Welcome To Ed's Widget Library Room

Are you aware that We The People are being denied our constitutional right to an Article V Convention to make amendments, despite 567 applications by the state legislatures of ALL 50 states?

We need your help. If you want to help reclaim our rights, then you have come to the right place. Our mission . . .

Hello. Welcome to Friends Of the Article V Convention (FOAVC). We are a non-partisan association of American citizens from every state in our Republic comprised of a broad range of occupations, ethnicities, religious affiliations and political persuasions. Our common bond is a deep commitment to preserving the values and principles embodied in our founding documents - the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution - upon which this nation was founded.

The Founders at the signing ceremony of the Constitution

Article V of the Constitution of the United States provides that "on the application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States, [Congress] shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments...". The Founding Fathers of our nation recognized the importance of providing this means by which the citizens of our country could initiate amendments to change and/or clarify the Constitution; the fundamental document which they intended to be not only the blueprint for our federal system but also "the supreme Law of the Land".

The Founding Fathers described . . . continued . . .

A PROTEST CONCERT IN WORDS AND MUSIC

The Political Video Parlor
The Man In Black

REMINDERS

Apathy The Danger
A Citizen’s Message
John F. Kennedy Presents The Declaration Of Independence
Eulogy of Bobby Kennedy The Message Of Constant Reminder
Martin Luther King: I Have Dream With We Shall Over Come
Cher: The Masters Of War: Another Type Of Reminder
Joan Baez: We Want Our Freedom Now & We Shall Overcome
Another Voice From My Past: Joan Baez In A Reminder Of Love
Let There Be Peace On Earth
Mormon Tabernacle Choir: The Battle Hymn Of The Republic
Peter, Paul And Mary, Peace March DC, 1971
Peter, Paul, Mary and Pete Seeger: Where Have All The Flowers Gone?
Bruce Springsteen: Blowing In The Wind
Neil Young: America The Beautiful
Peter, Paul, Mary And Friends: Day Is Done
What Happens When You Wait Too Long

MPORTANT FRIENDS LINKS

Virginians For Peace And Accountability
We The People Now.org
Veterans For Peace Impeachment Campaign
Darviews News And Views Form Ohio
Tampa’s Back Door (Vox Populi)
TomSongs.org (Music and Films)

Additional Graphics Assaults Found At The Court Of Impeachment And War Crimes:

The Index To The Graphic Case For The Indictment, Impeachment and Imprisonment Of Bush and Cheney (Plus) [To Be Updated As Pages Are Added]

The Photoshop Theme Header Graphic Graffiti Panels are generally (never smaller) 11 (x) 11” 72 Dpi. You will find some pages with odd size graphics and some with vastly larger graphics panel. Each page contains 13 Graphics and usually a small header. The press of time and the need to move these materials out to an external drive from time to time does not always make for the best groupings and some pages are rather eclectic. I apologize for this, but there’s much to done; much we all need to do. Enjoy them; use them modify them as you see fit and useful. Ed.

Page 0 Introduction and Sam Adams Dedication

Page 1 Military Action, Consequences and “Awards”

Page 2 Administration Players, Positions and Problems

Page 3 Emphasis on War Crimes, Plus the Lieberman Problem

Page 4 Primarily Metallic Peace and War Display Work

Page 5 The Fascist Designs (Plus)

Page 6 Homeland Insecurity Plus Nasty Ann Coulter Panels

Page 7 Criminality, Oil, Corruption, Manipulation and Retribution

Page 8 Impeachment Panels

Page 9 Corruption, BuShit and Impeachment

Page 10 Eclectic Impeachment Collection

Page 11 Eclectic Impeachment Collection

Page 12 Gonzales, Justice and the Voice of the Militant Rise

Page 13 Fruit Cakes and Spin

Page 14 Watchful and Virginia’s 2nd Amendment Democrats

Page 15 Emphasis Rove and Jail

Page 16 Scary as Halloween Irritating as a Broken Record

Page 17 Running out of Time, an Angry Page

Page 18 Bad News, What Bush Wants, and What We Want

Page 19 The Bush Agenda, Screw ups and Let’s March

Page 20 The Beginning, The Problems, Let’s March

Page 21 The Bush Stamp Collection

Page 22 Stamp Collection Continued

Page 23 Peace, Bigger Stamps and The Gas Price Hits

Page 24 Eclectic Mix

Page 25 A Cheney Page

Page 26 Not Nice To Condi Rice

Page 27 Coulter, Blackwater, Dictatorship Decrees

Page 28 The Pump Page, Some Over Laps

Page 29 Emphasis Justice, Virginia

Page 30 A Darkness Upon Our Land and Political Failure

Page 31 A Darkness Upon Our Land; Nuremberg Day Dreams

Page 32 Our Esteemed Leaders At Their Worst

Page 33 Our Esteemed Leaders And Consequences

Page 34 The Darkness Of Fascism

Page 35 The New Leadership Clique: America Betrayed

Page 36 Monday Morning Commentary

Impeachment Is Too Good For Bush

TomSongs.org (Music and Films)

ALEXANDRIA VIRGINIA-2008_ Blue State Desktop Tool Box

Political News /Polling Information/Resources/Reference/Research

The Links Provided Lead To Over 0ne Million Sources Of Information For Contacting Any Senator Or Checking Daily Media/News Information And Polling.

All Links have been fully tested and depending upon your system some may require you to open the file from the Word Bar at the bottom of your screen once activated by the Control/Mouse Click Protocol. If you choose to maintain some links simply save them as Favorites once opened to simplify future access. Please maintain normal defensive CAUTION when using this tool in terms of maintaining your Anti Virus program, Firewall and Anti Ad and Spyware Tools. There is no guarantee that any site on the Internet will not become contaminated at some point in time...

EMAIL ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS TO:
dickaued@yahoo.com or ed.dickau@shadowpolitics.us or ed.dickau@gmail.com

The Liberty Links Tool Box

Welcome To Alexandria/Washington Dc.

Simply Scroll Down To Your Section Choice:

{1} GOVERNMENT LINKS: Federal, State, Local and Census Data

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And Party Leadership.

{5} EYE ON THE RIGHT: Links to Both Right Wing Organizations and Right Wing “Watch Organizations”.

{6} MISCELLANEOUS: Links to additional sources of relevant Information of interest and import.

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{8} FUN STUFF: Sources of Political Humor, both in good and bad taste, as well as extensive links to Cartoon Sources.

{9} THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE-2008 Information Clickable with map

Official Site .

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Major News Outlets Up Front (Huge Source) Newslink All (General Checking)

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Floridalink.Com To 2,400 Us Newspapers By State
Refdesk.Com: State And International News Links
Links To 2,600 Hometown Local Papers, State By State
Newspapers.Com: Over 10,000 News Outlets
Msn Slate Common Home Link

THE POST PAGE

Washington Post Key Race Map And Links (2006 Cycle)
This Is A Great Visual As Well As Information Link, Subdivided Below
Key Races By State Links
Driven By Alphabetical States Menu
Primary Race Calendar-2006
List By Dates Or States
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THE FIX COLUMNS

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VIRGINIA NEWS SOURCES

Virginia News (Google Search)
Virginia: Homey News Sites
Potomac News

MORE TRADITIONAL NEW SEARCHES

Yahoo Will Take You To All Major Tv Outlets
Click Regions Followed By Us And States
Simple Google News Front Page Link
Gives You Full Google Search Ability Also
MSN News Home
MSN Search Home Page
Newspapers-Us And World Wide Links
World Wide Protest Net
Media Channel.Org
The Hartford Courant
The Huffington Post
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Provides Access To Over 10,000 News Outlets
Slate Magazine Online: Morning Coffee Site
Links To 2,400 Us Newspapers By State.Neat Link
Yahoo Will Take You To Major Newspaper Outlets
Links To 2,600 Hometown Local Papers, State By State
Yahoo Access:College/University Newspapers By State
The Feminist Daily News: Feminist Majority Foundation

THE SURVEY PAPERS (CAMPAIGN/ISSUE TIME) NEWSPAPERS BY STATE

California
Colorado
Connecticut
Florida
Georgia
Illinois
Indiana
Massachusetts
Maine
Michigan
Minnesota
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New York
Ohio
Pennsylvania
South Carolina
Texas
Utah
Virginia
West Virginia
Wisconsin

Track The News In The Political Hot Spots:
The Primary Electoral College States
(Plus A Few Others)

The National Paper
The Washington Post
New York
The New York Times
The Wall Street Journal
California
The Los Angles Times
San Diego Union-Tribune
San Francisco Chronicle
Oakland Tribune
Texas
Austin American-Statesman
The Dallas News
The Houston Chronicle
Florida
The Miami Herald
The Tampa Tribune
South Florida: Sun-Sentinel
Illinois
The Chicago Tribune
The Sun Times
Pennsylvania
The Philadelphia Inquirer
The Pittsburg Post Gazette
The Pittsburg Tribune
Philadelphia Daily News: Philly.Com
Ohio
Cleveland Plain Dealer
Columbus Dispatch
The Akron Beacon Journal
The Cincinnati Enquirer
The Canton Repository
The Dayton Daily News
The Toledo Blade
The Youngstown Vindicator
The Chillicothe Gazette
Michigan
The Detroit Free Press
New Jersey
The Star Ledger
North Carolina
The Charlotte Observer
Raleigh-Durham News Observer
Tennessee
The Tennessan
The Jackson Sun
Washington
Seattle Times Post Intelligencer
The Seattle Times

The Others

Georgia
The Atlanta Journal
Indiana
The Indianapolis Star
Massachusetts
The Christian Science Monitor
The Boston Globe
Missouri
St Louis Post Dispatch
The Kansas City Star

Quick Source When Weather Is The News
The Wunder Ground

Newsroom Legal Issues And Court Watch

“The Two Enemies Of The People Are Criminals And Government, So Let Us Tie The Second Down With The Chains Of The Constitution So The Second Will Not Become The Legalized Version Of The First."
-- Thomas Jefferson –

Legal Issues And The Court Watch

The Supreme Court
The Us Court System
Alliance For Justice Court Watch Justice Home Link
Supreme Court Watch.Org
The Contemporary Law Library
Columbia University Libraries Main Page
Deep Mining Beyond Open Links Possible To Closed Documents/Source/Data Bases

Columbia University Libraries: Lehman Guides
Intelligence Sourcing
International Security And Military Policy
Columbia University Library: Government Documents
The Best Of Search Engines Available Here
Columbia Law School All Links
Columbia Arthur W. Diamond Law Library

The Library Of Congress
The Library Of Congress Law Library
The Library Of Congress: Federal Research Division

Ed’s Polling Booth
Http://Www.Democracyforamerica.Com/Coalition
Democratic Party Matters

The Party Site
DP BLOG
NDN
NDN Morning Blog
DCCC
Democratic Party Online
Dems Emerging

All Following Google News Searches Remain Current

Pennsylvania Democratic Party
Pennsylvania Politics News Watch (Google Search)
Pennsylvania Democratic Politics (Google Search)

Virginia Democratic Party
Alexandria Virginia Democratic Party
Virginia Politics News Watch (Google Search)
The Virginia Democratic Politics News (Google Search)

Presidential Election 2008 News Watch (Google Search)

James Carville, Etc. Polling Data Sure To Utilize The “Related Links” Button And Review Reports

DECEMBER 8, 1912 – JANUARY 5, 1999
THOMAS “TIP” O’NEILL
“ALL POLITICS IS LOCAL”

THE QUOTABLE “TIP”

END PARTY MATTERS SECTION

EYE ON THE RIGHT
Pfaw Home Page
Civic Participation Page
Independent Judiciary Page
Constitutional Liberties Page
Civil Rights & Equal Rights Page
Religious Freedom Page
Public Education Page

A Very Comprehensive “Eye On The Right”

Right Wing Watch. Org Page (Auto Updates)

TOPICS

Anti-Gay
Budget & Taxes
Bush Administration
Civil Liberties
Creationism
Culture War
Education
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Media
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Politics
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Religion
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Reproductive Health
Right Wing
Science
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Links
More Right Wing Watch
Organizations on the Right
Pre-Blog News Archive

Send questions, comments and tips to rww@pfaw.org.

