Bono-Mack, Castle, Kirk, McHugh, Reichert, Smith, LoBiondo, Lance – names of Republicans who voted with the Democrats to pass the abomination called cap and trade. The sad thing about this is that we have come to expect the party of Barack Hussein Obama to sell out their countrymen in the quest of power and control. We used to expect more of Republicans, but recent events have shaken our belief that the Republican Party was really the party of smaller government and free enterprise. These eight could have helped put some luster back on that image. They chose not to do so. The

y chose, instead, to accept the unproven and highly suspect global warming theories and take an action guaranteed to ruin the economy of our once and future great nation. These house members, chose to leave their fellow party members to follow a fantasy. Some will say they showed courage and followed their consciences... doing the right thing and all that. That is what they often said about the party's eminently successful presidential candidate last November.

There are areas where we can have differing view points, and there are issues that go the heart of who we are, as a party and as a nation. It's like Jim Croce once wrote “After all it's what we've done that makes us what we are.” What they've done is turned their backs on those who were supposed to be their allies and gave the victory to those who would rule over us. I will leave it to the reader to decide what that makes them.

In some ways, it may not have made much difference in the ultimate outcome. However by sticking their thumbs in the eyes of all their constituents who called, wrote, faxed and emailed them objecting to this form of madness, they gave several Democrats a free pass. It is apparent that Speaker Pelosi let some of her minions vote against the bill as their votes were not necessary for passage. So, not only did they make their own re-election more difficult, which is not a bad thing, but they gave cover to several other would be socialists who did not have to annoy their constituents with an unpopular position.

Given the districts these people represented... east coast, west coast and Illinois, it may be possible that they are the best the Republicans could elect. I don't know that this is the fact, but this is the party line: that we have to accept those who lean toward progressive thinking if we are to win. Then I have to ask, what is the point? Are we just going to concede these areas to the statists and be happy that some of the statists are wearing the right jersey?

This is the “big tent” thinking in operation. What it really means is that we either don't know what we believe, or we don't have the confidence in our beliefs to present them forcefully in a way that helps people catch the vision of freedom. I believe much of this comes from the professional politicians who cynically view their careers as more important that any issue. We may have been able to let that pass in the past when we were not faced with such an assault on what it means to be an American, the values our country stood for and the freedom we once had.

Today we are fighting battles on far too many fronts: the economy, health care, environmental extremism, hostility to Christians... the list could go on and on... we cannot afford to let the self-serving political types determine the direction of the opposition party or of our country. It's time to put up with more dates on our calendars and more lost sleep as we work to restore the country to what is once was and what it can be again.

The “big tent” is really not a bad idea, as long as it's filled with conservatives and libertarians. Now is the time to do it, while we can do it peacefully... before Washington controls every area of our life and treats us, not as citizens to be respected, but as pawns to be manipulated and taxed to carry out their grandiose schemes that leave us with nothing but a tax bill.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” So says one of the most important documents in the history of the United States of America: the Declaration of Independence. The realization of these rights was the whole point of the bloody struggle to break free from the control of the British crown that saw itself as the originator and dispenser of rights to the people, both at home and in the colonies.

The signers of this document pledged “our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.” to establishing a government in the new land where these rights to life, liberty and so much more were recognized. Once free of the oppressive monarch, they set about to create a system where the people were the ultimate authority and government answered to its employers: the citizens.

They laboriously created a constitutional plan where three branches were supposed to balance each other so no one reigned supreme. They did this by limiting the reach of the legislative, executive and judicial branches to restrain dictatorial rule. So concerned were some of the leaders immediately following the presentation of the document that it did not sufficiently restrain the power of the central government that its ratification by all the states could not have been accomplished without the promise of additional guarantees of individual freedoms and restraints on governmental power. Hence the first ten amendments, known as the Bill of Rights, quickly followed acceptance of the original document.

Many today believe they have the rights of free speech, religion, personal protection through firearms because of these amendments. In reality, every human being has these rights, because they were bought into being by a loving creator who wants to see each one of us live and prosper to the best of our abilities. Then why was it necessary to codify them in the constitution? The answer is the same as for any other provision of the constitution, and that is so the government would recognize the limits of its power.

If we were to take the approach that the piece of paper granted us these rights, we would be in the precarious position of leaving them up to what ever men, legislative body or judiciary panel would decide to give us. This would return us to the plight of the colonists under King George. Our creator created us to be free and governments that fail to recognize these rights are operating in violation of what the founding fathers called “natural law”, which was the law that was self evident to anyone with the Christian background of these men.

