Month: November 2005

Senator Specter’s Opposition to Parental Rights

Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter was able to prevail in his pyrrhic victory on behalf of defenders of Roe v Wade. The Supreme Court held hearings today on the New Hampshire parental consent law that some believe could lead to limitations on abortion on demand.

Instead of associate Justice Samuel Alito sitting on the Court, we are stuck with the lameduck Sandra Day O’Connor . Lord only knows how she will vote on this one.

OK Senator, you had your fun. Lets get Alito confirmed and maybe we can get the case reheard before the verdict with OConnor is released.

Ronald McDonald Robs Wendy’s

We All know that competition in the fast food business is tough but this story is really hard to swallow.

It seems that Ronald McDonald was arrested for robbing a Wendy’s Restaurant in Manchester New Hampshire. Why Ronald would steal from Wendy is not revealed in the story. Wendy’s manager caught Ronald McDonald in the act and called police. There is no indication whether McDonald had been consuming Eggnog Shakes prior to the incident.

Clemancy for Stanley “Tookie” William?

The push is on to try to get the death sentence commuted for Stanley Tookie Williams.

In addition to the usual bleeding heart Liberals and small group of misguided but well meaning Roman Catholics, opponents of the death penalty have some new allies from the Right of the political spectrum. There are not many but there are some. Locally Craig DeLuz and Andy Nevis a.k.a. California High School Conservative are among those calling for Tookie to be saved.

On his blog today, Nevis wrote concerning Tookie:

He will certainly do more good alive than dead. If he is allowed to live, he can continue his work against gangs and violence.

As Abraham Lincoln said when pardoning a deserter in the Civil War, He will be of more use above ground than below it.

The power of clemency was given to the Governor for just an instance like this. Its time for the Governor to use that power.

This is a good summary of the views of many of the save Tookie advocates.

The fact is that Tookie is a convicted cold blooded murderer. He has exhausted every judicial appear available to him. There is no one saying that Tookie is innocent. There is no new or mitigating evidence of the crimes for which he has been convicted.

The real issue is can ones good works after conviction be used to mitigate their sentence. It is said that Tookie gave his life to God and has purposed to make amends for his crime. Had Mr. Williams committed property crimes and worked to repay those that were victims of his crime most people would agree that there would be grounds to modify his remaining sentence.

However, when we look at the case of murder does the same principle apply?

For Christians that follow the teaching of Scripture the answer is a clear. In any crime there are actually two victims; the primary victim of any crime is God, the secondary victim is the person that was acted upon by the criminal. In the case of murder, man cannot kill God but he can kill an image bearer of God. A murder is attacking God by destroying someone created in His image.

From Genesis to Revelation, murder is always a crime. This includes abortion, infanticide, euthanasia, homicide and any other act of murder. The Biblical punishment is always the same: restitution. If you take another’s life, then you forfeit your own.

This is reason that human government was instituted in the first place. The State is to protect life and property of its citizens. When someone breaks the law they are subject to the sanctions of the law. This includes criminals within the society and foreign armies without. The oath administered to the military and civilian leaders in the United States to protect us from all enemies foreign and domestic is based upon the Biblical model. (This is also why our Founders wanted the military to be a purely defensive force and gave us the Second Amendment.)

In the Bible only government can put someone to death.

The Church is given an even more awesome power, the power of spiritual life and death. Spiritual life is the goal of evangelism but excommunication is the declaration of spiritual death. Only repentance can move one from death to life.

I think both Craig DeLuz and Andy Nevis have confused these two. They seem to believe that evidence of spiritual regeneration is grounds for the civil government to move Tookie from death to life. Sorry fellas. If Stanley Tookie Williams has undergone a spiritual renewal and given his life to Jesus Christ then that is great. He will be in heaven when he is executed and not another gang banger in Hell.

Spiritual conversion is not grounds for clemency from the Governor. If Stanley has truly repented then he knows that he owes restitution to God and his victims. The only restitution that can make things right is forfeiting his life.

