The storm that opened our eyes.

The intensive article in the Jan. 2nd edition of Newsweek about Katrina and New Orleans was a fascinating read. I'd read many articles on Katrina, but this one really gave the whole picture.

One thing is for sure. In the immediate aftermath just about everybody screwed up. From Mayor Nagin to Gov. Blanco, and without a doubt FEMA Director Mike Brown was the worst of the bunch. At one point Michael Chertoff, the secretary of Homeland Security shouted "What the hell is going on with the Convention Center?" After Brown had informed him that he had been told only 1500 people were at the Convention Center. Brown dropped the ball in so many ways he should be totally ashamed of himself. The communication breakdown that occurred is unacceptable.

The stories that have come out of the aftermath of Katrina will break your heart. The only thing that keeps my anger at bay about the whole thing is the way everyone in America stepped up to the plate afterward and gave and gave. I have never been prouder of my city, Houston, than after Katrina. The weekend I went to the Astrodome to help they had 1500 1st time volunteers in one day. It was astonishing.

I found it interesting how the article described how the African American community in New Orleans had for years been divided between Creoles, the light-skinned blacks who where skilled labors, and darker- skinned blacks who did the more menial work. Even though that seems to have changed to some degree, the article says these sharp divisions still exist, which may explain why the light- skinned wealthy Nagin was not very buddy buddy with Oliver Thomas, president of the New Orleans City council or the other council members who represented poor black wards like the lower Ninth. Communication between the two during the horror after Katrina was practically nil.

Which brings me to one of the the interesting parts of the article. In early October President Bush visited New Orleans to dine with Nagin's commission. Here is what Oliver Thomas had to say about him:

"I was ready not to like him because of what the Democrats said about him. But he likes people. He's not a mean dude. He's not a racist."

Then later after meeting Mrs. Bush as well:

"I got a sense that Laura and her husband really do care about us."

So here our President who Kanye West declared on national TV "didn't like black people" because of the Katrina disaster, and the man who represents the poorest black sections of New Orleans meets our President and comes away knowing that Kanye West doesn't know what he is talking about.

You can disagree with Bush's politics, his faith, and his policies, but you simply cannot say that he isn't a good person. (although I am sure some of you will)

The sad thing about New Orleans now is that it's "well deserved reputation for corruption" has prevented many things from moving forward. Not to mention political infighting. On the one hand, there are those who look at the situation from a practical point of view and say that places like the lower ninth ward should not be rebuilt. On the other hand, there are all those people who lived there. This was their home. What happens to what they had? To uproot a life and a family and give them no way to return is heart wrenching to say the least.

Looking back, I hope that our government, especially state and local government, learned valuable lessons regarding this kind of disaster. There is no doubt that the Federal government must be better prepared, but it is the local government that must respond first and know how to respond.

Democrats, Can you hear me now?

"Federal agents have launched an investigation into a surge in the purchase of large quantities of disposable cell phones by individuals from the Middle East and Pakistan, ABC News has learned."

"150 Phones in One Sale, 60 Phones in Another

The FBI is closely monitoring the potentially dangerous development, which came to light following recent large-quantity purchases in California and Texas, officials confirmed.

The Midland, Texas, police report dated December 18 and obtained by ABC News states: "Information obtained by MPD [Midland Police Department] dispatch personnel indicated that approximately six individuals of Middle-Eastern origin were attempting to purchase an unusually large quantity of tracfones (disposable cell phones with prepaid minutes attached)." At least one of the suspects was identified as being from Iraq and another from Pakistan, officials said."

"Police Report Identifies Terror Links

The Midland, Texas, arrest report police also identified the individuals as linked to a terror cell."


Interesting that these purchases occurred just after the NYT's leaking the NSA spying story, isn't it? Nothing like giving our enemies the heads up.

Update: Wow. I didn't get this from Michelle, but we are certainly on the same page. She has a bunch of good links though.

Hanson spells out our options with Iran.

This just does not look good. There are dark clouds on the horizon, I fear. via NRO

Shaking up the House.

House Policy Chairman John Shadegg today announced that he will seek the post of House Majority Leader in the elections on February 2. via Redstate

Heck, I just think his name is too cool.

