A Powerful Endorsement

I guess it's too obvious, but I'm supporting John McCain, or maybe I should say, like Glenn Beck, that I am endorsing Sarah Palin. Then we could actually hope that McCain gets elected and then impeached by the Democrats.

To Emily

I have to say a few things of a political nature. I am definitely on the side of those who believe that if it is immoral for an individual, it is wrong for a government (which is after all, individuals acting together). Ergo, taking money from some people and giving it to other people is wrong, no matter how "virtuous" the cause. Because the government produces nothing, anything it gives to fulfill a so-called "right" like food, or healthcare must be taxed (taken by force) from some and given to others. There are some things that only government can do such as national defense and those things are outlined very well by the founders in the original meaning of the constitution.

There are certain moral issues that require the attention of the electorate, particularly and more especially because of actions by activist courts. Abortion was handled individually (and variously) by the states until Roe v. Wade. Not addressed by the constitution it was forced into a national issue by the Supreme Court. Localities and states are no longer allowed to set their own moral standards on this sensitive issue. The same thing is happening with same-sex marriage. Standards held for millenia in multiple jurisdictions are being overturned under pressure from special interests by the state courts. Constitutional provisions which make contracts (such as marriage) legal in one state legal in all the states make the changes affected in Massachussetts or California valid throughout the Union. This is outside of the moral and practical reasons for supporting the maintenance of man/woman marriage.
Because Arizona has this issue on the ballot this year I am going to point out a few reasons to support keeping the status quo, i.e. marriage is between a man and a woman. If same sex marriage is legalized it may be impossible for citizens to maintain their religious beliefs in public. Schools would be enjoined from teaching that male-female marriages are superior to same-sex because both would be legal. Parents would not be able to object to their children being taught that way because it would be the law of the land. There could be no preference given to mixed gender marriages in adoption.
Churches may be prohibited from restricting marriages held in the buildings to only heterosexual marriages. This has already happened in Massachussetts where the tax exempt status of a church was threatened by its' refusal to allow a same-sex wedding on its' grounds. "If same-sex marriages are recognized as the law of the land, it will be difficult for any church to defend its right of recognizing another standard." (Janice Shaw Crouse)
Proponents of the same-sex marriage issue are using deceptive techniques to fight the ballot issue. Their ad claims that Arizonans have already voted on this issue, but they know that the intrusion of the courts in other states has made a constitutional amendment the only effective way to maintain heterosexual marriage as the standard. In fact, either an amendment to the US constitution or amendments to each state constitution is the only way for the religious rights of all citizens to be protected from zealous same-sex marriage proponents.

Mexico

I'm not sure how guilty I should feel. I had a business trip this past week to New Mexico. It took me to the El Paso Airport and Elder Mark Brimley is just across the border in Juarez. Oh well, I drove across and found his home. Elder Matamoros opened the door. They were home that morning because it is their planning day and they spend about 3 hours making plans for next week. I took him a coat for the winter and got a few pictures and left. His companion was great. Mark rattled off Spanish like a native. Their place looked like a typical missionary apartment. Mark is very involved in the work and concerned about the progress in their ward. He told me they have seen things he hasn't told us about and I made him promise not to tell his mom.

All in all, I really loved driving around Juarez. I found the temple, but I missed the only session that day until 7 PM. I ate at a litte burrito/torta cafe and made my way around speaking a little spanish. The people I talked with were very nice.

View Larger Map'>Here is a map. Mark's place is close to the intersection of Juan Gabriel & Zaragosa

Trig

Of all the exciting things about the choice of Sarah Palin as Vice-Presidential nominee, perhaps the most remarkable is the light thrown on little Trig.  There he is, a bright, beautiful, innocent child born with an extra chromosome.  That "defect" is his protection from this evil world.  One that will keep him innocent throughout whatever time he may live on this earth.  God bless his mother and father who knew he was coming and welcomed him into their home.  And pity those poor women (and men) who chose, after learning through amnioscentisis of the possibility of Down's syndrome, to stop the life of an innocent spirit, and prevent needed experience for him (or her) and his parents.  And pity all those who chose for even sillier reasons to stop a life before it has a chance.

http://townhall.com/columnists/MichaelGerson/2008/09/10/the_importance_of_trig_being?page=1

Added September 13 from Hugh Hewitt.  In a letter from a pediatriacian:

If you have a minute I would like tell you a little story. For whatever reason, I had a fair number of parents with Downs children who would ask me to anesthetize their children, one in particular is still deep in my memory: a little darling and sweet little Downs boy (I can't remember the age) was anesthetized by me for a minor surgical procedure everything went very well and after taking to the PACU (post-anesthesia care unit) I went to speak the parents. After all the question were answered, the mother asked if there was any way his older brother could see him. He had purposely come from college to see his brother and had to go back. (At the time parents or family members were not allowed to go into PACU. I went back to the all powerful and wonderful nurses, and to make a long story shorter, the brother was allowed to come in. As the nurses and I looked back there was big brother on the stretcher with little brother in his arms. No more pain medication was needed for a child that was now comforted by the love of his brother. It made our day, For those of us who may not think Downs are special think again.All children are special. Children with disabilities are remarkably so, and their parents are greatly admired by all decent Americans.