If Tookie wants to be an example to struggling young people then be an object lesson. Show them that “the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 6: 23

In this way Stanley could truly do more good in death than in life.

 

Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) Enters Concordat with US Anglicans

The fissures continue to grow as the Anglican world moves closer to splitting into an orthodox Christian body that is jettisoning the corpse of Western Liberalism from its midst.

Last week the gathering of Anglicans in Philadelphia at the Hope and a Future Conference heard from a variety of Archbishops from the Southern Cone (Africa, Asia and South America) that among other things threw down the gauntlet to faithful Christians within The Episcopal Church of the United States (ECUSA). The Bishops said that the time for talk is over; it is time to stand for Christ and leave the unbelievers in ECUSA to their fate. Leave ECUSA and join the worldwide fellowship of orthodox Anglicans so that the Church can go forward with their mission. (Many believe that this exodus is dependent on the outcome of ECUSA’s General Council in 2006.)

Meanwhile, this week it was announced that The Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) entered into a Covenant with two American Anglican bodies—the Reformed Episcopal Church and the Anglican Province of America. This is the first of many steps toward a realignment of Anglican Christianity within the United States. Look for other Anglican bodies here in the United States (and Canada) to follow.

Below is the press release of this agreement.

RE Covenant Between The Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) and the Reformed Episcopal Church and the Anglican Province of America.

In an historic moment, as part of the realignment of global Anglicanism, on November 12, 2005 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the Most Rev. Peter J. Akinola, Primate of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), the Most Rev. Leonard W. Riches, Presiding Bishop of the Reformed Episcopal Church, and the Most Rev. Walter H. Grundorf, Presiding Bishop of the Anglican Province of America, entered on behalf of their three Churches a Covenant Union of Anglican Churches in Concordat.

The purpose of the covenant of concord is to work together in the common cause of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, pledging to each other their mutual cooperation, support, discipline and accountability. Recognizing that all three Churches share a common heritage of faith and order within the Anglican tradition, they are united by saving belief in Jesus Christ as the Way, the Truth and the Life, and by their commitment to the Faith once delivered, based on the irrevocable Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as the final authority for faith and life.

It was agreed that ministers of these Churches, subject to the respective regulations within the jurisdictions, may be eligible to exercise pastoral ministry in each Church. Archbishops and bishops of the Churches in concordat may also be invited to conduct episcopal duties within the other jurisdictions with the blessing of the appropriate provincial authorities.

The three Churches have united specifically for joint mission in North America. Archbishops Riches and Grundorf welcomed the Church of Nigerias CANA initiative. They assured Archbishop Akinola that, wherever possible, individual congregations of all three jurisdictions, within proximate geographic locations, would work closely and cooperatively together to demonstrate their commitment to one another and their desire to witness to a consistent Biblical, Evangelical and Catholic expression of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Below is text of Covenant Union of Anglican Churches in Concordat

COVENANT UNION OF ANGLICAN CHURCHES IN CONCORDAT AMONG
THE CHURCH OF NIGERIA (ANGLICAN COMMUNION)
THE REFORMED EPISCOPAL CHURCH, AND
THE ANGLICAN PROVINCE OF AMERICA

Whereas the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), the Reformed Episcopal Church and the Anglican Province of America share a common heritage of faith and order within the Anglican tradition; be it understood that:


Article 1: The Churches, recognizing the fact that they are working together in the common cause of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, pledge to each other, their mutual cooperation, support, discipline and accountability.

Article 2: Wherever possible, individual congregations within proximate geographic locations will work closely and cooperatively to demonstrate their commitment to one another and their desire to witness to a consistent Biblical, Evangelical and Catholic expression of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Article 3: As evidence of our union in Christ and the Common Standards of the faith existing among the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), the Reformed Episcopal Church and the Anglican Province of America, a delegation of ministers and laity may be sent to attend each others Provincial and General Synods or Councils. As a further demonstration of our union, bishops of the Churches may attend each others episcopal meetings with the expectation that they will be invited to speak but not cast votes.

