Liberty

What Happened to the Freedom Tower?

2011-10-25T20:03:00.001-07:00

Where have a been the last two years? I didn’t know that the new building at Ground Zero in New York City has had it’s name changed from the “Freedom Tower” to “One World Trade Center”.

Some saw the change as being unpatriotic, since the Freedom name symbolized our fight against those who attacked us. In my mind it’s a little worse than that. The name “One World Trade Center” has a completely different meaning when there is no “Two World Trade Center”. No wonder many gave the new name an ‘interesting and warm reception’, as reported on Fox News.com . When losing the symbolism of the name ‘The Freedom Tower’, there doesn’t seem to be any admitting to the fact that the new name takes on a whole new symbolism. I’m sure all those one world government types just loved the idea.

We may share this lovely world with many countries and different peoples, but we have freedom, and a constitution that guarantees that freedom. I am not ready to concede that freedom to the inferior systems of the rest of the world. However they are welcome to join me in upholding and promoting freedom and democracy if they would like.

-Lynnae

Obama Says We’ve Gone Soft

2011-10-03T16:07:00.001-07:00

Three days ago I read the following comment from President Obama:

“ The way I think about it is, you know, this is a great, great country that had gotten a little soft, and, you know, we didn’t have that same competitive edge that we needed over the last couple of decades. We need to get back on track.” Foxnews.com

My first thought was that this is Obama’s ‘malaise’ moment. The sad pouty outcry of a destined to be one term president. Well, one can only hope.

Since then I haven’t been able to let go of the second part…..

‘We didn’t have the same competitive edge that we needed’

!!!!!!

Is this man blind to the fact that liberal policies are to blame for this?

How can you blame Americans for being soft when you teach them to be greedy for what they haven’t earned, and teach them that they deserve what they haven’t worked for?

How can you expect us to keep the competitive edge when you punish the winners of the competition?

Mercury Free Light Bulbs

2011-09-22T11:23:00.001-07:00

I just heard that Nancy Pelosi during her ‘reign’ had mandated that fluorescent lights be used on the House side of congress. They are currently being replace, by order of Boehner, with good old fashioned incandescent light bulbs.

And while I’m on the topic, the other day my husband pointed out that even though democrats have mandated that all light bulbs in the home be CFL’s by 2014, another law has been passed mandating that CFL bulbs NOT be used outdoors. It seems they pose a danger to the environment.

As for the environment in your home, who cares! Certainly not the Democrats.

I have a bright idea for you. Why don’t Americans get the freedom to choose whatever light bulb they want. We pay our own bill, let us decide if a higher power bill is better or worse than a toxic light bulb that must be saved carefully after use and disposed at a hazardous waste site.

-Lynnae

September 11th, Ten Years Later

2011-09-11T15:28:00.001-07:00

I was still in bed when my good friend called on the phone, telling me planes had hit the World Trade Center. It was about time to get up anyway, so I hurried downstairs to watch the TV in shock while I got the kids ready for school. For a while I wondered if I should take them, but decided it was best. Before I left I remember looking at the tv and telling Jon "that building is going to fall, it looks like it's twisting." I never see that image anymore. They mostly show fast little clips.

While we were driving to middle school the first tower fell. I rushed home. I saw the second tower fall on tv and it was horrifying.

After an hour or two a neighbor called my house. The husband had been in the air at the time of the attacks and now had been diverted to Canada. He sounded very upset and had been trying to get a hold of his wife. I told him I'd have her call, slipped on some shoes and ran down to her house. The house was calm and children were playing happily. She answered the door and I told her she should call her husband and she seemed confused. She didn't have television on, and her phone was off the hook. She had no idea what had happened.

I was also in charge of a church dinner for the ladies that night and had been stressed out about it for a few days. I called the woman over me and asked if we could just cancel it, and she said she 'didn't see why.' So I went to Costco and tried to get done the things I needed to do, feeling scared and in shock. It was a sombre dinner. Maybe it was OK to have it, but I was mad at the time. We ate and sang hymns before returning to our families.

The next day, and for several days, I watched Fox news almost nonstop. I did try and turn it off whenever my four year old Jordan came in to the room, but I also remember trying to get her occupied in the playroom so I could go back and watch things unfold. I watched every news conference, and on the National Day of Prayer I prayed a lot and watched all the services. That day I felt very peaceful, and I felt like a spirit of calm and unity was over our country. It was a powerful feeling that I will never forget.

Please read this tribute I wrote two years ago.

I will forever honor the heroes of that day. The first responders, and since then, our military, who sacrifice so we can be free. Thank You!

-Lynnae

Government Overspending

2011-08-06T12:54:00.001-07:00

I love this quote from Dave Ramsey that’s been floating around today.

"If the US Government was a family, they would be making $58,000 a year, they spend $75,000 a year, & are $327,000 in credit card debt. They are currently proposing BIG spending cuts to reduce their spending to $72,000 a year. These are the actual proportions of the federal budget & debt, reduced to a level that we can understand." - Dave Ramsey

I an not an economist by any means, but this obviously wouldn’t work out.

Where would I start if I had a magic government-changing wand?

Well, You know how government bills for funds always have a ‘projected increase’ every year? Then they make a measly ‘cut in spending’ that is really just a cut in the increase they would have otherwise had? That’s what I’d put an end to. No spending could have an increase year after year built into it, except maybe limited to inflation.

To go back to the household analogy, what if each year I said I was going to spend 5% more on my car payment than the year before, and my phone bill, and my satellite TV. And utilities, etc. It’s easy to see that in not very many years I would not have enough money.

So according to our government, the thing to then do is decrease the increase spending on one of those things to 4% or even 3%, and take out a loan for the rest.

Thanks for reading,

-Lynnae

Sparklers!

2011-07-29T15:31:00.001-07:00

I’ve been so busy with my daughter’s wedding that I haven’t been posting consistently, but I did want to show you these cool photos we took on Independence Day.

We used sparklers and a digital camera on a long exposure setting. I wrote my name……

Other people did too, but they had to flip the picture. I’m the only one who can write in cursive backwards ‘cause I’m cool like that.

Then we did some cool couples photos……

Here I am with my sweetie. We had one person take the picture and two people run around us with sparklers. One person couldn’t go fast enough for the camera so we had one start at the bottom and one halfway up. The ‘runners’ don’t show up because they were moving and we were holding still.

This picture always reminds me of that ‘Bibbity Bobbity Boo’ moment when Cinderella’s fairy godmother gives her the beautiful gown.

Ok, I know there’s a lot going on in the world that’s worth a comment. I obviously can’t replace the pundit’s out there and you all know where to find them. But I love that you are willing to stop by and hear my two cents worth or just smile at the observations and lifestyle of the average conservative woman.

Captain America

2011-07-18T15:03:00.001-07:00

Check out these cool Captain America ‘propaganda’ style posters on WIRED.

This one is by Eric Tan

I can’t wait for the show. But these are so fun. Remember when you were a kid and you used to see ‘Go USA’ type stuff all the time? It’s sad that it’s such a rarity now.

-Lynnae

Little Conservatives

2011-07-01T12:27:00.001-07:00

This is me on my 9th Birthday. The bicentennial was a big year for us patriots! Grandma made my birthday cake, and this dress was my first sewing project with my mom teaching me to sew. I got to choose the fabric myself!

I guess going to Independence day celebrations did make me into a little conservative! ----Or could it be that I was raised by those who appreciate our country and the sacrifices made for it? People who believe it is special, and are trying to keep it that way?

Look at this awesome poster Hobby Lobby posted on Facebook:

I thought it was fabulous and left a comment to say so, and you would not believe the whiners and complainers that are criticizing that post! You know what? If you don’t like it and say you won’t give Hobby Lobby your business then I’m sure they will do just fine without you. They know who their base of customers are. (Could be why we don’t have a store in western Washington yet…) People love that store and a lot of crafters are patriotic people. I read a lot of craft and decorating blogs and around this time you really see people’s patriotism shine. Why should we have to hide that?

Let me go down through my blog roll and see a sprinkling of what’s being posted by people who love America:

Besottment Paper Relics

Where Women Create

Brunch at Saks

Creative Itch

As for me, the rain has stopped and I’m going to decorate my porch for our big party.

Happy Independence Day everyone!

-Lynnae

Summer Travel, Conservative Reading

2011-06-28T17:16:00.001-07:00

My husband was gone for another month recently for more army training. They spent some days in the field where he got to put his new uniforms to the test, not with life or death supplies like our soldiers overseas, but things important to him nonetheless. Because I have a public blog I don’t like to broadcast the fact that he’s gone, when he’s gone, but I sure am glad when he’s home again.

Things have been pretty busy around here preparing for my daughter’s wedding. One thing we did was go down to New Orleans to meet my future Son-in-law’s family. It went well. I got along great with his mom, it felt to me like we were old friends. And to my surprise and satisfaction, his dad is another one of us crazy conservative types like me. Our conversation went from the presidency to voting, to scripture to great books we’ve read. Once you’ve realized that you have many of the same favorite books, then you really know a lot about someone (i.e. they are as awesome as you are, haha). So that went well.

Speaking of favorite books, the long out of print “An Enemy Hath Done This” by Ezra Taft Benson is back in print by a company named Freedom-Books. As a former Secretary of Agriculture under Dwight D. Eisenhower, Ezra Taft Benson fought against farm subsidies from the government in order to preserve a free market farming system back in the 50’s. He later became the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Ezra Taft Benson warned against forces in society that were seeking to overthrow the freedom of this country. This book contains many speeches to the Boy Scouts Of America and other organizations, on constitutional topics and is very relevant today, though the facts and figures have changed dramatically over the years. (I think most of the speeches were given in the ‘60’s). I ordered a new copy recently because I had given mine away. I need a few more! So if you haven’t heard of it or read this book, check it out. It is one of my ‘MUST READ’s’.

-Lynnae

My Husband Said…..

2011-05-30T18:50:00.001-07:00

…..that today President Obama laid a wreath on the tomb of the unknown soldier for Memorial Day, before going golfing.

I said “I hope he left the cemetery first”.

Photo: CBS

-Lynnae

Atlas Shrugged Part 1

2011-04-16T13:38:00.001-07:00

Opening night at Atlas Shrugged was great. We went to Lincoln Square in Bellevue Washington. We got there early and it’s a good thing because the house was packed. I wore my Atlas shrugged tee shirt and a chain bracelet, though it wasn’t like the modern bracelet designed in the movie.

My friend and I have read the book . I’ve read it three times now. Our husbands hadn’t. So they had an interesting take. They could follow the story well and liked it a lot. I liked it, because I’m a fan, but missed a lot of things from the book. (For example, a said ‘It left out their entire childhood’ and my husband got thins look of horror in his eyes and said ‘Thank goodness!’) So their you go. The adaptation made this book accessible to a lot of people, and I’m sure many will go on to read the it.

The movie avoids the atheist aspects of objectivism, and greatly downplays the sometimes violent sexuality that is hinted at, though not described in detail, in the book. Occasional conversations had to contain information that is set up over several chapters in the book, so occasionally the dialog seemed a bit unnatural.

Most the things I didn’t like were changes made for no reason as far as adapting the novel to film. Some of these are…..

Hank Rearden found the motor, instead of Dagny finding it when they were visiting the factory together.

The bracelet scene. Lillian's disgust for the bracelet was evident, but she wasn’t making fun of it too here friends at the party like we read in the novel. She said she would trade with anyone but there were no takers. The Dagny confronts her and trades the bracelet for her diamonds. That is one of my favorite scenes in the book, and in the movie it seemed to be just a hint that Dagny liked Rearden, not her appreciation for the intelligence, work, and prosperity Rearden Metal represented.

Fransisco just wasn’t cool enough. He looked sloppy. My husband thought he was perhaps some kind of anti-Che type character, which in a sense is right, but in Atlas shrugged he is tall and lean, and the chubby faced sloppy look is reserved for the looters and the moochers.

And over all I would have preferred a 1940’3 period piece.

What I loved…..

Dagny was great. I wish she would have been brunette like in the book, but she was still great. Rearden and Jim were also very well cast.

If you have to adapt it to present day, they did a great job explaining why the trains were still relevant.

The government, the regulations, and the crooked businessmen who are dealing with politicians rather than relying on the quality of their products are portrayed so well. So is each blow to Rearden as he tries so hard to be successful and is crushed at every turn by each new government bill. It made my heart ache with frustration.

Rearden’s family and Dagny’s brother Jim were just great in their awfulness. What a slimy bunch!

That last scene. Oh-it was great. It really captured the sense of frustration and futility Dagny was feeling.

So there’s my review. Soon my daughters will be home from college and I’d like to take them to see it too. I’m so glad this movie was finally made. I loved the applause at the end of the show.

When does part two come out????

-Lynnae

Mercury Free Light Bulbs

2011-03-25T23:02:00.001-07:00

I am desperate to keep incandescent light bulbs legal. I know there are many other more important things going on right now, but this is just one of those little things…….

Please help me in my quest. From now on lets refer to incandescent light bulbs as ‘Mercury Free’.

Just a simple catch phrase can help us turn the tide.

Read my older post on the topic.

-Lynnae

It’s Good to Love Reagan

2011-03-02T13:05:00.001-08:00

A friend came up to me on Sunday at church and said they had recently visited the Jelly Belly jellybean factory. “And who do you suppose was one of their biggest fans?”

“Ronald Reagan” I said with a smile.

“I saw these and I thought of you.” She said, pulling out a little box of Ronald Reagan presidential Jelly Bellies.

Now if that isn’t sweet I don’t know what is. I know this friend is a devoted democrat, and she saw those and thought of me, which was pretty nice. So I had to share. Standing up for our beliefs we are often on the defensive, and I think its important that we still have a kind and respectful attitude in our day to day lives.

And for heavens sake, smile now and then.

-Lynnae

P.S. I just added the picture, and I'm laughing at my den. The flag’s not out due to constant rain, the pull-up bar is for my ‘Army Man’, though my 14 year old daughter has set a goal to do a couple every time she comes in to sit at the computer, and the Bowflex….well, I don’t know why there are Mardi Gras beads on it.

Choose Life!

2011-02-25T17:08:00.001-08:00

This anti abortion billboard was removed due to pressure from liberal groups. Maybe because it forces them to face the truth about what they are defending.

I heard about it on Rush this morning and had to find the picture for myself. Look at the beautiful child. Think of how many just as precious to us and God are destroyed every day.

African American groups were planning to protest this billboard. This is so backward! Or as Rush said, It’s racist to defend African American children now.

-Lynnae

Atlas Shrugged Movie Trailer

2011-02-11T13:30:00.001-08:00

The movie trailer for Atlas Shrugged Part One has been released. This is a much anticipated movie and I hope it can live up to the novel.

Watch now…..‘Atlas Shrugged Trailer’.

( My biggest disappointment in the movie is that it isn’t done in a late ‘40’s style. Ahhh, well.)

Even though I have a few core arguments against Objectivism in general, I think the philosophy regarding government controls of the market is spot on. I am sick of the moochers and looters.

