"Liberals Love God, Too"

Last night, if they hadn't done so already, the evangelical group Sojourners officially became the liberal Democrat version of the Christian Coalition. They and their leader, Jim Wallis, sponsored a "forum" in Washington featuring Democrat presidential candidates Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, and Barack Obama. The forum, broadcast nationally on CNN, gave each candidate the opportunity to speak to Americans about their faith. What it really was was a chance for Democrats to say, "We believe in God, too". I don't see Sojourners and CNN giving Republican candidates a similar forum in the future.

It is not my place to judge the candidates' relationship with God. That is up to God. I struggle enough as it is in my own walk. What they say, do, and think is between them and God.

And, I believe there is room and freedom for disagreement between Christians on the role of government, and whether it exists to solve social problems. Nonetheless, I line up on the conservative side of most issues.

The Republican party has gotten a bad rap for being in the back pocket of "the Religious Right" for a quarter of a century. I don't see the Democrats catching any heat for appealing to religious constituencies, though there is obviously a rising political movement of the Religious Left.

Democrats last night treaded on the same water which Republicans have been treading on for years: using God to get votes. I don't mind that candidates are people of faith-as a matter of fact, I like them that way, especially if we agree on most of the same basic things. I am offended when a group uses God to pander to groups of voters, simply to get votes. Last night's forum in D.C. was a classic example. It was designed to show the American people that Republicans don't have a monopoly on God. I can see right through that. Democrats are just as good as Republicans at using God to get votes.

God is not a Republican. He is way too holy for that. But, I guarantee He is not a Democrat.

May God have mercy on this country. We sure need it.

Christians and the Republican Party, Continued Again

I came across this transcript of a talk radio program from November. It is by Steve Deace, from WHO Radio, the 50,000 watt blowtorch in Des Moines, Iowa. The great Ronald Reagan worked at that station as a young man, before moving on to bigger and better things. Steve Deace is a conservative Christian, and formerly hosted sports talk shows in that market, but was fired more than once for branching out into politics and religion on his sports shows. So, WHO gave him a political talk show. This is from November 14, 2006, one week after the Republican bloodbath on Election Day. It is Iowa-centric, as his show is local, but I like the principles involved. Steve Deace at WHO:

In a nutshell, I think the election was about the values voters again. This time the values voters were Democrats and Independents like Catholics on the South Side of Des Moines who were sick of getting lectured to about moral values and were sick of being called godless from the folks who hang out with Mark Foley, Rush Limbaugh, and Ted Haggard. This time the values voters were Republicans who stayed home rather than support the people who gave Jack Abramoff unfettered access to the process for the right price, and talked out of both sides of their mouth about family values. This time the values voters were Americans who couldn't understand why we should Stay the Course in Iraq when everyone with a brain could see we were really on a collision course there. This time the values voters were Americans who served their country in the military and were skeptical about our foreign policy, and they were tired of having their patriotism questioned for doing so by folks who never wore a uniform.

This time the values voters gave a swift, hard kick to the shins of the Republican Party. But they didn't do it so that Democrats could enact a leftist agenda from academia or Hollyweird. They did it because the Democrats were the only check and balance they had on the drunk with arrogance and rife with hypocrisy GOP. The Democrats were sadly the only option left.

But as values voters, particularly if our values come from our Christian faith, I think we're tired of being reactionaries. We're tired of the lesser of two evils. We want to go on the offensive, without being offensive. We're not wise as serpents and innocent as doves. We're really coming across as soothing as fire ants and as dumb as a box of rocks. We don't understand how the system really works. We don't understand why the people we vote for don't go and do what we tell them to.

So we think if we can take over a party and re-write its platform we've made a difference. We think if we scream louder people will hear us. We're so eager to be heard and to make a difference that any politicians that can quote a few Scripture verses and call Jesus his favorite philosopher makes us swoon like groupies.

It's not working. We're doing it wrong. We're not impacting the system. We're actually pawns of it. We're not Salt & Light. We're actually lambs led to slaughter. And our message is being corrupted and used as a partisan weapon, not healing. What values voters need to do is make their values common sense values, like they were a generation or two ago. And for them to be common sense, they must first become common again, just like they were a generation or two ago.

That's why I laid out a vision for values voters to become a cultural version of Farm Bureau. When we come back I'll explain again what we mean by that, and explain to you why I think it's the only approach that will work for the values voters. We're going to conduct a political science class from the school of hard knocks and street smarts.

Farm Bureau is a group that so believes in the value of agriculture to our state's economy and heritage that it focuses all of its energies implementing its vision. Given the candidates it has endorsed over the years, I'm guessing that most of the folks at Farm Bureau are right of center. But do you think that because Democrats are in power in the Statehouse now they're just going to stop advancing their agenda? Of course not. And guess what, even though Farm Bureau may have endorsed some of their Republican opponents the Democrats don't want them to, either.

What do you think the right of center hierarchy at Farm Bureau did the day after Republicans got slaughtered in the elections? They did what the hierarchy at any organization would've done a freakishly warm 70-degree day in November.

