Caffeinated Thoughts |
- President Obama Can Return President Clinton’s Title
- Perinatal Hospice Provides Critical Care for Unborn and Families
- Catholic Church Agencies File Lawsuits Challenging HHS Contraceptives Mandate
- Sweeney Receives Endorsements from State Senators Zaun and Greiner in Iowa House District 50 Primary Race
- Natural fountains for the relief of poverty
| President Obama Can Return President Clinton’s Title Posted: 22 May 2012 04:30 AM PDT
For those of you who are now a bit confused let me explain. In a 1998 article for New Yorker American novelist, editor, and professor Toni Morrison declared President Clinton to be "our first black President…blacker than any actual black person who could ever be elected in our children's lifetime." That phrase was picked by many Clinton supporters and repeated until even the Congressional Black Caucus acknowledged it to be true. On September 29th, 2001, Texas Democrat Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson who was then serving as the chair of the Caucus said that Clinton "took so many initiatives he made us think for a while we had elected the first black president." It strikes me as ironic that according to liberals the first black president was not actually black and the first gay president is not actually gay. In liberal land it isn't necessary to actually be what you are reputed to be if you simply embrace the right ideas. For President Clinton being black meant supporting an agenda approved by the national black leadership. It had nothing to do with skin color and everything to do with ideology. The same is true for President Obama and his sudden Newsweek anointed gayness. President Obama is no more gay than President Clinton is black. But reality doesn't matter to the Left. Reality isn't real in any meaningful sense. It is only a concept to be twisted until the truth is wringed out of it so that the gatekeepers of politically correct thinking can assign meaning. It all makes me wonder how long it will be before some other left wing publication will declare President Obama to be the first female president. But for conservatives, reality is attached to the facts as they are in the real world. Concerning President Obama's announcement that his evolution has led him to the revelation that gay is ok the facts are: 1. North Carolina just became the 30th state to pass an amendment to their constitution to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman. North Carolina's amendment goes even farther by banning civil unions. The amendment passed by eleven percent. 2. According to a new USA Today/Gallup survey 40 percent of Americans say President Obama's public support of gay marriage will affect their votes. Of that number, 26% say they are less likely to vote for Obama and just 13% are more likely. 3. The same poll also revealed that among independents, 23% say they are now less likely to vote for Obama. That poll might mean three strikes and you're out for an Obama second term. South Carolina Congressman and stalwart Obama defender Rep. James Clyburn broke ranks with the President saying his support for same-sex marriage does not go far enough. He thinks the President shouldn't leave something as important as marriage up to individual states. Rep. Clyburn is the No. 3 ranking Democrat in the House behind House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Minority Whip Steny Hoyer. In an MSNBC interview Clyburn said, I, like the president has evolved to a point of marriage equality. But he went on to say, "However I depart from the president on the state-by-state approach. If you consider this (marriage) to be a civil right…and I do…. I don’t' think civil rights ought to be left up to a state-by-state approach." While I certainly don't believe same-sex marriage is a civil right I absolutely agree that it is an issue that is too important to be left up to individual states. The Full Faith and Credit clause of the Constitution would force a state like South Carolina to accept same-sex marriages performed in Massachusetts. That would have the effect of nullifying South Carolina's tenth amendment right to define marriage by allowing another state's definition to take precedent. Complete chaos would be the order of the day. When President Obama announced his advanced evolved state of enlightenment on same-sex marriage I put a Facebook post of my best E-Trade baby shocked face. Most of the readers got the joke and agreed that the only thing shocking about President Obama's announcement is the his honesty. Let's hope this president doesn't decide to put our country on the line in a prizefight or a poker game. He telegraphs his punches and bluffs with all the subtleness of a charging rhinoceros. His avid support for the repeal of the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy and his refusal to defend the Defense of Marriage Act drained all of the history out of his "historic" announcement. In an obvious tip-of-the-hat to the rainbow as a symbol of the LGBT community Newsweek saw fit to grace Obama's head with a rainbow halo. How ironic both the LGBT community and Newsweek would both choose a symbol that harkens back to the ultimate example of God's judgment. Link to this post! |
| Perinatal Hospice Provides Critical Care for Unborn and Families Posted: 22 May 2012 03:00 AM PDT
"Dr. Calhoun is a pioneer in the recent field of perinatal hospice, which takes principles from end-of-life hospice and applies them to the care of mother, child and family upon diagnosis of a terminal fetal abnormality," said Chuck Donovan, president of the Charlotte Lozier Institute. "Perinatal hospice offers a humane and caring option for parents and their unborn child, rather than just abandoning them to abortion."
