him with a man willing to do his job. We expect our congressmen to vote with the Constitution, and never against it.

People like this Joe Stack in Austin don't understand what it is to act as an American should act. Violence should always be the last resort, and to drive a plane into a building full of innocent people is lunacy. I question if that makes him any different than the terrorists of 9/11. One lone nut job versus a terrorist organization, and with different motivations, but they both expected to use terror to achieve their goals. This is not the way a Republic works. We will meet our opponents at the voting booths.

And we will meet you there, congressmen and senators. We will end your career if that is what you deserve. No one is immune to the people's will, and we will keep our Republic safe from the irresponsible spending and uncaring attitude that has been spreading through Washington DC for far too long. We will vote you out if you have not been faithful. You will return home, you Harry Reids and Chet Edwards, knowing that you have been denied your power by those who truly hold power in this country: the American people.

In Memory of Danny Pearl

2010-01-23T22:00:00.000-08:00

Several years ago, back in high school, I was a student in an independent studies class, where we picked our own topic to study, were mentored by someone in that field, and produced a Portfolio in the first semester, and then a Product the second semester (i.e. as a writing student I wrote a book, one kid composed a small symphony, etc.).

Part of the ISM program was toastmasters, and one of the speeches we had to give was a "Make Me Care" speech, where we had to, like the name suggests, make our audience care about whatever we were talking about.

I have to admit those were some very powerful speeches my classmates gave. We had a rule, what happens in ISM stays in ISM, so we never talk about all those things to anyone else. But this posting is my own speech, and it's about a topic I share with everyone I meet, not just the ISMites, so I thought I would share it with you today.

I first gave this speech in December, 2006. Why am I only posting this now, more than 3 years after I gave the speech?

I guess it's because the time is right. Because it was on this day 8 years ago, that Danny Pearl, the man I talk about in the speech, was kidnapped, and because his killer, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who was also involved in the 9/11 attacks, is being tried in CIVILIAN COURT. Not tried as the War Criminal, that he is.

Why is that? Well, because apparently some idiots decided waterboarding was a good way to get answers, and now KSM's confessions are supposedly not good enough (considering how proud he sounded of confessing Danny's murder I'd say it was every bit legitimate, though I do not condone the use of torture).

And now, because the American people are so clueless and divided, justice could be hindered by technicalities. It breaks my heart to see how short the memory of the American people is.

So I post this as a reminder. In memory of Danny Pearl, and of those lost on 9/11.

Let us not hate those guilty of their murders, but let us at least serve justice to their memories, or we risk letting history repeat itself.

Here is the speech:

We're all humans here. And humans have emotions, right? Right.

Let's focus on one in particular for a second. How many of you have something or have had something-or someone even-that you absolutely hated? You just couldn't STAND this person or thing or school assignment, whatever. Even now you feel sick thinking about it, right?

Now we've established that…I want to tell you a story.

This story is about a man named Daniel Pearl. You may remember him, you may not. It has been nearly four (now 8) years since he turned my world upside down.

Danny was a journalist, a musician, a comedian, and a family man. To know Danny was to know joy, because while yes, he did have his moments like everyone does, he was almost always ready to make you smile. His view of life was so different from the average man. He loved life and embraced it. He was passionate and alive, caring for everything and everyone, and always ready to help.

Danny was, in early 2002, kidnapped in Karachi, Pakistan. I will never forget those following weeks, or the day I walked into my homeroom, in seventh grade, and saw him on the cover our little news magazine.

The picture even now wrenches me. Danny was crouched down against a wall, head bowed, his hands chained in front of him, under a headline that said "Kidnapped: Journalists Under Attack."

My childhood, my innocence, that had somehow staggered past the horrors of 9/11, finally died then and there. I had never seen a picture like that before and understood it was REAL. I finally realized this was REALLY happening. And for the first time in my life, I was afraid, terrified. I don't like admitting that the terrorists were able to scare me, but I was.

I learned that Danny had been slaughtered mercilessly some days later while I watched the winter Olympics. I wanted to know why he was killed, how the man we all adored so could be allowed to suffer so horribly and die alone.

I know why now though.

HATE.

Danny's killers were Jihadi terrorists. They killed Danny because they hated him-not for who he was, but what he was. Danny was American. He was Jewish, and he probably in all likelihood-being a journalist-knew more about them than they liked to admit.

