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00Publius Contributor - Business - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - News - Uncategorized - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Fed-Ex Gets Christmas Present – No Union Interference

December 29, 2007 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

FedEx corporation was given an early Christmas present by the House early this week. In the omnibus spending bill being sent to the Senate, House Republicans succeeded in stripping language that would force the air delivery service to be open to unionization by the Teamsters, language the Democrat Party was pushing to get included.

We get the story today from the Memphis Commercial Appeal:

FedEx wins labor word war House passes spending bill without jurisdictional change

WASHINGTON — In a victory for FedEx, the 2,206-page omnibus spending bill passed by the House Monday does not contain language to change the jurisdiction of labor agreements that involve FedEx Express.

Efforts to kill the language that put the division under the jurisdiction of the National Labor Relations Act, which was passed in a House bill that reauthorized the Federal Aviation Administration earlier this year, were successful, those familiar with the negotiations said Monday.

This is a blow to the Teamster’s efforts to destroy yet another business…

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters has been trying to organize the company’s drivers at the local level, where labor disputes are resolved by the National Labor Relations Board. A labor dispute at a single local could affect FedEx’s overall operation and jeopardize the company’s reputation for next-day deliveries.

Kudos to the GOP for this win. Let’s hope that the GOP continues to be able to resist any and all union efforts.
Continue reading “Fed-Ex Gets Christmas Present – No Union Interference”

00Publius Contributor - Family - News - Religion - Thomas Brewton - Uncategorized

God Is Closer Than You Know

December 29, 2007 by

-By Thomas E. Brewton

A Christmas reminder: Jesus, Immanuel, means God with us.

For Sunday’s sermon topic at the Black Rock-Long Ridge Congregational Church (North Stamford, Connecticut), Pastor Steve Treash chose “God’s Presence is Closer Than You Think.” Michelangelo symbolized the relationship in his famous Sistene Chapel ceiling painting of God stretching down from heaven to touch Adam and bring life to humanity.

Christmas calls us again to thank God for the miracle of His Advent through the birth of Jesus Christ, bringing Grace and the Holy Spirit to all of humanity who choose to hear and accept the Gospel.

God literally is everywhere in everything, but the world is not God.

God is existence preceding essence. The entirety of the universe – past present, and future – existed beforehand in the Mind of God. He imparted the qualities of the universe to it at the moment of creation.

If you prefer scientific terminology, God IS prior to the Big Bang. At the instant of the universe’s creation, God imposed an intelligent design upon it, from which come the laws of physics, chemistry, and quantum mechanics. The laws of science, in Biblical terms, are the Word of God.
Continue reading “God Is Closer Than You Know”

00Publius Contributor - 2nd Amendment - Constitution - Democrats/Leftists - News - Security/Safety - Society/Culture - Uncategorized - Warner Todd Huston

Unconstitutional New Illinois Anti-Gun Law

December 28, 2007 by 2 Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

Cook County is at it again, trying to make legal gun owners as uncomfortable as possible. The Cook County Board of Commissioners is working on their latest unconstitutional set of gun laws and one particular idea they want to implement shows how disingenuous lawmakers can be.

As Kane County Chronicle columnist Steve Sarley writes:

This new legislation, if passed, would not allow gun dealers within 15 miles of another dealer, even if the other dealer was in a different county. Gun dealers also would be unable to be located within a mile of any public or private school, a mile from any church or place of worship, home for the aged, indigent or veterans, military stations or public parks.

In Illinois there is already a three day waiting period to purchase a handgun so, what logical sense does this one mile proscription make? Is that one mile distance from gun store to school supposed to make it harder for a gun crime to occur? Can we expect that this one mile proscription would make the distance harder to traverse after the three days a gun buyer had to wait before getting the gun? If such a buyer was going to use that gun he had to wait three days for in a crime, what difference does that one mile make if he was willing to wait three days before putting his criminal plan into action in the first place?

And anyone who can’t figure out how to make it the one mile between a gun shop and a school… well, no law will help such a stupid person in any case.

But, look closer at the list of places that a one mile proscription affects. In fact, in a populated urban area, a gun shop would be illegal just about anywhere using such criteria. Parks, Churches, public and private schools… these things are around practically every corner of any US city and the cities in Cook County aren’t any exception.

In effect, if this unconstitutional ordinance is passed, new gun stores will be illegal everywhere. This law may as well have been written to say that no gun store may be opened under the bright blue skies countywide. These lawmakers, while pretending that they are only looking out for the children, are effectively outlawing all gun shops. Under the guise of helping the children they are hiding their real goal.

Every upstanding gun owner in Cook County should vigorously oppose this travesty.

Continue reading “Unconstitutional New Illinois Anti-Gun Law”

00Publius Contributor - Business - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - News - Uncategorized - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

NY Carpenters Can’t Hammer Way Out of Corruption to Save their Lives

December 28, 2007 by 1 Comment

-By Warner Todd Huston

The Village Voice in New York gives us the all too common tale of another corrupt union local this Christmas season. It is filled with union officials who “roam about” their palatial Summer homes instead of reporting to work, and “a mismanaged mess where [business agents] come and go as they please, following few, if any, rules.” We are, of course, completely used to such stories here. After all, it is our well proven contention that corruption and unions are inseparable. But, the amusing thing with this story is that the unions thuggish officials were dismissed three weeks ago and union members STILL don’t have any real answers to what the heck is going on.

