Remind me not to get sick in Canada.

UK Times columnist Jeremy Clarkson vacationed in Canada recently. A friend and his son had the misfortune to fall into the hands of the socialist Canadian heathcare system.

Now tell me again why we should increase government control over healthcare.

Labour and the Lockerbie Bomber

When Scotland released the Lockerbie bomber, the UK Labour government made all sorts of noises that they did not approve at all, but that the decision was out of their hands.

Oh really. Although it may be oversimplifying the situation to say the Labour government directly approved the release, leaked letters indicate that at the very least the government relented and allowed for the release in return for Libyan oil.

My reason for commenting is I expect a firestorm against Labour for this. It appeared they were heading for a big defeat in the next election. No telling how bad it will be now. PM Gordon Brown may not last until then. And whether the Labour Party as we know it survives the election is an open question. Yes, I think the situation is now that bad for Labour.

ABC, NBC Refuse to Air Anti-Obamacare Ad

Having done their duty to prostitute themselves for Obama during The Messiah’s election campaign, the “mainstream” news media continue to do their duty for Obamacare, including stifling opposing views. ABC and NBC are refusing to air an ad opposing Obamacare. (NBC hints it might run the ad with alterations, but I’ll believe that when I see it.)

For ABC to block this ad as “partisan” is incredible. That from the network that ran a free infomercial for Obamacare from the White House. As Dick Morris, a past Clinton advisor noted: “It's the ultimate act of chutzpah because ABC is the network that turned itself over completely to Obama for a daylong propaganda fest about health care reform.”

The “mainstream” news media suppressed Obama’s leftist background during the election campaign. Now they are suppressing views opposing Obamacare.

Gosh, I thought the purpose of “news” was to inform us.

This makes me wonder if it is time to boycott Disney again. It owns ABC. . . . Well actually Obama does, but you know what I mean.

OUTRAGE: Successful NH Home-Schooled Girl Ordered to Attend Public Schools

Think those bad old days are long past when states ordered kids to attend public schools?

Think again.

A 10 year old New Hampshire girl has been ordered to attend public schools even though by any reasonable measure her home school education is going well. The reason? She and her education is too Christian.

In the process of renegotiating the terms of a parenting plan for the girl, the guardian ad litem involved in the case concluded, according to the court order, that the girl “appeared to reflect her mother’s rigidity on questions of faith” and that the girl’s interests “would be best served by exposure to a public school setting” and “different points of view at a time when she must begin to critically evaluate multiple systems of belief...in order to select, as a young adult, which of those systems will best suit her own needs.”

Marital Master Michael Garner reasoned that the girl’s “vigorous defense of her religious beliefs to [her] counselor suggests strongly that she has not had the opportunity to seriously consider any other point of view” and then recommended that the girl be ordered to enroll in a government school instead of being home-schooled. Judge Lucinda V. Sadler approved the recommendation and issued the order on July 14.

I am so outraged by this, it is a struggle to respond in coherent language. I will say that if this isn’t a blatant, arrogant violation of parental rights and of the First Amendment, then I don’t know what is.

I may say more when (if?) I calm down.

Brian McLaren Goes Muslim (or is it Episcopalian?)

Brian McLaren has announced that he is celebrating Ramadan this year. No, I am not joking.

Ramadan is the Muslim holy month of fasting for spiritual renewal and purification. It commemorates the month during which Muslims believe Mohammed received the Quran through divine revelation . . .

Perhaps the biggest fraud ever foisted on mankind. So McLaren and his oh-so emergent friends will celebrate it!

This year, I, along with a few Christian friends (and perhaps others currently unknown to us will want to join in) will be joining Muslim friends in the fast which begins August 21. We are not doing so in order to become Muslims: we are deeply committed Christians.

Oh, yes. Deeply committed . . . . We hardly know what we are committed to. And saying the Faith is actually and objectively true is something we avoid like the plague, but we are deeeeeply committed.

