What if Jesus Had Never Been Born?

Published December 24, 2010 in the Lynchburg Ledger 

Because of revisionist history, religious bigotry and just plain bias, there is a great misunderstanding between the principles of Christianity and the religion of Christianity. 

Today, we see tremendous anti-Christian hostility in our institutions of learning, the media and the entertainment industry.  The pagan beliefs of people of influence in these institutions have succeeded in spreading much false and misleading information. 

There is no better time than the Christmas season when the world pauses to commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ, on whom the Christianity was founded, to set the record straight.

Christianity is better described as a relationship, not a religion.  Just as if being born in a garage wouldn’t make you an automobile, being born in a Christian family or even attending church doesn’t make you a Christian.

A person becomes a Christian by recognizing he is a sinner, believing that Jesus died on the cross for his sins, and accepting the salvation offered by committing his life to following Jesus. 

We can contrast the difference between Christianity and Islam because the God of the Bible sent His Son to die for us.  The god of Islam has the sons of his followers die for him.

Various Christian denominations address the concept of salvation differently.  Romans 10:9 declares, “If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” 

In John 3:3, Jesus said, “no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”  In John 4:16, Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” 

Unfortunately, many churches today are preaching a “social gospel,” “liberation theology,” and various other perversions of the gospel of Christ, leading many astray. 

A Christian does not do good works to gain salvation, but does good works because they have salvation, called justification.  They do good works because they desire to please God and this is called the process of sanctification.

The principles of Christianity transcend the religious rituals and traditions of the various churches and have profoundly impacted world history for the past 2,000 years.  It is possible to adopt Christian principles in one’s life without actually becoming a Christian and this is what leads to much confusion.

The Christian church arose following the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ in a pagan environment that was the Roman Empire, where slavery was a long accepted institution and women were second-class citizens. 

Early believers desired only to live their lives in accordance with Christian principles and had no expectation of transforming society, but that is exactly what happened.

Over the next 2,000 years, the principles of Christianity were responsible for transforming much of society from a pagan existence to the society we know today.

For example, in pagan Roman society, the killing of unwanted infants was a common practice.  Deformed boys and unwanted girls were abandoned to die.  This resulted in males outnumbering females by as much as 30 percent. 

Because of the Christian principle that man is created in the image of God, early Christians would rescue these discarded infants and raise them as their own.  The early pagan society soon took note of the Christian compassion and love shown to these children.

Christianity was born into a world teeming with slaves.  Slavery was accepted as a part of life, and even Plato and Aristotle both approved of the institution.

It was the early Christians like Justin Martyr who first deplored the selling of children for prostitution, a form of slavery.  “Pretty boys” were sold for homosexuals, and girls were sold to brothels.  St Patrick rejected all forms of slavery in the fifth century.

However, it was not until just after American independence that a voice against slavery was raised in the British Parliament.  William Wilberforce, a devout Christian, made it his life’s work to abolish slavery, and indeed on July 29, 1833, slavery was ended throughout the British Empire.  Wilberforce died three days later.

In America, Christians also labored to end slavery and operated the Underground Railroad, which helped many slaves escape to the north.  However, there were also Christians who supported the institution of slavery.  It took a civil war and the death of over a half million men to settle the issue.

Slavery still exists today in Muslim countries such as Sudan, where Christians are forced into slavery even today.  The sex slave business is also thriving and is becoming more prevalent here in the U.S. as our national morality declines.

Besides emancipating women and slaves, Christianity is responsible for the first true hospitals.  Many still bear their Christian names, such as: St. Elizabeth’s, Holy Cross, St. Jude’s and Virginia Baptist.

Christianity is responsible for most early colleges, such as: Harvard (1638), Yale (1701), Princeton (1746) and Dartmouth (1754).

Christianity showed the world how to minister to the poor and raise them up.  It taught the world the ideals of law, peace, and justice and individual dignity.

Today however, much of what Christianity has given to mankind in under attack from those who would have us return to a pagan society.  The recent vote in Congress to repeal “Don’t Ask – Don’t Tell” is a prime example of what the late Daniel Patrick Moynihan called “defining deviancy down.”

So this Christmas, we would do well to pause and reflect just how much the birth if Jesus, which is the only real meaning for the season, has meant to the civilized world.  Try to imagine what a pagan world might be like if Jesus had never been born and Christian principles had never been widely accepted even by non-Christians.  Also, picture what society may be like in the future as we become more and more of an anti-Christian nation.

A Bad Compromise

By Bill Wheaton

Press Media Group, LLC

Published December 17, 2010 in the Lynchburg ledger

Politics is the art of compromise.  The more political power you have, the less you have to compromise, but what goes around comes around.  Those with the political power one day will in the next be the ones without.

In 2008, with the Democrat sweep, Republicans were effectively locked out of the debate.  When Republicans took their thoughts and ideas to Obama, they were greeted with two words, “We won.”

With the 2010 election the power has once again begun to swing the other way, but there is a difference.  Democrats in power are arrogant and have no hesitation to throw their political weight around.  They think nothing of denying Republicans a seat at the table.

Republicans on the other hand are much more conciliatory.  They give Democrats a chance to participate and compromise when there is no need to do so.  They find that this is a way to keep the liberal media off their back.

