tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-354122452024-02-06T23:19:55.857-06:00Riding on in the Friscalating DusklightMy thoughts... written in a kind of obsolete vernacularJon Vander Plashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17524790609689760368noreply@blogger.comBlogger383125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35412245.post-53098048545231267932015-12-06T09:42:00.001-06:002015-12-06T09:42:50.531-06:00<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4m5DDUeC99DNb48lhLrqOzC-lWbsz_J50CWt8YE9b2VbhZ18MnPcdcv-kJgPPRjI4ucaEJX1UZ6tVB4f6o8ysm7Sr1sNhYVGeXc8oZ7ArJ8cvjcZCadERzX7RRgUPgFADEu2T/s1600/Screen+Shot+2015-12-06+at+9.39.01+AM.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4m5DDUeC99DNb48lhLrqOzC-lWbsz_J50CWt8YE9b2VbhZ18MnPcdcv-kJgPPRjI4ucaEJX1UZ6tVB4f6o8ysm7Sr1sNhYVGeXc8oZ7ArJ8cvjcZCadERzX7RRgUPgFADEu2T/s320/Screen+Shot+2015-12-06+at+9.39.01+AM.jpg" width="320" /></a>Jon Vander Plashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17524790609689760368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35412245.post-75673950597408117672010-03-08T17:45:00.004-06:002010-03-08T17:52:02.958-06:002010 Senate Races<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjK30OvqHrad7E9i6us2Y337t5dDfuq1aVA9Jc0S2s5P0bUwsZOrsR6AVD2Q5RGiaRVmjItLo7EY5_bXYIoA8KhwMdeRcJ98Ke4ByJBVJOp_t5VUyVd2f1J2USOvxEcDULFRSw/s1600-h/MarcoRubioImage4.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 242px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjK30OvqHrad7E9i6us2Y337t5dDfuq1aVA9Jc0S2s5P0bUwsZOrsR6AVD2Q5RGiaRVmjItLo7EY5_bXYIoA8KhwMdeRcJ98Ke4ByJBVJOp_t5VUyVd2f1J2USOvxEcDULFRSw/s320/MarcoRubioImage4.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5446375361936490498" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: left;">I am not an expert, but from analyzing the most recent <a href="http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/latestpolls/latest_election_polls.html">polls </a>I’ve come up with a quick break down of the 2010 US Senate races. 36 seats are up for grabs in November, 18 currently held by Democrats and 18 held by Republicans. If the election were held today, I think the Republicans would pick up at least 5 seats and as many as 11. The current Senate has 57 Democrats, 2 Independents (in name only) that caucus with the Democrats, and 41 Republicans. While many are predicting that the Republicans will take back the House, they are unlikely to take back the Senate in November. However, by picking up 5-8 seats they will strengthen their ability to protect <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">America</st1:place></st1:country-region> from Obama’s left wing agenda and set the stage for taking back the Senate in 2012. A lot can change between now and November, but things look good for the GOP.</div> <p class="MsoNormal">The breakdown:</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p>10 seats are in the bank for the Republicans: <st1:state st="on">Alabama</st1:state>, <st1:state st="on">Alaska</st1:state>, <st1:state st="on">Arizona</st1:state> (although I’m not holding out much hope for McCain’s conservative challenger J.D. Hayworth), <st1:country-region st="on">Georgia</st1:country-region>, <st1:state st="on">Idaho</st1:state>, <st1:state st="on">Kansas</st1:state>, <st1:state st="on">Oklahoma</st1:state>, <st1:state st="on">South Carolina</st1:state>, <st1:state st="on">South Dakota</st1:state>, <st1:place st="on"><st1:state st="on">Utah</st1:state></st1:place>.</o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> 5 seats are in the bank for the Democrats: <st1:state st="on">Hawaii</st1:state>, <st1:state st="on">Maryland</st1:state>, <st1:state st="on">New York</st1:state> (Schumer), <st1:state st="on">Oregon</st1:state>, <st1:place st="on"><st1:state st="on">Vermont</st1:state></st1:place>.</o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> 2 seats strongly Democrat (but then again, so was <st1:state st="on">Massachusetts</st1:state>): <st1:state st="on">Washington</st1:state> and <st1:state st="on"><st1:place st="on">Connecticut</st1:place></st1:state></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> 8 seats strongly Republican: Iowa, Florida (Marco Rubio, a conservative rising star in the Republican party, is trouncing moderate Charlie Crist for the nomination), Louisiana, North Carolina, Delaware (Mike Castle is crushing Coons by 18 points for Biden’s former seat, no wonder Biden’s son pulled out), Nevada (Harry Reid trails Sue Lowden by 13 points), Kentucky (both Republican candidates for Jim Bunning’s vacated seat are outpolling both Democratic candidates by double digits – Ron Paul’s son Rand is the likely Republican nomineee) and North Dakota.</o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p>Ok, so far that’s 18 seats for the Republicans and 7 for the Democrats. Of the remaining 12 seats, any seat the Republicans win is a gain. Here’s where it gets interesting.</o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p>5 seats lean Republican:</o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"><st1:place st="on"><st1:state st="on"><b>Colorado</b></st1:state></st1:place>: both Republican candidates are polling ahead of current Sen. Bennet (D) by 6-9 points.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"><st1:place st="on"><st1:state st="on"><b>Missouri</b></st1:state></st1:place>: Kit Bond is retiring, but Roy Blunt (R) up 7 points on Robin Carnahan (D).</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"><st1:place st="on"><st1:state st="on"><b>New Hampshire</b></st1:state></st1:place>: Judd Gregg is retiring, but likely GOP nominee Kelly Ayotte leads Rep. Paul Hodes (D) by 7 points.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"><st1:state st="on"><st1:place st="on"><b>Arkansas:</b></st1:place></st1:state> Blanche Lincoln (D) is in a primary fight, but should hang on. However, she trails likely Republican nominee Congressman John Boozman by 9 points.