More headlines...

States:
Alabama
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
District of Columbia
Florida
Georgia
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
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Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming

Groups: PFAW RIGHT WING ORGANIZATION WATCH:
{Evaluations and Links to the sites}

Accuracy in Media
Alliance Defense Fund
Alliance for Marriage
Alliance for School Choice
America's PAC
American Center for Law and Justice
American Civil Rights Union
American Conservative Union
American Family Association (Sample Insert From This Page)

Minuteman Finances Further Questioned Main Anti-Abortion Groups File Briefs in 'Wrongful Death' Suit Involving Frozen Embryo

November 28, 2006

Right Creates Early, Extreme Campaign against Obama
Nov. 29: Update appended.

When it was recently announced that Sen. Barack Obama (D-Illinois) would speak at a global AIDS conference at Rick Warren’s Saddleback Church, radio talker Kevin McCullough was quick to denounce the partnership between the “evil” young senator and Warren, author of the best-selling “Purpose-Driven Life”:

In doing so he has joined himself with one of the smoothest politicians of our times, and also one whose wickedness in worldview contradicts nearly every tenant of the Christian faith that Warren professes.

So the question is, "why?"

Why would Warren marry the moral equivalency of his pulpit - a sacred place of honor in evangelical tradition - to the inhumane, sick, and sinister evil that Obama has worked for as a legislator?

According to McCullough, what makes Obama “a man who represents the views of Satan at worst or progressive anti-God liberals at best” is his position on abortion and his support of “the radical homosexual activist lobby.”

Obama, who in his keynote address to the 2004 Democratic National Convention famously called for political ecumenism, will appear with far-right Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kansas) to be tested for HIV on stage. But the spirit of bipartisanship in approaching issues, like AIDS, that cross the ideological divide is not enough to tamper the Right’s political efforts. Perhaps hoping to preempt a future presidential bid by Obama, right-wing leaders are coming out unusually strong against the AIDS Day appearance.

Today, McCullough released a press release signed by an impressive roster of right-wing figures, including Phyllis Schlafly, Tim Wildmon of the America Family Association, Judie Brown of the American Life League, Janet Folger, Joe Scheidler of the Pro-Life Action League, Peter LaBarbera of Americans for Truth, and representatives of Operation Rescue, Christian Action for the Preborn, and Missionaries to the Preborn. According to the release.

In the strongest possible terms, we oppose Rick Warren's decision to ignore Senator Obama's clear pro-death stance and invite him to Saddleback Church anyway. If Senator Obama cannot defend the most helpless citizens in our country, he has nothing to say to the AIDS crisis. You cannot fight one evil while justifying another.

The evangelical church can provide no genuine help for those who suffer from AIDS if those involved do not first have their ethic of life firmly rooted in the Word of God. Accordingly, we call on Pastor Rick Warren to rescind his invitation to Senator Obama immediately. The millions of silent victims who have died because of the policies of leaders like Senator Obama demand a response from those who believe that life is a gift from God. The name of the seminar at which Senator Obama will be appearing is entitled, "We Must Work Together." No, Mr. Warren, Mr. Obama, we will never work with those can support the murder of babies in the womb.

Also today, Rev. Rob Schenck of the National Clergy Council announced, “Senator Obama's policies represent the antithesis of biblical ethics and morality, not to mention supreme American values.”

And finally, Rev. Patrick J. Mahoney of the Christian Defense Coalition said today,

Having Senator Barack Obama speak on issues of social justice is like having a segregationist speak on civil rights. Mr. Obama supports partial-birth abortion and has voted against bills prohibiting taxpayers paying for abortion. It is hypocritical at best for him to speak out against the horror of AIDS on children and then support abortion which has killed 50,000,000 children in America alone.

Pastor Rick Warren, who is one of the most influential evangelical leaders in the world, should realize the terrible signal he is sending by inviting a speaker who tramples on the historic teachings of Christianity and the Bible. It is clear Rick Warren would never have a racist or sexist speak at his church concerning any topic. In light of that fact, why would he feature a speaker who supports violence against women and children?

Obama has also been noted for his efforts to reclaim religion’s place in politics from the Religious Right. At a time when religious voters are turning away from McCullough’s definition of abortion and homosexuality as “the greatest moral tests of our time,” and when conservative religious voters were willing to look elsewhere than the anointed party on Election Day, perhaps these Religious Right activists are reacting more out of an attempt to salvage their influence than any objection to working across the aisle against the AIDS pandemic.

UPDATE, Nov. 29: Saddleback Church responds in a statement. According to the church, the goal of the conference is “to put people together who normally won't even speak to each other.”: “We do not expect all participants in the Summit discussion to agree with all of our Evangelical beliefs. However, the HIV/AIDS pandemic cannot be fought by Evangelicals alone. It will take the cooperation of all – government, business, NGOs and the church. That is the purpose of this Summit.” Sen. Brownback echoed this sentiment, saying, “I think you are seeing the beginning of a great coming together on the left and right dealing with Africa.”

Posted by Ezra at 5:00 PM

Subject: Reproductive Health, Groups: American Family Association, American Life League, Pro-Life Action League, Christian Defense Coalition, National Clergy Council, People: Kevin McCullough, Phyllis Schlafly, Rob Schenck, Janet Folger, Patrick Mahoney, Sam Brownback, Rick Warren, Judie Brown

RESUME LINKS LISTING:

American Life League
American Society for the Defense of Tradition
American Values
American Vision
Americans for Limited Government
Americans for Tax Reform
Americans for Truth
Answers in Genesis
Arlington Group
Association of Maryland Families
Ave Maria
Becket Fund
Brotherhood Organization of a New Destiny
California Family Council
Campaign for Children and Families
Campaign for Working Families
Capitol Resource Institute
Catholic Citizenship
Catholic League
Cato
Center for Immigration Studies
Center for Individual Freedom
Center for Moral Clarity
Center for Reclaiming America for Christ
Center for a Just Society
Christian Coalition
Christian Coalition of Colorado
Christian Defense Coalition
Citizens Against Government Waste
Citizens for Community Values
Clergy for Blackwell
Club for Growth
Coalition for a Fair Judiciary
College Republicans
Coloradans for Marriage
Committee for Justice
Concerned Women for America
Considering Homeschooling
Declaration Alliance
Discovery Institute
Eagle Forum
English First
Ethics and Public Policy Center
Faith 2 Action
Faith and Action
Family Foundation of Virginia
Family Policy Network
Family Research Council
Family Research Institute
Family Research Institute of Wisconsin
Family and Property
Federalist Society
Federation for American Immigration Reform
Fidelis
Focus on the Family
Fox News Channel
Free Congress Foundation
Freedom Works
Grassfire.org
Heritage Foundation
Home School Legal Defense Association
Human Events
Human Life International
Judicial Confirmation Network
Judicial Watch
Liberty Counsel
Life Decisions International
Marriage Law Foundation
Maryland Right to Life
Media Research Center
Megashift Ministries
Minutemen
Mission America
Mothers Against Illegal Aliens
Mountain States Legal Foundation
Move America Forward
National Black Republican Association
National Center for Public Policy Research
National Clergy Council
National Council on Bible Curriculum in Public Schools
National Pro-Life Action Center
National Right to Life Committee
National Socialist Movement
Ohio Christian Alliance
Ohio Restoration Project
Operation Rescue
Origin of Life Fairness in Public Schools
Pacific Justice Institute
Palmetto Family Council
Pennsylvania Pastors Network
Priests for Life
Pro-Life Action League
Pro-Life Law Center
Progress For America
Promise Keepers
Religious Freedom Action Coalition
Renew America
Republican Study Committee
Right March
Save Our State
Softer Voices
South Dakota Family Policy Council
State Policy Network
Susan B. Anthony List
Team America PAC
Templeton Foundation
Third Branch Conference
Thomas More Law Center
Thomas More Society
Toward Tradition
Traditional Values Coalition
US English
United Citizens of America
Virginia Family Foundation
Vision America
Wall Street Journal
Wall builders
Washington Times
Young America's Foundation

People:

Alan Keyes
Alan Sears
Alveda King
Andrea Lafferty
Andrew Coulson
Ann Coulter
Antonin Scalia
Armstrong Williams
Bay Buchanan
Bill Bennett
Bill Crozier
Bill Donohue
Bill O'Reilly
Brent Bozell
Burt Prelutsky
Cal Thomas
Charles Lowers
Charlie Norwood
Chris Simcox
Chuck Colson
Chuck Norris
Cliff Kincaid
Clint Bolick
Connie Marshner
Connie Morris
D. James Kennedy
Daniel Lapin
Dave Schultheis
David Barton
David Keene
David Kuo
David Limbaugh
Dennis Hastert
Dennis Prager
Dick Armey
Dick DeVos
Don Feder
Donald Wildmon (SAMPLE INSERT EXAMPLE OF THESE LINKS)

Afa Still Thinking Up New Reasons To Boycott Ford

Hoping to be the biggest threat to American automobile manufacturers since the arrival of large numbers of low-priced Japanese cars in the 1980s, the American Family Association, a virulently anti-gay group, has marshaled a large portion of its resources over the last two years attempting to organize its constituents to boycott the Ford Motor Company over its marketing to gays and lesbians. While a planned boycott one year ago was cancelled, AFA almost immediately reconsidered – claiming the automaker had “reneged” on some kind of “agreements” – and began a boycott in earnest in March.

