Keeping an Eye On the General Assembly

Published in the January 21st edition of the Lynchburg Ledger 

While our national attention has been focused on Tucson, the Virginia General Assembly began what is called their “short” session, lasting 45 days.  This session is shorter than the 60-day session because the state budget is prepared for a two-year period.  This year, they will tweak the budget passed last year.

But before I begin discussing the session, I want to make two final comments regarding the Tucson shooting.

In last week’s column, I mentioned that Dorwan Stoddard, the father of Dale Stoddard of Lynchburg and a member of Thomas Terrace Baptist Church, was one of those who died.  Dale’s father tied protecting his wife Mavy, taking the bullets meant for her.  She suffered only a leg wound.

It takes an extraordinary amount of love to sacrifice one’s self as he did.  It is sad that the media has not seen fit to focus on this act of self-sacrifice.

My pastor and an assistant pastor from church traveled to Tucson to minister to the family and attend the funeral last Sunday for Mr. Stoddard.  I am blessed to be attending such a loving and caring church.

Also in my last column, I was critical of the rush-to-judgment of the local sheriff and the liberal left.  After more of the facts about the shooter became known, it was abundantly clear the shooting was not in anyway associated with political rhetoric.  The liberals very quickly backed away from this accusation, but it didn’t stop Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, a self-described socialist, from using it in a fundraising letter.

President Barack Obama, in what was supposed to be a memorial service but seemed more like a liberal pep-rally, called for “civility” in public discord.  What he was really saying was conservatives should be quiet and liberals, who lead the pack in incivility, should keep on keeping on.

Returning to the General Assembly, known for its civility, we can be sure of at least one thing.  Since 2011 is an election year when all 100 Delegates and 40 Senators are up for election, there will be no tax increase.  At least, not on the state level.

But that is not because one isn’t trying.   Delegate Joe Morrissey (D, Henrico) wants to add a plastic bag tax to our grocery bills, which are already on the rise due to the production of ethanol for use in fuels and unusually cold weather in Florida.  Morrissey is proposing a 20 cent tax on the bags. He says Virginians consume over 2.3 billion plastic bags per year and what he really wants is a ban on using them because he believes they have a negative impact on the environment.

This is not necessarily true as they can be recycled and people find other uses for them.  For example, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality suggests we dispose of fluorescent bulbs by wrapping them in plastic bags before putting them into a landfill.

Morrissey obviously doesn’t remember why we have plastic bags in the first place instead of those big paper bags of 20 years ago.  It was because the environmentalists wanted to save trees.  You get 75 plastic bags per pound as opposed to only 11 paper bags per pound.

Morrissey’s bill will go nowhere as most of the legislators who want to be re-elected will oppose any tax increase bill.  Only those in heavily Democrat districts would dare vote for a tax increase.

That does not mean that our taxes won’t increase.  The local city and county governments are heavily dependent state funding for schools, law enforcement, social services and other branches of local government.  As state tax revenues shrink, the amount of funds flowing to the city and counties will also shrink as the state must balance its budget.

Localities which have become dependent on state funds are going to scrambling to balance their own budgets.  That means they will either cut services, raise taxes, or a combination of both.

One other way the state balances their budget is by “unfunded mandates.”  They require a local government to provide some service but don’t provide the funding for it.

One such example is storm water regulations.  Since we in Central Virginia are in the watershed for the Chesapeake Bay, we need to contend with Erosion & Control (E&S) programs and a new mandate called the total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL). To implement these programs local governments will be required to expend local funds.

In Campbell County, the cost estimate for first year startup of the program includes:

•           $77,000 for GIS land cover mapping

•           $18,000 for a vehicle

•           $28,000 to fill a vacant E&S/Storm water position

•           $75,000 for consulting engineering.

The total comes to $198,000, which will have to be factored into the next budget. 

State tax revenues seem to be improving so there is a possibility that the projected cuts to local governments won’t be as severe as some estimates indicate.

I would encourage all of us to stay in touch with our state legislators; we all have one Delegate and Senator.  You can phone them, email them, and even visit them.  If you have never been to Richmond for a day when the General Assembly is in session, I would recommend it. 

The Family Foundation hosts an annual lobbying day each hear.  This year, it is on Thursday, February 10th from 8:30 to noon.  Call Roger Pogge at 804-343-0010 for more details.

Concerned Women for America also hosts a day at the Virginia Capitol.  This year, it is on Monday, February 14^th.  Call Janet Robey at 434-401-8852 for more information.

