You can’t say it’s out of context. It’s four minutes of nothing but context.

If this isn’t socialism, what would you call it?

Freedom to exercise one’s Christian religion is guaranteed in the Constitution. That freedom is under attack, and the President and other leaders we elect on November 4th will either promote the attack or fight against the attack. Lest you write me off as an alarmist, allow me to illustrate with a specific concern.
Many believe that Christianity and sodomy can peacefully coexist in society. This belief is a delusion. Christians are losing their freedom in America as judges rule in favor of the sodomistic agenda. Christians do not generally face opposition if they practice their religion within the walls of their church building, but when they export it into spheres of business, school, and government, they may face legal challenges and punishments. Consider these assaults on the freedom of religion in America.

1. A federal appeals court panel this year upholds a Massachusetts court ruling against the freedom of Christian religion in parenting. Parents who objected to their six-year-olds being taught that homosexual behavior is normal were told by a judge that they have no right to take their children out of the classroom when that is taught.
2. A judge in CA this year rules against the freedom to exercise the Christian religion in medicine, forbidding doctors the freedom of Christian conscience. Rather than provide artificial insemination to a lesbian, they referred the patient elsewhere, but the court ruled this action to be illegal.
3. A New Mexico court this year rules against the freedom to exercise religion in business, fining the videographer whose Christian conscience prevented her from recording a counterfeit wedding ceremony for a same-gender couple. The court fined the videographer $6,637.94.
4. The Minnesota Legislature in the last two sessions passes a bill that mandates “comprehensive sex education.” That bill requires that elementary students learn how to perform sodomistic acts. The bill states that this curriculum needs to be taught in light of the various views on sexuality in our society. However, the bill specifically censors any teaching that is religious and doctrinal. So, if Governor Pawlenty had not vetoed this bill, and a teacher were to tell his students that this behavior is wrong, what could happen to that teacher for living his Christian religion?
5. Congress has supported a measure that would force the Boy Scouts to hire homosexuals (Employment Nondiscrimination Act). This would also force Christian organizations and ministries to hire homosexuals, including Christian childcare centers and Christian schools. Private business owners would be forced to hire homosexuals.
6. Congress has supported a measure that could lead to the arrest of Christians who tell others that homosexuality is a sin (Hate Crimes Act).
The freedom of the Christian religion is under attack today. Senator Obama has supported the two bills mentioned above in points 5 and 6. He wants to abolish the military’s policy of “don’t ask, don’t tell” and force the military to accept openly homosexual recruits. He has also pledged that if he is elected President, he will repeal the federal Defense of Marriage Act, which prevents one state from having to recognize the counterfeit marriage of same-gender parties in another state. Obama said, “As your president, I will use the bully pulpit to urge states to treat same-sex couples with full equality in their family and adoption laws. “ Senator Biden said on Oct. 20 that if he lived in California, he would vote against their ballot measure that would amend their Constitution to affirm marriage as the union of one man and one woman. Senator Obama supports measures that attack our freedom of religion.
On the other hand, Senator McCain has supported the rights of states to enact Constitutional amendments to protect marriage from counterfeiters. He supports the federal Defense of Marriage Act. He opposed the Employment Nondiscrimination Act and the Hate Crimes Act. President McCain will defend freedom of religion.
Freedom of Religion is on the ballot November 4th. Senator McCain is a Presidential candidate who will fight to preserve this fundamental Constitutional right.

It may be presumptuous to think Rep. Tim Walz is really for the welfare of veterans just because he was once in the Minnesota National Guard. What is clear is Walz will promised almost anything to get re-elected.

 I have heard him listen receptively to demands being made by veterans that Walz knows very well are invalid, but he assured the protesting veterans he would “take care of that” when he returns to Washington. In a long meeting in Austin I never once heard him advise a veterans that what he was demanding is not provided for by law or even forbidden by law.

 Some things just cannot be promised and, when they are, nothing is promised.

Why do all Rep. Tim Walz’s anti-Brian Davis ads insist on inserting “doctor” before his name? He doesn’t do so in his material.

Davis posses the degree of Doctor of Medicine, to be sure. He is also a graduate engineer. Both experiences add to his ability to serve in the Congress, and they should be considered. But Walz seems to hope we will dismiss Davis just because he is a physician.

