SnakeRiverLib

Tonight I had a discussion with the idea of a business owner choosing whom he can serve, and whom he can't.  Bottom line?  In today's environment, no one can deny service to another.  Period. I am guessing that we were talking about it because the courts have ruled against "Sweet Cakes by Melissa" a baker who refused to provide a wedding cake to a gay couple.   This is not going to be a piece on gay marriage, that matter is currently shelved.  What I want to write about is the greater implications of this ruling.  To do that, we need to hit the way back machine, but first let's stop in 2010. In 2010 Rand Paul was running for the US Senate in Kentucky.  He was struggling against, first, the establishment GOP candidate, and then the general election.  One of the things that came up was an opinion offered by Dr. Paul regarding the Civil Rights Act of 1965.  He opined that the law was wrong in forcing businesses to not discriminate.  He clarified by stating that h

Yesterday, December 18.2015, The House of Representatives and the Senate made a decision to hand Donald Trump the nomination.  I am guessing that the sound of their jets running on the tarmac drowned out the sound of the American People saying "what the heck?"  Shall we review? In 2010, the American Electorate put Republicans back in control of the House.  Overwhelmingly.  Why?  To put a stop to the President, and his desire to "fundamentally change this country" In 2012, by running an establishment candidate, guess what?  Four more years of President Obama.  All sorts of reasons, or rather, excuses.  Want to know why it is a false assumption to assume the President had a mandate?  Because even then, the mostly conservative electorate put the Republican majority back in the House. while rejecting the honorable, but not conservative, and definitely mainstream, establishment, Mitt Romney. In 2014, begging for money, and for turnout, the Republican Party sold its

The Donald announced he would ban all muslims from coming to the United States.  I am no fan, and have so stated.  To single out a religion as a test to come into this country is a bad thing to do.  I am not saying he couldn't.  No one has a right to come to our country.  I would say that the better way to do this would be to put a pause on ALL immigration.  I would also have the State Department chase down the visa overstayers and get that managed.  President Carter not only barred Iranians from coming to the US, they hunted down Iranians in the US, and kicked them out.  Yes, that President Carter.  We "paused" immigration for 40 years in the 20th Century.  That allowed those here to assimilate, and become Americans. I resist mightily the concept of singling people out for their faith.  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints released a statement that while the church does not engage in partisan politics, it will engage when Religious Freedom, regardless of rel

I love the quote, but truth is, it isn't mine.  Your local neighborhood Jimmy John's probably has the sign on their wall.  They may have to rethink that. France's president has certainly read the tea leaves, and has commenced operations at long last against ISIS.  His country was attacked, twice by radical islamic terrorists, and is finally responding.  Not because it is in his nature, he is a socialist after all, but because he has recognized that politically it could become troublesome.  He is too late. Over the weekend, the National Front, the right wing, nationalistic, anti EU, anti immigration party, had significant wins in the regional elections in France.  A party which up to this point has been significantly marginalized won big.  While it is possible, and even likely that now that the field has narrowed many may choose to vote for the center right conservative party, the damage has been done, and if the conservatives win, they will probably reach out to Marine

There are so many things to write about, and I can't really sort them out.  I did want to mention that even though the Media would have you believe that prayers do no good, or rather it is too late, I would say that prayer works, not only as a cathartic action, but that I believe that God does hear and answer prayers. My prayers support the families that were devastated by these terrorists.  I won't say that they are jihadists, the evidence isn't there yet.  Yes, they are Muslim, and that wasn't immediately released, which may be a clue in and of itself, but I will be fair and leave it at that. So, we have a Presidential candidate that I don't support, and not sure that I could ever support, even against Hillary.  He thinks that we should go spy on all mosques in the United States.  He also thinks that we should back off on the acceptance of refugees.  I do agree with that.  We have too many Americans that aren't working, possibly due, in part, to the flood of

