All GOP Senators except three have committed to vote for the bill to repeal. We expect support from one or more of these since constituents are meeting one on one to explain what CCS is and how it leads to federal control of K-12 education and the loss of local control and how the bill to repeal would return control to parents; protect the privacy of students, families, and teachers from non-academic data collection and sharing this private information with the federal government and private parties; preserve state sovereignty over education; and ensure transparency and public hearings in the future to prevent the state board of education from ever again forcing a complete overhaul and fundamentally changing our education system without the knowledge of legislators, parents, and taxpayers.

House Members, who aren’t familiar with CCS, have two concerns:

(1) LEGISLATIVE AUTHORITY: They are unsure that the Legislature has the constitutional authority to overturn a decision by the state board of education. They do! In fact, according to a 2002 Alabama Supreme Court decision, “The Alabama Constitution vests the duty to provide for public education ‘squarely upon the shoulders of the Legislature’.” (Ex-parte James, 836 So. 3d. 813 at 85.) In addition, the Alabama Legislature has repeatedly instructed the state board of education in matters dealing with standards and curricula. These are contained within Title 16.

(2) WHO CONTROLS CURRICULA? They want to know who controls Alabama’s curriculum since the state superintendent and state board of education members tell them Alabama does. The fact is that since the BOE adopted CCS (= NEA = DC), it controls our curriculum. This is abundantly clear when you read CCS legal documents and implementation plan. Alabama, as other adoptive states, must adopt/implement 100% of CCS as written. Alabama may not change or delete anything, and may allow only a small amount of additional content (which won’t be covered on the national tests). Further, Alabama’s current standards are higher than CCS.

There is considerable pressure outside the Senate to stall this bill since 19 Republicans out of 22 have committed to vote for the bill. We need your help in contacting your Senators and asking them to push for a committee vote and a floor vote as soon as possible. There is no need to stop the momentum and wait until the House acts. It is routine for bills to be introduced and acted on in both chambers simultaneously. We’re entering the fourth week of the legislative session and time is running out. (For example, in the event that both chambers pass the bill but they’re different, there will have to a conference committee, more committee meetings/votes, more amendments, and those who may want to kill this bill can do so simply by stalling the process until time runs out without ever having a floor vote and being held accountable to their constituents for how they vote.) We need to get the Senate to pass SB 190 immediately. A public hearing is scheduled for next Wednesday, February 27th. To keep the momentum, we need the Senate Education Policy Committee to vote this bill out of committee for a floor vote immediately after the public hearing on the 27th. There is no Senate rule that prohibits the committee from voting immediately after the public hearing. This is done routinely and was done yesterday.

1. Email or call the sponsor of the Senate bill, Dick Brewbaker and THANK HIM for sponsoring the bill. He is taking a lot of heat from outside sources and he needs to know we appreciate his courageous stand to protect our children, Alabama values, and states rights! He knew there would be powerful adversaries but he decided to sponsor the bill anyway. Tell him we have his back! He can be reached at: 334/242-7895 or dick@dickbrewbaker.com.

2. Email your individual Senator and ask him/her to not be swayed by outside pressure and to pass SB 190 immediately!

3. The two above actions are urgent! If you have time, please also contact your House Representative and ask him/her to support HB 254 to repeal Common Core.

You can find your state reps at AlabamaReps

You can read more about the dangers of CCS in Michelle Malkin’s series and other articles linked below. After learning more about CCS, conservatives in other states are working to repeal its adoption. I spoke with a parent last Saturday whose children, one in K and one in 2nd grade, attend a school that has implemented CCS. She said they are now spending on average of 3 hours a night on homework that she believes is designed to take away from their family time and indoctrinate the parents with what is being taught to the children. She said the reading is below her children’s current level, but they have no option to move ahead since the testing is set. She said that the math problems are worded in a way that incorporates an agenda, for example, if you are trying to save 10 birds injured in an oil spill…You get the picture.

CCS-Pt1
CCS-Pt2
CCS-Feedback
AUEE
VoiceForVoters

Tips on the best times and how to contact your reps are here:
ContactTips

In an effort to disseminate this information as quickly as possible and with her permission, much of this information was copied from an email from Elois Zeanah, the 18th president of the Alabama Federation of Republican Women. Thank you, Elois, for leading the charge.

Watching it, the chills down my spine gave way to tears in my eyes as the young teens end the video with this:

“God Bless America. Liberty is never more than one generation away from extinction, and we are that generation. If not you, who? If not now, when?”

Indeed. Are you doing everything you can to help elect Republicans in November, including Romney/Ryan? Some of the R’s may not be as conservative as I’d prefer, but this election, my benchmark is Obama, Biden, Reid and Pelosi. Is there really any doubt about our choice?

If you’re not involved, it’s time to get off the couch. Start with these diaries that give details on how to get started.

HelpSaveTheCountryGOTV

RepublicanGOTV&SocialEventsALthroughMO

RepublicanGOTV&SocialEventsMTthroughWY

Cross-posted at UnifiedPatriots.

First, GET OUT THE VOTE. Yes, I shouted. Did you hear me? If not, let me say it again. GET OUT THE VOTE. It’s easy and won’t cost you a thing but some time, and you can call from anywhere. You’ll be provided with a toll-free number to call with a code to use, after which an automated system dials the targeted phone numbers. Your number does not show up to the recipient of the call. You’re provided with a script and instructions on what you can and can’t say and how to code the information relative to the call so they can track the responses. When Romney wins in November, you can brag to your friends and kids and taunt Obama voters that you were partly responsible for putting us back on the road to prosperity. Go to Romney to sign up for Romney’s GOTV. Don’t expect a personal thank you.

