Hugh Hewitt's 12 Words have now become 15.

Win the war.

Confirm the judges.

Cut the taxes.

Control the spending.

Secure the border.

These are words to the wise for any Republican running for the US House or Senate.

"Democrats love to mock the Republican base for believing the Bible is true. Democratic basemen believe "Fahrenheit 9/11" is true!" - James Taranto writing in Best of the Web Today about the differences between the Republican and the Democrat bases.

Someone wrote to me offended by what I had written about Colorado C & D tax increases. This post is adapted from my reply.

The individual who wrote me is a MD who did not feel he could do what he does to care for the poor without the taxes that C & D would bring in. I replied:

It is the height of irresponsibility to pick the programs folk feel are most vital and threaten to cut their funding in order to try to blackmail the taxpayers into paying more taxes. It is not as though the state has been enduring economic hard times.

C & D are excuses for the legislature to not have to make real decisions about what is worthy of funding and what is not. I can't see how it benefits the residents of Colorado to reward legislators who refuse to do what we hired them to do with even more money with which to act irresponsibly.

This MD further correctly pointed out that we as Christians have a mandate to care for the poor. He felt I needed to temper my "rhetoric to include a Biblically based concern for the poor". I replied:

Concern for the poor has nothing to do with this situation (raising taxes at a time when there is a surplus).

Yes, as Christians we have a mandate to care for the poor. Both as individual Christians and as churches we are commanded to care for the poor.

However, we can't rob someone by force and claim God's blessing on what we do just because we happen to use some (very small) portion of what we take to fund what God commands us to do.

What if the Good Samaritan had setup a toll booth on the highway and charged everyone who wanted to use the road a fee to "help the poor man who was robbed and beaten". Instead of binding up his wounds and paying for his care and treatment himself, he made up posters with the likeness of the wounded man and told everyone the poor man would die if they did not pay the toll. Of course part of the money collected went to pay for a nice house for himself, a really nice toll station, assistant toll collectors, and armed guards for the toll facility. Even though he was collecting tolls there were still robbers attacking travelers so there was a never ending supply of new wounded folk to use for the posters to convince folk they should pay the toll. Those traveling the road knew they had paid a toll "to take care of those attacked" so they no longer felt they needed to take personal responsibility for those robbery victims they might happen to see. After all the "toll collector" was taking care of them. Thus their hearts were hardened and turned from God.

This is the dilemma of raising taxes to "do good". It is intellectually dishonest to use the commands of scripture to Christians to justify governmental action. Sorry it just will not wash! Government can only get the funds to do anything by taking those funds (by force if required) from the governed. You can look at it at best as "Robin Hood" and at worst as "Highway Robbery". In neither case can you justify this by quoting what scripture commands Christians to do, as not all the governed are Christians (and today very few are), and even God does not compel Christians to obey him. Government however compels obedience on pain of imprisonment or death.

This does not mean I am opposed to all governmental welfare programs, but it does mean I believe they must be justified to the taxpayers on their own basis as good things to do, without trying to twist scripture into supporting such programs.

I believe that caring for the poor and sick must start with the individual:

1) Christians must do what God leads them to do as individuals first.

2) Christians then should do what the Lord leads them to as families.

3) The local body of Christians must work together to follow God's commands.

4) Larger groups (state, national, and international in scope) of Christians should work as lead by God.

I truly believe that if Christians did all of the above there would be little left over for other groups to do.

In particular I believe governments should be cautious in what they do to "help folk" because of the danger of unintended consequences. The dangers of governmental action are the least when the control is local since folk can see what is going wrong and take action to fix things with the least bureaucracy. Therefore what can be done at the town or city level should be left for this most basic governmental unit to deal with. Only when things absolutely must, should they be bumped up to County, State, or Federal levels.

Power Line among others posted House Republican Majority Leader Tom DeLay's mug shot photo and said it would not be useful as Democrats had hoped for attack ads against DeLay.

I would like to add that not only is Tom DeLay smiling, and wearing a suit and tie, but also is wearing his pin which identifies him as a currently serving Congressman. (The pin design is revised every Congress.) I thought this last was a nice touch, and serves as a slap in the face to those who would love to use this incident for political attacks against the Congressman and the GOP in general.

The local attack machine is already calling homes to try to smear our excellent Congresswoman Marilyn Musgrave by association with Tom DeLay. I don't believe it will work.

Hugh had a panel of three blogging pastors.