After they killed him they took out their hate even more. When his body was finally found four months later it was cut into ten pieces, stuffed into plastic bags, and left under mere inches of soil to rot.They thought they were making an example of Danny. They wanted to make us afraid. They thought nothing of his wife, the son he never got to meet, his parents, his friends, even strangers whom he touched.

I was thirteen years old and though I hid it well I look back and see that I was probably quite insane for a long time. The day I finally understood Danny was gone, I felt this ripping, screaming, bleeding hole in my very soul. I lost a lot of who I was that day, and never got it back. This book (At Home in the World) I have with me today was what I used to calm myself, pressing it against the pain, reading it over and over again just to know that the world hadn't entirely lost such a great being.

But I'd begin to see something else coming out of the hate crime that nearly destroyed me and so many others. Something else that would, in all irony, save us, and bring us out of the darkness anew.

The LOVE.

What they didn't tell us on the news I found for myself over the next several years. To make sense of what had happened to them Danny's parents and friends began working overtime to prevent the hate from spreading. That's what the terrorists want, they said. They want us to hate and fear-which is what they do. But we won't.

The same year, on what would have been Danny's 39th birthday the first Daniel Pearl Music Day was held, and has been every year since. The music days celebrate Danny's love of music as well as his caring for all people. Musicians from all walks of life all around the world perform on the same nights, connecting to each other in their music, and in their desire to understand each other instead of hating. I wrote a song myself and played it to his mum over the phone this past October.

Danny's father Judea began dialogues with a Muslim named Akbar Ahmed, and the two of them put all the issues in the world into a simple and neat solution that would be so absurdly simple to reach if only we'd all stop hating each other.

But that's the key.The hating.I don't know what you guys hate. I don't know where your wrath and annoyance is directed to, but I know this: Hate kills. It kills the people haters victimize just as it kills the haters themselves.I doubt any of you would even think of taking a knife to your ex's throat or chopping your ISM portfolios to pieces-ok scratch the last-but I do want you to make an effort to stop hating needlessly, for your sake as well as others.

Look at Danny's face, now, and remember it. This picture was taken on Danny's wedding day. A day when love and joy was etched into every line, every curve of his face. When you feel that painful boiling in your chest, look for that smile he has in your heart, and LOVE.

http://www.danielpearl.org/

Danny:

Yes, WE are the patriotic Americans.

2010-01-05T19:48:00.000-08:00

Is it bad form to call conservatives the patriotic Americans? Sarah Palin was mauled in the media and blogosphere for this insinuation during the general election:

"We believe that the best of America is in these small towns that we get to visit, and in these wonderful little pockets of what I call the real America, being here with all of you hard working very patriotic, pro-America areas of this great nation. This is where we find the kindness and the goodness and the courage of everyday Americans. Those who are running our factories and teaching our kids and growing our food and are fighting our wars for us. Those who are protecting us in uniform. Those who are protecting the virtues of freedom."

Politically, this was probably not the best choice of words; candidates running for office during a general election need to make the broadest appeal manageable for support.

Taken outside of that context, however, the change in rhetoric among conservatives is probably warranted, and a long time in coming. The left have generally given themselves all license to redefine terms and shift the language of a debate when facts alone couldn't produce a decisive political victory. Granted, it's not a practice that's unique to the left; nor is it unique to our time: "Anti-federalist" was coined by Alexander Hamilton and James Madison in their effort to discredit opponents of constitutional federalism.

But much of what passes for "acceptably-neutral" language in the press and professional culture has decidedly been shaped more by left wing politics than any genuine concern for maintaining ideological neutrality. Why, for example, are pro-life activists consistently named "anti-abortion rights" protesters in the Associated Press? Perhaps it's done for the same reason why editors of Time magazine dubbed California's Proposition 8 supporters "anti-equal rights" activists (Proposition 8, as you may know, was California's ballot initiative which preserved the state's definition of marriage as a union between one man and one woman).

A much-older, but ongoing example of the left's hijacking of language is the use of "progressive" to describe their political philosophy; implying, of course, that all contrary viewpoints must be ipso facto "regressive," or at least a stagnant hindrance in their crusade against inequality in all its forms. Does anyone honestly believe this effect was accidental?

Given the way the "progressive" label continues to exclude conservative views, and the brazen language shifts that have occurred over the years, no conservative should ever feel embarrassed to claim ownership of an adjective the Left have refused to wear proudly when their country needed it most: that of a proud, and Patriotic American.

