Category: Politics

Thoughts on “Bastards on the Bench” Article at Conservative Review

I was just going to share this out as a Facebook post, but there was too much to say really, so I moved it over here.  Besides, I haven’t made any postings for a while and I have a few thoughts longer than a FB article share blurb. You should read the article “BASTARDS ON THE BENCH: FOURTH CIRCUIT LIMITS SECOND AMENDMENT RIGHT TO POSSESS COMMON FIREARMS” by Daniel Horowitz. Mr. Horowitz has written a book about the main problem entitled “Stolen Sovereignty“. You should read as much as you can by Mr. Horowitz because he sees the problem with the courts and its impact on liberty very clearly.

Understand the problem: the court system has been co-opted and the sovereignty of the people, their ability to govern themselves, is being weakened and the rights granted to us by the Constitution are being eroded by the activist judiciary. We are slowly being enslaved by justices pushing a political agenda at every level. The one thing we don’t realize is that the courts are never going to be “fixed” by appointments. The courts can only be fixed by Congress taking Constitutional control over the courts by writing legislation to limit the court’s jurisdiction over certain matters, or by the People of the several States initiating an Article V Convention of the States. This is the only way to reign in a court system that is systematically rewriting laws, reinterpreting clear language, and inventing or revoking rights at their pleasure. But don’t hold your breath waiting on Congress. Congress has yielded its power to the Executive at an alarming rate over the last 60 years, and has idly stood by watching the Court eviscerate the laws and the Constitution of this great nation. If we continue much farther down this path we will certainly be made slaves to the Court. I fear that we may already be beyond the point of no return.

While the general demeanor of most Conservative and Libertarian folks is “leave me alone” and “live and let live”, the activity on the Left will not allow such a position for much longer. More active expression of displeasure is necessary. More than just voting for Trump is needed to “upset the apple cart”. We will either stand up for the protection of God given, inalienable rights, or we will be enslaved by a virulent progressive ideology that is truly un-American. If you have a voice, you must begin to use it. If you can write, then write your Congress person, every day if necessary, and make sure they know how you stand on issues. Remember the old adage: “The squeaky wheel gets the grease.” There are a bunch of squeaky wheels out there, essentially intimidating Congress people to get their way and have their “rights” protected, at the expense of everyone else’s clearly enumerated Constitutional rights. In cases like this, it may actually take a demonstration or march to show our legislators and the courts they are picking the wrong fight with the wrong people. The Left talks about being “woke” to certain issues. Well, it’s time to wake up alright; the culture wars are not over, they’ve escalated and expanded.

For those of you who voted for Trump, let me be clear: Trump will not save us. At best, Trump is a stop gap. Getting Gorsuch on the Supreme Court is not going to save the country, “turn things around”, or “Make America Great Again”. Even getting another seat is not going to preserve the nation. The problem is deeper than that, and it’s going to require everyone that still believes in self-government, the rule of law, and our Constitution to agitate for adherence to these ideals from every branch of government and influence every area of life, from home, to schools, to state and local government.

The problem is that we’ve continually allowed the Courts to be final arbiter of what is and isn’t Constitutional and just rolled over and accepted the decision. That’s not exactly how things work. Courts sometimes make bad decisions; courts can make unconstitutional decisions; courts have ideologues sitting on the bench writing opinions. A classic example is Dred Scott, where political ideologies with respect to slavery lead to tortured interpretations and justifications by justices on the court. It is up to the other branches to reign in these acts of over reach by the courts by their reasoned opposition and Constitutional remedy. While there have always been cases of ideologues on the court pushing political agendas, we have now reached a critical point in the American Experiment where the judiciary is well packed with justices pushing political agendas at the expense of the Constitution, clearly established law, and the will of the American People. These justices are not supporting, upholding, and defending the Constitution, they are actively destroying it in tortuous ways.

If, in this 4th Circuit case, justices can’t even understand the clear mechanical differences in firearms, how can a court make a reasoned judgement on the law? If they can’t even understand basic facts about the objects in question or actually distort facts to fit the opinion, what then gives us confidence in their other cognitive functions?  If they simply ignore the Constitutional phrasing of “shall not be infringed”, ignore 200 years of established law, and ignore recent precedent in Heller, what is there to stop them ignoring anything that doesn’t fit their ideology and declaring it “unconstitutional”? Why must there be continual appeals to emotion, rather than the law, or the Second Amendment itself, to justify the court’s decision?

