Showing posts with label CitizenLink. Show all posts
Showing posts with label CitizenLink. Show all posts

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Social Cons aiding and abetting Congress and the President in destroying America?

Sad to say, but yes, it's true. Evidently unbeknownst to themselves. Indeed, they somehow think they're thwarting the genocidal designs of the federal government by taking issue with the abortion funding in the 'healthcare' bill.

Chiu Chunling's initial comment to the previous entry reminded me of the email notification I received on Nov. 9 from CitizenLink directing subscribers to a 'victory' piece written by CitizenLink editor Kim Trobee. As I indicated in my reply to Chiu's comments, I had intended to do a short write-up about it but it had slipped my mind. Anyway, better late than never I suppose. Here are the last few sentences from the Trobee article:

Now, attention turns to the Senate, where lawmakers soon will consider their version of health-care reform. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has said his bill will "look markedly different" from the House offering.

Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List, said pro-lifers must continue to contact their lawmakers.

"We will remain vigilant and shift our efforts to the Senate," she said, "to ensure that these same pro-life protections are added to the Senate bill."

Better still, try these sentences on for size:

Ashley Horne, federal policy analyst for Focus on the Family Action, said there were numerous troubling aspects of the bill in addition to the life concerns.

"Many of those fall outside our area of expertise," she said. "That's why Focus on the Family Action remained neutral on passage of the overall bill and focused our efforts on the important abortion funding issue."

Huh?! Educate thyself! Or otherwise get the hell out of the business of attempting to do that which you're ill-equipped and ill-prepared to do in the first place.

This kind of thing is precisely the reason the pro-life lobby is generally looked down on and distrusted by the larger, more well rounded conservative community. And rightfully so in my opinion. They're so obsessed with abortion that they're otherwise rendered ill-equipped and ineffective in protecting the God-given rights of all Americans, including the rights of the unborn. What in heaven's name do they think they're accomplishing with all of this misdirected and ultimately wasted effort? I guess they gotta do something to occupy their time. But is it really necessary for them to engage in counterproductive, counterinuitive behavior as a matter of occupying that time? I suppose so. But I can't see any good reason to just let it go unchallenged.

And "Neutrality"! Someone ought to remove that concept from the American vocabulary. It's about as illegitimate a concept as that associated with the term "amorality." "Neutral," "amoral" -- am I seeing a similarity here? But I digress...

Evidently they can't see that they cannot ultimately win this fight on these grounds. The problem with 'government healthcare' is, well, government healthcare. Not abortion funding, not services provided for illegal aliens, not 'death panels,' etc. Those are all problems, sure, but they're not THE problem. Nor do they combine to form THE problem.

The federal constitution provides no avenue by which the federal Congress may simply effect a hostile take-over of the healthcare industry, such as it is, in America. The only way it can legitimately be done is via the provisions of Article V and a legal transfer of that authority from the states and the People to the central government. Or, to paraphrase General Washington, "by a solemn and authentic act of the whole American People," anything short of which leaves the existing constitution as it always has been, "sacredly obligatory on all." End of story. (BTW, when was it exactly that Washington's Farewell Speech was removed from our political scriptures in America? I must have missed the memo on that.)

But here we have a lobbying group, supposedly "conservative," supposedly "pro-life" which has resigned itself to the idea that the central government is somehow authorized to run roughshod over the constitution at its will and pleasure (not their area of expertise, don't ya know), an idea which defies both its supposed conservatism and its pro-life claims. So instead of attacking the root of the problem as they should if they're going to attack it at all, they go after single provisions in the bill, incidental to THE problem. In this case abortion funding.

The problem here, as we see, is that they're willing to tacitly go along with the blatantly unconstitutional healthcare 'reform' package and the unconstitutional means Congress is using to effect it, so long as the feds make the empty promise, in return for their support (which they claim is a "neutral" position), that no abortion funding will be attached to the bill. That's being "neutral," eh? Could have fooled me. And when (not "if") the feds eventually add abortion funding back into the bill, before or after it becomes "law" -- it matters not -- what will the pro-life lobby do then? Ah, there'll be a bunch of handwringing; a lot of wailing and knashing of teeth issuing forth from these people. That is, until the new wears off or they otherwise tire of it and move on to begging their federal masters not to add additional provisions for the funding of late-term and partial-birth abortions. All the while remaining "neutral" on government-run healthcare, appealing, of course, to their lack of expertise on the subject of the whole enchilada.