But this time around, Republicans need to play hardball with the Democrats in spite of what the media might say.  They need to give them a taste of what they have been dishing out.

In the lame duck Congress, the Democrats still have total power, but many Democrats have seen the handwriting on the wall.  They find they must compromise in spite of holding all the political power because that is about to end.

Obama and the Republicans reached a compromise on extending the Bush tax cuts and unemployment benefits.  In the compromise, all the Bush tax cuts would be extended for two years and in return, unemployment benefits would be extended for an additional 13 months or 56 weeks.  This is in addition to the 99 weeks of unemployment compensation already provided.  The “death tax” would also be reinstated, taxing estates more than $1 million up to 55 percent. 

I oppose this compromise for a couple of reasons.  First, let us look at the Bush tax cuts.  The only reason the tax cuts had a sundown provision is because they compromised with the Democrats in the first place.  Democrats still do not understand that by cutting the tax rate, you stimulate the economy, which produces more revenue to the government, not less.  John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush understood this principle well. 

The Bush tax cuts, although modest at best, helped pull us out of the economic slowdown which began at the end of the Clinton administration and was exacerbated by the 9-11 attack.  Allowing the tax cuts to expire at the end of the year will result in a de facto tax increase; the last thing you want to do in a recession. 

The argument has been in regard to the high income earners.  Democrats, most of which have no business experience, hate those with higher incomes, not understanding it is this group which produces the majority of the jobs in this nation. 

The compromise (all or nothing from the Republican standpoint) was to extend all the tax cuts.  This has enraged the liberal left steeped in class envy.  Their objective is “equality.”  But their method is not to raise up the lower income earners but to lower the upper income earners.

The extension of the unemployment benefits is also a very bad idea.  Not only will it add to the already out of control deficit, but it will actually prolong the recession and slow any economic recovery, but, that is exactly what Obama wants.

Employers pay into a fund for unemployment insurance, which is designed to provide a short term economic bridge for someone who loses their job and is in search of another.  However, it is far too easy for people to become accustomed to getting that free money every week and they don’t work as hard as they could in finding a new job.

Being out of work in the past, I have had that experience with unemployment compensation.  I found myself becoming complacent and not hustling as hard as I should to find a new job.  Just to get back to work, I took a job in another field that paid a lot less than I was previously making, but it was more than unemployment.  That carried me until I found something more suitable.

We hear stories today of employers who can’t hire the workers they need because qualified workers want to be paid in cash as they don’t want to give up their unemployment compensation. 

This again is the long-term objective of Obama and the Democrats, make as many people as possible dependent on the government.

The bill in the Senate is being loaded up with pork-barrel spending and Harry Reid’s payback to the gambling lobby – on line poker.  A bill has yet to be fully written in the House but already earmarks are being added.

The answer is for the Republicans to block everything until the new Congress convenes in January.  Their first order of business should to make all the Bush tax cuts permanent and send that bill to Obama, daring him to veto it.

Any extension in unemployment benefits need to be paid for by a cut somewhere else in the budget.  They must also be limited to the very hardest of cases and in areas where unemployment is higher than normal, such as Martinsville and Danville.

The incoming Republican majority in the House will be making a big mistake if they think they can cooperate with Democrats.  Unfortunately, those days are gone, and as long as the Democrats have socialist objectives, they will not return.  Republicans need to understand that and act accordingly.

Bill Wheaton lives in Concord, Virginia.  Recent columns are available at billwheaton.blogspot.com.  His email address is bwheaton@moreinformation.net.

NOTE:  The House passed this bill Thursday night and President obama signed it into law on today.

Homosexual Anger behind WikiLeaks Data Dump

Published December 10, 2010 in the Lynchburg Ledger 

During the 2008 campaign, Barack Obama promised his homosexual supporters the repeal of the “Don’t Ask – Don’t Tell” policy of the military.  He is trying to make good on that promise during the lame duck session of Congress.  He has also managed to convince the military leaders in the Pentagon to support his objective, which is very troubling.

The repeal has to be done legislatively, meaning it needs to pass both the House and the Senate before it is sent to Obama for signature.  The incoming House is not likely to pass the bill and neither is the incoming Senate.  If we can block passage this year, the policy will stay in effect unless the liberal courts intervene.

The military conducted a survey on how service members would feel about the repeal.  However, that survey was fatally flawed and the military should be ashamed of themselves for polling such a hoax on the armed forces and the American people.

A week ago, the Pentagon released the results of their survey which on the surface seems to support repeal.  There was no surprise that the release of the military's new "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" survey was carefully orchestrated to accomplish Obama’s objective.

However, the Pentagon had no interest in eliciting honest responses from the troops about whether the law outlawing homosexual conduct in the ranks should be preserved or repealed. Instead, soldiers, airmen, sailors and Marines were addressed in terms implying that repeal is inevitable.

When one looks carefully at how the survey was conducted, one sees just how much of a fraud it was. 

63 percent of those responding to the survey indicated they live off-base or in civilian housing.  Consequently, they responded that a change in policy might not affect them.