Leftists Exploit Tucson Shooting

Published January 14, 2011 in the Lynchburg ledger

The shooting last Saturday in Tucson, Arizona, which took the lives of six innocent people and critically wounded 14 others, including Democrat Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords from Arizona’s 8^th Congressional District, even touched us here in the Lynchburg area.

Among those who were killed was Dorwan Stoddard, age 73.  Mr. Stoddard was the father of Dale Stoddard of Lynchburg.  Dale and his wife Gail are members of Thomas Terrace Baptist Church, where I am also a member.  Mavanell (“Mavy”) Stoddard, Dale’s mother was one of those wounded.  She was shot in the leg and is expected to recover.

Mr Stoddard was a member of the Mountain Avenue Church of Christ where he frequently volunteered.  His pastor, Mike Nowak described him as “a terrific guy, a jack-of-all trade.”  What I am told is that the couple was shopping and were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Also killed was 9 year-old Christina Taylor Green, who was born on the same day the Islamic terrorists attacked on 9-11-2001.  It is particularly tragic when a child this young is cut down.  I am told that the death of a child is one of the most painful things one can endure.

The shooter is Jared Lee Loughner, age 22.  It would appear that Loughner had been planning his rampage for weeks before it occurred.  He purchased a 9mm Glock handgun in November, passing the standard FBI background check.  In the effort to keep fire arms out of the hands of criminals, felons and the mentally disturbed, just about all 2^nd Amendment supporters favor conducting a background check for those purchasing firearms.

We can gain some insight into Loughtner’s thought process by his YouTube page, which contains a series of text messages, best described as a rambling rant.  In it, he describes his favorite activity is “conscience dreaming,” which he claims is “the greatest inspiration for my political business information.” 

In what follows he complains about the currency and talks about a new currency.  He then writes about being literate in English grammar.  He stated that “the majority of the people, who reside in District 8 are illiterate- hilarious.”  He then goes on to write about “mind control and brainwashing methods.”

His rant ends with “In conclusion, my ambition - is for informing literate dreamers about a new currency, in a few days you will know I am conscience dreaming! Thank you.”

According to his YouTube profile, he attended “Thornydale elementary,Tortolita Middle School, Mountain View Highschool, Northwest Aztec Middle College, and Pima Community College.”  His favorite books include “The Communist Manifest and Mein Kampf.”

We have also learned some who know him describe his as a left-wing pothead.  He scared classmates and teachers alike when he attended Pima Community College.  The police had to be called on account of his behavior on five separate occasions.  However, he never quite made it into the police records and had no criminal record.

You will recall the Virginia Tech shooter, Seung-Hui Cho, also passed the FBI background check.  His mental instability was never made part of his record.

The media was quick to try to associate him with the tea party movement, Sarah Palin and talk radio but with The Communist Manifesto and Mein Kampf on his reading list, they will not be able to make that stick.  Rather, it would appear his is a left-wing individual who likely believes that Giffords (a blue-dog Democrat) was not liberal enough.

Loughner may be deranged, but he is certainly sane.  Documents found at his home indicated that he carefully planned the shooting he carried out.

Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik, a Democrat who refused to enforce Arizona’s new immigration law, was one of the first to call for “toning down the rhetoric” of political discord.  There is nothing the left would like better than to shut up those who disagree with them.  Look for them to use this incident, which is nothing more than a tragic act of senseless violence by an obviously deranged individual, to try to take away more of our freedoms.

Dupnik was cheerfully greeted by the left-wing media and made all the rounds spewing his unfounded accusations.  The left complained about the “vitriol” coming from the right, where it the left which famous for hate-filled vitriol.  So soon they forget just how they attacked George Bush, Sarah Palin Christine O’Donnell and a number of other conservatives.

Left-wing pundits have also used this tragedy as is a shameless way to promote their liberal agenda.  They are already calling for more gun control and restrictions on free speech.

Prior to the shooting, the FCC has already begun to regulate the Internet, the most prevalent source of political information available today.  FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski's implementation of so-called "net neutrality" regulations is a preview of what the Obama White House has in store for us now that Republicans have regained control of the House of Representatives.

The FCC will, for the first time, regulate the way Internet companies are allowed to do business in the same way that the agency regulates other technologies such as the telephone.

I have learned that in Washington, the title of a bill or regulation is likely to be just the opposite of what it says.  For example, ObamaCare was called “The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act” and will do neither.  Patients will be endangered, not protected, and health care will become even more unaffordable.  Because of the act, my costs have increased more than 20 percent this year.

