On voting for the lesser of evils...

Matt

I was the last caller to your show last night (or today 1/30/08). I had my radio off and couldn't hear so I don't know when I was cut off (or even if I hung up on you or vice versa -- either way, it's okay with me)

The point I wanted to make is this and I would like for you to discuss this on your show if possible:

It seems to me that all Americans (not just Christians) have an attitude of "settling" -- settling for the lesser of two evils, not voting for someone who represents our dearly held views because we are afraid of "wasting" our vote because the media has determined that certain candidates are "unelectable". I have a big problem with that because as Americans, we should never "settle". As Christians, we should certainly never "settle" or "compromise" or choose "the lesser of two evils"

God has created this country for a reason. He is a very purposeful God. What is the purpose of this country? and have we outlived our purpose? Is there anything we can do as a nation for the cause of Christ? I haven't googled for facts, but I wonder how much of foreign mission work is paid for by U.S. churches and denominations. What happens if we are unable to give that money or send those people because our country has been destroyed from within and our economy is on the ropes? What happens to the cause of Christ if we take all that God has given us (economic blessings and religious liberty and personal liberty) and let it go to waste because we are afraid of "wasting" our vote on a Godly but "unelectable" man.

Will we ever have to stand before God and give account of our vote like we expect to give account of our money and our time? It is a gift of God -- in the thousands of years of recorded history, very few people percentage wise have had the opportunity to control their government like we can -- and like any gift from God, He expects us to use it well. How well are we Christians using our vote? How well are our leaders using their influence? Are we passing up Godly principled men for "electable" men? What God do we serve? It only takes one man (or woman) to change a nation....Esther, Joseph, Moses. How much of a chance would CNN have given Moses? Is CNN the voice of God? Is MSNBC the voice of God? Is Fox News the voice of God? If not, why do we listen to them over our conscience and our heart and the Holy Spirit? Whose voice are we following? How are we exercising the "stewardship of our vote"

For such a time as this...God has placed SOMEONE on this earth. Let's ask Him who that someone is...let's not take the lesser of two evils. God isn't bound by poll results or even by Super Duper Tuesday results. God will raise up a leader for us if we ask Him to. It's not too late.

Thanks for "listening".
Laura

Obese of the State, Unite!

Mississippi Representatives Bobby Shows of Ellisville, John Read of Gautier, and W.T. Mayhall of Southaven have proposed House Bill 282 in the 2008 Mississippi Legislature that if passed would significantly impact the daily lives of most Mississippians.

The bill (which won't pass) would prohibit food establishments from serving food to anyone who is obese based upon Mississippi Department of Health criteria. The Department of Health would be required to monitor food establishments for compliance and may revoke permits for violations.

The text of the bill is as follows:

HOUSE BILL NO. 282

AN ACT TO PROHIBIT CERTAIN FOOD ESTABLISHMENTS FROM SERVING FOOD TO ANY PERSON WHO IS OBESE, BASED ON CRITERIA PRESCRIBED BY THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH; TO DIRECT THE DEPARTMENT TO PREPARE WRITTEN MATERIALS THAT DESCRIBE AND EXPLAIN THE CRITERIA FOR DETERMINING WHETHER A PERSON IS OBESE AND TO PROVIDE THOSE MATERIALS TO THE FOOD ESTABLISHMENTS; TO DIRECT THE DEPARTMENT TO MONITOR THE FOOD ESTABLISHMENTS FOR COMPLIANCE WITH THE PROVISIONS OF THIS ACT; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES. BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF
MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1.

(1) The provisions of this section shall apply to any food establishment that is required to obtain a permit from the State Department of Health under Section 41-3-15(4)(f), that operates
primarily in an enclosed facility and that has five (5) or more seats for customers.

(2) Any food establishment to which this section applies shall not be allowed to serve food to any person who is obese, based on criteria prescribed by the State Department of Health after consultation with the Mississippi Council on Obesity Prevention and Management established under Section 41-101-1 or its successor. The State Department of Health shall prepare written materials that describe and explain the criteria for determining whether a person is obese, and shall provide those materials to all food establishments to which this section applies. A food establishment shall be entitled to rely on the criteria for obesity in those written materials when determining whether or not it is allowed to serve food to any person.