Update: Blunt...no.

Mini Rant.

Oh look!!

My sweet Jeff is getting famous!

Anti-war?

I have known people against the war. But they aren't against the war for the same reason my lefty friends are. No, it's a whole different kind of reason. I mentioned this thing with Iran to one of them.

"We better not go into Iran," she said.

"Why not?," I asked. "Are you sick of war? I know I am too. I hate the thought of any more...but..."

"No, no. It's not that. It's just..why should we care about them? We proved our point after 9-11. Let's just focus on building some walls and securing our borders. Let's stop letting the Muslims come here and just let them blow themselves up over there. If we leave them alone long enough they will destroy each other. Good riddance"

Alright then. I see this attitude sometimes. The "who cares about them, let's focus on us" kind of thing and more people feel that way than you might imagine.

Many on the right might argue that if we don't do something about the Middle East now, then it will come back to haunt us later. They argue that if we retreat it will only give our enemy more of a feeling of power. To them it is all about keeping us safe by killing the enemy there.

But is it so hard to believe that many of us have been touched by what we have seen on our television screen? A world so backwards that at first you think you are watching a movie about the world long ago. The streets are dusty and people dress as Jesus did. Women are covered in burkas and there is no music in the air, no young girls putting on makeup or fixing their hair. Everyone has lost a loved one to brutality in one way or another. There is concrete and sadness. Has it always been this way. Will it always be?

And what about Iran? A world even worse than Saddam's Iraq. I read in Vanity Fair and posted here about the young girl hanged from a crane in the middle of the city for having sex. As much as I hate so many things about America, it's abortion and pornography, I would hate more an America where we aren't free to decide what we want in our country. I would hate an America that punishes it's sinners of the soul. We can scold them, we can protest them, we can vote them out, we can forgive them, and we can love them. But the sins of our souls is the sad slow dance we have with God and it is ours alone.

Is it so hard to believe that so many of us want a better world for those imprisoned in a desert void of dreams? Where a girl doesn't have to hide her life behind folds of cloth? Where men don't see heaven as a virginal brothel?

This world has held fast to a backward time for far too long. The birth into this century, I fear, will be a bloody and painful one. Even more bloody and painful than it has already been. Great things come at great costs. I don't have the answers and I wish to God they didn't involve war, but when a creature attacks you, do you hope to pacify it? Or do you fight like hell to kill it before it kills you? Especially when you know that beast has caused so much suffering of others and if you defeat it, then the suffering eases and the world is not so much afraid.

Don't try and tell me that we are just 2 faces of the same coin. We are not.

Because we are free.

And no one can ever convince me that being free isn't always....

right.

Like I said...

Iran is a problem, a big problem.

via Ace.

Could the co-creator of The Matrix real life truly be stranger than fiction?

Uhh....yeah.

Hmmmm....

This may explain Kennedy and Biden's behavior at the hearings.

The left weighs in on Mrs. Alito.

James Wolcott sums it up:

Then Mrs. Alito suffered a case of the weepies that was so dramatically well-timed and patently maudlin that I was reminded of the classic stage direction in Private Eye (takes out onion, wipes away tear), and suddenly the proceedings turned into a soap opera with Fox News commentators arriving on cue to deplore the toll taken on innocent bystanders in these brutal proceedings.

And his sympathy continues:

If Alito is confirmed, Mrs. Alito and Judge Clarence Thomas's wife can commisserate by exchanging monogrammed crying towels as their men folk roll back women's rights and civil liberties and go duck hunting weekends with Scalia."

I shake my head in astonishment that this guy acutually believes this.

And you can always count on the DU for...well...more sympathy:

What do you do when you cry? Do you hang your head, cover your eyes? Or
do you sit and stare at a camera so the whole g'damned nation can see your crocodile tears spilling over onto your haughty cheeks?

The DYSFUNCTIONAL WIFE of Alito was traumatized, oh please I'm so sick
of the right wing freaks. GOD I HATE THESE PEOPLE!

Maybe she was crying....because she got a good look at that get up she was wearing in a full length mirror. That was enough to bring tears to anyone's eyes.What a phony snake she is. Just like her husband.