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"><st1:state st="on"><st1:place st="on"><b>Indiana</b></st1:place></st1:state>: Evan Bayh’s retirement may have handed the seat to former Indiana Senator Dan Coats (R). <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"></span></p><p><br />6 seats are tossups:</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"><st1:state st="on"><st1:place st="on"><b>New York</b></st1:place></st1:state><b> (Gillebrand)</b>: Former Governor Pataki is neck and neck with Gillebrand (D) in the polls, but hasn’t decided yet if he will run. </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"><b>Illinois</b>: Roland Burris is retiring (as if he had a choice) and centrist Republican Congressman Mark Kirk has a modest lead on 33 year old Alexi Giannoulias who just bankrupted his wealthy family’s bank under his leadership (he has cited this as a reason to vote for him – he feels your economic pain). This is Obama’s senate seat – would be a huge victory for the GOP.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"><st1:state st="on"><st1:place st="on"><b>California</b></st1:place></st1:state>: Carly Fiorina, the former CEO of HP and tea-partier Chuck DeVore are both polling within about 5 points of Barbara Boxer, believe it or not. </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"><st1:state st="on"><st1:place st="on"><b>Wisconsin</b></st1:place></st1:state>: Former Governor Tommy Thompson is polling slightly ahead of liberal Russ Feingold. Hopefully he chooses to run. </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"><st1:state st="on"><st1:place st="on"><b>Ohio</b></st1:place></st1:state>: Rob Portman (R) is up 5 or 6 points on likely Democratic nominee.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"><st1:state st="on"><b>Pennsylvania</b></st1:state>: The polls have been see-sawing a bit in this race between the likely Republican nominee, former Club for Growth president and <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region> Representative Pat Toomey and current Democrat Arlen Spector.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in">As we’ve learned during the Bush years, it’s not good enough to have Republicans in Congress, we need conservative Republicans. Many of these candidates are quite conservative. I am excited about Marco Rubio, I think he is presidential material down the road. </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in">The news should get even better for the Republicans in the 2012 Senate elections. 33 seats will be up for grabs, 23 Democrats (I've included the two Independents) and only 10 Republicans. This math creates greater opportunities for the GOP to establish a strong majority in the Senate. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span></p>Jon Vander Plashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17524790609689760368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35412245.post-21937903752257844072009-10-24T09:32:00.002-05:002009-10-24T09:44:35.602-05:00Jodie Evans and ObamaWhy does Obama continue to give so much face time to Jodie Evans? The founder of Code Pink and major fundraiser for Obama recently spoke for a while with Obama at a fundraiser.<br /><br /><a href="http://biggovernment.com/2009/10/23/a-name-americans-should-know-jodie-evans-and-the-obama-hollywood-terrorist-connection/">Jodie Evans</a> is one of the worst people in this country. Let's count the ways:<br /><br />On the terrorists in Iraq fighting and killing US soldiers:<br /><blockquote><em>”We must begin by really standing with the Iraqi people and defending their right to resist. I can remain myself against all forms of violence, and yet I cannot judge what someone has to do when pushed to the wall to protect all they love. The Iraqi people are fighting for their country, to protect their families and to preserve all they love. They are fighting for their lives, and we are fighting for lies.” (AlterNet, June 26, 2005)<br /><br /></em><em>“There is widespread opposition to the occupation. Political, social, and civil resistance through peaceful means is subjected to repression by the occupying forces. It is the occupation and its brutality that has provoked a strong armed resistance and certain acts of desperation. By the principles embodied in the UN Charter and in international law, the popular national resistance to the occupation is legitimate and justified. It deserves the support of people everywhere who care for justice and freedom.”<br /></em></blockquote><br /><br />Evans travels the globe, meeting with every terrorist and tyrant she can find, offering her support. The President should denounce her publicly and refuse her contributions, not grant her face time.Jon Vander Plashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17524790609689760368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35412245.post-1815716812345797232009-08-19T22:28:00.004-05:002009-08-19T22:32:52.730-05:00Burning One DownMarijuana growers from a Mexican drug cartel just caused an <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,540427,00.html">88,000 acre wildfire</a> in California. Do you think liberals will be more interested in protecting the border now? Hmmm, probably not.Jon Vander Plashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17524790609689760368noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35412245.post-60183642968287709912009-08-16T13:01:00.002-05:002009-08-16T13:03:14.205-05:00The Drum-quarium<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_rOIQXc9LKbk/SilYPM6lTbI/AAAAAAAAAJU/1qDquA05SoQ/s320/drum+shield.bmp"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 290px; height: 290px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_rOIQXc9LKbk/SilYPM6lTbI/AAAAAAAAAJU/1qDquA05SoQ/s320/drum+shield.bmp" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />New post on Stuff White Christians Like: <a href="http://www.stuffwhitechristianslike.com/">The Drum-quarium</a>.Jon Vander Plashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17524790609689760368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35412245.post-688284795340198172009-08-15T10:22:00.001-05:002009-08-15T10:22:00.625-05:00Ronald Reagan Speaks Out Against Socialized Medicine<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'><p><object height='350' width='425'><param value='http://youtube.com/v/fRdLpem-AAs' name='movie'/><embed height='350' width='425' type='application/x-shockwave-flash' src='http://youtube.com/v/fRdLpem-AAs'/></object></p></div>Jon Vander Plashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17524790609689760368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35412245.post-42032729217241805202009-08-09T19:52:00.001-05:002009-08-09T19:53:49.652-05:00Focusing on the Family<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpYC9FlLWxPs6PcVneO94H-nO6LOn25zDIz_OipYVUoBkfFtnjqrVOIocFgESYxl4BkcpegfcmW7Tl8tnIWXutJdozp6Zr3k6pLtjmFuZ1SwcIiK8MPo5b-ZviitU_VVA_sh4u/s1600-h/dobson.