Supreme Court Bad Behavior

The Supreme Court closed out this session with a trio of baffling decisions. Rather than come clean and make clear that Ten Commandment displays do not constitute making an unconstitutional "law respecting an establishment of religion", regardless of where they are displayed, they muddied the waters further with legalistic hair-splitting questions of "inside" or "outside" and "intent". Plaques, papers and monuments do not constitute laws. Nor are the Ten Commandments or other similar documents a religious establishment or organization. Read the English, it's really quite plain, "establishment" is being used as a noun and not a verb. Get back to the written meaning of the Constitution and quit ruling that is says something it doesn't.

Then in the Grokster case the (In)Justices continue their practicing of siding with government and big business versus the inherent and explicit rights of the people, including freedom of speech. This despite their own prior legal precedent in the Betamax case. Even more baffling is the fact that such a decision was unanimous. I just don't get it. How can they be so bought and paid for?

What to do now becomes the question. Article III, Section 1 says "The Judges, ..., shall hold their Offices during good Behavior". It also appears to say they can be impeached. In the real world not doing your job properly and exceeding your authority would certainly be considered bad behavior. Recent rulings provide clearer and clearer evidence that a number of (in)justices on this court have no clue what their job is.

Therefore, let us begin the call for impeachment. We'll start with Souter, if for no other reason than his deceptive confirmation behavior, most everything since then is just grist for the mill. Next would be Ginsberg, Stevens and Breyer. That ought to clean the court out quite nicely and even allow for a mistake or two along the way. Call your Representatives and urge an immediate start. Return our government to the people.

Psalm 121

Today's teaching comes from Psalm 121:

I will lift up my eyes to the mountains;
From where shall my help come?
My help comes from the LORD,
Who made heaven and earth.
He will not allow your foot to slip;
He who keeps you will not slumber.
Behold, He who keeps Israel
Will neither slumber nor sleep.

The LORD is your keeper;
The LORD is your shade on your right hand.
The sun will not smite you by day,
Nor the moon by night.
The LORD will protect you from all evil;
He will keep your soul.
The LORD will guard your going out and your coming in
From this time forth and forever.

This passage is not just a piece of nice ancient poetry. It is a promise from God to the Psalmist that he would be Israel's always vigilant close at hand protector, guarding their activities and their souls from threats both spiritually and earthly. He will watch over His People.

As believers, grafted into the olive tree of His People (Rom 17:18), we too are partakers of this promise. It applies to all who believe and follow Him. This is strength and comfort, an rock to hold to, in a time when the actions and decisions of our fellow human beings cause us distress. I pray that we will hold onto His promises even when the way is rocky and sky dark. He will protect and guide.

God Bless.
Kevin

*all quotes from New American Standard Bible-Updated and PC Study Bible

Open Letter to (In)Justice Anthony Kennedy

Dear Injustice Kennedy; What were your thinking ?!?!? KELO et al. v. CITY OF NEW LONDON et al. was oh so clearly a Big-Daddy-Nanny-Government versus The-Constitutional-Rights-of-da-People issue how could you vote for it? The fact that the 4 libs on the court were for it should have been your first clue.

What part of "Public" and "Private" do you not understand? You quote the trial court who said "Where the purpose [of a taking] is economic development and that development is to be carried out by private parties or private parties will be benefited..." You should have stopped right there and said no!

Next time someone calls you "a conservative" you should go sue them for libel/slander. I'm sure you'd win great sums of money.

I realize this may be a lost plea, but if you get the chance please retire soon and take at least one of your liberal buddies with you. Maybe we can then get a couple of more justices on the court that understand the Constitution means what says and doesn't need reinterpretation or extension.

Thank you

What's the Real "Truth about Hillary"

Ed Klein's new book "The Truth about Hillary" appears to be causing quite a stir before it's even out. I heard an interview with Mr. Klein by Sean Hannity this evening on the radio. It sounded like he's pulled together some very interesting information.