Now, if for some reason, you can’t get connected to GOTV through the Romney campaign, try calling your state and local GOP offices and hound them until they give you something to do.* Don’t wait on them to call you back. I don’t know how the offices work in other areas, but our local office is staffed with volunteers who work, go to school, have families, etc. There are times nobody is even there although we’re trying to keep it staffed from now through election day. Just keep trying. I signed up months ago at AlabamaBattlegroundPatriots (our state GOP’s effort to help Romney). I got an email today announcing that we’re sending boots to Ohio, North Carolina, Florida and Virginia. See if your state GOP has a similar program. Hey, you might get to see Cleveland. Don’t expect a personal thank you.

Moving on, if you still can’t find a way to help, try American Majority or American Majority Action. Here’s a front page diary about their entire organization and the technology they’ve developed. See AmericanMajorityActionUnveilsKillerGOTVDigitalTechnology. Please click on the links provided in the diary, but more importantly, visit AM-Action and sign up, especially in those battleground states. From AM’s site,

How can you help? Become a part of the American Majority Action team:
• Go door-to-door canvassing in local neighborhoods with our cutting edge technology
• Make calls to area voters at our Liberty Headquarters or from home
• Help distribute ‘Fire Obama’ Yard sign and bumper stickers

If you have a group that needs training on activism, AM will send people your way. They’ll even provide training for candidates once you convince your favorite conservative to run for office. See AmericanMajorityTraining. Don’t expect a personal thank you.

If that doesn’t work, sign up through Americans for Prosperity (your state chapter if there is one) at AFP. There isn’t an AFP chapter in Alabama, but our local tea party, the Rainy Day Patriots (RDP), didn’t let that stop us. We partnered with AFP on a project to help a swing state turn Alabama red (or crimson as some of us prefer, Roll Tide!). We sent boots to Wisconsin when Walker needed help. We’re making phone calls, sending money, talking to our friends, families, neighbors, co-workers, using social media (blogging, tweeting, and FB). We suspended our regular monthly meetings a couple of months ago in favor of weekly GOTV sessions so we can stay in touch. We also have online sessions, i.e., we set a time for calls and post on our website how many we made and what kind of responses we had. And we make calls all on our own. Because that’s what you do when you want to save the country. And we don’t expect a personal thank you.

Now that you know where to go, what else are you waiting for? And once you get started, don’t be discouraged. There will be hang-ups, and some folks will be rude. However, all in all it’s a rewarding experience, and I’m hoping and praying for a huge dividend come November. And forget all that stuff I said about not expecting a personal thank you. Conservatives across the country will thank you. Your kids and grandkids will thank you. Small business owners will thank you. You might even get a thank you letter from Romney/Ryan with a stock photo. Maybe even a few of those former Obama voters will thank you once they have a decent job and see how conservatism works. And me? I will thank you from the bottom of my conservative, gun clinging, religion loving, freedom cherishing heart.

———
*This will be a great opportunity for you to get involved with your local GOP and start working to to elect even more conservatives in 2016. Cold Warrior has posted often about the importance of getting involved at the local level to change the GOP from the bottom up. His diary not only explains more about GOTV, but provides a how to guide for those who want to be more than a VINO. See RNC provides YOU a GOTV tool for getting conservative VINOs to the polls. Will you use it?

Crossposted at Unified Patriots and The Minority Report.

Citizens in Alabama (expected turnout is 20%) will be voting on Tuesday, September 18, 2012, on whether or not to amend the State Constitution. The proposed amendment reads as follows (from AL-SOS):

Shall the following Amendment be adopted to the Constitution of Alabama?
Proposed Statewide Amendment
Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, to provide adequate funding for the State General Fund budget, to prevent the mass release of prisoners from Alabama prisons, and to protect critical health services to Alabama children, elderly, and mothers by transferring funds from the Alabama Trust Fund to the State General Fund beginning with the state’s 2012-2013 fiscal year and concluding with the state’s 2014-2015 fiscal year; to provide a new procedure for distributions made from the Alabama Trust Fund beginning 2012-2013 fiscal year; to create a County and Municipal Government Capital Improvement Trust Fund advisory committee; and to provide further for distributions made from the County and Municipal Government Capital Improvement Trust Fund.

Notice there is no provision for paying the borrowed funds back as has been pointed out by most of the conservative groups in Alabama who oppose the amendment. That would be groups like Alabama Federation of Republican Women, Smart Girl Politics (AL), Eagle Forum (AL), Allied Women (AL), Alabama Policy Institute, Rainy Day Patriots and other tea parties across the state, Congressman Mo Brooks, Alabama Forestry Association, State Sen. Beason, State Sen. Bussman and many more.

If that’s not reason enough, consider that the AEA (the single most corrupt organization in the state with the possible exception of anyone and everyone involved in pushing gambling) and the Alabama Democratic Party (virtually the same as the AEA) have endorsed the Amendment. From Fox6:

Friday, the Alabama State Employees Association came out in support of the amendment. Rep. Craig Ford, the minority leaders in the House of Representatives urged voters to say no. Ford says the legislature’s republican leadership has failed to solve the state’s problems. The Alabama Democratic Party has endorsed the amendment. The Alabama Republican Party has not taken a position on the vote.

Additionally, state GOP legislators have resorted to liberal Chicken Little scare tactics rather than do their jobs of making the tough budget cuts necessary to live within our means. Prisons and nursing homes will close. I’ve got an idea. How about you cut the $650K Weight Watchers program for state employees and teachers before you borrow more money? See AndalusiaStar.

From the API article linked below:

The state already owes at least $599 million to the ATF from prior borrowing. If politicians did pass legislation to repay the $437.4 million, Alabama would owe the ATF over $1 billion. With the escalating costs of large programs such as Medicaid and state employee pensions and benefits, the additional debt to the ATF will likely be another “budgetary crisis” for another set of politicians to deal with in the future.

In addition, approval of the September 18th amendment will also permanently reduce the amount of oil and gas royalties going into the ATF. Currently, 65 percent of Alabama’s oil and gas royalties go to the ATF. If the amendment passes, 33 percent of the royalties will be passed through the ATF directly to the General Fund and other recipients leaving only 32 percent going into the ATF.