I am a Christian and do believe in helping others, which you may say is contrary to the philosophy in Atlas Shrugged. However I would say that the detrimental effects (on both the giver and the receiver) come when you are forced or coerced to support someone else. Helping others because you wish to is barely touched on in the book, and not very thoroughly handled in my opinion. But the main themes are excellent. I love the appreciation for hard work, ideas, and the genius that makes the country great. It’s sad to see that drive squashed in Atlas Shrugged and realize it’s happening today in real life.

-Lynnae

Happy 100th Birthday, Ronald Reagan

2011-02-07T13:32:00.001-08:00

Yesterday was the 100th anniversary of the birth of President Ronald Reagan. We celebrated coming home from church to a feast of Hot Wings, Chips and dip, and a football game that happened to be on. But I had to write and spread a little love for the Gipper.

And for all those young people who hear the comparisons of President Obama to Reagan, Let me tell you something. Obama is no Ronald Reagan.

Reagan was a great speaker. This has been conceded by members of the media now that Reagan has passed into the history books and been found great. But even that concession is an effort to downplay what really made him great….The CONSERVATIVE MESSAGE!

Government is not the solution to out problems, Government IS the problem!

-Lynnae

Atlas Shrugged Video Contest

2011-01-14T17:23:00.001-08:00

Check out this brilliant winner of the Atlas Shrugged video contest!

By Reg Schickel

For other runner-ups look here.

-Lynnae

2011- Constitution Fetish-HOT, Pelosi-NOT

2011-01-05T16:34:00.001-08:00

Adios Nancy Pelosi.

Image from FreedomWorks

A lot of buzz today because MSNBC legal correspondent Dahlia Lithwick described Republicans as worshipping the Constitution and having a ‘Constitution fetish’. It was only a few days ago when MSNBC contributor Ezra Klein said no one could understand the Constitution because it was “over 100 years old”.

What is the matter with these people? Are they idiots? I know they’ve hated the constitution for a long time, but what has emboldened them to be so forthcoming about it?

The constitution is the law of our land. Do you think this country is great because we are a bunch of cool people who are nice and have good ideas?

There are plenty of good, hardworking people in other struggling countries too. They just have not been BLESSED to live in a country with a legal structure that supports them in their efforts to live a good life. Without a legal system that enforces contracts you have no economy and no prosperity, but simply are left to drift at the whim of a king or dictator or what have you.

Your efforts would be futile unless you personally had the power to enforce your own security.

But in the United States this is not the case. And all this is made possible by this incredible document and those who defend it.

And to say that the existence of amendments show the weakness of the constitution is just ridiculous, since the very system for ratifying amendments is part of the constitution.

I thank God for our constitution!

-Lynnae

Props for Reagan

2011-01-02T23:08:00.001-08:00

Yesterday I watched the Rose Parade, a New Years Day tradition. I was pleased to see a float commemorating the life and achievements of Ronald Reagan. What touched me more was that quite a few people on the grandstand stood up as it passed.

Float Honoring Ronald Reagan

Toward the end of the parade there was a similar moment when a float honoring the firefighter rescue workers of September 11th passed, which got even more people on their feet.

Rose Parade float concept drawing

The completed float was very nice. In the center stands an actual hydrant from ground zero. The float creators had permission to leave this as is, one of the only items allowed on any float not covered in flowers or plant materials.

Moments like this really touch me and it’s comforting to know that other people remember and care. A simple action can say so much.

Happy New Year.

Echoes of Christmas Past

2010-12-29T18:04:00.001-08:00

The Holiday season this year bore a strong resemblance to our First Christmas as a couple.

Twenty-three years ago when my husband and I got married he was in the Air Force. He had been serving in Japan for a year, and he came home two weeks before our wedding. We were married in Salt Lake City in October, and then traveled to California for the trip back to Japan together.

After a few days spending time together and seeing the sights around San Francisco, it was time to pack up and go to the base for the flight back to Japan. Only there was a problem with the paperwork, and I couldn’t go. And he had to.

Some quick arrangements were made for me to stay nearby with his brother’s family while he went home to get the papers done properly from there.

Thus began a pretty miserable month and half away from my new groom. His family was very accommodating and nice to me. I tried to be helpful but I’m afraid I was brooding and quiet most the time. I cried myself to sleep every night in my nephew’s little bedroom. When Thanksgiving came I was homesick for my family and caught a ride back up to Utah for the week. The return trip was snowy and cold and I got carsick. I missed my sweetie.

December seemed to stretch out forever. I helped my new nephews with Christmas decorations. As the days slipped by, soon I had the word that I was going to Japan.

One long plane ride later, I found myself in a foreign country with Jon, exhausted and very happy.

It was only a few days before Christmas. He brought me in to the house and showed me the tree he had decorated. There were candles and the table was set awaiting our first meal in our new home. Jon set our table and when I got there he made frozen dinners and set out the Martinelli’s sparkling cider.

Those first few days were a blur. I had an extreme case of jetlag and could not get going, and Jon was anxious to show me people and places.

We drove around, visited some friends, and went shopping. He wanted to take me to church to meet people but I couldn’t wake up and get going. By the time we drove past the building it was over and people were leaving. We had a laugh and drove back home.

Our first Christmas was nice. Quiet, compared to the way I grew up- with a house full of hyper little brothers and sisters, and a larger gathering of relatives for a Christmas Eve dinner. But we were making our own traditions now and starting our own family.

This year, after seventeen years out of the service my husband joined the Army Reserve. We had a quiet little anniversary celebration, and for a month and a half he’s been at Ft. Sill Oklahoma for training. This was my first Thanksgiving without him since we were separated as newlyweds so long ago. It was miserable for different reasons. My two college daughters and a boyfriend were traveling home through the snowy weather. I was fearful for their safety and problems did arise that I needed my husbands help for. I enjoyed Thanksgiving with them and our other family that visited, only to be fearful for their trip back home. With computer browser tabs filled with maps, satellite views, and traffic cams, I postponed their return trip for two days, until I thought it was clear, and once they left I could not breathe easy until everyone was safe and sound where they belonged.

For Christmas my girls arrived home from college on plane flights, and I began counting the days until my girls and my husband would be back home with me. I was amazed at how many Christmas songs included separated loved ones longing to be together. My mind kept going back to that first Christmas of ours and how happy we were to just be together.

The greatest gift for me this year……Being together with my beloved family and celebrating the birth of Him who made it possible.

-Lynnae

One Of The Few

2010-11-22T22:08:00.001-08:00

It’s not very often I get a post that fits in both the Jane Austen category and my conservative politics blog, but my husband, who’s been gone with the Army Reserve, provided me with one today with this message….

One of the few……

...M16s in the world being dismantled and cleaned accompanied by the Mansfield Park soundtrack.

This task combined with that vibrantly luscious classical music score must have been a beautiful thing.

-Lynnae

You can hear a sample of the beauty here.

George W. Bush on Rush Today

2010-11-09T09:51:00.001-08:00

In less than an hour former president George W. Bush is going to be on the Rush Limbaugh show to talk about his upcoming book. (There’s a hint for my Christmas list!)

I need to get my radio ready. Living out where i do my AM stations don’t always come in well. I’d be better off getting in the van and driving around to listen on my car radio.

So tune in for the second hour today (1:05 Eastern time) to Rush’s show.

-Lynnae

Historic Win for GOP

2010-11-03T22:03:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was a historic win in the House of Representatives for Republicans and conservatives.

This morning I hear the Democrats say “now is the time for us to work together and compromise”.

Firstly, why do the LOSERS get to define what we do now?

My second issue of the day is the constant whine I’ve heard from some sore loser Democrats, that goes something like this:

“All Republicans can do is complain about Obama’s Health Care and stimulus. They have presented no plan of their own. (Waaaah!) All they can do is tear down but where’s their plan to help the economy? Where’s their plan?”

I don’t know if said Democrats really are thinking this or is they are just trying to feed a talking point to young, whiny, first-vote-ever 18 year old girls who don’t know Boehner and Reid from Edward and Jacob.

But the best plan to put the economy back on track is for the government to GET OUT OF THE WAY!

The government is putting a stranglehold on the neck of productive workers and businesses. Adjusting the grip of the stranglehold slightly will not help. Let go! Let Americans do the work they want to do. Let businesses plan and risk and build with an assurance that the ground will have some stability, instead of the ever shifting quagmire of regulations, laws and taxes that Obama is threatening them with.

By what right does Obama say that $250,000.00 a year is a magic cutoff? By what right does he protect someone making $240,000.00 and PUNISH someone making $260,000.000?

And I know health care seems compassionate, but in the end we will all be worse off. Socialized medicine is an assault on democracy, and an assault on the freedom of the American people.

-Lynnae

‘Creepy’ Secretariat Review

2010-10-09T17:23:00.001-07:00

If you believe the review by Andrew O’Hehir in Salon Magazine, the movie Secratariat is the latest Halloween thriller.

The reviewer obviously has a huge chip on his shoulder about something…….The Tea Parties, ladies doing laundry, or the fact that there was a lot less multiculturalism in 1970 than there is now. All of this fueled his bizarre review of a movie that just happened to be innocently playing at theaters across the country.

This guy is psycho. OK, I’m not medically qualified to say that, but his review definitely is a little off.

He seems genuinely upset that a show taking place in 1969-1970 could not address the Vietnam war or racial tensions. My note to Mr. O’Hehir would be…… Every show can’t be about everything.

Not only would it be confusing, but historically inaccurate. Believe it or not, not everyone was caught up in the news events of the day like a nicely wrapped up after-school special. Many people raised their families and went to work and conducted their lives without paying much notice to the news from the nation’s hot spots. It didn’t mean they were racist or evil. That’s just how it is. I was a baby then, and my own parents can tell me little about the era we hear so much about on the news and movies. Other than whistling an occasional ditty by Joan Baez, it affected our house very little.

It’s not an evil whitewashing lie to tell that story. That’s how it was for some. And if you want a gritty, hard hitting expose, maybe you shouldn’t look to a Disney family show about a horse to meet your needs.

Here are some of the words Mr. O’Hehir uses to describe the movie.

Creepy (twice)

Christian friendly

crazy

Burning a cross

master race propaganda

scary

xenophobia

evil

Tea Party and Glenn Beck like, in that they portray a black man who ‘loves Jesus’.

One quote I found really strange was that it “seems to reference enduring American virtues -- self-reliance, stick-to-it-iveness, etc. -- without encouraging you to think too much about their meaning or context.”

What is the disturbing context of ‘self reliance’ to which he is referring? Is there something wrong with ‘stick-to-it-iveness’ that I don’t know about? Whatever can he mean?

Here is the pouty faced, bratty ending to the whole review…..

“Big Red himself is a big, handsome MacGuffin, symbolic window dressing for a quasi-inspirational fantasia of American whiteness and power. Horses don't go to the movies, and this movie is about human beings, and our nonsensical but inescapable yearning to find the keys to the future in stupid ideas about a past that never existed”.

So There! Times Infinity!!!!

(OK, I added the last four words).

The venom really comes out when Hollywood strays from the course of their usual stream of filth. All I can say is…

I’m off to the movies!

-Lynnae

Update!!!!!!

Having seen the movie all I can say is that Mr. O’Hehir’s vitriol was akin to heckling a procession of Jerry’s kids.

There was a subplot about the daughters anti-war activism, and he’s wrong to say the show didn’t mention Watergate. I could tell that big red horse was thinking about Nixon the entire time.

-Lynnae

10:10 Campaign Loses Sony’s Support

2010-10-06T21:03:00.001-07:00

Update:

The 10:10 campaign to cut global carbon emissions lost the support of Sony after airing the disgusting ads I wrote about yesterday. Kudos to Sony.

Read about it here on Fast Company.

-Lynnae

Disgusting ‘Going Green’ Ad

2010-10-05T11:31:00.001-07:00

This ad was released this week in Britain and is truly shocking.

Do environmentalists think that it’s funny to show children blown up because they don’t want to go green? It shows how truly sick and evil they are. It reminds me a little of the ‘Harmonizer’ machine from Atlas Shrugged.

Agree with us, peacefully, no pressure.

Here is some of the fallout from the ad.

It’s funny how deranged, perverted minds feel free to come out of the woodwork once they think enough people are on their side.

-Lynnae

It’s just an adventure, he already has a job

2010-10-03T22:20:00.001-07:00

Recently my husband joined the Army Reserve.

He is former Air Force, way back in the early years of our marriage. Last year he decided he wanted to do more that sit around working on the coolest job ever at Microsoft X-box. So he put things in motion a while back. Our family has seen a lot of changes in the past couple years with our older children leaving for school and now this.

I have a weird mixture of worry, pride, and just thinking he looks awesome in a uniform.

Another bit of family news… You know I am a hard core conservative. I come from a large family and we range the political spectrum. I have a relative who is a ‘prepper’, and since some of you may be into that I wanted to give you a link to his interesting blog, Kuerno the Prepper. Enjoy!

-Lynnae

Another Remembrance of September 11, 2001

2010-09-14T12:43:00.000-07:00

Hat tip to Arianne for sharing this moving video she watched in an education class at college.
It makes me wonder how we came so far from the spirit and determination we had in those days.
Thank heavens some of us are still there.

My Suspicions

2010-09-09T10:25:00.001-07:00

I was just reading an article about a teacher and one little sentence caught my eye. While talking about wiping off the grimy, germy, children’s desks, the woman said ‘Because of health regulations we are not allowed to use any cleaners’.

It was in the middle of a longer paragraph, stated like a well known fact. You all understand. Cleaners aren’t allowed. Because of health regulations.

There was in the not too distant past, a time when health regulations would have said ‘Cleaners MUST be used’.

What are we coming too? What is this step backward? No wonder our children are getting sicker every year, and half the school is out with swine flu in January.

Over the spring and summer I’ve heard repeated instances of bedbugs being found amongst the products of popular New York retail stores. Could it be terrorism? Could it be immigrants?

My suspicion is that a pesticide was banned somewhere along the line. Banned because it wasn’t ‘green’ enough or renewable enough, or it was tested on animals (pests maybe?). So for that we get to go back to the 1930’s and check our mattresses before crawling into bed.

How far will it go? How long before plastic is removed from our meat department to invite spoilage, germs, and that awful ‘grocery store smell’ of second world countries?

Thanks for hearing my rant. It’s a mini-rant…..I want to talk about the closing of GE last incandescent light bulb factory but I’m too upset right now.

-Lynnae

Patriotism Illegal on DC Mall

2010-08-11T18:31:00.001-07:00

On June 25th a group of conservative students from the Young America’s Foundation were requested by police to leave the area near the Lincoln Memorial after displaying unruly behavior. What was their crime? Singing the national anthem- OUR national anthem- The Star Spangled Banner.

Apparently police told them they must limit themselves to ‘content neutral’ expressions.

Park Police may not have noticed, but the words inscribed inside the Lincoln Memorial are not very ‘ neutral’ themselves. Perhaps it’s only a matter of time until they are prying the marble tablets down with a crowbar or defacing them with a chisel.

(Read full article here)

My daughter attended the YAF conference last year in DC. They also have a yearly conference at the Reagan Ranch. I would highly recommend these activities.

I love the closing comment by the Security Guard who dealt with the youth- “We need to make certain that all other visitors that don’t want to be a part of that or just choose to be tourists are able to do so in the same light that probably President Lincoln wanted – which is completely content neutral,” he said.

You just have to shake your head.

