Category: Politics

I was surfing the Internet while waiting in the Columbus Airport to leave for my interview in Richmond with the IMB. I came across this news article today talking about "campaign finance reform."

The Federal Election Commission's announcement that it intends to extend campaign finance restrictions to Internet communications is generating plenty of hostility online, particularly among the Web diarists known as bloggers….

…Most of the FEC commissioners insist that they have no interest in regulating the political speech of individual Web users. In draft regulations approved on March 24, the agency says that the proposed rules are designed to "have an extremely limited impact, if any, on the use of the Internet by individuals…."

Most? Most?! "Most…have no interest in regulating the political speech of individual[s]…." What is that? What ever happened to an individual's freedom of speech? Last time I checked the US Constitution, it contained a thing we like to call the first amendment that said:

Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom of speech

I don't get this. People can make smut and porn and liberal courts say "freedom of speech." So called artists can make "art" funded by our tax dollars and everyone says "freedom of speech." But the minute I stand up for what I believe on the Internet, only "most" FEC Commissioners would not want to restrict that? This is out of control. The freedom of speech is one of the basic foundational rights we need to have for democracy (well, a representative republic) to work.

How do high oil prices impact you? Sure, we all pay more for gas at the pump, but what about other ways? We haven't seen Wal-Mart raise prices yet, airlines are having price wars in some markets, and food still doesn't cost more; however, that could all be changing soon. As the price of oil rises, expect the price of everything to rise. How do you think Wal-Mart gets everything to its stores? Trucks. What is the largest sigle expense an airline has) besides labor? Fuel. How much gasoline and diesel fuel do farmers go through? Tons. It is only a short time before oil and energy prices start to impact costs in other areas. That is what this article is talking about:

Christie Baker, owner of Flowers on the Green, recently had to hike the cost of a delivery in Guilford, Conn., from $6 to $8 to make up for the higher cost of gas. In La Jolla, Calif., Domino's just increased the amount it pays delivery drivers by a nickel a trip: They now get 95 cents to transport a large pepperoni…. And at Meyers Moving & Storage in New York City, they're now charging $15 more an hour to move from an apartment on the East Side to the West.

We were talking this past Saturday in our Men's Bible Study group about the Terri Schiavo situation, and that conversation got me thinking. God promises in Romans 8:27-29:

27 And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

Well, ok, we know that good in God's eyes isn't "good" in our eyes. The good may happen days, months, or even years from now. It may happen in a way we can't even comprehend. So, what good could come out of this situation? Well, it has certainly raised awareness of traditional "right-to-life" issues, but I think there could be more. What if Michael Schiavo were to get saved? What if he were to really get saved out of this. I'm not talking a show salvation. I'm not talking about a liberal feel good conversion. I'm talking about a real conversion experience. A salvation experience where he does real business with God. What about that? What good could come of that? Who knows, but if it happens soon, just think of what could happen: he could go on TV, get lots of TV time, and tell the truth about his salvation (see why I'm talking about a real conversion experience? He would need to go on TV and stand up to all the liberal God-haters in the media…all the God-haters in society.).

I don't know about you (or his actual spiritual state; however, I doubt he is really saved.), but my God–the God of the Universe, the Creator, the Alpha and Omega, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of Israel, the Lord and Savior of My life–can work all kinds of miracles and could make that happen if it was His will.

Just my thoughts on a terrible, horrible situation.

One of my favorite sites on the internet is Snopes. If you haven't heard of it, it is a page that investigates Urban Legends. If I get an e-mail from someone talking about this situation or that event or beware of this, Snoopes is my first stop. I was browsing their site, and came across this article talking about secret signs, etc…. I thought I would link to it just in case anyone else reading this may be interested.

Ever wonder who the GOP will run in 2008? I have too. WorldNet Daily today has a story talking about a group doing some poling to try and figure this very thing out. It is a March Madness of politics.

In the first round, Rudy Giuliani defeated Gary Bauer, Newt Gingrich knocked off Bob Ehrlich, John Sununu overcame Jack Kemp, Rick Santorum beat Christi Todd Whitman, Dennis Hastert over Mike Rounds, Mitt Romney undermined Dan Quayle, Tom Ridge beat Dirk Kempthorne, George Pataki defeated Craig Benson, Norm Coleman whipped John Kyl, Tommy Franks conquered John Thune, Haley Barbour bounced J. Kennet Blackwell, Lindsey Graham over Chuck Hagel, Marc Racicot over Bob Taft and Pat Buchanan over Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Bill Frist, Sean Hannity, Tom Coburn, Mitch Daniels, Elizabeth Dole, Colin Powell, Tommy Thompson, Jeb Bush, Condoleezza Rice, Roy Blunt, Chuck Grassley, Sam Brownback, Bill Owens, Tim Pawlenty, J.C. Watts and George Allen all advanced to a second round scheduled for tomorrow.

Well, it looks like Sen. Byrd (D., WV) is at it again. The Witchita Eagle has an article talking about how Sen. Byrd compared the Republicans to Nazis. His spokesman claims that what Sen. Byrd said isn't really what was meant:

Byrd spokesman Tom Gavin denied that Byrd, D-W.Va., had compared Republicans to Hitler. He said that instead, the reference to Nazis in a Senate speech on Tuesday was meant to underscore that the past should not be ignored.

Here is what the article has to say about what Sen. Byrd actually said:

"We, unlike Nazi Germany or Mussolini's Italy, have never stopped being a nation of laws, not of men," Byrd said. "But witness how men with motives and a majority can manipulate law to cruel and unjust ends."
Byrd then quoted historian Alan Bullock, saying Hitler "turned the law inside out and made illegality legal."
Byrd added, "That is what the nuclear option seeks to do."
The nuclear option is the nickname for the proposal to end filibusters of judicial nominations because of the devastating effect the plan, if enacted, would have on relations between Democrats and Republicans.

If you want to view the entire text of the speech, it can be found here. I don't know if this is a transcript of what he actually said, or what he planned to say.

People of West Virginia, it is high time to wake up! Why do you continue to elect a man to office who does not believe what you believe?