Sen. Rick Santorium is introduced.

Sen. Santorium is speaking of religious freedom being under attack by activist judges. He talks of the separation of the people from the judicial branch of government.

The protestors outside seem to think that people of faith want to create a kind of theocracy. But that is simply untrue. What we want is a place at the table of ideas. People of faith have a right to fight against what we see as an attack on our religious freedoms.

Justic Sunday Begins.

Pastor Lusk, after a rousing gospel choir beginning, grabbed Tony Perkins and Dr. Dobson's hands and said "You want to see what really makes Satan mad?" (Big cheering) I have to say the Pastor
Lusk is one of the most energetic and charming speakers I have heard in a long while.

More protestors have showed up outside shouting "No Theocracy!!" Who knew we would all agree with the Protestors???

Protestors.

La Shawn, Stacy, the Captain and I walked over to a few protestors that showed up outside. Three were young puppies ( early 20's ) and they firmly believe that FRC and evangelical Christians want a theocracy with Christians controlling the schools and government.

Give me one night of debate with these kids and I truly believe I can break through that wall of ignorance.

Some more Justice Sunday Stuff.

Many people don't realize some recent federal rulings that fly in the face of religious liberties. FRC has given us some material citing these ruling.

1) federal judges have ruled tht the pledge of allegiance is unconstitutinal because of the phrase "one nation under God."
2) They have declared that the Ten Commandments are prohibited in public places if the display in any way connected to the God who gave us the commandments.
3) And just days ago Judge David Hamilton, in an ominous display of the growing hostility towards Christianity ruled the Indiana House of Representatives had to cease a nearly 200 yr old tradition of allowing pastors to open their sessions in prayer if those prayers were made in the name of Jesus or in any way made reference to Jesus Christ.

I forgot to add that Stacy did ask about a protestor that interruped the Church service this morning yelling "Separation of Church and State!" And Pastor Lusk said they "laid hands on him" (we all laughed) and the protestor left.

3:00 e.s.t. Press Conference

I am listening to the Press Conference. Tony Perkins, head of FRC spoke first making it clear that no 0ne wishes for a theocracy, but only that judges not be forced to "Check their faith at the door."

The pastor of this Church, Herbert Lusk, a former Philadephia Eagles football player, spoke next. He explained that he offers his Church to FRC not because of Bush, or Falwell, or Perkins, but because if he feels this is the right thing to do. He says that this is not about himself, but about Jesus. He ended by saying his father taught him to teach love, teach to give, and the world will come to you. "hello world."

Nice.

Charmain Yoest spoke next (looking lovely I might add) referring to the fact that the phrase "under God" in the pledge of alligience being under attack as an example of religious liberties being diminished.

Pastor Lusk spoke briefly at the end, saying this is not a black/white issue, not a liberal/conservative issue, but about freedom of religion and religious liberties and most of all about rightiouness

Calling David Letterman

Since Letterman didn't believe O'Reilly when he said that Cindy Sheehan had called the insurgents "Freedom Fighters," I thought he might be interested in her latest post on Michael Moore's site:

“I would say 30,000 more or less have died as a result of the initial incursion and the ongoing violence against Iraqis,” said George on December 12, 2005. Even if one accepts this very low guess-ti-mate by George, his policies have been responsible for ten times the 3000 deaths on September 11, 2001. By his own admission, he is ten times the terrorist that Osama ever was. If George says 30,000 ... who knows what the truthful total is. It fills me with sorrow and hurts my heart to even contemplate the number.

via LGF

Justice Sunday III

I don't know if I have mentioned that this event is being held at The Greater Exodus Baptist Church. A lovely older Church in North Philly. We bloggers have media badges and are in the media room, so I feel so professional and grownup....;-)

I'm waiting for the ACT UP and Planned Parenthood protestors to show up. There were 2 protestors that Capt. Ed encountered outside called www.worldcantwait.org with a new and VERY original "Bush Lied, Bush Spied, Bush Step Down!" mantra.

I'm here!

Got here yesterday and had a lovely dinner with Charmaine Yost of Reasoned Audacity and her husband Jack, La Shawn Barber, and Stacy from Writing Write, and Captain Ed from Captain's Quarters and his lovely wife. I will post pictures when I get home, but La Shawn and Stacy has some up already.

Philly is certainly a friendly city. On the way to dinner with La Shawn and Charmaine, a car full of guys tried to pick us up. Heh. Friendly or lonely, not sure which.

