JOHN ROBERTS JOINS THE COURT COMMIES, DECLARES THE CONSTITUTION UNCONSTITUTIONAL!

You laughed when I typed America was long dead. Now I get to laugh at you naive idiots who put your faith in the rule of men [jug-eared commies, dictators in long black dresses, et cetera.] instead of the rule of law. [See my post from March 8, 2012 Fyodor peers into the future.   I must be getting younger. I actually allowed a sentence or two filled with earthly hope creep into that one.]

This "ruling" means everything and anything is permitted. John Boehner and Mittens the Pompadoured Heretic can't save you now. You won't have to wait long to see the left-ghouls bloodlust unleashed. [I'm guessing November 7th is the day.]

Have you ever read any books [I could stop this post right there. Get it?] about the bad old days or even today's news out of Syria, China, Korea, the entire continent of Africa, or even "civilized" places like Greece, Italy, Spain, or France? The rule of the gun, the bomb, and the knife is the history of humanity. All Americans are about to learn this the hardest way possible. 

We have had a decent 200 year run made possible by the fact this continent was so big we could just move to an empty spot when government inevitably showed its "man is wolf to man" fangs. [BTW, kiddies, this Supreme Fascist decision now proves beyond a reasonable doubt that the Indians - the real ones, not Ward Churchill or Elizabeth Warren - were right. They knew we'd fuck it up. You can take the man out of a third-world hellhole, but you can't take the sinfulness out of the man.

The worst part [so far, that is] is all the brave men who fought, died, or got mutilated fighting for a lie. America was never a shiny beacon of freedom on a hill beckoning to the oppressed masses of the world. It was just another mousetrap [albeit one that has been sprung excruciatingly slowly] built and ruled by men who don't know God, who know Him incorrectly, or who know Him correctly but do not fear him because they are insane. [Take your pick, kiddies. They are all the same in the end.] It certainly was a comfortable mousetrap, filled with cheese-like delights such as money, pornography, easy divorce, muscle cars, and the like. But like all mousetraps, it ultimately serves just one purpose. [I simply can't wait to hear what the "conservatives'" favorite living serial adulterer  has to say today. "We've really got to vote Repansycan now to restore everything to the way it was before the 1960's, which is when I started paying attention!" BTW, Glenn "mormon doesn't mean you believe stupid and dangerous things unless you're Harry Reid" Beck was preempted this morning by live coverage of The Decision from Washington. At least LeBron James won't be saddled with the dumbest dumbass decision of all time label any longer.]

What I'm trying to type is this: We are no better off than some poor dumb bastard in North Korea who is trying to keep his family alive by feeding them dirt. If you think we are, [or if you think you are] it's time to remove the blinders.

  

Hobbes had it half right in Leviathan when he described the lives of men before there was government as "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short". That's the way our lives have been since we invented government, too. We have simply chosen to pretend things are different now. You neo-darwinists in the audience would refer to this as a defensive adaptation.

What to do, what to do, what to do...

Heck, I'll type it, but it won't make a bit of difference...

Pray. Go to confession. Go to Holy Mass. Partake of the Sacred Body and Most Precious Blood of God Himself. Love thy neighbor. Teach your children The Way. [You unbelieving and improperly believing kiddies better hurry home to Rome. I doubt the power-mad will let us keep our doors open much longer now that even the pretense of constitutional government is gone.] Go underground if you can. Try to keep your head down if you can't. Wage war against evil as best you can. Hope in God. Trust in God...but not in man.

May God have mercy on all souls.

 Supreme Court upholds individual mandate

BTW, for you bread and circuses types, Italy plays Germany today in EuroSnooze 2012.

Our children are vicious morons because that is what we are.

So, your little angels would never make a helpless and innocent lady cry...


We are working on our third Lost Generation in a row, kiddies, and there isn't enough goodness out there to turn it around. Even public humiliation [Live on TV!] and corporal punishment of these children and their parents would be too little and way too late.


We have met the enemy, and he is us.

From Youtube:

Bus Monitor Bullied By Students

I refuse to post the video here. It is too sad and infuriating for my taste.

 

From CNET .com:

The clip of Karen Klein, being mercilessly tormented on the bus ride home by unseen creatures resembling young humans, went up earlier this week and has logged more than 3.9 million views.

An Internet benefactor from Toronto, Max Sidorov, created a fundraising site to give Klein the "vacation of a lifetime." Klein, who worked as a bus driver in the Greece Central School District for 20 years prior to becoming a monitor three years ago, is said to earn $15,506 a year.

The total is now $655,640 with 24 days left for people to contribute. There are easily enough guilty consciences out there to make it an even $1 million.
 

Today is the sixth day of the Fortnight For Freedom.

The Catholic Association [via Youtube] explains why we fight:

We Are Catholics

 

 

 

From The Diocese of Harrisburg, PA:

Fortnight for Freedom, June 21 to July 4, 2012  Click Here for Local Events and Efforts       Religious Liberty Resouces

The “Fortnight for Freedom,” is a 14-day period of prayer, education and action in support of religious freedom, from June 21-July 4 that was called for by the Ad Hoc Committee on Religious Liberty of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops because of concerns over threats to religious freedom, both at home and abroad.

In the Diocese of Harrisburg the following events are resources are available to assit in defending our first freedom.

Read the Media Release

Opening Mass - Friday, June 22, 2012 at 8:30  a.m. at St. Patrick Parish, 87 Marsh Drive, Carlisle.  Bishop Joseph P. McFadden will open the Fortnight for Freedom on the feast of St. Thomas More with this Mass   All are encouraged to attend.  Following the Mass, the St. Thomas More Society of Central Pennsylvania will host a light breakfast in the school cafeteria.  This will be a time to greet the Bishop, mingle with others.