Rock the Vote all the Way to the Left

2009-12-19T22:20:00.000-08:00

“Rock the Vote’s mission is to engage and build the political power of young people in order to achieve progressive change in our country.

Rock the Vote uses music, popular culture and new technologies to engage and incite young people to register and vote in every election. And we give young people the tools to identify, learn about, and take action on the issues that affect their lives, and leverage their power in the political process.

We are creative, effective, and controlled by nobody’s agenda but our own – we tell it like it is and pride ourselves on being a trusted source for information on politics. We empower the 45 million young people in America who want to step up, claim their voice in the political process, and change the way politics is done.” (http://www.rockthevote.com/about/)

Sounds like a good organization, doesn’t it? If one took it at face value (as many people do without a second thought) it would appear to simply be a well-intended outreach for new voters to help them understand the confusing world that they have just entered. They use up to date techniques to keep young people involved and interested. One problem: Everyone has a biased and these people are leaning so far to the left that they should worry about the affectsof gravity taking them to the ground.
Rock the Vote is sponsored by MTV, the popular music channel. MTV is owned by Viacom whose CEO is a self-proclaimed liberal Democrat by the name of Sumner Redstone. With the issues that they support including Health Care, environmental protection, curbing the cost of higher education, and voter education they tend more towards their CEO’s beliefs. They are anything but objective when they have been supported by MoveOn.org (a site funded by George Soros [http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/individualProfile.asp?indid=977] amongst others) and have ties to the Tides Foundation (http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/funderprofile.asp?fndid=5184&category=79) via the Proteus Fund (http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/funderProfile.asp?fndid=5265),People for the American Way (http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/groupProfile.asp?grpid=6400), Campaign for America’s Future (http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/groupProfile.asp?grpid=7331), ACORN (http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/groupProfile.asp?grpid=6968), and many other left-wing organizations.

Before taking the things you see every day at face value, make sure that you research them. Rock the Vote assures their viewers and participants that they are unbiased, but if given half a moment to speak, show their true selves very quickly. Their latest project has been the health care debate, focusing their advertisements in line with the overhaul that Congress has proposed and are about to vote on. (Just a brief warning: there is language in the video).

Young conservatives in America must become more aware of their surroundings and active against them, but nothing can be done if we are not aware of what is happening .

Islamic Mosque to be Opened next to Ground Zero

2009-12-18T11:52:00.000-08:00

One would think that after the attacks of September 11, 2001, that Americans would be more wary of what happens on our own soil. I remember that day very well and the many emotions that ran through me: fear, worry, confusion, and finally, anger and the wish to stop at nothing to avenge the innocent men and women that died in the Twin Towers. It has now been eight years and it seems that many have forgotten the range of emotions that ran through each of us that day. According to Chelsea Schilling of WorldNetDaily, (http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=119328) a new Muslim mosque will open on the doorstep of Ground Zero.

While not all Muslims are responsible for the horrors of 9/11, it is a disgrace to the memory of those that died in the attacks to have a “complete Islamic cultural center, with a mosque, a museum, ‘merchandising options,’ and room for seminars to reconcile religions, ‘to counteract the backlash against Muslims in general’” just down the street from where the attacks by Muslim radicals took place. Also, ironically enough, a Jewish museum for the Holocaust is also just down the way. Political correctness strikes again. Rauf, the Imam of the new mosque that believes that the blame for the civilian attacks should lay on the Christian population, said that was supposed to have the “…opposite statement to what happened on 9/11.” It’s a statement, alright, but I hardly trust it. If the tables had been turned and a group of radicals that claimed to be Christians had attacked civilians in the Middle East and then sympathizers built a church next to the site, the whole world would call for retribution.

So why is it that Christians are always seen as the villains and the Muslim community (especially those that sympathize with the radicals) have been glorified so that they may do no wrong? Why is it that a man like Nidal Hasan can pass through all of the security of Fort Hood to shoot and kill soldiers when he was on watch for radical statements? Because people feared to be seen as being part of the “Muslim backlash” that the left speaks of so often speak of, there were thirteen needless deaths on base before the men and women were to deploy to the Middle East to help protect this country that we live in. Instead of the wariness that should accompany an attack on our own soil the media has made it the politically correct thing to overprotect the Muslim community so that they can do no wrong. Along with those innocent, we seem to be protecting those that are guilty as well, like giving rights to the terrorist and trials in New York City as if they were American citizens.

