Is There a God?

Hillary Clinton's Fix

Even if the vetting problems involving former president Bill Clinton's finances can be resolved, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton may face another roadblock on her way to the secretary of state's chair.

It's called the Constitution of the United States, specifically, Article One, Section Six, also known as the emoluments clause. ("Emoluments" means things like salaries.) It says that no member of Congress, during the term for which he was elected, shall be named to any office "the emoluments whereof shall have been increased during his term." This applies, we're advised, whether the member actually voted on the raises or not.

In Clinton's case, during her current term in the Senate, which began in January 2007, cabinet salaries were increased from $186,600 to $191,300. This situation has arisen before, most famously in the case called "The Saxbe Fix," but it involves a controversial, somewhat tortured reading of the Sacred Document.

That "fix" came in 1973, when President Nixon nominated Ohio Sen. William Saxbe (R) to be attorney general after the famed "Saturday Night Massacre" during the Watergate scandal. Saxbe was in the Senate in 1969 when the AG's pay was raised.

Congress acceded to Nixon's request to lower the attorney general's salary to its pre-1969 level. Apparently this had been done once before, in 1909, for a senator in line to be secretary of state. And President George H.W. Bush, as he was leaving office, approved a Saxbe fix so that Treasury Secretary Lloyded Bentsen could move from the Senate to take that job.

But Democrats in the past have inveighed against this sleight-of-hand. In the Saxbe case, 10 senators, all Democrats, voted against the ploy on constitutional grounds. Sen. Robert C. Byrd (D-W.Va.), the only one of them who remains in the Senate, said at the time that the Constitution was explicit and "we should not delude the American people into thinking a way can be found around the constitutional obstacle."

Call it the Hillary Amendment?

One can hope.

Thank You Mr. President

Thank you Mr. President from Steven Curtis Chapman:

Whether you voted for him & love him, or you’ve disagreed with all his policies and dislike him... Could we all agree on this? We owe President Bush a sincere thank you. As the historic Inauguration of President Elect Barack Obama approaches, StevenCurtisChapman.com pauses to thank our outgoing President for his service to our great country. This Thanksgiving weekend, we hope you’ll enjoy a new song by Steven written in President Bush’s honor.

Agreed!

Turkey Day Humor

ROFLSHMSH hilarious!

WKRP in Cincinnati: Thanksgiving Turkey Bomb! @ Yahoo! Video

found via Aubreyturner.org.

UPDATE: Here's the opening scene and an extended version of the "finale" complete with Mr. Carlson's classic closing line.

Critical Mass of Political Correctness

Reports of politically correct stupidity have reached the critical mass whereby I am compelled to blog upon them:

A week old, but still good: Conservative silenced on election night in Philly

The incident in question happened during an election night party in Philadelphia for Barack Obama, when a young man showed up wearing a McCain-Palin T-shirt. A video shows he was roughed up a bit, handcuffed, and jailed. Mat Staver of Liberty Counsel says there is a constitutional right to freedom of expression that this man was denied.

No kidding. But the Obamatrons don't care about freedom of speech, or precious little else in the old piece of paper our country was founded upon.

Next a case of egregious legal system abuse by one of the "protected classes" who have made this kind of behavior a hallmark: Suit forces eHarmony to offer gay dating service

The settlement was the result of a discrimination complaint filed by Eric McKinley against eHarmony in 2005, which will be dismissed under the settlement agreement.

Once society starts down the path of socialism the concept of private companies goes out the window.

Speaking of that "protected class" here is another example of hallmark behavior: 'Gay' activists engage in 'hate crimes' against Christians

Dr. Gary Cass of the Christian Anti-Defamation Commission (CADC) is calling on law enforcement to provide protection in light of recent assaults on the Christian community. A Michigan church called Mount Hope was recently attacked by a self-titled homosexual anarchist group called Bash Back.

Homosexual activists, according to Cass, have made it a regular practice to protest outside of California's churches, and he contends something should be done about it. "We're calling for the police to protect people of faith for standing for traditional values," he says.

