Category: Politics

Palin: Accentuating the Positive

On By kingsjesterIn Politics7 Comments

You’ve heard the age-old question,

Is the glass half-empty or half-full?

Well, I believe that saying applies to the difference between Liberals and Conservatives.

For example, let’s look at Former Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin’s appearance last Friday in Missouri for Sarah Steelman.

The Washington Post published an article about the event by Diana Reese, a freelance journalist from Kansas City. Here’s an excerpt:

When Palin took to the makeshift stage in the middle of a Missouri farm field, she was dressed more for the part of Hollywood celebrity than serious politician. I know someone’s going to remind me that just last week, I said it was sexist to focus on the wardrobes of women in politics.

But it was hard for me to take Palin seriously dressed as she was.

First, her shoes: Five-inch wedges. Her black capris weren’t quite skin-tight but tight enough, and her t-shirt with its Superman logo (a Steelman campaign shirt emblazoned with “Our freedom. Our fight.”) emphasized her figure. She never once removed her oversized sunglasses.

I’m sorry, but I’d like my minister, my doctor and yes, my politicians, to look and dress for their parts.

Once Palin spoke, I couldn’t help but think she sometimes sounds like a caricature of herself. Perhaps it’s her unique manner of speaking or her overuse of certain phrases.

There were moments during her 15-minute speech that I felt like applauding and there were certainly moments that I groaned.

Palin started her speech with a comment about the Missouri’s state flag, which does indeed feature three grizzly bears, representing the strength and bravery of the state’s citizens. Whether any of the grizzly bears is female, however, is open to debate.

But when Palin talked about Steelman, at age 18, working on Ronald Reagan’s campaign in 1976, the former Alaska governor turned to her and said, “You couldn’t have been 18, you must’ve been 2…what a hot mama grizzly you have!”

(Insert major groan here.)

Later, referring again to Reagan’s 1976 campaign, Palin said, “Back when Sarah and I were itty bitty babies.”

I would think a mama grizzly would be proud of her age.

Meriting applause were her references to Steelman’s experience as state treasurer and state senator and her attempts to rein in spending and perks for fellow politicians.

“She’s walkin’ the walk and not just talkin’ the talk,” Palin pointed out. Steelman has vowed to cut the deficit and get a balanced budget amendment passed.

And good advice for considering any candidate: Look at the record, not the rhetoric.

The tea party’s mantra of cutting spending and limiting the power of the federal government struck a chord with the audience, but never did the subject of jobs and job creation (my personal obsession) come up.

Instead, Palin reiterated Steelman’s slogan: “The status quo has got to go.”

Definitely half-empty. Heck…cavernous.

Now, let’s “accentuate the positive” with this report from Breitbart.com’s Big Government:

Palin, wearing a Steelman campaign t-shirt that had a “Superman” symbol on the front of it, told a crowd of over 1000 people who gathered at a blueberry farm on very short notice, that Steelman “has the backbone to stand up for what it is right and to stand up to the powers that be even” if in they in her own party and that is why the Washington establishment is scared of her.

Palin said Steelman represents “results over rhetoric, convictions over consultants, and Missouri over Washington.”

Palin said other candidates in the race were vague about their intentions while Steelman has laid out detailed plans about programs she wanted to cut and get rid of once she gets to the Senate and has a proven record of fiscal conservatism and supporting pro-life causes.

Palin said to look carefully at a candidate’s record and not just their rhetoric because the vote “is a sacred trust” and warned Missouri voters of candidates who have armies of D.C. consultants who “infiltrate Missouri” and “ply” them into something of their liking.

Steelman has campaigned on the theme of “the status quo has got to go,” and that is what seems to have attracted Palin — and her supporters — to her.

In concluding her remarks, Palin joked that she and Steelman would not be serving attendees Chick-fil-A, but she would stop by for a midnight snack and said Chick-fil-A should be a part of every campaign (Cruz’s campaign served Chick-fil-A at their victory party on Tuesday).

After the event, according to members of American Grizzlies United, a pro-Palin volunteer group, Palin and Steelman “jumped behind tables to serve folks BBQ,” and “Palin donned an apron and shook nearly every hand and served every plate that passed by her.”

Volunteers noted how Palin and her husband Todd stayed until the very end and thanked the security detail and volunteers who worked the event.

And, the lady, herself, posted on her Facebook Page that…

Last Friday, I had a wonderful time meeting more Missouri voters at a great event to get out the vote for Sarah Steelman in tomorrow’s election. Sarah has a solid track record as a reformer and can be relied upon to be a voice of integrity and strong conservative principles in the U.S. Senate. I encourage Show Me State patriots to get out and vote for Sarah Steelman tomorrow, and encourage your friends and family to join you.

Full to overflowing.

Accentuate the positive.

Eliminate the negative.

Latch on to the affirmative.

And don’t mess with Mr. In-between.

An old song, whose lyrics have never be more appropriate than right now.

We’ve had the negatives in charge since 2007, first in Congress, then in Congress and the Oval Office.

It’s time to accentuate the positive and stand up and be Conservatives. 

Last Wednesday’s Chick-Fil-A Appreciation Day was only the beginning.

C’mon, November 6th!

Obama: “Soul Searching” for Gun Control

On By kingsjesterIn Politics2 Comments

The horrible actions of one lone psychopath at a Sikh Temple in Minnesota, has American Liberals on the Gun Control Warpath…again.

Reuters.com has the story:

President Barack Obama said on Monday that mass killings like the shooting rampage at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin were occurring with “too much regularity” and should prompt soul searching by all Americans, but he stopped short of calling for new gun-control laws.

“All of us are heart-broken by what happened,” Obama told reporters at the White House a day after a gunman opened fire on Sikh worshippers preparing for religious services, killing six before he was shot dead by a police officer.

But when asked whether he would push for further gun-control measures in the wake of the shootings, Obama said only that he wanted to bring together leaders at all levels of American society to examine ways to curb gun violence.

That echoed his pledge last month in a speech in New Orleans to work broadly to “arrive at a consensus” on the contentious issue after a deadly Colorado shooting spree highlighted the problem in an election year.

But like his earlier comments, Obama offered no timetable or specifics for such discussions and did not call outright for tighter gun control laws.

Talk of reining in America’s gun culture is considered politically risky for Obama, who is locked in a tight race against Republican challenger Mitt Romney for November election.