But as Christians, we want to come close to our Muslim neighbors and to share this important part of life with them. Just as Jesus, a devout Jew, overcame religious prejudice and learned from a Syrophonecian woman and was inspired by her faith two thousand years ago (Matthew 15:21 ff, Mark 7:24 ff), . . .

Oh yes. That Jewish bigot Jesus learned from the Syrophonecian women not to be so narrow-minded. How . . . Episcopalian.

we seek to learn from our Muslim sisters and brothers today. . .

We will seek to avoid being disrespectful or unfaithful to our own faith tradition . . .

Uh, McLaren, you’ve already blown it there even before you decided to go Muslim. But do carry on.

in our desire to be respectful to the faith tradition of our friends. For example, since the Bible teaches us the importance of fasting and being generous to the poor, we can participate as Christians in fidelity to the Bible as our Muslim friends do so in fidelity to the Quran.

Oh, I did not know the Bible encouraged joining in the worship of false gods. That’s a new one on me. Must be one of those wonderful contributions of the Emergent movement.

Our main purpose for participating will be our own spiritual growth, health, learning, and maturity . . .

So we will write off those parts of the Bible we don’t like as “metanarrative” and “story” and will participate in the worship of the biggest idol ever known to man. Sounds like a plan!

Matt Kennedy, I and others have wondered if the “Emerging Church” was just a trendy version of Libchurch and McLaren just another Liberal more hip than most.

I think we have our answer.

Women’s Ordination and Lay Women

Like, most of my good readers, I’ve long been aware of the damage women’s ordination has done to the church. (And, for the record, I object to how it has been pushed on the church more than the existence of WO itself.)

What I was not aware of is how women’s ordination has diminished laywomen ministers, particularly in the Episcopal Church. From a laywoman in TEC:

What we found offensive was the complete lack of respect for our own work and vocation on the part of the women who sought ordination and were committed to their own vocations as ordained ministers. Moreover, once ordination became available for women, most of us were no longer able to work in the church. The church’s clericalism saw to that.

Christopher Johnson has more.

Jordan Hylden on The Episcopal Church

It took a while for Jordan Hylden’s excellent article on The Episcopal Church post-General Convention to cross my radar. But it finally did thanks to Stand Firm. And, though it is over a month old now, I think it worthy of consideration and comment.

I particularly want to note two characteristics of, not just TEC leadership, but Libchurch leadership across the mainline denominations, two traits that Hylden nails:

1. Putting the opinion of modern (and post-modern) men above the teaching of scripture and tradition.

2. Dishonesty in so doing.

As for same-sex blessings, Bishop Christopher Epting, the church’s deputy for ecumenical and interreligious relations, has asserted that despite Resolution C056 the convention actually “did not authorize any public rites” for the blessing of same-sex unions and so did not, in fact, contravene the requests made by the global Anglican instruments of unity. It is notable that this argument was not even attempted by Bishop Jefferts Schori and Bonnie Anderson in their letter. The word game here in play is to insist that while they were asked not to authorize any churchwide rites, no one said anything about unleashing bishops to make and use rites on their own. In short, Bishop Epting’s argument not only fails on its own terms, but it is difficult even to take seriously.

All in all, one is left with the spectacle of the Episcopal Church’s leadership trying desperately to convince the Anglican communion and countless onlookers, by the artful use of lawyerly nuance and political hair-splitting, that they did not do what they did.

Such dishonesty should not surprise. Many (most?) TEC bishops lie every time they say the creed. Or they engage in the obfuscation covered by “we believe” – that we confess this is what the church believes (but not necessarily moi). If one can so lie about one’s faith – to the Lord Himself no less – one has already jettisoned basic honesty.

Of course, dishonesty breaks down trust, and the current situation in the Anglican Communion is no exception.



Arguably, this is the worst of all possible worlds. While one might wish that the church had not decided to leave behind biblical sexual norms, it is by now clear that this is the position of the great majority of Episcopal leadership. As such, there would have been genuine integrity in stating forthrightly that the Episcopal Church disagrees with its Anglican brothers and sisters, and that, out of their prayerful discernment and sense of God’s justice, they cannot comply with the Anglican world’s requests.