Still waiting for the headlines about radical alternative sexual lifestyle activists arrested for hate crimes [cue crickets]

On to the topic of community standards, or shall I say the destruction of them by legal means: 'Dirty dancing' ban holds, town pays thousands

A small North Carolina town is caving in to the American Civil Liberties Union over an eight-year-old case of "dirty dancing."

The incident in Marshall occurred at a community facility where a micro-mini-skirted Rebecca Willis, who was 56 at the time, was gyrating on the dance floor simulating intimate acts with a dance partner. According to Associated Press, the woman's dress was so short that it exposed her under-clothing -- but Willis prefers to label her style of dancing as "exuberant and flamboyant," not obscene.

Evidently, however, clientele at the Marshall Depot disagreed, and Willis was told to stay away from the refurbished train station that serves as a community center. She brought a lawsuit, and now the city has agreed to pay $275,000 to settle the suit. AP says the town strongly opposes lifting the ban on Willis.

Thank you for not having pictures. Some people need to grow up, even if they are 56.

And finally to the truly unfathomable: NYC Churches Ordered Not To Shelter Homeless

City officials have ordered 22 New York churches to stop providing beds to homeless people.

With temperatures well below freezing early Saturday, the churches must obey a city rule requiring faith-based shelters to be open at least five days a week -- or not at all

Why such a rule? It makes no sense to me, unless there is some reason the city officials feel must control where the homeless sleep. This smacks of fascism or socialism to me, not surprising for NYC.

"We really don't want people sleeping on the streets, on grates, on church steps. We want people sleeping in [our] beds," said Homeless Commissioner Robert Hess.

IMNSHO society is in trouble on many fronts.

Miscellanea

Work busy.
Blogging light.
Newest toy:
Reactive target?*

*Please note this post is NOT intended in any way, shape or form to be a threat to our current President-elect. It is merely an observation that certain inanimate circular ceramic items might be put to interesting uses.

President-Elect's Religious Persuasion

I read through this interview with Barack Obama regarding his beliefs with quite some interest (found via Kuo & Joe).

The bottom line for me is that even though he self-identifies as a Christian, his beliefs IMNSHO do not line up with many core beliefs of either traditional or evangelical Christianity: His definition of "sin" and view of Jesus make that quite clear.

To me he comes across as individualistic moral humanist. His moral underpinnings are based on vaguely-Judeo-Christian pantheistic deism, and he appears to have some favor for emotionalism in religious expression, but fundamentally he looks into himself as the center of belief. Maybe such belief is more in line with post-modern "Christianity", but it is not what I consider to be even minimally Christian (e.g., an omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent triune God; active in this world; sin as being contrary to God's will; salvation from sin through death and resurrection of Jesus).

I also find it interesting that such an interview is done after the election, and even more so that he is pretty explicit about why. We are in for a long 4 years (at least).

---

UPDATE (11/14/2008): Following some comments on the original article over at Kuo&Joe I tracked down this article in Christianity Today. In it (page 2) he sounds much closer to a traditional Christian, at least of the social gospel flavor:

I am a Christian, and I am a devout Christian. I believe in the redemptive death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I believe that that faith gives me a path to be cleansed of sin and have eternal life. But most importantly, I believe in the example that Jesus set by feeding the hungry and healing the sick and always prioritizing the least of these over the powerful. I didn't 'fall out in church' as they say, but there was a very strong awakening in me of the importance of these issues in my life. I didn't want to walk alone on this journey. Accepting Jesus Christ in my life has been a powerful guide for my conduct and my values and my ideals.

In the end I am left confused as to where he really stands. Reconciling these two interviews is possible, but IMNSHO requires some serious intellectual gymnastics, which may or may not end up at a Christian belief depending upon the tack taken. Is he trying to be obtuse? If so why? Does he really see the apparent dichotomy in these statements? Or is he just saying what he thinks each particular audience wants to hear? Read and form your own opinions. I'm still working on mine, although it's leaning towards the last question.