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 205px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpYC9FlLWxPs6PcVneO94H-nO6LOn25zDIz_OipYVUoBkfFtnjqrVOIocFgESYxl4BkcpegfcmW7Tl8tnIWXutJdozp6Zr3k6pLtjmFuZ1SwcIiK8MPo5b-ZviitU_VVA_sh4u/s320/dobson.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368131724100610130" border="0" /></a><br />Stuff White Christians Like #38: <a href="http://www.stuffwhitechristianslike.com">Focusing on the Family</a>Jon Vander Plashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17524790609689760368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35412245.post-18262323270635327282009-08-04T16:33:00.004-05:002009-08-04T23:35:22.638-05:00Liberals: Not Wasting Crises Since 1933<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT1RQ0O214HlEK6T_Z8zkMRY9HGIWpg6LZrrIZ1cSAjJ3rGbG66GgNjuc-Uu-MPriKDPpkL5tQp7mcN52rDx855W0aqKo66W8wGCfMNdE_k2_kATGUMQhC5wbQlfTWbLi8kxPI/s1600-h/fdr-obama"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 225px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT1RQ0O214HlEK6T_Z8zkMRY9HGIWpg6LZrrIZ1cSAjJ3rGbG66GgNjuc-Uu-MPriKDPpkL5tQp7mcN52rDx855W0aqKo66W8wGCfMNdE_k2_kATGUMQhC5wbQlfTWbLi8kxPI/s400/fdr-obama" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5366330710355201378" border="0" /></a><br />"You never want a serious crisis to go to waste," Rahm Emanuel, Obama's chief of staff, let slip just after the election. "This crisis provides the opportunity for us to do things that you could not do before," he continued. Obama has seized the opportunity, following the example of Franklin D. Roosevelt, who took full advantage of the fear created by the stock market crash of 1929 and the Great Depression.<br /><br />Let's review: in October 1929, two months after the crash, unemployment peaked at 9% and then declined to 6.3% by June 1930. Congress and President Hoover then passed the Smoot-Hawley tariffs with the intention of reducing imports and protecting American jobs. By November unemployment was 11.6% and the Great Depression was beginning. FDR was elected in 1933, promising in his acceptance speech:<br /><blockquote>"Throughout the nation men and women, forgotten in the political philosophy of the Government, look to us here for guidance and for more equitable opportunity to share in the distribution of national wealth... I pledge you, I pledge myself to a new deal for the American people... This is more than a political campaign. It is a call to arms."</blockquote><br /><br />FDR believed that through greater central planning of the economy, more powerful unions and massive social programs he could improve the economy and dramatically shift the power balance towards <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statism">statism</a> and the Democratic party. He succeeded only in the latter. The first of FDR's New Deal interventions in the economy after taking office in 1933 was the National Industrial Recovery Act, which set prices and wages. Then came the Agricultural Adjustment Act, which allowed FDR to control prices and output of all the nation's farmers. These interventions and others, combined with anti-business rhetoric from the White House created much unpredictability in the marketplace and business investment fell off the cliff. For the first 21 months of FDR's presidency, unemployment was above 20%. In 1940, after 7 years of FDR's New Deal, unemployment was 14.3%. When WWII started, unemployment declined dramatically as millions of unemployed men went to war and FDR changed his focus from radically changing the free market to winning the war.<br /><br />Not only did FDR's policies extend the Great Depression, causing much suffering, but he left us with a much, much, much larger and oppressive federal government that continues to rob us of our liberty and tax dollars to this day. He took full advantage of the crisis at hand to move the country a long way toward statism.<br /><br />Obama is seeking to do the same, having learned from FDR's example. Massive deficit spending didn't help the economy when FDR tried it, but it did help the federal government usurp more power from the people, so Obama rolled out a $1 trillion "stimulus" bill. His health care "reform" is a thinly disguised attempt to force us all into socialized medicine.<br /><br />Most of Obama's efforts to revive the economy focus on creating government jobs. Unfortunately, creating more government jobs does not mean more net jobs, since the money used to create them is taken out of the market, which would have been more efficient at creating jobs with that money. However, as Obama learned well while in Chicago, government jobs create a group of people that rely on the government for their paycheck and will tend to vote for people that favor their continued employment.<br /><br />FDR used the Great Depression to move this country away from individual liberty and limited government and toward statism. Let's hope Obama is not as "successful."Jon Vander Plashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17524790609689760368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35412245.post-27712330051075667902009-07-30T19:05:00.003-05:002009-07-30T20:35:33.907-05:00The Obama Birth CertificateAttention conspiracy theorists: President Obama was born in Hawaii, please give that one up. As Andrew McCarthy points out in <a href="http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ZmJhMzlmZWFhOTQ3YjUxMDE2YWY4ZDMzZjZlYTVmZmU=&w=MA==">National Review</a>, the controversy surrounding Obama's birth certificate should be about his honesty (or lack thereof) about his past.