Supporters of the amendment argue that this massive withdrawal is necessary to bail out the state’s General Fund budget which has a shortfall of at least $145.8 million in the 2013 fiscal year. They claim that approval of the amendment is necessary “…to prevent the mass release of prisoners from Alabama prisons, and to protect critical health services to Alabama children, elderly, and mothers,” i.e. closing rural hospitals and nursing homes. They also claim that taking $437 million out of the ATF is essential for Alabama’s economy and that it will save over 10,000 jobs.

If the shortfall in the 2013 budget is only $145.8 million, Alabama voters should ask why the amendment will take three times as much money.

The simple answer is that since several one-time injections of money, including the federal stimulus, have run out, supporters of the September 18th amendment are looking to use the ATF not only to bail out the 2013 budget, but also to give them an extra $145.8 million per year to bail out the following two years’ budgets. While leaders in Montgomery may fully intend to make the reforms to state government needed to reduce waste and inefficiency, giving them another $145.8 million per year significantly reduces the incentive to push through the tough but fair reforms that other states have made.

More information is available from:

AL Federation of Republican Women – here

Alabama Policy Institute – here

Senator Scott Beason – here

AFA – here

*As I understand it, Alabama revenues are earmarked more than most states with 85% marked for education, leaving just 15% for all other services. Conservatives advise our state GOP majority to stop caving to the long-time stranglehold the AEA has on legislators of both sides and pass a bill to change it.

They say home is where the heart is. On this July 4th, and those past and present, my heart is and always will be with the United States of America.

“Home”
(written by Dierks Bentley with Dan Wilson and Brett Beavers)

West, on a plane bound west
I see her stretching out below
Land, blessed mother land
The place where I was born

Scars, yeah she’s got her scars
Sometimes it starts to worry me
Cause lose, I don’t wanna lose
Sight of who we are

From the mountains high
To the wave crashed coast
There’s a way to find
Better days I know

It’s been a long hard ride
Got a ways to go
But this is still the place
That we all call home

Free, nothing feels like free
Though it sometimes means we don’t get along
Cause same, no we’re not the same
But that’s what makes us strong

From the mountains high
To the wave crashed coast
There’s a way to find
Better days I know

It’s been a long hard ride
Got a ways to go
But this is still the place
That we all call home

Brave, gotta call it brave
To chase that dream across the sea
Names, and they signed their names
For something they believed

Red, how the blood ran red
And we laid our dead in sacred ground
Just think, wonder what they think
If they could see us now

It’s been a long hard ride
Got a ways to go
But this is still the place
That we all call home

It’s been a long hard ride
And I won’t lose hope
This is still the place
That we all call home.

*Well, I learned something new. I was all ready to say something clever about not referencing the French version of pie and ice cream on our American holiday only to learn that Pie à la Mode was created in New York. See WikiPie.

Over the last few months, I’ve thought about writing this several times but couldn’t. The tears still come much too quickly, often at the most unexpected times. Like a few weeks ago when I went home to visit my mom. As I approached their little 4 acre piece of heaven in Tennessee, I saw the spot of land that for 48 years had yielded enough fruits and vegetables to feed several families and a few neighbors during the summer and fill two deep freezes for the winter. It was untilled and barren, a little overgrown with onions and weeds, and I wept at the sight. That garden had been tended by loving hands, three in fact, but I’ll explain that a little later.

Since my dad died, I have read and re-read Justin’s diary about his grandfather here. It was comforting because of the similarities between our families. Justin mentioned that his granddad told him to “Remember who you are.” That was a pretty common phrase to hear growing up in our family. It got to the point that once we were in our teen years, my sisters and I would nod and say as we were going off to a ballgame or on a date or wherever that we’d try not to forget who we were. Another favorite was “Don’t get too close to the edge of the cliff.” Sad to say, I’ve forgotten who I was at times. Got way too close to that edge and even started to fall, but my dad was always there to reach out his hand and lift me back up. He was the kind of dad who, along with my mom, came to everything we ever did, and by “we,” I mean not only my sisters and me, but also the grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He was the kind of grandad who jumped on the bed and made a cave on his hand (not a typo here) and knees.

My dad was the youngest of 8 girls and 3 boys, raised on a farm in middle Tennessee, during that time when they walked a mile to school and two miles back, uphill both ways. They were lucky to get an apple or an orange for Christmas, but they were loved and happy. Dad was an average student, but an avid reader (mostly Louis L’Amour westerns other than the Bible). He enjoyed hunting and farming. He went away to college about a month before homesickness brought him back to the farm. He joined up and stayed in the army a little longer than did in college. No doubt he’d be considered uneducated by today’s standards, but he knew about cars and dogs and the land and being a good father. More importantly, he knew what it meant to have a firm handshake and a good name.

Just a few years after he married my mom (who, oddly enough, was the oldest of 8 girls and 3 boys raised on a farm in middle Tennessee), Dad lost his left arm just above his elbow in a hunting accident. It was surely God’s providence that he didn’t bleed to death before making it to the hospital. My older sister was a baby at the time, and my mom said she, as well as my younger sister and I when we came along, just seemed to know to hold on a little tighter when we were in his arms. All I know is it was a safe place to be. Frankly, it was always a little startling whenever some kid would eventually notice and ask “What happened to your arm? Can I see?” or “Where is your other arm?” He never hesitated to answer and raise up his sleeve to show the smooth rounded skin of the pale stump. Early on, they tried to fit him with a prosthetic, but he never got used to it and eventually put it aside. I never saw him wear it. It was in our garage for years, but I don’t even know what happened to it. In his later years, he was bothered by the pain of arthritis, but with my mom, his wife for 60 years, at his side, he never let the loss prevent him from doing what needed to be done. At least not that I ever knew. We just didn’t think about because there were so few things my dad couldn’t do. Sometimes one of us would help cut up a steak if it wasn’t tender enough, and someone had to trim his fingernails.** Lace up boots, tie a necktie, drive a 100+ mile rural mail route over 30 years. And yes, he was a one-armed wallpaper hanger (not professional but for family when we needed his help). No problem. It was a beautiful thing to watch my dad use his body and one good arm to swing his shotgun up and kill a quail in one fluid motion. And that pale stump was a stark contrast to the darkly tanned, leathered hand that he offered in a firm handshake backed up with his good name when he made a promise.

