Ouch

Very appropriate for the Pope on at least the last three items:

Tony Blair received a tough dressing down from Pope Benedict XVI during his audience with the pontiff yesterday, not only over the war in Iraq but also over legislation passed during Mr Blair's ten years in power on abortion, gay adoption and stem cell research.

What the WashTimes says about Lott, and us

"[Sen. Trent] Lott's assertion that the immigration bill will enhance our ability to keep tabs on potential security threats only shows that he knows very little about what is in his bill or is desperately spinning...[T]he Senate bill includes provisions that will make it absurdly easy for a potential terrorist to obtain a 'probationary' visa and create a fraudulent new identity for himself with the assistance of the U.S. government. Mr. Lott's comments about the immigration bill are unfortunate in their own right. But his suggestion that talk radio is a problem that someone has to 'deal with' because it makes it harder to ram the immigration bill through the Senate is even worse, because it raises the specter of reviving the 'Fairness Doctrine' ---the Federal Communications Commission policy (repealed in 1987 at President Reagan's urging) that effectively barred any serious political debate from occurring on the airwaves. The result of the demise of the 'equal-time rule' has been the rise of issue-oriented talk radio---perhaps the one area of the media where conservatives dominate.

"So, liberals who say they believe so strongly in the First Amendment want to revive the doctrine in order to prevent talk radio from doing what is has done on the illegal-immigration issue: educate people about what has been jammed into this massive bill and how it affects their country. ... We trust that those Mississippians who are making their opinions on illegal immigration clear to Mr. Lott will let him know that they are watching very carefully what he does regarding the 'Fairness Doctrine' and other efforts to shut talk radio up." ---The Washington Times

How Senators voted on the immigration bill

Trent Lott is one of the best ever for getting votes together for a bill as the Senate Minority Whip in the Senate. Even, it should be said, on bills that are considered a "dog" by his own state, to say nothing of the rest of the nation.

It was a 64-35 roll call by which the Senate voted to reconsider a bill to grant legal status to millions of unlawful immigrants and vastly increase border security. Interesting, Lott was for it, Sen. Cochran against.

On this vote, a "yes" vote was a vote to resume Senate debate on the bill. A "no" vote was a vote against reconsidering it. Supporters of the legislation needed 60 votes to bring it up again.

Voting "yes" were 39 Democrats, 24 Republicans and 1 independent.

Voting "no" were 9 Democrats, 25 Republicans and 1 independent.

Democrats Yes:

Akaka, Hawaii; Biden, Del.; Bingaman, N.M.; Boxer, Calif.; Brown, Ohio; Cantwell, Wash.; Cardin, Md.; Carper, Del.; Casey, Pa.; Clinton, N.Y.; Conrad, N.D.; Dodd, Conn.; Durbin, Ill.; Feingold, Wis.; Feinstein, Calif.; Harkin, Iowa; Inouye, Hawaii; Kennedy, Mass.; Kerry, Mass.; Klobuchar, Minn.; Kohl, Wis.; Lautenberg, N.J.; Leahy, Vt.; Levin, Mich.; Lincoln, Ark.; Menendez, N.J.; Mikulski, Md.; Murray, Wash.; Nelson, Fla.; Nelson, Neb.; Obama, Ill.; Pryor, Ark.; Reed, R.I.; Reid, Nev.; Salazar, Colo.; Schumer, N.Y.; Webb, Va.; Whitehouse, R.I.; Wyden, Ore.

Democrats No:

Baucus, Mont.; Bayh, Ind.; Byrd, W.Va.; Dorgan, N.D.; Landrieu, La.; McCaskill, Mo.; Rockefeller, W.Va.; Stabenow, Mich.; Tester, Mont.

Democrats Not Voting:

Johnson, S.D.

Republicans Yes:

Bennett, Utah; Bond, Mo.; Brownback, Kan.; Burr, N.C.; Coleman, Minn.; Collins, Maine; Craig, Idaho; Domenici, N.M.; Ensign, Nev.; Graham, S.C.; Gregg, N.H.; Hagel, Neb.; Kyl, Ariz.; Lott, Miss.; Lugar, Ind.; Martinez, Fla.; McCain, Ariz.; McConnell, Ky.; Murkowski, Alaska; Snowe, Maine; Specter, Pa.; Stevens, Alaska; Voinovich, Ohio; Warner, Va.

Republicans No:

Alexander, Tenn.; Allard, Colo.; Barrasso, Wy.; Bunning, Ky.; Chambliss, Ga.; Coburn, Okla.; Cochran, Miss.; Corker, Tenn.; Cornyn, Texas; Crapo, Idaho; DeMint, S.C.; Dole, N.C.; Enzi, Wyo.; Grassley, Iowa; Hatch, Utah; Hutchison, Texas; Inhofe, Okla.; Isakson, Ga.; Roberts, Kan.; Sessions, Ala.; Shelby, Ala.; Smith, Ore.; Sununu, N.H.; Thune, S.D.; Vitter, La.

