Curbing the Political Vitriol

Yesterday at the Arizona Memorial Service for the six left dead at a political event by a raging madman, President Obama called for a lessening of polarizing political discourse. The tragedy also left 14 injured, some critically, including the prime target of the attack, Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.

"At a time when our discourse has become so sharply polarized—at a time when we are far too eager to lay the blame for all that ails the world at the feet of those who think differently than we do—it's important for us to pause for a moment and make sure that we are talking with each other in a way that heals, not a way that wounds," he said. He asked Americans not to "use this tragedy as one more occasion to turn on one another."

It will be encouraging if the President's own party heeds his words. Prominent Democrats and liberal talk-show hosts have been busy outrageously blaming the attack on conservative commentators—despite the fact that Giffords describes herself as a "Blue Dog Democrat," a moderate and independent thinker. And despite the fact that the shooter did not listen to talk radio and was not politically motivated. Perhaps the worst of all of them was the Sheriff of Pima County who was clearly acting like a Dupnik.

This is indeed outrageous, slanderous and libelous. Listen to your leader, liberals.

But there is another side to this. The President's words, whether rhetoric or no, hold truth. Across the board we need less vitriol. Fewer debates, more discussions.

I sometimes catch a few minutes of "Bill Bennett's Morning in America" on my early-morning drive to work. Bennett is admittedly a conservative, but one of a different stripe. TownHall once said that "stumbling across Bill Bennett on the radio is like bumping into Socrates at Starbucks. ... As you listen, you think maybe civilization isn't lost after all."

Socrates? Actually, his show is based on three conditions he calls the Socratic method: candor, intelligence and goodwill. Just this morning he was saying that it was just to early for yelling. On his show you find no yelling and no condescension.

I haven't heard enough of his show to be impressed by the content.

But I am impressed by his approach.

Yes, I am a staunch conservative and have no use for much of what liberals have done of late. I am glad for the change in D.C. But I also know that conservatives in the public square have a way of disappointing us too. The last election is not cause for celebration, but it is cause for hope.

I hope both parties (including the President himself) and all political commentators listen and follow the Socratic method:

Candor: Let's have the open doors and lack of secret negotiations we were promised.

Intelligence: Read the bills and intelligently discuss the content.

Goodwill: Enough said.

Throw the Bums Out

Our Suspicions Are Correct

From Andrew Malcolm of the LA Times:

We now know that federal employees across the nation owe fully $1 billion in back taxes to the Internal Revenue Service.

As in, 1,000 times one million dollars. All this political jabber about giving middle-class Americans a tax cut. Thousands of feds have been giving themselves one all along -- unofficially. And these tax scofflaws include more than three dozen folks who work for the president with that newly decorated Oval Office.

The Post's T.W. Farnum did some research and found that out of the total sum, just 638 workers on Capitol Hill owe the IRS $9.3 million in back taxes. As in, overdue. The IRS gets stiffed by the legislative body that controls its budget. How Washington works.

...
Privacy laws prevent release of individual tax delinquents' names. But we do know that as of the end of 2009, 41 people inside Obama's very own White House owe the government they're allegedly running a total of $831,055 in back taxes. That would cover a lot of special chocolate desserts in the White House Mess.

In the House of Representatives, 421 people owe a total $6,524,892. In the Senate, 217 owe $2,774,836. In the IRS' parent department, Treasury, 1,204 owe $7,670,814. At the Labor Department, where Secretary Hilda Solis' husband had some back-tax problems before her confirmation, 463 owe $7,481,463. Eighty-one workers for the Federal Reserve System's board of governors owe $1,076,733.

Over at the Justice Department, which is so busy enforcing other laws and suing Arizona, 1,971 employees still owe $14,350,152 in overdue taxes.

Then, we come to the Department of Homeland Security, which is run by Janet Napolitano, the former governor of Arizona who preferred to call terrorist acts "man-caused disasters." ...

Within that department, there reside 4,856 people who owe the tax agency a whopping total of $37,012,174.

