Traditions are More than One or Two Democrat Administrations

ABC is one of the many outlets reporting on Barack Obama's egocentric, self-aggrandizing statement:

"I have become a symbol of the possibility of America returning to our best traditions," Obama said, a witness told the Post.

Excuse me, but Bill Clinton's socialist leanings and Jimmy Carter's all-around economic and international incompetence do not constitute "traditions."

The "best traditions" of America are the ones upon which she was founded, and the ones which brought us to greatness.

They include freedom, limited government, self reliance, objective moral values, a Christian worldview, capitalism, federalism, and peace through strength.

They do NOT include Marxism, socialism, secularism, moral relativism, appeasement, big government, and dependence upon government.

Obama must be starting to believe all the messianic hype the "mainstream" media has been heaping on him.

Don't these liberals just crack you up, sometimes?

Democrats Want to Stop Successful Immigration Raids

The headline today from CNS News was "Democrats Want to Stop Immigration-Enforcement Raids."

The headline might as well have read "Democrats Want to Stop Enforcing the Law."

Immigration reform advocates, including Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee, are calling for an end to Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids at businesses that knowingly hire large numbers of illegal aliens.

Meanwhile, a report published Tuesday by a Washington think tank shows that raids, along with other enforcement measures, are doing exactly what they are supposed to do: reducing the number of foreigners illegally working and residing in the United States.

So like liberals: find out what's working and put a stop to it.

The report from Dr. Stephen Camarota of the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) says the illegal alien population in the U.S. has declined by 1 million in the last year.

That's good news--especially when liberals told us there was nothing we could do about the illegals already in the country.

The report indicates that the stepped-up immigration raids of the past year or so have had the effect of deterring additional border crossings, and "self deportation" of some who were already here and didn't want to get caught.

If we are to solve the problem of loose borders and millions of illegal aliens in our country, we need to work the issue from several levels.

First we must lock down the border so that it's harder than just walking across as they do now.

Then we must work on identifying, locating, and deporting the 12 million illegals in our country.

Will it be hard work? Yes. Will it take a long time? Yes. Will we get them all? Probably not.

But we'll get a lot more if we try than if we do nothing.

People who respect our laws and our American culture are welcome here. We don't need immigrants who break our laws. Let's make room for the law-abiding immigrants who want to come for a piece of the American life.

Our economy, our tax burden, and our national security demand that we make the effort.

Tim Johnson Controversy Indicates Democrat Lack of Confidence

It's looking like Senator Tim Johnson's campaign and his liberal friends in the "mainstream" media are going to milk his illness for all it's worth.

David Kranz' latest hit piece on the Joel Dykstra campaign in the Argus Leader today takes aim at Dykstra's website for a statement it makes: "South Dakota's Voice for the U.S. Senate."

Democrats seem to be making the most of the fact that Johnson's speech has been hindered by his brain hemorrhage and it is difficult for him to speak--and are trying to portray anything said or done by Republicans as a slur against Johnson's impairment.

The Kranz hit piece does point out (16 paragraphs into the story) in a quote from Kathleen Hall Jamieson with the The Annenberg School for Communication that

"The word 'voice' is used a lot in politics, a very standard political statement"

Of course the Democrat Party mouthpiece for the South Dakota blogosphere, Badlands Blue, is quick to fan the flames Kranz started.

The terminology of "voices" and "speaking" for the people one represents in politics is hardly a new concept. It's actually a natural analogy, because elected representatives do speak for the citizens in the legislative body. An elected representative is the voice of the people who cannot be there to meet with the legislative body. But this terminology does seem to be a new prop for those who are concerned over Senator Johnson's election chances.

How long will it be (later today?) until Dakota Voice is castigated for taking advantage of poor Senator Johnson's illness by calling itself "Dakota VOICE?"

Pat Powers at the South Dakota War College also points out that a recent Johnson campaign video is being recognized by the Rapid City Journal as a preemptive strike against concerns over his speech and other issues related to his brain hemorrhage.

But if Johnson can't or won't engage Dykstra in a debate this political season, which is still up in the air right now, the video may do little to calm those concerns.

Senator Johnson's progress after the brain hemorrhage which cost him much of his speech and mobility--and could have cost him his life--is commendable. I think most South Dakotans, regardless of politics or party affiliation, have been praying for him and are cheering for his recovery. On a personal level, he's come a long way.

But is it enough to meet the rigorous demands of representing the people of South Dakota in the United States Senate? This isn't an easy job, even for someone in the best of health. Being able to speak on the Senate floor for or against legislation, to do committee work, and to slave away for long hours when the Senate is in session are part of the job description.

These are valid concerns which the voters of South Dakota can and should consider during this election. Maybe Johnson is up to the demanding work of a United States senator, but for the campaign and other Democrat voices to be so hyper-sensitive about the issue doesn't speak well of their confidence.

Democrats have been so hysterical over Johnson's condition that they went ballistic last year when National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman John Ensign announced Republicans weren't going to wait any longer to start the campaign for Johnson's seat. Definitely overkill on the part of Democrats.

