Category Archives: Expository

Why you can’t afford to elect a Democrat – not even for dog catcher

Posted on by
Reply


I originally brainstormed the root idea for this post a month and a half ago – I actually made this graphic on February 3rd – but in light of a bunch of other posts I’m reading around the web coming to the same conclusion, I figured I’d finally get around to a little stream-of-consciousness here.

My friend Rob and I are not the only ones noticing that there are two Heidi Heitkamps running for office this year: there’s the relatively conservative, “North Dakota Values” type of Heidi Heitkamp running here in North Dakota, while there’s a “leftest of the leftists” Heidi Heitkamp running on the national stage.

She’s been going on a magical mystery tour with a bunch of leftist Democrat women “standing up for women’s rights” out of state, while claiming support for a religious exemption here at home. Notice in the Fargo Forum article I linked here, that even the stenographers and apologists at the Forum are forced to point out that she’s one candidate here and a totally different candidate nationally…although from a sympathetic point of view (natch).

Lest you forget, here’s Heidi addressing a bunch of her “progressive” buddies and union front groups after Obamacare was stuffed down our throats against the wishes of a vast majority of North Dakotans:

And here’s a recent ad in which she appears along with some of the more radical elements of the Democrat party in support of forcing the American people to pay for other people’s contraception and abortion-inducing drugs despite their religious objections:

By the way – has anyone actually tried to ban contraception? Nope. We just don’t want to pay for it. Apparently in the eyes of Heidi Heitkamp, that’s a sin. Notice how they will NOT mention the abortifacients: no, they know they’d lose that battle in a landslide. Instead, they re-frame and misrepresent the argument, claiming that Republicans want to BAN contraception entirely.

By the way, North Dakota has a LOT of people who profess one manner of religious faith or another…does Heitkamp really think that they’ll enjoy being forced to finance the sexual habits of everyone else including abortion-inducing drugs? Apparently she does, at least outside of North Dakota’s borders where she espouses that view.

Then you’ve got good old Gaylord “Kent” Conrad. For years he harped on President Bush about deficits that look like a monthly allowance next to the spending habits of the Democrat-controlled Congress since 2006. At President Obama’s behest it’s only gotten worse, with deficits so huge they have to be expressed in numbers typically only used in astronomy!

Don’t expect any accountability on these folks, either: Kent Conrad has been under ethics investigation forever, but the Democrats have buried it the best they could…even to the point of changing the locks on the committee room doors so that Republicans couldn’t join the investigation hearings! The Democrats have so far managed to whitewash the whole thing and claim nothing happened. How did this appear in the North Dakota media? It didn’t, until:


As far as I recall, he wasn’t “cleared” – the investigation was merely dropped. If you want to see the tip of the iceberg on his misdeeds that even a blogger from Bismarck can uncover, click here.

Which brings me back to my original point: you cannot afford to elect a Democrat, not even for dog catcher or meter maid. Why? You don’t want to be responsible for advancing their political career even one tick, because before you know it you’ll have a Byron “Abramoff Skybox” Dorgan, Kent “Countrywide Mortgage” Conrad, Earl “Union Owned & Operated” Pomeroy, or Heidi “Two-Face” Heitkamp.

Regardless of how Heidi Heitkamp campaigns in North Dakota, or what she really believes, look at how she already behaves outside the state! At this very moment she’s walking in lockstep with radical leftist Democrats who have next to nothing in common with the values of the average North Dakotan. They’re the ones whose money and support she needs to try to get elected, and they are the ones to whom she will be indebted if (God forbid) she ever gets elected. Who do you think she’ll listen to before voting on legislation: you, or the Democrat Party machine which she needs to keep her in office?

If you think that a Senator Heitkamp would be any less duplicitous as Candidate Heitkamp, then you’re fooling yourself. If you doubt me, simply look at how Dorgan, Conrad, and Pomeroy played that same two-faced game for decades. They’d throw on a flannel shirt when they come to ND, talk about “our North Dakota way”, then jet-set back to Washington and vote 90% of the time with Kennedy, Pelosi, et al…while getting most of their campaign funding from out of state.

If you still aren’t convinced, let me put it another way:

– People who support abortion, including “partial birth” abortion where a child is delivered up to the neck and then killed with a spear to the brain, even to the point of killing a child who survived an abortion because “that was the mother’s original intent” anyway – vote Democrat.

– People who hate oil, coal and gas, want us to pay European gasoline prices ($8-10/gallon), want to shut down American power plants and kill American oil exploration while handing out billions to their “green energy cronies” – vote Democrat.

– People who want to promote homosexuality in schools, including “fisting” and other techniques (such as the group Obama’s “Safe Schools” czar founded) – vote Democrat.

– People who want freedom from religion instead of freedom of religion… people who think “separation of church and state” (which appears in NO official document) applies to banning prayer from schools or the Ten Commandments from public property, but does not apply to the goverrnment forcing churches to pay for abortions against their doctrines – vote Democrat.