Others Yes:

Lieberman, Conn.

Others No:

Sanders, Vt.

Lott explains himself on "talk radio"

And so does Diane Feinstein. Care to choose which senator you prefer?

'I'm not Trent' Mike Lott wants to make clear

Interesting article at OneNewsNow.

"I just want people to understand that Mike Lott is the guy in Mississippi fighting against illegal immigration and I'm quite baffled at what is going on up in Washington, D.C."

So, the Mississippi Secretary of State candidate says he doesn't want to be confused with one of the most powerful men in the U.S. Senate. Little wonder when these comments sputter forth from Senator Lott's office:

"If the answer is 'build a fence' I've got two goats on my place in Mississippi. There ain't no fence big enough, high enough, strong enough, that you can keep those goats in that fence."

"Now people are at least as smart as goats," Lott continued. "Maybe not as agile. Build a fence. We should have a virtual fence. Now one of the ways I keep those goats in the fence is I electrified them. Once they got popped a couple of times they quit trying to jump it."

"I'm not proposing an electrified goat fence," Lott added quickly, "I'm just trying, there's an analogy there."

These comments from Sec. of State Republican candidate Mike Lott on the Mississippi Connection with Matt Friedeman on 6/21/07:

Mike Lott: If you know me, you know where I stand on illegal immigration; but there are a lot of people across the state, of course, voters, and not every voter knows me. And when they see the last name “Lott,” that’s what they’re going to think of, possibly: “Is this the guy that wants illegal immigration or doesn’t want illegal immigration? I’m confused!” And I just don’t want voters to be confused; I want them to know.

Matt Friedeman: Has Trent handled this illegal immigration issue poorly?

ML: I’m just disappointed across the board with what’s going on in Washington, D.C. with all of the leadership – Republicans, Democrats, from the President on down, And quite frankly, I think I have a pretty good thermostat, as a legislator not only in a small district but as someone who’s been running a statewide campaign for the last four months. I have a pretty good thermometer about what people think on this issue of illegal immigration, and the path citizenship and all the small, minute details of what’s important to people and the overall topic of illegal immigration. You know, from the president on down I don’t understand what’s going on in D.C. per se. The voice of Mississippians just doesn’t seem to be heard loudly enough.

MF: It’s interesting; the Gallup poll out today says just 14% of Americans have a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in Congress right now. The previous low point apparently was 18% somewhere between 1991 and 1994. Do you feel this discontent out there as you’re going around from place to place making speeches.

ML: …The voters in general are just very disgusted and frustrated. They sometimes say that they don’t think they have anyone listening to them.

MF: What does any of this have to do – whether it’s Trent Lott or illegal immigration or general discontent out there – what does any of it have to do with the office of Secretary of State?

ML: I’m glad you asked that question, because some of my opponents are out there saying I’m beating this drum too loudly, that it has nothing to do with the office of Secretary of State. It’s very simple. If they knew anything about the issue of illegal immigration, they wouldn’t even have to ask the question. But here’s what it has to do with the office: right now in Mississippi, we do not have a law that mandates that we prove citizenship before your name goes on the voter roll. And as secretary of state I’ll be the chief elections officer in the state.

I do not want names going on our voter roll to register voters in this state if they’re not citizens of the state. So as secretary of state, I’m going to push for legislation not only to ask for voter identification, to prove yourself at the polls so you can’t steal my vote. But also before that process gets to the voting day, I want people who register as voters to have to prove that they are U.S. citizens. Circuit clerks tell me that we’ve got people on our voting rolls who have been put there, and they are not citizens of our country. But there’s no law that mandates that the circuit clerks verify citizenship.

Lott doesn't mind if he offends because, hey! - he's offended everybody

So he says.

Actually, he might think about principled governance. That way he is much more likely to offend the "left" people every time and maintain some friends.

Governing by Principle

Forest Thigpen of the Mississippi Center for Public Policy has just put out a great booklet for those looking to sound principles to guide public policy. They are not without bias, of course, for Thigpen's organization is concerned with "limited government, free markets, strong traditional families."

Thigpen challenges those who have the booklets to ask candidates for office this year to make clear their stand on these items (fully explained in the booklet, of course with quotes from Founding Fathers). The booklet should be used by voters, in government, naturally, but also by those in schools at all levels to teach (or argue with) basic principles of how to make law. Get it at www.mspolicy.org or call (888-677-6542) for your free or additional copies. Great stuff.

The principles:

• Government exists to protect rights, not to create them.
  