Closing Mass - Wednesday, July 4, 2012 at 9: a.m. at St. Patrick Cathedral, 212 State Street, Harrisburg, PA   

Video Novena for Liberty Bishop Joseph P. McFadden will lead a special on-line daily video Novena during the Fortnight for Freedom, June 21 to July 4, 2012. The prayer sessions will include a special daily reflection on the importance of Religious Liberty. Join with Bishop McFadden and witness for religious liberty. Click the dates below to view. Links will also be shared via the Diocesan Facebook page. Litany for Liberty Prayer Text

June 21	June 22	June 23	June 24	June 25	June 26	June 27
June 28	June 29	June 30	July 1	July 2	July 3	July 4

 Video Presentations
 
These video recordings of four presentations from, "A Forum on Religious Freedom and Health Care Reform" took place on May 22, 2012 at St. Margaret Mary Church, Harrisburg. 




  “Moral and Pastoral Perspectives on the H.H.S. Mandate" by Fr. David L. Danneker, Ph.D., a Medical Ethicist and Pastor , St. Peter Church, Elizabethtown   




  “The Next Mandate: Abortion Services” by Michael Ciccocioppo, PA Pro-Life Federation. 


 “Answering Tough Questions About the H.H.S. Mandate” by Amy Hill, Pennsylvania Catholic Conference


  "Church and State: Relative Competencies" by Fr. Paul Schenck, Director of the Respect Life Office, Diocese of Harrisburg

Resources

- USCCB Resources

- Bishop McFadden Letter Fortnight

- Fortnight for Freedom Liturgical Notes

- Ecumenical Prayer Service fortnight4freedom

- Prayer English-guadalupe-religious-liberty-

- Prayer English-immaculate-conception-religious-liberty

- Prayer English-st-thomas-more-religious-liberty

- Homily Helps for Fortnight4freedom

- Reflections for fortnight4freedom Novena.

- USCCB-Conscience-Bulletin-Insert_English

- USCCB-Conscience-Bulletin-Insert_Spanish

- Dear Represenative

- Dear Senator Casey

- Dear Senator Toomey

	Find out what your diocese is doing during the Fortnight For Freedom here.	.

What do you give the newly "married" sodomite couple that has everything?

More communism, of course.

Boshevik The Clown stars in the new circle-jerker pic "Four Sham Weddings and Four More Years of Fetus Funerals".

From Mark Whittington of the Yahoo! Contributor Network:

Giving Money to Obama Event Registry Tacky Beyond Belief

Weasel Zippers has stumbled upon an "Event Registry" courtesy of the Barack Obama re-election campaign. It invites everyone with a birthday, wedding or anniversary to ask for donations to the campaign in lieu of gifts.

Words almost fail. 

One suspects this proposal is directed at people who do not have a wide circle of friends or with any particular needs; in other words, rich liberals. It is an open invitation for a conservative relative to not only avoid the wedding, birthday or anniversary but to cut the particular person out of their will. 

I attended the wedding of a relative recently. Knowing she is a lady of discernment and taste, he and his wife gave her and her stalwart Air Force lieutenant groom some more practical items than a contribution to a political campaign in their name. One of them was the complete episodes of "Stargate: Universe." 

As Salon reports, there have been instances of people who have decided to make political statements from beyond the grave, almost always in the form of "in lieu of flowers, give money to anyone running against Obama." It is surprising the Obama campaign has not thought of that one. After all, when the death panels have sent one to eternity, nothing quite says thank you, Mr. President, than a campaign contribution. 

Also, as with this cancer charity, people with a big day have often requested donations to good causes in lieu of gifts. But a charity that helps kids with cancer is on a slightly more elevated moral plane than the desperate campaign of a failed president which is casting about for any source of cash to stave off ruin and defeat. 

Here is a better suggestion to a bride, groom, birthday boy or girl, or whomever. If the spirit moves, ask for a donation to a worthy cause such as curing a disease, helping people beset by disaster or starving children in the Third World. Have them make that donation in the name of President Obama and arrange for a note to be sent to the White House. One is sure the president will appreciate that public spirited gesture more than some tacky campaign cash. 

Oh, and a gravy boat is probably appreciated too. How else does one serve gravy, after all?

 

Sometimes a swastika is just a swastika.

Still, nobody should trust a religion that depends on ETs taking true believers to the planet Lovetron. [See "Black Muslims", the "Heaven's Gate" cult, and the Crutch of Scatology, et al.]

From AP via Yahoo! News:

Plane tows swastika banner, startles NJ beachgoers

A group that claimed responsibility for flying a small plane towing a swastika banner over New Jersey's shore and New York City over the weekend said the display was not meant as an endorsement of anti-Semitism, but as an attempt to resurrect the symbol's more benign roots.

The sight startled beachgoers on Saturday afternoon and set Twitter abuzz. A group called the International Raelian Movement, which believes humans were created by extraterrestrials, says it was responsible.

The movement said on its website that the flyover was part of its third annual Swastika Rehabilitation Day. In a statement posted Sunday, the group reiterated its belief that the swastika is actually a symbol of peace and beauty that was corrupted by Nazis in 20th century Germany.

"Any negative emotions regarding the swastika by people under the age of 70 years old are obviously linked to their education and not to their experiences," the statement read in part. "It's about time people were re-educated to understand the original meaning of the oldest and most recurrent symbol in the world."

Etzion Neuer, acting head of the Anti-Defamation League in New Jersey, also noted that the swastika predates Hitler by hundreds, if not thousands, of years. He said that the group is not racist and that towing the swastika was a "misguided, but not malicious, act."