No surprise here.

Betsy's Page caught this:

Powerline has a preview of what Stephen Hayes's story in the Weekly Standard about the new evidence that Saddam Hussein was hosting at least three active terrorist training camps in the four years preceding our invasion of Iraq.

The secret training took place primarily at three camps--in Samarra, Ramadi, and Salman Pak--and was directed by elite Iraqi military units. Interviews by U.S. government interrogators with Iraqi regime officials and military leaders corroborate the documentary evidence. Many of the fighters were drawn from terrorist groups in northern Africa with close ties to al Qaeda, chief among them Algeria's GSPC and the Sudanese Islamic Army. Some 2,000 terrorists were trained at these Iraqi camps each year from 1999 to 2002, putting the total number at or above 8,000. Intelligence officials believe that some of these terrorists returned to Iraq and are responsible for attacks against Americans and Iraqis. According to three officials with knowledge of the intelligence on Iraqi training camps, White House and National Security Council officials were briefed on these findings in May 2005; senior Defense Department officials subsequently received the same briefing.

The photographs and documents on Iraqi training camps come from a collection of some 2 million "exploitable items" captured in postwar Iraq and Afghanistan. They include handwritten notes, typed documents, audiotapes, videotapes, compact discs, floppy discs, and computer hard drives. Taken together, this collection could give U.S.
intelligence officials and policymakers an inside look at the activities of the former Iraqi regime in the months and years before the Iraq War.


Maybe my british friend dave bones will be interested to read this since he just thinks the bombers are a "few confused misfits."

Please check out my blog on Sunday!!

I'll be leaving tomorrow for Philly to live blog for "Justice Sunday III." Which seems to be getting some attention. This will be a pro- Alito rally leading up to the hearings next week. From what I have read these "Justice Sunday" rallies have been about threats to religious rights posed by the federal judiciary. I'll start blogging in the afternoon, but the event begins at 7pm e.s.t. It will be carried on hundreds of radio and Christian TV stations, and via live webcast on the "Justice Sunday" website.

I have to agree that there is this notion out there that just because one is religious means he or she should have no say in the judicial process. Some even believing one should have no say in the political process either. But people of faith, all faiths, have as much of right to an opinion and to fight for those beliefs as anyone else. It's called freedom of speech, freedom of expression, and freedom of religion.

When a society or government seeks to oppress views that are held by a great many people you can expect something like "Justice Sunday" to occur. It isn't, as many liberals would have you believe, about "imposing their values" on others. It is about expressing those values and fighting for change. (Just as so many groups have throughout the history of our country) Especially since so many moral issues have become political, such as partial-birth abortion, abortion without parental consent, and assisted suicide. Does anyone honestly think that people of faith have no right to speak out on these issues or support those in positions of power who agree??

Act Up and Planned Parenthood are planning protests at "Justice Sunday" and I think they have every right to do so. Peaceful protest and debate is what makes our country great. I'm going to try to speak with some of them.

In fact the forces against Alito are putting up quite a fight themselves. At the federal building in Center City, a coalition of opponents, including Julian Bond of the NAACP, presented representatives of Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter (R., Pa.) with anti-Alito petitions. The usual suspects are spending vast amounts of money on defeating Alito. These are the AFL-CIO, NARAL Pro-Choice America, Alliance for Justice, MoveOn.org and the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights and People For The American Way .

Click on any of those links and Alito is front and center, with many running commercials you can click on there at the site.

The bottom line is that these organization have every right to fight Alito's nomination, but the Family Research Council and any other right of center organization has just as much of a right to fight for it.

Something many seem to not be understanding.

Where is the anger?

I'm keeping this at the top until one of my MANY leftwing commenters decides to answer it.


Something occurred to me while perusing some blogs about the war. I see the liberals constantly criticizing the war. They bring up the numbers of dead civilians and our dead soldiers. But one thing they NEVER bring up is who is killing them.

Have you noticed that? In all the "Blame Bush" rhetoric there is never a peep about the insane monsters who blow themselves up and kill innocents. Where is all the anger at those guys? If you can find any liberal who has written about his anger at the guys who are actually responsible for all the blood and gore, let me know.

It would make me feel better.

We have been safe.

Tech Station makes the statement:

As I write, 1,576 days have passed since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and
still there has been no subsequent terrorist assault on American soil.

And asks the question:

Is this just good luck, or is it the result of good policy?