Why is this important? If these rights are unalienable as our founders believed, they are existent apart from any decree from DC. On the other hand, if they come from men, they can be taken away by men. We then have no recourse if these men (or women) decide that we have few or none of the rights laid out by our forefathers. Worse yet, by doing this, we move from being citizens in charge of our government to being its subjects.

This is the price the secular humanists are willing to pay to eliminate the Christian influence from our great country. Their fear of the absolute moral teaching coming from the Word of God leads them to accept enslavement to whims of leaders, ultimately a much more heavy handed control, but without the moral measurement of the ten commandments.

This is the underlying basis of the entire culture war in our country... but it isn't really cultural, it is spiritual.

The cash for clunkers is one more plan by the Barack Hussein Obama that not only attempts to make all of us good little subjects, but actually transfers wealth to his supporters who comply. The idea of the government giving $4500 toward the purchase of a new or late model car, if it is a car approved by our beneficent government is opposed by the 54% who understand the implications of this incentive program.

Only about a third (35% according to a recent Rasmussen poll), think it's a good idea, with government employees giving it higher marks than the general population. That pretty much aligns with the number of hard core Democrats... maybe even the future number of government workers. This form of social engineering is an attempt to get people to buy cars that both foreign and domestic manufacturers have been producing, but people have not been buying in significant quantities. They are trying to get people to purchase smaller, lighter, more fuel efficient vehicles that most people understand instinctively are more cramped and hazardous to their occupants.

I am wondering how many of us are willing to put our children and, in my case, grand children, at greater risk to solve a problem that, most likely, does not even exist? For the presidents rabid environmentalist supporters who believe that man's presence is detrimental to the earth itself, the answer is simple. The earth must survive, even if I and my family do not.

These undersized and generally underpowered machines are touted to have passed the regular safety tests our big brother now imposes on all vehicles sold in the US. This is great, but they leave out the getting-run-over-by-an-SUV test and don't even think about an eighteen wheeler.

The other problem with this, besides the safety issue, is that our country has an almost ten percent unemployment rate, many people are struggling to get by. Many have learned that debt, while it lets you get nice things now, is killing them financially. They have put off buying a new, or late model, car so they can get their financial house in order. The government is, once again, enticing these people to act against their best interest and go into debt to buy another vehicle that they may not really need, but will make mother earth and the environmental extremists happy.

Perhaps the worst part of the plan is that it takes borrowed money and gives it to a favored few who can already afford a car and leaves it to future generations to pay back. It does not help the general welfare of the citizens, unless one buys the argument that everyone benefits from the marginally cleaner air and more stable climate these cars will facilitate. If one does not understand the logic of our betters, it's just more money taken from everyone and flushed down the drain into the pockets of the favored few.

Should some readers believe this is a good idea, or think it's a bad idea, but are willing to take advantage of it anyway, it's been suggested that even if you don't have a suitable junker to trade in, go out an buy a $700 clunker to trade for the $4500 credit. Apparently to prosper in this new world order, it helps to have a larcenous streak with no conscience to get in the way.

We conservatives and libertarians tend to keep to ourselves and have a desire to just be left alone. This thinking has usually worked well for us, but over the past years we have seen all kinds of crazy protests instigated by unions, homosexuals, ACORN... even illegal aliens have had the gall to prance through our streets demanding access to the public purse. Often these are the only voices coming through. Even setting aside the media bias, they are the only voices being raised.

Our political representatives often respond to public pressure when it does not conflict with contributor interests, and up to now, most of the pressure has been coming from those using one hand to hold a picket sign and the other to reach out to scoop up more goodies from the public trough. While most of us have been working to get money to pay our taxes, they have been whining and looking for to ways to take hold of more of this money for themselves. We have abdicated our responsibility to speak up and have left the playing field to the to the avaricious mob. We lost by default!

Does this mean that we can't get the word out? Definitely not! Sure it is one more thing to squeeze into your schedule and mine, but I have found that there is always time for things we see as most important. The issue then becomes recognizing the damage that is being done to our country and making a priority to stop it.

Now is the time... no, it is past time for us to overcome some of our natural tendencies to live quietly by ourselves. Although it's not really in our nature, we must band together and speak up, not just individually, but publicly as a body of citizens. There are enough of us to make a difference. Our problem is that we are busy working, spending time with our families, helping to make our community better and all sorts of other productive activities. Our opponents tend not to have so many of these demands on their time... they often don't have such a rough time fitting self-serving public protest into their schedules.

