News and commentary (News & Commentary) 

Pastors, Pulpits and Politics Our friends at the Alliance Defense Fund have decided to underscore hypocrisy of ironic proportions. They are receiving all kinds of pressure from media outlets today about their announced plans to encourage pastors to openly endorse candidates from the pulpits between now and the November 4 elections. Many churches have been doing far more than this in America's inner cities for years with nary a peep. But the media, attempting to enshrine a rigid doctrine of "separation of church and state," miss the point entirely. The core idea of "separation of church and state" has been to PROTECT the church FROM the state. The church is allowed, like any other private organization or group of people, to be as actively involved in what happens to our nation as any other entity. The federal law that bars such expression does not date to Thomas Jefferson and the founding, but to Lyndon B. Johnson and his effort to restrain a charity from opposing his electoral ambitions. The constitutionality of that political interference in the church has never been tested. That time may be at hand. Additional Resources - Dakota Voice: Pastors and Politicians Who Oppose Religious Freedom

California 'Corruption Footprint' Not Wanted in Middle America Traditional families, especially children, will be harmed if California forces its sexual deviance on the rest of America, says Linda Harvey of Mission America. Harvey joins other pro-family groups later this month in San Francisco to protest and expose the Folsom Street Fair, a public street orgy which includes sado- masochism, full nudity and homosexuality. They will also discuss the urgent need to pass Proposition 8, the ballot initiative upholding traditional marriage. The event falls on Sunday, September 28, following "Leather Pride Week." The alleged crowd estimate of 400,000 has no age restrictions, merely warnings about the "adult oriented nature" of activities. Last year, children were observed in the crowd where they could witness, for example, bare-bottomed men being whipped. "There's one big question: why?" said Harvey."How can Mayor Newsom, city officials and even House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (who represents San Francisco) tolerate disturbed people publicly displaying this deviance as police stand by and do nothing to stop it? ..."The 'corruption footprint' of California is staggering," Harvey stated. "Sadly, San Francisco is a dying city discarding its children. Its only hope is the 'offset' provided by the fresh air of California's traditional, caring families. Hopefully, these families will turn this state around and spare the rest of America from the polluting effects of California's moral decay." (Related: LISTEN to details of Linda Harvey's interview with Martha Kleder of Concerned Women for America, also featuring Peter LaBarbera of Americans for Truth.)

ACLU Donates $1.2 Million to Anti-Marriage California Proposition 8 - Despite the fact that 61 percent of Californians voted in 2000 to define marriage as being between one man and one woman, this May the California Supreme Court overturned this decision, implementing homosexual "marriage" in the state.

The Vision of the Left by Thomas Sowell - It is hardly surprising that young people prefer the political left. The only reason for rejecting the left's vision is that the real world in which we live is very different from the world that the left perceives today or envisions for tomorrow. ...Those who are insulated from that pain-- whether by being born into affluence or wealth, or shielded by the welfare state, or insulated by tenure in academia or in the federal judiciary-- can remain in a state of perpetual immaturity. Individuals can refuse to grow up, especially when surrounded in their work and in their social life by similarly situated and like-minded people. Even people born into normal lives, but who have been able through talent or luck to escape into a world of celebrity and wealth, can likewise find themselves in the enviable position of being able to choose whether to grow up or not. ...Should we be surprised that the strongest supporters of the political left are found among the young, academics, limousine liberals with trust funds, media celebrities and federal judges?  ...heirs is a world where we can just talk to opposing nations and work things out, instead of having to pour tons of money into military equipment to keep them at bay. The left calls this "change" but in fact it is a set of notions that were tried out by the Western democracies in the 1930s-- and which led to the most catastrophic war in history. For those who bother to study history, it was precisely the opposite policies in the 1980s-- pouring tons of money into military equipment-- which brought the Cold War and its threat of nuclear annihilation to an end. The left fought bitterly against that "arms race" which in fact lifted the burden of the Soviet threat, instead of leading to war as the elites claimed. Personally, I wish Ronald Reagan could have talked the Soviets into being nicer, instead of having to spend all that money. Only experience makes me skeptical about that "kinder and gentler" approach and the vision behind it.

Michelle Obama Promotes Fatherless, Motherless Families "The Barack Obama I know today is the same man I fell in love with 19 years ago," she said. "He's the same man who drove me and our new baby daughter home from the hospital 10 years ago this summer … determined to give her everything he'd struggled so hard for himself, determined to give her what he never had: the affirming embrace of a father's love." But the very next day, she promoted gay adoption at an LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered) luncheon.

Despite Strong Economic Growth, Newspapers Pitch Bad Times (CNSNews.com) – Although a recent federal report showed that the U.S. Gross Domestic Product grew at a strong 3.3 percent during the second quarter of fiscal year 2008, most of the top American newspapers reported that growth wrapped in dour analyses and bleak predictions about the economy. One expert from the conservative Heritage Foundation told CNSNews.com that the negative newspaper coverage of the GDP growth does not accurately describe the state of the economy.