Iran is a problem.

Even Europeans are getting a bit nervous.

From Reuters:

The foreign ministers of Britain, France and Germany meet on Thursday to discuss Iran’s nuclear programme and EU diplomats said the trio would call for Tehran to be hauled before the U.N. Security Council.

The United States said on Wednesday it was “more likely than ever” Iran would be referred to the U.N. Security Council for possible sanctions and that it would seek to “change Iranian behavior” through diplomatic channels.

If the ministers agree to such a push, it would signify the end of 2-1/2 years of diplomatic efforts by the European Union’s three biggest nations to convince the Islamic republic to abandon its uranium enrichment program, which they suspect it intends to use to produce fuel for atomic weapons.

The meeting begins at 1430 GMT.

One diplomat from the “EU3” said the plan for Thursday’s meeting in Berlin was “cancellation and referral”—meaning ending talks with Iran unless it promises not to begin enriching uranium and referral to the Security Council, which could consider punitive economic sanctions against Tehran.

“Everybody agrees the point of no return has been reached,” the EU3 diplomat said, referring to what he said was an informal consensus reached among the bloc’s 25 member states.

I have to agree with Jeff at Protein Wisdom:

Too bad that “point of no return” thing couldn’t have been reached before a megolamaniacal, virgin-covetous, beatific zealot looking to be spirited to Allah’s cathouse atop the radioctive plume of the first-ever detonated Islamic nuke got his hands on everything he needed to make his dream of a Levant devoid of filthy Jews come true—but hey, beggars can’t be choosers, right?

Jeff just has a poetic way of hitting the nail on the head, doesn't he?

All I can say is that the only political way we can do anything about Iran is if Europe leads the way or Iran attacks in the region. Otherwise this can't be something we do on our own. And we all know why, don't we?

I'm guessing Team America is involved.

Kim Jong II is missing.

via Ace

In The Nothing Sacred Series.

Well, you knew planned parenthood would appear here eventually.

Teenagers these days......

The 16 yr old that went to Iraq on his own and interviewed the media relations officer for Hezbollah, sat down for an interview with Rita Cosby. Check it out.

I don't know what he expected to accomplish there. Teenagers are just....crazy. Some more than others.

God expresses support for Alito's confirmation by arranging the constellations into perfect geometric shapes.

via Caption This!

Let's lighten up here.

via Grouchy Old Cripple. Heh.

I imagine hearings are hard on the spouse.

This from NRO:

As you know, when Sen. Lindsey Graham apologized for the humiliating treatment Sam Alito received from the Democrats today, Mrs. Alito started crying and had to leave the room to regain her composure. I’m sure a lot of us share the sentiments of CNN’s Jeff Greenfield, who analyzed the incident in this clip from CNN:

The temptation for some of these witnesses must be enormous, particularly if it’s a more hostile situation, to just lean over the table and just let some of the senators know what you’re really thinking about their intellectual capacity, their hypocrisy. If they attack him for, I don’t know, being the member of a club, to say “Well really? Where’d you spend your time? How many restrictive clubs have you golfed at?” They can’t do that. It’s not part of the ethic, um… I have a lot of sympathy for these people no matter where they come from on the ideological scale

Awesome.

That's our boys. God, I love 'em. Keep them in your prayers.

via Ace.

The Kennedy Show

Political Teen has the audio of the Kennedy spectacle with Spector. But you will probably see most of it on all the networks. The media loves these stir ups.

The Captain has the transcript for the exchange between Kennedy and Alito.

My First Audio Blog!

Dianne Feinstein and Alito.

Abortion, abortion, abortion. It's all about abortion with Durbin, Biden, Kennedy, and Feinstein.

Don't other kinds of cases sometimes come before the Supreme Court, or is this the only one?

Check it out! NYT's mention on Alito.

I'm mentioned in an article in The NYT.com "blogger reaction" to the Alito hearings. If you want links to what the blogosphere is saying about Alito, this is the place to go. I'm about 23rd down.

Cool.

Speaking of The Spector Smackdown...

