We Shall Overcome! Texas and the States vs Mordor on the Potomac

16 November 2014



     Many of you are aware of the recent uproar caused by Annise Parker, the mayor of Houston Texas. For those that are unfamiliar with what I'm referring to, here's a recap. Houston's city council, in conjunction with the mayor, instituted what is called the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance (HERO). HERO was designed in theory to afford accommodation to alternative lifestyle concerns, mainly the lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transgendered (LGBT) community. Included in that ordinance was the institution of Gender Neutral bathroom privileges, whereby anyone could use either sex bathroom they wished based on their chosen gender  identification. Needless to say this decision was met with much opposition both locally and nationally. Traditional family groups and  Pastors in the pulpit were among the most vocal in opposition to this ordinance. The mayor of course took offense to their positions, mainly because she is in fact a lesbian and such speech offended her as a member of the LGBT community. 

     Fast forward to the situation I am discussing here. Mayor Parker took such umbrage and was so vehemently outraged that she, through the city attorney, issued subpoena's to those members of the clergy that took to the pulpit to defend the Biblical position against homosexuality, transgenderism and preached God's truth in support of heterosexual marriage and family, from a Biblical perspective; As commanded by God as members of the clergy. The subpoena's were demanding all public preachings, taped, written, and e-mailed correspondence, verbal conversations, and congregant lists. All manner of communication relating to their offensive speech against both the mayor and same sex issues were requested.

     Naturally, politicians from hither and yon took to the airwaves to express their disgust and outrage over the attempt at silencing and squelching the freedom of speech and expression; and I agree with their arguments. What troubled me and still does, is that everyone concerned was referencing the U.S. Constitution as their basis for argument. In my estimation, this was and is the wrong tack to take.

     I hold that the Texas State Constitution should be used as the authority in this case. The U.S. Constitution, by design is a charter of limitations placed on the U.S. government; what the federal government can or cannot do with relation to individual rights. It also lists the limitations of the federal government through the enumerated powers in Article 1, Section 8. Simply put, The federal government holds no regulating authority in matters of the state. As Mayor Parker is not a federal employee or housed in the U.S. congress; federal deference and or interference in state matters is irrelevant and muted. And No, supremacy does not apply either as the power to interject or interfere locally is not enumerated.

     Many will say that the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) has 'interpreted' otherwise and will still hold that 'supremacy' is in fact settled law. I would argue that this is wholly incorrect as the Supreme Court was not given the power or authority to interpret anything. They are tasked with 'applying' the Constitution to the cases brought before them. The act of interpretation is a breach of the public trust and an assumption of unauthorized powers. Remember, The citizenry created the congress; and the congress created the Supreme Court, Therefore the Supreme Court is a created entity, NOT a self governing omnipotent body of gods that shall not be questioned. Nowhere is it stated that Supreme Court justices have an eternal right to hold their position until they either leave or die, they can be removed for violations against the people. That none have yet to be removed does not negate the fact that they are serving at the pleasure of the congress, and the people. So No, The Supreme Court is not the final authority on this or any matter. This case with Mayor Parker, is quite simply a Texas State issue; and she Has in fact violated that constitution. It is up to the people of Houston and Texas legislators to deal with her, and I'm sure we will.

     Some in the media punditry and pompous self absorbed lawyers will invariably jump directly to the 'Supremacy Clause and the Doctrine of Preemption'. Those are mentally lazy arguments that pseudo intellectuals tell amongst themselves as they hoist wine glasses at dinner parties to try and impress inferior guests; the ones that Want the federal government to rule supreme. If it's not clearly covered in the Constitution, those powers simply do not exist. Article VI is where those arguments come from, through 'interpretation'. Again, what did we just discuss about interpretation? Not authorized or relevant. period. Assumption of duties not assigned, are moot; and should be discounted out of hand.