(3) The State Department of Health shall monitor the food establishments to which this section applies for compliance with the provisions of this section, and may revoke the permit of any food establishment that repeatedly violates the provisions of this section.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2008.

Why grieve?

From a San Francisco post-abortion hotline comes an idea:

Exhale’s electronic greeting cards range from the general—for instance, “As you grieve, remember that you are loved”—to the more explicitly religious: “God will never leave you nor forsake you.” In addition, Exhale is planning a magazine that will have stories, poems, letters, and rituals by and for women who have had abortions. Thirty years ago, prominent pro-abortionists predicted the disappearance of stigma and the acceptance of abortion as being no more morally problematic than fingernail clipping. Some things in human nature are irrepressible, you might well say, but there are also deep cultural differences. In Japan, for instance, things are done differently. Thousands of Japanese women visit temples every year to bring baby clothes, cookies, toys, and other offerings to their mizugo. The mizugo is a baby removed from the watery warmth of the womb by miscarriage or abortion. It is a “water baby,” and mizugo ni suru means to have an abortion. In temples there are thousands upon thousands of little statues representing water babies. Whole families, including siblings of the dead child, make visits, often pinning notes to the statues, signed by all the family members and expressing gratitude to the water baby. Many homes also have a shrine honoring the missing. Buddhists, believing in reincarnation, think the baby will have another chance, or many chances, at a better life. They do not have to work at convincing themselves that the baby was not a baby. The government agency that certifies abortionists in Japan is called the Motherhood Protection Association. In America it is very different. Thanks to Exhale, you can send an electronic greeting card: “As you grieve, remember that you are loved.” It is always in order to assure people that they are loved. That it is now assumed, also by some pro-abortion advocates, that there is a someone to grieve over is a fact not untouched by reasons for hope.

HT: First Things

Sen. Jim DeMint - a Conservative response to the SOTU

Not a bad idea:

Since 1966, the opposition party has delivered a response to the State of the Union Address.

This year, I am delivering a Conservative Response not to oppose the President, but to compliment what the President has proposed.

The President last night took some bold positions and we will work to support his principled stands. But more must be done.

As a Senate conservative, I will work with my colleagues to put forth principled conservative ideas for action in Congress.

Mississippi not THE most corrupt

But #2?

The 2006 Justice Department report contains a compilation of all federal corruption convictions by state over the past decade.

“We added up the total convictions for each state from 1997 to 2006,” Mokhiber said. “We then calculated a corruption rate for each state, which we defined as the total number of public corruption convictions from 1997 to 2006 per 100,000 residents.”

Here are the 35 most populous states ranked by their corruption rate:

Louisiana (1)(7.67), Mississippi (2)(6.66), Kentucky (3)(5.18), Alabama (4)(4.76), Ohio (5)(4.69), Illinois (6)(4.68), Pennsylvania (7)(4.55), Florida (8)(4.47), New Jersey (9)(4.32), New York (10)(3.95).

Or...are we just better at catching the crooks?

Teenagers?

Daughter Hannah kissed me on the cheek the other day and said "Hey, Dad...on my birthday you will be the proud Daddy of four teenagers."

Four!

Any advice?

Barack Obama in Christianity Today

Here.

You've talked about your experience walking down the aisle at Trinity United Church of Christ, and kneeling beneath the cross, having your sins redeemed, and submitting to God's will. Would you describe that as a conversion? Do you consider yourself born again?

I am a Christian, and I am a devout Christian. I believe in the redemptive death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I believe that that faith gives me a path to be cleansed of sin and have eternal life. But most importantly, I believe in the example that Jesus set by feeding the hungry and healing the sick and always prioritizing the least of these over the powerful. I didn't 'fall out in church' as they say, but there was a very strong awakening in me of the importance of these issues in my life. I didn't want to walk alone on this journey. Accepting Jesus Christ in my life has been a powerful guide for my conduct and my values and my ideals.