“All of us recognize that these kinds of terrible, tragic events are happening with too much regularity for us not to do some soul searching to examine additional ways that we can reduce violence,” Obama said at an Oval Office ceremony to sign an unrelated bill.

But he added, “As I’ve already said, there are a lot of elements involved in it.” The Democratic president has made a point of emphasizing his support for the U.S. Constitution’s Second Amendment, which covers the right to bear arms.

White House spokesman Jay Carney reiterated, however, that Obama remained in favor of renewing an assault weapons ban but pointed out “there has been reluctance by Congress” to pass it.

Obama said the FBI was still investigating the temple shooting, but if it turned out it was ethnically motivated, the American people would “immediately recoil.”

“It would be very important for us to reaffirm once again that in this country, regardless of what we look like, where we come from, who we worship, we are all one people,” he said.

Uh huh.

Meanwhile, in my hometown of Memphis, Tennessee:

Lt. Joe Scott stands at the master board that tracks homicides for the Memphis Police Department.

91 homicides this year so far.

Scott says, “This year has been extremely busy. Its been the busiest year I can recall.”

Its not record pace. That was 213 in 1993. Memphis is on pace for 180.

But surprisingly… Memphis’ Homicide Rate is more than four times what New York City’s was last year.

Last year in New York… One in every 15,079 people were murdered.

In Memphis this year… Its one in every 3,734.

So what are people in Memphis killing each other over?

Scott continues, “This year there just seems to be a lot of neighborhood arguing.”

Argument is the number 1 motive this year… A third of homicides, 30… Started with an argument… One over five dollars… Another between two brothers arguing who was the better parent.

“And just people that for whatever reason cannot resolve conflicts in a civil manner.”

The second most common motive is robbery. 18 homicides this year began with a robbery. Up 25 percent from last year. Scott says more people are resisting.

Scott says, “And that seems to be a growing trend to resist the robber not give them what they demanded during the course of the robbery.”

That is proving deadly.

The average age of victims this year in Memphis is 30.5…. Older than some might think. Chances are you’ll know your killer… 71 percent this year have.

But the way Memphians are dying is no surprise…. by gunfire… 72 of 91 homicides so far were committed with a gun.

And that’s one of the reasons folks like me left Memphis for DeSoto County, Mississippi years ago…but, I digress.

Memphis, like Chicago, has a big problem with black-on-black homocide.  But, no one will talk about it.

Why is no one trying to come to grips with this epidemic of violence going on in America’s cities, including Obama’s adoptive hometown?

In April, theblaze.com reported

More than 500 people under the age of 21 were killed in Chicago in 2008. This figure fell only slightly in 2009 and 2010 and, of course, does not represent the many others who have been shot or injured as a result of these attacks. Records reveal that nearly 80 percent of youth homicides occurred in 22 black or Latino communities on Chicago’s South and West sides.

In just the first three months of 2012, 109 people have already been murdered in the city of Chicago.

…A 2007 special report released by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, reveals that approximately 8,000 — and, in certain years, as many as 9,000 African Americans are murdered annually in the United States. This chilling figure is accompanied by another equally sobering fact, that 93% of these murders are in fact perpetrated by other blacks. The analysis, supported by FBI records, finds that in 2005 alone, for example, African Americans accounted for 49% of all homicide victims in the US — again, almost exclusively at the hands of other African Americans.

To put these number in perspective, recall that over 6,400 U.S. service men and women have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan combined over the course of a decade-long war fought in those nations. During the Vietnam War, which lasted nearly 13 years, some 58,000 Americans were killed — nearly 13 percent of whom were African American.

Mr. President, before you come and try to get the guns from law abiding citizens, why don’t you deal with the problem in your own backyard, first?

Charlie Daniels Speaks the Truth and Shames the Devil

On By kingsjesterIn Politics5 Comments

I remember when I was a kid, I heard a song called “Uneasy Rider” by a guy named Charlie Daniels. I didn’t even know what he was singing about, but, the tune was catchy, so I bought the 45.

Of course, Charlie went on to become an American Legend, performing songs such as his trademark hit, “The Devil Went down to Georgia”, “The South’s Gonna Do It Again” and, “The Legend of Wooly Swamp”, which I along with anyone listening that morning in the Mid-South, got to hear him perform live in studio on Rock 103 while visiting the Wake Up Crew: Tim Spencer, Bev Hart, and the late, great Bad Dog McCormack.

A master of both the fiddle and electric guitar, Charlie Daniels remains one of the most beloved American musicians in both the fields of Country and Rock.

There’s another side to this man, though. Charlie is a great Christian American Conservative, who is not afraid to speak his mind.

For example:

There’s a move afoot to change life in America into a totally European – I’ve heard that so much I’m getting sick of it: ‘European’ – socialist thing,” says country-music legend Charlie Daniels, “but it’s the dag-blamed truth [sic], and it don’t work, it never has worked, and if America goes that way, America will never be America again.”

Daniels told WND in an exclusive interview that he expects 2012, with the nation’s very identity on the line, will be “the biggest election we have ever had.”

“In my 75 years on Earth, it’s never been as clear-cut as it is now,” Daniels said. “We’re either going to go into socialism, where part of the people work and the rest of them don’t, and the ones that do will be taxed to death, or – I got the point where I don’t trust politicians anymore, but hopefully – the other side represents, ‘Let’s put America back to work; let’s re-instill the work ethic back in people.’”

Since the 1950s Daniels has been a country singer and famed fiddler, perhaps best known for his hit song “The Devil Went Down to Georgia.” He was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry in 2008.

But he also writes frequently on culture and politics, no stranger to bold statements in defense of God and country, and maintains a “soapbox” blog on his website, CharlieDaniels.com.

For Daniels, the word “socialism” – synonymous in his mind with the big-spending, tax-the-rich, government-welfare, spread-the-wealth policies of President Obama and his fellow “progressives” – is a system not only destined for failure, but also inherently tyrannical.

“You cannot enforce socialism without some force,” Daniels told WND. “It’s a very top-heavy society, and every society that’s ever tried it has fallen, because you finally get to where there’s so many people, you cut out the work ethic, you make people think they have to be dependent on government for everything. It’s a mindset.”

Daniels brought up the recent controversy about Chick-fil-A restaurants – in which the Democrat mayors of Chicago and Boston threatened to ban the chicken sandwich makers from their respective cities because the owner is an outspoken opponent of same-sex marriage – as an example.