"They use the swastika in the traditional Eastern context, not the Nazi context," he said. "But to us it's incredibly insensitive because it's dismissive of the pain it causes to the Jewish community. It's an egocentric attitude, completely unconcerned about the way it's viewed by others."

Don Pripstein, president of the Jewish Community Center of Long Beach Island, said some of his congregants saw the plane and "some said it practically ruined their weekend."

"They may have good intentions, but the image is more powerful than good intentions at this point," he said. "The image is so horrendous that no matter what their ultimate purpose is, it's extremely negative. We still have people in this generation who lost parents or grandparents" in the Holocaust.

A phone message left at the Raelians' office in Las Vegas wasn't returned Monday. A letter on the website www.proswastika.org attributed to the North American Raelian Movement addressed Pripstein directly.

The group is "extremely sympathetic to the horrors suffered by the Jewish people at the hands of Adolf Hitler and the Nazis," the letter reads. "We work incessantly so that nothing of the sort will ever be able to take place again — for Jews or any peoples."

Raelians believe humans were created by extraterrestrials, according to the movement's website. The group claims to have more than 70,000 members worldwide.

Penis good? Vagina...scary?

Aaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...words.

From AP via Mail.com:

P-word? OK. The V-word? That's trickier

Kayt Sukel, an author who writes about neuroscience and sexuality, has given lectures around the country on the issue. And there's one word, she finds, that never fails to make some in her audience squeamish.

Golly, I hope she pronounces her first name "Katie".

"There's just something about the word 'vagina' that startles people — I don't know what it is," says Sukel. "People sit back a little bit. Sometimes they start giggling. I end up using euphemisms just to make them more comfortable, and more receptive to what I am saying. And we don't seem to have the same problems with the word 'penis.'"

In a much different setting, Judy Gold has similar experiences. The popular standup comic and actress, who last year starred in her own successful off-Broadway show, focuses her routines on being gay, Jewish, a New Yorker and a mother. Her audiences presumably know what they're getting into. Yet she, too, hears gasps in the audience when she says the V-word.

And so neither woman was extremely surprised when they heard about the recent incident in Michigan, where a lawmaker was temporarily barred from speaking in the state legislature after using the word "vagina" during a debate.

It all began when Lisa Brown, a Democrat, was speaking against a bill requiring doctors to ensure that abortion-seekers haven't been coerced into ending their pregnancies. "I'm flattered you're all concerned about my vagina," Brown said. "But no means no." Brown believes she was censured because of the word "vagina," though her Republican opponents later said it was the "no means no" part, which they claimed likened the law to rape. The lawmaker denies she was doing anything of the kind.

But politics aside, many are baffled that even in 2012, the V-word retains shock value — much more than its male counterpart — even though it is finally beginning to surface regularly in mainstream entertainment, popping up in network TV shows as well as in newly bold references in advertising.

"I mean, you can say 'penis,'" says Gold. "You can say 'erection,' 'erectile dysfunction,' even 'vaginal probe.' But 'vagina'? Suddenly it's a dirty word. And it's the correct anatomical term!" Can an anatomical term really be a bad word? Even the Parents Television Council, a watchdog group that tracks what it sees as objectionable content on TV, acknowledges that difficulty.

"I've got a toddler, and when you read potty-training books, they discourage the use of euphemisms for body parts," says Melissa Henson, the group's director of communications. But what troubles the PTC, she says, is "the use of this language in the context of cheap sex jokes. It's dumbed-down humor that's in no way respectful of the audience."

The PTC studied the appearance of "penis" and "vagina" in scripted shows on five networks, comparing the 2010-2011 season to 2001-2002. Not surprisingly, it found a large increase, largely in the last year or two.

The word "vagina" was used 35 times in shows on NBC, CBS, ABC, Fox and CW in the 2010-2011 season, and only four times a decade earlier. In addition, the PTC found, it was used 12 times in the first two months of the 2011-2012 season on just one show, "2 Broke Girls" on CBS, which follows a couple of 20-something waitresses in Brooklyn.

As for the word "penis"? The term was used much more than its female counterpart, 30 times a decade ago, and 116 times in 2010-2011. (But that's hardly a shock: it was way back in 1982 that the young boy in "E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial," one of the most beloved family films of all time, called his brother "penis breath" — and only got an order to "Sit down!" from his Mom.)

In advertising, there's been a huge shift as well the last few years, with one of the bolder examples being the "Hail to the V" ad campaign for the Summer's Eve line of feminine cleansing products. But Fleet Laboratories, which makes Summer's Eve, has had some problems determining what's fun and edgy and what goes too far. A year ago it had to withdraw one set of TV ads that showed female hands of different races forming talking vaginas — the characterizations were seen as racially insensitive.

The recent emergence of the V-word in pop culture has not gone unnoticed — the New York Times even called the current TV season "the season of the vagina." Whitney Cummings, one of the co-creators of "2 Broke Girls," quipped to the paper: "Vagina jokes paid for my house."

And yet the networks hardly seem eager to discuss the word. One executive at a major network who declined to speak for this article indicated it just wasn't worth the trouble of attracting negative attention.

Where does the squeamishness come from? Author Sutel feels sex education in schools is lacking. She says there aren't enough teachers like the one she had in 8th grade who "went around the room and made us say 'penis, vagina,' just to get used to the words."

Comedian Gold sees a darker reason — misogyny, and the over-sexualization of women by men. "The woman has become so sexualized, and saying 'vagina' takes the sex out of it," Gold says. "Men prefer other words for that body part."

 So does Okra Whingefree.

