Update on Catholic Child Abuse Scandals

One of the most highly trafficked older articles on this blog, still visited by thousands of people, is an article written in April of 2010, entitled If You’re Looking for Child Abuse, the Catholic Church is the Last Place to Look.
I must admit some surprise, seeing so much traffic going to an article that is three years old.

So I re-read the article, to do a bit of updating.  As a courtesy to those who read it, it should be current.

Not much updating was needed, since the main points of the article remain as true today as they were in 2010:

• Catholic priests are the least offenders of all groups in society.
• Children are more safe with Catholic priests than they are in public schools and in their own homes.
• The media seems to report selectively on Catholic priests, misleading people into thinking that Catholic priests are prone to child abuse, when this is simply untrue.
• The few articles which exonerate the Catholic Church are often removed from the web, as in the case of the NewsMax article I originally quoted in 2010.  Whether threats of litigation similar to those used by the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) are responsible for removal of these articles is not clear.
• The fact remains that children are actually in more danger of abuse in their own homes than they are with a Catholic priest.  Live-in boyfriends of divorced mothers are the highest offending group of child abusers in our society. Teachers, doctors and farmers are also high up on the list.
• Media sensationalizes the the fact that dozens of priest offenders are “loose” in the United States, when it fails to acknowledge that every town in America has hundreds of “loose” sex offenders, and that there are close to a million registered sex offenders in the United States.
• Media fails to acknowledge that sex offenders cannot be vaporized magically, either by the government or by the Church, and they do exist and live among us after their sentences have been completed.
• Media exercizes a terrible double standard, reporting primarily on Catholic priests who have abused children, and failing to report on the other groups.  They also assume guilt, failing to acknowledge that any organization believed to have deep pockets will be subject to numerous false accusations.
• For more information, see the original article at If You’re Looking for Child Abuse, the Catholic Church is the Last Place to Look.

My update to If You’re Looking for Child Abuse, the Catholic Church is the Last Place to Look included listing some of the recent supporting material which exonerates priests and exposes the liberal media bias.
One of the biggest contributors to defusing the false narrative is David F. Pierre Jr.:

Dave Pierre is one of the country’s leading observers of the media’s coverage of the Catholic Church abuse narrative. Dave is the author of two critically acclaimed books, ‘Double Standard: Abuse Scandals and the Attack on the Catholic Church’ and ‘Catholic Priests Falsely Accused: The Facts, The Fraud, The Stories.’

Readers have cited Dave’s work as “essential reading,” “a must-read,” and “a great service to the Church.”

Dave is the creator and author of TheMediaReport.com and is a longtime contributing writer to NewsBusters.org, the popular media-bias blog of the Media Research Center.

Dave has been interviewed on National Public Radio (NPR) as well as by other radio outlets and newspapers for his work. He has also contributed to print publications.

Dave is a graduate of Boston College and lives with his wife and family in Massachusetts.

It’s Over, with an Ugly Power Grab

A power grab swept under the rug by the RNC, by FOX, by Rush Limbaugh…

Unable to win by the rules, the RNC estblishment bulldozed a  last-minute rule switch at the Convention yesterday:

Ron Paul had accumulated petitions from enough states (6) to be nominated legitimately, which might also have opened the convention to candidates other than just Mitt Romney and Ron Paul.  According to RNC rules, Ron Paul would have to be listed as a candidate, and a brokered convention, as previously described in Presumtive Nominee, would have followed.
The RNC establishment, wanting only Mitt Romney and wishing to avoid the brokered convention,  drafted a new set of rules which would require petitions from 8 states to nominate a candidate, instead of the previously required 5. This attempt at alteration of the rules after the fact to eliminate an undesired candidate after he has already satisfied the rules of qualification was underhanded, to say the least. But then it got even more ugly.
When it came to the actual vote on the rule change, John Boehner railroaded the vote through dishonestly, announcing that in the opinion of the chair (his opinion) the “ayes have it,” when in fact the sound track of the above video will show clearly that the “ayes” did NOT have it, and Boehner was subsequently booed for the bad call.

What Happened Here?

The Republican Party “establishment” has for decades been drifting towards liberalism through compromise with Democrats.  They have not had much objection from conservative voters, who in prosperous times had less objection to expanding government and expanding spending.