There is one thing that I want to mention that I think is important. Part of what we've been seeing during the course this campaign is some scurrilous e-mails that have been sent out, denying my faith, talking about me being a Muslim, suggesting that I got sworn in the U.S. Senate with a Quran in my hand or that I don't pledge allegiance to the flag. I think it's really important for your readers to know that I have been a member of the same church for almost 20 years, and I have never practiced Islam. I am respectful of the religion, but it's not my own. One of the things that's very important in this day and age is that we don't use religion as a political tool and certainly that we don't lie about religion as a way to score political points. I just thought it was important to get that in there to dispel rumors that have been over the Internet. We've done so repeatedly, but obviously it's a political tactic of somebody to try to provide this misinformation.

Ouch. This one not only tells the truth, but will hurt McCain.

View it and weep.

Something going around the internet...

Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years.

No one knows for sure how old he was since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape.

He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as knowing when to come in out of the rain, why the early bird gets the worm, life isn't always fair, and maybe it was my fault.

Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you earn) and reliable parenting strategies (adults, not children are in charge).

His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a six-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.

Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job they themselves failed to do in disciplining their unruly children. It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer Aspirin, sun lotion or a Band-Aid to a student, but could not inform the parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.

Common Sense lost the will to live as the Ten Commandments became contraband; churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims. Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar can sue you for assault.

Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.

Common Sense was preceded in death by his parents, Truth and Trust; his wife, Discretion; his daughter, Responsibility; and his son, Reason. He is survived by three stepbrothers; I Know my Rights, Someone Else is to Blame, and I'm a Victim.

Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone. If you still remember him, get in the fight. If not, join the majority and do nothing.

Handling the Dana Jacobsen scenario

Perhaps this would be best.

Personally, I can’t see that firing Jacobson accomplishes much, besides showing that Christians can flex their muscles and get people fired just as well as any other group. “Bless those who persecute you,” Paul writes in Romans 12:14, “bless and do not curse.” As followers of Christ, we’d be better served by an ESPN-arranged meeting between Jacobson and a group of local pastors. She could apologize in person—something she’s already done in a prepared statement—and they could explain, with grace and understanding, why they accept her apology in the name of the one she denigrated.

But all that is less important, to my mind, than an issue raised indirectly by the Chicago Tribune’s Manya Brachear. She wrote yesterday on her blog, The Seeker: “Jacobson works for a sports channel, and sports rivalries can get heated. Should she have restrained herself? Or, when you’re up against a religious institution, is their chief sponsor fair game?”

That Jesus, or any religious figure, can be treated as part of the hype and hysteria surrounding a sports team—something like the Dallas Cowboys’ cheerleaders or Duke’s Cameron Crazies—indicates something unbalanced about our country’s sports obsession. This is an obsession I share, so I am speaking as much to myself here as to anyone else. In CT’s September 2007 cover story, “Why We Love Football,” Eric Miller pointed out that sports can become a channel of common grace, of community and fellowship and shared dreams. Yet he also noted the ever-present temptation of fans to worship the teams they follow.

John Calvin wrote that “the human heart is a factory of idols.” The last time I checked, taking the Lord’s name in vain was a sin, a breaking of the Third Commandment. But so, too, is having any other gods before the one true God, the subject of the First Commandment. The underlying issue in Jacobson’s curse wasn’t blasphemy, but idolatry. In that failing, she certainly isn’t alone.

A Loss in November Might Be Good for GOP, If McCain Is the Nominee

Hmmm.

The good and the bad of the stimulus package

Here.

Index of Economic Freedom

Always a fascinating read.

Precious pro-life story

Here. What m0ther wouldn't do this?