They went golfing at Glen Oaks.

Sure, there might have been some hand-wringing individually because beyond agriculture there are issues that some of the individuals there care about. And those issues are in jeopardy with a left of center majority. But Farm Bureau will get what it wants whether Jim Nussle or Chet Culver wins. It's going to get a piece of the pie no matter who is in power, it's just a matter of what flavor of pie it is.

While those Farm Bureau execs were golfing at Glen Oaks on Wednesday, their cell phones rang. It was somebody from Leonard Boswell's office, wanting to know what they wanted in the next Farm Bill. It was somebody from Tom Harkin's office wanting to know the same. It was somebody from Chet Culver's campaign wanting to know how they could work together. You know what, those phone calls might have been made by Boswell, Harkin, and Culver themselves!

Why would Democrats do that? Because politics is a racket and all rackets are a numbers game. Farm Bureau has the numbers, and any good politician will move where the food is.

Folks, this isn't cynical. It's the system. Too many value voters believe they can impact the system from the inside out. Instead, influence is exerted on the political process from the outside in. This is what the media and special interests groups get that values voters don't. We values voters think we can infiltrate the ranks of a political party's hierarchy and reform it. They think they can make it holy by the virtue of their being there. And in a small sense they can, but in the big picture they can't.

This is why Jesus didn't overthrow the Roman government. He saw the bigger picture. This is why he built a church upon a rock, not a political party.

A political party exists to attain worldly power through the means of raising money and winning elections. Values Voters are called to set aside earthly power and rewards for heavenly gain and eternal salvation. Do you see now why we values voters are consistently frustrated with the political parties?

Too many value voters are naively acting like they can actually make the Republican Party the Moral Majority. Too many value voters are naively acting like they can actually make the Democratic Party Feed the Children. You can't. How many more times must we beat our heads against the wall and how many more times must we attack windmills with toothbrushes before we figure this out?

The Parties aren't interested in saving America, let alone the world. That's the job of the Church. The Parties are interested in winning. Period. End of sentence. That's it. That's all they care about. For the Parties winning isn't everything. It's the only thing.

Why? Because winning gets you power and power gets you paid. It's all about the Benjamins. It's why guys like Bill Knapp and Jim Cownie will eventually get their way no matter who is in power. There aren't any stark differences between these two very successful and powerful men.

So all they did was split the pie in half, with Cownie getting the Republicans and Knapp getting the Democrats. But it's the same pot of gold going to both sides. And then everyone still toasts each other at the same cocktail parties at 801 Grand no matter who wins.

This isn't a corruption of the system, it is the system. It's the system our brilliant Founding Fathers gave us. These men varied in their religious fervor to some degree or another, but they all shared a common Judeo-Christian ethic. And the Judeo-Christian ethic says that human beings are not inherently good. The Judeo-Christian ethic says that human beings are selfish and sinful. The Judeo-Christian ethic says that human beings need saving, most of the time from themselves.

That's why they gave us a system of checks and balances. They gave us a triune government, each branch with its own characteristics. They gave us a system where the government was to be afraid of its people as opposed to the other way around.

They gave us a system that avoided oligarchy and monarchy. Where each branch has oversight of the other. And then they gave us the right to keep and bear arms because tyranny might think twice about trying to oppress a people that can shoot back.

Our system works, if we work it. But the system isn't perfect, heck nothing made by human beings is. Our Matrix has one fatal flaw. For power to the people to work it requires, as John Adams himself wrote, a moral and God-fearing people to make it work for the benefit of all the people.

Otherwise those who want to redefine right from wrong and aren't God-fearing would be able to utilize the system to implement all sorts of corruption and deviancy.

This is what is happening today. Let's discuss how to reverse that trend.

So, how do values voters make the system work for them?

Have you wondered why leftists in Hollywood, academia, the bench, the media, or at the ACLU are constantly accusing us of trying to institute a theocracy when the cultural tide seems to be in their favor? Have you ever wondered why they also accuse you of trying to impose your values on them when in reality their values seem to dominating our culture? That's because evil often accuses good of doing what it's doing. And you know what, evil is afraid good will figure out the scam and turn the tables on them.

We're not the theocrats, they are. We're not the ones demanding that the account of how human beings got here that lines up with our worldview can be the only one taught in the public schools. They are. We're not the ones remaking public institutions in our religious image, they are. Remember, secular humanism is classified as a religion by the Supreme Court.

But here's what they know and we haven't figured out yet. There's more of us than them! And that's what they're most afraid of. They're greatest nightmare is that one day we will figure out how to use the system just like they do.

These leftists make up a scant percentage of Americans, but they hold a drastically disproportionate amount of the political power in this country. 35% of Americans identify themselves in polls as evangelicals. 35%! That would represent the biggest voting block in America. The feminists can't deliver 35% of the voters. The gun owners can't deliver 35% of the voters. The NEA can't deliver 35% of the voters. The gay and bisexual lobby represents 3% of America according to the latest census data, but it's also one of the most powerful lobbyist groups in the country. Can you imagine what 35% could do?