Ten Myths About Budget Deficits and Debt (Heritage Foundation)

Democrat Deceptions about Oil So-called “clean energy,” wind and solar, provides barely one percent of the nation’s need for electrical power. It does so only because of the massive subsidies, like those for ethanol, the federal government provides, but Harry Reid could not resist characterizing the Bush administration as rife with “oil industry cronies.” He made no reference, however, to the Democrat’s agriculture cronies. As Graham points out, “Democrats gave ethanol a 40¢ per gallon government subsidy in 1978. In 1980, Democrats gave insured loans to build ethanol plants.” “Currently, the government subsidy is 51 cents per gallon through 2010. Last year, the government subsidy payout for ethanol was $3.3 Billion. The government subsidy will increase to $18.4 Billion in 2022. Ethanol is causing severe economic harm to the American economy, not even considering the increase in the cost of all food products made from corn.” This is occurring as Americans struggle to find the money to fill their gas tanks and many worry about the price of oil to heat their homes this winter.

Election 2008 (Voting Resources) 

Free download: FRC Action's 2008 Presidential Voter Guide

Liberty Counsel Non-Partisan Voter Guides for 2008 General Election

Who Vetted Obama? Inspector Clouseau or Maxwell Smart? Don Feder - I'd like to know who vetted Barack Obama? Certainly not the millions who voted for him in the Democratic primaries, the party regulars who lined up solidly behind him, the mainstream media who catapulted a one-term, celebrity Senator into the presidential race, or the 50% of the electorate who currently say they’ll vote for him. There are enough skeletons in Obama’s closet to decorate Halloween Town. Other than his charisma and teleprompter talent, everything about him screams Red Alert.

What I Saw at the Two Conventions by Dennis Prager - I broadcasted my radio show from both the Democratic and Republican Conventions. Here are some observations:

...5. At the Democratic Convention, I spoke to a number of blacks, on the radio and privately, who predicted that if Barack Obama loses, most blacks will attribute the loss to racism, especially if McCain wins by a narrow margin. They did not even rule out the possibility of some rioting.

...10. After attending the Democratic Convention, the lack of blacks (and Hispanics) at the Republican Convention was jarring. Former RNC Chair Ken Mehlman made serious efforts to bring African-Americans into the party, but apparently to little avail. Given the troubled state of virtually every inner city governed by Democrats and the Democrats' opposition to school vouchers, one would think more blacks would at least give the Republicans a try. Not this year.

...11. For the first time in generations, one party's ticket has no military experience. It does, however, have two lawyers. And neither of the Republican nominees is a lawyer. These facts are not coincidental.

...12. After my debate with Air America's Thom Hartmann in Denver, a number of those present -- all Democrats -- commented on how surprised they were at how intellectual the arguments I, the conservative, offered were. This is only because, in general, most liberals see, hear or read conservative arguments far less often than conservatives see, hear and read liberal arguments.

EarsToHear.net Comment: Worse than flip-flopping is playing both sides of the fence: Barack Obama continues to answer questions and speak depending on what he thinks his present audience wishes to hear. His ever-changing positions on taxes, the surge, abortion, are but a few blatant examples of his apparent Soros/Geffen game plan. This is a "politically correct" deceptive tactic in order to gain votes from all American viewpoints. However, if elected, every American will find out exactly where he really stands on the issues, a true anti-Christian socialist that will nominate anti-Christian judges, concede America's sovereignty and power to the United Nations, and construct a cradle-to-grave-nanny-state of socialism where government is god. He will further diminish the free market in favor of more government regulations. As many voters consider the candidates qualifications in regards to the war on terror, the economy and taxes, energy crisis, healthcare, etc. are the voters neglecting the more important aspect of who the next president will nominate the Courts?

Pelosi, and Now Biden: VP-Nominee says Life Begins at Conception, but Won't "Impose" his Faith on Others After saying that Catholicism says that life begins at conception, Biden went on to say that there was "debate" in the Church about when life begins. ...

SBA List Statement on Biden's Caustic Comments - Senator Biden's comments were: "I hear all this talk about how the Republicans are going to work in dealing with parents who have both the joy, because there's joy to it as well, the joy and the difficulty of raising a child who has a developmental disability, who were born with a birth defect. Well guess what folks? If you care about it, why don't you support stem cell research?" ...Susan B. Anthony List President offered the following statement: "I am appalled by today's caustic comments by Senator Joe Biden," said Susan B. Anthony List President Marjorie Dannenfelser. "Today Senator Biden outrageously implied that Americans who refuse to sacrifice innocent human life in the name of unproven, desperate attempts to cure our nation's ills through embryo-destructive research somehow don't really care about children. I am a mother of five children, one with a mental disability. The fact that Joe Biden questioned the compassion of parents like me - Governor Sarah Palin, among them - makes me sputter in disbelief."