Article 6 Still Under Attack

This comment was posted in the Article 6 blog. Go there sometime.

I would guess that you are far to confident and your memories are way too short if you think you are finished commenting on events. Although much of your focus has been on the Romney campaign, as you have mentioned many times, the MSM and the liberal left (sorry about the redundancy) are locked into identity politics and are glad to continue to tie evangelicals (and any sincere Christian religionists) to the nearest backward redneck. As Andrea Mitchell pointed out, to paraphrase, Hillary supporters will not be drawn to Sarah Palin, except the uneducated. The bigots will call it "flip-flops", they will claim hypocrisy (see, abstinence education doesn't work), they will continue to expose a young girl and her family to ridicule to help preserve the "right of privacy", they will claim that we want to "force our values" on them, and that anyone who can believe (insert any miraculous or spiritual event here) can't be trusted to run the country. No, my friends, the loss of the Mormon candidate will not stop your work. The lesson to, hopefully, come out of this campaign will be that all believers in Christ and/or Judeo-Christian values (even when held by other religionists) need to stand up together for our country and those values. Buddha for Mitt

Title of Liberty

12 And it came to pass that he rent his coat; and he took a piece thereof, and wrote upon it—In memory of our God, our religion, and freedom, and our peace, our wives, and our children—and he fastened it upon the end of a pole.

I was not in favor of the war on Iraq when it was being promoted. I am not in favor of war at all, but unfortunately there are evil men in the world that will hurt us and take away our freedom if we do not stop them. Some can only be stopped by violence. I think President Bush has been an honorable president who has acted in good faith and has protected our country and many throughout the world from much evil. I found today a link to Mary Mostert from whom I have learned many things about foreign policy. She has been particularly helpful in understanding the dynamics of the Bosnia-Kosovo-Albania conflict. (Note on that: In many ways it is a Islamist-Christian conflict in which the United States has taken the wrong side). Anyway today linking to her site lead me to a review of President Bush's "victory in Iraq" speech which has been mis-characterized by many as a thoughtless and premature declaration of victory. Reading of that great speech is a connection with one of the great presidential speeches given during war and will surprise many who only recall the caricature of a buffoon presented in the mainstream media. The article and speech are found here.

Tony Snow, American Optomist

I haven't written in a while because I have been busy working my four jobs, etc., and I just haven't wanted to write much about politics. I heard about Tony Snow today and it seems like his passing has affected me very strongly.

I remember Tony Snow first from guest hosting on Rush Limbaugh. He seemed to be a man with great, conservative ideas and a funny voice for radio. But his ideas were challenging and thought-provoking. It was interesting to me to see him take the position of presidential press secretary because it was obvious that he did not agree with President Bush on everything and had even been somewhat outspoken in criticizing the President. I think it says a lot about both men, President Bush was courageous in bringing in a public spokesman whose record showed his independence of mind, and Tony Snow, whose love of his country motivated him to want to help the president elucidate the conservative ideas that he believed the president held.

I only heard Tony Snow lie one time. Sean Hannity played an interview with Tony Snow and asked him about his health. He replied something to the effect that after his doctors told him that they had it under control he quit worrying about it. You'd have thought he was talking about an ingrown toenail. This was after they had removed his cancerous colon and then found a new tumor attached to his small intestine and growing into his liver. He said "it's not like it is liver cancer." He was a brave man with a wonderful sense of history.

Rush Limbaugh said this about him, "...the great thing about Tony Snow was his faith. Tony Snow believed in himself; he believed in his family; he believed in God, and he believed in America, and he looked at death as a promotion. He said that when he was told the first time that he had colon cancer, he said, "You know, it squares you up pretty fast. You face the future with an entirely different perspective." And he never whined about it, he never complained, and no matter where you saw him -- smiling, infectiously smiling."
http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_071408/content/01125106.guest.html

Juan Williams, his friend and fellow Fox News journalist, told this story, "...he loved to take time with kids. He had met my youngest son a few times at FOX’s Washington bureau and at a ball game.
One day while riding in the car the news came on and from the White House came the voice of the Press Secretary. My son, Raffi, and I were talking when he held up a hand and said: “That sounds like Tony Snow.” I told (him) it was Tony. He said “Our Tony Snow is the Press Secretary.” I said that was right but in my mind I was wondering how many people felt that they were not listening to the press secretary but to “our” Tony Snow. http://foxforum.blogs.foxnews.com/2008/07/12/a-man-who-loved-people-the-gritty-nature-of-life-and-all-of-the-human-comedy/