The Supremacy Clause and the Doctrine of Preemption - See more at: http://litigation.findlaw.com/legal-system/the-supremacy-clause-and-the-doctrine-of-preemption.html#sthash.4uvMJExb.dpuf

The Supremacy Clause and the Doctrine of Preemption - See more at: http://litigation.findlaw.com/legal-system/the-supremacy-clause-and-the-doctrine-of-preemption.html#sthash.4uvMJExb.dpuf

     Now, I don't particularly hold the clergy accountable for not knowing this, but I DO hold state and federal officials accountable. These are our legislators. They have a higher standard of expectation and level of demand placed on them for representing WE out here. If our elected officials do not know the proper application of law, how can we expect them to act properly on our behalf in our day to day. We're supposed to be able to go about our lives with relative assurance that our representatives are doing their best to protect us from the federal apparatus, not have them capitulate and cede power to them because they're too lazy to educate themselves on proper roles and applications.

   The bottom line of all that's been discussed here is this: As a citizen, educate yourselves to be able to hold your local, county, state, and federal representatives accountable. If you don't? God only knows what they will do behind your back when it's really critical.


    

The Truth, The Whole Truth, and Nothing But The Truth; So Help Me 'He Whose Name Shall Not Be Spoken'

08 November 2014

     There are myriad circumstances that lead us to question many of life's inclinations from time to time, and even more often to question the cosmic reasoning behind the order in which situations present themselves. The most recent evidence of ethereal confusion was evidenced on November 6th, the day after the mid term elections.

     Friends and family were doing cartwheels and handstands in euphoric jubilation at the drubbing of the Democrats by Republicans the night before, as those closest to me fell prey to the machinations of the political punditry espousing the narrative that the GOP will now set right all of the evils visited upon us by the Democrats. Happy days are here again, freedom and liberty will be restored, and the evil trio of Obama, Reid, and Pelosi had been rebuked and would be cast deservedly into Hell.

     They looked at me with dismay as I gently broke the news to them that absolutely nothing had changed with the election, other than ushering in a new set of puppeteers to work the strings of government. Deficit spending will continue, Wars will still be waged and escalated, Countless unborn citizens will continue to be murdered in the womb, and the Federal Judiciary will continue to rule on matters that they have no business interjecting themselves in.

     Folks, We are all being played by both sides of the aisle through perfectly orchestrated media manipulation and cleverly crafted talking points in an effort to lull us into a collective mass of sheeple that are willing to follow the shiny ball off the cliff to our deaths. Democrats put in place institutions that never ever slow or shrink, and establishment Republicans simply gain control of the wheel to steer those institutions from time to time. They have no intention of repealing, rescinding, dismantling, or deleting any of the big government apparatus that currently exists in Washington. I'm sorry, but that's the truth.

     True to the title of this column, I will be speaking only the 'truth' here; I will also most certainly offend nearly 98% of the readership, but these things must be said. Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Christian, Catholic, Muslim, Atheist...it matters not, we all have issues that need a cosmic mirror and a bright white light to expose our individual and collective hypocrisy. 

     Democrats will attempt to make a point in the media soundbite realm by invoking God or the Bible, while simultaneously doing everything possible to deny that there even is a God. Selective religiosity to garner a favorable response is not only hypocritical, it's blasphemous. The DNC denied God 3 times at the 2012 national convention while they continue to extol the virtues of murdering God's unborn creations both in and out of the womb through the barbaric act of abortion. They go out of their way to offensively praise the virtues of unnatural homosexual relations, but deny that such activity between men is a direct cause to the spread of HIV. Homosexuals claiming to be 'Christian' are not; I'm sorry, but you cannot seek the favor of God while conducting yourself in a manner that He finds repugnant. Hillary Clinton lauds on high her mentor Margaret Sanger, one of the most vile and evil humans to ever roam the planet. Sanger was the Eugenicist that founded Planned Parenthood, and set about finding ways to exterminate the black community, the poor, the deformed, the indigent, the mentally ill, and the disabled. Quite simply put, any person who professes faith in God cannot be a democrat. Conversely, anyone that aligns themselves with the democratic party are in direct conflict with God's teachings.