Such are the actions of abject slaves, and/or, of would-be totalitarians, not of freemen. And I should like to know how any slave, or group of slaves (granting the pro-life lobby the benefit of the doubt here, only because I don't believe their intentions to be evil), can ever accomplish the goal of protecting the lives and liberties of the relatively strong and healthy among us, to say nothing of the most vulnerable in our society? Ans: They can't. Period.

Is life so dear or peace so sweet? Forbid it Almighty God!

If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?

The CitizenLink article is posted in its entirety beneath the fold.

11-9-09

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Pro-Life Amendment to Health-Care Reform Passes in House


by Kim Trobee, editor

Representatives vote to prohibit federal funding of abortion.

An amendment prohibiting government funding of abortion in the House version of health-care reform passed on Saturday by a vote of 240-194.

The Stupak-Pitts amendment was the culmination of an effort by Republicans and Blue Dog Democrats to insert language similar to the Hyde Amendment.

The Hyde Amendment restricts abortion coverage under Medicaid.

Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., said the coalition of pro-life lawmakers remained determined.

"We felt strongly about it," he said. "We were not going to vote or even let (health care) come to the floor for a vote with language that would fund abortions."

Many Democrats had maintained their plan would not include funding for abortions, but closer inspection revealed it would do just that.

Douglas Johnson, legislative director for the National Right to Life Committee, said Democrat leaders spent months "misrepresenting" the plan.

"The bipartisan House vote is a sharp blow to the White House's pro-abortion smuggling operation," he said. "But, we know that the White House and pro-abortion congressional Democratic leaders will keep trying to enact government funding of abortion and will keep trying to conceal their true intentions, so there is a long battle ahead."

Ashley Horne, federal policy analyst for Focus on the Family Action, said there were numerous troubling aspects of the bill in addition to the life concerns.

"Many of those fall outside our area of expertise," she said. "That's why Focus on the Family Action remained neutral on passage of the overall bill and focused our efforts on the important abortion funding issue."

Now, attention turns to the Senate, where lawmakers soon will consider their version of health-care reform. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has said his bill will "look markedly different" from the House offering.

Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List, said pro-lifers must continue to contact their lawmakers.

"We will remain vigilant and shift our efforts to the Senate," she said, "to ensure that these same pro-life protections are added to the Senate bill."


One final note: I don't doubt the sincerity or the 'good intentions' of the pro-life lobby in trying to protect the lives of the unborn by lobbying Congress to remove provisions from the 'healthcare bill' aimed at destroying life and the advancement of the 'culture of death.' The same may be said of those who concern themselves exclusively with the provisions granting services to illegal aliens, and so forth and so on. The point is simply that the efforts and resources of these various groups are horribly misused and misguided. Their interests and that of their followers (not to mention that of the unborn) would be a lot better served if they would direct them to the recommendation and advocacy of the passage of State level nullification laws and otherwise ignore the central government and its unconstitutional actions on health care and a variety of other issues. But we seem to be particularly adept at pursuing such misguided, miscalculated adventures in America. It isn't like the pro-lifers are the only ones doing it.

P.S. Is it just me, or does this whole hopelessly ineffective movement seem to be headed up by emotionally driven ... women? Que the attack dogs.

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Sunday, September 7, 2008

Religious Right Loses Bearings on Palin Selection

Below is a list of emails I've received to my inbox from Dr. Dobson's CitizenLink organization on McCain's selection of Sarah Palin as his running mate (Note: Links are provided here where they are provided in the emails.):

-Aug. 29: Dr. James Dobson: McCain's Choice of Palin 'Outstanding'‏

-Sept. 2: Dr. Dobson Prays for Palin Family‏

-Sept. 3: Palin Draws Dr. Dobson Toward McCain‏

-Sept. 4: Special Alert: Palin Adds to Euphoria over Strength of GOP Platform‏

These are the CitizenLink emails I've received to my inbox since Palin's selection as McCain's running mate was announced. Very interestingly to yours truly is the fact that Don Wildmon's AFA (American Family Association) has been strangely silent on the Palin selection. I haven't personally received a single email from AFA concerning the Palin selection, and this seems strange to me. Don Wildmon and Dr. Dobson are generally in complete agreement on these political questions, and yet not a word from Wildmon's AFA? It just seems strange.