Roe IQ Test - take it and find out how "pro-life" literate you are

Dobson offers this in his recent newsletter:

Our staff recently joined with our great friends at the Alliance Defense Fund and Concerned Women for America to create a unique survey called the "Roe IQ Test," which gauges each respondent's knowledge and attitudes concerning these infamous 1973 Supreme Court decisions. It includes 12 questions, and I assure you that the answers to several of the questions are surprising. To be honest, when I first saw the test I wasn't sure I would be able to answer each question correctly myself. I have included the full survey below, and I encourage you to take a few minutes to look it over and consider the questions. I'm convinced that if Americans could answer each of these questions accurately, support for legalized abortion would erode even faster than it already has.

The answers to the following questions are included in a separate key at the end of this letter. Please don't look ahead--see how many of these questions you are able to answer off the top of your head, without doing any outside research.

Now, to the test:

Note: The U.S. Supreme Court's control over abortion laws is significantly influenced by two 1973 decisions: Roe v. Wade (Roe) and Doe v. Bolton (Doe). To keep things simple, this I.Q test considers both rulings but refers to the better known of the two cases, Roe. So, Roe represents both Roe and Doe in the questions.

1.	Which most accurately describes when a woman may have an abortion under Roe?
	A.	Anytime during the first three months (first trimester) of her pregnancy
	B.	Anytime during the first six months (second trimester) of her pregnancy
	C.	Anytime during her entire pregnancy
	D.	Anytime during the first three months, but can have an abortion later if the pregnancy resulted from rape or incest

2.	Which best describes the limitations Roe places on why a woman may have an abortion?
	A.	No limitations
	B.	Only in case of rape, incest, or when the woman's life is in danger
	C.	No limitations during the first three months of pregnancy, but only medically necessary abortions after that

3.	True or False. Roe allowed late-term abortions.
	A.	True
	B.	False

4.	True or False. If Roe were overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court, abortion would immediately become illegal in the United States.
	A.	True
	B.	False

5.	According to the Centers for Disease Control, about how many abortions have been performed in the United States since the Roe decision in 1973?
	A.	Less than 10 million
	B.	10-19 million
	C.	20-29 million
	D.	30-39 million
	E.	40-49 million
	F.	50-59 million
	G.	More than 60 million

6.	At what age does Roe require minor girls to have parental notification before an abortion?
	A.	Parental notification is not required
	B.	Girls 18 and younger
	C.	Girls 16 and younger
	D.	Girls 13 and younger

7.	True or False. Roe allowed sex-selection abortions--abortions performed because of the sex of the baby (For example: parents wanting a boy instead of a girl--and vice-versa).
	A.	True
	B.	False

8.	What percentage of abortions are performed because of rape or incest?
	A.	More than 16 percent
	B.	11-15 percent
	C.	6-10 percent
	D.	2-5 percent
	E.	Fewer than 1 percent

9.	Which of our nation's founding documents contains the phrase "right to an abortion"?
	A.	Declaration of Independence
	B.	U.S. Constitution
	C.	Bill of Rights
	D.	None of the Above
	E.	All of the Above

10.	Which Supreme Court Justice said the following about Roe: "Roe v. Wade ... ventured too far in the change it ordered and presented an inadequate justification for its action."
	A.	Justice Samuel Alito
	B.	Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
	C.	Justice Sandra Day O'Connor
	D.	Justice Antonin Scalia
	E.	Justice Clarence Thomas

11.	Which country's laws make it easiest to have an abortion?
	A.	Finland
	B.	Great Britain
	C.	Ireland
	D.	United States
	E.	Mexico

12.	Under Roe, which of these are allowed to perform abortions?
	A.	Licensed physician
	B.	Nurse practitioner
	C.	Resident assistant
	D.	Registered nurse
	E.	All of the above

Key:

ANSWERS: 1 [C] 2 [A] 3 [A] 4 [B] 5 [E] 6 [A] 7 [A] 8 [E] 9 [D] 10 [B] 11 [D] 12 [E]

Dobson also hands along these facts:

The American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists (AAPLOG) conducted an in-depth study in July 2007 titled "Long-Term Complications Associated with Induced Abortion." It contains a wealth of extensive research demonstrating the devastating physical and emotional effects of abortion on women. Although there is solid research to verify their conclusions, not surprisingly, these findings have been almost completely ignored by the mainstream media and by left-leaning elements of the medical profession. In fact, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has stated: "Long term risks sometimes attributed to surgical abortion include potential effects on reproductive function, cancer incidence, and psychological sequelae. However, the medical literature, when carefully evaluated, clearly indicates no significant negative impact on any of these factors with surgical abortion."

