Thursday, April 30, 2009
12:03 am
Daniel J. Summers
Yes, in 100 days I've gone from “skeptically optimistic” to hoping that 3 terms of Republicans can stem the tide from 4 years of our current administration. For all of the left's making fun of Bush, and VP Biden's history of gaffes, who knew that the current administration would make them look downright composed? It's Amateur Hour at the White House, and our kids get to pay billions of dollars for us to watch!
Economics: F (only because F- isn't technically a grade)
You would think that this would be the current administration's strong spot, seeing that they won the election last year based on the crappy economy (or so they'd have you believe). Yes, the fiscal irresponsibility of the final year of the Bush v2 administration looks miserly compared with this stimporkulus and budgets we're being asked to finance. The graph to the right gives an illustration of the impact of the current budget, compared to budgets under Reagan, Bush 1, Clinton, and Bush 2. Just as the New Deal lengthened the Great Depression, these artificial attempts to “fix” the economy are actually doing it more harm. Then they label those who are against it as dangerous - but more on that later.
National Security: D-
This one was not an F due to his quick response to the Somali pirates who had captured the captain of a US ship. Regarding the F/A-22 cutbacks, these were being discussed even in the previous administration, and even so, the “cutback” still result in more airplanes being built and delivered to fill the order. I don't really have a good feeling one way or the other. The F/A-22 has been in work a long time, and had a lot of money already. To throw that away, when we used its predecessor for over 30 years, seems foolish to me. However, with the services merging more and more operations, perhaps it's smart to have a plane that's built to specifications from all interested parties. Time will tell. The release of the CIA memos, though, was a bad move, which I discuss in the next subject below.
And, the release of the CIA memos has made us look even worse. We have people hyperventilating on both sides over whether waterboarding is torture. The ones who do us harm know that they don't have to do anything for a while, because we're doing it to ourselves. What the administration doesn't seem to have thought through is that, though in this country, it may be easy to pin all that on the Bush administration, to the rest of the world, it's still “America” that did it. And, if they know that we don't have the stomach for it (would it really have been that out-of-line to put a caterpillar in a room with a terrorist?), their job is easier. The CIA agents are demoralized, and the enemy is emboldened. Call it what you will - naive, oblivious, amateur hour - it's dangerous, and it's made our country weaker because of it.
And, to those hyperventilating - if you're ever captured by them, you'd better pray that waterboarding is the worst thing they do to you. Because we're humane, we've come up with ways to make people think that they're being tortured, when they're really not. Torture has lifelong implications to your health and mobility; John McCain can't lift his hand above his shoulder - that didn't come from waterboarding.
(Even the decision to stick by the Iraqi withdrawal timetable couldn't raise his grade in this subject.)
I believe I covered Obama's revocation of the Bush executive orders regarding federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. (I've bolded the important parts, because I'm sick and tired of the liberal “You're opposed to science!” mantra. No, we're not - we're opposed to the government paying for research that destroys unborn humans, especially when it has shown no signs of finding anything, but other, similar, non-lethal-to-the-donor research has. (And, check out #1 under "Adult Stem Cell Advantages.") What you fund, you get more of - fund more experiments on dead babies, you get more dead babies. I happen to be against dead babies, born or unborn.) When Obama rescinded that executive order, he also rescinded one that allows funding of ethical experiments. A good analysis of what that means is here.
He gets a pat on the back for supporting traditional marriage; however, I think that battle is lost. The demise of marriage came not from non-traditionalists, but from people who decided that a promise of forever can be undone by a piece of paper signed by a judge.
Well, he's got a solid 0.2 GPA headed into day 101 - nowhere to go but up, eh?
Saturday, January 24, 2009
10:51 am
Daniel J. Summers
Earlier this week, President Barack Obama reversed a long-standing policy, now allowing Federal funds to go to organizations that provide abortions or abortion counseling. The Sanctity of Life post is still coming, but I wanted to get this out there. How long before Obama's death toll surpasses that of the last 8 years of our “unjust war” on terrorism? I'm thinking March 2009…
And his logic continues to astound me…
“It is time we end the politicization of this issue,” Obama said.
So, to end politicization, we'll just declare one side the winner. It truly saddens me that part of my tax money will be used to kill babies in third-world countries.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
8:34 pm
Daniel J. Summers
There just isn't enough time in the day to do everything I want to do. Sadly, one of the casualties is original content for my blog (although I am working on something that I hope to have ready in a few days). Until then, here's another round-up of interesting things I found scattered around the web.
First up, from the American Thinker, we have Randall Hoven with “Media Dishonesty Matters.” In this tome, he details 101 incidents of plagiarism, failure to disclose conflicts of interest, and instances of journalists creating news out of thin air. This should probably count as three or four links, but we'll keep pressing on.
