A Nation Divided

Published September 13, 2012 in the Lynchburg Ledger 

By Bill Wheaton

Press Media Group, LLC

This week, we observed the 11th anniversary of the Muslim terrorist attack of September 11, 2001 where nearly 3,000 Americans lost their lives.  Following that cowardly attack, our nation was united in spirit in a way reminiscent of the Pearl Harbor attack of 1941.

 

In 1941, our nation remained united well past the victories of 1945.  It was not until the 1960’s that divisions began to occur.  It took much less time for divisions to occur after 9-11 because of a hostile liberal media and the election of Barack Obama as President in 2008. 

Up until 1956, our de facto motto is E pluribus unum — “out of many, one.”  In 1956, Congress adopted “In God We Trust” as our official motto.

In November 2010, in a speech in Jakarta, Indonesia, Obama said, “In the United States, our motto is E pluribus unum.”  Although it is frightening to realize that two years after he was elected President, he had no idea what our official motto was.  Perhaps it is because he has set about reversing it to “E unum pluribus” – “out of one, many.”

Barack Obama has set out to divide America along many societal lines following the teachings of Saul Alinsky.  In his “Rules for Radicals”, Alinsky sets out guidelines for accomplishing the liberal objective.  In his thirteenth rule, he states “Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it.”  That is exactly what Obama has done. 

He has set blacks against whites, lower economic class against the upper economic class, unemployed against the employed and moral degenerates against God-fearing people. 

One just needed to watch portions of the Democrat convention, when the network cameras were off, to see this national disgrace.  It brought to mind the bar scene in “Star Wars.”

The term “God-given” had been dropped from the Democrat party platform and when they attempted to reinsert it, the delegates actually voted God down.  When the chairman “gaveled through” the motion declaring the motion to reinsert passed, the delegates actually booed God.

Barack Obama in his speech Thursday night promised more of what he can not and has no intention of delivering.  He did, however, make one true statement and that was this election will determine in which direction this nation will head.  We will either continue down the same destructive path towards socialism under Obama and the Democrats, or we will turn back towards an open and free economy under Romney-Ryan and a Republican Congress.

The other day, I was out putting a Romney sign in my yard when a person stopped to tell me I was supporting the wrong person.  I asked him why he thought so and his answer was “Romney doesn’t care about poor people.”  My answer to him was that obviously Obama does because he has made so many more of them but I didn’t bother to debate him. He and millions like him have drunk the liberal Kool-aid and are a lost cause. They are driven strictly by ideology, emotion or plain ignorance, so hard cold facts will do nothing to sway them. To try to reason with them is a waste your time.

There is a small amount still in the middle who can be convinced by facts, so here are some to use when you ask the question, are you better off today than you were four years ago?

•           Under Obama, the number of unemployed has gone from 11.6 million to 14.5 million.

•           Under Obama, the cost at the pump has gone from $1.83 to $3.84 (Lundburg Survey as of 9/10/12).

•           Under Obama, the number of people on food stamps has gone from 32 million to 43.2 million.

•           Under Obama, the number of long term unemployed has gone from 2.6 million to 6.4 million.

•           Under Obama, our national debt has gone from, $10.6 trillion to $16 trillion.

•           Under Obama, the cost of corn has gone from $3.56 a bushel to $6.33 a bushel (this will be reflected in higher costs for food).

•           Under Obama, black unemployment has increased from 12.6% to 15.8%.

•           Under Obama, the rate of individual poverty has increased from 13.2% to 14.3%

•           Under Obama, the U.S ranking in Economic Freedom World Rankings dropped from 5th to 9th.

The vast majority of Americans are not better off today, but many are still going to vote for Obama.  The only way to counter this is to give the facts to those who are reasonable, not the Kool-aid drinkers.  The liberals can’t run on the Obama record so their only hope of victory is to discourage Romney-Ryan voters from coming out to vote.  I have already seen evidence of this.  We simply cannot let the Obama lies and the media distortions keep us from voting.

Expect to see many false and misleading polls conducted by those support Obama.  They poll more Democrats than Republicans and registered voters instead of likely voters to get the skewed results they are looking for.  Polls are meaningless until a week before the election.

Also expect a deluge of lies coming from the Democrats.  For example, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid just went to the Senate floor accusing Republicans of obstruction where it is he who refuses to bring up the numerous economic bills passed by the Republican controlled house.  Reid is also responsible for not passing a budget, which is required by law, for three years.

The media is also creating smoke screens and diverting attention away from the Obama record, such as the Romney tax returns.  Romney has released his 2010 and 2011 tax returns and they are available on his web site.  Obama has yet to release a single record from his school days, yet the media ignores that and keeps asking for more Romney tax returns.