Now, in dire economic times, when unemployment is somewhere between 8 and 15% (depending on how and who defines it), when half of college graduates cannot get jobs, and 85% of college graduates move back in with their parents, when the average American has lost $4,019 due to the economy and the average American’s worth has dropped 39%, Americans have become more conservative.  Americans see the need to conserve.  Numerous movements, including the Tea Party, have placed pressure on Republicans to become more conservative.

The Republican “establishment,” the “old boys,” don’t want to change.  Either they think that they know better than the grass roots “regular guy” (you and me, the voter), or they want to protect their privileged positions and benefits.  There could even be a chance that the powerful liberal-social-engineering-spenders like Soros, Turner or Gates, might be a bit smarter than we give them credit for.  They might have been covering their bets in both parties all along.   There may be some puppets in the Republican Party who take orders from elsewhere.  Democrats have just used fake “Republicans” in their campaign ads, who’s to say they don’t run fake “Republicans” for office?

So There’s a War Going on Within the Republican Party

So there’s a war going on, and the above video illustrates it.
That was the “floor fight” predicted yesterday.
Boehner’s dishonest handling of the vote on the rule change in the above video, as well as Fox’s Ben Swann’s questions Romney’s truthfulness and tactics, show that the liberal, “establishment” half of Republicans are using some pretty dirty tricks.
They are not the only ones not playing it fair. They now seem to have some of the conservative media in their pockets.  FOX News, and even Rush Limbaugh, have stayed away from this story.  They are almost a guilty as the liberal media has been, in failure to report important stories and placating those who are powerful.

We’ve Lost this Battle

It’s pretty clear that we’ve lost this battle of the nomination.

John Boehner falling off pedestal

The fat lady sings “Yes, it’s over.”  The nomination has finally (however undemocratically and dishonestly) been made.
Some of our heroes have fallen; particularly John Boehner.
When the pride of our conservative leaders becomes so inflated that they forget for whom they work, and they try to defy the wishes of their electorate, they become very much like Obama.

The War is Not Over.

“Establishment” Republicans are  the product of the prosperous and liberal past, and are gradually being replaced with new more principled conservatives.
Paul Ryan is an example of that shift. So are some of the Governors who spoke at the Convention last night.
Tough new leaders who are willing to implement tough new reforms.  Scott Walker got a standing ovation last night.
America’s growing grass-roots conservatism will eventually displace the old Republican “establishment” and the required changes will be made. The angry people in the video above are not going home defeated.

The Next Battle

The next battle will be defined in three stages:

• First, Obama needs to be defeated. We will campaign for, and elect, Mitt Romney (gulp!).
  His imperfections are not (yet) as large as Obama’s.
• Then, America’s new grass roots conservatives will have to work hard to hold Mitt Romney to his promises, to keep Mitt accountable to the American people, for whom he works.
• Finally, the next Republican Convention will require some rule changes if we don’t want to drift into conservative totalitarian rule in place of Obama’s liberal totalitarian rule.
• 

So Where is God?

I would have preferred a cleaner and fairer fight at the RNC yesterday, with a better outcome.  I wish we had an (undivided) Republican establishment which respects and enforces it’s own rules, and I wish we could have had a brokered convention to choose the next Reagan or Lincoln for America.  But God’s wisdom, His choices and His intervention are not for us to fathom.  We keep faith in God and watch further developments.

We work to defeat the Abortion President, Obama.
A nation which kills it’s own children cannot prosper.
Neither morally, nor economically.

I love how the left and this president talks about inclusion as they advocate the discarding and destruction of over 1 million children every year. Some inclusion. We stand for the truth. We stand for life. We stand for love, and we will win. – Rick Santorum

God bless and help America!

Enough is Enough, I’m Taking Over… cont’d.

Enough is Enough. I'm taking over.

Taking Over From Barak
Is Barak Obama Losing It?

The Big Reason Why Obama Must Be Replaced

Congressman Bart Stupak

President Barak Obama enlisted the Democrat swing votes for passing one of the largest and most far-reaching pieces of legislation in the history of the United States, ObamaCare, by assuring Democrat Congressman Bart Stupak and his Democrat allies in March of 2010, that federal funding of abortion (something opposed by 70% of America)  would be barred from ObamaCare.  As it turns out, the President of the United States was lying to his own party members, to manipulate them into passing legislation which the President misrepresented to them and to which the President later added autocratic mandates which wiped out all the promises he had made to Bart Stupak, to his allies, and to the American people.

ObamaCare was thus passed under false pretenses.