Tonight, was the first I took part in such a protest in close to twenty years... the last being way back in New Jersey when we gathered around an inappropriately located adult bookstore in the pouring rain... and made the front page of the Star Ledger.

About two hundred of us gathered outside our local ABC affiliate to protest the ObamaCare infomercial they were running. This was not a normal event for most of us but it was refreshing to spend the evening with many who had not been too involved in the past, but have been awaken from their slumber by the outrageous changes being inflicted upon our land.

We made new acquaintances, renewed old ones and found many people with whom we share a lot more in common than we would have ever thought. The first lesson learned was the WE ARE NOT ALONE! If you are concerned about your country, you are not alone either.

It doesn't matter if there are ten of you coming together or a thousand. There is a fellowship among those who cherish their liberty and are willing to take a stand for it. With the tea parties and patriot groups, combined with our government's encroachment on so many areas of our lives, there will be many more opportunities to make your voice heard. It's well worth working it into your busy schedule. Keep in mind that the most meaningful things we do are things that reach beyond ourselves and contribute to the greatness of our country and the welfare of our neighbors.

A recent Rasmussen poll tells us the half all Americans believe hate is growing in our country. This is based, in large part, on recent killing of a notorious abortionist, an American soldier at a recruiting station and the attack on the holocaust museum in Washington. Thirty five percent consider them to be isolated incidents. The rest, just don't know if or what to think. While it's difficult to generalize from three incidents, many people are busy doing just that.

It seems those that tend to feel more vulnerable and insecure see greater generalized hatred... women (57%)... unmarried (62%). They seem to be responding more on emotion than actually looking at the details of each incidents. Each killing is unfortunate, the ending of one life and ruination of another... not to mention the families involved. However, was an irrational hatred the driving factor in each case?

It seems that today, we have a difficult time thinking about and overusing the word “hate”. For instance, homosexuals believe that they are the victims of hate crimes whenever anyone opposes them or their goals. If a preacher tells his congregation about the sinful nature of their actions, they say he is preaching hate. They may be disingenuously playing the part of a victim, having realized a little sympathy when they are supposedly harassed by someone who simply disagrees with them or their agenda. In some ways believing that your adversaries irrationally despise you is less damaging to the ego than accepting that they may have good reasons that may actually be correct.

In the case of Dr. Tiller, without getting in the head of the shooter, it's kind of hard to understand the details of his motivation. However, automatically assigning Scott Roeder's motive to a blind hatred of Dr. Tiller ignores the fact that, to him, it may well have been just a logical response to a situation where he saw the courts repeatedly thwarting the will of the people and their elected legislatures. We have the situation aptly described by Frederic Bastiat when he said, “When law and morality contradict each other, the citizen has the cruel alternative of either losing his moral sense or losing his respect for the law. These two evils are of equal consequence, and it would be difficult for a person to choose between them.”

The tragedy of Private Andy Long's death is that he was killed in a war where he didn't even know he was on the front lines. It is more comforting to consider the this the action of a deranged, vengeful shooter who, once captured, is no threat to the rest of us. This thinking would let us pass it off as an unfortunate event and not consider the ramifications of multiple Abdulhakim Muhammads among us... hating us as a society, but not considering any of us individually. We may weep for Private Long as we hope we will be spared a similar fate.

What is interesting is that in the first case, the shooter was viewed by the drive by media as part of the larger pro-life community which en mass would enjoy a shooting spree at every abortion clinic in the country. In the second case, where logic, along with his actions and training, tell us the shooter was part of a group with a terrorist agenda, the same media totally ignores the evidence at hand and makes him out to be a solitary nut case. In this case, their political correctness may well be complicit in the next terrorist act.

Then we have the case of James von Brunn, the one truly disturbed individual who lived in a world of hate filled fantasies. Far too many have a scorn for the Jewish people, but they don't go hunting them or their friends down with lethal weapons. For this man to commit such an awful act, particularly at his age, one has to wonder if he felt his life was about over and he wanted to make one last statement before, what would be, a surprisingly bad meeting with his maker. He may have felt being killed by police was more honorable than putting a gun to his own head... an act that would have spared many others much heartache and pain. It could be then, that harboring his irrational hatred for such a long time in his life, he felt his actions were completely logical.

It's hard to say specifically why people do things... sometimes we don't understand our own motivations. Even the Apostle Paul had these conflicts when he wrote, “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not' want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.” Romans 7:15-20 (NIV)

We do, however feel more comfortable, more in control even, if we see the world as a logical place with an understandable reason for everything that happens – even if we witness what appear to be occasional aberrant events. What we don't like, as a society, is to look at events as part of a bigger picture with causes and effects that can be understood, as this puts a responsibility on us to examine our selves and make some changes.