Remember the criticism of Spector by many on the right when he took the position of head of the Judiciary? I even had doubts about him because of his pro-choice views and the power of his position. Looks like I may have been wrong. I don't think Spector is letting his pro-choice views color his fairness (like so many of the Senators) and he handled Kennedy's tantrum in a spectacular and well mannered way.

Alito hearings, Kennedy starts a show.

Kennedy is on a roll. (sorry, I just couldn't help myself) He is actually making an ass out of himself. (glad we can't see that!) Spector just smacked him down though.

pic via Difster

Answer the question! Oh, wait. He did.

Redstate makes a point regarding the exchange between Schumer and Alito:

SCHUMER: Does the Constitution protect the right to free speech?

ALITO: Certainly it does. That's in the First Amendment.

SCHUMER: So why can't you answer the question of: Does the Constitution protect the right to an abortion the same way without talking about stare decisis, without talking about cases, et cetera?

ALITO: Because answering the question of whether the Constitution provides a right to free speech is simply responding to whether there is language in the First Amendment that says that the freedom of speech and freedom of the press can't be abridged. Asking about the issue of abortion has to do with the interpretation of certain provisions of the Constitution.

SCHUMER: Well, OK. I know you're not going to answer the question…

Redstate says this:

This exchange was extraordinary if only for the Senator's apparent ignorance of the difference between rights that are written in the Constitution and rights that are interpreted from the Constitution. To help Sen. Schumer and his staff, we provide this link to the First Amendment to the US Constitution, in which the right to free speech is quite clearly stated. Here's a link to the full Constitution, wherein you'll find no mention of abortion. Sorry, but you have to go to the case law for that. Shame on Sen. Schumer. He should know the difference. He's on the Judiciary Committee after all.

I might also add that Alito DID answer the question.

The Cotillion is up!

I didn't get to send anything in because I was busy in Philly, but there is some great stuff to read there. So go.

I broke down today and I am watching the hearings.

Let's face it, between Sen. Durbin and Sen. Brownback, we have less of a questioning of a judge, than pontificating on one's own views on how things should be. (I, of course agree with Brownback, but it doesn't make it any better)

This is kind of like...

the class nerd telling the bullies to watch it, but still...it's a start.

The Supreme Court hearings (and future hearings) in a nutshell.

From Fred Barnes:

Well, I think the questioning's going to be pretty brutal by the Democrats, but I think it's going to be a cakewalk for Alito. Look, everybody knows now how you get confirmed. You don't do what Robert Bork did, and argue with Democrats over the right to privacy, and so on. What you say is, oh, that issue, you know, Senator, I would love to talk about it, but there's a very good chance it'll come before the Court next year, or the year after that, and I can't prejudge it. So I'm sorry, I just can't answer that.

Sad but true. via Ace.

National Delurkers Week.

So declared by Ace. Look at it as an open thread. If you haven't commented. Go ahead. It won't kill you. Just be nice. That's all I ask.

The Abramoff lobby scandal.

I'm just now reading up on it. Newsweek has this article. This line pretty much sums up the mistake many Republicans made:

When the Republicans took over the House in 1994 for the first time in 40 years,
they postured as reformers. But they were soon lapping at the trough just as
greedily as the Democrats, only with better discipline.

The bottom line is accepting favors and luxury gifts from rich lobbyists. An age old story. What is it with these people??? It's like no matter what your intentions, greed gets the best of you in Washington D.C.

Does McCain's reforms look so wacky now? So many Republicans can't stand him for that, but it looks like we can say at least he tried to do something about this insane amount of money and corruption that occurs when one steps into public office in Washington D.C.

I think a lot of it has to do with keeping up with the Jones. The politicians see everyone else living well, and why not??? Free stuff should just not be part of the package. Ever. You are there as a public servant, not a privileged rich boy or girl. Get your job done. Then if you want to make some money AFTER you leave office and fly around the world, then do so. But not while you are on my payroll.

Enough already. Let's clean house. Let's make sure both Republicans and Democrats understand that this is important business, doing the people's work. It is not a country club. I'm ashamed of the Republicans involved.

Alito Stuff.