Mia Blitstein, a 34-year-old Philadelphia mother, thinks the issue may stem from our parents, whose own attitudes about sex we absorb at an early age. "The attitudes that our parents model for us, and the words they use, are very important," says Blitstein, who says she tries to impress upon her own son that names of body parts are not dirty.

In fact, Blitstein herself is very comfortable with the V-word, a fact she attributes to her "hippie-ish" parents who even let her watch her brother's birth. When her son was born, she was so overcome that, wheeling down the hospital corridor with her newborn, she yelled out: "A person just came out of my vagina!" Some laughed. Others looked at her like she was crazy.
Dr. Judith C. Wenger, a New York gynecologist, finds the issue a generational one. "I think the older people are, the more difficulty they have with the word," Wenger says. Echoing Blitstein, she adds that an important factor is the way people's mothers spoke to them growing up.

So what does lawmaker Brown think was the real reason for her censure? She says leadership first said the ban, which in effect only lasted a day, was about the V-word, then changed their story. She has her suspicions, though, that it's all politics. "If you watch the video, it's all Republicans sitting behind me. There's no gasp, there's no jaws hitting the ground," she told The Associated Press in a recent interview. "The fact that it came out the next day, to me it's very suspicious."

In any case, support has poured in for Brown from organizations across the country — from the American Civil Liberties Union to the National Organization for Women and NARAL Pro-Choice America. A petition has collected more than 48,000 online signatures calling on the Republican House speaker and the majority floor leader to apologize to Brown.

And most visibly, some 3,000 people gathered by the Michigan House steps to watch Brown, other lawmakers and several actresses perform "The Vagina Monologues," Eve Ensler's groundbreaking 1996 play on the vagina as a symbol of female empowerment. Ensler flew in from California to oversee the performance.

"Half of these people who are trying to regulate vaginas, they can't even say the word," she told the AP. "They can legislate it, but they can't say it?" But perhaps the best "vagina zinger," which is what late-night host Jon Stewart called Brown's original remark, came from Stewart himself.

"What are they worried about?" he said on "The Daily Show." ''Vaginas aren't like Voldemort or Beetlejuice. Invoking the name 'vagina' doesn't make them suddenly appear. Believe me, if it did, high school would have been very different for me."

Real men play softball.

Our Boys will always be boys at heart. A couple of missing limbs can't stop 'em.

Wounded Warrior Amputee Softball Team

 

Yet more high crimes and misdemeanors from America's first token president.

What do you call it when the highest law enforcement official chooses to selectively enforce federal laws based on his criminal left-fascist ideology?

No, not Obamastan, but that's close.

From the The Daily Beast:

Obama Piles On Arizona

Arizona’s Latino and civil-rights leaders had long planned to gather Monday on the lawn of the Arizona capitol in Phoenix to protest Mitt Romney’s closed-to-the-press fundraiser in nearby Scottsdale. The capitol gathering had been promoted by the Obama campaign, which called Romney an immigration extremist who sees Arizona’s immigration law, SB 1070, as a “model.”

Then, in what seemed like perfect timing, the U.S. Supreme Court made public its decision to strike down three provisions of the law. The court let stand the section that permits Arizona police officers to question the immigration status of those they stop, detain, or arrest if there is reasonable suspicion the person is in the country illegally.
 

The Obama administration reacted swiftly, rescinding the 287(g) agreements with seven Arizona police departments, which give the police permission to partner with the federal government on immigration enforcement. The administration also directed federal immigration officials not to respond to local traffic stops or law-enforcement encounters in Arizona unless the detained person is a recent border crosser, has already been removed from the country and reentered the United States unlawfully, or is a convicted criminal. (Federal immigration officials will still respond to telephone calls from Arizona law-enforcement authorities seeking the immigration status of a person who is legally stopped, detained, or arrested.)

“As though we needed any more evidence, President Obama has demonstrated anew his utter disregard for the safety and security of the Arizona people,” Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer said in a statement of the administration’s decision to revoke 287(g) agreements. She later added on CNN: “The people of America ought to be outraged. This is absolutely an assault.”

 President Obama, who has presided over record deportations and net zero migration from Mexico, claimed partial victory in the Supreme Court decision but warned against potential civil-rights abuses. He said he would work for comprehensive immigration reform. The Romney campaign, meanwhile, said in a short statement that the president has failed to lead on immigration.

In Phoenix after the court’s announcement, migrants sat near a Virgin of Guadalupe painting on the capitol lawn, near flag-waving oldsters in yellow “Viva la SB 1070” shirts, college students dressed in “Adios Arpaio” shirts, elected immigration hardliners, Democrats who had opposed the law, union representatives, and Latino leaders.

Arizona immigration hawks heralded the court’s decision as a victory, while local Democrats called for beefed-up voter registration and hinted at the dire effect of a possible Latino exodus on the tax base. Latino leaders expressed mixed emotions about the court’s ruling as they stood in the ovenlike sun, saying they thought enforcement of the law would cause civil-rights abuses but that they were thankful the court didn’t enact the other three provisions. Inside the capitol complex, Brewer, who signed the law in 2010, called the court’s decision a “victory” because “the heart of SB 1070 has been proven constitutional.”

 “If they think this is the heart, the law will soon need a heart transplant,” said Randy Parraz, the Latino leader who was key in the recall-election defeat of state Sen. Russell Pearce, the law’s sponsor.

Parraz said the law had an unintended silver lining, galvanizing the Latino electorate into action. And while Arizona has “SB 1070 fatigue,”  he said, the Latino electorate has “no fatigue for justice.”  He predicted the downfall of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and other hardliners in the 2012 election. (Arpaio, who has attracted nationwide attention for his raids on Latino workplaces and neighborhoods, has said SB 1070 would not affect how he does business. He arrests migrants for violating other Arizona laws, such as the human smuggling law, which makes it a crime for an immigrant to smuggle himself through Arizona, among other things.)