It’s easy to watch the news and get frustrated as we see our freedoms restricted, one by one. Then we see the DC elites making more plans for more things to do with our grandchildren’s money. And on top of that, we see people who hold traditional American values are called threats to the government and potential domestic terrorists. It’s enough to make you wonder when someone is going to do something about it.

I have been told that God doesn’t make junk and everyone of God’s children is a somebody. Hmmmmm. Usually what people mean when they think somebody should do something, is that they really mean somebody else should do something. Part of this mindset is that our society is one of many spectators and few actors. We watch our favorite ball teams or race drivers go out and do their thing for obscene amounts of money. We cheer for them as if their victories somehow enhanced the lives of ourselves and our families. We support some who run for office… sometimes we may even work with one of their campaigns. At best, though, most of us just hang around the periphery of the action.

We do this because somewhere deep inside we’ve been conditioned to believe that it is our lot in life to be one of the masses while the changes in the world come about because of big people, special people… somebody else.

Here is a radical thought: to your neighbor down the street, you are somebody else. To your high school classmates, you are somebody else. To the people you work with, you are somebody else. To the people in your church, you are somebody else. I hope you are starting to get the picture.

Everyone is looking to “somebody else” to solve their problem. Look at the helpless masses who voted for Barack Hussein Obama. They thought he was going to fix every aspect of their drab, lifeless existence… they even thought he was going to buy them a car and pay their mortgage. They may have been right about this in some instances… but he will never be able to give them meaning.

We look at men with names like Washington, Madison, Henry, Adams, Franklin and Jefferson and see them as bigger than life. Without diminishing the magnitude of their contribution to the founding of our great country, I believe you will agree that these farmers, printers lawyers and who knows what else, were men… mere mortals like the rest of us. None could walk on water or leap tall buildings in a single bound. Although they were all intelligent and successful men, not one possessed super human skills or abilities. Their DNA was pretty much standard human being stuff. They were pretty much like you and me.

They all believed in the necessity of living in freedom. Most of us also understand the human need to be free as well. The difference between these men and many other capable colonists, was that they carried these beliefs one step beyond just talking about them. They acted on them. They could have met behind closed doors for twenty years, complaining about the wrongs visited on them by the British monarch… and nothing would have changed, except for a few more ulcers amongst the assembly.

These were ordinary men who did extraordinary things. They lived at a critical point in the history of the world and helped birth the greatest nation on earth. Like them, each of us was born into this critical period in the history of our country and the world. Understanding the sovereignty of God, we need to consider that each of us, like Esther, was placed on this earth for “such a time as this”.

You might argue that you are just one person, and that one person going against the trends of society has little chance of success. This is true… on a human level. We need to keep in mind that even Moses, who had the promise of God’s power to sustain him, needed the have his brother Aaron by his side to have the confidence to approach Pharoah. It’s OK to have some feelings of inadequacy, because by ourselves, we are inadequate, and it helps us realize our dependence on divine guidance and support just like our founding fathers.

This is why we need to seek out others of similar mind. They may be a group at your church, possibly a patriot or tea party group. Wherever you look, there will be people to work with. Find a group you are comfortable with. Meet with them, and, if no one else does it, be sure they don’t just sit around and belly ache. Take it upon yourself, if necessary, to be sure every one goes home with some kind of action item. It could be as simple as making a phone call, or writing letter to the editor or to politicians. Nothing happens until somebody does something.

When you start to move forward and make progress, people will say you are trying to impose your religion on them. It is they who are trying to impose their secular, statist religion on everyone. Patrick Henry, one of the driving forces of the first ten amendments to our constitution that we call the Bill of Rights, wrote, “It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religions, but on the gospel of Jesus Christ! For this very reason peoples of other faiths have been afforded asylum, prosperity, and freedom to worship here. There is absolutely no reason to be ashamed or defensive!

Contrary to secularist propaganda - as we are seeing in Washington - the Christians are not the ones seeking to control every aspect of our lives. We are the ones who offer true freedom, both now and forever. We need to be the ones to speak up to a leader who has hardened his heart, much like Pharoah. Will you be part of this move for freedom, or will you hide in the bullrushes and watch?