The Captain is live blogging the hearings and doing a great job. Orrin Hatch is also making some interesting observations:

2:14 - If the Democrats were as interested in fighting terror as they
are in fighting Alito, we'd all be safe.
2:16 - Very pleased with Alito's
performance; says his demeanor and performance ranks up there with John Roberts.
2:17 - Kennedy and Biden blew the Vanguard issue out of all proportion. He
reminded us that the agreement was that Alito would recuse himself from cases in
the initial period of his service.
2:20 - Hatch, like Frist, expects a
party-line vote.
2:22 - Abortion is the be-all, end-all issue that provides
the main identity for Democrats.
2:27 - Hatch says the GOP is ready to
counter a filibuster with the Constitutional option. He hopes that the Senate
would move away from treating the Supreme Court nominations through a partisan
filter. Republicans accepted Breyer and Ginsburg overwhelmingly because they
were qualified, regardless of their personal beliefs. He recalled when the
Democrats released medical records to smear Rehnquist.

You can't argue the fact that Breyer and Ginsburg got through and they were as leftwing as Alito is rightwing. Fairness just doesn't seem to be a word the Democrats understand.

Also read The Captain's post on women from "Operation Outcry" who came to support Alito and make people aware of the horror abortion has brought on their lives and the lies that were told that led to that place.

Here is today's transcript of the hearings via Powerline

Alito Hearings.

I'm sorry, but I feel exactly like Derbyshire. But stay there at The Corner for updates. Like this hilarious one:

TEDDY KENNEDY THINKS THERE MIGHT BE A MORAL PROBLEM... [JPod]...with Samuel Alito's Vanguard account. Being lectured on moral matters by Teddy Kennedy is like getting childcare tips from Andrea Yates. Posted at 11:29
AM

RNC Blogger Forum.

Captain's Quarters is liveblogging it. He just spoke to Senator Frist with this interesting and important quote:

10:28 - Senator Frist confirms for me that no one who got briefed on the NSA
intercept has, to his knowledge demanded an end to this program. When I asked
him if the program had stopped attacks on this country, he immediately and
unequivocally said, "Yes."

Enough for me. Should be enough for all of us.

Scroll on down on at the Captain's Quarters and read about the Alito hearings as well.

Perception is everything.

I want to make one more important point about the religious right and then I will be quiet on it for a while.

I mentioned before that the FRC seemed to be preaching to the choir. The mistake I feel all people of faith do is let the media define who they are for the general public. One of my commenters said something that I have heard before. He said that we on the right care more about the unborn than we do the born. Nothing could be further from the truth. My Church alone has 85 ministries that serve the poor including helping to pay rent, utilities, and phone. We have a incredible food for the poor program and we are the sole provider for a boarding school for poor children in Guatemala. And that is just a few of our ministries.

In every city I have lived in my Church has been like that. From prison ministries to nursing homes, from additiction ministries to homebound visits, every Church I know of serves the poor in a variety of ways.

The crisis pregnancy center I volunteered for had no paid employees. We provided doctor care, lamaze classes, diapers, baby food, cribs, layettes, car seats, and a book of resources 2 inches thick. If we didn't have it, we would find it for those mothers in need.

There is no doubt in my mind that that Christians in this country do an enormous amount to help and serve the poor, they just don't do a very good job at letting the general public know they do.

I was reading an article by a minister in the Philadephia paper that said that Christians need to relay a message more about what they are for than what they are against. He had a very good point. We are a visual society and Christians have to step up to the plate and show who they really are. After speaking with some of those young protestors, I realized that the misperceptions are enormous.

Here is the problem though. Although Christ certainly called us to care for the poor, I don't think he really intended for us to advertise it.

But still, there must be a way to end the judgmental, finger pointing perception of Christians that the media has siezed upon, and show the true nature of most of the Churches in America. And that is one of compassion, forgiveness, and an abundance of love and caring for the "least of these."

Pictures From Justice Sunday Weekend!

Bloggers Row! In the media room. Me, Captain Ed, Stacy, and La Shawn.

These are the three young men protesting who I posted on earlier.

This shows the gospel choir (they were AMAZING!) and the front of the church taken from the balcony.

Charmaine (with Pastor Lusk) at the Press Conference. Sorry, some of my pics came out fuzzy.