AAPLOG's research demonstrates how faulty this conclusion is. Their study opens with this telling statement: "We are aware of no studies that demonstrate a better mental or physical health outcome for aborted women, compared to those who choose to deliver. On the contrary, there is ample evidence that induced abortion in many cases is associated with significant degradation of emotional health, physical health and reproductive health."

Specifically, AAPLOG's study cites links between abortion and depression, substance abuse, suicide, placenta previa (a dangerous medical condition), breast cancer, premature birth, and low birth weight among post-abortion women.

Consider these examples from the report:

• A study in New Zealand found that at age 25, 42 percent of women in the study group who had had an abortion also experienced major depression at some stage during the past four years. This was nearly double the rate of those who had never been pregnant and 35 percent higher than those who had chosen to continue a pregnancy.
• Data from California shows that compared with women who had previously given birth, women who aborted were 929 percent more likely to use marijuana, 460 percent more likely to use other illicit drugs and 122 percent more likely to use alcohol during their next pregnancy.
• A University of Minnesota study on teen suicide found that the rate of attempted suicide in the six months prior to the study increased tenfold for teens who had aborted during those previous six months.
• Researchers at South Glomorgan Health Authority in Great Britain found that after abortions, there were 8.9 suicide attempts per 1,000, compared with 1.9 suicide attempts per 1,000 among those who gave birth.
• Studies also show a link between abortion and placentia previa (a condition in which the placenta is implanted abnormally low in the uterine cavity) during subsequent pregnancies.
• Although controversial, research continues to suggest a link between abortion and the subsequent risk of developing breast cancer. More than 41 studies worldwide (including 16 conducted in America) have reported data on the risk of breast cancer among women with a history of induced abortion. A full 29 (70 percent) of these studies reported an increased risk, with 13 (or 81 percent) of the American studies reporting an increased risk.
• More than 50 studies have demonstrated a statistically significant increase in premature birth or low birth weight risk in women with prior induced abortions. Consider, for example, that in Ireland, where induced abortion is illegal, the prematurity rate in 2003 was 5.48 percent, less than half the U.S. rate of 12.3 percent.
  

Mike Lupica's "must-read" column

Here.

John McCain's greatest selling point

Sure to chap fellow Senator John McCain

Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss., has endorsed Mitt Romney's bid for the White House and says he would welcome an opportunity to help the Republican "implement his conservative vision" if elected.

Pork barrel Thad can't stand the bickering of McCain. Take that.

The anti-Musgrove web site

Ouch.

Fred Thompson out

Alas, of the presidential candidates that I could stomach, Thompson was my guy. He had, I suppose, a two-week window where he could have seized the lead and hung on for dear life. He refused, or was incapable, or his staff was in too much disarray...or whatever.

If he didn't want to get in the race and do the things, sometimes debasing and humilitating things, necessary to win he shouldn't have gotten in and raised hopes in the first place.

And now, who? The race is getting less palatable with each passing day.

88

88. Nearly everybody says they are pro-life as they run for Congress in the first District of Mississippi these days. But Dr. Randy Russell and his family get to say something else. We are pro-life AND we have taken in 88 children into our home and loved for them, cared for them until an adoptive family showed up.

Right now they have twins in their home. Eventually, someone will come and pick them up as adoptive parents. Sometimes soon, sometimes several months, they have kept babies of all races, of various life circumstances, from a variety of moms that either simply didn't want the child in the first place or were just too overwhelmed to deal with a new young one.

88. Randy Russell would make a fine Congressman. He is sharp, conservative, articulate and has a backbone made of steel. But his greatest qualification in this race is that he is a pro-life Christian who really lives it.

88.

