Honoring the court's intellectual giant
Last week, the nation was shocked with the news of Justice Scalia's death. As we were still reeling from the news of the conservative warrior's death, the pundits began to speculate immediately about what the vacancy on the Court means for Obama, for the Republican Congress, and for the 2016 election.
But before we begin to discuss the political ramifications, it is fitting and proper to honor Scalia for what he was: an intellectual giant on the Court and perhaps the most eloquent Justice going all the way back to the early part of the 20th century. History will see him as a luminous figure in our time.
In this conversation with Judge Jeanine Pirro on Fox News, I cover both the legacy of Scalia and the implications of his death on the political process in 2016. Watch now:
Of course Obama and Hillary reacted to the news in a most expected manner. Our Divider-in-Chief has decided to skip the funeral for "security footprint" reasons, and Hillary immediately alleged that the GOP's refusal to confirm an Obama replacement for Scalia was due to "systematic racism." As for Obama's tantrum, I for one am glad that the most lawless president in modern American history won't be at Scalia's funeral—it would most certainly sully the occasion.
While Obama was busying himself pitting Americans against one another this week, the Pope decided to do some dividing of his own. Speaking specifically about Trump during a trip to Mexico on Thursday, Pope Francis pontificated that "a person who thinks only about building walls…is not Christian." Really? Maybe if Christians had more walls, the Muslims wouldn't have conquered the Middle East and large parts of Europe from the 7th to the 10th centuries!
Perhaps the best answer to Francis can be found in Frost's "Mending Wall": "Good fences make good neighbors."
Sincerely,
Dinesh D'Souza
"Is the Pope political? You betcha!"
Dear Ms. (Linda) Valdez,
I used to live in Phoenix, so I stay in touch by reading the Republic...even though I am as far to the Right as the Republic is to the Left. In fact, I am probably to the right of both Attila the Hun and John Wayne. But, here it goes:
My family lived in Buenos Aires for decades, and one of my two sisters still does. Obviously, I try to stay informed of Argentine politics and events.
I agree: The Pope certainly IS political, since he comes from that devil's brew of Marxist "liberation theology" priests who practically destroyed Guatemala and El Salvador. No amount of casuistry can deny this fact.
J-P. A. Maldonado
Lafayette, Colorado
Build the dang fence
David Schweikert recently introduced a bill which would build a 700 mile long fence on the Arizona/Mexico border. Representative Schweikert's bill hits Washington bureaucrats where it hurts – in their wallet.
Schweikert's bill will withhold funding from Department of Homeland Security's brand new headquarters building and suspend any senior employee pay increases and bonuses until the fence is complete. I commend David's courage and I stand with him in support of this effort. It's time we get serious about addressing illegal immigration and actually doing something about it.
As your congressman, I will do what it takes and demonstrate the political will necessary to get things done in Washington and "build the dang fence." I will work with the other members in Washington to secure our border, get border patrol agents at the border instead of patrolling miles deep into Arizona, and use all the technology at our disposal to do what's necessary and put an end to this problem. I will go to Washington and fight for a solution and end our "catch and release" programs, not just kick the can down the road a little further. I am a man of my word, and my experience and background on the Arizona Immigration Task Force will make sure we get things done.
If you agree with me that we can no longer sit idly by and pretend to address this issue, an issue which poses serious threats to our economy and national security, then please consider supporting my campaign today.
Please help me secure the border by ensuring we have experienced, conservative leadership to represent Arizona's First Congressional District in Washington.
If you can contribute to the cause today, it will bring us one step closer to accomplishing our goal.
Thank you and God Bless,
Ken Bennett for Congress
United States
Ducey Petitions Needed – Critical for COS
A crucial item in our effort to gain approval of our Resolution is for you, if you have not already done so, to sign the Governor Ducey Petition,. You can sign the petition on-line by going to: www.azConventionOfStates.com, click on “Sign the Petition” in the upper right hand corner, fill out the information called for on the screen, and then click “Submit”. You do not have to be a registered voter to sign this petition. Please ask your family, friends and Arizona relatives to do this also. The issue is “Who Decides” the fate of our COS Resolution, the Senate President alone, or the other 29 Senators whom you have elected to serve you.