On top of that, polls don't typically identify black Christians like my friend Jonathan Narcisse as an evangelical. But he's more conservative than I am. What about all those predominantly black ministries that preach the Word of God every Sunday?

On top of that, what about all those practicing Catholics who take the thousands of years old teachings and traditions of their ministry seriously in their daily lives? Do the math on this.

Orthodox Christianity has the numbers to be the biggest and most influential voting block in America. But it can't do that by selling out to one of the parties. Instead it must its numbers to leverage the parties and get the parties to sell out to them. I'm not talking about bullying or making a power play. I'm talking about working the system we have. We work it like wise serpents, but we do so with the right motives and for the right causes so we're innocent as doves.

Politics is all about math, and the numbers are on our side. The problem is we're divided, and too busy trying to get each other to buy 100% of each other's agendas. That's not the way the system works. The system works by taking what you can get. Now, some of you are saying, “but Steve that's what we've been trying to do the whole time before you turned your back on the GOP. You're contradicting yourself.”

No, I'm not.

Why take just what we can get from the Republicans, when we can also take what we can get from the Democrats, too?

This is what Farm Bureau does. Farm Bureau can get tax breaks for farmers from a Tom Harkin who never saw a tax he couldn't raise, and it can government handout subsidies from the fiscal conservative Chuck Grassley.

It other words, it gets French Silk Pie from the Democrats and Dutch Apple from the Republicans.

Orthodox Christianity, or values voters, can do the same thing because we've got more numbers than anyone else does. We can do it if we give up the searching for the fool's gold of the perfect candidate and party. It will never happen.

So, we can sit around trying to convince Cyrus and Darius to worship the one, true God, or we can use them to send us back to our homeland and give us the money to rebuild the temple. I can scream about how dark the room is, or I can just light a candle. I can hold a sign on a street corner about social injustice or abortion, or I can work the system to get rid of both.

You work the system by allowing your issues to be co-opted, not letting it happen. You don't let the Republicans become the party of family values, you let the Democrats do it because they'd love to be liked by the folks in the suburbs, too. You don't let the Democrats become the party of the poor, you let the Republicans do it because they'd love to be considered compassionate just once.

Are you following me on this?

This is how everyone else uses the system and gets ahead of us, even though we have more of them and keep beating them in elections. They have figured out how to use the system.

A church is positively impacted by great moral leadership from the top down and the vision comes from the inside out. But a political party has no vision and even its greatest visionaries can be negatively influenced. Reagan and FDR are the two greatest presidents of the 20th century, but one tried to illegally stack the Supreme Court and the other tried to illegally fund the Contras. Our politicians aren't pastors. They're more like CEOs. And we are the shareholders. The CEO makes the big salary, but the shareholders influence the CEO because they're the ones paying his salary. And any good CEO listens to his shareholders, even the ones that didn't vote for him to be CEO, because he likes earning that big salary.

Steve Sheffler and the Iowa Christian Alliance shouldn't have been with the Republican Party's gathering for election night losers at the Savory on Tuesday. He instead should've been at the Hotel Fort Des Moines with the winners, huddling with those precious few Democrats that voted for the marriage amendment and strategizing about how to influence a Culver administration.

For example, values voters in the Iowa Caucasus shouldn't worry about whether or not Sam Brownback or Mike Huckabee can be everything they're looking for. We're not running for pastor. We're running for president. They should instead be looking for the opportunist that can be the most easily influenced out of a lust for power. The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. God can use John McCain just like he can use Mitt Romney. In fact, the more spineless and power-driven the politician the more easily he can be influenced.

If values voters went to the Iowa Democratic Party with a blank check and 25,000 names of folks who would switch party affiliation if they agreed to ban all abortions after the first trimester. Guess what, they would. If the gay rights lobby shows up at the Republican Party with more money and potential voters than the Christian Right, guess what? The Republican Party will suddenly become the party of tolerance. This is the way the game is played.

The Republican Party doesn't care about Christian Morality and never will. It cares about getting the votes of those that do. The Democratic Party doesn't care about Christian charity and never will, it cares about the votes of those that do.

So, values voters, stop treating politics like the Church. Instead, treat it like the whore of Babylon. We have the votes. We're the largest block of voters in the country. It's not a matter of which party will do what we tell them, it's really about which party gets the honor and privilege of doing what we tell them to do.

That's the way we need to roll.

Remember yesterday, when Ted Sporer of the Polk County Republican Party said over and over how the GOP is afraid of being called intolerant and being described as uncompassionate? Well, you know what, the Democrats hate being called godless and unpatriotic, too. The majority party has the most power politically, but that also makes it the most sensitive criticism because once in power they want to keep that power.

That's why Dubya gave us a Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit and Clinton gave us the Defense of Marriage Act. That's why Dubya didn't close the borders, but Clinton did welfare reform. Dubya and Clinton both looked for every possibility to co-opt their opposition's issues because they want to get re-elected. Now not all politicians are like, only about 75% of them. But the entire system is like that. Why do you think Indian Reservations are exempted from McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform? Could it be that Indian reservations in Arizona give McCain a lot of money?