“To me that tips off where these guys are coming from: ‘If you don’t agree with us, we don’t want you in our town, we don’t want you in our country, we don’t want you in our political system,’” Daniels said. “Is it not downright un-American for an elected official to stand up and try to destroy a business? As bad as we need jobs in this country?

“This is not about ‘gay’ marriage; this is about America being America, about people being able to stick by their deeply held religious beliefs and not to have these people trying to put them out of business,” Daniels said. “That’s what this boils down to: Are these people going to try to shut up everybody who doesn’t agree with them?”

In one word, sir: Yes.

Back in 2007, Jonah Goldberg wrote a book titled, “Liberal Fascism”. For two years after that, he wrote a “Liberal Fascism Blog for nationalreview.com, when he decided to end the blog in 2009, he wrote about how, if you wanted to see what he was talking about in his book, you just had to read the newspaper:

Let’s see. Off the top of my head, in the first six months of Obama’s presidency we’ve seen corporatism  and “state capitalism”   run amok, in the government takeover of two car companies and numerous banks. Labor unions have become increasingly indistinguishable from the government and the party that controls it. Herbert Croly  and the Progressives have once again been rehabilitated as founding fathers of the New Age. The entire liberal intellectual class is convinced that this the time for a new New Deal. Critics of statism are vilified by liberal elites as racists and fascists. (And those who refuse to get with the Gorian program are guilty of “treason against the planet“). When out of power, liberals lionized free speech and celebrated dissent as the highest form of patriotism. Now, they label dissent “un-American” and the president insists hedoesn’t want to hear a lot of talking from anyone who disagrees with him. While the stench of eugenics and euthanasia do not quite sting the nostrils yet, the odorisdetectableandthe  liberal impulse for controlling the lives of others has been re-exposed.

Indeed, our own messianic president, who insists that we can create a Kingdom of Heaven on Earth, also apparently believes that “we are God’s partners in matters of life and death” and that religious organizations that are true to their calling should rally behind a united front to expand the scope and role of government.  When the head of state says such things, it is hard not to be reminded of the Progressive concept of the God State, a major theme of Liberal Fascism. The “State is the actually existing,  realized moral life . . . The divine idea as it exists on earth,” Hegel declared in The Philosophy of History. The State, according to Hegel, was the “march of God on earth.” The progressives agreed.  Richard Ely, the founding father of progressive economics, proclaimed “God works through the State in carrying out His purposes more universally than through any other institution.”

These clowns don’t worship the God of Abraham, as 78% of Americans, including Charlie Daniels, and myself, do.

And, that is why they will fail. C’mon, November 6th.

Obama is suing OUR Armed Forces

On By kingsjesterIn Politics8 Comments

The President of the United States is also the Commander-in-Chief of our Armed Forces.  It is a position that automatically calls for our Brightest and Best to give the person holding the office the respect that the position is due.

Most of the time, the CIC shows his respect for those who fight and die for our country. In fact, at least one CIC went above and beyond the call of duty.

On November 7, 2009. militarygear.com reported the following:

Former President George W. Bush secretly visited Ft. Hood last night to meet with the victims of the troops affected by the recent massacre at the hands of a Muslim extremist within our ranks.

This is typical for President Bush who worked hard during his presidency not to use the military for political gain, especially when it came to wounded troops and their families. He made many unannounced and unpublicized visited to military bases in and out of the country. He invited military bloggers, myself included, to meet with him one on one without fanfare or media. That’s the way he was and I’m glad to see that he has continued this respect and admiration for our military.

This is from Fox News:

The Bushes entered and departed the sprawling military facility in secret, having told the base commander they did not want press coverage of their visit, a source told Fox News.

The couple was described as “deeply concerned” about military families on Fort Hood after Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan allegedly opened fire on soldiers and civilians, killing 13 and wounding 38.

The Bushes, who have a 1,600-acre property known as Prairie Chapel Ranch less than 30 miles from Fort Hood in central Texas, spent between one and two hours visiting the wounded and their families.

The day that the Islamic Terrorist, Major Hassan killed and wounded those members of our Best and Brightest, Obama was less than  what you would expect the CIC to be at the post-Tragedy Press Conference.

NBCChicago.com reported:

At the event, a Tribal Nations Conference hosted by the Department of Interior’s Bureau of Indian affairs, the president thanked various staffers and offered a “shout-out” to “Dr. Joe Medicine Crow — that Congressional Medal of Honor winner.” Three minutes in, the president spoke about the shooting, in measured and appropriate terms. Who is advising him?

Who , indeed. That was a glimpse into this CIC’s disdain for our Brightest and best.

Obama was just getting started.

On July 22, 2011, the New York Times told us that

President Obama formally certified on Friday that the American military is ready for the repeal of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy as Pentagon officials said that nearly two million service members had been trained in preparation for gay men and women serving openly in their ranks.

“As of Sept. 20, service members will no longer be forced to hide who they are in order to serve our country,” Mr. Obama said in a statement. He signed the certification, along with Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta and Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, about 3:30 p.m. in the Oval Office.

And now, President Obama apparently is deathly afraid that his chickens are coming home to roost on November 6th, 2012, as our Military cast their ballots in our National Election.

Foxnews.com has the story:

The Obama campaign and the Democratic National Committee have filed a lawsuit to block a new state law allowing men and women in uniform to vote up until the Monday right before an election, while the cutoff on early voting for the rest of the public is three days earlier.

Top Obama campaign officials told Fox News in interviews that the lawsuit in no way tries to restrict the voting rights of military members. All they are trying to do is even the playing field for all voters in Ohio by allowing early voting up until Monday for everyone, including members of the military, because they believe a two-tiered, early-voting process is unfair.

“Along with the DNC and Ohio Democratic Party, this campaign filed a lawsuit to reinstate equal, early-voting rights for all Ohioans — rights the Republican-controlled legislature arbitrarily stripped away this past year,” Jim Messina, Obama’s campaign manager, told supporters in an email.

However, the National Guard Association and other military groups have fired back, saying it’s “offensive” for Democrats to suggest in the lawsuit it’s arbitrary for service members to get special consideration.

Men and women in uniform typically get more time than other voters to send in absentee ballots since they may be serving in an overseas or domestic location that is not close to their home polling station.

“I’m just outraged by this,” Mike DeWine, the Republican state attorney general in Ohio, told Fox News. “I can’t believe the Obama campaign and the state Democratic Party are actually saying there’s no rational basis for a distinction between someone who is in the military voting and someone who is not in the military.”