-Lynnae

Star Spangled Banner

2010-08-04T22:48:00.001-07:00

I got this graphic over at Vintiquities Workshop and the author said she would love to see this flag all over blogland. I love it and am adding it to my sidebar.

I read a lot of blogs on the ‘arts and crafts’ circuit and am inspired by all the patriotic, flag waving, America loving people we have across the country. Sometimes living out in the left coast I forget that a patriotic display is more common in other areas.

Thank you for flying the colors!

-Lynnae

Voters, Shmoters.

2010-08-04T15:05:00.001-07:00

OK, perhaps the name of this post doesn’t reflect the seriousness of what the courts have done, but it does represent their flippant attitude toward legislation from the bench and overturning the will of the people of California when it comes to today’s ruling.

I agree with the following statement issued by my church leaders- In opposing the ruling and changes to the definition of marriage, while I still believe in treating other humans with ‘mutual respect and civility’.

SALT LAKE CITY 4 August 2010 The Church issued the following statement today in response to the ruling by Judge Vaughn R. Walker of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in Perry et al v. Schwarzenegger et al:

“The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints regrets today’s decision. California voters have twice been given the opportunity to vote on the definition of marriage in their state and both times have determined that marriage should be recognized as only between a man and a woman. We agree. Marriage between a man and a woman is the bedrock of society.

“We recognize that this decision represents only the opening of a vigorous debate in the courts over the rights of the people to define and protect this most fundamental institution—marriage.
“There is no doubt that today’s ruling will add to the marriage debate in this country, and we urge people on all sides of this issue to act in a spirit of mutual respect and civility toward those with a different opinion.”

Reagan vs. Khrushchev

2010-07-27T11:51:00.001-07:00

"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free." ~ Ronald Reagan

Decades ago Nikita Khrushchev said:

“I can prophesy that your grandchildren will live under socialism. We will bury you.”

Was he right? How can we be so shortsighted as to sell our freedoms in the name of security and entitlement?

It’s a shame.

Lynnae

The Day We Like

2010-07-09T10:46:00.001-07:00

Do you think you will ever see an image like this in a U.S. schoolbook again?

I hope you had a great Independence Day weekend. Now comes MY birthday weekend, (and I’m not quite 234 years old yet!)

-Lynnae

Thomas Sowell

2010-06-23T10:24:00.000-07:00

Please read Thomas Sowell's wonderful column from yesterday, "the Degeneration of Democracy". I am a huge Thomas Sowell fan and this article was fantastic.

Thomas Sowell

-Lynnae

To Honor Your Service

2010-05-30T16:57:00.001-07:00

My daughter lives out of state and she was able to visit the cemetery and put flowers on the graves of her grandfather and great-grandfather.

This is my father-in-law who served in Vietnam. He was a good man an passed many great traits down to my dear husband. My children never had a chance to know their Grandpa Pulsipher, but someday they will.

This is my grandpa Petersen. He was in the Navy in Los Angeles during WWII. He was a good man and a great companion to my grandma. It was a nice tribute to visit the cemetery and remember and honor them, even though we know they aren’t there. They have gone ahead to reunite with loved ones and wait for those of us to follow.

This is my husband and I in 1988. My husband followed in his fathers footsteps, joining the Air Force just after high school graduation. We were married less than two years later while he served in Japan. I have a deep respect for those in the service and their families.

Thank You !

-Lynnae

A Cry for Freedom from Venezuela

2010-05-18T23:34:00.001-07:00

Today I am linking to the blog of a young woman living under the Chavez regime.

Please visit ‘The End of Venezuela As I Know It’ . I know my readers aren’t the ones that need to hear it, but I wish more Americans would take the time to glimpse a little further down the road that we are headed in if we don’t change direction. It is easier to preserve the freedoms while we have them than to let them slip away and fight to regain them.

-Lynnae

Vlademir Lenin and I

2010-05-07T14:45:00.001-07:00

When a little girl plays house it’s all fun. You get to clink your tea set and lay your dolly in the cradle, yet you can drop it all and run out to play whenever you want.

You can do this because there is a mommy around to put the toys away and dredge up the gooey cracker crumbs from dolly’s mouth. Someone makes it all possible and someone cleans up the mess.

This musing comes as a result of visiting a famous statue of Vlademir Lenin on a street corner in Freemont in Seattle, Washington.

The statue was originally erected in Czeckoslovakia, in collaboration with the Russians, but was quietly taken down after the revolution. An English teacher from Issaquah, Washington, found it is a refuse pile (dustheap of history???) and purchased it to bring to the states. More of the story can be read here.

Now the perpetual children in Freemont can hang out in groovy coffee shops paying extra for their organic brew, professing the sensitivity and good intentions of socialism, and even communism, and turn a blind eye to the atrocious results of those systems, because they were lucky enough to be born in a land of freedom and entrepreneurs, a justice structure and a Bill of Rights.

I have heard people spit out the word ‘Capitalism’ as if it were a slur, while they enjoy the rewards of it every day.

Capitalists don’t get rich on their own. Yes, they dream big and they take risks, but in order to expand their dreams and be productive they need people. They train workers, they purchase land, they build. They scoop up in their wake others who need a steady income, who try to be dependable though they might not have the genius, strength, or desire to start a company of their own.

Redistribution of wealth does not create wealth. It never has and never will.

Not that wealth is the most important thing. It is merely a side effect of FREEDOM.

L’eggo My Freedom

2010-03-18T17:29:00.001-07:00

I am passing on the comments of one constitutional lawyer who has read the healthcare bill about to be ‘deemed’ as passed. What is our country in for? I am so saddened to see the destruction of our constitution by a power hungry government.

Anyone who thinks this will make health care better or more accessible is COMPLETELY DECIEVED.

We are just losing our freedoms in a big way, being sold as ‘good intentions’. Sorry Kids!

-Lynnae

The Truth About the Health Care Bills - Michael Connelly, Ret. Constitutional Attorney

Well, I have done it! I have read the entire text of proposed House Bill 3200: The Affordable Health Care Choices Act of 2009. I studied it with particular emphasis from my area of expertise, constitutional law. I was frankly concerned that parts of the proposed law that were being discussed might be unconstitutional. What I found was far worse than what I had heard or expected.
To begin with, much of what has been said about the law and its implications is in fact true, despite what the Democrats and the media are saying. The law does provide for rationing of health care, particularly where senior citizens and other classes of citizens are involved, free health care for illegal immigrants, free abortion services, and probably forced participation in abortions by members of the medical profession.
The Bill will also eventually force private insurance companies out of business, and put everyone into a government run system.
All decisions about personal health care will ultimately be made by federal bureaucrats, and most of them will not be health care professionals.
Hospital admissions, payments to physicians, and allocations of necessary medical devices will be strictly controlled by the government.
However, as scary as all of that is, it just scratches the surface. In fact, I have concluded that this legislation really has no intention of providing affordable health care choices. Instead it is a convenient cover for the most massive transfer of power to the Executive Branch of government that has ever occurred, or even been contemplated.
If this law or a similar one is adopted, major portions of the Constitution of the United States will effectively have been destroyed.
The first thing to go will be the masterfully crafted balance of power between the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches of the U.S. Government. The Congress will be transferring to the Obama Administration authority in a number of different areas over the lives of the American people, and the businesses they own.
The irony is that the Congress doesn't have any authority to legislate in most of those areas to begin with! I defy anyone to read the text of the U.S. Constitution and find any authority granted to the members of Congress to regulate health care.
This legislation also provides for access, by the appointees of the Obama administration, of all of your personal healthcare in direct violation of the specific provisions of the 4th Amendment to the Constitution information, your personal financial information, and the information of your employer, physician, and hospital.
All of this is protecting against unreasonable searches and seizures.. You can also forget about the right to privacy. That will have been legislated into oblivion regardless of what the 3rd and 4th Amendments may provide.
If you decide not to have healthcare insurance, or if you have private insurance that is not deemed acceptable to the Health Choices Administrator appointed by Obama, there will be a tax imposed on you.
It is called a tax instead of a fine because of the intent to avoid application of the due process clause of the 5th Amendment.
However, that doesn't work because since there is nothing in the law that allows you to contest or appeal the imposition of the tax, it is definitely depriving someone of property without the due process of law.
So, there are three of those pesky amendments that the far left hate so much, out the original ten in the Bill of Rights, that are effectively nullified by this law It doesn't stop there though.
The 9th Amendment that provides: The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people;
The 10th Amendment states: The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are preserved to the States respectively, or to the people. Under the provisions of this piece of Congressional handiwork neither the people nor the states are going to have any rights or powers at all in many areas that once were theirs to control.
I could write many more pages about this legislation, but I think you get the idea. This is not about health care; it is about seizing power and limiting rights.
Article 6 of the Constitution requires the members of both houses of Congress to "be bound by oath or affirmation to support the Constitution." If I was a member of Congress, I would not be able to vote for this legislation or anything like it, without feeling I was violating that sacred oath or affirmation. If I voted for it anyway, I would hope the American people would hold me accountable.
For those who might doubt the nature of this threat, I suggest they consult the source, the US Constitution, and Bill of Rights. There you can see exactly what we are about to have taken from us.

Michael Connelly
Retired attorney,
Constitutional Law Instructor
Carrollton , Texas

Big Brother’s Fortune Cookie

2010-03-09T08:44:00.001-08:00

My niece just posted this picture of a fortune cookie she got at one of her regular restaurants.

That is creepy!

I should have guessed Big Brother was Chinese.

-Lynnae

It’s a Trap

2010-02-26T18:29:00.001-08:00

‘drawing’ by Lynnae Pulsipher

It’s been a while since my last post. I’m sorry about that and I’ll try to be more consistent. The reason, pure and simple, is discouragement. How long must we continue to fight these people back as they try to destroy our country?

National Health Care.

I stood in Westlake Center in Seattle and ‘booed’ Hillary Clinton off the stage when my children were little ones. Now they are entering college and we are fighting the same thing, and the scary part is that the American people seem a lot more receptive to the idea this time. We may have to fight the socialists back every ten years, but, if every time, the voters are more indoctrinated and misinformed, then it’s a loosing battle.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve reconciled myself to fighting a losing battle many times, mainly because I know God is in charge and even a loss is a temporary loss. But sometimes I still get tired. So I sketched out the little picture above to sum up my feelings (and then added three paragraphs, so much for brevity).

-Lynnae

Obama Reprimands the GOP

2010-01-29T14:19:00.001-08:00

Hat tip to Left Coast Rebel for the video.

Why is Obama behaving like a whining baby? This video is priceless. He meets with the GOP members to answer questions ostensibly and ends up sulking and carrying on in his normal, angry, pseudo-orator way.

My favorite part is when he calls his health care debacle ‘centrist’ and then gets irritated at the audience response. Who are you to doubt what this radical leftist calls centrist!

If Obama thinks taking over the nation’s health care industry is ‘centrist’ than heaven know what else he would like to do!

Another choice bit of his self deception is to say that Republicans are only opposing this because they are afraid that their riled up constituents will vote them out. HELLO! Isn’t that exactly what is happening to Democrats right now????

He is mad that republicans wont ‘cooperate’. Why should we cooperate with a bad plan we don’t like? We don’t want to meet you halfway because we don’t agree with the PREMISE that health care needs more government involvement.

Secondly, he can’t even get some of his democrat colleagues on board. So why is he complaining to us? There are enough democrats to pass it. He just wants republican names so that when it is a disaster it will be a bi-partisan disaster.

The overall expressions and tone of this rant, which went on and on, is that of a bratty kid threatening his parents when they won’t let him do what they want. “If you don’t give in to me you are going to give yourself very little room to negotiate with me. I’m warning you!”

-Lynnae

Republican Response to State Of The Union

2010-01-28T20:43:00.001-08:00

I admit I did not watch all of President Obama’s State of the Union address. I tried, a few times. Caught a little before dinner, and was able to see some more after. It doesn’t really matter though to me because most of what he says I strongly disagree with, and anything sensible he may say is probably just a lie to pander to moderates.

I did watch all of Gov. McDonnell’s response and I loved it. I kept thinking “That is a great line”, and “That is a great quote”

Before I get to that I will add that it was brilliant to do the response from the Virginia State Capitol with an audience. I’m sure this will set a precedent for Republicans and Democrats alike.

You know I love quotes, so lets get on with it-

My favorite quotes from the speech:

“Good government policy should spur economic growth, and strengthen the private sector's ability to create new jobs.

We must enact policies that promote entrepreneurship and innovation, so America can better compete with the world.

What government should not do is pile on more taxation, regulation, and litigation that kill jobs and hurt the middle class.

It was Thomas Jefferson who called for "A wise and frugal Government which shall leave men free to regulate their own pursuits of industry ....and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned..." He was right.”

On the topic of health care:

“All Americans agree, we need a health care system that is affordable, accessible, and high quality.

But most Americans do not want to turn over the best medical care system in the world to the federal government.

Republicans in Congress have offered legislation to reform healthcare, without shifting Medicaid costs to the states, without cutting Medicare, and without raising your taxes.

We will do that by implementing common sense reforms, like letting families and businesses buy health insurance policies across state lines, and ending frivolous lawsuits against doctors and hospitals that drive up the cost of your healthcare.

And our solutions aren't thousand-page bills that no one has fully read, after being crafted behind closed doors with special interests.”

(italics are mine)

On government over-reach:

“Here at home government must help foster a society in which all our people can use their God-given talents in liberty to pursue the American Dream. Republicans know that government cannot guarantee individual outcomes, but we strongly believe that it must guarantee equality of opportunity for all.

That opportunity exists best in a democracy which promotes free enterprise, economic growth, strong families, and individual achievement.

Many Americans are concerned about this Administration's efforts to exert greater control over car companies, banks, energy and health care.

Over-regulating employers won't create more employment; overtaxing investors won't foster more investment.

Top-down one-size fits all decision making should not replace the personal choices of free people in a free market, nor undermine the proper role of state and local governments in our system of federalism. As our Founders clearly stated, and we Governors understand, government closest to the people governs best.”

Amen!

-Lynnae

If I were a Soldier…..

2010-01-19T17:45:00.001-08:00

So, one of the features on X-box Rainbow Six Vegas 2 is that you can map your own face onto the soldier. My husband tried it last night and he looked pretty tough.

So of course I had to try it.

I immediately ran upstairs to fix my make-up. Changed my ear rings….twice, then after the first try I added more makeup because the X-box camera really washed me out. I know you all want to see how it turned out…….

Checking out the new outfit…..

How about a little (more) face paint?

I Know I’m probably not brave enough, and definitely not tough enough, to be a real soldier. But I thought this was pretty cool!

-Lynnae

Eye on Massachusetts

2010-01-18T19:51:00.001-08:00

Good Luck Scott Brown !!!

Conservatives everywhere will be watching the Massachusetts returns tomorrow. I will be there too. It’s just as fun to watch the media response.

I don’t know what is going to happen but my spirits are lifted just by seeing a close fight here. Maybe this is our country’s first step in pushing back the tide of Socialism that some elected leaders are trying to slip past us.

-Lynnae

Rush Holds a Press Conference

2010-01-01T21:38:00.001-08:00

Get well soon- to a man who is one of the bravest defenders of liberty in our country today.

I am glad to hear things are going well.

