Quote of the Day

"Why would our Constitution not be just as good a foundation for a nation’s government today as it was in 1788?

The answer is that it is, and always will be, an excellent foundation for the government of any nation. It was and still is the clearest legal protection of man’s freedoms on earth. Since our founding, our country’s unparalleled success and majestic display of human freedom has been a beacon of hope to the peoples of other nations. For years, immigrants from other countries have fled their oppressive or failing governments to come to our shores because they too sensed the meaning behind the words of our Constitution. I cannot think of another document I would more highly recommend to a country looking to make a fresh start."

Rep. Michele Bachmann

January 20th: Seminar on the US Constitution

As you may have read in the Rappahannock News this week, Friends of Liberty will sponsor a seven-week seminar on the U.S. Constitution and its relevance today, starting January 20. We invite all of you to attend. This is part of our expanding effort to reach out to the community with our message of conservative principles and Constitutional government.

What follows is the article with all the details. Please be sure to RSVP to Jim Gannon if you wish to attend at 540-675-3657 or gannon54@comcast.net.  (We don't expect everyone to attend every week of the seven weekly sessions, so feel welcome if you can come for some but not all of the discussions.)




Does the U.S. Constitution still matter?




That was the title of the cover-story in Time Magazine last July 4, which suggested that the nation's founding document might just be an "obstacle" on the road to progress in 21st Century America.




The Constitution and its relevance today will be the focus of an upcoming seven-week discussion seminar to be conducted at the Rappahannock County Library starting Friday, January 20.

Led by a local journalist and local lawyer, the informal lunch-time discussion series is titled "Lunch with the Founding Fathers-Revitalizing the Constitution." The sessions are free and open to the public. Attendees are invited to bring a brown-bag lunch to the talks, which will be held every Friday from January 20 through March 2, starting at 12 noon. The sessions will run 60 to 90 minutes. 

The discussions will range in subject matter from the Constitutional Convention of 1789 to the current controversies over the meaning of the nation's supreme law, such as the challenge to the constitutionality of national health-care legislation which the U.S. Supreme Court will hear this spring. 

"The topic is as historical as America's roots and as current as the battle over Obamacare," said Jim Gannon of Flint Hill, a retired newspaper editor, who will be one of the two discussion moderators. Hurley Smith, who earned his law degree at Notre Dame Law School and worked as a corporate counsel at Ford Motor Co., will co-lead the sessions.

The discussions will cover the background to and development of the Constitution, its founding principles, the federal system of government that it designed, and important court-case determinations that interpreted its meaning in the modern world. The course will use as its text Matthew Spaulding's book, "We Still Hold These Truths," published by the Heritage Foundation. Paperback copies of the text will be available to the participants at $10 each. 




This seminar is sponsored by Friends of Liberty, a local citizen's group dedicated to liberty, limited government and Constitutional conservatism. Space is limited, so if you wish to attend, please contact Jim Gannon at 540-675-3657 or by e-mail to gannon54@comcast.net to reserve a place. 




P.S. Get a jump-start on the seminar: You can order the book We Still Hold These Truths by Matthew Spaulding, from amazon.com, or (better yet) directly through Heritage Foundation at a special discount price of $9.  Just go to www.westillholdthesetruths.org   to order. Our sessions will focus on specific chapters of this book. 

Quotes of the Day

"For more than a decade, NRA has fought for Right-to-Carry in Wisconsin. That perseverance and determination has paid off. Now, Wisconsinites are one step closer to being able to defend themselves outside their homes. Thanks to the actions of a bipartisan majority of state legislators, honest people who choose to get a permit will be less vulnerable to criminal attacks outside their homes. NRA is grateful for the unwavering leadership of Senators Pam Galloway, Rich Zipperer and Neal Kedzie, Assembly Majority Leader Scott Suder and Representative Jeffrey Mursau who fought for the passage of Right-to-Carry in Wisconsin."

Chris W. Cox

NRA-ILA Executive Director

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"We've heard talk about cutting spending by two trillion if that is stretched over 10 or more years," [and] we can't bind a future Congress to that. The only way we can bind a future Congress is by amendment the Constitution."

Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah

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"No school would dream of taking your kids on a field trip without asking permission. So it seems a little ridiculous that there are people in America who think it's okay to take young girls to another state for an abortion without calling home! Yesterday, Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fl.), Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fl.) tried to put a stop to this outrage by introducing the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act (CIANA). Under this law, it would be a federal crime to take a girl across state lines to bypass the parental involvement laws in her home state. If the legislation sounds familiar, it's because the House passed it twice in 2005 and 2006. This time around, 86 members of Congress have co-sponsored the bill (H.R. 2299), and leaders expect even more. In America, most children can't get their ears pierced without a mom or dad's consent. What parent would say that's more dangerous than undergoing major surgery?"

Tony Perkins

Family Research Council

Quote of the Day

"The reason anti-jihadists are trying to ban sharia is to avoid having U.S. judges cite it as in any way authoritative—which is precisely what Muslim supremacists want to see happen. Inspired as they are by the orthodox tenets of their religion, they believe... that the Quran and the Sunnah—the sources of sharia—are the only legitimate sources of sovereignty on earth. Everything else, including the U.S. Constitution and the will of the people, is a blasphemous usurpation of divine authority.

Knowing what we do of how Islam advances its power, slipping a pseudopod in through every gap that presents itself, then claiming that its grip is inviolable and irrevocable, it's essential that those of us who reject the Muslim claim to universal sovereignty slam every door tight against its legitimization."

Roland Shirk

Quote of the Day

"Barack Obama's decision yesterday that the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is unconstitutional amounts to a declaration of war against traditional marriage in America. Liberals in Congress are now planning a legislative assault to repeal DOMA. Rep. Jerold Nadler (D-NY) and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) have told the Huffington Post that they will introduce legislation in the House and Senate very soon to fully repeal DOMA. My friends, we will defeat them!

Let me be clear about the implications of such action: DOMA did not ban same-sex "marriage" in America. It gave states the right to define marriage for themselves. To date, the people of 31 states have voted to define marriage as the union of one man and one woman. Repealing DOMA would effectively invalidate each of those 31 votes. And it would allow liberal judges to force every state, including yours, to recognize same-sex "marriages" performed in left-wing states like Massachusetts.

Once again, the intolerance of the Left is on full display. Liberals think they know better than thousands of years of recorded history. They think they know better than the teachings of all major faiths. They think common sense and faith amounts to bigotry.

They think they know better than the people of Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Wisconsin!

And given that President Obama feels that the law defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman is discriminatory and unconstitutional, I assume that he now supports polygamy too. If we cannot say that marriage is the union of one man and one woman, on what basis can we discriminate against the love of a man and his three wives? Or a woman and her four wives? Is that Obama's idea of "change we can believe in"?"

Gary Bauer

Campaign for Working Families

Quote of the Day

"A traitor by constitutional standards he may not be, but "disloyal"? Article VI, clause 3 of our Constitution stipulates that the president "solemnly swear that [he] will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of [his] ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

Obama took that "sacred oath," but I would argue that he subscribes only to an adulterated "living constitution" which bears little resemblance to the authentic one. Consequently, I conclude that Obama is the most disloyal president in the history of our Republic."

Mark Alexander

Publisher, The Patriot Post

Democrats Still Don't Get It

Gary Bauer, Campaign for Working Families, discusses how the tables have turned...

Tea Party Vindicated

Liberal elites frequently criticized the Tea Party movement for its "obsession" with the Constitution. Tea Party supporters who dressed up as colonial citizens were mocked for their ignorance. That fount of wisdom Joy Behar even wondered whether "this Constitution-loving is getting out of hand."

One progressive dimissed the Constitution as "old" and "confusing." When Nancy Pelosi was asked where in the Constitution she found the authority for the individual mandate, she reacted as if the question was a joke and scoffed, "Are you serious? Are you serious?"

It was a serious question that deserved serious consideration. That's why John Boehner is Speaker of the House today and why this new GOP-led House recently voted to repeal ObamaCare. Within hours of the release of Judge Vinson's decision, every Senate Republican had signed on as co-sponsors of Senator Jim DeMint's bill to repeal ObamaCare. And today Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell announced that he would force a vote on the DeMint repeal bill this week.

Quote of the Day

"The role of the U.S. Supreme Court is to take the text of the Constitution and apply it to important legal cases. The justices learn from precedent but are not bound by it. They gather wisdom from previous opinions but are not beholden to them."

