In the Spirit of Thanksgiving

I think I may have posted this video last year, but it's a good one. I have been reflecting a lot lately on all the things for which I am grateful. In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I thought I would list some (more to help me appreciate them than anything else).

1. I am thankful for God. I thankful that I know that He lives and that I have a relationship with Him. I am thankful that He knows me, that He merciful and quick to forgive. I am thankful for His Son, Jesus Christ and for His atonement.

2. I am thankful for the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ and my testimony of it. I am thankful for the restoration of His Church, His Priesthood, and for living oracles who have been called and anointed to guide us and speak His will.

3. I am thankful for my beautiful wife; that she loves me and thinks I'm pretty great. I am thankful, particularly because it was not that long ago that I feared I never would get married. She is great and makes me want to be a better person.

4. I am thankful to be a father and for my amazing son. He is awesome. I have learned so much about life and love in the two years since he was born. I am thankful for the feelings I get when he gets excited to see me.

5. I am thankful for the rest of my family; for my parents and grandparents. For all that they have taught me and for the legacy of faith they passed to me. I am thankful for my wonderful in-laws, for my siblings and siblings-in-law, and for my fun nieces and nephews.

6. I am thankful for the freedoms we enjoy in the nation in which I was born. I am thankful to all who sacrificed to make and keep us free.

7. I am thankful to have a good job, especially in this time when so many are looking. Along those lines, I am thankful for a home, for food to eat, and for all the "stuff" I have been blessed enough to afford.

That's a short list. There is much more, but that covers the basics. What are you thankful for?

Happy Thanksgiving!

Religious "Tolerance"

Where are the calls for religious tolerance? Who will defend these actions of the religion of "peace"? I try really hard to believe the people who tell me that Islam is a religion of peace and its just the fanatic militants who are the problem. It hard to do so when one sees a story like this one - Pakistan is putting a woman to death because she allegedly insulted Muhammad and Islam. And these adherents of the religion of peace shed tears of joy over such a verdict. The audacity of people to claim that Muslims are persecuted in this country. There is talk of allowing devout Muslims to void security screenings at airports for religious reasons, for heavens sake.

Good Explanation of Quantitative Easing...

Thanks for the Memories, Nancy

November 2

For the one person who reads my blog (honey, I'm thinking in your general direction), I have decided to go ahead and list my "endorsements" - how I'm going to vote - for Tuesday's midterm general election. I am going off the sample ballot from the Alabama Secretary of State's website. One caveat: I will not be indicating my vote for any of the judicial officers of the State. As an attorney, I may have to argue a case or appeal in front of one of these judges/justices and I don't want it out there, as a matter of public record, whether I voted for them (and/or what I think of them). Those who know me can probably guess how I'm going to vote. With that out of the way, here we go.

Alabama Governor: This one is a tough one for me. I can't bear the thought of Ron Sparks being the Governor of Alabama. Not only is he pro-gambling he's in the pocket of the pro-gambling interests, not to mention the AEA. He's their guy. He has no real plans for Alabama, other than a lottery. He doesn't think there is any corruption in Alabama and has no intention of standing up to the intrusive Federal government. But Bentley is not much better; and I don't say that solely because I didn't support him in the primary. True, I detested how he collaborated with the AEA to squeeze into the nomination. He is the AEA's Republican. Same with the gambling interests. Almost certainly they would prefer Sparks, but they'll take Bentley. A Republican lapdog of the special interests in Montgomery is only slightly better than a Democrat one. It also really ticks me off that Bentley lied about the AEA's support of, and involvement in his campaign. The final straw for me with Bentley is that I believe his is a religious bigot, and I vowed never to vote for one after the last election cycle. Even if he's not, he's a little to close to the Huckster, which is almost enough in and of itself. Consequently, absent some change of heart between now and Tuesday I will either write in someone (probably Bradley Byrne) or under vote this one. All that being said, I will be shocked if Bentley is not the governor-elect on November 3.

Alabama Lt. Governor: Admittedly, I'm not very excited about this race. The Lt. Governor in Alabama doesn't do that much. Folsom, the Democrat incumbent, as a consequence, hasn't done a bad job. However, I will be voting for Kay Ivey. She's not a stellar candidate, but the Lt. Governor will appoint 4 at-large members to the redistricting commission that will realign the districts following the 2010 census.