Carnage of convenience

Matt

We need to put in perspective the losses of the future due to Roe V. Wade. We have lost a third of a generation that makes the carnage of World War I look tame. Of all nations who fought from 1914 through 1918 the total of killed in action was 9.5 million. We have killed five times the number of people that died in the “Great War” and the war to end all wars.

Our carnage of convenience has placed in the esteemed company of Mao Tse Tung’s China and Joseph Stalin’s Soviet Union as one of the three top genocidal nations of history. Adolph Hitler is a very poor fourth at a total of 11 million.

One of the real scary thoughts in relationship to abortion is how long will it be before our courts decide that defective humans are as OK to delete as they were in Hitler’s Germany. He killed six million Jews, but the other five million were “undesirables.” Who will choose that in our country?

In Christ,

Steve

I Have a Dream Speech

Always good to review. Do it.

Change ad nauseum

Brother.

Pro-life youth movement?

WashTimes:

A series of recent polls illuminates why films like "Juno" (pro-life flick) are a hit with America's youth.

• A Harris Poll found 55 percent of "young adults" opposed "abortion rights," making 18-30 year-olds the age cohort most likely to oppose abortion.

• A survey of 30,000 Missourians found the percentage of "strongly pro-life" teenagers and young adults under 30 years old increased 13 percentage points, from 23 percent to 36 percent, between 1992 and 2006, while self-identified "strongly pro-choice" Missourians under 30 dropped 21 percentage points, from 39 percent to 18 percent.

• A June New York Times/CBS News/MTV poll found a substantial majority (62 percent) of 17- to 29-year-olds felt abortion should either "not be permitted" (24 percent) or "more strictly limited" (38 percent) than it is now.

• A University of California-Los Angeles poll found the share of female college freshmen who supported abortion fell from 68 percent in 1992 to 53 percent in 2004.

• A Hamilton College poll of high school seniors found 72 percent of female students said they would not consider abortion if they became pregnant, and only 13 percent said they would counsel a pregnant friend to consider an abortion.

This sea change in abortion views among America's youth has helped produce something far more impressive than the recent spate of life-affirming films: a steady decline — 40 percent among states consistently reporting data — in minors' abortions since 1990. All this begs the question: Why, as they become more liberal on many social issues, are young people becoming more conservative on abortion?

First, there's what James Taranto has dubbed the "Roe Effect," a theory explaining abortion's demographic consequences. Assuming that those who support abortion rights are more likely to abort than those who oppose them, the theory goes, pro-choice parents are, on average, likely to have fewer children than pro-life parents.

Also, given the empirical research demonstrating that children tend to follow their parents' political and religious leanings, we would expect, as Mr. Taranto has written, "the post-Roe cohort to be more 'pro-life' than their elders."

While the "Roe Effect" is difficult to estimate precisely, as there have been as many as 50 million abortions in the United States since the Supreme Court's 1973 Roe v. Wade decision (more than the combined populations of 25 states), we can assume the effect is significant.

Second, pro-lifers' embrace of science and technology has been crucial to highlighting the humanity of the unborn child, and thus the brutal reality of abortion. Three- and 4-D ultrasound technologies and fetal pain research have revealed children in the womb as living, breathing, feeling human beings, and at earlier stages than previously imagined possible. As William Saletan said: "Ultrasound has exposed the life in the womb to those of us who didn't want to see what abortion kills. The fetus is squirming, and so are we."

Technology's life-affirming effects have been especially acute for young people, who have grown up in a time when complex, lifesaving surgeries can be performed even before the child is born. News stories featuring the miraculous births of the youngest (21 weeks) and tiniest (10 ounces) babies ever to survive have prompted serious discussions about how dropping fetal viability timeframes are changing how people think about abortion.

Finally, social science continues to underscore a possible causal link between abortion and subsequent depression. The growing number of post-abortive women speaking out about abortion's negative effects has given young women reason to seriously question the slogan "pro-woman, pro-choice."

Genuine concern for mothers and their babies in the womb?

Hey Matt,

I probably will not get to hear the show today, sorry. The following may not make sense. Please read my chattering below about a quirk in the news media that I noticed today.