Dr. Tod Bolsinger told how he got into blogging and why he limits his scope to just those issues where he feels he has something worthwhile to offer which is almost never politics.

Dr. Mark Roberts told how Hugh got him to start blogging, and how his posts addressing some of the issues raised by The Da Vinci Code started his influence to spread.

Dr. John Mark Reynolds said he comes the closest of the panelists to dealing with political issues. When he deals with politics it is more to show himself as a rounded person than to be a political commentator. He wants to present a Christian world view, and will visit sites from non christians to see what they believe so that he can better present the Christian world view.

Hugh then presented his 7 questions:

1) You were all busy people, how have you balanced your time to fit in blogging? - Reynolds took from his football time and put limits on his time devoted to blogging. - Roberts said he started calling it a hobby but now realized it is a ministry. - Bolsinger feels blogging is part of being a Pastor. Reynolds asked about ghost blogging.

2) The dangers of email, or what motto would you put over your computer? Roberts mentioned the danger of posting when angry. Bolsinger said “do not let the Send button go down on your anger.” Reynolds talked of developing a thick skin as a blogger. Wait till you have won.

3) The dangers of fame in the blogosphere? Bolsinger quoted the Sermon on the Mount on doing things “to be seen of men” as opposed to doing it as a service. It is an issue of motivation. Reynolds said that in his profession blogging fame can harm his career. He quoted C.S. Lewis on the humble man thinking he is humble which means he is not. Roberts told of how a stranger complimented his blog, and how that felt so strange. He mentioned he must keep centered on serving the Lord.

4) The warning signs of the person who should not blog? Reynolds said if you are convinced you have something you must share. If you can’t abide criticism, or if you can’t take a stand. Roberts said if blogging is an escape from the world, or if blogging takes you away from things you must do, or if you are angry, or if you can’t use proper grammer. Bolsinger said you have to know how to write, and be comfortable writing. Blogging must be part of your Christian community.

5) It is against the law in the USA for a pastor to do candidate advocacy from the pulpit, but they can as a private individual blog on these issues. Should they? Roberts said if political things distract from your primary mission you should steer clear of politics. Bolsinger said he keeps his blog separate from his church, but that is just to keep a line of separation. However, he must always keep in mind his main job is as Pastor. Reynolds also keeps his blog separate from his job, but limits what he says in this sort of public forum.

6) Have you encouraged someone to blog? Bolsinger encouraged a Christian liberal to blog, and hopes he will come back to blogging. Reynolds would like Matthew Anderson and his other students to blog, and some Islamic friends who are upset with the hijacking of Islam. Roberts would love to see more thoughtful and wise folk including academics blogging. He mentioned Dennis Prager.

7) Christians of the past who it would have been great as bloggers. Reynolds - Joan of Arc & Charles Stewart. Roberts – Luther, the Apostle Paul, Calvin. Bolsinger – Abraham Kyper, Jurgen Multline [I’m sure I have mangled these last two names].

Joe Carter raised the fact that the best bloggers are servant leaders. Being a servant is limiting, and sets limits for the scope of our blogs. Matthew Anderson asked about being a specialist versus a generalist. Reynolds said both can be valid, where the generalist can show how to work out your salvation with fear and trembling. GodBloggers say Jesus is Lord, and that colors all they do.

Hugh asked if women bloggers have a harder time getting respect? Most women felt women bloggers face no undue hardships.

I was not able to keep up with all the final questions and comments.

Reynolds concluded he blessed bloggers since they can reach some of his students he can’t. Bolsinger said he needs interaction with people to help him improve his communication of the gospel to laymen. Roberts mentioned how his church became a partner of a church in New Orleans via the Internet.

One of the blessings of GodBlogCon has been the connections that have taken place between Christian bloggers in attendance. Besides the folk mentioned in Thurs Eve at GodBlogCon there were a few others I should mention. Marvin and Lisa Hutchens spent a lot of time fellowshipping with me which was neat since I think we were the only folk from Colorado to make it to GodBlogCon. Marvin is the blogger (www.LittleRedBlog.com), but he would not be able to if it were not for the support of his wife. Truly a Godly wife is a blessing from the Lord!

Peter Shinn of MarchTogether.com is passionate about uniting Christians to end abortion. I was able to be a small help by letting him post using my laptop. John Gillmartin of The SHEEP'S CRIB has neat sheep graphics on his business card.