– People who want to “reinterpret” or abolish the 2nd Amendment and disarm the American people – vote Democrat.

– People who want to tell a landowner what they can and can’t do on their property if they discover an endangered bug, vermin, or other critter on it – vote Democrat.

– People who scream “keep your laws off my body” but want to force their government healthcare system on yours – vote Democrat.

– People who scream “keep the government out of my bedroom” but want you to pay for what they do in there – vote Democrat.

– People who claim that America is the source of evil in the world, want to dismantle our national defenses, and treat dictators and Islamic theocracies as moral equivalents to the United States – vote Democrat (or Ron Paul).

I could go on and on, but you get the picture…and it ain’t pretty. It doesn’t matter if some local Democrat candidate sounds somewhat decent in their campaign for local or state office: at the end of the day, they’re beholden to the activists and perverted ideologies I listed above.

North Dakota Democrats have to follow their party leadership and ideologies, which is the same bunch of twisted activist radicals who have put us in this current predicament. You elect a Democrat, you’re giving all the above a foot in the door…a foot which will someday occupy the boot on your neck.

Obamacare pro-abort activism fools Catholics, apparently even at KFYR-TV

Posted on by
Reply

On my way out of the office earlier this week, I saw Monica Hannan open “First News at 5:00” with a story touting an interesting poll. It claimed that a majority of Catholics’ opinion of President Obama hadn’t changed in light of the Obamacare mandate on “contraception.”

I was surprised to hear this poll reported as credible on KFYR, because it ignores two very important facts:

1- The pro-abort crowd has WON this issue if they continue to refer to it as a “contraception” issue. Go back to those same professing Catholics, poll ’em again AFTER reminding them that the mandate also includes ABORTION drugs. Look up what an “abortifacient” drug is, or a “morning after” pill. Guess what: the Catholic church is going to have to hand THOSE out too. My guess is that at a LOT of Catholics who don’t mind strapping on prophylactics in defiance of the Pope would have a real problem with handing out abortion drugs!

2- It’s not just an issue of contraception, or even abortion. It goes far more fundamental. Let’s simplify the scenario for a second:

Government: “Hey, church – we want you to do ‘X’ and we’re going to require it by law.”

Church: “Um…no. ‘X’ is against our beliefs and teachings, and has been for centuries.”

Government: “Well, that’s too bad. We’re going to make you do ‘X’ anyway. After a week of bad press, we’ll claim it’s the insurance companies paying for ‘X’, but you’re still going to do it. Besides, your membership’s doing ‘X’ in secret anyway…regardless of your church’s belief.”

So what’s the right answer for the churches or practicing Catholics to give here? I’ll give you a hint: it’s NOT one of acquiescence.

And by the way, it’s NOT just a Catholic issue. Just because Christian churches don’t have a tenet forbidding contraceptives, they are ALL united against abortion. That’s what brought Catholic, Christian, Jewish, and even Muslim groups together in unity against this mandate. But you don’t hear anything about that anymore, do you?

This is how the media works to further leftist agendas: with a vacuum. They locked the issue of mandatory government-funded abortion into a vacuum chamber, and only reported on “the contraception issue.” Not only did that take the worst part of the issue out of the argument completely, but it also sliced those unified groups apart and focused only on the Catholic church, an organization liberals knew they could easily roll over. Divide and conquer, 21st century style.

I’m not surprised at how many Catholics have fallen hook, line, and sinker for it…given the fact that the Catholic Church has given in to liberal progressivism long ago in what Paul Rahe calls “Catholicism’s Pact with the Devil.”

On this whole “abolish the property tax” issue (Measure 2)

Posted on by
Reply

I haven’t been able to reconcile the philosophy that a centralized government is a bad thing with the philosophy that putting all local spending in the hands of a centralized state government is a good thing. The problem with the property tax lies with local governments, and that’s where it needs to be fixed. Measure 2 will not accomplish this. In fact, I think it’s an example of bad mechanics.

Our legislature meets part time for eighty days every two years…that is supposed to be sufficient to take on the responsibility of managing ALL local spending for the state? Not likely. Just the support structure required for the legislature to assume the additional oversight duties would amount to a huge balloon in spending and bureaucracy – and we all know how well that works out for the general citizen.

State spending under the guidance of our legislative body has soared time and time again, with no apparent frugality to be found anywhere. Now, according to Measure 2 proponents, this same legislative body is expected to be the responsible party and rein in all this rampant overspending and over-taxation by the local government bodies. These same local entities, I might add, have a pretty decent lobby already in place with the Association of Counties et cetera. Riiiiight. Am I the only one who lacks faith in the fiscal virtue of our legislature? What happens if the Democrats ever get control of it someday and cut loose the purse strings even further?

Remember Governor Hoeven’s ill-fated “property tax relief”? It was a shell game which did little if anything to relieve property taxes in the short term, but it hung the issue squarely around the neck of the state legislature. I remind you that the legislature neither levies nor collects property taxes – but thanks to this blunder, they own it in the eyes of the people.

