Protecting Law Breakers

Time for Rudy's smacking on illegal aliens.

From NewsMax:

In Wednesday night's Republican debate, Giuliani and nomination rival Mitt Romney traded accusations of being soft on illegal immigration, and Giuliani took pains to deny that New York was a "sanctuary city" for illegal immigrants during his tenure as mayor.

While New York has never used the designation, it offers protections _ allowing illegal immigrants to report crimes, send kids to school or seek medical treatment without fear of being reported _ similar to those in cities that label themselves sanctuary cities.

Children born in the U.S. to illegal immigrants already are American citizens, and Giuliani said he would not try to change that.

If we give illegal aliens a pass for things like reporting crimes, does that mean that someone should be able to report that their stash of meth was stolen without being prosecuted for having a meth stash? Incidentally, they don't play around in Mexico--if they find out you're in their country illegally, you're gone.

On the subject of citizenship by birth, in the past it has made sense that children born here in the United States are automatically citizens. But given the millions of new people who abuse this every year with "anchor babies," it's time to amend this. Changing the citizenship-by-birth requirement to specify that the parents have to be in the United States LEGALLY at the time of the child's birth would make sense, and would pretty much wipe our "anchor baby" abuse.

Like Huckabee, Giuliani's another one who's not committed to securing our borders and enforcing our laws. Not acceptable for a Republican candidate.

UFAs: Unidentified Flying Aliens

Control of our southern border is only part of the formula in getting a handle on illegal immigration.

From NewsMax:

While America continues to pour tax money into walling off the Mexican border, fully half of illegal aliens come into the U.S. by other routes -- many simply arrive via commercial jets, according to immigration authorities.

Expired student and tourist visas, phony marriages, unchecked container ships and the porous Canadian border to the north all contribute as much to illegal immigration as Mexican border jumpers, experts say.

That’s especially true for those who mean us harm. According to the Center for Immigration Studies, 12 known al-Qaida operatives — including two conspirators in the first World Trade Center attack and four of the 9/11 terrorists — simply flew into the United States and were waved through customs on student or tourist visas. The terrorists later violated their visas by staying past the expiration date -- a practice that is not uncommon.

In fact, the Pew Hispanic Center estimated in 2006 that almost half of unauthorized immigrants, or up to 45 per cent, entered the U.S. with various kinds of visas allowing them to stay for a set periods of between 90 days and two years – and simply did not leave.

So for all of Huckabee's tough-guy bluster about what a border control tough-guy he is (look at his record, for a reality-check), all of the much-needed enforcement along the Mexican border isn't going to do the job by itself.

It'll also take finding illegal aliens and sending them home when we do, not providing incentives for them to come here by the millions.

And if it takes more money for a fence, more border guards, and more INS personnel, so be it. We waste billions every year on tons of things that aren't even authorized by the constitution; surely we can spend some on something that is: defending our sovereignty.

Huckabee Attends Mints-For-Terrorists Confab

From The Hill, a Leftist group called Human Rights First has organized meetings to bash America's efforts to gather intel and stop terrorism, and they've and found some Leftist retired officers (there are a few) to come and serve the main entre: red herring.

Here's what the fish looks like, from retired Brig. General David Irvine:

“You can be a hawk on national security but that does not mean you have to advocate torture,” he added.

I don't think anyone's advocating real torture (though it might be necessary in some situations to imminently save lives). We aggressively pursue intelligence gathering, but what we do compared to what terrorists do is child's play, and it's an insult to the men and women of our defense and intelligence agencies to put them in the same category. After all, here's what was found in a captured Al-Qaeda torture manual earlier this year:

...an assortment of crude drawings depicting torture methods like "blowtorch to the skin" and "eye removal." Along with the images, which you'll find on the following pages, soldiers seized various torture implements, like meat cleavers, whips, and wire cutters.

This "non partisam" group has opposed Judge Michael Mukasey's nomination to Attorney General, opposed Club Gitmo altogether, opposes isolation, and travels in the company of the Leftist Amnesty International organization.

The article mentions that John McCain " has been a strong voice against using torture as part of the detainee interrogation process." I greatly respect McCain's service to our country and what he went through as a POW in Vietnam. However, as a former prisoner of the North Vietnamese communists, he should be able to distinguish between the brutal beatings he received and the barking dogs, loud rap music and waterboarding that the U.S. military sometimes uses to gather intel from brutal women-and-children-killing terrorists.

Some of the military training I've undergone is worse than what these terrorists at Club Gitmo experience. Conditions are better for them there than for most of them in their own countries.

A host of Democrat candidates have already attended some of these meetings, and more are scheduled to this weekend. But so far, Mike Huckabee is the only Republican candidate stupid enough to actually agree to go to these meetings. Apparently even McCain is willing to forego precious time in front of the cameras and skip this meeting. And "compassionate conservative" George W. Bush seems to understand that you have to be tough to fight a war.

This is just one more piece of evidence that Mike Huckabee doesn't have what it takes to make the hard decisions. Liberals can afford their dreams of a mint on every terrorists' pillow, but the president of the United States has to be ready to wage war on evil and, within the bounds of human decency, do whatever it takes to stop terrorism and save lives.

Whitewashing the AIDS Epidemic

Robert Knight asks in his TownHall.com column a few questions that seem to get "overlooked" by the "mainstream" media during the discussion of AIDS.

Here are a few in particular that he mentions that, especially since my tax dollars are being used for this illness that you pretty much only get through extra-marital sexual contact and drug use, I'd really like coherent answers to:

• Why is the onus on potential victims to take personal responsibility for having “safe sex” instead of the people who are already infected with HIV/AIDS, as is the case with other medical epidemics?

• Why are health officials in major cities like Washington, D.C., Chicago and San Francisco allowing the reopening of gay bathhouses, which facilitate the promiscuous sex that fuels the epidemic?

• With CDC statistics showing that HIV/AIDS in the United States is still astronomically higher among men who have sex with men (MSM), why are AIDS officials getting away with saying all Americans are equally at risk?

China's Pattern of Hostility

From Fox News:

China denied a third U.S. Navy ship the ability to port in Hong Kong harbor at the same time that the USS Kitty Hawk was denied portage the day before Thanksgiving, a senior Defense Department official tells FOX News.

China denied the frigate the USS Reuben James permission to enter and port at Hong Kong harbor for New Year's Eve. The Reuben James had placed its request with Beijing back in October, according to the official, who was speaking on background. This is the third such incident disclosed in the past week and is adding to strained U.S.-Sino relations.

The incident involving the Kitty Hawk forced the ship to turn around, stranding hundreds of Navy families who had flown in to celebrate Thanksgiving with their family members aboard the ship.

Remember a few years ago when a Chinese fighter rammed one of our recon planes, forcing it to land in China? Remember that the communist Chinese commandeered the plane and crew, held the crew for nearly two weeks, then returned our plane all chopped up?

