Congress shall make no law ...

U.S. Constitution - Amendment 1
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

Religion has always been under attack. And of late, more attacks, and more attempts to remove all mention God in public. I DO NOT want my government to "establish" any religion. Even if it was to be the Christian faith, I don't want the government to dictate what religion we must practice, and make any "law" to do so.

And guess what. Since it's ratification in 1791, this government, OUR government, HAS NEVER made any LAW which has "established" a religion...any religion!

It is my general understanding, that to "establish" a religion, the government would have made one religion THE one that all must follow. I would also expect that if we were "establish" something, like establishing rules to play by, then we would expect to follow those established rules, or risk forfeiting a game, or rights, or benefits. With that thinking, it is a fact that our government has not done anything like that, and NO ONE has been denied any government benefits or other rights under the constitution, because of the lack of practicing any one religion. If anyone would have been so denied, then redress should be made.

So ... What's the deal with all the law suits and protests over the word "God" on money, signage, or anything else in local, state, or federal government? In all these years, about 220 years, NO ONE has been made to practice any one, any "established", religion. NO ONE has been denied their rights. And I can not imagine ANY harm that has come from such mentions. (As a point to be made here, one of my co-workers is a Muslim, and it doesn't bother him in the least. He has told me that he knew our country was founded on Christian principles, and his family moved here anyway.)

It looks to me, that the only real issue with such objections, is that there are those who HATE God and/or religion, and don't want to see it anywhere. It is simply an attack on ALL of us who practice a religion. And I dare say, it is almost exclusively Christianity that is being attacked.

And I'll add this, other than a few religious zealots, most of us DO NOT go around attacking their, the non-believers, right to NOT believe in a religion. I'm not harmed by their non-belief. Their non-belief has no effect on my life. So to those who want to wipe God off everything, I say ....give it up! YOU have not been harmed or denied anything because of MY belief, or the word God on our currency, or the Ten Commandments on the building of the Supreme Court. And don't deny MY right to the free exercise thereof, by trying to attack my faith at every turn.

Pay attention on this one: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion..." And, NO LAW has been made to establish a religion. NONE. Nadda.

Bring back the WPA

Many years ago, back in 1935, the government enacted the Works Progress Administration (WPA), which was a relief measure for the millions who were out of work. With some changes in the 8 years the program ran, some 8,500,000 different persons had been put to work on over 1,400,000 projects, which included over 600,000 miles of highways, roads, and streets; constructed or improved more than 120,000 bridges, over 120,000 public buildings, with 8,000 plus parks, and 800 or more airport landing fields. (Google WPA , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Works_Progress_Administration )

During those 8 years, the government spent about $11 billion in wages to all those people eligible for work. At today's dollar, that would be about $180 billion. But that, in my view, would be a far cry better way to spend the money, and getting people to work, than just giving money out. It's a dang sight less that $800 billion too!

This was done to give people a way to "earn" the money the government was giving out. With that, the idea that people would retain more self respect at having "earned" the money, than sitting by and having it just given to them.

Have we lost that? I think so. I think our social programs have enslaved some people to rely on the government for all their needs. I think so many of those folks, have lost all respect for themselves and their homes, and their stay in life. They may rant and rave about other people (often conservatives) not respecting them, but they do nothing, or very little, to improve themselves. Why should they? The government has been taking care of them, in some cases for a couple generations!

I think we need to go back to a similar worker program. I can't tell you how to do it, but with the sharp minds in the country, I'm sure it could be devised and implemented.

But we NEED to get people to working to "earn" their money. If they refuse to work, then food kitchens and public shelters for them. NO car, no house/apartment, no cell phone. Just food and basic shelter.

I expect for some, they would quickly find a better job that THEY choose, instead of a government worker program. At least, they will work harder at finding a better job.

So I say, bring back the WPA. Get people off welfare and back to earning their way. While some will never change, most will find that earning their money, is far more personally rewarding, than taking hand-outs.

