While I have posted frequently about Ron Paul on Facebook, I don’t often bring it to the blog.  However, this quote just breaks all the rules.  I can’t help sharing it.

“The notion of a rigid separation between church and state has no basis in either the text of the Constitution or the writings of our Founding Fathers. On the contrary, our Founders’ political views were strongly informed by their religious beliefs. Certainly the drafters of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, both replete with references to God, would be aghast at the federal government’s hostility to religion. The establishment clause of the First Amendment was simply intended to forbid the creation of an official state church like the Church of England, not to drive religion out of public life.

The Founding Fathers envisioned a robustly Christian yet religiously tolerant America, with churches serving as vital institutions that would eclipse the state in importance. Throughout our nation’s history, churches have done what no government can ever do, namely teach morality and civility. Moral and civil individuals are largely governed by their own sense of right and wrong, and hence have little need for external government. This is the real reason the collectivist Left hates religion: Churches as institutions compete with the state for the people’s allegiance, and many devout people put their faith in God before their faith in the state. Knowing this, the secularists wage an ongoing war against religion, chipping away bit by bit at our nation’s Christian heritage.”

~Ron Paul (source)

I came across this quote and had to share.  I would like to tatoo it to the forehead of every politician we elect for the next 20 years.  If we did it in mirror image, they could read it every morning when they stand in front of the mirror, and maybe something would soak in.

Google attributes it to Dr. Adrian Rogers, though I could not find any single source that struck me as particularly reliable.  It sounds more like the founding fathers of America or something from the Anti-Federalist papers.  Maybe he was quoting them?

You cannot legislate the poor into freedom by legislating the wealthy out of freedom.

What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving.

The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else.

When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that, my dear friend, is about the end of any nation.

You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it.

~Dr. Adrian P. Rogers, three-time president of the Southern Baptist Convention

I also found that all 5 sentences were nearly always quoted as a single paragraph, but they seem to me more like unconnected excerpts.  What do you think?

The lines above remind me very much of The Law by Frederic Bastiat which I read in high school, and this quote which I thought came from Bastiat’s book but is instead attributed with some uncertainty to Alexander Tytler.

No republic has long outlived the discovery by a majority of its people that they could vote themselves largesse from the public treasury.

Just in time for the birthday of the great usurper, Jasime Baucham who blogs @ joyfullyathomeblog.com has given us a look at the facts surrounding Abraham Lincoln’s Presidency. Just a quote from the article:

Abraham Lincoln’s heroism is great exaggerated in modern circles. His own words prove that he was not a proponent of emancipation, he did not believe in racial equality, and his Emancipation Proclamation did not emancipate a single slave…

read the rest of the article here

If you haven’t heard this amazing little pianist, then you’re really missing out.

Emily Bear is 7 now, and has released 3 CDs in the past years.  You can also find Emily Bear on Amazon, where you can download individual songs for $.99.  Below are some of her own original compositions.  I find her music to be very soothing, yet interesting.  I imagine it would be very good background music for difficult work.

Maybe if I had music like this playing in the background at my house, I could remember…well…stuff that I forgot…I’m not sure what stuff.

ht to Natalie Wickam

I love The Common Room blog, but I always come away steaming mad.  Being informed on political matters often has that effect, it seems.

• “We are God’s partners in matters of life and death,” Obama said… Yes, I’m sure there was a greater context to this statement, but do we really need or want to know?
• White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki seems to assert that unintended consequences don’t exist. Yet another downside to the Cash For Clunkers fiasco, or C4C as I prefer to call it.
• CPSIA will affect not only Craigslist and thrift stores – their current focus -  but even yard sales. When toys are outlawed, only criminals will have toys.
• Despite what Obama said, the House bill would allow abortions to be covered by a federal plan and by federally subsidized private plans. Did you ever doubt it, from the single most rabid opponent of the Born Alive Act?

I don’t tend to keep up with politics unless an issue hits me in the head or the gut.  There are certain advantages to keeping one’s head in the sand.

I found this snippet at the Common Room this morning in a post entitled, Does the President Understand the Math?  Does He Care?

On the Washington Post: a new level in euphemism:

The recession has entered a new phase, pulling away from an economic abyss into a period of steep, but orderly, decline.

When I read the Washington Post quote, I couldn’t help but see the Dude Falling.   Have you seen him?  You really should.  Be sure to watch the whole thing – it’s only about 40 seconds, and I think he does a fantastic impression of the current state and likely future of our economy.

I know a lot of people are scared, but I have a confession to make.  I can’t help being suspicious that the general public is being whipped into a panic over a manufactured crisis.  Every time I hear somebody on the news say, “Don’t panic, but…” it just sounds like they are suggesting that you’re going to feel the need to panic when you know all the facts.

It’s like talking to a little kid who just skinned her knee.  Do you say, “You’re fine.  There’s just a few drops of blood,” or do you scream, “Don’t look!  I think you’re bleeding!”  Does any mother in the world think that’s a good way to keep a 5yo from panicking?

Call me cynical, but the CDC’s Key Facts About Swine Flu simply don’t look that scary.   The google map showing confirmed and suspected cases of Swine flu in the US doesn’t look that scary.  Influenza already kills 35,000 people every year in the US, and nearly 10 times that many people worldwide.  So far, the WHO only credits the H1N1 strain (Swine Flu) with about 13 deaths worldwide, though Mexican sources were earlier blaming it for nearly 200.

For a more balanced view than what the media is presenting, you might want to take the time to read this extensive article from Mercola.com, or watch this brief video of Ron Paul reminiscing about the 1976 outbreak.  Did you know that exactly 1 person died from Swine flu back then, while at least 25 died from vaccinations and thousands suffered severe side effects of the vaccinations?

First, the government wanted to bail out our economy.  Now we have a health crisis, and they’re ready to leap to our rescue again.   Can I see a show of hands?  Who think this might help certain parties in their goal to achieve nationalized healthcare?