Adding to its list of grievances – such as Ford running a commercial during a CBS program that had a kiss between two women – AFA cites an e-mail sent by Ford’s “grassroots action program” that urged its employees to vote, and directed them to two sites with information about candidates and ballot initiatives. One of the sites, Ballot.org, describes ballot initiatives in various states and provides links to proponents’ and opponents’ web sites. The AFA didn’t like Ballot.org’s descriptions or endorsements – especially the site’s opposition to anti-gay constitutional amendments.

According to AFA, this is just more evidence that Ford has “elected to throw their company resources behind the promotion of homosexual marriage.” AFA is urging more of its supporters to join its boycott and to contact local Ford dealers.

At the Values Voter Summit in September, AFA President Don Wildmon bragged that his efforts were having a considerable effect on the company’s bottom line. While this claim is dubious to say the least – AFA’s nine-year Disney boycott fizzled out – the Ford boycott did at least become an issue in Michigan’s race for governor, with pro-gay groups publicizing ties between AFA and Republican candidate Dick DeVos in order to undermine DeVos’s stated support of the auto industry.

Posted by Ezra at 2:55 PM Permalink
Subject: Anti-Gay, Group: American Family Association, People: Dick DeVos, Donald Wildmon, State: Michigan
October 16, 2006

In A Galaxy “Far, Far Removed” From This One

The American Family Association’s Don Wildmon only made a brief video appearance at “Liberty Sunday,” but he took full advantage of it by cramming as much hyperbole and fear mongering into his thirty second sound bite as possible.

They want to silence, and they will silence, Christians. If we don’t win this battle, the day will come when they’ll walk into your church if you say one thing wrong [or] bad about homosexuality; they’ll walk in your church and they’ll shut you up and you’ll be arrested for a hate crime. That sounds far, far removed but it’s the truth.

It is not exactly clear who the “they” are that Wildmon predicts will one day be dragging Christians out of their churches and into jail cells – he might mean equal rights activists, or governmental authorities, or maybe even some futuristic cadre of gay robotic thought police.

With Wildmon It Is Difficult To Know, Since He Has Long Been “Far, Far Removed” From Reality.

Posted by Kyle at 3:45 PM Permalink
Subjects: Anti-Gay, Liberty Sunday, Religion, Group: American Family Association, Person: Donald Wildmon
October 9, 2006

Influential Arlington Group And Others Call On 'Values Voters' To Look Past Foley

AFA’s Don Wildmon says sitting out election is “precisely what the liberals” have “orchestrated.” Dobson, citing Supreme Court, says this election may turn country’s direction, “maybe forever.” FRC’s Perkins and Ohio “Patriot Pastor” Russell Johnson predict strong turnout anyway.

Posted by Ezra at 11:59 PM Permalink
Subjects: Elections, Sideblog, Groups: American Family Association, Concerned Women for America, Ohio Restoration Project, Susan B. Anthony List, People: Donald Wildmon, Mark Foley, Paul Weyrich, Russell Johnson, Tony Perkins, Wendy Wright
September 24, 2006

Values Voter Summit: Impressions, Day 2 Guest Post from Pam Chamberlain of the Public Eye

The Values Voters Summit is in its second day here at the Omni Shoreham, the grande dame of D.C. convention hotels, freshly painted and efficiently handling the 1000+ attendees. National press has tended to represent the event as the sound bite opportunity that such events have become. Planners claimed to have drawn 100 members of the media, and especially on Friday, they took up most of the back of the Diplomat Ballroom, spilling into the corridors and exhibit hall.

It’s more than just a media event, though. It is a pep rally, designed to mobilize committed conservative activists to work hard in the coming electoral campaigns, despite their possible hesitation about the Republican Party. Sitting in the audience, I alternately feel as though I’m in church or watching TV. Many of the speakers are pastors or elected officials, and they know how to hold the interest of a crowd. The audience is knowledgeable about scripture and can quote chapter and verse along with the person at the podium. Repeatedly, individuals testify to their faith from all corners of the hall. Nobody seems to be taking notes, and my busy scribbling makes me self-conscious. The “congregation” is, in fact, an important part of this ritual, feeding on the energy of the speakers and building consensus around a litany of topics, summarized by the event’s sponsors as Family, Faith and Freedom.

The stage itself is a TV set, decorated in red white and blue drapes, with elaborate lighting effects and logo backdrops, two huge video monitors, and a central stage with two imposing Ionic columns and twin American flags. Speakers enter from behind a curtain and walk across to the podium (Dobson referred to it as a “pulpit”) accompanied by musical introductions chosen to match their messages. The production quality is impressively high. One of the most popular events was a 20 minute “talk show,” with the FRC’s Tony Perkins, James Dobson, head of Focus on the Family, and Alan Sears, President of the Alliance Defense Fund comfortably perched on stools, amicably chatting. Perkins was the host, and in the course of the “program” I felt Dobson was publicly passing the torch of leadership over to Perkins, signaling a new era for the American Christian Right. (When talk-show host Sean Hannity referred to Dobson as the man who vetted his bachelor jokes, William Bennett corrected him by reminding us that Perkins was running the show.)

Testifying to how up-to-date this movement has become, the exhibits are media-savvy, with some form of CD, DVD or web-related handout in every booth. Rev. Donald Wildmon, whose ministry consists of boycotts of corporations his American Family Association perceives as being gay friendly -- like Ford – says he can mobilize 380,000 emails, representing ten percent of his database, in a matter of days. The organizers may have thought they were introducing Wildmon to their audience, since he was given the podium at a special luncheon to describe his 150 person outfit in Tupelo, MS. But when he asked how many were already on his email alert list, a good 40% raised their hands. His hard-edged brand of non-apologetic gay-bashing apparently has already been accepted by supporters of the FRC who were simultaneously being asked by other speakers to show their compassionate sides.

The Shoreham is not the only institution here with a face lift. This wing of the Christian Right is positioning itself to influence elections and win both the war on terrorism and the war on liberal culture.

Posted by publiceye at 9:35 AM Permalink
Subject: Values Voter Summit, Groups: Alliance Defense Fund, American Family Association, Family Research Council, Focus on the Family, People: Alan Sears, Donald Wildmon, James Dobson, Tony Perkins

RESUME LINK LIST

Duncan Hunter
Dwight McKissic
Ed Whelan
Emma Jean Thompson
Eric Keroack
Frank Pavone
Gary Bauer
Gary DeMar
George Allen
Gordon Klingenschmitt
Grover Norquist (I have been keeping an eye on this one for a long time)

November 21, 2006

Election Deepened Gop Divide Over Immigration

Norquist blames “radio talk-show hosts” who “poisoned the atmosphere.” Meanwhile, anti-immigrant FAIR spins elections.

Posted by Ezra at 6:13 PM Permalink
Subjects: Elections, Immigration, Sideblog, Groups: Americans for Tax Reform, Center for Immigration Studies, Federation for American Immigration Reform, Person: Grover Norquist
October 20, 2006

Right Wing Bickers Over Voter Turnout

Anticipating a Republican loss in November, right-wing activists are already trying to establish who to blame. James Dobson, who cast aside his stated disillusionment with the GOP to commit to working to maintain its majority, has suggested that liberals or the liberal media are using bad news to “suppress” the turnout of those he calls “values voters,” but his comrade Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, is blaming conservative media.

Yesterday, an article in the right-wing Washington Times, owned by Rev. Sun Myung Moon and much more bullish on GOP prospects than other outlets, warned that conservative voters were “disillusioned” and right-wing appeals are sounding more desperate:

The Republican Party can stave off defeat with a strong turnout on Nov. 7, party leaders are telling the faithful -- but they are finding it tough to sell that message to some disillusioned conservative voters.

"The message hasn't gotten across because a lot of people are sick and tired of thinking the only reason for going to the polls is to vote for the Republicans because they are lesser of two evils," said Tom McClusky, vice president for government affairs at the Family Research Council (FRC), a leading social conservative group.

"Conservatives aren't motivated to come out, is what I'm finding," said conservative campaign consultant Rick Shaftan, who is based in Sparta, N.J. "They see no reason to re-elect the people who are in office."

In an e-mail to supporters, Perkins singled out the Washington Times article as being designed to “discourage voter turnout”:

Story after story on the elections seem to repeat the same spin--that conservatives are too turned off to turn out the vote. With headlines like "Conservative Voters Likely to Stay Home," many of the press seem to be hoping for a self-fulfilling prophecy. But the truth is, these articles aren't intended to get the facts straight or to talk about the broader cultural issues of moral decline that have given rise to the recent scandals. They're meant to discourage voter turnout--plain and simple.

Meanwhile, in today’s Washington Times, other right-wing leaders fired back, promising that the “base” would come out. Americans for Tax Reform President Grover Norquist called them “whiners”:

Top Republican Party supporters yesterday accused fellow conservatives of "whining" in response to complaints from activists worried that grass-roots Republican voters are disillusioned and will stay home on Nov. 7.

Grover Norquist, a close associate of White House political strategist Karl Rove, (THE DEMAGOGUE DUO-Ed. Note), dismissed concerns about voter turnout as empty threats. "There are always in every election cycle self-appointed conservative leaders who announce, 'You haven't done enough for me, so my troops are staying home,' " Mr. Norquist said.” The National Rifle Association, Americans for Tax Reform, the [National] Right to Life Committee -- the groups that actually put lead on the target and who do stuff all the time, they're not unhappy," Mr. Norquist said. "The people who are whining are the guys that don't have grass roots that they can actually move. So they are frustrated, and they don't have anything to do other than threaten not to participate."

And Norquist also dismissed Perkins explanation that the Foley scandal is responsible for turning off his constituency:

Over the summer, Congress held a rush of votes on just those issues — an election-year ritual intended to motivate those voters — and in an interview last week Tony Perkins, president of the Christian conservative Family Research Council, said he believed it had begun to revive some grass-roots enthusiasm. “But the Foley scandal just let the air out of the tires,” Mr. Perkins said.

Others dismissed the Foley scandal as largely irrelevant outside of Mr. Foley’s district. Several conservatives said Republican incumbents were using it as a scapegoat. “It will make you feel better to say, I didn’t lose the election; Foley lost it for me,” said Grover Norquist, the president of Americans for Tax Reform. “Your wife and kids will believe it.”

As David Keene, president of the American Conservative Union, told the New York Times, “It is one of those rare defeats that will have many fathers. And they will all be somebody else.”

Posted by Ezra at 6:00 PM Permalink
Groups: American Conservative Union, Americans for Tax Reform, Family Research Council, Focus on the Family, People: David Keene, Grover Norquist, James Dobson, Mark Foley, Tony Perkins
October 13, 2006

Report: Right-Wing Think Tanks And Advocacy Groups Funneled Abramoff Cash

Senate report implicates Grover Norquist’s Americans for Tax Reform, National Center for Public Policy Research, Daniel Lapin’s Toward Tradition, Citizens Against Government Waste, and Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy, founded by Norquist and Interior Sec. Gale Norton.