But those in combat roles gave a different response. About half with combat experience said a change would have a negative or very negative impact in the field or at sea. Among Marine combat troops, two-thirds said combat readiness would suffer.  The concern increased where unit cohesion and trust are life-and-death concerns.

In preparation for the survey, the military held a numbers of working groups called “information exchange forums,” but only at bases in the United States, Germany and Japan.  Troops in combat situations in Iraq and Afghanistan were deliberately excluded which diluted the negative response to the change.

When asked specific questions, like willingness to share a shower or tent with a known homosexual, 61 percent said they would take some sort of action to avoid this situation. 

Only 6 percent of troops surveyed said repeal would improve either recruitment or morale, but about 25 percent indicated they would leave the military early if the repeal is signed into law.  The liberal media is not reporting that.

"There was nothing in that report that showed a single benefit to the military in terms of readiness, recruiting or retention.  There is no compelling reason to do this," said

Elaine Donnelly, president of the Center for Military Readiness.

Since 2005, only 1 percent of those detached involuntarily from the military were kicked out for violating the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" rules, so this is not a burning issue within the military.  It is only a burning issue in the liberal agenda and the homosexual community.

There is another very sound reason for keeping the rule in effect and once again: the liberal media is covering it up.  The failure to apply “Don’t Ask – Don’t Tell” may just be responsible for a leak of classified documents.

The publication of classified U.S. government documents by WikiLeaks has captured the headlines as of late, but falling through the cracks was the motive behind a U.S. Army leaker currently being held in the brig at Quantico.  The person who allegedly gave WikiLeaks the mountains of secret documents is Pfc. Bradley Manning, Army intelligence analyst.  What the media is not telling us is that Manning is an angry homosexual.

According to The New York Times, Bradley sought "moral support" from his "self-described drag queen" boyfriend.  He was upset, so in a homosexual rage, he betrayed his country by orchestrating the greatest leak of classified intelligence in U.S. history.

The British media have been more forthcoming than the U.S. media.  They reported that Manning’s Facebook page contains many claims and clues about his homosexual affiliations. They reported he just split with his homosexual lover and has also been contemplating a sex change.

If Manning was this open about his homosexuality, and working in intelligence unit, surely someone in authority must have been aware of it.  One has to wonder if the Obama agenda of repealing the policy and the Pentagon’s selective survey concerning the policy sent unwritten orders to military leaders to not act on the policy with respect to Manning.  He should have been uncovered and separated from the military before he could do the damage he did.

Those willing to speak frankly about the homosexual sub-culture will tell you there is a great deal of emotional instability there.  There is also an incredible amount of alcohol and drug use.  It is suspected that one in four homosexuals is a victim of domestic violence - homosexual on homosexual violence. 

The U.S. Military simply cannot afford to take the risk of legitimizing other potentially unstable military personnel like Manning who would be willing to betray their country because of a homosexual relationship gone wrong.

Jihad – We Still Do Not Get It

Published December 3, 2010 in the Lynchburg ledger

By Bill Wheaton

Press Media Group, LLC

In December of 2009, AirTran Airways flight 297 from Atlanta to Houston expereinced a problem when 12 men in Muslim attire began dancing and singing in Arabic as the plane was taxiing to the runway.  They refused to be seated when the flight attendants instructed them to sit down.  It is unlawful to taxi an aircraft unless all passengers are seated. 

When they finally sat down, some of them took out their cell phones and began taking pictures of other passengers.  Again, they were ordered to stop by the flight attendants, but ignored them.

The flight crew then declared an emergency and the plane returned to the gate where the 12 Muslim men were taken off the plane and questioned. Their luggage was also removed and checked. Ten of the Muslim men were allowed to get back on the plane and 12 to 15 passengers decided that they wanted to get off that plane and take other flights.

This was likely a test to see just how far they could go with their intimidation tactics. 

Last week, while Thanksgiving airline travelers were undergoing an unprecedented level of security screening, a 19 year old Somali-born and naturalized citizen, Mohamed Osman Mohamud, was arrested in downtown Portland, Oregon after using a cell phone to try to detonate what he thought were explosives in a van.  His target; a Christmas tree-lighting ceremony crowded with children.  "I want whoever is attending that event to leave, to leave dead or injured." Mohamud said.  This would-be terrorist was caught in an FBI sting operation.

This is just two of hundreds of incidents that occur regularly, many not reported by our hapless liberal media.  The fact is, fundamental Muslims are out to enslave us or kill us and have been for a very long time.

The 9-11 Commission Report stated Islam has been at war with the United States for some time, and we failed to recognize it.  It appears we still don’t in spite of over 200 years of Islamic-declared war on America.

President Barack Obama recently hosted a White House dinner to celebrate the end Ramadan, known as Iftar. In a speech, Obama continued to suck-up to the Muslims by lying about American history.  He stated Thomas Jefferson hosted the first Iftar dinner at the White House.  Blatantly false.