Remember, unions are only there to serve the little guys… as long as the little guys don’t get too uppity and ask all sorts of questions, that is!

“Nobody knows what the hell is going on,” griped a veteran carpenter who called this newspaper in a vain attempt to find something out.

Ouch. So much for the membership being an important part of the union, eh?

The first official out the door was William Hanley, 55, the $140,000-a-year president and business manager of Local 157, who resigned his position shortly before Thanksgiving. Hanley’s sudden retirement came after he was confronted with evidence gathered by William Callahan, the union’s court-appointed independent investigator. The evidence was in the form of cell-phone records that suggested the union leader had spent many weekday afternoons roaming Long Island, where his family happens to have a splendid waterfront home, instead of working the streets of Manhattan’s East Side, where his members are employed.

Similar evidence was presented against Hanley’s second-in-command, financial secretary Fred Kennedy, who made the same quick career choice. Local business representative Daniel DeMorato was suspended from his post and reassigned. But another target, local vice president George DiLacio, told his interrogators to get lost. DiLacio refused to give up his elected post at the local but was summarily fired from his $127,000-a-year job as a union representative.

There is a lot more where that came from… not that the union membership knows any of it.

Go to the Voice and read this whole lamentable story. It’s a laugher, to be sure.

Continue reading “NY Carpenters Can’t Hammer Way Out of Corruption to Save their Lives”

00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - News - President - Society/Culture - Uncategorized - Warner Todd Huston

Definitions for 2008 Election: Are YOU Informed?

December 28, 2007 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

We have a few major problems with the debate in the 2008 elections. Far too many people, with the leftists in the Media in the lead, are using words incorrectly and causing the debate on the candidates and issues to go wildly off track, so much so that no one has a clue what they are talking about. We need to get back to using words that we KNOW the definition of and we need to do it before people begin casting their first Primary ballots. That being said, there are two words in particular that are causing us trouble in the 2008 election, words to which we desperately need to understand the definitions.

1. Bigot

Mitt Romney’s folks are the guilty party for misusing this word. People like Hugh Hewitt and the rest of team Romney constantly do their best to squelch debate on “the Mormon question” by claiming that anyone who discusses it is a “bigot.”

My 1968 edition of the Standard College Dictionary defines bigot as such:

Bigot 1. One whose attitude or behavior expresses intolerance, as because of race, religion, politics, etc., 2. A narrow-minded, intolerant adherent of a particular religion.

Now, to question if a Mormon is a real Christian or not is not a bigoted question. It is a discussion of the relative aspects of Mormonism that do or do not adhere to general Christian doctrine, one based on theological facts. Look again at the definition. It is centered around intolerance and hatred, not theological discussion.

Few pundits — in fact not one that I know of — have said theyhate Mormons. No one in the mainstream is saying they shouldn’t vote for Mitt Romney because he is somehow evil for being a Mormon. In fact, I cannot even tell that “the Mormon question” was raised decades ago when his father tried to run for president so it really isn’t the issue here. Certainly, very many theological commentators have made the credible case that Mormons have enough doctrinal differences from Christianity to make them not members of a Christian faith. (For some of my own reasons that Mormons aren’t Christians, go to this one I wrote in early in 2006)
Continue reading “Definitions for 2008 Election: Are YOU Informed?”

00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - GOP - Media Bias - News - Religion - Society/Culture - Thomas Brewton - Uncategorized

The Social Gospel Has Found its Savior

December 28, 2007 by

-By Thomas E. Brewton

The Baby Boomers, who performed a frontal lobotomy on their spiritual life, find the meaning of life in secular environmentalism.

Read Lawrence Auster’s Deification of Gore in View From the Right.

Regrettably, well meaning Christian ministers like Rick Warren are supporting Mr. Gore’s junk scientism and the power of man over the earth, rather than sticking to faith in the one True God as Creator and Regulator of the cosmos.

In so doing they are verging perilously close to the social gospel, a phenomenon of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The social gospel reflected the rising popularity of the secular political state and its presumed capacity, when properly structured on the socialistic model, to produce earthly salvation without need for God and the Holy Spirit.
Continue reading “The Social Gospel Has Found its Savior”

00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - Health - Media Bias - Nancy Morgan - News - Society/Culture - Uncategorized

Looks Count

December 28, 2007 by

-By Nancy Morgan

Memo To Hillary: Get A Face Lift!

Let’s get real. For women, looks count. Always have, always will. Human nature made men and women from different molds. If you doubt that, just ask yourself this question. When is the last time you heard a woman comment on some guy’s cute buns? Or on his rippling pecs?

Men are more visual than women. That is reality. Many men are more likely to appreciate a woman based on her bra size than her IQ size. This is the way God made them. Men, even the new, feminised, ‘metro-sexuals’ usually learn everything they want to know about a woman in the first glance. If they’re smart, they have learned to hide this under a societally induced patina of ‘sensitivity,’ but you can bet your bottom dollar men’s fantasies don’t include long conversations, emotional bonding and sexual equality.

