President protects the Consciences of Health Care providers

The Washington Post does its best to spin this as a bad thing with the telling headline "Rule Shields Health Workers Who Withhold Care Based on Beliefs". They could have easily titled it "Rule Protects Rights of Conscience for Health Care Workers".

Here is an excerpt:

The far-reaching regulation cuts off federal funding for any state or local government, hospital, health plan, clinic or other entity that does not accommodate doctors, nurses, pharmacists and other employees who refuse to participate in care they find ethically, morally or religiously objectionable. It was sought by conservative groups, abortion opponents and others to safeguard workers from being fired, disciplined or penalized in other ways.

But women's health advocates, family planning proponents, abortion rights activists and some members of Congress condemned the regulation, saying it will be a major obstacle to providing many health services, including abortion, family planning, infertility treatment, and end-of-life care, as well as possibly a wide range of scientific research.

Read the rest.

So, the logic of Planned Parenthood and other opponents of such regulation is that there will not be enough people providing abortions, euthanasia, in-vitro fertilizations, embryonic stem cell research, and other ethically dubious "services".

Hold on a second, though...

I thought people were so excited about these things that they were eager to provide them!

The subtext of the opposition's argument is that there will not be enough people to perptetuate the Culture of Death unless Planned Parenthood, the AMA, and other left-leaning "powers that be" in the medical, scientific, and political world are free to force doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and researchers to participate in unethical practices against their will.

The other underlying message is that the practices mentioned above are absolutely necessary and vital health services. There seems to be little faith in what human ingenuity can do, even within the bounds of divine law. There are natural alternatives to artificial birth control. Abortion is not the only option for pregnant women. In-Vitro fertilization is not the only fertility treatment out there. Adult stem cells have proven much more useful so far than the embryonic variety, and we can care for the elderly and the terminally ill without hastening their deaths.



To expect any professional to violate his or her conscience in order to remain employed is ludicrous and irresponsible. What good is a conscience if one is not permitted to follow it? What kinds of doctors, lawyers, teachers, scientists, and other professionals would we have in our society if we only hire those who are willing to compromise their most closely held beliefs for a paycheck? What kind of society will we have if we teach our children to listen to their bosses before their hearts?

Furthermore, in a nation where freedom of speech, religion, and association are held to be sacred values, it is inappropriate for employers to penalize their workers for exercising their rights in every part of their lives.



I can tell you this: there are many people in many professions who will choose their consciences over everything else, even if it means changing careers. Many people have already risked their jobs in order to provide what they believe to be the best, most ethical care for their patients. If people are worried about a health care shortage, they should wait and see how many doctors and other health care providers will elect to leave their profession rather than lose their souls.

I suggest that if such procedures as abortion and embyronic stem-cell research are as widely accepted as we are led to believe, proponents of such things should have nothing to fear!

Cat Captions

ICanHasCheezburger.com is a blog devoted almost exclusively to funny cat pictures and their captions. Captions usually include some form of phonetic spelling.

Here's one to which I relate quite well:

If you're a cat fan with a sense of humor, it is worth a look.

For Star Wars fans, a similar website exists: http://www.icanhasforce.com/

Thanks to Michelle for telling me about ICanHasForce.com.

Naral Co-Founder and former Abortion provider tells the truth.

Dr. Bernard Nathanson is not new news to many of us. As an abortion doctor and abortionist, he played a crucial role in forming media and public opinion with respect to legalized abortion. When he began studying fetology (that's foetology for those of you "across the pond"), he changed his mind. Here is what he says about the numbers and slogans still touted by the pro-choice movement today:

"We persuaded the media that the cause of permissive abortion was a liberal enlightened, sophisticated one. Knowing that if a true poll were taken, we would be soundly defeated, we simply fabricated the results of fictional polls. We announced to the media that we had taken polls and that 60% of Americans were in favour of permissive abortion. This is the tactic of the self-fulfilling lie. Few people care to be in the minority. We aroused enough sympathy to sell our program of permissive abortion by fabricating the number of illegal abortions done annually in the U.S. The actual figure was approaching 100,000 but the figure we gave to the media repeatedly was 1,000,000. Repeating the big lie often enough convinces the public. The number of women dying from illegal abortions was around 200-250 annually. The figure we constantly fed to the media was 10,000. These false figures took root in the consciousness of Americans convincing many that we needed to crack the abortion law. Another myth we fed to the public through the media was that legalising abortion would only mean that the abortions taking place illegally would then be done legally. In fact, of course, abortion is now being used as a primary method of birth control in the U.S. and the annual number of abortions has increased by 1500% since legalisation."

Read more.

Bailouts for banks, auto manufacturers... And Planned Parenthood?

From the Susan B. Anthony list, which advances the cause of pro-life
women in America:

http://www.sba-list.org/siteapps/advocacy/ActionItem.aspx?c=ddJBKJNsFqG&b=4179747&aid=11533

Abortion groups have submitted their 50 page proposal to the
Obama-Biden transition team. At the top of the list? More taxpayer
dollars for abortion organizations like Planned Parenthood. How much
more? Over 1.5 billion dollars more!

The Abortion Bailout Package:

* $1 BILLION dollars in taxpayer funding for International Abortion Groups
* $700 million in taxpayer funding for "Title X" Health Clinics
(aka your local Planned Parenthood affiliate)
* $65 million for the UNFPA, an international aid organization
connected to coercive abortion as part of China's coercive one-child
policy
* Repeal the Hyde Amendment – Vastly expanding federal taxpayer
funding for abortions
* Include Abortion coverage in any taxpayer-subsidized national
health care program
* Expand taxpayer-funded abortions on military bases
* Expand taxpayer-funded abortions through the Peace Corps program
* Expand taxpayer-funded abortions for federal prisoners

Send a letter to your Senators today demanding that they keep your tax
dollars out of the pockets of abortion providers.

Click on the link above to take action and automatically send a letter
to your US senators.

Designer Babies

I ran across this today:

http://www.elitedonors.com/Ad%20Criteria.html

This service calls itself "Elite" donors is looking for a tall, attractive, college educated (At a top 100 school, no less), athletic, caucasian egg donor with no genetic health problems. I saw a link to their advertisement on Facebook and flagged it as offensive.

Nope, no hint of eugenics here.

And let's not even talk about how exploitative and dangerous egg harvesting can be to women, even to the point of bearing disturbing similarities to human trafficking.



The couple using this service should be ashamed of themselves, especially when there are so many imperfect yet perfecly loveable children out there who need to be adopted by loving parents, even if said children do not look like they do.


Watch Gattaca, people.

Absurdity in Advertising

There have been some police chases in the news lately. These things always seem to be alike. This one is a little different. Different enough, in fact, that it makes for some fairly memorable advertising.

The video speaks for itself:

Quote of the day from Google:

Every man is wise when attacked by a mad dog; fewer when pursued by a mad woman; only the wisest survive when attacked by a mad notion.

- Robertson Davies

Does your Senator or Representative Support FOCA?