<br /><br />During the campaign, Obama lacked experience, so he ran on a compelling story, as detailed in two auto-biographies. Much of this life story is a complete fabrication, as McCarthy details. McCarthy hypothesizes that Obama doesn't want the birth certificate released because it will reveal additional details about the Muslim heritage he alternately embraces and shuns whenever it suits him. The media has been very interested in Sarah Palin rumors, but hasn't bothered to examine the details of Obama's past:<br /><br /><blockquote>Astonishingly, reporters see their job not as reporting Obama news but as debunking Obama news, or flat-out suppressing it. How many Americans know, for example, that as a sitting U.S. senator in 2006, Obama interfered in a Kenyan election, publicly ripping the incumbent government (a U.S. ally) for corruption while he was its guest and barnstorming with his preferred candidate: a Marxist now known to have made a secret agreement with Islamists to convert Kenya to sharia law, and whose supporters, upon losing the election, committed murder and mayhem, displacing thousands of Kenyans and plunging their country into utter chaos?</blockquote><br /><br />Obama has not been honest about his past and it's worth finding out the truth.Jon Vander Plashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17524790609689760368noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35412245.post-28696512959918344252009-07-30T19:02:00.002-05:002009-07-30T19:04:46.346-05:00Stuff White Christians Like #36 Unofficial Church Roll Calls<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQvq8Q13YVHRl2wssiwfUWD-gdslhS94wrl3XpoEd5eFi5FWsVvY30bkvwdMdvtuCln1_IqA35z9TLbD-4ncEOjgGwxF0EiTC39_bCqNs189u-APZKayhnwISF7WCr94Yzu9dm/s400/congregation.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQvq8Q13YVHRl2wssiwfUWD-gdslhS94wrl3XpoEd5eFi5FWsVvY30bkvwdMdvtuCln1_IqA35z9TLbD-4ncEOjgGwxF0EiTC39_bCqNs189u-APZKayhnwISF7WCr94Yzu9dm/s400/congregation.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />#36 <a href="http://www.stuffwhitechristianslike.com">Unofficial Church Roll Calls<br /></a>Jon Vander Plashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17524790609689760368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35412245.post-25201926144356491282009-07-12T14:41:00.001-05:002009-07-12T14:43:20.310-05:00Stuff White Christians Like #34 Non-Traditional Biblical NamesLearn how white Christians satisfy the urge to use weird baby names just like the celebrities, yet remain grounded in the Bible: <a href="http://www.stuffwhitechristianslike.com">#34 Non-Traditional Biblical Names</a>.Jon Vander Plashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17524790609689760368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35412245.post-49996161552525840802009-07-05T20:56:00.001-05:002009-07-05T20:58:03.150-05:00Stuff White Christians Like #33: PowerPoint<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSia9Q5JqfGgG6cm1pK80P76higBscS3fxYXq8t3Pk-xoKYzz3MBcHzykJZ96n97bgPN1V4_jTp_hqJTwwdfKzaG4FUd5Z0Yisi4vLhyphenhyphenS9rr4bo-dcstQuw6_jKMRuzknFrBBa/s1600-h/powerpoint"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 263px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSia9Q5JqfGgG6cm1pK80P76higBscS3fxYXq8t3Pk-xoKYzz3MBcHzykJZ96n97bgPN1V4_jTp_hqJTwwdfKzaG4FUd5Z0Yisi4vLhyphenhyphenS9rr4bo-dcstQuw6_jKMRuzknFrBBa/s320/powerpoint" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355160336093267890" border="0" /></a>White Christians love PowerPoint... but not the inept tech guy running it.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.stuffwhitechristianslike.com/">#33 PowerPoint</a>Jon Vander Plashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17524790609689760368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35412245.post-33311474079440719712009-06-29T18:09:00.003-05:002009-06-29T19:06:43.964-05:00Cap and Tax<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;">The House passed a “Cap and Trade” bill on Friday. The Wall Street Journal calls it the largest tax ever. Obama claims it will only cost the average tax payer the price of a postage stamp a day, yet it will fight global warming and create millions of new “green” jobs. Obama is lying through his teeth. The point of cap and trade (besides granting Democrats even more control of your lives) is to artificially make energy derived from coal or gasoline so expensive that using alternative energy sources becomes more economical. Increasing the taxes by pennies a day isn’t enough to force the average consumer to change. In the beginning, the <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124588837560750781.html">Heritage Foundation</a> estimates that the bill (should it pass the Senate) would cost the average family of four $1,870 a year. In 2035 it will cost the average middle class family nearly $7,000 a year.<br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"> </span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;">Obama may give you some of the money back through tax credits for living your life in leftist approved ways – for example, by driving an Obama approved car and living in an Obama approved house. One provision of the bill stipulates that in order to sell your house, it must first be inspected by a government bureaucrat. If your house doesn’t have energy efficient windows and appliances you can’t sell your house. I’ll guess that means we’ll all be living in Obama approved housing before too long.