When I was growing up, my grandmother, who was, if not a dyed in the wool socialist, at least a progressive to the nth degree. (minus the racism so commonly associated with progressives) Needless to say as I grew, and espoused a more conservative viewpoint, we had some differences of opinion.  She always said that "I don't agree with what you are saying, but I will defend to the death your right to say it".  I have never forgotten that.  It seems that along with so many of our rights enumerated in the Bill of Rights, freedom of speech is going away. When I started writing, I will admit that many of my writings were harsh, without regard to people's feelings.  I had some feedback that was, I think valid of previous writing, but not lately.  I realized that if I am truly a Christian, that I probably should not repay in kind for the unkind things that have been said about people of my faith, of my political leaning, race, gender, etc.  I would say that terms that are t

I am shocked.  Okay, I am not shocked.  It is status quo for this administration, which has done nothing but attack believers, and given people every reason to believe that not only is the President not a Christian, but he gives every appearance of, if not being a Muslim, at least being extremely sympathetic to them.  I am not saying he is a Muslim!  Get it?  Put your straw man back in the closet.  So, the President wants to import some Syrians, after having imported thousands of Muslim immigrants over the last several years. (So you can put your "racist" epithet away, W did as well, shame on him)  Never mind that the estimated cost to settle them (not including the long term entitlements that they will no doubt receive) is about $54,000 per person.  Any chance we could make a deal with Jordan or the Saudis, or Turkey at a much reduced price to provide shelter and care for them?  Fiscally, it just doesn't make any sense.  Culturally, doesn't it make more sense to se

I have been throwing this one around all day, but some clarifying happened when what will no doubt be proved to be Muslim Terrorists decided to blow stuff up, including themselves.  This could happen here as well make no mistake. France and most other nations in Europe have large, non-assimilated populations of Muslims.  They live in close knit communities, have their own laws, and there are rumors that some of these areas are called No-Go zones by the natives.  They are impoverished, and so turn inward, and become breeding grounds for hate.  And when I say breeding grounds, I literally mean that. (native European reproductive rate 1.4 or so per couple, Muslims in Europe reproductive rate 8 per couple).  I would suspect that most of this population did not come to Europe to take over, but rather to live. With a new wave of immigrants from the Middle East, (many of whom may be ISIS terrorists, or at least sympathizers) things have reached a boiling over point, and now we see the resul

Having watched a good part of the debate, and read the reviews, I have a few thoughts on the matter. Fox News is firmly establishment.  All who are fighting the establishment need to understand this.  Remember, for those that don't know, Establishment Republicans DON'T want small government!  They are perfectly fine with BIG GOVERNMENT, so long as they are either in control of it, or allowed to eat the crumbs off the floor when they are not. In fact, I think think that we need to change who we define as Republican In Name Only. (RINO).  I think that conservatives need to take that title, and point out what being a Big R republican means, and how, while they use the party to advance their causes, conservatives, and libertarians really do stand for smaller government. The biggest dilemma for small government conservatives, is that unless they can take control of the government, that can't devolve power to back to the people.  Many Republicans have talked about eliminati

I mentioned previously that the Pew Research poll regarding religion has just been released. It should be a surprise to no one that among people identified as Democrats that the largest group was "no religion".  Of course, the problem is that Pew didn't recognize that modern day liberalism is a theology in and of itself.  Don't believe me?  Let me offer some evidence. First, background.  When President Obama was inaugurated, in his first year, he went on a tour where he essentially apologized for the US being a superpower, and immediately bent over for Russia, by pulling missile defenses from Eastern Europe, leaving our allies exposed.  We gave them a Reset button.  But he did not understand the problem in the Middle East.  The problem is that they didn't hate us because of Bush, or our support for Israel, they hate us for our culture. Our freedom, They feel it is a depraved culture with no morals, Islam is not just a religion, it is a political system.  In our

Gay issues are toxic for conservatives in the ballot box.  Immigration is toxic for conservatives in the ballot box.  The Tea Party is dead. Just as a reminder, months ago, I pointed out how wrong the political class was in Israel, where the Likud won a majority keeping Bibi on as PM, and how the Tories, (the conservatives in England) won an outright majority, not having to make a coalition with any of the other factions to govern in England.  In both cases the conservatives were expected to lose. (as a side, President Obama sent his minions over to Israel to try to take Netanyahu, they didn't.) Last Tuesday, contrary to the political wisdom, a Tea Party Republican won the governorship in KY, for the first time in forever.  Matt Bevin  was behind in the polls, right up until he won. In Houston, a city which voted for President Obama in 2008 and 2012, a so called equal rights ordinance for the LGBT community not only lost by an astonishing 69-31%, but was done under even thoug