Rob Schwarzwalder, Family Research Council Sr. Vice President

A Prayer to Build Conservative Values in Politics

Dear Father,

The elections are over --- You have given us a great victory. You have given us a Republican House in Congress and in the legislature. You have sent these politicians a clear message. We believe Your instructions to them must be obeyed.

We can not yet judge whether this congress and legislature are going to take your guidance seriously. There are indicators that the GOP elites are floating trial balloons and erecting straw-men to sample public opinion and political risk when they waffle on the clear directions You sent them.

They are pondering which of your conservative principles are negotiable and which can be ignored.

Father, we are your people, and tonight we pray that you will focus our attention and energies on these weak and self-serving politicians.

It is our prayer that You will guide us --- that we may reconnoiter their every vote. So that we may launch a grass-roots counterattack, to overwhelm them with massive reproof --- otherwise, we stand no chance of protecting Your great gifts of freedom and our beloved Constitution from further damage.

Show us Your way Father, to bring those politicians to heel, who would stray, who would waffle and equivocate --- and who would only pretend to be with us as we strive to restore the Founder's vision.

Father, your task to us, your people, seems clear.

We believe You are directing us to build --- and --- cross over a new bridge of conservative values in politics --- at all levels. If we do this, I believe You will lead us to a brighter future --- borne of Your love and wisdom in Philadelphia in the hot summer of 1787.

If it is Your will --- we will further this noble creation of yours --- a free government in Your image.

In Jesus' Name We Pray,

Amen.

Jerry Gore

MCRW Chaplain

Add the Repeal Amendment to the Constitution

Victoria Cobb, The Family Foundation of Virginia, discusses the need and purpose for a tool to protect our freedom from federal expansion.

Restoring a Balance of Power

It’s the word of the day – federalism. Few Americans have any idea what it actually means or know of its historical origins, but with the massive expansion of the federal government since the election of President Obama, more people are learning. From government take over of healthcare, student loans and auto companies to bailouts of banks, we have seen an unprecedented expansion of federal power.

Cutting through some of the rhetoric surrounding the issue, essentially, federalism means that the federal government will do what it is constitutionally empowered to do, and the states will do the rest. It has long been forgotten that the federal government exists at the mercy of the states (and of course, their citizens), not the other way around. As the federal government explodes in size and power, some efforts are being undertaken to attempt to restore at least some balance of power.

The recent elections are evidence that while Americans may not be entirely familiar with federalism, they support it!

In Virginia, an effort to restore federalism is being led by Speaker of the House of Delegates Bill Howell (R-28, Fredericksburg) through a repeal amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The repeal amendment would simply allow for any federal law – ObamaCare for example – to be repealed if two-thirds of the states agree on the repeal.

You might say it’s a bill to protect “fly over country” from ideas that start in New York and California.

The Family Foundation supports this effort. We believe that there is an important role for the federal government but that the jurisdiction of the feds is limited. A repeal amendment would be a step toward restoring the intent of the Constitution.

While some worry that an effort to amend the U.S. Constitution through a convention could have unintended consequences, any effort to do so can be limited to this issue alone. Frankly, the Constitution is being misinterpreted by courts and by the federal government just about every day. The repeal amendment would give states the ability to correct some of those misinterpretations.

State Senators Ryan McDougle (R-4, Mechanicsville) and Jill Vogel (R-27, Winchester) and Delegate Jim LeMunyon (R-67, Oak Hill) have introduced legislation (SJ 280 and HJ 542) that applies to Congress to call for a convention to add the repeal amendment to the Constitution. At least two-thirds of the states would have to do the same thing before Congress can act; then, once an amendment is passed through a convention, three-fourths of the states would have to ratify it.

Our Founding Fathers understood the need for a system of checks and balances to ensure our freedoms. The repeal amendment would be another tool that could be used to protect our freedoms and ensure that balance is restored.

Quote of the Day

"Our Founding Fathers understood the dangers of an overbearing government that was big enough to give us everything we wanted and big enough to take everything we have. Ronald Reagan warned us that government was not the solution to our problems, but rather too often the problem.

If there is a genuine desire among many new politicians to rediscover the wisdom of the Constitution, perhaps America may again experience a "new birth of freedom," and we the people will be the real winners of 2010."

Gary Bauer

Campaign for Working Families

Quote of the Day

"...the entire U.S. Constitution will be read aloud on the floor of the House of Representatives on his first full legislative day as Speaker of the House on January 6.