The picture of 60 year-old Hillary showing her age with wrinkles, crow’s feet and bags has sparked a national conversation about aging. Specifically, about aging women. Men, as we all know, get better looking with age. On men, wrinkles and squint lines are a mark of character. Graying hair is a sign of maturity. Older men are still sexy. Not so for women.

Picture Sean Connery and Madelaine Albright smooching. Get my point?
Continue reading “Looks Count”

00Publius Contributor - Podcasting - Uncategorized - Warner Todd Huston

The Voice of Liberty Podcast Network

December 28, 2007 by

Looking for one of the most professionally produced conservative podcasts on the Internet? Try the Voice of Liberty Podcast Network with its weekly episode appearing every Monday morning.

The Voice of Liberty Podcast features the conservative voices of four fine bloggers who first got together at the 2007 Conservative Leadership Conference in Reno, Nevada. Andrea Shea-King, talk show host and blogger, Ken Marrero, blogger and political activist, Warner Todd Huston, blogger, teacher and speaker and your host, John McJunkin, radio man, operator of Avalon Podcasting, and blogger will all be heard on this weekly podcast effort.

The world is changing – the Internet has increasing sway over political opinions, and it’s time for the conservative side of the world to leverage it in order to influence people. The right-wing blogosphere is sailing along at full steam and has largely counterbalanced any advantage that the left presumed would accrue to them by blogging. The one area that remains wide open for the right to step in and dominate is the audio-only podcast, which is very similar to another medium that we own – talk radio. The difference is that anyone and everyone can do it, just like blogging. As a matter of fact – we like to think of audio podcasting as “verbal blogging” if you will. We are going to “promote conservative American values and principles” just like it says in our masthead. We invite you to join us each week for 20-30 minutes of punditry and opinion from the right.

John McJunkin – Host of the Voice of Liberty Podcast Network

So, join the Voice of Liberty Podcast Network every Monday for the newest episode. You won’t be sorry!

VOICE OF LIBERTY PODCAST NETWORK

http://www.voiceoflibertypodcast.com/

00Publius Contributor - Crime - Democrats/Leftists - Media Bias - News - Security/Safety - Society/Culture - Uncategorized - Warner Todd Huston

The Princeton Hate Crime That Wasn’t

December 27, 2007 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

The Jena 6 case exploded over night when the Media imagined they had a “race hate” issue on their hands. They did the same with the Duke Rape case. Both cases were later proven not to be a case of a “hate crime” at all and, in the end, weren’t even real crimes. Yet, the media rushed to get these stories on the front pages and on every TV screen. Contrast that coverage with a reported crime that occurred near Princeton University that perfectly fits the definition of a “hate crime” and we found a media that stayed mum not reporting a thing about it.

The reason, of course, is because this victim was a conservative, Christian attacked because he was a conservative Christian — the newsmedia obviously didn’t feel there was anything to talk about.
The Daily Princetonian, the college paper of Princeton University, reported a hate crime on Dec. 15th, the details of which weren’t repeated as a hate crime by any of the mainstream media outlets. This hate crime at first appeared just as vicious, unprovoked and as full of bigotry and, well, hate, as any. But no one touched the tale with a ten-foot pole. Not because it wasn’t really hate, but because it wasn’t the right kind of hate. You see, in Princeton and the MSM hatred of conservatives, Christians doesn’t count much toward hate, though hate it truly appeared to be.

As the story was first reported, a young undergrad named Francisco Nava (class of ’09) was physically attacked in Princeton Township, the Princetonian said. He was repeatedly knocked in the head until he was unconscious it was claimed.

“Eventually I just blacked out,” Nava said in an interview last night. “I don’t remember what happened; I just saw a bunch of white.” When he came to, he said, the two men were still hitting him.

The motive for the attack was thought not to be robbery as Nava’s wallet, cell phone and personal possessions were supposedly not touched by the assailants. But Nava claimed that they did leave him with a sort of parting thought that fits with threats the young man claimed to have received in the weeks before the attack. As they walked away from him, his attackers told him to “Shut the F_ _ k up.”

This wasn’t just any attack, it was claimed. It was an attack that fits the definition of a hate crime. That is because the attackers accosted Mr. Nava because of his involvement in the “socially conservative” organization called the Anscombe Society. Nava said he reached this conclusion because the attackers’ final words matched the line repeated in several threatening letters he had received confronting him on his political ideology. (As reported in the DP earlier in the year.)

Nava said he was sure the assailants “at least had something to do with” threats he has been receiving since mid-October. He pointed out that his assailants’ parting words — “shut the fuck up” — concluded the most recent threat letter he received, an email that arrived Wednesday afternoon.

It would appear, as hate crimes go, that this one would easily fit the bill. But, no news outlet covered the story. No one paid it any attention.
Continue reading “The Princeton Hate Crime That Wasn’t”

00Publius Contributor - Business - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - News - Society/Culture - Uncategorized - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Feds Slap Union for Violating Employee’s Wishes

December 27, 2007 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

So, you are a bus driver in Batavia, Illinois. You and your co-workers go to the effort to gather together in true democratic fashion and vote to opt out of your union at Laidlaw Transit. The next thing you know, the union is STILL claiming to represent you in contract talks with the company. Not only that, but the union is demanding you pay dues and if you don’t you are threatened with being fired!

An impossible scenario, you think? Hardly, because that is exactly what is happening.