China made $288 billion off of us last year, while only importing $55 billion from us. They have a heck of a way to show their gratitude, don't they. Might be time to do what sane people do when it comes to trading with hostile countries: cut it off.

The article also says Japan is backing us up, which is appreciated.

Thune Not Going for Leadership Position

From CQ:

“As the Chief Deputy Whip, I feel I would serve the Republican conference best by focusing my efforts on helping the Whip organization make a smooth transition and therefore will not be seeking the position of Conference Chairman,” Thune said. “There are excellent candidates running for Conference Chairman and our conference will be well served regardless of who wins.”

Republicans Have Better Mental Health

A couple of days ago I posted on a story which said South Dakota has the lowest rate of depression in the country. I half-jokingly said

Maybe it has something to do with the relatively small number of Democrats we have in South Dakota.... :-)

My liberal buddy Todd Epp commented that my logic was flawed because DC--a liberal mecca--has the lowest rate of suicides. Though I had a theory for this seeming contradiction, I didn't have time to fully consider it, so conceded the point to Todd at the time. However, I may have been vindicated.

Gallup (no conservative outfit, to be sure) reports today that Republicans report much better mental health than Democrats or Independents.

Fifty-eight percent of Republicans report having excellent mental health, compared to 43% of independents and 38% of Democrats. This relationship between party identification and reports of excellent mental health persists even within categories of income, age, gender, church attendance, and education.

Even among those making less than $50,000 a year, there is a 45-31% difference--so money clearly doesn't spell political happiness.

Todd, of course, might say, "Well, Republicans are just ignoring their misery." And you know what, were he to make that assertion, he might be largely correct.

Conservatives have a tendency not to dwell on setbacks and difficulties. Conservatives tend to cowboy-up and make the most of their situation. Conservatives tend to understand that while bellyaching feels good, it doesn't get you one bit closer to your goals and doesn't accomplish a thing. So we just press on and try to make lemon aid out of lemmons.

Liberals, however, tend to moan and whine and dwell on all the reasons why they can't do anything for themselves, all the reasons why it's not fair and unjust, and how everything in life just blows chunks--not good for your mental health, and anyone from a good parent to a good shrink will tell you that.

If the hardy people who settled South Dakota had been liberals...well, they'd probably all still be in Minnesota. The pioneers ignored incredible hardships, pressing onward for their dreams. It's how grown-ups get things done.

Republicans are also more likely to be Bible-believing Christians. The Bible tells us that God loves us, and if we're on His side, we KNOW that even if times are difficult right now, things are going to turn out just fine in the end.

As for DC...I suspect that libs there have a low suicide rate because they are so close to the lip of the trough of government largess that the hope that a few drops will spill over the edge and fall squarely into their mouths keeps them from throwing in the towel.

So, liberals, why not cowboy-up, love America, love South Dakota, trust God and enjoy better mental health. There's only one risk involved: if you do that, you might end up a conservative.

Chuck Facts on Huckabee

This is good:



Courtesy of the Arkansas Journal.

Creating a Semi-Permanent Welfare-Dependent Underclass.

Completely ignoring issue of breaking our laws, along with the security issue, take a glimpse into part of why illegal immigration is such a problem for the United States.

From Investors Business Daily:

In addition, 59% of the illegal population and their children are at or near poverty. That comes to 8.7 million people, and compares with 19% of native households.

This translates into higher use of welfare. Nationwide, 40% of all households headed by illegal aliens use one or more major welfare programs. The share in cash programs is actually quite small — less than 1%. But 33% of all illegal households get food aid, and another 27% are on Medicaid.

Again, this means billions spent each year — and that doesn't include the growing costs associated with jailing and policing illegals who have turned to crime or gangs.

We're not immigrant-bashing here. We agree America is a nation of immigrants, and uniquely so. Nor do we wish to end immigration.

But uncontrolled illegal immigration is a big problem, especially for states such as California, Texas, Arizona and Florida.

Together, they have 54% of all the illegals and bear the brunt of the problem. States together spend $20 billion a year on illegals' welfare costs alone.

That spending has become a kind of subsidy, luring ever more illegals to the U.S. Those that come have fewer skills and less education than the rest of the population. Anyone who thinks waving a magic wand over the illegal population and making them legal will solve the problem is dreaming.

"Legalized illegals will still be overwhelmingly uneducated," the CIS report points out, "and this fact has enormous implications for their income, welfare use, health-insurance coverage and the effect on American taxpayers."

In short, they've becoming a semi-permanent, welfare-dependent underclass.

Unfortunately, when anyone brings this up, charges of "xenophobe" and "racist" get thrown around. But that only keeps us from an honest discussion — and accounting — of both the benefits and costs of our burgeoning illegal population.

And too many politicians, both in the White House and running for it, aren't serious about dealing with it.

Somebody Smack Me

I suppose that's what I get for giving Mike Huckabee the benefit of the doubt.

Earlier today I posted about Huckabee's support of discounted tuition rates for illegal aliens. Before I pointed out why this wasn't a good idea, I took him at his word on one aspect of the bill:

I didn't know about this provision which required these students to be pursuing citizenship in order to qualify. That would make the plan less outrageous. But unsound, nevertheless.

Now when I hear this, I'm thinking they have to have already filled out the citizenship application and have their feet firmly on the path to becoming U.S. citizens. Silly me.

PolitiFact.com, a group which fact-checks statements made by the candidates (you can find a number of their pieces in the "Election 2008 Articles" links in the upper right corner of this blog), says the bill wasn't nearly as strict as Huckabee claimed:

The bill, proposed by Rep. Joyce Elliott, D-Little Rock, said that students had to have spent three years in Arkansas high schools and graduated, and they had to sign an affidavit saying they intended to pursue citizenship. Then they would be eligible for in-state tuition and a popular state scholarship program, the Academic Challenge Scholarship, just like their fellow classmates.

They had to sign an affidavit saying they intended to. Wow, I'm impressed. Is anyone going to follow up on this affidavit in a year or two to see if they actually did?

Maybe these young 18 year olds know the meaning of responsibility and have the integrity to follow through on the citizenship process...even though their parents--who raise them and instill their values in them--broke our laws to get into this country, and apparently are STILL not citizens after all these years.

Given the overwhelming reluctance of our elected officials (with Huckabee squarely in their number) to enforce our country's laws in the first place, I'm sure these illegal alien affidavit-signers are quaking in their boots at the thought of failing to fulfill their promise to obtain U.S. citizenship.

If I take Huckabee at his word on anything ever again, somebody smack me, please.