<img src="” alt=”My dad and me.” />

Oh, the stories I could tell you about my dad that would make you laugh, some of which his grandsons shared at his funeral. Sad as we were, we also laughed, and we sang several of the hymns he so loved. But this diary is about the kind of man he was and what he taught my family, his friends, his neighbors and even complete strangers. He enjoyed the simple pleasures in life. The rewards of hard work. The beauty of the world around him. The love of his family and friends. The wisdom he found in the Old Testament and the grace, mercy and compassion he found in the New. He was a man with a firm handshake and a good name. He was the kind of man this country needs more of.

As the mayor of my hometown said in Dad’s obituary,

“Mr. McMahan was the model of a Christian gentleman. Our community, Tennessee and the United States have lost a most noble and caring citizen. Respect among your peers has to be earned; it’s not granted or transferable. Granville McMahan earned everybody’s respect. To say he was a fine person is true but short of a complete description. He was a wonderful person, well liked and well respected by everyone who knew him.”

Around 500 people filed in and out of the funeral home to pay their respects, many of whom we knew, but some were strangers who had crossed paths with my dad somewhere along the way. Throughout the long night and the next day before his service, the common theme was folks noting that my dad was a good man who kept his word. We heard stories of how he had helped them in one way or another. Of course, my sisters and I knew that our parents were good neighbors. We knew that they had helped other family members over the years. We knew they were good people. We didn’t realize the full impact my dad had on others during his walk on earth. How many lives a man with a firm handshake and a good name can touch.

Like the boys of his friend who hired my dad after he “retired” to drive a tractor for his seed company who asked if they could call him grandpa because they didn’t have one around anymore. Or the young Hispanic men working at my sister’s business who laughed at how badly he butchered their language but loved him because he made an effort to speak their native tongue with them. I found a worn, faded index card in his old truck on which he had written two dozen Spanish to English phrases. It was not lost on me that at the top of that list was “Vio Pondius” (Go with God – his spelling), amigo (friend) and bueno (good). In fact, it was not unusual to find index cards stuck around the house or in his truck or in a pocket, all with various scriptures written on them. He even left a mark during his last hours without speaking a word. The critical care nurse who so tenderly cared for him in the hospital felt compelled to make the 1½ drive to pay her respects even though he had not regained consciousness after his surgery. Yet she saw the legacy of love and respect he left through the family and friends who sat and prayed for his recovery, but did so with the confidence that he had lived his life in a way that would be rewarded. He had a firm handshake and a good name, and it showed.

My dad was a man of faith. He lived with the goal of going to heaven and taking as many people with him as he could. One grandson led the family in prayer and the other 4 grandsons and 1 of his 2 granddaughters spoke at his funeral, along with one of his nephews, while yet another nephew led the congregational singing. One of his grandsons commented that it didn’t matter what you were talking about with dad, he would eventually get around to something spiritual. One of the scriptures read at his funeral was Psalm 127:3-4: “Behold, children are a gift of the LORD, The fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, So are the children of one’s youth.” Also, Proverbs 22:1 which says “A good name is to be more desired than great wealth, Favor is better than silver and gold,” and Ecclesiastes 7:1, we read that “A good name is better than a good ointment, And the day of one’s death is better than the day of one’s birth.” These words apply to my dad. He wasn’t perfect, but he was a man with a firm handshake and a good name.

———-

*Thank you to redstate for allowing us to stray a little from all things political and share some of our personal thoughts along the way with our friends here.

**After I married and moved away, whenever I went home for a visit, my dad would always ask me to trim his nails. As I sat at his feet and worked on them, hardened, dirty and split from the hard work by a hand doing double duty, we always ended up discussing something Biblical, but often talked politics. He was a conservative, and it was not too long ago that he told me he was proud of what I was doing – of making the time to get involved and working to better our country.

———

Update: I intended to point out that after my dad lost his arm, it never occurred to him to apply for any kind of disability. He and my mom built a life and managed to raise three daughters with no government assistance, despite his disability.

I was one of those Bible and gun clinging, flag waving, Constitution carrying, freedom loving citizens that attended, walking the 5 blocks on my lunch hour. And I have the picture that appeared below the fold on the front page of the “Local” section of The Birmingham News, Saturday edition, to prove it.

<img src="” alt=”Me!” />

Courtesy of, and with more pictures for your viewing pleasure from, al.com.

And a video from the local channel 13, the NBC affiliate …

<img src="” alt=”" />

With one hand over my heart and a flag in the other, I’m singing the National Anthem with the crowd (in the white pants and black jacket to the far left at the 6 second mark). Ever notice that folks at conservative events know the words?

The video report from the local ABC affiliate is here.

Before I get into the details, here’s a little background on the event from the sponsor, Stand Up For Religious Freedom (SURF).

Come out on June 8, 2012—the 223rd anniversary of the day our Founding Father James Madison introduced the Bill of Rights, with its guarantee of religious freedom, to the First Congress—and stand up for religious freedom! The June 8 Stand Up Rally builds on the tremendous momentum created by the first Stand Up Rally on March 23.

On that day, over 63,000 Americans came out in 145 cities coast to coast pushed back against the new mandate from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that requires all employers provide free contraceptives, sterilization and abortion-inducing drugs through their health plans, even in violation of their consciences.

You can read more about SURF at their website, standupforreligiousfreedom.com and sign up for additional information.