It’s difficult to look out on our country and see that the “tolerance” of political correctness has turned to submission. We need to learn the difference between kindness towards our fellow man and spinelessness against those that hate us. In an idealistic world the kindness that we show our enemies would win them over into friendship, but this world is far from idealistic and one cannot reason with those that believe that their god has commanded them to kill those that do not believe as they do. Those that open the mosque between Ground Zero and the museum to remember the Jewish Holocaust do so to make a statement, that is one thing that is for sure, but I cannot believe it is for the better.

"Fat Studies" program vs. BMI-Req't for Graduation?

2009-11-21T12:45:00.000-08:00

The Leadership Institute's Campus Reform blog points to two interesting developments in academia/activism. From a recent San Diego news article the blogger quotes:

"fat studies is an emerging academic field that explores the social and political consequences of being overweight." Its concerns include the negative portrayal of fat people in literature and popular culture; the discrimination against fat people, which "can mask many other forms of prejudice that we already consider to be undesirable"

The blogger next compares it to a separate program at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania:

...students who are deemed too heavy must pass a physical-fitness course.

As part of the university's core curriculum, campus health educators weigh and measure all freshmen during the fall semester, and later calculate each student's body-mass index, or BMI. Those with a BMI above 30, which suggests obesity, must enroll in a one-credit course called "Fitness for Life" before they graduate. Students can satisfy that requirement if they "test out"—by subsequently earning a BMI below 30—or by passing a sports course.

With Democrat sponsorship of identity activism, and the ever-increasing expansion of governmental control over private industry, there's every reason for the conservative to join the libertarian chorus under this administration, if only to strengthen the pull of resistance against the Left's encroachment on individual liberties, as well as their continued attempts to even further divide an already "diverse" nation.

But I have mixed opinions about the comparison.

On the one hand, we have the excesses of a San Diego State University professor forming a "fat studies" program, which we can guess will simply become one more "identity" around which the left will organize an agitated base. Of course, they do this as they downplay helpful categories such as "better than" or "lesser than" in terms of a BMI; this effectively denies obesity should ever be seen as a health concern to begin with.

To me, that is the approach which more resembles that of left-wing LGBT activists: design academic and social programs aimed at engineering a brand new "identity" while lobbying the medical community to strike out homosexuality as a disorder from the DSM-IV--virtually making it impossible to treat one's inability to be attracted to the opposite sex as a disordered state.

On the other hand, we have Lincoln University, which respects the difference between a fabricated "identity" and a genuine health concern--and actually seeks to do something about it. In one sense, the conservative might view this as a victory not just for reason and common sense over political correctness, but as a return to a day and age when schools used to see the student as a whole person, whose physical and spiritual development was every bit as important as the intellectual or vocational. Obviously, this is only a partial step in that direction, but it's a step nonetheless.

So should this return to classical education override individual concern over the role of government? My sense is that the question at least deserves asking; how we respond will, in large part, determine what a conservative America ought to look like.

Silence is not an Option

2009-11-10T18:23:00.001-08:00

Back during the summer I drew the sketch of the drawing to the right. The theory behind it was that political correctness today has covered our mouths, making us - Americans - afraid to speak out for our liberties and save them by doing so. I felt (and still feel) that if we continue to allow our mouths to be taped shut and our voices to be silenced by the ever-looming shadow of political correctness that the blood that our forefathers (and for that matter, all of the soldiers currently fighting for us) shed for us will have all been in vain. Furthermore I believe that their blood will be in our hands.

I will keep this brief as, by now, surely anyone reading this blog knows what has happened, but on November 5, 2009, America was again attacked on her own soil. The soldiers and civilians on Fort Hood army base in Texas were attacked by Nidal Malik Hasan who open fired, killing 13 and injuring 31 by the last count that I heard.

By listening to the American media, one might think that Hasan is the real victem here. They would have you think that he suffered from PTSD (even though he'd never actually been in the war) or was bullied by fellow soldiers over his Muslim religion. Nevermind the strong evidence that has come out that he has been attempting to reach terrorists overseas and has been known to speak out violently against the war.

