The Cross Again

For the past nineteen years, this is the debate that will not die in San Diego. I hope the latest legal ruling will help to euthanize the Mt. Soledad Cross controversy at last--but I'm not betting the rent.

Text of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution :

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

No one is required to visit, acknowledge, approve of, or even look at the Mt. Soledad Cross. Logic dictates that government has safely avoided an "establishment of religion" in this case.

As to "free exercise thereof," pertaining to religion, here's a news flash for the anti-Cross atheists--Christianity counts. Christians are free to exercise their rights in expressing their religious views. No one is barred from objecting, or suing, or hampering press coverage, as the past nineteen years have proven.

Easter sunrise services on Mt. Soledad are famous, popular, packed, "peaceably assembled," and completely voluntary. My husband attended services there on a couple of Easter mornings many years ago. Although I've never attended a service there, no one in black boots has ever beaten down my front door at midnight.

"Free exercise thereof." Hmmm. So, maybe the system works?

Certainly the cantankerous atheists in town have exercised their rights to "petition the government for a redress of grievances." However, since the Mt. Soledad Cross clearly is not violating the First Amendment, they have been unsuccessful in their obsession to remove it. I join fellow San Diegans who support the Cross--by the astounding majority of 75%--in prayer that the disgruntled atheists will now just sit down and shut up. Amen.

In a Nutshell

The Obamessiah went touring

To bask in the crowds so alluring.

He promotes new world order

And, with no thought to border,

Decrees the U.S. needs his curing.

A New Creation Story

Very, very clever article. Gerard Baker captures the sacred aura in highly creative fashion.

Always a Chuckle

...it's always a bad practice to say "always" or "never"...
~ Barack Obama, July 22, 2008, in Jordan


As always (oops), Obama expounds upon his imaginary accomplishments in a speech delivered in Israel:

Now, in terms of knowing my commitments, you don't have to just look at my
words, you can look at my deeds. Just this past week, we passed out of the U.S.
Senate Banking Committee, which is my committee, a bill to call for divestment
from Iran, as a way of ratcheting up the pressure to ensure that they don't
obtain a nuclear weapon.

Um, excuse me. Not only is the Banking Committee not "his" committee--Obama's not even a member. What was that again about "deeds," Senator?

Right now, a winning Republican strategy would be to keep the teleprompter in storage and let this megalogmaniac keep talking unplugged. Let Obama's highly entertaining, magical history tour go on and on. He's a gaffe a minute.

Israel is a strong friend of Israel
~ Barack Obama, July 22, 2008

If John McCain had made a gaffe like that, the Obama campaign would never let us hear the end of how "confused" the war hero candidate is.

But I dare you to try to find any coverage of this, except in the blogosphere. I heard the audio on Laura Ingraham this morning, which is the only way I know it happened. This will never be repeated by the MSM cheerleaders on Obama's grand Surrender Tour. Their sacred duty is to protect the Obamessiah from the slightest negative coverage.

As to the possible psychological implications of such a goof, is Obama really telling Israel "you're on your own"? As always, we really have no idea where Obama stands on this (or any) issue. Let's hope that we--and Israel--don't have to find out the hard way.

Favorite Bumper Sticker

This is the best bumper sticker I've seen this summer.

Far From In the Bag

Americans are beginning to notice Obama's elevated opinion of himself.
~ Charles Krauthammer

If people aren't comfortable with idea of Barack Obama as commander in chief it can definitely prevent his election.
~ Larry Hugick, pollster for Princetone Survey Research Associates


There's plenty of food for thought in a couple of meaty pieces on Obama's lean credentials: Charles Krauthammer's, "The Audacity of Vanity" and Michael Hirsh's "Ich bin ein Commander." I'm ready to make some popcorn and watch the pratfalls on the Barack-star's premature victory lap around Europe.

By the time it's over, it might be Eur-OOPS!

Earrings Earnings

You're getting $600 - what can you do with that?...you buy a pair of earrings

~ Michelle Obama, dismissing the value of the economic stimulus tax rebate

Evidently, Michelle Obama hasn't shopped at Target lately. I doubt she's been to the grocery store for the family's weekly stock-up in quite some time. And I don't think she's pumped her own gas in a while, either.

Yes, it's easy to drop $600 in a flash at a jewelry store, a posh hotel, or an upscale restaurant. But I think most Americans were heading in other directions when they received their checks. Like to the food store, the gas station, maybe the savings bank.

MO goes on to state, regarding the inconsequential economic stimulus checks, "not to be ungrateful or anything" (perish the thought), "but it doesn't pay down every bill every month."

Whoa! Is that what the government is supposed to be doing? Paying down all of our bills? In the long, imaginative history of campaign rhetoric, that one takes the prize. And throw in a pair of $600 earrings for the budget-minded lady.

Marital Issues

So Californians will have the chance--again--to vote upon whether or not same-sex couples should be allowed to wed in our state. Deja vu all over again.

I clearly remember being among the 61% who voted for upholding the definition of marriage as between a man and a woman in 2000. However, four people in black robes decided they knew better and deemed that majority vote ''unconstitutional." So here we go again, giving the "gay marriage" issue another spin this November as Proposition 8, the California Marriage Protection Act.