I remember visiting the Truman Library in Independence Missouri.  There they have a replica of the Oval Office, as kept by President Truman.  On the desk, he had a placard.  "The buck stops here".  Of course Truman was famous for that statement, people all know what that means. It means that "I am responsible".  It means that "I am accountable".  Of course the President should be the one to be blamed at the end of the day, when the government fails.  President Truman took a brave step to authorize the use of atomic weapons to end WWII. Say what you will about Truman, he was decisive and took responsibility for the actions of the federal government while President. Today, Secretary, and Presidential Candidate, Clinton passed the buck.  A question about security requests was brushed aside by saying that no Secretary of State ever dealt with security.  So what does this say about her leadership style? This was her friend, she said. To remember her commercia

The two leading candidates for the Democrat nomination for President, Sen. Bernie Sanders and Secretary Clinton, both mentioned their admiration for the socialist policies of Denmark, and how they have lots of FREE! .  People often cite the Scandinavian countries when praising socialism.  So, the question becomes, how does Denmark work?  Here is a little information. Denmark has a 60% individual tax rate, and a 25% corporate tax rate.  Two things are obvious, the corporate rate is 10% BELOW the highest corporate rate in the United States, and the individual rate is WAY higher than any rate in the United States.  Of course, that fits with Senator Sander's plan to have a truly confiscatory tax rate on the rich.  After all, how else can you afford FREE! ?  There is one problem with that, and I doubt that Senator Sanders will be honest about that problem.   IT ISN'T JUST THE SUPER RICH THAT PAY THAT TAX IN DENMARK!  Well, they do, but so do a lot of other people.  How many?  If

Slavery is an abomination.  Can I just get that out of the way?  It was something that troubled Thomas Jefferson to no end.  It WAS a stain on this nation.  Why do I say was?  Because the blood of over a half million dead washed the stain away, or I should say that it washed away the stain of institutionalized slavery.  The truth is that while slavery does exist in the world, particularly in Middle Eastern, African, and Southern Asian Countries, it exists here as well.  It is true that human trafficking is going on in this country, and so that slavery exists in the undercurrent, I am talking about a different kind of slavery.  The slavery of FREE! I will be honest,  I was at a meeting last night, and missed the DNC debate.  I suspect that we heard that the rich are too rich, and the poor are too poor, and free stuff.  So where does "the slavery of FREE " come in?  Simple.  One last comment on the debate.  Who has been running the country for the last seven years?  Don't

Much about a tweet last week by Rupert Murdoch, just watched Wolf Blitzer try to corner Dr. Carson about the tweet.  This is what it said: Ben and Candy Carson terrific.  What about a real black President who can properly address the racial divide?  And much else. Of course, when Wolf read the tweet, he, as is typical of liberals who are probably closet racists, (I know, repeating myself) inserted a comma, to make a segment that he thought would be worth watching.  He put the comma in between President and who.  Of course, now we have the Kingpin of the FOX empire saying that President Obama is not a real black.  I applaud Dr. Carson for not going down that path, insisting that Rupert Murdoch is not a racist.  I would applaud louder if Dr. Carson would have said; "Why did you separate the sentence Wolf? Are you so desperate for ratings that you have to prove that FOX is full of KKKers?  Are you a racist Wolf?" I can only guess that Dr. Carson was too stunned by such a

I have been thinking of just dropping the blog.  No one listens in this world, no one cares.  I know that I write for myself, but I feel that our world is turning into the world detailed in "Atlas Shrugged" .  A country where those that produce are having heavier and heavier burdens put on them, and the looters and moochers (politicians, crony capitalists=looters, entitlement kings and queens = moochers) are taking over, or may have irreversible already done so.  I will still write, of course,  it is my only outlet.  Atlas has truly become non-fiction. I did want to write tonight, not to rail on any faction, not to be partisan, (at least I will try) and try a civic's lesson for a change.  All of this SHOULD be common knowledge to anyone who thinks to pull a lever, blip a screen, or color in a block, or simply put, a voter.  I wonder if it is. In the Declaration of Independence , a letter written to the British King, George III, the King is told that we are endowe