The so-called "Freedom of Choice Act", which President-Elect Obama promised Planned Parenthood he would sign, is designed to eliminate abortion regulations (such as waiting periods, informed consent, and parental notification/consent) in those states that have them.

Such regulations are designed to protect women. Parental notification and consent laws are particularly important for protecting young girls from older men who use abortion to cover statutory rape.

It has to pass through Congress before Obama can sign it.

Here is a list of Senators and Representatives that are co-sponsors of the bill:

http://www.aul.org/FOCA_Sponsors

If your senator/representative is on the list, contact him or her to voice your disapproval. If your s/he is not on the list, contact him/her anyway to voice your opposition to the bill.

The text of the bill itself is posted here:

http://www.nrlc.org/foca/FOCA2007S1173.html

If passed, the language of this bill allows for such laws to be struck down in courts. It would make it illegal for the government to "deny or interfere with a woman's right to choose" an abortion, and allow her to take the state, or any government who "interferes" to court over such regulations as those mentioned above.

Planned Parenthood of Houston Expansion

From TexasFamilies.org:

Planned Parenthood is expanding.
This building could be the largest freestanding abortion facility in the Western Hemisphere.



Demolition has already begun.

The following companies are participating in this project:

Alpha Electric Company
906 W. 19th Street
Houston, Texas 77008
Office 713.802.1166
Fax 713.802.1628

Owners:

Jimmy Stallones
E-mail jstallones@alphaelectricco.com

Bo Parrish

E-mail bparrish@alphaelectricco.com

ARC Abatement Demolition Contractors http://www.arcabatement.com/services.htm

ARC Abatement, - Houston
6630 Roxburgh Dr, suite 120
Houston TX 77041
713-849-7738 / 800-920-7738 FAX 713-849-7744
Jeff Young , General Manager - Houston

General Contractor

Main Office
Meyerson Builders, Inc.
1770 St. James Place, Suite 509
Houston, Texas 77056

Contact Jerry Meyerson

Telephone: 713.355.4443
Fax: 713.961.2830
E-mail: jerry@meyersonbuilders.com

Central Texas Office
Meyerson Builders, Inc.
P.O. Box 523
Flatonia, Texas 78941

Contact Sandy Meyerson

Telephone: 361.865.3302

If you live in the Houston area or anywhere else where these companies do business, please call or e-mail them and RESPECTFULLY voice your disapproval of their participation in this project. Inform them that you will tell your friends and family, coworkers, and business associates, especially any who may be considering contractors, about this.

Also, there will be prayer vigils outside the general contractor's office. See TexasFamilies.org and/or the Houston Coalition for Life for more info.

Happy Veteran's Day!

And a BIG thank-you to our men and women in uniform.



We're pretty fond of y'all, too.

Lightening up and handling elections like grown-ups.

An old friend drew my attention to a fun piece by Dave Barry. Here's a small taste:

You know what I miss? I miss 1960. Not the part about my face turning overnight into the world's most productive zit farm. What I miss is the way the grown-ups acted about the Kennedy-Nixon race. Like the McCain-Obama race, that was a big historic deal that aroused strong feelings in the voters. This included my parents and their friends, who were fairly evenly divided, and very passionate. They'd have these major honking arguments at their cocktail parties. But unlike today, when people wear out their upper lips sneering at those who disagree with them, the 1960s grown-ups of my memory, whoever they voted for, continued to respect each other and remain good friends.

What was their secret? Gin. On any given Saturday night they consumed enough martinis to fuel an assault helicopter. But also they were capable of understanding a concept that we seem to have lost, which is that people who disagree with you politically are not necessarily evil or stupid. My parents and their friends took it for granted that most people were fundamentally decent and wanted the best for the country. So they argued by sincerely (if loudly) trying to persuade each other. They did not argue by calling each other names, which is pointless and childish, and which constitutes I would estimate 97 percent of what passes for political debate today.

What I'm saying is: we, as a nation, need to drink more martinis.

Read the entire column:
http://www.miamiherald.com/living/columnists/dave-barry/story/756596.html

When your "Rich Uncle" Sam offers you a job...

In addition to raising the minimum wage (which in the long run only raises the cost of doing business and thereby makes products more expensive, defeating the purpose), President-elect Obama is taking a page from FDR's book and calling for taxpayer funded public works programs to create government jobs for the unemployed:

http://money.cnn.com/video/#/video/news/2008/10/31/news.top.obama.jobs.cnnmoney


Based on his personal experience as such, Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote on being a long-term government employee.

Here he is expressing his concern for the person who becomes dependent on the government for gainful employment(emphasis mine):

"Why should he toil and moil, and be at so much trouble to pick himself up out of the mud, when, in a little while hence, the strong arm of his Uncle will raise and support him? Why should he work for his living here, or go to dig gold in California, when he is so soon to be made happy, at monthly intervals, with a little pile of glittering coin out of his Uncle's pocket? It is sadly curious to observe how slight a taste of office suffices to infect a poor fellow with this singular disease. Uncle Sam's gold--meaning no disrespect to the worthy old gentleman--has, in this respect, a quality of enchantment like that of the devil's wages. Whoever touches it should look well to himself, or he may find the bargain to go hard against him, involving, if not his soul, yet many of its better attributes; its sturdy force, its courage and constancy, its truth, its self-reliance, and all that gives the emphasis to manly character."

from "The Custom House"

The Onion strikes again!

Obama Win Causes Obsessive Supporters To Realize How Empty Their Lives Are

Ahead of her time:

Words from the first Female US Presidential Candidate:

I wish to say my word on the theme of the day — Abortion and the Abortionists. . . Abortion [is]one of the fixed institutions of the country, one of the marked characteristics of the age, one of the indicative symptoms of the ripening and the rottening of our prevalent state of society! Who proposes to disturb Madame Restel [underground abortion practitioner]? Who really wants that there should be no opportunity to secure an abortion under peculiarly trying circumstances? . . . But the great revenue of these practitioners is from the married women among the wealthy. They have become unfit to have children, and abortion is the sewerage for this wretched stagnation of feminine life. . . . Abortion before marriage and especially after marriage are the rule rather than the exception—in the wealthy and fashionable classes, and to a great extent among workingwomen who say they 'can’t afford to have children'. . . Abortion is only a symptom of a more deep-seated disorder of the social state. It cannot be put down by law. Normally the mother of ten children is as healthy, and may be as youthful and beautiful, as a healthy maiden. Child-bearing is not a disease, but a beautiful office of nature. But to our faded-out, sickly, exhausted type of women, it is a fearful ordeal. Nearly every child born is an unwelcome guest. Abortion is the choice of evils for such women.

• Victoria Woodhull, first woman to run for U.S. President, member of the Equal Rights Party, in Woodhull's and Claffin's Weekly (September 23, 1871).

Postracial, my foot.

Race shouldn't even be an issue in this election, but since it's too late for that, I may as well put in my two cents here.

America has not elected its first Black president.

It has done something that should be much more significant: it has elected its first BIRACIAL president.