Shelley Henderson of Kicking Over My Traces was one of a number of women bloggers at GodBlogCon. Others included La Shawn Barber, Melinda Penner of Stand to Reason, Christy-Lynn Wilson of B Relevant and The DeMoss Group, Amy Hall of A-Team Blog, Lores Rizkalla of Just a Woman, and Denyse O'Leary of Post-Darwinist. There were others but these were those that I remembered meeting.

Travis Fell of Voice in the Wilderness is working to influence the Texas legislature for God. As a former Texan I can only pray his efforts are sucessful. In his post of this evening he mentions Dr. Mark Roberts allusion to blogging as "a harsh mistress" but appears not to have gotten the reference to Robert A. Heinlein's classic "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" which is an updating of the story of the American revolution set in the future.

I am so blessed to have met these brothers & sisters in Christ who are also using this new tool, the Blog.

This afternoon I got to meet Dr. John Mark Reynolds, Dr. Mark Roberts, Dr. Andrew Jackson, Joe Carter, David Wayne, Marvin Hutchens, DJ Chuang, Stacy Harp, and La Shawn Barber. Then this evening Dr. John Mark Reynolds gave a great opening session.

His theme was "The Long Running Tension between Live versus Preserved Performance" complete with quotes from Plato and Dante, where Christianity fits into this divide, and how Blogging helps span the divide. Very interesting look at how bloggings fits into history, and the future. I believe Biola may post the recording of this talk at some point, and I will link to it if they do.

Tomorrow I will be heading to GodBlogCon held at The Torrey Honors Institute of Biola University in La Mirada, California. I hope to meet some of you there!

If you are local to Biola here are some things you should be aware of. There are some seats open to the public for the Friday night dialogue between Hugh Hewitt, John Mark Reynolds, Mark Roberts, and Tod Bolsinger. There is also a one-day only fee of $35 for Saturday only. Last, courtesy of Grace Hill Media, GBC are excited to offer a pre-screening of [ http://www.elizabethtown.com ] Elizabethtown for all GodBlogCon attendees. To take advantage of any of these offers please contact GBC directly. Click on the GBC logo above to reach their website.

Over at Protein Wisdom there is a post disecting Newsweek's latest on Katrina and the response to it. I have rarely seen such a blatent example of media bias, and Protein Wisdom has done a service by (at least partially) responding to it. Newsweek casts President Bush as the uncaring fool, and Mayor Nagin and Govenor Blanco "a motherly but steely figure known by the nickname Queen Bee" as the heros even if they have to throw out all inconvienient facts and rely on slanders from "aides" who it is implied are fearful for their jobs, to attack the President. Newsweek also displays a total lack of understanding of how our Federal system of government operates under our Constitution, not to mention how disaster response and FEMA operates.

Read the whole thing! HT Michelle Malkin.

Unfortunately as I was posting this the Protein Wisdom site has been taken down, probably due to all the traffic this post has brought. Check back later if you can't get through.

Major Garrett of Fox News reported that the Red Cross was prevented from delivering supplies it had wanted to bring to those in the Superdome, by the Louisiana Department of Homeland Security which is the state agency in charge of disaster relief in Louisiana. He then went on Hugh Hewitt's radio program and elaborated in more detail.

Power Line mentioned this on their blog, and readers sent in more confirmation of this story. If this is correct, then the state agency in charge of disaster relief made things far worse for 20,000 or more who were trapped in the Superdome and Convention Center, and may have been responsible for many of the lives lost there.

The Red Cross and FEMA have long preached to everyone who would listen how to prepare for disasters. Individuals and families are strongly urged to prepare to be totally on their own for at least 3 days, and 2 weeks is better. Similarly cities are told to be ready to fend for themselves for at least 3 days before any outside help is expected. FEMA even provides free courses to teach individuals and municipal officials how to best cope with disaster situations. They offer advanced disaster training programs through state agencies in a wide variety of critical skills.

Therefore, while individuals and families _should_ be able to take care of themselves for a few days, all communities and states should be prepared to help those who did not prepare. Everyone reading this should access the wonderful free materials available from the Red Cross and FEMA and be ready for emergencies so you will not be one of those in a "shelter of last resort" like the Superdome.

If it is true that the state intentionally blocked help from getting to those who most needed it that is criminal. I hope this is investigated.

Today folk all across the Blogosphere are uniting to ask folk to donate to help those who are suffering in the wake of hurricane Katrina. I am joining this effort with the suggestion that you consider donating to the Salvation Army. Whenever disaster hits they have been out front providing relief to the victims and are one of the most efficient organizations around doing relief work. There are no huge salaries in the Salvation Army, just folk doing what God commanded and helping the poor and downtrodden.