I fear that if we continue to sugarcoat our approach to terrorists (foreign or domestic) that there can be no other outcome than more attacks on our soil. Yes, Hasan is insane. He is as insane as the men that flew into the Twin Towers in 2001, but I didn't hear America crying out in their defense, nor should they have. This man is a terrorist if we say so or not, so we might as well say so and remember that we are fighting a real war with real enemies.

God bless the soldiers in Fort Hood, located elsewhere in the States, and those overseas. Thank you all for your duty to your country and we are forever in your debt.

J.E. Russell

FIRE to visit campuses in Texas.

2009-10-22T19:19:00.000-07:00

Greg Lukianoff of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) is a gentleman I've come to know and respect. He will be speaking at college campuses throughout Texas on the topic of "Unlearning Liberty."

The interesting thing about FIRE is they've been called "right-wing" by activists on the left because many (though, not all) of this law firm's clients end up being right-leaning libertarians and conservatives. But a moment's research into FIRE's background will tell a different story.

Both Greg and FIRE's Co-Founder, Harvey Silvergate, have worked closely within the ranks of the ACLU, another law firm which conservatives legitimately hold suspect for its avowedly pro-communist roots in its early days. Contemporary observers will more likely know the ACLU for its liberal advocacy on social matters, pornography, and on obscene speech and broadcasting.

Both Harvey and Greg to this day are staunch believers in free speech... to a point traditional conservatives will probably say is to a fault. But unlike the rest of the ACLU, their commitment has led them to fight against left wing oppression too often seen on college campuses nationwide. This is what Hayekian "liberalism" looks like when applied consistently: not just to gays and pornographers, but to beleaguered conservative students on campuses dominated by political correctness; each end up benefiting from FIRE's defense.

This, of course, comes as a welcome relief to students facing unjust punishment from left wing faculty and administrators, but what will this mean for students attending private Baptist institutions, such as Baylor University? My understanding, as Greg intones in the Q&A portion of the linked lecture, is that the first amendment in its fullest expression exists so that private institutions like Baylor can not only exist, but thrive.

That's what students will find out this November 5th. Conservatives may not come to fully agree with liberalism, as construed by 60's style politics; but the kind of liberalism FIRE promotes is one which merits the conservative's careful contemplation.

UPDATE: FIRE maintains a handy database which profiles each university based on their policies regarding speech restrictions. Here is FIRE's dossier on Baylor University.

It's My Flag, It's My Right

2009-10-18T21:09:00.000-07:00

Freedom of expression. Oh yeah, you have it, if you're expressing the same opinions as everyone else. Sharing the majority opinion isn’t something I’m known for, but I can honestly say I don’t know anyone who thinks we should not be allowed to display the American Flag.

But apparently, somebody does, and now all hell is breaking loose.

First, was a remark made to J.E. that she couldn’t display her flags in her window, and someone in the apartment below removed his. Then she received a phone call saying she had to take it down because nothing was allowed in the windows period. We were disgruntled, but I didn’t think too much of it. Then I saw this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3kAfbVQwl8

and this:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/event.php?eid=190081653437

http://www.delcotimes.com/articles/2009/10/17/news/doc4ad93893e311f016185961.txt

So is this just an uncanny coincidence, or a genuine threat to our nation’s flag? I don’t know about you, but I find the whole “everything has to come down”, “sports flags are also not allowed”, and “nothing is allowed on the lockers” too thin an excuse, and I don’t believe in coincidences, especially not when they come in threes.

The fact that these people are facing eviction for these flags is complete un-American. We are allowed to burn flags, wear rude T-shirts, and worse under the First Amendment and yet we can’t fly the flag because “someone might be offended”?

Well, if that someone is going to be so put out by my flag, they can get the hell out of my country! No one complains when my friends from other countries walk around with German flags pinned to their backpacks, or Mexican flags hanging off the rearview mirror of their car. If I’m not allowed to fly my own flag in my own country, what does that say to them?

Now I understand it is one thing to say you can’t have it in the window of your apartment, because it is technically the property of the apartment complex owner. But to say that you can’t have it on your car? Hello! That’s your property. To think that anyone could try and tell me what I can and can’t have on my car, which I paid for, maintain, and value as my own, ultimate personal space, is utterly absurd. The fact this even became an issue is mind boggling to me.

My flag is not in my window or on my car (I don’t believe in stickers, and I have no antenna to fly it on.). I have it on my bedspread. I’ve had that patriotic quilt for seven years, and I can’t help but wonder is someone going to say “You need to put that in the linen closet” and try to evict me when I tell them to take a hike?