But said candidate, the media, and many who elected him are apparently content to ignore one side of his heritage.

As a biracial person, I am appalled by this. Even early in my childhood, I quickly grew sick and tired of having to "check only one" box when asked to identify my race on my personal records for school and college. I didn't think of myself that way. I loved and honored both sides of my family, and it seemed illogical to ignore one for the sake of a narrow-minded bureaucracy.

In the last eight years or so it has seemed as if there was growing awareness of the fact that a person can be of two races at the same time: that s/he can grow up in between two cultures and take the best of both into adulthood.

When the LA Times and other news outlets were publishing articles suggesting Obama's biracial heritage was a problem, Obama could have refuted the very premise of their questions and publicly celebrated his biracial heritage as an example of what is possible in America. He could have argued that American culture has matured to the point where it will take him for who he is and what he believes.

Instead he has chosen to check only one box. Worse, he has chosen to allow others to check only one box for him for the sake of political convenience.

Now, I know there are other issues in this election that are far more important. The protection of the unborn, the family, freedom of religious expression, and the security of our nation just to name a few. Those alone are reason enough for my vote against him today, regardless of anything else.

Obama campaigned on hope, change and new politics, yet he and his supporters acquiesced to what should be outdated ideas about race relations in this country. He speaks of "the power of ideals". It would seem that the ideal of being judged primarily by the content of one's character wasn't powerful enough here.

So much for change.

President Obama?

PSALM 55

1 Listen to my prayer, O God,
do not ignore my plea;

2 hear me and answer me.
My thoughts trouble me and I am distraught

3 at the voice of the enemy,
at the stares of the wicked;
for they bring down suffering upon me
and revile me in their anger.

4 My heart is in anguish within me;
the terrors of death assail me.

5 Fear and trembling have beset me;
horror has overwhelmed me.

6 I said, "Oh, that I had the wings of a dove!
I would fly away and be at rest-

7 I would flee far away
and stay in the desert;
Selah

8 I would hurry to my place of shelter,
far from the tempest and storm."

9 Confuse the wicked, O Lord, confound their speech,
for I see violence and strife in the city.

10 Day and night they prowl about on its walls;
malice and abuse are within it.

11 Destructive forces are at work in the city;
threats and lies never leave its streets.

12 If an enemy were insulting me,
I could endure it;
if a foe were raising himself against me,
I could hide from him.

13 But it is you, a man like myself,
my companion, my close friend,

14 with whom I once enjoyed sweet fellowship
as we walked with the throng at the house of God.

15 Let death take my enemies by surprise;
let them go down alive to the grave, ^[b]
for evil finds lodging among them.

16 But I call to God,
and the LORD saves me.

17 Evening, morning and noon
I cry out in distress,
and he hears my voice.

18 He ransoms me unharmed
from the battle waged against me,
even though many oppose me.

19 God, who is enthroned forever,
will hear them and afflict them—
Selah
men who never change their ways
and have no fear of God.

20 My companion attacks his friends;
he violates his covenant.

21 His speech is smooth as butter,
yet war is in his heart;
his words are more soothing than oil,
yet they are drawn swords.

22 Cast your cares on the LORD
and he will sustain you;
he will never let the righteous fall.

23 But you, O God, will bring down the wicked
into the pit of corruption;
bloodthirsty and deceitful men
will not live out half their days.
But as for me, I trust in you.

Tip of the Schoolmarm Ruler to: Catholic Mom

Obama promises hope for refrigerator victims.*

Original article by Christina the Crazy Schoolmarm

Community organizers across the United States are up in arms about recent studies revealing that fuller refrigerators use less energy, and are therefore less costly to run.

"This is an outrage" said one angry activist while picketing outside of General Electric's corporate offices. "It is a deliberate attempt by Big Energy and Big Refrigeration to squeeze every last dime out of working-class Americans who simply cannot afford to fill their refrigerators full enough to save money on electricity. Their CEO's get rich and fill their refrigerators to the gills, while we struggle to put anything in ours. It's about time Washington did something about it, since these corporate fat-cats won't."

When asked about Senator Obama's plan to deal with the refrigeration crisis, Joe Biden responded:

"President.....excuse me... Senator Obama is deeply concerned about the needs of America's working poor. One of the first things he will do is president is turn the page on the inequities of America's refrigeration system. It is time we stopped giving tax breaks to wealthy executives who feed off of the energy used to cool the empty refrigerators of those less fortunate. You know, I was just talking to Tim Farley of Ottumwa Iowa, and he told me how hard it was to choose between paying his electric bill and feeding his family. It's not fair that Tim has to work so hard to pay for energy to cool food he can't afford to buy. President....oops, excuse me again...I mean Senator Obama will also work with Congress to pass legislation to eliminate this refrigeration discrimination. If approved, the Obama Plan will require that all refrigerators manufactured after 2010 be more efficient the more empty they become. This way, the higher electric bills will be paid by the wealthier Americans who can afford them, and those who cannot afford buy enough food to keep their refrigerators full will no longer be punished for having less."

Obama's opponent, Senator John McCain spoke recently on this issue as well, saying, "The fundamentals of America's refrigeration system are strong. Energy efficient appliances are important for consumers who want to save money in these tough economic times. My friends, let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater. Let's not penalize companies for successfully finding ways to help consumers and our environment. Let's support businesses to make the cost of food production lower, and find ways to help create better educational opportunities for our young people, so they can afford to feed their families and keep their refrigerators full. Let us also support quality adult education for Americans who wish to find new careers that allow them to put enough food on the table, and in the fridge, and maybe even put a little a way for their sons' or daughters' college education."

When asked his opinion of the McCain plan, Senator Biden commented, "Of course the Obama plan is better. All we are trying to do here is create change that will level the playing field.

When asked if the plan may have unintended consequences for the environment and the economy, Biden added, "Is this a real question? Who is writing these for you? Rush Limbaugh? John McCain's plan will do nothing to change the way refrigerators are manufactured and marketed to an unsuspecting public, nor will it change the windfall profits CEO's make from the extra energy used by the working class to power empty refrigerators. President..oops, excuse me, Senator Obama's plan will. Mark my words. Shortly after this election there is going to be a serious refrigeration crisis in this country, and, in spite of what Talk Radio may say, Americans will have to trust that the Obama plan will work, even when it looks like it won't. "

This reporter attempted to pose additional follow-up questions. However, the Obama-Biden campaign had already canceled the rest of the interview and suddenly discovered that another news outlet needed our team's seats on the campaign plane.


---------------------------
*Schoolmarm Vocabulary Word of the Day:

Satire.

Look it up.

The most appropriate ballot box I have seen so far:

In this election, it is important for Americans of all sizes, walks of life, and fur colors to make a statement with their votes.

Not to be outdone by Mickey Mouse, cats at the Capital Area Humane Society of Columbus, OH, with the help of local FM radio station Mix 97.1, are voicing their opinions of this race. In the litterbox.

(Image Source)

The results should be pretty clear here. There will be no pregnant chads, and if anything is left hanging...well, let's not even go there.

