A poem to remind us of what creates and maintains our freedom: 

It is the veteran, not the preacher, who has given you freedom of religion.
It is the veteran, not the reporter, who has given you freedom of the
press.
It is the veteran, not the poet, who has given you freedom of speech.
It is the veteran, not the protester, who has given you freedom to
assemble.
It is the veteran, not the lawyer, who has given you the right to a fair
trial.
It is the veteran, not the politician, who has given you the right to vote.
It is the veteran, who salutes the Flag, who serves under the Flag, whose
coffin is draped by the Flag.

God bless our Veterans!

The homosexual advocacy group GLAD is targeting the 1996 federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). The group is conducting surveys of the nearly 10,000 homosexual couples that have “married” in Massachusetts. If Democrats control Congress and Hillary wins the White House next year, there will be a full-court press in 2009 to redefine marriage in America.

Gary Bauer provides this insight into modern day business ethics:  

House leaders … were publicly shaming American corporate executives for betraying human rights activists incommunist China.  Evidently, a number of Chinese dissidents have beenjailed as a result of Yahoo’s cooperation with the communist state.

In one case, a Chinese journalist who e-mailed a government memo
prohibiting coverage of the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre
was sentenced to 10 years in prison after Yahoo turned over the reporter’s
e-mail account information to the Chinese government.

Yahoo executives expressed regret, but defended their actions by stating
that doing business in China is complicated.  If the costs of doing
business with the communist Chinese require our companies to sacrifice the
principles of freedom, I would hope every American business executive would
conclude that such costs are too high.

Rep. Tom Lantos (D-CA), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and
the only Holocaust survivor serving in Congress, castigated the Yahoo
executives, saying, “While technologically and financially you are giants,
morally you are Pygmies.”

So said new President of France Nicolas Sarkozy, in a speech to the Congress yesterday.  Sarkozy, who stunned pundits and liberal media types by winning his election as a Pro-America conservative, eloquently enunciated why there could be great love and respect between our two countries: 

“…Ladies and gentlemen, the men and women of my generation heard their
grandparents talk about how in 1917, America saved France at a time when it
had reached the final limits of its strength, which it had exhausted in the
most absurd and bloodiest of wars.  The men and women of my generation
heard their parents talk about how in 1944, America returned to free Europe
from the horrifying tyranny that threatened to enslave it.

“…France will never forget the sacrifice of your children.  To those 20-
year-old heroes who gave us everything, to the families of those who never
returned, to the children who mourned fathers they barely got a chance to
know, I want to express France’s eternal gratitude.  …I want to tell you
that whenever an American soldier falls somewhere in the world, I think of
what the American army did for France.  I think of them and I am sad, as
one is sad to lose a member of one’s family.

“…It is this ambitious France that I have come to present to you today.  A
France that comes out to meet America to renew the pact of friendship and
the alliance that Washington and Lafayette sealed in Yorktown.  Together
let us be worthy of their example, let us be equal to their ambition, let
us be true to their memories!  Long live the United States of America!”

Here is a very good perspective on yesterday's elections by Victoria Cobb of the Family Foundation.  I have added emphasis to the comment about Ken Cuccinelli and Jeannemarie Devolites Davis with which I wholeheartedly agree.

The End of the World?

 I don't think anyone is surprised by the election results.  Republicans lost control of the state Senate, losing four key seats, and leaving the Democrats in power 21 to 19. 

The nearly flawless campaign of pro-family advocate Ken Cuccinelli in retaining his Senate seat proves that a principled leader can overcome the odds and win, even in Northern Virginia, while former Senator Jeanne Marie Devolites-Davis abandoned every conservative principle she could to try to stay in office - and was crushed.

Its also important to remember that former Senators Russ Potts and John Chichester are gone, and while Democrats now hold power in the Senate, with people like Potts and Chichester running the show, conservatives were never in power anyway.  The interesting thing will be to see how those so-called moderate Republicans who have remained respond to losing power.  Will they simply abandon principle as they have in the past and join Democrats to pass massive tax increases and thwart reasonable pro-life legislation, or will they return to their base with their tails between their legs hoping for forgiveness.  Time will tell.

 Of course, how Virginians are going to react to Senate Majority Leader Dick Salsaw, who makes Nancy Pelosi look right wing, is another story.  Famous for his curmudgeon-like appearance, Salsaw once made the comment on the floor of the Senate regarding tax hikes, "There will never be enough money for me," and has dismissed the death of a woman in NOVA from a botched abortion as irrelevant.