     Establishment Republicans and or lazy, ill informed 'professed' conservatives aren't a whole lot better; some, but not much. These are the ones that profess to be Pro Life, but wriggle and writhe in their clamor for war. You can't tout love for human life while at the same time searching for reasons to go blow someone up across the globe. Republican politicians run around every cycle espousing 'I'm Pro Life', and many of our fellow voters fall for it every time. If these politicians truly wanted to a) protect the unborn, all they need to do is for a majority of the Congress to pass legislation to inform federal judges (including the Supreme Court) that they are No Longer authorized to hear cases involving abortion. It's that simple. Roe v Wade could have been destroyed long ago. The Congress sets the rules for the judiciary, Period. those rules apply to whatever topic they deem necessary. So, b) it would also include the recent spate of decisions over Same Sex Marriage that fed judges have been deeming unconstitutional in various states that had legislation on their books banning gay marriage. Why doesn't the republican controlled congress order either of these issues 'off limits' to federal judges? Because they need the wedge issues to feign indignation over come election time. They like the political football to raise money for their election coffers or PAC's. It's a cottage industry in the republican party to let the unborn be murdered, and allow people of faith to be violated through religious persecution over the gay agenda because those two issues generate a lot of donations. 

     Between the Democrats penchant for infant murder, and Republicans apathetic refusal to stop it; what we now have in America is a Godless culture of death, with both political parties taking part in atrocities toward all mankind. Collectively we have allowed over 53 million lives to be snuffed out at the hands of 'doctors'. Yet, we wave flags and chant USA USA as if we are the most noble and best hope for the world. Freedom? Liberty? Honor? Not Hardly Folks.

     I need to pause here to mention two seldom heard terms in the modern era; Subsidiarity and Humility. These are both characteristics that currently none of our elected leaders hold as personal virtues. Subsidiarity essentially is governance at the smallest form of government possible; the individual level. Humility speaks for itself; to be humble. In our current political climate we don't see these characteristics displayed as our politicians are puffed up with self importance and grand arrogance, believing that They know better how to dictate to us through regulation, oppressive agencies rife with abusive bureaucrats; they just domineer and lord themselves over us. It's almost as if the government fancies itself a religion, and the elected leaders on both sides are the clergy, with the agencies being the rules enforcers to keep everyone in line.

     Think about it, We're forced to accept all manner of dictates and laws that we don't necessarily agree with, we have a mandatory tithe through taxation, and Barack Obama sees himself as god. You know it's true. When has he ever once humbled himself and taken a back seat to God? Never. He knows better than anyone else what we all need, and he's the dictator of those needs. No subsidiarity, and certainly no humility. So, for all of the atheists and agnostics that don't want religion crammed down their throats; Too Late. You're already a subservient congregant in the First National Church of Government; whether you like it or not. 

     Left or Right ideology is in reality irrelevant where it comes to the masses in general. One pushes for greater control through taxation and regulation, and the other allows it to take place while giving lip service to outrage that we must return to the Constitution. The political right yells and hollers to take the country back to constitutional principles so vehemently that one would swear that the document has replaced the Bible in it's worship ceremonies. Images of eagles soaring against a backdrop of a slowly waving American flag with professions of patriotism have taken the place of meaningful prayer for personal guidance in a relationship with the Creator. 

     Look, Even I don't like having my shortcomings thrown in my face, and I've also fallen victim of my own hubris in assuming that I am in control of anything. I would do better to recognize my need for humility and subsidiarity in relation to what I can control personally. If we all independently focused on being more perfect individuals, much of what ails our citizenry would work itself out. But as long as there are individuals that elevate themselves into positions of control and power, safeguards must be employed to hold the line against them. Looking the other way, screaming of injustice, and holding ourselves high above any responsibility for the current condition of this country all lead to the emotional and spiritual death of a nation.