Dr. Calhoun's paper for the Lozier Institute is available here.
Last week, Dr. Calhoun testified before the U.S. House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on the Constitution on the subject of perinatal hospice. The subcommittee examined the current legal regime in the nation's capital that allows abortion, for any reason, up to and beyond viability to the moment of birth. The subcommittee also heard testimony on proposed legislation to ban abortion in the District of Columbia after the fetus has reached 20 weeks gestation, based on their ability to feel pain at that point. Dr. Calhoun's testimony before the House Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on the Constitution is available here.
The Charlotte Lozier Institute was launched in 2011 as the education and research arm of Susan B. Anthony List. The CLI is a hub for research and public policy analysis on some of the most pressing issues facing the United States and nations around the world. The CLI website features commentaries, reviews and blog posts by an array of policy experts and scholars whose work covers statistics, medicine, bioethics, health care and law. Link to this post! |
| Catholic Church Agencies File Lawsuits Challenging HHS Contraceptives Mandate Posted: 21 May 2012 09:45 PM PDT
The president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) released a statement earlier today as 43 dioceses, hospitals, schools and church agencies across the nation filed 12 lawsuits challenging the federal Health and Human Services mandate on contraceptive services. Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York applauded the filings, saying the HHS mandate violates religious freedom. His statement follows … "We have tried negotiation with the Administration and legislation with the Congress – and we'll keep at it – but there’s still no fix. Time is running out, and our valuable ministries and fundamental rights hang in the balance, so we have to resort to the courts now. Though the Conference is not a party to the lawsuits, we applaud this courageous action by so many individual dioceses, charities, hospitals and schools across the nation, in coordination with the law firm of Jones Day. It is also a compelling display of the unity of the Church in defense of religious liberty. It’s also a great show of the diversity of the Church’s ministries that serve the common good and that are jeopardized by the mandate – ministries to the poor, the sick, and the uneducated, to people of any faith or no faith at all." The mandate would require many Catholic and other religious institutions to cover medical services that are in opposition to their religious beliefs. The president’s announced accommodation still makes an unacceptable distinction between houses of worship and their ministries, and still requires all non-exempt employers to facilitate the objectionable coverage. For news coverage visit www.catholicnews.com. UPDATED ACTION ALERT ON HHS MANDATE The National Committee for a Human Life Amendment (NCHLA), affiliated with the U.S. Catholic bishops, has a new action alert on the HHS mandate. A sample message is available at www.nchla.org/actiondisplay.asp?ID=292. Please send a message to HHS about your support for a rule that would allow all organizations and individuals to offer, sponsor and obtain health coverage that does not violate their moral and religious convictions. The primary focus of the alert is the federal Department of Health and Human Services "Advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM)" published March 21. HHS is seeking comments on how the final rule for the contraceptive mandate published Feb. 15 can accommodate religious organizations. Unfortunately the ANPRM does not correct the fundamental problems in the mandate. A final rule on the matter of the ANPRM will be issued at a subsequent unspecified date. The full text of the USCCB's comments on ANPRM is available:www.usccb.org/about/general-counsel/rulemaking/upload/comments-on-advance-notice-of-proposed-rulemaking-on-preventive-services-12-05-15.pdf. A secondary focus of the alert is legislation. Members of Congress are urged to co-sponsor and promote the passage of the Respect for Rights of Conscience Act (H.R. 1179, S. 1467). Thanks for all you do in support of this issue. AND FINALLY, Dioceses are putting together their plans for the "Fortnight for Freedom," a 14-day period of prayer, education and action in support of religious freedom. It will be held June 21-July 4. During the Iowa Catholic Conference board meeting last week, Des Moines Bishop Richard Pates announced an "Independence Celebration Walk and Picnic," which will take place as a part of the fortnight on the early afternoon of Sunday, July 1. It will consist of a walk in downtown Des Moines to the state Capitol grounds and will be followed by a picnic. Go to www.dmdiocese.org/religious-liberty.cfm for more information. Tom Chapman is the Executive Director of the Iowa Catholic Conference Link to this post! |
