I want everyone in America, indeed everyone in the world, to have chocolate milk, if they like it.  I also want them to have a puppy or a bunny, if they want one.  Further, I want them to be the exact right temperature for them at all times—just like Baby Bear’s porridge, neither too hot nor too cold, but just right.

And, I want them all to have healthcare.  But, that is not what yesterday’s court ruling is about, and that is not what the debate over Obamacare is really about, or at least should be about.  It’s not about whether healthcare or chocolate milk or puppies or comfortable temperatures are good things.  It is about liberty and our constitutional Republic.  It is about the rule of law.

After this ruling, there is no [continue reading…]

The City of Lynchburg Mass Meeting is this coming Tuesday, April 3, 2012, at 7:00 p.m., at the Lynchburg City Library Public Meeting Room, 2315 Memorial Avenue, Lynchburg, Virginia.  This mass meeting will be absolutely critical to my winning the position of Central Region Vice Chairman of the Sixth District Congressional Committee.  I would really appreciate anyone who can possibly make it to the meeting coming out and supporting me this Tuesday and then on May 5 at the Convention.  (And, a big thanks to all those who turned out in Bedford!) [continue reading…]

49.  When you become entitled to exercise the right of voting for public officers, let it be impressed on your mind that God commands you to choose for rulers, just men who will rule in the fear of God.  The preservation of a republican government depends on the faithful discharge of this duty; if the citizens neglect their duty and place unprincipled men in office, the government will soon be corrupted; laws will be made, not for the public good, so much as for selfish or local purposes; corrupt or incompetent men will be appointed to execute the laws; the public revenues will be squandered on unworthy men; and the rights of the citizens will be violated or disregarded.  If a republican government fails to secure public prosperity and happiness, it must be because the citizens neglect the divine commands, and elect bad men to make and administer the laws.  Intriguing men can never be safely trusted.  (Noah Webster’s Advice to the Young and Moral Catechism, pgs. 36-37)

Great quote from Mr. Webster.   He is certainly correct; it is incumbent upon all of us to do our duty and vote righteously.

Now for an update on my campaign. [continue reading…]

Well, here is our little brochure for tonight’s meeting or meetings.  I say meeting or meetings because late yesterday I found out that I my be in the Central Region instead of the Southern Region.  Thus, the flyer has the generic “Regional Vice Chairman” instead of “Vice Chairman for the Central Region” or “Vice Chairman for the Southern Region.”  Regardless of the outcome, I will go to the Botetourt meeting tonight.  However, if I am in the Southern Region, then I will go to the Botetourt and Roanoke County meetings.  Party politics certainly is interesting!

That said, if I end up in the Central Region, I will need the help of my friends in Lynchburg, Amherst, Bedford, Botetourt, City of Lexington, and Rockbridge, among perhaps a few other localities.  I will post more information as soon as I can.

(P.S. — Keep in mind, this is a tri-fold. So, it may look a little weird when viewed like this, but hopefully it makes more sense when printed!)

“I see the awful immensity of the dangers with which it is pregnant.—I see it—I  feel it.—I see beings of a higher order, anxious concerning our decision.  When I see beyond the horizon that binds human eyes, and look at the final consummation of all human things, and see those intelligent beings which inhabit aetherial mansions, reviewing the political decisions and revolutions which in the progress of time will happen in America, and consequent happiness or misery of mankind—I am led to believe that much of the account on one side or the other, will depend on what we now decide.”  As Henry spoke, a terrible storm rose outside the hall.  Fierce winds and roaring thunder forced him to conclude his speech.  Frightened members scurried to take cover.  For Henry’s biographer William Wirt, the “spirits whom he had called, seemed to have come at his bidding.”  (From Patrick Henry: First Among Patriots, pgs. 206-207)

Patrick Henry gave the speech partly quoted above at Virginia’s convention on the ratification of the Constitution.  It is a little known fact that Patrick Henry, George Mason, and others in Virginia opposed the Constitution.  They feared that it provided the federal government with too much power, and that the state governments would eventually be overwhelmed by it. [continue reading…]

In school I was given an assignment to interview someone who lived through the Great Depression.  As a young boy more concerned with Kentucky basketball than United States history, I did not necessarily appreciate the assignment.  As a grown man, it has become both a treasured memory and an ominous warning.