But that is not the path the Episcopal Church’s leaders have chosen. . . . Many Anglicans around the world no longer believe that they can trust the Episcopal Church to say what it means and do what it says, and the actions of the seventy-sixth General Convention, along with the present stance of church leadership, will almost certainly add fuel to the flame of Anglican discord and mistrust.

Although these are the two points that stand out to me, because they are so typical of Libchurches, Hylden has more to say. I commend to my readers the whole article which is accompanied by thoughtful exchanges between Hylden and his readers.

Corpus Christi Obamacare Protest

Saturday, I drove to Congressman Solomon (aka Solobama) Ortiz’s office in Corpus Christi, Texas to join a protest against Obamacare and against Ortiz’s support of it and unwillingness to hold a real town hall to listen to his constituents.

There was a good size crowd there. Those opposed to Obamacare outnumbered those in support by 4-to-1 or more. And that even though unions tried to get their people out. One teacher there I know, who is opposed to Obamacare, said he got an e-mail urging him to come out in support.

As for Obamacare “mobs” being organized “astroturf,” no one e-mailed or called me. I found out about the protest in the newspaper even though I’m more politically active than most. This protest was hardly the work of political operatives.

I’m pleased to report the protest was peaceful. There were a few vigorous discussions between the two sides, but nothing approaching violence as in other places. You may find a video of the protest here. But it’s not very exciting. No blood, smashing windows, silly street theater or burning flags. We’re not Leftists.

Well, I almost forgot to mention two or three Lefties supporting Obamacare were in silly white robes and white face.

The Corpus Christi rag coverage was a joke. No mention that those opposed to Obamacare greatly outnumbered those in support. And you almost have to read between the lines to figure out that we were also protesting against Ortiz and his refusal to hold a real town hall. Geez, it was at his office, and we chanted “Where’s Ortiz?” Put two and two together, “reporters”.

But it was nevertheless a successful protest. When one considers how conservatives historically are not the types to get out and protest in the streets, this and protests against Obamacare across the country are remarkable indeed.

Ted Kennedy, Democracy, and the Rule of Law

As you may have noticed, a recurring topic of this blog is how Democrats, among others, subvert democracy and the rule of law through rigging the political process by various means. I have particularly focused on election fraud.

But Democrats can be lot more creative than stuffing the ballot box. Exhibit A is Senator Ted Kennedy. You’ve got to hand it to the man – he is creative and shameless to the end. Hot Air sums up what I mean quite well:

During the time Mitt Romney was governor of Massachusetts, Senator John Kerry ran for President and looked at times that he might win. The state legislature, egged on by Kerry’s Senate partner Ted Kennedy, changed the law regarding the selection of a replacement Senator to require a state election, keeping Romney from the possibility of appointing — quelle horreur! — a Republican in Kerry’s place. Now that Ted Kennedy is perhaps too ill to continue, Kennedy now wants the law changed back, since there’s a Democrat in the governor’s chair.

By all means, it is more important to get and keep Democrats in power than to guard the integrity of our democracy. One must have one’s priorities. But Ted Kennedy’s priorities, as always, may be slightly out of whack.

The rule of law prevails because it’s seen by most as a fair, non-partisan measure of public behavior. There are good arguments to be made for both gubernatorial appointment and special elections as processes for filling mid-term vacancies in Congress. However, actions by a state legislature and demands by partisan hacks to keep going back and forth depending on the party registration of the Governor makes a mockery of the rule of law and underscores the fact that machine politics runs Massachusetts.

Well said. And similar things could be said for New Jersey, which blatantly violated state election laws by putting Frank Lautenberg on the ballot well after the last minute back in 2002. Heck, with Al Franken, Tim Johnson, and other illegitimate senators (not to mention numerous federal judges who ignore the Constitution), Democrats are well on the way to turning this whole country into a Democrat political machine, democracy be damned. So, by all means, let’s get yet another tainted Senator from Massachusetts while we’re at it.

[catches breath, wipes foam from mouth]

Ted Kennedy and friends have better watch themselves and their machine politics, however. Sometimes, it backfires.

