Seriously? I can’t even believe this?
It’s not that I can’t believe the words he said; it’s that I can’t believe someone would actually say them. Why should good health care and good education be taken over if they’re good? Why should transportation be taken over? The need for jobs and peace should be taken over? What? Why doesn’t he just say that our lives should be taken over? Oh wait–diet, health, education, transportation, jobs–I guess he is saying that.
I’m very disappointed in the White House’s response to Chinese pianist Lang Lang’s choice of music at the State Dinner for President Hu Jintao. If you’re not aware of the story, he played the tune of a popular Anti-American song that left the Chinese making fun of us last week. Here’s what White House spokesman Tommy Vietor told ABC News on Monday:
“As Lang Lang has stated before, he plays this song regularly because it is one of his favorite Chinese melodies, which is very widely known and popular in China for its melody. Lang Lang played the song without lyrics or reference to any political themes during the entertainment portion of the State Dinner. He simply stated the song’s title and noted it was well known in China.”
Oh, please! Come on! How stupid does this guy think we are? But, let’s give him the benefit of the doubt for a minute and say that he does play the song regularly because it’s one of his favorite tunes. It was still disrespectful and insulting of him to play it in our White House while we were hosting China, and if he were truly sincere, he would have picked a different tune. Either Lang Lang thinks America is stupid, or the White House is just really embarrassed and hopes that we’re stupid enough to buy this nonsense so that they won’t look bad. And I just love how the ABC article says that, to conservatives, it’s no laughing matter—no doubt they’re trying to keep the left from taking this seriously. This should be no laughing matter to anyone! There is no excuse for it!
I attended my second Tea Party meeting recently, and was once again impressed with what I experienced. For those of you who couldn’t make it, here’s what you missed:
The evening’s featured guest speaker was Indiana resident Thomas Weddle, discussing the importance of Constitutional education. Weddle is the founder of Restore Government Ministry, an organization that is, according to Weddle, designed to “restore the Christian legal heritage of American Constitutionalism to the minds and hearts of our citizenry.” Having spoken to thousands of groups across Indiana, Weddle has done much to accomplish this goal. This past December, Restore Government Ministry presented a seminar on Constitutional Interposition for the Indiana General Assembly. Additionally, the organization’s Institute on the Constitution, a twelve week lecture serious on Constitutional law, offers citizens the opportunity to explore the original intent and principles on which our Constitutional Republic was founded.
The central theme of Weddle’s message was that a lack of Constitutional knowledge of both elected officials and common citizens has resulted in widespread acceptance of a perversion of the Constitution—the idea of a “living Constitution” that is constantly changing and, as Weddle observes, “offers no security.” Weddle discussed “Obamacare” as an example of an unconstitutional law, stating that the recent state lawsuits opposing the healthcare plan are unnecessary under the hierarchy of law that gives states the authority to nullify the plan. He pointed out that the courts do not have the jurisdiction to make such a decision. This was enlightening for me because, as you’ll notice from my recent post to my Christian readers, I mentioned how pleased I was with the lawsuits. Now I’m just frustrated because money is going to be unnecessarily spent on lawsuits when all states have to do is say no.
Weddle stressed that the only solution to such problems is for elected officials to start obeying the oaths of office and for “people like you to not allow your rights to be stepped on.” For more information on Restore Government Ministry, visit http://www.restoregovernment.com.
In my reading this week, I ran across a quote attributed to the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.:
“Our lives begin to end the moment we become silent about things that matter.”
With all the ridiculous, immature arguments about violent rhetoric and with those trying to regulate what we can say, I think the quote is appropriate. I’m also reminded of Simon and Garfunkel’s words: “Silence, like a cancer, grows.” These quotes probably wouldn’t mean much to certain individuals in this country who feel that others don’t really matter or that their lives aren’t worth much. But to the common, everyday American citizen, these words are an important warning that we must take very seriously.
