Fairness

Yesterday was a dark day for our country. The US House of Representatives passed the largest tax increase in the history of our country. They waved the flag of "global warming" while firmly taking larger control of businesses and their ability to invest capital in the growth of our economy. They continues to walk bravely forward with the policy of squeezing the productive sector of our economy to fund the unproductive sector. This move will do more to encourage the recession than their "generational theft" stimulus policy could hope to do to deter it.

But are we surprised?

Yesterday I watched a video that included a clip of President Obama on the campaign trail. He was told that historically, increasing taxes tends to decrease government revenue because it discourages production. The, then, presidential candidate said that he favors more taxes on the rich as a "fairness" issue. Now we have a president who thinks taxes should punish the rich. He ignores the fact that, in doing so, he is hurting the poor.

The good news today is that this bill faces quite a fight in the senate. Speak out...these elected officials need to remember that it is the people of this country they are representing and hurting.

The Waning Bat Signal

It was only about a month ago that my husband and I were discussing what chance conservatives had in the next election. My husband began extolling the virtues of Governor Mark Sanford and his decision not to accept the federal stimulus money. He was fighting for freedom and state sovereignty. He was speaking the words that I want the world to hear. It’s an absolutely amazing feeling when someone is willing to speak out for what is right, even when it is unpopular. We joked about moving to South Carolina.

Some of you may have noticed that I haven’t exactly been passionate about writing on my blog. Part of that is just exhaustion. Another part is that I have promised to be uplifting and haven’t felt like I could keep that promise lately. This news didn’t help. When I heard about Gov. Sanford’s affair, my heart just sunk.

My husband said, very dispassionately, “At least he didn’t lie about it.”

I got angry and retorted, “Are you defending him?”

He shook his head and said, sadly, “No… But I want to.”

I knew how he felt. We wanted to believe the best of this man. We wanted to hold out hope that there was someone out there who was decent and good. We wanted a soldier, a hero, a good person. We suddenly were seeing the sludge in the heart of someone we thought we could respect.

I growled in sudden frustration, “Isn’t there anyone out there with integrity any more?”

My husband responded, “There is. They’re just not in politics.”

And that’s when I realized, I was staring into the eyes of the man I was mourning for. The hero who fights triumphantly for what is right isn’t dead. He exists all around us. I am married to a man who is honest, loyal, hard working and passionate about freedom. I am married to a man who does the right thing whether it is hard or not, who loves people and believes that they are good inside, who treasures family and religion and adores all the things America stands for.

But my husband isn’t the only one. I see the hero I am searching for every day at church, in my community, in the editorials I read. I hope others can see some glimmer of him in me.

My friends, don’t mourn Gov. Sanford. Don’t give him a second thought. He wasn’t who we thought he was. That doesn’t mean that integrity is dead. It just means we have to look a little closer to home to find it.

We have enough youth...How about a fountain of smart?

I can remember being heartbroken at thirteen because I was worried about all the memories I was leaving behind as I progressed through my life. I bawled hot and fast at my high school graduation, not really sure I was ready for change. I cried on my way home from work the last time, the day before my first child was born, because I know that another chapter in my life was closing. Last year, I listened, sympathetically, as my husband struggled with the reality of turning thirty. He wanted his birthday completely ignored, as if that could turn back the clock. I can understand people struggling with change. I have always been a chief offender in that area. But, tomorrow, I am turning thirty, and I am happy to say that I will be jumping in with both feet. I don’t even have the urge to glance backward.

Perhaps having trouble with time passing is the hallmark of a happy life. It could be that I always wanted things to stay the same because things have always gone so well for me. Whatever the reason, I was perplexed to find myself anticipating thirty, when everyone else seems to dread it. I think I was finally able to understand what is behind this anomaly when I took the time to explain it to a friend.

As a teenager, I knew exactly who I wanted to be. I wanted to desperately love to learn. To facilitate this, I collected reference books. These treasures of knowledge often went largely unread. I was a teenager, after all. I wanted to not care what everyone else thought of me, but only answer to myself. During debate trips, however, I would wake up before the rest of the team to assure my hair and make up were done before anyone saw me. I wanted to understand and have a perspective on politics. Well, I thought I did. Looking back, my own ignorance astounds me. I wanted to be constantly concerned about the needs of others and empowered to help them. Unfortunately, teenagers don’t often have the ability to think beyond the moment and I wasn’t any better. But, I had a picture in my head of this woman. She was classy and intelligent. She was hard working and charitable. She was full of integrity and knowledge.