And answers it:

The terrorists' lack of success is the result of a response that has
beenaggressive and single-minded -- at home, in Iraq and in places we know littleabout. The policy is working. It has kept us safe. We tamper with it at our own extreme peril.

As the article points out about the movie "Munich,"Spielberg is trying to make a statement for peace. In an interview Spielberg says:"A response to a response doesn’t solve anything.” Instead, you need to sit down and talk things out “until you’re blue in the gills.”

It is obvious, especially since the last shot in the film shows the twin towers of the World Trade Center in the background, that Spielberg is making a statement about our response to 9-11 as well. I find it incredible that anyone could believe that we could "talk out things" with terrorists. Especially since they see Americans as "infidels" and America as evil in and of itself. I mean what is there to negotiate here? Will we agree to change our ways? To try to go to Mosque? To make women wear burkas? To throw out all of our R rated movies? Because that is just the beginning of the "compromise" they would wish for.

We aren't going to change our Democracy and I don't think Spielberg would want us to. So I don't see how he thinks we can possibly "talk it out" or "compromise" with these monsters.

As I stated in a previous thread, does anyone seriously believe that if we had not gone into Afghanistan and Iraq that the terrorists would have just left us alone? We can be pacifist all we wish, but that does not stop those who wish to kill us. Bloodshed would have continued without a doubt in my mind.....

it just would have been here.

Wiretapping story bolsters the President's image.

Captain's Quarters has an excellent update on the "outrage" of the Democrats regarding the wiretapping story, including their hypocrisy on being briefed on it and never saying a word, and suddenly feeling a need to write indignant letters to the white house. But as I said before, it's a losing issue for the Democrats. Let the madmen rave. Here's the Captain:

In the meantime, since the story appears to have gone nowhere in terms of damage to the administration -- if anything, it's helped bolster his image as a wartime president protecting America -- the Democrats and the media want to start going on a fishing expedition.

This is what the Democrats don't get. They may enjoy blathering about the President listening in on their conversations with their grandmother while discussing her apple pie recipe, but Americans understand how silly that is, and they WANT a President to make sure terrorists aren't planning attacks.

I say let's keep on with the wiretapping story. It's keeping the Democrats busy. It's like giving a toddler a new toy. At least he won't be yelling for a cookie for a little while.

On a related note, Powerline lays out how the New York Times is actually the one who has committed a crime in this case, and cites the law to prove it.

On another related note. Michelle Malkin has this important update regarding the speculation that Christiane Amanpour was spyed upon:

Via Tom
Maguire,

CNN is reporting that the NSA did not target Amanpour:
A senior U.S. intelligence official told CNN Thursday that the National Security Agency did not target CNN Chief International Correspondent Christiane Amanpour or any other CNN journalist for surveillance.

And this important thought from Michelle (who absolutely rocks btw)

However this story plays out, NBC's activities are troubling. First, it
published what amounts to an unsubstantiated rumor. Then it edited the transcript to remove the unsubstantiated rumor but did not acknowledge it had done so. Only after bloggers got on the case did NBC acknowledge what it had done. Remember this incident the next time some media poohbah criticizes bloggers for publishing unverified information and speculation.

God says what???

It's time for Pat Robertson to retire to a nice little townhome in Florida and play golf. Seriously. It's embarassing.

Update: Concerned Women For America (the largest Christian women's organiztion in the country) sorta has a different view.

Where is the anger?

Something occurred to me while perusing some blogs about the war. I see the liberals constantly criticizing the war. They bring up the numbers of dead civilians and our dead soldiers. But one thing they NEVER bring up is who is killing them.

Have you noticed that? In all the "Blame Bush" rhetoric there is never a peep about the insane monsters who blow themselves up and kill innocents. Where is all the anger at those guys? If you can find any liberal who has written about his anger at the guys who are actually responsible for all the blood and gore, let me know.

It would make me feel better.

Same song, second verse, same as the first...

"STOP (insert name) OR WOMEN WILL DIE." Kathryn Jean Lopex of NRO found an old pdf from the NOW gals who seem to be repeating themselves, (Stop Alito or women will die! is the latest), but back then the name inserted was SOUTER! Gee, they were way off on that one.

Last words.

Just now on Fox News, the anchor was speaking on the telephone with the nephew of one of the miners who died in W. Virginia. The nephew said that the family had been told that his uncle had scratched a note in the ground for them. Part of it said:

"I'll see you on the other side."