South Dakota Has Some of the Lousiest Nursing Homes

I'm sure Todd will be proud of this news from KELO:

A recent report on the quality of nursing homes in this country shows two South Dakota homes receiving a poor mark.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services listed the Aberdeen Healthcare Center in Aberdeen and the Bennett County Hospital and Nursing Home in Martin as two of the nation's poorest performing nursing homes.

I guess South Dakota really is loathe-worthy.

Video: Question for Huckabee on Mexican Consulate

Here's a video (HT again to the Arkansas Journal) asking Mike Huckabee about the Mexican consulate he brought to Arkansas.



In addition to financial questions, the video brings out another important issue concerning the Mexican government's documented efforts to subvert the laws and borders of the United States by encouraging Mexicans to violate our borders and use these consulates to give them "Matricula Consular" ID cards once they're here. This has the effect of making these invaders appear more legitimate by providing a "legal" identification document.

Again I have to ask: why is Mike Huckabee so concerned with extending privileges and conveniences to people who violated our borders and are in our country illegally?

Video: Huckabee Defends Tuition Discount for Illegal Aliens

Here's a video from the Republican debate that deals with the special tuition rates offered to children of illegal immigrants Mike Huckabee supported in Arkansas (HT to Arkansas Journal).



I didn't know about this provision which required these students to be pursuing citizenship in order to qualify. That would make the plan less outrageous. But unsound, nevertheless.

The fact remains that, like example provided by the girl in the video, illegals would receive a taxpayer-funded benefit that children of veterans who came from out of state to Arkansas for college would not be getting. This would also go for ANYONE from another state, such as Missouri, Nebraska or wherever, who was a legal citizen.

Such a measure would also provide an incentive for more illegals to come here to secure these special benefits for their children.

The deeper question about the issue is this: why is Huckabee working so hard to provide benefits to illegals in the first place? In this issue, shouldn't our first priority be removing these invaders from our country, and secondly taking care of our own citizens?

This is not the only area where Huckabee is misguided on illegal immigration (he also wants to give them drivers licenses). And then there are questions about the Mexican consulate he bucked for in Little Rock.

Is Huckabee pandering to illegal aliens? If so, why?

Expect Climate Fear-Mongering to Get Worse

From Tom Harris at the Canada Free Press, another "flat-earther" who for some reason won't put fantasy before facts:

The case for anthropogenic (human-caused) global warming (AGW) is getting weaker and weaker, not “stronger and stronger and stronger” as Dr. John Stone of the IPCC’s Working Group II told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation earlier this month. To date, no convincing evidence for AGW has been discovered. And recent global climate behaviour is not consistent with AGW model predictions. Mean global temperature has not again reached the high it did in 1998 (an El Nino year) and it has been stable for the last 6 years despite an increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration of by 4% since 1998. Global temperature has not increased since 1998 because, while the northern hemisphere has warmed, the southern hemisphere has cooled. Global warming was supposed to actually be global, not hemispheric.

I read an article somewhere (Christian Science Monitor?) yesterday about archaeologists studying ancient Nordic settlements in Greenland. It looks like the Vikings had built communities in Greenland, but had to leave when it got too cold. Could that possibly mean that it was once warmer on Earth than it is now?

Nothing is constant in nature: everything changes all the time. And the Earth must have warmed or cooled over the past 100 years if its temperature were not constant over this period. The modest warming that has happened during the last century is well within natural climate variability that has occurred previously. Recent warming could easily be a completely natural recovery from the Little Ice Age that is similar to the recovery from the Dark Age cool period to the Medieval Warm Period. Indeed, all observed current global climate changes are within the range of natural climate variations that are known to have happened in recent millennia.

South Dakota First in Higher Education

According to the Mitchell Daily Republic, South Dakota has the highest rate in the nation for students pursuing post-secondary education.

The report, by the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems and the Indianapolis-based Lumina Foundation for Education, shows that South Dakota has a college continuance rate – the rate of high school students who go on to college or technical schools – of 68.6 percent.

I guess we're both happy and smart in South Dakota.

See, Todd: we're not just like everybody else.

Our Schools are Graveyards for Freedom

By John W. Whitehead

“The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well-meaning but without understanding.”—Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis

My granddaughter is seven months old. Intent on discovering as much as she can about the world around her, she is blissfully unaware of the fact that she is under constant surveillance. Between her doting parents, her equally doting grandparents and a baby monitor that is always turned on and tuned in, there is little this child can do that goes undetected.
(Full Article)

Street Should Stay Hooker

I'm afraid I have to side with the Rapid City Journal on this one.

The Rev. David Baer is out to save the town of Whitewood’s honor from the shame of a street named Hooker.

Baer, a Lutheran pastor in the small northern Hills town, asked the Whitewood city council to rename the street that honors the Civil War general, Joseph Hooker. Baer finds it offensive because of the word’s connotation with prostitution.

Rev. Baer isn't the first person to get upset over a word which can have two meanings...and I believe liberals have a longer track record of this.

The mature person can make the distinction, here. Granted, mature people are in short supply these days, but unless public safety is involved, we shouldn't be tailoring our governmental decisions for the benefits of the doofuses among us.

Rev. Baer, while probably well-intentioned, just needs to deal with it. It's not a big deal. There are far more pressing problems in our society right now than a street named after a general that also might make someone think of a prostitute.

Let's deal with real moral decay and not sweat the small stuff.

South Dakota Has Lowest Rate of Depression

According to KXMB out of Bismark, South Dakota has the lowest rate of depression in the nation. For what it's worth, I know I'm pretty happy here.

Maybe it has something to do with the relatively small number of Democrats we have in South Dakota.... :-)

Christians Have 'Kick Me' Sign on Their Backs

From OneNewsNow, Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, points out that those who support Rudy Giuliani because, though he is pro-abortion, he promises to appoint originalist judges, are staking their support on a "hollow promise."

"The fact that we had Ronald Reagan, who was a very pro-life president -- he didn't necessarily get it right on the court; he made a bad appointment," he points out. "The first George Bush [was] marginally pro-life; he made a bad appointment to the court. And even this president, George Bush -- I would say arguably the most pro-life president that we've had -- he would have gotten it wrong on the court and not have appointed [Samuel] Alito had conservatives gone along with Harriett Myers. So these are hollow promises."

Perkins is absolutely right. Pro-life Christians don't need to support Giuliani on this nebulous hope, thus proving what many already suspect: American Christians walk around with a "KICK ME" sign taped to their backs.

16 Year Old Escaped Abortion

From LifeSite.net, Donna Joy is celebrating her 16th birthday. This is nice enough for most people, but if her mother had listened to the "experts," she would have been aborted at 7 months.

In 1991 Doctors recommended that Donna Joy be killed by partial birth abortion, because a scan had found five major brain disorders. In the worst of these, most of her brain had formed outside her skull, a condition called Holoprosencephaly, or HPE. They said that Donna would be born completely blind, deaf, with no face, no ability to move limbs, suck or swallow. Despite these dire predictions, Donna Joy has grown to be a pretty, happy and active young girl who suffers only cerebral palsy and peripheral blindness.