We simply can not let the Democrats keep dividing the nation by pitting one group against each other.  The bottom line is Obama has been the most disastrous president since Jimmy Carter.  In fact, he is even using some of Carter’s old excuses for his failures. 

Obama, who has missed over half of the Presidential Daily Briefings, spent 600 hours on the golf course but only 420 hours in meetings on the economy (according to the White House calender), must be replaced

We will only be united as a nation when Obama is defeated and the Democrat stranglehold on Congress is broken. 

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

Confronting Left Wing Intimidation

Published August 16, 2012 in the Lynchburg Ledger

By Bill Wheaton

Press Media Group, LLC

Christians and Christian values are coming under increasing attack these days.  Now joining the fundamentalist Muslims are the homosexual activists and their left-wing supporters.  Both groups are employing the very same tactic to silence the speech of Christian conservatives, intimidation.

If you criticize Islam or its founder Mohammad, you are very apt to be criticized by fundamentalist Muslims.  If you point out that the god of Islam is not the God of the Bible, but a false god, you are likely to be threatened, and in some parts of the world, you will be killed.

The homosexual activists and their radical supporters are using the very same tactic as we recently witnessed in the Chick-fil-A issue.  When Chick-fil-A president Dan Cathy was asked his personal opinion on the sanctity of marriage, he stated the Biblical position that marriage is between one man and one woman.   

That is not only the Biblical position, but it is the American position.  In every state where the voters were asked to choose, they have chosen to reject homosexual marriage overwhelmingly.  In states with homosexual marriage, it has either been imposed by liberal courts or liberal legislatures.

But this didn’t stop the homosexual activists from calling for a boycott of Chick-fil-A.  They were joined by radical left-wing politicians who actually threatened to bar Chick-fil-A from doing business in their cities.  That is completely un-American, but that is who these liberals are.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said the restaurant chain was not welcome in that city because it does not share “Chicago values.”   What values would that be? 

It was recently reported that within a one year period in Chicago, there were 246 homicides.   In that same period in Afghanistan, there were 145 combat deaths.  The war being waged on the Taliban and al-Qaeda pale in comparison to the war being waged on the streets of Chicago.  Is that the “Chicago values” the mayor is referring to?

Emanuel recently welcomed Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan to Chicago.  So perhaps the “Chicago values” means that a vile anti-Semite like Farrakhan is acceptable where a Christian businessman expressing his personal religious beliefs is not.

Boston Mayor Thomas Menino also chimed in saying, “Chick-fil-A doesn’t belong in Boston.”  That is simply amazing since the seeds of the American Revolution of 1776 were planted right there in Boston. 

Jerald C. Brauer, Professor of the History of Christianity at the Divinity School, The University of Chicago wrote, “Religion was one of the premier forces that brought the colonies into being and provided them with a set of symbols, beliefs, and values which undergirded their society. In at least two respects religion fed directly into the Revolution of heart and mind that preceded the rebellion. Puritanism created the center out of which New England society lived. The symbols, values, and beliefs that comprised that center contained two elements that were always to some degree peripheral, Crown and Parliament. As history unfolded, New Englanders gradually brought these peripheral elements under heavy attack from the center itself so that Crown and Parliament were viewed as detrimental to the central values of covenant, consent, the rule of fundamental law, the structure of New England’s organic society, and the liberties of its inhabitants. Thus Puritanism was a major force in engendering a revolution in attitude toward Crown and Parliament.”

Our Declaration of Independence is a list of complaints against the British Crown, every one of which was first preached from a New England pulpit before the fight for independence began.  If Menino was mayor in colonial Boston, we would likely still be British subjects. 
And what about the “Boston values” under Menino?  On a scale of 1 to 100, where 100 is the safest place to live and 1 the most unsafe, Boston scores an 11. 

Menino. like Chicago’s Emanuel, seem much more comfortable with Muslims than Christians.  Menino recently approved a permit which allowed the City of Boston to sell land below market value for the construction of a mosque.  The Islamic society of Boston has strong ties with radical imam Yusef al-Qaradawi.  This is somewhat ironic as not only does al-Qaradawi defends suicide bombing, but believes homosexuals should be burned or stoned to death.

In response to the outrageous statements by Emanuel, Menino and countless others, hundreds of thousands of Christians and non-Christians alike who believe in the concept of free speech turned out
on August 1^st at Chick-fil-A all over the country to show their support.   I was one of them, as was my pastor.   The left unsuccessfully tried to spin this as an act of hate where the only hate exhibited was from the left.  At least one Chick-fil-A was vandalized by the left.