Posted by Ezra at 6:06 PM Permalink
Subjects: Politics, Right Wing, Sideblog, Groups: Americans for Tax Reform, Citizens Against Government Waste, National Center for Public Policy Research, Toward Tradition, People: Daniel Lapin, Grover Norquist
September 26, 2006

Right-Wing 'Property Rights' Movement Uses Eminent Domain Ruling To Push 'Takings' Concept

In ballot initiatives and legislature, eminent domain reform is coupled with unusual anti-regulation measures.

Posted by Ezra at 5:44 PM Permalink
Subjects: Budget & Taxes, Miscellaneous, Sideblog, Groups: Americans for Limited Government, Americans for Tax Reform, People: Grover Norquist, Howard Rich
August 31, 2006

Anti-Tax Crusader Norquist Supports Church Politicking Bill

Maybe he just wants all of us to be tax-exempt.

Posted by Ezra at 11:58 PM Permalink
Subjects: First Amendment, Sideblog, Group: Americans for Tax Reform, Person: Grover Norquist
July 10, 2006

Norquist’s Coalition May Suffer From Abramoff And Ideological Split

Speaking at an American Prospect breakfast, Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform and the dean of D.C.’s right-wing coalition, offers his interpretation of the Republican Party’s problem appealing to gay and lesbian voters:

Ellen Ratner (Talk Radio News Service): The Republicans in Ohio are saying the gay marriage vote is essentially what won them the last election. The President has pushed this gay marriage amendment, the Senate has. Yet you say people have individual rights. They seem to have a very different view of gays.

Norquist: There’s a very interesting question on … I speak to the Log Cabin Republicans and work with them on a whole host of issues … the Human Rights Campaign on certain things … so I get trashed from time to time by some of my friends. I think it’s a mistake to write off any group. I was in Romania, they’re having elections in four weeks, and I was organizing the non-communists. And I had them write on a blackboard Who’s Voting for Us, Who’s Voting for Them. And they had to list … understand why everybody was.

They had the gypsies voting for the communists, and I said, “OK, I get why the Communists are voting for the Communists, and the Army and the police and the guys with government jobs, but why the gypsies?” If I were a gypsy I’d want to live outside touchy-feely U.S. law, much less harsher communist law. And they said, “Well, the communists buy them liquor and then they vote for them.” And I said, “We can do this; George Washington did this, it’s OK.” And they said, “No, the gypsies are scum and we won’t talk to them.” And I said, “OK, I guess you’re not getting the gypsy vote then.” In politics you want to have as few gypsies as possible, as few groups and people who are not voting for you because you’re not talking to them.

He adds later that he has “never have seen numbers which suggest that speaking harshly about gays is a vote winner.”

While Norquist helps to hold together the economic and social wings of the Right, The Washington Post reports on fractures developing in Norquist’s group over his involvement in the Jack Abramoff scandal. While he continues leading his Wednesday meetings, “where officials of conservative organizations, activists and lobbyists gather with Republican politicians to swap notes, make plans and coordinate messages,”

Some social conservatives who have jousted with him over his more libertarian views on the regulation of television and its depictions of violence and depravity are exploiting his weakness to press their positions on Capitol Hill. Security-minded defense hawks who for years have questioned his ties to Muslim activists are resurrecting charges that Norquist has turned a blind eye to terrorist sympathizers.

Despite his troubles, The Post reports, “apparatus he has created for conservatives -- with fundraisers, social dinners and weekly meetings not just in Washington but in 43 states and even Europe -- has become too important to destroy.”

Posted by Ezra at 2:52 PM Permalink
Subject: Right Wing, Person: Grover Norquist
June 30, 2006

Something Doesn't Add Up

Grover Norquist of Americans for Tax Reform is defending himself from allegations contained in the recent Senate Indian Affairs Committee report [PDF] on Jack Abramoff. The report says that Norquist siphoned money from transfers funneled through his organization that were destined for Ralph Reed’s work fighting the expansion of gambling for the benefit of one of Abramoff’s clients, the Choctaw Tribe of Misissippi.

The committee report alleges that Norquist received $50,000 for his role as a conduit for the tribe’s money, but Norquist insists that the money was just the tribe’s contribution to his organization and was, according to Newsmax, “roughly the same amount the tribe had contributed to ATR for more than seven years.”

Whatever the case may be, there is one nagging question: if the $50,000 ATR received was indeed part of a routine donation, why would the Choctaw bundle that money in with hundreds of thousands of dollars destined for Reed anti-gambling work?

The report states

In late 1999, the Choctaw paid ATR $325,000. In a 2005 interview with The Boston Globe, Norquist said that ATR had sent $300,000 of that $325,000 to Citizens Against Legalized Lottery (“CALL) … Out of the Choctaw’s $325,000, ATR apparently kept $25,000 for its services.

The Tribe was nevertheless able to continue funding Reed’s efforts. On February 17, 2000, Abramoff advised Reed that “ATR will be sending a second $300K today.” This money, too, came from the Choctaw. Norquist kept another $25,000 from the second transfer, which apparently surprised Abramoff.

If the Choctaw intended to donate to ATR, couldn’t they have simply done so directly?

Posted by Kyle at 2:09 PM Permalink
Subject: Right Wing, People: Grover Norquist, Jack Abramoff

RESUME LINK LIST

Harry Jackson
Herb Lusk
Herman Cain
Howard Rich
Hugh Hewitt
J. Patrick Rooney
Jack Abramoff
James Dobson
James Rutz
Jan LaRue
Janet Folger
Janice Crouse
Jason Mattera
Jay Sekulow
Jerome Corsi
Jerry Falwell *
Jesse Lee Peterson
Jill Stanek
Jim Gilchrist
Jim Holman
Jim Inhofe
Jim Talent
John Bolton
John Calvert
John Gibson
John Guest
John Hagee
John McCain
John Stemberger
John Templeton
John Willke
Joseph Scheidler
Joseph Turner
Judie Brown
Katherine Harris
Kay Daly
Ken Blackwell
Ken Connor
Ken Mehlman
Kevin McCullough
Kris Kobach
Laurence White
Leonard Leo
Lou Sheldon
Lou Barletta
Lou Sheldon
Maggie Gallagher
Manuel Miranda
Marilyn Musgrave
Marion Edwyn Harrison
Mark Foley
Mark Levin
Marvin Olasky
Mat Staver
Matt Daniels
Michael Savage
Michael Steele
Michelle Malkin
Mike Huckabee
Mike Pence
Mitch McConnell
Mitt Romney
Nancy Salvato
Newt Gigrich
Newt Gingrich
Pat Boone
Pat Buchanan
Pat Robertson
Pat Toomey
Patrick Mahoney
Paul Cameron
Paul Schenck
Paul Weyrich
Peter LaBarbera
Phil Burress
Phill Kline
Phyllis Schlafly
Ralph Reed
Randall Terry
Rebecca Hagelin
Richard K. Jones
Richard Land
Richard Vigeurie
Rick Santorum
Rick Scarborough
Rick Warren
Rob Schenck
Robert George
Robert Knight
Robert Novak
Roberto Miranda
Rod Parsley
Roy Moore
Rush Limbaugh
Russell Johnson
Sam Brownback
Sandy Rios
Sean Hannity
Sonny Perdue
Star Parker
Stephen Bennett
Steve King
Ted Haggard
Terry Fox
Thomas Euteneuer
Tom Coburn
Tom DeLay
Tom Fitton
Tom Monaghan
Tom Tancredo
Tony Perkins
Tony Snow
Trent Lott
Vernon Robinson
Wade Horn
Ward Connerly
Wellington Boone
Wendy Wright
William F. Buckley *
William Murray
William Scherfel

Right Wing Watch Page (Sample Insert From This Page)

Values Voter Summit Recap
by Peter Montgomery

The Family Research Council, in partnership with several other Religious Right organizations, convened the “Values Voter Summit” in Washington DC on September 22-23. The event, which organizers said drew more than 1,700 participants, was designed to energize activists for the mid-term elections and the ongoing political and cultural battles against abortion, gay rights, and church-state separation. Attendees were urged to engage in political and spiritual warfare against the forces of evil and on behalf of President Bush and candidates like Senator Rick Santorum.Among the conference themes: we’re at war abroad and at home – against the “culture of death,” gays, judges, advocates of church-state separation, etc; dissent from President Bush’s war on terror – including detention and torture policies – is treasonous; evil gays are threatening the family and religious liberty; the president and Congress should ignore the Supreme Court (at least until there are more right-wing justices); poverty isn’t all that important; the Religious Right is winning the culture war and has to win the political war – if not, we’re doomed.

The conference, the first of its kind organized by FRC, may be positioned to replace the Road to Victory conference, once the must-attend gathering for the Religious Right, now that the Christian Coalition is on hard times. People For the American Way’s RightWingWatch.org blog has a number of dispatches from conference workshops and plenary sessions. This memo is intended to note some overall themes.

Enemies Without And Within

Perhaps the most oft-repeated theme from conference speakers was the need for people to get engaged in battle against the enemy without – often described using the Bush administration’s favored terminology of Islamic fascism – and the enemies within.

Speakers each had their own way of describing the enemies within, but it pretty much boils down to the same group that Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson famously blamed for the 9-11 terrorist attacks, in other words, gays, supporters of church-state separation, abortion-rights advocates, secular humanists, feminists, and judges. White House spokesperson Tony Snow melded the two with a speech about defending the family that started and ended with references to the 9-11 terror attacks.

It’s Not Just Politics, It’s Spiritual Warfare

A number of speakers framed the current political debates as not just about partisan politics, or even differences of opinion on the Constitution and public policy issues, but as a spiritual battle of good vs. evil, where they are not just fighting Ted Kennedy and the liberal media, but the forces of darkness and the powers and principalities. One speaker suggested that the anti-Christ is gay and Satan himself was behind the gay-rights movement.

Mr. Jefferson, Tear Down This Wall

Advocates for separation of church and state were frequent targets from speakers who portrayed separation as an attack on religious liberty. Bishop Wellington Boone seemed to long for the days before the Constitution’s ban on a religious test for public office. He read from what he described as an 18th century constitution for Delaware, which required all office holders to pledge fealty to a Christian creed. He mocked the idea that someone running for Congress would not be “biblically based.” “How can someone that doesn’t feel the need for God lead me?”

Christians For Torture

Speakers got loud ovations when they defended the Bush administration’s detention and interrogation policies, and showed impatience with congressional debates over the Geneva conventions. At Friday night’s session, Gary Bauer and Ann Coulter both mocked concerns about mistreatment of detainees at Guantánamo. Bauer particularly seemed to take offense at the very notion that detainees would be treated humanely, which he suggested sends a signal of weakness to our enemies. Bill Bennett endorsed water boarding and complained that the Bush administration has been too tentative in the war on terror – he said Fallujah should have been leveled after four Americans were killed and dragged through the streets, citing Hiroshima and Nagasaki as precedent.