New Dockers Ad Campaign

2009-12-10T15:24:00.001-08:00

This is the ‘controversial’ ad…….

-my thoughts?

I think real women love having a real man around. I personally like the campaign. I think the problem is that extreme parts of the feminist movement have tried to reduce men in to one of two stereotypes. Either a docile emasculated wimp or a macho brute. In truth there's a huge middle ground of strong old fashioned men who will defend those they love, open doors for you, and still play mud football on Thanksgiving or park themselves in front of old war shows on a Sunday afternoon.

Does telling men to ‘wear the pants’ reduce the position of women? I don’t think so. I think a huge chunk of the men in this nation need to be told to man up and provide for their families instead of waiting for government to do their job for them. And as long as I’m ranting, we should tell a few young men to back away from the video games for an hour or two and mow a few lawns, get jobs, and ask nice girls out on dates.

-Lynnae

Al Gore Cancels Copenhagen Trip

2009-12-03T18:52:00.000-08:00

We've put up with Al Gore's pack of lies long enough. It's nice to finally see the day when the whole thing is starting to crumble. It's a bit like an early Christmas present. Hopefully once 'climategate' is laid open power hungry liberals wont be able to use 'the environment' to scare Americans into giving up their rights and freedoms.

Maybe our right to EXHALE CO2 won't be taken away after all.

Great post from Left Coast Rebel About Al Gores trip cancellation.

Welcome Christmas Season!

2009-11-21T09:51:00.001-08:00

Last night our local FM Soft Rock station switched to full time Christmas music. Yay!

Tuesday I heard a woman at the craft store say "Wow, Christmas really snuck up on me this year." -It was November 17th!

Seriously, I like it.
I too, used to complain about Christmas being commercialized, but now I find it a blessing in a sense. Christmas is being eradicated from the schools, public buildings, and other PC venues. It's true that businesses do it for the revenue, but at least they are honest in admitting that a large part of our society celebrate this event, and they know that they can tug on our heartstrings a little because Christmas is special to us.

We can teach our children what Christmas really means, and even tone down the commercialism with a tradition of giving homemade gifts. But I would much rather live in a country where Christmas was hyped with a joyful hysteria than a place where there was no mention, no display, and believers had to quietly shuffle home to have their private celebration.

So keep that in mind the next time you see an all out festive commercialized Christmas display!

-Lynnae

Mark Levin Interview with Sarah Palin

2009-11-18T17:26:00.001-08:00

Here is a link to her recent interview with Mark Levin.

I have had her T-Shirt since the election.

Her book is on my Christmas list (and it’s going to kill me to wait that long),

And her appearance on Oprah gave the show a huge ratings boost.

Yay for Sarah Palin. There are so few sensible conservatives in politics. And is it significant that most of the conservative leaders are women?

Let me answer that question in this way. My husband thinks most republican leaders become so bad because everyone who goes to Washington ends up corrupted. Not necessarily by vice or illegal activities, but by the popularity, the press and the flattery. I know that happens, but unlike Jon, I believe it is POSSIBLE to go there and stand your ground.

And who can stand their ground better than a stubborn woman?

So here’s to the women who are stubborn in the cause of LIBERTY!

-Lynnae

Agree or disagree? What’s your comment on my ‘Stubborn Woman’ theory ?

Learn to Play ‘I Call Obama!’

2009-11-17T16:16:00.001-08:00

Follow this link to my sister’s site at Better Than We Deserve to learn how to play “I Call Obama!”

It’s better than Monopoly, more rewarding than UNO.

Have a political smile today.

You won’t regret it!

-Lynnae

Missing the Polls

2009-11-03T19:14:00.001-08:00

No, I didn’t forget to go vote.

Now, where I live in Washington State voting is 100% by mail in ballot, and I don’t like it.

Absentee and mail in ballots were at the root of the problem in many close elections of the past. It makes it too easy for votes from certain precincts to be ‘lost’, and you never are quite sure your vote is counted.

Not only do I think we should stick with the polling places, I think absentee ballots should be limited to those who are certified homebound, not just for those who like the convenience of not going to the polls.

And while I’m at it, we SHOULD have to show picture ID and proof of citizenship (not to mention I would be delighted to have to stick my finger in purple ink!).

I think those who oppose those safeguards are those who are secretly hoping to cheat somehow.

-Lynnae

Regarding Same-Gender Attraction and the Public Schools

2009-10-29T15:59:00.001-07:00

I commented the following on Shannon’s post at Someday I Will Soar, but it’s pretty self explanatory so I thought I’d post it here too.

It's one thing to fight this battle with highschoolers who can stand up for themselves like we have done, it's a bit easier because at least they know what they believe and what to look out for. This effort to indoctrinate little children in a manner opposed by their parents is insidious. They are too young to recognize or question every piece of propaganda that gets slipped in to the curriculum.
There's no doubt religious freedom is under attack when public schools purposefully set out to undermine your family's belief system.

-Lynnae

Down Days

2009-10-28T18:19:00.001-07:00

Some days this picture by Arnold Friberg captures my mood perfectly.

I’ve been discouraged and I haven’t posted for a while. I’ve cut back my news to almost zero. I’ve been in a political funk, frustrated by how much is happening so fast, and how willing U.S. citizens are to give up their freedoms to someone who will take care of them- someone who will steal from their neighbor to take care of them. But I still want to be heard, and join my voice with other bloggers who want to be heard.

It’s one of those days where I wonder if it’s too late to make a difference. If too many people are willing to give in to the siren’s song of socialism and get pulled down into the abyss of totalitarianism and captivity that follows.

Lately I guess I’m in ‘hunker down’ mode just wondering how I can do what’s best for my family and be prepared. I love this country, more than almost everything. God, Family, Country.

Maybe I get too caught up in it emotionally, some days it’s just too painful to watch. I trust in God and know he has his hand over the nations. I’m just being honest about why I haven’t posted more frequently. I don’t feel alone when I read your blogs, and when a conservative commentator makes a great point I cheer to myself.

Today Rush played clips of Reagan- so timely and relevant. It made me happy and sad at the same time. Look how far down this road we’ve gone since then. Rush is optimistic about the future of this country. I’m not so much. But I still believe in standing for freedom and not giving in.

There’s another picture by Friberg that captures my fighting spirit- the one I need to regain these days.

“In Memory of our God, our religion, our freedom, and our peace, our wives and our children”

This picture is well known to Mormons but maybe not to all of you. It depicts a God-fearing warrior who, when he saw his people being persuaded by those who were willing to give up their democracy to have a monarchy again, ripped of his cloak, wrote the above words on it, known as the ‘Title of Liberty’, lifted it as a standard, and marched through the streets gathering supporters to augment his small army and keep democracy alive- for a little bit longer.

How do you get yourself out of the slump when you have political ‘down days?’

Pictures by Arnold Friberg from Meridian Magazine.

Defending Religious Freedom

2009-10-20T19:35:00.001-07:00

Here is a LINK to an article about a speech on religious freedom, by Elder Dallin H Oakes, an apostle of the church I belong to, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

I for one have felt that conservative Christians are under attack. This was an excellent speech and I would like to pass it on to those who are interested.

(I have included the body of the speech below)

I particularly loved section VI.

Thank you for hearing my religious freedom in this little corner of the public square!

-Lynnae

13 October 2009 Transcript of Elder Dallin H. Oaks speech given at BYU-Idaho on 13 October 2009.

My dear young friends, I am pleased to speak to this BYU-Idaho audience. I am conscious that I am also speaking to many in other places. In this time of the Internet, what we say in one place is instantly put before a wider audience, including many to whom we do not intend to speak. That complicates my task, so I ask your understanding as I speak to a very diverse audience.

In choosing my subject I have relied on an old military maxim that when there is a battle underway, persons who desire to join the fray should “march to the sound of the guns.”[i] So it is that I invite you to march with me as I speak about religious freedom under the United States Constitution. There is a battle over the meaning of that freedom. The contest is of eternal importance, and it is your generation that must understand the issues and make the efforts to prevail.

I.

An 1833 revelation to the Prophet Joseph Smith declared that the Lord established the United States Constitution by wise men whom he raised up for that very purpose (Doctrine and Covenants 101:80). The Lord also declared that this constitution “should be maintained for the rights and protection of all flesh” (Doctrine and Covenants 101:77; emphasis added).

In 1833, when almost all people in the world were still ruled by kings or tyrants, few could see how the infant United States Constitution could be divinely designed “for the rights and protection of all flesh.” Today, 176 years after that revelation, almost every nation in the world has adopted a written constitution, and the United States Constitution profoundly influenced all of them. Truly, this nation’s most important export is its constitution, whose great principles stand as a model “for the rights and protection of all flesh.” On the vital human right of religious freedom, however, many constitutions fall short of the protections that are needed, so we are grateful that the United States government seeks to encourage religious freedom all over the world.[ii]

II.

To illustrate the importance of basic human rights in other countries, I refer to some recent history in Mongolia, which shows that the religious freedom we have taken for granted in the United States must be won by dangerous sacrifice in some other nations.

Following the perestroika movement in the Soviet Union, popular demonstrations in Mongolia forced the Communist government to resign in March 1990. Other political parties were legalized, but the first Mongolian elections gave the Communists a majority in the new parliament, and the old repressive attitudes persisted in all government departments. The full functioning of a democratic process and the full enjoyment of the people’s needed freedoms do not occur without a struggle. In Mongolia, the freedoms of speech, press and religion — a principal feature of the inspired United States Constitution — remained unfulfilled.

In that precarious environment, a 42-year-old married woman, Oyun Altangerel, a department head in the state library, courageously took some actions that would prove historic. Acting against official pressure, she organized a “Democratic Association Branch Council.” This 12-member group, the first of its kind, spoke out for democracy and proposed that state employees have the freedoms of worship, belief and expression, including the right to belong to a political party of their choice.

When Oyun and others were fired from their state employment, Oyun began a hunger strike in the state library. Within three hours she was joined by 20 others, mostly women, and their hunger strike, which continued for five days, became a public demonstration that took their grievances to the people of Mongolia. This demonstration, backed by major democratic movement leaders, encouraged other government employees to organize similar democratic councils. These dangerous actions expanded into a national anti-government movement that voiced powerful support for the basic human freedoms of speech, press and religion. Eventually the government accepted the demands, and in the adoption of a democratic constitution two years later Mongolia took a major step toward a free society.

For Latter-day Saints, this birth of constitutional freedom in Mongolia has special interest. Less than two years after the historic hunger strike, we sent our first missionaries to Mongolia. In 1992 these couples began their meetings in the state library, where Oyun was working. The following year, she showed her courage again by being baptized into this newly arrived Christian church. Her only child, a 22-year-old son, was baptized two years later. Today, the Mongolian members of our Church number 9,000, reportedly the largest group of Christians in the country. A few months ago we organized our first stake in Mongolia. Called as the stake president was Sister Oyun’s son, Odgerel. He had studied for a year at BYU-Hawaii, and his wife, Ariuna, a former missionary in Utah, graduated there.[iii]

III.

One of the great fundamentals of our inspired constitution, relied on by Oyun of Mongolia and countless others struggling for freedom in many countries in the world, is the principle that the people are the source of government power. This principle of popular sovereignty was first written and applied on the American continent over 200 years ago. A group of colonies won independence from a king, and their representatives had the unique opportunity of establishing a new government. They did this by creating the first written constitution that has survived to govern a modern nation. The United States Constitution declared the source of government power, delegated that power to a government, and regulated its exercise.

Along with many other religious people, we affirm that God is the ultimate source of power and that, under Him, it is the people’s inherent right to decide their form of government. Sovereign power is not inherent in a state or nation just because its leaders have the power that comes from force of arms. And sovereign power does not come from the divine right of a king, who grants his subjects such power as he pleases or is forced to concede, as in Magna Carta. As the preamble to our constitution states: “We the People of the United States . . . do ordain and establish this Constitution.”

This principle of sovereignty in the people explains the meaning of God’s revelation that He established the Constitution of the United States “that every man may act . . . according to the moral agency which I have given unto him, that every man may be accountable for his own sins in the day of judgment” (Doctrine and Covenants 101:78). In other words, the most desirable condition for the effective exercise of God-given moral agency is a condition of maximum freedom and responsibility — the opposite of slavery or political oppression. With freedom we can be accountable for our own actions and cannot blame our conditions on our bondage to another. This is the condition the Lord praised in the Book of Mormon, where the people — not a king — established the laws and were governed by them (see Mosiah 29:23–26). This popular sovereignty necessarily implies popular responsibility. Instead of blaming their troubles on a king or tyrant, all citizens are responsible to share the burdens of governing, “that every man might bear his part” (Mosiah 29:34).

IV.

“For the rights and protection of all flesh” the United State Constitution includes in its First Amendment the guarantees of free exercise of religion and free speech and press. Without these great fundamentals of the Constitution, America could not have served as the host nation for the restoration of the gospel, which began just three decades after the Bill of Rights was ratified.

The First Amendment reads: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” The prohibition against “an establishment of religion” was intended to separate churches and government, to prevent a national church of the kind still found in Europe. In the interest of time I will say no more about the establishment of religion, but only concentrate on the direction that the United States shall have no law “prohibiting the free exercise” of religion.

The guarantee of the free exercise of religion, which I will call religious freedom, is the first expression in the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. As noted by many, this “pre-eminent place” identifies freedom of religion as “a cornerstone of American democracy.”[iv] The American colonies were originally settled by people who, for the most part, had come to this continent to be able to practice their religious faith without persecution, and their successors deliberately placed religious freedom first in the nation’s Bill of Rights. So it is that our national law formally declares: “The right to freedom of religion undergirds the very origin and existence of the United States.”[v]

The free “exercise” of religion obviously involves both the right to choose religious beliefs and affiliations and the right to “exercise” or practice those beliefs. But in a nation with citizens of many different religious beliefs, the right of some to act upon their religious principles must be qualified by the government’s responsibility to protect the health and safety of all. Otherwise, for example, the government could not protect its citizens’ person or property from neighbors whose intentions include taking human life or stealing in circumstances rationalized on the basis of their religious beliefs.

The inherent conflict between the precious religious freedom of the people and the legitimate regulatory responsibilities of the government is the central issue of religious freedom. Here are just a few examples of current controversial public issues that involve this conflict: laws governing marriage and adoption; laws regulating the activities of church-related organizations like BYU-Idaho in furtherance of their religious missions — activities such as who they will serve or employ; and laws prohibiting discrimination in employment or work conditions against persons with unpopular religious beliefs or practices.

The problems are not simple, and over the years the United States Supreme Court, which has the ultimate responsibility of interpreting the meaning of the lofty and general provisions of the Constitution, has struggled to identify principles that can guide its decisions when government action is claimed to violate someone’s free exercise of religion. As would be expected, most of the battles over the extent of religious freedom have involved government efforts to impose upon the practices of small groups like Mormons. Not surprisingly, government officials sometimes seem more tolerant toward the religious practices of large groups of voters.

Unpopular minority religions are especially dependent upon a constitutional guarantee of free exercise of religion. We are fortunate to have such a guarantee in the United States, but many nations do not. The importance of that guarantee in the United States should make us ever diligent to defend it. And it is in need of being defended. During my lifetime I have seen a significant deterioration in the respect accorded to religion in our public life, and I believe that the vitality of religious freedom is in danger of being weakened accordingly.