All the hate and activism is on the left.  At least two prominent businesses have taken activist positions when it comes to promoting the homosexual agenda.  They are Home Depot and Target.

The American Family Association reports, “For several years, The Home Depot has given its financial and corporate support to open displays of homosexual activism on main streets in America's towns.

“Rather than remain neutral in the culture war, The Home Depot has chosen to sponsor and participate in numerous gay pride parades and festivals. Most grievous is The Home Depot's deliberately exposing small children to lascivious displays of sexual conduct by homosexuals and cross-dressers, which are a common occurrence at these events.”

Target is selling a line of pro-homosexual merchandise, and they promised to “donate 100% of the purchase price to the Family Equality Council, a revolting outfit devoted to perverting and destroying the concept of family and subjecting children to sexual exploitation in homosexual marriages,” according to a news article from Free Republic.

I have been boycotting Home Depot ever since they took their pro-homosexual stance a couple of years ago and I have avoided Target ever since they banned Santa Claus some years back.

I refuse to patronize a business which supports the radical left-wing agenda which I oppose, and you should also.  It makes no sense to financially support companies which support values we oppose.

One final company to avoid is Progressive Insurance. Progressive chairman Peter Lewis had donated millions to left wing causes.  He donated at lease $25 million to the ACLU since 2001.   A September 17, 2010 opinion article in the Wall Street Journal said, "The progressive left has spent the better part of a decade building an archipelago of tightly linked third-party groups: MoveOn.org, Democracy Alliance, the Center for American Progress, their spinoffs and dozens of others. Bankrolled in large part by billionaires like George Soros and Peter Lewis, and along with more traditional institutions like organized labor and the environmental lobby, these organizations are effectively a shadow party that operates outside the ambit of the Democratic Party."

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

Sandusky Fallout and Cover-up

Published July 19, 2012 in the Lynchburg Ledger 

By Bill Wheaton

Press Media Group, LLC

On June 23^rd, after a three-week trial featuring emotional and often graphic testimony from eight young men who had been sexually molested by former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, a 12-person jury found him guilty on 45 of 48 counts. Jurors heard from the eight victims, now young adults, who testified that as boys, Sandusky forced them to engage in sexual acts in showers in Penn State's athletics facilities, hotel rooms, the basement of his home and other places. The abuse spanned at least 15 years.

The Sandusky story has rocked Penn State and its renowned football program to its core and has forever tarnished the reputation of famed football coach Joe Paterno.

The Board of Trustees of Penn State hired former FBI director Louis Freeh to conduct an independent investigation shortly after Sandusky was charged in November of 2011.  Last week, Freeh released his 267 page report.  His report contained thousands of words but the one and most meaningful word of all was conspicously missing.  That was “homosexual.”

Jerry Sandusky commited homosexual acts on those eight victims and probably countless others who were too afraid or ashamed to testify.  Not once did the news media even dare to associate Sandusky with homosexuality, which is the sexual attraction to the same sex.

They did label him a pedophile, which is one who has a sexual atrraction to prepubescent children.  Sandusky’s victims reportedly ranged in age from 8 to 17, which would also make him a hebephile.  The term “hebephilia” denotes the sexual attraction for pubescent children (roughly, ages 11 or 12-14), but this term is not as widely used. 

The homosexual sub-culture is a big tent and contains at least four sub-groups.  The most widely known is the so-called “gay community” (I never use the term gay as the homosexual lifestyle is anything but gay).  These are the out-of-the-closet homosexuals and openly practice their sexual perversion in public. 

I use the word “perversion” because that is what God calls homosexual acts.  God loves all us sinners but hates the sins we commit.

The public homosexuals spend a lot of time and efforts trying to force the rest of us to accept their lifestyle and express great intolerance for those who do not.  They are even more intolerant of those who have renounced the homosexual lifestyle (ex-gays) and have settled into a normal heterosexual lifestyle.

They deny any relationship with the homosexual pedophiles like Sandusky and the numerous Roman Catholic priests who have been doing the same sexual molesting for years, and like at Penn State, their actions have been covered up.

It is politically incorrect to say anything negative about homosexuals.  This had given the homosexual lifestyle almost total control of the media and not even Rush Limbaugh would associate Sandusky with homosexuality.  He hinted at it, but stopped just short of actually doing it.

Child molesters of the homosexual sub-culture even has an organization, the North American Man/Boy Love Association (NAMBLA), which actually lobbies for the repeal of laws prohibiting sex with children. 