No Dissent Please – We’re Americans

Rev. Dr. John Guest, a Pennsylvania pastor, said he had preached from his pulpit that “it is treacherous and traitorous to be condemning, belittling, and bringing down our president in a time of war.” Sean Hannity cited pre-World War II appeasers of Adolf Hitler when criticizing those he deems insufficiently supportive of President Bush. Coulter called the war in Iraq a “magnificent success” and dismissed concerns about conditions there raised by “the treason lobby.”

Satanic Sissies Out To Destroy Faith, Family & Freedom

This conference was full-throated in its contempt for gays and the gay-rights movement. People didn’t even bother with the traditional “hate the sin, love the sinner” rhetoric. Instead, the gay rights movement was described as a clear and present danger to religious liberty (Tony Perkins and many others), birthed in the pit of hell and anointed by Satan (Rev. Dwight McKissic). Placing children in a gay home was called the ultimate child abuse by Jennifer Giroux of Citizens for Community Values. Bishop Wellington Boone touted a flyer he’d written called “The Rape of the Civil Rights Movement,” which he said explains how “sodomites” were hijacking civil rights rhetoric to promote “perversion.” Boone, enjoying the idea of shocking the crowd, talked about using “faggot” and “sissy” to refer to someone who wouldn’t stand on principle.

“God has not called us to be sissies.”

The quest for marriage equality was described as a direct assault on the family and religious liberty. Dobson charged that gays want to “bring down marriage.” Texas Patriot Pastor organizer Rick Scarborough said, “We’ve gone from True Grit to Brokeback Mountain in a generation. … We’ve gone from ‘one nation under God’ to a nation that is at war with God.”

Alan Sears of the Alliance Defense Fund said the “homosexual agenda” and “religious freedom” are “on a collision course.” Speaking of gay rights advocates, Perkins said, “They know they must silence the church.” Rep. Marilyn Musgrave, author of an anti-gay federal marriage amendment, said “If we have gay marriage, our religious liberties are gone.” Maggie Gallagher warned that support for gay equality would lead to social “repression” -- just as there is “a broad array of ways in which the law penalizes, marginalizes, and punishes racial bigots.”

A video advertising FRC’s October 15 simulcast from Boston on the threat marriage equality poses to religious liberty was shown twice. It featured Massachusetts Governor and presidential hopeful Mitt Romney, who also spoke at the conference and who told attendees a federal marriage amendment was needed to save children and religious liberty.

The American Family Association’s Don Wildmon bragged that a Religious Right boycott of Ford was contributing substantially to the automaker’s much-publicized financial woes. He was heard after his speech saying of Ford’s new CEO, “Oh, I don’t think he’ll try to do anything. The homosexuals have too much clout.”

Ignore The Courts

Bashing judicial “tyranny” by “unelected” federal judges over rulings upholding reproductive rights, privacy, and constitutional checks was, not surprisingly, a prominent theme. But several speakers took the attack on the federal judiciary even further and urged the Bush administration and congressional leaders to ignore Supreme Court rulings they disagreed with. Newt Gingrich demanded that legislative and executive branches assert their authority and prevent Supreme Court justices from “rewriting the Constitution.” Ann Coulter asked when Congress and the White House would finally start ignoring “absurd” Supreme Court decisions, implying that they should have ignored recent rulings on the administration’s detainee policies.

Retired federal judge Charles Pickering said the “battle over the confirmation of judges is a central front in the culture war” and slammed People For the American Way and other groups who opposed his confirmation to the federal appeals court.

He talked about the importance of Senate races to the federal judiciary. “Jim Jeffords’ switch demonstrates how important each Senate seat is and each House seat is … This election is extremely important … One seat can make a difference.”

The Culture Of Death

Speakers denounced legalized abortion as murder and genocide; Bishop Wellington Boone said blacks are an “endangered species” due to abortion. Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline, who has been waging a one-man legal jihad against Planned Parenthood in the state and has demanded clinic medical records, angrily attacked the ACLU, which he claimed was advocating for a child’s right to “choose” an adult sex partner.

He complained that abortion rights advocates were giving money to his opponent, saying “The office of attorney general and the laws of this nation must not be for sale!” But he insisted that anti-abortion activists “must elect those who share our values” to attorney general positions.

Paul Weyrich noted that the polls show South Dakota voters divided 45-45 over an absolute abortion ban; if that passes in November, he said, it will be the beginning of the end of Roe v. Wade. Ann Coulter suggested that the Supreme Court was to blame for the killing of abortion doctors after the Casey decision because it frustrated those who had tried to work within the system to ban abortion. Criticism of the “culture of death” also focused on embryonic stem cell research. A video from FRC claimed that all medical advances in stem cell research have come from adult stem cells.

Poverty, Shmoverty

Tony Perkins made snide references to progressive Christians who have called for religious voices in the public arena to be focused more on poverty. Jerry Falwell quoted from a prayer imploring God to deliver us from the evil of “embracing laziness and calling it welfare” and “coveting the possessions of others and calling it taxes.” Dobson also took a shot at what he called the “left-leaning quote unquote Evangelicals” who criticized the summit as well as those shown in a recent poll to offer little support for the Religious Right agenda, saying he was talking to the “Bible-believing Christians.

”We Are Winning”

In contrast to the defeated and alarmist rhetoric heard at the War on Christians conference earlier this year, which suggested Christians in America were on the verge of being thrown into jail for practicing their faith, speakers at the Values Voter Conference were more in pep rally mode, focusing on the enormous strides the “pro-family” movement has made and victories it has won.

The goal was clearly to fire people up for the mid-term elections with a “we can do it” approach.On the cultural front, several speakers suggested that Hollywood is on the financial precipice and is turning to Christians as a lucrative movie market.

It was noted that every major studio now has a “faith” division. Speakers criticized the soon-to-be-released Jesus Camp documentary, but celebrated the upcoming A Night with the King about the biblical story of Esther. Speakers suggested that Christians needed to be careful to avoid being used; Christian moviemakers should get financing from outside the studio system so they can control the product, and use the studios’ distribution channels.

If We Don’t Win, The End May Be Near

Rick Scarborough, who pioneered the Patriot Pastors machine in Texas, spoke about upcoming referenda on a total abortion ban in South Dakota and stem cell research in Missouri. Scarborough warned that if “the people pull the lever and approve of abortion and approve of creating to kill, then we may have stepped over the line with God.”Rev. Dwight McKissic, a Texas pastor and anti-gay activist, warned that positive portrayals of gay people on TV was inviting the wrath of God. He warned that the nation is “on the road to Sodom and Gomorrah” and said “God’s got another match….He didn’t run out of matches.”

GOD and the GOP

Speakers made it clear that the conference was about elections. Rep. Mike Pence rattled off a few crowd-pleasing achievements of his House Republican Study Committee. “I have seen House conservatives stand firm” on budget issues, Terri Schiavo, embryonic stem-cell research. Most of his speech was about his immigration plan – he called illegal immigration the “most pressing domestic policy crisis in a generation.” “Some would say … losing the Republican Majority would teach us a lesson … Nonsense.

We do not need more of them. We need more of us.”Paul Weyrich called embattled Sen. Rick Santorum “the most important U.S. Senator in this country,” and gave Dobson credit for taking out Tom Daschle.James Dobson lamented that 20 million Christians didn’t vote in the last election. He said that even though he had been disappointed by Republicans’ lack of zeal for right-wing social issues after Dobson worked so hard to turn out the vote in 2004, he said he is still committed to electoral action in 2006.

“There is no choice because the alternative is terrible.” The Southern Baptists’ Richard Land took it a bit further, saying it is a sin not to vote.Speakers also claimed that IRS regulations forbidding nonprofits – including churches – from engaging in electoral advocacy are being used to violate churches’ First Amendment freedoms. The Southern Baptists’ Richard Land called for abolition of IRS regulations that prevent churches from endorsing candidates.

The Alliance Defense Fund’s Alan Sears said “The ACLU and its allies depend on a campaign of fear and intimidation to silence the church of Christ” – and promised ADF will defend pastors for free. Vowed FRC’s Perkins, “I want the left to hear this … No longer in America when a pastor stands up will that pastor stand alone.”Other speakers made religious and scriptural claims for right-wing politicians and policies.

Sean Hannity told attendees that God sent us Bush just when we needed him.

Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) attacked environmentalism, saying efforts to address global warming are a U.N. plot to “shut down this machine called America.” He tried to make the point that being against addressing global warming is “scriptural,” quoting an animal rights activist and then citing a Bible verse warning against people who worship birds and beasts.

Speakers also won cheers when demanding a new fence on the border. Colin Hanna from weneedafence.com asserted that “amnesty is not Christian” – while he did argue that immigrants who paid a price for breaking the law are entitled to forgiveness, he insisted there is nothing wrong with “fixing the border first.”

Paul Weyrich may have previewed a new direct-mail moneymaking and turnout theme when he argued that if Democrats win control of Congress, they intend to shut down right-wing talk radio by reimposing the Fairness Doctrine.One workshop presenter elicited some discomfort when she laid out plans for people to use their church directories to build a turnout campaign on behalf of favored political candidates. She moved the discussion along when some people raised questions about her instructions to keep the pastor in the dark and to have people making initial telephone calls disguise themselves as pollsters.

People For the American Way Foundation Vice President for Communications Peter Montgomery attended the Family Research Council’s Values Voter Summit along with members of the research staff, who contributed to this report.

Right-Wing Outrage

A Regular Look at the Worst from the Right brought to you by PFAW Foundation

Church 'Hell House' Kits Expose Children To Extreme Anti-Gay Rhetoric
10/31/06

The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force has released a report called “Homophobia at ‘Hell House’: Literally Demonizing Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Youth,” which examines the “hell houses” used by churches nationwide around Halloween. Many churches use elaborate kits sold by Denver pastor Keenan Roberts, which come with props and very specific scripts designed to scare children as young as 10 on issues such as abortion and homosexuality. From the NGLTF report, which emphasizes the impact of these performances on harassment and violence against gay and lesbian youth:

Another scene portrays a marriage between two men. The script calls for a young heterosexual married couple to act out this scene. “The wife dons masculine make-up for the necessary male look,” the Hell House Web site instructs.

The demon performing the ceremony harasses them during their vows, asking, “Do you solemnly swear to never believe that you’re normal?” The demon also pronounces that the couple is “burning in a repulsive lust for one another, deceived by the world that they’ve been born gay, [and] are joining their deeply confused lives in this deeply nauseating matrimony.”

The Hell House Web site explains to potential buyers that purchasing this script “will give you another powerful weapon in your arsenal against the homosexual stronghold and the born-gay deception.”Another room is a mock emergency room, where one of the men from the wedding scene is on his deathbed. He cries out that he does not want to die and go to hell. “This is Steve,” the demon says.