It's a close race in the Kitty Caucus, with many news outlets reporting yesterday afternoon that McCain was ahead by one "vote". Our local 10:00 evening news reported last night that Obama had pulled ahead by two.

Hmm. Ahead by two in the number two department.

So many possible jokes. So little time.

The real question here is, if you were running for president, would you really consider it a compliment if you won the Litterbox Poll?

Rape survivor speaks out about choosing life:

From Feminists for Life of America:

This month, Feminists for Life invites you to meet Joyce Ann McCauley-Benner. Joyce was raped while working her way through college, discovered she was pregnant, and chose not to abort, even though she did not know if the father of her unborn son was the rapist or her boyfriend.

Joyce’s story, “Victory Over Violence,” is the second of FFL’s speaker videos, which are being unveiled one by one over the coming school year and posted on FFL’s website and on YouTube.

“I thought: ‘I don’t know how to take care of a baby! I’m not ready to be a mother, I don’t have medical coverage. I can’t do this now!’” Joyce recalls. But on deeper reflection, she realized that “while I did not know who the father of my baby was yet, I did know who his mother was. And that was me.”

Joyce, along with other Feminists for Life speakers, promotes pro-woman solutions especially on college campuses. She explains, “When I chose single motherhood, it was hard. Finding resources and returning to my hometown college were challenging…. I am here to tell you, women deserve better.”


Joyce points out that it is in difficult times that women (including herself) often discover how strong and powerful they really are.

Watch Joyce tell her story:

$150? $200? $250? Where's the line, Mr. Obama?

Bait and switch? Maybe. Or maybe the Obama folks haven't quite made up their minds who they think is "rich". For awhile we were hearing that the line was drawn at $250,000 per year.

Here Obama says you'll get a tax cut if you make under $200,000 per year:



Then Senator Biden lowered the number to $150,000




The thing is, back before the primaries, while sitting in a local cafe doing a little work, I heard Barack Obama on the Michael Berry Show on AM 740 KTRH in Houston. In that interview, he stated that he intended to repeal the bush tax cuts for all Americans making over $150 per year.

Again, this was in the months leading up to last summer's primaries. I wish Mr. Berry posted transcripts. If he did, I would link to them so you, dear readers, could see for yourselves.

So, when I heard the Obama campaign placing their cutoff for tax increases at $250,000 per year, I already did not trust their message. Maybe Biden did us all a favor by showing the campaign's true tax colors.

Something rotten in Obama/Biden Campaign.

The Obama campaign continues to either avoid or intimidate those who ask tough questions.

After putting Joe Biden in the hot seat over his running mate's comments to Joe the Plumber, WFTV in Orlando received a stern letter from the campaign, cancelling further interviews. From the Orlando Sentinel:

West wondered about Sen. Barack Obama's comment, to Joe the Plumber, about spreading the wealth. She quoted Karl Marx and asked how Obama isn't being a Marxist with the "spreading the wealth" comment.

"Are you joking?" said Biden, who is Obama's running mate. "No," West said.

West later asked Biden about his comments that Obama could be tested early on as president. She wondered if the Delaware senator was saying America's days as the world's leading power were over.

"I don't know who's writing your questions," Biden shot back.

Biden so disliked West's line of questioning that the Obama campaign canceled a WFTV interview with Jill Biden, the candidate's wife.

"This cancellation is non-negotiable, and further opportunities for your station to interview with this campaign are unlikely, at best for the duration of the remaining days until the election," wrote Laura K. McGinnis, Central Florida communications director for the Obama campaign.


Read the entire column here.

Meanwhile, former Marine Jessica Hughes gets harrassed by people claiming to be secret service, after she gives a campaign worker a frank opinion of Obama's politics. From WorldNetDaily:

Jessica Hughes of Lufkin, Texas, former Marine, mother of three, answered her cell phone in the car, coming home from the emergency room. Her 9-year-old had suffered a mild concussion, but was OK.

The caller was a female Obama volunteer who asked if Jessica would support Obama for president.

Jessica replied, "No, I don't support him. Your guy is a socialist who voted four times in the state Senate
to let little babies die in hospital closets; I think you should find something better to do with your time." Then Jessica hung up.

The next day, a man and a woman in suits showed up at the door of her home, identifying themselves as members of the Secret Service.

The Secret Service agents stated that the Obama campaign had complained of a death threat. They had quoted Jessica as saying, "I will never support Obama, and he will wind up dead on a hospital floor."

Jessica's husband had heard Jessica's side of the original phone call and verified the actual quote. To which the female agent replied, "Oh? Well why would she (the Obama volunteer) make that up?"

Jessica replied that the Obama volunteer was probably unhappy about what Jessica had said about her candidate. The female agent then said "That's right, you were rude!"

The male agent then displayed a file with Jessica's full name prominently printed on it and asked her how she felt about Obama. At this point, the former Marine told the agent "in no uncertain terms" (as she later recounted) that this was America and that the last time she checked, she was allowed to think whatever she wanted without being questioned by the Secret Service. And was being "rude" a federal crime now too?

The agents then admitted they had no tape of the conversation, just the quote from the Obama campaign.

Responding to Jessica's questions, the agents would not identify themselves by name, nor reveal the name of the Obama volunteer who had made the complaint. The agents did indicate that Jessica was not in a court of law yet, and that they were trying to not embarrass her "by going to all her family and neighbors."

To these implied threats, Jessica invited the agents to speak to whomever they wanted, and stated she would happily go to court since she had done nothing wrong.

Jessica asked the agents, "Look, someone calls me unsolicited on my cell phone to ask me to support their candidate, and I can't tell them why I don't?"

The Secret Service left Jessica that day, but she could not get the "visit" out of her mind.

Jessica wrote later, "The fact that the volunteer lied, the fact that the Secret Service came to my house to question me about my thoughts and feelings and threaten to embarrass me to my neighbors and go to court if I didn't cooperate is not the tragedy here.

"Because that girl on the phone doesn't have the pull to send the Secret Service to my home. Someone high in the ranks of a campaign working for a man who may be the next President of the United States of America felt comfortable bringing the force of the Federal Government
to bear on a private citizen on nothing but the word of a partisan volunteer."



The fact that these "secret service" agents refused to identify themselves is very fishy to me.

Read the rest of the article here.

And then there is the campaign's response to WGN radio's discussions of Bill Ayers and its tactics when dealing with other outlets for conservative opinions.

Now, I expect politicians on both sides to avoid some questions. But childish pouting is ridiculous, harassing radio stations is silly, and using the secret service (if that's what these besuited individuals really were) to intimidate voters is positively totalitarian.

If the Obama campaign wants us to believe that he is even half the leader they make him out to be, he should be taking on his opponents in open dialogue, instead of shutting them up.

Can you imagine the media frenzy if the McCain campaign engaged in such behavior?

Yes, that's the change we need.


Tips of the schoolmarm ruler to: Christina and "Pertinacious Papist".