Try this irony on for size. Hillary Clinton is calling the various committees in Congress investigating her email and the Bengazi debacle political witch hunts.  She dismisses them, with no small help from the likely Speaker, Kevin McCarthy, R-CA.  I would say that the irony comes in when you think about her past.  In her early law career, she served as a counsel on the committee in Congress investigating President Nixon, and the missing tapes.  I guess she should be asked if she thought those were witch hunts (they were)  and what the difference is between the White House tapes of President Nixon, and the email servers being wiped by the Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton. Lots of discussion about the state of welfare in this country.  It is shocking in this country with this fantastic recovery, that there are still kids going hungry every night.  Here is a nice statistic.  Between Federal, State, and Local needs based assistance in the United States, Governments spend some $60,0

Just a short post, mainly because I am on a spiritual high after my missionary reunion tonight.  No vitriol, no rant, just a few questions. With the shooting in Oregon, we have a new cry for new gun laws.  No surprise, of course, and right on cue, here come the politicians.  Too loud.  To shrill. No facts.  I saw a post the other day which points out that guns are the only THING that is evil.  A drunk driver kills, we don't blame the car.  People are assaulted by muggers and rapists at knife point, or by other physical force, we don't blame the weapon.   If someone eats too much, do we blame the food, or utensil?  No.   When we use bad grammar, or misspell words, do we blame the pencil?  No. But guns kill, not people?  Really.  Really?  I have a gun locked in its case.  As far as I know it hasn't gone on a rampage.  I don't think it has even tried to get out, but guns kill?  Not people? Here is the problem.  If any members of the media were worth their salt, they wo

The daughter of Ma Richards, the late former governor of the state of Texas also happens to be employed as the president of the Hitler, Nathan Bedford Forrest (founder of the KKK) Fan Club, also known as Planned Parenthood.  She was testifying on the Hill yesterday, and had some very interesting things to say.  NONE of which contradicted the videos.  In fact she was asked about them, and the best she could come up with is that the setting was inappropriate, and that the discussion should have been a private discussion.   Note that she didn't refute the part about the wholesale distribution of baby parts.  YES, I said baby parts.  I know, to a diehard Democrat a baby isn't a baby until the mother is wheeled out of the hospital with it in her arms, and so until they leave, it is a fetus.  She admitted that 80% of PP's business is the abortion racket, which now appears to have their business model based on a car theft ring.  You know, steal the car, park it in the garage, stri

Okay, so the title is a misnomer.  I would never want to be king.  I would never even want to be President.  But, if I were President, here are some of the things that I would do.  Yes, I am tired about writing about genocide (Planned Parenthood).  So I thought I would attempt a "here is what I think is needed to fix the government". Day 1. Would give notice to the Congress, that unless they fix the drug issue, I am going to start enforcing drug laws nationwide, Including states where marijuana is currently legal. Would appoint the following Secretaries; Defense, Treasury, Interior, and Justice.   I would roll the rest into those three as Under Secretaries, with the intent of dismantling the bureaucracies. Would instruct my people to go through all regulations, separate what was actually passed by Congress, and load all of that up to take to Congress.  The Executive Branch doesn't make law, it enforces it.  Congress could simply up or down vote it, I wouldn't car

How many times have we heard that Christ would advocate the programs the government has to feed the poor?  How many times have we heard that if we are truly Christian, we wouldn't mind paying our fair share to help those that need it? This issue is generating a lot of buzz right now with the Pope visiting the US.  Of course he is a social justice crusader, and argues that more should be done to help the poor in this world.  He has also advocated being good stewards of the environment.  There has been a lot of pressure to turn this into a political crusade, using the Church as a sword to advance an agenda.  Where is Barry Lynn, of the group Americans United for the Separation of Church and State ?  In editing, I realized that that is a great question. The Pope had a few words for the intense pressure being brought to bear on his support for the progressive agenda.  Very simply, he said "I'm no lefty".  So to remind you of what the media is not emphasizing here ar