Stupak betrayed

Time was not allowed for anyone to read the (now 2,700 pages of) legislation; Congress was forced to vote on a bill they had not read.
And of course, not only abortion (abortifacient drugs), but also free contraception and free sterilization were later added to the services which taxpayers must fund under ObamaCare.
Religious exemptions were not given to those whose religious beliefs prohibited paying for abortion.
The ObamaCare budget was misrepresented; recent cost estimates are double those claimed in March 2010, and continue to grow.
The majority of states, as well as numerous organizations and individuals, have filed actions in federal court challenging the constitutionality of ObamaCare.

ObamaCare alone, is sufficient reason to demand the removal of Barak Obama from the office of President of the United States.

United States Constitution Grounds for Impeachment:

Constitution of the United States

The President, Vice President and all civil officers of the United States, shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors. – U.S. Constitution, Article II, Section 4.

Felon

Definition of Misdemeanor

Dictionary.com: Misdemeanor:
1. A criminal offense defined as less serious than a felony. Examples of misdemeanors include traffic violations, disorderly conduct, trespass, reckless driving, public intoxication. Examples of felonies include perjury, check fraud, and  tax evasion, in addition to  treason, murder, assault, rape, and arson.
2. Any minor offense or transgression.

Barak Obama’s Offenses:

• Lying to members of Congress during the creation of legislation (resembles perjury).

• Interfering with the democratic process (resembles check fraud).
  • Defying the electorate in a democracy (resembles treason).

Lying to members of Congress to influence their votes on a piece of legislation which will affect the health and well-being of all the citizens of the United States, and inserting mandates into previously passed laws which violate the wishes (the votes) of 70% of the citizens in a democracy are more easily compared to felonies (perjury, check fraud, tax evasion) than to misdemeanors (traffic violations, trespass, reckless driving).

Either way, impeachable offenses.

The Most Recent Blitz of Crimes and Misdemeanors Committed by Barak Obama- just 4 weeks’ worth, due to space limitations:

Obama joking about the hot mic on which his treason was captured.

President Obama and his administration:

• Obama Bargained with the Russians for more time to betray his electorate, by reducing nuclear defenses after the election, not now.  When caught on a hot mic, the next day he joked with the Soviets about the hot mic, this time while the TV cameras were rolling.  TWICE.   Washington Times
• 

  Unanimous!

  President Obama submitted such a pathetic budget that it was turned down by the House of Representatives by a completely unanimous vote of  414-0; a record vote of no-confidence in the President in which every single Democrat opposed the President — something which was not reported by many major media networks, which are liberal, biased, and not interested in reporting the truth. (Googling “Obama budget 414-0” turns up zero abc, nbc, msnbc, cnn reports. Wisconsin State Journal (Madison) buried the story with one sentence halfway through an article entitled “GOP-run House easily rejects bipartisan budget.”)

• Obama slammed Paul Ryan’s reasonable budget on Republican Primary voting day.  
• President Obama rushed to judgment in defense of a black young man killed by a neighborhood watchman,claiming the black boy looked like the Obama’s son, if Obama had had one. Later, it turned out the attack may have occurred the opposite way; Obama’s “son” was the aggressor who smashed the head of his victim repeatedly into the sidewalk. The President of the United States had rushed to inflame racial tensions before any of the facts were in.
  Media assisted in the misrepresentation; NBC was caught editing the audio to make the presumed white watchman (turns out he was actually Hispanic) to look racist.  CNN was caught “enhancing” the audio of the 911 call to make the watchman sound like a racist; a claim they are now retracting—Apparently the watchman said f***ing cold, NOT f***ing coon.
• The President bullied the Supreme Court on how they must vote for ObamaCare.  The Court had to demand a clarification of the White House’s comments.  Implications of President Obama’s statements about the Supreme Court:  Video.  Instead of retracting, Obama’s spokesman claimed that Obama’s Supreme Court Comments were “unremarkable.”
• 

  President Barack Obama addressing the Easter Prayer Breakfast at the White House on April 4, 2012.

  Obama instructed the press on how they should report on him, telling them that lately their reporting was too balanced.