U.S. Senator for Alabama: I have never been a huge fan of Senator Shelby. He is a little too into the pork. But he is a superior candidate to his no-name opponent. I will be voting for Shelby.

U.S. Representative, District 5: This one is easy. I will be enthusiastically voting for Mo Brooks. I have known Mo and his family for 20 years. Throughout his years of public service, Mo has proven himself to be a man of integrity and principle. Mo understands how to balance his responsibility of representing and bringing appropriate benefits to his constituents, while, at the same time, protecting and defending the proper role of government. In short, Mo gets it. I trust Mo to maintain his integrity even in light of the pressures placed on Congressmen by special interests. Mo's opponent, on the other hand, is a professional lobbyist who has made his considerable living by promoting policy positions for highest bidder. He has been involved with the (quasi)-legal money laundering that a is PAC to PAC transfers in Alabama. To paraphrase the Huntsville Times' endorsement of Mr. Raby, he has no principles and you don't know where he stands on anything. We just can't gamble with our vote on a politician like Mr. Raby. Go Mo!

Alabama Attorney General: This is another one I'm not super-excited about. I not a huge fan of Luther Strange (the Republican), but I'll be voting for him.

State Senator, District 3 (the one I live in): This one is easy. Republican State Senator Arthur Orr is running unopposed. I will, nonetheless, enthusiastically cast my vote for him. I think he has done as excellent job in Montgomery.

State Representative, District 10 (the one I live in): This one is also easy. Republican Representative Mike Ball is running unopposed. However, I will gladly cast my vote for him. I have been pleased with the work he has done in Montgomery.

Public Service Commission, Place 1: I'm still not sure what these people do, or how they affect me, but I'll be voting for the Republican (even though I'm not a huge fan of Twinkle).

Public Service Commission, Place 2: See my position on Place 1.

State Board of Education, District 8: Mary Scott Hunter is excellent choice. She is a hard worker, who has been preparing hard for this job and has the right point of view as to how to improve education in the State.

Madison County Sheriff: I will vote to re-elect Republican Blake Dorning; he's been doing more than a satisfactory job. No reason to change.

Madison County Coroner: I will be voting for the Republican, Graig Whisenant. I tend to think that it is a good idea for the coroner not to own funeral homes and cemeteries (like the Democrat incumbent does). Plus, Mr. Whisenant has the endorsement of people I admire in the funeral home business.

Statewide Amendment No. 1: I generally vote No on all amendments, because the process is screwy and needs to be reformed - unless I'm SURE its a good thing. So, default is No and any initial "yes" votes are subject to being overridden by the default come election date. This one is a bunch of gobeldygook, so the default No" vote is an easy one. The more I read about it, the more I am comfortable with this vote.

Statewide Amendment No. 2: I'll vote No. This amendment would make it easier to raise taxes. So, again, no.

Statewide Amendment No. 3: NO! This is a ploy by politicians to raid a trust fund set aside for particular purpose in order to fund pet pork projects to help them stay elected. Absolutely, NO!

Statewide Amendment No. 4: I go back and forth on this one. Right now, I lean toward a "yes" vote. I tend to agree that a municipal body with no member that you voted for should not be able to levy taxes or fees against you. On the other hand, it is a local matter and none of my business. So, I may end up being persuaded before then.

Local Amendment No. 1: This one is a likely "yes." There are some benefits to occupational taxes - they capture those who use our infrastructure, but don't live here. However, I would want to avoid double taxes on those who do. Then again, there is the default rule. I may need to think more on this.

Local Amendment No. 2: Sure, yes. I think it's fine that the Madison County Commission can pass laws about dangerous dogs. I still think it is a ridiculous characteristic of our state government that local matters like this need State approval. But then again, there is the default ...


So, there you go.

On Obamacare and Rationing

This is a chilling video from a doctor familiar with the Obamacare legislation and its effects. It is further evidence that the current liberal politburo lied to the American people when they shoved this "reform" down our throats... and that charges of death panels were pretty close to the mark. This is what "death panels" means - not that some panel will say "ok, you get to die now," but that they will say "you will not contribute enough to society to merit future treatment" - the end result still being the death of the citizen in question. We must support leaders who will repeal and replace this mess.