</span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"> </span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;">Obama claims this will create (or save?) lots of “green” jobs. Of course it will. It’s not hard to create a job. You could take a billion in tax dollars and pay 20,000 people $50k a year to dig ditches and then fill them in again. You just created 20,000 jobs, but you destroyed many more than that because of the billion dollars you took out of the private sector. </span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"> </span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;">Cap and trade will dramatically increase your heating bill, your electric bill, and your transportation costs. Every product you buy will become more expensive because the energy used to create it and ship it to you will be more expensive. The green industry will make out like bandits, but your quality of life will decline dramatically. Forget that vacation or college savings account – your extra money is going to cap and trade. <span><br /></span></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;"><span><br /></span></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;"><span>House Republicans tried to submit amendments that would suspend the program if gas hit $5 a gallon, or if electricity prices rose 15% or if unemployment hit 15%. The Democrats defeated them all. Here's John Boehner on this disastrous legislation:</span></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;"><span></span></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span class="middlecopy"><i>“Americans need real solutions to create jobs, lower energy prices, and clean up the environment, but Speaker Pelosi’s national energy tax is a recipe for driving up prices for middle-class families and small businesses and shipping more American jobs overseas. </i><i>The President repeated his claim that this bill will create jobs, but independent analysts suggest it’s a job killer, while one of his prominent supporters, Warren Buffett, calls it a huge, regressive tax. </i></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span class="middlecopy"><i> </i></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span class="middlecopy"><i>“Republicans believe there is a better route to more jobs, reliable energy, and a cleaner, healthier environment. Our all-of-the-above plan will increase American energy production in an environmentally-safe way, encourage the use of alternatives such as nuclear and clean-coal energy, and promote new technologies and efficiencies. Unfortunately, Democrats in Congress and the Administration have chosen to go it alone with their costly, jobs-killing national energy tax scheme. Middle-class families and small businesses struggling during this recession won’t support it. It’s time for Democrats to work with Republicans on real solutions to create jobs and pave the way for a cleaner, more reliable energy future.”</i></span></p>Jon Vander Plashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17524790609689760368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35412245.post-69248105383725532002009-06-29T17:49:00.002-05:002009-06-29T18:01:40.032-05:00Obama, Chavez and Castro Vs. the People of HondurasWhy is Obama siding with Chavez and Castro against the Honduran people? Read more from the <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124623220955866301.html">WSJ</a> on how Honduras is attempting to defend its democracy over the objections of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.Jon Vander Plashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17524790609689760368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35412245.post-64425098669094820882009-06-28T15:08:00.003-05:002009-06-28T15:35:06.779-05:00Youth Pastors<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcNAV8rTEpy3rhM-VDquqd0AZIEcavNA5Hg0Tow9RMXpuoXrJICWZ6W1JTA8D4up2FYs6TJwpP16D3taIXBV0hYNpD3b-XAI2uwPao9uksVQ4owzwZ65bB6fREhdNwYoX4DSK4/s1600-h/youthpastor.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcNAV8rTEpy3rhM-VDquqd0AZIEcavNA5Hg0Tow9RMXpuoXrJICWZ6W1JTA8D4up2FYs6TJwpP16D3taIXBV0hYNpD3b-XAI2uwPao9uksVQ4owzwZ65bB6fREhdNwYoX4DSK4/s320/youthpastor.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5352473709668918354" /></a><a href="http://www.stuffwhitechristianslike.com/">Stuff White Christians Like #32: Youth Pastors</a><div><br /></div><div>This guy is a real youth pastor - thanks Google images!</div>Jon Vander Plashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17524790609689760368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35412245.post-53041531972794958952009-06-14T10:32:00.005-05:002009-06-14T11:06:59.942-05:00The Failed Stimulus Package<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRqw6Y5BJhZrN9gN__iwqQ2Dooyzt2JtDUjEPz8EqoqL-smw1nEgBgEfnT0tLmZwrIFYDlBsul_6O9R7DqPBwOci3aSYMAr40oTaWhywxs45K4J2BNxtbYggr6-FtCblf0MAB-/s1600-h/biden.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 263px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRqw6Y5BJhZrN9gN__iwqQ2Dooyzt2JtDUjEPz8EqoqL-smw1nEgBgEfnT0tLmZwrIFYDlBsul_6O9R7DqPBwOci3aSYMAr40oTaWhywxs45K4J2BNxtbYggr6-FtCblf0MAB-/s400/biden.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5347215459440645378" border="0" /></a><br />Joe Biden <a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hYS8CIYEBgudlm2SjLh0xekik0RwD98QFMR80">told</a> <span style="font-style: italic;">Meet the Press </span>this morning that "everyone guessed wrong" about the impact the $787 billion stimulus package would have on job numbers. He stated that economists used standard formulas project the job growth the stimulus package would create - the reason they were wrong is that the economy was much worse than everyone feared.<br /><br />I beg to disagree. Every Republican in the House and almost all the Republicans in the Senate voted against the bill - arguing that the historic spending would not efficiently cause job growth (and that much of the spending was just plain wasteful pork headed for favored Democrat constituents). Hundreds of noted economists came out against the bill and the overall concept that massive government spending could bring us out of recession. Apparently, Biden means that "the Democrats guessed wrong."