I read another interesting point about rural counties a while ago. Much of the land in these counties is owned by non-residents. If the property tax goes away, it will not be replaced by income or sales tax from these people; they’re not here to pay it. This will in essence defund many counties, instead requiring the rest of North Dakotans to ante up to pay the difference.

This proposed measure, Measure 2, is an ill-fitting band-aid. We all agree that local (city/county) governments are abusing their power to spend money, assess property values, and levy property taxes; however, this measure does nothing to address that. It takes the idea of spending out of the hands of one bunch of free-spenders and puts it in the hands of another, one which meets once every two years, is barely allowed enough time to finish its business, and has proven itself no more responsible with taxpayer dollars than the local entities this measure aims to dethrone. The stand against abusive property taxes, if it really wants to enjoy any measurable success, needs to be taken at the local level…period.

Sanstead mulls re-election bid…could it hinge on voters discovering his department’s pro-homosexuality agenda in public schools?

Posted on by
Reply

The Bismarck Tribune recently ran this article stating that Wayne Sanstead hasn’t decided on whether or not he’ll be running for another term as head of North Dakota’s Department of Public Instruction. He asserts that health and tradition play a factor. I’d like to see another very important factor come into play.

Wayne Sanstead’s DPI is persistent in trying to fly a pro-homosexuality agenda under our collective radar and into our children’s classrooms. The groups they affiliate themselves with are the same cadre of twisted freaks who got busted teaching “fisting” and “rimming” to school children in Massachusetts in 2009.

Here’s my post from the first time they tried to sneak this garbage into our schools. People found out about what was planned to take place, they notified their legislators, and the DPI folks colluded with their out-of-state partners to hunker down and wait for the legislative session to come and go. And that’s what they did.

Here’s my post about when they actually pulled it off, just like they’d planned. The Bismarck Tribune, by the way, printed a glowing article making DPI’s Sandra Tibke look like a cross between a martyr and a modern day Mother Teresa. It’s no wonder that, if you try to comment on the Sanstead story highlighting things that concern you about this garbage taking place during his term of service, those comments never reach the light of day.

I admit, I only visit the comments section of the Bismarck Tribune website very infrequently…and only when I find myself with a few dozen extra IQ points I want to shave off by subjecting myself to the comments posted therein. But this time, when I decide to chime in with something that doesn’t fit the agenda, it never got posted. The Bismarck Tribune is very transparent on where they stand on the issue.

If Wayne Sanstead does choose to run for re-election, this needs to come out. Regardless of your views on homosexuality, is the public school classroom really the place for advocacy? Do we really want to put our teachers in that position, whether they want it or not? Do North Dakota parents want to cede parental authority in matters of morality and sexuality to their children’s schools, whose view on these matters is obvious and agenda-driven? Under Sanstead’s leadership, DPI’s position seems to be in the affirmative on all counts. We need to stop this, and put an end to his term as head of DPI.

335 years of thanking God on Thanksgiving Day – although Barack Obama still gets it wrong

Posted on by
Reply


This turkey isn’t the only one I’m blogging about. Although politics demand that President Obama still pay lip service to God deep in the last paragraph of his Presidential Thanksgiving Proclamation, he manages to get the entire tradition of the holiday wrong. Whether it’s the way he was taught by agenda-driven teachers or it’s simply his “progressive” ideology showing through, it’s just plain WRONG.

For context, here are a few important Thanksgiving proclamations from some dead guys you may or may not have read about and one former President:

The First Thanksgiving Proclamation: June 20, 1676

The Holy God having by a long and Continual Series of his Afflictive dispensations in and by the present Warr with the Heathen Natives of this land, written and brought to pass bitter things against his own Covenant people in this wilderness, yet so that we evidently discern that in the midst of his judgements he hath remembered mercy, having remembered his Footstool in the day of his sore displeasure against us for our sins, with many singular Intimations of his Fatherly Compassion, and regard; reserving many of our Towns from Desolation Threatened, and attempted by the Enemy, and giving us especially of late with many of our Confederates many signal Advantages against them, without such Disadvantage to ourselves as formerly we have been sensible of, if it be the Lord’s mercy that we are not consumed, It certainly bespeaks our positive Thankfulness, when our Enemies are in any measure disappointed or destroyed; and fearing the Lord should take notice under so many Intimations of his returning mercy, we should be found an Insensible people, as not standing before Him with Thanksgiving, as well as lading him with our Complaints in the time of pressing Afflictions:

The Council has thought meet to appoint and set apart the 29th day of this instant June, as a day of Solemn Thanksgiving and praise to God for such his Goodness and Favour, many Particulars of which mercy might be Instanced, but we doubt not those who are sensible of God’s Afflictions, have been as diligent to espy him returning to us; and that the Lord may behold us as a People offering Praise and thereby glorifying Him; the Council doth commend it to the Respective Ministers, Elders and people of this Jurisdiction; Solemnly and seriously to keep the same Beseeching that being persuaded by the mercies of God we may all, even this whole people offer up our bodies and souls as a living and acceptable Service unto God by Jesus Christ.

