The Faith of George Washington

American Minute from William J. Federer

He caught a chill riding horseback several hours in the snow while inspecting his Mount Vernon farm. The next morning it developed into acute laryngitis and the doctors were called in. Their response was to bleed him heavily four times, a process of cutting one's arm to let the "bad blood" out. They also had him gargle with a mixture of molasses, vinegar and butter.

Despite their best efforts, the doctors could not save former President George Washington and he died DECEMBER 14, 1799, at the age of sixty-seven.

After saying "Doctor, I die hard, but I am not afraid to go" and "I should have been glad, had it pleased God, to die a little easier, but I doubt not it is for my good," George Washington, at about 11pm, uttered his last words: "Father of mercies, take me unto thyself."

On Washington's tomb at Mount Vernon is engraved: "I am the Resurrection and the Life; sayeth the Lord. He that believeth in Me, though he were dead yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die."

The Washington Monument in Washington, D.C., which is 555 feet tall, has engraved on its metal cap the Latin phrase "Laus Deo," which means "Praise be to God."

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.

God is Not Dead, Nor Does He Sleep

American Minute from William J. Federer

Phillips Brooks was born DECEMBER 13, 1835. The bishop of the Episcopal Church in Massachusetts, Brooks is probably best remembered for a song he wrote two years after the Civil War, which goes: "O little town of Bethlehem! How still we see thee lie; Above thy deep and dreamless sleep, The silent stars go by; Yet in thy dark streets shineth, The everlasting Light; The hopes and fears of all the years, Are met in thee tonight."

At Harvard, Phillips Brooks was taught by Oliver Wendell Holmes and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

President Jimmy Carter, seeking U.N. sanctions against Iran, December 21, 1979, stated: "Henry Longfellow wrote a Christmas carol in a time of crisis, the War Between the States, in 1864. Two verses of that carol particularly express my thoughts and prayers and, I'm sure, those of our Nation in this time of challenge...I would like to quote from that poem 'And in despair I bowed my head. There is no peace on earth, I said. For hate is strong and mocks the song of peace on earth, good will to men. Then pealed the bells, more loud and deep, God is not dead, nor does he sleep. The wrong shall fail, the right prevail, With peace on earth, good will to men.'"

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.

Republicans need to get back to business

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

There are now nine capable candidates vying for the chairman's job at the Republican National Committee. The day of reckoning will be Jan. 29, when 168 committee men and women from around the country will vote their preference.

The stakes are high this time around. It's different when you are looking for a caretaker – someone to keep a good thing going – as opposed to a turnaround specialist – someone to transform a loser into a winner.

Clearly, after two consecutive electoral shellackings, Democratic takeovers in both houses of Congress and the White House, and significant drop-off in the number of self-identified Republican voters nationwide, it is the latter type of executive that the RNC needs.

What kind of leadership talent should the RNC seek?

Republicans think of themselves as the party sympathetic to free enterprise. But the party has gotten off track, not applying sound business principles to its own operation.

The three most important management questions, according to famed management guru Peter Drucker, are: What is our business? Who is the customer? What does the customer consider value?

What is the business of the RNC? Some might say it is to get Republicans elected. I'd say that's inadequate. Clever marketing techniques can move product in the short run. But if customers are not happy, they don't come back.

If the party does not have a clear agenda, and is not making a positive sale based on that agenda, it's a sign of weakness. Republican national campaigns of recent years that have been defined by Willie Horton and Swift boats may have defeated the other side, but they brought candidates into office with no clear mandate and eroded party definition and discipline.

The RNC business model must be based on positive marketing of its platform of traditional values, limited government, free enterprise and strong national defense. Candidates must be groomed who genuinely believe that it's this agenda – all of it – that keeps out country great, and candidates who don't shouldn't be nominated.

Who is the customer? The RNC must genuinely view the full spectrum of the American electorate as its target market. What business can possibly grow by only focusing on customers who have already bought its product? Only going after low hanging fruit is not a business plan that any venture capitalist would finance.

Republicans must get their message to the many diverse communities that make up our great country that they have ignored. Yes, I am certainly talking about black and Latino communities.