The stakes in this legal battle are huge because Obama is anxious to keep Ohio’s 18 electoral votes in the Democratic column this November. He has already visited the state nine times this year alone.

Since no Republican has won the White House without carrying the Buckeye State, GOP Presidential candidate Mitt Romney is fighting just as hard and on Friday lashed out at the Democrats’ lawsuit.

“President Obama’s lawsuit claiming it is unconstitutional for Ohio to allow servicemen and women extended early voting privileges during the state’s early voting period is an outrage,” he said Saturday. “I stand with the 15 military groups that are defending the rights of military voters, and if I’m entrusted to be the commander-in-chief, I’ll work to protect the voting rights of our military, not undermine them.”

The Obama campaign responded Saturday by saying, “Mitt Romney and his campaign have completely fabricated a claim that the Obama campaign is trying to restrict military voting in Ohio. In fact, the opposite is true. The Obama campaign filed a lawsuit to make sure every Ohioan, including military members and their families, has early voting rights over the last weekend prior to the election.”

Mr. President, these are the brave men and women who sacrifice life and limb in defense of our country, and YOU’RE SUING THEM?

I’ve been right all along. You truly are our country’s first ANTI-AMERICAN PRESIDENT!

Shameful.

Why I am So Hard on Romney

On By kingsjesterIn Christianity, Politics6 Comments

I was 17 years old in 1976. So, I mercifully missed having to vote in the election of Jimmy Carter. But, the Lord blessed me. With my first vote in a national election, I was able to vote for the greatest American President in our lifetimes, Ronald Wilson Reagan.

With that vote, the standard was set in my mind and heart, as to what an American President should be.

Watching Ronaldus Magnus as a young, impressionable 20-something, making his way in the world, I marveled at his grace, humor, and unflinching, steely reserve in the face of America’s enemies, foreign and domestic, whether princes and principalities, or those unseen forces that dwell in the dark recesses of our society.

I have been looking to elect an American President like that, ever since.

Needless to say, I have been sorely disappointed.

That’s not to say that I was and am, not supportive of George W. Bush.  He was the right man to be in that chair in the Oval Office on September 11, 2001.

Can you imagine what would have happened if Carter, Clinton, or, God forbid, Obama, was president during the worst Terrorist Attack on our soil in American History?

I refuse to even consider the possibilities.

That being said, Dubya remains a good Christian man, who loves his country. Although, his record of spending as president leaves something to be desired.

However, his record of spending OUR money pales in comparison to Barack Hussein Obama’s.

After taking office in 2009, with spending and debt already at record high levels and the deficit headed to $1 trillion, President Obama proceeded to pass his own $830 billion stimulus, auto bailouts, mortgage relief plans, the Dodd-Frank financial reforms and the $1.7 trillion ObamaCare entitlement (which isn’t even accounted for in the chart). While spending did come down in 2010, it wasn’t the result of spending cuts but rather because TARP loans began to be repaid, and that cash was counted against spending.

In 2011 and 2012, the pace of spending was slowed when a new emboldened breed of Republicans took back the House promising to end the binge. The House Budget Committee, headed by Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, has identified about $150 billion of new spending Mr. Obama wanted in 2011 and 2012 that Republicans would not approve.

If Obama’s failure as president was simply judged by his horrible economic policy, which has trashed our country like the aftermath of the Frat Party in National Lampoon’s Animal House (without the fun), that would be bad enough.

However, culturally speaking, he has taken our country in a Liberal, Marxist, and Godless direction.

From his declaration during his campaign,in a private meeting with donors, that we Americans living in the Heartland were bitterly clinging to our guns and Bibles, to his bowing to our enemies and embracing of the granddaddy of Islamic Terrorist Organizations,  the Muslim Brotherhood, to his  repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, and his crowning achievement: his destruction of the greatest Healthcare System in the World, Obama has consistently governed against the wishes of the majority of the American citizens he is supposed to be serving.

His darling wife hasn’t exactly been a peach, either.

While other First Ladies have embraced causes such as poverty, child hunger, and illiteracy, Michelle Obama decided that American parents were not caring for their children properly, and decided to be their surrogate parent, under the guise of fighting chldhood obesity. And, if that wasn’t enough, last year, she and her Food Police decided that the fittest among us, our Armed Forces, weren’t eating properly and, is now going to make them eat arugula, or something. Heck, even the Subway Sandwich Shops are putting avocado and raw spinach on their sandwiches, now.

Then, there’s her remark during the 2008 campaign that “For the first time in my life, I’m proud of my country”. And, as an Honor Guard passed by her and the president, during the solemn 10th anniversary remembrance of 9/11, she leaned over to him, and said, “All this for a flag.”…and, the President of the United States nodded in agreement.

So, why am I so hard on the presumptive Republican nominee for President?

America is in desperate need of a leader…a man in the mold of Ronald Wilson Reagan, possessing not only traditional American beliefs and values, but, also possessing the courage and conviction necessary to stick his neck out for those beliefs and values, and not put them on the back burner for the sake of poltical expediency.

In 1984, President Reagan said:

Society has always regarded marital love as a sacred expression of the bond between a man and a woman. It is the means by which families are created and society itself is extended into the future. In the Judeo-Christian tradition, it is the means by which husband and wife participate with God in the creation of a new human life. It is for these reasons, among others, that our society has always sought to protect this unique relationship. In part the erosion of these values has given way to a celebration of forms of expression most reject. We will resist the efforts of some to obtain government endorsement of homosexuality.

Yesterday, The Examiner reported the following:

Speaking with reporters in Nevada, Mitt Romney refused to enter the Chick-fil-A controversy that has occupied most of the nation’s attention this week.

During the press conference, Romney was asked whether the Chick-fil-A controversy – or the controversy about Huma Abedin’s ties to the Muslim Brotherhood – should be part of the national conversation.

“Those are not things that’s not part of my campaign.” he answered shortly, after explaining that he wasn’t in the business of telling people what to talk about.

Lacking the courage of his convictions?

And, that’s why I’m so hard on Romney.

Rumble on the River, Part 2: The Citizens Speak

On By kingsjesterIn Politics1 Comment

I rarely write about what’s going on in my neck of the woods. However, as a product of the Memphis City Schools System (Wooddale  Class of ’76), I want to catch y’all up to speed on the biggest kerfuffle since forced busing was implemented in 1972.