In the House, Republican control continued to trickle away, losing 3 more open seats previously held by that party.  On a positive note, Brenda Pogge, who with her husband Roger helped lead va4marrige.org's campaign to pass the marriage amendment, and former Family Foundation board of directors member Jimmie Massie won their elections.  Also, Katherine Waddell, the former head of Republicans for Choice/Abortion lost in her first attempt at reelection.

Certainly, yesterday's elections were disappointing for pro-family Virginians, but no election is the end of the world.  Despite what the pundits and partisans will say, no single election dooms any particular party or movement.  Just one year ago pro-family voters proved their strength - winning the marriage amendment in a landslide.

Regardless of what took place yesterday, you can be assured that The Family Foundation is here to defend your values when our new legislature rolls into town in January.  We will be here because our existence is not dependent upon who sits in office.  We are not here to make Republicans happy or Democrats look bad.  We are here to advance a pro-God, pro-family, pro-life agenda - regardless of the obstacles.

That is because our battle is not about power or majorities or partisanship - it is about the principles of our God and the reality that those principles are threatened. 

If that isn't enough to make you want to continue the fight, I don't know what will.

Victoria Cobb, President

November 7, 2007

 

A mandatory University of Delaware program requires residence hall students to acknowledge that "all whites are racist" and offers them "treatment" for any incorrect attitudes regarding class, gender, religion, culture or sexuality they might hold upon entering the school, according to a civil rights group.

In a great article from the American Thinker, entitled The South Rises, Ed Lasky makes the following comparison of North vs. South in terms of competing American cultural visions.  

Culturally, Hollywood and New York City have created a steady stream of dreary and predictable "entertainment" that ridicules Southerners. 

Northern bigotry

Can anyone recall any positive views of the South being articulated by political elites? Time is up. Instead, what comes to mind are the views of Democratic Party leader Howard Dean (Vermont) who considers the South the land of bigots with Confederate flags in their pickup trucks. More recently, a Democrat suggested those visiting NASCAR races be inoculated from those Confederate cooties that are running rampant over the bodies of NASCAR fans.  

What entertainment have they fostered upon America? 

Anti-American movies that portray our leaders in the harshest possible light, that characterize our military volunteers who defend us as sadistic torturers, that label every corporation as a defiler of our laws — this is what we have to feast on when we go out with our families on a Saturday night. Conversely, Hollywood seemingly cannot find the talent or the will to bring forth movies that convey religious themes. Perhaps our "creative community" see such films as too evangelical, too Southern in appeal. (the South is the most religious region of our nation.) 

 Movies such as The Spitfire Grill, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and The Passion of the Christ all were Christian allegories or based on Christian themes that proved to have wide appeal and were financial successes.

All had to be produced outside the Hollywood system. Despite the proven popularity of these movies, Hollywood would rather produce its never-ending stream of anti-American agitprop.

These elites have all but ignored the genres of blues, gospel, and country-western music that express longing and sadness, patriotism and pride, the sense of hope that shines through dark despair. The creative centers for these types of music are all found in the South (Nashville, Memphis and points South. One publicly held company, Gaylord Entertainment, focuses on "Southern" forms of entertainment and has prospered).

Great article which reminds how many positive contributions made by Evangelical Christians!

      854 miles promised. Just 18 miles delivered. And it's the wrong kind of fence! Which leaves millions of Americans saying, Where's The Fence? Now Congress is pushing new amnesty legislation. Let's face it — they're never going to build that fence unless citizens like US demand action.

I found this on Newt.org.  It is a very moving, interesting, and educational piece about Socrates, and the meaning of citizenship.  I hope we can read this together out loud at our next meeting. 

So, I purchased a copy of the Trial and Death of Socrates (one of my three fav books of all time…if you haven't read it, go buy it once you're done here…seriously, its only like 5 dollars) for a friend (is this the appropriate term?) and I decided that I would go through and underline some of my favorite parts for him.  It has been about 2 months since I've read TDS and I forgot how freaking amazing this book is, and it sort of got me thinking. 

There are a lot of people in this county that hate the way things are going.  This can be seen on both sides of the political spectrum.  We saw the level and degree of frustration during the past elections, and it got me thinking.  That was the best view of true democratic practices at work.  The execution was undoubtedly a bit shoddy, but that sort of change is what Plato discusses.

