Senate Democrats for Vote Fraud

It is highly questionable whether Democrats would control the U. S. Senate without election fraud. So no wonder 16 Senate Democrats have asked the Justice Department to investigate whether Voter ID endangers “voting rights”. They are Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, Michael Bennet of Colorado, Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Dick Durbin of Illinois, Patty Murray of Washington, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley of Oregon, Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, Benjamin Cardin of Maryland, Mark Begich of Alaska, Tom Harkin of Iowa, Herb Kohl of Wisconsin and Tom Udall of New Mexico.

I have little doubt Eric Holder and any number of liberal judges would like to override the states and the vast majority of voters and quash Voter ID. A political firestorm may be coming on this issue.

Clifford of Red Stick Rant and Louisiana illustrates well why Voter I.D. is necessary to protect the voting rights of legitimate voters:

The Bayou State has had a picture ID requirement for some years, and I find it no intrusion. We require photo identification for things far more pedestrian than the sanctity of the Vote. You have to pony up a picture ID to buy beer, buy smokes, cash a check, get on a plane, or rent a car. I'm glad the requirement is there, actually, and I have first hand experience as to why: After returning to Louisiana from 7 years in New England, I found I had continued to "vote" in Orleans Parish for five of those seven years - even though I was lawfully registered to vote in Newton, Massachusetts, and had never come back to Louisiana to vote during that time.

But his Senior Senator Mary Landrieu doesn’t want to lose any of her “votes”. How do you think she got elected in the first place?

The Democrat Answer to Gunwalker Scandal? More Gun Control!

The Operation Gunwalker scandal is getting to be enough of a political problem for Democrats that some of them feel compelled to come up with an answer for it. And their prescription for the corruption and recklessness of the ATF, Eric Holder, and the Obama Administration is . . . more gun control. Yes, not enough gun control is the reeeal problem here.

Some things are so absurd not even my fertile imagination can make them up.

This Democrat response has already been aptly named: Operation Distraction.

(The Wall Street Journal take is here, but may involve a paywall.)

The First Big Obama Scandal?

The Obama Administration is a corrupt, even lawless, Chicago-style regime. But it has yet to experience a major scandal.

I doubt their luck will last, however. And Operation Gunwalker may be their first big scandal. Republicans in Congress have been investigating the ATF’s Operation Gunwalker, which more or less gave a pass to selling arms to Mexican drug gangs. Yes, stupid, if not criminal. The guns involved have been used in killing two U. S. agents and shooting numerous Mexican police.

To say Obama’s Attorney General Eric Holder has been less than cooperative with investigations would be an understatement. He may have lied to Congress.

Now ATF head Kenneth Melson will testify to Congress. He has said he is not interested in being “the fall guy”, and should know who knew what about Gunwalker and when.

His testimony may be *interesting*.

For one thing, if he testifies that Eric Holder knew about Gunwalker earlier than he testified he did, then even the “Mainstream” News Media will have trouble continuing to ignore this.

Eucharistic Flash Mob

I could quibble about the Blessed Sacrament being “carried about.” Instead I will give kudos to the Franciscans for organizing this “Eucharistic flash mob” in Preston, UK. Winsome and effective evangelism in the city.

See and hear for yourself.

That was predictable.

Dog pees on fire hydrant. Bear craps in woods. And “evangelical” Fulcrum “expresses serious concern at the launch of the Anglican Mission to England” society.

*Yawn*

In its predicable press release, Fulcrum all but accuses the Anglican Mission of being a breakaway group. I guess Fulcrum thinks they possess “a word of knowledge.” For the Anglican Mission has made it very clear that they intend to work within the Church of England, not unlike English missionary societies of the past:

The AMIE is determined to remain within the Church of England. The desire of those who identify with the society is to have an effective structure which enables them to remain in the Church of England and work as closely as possible with its institutions.

But, of course, Fulcrum will not keep mere facts from getting in the way of expressing “concern” about evangelicals who somewhat live up to the name.

(Secular) Abomination of the Week

Usually I constrain my Abomination of the Week *award* to churchly recipients. But the proposed new European Union “Europa building” looks so much like an abomination of desolation that it begs to be the first secular recipient.