Hope and Change

Chris Tomlin's "Amazing Grace (My Chains are Gone)" struck a chord this evening on the way home. Here are the lyrics, with my thoughts:

Amazing grace
How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost, but now I'm found
Was blind, but now I see

'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear
And grace my fears relieved
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed

My chains are gone
I've been set free
My God, my Savior has ransomed me
And like a flood His mercy rains
Unending love, Amazing grace

The Lord has promised good to me
His word my hope secures
He will my shield and portion be
As long as life endures

Here is true hope. Not that of the political nature, but true, enduring, life-changing hope.

The earth shall soon dissolve like snow
The sun forbear to shine
But God, Who called me here below
Will be forever mine
Will be forever mine
You are forever mine

There will be change, for that is what this world is about. But God is forever certain and He is our anchor in the midst of change.

God Bless

RIP: USA as We Know It

The Marxist One wins. To paraphrase what I have read elsewhere, on November 4th 53% voted to take money from the other 46% and redistribute that wealth to themselves.

Good One

From The Smallest Minority:

Hallowen III

Bigger and bigger government at best, brown-shirts at worst.

Clueless II

"I never thought this day would happen. I won’t have to worry on puttin’ gas in my car. I won’t have to worry at payin’ my mortgage...He's gonna help me."

News Juxtaposition

In todays news

Journalists from three major newspapers that endorsed John McCain -- the Washington Times, the New York Post and the Dallas Morning News -- have been booted from Barack Obama's campaign plane for the final leg of the presidential race.

and

A Delta baggage worker got a bit of a fright before Halloween when she opened a jetliner's cargo door and found a cheetah running loose amid the luggage

Might there be some form of connection? Inquiring minds want to know.

Maybe Not the Manchurian Candidate

I blogged about this issue last week, but in response to some discussions at an online board I continued to look for information about this whole issue. Eventually I found this site, What's Your Evidence?', which has a great deal of information apparently debunking Berg's claims regarding Obama's citizenship.

After reading this page, and the referenced documents here and here, I've come to the conclusion that the claim that Obama lost his citizenship when his mother remarried and moved to Indonesia is almost certainly false.

The one question remaining is whether he was really born in Hawaii. If he was born in Kenya, then he may not be a natural born citizen. However, the site referenced above accepts the proffered birth certificate as valid and says there is no real credible evidence to support claims that Obama was born in Kenya.

The more I read and look into things the more I think the Barry is a natural born citizen. Part of me wishes I was wrong, but it probably doesn't matter anyway. Any contrary evidence, if it did exist, is long gone and at this point the electorate does not care.

Obama is still not getting my vote. Whether you put "American", "Kenyan" or "Indonesian" in front of it he's still a "liberal socialist".

p.s. It should be noted that "What's Your Evidence?" is just an Internet site. It may be biased, but I've not seen it, yet; and it may contain factual errors, but have not found any, yet. In the end YMMV.

Another Obama Revelation (or shall I say revolution)

Don't let Biden and others tell you what Obama meant when he told Joe the Plumber he wanted to "spread the wealth". Here's what he meant in his own words:

Can anyone with a brain listen to to this and still claim the Obama is not a socialist, at least economically?

Cold Feet Equals Hot Foot

I've heard of the groom (or bride) getting cold feet, but giving the hotel the hot foot, that's bizarre:

A Japanese man set fire to the hotel where he was due to get married at the weekend, rather than go through with the ceremony later the same day...Tatsuhiko Kawata, 39, had gone along with wedding plans despite already having a wife.

Then again, the thought of having two wifes might just do it for anyone. I love my DW, but having two; that'd be too much for me too.

Obama's Continued Dissimulation

I've written about this before, but a quote I read in an article from yesterday has energized me to revisit this issue. Previously I had examined his statements relative to his past actions. Today I'd like to compare his campaign rhetoric to his published issue positions.