Full article here.

"The Founders' Constitution" - Matthew Spalding

Worried about current leaders flouting the law and the Constitution? I am. Here Dr. Matt Spalding, an outstanding Constitutional expert, gives some very important information about our Constitution. This is a valuable lecture. The actual lecture begins right after the 3-minute mark.

John Ashcroft at EU

Thursday night I was privileged to attend an invitation only talk on leadership by John Ashcroft, former attorney general of the United States and governor of Missouri, at Evangel University here in Springfield.


Dr. Robert Spence, president of Evangel, opened in prayer.



He even played one number at the end of the evening.

Suggestion for Fixing America's Economy

Circulating by email, with the author's permission. Unsure of original author's name.

Dear Mr. President:

Please find below my suggestion for fixing America's economy.

Instead of giving billions of dollars to companies that will squander the money on lavish parties and unearned bonuses, use the following  plan. You can call it the Patriotic Retirement Plan:

There are about 40 million people over 50 in the work force. Pay them $1 million apiece severance for early retirement with the following stipulations:

1) They MUST retire.  Forty million job openings - Unemployment fixed.

2) They MUST buy a new American CAR.  Forty million cars ordered - Auto Industry fixed.

3) They MUST either buy a house or pay off their mortgage - Housing Crisis fixed.

If more money is needed, have all  members of Congress pay all their taxes...

Springfield Tea Party, Fassnight Park

Scenes of the second Springfield Tea Party, held at Fassnight Park on the Saturday following tax day (4-18-09). Photography by Ken Horn.

Dear President Obama

Dear President Obama,

Thank you for helping my neighbors with their mortgage payments. You know the ones down the street who in the good times refinanced their house several times and bought SUV's, ATV's, RV's, a pool, a big screen, two Wave Runners and a Harley. But I was wondering, since I am paying my mortgage and theirs, could you arrange for me to borrow the Harley now and then?

Richard Ford
Queen Creek, AZ

P.S. They also need help with their credit cards, when do you want me to start making those payments?

P.P.S. I almost forgot - they didn't file their income tax return this year. Should I go ahead and file for them or will you be appointing them to cabinet posts?

Mark Twain Seemed to Know Our Congress

Three classic quotes from Twain seem to apply very well today:

"Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself."

"All Congresses and Parliaments have a kindly feeling for idiots, and a compassion for them, on account of personal experience and heredity."

"It could probably be shown by facts and figures that there is no distinctly native American criminal class except Congress."

No this does not apply to all of them, just the overwhelming majority. And definitely to Congress as a whole for what they are doing to the American taxpayer.

The Carnage Has Begun: Obama Boosts Abortion

President Obama on Friday lifted a ban on federal funding for international groups that promote or perform abortions, reversing a policy of his predecessor, George W. Bush.

This is just the beginning of the bad news for those who value tiny lives. It promises to get much, much worse as this president's radical views meet his newfound executive power backed by a partisan Congress.

When my eyes met this news item my stomach literally turned. I am so grieved at what this does and what is before us.

The Associated Press said, "Obama signed it quietly, without coverage by the media, late on Friday afternoon, a contrast to the midday signings with fanfare of executive orders on other subjects earlier in the week."

Charmaine Yoest, President & CEO of AUL Action, said, "What a terrible way to begin a new administration: with an abortion business bailout that will exploit women in developing countries for political ends. We should not export the tragedy of abortion to other nations, and we certainly shouldn't do so via the hard-earned dollars of American taxpayers."

Finally: Bush Frees Border Patrol Agents

This was a long time in coming. It has been a major disappointment with the Bush administration that this was so long in coming. It is absolutely unbelievable that something like this could happen in America:

On his last full day in office, President Bush commuted the controversial sentences of two former Border Patrol agents convicted of shooting a Mexican drug runner in 2005.

The imprisonment of Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean had sparked outcry from critics who said the men were just doing their jobs and were punished too harshly. They had been sentenced to 11- and 12-year sentences, respectively.