Pastor Lusk and Tony Perkins at the Press Conference.

Our dinner the night before. From left to right around the table. Captain Ed, his first mate, Charmine, me, La Shawn, and Dawn (Charmaine's assistant) Stacy and Jack came later.

I'm Back.

I had a wonderful time in Philly. Charmaine, La Shawn, Stacy, and The Captain were delightful to meet and hang around.

Regarding Justice Sunday, the speeches were pretty short and sweet. They were definitely directed toward preaching to the choir. I don't know if that is exactly what they wanted or not. I'll post a bit more on that tomorrow. I will post some pics tonight too.

Many more protestors showed up a bit later. I would guess about 200 (with torches! I wondered where the pitchforks were?). My leftie brit friend dave wanted to know why we didn't debate the protestors we spoke with. Well, we had "media badges" on, so we were acting like "reporters." Now, since we were "the media," I was amused how the protestors just assumed we agreed with them.

I did ask the young men who were against a "theocracy" (one had a t-shirt that said "Jesus, protect me from your followers") if they felt it was acceptable for a judge to have faith just as long as he didn't bring that ideology to the bench? They said yes that would be acceptable. So I asked them if there was a difference if a person with leftwing ideology brought that to the bench? They said there was no difference. They wanted "neutrality."

It's funny. When it comes to some basic things, those on the left and right actually agree on many things, or at least how we should get to the answer. We just talk past each other so much we never hear what the other is saying.

Bishop Wellington Boone speaks.

All I can say is that black preachers could teach the white guys how to speak the way that people will listen. Wow. He is amazing as well. He asks how do people expect people of faith to spread the gospel if they don't speak out. (but he said it much better)

Pastor Lusk is ending with prayer, asking all pastors to come down and pray with him. There has been a great deal of prayer tonight for the unborn. Nice.

There is some irony that the issue that the left holds so dear-- abortion, is really what created the political religious right. People of God could not let such an injustice, as the destruction of our unborn children, continue.

Check out the rest of the bloggers for their takes on Justice Sunday.

Captain Ed, La Shawn, and Charmaine.

Check out Stacy's site for more protestor pics.

Ever crazy stuff.

Dr. Falwell speaks.

Dr. Falwell says that he started the Moral Majority years ago not to say the rest were the immoral minority, but to say that he felt the majority of Americans were moral and wanted good morals in our society.

He says issues like abortion were not political, but moral issues and people of faith had an obligation to get involved in these issues.

He is encouraging everyone to call Washington and show support for Judge Alito.

Dr. Dobson speaks.

If you have read my recent post of the speakers here, you know how much I admire Dr. Dobson. The media is trying hard to paint him as religious nutty and he certainly is not.

He is asking questions to the audience.

Should children be able read the Bible and pray in school? Should children be able to say the pledge of alliegence with "under God" included?

I might add here that no one wants any child to be forced or even asked to do these things, only the freedom of children who have faith to do these things in their free time.

Dr. Dobson is speaking of partial birth abortion and the horror of it. He says the Supreme Court will be deciding that soon. The court will also be deciding whether marriage is defined as a union of a woman and a man or not. He is saying these are things that we the people should be deciding. ( I agree )

He says the good news is that Alito is a wonderful nominee for the Supreme Court who Dobson believes will be an originalist. One who is a strict constitutionalist.

Pastor Lusk speaks again.

I can't tell you how impressed I am with this man as a speaker. He is mesmerizing. He is strongly pro-life. He talks about being called an "Uncle Tom." He says he may not speak for all black folk, but he says he speaks for a lot of black folk. His love for his faith and God is inspiring to hear.

This man, my fellow Christians friends, is the black leader we have been looking for.

Dr. Alved C. King speaks.

She begins by showing a remarkable beautiful singing voice.

She speaks of materialism and how we are leaving God behind in this country. She quotes her uncle, Dr. Martin Luther King speaking of a God who is the same today, yesterday, and tomorrow. She speaks of the God who gave us the stars, and we do not need the material goods we seek, we need God, whether we realize it or not.

She prays a prayer of blessings from her father. She ends singing "We Shall Overcome."

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.