• President Obama accused the GOP-Majority House of an “Attempt to Impose a Radical Vision on Our Country”
• Obama misquoted scripture to a group of Christian clergy, referring to Jesus Christ as “a son of God,” and stating that “Jesus Knew Doubt.” A few years ago, Georgetown University covered up the name of Jesus to comply with Obama’s request before speaking there.
• The President accused Republican agenda of “poisoning our kids” with pollution .
• Obama tried to blame the Bush administration falsely for his own Obama administration’s GSA lavish $823,000 Las Vegas conference party scandal.
• President Obama made a second attempt at amending the first amendment, this time through House Minority Leader Pelosi, who suggested that the First Amendment be amended to allow regulation of political speech.
• The President lied about the domestic oil supply, stating that the US has only 2% of the world’s supply of oil, when in actual fact the U.S. geological survey shows that the US may hold 25% of the world’s untapped, undiscovered oil supply.
• Obama deflected responsibility for a massive US Secret Service agent misbehavior scandal in Columbia which has resulted in the firing/disciplining of 12 Secret Service employees and 11 military security staff.

Worst for Last

Most of the above shockers were not reported by the “mainstream” (actually liberal) media.

For example, Obama’s budget was rejected unanimously by the House of Representatives, and the “mainstream” media did not deem this worthy of reporting.  The “mainstream” media has, for the most part, become a radical arm of the Obama administration, which usually serves no purpose other than fanning Obama’s ego and promoting his reelection.

But today, the list of Obama’s recent crimes and misdemeanors has been topped by an item that even the uber-liberal New York Times and msnbc deemed worthy of reporting: the fact that Obama has been aggressively trying to circumvent Congress and to claim power for the Presidency– an executive unilateralism tactic which Obama himself had previously vehemently opposed.

Shift on Executive Power Lets Obama Bypass Rivals. – NY Times

Obama’s power grab and his disregard for the United States Constitution and for the will of the people has now become so noteworthy that even the liberal “mainstream” media has noticed.
Obama is either a madman, or a traitor.  Either way, everyone is noticing.

Enough is Enough

Madman or Traitor?

Enough is Enough. The urgency of removing Barak Obama from Office of the President of the United States increases with each passing hour.  He has reneged on virtually every promise he has made, he is discarding the Constitution which he had sworn to uphold and to protect, and he is rapidly steering us into a totalitarianism that makes the British rule of the 18th century pale by comparison.  It bears repeating – Obama is either a madman, or a traitor.

Obama’s Approval Index has plunged from the initial +30 in 2009 to -19 today, according to Rasmussen reports.  Today, 43% of Americans strongly disapprove of Obama (24% strongly approve), and 54% of Americans total disapprove (45% total approve).
Obama is on his way out. Despite the liberal media, the truth is getting through somehow, and Obama is on his way out.

May God bless and may God help America!

.Continued from “What’s (REALLY) Happening in Wisconsin?”…

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Since Wisconsin Republicans voted on Ash Wednesday, March 9, 2011 to limit union collective bargaining by passing the Budget Repair Bill , information blackout continues, and even people like me, living only 3 miles from the Wisconsin Capitol, are struggling to get all the facts.

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I continue to be amazed at the lack of news or analysis provided by mainstream media concerning all of these events, as well as the radically liberal spin seen in articles which do appear.

Persevering in collecting facts during recent weeks, I am astounded at the lack of ethics permeating the actions of the left—of the union leaders and of the Democrats who represent them.  Some of these are documented further below, in the Background section.

Newest developments:

Republicans flee Madison for safety from angry mobs and death threats

Threat slipped under a Republican Senator's door

Fifteen minutes after their rushed March 9^th vote to limit union collective bargaining, Republican legislators had to leave the Capitol building under police protection because they were being threatened by an angry mob.  They were told to get out of Madison as quickly as possible, since Republicans were unsafe in Madison that night.  The legislators filed out of the Capitol building past Democrat legislators in orange T-shirts, who reviled them, repeating phrases such as “Are you proud of yourself?” while Jesse Jackson (!) looked on.   Outside, the Republican senators were harassed by an angry mob .  Many Republicans received death threats , and some of their cars and homes were vandalized .  Little, if any of this barbaric behavior by demonstrators, was reported by mainstream media other than FOX.

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Democrats stall, backtrack on promises and misrepresent to the media

The “14 Dems” who had fled Wisconsin in order to obstruct (in violation of Senate rules) the controversial vote for which they did not have a majority, have been idolized by liberal Madison, and by the liberal media which clearly favors the Democrats.  Media, Democrats and demonstrators routinely misrepresented the Governor and the Republicans.  Their portrayal of  Republicans as rigid and uncompromising tyrants was deceitful, because in actual fact numerous secret meetings were held near the Wisconsin-Illinois border between Democrats and Republicans from Feb 28 through March 9.  During these meetings Democrats made numerous promises to compromise and to return to Madison, but reneged repeatedly, and ultimately it became apparent that Democrat leaders were stalling, were backtracking on offers, were being disingenuous, and were not negotiating in good faith.