These are perilous times, folks, that will require political action on our part. We’ve been patient, to the point of apathy. You and I must start acting, rather than simply hoping the right people get elected or appointed. This is our problem to solve. Remember, Government of the People, by the People.

You thought Obamacare was bad, this man is the reason why.

After 7 long years of Obamacare, and seeing exactly how its implementation has reeked havoc on 1/6th of the economy and turned the insurance business into the largest government “healthcare” program ever, we come to this interview with Jonathan Gruber, one of the master minds behind the program. Watch in amazement the convolution and the idiocy of his defense of the success of Obamacare.

Economics: Killing the American Dream

There has been a swell of anti-capitalist sentiment in the last decade. That sentiment is reflected in how our government views business based on laws passed and regulations created.  At times, our government treats businesses as if they were just an extension of government benefit programs or tools to push current ideological agendas. We forget that the primary purpose of a business is to derive a profit from the supply of goods and services.  “Job creation” is not a primary purpose of business, it is a side affect of a successful business.  “Wage growth” is not a primary function of business, it is a side affect of healthy competition for labor resources among thriving businesses.

We don’t have to look much farther than our own federal, state, and local governments to understand the economic impacts on businesses (and by extension the economy as a whole) of taxation, over regulation and government mandates. Here’s a brief video from Prager University that succinctly demonstrates how things like Obamacare and minimum wage increases squelch entrepreneurship and kill businesses rather than promote business creation and expand economic opportunity.

Corruption: Representative Chaffetz Serves the FBI

I haven’t watched all the hearing videos, but I’ve seen portions over the last couple of days. These hearings are some of the most amazing examples of Executive branch obstruction I have ever seen.  If you do not think that the entire current Obama administration is working a full court defense of Hillary Clinton, you are either deaf, blind, insane, an idiot or quite possibly all of the above.  When the FBI is unwilling to lawfully turn over information requested by Congress for the purposes of oversight, we have problems.  When the FBI (or any agency really) selectively chooses the information to turn over to Congress, we have problems. When it appears that you are protecting people being named in documents by redaction and then preventing, or at least forestalling, revelation to Congress, we have problems.  I’m just glad that Rep. Chaffetz and a few other members of Congress are finally getting a backbone and standing up to the Obama administration’s unlawful, unconstitutional and inexcusable actions.  Oh, that they would have used this power starting, oh, let’s see, about 6 years ago.

 

Corruption: Something Stinks in DC

There are things that just ain’t right. One of them is giving the run around to Congress. Here’s just a brief introduction to Executive obstruction with respect to Congressional oversight, starring the FBI’s acting legislative affairs chief, Jason Herring, and Representative Trey Gowdy.


 

The Day the Republic Died

After having celebrated 240 years of Independence and existence as a constitutional republic on the Fourth of July, the republic of the United States of America died today, July 5th, at 11:00 AM Eastern Time. The cause of death was determined to be the abandonment of the Rule of  Law governing the republic of the United States. The death was broadcast live on TV and streamed across the Internet.  Many witnessed the death across the United States and around the world as FBI Director James Comey presented damning evidence of felonious activity by the presumptive Democrat presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, that was punctuated, after 16 minutes of castigation, by the revelation that, despite all the evidence, the FBI will not recommend Hillary Clinton be prosecuted by the Department of Justice.

The United States has suffered for some time with abandoning the Rule of Law, but today it became clear that all pretense has been officially abandoned. It is clear that laws have no meaning and that enforcement of laws is comepletely arbitrary. It is now absolutely clear that some people are treated with special deference with respect to those laws, or, in the case of Hillary Clinton today, they do not apply at all. If Hillary Clinton manages to be elected in the fall, We The People will have elected our first felon as the Leader of the Free World. Where once we impeached or prosecuted politicians that have broken the law, we now set about electing them to office. Oh, from what heights we’ve fallen!

Justice is a bedrock principle for any society that desires to be free to pursue liberty. If the Government can not or will not enforce laws, then what confidence does the Common Citizen have in that government? If the political class gets preferential or selective enforcement of those laws, then what confidence does the Common Citizen have in the political class and its government? If justice is no longer blind, then what hope can a Common Citizen have in a court of law? What becomes of the principle of “equality under the law”?