Lori Vance told reporters she would have been glad to give birth to Donna Joy, even if she were only to live "for a few minutes-to give her some dignity, wrap her up in a pretty blanket. Say 'I love you' and let her go."

Doctors aren't always right, as this incident shows. And even if children are born with severe disabilities, or don't live long, we should leave life and death in the hands of the Author of Life, not our flawed human wisdom.

Donna Joy's disabilities are certainly not a picnic, but they're better than being dead. Thousands if not millions of people around the world live happy, productive lives despite disabilities. I'm reminded of Gianna Jessen, who spoke in Rapid City last year. Gianna was born with cerebral palsy because her mother tried to abort her...but the abortion failed. What a vivacious, life-filled young woman!

Jane Chastain's 2003 column, which also tells how Senator Barbara Boxer ejected her from the Senate when partial birth abortion was being debated, also points out the medical inconsistency of partial birth abortion:

Lori, now a practical nurse, knew this didn't ring true. How could killing a helpless baby, delivered feet first with only the head remaining in the birth canal, help a mother? If a vaginal delivery was impractical, why not deliver this child by Caesarean section? After all, one of Lori's older children had been delivered in this manner.

Everyone has heard that a breach birth (feet first) is the most dangerous way a baby can be delivered...yet this is DELIBERATELY induced for a partial birth abortion, just so the abortionist can murder the child with a few inches of the baby's skull remaining inside the mother, so they can say it wasn't fully "born" yet. What a difference a few inches make between "murder" and "a choice."

Choose life, the superior choice!

FactCheck: Huckabee Misrepresenting Record on Taxes

FactCheck.org has an analysis of the war of words between Mike Huckabee and the Club for Growth regarding Huckabee's tax record. He's an excerpt of what they determined:

Huckabee claimed that a speech in which he implored the state Legislature to raise taxes was in response to a state Supreme Court order to increase education funding. But he specifically said in that speech that he would address the education matter at a later date.

He said a tax on beds filled in nursing homes was a "fee" not a tax, despite the fact that he himself has called it the "bed tax."

Huckabee claimed a gasoline tax was only passed after 80 percent of voters approved it. Not true. The tax was enacted before a referendum vote on highway repairs.

He frequently says he cut taxes "almost 94 times" but leaves out the 21 taxes raised during his tenure. In the end, he presided over a net tax increase.

FactCheck.org found that some of Fred Thompsons criticism of Huckabee was exaggerated, but I didn't see anything that undermined the Club for Growth's claims.

Read the whole analysis here.

HT to Tax Hike Mike.

Mother of 'Baby Grace' Told Police She Tortured, Beat Daughter to Death, Court Documents Show

According to Fox News...

Mother of 'Baby Grace' Told Police She Tortured, Beat Daughter to Death, Court Documents Show


Last Edited: Tuesday, 27 Nov 2007, 11:43 PM CST
Created: Tuesday, 27 Nov 2007, 9:43 AM CST

11/27/2007 --

Authorities are trying to determine if the 2-year-old dubbed "Baby Grace" after her body was found in Galveston Bay was repeatedly abused by her mother and stepfather, an investigator said Tuesday.

A woman believed to be the mother of the girl told police she and the girl's stepfather beat and tortured the child to death, court documents show. The girl, believed to be Riley Ann Sawyers, was found by a fisherman in a plastic box Oct. 29, but her identity was unknown for weeks.

The report goes on to say...

"The girl was beaten with leather belts, had her head held underwater in a bathtub and then was thrown across a room, her head slamming into a tile floor, the mother said in the document. She said they kept the body in a storage shed for one to two months before they put it in a plastic bin and dumped it into Galveston Bay.

An autopsy revealed that Riley suffered three skull fractures, but the cause of death has not been determined."

(Full report)

How could a mother do this (or allow it to be done) to her own child?

Video: How Modern Liberals Think

If you've ever wondered how in the world liberals can believe the things they do, and live under the tortured logic they spout, this is a VERY good video.

It features Evan Sayet speaking at the Heritage Foundation. It touches on some concepts I wrote about a few years ago when I was doing a column at Toogood Reports, and blogged on again a couple of months ago: liberals are very child-like in their thinking.

It's about an hour long, so it won't be a quick lesson. But if you have time to play the video and kick back on the couch, or do some tasks around the house that don't require a lot of mental energy, you can play this in the background as you go about those tasks. But it's worth it.

Pay close attention around 27:00 into it, as this really gets to the heart of "how modern liberals think." Here's an excerpt from the transcript:

So the mindless foot soldier, which is what I call the non-elite, will support the elite's blueprint for utopia, will side with evil over good, wrong over right, and the behaviors that lead to failure over those that lead to success, out of a sense of justice. As I said at the beginning, they're not evil. It's just a mindless acceptance without any true Socratic desire to talk about the real consequences. It's meaningless to them, and it's why John Lennon said utopia was all the people living for today...

The same is true of good and evil. Since nothing can deemed good, nothing can be deemed evil. That which society does recognize as good must be the beneficiary of some sort of prejudice. That which society recognizes as evil must be the victim of that prejudice. So, again, the mindless foot soldier will invariably side with whatever policy, mindlessly accept whatever policy seeks to tear down what is good--America, Israel, Wal-Mart--and elevate what is evil until everything meets in the middle and there is nothing left to fight about.

I think the only area where I would substantively disagree with Sayet would be that he says that he's not calling some liberals "evil" because they think they are doing good. I do not dispute that even if they embrace Islamic terrorists, abortion, homosexuality and other things that God clearly says are wrong, they still believe they are doing good--I know that almost all if not all do believe this.

But what we believe has no bearing whatsoever on the morality of our actions. You're speeding whether you feel you're justified or not. You're raping that girl whether you feel justified in forcing her to have sex with you or not. I was doing evil several years ago back when I was drinking and whoring and living like a reprobate, even though I felt justified in living that way. In an extreme example, even Hitler probably thought he was doing a good thing for the people of Germany.

What we believe about our actions (or delude ourselves into believing about our actions) has no bearing on how they actually come down when God weighs the morality of our actions and the things we advocate.

Still, I understand what Sayet is getting at, in that the bulk of our actions may not be evil and thus it wouldn't be fair to say that we are an "evil person." Yet we can do and advocate evil things while falling short of being "an evil person.

My perhaps technical disagreement with Sayet in this area in no way diminishes how insightful this lecture is. I hope you'll take the time to watch/listen.

Mass. Liberals Need a Good Spanking

According to the Boston Herald, the People's Republic of Massachusetts is considering banning spanking

Parents who spank their kids - even in their own homes - would be slapped by the long arm of the law under an Arlington nurse’s proposal to make Massachusetts the first state in the nation to outlaw corporal punishment.