Religious belief is obviously protected against government action. The practice of that belief must have some limits, as I suggested earlier. But unless the guarantee of free exercise of religion gives a religious actor greater protection against government prohibitions than are already guaranteed to all actors by other provisions of the constitution (like freedom of speech), what is the special value of religious freedom? Surely the First Amendment guarantee of free exercise of religion was intended to grant more freedom to religious action than to other kinds of action. Treating actions based on religious belief the same as actions based on other systems of belief should not be enough to satisfy the special place of religion in the United States Constitution.

V.

Religious freedom has always been at risk. It was repression of religious belief and practice that drove the Pilgrim fathers and other dissenters to the shores of this continent. Even today, leaders in all too many nations use state power to repress religious believers.

The greatest infringements of religious freedom occur when the exercise of religion collides with other powerful forces in society. Among the most threatening collisions in the United States today are (1) the rising strength of those who seek to silence religious voices in public debates, and (2) perceived conflicts between religious freedom and the popular appeal of newly alleged civil rights.

As I address this audience of young adults, I invite your careful attention to what I say on these subjects, because I am describing conditions you will face and challenges you must confront.

Silencing Religious Voices in the Public Square

A writer for The Christian Science Monitor predicts that the coming century will be “very secular and religiously antagonistic,” with intolerance of Christianity “ris[ing] to levels many of us have not believed possible in our lifetimes.”[vi] Other wise observers have noted the ever-growing, relentless attack on the Christian religion by forces who reject the existence or authority of God.[vii] The extent and nature of religious devotion in this nation is changing. The tide of public opinion in favor of religion is receding, and this probably portends public pressures for laws that will impinge on religious freedom.

Atheism has always been hostile to religion, such as in its arguments that freedom of or for religion should include freedom from religion. Atheism’s threat rises as its proponents grow in numbers and aggressiveness. “By some counts,” a recent article in The Economist declares, “there are at least 500 [million] declared non-believers in the world — enough to make atheism the fourth-biggest religion.”[viii] And atheism’s spokesmen are aggressive, as recent publications show.[ix] As noted by John A. Howard of the Howard Center for Family, Religion, and Society, these voices “have developed great skills in demonizing those who disagree with them, turning their opponents into objects of fear, hatred and scorn.”[x]

Such forces — atheists and others — would intimidate persons with religious-based points of view from influencing or making the laws of their state or nation. Noted author and legal commentator Hugh Hewitt described the current circumstance this way:

“There is a growing anti-religious bigotry in the United States. . . .

“For three decades people of faith have watched a systematic and very effective effort waged in the courts and the media to drive them from the public square and to delegitimize their participation in politics as somehow threatening.”[xi]

For example, a prominent gay-rights spokesman gave this explanation for his objection to our Church’s position on California’s Proposition 8:

“I’m not intending it to harm the religion. I think they do wonderful things. Nicest people. . . . My single goal is to get them out of the same-sex marriage business and back to helping hurricane victims.”[xii]

Aside from the obvious fact that this objection would deny free speech as well as religious freedom to members of our Church and its coalition partners, there are other reasons why the public square must be open to religious ideas and religious persons. As Richard John Neuhaus said many years ago, “In a democracy that is free and robust, an opinion is no more disqualified for being ‘religious’ than for being atheistic, or psychoanalytic, or Marxist, or just plain dumb.”[xiii]

Religious Freedom Diluted by Other “Civil Rights”

A second threat to religious freedom is from those who perceive it to be in conflict with the newly alleged “civil right” of same-gender couples to enjoy the privileges of marriage.

We have endured a wave of media-reported charges that the Mormons are trying to “deny” people or “strip” people of their “rights.” After a significant majority of California voters (seven million — over 52 percent) approved Proposition 8’s limiting marriage to a man and a woman, some opponents characterized the vote as denying people their civil rights. In fact, the Proposition 8 battle was not about civil rights, but about what equal rights demand and what religious rights protect. At no time did anyone question or jeopardize the civil right of Proposition 8 opponents to vote or speak their views.

The real issue in the Proposition 8 debate — an issue that will not go away in years to come and for whose resolution it is critical that we protect everyone’s freedom of speech and the equally important freedom to stand for religious beliefs — is whether the opponents of Proposition 8 should be allowed to change the vital institution of marriage itself.

The marriage union of a man and a woman has been the teaching of the Judeo-Christian scriptures and the core legal definition and practice of marriage in Western culture for thousands of years. Those who seek to change the foundation of marriage should not be allowed to pretend that those who defend the ancient order are trampling on civil rights. The supporters of Proposition 8 were exercising their constitutional right to defend the institution of marriage — an institution of transcendent importance that they, along with countless others of many persuasions, feel conscientiously obliged to protect.

Religious freedom needs defending against the claims of newly asserted human rights. The so-called “Yogyakarta Principles,” published by an international human rights group, call for governments to assure that all persons have the right to practice their religious beliefs regardless of sexual orientation or identity.[xiv] This apparently proposes that governments require church practices and their doctrines to ignore gender differences. Any such effort to have governments invade religion to override religious doctrines or practices should be resisted by all believers. At the same time, all who conduct such resistance should frame their advocacy and their personal relations so that they are never seen as being doctrinaire opponents of the very real civil rights (such as free speech) of their adversaries or any other disadvantaged group.

VI.

And now, in conclusion, I offer five points of counsel on how Latter-day Saints should conduct themselves to enhance religious freedom in this period of turmoil and challenge.

First, we must speak with love, always showing patience, understanding and compassion toward our adversaries. We are under command to love our neighbor (Luke 10:27), to forgive all men (Doctrine and Covenants 64:10), to do good to them who despitefully use us (Matthew 5:44) and to conduct our teaching in mildness and meekness (Doctrine and Covenants 38:41).

Even as we seek to speak with love, we must not be surprised when our positions are ridiculed and we are persecuted and reviled. As the Savior said, “so persecuted they the prophets which were before you” (Matthew 5:12). And modern revelation commands us not to revile against revilers (Doctrine and Covenants 19:30).

Second, we must not be deterred or coerced into silence by the kinds of intimidation I have described. We must insist on our constitutional right and duty to exercise our religion, to vote our consciences on public issues and to participate in elections and debates in the public square and the halls of justice. These are the rights of all citizens and they are also the rights of religious leaders. While our church rarely speaks on public issues, it does so by exception on what the First Presidency defines as significant moral issues, which could surely include laws affecting the fundamental legal/cultural/moral environment of our communities and nations.

We must also insist on this companion condition of democratic government: when churches and their members or any other group act or speak out on public issues, win or lose, they have a right to expect freedom from retaliation.

Along with many others, we were disappointed with what we experienced in the aftermath of California’s adoption of Proposition 8, including vandalism of church facilities and harassment of church members by firings and boycotts of member businesses and by retaliation against donors. Mormons were the targets of most of this, but it also hit other churches in the pro-8 coalition and other persons who could be identified as supporters. Fortunately, some recognized such retaliation for what it was. A full-page ad in the New York Times branded this “violence and intimidation” against religious organizations and individual believers “simply because they supported Proposition 8 [as] an outrage that must stop.” [xv] The fact that this ad was signed by some leaders who had no history of friendship for our faith only added to its force.

It is important to note that while this aggressive intimidation in connection with the Proposition 8 election was primarily directed at religious persons and symbols, it was not anti-religious as such. These incidents were expressions of outrage against those who disagreed with the gay-rights position and had prevailed in a public contest. As such, these incidents of “violence and intimidation” are not so much anti-religious as anti-democratic. In their effect they are like the well-known and widely condemned voter-intimidation of blacks in the South that produced corrective federal civil-rights legislation.

Third, we must insist on our freedom to preach the doctrines of our faith. Why do I make this obvious point? Religious people who share our moral convictions feel some intimidation. Fortunately, our leaders do not refrain from stating and explaining our position that homosexual behavior is sinful. Last summer Elder M. Russell Ballard spoke these words to a BYU audience:

“We follow Jesus Christ by living the law of chastity. God gave this commandment, and He has never revoked or changed it. This law is clear and simple. No one is to engage in sexual relationships outside the bounds the Lord has set. This applies to homosexual behavior of any kind and to heterosexual relationships outside marriage. It is a sin to violate the law of chastity.

“We follow Jesus Christ by adhering to God’s law of marriage, which is marriage between one man and one woman. This commandment has been in place from the very beginning.”[xvi]

We will continue to teach what our Heavenly Father has commanded us to teach, and trust that the precious free exercise of religion remains strong enough to guarantee our right to exercise this most basic freedom.

Fourth, as advocates of the obvious truth that persons with religious positions or motivations have the right to express their religious views in public, we must nevertheless be wise in our political participation. Preachers have been prime movers in the civil rights movement from the earliest advocates of abolition, but even the civil rights of religionists must be exercised legally and wisely.

As Latter-day Saints, we should never be reticent to declare and act upon the sure foundations of our faith. The call of conscience — whether religious or otherwise — requires no secular justification. At the same time, religious persons will often be most persuasive in political discourse by framing arguments and positions in ways that are respectful of those who do not share their religious beliefs and that contribute to the reasoned discussion and compromise that is essential in a pluralistic society.[xvii]

Fifth and finally, Latter-day Saints must be careful never to support or act upon the idea that a person must subscribe to some particular set of religious beliefs in order to qualify for a public office. The framers of our constitution included a provision that “no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States” (Article VI). That constitutional principle forbids a religious test as a legal requirement, but it of course leaves citizens free to cast their votes on the basis of any preference they choose. But wise religious leaders and members will never advocate religious tests for public office.

Fragile freedoms are best preserved when not employed beyond their intended purpose. If a candidate is seen to be rejected at the ballot box primarily because of religious belief or affiliation, the precious free exercise of religion is weakened at its foundation, especially when this reason for rejection has been advocated by other religionists. Such advocacy suggests that if religionists prevail in electing their preferred candidate this will lead to the use of government power in support of their religious beliefs and practices. The religion of a candidate should not be an issue in a political campaign.

Conclusion

It was the Christian principles of human worth and dignity that made possible the formation of the United States Constitution over 200 years ago, and only those principles in the hearts of a majority of our diverse population can sustain that constitution today. Our constitution’s revolutionary concepts of sovereignty in the people and significant guarantees of personal rights were, as John A. Howard has written,

“generated by a people for whom Christianity had been for a century and a half the compelling feature of their lives. It was Jesus who first stated that all men are created equal [and] that every person . . . is valued and loved by God.”[xviii]

Professor Dinesh D’Souza reminds us:

“The attempt to ground respect for equality on a purely secular basis ignores the vital contribution by Christianity to its spread. It is folly to believe that it could survive without the continuing aid of religious belief.”[xix]

Religious values and political realities are so interlinked in the origin and perpetuation of this nation that we cannot lose the influence of Christianity in the public square without seriously jeopardizing our freedoms. I maintain that this is a political fact, well qualified for argument in the public square by religious people whose freedom to believe and act must always be protected by what is properly called our “First Freedom,” the free exercise of religion.

My dear brothers and sisters, I testify to the truth of these principles I have expressed today. I testify of Jesus Christ, our Savior, who is the author and finisher of our faith and whose revelations to a prophet of God in these modern times have affirmed the foundation of the United States constitution, which as we have said, was given by God to His children for the rights and protection of all flesh. May God bless us to understand it, to sustain it, and to spread its influence throughout the world, I pray, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Notes
[i] Robert Debs Heinl Jr., Dictionary of Military and Naval Quotations (U.S. Naval Institute Press, 1978), 141.

[ii] Final Report of the Advisory Committee on Religious Freedom Abroad to the Secretary of State and to the President of the United States, 17 May 1999, 6–7, 30–65. The International Religious Freedom Act, adopted in 1998, 22 USC 6401 et seq., established an office of international religious affairs in the U.S. State Department headed by an Ambassador at Large and the U.S. Commission for International Religious Freedom. Both of these bodies submit annual reports that assess the status of religious freedom under international standards worldwide and help encourage better implementation of commitments countries around the world have made to respect this fundamental right.

[iii] The information about events in Mongolia was obtained from correspondence with President Odgerel and from Mary N. Cook, former senior missionary and wife of Richard E. Cook, the first mission president in Mongolia.

[iv] Final Report of the Advisory Committee, 6.

[v] 22 USC 6401(a).

[vi] Michael Spencer, “The Coming Evangelical Collapse,” The Christian Science Monitor, 10 Mar. 2009.

[vii] E.g., John A. Howard, “Liberty: America’s Creative Power,” Howard Center, 22 June 2009, 6.

[viii] “In God’s Name: A Special Report on Religion and Public Life,” The Economist, 3 Nov. 2007, 10.

[ix] E.g., The Six Ways of Atheism, which was advertised “to absolutely disprove the existence of God, logically and simply,” was sent free to leading universities and public libraries in all major English-speaking countries in the world. Press release, 26 May 2009.

[x] Howard, “Liberty: America’s Creative Power,” 6.

[xi] Hugh Hewitt, A Mormon in the White House? (Washington DC: Regnery, 2007), 242–43.

[xii] Karl Vick, “Gay Groups Targeting Mormons,” Salt Lake Tribune, 30 May 2009, A8 (Washington Post story).

[xiii] “A New Order of Religious Freedom,” First Things, Feb. 1992, 2; also see Neuhaus, The Naked Public Square (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1983).

[xiv] The Yogyakarta Principles, Principle 21 (Yogyakarta, Indonesia, 2006).

[xv] “No Mob Veto,” New York Times, 5 Dec. 2008.

[xvi] M. Russell Ballard, “Engaging Without Being Defensive,” BYU Commencement Address, 13 August 2009.

[xvii] Among the advocates of this position are Kevin Seamus Hasson, The Right to be Wrong (San Francisco: Encounter Books, 2005); Douglas Laycock, Anthony Picarello Jr. and Robin Fretwell Wilson, Same-Sex Marriage and Religious Liberty: Emerging Conflicts (Rowman and Littlefield, 2008); and Michael J. Perry, “Liberal Democracy and Religious Morality,” 48 DePaul Law Rev. 1, 20–41 (1998). For examples of this kind of advocacy, see What’s the Harm? ed. Lynn D. Wardle (University Press of America, 2008); and Monte Neil Stewart, “Marriage Facts,” 31 Harv. J. of Law & Pub. Policy 313 (2008).

[xviii] John A. Howard, Christianity: Lifeblood of America’s Free Society (1620–1945) (Monitou Springs, Ohio: Summit Press, 2008), 57.

[xix] “How Christianity Shaped the West,” Hillsdale College, Nov. 2008, Vol. 37, No. 11, p. 5.

The Organ Harvesting Czar

2009-10-19T09:31:00.001-07:00

This is from last week’s news, but I had to comment on this article from World Net Daily.

“ President Obama's newly confirmed regulatory czar defended the possibility of removing organs from terminally ill patients without their permission.

Cass Sunstein also has strongly pushed for the removal of organs from deceased individuals who did not explicitly consent to becoming organ donors.”

This is another example of government run health care turning the medical industry from ‘what course would make the best outcome for this patient’ to ‘What course would make the best outcome for the largest amount of patients.’ Once the government controls health care they will be able to control every area of your lives. This is just another frightening reminder, going largely unnoticed.

