Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Election Day 2010 -- A New Dawn for Liberty


November 2, 2010 is going to be a grand and ebullient day! The political party in power is going to be given a political spanking that, while it may not be unprecedented, is certainly one of the most memorable and necessary of recent history. There have not been many high points politically since the Democrats monopolized federal power in 2008, but the first Tuesday in November will be a pinnacle. (Actually the citizen activism of the past year or two has also been a heartening high point.)

November’s peaceful shift of power will be one of the beautiful strengths and wonders of our representative democracy. It shows that when most of the people don't like the way things are going they vote to get rid of "the bums".

Unfortunately, in most years the people who already hold the office, the incumbents, win elections hands down, almost by default, due mainly to voter apathy, but also to political machinery. Things are different now. In 2006 and 2008, there was general discontent with Republicans and, incumbents included, they were voted  out of the House of Representatives and the Senate, giving Democrats control of the Legislative branch in 2006 and the Executive branch in 2008.

However, in 2010, a huge swath of voters feels that Democrats in the Congress and the Obama White House have overreached, overspent, overlegislated, crippled the economic recovery and changed the country in other damaging ways.

The people who will be voted into office in November in many cases are not professional politicians, they are people who are fed up with the status quo, who will actually do things differently because they have a mandate and will be voted into office with many, many like-minded individuals. They and the Tea Party will hold the political establishment’s feet to the proverbial fire.

That's the good that the Tea Party process has brought to the political landscape --highlighting the bad stuff that's going on and supporting those who want to reverse it.

Of course you don't like the Tea Party and how it resonates with most Americans if you are for spending trillions of dollars, if you're against enforcing our border laws, if you're for weakening our defenses, if you're for higher taxes, and if you’re for redistribution of wealth.

Liberals can rail against the Tea Party, and Independents, Conservatives, and Republicans all they want to, and they can lie and make claims about how great things are and all the wonderful things the Democrat congress and the President have done, but in the end, the truth is plain in the economy, in the housing market and job market, in the promises that were made and not realized. On November 2, checks and balances will be restored to the government. Not as much will get done, and that's a damn good thing because in general Congress isn't doing much that's good anyway. On November 2, two party government will be restored to the United States government.

And speaking as a New Jerseyan, what would make November 2 even better would be if New Jersey's two liberal/socialist senators were standing for re-election because a Lautenburg and Menendez defeat would be the icing on the electoral cake.

But don’t take election day victories for either side for granted – get to your polling place and vote!

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

ACLU vs. God

The American Civil Liberties Union (aka The Progressives for Litigation Union, or the Anti Christian Lawyers Union) on behalf of Sharon Brenner Cadalzo has brought a lawsuit against the town of Point Pleasant Beach, New Jersey to stop a Christian prayer from being said before every town council meeting.

Ms. Cadalzo, who is Jewish, said it made her uncomfortable to hear the Christian prayer. The prayer she was "subjected" to was The Lord's Prayer. My question for Ms. Cadalzo, Why would it make you uncomfortable to hear a prayer to your own God? The Lord's Prayer was spoken by Jesus and his disciples and followers and refers to the Judeo/Christian God – the same God and creator of the universe the Jewish people pray to. The words of this prayer are hardly foreign ideas to Jews and the prayer is in fact similar to some Jewish prayers and phraseology contained in the Jewish Bible. So in my mind it engenders some incredulity and some suspicions as to the motivation for her taking this action.

So by now you may think I'm heading in one direction about this topic. But you'd be wrong. While I absolutely disagree with the idea of taking celebratory symbols and decorations like Christmas trees and Menorahs off of public property, because cultural celebration is not proselytizing, in this case I have to agree with the ACLU and Ms. Cadalzo.

Though the Christian prayer wouldn't make me uncomfortable being Catholic myself, I do think in this day and age when there are so many other religions interacting in public life (and so many atheists, bless their souls) that perhaps it is unfair. The prayer certainly does seem to run afoul of the state and federal constitutions, though in the end, that is an interpretive matter for the Judges or Justices to decide.

I have to say that if I was at a town council meeting and the council president, or clerk kneeled and said a prayer towards Mecca, I would be uncomfortable. Additionally, there are lots of people in New Jersey from India. Maybe some of them would like prayers said to the Hindu gods Vishnu or Brahma. And where would the line be drawn.

In this one case regarding the ACLU, I have to agree. That's one can of worms that should not have been opened in the United States and in New Jersey. Public officials, performing public duties should not be reciting the prayers of any religion before or during public business. It is an activity leaning too close to the sanctioning of a particular religion. 

Two books you might enjoy...
The ACLU vs. America: Exposing the Agenda to Redefine Moral Values.....

In Defense of American Liberties, Second Edition: A History of the ACLU

Saturday, September 4, 2010

Lord Monckton Lecture Debunks Global Warming Theory

Watch this 2009 video complete with PowerPoint presentation slides, (a la Al Gore's fiction piece An Inconvenient Truth) in which Lord Christopher Monckton goes through the scientific evidence bit by bit, totally disassembling the shaky science and convenient lies of Global Warming theory. Though it can be a little tedious at times with all the numbers and data, Monckton is an engaging lecturer and the facts he presents are really the last nails in the coffin of human-caused Global Warming.

It's well worth the hour and a half viewing time.