In this week's fashion rant:

Why "new" fashions are marketed to the under 21 crowd:

They can't remember far back enough to know when things are being recycled.

Case in point:


Leg warmers!!!!!!!!!

(These are sold at Rue 21 stores.)

Now, when things came back in fashion that my mother remembered wearing, I thought, OK. I can deal with that, we're about a generation apart.

But leggings and leg warmers? Hold on a second! My high school aged students, who are nowhere near young enough to be my own kids, are wearing things that I remember wearing as a child. What's odd is these are being recycled at the same time as the things my mother (and her age group) remembers wearing in high school.

It's not that I have a problem with retro. I'll wear tunics. I'll wear flared pants. I'll take almost any dress that might have been worn by Grace Kelly or Audrey Hepburn before 1975. But there are a few things I definitely do not miss: massive shoulder pads, tapered leg relaxed fit jeans (especially the printed ones), leggings, and **shudder** leg warmers.

At least these aren't hot pink.

Can't we have a few more years before the 80's come back?

Clueless Obama supporters on Howard Stern

I am not a fan of Howard Stern, but even a stopped clock is right twice a day.

In this "man on the street" style segment, the interviewer attributes McCain's positions on the war, abortion, and even stem cell research to Obama. They swallow it hook line and sinker.

Stern suggests that these voters are primarily for Obama because of his race. It sounds to me like the force of his personality is more at work here. Either way, it's scary to see that the people interviewed here apparently do not know what is policies actually are, but are voting for him anyway. It should be about policy first.



Be afraid. Be very afraid.

Tip of the schoolmarm ruler to: Pertinacious Papist

Planned Parenthood Fraud in California?

Eduardo Verastegui on Abortion in the Latino/a Community

Hispanics for Life has a video out with Eduardo Verastegui of the film Bella, warning all voters, and Hispanics and other people of color about the particular impact abortion has on those communities. (See the link and warnings below.)

Even the Washington Post, has picked up on the disproportionate number of abortions among people of color. (Tip of the schoolmarm ruler to Christina Dunigan.) Taking their numbers from the Guttmacher Institute, the research tentacle of Planned Parenthood, they note:

Although abortion rates have declined among all racial and ethnic groups, large disparities persist, with Hispanic and black women having the procedure at rates three to five times the rate of white women.

In 2004, there were 10.5 abortions per 1,000 white women ages 15 to 44, compared with 28 per 1,000 Hispanic women of that age and 50 per 1,000 black women. That translates into approximately 1 percent of white women having an abortion in 2004, compared with 3 percent of Hispanic women and 5 percent of black women.


This page at Hispanics for Life states:

Dr. Edward Allred, a wealthy abortionist and owner of Family Planning and Associates, said this in an interview with the San Diego Union in 1980: "Population control is too important to be stopped by some right-wing pro-life type. Take the new influx of Hispanic immigrants. Their lack of respect for democracy and social order is frightening. I hope I can do something to stem that tide; I'd set up a clinic in Mexico for free If I could.
Maybe one in Calexico would help. The survival of our society could be at stake."

"More children from the fit, less for the unfit, is the chief aim of birth control," was the slogan used by Margaret Sanger, founder of Planned Parenthood. Sanger declared that Hispanics, Blacks and Jews were 'human weeds" whose reproduction would bring "a dead weight of human waste" into the world.

In her book, Women and the New Race, she asserted the "most useful thing a large family can do to one of its infant members is to kill it."


BlackGenocide.org also notes the even greater impact of Planned Parenthood on the African American community:

Planned Parenthood is the largest abortion provider in America. 78% of their clinics are in minority communities. Blacks make up 12% of the population, but 35% of the abortions in America.

Planned Parenthood employees have been caught on tape telling potential donors that their funds can be earmarked to pay for abortions of minority babies.

--------------------------

If you wish to see the Hispanics for Life video, see the link below. Be warned, however that this video contains VERY graphic images of abortion, and the remains of aborted babies. I found it very difficult to watch, as did Annie over at Abortion Pundit. In fact, I had to fast-forward it through most of the abortion images.

Children, post-abortive women who regret their choice, and other sensitive individuals SHOULD NOT watch this video!

Click here to see it:
http://www.durarealidad.com/

--------------------------

Here is a video of Barack Obama speaking before Planned Parenthood (tip of the ruler to Alan)



Obama is so supportive of abortion, that he has even voted against emergency medical care for babies that survive botched abortions.

I saw something cool on TV!

Remember this little line from Clarence the angel in It's a Wonderful Life?

"Strange, isn't it? Each man's life touches so many other lives. When he isn't around he leaves an awful hole, doesn't he?"

I saw this on TV tonight, and it put me in mind of that:




Now, I can't claim to have helped anyone as dramatically as a firefighter. Teaching just doesn't require the same kind of heroism. I hope I have been able to have some positive effect in the lives of others. I'm certainly glad I had the opportunity.

I have to say, that I am pleased that they chose a female firefighter as the central character in this ad.

The advertisement is from the Majella Society of Austin and Houston, TX.

Hidden Holocaust.

From www.u-s-history.com:

Current estimates, based on Nazi war records and official government documents from various countries, place the death toll of the Holocaust at anywhere from 10 million (a conservative figure) to 26 million people.

That's pretty horrendous. Unspeakable, really.



Even more frightening is this figure:


Approximately 49,640,776 human beings killed from 1973 to 2008.

Not by war.
Or famine.
Or disease.


By abortion.



Tomorrow is National Pro-Life Memorial Day.



Think about it.

October: Right to Life and Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Funny that these two events would coincide, though you'll probably only see one of them on NBC.

This would be a good time to mention (again) that, according to the Mayo clinic and others, there is a link between use of the birth control pill and breast cancer. See this earlier post for more details on that.


Interestingly enough, there is also a link between abortion and breast cancer, in addition to other negative effects abortion can have on the physical and mental health of women, even when it is "safe and legal".

According to The Coalition on Abortion/BreastCancer:



As of 2006, eight medical organizations recognize that abortion raises a woman's risk for breast cancer, independently of the risk of delaying the birth of a first child (a secondary effect that all experts already acknowledge). An additional medical organization, the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, issued a statement in 2003 calling on doctors to inform patients about a "highly plausible" relationship between abortion and breast cancer.

The relationship is so plausible, in fact, that:

General counsel for [the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons] wrote an article for its journal warning doctors that three women (two Americans, one Australian) successfully sued their abortion providers for neglecting to disclose the risks of breast cancer and emotional harm, although none of the women had developed the disease.


If you prefer getting information on this issue from books, try Breast Cancer: Its link to Abortion and the Birth Control Pill by Chris Kahlenborn, MD. Published by One More Soul

Stoning is, like, sooo 2000 years ago.

I suppose to some, it would seem more consistent if we "right wing religious conservatives" publicly destroyed Sarah Palin and her daughter over the issue of teen pregnancy.