Standing in the shade of a skinny palm tree, state Rep. John Kavanagh, a former New Jersey policeman who retired in Arizona and is one of the chief promoters of SB 1070, said it was “unfortunate” but “not fatal to the law” that the court had struck down three provisions of SB 1070. (Those provisions include criminalizing an undocumented immigrant for working in Arizona, allowing cops to arrest a person without a warrant if they believe he or she is an undocumented immigrant, and requiring immigrants to “register” with the government.) Kavanagh said the heart of the law still stood and would be implemented soon.

The high court was ruling Monday on an Obama administration lawsuit seeking to overturn SB 1070, largely on grounds that the federal government, not the states, has the constitutional responsibility to enforce immigration.

While the court’s decision allows Arizona police to check on the immigration status of those they stop, detain, or arrest if there is reasonable suspicion they are in the country illegally, Arizona can’t force the federal government to deport anyone.

 

The Obama administration’s Department of Homeland Security, led by former Arizona governor Janet Napolitano, has the say over who gets deported. In that regard, immigration enforcement still rests solidly in the hands of the federal government. And the government has said it wants to focus on deporting undocumented immigrants who have committed crimes that threaten the nation. 

“ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] will not issue detainers unless they meet priorities,” a senior official at the Department of Homeland Security told the Arizona Republic on Monday.

“I’m upset,” said Alison Culver, a truck driver carrying a large American flag at the Arizona Capitol, “because [the decision] allows illegals to stay. They don’t have rights. Illegal is illegal, period.”

 As Culver endured the Phoenix heat, Romney raised $2 million at his Scottsdale fundraiser, his campaign said. The presumptive Republican presidential nominee, who has vowed to “veto” the DREAM Act, said unauthorized immigrants should self-deport and embraced the endorsement of SB 1070’s author, Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, has struggled for the support of Latino voters. With Latinos voicing their approval of Obama’s recent administrative order granting some young undocumented immigrants renewable two-year permissions to stay and work in the country, however, Romney has appeared to back away from his hardline immigration stance. On Monday in Scottsdale, he told donors that he had hoped the court would give states more enforcement power, according to the Associated Press.

It's only a matter of time, kiddies, before faithful Catholics are forced underground.

Some perverse left-fascist cow from America's premier commie front group defecates on the US Constitution and 200 years of legal precedent so ugly broads like her can get their rocks [Racist.] off without having to listen to anyone echo their bound and gagged consciences.
 
Where does one finds verbal feces like this? Washington's other newspaper is always a safe bet...

'Fortnight for Freedom' distorts true religious liberty 

 Recently, anti-LGBT activist Bryan Fischer of the American Family Association boldly claimed on his radio show that “[w]e can’t have homosexuality and the First Amendment.” The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops says pretty much the same thing about equal benefits for women when they rail against the Obama administration’s new rules requiring insurance plans to cover birth control. This type of argument is getting a lot of play lately, and it’s often accepted uncritically – despite the fact that it betrays a fundamental misunderstanding of the First Amendment and its protections for religious liberty. Unfortunately, it’s a misunderstanding we’ve seen in past civil rights struggles – but fortunately, it’s also one that we’ve resoundingly rejected.

Drawing on this theme, the bishops this week kicked off their “Fortnight for Freedom.” It’s a much-hyped campaign that purports to champion religious freedom, but in actuality distorts it by promoting the use of religion as a license to discriminate. The bishops have made headlines lately for their vociferous opposition to contraception. They argue that because Catholic doctrine opposes birth control, no woman should be guaranteed coverage of it in her health plan. But their agenda goes much further than contraception.

Cardinal Timothy Dolan, who chairs the bishops’ conference, recently took the president to task for his support of marriage for same-sex couples, and the bishops have been forcefully advocating that Catholic agencies should be able to get government contracts while refusing to perform the required work. In other words, they believe that a Catholic charity that receives public funding to provide adoption licenses, for example, should be able to turn away otherwise qualified same-sex couples who want to provide loving homes to children in need. On all these fronts, the bishops claim that this is about religious liberty. Don’t be fooled. It’s about discrimination plain and simple. And it’s not the first time this has happened.

From the birth of the civil rights movement, some opponents of those rights argued that their religion required them to discriminate against others. Restaurants wanted out of laws requiring businesses that are open to the public to treat everyone equally regardless of race. They claimed that religion compelled them to segregate their establishments, and asserted that the First Amendment required the government to put civil rights laws aside. 
 
Likewise, in justifying the miscegenation laws that prohibited mixed-race marriages, the trial court in Loving v. Virginia noted that “Almighty God created the races … and he placed them on separate continents. And but for the interference with his arrangement there would be no cause for such marriage. The fact that he separated the races shows that he did not intend for the races to mix.” Though that opinion was reversed by the U.S. Supreme Court in a landmark ACLU case in 1967, such objections were deeply rooted. Indeed, the Bible was long used to defend the practice of slavery. 
 
The same arguments were used to exclude women from public life. In 1869, the Illinois Supreme Court famously explained that it was a commonly held belief that “God designed the sexes to occupy different spheres of action,” when it upheld a law that prevented women from becoming lawyers. More recently, schools have tried to get out of the Equal Pay Act so that they could pay male employees more, because scripture teaches that only men can be the “head of the household.” And in the last few months, we’ve seen a rash of stories about religiously-identified schools firing unmarried teachers for being pregnant, or married teachers for using in vitro fertilization to try to start a family.
 