And a little history about Kelly Ingram Park which is located just outside the doors of the 16th Street Baptist Church where four little black girls were killed by a bomb in 1963 during the Civil Rights Movement. From alabamatravel:

Distinguished as “A Place of Revolution and Reconciliation,” historic Kelly Ingram Park serves as a threshold to the Civil Rights District. During the Civil Rights Movement, this public park became the focal point of a grassroots resistance to the inhumanities of racism and discrimination by law and by custom. … Sculptures commissioned for the park depict attacks on demonstrators, children jailed for their role in the protests, and a tribute to the clergy’s contributions to the movement. All paths on Freedom Walk converge on its center, a peaceful and meditative life spring of hope.

Now to the main event (more on the park a little later). Since I’ve been unable to find any script or video of the remarks, I’ll have to paraphrase to the best of my recall (see mea culpa below). Each speaker had 5-10 minutes, so I’m going to highlight only a few of the remarks.

Speakers included Mrs. Eunie Smith*, President of the Eagle Forum of Alabama and representing the Southern Baptist Convention; Rev. Paul Hughes, Birmingham Prayer Furnace; Rev. Bishop Demetrics Roscoe, Pastor of Living Church Ministries Very Rev. Fr. Kevin Bazzel JCL, Rector of the Cathedral of St. Paul, Birmingham; Rev. Fr. Joseph Mary Wolfe, MFVA, EWTN priest; Cheryl Ciamarra of Alabama Citizens for Life; Jim Pinto, event organizer, local and national pro-life leader and EWTN** radio host; Michael Warsaw, President & CEO of EWTN; and “Big” Luther Strange, Attorney General, Alabama.

We started the rally with the Pledge of Allegiance led by Dawn Ray, fellow tea partier, fellow Shelby County GOP Steering Committee Member, tireless worker, 4th generation veteran and my friend. She had enlisted the aid of a couple of veterans to stand with her and hold the flag, one of whom served in Korea. As previously noted, we sang the National Anthem together which was followed by a prayer led by one of the clergy in attendance. Let me take a minute here to point out that although this was largely a Catholic sponsored event, non-Catholics were well represented, both on stage and off.

Jim Pinto, director of the SURF Rally in Birmingham, served as our host. He said similar rallies were also held in Huntsville, Mobile and nearly 160 other cities across the country. Pinto noted that the great possibility of the “largest civil rights protest in the land” was about to ensue. He also said that “the government we both love and cherish has now issued a decree to violate our most sacred of places, our consciences.” He emphasized that our rights come from God, not the government, and that we will resist any attempt to thwart those rights. He said we will demand our religious freedom.

Then we were treated to a little old fashioned sermonizing from Rev. Bishop Demetrics Roscoe, Pastor of Living Church Ministries, who said he was at this very place after the 16th Street Baptist Church was bombed. Further, that it was the park where he stood with those fighting for their civil rights was indeed the appropriate place to have the rally because our right to religious freedom is being threatened. He said he had a message for Washington and our elected officials, and he encouraged us to let them know. “We have a king, and that king is the Lord Jesus Christ.” My interpretation was that we don’t need King Obama. Here’s a photo of the speakers. Rev. Bishop Roscoe is to the far left. In a previous comment on another thread, I said I thought the crowd was probably 1/3 black. That may have been a little high – probably more like 20-25%, but please do note the number of black guests/speakers on the stage and the faces in the crowd. This was a diverse group, but you wouldn’t know it from the news reports.***

<img src="” alt=”C. Ciamarra” />

Courtesy of AlabamaCitizensForLifeonFacebook.

<img src="” alt=”Crowd” />

<img src="” alt=”Crowd” />

I’m not sure which of the clergy spoke next, but he noted that this was not a Democrat or Republican issue, but an American issue.

Next up was Mrs. Eunie Smith of Eagle Forum who read a statement from The Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, America’s largest non-Catholic denomination with more than 16.2 million members in over 44,000 churches nationwide. This is such a well-written statement that I had a difficult time pulling only one or two quotes from it. Regardless of your beliefs, I urge you to read the statement in its entirety here. Here are just a few nuggets:

This is the very kind of raw exercise of power our Founding Fathers intended to prevent when they passed the First Amendment’s guarantee of religious freedom.

Government cannot be allowed to tell people of faith when they can live out the values of their faith and when they cannot.

We will keep our consciences clear before Him [God} despite any threats or punishments. To do anything less would be to declare government God. This we will not do!

For the sake of the church, and for every person of faith, we must stop this soul-crushing power-grab now. If government can require this today, they can, and likely will, require more tomorrow. We will not bow to government or any other power that seeks to insert itself between us and our God.

We refuse to comply with this mandate, and we stand with all those whose consciences will not allow them to comply as well. We call on everyone who believes that God, and God alone, is the Lord of the conscience to join us in stopping the administration from pillaging the soul with this God-defying, unconstitutional assault on religious freedom.

Sometime in the mix, we sang Amazing Grace.

Michael Warsaw, CEO of EWTN, remarked “much prayer was needed now” that both lawsuits from EWTN and the State of Alabama are now joined with several Catholic dioceses and organizations opposed to the Mandate, and he encouraged us to remain vigilant. “We need to stand up and defend our rights as we’re doing today.” Warsaw also told us that he had written an editorial at the request of the NYT which it published (see here). Warsaw received a letter in response from a self-proclaimed atheist who noted that he was opposed to everything Warsaw and EWTN stood for and proclaimed, but that after he read the editorial, he realized if the government could tell their group what they could and couldn’t believe, they could tell everyone. That atheist stands with the man of faith on this issue.

Oh how happy I am that Cheryl Ciamarra of Alabama Citizens for Life is on our side. I’m hoping I can get a script of her remarks and will add an update if I do. In the meantime, let me just say that she is on fire for life. Ciamarra made no bones about the fact that abortion is evil – 50% of the folks going into an abortion clinic don’t come out. She gave us various statistics about the dangers and consequences of abortions that the media fails to report, and she called them on it. Did you know that pregnancy is now categorized as a disease? I don’t know about other moms, but I was probably close to being the healthiest I’ve ever been when I was pregnant. She said we live in a time where Americans don’t know the truth. Sad to say, but I agree with her.