In February of 2011, I wrote:

After over 30 years of mismanagement, poor stewardship, and the downright dumbing-down of an excellent school system, the politicians of the city of Memphis, including the School Board, the City Council, and the Mayor, himself, have decided that they will surrender the charter of the Memphis City Schools System in order to merge with the Shelby County School System…by any means necessary.

After the citizens voted down consolidation of city and county services last November, the Memphis City School Board , in an attempt to save their failing school system and their phony baloney jobs, came up with the plan to surrender their charter, thereby forcing consolidation with the Shelby County Schools.

In the last few days, things have really come to a head in this scholastic soap opera:

  • The Memphis City School Board voted Monday night, December 20th, 2010 to let City voters decide on March 8th whether to surrender its charter.
  • On Thursday, February 10th, 2011, the Memphis City Council voted 10 – 0 to accept the decision by the Memphis City Schools Board of Education to surrender its charter, wiping out the city school board in one vote.
  • On Friday, February 11th, 2011, Tennessee Governor Bill Haslan signed into law a measure designed to delay any merger between the two systems.

And, through all of this, the wishes of the Shelby County School Board and the citizens that it represents have been tossed aside, because…wait for it…it’s for the children.

Well, the merger is now under way and the unified system is supposed to be in place by 2014.

On June 14th, 2012, the Transition Planning Committee released the following report:

After more than eight months of research, discussions, and planning, the Transition Planning Commission is confident that the talent and resources in this community will enable the merged SCS to achieve the vision in this Plan. The merger presents a unique opportunity to build from the existing strengths and emerging success of both systems, of which there are many. The merger also prompts this community to step back and ask, “Why not here?”, and adopt best practices in education from around the world. Both districts employ talented leaders, who are true experts in their fields. This merger enables these leaders to join forces to build a district that improves upon both districts today.

And finally, this merger presents an opportunity for community, business, philanthropic, faith, and government leaders to unite to guarantee the success of this system, for the benefit of all of Shelby County’s children.

Well…The  other cities in Shelby County aren’t too keen about allowing the clowns who ruined the Memphis City Schools System to gain control of their schools.

The Commercial Appeal Reports:

Declaring they want no part of a unified countywide school system, voters in Shelby County’s six suburban municipalities gave landslide approval Thursday to referendums establishing their own districts and, in every town but one, agreed to raise sales taxes to pay for them.

Measures to create school districts sailed through with margins ranging from nearly 2 to 1 in Millington to 7 to 1 in Collierville. Even in Lakeland, where a former mayor led a political action committee opposing municipal schools, the referendum was favored by almost two-thirds of all voters.

By somewhat lower margins, voters in five of the suburbs also approved separate referendums to raise municipal sales taxes from 2.25 to 2.75 percent to fund the districts. The tally in Millington, however, showed the measure getting three more ‘no’ than ‘yes’ votes.

“How does it feel to win?” Bartlett Mayor Keith McDonald asked a group of municipal-district supporters after the votes were counted showing a 4-to-1 approval margin. “It just shows what grass roots can do.”

In Germantown, cheers erupted at a watch party hosted by the My Germantown Schools group at Garibaldi’s pizza. With an 87 percent yes, vote, Mayor Sharon Goldsworthy called the citizen response a “mandate.”

But despite the resounding approval of the municipal school districts, the issue is far from settled. In a trial slated for Sept. 4, U.S. Dist. Judge Samuel “Hardy” Mays will rule on a suit filed by the County Commission charging that the state law allowing the referendums violates the Tennessee Constitution.

The battle over schools, which underscored urban-suburban and black-white rifts in Greater Memphis, began with the December 2010 vote by the Memphis City Schools board to surrender the system’s charter and force a merger with Shelby County Schools. Memphis voters endorsed that decision in a landslide of the their own in a March 2011 referendum.

The consolidation of the MCS and Shelby County systems takes effect in the 2013-14 school year

Suburban reaction to the pending merger has been overwhelmingly critical, with municipal leaders and citizens chafing at the prospect of joining a unified district they said would be dominated by Memphis. County Commissioners, however, have charged there was a racial component to the opposition, saying the mostly white suburbs are seeking to carve out districts segregated from predominantly black Memphis.

Turnout for the referendums ranged from less than 31 percent in Millington to about 42 percent in Germantown and Lakeland. About one-third of the ballots were cast during the early-voting period that ended Saturday.

Throughout the day Thursday, the turnout in Bartlett was at best steady as voters and campaign workers sought relief from the heat. Supporters sat under umbrellas or tents and waited in their cars, emerging if someone approached the polling location.

There were few Better Bartlett Schools signs supporting the municipal school signs at the various voting precincts. Derek Venckus, spokesman for the pro-schools citizen group, said the main reason was supporters already had the bulk of the 1,500 signs ordered by the group in their front yards.

“We held a few when we started running out, just so we would have some at the polling places,” he said.

While there were few pro-municipal school signs in Bartlett, there were no opposition signs at a random number of precincts checked in the suburbs.

Across the suburbs, the most visible opposition group was in Lakeland, led by former Mayor Jim Bomprezzi

Leaders of suburban groups favoring municipal schools said they expected to win.

“I’m not surprised. Pleased obviously,” said Phillip Walker, one of the leaders of Better Bartlett Schools. ” … We pretty much were expecting a wide majority to vote for it.”

By comparison, the sales-tax referendums received tepid support, trailing the approval levels for the district referendum by 10 to 20 percentage points.

Suburban leaders had avoided using references to schools in the wording in the referendums so that all of the money was not required to go to education. Bartlett Alderman Emily Elliott, who worked early voting, said many voters were unclear about where the revenues would go, leading to some confusion.

In each suburb, however, supporters’ euphoria over the referendum results was somewhat tempered by uncertainty over the legal wrangling in the schools issue.

“Now we take a big deep breath, get up in the morning and move on with the business at hand, which is litigation,” Goldsworthy said.

Collierville Mayor Stan Joyner said he’s pleased about Thursday night’s outcome but it’s just one obstacle the town has to clear.

“We are like Olympic runners — we get over one hurdle and there’s the next one we have to clear. I’m still guardedly optimistic.

But Portia Scurlock, a Germantown resident with two elementary-aged children, said she wasn’t worried that her vote would later be ruled unconstitutional.