The final blow to Republicans was a letter sent by minority leader Mark Miller (D) to Governor Walker, accusing the Governor of wanting to “keep lines of communications closed,” which was released first to the media before being delivered to the Governor’s Office.  In light of the secret negotiations going on for 10 days, during which Republicans traveled regularly to the Illinos border for meetings, this letter represented an outright betrayal and lie.  This was what compelled the Republicans to move forward on the vote in the absence of Democrats on the evening of March 9^th.

The Budget Repair Bill is Passed

The vote was conducted in the Senate in the evening of March 9^th, the Assembly approved the bill on March 10^th, and Governor Walker signed it on March 11^th.  It could have been published by the Secretary of State Doug La Follette as early as by March 15th , the last step before implementation of the bill .

Democrats Desperately Try to Stall Publication of the Budget Repair Bill

However, Democrats (representing union leaders) have launched a number of stalling tactics of dubious validity during the past week (March 10-18), attempting to delay the publication and implementation of the Budget Repair Bill.  There is little doubt that the vote was legal and that the law will stand, but by stalling implementation of the law, Democrats are buying time for  unions to rush through contract extensions and pay raises.

Incidentally, the rushing through of union contracts does NOT benefit all union members— instead, it benefits only the union bosses and senior union members, at the expense of junior members.  When union contracts with generous benefits are negotiated in lean fiscal times, the budget is used up to pay the senior member’s generous contracts, and junior members are then laid off as the money runs out.  By negotiating generous benefits, the union leaders are feathering their own nests at the expense of the jobs of their own young union members.

The stalling commenced immediately on March 10^th, with the Democrat Secretary of State stating that he plans to wait the maximum 10 days allowed before publishing the Budget Repair Bill, delaying publication until March 25 (in place of March 15).  Next, several Dane County and City of Madison officials, including  Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz  and Dane county Executive Kathleen Falk, filed complaints with the Dane County District Attorney alleging that Wisconsin’s Open Meeting laws were violated when the Budget Repair Bill was passed.

These actions were taken despite the fact that the the Open Meetings law was not violated at all.  Governor Walker ensured, prior to the vote, that the procedures adopted satisfied all relevant rules and statutes.  Legal opinions from three nonpartisan legal agencies were obtained endorsing the procedures used, and even respected Democrat Milwaukee mayor Tom Barrett had indicated that a separate vote without Democrats would be valid.  Democrats were filing invalid accusations simply to buy time.

On March 10, the day after the Budget Repair Bill was passed, James Troupis, an attorney for Fitzgerald (the Senate Majority Leader) explained to Vicki McKenna on WIBA radio that the Open Meetings law was not violated and even does not to apply to Senate proceedings, “since the Wisconsin constituti­on is quite explicit in providing the Legislatur­e with independen­t authority.”   Jim Troupis indicated that the vote had satisfied all pertinent rules—the Wisconsin Constitution, the Open Meeting law (which itself states in section 19.87 sub 2 that no provision which conflicts [with Senate rules] shall apply), and the Senate rule 93.

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Nevertheless, one week later, on March 18^th, liberal Dane County Judge Maryann Sumi issued a temporary restraining order, barring the publication of the Budget Repair Bill , claiming the violation of the state’s open meetings law.  The judge has not ruled on the claim, and is now on vacation!

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The Senate Majority Leader and Assembly Speaker released a joint statement condemning the judge’s decision:

“Dane County always seems to play by its own rules, but this morning, we saw a Dane County judge try to re-write the constitutional separation of powers… We fully expect an appeals court will find that the Legislature followed the law perfectly and likely find that today’s ruling was a significant overreach. “

One more motivation has been suggested (WIBA, March 21) for the desperate and dubious stalling tactics being exercised by Democrats on the Budget Repair Bill during the last 10 days –  Democrats are attempting to stall the Bill for a sufficiently  long time to effect the recall of the Republican Senators who voted for the bill — the newest bizarre strategy for instituting  minority rule and defeating the democratic process with stalling and bluffing.