During the late 1700’s and early 1800’s, U.S. ships were under constant attack from Islamic pirates along the Barbary Coast of Africa.  Numerous diplomatic efforts were made on the part of Jefferson, as well as John Adams, to try to alleviate what had become a crisis on the high seas for the U.S. since it no longer enjoyed British maritime protection following the Revolutionary War.  After these diplomatic efforts, the stunned Ambassadors made a report to Congress providing the Muslim response to the American request that they stop their aggressive and violent activities: 

The Tripolitan Ambassador to Great Britain, Sidi Haji Abdul Rahman Adia, had informed Jefferson and Adams of the following:   “…that it was founded on the Laws of their Prophet, that it was written in their Koran, that all nations who should not have acknowledged their authority were sinners, that it was their right and duty to make war upon them wherever they could be found, and to make slaves of all they could take as Prisoners, and that every Musselman who should be slain in Battle was sure to go to Paradise.”

Jefferson recommended that America go to war against the Muslims:  “The liberation of our citizens has an intimate connection with the liberation of our commerce in the Mediterranean,” he explained to Congress. 

It was not until Jefferson was President in 1801 that the U.S. went to war against Islam, a conflict that lasted just over 4 years. Jefferson sent the U.S. Marines into Tripoli in 1805. The Barbary pirates finally backed down, but it was not until 1830 that terrorism on the high seas by the practitioners of Islam finally stopped.

But that didn’t mean Islam had changed; they just sought out new victims. Fundamental Islam has attempted to dominate and enslave populations wherever they met little resistance.  They also sought to ally themselves with non-Muslim nations for a common purpose.

During World War II, Jerusalem Mufti Haj Amin el-Husseini aligned himself with Adolph Hitler.  The only condition the Mufti set for his help was that after Hitler won the war, the entire Jewish population in Palestine should be liquidated.

With a history like this, it should be abundantly clear that no amount of negotiation, no amount of groveling and apologizing is going to persuade Fundamental Islam to “live and let live.”

Barack Obama, our apologizer-in-chief, believes that if we are really nice to the Muslim terrorists, they will stop attacking.  For example, the Obama Justice Department moved the trial of accused terrorist Ahmed Ghailani from Guantanamo to New York and from a military tribunal to a civilian court.  Ghailani was found guilty on just one count and acquited on 280 charges, mostly murder, after the judge blocked critical prosecution evidence from being introduced. 

The worldview of Obama and the liberals says mankind is basically good and getting better.  That is why they believe they can appease the Muslim terrorists.  If Neville Chamberlain couldn’t appease Adolph Hitler with the Munich Agreement of 1938, how does Obama think he can appease the Muslim world sworn to kill us?

Bill Wheaton lives in Concord, Virginia.  Recent columns are available at billwheaton.blogspot.com.  His email address is bwheaton@moreinformation.net.

A Time to be Thankful - A Time for Concern

Published in the November 26, 2010 edition of the Lynchburg Ledger 

By Bill Wheaton

Press Media Group, LLC

On April 30, 1789, George Washington took the oath of office and became the first President of the United States.  Six months later, President Washington proclaimed the nation’s first national Day of Thanksgiving.

His proclamation said in part:  “Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor…”   The proclamation continued, “…that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of nations, and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions…” the proclamation ended, “Given under my hand, at the city of New York, the 3^rd of October, A.D. 1789.”  Thus began the official observance of Thanksgiving.

The Pilgrims, who are credited for holding the first Thanksgiving, although the colony at Jamestown was actually first, briefly experimented with socialism.  They established a collective farm and everyone was to benefit regardless of effort expended.  Although they were deeply religious, they were also human.  Having nearly starved after the first year, they quickly abandoned the collective farm and allocated plots to individual families who could plant what they wished. 

After adopting the capitalistic system, they never went hungry again.  Although socialism fails every time it is tried, still today we see Obama and the Democrats embracing socialism as Europe is casting off its shackles.

The freedom of religion we enjoy today, although increasingly under attack from the liberal left, has not always been an entitlement. There was much religious persecution in colonial America.

Roger Williams came to Puritan Salem, Massachusetts in 1631.  As a Baptist, he shared the same basic Christian doctrine with the Puritans, but differed on practices, particularly baptism.  The Puritans tried and condemned Williams, and he fled in the winter of 1635-36, eventually founding the colony of Rhode Island.

Just as Roger Williams was leaving, Robert Wheaton, also a Baptist, was arriving.  He refused to take the Puritan oath, and being judged a “pestilential fellow,” was expelled from Salem in 1638.  He later founded the town of Swansea in Massachusetts.  (I have yet to determine if I am related.)

But as bad as it was in Salem, Virginia was worse.  The Anglican Church was the official tax-supported state religion, and controlled all religious activity. 

The first recorded imprisonment of Baptist preachers in Virginia, charged with preaching the gospel without a license, was on June 4, 1768 in Fredericksburg.  In the years that followed, Baptist preachers were threatened, arrested and some beaten.  From Chantilly to Tappahannock and from Berryville to Culpeper, Baptist preachers were routinely persecuted. 

However, in Fredericksburg on October 16, 1777, Thomas Jefferson, George Mason, Edmund Pendleton, George Wythe, and Thomas Ludwell Lee, deliberating for hours, produced the first draft of the Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom, which became the foundation of our religious freedom today.  It is also one of the founding documents Virginia students are to study in depth and is incorporated into the Constitution of Virginia.