Their sentences will now expire on March 20 of this year.

Ramos and Compean were sentenced in connection with the shooting of Osvaldo Aldrete Davila, who was shot in the buttocks while trying to flee along the Texas border. He admitted smuggling several hundred pounds of marijuana on the day he was shot and pleaded guilty last year to drug charges related to two other smuggling attempts.

The pair's case ignited debate across the country, as a chorus of organizations and members of Congress -- many of them Republican -- argued that the men were just doing their jobs. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., was particularly outspoken on the issue, at one time describing Ramos and Compean as "unjustly convicted men who never should have been prosecuted in the first place."

Nearly the entire congressional delegation from Texas and other lawmakers from both sides of the political aisle pleaded with Bush to grant them clemency. Conservatives hailed Bush's decision Monday.

"The whole thing was ridiculous from beginning to end, and two years was way too long for them to serve," said radio talk show host Laura Ingraham. "Conservatives are very happy across the country."

Read more.

Once they are freed, they will still deserve justice. The nation needs to: (1) absolve them of all guilt; (2) repay them for lost salary, as well as pain and suffering; (3) give them medals!

Taxpayers Fund Bailouts of Companies That Fire Them

Ronald Reagan said this in his first inaugural address on Jan. 20, 1981:

"It is no coincidence that our present troubles parallel and are proportionate to the intervention and intrusion in our lives that result from unnecessary and excessive growth of government. It is time for us to realize that we're too great a nation to limit ourselves to small dreams. We're not, as some would have us believe, doomed to an inevitable decline. I do not believe in a fate that will fall on us no matter what we do. I do believe in a fate that will fall on us if we do nothing. So, with all the creative energy at our command, let us begin an era of national renewal. Let us renew our determination, our courage, and our strength. And let us renew our faith and our hope."

Seems to fit today. My fear is that our current situation will spawn an "excessive growth of government" that will feed the bureaucracy monster and fat cats and starve the little guy.

Just before Christmas, GM in Detroit laid a bunch of people off, including a friend of mine ... by letter ... not even allowing him to come back and pack up his own things in his office. As taxpayers, these people helped fund the bailout of the company that fired them; they could at least be treated with courtesy.

(Makes you wish Reagan were still around.)

Obama Win Causes Obsessive Supporters to Realize How Empty Their Lives Are

You must watch this! It is hilarious.

Obama Win Causes Obsessive Supporters To Realize How Empty Their Lives Are

What's Ahead With Obama?

The Obama Administration (2009-2013)
by Dee Wampler

American voters have selected Barack Obama as our new president. Professing Christians who voted otherwise must now get over it. It’s a done deal. For those believing the Bible is the inerrant Word of God and who faithfully follow God’s Word--it’s time to return to work. I don’t mean let’s just go back to church, hide, and lock the door. I mean let’s go back to the culture war!

1. Christians must defend and protect all innocent babies and boldly advocate for the precious value of human life. Obama will become the most pro-abortion president ever and our nation will pay a terrible price. Obama may crush the pro-life movement as he supports the barbaric partial birth abortion procedure. Obama may expect the American people to fund unlimited abortions. It is “above his pay grade” to protect the unborn. Christians need to continue the fight.

Read the whole article here.

Attorney Dee Wampler has written for TPE. This article appeared in Ozarks Christian News, published by our friends John & Lila Sacoulas.

I Voted ...

... for John McCain and Sarah Palin ... and decency and morality.

God Is Not a Republican ... But He Is Pro-life

The “Religious Right” is a term used in a derogatory manner to discount people of a certain moral and spiritual persuasion. I would be counted as part of that group . . . and I do recognize that some segments of the group interpret their spiritual and moral positions too broadly.

But though I am a registered Republican, I must say this: God isn’t. Republicans, like Democrats, have their share of skeletons in closets; they have their share of backroom backslapping perpetuating good-old-boy networks; they take their share of all-expenses-paid junkets; and vote for their share of pork in the form of earmarks. There are good people and not-so-good people in the GOP. Many are nominal Christians, or not Christians, or hypocrites. But many are decent, Bible-believing folk of moral persuasion.