By the Governing council of Charlestown, Massachusetts


First Presidential Thanksgiving Proclamation – George Washington, 1789

By the President of the United States of America, a Proclamation.

Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor– and whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.

Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be– That we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks–for his kind care and protection of the People of this Country previous to their becoming a Nation–for the signal and manifold mercies, and the favorable interpositions of his Providence which we experienced in the course and conclusion of the late war–for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty, which we have since enjoyed–for the peaceable and rational manner, in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national One now lately instituted–for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed; and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and in general for all the great and various favors which he hath been pleased to confer upon us.

and also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech him to pardon our national and other transgressions– to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually–to render our national government a blessing to all the people, by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed–to protect and guide all Sovereigns and Nations (especially such as have shewn kindness unto us) and to bless them with good government, peace, and concord–To promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the encrease of science among them and us–and generally to grant unto all Mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as he alone knows to be best.

Given under my hand at the City of New York the third day of October in the year of our Lord 1789.

George Washington

1863 Presidential Thanksgiving Proclamation

The year that is drawing toward its close has been filled with the blessings of fruitful years and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the Source from which they come, others have been added which are of so extraordinary a nature that they can not fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever-watchful providence of Almighty God.

In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign states to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere, except in the theater of military conflict, while that theater has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union.

Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the field of peaceful industry to the national defense have not arrested the plow, the shuttle, or the ship; the ax has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than theretofore. Population has steadily increased notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege, and the battlefield, and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom.

No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy.

It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently, and gratefully acknowledged, as with one heart and one voice, by the whole American people. I do therefore invite my fellow-citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners, or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it, as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes, to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility, and union.

In testimony wherof I have herunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

(Signed)Abraham Lincoln

1877 Presidential Thanksgiving Proclamation

The completed circle of summer and winter, seedtime and harvest, has brought us to the accustomed season at which a religious people celebrates with praise and thanksgiving the enduring mercy of Almighty God. This devout and public confession of the constant dependence of man upon the divine favor for all the goodgifts of life and health and peace and happiness, so early in our history made the habit of our people, finds in the survey of the past year new grounds for its joyful and grateful manifestation.

In all the blessings which depend upon benignant seasons, this has indeed been a memorable year. Over the wide territory of our country, with all its diversity of soil and climate and products, the earth has yielded a bountiful return to the labor of the husbandman. The health of the people has been blighted by no prevalent or widespread diseases. No great disasters of shipwreck upon our coasts or to our commerce on the seas have brought loss and hardship to merchants or mariners and clouded the happiness of the community with sympathetic sorrow.

In all that concerns our strength and peace and greatness as a nation; in all that touches the permanence and security of our Government and the beneficent institutions on which it rests; in all that affects the character and dispositions of our people and tests our capacity to enjoy and uphold the equal and free condition of society, now permanent and universal throughout the land, the experience of the last year is conspicuously marked by the protecting providence of God and is full of promise and hope for the coming generations.

Under a sense of these infinite obligations to the Great Ruler of Times and Seasons and Events, let us humbly ascribe it to our own faults and frailties if in any degree that perfect concord and happiness, peace and justice, which such great mercies should diffuse through the hearts and lives of our people do not altogether and always and everywhere prevail. Let us with one spirit and with one voice lift up praise and thanksgiving to God for His manifold goodness to our land, His manifest care for our nation.

Now, therefore, I, Rutherford B. Hayes, President of the United States, do appoint Thursday, the 29th day of November next, as a day of national thanksgiving and prayer; and I earnestly recommend that, withdrawing themselves from secular cares and labors, the people of the United States do meet together on that day in their respective places of worship, there to give thanks and praise to Almighty God for His mercies and to devoutly beseech their continuance.

(signed)R.B. HAYES

1987 Presidential Thanksgiving Proclamation

Thanksgiving Day is one of our most beloved holidays, an occasion set aside by Americans from earliest times to thank our Maker prayerfully and humbly for the blessings and the care He bestows on us and on our beautiful, bountiful land. Through the decades, through the centuries, in log cabins, country churches, cathedrals, homes, and halls, the American people have paused to give thanks to God, in time of peace and plenty or of danger and distress.

Acknowledgment of dependence on God’s favor was, in fact, our fledgling Nation’s very first order of business. When the delegates to the First Continental Congress met in Philadelphia in 1774, they overcame discord by uniting in prayer for our country. Despite the differences among them as they began their work, they found common voice in the 35th Psalm, which concludes with a verse of joyous gratitude, “And my tongue shall speak of thy righteousness and of they praise all the day long.”