We don't need to keep fighting for a political purity that is never forthcoming. We just need to understand how the system really works and work it. Politics is a business, and in any business the customer is always right. And values voters are the largest block of customers in politics.

Christians And The Republican Party, Continued

I have been searching for months for a way to communicate my thoughts on the relationship between the Church of Jesus Christ and the Republican party. It has been a work in progress. I am now at a point where I can publish them. The results can be surprising, based on the comments I wrote on the late Jerry Falwell recently.

I am a life-long Republican. I have voted for one Democrat in my life, over 20 years ago, and he may be a Republican now, for all I know. I grew up in an area and in a time when a person could be a committed Christian and be a Democrat. I learned through knowing enough Oklahoma Democrats to realize that not everyone in that party is a godless secularist, even though their party has been taken over by them at the national level. It is ok to disagree on the role, size and scope of government. It is not ok for a Christian to embrace their party's agenda on cultural issues such as abortion and homosexual behavior.

The Church and political parties have different purposes. The Church exists to preach the gospel, and to be salt and light in society. Political parties exist first to get politicians elected, and then to advance an agenda if it is so inclined.

Conservative Christians have helped Republican candidates get elected for a quarter of a century. With that, many of us have expected to see social change (such as abolition of abortion) achieved by political means. It is 2007, and Roe v. Wade has not been overturned. I believe progress has been made in that area, but we are not where we want to be.

The Republican party has experienced a renaissance in the last quarter-century, electing three presidents, and controlling both houses of Congress at various times during that period, following decades of a Democrat hammerlock on Capitol Hill. The GOP would not have made such gains without an appeal to culturally conservative voters.

For a long time, I have grown increasingly uncomfortable with the alliance between two groups I ally with: the body of Christ, and the Republican party. God is holy, and is not to be co-opted merely for the sake of political power. Power and a political agenda can corrupt the church, making it powerless to spread the Gospel. At the same time, an overtly spiritual agenda turns off blocks of voters, making it harder for conservative Republican candidates to be elected.

A person should not have to be a Republican to become a Christian. Likewise, a person should not have to be a Christian to vote Republican.

I am not advocating for Christians to bail out of the Republican party. Given the right nominee, we'll still see church parking lots full of cars with Republican bumper stickers in the fall of 2008.

My pipe dream, really, is for increased influence for Christians in the Democrat party. I'm afraid it may be a pipe dream, because it is controlled by secularists at its highest levels, and has become the refuge for those repelled by the perceived religiosity of the Republican party.

The culture war is not over, by a longshot. However, we are beginning to realize that the Republican party is not a tool to win the culture war.

If anyone is curious, no, this is not an endorsement of Rudy Giuliani for president. Far from it. I'm leaning toward Fred Thompson, if he gets into the race.

Well Done, Good And Faithful Servant

I was going to post some more on Christians and the Republican Party. I still plan to do so later. However, the Christian world was shaken today with the news of the death of Jerry Falwell.

Jerry Falwell was someone who allowed the power of God to change his life to the maximum degree. He was the son of an atheist alcoholic bootlegger, and was barred from delivering the valedictory speech at his high school for using counterfeit lunch tickets. He accepted Christ as his Savior at the age of 19, and soon felt called to vocational ministry. He attended Baptist Bible College in Springfield, Missouri, and returned to Lynchburg, Virginia upon graduation. He then started what became Thomas Road Baptist Church, now a 24,000-member megachurch. He also was the founder of Liberty University, which has evolved in 35 years from a small Bible college into a world-class Christian university.

Falwell was best known, however, for his leadership of the Religious Right. He founded the Moral Majority in 1980, and used it as a vehicle to register evangelical voters and to assist in the election of Ronald Reagan as President. From that point, conservative Christians were a bloc of voters that Republican candidates would ignore at their own peril. Falwell was known as a fiery preacher that was unafraid to speak against social ills such as abortion and homosexuality.

I agreed with him on all the important theological issues, and on most of the minor ones. His church was probably a little too old-fashioned for me, but there's nothing wrong with that at all. I think of him as a prophet. He took unpopular stands on divisive social issues of the day, and was hated by the left and by some on the right. He was a spokesman for traditional morality in a world that was hostile to his convictions, and really didn't want to hear that they might be wrong. Most of all, he was a faithful preacher of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He believed and preached that God loves people, that people were sinners, and that God sent His son Jesus to die on the cross for the sins of man. Contrary to the opinion of many, he believed and preached that salvation was obtained by the grace of God by faith alone, and not by works or morality. Though he believed that traditional morality was in the best interest of the United States, he also believed that morality alone could not save the individual, but that only the grace of God alone provided salvation for mankind.

The world and the United States are better because Jerry Falwell was on this earth. I believe he met his Lord today, and heard the words of Jesus: "Well done, good and faithful servant".

Christians and the Republican Party, Part 1

I have been procrastinating, in regards to writing some of my thoughts on this subject. I will begin here to describe some of my current thoughts.

