By Alan Caruba
I am already quite sick of hearing Democrat candidates say that we have to “improve America’s standing in the world” as if the whole world holds our nation in contempt or disagrees with our actions.
All nations act upon what they believe to be their best interests and those interests are often shaped by their political philosophy. These things are subject to change. For example, there are some 200 sovereign nations in the world. Of these, 120 are multi-party democracies. Compare this with 1970 when there were fewer than 35 nations that were not outright dictatorships or operating under the iron fist of the single party rule of Communism.
One might conclude from this that democracy is catching on around the world and that in this new century most people want some form of representative government for their nation.
This is what inspires Buddhist monks to risk their lives to march against the military dictators in Burma (now Myanmar). This is what provokes outrage in the former Soviet satellite of Georgia when the rule of law is suspended or, most dramatically, when lawyers and judges, along with others, pour into the streets of Pakistan when its president seeks to extend his term in office by declaring an emergency and martial law. It’s thousands of Venezuelans filling the streets to try to stop the dictatorial ambitions of Hugo Chavez.
Where did these nations and people learn about democracy and representative government? For the most part, the United States of America has been both the example and the instrument for the spread of these concepts.
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Posted by Walt in Politics, US Constitution, US Military categories at 6:32 AM EST
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By Alan Caruba
The murders on the Virginia Tech campus, the worst such rampage in our history, might have been mitigated if just one member of the faculty or a student had the means to return fire.
I have owned guns for decades. On rare occasions, I have had to “show” one of my guns to people with bad intentions. Not surprisingly, they changed their plans to take my money and do me some harm. The Virginia Tech murders confirm the value of empowering ordinary citizens to carry a concealed weapon.
On March 9 I learned of a ruling in the case of Parker v. District of Columbia in which Senior Judge Lawrence H. Silberman wrote an opinion, with Judge Thomas B. Griffith concurring, that restored the Second Amendment to the citizens of the District and, by extension, to every citizen of these United States. Not since 1976, had residents of the District had the right to defend themselves with force of arms.
Judge Silberman wrote, “In sum, the phrase ‘the right of the people’, when read intratextually and in light of Supreme Court precedent, leads us to conclude that the right in question is individual.”
As Alan Gottlieb, founder of the Second Amendment Foundation, noted succinctly, “The right of self-preservation was understood as the right to defend oneself against attacks by lawless individuals, or, if absolutely necessary, to resist and throw off a tyrannical government.”
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Posted by Walt in Law Issues, Second Amendment, US Constitution categories at 8:04 PM EDT
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by Thomas E. Brewton
Separation of church and state applies as much to the religion of socialism as to the Judeo-Christian tradition.
Read Sol Stern’s article in City Journal, the publication of the Manhattan Institute, which was the think tank whose ideas underlay Mayor Giuliani’s slashing of crime rates, tax cuts, reduction of public employee rolls, and revitalization of New York City’s economy.
As I have repeatedly asserted, and nearly every major socialist thinker has agreed, socialism is a religion (see Socialism: Our Unconstitutionally Established National Religion).
Therefore, the tax-supported teaching bias and methodology described by Mr. Stern are a gross violation of the First Amendment, which in the 20th century was interpreted by the Supreme Court as applicable also to states and local governments, via incorporation under the 14th Amendment.
New York City is at the extreme left wing of such educational practices, but Federal funding of elementary and secondary education has meant that a handful of liberal-Progressive-socialists have sufficient influence in textbook selection to see that the atheistic materialism of socialism permeates all of our educational system.
To some degree, all of our children are being taught that moral relativism is the proper approach to life and that everything good in their lives comes from the collectivized National State.
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His weblog is THE VIEW FROM 1776http://www.thomasbrewton.com/
Posted by Walt in Censorship, US Constitution categories at 11:53 PM EDT
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PHILADELPHIA – Repent America (RA) is urgently calling Christians not to exercise their "right to remain silent" as the federal "hate crimes" bill proposal, H.R. 1592, heads for a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday, May 3, 2007.
"H.R. 1592 is an unnecessary, unconstitutional, and un-American bill, which, with the aid of homosexual-friendly prosecutors, will be used to criminalize Christians for their thoughts, beliefs, and speech," stated Repent America director Michael Marcavage. "The silence of the American church, together with the unrelenting rage of the ungodly, will soon result in the widespread incarceration of true believers," said Marcavage.
In October of 2004, eleven Christians with RA were arrested while ministering and preaching the Word of God and the Gospel message on the public streets and sidewalks of Philadelphia during a taxpayer-funded celebration of homosexuality. After spending 21 hours in jail, the District Attorney’s office charged the eleven under Pennsylvania’s hate crimes law, along with a host of other felony and misdemeanor charges. These charges were later dismissed, but if convicted, the Christians would have faced up to 47 years in prison and $90,000 in fines each.
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Posted by Walt in Censorship, Freedom of Speech, Law Issues, US Constitution categories at 9:04 AM EDT
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by Thomas E. Brewton
Since the 1930s, most Americans have come to believe in a fairy tale that has no happy ending. Democrats' victories in the recent elections have revived the fairy tale.
Washington Post staff writer Dan Balz, in a November 13, 2006, article explores the unresolved questions and internal debates remaining after the recent congressional elections.
One of those questions, as he sees it, is:
Equally important is the question of which party can adequately address the twin problems of keeping the United States competitive in a global economy and restoring the social contract that has helped provide economic security to workers and that has been shattered as a result of the corporate restructuring that globalization has brought about.
Mr. Balz is working under a false assumption: the expectation that the Federal government controls business, as well as the idea that it is possible to have a "social contract" under which government can effectively provide economic security to workers.