Article 4: The Ministers of the Churches may, subject to the respective regulations of the Churches, be eligible to exercise pastoral ministry in each Church. Archbishops and Bishops of the Churches in the concordat may also be invited to conduct episcopal duties with accountability, discipline and the episcopal blessing of the local appropriate provincial authorities.

Article 5: Communicants of the Churches may be received into the other Churches on presentation of letters of transfer, or their equivalent.

Article 6: It is also our declared intention to initiate a process that will permit us, in due course to enter into an agreement of full communion with a clear and common understanding of all of its implications.

 

Katelyn Sills Produces Document Dump

Katelyn Sills has done a document dump on her website posting the correspondence between her family and Loretto High School staff members. I have read all the documents on her site and find the response of the school administration both troubling and disturbing.

It is apparent that Sister Helen Timothy is a micromanager that lost control of this situation. It seems that she didn’t like a parent catching her mistake in a personnel matter. She also took offense that others knew about this issue and that it was not just between her and a parent. It is clear that the last straw for her was when her superior got word of this situation.

Clinically speaking, this is such a slam-dunk decision that it is difficult to see why it took Sister Timothy so long to act. Her ego and emotions clearly got in her way. Ms. Bain should have been dispatched months ago.

Having the vice-principal, Ms. Fuller, following Katelyn’s mom with a camera at the Open House and Sister Timothy’s irrational response to imaginary threats from the Sills family because they asked for prayer in this situation are not the actions of a lucid person.

If Sister Timothy had been more understanding of the concerns of Katelyn’s mom and had gone to the Bishop for advise and support which is part of his job as a Bishop then this matter would have been resolved weeks earlier and Katelyn would still be in school at Loretto.

Scott Adams—the cartoonist for Dilbert—says there is a right way, a wrong way and the weasel way. By hesitating to terminate Ms. Bain and cutting Katelyn off at the knees for something her mom allegedly did is definitely the weasel way.

If I was the Bishop in this situation, given what has transpired thus far, I would make sure that Sister Timothy and Sister Nelson are transferred to a Siberian Outpost over the summer break.

Katelyn, I think you will be a wealthy woman when your attorney finishes with Loretto. Think of it as the scholarship you would have earned if you stayed at the school.

The Myth of Mileage Taxes

This morning Eric Hogue was asking how you would like to be taxed to pay for road improvements in California. He was asking about a per mileage tax versus an increased sales tax. This discussion was due to an upcoming ballot initiative related to this issue.

I reject any proposal for an increase in taxes for this purpose. A mileage tax however well intended would be in addition to any existing taxes and engineered to eliminate privately owned vehicles. It is just another avenue for trying to socially engineer my life and yours and take away our freedom to travel.

Previous attempts to increase spending on roads have resulted in no increase in spending. The new tax revenue simply replaced other revenue that was then diverted for other purposes. Remember the temporary earthquake tax that was made permanent to help with roads? It didn’t make any difference anywhere in the State.

Gasoline taxes diverted for public transportation are a waste of time and are used to subsidize unprofitable modes of transportation. Diverting money for this purpose results in even less money available to maintain and improve existing roads.

If you want to fix the roads then stop the Legislature from putting the money from gas taxes into the general fund. Only a fraction of State and Federal money collected for this purpose is actually used on roads. Most just ends-up in the general fund and is spent on social programs.

If you want to fix the roads put all money collected from gasoline taxes into a separate fund for fixing roads and keep it out of the general fund. If these tens of billions of dollars won’t get the result that you want, then get rid of the Davis-Bacon Act and similar mandates for prevailing wages on highway projects. I know in construction of public schools that prevailing wages increase the cost of construction by 40 percent. Even members of my local school board conceded that point when pressed about the economic cost. I suspect that eliminating prevailing wage requirements on road construction and maintenance would result in similar savings.

The truth is that transportation taxes are a great source of general fund revenue and have nothing to do with road improvement. If the money went to the purposes for which it is collected then we would not even be discussing the quality of our roads. Instead we might be discussing how to rebate the extra revenue collected by the State.