| Posted: 21 May 2012 09:00 PM PDT
State Senator Brad Zaun (R-Urbandale) is the Senate Republican Whip and a former Congressional Candidate. He endorsed Sweeney last week. He wrote:
State Senator Sandy Greiner (R-Keota) endorsed Sweeney in an email today. She wrote:
It should be noted that State Representative Grassley has a key supporter in his grandfather, U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA). Link to this post! |
| Natural fountains for the relief of poverty Posted: 21 May 2012 08:19 AM PDT
(1) Natural fountain # 1: personal industry. “We know not a more urgent principle of our constitution than self-preservation; and it is a principle which not only shrinks from present suffering, but which looks onward to futurity, and holds up a defence against the apprehended wants and difficulties of the years that are to come. Were the great reservoir of public charity, for the town at large, to be shut, there would soon be struck out many family reservoirs, fed by the thrift and sobriety, whichnecessity would then stimulate, but which now the system of pauperism so long has superseded;—and from these there would emanate a more copious supply than is at present ministered out of poor rates, to aliment the evening of plebeian life, and to equalise all the vicissitudes of its history” (402). (2) Natural fountain # 2: the kindness of personal relatives. “One of the most palpable, and at the same time most grievous effects of this artificial system, is the dissolution which it has made of the ties and feelings of relationship. It is this which gives rise to the melancholy list of runaway parents, wherewith whole columns of the provincial newspapers of England are oftentimes filled. And then, as if in retaliation, there is the cruel abandonment of parents, by their own offspring, to the cold and reluctant hand of public charity. In some cases, there may not be the requisite ability; but the actual expense on the part of labourers, for luxuries that might be dispensed with, demonstrates that, in most cases, there is that ability. But it is altogether the effeet of pauperism to deaden the inclination. It has poisoned the strongest affections of nature; and turned inwardly, towards the indulgences of an absorhent selfishness, that stream which else would have flowed out on the needy of our own blood and our own kindred. It has shut those many avenues of domestic kindliness by which, but for its deadening and disturbing influence, a far better and more copious circulation of needful supplies would have been kept up throughout the mass of society” (402-403). (3) Natural fountain # 3: the sympathy of the wealthy. By the state-managed system, the result is that the wealthy and the poor “stand to each other in a grim array of hostility—the one thankless and dissatisfied, and stoutly challenging as its due, what the other reluctantly yields, and that as sparingly as possible. . . Were this economy simply broken up, and the fountain of human sympathy again left free to be operated upon by its wonted excitements, and to send out its wonted streams throughout those manifold subordinations by which the various classes of society and bound and amalgamated together – we doubt not that from this alone a more abundant, or, at least, a far more efficient and better-spread tide of charity would be diffused throughout the habitations of indigence” (404-405) (4) Natural fountain # 4: the sympathy of the poor for each other. “In the veriest depths of unmixed and extended plebeianism, and where, for many streets together, not one house is to be seen which indicates more than the rank of a common labourer, are there feelings of mutual kindness, and capabilities of mutual aid, that greatly outstrip the conceptions of a hurried and superficial observer: And, but for pauperism, which has released immediate neighbours from the feeling they would otherwise have had, that in truth the most important benefactors of the poor are the poor themselves— there has been a busy internal operation of charity in these crowded lanes, and densely peopled recesses, that would have proved a more effectual guarantee against the starvation of any individual, than ever can be reared by any of the artifices of human policy” (405). * * * Originally posted at West Port Experiment. Link to this post! |
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