I am a Christian. I am a conservative, both socially and fiscally. I believe in a strong national defense. Currently, my political home is in the Republican party.

Conservative Christians became a force in the Republican party with the first election of Ronald Reagan as president in 1980. A lot of Christians felt duped by Jimmy Carter in 1976, who campaigned as a born-again Christian, but governed as a social liberal. Dr. Jerry Falwell founded the Moral Majority, which organized a large amount of Christians in order to fight social ills such as legalized abortion. The Reagan campaign succeeded in bringing a large amount of socially conservative voters into the Republican column. It made for a winning coalition of business-oriented conservatives, old-line northern Republicans, small-government libertarians, and socially conservative Republicans, independents, and Democrats. Ronald Reagan won two terms with this coalition, which built a party strong enough to capture both houses of Congress in 1994.

This incarnation of the Republican party was able to hold the House for 12 years, and the Senate for all but a couple of those years. It was also able to impeach President Clinton (in the House), and elect George W. Bush president twice.

Now, on the heels of the loss of both houses of Congress, an increasingly unpopular war, and a looming presidential election in 2008, this coalition finds itself on thin ice. In future installments, I will analyze the implications, and the role of the Christian in modern-day American politics.

More to come....

Barack, The Magic Negro

On March 19, 2007, David Ehrenstein of the LA Times wrote a column about Hollywood and politics. The headline of his column: "Obama, the 'Magic Negro.'" Then on March 21, 2007 the Rush Limbaugh show aired a parody produced by Paul Shanklin, imitating the Rev. Al Sharpton singing, "Barack The Magic Negro."

LA Times article

Sometimes, the truth hurts.

Nancy Pelosi's First 100 Days

A Big Deal

Today is the 60th anniversary of the day when Jackie Robinson first played in a major league game. He was the first African-American to play in the major leagues.

Major League Baseball is pulling out all the stops to honor him, declaring today Jackie Robinson Day. His number 42 has already been retired by every major league team. Today, over 200 players are wearing number 42, including several entire teams.

ESPN has been promoting this non-stop for a week. Normally, I believe ESPN blows everything way out of proportion. I get really sick of their hype machine. But, I really don't mind this. This sea of acclaim is coming about 35 years too late.

Jackie Robinson paved the way for African-Americans to play and excel, not just in baseball, but in the NFL and NBA as well. Baseball was a really big deal in 1947, and race relations were not good. Jackie Robinson broke a lot of stereotypes and took a lot of heat as a pioneer.

This is a big deal.

Two addendums: This ceremony at Dodger Stadium is becoming a circus. First, they have a black church choir sing a re-written version of the gospel song "O Happy Day". Instead of saying "when Jesus washed my sins away", they sang a line about Jackie playing baseball. It's not necessarily sacreligious, but it sounded really cheesy.

And, Jesse Jackson is there tonight in his role as President of Black America. I'm sure Jason Whitlock is happy about that.

Someone Who Gets It

Jason Whitlock is a sports columnist for the Kansas City Star and for AOL. He formerly appeared on ESPN.com and on ESPN's The Sports Reporters (he was the big black guy that wasn't from the East Coast).

Jason always has hot opinions. I don't always agree with him, but he always makes his point well.

I doubt if I agree with him much politically. However, he hits the nail on the head with this AOL article:

Time For Jackson, Sharpton To Step Down

I don't think this is merely a case of some young hip-hop guy wanting to take over the civil rights movement. He is, however, exposing Jackson and Sharpton for what they are: race hustlers.

Jason is going to be catching a lot of heat in the next few days, especially in the black community. He gets paid to give hot opinions. I think he has a lot of support out there, though.

Enough, Already

The past week has brought a manufactured firestorm, thanks to the Revs. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, and the guilty politically correct liberals that run ESPN.

Radio talk show host Don Imus and his producer had a really stupid and offensive conversation over the air last week. In that exchange, he referred to the Rutgers women's basketball team as "nappy-headed hos". It was a very ignorant remark. You don't say things like that about anyone in public and in a professional atmosphere, especially over the air on the radio and on TV.

I've always wondered what the big deal was about Imus. I always thought he was an overrated blowhard, but the media elites always liked him and kept his show going.

These comments didn't go unnoticed. Our favorite race hustlers, Jackson and Sharpton got into the act, and fanned the flames of racial tension, as they tried to defend the Rutgers players. Jackson has experience in offending other ethnic groups, having referred to New York City as "Hymietown" in the 1980's. Sharpton had Imus on his radio show over the weekend, and got the embattled host to apologize for his comments.

Today, though, the Rutgers ladies had their own press conference. It took up an hour of airtime on ESPN. I'm glad I was at work, and I'm also glad I wasn't recording World's Strongest Man or whatever on the DVR, or else I would have missed it. The Worldwide Leader In Political Correctness has made sure to give this as much airtime as possible.

Imus's stupidity has been blown way out of proportion. He was wrong to call the Rutgers team what he called them. However, I'm tired of seeing the victim card played here. Imus is the stupid one here. Not the Rutgers team.