Election Aftermath: KFBK’s Mark Williams Bayonets the Wounded

Last night my wife and I went to dinner. On the way home I turned on Mark Williams at KFBK Radio to see what he thought about the special election. I was expecting a rational, reasons analysis of the election (something like an after action report). Instead of how can we do this better next time what I heard was the most acidic, venomous attack on Governor Schwarzenegger that I have ever heard. My wife was so offended that she told me to shut off the radio.


Right before the radio went off, I did hear Mark thumping his chest and bragging about his article on the Sacramento Union website. (Yeah, the conservative alternative website that was the victim of a hostile takeover by the Sacramento Bee earlier this year.) After reading Marks tome, I can see why the Bee is so happy to have him thumping on Republicans—after all we do tend to eat our own.

A summary of Marks column is for Republicans to throw Arnold under the bus and start from scratch. This begs the question did Arnold fail us or did we fail Arnold? Williams dodges this question by call Arnold a parasite that is killing the Republican Party. His solution, kill our General.

If the party wants to survive in California, not even win just survive, the very first thing party leaders need to do is sit down in a quiet room to jettison SchwartzenKennedy, assess their options and settle on a candidate for 06. Then they need to commit to building a new party, from the ground up . . .

My first reaction to that comment is Welcome to Fantasy Island or the Twilight Zone.

George Bush had the Harriett Miers nomination and Arnold Schwarzenegger had this special election. The motto in both cases was trust me. The reaction from the base was similar. Many on the Right were skeptical. Bush has recovered from this hit and so will the Governor.


In one article, Mark Williams called the Governor:
a duck whos a little gimpy, hes a carrier of a deadly political form of Avian Flu
reckless
delusional
never was, a republican or a reformer
self-centered, spoiled, B-celebrity out on a lark
jamoke
parasite
SchwartzenKennedy

The heart of Williams argument is his assertion that the so-called reforms failed for these main reasons: they were ill conceived, poorly written, unsupported, made to be personality specific (Arnold) and did not address any one not a single one of the serious issues and problems facing the state.

This is elevating history revisionism to a fine art form. The Governor and his administration wrote none of these initiatives. The initiatives were written by third parties interest groups that felt the Legislature had failed to do their job. The Governor agreed to support them because they were incremental steps in the direction that he wished to move the State. This election was his threat and he had to follow-up on it when the Democrats failed to negotiate with him in good faith to solve these problems without having to bring them before the people.

To assert that these initiatives were poorly written is nuts. The only one that was spun as poorly written, was the pension initiative that was pulled many months ago for a rewrite.

Yes, Mark some of the Governors initiatives were unsupported by you and John Doolittle and enough others that the base was split. This clouded the issues enough that many on our side either stayed home or fell back on the old axiom of when in doubt throw it out. Instead of being part of the solution for the political ills of our state, people like you became part of the problem of why the effort on our side failed.

Now you want to gloat when you have nothing to offer as a solution or a constructive alternative. If you would shut-up and sit down then you might at least get the benefit of the doubt instead of opening your mouth an throwing a tantrum like last night. You can play the Michael Savage of Sacramento if you wish but you wont be doing anything to solve the problems facing California.

California Special Election Aftermath

It is a sad night as the election returns begin pouring in from all over California. The reform package supported by the Governor is in tatters. As of this writing, only Payroll Protection is in the hunt to pass. Parental Notification also might have a chance to win.

Why? Because the campaign for the Governor’s measures failed to energize voters to go to the polls and support these measures. As I have stated previously, the cornerstone of this election was the reapportionment measure. This is the only reason that we had the election today instead of waiting til June. No one in the Governors camp ever made this argument a part of the campaign. This allowed the labor unions to portray this election as Arnolds war on California voters. Frame the issue, win the debate.

The Governor let these measures qualify without any input from his administration. Once he gave his support to these measures, he let his opponents define his positions on these measures.