The founders never intended to prohibit the federal government from promoting and supporting religious beliefs. Congress hired chaplains for itself and the military and appropriated funds to print Bibles. Washington said, “Of all the dispositions and habits that lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports.”

But today many atheists, agnostics, and other pagans who are in rebellion against God’s authority, simply ignore history.

The founders realized for them to have religious freedom, all must have religious freedom, Christian and non-Christian alike.  Jews, Muslims, Hindu’s, Buddhists and Sikhs all enjoy equal protection.

Unfortunately, this mutual respect is not reciprocated in Muslim nations where there is open hostility to Christianity.  Just try to bring a Bible into Saudi Arabia and see what happens.

Christianity is not only under attack in Muslim counties, but also right here at home.

On some American college campuses, Christian groups and ministries are threatened by the “politically correct” virtue of tolerance.  When homosexuals are denied leadership positions in Christian organizations, the organizations are branded as intolerant and come under attack.

Many of our public schools continue to show open hostility to Christianity.  This is evident around this time of year when our nation celebrates two federal holidays of Christian origin, Thanksgiving and Christmas. 

So during this Thanksgiving, we should be thankful for the blessings and freedom we still have and reflect on our nation’s future.  The recent election demonstrated the people are not ready to embrace the liberal agenda.  However, much of the damage has already been done.

The nuclear family, the foundation of our nation, is under attack.  In a recent survey, 40 percent stated marriage is becoming obsolete.  In the black community, we see up to 70 percent of children born out of wedlock, a direct result of the liberals “war on poverty:” from the 1960’s.  Poverty has won.

The homosexual agenda continues its assault on our national morality by demanding same-sex marriage.  Whenever the people have an opportunity to voice their opinion, the homosexual agenda fails.  It is the unelected judges in our courts forcing the homosexual agenda down out throats.

The question we need to ask ourselves this Thanksgiving is will we once again put ourselves under subjection to God’s authority and reap the blessings; or will we follow the advice of the self-proclaimed experts and remain in rebellion to God’s authority and reap the consequences?

Lame Duck or Dead Duck

By Bill Wheaton

Press Media Group, LLC

Published in the Lynchburg Ledger on November 19, 2010

The Congress has reconvened for what is called a Lame Duck session.  There are at least 63 Democrat seats in the House of Representatives (three from Virginia) that changed to Republican as well as 6 Senate seats.  The question is whether they will listen to the voters or use this session to push through as much of their liberal agenda as they can.

Being Democrats, I suspect they will make a push to pass more of their liberal agenda. 

The only thing that may save us from the liberal onslaught is that many Democrat Senators are up for election in 2012.  They may have heard the voters where the defeated Senators did not.

There were three special elections in the Senate to fill unexpired terms.  These Senators can be seated immediately but only two will- both Democrats. The lone Republican winner (in Illinois filling the remainder of Barack Obama’s Senate term) will not be seated immediately because Democrat election officials on Illinois are refusing to certify the election results in a timely manner.

There are two issues to be brought up that I am most interested in.  One I want them to pass, and one I want them to defeat.

I think one of the issues made clear in the historic vote this year is that the economy needs to be stimulated.  Any stimulus bill where government keeps spending will do nothing but grow the deficit, which will further depress the economy.

In a recession, the last thing you want to do is increase taxes and allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire at the end of the year will do exactly that.  The Democrats love to engage in class warfare, and the Bush tax cuts are a prime example.  They seem perfectly willing to extend them for the “middle class,” but oppose any extension for the “wealthy.” 

It is the so-called wealthy who are the job creators in our free enterprise system.  I have never gotten a job from a poor person.

Obama and the Democrats hate those who have worked hard and earned substantial sums of money.  They seem to think the rich got that way by stealing from the poor. 

When I was a teenager, I was glad that there were rich people, because they would hire and pay me.  Back before the days of golf carts, teenagers like me used to caddy at golf courses.  I caddied at an exclusive country club and made good money.  You had to be rich to belong to this club, and I didn’t resent them one bit.

Congress needs to make the Bush tax cuts, all of them, permanent.  Right now, employers and business people have no idea what their taxes are going to be and are essentially sitting on their hands.  If Congress makes the tax cuts permanent and Obama signs it, I believe it would be the biggest shot in the arm for the economy we could provide.

The issue I don’t want congress to pass is a bill repealing “don’t ask-don’t tell” for the military.  This law, enacted in 1993, bars open homosexuality in the armed services. Although Clinton watered down the actual law, the law has functioned fairly well. About 14,000 men and women have been separated from the armed services under that law over the past 17 years. That's less than 1 percent of total military separations, most of which were for other reasons such as pregnancy, substance abuse, being overweight, etc.

Homosexual activists, including the Log Cabin Republicans and their media allies, are turning up the heat on the lame duck Congress to overturn the law before a more conservative Congress is seated in January.