Back in 1959, Texas, a one-party Democrat state back then, passed the LBJ Law. You see, Senate Majority Leader Lyndon Johnson was running for president. so they decided to rig the situation by passing a law that allowed a man to run for either pres or vice-pres and for Senate.

Well, when LBJ was elected vice-president, the LBJ Law therefore created a Senate vacancy. So there was special election in 1961 . . . and John Tower became the first Republican since Reconstruction to be elected Senator from Texas. It was the first crack in Democrat one-party Texas.

So what goes around comes around. I hope the Democrat’s comeuppance comes at the ballot box as in 1961 Texas. I fear that contempt for the rule of law will instead inspire . . . more contempt for the rule of law.

God didn’t say “You reap what you sow” for nothing.

Obama: “We Are God’s Partners in Matters of Life and Death.”

The President who would say anything reportedly said this to a meeting of rabbis:

We are God’s partners in matters of life and death.

Given his rabid support of abortion practically to the point of infanticide, I think what he really meant was “We play God in matters of life and death.”

And that’s the royal “we” to you, by the way.

And You Think I Don’t Like Obama . . .

Some of my forbearing readers may think I’m a little too hard on Obama. But, heck, I’m a softy compared to Gerald Warner, an Englishman no less.

It would not even occur to me to call Obama “President Pantywaist”.

William Murchison: The Ruinous Sixties

William Murchison is using the occasion of the 40th anniversary of Woodstock to reflect on the 1960’s. But unlike most, his reflections are not very groovy.

He quotes Richard Lyman, president of Stanford during the time, in lamenting the damage to rational discourse:

Rationality itself was widely scored in the 1960s and suffered setbacks. It has never entirely regained its place in its supposed Temple, the University.

And I heartily agree. The impulses of the Sixties did lasting damage to higher education and, therefore, to the West.

Murchison does not buy that peace and love crap, either:

Peace and love — mere dumb show; dish towel disguises for the awful passions hiding below, starting with the passion to have it — whatever "it" might be — all one's way, without reference to norms, traditions, dignity, tolerance, free speech, the received wisdom of the species.

Sums up the Sixties pretty well, no?

A personal reflection: I’ve more than once ruminated that if I were a youth in the Sixties, I would have been alienated from my own generation. Being a youth in the Seventies wasn’t all that great either, however. Bad music, bad politics, and hilariously bad clothing. It took me twenty more years to learn how to dress after my Seventies teenagehood. (And some may think I still don’t know how to dress.)

I would have been much more at home as a youth in the Eighties, which I think is an underrated decade mainly because the Lefty literati hate the conservative triumphs of the time. The Eighties were an excellent time for popular culture, at least compared to the previous three decades. And, yes, the politics were tolerable for a change.

Of course, the mainline churches never did grow out of the Sixties and Seventies.

Hat tip to TitusOneNine.

Victory: Speech Snitch Line Killed

(Yes, after working on the novel for a while, I decided to blog after all.)

I am gratified to report that the infamous White House speech snitch line (flag@whitehouse.gov) is no more.

Methinks the White House discovered the hard way that many of us prefer an America that is American, not Orwellian. Americans, especially American bloggers and their readers, made this speech snitch line backfire on Obama. So his people quietly did away with it.

Kudos to those who gave the White House hell (and not a few defiant e-mails). This is a fine victory.

But it is only one victory. I am convinced this administration has a totalitarian streak that won’t go away until we make them go away in 2012. In the meantime, if you like your freedoms, you better fight for them.

The Final Draft Begins

I do not plan to make normal post today. Instead, I’m about to begin what I hope will be the final draft of my novel Pilot Point, about which I will say more in due time.

Your prayers are coveted.

More Cowards

Here is the most comprehensive list I’ve come across of congressmen who are not holding town halls this August recess.

Obviously, I cannot confirm whether every name on the list belongs there. Also, some congressmen, such as mine, Solomon Ortiz, are holding (And I’m being very charitable here.) more controlled forums such as conference calls.

Meanwhile, Sen. Barbara Boxer is not only being a coward, but a pompous jerk.