-Lynnae

Lord Christopher Monckton on Loss of US Sovereignty

2009-10-17T10:24:00.001-07:00

-Lynnae

Eugenics for the New Millennium

2009-09-28T16:56:00.001-07:00

Who will get the health care under Obama’s programs? Will the elderly just be given a pain pill? Will time and effort be invested in those with debilitating disease when they could be used to help 100 fairly healthy people?

If it's a difficult decision, then why choose a system that forces you to make that decision? Right now anybody can obtain the care that's best for them as an individual.
This is disgusting and it all boils down to eugenics and helping the most desirable.
Who imagined our leaders would be thinking this way in the new millennium.

One Trillion Dollars

2009-09-25T16:59:00.001-07:00

We often hear about Obama and Congress spending money in the trillions, sometimes it’s just hard to get a grasp on how much one trillion dollars is.

My husband was involved in a similar discussion and a friend cleared it up with the following analogy.

A man gave his wife a million dollars and told her to spend $1000 a day. She came back 3 years later to say the money was gone.
He then gave her a Trillion dollars and told her to spend a million dollars a day. She didn't come back for 3000 years.

-Lynnae

Mmmmm Mmmm Mmmmm. George W. Bush!

2009-09-24T18:38:00.001-07:00

By now you’ve probably seen the Creepshow indoctrination video of schoolchildren chanting praises to Obama. If you haven’t, here’s a You Tube link.

This is my question. How likely is it that the following adaptation of that song would ever be uttered in a public school?

My version:

Mm, mmm, mm!
George W. Bush.
He made a stand to pave the way
Take pride, and fight for USA

He honored all the troops who died
So Evil could not run or hide
Mmm, mmm, mm!
George W. Bush.

Mmm, mmm, mm!
George W. Bush.
Said terrorists we’d never trust,
If you’re not with us, your against us.
Mmm, mmm, mm!
George W. Bush.

Yes!
Mmm, mmm, mm
George W. Bush.

Song 2:
Hello, Mr. President we honor you today!
For all your great accomplishments, we all doth say "hooray!"
Hooray, Mr. President! You're number one!
The second American President who was a President’s son!
Hooray, Mr. President we honor your great plans
To make this country's strength number one again!
Hooray Mr. President, we're really proud of you!
And we stand for all Americans under the great Red, White, and Blue!
So continue ---- Mr. President we know you'll do the trick
So here's a hearty hip-hooray ----
Hip, hip hooray!

-Lynnae ….Oh wait- I almost published this post without a fawning picture of the president to go with the song. I think I have one around here somewhere………..

Viola!

If you want the real words the school children chant and sing, here they are:

Barach Hussein Obama

Mm, mmm, mm!
Barack Hussein Obama
He said that all must lend a hand
To make this country strong again
Mmm, mmm, mm!
Barack Hussein Obama
He said we must be fair today
Equal work means equal pay
Mmm, mmm, mm!
Barack Hussein Obama
He said that we must take a stand
To make sure everyone gets a chance
Mmm, mmm, mm!
Barack Hussein Obama
He said red, yellow, black or white
All are equal in his sight
Mmm, mmm, mm!
Barack Hussein Obama
Yes!
Mmm, mmm, mm
Barack Hussein Obama
Song 2:
Hello, Mr. President we honor you today!
For all your great accomplishments, we all doth say "hooray!"
Hooray, Mr. President! You're number one!
The first black American to lead this great nation!
Hooray, Mr. President we honor your great plans
To make this country's economy number one again!
Hooray Mr. President, we're really proud of you!
And we stand for all Americans under the great Red, White, and Blue!
So continue ---- Mr. President we know you'll do the trick
So here's a hearty hip-hooray ----
Hip, hip hooray!

Comment about the 9/12 Rally and March

2009-09-22T16:22:00.001-07:00

The following was my comment on another blog, and I decided to post it over here as well. The commenter I was responding to seemed to have the following points:

The 9/12 protest was not a grassroots movement because it was promoted my a major news organization.
The GOP would lose the next election if they catered to the conservative base.
Conservatives need to do more to appeal to moderates.

With that set up, here was my response.

………… interesting comment. One thing you don't seem to understand is that to conservatives, politics isn't about picking who's going to win and getting on that team. We feel strongly about what is the right and wrong way to run this country, regardless of 'global trends'. Freedom and democracy are not global trends or historic trends, for that matter, so we are going against the flow here.
And about your warning that we won't win in 2010, yes, we would like to win, but we won't cave on our beliefs just to win the numbers for something we don't want to happen.
Your words--- "The GOP have yet to outline a coherent, articulate plan of action, and the 9/12 protests are the embodiment of that lack of vision. Unlike other grassroots movement, there is no end game objective that signifies what victory looks like." don't make sense to me because the 9/12 protesters for the most part are disgusted with the way the GOP is ignoring them. The fact that we are unsure of the endgame should further PROVE, not disprove, that this is a grassroots movement. We are just trying to defend what we believe in.
BTW no one told me what to say or paid me to say it.

My Sister’s March on DC

2009-09-22T12:12:00.001-07:00

My sweet little sister had the opportunity to go to DC for over a week and participate in the march.

Today I would like to link to her, Ramsam, at Better Than We Deserve. Stop over and read her moving account.

-Lynnae

Women: Know Your Limits

2009-09-20T11:12:00.001-07:00

This sketch had me rolling! It is so funny.

I have to admit I have felt like this poor woman a time or two. Who knows, someday ‘Lynnae Loves Liberty’ might be completely devoted to Liberty- the rescued, at risk fluffy kitten.

Have a GREAT weekend!

You Are Too Kind

2009-09-15T20:17:00.001-07:00

Thank you to everyone for the kind comments on my last post and for referring it to others. You made my day!

And so for you a special treat……..

Little Lynnae at her 9th Birthday Party, July 1976.

My mom wanted to help me learn to sew, and this is the dress we made together. I selected the fabric myself. The pinafore is covered with George Washington portraits. The blue and white shirt displays United States icons like the liberty bell and Paul Revere, along with important dates in U.S. history. (Maybe the battle of New Orleans was among them, hmm?). The flag cake is by my grandma. Now tell me, could I have turned out any different?

Undimmed By Human Tears

2009-09-10T17:44:00.001-07:00

When I was nine we practiced a bicentennial program in our elementary school. As part of the program a teacher was explaining the verses of ‘America the Beautiful’.

“How beautiful for patriot dream,
That sees beyond the years,
Thine alabaster cities gleam,
Undimmed by human tears.

How beautiful for heroes, proved
In liberating strife,
Who more than self, their country loved,
And mercy more than life.”

She explained that the phrase ‘undimmed by human tears’ meant that we had never had an attack of a city on American soil.

Photo Daniel Hulshizer AP

On the morning of September 11th 2001 that changed with the vicious attack of innocent people in our country.

President George W. Bush declared the following Friday a National Day of Prayer.

I was worried for my family and my country. I needed the consolation of prayer too. I watched the prayer ceremonies on television that day and said a few of my own. I will never forget God’s power and the unity that I felt with my fellow Americans that day. Despite all the horrible occurrences I felt that we were in God’s hands and he was still in control.

That day I wrote a few verses of my own for America the Beautiful, with one chorus at the end.

(To the tune and meter of the verses of America the Beautiful. ‘Oh beautiful, for spacious skies………)

How deep the grief that turns our heart,
The tears that bend the knee,
The ache that pulls us close again,
And closer still to Thee.

The trembling, halting, breaking voice,
In songs we’ve always known,
Though eyes divert we can’t help see,
The hollow in our home.

For souls who flooded heaven’s door,
That ever darkened hour,
Encircled by Thy angel host,
Encircled by Thy power.

America, America!
God grasp thy quaking hand!
And wash us pure, as we secure
Thy freedom for this land!

-Lynnae

Rep. Mike Rogers’ Opening Statement

2009-09-10T12:32:00.001-07:00

If you haven’t seen this, watch it. It may be the best four minutes of your day.

Sometimes this is a real uphill battle and it’s nice to know there are those who get it!

Lynnae

This is What Democracy Looks Like

2009-09-09T18:26:00.001-07:00

….in my neighborhood at least.

You know how my van has been painted for the August recess. If you don’t, read this post.

Well after two months of driving this around, today my liberal across the street neighbors stuck this in their lawn facing my driveway.

(I cannot tell whether the signpost was made from their hammer or sickle).

My daughter was so caught up in the moment that she immediately grabbed her craft paint, and while neighbors were out admiring their handiwork, cheerfully painted this on her car window.

Now we have some democracy going on!

School Frustration and Indoctrination.

2009-09-07T11:47:00.001-07:00

(Photoshop by Leo Alberti….found via Michelle Malkin)

I had planned to keep my daughter home tomorrow so she wouldn’t have to watch Obama’s coerced speech to the public schools. It turns out it is also picture day, of course, which is a real hassle to miss. So we’ll have a little chat about why we disagree with the speech and lesson plan, and go from there. :(

Classroom Politics

2009-09-05T13:58:00.001-07:00

It appears that my daughter’s school in the Snoqualmie Valley School District is showing the broadcast.

Photo from Voice for School Choice.

We will be having a mother daughter day at home of out and about. I’ll call her in as absent.

I don’t want the president using my child as a political pawn or a gimmick to boost sagging ratings.

I do not want my child to be trained to listen, agree and obey political leaders without questioning Should they believe, should they obey. I saw the lesson plan. I know what’s in it. Pure salesmanship and tricks of persuasion. No, Thank you.

That’s why I Loved Reagan….

2009-09-03T15:10:00.001-07:00

Thanks to Rational Nation USA by way of Left Coast Rebel.

Obama to Speak to School Children

2009-09-02T16:59:00.001-07:00

The thing that creeps me out is that the teachers are told to have students see if they can list the things the President wants them to do, and then answer if they are able to do those things. Nowhere are they asked if they agree with the president.

This reminds me, I watched ‘Boy in the Striped Pajamas’ the other day. But that may or may not be unrelated.

Here is the text of if you haven’t read it: (my comments in thin italics)

PreK-6 Menu of Classroom Activities: President Obama’s Address to Students Across America

Produced by Teaching Ambassador Fellows, U.S. Department of Education

September 8, 2009

Before the Speech:

· Teachers can build background knowledge about the President of the United States and his speech by reading propaganda books about presidents and Barack Obama and motivate students by asking the following questions:

Who is the President of the United States? (would they have done any of this for George W. Bush?)

What do you think it takes to be President?

To whom do you think the President is going to be speaking?

Why do you think he wants to speak to you? Because your a young skull full of mush and this is the only way to circumvent the reason of your parents.

What do you think he will say to you?

· Teachers can ask students to imagine being the President delivering a speech to all of the students in the United States. Brainwashing! What would you tell students? What can students do to help in our schools? Teachers can chart ideas about what they would say.

· Why is it important that we listen to the President listen or obey??? and other elected officials, like the mayor, senators, members of congress, or the governor? Why is what they say important?

During the Speech:

· As the President speaks, teachers can ask students to write down key ideas or phrases that are important or personally meaningful. Find the vague ideas you agree with just like all the saps who voted for him without knowing he was a socialist. Students could use a note-taking graphic organizer such as a Cluster Web, or students could record their thoughts on sticky notes. Younger children can draw pictures and write as appropriate. As students listen to the speech, they could think about the following:

What is the President trying to tell me?

What is the President asking me to do?

What new ideas and actions is the President challenging me to think about? This chills me to the core. I’m just sayin’

· Students can record important parts of the speech where the President is asking them to do something. Students might think about: What specific job is he asking me to do? Is he asking anything of anyone else? Teachers? Principals? Parents? The American people? This is a great opportunity to focus on the intentions and the great dream end result. Luckily most k-6 children don’t understand that good intentions don’t always produce good result, and that a record of success should be a good indicator of whether we should do what is asked.

· Students can record any questions they have while he is speaking and then discuss them after the speech. Younger children may need to dictate their questions.

After the Speech:

· Teachers could ask students to share the ideas they recorded, exchange sticky notes or stick notes on a butcher paper yes, prepare the butcher paper poster in the classroom to discuss main ideas from the speech, i.e. citizenship, personal responsibility, civic duty.

· Students could discuss their responses to the following questions:

What do you think the President wants us to do?

Does the speech make you want to do anything? These questions are so leading…like a used car salesman saying what color of new car would you like to buy from me today?

Are we able to do what President Obama is asking of us? Can and should are two different things.

What would you like to tell the President? Keep your commie face out of my kid’s classroom??

· Teachers could encourage students to participate in the Department of Education’s “I Am What I Learn” video contest. On September 8^ththe Department will invite K-12 students to submit a video no longer than 2 min, explaining why education re-education is important and how their education re-education will help them achieve their dreams. Teachers are welcome to incorporate the same or a similar video project into an assignment. If they don’t want to do it, make their grade depend on it. More details will be released via www.ed.gov.

Extension of the Speech: Teachers can extend learning by having students

· Create posters of their goals. Posters could be formatted in quadrants or puzzle pieces or trails marked with the labels: personal, academic, community, country. Each area could be labeled with three steps for achieving goals in those areas. It might make sense to focus on personal and academic so community and country goals come more readily. i.e. children are sick of writing so they will put down whatever you suggest.

· Write letters to themselves about what they can do to help the president. What the crap!!! These would be collected and redistributed at an appropriate later date by the teacher to make students accountable to their goals. Collected and redistributed along with everything else you’ve worked on. If there’s on thing they know, it’s collecting and redistributing.

· Write goals on colored index cards or precut designs to post around the classroom. Be sure to have a picture of the Obama emblem on hand for children to copy, thus to ensure the symbol is decorating your classroom from the start of the school year on.

· Interview and share about their goals with one another to create a supportive community. Ostracize those who don’t agree.

· Participate in School wide incentive programs or contests for students who achieve their goals.

· Write about their goals in a variety of genres, i.e. poems, songs, personal essays. Yessss, great leader, I have a song for Yooooooo, I will help, as you want me to doooooo… Next years Grammy.

· Create artistic projects based on the themes of their goals.

· Graph student progress toward goals.

I think my kids are coming down with the flu. Should hit about the 8th.

HOPE you like your CHANGE

2009-08-31T10:26:00.001-07:00

I’m back from ‘vacation’. Before I left I snapped this picture of a van I saw after running my 10k. Being a car-activist myself I appreciated this effort.

And another thing………..

What does a carnival dart game have to do with Universal Health Care? Read Jon’s blog to find out.

Have a Good Weekend

2009-08-22T20:25:00.001-07:00

Busy today!!!! Ran my first 10k, now I’m working on a photo project for my Grandma (shhhh you guys, don’t tell!) So here is some classic work of my daughter’s…

It’s sort of a Presidents Day Valentines mashup. Enjoy!

Health Care Fun

2009-08-18T11:18:00.001-07:00

Driving my anti-Health Care Funvee around has been like one of those stories where each new person adds a line.

Last Saturday sweetie took it up to the trailhead, and when it came back, below my painted “No Government Health Care” was the comment written in the dust “No Medicare either!”

Is there, out on the Seattle hiking circuit, someone more conservative and or libertarian than us? Or was it a satirical sarcastic comment on just how ‘cruel’ we conservatives would be?

