Fighting to Preserve Liberty in America
It is almost astounding to watch the news analysis programs after the latest jobs reports of the creation of a paltry 18,000 jobs and unemployment ticking up to 9.2%. Nearly lost in the data is that the news from prior months was revised in a negative direction and at the same time the progressive talking heads say the stimulus worked.
It’s a term I haven’t heard for a while but it came back to me when listening to Mary Katherine Hamm comment on how President Barack Obama always seems to make the big speech, the bold pronouncement and then doesn’t follow through, rather leaving that to others. Back when the term was popular it stood for an important looking individual in a position of power with nothing inside.
Ah, the romance of rail travel. From Murder on the Orient Express to From Russia with Love to White Christmas to Some Like It Hot there is something alluring about a train. But for all those warm feelings it’s time to recognize that we are in the 21st century and to leave trains to the movies.
2010 was a tumultuous year. The Tea Party really found its voice and let it be heard. A huge shift in power in Congress came on Election night, but Pelosi, Reid and company tried to do in four weeks what they couldn’t do in two years. But that shouldn’t be surprising; they didn’t respect the will of the people when the people rose up against ObamaCare, why should they respect the voice of the people on Election Day?
He was made out to be a folk hero. Bernie Sanders was filibustering the old fashioned way, by talking continuously, like they did when Mr. Smith went to Washington. Sanders, the self proclaimed socialist, was railing against greed, but he failed to see the irony. While he was lambasting the unseen faces of America’s top 1% of earners, he stood there as the face of our federal government that can’t make ends meet on $2.165 trillion but those rich bastards had better pay their fair share. Not only couldn’t the federal government not get by on $2.165 trillion, it overspent that revenue by $1.5 trillion. Who is the real greedy bastard?
Nancy Pelosi is not feeling the love. After all she has done for us, we ingrates are not showing our proper appreciation. So, Speaker Pelosi is in talks with Steven Speilberg to see if he can help remake the image of the Democrats.
I still find myself in awe of our Founding Fathers who created our form of government. The competing ideas that they sifted through to come up with our Constitution and the safeguards in it is wondrous. The designs upon it by the progressives is by equal measure disturbing.
In Harry Reid’s Senate, this qualifies as dereliction of duty, as the Majority Leader said himself on Monday in defense of his frantic deal-making to get 60 votes. “I don’t know if there is a Senator that doesn’t have something in this bill that was important to them,” Mr. Reid said at a press conference that offered an unintentional commentary on modern democracy. “And if they don’t have something in it important to them, then it doesn’t speak well of them.” – Wall Street Journal, December 23, 2009
It kinda makes you feel warm all over, that our Congressional leaders are representing their constituents, selflessly doing what’s best for America in line with the consent of the governed (55% opposed according to latest Rasmussen poll).
Have you seen some of the commercials for Ally bank, where a man asks one little girl if she wants a pony and she gleefully says yes, so he hands her a toy pony. He then asks the next girl if she wants a pony and she says yes, so he calls out a live pony. The first girl, crestfallen, says, “You didn’t say I could have real pony.” To which he replies, “Well, you didn’t ask.” By now you probably know how Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas and Evan Byah of Indiana feel. They didn’t ask for a bribe in return for their vote on the health care bill, and like the creep in the commercial Harry Reid tells the world what a couple of saps they are for not doing so.
While Obama’s first stimulus plan lies sputtering on the ground, and he and his team tee up another one, they fail to realize that many small businesses that create most of the new jobs in this country, simply do not know what all this (health care, cap and trade, stimulus after stimulus) is going to cost them. Until they do, this uncertainty is what is keeping many of them from doing any hiring. How can you hire a new person when you no longer know how much your existing staff is going to cost when the music stops? So the unemployment picture will drag on no matter how may stimulus plans Obama rams through.
Coming to Their Senses
This is not over yet. The House version and the Senate version still have to be reconciled in committee. In the House Bart Stupak says he has 30 Democrats ready to vote against the bill, if his amendment against abortion is tampered with. The chumps in the Senate that Harry just made fools of, may re-think their support. The far left demands a public option be put in. Lieberman and a few others vow to vote against any public option. In addition, the members of Congress, when they return home to their districts, may not find them full of good cheer this Christmas, as incensed constituents express their opinions on why every Democrat in the Senate doesn’t understand 55% opposition, while they vote yea. Better watch out for flying fruitcakes, they can be lethal.
Yesterday in an interview with Oprah Winfrey for her Christmas special, President Obama magnanimously gave himself a grade of a “solid B+” on his first eleven months in office. Now that’s grading on a curve! I once had a very good professor who opened the first class with his philosophy of grading. He said:
“I don’t believe in grading on a curve. I don’t subscribe to the theory that if everyone learns nothing, you all get A’s”
Amen, brother. Now if you revisit President Obama’s statement, he must have really, really done badly, because grading his class of one student, he couldn’t even pull that “A”. Let’s look at his achievements:
How Bad is Bad?