On June 28, 1787 the delegates to the constitutional convention in Philadelphia were constantly bickering over how the states of various sizes should be fairly represented and the convention was going nowhere. James Madison records that 81 year old Benjamin Franklin rose to address the assembly:

Mr. President:
The small progress we have made after 4 or five weeks close attendance & continual reasonings with each other -- our different sentiments on almost every question, several of the last producing as many noes as ays, is methinks a melancholy proof of the imperfection of the Human Understanding. We indeed seem to feel our own wont of political wisdom, since we have been running about in search of it. We have gone back to ancient history for models of government, and examined the different forms of those Republics which having been formed with the seeds of their own dissolution now no longer exist. And we have viewed Modern States all round Europe, but find none of their Constitutions suitable to our circumstances.

In this situation of this Assembly groping as it were in the dark to find political truth, and scarce able to distinguish it when to us, how has it happened, Sir, that we have not hitherto once thought of humbly applying to the Father of lights to illuminate our understandings? In the beginning of the contest with G. Britain, when we were sensible of danger we had daily prayer in this room for the Divine Protection. -- Our prayers, Sir, were heard, and they were graciously answered. All of us who were engaged in the struggle must have observed frequent instances of a Superintending providence in our favor. To that kind providence we owe this happy opportunity of consulting in peace on the means of establishing our future national felicity. And have we now forgotten that powerful friend? or do we imagine that we no longer need His assistance.

I have lived, Sir, a long time and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth -- that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid? We have been assured, Sir, in the sacred writings that "except the Lord build they labor in vain that build it." I firmly believe this; and I also believe that without his concurring aid we shall succeed in this political building no better than the Builders of Babel: We shall be divided by our little partial local interests; our projects will be confounded, and we ourselves shall be become a reproach and a bye word down to future age. And what is worse, mankind may hereafter this unfortunate instance, despair of establishing Governments by Human Wisdom, and leave it to chance, war, and conquest.

I therefore beg leave to move -- that henceforth prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven, and its blessings on our deliberations, be held in this Assembly every morning before we proceed to business, and that one or more of the Clergy of this City be requested to officiate in that service.

They took his advice and produced the magnificent document we call the US Constitution.

Four hundred Pace High School students in Santa Rosa County FL defied the bullies from ACLU by standing and reciting the Lord’s Prayer during their graduation ceremony on June 4. The Anti-Christian Liberties Union got worked up into a tizzy when days before, the principal had the audacity to permit a blessing at a dinner function. This should not be, they warned the school. Food must be eaten unblessed. In demanding the school censor any student religious expression, they created a situation where no student was permitted to have any part in the program.

Benjamin Stevenson, an attorney for the ACLU whined, “Our feeling is that it’s regrettable that the students took over the ceremony to impose their religious views on the audience who may not have shared the same religious views. School officials have a responsibility to protect the silently held religious views of others.”

Translated, this means that imposing the secular religion must be done at the expense of those who chose to recognize God in public. I would venture to say that Mr. Stevenson, Esq. Would have been smacked senseless by most any of our founding fathers who saw recognition of our creator and protector as a necessary part of public life.

By sticking together and holding to their values, these young people, many of whom even sported crosses on their caps, made the point that they were free people… freely exercising their rights to free speech and free exercise of their religion. There are a few lessons that can be learned from this student rebellion.

The first lesson is to stick together. Individually, any of them may have gotten into trouble, missed receiving their diploma or whatever the vindictive would-be masters should decide to inflict on them. Benjamin Franklin understood this when he said, “We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately.” There is safety in numbers, but there is also the multiplier that is recognized as far back as the book of Deuteronomy where it says, “one man chase a thousand, or two put ten thousand to flight,”

The second lesson is that often the power of those seeking to control us exists more in our own minds rather than in reality, Sure there are times when we can be faced with billy clubs and handcuffs, but often the bullies have nothing more than hot air. Push back and they frequently turn tail and run, yelping all the way.

The third lesson we see is that the control hungry statist types believe in rule from above by the elites who know better than anyone else what should be done. This shows they have no understanding of the beauty of the US constitution where the power rests, not with the government, but with the people… who then assign some of it to the government to accomplish needed tasks. They do not understand that any official, the principal included, works for the people and is subject to the direction of his employer. Most in DC have forgotten this as well, but as Bob Dylan sang years ago, “Times, they are a changin’”, this time for the good.

As time goes by, and issues become more serious and the desire to control us becomes more intense, we may be called upon to face more intense harassment or arrest, like the protesters recently objecting to a commencement speech by a pro-abortion president at Notre Dame. By hanging together everyone gains extra courage and resolve.

