2012 Picks, 12-31-11 Commentary (Until Next Year)

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Today’s Posts (Until New Year’s Eve/New Year’s Day Blogging)

Nelson Retires
Mormon Concern
New Year’s Eve/New Year’s Day Blogging
A ‘Christ-centered’ alternative
Immigration policy confused for lawim
Maryland abortion doctors charged with murder

Nelson Retires

Nebraska Democrat Ben Nelson’s announcement that he is retiring from the Senate can be seen in three different ways. One is that he simply confronted poor poll numbers, coupled with the politics of a state red enough that Barack Obama is guaranteed to lose it.

Second, Nelson’s demise can be seen as a final verdict on a maneuver that transpired almost exactly two years ago. In case you forgot, Nelson and his Arkansas counterpart, Blanche Lincoln, are the two conservative Democrats who saved the health-care overhaul in late December 2009. Had these two senators stuck to their criticisms of the bill, it would have died in the Senate in late 2009. The bill likely would have been downsized to a modest expansion of Medicaid and some tighter rules for pre-existing illness exclusions. Instead, both senators, reluctant to be blamed for the failure of a 63-year-old Democratic-agenda piece and fearing nationally funded primary opposition from the left, swallowed hard and voted yes.

Neither Lincoln nor Nelson recovered. Lincoln lost in 2010. For Nelson, a significant infusion of off-year independent ad expenditures and relentless attention to Nebraska-based concerns failed to rescue his numbers from the depths they reached after the health-care vote. In Nelson’s case, the failure must be especially galling — given that he traded his vote for a provision that pumped extra federal Medicaid dollars into his state. The “Nebraska compromise” was never honored, and it was a trade Nebraskans never liked anyway, given their resistance to the rest of the law and, perhaps, their indifference as residents of a low-poverty state to a poverty-based program like Medicaid.
(Nelson retires)
In a less polarized time, the Nelson/Lincoln strategy might have worked. But instead, their states’ heavily conservative voters more or less dismissed the senators as disingenuous poseurs who were trumpeting their independence while obediently serving the interests of their party.
(Billy’s Thoughts: As a native Nebraskan I believe Nelson would not have been elected if he had ran again. Here in Nebraska people will always remember Nelson how he put Obama ahead of Nebraska values. Still I pray Nelson if he doesn’t know Jesus as his savior he will come to know him in retirement.)

Mormon Concern

The Washington Post proclaimed in a recent headline another historic “first” for the United States — the first female usher-in-chief at the White House. Stop the presses! The accompanying story reveals that the nominee hails from Jamaica, so it’s probably a two-fer. Oh boy.

The Post and other liberal organs are obsessed with firsts. The first female letter carrier to handle the Capitol Hill route will get a mention in the press. The first African-American anything is guaranteed at least a nod. You don’t even have to be first to get “first” treatment. The last two Supreme Court nominees have been women, joining a court that had already seated two women (one retired). Nevertheless, the femininity of the candidates was cheerily chatted up. When Barack Obama became the first black nominee of a major party and then the elected president, dignified notice of an historical milestone would have been appropriate. But you know what happened — the media went on an inebriated, extravagant first binge.

Funny how the first effect only works for some. If Mitt Romney is nominated and elected, he will be the first member of a highly persecuted American minority group to be so honored. Yet no one is celebrating the possibility of the first Mormon president. Anti-Mormon bias, which has proved remarkably persistent over decades, is scarcely ever condemned.
It isn’t that Mormons have not suffered. Following the religion’s founding in upstate New York in 1830, the Mormons faced immediate hostility from their neighbors. Hounded by New Yorkers, the growing community moved west to Ohio, Missouri, and Kansas. In Jackson County, Mo., Mormon leaders were tarred and feathered, Mormon homes torched, and Mormon property brazenly stolen.
(Billy’s Thoughts: Yes Mormons have not been always treated right but some of us who have study about the Mormon faith are concerned about the doctrine of their church. We love Mormons but caring about somebody doesn’t mean you don’t point out where they or their church is wrong. I may end up voting for Romney but it is my hope if he is elected it will not be used for people to think highly of the Mormon Church. Read more of the above column (right here)

New Year’s Eve/New Year’s Day Blogging

I just wanted to inform you I will do some special blogging this New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. So in-between your party and watching football check back this coming Saturday, and Sunday.

A ‘Christ-centered’ alternative

Many parents are concerned about the Girl Scouts’ association with the Planned Parenthood-type philosophy on abortion and sex education. Patti Garibay says that is why the group she founded, American Heritage Girls, was launched.

“We are a Christ-centered organization for girls, and so we are happy to welcome girls ages five to 18 into American Heritage Girls to grow in their knowledge and love for Christ, as well as to do some of the very fun scouting activities that makes scouting just so much of a great idea for today’s families,” she shares.

The organization started small in 1995 with about ten troops and 100 members, but it has continued to grow over the years, this year by 48 percent.
(Read more)

Immigration policy confused for lawim

South Carolina is latest state to be attacked by the Obama administration for passing a law aimed at stemming the tide of illegal immigrants, and an advocate for immigration reform is disappointed that a federal judge has given in to the president’s political priorities.

A federal judge recently threw out three provisions of South Carolina’s immigration statute, including one that gives law enforcement officers the right to act when they have reasonable suspicion that an individual is in the country illegally. The other provisions made it unlawful to harbor illegals and required that non-citizens carry their immigration documents with them at all times.

According to Ira Mehlman, a spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), this is just the latest in a series of lawsuits filed against states for passing such legislation. He believes the judge completely bought into the Obama administration’s policy of selective enforcement.(Immigration policy confused for law)

Maryland abortion doctors charged with murder

ELKTON, Md. – Authorities say two doctors accused of performing late-term abortions in Maryland have been arrested and charged with murder.

At least one case involved a woman who was critically injured during the procedure.
(Read more of the above story right here)

Today’s Posts

Girl Scout Speaks Out on Media Matters
U.S. missionary beginning ‘ challenging task
‘Gay’ clergy ‘inappropriate’ speakers at Christmas
New 2012 Laws
Iowa countdown: Bachmann defection, Huntsman insult

Girl Scout Speaks Out on Media Matters

On Tuesday, we broke the story of the Girl Scouts using one of its books to direct young girls to the liberal site Media Matters to combat media misinformation. The story took off, with everyone from Fox News to the Drudge Report covering it. The girl at the center of the story was 15-year-old Sydney Volanski, who first noticed the Media Matters reference last year and left the organization over it. Now, Sydney is speaking out.
(Read the story)