Glenn Reynolds has a master list of charities to which you could also consider dontating.

My employer was giving a 50% match for donatations to the Central Texas Red Cross who are helps tens of thousands of the refugees from Katrina so I gave there too.

So please give.

After giving please go to N. Z. Bear's website and log your contribution. You can do so anonymously if you wish. He is keeping track of the contributions made because of this worldwide Blog effort. As I write this over $500,000 has been raised via blogs.

Technorati Tags: flood aid, Hurricane Katrina

What passes for reporting from Iraq in most of our media has been nothing but a listing of our dead and wounded with no context about what our soldiers are doing and why. There is an old saying that the slickest way to lie is to tell just enough of the truth then shut up.

I you would like to read an example of real reporting from someone who is embeded with a group of our soldiers in a real hot-spot in Iraq, read Michael Yon's " Gates of Fire" report on his blog "Michael Yon : On Line Magazine". What makes his work all the more amazing is that it is totally self funded via donations from folk who read his blog. Read his report, and if it moves you consider making a donation.

Hugh Hewitt has a list of bloggers who have written about this report and a link to follow-up from BlackFive about the wounded men who are central to Michael's report.

Captain Ed of Captain's Quarters drew my attention today to an article in the New York Daily News about remarks by Pat Robertson on ABC's "This Week with George Stephanopoulos" that are not helpful to the cause of trying to get good judges through the US Senate, even though Pat Robertson evidently was trying to support them.

At first I was cautious wondering if his remarks were taken out of context, particularly since the longest quote in the New York Daily News article was one which I could largely agree with.

"Over 100 years, I think the gradual erosion of the consensus that's held our country together is probably more serious than a few bearded terrorists who fly into buildings"

Some might feel that statement is wrong, but it can at least be debated by reasonable people.

The 9/11 terrorists did a lot of damage to this country, but they united us in a way not seen in a long time. Obvious external enemies tend to do that.

On the other hand "the gradual erosion of the consensus that's held our country together" has resulted in what Dennis Prager calls a civil war in our country. This is not to say our current culture war is anything less than an all out (cold) civil war, but thank God it is not a shooting war. I pray it never becomes a shooting war!

After I questioned the context of Pat Robertson's statements both Captain Ed and Derek Rose the author of the New York Daily News article provided the remarks in context:

" STEPHANOPOULOS: But sir, you have described this (inaudible) battle in pretty apocalyptic terms. You said: The liberals are engaging in an all-out assault on Christianity. The Democrats will appoint judges who don't share our Christian values and will dismantle Christian culture. And the out-of-control judiciary -- this was in your last book -- is the most serious threat America has faced in nearly 400 years of history: more serious than Al Qaida, more serious than Nazi Germany and Japan, more serious than the Civil War.

"ROBERTSON: Yes, I really believe that."

There is more which tends to moderate what he just said, but few will get past the above without dismissing Pat as a kook, and by inference all Christians and Republicans with him. The fact that Pat Robertson no longer has very large followings in either Christian or Republican circles will not matter.

Captain Ed wrote "Gee, Thanks, Pat" to which I can only add "with friends like these ..."

I have known of and supported Spirit of America for about a year. They have done outstanding work helping the cause of freedom in Iraq and elsewhere. Jim Hake the founder writes:

"I'm in Beirut, Lebanon to kick off a project to support the pro-democracy demonstrators at the "tent city" in Martyrs' Square. Their goals are independence (i.e., Syria out of Lebanon) and free and fair elections. The tent city demonstrators are the center of gravity for Lebanon's pro-democracy movement. They are leading the charge. They put together the massive demonstrations 3 weeks ago. As they go, so goes Lebanon's independence. And so goes a great opportunity for democratic transformation of the Middle East and Arab world.

"They need our help to sustain their struggle. Our project is raising support for them (food, shelter, water, etc.) While I'm here we're looking into other things to help (e.g., Internet access at tent city)

"People can go here to help. 100% of all donations go directly to the things that will help the pro-democracy demonstrators.

"Syria is publicly acting like it is playing nice and withdrawing. Behind the scenes they are destabilizing the country, delaying the elections and intimidating the opposition. The good guys in Lebanon need our support.

"Please blog and help get the word out. This message is posted on our blog here."

Lots of people ask "but what can I do?" Well here is something you can do to help. Any donation large or small will help the cause of freedom.

The website for GodBlogCon is now operational and they expect to be accepting registrations soon.

