Raised Bill 1098

H/t: Gateway Pundit

There is a section of the First Amendment that I often refer to as the "Forgotten Clause." It's brother, the "Establishment Clause" is know by most, and is often quoted from rote memory. But the "Free Practice Clause" is just as important, and just as vital.

We all know that first half, "Congress shall make no law respecting an Establishment of Religion." But the second half is under assault here today. That clause states "Or prohibiting the Free Exercise Thereof."

Taken together, it is an order to the Government to keep your damn dirty hands out of the Garden of the Church and in the Wilderness of the States, and to leave that damn wall alone, to paraphrase Thomas Jefferson.

Takayama Ukon, Catholic Warlord of Japan
Statue by Abe Masayoshi

Well, in Conneticut, my beloved mother church is under attack. Raised Bill 1098 seeks to overturn the rule over the church (Which is not a democracy, thank you very much) by Bishops and Priests, and place it in the hands of laymen, who will change policies with the wind, even if it comes in direct violation of Dogma.

This is a patent violation of my First Amendment rights as a citizen of this country, and a violation of the rights of EVERY person of faith in this country. I urge all Catholics, Protestants, Mormons, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Bhuddists, Sikhs, and those who I did not mention (sorry folks, don't have the time to look up every faith, and these are the ones that came to me while writing) to get out there and vote no.

For an attack on one Church is an attack on all Churches, of any faith.

We stand together, or hang apart.

You decide...

Sunday Thoughts

h/t: The Anchoress

I don't usually come across as overtly Catholic (It might have something to do with what the Carpenter once said about them hating me for loving him) but I recently found a Catholic blog that I have begun following. And she turned me on to the following today, and I found it fascinating.

Everything is connected and it may sound absurd to link contraception with the economic collapse, but think about it:

History will look back and decide that artificial contraception was the most radical and earth shattering invention ever devised by mankind. When the link between the sexual act and procreation was broken it not only changed our sexual behavior, it changed everything.

Most importantly, it changed the way we think about ourselves and our actions. The links between our actions and their natural consequences were broken. We began to expect that we could have whatever pleasure we wanted when we wanted and how we wanted and that we could avoid all the consequences of those actions. In sexual behavior it seemed to be so.

We became gods. We could do anything and have anything and we could avoid the cost. Extrapolate this mentality to the economic sphere and you'll see what I mean. We told ourselves that we could have anything we wanted instantly simply by taking out another loan. If we were the lenders, we insured ourselves against loss in case those loans were not re paid.

The responsibility could always be shifted. The 'problem' could always be solved. Paying the price could always be delayed. We could just re-finance. Just as we got instant sexual gratification for free, so we thought we should have everything else instantly for free.

How different our mentalities would be if we still understood that every time a man and woman come together a baby might be made. If we lived that way we would have to grow up and be more sober about all things. We would have to take responsibility, and if we did not the consequences would meet us very soon.

Instead we have become a society of spoiled brats. Stamping our feet and demanding instant gratification and entertainment and pleasure, and believing that somebody else somewhere will pick up the tab.

Where did it come from? I realize the causes are complex, but a contributing factor is artificial contraception which changed the way we think and respond at a very profound level.

Fr. Longenecker, St. Mary's Catholic Church, Greenville

Well said. And here I was focused on a big old root right in front of me, and ignoring the seed that the root grew from. It reminds me of that bill of No Rights I saw earlier (H/T: The Jawa Report)

"We, the sensible people of the United States, in an attempt to help everyone get along, restore some semblance of justice, avoid any more riots, keep our nation safe, promote positive behavior, and secure the blessings of debt-free liberty to ourselves and our great-great-great-grandchildren, hereby try one more time to ordain and establish some common sense guidelines for the terminally whiny, guilt-ridden, deluded, and other liberal bed-wetters.

We hold these truths to be self-evident: that a whole lot of people are confused by the Bill of Rights and are so dim that they require a Bill of No Rights."

ARTICLE I:
You do not have the right to a new car, big screen TV or any other form of wealth. More power to you if you can legally acquire them, but no one is guaranteeing anything.

ARTICLE II:
You do not have the right to never be offended. This country is based on freedom, and that means freedom for everyone — not just you! You may leave the room, change the channel, or express a different opinion, but the world is full of idiots, and probably always will be.