“If all the other Podunk towns in Tennessee can have their own school systems, why keep a larger municipality from doing the same? It doesn’t make sense.”

Ms. Scurlock, do not put anything past the hack politicians in Memphis, Tennessee.

There’s a reason I moved across the state line to DeSoto County, Mississippi back in ’97.

A lot of y’all may soon be joining me.

You eeevil suburbanites.

American Conservatives/Chick-Fil-A…GOP Elite/Bread and Circuses

On By kingsjesterIn Christianity, Politics4 Comments

While Conservatives and “Independents” have been out fighting the good fight against Fascist Liberals by standing or sitting in their car, in massive lines at their local Chick-Fil-A, they have all been wondering:

Where’s the Republican Establishment?

Like the Main Stream Media, they’ve been ignoring the situation.

There is some good news ,though:

It appears that the apparent Republican Nominee for President has taken a stand after all.

On the Chick-Fil-A situation, KJ? Nope.

In his own defense.

FoxNews.com has the story:

Mitt Romney lashed back at Harry Reid on Thursday in an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity, saying the Senate majority leader needs to “put up or shut up” after airing allegations about Romney’s taxes.

Reid, a Nevada Democrat, first raised eyebrows Tuesday by saying in a news interview that someone had told him Romney went 10 years without paying taxes. He would only identify his source as an investor in Romney’s former venture capital firm, Bain Capital, and he acknowledged, “I’m not certain” it’s true.

That didn’t stop Reid from taking to the Senate floor Thursday to accuse the Republican presidential candidate again of paying no taxes, part of a broader Democratic attack on Romney for declining to release more than two years of tax documents.

“The word’s out that he hasn’t paid any taxes for 10 years,” Reid said. “Let him prove that he has paid taxes, because he hasn’t.”

But Romney forcefully denied Reid’s allegations on Hannity’s radio show Thursday.

“Harry’s going to have to describe who it is he spoke with, because, of course, that is totally and completely wrong,” Romney said. “It’s untrue, dishonest and inaccurate. It’s wrong.

“So, I’m looking forward to have Harry reveal his sources, and we will probably find out it’s the White House.”

Romney’s campaign earlier rejected the majority leader’s statement as “shameful.”

Reid also raised eyebrows for invoking Romney’s late father, himself a one-time presidential candidate.

“His poor father must be so embarrassed about his son,” Reid told the Huffington Post.

George Romney, a Michigan governor, released 12 years of tax returns during his unsuccessful bid for the Republican presidential nomination in 1968. His son has released only his 2010 tax return and an estimate for 2011, years when he was preparing for his own presidential bid or already running.

Reid doubled down on the claim late Thursday, firing back at Romney in a written statement.

“People who make as much money as Mitt Romney have many tricks at their disposal to avoid paying taxes,” Reid said in a written statement. “When it comes to answering the legitimate questions the American people have about whether he avoided paying his fair share in taxes or why he opened a Swiss bank account, Romney has shut up. But as a presidential candidate, it’s his obligation to put up, and release several years’ worth of tax returns just like nominees of both parties have done for decades.

“It’s clear Romney is hiding something, and the American people deserve to know what it is.”

Reid’s comments come in the middle of a scathing critique of the former Massachusetts governor’s tax plan. The Tax Policy Center, which Romney has called “an objective third party” in the past, noted that his proposal would give benefits to high-income earners while giving a tax increase to middle-class Americans. Romney’s camp has disputed that analysis.

Meanwhile, another well-known Moderate seems to have found his…err…backbone also. 

Thehill.com reports:

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) lashed out at President Obama during an interview Tuesday, saying the president has “never even had a real job, for God’s sake.”

Boehner was discussing the presidential election, and accusing President Obama’s campaign team of using “over-the-top” rhetoric to distract from his economic record.

“Sometimes I have to catch my breath and slow down because the rhetoric in this campaign is just so over-the-top,” Bohener said during an appearance on “Kilmeade and Friends.” “And that’s because the president’s policies have failed. Listen — 93 percent of Americans believe they’re a part of the middle class. That’s why you hear the president talk about the middle class every day, because he’s talking to 93 percent of the American people.”

Then the Ohio lawmaker lit into the president’s qualifications to discuss job creation.

“But the president has never created a job. He’s never even had a real job, for God’s sake,” Boehner said. “And I can tell you from my dealings with him, he has no idea how the real world, that we actually live in, works.”

In the same interview, Boehner blasted Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) for his suggestion on the Senate floor Thursday that Mitt Romney paid no federal income taxes for a decade.

“I don’t know how you go out there and make a statement like that without any facts,” Boehner said. “It’s one of the problems that occurs here in Washington, people run out there without any facts and just make noise. The American people are too smart for this, they’ll get to the bottom of this, it clearly is not a fact, and I would think that the Senate majority leader would be smart enough to know that.”

While Americans have been taking a stand this week against the tyranny of the Minority, what have the leaders of the Republican Party (which we will be dragging across the goal line) been giving us?

Bread and circuses.

The Aftermath of Chick-Fil-A Appreciation Day

On By kingsjesterIn Christianity, Politics4 Comments

May I ask y’all a question?

While millions of Conservatives showed their appreciation for Chick-Fil-A yesterday, where was the presumed Republican Nominee for President?

For that matter, where was the GOP Leadership?

Were they still stunned from Cruz’s victory in Texas the night before?

Or, were they simply maintaining the aloof condension they’ve been practicing since they decided that Mitt was going to be their candidate for the Presidency of the United States?

Cruz’s victory was a blow to them, no doubt…especially considering the indispensable help given by Former Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin…which had to smart.

Check out what foxnews.com had to say yesterday about Cruz’s victory:

Google “Ted Cruz” and “grassroots” and you get 865,000 hits. That’s because the conventional wisdom posits that Tuesday night’s runoff victory for the former Texas solicitor general against Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, in their battle for the Republican nomination for an open U.S. Senate seat, marked the triumph of grassroots Tea Party activism over an entrenched GOP establishment figure.

To be sure, Dewhurst, aided by the backing of Gov. Rick Perry, outspent Cruz, a newcomer to elective politics, by a ratio of three-to-one. And prior to the May 29 primary, in which Dewhurst easily prevailed but failed to attain a majority of votes cast, virtually nobody gave Cruz even the faintest odds of winning.

But a number of factors at work in the Lone Star State make Cruz’s victory more easily understood, and beg the question of whether the new Republican nominee for the seat being vacated by retiring Republican Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison did not himself enjoy the backing of a wholly separate “establishment.”