Our final speaker was “Big” Luther Strange, Alabama’s Attorney General, who is indeed very tall. With a little help from al.com, “This is a battle we’ll be fighting for generations, and I’ll be on the forefront of that battle,” said Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange, who filed a motion March 22 to join a federal lawsuit initiated Feb. 9 by EWTN Global Catholic Network based in Irondale. Strange said that Alabama is one of 26 states to file a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act. He attended the oral arguments on the law in the U.S. Supreme Court and said he watched the faces of the justices as the gravity of issue began to sink in. “The justices were wary because the law raises the question of the limit of federal power to force citizens to engage in commerce against their will. There was a reason why the federal government’s attorney had a hard time selling that.”

All that in just over an hour. One of the Catholic bishops said a prayer and then led us in the Lord’s Prayer. We closed by singing God Bless America.

————————

*Mrs. Eunie is a warrior for conservatism. I met her at a rally a couple of years ago, and knowing she is with Eagle Forum, mentioned to her that I had gone to Houston with my mother, both sisters, and some friends from church along with 2,000 women from Tennessee back in 1977 when Phyllis Schlafly led the fight against the Equal Rights Amendment. I had just turned 20 and was a junior in college. She was there as well. We’ve been fighting this stuff for a long time.

**EWTN (a Global Catholic Network located just on the outskirts of Birmingham) is the first Catholic organization to file suit to stop the contraception mandate since the final HHS rules were published by the Obama administration on January 20, 2012. The lawsuit was filed on EWTN’s behalf by the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Birmingham against the HHS, trying to stop the imposition of the contraception mandate which would require nearly all employers, including religious organizations such as Catholic hospitals, to provide health insurance for employees that covers contraception, including in some cases what Catholics consider abortion-inducing drugs. EWTN, with 340 employees, would stand to be fined more than $600,000 the first year for refusing to comply with the requirements that violate its beliefs, according to Warsaw. More here.

***Is it a coincidence that none of the news reports even mention there was a black speaker or black singers or black attendees? Don’t tell me the SCUM (so-called unbiased media – H/T flagstaff) aren’t in lockstep with each other.

———–

I apologize in advance for any errors in my recall. I made some notes as soon as I got back to work and then tried to confirm through various sources, but with that many speakers and remarks, there may be mistakes.

Why the 167th you might ask? Because, as the invitation states, on July 26, 1918, at the Battle of Croix Rouge Farm during WWI, a regiment of Alabama soldiers advanced across an open field into the teeth of determined German resistance. With no artillery to soften up the position, the regiment had to rely on one of the most basic of weapons. The battle was one of the rare instances when a bayonet charge successfully pushed the enemy from an entrenched position. Later that day, the Germans would retaliate with a gas attack in a futile attempt to dislodge the regiment from the key position.

<img src="” alt=”Invitation” />

As part of the famed Rainbow Division, the 167th lost 162 dead and over 1000 wounded at Croix Rouge Farm. Yet for the 167th, Croix Rouge Farm was just an early entry on a long list of battles to come. After the war, the regiment was honored for their service with a Birmingham bridge being named after their division–the Rainbow Viaduct. The years have taken their toll on the structure and the regiment’s role in history.

I’m proud to say that a friend of mine, Susan Todt, who currently serves as Treasurer of the Shelby County GOP, took on the task and has worked diligently to see that the memorial was restored. The dedication of new bronze eagles will serve to honor the Rainbow Viaduct and the men it represents. The event will also feature today’s 167th Infantry Regiment as they prepare for deployment to Afghanistan. Honored Speakers include Congressman Spencer Bachus and Lt. Colonel, Larry Norred, Jr. – Battalion Commander, 1-167th Infantry.

No doubt many are familiar with the “Rainbow” division, but let me provide a little history for those who aren’t. From CroixRougeFarm:

Formation of the “Rainbow” division was authorized on August 1, 1917, less than two months after creation of the AEF’s first operational division, the 1st US Infantry Division, “the Big Red One.” That unit had been formed by the amalgamation of regular army units. Secretary of War Baker asked that the new unit have the best trained men possible and that it represent all parts of the country. Major Douglas MacArthur, who worked for Secretary Baker, suggested amalgamating elements of the National Guard as had been done with regular army soldiers. Accomplished quickly, the War Department cherry picked Guard units that had received training on the Mexican Border. They came from 26 states and the District of Columbia. Assembly at Camp Mills, Long Island began on August 30, 1917 and was completed on September 13. Given the number 42, it was named the “Rainbow” Division when MacArthur described it as stretching like a rainbow across the United States.

The battle I mentioned above is said in the “Rainbow’s history to have been the toughest of its battles and was influential in establishing the place of the United States at the peace table. The (Alabama) 167th and the (Iowa) 168th shared equal honors for their parts in the win.”

<img src="” alt=”Returning Heroes from the 167th” />

More about the 167th from AlabamaHistory:

Alabama National Guard units, which had served in a military effort in Mexico against Francisco “Pancho” Villa’s rebellion from October 1916 to April 1917, returned just in time to be mobilized for the European war. Initially, Alabama units protected public utilities and infrastructure, but in August they were mustered into federal service. The First and Second Alabama Infantry entered the Army’s Thirty-first Infantry Division, whereas the Fourth Alabama became the 167th Regiment of the Forty-second (Rainbow) Division. The 167th fought in the 1918 Aisne-Marne Offensive, and the Thirty-first remained at Camp Wheeler in Georgia.

In addition to providing 5,000 National Guardsmen and 7,000 other volunteers, Alabama contributed approximately 74,000 white and black draftees, called “selectmen,” to the Army. Most black troops were assigned to labor battalions, but two black units that trained in Alabama, Maryland’s First Separate Negro Company and Ohio’s Ninth Battalion of Infantry Colored, saw action with the Ninety-third Division under French command. More than 2,500 Alabamians were killed fighting in the fields of France.