ARTICLE III:
You do not have the right to be free from harm. If you stick a screwdriver in your eye, learn to be more careful, do not expect the tool manufacturer to make you and all your relatives independently wealthy.

ARTICLE IV: You do not have the right to free food and housing. Americans are the most charitable people to be found, and will gladly help anyone in need, but we are quickly growing weary of subsidizing generation after generation of professional couch potatoes who achieve nothing more than the creation of another generation of professional couch potatoes.

ARTICLE V:
You do not have the right to free health care That would be nice, but from the looks of public housing, we're just not interested in public health care.

ARTICLE VI:
You do not have the right to physically harm other people. If you kidnap, rape, intentionally maim, or kill someone, don't be surprised if the rest of us want to see you fry in the electric chair.

ARTICLE VII:
You do not have the right to the possessions of others. If you rob, cheat or coerce away the goods or services of other citizens, don't be surprised if the rest of us get together and lock you away in a place where you still won't have the right to a big screen color TV or a life of leisure.

ARTICLE VIII:
You don't have the right to demand that our children risk their lives in foreign wars to soothe your aching conscience. We hate oppressive governments and won't lift a finger to stop you from going to fight if you'd like. However, we do not enjoy parenting the entire world and do not want to spend so much of our time battling each and every little tyrant with a military uniform and a funny hat[pre-9/11 mindset...ed]

ARTICLE IX:
You don't have the right to a job. Sure, all of us want all of you to have one, and will gladly help you along in hard times, but we expect you to take advantage of the opportunities of education and vocational training laid before you to make yourself useful.

ARTICLE X:
You do not have the right to happiness. Being an American means that you have the right to pursue happiness — which, by the way, is a lot easier if you are unencumbered by an overabundance of idiotic laws created by those of you who were confused by the Bill of Rights.

If you agree, we strongly urge you to forward this to as many people as you can. No, you don't have to, and nothing tragic will befall you should you not forward it. We just think it is about time common sense is allowed to flourish — call it the age of reason revisited.

We Are All John Galt

Surprise! I'm back, and it took a speech my a member of CNBC of all channels (No, I didn't watch the braodcast, I heard a recording of it on Rush...) to brign me back.

But thank you to Michelle Malkin, The Jawa Report, Slapstick Politics, Gateway Pundit, Wag This Dog, and numerous others for their posts that helped to inform me as to the events that occured and gave me my topic.

The protests started in Seattle, moved on to Denver, then to Mesa, Arizona, and are now coming to my Backyard. And they are spreading. In the Governor's Mansions of the states of Texas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Alaska, South Carolina, and Idaho, the Governors are currently stating that they are unsure as to wheter they should accept funds from the Generational Theft Act. It's too bad there are provisions in the bill that removes their right to say no to the money. Sarah, Bobby, take this to the Supreme Court, you might win the 2012 election if you do so...

But before I discuss the protests, I would like to direct your attention to this story...

Seattle
From the Boston Tea Party to Your Neighborhood Pork Protest

Denver
Yes We Care
Denver Protest: Videos

Mesa
Mesa, Arizona
More Scenes From Mesa
More Scenes From the Anti-Obama Backlash
High School Students Skeptical of Spending Binge
Hundreds Protest President Obama
Anti-Porkulus Protesters Raise Their Voices

Overland Park
Pictures and Post!

Proposition 8

I wasn't going to talk about this, mainly because I don't agree with either side on the issue of Gay Marriage. (I honestly don't have an opinion beyond legalization halves the sin involved) But you idiots who are out there disrupting church services and defacing churches need to understand one very important thing. You are shooting yourself in the foot.

First of all, I would like to point out that this is the SECOND time such an item has passed in California. That is right, Proposition 8 is the second such item to pass in California to Define marriage as a man and a woman. The People have spoken, whether we like their decision or not.

Instead of trying to convince people that they are wrong on this matter and that it is a matter of equal rights, they are rioting.

In Lansing, Michigan, a group of Gay Protesters, Bash Back Lansing, disrupted church services at Mount Hope Church. They threw condoms at the church goers, insulted them, scattered papers around, and shouted insults at the people. Outside, they hurled insults at those going into the church and those who left.

In San Francisco's Castro District, a group of about sixteen Christians who where holding a prayer service in public, had to be escorted out of the district by Police, after someone spread the claim that they where there to hold a counter-Protest against the No on 8 Campaign. The video on YouTube is disgusting, and the Poster was quoted as saying:

After just singing and worshiping God for a while, Roger decided that we should all hold hands in a circle and continue singing. So we did.