Background

Election 2010

At the outset it is important to point out that in November of 2010 the citizens of Wisconsin elected Republicans into power— not only to the Governor’s mansion, but also into both houses of the State Legislature  .  Wisconsin, previously a Democrat stronghold, suddenly went “red” in the last election.  Voters appeared to be motivated by a desire to cut spending, to cut deficits, and to avoid passing on crippling financial burdens to future generations of Wisconsinites– the “Tea Party” philosophy.  Conservative is the new Liberal .

Madison, the Capitol City of Wisconsin, historically very liberal, locally referred to as “Moscow on the Mendota (a local lake),” was now a radically liberal island surrounded by a much more conservative sea of Wisconsin Republicans.  Madison is the home of 40,000 liberal college students on a campus adjacent to the Capitol building, home of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, and Madison is so entrenched in liberalism that only Democrats can be found as candidates on Madison Mayoral ballots.

Wisconsin pulls in their belts

Now that the newly elected Republican Governor and Republican houses of legislature have embarked on fulfilling their campaign promises to reign in the reckless and out-of-control spending of the previous Democrat administration, numerous state employees have suffered cuts in salary and benefits—including my husband, an engineering professor at the State University, UW Madison .  Despite my husband’s status as a Wisconsin Distinguished Professor and a global reputation in automotive research on engine efficiency and emission controls, he has not even received a cost of living increase in about 7 years.  Last year, he had the equivalent of a 5% salary reduction in the form of a mandatory furlough, and just recently we received notification that his take-home salary would be reduced by an additional 10%, in the form of reduced benefits (previously paid by the employer, the state of WI, and now paid for by us).  Unquestionably, this will affect our entire future.

We have not complained, because we saw the reason behind the pay cuts.  If the salary and benefits of senior members of the University community like us were not cut, then junior members (those without tenure) would be the first to lose jobs, to allow us to continue to enjoy our comforts.  Our duty to pull in our belts when financial times are tight, rather than watching the young people around us become unemployed.

Unions not out for the common good

Teachers? or Union Power?

This is the crux of the matter—willingness of senior members of organizations to take cuts so that junior members would not have to be laid off.  The willingness to put the common good before the personal good.  This is what the union leaders of Wisconsin (and of America) seem unwilling to do.

The unions of Wisconsin enjoy many benefits and have been extremely privileged.  There are dozens of states without Wisconsin’s collective bargaining for public employees, and in fact most federal workers do not have collective bargaining rights.  We value our teachers in Wisconsin, and they deserve the great treatment they had while the economy was good.  However, now that financial hardship is upon us, teacher union leaders do not have the same philosophy that most Wisconsinites have of sharing the sacrifice across the board.  They have been rushing through contract extensions before the new budget cuts are made, and have even been attempting to force through pay raises as well.  Meanwhile, typical non-union Wisconsin workers earn about 30% less than union workers in the same jobs, and are not complaining about the necessary belt-tightening.

This is not a uniquely Wisconsin phenomenon.  Unions across America have been hustling to make similar changes in advance of the budget cuts which Tea Party activists demanded in the last election, and union leaders have seen this battle coming.

Union bosses mobilized their resources to fight in Wisconsin – Madison is one of the first places these legislative fiscal reversals have come up, Madison is a liberal union-supportive environment, and Madison is filled with graying radicals and leftist college students.  Madison could be relied upon to provide numerous protesters downtown, adjacent to the campus. With the organizational help of the Democratic National Committee, the rallies in Madison were huge these past several weeks, and also included protesters bused in from across the entire nation.

What most demonstrators did not and still do not realize, is that even now, as Democrats continue political maneuvers to stall the implementation of the new restrictions on union benefits, union leaders are continuing to rush through more contract extensions which will ensure the senior union members continued comfort and benefits at the expense of laying off junior union members — who unknowingly have been out at the Wisconsin Capitol demonstrating for the union bosses.

The informational black-out; facts unreported by media

Wisconsin Capitol grounds damage

Demonstrations in Madison anything BUT peaceful

The demonstrators at the Wisconsin Capitol during the past month were loud, aggressive, unruly, and they violated many Madison ordinances.  They damaged the Capitol building, littered the downtown, destroyed the grass and Capitol grounds, brought ammunition onto Capitol grounds, harassed Republican senators, and paraded vulgar signs in and around the Capitol in front of young children. This past weekend I personally witnessed Democrats with bullhorns yelling vulgar language at Majority Leader Fitzgerald outside the Capitol building, while children in strollers were wheeled by.