<br /><br />There are several reasons why the stimulus package hasn't worked and won't work. Every dollar the government spends must come from somewhere. Specifically, from one of three places: taxes, borrowing, or by printing money and causing inflation. If the government had not passed the trillion dollar stimulus ($787 plus interest), that trillion dollars would have gone somewhere else. It would have been invested in businesses or it would have been spent. Both spending and investment create jobs, but much more efficiently than the projects thought up by the economic wizards leading the Democratic Party: Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Joe Biden and Barack Obama.<br /><br />A second problem is that the market (free people making decisions about what to do with their time and money) knows that Obama's massive spending will mean much higher taxes in the future. Higher taxes slow down economic growth because government spending is less efficient than allowing free people to spend their own money, but also because it decreases the incentive to be productive in the first place. If the government takes 75% of the money you earn and provides free housing, food, education, health care, a GM car, and your retirement, it matters a whole lot less how hard you work or how high paying your job is.<br /><br />The failure of the stimulus package is a surprise only to Democrats.Jon Vander Plashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17524790609689760368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35412245.post-8294470609907557632009-06-14T10:30:00.001-05:002009-06-14T11:13:36.063-05:00Combined Summer Services<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnhEW84PeJOrOTg767Em5DpnVmr6qDk_bO5yAIZeuCyNER7gm-QIsZzcxxscmUZ_LtsU3HH7W4O_omvoZykAQPTyFNKwvtF0qafQ4gX2LNUeTS9X_xc76po868prEXHmQQ2PNY/s1600-h/sun"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 383px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnhEW84PeJOrOTg767Em5DpnVmr6qDk_bO5yAIZeuCyNER7gm-QIsZzcxxscmUZ_LtsU3HH7W4O_omvoZykAQPTyFNKwvtF0qafQ4gX2LNUeTS9X_xc76po868prEXHmQQ2PNY/s400/sun" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5347217146478000898" border="0" /></a><br />Stuff White Christians Like #30: <a href="http://www.stuffwhitechristianslike.com/">Combined Summer Services.</a>Jon Vander Plashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17524790609689760368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35412245.post-29043936606986100292009-06-10T16:38:00.002-05:002009-06-10T16:41:54.240-05:00Avalene Claire<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo2OxDxF3fFGRNyfGW_e6UnadehazdBDLwXEsHxiq26v_y3bymvqieX8nn7r4W080RJh3kcAHIfPFVu0Ki2cCl3hccswRkbzvD29otoYVhImALwHj-Ehc2cQa2TgPF1xLp5-_Z/s1600-h/IMG_3318.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo2OxDxF3fFGRNyfGW_e6UnadehazdBDLwXEsHxiq26v_y3bymvqieX8nn7r4W080RJh3kcAHIfPFVu0Ki2cCl3hccswRkbzvD29otoYVhImALwHj-Ehc2cQa2TgPF1xLp5-_Z/s400/IMG_3318.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5345816865449091986" /></a>I'm proud to announce the arrival of Avalene Claire! She was born yesterday at 8:03 am - 6 lbs. 3 oz. and 19.5 inches long. Baby and mom are doing great. Grandma and Grandpa VanderPlas were here yesterday and Grandma and Grandpa Bos are coming tomorrow. Jon Vander Plashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17524790609689760368noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35412245.post-53362703406276074842009-06-07T15:06:00.003-05:002009-06-07T15:11:22.232-05:00Bon IverBon Iver's album, <i>For Emma, Forever Ago</i> is one of my favorite albums of the last year. Here's a live performance on Letterman. The MP3 album is on sale for only <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0013IKUIK?ie=UTF8&tag=ridioninthefr-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B0013IKUIK">$5 on Amazon</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=ridioninthefr-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B0013IKUIK" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /> this month. <br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/pelzrd1wWIA&hl=en&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/pelzrd1wWIA&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Jon Vander Plashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17524790609689760368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35412245.post-42302841628942494202009-06-07T13:54:00.009-05:002009-06-07T14:01:08.468-05:00Stuff White Christians Like #29 Puppet Ministry<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOZjQRXetBpkM55y9PUX3ONR-rf0X8f-RBQw0jpPh_7qcsl2d5asiH6ueHiWkk-ZvfmQuHFDmClghPeUmwdfDzda0WknslkhL6CpdFNK_IVkbHtrUNqkJwC0eSrBG78fLrEuKa/s1600-h/puppet+ministry1.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 185px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOZjQRXetBpkM55y9PUX3ONR-rf0X8f-RBQw0jpPh_7qcsl2d5asiH6ueHiWkk-ZvfmQuHFDmClghPeUmwdfDzda0WknslkhL6CpdFNK_IVkbHtrUNqkJwC0eSrBG78fLrEuKa/s200/puppet+ministry1.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5344662583404940530" /></a><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 20px; font-size:13px;">It has been said that there are two things that separate us from the animals: souls and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">opposable</span> thumbs. Well, both of these items are on prominent display with the 29<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">th</span> white Christian like: Puppet Ministry.