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.

There have been many proposals over the years for a new tax plan. These tend to fall into three main categories:

1) Tax Simplification

2) Flat Tax

3) Sales or Value Added Tax

Many alarmists have tried to claim that certain proposals would eliminate business deductions which is nonsense. Any tax system that eliminated business deductions and taxed business receipts as opposed to profits would put most of the businesses in the country out of business and therefore would never pass even if someone was so crazy as to propose it.

Tax Simplification. This is just more of the same thing we have been doing over the years, trying to take all the complications and special interest BS out of the code. It never works very well, and Congress always complicates things again. (Of course they could also complicate any of the other proposals as well which is why we must always pay attention to what they are doing.)

Flat Tax. In theory this means everyone pays the same amount of tax without any of the different percentage rates we currently have. The more extreme versions of this also eliminate all personal deductions. Many versions make this "flat tax" actually progressive by providing a large personal deduction. Congress will be under enormous political pressure to keep at least home mortgage and charitable deductions.

Sales Tax or Value Added Tax (VAT). A sales tax is only applied at the end of the production chain where the item is sold to the end consumer. Goods purchased that will become part of something that is later sold are not taxed, but goods purchased for use in a home or office are taxed. This is exactly like how all our State and City sales taxes work currently and everyone understands them.

By contrast a VAT is imposed on every business at every step of the manufacturing process. The concept is that every business pays the VAT on everything they buy, and then collects the VAT on goods they sell. However, they must remit to the Government not the full amount of the VAT collected but instead the amount of VAT collected minus the VAT they paid on the goods purchased that became part of what they sold. Therefore the net tax collected at each stage is on the "Value Added" by each company. However it is also a tax on inventories since you have paid the full tax on good purchased and don't get it back until you sell them. This gets complicated and the record keeping involved is an additional "invisible" tax on all the businesses. Europe has VAT and many of our liberal Welfare State proponents who want to make us more like Europe want a VAT not to replace the income tax but in addition to it to allow the government to take more of our money.

I think both ideas are non-starters in the USA since we rightly would not trust the Federal Government to collect either a Sales or VAT as a replacement for the income tax unless the 16th Amendment to the Constitution that allows the Federal government to collect direct taxes on Income were first repealed.

The only way this could work is if the National Sales tax were passed but made conditional so it would only take effect the day that the 16th Amendment was repealed by the States.

Today James Watt sent an Open Letter to Christian Leaders to Reverend Ted Haggard among others. In it he warns that "there are Anti-Christian forces moving in the political arena to divide the Christian community on the issue of the environment."

I am sure he is right, and that there are forces of Evil that would love nothing more than to see the Church disrupted and made ineffective by turning Christian against Christian. This is one of the themes so wonderfully developed by C. S. Lewis in his classic "Screwtape Letters" and in particular in the story "Screwtape Proposes a Toast".

So as James Watt urges lets "Be Alert!". Don't let anyone get away with claiming that Christians are "anti-environment", as nothing could be further from the truth. The whole concept that we are responsible for taking care of the environment is based on the teachings of Scripture.

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 repeatedly printed slanders of Powerline 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