I wrote at VFR the following concerning Dr. Dobson's immediate and continued support for Sarah Palin:

When one makes the leap--as Dr. Dobson did with both feet almost immediately after her selection was announced--onto the bandwagon of some relatively unknown political figure such as Sarah Palin, no amount of religion nor conservatism will suffice, it seems, to convince one that one has made an error.

Conservatism is about being level headed about these things, is it not? Why didn't Dobson recognize his initial joy at hearing of the Palin selection as based in passion, not in clear-headed reason?

It's hard to criticize a figure like Dr. Dobson -- someone who has for years done outstanding work in my opinion on family issues -- without looking (and feeling) like you're being overly-critical of him. But in this case Dr. Dobson needs to be criticized for hurling himself and his entire organization onto the Sarah Palin bandwagon before he knew anything of substance about Sarah Palin and her "family values". As a respected leader of the "religious right", I think the least required of Dr. Dobson is to take a second look at his support for Sarah Palin and to reconsider his position. And I hereby call on him to do so.

You disagree? Why?

Also, some of you may be interested in the contents of the following email (not posted at VFR) that I sent to Auster on the Palin situation and Dobson's blind support of her:

TM writes to LA:

I just want to point out, too, that as Dobson defends Sarah Palin's "family values" and effectively says that we can't question the fact of her "absentee momism" as having anything to do with the Bristol situation, he's effectively leaving her younger children (and all American children by extension) hanging out to dry.

Dobson says that being Christian does not mean you or your children are perfect. Fine. The Palin's are not perfect, they make mistakes like everyone else, and their children make mistakes like everyone else, who is saying otherwise? But then he says that there's forgiveness and restoration for those who confess their sins to the Lord. Well, first of all, does Mrs. Palin feel any sense of personal failure or sinfulness related to Bristol's condition? And if she does then why the hell is she going to continue to be an absentee mom when she still has young children at home who need the influence that only she, as their mother, can provide?

This is nothing less than the sacrificing of our children on the alter of liberalism; it is in one sense worse than abortion for rather than killing their bodies, it is killing their souls. As you've pointed out, this is not just about Sarah Palin. It is about our larger society and the influence that the Sarah Palins of our society have upon it.

I've never been more discouraged about our future.

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Friday, February 8, 2008

Choosing up sides

On the heels of Mitt Romney's announcement of his suspension of his Presidential campaign, various conservative leaders are, quite naturally, beginning to announce their endorsements of their choice of the remaining candidates.

Dr. Dobson of Focus On The Family, as reported by CitizenLink, has now endorsed Governor Huckabee. Here is the text of the February 7 email sent out by CitizenLink announcing Dr. Dobson's endorsement (no link):

Dr. James Dobson issues the following statement tonight, speaking as a private citizen.

I am endorsing Gov. Mike Huckabee for President of the United States today. My decision comes in the wake of my statement on Super Tuesday that I could not vote for Sen. John McCain, even if he goes on to win the Republican nomination. His record on the institution of the family and other conservative issues makes his candidacy a matter of conscience and concern for me.

That left two pro-family candidates whom I could support, but I was reluctant to choose between them. However, the decision by Gov. Mitt Romney to put his campaign "on hold" changes the political landscape. The remaining candidate for whom I could vote is Gov. Huckabee. His unwavering positions on the social issues, notably the institution of marriage, the importance of faith and the sanctity of human life, resonate deeply with me and with many others. That is why I will support Gov. Huckabee through the remaining primaries, and will vote for him in the general election if he should get the nomination. Obviously, the governor faces an uphill struggle, given the delegates already committed to Sen. McCain. Nevertheless, I believe he is our best remaining choice for President of the United States.

(NOTE: Dr. Dobson made these statements as a private citizen. This article is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as a reflection of the opinions of Focus on the Family or Focus on the Family Action.)