Kathleen Wolf’s proposed legislation will be debated at a State House hearing tomorrow morning.

My parents gave me plenty of spankings, and I wasn't crushed for life. It built character, along with respect for authority and for right and wrong. My kids, being my genetic progeny, are also acquainted with spanking.

Me, I'll stick with the Bible. God invented people and knows what's best for them at all stages of development. "Time outs" are ineffective and inappropriate when dealing with defiance and rebellion. Just as God disciplines those He loves, He tells parents to do the same.

Argus on Trial

KELO has the story and a video about Dan Scott's lawsuit against the Argus Leader.

You might recall a few months ago that a fight erupted between the Argus and Scott after Scott made a speech (transcript available at Belfrage Online) containing some rather mild negative comments about the Argus Leader. Former governor and disgraced congressman Bill Janklow is Scott's attorney (I wouldn't hold that against Scott, however).

Randall Beck went off the deep-end and responded by writing an op/ed that he later claimed was parody...but while I've both read and wrote plenty of parody, I certainly didn't take it that way until I heard later that "it was intended to be parody." Though I can't find it online now, the piece was written in such a way as to make you think it was transcript or close paraphrase of what Scott had said...only it said things that were VERY different than what Scott had actually said. The Beck piece also said something about Scott's comments being offensive to people from areas other than Sioux Falls (though I think Beck was the only one who came up with this supposed offense).

From KELO:

This happened in July after Dan Scott gave a speech before South Dakota Legislators. The Argus Leader ran a couple articles about comments Scott supposedly made in the speech, that some viewed as arrogant toward legislators from outside Sioux Falls. Then came the column in question, written by executive editor Randell Beck, which some people thought was actually an arrogant letter written by Scott.

The question posed before Judge Kathleen Caldwell is whether a reasonable reader would be able to tell that an article on the editorial page of the Sioux Falls Argus Leader was actually a parody.

Was I the only one who failed to recognize Beck's piece as "parody?"

"There's an awful lot of parody that is far less obvious," Scott says.

"Except he reads it with slow drama and left the lead-in out. Did you hear him say the word news item?" Janklow says.

Janklow says it's not so clear the article is supposed to be funny. It's labeled a 'news item,' and at first it even fooled him.

"When I first read it, I actually called someone who's a mutual friend of Scott's and mine, and I said, 'Dan's lost his mind! Did you see what he wrote?'" Janklow says.

And based on comments left on the Argus Leader website, several readers also believed Scott really wrote the letter. But the decision on whether it constitutes parody is up to the judge.

The Argus Leader, a newspaper that claims to be "objective," has for a long time acted like the South Dakota version of MoveOn.org. It's about time they were called to account.

UPDATE: Bob Schwartz has the text of that Randall Beck piece at South Dakota Moderate. Try and forget what you've already heard about this, and put yourself in the shoes of the person who's heard nothing of all this controversy--and see if it sounds like "parody" to you.

Do Endorsements Make the Man?

I don't think I'd make too much of it, but it does give one pause.

A blog called The Technology Liberation Front has a post about some of Mike Huckabee's endorsers.

Though I haven't been following Huckabee's rhetoric closely enough to know (I have more substantive reasons for opposing Huckabee for the Republican nomination), Adam Thierer at this blog says Huckabee has been "playing up endorsements" from Chuck Norris, Ted Nugent and wrestler Rick Flair.

I do know that Norris has endorsed Huckabee quite strongly. From what I recall (I've never been a huge Chuck Norris fan), while some of his movies were fairly violent, I don't think they were all that bad. And I believe Chuck has become a Christian in recent years; he certainly gives a Christian testimony in his column.

As for Nugent, while I've been known to enjoy the screaming guitar in Cat Scratch Fever and some other numbers in my wilder days, it's undeniable that at least a few of Nugent's lyrics are definitely "mature," to say the least. He seems to be a conservative in some areas, primarily in the area of gun rights, but I don't think I'd want my kids hanging out at his house.

And this wrestler Rick Flair...well, though wrestling is as fake as a $6 bill, I think I'd still classify it firmly in the category of "social rot." Not so much for the fake violence, but for all the hollering, yelling, bravado, insults and disrespectful behavior the industry exhibits and engenders in our youth.

So make what you will of this. As I said before, I have much more substantive reasons for not riding the Huckabee Express: weak on crime, weak on illegal immigration, and big on government.

Ultimately, people who endorse you is less important than who you endorse. If Huckabee is playing up these endorsements, that might mean a certain degree of reciprocal endorsement, but again I don't know whether he has or not.

But it's something to think about...

2008 Legislative Agenda

KOTA has a preview of some of the upcoming legislative items in next year's session; the article is short and you can read about it here.

There will also be a pre-legislative cracker barrel Dec 7 at 10:00 AM at the Rapid City Civic Center.

Former RC Journal Op/Ed Editor Killed

Ron Bender, who retired a few months ago after 38 years with the Rapid City Journal, was killed yesterday in an accident near Washington D.C.

Longtime Journal news editor Ron Bender was killed Monday in Gaithersburg, Md., in a traffic accident.

According to a story in the Washington Post, Bender was crossing a street on foot toward an area shopping center when he was hit just before he reached the median strip.

The driver of the car that hit Bender left the scene, but witnesses were able to relay to police the make and model of the car, as well as the license plate number.

Ron was my editor for several months when I wrote a column for the Rapid City Journal. Though my interaction with him was limited, he always seemed like a nice, respectful man and I never had a negative experience with him. My prayers go out to his family during this shocking loss.

How Do You Compromise Your Core Beliefs?

Dan Gilgoff has a piece in the LA Times today which examines the subjects of Mike Huckabee and political compromise.

To many conservatives -- and even to some liberals and neutral observers -- the Robertson endorsement vindicated Huckabee's complaint that Christian right leaders "are more intoxicated with power than principle."

I'd have to concur with Huckabee in this assessment. However, I also have to wonder if that analysis isn't true of some Huckabee supporters also. The "mainstream" media isn't making it easy to find out, but Huckabee has a lot of negative baggage that should disappoint conservative Christians. I have to wonder: if these conservative supporters of Huckabee have done their homework, why are they still supporting him? Could it be that they are backing Huckabee over a consistent pro-life conservative like Duncan Hunter because of "power over principle?"

Gilgoff's editorial, while insightful, is not friendly toward conservative Christian values, however. It speaks well of the religion of compromise.

One of the most troubling tendencies of the Christian right has been its habit of translating the black-and-white literalism of its theology to the political realm. Under this model, Democrats and moderate Republicans are God's sworn enemies and must be opposed at every turn. Rather than compromise, the Christian right has attempted to stage a conservative Republican "takeover" of Washington, with considerable electoral success during the Bush years but with poisonous consequences for politics and policy.