I continued wondering until yesterday. We went over to Wild Waves, for a day of ~~standing in line~~ fun in the sun. I’d been back in the car for a few minutes when the sunset hit the back window and I noticed that added to my rear window were the messages ‘NObama’ and ‘You are Awesome!’

Why thank you.

I guess we aren’t alone in the universe!

PS, if you haven’t seen the Milton Freidman (with Donahue) clip on my last post, check it out. (Yes, you! It’s only two minutes. And it’s good! Sheesh!)

And another thing. If anyone else has a message on their vehicle and wants to post it, please comment here, I’d love to link to it!

What You Need To Hear Today

2009-08-14T13:27:00.001-07:00

You had me at Greed!

I could kiss his bald little head.

If only I could say it like Milton Friedman!

Post script…I am sorry to those whose comments have not appeared on this post after I approved them….And now my comment button is completely gone. I’m so non-technical. I hope you enjoy this post anyway!

And What Does Chuck Norris Think of All This?

2009-08-13T13:15:00.001-07:00

The following AWESOME post was found at Human Events.com and written by THE Chuck Norris……..(With my own picture commentary added……

“Health care reforms are turning into health care revolts. Americans are turning up the heat on congressmen in town hall meetings across the U.S.

While watching these political hot August nights, I decided to research the reasons so many are opposed to Obamacare to separate the facts from the fantasy. What I discovered is that there are indeed dirty little secrets buried deep within the 1,000-plus page health care bill.

Dirty secret No. 1 in Obamacare is about the government's coming into homes and usurping parental rights over child care and development.

It's outlined in sections 440 and 1904 of the House bill (Page 838), under the heading "home visitation programs for families with young children and families expecting children." The programs (provided via grants to states) would educate parents on child behavior and parenting skills.

The bill says that the government agents, "well-trained and competent staff," would "provide parents with knowledge of age-appropriate child development in cognitive, language, social, emotional, and motor domains ... modeling, consulting, and coaching on parenting practices," and "skills to interact with their child to enhance age-appropriate development."

Are you kidding me?! With whose parental principles and values? Their own? Certain experts'? From what field and theory of childhood development? As if there are one-size-fits-all parenting techniques! Do we really believe they would contextualize and personalize every form of parenting in their education, or would they merely universally indoctrinate with their own?

Are we to assume the state's mediators would understand every parent's social or religious core values on parenting? Or would they teach some secular-progressive and religiously neutered version of parental values and wisdom? And if they were to consult and coach those who expect babies, would they ever decide circumstances to be not beneficial for the children and encourage abortions?

One government rebuttal is that this program would be "voluntary." Is that right? Does that imply that this agency would just sit back passively until some parent needing parenting skills said, "I don't think I'll call my parents, priest or friends or read a plethora of books, but I'll go down to the local government offices"? To the contrary, the bill points to specific targeted groups and problems, on Page 840: The state "shall identify and prioritize serving communities that are in high need of such services, especially communities with a high proportion of low-income families."

Are we further to conclude by those words that low-income families know less about parenting? Are middle- and upper-class parents really better parents? Less neglectful of their children? Less needful of parental help and training? Is this "prioritized" training not a biased, discriminatory and even prejudicial stereotype and generalization that has no place in federal government, law or practice?

Bottom line: Is all this what you want or expect in a universal health care bill being rushed through Congress? Do you want government agents coming into your home and telling you how to parent your children? When did government health care turn into government child care?

Government needs less of a role in running our children's lives and more of a role in supporting parents' decisions for their children. Children belong to their parents, not the government. And the parents ought to have the right -- and government support -- to parent them without the fed's mandates, education or intervention in our homes.

Kids are very important to my wife, Gena, and me. That's why we've spent the past 17 years developing our nonprofit KICK START program in public schools in Texas. It builds up their self-esteem and teaches them respect and discipline. Of course, whether or not they participate in the program is their and their parents' choice.

How contrary is Obamacare's home intrusion and indoctrination family services, in which state agents prioritize houses to enter and enforce their universal values and principles upon the hearts and minds of families across America?

Government's real motives and rationale are quite simple, though rarely, if ever, stated. If one wants to control the future ebbs and flows of a country, one must have command over future generations. That is done by seizing parental and educational power, legislating preferred educational methods and materials, and limiting private educational options. It is so simple that any socialist can understand it. As Josef Stalin once stated, "Education is a weapon whose effects depend on who holds it in his hands and at whom it is aimed."

Before so-called universal health care turns into universal hell care, write or call your representative today and protest his voting Obamacare into law. Remind him that what is needed in Washington is a truly bipartisan group that is allowed an ample amount of time to work on a compromise health care law that wouldn't raise taxes (for anyone), regulate personal medical choices, ration health care or restrict American citizens”.

----Thank You Chuck Norris. Just one more reason to love TEXAS!

Funvee Hits the Road, Reichert Phones It In

2009-08-12T15:47:00.001-07:00

It’s been several days since I painted up my vehicle, as seen in the previous post, and I would encourage you all to do the same. I love my loyal readers, but in a trip to Taco Time my van got more views than my web page. It does have to be short but sweet, but here we are mostly like minded individuals, and I want the people in my town to know that local, normal, friendly people oppose this plan. Maybe they will begin to ask themselves why.

Ugghhh! I Had thought about going up to Everett tonight for the town hall, But it’s a long way for us, and my sweetie is still at work. But he said that they’ve already filled up the Aqua Sox event center with union folks and it’s too late now.

Reichert Phones It In

Ugghhhh Again!

As far as our district goes, I hear Benedict Reichert Arnold is having a phone in Town Hall. LAME. I’m scheming though, about a little friendly demonstration just to be seen and heard as polite law abiding people who oppose the progressive system of government invading our lives.

I will be heard.

I will not be scared into staying home while our freedoms are seized!

I will not look on while our country is sold out!

And if your wondering about life in the Funvee….So far my painted window has had smiles and waves, and no ‘negative responses’ in the form of gestures, etc. Which is better than when I had it painted up for Governor Palin when she was the VP pick.

Honk if you see me around Seattle or the East Side.

I Am a Mob of One

2009-08-10T20:44:00.001-07:00

So here I am out by the Funvee with my $1 craft paint and trusty paintbrush….OK, it’s not really a Funvee, but Honda minivan isn’t nearly as exciting.

A minute with the paintbrush, and viola! Instant Town Hall.

Let people know what you believe. Pass it on.

Let's Confront the Bullies at Recess!

2009-08-03T11:06:00.000-07:00

If you are like me youve already seen a lot of clips of town all meetings where our representatives are being confronted by their constituents about health care. This warms my heart.

I just had a brainstorm.... I have occasionally been known to write political comments on the rear window of my van..... So I would suggest that since we are not supposed to use the phrase 'government health care', that we do use that phrase prominently painted across the back window of our vehicles... As in "NO Government Healthcare!" or "Fight Government Health Care!" Whatever you want, so long as it contains that phrase. Inexpensive acrylic craft paint works great, for about one dollar, washes off with water and a little pressure, or scrapes off.

Lets make our voice heard this August, and bolster the confidence of other conservatives...Isn't it nice to feel like you are not alone?

Many years ago when Hilary Clinton came to Seattle with her Health Care bus caravan, we rallied, shouted her down, and eventually their bus tour fizzled out and they gave up the quest. We CAN do it again. Paint that back window baby!
Who's with me? If I can do it in Seattle anyone can!

I'm off to the craft store.

Central Planning

2009-07-30T00:01:00.001-07:00

I continue to marvel over the naiveté of otherwise intelligent people when it comes to the reality of what a planned economy would bring. Are people gullible or merely grabbing for power?

I liked this excerpt from my reading today in F. A. Hayek’s ‘The Road to Serfdom”. I share it with you because it really rings true.

“…We all think that our personal order of values is not merely personal but that in a free discussion among rational people we would convince the others that ours is the right one. The lover of the countryside who wants above all that it’s traditional appearance should be preserved and that the blots already made by industry on it’s fair face should be removed, no less than the health enthusiast who wants all the picturesque but insanitary old cottages cleared away, or the motorist who wishes the country cut up by big motor roads, the efficiency fanatic who desires the maximum of specialization and mechanization no less than the idealist who for the development of personality wants to preserve as many independent craftsman as possible all know that their aim can be achieved only by planning, and they all want planning for that reason. But, of course, the adoption of the social planning for which they clamor can only bring out the concealed conflict between their aims.”

Are people just so blinded by the hope of forcing others to adopt their values that they can’t see the inevitable conflict?

In the end, it will be the task of a centrally planned government to decide between opposing projects. Then it will quickly descend into a series of favors and a system of political pull being the main factor considered.

A Few More Thoughts on Health Care

2009-07-22T10:02:00.000-07:00

But first..... If you think Ayn Rand was prophetic 50 years ago, try this quote from Isaiah...

Isaiah 3:5 And the people shall be oppressed, every one by another, and every one by his neighbor: The child shall behave himself proudly against the ancient, and the base against the honorable. Verse 12: As for my people, children are their oppressors, an women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths.

Now on to health care...
Here is one major change that would occur under single payer health care:

The role of a doctor is to save lives and improve the quality of life. When applied to the individual, that is pretty clear, and pretty close to what we have now. But even that 'mission statement' changes meaning when you are referring not to an individual, but to a whole society.

Saving lives changes from 'saving THIS life' to 'saving the most lives'. Improving the quality of life changes from helping one person to 'what will help the most people'. And then the health and treatment of some will always be sacrificed to help the whole of society. This is the path that leads to eugenics.

That might seem like a far cry from what Obama is proposing, but it's putting us on that path. Unfortunately even many republicans are content to go in this direction, just maybe not quite as much as the democrats. It's all very wrong. And though the money needed to fund health care is an important issue, because there will never be enough, it's not the main issue. The main issue is that we are selling our birthright of freedom for a little security that is not even theirs to give!

A Few Thoughts on Health Care

2009-07-14T20:52:00.001-07:00

Health care is a service industry.

A patient receives a service in exchange for monetary compensation.

It’s a lot like the service a dry cleaner, a grocery store, or auto mechanic may provide.

From the time we were kids, most of us heard that a consumer must know the difference between ‘wants’ and ‘needs’. It seems now that our modern society is so accustomed to the instant gratification of their ‘wants’, that they think it is up to someone else to provide for their ‘needs’.

Somewhere along the line companies began offering health insurance as a benefit to attract a competitive workforce, just as some companies offer benefits like a gym membership or a town car.

I might wish that had never happened, because it leads us to where we are now, and yet I would not wish to interfere with the compensation that a business chooses to pay it’s employees.

But here we are in 2009, and because people have sought employers that provide this valuable perk, now many think it is the government’s place to provide health care for those who do not have it. Employment also provides you the cash to by food. Is that now the responsibility of the government? You might say it is, in the form of food stamps. I would reply that both health care and food may be provided in an emergency, as a safety net, but the amount given and the time frame served should be limited in order to encourage a return to the individual or family providing for themselves.

Let’s look at it from the point of view of the health care professional.

Here you may have a youth who studied while the other teens were out having fun. A young adult who continued in medical school while their peers were finishing their schooling and embarking on careers. A man or woman who’s young family sacrificed financially during residency…..All with the plan that his investment of time and effort will pay off someday when his expertise earns him a good living.

Government control of the health care industry meddles with this plan, changing the rules on the healthcare worker once he has already invested his time and energy. The more the government is involved, the more restrictions there will be on the medical professionals, causing good doctors with other prospects to leave the field, and discouraging others from seeking that path.

Government involvement in any market introduces escalating inefficiency. And as much as we like to think of health care in an altruistic way, it is still a service that must be done by someone, and like any market, will always be subject to inefficiency in direct proportion to the government involvement forced upon it.

-Lynnae

Independence Day!

2009-07-08T16:28:00.001-07:00

Lynnae’s Independence Day Scrapbook………………

FOOD……

Dig in!

Family……

Now that’s a house full!

Fireworks……

This IS the greatest country on earth!

Me in my Snuggie and my Sis-in-law in her Slanket. Patriotic!

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday as well.

Independence Day Eve

2009-07-02T09:02:00.000-07:00

Howdy howdy!
I've been sick but I'm feeling a lot better, so with no further delay, here's an awesome quote for you. I dedicate this to our favorite little 'Community Organizer', President Obama.

"The socialists believe in two things which are absolutely different,
and perhaps even contradictory:
freedom and organization."

-Elie Halevy

Secondly, out here in Washington State I hear Congressman Reichart has had his in-box full, and he deserves it for being one of the notorious Cap-and-Trade eight. I am done with re-electing back stabbing RINOs. I swore I'd never vote for McCain, and I did, though it was only because of Palin. I've had it.
Anyway, if you want to read my hubby's post containing his letter to Reichart, click here. And if you need a little non political fun, read the post previous to that as well.

Thirdly, Kudos to our local little Movie Theater for this festive and patriotic display. I LOVE it!

We are getting ready for a big Independence Day gathering, with relatives coming from as far as California, Portland, and Utah. In addition to attending an early morning flag raising, we have had a firework party at least seven of the ten years we've lived here. The 'Brother-in-Law's' and other guy friends will run down to the Indian reservation, pool there money, and get all kinds of firework goodies for young and old alike. We cover the front lawn with blankets and lawn chairs, eat tons of food, and celebrate living in the Best Nation on Earth!!!

A couple years ago one of our liberal neighbors came over and complained to my husband that she was worried about our fireworks hurting someone or causing damage. This bugged my husband enough to take some of the fun out of our festivities. This is the same neighbor who's 'outdoor cats' routinely defecate in my flowerbed. In true life-imitates-politics style, she acquired her two grey little minion, and promptly shut them out of her house, and now expects society (our block) to carry the consequences.

And to put this in perspective, almost every street in our neighborhood has a big party and launches fireworks. Including another street actually closer to her house. We never go past midnight, and we get out brooms and leaf blowers to clean the street before everyone goes home that night.

We are expecting two couples and four teens, in addition to our family, to be staying at our house this weekend. For our party another fifteen teens and adults, along with a bevy of little kids will be here. Pictures to follow!

Happy Fourth of July!

More Quotes On Socialism

2009-06-23T16:28:00.001-07:00

“The effect of Socialist doctrine on Capitalist society is to produce a third thing different from either of its two begetters- to wit, the Servile State” -Hilaire Belloc, The Servile State1913: 3d ed., 1927

I wanted to discuss another little passage from Hayek’s The Road to Serfdom today.

“We have progressively abandoned that freedom in economic affairs without which personal and political freedom has never existed in the past. Although we had been warned by some of the greatest political thinkers of the nineteenth century, by De Tocqueville and Lord Acton that socialism means slavery, we have steadily moved in the direction of socialism. And now that we have seen a new form of slavery arise before our eyes [referring to Nazi Germany], we have so completely forgotten the warning that it scarcely occurs to us that the two things may be connected.