Thanks for your support.
Mike Kapic
AZ COS State Director
AMAC CD08 Delegate
775-846-4948
http://amac.us/
conventionofstates.com
azconventionofstates.com
General aviation and business
As a small business owner, I travel all over the southwest to consult with clients and service radar and radio equipment. I spend a lot of time on the road, in remote areas and at military testing grounds. Flying commercial just wasn’t a good option. For example, I often flew from Tucson, where I live, to the Albuquerque area, where many of my clients are. The trip took 6 hours on a good day and I had to make a connecting flight in Las Vegas.
I needed a better way to get where I needed to be—so about ten years ago, I got my pilot’s license. Now I can fly to Albuquerque in an hour and a half in my homebuilt 2-seater aircraft. What used to be a long two-day trip is now just one day. And because there are so many general aviation airports, I can fly directly into many of the smaller communities I serve. Using my own aircraft just makes sense, and it makes my business travel much more productive.
I’m definitely not the only one. For a lot of businesses in our region and across the country, general aviation helps us reach job sites and allows us to increase productivity and stay competitive. In Arizona alone, general aviation supports about 6,800 jobs and an estimated $609 million in economic activity annually. It also provides access to vital—sometimes life-saving—services in our communities. Law enforcement, emergency medical responders, firefighters, search and rescue, and border patrol teams all rely on general aviation. As of late, the GA community has even partnered with the USFS in AZ in providing volunteers for several projects near back country airstrips.
Sadly, some people, including politicians, don’t seem to understand how important general aviation really is. Some in Congress are pushing to radically change our national air traffic control system and hand it over to a private board. While it’s not clear how much this drastic change would cost, it is clear that the system would be funded by harmful user fees. These new fees would disproportionately affect small businesses that rely on general aviation and impact access to airports and services in rural communities.
Fortunately, many local and state officials do recognize the vital importance of general aviation for Arizona and the nation. The State Legislature recently passed a resolution and recognized September as “General Aviation Appreciation Month.” Let’s build on this success and make sure our aviation system will continue to serve businesses communities of all sizes well into the future.
Mark Spencer
Engineer at RF Microwave, Arizona State Liaison for the Recreational Aviation Foundation, Vice President of the Arizona Pilots Association, and a member of the Alliance for Aviation Across America.
Just say no to draft registration for women – and men
Testifying before the US Senate's Armed Services Committee in early February, Generals Mark A. Milley (the US Army's chief of staff) and Robert B. Neller (commandant of the US Marine Corps) endorsed extending mandatory Selective Service registration to women. Because, you know, equality.
I have a better idea. It's time to end draft registration for everyone. Because, you know, freedom.
The US hasn't involuntarily inducted men into military service since 1973, but reinstated mandatory registration in 1980. Ever since, the shadow of legal slavery has loomed over the lives of American males aged 18 through 26.
Yes, slavery. There's no other way to describe requiring someone to work for you whether he (or she) wants to or not. Conscription is an indefensible moral abomination, and would be even if it didn't come with the risk of violent death attached.
The draft, and mandatory registration for it, are also just flat stupid.
Who am I to say this? I'm a former Marine infantry NCO (1984-1995, honorable discharge) who served in Desert Storm. I'm also a former Selective Service System board member (appointed by president George W. Bush in 2004 to a 20-year term; I resigned after eight years when I moved out of my local board's area).
Since the 1970s, US military doctrine has successfully transitioned. Instead of losing wars by throwing large numbers of minimally trained warm bodies into ground combat (e.g. Korea and Vietnam), today's military wins wars with superior technology (yes, it loses post-war occupation/insurgency scenarios, but the draft wouldn't fix that). Returning to the draft would be like trading in a Tesla for a Model T.
Furthermore, wars that don't enjoy broad support from the people who have to fight them -- support involving walks down to the recruitment office to enlist -- are wars that shouldn't be fought and are already lost.
The Selective Service System isn't really a budget buster. It runs on $25 million a year or so, chump change by comparison to most government programs, with a few hundred paid employees and a few thousand volunteer board appointees.
But once again, the draft is stupid and evil, as is maintaining mandatory registration. Why spend $25 million a year on something that's stupid and evil? And why double the idiocy and the immorality by expanding its reach to women?