With all the action that the government has taken recently to control our lives (i.e. Obamacare, S. 510, net neutrality, and several others—not to mention the new measures certain congressmen are taking to regulate our speech), we would do well to remember from where our freedoms come. As much as the government would like to take credit for and make decisions about rights and entitlements, they have no right to do so. The late Dr. James Kennedy made an interesting observation:
“In reading over the Constitutions of all fifty of our states, I discovered…there is in all fifty, without exception, an appeal or prayer to the Almighty God of the universe…who is the Creator of our liberties and the preserver of our freedoms.”
I was pleased to hear that the House voted to repeal Obamacare and that 27 states (the latest number I heard), including Indiana, have now joined in lawsuits against the healthcare plan. It’s obvious that the people have made their feelings clear. We should all pray that God, who is the true creator and regulator of our freedsom, will guide the decisions of the Senate and president.
When I first read this email this morning (see below), I was a little shocked but pleased. I was shocked because it is a rare event that anyone in education, especially the head of the teacher’s union—would have anything positive to say about Governor Daniels. I was pleased to see the union being kind to an Indiana Republican, for once. Perhaps, in light of recent events, with so many people placing blame on partisan rhetoric, people have learned to grow up and act like human beings. There are many other conclusions I could draw from this, but I’ll stay positive. It’s nice to see some polite words coming from the union for a change.
From the Indiana State Teachers Association :
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
President Nate Schnellenberger and Executive Director Dr. Brenda Pike attended Gov. Daniels’ State of the State speech last night at the Statehouse. After the speech, Nate made himself available and spoke with numerous members of the statewide media in response to the governor’s proposals on education.
This morning, Nate met privately with Gov. Daniels to discuss the governor’s education agenda in greater detail. During that meeting, both sides were respectful of each other’s positions.
Both the governor and Nate agreed to work toward common ground, fully understanding that there will be differences between them during this legislative session.
Gov. Daniels agreed to make himself available for future conversations with ISTA.
On Friday I made babysitting arrangements so I could go to my first legislative event later this month. After the shooting of Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords yesterday, some have voiced concern that perhaps I shouldn’t go because these events could be dangerous and there could be copycat shootings. House Speaker John Boehner made the comment that congress can’t let acts like these stop them from fulfilling their duties to the American people (that’s paraphrased, of course). Likewise, I think that we everyday citizens can’t let these acts keep us from fulfilling our duties to our representatives. We can’t forget that they work for us, and therefore we have a duty to meet with them and inform of what we need them to do. My prayers go out to all those involved in the shooting, and I hope that all those planning to attend similar events won’t let fear stand in the way.
I’m so sick of NEA (National Education Association) propaganda that I can hardly stand it. I get about five emails every day calling for action and telling of all the great things the union is doing. The latest email I received can be read here on the NEA website, highlighting all these wonderful things that we’ve done to expand our already-ginormous federal government—all in the name of social justice, of course. That term has become so perverted that I don’t even know what it means other than letting the government take care of everyone and everything. Rather than doing its purpose, the teachers union just keeps revealing itself more and more as a political machine with an out-of-control, progressive agenda. I joined the union for protection, but has the union done anything to protect me or save my job? On the contrary, when I was RIF’d and a position came open, I was the only on the RIF list qualified for the position. But the union piddle-paddled around and tried to buy time until they could get someone with more seniority into the position. Luckily it didn’t work, and I was able to keep my job based on my credentials. But did the union help me? No. Instead, they take a ridiculous amount of my money each year and use it to fund their political agenda.
Perhaps I’m not being completely fair, and I’ll admit that I am ignorant of many of the union’s operations. I know there are good things that the union does, many with which I do agree. But I feel that we need to keep our political acts within in the walls of public education. The NEA supports much legislation that has very loose—if any—ties to K-12 public education. And I’ve seen some pretty dirty things happen at the local level, including the misuse of members’ funds for political campaigning.
My husband had a good thought. He suggested that instead of using so much time, money, and energy to empower the government to take are of everyone, why doesn’t the union use the millions of dollars that it brings in each year to fund education? Hey, there’s an idea. But, I guess that would mean they can’t use that money for power to enforce its political agenda—so, it would never fly.
getyourheadaround 