</span><br /><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 20px;font-size:13px;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 20px;font-size:13px;"><a href="http://www.stuffwhitechristianslike.com/">Stuff White Christians Like</a></span></div>Jon Vander Plashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17524790609689760368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35412245.post-64256325952454452852009-06-03T21:36:00.003-05:002009-06-04T18:11:40.064-05:00Sowell on Sotamayor<span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Times;"><div style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 3px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 3px; width: auto; font: normal normal normal 100%/normal Georgia, serif; text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Excellent </span><a href="http://jewishworldreview.com/cols/sowell060209.php3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">column</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> from Thomas Sowell on judge Sotamayor. Sowell notes that "the very idea that a judge's 'life experiences' should influence judicial decisions is as absurd as it is dangerous. It is dangerous because citizens are supposed to obey the law, which means they must know what the law is in advance - and nobody can know in advance what the 'life experiences' of whatever judge they might appear before will happen to be."</span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The media is outraged that notable figures on the right like Newt Gingrich and Rush Limbaugh would say she is racist. However, they have not disputed the charge, they have complained about the "tone." There is no doubt that if a white male had said that being white made him a better judge than a Latino he would have zero shot at being on any court, let alone the highest court in the land. The left claims that minorities can't be racist, since they are not in power, so they should not be held to the same standard. This is preposterous at any time, but especially now, considering we have a black president and the fact that Sotamayor is being considered for one of the most powerful positions in this country.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Republicans don't have the votes to stop her confirmation, but they need to let the American people what kind of judge Obama has nominated. Sotamyor is up for a life time appointment to the Supreme Court where she will have the power to impose her views on every American.</span></div></div></span>Jon Vander Plashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17524790609689760368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35412245.post-34604381152113131982009-06-02T23:05:00.003-05:002009-06-02T23:49:57.517-05:00Government Motors"Government Motors" has become a popular moniker for the restructured General Motors. Obama denies this charge, saying "What I am not doing, what I have no interest in doing, is running GM.... They, and not the government, will call the shots and make the decisions about how to turn this company around."<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; line-height: 21px; "></span><div><br /></div><div>Ha! Firing the CEO, forcing bond holders to take 10 cents on the dollar, big give-aways to the union and passing legislation making some of their most competitive vehicles illegal, is not exactly a hands-off approach. Obama won't run the company, he'll hand it over to the UAW and hand picked executives, while the taxpayers foot the bill to the tune of $50 billion. What exactly is the difference? </div><div><br /></div><div>Surprise, surprise, Obama's selection for CEO supports the new legislation making many of the cars you and I would like to buy illegal. By 2016, the average car must get 39 miles per gallon, up from the current 27.5. This will make cars more expensive, make domestic auto companies less competitive, and limit your freedom to buy a car that is right for you and your family. Worst of all, carmakers will have to sacrifice safety, making cars smaller and lighter in order to improve fuel efficiency. Thousands more people will die in traffic accidents because of this legislation. Driving a more fuel efficient car sounds great, but the free market (AKA the independent decisions of free people) will strike a better balance between fuel costs, maintenance, retail price, safety, and utility of a car or SUV than having President Obama decide what car is right for you.</div><div><br /></div><div>The best thing for GM would have been to go bankrupt without a huge government "investment" and renegotiate its union contracts. This would allow them to get their costs in line and become competitive again. Obama refused to allow this to happen to his union supporters. Instead, we will dump billion after billion in tax payer money supporting the unions and a company that may never make a profit again.</div>Jon Vander Plashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17524790609689760368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35412245.post-67102146533433327432009-05-31T15:23:00.003-05:002009-05-31T15:32:22.925-05:00SWCL #28 Getting Married Right Out of College<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEionXEXXZaaUuI7ZJFi8kHf6rTU8ntND7zmxQvY1Rt3yUvfkqAGgtzFr0cj84xKUfZrPaFfbcEW11fM8b5iiaNNzlmzJ5sil7myoRHvsvVKhuJQSL-hO_cmcaRCxvxUovxfwQIS/s1600-h/marriage.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEionXEXXZaaUuI7ZJFi8kHf6rTU8ntND7zmxQvY1Rt3yUvfkqAGgtzFr0cj84xKUfZrPaFfbcEW11fM8b5iiaNNzlmzJ5sil7myoRHvsvVKhuJQSL-hO_cmcaRCxvxUovxfwQIS/s400/marriage.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5342088647515599618" /></a><br />Stuff White Christians Like <a href="http://www.stuffwhitechristianslike.com/">#28 Getting Married Right Out of College</a>.<p></p>Jon Vander Plashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17524790609689760368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35412245.post-63225878431582135742009-05-26T21:56:00.008-05:002009-05-26T22:47:20.976-05:00Racist, Leftist, Activist and Not a Surprise<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijY9opzkWe-U_fqjyc9Lieo_0Qj3P47LBH-c9IkDFMEvoMVceiifmSrdzcsN1lFnBJcZ8s1qyJcwUadpVPAphXgdD5L0QS04kDpe-2ertEMgN6yo9SbnKMe8ADUVHIetERkzkb/s1600-h/sotomayor.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5340344513639017842" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 190px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 273px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijY9opzkWe-U_fqjyc9Lieo_0Qj3P47LBH-c9IkDFMEvoMVceiifmSrdzcsN1lFnBJcZ8s1qyJcwUadpVPAphXgdD5L0QS04kDpe-2ertEMgN6yo9SbnKMe8ADUVHIetERkzkb/s320/sotomayor.