Vietnam, Iraq, and the 2004 Election

NOTE: You have to read this speech from a straight-talking Southerner who really gets it about America's greatness -- the greatness of the country and of its people. If you don't subscribe to Imprimus, it is free and can be obtained by going to www.hillsdale.edu. Hillsdale College, by the way, is in Hillsdale, Michigan, and is a small "liberal" arts college that accepts NO government funding or interference of any kind. You have to love that.

God Bless you, America, the BSA, our Troops, and our Second-Term President.

PatriotMark

The Honorable Zell MillerUnited States Senator

The following is adapted from a speech delivered on December 9, 2004, at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C., at the fifth annual Hillsdale College Churchill Dinner.
http://www.hillsdale.edu/newimprimis/default.htm

. . . .

If you take one thing away with you tonight, I pray it is this: American civilization deserves protection and has earned the benefit of the doubt. Do not let barbarians use our civility and freedom to destroy our liberty. Do not let barbarians sack civilization simply because they knock gently. Holding the course for freedom is hard. But with all I’ve learned from study, age and experience, I believe, with every fiber of my body, that there comes a time when a civilization has to choose between good and evil, between freedom and tyranny.

I retire from the Senate heartened that the America of our forefathers has made, once again, the right choice for freedom. And I thank Providence above for the wisdom our Founders demonstrated by entrusting the direction of this nation to the common man and woman. From these ordinary folks, we have again seen extraordinary leadership, and for that we can all rejoice.

Not Pretty In Pink

NOTE: As a conservative, I love this guy. Can you imagine how much lower the crime rate would be if ALL Law Enforcement Officers who housed prisoners did the same kinds of things Sheriff Arpaio did? As a recovering Public Defender, I can tell you that a great number of the criminals in this country would flee to another "safer" country to get away from this kind of humiliation and treatment.

God Bless You, the BSA, America, our Troops and our Second Term President.

Patriot Mark

Arizona sheriff adds flamboyant handcuffs to his collection -- From the Smoking Gun http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/0114052pinkcuffs1.html

JANUARY 14--The Arizona sheriff who makes inmates wear pink boxer shorts and sleep on pink bed sheets has introduced a new item in his girlish inventory: fluorescent pink handcuffs. Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's deputies will place the new pink cuffs on inmates during transport. The controversial Arpaio--who never misses a chance to degrade prisoners--claims that he actually ordered 1000 sets of the pink restraints as part of an inventory control plan. Since his department's standard silver handcuffs were frequently getting pinched by Maricopa deputies and other cops, Arpaio reasoned, pink ones would be easier for him to track. Below you'll find a photo of the pink handcuffs, which was provided to us by Arpaio's office. (1 page)

The U.S. Constitution Does Not Work without Religion

There is a story going around the internet (again) about a woman testifying in a murder case in Raytown, Missouri, who was taken aback when the oath given did not include the words, "so help you God." Snopes.com (the Urban Legends search engine) indicates that the story, as told, is false (the case has not yet gone to trial, for one reason).

While the story is somewhat fabricated, it is true that at least in the Court where I practice, "so help you God" has been removed from all oaths. In most of the Courts where I have practiced over the last 22+ years, the oath given now is something to the effect of : "Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth?" Of course, "or affirm" had to be added for those who are offended by swearing an oath, and "so help you God" had to be removed so that those who don't believe in God (or who worship the devil, trees, dogs, marijuana, dirty underwear, or whatever, that is, anything other than God), are not offended. The sad truth is that there are too many people who are too easily offended by too many things. (I am offended by the lack of character or the lack of core principles of those "idiots" who are so easily "offended" by so many things.) The corollary to this sad truth, and another sad truth, is that a very small minority of "offended" people are dictating how the great majority of us live, think, and speak. And they are even more "offended" if you live, think, and speak as a Christian.

Interestingly, I heard a quote, today, by John Adams regarding the Constitution: "We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry, would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a MORAL AND RELIGIOUS people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." --October 11, 1798 [e.s.] So, according to one of the contributors to the writing of the Constitution, without religion and morality, our Constitution can not exist for very long.

It is time that we stand up for religion and Christianity. It is time we stand up for those traditional values upon which this country was founded and built. It was the Judeo-Christian principles of our Founding Fathers, and those that followed them, that helped make this Country and its people so free, wealthy, powerful, and great. This county has been, as President Reagan so eloquently stated, that shining light of freedom and opportunity standing on the hill. Unfortunately, that light has dimmed in the last 40+ years due to that small minority's efforts to turn this country to the "dark side" of human nature. Yet, the last election has shown the silent majority that we have real power, that with a little concerted effort, we can affect real change, and that we can move our culture and this great country back on the path of righteousness, goodness, and morality. It is because our people were and are religious and because they believed in and still believe in God, that we have been so blessed with the freedom, power, wealth, and greatness that we enjoy. With God's help and guidance we will continue to move our country back to God.

God Bless all of you.
May this New Year be one of God-given Blessings, and may you prosper and be happy (thereby making a liberal sad).
Patriot Mark

G-Rated Movies Rule!

MOVIE ECONOMICS
The Dysfunctional Family-Film Business
By far the best return on investment comes from G-rated films. So why aren’t more made?
By Grainger David

Note: I was discussing this very topic with friends a week or so before Christmas. With an R-rated Movie, you might sell 1-2 tickets per household; with a G-rated (or even a PG-rated movie) you would sell 3-4, or more, tickets per household. Thus (even though this article doesn't discuss it in these terms), it appears that Hollywood has an agenda that is anti-American, anti-religion, anti-family, anti-traditional values, etc., and that it is using the movies to foist that agenda on the American public.

Happy New Year. Patriot Mark

If Hollywood were run like a real business—instead of, say, like a clubby, insecure, award-crazy, star-groveling high school—where things like return on investment mattered, there would be one unchallenged, sacred principle that studio chieftains would never violate: Make lots of G-rated movies. . . .

See the article at Movie Economics: The Dysfunctional Family-Film Business
http://www.fortune.com/fortune/articles/0,15114,1011899,00.html