The NRTW gives us the details:

As Haasch details in his charges, ATU union officials have been negotiating a contract with First Group, despite the fact that Haasch and his coworkers had successfully ousted the union earlier this year. According to First Group’s website, on October 1 the UK-based transit company completed the purchase of Haasch’s employer, Laidlaw Transit.

So, the union is out. But how is it they are still trying to extort the employee’s money?

Continue reading “Feds Slap Union for Violating Employee’s Wishes”

00Publius Contributor - Elections - News - President - Security/Safety - Society/Culture - Taxes - Uncategorized - Vince Johnson

Second Open Letter to Your Favorite Candidate

December 27, 2007 by

-By Vince Johnson

Dear Sir/Ms/Mrs.:___________________________ (Fill in your favorite candidate’s name. Either Party. Male or Female)

Your Del Rio press conference should begin without hype and fanfare. You thank them for being there and say “Rather than nit pick the pros and cons about driver’s licenses for illegals I’ve decided to tell you what I plan to do about illegal immigration. First I’ll find out if it is feasible to widen the entire Rio Grande River by adding more dams like the Amistad Dam near Del Rio, Texas. This could be one of a series of dams much like those constructed in the 1930’s by the Tennessee Valley Authority. Those dams not only widened the river, they provided flood control and hydro-electric power which helped energize the local economy. I will appoint a special task force and give them thirty days to come up with sufficient data to determine if the idea is worth forwarding to Congress for appropriate legislation.”

You emphasize that this is the idea of several mayors of cities in Texas. It is your policy to give careful consideration to any recommendation from those most directly involved. You continue: “Security for the border along California, Arizona and New Mexico would utilize high tech devices, motion detectors, infra-red scanners, etc. All four states could have larger security teams with upgraded training and equipment for quick and efficient enforcement.” You make it very clear: “Instead of walls and fences, security will be based on high tech devices, well trained enforcement teams and wide water if feasible.”

You continue “I will have another special task force come up with the most appropriate way to initiate a proposal that would make legal that which has been happening illegally anyway! The assignment will be to determine how to go about asking Mexico to allow their people to vote on a measure asking if the United States of America would annex Mexico as its fifty-first state!”
Continue reading “Second Open Letter to Your Favorite Candidate”

00Publius Contributor - Education - Elections - Israel Teitelbaum - News - President - Society/Culture - Uncategorized

Please place 4 phone calls for school choice

December 27, 2007 by

-By Israel Teitelbaum

School Choice Voter:

The good news is that you can now place four phone calls that can improve the future of this great country. Four of the leading presidential candidates spoke out strongly for school choice at their last debate of this primary season. Your phone calls can get them to actualize this position into public policy. This is their opportunity to demonstrate their leadership ability by translating their policies to proposed legislation. They are asking for our votes. The least they can do for us is to demonstrate their ability to translate their policies into action. It takes only one Congressman and one Senator to sponsor legislation in Congress.

Below are the four presidential candidates who spoke forcefully for school choice, along with excerpts of their statements and their campaign phone numbers. Phone calls are preferable because you are assured of direct contact with a campaign representative. The best way to do this is to get the name of your contact, ask for a response, and follow up. Your calls represent many thousands of voters, because very few voters actually pick up the phone and call.

Feel free to express your feelings on school choice. Our objective is for the candidates to use their considerable influence to sponsor legislation that will restore sanity to our educational system. In short, our message is: “We agree with CANDIDATE NAME that school choice is the solution to our broken educational system. Please ask him to sponsor now legislation to provide equal educational opportunity for every child.”

We have dubbed this legislation The Civil Rights Act for Equal Educational Opportunity. This will provide equitable educational funding for all children, including those attending private and religious school, while respecting the liberty of schools in hiring and provision of services.

Although there is not now in Congress enough support to pass this legislation, we have the enormous opportunity to elect – on November 4, 2008 – 435 new U.S. Congressmen and 35 new Senators who favor this legislation.

Please pass this great opportunity on to your contacts and keep us informed of any developments.
Continue reading “Please place 4 phone calls for school choice”

00Publius Contributor - Elections - News - President - Society/Culture - Uncategorized - Vince Johnson

Advice to the Candidates

December 27, 2007 by

-By Vince Johnson

Advice to the candidate for President that I would vote for:

On a regular basis, you should hold a “Clarification Conference” to clear up any confusion regarding your previous statements.

Your sudden departure from the confusion generated by Presidential Debates needs further comment. You openly admit it was a planned strategy designed to focus attention upon where you stand on key issues. Your stand on the debates can be defined in one sentence: The qualifications to be President should not be judged on brief orations controlled by a moderator asking questions approved by staff members for each candidate.

Next you clarify your position on immigration. The Mexican border must be sealed off using wide water along as much of the Rio Grande as feasible and placement of well trained security teams and high tech surveillance methods along the entire border.

