While I believe that all of us who are pro-life should be politically active AND support our local and state RTL organizations, RedState’s Erick Erickson has an interesting piece this morning that should serve as a warning to us all:

Hypocrisy, thy name is Georgia Right to Life.

Today, Georgia Right to Life attacked Georgia gubernatorial candidate Karen Handel for funding Planned Parenthood when Handel chaired the Fulton County Commission in Georgia.

The funding had actually been approved before Handel got there and the money was designated for cancer screenings with Planned Parenthood doing the cancer screenings instead of the county.

You can read more here and will note that Georgia Right to Life threw in some gratuitous and unneeded nonsense on Sarah Palin and her son with Down Syndrome.

Contrast this Nathan Deal, who Georgia Right to Life is supporting. The money that was spent by Fulton County while Karen Handel chaired the commission went to do cancer screenings. In Congress, Nathan Deal voted for Henry Waxman sponsored legislation to give $500 million to Planned Parenthood to pay for actual abortions.

In Georgia Right to Life’s world, Nathan Deal voting to fund actual abortions is better than Karen Handel presiding over a commission that had voted to use Planned Parenthood as a cervical and breast cancer screening provider for indigent women.

Pure speculation, but it sounds like the folks at the top of Georgia RTL are putting politics first, second, and third on the list while relegating principle to the bottom.

Former Reagan appointee and Delaware Congressional candidate Glen Urquhart has received the endorsement of the FRC Action PAC, an affiliate of the conservative Family Research Council.

“Glen Urquhart has proven to be a dedicated advocate of conservative causes for many years. We need representatives who will have the courage to defend the family under attack by the radical leadership of the House of Representatives,” said Connie Mackey, President of FRC Action PAC. “I am convinced Mr. Urquhart has the vision and conviction to do just that.”

“Glen Urquhart is a successful businessman who knows first hand the necessity of fiscal responsibility. During a time when out-of-control government spending is placing unprecedented burdens on our families, Glen is well-equipped to stand against this liberal trend and preserve America’s opportunities for future generations. As Chairman of the National Capital Planning Committee under Presidents Reagan and Bush, he has demonstrated his abilities to control spending and reduce debt. He represents the fiscal principles and traditional values that are vital to the economic restoration of our country.”

“America needs pro-family Representatives in the next Congress to stop the radical social agenda now before us. FRC Action PAC believes that Mr. Urquhart will be a crucial voice for the issues that best uphold and strengthen families. We are proud to support his candidacy,” concluded Mackey.

Urquhart is running for the GOP nomination to succeed Rep. Mike Castle (R-DE), who is running for the US Senate.

H/T – David Anderson @ DelawarePolitics.net

NEA – the National Education Association – is the nation’s largest union.  Maryland teachers are almost universally members through their local “associations” (union locals).  The NEA claims to be putting our children first.  Why, then, does the NEA sanction an “NEA Drag Queen Caucus”?

I try to be fair.  I don’t believe in discriminating against folk because of their sexual orientation.  But, a DRAG QUEEN CAUCUS?  Does that have any place in our schools?

"They already have had the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, [and] Transgender Caucus and apparently felt that the drag queens needed their own caucus," explains Finn Laursen, executive director of Christian Educators Association International (CEAI).
"America, I think, needs to respond and to realize what the National Education Association stands for; they’re not hiding it.  It’s appalling to many of our conservative Christian educators who, in their own lives, could not support this kind of thing but find that their dues are being used to support just those kinds of thing," he adds.
Laursen also tells OneNewsNow there was a movement this year to see the NEA’s pro-abortion stance changed to a more neutral position, but that effort failed. "The organization and its delegates were just unwilling to step back and take no position on abortion," he laments. "They’re going to continue their pro-abortion stance."

We can’t have prayer in school, but the NEA thinks that we should have abortions and distribute condoms?

H/T – Anglican Mainstream

On March 3, 2006 Lance Corporal Matthew Snyder was killed in Iraq while serving his country.  When he was returned home for burial members of the “Westboro Baptist Church” protested at the burial.  NOTE the URL for this supposed “church” – www.GodHatesFags.com

Al Snyder, Lance Corporal Snyder’s father, sued these despicable human beings.  He has now been ordered to pay their attorney’s fees while also attempting to carry his fight to the US Supreme Court.