These claims are all borne out of the same world view – that “religion” justifies treating certain segments of our society as second-class citizens. It animates the bishops’ campaign and others like it. And it’s that world view that threatens to undermine the progress we’ve made, and that we continue to press for, toward equality and fairness for all people. As a nation, we rejected it when it came to integration, and we must reject it now.

Campaigns like the so-called “Fortnight for Freedom” are all the more dangerous because they call upon and then distort the meaning of true religious liberty. We have the right to a government that neither promotes nor disparages religion generally, nor any faith, in particular. We have the absolute right to believe whatever we want about God, faith, and religion. And we have the right to act on our religious beliefs – unless those actions harm others.

We can have the First Amendment and strong protections against discrimination. But we cannot allow the bishops or anyone else to redraft the terms of religious liberty according to the dictates of one set of religious beliefs. That would be the end of the First Amendment and religious freedom as we have all come to know it.

Laura W. Murphy is director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office.

 

Today is the fifth day of the Fortnight for Freedom.

The only institution in the world that can stand up to Leviathan rouses herself for battle.

From the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops:

Fortnight for Freedom

The fourteen days from June 21—the vigil of the Feasts of St. John Fisher and St. Thomas More—to July 4, Independence Day, are dedicated to this “fortnight for freedom”—a great hymn of prayer for our country. Our liturgical calendar celebrates a series of great martyrs who remained faithful in the face of persecution by political power—St. John Fisher and St. Thomas More, St. John the Baptist, SS. Peter and Paul, and the First Martyrs of the Church of Rome.  Culminating on Independence Day, this special period of prayer, study, catechesis, and public action will emphasize both our Christian and American heritage of liberty. Dioceses and parishes around the country have scheduled special events that support a great national campaign of teaching and witness for religious liberty. 

Check for your local diocese's events at the link above and live your faith. 

Or get out of the way. I hear the heretics are always looking for new recruits.

 

Text "Freedom" to 377377

Bulletin Inserts:  "Help Save Our Religious Freedom" is the title of the newly released bulletin insert. The insert emphasizing a text campaign can be used in church bulletins, meetings and group discussions. View PDF Version  |  En Español

Latest News!

Repair My House: Renewing the Roots of Religious Liberty — Most Reverend Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap, Archbishop of Philadelphia, Presentation given in Indianapolis, 6.20.12


Opening Remarks for Domestic Religious Freedom Hour, USCCB General Assembly— Archbishop William E. Lori, Chairman, Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty, June 13, 2012

Religious Freedom and the Love of God — John H. Garvey, Esq., President,The Catholic University of America, June 13, 2012, USCCB General Assembly

Special Masses

Opening Mass—June 21 in Baltimore, MDTime: 7 p.m.
Location: Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption
Celebrant & Homilist:  Most Reverend William E. Lori, Archbishop of Baltimore
Homily  (PDF version)


Closing Mass—July 4 in Washington, DC
Time: 12:10 p.m.
Location: Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception
Celebrant: His Eminence Cardinal Donald Wuerl, Archbishop of Washington
Homilist: Most Reverend Charles Chaput, OFM Cap., Archbishop of Philadelphia
Nationwide Telecast: EWTN cable network. Check your local listings.

 

And pray, pray, pray. Never stop praying.

Prayer for the Protection of Religious Liberty

O God our Creator,
Through the power and working of your Holy Spirit,
you call us to live out our faith in the midst of the world,
bringing the light and the saving truth of the Gospel
to every corner of society.
We ask you to bless us
in our vigilance for the gift of religious liberty.
Give us the strength of mind and heart
to readily defend our freedoms when they are threatened;
give us courage in making our voices heard
on behalf of the rights of your Church
and the freedom of conscience of all people of faith.
Grant, we pray, O heavenly Father,
a clear and united voice to all your sons and daughters
gathered in your Church
in this decisive hour in the history of our nation,
so that, with every trial withstood
and every danger overcome—
for the sake of our children, our grandchildren,
and all who come after us—
this great land will always be "one nation, under God,
indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Prayer Resources

It's better than nothing, kiddies.

Federalism is fine and dandy, but what is a state to do when the federal government is run by a jug-eared commie creep who refuses to enforce the law so foreign criminals can vote for his re-election?

None dare call it treason...

From Yahoo!'s The Ticket:

Supreme Court upholds key part of Arizona immigration law

The Supreme Court upheld a key part of Arizona's tough anti-illegal immigration law in a 5-3 decision on Monday that allows police officers to ask about immigration status during stops. That part of the law, which never went into effect because of court challenges, will now immediately be enforced in Arizona. Other parts of the law, including a provision that made it a state crime for illegal immigrants to seek work, will remain blocked, as the justices affirmed the federal government's supremacy over immigration policy.

Justice Anthony Kennedy, the court's swing vote, wrote the opinion, and was joined by Chief Justice John Roberts, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer and Sonia Sotomayor. Conservative Justices Antonin Scalia, Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas partially dissented, saying the entire law should have been upheld.

In the opinion, Justice Kennedy wrote that the federal government's "power to determine immigration policy is well settled." But he also showed concern for what he described as Arizona's outsize burden in dealing with illegal immigration, seeming to sympathize with their decision to butt in on immigration enforcement. "Arizona bears many of the consequences of unlawful im­migration," he wrote. "Hundreds of thousands of deportable aliens are apprehended in Arizona each year." But, ultimately, the justices found that Arizona can not mete out their own state punishments for federal immigration crimes.

"Arizona may have under­standable frustrations with the problems caused by illegal immigration while that process continues, but the State may not pursue policies that undermine federal law," Kennedy writes in the opinion's conclusion.

The police immigration checks are allowed, however, because state police would simply flag federal authorities if they find an illegal immigrant.

The Catholic crackup continues apace...