In rushing to Sarah Palin's defense, the leaders of the Christian right have made it abundantly clear how they define a Christian. We don't care if you sin. ...It all comes down to your stand on guns and fetuses. Vote the right way, and you have our blessing. If any proof were needed that James Dobson is a political operative rather than a spiritual leader, his jumping on the Palin bandwagon offers it.

I suppose it can be difficult to understand if one does not actually know what forgiveness means. It does not mean accepting the sin. It means accepting genuine repentance. It means loving the sinner, and being ready to take her back when she is sorry for what she has done.

Now, I do not pretend to know the condition of Miss Palin's heart. I do not know if she regrets the act that got her pregnant in the first place. However, the fact that she is doing the right thing with respect to her pregnancy is laudable, as is the support her family is giving her. That is what Dr. Dobson and others including myself find commendable. If God could forgive a repentant prostitute, he can certainly forgive a teenager.

We're just putting our faith into practice, people.

Pregnancy Help Center destroyed by Arson

Read it here:

http://www.democratherald.com/articles/2008/09/20/news/local/3aaa01_pregnancycenter.txt

The arsonist, whoever s/he is and regardless of motive, is now responsible for making it more difficult for women in need to choose life for their unborn children. I hope s/he is caught quickly.

Visit the website for the Pregnancy Alternatives Center of Lebanon, OR.

Click here for a directory of pregnancy centers in Oregon.

Tip of the ruler to: Christina Dunigan, who correctly points out that there would not be such a minimal response from the mainstream media if this had been an abortion mill. The only MSM article I found was this one from the Local News section MSNBC, which, like the Democrat Herald article linked above, speculates that the motive may have REALLY been to attack an abortion clinic. How much you want to bet this will move to the national section if that turns out to be the case?

Not a Bushism. It's a real word!

Google's Word of the Day:

misprize: to despise; also, to undervalue.

Anne Rice: The Importance of Not Being Howard

I posted before on my reactions to Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire, which I believe could only be written by a person immersed in Catholicism throughout her life (even if at the time she found herself at odds with her faith).

Now closer to the Church, Rice discusses her memoirs Called out of Darkness and the influence her faith has had on her life and writings:



Rice's experience of beauty is a great illustration of the need for beautiful artwork in our places of worship. She was affected by it even before she could read! A good picture (or a statue, for that matter) really can be worth a thousand or more words. Art is a form of catechesis that is accessible to everyone.

Through this she picked up on the richness of Catholicism, which she would come to apprecciate more fully later in life.

Beauty and pain are strangely (and perhaps wonderfully) united in Catholic art and Catholic theology. There is perhaps no better example of this than in the cross itself, an image which Rice mentions in this interview.




Sacrifice is beautiful, though it may include suffering. The incarnation is beautiful. The Resurrection is beautiful, but the beauty of the Resurrection would be incomplete without the torturous sacrifice that came before it.


J.R.R Tolkien put it quite well:

The Gospels...contain many marvels--peculiarly artistic, beautiful, and moving: "mythical" in their perfect, self-contained significance, and among the marvels is the greatest and most complete conceivable eucatastrophe. But this story has entered history and the primary world... The Birth of Christ is the eucatastrophe of Man's history. The Resurrection is the eucatastrophe of the story of the Incarnation. This story begins and ends in joy. .... There is no tale ever told that men would rather find was true, and none which so many skeptical men have accepted as true on its own merits. for the Art of it has the supremely convincing tone of Primary art, that is, of Creation. ...

Though human artistry could never perfectly depict divine beauty, skilled artisans can still come close enough to leave a profound impression.

Tip of the Ruler to: Alan

We'd better watch our cat this Halloween.

Here he is:



He has quite an appetite. Cat food. People food. If there's a bug in the house, he'll find it. I just found out he likes to eat pumpkin too.


We wouldn't want this to happen to our jack-o-lanterns:

Where to begin:

Sandra Bernhard's racist and anti-feminist attacks on Sarah Palin. She owes women and the African American community an apology.



Professor Meyers is at it again. This time, the man who publicly desecrated the Eucharist is going after a pro-life pharmacist. Pray for him. Hopefully, it will do him good.




Barack Obama's less than classy response to abortion survivor Gianna Jessen:

Her Ad:



His:




Yup. 'Nuff said.

Tip of the Ruler to: Jeff Miller

Pro-Life Prayers and Pushy Pro-Abort Protesters

In Argentina.

Warning: My spanish is a bit rusty, but I'm pretty sure there's profanity here.



The contrast between the young people praying the rosary before the steps of the cathedral and the angry mob speaks for itself, I think.

Tip of the ruler to: Alan

Yahoos on Yahoo...

So much for secure webmail:

Sarah Palin's Yahoo Account Hacked

If this had been done to Obama or Biden, I bet congress would already be investigating.


At least the FBI is taking this seriously.


I'm waiting for the legal head-rolling.

...

One more reason to drill more in the West...

Ike is threatening Oil facilities in Texas, hitting the pump before it even hits land.

Did we mention that Sarah Palin favors drilling in Alaska?

Surreal.

It was near the end of summer vacation.  Like many college students, I was back home at my parents' house taking advantage of every possible opportunity for extra sleep before heading back to school.

Ahh, the joys of sleeping in.

Through the hazy fog of half-slumber one morning I heard my parents outside my door in my dream.  

"...bombed the World Trade Center..."

"Should we tell her?"

...

"Nah," I thought. "No way." And I turned over to go back to sleep, expecting to wake up to the world as it usually was.

When I did the sleepy college student shuffle out to the living room, I saw the smoke on the television. I saw a replay of a plane flying into a tower.

Later on there was another.

It wasn't a bad dream.

If only it had been.

Another use for scrap fabric:

Cat toys!

My kitten has these chew toys by Petstages:

And I thought to myself today that it might be fun sometime to get up to my craft studio and put together something similar using some of my old scraps and a little catnip.

Who will take care of Sarah Palin's Baby?

Why, Daddy, of course.

So says the Washington Post, calling him "the GOP's favorite stay-at-home-dad".

While the left is busy criticizing Sarah Palin for having five kids and a career at the same time, and asking who will look after little Trig and his special needs, they seem to be ignoring her husband, not to mention her older children. Those of my readers who come from large families know that very often the oldest children help with the care of the youngest ones.

Not too surprising, I suppose. So many people on the left are so appalled at the sheer size of her family's carbon footprint, they haven't stopped to think of the benefits of having a family that size. And, as to their tendency to overlook her husband, well, we often hear from the Left that fathers are overrated anyway.

You would think the feminists would be praising the Palins for defying traditional gender roles, but instead they are excoriating her, and ignoring him. Strange. 

 

Editorial Cartoonist Dana Summers at the Orlando Sentinel captures this well:

This blogger considers at-home parenthood to be the ideal. While it is expected that women will take on this role, the most important thing is that somebody do it, if at all possible. If having dad at home works better, that's great.

Kudos to Todd Palin for providing his family with what it needs, including time for his wife to take on corruption and foolishness on both sides of the aisle.

Search: PP in Los Angeles

Someone googled "sedation for abortion in los angeles california Planned parenthood".