Pedophile homosexuals often place themselves in positions where they will come in contact with young boys, as Sandusky did.  The Boy Scouts of America learned this lesson and adopted a policy prohibiting homosexuals from any association with scouting.  For this, they have been unjustly criticized and in some cases have faced discrimination.

The third group within the homosexual umbrella is the homosexuals who prefer to keep their homosexual lifestyles private.  That is fine, except if they are involved in public policy or in forming public opinion. 

For example, a former chief-of-staff to former Senator George Allen (Jay Timmons) was outed as a homosexual by the public homosexual group and then transferred to a non-public policy position in the Senate Election Committee. 

Another example is a current member of the Virginia General Assembly from Fairfax County who has disclosed privately he is a homosexual but continues to withhold that information from his constituents.  That is blatantly dishonest.

Yet another example is the former head of the Fairfax County Public Schools Family Life Education program, Jerald L. Newberry, who was also a licensed counselor.  He was outed by some anonymous students.

The last group of homosexuals what are called the “cruisers.”  They, like many of the pedophile homosexuals, live an otherwise normal and heterosexual lifestyle, but like Sandusky, have a dirty little secret.  They cruise known locations to engage in anonymous homosexual sex with complete strangers.  Many who engage in this perversion end up bringing a sexually transmitted disease, sometimes HIV, back home to their unsuspecting wives.

This activity has been ongoing for many years and as you may suspect, there is a website devoted to this very activity.  There have been locations in Lynchburg where cruisers would go to find anonymous sexual partners.  Some of the locations listed in the past were Peaks View Park and the Downtown YMCA. 

Fortunately, the police also are aware of these locations and occasionally set up sting operations and bust the offenders.  I recall that back in Northern Virginia a sting operation at Bull Run Park netted dozens of offenders including the president of the Prince William County Teacher’s Association.

That brings me to my final point.  That is our educational system has, for years, presented homosexuality as acceptable alternate lifestyle.  They of course don’t mention the pedophiles and cruisers.  Penn State offers such courses as:

• ENGL 245, Introduction to Lesbian and Gay Studies
• BB H 251, Straight Talks I: Advanced Sexual Orientation/Gender Identity Peer Education
• ART H 225, Sexuality and Modern Visual Culture (An examination of the visual expression of gender and sexual identities in English-speaking cultures since the late nineteenth century.)

Is it any wonder why Jerry Sandusky felt he had no worries from Penn State authorities to engage in his homosexual molestation of young boys?

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

Following Europe into Socialism

Published June 15, 2012 in the Lynchburg Ledger 

By Bill Wheaton

Press Media Group, LLC

Communist leader Karl Marx said, "Take away the heritage of a people and they are easily persuaded.”  We see that happening right here in America today yet so many of our people remain blinded to reality.

We need only to look at Europe today to see the devastation Socialism brings to a nation.  Greece is for all practical purposes financially bankrupt yet the people continue to resist the austerity measures the European Union, which is itself Socialist, insists on as a condition of a bailout.

Now, Spain is following right on the heels of Greece, in need of a bailout.  The European Union has offered them a $125 billion bailout in order to keep the 17-country Eurozone from breaking apart.

On 11 March 2004 – three days before Spain's general elections, Muslim terrorists attacked Madrid commuter trains in a coordinated attack, killing 191 and wounding 1,800.  In Spain, this attack is referred to as 11-M.

As a result, voters flocked to the Socialist candidates, and they scored a stunning victory.  It took the Spanish Socialists less than eight years to transform Spain’s healthy economy into the economic basket case we see today.

Most recently, we saw a Socialist victory in France’s presidential election.  French voters elected Francois Hollande, the Socialist Party candidate who Barack Obama immediately invited to the White House. 

Last Sunday, French voters went back to the polls for the first round to elect members of the 577 member French Parliament.  Socialists and other leftists scored the biggest victory with 46 percent of the vote.  The second round will be held next Sunday, June 17^th, where the Socialists are expected to dominate.

Hollande and the Socialists are on the verge of leading France in the footsteps of Greece and Spain, into economic destruction.  Italy now seems poised to follow them all.

We may think here in America that we know our nation’s history, but I can guarantee that is not the case.  Over the past 100 years, our American history has been so revised, distorted and rejected that what passes as history today bears no resemblance to reality.

For example, Socialism was tried very early in our history, and failed like it always does.  It was tried as early as 1621 by none other than the Pilgrims at Plymouth Plantation. 