Walz seems to want us to take Davis having an M.D. to be suspicious. He doesn’t come right out and say so or, more important, say why. I can’t think of his coming up with anything valid, but it would be at least honest. It would put the issue, if it were an issue, out there where we could examine it and talk about it.

If Tim Walz has something to say about Brian Davis, let him say it. This is what we have been expecting him to do in Congress, and now I wonder what else is meant by his silence while he was pretending to represent us.

The number of people who have filed absentee ballots the moment they receive them or taken advantage of early voting worries me. They seem to mean one of two things: They made their choices on some fixed basis such as blind party loyalty, or They think they already know all there is to know and nothing new is yet to emerge.

 There may have been some such occasions in history, but this is not such. Perhaps never in recent memory have their been so many issues up in the air needing resolution and unanswered questions floating around demanding attention.

 Anyone voting now is doing so in ignorance and, perhaps, irresponsibility. If you can’t vote in person on November 4, please wait until the last possible moment. Don’t mail in absentee ballots until the deadline. Sit on them and think.

 You have not “done your duty” simply by voting. Our duty extends to voting intelligently and responsibly. It’s too early for this.

 Some people have complained, with some admitted validity, they do not know Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska. They could have been excused in early September, but they vote irresponsibly if they do so before having gotten to know her. When allegations are made, they do not come with resolution. We need to listen for responses and wait for conclusive evidence.

 The allegations made against Senator Barack Obama of Illinois  could fill a book, and perhaps someday they will. Some are awfully wild and some can immediately be recognized as implausible. So, dismiss these, if you will.

 Yet others are so serious if true they could of themselves decide the election. If they are not true, I hope they will be shown to be not true. If true, we must learn this.

 However, it takes time for facts to be dug out and presented publicly. Then they must be vetted to see if they will stand up. We dare not dismiss them from our consideration while time remains to do so.

U.S. Representative Michelle Bachmann foolishly walked into a trap set by a liberal and hostile radio host. I do fault her, as a relatively new-comer to national politics, for getting in over her head. Nonetheless, the news media is treating her not only unfairly but dishonestly, because she did not mean what the media make her out to mean. She didn’t even say what they claim she said.

 The adverb may is not the verb is. She said Senator Barack Obama may have anti-American ideas. She did not assert he is anti-American or even that he does have anti-American ideas. The possibility is strong enough, she suggested, they are worth exploring to determine if there is substance to the many accusations that Obama harbors ideas not in the best interest of this country. Some, if true, do oppose American interests, and such would be anti-American.

 The media needs to focus their attention and employ their resources to disproving or confirming such concepts sustained, such positions held, and such relationships maintained that might be anti-American. If the charges are false or the suspicions unfounded, Obama himself needs these things to be established publicly. If they are true or well founded, we all need to know.

Before this time of stock market downturns, Coleman supported a Bush plan to allow younger workers to voluntarily invest some of their Social Security in the stock market.  This would have only affected younger workers, not those who depend on benefits now.  This would have been a voluntary risk.  It could have resulted in higher returns for those younger workers who chose to voluntarily invest some of their benefits.  It would only have affected some of their benefits, since the would have only been allowed to invest some.  This was considered before the current crash in the stock market.

If that was before, what does Coleman support now?  According to a Pioneer Press blog post about new Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee ads, “Coleman has now backed away from his support for private accounts. He now supports allowing a non-partisan commission [to] decide on a Social Security fix and [giving] Congress only the opportunity to vote it up or down. Private accounts could be part of the solution the commission might consider.”

Resolving the Social Security issue will require tough decisions and cooperation from both parties.  Unfair ads work against this by increasing partisanship and helping to divide members of Congress before the debates on the floor even begin.

Check out the article on state spending in today’s Austin Post Bulletin comparing the views of the Democratic incumbent and the Republican challenger for House District 27B.  In the article, both candidates seem to be aware of the challenge that lies ahead.

Republican candidate Brian Thiel said, speaking of the last legislative session, “It was bigger and bigger government spending. They were on a stairway to the stars, and their decisions put us in a poor position,” he says. “Now, we’re coming to a shortfall, and they’ve cleaned out the reserves.”