You then reveal that your idea about inviting Mexico to become our 51st state has a subtle purpose. At first, nobody will take the idea seriously. But Mexico has oil reserves of considerable value and beautiful coastal properties having great potential for world-class resorts and retirement villas. Their extended growing season and agricultural resources are exceptional. These natural assets afford exceptional growth opportunities that are no longer available in the United States.
Continue reading “Advice to the Candidates”

Democrats/Leftists - Elections - Media Bias - News - President - Security/Safety - Society/Culture - Uncategorized - Warner Todd Huston

AP Gets a Whackin’ Over Thompson Attackin’

December 26, 2007 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Conservative radio host and political pundit, Jed Babbin, did a great job of smacking the Associated Press around in an editorial in Human Events, today. Calling the AP “one of the most politically activist media outlets” out there and pointing out that the wire service is often “caught Hillary-handed,” Babbin does a great job of handing the AP its hat. And Babbin warns that every candidate “who exudes a whiff of conservatism” will see the APs guns leveled upon them.

To prove his case, Babbin uses the example of how the AP is doing it’s level best to destroy the candidacy of Fred Thompson because, in Babbin’s view, he is one of the most conservative candidates in the field as well as how often the AP rides to Hillary Clinton’s rescue quite despite the facts.

The Associated Press — once the gold standard of fast and accurate reporting — changed during the Bush presidency. What was liberal bias has reshaped the wire service into one of the most politically activist media outlets. This is a cautionary tale for every Republican candidate. What AP tried to do to Fred Thompson is going to be repeated against any conservative candidate who exudes a whiff of conservatism in the primaries and whichever Republican gains the presidential nomination.

Babbin doesn’t just make claims, either. He gives some very specific examples of AP’s left leaning political activism. From their help given the John Kerry campaign to their tip ins for Hillary, Babbin gives us example after example of the APs bias against Republican and conservatives.

But his main example for the 2008 contest is how the AP misreported Tom Tancredo’s endorsement of Mitt Romney as a “stinging setback” for Fred Thompson.

Continue reading “AP Gets a Whackin’ Over Thompson Attackin’”

Elections - News - President - Uncategorized - Warner Todd Huston

Mitt Romney is NOT a Republican

December 26, 2007 by 1 Comment

-By Warner Todd Huston

It never ceases to amaze me how a person who has decided to support a candidate all too often arrives at a point where FACTS are meaningless to them. Such is true with those who support this Romney character. There has been one example after another that proves that Mitt Romney isn’t even a Republican much less a conservative and that he has repeatedly lied about his positions. Yet, well meaning Republicans still support this flip-flopping liar. Here is yet another article that shows that Mitt Romney is the single worse candidate the GOP field has today.

David Lightman of the McClatchy Newspaper chain asks this question: Exactly how Reaganesque is Romney? And the answer is a decided NOT AT ALL.

A few excerpts of this article:

“I take inspiration from the strength Ronald Reagan talked about,” Romney said. “It was his view that the right way to overcome challenges was for the country to strengthen itself.”

Yet Romney wasn’t always such a Reagan fan.

In 1994, when he ran for the U.S. Senate in Massachusetts, he said, “I was an independent during the time of Reagan-Bush. I’m not trying to return to Reagan-Bush.”

And…

Romney spent years in the state registered as “unenrolled,” or unaffiliated with a political party, and in 1992 he voted for former Sen. Paul Tsongas, a liberal Democrat, in the Massachusetts Democratic presidential primary.

And…

Romney replied: “Look, I was an independent during the time of Reagan-Bush. I’m not trying to return to Reagan-Bush. My positions don’t talk about the things you suggest they talk about. This isn’t a political issue.”

Romney has lied about being a hunter, he has lied about his not supporting the baby killers at Planned Parenthood, he even lied about his father marching with Martin Luther King, Jr. He led as Governor of Massachusetts as a center left executive yet now claims that he is a conservative.

Yet, all these flip-flops, all these lies and his supporters stick their fingers in their ears and scream “LA LA LA” at the top of their voices. So, here is the thing. Romney is not Reagan, he is far more like Clinton. Because during the first Clinton run lie after lie was revealed and his supporters simply refused to take stock of their man. They voted for him despite the lies, the rapes, all his past troubles were ignored.

Mitt Romney is Bill Clinton without the sex crimes.
Continue reading “Mitt Romney is NOT a Republican”

00Publius Contributor - Elections - GOP - News - Security/Safety - Selwyn Duke - Uncategorized

The Huckabee Hustle

December 26, 2007 by

-By Selwyn Duke

When evangelicals embraced Jimmy Carter during the 1976 presidential campaign, they didn’t know he would repudiate the Southern Baptist Convention a generation later. Today the very same constituency has glommed onto Mike Huckabee, and I can’t help but lament how history truly does repeat itself.

One can see why the man I dubbed “Huck the Huckster” would appeal to evangelicals. He’s a pro-life Southern Baptist minister with charm, wit and a good-ol’-boy, yuck-it-up style. Yet this resplendent exterior only serves to obscure the stain of liberal sin.

Huck would be a disaster – a disaster – on immigration. In fact, in 2006 he compared those who would crack down on illegals to antebellum slave masters, saying,

One of the great challenges facing us is that we do not commit the same mistakes with our growing Hispanic population that we did with African Americans 150 years ago and beyond. We’re still paying the price for the pathetic manner in which this country handled that.

Outrageously, it seems Huck can’t distinguish between denying citizens the protection of the law and requiring non-citizens to follow it.
Continue reading “The Huckabee Hustle”

00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - Lee Culpepper - Media Bias - News - Society/Culture - Uncategorized

A God Given Purpose Named Shrek

December 26, 2007 by

-By Lee Culpepper

My students would have never guessed how God would use Shrek’s life to better my relationship with them.