Next up, LaShawn Barber asks Barack Obama this pointed question - “What Faith Is This?” He has claimed that his faith guides his public life, yet he voted against the ban on partial-birth abortion. That's a good question.
Moving on, Dennis Prager of TownHall.com (among other places) asks another, somewhat rhetorical question - “So What?” In it, he, a devout Jew, explains why he is not offended in the least over Ann Coulter's latest statement that Jews need to be “perfected” by accepting Christ. He also explains why labeling her statements as anti-Semitism does a disservice to the efforts to eliminate anti-Semitism.
Finally, I usually wrap up with some humor - but this one will inspire a different emotion. I may be the last person in the world to find out about this song, but I've got to share it. Tim McGraw's “If You're Reading This” is a tribute to men and women in uniform, and is a tear-jerking classic.
Monday, August 20, 2007
12:05 am
Daniel J. Summers
Lauren Green, a correspondent for Fox News, has written an editorial about a loophole in the partial-birth abortion ban. It is informative (and instructive), but throughout, she tells of her own path from being pro-choice to pro-life. It isn't really different from some of the things I've said here - it validates them, to some extent. Thank you, Lauren, for sharing your story; I pray that many others share your epiphany.
Monday, January 16, 2006
9:38 pm
Daniel J. Summers
Again this year, I'm combining my thoughts on these two days into one column. (If you'd like, you can review 2005's combined entry and 2004's entries for MLK's birthday and the sanctity of human life.) Much has happened over the past year in the realm of life issues and race relations, and I'd like to take a look back to see what we can learn from these recent happenings.
Recently, discussion on abortion has come to the forefront, thanks to the hearings for Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito. The people on the left like to pitch this as a case of women's rights, but the issue before the Supreme Court is even more basic than that. That question is, “Is there a right to ‘privacy’ in the Constitution?” In the 1965 case Griswold v. Connecticut, the Supreme Court “found” this previously unrecognized right deep within a “penumbra” in our nearly 200-year-old Constitution. In this specific case, we learn that the Constitution prohibits states from having laws prohibiting the sale of contraceptives. (I'm curious as to whether any people have appealed laws against other types of drugs, citing this precedent.) Based on the faulty logic of Griswold, the 1973 case Roe v. Wade struck down all restrictions on abortion, viewing it as just another contraceptive method.
In last year's entry, I dealt with the medical advances over the intervening 30 years since Roe was decided. I will, though, give you a link to one of the best abortion information resources I've seen - Abortion Facts. This site has links and information on almost every aspect of reproductive health, from a worldview that values life and realizes the negative effect that abortion has had not only on the babies that die each day, but on our society's view of life, women, and appropriate sexual behavior. Also, a startling statistic from the New York Daily News - for every 100 births in NYC last year, 74 abortions were performed. That's 42.5%!
Back in March 2005, we had another fight regarding life, this time on the other side with Terri Schiavo, a lady who had been diagnosed as being in a persistent vegetative state for several years, but who had not recorded her wishes before she died. Her husband Michael claims that she had said that she would not have wanted heroic measures used to prolong her life, and that her current nature of medical care constituted “heroic” measures. He petitioned the court to order her nursing home to remove the feeding tube that was giving her food and water. On the other side, Terri's parents did not feel that their daughter would want to starve to death; rather, they wanted Michael to divorce Terri, at which point they would become the ones responsible for continuing her care. (Of course, had he divorced her, he wouldn't get any insurance money… Hmmm…) Astoundingly, Michael won, and Terri was starved to death, passing away on March 31st. He claims that it was what she would have wanted - but, sadly, she's not here to present her side. (Here's a link to the entry I wrote at the time about Terri and her case.)
This is the case where the “pro-choice” movement morphed into the “pro-death” movement. Their true beliefs about their opinion of human life was on display for all to see. Terri Schiavo had made her choice. Choosing not to have a living will means that her care would fall back to normal medical processes - every attempt to save her life would be made. The “pro-choice” crowd, though, ignoring her choice, sided with her adulterous husband in his quest for her death. I guess they're pro-choice, as long as the choice is death.
On January 28th, 2005, Condoleezza Rice was sworn in as only the second black (and first black female) Secretary of State. It is interesting that, for all the lip service the Democrats give to people of color, it was a Republican President who has appointed both black Secretaries of State our nation has had. Throughout this past year, she has been quite busy, working hard to act as this country's face to the rest of the world. She is presiding over the difficult diplomatic processes with North Korea and Iran, two rogue countries that are dangerously close to developing nuclear weapons.