That assumption originates in the religion of socialism, which presumes that councils of intellectual planners, backed by technocratic administrators, are capable of managing businesses better than businessmen. Intellectuals and technocrats theoretically are motivated solely by the common good, not by private greed for profit. Businesses therefore, in theory, will be more efficient and be able to support full employment at all times when under government control.
In practice, this hasn't worked well, a typical example being the collapse of the socialistic EU's technocratically-managed AirBus and the resurgence of Boeing.
The term "social contract" was most famously used by John Locke in 1689 and by Jean-Jacques Rousseau in 1762. Locke's conception, not Rousseau's, was the basis of our War of Independence in 1776.
Locke erected a theoretical framework for a government of inherently limited powers. Even the king is subject to God's higher law of morality, which embraces the natural-law rights of individuals. Individuals, when they entered a social contract to create political society, retained inalienable rights to life, liberty, and private property. Hence our 1776 slogan, "No taxation without representation."
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Posted by Walt in Politics, Socialism, US Constitution categories at 8:07 AM EST
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Today, the South Iron Elementary School in Annapolis, Missouri, appealed a decision of federal Judge Catherine Perry, who issued a preliminary injunction barring the school from allowing the distribution of Bibles. The lawsuit, filed by the ACLU, centered around the Gideons distributing Bibles to fifth graders last year. The Judge's injunction prohibits any distribution of Bibles on school property during the school day. Liberty Counsel is defending the school.
It has long been the practice of the Superintendent to allow many groups to present information to students at District schools and to treat all requests to distribute literature equally. These groups included, among others, the Army Corps of Engineers, Red Cross, Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, Iron County Health Department, Missouri Water Patrol, Missouri Highland Healthcare, and Union Pacific Railroad. The District had an unwritten open access policy and had not limited access to any particular groups. In accordance with its policy, the District also authorized access to schools by the Gideons, although the Gideons were only allowed to present information during the last hour of the day, which is a study period. After the lawsuit was filed, the District passed a written policy that explicitly treated all requests to distribute literature on equal terms.
Judge Perry issued an injunction, finding that the distribution of Bibles to elementary school students is unconstitutional. When confronted with the fact that the District had passed a policy treating all requests to distribute literature the same, the Judge stated, "Bibles are different. Bibles are religious literature and many Christians believe that they contain the word of God." The Judge described the Bible as an "instrument of religion" that was being passed directly to school children who were impressionable and may feel coerced to accept the Bible.
Erik W. Stanley, Chief Counsel of Liberty Counsel, stated, "The Bible is not a radioactive device that harms children when they are exposed to it. The District in this case has an equal access policy for literature distribution. Singling out the Bible for censorship is patently unconstitutional. We are hopeful that the Eighth Circuit will reverse this unconstitutional injunction and treat the Bible on equal terms with all other literature that is distributed in the District."
Anita L. Staver, President of Liberty Counsel, stated: "We are pleased to defend the actions of the South Iron School District against unfounded attacks by the ACLU. The District is providing equal access. The ACLU might not like the fact that equal access means equal access for religious speech, but equal treatment is required by the Constitution."
Posted by Walt in ACLU, Christianity, US Constitution categories at 8:38 PM EDT
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Two versions of the Constitution Restoration Act of 2005 continue to languish in Congress. The purpose of the act is to exercise powers granted to Congress by Article III, Section 2 of the Constitution by limiting the appellate jurisdiction of the Supreme Court and all jurisdictions of inferior federal courts to hear and decide certain cases. The act deprives federal courts of jurisdiction to adjudicate cases involving “any matter to the extent that relief is sought against an entity of Federal, State or local government, or against an officer or agent [thereof] … concerning … [the] acknowledgment of God as the sovereign source of law, liberty or government.”
It also provides that “in interpreting … the Constitution … a [federal] court may not rely upon … [foreign law] … or international organization or agency other than English constitutional and common law.”
Too many times our federal courts have used foreign law as precedent when making their decisions.
Finally, it provides that if a federal judge engages in any activity which exceeds these limitations of jurisdiction or the respective court on which he sits, “it shall be deemed to constitute the commission of (1) an offense for which the judge may be removed upon impeachment and conviction, and (2) a breach of the standard of good behavior required by Article I, Section 1 of the Constitution.”
H.R. 1070 was introduced in the House of Representatives and referred to the Judiciary Committee. It has 25 cosponsors: Aderholt, Bachus, Bartlett (S.C.), Bishop (Utah), Cannon, Cantor, Davis (Va.), Everett, Foxx, Goode, Hall, Lewis (Ky.), Herger, Jones (N.C.), McCotter, McIntyre, Pence, Pitts, Price (Ga.), Ryun (Kan.), Rogers (Ala.), Souder, Wamp, Weldon (Fla.) and Wilson (S.C.). No action on the bill has been taken by the House since it was referred to committee.
S. 520, a companion bill, was introduced in the Senate and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. It has three cosponsors: Brownback, Burr, and Shelby. As with H.R.1070, no action on the bill has been taken since it was referred to committee.
Although there are several members of Congress interested in the bills, at least interested enough to be a cosponsor, there does not seem to be sufficient interest in the House and Senate leadership to move them along to passage. That interest will not develop unless people — members of The John Birch Society and others — become squeaky wheels and let the lawmakers know that there is support for the bills.
It is time to make a noise in the ears of both of your senators and your congressman. Tell them that you expect their energetic support for passage of the bills. Federal courts have operated for decades as independent fiefdoms showing no accountability for their actions and their decisions. The Constitution Restoration Act will get their attention and make them responsible, but only if we act and respectfully demand passage.
Posted by Walt in Law Issues, US Constitution categories at 9:25 PM EDT
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