The Monday before Thanksgiving, Shrek was alive and happy. His day began with a walk through the woods and around a pond that we called his swamp. Strangers always recognized how the green-cartoon ogre had inspired his name.

Shrek was a happy and handsome English bulldog — well, he thought he was handsome anyway. His massive chest, narrow keister, and chubby-round head truly brought the cartoon ogre to life.

Shrek made every day a great day to be alive. He had a knack for making people laugh and grin. He had mastered this undertaking so well that he could even do it in his sleep. Simply looking at Shrek’s wrinkled face, protruding teeth, and oversized-crinkled tongue made people happy. His obnoxious snoring and deep breathing were strangely comforting, too. Most of all, his tenacious spirit would have made Winston Churchill smile.
Continue reading “A God Given Purpose Named Shrek”

00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - Media Bias - News - Religion - Society/Culture - Uncategorized - Warner Todd Huston

Chgo Sun-Times: Mean Scrooge a Republican, Nice Scrooge a Liberal?

December 25, 2007 by 2 Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

Never has so few words been so wrong until the the Christmas Day Chicago Sun-Times Daily Rant came along. Not only does it unreasonably call the mean, pre-ghosted version of the Scrooge character a “traditional, conservative Republican” but it then goes on to swerve to the opposite — and equally wrong — conclusion that the post-ghostie Scrooge is a “bleeding-heart liberal.” In truth BOTH claims are quite wide of the mark in analogy. In fact, not only did the Sun-times miss a true reading of the characters, they got them juxtaposed!

Here is the short, and woefully wrong Christmas Day Daily Rant:

I can’t understand why people are so in love with Charles Dickens’ story ”A Christmas Carol.”

Let me see if I understand the story right: Scrooge starts out as a traditional, conservative Republican, and because of the interference of three, uh, ghosts, he ends up a bleeding-heart liberal. Why is this such a good thing?

Erroneous Claim One: the eeevil Republican Scrooge

The fact is, that Republicans are not only happier, but they also give more to charity than do Democrats and liberals. This being true, calling the sour, mean-spirited, miserly pre-ghosted Ebenezer Scrooge a “traditional, conservative Republican” is an absurd claim. Republicans are neither miserly nor mean as a general rule by the facts we have at our fingertips.

So, the mean Scrooge being a typical GOPer is absurd and insulting.

Erroneous Claim Two: the bleeding-heart liberal Scrooge

Continue reading “Chgo Sun-Times: Mean Scrooge a Republican, Nice Scrooge a Liberal?”

Uncategorized

Merry Christmas From Publius’ Forum

December 25, 2007 by

Just a note from all of us here at Publius’ Forum to you…

As we take this day off from blogging to celebrate the birth of Christ, we wish you a Merry Christmas. Take time to be with your families and friends and also take a moment to thank God for your blessings. And don’t forget about our troops.

Merry Christmas

Warner Todd Huston and the folks at Publius’ Forum

Uncategorized

Communist China Says Merry Christmas, But Capitalist Google Won’t

December 25, 2007 by

Well, here is a sad commentary on the fellow travelers over at Internet mega-corp, Google. Their Christmas graphic eschews that oh so very evil “Ch_ _ stmas” word giving us a bow and candy cane, instead. Apparently, Google doesn’t want to cause any outrage by using the words “Merry Christmas.”

Yet, the communists over at China Daily’s on line news and propaganda site doesn’t seem to have the slightest problem wishing us all a Merry Christmas as the graphic at the top of their mainpage shows!

What a sad commentary when even our Godless, communist enemies can say “Merry Christmas” but an ostensibly western, capitalist company won’t do the same!

Merry Christmas to all you all, no matter what Google says!

Yours,

Warner Todd Huston

00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - Frederick Meekins - Media Bias - News - Religion - Society/Culture - Uncategorized

Politically Correct To Alter Santa Out Of Existence

December 24, 2007 by

-By Frederick Meekins

Over the course of the past decade or so, leftist malcontents have set their ideological sites against Christmas no doubt as the holiday points to the birth of the Savior Jesus Christ who can often help or motivate the individual to work through many of their own problems without an over reliance on government aide and because many of the celebrations if not taken to extremes provide the individual with a sense of well being that undermines liberalism’s basic assumption that things are so miserable that the only hope of fixing things is handing control over to a state imbued with almost God-like powers.

Initially, many of these challenges and objections were couched in terms of the canard of the Separation of Church and State and all that other pluralistic mumbo jumbo about not offending other cultures even though the rest of us have the other cultures jammed down our throats the rest of the year to the point where if anyone objects to allowing hordes of radical Muslims or swarms of illegal aliens to settle here without question now you are the one likely to be labeled a troublemaker or a threat to national security.

But now that the average American has had just about enough of the efforts to banish the foundations of American culture even if they do not embrace the underlying worldview of these foundations, more crafty subversives are beginning to come out from beneath their dank rocks like cunning serpents to play on those abridgements of freedom already accepted by the good-natured but slightly dimwitted desiring status as progressive members in good standing with the COMMUNITY.

Beloved by all but the most puritanical or revolutionary from either extreme of the socioreligious spectrum, even Santa Claus is no longer immune to postmodernist deconstruction.