"It's not that bad, we are just going to sleep."

A Calling.

You may have noticed a great deal more religious content than you are use to here. I am trying to post a bit on my faith leading up to Justice Sunday III. The following is a re-post from March 15th, 2005.


When I went to college my goal was to become a trained actress. Growing up in politics, I was sick of it. All I wanted to do was be a movie star one day. I never wanted to even hear the word politics again. When I was 18 my dad made me drive 6 hours from Florida to vote in my 1st Presidential election. MADE ME. And like a good Democrat, I voted for Carter.

I had been a Christian for a long time (thank goodness, looking back) by the time I entered college. During my college years I began to be bothered by the abortions my friends were having. Their pain was hard to see. I didn't see relief afterwards. But I told myself that was their decision and had nothing to do with me. Luckily for me, I had decided many years before that I was going to wait until marriage for sex, so I didn't have any worries in the department of pregnancy and abortion. In the late 70's and early 80's the common belief was abortion was performed when the baby was still a clump of cells, not even a fetus. Totally untrue, but everyone believed it. Sonograms were just beginning to be in use in OBGYN offices.

A lot of things happened with friends during those years regarding abortion and none of them good. I finally realized God was trying to tell me something. Now for those of you with faith the following will be probably be something similar that you have been through. For those of you without faith I suppose it will sound silly, but here it is nonetheless.

During my senior year after doing some study into fetal development and other things I finally did decide that abortion was the taking of a life and morally wrong. "There," I said to God, "You have convinced me, thanks for making see the reality of this. I really appreciate it. If I have more friends going through it I will do whatever I can to get them to have the baby. You can count on me. Later."

But God wasn't through with me yet. That Hound of Heaven has always done this to me. I want to go one way, He wants me to go the other. We have argued all my life. Seriously. Most of the time I went His way because I'm smart that way, and He was always right. In fact, all the best things in my life now are a result of having gone into pro-life work. My best friends and my children. But I fought going into it the whole way. The very few times I went my way, I always screwed up.

In my early 20's when it became clear that God wanted me to go into pro-life work, I simply refused. "God," I said, "look, I don't want anything to do with politics and this is political now. Isn't this a woman's choice to sin? Just like anything else? Plus, everyone thinks anyone in pro-life is a fanatic. I don't want to do this. Nope. No way. Let's move on, shall we?"

He would NOT leave me alone so I made a deal with him. I told God I would go do ANYTHING else to help his children. In fact, I will do the hardest thing for me. I will go volunteer in a nursing home. There I will be doing good, and politics is totally out of it. So I did. Many days I came home crying. I told my husband how hard it was to see these old people so lost and alone. Some so sick. Why do they have to live that way? It was so much harder than I ever thought it would be, but I had a deal with God and I kept going back.

One day one of my favorite elderly ladies, Emily, asked me for a glass of water. I got it for her and was sitting there watching her drink it when I felt God speak to my heart. (for ya'll who are rolling your eyes right now, NO, it isn't an actual voice, ok?, but it is clear just the same) First He spoke of the verse in the Bible where Christ says "For I was hungry and you fed me; I was thirsty and you gave me water...." Christ goes on to say "When you refused to help the least of these my brothers, you were refusing to help me." (Matthew 25:35-45) "Don't you see?" I heard God say to my heart. "These people you help are a burden and unwanted by the world, but I love them. They are my children. The same is true for my unborn children. They may be unwanted, but they are loved and wanted by me. You can be my hands, you can be my voice. Go and help the least of these."As I sat there with tears rolling down my face, I knew that I was going to do exactly what I did not want to do. Get involved in a controversial political issue. One that I didn't feel have anything to do with me. I was an actress and that is what I wanted to do. Not this. But God had always been my strength, my guide. I sounded like a petulant child, but I said to God, "Oh, alright...."And I did.

It was never easy to watch girls walk out of the pregnancy crisis center I worked in and know they were going to have an abortion no matter what I said. A boyfriend was usually urging them to, or a parent. It was never easy to see people think you were some sort of fanatic for being in this work. And it was NEVER easy to explain why. My family came around. They are all pro-life now. But there were years when I know they wanted to put duct tape over my mouth to make me shutup about it. President Reagan wrote an essay while in office called "Abortion and the Conscience of a Nation." It was beautiful and expressed perfectly why we should fight for the rights of the unborn. The media largely ignored it and I'm betting you here, all politically aware, have not even heard of it. The media hoped that a blackout of what we were trying to do would make us go away. But we didn't.