"The Torrey Honors Institute of Biola University is proud to announce that the first ever GodBlog Convention will be held at Biola University on October 13th through October 15th, 2005. GodBlogCon is designed to establish and cultivate relationships within the Christian blogging community and to provide opportunities for Christian bloggers to think about their role within the broader blogging world."

I will post more as information becomes available.

It was good to meet so many of the members of the Rocky Mountain Alliance of Blogs. I was blogging in the corner right next to Jonathan & Lisa from Mangled Cat. They came all the way in from Salt Lake City on their anniversary for Blogfest!

Joshua Sharf of View from a Height was at Blogfest for a while, but had to leave early.

Jim of Thinking Right was there, and I was privileged to go out to dinner with him, Ben DeGrow of Mount Virtus, and Eric of Free Thoughts afterwards. Jim has personal experiences that make him particularly sensitive to Terri Schiavo's plight.

I must echo Jim's big thank you to Michael of Tucanos for a wonderful dinner. Tucanos is a Brazilian Grill. If you have not experienced Brazilian style grill, you are in for an experience and a treat.

Also at the dinner was Mr. Bob of The Daily Blogster. He gave me a little background on some of the members of the Alliance.

I got to briefly meet Marvin of Little Red Blog. Hugh gave him a nice plug on the radio program.

Jared of Exultate Justi was at Blogfest, as was Clay Calhoun. Clay arrived late, but not until after Hugh mentioned several times on the air that Clay was not yet there. I think Clay figued that all publicity was good publicity.

Other Bloggers at Blogfest included Pete of The Greasy Rag, Barbara of Girl in Right who I met briefly, Jed of Jed's who mentioned he is job hunting, Publicola, Mark of 1or2thoughts, Jiggity of Avoiding the Tar Baby, and Charles of Dilley Blog. Thanks to Ben DeGrow of Mount Virtus for the list of Bloggers and the links to their sites.

Hugh started talking about Terri Schiavo and stated that he felt there was cause for hope. I sure hope he is right and will explain why later in the program.

Hugh just got off the phone with Govenor Bill Owens of Colorado speaking of the mess at the University of Colorado and of Bob Beauprez's run for Colorado Governor since Bill Owens is term limited. Bob Beauprez would be great for Colorado and I hope he runs.

UPDATE: Talking Colorado politics and the need to win the Governership with our Colorado House minority leader.

UPDATE: Back to Terri Schiavo and our out of control legal system with "The Beltway Boys". Talking about the US Senate and the President's nominations.

UPDATE: Dr. Dobson talking to Hugh about the Terri Schiavo case and the outrage that the US Congress has not been able to act. This is the prelude to legal Euthenasia. Dobson's website is Family.org where he has more info on what you can do at CitizenLink.

UPDATE: More on Terri Schiavo. "Even if he is the best husband in the world, we don't starve people to death in the US." - Hugh Hewitt

There will be a counter protest against the antiwar folk protesting at the Colorado Capitol tomorrow. If you have the time show up.

UPDATE: "I am not a legislator because I hate last minute stuff." - Hugh talking about the last minute actions of the legislatures in trying to defend Terri Schiavo's life. "It might not be very likely, but what if she dies this weekend?"

UPDATE: Joni Eareckson Tada is on with Hugh right now. She is barely back from the hospital and is calling from her bed. Hugh brings up that there is no credible evidence that Terri Schiavo is in a state from which she can't recover since the husband has refused to allow the testing to be done. Joni speaks from authority since she has been a quadriplegic for the past 38 years. Someone else has to feed her so she is in that way in a very similar to Terri. Hugh asked Joni if she would object if Terri had signed a written statement saying that she did not want to live if she had to be on a feeding tube. Joni said no, and Hugh agreed. The point is however that Terri never signed such a statement and we are relying on her husband's statements which are suspect to say the least.

UPDATE: Hugh talking about the University of Colorado and his desire to be President of UC. He said he would not fire Ward Churchill but instead give him a 24 hour cable show. Sort of like how he loved the MoveOn rally.

Throw the bums out. That is Hugh's message. He wants to start a national movement to vote all Judges out of office until they state speaking out publicly about the out of control judges such as the judge in the Terri Schiavo case. This sounds good to me as I have long advocated throwing the bums out in Boulder Country Colorado where I live.

UPDATE: Bloggers are helping shape public opinion, and Hugh hopes there will be a breakout into the Main Stream Media. Hugh repeated his call for citizens to take action using the resourses on Dr. Dobson's CitizenLink website.