This year, of course, our Thanksgiving Day celebration coincides with the Bicentennial of the Constitution. In 1789 the government established by that great charter of freedom, and “the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed,” were cited by George Washington in the first Presidential Thanksgiving Proclamation as among “the great and various favors” conferred upon us by the Lord and Ruler of Nations. As we thank the God our first President called “that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be,” we have even greater cause for gratitude than the fresh triumphs that inspired Washington’s prose. We have seen the splendor of our natural resource spread across the tables of the world, and we have seen the splendor of freedom cursing with new vigor through the channels of history. The cause for which we give thanks, for which so many of our citizens through the years have given their lies, has endured 200 years – a blessing to us and a light to all mankind.

On Thanksgiving Day, 1987, let us, in this unbroken chain of observance, dedicate ourselves to honor anew the Author of Liberty and to publicly acknowledge our debt to all those who have sacrificed so much in our behalf. May our gratitude always be coupled with petitions for divine guidance and protection for our Nation and with ready help for our neighbors in time of need.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, RONALD REAGAN, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim Thursday, November 26, 1987, as a National Day of Thanksgiving, and I call upon the citizens of this great Nation to gather together in homes and places of worship on that day of thanks to affirm by their prayers and their gratitude the many blessings God has bestowed upon us.

(signed)RONALD REAGAN


1989 Presidential Thanksgiving Proclamation

On Thanksgiving Day, we Americans pause as a Nation to give thanks for the freedom and prosperity with which we have been blessed by our Creator. Like the pilgrims who first settled in this land, we offer praise to God for His goodness and generosity and rededicate ourselves to lives of service and virtue in His sight.

This annual observance of Thanksgiving was a cherished American tradition even before our first President, George Washington, issued the first Presidential Thanksgiving proclamation in 1789. In his first Inaugural Address, President Washington observed that “No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the Invisible Hand which conducts the affairs of men more than those of the United States.” He noted that the American people – blessed with victory in their fight for Independence and with an abundance of crops in their fields – owed God “some return of pious gratitude.” Later, in a confidential note to his close advisor, James Madison, he asked “should the sense of the Senate be taken on … a day of Thanksgiving?” George Washington thus led the way to a Joint Resolution of Congress requesting the President to set aside “a day of public Thanksgiving and Prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal Favors of Almighty God.”

Through the eloquent words of President Washington’s initial Thanksgiving proclamation – the first under the Constitution – we are reminded of our dependence upon our Heavenly Father and of the debt of gratitude we owe to Him. “It is the Duty of all Nations,” wrote Washington, “to acknowledge the Providence of almighty God, to obey his Will, to be grateful for his Benefits, and humbly to implore His Protection and Favor.”

President Washington asked that on Thanksgiving Day the people of the United States:

“unite in rendering unto [God] our sincere and humble Thanks for his kind Care and Protection of the People of this Country previous to their becoming a Nation; for … the great degree of Tranquility, Union and Plenty which we have since enjoyed; for … the civil and religious Liberty with which we are blessed, and … for all the great and various Favors which he hath been pleased to confer upon us.”

Two hundred years later, we continue to offer thanks to the Almighty – not only for the material prosperity that our Nation enjoys, but also for the blessings of peace and freedom. Our Nation has no greater treasures than these.
As we pause to acknowledge the kindnesses God has shown to us – and, indeed, His gift of life itself – we do so in a spirit of humility as well as gratitude. When the United States was still a fledgling democracy, President Washington asked the American people to unite in prayer to the “great Lord and ruler of Nations,” in order to:

“beseech him to pardon our national and other Transgressions; to enable us all, whether in public or private Stations, to perform our several and relative Duties properly and punctually; to render our national Government a blessing to all the People, by constantly being a Government of wise, just and constitutional Laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all Sovereigns and Nations … and to bless them with good Government, peace and Concord.”

Today, we, too, pause on Thanksgiving with humble and contrite hearts, mindful of God’s mercy and forgiveness and of our continued need for His protection and guidance. On this day, we also remember that one gives praise to God not only through prayers of thanksgiving, but also through obedience to His commandments and service to others, especially those less fortunate than ourselves.

While some Presidents followed Washington’s precedent, and some State Governors did as well, President Lincoln – despite being faced with the dark specter of civil war – renewed the practice of proclaiming a national day of Thanksgiving. This venerable tradition has been sustained by every President since then, in times of strife as well as times of peace and prosperity.

Today, we continue to offer thanks and praise to our Creator, that “Great Author of every public and private good,” for the many blessings He has bestowed upon us. In so doing, we recall the timeless words of the 100th Psalm:

“Serve the Lord with gladness: come before His presence with singing.
Know ye that the Lord He is God: it is He that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture.
Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise: be thankful unto Him, and bless His name.
For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting; and His truth endureth to all generations.”

NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE BUSH, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim Thursday, November 23, 1989, as a National Day of Thanksgiving, and I call upon the American people to gather together in homes and places of worship on that day of thanks to affirm by their prayers and their gratitude the many blessings God has bestowed upon us and our Nation.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this seventeenth day of November, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eighty-nine, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and fourteenth.

(signed)GEORGE BUSH


2007 Presidential Thanksgiving Proclamation

Americans are a grateful people, ever mindful of the many ways we have been blessed. On Thanksgiving Day, we lift our hearts in gratitude for the freedoms we enjoy, the people we love, and the gifts of our prosperous land.