Restrictions on prayer are just the tip of the iceberg that we see coming toward us. These kids got the idea… stand up for what you believe. Otherwise you become just another one of the sheeple that Ted Nugent talks about. For those content to live a life where they are told to jump, and then told how high to jump, none of this will make any sense. However, for those of us with a strong sense of right and wrong, we must agree with James Madison when told us, “Resistance to tyranny is service to God.” It’s also service to our fellow man.

Taken at face value, things look pretty bleak for the nation of Israel. Barack Hussein Obama recently made another apology tour through the middle east without visiting our most faithful and trusted (up until now) ally. We’ve seen the current administration unwilling to hold Saudis accountable for terrorist actions. We’ve even seen the president talking about a united Jerusalem under some control other than Israeli. He tells the world we are not a Christian nation, yet says we are one of the largest Muslim nations in the world. The Obamessiah tells Israel that they cannot build settlements on land that is rightfully theirs, while telling us back home that we cannot bully the rest of the world. I guess that means the rest of the world, except Israel. Things would look bad for Israel, if it were up to Barack Hussein Obama and the nations surrounding the small state. But… it is not up to them.

Consider the story of Sennacherib, king of present day Syria, Iran, Iraq and part of Turkey, as found in II Kings 19:32-37:

Therefore this is what the LORD says concerning the king of Assyria: “He will not enter this city nor shoot an arrow here. He will not come before it with shield or build a siege ramp against it. By the way that he came he will return; he will not enter this city, declares the LORD. I will defend this city and save it, for my sake and for the sake of David my servant.”

That night the angel of the LORD went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning-there were all the dead bodies! So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there.

One day, while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer cut him down with the sword, and they escaped to the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son succeeded him as king.

Things did not go well for Sennacherib when he surrounded Jerusalem and tried to conquer and destroy it.

When the new nation of Israel was formed, the surrounding nations threw everything they had at the Jewish state that had little to defend itself… and they failed.

Adolph Hitler tried to wipe out the Jews and, despite his venomous efforts, a remnant was preserved and he ended up taking is own life in an underground bunker in Berlin.

In May of 1967 Egypt’s government controlled radio station announced “the sole method we shall apply against Israel is total war, which will result in the extermination of Zionist existence.” Jordan and Syria echoed their agreement. Blockades were established to isolate the Jewish state. Troops were massed along the border, ready to drive the Israelis into the sea. However with preemptive strikes and soldiers fighting with a fierce tenacity to defend their homeland, it was but six days before the aggressors were calling on the UN to make them stop.

These are just a few examples of the destruction that came upon those who chose to raise their hand against the “apple of God’s eye”. We side with them at our peril as a nation. We would do well to remember the promise give to Abraham and his descendants in Genesis 12:3 (NIV), “I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse.” Israel’s well being and survival do not lie in our hands, but our own safety and prosperity do.

The death of George Tiller was all over the media eager to show the hypocrisy of the pro-life movement. The same media that tells us that Islamic terrorists are aberrations wants to paint all of us who value the lives of the unborn with the same brush of violence. Most responsible groups have condemned this action saying the taking of human life is always wrong.

The sixth commandment tells us the “Thou shalt not kill.” Dr. Tiller was breaking this commandment every time he put on the garb of a healer and ended the life of an innocent creation of God. The question of whether it was the right thing to do has and will be discussed ad nauseum. On one hand, one has to look at the potential lives that would be saved by stopping this man’s work. On the other hand we have Deuteronomy 32:35 (NIV) which says, “It is mine to avenge I will repay. In due time their foot will slip; their day of disaster is near and their doom rushes upon them.”

It is clear we are not to seek to inflict justice upon unjust humanity. That is not our job. We may feel offended by the actions of others, but it is really God whose plan for life is being rejected. The offense to Him is far greater than anything our sensibilities may feel since He is the one who created the tiny beating heart.

Taking a life to save an innocent is something we have to look at as this has been an accepted practice when a police sniper will sometimes take out an armed madman holding a school full of children hostage. Hardly any one quibbles with this action. Moses even killed the Egyptian while protecting a fellow Israelite. These cases both involve immanent danger to someone, and it could even be danger to one’s self that would justify a violent, lethal response.

The death of Dr. Tiller represented no such situation. However, considering the thousands of lives snuffed out at his abortion mills, some might argue that it was more of a strategic move than a tactical one. Most of us would have fully supported the assassination of Adolf Hitler as a means of ending World War II and in the process, saving many thousand innocent lives. The same could, and has been, argued in Tiller’s case.