In a history text book first published in 1872, “A Compendium of the United States from the Earliest Settlements to 1872” on page 35 we read, “The harvest of 1622 was scanty, and the settlers would have suffered greatly had it not been for the friendship of the Indians.  One of the causes of scarcity was the deep religious feelings of the Puritans, who had desired, in imitation of Apostolic times, to have a community of property.  But even amongst the Puritans there were some who would not work, as long as they were permitted to eat the fruit of the labor of others.  And so the system was changed, and, in the spring of 1623, each family had allotted a parcel of ground to cultivate for itself.  All had now to work for themselves, or to do without the necessaries of life.  After the harvest of that year there was never any general want of food.”

The earliest settlers learned what the Apostle Paul said in 2 Thessalonians 3:10,
”For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: ‘The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat.’”

This is just one of the many lessons from our rich past that we don’t seem to be learning. 

At my church, we are just finishing up a 26-part series by Christian historian David Barton, The American Heritage Series, in our Wednesday Night Discipleship Training classes.  The information Barton presents in this DVD series is indeed eye-opening.  Additionally, Barton backs up his statements with documentation as he has perhaps one of the biggest collections of original historical documents outside the Library of Congress.

Barton tells of how so many of our Founding Fathers were strong men of God and many were preachers of the gospel.  We never hear about them but only about those who historians call Deists, like Jefferson and Franklin.

They don’t mention how Jefferson would ride horseback to church in the Capitol Building (yes, worship services were held in the U.S. Capitol building for many years) when he was President every Sunday regardless of the weather, or how he selected the Bible as a basal textbook for the Washington D.C. public schools.

They don’t mention Franklin’s speech at the Constitutional Convention where he called for prayer before the proceedings every day, citing many Biblical references.

They certainly don’t mention how colonial preachers spoke from the pulpit openly about the injustices brought upon the colonies by King George.  In fact, every single complaint against the Crown found in the Declaration of Independence was first preached from a pulpit in colonial America.

We now find ourselves on the precipice of history.  This fall’s election will determine whether we follow Greece, Spain and France into Socialistic disaster or whether we turn the corner, change direction and begin returning to an America the Founders gave us.

With George Allen’s decisive victory Tuesday and with Bob Goodlatte surviving a challenge, the ballot for the fall has now been determined, except for Romney’s running mate.

I have to admit I still haven’t warmed up to Romney but with Mariela Castro Espin, daughter of Raul Castro, recently endorsing Obama, I am moving quickly in that direction.

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

Vote George Allen for Senate on June 12th

Puiblished May 18, 2012 in the Lynchburg Ledger 

By Bill Wheaton

Press media Group, LLC

Virginia will be holding a second Republican primary on June 12^th to select a candidate to run for U.S. Senate.  One term Senator Jim Webb decided not to seek a second term.

Webb narrowly defeated incumbent George Allen six years ago and Allen is one of four candidates running for the GOP nomination.

Former Governor Tim Kaine has already secured the Democrat nomination.

Opposing Allen on the ballot are Del. Bob Marshall, Chesapeake minister E.W. Jackson and former tea party leader Jamie Radtke.

Northern Virginia Delegate Bob Marshall is one of the pro-life champions in the General Assembly and made a run for the Senate nomination four years ago against former Governor Jim Gilmore.  Gilmore won the nomination but lost to Democrat Mark Warner who rode the Obama coattails into office.

Marshall, who entered the race late, does not have the statewide organization to run an effective campaign.  Many of those who would typically support his campaign are supporting former Tea Party leader Jamie Radke.

Radke has a smattering of support statewide but the tea party, which is a very loose confederation of concerned citizens, does not have the statewide organization either.

Marshall and Radke will end up splitting the die-hard conservative vote.

Bishop E. W. Jackson served in the Marines and graduated from the University of Massachusetts and then Harvard Law School (where Barack Obama attended).  While at Harvard, he was accepted into the Baptist ministry and studied at Harvard Divinity School. 

He says he does not consider himself to be an African-American but rather an American-American.  He does not have much of a statewide organization and does not stand much of a chance, but it is good to see a black Republican running for office.

The odds-on favorate to win the nomination is, of course, George Allen, who recently picked up two very important endorsements.

One came from the American Conservative Union (ACU) Political Action Committee, whose chairman, Al Cardenas, said, “George Allen is the clear choice for conservatives who want to win in Virginia this November.  George Allen’s lifetime ACU rating of 93 while serving in Congress shows a consistent commitment to conservative principles on a wide range of issues.”