Our country was founded by men and women who realized their dependence on God and were humbled by His providence and grace. The early explorers and settlers who arrived in this land gave thanks for God’s protection and for the extraordinary natural abundance they found. Since the first National Day of Thanksgiving was proclaimed by President George Washington, Americans have come together to offer thanks for our many blessings. We recall the great privilege it is to live in a land where freedom is the right of every person and where all can pursue their dreams. We express our deep appreciation for the sacrifices of the honorable men and women in uniform who defend liberty. As they work to advance the cause of freedom, our Nation keeps these brave individuals and their families in our thoughts, and we pray for their safe return.

While Thanksgiving is a time to gather in a spirit of gratitude with family, friends, and neighbors, it is also an opportunity to serve others and to share our blessings with those in need. By answering the universal call to love a neighbor as we want to be loved ourselves, we make our Nation a more hopeful and caring place.

This Thanksgiving, may we reflect upon the past year with gratefulness and look toward the future with hope. Let us give thanks for all we have been given and ask God to continue to bless our families and our Nation.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim Thursday, November 22, 2007, as a National Day of Thanksgiving. I encourage all Americans to gather together in their homes and places of worship with family, friends, and loved ones to reinforce the ties that bind us and give thanks for the freedoms and many blessings we enjoy.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this fifteenth day of November, in the year of our Lord two thousand seven, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-second.

(signed)GEORGE W. BUSH

Let’s contrast those with today’s proclamation from our Dear Leader:


2011 Presidential Thanksgiving Proclamation

One of our Nation’s oldest and most cherished traditions, Thanksgiving Day brings us closer to our loved ones and invites us to reflect on the blessings that enrich our lives. The observance recalls the celebration of an autumn harvest centuries ago, when the Wampanoag tribe joined the Pilgrims at Plymouth Colony to share in the fruits of a bountiful season. The feast honored the Wampanoag for generously extending their knowledge of local game and agriculture to the Pilgrims, and today we renew our gratitude to all American Indians and Alaska Natives. We take this time to remember the ways that the First Americans have enriched our Nation’s heritage, from their generosity centuries ago to the everyday contributions they make to all facets of American life. As we come together with friends, family, and neighbors to celebrate, let us set aside our daily concerns and give thanks for the providence bestowed upon us.

(NOTE: Thanksgiving was to thank God, not the Native Americans. They were there as guests and friends. I know that public school will teach you how we evil Europeans came over and began spreading disease, homophobia, and Christianity all over the place… but don’t let the teachers’ union fool you.)

Though our traditions have evolved, the spirit of grace and humility at the heart of Thanksgiving has persisted through every chapter of our story. When President George Washington proclaimed our country’s first Thanksgiving, he praised a generous and knowing God for shepherding our young Republic through its uncertain beginnings. Decades later, President Abraham Lincoln looked to the divine to protect those who had known the worst of civil war, and to restore the Nation “to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility, and union.”

(NOTE: Only one calling themselves “liberal” or “progressive” seeks to promote “evolving” traditions. That’s because they don’t like the traditions on which our nation was founded. They seek to undermine those traditions at every turn, contradicting them with the education system and its revisionist history.)

In times of adversity and times of plenty, we have lifted our hearts by giving humble thanks for the blessings we have received and for those who bring meaning to our lives. Today, let us offer gratitude to our men and women in uniform for their many sacrifices, and keep in our thoughts the families who save an empty seat at the table for a loved one stationed in harm’s way. And as members of our American family make do with less, let us rededicate ourselves to our friends and fellow citizens in need of a helping hand.

(NOTE: Nobody is more grateful to our men and women in uniform than I. Certainly I am thankful for them this day, along with 364 other days every year. No matter what though, this day is about thanking God first and foremost. And why do you suppose so many families are forced to “make do with less” this year? The answer lies in Washington, DC.)

As we gather in our communities and in our homes, around the table or near the hearth, we give thanks to each other and to God for the many kindnesses and comforts that grace our lives. Let us pause to recount the simple gifts that sustain us, and resolve to pay them forward in the year to come.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim Thursday, November 24, 2011, as a National Day of Thanksgiving. I encourage the people of the United States to come together whether in our homes, places of worship, community centers, or any place of fellowship for friends and neighbors to give thanks for all we have received in the past year, to express appreciation to those whose lives enrich our own, and to share our bounty with others.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this sixteenth day of November, in the year of our Lord two thousand eleven, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-sixth.

BARACK OBAMA

I don’t take every opportunity I can to make verbal jabs at the President, but this is one that really pushes my buttons. I have a personal belief that a multitude of virtues can spring forth from simple thankfulness. That thankfulness can only be rightfully shown primarly to God. Sadly there are too many in power right now that are ambivalent toward God at best, and gods unto themselves at worst. Today is yet another tradition they seek to twist and “evolve” into one best suiting their agenda and ideology, and I’m going to call them on it every November.