What is it about homosexuals raping little boys that makes otherwise responsible men from Happy Valley to Philadelphia try to cover it up instead of eradicating it?

From Roto-Reuters:

U.S. Catholic priest found guilty in child abuse case

PHILADELPHIA - A monsignor who oversaw hundreds of priests in the Philadelphia Archdiocese was found guilty on Friday of one count of endangering the welfare of a child, making him the first senior U.S. Roman Catholic Church official to be convicted for covering up child sex abuse.

The jury acquitted Monsignor William Lynn on two other counts - conspiracy and another charge of child endangerment -after 10 weeks of testimony in a trial that raised questions about personal responsibility and institutional constraints within the church hierarchy.

Removing his black clerical jacket but leaving on his collar, a stoic Lynn, 61, was led out of the courtroom and into custody by deputy sheriffs as his family members wept.

"Every juror there wanted to do justice. ... We wanted to do what was right," jury foreman Isa Logan, 35, a bank customer service representative, told reporters outside the courtroom.

Sentencing for Lynn, who faces up to seven years in prison, was set for August 13 by Judge M. Teresa Sarmina.

"This is a monumental victory for the named and un-named victims," said Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams. "This was about evil men who did evil things to children."

While the district attorney's office argued that Lynn should immediately be jailed, the judge said she would consider house arrest if the defense asked for it.

The jury deliberated 13 days before reaching the mixed decision in the trial of Lynn, who, prosecutors charged, covered up child sex abuse allegations, often by transferring priests to unsuspecting parishes.

Lawyers for Lynn said they planned to appeal the case.

"He's really upset," said one of his attorneys, Jeff Lindy. "He's upset, he's crushed. He didn't want anything other than to help kids, he's crushed about this."

A blow has been struck against HOMOSEXUAL CHILD RAPE.

The next step is to make sure all his enablers and apologists are removed from Penn State.

Sadly, all children need to be taught how to fight off this kind of predator. [Let's lower the conceal-carry age limit. Nothing kills a hard-on like a bullet to the head.]

Even sadder? There are millions of kids out there who have nobody to teach or protect them. [For you leftist imbeciles, what I'm talking about are fathers.]

First, three stories from AP via Yahoo! News:

Ex-Penn St. assistant Sandusky convicted 
  

Breakdown of Sandusky verdicts, by victim 

  —Victim 1: Sandusky was accused of fondling him and performing oral sex on him multiple times, in his home and State College hotels. The boy was 11-15 years old at the time. Sandusky was barred from his central Pennsylvania high school in 2009 after the boy's mother alerted school officials, triggering the investigation that produced charges. Sandusky was found guilty of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse (two counts), indecent assault, unlawful contact with minor, corruption of minors, endangering a child's welfare.

—Victim 2: A boy of about 10 that a graduate assistant, Mike McQueary, has said he saw being attacked by Sandusky in the team showers in February 2001. Investigators have not been able to determine the boy's identity. McQueary reported what he saw to head coach Joe Paterno, and Paterno's handling of it contributed to the university's decision to fire him shortly after Sandusky was arrested in November. Sandusky was found guilty of indecent assault, unlawful contact with minor, corruption of minors, endangering a child's welfare. He was acquitted of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse.

—Victim 3: Sandusky was accused of hugging him in the shower and fondling him between July 1999 and December 2001, at Sandusky's home and in team showers. The boy was 12-14. Sandusky was found guilty of indecent assault, unlawful contact with minor, corruption of minors, endangering a child's welfare.

—Victim 4: Prosecutors said more than 50 incidents occurred between 1996 and 2000, at the Sandusky home, hotels and university facilities while the boy was 12-17. He also traveled with the Sandusky family to bowl games in Texas and Florida. Sandusky was convicted of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, indecent assault, unlawful contact with minor, corruption of minors, endangering a child's welfare.

—Victim 5: Sandusky put his hand on the boy's leg while in a car, they showered together and he placed the boy's hand on his genitals, according to his testimony in court. The alleged incident occurred in August 2001, while the boy was 12 or 13. Sandusky was convicted of unlawful contact with minor, corruption of minors, endangering a child's welfare. He was acquitted of indecent assault.

—Victim 6: While showering together in May 1998, he testified that Sandusky grabbed him and said, "I'm going to squeeze your guts out" and that the ex-coach said he was the "tickle monster." The boy's mother complained when he came home with wet hair, prompting a police investigation at the time that did not result in charges. The boy was 11. Sandusky was found guilty of unlawful contact with minor, corruption of minors, endangering a child's welfare. He was acquitted of indecent assault,

—Victim 7: They showered together and Sandusky bear hugged him in 1995-96, and more than once he put his hands down the waistband of the boy's pants, according to the grand jury. Sandusky did not touch his genitals, the jury said. The boy was 9-11. Sandusky was found guilty of attempted indecent assault, corruption of minors, endangering a child's welfare.

—Victim 8: Boy of about 11 to 13, seen in late November 2000 by a university janitor allegedly being subjected to sexual abuse by Sandusky in the team showers. The janitor now has dementia and is not available to testify, but a co-worker testified to what the janitor told him. The boy has not been identified by investigators. Sandusky was convicted of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, indecent assault, unlawful contact with minor, corruption of minors, endangering a child's welfare.

—Victim 9: Now 18, he testified that he was sexually abused by Sandusky at the Sandusky home where he spent more than a hundred nights in a room in the basement that had a waterbed. He testified he was subject to oral then anal sex and screamed for help. He was also abused in a State College hotel and other locations between July 2005 and December 2008, according to prosecutors. He was 12-15 at the time. Sandusky was convicted of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse (two counts), indecent assault, unlawful contact with a minor, corruption of minors, endangering a child's welfare.