Happy Children's Day

On this Father's Day, I am wishing my kids, a Happy Children's Day. Without the children we help bring into the world, we wouldn't be dads.

I am a proud ... a very proud ... dad. NO greater title I've ever had, has meant so much. And with that, so much responsibility.

Lord knows, I've made plenty of mistakes in my life, and as a father. But for the most part, I've done okay. And my kids ... Well, they are very productive, hard working, honest and respectful kids. While I had a hand in that, as well as their mother, I really have to hand it to my kids for taking all they learned, the good and the bad, and doing well with it.

I know other dads too, who have done so much for their kids, and their kids honor them with being good citizens. What a gift back to us, the dads. Happy Father's Day to all you Dads out their.

There are those, who aren't involved. Or those who misdirect their kids in such harmful ways. It's tough being a kid, when those all around you, specially their own dads, are cheating them out of all the chances they should have for better lives. There are those too, who don't want their kids to have better, or who bring such pain upon their own children. I can't wrap my head around that at all. Even for kids I don't know, my heart hurts for them. They deserve better, much better.

But this annual acknowledgment of fatherhood, this Father's Day, marks for me a renewed thankfulness for my kids. I'm am honored, every day, to be their dad. They make me look better than I am, by being the good citizens they are.

I will enjoy in my Father's Day. But I rejoice at being my kid's "Dad". Thank you! And thank you God, for such Blessings.

To my kids, with all my fatherly love,
"Dad"

I Swear

All men (and women) are flawed. We are all subject to mistakes and bad judgement. While many of try hard to retain our honor, we will have times where we fail in some way.

But, we place some men and women in positions of public trust, and we hold them to a higher standard. A case in point -

You happen to be at the scene of a crime. You're an on-looker only. You don't know the victim, nor any of the Police Officers. But, what you do see, is one of the Police "pocket" an expensive wrist watch, and walk away. You weren't the only one who saw it, and later on, the Police Department was asked about the Officer's actions. The Dept. stuck by the Officer, because the Officer said he didn't take anything.

No long after, that same Officer had gone back to the store, and returned the watch, and asked the store owner to keep it under his hat.

That didn't happen. In stead, the word got out, and the Dept. and the Officer were pressured into coming clean during a new press conference, but stating that the watch was returned, and it was a mistake that was fixed. Asking forgiveness, the Officer kept his job.

Months later, you were called for jury duty. During the trial, the same Officer you had seen steal the watch, sat down to testify, after taking an oath to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. In your mind, you know that the Office also took an oath when he was sworn into duty. And he lied. Will he lie now? Can you believe all that he testifies to?

This is why Officers get let go (if not criminally charged) for such acts. Their word....their oath...is  no longer worth anything. They lied, and that demeaned the public trust. and don't we want to hold them to a higher standard? Isn't that reasonable? I expected that when I was behind a badge.

So shouldn't we expect to hold those in public trust, to a higher standard? In the current news, New York Representative Anthony Weiner, had been sexting sleazy pictures of himself. He sent them to women he says he didn't know. (Hope none of them were juveniles. That could be a whole new issue!) Then, he lied, on the air, in front of all of us, and even demeaned those who were making the accusations and asking the questions. Deny....deny...deny.

Then, the indisputable truth comes out, and it was all a bad mistake. He's sorry and confesses his wrong doing. But he wants the people to keep him in office.

Can Weiner EVER be trust again? Will we even REALLY know of what he will do or say?

He should resign. If he doesn't resign, he should be impeached and removed from office. And with that, we should EXPECT the higher standard from those placed into public trust.

Oh, and for those who say it is a largely private matter between him and his family? Wrong. If it were private, we wouldn't have know about it. The moment he sexted to a stranger, an unknown (to him) woman, then it was no longer private. HE made it public.

Weiner ... Time to go back home and call it a career.