Someone (Actually a person who came up and hugged and kissed some of us who he knew from the past) convinced some people that we were there to protest against the no on 8 campaign.

Then some guy who was dressed up like one of the sisters (The sisters of perpetual indulgence is a group of men who dress up like nuns and call themselves the spiritual authority of the Castro.) took a curtain-type thing (Which I think they use to curse people) and wrapped it around us.

Then a crowd started gathering. We began to sing “Amazing Grace”, and basically sang that song the whole night. (At some points we also sang “Nothing but the Blood of Jesus” and “Oh the Blood of Jesus”.) At first, they just shouted at us, using crude, rude, and foul language and calling us names like “haters” and “bigots”. Since it was a long night, I can’t even begin to remember all of the things that were shouted and/or chanted at us. Then, they started throwing hot coffee, soda and alcohol on us and spitting (and maybe even peeing) on us. Then, a group of guys surrounded us with whistles, and blasted them inches away from our ears continually. Then, they started getting violent and started shoving us. At one point a man tried to steal one of our Bibles. Chrisdene noticed, so she walked up to him and said “Hey, that’s not yours, can you please give it back?”. He responded by hitting her on the head with the Bible, shoving her to the ground, and kicking her. I called the cops, and when they got there, they pulled her out of the circle and asked her if she wanted to press charges. She said “No, tell him I forgive him.”

Afterwards, she didn’t rejoin us in the circle, but she made friends with one of the people in the crowd, and really connected heart to heart. Roger got death threats. As the leader of our group, people looked him in the eyes and said “I am going to kill you.”, and they were serious. A cop heard one of them, and confronted him. (This part is kinda graphic, so you should skip the paragraph if you don’t want to be offended.) It wasn’t long before the violence turned to perversion. They were touching and grabbing me, and trying to shove things in my butt, and even trying to take off my pants - basically trying to molest me. I used one hand to hold my pants up, while I used the other arm to hold one of the girls. The guys huddled around all the girls, and protected them.

Yes, that is right, some of the "counter-counter-protesters" tried to commit rape against their opponents. They where threatened with DEATH by some protesters. Is this really the act of the "Tolerant"? And how did the targets of the "Tolerant Ones" respond? They turned the other cheek. Remember those of you who are Christians, He warned us that there would be those who hated us for our Love of Him.

Message to the guy in 1:58 who is telling the Christians to stay out. We have as much right to enter that area as you do. We have as much right to state our opinions on something as you do. The First Ammendment was designed to protect speech that the People DON'T like.

The El Coyote Mexican Cafe in Los Angeles has also been targeted. The manager donated $100 to the Yes on 8 campaign. In response, a gang of those who opposed Prop. 8 descended upon the place and drove the woman to tears. The gang would not let up until the employees of the store donated a combined $500 to the Opposition campaign. Those who dined in the resturant where verbally assaulted for daring to eat there. And the Manager's crime? She practiced her First Ammendment Rights.

In Sacramento, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, beeter known as Mormons from their second holy book, the Book of Mormon, had to hire security guards for their temple. This after hateful vandalism smeared across ten of their temples across the state. This after white powder was mailed to the Tabernacle in Salt Lake City.

Scott Eckern, a Mormon who worked as artistic director of the California Musical Theatre, was forced to step down because he dared to donate money to a political cause he agreed with.

On top of that, they have posted a Blacklist of people they are boycotting for daring to enact their first ammendment rights to Freedom of Association, Freedom of Religion, and Freedom of Speech.

On GayConservative.com, there is a great post about somethign that showed up on JoeMyGod.

I cannot believe what I’m reading today. If I could get to a camera tonight, I’d do that vidblog now, but since I can’t, I’ll save my true argument for tomorrow evening. In the meantime, the news now is that gay and lesbian citizens of California are practically rioting. In the wake of the passing of Proposition 8–the law that is to overturn the state supreme court’s ruling that gay marriage is legal–thousands have taken to the streets. But more than just protesting, they’re calling for actual violence.