For the sake of her own safety, this person might be interested in the stories of some of the LA area Planned Parenthood's other patients:
Erica Goode
Holly Patterson
Diana Lopez

She may also be interested in some of the lawsuits against PP that have been filed around the country, including one from a teenage incest victim in Ohio, alleging that PP failed to report her abuser to the authorities as required by law.

She may also be interested in knowing that the Ohio case is not the only instance of a child abuse coverup scandal at PP.

This blog encourages women seeking abortions to learn the truth about fetal development and consider the other choices avaiable to them though local pregnancy help centers and telephone hotlines. Pregnancy Centers and Shelters


For legal help for women harmed by abortion, click here for a list of resources.

Policy, experience, conduct in office:

Here is a chart comparing Governor Sarah Palin and Barack Obama.

Tip of the ruler to: Annie Banno

Commentary on the Media feeding frenzy:

Mark Shea's commentary on the MSM's treatment of the presidential race is worth a look:

Here's a small slice:

The visceral, palpable fear and hatred of her was (mark this) instantaneous and took place *before* the Left that is desperately trying to trash her and her family actually knew anything about her. It's a pre-rational thing. Indeed, what drives the search for dirt is the pre-rational decision that she must be destroyed, no matter what the cost. And so we get the astounding spectacle of feminists demanding she abandon career for family and forget shattering the glass ceiling, of the Party of Compassion ritually slaughtering a 17 year old, of the Party of the Little Guy laughing at Jefferson Smith and his hicks up on the woods. Most of all, we see the deep, deep hatred of children that fills up the empty core where the heart of the Democrat party used to be. When the chips are down, Herod behaves as he always has when his shot at power is threatened. And so we get the appalling suggestion that "truly responsible" people would have just had Trig Palin killed for failing to measure up to Master Race specs and Bristol Palin delivered to the tender mercies of an abortuary.

To his great credit, Obama himself has told his rabid self-appointed neo-Puritan Inquisitors, "My mother had me when she was eighteen…" He's a smart enough pol to know that ritually sacrificing a girl to him is not right and will not win votes for him. But the latter-day Jephthahs are about as smart as the original Jephthah. In their worship of Obama, they are prepared to offer him human sacrifices that he himself never commanded. And in so doing, they show forth the ugliest and most inhuman face of the Left (a face rather like that of Dick Cheney in his willingness, nay, eagerness to "go to the dark side").

Read the rest of his post "Duelling Religious Systems" here.

A thank you to my grandparents...

who loved my parents and welcomed me into the world, even if the circumstances were not what anybody wanted, or entirely in keeping with the way they raised their children.

They were not the first to do such a thing, nor will they be the last, but they are no less special because of that.

At least they didn't have to do so under the predatory eyes of the mass media.

Practically tripping over themselves...

...in a rush to paint Governor Palin as a bad mother.

They can't even get their stories straight. On the one hand, she gave a speech after her water broke, against the advice of her doctor. On the other hand, she was never actually pregnant, her daughter was.

The second theory is the most absurd, and is based on pictures of her daughter. Apparently, the only reason for a young girl to have anything but perfectly flat washboard abs must be pregnancy.

I hate to think what this can do to Palin's daughter. In spite of maintaining a healthy weight, I have had a similarly shaped stomach my entire teenaged and adult life. I remember being pretty self-conscious of this as a teenager. Fortunately, nobody cared about my stomach enough to inspect it closely, much less analyze it publicly. As an n adult I have discovered that I have more important things to worry about, in spite of the cultural pressure on women to get that perfect body. I hate to think what emotional effect national scrutiny of her abdomen might have on a teenage girl.


I think Amy's assessment as well as Amanda Carpenter of Townhall.com pretty much say everything that needs to be said.

-------------------------------------------------------

Update: The AP reports that Trig could not possibly be Sarah Palin's grandchild, as her daughter is already pregnant with a baby of her own.

This blog commends Bristol Palin for not compounding a mistake by turning it into a tragedy, and the Palin family for supporting their daughter through her pregnancy.

Is this sexism?

From the FFL article on Governor Sarah Palin in my last post:


According to The Anchorage Daily News published August 6, 2006, "Palin said last month that no woman should have to choose between her career, education and her child." The article went onto say that "she's a member of a pro-woman but anti-abortion group called Feminists for Life." "I believe in the strength and the power of women, and the potential of every human life,' she said."

Palin and her family lived this out when she chose to give birth to her youngest son, who has Down's Syndrome.

CNN's John Roberts, aparently, seems to think otherwise when he discusses Palin's newborn son with Diana Bash:

The baby is just slightly more than four months old now. Children with Down's syndrome require an awful lot of attention. The role of Vice President, it seems to me, would take up an awful lot of her time, and it raises the issue of how much time will she have to dedicate to her newborn child?

Bash makes a good point when she asks:

If it were a man being picked who also had a baby, but -- you know, four months ago with Down's Syndrome, would you ask the same question?

Tip of the Ruler to: Newsbusters.

More on Governor Palin and Feminists for Life

A press release from Feminists for Life of America:

August 29, 2008

FFL Member Nominated for Vice President of the United States

Sarah Palin, governor of Alaska, has been selected by Republican presidential nominee Senator John McCain as his running mate.

According to The Anchorage Daily News published August 6, 2006, "Palin said last month that no woman should have to choose between her career, education and her child." The article went onto say that "she's a member of a pro-woman but anti-abortion group called Feminists for Life." "I believe in the strength and the power of women, and the potential of every human life,' she said."

Feminists for Life's policy is that all memberships are confidential. However, since Governor Palin has been public about her membership, we can confirm that Palin became a member in 2006.

Earlier this week Feminists for Life reacted to the inclusion of woman-centered solutions in the Democratic Party platform, and the inclusion of FFL's trademarked message, "Women deserve better^® than abortion,^©" in the Republican Party platform.

FFL President Serrin Foster said "It is unprecedented to see the platforms of both major U.S. political parties incorporate key pieces of FFL's unique message."

"Of course there is a certain excitement about the recent movement toward FFL's woman-centered solutions and message by the parties, and now the selection of a pro-life feminist as the Vice Presidential nominee. But as a nonpartisan organization, we cannot endorse any candidates," Foster said.

"FFL members represent a broad political as well as religious spectrum, and we remain both nonpartisan and nonsectarian. There are many issues outside Feminists for Life's mission. Feminists for Life is dedicated to systematically eliminating the root causes that drive women to abortion—primarily lack of practical resources and support—through holistic, woman-centered solutions. We recognize that abortion is a reflection that our society has failed to meet the needs of women and that too often women have settled for less. Women deserve better than abortion," said Foster.

As each party takes steps to acknowledge and meet the needs of women, Feminists for Life is prepared to work with our elected leaders on behalf of girls and women who deserve far better than abortion. FFL has a long track record of working with both sides of the political aisle on major legislation such as the Violence Against Women Act, Child Support Enforcement Act, and much more. Many members of Congress have already stepped forward to cosponsor the FFL-inspired bill with bipartisan support, the Elizabeth Cady Stanton Pregnant and Parenting Student Services Act.