No Safe Place: The Big Problem for the Diocese of South Carolina

I won’t parse Bishop Lawrence’s address of last week. Nor will I question his integrity or orthodoxy, both of which are above reproach.

But I will agree with Texanglican when he nails the big problem for the Diocese of South Carolina or any other orthodox diocese remaining in the Episcopal Church:

Sadly absolutely nothing proposed in this new "middle way" will save DioSC in the long run. One day the worthy Bishop Lawrence will leave the scene and they will have to elect a new bishop. And as long as they remain under the Constitutions and Canons of TEC their new-bishop elect, whoever he is, will have to receive consents from a majority of the heretical leadership of TEC in order to be consecrated. Any plan DioSC adopts now that does not rapidly move toward departure from TEC will eventually spell their doom.

Indeed, just as any man who refuses to ordain women has a snowball’s chance of receiving the needed consents to become a bishop in the Episcopal Church, so is the day is coming when any uncompromisingly orthodox man will be unable to receive the needed consents. And the example of Lawrence’s laborious consent process confirms that day may be very near. For that reason alone (although there are numerous reasons), any diocese which hopes to remain orthodox in The Episcopal Church is either fooling themselves or relying on a prolonged miracle from the Lord – which is not unlike staying in the Niagara River upstream from a certain waterfall.

Methinks it wiser to pray for God’s protection . . . then get the heck out.

For, as I’ve said more than once, there is no safe place for the orthodox in The Episcopal Church.

Obama’s Brownshirts Attack Disabled Woman

Details here and here.

I hold Obama responsible. This sort of thing is a predicable outcome of him sending in the union goons and ACORN/Organizing for America brownshirts.

Cowards and “Evil-mongers”

A week ago, I asked out loud whether congressmen will duck having town halls. It turns out the answer in more and more cases is yes.

These two New Hampshire Democrat congressmen stand out. Neither Paul Hodes and Carol Shea-Porter will hold town halls with constituents. Yet both will participate in a lefty blogger party. We see where their priorities lie.

More cowards, complete with lame excuses can be found here.

My congressman? Solomon Ortiz (D-TX) won’t hold a town hall. Instead, he will hold what sounds to me like little more than a tightly controlled conference call. It appears Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is engaging in the same tactic.

Reid, by the way, has dubbed town hall protesters “evil-mongers”.

MORE:
Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) is another coward.

Housekeeping

Due to spam comments, I will forthwith moderate comments.

I apologize if it takes a while for your comment to appear, but until we kill all spammers, I am afraid this is necessary.

Gulag UK: Max Headroom Comes True?

Back in the late 80’s, I was a big fan of Max Headroom. I still consider it one of the more brilliant series ever made for television.

One of the fun, yet sinister, quirks of the plot was that, “twenty minutes into the future,” all households were monitored through their TVs, which they were required to keep on at all times.

I considered Max Headroom just a fun bit of good science fiction until I read this:

The British government will force thousands of the "worst" families in the country to live with 24-hour CCTV surveillance in a bid to cut back on child abuse and neglect, the Children's Ministry has said. In the next two years the government plans to expand an existing family monitoring program from 2000 families to 20,000 at a total estimated cost of £400million. 


Despite growing complaints that New Labour's new Britain has in the last ten years become the most spied upon nation in the world, ahead of even China, the Labour government announced late last month that 20,000 "problem families" who have run afoul of social services officials will be watched around the clock and subjected to surprise inspections by government agents.

Cranmer is among those who have noted that the UK is already the most spied upon nation in the world. When I studied there in 2007, it was remarkable how many of those little CCTV cameras were around. Heck, one report puts the current number at 4.3 million.

With elements of the Labour regime already marking down families and prospective families for not being politically correct and secular enough in their thought, one can only imagine how far this Max Headroom/Orwellian intrusion into homes can expand.

The sooner Britons cast off these totalitarians the better.

Gene Green, Hypocrite

This is rich. Rep. Gene Green (D-TX) is using photo ID to restrict participation in his town halls to 29th District residents. Now that is understandable. He wants only constituents there. I have no problem with that.