Consider the case of Bryan Nishimura, a Naval reservist that downloaded classified information to his personal devices, and plead guilty and sentenced for mishandling classified information.

How does this compare to what Hillary Clinton did? After all, she “retained” and/or “downloaded” (emailed) classified information to “personal devices” (a privately owned server and miscellaneous electronic devices). Also, like Nishimura, she had no nefarious intent with respect to the classified material.

Mr. Nishimura was fined $7,500, placed on probation for 2 years, had his security credentials revoked, and is barred from ever seeking a security clearance again.  What does Hillary Clinton get for doing the same thing? Basically, a stern tongue lashing from Director Comey calling her “extremely careless”.

Folks, Lady Justice is now officially a whore of the political establishment.

Please listen to Ben Shapiro address point by point specifics of Director Comey’s statement.  It’s worth listening to.

Bonobos Are More Interesting than President Obama

Comments on President Obama’s Speech to the Nation on Dec 6, 2015

I’m just a politico wanna be. I mean, if I were really into political commentary I would have known that the President was planning on having a speech to the nation last night.  But I didn’t.  In fact I was watching Anderson Cooper’s 60 Minutes segment on Bonobos when I was rudely interrupted by the President and his national address.  Apparently others were rudely interrupted too. If he had anything interesting or new to say that would be one thing, but there was nothing new, nothing of real substance, and certainly contained nothing worth disrupting regularly scheduled programming.  Everything he said could have been said in a press conference at the White House on Monday morning.  And quite frankly, the Bonobos were much more interesting.

But as far as what was in the President’s speech, let’s take a look at a few things.

“For seven years, I’ve confronted this evolving threat each morning in my intelligence briefing…As Commander-in-Chief, I have no greater responsibility than the security of the American people.” – President Obama

Certainly, over the course of Obama’s presidency, he has acted in his capacity as Commander-in-Chief. We can all argue how effective or wise he’s been in executing those duties.  One thing is clear, especially with recent revelations, is the depth that the administration will go to avoid, ignore or revise for its own benefit, which puts America at risk. When our own Commander-in-Chief can’t accurately name the enemy or doctors intelligence assessments for a more favorable narrative, we have problems. When we can’t bomb our enemies for fear of civilian casualties or causing environmental problems, we have problems. This administration has had a totally ineffective policy in place for more than 18 months, and it took Russian involvement to kick our president into action regarding ISIS.

“Well, here’s what I want you to know: The threat from terrorism is real, but we will overcome it. We will destroy ISIL and any other organization that tries to harm us.” – President Obama

Can we just call this what it is?  This is a lie.  Or if we want to be generous, it’s a bed time story that the President tells us so we can sleep at night.  Islamic Terrorism is not going away, and we will not “overcome it” by “being strong or smart”, at least not in any cultural, political or military sense. The point being, the Left continually ignores or dismisses that Islamic Terrorism is a religious issue. It’s so politically incorrect and acknowledgement presents its own problems, I know. However, it is an Islamic theological and ideological issue. Ideas, “ologies” and “isms” can only be combated by conversion to other ideas, “ologies” and “isms”. And the Islamic Terrorists have resoundingly rejected Western ideals because the Quran leads them to reject our Western ideals. There is a reason why many Muslims don’t assimilate and the rejection of the West is one of the main reasons.

People are willing to die and kill for certain beliefs. Where we, the Western world and in particular the United States, will spend a decade and more fighting in the deserts and mountains of 3rd world countries for our and others freedom and the spread of democracy, Islamic Terrorists will fight for centuries for the spread of Islam. Western political will waxes and wanes with changes of presidency and the economy. Islamic belief and will doesn’t change. Why? Western secular values are for this life only, and Islam offers values for this life and the one after.

The really radical solution to Islam is fostering the spread of Christianity. The truth and power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the only message available to peaceably overcome Islamic ideology and theology. Of course, that option is off the table for our secular government, so the Church will need to step up and fulfill its evangelistic mandate.

“To begin with, Congress should act to make sure no one on a no-fly list is able to buy a gun.  What could possibly be the argument for allowing a terrorist suspect to buy a semi-automatic weapon?  This is a matter of national security. 