During the past ten years, I have changed a lot. I have learned the value of knowledge. I find myself reading books on history that would have bored me to tears before. I have found myself increasingly unafraid to stand up for my beliefs, and increasingly sure that what I believe is true. I understand what truly matters in life and have found delicious joy in the things that I once wanted to find joy in, but which left me, somehow, unsatisfied. I am happy with the way I look and the things I have. I have found a passion for freedom as I learn to understand its role in politics. My views are no longer those handed to me by others, but pure and sweet truths that I have found in my own heart. I’ve left behind the passions that rule a teenage life and found freedom in not caring what is popular, or even despised. I am who I am. Looking back, I am delighted to let go of youth. Because, it seems, as I have let go of the little things that rule the lives of young people, I have begun to embrace the qualities of that woman I always wanted to be.

My thirties are going to be amazing. I have four gorgeous children who have taught me quite clearly why the most powerful being in the universe would make parenting his “work and glory.” I have a husband who I have grown closer to each day for nine years. I still feel giddy at his touch and agony at his disappointments. We get to lay the tiles of our lives together. We get to watch our dreams come true as we learn more and more that those dreams are inherent within the wonderful life we’ve been blessed with. I have an extended family that no longer bickers over television, but instead forms the fabric of the tarp that will catch our children as they trip on those difficulties of youth that cannot be avoided. I have the pleasure of knowing that my pursuit of knowledge is limitless and with all I learn, my understanding of how much more there is out there will grow as well. It’s a breath of fresh air from those days when I used to know everything. Most importantly, I have the assurance, that I am becoming who I want to be.

I am not afraid of the future, or of leaving the past. I am happy with today being today.

Happy Birthday to me…Life just gets better from here.

Please pay attention

Here's the thing that I don't get. If people are so upset about the flagrant overstepping of the constitution by the current administration, why does President Obama have such a high approval rating. Is the vast majority of Americans completely clueless? Yesterday Glenn Beck was giving a very 4th grade explanation of how the checks and balances system works in America when I said to my husband, "He's really preaching to the lowest common denominator today." I meant that the balance of power between the legislative, executive and judicial was very elementary stuff that every American should understand. I was quite shocked when my husband, a medical doctor, replied, "I've never taken a government class." It's time for all of us to step up to the plate and become educated about why America works. It's time we saw clearly that the things that make this country great are the things we're watching the liberals take away. It's time we realized that we do not want to become Europe, no matter how good their food is. Today, I'm posting two videos. First, is the one my husband and I were discussing. Watch it if you want a basic overview. The second shows you the dangers of what is happening in our world today. We must stay educated in order to protect our childrens' liberties.

The Words of People Much Smarter than Me: Choosing Liberty

"Our Father’s plan of happiness incorporates the exercise of agency, but it also, of necessity, incorporates accountability and judgment...

"The bondage we bring upon ourselves while seeking freedom through errant choices is a great irony. Cain thought he was free after murdering his brother, only to find himself cursed and tormented for what he had done (see Moses 5:32–39). Peter spoke of those of evil influence as “wells without water” who promise liberty while they themselves are the servants of corruption. “For of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage” (2 Peter 2:17, 19). However, Peter also identified the true path of freedom, saying, “The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations,” for we escape “the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 2:9, 20)."

-Craig A. Cardon

Laugh at Them

I have written before on the tyranny of hopelessness. It was always in the context of politics. Since things seem to be getting worse and worse in this country, I wanted to send the message that giving up or pretending it’s not happening are the wrong course of action for anyone who believes in liberty. Well, some of you may have noticed that I haven’t been exactly stalwart in my writing this past week. I admit that just reading the news exhausts me these days. I find stories that could be addressed, but the fire of anger is giving way to the fire of sadness.

Of course, it’s not just the political directions of the country. For the past few months, I have been struggling with physical exhaustion. It’s something that’s happened to me before, when I was diagnosed with mononucleosis time and time again over the course of years. Each time, a nurse would call and tell me the test was positive. She would follow with something like, “But you should be feeling a lot better in about 6 weeks.” Each time things would get worse over months until I went back to the doctor to be told the same thing again. I don’t know whether this is the same thing, but I know I have felt unable to do any of the things I love to do.

Somehow, this physical struggle has brought to mind the few discouraging moments I’ve had in my life. There was a time I thought I could succeed at anything. Lately, I’ve realized that I will never be the published author that I aspired to be. I can’t even manage to get a publisher to read what I’ve written. I don’t dwell on this and it doesn’t interfere with my ability to do the things that are most important to me. Still, with the direction of the country getting worse and worse, my ongoing struggle to get through the day without collapsing, and my personal failures managing to float to the forefront of my mind when they are least needed, I have been in a bit of a slump.