Only the consultants benefited from this campaign. Support was poorly thought-out, executed and delivered. Saying trust me is not a good enough reason to vote the way we were asked too by the Governor.

Suggestions
1. Fire the consultants, they lose elections every two years for their Republican friends and then get hired the next election cycle and do it again. Amazingly they stay employed while another democrat beats their candidate.
2. Use the Internet and get some grassroots organization.
3. Listen to the people and explain what you are doing in a way that they can understand. Make them part of the solution.
4. People vote their pocketbooks; help them understand the process better.
5. Don’t take your base for granted. If you do they will stay home.
6. Bring all these ideas back again for another vote and make the case why they are needed.

DMV is More Customer Friendly

On Friday, I went to the Department of Motor Vehicles to get my drivers license renewed. It was quite a change from my last visit at DMV. In fact it was a rather pleasant trip. It took me longer to drive to the DMV office than it did to get in and out.

In previous trips, I would wait in line for 30 to 60 minutes, only to be told to take these forms, fill them out and then get back in line. Well those days are over!!

Two things helped to really speed up my visit.

First, I went on the Internet and made an appointment.

Second, as I walked into the door, there was a desk manned by one lady who asked me why I was visiting DMV; after I told her, she gave me the proper forms and had me fill them out. After I completed the form, she verified that I had filled-in the appropriate boxes and them gave me my number to wait in line.

I had to wait for two people and then had my turn. The employees there were prompt and courteous. I was surprised at how quickly the whole process was managed. In fact my one year old slept through most of the visit. My whole visit was about 25 minutes.

Catholic School Expells Student for Pro-Life Views

I have been following the strange saga of Katelyn Sills and Loretto High School for several weeks without rendering any comments until now. I’m now ready to chime in on this whole situation.

For those of you that haven’t been following this story lets me quickly summarize. Marie Bain was a drama teacher at a Loretto High School. In her spare time she was also a clinic escort at the local Planned Parenthood abortion clinic. Oh, Loretto is a Roman Catholic School. This is an obvious conflict with established church doctrine and the moral example that Loretto should expect from its faculty. Once this double life was brought to the attention of the school administration, the school did nothing. Frustrated beyond words, Katelyn’s mother appealed this issue to the local Bishop, William K. Weigand. The Bishop thoroughly investigated this matter and decided that there were sufficient grounds to dismiss Bain. A few weeks later, the school administration retaliated by expelling Katelyn and her sister.

The fact that Marie Bain was perfectly fine being a clinic escort is all that you really need to know about her. I have spent my share of time protesting in front of abortion clinics and normal people that like abortion don’t do that sort of activity. Only zealots who believe in a culture of death will participate in the murder of unborn children. The women that I encountered as escorts were either hardcore members of the National Organization of Women (NOW), lesbians from the local Lambda Community Center, dumb girls recruited from Women’s Studies Department at Sac State or imports from San Francisco.

For Marie Bain to be a teacher at a Catholic School is anathema to everything that the Roman Church believes. As a teacher, you represent the school 24/7. Anything you do in public reflects back on the school.

Marie Bain has responded to her firing by filing complaints with two California state agencies: Department of Labor and Department of Fair Employment and Housing. These complaints will set the groundwork for her to file suit for wrongful termination against Loretto and Catholic Diocese of Sacramento.


Too bad for Loretto that Katelyn is an established blogger. This incident has received both national and international exposure. I have seen posts on Katelyn’s site from a host of other states plus England and Canada. Articles have run on WorldNetDaily, LifeSite and RenewAmerica and a host of other sites. This has turned into a BlogSwarm.


Katelyn is on the verge of becoming a conservative symbol of what’s wrong with America on the same magnitude as Terri Schiavo. Loretto may not readmit Katelyn to school but their hypocrisy has severely hurt their reputation as a Catholic institution.

My thanks to Andy Nevis at California High School Conservative for filling in the gaps in this story until Katelyn’s attorney gives her the “green light” tell us the rest of the story.