But how did he vote on requiring photo ID’s for federal elections, something slightly more important than town halls? No, of course.

Just like a Democrat to enable vote fraud. Hypocrite.

Rasmussen Poll: Big Numbers Against Obamacare

I wasn’t going to blog this morning, but a Rasmussen Poll just out blows away any attempts to downplay opposition to Obamacare. The headline number is that Americans likely to vote are opposed to Obama/Pelosicare by a 53-42 margin. But a closer look reveals the numbers are even worse (or better) than that:

More significantly, 44% of voters strongly oppose the health care reform effort versus 26% who strongly favor it. Intensity has been stronger among opponents of the plan since the debate began. . . .


Most notable, however, is the opposition among voters not affiliated with either party. Sixty-two percent (62%) of unaffiliated voters oppose the health care plan, and 51% are strongly opposed.

Of course, those unaffiliated or “independent” voters are highly important in swinging elections. Politicians who ignore them or even refuse to hold town halls to listen to them might want to start looking for other work.

An Important Tip for Conservative Protesters

Those who are protesting attempts to ram Obamacare down our throats are right to be angry and vocal. However, I have a very important tip that applies to protests against Leftism in general.

An old tactic of Leftists is to provoke, create, or even invent confrontation to make conservatives look bad. I experienced this first hand back in my Duke days, and it still goes on today. Some examples will illustrate this better than any explanation from me.

From a recent Raleigh anti-Obama protest:

Found it interesting how they send a agitator into our conservative groups. Then they say something really stupid or insulting, trying to get you angry and have cameras ready to get it on film. It was so obvious, we all started laughing and ignoring them. Then they started to get right in your face and asking bait questions.

That is textbook. Or in this photoessay from Denver, note the Leftists using bullhorns literally in the faces of conservative protesters:

Here comes our community organizer with his bullhorn. For the next half hour or more, he will chant “FREE HEALTH CARE NOW”, “YES WE CAN” etc. with his horn directed at the faces of the health care dissenters.

During the election, on September 17, 2008, at a campaign stop in Nevada, Obama said “I want you to argue with them (neighbors) and get in their face”. . .

This woman worked in tandem with the other organizer and blasted the same people from behind. These bullhorns are extremely powerful. I saw demonstrators repeatedly ask them to point their bullhorns away. This woman in particular responded by moving the bullhorn closer to a woman who complained of ear pain.

Also, other brownshirts tried to grab signs from conservatives. Really, these Leftists assaulted conservatives with impunity. Speaking of assault, yes, goons and brownshirts may assault you . . . and then blame you for it!

Now I do NOT want to scare you from protesting and making your voice heard. This is a time to stand up and be heard. That free speech is literally under attack makes it that much more important. But be aware that brownshirts may try their worst to provoke you and to make you look bad so that your efforts work against your good cause.

So please, even when under dire provocation, keep your cool. Keep your anger from even the appearance of anything violent or inappropriate.

And, yes, it may also be wise to have a cameraman or two to document your protest and brownshirt attacks on it.

Taking One for the Team

My Rector and his family are taking a well-deserved vacation. Since the Rector’s sons usually provide the acolytes, on Sunday I was called into duty to be the crucifer, chalice-bearer, etc. for the Assistant Rector, who was the celebrant.

Now we had a small congregation and a good amount of consecrated wine. So after everyone had received, the Assistant Rector had quite a bit of port to down. He looked like he was suffering a bit as he consuming, so I whispered, “Let me know if you need some help.” And, indeed, he handed the chalice over to me and I helped out.

Now, we use good port, so I usually don’t mind downing a little extra. But, wow, this was too much. I didn’t get sick (or drunk), but it wasn’t a pleasant feeling either. You see, I have a good weakness in that once I get to a certain point of alcohol consumption (well before drunkenness), I and my body just do want anymore. (Yes, that helps keep me out of trouble.) And I pushed myself past that point rather quickly in helping my brother. I joked with people that I “took one for the team.”

