All It Takes Is One Offended Person

Speaking of flags, a complaint by one person has led to a ban on the flag-folding recitations by Veterans Administration employees and volunteers at all 125 national cemeteries. The complaint originated at a ceremony in California (no surprise there!).

In yet another misguided application of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, the ban was issued because of the narration during the 11th fold, which celebrates Jewish war veterans and "glorifies the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob." The 12th fold glorifies "God the Father, the Son and Holy Ghost", but that apparently was not included in the complaint.

This is just another example of one person being able to change tradition because it is offensive to that person, despite that it is accepted by the vast majority. Now, I'm not saying majority rules in cases of right and wrong, but in this case the ban is not right, because it has no constitutional basis (at least not according to the original intent of the framers of the Constitution).

Story here.

The United States of....Homosexuals?

Many of us have been incensed when we see the American flag be treated disrepsectfully by supporters of illegal immigration (flag flown upside down, flown under the Mexican flag, etc.). However, I believe disrespect has been taken to a new level by something I saw yesterday--an American flag with the "gay pride" rainbow stripes in place of the red and white stripes. I imagine it won't be too long before homosexual activists will be pushing to have this made our official national flag.

One point of irony: The house flying this flag is located on Rainbow Drive.

Liberal hypocrisy....or is that being redundant?

Aren't many of the Democrat congressmen who are calling for action to be taken against Larry Craig some of the same ones who, during Clinton's White House sex scandal, said it was none of anyone's business what Bill Clinton did in his private life?

I'm certainly not defending Craig's actions. If he is guilty, I'm all for him facing the consequences. I'm just saying let's make sure we apply the same standards to everyone.

It's Only a Big Deal If a Republican Does It, I Guess...

Many of you reading this will have heard of the homosexual scandal involving Larry Craig (R-Idaho). However, there is another story out of Florida that you may not have heard about.

Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jim Naugle has been attempting to crack down on homosexual sex in public bathrooms, the very offense with which Larry Craig was charged. Not only is there very little national media coverage of this, but the mayor, rather than being lauded for his efforts, is being attacked from various quarters. Story here.

Of course, you would expect the homosexual community to be vociferous in their opposition, and they are. In fact, they are calling for his resignation, merely because he is enforcing the law! To see his apology to the community for not being aware of the problem earlier, select the video entitled "Mayor Naugle, other speakers attack gay sex" (little bit of spin in that headline!) at this site. There are other videos about this story you will want to watch, including a very angry, disruptive, and disrespectful person trying to prevent Janet Folger from speaking.

I can understand why the homosexual activists want to get rid of the mayor (and silence anyone else who stands with him and speaks out against this). He is bringing attention to this perverse homosexual behavior, which is commonplace, that would lose them support from many of their allies, and energize opposition from the complacent public, if they became aware of it.

But it gets worse. The county commissioners of Broward County voted unanimously to remove Mayor Naugle from the Tourism Development Council, citing fears that his remarks about the rampant illegal sexual activity and his vows to clean it up would result in lost tourism dollars. Click on the video link at this site to see the commission's comments and vote. Read the story here.

Just another example of the Almighty Dollar triumphing over right, although I'm sure some of the commissioners don't see anything wrong with having homosexual sex in public restrooms. So what if a child might walk in on the middle of it. As long as the county doesn't lose the gay tourists, everything will be just fine.

Hardee's Is At It Again!

Last night I was watching the local news with my daughter, and all of a sudden a commercial came on that could be described only as disgusting at best, soft-porn at worst. I didn't want to watch it, nor did my daughter, so I changed channels, then changed back again to see whose commercial it was. I had a pretty good idea, and I was right. Hardee's. They were advertising their sandwich with the "flat buns", so that gives you some idea where they went with that! Let's just say there was a very attractive female teacher and some high-school boys involved.

They are becoming infamous for their commercials that push the sexual envelope, including one previously with bad girl Paris Hilton. They have aired five or six commercials in the past, that I'm aware of, that have over-the-top sexual content.

I won't post the videos here, but if you go to YouTube and search for either Hardee's or Carl's Jr. (their brand name out west), you will find them.

I encourage parents and everyone else who cares about keeping our broadcast channels free from this kind of filth to boycott Hardee's, and call your local store manager, as well as the corporate headquarters, to let them know what you think about this kind of commercial.

Huckabee at the NEA Convention

Huckabee received a warm reception at this year's NEA (National Education Association) convention. I get a bit concerned when a Republican candidate is well received by the NEA, whose positions on almost every social issue are diametrically opposed to those of conservative Christians. You can watch a clip of his comments here.

Huckabee talks not only about increasing teacher pay (what about accountability?), but also says that music and art should be taught at every grade level. When a presidential candidate talks like that, it sounds like he is advocating more involvement in education by the federal government. We need less, not more, of the federal government in our schools. Tom Tancredo would seek to get the federal government out of the education business.