Hugh mentioned Little Red Blog.

UPDATE: Hugh is calling for prayer for Terri, her husband, the judge, and all others involved in the situation. His first caller suggested people consider fasting and praying for this situation. The next caller had a son on a feeding tube and spoke powerfully about the sanctity of life. Hugh spoke against using civil disobedience in this case.

UPDATE: The show ended with a poem "A Life" read by Tarzana Joe.

Hugh Hewitt will be broadcasting live on KNUS 710 AM from the Borders Bookstore in the Colorado Mills Mall in Golden today from 4 to 7 PM. Following this he will be signing his new book BLOG. To take part in the booksigning call Borders at (303) 277-9101 to reserve your book and timeslot to get it signed.

Members of the Rocky Mountain Alliance of bloggers will be on hand to answer questions about blogging, and help you sign up for a free Blog of your own.

I expect to be live blogging from Blogfest.

Come join the fun! I hope to see you there!

Dr. Andrew Jackson of SmartChristian has just announced that GodBlogCon 2005 will be held October 13 (Thursday) through 15 (Saturday) 2005. The Torrey Honors Institute of Biola University, under the direction of Dr. John Mark Reynolds, will be the official host of GodBlogCon 2005.

If you have any interest in using the Internet to help spread the Gospel and influence our rotten culture for the better, you should consider attending GodBlogCon. You do not need to be a Blogger or familiar with Internet technology to benefit greatly from this Convention.

Hugh Hewitt will be speaking one evening.

There will be workshops on many Christian Blogging related topics. Planned at this time are:

1. God Blogs: The Emergence and Future of the Christian Blogosphere: Joe Carter/Evangelical Outpost & Andy Jackson/SmartChristian

2. The Emerging Church Blogosphere Track: PlanetEmergent.org,JordonCooper.com,TallSkinnyKiwi,JenLemen.com,Willzhead,UrbanOnramps,Emergesque,E-Church.

3. Blogging Pastors: Dr. Mark Roberts & Dr. Tod Bolsinger

4. Blogging for Cultural Impact: Dr. John Mark Reynolds

5. Blogging Youth Pastors: Peter Beringer/A Youth Pastor

6. Pro-Life Blogging: facilitator: Tim/Blogicus

7. Live Blogging: DJ Chuang

8. Christian Political Blogging: Joshua Clabourn/In the Agora,Debi White/Heart, Soul & Humor/About.com,La Shawn Barber

9. Christian Homeschool Blogging: Matt Anderson/Mere-Orthodoxy

10. Blogging for College Students: Rhett Smith/The Quest

11. Video Blogging (Vlogging): Aaron Flores/The Voiz

12. Anglican Blogging: Greg Griffith/Stand Firm

13. Blogging Christian Philosophy: Dr. John Mark Reynolds

14. Using Blogs for Online Activism & Evangelism: Stacy Harp/MediaSoul

15. Christian Blogging 101

16. Between Two Worlds: Pastor David Wayne

17. Theology Blogging: Dr. Tod Bolsinger/It Takes a Church

Click on the links above to learn more about the many Christian Bloggers who will be part of this Convention. I hope to see you there!

When Osama bin Laden died, he was met at the Pearly Gates by George Washington, who slapped him across the face and yelled, "How dare you try to destroy the nation I helped conceive!"

Patrick Henry approached, punched him in the nose and shouted, "You wanted to end our liberties but you failed."

James Madison followed, kicked him in the groin and said, "This is why I allowed our government to provide for the common defense!"

Thomas Jefferson was next, beat Osama with a long cane and snarled, "It was evil men like you who inspired me to write the Declaration of Independence."

The beatings and thrashings continued as George Mason, James Monroe and 66 other early Americans unleashed their anger on the terrorist leader.

As Osama lay bleeding and in pain, an Angel appeared. Bin Laden wept and said, "This is not what you promised me."

The Angel replied, "I told you there would be 72 Virginians waiting for you in Heaven. What did you think I said?"

I found this on Power Line, who got it from Tomfoolery of the Highest Order, who got it from Freedom of Thought.

James Watt has given me permission to post his open letter to Bill Moyers responding to Moyers' so called apology.

While James Watt sets the record straight he also notes "As a practical matter, neither you nor I will be able to turn off the lies of the Grist story and your expansion on that quote." Once lies start spreading they will quickly expand and will never be able to be completely stopped.