I like to respect people's way of life, so long as they are not inflicting harm. But when a completely legal vote is overturned on a judge's whim, I feel violated. My right to have a say in my government has been usurped. It's unfair and unjust. And besides, judicial say-so doesn't magically make same-sex marriage valid.

Suppose I decide I want to be Ukranian. I have no Ukranian blood in me (that I know of), but I want this to be true badly enough to go to court and have myself declared Ukranian. Everyone must now recognize me as a Ukranian national, whether they like it or not.

Fine, good for me. I won my case and my piece of paper. But I'm still not Ukranian.

Same-sex couples are entitled to their rights, of course. Domestic partnership, civil unioin, whatever they would like to term their partnerships to obtain legal protection. But marriage, the basic unit of civilization, is between a man and a woman. Two different human sexes, joining together to form a dynamic familyunit capable of continuing society through offspring of their union. This is our human nature, our history, and our future. Judges should be more careful with so many thousands of years of precedent.

I'll be voting the same as I did in 2000. Who knows how much has changed in eight years. Voters in favor of Prop 8 may find themselves blown all the way to...Ukraine.

Over the Top

Unfortunately, Monday morning’s oped calls into question Sen. Obama’s willingness to objectively review the situation on the ground and make decisions based on what’s best for our nation’s security, rather than what’s best for his candidacy.
~ Pete Hegseth, Vets for Freedom


A good question is posed in this NRO article. Why would Sen. Obama lay out his "Plan for Iraq" before he visits rather than after? Apparently, nothing the commanders on the ground can say will be worth enough to give the Great One pause.

And they say G.W. doesn't listen.

Meanwhile, there is word that the Obama campaign had chosen the Brandenburg Gate as the setting for his speech in Germany later this month. This is traditionally where visiting heads of state address the German people. It's where John F. Kennedy delivered his stirring Ich bin ein Berliner speech, and it's where Ronald Reagan admonished Gorbachev to "tear down this wall."

Well, of course, the Obamessiah should speak there--isn't that obvious? Not to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who objects to the implied endorsement of Obama. Never mind that 72% of Germans want Obama for president. (Fortunately, they aren't voting.) Although she leans to Obama, Merkel doesn't want to appear to be meddling in U.S. politics--and good for her.

But to Obama, everything is about Obama and his candidacy. I doubt Chancellor Merkel's opinion about where the Great One will speak can hold much sway over His Lordship's decision.

After all, a "seismic change" is coming. Time will be measured "Before Obama" and "After Obama"--and Spike Lee is serious. I wonder how enthusiastic Lee will feel about measuring time when he gets the bill for being in Obama's top tax bracket.

Then again, it's hard to tell what Obama means and does not mean. His words change with the prevailing winds. His "aahhhs" and "uummms" become more plentiful the more piercing the question. Will we allow ourselves to become his grand national experiment?

I vote "Nobama."

Tony Snow: 1955 - 2008

I always knew where it was going, Tony Snow's illness.

Oh, he was cavalier, he was upbeat and gallant about his situation, he fought hard and he fought well. But I have seen rampant cancer doing its wretched job, upfront and personal. Cancer works overtime, never quits, has no mercy. And it is indifferent to those left behind.

Snow died Saturday, July 12, at the age of 53. If you compare photos of Tony Snow before his diagnosis and as he left the White House, you can see the marks of battle upon him. Cancer erodes, strips, wastes, and lays bare. It is like a runaway internal wild fire racing through flesh, leaving a ravaged, fragile whisper of the person that once was. The end, when it comes, is a blessed release for the cancer victim.

The struggle is over for Tony Snow, yet it just begins for his family. His wife and children are the cancer victims now. They must learn to reconcile the pain of his loss with the comfort of his peace. That is a long, wrenching journey comprised of a different kind of fight, no less daunting, against a raging storm of emotions.

Two and a half years after I watched my husband die of cancer, I see no end to my own emotional struggle. Yet I find I am consistently grateful each day that cancer can never make Pete suffer again. It's not much, but it's a start, and I cling to it as a life raft. I send the Snow family my prayer that they will find their own life raft, emerging somewhere up ahead through the crashing waves of their grief.

First Language First

All weez can say is "merci beaucoup"
~ the highly articulate Barack Obama, 7/8/08

Good grief. Give the man back his teleprompter. Pronto, por favor.

Shadow Man

Will the real Barack Obama please stand up?

Charles Krauthammer's blistering indictment of what I call "the Obama shuffle" is definitely required reading. There is absolutely no telling what this candidate really believes or what he would do if he becomes president.

Read "A Man of Seasonal Principles" and you'll have copious examples of Obama's unreliability on any given issue.

I'm dubious enough of America's future under a President Obama (shudder) that I find myself cruising the internet, looking into foreign jobs and real estate. It is a constant source of amazement to me that more Americans are not skeptical of this man's motives.

The complete infatuation of MSM with Obama is an outright disgrace. Chris Matthews, especially, please seek professional counseling.

Bill Clinton did not scare me anywhere near this much. At least Clinton stuck to his lies, for the most part, once he chose them.

Words to Ponder

There is nothing wrong with America that the faith, love of freedom, intelligence and energy of her citizens cannot cure.

~ Dwight D. Eisenhower

34th president of US 1953-1961 (1890 - 1969)