In years past, some have sought to eradicate him as a symbol of the Christian ethos in which the icon either sprang up in or was grafted onto. However, rather than outright obliteration, the more crafty now want to alter his fundamental nature in such a way that most of us will no longer recognize him once our politically correct overlords have their way with him.
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00Publius Contributor - Uncategorized - Warner Todd Huston

Vocie of Liberty Podcast Episode #8

December 24, 2007 by

This is our last podcast before Christmas, and the birth of Christ is a very strong focus in this episode. Andrea Shea King reads to us a letter from Jesus. Warner Todd Huston wonders about America’s timidity in fighting wars, and I bring you reason number 7 Why Mrs. Clinton Will Never Be President. Finally, the Blue Collar Muse brings us a powerful message about the birth of Christ. Merry Christmas to all of you – have a blessed holiday season!

Download | Duration: 00:24:58

00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - Family - History - News - Society/Culture - Uncategorized

Christmas Contemplations

December 24, 2007 by

-By Michael M. Bates

The Beatles were right when they sang money can’t buy me love. I guess if they’d wanted to be more precise, they’d have crooned that money can’t buy authentic love although in some instances it can acquire a reasonable facsimile of it, but that might have been tough to rhyme.

What money can buy are material possessions that may well bring some transitory pleasure. Far be it from me to disparage the enjoyment of such items. If someone wants to take away my high definition TV, they’ll have to pry it from my cold, dead hands. Not that I’m shallow or anything.

Still, it’s quite clear that money and the things you can buy with it often don’t bring lasting happiness. When a rich person kills himself, a typical question is why did he do it, he had everything he needed, everything to live for. Obviously, the deceased didn’t view it that way.

We see that also with celebrities who either take their own lives or engage in behavior that ineluctably will lead to an earlier than normal demise. Few exhibit the apparent self-introspection of George Sanders, an Academy Award winning actor who overdosed on pills in 1972. His suicide note read: “Dear World. I am leaving because I am bored. I feel I have lived long enough. I am leaving you with your worries in this sweet cesspool. Good luck.”
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00Publius Contributor - Health - Nancy Salvato - News - Society/Culture - Uncategorized

Slow Down and Savor the Moments

December 24, 2007 by

-By Nancy Salvato

Food is everywhere. Advertised between mind numbing sitcom television shows and radio programs; interspersed between articles about diet and fitness to fight flab; or posted on billboards along our nation’s streets and highways, it is hard not to be reminded about what to consider eating next. For me, this epicurean parade for the palate takes place every work day as I step off the train and am forced to walk through the fast food emporium before I can exit the station and embark into the fresh air of the city. Then, food is available on every block between Chicago’s Union Station and my office. If I can’t actually see what’s available, smells abound, emanating from Jimmy Johns, McDonalds, and Caribou Coffee. It is an irony that there are people starving in this world when most people in this country are acutely aware of an expanding waistline.

Sometimes tempted by Corner Bakery or Nuts on Clark, upon closer inspection I take a pass. Keenly aware of the long list of ingredients that might set off a case of hives or swelling of my lips due to severe food intolerance, I’ve been forced to rethink what passes through my body in the course of a day. Even bottled water is suspect, because of the packaging. Generally, I ignore the bounty of convenience foods, instead, opting for the raw, unsalted or lightly salted nuts and unsulphured, no sugar added dried fruit on which I graze throughout the day. Learning to eat this way is similar to painting with only three colors. One becomes very creative about sustenance and eating becomes more about fueling the body and less about reacting impulsively to the day’s challenges.
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Islam - Religion - Uncategorized

Why blame the entire Islamic Community?

December 23, 2007 by

-By Dawn Stricson

I would like to propose a question to every responsible non-Islamic thinker who is concerned about the terrorist activities that seem to characterize the Islamic way of thinking more so than it does any sane way of thinking. However, before I do, I would like my readers to keep in mind the indisputable observation that, although most Mohammedans (a truer depiction of the people who refer to themselves as Muslims) do not openly engage in terrorist (or radically outrageous) activities, most of the worlds current terrorists happen to be Mohammedans.

Also, after having studied Islamic thinking, in the eyes of the authority that settles all disputes among Mohammedans (i.e., the authority that speaks in the Quran; the authority behind the Hadith; the authority behind the Sirat Rasoul; and/or the authority behind al-Tabari’s Ta’rikh) my openness to truth, as opposed to any wishful thoughts I may be harboring, have compelled me to conclude that the Islamic way of thinking has everything to do with not only the terrorism that persists among the members of the Islamic community, but also with the lunacy that persists among the people who promote, appease, accommodate, whitewash, excuse, and tolerate Islamic cultures and practices.
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00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - Media Bias - News - President - Security/Safety - Society/Culture - Uncategorized - Warner Todd Huston

White House Forces NYTimes to Change Headline Lie

December 22, 2007 by 1 Comment

-By Warner Todd Huston

It’s a first. The New York Times is admitting that one of their headlines slamming the Bush White House was an outright lie. Such a lie that they had to change it when the White House complained. Of course, the original subhead had trumpeted how White House spokesman Dana Perino lied to the American people, but when Perino pointed out that she never even said what the Times claimed, they had to face the truth and change the original. This is the sort of junk “reporting” you get when you have an agenda to push… truth be damned.