I’ve gotten into a discussion about it on Michelle Malkin’s site, and have even gotten in a few hits with JoeMyGod himself for his and his readers’ outright bumbling stupidity. I might be able to understand being upset about it, but seriously–you idiots are trying to preach against hate and you’re calling for gays and lesbians to “burn their f—ing churches to the ground and tax the charred timbers”? You must be joking!

This is unreal. Un-be-friggin’-LIEVABLE. I cannot believe I’m reading comments from gay and lesbian people saying things like, “I’m a radical on a mission to make them pay for all they’ve done.” For WHAT, exactly? Have they put us in camps? Tried exterminating us? As I recall, they haven’t put up much of a fight to overturn the US Supreme Court’s decision striking down all laws against sodomy; they’ve pretty well accepted that what we do with our lives is our business. So will someone please, PLEASE explain to me why one reader is saying “I could murder someone with my bare hands today,” and another is saying, “I warn [mormons and catholics] to watch their backs!”

Where the hell do you people get off behaving like lunatics because this thing wasn’t defeated? I’ll touch on your liberal fanaticism tomorrow, but I’d really like one of you idiots to explain what makes you right and them wrong! They didn’t vote to require us to go to “sexual re-orientation therapy,” but you’re acting as though we’ve all been told we’re about to be rounded up and sent to Auschwitz!

Right here, right now I want every one of you to shut the hell up. I refuse to look like a fool because you don’t know how to behave. I have friends who are Mormon, Catholic, Jewish, Baptist, you name it–very few have ever expressed real hate towards me, and the grand total of TWO who have aren’t real Christians, anyway. I have experienced more hate coming from you than from them. You are not going to win this battle by threatening violence, and if you actually carry it out, I will personally lead the charge to put your ass in prison for the rest of your life.

GROW THE HELL UP.

For the record, I will NEVER link to JoeMyGod. The man is a hatemonger, and I will not grant him the satisfaction of getting readers directly from a conservative website.

It strikes me as hypocritical. For eight years, we have heard nothing but "Selected not Elected." About George Bush from this crowd. And now, they are leaning on the Supreme Court of California to overrule the will of the People.

The People have spoken, and your attacks against the People will only harm your cause.

Governmnet Run Education Part II

Let us turn to Russia for more on this tragedy that we are faced with Daily. And as we do so, I would like to use Grocery stores as my example.

Now, all of you who are reading this have been to a Grocery Store before, probably a Hen House, or an Aldi's, or a HyVee, or the Grocer's section of a Walmart.

When you go in, there are massive aisles full of food of all different sorts. The stores are clean and brightly lit, with options that will blow the minds of people who have never had the experience of Free Market Grocery Stores.

Russian Grocery Stores on the other hand, are government run. Stores are forced to specialize. Bread stores are usually half-empty, not because of demand at the government mandated local store, but rather because the government has not allocated enough bread to the stores. The Mat Stores can be just as bad. Cuts of meat are terrible, and you can never be sure what exactly the meat came from.

If there is nothing there for you, too bad, because that is the Grocery Store the government has ordered you to go to.

The US on the other hand, has some of the world's largest grocery stores, some of them stretching a seeming half mile in width or depth.

How would this be any different than the current Education system? Would not the benefits of the Free Market mean that the schools would get better used funding?

There is a joke in the armed forces about boots that really tells us why this is. When the Defense Department orders a pair of boots, they have to requisition them separately, with one boot costing two hundred, and the other one five hundred.

Government is inefficient. If Microsoft where to run our schools, or Ford or GM, they would focus heavily on performance. After all, is that not the way that businesses run? Do they not run based on performance? Would teachers who are not preforming get tenure, or would they get fired? Would they be more likely to respond to complaints if their customers where not delivered to them day in and day out, and the money going into their coffers regardless of performance?

I think the answers to that are self-evident.

Governmnet Run Education Part I

St. Ignatius Loyola was once quoted as saying, "Give me the boy until he is seven, and I will give you the man."

So the new "voluntary" Early-Childhood Education (Voluntary in that Speed Limits and Taxes are voluntary) worries me.

Education in the United States is dominated by one group, the National Education Association, a Statist, anti-Individual, Teacher's Union that is more itnerested in just passing students along then actually teaching the students.

Now, not all teachers who are part of the NEA fall into this category, in fact most teachers who are members actually want to help the students. But, the NEA has it's own priorities.