Afterward, we discussed the origins of consuming all the wine after reception. My understanding now is that it is something both low and high church people have practiced. Low church, to avoid the leftovers being worshipped; high church, to avoid the leftovers being treated irreverently.

If anyone has further insight into this practice, please feel free to comment.

But both the Assistant Rector and I agree that a little less wine should be consecrated next time.

Two-Faced Obama

Not only is the Obama’s speech I noted Friday slightly chilling, it is incredibly two-faced. In the same speech, he says we should listen to each other and work together, only to later say, “I don’t want the folks who created the mess to do a lot of talking. I want them to just get out of the way . . .”

Check it out for yourself.



The man has no shame.

Obama: “I don’t want the folks who created the mess to do a lot of talking. I want them to just get out of the way…”

I know I’m beginning to sound like a broken record, but our president is looking and sounding more like a speech-squelching totalitarian every day. Yesterday he said this:

I don’t want the folks who created the mess to do a lot of talking. I want them to just get out of the way so we can clean up the mess. I don’t mind cleaning up after them, but don’t do a lot of talking.

Watch it for yourself:



If this were in isolation, I would chalk it up to ill-advised rhetoric. But coming from a man who has just sent the brownshirts and goons to town halls and whose White House has urged people to snitch on free speech, this gives me the chills.

-----

Hat tip to Hot Air.

Will Congressmen Duck Town Halls? (UPDATE: Yes)

Earlier this morning, I noted with alarm one tactic of dealing with citizens opposing Obamacare at town halls – send in the brownshirts and the goons.

Something else to watch for is a more passive, nay, cowardly tactic – ducking or not holding the town halls at all.

Now, I do not yet know whether any congressmen will engage in such cowardice. However, I did call Congressman Solomon Ortiz’s local office, and they said no August town halls for him are scheduled yet due to other commitments. The young gentleman on the phone did add that they may be added to the schedule later, but he did not sound very confident about that.

I am not jumping to conclusions, but I do find that strange.

Like I said, something to watch.

UPDATE:
Sometimes I’m good. One congressman, Brad Miller (D-NC) indeed won’t hold town halls this recess. His office is using an alleged death threat as an excuse, but he did not have any town halls scheduled before the threat.

Methinks the real reason is:

(Communications director LuAnn) Canipe explained that Miller had no plans for a town hall before and won’t be holding any now, due to this event and the examples he’s already seen from the around the country: “Our point is, we’re not gonna be bullied into having a town hall so it can then be interrupted by the fake grassroots folks.”

So if you oppose Obama, you are not really “the people.” Just letting you know.

BREAKING: OBAMA SENDS IN GOONS AND BROWNSHIRTS. VIOLENCE BREAKS OUT.

Like any Dear Leader with a totalitarian streak, Obama cannot abide “the people” standing up and opposing him on the nationalization of health care (and of just about everything else). That’s not on the Leftist script.

So he sends in the brownshirts and the union goons.

And the results are predictable and immediate. Town halls are stacked with the goons and brownshirts, and not so pliant citizens are locked out. And violence breaks out. Tampa and St. Louis are only the first instances and, sad to say, likely only a small taste of what is to come.

By the way, I warned you about this sort of thing on Inauguration Day.

------

A personal note: I understand if some of my good readers think I am being alarmist. And I do not presume to know whether Obama and his administration is totalitarian. But again and again, his administration is acting the way totalitarian regimes act. And our freedoms are under attack, very direct attack now. And that is reason for alarm.

Obama Wants You to Snitch on Free Speech!

I’ve more than once noted that the Obama Administration has a creepy totalitarian side to it. Well, here they go again. This time the White House blog in a now infamous post, urges people to report those who are saying “fishy” things about Obamacare. The speech snitch e-mail is flag@whitehouse.gov if you wish to report me.

As you can imagine, some are having a bit of fun with this.



But it really is creepy, to say the least. Urging people to snitch on speech is the sort of thing totalitarian regimes do. And just exactly what will the White House do with a list of dissidents? Senator John Cornyn is right to call out Obama on this.