 

Gen. James Amos was just appointed Marine Corps Commandant by President Obama, replacing Gen. James T. Conway, considered the military's most outspoken advocate for keeping the ban.  Gen. Amos has not wavered from Gen. Conway's stance. He said during a trip to California that with troops fighting two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan now was not the time to change policy.  Gen. Amos said, "There is nothing more intimate than young men and young women — and when you talk of infantry, we're talking our young men — laying out, sleeping alongside of one another and sharing death, fear and loss of brothers,  I don't know what the effect of that will be on cohesion. I mean, that's what we're looking at. It's unit cohesion, it's combat effectiveness."

His remarks seemed to stun Adm. Michael Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs who supports repeal.  Mullen appears to be more interested in political correctness than an efficient military.

In Iowa, where they elect their judges, three of the seven Iowa Supreme Court Justices who overturned the state's referendum to define marriage as being between one man and one woman, were up for a retention vote. All three were kicked off the bench by the voters.  Better than 54 percent of voters rejected all three judges.  Any time the people have a chance to vote, they reject the homosexual agenda.

Harry Reid, who unfortunately was not defeated although I contributed to Sharron Angle’s campaign, will be returning next year.  However, this year, he has not promised to bring the issue up for a vote.  Those in the Senate up for re-election in 2012 need to be mindful of the Iowa vote.

5th District Congressman Tom Perriello has one last chance to do us dirty in Congress.  It might be prudent to flood his office with calls telling him to extend all the Bush tax cuts and oppose the repeal of “don’t ask-don’t tell.”

Political Obituary of Rick Boyer

Published in the Lynchburg Ledger on November 12, 2010

By Bill Wheaton

Press Media Group, LLC

The day after the election, President Barack Obama held a news conference admitting the Democrats took a "shellacking" on Election Day.  They did indeed, losing at least 63 House seats, three of which were here in Virginia.

Also taking a "shellacking” was Republican Rick Boyer, who ran for the Clerk of Court in Campbell County.  Boyer’s "shellacking" was even greater than the Democrat’s when you consider all the facts.

By way of an introduction, a vacancy occurred in the Clerk’s office when the former Clerk retired.  Sheila Bosiger was appointed Interim Clerk by the Court, being the Chief Assistant Deputy.  Seeking to retain her position, she entered the political process. 

With the ink on his Liberty University Law School diploma barely dry, Rick Boyer entered the race in search of a paycheck and political power.  He managed to secure the Republican Party nomination for Clerk after his hand-picked party chairman violated the party bylaws in calling a special meeting.  Boyer then flooded the ensuing nominating meeting with people from his church.

This set up a classic David and Goliath confrontation between politically savvy Boyer and political neophyte Bosiger.

Boyer has been involved in politics since he was a teenager and is a political veteran, having won the Sunburst District Supervisor election in 2003.  He had many political contacts, many political IOU’s to call in, knew how to run a campaign, had access to funding and had the backing of the local Republican Party. 

He was “shellacked” by a candidate who up to two months ago had never engaged politics except to vote.  Sheila Bosiger had no political experience and no idea how to run a campaign. 

A number of prominent Republicans broke with the party to support Bosiger, putting their own political futures at risk.  They did so for two very important reasons. 

First, they knew Sheila Bosiger was the only person qualified for the job of Clerk.  Boyer’s law degree was irrelevant as of the 120 Clerks of the Court in Virginia, only two have law degrees.

Second and most important, they knew Rick Boyer and his insatiable quest for political power.  They knew he would use the Clerk’s office as a political power base.  This was confirmed for me on Election Day when I overheard a boisterous Boyer supporter bragging that after the election they would “put a padlock on Rustburg,” meaning they were planning a political takeover of the county in next year’s election.

Sheila Bosiger received an accelerated course in grassroots politics and hit the campaign trail.  She was an excellent campaigner.  She loved getting out into the community and meeting the voters.  Although her job as Interim Clerk came first, she got out to knock on doors and attend events as time permitted. 

Boyer was free to campaign unrestricted by the constraints of employment.  He sought endorsements from within Campbell County, but not one single current or former elected official would support him, especially those who served with him on the Board.  They all knew him to be unqualified.  All Boyer’s political endorsements came from outside the county.

Bosiger was endorsed by 19 current and former county elected officials.

On Election Day, I was one of the many Bosiger poll workers and had an opportunity to talk to the voters.  The comments I got fell into three categories.  Some asked if Sheila was the one who was the current Clerk.  They saw no reason to change.

Some asked about the unethical political tactics used to get Boyer the Republican nomination.

The sentiments of most were best expressed by a local pastor who said, “We have to make sure this dufus is not elected to anything.”

When the votes were tallied, it was clear that David had once again slain Goliath. In spite of a last minute sign and media blitz by Boyer, Sheila Bosiger defeated him in a landslide with a vote count of 10,064 (55.31%) to 6,075 (33.39%).  The key to the win was that more than half of the Republican Robert Hurt voters broke and did not vote the party line for Boyer.  This is significant because the Republican poll workers were not supporting Robert Hurt , only Boyer.

Bosiger won 17 out of 18 precincts showing strong county-wide support.  Boyer won only one with barely over 50 percent of the vote.  In his worst precinct Boyer pulled only 13 percent of the vote, indicating no county-wide support.  The county produced the highest percentage vote for Hurt in the 5^th District but Boyer received just 308 more votes than looser Democrat Perriello.