Too many people have paid in blood for that flag and what it stands for. It’s bad enough that people are allowed to desecrate it and we can’t protect it, but to deny us the right to respect and cherish, and DISPLAY, our flag at all? Next we’ll be denied our right to sing the national anthem at football games, the Pledge will be banned from schools for reasons other than “Under God”. Soon we will be denied the right to respect and cherish our nation itself.

Don't Tear Me Down

2009-10-07T20:52:00.000-07:00

I was just complaining to J.E. that I wanted to write a post, but I was completely unable to decide what to write about. Then I found my answer. I was too tired to post at the time, so I'm taking my night-off-of-the-week to write this, and can't think of a better way to spend it:

J.E. posted a video on her facebook, which I reposted on mine, about the Mojave Desert War Memorial, and the danger it faces of being taken down. Before I continue, let me explain this memorial is, and why it matters:

The Mohave Desert War Memorial was erected in 1934 by WWI veterans to honor their fallen comrades. The memorial is a simple cross, on a rock, in the middle of the desert. The cross, while a "Christian" symbol, is also a symbol used worldwide for such memorials, with and without religious reasons.

This cross has stood there for 75 years without anybody complaining, until now.

The scoop: On man, who lives in Oregon (the memorial is in California), complained that he didn't believe that the cross should be on government property. Now the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is attempting to tear down the memorial. For the moment, it is covered up, but still standing.

So, plainly speaking, one guy who lives nowhere near this one random cross in the middle of nowhere, makes a stink about it, and now a 75 year old memorial raised by the veterans of one of the greatest and most terrible wars of all time is in danger of being destroyed?

The Supreme Court hearing on this issue started today (Or rather, yesterday, since writing this has taken me past the midnight mark). When did I hear about this? Yesterday (The day before, now.). Naturally, given the unreliability of our public media, I'm not surprised that this is the first I heard of this issue, but it does not make me any the less angry that I was prevented from hearing sooner, so I could speak out and take action sooner.

This memorial stands not only for WWI veterans, but for all who fall in the service of their country. Think nothing of the fact the symbol of the cross can be associated with Christianity. Think for a moment, only of the fact that it is a symbol for fallen veterans. In what way does anyone gain from dishonoring their memory? What message does this send out to soldiers fighting today? If we cannot respect the soldiers of our past, what can they expect in the future? I don't know about you, but after what some of my family and friends have gone through, I expect better from our citizens.

Now you can consider the cross in its Christian context. In our nation, we are supposed to have a wonderful constitutional right called freedom of religion. Yet here we are, wasting time and energy about a single cross? I pass about 3 different crosses every time I drive from school to home, as well as the Israeli flag twice, and nary a complaint from my fellow commuters or myself. If someone decided to fly the Alam al-Shahada from their flagpole, I wouldn’t complain. I see symbols, signs and sayings everywhere, on private and public property, that I may not believe in or agree with, but that’s the glory of this nation-that everyone is supposedly allowed to express their beliefs and opinions without persecution. Sadly, in my own experience, persecution has ever been my companion, a story I may tell later on, because I have to wonder: Who will continue to stand and fight, when they gain nothing but hatred, and how long
before Christians themselves may still stand, but have to be hidden, like the cross in the desert?

Both issues touch close to home for me. I have veterans amongst my family and friends, people who have given their time, their health, their lives, for a greater purpose, and I, frankly speaking, am just plain sick of having to fight for my religious rights in a supposedly free country.

~Caera

Official Site:
http://www.donttearmedown.com/

The Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeuBB_mOFIA&feature=channel_page

On the Issue of the New 'Obama Song'

2009-09-27T18:17:00.000-07:00

"Where we once were, we are no longer a Christian nation. At least not just. We are also a Jewish nation, a Muslim nation, and a Buddhist nation, and a Hindu nation, and a nation of nonbelievers." Barack Hussein Obama

Over the past few months, I have become less exasperated over the outrageous statements from the left. This does not mean that I am any less horrified, insulted, and even angered to a degree by these statements. I am. If I dove into everything with the passion that I feel, I likely would never sleep. That said, there are moments that require one to stop, breathe, and state their opinions.This is, for me, one of those times.