Once September rolled around, though, we saw something much less inspiring. Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast, destroying Gulfport and Biloxi, Mississippi and, though it only hit New Orleans, Louisiana with a glancing blow, the water broke some of the levees around the city, and it flooded. We heard reports of stacks of bodies, rapes, and rampant looting. (Thankfully, all but the looting seems to have been vastly overreported.) Then, we have the ridiculous outburst from Kanye West during a Katrina fundraising special, claiming that our President doesn't care about black people. Preposterous! And, during a time of national disaster, an irresponsible and disrespectful thing to do. Seems it was all a publicity stunt - his album came out a few weeks later, and his name was fresh on people's minds. So, he basically exploited the same people he claimed President Bush didn't care about. Definitely not a high point…
To wrap up our mini year-in-review, let's come back to the recently completed Alito hearings. Aspersions were cast on Judge Alito's character because he had been a member of the Concerned Alumni of Princeton (CAP), and that group had written that it opposed allowing minorities and women into Princeton. The only problem is that those lines came from a parody that was published in the Princeton student newspaper. (Look for the quotes from Dinesh D'Souza in that article.) Turns out, CAP was also concerned about the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) program being banished from Princeton, and that is why Justice-to-Be Alito had joined the group. The group did oppose quotas of minority/female admissions, and they also opposed lowered admissions standards for minority/female admissions - but, they were not opposed to minorities or women based on their race or gender. (And, this insinuation from the left is getting more than a little insulting!) Also, during the hearings, one of the committee members said that they couldn't think of a single decision that Judge Alito had made that was beneficial to minorities. However, this article, written in November of 2005, shows his belief that all people are equal under the law, no matter what their skin color.
Our nation misses Dr. King's guidance. He believed that, just as God sees us all as people, men should look at men with color-blind eyes as well. I hope that, over the next few years, less focus will be placed on divisive things. And, I hope that minorities realize that while one group emphasizes our differences, there is another group that has accepted those of whatever color, and encourage them to do the things that will improve their lives.
Thursday, January 20, 2005
10:30 pm
Daniel J. Summers
Last year, I wrote a quick blurb about the the sanctity of human life, and a longer piece about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream that is, as of yet, unfulfilled. This year, I'm combining the two occurrences (and putting it out 5 days late, but who's counting?) with a single entry.
First up is the sanctity of human life. Dictionary.com defines sanctity (definition 2) as “The quality or condition of being considered sacred; inviolability.” What this means is that human life is sacred - something that is to be valued, and not to be taken lightly. It also means that life is not ours to create (ever, outside of the God-given means) or to destroy (save for the Biblically-based governmental duties of defense and punishment). There is encouraging news on the abortion front - Norma McCorvey, “Roe” in the (in)famous Roe v. Wade case, has entered a petition to the Supreme Court to review her case in light of new medical evidence of the effects of abortion on the women who have them. Together with Operation Outcry, which has compiled quite an array of statistics on medical issues with abortion, she hopes to get that ruling reversed. As an original petitioner in the case, she is in the unique position of being able to do this, and more details, including the briefs that were filed, can be found here.
There are others who have recently written about abortion as well. Chuck Colson's recent article entitled Destroying Abortion Myths demonstrates that they hysterical “dangerous back-ally abortion” crowd actually made up their statistics. (And they say Bush lied and people died? How about “NOW lied, babies died”?) Marvin Olasky compares two tidal waves: the tsunami and abortion. (Did you know that as many people as died in that tsunami are killed every few months before they breathe their first breath?) Another site is Right Thinking Girl's entry A Woman's Right to Choose - it illustrates the absurdity of the “fetus as property” argument. I've also been active in the comments for this entry, in which folks have been debating the issue from pretty much all sides - my entries are the ones from “Daniel”. (Be warned, some comments may contain strong language.) And finally, this isn't recent, but my entry about abortion being a bad idea whose time has passed still lays out, from a non-religious perspective, why abortion is wrong.
The numbers of abortions that have been performed is staggering - the latest numbers from Census 2000 show blacks as 11.4% of the population, but the CDC's “Abortion Facts” website's numbers show blacks have 33.9% of the abortions in this country. That means that blacks are overrepresented in abortion by 200%. This is not good, and (as we segue into the MLK portion of this entry) it's something I think Dr. King would have worked to end. So much of his dream has been fulfilled, but I believe he would be horrified at these statistics. The people for whom Dr. King gave his life working for (and, lost his life as part of that work) aren't being killed and suppressed by the “white man” anymore. Take this abortion statistic together with gang and prostitution statistics, and you see that they're suppressing and killing off themselves!