Consider the remarkable election that just occurred in New Orleans, where a young Vietnamese American political novice, Anh Cao, unseated William Jefferson, a Democratic Congressional Black Caucus member for almost 20 years. The RNC showed little interest in a race that conventional wisdom suggested had little prospect for a Republican victory. Cao won a surprise victory on a shoestring budget.

I've seen similar opportunities in the last two years, where seats opened up in California and Ohio as result of deaths of two Black Caucus members. There were clear opportunities to run conservatives that the RNC ignored because of conventional thinking.

What does the customer consider value? Customers buy products they believe will make them better off. Although some voters are motivated by ideology, most are seeking a secure, comfortable and safe life.

Voters from every walk of American life must hear from Republicans, practically, how more freedom and less government will deliver better education, health care, jobs and security – and why the preservation of the integrity of traditional family life provides a critical foundation for our country.

Some suggest that reaching out to new communities means changing the party's agenda. What successful company builds market share by destroying its product? No, they maintain product integrity and use more aggressive and imaginative targeted marketing.

The Republican Party clearly needs change. The RNC needs a chairman that can lead it into a new era. Someone that understands that the new beginning must start with sound business principles.

Star Parker is president of the Coalition on Urban Renewal & Education and author of the new book White Ghetto: How Middle Class America Reflects Inner City Decay.

Prior to her involvement in social activism, Star Parker was a single welfare mother in Los Angeles, California. After receiving Christ, Star returned to college, received a BS degree in marketing and launched an urban Christian magazine. The 1992 Los Angeles riots destroyed her business, yet served as a springboard for her focus on faith and market-based alternatives to empower the lives of the poor.

Obama Popularity May Tank When Americans See His Liberal Policies

Polls show most people like the way President-elect Barack Obama is handling the transition, but that popularity could go away when Americans start seeing just how liberal Obama really is.

He plans to push the Freedom of Choice Act which would reverse practically every abortion restriction in the country--including the ban on the barbaric partial birth abortion procedure.

Obama also wants to get rid of the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) that protects the states from having the concept of homosexual "marriage" imposed on them by other states via the activist court system.

Did voters pay more attention to style than substance? Bet on it.

A poll shows most Americans are conservative on issues such as abortion and the courts, but will the new administration's policies mirror those sentiments?

Appeals Court to Decide on Gideon Bible Distribution in Public Schools

Reprinted by permission of The Christian Post

By Lawrence Jones
Christian Post Reporter
Fri, Dec. 12 2008 09:07 AM EST

A federal appeals court in St. Louis heard arguments Thursday in a case involving the distribution of Gideon Bibles to children in public schools.

The South Iron R-1 School District formerly had a policy that allowed outside religious groups to distribute Bibles to fifth graders during the school day.

The policy prompted a lawsuit from the American Civil Liberties Union, which sued the district in September 2006, demanding a stop to the distribution.

Catherine D. Perry, a lower federal court judge, ordered a halt to the Bible distribution, calling it "an instrument of religion."

Following the order, the district then adopted a written equal access policy that treats the distribution of secular and religious literature outside of class on an equal basis. Under the new policy, outside groups could apply to distribute literature from stationary tables in two designated locations but were prohibited from distributing material inside classrooms.

Mathew D. Staver, founder of Liberty Counsel, who represents the school district in the case, asked the appeals court Thursday to reverse the ruling.

"The Bible cannot be singled out for special penalties like contraband. How ironic that in America, until recent times, the Bible formed the basis of education, and now its mere presence is radioactive in the opinion of some judges," said Staver in a statement.

"The Founders never envisioned such open hostility toward the Christian religion as we see today in some venues. To single out the Bible alone for discriminatory treatment harkens back to the Dark Ages. America deserves better. Our Constitution should be respected, not disregarded."

At issue during the hearing was whether the permanent injunction entered by Perry was based on the revised policy or the former policy.

Staver argued before the court that the permanent injunction did not take the new policy into appropriate consideration.

"It would be inappropriate for this previous injunction based upon a specific incident to literally gut the public forum and single out one single piece of literature...namely the Bible," stated Staver.

The court is expected to issue a decision in a few months.

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