This last week, I received a package in the mail from my mother-in-law. She had sent me what she called “the worst book I have ever read.” She went on to explain that if it could get published then I should never lose hope. She suggested that we should start the “Bad Book Club” and share all the horrible things we’ve ever read so that we would know someday I would get my chance.

What’s the point? It made me laugh. That’s exactly the reaction we all ought to have when we are overwhelmed by the idiocy of the things going on around us. As conservatives, we believe in people. And the real problem is that when we hear socialist nonsense being spouted, we often get defensive and discouraged when we ought to be amused. When Janeane Garofalo called the tea parties, “Racism, straight up,” I was waiting for the punch line. It had to be a joke, right? No one is THAT stupid. Perhaps there should have been a little more laughter and a little less anger.

The point is that our cause is just, so we don’t need to jump to anger, offense or depression. Reason and right will triumph. I still believe in this people. Every once in a while, I am going to highlight something especially idiotic that someone has done, to give us all a chance to laugh at stupidity instead of let it turn us to hopelessness.

Read it

Agree or not, here's what one Russian newspaper has to say about the current situation in the United States.

American Capitalism Gone With a Whimper

The article ends, "The proud American will go down into his slavery with out a fight, beating his chest and proclaiming to the world, how free he really is. The world will only snicker."

Are we ready to give up so easily?

The Words of People Much Smarter than Me: Freedom

“The volition of [humanity] is free; this is a law of their existence, and the Lord cannot violate his own law; were he to do that, he would cease to be God. … This is a law which has always existed from all eternity, and will continue to exist throughout all the eternities to come. Every intelligent being must have the power of choice.”

-Brigham Young

Be Vigilant

Today’s going to be a particularly busy day for me, so this post isn’t going to be anything great. But I did want to share something with you that gave me quite a shock. There were three news stories yesterday that made my jaw and heart drop. You probably heard about them.

Vet's Patriotic Stickers Under Fire

Mansfield Flag Controversy Draws Worldwide Outrage

Couple: County Trying To Stop Home Bible Studies

Yesterday Glenn Beck did an expose on ACORN that sounded a lot like a conspiracy theory. He argued that there was a possibility some left-wing organizations are trying to overwhelm the government to the point that it will topple and socialism would rise from the ashes. I will embed the clip for your amusement. I asked my husband if he thought it was possible that there could be some enormous plan like that, or whether they were just taking a step by step approach to implementing socialist ideals. He answered that it didn’t matter. He’s right. And when I read the articles above, I realized that we are farther that direction than I had thought before. Little by little freedom is being restricted in favor of a “common good.” My friends, the greatest good comes from the greatest freedom. Speak up! Be vigilant! I desperately want my children to know the America that I love.

The Richness of Her Experience

I have not studied the decisions of President Obama’s nominee for the Supreme Court, Judge Sonia Sotomayor. I will not speak about her record, because I don’t feel informed enough to help others understand it. I will point out that I disagree with her recent ruling on Ricci vs. DeStefano. The City of New Haven, Connecticut decided that their future promotion of firefighters would be based on a written test. They called in a consultant when formulating the test to be certain it was job related. The firefighters spend numerous hours and a lot of money preparing for the test. After it was over, the city decided that not enough minority candidates had passed, and denied the promotions to all the firefighters. The men who had worked so hard and earned the promotions sued. Judge Sotomayor heard the case on appeal and ruled against the firefighters. The Supreme Court has since heard the case and we’re awaiting their decision.

While the ruling offered by the appeals court is short and doesn’t offer explanation beyond upholding the decision of the lower court, it makes one wonder about this controversial statement made the Judge: "I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experience would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life."

I chuckled at Newt Gingrich’s response, “Imagine a judicial nominee said 'my experience as a white man makes me better than a Latina woman,' Wouldn't they have to withdraw? New racism is no better than old racism. A white man racist nominee would be forced to withdraw. Latina woman racist should also withdraw."

But the charge of racism is not what caught my attention in the statement. What caught my attention was, “with the richness of her experience.” I think this is about the most arrogant statement I can imagine. When I was young, I thought that the whole of knowledge came from your experiences. I thought that your decisions should be based on what you know. I thought I knew a lot because of the things life taught me. Experience has taught me different. I now know that it’s not just okay, it is absolutely vital to sometimes say, “I don’t know. Where can I learn more?”

This is especially true for a judge. More than any other occupation, a judge has to be open-minded and willing to hear both sides of an argument. More than anyone else, a judge has to put the “richness of her experiences” aside and look at the arguments in terms of our societal values and MOST IMPORTANTLY the affirmation of the Constitution.

I don’t know whether this woman is a racist. What I am sure of is that someone who bases her judgments on the “richness of her experiences” rather than the law and the constitution is not someone we want on the highest court in the land.