Imus plans on meeting with the Rutgers team in the near future. The team has not decided if they will accept Imus' apology. And, so what if they do or don't.

Enough of the race card. Enough of the victim card. Imus looks really ignorant, and he doesn't need the help of Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton for that.

Beware The Clintons

They're trying to get back into the White House. If you thought Bill Clinton was bad, wait until his wife becomes president. They've gotten away with every crime known to man, and can't wait to get back for more.

Beware, and be afraid.

This video sums it all up.

Please Indulge Me...

...while I put on my Angry Not-Quite-Young-Anymore Man hat.

Is anyone else out there mad that the liberals in Congress and their friends in the mainstream media can get away with throwing our troops under the bus? And, can anyone out there see that these people are mainly against the war in Iraq not because of any opposition to war, but because they hate President Bush?

You didn't see conservatives organizing anti-war rallies while Bill Clinton was bombing the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade and the aspirin factory in Sudan. Likewise, the left was nowhere to be seen in opposition to American military involvement in the former Yugoslavia. No, they supported their president to the ultimate degree.

If Bill Clinton or any other Democrat had been President, and led us into war in Iraq under the exact same circumstances and with the same knowledge, the Democrats in Washington would be with him all the way. So, too, would Republicans. The GOP is not opposed to war in defense of the security and values of the United States, even when a Democrat is running the country. The Democrats are opposed to this war because it is Bush's war, plain and simple.

There have been obvious missteps in the war in Iraq. That happens when you are fighting with one arm tied behind your back. That happens when you have the press and Democrats in Congress trying to micro-manage the military. We are trying to fight a more "sensitive" war in order to attempt to manage public opinion in blue states and in the rest of the world.

The modern Democratic party does not believe in fighting foreign enemies of the United States. They only believe in fighting Republicans and those who believe in absolute values, especially absolute values that differ from their own. This is not Harry Truman's, or even John F. Kennedy's Democratic party. Heck, it's not even the party of LBJ anymore. The Democratic party is now run by people that view the United States as the root of all evil in the world.

May God protect America from its enemies, both foreign and domestic.

Generally Speaking

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Peter Pace, stepped into contoversy this week in an interview with editors of the Chicago Tribune. In the interview, he called homosexual acts "immoral".

As predicted, the media and their liberal allies have been on the warpath to castigate Gen. Pace. "Advocacy" groups have come out as credible spokesmen to the media to provide a welcomed opposing viewpoint. The drive-by media have their sights on Gen. Pace, and would really like for him to step down.

Gen. Pace released a statement today, declaring his support for the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy on homosexuals in the military. He did not apologize for his comments, as homosexual groups were begging him to do. He merely stated that he wished he hadn't declared his personal view on the subject publicly.

Gen. Pace is more than entitled to his opinion. He is also entitled to express his opinion. In an earlier day and time, it would not even be a news story.

Liberals and their friends in the media view the military as a social engineering factory. They have driven our government into fighting more "sensitive" wars, and are attempting to lead our military to defeat in Iraq, just as they did in Vietnam almost 40 years ago. They believe the United States is the root of all evil in the world. One of the reasons for this is that they believe people like Gen. Pace are what's wrong with our country. They sneer upon people with traditional values. In the liberal world, the only absolute value is tolerance. To be intolerant is to be evil. Gen. Pace is right regarding homosexual and adulterous behavior. We need more leaders like him to be vigilant for traditional morality, in the face of opposition from the dominant media culture.

Pander, Pander

Conservatives, and especially Christian conservatives, are torn among prospective Republican presidential candidates in the 2008 election. None of the major candidates have been able to move sufficiently right enough to excite a good chunk of the party base. Each of the major announced candidates have some negatives that turn off the base, but have some positives that can attract independent voters.

Lurking in the background for some time has been former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. Newt engineered the Republican takeover of the House of Representatives, and has been a champion for conservative principles. Mr. Newt (as Rush Limbaugh used to call him) has also had some personal moral failures in his past, which helped to destroy his political career.

This week, Newt attempted to shore up the Republican base, by addressing questions of his moral character. He appeared on Dr. James Dobson's radio show, and admitted to an adulterous affair, at the same time that the House was pursuing the impeachment of President Clinton. Gingrich expressed an admission of guilt in this environment, and revealed himself as a sinner in need of grace.

Apparently, Newt did ok with Dr. Dobson, as Jerry Falwell invited him to give the commencement address at Liberty University in May. Falwell last year invited John McCain (no friend of conservatives) to speak at Liberty's graduation. Dr. Falwell still fashions himself as some sort of Republican power broker.

I am so torn on this. I strongly believe in the grace of God, and that God will forgive the sins of anyone who asks with a repentant heart. I believe God can be at work in the hearts of men, including Newt Gingrich. I hope this is the case. I'd like to give him the benefit of the doubt.