But Dr. Tiller was just a symptom of the problem plaguing our country. Our country where the power of the government is loaned to it by the people… but where courts have become our masters, making laws no legislature would consider. And we permit it! Tiller was working within the legal framework we permitted to exist.

Classic liberal theoretician, Frederic Bastiat, wrote “The safest way to make laws respected is to make them respectable. When law and morality contradict each other, the citizen has the cruel alternative of either losing his moral sense or losing his respect for the law. These two evils are of equal consequence, and it would be difficult for a person to choose between them.” Unfortunately, this is the situation we find ourselves in today.

While Dr. Tiller’s demise set the talking heads all abuzz, just two days later, Pvt. William Long was gunned down outside a Little Rock recruiting center by a radical Islamic convert named Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad who is reported to have traveled to Yeman on a Somali passport for indoctrination and training. It will be interesting to watch this play out to see if the real terrorists will be demonized as much as the entire pro-life movement because of the actions of one man.

Whatever happens, we can’t allow the Rahm Emanuel driven White House use this “crisis” to further restrict free speech and protest, nor can we permit them to continue using US Marshals to be pulled away from real law enforcement work to protect the clinics where babies go to die.

We cannot afford to back down in our opposition to this barbaric practice, as some “leaders” would like us to, as doing so would lend credibility to the shared guilt they would like to lay upon us. In some ways, Dr. Tiller suffered the natural consequences of building a good life for himself and his family by depriving countless others of the opportunity for any life at all.

We need to speak up all the more loudly that all lives are worth protecting… not just the rich, politically connected doctor, but also the soldier, just doing his job for his country and the innocent in the womb who may just be carrying in his DNA the wisdom to cure cancer or bring about world peace.

There has been a lot of talk about Barack Hussein Obama’s associate justice nominee Sonia Sotomayor and her potential performance on the supreme court. Many of us have all sorts of reasons to object to her helping make the far reaching decisions in this position. We now have some unexpected allies in working to shoot down this nomination. It is a delicious bit or irony that this Queen of Quotas, as some have called her, is now criticized by the politically correct anti-religionists who are now fussing about her as addition to the Roman Catholic majority on the court.

Never mind that the Catholics on the court do not vote as a block. Some are pro-life, some are pro-death. The public religious affiliation of the men (and women) in black is not a good indicator of how they will rule on any case. Today I heard some pusher of identity politics ranting about the need for a Muslim or an atheist on the court. By their rulings, I think we have at least one of the latter… if not more. I personally would like to see the addition of a Baptist and a Pentecostal to liven the mix but these are not constitutional qualifications.

If we are going to start adding additional qualifications beyond a good grasp of the law and its application, we have to start looking into areas that are officially none of the governments business. Will we next need to add a homosexual seat or an unwed mother seat. How about someone to represent the feelings of child molesters. If an empathetic court is the goal, this may very well be the only way to achieve it.

We may even need to add an associate justice who is vertically challenged in order to give the court an understanding of the needs of this underrepresented minority. Taking into account who is before the bar of justice and the impact of the rulings on the people involved rather than looking to the law for a decision makes us all subject to the transitory whims and irrational prejudices of those sitting in judgment.

My reading of the constitution tells me this just should not be. Our representatives in Washington need to receive a backbone transplant and proudly embrace membership in the “Party of NO!” when presented with pure foolishness… or find another line of work. They say “pick your fights”, which I hear as back up and roll over if you don’t have the stomach for the conflict. Well, win or loose, if you stand for what is right, you still accomplish something. Unfortunately many don’t understand the power that may be behind them if they just step out and try to do the right thing.

California election day, May 19, 2009, may have been the start of our country’s climb out of the financial abyss. In spite of the Governator’s dire warnings delivered with the fervor seen in Henry Paulsen and Tim Geithner as they stampeded a gullible Congress into their high priced bailout schemes, the electorate proved they were not so gullible. This time the results were different because the audience was different.

Instead of the beltway elites who have the inflated delusions that they can solve most any problem by throwing our money at it… we saw the response of the people who actually have to pay for for these machinations. They have decided that rather than bankrupt themselves, they would call the government’s bluff that rapists would be set free from prison and may even be filling in for laid off teachers in the middle schools. They took the risk that their homes may burn down because of there would be no more firemen or they would be robbed because there would be no police. For once they did not buy the story that their money was really needed to help the sea otters and illegal aliens.

How much of this backbone came from the tea party spirit and how much was natural individual frustration at the continual abuse from Sacramento, is hard to tell. In some ways, it doesn’t matter because the people have spoken. No, the people screamed at the top of their lungs, “NO MORE!” The voters finally had a say in this financial dissipation.