We also need to make it harder for people to buy powerful assault weapons like the ones that were used in San Bernardino.  I know there are some who reject any gun safety measures.  But the fact is that our intelligence and law enforcement agencies — no matter how effective they are — cannot identify every would-be mass shooter, whether that individual is motivated by ISIL or some other hateful ideology.  What we can do — and must do — is make it harder for them to kill.” – President Obama

The “no-fly list” violates the 5th and 14th Amendment “due process” provisions. Which, Mr. President, is clearly a violation of those American principles that you say we need to uphold in these troubled times.  The flaws have been clearly demonstrated by people like former Sen. Ted Kennedy, and others, being placed on the list. While I don’t necessarily have a “right to fly” I do have a right to travel freely, and in a modern society air travel is one method I should be able to utilize. I should at least be able to know whether I am on a no-fly list, and be able to challenge my inclusion by seeing and refuting the “evidence” that the government used to place me on the list. Until very recently, and after a Supreme Court challenge, there wasn’t even a way to know you were on the no-fly list, other than being denied, let alone a process for removal. A watch list like this, one with no real redress for citizens, is extremely dangerous and can easily be a vehicle for denying 2nd Amendment and other rights. Until a proper redress process is created, using the no-fly list should be a non-starter. Really, any government list should be off the table as it merely encourages the Police and Surveillance State to collect more information on citizens.

This is not in any way about “gun safety” it’s about “gun control”.  The Left’s use of the euphemism of gun safety is a continued ploy to change the language of the debate. After all, who isn’t for gun safety? Or who isn’t pro-choice? Right?  Limiting guns and types of guns are restrictions not safety measures. Training, education, certification, storage and handling procedures can be considered safety measures.

Also, since when in this country should law abiding citizens’ rights be violated or stripped by its government, because of the law breaking actions of other people.  There are millions of gun owners who don’t use their guns to murder others, singly or in mass, and yet our government would deprive them and future citizens of this right as specifically granted under the Constitution. We all know that people intent on murder and mayhem, do not respect lists or laws and sometimes, oh my gosh, they even lie. But liberal logic says if something doesn’t work, we just need more of it.

“We cannot turn against one another by letting this fight be defined as a war between America and Islam.  That, too, is what groups like ISIL want.  ISIL does not speak for Islam.  They are thugs and killers, part of a cult of death, and they account for a tiny fraction of more than a billion Muslims around the world — including millions of patriotic Muslim Americans who reject their hateful ideology.” – President Obama

Many on the Left just don’t get religion, I’ve already touched on this previously, but it probably can’t be emphasized enough. The attempt to separate ISIS from Islam, can not be done when you understand that the things that ISIS is fighting for are believed and are supported widely in the Islamic world. The poll most often used by both the Left and Right is the Pew poll about Muslims opinion about ISIS. The Left sees nothing to worry about, as even Pew’s own headline states that there is “much disdain for ISIS”. However, those percentages represent millions of Muslims that actually do support ISIS. However, the Pew poll answers nothing about whether they support the underlying doctrines of Islam supported by ISIS.  Hundreds of millions more are supportive of the same Islamic doctrines and theology that ISIS is fighting for regardless of what particular group they view favorably or unfavorably.

I’ll close with two videos.  One from Ben Shapiro discussing the “tiny minority” of Muslims that are “radical”.

And one straight from Islam Net Video, straight from an Islamic conference, describing what “normal” Muslims believe. Learn what Islam teaches its disciples.

This Week’s Trifecta: God, Guns and Government

You have a bright idea in the early morning at the start of the Thanksgiving weekend, and then go off the grid for rest and relaxation.  Then, Boom! (literally and figuratively). Stuff happens. By the way, if you click on that link, be sure and listen to the full clip.  When I say “stuff happens”, I mean it in the Jeb Bush sense that lots of things happen in life, good and bad, and the government is not always the source of or solution to those things.  Especially when the bad things are simply a consequence of living in a free society with the freedom to choose how we live, act, think and speak.