For one thing, the gap between the Senate primary and the Cruz-Dewhurst runoff was nine weeks long. Previously, the longest such gap between a primary and runoff election in Texas had been a mere five weeks. Cruz used the 63 days effectively, drumming up money and free media. Second, victories like his are actually the norm in Texas, where, including Tuesday’s results, the second-place finisher in a state primary has gone on to win the ensuing runoff election nine out of fifteen times.

“He was the man versus Dewhurst, who’s part of the machine, the establishment there in Texas and in Washington, D.C.,” said Sarah Palin on Tuesday night’s episode of “On the Record with Greta Van Susteren.” “He was the outsider to come in and promise that reform.”

Yet Cruz was no ordinary Tea Party figure, and few people’s idea of a Beltway outsider. He attended Harvard University’s law school and founded a Latino law review there; clerked at the U.S. Supreme Court for Chief Justice William Rehnquist; worked at two federal agencies in Washington, the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission, under President George W. Bush; and is married to a woman who works for Goldman Sachs.

More important to his electoral fortunes, Cruz received critical endorsements and millions of dollars’ worth of contributions and other forms of support from the likes of Gov. Palin, who campaigned for him; Tea Party hero and fundraising powerhouse Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C.; the D.C.-based Tea Party group FreedomWorks, which is led by former House Majority Leader Dick Armey; the anti-tax, pro-free market group Club for Growth, whose top executive is former Rep. Chris Chocola, R-Pa.; conservative columnist and ABC News commentator George F. Will; and National Review, the venerated magazine founded by the late William F. Buckley, Jr.

Ted Cruz, in short, was an establishment candidate in his own right.

“It is time to think differently about the Tea Party,” said Darrell West, a political scientist at the Brookings Institution. “In the early days, the Tea Party was basically a grassroots movement, didn’t have a lot of prominent people behind them, didn’t have a lot of money. But now they have big money. They can bring outside resources into a state election, and prove to be very decisive. So they are getting institutionalized as a movement: They have major political figures who are behind them; they have money that is behind them. So they have emerged as a different type of ‘establishment’ organization.”

Other races this year in which Tea Party-backed candidates have defeated better-known politicians include the victory of state Sen. Deb Fisher in a three-way primary in Nebraska, and the primary defeat of six-term GOP incumbent Sen. Richard Lugar at the hands of state Treasurer Richard Mourdock in Indiana.

Turnout among GOP voters in Texas dropped slightly from the 2008 primary contest in which incumbent Sen. John Cornyn prevailed over fellow Republican Larry Kilgore. In that race, more than 1.2 million votes were cast, as contrasted with Tuesday night’s results, in which just over 1.1 million votes were tallied.

Still, the popular narrative of the Cruz-Dewhurst race was reinforced by the candidates themselves. “Tonight is a victory for the grassroots,” Cruz told an ecstatic audience at his victory rally Tuesday night. “It is a testament to Republican women, to Tea Party leaders, and to grassroots conservatives. This is how elections are supposed to be decided — by we the people.”

“Thanks for standing up for Texas,” Dewhurst told his supporters in his concession speech. “We got beat up a little bit, but we never gave up, and we can stand tall knowing we never compromised any of our values.”

That’s great, sir. But…what are the Republican Establishment’s values?

Because, if they don’t align with us God and Country-loving, traditional- American-Values-embracing average Americans, your fellow Establishment Republicans are going to join the Democrats on the Unemployment Line after November 6th.

And, Mitt’s going to be awfully lonely, being the only Moderate left in Washington, DC, surrounded by Tea Party Conservatives.

Think about it.

The War Against Christianity: Battleground Chick-Fil-A…Today!

On By kingsjesterIn Christianity, Politics11 Comments

Well, here we are… a day that “fiscal Conservatives” and Liberals alike (or do I repeat myself?) have sworn (usually under their breath) doesn’t mean a doggone thing. They claim that there are no moral absolutes and that Christianity is passe.

I haven’t heard such a exercise in underestimation and poor judgement since General George Armstrong Custer remarked to his aide,

What Indians? I don’t see any Indians.

Mike Huckabee recently announced the following:

I ask you to join me in speaking out on Wednesday, August 1 “Chick Fil-A Appreciation Day.” No one is being asked to make signs, speeches, or openly demonstrate. The goal is simple: Let’s affirm a business that operates on Christian principles and whose executives are willing to take a stand for the Godly values we espouse by simply showing up and eating at Chick Fil-A on Wednesday, August 1. Too often, those on the left make corporate statements to show support for same-sex marriage, abortion, or profanity, but if Christians affirm traditional values, we’re considered homophobic, fundamentalists, hate-mongers, and intolerant. This effort is not being launched by the Chick Fil-A company and no one from the company or family is involved in proposing or promoting it.

There’s no need for anyone to be angry or engage in a verbal battle. Simply affirm appreciation for a company run by Christian principles by showing up on Wednesday, August 1 or by participating online – tweeting your support or sending a message on Facebook.

Chick-Fil-A has been besieged by business ever since.

The Washington Post, of course, has their own spin on things:

The restaurant chain with Christian roots — “closed Sunday,” it proudly proclaims — is run by owners with conservative values. Now company President and CEO Dan Cathy has sparked a nationwide food fight by saying he is “guilty as charged” for opposing same-sex marriage.

“We are very much supportive of the family — the biblical definition of the family unit. We are a family-owned business, a family-led business, and we are married to our first wives,” Cathy told the Biblical Recorder newspaper. The article was reprinted by Baptist Press on July 16.

Former Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee has spearheaded “Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day” and, as of Tuesday (July 31), more than 500,000 people had pledged on its Facebook page to show up or give support to the restaurant via social media on Wednesday.

“People are outraged that someone who expresses a view that is shared by most of the country is being bullied by hate speech and intolerance from the militant gay groups that are trying to disenfranchise his right to a personal opinion,” Huckabee told Religion News Service in an email.

“CFA doesn’t turn away people as customers or employees on the basis of sexual orientation and that’s the only way this could be an issue,” Huckabee added.

Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, plans to buy more than 200 of the restaurant’s sandwiches for its students, faculty and staff on Wednesday and famed evangelist Billy Graham has promised to “Eat Mor Chikin” — Chick-fil-A’s catchphrase — at one of the restaurants that day.