Isn't it funny how you always hear that conservative efforts to advance their agenda are bad for America, but you never hear it said that liberal efforts to ramrod their agenda--even at the cost of ignoring the Constitution--are never labeled as bad? And have you ever noticed how it's always conservatives who are called to worship at the altar of "compromise," never liberals or "moderates?" If I didn't know better, I'd find that curious indeed.

Political names and party affiliation do not determine whether one is "God's sworn enemy." The things we advocate and excuse, regardless of whether we have a D or R after our name, do determine whether we are operating in harmony with what God has said is right or wrong. If the political group I'm in reaches the point where it begins to embrace most things that God says are wrong, then I probably need to look at moving OUT of that political group. That's why many people who have been Republicans for decades are considering supporting a third-party candidate if the Republican Party embraces a pro-abortion pro-homosexual candidate as its nominee.

Conservative Christians may find themselves in a position where they have to compromise, and perhaps settle for a Huckabee or Thompson over a Clinton or Obama. But in the primary state, now is not the time for choosing the lesser of two evils. Now is the time to fight for the best candidate. And none can hold a candle to Duncan Hunter when it comes to a consistent pro-life conservative record across the board.

HT to RedState.

Huckabee and the Reagan Legacy

Yesterday, Investors Business Daily featured an editorial on "21st Century Reaganism" which had this to say about Mike Huckabee:

Yet most of the GOP presidential hopefuls have refused to act as across-the-board Reaganites. There would be nothing, for instance, to stop a one-time Southern Baptist minister from claiming the mantle of Reaganism. But erstwhile man of the cloth and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, whose appeal among evangelicals has raised him to within striking distance in Iowa, has continually attacked the Club for Growth, a major champion of conservative economic policies, as the "Club for Greed."

Calling capitalists Scrooges is straight out of the liberal Democratic playbook. A more helpful retort from Huckabee would be to address the Club's concerns about his approving an income-tax surcharge in Little Rock.

Former Sen. Fred Thompson, on the other hand, has managed to gain the endorsement of the National Right to Life Committee (a key stamp of approval from social conservatives) while at the same time espousing the boldest of economic solutions on both Social Security and tax reform.

The editorial appears to be pro-Fred Thompson, but echos what I have seen and heard about Huckabee from several quarters.

The economic engine of this great nation was built on private enterprise. We should encourage morality and ethics in the business world as in any facet of life. But bashing the free market and hinting strongly at more government meddling in privately owned businesses sounds more like Marxist Democrats than someone who wants to claim the mantle of Ronald Reagan.

HT to Tax Hike Mike.

Ark Journal: Huckabee Supported Licenses for Illegals

According to the Arkansas Journal, in addition to supporting special tuition rates for illegals, and a questioned deal on a Mexican consulate in Little Rock, Mike Huckabee supported a bill that weakened restrictions against allowing illegals to get drivers license, paving the way for illegal aliens to get drivers licenses (something even many liberals pounded Hillary Clinton for supporting--except for when she didn't support it).

From the Arkansas Journal:

Mike Huckabee's Human Services Liaison expressed the governor's position, supporting the measure to repeal the law denying the issuance of drivers licenses to illegal immigrants. In 2001, there was discussion of HB 2212 in the state assembly to repeal a 1997 Arkansas law prohibiting issuance of driver's licenses to illegal immigrants. Proponents said the bill was necessary because legal immigrants were getting harassed when they went to get drivers licenses. Huckabee's Human Services liaison defended the bill, saying the following:

"People shouldn't be harassed based on who they are or what they look like," said [Robert] Trevino, who also is Gov. Mike Huckabee's human services liaison. "We just don't want to be treated as second class. We don't have a problem with prohibiting illegal aliens from getting driver's licenses. We have a problem with hassling those who are here legitimately." (Michael Rowett, "Bill Aims To Help Immigrants Get Driver's Licenses," Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, 3/18/01)

So the alternative then is to not ask any questions and just let illegals get drivers licenses? So the alternative is that it's better to allow people who broke our laws to get into this country to get a legal document--which opens them up to a wealth of privileges--rather than offend someone?

We shouldn't offend someone unnecessarily. But we don't need to throw common sense out the door, either. If I was in Germany and Germany had millions of Americans pouring across their borders illegally every year, I would consider it natural and reasonable to be asked to prove that I was in their country legally, from time to time.

I believe this AGAIN proves that Mike Huckabee has a problem making the tough calls. From his theologically distorted view on "grace and law" to his advocacy of releasing a convicted rapist (who raped again and murdered a woman after being released) to being soft on immigration...Huckabee seems afraid to call wrong "wrong." After all, that might hurt someone's feelings.

The world is far, far too dangerous, both at home and abroad, to have someone in the White House who can't deal firmly and decisively with sin and crime.

Temperature's Dropping...Must Be Global Warming

I haven't posted any of the myriad disagreements with Al Gore's "global warming" fantasy in a long time. To be honest, the thrill of pointing out all the evidence to the contrary, and all the people who disagree with Gore's "settled science" has diminished. Still, folks who are thick-headed take many doses of the truth to cure them of their politically correct fantasies, so I suppose I have a duty to continue cataloguing some of the more noteworthy examples.

Like this one, from the UK Telegraph a couple of days ago:

The scare over global warming, and our politicians' response to it, is becoming ever more bizarre. On the one hand we have the United Nation's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change coming up with yet another of its notoriously politicised reports, hyping up the scare by claiming that world surface temperatures have been higher in 11 of the past 12 years (1995-2006) than ever previously recorded.

This carefully ignores the latest US satellite figures showing temperatures having fallen since 1998, declining in 2007 to a 1983 level - not to mention the newly revised figures for US surface temperatures showing that the 1930s had four of the 10 warmest years of the past century, with the hottest year of all being not 1998, as was previously claimed, but 1934.

Temperature's going down, huh? Yep, that sounds like global warming to me. I'm sure Gore and his disciples have an explanation for that one.

It's funny to me that grown people can believe B-Grade science fiction like this, yet think it's silly that the universe was intelligently designed.

A Miracle or Throw-Away Tissue?

I came across this ad in last Thursday's Rapid City Weekly News tonight, and was struck by an irony.



Dr. Buehner of Rapid City is a fine doctor. In fact, he's one of the best, most easy-to-work-with doctors I've ever encountered. He delivered both of my children...before I knew he supported abortion.

In the past couple of years, Dr. Buehner has been an outspoken opponent of abortion bans. In fact, Dr. Buehner would probably be considered a leader in the effort to block pro-life attempts to ban this barbaric practice. He is a founder and co-chair of the Orwellianly-named "South Dakota Campaign for Healthy Families," and has appeared on television in opposition to banning abortion. The Rapid City group Citizens for Life protests in front of his office regularly if not weekly.