“He thought his homosexual lifestyle was everything a real man could want, but now he’s dying of AIDS.” Toward the end of the Hell House tour, participants are led through “hell,” where Steve is writhing in pain among other “sinners.”

The demon laughs maniacally at Steve, shouting “AIDS! You fool! Ha ha!” over and over again as he stresses that Steve is separated from God forever

Talk Show Host: Gay Couples Seeking Marriage Actually Hate Marriage And God
10/27/06

Kevin McCullough offers to WorldNet Daily readers his paradoxical argument that same-sex couples seeking to marry actually “despise” marriage and are “seeking to destroy” it. McCullough’s radio talk show, called the “Muscle Head Revolution,” airs for two hours each day on WMCA, a Christian AM station in New York City owned by the Salem chain. He is the author of a book on “overcoming liberalism” and his online columns are featured on TownHall.com and WorldNet Daily. According to McCullough, "Radical homosexual activists hate marriage because fundamentally they hate God, and the guilt of both drives them to extremes."

… Despite all that their angry-mob front groups argue in front of television cameras to the contrary, radical homosexual activists despise the institution, and more importantly the sanctity, of marriage. That is the fundamental reason why they are seeking to destroy the institution.

Why do loving, committed same-sex couples seek legal recognition of their unions? In McCullough’s altered universe “the answer is simple.”

No longer satisfied with practicing the unspeakable perverse sexual pleasures that their hearts seek in private bedrooms, they wish to be able to do so in public. They are also suffering from such immense guilt over their sexual behaviors, because they know inherently that the actions they perform are in fact unhealthy, that they will go to any means necessary to try and shut down the voices in their heads that tell them it is wrong.... There are attributes of marriage that same-sex couples will never achieve.

But in the minds of radical activists, getting the label and a piece of paper saying so will be close enough. For instance, a woman who engages in lesbianism will never know the joy of lovemaking that creates within her the product of that union – an actual human life. She will never know the security of a true man protecting her from the dragons of the world and providing for her an environment where she can nurture and give love to that little life once it arrives, or the stamp of approval that God puts on such an experience.

And because she and her partner know this, they must defy reason, biology and sexual function to create children and experiences that serve as faulty substitutes for that God-ordained picture. So don't believe the angry spokespeople. Radical homosexual activists hate marriage because fundamentally they hate God, and the guilt of both drives them to extremes.

Frankly, the only “dragons of the world” lesbians may need protection from are the like of McCullough --- who seems to know a lot about hate

Robertson’s Advice To Gop Leadership: Say [Foley] Does What Gay People Do So Don’t Worry About It! 10/5/06

On today’s broadcast of the 700 Club, religious right icon Pat Robertson commented on the growing scandal over Congressman Foley’s email and instant message exchanges with congressional pages. Robertson, sporting his trademark squint and grin, telecast his best advice to GOP leadership on how not to lose votes over the unfolding scandal:

“Republicans have formed a circular firing squad and they’re firing away” said Robertson. He called the internal furor in the GOP “insane” and added that the best thing they could do would be to say “well, this man’s gay; he does what gay people do and so don’t worry about it.” Robertson also claimed that the scandal would not cost Republicans votes because “the church people understand forgiveness, they understand sin.”

Homosexuals Reproduce Sexually By Molesting Children 10/4/06

A far right Catholic group that thinks Bill Gates and Warren Buffet should be reviled for their humanitarian work (saying “they have money, we have God”), objects to a vaccine to inoculate women against cervical cancer, and thinks that Mel Gibson’s ‘apology’ after his “unfortunate relapse in his fight with alcohol,” and “some imprudent comments made while in that state” is enough to say “case closed, move on,” has this to say about the Mark Foley revelations that he was abused by a member of his clergy:

“If his claim that he was the victim of sexual molestation by a clergyman, it only further proves that known homosexuals should not be admitted to the priesthood. Foley's actions were that of homosexual predator, not a pedophile. Homosexuals reproduce sexually by molesting children. This creates a cycle of violence and disordered behavior that creates future generations of abusers and predators.”

The group, Human Life International, claims to have 59 satellite offices in 51 countries and describes itself as "the largest international, pro-life, pro-family, pro-woman organization in the world.”

Domestic Missionaries: Liberty Counsel Urges Public School Teachers To Use Class Time As Christian Missionaries 8/31/06

Mathew Staver, Founder and Chairman of Liberty Counsel, used his weekly television broadcast to urge public school teachers to use their positions of influence to both promote Christianity in class and to evangelize to students after class. [Watch the Video: Broadband or Dial-Up]Staver stated that “teachers and public school administrators are essentially domestic missionaries” and that since teachers spend more time with children than pastors or even their parents, Christian teachers have a “tremendous opportunity” to reach children.

Staver urged teachers not to simply pray privately before or after school, but to seek to impart their Christian views to their students and take advantage of their position because “Christian educators really have a missionary opportunity in the public schools.”Staver suggested that teachers could work their own faith into the classroom by appropriately framing the discussion:

“[I]n literature class, art class, music class, whatever course it is, in my opinion, that course cannot be adequately taught or overviewed without talking about religion, in particular Judeo-Christian influences on the subject matter … Whether its in math class, science class, music class, in fact you can’t even study music without studying Christian music … so whatever topic it is, you can talk about this. Give the students a good, grounded education and get them interested in religious aspects, whether it’s Intelligent Design or whether its literature.”

Staver also noted enthusiastically that teachers can continue to reach students after the class bell has rung, because they can then “put away all of the secular textbooks and they are totally unshackled at this point and now they cannot just talk about religion but they can evangelize as well, through after school ‘Good News’ clubs or other similar clubs.”Staver concluded:

“The key to the future is through the minds and hearts and souls of our youth. If you want to change our culture, the best, quickest, easiest way to do that is through the minds and souls and hearts of youth … teachers, administrators all over the country have a tremendous, unparalleled opportunity to be able to take the good news to the public school. Whether it’s talking about religion and giving a great background about our great religious heritage, whatever topic you’re talking about, or whether it’s actually evangelization immediately after school [in] the public school. There’s a great opportunity waiting for you.”

Staver is not some fringe right-wing figure – his organization is tied directly to Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University and Staver is on the board of Liberty’s law school. Last month, he was personally invited to the White House when President Bush announced his decision to veto legislation expanding stem-cell research.

Liberty Counsel bills itself as a defender of religious freedom, often defending students who claim to have had their religious liberties violated, but it has been active in fighting against marriage equality and reproductive choice as well. The organization was also, along with Jerry Falwell, a key player in highlighting and fighting the Right’s phony “war on Christmas.” According to its website, the Center for Constitutional Litigation and Policy operates as one component of Liberty Counsel’s training, education and public policy program. The Center is headquartered on the campus of Falwell’s Liberty University School of Law in Lynchburg, Virginia. The Center “trins attorneys, law students, policy-makers, legislators, clergy and world leaders in constitutional principles and government policies.”

Robertson Claims California Law Signals End Of The "Age" And Return Of Jesus 8/31/06

Pat Robertson commented on the signing of a law (SB 1441) by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger forbidding any organization which accepts state funds from discriminating against lesbian, homosexual and trans-gendered individuals, calling it a “shocking development” claiming that the new law signals the end of the “age.”

Robertson also suggested that this new law was a sign of the return of Jesus Christ, saying:

“It’s interesting when you read what Jesus Christ had to say about his second coming and the end of the age. He said it will be in the days as it was in Sodom and Gomorrah. Are we seeing that being lived out before us? I think the answer is yes.”

Right Wing Organizations Page

Accuracy in Academia (Sample PFAW Info Page)
4455 Connecticut Ave., NW, Suite 330Washington, DC 20008
Accuracy In Academia. Org (Home Page) www.academia.org Founded: by Reed Irvine in 1985Executive Director: Malcolm Mal KlineFinances: $285, 643 (2002 budget)Publications: Campus Report, a monthly newspaper Affiliated with: Accuracy in Media

AIA's Principal Issues:

Main issues: combating Title IX, multicultural education, and abortion, and fighting liberal ideas that are offensive to right-wing students. Asserts that many colleges and universities are openly dedicated to indoctrinating students with liberal or communist philosophy

AIA seeks to expose the exploitation of the classroom or university resources to indoctrinate students; discrimination against students, faculty or administrators based on political or academic beliefs; and campus violations of free speech.

AIA Activities:

AIA monitors and documents [t]he use of classroom and/or university resources to indoctrinate students. AIA’s monthly publication Campus Report focuses on three issues: the exploitation of the classroom or university resources to indoctrinate students; discrimination against students, faculty or administrators based on political or academic beliefs; and campus violations of free speech.

Sponsors an annual Conservative University conference. Recent speakers include: John Lott, author of More Guns, Less Crime, Joseph Farah of WorldNet Daily, Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.), Lori Waters of Eagle Forum and Conservative Caucus chairman Howard Phillips.

Sells books such as Ann Coulter’s Treason, Why the Left Hates America by Daniel Flynn and Preachers of Hate: Islam and the War on America by Kenneth Timmerman.

AIA has characterized the NAACP’s founder, W.E.B. Du Bois, as the Father of Bad Multiculturalism. According to AIA, W.E.B. Du Bois is the father of the multiculturalism that is currently pervasive on American campuses. This is a multiculturalism that is preoccupied with the negative aspects, both real and imagined, of our own culture.

AIA's History:

Founded by Reed Irvine to monitor college and university professors for teaching disinformation and liberal bias. The group clamed that 10,000 known Marxists teach on university campuses nationwide.

Accuracy, Fairness and Balance in Higher Education published in 1985. According to AIA youth are being indoctrinated on liberal arts campuses.

AIA will investigate reports from students of seriously inaccurate information being imparted by classroom instructors either through lectures or required reading material.

AIA will try to discuss the matter with the teacher to determine whether or not the complaint is valid and to see if the teacher would be willing to make a correction.

In cases where the professor declines this opportunity, AIA will employ other means to call the error to the attention of students and others who may be interested, including AIA supporters throughout the country.

In the eighties the group’s monitoring campaign caused widespread controversy on higher education campuses, eliciting fear and anger among academics and students.

President Reagan’s Secretary of Education, William Bennett, called Irvine’s academic watchdog group a bad idea.

Malcolm Kline was named AIA’s new executive director in fall 2003. He worked at the National Journalism Center for twenty years. Kline has written for: Newsmax.com, National Catholic Register, Catholic News Service, and The Washington Times Insight magazine.

AIA’s former Executive Director was Daniel Flynn, author of Why the Left Hates America

Quotes about AIA:

Accuracy in Academia plays an indispensable role in fighting the political distortions and biases that pass for knowledge on today’s college campuses. I am looking forward to being part of a campaign to challenge students to think more accurately and broad-mindedly about the fundamental issues that affect their lives.-- Dinesh Dâ Souza, author and right-wing speaker Accuracy in Academia is reaching the leaders of tomorrow with the truth about the sexual revolution ignited in the 60s and raging today all about them. This awareness is critical to properly equipping the leaders of tomorrow. Accuracy in Academia is a lone voice carrying the message of truth and hope to a generation that seldom, if ever, is able to access the truth about America's crucial and fragile social constructs that have made us free.