Although abortion laws didn't change, abortion rates lowered or stayed steady. Considering that in the last 30 yrs all other societal ills like drug abuse, domestic abuse, suicide rates, ect. have increased 300% and more, I think we have had an impact and that is with NO help from the media or funding. One night a few years ago, upset at a woman I knew who was pregnant with twins who happened not to be her husband's (who she was separated from but planning on getting back together), was having an abortion that day. I had offered to keep her from her husband until the twins were born and then adopt them ourselves. I cried and cried for those two little ones who would never feel the breeze in their hair, or swing on swing sets. Ones I would never get to hold. In my pain, I asked God what was the purpose here if nothing in the law had changed??? Once again I heard Him speak to my heart. "I never asked you to do anything but what you have done. Men will make and change laws. I wanted you to change hearts and let them know the truth."

You see, God does not care about politics. He cares only for us. Is it just and right that we allow unborn children to be destroyed? No. Of course not. But the truth about abortion was never getting out there and it still isn't in so many ways. I truly don't expect a President to change this law (although I would wish for them to) But I do want a President who understands as I do that what defines who we are is how we treat "the least of these."

Hollywood? Anyone?

I've always thought a really cool idea for a movie would be to bring back George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, (or Thomas Jefferson) and Dr. Martin Luther King into modern times and show them how the constitution has been interpreted and how the black community has made out since the civil rights movement.

Just not sure how it could be done without being cheesy and without a certain political view being put forward.

One thing for sure, they would be astonished at our medical care after they have heart attacks at what they see.

Looking forward to this weekend.

I'm looking forward to hearing all of the speakers this Sunday for "Justice Sunday III" because I have never heard any of them in person. In fact the only one I am really familiar with is Dr. James Dobson, who I know through his newsletters from Focus On The Family.

16 years ago I was the mother of a newborn and an out of control 2 yr old. We had just moved to a new city. I had no friends or family there. I was tired, stressed, and at the end of my rope. Then a family member sent me Dr. James Dobson's books, "Dare To Discipline " and "The Strong Willed Child." Both these books not only saved my sanity, they helped me and my husband get control of our strong willed child and not only helped us to raise a wonderful son, but actually enjoy doing it. I'm not big on self help books at all, but these two books for young parents are a must read.

I started getting newsletters from Focus On The Family and I was impressed with Dr. Dobson's intelligence and views on faith. After years and years of reading these letters there is no doubt in my mind that Dr. Dobson is a man of God. That doesn't mean he is perfect. I think he would be the first to say that he isn't. But unlike a great many high profile "Christian leaders" I was impressed by Dr. Dobson's not accepting one penny for his work (which is tremendous ) with Focus On The Family. If he even received 1% of the money that comes into this organization for it's many helpful books, tapes, and DVD's, he would be extremely wealthy. But he decided after 14 years as an Associate Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Southern California School of Medicine, and serving for 17 years on the Attending Staff of Children's Hospital of Los Angeles in the Division of Child Development and Medical Genetics to only live off his child rearing books. Considering what people will do for money these days, and the fact that no one could have blamed him for taking a %, I thought that very impressive indeed. One thing that greatly disturbs me is a preacher who lives large.

The only impression I have of Dr. Jerry Falwell is from the media. So I am interested to actually hear what he has to say. I don't think Dr. Falwell is the best spokesperson for Christian issues only because of his persona. Not that this reflects on him personally, but in my opinion, putting a fresher, younger, more media savvy face on Christian views would be a better idea and letting Dr. Falwell work more behind the scenes. This is a visual society and even Christians need to recognize that.

The only other speaker I am familiar with (other than Sen. Santorum, which I have posted on) is Dr. Alved C. King. She is the niece of Dr. Martin Luther King. Her main issues are pro-life after having 2 abortions herself, she is associated with "Silent No More" an organization of post abortive women focusing on saving other women from this horror. She is also very involved in school choice.

Both Dr. Dobson and Dr. King work closely with Catholics as well and understand the need for our unity. Which I really like as well.

I want to add here how much I appreciate Charmaine Yoest of Reasoned Audacity who is a Senior Fellow at The Family Research Council, asking me to come and blog this event. She made it clear to me that I am in no way obligated to not disagree with speakers or issues.

I will give you my honest opinion of each speaker and my experience there.