Dr. Dobson is a man, and a Christian leader whom I highly respect. His unbending committment to and advocacy of strong family values including protecting the institution of marriage, the rights of the unborn, and other conservative values, has reserved to him a special place in my heart which he and he alone, through an abandonment of these values and the advocacy thereof, could possibly destroy. And generally speaking, when Dr. Dobson speaks my ears perk up. In other words, you'd be hard pressed to get me to say anything bad about Dr. Dobson, or to have any ill feelings toward him.

That said, I respectfully disagree with him on his endorsement of Mike Huckabee who himself, in a Fox News interview Tuesday night, proceeded to tell the viewing audience what a wonderful human being and strong conservative qualified leader John McCain is, and how much he respects and admires him for these qualities. This personal view of John McCain, I've concluded, must proceed from the same impulse that informs him of how great and wonderful and assimilable are the Mexican and other immigrants who are invading our land.

This isn't the first time I've disagreed with Dr. Dobson on an issue, and I'm sure it is far from the last time I'll disagree with him. But one wonders whether Dr. Dobson saw the Huckabee interview of which I speak, or if he simply chooses to ignore it. It's one thing to identify laudable qualities in an opponent, or to refrain from engaging oneself in the nasty business of character assassination. This is understandable, and a person of real character avoids doing so, or of giving the appearance of doing so insofar as it is humanly possible. But this is not what Huckabee was doing in the interview. He was, as I've implied, effectively announcing his own endorsement of Senator McCain, at least of Senator McCains impeccable qualifications to serve as President, even as he assured his supporters that he would remain in the race as McCain's real and actual conservative rival.

Is it just me, or is anyone else seeing a problem here?

For my part, Dr. Dobson's endorsement of Governor Huckabee is unfortunate and disappointing for the reasons I've mentioned and more. Not that I'm in the habit of prophesying, nor that I particularly care to do so in this case, but I have to say that I have a sneaky suspicion, given Huckabee's statements in the aforementioned interview from Tuesday night, that Governor Huckabee will himself get out of the race shortly under the auspices of doing what's best for the country. And he may truly believe that clearing the path for John McCain as the only choice left Republicans is the best thing he can do for the country, I don't know and I don't presume to know. But on this basis do I think it unfortunate that Dr. Dobson, among other influential Christian leaders, has cast his lot with Mike Huckabee.

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Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Hoosiers don't care about marriage?

Here's a story from CitizenLink on the state of Indiana's Marriage Amendment Proposal. It looks like it's hung up in the State legislature where, if it is killed, as seems to be the promise and intention of some in that body, the proposal will not be on this year's ballot for the Indiana voters to decide.

From the article:

Supporters of same-sex "marriage" say Hoosiers don’t care about marriage and are focused on property tax reform.

I have one thing to say about this statement. If this is the case, then why are you supporters of same sex "marriage" (a contradiction in terms) expending such effort in trying to kill the proposal? It seems to me that if the Indiana voters truly do not care about marriage, traditional marriage, and the protection thereof by lawful amendment to the Indiana Constitution, then you'd certainly want it on this year's ballot so that the voters in Indiana could reject the proposal, overwhelmingly I'm sure, and get on with that business that they truly care about, namely property tax reform, as you claim.

But I'd be willing to bet that when polled on this question of protecting marriage, Indiana voters support amending their State Constitution by a margin of somewhere around 65% to 35% give or take a few percentage points, and this is precisely why you're working so hard to kill this amendment. Let's be honest, eh?

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Thursday, December 13, 2007

Test your knowledge on Roe

Our friends at CitizenLink would like to know what you know about Roe.


Devon Williams writes:

At what stage of pregnancy can a woman have an abortion under Roe v. Wade? Does Roe allow late-term abortions? What percentage of abortions are performed because of rape or incest?

Jan. 22 marks the 35th anniversary of Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton — the two U.S. Supreme Court rulings that legalized abortion. But how much do Americans really know about the landmark rulings that have been responsible for the deaths of more than 45 million preborn babies?

There is a link provided in the CitizenLink article where you may test your knowledge of Roe.

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