2008 California Election Forum

About a month ago, MoveOn.org ran a disturbing ad that basically attacked not only a honorable man, General Petraeus, but also our soldiers.

Well, the Senate went on record condemning the ad and expressing support for our troops.

The vote: An overwhelming 72 yes to 25 no.

While it should have been unanimous, here is how California voted:

• Feinstein: No
• Boxer: No

Also of interest—votes of Democratic candidates running for President:

• Hillary Clinton: No
• Chris Dodd: No
• Joe Biden: Did Not Vote
• Barack Obama: Did Not Vote

A new lawsuit has been filed to protect Christians 1st and 14th Amendment rights to free speech and equal access to assemble for Bible study.

A group for over 6 years had been meeting weekly for a lunchtime Bible study.

The Superior Court in San Diego recently denied their right to have equal access to a vacant room. Other groups like Weight Watchers and the Boy Scouts also use rooms.

Pray that this unconstitutional and discriminating action will overturn by the court.

While the court has changed its answer as to why it denied the group their constitutional freedoms, one reason states the meeting violates the constitutional separation of church and state.

But it doesn't violate any such principle.

Some in San Diego agree with the court's decision:

• "They should keep their loony beliefs away from where they are likely to annoy sane people, whenever possible. Religion is an addiction that should only be consumed in a church or at one's home."
• "Let the Weight Watchers meet at the courthouse if they want. But please, no religious nut job groups of any kind. And I wouldn't mind if that ban extended to parks, as [someone else] mentioned."
• "There is supposed to be a "separation of church and state" in this country. Because [the Bible study group was] getting away with their meetings for a while doesn't mean it's legal."
• "The fact this group was allowed to do this to begin with is outrageous. I hope their suit is thrown out and they are ordered to pay the County's attorney fees for such a bogus lawsuit! Go pray at home!"
• "We are in war right now with religious nuts. Fanaticals are unpredictable. When you study the Bible instead of having your lunch, you are fanatical and need professional help."

Pray for the court to back down. If it doesn't, pray that the Bible study group wins.

The Bible study group will be incurring a lot of expenses for this fight. If you'd like to help with this fight, contact the Christian legal defense group, Advocates for Faith and Freedom at This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or call the group Toll-Free at 888-588-6888.

If the United States abandons the fight for freedom in Iraq, one of the great concerns is the inevitable genocide of millions of innocent people, similar to the slaughter that occurred when U.S. forces left Cambodia.

This includes one million "Assyrian" Christians.

The National Clergy Council, representing all the Christian faiths in Iraq, delivered thousands of petitions to Democratic congressional leaders Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid warning that if U.S. troops are withdrawn before a stable Iraq is formed, thousands and thousands of Christians will be slaughtered.

The Clergy issued a statement saying, "If our troops are forced to withdraw early, Pelosi and Reid will have the blood of martyrs on their hands. Plead with our congressional leaders not to put political gain ahead of protection of imprisoned Iraqi Christians."

In Washington this week, General Petraeus and Iraq Ambassador Crocker both publicly and privately supported the Christians. Said Petraeus, "We fully support all help for the Assyrian Christians and understand their unique situation."

The March 16 issue of TIME magazine had an interesting poll, from people in 27 countries.

The most admired countries:

1. Canada
2. Japan
3. France
4. Britain
5. Communist China

The least admired countries:

1. Israel
2. Iran
3. United States
4. North Korea
5. Russia

What?

Commentary worth reading...

"Thought experiment: Bring in a completely neutral observer—a Martian—and point out to him that the United States is involved in two hot wars against radical Islamic insurgents. One is in Afghanistan, a geographically marginal backwater with no resources and no industrial or technological infrastructure.

"The other is in Iraq, one of the three principal Arab states, with untold oil wealth, an educated population, and advanced military and a technological infrastructure that, though suffering decay in the later years of Saddam's rule, could easily be revived if it falls into the right (i.e., wrong) hands.

Add to that...

"...The fact that its strategic location would give its rulers inordinate influence over the entire Persian Gulf region, including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the Gulf states.

"Then ask your Martian: Which is the more important battle? He would not even understand why you are asking the question."

—Charles Krauthammer

The #1 issue we all should be concerned about is terrorism. It is our most important issue. It's like World War III has arrived and many of the politicians don’t know or don't care.

Negotiate. Spend tax money on social welfare programs. But don’t talk about terrorism. This issue was highlighted by the recent RAND study that showed the devastating consequences of a nuclear attack at the Port of Long Beach, California.

The study showed that 60,000 people would die immediately. Another 150,000 would become ill from radiation poisoning.

Evacuation and rescue would be a huge problem. And the costs of such an attack would exceed $1 trillion (9/11 cost under $100 billion).

Where does your elected official stand?

On October 31, 2006, Al-Qaeda released a new, updated version of its manual A Guide for the Undecided on the Legitimacy of Killing Christians. First published in 2002, the 56-page manual has counterterrorism experts concerned that the rerelease is evidence of Al-Qaeda again setting its eyes on America. Translated excerpts are available at www.siteinstitute.com.

Californians are at risk with liberal Controller John Chiang and liberal State Treasurer Bill Lockyer wanting to redirect state investments toward “socially responsible” investments. 

This is nonsense investing.

But in an age of terrorism, I do believe our state monies should not be going to help terrorist-sponsoring states and countries with weapons of mass destruction issues. A recent report has revealed that the California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) has 20% of its equity investments supporting these countries. The California State Teachers' Retirement System (CalSTRS) has 21%.

Where are the liberal politicians in Sacramento on this? They must be too busy pushing for outlawing spanking, trans fats in restaurants and driver's licenses for illegal aliens.

Want to let them know how you feel?

Call State Treasurer Bill Lockyer at 1-916-653-2995 or email him at www.treasurer.ca.gov/ comments.asp. You can call Controller Chiang at 1-213-833-6010 or email him at www.sco.ca.gov/eo/contact/contactgen.shtml.

And finally...I wanted to include some pictures a reader just sent me that detail some U.S. Military preparations for the Democratic war funding cutbacks.

I hope you enjoy these as much as I did.

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