At the convention, Huckabee said, "I'd like to tell you I became a rock star". Really? I'd rather just hear him say that he is grateful for the positions in which God has placed him.

Oh, and one more thing. To Christian audiences, Huckabee speaks of his support for homeschooling, but at the NEA convention, he bragged about being the first Arkansas governor in 50 years to send his own kids to public school from grades 1 through 12. I'm not saying that he can't be an advocate for homeschooling even though he sent his own kids to public school; I'm just saying that I have noticed he tells each crowd what they want to hear. Besides, I'd rather have a candidate who is not afraid to stand up and say that public education is broken and needs a major overhaul, not minor tinkering and throwing more money into the system.

Why I am supporting Tancredo instead of Huckabee

I had originally planned to support Mike Huckabee, and was still somewhat undecided until the ICA/ITR forum on June 30, but he is kind of waffling or hedging on some of the important issues, in my opinion. A lot of what he says sounds good, especially to a conservative evangelical Christian such as myself. However, you have to listen carefully to hear what he is NOT saying, and note the questions about the issues that he is not really answering directly, even when asked directly. Some might wonder why I, as a conservative Baptist, have chosen to support Tom Tancredo over a Baptist minister (Huckabee). Here are a few of the reasons:

1) While I do appreciate some of what Huckabee has said on the evolution issue, and his boldness to say he believes there is a God who created things, and his refusal to back down, he does hedge somewhat. If he really doesn't know how long it took God to form creation, or how long ago he did it, then he apparently doesn't take the Bible literally. It seems, though, that he is trying to give a "safe" answer. No doubt he knows that, while the majority of people may not believe the literal account of creation, only a small minority believe there is no god or that God had nothing at all to do with creation. So his somewhat vague answer played to the majority, while offending probably only a small percentage.

Huckabee said he believed God "created this process". What 'process' is that? Calling it a 'process' makes it sound more like evolution than creation. God didn't create the "process", he created creation! Maybe I'm splitting hairs, but I have high expectations of him because of the fact he is an evangelical, conservative Baptist pastor. I understand that Christians disagree on this issue, but I would at least expect that--being a pastor--he would have a position on it! And he seemed irritated that the question was even asked at a debate.

2) Huckabee has refused to say same-sex marriage is wrong, saying instead that we need to fix heterosexual marriage before we talk about whether or not to change the definition of marriage. In the meanwhile, the courts ARE changing the definition of marriage.

3) He refuses to say adoption by same-sex parents is harmful to a child, instead saying that "we just don't know yet", and saying we need to look at what is best for the child, whether the parents are heterosexual or homosexual. I agree that we need to look at what is best for the child, but he is avoiding answering the question about same-sex adoption.

4) He wouldn't directly say that homosexuals serving in the military was not a good thing. When pressed with the question two or three times, he would only say that "it is already covered by the Uniform Code of Military Justice", and he didn't think that needed to be changed.

5) He does not appear to be very strong on trying to make abortion illegal, instead saying, "We need to look at changing one heart at a time, rather than passing one piece of legislation at a time". While I agree winning hearts should be the ultimate goal, many hearts will never be won. Meanwhile, thousands of babies are being killed every day.

6) Finally, although many would disagree with me, and it wouldn't be an issue for most, as a conservative Baptist Christian it bothers me somewhat that a supposedly conservative Baptist minister would play songs like "Born to be Wild" in his secular rock band. A lot of people would probably think it "cool" that a presidential candidate--especially a Baptist minister--would not be so stuffy, but instead is willing to get in touch with his "wild side" through the music he plays. However, I am ready for someone who is more interested in espousing conservative principals than embracing pop culture.

Maybe he is just being a smart politician, but aren't we ready for someone who isn't afraid to boldly proclaim their positions on the issue, no matter to whom they are speaking? Haven't we had enough of politicians who change their rhetoric to fit their audience? How do we know what they really believe? I know electability is a factor, but I believe Tancredo IS electable, AND he shares his same core beliefs unabashedly with every audience. Look what happened when Nussle was anointed our candidate for governor because of his perceived greater electability. If we would have gone with Vander Plaats, we could very well have a Republican governor now. I'm not trying to second guess, but I'm just saying that the "electability" factor doesn't always serve us well. I am looking for someone I know is a true conservative on every issue. I want someone who is not afraid to take a stand on the controversial issues. Like Tancredo says, "When conservatives run ON our principles, we win. When we run FROM them, we lose".

If Huckabee becomes the Republican candidate, I will certainly support him with passion in the general election, but he is not my first choice of candidates. From what I know of all the candidates, Huckabee might be #2, but not a close #2 at this point. I don't know enough about Duncan Hunter, but he might bump Huckabee if I knew more about him.