The second endorsement came from the National Rifle Association (NRA) Political Victory Fund.  In responding to the NRA endorsement, Allen said, “It’s a most significant honor to receive the important endorsement of the National Rifle Association (NRA), a great American organization with so many patriotic, active members throughout Virginia.  The NRA supports law enforcement professionals, gun safety education and stands strong for our foundational Second Amendment rights.  I have always been proud to support the natural rights of law-abiding citizens to protect their families and themselves.  In the U.S. Senate I will remain committed to defending our rights enshrined in our Constitution.
“My friends in the sportsmen community who enjoy the natural beauty of Virginia’s fields, forests, streams and lakes can count on me to be a strong and steadfast advocate for their freedom to hunt and fish.  And all Virginians have my commitment to stand up for their God-given rights.  The way to reduce crime is to crack down on criminals, not disarm our law-abiding citizens.”
Jamie Radke has questioned the NRA endorsement, which sounds like sour grapes to me.  Radke, who has never held public office, has no track record at all, while George Allen does.
I recall a number of years ago when Allen was governor, I went to Richmond to witness his signing of the Parental Notification bill for a minor’s abortion.  During that visit, I talked to him about a bill the General Assembly had passed concerning limiting concealed carry in Fairfax County.  I asked him to veto the bill, and he informed me he had already decided to do just that.
Six years ago, George Allen was defeated by Jim Webb by 9,329 votes or 0.39 percent of the vote.  Allen carried most of the state but lost big in Northern Virginia, where he was continuously attacked by the Washington Post over the “Macaca” statement. 
The fact is the liberal media was out to get Allen any way they could as he had played a big hand in defeating liberal favorite Tom Daschle from South Dakota. 
This year, the political climate is much different.  The liberals still have a great deal of influence in Northern Virginia but Tim Kaine has closely aligned himself with Barack Obama.  Although Obama carried Virginia in 2008, he is not expected to this year as Virginia is likely to move back into the red state column.

In November, it is vital that two things happen.  First is that Barack Obama is defeated.  The second is that the Republicans take control of the Senate.

The Senate, controlled by Harry Reid, has blocked every piece of conservative legislation passed by the House.  If the rolls were reversed and a Republican Senate would not even schedule debate on Democrat House-passed bills, the liberal media would screaming for blood.

George Allen is the only candidate with a chance to beat Tim Kaine this fall so on June 12^th, go to the polls and vote for George Allen.

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

Rebuilding the Campbell GOP

Published April 20, 2012 in the Lynchburg Ledger 

By Bill Wheaton

Press Media Group, LLC

Barring any major changes, it would appear that Mitt Romney will be the Republican nominee for President. 

Romney was definitely not my first choice.  He was not my second or third choice either.  I have contributed to Herman Cain, Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich, none of whom will apparently get the nod.

I guess there is still some remote chance someone other than Romney will be nominated but at this point I am resigned to what appears to be the inevitable and will do everything I can to see the Republican candidate wins. 

I believe we are just one election away from destroying this great and mighty nation the Founding Fathers gave us.  Following the Constitutional Convention in 1787, Benjamin Franklin was asked what type of government they had given us.  Franklin replied, “A Republic, if you can keep it.”  We will know on November 7^th whether we were able to keep it, or have lost it forever.

National elections are won and lost at the local level.  Massachusetts Democrat Thomas “Tip” O’Neal coined the phrase “All politics are local.”  I very seldom agree with anything a Democrat says, but in this case, he was right.

Here in Campbell County, the local Republican Party is dysfunctional.  They effectively committed political suicide last year when they refused to reinstate those party members, such as myself, who supported Sheila Bosiger for Clerk of the Court over Rick Boyer who obtained the Republican nomination by mobilizing the members of his church.

Boyer, who was resoundingly defeated, losing 17 of 18 precincts, mobilized the effort following his humiliating defeat, blocking the reinstatement of about half the local party membership, including me.

It was this split that led Paul McAndrews, who ran for Commonwealth’s Attorney following Neil Vener’s retirement; and Steve Hutcherson who ran for Sheriff following Terry Gaddy’s retirement, to reject the Republican Party and run as Independents.

Vener and Gaddy had been previously elected as Republicans and McAndrews and Hutcherson were still members of the Republican Party.

Running for re-election last year were Steve Shockley from the Sunburst District and Eddie Gunter from the Concord District.  Both had been elected as Republicans four years previously.  They also rejected the Republican Party and ran as Independents.

In order to support these Independent candidates, a number of us quickly formed an organization we called the Independent Conservatives of Campbell County (ICCC).  We drew up a set of bylaws and elected Fred Smith as Chairman.  Fred is a theology professor at the Liberty University Seminary.

