Back At It

4 weeks ago I accepted a new position at work and it has eaten a lot of my free time as I try and replace the legend who is retiring. Family concerns have been a big issue as well, blogging has been low on the list but now some things have settled and I can get back at it.
So many things have happened over the past few weeks that I don't know where to start. How about I just say what has been lately on my mind -

• I have a missionary buddy who is big into supporting gay marriage and he makes sure that everybody knows about it, especially on his Facebook pages. It makes me sad to see that, I really like him and he was a great missionary when we were out in the field - I don't know how his life has been since then. There is a state Senator here in Utah, Chris Buttars, who said some controversial things about the gay movement this last week and the gay community in Utah (yes, there is one) was up in arms. They held a protest up at the state capitol this weekend to show their solidarity and how wrong Sen. Buttars is. I agree with some of Sen. Buttar's comments but I disagree with part of them as well. He certainly has the right to say them and will bear the consequences of his words but nobody can deny him the right to think and say as he pleases. The gay movement, in general, seems to want to deny him the right to do that. If you don't agree with them then they want swift punishment like censure or removal from office. Where were the leaders of the gay community after the defeat of Prop 8 and the resulting violence against Mormons in Utah and California? Not very loud. I have never believed that the proponents of gay marriage actually want equal civil rights, they want society to accord them equal moral standing with traditional marriage. They want gay marriage to be the equivalent of traditional marriage morally. That can't and won't happen. Cleon Skousen, in his book The 5,000 Year Leap, explains the idea of the Founding Fathers that in order for the Constitution to survive it had to be upheld by a moral people. We are falling further into the abyss as the lowest common denominator gets lower and lower.
  
• Now the Democrats want Roland Burris, the Blagoevich pick from Illinois, to resign from the Senate? Hey Harry Reid, you are the bumbling fool who was determined to seat this guy and call him legit! Now Burris is changing his story, explaining how he went from no contact with the governor, to then talking to the governor's brother but refusing his pay-to-play demands, to now admitting that he promised to raise campaign funds for the governor while bugging him about the newly open Senate seat. This is awful. And now Roland Burris is playing the race card, getting black churches in Chicago to do a 'laying on of hands' for him at a photo op yesterday. He is telling Harry Reid, Dick Durbin, and all others involved to pack sand, he is not resigning. In fact, he announced that he is going to seek "reelection" to the seat in 2010. By the way, he voted twice for the stimulus bill, is there any clearer indication on why the Dems wanted him to be seated so quickly in the Senate?
• So we have a President who shoved a bailout through Congress, wants an multi-trillion dollar budget to pass, is committed to dragging through another $500 billion dollar pork-filled bill through Congress currently and has the audacity to tell Congress and America in his "State of the Union" speech last Tuesday that he plans on reducing the deficit by 1/2 by the end of his term? Huh? How do you spend do much and then claim to be wanting fiscal responsibility? You want to limit CEO pay when you are out spending billions and trillions of dollars? You can't spend to prosperity Mr. President.
  
• Like Rush Limbaugh, I want President Obama to fail. I want him to fail to set up his socialistic agenda that will spend and tax my family and I (through 3 generations) into oblivion with programs that I don't need nor does America need. I want him to fail to set up socialized health care. I want him to fail at setting up a North American Union. I want him to fail miserably at ignoring the Constitution and removing my rights. I want him to fail miserably at sending more troops to Afghanistan as he is bringing them out of Iraq. I want him to fail in supporting the UN and it's myriad of failed attempts to make one big happy world family. I love America and hate her enemies and I believe he is an enemy. The man himself may be a great father, a loving husband, and a great guy socially. But his policies are awful and his direction needs to change.

So, more later . . .

I Am A Coward

According to our new Attorney General, Eric Holder, I am a coward.

No, really, I am.

So are you. And your family. And your extended family.

All Americans are cowards, he says.

Why are we all cowards?

Because I refuse to talk about race. Here is what AG Holder said in a speech at the Justice Department -

Though this nation has proudly thought of itself as an ethnic melting pot, in things racial we have always been and continue to be, in too many ways, essentially a nation of cowards. We, as average Americans, simply do not talk enough with each other about race.

This statement, coming from the first black attorney general, who was appointed by the first black president.

In high school, college, in our neighborhood and at work I have friends who are from many different backgrounds, including Hispanic, Asian, American Indian, and African American. It has never been an issue with them, why is it seemingly an issue with politicians who are trying to manufacture an issue?