Here's what the Obamanator said recently as reported in "Working for the Working Class Vote":

“I just want to be absolutely clear, O.K.? I just don’t want any misunderstanding when you all go home and you talk with your buddies, and they say, ‘Oh, he wants to take my gun away.’ You heard it here, and I’m on television, so everybody knows. I believe in the Second Amendment. I believe in people’s lawful right to bear arms. I will not take your shotgun away. I will not take your rifle away. I won’t take your handgun away.

Here is what his official issue position says on the same topic:

As president, Barack Obama would repeal the Tiahrt Amendment, which restricts the ability of local law enforcement to access important gun trace information, and give police officers across the nation the tools they need to solve gun crimes and fight the illegal arms trade. Obama and Biden also favor commonsense measures that respect the Second Amendment rights of gun owners, while keeping guns away from children and from criminals who shouldn't have them. They support closing the gun show loophole and making guns in this country childproof. They also support making the expired federal Assault Weapons Ban permanent, as such weapons belong on foreign battlefields and not on our streets.

This is gun control bigger, better, more wonderful. A new AWB would be much more encompassing than the old one as its proponents have vowed to close the kind of loopholes that were in the old one. "Childproof" is an gun-ban code word for various proposed smart locks and individually coded interlocks that are fundamentally flawed in various ways. No such guns exist in the marketplace nor will they given their flaws. Closing the gun show loophole effectively means the end of private party sales driving up prices and enabling further gun control via dealer regulation.

His Tihart amendment position is flat out based on falsehood. Law enforcement does have access to all the gun trace information they need to trace guns used in crimes. What they, and this is primarily the BATF, do not have now is access to gun trace information for the purposes of harassing law abiding citizens, confiscation, dealer and manufacturer lawsuits and other anti-2A purposes.

I will grant that nothing in his position statement absolutely states that existing guns will be taken away from people, but making guns child-proof and reinstating the AWB would make the possession of certain guns illegal. The unanswered question is whether all of his gun control measures would contain grandfather clauses to "protect" existing owners. Without "grandfather" clauses his proposed legislation would make criminals of existing gun owners. I'm not willing to bet on that, particularly with regard to the AWB.

What is worse is what he does not say. According to his stated position American would no longer be able to buy many types of handguns, rifles and even shotguns that can currently be bought. People who have guns now likely would be able to keep them, but few new ones could be bought. Imagine a country where our children will be subject to a declining and increasing expensive number of firearms to protect themselves and their rights. And of course, criminals will always be able to get guns because they do not abide by the laws intended to restrict their acquisition of guns.

I continue to conclude that Obamarama is a liar in intent if not in letter. We've seen Joe The Plumber take him on regarding taxes. Now we need a Billy The Hunter to ask the same kind of hard question regarding the 2nd Amendment.

Call 9-Waa-Waa

From "Working for the Working-Class Vote":

“I am convinced that if there were no Fox News, I might be two or three points higher in the polls,” Obama told me. “If I were watching Fox News, I wouldn’t vote for me, right? Because the way I’m portrayed 24/7 is as a freak! I am the latte-sipping, New York Times-reading, Volvo-driving, no-gun-owning, effete, politically correct, arrogant liberal. Who wants somebody like that?

Call him a waambulance. The truth hurts don't it.

p.s. Here's some reports on the subject from various sources; the last one, from FoxNews is of course most interesting;

• Obama angry at FOX for tarnishing halo effect
• Obama: "If I Were Watching Fox News, I Wouldn't Vote For Me"
  
• Obama: Fox News to Blame for Elitist Perception
  
• Sen. Obama's Attack FOX Strategy: A Key to Victory?

Clueless, With a Capital "C"

From Curmudgeonly & Skeptical:

Good One NERepub!

Go here and read the story associated with this picture. It's short, to the point and quite humorous:

Beam Me Up Scotty!

Today's humor:

Sneak Peek #1 of Boston Legal: Dances with Wolves

Yes yes I know, the show actually makes the Shatner character into a caricature but this clip is still hilarious.