The ICCC did what a political party would normally do.  Under Fred Smith’s leadership they mobilized campaign efforts such as literature distribution, canvassing, sign distribution, staffing the polls on Election Day and providing sample ballots.

The ICCC supported candidates scored resounding victories over the three candidates the Republicans nominated.  McAndrews was unopposed.

Steve Shockley defeated Republican candidate Tip Killingworth ( who was fined twice by the Board of Elections for failing to file the required financial reports) by 70 to 30 percent.

Eddie Gunter, who Rick Boyer had been trying to defeat for years, defeated Republican Gary Stewart by 45 to 18 percent. 

In the biggest landslide, Steve Hutcherson trounced Republican Richard Irvin by 85 to 4.74 percent. 

In the one county-wide race, the current Republican Party could draw a pitiful 572 votes, demonstrating just how out of touch they are with the citizens of Campbell County.

During the past two years, the Republican Party has consistently violated its own bylaws and ignored Robert’s Rules of Order in the conducting of their meetings.

The bylaws stated that the secretary was to send out the notice of meetings but former chairman Will Kirk forbid her to do so.  Instead, he would notify only those in his inner circle.  I know this for a fact because I was one of the members cut out of the private loop.

Although minutes of the meetings were taken, they were never distributed to members or approved at the next meeting as Robert’s Rules require.  Consequently, there is no official record of any meeting in the past two years.

Earlier this year, Will Kirk resigned and Kurt Fiegel was elected to fill out the two year term.  I tried on two different occasions to have civilized discussion with Fiegel regarding county operations and found him to be as close-minded as any liberal I have ever run into.  Just like a liberal, he did not want the facts to get in the way of his pre-conceived opinions.

Fiegel, who is running for Chairman, has messed up just about everything he has touched. 

A vacancy on the Campbell County Electoral Board occurred that needed to be filled by a Republican.  Fiegel was asked by the Judge of the Circuit Court to submit a list of recommendations.  He never responded even after numerous attempts were made to contact him.

The Republicans will be holding a Mass Meeting April 19^th to elect a new Chairman and the address Fiegel provided in the official Call for people to drop off pre-file forms was a post office box in a UPS store that could not accept them due to postal regulations.  The State Party is aware of this incompetence and because of this, the Mass Meeting could possibly be declared invalid.

Two years ago, the Mass Meeting was held at Rustburg High School which can accommodate a large crowd.  This year, Fiegel chose the Board of Supervisor’s meeting room which has a limited capacity.  If the turnout is more than 220, people will be turned away.

In his brief stint as Chairman, Fiegel has demonstrated he is totally unqualified to be Chairman.

We can bring the Campbell County Republican party back together and join forces to defeat Barack Obama and save our republic only with new leadership.  Fred Smith can provide just that leadership and that is why he is endorsed by:

• Charles Falwell - Timberlake District Supervisor
• Eddie Gunter – Concord Distinct Supervisor
• Steve Shockley – Sunburst District Supervisor
• Steve Hutcherson – Sheriff
• Terry Gaddy – Sheriff (retired)
• Paul McAndrews – Commonwealth’s Attorney
• Neil Vener – Commonwealth’s Attorney (retired)
• Sheila Bosiger –District Court Clerk
• Mark Grooms – Pastor, Thomas Terrace Baptist Church

And of course, me.

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

Two Things Obama Hates

Published March 16, 2012 in the Lynchburg Ledger. 

Besides Republicans, there are two things President Barack Obama hates.  Now his words may say one thing, but it is his actions that show us exactly where his heart is.

The first thing he hates is petroleum, but just for the masses.  He has no problem burning tons of fuel in Air Force One (which consumes 60 gallons a minute at cruise)  but he wants the rest of us to drive hybrid or electric cars.  On one of his many vacations (I believe he has taken 17 in his three years in office)  his wife and children flew in a separate aircraft (Boeing 757, which consumes 12.5 gallons per minute) just four hours ahead of his departure.  These aircraft consume even more fuel during climb-out.  While he squanders fuel, he insists the rest of us conserve it.

Obama and the liberal left have bought into the man-made global warming hoax, and even after the outright fraud over global warming data was exposed, they still cling to this pseudo science because it is all about political control and power.

In his three years in office, Obama has done everything possible to restrict the production of oil even though the cost of gasoline has more than doubled since he took office. 

His administration has issued 50 percent fewer oil drilling leases on public land that Bill Clinton.

Due to the Obama administration actions, oil production from the Gulf of Mexico is down 16 percent since 2009 and is projected to go even lower this year.  Meanwhile, the Chinese are drilling in the Gulf off Cuba.

