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From Politico:

Today after almost a century of trying, today after over a year of debate, today after all the votes have been tallied, health insurance reform becomes law in the United States of America.

Yep – we have immortalized the corruption and cowardice of Senators and Congressman. This law puts in writing how Nelson, Stupak and other pro-life democrats sold out their values.  It records the embarrassment of ignoring due process – and will forever herald a worldview that puts the self above all the rest.

Conservatives, though, are not out of this fight.  If anything, we are now more ready for an election revolution.  From the Heritage Foundation:

Obamacare is today’s Intolerable Act. And just as the colonists banded together to enact change after those acts were passed, so should America respond to Obamacare. This law must be repealed.

November cannot come soon enough.

An 8 year old boy in Oregon gets suspended from school because he brought a 4 inch plastic toy gun to school – a toy gun that is part of an action figure’s lineup. School officials defended the principal, stating that she followed policy.  (KPTV) Yet another example of the idiocy of zero tolerance.

When we look to the Law of God, we often think that God is indeed the original author of zero tolerance. “Lest ye die” is riddled all through the Law. But, a careful examination of Scripture finds an amazing amount of room for grace and common sense. Murders were to be put to death. (Ex. 20:3) However, the Law also setup cities of refuge for those who accidently – without premeditation or malice – kills another. The determination of guilt or innocence in such a case was left to the elders of these cities. (Joshua 20:2 – 6) The Law determined that one must not be clean in order to observe the Passover, yet at the same time allowed for accidental exposure. (Numbers 9:6 – 10) Adultery is a sin punishable by death, yet Jesus told the repentant woman to go and live her life. (John 8:11) Clearly, our God has laid out a system of rules, regulations, and moral codes – enabling us to live as people of God. While the breaking of these Laws leads to serious consequences, it is also clear that God intended the elders and rulers of the community to apply that Law with love and grace as well.

A student who brings an actual gun to school should be punished – along with his parents. A student who brings a toy that looks like a realistic gun should be talked to – then handed over to his parents. An 8 year old who brings a 4 inch toy gun that is clearly not a weapon of any sort should be allowed to go play. Instead, the boy gets suspended, and it goes on his permanent record. What idiocy.

Contact the Portland School Board to express your desire that they change their minds – and to institute a common sense – and Godly – policy.

By repeatedly issuing statements and holding seminars, Evangelical Christians gave DaVinci Code author Dan Brown a tremendous amount of free advertizing for what was a mediocre movie at best. By railing and decrying the Tim Tebow commercial, liberal women’s groups did the same for what turned out to be a very tame commercial.

Just go back and read the headlines: Women’s groups call for CBS to pull Tim Tebow Super Bowl ad (LA Times), Stop Anti-Choice Super Bowl Ad (Women’s Media Center), Tell CBS that using the public airwaves to promote an anti-abortion message will lose the network both respect and business (Feminist Majority Foundation). These are just a few of the organizations that rallied and pushed CBS – to no avail – to pull the ad from the network.

I imagine somewhere at CBS today a savy ad exec is telling her bosses, “See, I told you so.” What in fact was a very tame – and a little hooky – ad became a national event. I – like countless others around the nation – stayed glued – looking for that one commercial. If there had been no pre-game angst about the ad – it probably would have gone unnoticed by most. It was the first set of commercials – following a somewhat funny commercial starring Betty White and Abe Vigoda. It would have been lost in the endless commercialism – and alcoholism – that marks this annual meeting of the gridiron titans. Instead, this 30-second, white background, country music commercial will probably land in the top ten.

I imagine the blogs and airwaves will be crowded with spins and backpeddling. From the Huffington Post:

After much anticipation, the ads have now been released — and the Heisman winner tackles his mother! They do not contain any overtly pro-life message and are tamer than many may have expected. The ads mostly consist of Pam Tebow, Tim’s mother, talking about her son. The former Florida quarterback only speaks at the end of the commercials. (Tim Tebow SUPER BOWL AD VIDEO: See Tebow TACKLE Mother Pam)

Focus on the Family – who sponsored the ad – is a pro-life group committed to the very serious problem of unwanted pregnancies. This commercial, however, focused on the tenacity of a mother to give birth to a child in a very uncertain situation. It was a commercial about the strength of mothers, of their commitment to their children, and the joy of families. Hard to find the hyped-up hate there.

So, thanks Dan Brown for showing us that conservatives can give voice to something that should have just been ignored. And – thanks Women’s Media Center, Feminist Majority Foundation, and others – for not learning that lesson.

Once again the liberal left has provided an excellent opportunity to point out their tendency towards hypocrisy. This latest comes from the remarks made by Wanda Sykes at the annual White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner over the weekend:

“Mr. President . . . you’ve had your fair share of critics. … Rush Limbaugh, one of your big critics, boy – Rush Limbaugh said he hopes this administration fails. So you’re saying, ‘I hope America fails.’ You’re like, ‘I don’t care about people losing their homes, their jobs or our soldiers in Iraq.’ He just wants our country to fail.

To me, that’s treason. He’s not saying anything differently than Osama bin Laden is saying. You know you might want to look into this, sir, because I think Rush Limbaugh was the 20th hijacker but he was just so strung out on Oxycontin he missed his flight.

“Too much?

“You’re laughing inside, I know you’re laughing.

“Rush Limbaugh – I hope the country fails. I hope his kidneys fail, how about that?

“He needs a waterboarding, that’s what he needs.” (http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0509/22322.hitml)

Now, I know that Ms. Sykes does not truly mean us to take her literally. No decent, sane person (which I believe she is) would wish anyone to die just because he is on the opposite of a given issue. Were the comments in bad taste? I believe so. President Obama should have sat back and displayed his signature cool when they were said. So be it.

David Feherty, in D Magazine, wrote:

If you gave any U.S. soldier a gun with two bullets in it, and he found himself in an elevator with (U.S. House speaker) Nancy Pelosi, (U.S. Senate Majority Leader) Harry Reid and Osama bin Laden, there’s a good chance that Nancy Pelosi would get shot twice, and Harry Reid and bin Laden would be strangled to death. (http://www.usatoday.com/sports/columnist/hiestand-tv/2009-05-10-feherty_N.htm)

Mr. Feherty is also a decent man, and does not mean his remarks to be taken seriously. He merely used the joke to illustrate the frustration that troops on the ground in places like Iraq and Afghanistan have with Washington, DC politics. Michael Hiestand, who wrote the article in USA I quoted above, calls Feherty “An able magazine writer and book author…” Again, so be it.

The problem is that Mr. Feherty is being hung out to dry, while Ms. Sykes is not. Both of them joked about death coming to prominent and influential Americans. Ms. Sykes spoke to get laughter, Mr. Feherty wrote to highlight a point. Both comments would be considered tasteless. Yet, Sykes can now demand a higher fee for appearances. Feherty has to fight for his job at CBS.

Can the liberal left stop for a moment and realize how blatant their hypocrisy is? For some reason, I doubt it.