However, the cynic in me sees this as pandering. Newt sees a large group of uncommitted Republican voters up for grabs, primarily conservative Christians who comprise up to 40 percent of GOP primary voters. He also knows that Dr. Dobson and Dr. Falwell are respected figures among social conservatives. Gingrich has always pushed social conservative values as part of his agenda, and his credentials there are not questioned. However, the timing of the Dobson interview and the Falwell invitation smack of pandering and some coordination. I don't think Christians are all a bunch of Southern redneck rubes. Christians are not just merely a monolithic voting bloc. Our votes have to be earned.

One of my concerns is that we have someone with admitted moral failures positioning himself as the social conservative candidate. Once again, I believe that God can and will forgive him of his sin. However, will the electorate be so forgiving? And, will the liberal mainstream media be so forgiving? I don't think so.

Americans vote for likable people, based on the information they have. The press has so demonized Newt that I don't think he has a chance of being elected president. I think he would make a great Vice President under a President Giuliani (this is not an endorsement of Rudy-I don't see myself going down that road).

Newt has some appeal. However, don't look for church parking lots full of "Gingrich for President" bumper stickers next year.

The Obama Shakedown

Video of Barack Obama in the 'hood in Cleveland.

No, Barack, not everyone has $5 for a political campaign.

I bet he doesn't check the box on his tax returns to donate $3 to the Presidential Campaign Fund.

The Ultimate Duke Lacrosse Player

Mary Katherine Ham at Townhall.com writes this great article about the bravery of a former Duke lacrosse player:

There's another Duke lacrosse story, one you won't hear as much about as the one that involves a party, a stripper, and a rape that never happened.

There's another Duke lacrosse player, one you won't hear as much about as those accused of brutally assaulting an exotic dancer in early 2006 at a Durham house party.

There's another Duke lacrosse legacy, one you won't hear as much about as the tainted and race-scarred one a corrupt D.A. left in his wake.

On February 9, 2006, Army Ranger Jimmy Regan died in northern Iraq when the vehicle he was riding in hit a roadside bomb. He was 26 years old.

Four years earlier, before four tours in the war on terror-- two in Afghanistan and two in Iraq-- Regan had scored four goals in the 2002 ACC Championship lacrosse game to lead Duke to the crown.

With a highly regarded Duke undergrad degree in economics, a scholarship offer to Southern Methodist University law school, and a job offer on the table with USB financial firm upon graduation, Regan decided to join the Army out of college. He even bypassed Officer Candidates School, for which he was eligible, because it would "slow down my ability to become a Ranger," he told a friend.

Former teammate and current Duke lacrosse assistant coach Kevin Cassese remembered Jimmy as, "the ultimate Duke lacrosse man-- a man of tremendous loyalty, character, and fortitude," whose decision to join the Army seemed natural to anyone who had seen him lead on the field. "Jimmy was a leader in every sense of the word, and the pride and honor of fighting for our country was something that meant a lot to him," Cassese said in an e-mail interview.

Regan's fiance Mary McHugh remembers what drove him to be a Ranger in the first place:

"He said, 'If I don't do it, then who will do it?'" said McHugh, a medical student at Emory University in Atlanta. "He recognized it as an option and he couldn't not do it."

McHugh and Regan were set to wed in 2008 when his stint in the Army was up. They wanted to move to Chicago, where her family lived, and Regan planned to be a social studies teacher and coach lacrosse.

Instead, Regan's three sisters--ages 25, 20, and 16--parents, fiance, and friends mourned him in Manhasset, N.Y. this week before laying him to rest in Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors.

His awards and decorations include the Army Achievement Medal, Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Army Service Ribbon, Combat Infantryman Badge, Expert Infantryman Badge, Parachutist Badge and Ranger Tab.

He was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart Medal.

In mourning, Regan's father-- also James-- thought not only of his son, but of the mission he died fighting:

"What is written in the papers and what is being politicized out there by our candidates is undermining our service," said James Regan, a senior vice president at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, a Manhattan financial services investment bank.

"These gentlemen that are out there are mission-focused," he said of the troops. "They're trying to do the best job they possibly can. There have been mistakes made, why even list them? ... You cannot put men in the field of battle and then change your mind and go out as a whip-dog. Let the men do their job."

Regan's Army service was not the first place he distinguished himself. Born in Rockville Centre, N.Y., Regan had become a stand-out student and student-athlete by the time he hit high school, earning an All-American designation for lacrosse and all-state scholar athlete honors in football at Chaminade High School in Mineola, N.Y. Duke offered him a scholarship for lacrosse, where he distinguished himself as an all-ACC tournament team mid-fielder and all-ACC academic team member.

"He was an impressive midfielder, which shouldn't surprise you because the midfielders do all the dirty work," Cassese said, referring to the back-and-forth nature of lacrosse's workhorse position. "The type of player he was doesn't even begin to measure up to the type of person he was, and he was a terrific player."

In Infantry Basic Combat Training, the Army said Regan graduated first in a class of 400, and was named "soldier of the cycle" in May 2004 before moving on to the Basic Airborne Course and the Ranger Indoctrination Program.