Yeah…about that “ninety-nine percent” thing

Posted on by
Reply

UPDATE: Click on this link to see who is supporting this “movement.”

This afternoon on my way home from work I spotted three hapless kids holding anti-capitalist signs at the top of 7th Street. While the urge might be to try to hurl some common sense their way while waiting for the red light to change, these useful idiots are not worth the time or effort. They’re there because it fills an emotional need, not because the content of those signs bears any resemblance to reality.

I had a fun idea: make a parody of the handwritten sign meme recently made popular by the “Occupy” protests (the term “occupy” itself is funny, because it’s another retread term from the failed “revolutions” of the 1960’s).

I looked at the notes posted in photos by many of these protestors: many hiding their faces, most scrawling notes about tens of thousands of college loan debt for meaningless majors and worthless liberal arts degrees, all wanting someone ELSE to do something about it. That is so contrary to how North Dakotans tend to view themselves and the standard to which we hold ourselves that I felt moved to make a little note of my own.

Here’s a larger version if the one above is hard to read on your screen. I simply wanted to highlight that I believe the exact opposite of what those greedy protesters are all “occupying” for. I call them greedy because in my mind what they’re doing, demanding that someone else give them their property, is far more greedy than some rich guy wanting to keep what he’s earned.

A friend of mine walked around one of the Occupy Bismarck protests and asked people about their signs and what they meant. Most couldn’t answer the questions, and used “I didn’t make this sign” as an excuse. That makes perfect sense, even if the leftist cliches on their signs do not. Clearly these people aren’t the real 99% of anything except maybe the Democrat Party.

Wayne Sanstead’s DPI folks training to coerce your children’s view of sexuality

Posted on by
Reply

Yes, that’s right: they’re at it again. The last time Wayne Sanstead’s staff at DPI tried to get away with this, parents and others spoke out and got it cancelled. It was only six months ago, but they’re back.

According to the NDEA website, DPI is going to be presenting at an NDEA “Own the Change” conference this week (where have we heard that word “Change” so often before?) at Century High School. Its keynote speaker, Jo Anderson Jr., “has a background in community organizing” and spent time in Illinois (as did our president) “working particularly on efforts of the union” before landing a cushy gig as an Advisor to the Secretary of Education.

Well…Hope™ and Change™ come to North Dakota public schools! That’s no surprise given the NDEA’s involvement; however, DPI’s is even more perverse:

Sandy Tibke, one of Sanstead’s own staff, is going to be training teachers on normalizing “LGBTQ” behavior among our children. By the way, notice they’ve added the “Q” for “questioning”. That means if your child gets confused about sexuality issues, guess who’s ready to do the advocating counseling? Not you, I’d bet. Notice, by the way, how they keep adding letters to the acronym as they attempt to normalize additional deviant sexual behaviors. How long until they add a second B for Bestiality, or who knows what else? Maybe Ms. Tibke has the answer.

We’d like to think that North Dakota is resistant of all this Hope™ and Change™ – but Wayne Sanstead’s DPI is persistent in trying to fly it under our collective radar. Here’s my post from the last time they tried to sneak this garbage into our schools. The groups they affiliate themselves with are the same cadre of twisted freaks who got busted teaching “fisting” and “rimming” to school children in Massachusetts in 2009.

How do you suppose you “start creating a safe school environment” for deviant sexual behavior? Easy: tell the other kids that their parents are hateful bigots, their religion and faith are wrong, and that the perverts are the normal ones. Undermine parental authority and the free exercise of faith and religion guaranteed by the First Amendment, and squelch any opposition to the advance of the queer agenda in our school system. Intimidate the kids and the parents with threats of “discrimination” and “gender bias” and you’re free to do whatever you want!

The only ones dealing with children’s sexuality should be their parents – but that’s apparently not the way DPI sees it. I hope this comes out in future elections, by the way. Homosexual advocates tell us to “stay out of our bedrooms” but they’re hell-bent on getting into our childrens’ classrooms!

THANK YOU to Janne Myrdal of Concerned Women for America for posting this on the Say Anything Blog. As she points out, you can call the DPI at 701-328-2260 or e-mail wsanstead@nd.gov to urge them to abort this “training” and keep the homosexual agenda out of North Dakota’s public education system.

Oh yes…here’s where I back it up. Here are the PDFs from the NDEA:

Program for the “Own the Change” conference (PDF)

NDEA website describing the event (PDF)

Hot Air has a disturbing look at where this sort of thing is headed: “Do safe schools require an iron fisting?”

The most expensive way to NOT make a difference

Posted on by
Reply

The wind farms popping up around North Dakota are the bane of the photographer. They spoil fantastic views of pristine landscapes, often sitting idle while they do so. I agree with much of Dennis Stillings says in one of articles about these “Prairie Pinwheels”. Many of his works published in the Dakota Beacon Magazine.