To fulfill the requirements of the assignment, I decided to interview my maternal grandmother, Jessie Rose.  My grandmother was born on December 7, 1930.  She grew up in rural eastern Kentucky.  Her father died when she was a young girl, and times were hard for her family.  She remembered winters where all of the meat and vegetables were gone and for months they had only lard and flour to eat.

She would work in the fields as hard as any man, my mom used to say, and then go in and cook for her family and all of the work hands.  She, like the generations before her, managed to somehow scratch a living out of the hills of Appalachia. [continue reading…]

As I am sure everyone knows, the political season is really heating up.  That said, I have become convinced that we (and by “we,” I mean true pro-life, pro-family, limited government, pro-Constitution, Christian conservatives) must get involved in the political process.

A big part of the process goes on behind the scenes in the local political party meetings and conventions.  Enormously important issues are decided in these meetings and conventions, and I am getting involved and I would encourage everyone else to consider getting involved as well.  If we don’t, I fear that America is going to go the way of Europe.  We have already gone way too far down this path, and the only hope is for large numbers of people to get active in the process at all levels.  Voting, yes, of course, everyone should vote, but involvement beyond just showing up and voting is what is needed.

If you are interested in doing that, here are some ways to get active.  First, you should attend your local Republican Party mass meetings.  At these mass meetings, delegates to the 6^th Congressional District Convention and State Convention are elected, often new party leadership is elected, candidates for various offices are nominated, etc.  Here is a list of some upcoming meetings:

Campbell County: April 8, 2012, at 7:00 p.m., at the Board of Supervisors Room, Haberer Building, Courthouse Square, Rustburg, Virginia.  (http://campbellcountyrepublicans.com/)

Lynchburg: April 3, 2012, at 7:00 p.m., at the Lynchburg City Library Public Meeting Room, 2315 Memorial Avenue, Lynchburg, Virginia.

Bedford County: March 27, 2012, at 7:00 p.m., at the main Auditorium of the Bedford Center for Science and Technology, 600 Edmund St., Bedford Virginia.  (http://www.rpv.org/node/1203) [continue reading…]

I recently started reviewing Introductory Logic for Christian & Home Schools by James B. Nance and Douglas J. Wilson for possible use in Chrisman Christian Academy and found the following:

“[S]ome people believe that Jesus’ command to love your enemies is an absurd requirement because they are defining love to mean ‘believe the other person to be a nice person,’ when in fact they know their enemies to be quite wicked and depraved.  But biblically, love means [continue reading…]

My lovely bride bought me a book recently that I really, really enjoyed and wanted to recommend to those of your who are interested in and enjoy such things.  It is Patrick Henry: First Among Patriots. She knows that Patrick Henry is one of my favorite Founders, and she surprised me by ordering if from Amazon for me.  She heard that the Patrick Henry Memorial Foundation (www.redhill.org) had presented Governor McDonnell with a copy.

She is a wonderful helpmeet, and I am thankful that God has given her to me.  We try to challenge and encourage one another to keep our minds fresh, flexible, active, and inquisitive, and what better accomplishes that than the gift of a good book!  (Thank you, my love, it was great!)

For those wanting a little more on the book, here is a short review that I posted on GoodReads: Patrick Henry: First Among Patriots by Thomas S. Kidd

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this book. For the most part, I found it to be very balanced and well done. There are some places where I felt like Prof. Kidd fell into some modern, politically-correct type analysis that I don’t find all that helpful. For example, Prof. Kidd seems to occaisionally accept the prevailing “wisdom” that the American War for Independence was only about money and taxes. [continue reading…]