By the way, can you imagine the furor if Bush had a speech snitch e-mail address? The Lib/Left gave him grief when he urged people to report what might be terrorist activity, a far cry from political speech snitching. Where now is the Left’s outrage?

:crickets chirping:

Americans are “on board” Obamacare. They really are . . . or not.

Democrats and Leftists can explain away the strong opposition to Obamacare all they want. But how to explain away this?:

American voters, by a 55 - 35 percent margin, are more worried that Congress will spend too much money and add to the deficit than it will not act to overhaul the health care system, according to a Quinnipiac University national poll released today. By a similar 57 - 37 percent margin, voters say health care reform should be dropped if it adds “significantly” to the deficit.

By a 72 - 21 percent margin, voters do not believe that President Barack Obama will keep his promise to overhaul the health care system without adding to the deficit, the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University national poll finds.

American voters disapprove 52 - 39 percent of the way President Obama is handling health care, down from 46 - 42 percent approval July 1, with 60 - 34 percent disapproval from independent voters.

The numbers are overwhelming and a bit hard to argue with. No wonder Obama, Emanuel, and Pelosi tried to ram Obamacare through before Congressmen went home on recess to get an earful from constituents.

But those are just angry extremist mobs. The American people really are “on board” Obamacare, right? Right?

Smoking Gun: Obama Advocates “Single Payer . . . Universal Health Care”

When Obama tells you that he doesn’t want a government takeover of health care, he is lying, pure and simple. And his own words prove it.

Here is Obama from 2003:


The White House and its propaganda whores are throwing up a smoke screen to distract from Obama’s real agenda. Facts can be so annoying when you are attempting a power grab through lies.

MORE: Newsbusters has posted a good chronology of this spat.

Peaceful Muslims in Northern Nigeria

Peaceful Muslims have attacked Christians and police in Northern Nigeria the past few days.

That police stations, a prison and a customs post were attacked along with churches tell me that this is an attack on the whole society there, at least on those who aren’t peaceful Muslims.

Do join me in praying for the targets of these thugs.

MORE: I should add that the targets of these thugs likely include Muslims who aren’t as extremist as they. So do also pray for Muslims who really are peaceful.

Schori Teaches My Sunday School

Yes, I’m serious. The Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church herself taught my little REC Sunday School class. I guess 135 years away from the Episcopal Church is enough for her to let bygones be bygones.

During the week, I intended to teach on the Gospel lesson in which Jesus warns us to beware of false prophets in sheep’s clothing (Matthew 7:15-21). I had a lesson prepared. And then I saw this:



Well, I had to change my lesson on the spot. Schori’s teaching is downright providential and taught the said Gospel lesson better than I could.

So I had my class watch the clip. Then, among other things, we noted the following:

1. How reasonable she sounds.
2. How she wears a collar and speaks in church just like a genuine Christian leader. The uninformed can be taken in by such things.
3. How she starts out with truth, i. e. Jesus did die for the whole world. God’s promises to the Jews indeed are not broken.
4. How she then uses that basis of truth on which Christians agree to veer in a completely different direction. Her departure is very subtle at first, but then accelerates.
5. If one is not very familiar with the basics of the faith, it is very easy to be taken in by such false teaching. Accordingly, the best way not to be taken in is to know the faith well. (I noted that those combating counterfeit money are trained by becoming familiar with real money.)
6. How her “fruit”, such as suing the faithful, is a good tip-off to her true colors.

Like I said, Presiding Bishop Schori taught my Sunday School class by illustrating the Gospel lesson very well.

And to think I once said that she shouldn’t even teach Sunday School. Mea culpa!

The Race is On!

It appears that after that Episcopal Church General Convention that did not lift the moratorium on gay bishops (Nudge, nudge! Say no more!), trendy dioceses can hardly wait to have more gay bishops. In fact, the race is on to be the first diocese with the first post-Robinson gay bishop. Minnesota and L. A., of course, are in the race, and who knows who else might join in.

One of the two gay L. A. candidates has even written on love triangles in the Bible. Now that is avant garde!

When it comes to being trendy, junior high kids have nothing on these people.