The machine pictured above, visible on the west side of Highway 83 as you approach Minot, has sat broken for many weeks. I think it’s a pretty good picture of the dependability of wind power. When there’s not enough wind, they don’t function. When there’s too much wind, they don’t function. When they do, they put the hippies in a quandary when they start killing birds in the name of being “Green™.” Oh yeah…and they’re LOUD.

I “re-appropriated” the title of this post from the folks at Envirogy, a website which has collected a number of studies dispelling the myth of wind power as a panacea. In fact, the opposite could be demonstrated to be true. Compiling studies from places such as windaction.org, they are able to point out the flaws in the utopian view of impact-free windmills churning peacefully across the fruited plane, freeing us from the shackles of evil corporations. Take a look at this article and the studies linked therein.

When life gives you lemons, you of course make lemonade…but don’t dare let your little kids sell it, or the government will shut them down for not having a pile of required licenses and permits. In the case of the wind towers, however, there are occasionally some photographic opportunities. This is one of them. I spotted it several evenings ago when I happened to be in the right place at the right time, which for me is a large chunk of photography’s appeal. I had to maneuver a little bit to get to the right position, but things aligned themselves almost automatically.

There you have it, the musings of someone who doesn’t drink the “renewable energy” Kool-Aid, some web links to provide a little weekend reading, and of course another windmill photo of sorts. Have a great weekend!

Cutting to the corps of the issue… with lots of web links, as usual

Posted on by
Reply

The Army Corps of Engineers has some tough questions to answer. I don’t envy them. A recent investigation is turning up some very interesting emails regarding the Missouri River flood situation.

The most notable passage I’ve read so far is where Todd Lindquist writes, “I’m headed home. I no longer look people in the eye and tell them the forecast is 85,000 cfs from Garrison.” As it turns out, releases would eventually exceed that number by another 70,000 cfs… a fact North Dakota would be told only gradually.

There have been plenty of people making the case that the river was horribly mismanaged prior to the flood event. I wouldn’t argue with that. Now it’s time to figure out where everything went sideways and to prevent it from happening again.

In a way, I have a lot of sympathy for the Corps of Engineers; after all, they have strict guidelines to which they must adhere, guidelines which result in quite a juggling act as they struggle to make many competing interests happy. That’s quite an unenviable position.

Any investigation and resulting action that is taken in the aftermath of the Missouri River flood needs to be more than a simple headhunt. It also needs to take a long, hard look at the way the Missouri river system master management manual is written. Perhaps the dams should be returned to their original intended purpose: flood control. That way when barge traffic, recreation, and an endangered bird begin to cause mismanagement of the system, people’s lives and property don’t become casualties of the resulting mess.

Insert recycled Independence Day fireworks photo here. Gladly.

Posted on by
Reply

Despite my fancy new camera and the desire to wield it, I made a pledge as Independence Day weekend approached: I’d leave it at home. This was no small matter, since I’m accustomed to taking a camera with me nearly everywhere I go. The photo above is from 2009, when it won a spot in the Governor’s Photo Contest and appeared in the 2010 North Dakota Travel Guide. It was photo number 43,000 through my Canon 20D, which is now around 57,000 exposures old.

Actually, the conditions on that evening in 2009 have never been matched: the sky was a beautiful blue, not totally dark, yet the fireworks blazed on. Photographically speaking it was perfect light, something that comes along very infrequently. Still, I’d love the opportunity to shoot this gig with my new camera. There are, however, more important things at hand.

I take the job of being Daddy very seriously. My boys are now both old enough to enjoy the fireworks display, although they still hold their ears. No diaper bags, long stroller rides, or other “baby stuff” – I have two little men in my house. Those men rely on Daddy to show ’em the ropes, and I’m up to the task.

My dad’s idea of fulfilling his responsibility as a father involved working himself harder than his body could bear in order to provide for his family. He succeeded in both. As a boy I remember noticing that Dad worked. A LOT. I’m sure it was what he thought was best for us, to work hard and provide. There were times where I had some special one-on-one memories with my dad, but one still stands out most prominently in my memory: the day he took me to a railyard and got me a ride on a real train. That’s not my dad in the photo above…that’s the engineer that drove us around the yard.

I found these photos by accident yesterday, but they were a perfectly timed reminder of how special such a time like this can be. I knock myself out trying to find fun and unusual places to take my boys, even at their young ages, to give them memories such as the one I had. I’ve vowed not to be too busy with work or selfish things because I know how much having even one such memory with my Daddy meant to me. I hadn’t even realized that he took a camera with and took photos, something I never recalled him doing. What a discovery!

These precious little men aren’t just looking for Daddy to teach them about stuff like trucks, trains, or cameras… they’re counting on me to teach them about life. Rule Number One about being Daddy is making sure that family comes first. It’s a tough one, since I was single until my mid-thirties, but I work hard at it. If a guy’s got any character at all, how can he not strive to put Mommy and the kiddos before himself? Besides, I’d trade a hundred prize-winning photos for ones like the shot above. They’re watching me through their little viewfinders every single day, and as I learn what’s really important in life I intend to show them, and to lead by example.