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div>I had major misgivings about Senator McCain, but I voted for him in no small part because of the kind of justice he would appoint to the Supreme Court. President Obama didn't have to wait long for a vacancy and today he nominated Judge Sonia Sotomayor, the first Hispanic woman to be nominated. Growing up in the projects in the Bronx, she has an amazing rags to riches story that speaks to the greatness of this country.<br /><br /><div>Obama had stipulated that his choice would be based largely on the "<a href="http://bench.nationalreview.com/post/?q=NTc3ZDJiNjMxNGNkMmRkM2MzN2ExMjUyMWFjMWIzNjI=">depth and breadth of one's empathy</a>" and whether he/she had "the empathy to understand what it’s like to be poor or African-American or gay or disabled or old—and that’s the criteria by which I’ll be selecting my judges." This is insanity. Isn't justice supposed to be blind? Isn't the role of the court to interpret the law and judge it against the Constitution? What does knowing what it's like to be black, old, gay or disabled have to do with the role of the court? Is it also important to know what it's like to be rich, white, or heterosexual? </div><div><br /> </div><div>Obama has apparently found his judge with empathy (read: liberal activist), but now claims that “a judge’s job is to interpret, not make law." This is in stark contrast with Sotomayor's actual record of judicial activism and President Obama's opposition to Justice Roberts and Alito who actually believe that statement. Obama cleverly adopts conservative catch phrases - he speaks about being "fiscally responsible" while giving us a deficit four times the record, he talks about "reducing the number of abortions" while promoting legislation that would remove every restriction on abortion and force Christian and Catholic hospitals to perform them. Now he gives lip service to judicial restraint while nominating someone who will seek to advance a liberal agenda no matter what the law says. </div><br /><div>In one decision (now before the Supreme Court) Sotomayor ruled against a white firefighter who was denied a promotion because no blacks qualified for the same promotion. He bought $1,000 worth of books and studied for the required exam, getting a friend to read the books onto audiotapes because he is dyslexic. However, the city decided that not enough minorities had passed the test and refused to promote him. Apparently, Sotomayor lacked the "empathy" to understand what it's like to be dyslexic, not to mention was lacking in understanding of the 14th Amendment guaranteeing equal protection under the law. </div><div><br /> </div><div>This statement might help to understand Sotomayor: </div><div><br /> </div><div>“I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life.”</div><br /><div>and <a href="http://campaignspot.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MmFkZjNlNWNjOTFkMDk4YTM4NDlkMmVjMTk3YzY3ZGU=">this</a>:</div><br /><div>"[W]e who judge must not deny the differences resulting from experience or heritage but attempt . . . continuously to judge when those opinions, sympathies, and prejudices are appropriate."</div><br /><div>You could say that the argument that her "opinions, sympathies and prejudices" were at least sometimes appropriate to factor into her decisions precludes her from the job, considering the oath she'll have to take:</div><br /><div>"I, __________, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will administer justice without respect to persons, and do equal right to the poor and to the rich, and that I will faithfully and impartially discharge and perform all the duties incumbent upon me as (name of position) under the Constitution and laws of the United States. So help me God.”</div></div>Jon Vander Plashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17524790609689760368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35412245.post-1416700089320725792009-05-23T17:37:00.002-05:002009-05-23T18:02:05.460-05:00Green Day and Walmart<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVjf70SdDczPiVsdgUA3p2ONWGS_KZLSCv7AbCc8X6hYhYN4xz_tPqed-guxzj7Za3Ux6kVQPaVyMrfYvZskJ6KnTGO1sQySzo1YsAYPKfdKOj2FSSQFVqNG9bzO93acfiyepe/s1600-h/greenday"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVjf70SdDczPiVsdgUA3p2ONWGS_KZLSCv7AbCc8X6hYhYN4xz_tPqed-guxzj7Za3Ux6kVQPaVyMrfYvZskJ6KnTGO1sQySzo1YsAYPKfdKOj2FSSQFVqNG9bzO93acfiyepe/s400/greenday" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5339158532008221778" border="0" /></a><br />A lot of people, including the <a href="http://new.music.yahoo.com/blogs/thatsreallyweek/46241/may18-25-the-importance-of-being-idolother-important-news/">music blogger for Yahoo</a>, seem very upset that Walmart is refusing to carry Green Day's new album in their stores. Walmart asked the band to offer them a cleaner version, bleep out some swear words, etc. and they refused.<br /><blockquote>Frontman Billie Joe Armstrong: "Wal-Mart's become the biggest retail outlet in the country, but they won't carry our record because they wanted us to censor it. They want artists to censor their records in order to be carried in there. We just said no. We've never done it before. You feel like you're in 1953 or something."<br /><br />Bassist Mike Dirnt: "As the biggest record store in the America, [Wal-Mart] should probably have an obligation to sell people the correct art."<br /></blockquote><br /><br />Censorship! Waaaaa! Where oh where will people buy the Green Day album now? A private organization decided that selling a certain cd was not in their best interest. How do they have an obligation to sell someone's album? I realize this country is becoming less free by the day, but I think private businesses have more than enough obligations placed on them without having to be told what the "correct art" is that they must stock on their shelves.Jon Vander Plashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17524790609689760368noreply@blogger.com3