"We invite all parties, all public servants, and all people to join us on the bridge of woman-centered solutions," Foster said.

............................................

www.feministsforlife.org

............................................

"Abortion is a reflection that we have not met the needs of women. Women deserve better than abortion."
Say NO to the Status Quo^TM
REFUSE TO CHOOSE^® WOMEN DESERVE BETTER^®
............................................

Feminists for Life is a 501(c)3 organization.
All donations and membership contributions are tax deductible to the extent allowed to law.
Refuse to Choose and Women Deserve Better are registered trademarks of Feminists for Life of America.

McCain Chooses Pro-Life Feminist for VP

She hunts. She fishes. This moose-burger eating, basketball playing former Miss Alaska contestant (and Miss Congeniality winner) is the first woman governor of Alaska.  And, this mother of five (including a downs-syndrome child and a soldier about to be deployed to Iraq) is also a member of Feminists for Life. 

The Times Online describes her campaign style as "formidable" and her grasp of the issues as "Keen".  It also mentions the moose-hunting trips she went on as a child with her father. 

Yes, that's right. Moose hunting!

Sounds like She'll give Joe Biden and Barack Obama a run for their money.

New Heights

From Senator Kennedy's speech yesterday:

We are told that Barack Obama believes too much in an America of high principle and bold endeavor, but when John Kennedy called of going to the moon, he didn't say it's too far to get there. We shouldn't even try.

Our people answered his call and rose to the challenge, and today an American flag still marks the surface of the moon.

Yes, we are all Americans. This is what we do. We reach the moon.

Good idea, Senator. Let's send Barack Obama to the moon!

She may speak for the House, but not for the Church.

This week, I have been telling my students over and over again that they have two ears and one mouth for a reason.

I hope while she is in Denver, Nancy Pelosi will listen to the Achbishop of said region whose statement I reproduce here in its entirety (I hope the Archbishop won't mind!):

ON THE SEPARATION OF SENSE AND STATE:

A CLARIFICATION FOR THE PEOPLE OFTHE CHURCH

IN NORTHERN COLORADO 

To Catholics of the Archdiocese of Denver:

Catholic public leaders inconvenienced by the abortion debate tend to take a hard line in talking about the "separation of Church and state." But their idea of separation often seems to work one way. In fact, some officials also seem comfortable in the role of theologian. And that warrants some interest, not as a "political" issue, but as a matter of accuracy and justice.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is a gifted public servant of strong convictions and many professional skills. Regrettably, knowledge of Catholic history and teaching does not seem to be one of them. Interviewed on Meet the Press August 24, Speaker Pelosi was asked when human life begins. She said the following:

"I would say that as an ardent, practicing Catholic, this is an issue that I have studied for a long time. And what I know is over the centuries, the doctors of the church have not been able to make that definition . . . St. Augustine said at three months. We don't know. The point is, is that it shouldn't have an impact on the woman's right to choose."

Since Speaker Pelosi has, in her words, studied the issue "for a long time," she must know very well one of the premier works on the subject, Jesuit John Connery's Abortion: The Development of the Roman Catholic Perspective (Loyola, 1977). Here's how Connery concludes his study:

"The Christian tradition from the earliest days reveals a firm antiabortion attitude . . . The condemnation of abortion did not depend on and was not limited in any way by theories regarding the time of fetal animation. Even during the many centuries when Church penal and penitential practice was based on the theory of delayed animation, the condemnation of abortion was never affected by it. Whatever one would want to hold about the time of animation, or when the fetus became a human being in the strict sense of the term, abortion from the time of conception was considered wrong, and the time of animation was never looked on as a moral dividing line between permissible and impermissible abortion."

Or to put it in the blunter words of the great Lutheran pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer:

"Destruction of the embryo in the mother's womb is a violation of the right to live which God has bestowed on this nascent life. To raise the question whether we are here concerned already with a human being or not is merely to confuse the issue. The simple fact is that God certainly intended to create a human being and that this nascent human being has been deliberately deprived of his life. And that is nothing but murder."

Ardent, practicing Catholics will quickly learn from the historical record that from apostolic times, the Christian tradition overwhelminglyheld that abortion was grievously evil. In the absence of modern medical knowledge, some of the Early Fathers held that abortion was homicide; others that it was tantamount to homicide; and various scholars theorized about when and how the unborn child might be animated or "ensouled." But nonediminished the unique evil of abortion as an attack on life itself, and the early Church closely associated abortion with infanticide. In short, from the beginning, the believing Christian community held that abortion was always, gravely wrong.

Of course, we now know with biological certainty exactly when human life begins. Thus, today's religious alibis for abortion and a so-called "right to choose" are nothing more than that - alibis that break radically with historic Christian and Catholic belief.

Abortion kills an unborn, developing human life. It is always gravely evil, and so are the evasions employed to justify it. Catholics who make excuses for it - whether they're famous or not - fool only themselves and abuse the fidelity of those Catholics who do sincerely seek to follow the Gospel and live their Catholic faith.

The duty of the Church and other religious communities is moral witness. The duty of the state and its officials is to serve the common good, which is always rooted in moral truth. A proper understanding of the "separation of Church and state" does not imply a separation of faith from political life. But of course, it's always important to know what our faith actually teaches.

+Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap.
Archbishop of Denver
+James D. Conley
Auxiliary Bishop of Denver
###

The original PDF file is here.

The USCCB has released a statement as well.

Tip of the ruler to Amy Wellborn.

Google's Quote of the Day:

No man is exempt from saying silly things; the mischief is to say them deliberately.

- Michel de Montaigne

Victory for common sense:

From The Mercury News yesterday:


California appeals court affirms home schooling by non-credentialed parents

By Sharon Noguchi
Mercury News
Article Launched: 08/08/2008 09:51:09 AM PDT


In a decision widely praised, a California appeals court this morning affirmed the right of parents who don't have a teaching credential to educate their children at home.

A three-judge panel overturned a lower-court order in February that had created an uproar among home-schooling parents when it required that they be credentialed. An estimated 166,000 California children are home schooled.

The Second District appellate court in Los Angeles ruled that individual parents, like private schools, are exempt from the requirement that those who teach children be credentialed by the state.

"It is a very good decision and definitely a victory for home-schooling families in the state," said Damien Schiff of the Pacific Legal Foundation in Sacramento, which had filed a friend-of-the-court brief on behalf of a Sacramento couple who teach their 7-year-old at home.

"We're happy with the ruling," said James Owens, Los Angeles assistant county counsel, who represented the county's child welfare agency. In the case before the court, that agency had sought public schooling for two children being educated at home.

Read the rest here.

According to a related article in the San Francisco Chronicle, this new ruling essentially declares that homeschooling is legal if parents declare their homes to be private schools. Teachers in private schools are not required to hold state-issue teaching credentials.

It's about time.

Related posts:

California Homeschoolers: Time to move!

Weak, Weak, Weak.