So I was struck that he would publish an ad that called children a "miracle." Why would you terminate a miracle? Especially when 79.5% of these miracles were aborted in 2005 for the sole reason that the mother "did not desire to have the child."

Is the unborn child a "miracle" if you so choose, and an inconvenience to be eliminated if you feel that way? Amazing how the power of a single human opinion can change the status of another human being from "miracle" to a "procedure."

An Egg or a Unique Person?

LifeSite.net addresses the question of "personhood of fertilized eggs" we've been hearing about in the news the past few weeks:

Pro-life advocates have often pointed to the misrepresentation in media of terminology surrounding cloning and embryo research. Terms such as "pre-embryo", "balls of stem cells", or "fertilized eggs" are commonly used to indicate what human embryologists have defined scientifically as a human embryo in the earlier stages of development.

Despite what many refer to as the "debate" over when a human being begins to exist, the facts have been known for more than a hundred and thirty years. In 1875, the German zoologist Oskar Hertwig showed definitively that penetration of a spermatozoon into an ovum was the beginning of independent life and that the terms "conception" and "fertilization" are therefore interchangeable terms.

Human embryologists have shown that once fertilization has taken place, neither the male nor female sex cells (often misnamed "eggs") continue to exist.

Dianne Irving, a scientist and ethicist who has written extensively on the subject, says that misdirection by the media in terminology has enabled much of the enormous gains in legalizing destructive research on human embryos in the last ten years.

Irving has pointed out that once an "egg" has been fertilized, it's no longer an "egg" but a zygote. When it's an "egg," it only contains the mother's DNA. Once fertilized by the man's sperm, it takes on a unique set of DNA--which, incidentally, makes it no longer "part of the woman's body" with which she can do whatever she likes. It's unique human DNA proves it is a separate entity, just as her 1 week old baby has unique DNA.

As I said a couple of weeks ago, the "mainstream" media and other Leftists aren't really interested in "science" when they can twist the language to lead us away from the truth of a matter. In this case, the discussion of personhood of "fertilized eggs" is meant to make us think about the personhood of something "scrambled or over-easy" and not unique human beings.

For a group supposedly so concerned with "science," they certainly can be sloppy...when it suits their purposes.

Video: Duncan Hunter at NRA Conference

Campaign-trail commitments prevented California Rep. Duncan Hunter from attending the event, but he told the NRA members via videotape that if they believe that keeping and bearing arms is an important part of national security, they should join him in this race for the presidency. "When you elect me, you'll have a real Hunter in the White House." Hunter reaffirmed that Second Amendment guarantees are not just for hunting, but also for self-defense and protecting our communities and country.
For full text of speech, go to http://www.nraila.org.

Comments on Huckabee

Since I've just posted Star Parker's latest column on Mike Huckabee this morning, I wanted to be clear on my opinion of Huckabee.

I greatly respect Star Parker and her insight; if I didn't, I wouldn't be running her column here. However, I suspect that she, like many other good Christian folk, have signed onto Huckabee's bandwagon because he is a Christian, and he's pro-life, and he (as sad as it is to say this) is probably the best of the front runners right now.

But even Parker admits there is "some justification" to many of the things being said about him (e.g. that his conservatism is FAR from across the board) and says, "Do I agree with many of the criticisms in areas where he does want to turn to government? Yes."

The fact that Huckabee sees a far greater role for government than did our Founders makes me reluctant to support him in the Republican primary. When you throw in that he is soft on illegal immigration and has a weak spot in dealing firmly with criminals, I just can't get behind Huckabee even though he is pro-life.

But since we are still in the primary phase of our election process, I believe that now isn't the time to accept "good enough." Consider this:

RealClearPolitics has Robert Novak's latst column, which deals with Huckabee:

There is no doubt about Huckabee's record during a decade in Little Rock as governor. He was regarded by fellow Republican governors as a compulsive tax increaser and spender. He increased the Arkansas tax burden by 47 percent, boosting the levies on gasoline and cigarettes. When he decided to lose 100 pounds and pressed his new lifestyle on the American people, he was far from a Goldwater-Reagan libertarian.

As a presidential candidate, Huckabee has sought to counteract his reputation as a taxer by pressing for replacement of the income tax with a sales tax and has more recently signed the no-tax-increase pledge of Americans for Tax Reform. But Huckabee simply does not fit in normal boundaries of economic conservatism, as when he criticized President Bush's veto of a Democratic expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). Calling global warming a "moral issue" mandating "a biblical duty" to prevent climate change, he has endorsed the cap-and-trade system that is anathema to the free market.

Huckabee clearly departs from the mainstream of the conservative movement in his confusion of "growth" with "greed." Such ad hominem attacks are part of his intuitive response to criticism from the Club for Growth and the libertarian Cato Institute for his record as governor. On Fox News Sunday Nov. 18, he called the "tactics" of the Club for Growth "some of the most despicable in politics today. It's why I love to call them the Club for Greed because they won't tell you who gave their money." In fact, all contributors to the organization's political action committee (which produces campaign ads) are publicly revealed, as are most donors financing issue ads.

We can and should do better than this, especially when there is a clear choice in someone who has a consistent record of being pro-life, and a consistent record of conservatism across the spectrum of issues, one who will not only say the right things, but has proven he will do them: Duncan Hunter.

If you're a conservative you owe it to yourself to not just listen to what Hunter is saying, but check out his record.

The unfair rap against Mike Huckabee

BY STAR PARKER
FOUNDER & PRESIDENT
COALITION ON URBAN RENEWAL & EDUCATION

What's going on with Mike Huckabee?

With little resources, and with a GOP presidential candidacy hovering in obscurity through the summer, the former Arkansas governor is now running in a dead heat with Mitt Romney in the lead in Iowa. (Full Article)

Somebody needs to say 'Whoa!' to hospitals' race

By Gordon Garnos

AT ISSUE: The spending race between what is now Sanford Health and Avera Health has been growing by gigantic proportions. How and when this race started is hard to tell. Both institutions have invested in hospitals across the state, making both mother hens, so to speak. They have also been in a building frenzy for many years. What was the first expansion is hard to say since there have been so many at both institutions. Since then these two competitors have been hard at it to see which one can outdo the other. (Full Article)

Video: Huckabee Stumps for Benefits for Illegal Aliens

Here is Mike Huckabee, asking for special tuition rates for children of illegal immigrants. In the example he gave, the child is also here illegally. Of course, the child had no say in whether they broke our laws and came here illegally, but the whole family should be sent home. Immigrants who respect our laws should be given preference in becoming American citizens.



We don't need a president (like the current one) who is soft on illegal immigration and the security of our national borders.

HT to the Arkansas Journal.