Today, the Democrats and some Republicans successfully stopped a Continuing Resolution (CR) which defunded Planned Parenthood.  A short term CR will probably come up with no restrictions, to play this Kabuki dance again in a few months.  The issue is that the House may not take up a bill that allows PP spending.  No worries, it will end up with the short term, which will include funding for continuing the left's war to end the black race.  So the threat to shut down the government comes not from Republicans, but from the White House, and the Democrats in the Senate.  Funny, last year, the Democrats blamed the Republicans for the shut down, and I suspect that the media will successfully do it again this year.  I won't list the names, most of them are the same ones that voted to allow Iran to have nukes. (I guess Democrats like genocide) As tired as I am of the Planned Parenthood subject, knowing that there are very few who hear my voice, it is tempting to just drop it and move

It is with some sadness that I learned that Governor Scott Walker has suspended his campaign for President.  He is the second, with the first being Governor Rick Perry.  These two men have, in their own way, provided a pathway to solving the problems we have as a nation.  I think both realized, in fact, Governor Walker basically said, that it is time for the conservative wing of the GOP to coalesce around a single candidate, if it is to have any hope of beating an establishment candidate, such as Bush, or Christie, or the ultimate outside insider, Trump.  I salute the patriotism of these men. Neither was my first choice, but I could have easily supported each one. Governor Walker laid out the course of changing, and saving the state government of Wisconsin from eventual bankruptcy, by working a change in the collective bargaining laws.  It is ironic that the ultimate progressive, the one Democrats hail nationwide, Franklin Roosevelt, while supporting  unions in the private sector, th

Glenn Beck has spoken today about a potential Rubio/Fiorina ticket.  I am a little nervous about the motives of Rubio.  He was an amnesty supporter before he was against it.  No, he was against amnesty before he was in the Senate, swapped, and has swapped again.  I would one up Glenn on the SecTreas in a Rubio cabinet;  Not Rand Paul, but Ron Paul. I have always been intrigued by the thought and the need to put some reins on Ron.  Not anymore.  Let him loose, grab the popcorn, and enjoy. As a reminder, 40 Democratic and 2 Independent Senators have voted to push Israel to reach out to Russia.  Along with the Saudis, the Jordanians, and the Egyptians. I am interested by the strategy of Rand Paul.  Everyone thinks he is doing poorly. In the media, perhaps.  However, like his father, I think he is more concerned with building a ground game.  I think that people will be surprised when we start talking about an actual election. The genocidal Planned Parenthood is starring again in the

This week, Senator Bernie Sanders, I-VT, visited Liberty University to speak.  Of course, Senator Sanders is a candidate for the Democratic nomination for President.  He is also an open and avowed Socialist.  Liberty University is a christian university, founded by the late Jerry Falwell, of the Moral Majority.  This was an opportunity for lots of fireworks.  I mean, think about this.  If Ted Cruz had gone to an uber liberal college to speak, he would probably not make it to the stage, with one group barring the door, and the other group hiding in the safe room so as to not hear offensive words, like... US Constitution, Republican, Blind Justice, stuff like that.  So what happened? The students attending were respectful, they listened, and there was polite applause.  I am not sure what kind of dent he may have made in the group, but it was not a mob scene.  I have attended an Ann Coulter speech at KU where there were constant interruptions, protests outside, protests inside, and a po

No Planned Parenthood, no gay marriage talk, no rant against black genocide, oops, already covered that with PP. Rand Paul was asked about the fact that his tax plan won't either increase revenue, or be revenue neutral.  His response was that he hoped it wouldn't be either.  He wants less money coming in, because he wants to spend less.  This is the core of his values, his beliefs, and what his campaign is built around.  One problem.  I am not sure that there is a push to reduce government size, or even a desire to reduce by the American people. This is the problem of a libertarian Republican, or a Libertarian.  How do you campaign on what you are not going to do?  How do you sell that to the 49.99999% who are either receiving some sort of needs based assistance, or are paying no income tax?  Do you go to them and say "Hey, vote for me, I am going to take away your subsidized housing, your foodstamps, and your welfare checks!"  And to businesses, "I am going