So we had the Colorado shooting involving an extremely troubled man, and predictably the media and Twitter went into full hysterics around the typical progressive causes of gun control and abortion.  The most bizarre claims being that somehow the highly suppressed and maligned anti-abortion videos released by the Center for Medical Progress were somehow responsible for stirring up “violent rhetoric” that leads to crimes against providers and clinics. Now, I don’t know about you but most of the rhetoric I read about from the right centered around the heinous act of harvesting baby body parts for money and how it was sickening, callous and should be stopped and Planned Parenthood investigated. And really, if you’re not at least a little agitated or angered by the abortion industry harvesting aborted babies’ body parts, you have a serious problem of conscience. Oh, and I guess there was rhetoric about defunding Planned Parenthood, which finally has some congressional action.

Clearly, there is an unstable man who is responsible for his actions, but that would be too easy. Declaring this a mental health issue or simply the actions of free moral agent, a person who makes and is responsible for their own choices doesn’t fit the progressive narrative. You see, when bad things happen the media must maintain the progressive narrative about the goodness of gun control and the blessings of abortion.  How else will the agenda be pushed to the masses?

Then not a few days later, we have the Islamic terrorist attacks in San Bernardino, CA. Gasp! Yes, I called it Islamic Terrorism. Again, the leftist media and Twitterverse went ballistic. Prayer-shaming, as pointed out by Emma Green in The Atlantic, is now apparently the new thing thanks to many on the Left. There were immediate calls for more government intervention with gun control legislation, it’s a Pavlovian response really.  The cry for more legislation, more controls, more rules is basically the secular left’s prayer to the higher power of Government as Mollie Hemingway writes about at The Federalist.

But for all the appeals and all the proposals on the table, none, nada, zip, zilch, zero, absolutely not a one of the laws or regulations would have stopped anything. Not “Common-sense gun safety laws“. It is a phrase you hear frequently, but is left vaguely undefined; so until there is a definition and a proposal the phrase won’t stop a thing (it’s sort of like hashtags). Not (stricter) background checks, since the female San Bernardino shooter apparently passed the DHS Counter Terrorism Background Check as part of her visa process. Which, by the way, is one of the screenings that will be used for those refugees the President wants to invite to our country. Not the addition of the unconstitutional and civil rights violating “no-fly list”, as both the man and woman were free to fly to and/or from Saudi Arabia without issue.

But getting back to the beginning. Freedom. We live in a free country.  We have the Constitution and the 1st and 2nd Amendments enshrine certain rights. And I’d rather live more free, than less free. In the public arena, I or others might disagree with you, hurt your feelings or challenge your thinking with the words we write or speak, that is the price of freedom and the exercise of it.

Sadly and very unfortunately, and I’m really not trying to be callous or insensitive, people will die because we have the freedom to own firearms in this country. People will pay the ultimate price for this particular right. The issue is not the 2nd Amendment or gun ownership or even the types of guns people own. The ultimate problem is the condition of a person’s heart, which is not easily fixed.

Free people are free to make choices, for good or ill. People choose to act on anger, malice, jealousy, bitterness, ideology or with outright evil intent in heinous, cruel and sometimes inexplicable ways including murdering other human beings. It has happened since the beginning of time, since before guns were invented, since Cain murdered his brother Abel. Even if there were no weapons left on the planet, people would still use their hands to murder each other. “Gun control” is simply a modern band-aid covering an ancient issue, and to ignore the deceitful wickedness that lies in a person’s heart, is to ignore the real issue entirely.

TL;DR

People murder other people in senseless violent acts. Left calls for more gun control, supports abortion. Right stands ground on 2nd Amendment, prays. Left name calls and smears the Right. Left thinks government is the answer to all of life’s problems. Right thinks that God should top that list along with the Constitution. In the end do you want to be more or less free? The heart of man is deceitfully wicked, and that is the real problem.

First Post

I couldn’t stay asleep this morning. It wasn’t anxiety or anything; I just couldn’t find the right temperature. Too hot, too cold. My body wanted sleep, but my mind was awake.  So I decided just to get up.  I have been thinking for a while of starting a site to capture my thoughts, especially in light of the assault on first amendment rights, but just couldn’t think of a nice, catchy name.  As I was getting ready to catch up on my Breitbart reading in the early hours of the morning, the perfect domain name popped into my head: “God, Guns, Government”.  What phrase better epitomizes a politically and socially conservative Christian who loves God and Country and values the United States Constitution?  Luckily, the domain was available so I jumped into the deep end…well probably just sticking my toe in the shallow end right now.

So around here I’ll be talking about, well, religion and politics, and probably a few other things I find interesting about life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness in the United States of America.