With a blowout of this magnitude, it is clear that the county has resoundingly rejected Rick Boyer.  The many political enemies he has made over the years came back to haunt him.  With this humiliating defeat, the voters of Campbell County have declared Rick Boyer politically dead.  

Not only is he politically dead, but he is also politically toxic.  Any candidate whose name is mentioned in the same sentence with Boyer will be contaminated.

The Campbell County Republican Party is on life support.  With such a tremendous effort expended against a political novice and to be humiliated to this extent, their credibility as a political party has been destroyed.  After suffering a humiliating defeat of this magnitude, it is customary for the leadership to resign.   .

I had warned party officials, such as 5th District Chairman Bill Stanley and Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli that Boyer would destroy the local party.  They did not believe me then, perhaps they will now.  If the Campbell County Republican Party is to recover, it must distance itself from Rick Boyer, abandon its corrupt practices, adhere to its own bylaws and reorganize under new leadership.

Bill Wheaton lives in Concord, Virginia.  Recent columns are available at billwheaton.blogspot.com.  His email address is bwheaton@moreinformation.net.

Rick Boyer – Unqualified for Clerk

 Published on the Lynchburg ledger on October 15, 2010

Commentary

By Bill Wheaton

Press media Group, LLC

When Robert Hurt won the Republican primary in June, a prominent Campbell County Republican called Rick Boyer asking him to support Hurt.  Boyer and his politically active family supported Feda Morton, who received only 73 votes in the county.  Although Morton sent out an email on election eve urging her supporters to support Robert Hurt, Rick Boyer, who would have us believe he is “Mr. Republican,” refused.

Boyer changed his mind only after he decided to run for Clerk of the Court in Campbell County and seek the Republican nomination.  Boyer wouldn’t have the Republican nomination at all if it wasn’t for the local party trashing its own bylaws to hold an illegal meeting.  Email messages between Boyer and the party chairman Will Kirk prior to the nominating meeting concerning the rules smacked of collusion.

Kirk has accused supporters of Sheila Bosiger, the Interim Clerk of the Court, of packing the nominating meeting with Democrats.  This is a smear tactic usually used by the liberals.  The fact is, the person who packed the meeting was Rick Boyer bringing in people from his church, many of whom had no idea why they were there.

But now that Boyer is running for Clerk of the Court as a Republican, a position he is unqualified for, he expects all the Republicans to support him.  Most of the county elected Republicans who have to work with the Clerk are not.  They know he is unqualified and has the wrong temperament to be an elected official, which he demonstrated when he was a supervisor. 

I covered the board of supervisor meetings for the last three years of Boyer’s term and observed first hand just how ineffective he was.  He had the arrogance to try to lecture his six colleagues on the board, who combined had in excess of 100 years of public service experience.

The board members were much too professional and polite to publicly criticize Boyer and the senior member, Hugh Rosser (a Democrat) attempted to mentor him with no success.

It was obvious to me that Boyer did not run to be a public servant, but to gain political power.  He paid little attention to the needs and concerns of his constituents.   He used his position as supervisor to attack fellow Republican Senator Steve Newman publicly, which drew the ire of numerous religious leaders including the late Jerry Falwell. 

Dr. Falwell always had unique ways of addressing problems so in an attempt to educate Boyer, he gave him a scholarship to Liberty Law School. 

It would appear that after the three year law school education, Boyer has gained in knowledge, but not in wisdom.  My personal experience is that he cannot disagree without being disagreeable.  He simply does not have the temperament to be a public servant.  His life goal is political power not public service.

While in law school, Boyer worked in the family drywall finishing business and did an addition to the house of a friend of mine.  He asked Rick what he intended to do after law school and his reply was to go into politics.  His ambition for political power is certainly no secret. 

On issues, you would be hard pressed to find any difference between Rick Boyer and I, we are both strong conservatives.  Our differences lie in the way we implement our conservative beliefs.

For example, he objected to my support for Jim Gilmore over Bob Marshall for Senate in 2008.  Instead of entering into a dialogue, Boyer chose confrontation.

This confrontational attitude must run in the Boyer DNA.  I have been writing a column for over a dozen years and without a doubt, the nastiest email I have ever received was from Rick Boyer’s brother Tim who is the Vice Chairman of the Campbell County Republicans,  Even an email from a self-described “bi-sexual feminist psychotherapist” I received was more civil than Boyer’s.

Comments like “Bill, you are so filled with hate and vengefulness that you insist on making an utter, blithering idiotic fool of yourself” and “I would suggest saving yourself further embarrassment by retreating back north of the Mason-Dixon line where your intelligence may have a fighting chance of hitting the geographical average,” don’t lend themselves to establishing meaningful dialogue.

Besides not having the temperament, Boyer does not have the knowledge for the position he seeks.  In a recent visit to a businessman, he stated he intended to make the “land book” more available to the public.  Only problem there is that the Clerk has no authority to do so.  The Commissioner of the Revenue is responsible for the land book.

The clerk is responsible for the land records, and if Boyer doesn’t know the difference, he certainly is not prepared for the job.  Boyer is telling people about all the changes he plans to make sounding almost like Barack Obama did in the 2008 campaign.  We have seen what Obama change has meant.