I said it then and I'll say it again. South Dakotans have been patient, gracious and hopeful with Senator Johnson's illness. But if Democrats expect the people of South Dakota to have confidence that Johnson is up to the job, they can't keep hiding behind a sick man as their primary campaign defense.

Freedom of Brotherly Love

American Minute from William J. Federer

He was arrested and imprisoned in the Tower of London eight months for being a Quaker, but later King Charles II gave him land in America as repayment of a large debt owed to his father.

He invited persecuted Christians of Europe to join his colony of religious toleration. Soon Quakers, Mennonites, Pietists, Amish, Anabaptists, Lutherans, Reformed, Moravians, Scotch-Irish Presbyterians, Dunkers (German Baptist), Brethren, Schwenckfelders, and French Huguenots joined his "holy experiment."

His name was William Penn, and he died JULY 30, 1718.

William Penn named his capital city Philadelphia, meaning "Brotherly Love."

In 1733, Philadelphia allowed the only English-speaking Catholic Church in the world at that time. Philadelphia's first synagogue was built in 1782.

Pennsylvania's Charter, granted March 4, 1681, stated: "Whereas our trusty and well beloved subject, William Penn, Esquire, son and heir of Sir William Penn, deceased, out of a commendable desire to enlarge our English Empire...and also to reduce the savage natives by gentle and just manners to the Love of Civil Societe and Christian religion, hath humbly besought leave of us to transport an ample colony unto...parts of America not yet cultivated and planted."

William J. Federer is a nationally recognized author, speaker, and president of Amerisearch, Inc, which is dedicated to researching our American heritage. The American Minute radio feature looks back at events in American history on the dates they occurred, is broadcast daily across the country and read by thousand on the internet.

Life Prizes: A Contest for the Soul of a Generation

GUEST COLUMN

BY CATHY RUSE
Executive Director of Life Prizes

Powerful forces in our culture fight for the attention of the next generation. Marketing firms spend billions trying to turn the heads of young consumers and keep their gaze. But the most profound contest for the soul of our youth is between those working to build a Culture of Life and those bent on tearing it down.

Last week the “pro-choice” organization Choice USA announced the winners of its “Generation Awards,” a prize given to young people under the age of 30 who have “made cutting edge contributions to the reproductive justice movement through service, research, communications and organizing.” One winner is a young woman just 24 years old who wrote a book entitled Hooking Up: A Girl’s All-out Guide to Sex and Sexuality, and whose website lists abortion advocacy organizations such as the National Abortion Federation and the Feminist Women’s Health Center as “pregnancy resources.”

Perhaps it is not surprising that the abortion lobby launched this award in 2003, the year in which a survey by Former Planned Parenthood Federation President Faye Wattleton’s Center for the Advancement of Women discovered what must have seemed to them a scandalous truth: that a majority of women today think abortion should either never be permitted or permitted only for rape, incest, or life endangerment. And that women believe “keeping abortion legal” should rank next-to-last in priority for the women’s movement, just ahead of “more girls in sports.”

That was also the time when the public was becoming aware of a new phenomenon in public opinion demographics: that young people now hold stronger pro-life views than in the past, and are even more pro-life than their own parents. Even the New York Times could not ignore the news, running a story with the headline, “Surprise, Mom, I’m Against Abortion” in March of 2003.

More recent polls continue to reveal this significant trend. A 2006 Hamilton College/Zogby International survey of 1,000 students nationwide showed that most high school seniors regard abortion as morally wrong and would significantly restrict it. Another long-term survey by Overbrook Research found an extreme shift in young people’s attitudes from strongly “pro-choice" in 1992 to strongly "pro-life" in 2006.

The abortion movement is mortally afraid of losing the next generation, and rightly so. Now it has a new cause for concern: Life Prizes, a new prize program to inspire young people to be bold and brilliant in saving lives.

Instituted by the Gerard Health Foundation, a private charity that funds not only pro-life causes but also those fighting to save the victims of HIV-AIDS, Life Prizes celebrates champions of the pro-life movement, individuals and organizations that have furthered the cause of life through public advocacy, scientific research, outreach programs, public disclosure activities, legal action and other achievements. Life Prizes will award up to $600,000 in prize money divided between as many as 6 award recipients, and the nomination process is underway.

Fascinating stories of charity and ingenuity are sure to emerge as Life Prizes’ nominators shed light on the great pro-life work being done around the country, including by college age youth who have already demonstrated by their commitment and actions the potential to be the pro-life leaders of tomorrow. To further solidify the pro-life inclinations of the younger generation, the awards will be presented next year in conjunction with the annual national conference of Students for Life of America, an event which last year drew 800 students from colleges and universities across the country.

Americans are widely known and lauded for our generosity and initiative. We celebrate advances in science, medicine, politics, and many other endeavors, granting awards to those who find new ways to promote and advance the betterment of society, the longevity of life, the end of disease. It is only fitting that, in the company of these great celebrations, there is a new award to honor advances in the greatest human rights battle of our day.

Abortionists beware! Now the unsung heroes working to save, defend, and protect human life have an award to call their own.

Cathy Ruse, a prominent lawyer in the pro-life movement who has held several high level positions promoting life causes, has accepted the position of Executive Director of Life Prizes.