On Feb. 1, Regan was promoted to the rank of sergeant.

There is already one Duke lacrosse story you know all about. I've just told you another one-- one worth telling and retelling to as many people as will listen. It's a different story, a different player, and a different legacy-- one of heroism, not hooliganism; bravery, not brutality; honor, not assault.

Remember Jimmy Regan. He deserves it so much more than Mike Nifong's sordid soap opera, which has since stained the town, the field, and the team where this young hero once played.

The Regan family has established a scholarship fund in Jimmy's name. Donations can be sent to the Jim Regan Scholarship, c/o Chaminade Development Office, 340 Jackson Ave., Mineola, N.Y. 11501.

Mary Katharine Ham is the managing editor for Townhall.com.

Words cannot express my gratitude to those that go to Iraq and Afghanistan, in order to protect our freedom.

Discouraged, But Hopeful

As one can imagine, I have been pretty discouraged about politics, after the November 2006 elections. The Republican party took a bath, and the Democrats assumed control of both houses of Congress. I am very concerned about the implications, and about the 2008 presidential election.

In my opinion, the Republican party deserved to lose control of Congress. Members of our party were exposed as corrupt, and a lot of Republican congressmen and senators forgot why they were sent to D.C. in the first place. In the space of twelve years, our party went from one of serious reform to one that was fat and happy.

One cannot discount the war in Iraq as a factor, as well. Our men and women in Iraq are doing a great job, and have accomplished a lot, in spite of opposition both there and at home. The American people have not heard enough of the positive stories from the war, and have been subjected to a consistent drumbeat of misery and failure from Iraq over the last 4 1/2 years. People vote according to what they know, and they know mostly cluelessness and failure in Iraq, because that has been reported to them in the mainstream media.

We now find ourselves with a looming free-for-all on both sides of the presidential ballot in 2008. For the first time since 1972, there will not be anyone named Bush or Dole on the Republican ticket. In my opinion, that is a good thing.

The Republican party is losing its way because it has forgotten what has won elections for it. An agenda of smaller government, lower taxes, and a strong national defense can still win elections. Our party has been better at some of those things than others. Our party must prove itself as responsible stewards of government, when given the chance.

To come: My thoughts on social issues and the Republican party, and my thoughts on GOP presidential candidates.

Ramblings And Concerns, Part 1

In the days ahead, I will go into detail on my thoughts about various issues of the day. There are a lot of things that concern me. I will elaborate on those in future installments of this blog.

What drives my thoughts? I am a Christian. I consider myself conservative. Usually, that means I consider myself a Republican. That may not always be the case, from this point forward. Don't worry, though, Republicans/conservatives, as I agree with the Democrat party on nothing.

I am concerned about several things affecting our country. I am concerned about our country's stomach for a war against terrorism and Islamofascism. I am concerned about our leadership in Washington, D.C. I am concerned about the future of the Republican Party as a vehicle for conservatism. I am also concerned about the relationship between the church and the Republican Party, how it affects our ability to reach people for Christ, and how it affects the ability of the Republican Party to gain votes.

More to follow in the weeks and days to come...

The Worldwide Leader In Political Correctness

ESPN and its family of networks and media properties have been trumpeting former NBA player John Amaechi, and his coming out as a homosexual. ESPN Books released Amaechi’s book, Man In The Middle, last week, and ESPN has promoted it like crazy on its TV and radio networks. I don’t believe this is a story worthy of being on the bottom-line ticker, as it was last week along with NBA and Top 25 basketball scores. However, ESPN wants us to show them the money.

Yesterday, on a Miami radio station, retired Heat guard Tim Hardaway (above) made some comments regarding homosexuality, and his feelings about gay people. In today’s environment, he sounded really ignorant. However, he has a right to express his opinion.

I am a Neanderthal. I hold the Cro-Magnon view that marriage is to be between a man and a woman, and that all sexual activity outside the marriage relationship is wrong, whether it is heterosexual or homosexual.

I have friends and acquaintances that are gay. I find that lifestyle repulsive, but I find a lot of things repulsive. With that being said, I don’t hate gay people.

Hardaway went too far with his comments, by detailing publicly his hate for homosexuals. In my opinion, though, it’s ok for him to believe homosexual behavior is wrong. I’m sure he’d like to do that interview over. However, I believe he told the truth about the general feeling about homosexuals among professional athletes.

What I find even more troubling, though, is the endless chatter on this by ESPN and other media outlets. I have a problem with the agenda being promoted here. ESPN is a sports network. It does not, or should not, exist to promote a political or cultural agenda. I have a hard time believing that a host would be able to espouse the traditional view of marriage, and expect to keep his job. Gay-bashing is wrong. However, so is political correctness. The PC machine is running amok in Bristol. They’re telling us: “Hey, there’s an ex-pro athlete that’s gay. And, you better like it! Oh, and by the way, buy his book from us!”

This is a free country. Just as people have the right to have sexual relations with whomever they choose, we also have the right to declare and believe that some things are right, and that some things are wrong, no matter how unpopular that may make us.