I am proud to stand with AIA as they relentlessly seek to provide to America's college student America's measured and true standard for a free society's smallest building block, marriage and family. -- Judith A. Reisman, a right-wing speaker and author, published Crafting Gay Children: An Inquiry into the Abuse of Vulnerable Youth via Government Schooling & Mainstream Media in 2001. If sanity ever returns to the academic world, part of the credit will go to a small newspaper called Campus Report, which has exposed innumerable incidents of brainwashing replacing education on college campuses, storm trooper tactics being accepted and rewarded by responsible college administrators, and academic and behavioral double standards being applied to the group to which one belongs, rather than one’s own behavior or performance. -- Thomas Sowell, author and syndicated columnist

Pfaw Take Action Center Page

People For the American Way Foundation Celebrates 25 Years

Democracy is a hollow promise without freedom of expression. The star in our logo pays tribute to this First Amendment freedom, and throughout our history, People For the American Way and PFAW Foundation have come to its defense countless times.

We have spoken out, gone to court, organized, and stood by citizens and communities when: peaceful sign-carrying dissenters were corralled into “free speech zones” well out of sight of presidential candidates; arcane statutes were invoked to arrest unpopular protestors; government whistle-blowers were muzzled and scientists told to steer clear of politically controversial topics like global warming.

Jail sentences awaited investigative reporters who refused to reveal confidential sources.

Far-right religious and political leaders demonized and sought to deny venues to visual artists they deemed offensive or subversive; these same leaders attempted to abolish/slash the budgets for the National Endowment for the Arts and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Works by Nobel laureates and Pulitzer Prize-winners (and even Harry Potter) were banned from public school libraries, classrooms and theaters; and ultraconservative politicians continually undermine the First Amendment and the legislative calendar with time-wasting gimmicks like the flag burning amendment.

Free Expression Milestones.

PFAW Foundation uses legal advocacy, organizing and the power of the arts to challenge would-be censors and advocate for creative expression as a unifying element in our national life. In 1990, PFAW Foundation represented legendary choreographer Bela Lewitsky in her successful challenge to censorship demands by the National Endowment for the Arts. In 1993, PFAW Foundation forged common ground on behalf of free expression after a Tucson drama teacher was forced to resign after working with students on a production of Michael Cristofer’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play, “The Shadow Box.” Cristofer’s study of death and dying, set in a hospice, was supposedly too depressing for high school students; the play also includes a homosexual character. PFAWF recruited celebrities like Blair Brown, Christopher Reeve and the playwright himself for a sold-out public reading and discussion. But it was leadership from within the community – including the University of Arizona faculty of Fine Arts – that made a permanent change in the landscape.

More recently, PFAWF organized a Quiet Walk for the First Amendment on the streets of New York when the Manhattan Theater was faced with protests and bomb threats designed to shut down the production of Terrence McNally’s “Corpus Christi.” We took on New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani when he decided to punish the Brooklyn Museum for showing art he didn’t like. We represented poet and performance artist Sarah Jones in her successful challenge to Federal Communications Commission indecency rulings that kept her brilliant commentary on the treatment of women in hip hop off the air. We mobilized bipartisan support for free expression in Miami in response to threats against performances by Cuban artists. We have been involved in every major legal effort to ensure that First Amendment rights are respected in Internet communications. And we insist that it is not only permissible, but patriotic, for Americans to dissent when they believe government officials are undermining the nation’s values and interests.

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The Reference Room: The Sam Adams Shelf
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THE SAMUEL ADAMS REFERENCE SHELF :

SAM ADAMS --- THE GRAND INCENDIARY --- THE QUOTABLE SAM ADAMS

"Contemplate the mangled bodies of your countrymen, and then say, 'What should be the reward of such sacrifices?' ... If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animating contest of freedom, go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen!" --Samuel Adams

Samuel Adams, Founding Father & American Patriot:"... it does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people's minds ...."

Samuel Adams, printed in "Debates and Proceedings in the Convention of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts", at 86-87 (Peirce & Hale, eds., Boston, 1850):

"That the said Constitution shall never be construed to authorize Congress to infringe the just liberty of the press or the rights of conscience; or to prevent the people of The United States who are peaceable citizens from keeping their own arms ...."

Samuel Adams, speech at the Philadelphia State House, August 1, 1776:
"If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen."

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A democracy is not more than mob rule, where A democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where fifty-one percent of the people may take away the rights of the other forty-nine.

All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent.

An enemy generally says and believes what he wishes.

Experience demands that man is the only animal which devours his own kind,
for I can apply no milder term to the general prey of the rich on the poor.

Banking establishments are more dangerous than standing armies.

Experience hath shewn, that even under the best forms of government those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny.

Fix reason firmly in her seat, and call to her tribunal every fact, every opinion.

Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one,
he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blindfolded fear.

If God is just, I tremble for my country.

I have recently been examining all the known superstitions of the world, and do not find in our particular superstition (Christianity) one redeeming feature. They are all alike founded on fables and mythology. In every country and every age, the priest had been hostile to Liberty.

Mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.

“Every generation needs a new revolution.” Thomas Jefferson

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Declaration of Independence.

When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature’s God 1 entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

The Avalon Project at Yale Law School
Thomas Jefferson First Inaugural Address
First Inaugural Address
March 4, 1801

Friends And Fellow-Citizens,

Called upon to undertake the duties of the first executive office of our country, I avail myself of the presence of that portion of my fellow-citizens which is here assembled to express my grateful thanks for the favor with which they have been pleased to look toward me, to declare a sincere consciousness that the task is above my talents, and that I approach it with those anxious and awful presentiments which the greatness of the charge and the weakness of my powers so justly inspire. A rising nation, spread over a wide and fruitful land, traversing all the seas with the rich productions of their industry, engaged in commerce with nations who feel power and forget right, advancing rapidly to destinies beyond the reach of mortal eye -- when I contemplate these transcendent objects, and see the honor, the happiness, and the hopes of this beloved country committed to the issue and the auspices of this day, I shrink from the contemplation, and humble myself before the magnitude of the undertaking.

Utterly, indeed, should I despair did not the presence of many whom I here see remind me that in the other high authorities provided by our Constitution I shall find resources of wisdom, of virtue, and of zeal on which to rely under all difficulties. To you, then, gentlemen, who are charged with the sovereign functions of legislation, and to those associated with you, I look with encouragement for that guidance and support which may enable us to steer with safety the vessel in which we are all embarked amidst the conflicting elements of a troubled world.

During the contest of opinion through which we have passed the animation of discussions and of exertions has sometimes worn an aspect which might impose on strangers unused to think freely and to speak and to write what they think; but this being now decided by the voice of the nation, announced according to the rules of the Constitution, all will, of course, arrange themselves under the will of the law, and unite in common efforts for the common good. All, too, will bear in mind this sacred principle, that though the will of the majority is in all cases to prevail, that will to be rightful must be reasonable; that the minority possess their equal rights, which equal law must protect, and to violate would be oppression. Let us, then, fellow-citizens, unite with one heart and one mind. Let us restore to social intercourse that harmony and affection without which liberty and even life itself are but dreary things. And let us reflect that, having banished from our land that religious intolerance under which mankind so long bled and suffered, we have yet gained little if we countenance a political intolerance as despotic, as wicked, and capable of as bitter and bloody persecutions. During the throes and convulsions of the ancient world, during the agonizing spasms of infuriated man, seeking through blood and slaughter his long-lost liberty, it was not wonderful that the agitation of the billows should reach even this distant and peaceful shore; that this should be more felt and feared by some and less by others, and should divide opinions as to measures of safety.

But every difference of opinion is not a difference of principle. We have called by different names brethren of the same principle. We are all Republicans, we are all Federalists. If there be any among us who would wish to dissolve this Union or to change its republican form, let them stand undisturbed as monuments of the safety with which error of opinion may be tolerated where reason is left free to combat it. I know, indeed, that some honest men fear that a republican government can not be strong, that this Government is not strong enough; but would the honest patriot, in the full tide of successful experiment, abandon a government which has so far kept us free and firm on the theoretic and visionary fear that this Government, the world's best hope, may by possibility want energy to preserve itself? I trust not.

I believe this, on the contrary, the strongest Government on earth. I believe it the only one where every man, at the call of the law, would fly to the standard of the law, and would meet invasions of the public order as his own personal concern. Sometimes it is said that man cannot be trusted with the government of himself. Can he, then, be trusted with the government of others? Or have we found angels in the forms of kings to govern him? Let history answer this question.

Let us, then, with courage and confidence pursue our own Federal and Republican principles, our attachment to union and representative government. Kindly separated by nature and a wide ocean from the exterminating havoc of one quarter of the globe; too high-minded to endure the degradations of the others; possessing a chosen country, with room enough for our descendants to the thousandth and thousandth generation; entertaining a due sense of our equal right to the use of our own faculties, to the acquisitions of our own industry, to honor and confidence from our fellow-citizens, resulting not from birth, but from our actions and their sense of them; enlightened by a benign religion, professed, indeed, and practiced in various forms, yet all of them inculcating honesty, truth, temperance, gratitude, and the love of man; acknowledging and adoring an overruling Providence, which by all its dispensations proves that it delights in the happiness of man here and his greater happiness hereafter -- with all these blessings, what more is necessary to make us a happy and a prosperous people? Still one thing more, fellow-citizens -- a wise and frugal Government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government, and this is necessary to close the circle of our felicities.

About to enter, fellow-citizens, on the exercise of duties which comprehend everything dear and valuable to you, it is proper you should understand what I deem the essential principles of our Government, and consequently those which ought to shape its Administration.

I will compress them within the narrowest compass they will bear, stating the general principle, but not all its limitations. Equal and exact justice to all men, of whatever state or persuasion, religious or political; peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations, entangling alliances with none; the support of the State governments in all their rights, as the most competent administrations for our domestic concerns and the surest bulwarks against antirepublican tendencies; the preservation of the General Government in its whole constitutional vigor, as the sheet anchor of our peace at home and safety abroad; a jealous care of the right of election by the people -- a mild and safe corrective of abuses which are lopped by the sword of revolution where peaceable remedies are unprovided; absolute acquiescence in the decisions of the majority, the vital principle of republics, from which is no appeal but to force, the vital principle and immediate parent of despotism; a well-disciplined militia, our best reliance in peace and for the first moments of war till regulars may relieve them; the supremacy of the civil over the military authority; economy in the public expense, that labor may be lightly burthened; the honest payment of our debts and sacred preservation of the public faith; encouragement of agriculture, and of commerce as its handmaid; the diffusion of information and arraignment of all abuses at the bar of the public reason; freedom of religion; freedom of the press, and freedom of person under the protection of the habeas corpus, and trial by juries impartially selected.