But then the sinister visage of the building would be appropriate given EU policies as Cranmer points out in withering detail.

Just don’t show the plans to any end times “prophets”. They would have a field day with this.

BREAKING: Obama Releases Oil from Strategic Petroleum Reserve

President Obama’s sordid history of pitting American against American and favored industries and workers against those less favored by The One now escalates.

His Energy Department has announced it will release 30 million barrels of oil in an effort to lower the price of oil and increase Obama’s poll numbers. Well, that is not the explanation, of course:

U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu said the release of oil is a response to oil supply disruptions caused by turmoil in the Middle East and North Africa, including Libya.

The administration said the uprising in Libya has resulted in a loss of about 1.5 million barrels of oil a day. The release comes as the United States approaches a period of high energy use in July and August.

Bull manure. If there are any oil supply disruptions, they are because of the Obama regime.

If Texas were a swing state instead of a red state and oil workers highly unionized, do you think this would be happening?

But even without the obvious politics of this decision, it is irresponsible. The purpose of the SPR is to help us weather genuine oil shortages, not to manipulate the price of oil. This release will make us that more vulnerable to real oil shortages.

And this release may well lead to oil shortages. For once again, Obama is hamstringing those trying to produce oil. Once again, Obama is making it clear that he opposes those trying to produce more oil and has no problem with hindering them for his political gain and ideological motives. Why bother with drilling under such a president? This is just about the worst thing Obama could do for our energy independence.

But it is par for the course for The One.

Southern Sudan Under Attack of “Ethnic Cleansing”

I received the following e-mail yesterday:

The Archbishop of the Episcopal Church of the Sudan (ECS), the Most. Rev. Dr. Daniel Deng Bul, has appealed to the international community for help to resolve the conflict engulfing Abyei and Southern Kordofan states ahead of the indpendendence of South Sudan on 9th July 2011.



Fighting and violence, including the use of warplanes to carry out aerial bombardments, has been ongoing in the region since 5th June 2011 and has been directed in many cases against civilian settlements and churches, including All Saints Cathedral in Kadugli, the capital of Southern Kordofan. The United Nations has reported that over 160,000 have fled the fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and local communities. 



Archbishop Dr Deng Bul said in a statement, ”Without a doubt then, the most worrying aspect of this recent conflict is the way in which the fighting that originated between the SAF and the (South Sudan-based) Sudan People’s Liberation Army has now transformed into what can only be described as a deliberate attempt to rid Kadugli of its indigenous African and Christian population by the SAF, in short a policy of ethnic cleansing.”



As well as asking for prayer for a resolution to the situation, he also appealed to the international community to apply diplomatic pressure and to aid agencies to work with the ECS to relieve the suffering of local people.



Donations for the work of the ECS to relieve the suffering in Abyei and Southern Kordofan states can be made through Anglican International Development’s website (www.interanglicanaid.org).

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Here and here are two news reports on the situation.

Obviously, this is very distressing. I fear any comments I make would not do justice to either the outrage or the tragedy of these attacks. So I will confine myself (for now) to ask my readers to pray for Southern Sudan.

Another Democrat Gov. Vetoes Voter ID

Yet another Demorat Governor has vetoed a Voter ID bill. This time it’s Gov. Jay Nixon of Missouri. Again, Demorats do not want to lose fraudulent “votes”.

Oh, of course, the reason he claims to have vetoed the bill is that it would be “disenfranchising certain classes of persons.” Well, here’s one Black guy who isn’t buying that cow manure. He is among those that see that having some ID to prove you are who you say you are is common sense and needed to help prevent vote fraud.

But the U. S. Senate might not even be in Democrat hands were it not for election fraud. No wonder Democrats like E. J. Dionne and Jesse Jackson oppose Voter ID.

By the way, Texas just passed Voter ID with Gov. Rick Perry proudly signing. And he is touting that on what may be the campaign trail. He gets that real voters do not want their votes nullified by vote fraud.

(Note: I support Pawlenty for President, but am glad Perry is my governor.)