The Constitution

I have been meaning for some time to write a post on the Constitution. This is not the lengthy, detailed, pedagogic post I had intended, but what the heck. Needless to say, I am an orginalist who believes the Constitution means what is says and that its meaning should be derived from the intents of the Framers. (What is more, I believe it was divinely inspired.) Either the Constitution means what it says, or it is meaningless. Clearly, to many of those currently in power it is a meaningless and defective document. I came across this selection of clips from some of those people who, despite having SWORN AN OATH to PRESERVE, PROTECT AND DEFEND the Constitution believe it to be a meaningless, defective, and useless document that does not have any bearing on, let alone control, their actions with respect to those they attempt to govern.



These statements are really disturbing. If they were more widely disseminated, I wonder if many of these people - including the President - would ever have been elected.


"Have mercy, O Lord, upon all the nations of the earth; have mercy upon the rulers of our land; may those principles, which were so honorably and nobly defended, namely, the Constitution of our land, by our fathers, be established forever." Doctrine & Covenants 109:54

Seed of Truth?

There have been a couple recent adds supporting the "green" movement. Some may think they are funny. I see a seed of truth - where some of these "environmentalist wackos" would like us to be.

Here's one that may be borderline funny:



This one is just disturbing:

November

It's time...

The Wisdom of the Gipper...

... I came across this ad today, that is excellent. It intersperses portions of a Ronald Reagan speech from 1963, often referred to as "The Speech" because it marked the beginning of Reagan's foray into national politics, with clips of the comments and actions of today's ruling liberal politburo.

After Harry Potter...

... the film I am most looking forward to this fall:




Well, maybe not "most," but I do want to see. It has a message this is vitally important for people to understand.

A Primer

I thought this is a pretty good summation of the Constitution - made simple.

Prop 8 Decision

I haven't really had time to read the opinion, or blog in detail about the recent decision out of California, but a good articles can be found here and here and here.

Honest and Refreshing

I love this clip of Chris Christie, the new Republican Governor of New Jersey. One of my new favorite politicians.

On Arizona's Illegal Immigration Bill

There has been a lot of hoopla in the news lately about Arizona's new immigration law. I personally think it's is a great bill. I don't have time to jot down all my thoughts on immigration policy, but I wanted to make a two quick points.

First, most people who are complaining about the new law have no idea what they are talking about, and have certainly not read the bill. Good articles are here and here.

Second, I really get ticked off at Mexico complaining about this law. Apparently, the mayor of Mexico city is considering joining lawsuits to stop the law. Hypocrisy, thy name is Mexico - e.g., Mexico is one to talk. I would be fine if the U.S. adopted an immigration policy similar to that of Mexico.

Tyranny Watch

See this video in which President Obama states that "at a certain point you've made enough money." What's that point? Who decides? Him? Someone else in the regime? President Obama was telling the truth when he said he wanted to" fundamentally transform" America. It appears that includes the American Dream as well as the Constitution.

Tyranny Watch

Dick Morris has in interesting article on the Hill.com in which he discusses the "financial regulatory reform" bill currently being considered in the Senate. As Morris points out, the bill would give the President (and his Treasury Secretary) the power to take control over any financial institution he determines is "too big to fail" and on the brink of insolvency. There is no judicial review provided these institutions. Step by step, this regime/administration is marching toward a complete transformation of this country - where the rights we once enjoyed no longer have any relevance or import. Step by step, the United States is moving toward a Chavez/Castro-like banana republic. It is interesting that this "reform" bill was revived in importance after the Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United. One way to ensure that corporations use their newly restored First Amendment rights to support candidates and positions in the "correct" way is to have the power to take them over and fire everybody.

...more examples of the tyranny and proposed tyranny of this regime to follow.

The Wisdom of Ages Past

My dad sent me an e-mail with a link to this cartoon from 1948. It is amazingly prophetic and spot on. It's too bad we currently have a President who's trying to sell us a big ole vat of hopey, changey, ISM. It's kind of long, but it's worth the watching.




I hope and pray that we can convince the majority of the public that "ISM" isn't worth the cost.