In high school I was one of 3 white guys on my basketball team and the only white guy on my summer league team in downtown Wilmington, DE. So? It wasn't anything to them nor to me, we just played basketball. I baptized an African student in Leningrad on my mission. So? I love Edmund and he loves me, our differences in race was never an issue to him.

But people like Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, Louis Farrahkhan, and now Eric Holder want to constantly remind me of our differences.

Hey guys - I DON'T CARE WHAT COLOR YOU ARE. You have the same tools that I do. I realize and understand that there are people who don't believe the same way I do and that are very racist. There are blacks, like you Mr. Holder, who believe I am racist because I am white. Isn't that racism also? If I criticize your policies or President Obama's policies is that racist? No, it is not. I am not criticizing your race but your lack of common sense and reason. Stop picking at this wound and let the problems heal, this isn't the 1960's again.

Address the real issues among the African-American community - critically high percentages of single-parent families, violence and murder rates of young black and hispanic males, out-of-control out-of-wedlock birthrates among minorities and now in the population in general, high drop out rates of blacks in high school, high drug usage stats among both genders of young blacks.

Mr. Holder, if you want to have a positive affect on people then address the real problem of personal responsibility.

Here are two articles on it - one from Bill Cosby, and another from Linda Chavez.

I am not a coward Mr. Holder. Stop using race and your office as a political tool and address the real problems at hand.

Happy Birthday Mr. Lincoln

Happy Birthday to a man of unquestioned integrity, compassion, and dedication to the cause of freedom for all men. If only all would place their fellow men in such high esteem and serve with love and kindness.

O Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done,
The ship has weather'd every rack,the prize we sought is won,
The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,
While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring;
But O heart! heart! heart!
O the bleeding drops of red,
Where on the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.

O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells;
Rise up- for you the flag is flung- for you the bugle trills,
For you bouquets and ribbon'd wreaths- for you the shores a-crowding,
For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning;
Here Captain! dear father!
This arm beneath your head!
It is some dream that on the deck,
You've fallen cold and dead.

My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still,
My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will,
The ship is anchor'd safe and sound, its voyage closed and done,
From fearful trip the victor ship comes in with object won;
Exult O shores, and ring O bells!
But I with mournful tread,
Walk the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.

Walt Whitman

A Lot of Little Oinkers

I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.

Thomas Jefferson

The 'stimulus' package is on the verge of passing after going through the House and the Senate. In the House not one Republican voted for the package but several Democrats crossed the aisle and voted 'No'. The AP called this vote strictly partisan. In the Senate every Democrat voted 'Yes' on the package while three Republican Senators (the two goofballs from Maine and Arlen 'Benedict' Specter from PA) crossed the aisle and voted 'Yes'. Of course the AP called this vote a sign of Barack Obama's ability to build a bipartisan coalition and unite people.

Yet the Senate is about to pull a fast one on the American people.

When the Senate got the bill for the package it was over $800 billion, then three wannabe Republicans (Specter, Collins, Snow) said if you cut this amount then we will vote for the package. That gave the Dems 60+ votes, enough to make the bill filibuster proof - the bill would pass no matter what the absolutely inept Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnel said or did. (he told Republicans in the Senate that they should let this go to vote without a fight, it might make the GOP look bad). You are a tool, Mitch McConnell, go back to Kentucky and take Orrin Hatch with you please.

If a bill is changed from when it leaves the House to when it is passed in the Senate, it goes to conference between the two bodies and they work together to redo the differences so that another vote can be taken in both chambers. Well, the Democrats knew that they could add most of the things they cut back into the bill during conference. That is why Nancy Pelosi, the House Majority Leader, wasn't worried about the cuts. A secret meeting was held last night between Democrat leaders (sans Republicans) to hammer out more spending.

It will be back over $800 billion when it is presented to both houses of Congress in the next couple of days. In 3 years, with interest, it will total over $1.1 trillion in spending. Here is a list of wasteful spending being included in the 'stimulus' package, thanks to the office of Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK).

Every Democratic Senator and House member is sticking their pet project in this bill, making it so big and unwieldy that we don't know exactly what we are getting. A pork project is defined as allocating specific funds that will help a Senator or House member pay for a project in their district/state that should never be funded by the federal government.

There is a lot of pork going around. Please remember this when you go to the polls in two years.