<img src="” alt=”Parade Honoring the 167th” />

When was the last time you saw a crowd like those in the pictures to honor those returning from duty?

You can read more about the Rainbow Division, Alabama’s 167th and WWI at CroixRougeFarmHistory.

There’s also an interesting story that turned up in my Google search on the 167th from the Mobile Register about their more recent service in the middle East and some of the typical bureaucratic bull they’ve had to put up with regarding a patch worn on their uniforms. This gem came from the end of the article:

You might expect “weekend warriors” of the National Reserve and Guard to be assigned to support roles over here. But most of the Alabama Guard units I have visited over the past couple of years have never been far from the fight.

As Lt. Col. Scott Gedling, commander of Mobile’s 711th Signal Battalion when it was deployed here, memorably put it back in 2004:

“The Army knows that when Alabama boys get shot at, they’re going to shoot back.”

If you can’t attend a memorial or parade on Monday, I urge you to take a moment to think about the sacrifices American men and women, and their families, have made over the years. Members of my family have served in most, if not all, wars since the Civil War, and for that service I am not only grateful, but immensely proud.

Let us pray that God will bless the American Soldier every day, but on this Memorial Day, especially the 167th!

Driving into work this morning (thankful I still have a job), I listened to Laura Ingraham’s interview with Mayor Giuliani. Laura posts audio of her interviews, although this one isn’t up yet. If and when it’s posted, I’ll update the link. She asked Rudy about his recent endorsement of Romney and how he could reconcile it with some of his earlier comments that were less than favorable toward the Governor. Rudy basically said in politics you have to get over the personal anger and the hurt feelings that happen in a campaign and move on toward what is good for the country. He said he understands how Gingrich and Santorum are feeling, but he’s confident they will rally behind Romney just as he is doing. What struck me most was his statement that he didn’t want to look back at the campaign and know that he didn’t do everything he could to defeat Obama.

It’s no secret I supported Cain, Gingrich, and a host of others ahead of Romney. I was disappointed, unenthused, and angry that others didn’t see Romney wasn’t the best choice. I committed to voting for him in the general, but good luck getting me to donate, work for his campaign or display a yard sign or bumper sticker. I was going to focus only on house and senate races. Rudy has changed my mind. I don’t want to look back on the summer of 2012 and realize that I didn’t do everything in my power to elect Mitt Romney and defeat Barack Obama.

For those of you who aren’t quite there yet, let’s assume you sit on your hands with your integrity and your principles, whining about how the GOP has lost its way and how you’ll vote for Romney in the general, but you won’t lift a finger to do anything else. After all, you’ve got integrity and principles (so have I). And Obama wins. We’ve already seen what he can do when the GOP controls only one-third of one-half of the government. Imagine Obama unfettered in his agenda to radically change this country through whatever means he can with the media on his side and the meme that he has a mandate to move forward. Under that scenario, I have a few questions for you.

When you can’t find a job or operate your small business because Obama continues to strangle capitalism with over-regulation and job killing policies, will your integrity and principles feed your family and keep you from losing your home?

When government run healthcare takes over, will they sooth your aching body when you’re sick or heal your kid’s broken arm*? Will they make you feel better as you wait a few months for a bureaucrat to okay your chemotherapy for the cancer that’s eating away your health? When that same bureaucrat decides your aging parent is too old for that heart transplant, will your integrity and principles take the place of Granny’s homemade cookies or Grandad’s hunting trip?

When gas prices continue to rise and you can’t take that vacation or the anniversary trip you planned (25 years in December), are you going to enjoy reminiscing over the photos of your integrity and principles?

When Obama raises your taxes and raids private pensions to redistribute your life’s earnings to those who need it more (in his opinion), will your integrity and principles provide for you during those retirement years**?

When Obama asks the UN permission to defend this country after another terrorist attack and is denied, will your integrity and principles make you feel safe the next time you travel, go to work (if you have a job), attend an event that draws a crowd?

When you are no longer permitted to home school your children or send them to a private religious school of your choice or question what’s being taught in public schools, and your integrity and principles are allowed to be taught only in your own home, if that, will that be enough to instill the values you hold so dear in your children? Will they be strong enough to carry on in a country that ridicules your old-fashioned, traditional beliefs and even threatens prosecution (hate crimes legislation)?

When Obama, the partial birth abortion supporter (Obama’sExtremism), signs the FOCA and increases funding to abortion mills like Planned Parenthood, will your integrity and principles block out the silent cries of the aborted babies?

When freedom of religion is watered down to freedom of worship (ReligiousFreedom), will they assure you that you can continue to follow the Great Commission (Matthew 28:16-20 GreatCommission) or will you teach in secret for fear of persecution?

When Obama appoints the most radical Supreme Court Justice in the history of the country, and then another, and maybe even another, and the court, led by Chief Justice Sotomayor or Kagan, destroys any semblance of interpreting the law and upholds every piece of liberal legislation that comes their way, will your integrity and principles comfort you as you tell your children and grandchildren about that wonderful country called America where we once lived?

So for the youngsters who may stumble across this and think I sound harsh (perhaps I am) and to those of you who vow to sit this one out because Mitt isn’t conservative enough for your tastes (mine, either), a cautionary piece of advice. Don’t. I’m not trying to destroy your idealism or question your integrity and principles. However, I wore the same rose-colored glasses once upon a time and voted for Jimmy Carter because I thought he was a good man. Like Mama says, if you can’t say something good, don’t say anything at all, so I’ll keep silent on that matter, but there is no doubt that his policies were very, very bad. Nobody told me the reality of the situation, or perhaps I just wasn’t paying attention. I am now.