Meanwhile, opponents to Cathy’s stance have spearheaded “National Same Sex Kiss Day at Chick-fil-A” on Friday — the anniversary of the day the Episcopal Church elected its first openly gay bishop.

Organizer Carly McGehee said it will be up to rally participants whether to buy food or not.

“Some have said they will ask for a water, some have said they won’t buy anything,” she said. As of Tuesday, more than 8,400 people had signed up for the “kiss-in.”

In several locations, people have planned to place kissing booths outside the restaurants, with proceeds going to local gay rights groups. Heterosexuals supporting the kissing event plan to appear and kiss loved ones, she said.

“People will simply walk into the restaurant, kiss someone of the same-sex and take a picture or video, then leave and post it on Facebook for all the world to see!”

Some think the food fight is misplaced.

Others are taking the fight very seriously…and taking their complaints to a higher authority.

No…not that One.

CNN.com has the story:

A group of conservative black pastors are responding to President Barack Obama’s support of same-sex marriage with what they say will be a national campaign aimed at rallying black Americans to rethink their overwhelming support of the President, though the group’s leader is offering few specifics about the effort.

The Rev. Williams Owens, who is president and founder of the Coalition of African-Americans Pastors and the leader of the campaign, has highlighted opposition to same-sex marriage among African-Americans. He calls this campaign “an effort to save the family.”

“The time has come for a broad-based assault against the powers that be that want to change our culture to one of men marrying men and women marrying women,” said Owens, in an interview Tuesday after the launch event at the National Press Club. “I am ashamed that the first black president chose this road, a disgraceful road.”

At the press conference, Owens was joined by five other black regional pastors and said there were 3,742 African-American pastors on board for the anti-Obama campaign.

When asked at the press conference for specifics about the campaign – funding, planned events and goals – Owens said only that the group’s first fundraiser will be on August 16 in Memphis, Tennessee. But Owens insisted that “we are going to go nationwide with our agenda just like the president has gone to Hollywood.”

You go, Reverends. God Bless you all.

To repeat what I wrote Sunday…

Go get yourself a sammich and some waffle fries and support this Christian American Business.

Oh….and to those who would rather American Christians go away and keep our mouths shut, and forego our faith for a Godless Political Ideology?

You guys are in for a shock. I’ve read The Book. I know how this ends.

Hallelujah. Amen.

See y’all at breakfast, lunch and/or dinner!!!

This Ain’t Yo’ Folks’ Democratic Party

On By kingsjesterIn Christianity, Politics6 Comments

As I’ve mentioned before, I’m 53 years old.  My Mother and Daddy were 40 years older than me. I think that they were going to name me “Oops”. But, I digress…

My folks were Southern Democrats…Conservative Southern Democrats. They passed away in ’95 and ’97, respectively.

Back in the day, the Democrat Party was a far different political party than they are today.

On July 11, 1960, the Democratic Party Platform began with the following:

In 1796, in America’s first contested national election, our Party, under the leadership of Thomas Jefferson, campaigned on the principles of “The Rights of Man.”

Ever since, these four words have underscored our identity with the plain people of America and the world.

In periods of national crisis, we Democrats have returned to these words for renewed strength. We return to them today.

In 1960, “The Rights of Man” are still the issue. It is our continuing responsibility to provide an effective instrument of political action for every American who seeks to strengthen these rights-everywhere here in America, and everywhere in our 20th Century world.

The common danger of mankind is war and the threat of war. Today, three billion human beings live in fear that some rash act or blunder may plunge us all into a nuclear holocaust which will leave only ruined cities, blasted homes, and a poisoned earth and sky.

Our objective, however, is not the right to coexist in armed camps on the same planet with totalitarian ideologies; it is the creation of an enduring peace in which the universal values of human dignity, truth, and justice under law are finally secured for all men everywhere on earth.

If America is to work effectively for such a peace, we must first restore our national strength-military, political, economic, and moral.

That’s a far cry from “You didn’t build that”, huh?

In fact, it sounds like the Modern Republican Party.

Well, hold on to something. You ain’t seen nothin’, yet…as The New York Times reports:

Democrats appear ready to embrace same-sex marriage as part of their party platform, a policy shift that reflects an expanded acceptance of gay rights in mainstream politics.

The move would place the party in line with the beliefs of President Obama, who in May became the first sitting president to declare that gay men and lesbians should be able to marry.

Democratic Party officials had squabbled over the issue in the past. But at a platform-drafting meeting over the weekend in Minneapolis, they approved the first step to amend their platform, placing the amendment on track for adoption. In two weeks, the entire platform committee will vote at a meeting scheduled in Detroit. Then, if approved as expected, it would go before convention delegates in Charlotte, N.C., for final passage in early September.

According to Democrats who were briefed on the vote in Minneapolis, there was no objection when the issue came up. Though the language that was voted on could still be revised, party officials do not anticipate any major obstacles going forward.

The platform language approved over the weekend also reiterated the party’s disapproval of the Defense of Marriage Act, which prohibits the federal government from recognizing legal same-sex marriages. The 2008 platform had a similar section.

The Democratic Party’s move comes more than two months after President Obama personally backed the rights of same-sex couples to wed. The president’s reversal — he had said previously that while he could not support same-sex marriage, his views on the issue were “evolving” — was a significant move, though it carried no legal weight.

The Democrats would become the first major party to embrace same-sex marriage. But as historic as the platform would be, the president’s position makes it decidedly less controversial.

News of the platform amendment was first reported by The Washington Blade.

Gay rights supporters praised the Democratic Party’s vote. “Like Americans from all walks of life, the Democratic Party has recognized that committed and loving gay and lesbian couples deserve the right to have their relationships respected as equal under the law,” said Chad Griffin, president of the Human Rights Campaign. “I believe that one day very soon the platforms of both major parties will include similar language on this issue.”

The Democratic Party platform that was drafted four years ago, when Mr. Obama was first running for president, called for “full inclusion of all families, including same-sex couples, in the life of our nation, and support equal responsibility, benefits and protections.”

But the platform stopped short of endorsing same-sex marriages, in part because Mr. Obama had said he remained opposed.

Well, all bets are off now, because as we have all found out, all of Obama’s promises come with expiration dates.

Oh…and that whirring sound you hear? It’s the sound of Democrats like Scoop Jackson, Tip O’Neill, Hubert Humphrey, John F. Kennedy…and my parents…spinning in their graves.