What is interesting is that there were not lines of people waiting to make their wishes known. Turnout was low but margins were high… almost 2 to 1 rejecting some of the proposals. It did not take massive numbers to set California on the course to fiscal sanity. Apparently most of residents were resigned to the state government squeezing more and more out of them, in much the same way the folks in DC do… or they saw the poll numbers and were willing to let others do the lifting for them. It is sad that so many took this view and didn’t make themselves part of the victory. It’s even more frightening because that is how freedoms are lost and tyranny solidifies power.

On the other hand, it shows us that a small but motivated group can actually make a difference in the world. It shows that the citizens have more sense than the professionals who are paid to make government work efficiently and effectively. As I write this, I understand I am talking about residents of the land of fruits, nuts and flakes. The system can even work there. Again I have to remind myself it was a motivated minority that got the job done… and we have to thank them for their efforts.

The denizens of Sacramento got the message. The question remains, “Did the beltway appropriators get the message?” Immediate feedback doesn’t show much of a difference in the spendthrift approach to problem solving. However we can’t be discouraged. We saw progress! We saw the people could defeat the politicians. The boys in DC may just be a tougher nut to crack but with sustained pressure and, may I say, harassment, they will hopefully get the message soon, or find a new career.

Earlier this week, I had the pleasure of attending a We Surround Them/912 meeting with about 70 other concerned citizens. Last week, I spent the evening with about 20 others in a similar meeting. Tonight about 30 more people gathered to in a similar group. What is particularly encouraging, is that most of these people were either new to involvement in public affairs or were coming back after a lengthy hiatus.

The tea parties provided the catalyst to bring them back. The crowds provided the push that let them know they were not alone. Most people are not constitutionally suited to standing against the power of the federal government alone. We cheered the Chinese student staring down the tanks in Tiananmen Square, but tend to shy away from confrontation ourselves. With a group of like minded citizens, the patriots can become warriors.

I was amazed by the intensity of the emotional display. People are concerned about their country. They don’t like where it is headed. They are concerned about the world they will be leaving to their children and grand children. They are looking for ways to channel these feelings and energy.

Members of two of these groups combined to visit local Congressional and Senate offices to present a Petition for Redress of Grievances. These petitions outlined various actions by the federal government that, by almost any reasonable interpretation, were clearly unconstitutional. It must have been a bit of fun to be part of the group of about 25 as the filed into the local legislative offices with video and still cameras. One aide did a great deer in the headlights impression - but I don’t think he was acting, two aides welcomed them in and held a pleasant conversation and one office only showed them a shaken receptionist hiding behind her bullet proof glass shield.

In all cases, it was obvious they were not accustomed to dealing with the public who actually expected them to change the way Washington does business. Another thing that was obvious was that it is necessary to keep up the contact and the pressure. Even the good guys need the encouragement and supervision of their constituents. Lobbyist are continuously in their face… the same should hold true for their constituents… their real employers.

This is just one way citizens can get involved. More needs to to be lined up to keep these good folks involved in the process and get the message across to those who believe they rule from a distance. There is a staggering amount of passion and energy looking to get involved in the process of changing our country back to the free society it was in years past.

Just as many cheered the Chinese student, many also cheered the priests, pastors, and everyday citizens who faced arrest while protesting the desecration of the Notre Dame graduation ceremony. They cheered, but did not take part… myself included. My excuse was the 600 or so mile drive to South Bend. The question I have to answer as do all other Christians and others who say they hold values dear, is that, if the event were in my city, would I have faced arrest for a good cause, or would I have backed away because I did not want a police record. Everyone who loves their country has to consider this question.

The founding fathers understood that by signing the Declaration of Independence, if they failed, they would be facing a hangman’s noose. Even in victory, many faced financial ruin, loss of their homes and loss of family members. Since that time, countless service men and women have given their lives preserving the freedom that people like Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Adams and Henry gave us. So many that we have set aside a day, Memorial Day, to remember and honor their sacrifices.

What sacrifices are we, both individually and collectively, willing to make to leave the country and world a better place for our children and grandchildren? With increasing restrictions placed on ever more areas of our lives, and more of our resources being taken to fund irrational and often immoral schemes, will we stand up and say “No more!” or will we sit, quietly complaining, as our country hurtles toward the “eve of destruction” as Barry McGuire would call it. In answering this question, we would do well to remember the words of James Madison, “Resistance to tyranny is service to God.”