But God is not a Republican. Though I find it difficult to understand, I will concede that there are people of faith on the other side of the aisle as well. In order to be there, they must hold certain values, or planks in the Democratic platform, above the one that many, including me, think the most important—the party’s stand on abortion.

It is difficult to know if any candidate is genuine. People nearly always disappoint. That’s why it is crucial to look not at how charismatic an individual might be, but what an individual’s record has shown him to be. The IRS allows non-profits to take stands on issues . . . and I think we should stand with God.

For you see, while God is not a Republican, the Bible clearly tells us He is pro-life.

Deuteronomy 30:15-20, describing a pivotal time in Israel’s history, just may be applicable right now to the old U.S. of A.
“See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. For I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess. But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess. This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” (NIV)

Gianna Jensen Born-Alive Abortion: "If Obama had his way I wouldn't be here."

Staggering interview. Obama without defense.

Watch this remarkable video clip of an amazing young woman who says, "If Obama had his way I wouldn't be here."

"I was being burned alive."

"I'm unashamedly a Christian. I can't walk without the assistance of God."

Powerful clip from Hannity and Combes. Look how pathetic Combes appears while trying to defend Obama against this long-shot survivor of Obama's infanticide policies.


Gianna's ad:

McCain-Obama Voter Guide

From Wallbuilders.com This is objective information that clearly tells the story. Click image to see the stark differences larger.

The Next “Pro-life” Horror Story

He is the son of Francis Schaeffer, who was a significant Christian theologian who positively influenced evangelical conservatism.

In a bitter diatribe against conservative leaders called “Why I'm Pro-life and Pro-Obama,” on huffingtonpost.com, Frank Schaeffer, rather disingenuously claims one can be both.

Not possible.

Here is how Schaeffer reconciles the two:

“Today when I listen to Obama speak (and to his remarkable wife, Michelle) what I hear is a world view that actually nurtures life. Obama is trying to lead this country to a place where the intrinsic worth of each individual is celebrated. A leader who believes in hope, the future, trying to save our planet and providing a just and good life for everyone is someone who is actually pro-life.”

Pious platitudes. Political and theological double-speak from a supposed thinker. This rationalization is so thinly veiled, no one can seriously consider this to be thoughtful, or even articulate, writing. It is propaganda, pure and simple.

“A world view that actually nurtures life”? Save us from that kind of nurture.

Save is from that kind of “intrinsic worth.”

Save us from that kind of “celebration.”

Save us from Schaeffer’s unsupported generalizations.

“A leader who believes in hope, the future, trying to save our planet and providing a just and good life for everyone is someone who is actually pro-life.” He actually said this, I’m supposing, with a straight face.

Schaeffer is saying Obama is really a good guy.

So what if he supports the calculated dismemberment of tiny human beings; so what if he coldly refuses help or even comfort to dying, suffering children whose abortions failed, opting to let them suffer through their last feeble gasps at life in a corner room on soiled linen. This doesn’t matter. After all, he “believes in hope, the future, trying to save our planet and providing a just and good life for everyone”—everyone? So a few million tiny infants must suffer and die on his watch; he’s really a good guy at heart. Obama “is actually pro-life.”

Right.

Frank Schaeffer has departed, more than once, from the path of his famous, Godly father. One of those departures led him into the movie industry where he made B-rated horror flicks.

He’s at it again, contending against his dad’s legacy, not just with his anti-pro-life stand, but also with his lack of intellectual reasoning. His editorial reads like a script for one of his horror flicks. The evil scientist beckons: “Come into my parlor. Don’t be afraid. I am good and kindly … and actually pro-life.”

I fear the next horror story is being written now. It’s called “The Obama Presidency.”

For the sake of countless tiny lives, I hope it is never released.

Obama's First Act as President

Again, in his own words, listen to what he would do first as president.