He Lives

Departing from my recent, more political, posts to one of greater importance, I want to take the opportunity to wish everyone (the 2 or 3 of you that read my blog, anyway) a Happy Easter. Easter is my favorite holiday because of what it celebrates; that Jesus Christ suffered, died and was resurrected that I may be forgiven of my sins and return to live with my Heavenly Father again. I bear testimony that He Lives and that He is the Son of God.

The video below contains testimonies of the savior borne by some of His modern apostles - living witnesses of Christ's divinity. I am guessing these are excerpts from General Conference addresses. General Conference is a biannual conference in which LDS Church leaders address the Saints world-wide. They occur every April and October. I'm excited to get to watch this weekend.




He does live and He loves us. Happy Easter!

Somtimes I Wonder...

... if they're trying to bring about a collapse on purpose. The CBO estimates that, under the President's current budget, the Federal debt will be 90% of GDP by 2020. They have taken the worst of the Bush Administration and quadrupled down. Our county will be hard pressed to survive under such crushing debt. Eventually our creditors will call it in, or else they will control us. It has also been reported that the Social Security payout will exceed what is brought in this year - six years earlier than expected. Medicare is broke. Medicaid is broke. And we just keep piling on. We are in dire need of national leaders who are serious about getting our house in order. It's just scary.

With friends like these...

You can tell a lot about someone (and some legislation) by the friends they have.

From the Donkey's Mouth

Representative John Dingell ((s)D-Mich) explains the real reason for "health care reform" here.

Prophetic Voices of Warning

I came across this on facebook. It's good.

On Glen Beck

I recently came across a post on a friend's facebook page dealing with Glen Beck and his recent statements concerning churches that teach "social justice." My friend stated that Glen Beck was "embarrassing [his] faith." For those who may not know Glen Beck is a Mormon (he converted as an adult). I don't like bogging down friends facebook pages with arguments, so I am venting here - both about the substance of the statement and the 30+ comments that followed the post.

First, I would like to point out that, while I do not agree with everything Glen Beck says, I am not embarrassed to say that he is a Mormon. I think he is right about a lot of things. My friend's post linked to an article by someone claiming to be a Mormon who wanted to be sure that everyone knew that Glen Beck didn't speak for her or the "Mormons she knows." Of course he doesn't. Glen Beck speaks for Glen Beck. He doesn't speak for me and I agree with him. He doesn't speak for all Mormons any more than Nancy Pelosi speaks for all Catholics, clearly. (As long as its apparently in vogue to distance oneself from others of his faith, I want to be clear that Harry Reid does not speak for me or most Mormons I know).

People attacking Glen Beck for his "social justice" comment, use, among other arguments, the fact that Christian churches - including the LDS Church - teach the importance of caring for the poor. Mr. Beck was not decrying these teachings. I've heard him embrace and encourage them. What Beck warns against are churches that teach that the government should force charity on the people and forcibly redistribute wealth has it deems proper.

The comments on my friends post included arguments over whether such "social justice" teaching was supported by Christian teaching - particularly that of the LDS Church. I happen to think that it is not and comparisons to the Law of Consecration, which was attempted by the early Church and which the Church believes will someday be lived by the Saints, are fallacious. However, I think that there can be reasonable disagreement on this subject.

What bothered me the most about the comments on my friend's post was the vitriol and arrogance exhibited by so-called Saints on the enlightened left. One poster in particular arrogantly denounced the arrogance of other posters and scolded someone for claiming to know what the "left" believes, while at the same time informing those of us on the right what we believe. This is one thing that bothers me about a lot of political discussion - the need for some people to immediately descend into "jerkdom" and hypocrisy. Examples: the same people who claim to be for free speech would silence people like Glen Beck (or Ann Coulter); the same people who call Glen Beck a hatemonger are the first to call him and others "idiots" or "crazy." I could go on, but it's late. I feel better, having vented. I just wish that people could stick to the arguments, and civilly, rather than immediately becoming abusive. A clear indication that your position is without merit is that you have no arguments but red herrings and ad hominem attacks.

Hypocrisy Defined

This is rich, given the recent position that the libs in Congress are going to push through health care reform with the same process they are decrying. Just sayin'.