Not only did Obama deny the Keystone XL pipeline, which would have created thousands of needed jobs and provided oil from politically friendly Canada, but he personally lobbied Senate Democrats to defeat a bill that would have reversed his decision.  The bill came two votes short of being voted out onto the Senate floor.

Kentucky Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said, “The Democrat-controlled Senate just turned its back on job creation and energy independence.  President Obama’s personal pleas to wavering senators may have tipped the balance against this legislation. When it comes to delays over Keystone, anyone looking for a culprit should now look no further than the Oval Office.”
Obama’s Secretary of Energy Stephen Chu is as anti-petroleum as Obama.  He believes our gas prices should rival those of Europe, near $10/gallon. 
In a recent hearing on Capitol Hill, Chu stated that he didn’t even own a car.  As a Cabinet Secretary, I’m sure he has a chauffer-driven limousine to drive him back and forth to work.  He doesn’t need one.
His wife, however, apparently does.  The Daily Caller (not the mainstream liberal media) reports that Jean Chu is the owner of of a 2002 BMW 325i, a sports sedan with a gas-guzzling engine and foreign made.  Yet another case of liberal “do as I say, not as I do.”
Chu, who is continuously pressing for alternative forms of energy, had made some absolutely terrible decisions.  In the area of solar energy, Chu favors copper indium gallium diselenide and thin-film technology over the more efficient and reliable silicon technology which we are more familiar with.
Chu is the one who gave the half-billion dollar grant to Solyndra, which uses the copper indium gallium diselenide and thin-film technology.  With competition from the Chinese in the silicon area, Solindra’s $3/watt price tag was under cut by a factor of three leading to Solyndra’s collapse.
Obama has taken to ridiculing the only remedy for high energy costs - increased production.  He says, “You can’t just drill your way to lower prices.”  The fact is, that is the only way we can ever get to lower prices at the pump.  Rather, he promotes pond scum as an energy source.
He has also taken to lying about our petroleum reserves knowing the liberal media will never question him on it.  He recently claimed the U.S. has only two percent of the world’s petroleum reserves.   A bold-faced lie.
According to an article in Kiplinger’s Magazine from 2008, “untapped (US) reserves are estimated at about 2.3 trillion barrels, nearly three times more than the reserves held by Organization of Petroleum Exporting Counties (OPEC) and sufficient to meet 300 years of demand-at today's levels-for auto, aircraft, heating and industrial fuel, without importing a single barrel of oil.”  Even more reserves have been discovered since 2008.

According to noted historian David Barton of Wallbuilders, the second thing Obama hates is the Bible,.  In a recently released article, “America’s Most Biblically-Hostile U. S. President,” Barton chronicles some 52 documented incidents both Obama and his administration have done to exhibit hostility to the Bible and people of Christian faith.

For example:

•          Obama spoke disrespectfully of Christians, saying they “cling to guns or religion” and have an “antipathy to people who aren't like them” while campaigning in 2008

•           When speaking at Georgetown University, Obama orders that a monogram symbolizing Jesus' name be covered when he is making his speech in 2009

•           Obama begins deliberately omitting the phrase about “the Creator” when quoting the Declaration of Independence – an omission he has made on no less than seven occasions.

•           Obama misquotes the National Motto, saying it is “E pluribus unum” rather than “In God We Trust” as established by federal law.

•           The Obama administration releases its new health care rules that override religious conscience protections for medical workers in the areas of abortion and contraception.

•           Unlike previous presidents, Obama studiously avoids any religious references in his Thanksgiving speech.

•           The Obama administration denigrates other countries' religious beliefs as an obstacle to radical homosexual rights.

•           The Obama administration argues that the First Amendment provides no protection for churches and synagogues in hiring their pastors and rabbis.

•           The Department of Veterans Affairs forbids references to God and Jesus during burial ceremonies at Houston National Cemetery.

•           The Air Force Academy rescinds support for Operation Christmas Child, a program to send holiday gifts to impoverished children across the world, because the program is run by a Christian charity.

•           The Army orders Catholic chaplains not to read a letter to parishioners that their archbishop asked them to read.

·       The Obama administration illegally extends federal benefits to same-sex partners of Foreign Service and Executive Branch employees, in direction violation of the federal Defense of Marriage Act.

·       Obama speaks with great praise of Islam and condescendingly of Christianity.

Go to www.wallbuilders.com for the entire report.

Obama’s hostility and hatred of petroleum and the Bible are just two of the many reasons he must be defeated this fall. 

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