“How sharp a break not only with the recent past but with the whole evolution of Western civilization the modern trend toward socialism means becomes clear if we consider it not merely against the background of the nineteenth century but in a longer historical perspective. We are rapidly abandoning not the views merely of Cobden and Bright, of Adam Smith and Hume, or even of Locke and Milton, but one of the salient characteristics of Western civilization as it has grown from the foundations laid by Christianity and the Greeks and Romans. Not merely nineteenth and eighteenth century liberalism*, but the basic individualism inherited by us from Erasmus and Montaigne, from Cicero and Tacitus, Pericles and Thucydides, is progressively relinquished……

…….. During the whole of this modern period of European history the general direction of social development was one of freeing the individual from the ties which had bound him to the customary or prescribed ways in the pursuit of his ordinary activities. The conscious realization that the spontaneous and uncontrolled efforts of individuals were capable of producing a complex order of economic activities could come only after this development had made some progress. The subsequent elaboration of a consistent argument in favor of economic freedom was the outcome of a free growth of economic activity which had been the undesigned and unforeseen by-product of political freedom.” (Italics are mine.)

- F.A. Hayek, The road to Serfdom, pg.16-19

* Remember at this time the word liberal referred to those in favor of a free market individualism.

Are we ready to give up such a heritage? Are we ready to trust the political impulses of Barack Obama and his cronies over the great thinkers of the ages and the benefits of the free market that we can see with our own eyes? Are we ready to give up the freedom we have for a system that has FAILED every time it has been tried?

I would also like to call attention to the last sentence that I italicized. It is easy for our opponents to claim that our capitalist tendencies come from greed and nothing more. I do find it frustrating that our way of living has become called capitalism, when that is merely an outgrowth, and a way of describing the system of market a free society is able to produce under a laissez faire government. But the free society is the point, and offers many opportunities for pursuing life, liberty, and happiness beyond just the pursuit of capital.

-Lynnae

Read the Bill before you Sign it!

2009-06-22T15:47:00.000-07:00

Before becoming president, Obama said he would post bills for five days before signing them so that Americans would know their content. Read Jim Harper's comments on Obama's Failure to do so here.
I think jeers should go to Congress as well. It's bad enough when they don't read the bills before they sign them, but then they hire a speed reader to make fun of the fact that people want them read! Extremely bad form. This is our future you are messing with.
If I were a congresswoman I would read every bill before I voted on it. Who cares where your degree is from or your level of experience if you don't read the darn bill. If they were trying to pass a bill without allowing enough time to read it, I know that happens.... I would hire enough readers to break the thing down into a sensible outline and get the info I needed so I could read all the important passages. But they should just give them enough time.
My two other 'campaign promises' are: I would strive to take over the ranking of 'Most Conservative Congressman'
And I would continue to cut my own hair.

Family Politics

2009-06-22T10:08:00.001-07:00

Political debates at family gatherings? yes or no

When you come from a large family there will usually be quite a spectrum of political belief and political involvement. My Dad has always loved a good debate. As a child I remember sitting in the hot van ready to get my scratchy dress off after church, while he was standing out in the parking lot waving his arms in a heated debate over some scripture passage. Not exactly how a Sunday lesson is meant to be, I know, but lets just say strong emotions run deep in our family when it comes to our beliefs.

I’m pretty sure among my siblings we have supporters of Obama and Ron Paul, liberals and conservatives, activists, and people who would rather live ‘off the grid’ and let it all go by.

So what happens when you get together and a family gathering turns into a heated political debate? Are there topics you just avoid or do you just let the opinions fly? We’ve had some hurt feelings before, and I personally believe that the more heated an argument gets the stupider people become. It’s the adrenaline I think.

If I were hosting a dinner party with friends I would steer the conversation clear of divisive topics, but do you do that with your own family or just revel in your differences?

Alternately, we like to get together with people who are pretty much on our side of the fence, where we can discuss political happenings at ease. But you can’t do that with family. You can’t (or at least I can’t) invite just the right wingers to a gathering.

The love I have for my family goes way beyond their political identity. But the debate always starts, and like they say, it’s all fun and games until someone looses an eye.

So how do you handle it?

Alexis de Tocqueville On Democracy

2009-06-16T13:54:00.001-07:00

“ Democracy extends the sphere of individual freedom, socialism restricts it. Democracy attaches all possible value to each man; socialism makes each man a mere agent, a mere number. Democracy and socialism have nothing in common but one word: equality. But notice the difference: while democracy seeks equality in liberty, socialism seeks equality in restraint and servitude.” –Alexis de Tocqueville, 1848

---“Discours prononcé à l’assemlée constituante le 12 septembre 1848 sur la question du droit au travail,” Œuvres complètes d’Alexis de Tocqueville (1866) IX, 546

I haven’t read Alexis de Tocqeville since back in the school days, but I feel like I should get a hold of some to add to my summer reading list.

-Lynnae

Planned Economy or Planned Destruction

2009-06-11T15:12:00.000-07:00

I Saw this on Cato@Liberty and had to pass it along. It fits with our recent conversations. It is from the 1938 Chicago Tribune. If it is too small to read please follow this link. It's well worth it!

The Road to Serfdom

2009-06-09T11:36:00.000-07:00

I have a borrowed copy of the 50th Anniversary Edition of "The Road to Serfdom" with an introduction by Milton Friedman. My husband was about to return this copy by the time I saw it floating around here so he may have to wait till I finish, I say may because I already plan to go out and get my own copy. I'll write a 'book report' when I'm done, but along the way I'm finding little gems I'd like to share.

The theme is Hayek's warning that going down the path of Socialism leaves a country susceptible to totalitarianism, dictatorships, fascism, etc. Published in 1944, with the rise of Nazi Germany as a backdrop, Hayek sets forth to explain how many of the socialist ideals the British and Americans are accepting could lead us down the same path.

Here is an interesting and timely quote from the 1956 preface:

" It is for this reason that I rather hope that the time may now be more favorable in America for a serious consideration of the true argument of the book than it was when it first appeared. I believe that what is important in it still has to render it's service, although I recognize that the hot socialism against which it was mainly directed-that organized movement toward a deliberate organization of economic life by the state as the chief owner of the means of production- is nearly dead in the Western world. The century of socialism in this sense probably came to an end around 1948. Many of it's illusions have been discarded by it's leaders, and elsewhere as well as in the United States, the very name has lost much of it's attraction.

[Oh how I wish that were true!-L.P.]

........If few people in the western world now want to remake society from the bottom according to some ideal bluepoint, a great many still believe in measures which, though not designed completely to remodel the economy, in their aggregate effect may well unintentionally produce this result. And, even more than at the time that I wrote this book, the advocacy of policies which in the long run cannot be reconciled with the preservation of a free society is no longer a party matter. The hodge podge of ill-assembled and often inconsistent ideals which under the name of Welfare State has largely replaces socialism as the goal of the reformers needs very careful sorting out if its results are not to be very similar to those of full fledged socialism. This is not to say that some of it's aims are not both practicable and laudable. But there are many ways in which we can work toward the same goal, and in the present state of opinion there is some danger that our impatience for quick results may lead us to choose instruments which, though perhaps more efficient for achieving the particular ends, are not compatible with the preservation of a free society. The increasing tendency to rely on administrative coercion and discrimination where a modification of the general rules of law might, perhaps more slowly, achieve the same object, and to resort to direct state controls or to the creation of monopolistic institutions where judicious use of financial inducements might evoke spontaneous efforts is still a powerful legacy of the socialist period which is likely to influence policy for a long time to come."

I will bring you more great quotes and information as I go through the book.

Stand Up!

2009-06-04T15:41:00.000-07:00

It is difficult to stand up for what you believe in.

Surrounded by people who accept the commom line.

Challenged for your beliefs when you just want to enjoy

the baby shower

or shop in peace,

get through a days work,

or watch your childs performance.

To have a simple ready answer when your position was gleaned from years of reading, observing, and study.

Sometimes your passionate love of freedom can come as a shock to those who take it for granted.

Sometimes you want to run away but your love of freedom tells you to stand up.

This is the 20th Anniversary of the massacre at Tiananmen Square.

Let's keep our freedom, that our future generations won't have to fight to get it back.

Obama and the Constitution

2009-06-02T13:36:00.001-07:00

A number of years ago our Current President Obama made the following Statement:

“And the Warren court interpreted it generally in the same way — that the Constitution is a document of negative liberties, says what the states can’t do to you, says what the federal government can’t do to you, but it doesn’t say what the federal government or state government must do on your behalf, and that hasn’t shifted.”- audio from 2001 Obama interview.

This is the man who has sworn (at least on the second try) to uphold our great document.

Our Constitution is all about limits. Inspired by God, it was created by men who had seen tyranny, injustice, and the impenetrable classes of British society at the time. It was created by men who thought seriously about the extent of reach the government should have on the lives of the citizens. The Constitution lays out the method by which our majority law would be accomplished, The Bill of Rights sets forth the personal rights that the majority, or the government, cannot encroach upon.

The beauty of the Constitution is found in it’s limits. The freedom of the people is ensured by it’s limits. Frankly, to have a leader who feels constrained by these limits worries me.

But then Maybe President Obama would prefer this reading……

-Lynnae

Memorial Day at a National Cemetery

2009-05-24T19:06:00.000-07:00

Visiting a National Cemetery on Memorial Day is a great way to set an example to our children of honoring those who protect us. There are over 100 national cemeteries for veterans scattered across the states. In Washington State there is one in Kent, The Tahoma National Cemetery. They put out flags and have a ceremony, sometimes with a band, color guard, or choir.. We have taken our family. It is sobering to see freshly covered graves of soldiers who lost their lives in recent conflict.

To find out if there is a national Cemetery near you, check here.

If you take your children you may wish to buy a bouquet of roses or carnations that you can divide up for them to place on a grave as a thank you.

Soldier Battles Taliban in Pink Boxers

2009-05-16T14:33:00.001-07:00

Heres a link to a story that brought a smile to my face.

http://news.aol.com/article/pink-boxers-taliban/486339?icid=mainhtmlws-maindl1link4http%3A%2F%2Fnews.aol.com%2Farticle%2Fpink-boxers-taliban%2F486339

When his unit came under attack a soldier went out to fight...not only in boxers but pink, "I heart NY" boxers!

I don't know what to say other than I LOVE the USA and our great defenders.

Banner of Liberty

2009-05-11T14:15:00.001-07:00

Last fall on the anniversary of September 11th, 2001, the conservative club that my daughter belongs to made a tribute to the victims of the terrorist attacks by hanging paper flags in the high school entrance down into the commons, each bearing a victims name.

They made over 2000 flags, with names handwritten. It was a beautiful tribute.

I often wonder how people can forget these terrible events or act as if they were unimportant. It’s nice to see that they continue to affect some people in a positive way, with a desire to protect and preserve our wonderful country.

-Lynnae

May Day

2009-05-01T20:57:00.000-07:00

To my Scandanavian ancestors, the first of May was a day for celebrating life and renewal and the coming of spring. Girls in frilly dresses danced around the Maypole, a Queen of May was named, and an elderly neighbor might awaken to find a basket of flowers hanging on her door.
Since those lovely days, the date of May 1st has been taken over by those who would crush life rather than celebrate it, by those who desire to live off the fruits of another person's mind, and gain their comforts and desires from the sacrifices of others. It has been overrun by those who wish to punish the best and brightest, extinguish the aspirations and dreams, and claim your time and your life's work as their own simply because of their need and incompetence.

Here is my May Day prayer for you...

May no one interfere with the freedom God has given you.
May you be free to choose your own path.
May you and your loved ones enjoy the results of your labors.
May your government protect your rights rather than erode them.
May each dawn greet you with the freedom that was purchased by others at a dear price.

What the Tea Party Means to Me

2009-04-16T20:12:00.000-07:00

I would like to comment on the spin about the Tax day Tea Parties. It's interesting to see news reporters say these rallies were funded by rich republican businessmen or the Fox News Channel. If rich businessmen were giving out checks I never got mine...and while I love the Fox channel, I haven't had time to sit and watch a program in weeks. Nobody MADE me go to a Tea Party, in fact it was difficult to find the locations and in the end I missed two closer rallies on my way to Seattle, and passed two of my sisters, who, unknown to me, were going to a rally nearby.

So what does this tax day mean to ME???? Just this:
Do not spend my tax dollars to overthrow my constitution!

I'm all for lowering the taxes for those who pay them, but frankly, MORE people should pay, not less. Every American should pay some taxes. If you are on welfare you should see on your check that some of it 'went back' in the form of taxes. Removing people from the tax roll is dangerous. Once more than 50% of the people pay no taxes, then the rest of us who do become their slaves. Democracy will give them the power to take everything you've got, while it lasts. The earners and producers and innovators are punished, and the whole thing will fall like a house of cards.
So, LOW taxes, but taxes for all.

Seattle Tax Tea Party

2009-04-15T23:40:00.000-07:00

Today we took two of our daughters to the Tax Tea Party in Seattle. Here are some pictures.

Here I am with two of my daughters. My husband is not pictured because he took the photos. The family that protests together.....

Freedom is beautiful!

Here we are leaving the area, with the nice horseys behind us.

Here's a closer look at the other side of my sign...

If you read this you are already GUILTY

2009-04-15T14:56:00.000-07:00

...Of Right Wing Extremist chatter. Why?

Because I support and defend the constitution this country was based on. Because I am a religious person, have a right to own a gun, and favor LEGAL immigration and protecting the innocent unborn, I am now on the Homeland Security watch list I guess.

But the the truth is, if Obama actually believed and intended to uphold the oath he took in January, he'd be on the the watch list too.

Please read Michelle Malkin's great article about the recent Homeland Security info along with excerpts of the document .

I'm going to the local Tea party tonight. Hopefully I'll have some pix to post later.

Day of Silence

2009-04-13T19:46:00.000-07:00

Every year the Gay, Lesbian, Straight network takes over our local high school in the form of the 'Day of Silence' protest. Students who wish to show solidarity remain silent all day to symbolize how gay people have had to be silent for so long.
What bothers me about this event is the support, announcements and complete involvement of the school staff and administration. In past years teachers even participated, writing the assignment on the whiteboard and refusing to speak to students. Now the administration has instructed teachers that they must still teach, but the students are still bombarded with propaganda from the national GLSN group that is supporting the school GSA (Gay Straight Alliance) club. There is a lot of tension between students. Often those who don't participate are called bigots and haters.
We are told that this event has nothing to do with the seperation of church and state, etc.
My Feelings... If students want to come in and be silent then that's their choice but when the school prominently supports it with announcements and it becomes the topic of every class discussion I am strongly opposed to the disruption.
The LDS students in our area will often make plans to wear their Sunday best to school when they have a temple trip that night, or, for example, many did the day after our prophet Gordon B. Hinkley passed away. This was a private show of support among themselves. They did not have their beliefs broadcast over the intercom or church history or the meaning of temples taught in every class.
The acceptance of the homosexual lifestyle is the acceptance of sin, iniquity, and the moral destruction of society. Our children have to wallow in this filth yet a Christian prayer group at school has to go outside of the school to the flagpole to pray- even in the rain, every morning (the LDS kids are at seminary during this time).
Somehow the school board doesn't see the relationship, because of course, sexuality has nothing to do with religion.
Despite the innundation, many of the local religious and conservative children have grown stronger. The uproar last year (beginning when the Gay and Lesbian group tried to hijack Martin Luther King day) led to the founding of a local Student Conservative Club. Students have also honed their skills in sharing their beliefs and religion.
Last year about a third of the students stayed home on the Day of Silence. The school administration should not be supporting this protest, and as long as they do I will give my children the option of staying away.