However, Mr. Hannity seemed to think some (many?) of the allegations were "too personal". And many so-called conservative bloggers are saying that Republicans should run away from this book because some of the excerpts sound undocumented and too salacious, or because somebody else said so. That seems suspicious to me. The book is not even out yet and it's being judged based on limited information and hearsay. The Clinton machine cannot easily attack Mr. Klein for being card-carrying member of the vast right wing conspiracy; makes me wonder whether there's a more round-about smear campaign underway.

Frankly, I think conservative Republicans have become too timid, scared by the failure of President Clinton's impeachment. We should stick to our principles, speak out minds, and make our own decisions about what we believe. Personal behavior does matter: It's a pretty good indicator of public and political actions.

Get the book, read it, and make up your own mind. That's what I plan to do

Terri Schiavo, Murder or Not?

I know I'm going to be out of step with most of my conservative friends on this issue. The Terri Schiavo autopsy report resolved a big "if" in my mind; that of whether there was any hope of recovery for her. Miracles do happen, but it's clear to me that this was not one of those cases. Her husband and doctors were dealing with facts whereas her parents were operating purely on their hopes.

The other "if" was determining what she would have wanted. I guess I have to accept the determination of the courts that there was sufficient evident that she would not want to have continued in the state she was in. Given that I have to conclude that letting her die was not murder.

In fairness to those who would disagree, she was still a person and she was still alive. I just don't think this particular unique case rises to standard of murder. Also, I agree she was killed in a particularly painful and poor manner, and I wish there were some way to have made her more comfortable in her passing, but it wasn't criminally wrong.

I realize I've not articulated an entirely consistent position here. I still think that society is too quick to condone murder in various forms because it is convenient or easy. This is a very tough issue that I think sometimes defies neat, pat answers.

Mr. White Glove

"Not guilty" = "Innocent", NOT. Enough said.

2nd Amendment Blog

I found this blog, "A Nation of Riflemen" by Kim du Toit, a week or so ago. Imagine a blog written by a conservative, homeschooling, atheist, anti-racist, South African emigrant, rock musician and writer named Kim. I don't entirely agree with him, but if you are into preserving our 2nd Amendment rights then this will be an interesting read for you. He's also go lotsa links to various other similar blogs and related information.

YMMV

Mark Felt, Hero or Villan?

Was Mark Felt a virtuous whistle-blower exposing government corruption, or a venial traitor acting out of selfish revenge? There clearly was reason for personal animosity against President Nixon. On the other hand there was plenty of evidence to leak. His motives may be suspect, but I think almost everyone today agrees that the information provided was not false. He may have been an angry snitch, but he wasn't a liar.

At the same time I don't think he was any kind of hero. By comparison look at the people who have released information about Presidential misbehavior in the last 10 years or so. Almost every one of them did so in public or under oath using their real name. They put their money, their jobs and their reputations where their mouth was. Mr. Felt slunk around in the shadows like some kind of criminal most likely because he didn't want to hurt his precious career. That's not the behavior of a hero.

Nor do I think he was solely responsible for the fall of the Nixon administration. Who knows what would have come out. Somebody might have openly come forward to tell what they knew and saw. The Press might have actually found more information from other sources. One or more of the government investigations might have actually resulted in action. There are too many "ifs" to make this one man the sole reason for what followed.

So, I think Mark Felt was an ambitious angry man who leaked the facts he had at his disposal for his own purposes. The end result was what needed to happen, but I wonder whether the chain of events might have unfolded with less pain for the country if the facts had come out in a more open manner.

Fungus Amoung Us

It's been a tough couple of days. All nine of the children came down with a cold last Friday. It's not a bad cold, but the sheer numbers made it trying. They are all getting over it, but then my DW came down with is on Sunday, and it was my turn last night and today. Ah well, lots of tea and rest and I should be back on my feet tomorrow.

Take care and keep well,
Kevin

K'Doshim - Holy Ones

From time to time I'll be posting a Bible teaching.

Todays Parashiot+ has an interesting point that I'd like to expound on for a minute. Leviticus 19:33, 34 states:

"When a stranger resides with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. "The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt; I am the LORD your God."*

Sometimes we as Christians have forgotten that we are commanded to love those who are not Christians; to treat them fairly and honestly, as we would treat ourselves.