However James Watt embodies the Christian attitude towards what people have said about him. "When I became the Secretary of the Interior, I knew that I was responsible for my character. “Character is who you are; reputation is what others say you are.” Others would control my reputation." While he sets the record straight he does not either attack Bill Moyers, nor expect that everyone will stop slandering him.

For 4 pages James Watt carefully addresses all the issues and implications Bill Moyers made and shows how they are contradicted by the record. James Watt is not someone who will return evil for evil and attack in return. However, he will also never back down when he is in the right. His email signature line says "BE THERE. Never retreat. Never surrender. Never cut a deal with the devil."

The Main Stream Media may not be the devil, but they certainly don't like Christians or Republicans. As John Hinderaker notes regarding a different example of an attack on Christians in the MSM "If an assertion sounds outlandish, like the claim that roving bands of 18th century Catholic priests went about hanging people, realize that it may very well be a fabrication. (Or, to take another example, the claim that a Secretary of the Interior expressed the view that environmental preservation is unnecessary in view of the imminent end of the world.) And bear in mind that false statements seem to be made more frequently about some people--Catholics, say, or Republicans--than about others."

Originally posted Friday 2005-02-11 12:20 AM

"Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes, nor figs from thistles, are they? Even so every good tree bears good fruit; but the bad tree bears bad fruit." Matthew 7:15 - 17

There are many false prophets in the world. Some of them claim the banner of "Christian". Among these are "Christian Science", "The Church of Jesus Christ of Later Day Saints" (Mormons), "Unity school of Christianity", and a host of others.

Yesterday Bill Moyers "called James Watt and "apologized profusely" for misquoting him and misrepresenting his views on the environment". Further he said he would make a "written apology". Today he wrote in the Minneapolis Star Tribune "I talked to Mr. Watt on the phone and expressed my own regret at using a quote that I had not myself confirmed." This is a far cry from an apology for misquoting him. It is nothing more than trying to claim his worst offense was sloppiness.

However Bill Moyers could not leave it at that. He then wrote "I also told him that I continue to find his policies as secretary of the interior abysmally at odds with what I, as well as other Christians, understand to be our obligation to be stewards of the earth." Lets see if I have this straight. After launching a vicious attack on Christians and claiming that Christians did not care about the environment, and then using James Watt as the poster child for all that is wrong with Christian beliefs, he now switches and tries to claim that he, Bill Moyers, and those that think like him are the true Christians, and James Watt is merely the poser who falsely claims to be Christian. Moyers evidently does not think anyone will remember what he wrote a little over a week ago.

Scott W. Johnson wrote on Powerline "In other words, Moyers says the quote was fake but accurate, and in any event, Watt is a lousy Christian. Moyers is a disgrace. He not only misquoted Watt, he completely misrepresented his environmental policies. And virtually every other "fact" in Moyers' hate-filled tirade against conservative Christians was a lie, as was its central thesis."

"Environmentalism" as worshiped by Bill Moyers and many others is indeed a religion. Environmentalists worship "Mother Earth" under any of a number of names. When it suits their purpose, they claim to be "Christian". When it suits their purpose they burn down buildings, and engage in other terrorist acts. Radical "environmentalist" groups are among the most dangerous terrorist organizations that are native to the USA.

Christians need to remember Jesus words in Matthew 7.

Originally posted Wednesday 2005-02-09 10:00 PM

In my post below, I wrote "Of course I am not holding my breath that either Bill Moyers or the Minneapolis Star Tribune will retract any of their slanders of Christians or James Watt." However according to Powerline, less than 24 hours later Bill Moyers "called James Watt and "apologized profusely" for misquoting him and misrepresenting his views on the environment". I can only second John Hinderaker's statement "Congratulations, Mr. Watt."

The O'Reilly Factor this evening had Scott Johnson of Powerline on to discuss this story. This certainly has given it more exposure which is good. It was pointed out that even though Moyers has apologized and promised "he will produce a written apology and think about ways to make the apology as public as the smear was", so far the Minneapolis Star Tribune has been totally silent.

What was not examined on The O'Reilly Factor was the statement by Scott Johnson "The whole speech [by Bill Moyers] is premised on the assertion that the Bush administration and Christians are delusional, that Christians want to hasten the destruction of the environment because it will the Second Coming nearer."

Bill Moyers appears to be of the same "liberal" or "educated" mindset as Robert Reich, and have the same bigotry against Christians. This "enlightened" contempt for Christians and Christian values permeates our universities, "main stream" news media, the upper reaches of the Democratic party, and large segments of our popular culture.