Let's end this draft nonsense, immediately and permanently.
Thomas L. Knapp, Director and Senior News Analyst
William Lloyd Garrison Center for Libertarian Advocacy Journalism
The Republican recovery starts with no lame duck session after November
If the message isn't clear enough coming from Republican presidential primary voters, let's be clear. Voters are angry with Washington.
The candidates who are succeeding are doing so by repudiating Washington, and their anger has not been quenched. Every vote in the GOP primary for Donald Trump, Sen. Ted Cruz, Dr. Ben Carson and the now vanquished Carly Fiorina are no confidence votes from the electorate.
If those in Washington, D.C. are to ever rebuild the bridges that currently smolder, they must first evaluate what started the fire — undemocratic edicts from the Bush and Obama administrations, and bad last minute deals that they hate.
That is why if Congress wants to rebuild trust with the American people, then a lame duck session with President Barack Obama is an awful idea.
The notion of an outgoing Congress and President selecting another Supreme Court nominee, radically altering the rules that govern our international trade policy, budgeting massive amounts of debt and even releasing tens of thousands of convicts retroactively will damage the already frayed fabric of our nation. Specifically, Republican voters will not forgive the Republican politicians who allow this, nor will they trust their imminent replacements.
There is nothing democratic about those who have been rejected binding the newly elected, and those who elected them, to so many unpopular policies. Any replacement for Justice Antonin Scalia put forth by President Obama would permanently restructure the court. Ramming through the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and thus allowing the President to build his legacy on the backs of American workers who will lose their jobs, again, will do permanent harm with the electorate.
Pushing through one last borrowing binge to fund priorities that the voters are rejecting is crazy. In a time of escalating crime rates, releasing hardened inmates into the population early to inflict murder and mayhem is even worse. Does Congress have to "get things done" so badly that it continues in a political suicide pact? No.
None of these policies should be implemented, and certainly not during a lame duck session of Congress.
Instead of allowing the current President to control this destiny, it makes much more sense to allow the choice of the voters in 2016 to sort out these issues. A short term, six month continuing resolution in September is the last, best hope that the current Congress has to demonstrate to their voters and the world that they are willing to stop President Obama from inflicting yet more harm on the American people.
Employing the "prevent defense" to run out the clock on the current administration's agenda is the best recompense Republican leaders in Congress can offer. Many of the current crop of leaders will return to fight another day. For the scores of elected officials that will not return, they should serve their states and districts first, not the desire to put one more bullet point on their résumés.
To Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's credit, he has taken this stance on replacing Justice Scalia saying, "The American people should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court Justice. Therefore, this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new President."
It would be wholly prudent for Congress to apply this logic to the rest of the aforementioned issues, and allow the 2016 electorate to have its say. Foregoing the ritual of bad lame duck legislating is the best way to do that, and to show the voters the deference they have been denied.
Dustin Howard, Contributing Editor
Americans for Limited Government
Obama's luckiest moment was the death of Justice Scalia
The next justice named to the supreme court will be selected by Barack Hussein Obama II. He or she will be selected by a man whose father and mother hated America. He or she will be selected by a man who lied about his stand on mandatory health insurance in the primary; who told us that he is not after our guns and who said that you can keep your doctor and medical plan. He or she will be selected by a man who has regularly bypassed the US Constitution and our laws by opening up our southern borders and taking in thousands of ISIS infiltrated "Syrian refugees".The untimely death of Justice Scalia has taken away the last vestiges of someone committed to our Bill of Rights. Scalia's death will allow Goldman Sachs ,the Federal Reserve and the Bilderberg Group to complete their accelerated take over of the planet. I doubt that we will ever know the real cause of death of Scalia. But then we don't really know everyone involved in the JFK assassination or for that matter the extent of Saudi Arabia's involvement in the the 9/11 attack in 2001 that ended our rights granted from the Magna Carta in 1215. Sadder yet is that the average person will not ask their members of congress to release the secret 28 pages of the 9/11 commission report we are not allowed to see. But then your not allowed to see the dozens of videos of the object that slammed into the Pentagon that fateful September day.
Sincerely,
Joseph DuPont
Towanda, Pennyslvania