—Victim 10: Boy was subjected to sexual abuse between September 1997 and July 1999 at the Sandusky home and car and at an area pool. He testified Sandusky said he'd never see his family again if he said anything. The boy was 11. Sandusky was convicted of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse (two counts), indecent assault, unlawful contact with minor, corruption of minors, endangering a child's welfare.

Juror: Sandusky lacked emotion, confirming verdict

 

 

Sandusky Trial Told He Was 'Slammed' By Accusers and Cops

- ABC News via Yahoo! News

 

Sandusky Trial Did Not Include All of His Alleged Victims

A Group of Other Men Were Willing to Testify If Sandusky Was Acquitted

- ABC News via Yahoo! News

Go ahead and vote for the jug-eared commie criminal again. This is all Bush's fault.

From AP via Yahoo! News:

World stocks fall amid U.S. jobs, housing gloom

World stock markets fell Friday as gloomy economic reports from the world's two biggest economies heightened fears of a sharper global downturn. In Europe, leaders were set to weigh options for fixing the continent's debt crisis.

The leaders of Germany, France, Italy and Spain are gathering in Rome on Friday to try to hammer out proposals for easing the widening financial crisis spreading across the 17-member euro currency union...

Due to time constraints, we now move to further action.

A further sign of weakness in the world's No. 1 economy came from the Philadelphia branch of the Federal Reserve, which issued a report showing that manufacturing in the northeast had experienced a sharp decrease due to a steep fall in company orders.

Appetite for financial assets such as stocks was also dented by the results of a monthly HSBC survey, which showed that manufacturing in China has continued to contract. China's growth has been a pillar of the global economy in recent years, so its slowdown has been of particular concern to investors.

According to the Slave Chinese Department of Labor Statistics, the slaves are dying at a higher than expected rate.

"With signs of weakness in the US economy, the persistence of the eurozone debt crisis and the threat of a hardlanding in China looming, the prospect of a synchronized economic slowdown is real," analysts at DBS Bank Ltd. in Singapore said in a market commentary.

Sentiment was also shaken after Moody's Investors Service lowered the credit ratings of 15 major banks, including Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs, saying their long-term prospects for profitability and growth are shrinking...

Miss Alaska is a real mensch.

From AP via Yahoo! News:
Beauty queen who shaved head wins Miss Alaska

FILE - In this March 14, 2012 file photo, Miss Chugiak-Eagle River Debbe Ebben poses for a photo in Town Square Park in Anchorage, Alaska. Alaska’s bald beauty queen is heading to a bigger stage. Ebben, who shaved her head in March to raise money for the St. Baldrick’s Foundation, and who’s hair is now tomboy length, was chosen over the weekend as Miss Alaska and will compete for the 2013 Miss America title. (AP Photo/Dan Joling, file)

Just three months ago, Debbe Ebben had no hair. On Saturday night, she was crowned Miss Alaska.

Ebben shaved her head in March to raise more than $4,000 for the St. Baldrick's Foundation, which donates money for childhood cancer research. She said she did it to let children who lost their hair because of cancer treatments know that it was OK to be bald.

Choosing her words carefully, she said losing one's hair should be special — whether it's voluntary or not.

"I wanted to put meaning and emotion behind it, and let them know why I'm doing it — for the kids," she said. "I'm not shaving it to get attention. I'm not shaving it for publicity. I'm not shaving it because it's a really easy hairstyle to go with. I'm shaving it for them."

Ebben's brown hair had grown back to a pixie cut by the time she became the state's top beauty queen over the weekend, but she says she will likely keep her hair short when she represents Alaska at the Miss America pageant in January 2013.

"I'll let it do its thing for a while," she said, laughing. "I'll consult the hair stylist before I go down."

Ebben was the reigning Miss Chugiak-Eagle River when she picked St. Baldrick's for the public service project that is required of all Miss Alaska pageant contestants. Baldrick's gets its name from a combination of the words "bald" and "St. Patrick." 

The organization was founded by three insurance executives who turned a St. Patrick's Day party into a head-shaving event to help children with cancer.

Ebben said she got a feel of what the children go through.

"Like children who are fighting cancer, losing my hair was a really emotional experience, and something I hope they only have to go through once in their life," she said.

As she approached the Miss Alaska pageant, she had to decide whether to keep the look. Her drastic haircut had been done in honor of a child, and she decided to let grow back her hair, so that the haircut wouldn't be mistaken for a gimmick.

"I don't want to be branded as the 'bald beauty queen,'" she said.

She's had two haircuts since March, and her hair is two inches at its longest.

In the upcoming year, she said, she plans to work with St. Baldrick's and Headbands of Hope, which donates a spandex headband to a sick child and $1 to St. Baldrick's for every headband it sells.

Bonnie Faulk, director of the Miss Alaska Scholarship Foundation, calls Ebben the epitome of the standards and values of the program.

"We are elated to have this young woman serve us," Faulk said. "She has worked harder than many, many, many contestants in many years."

Ebben said her road to Miss Alaska has "been a long journey."

"This was my 16th pageant and it was more of, 'The moment had finally come.' And I was really happy it had come," she said.

In lieu of entry fees, contestants raise money for the Children's Miracle Network, the charity of the Miss America Pageant. Ebben was the pageant's top fundraiser this year, raising nearly $1,500 through a community yard sale in north Anchorage.

Scholarships from the pageant, in turn, paid for Ebben's college education.

"She's out there. She's the real deal," Faulk said, who added that Ebben loves children and charitable events. "She's what our program is about."

I guess the NBA settled its lockout...

 From AP via Yahoo! News:
 Heat top Thunder 104-98 in Game 4, take title