Hollywood would never think of defaming Islam the religion of the 9/11 terrorists. For example, the movie version of Tom Clancy's excellent book "The Sum of All Fears" replaced the Islamic terrorists with American Neo Nazis. It is fine for Americans to be the "Bad Guys" in a film. If they can cast their caricature of a "Christian" as the villain it is better yet.

Christians need to get active in all aspects of our culture and civilization and reclaim it. We can no longer afford to abandon large segments of our society to those who oppose all we hold dear. Education, politics, pop culture, and the news media to name a few, need active Christian influence. Will you do your part?

Originally posted Tuesday 2005-02-08 9:00 PM

Below I noted the slander of James Watt by Bill Moyers in the Minneapolis Star Tribune January 30.

This morning John Hinderaker added an additional note to his story, relating that The Washington Post (the liberal paper in our nation's capitol) had repeated one of Moyer's slanders of James Watt, and called on them to recant.

Well Wonder of Wonders, Miracle of Miracles, John Hinderaker received an email from Blaine Harden the reporter who wrote the Post article informing him "the Post is running a correction on the Watt quote in Tuesday's paper". You have to give credit where it is due, and Mr. Harden and the Post have done the right thing.

Of course I am not holding my breath that either Bill Moyers or the Minneapolis Star Tribune will retract any of their slanders of Christians or James Watt. This is the same paper which has repeatedlyprintedslandersofPowerline and asserted that doing so "appeared to violate no Star Tribune standard".

Originally posted Monday 2005-02-07 10:30 PM

I have never met James Watt although I know his sister. Back in 1984 I read his wife's book about his time as Ronald Reagan's first Secretary of the Interior. I consider him a good and honest man smeared by his intellectual and moral inferiors. He has been out of the public eye for many years and been trying to live quietly putting all the vicious attacks behind him.

However, the radial left are not content to leave things be but feel they must continue to libel Christians in general, and James Watt in particular. On January 30 the Minneapolis Star Tribune published an op-ed by Bill Moyers that had originally been delivered as a speech to a group at Harvard Medical School.

As you read the comments by John H. Hinderaker of the Powerline Blog keep in mind that these sorts of frothing at the mouth attacks on Christians are considered perfectly acceptable by the leaders of academia (Harvard University), the environmentalist movement (Center for Health and the Global Environment), and the Main Stream Media (PBS).

Much has been written about Ward Churchill and his contemptible ideas lately. Many are calling for him to be fired. However little attention has been given to the extremist left wing culture of our institutes of higher education that allowed such a person to be hired and kept on staff for all these years. The same culture that approved the hiring of Ward Churchill also honors Bill Moyers with a Global Environmental Citizen Award.

Originally posted Sunday 2005-02-06 11:30 PM

I have long maintained that Christians or anyone who wanted an objective view of the world can't trust the Main Stream Media in the USA or anywhere else. Almost all members of the MSM have a radical far left agenda that shows in how and what they report. Everyone now knows about how Dan Rather and CBS tried to use forged documents to bring down the President. Now we have a new glaring example.

On 27 January 2005, Eason Jordan the Chief News Executive of CNN was addressing the World Economic Forum. He claimed in front of an audience in Europe of leaders from all over the world including many in the Islamic world, that "he knew of 12 journalists who had not only been killed by US troops in Iraq, but they had in fact been targeted. He repeated the assertion a few times, which seemed to win favor in parts of the audience (the anti-US crowd) and cause great strain on others." He offered no proof of any of these claims, and since then CNN has tried to claim he was quoted out of context, but has refused to release the video tape or even a transscript of the event.

This is not the first time Mr. Jordan has slandered the US Military. Last November he claimed in front of an audience in Portugal "journalists have been arrested and tortured by US forces". Again just claims without any proof and in front of an international audience.

Can any objective person trust CNN after such wild claims with no proof by their Chief News Executive? If you are still watching TV or reading a newspaper as your primary news source you are not getting the truth!

To learn more go to Hugh Hewitt's Blog and follow the links he provides.

Originally posted Friday 2005-02-04 8:30 AM

Dr. Andrew Jackson of www.SmartChristian.com is organizing the first Convention for Christian Bloggers. It will probably be held in California in October 2005. This is an exciting event for all Christians who have or are even thinking of starting a Blog (weB log or on-line Journal or Day-Book).

To learn more about Blogs you should read the essential reference "BLOG" by Hugh Hewitt.

More details here as they become available.

Originally posted Saturday 2005-01-29 10:00 PM