Blurring the Line

Mark Shurtleff, the Attorney General of Utah, would like to take control of the situation on death row and start to deny inmates the process of the seemingly unending appeals to keep them alive. He is proposing an amendment to the Utah Constitution that would cap the appeals at a certain point and making the prisoner face the executioner. He appeals to the public with the cry that this is costing the taxpayers millions of dollars and would finally bring closure and justice for the victims' families.

Mr. Shurtleff, I admire your sentiment but I abhor the amendment you are proposing.

This is a matter for the judiciary branch of government, it has to do with the legal process running its course. The legislative branch, which you are indirectly a member of, does not carry that power to deny the due process of justice. If you would like to change this process then perhaps you should campaign and work to get justices appointed to the bench who will enforce the laws that are on the books.

I get frustrated when one branch of government crosses their boundary and starts to take on the responsibility of another branch. The President does it with the use of executive orders (effectively making law without the legislative branch), President Bush signed more executive orders than any other president and President Obama is on track to sign even more than President Bush. The judiciary will sometimes legislate from the bench, some of the most recent examples are the denial of voting referendums that outlaw gay marriage in several states. Here, AG Shurtleff is proposing a premature end to the judicial appeal process by the state legislature.

I am not opposed to the death penalty and feel that if the crime justifies the taking of the criminal's life then so be it. However, I don't agree with his move by Mark Shurtleff to use the Constitution to blur the line between the judicial and legislative branches.

Here is the article in the Deseret News about the new amendment to the Utah Constitution that Attorney General Mark Shurtleff is proposing.

Math of the Democrats

Dostoyevsky talked about the concept of 2 + 2 = 5 because we want to believe it is so in his work Notes from the Underground. Fiction, meet Reality. Reality, Fiction. Democratic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has taken funny math to a new level.

She wants you to understand the importance of not passing this stimulus package. Dang it, this is important so listen to her and act NOW!



Did she just say 500 million Americans will lose their job each month as long as the pork-laden stimulus bill is not passed?

Really Nancy? 500 million Americans?

Seeing as how America only has a population of 350 million people currently . . .

This brought to you by woman who believes that birth control SHOULD be in the stimulus package and that they way to boost the economy is to limit the number of children each family has.

You know, like that financially prosperous wonderland of China.

Sheesh, the tripe this woman spews. Even CA should be ashamed of electing her to represent them in Congress.

The Merry Merry-Go-Round

So, Tom Daschle, President Obama's choice for the Sec of Health and Human Services has tax problems?

Am I surprised? Haven't we played this game lately?

Last week? With Timothy Geithner?

Tom Daschle, who was the leader of the Democrats in the Senate for years before he was ousted by a Republican 4 years ago, has claimed he is "deeply embarrassed" over his tax problems and vows to answer the questions the Senate panels puts before him today.

Tommy Boy made over $5.2 million in the last 3 years and didn't pay a dime in taxes on it or other services until he was under consideration for a cabinet position by President Obama. He then promptly payed over $100,000 plus interest in back taxes to bring him current. And this is what he had to say about it (courtesy of the story on Fox News)-

"I apologize for the errors and profoundly regret that you have had to devote time to them," Daschle said in a letter to Sen. Max Baucus, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, and Sen. Charles Grassley, the top Republican on the panel, released on Monday. Daschle wrote that his "mistakes were unintentional" and he had "disclosed this information to the committee voluntarily, and paid the taxes and any interest owed promptly." "As you can well imagine, I am deeply embarrassed and disappointed by the errors that required me to amend my tax returns," he added.

Embarrassed, Mr. Daschle, that you didn't catch this $100,000 error or embarrassed that you got caught?

Democrats, including the President, are standing behind Mr. Daschle. John Kerrey, that purveyor of truth and all that is good in America, calls it an "innocent mistake." When asked if he stands behind his pick, President Obama stated "absolutely."

When does this parade of fools end? First Bill Richardson (who had the decency to bow out), Hillary Clinton and questions on money her husband is STILL taking from foreign donors, Timothy Geithner and his tax problems, Eric Holder and his questions on gun issues, and now Tom Daschle and taxes.

How we have lost sight of what the Lord established as criteria of those who are elected to lead this nation -

Wherefore, honest men and wise men should be sought for diligently, and good men and wisemen ye should observe to uphold; otherwise whatsoever is less than these cometh of evil. (D&C 98:10)