Net neutrality will be anything but.

Rahm Emanuel, Obama’s former Chief of Staff once said, “You never want a serious crisis to go to waste.”  Look for the liberals to use this shooting as an excuse to deprive us from more of our freedoms.

2011 – A Year to Stay Engaged

Published in the January 7, 2011 edition of the Lynchburg Ledger

Politically, 2010 was a good year and a bad year.  What happened last year set the tone for this year and this is not a year to disengage. 

We need to learn from history that "eternal vigilance is the price of liberty."  The last time Republicans ousted Democrats in an election was in 1994 after the voters got a good look at Bill Clinton and his leftist policies.  They were particularly alarmed over the proposed “HillaryCare” which thankfully was defeated.

After electing the Republicans, many thought their work was done and they disengaged from the political process, it wasn’t long before Republicans began to look and sound like Democrats.  We have a name for that, “Potomac Fever.”  The media, which props up liberal Democrats while tearing down conservative Republicans, can be expected to up the ante in 2011.  In fact, ABC has already issued a warning to the freshmen Republicans of the 112th Congress.

ABC News’ Political Director Amy Walter has fired the first shot.  She said, “If Republicans decide they're going to spend the first six months of this year going over and debating the individual mandate or ObamaCare or whatever they want to call it, I think that's not going to sit very well with the electorate.”

Well, here is a news flash for the ignorant Ms. Walter.  ObamaCare was one of the top reasons the electorate threw out the Democrats. 

In 1994, we did not have the Internet, blogs, talk radio and a host of other communications vehicles.  Although the three networks are no longer as powerful and influential as they once were., the general public still needs to be able to discern media bias from fact.

President Barack Obama announced from his taxpayer-paid Christmas vacation in Hawaii that “Democrats and Republicans must work together in the new year and share responsibility for moving the country forward.” 

There is nothing like a shellacking at the polls to create a change in attitude.  Two years ago, when Republicans attempted to bring issues to the newly-elected Obama, they were met with two words, “We won.”  Now all of a sudden, Obama wants cooperation.

The Republican answer should be “Hell no.”   The electorate did not send 63 new congressmen and 6 new senators to Washington to compromise.  They were sent there to lead.

In 2006 when the Republicans lost both the House and Senate after becoming more and more like Democrats, they respected the will of the people.  In their “lame duck” session, they didn’t attempt to pass any meaningful legislation.

Such was not the case in 2010.  The defeated Democrats determined to govern in opposition to the will of the people.  They tried to push through every left-wing bill they had.  Unfortunately, some of them passed, among them repealing “Don’t Ask –Don’t Tell” after eight Republicans voted with the defeated Democrats in the Senate.  Republican Senators Scott Brown, Richard Burr, Susan Collins, John Ensign, Mark Kirk, Lisa Murkowski, Olympia Snowe and George Voinovich joined the Democrats passing the bill by 65 to 31.

This should convince us that we still have a lot of work to do.  If our nation is to survive,

defeating Democrats is not enough; we must also defeat liberal Republicans by replacing them with conservatives.

The mistake we have made in the past, and I include myself in this number, is not following up with our newly elected officials.  This year it is going to be more important then ever to keep in contact.  The newly elected representatives are going to be under enormous pressure from the liberal media and the Democrats to “compromise.”  We need to constantly assure them that we did not send them to Washington to compromise with the Obama agenda, but to de-fund it, derail it and eventually repeal it.

Robert Hurt needs to hear from us on a regular basis.  We need to tell him we don’t want ObamaCare funded.  We don’t want earmarks.  We do want government to rein in spending and we don’t want government control of the Internet and business.

Robert Hurt can be contacted by mail at:
Hon. Robert Hurt
Longworth House Office Building, Office # 1516
Independence Avenue and South Capitol Street
Washington, DC 20003
. 

His office phone is 202-225-4711.  You will be asked if you would like to leave a message or talk to a staff member.  Do both, by calling back.

Additionally, you can receive weekly updates on how our Senators and congressman votes by signing up at http://www.congress.org/congressorg/megavote/.  You will receive emails telling you how they voted and what votes are coming up.

Stay engaged in 2011 because in 2012 we need to defeat Obama.  Redistricting is going to give traditional red states more political power, making it easier to replace Obama with a conservative Republican.  But until then, we must de-fund, obstruct, divert, disparage and otherwise limit the socialistic agenda of Obama and the Democrats.

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.