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City agencies assist unions and help thwart the Governor and Legislature

The Madison City government, Madison police, Madison firefighters, and Madison media all collaborated to facilitate the union protesters and to misrepresent the belligerent and threatening tone of the demonstrations to the outside world.

The Mayor sided with the demonstrators, instructed Madison Police not to remove the demonstrators violating Capitol visiting hours, and allowed false statements to be published on the City of Madison website which proclaimed that all demonstrations were peaceful and respectful.  They were not.

The Madison Police, whose unions are exempt from the proposed legislation, still sided with the unions and stopped ticketing cars downtown for parking violations, did not arrest demonstrators for violating Capitol hours, for destruction of property, for harassment of Republican Senators , for defacement of property, for littering, and for numerous other legal infringements.

One Republican Senator was pursued and harassed by a crowd of 200, and not one policeman was in sight to protect him.  Eventually, firefighters arrived to escort him away from the barbaric crowd.  FOX was the only news channel to report on this incident.

Media misrepresents events in Madison

The media misrepresented the belligerent and threatening behavior of the protestors, and misrepresented the issues at the heart of the dispute, casting union protesters in a favorable light while vilifying the government which was trying to carry out the work it was elected to do.

The media glorified the 14 Democrats who fled Wisconsin to prevent the presence of the quorum needed to pass the legislation, while failing to report on the duplicity and outright dishonesty of the Democratic negotiation tactics – which included numerous secret meetings with Republicans near the state border, numerous promises to compromise and to return to Wisconsin, followed by numerous reversals and failures to live up to promises.

Unions are out-maneuvered by the Governor

When Governor Walker finally realized the duplicitous nature of  Democrat “negotiations” which were only being used for stalling, he outmaneuvered the Democrats by rewriting the budget repair bill. Appropriation of funds was removed so that the bill would not require a quorum to pass, and could be passed without the presence of the 14 missing Democrats.  On Wednesday, March 9^th, senate Republicans passed the new budget repair bill.  On Thursday, the Assembly approved it.  Prior to Wednesday vote, the Governor had the procedure endorsed by three nonpartisan legal agencies.  The Mayor of Milwaukee, Tom Barrett, a prominent State Democrat, had also expressed agreement that the vote could be taken without the 14 missing Democrat senators.

The rest of the news from the last 10 days has already been reported above.

Where to from here?

The only remaining question is whether the citizens of Wisconsin, as well as citizens across America where similar tactics are being used by union bosses, will withstand the lies and misrepresentations and sustain their resolution to repair the economy both in Wisconsin and nationwide.

Hateful and threatening images remain

(vulgar images have been omitted):

The chalk outline is customarily used to indicate where the murder victim once was.

Teachers? or Socialists?

Message scrawled on Republican Senator's window at the Wisconsin Capitol

Peaceful and Respectful Protest?

Freedom to trash the Wisconsin Capitol? Or freedom to subvert democracy?

Graffiti and chalk body outlines all over the Wisconsin Capitol grounds

God the Father (Sistine Chapel)

Who believes in God?

8 out of 10 Americans believe in a God who is responsible for creating human life.

The results of a new Gallup Poll ( Dec 17, 2010) indicate:

• 40% of Americans believe in straight creationism
• 38% of Americans believe in evolution guided by God
• 16% of Americans believe in evolution without involvement of God.

Add the first 2 numbers:  78% of Americans believe that God is responsible for creating human beings.

There is little correlation with degree of education; 71% of Americans with postgraduate education believe that God is responsible for creating human beings (see original Gallup Poll).

Who would have guessed this?

According to the mainstream media, only the uneducated and unenlightened believe in God, and Evolution is an absolute religion.  In actual fact, seems that most Americans, including most highly educated Americans, see evolution as one of the tools used by God in creation, or do not believe evolutionary theory at all.   I’m in the “evolution occasionally used by God” camp.  God, in His wisdom, uses many tools, and to an honest and discerning scientist, evidence of evolution, although clearly present, is neither ubiquitous nor absolute.

Nativity, Charles Poerson

The next step in logic:  if God is responsible for the creation of human life, and we are not just highly evolved mammals, do we have the right to do with human life as we please, without regard for God’s law?  There are some things on which all religions agree, and that includes the sacredness of human life.

The Christ Child is born!  Alleluia!

He came to be one of us — an embryo, a fetus, a tiny vulnerable child.

“Glory to God in the highest; and on earth peace to men of good will.” – Luke 2:14