That doesn't mean we overlook sinful behavior. For example, Leviticus 19:18, 18 states:

"You shall not hate your fellow countryman in your heart; you may surely reprove your neighbor, but shall not incur sin because of him. You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the LORD. "

The Lord indicates we are to reprove our neighbor if they are sinning, not turn our back or ignore them, but in doing so we are not to sin against them. This admonition is bracketed by commands to love and not hate them and I believe this command has preminence.

Yeshua extended this principle as recorded in Matthew 5:43-47:

"You have heard that it was said, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR and hate your enemy.' "But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. "For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?"

We are to love our neighbors and the strangers who live around us even if they hate us. That is one of the hardest things to do. We want to be treated as we treat others, but that is not God's command: We are to treat others as we wish to be treated, regardless of what they do.

Why do this? Because, God is our Lord and most holy and we as his followers and people are to be holy like him.

God Bless.
Kevin.

*all Bible quotes NASU, from PC Study Bible*
+Todays Parashiot readings from the Torah, Haftarah and B'rit Chadashah are Lev 10:1-20:27, Amos 9:7-15, Ex. 20:2-20, Matt. 5:43-48. A complete listing of 2004-05 Parashiot readings can be found here.+

Springtime on the Farm

It's been a busy week around the homestead. All four of our Nubian does have finally kidded. One went several weeks ago, one kidded on Wednesday, and two did so today.

Wednesday was a real rollercoaster. Star had some problems with the first kid, but my DW and a friend were able to get him out. They thought there was one more, but could not get it out and had to call a vet. She was concerned that the kid was dead and that she might lose Star as well. The vet was able to get the TWO remaining kids out, and doeling and a buckling, and Star was fine.

Today was very long and tiring. Usually Saturday is a day of rest for us, but the 2 remaining does both went into labor today. Rose had two kids, a doeling and a buckling. The doeling is fine, but the buckling had trouble coming out and was born dead.

Then our queen doe, Dawn, went into labor. She had one doeling and seemed like she was going to have more, but no more came out. We were quite surprised because she was very large, but she passed the placenta and we checked her over very carefully and there are no more kids. She never ceases to amaze us in different ways.

The grand total is four live doelings, three live bucklings, and one dead buckling. We expected two or three more, particularly given that Dawn has given three or four kids her previous kiddings, but are happy with what we have.

Enough for now.
Kevin.

A New Pope

So much for my belly-button prediction. It looks like the cardinals went very conventional this time. I am glad they choose a conservative to continue John Paul II's theological direction.

We shall see what happens in the coming years. It wasn't that long ago that a "transitional pope" really shook up the Roman Catholic church. I kind-of hope Benedict XVI lives to be 90 or something. I've always believed God has a sense of humor.

Kevin

Picking a Pope and Spring has Sprung

Tomorrow at The Vatican the cardinals of the Roman Catholic church gather to select a successor to John Paul II. Now I'm no Catholic, but I do find it interesting to read the take of the newsies on the conclave. They seem to think the selection process is some kind of political party chief selection; kind of like Dean and the Democrats. They really have no appreciation of the religious aspect of all this. I have no doubt that church politics will play a role, but I also like to believe that the cardinals will truly seek God's direction in their selection. I wouldn't be surprised if another "dark horse" is selected.

Now to Spring. It was lovely day, almost too warm, here in New England. The snows of winter are long gone, except for the piles of dirt and gravel where the snow banks were and the broken fence posts that I slide into while plowing. Didn't get much done about the dirt and stone, but I did get the fence posts replaced. Maybe some of the children can start working on the gravel in the yard this week.

Enough for this evening.
Take care and God Bless.
Kevin

Come on in the Water's Fine

Been hearing about blogging for a while now. I've decided to take the leap and see what there is to this phenomena. Don't know if anyone will be interested in reading what I might have to say, but you don't know until you try.

So who am I? Here are some words that apply: male, white Caucasian, husband, father, nine children, Massachusetts, software engineer, program manager, Christian... More will come up as we go along.

I make no promises as to how often I'll update here so as to tell no lies :)

That's enough to start with.
Welcome aboard, enjoy the ride
Kevin