Dr. King's legacy has been hijacked by the pseudo-civil-rights activists of our day. His was a message of peace, and of equality; not of oppression, not of violence, and not of reversing the inequality. Though he was taken from us much too soon, his work endures - and to hear gay marriage proponents use his words in support of their agenda must make him look down on us and shake his head. His dream of equality in all areas, but especially economically, is beginning to be realized.
However, popular black culture does not encourage activities that lead to prosperity. When was the last time you heard a rapper rap about his mutual funds, 401K, or real estate investments? How about consumable goods (cars, electronics, etc.)? I'll give you a hint - one of those is a lot better at building long-term wealth than the other. Bill Cosby is taking a lot of flak for his comments that have been critical of the culture. I'm glad he's saying these things, because he has a lot of respect from folks in the black community. Maybe if the message comes from someone who is so respected, it will sink in. Children who are trying hard to achieve shouldn't be ostracized from their peers and accused of “acting white.” Learning to speak the language properly isn't selling out, it's setting yourself up for success. (Now, since I'm not black, I guess I should interject here that I know plenty of white people who are foolish with their money, and whose grasp of the English language is less than it should be. I also know plenty of black people, some my very good friends, who do not conform to the pop culture image with which they're bombarded on a daily basis.)
By realizing how precious life is, defending those who are defenseless, and empowering people to make their own destiny, we will honor not only Dr. King, but all those who follow after us. May the next generation look at us and say, “You know, they figured it out, and they lived it the way they should.”
Sunday, January 18, 2004
8:15 pm
Daniel J. Summers
Never Forget. It's been over 2 years - do you still remember? (Thanks to Neal Boortz for sharing this link.)
In my last entry, I linked to some of the resources for organizations that help women struggling with the issue of abortion. The Psalm 139 Project is a group that collects donations in order to buy ultrasound machines for crisis pregnancy centers across the country. If you're interested in putting your money behind the fight for the unborn, this is a great way to do it.
Sunday, December 28, 2003
4:40 pm
Daniel J. Summers
I received an interesting piece of mail the other day, and I thought I'd comment about it here. The mail was from AAA Women's Services (now known as Choices Chattanooga) in Chattanooga, TN. They were talking about a new clinic they've set up. The history of this organization is pretty impressive - they opened up across the street from the only walk-in abortion clinic in town, began ministering to hurting women in a way that most didn't expect, and over time, were able to raise enough money to buy out the clinic across the street. That clinic now houses the National Memorial for the Unborn, a site that allows the parents of aborted children a place to memorialize them.
But that brings me back to the new clinic, which is yet another very creative ministry that this organization has put together. For years, AAA's biggest tool in convincing mothers to keep their children has been the ultrasound - the numbers are in the 90% range of women who, once they see that precious life moving and breathing inside them, decide to keep their child alive. AAA has now opened this clinic in the downtown area, and offer not only “crisis pregnancy” counseling services, but prenatal care as well, along with more ultrasound equipment. In the first month of operation, 5 of the 6 women who came there seeking an abortion left with a changed mind.
As an aside, one great thing AAA does is that they don't abandon the mothers they help - they provide maternity clothes and baby clothes, can help with transportation to prenatal and well-baby checks, and are there to help train the new mothers or support them as they allow an adoptive family to love their child.
I've felt for years that abortion was wrong on all kinds of levels, and this belief was reinforced as I watched my two precious children grow in my wife. There's also a growing trend of young women who are keeping children rather than killing them. I heard one person say “you can't kill an entire generation of folks, and expect to have them grow up to be pro-choice.”
I'm wondering, though, if Roe v. Wade didn't miss the boat. 30 years or so ago when it was decided by the Supreme Court, there was nowhere near the body of medical research and history that we now have on the process. Moral obligations aside for the moment, consider the trauma to the woman's reproductive organs, the complications from these “routine procedures,” and the mental anguish many, many mothers of aborted children feel. Are abortions too dangerous to be performed?
Bringing morality back into the discussion - what about all we now know about “viability” and stages of development? Using technology we didn't have back then, we can see a heart beat begin before most women even know they're expecting. We can detect brain waves far earlier than anyone back in the early 1970's would have ever dreamed. If this is, in fact, a life (as those with common sense have been saying for years), is it right to allow the taking of this human life by another human?
Kathleen Parker wrote back in August about the two plaintiffs in the Supreme Court decision to legalize abortion, and their attempts to get those decisions vacated. This article, along with the various links off the other sites I've linked here, should give you plenty of reading on how abortion hurts not only the unborn children, but the women who kill them as well; and that, given our new awareness of the medical facts, this barbaric practice should be banned altogether.