The Arkansas Journal also provides links to the text of the speech, three different articles about this, and a link to the original bill.

Islam in Prophecy

Tonight was Part 5 (I believe the last) in a series on Islam by Dr. Richard Wells at South Canyon Baptist Church in Rapid City. Tonight's topic: Islam in Prophecy. Below are my notes from this evening.


Dr. Wells said understanding Islam is important, in addition to our relations with the millions of Muslims around the world and the many Islamic countries, because of the differenced between the faith of the Bible and the religion of Islam.

Wells said Isaiah 44 is a foundational passage for the doctrine of predictive biblical prophecy. One of the reasons for predictive prophesy is to prove and authenticate that what God says is reliable. Wells said that divination is a pagan method for attempting to predict future events, but God “makes fools of diviners.”

The Bible is filled with prophecies and makes many claims that God predicts many things that have not yet happened in order to prove that he is God. But is there prophecy in Islam? No, there is no prophecy in Islam.

In Surah 30, the Qur’an references what sounds like a prophecy regarding the defeat of “the Romans” and some later rejoicing of “the believers,” but it is not. This is the closest thing to a prophecy in the Qur’an.

Wells said this passage referenced the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantium) and the conflict between it and the Persian Empire. In 611, the Persians were growing in strength and took over many of the lands once held by the Byzantine Empire. Mohammed was relating this, supposedly from one of his visions, but he would have known of these events without the help of a vision. The wording of this passage, however, is unclear whether the Romans (Christians, i.e. “believers?”) or the Muslims would rejoice. About 10 years later, the Romans did retake some of this area, but this back-and-forth of territory had been going on for some time, and the language of the passage left it unclear who would be victorious.

Wells said that unlike the Bible, there is also no hint of prophecy anywhere in the Qur’an that has anything to do with great events in the world. The Bible foretells the coming of the Middle Eastern empires, the Greeks, the Romans, and specific detail about the coming of Christ.

Some Muslims claim there are prophecies in the Bible that affirm Islam. Wells said that he doesn’t mean to make light, but that pointing to the Bible to affirm the Qur’an, which has no prophecy in it, just isn’t plausible.

In Deut. 18, there is a prophecy of a coming great prophet and says he will be “like Moses.” Some Muslims says this refers to Mohammed, but the passage actually says this prophet will come from among the Jews.

Another supposed prophecy that affirms Islam is also in Deuteronomy, and has to do with Mohammed coming from Haran. But this idea is preposterous in that the only connection is that Moses came out of Sinai.

The third prophecy is a reference from Jesus himself in John 14:16 where Jesus says the Father will send another helper who will remain with us forever. Jesus was referring to the Holy Spirit, but Muslims say this referred to Mohammed. They say this because the word used for the Holy Spirit is similar to another word which is similar to “Mohammed.” However, there are 5,300 Greek manuscripts containing this passage and none contain the word Muslims say is used here.

Wells said that Islam is definitely referred to in the Bible. There are at least four types of prophecies in the Bible relating to Islam.

The first is the “macro prophecy.” In Genesis 12 we have the call of Abram (or Abraham) to be the father of the people of Israel. In verse three it says that God will bless those who bless his people and curse those who curse his people, and that all people of the earth will be blessed through Abraham’s lineage. Muslims say that this lineage is through Abraham’s son Ishmael (from whom the Arabs are descended), but the Bible is incredibly clear that this promise is through Abraham’s son Isaac. Meanwhile, the Islamic word is bitterly opposed to the very existence of the nation of Israel. We have all recently heard the president of Iran vowing to exterminate Israel, and he is working on gaining nuclear weapons.

The second kind of prophecy is in Genesis 16 where we have the account of Hagar leaving Abraham’s camp after Ishmael is conceived. The angel of God finds Hagar and says to her that her son will be “a wild donkey of a man, and his hand will be against everyone, and everyone’s hand will be against him, and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers.” Recall that Islam is a religion of the sword, which has expanded by the power of the sword, through conquest. And even within the world of Islam, there is great infighting. We see this in Iraq, between the Sunni’s and Shiits who are trying to kill each other. And there was the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s.

In Ezekiel 38 and 39 are prophecies that deal with the end times. Scholars debate on exactly when this will take place, but it seems to involve Islam. Some translations refer to the prince of “Rosh” which can mean chief or head, but there were once a people known as the Roshians. They weren’t Russians, but they were from the far north. This passage says Persia (Iran), Cush (Ethiopia), and Put (Libya) would form an alliance. It also mentions Gomer, which is probably Turkey, and the central Asian region. These areas all encompass the areas of the traditional Islamic empire. Gog and Magog are leading in this military effort. Many scholars believe this represents Russia. And we know from the events of recent years, the Russians are involved in helping Iran, Iraq and possibly other Muslim countries.

This passage also seems to refer to Israel, as people are gathered to Israel from across the earth just as Israel was re-established as a nation in 1948 after it was a “continual waste” from the time the Romans wiped out the Jewish nation in 70 AD. It also refers to a land of “unwalled cities” which was unthinkable in ancient times.

The last kind of prophecy referring to Islam in the Bible involves Daniel chapter 2. Here is the prophecy of the great image that Nebuchadnezzar saw in his dream, a figure with a head of gold (Babylon), silver (Medo-Persians), bronze (Alexander the Great), and iron (Romans). In Daniel 2:44 it says that in the days of the Roman Empire, God will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed (i.e. that it will ultimately triumph). The coming Kingdom that Christ preached about is this kingdom, and it began with Christ’s coming.

Islam by its nature has to dominate everything it comes in contact with. America remains a religious nation, despite its growing secularism, and represents Christianity. The total value of all Islamic exports from all Islamic country (excluding oil), is equal to Finland. It produces nothing except war.

For Israel to be re-established after all these years and to thrive the way it has, is unbearable to Muslims.

Wells closed with a story about his translator during his recent trip to teach in Russia. The translator was an Azerbaijani man. There was a lot of unrest in Azerbaijan several years ago involving Muslims (it’s a predominately Muslim country) who went on a campaign with the specific purpose of eradicating all Armenians, who are historically Christians. This mans’ parents decided they had to leave because they were in the path of this slaughter, and his parents had to explain to this boy that the Muslims are determined to eradicate Christians. However, since the Armenians had drifted from a vital faith in Christ, the boy had to ask his parents what a Christian was.

The man later sought answers about Christianity from a Christian preacher, and ended up coming to faith in Christ through this quest.

*NOTE: I'll post the video from tonight here in the next couple of days, when it's finished processing.

John Gibson: Plame Outer Deserves Medal

It should be noted that in addition to what Gibson says, while Plame was a CIA employee, she was NOT a covert agent, so no law was broken in her "outing." And it's a little hard to "out" someone when the D.C. social circuit already knows they work at the CIA, and they're on a Who's Who list.