On the 19th, the Times had published a front-page story on the CIA’s destruction of interrogation tapes made of Islamofascist detainees, but the subhead made it seem as if the White House was straight out lying about their knowledge of the situation. The original subhead screamed “White House Role Was Wider Than It Said,” but what was it the White House “said” about the issue, anyway?

Turns out, not a thing. Literally… not a single thing!

As Politico.com reports:

On Wednesday, White House press secretary Dana Perino said in a statement that the Times subheadline… was inaccurate.

“The New York Times’ inference that there is an effort to mislead in this matter is pernicious and troubling, and we are formally requesting that NYT correct the subheadline of this story,” Perino said.

The White House has continued not to comment on what the representative dubbed “misleading press reports.”

And Fox News reports that Perino said:

“Well, it says, ‘The White House role was wider than it said,’ implying that I had either changed my story, or I or somebody else at the White House had misled the public. And that is not true,” Perino said during Wednesday’s press briefing.

“The New York Times today implies that the White House has been misleading in publicly acknowledging or discussing details related to the CIA’s decision to destroy interrogation tapes,” Perino said.

But she said that couldn’t be the case because the White House has been under strict orders not to comment publicly.

It seems that the White House has stayed mum on the entire issue, so it’s a bit hard to construe a no comment at all into the White House “saying” anything that amounts to lying to the American people. Not that this truth deterred the NYT. Well, at least not at first.

So what does the Times say about being caught red-handed making up lies about what the White House said?

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00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - Media Bias - News - Science - Selwyn Duke - Uncategorized

Al Gore Opens Mouth, Increases Carbon Footprint

December 22, 2007 by

By Selwyn Duke

Speaking today to COOL-IT (Communists for Only Onerous and Lofty Industrial Taxation) in Nome, Alaska, former vice-president Al Gore criticized the United States’ failure to adequately address climate change. Mr. Gore warned of future consequences of inaction while emphasizing that we have already felt the effects of a lamentably low suicide rate. Gore mentioned the extinction of species, the melting of the polar ice caps, and his loss of Florida in the 2000 presidential election. Said Gore,

“Florida is a very hot state – even in November. And members of lower-income socio-economic groups – who are most likely to vote Democrat – often can’t afford air-conditioning. Now, if you’re sitting around in a pool of your own sweat drinking Thunderbird, what are the chances you’ll be motivated to vote on election day?”

Mr. Gore then became especially passionate, asserting that this accords with Republicans’ general disregard for the environment. Pounding his fist on the finely-crafted mahogany and teak podium, he continued,

“The Republicans know well about vote suppression through climate manipulation. It is a fact that for every degree the temperature rises, voter turnout decreases by 3 percent.”

As evidence, Mr. Gore cited a volume of studies and research papers showing that the temperature in Democrat stronghold Miami-Dade County was higher than in the more Republican panhandle on election day. “This cannot be coincidence,” Gore insisted.

Sharpening his rhetoric, Gore invoked race. Alluding to his belief that most of the disenfranchised voters were minorities, he accused white Republicans of engaging in “. . . a systematic, apocalyptic climate war against blacks.”

He called this plan “Helter Swelter.”
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00Publius Contributor - Media Bias - News - Society/Culture - Taxes - Uncategorized - Warner Todd Huston

Is America Cheap on ‘Humanitarian Aid’?

December 21, 2007 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

So, we are the “ugly American,” we’re always told. But to whom do they come running when they need help? Italy, France, maybe? Hardly. Still, they love to beat up on the US, and unfortunately our MSM is only too happy to act the echo chamber for anti-Americanism. This time it is Time Magazine that gleefully adds to the din of opprobrium at America with theirs titled, “US Ranked Low in Humanitarian Aid,” wherein, crook and ex-UN chief Kofi Annan has decided that we are cheapskates where it concerns so-called “humanitarian aid” to foreign countries. Yes, after all we’ve done, after all we do around the world in their time of need, Annan and his UN cronies have the gall to call us cheap, uncaring, stingy even, where it concerns this supposed rate of “humanitarian aid” that other countries are so much more generous with. Even Luxembourg beats us according to the novel mathematics employed by Annan and others who want to attack the US of A. Ain’t we Americans just such meanies?

The news that Time highlights is a new scheme to find fault with America enshrined in a novel system of ranking how countries give aid to others.

A new tool to evaluate governments’ humanitarian spending can help countries get aid out more efficiently to those who need it, say former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and the Spain-based non-profit DARA. Their Humanitarian Response Index (HRI), launched Thursday in London, ranks Sweden as the world leader in humanitarian aid. Norway comes second, followed by Denmark, the Netherlands and the European Commission. The U.S. scores a lowly 16th out of 23.

Our intrepid Time Magazine medical correspondent, Laura Blue, has taken some time away from her important medical news beat to pen this lovely and badly misleading calumny highlighting the claim that the USA is “ranked low in humanitarian aid.” Of course, all this reckoning showing how mean and miserly we are is calculated as if this “humanitarian aid” they are so concerned with is only something doled out by governments. It doesn’t bother to take much into account the many billions of dollars that is raised and distributed by private American citizens. But Blue goes on to lament about our aid programs anyway.

Continue reading “Is America Cheap on ‘Humanitarian Aid’?”