The Constitution read aloud in Congress? There’s a new sheriff in town, and his name is John Boehner."

Emily Miller

A Prayer for Unselfish Leadership

Let us pray.

Our Heavenly Father, great architect of the universe and giver of life.

6,000 years ago you gave us Abraham, and al the teachers and prophets that followed. All of the wisdom and knowledge handed down to us has not gone to waste, even if we are still struggling to master the art of life We pray that America may continue on the course of our Judeo-Christian teachings and that “We The People” will continue to enjoy the freedoms as laid out in “The Constitution of the United States.”

We pray that you will give our political leaders wisdom and courage as we work through these politically and economically turbulent times.

Our nation is crying out for leadership by unselfish men of good will.

We pray for our Congressman Eric Cantor, that you will watch over him with your protection.

We pray for the souls of our fallen soldiers. Be with their families. Please be with our men and women serving our country around the world.

Amen

John Underwood

MCRW Chaplain

Quote of the Day

"...constitutional amendments and legislation, rather than a “living Constitution,” are responsible for the greatest advances in civil rights, including the elimination of slavery and the enfranchisement of African Americans and women."

Curt Levey

Now on YouTube: MadisonVAGOP

Today in History

"On June 25^th, 222 years ago, Virginia ratified the US Constitution. As you all know, Virginia is presently embroiled in an important legal battle to defend that very document against overreaches by the federal government."

Ken Cucinelli

Attorney General of Virginia

On this day in 1939, Margaret Sanger, the founder of Planned Parenthood announced the organization’s new “Negro Project” in response to requests from southern state public health officials—men not generally known at that time for their racial equanimity. “The mass of Negroes"...

George Grant

ProLifeAmerica.com

more...

Video Hits of the Day

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Do American Constitutions Embody Unalienable Rights?

http://youtu.be/CsYk9Y-adho?a

Obama, Rahm, and Bill Clinton Sync Their Stories

http://youtu.be/mgyQwQbYJlc?a

posted by Dave_Champion

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Check out the New Must See Videos at

HumanEvents.com

The first videos are with bestselling author and syndicated columnist Mark Steyn.

Quote of the Day

"The whole idea of allowing Puerto Rico to decide to become our 51st state is offensive to our constitutional government. We the people of the United States are the only ones to decide whether or not to accept a new state as one of our United States."

Phyllis Schlaffly

Video Hits of the Day

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The American Tea Party Revolution

GOP Lawmaker Grilled by Tea Party Activist on His Knowledge of the Constitution

SHOCKING Police State in the US: Pittsburgh Police

Sign the Petition - No Individual Mandate on Obamacare

Obama and his Democrats may not give a horse's hind end about the Constitution but Virginians sure do!

Fellow Americans, On Tuesday, March 23, 2010, President Obama signed into law a healthcare bill of historic proportions. That bill includes an individual mandate on Americans that declares that they must buy health insurance or face penalties. This overreaches the authority of Congress under the Commerce Clause and is therefore unconstitutional. Buying health insurance can be said to be an act in commerce. However, if someone doesn't buy insurance, they are by definition not engaging in commerce. This legislation greatly oversteps the Commerce Clause. Please join in Virginia's fight to overturn the individual mandate on health insurance. I ask that you indicate your support by signing the petition below. Please also forward this to your friends. Sincerely, Ken Cuccinelli Attorney General of Virginia Click here to read and sign the petition Petition in Support of Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli's Suit to Overturn the Health Care Individual Mandate WHEREAS, the health care bill recently passed by Congress and signed into law by President Obama includes a mandate requiring Americans to purchase health care insurance, and WHEREAS, federal officials claim that the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution gives the federal government the authority to force citizens to purchase health care insurance, and WHEREAS, by definition, a person who refuses to purchase is NOT engaging in interstate commerce, and WHEREAS, a citizen who is not engaging in commerce may not be compelled to engage in commerce by the federal government, and WHEREAS, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that Congress may not regulate non-commercial activities using the commerce clause, and WHEREAS, the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Virginia has passed a law protecting Virginia's citizens from this unconstitutional mandate, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the undersigned citizens of the United States support the lawsuit brought by the Commonwealth of Virginia to declare the health care individual mandate unconstitutional. Click here to read and sign the petition