What kind of calamity would we have to be in for Obama to give himself a “C” let alone an “F”? So we know where Obama’s ego is, and it is doing well, thank you very much. But the American people have their own report card and it shows that support for Obama has been on a downward straight line since his inauguration with his approval rating now in the mid to upper 40s, the lowest level in history for a president at the same point in his tenure.
Such a disconnect between Obama’s opinion of himself and the American people’s opinion is a serious problem. It drives him to continue to pursue policies that Americans adamantly oppose (e.g., 61% oppose the Senate health care bill). Most reasonable people would take such feedback and reassess their actions. But if an employee is blind to his shortcomings, the only thing to do is show them the door. The sooner, the better, folks because it’s not going to get any better.
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;” — Amendment I, Constitution of the United States
So what is one to make of the new campaign sponsored by atheists that says, “No God? That’s good. Let’s be good for goodness sake.” Who could argue with the last part? After all it comes from that famous Christmas carol, Santa Claus is Coming to Town. But what are we to make of the first part?
How do you argue in favor of something that doesn’t exist? Having a manger scene in the public square next to a menorah is not the establishment of religion on the part of the government that is prohibited in the Constitution. But demanding that all signs and symbols of religion be banned from the public, to me, comes pretty close to the state establishment of a religion called secularism. What was the point of the First Amendment prohibition of the establishment of religion?
Religion and America
The atheists will argue that a manger scene on public land is contrary to the establishment clause. How so, I ask? Specifically what religion is it establishing? Christianity? One of the reasons that the Founders created the establishment clause was to protect freedom of religion. Christianity is too broad a term to be considered an organized religion. If you don’t believe me, ask the Pilgrims, and the Quakers, and the Catholics, and the Mennonites who fled the persecution that came with not swearing allegiance to the Church of England. They are all Christians and that was the whole point. The Founding Fathers did not want the new nation of the United States to form an official state religion and a specific form of worship and tyrannize anyone who did not adhere to it. Having a belief in God and adhering to a particular way of practicing it are not the same. It is easy to see that the Founding fathers manifestly believed in the former while protecting everyone’s rights to the latter. So the very argument that the atheists and the ACLU are making should be pointed at themselves, for they are demanding that everyone follow their religion to keep the public square naked.
Faith of Our Fathers
“WE hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness…” — The Declaration of Independence
Are we to believe that the same people who wrote and signed this document meant that faith should be banished from the public square? The Founding Fathers called upon God repeatedly for strength, guidance, and courage. To say we should do the opposite today and call that the American way is bizarre, to say the least.
Pointing Out the Obvious
In any display of a manger scene or a menorah, or a Christmas tree, wreath, etc. the atheists are also covered. Perhaps we need to be more careful to make it obvious. An area, of appropriate size, should just be cordoned off or outlined in chalk, with nothing in it. That’s what atheists believe in, nothing, so wherever you see nothing around the display, they are there. They are represented. Their tacky messages criticizing or condemning people of faith, is what is out of place and should be condemned. You don’t see a message in front of a manger scene or Christmas tree pointing to the menorah saying, “They missed the boat on this one!” Or a sign in front of the menorah pointing back at the manger saying, “Never happened!” The universal messages are peace and understanding, not a Madison Avenue pitch for one brand over another. So the atheists should stand down and go back to work.
Go Back to Work?
Yes, go to work. Why are you taking December 25th off? Without Christ, there is no Christmas. Without Christmas there is no national holiday on December 25th. With no national holiday on December 25th why aren’t you atheists working? Instead of putting up insipid signs on buses go to work with gusto! That will show the rest of us!
In his book, “What Americans Really Want…Really, ”Frank Luntz writes:
“Harris Interactive and MBA students from Brigham Young University developed a “happiness index” based on a list of questions such as positive relationships with friends and family members, worry about work and finances, and spiritual beliefs…for the most part, the results were conclusive: The happiest people were those who described themselves as very religious and those who pray or study religion every day. Religious people worry less about their health and are less frustrated with work. At the very bottom of the happiness index were people who said they were not religious at all. The angriest people are atheists and agnostics.”
Just Because You’re Miserable, Don’t Blame the Rest of Us
So you don’t believe in God. This is America, that is your right. But you don’t have the right to tell the rest of us what to believe. “Well, you can’t do that in the public square, because it offends me.” How do you come out of your dwelling this time of year? If you are truly offended by Christmas how could you set foot in New York City? Is your argument that all the stores and churches along Fifth Avenue with their decorations are okay, but the decorations in City Hall Park, are an outrage to your sensibilities? Or are you really trying to start by establishing your religion of Secularism in direct violation of the Constitution?
Lunacy Unleashed
This has really gone too far. From removing a cross from the seal of the city of San Diego, to the assault on Christmas when will it end? When will we see the campaign to rename Corpus Christi, Texas, since the name means “The Body of Christ”?
Instead of attacking people of faith, how about trying to emulate them. Be of good cheer, hold a door open, help out at a soup kitchen, sing a joyful song. Maybe, just maybe, the next time Frank Luntz takes a poll, you won’t be the miserable wretches at the bottom of the happiness index.
Merry Christmas, everyone.