He has a whole section of the Dialog where he discusses the moral and ethical implications of being a citizen, and the sort of "contract" represented through citizenship.  According to Socrates, you become a full citizen of a country (or state technically) when you are of an age that you are aware of your decision to live in that country, and you chose that country over any other.  I would say for Americans, this could be at roughly 18.  When you are no longer dependent on your family, and you are able to vote and alter the decisions your country makes for you. 

So, according to Socrates, when you make a decision to live in a country, you are then subject to its decisions for you.  This is especially true because of the unwritten contract.  In exchange for the protection of the government, the aid of the government, the education the government provides for you and your offspring, you should be willing to do as it commands.  You have the option not to live here, not to follow this countries' laws, but if you chose to live here, you shall do as this country commands you.  If it commands that you pay taxes, you shall pay them, if it drafts you to sacrifice your life in battle, you will do that.  If you don't agree to these terms, move to FRANCE (they love people like you…it explains why the French suck so much).   As Socrates says, "For after having brought you into the world, and nurtured and educated you, and given you and every other citizen a share in every good that we had to give, we further proclaim and give the right to every Athenian, that if he does not like us when he has come of age and has seen the ways of the city, and made our acquaintance, he may go where he pleases and take his goods with him; and none of us laws will forbid him or interfere with him, but he who has experience of the manner in which we order justice and administer the state, and still remains, has entered into an implied contract that he will do as we command him…"

The point too is that one's country should be as dear, if not more dear to them as their family.  Would you not die to protect your child or your wife?  Would you not do anything to save your parents or family from harm?  Why would that not apply as well to your country?   "You failed to discover that our country is more to be valued and higher and holier by far than mother or father or any ancestor and more to be regarded in the eyes of the gods and of men of understanding… and when we are punished by her, whether with imprisonment or stripes, the punishment is to be endured in silence and if she leads us to wounds or death in battle, thither we follow as is right, neither may any one yield or retreat or leave his rank, but whether in battle or in a court of law, or in any other place, he must do what his city and his country order him; or he must change their view of what is just."

The last part of Socrates' argument is the most significant for me.  Socrates as you might not know is at the time of this conversation in prison for crimes against his country (corrupting the youth among other things).  His friends are begging him to escape the country and go to another place, yet Socrates refuses.  He tries to explain to his friend Crito why he chooses to stay and endure the punishment of the state.  He states first that he is a citizen of the state and subject to its laws and decisions.  He was given the opportunity, in his defense to prove to them that they were wrong in their logic and concept of justice, and he failed to do so adequately, and they sentenced him to death.  He feels he cannot leave the country for that would not only be disobeying and breaking the contract which he made with his country, but it would also be causing harm to his country.  This argument may be a bit difficult to follow, but the line of reasoning is that if he has to escape Athens and go to Rome or some other island nation, that he will cause anti-Athenian feelings on behalf of other nations who would agree with Socrates' position in his trial.  This propaganda war Socrates would cause between his country and others is a form of harm being inflicted on his country, and that is worse to him than enduring what he feels is a wrongful punishment.  "But If you go forth, returning evil for evil, and injury for injury, breaking the covenants and agreements which you have made with us, and wronging those whom you ought least to wrong, that is to say, yourself, your friends, your country, and us, we shall be angry with you while you live."

Now you might at this point think all this is very interesting, but you're wondering what the heck this has to do with modern day America.  I think it has to do with all the Americans out there who feel a need to constantly bash America.  Those who flee drafts and those who go on CNN and criticize this country all the time, they are the ones committing the crimes.  People take for granted what this country is providing them, and what they owe this country in return for that.  As Socrates said, if you don't like what the country is asking of you, change your countries mind.  If you don't agree with the draft, abstain, but realize that by doing so, you will be forced to deal with the punishment your country gives you: jail.  If you don't like the way the republican congress is functioning, that is fine, but don't go and complain about it all the time to other countries like France, which only forces them to hate us.  You should go out and vote, and change the way the government works.  So next time you want to bash America, think of everything it does for you.  Think about how it protects you from terrorists, and how it is paying for your parents when they get old.  Then reconsider whether or not your frustration and outbreak is really what the country deserves for everything it has done for you recently.