I caught bits of some reporting on two major morning news shows today about a recent study that linked caffeine and an increased risk of miscarriage among pregnant mothers.

Why, with the media’s liberal slant, often supporting pro-choice, would network news shows be concerned with reporting about an issue that would protect the baby and mother from a potential health risk? That seemed odd to me.

So I searched five major news website (ABC, NBC, FOX, CNN, and CBS) to view their reporting about this study. Four of the five ran a report about this particular study, each listing it under the health portion of their website. The fifth (CBS), oddly enough, ran a story under their health page about, oddly enough, the “Complex Face of Abortion” http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/01/20/health/printable3733178.shtml

Is it good that the other four websites ran a report about this risk? Yes, because the public has right to know and their efforts should be commended.

Is it a genuine concern of the news agencies for mothers to be given this vital information, or was it a story that helps the ratings? Maybe; because even with the "pro-choice logic" that seems to be prevalent in the media, a pro-choice media would be compelled by its own philosophy to report such information. The reason for that is due to what is at the core of a pro-life philosophy: self gratification. The philosophy of pro-choice would reasonably assert that the value of such a study, pertaining to the risk of miscarriage, lies in its reference to the mother and the preservation of her health, more so than the preservation of the health of the unborn child.

It just struck me funny how the liberal media can report about an issue that appeals to conservative social values.

Thanks for speaking up

Paul

Presidential proclamation...

The following text is a proclamation by President Bush:

On National Sanctity of Human Life Day, we recognize that each life has inherent dignity and matchless value, and we reaffirm our steadfast determination to defend the weakest and most vulnerable members of our society.

America was founded on the belief that all men are created equal and have an inalienable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and our country remains committed to upholding that founding principle. Since taking office, I have signed legislation to help protect life at all stages, and my Administration will continue to encourage adoption, fund abstinence education and crisis pregnancy programs, and support faith-based groups. Today, as our society searches for new ways to ease human suffering, we must pursue the possibilities of science in a manner that respects the sacred gift of life and upholds our moral values.

Our Nation has made progress in its efforts to protect human life, and we will strive to change hearts and minds with compassion and decency. On National Sanctity of Human Life Day and throughout the year, we help strengthen the culture of life in America and work for the day when every child is welcomed in life and protected in law.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim Sunday, January 20, 2008, as National Sanctity of Human Life Day. I call upon all Americans to recognize this day with appropriate ceremonies and to underscore our commitment to respecting and protecting the life and dignity of every human being.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this eighteenth day of January, in the year of our Lord two thousand eight, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty- second.

GEORGE W. BUSH

Anybody remember this sordid day in American history?

Ten years ago today came the most interesting Drudge missive:

BLOCKBUSTER REPORT: 23-YEAR OLD, FORMER WHITE HOUSE INTERN, SEX RELATIONSHIP WITH PRESIDENT

**World Exclusive**

**Must Credit the DRUDGE REPORT**

At the last minute, at 6 p.m. on Saturday evening, NEWSWEEK magazine killed a story that was destined to shake official Washington to its foundation: A White House intern carried on a sexual affair with the President of the United States!

The DRUDGE REPORT has learned that reporter Michael Isikoff developed the story of his career, only to have it spiked by top NEWSWEEK suits hours before publication. A young woman, 23, sexually involved with the love of her life, the President of the United States, since she was a 21-year-old intern at the White House. She was a frequent visitor to a small study just off the Oval Office where she claims to have indulged the president's sexual preference. Reports of the relationship spread in White House quarters and she was moved to a job at the Pentagon, where she worked until last month.

HT: Opinion Journal

Is one of Mississippi's American heroes at risk?

They made a movie out of Bobby Delaughter. Ghosts of Mississippi. Have a signed poster in my office. But my, how this drags the name through some mud.

The latest bumper sticker. Ouch.

Open-minded lefties

Definition of liberalism to many is open-mindedness. Right.

Abortions down

Here.

And congratulations to all those social conservatives and evangelicals that have kept up the fight across 35 years. Still...sorrow for those whose lives were lost even today.