Any one of the scenarios above will hurt our country, and in turn, our lives. A couple of them seeing the light of day could take years to recover from. More than that – I really don’t want to think about. Despite the gloom and doom, I’m generally an optimistic, glass half-full kind of gal myself due to looking beyond this world, but like Rudy, I don’t want to look back at 2012 and realize I didn’t do everything within my power to protect this country from those whose policies will destroy her. So I’ve made my first donation to the Romney campaign (RomneyDonations), and God willing, I’ll be knocking on doors and getting a Romney yard sign and a bumper sticker or two in addition to helping with those house and senate races. Will you? It’s a simple yes or no question.

*I can just hear mommies and daddies telling little Johnnie or Susie not to worry. “You’ll get to see a doctor just as soon as Mr. Big Government says you can (of course, not the one they know and are comfortable with). In the meantime, we’ll just sit here with our integrity and principles.” Yep, that’ll make ‘em stop crying.

**Assuming you have a job from which you can retire. And assuming you are able to retire at all.

However, the purpose of this diary is to directly refute the talking head comment. To do that, I went back and listened specifically to Newt’s response to the question from Bill Armistead, AL-GOP State Chairman, who asked him to explain to Alabamians why he is the most conservative candidate in the race who can win. Forgive the paraphrasing, but here’s the gist of Newt’s comments which start around the 1:19 minute mark in the video linked above.

Look at Romney’s ratings when he left MA. Look at Santorum’s defeat in PA. Contrast with my [Newt's] record in the GOP. I helped create the GA GOP. I worked in the GA GOP when there was none. I ran for Congress and won in the middle of Watergate. I worked 16 years to help create a national majority for the GOP.

He went on to outline the following:

1980 – I helped design the first Capitol Steps event in history. We won 6 U.S. Senate seats by a combined margin of 75,000 votes. We won the Senate when nobody thought we could.

1984 – I helped design a campaign that set a record. We carried 49 states and picked up 33 House seats.

1988 – We were behind Dukakis 19 points in May. We designed a Reagan style campaign. We didn’t try to go to the middle. If George Bush had run as moderate, he’d have gotten beat. He ran as a Reagan conservative promising no new taxes and standing for national defense and attacking the Massachusetts liberalism of Dukakis. We switched 25% of the country. 1 in 4 voters during that campaign switched their view.

1994 – We designed and presented the Contract with America in a positive way to the American people. I would do the same this fall and offer paychecks rather than food stamps, the Constitution rather than Alinsky, $2.50 a gallon gas and drilling rather than algae. Real choices.

Since 1982, Speaker Gingrich has authored or co-authored 18 non-fiction books, 9 fiction books and produced 8 series and one film. His opponents like to point out that one of these, A Contract with the Earth, suggests that conservatives should embrace environmentalism, leaving one to assume that Newt himself embraced the liberal views of all things green. However, I recall that Newt pointed out in 2007 interview with salon.com (Interview):

One of the major reasons that Terry Maple and I wrote “A Contract With the Earth” was to reopen the debate, and to say that there are solutions which involve incentives, science and technology and markets. Entrepreneurs are potentially much more powerful and successful than regulatory and litigation solutions. We ought to be having a dialogue about which solution works better rather than being engaged in a purely partisan debate to see who can yell “anti-environmentalist” more.

It’s a fascinating interview which no doubt can be dissected down to Newt’s believes in global warming or remember Newt sat on a couch with Nancy for those who refuse to look at his entire record of achievements.

But back to the subject at hand, Newt’s accomplishments. Consider Newt’s other non-fiction books:

• The Government’s Role in Solving Societal Problems
• Window of Opportunity
• Contract with America (co-editor)
• Restoring the Dream
• Quotations from Speaker Newt
• To Renew America
• Lessons Learned The Hard Way
• Presidential Determination Regarding Certification of the Thirty-Two Major Illicit Narcotics Producing and Transit Countries
• Saving Lives and Saving Money
• Winning the Future
• Rediscovering God in America: Reflections on the Role of Faith in Our Nation’s History and Future
• The Art of Transformation
• A Contract with the Earth
• Real Change: From the World That Fails to the World That Works
• Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less: A Handbook for Slashing Gas Prices and Solving Our Energy Crisis
• 5 Principles for a Successful Life: From Our Family to Yours, with Jackie Gingrich Cushman
• To Save America: Stopping Obama’s Secular-Socialist Machine, with Joe DeSantis
• A Nation Like No Other: Why American Exceptionalism Matters

The vast majority, if not all, of Gingrich’s other books are textbook conservative. Read the reviews at amazon for yourself. Better yet, read the books.

After leaving Congress in 1999 (and yes, I know all about the “cloud” under which he left), Newt amassed a personal fortune writing books, giving speeches, and founding an empire of companies and nonprofits which he ultimately left in order to run for President. The cloud doesn’t appear to have been too big of an issue considering the invitations he received to speak and the number of groups which solicited his thoughts and advice on various matters.

From 2007 to 2011, Newt chaired the organization, American Solutions, which he founded for the purpose of engaging citizens and elected officials in a dialogue intended to propose solutions to problems affecting American society. It was one of the nation’s largest grassroots efforts with 3 main initiatives. “Drill Here. Drill Now. Pay Less.” “Jobs Here. Jobs Now. Jobs First.” and “No More Obamacare.” Sounds pretty conservative to me. And yes, I’m going to use Wikipedia as a source for a good summary of AmericanSolutions.

Since Speaker Gingrich threw his hat back into the proverbial political arena, he continues to articulate the 3 basic tenets of conservatism (fiscal, social and strong defense). He offers real and practical solutions to the problems we are facing as outlined at Newt’s Solutions.

This diary is not about Newt’s baggage, political or personal. You may not agree with his policies or solutions. You may abhor his failures. You may not like or support Newt. What I suggest you cannot do is ignore his accomplishments which is what this diary is all about. In that regard, please tell me what have you done for me, conservatism and the GOP lately? Better still, what has your candidate done lately or in the last 34 years like Newt?