Though I keep myself informed, I am running this way and that so much during the school semester that I often miss very large happenings. It's easy to do, but it makes me wonder how long I've missed this. I tend to catch half of the Glenn Beck show on Fox News after I finish with classes and before I run off to work in the afternoons. In between bites of my pizza roll late lunch/early dinner, the story that he was covering both shocked and horrified me.

My father, jokingly, asked if it brought tears to my eyes because of the wonder of it, and I told him that it did, but only because I'm so frightened for the children. At B. Bernice Elementary school in Burlington, New Jersey, Barack Obama was quite litterally worshiped. The lyrics that were taught to these kids are as follows:

"Mm, mmm, mm! Barack Hussein Obama

He said that all must lend a hand

To make this country strong again

Mmm, mmm, mm!

Barack Hussein Obama

He said we must be fair today

Equal work means equal pay

Mmm, mmm, mm!

Barack Hussein Obama

He said that we must take a stand

To make sure everyone gets a chance

Mmm, mmm, mm!

Barack Hussein Obama

He said red, yellow, black or white

All are equal in his sight

Mmm, mmm, mm!

Barack Hussein Obama

Yes!

Mmm, mmm, mm

Barack Hussein Obama"

I'd like to break down this song if you'd give me a few moments.

“He said that all must lend a hand

To make this country strong again”

Obama has spent his first eight to nine months in office apologizing for our country. I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty proud of the country that my grandfathers fought for. I’m proud of our soldiers who fight now. I’m proud of the strength that we have, that we have had, and that I believe the people of this country will always have. I saw America’s strength in my father’s father until the day he died, and continue to see it in my one remaining grandfather (both verterans of WWII). I saw it at the Hillsboro tea party when a woman stood up and told us about her son that died in Iraq. The pride that she had in her children was clear as she spoke of how her second son had just enlisted. I see the strength in town hall meetings for those that stand up (on either side) to defend what they believe in. Even the woman who sat next to me in my own city's town hall. I will never agree to the atrocities that I believe our government is attempting to commit, but she was there for her beliefs and showing her own American strength.

I suppose the president thinks America isn’t strong anymore because he looks at the spineless fakes that we have elected to office up in Washington DC.

“He said we must be fair today

Equal work means equal pay”

And it’s a stretch to call him a Socialist? Really? Obama has already admitted to believing in the ‘redistribution of wealth,’ which is Socialism. I have had long talks about this with various people that I've come into contact with. Is it ‘fair’ for someone to work hard for their degree, put money into their education, and then for the government to take their hard earned money and give it to someone who has not? Eventually what happens in a system like that is that people simply stop working. More people go onto the government dole than the system can handle and it will collapse.

“He said that we must take a stand
To make sure everyone gets a chance”

I’m still trying to wrap my mind around why it is that America is such a horrible place and his majesty Obama has to fix it… Perhaps I’m not as awe struck with him, but I prefer results as to mindless agreement. We (Americans) have been taking a stand. We took that stand in 1775 at Lexington; in 1776 with our declaration to the world that we would not be held down; from 1861-1865 when we finally stood by our own notion that 'all men are created equal'; in 1941 when quite litterally helped to save the world; during the Civil Rights movements; and after the attack on our own soil in 2001. Has Obama and those that write these praises to him forgotten our history? I have not.

“He said red, yellow, black or white
All are equal in his sight”

This is an attack on our faith. I am not swayed by what Obama has said, this country is based and founded on Judeo-Christian principals and God help me that I do not forget that and that you do not either. To forget one's own history is to open up to many dangers.
Do you remember, like I do, the song we sang in Sunday school so many years ago? “Jesus loves the little children. All the children of the world. Red, yellow, black, and white, they are precious in His sight, Jesus loves the little children of the world.” This is an attack on Christianity. These people are putting Obama in the place of Jesus Christ. It may not be as blatant and straight forward as taking prayer out of our schools, but it is there in all of its horror. To take a song for Christ and turn it into praise of a man that holds himself up to be a god sickens me.

I always thought brainwashing was a strong term to use, but perhaps it is not. After all, when you want to rip apart a country’s core foundation and principals, best to start with small children, isn’t it?

Mr. Obama, I say to you that we are a Christian nation, even if there are many others among us. We were built on Christian principals, and our soul is a Christian soul. I say that I trust people like John Adams, George Washington, and Thomas Jefferson wholly over you and your leftist agenda. I say that we are a strong, brave people and we are done apologizing and bowing our head to a false god. Much less telling the children of our country that they should.