These principles form the bright constellation which has gone before us and guided our steps through an age of revolution and reformation. The wisdom of our sages and blood of our heroes have been devoted to their attainment. They should be the creed of our political faith, the text of civic instruction, the touchstone by which to try the services of those we trust; and should we wander from them in moments of error or of alarm, let us hasten to retrace our steps and to regain the road which alone leads to peace, liberty, and safety.

I repair, then, fellow-citizens, to the post you have assigned me. With experience enough in subordinate offices to have seen the difficulties of this the greatest of all, I have learnt to expect that it will rarely fall to the lot of imperfect man to retire from this station with the reputation and the favor which bring him into it. Without pretensions to that high confidence you reposed in our first and greatest revolutionary character, whose preeminent services had entitled him to the first place in his country's love and destined for him the fairest page in the volume of faithful history, I ask so much confidence only as may give firmness and effect to the legal administration of your affairs.

I shall often go wrong through defect of judgment. When right, I shall often be thought wrong by those whose positions will not command a view of the whole ground; I ask your indulgence for my own errors, which will never be intentional, and your support against the errors of others, who may condemn what they would not if seen in all its parts. The approbation implied by your suffrage is a great consolation to me for the past, and my future solicitude will be to retain the good opinion of those who have bestowed it in advance, to conciliate that of others by doing them all the good in my power, and to be instrumental to the happiness and freedom of all.

Relying, then, on the patronage of your good will, I advance with obedience to the work, ready to retire from it whenever you become sensible how much better choice it is in your power to make. And may that Infinite Power which rules the destinies of the universe lead our councils to what is best, and give them a favorable issue for your peace and prosperity.

The Second Inaugural Address Of Thomas Jefferson

On taking this station on a former occasion I declared the principles on which I believed it my duty to administer the affairs of our Commonwealth. My conscience tells me I have on every occasion acted up to that declaration according to its obvious import and to the understanding of every candid mind.

In the transaction of your foreign affairs we have endeavored to cultivate the friendship of all nations, and especially of those with which we have the most important relations. We have done them justice on all occasions, favored where favor was lawful, and cherished mutual interests and intercourse on fair and equal terms. We are firmly convinced, and we act on that conviction, that with nations as with individuals our interests soundly calculated will ever be found inseparable from our moral duties, and history bears witness to the fact that a just nation is trusted on its word when recourse is had to armaments and wars to bridle others.

At home, fellow-citizens, you best know whether we have done well or ill. The suppression of unnecessary offices, of useless establishments and expenses, enabled us to discontinue our internal taxes. These, covering our land with officers and opening our doors to their intrusions, had already begun that process of domiciliary vexation which once entered is scarcely to be restrained from reaching successively every article of property and produce. If among these taxes some minor ones fell which had not been inconvenient, it was because their amount would not have paid the officers who collected them, and because, if they had any merit, the State authorities might adopt them instead of others less approved.

The remaining revenue on the consumption of foreign articles is paid chiefly by those who can afford to add foreign luxuries to domestic comforts, being collected on our seaboard and frontiers only, and incorporated with the transactions of our mercantile citizens, it may be the pleasure and the pride of an American to ask, What farmer, what mechanic, what laborer ever sees a tax gatherer of the United States? These contributions enable us to support the current expenses of the Government, to fulfill contracts with foreign nations, to extinguish the native right of soil within our limits, to extend those limits, and to apply such a surplus to our public debts as places at a short day their final redemption, and that redemption once effected the revenue thereby liberated may, by a just repartition of it among the States and a corresponding amendment of the Constitution, be applied in time of peace to rivers, canals, roads, arts, manufactures, education, and other great objects within each State. In time of war, if injustice by ourselves or others must sometimes produce war, increased as the same revenue will be by increased population and consumption, and aided by other resources reserved for that crisis, it may meet within the year all the expenses of the year without encroaching on the rights of future generations by burthening them with the debts of the past. War will then be but a suspension of useful works, and a return to a state of peace, a return to the progress of improvement.

I have said, fellow-citizens, that the income reserved had enabled us to extend our limits, but that extension may possibly pay for itself before we are called on, and in the meantime may keep down the accruing interest; in all events, it will replace the advances we shall have made. I know that the acquisition of Louisiana had been disapproved by some from a candid apprehension that the enlargement of our territory would endanger its union. But who can limit the extent to which the federative principle may operate effectively? The larger our association the less will it be shaken by local passions; and in any view is it not better that the opposite bank of the Mississippi should be settled by our own brethren and children than by strangers of another family? With which should we be most likely to live in harmony and friendly intercourse?

In matters of religion I have considered that its free exercise is placed by the Constitution independent of the powers of the General Government. I have therefore undertaken on no occasion to prescribe the religious exercises suited to it, but have left them, as the Constitution found them, under the direction and discipline of the church or state authorities acknowledged by the several religious societies.

The aboriginal inhabitants of these countries I have regarded with the commiseration their history inspires. Endowed with the faculties and the rights of men, breathing an ardent love of liberty and independence, and occupying a country which left them no desire but to be undisturbed, the stream of overflowing population from other regions directed itself on these shores; without power to divert or habits to contend against it, they have been overwhelmed by the current or driven before it; now reduced within limits too narrow for the hunter's state, humanity enjoins us to teach them agriculture and the domestic arts; to encourage them to that industry which alone can enable them to maintain their place in existence and to prepare them in time for that state of society which to bodily comforts adds the improvement of the mind and morals. We have therefore liberally furnished them with the implements of husbandry and household use; we have placed among them instructors in the arts of first necessity, and they are covered with the aegis of the law against aggressors from among ourselves.

But the endeavors to enlighten them on the fate which awaits their present course of life, to induce them to exercise their reason, follow its dictates, and change their pursuits with the change of circumstances have powerful obstacles to encounter; they are combated by the habits of their bodies, prejudices of their minds, ignorance, pride, and the influence of interested and crafty individuals among them who feel themselves something in the present order of things and fear to become nothing in any other.

These persons inculcate a sanctimonious reverence for the customs of their ancestors; that whatsoever they did must be done through all time; that reason is a false guide, and to advance under its counsel in their physical, moral, or political condition is perilous innovation; that their duty is to remain as their Creator made them, ignorance being safety and knowledge full of danger; in short, my friends, among them also is seen the action and counteraction of good sense and of bigotry; they too have their antiphilosophists who find an interest in keeping things in their present state, who dread reformation, and exert all their faculties to maintain the ascendancy of habit over the duty of improving our reason and obeying its mandates.

In giving these outlines I do not mean, fellow-citizens, to arrogate to myself the merit of the measures. That is due, in the first place, to the reflecting character of our citizens at large, who, by the weight of public opinion, influence and strengthen the public measures. It is due to the sound discretion with which they select from among themselves those to whom they confide the legislative duties. It is due to the zeal and wisdom of the characters thus selected, who lay the foundations of public happiness in wholesome laws, the execution of which alone remains for others, and it is due to the able and faithful auxiliaries, whose patriotism has associated them with me in the executive functions.

During this course of administration, and in order to disturb it, the artillery of the press has been leveled against us, charged with whatsoever its licentiousness could devise or dare. These abuses of an institution so important to freedom and science are deeply to be regretted, inasmuch as they tend to lessen its usefulness and to sap its safety. They might, indeed, have been corrected by the wholesome punishments reserved to and provided by the laws of the several States against falsehood and defamation, but public duties more urgent press on the time of public servants, and the offenders have therefore been left to find their punishment in the public indignation.

Nor was it uninteresting to the world that an experiment should be fairly and fully made, whether freedom of discussion, unaided by power, is not sufficient for the propagation and protection of truth—whether a government conducting itself in the true spirit of its constitution, with zeal and purity, and doing no act which it would be unwilling the whole world should witness, can be written down by falsehood and defamation. The experiment has been tried; you have witnessed the scene; our fellow-citizens looked on, cool and collected; they saw the latent source from which these outrages proceeded; they gathered around their public functionaries, and when the Constitution called them to the decision by suffrage, they pronounced their verdict, honorable to those who had served them and consolatory to the friend of man who believes that he may be trusted with the control of his own affairs.

No inference is here intended that the laws provided by the States against false and defamatory publications should not be enforced; he who has time renders a service to public morals and public tranquility in reforming these abuses by the salutary coercions of the law; but the experiment is noted to prove that, since truth and reason have maintained their ground against false opinions in league with false facts, the press, confined to truth, needs no other legal restraint; the public judgment will correct false reasoning and opinions on a full hearing of all parties; and no other definite line can be drawn between the inestimable liberty of the press and its demoralizing licentiousness. If there be still improprieties which this rule would not restrain, its supplement must be sought in the censorship of public opinion.

Contemplating the union of sentiment now manifested so generally as auguring harmony and happiness to our future course, I offer to our country sincere congratulations. With those, too, not yet rallied to the same point the disposition to do so is gaining strength; facts are piercing through the veil drawn over them, and our doubting brethren will at length see that the mass of their fellow-citizens with whom they can not yet resolve to act as to principles and measures, think as they think and desire what they desire; that our wish as well as theirs is that the public efforts may be directed honestly to the public good, that peace be cultivated, civil and religious liberty unassailed, law and order preserved, equality of rights maintained, and that state of property, equal or unequal, which results to every man from his own industry or that of his father's.

When satisfied of these views it is not in human nature that they should not approve and support them. In the meantime let us cherish them with patient affection, let us do them justice, and more than justice, in all competitions of interest; and we need not doubt that truth, reason, and their own interests will at length prevail, will gather them into the fold of their country, and will complete that entire union of opinion which gives to a nation the blessing of harmony and the benefit of all its strength.

I shall now enter on the duties to which my fellow-citizens have again called me, and shall proceed in the spirit of those principles which they have approved. I fear not that any motives of interest may lead me astray; I am sensible of no passion which could seduce me knowingly from the path of justice, but the weaknesses of human nature and the limits of my own understanding will produce errors of judgment sometimes injurious to your interests. I shall need, therefore, all the indulgence which I have heretofore experienced from my constituents; the want of it will certainly not lessen with increasing years.

I shall need, too, the favor of that Being in whose hands we are, who led our fathers, as Israel of old, from their native land and planted them in a country flowing with all the necessaries and comforts of life; who has covered our infancy with His providence and our riper years with His wisdom and power, and to whose goodness I ask you to join in supplications with me that He will so enlighten the minds of your servants, guide their councils, and prosper their measures that whatsoever they do shall result in your good, and shall secure to you the peace, friendship, and approbation of all nations.

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THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE

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Yesterday, December seventh, 1941, a date which will live in infamy, the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan. Franklin D. Roosevelt

The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.

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