This would be nothing more than a political stepping stone for Boyer, and he would turn the Clerk’s office into his base for future political action.  Most seekers of this office do so to serve the public until retirement.

The old saying, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” applies to this race.  Everyone who uses the Clerk’s office is pleased with its operation under Interim Clerk Sheila Bosiger.  Some candidates have tried to find fault, to no avail.

Rick Boyer would be an unmitigated disaster, and Sheila Bosiger is the only logical choice for Clerk on November 2^nd .

Chicago-Style Politics

Published in the Lynchburg Ledger on August 20, 2010

by Bill Wheaton

Press Media Group, LLC

As I begin writing this column, the jury in the Rod Blagojevich political corruption trial appears to be deadlocked. When the defense rested quickly without calling Blagojevich to testify, I thought to myself, “They have bought the jury.” Actually, they have to only buy only one juror.

Barack Obama came out of the same political environment, and we have seen Chicago-style politics on a national scale. The appointment of Czars needing no Senate confirmation, the trashing of the Constitution with the takeover of General Motors and Chrysler and the high living at taxpayers' expense during a recession are just some examples.

Obama and the people he surrounds himself with hate the Constitution because it restricts their political agenda, so they simply ignore it and do what they want.

Up until last week, I thought Chicago-style politics was limited to Chicago and Washington D.C. Little did I realize that the same disregard for the rules was being played out right here in rural Central Virginia. It was not among the Democrats as one might think, but among the Republicans in Campbell County.

Earlier this year, the Campbell County Republican Party elected a new chairman, Will Kirk. He seemed like a nice enough fellow, and the only criticism I heard was he was acquainted with the politically ambitious Boyer family. I voted for him because I felt we needed “change” in the Republican Party. Well, we got change, just like the nation got change with Obama, but in both cases, it was not the change we were looking for.

Also earlier this year, Deborah Hughes, Clerk of the Campbell County Circuit Court retired, and the Court appointed Assistant Chief Deputy Sheila Bosiger to serve as Interim Clerk until the November election.

The Clerk of the Court is an elected position, but the least political of all the Constitutional offices. The Clerk is on an eight-year cycle where all others are on a four-year cycle.

With 25 years experience in the Circuit Court Clerk's office and 10 years as Assistant Chief Deputy, Sheila Bosiger decided to seek election to the job she is filling on an interim basis. Since all the Campbell County Constitutional officers are Republicans, she sought the nomination of the Campbell County Republican Party.

However, opposition in the person of Rick Boyer appeared on the scene. Boyer, who just graduated from Liberty University Law School and is awaiting the results of the Bar exam, has decided he wants to run for the seat. There is virtually nothing Rick Boyer learned in law school that would equip him to serve as Clerk of the Court. In fact, Boyer has admitted Sheila Bosiger is more qualified than he is for the job. If he should be elected, Sheila Bosiger would have to train him to run and manage the office she is currently running and managing.

Since the Clerk of the Court is prohibited from giving legal advice, Boyer' law degree would become worthless to him.

Sheila has the respect of all the Campbell County elected officials plus the local attorneys. At least three of the county elected officials personally contacted Rick Boyer and counseled him not to seek this position, but the politically ambitious Boyer turned a deaf ear to the advice.

With the filing deadline fast approaching, Republican Chairman Will Kirk hastily called for a meeting in the Unit Committee for the purpose of calling a Mass Meeting to pick a nominee, as prescribed in the Bylaws of the Campbell County Republican Party. However, Kirk chose to ignore major portions of the Bylaws to expedite his and Rick Boyer's agenda.

Article V, Section A, Part 4 of the Bylaws states, “All Unit Committee meetings shall be held in a building appropriate for public use and shall be open to the public.”

Instead of holding the meeting in a public building being open to the public, Kirk held the meeting by telephone conference call and closed it to the public; therefore, this was an illegal meeting and any decision made by the meeting should be null and void.

On the day prior to the illegal conference call meeting, I had emailed Kirk advising him of the Bylaw restrictions. I wrote, “By my reading of the Bylaws of the CCRC as adopted 1/8/2004, you cannot hold a unit meeting by phone as you are planning to do Wednesday.” I was giving Kirk the benefit of the doubt that he was working from ignorance.

I later learned that this was a planned strategy between Kirk and the Boyers' to secure the nomination for Rick Boyer. Email messages between rick Boyer and Will Kirk regarding the rules for the Mass Meeting are proof enough of that.

Boyer managed to bring 134 people, many from his church. Some actually had no idea why they were there, except that Boyer asked them to come. .

Sheila Bosiger, who is not a political person, learned about the Mass Meeting only a week before the meeting was scheduled. She managed to turn out 100 supporters, which was 34 votes short, and Boyer won the nomination.

Bill Stanley, the Chairman of the 5^th District Republican Committee was at the meeting and served as parliamentarian. I advised him of the violations of the Bylaws and he informed me that if I made any objection, I would be ruled out-of-order. Later he did advise that there is a way to appeal, which I am in the process of doing.

Sheila Bosiger will be on the ballot as an Independent.

It is indeed a sad day when we see Chicago/Obama-style politics right here in our own back yard.