  
• The legitimate power of government begins and ends with the people, while its authority comes from the Creator.
  
  
• Just because a problem exists doesn't mean government should try to solve it.
  
  
• Long-term and cumulative consequences should be considered more carefully than short-term benefits.
  
  
• Government has nothing to give anyone except what it first takes from someone else.
• Individuals are ultimately responsible for governing themselves and for the consequences of their decisions.
  
  
• Free enterprise, not government, is the engine of personal economic prosperity.
  
  
• The free market should not be distorted by government-designed dictates or advantages.
  
  
• Government has a respoonsibility to protect the foundational institution of society: the marriage-based, two-parent family.
  
  
• Parents, not government, are responsible for the education and upbringing of their children.

Questions that should be asked lawmakers before they act on an idea:

• Does government has the legitimate authority to do it? If so, what is the proper level of government to do it?
  
  
• Does it protect inalienable rights, or does it create new rights (or extend rights that were previously created by government? Does it infringe on anyone else's inalienable rights?
  
  
• Will it lead to more freedom, or less? Will it restore freedom that has been lost due to previous government action?
  
  
• Will it result in people taking more responsibility for themselves, or less?
  
  
• Will it foster or reinforce a "government is our savior" mentality, or will it lessen it?
  
  
• Will it protect the free exchange of goods and services among willing participants, or will it burden that process with taxes or regulations?
  
  
• Will it help some people but create long-term circumstances that actually harm others?
  
  
• Even if it is a good idea, will it have the cumulative effect of being the "straw that broke the camel's back" after being added to existing laws?
  
  
• And many more...

The unintended consequences of legal abortion

Great article in the WSJ by John Lott.

From the beginning of the abortion debate, those favoring abortion have pointed to the social costs of "unwanted" children who simply won't get the attention of "wanted" ones. But there is a trade-off that has long been neglected. Abortion may eliminate "unwanted" children, but it increases out-of-wedlock births and single parenthood. Unfortunately, the social consequences of illegitimacy dominated.

Children born after liberalized abortion rules have suffered a series of problems from problems at school to more crime. The saddest fact is that it is the most vulnerable in society, poor blacks, who have suffered the most from these changes.

Liberalized abortion might have made life easier for many, but like sex itself sometimes, it has had many unintended consequences.

Fred Thompson is on top for the first time

Oh, how this must be unnerving to those who have already spent millions...

Lt. Gov. Race - the mud begins to fly?

Good column by Pender.

Bryant is going to win this race. But it will get tighter in days to come. And the mud will indeed fly, on the screens and behind them.

A gambling referendum?

The lieutenant governor's race in Mississippi looks to be taking on a pro- vs. anti-gambling twist. In a debate on AFR's Mississippi Connection state senator Charlie Ross did everything he could to dodge the "Is gambling moral?" inquiry while state auditor Phil Bryant noted, quite forcefully, that it was indeed immoral.

Ross, apparently, intends to use those words of Bryant's.

This campaign will get nasty, soon, and it will be over any issue that gets traction for Ross who is reportedly significantly behind in campaign polls. Since there is not much that separates these two, look for this issue of gambling to be one area where Ross plays his pro-gambling hand strong where it counts the most...like the Coast.

Phil Bryant is likely concerned like a man with a double digit lead should be, but he is probably not ready to start running scared. At the end of the day he is betting that Mississippi still doesn't want it's Senate leader beholden to gambling interests.

And that is a good bet.

Time served?

Fromthe Opinion Journal: The Associated Press reports from Peterborough, Ontario, on the strange case of 24-year-old Steven Cranley:

Cranley, who has been diagnosed with a dependent personality disorder, attacked his girlfriend in an argument after their breakup.

He tried to prevent her from phoning the police by cutting her phone cord and punched and kicked her. He finally stabbed himself with a butcher knife when police did arrive, puncturing his aorta.

Cranley pleaded guilty and received an unusual sentence: The judge ruled that he "is not allowed to have a girlfriend for the next three years."

All we can say is that if this ever happens to us, we hope we get credit for time served in high school.

Fred Thompson on the pro-life issue

Not bad. Not bad at all!

A gubernatorial candidate not endorsed by the MAE

The Mississippi Association of Educators decided not to endorse conservative Republican Haley Barbour, of course. But surely they would swing their influence over to Democrat John Arthur Eaves, wouldn't they?

No.

Eaves talked to them about prayer in schools and homeschooling. The Money Answers Everything crowd couldn't countenance either, thus the endorsement rebuff.

Not initials you would want on your name anyway...ever since the MAE has been in operation test scores have moved downward. They don't care about kids. They care about more pay and more money for their broken system.

Heavy TV viewing is linked to liberalism?

Apparently!