SBC Says No to New NIV (and rightly so)

I am pleased to see the Southern Baptist Convention has said no to the new NIV Bible “translation” over taking liberties with gender tenses. The SBC has even asked (probably more directed) its Lifeway Bookstores not to carry the new NIV and has encouraged pastors to warn congregations of it.

But really the NIV has taken liberties with scripture for decades. The latest gender controversy has become a flashpoint, but sloppy, loose, and downright arrogant NIV “translation” in the name of “dynamic equivalence” is nothing new. This article, first posted in 1995, will give you a good sampling of that. Here is a critique from 2000. It is not for nothing that I have long held the NIV’s claim to be a translation in contempt. It is more a paraphrase and not a very worthy one.

Yes, I am well aware that the NIV has been very popular among evangelicals . . . which buttresses my view that evangelicals of recent decades have been far too sloppy about defending, preserving, and passing on the Faith. But at least now, more are getting around to telling the NIV “translators” what they can do with their “dynamic equivalence.”

Abomination of the Week or SQUAAAWK!

Questions this abomination raise:

Is it comparing the crucified Son of God to . . . a parrot? Or is the Holy Spirit a parrot in warm climes or in the turgid minds of libchurchers?

Does it go “Polly want a cracker!” during the distribution of the Blessed Sacrament?

Has there ever been a vestment that is so intentionally pointless and irreverent?

Should I laugh? Be angry? Both?

White Wine and Parish Administration

Yesterday, Pentecost Sunday, two youth and I worshipped at Smokey Matt’s. Not only was the liturgy glorious as always, but also the real Bishop of Ft. Worth, Jack Leo Iker, was visiting. I could tell the youth enjoyed the experience.

Myself, I have to confess I was jealous of ++Iker’s golden mitre. I wished the bishop of my confirmation had worn that.

Afterwards, I introduced the two youth to the Rector, the Revd. Dwight Duncan. One asked him why the wine used during the Mass was white. I expected a deep theological/liturgical answer.

But Fr. Duncan instead gave a very practical and to the point answer – years ago, the Altar Guild requested white wine as red wine badly stains the linens.

I greatly enjoyed his answer. It reminded me who really runs Anglican parishes.


MORE:
I did not mention that Bishop Iker himself distributed all of the Bread of Life to communicants. I had not seen a bishop do that before, and I greatly appreciate it.

REC Membership in ACNA Ratified

I think it worthy of note that the General Council of the Reformed Episcopal Church (REC) now meeting in Dallas has unanimously ratified its membership in The Anglican Church in North America (ACNA).

The triannual meeting of the REC did so through approving without opposition a new Article XIII of the Constitution of the REC, which article spells out our membership in ACNA.

If one wishes to nitpick, technically the article does not become a part of our Constitution until a “second reading” (second approval) at the next General Council in three years. But for all practical purposes, our membership in ACNA is ratified, and that overwhelmingly. Thanks be to God!

Abomination of the Week

The Anglican Archbishop of Brazil, Mauricio de Andrade, provides the Abomination of the Week.

Actually, I should say “abominations.” For his silly vestments, the tripe that comes out his mouth, and his being the Presiding Heretic’s lapdog – all of these are abominations worthy of recognition. I hardly know which to choose.

Assad Torture-Kills 13-year-old . . . and Obama Still Has Ambassador in Syria

Before I even begin, I must warn that this story is disturbing.

Syrian President Assad’s government has torture-killed 13-year-old Hamza Ali al-Khateeb. Numerous other protesters have met a similar fate. But Hazma’s horrific death has become a world wide rallying point against Assad's brutal regime. I, for one, will not be satisfied until Assad hangs.

But Obama? . . . has not even recalled our ambassador to Syria. And that in spite of past calls for him to do so, including from Pawlenty, Rubio, and Thune.

I am at a loss for words.

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MORE:
Obama recess appointed Robert Ford as Ambassador to Syria this past Christmas to get around opposition in Congress. He is the first US Ambassador to Syria since 2005.

Yes, as always, the ends justify the means with Obama. But both the ends and the means here are an outrage.