Neal Boortz, reformed Lawyer and Talk Show Host once said that the NEA is more dangerous to the Future of the United States of America than al-Qaeda. THis comment might not make much sense, until you start to really think about the two organizations.

Al-Qaeda can come in, kill a couple hundred people, and then they are inable to strike the US for a year at least afterwards. And, on top of that, whenever they do so, they wind up with the United States Armed Forces targeting them and doing their best to deliver them to the gates of Hell.

The NEA on the other hand, can ruin the children of this country, and indoctrinate them into whatever party the NEA wants them to be in.

While a WMD might destroy a city (though the chances of that happening are thankfully low), the schools can destroy entire generations. There are millions of students in Government Schools every day, being told by their teachers that Private Property ownership is a BAD thing. This despite the right to Private Property being THE most fundamental of Human Rights.

These schools are supposed to teach our students how to survive in the modern world, how to go out and get a job and make money for their families. But for the vast majority of them, all they teach the students is how to pass them on to the next level of education, regardless of whether or not they are able to do the work.

Now, I want to clear somethign up now, before I get people TOO mad at me about this. They are Government Schools, not Public Schools. They are run with government money, stafed with Governmnet Agents, oon property owned by the Government. So why do they call them Public Schools?

Have you been to the DMV lately?

Students these days don't know how the branches of government or their functions, they need calculators to do some basic math, can't read leases, have no idea how to balance a checkbook, have no understanding of Capitalism or the Free Market, couldn't tell you the difference between Profits and Profit Margins (and thus why the Government was gouging us at the pumps and not the Oil Companies), and the vast amjority of them wind up in remedial college classes that are mad mandatory to make the majority feel better (I was fine with Education until I swa subjected to that piece of go-se myself).

On comparisons between nations, the US tends to do horribly. They only ever rank Government Schools though. If they included Vatican run schools throughout the world, the Vatican would routinely rank in the top ten every time. Why? Because their are no unions in private schools, and they are interested in minting out well educated students. Students who understand capitalism, and how to use it for the good of society.

The best thing we could do for our students would be to give vouchers to ALL students in this country, and let the parents choose their schools.

But, the NEA protests loudly every time that government opens up the theory of Vouchers. More on this in my next post.

Meet the Executioner

First of all. I would like to say that Obama, the gloves are off. I was going to leave them on until my birthday. Even here, on the matter of the Fairness Doctrine, I was going to at least keep the boxing gloves on. But, then you decided to insult Nancy Reagen. I am sorry, but now, it is no holds barred.

Now, on to the Fairness Doctrine.

First, like I like to do for many of my posts, I want to tell you about the History of this matter. The man I am calling the Executioner (Not to be confused with Rahm Emanuel, who I have decided to call Steaknife due to an infamous moment in which he listed off Bill Clinton's enemies shortly after the Election and announced they where all dead while stabbing the podium with his Steaknife) was the head of the FCC until Reagen came into power.

When Reagen came into power, he announced that he was quitting because he viewed radio and the policy towards radio as a "Civil Rights Issue."

I couldn't agree with him more. But for different reasons. I believe that talk radio hosts have the Civil Liberty to discuss politics on the air as they see fit. It's called the Freedom of the Press, and it applies to Broadcast Media, whether it be Analog, Satellite, Cable. It doesn't matter. It is still the Press, and therefore is entitled to that freedom. On top of that, it is protected by the Freedom of Speech Clause.

But I digress. The Executioner is the man responsible for Conservative Talk Radio. It may sound odd that the man who seeks to kill it is the one responsible. But, it is because he stepped down in disgust that we have this medium.

And now, he views this as his chance to right a wrong.

Well, Executioner, I have news for you. The First Ammendment is designed to protect speech that people find offensive. There are obvious limits (screaming "Fire" in those powder kegs called Movie Theatres being a great example) but when it comes to political speech, dissent against the majority is protected.

What the Executioner is tryign to do is simple. He wants to Kill talk radio. And there can only be one reason. Because Talk Radio is by and large Conservative, and thus, is going to be an Opposition Force against Barack Obama, rallying Conservatives to try and block the iniatives of The One via petitions and rallyign political support for Mitch McConell and his allies in the Senate and House.

Make no mistake people, the Fairness Doctrine is a direct and flagrant violation of the First Ammendment, and needs to be defeated. The Liberals have Cable News and Newspapers. Let us Conservatives keep our Radio, the Union just might depend on it...