...heavy TV viewers proved far more likely to agree with the statement “the government needs to get bigger” than were light viewers (26% to 12%). They were also more likely to endorse the idea that “government should be responsible for providing retirement benefits for everyone” (64% to 43%), much more likely to declare themselves “pro choice” on abortion (57% to 43%), more likely to back “a government run health system” (63% to 43%), and much less likely to attend church “at least weekly” (28% to 47%).

Did Democrats come from apes?

Well, now.

A leading Christian apologist says he's not at all surprised by the results of a new Gallup poll that finds most Democrats and Independents believe Darwin's theory of evolution is true, but Republicans disbelieve it by a more than 2-to-1 margin. Church attendance, according to the poll, plays a role in those findings.

Hear This Report

An "all private school system?" Why not?

You tell me - why not a system of education that is totally private. Read the articles (1 and 2) and leave a comment.

Mississippi Constitution Party Newsletter

A fun few endorsements and recommendations:

The majority of Americans are now dissatisfied with both the Democrat & Republican Parites. President Bush & the Democrats in Congress both "enjoy" an approval rating that hovers in th 20-30% range. Here in Mississippi there is growing frusration with the way both big parties have ignored their oaths of office & their constiuents' wishes on issues like immigration.
In response, this year, Mississippi will have more "Third Party Candidates" running for the state legislature than at anytime since the 1920's. The largest contributing factor to this is the fine crop of outsider, citizen-statesmen below.

Mississippi Constitution Party Candidates for 2007 Elections
Please go to the Mississippi CP web site, check out these fine, principled men, and give them your support
P. Leslie Riley, Jr. -- Commissioner of Agriculture (Statewide)
John Bethea - State Senate, Dist 26 (Hinds Co)
Parker Dykes, Jr. - State Senate, Dist 35 (Rankin, Simpson, Copiah, Covington Co)
Vince Thornton - State Senate, Dist 41 ( Covinton & surrounding Counties)
Ken Overstreet - State Senate, Dist 46 ( Hancock County)
"Pro-Life" Dave Rogers - State Senate, Dist 50 ( Harrison Co)
Ron Brandon - House of Reps. Dist 15 (Pontotoc Co)
Carl Mason - House of Representatives, Dist 53 ( Franklin Co)
Tim Delrie - House of Reps. Dist 80 ( Jones, Jasper, Clarke Co)
John Cossman - House of Reps. Dist 111 ( Jackson Co)
Rick South - Lowdnes Co Supervisor Dist 2

Non- CP Candidates worth supporting
While we cannot fully endorse any candidate that has not committed to our platform & principles, the followning is a list of candidates who are in enough agreement with our platform to gain our endorsement or partial endorsement in their respective primaries and/ or the General Election. Some of these are in statewide races. Others, if you are not in their district, please consider giving them support as you can.

Endorsements:
(These are folks who we have found to be of good character, who have stood on principle, and who are in substantial agreement with our platform)
In the Republican Primary, please vote for :
Phil Bryant- Lt Governor
Chris Brown - State Representative, District 20
Phillip Gunn - State Representaive, District 56
John L. Moore - State Representative, District 60
John Thomas Cripps - State Representative, District 93
* John was the Constitution Party Candidate for Governor in 2003

Partial Endorsements :
( These are folks we generally agree with, but are not ready to give our full endorsements)
Mike Lott- Secretary of State
* Mike Lott has been a champion on immigration and a number of other conservative issues; the only hold back on giving him our full endorsement is that we are waiting on an explanation from his office on his vote in favor of SB 2718 -- a horrendous "Civil Rights Education" package
Max Phillips - Commissioner of Agriculture
* If you vote in the Republican Primary, we reccommend a vote for Max Phillips over Lester Spell. However, in the General Election we obviously recomend our own Les Riley .

Non-Endorsements:
We recommend writing in or sitting out entirely other statewide races because most of the candidates have shown themselves to be committed to the Messianic Statism.
If you know of a good candidate in another race that you would like to recommend to us, please feel free to e-mail lesriley@bellsouth.net

For more discussion of the issues of the day & ideas on things you can do to get invovlved, please visit these sites:

www.mississippicp.com
Riley for Agriculture
www.lesriley.net
http://www.unbornchildren.com

They have debated...so who are you voting for?

Lt. Gov. candidates Phil Bryant and Charlie Ross have debated on the Mississippi Connection with Matt Friedeman. Regardless of whether you heard it, who are you voting for, and why?

Hey State Dems...how does it taste?

Taggart nails it. Ouch.

Tied!

Giuliani and Thompson are tied...and how disappointed and dumbfounded must McCain and Romney feel today?

Who would you vote for today?

Phil Bryant vs. Charlie Ross debate

What questions should we be asking the candidates for Misssissippi Lieutenant Governor?