I’m as strong a supporter of free speech as the next guy.  Ditto with our right to worship as we (as individuals) see fit.  However, can you imagine burying a loved one while these people were picketing?  I can almost sympathize with an atheist after seeing these claimants to Christianity at work.

Al Snyder needs our prayers, and our support.  Help him out any way that you can.  He has been ordered to pay $16,500 to the attorneys of this scum.  You can help by visiting here:  www.MatthewSnyder.org

You can go directly to the donation page HERE.

Is it possible to sap the spirit of giving from Christmas?  No, but some Easter Shore residents sure give it a go.

Yesterday the Salvation Army kicked off its annual “Red Kettle Drive” with a breakfast in Salisbury.  These giving individuals, and many others, will spend countless hours during the Holiday season ringing a bell in the cold and collecting funds to help those less fortunate than themselves.  Sounds great, doesn’t it?

Not on the Lower Shore.  Why?  SbyNEWS publisher Joe Albero has the unmitigated gall to use Maryland and Delaware’s most popular blog to promote the Kettle Drive and encourage his readers to volunteer their time and money.  Shame on you Joe!

Because Albero is none too popular with certain quarters of our community, some will actually encourage residents NOT to contribute.  For those who live outside of the confines of our bizarre little “Peyton Place”, I’m quite serious.

Local gadfly and Barrie Comegys mouthpiece Jonathan Taylor requested that “concerned citizens” (translation – “Albero haters”) call the Salvation Army and demand that Albero be excluded from the 2009 Kettle Drive.  Since Albero was at yesterday’s kick-off, that obviously didn’t work.  Their next plan is to distribute nasty little pamphlets to drop in the kettle rather than cash.  Now that’s the Christmas spirit guys!

Now the appropriately named “Grinch” promises to have “coins” made stating their refusal to donate because of Albero.  Granted, this is so many mule muffins, but imagine the type of twisted personality required to come up with this nonsense.

It doesn’t matter whether you love Albero or hate him.  Last year the Salvation Army was facing a shortage of volunteers.  Albero took it upon himself to promote the hell out of the Kettle Drive AND donate hours of his own time.  SbyNEWS readers stepped up to the plate with their time and money.  Despite the economy, the Salvation Army saw a sizable increase in donations.  Was this ALL because of Joe Albero.  Of course not.  I never heard him make that claim.  However, there is no question that Albero impacted the Kettle Drive and he (along with his readers) should be applauded.

Instead, we are witnessing a nasty little cabal encouraging people NOT to support their own community because of one guy’s participation.  Following their logic, if Albero is seen shopping at Wal-Mart they shouldn’t shop there?

My view is a little different.

To Albero – Promote the hell out of the kettle drive.  Double your coverage of last year (if that’s even possible).

To SbyNEWS Readers – Keep it up!  I know times are tough, but donate your time and money.

To the Salvation Army – Thank the Lord for people like Albero and his readers.

To people like Jonathan Taylor – Don’t forget your sun block.  You’re going to HELL!

The College of William and Mary held their homecoming this weekend.  Guess who was the homecoming queen?  A self-described “gender-queer” individual by the name of Jessee Vasold.

At the risk of offending almost everyone, I can only ask, “What is the world coming to?”.

From the Daily Press’s article I am assuming that Mr.? (or is it Ms.?) Vasold is a transsexual.  Fair enough.  I’m not opposed to a transsexual running for homecoming queen any more than I was offended by a caucasian woman recently being elected homecoming queen at Hampton University.  My problem is that Billy Mary’s new homecoming queen didn’t have to share with the world that he/she is “transgendered”. (Seriously, I am not trying to offend transsexuals here, I am just not sure from the article whether this individual is a transsexual or simply a transvestite).

I remember as a child when race was used to make a political statement at such events; perhaps I’m just a little too old fashioned not to be more sympathetic with this type of “statement”.  However, it has been my experience that people tend to be a tad more tolerant when this type thing isn’t just pushed into our collective faces.

That pretty much says it all.  No parental consent for abortion, but can’t give your kid an Advil.  No restriction on any type of abortion, including partial birth abortion.  I thought Deeds was “mainstream”.

With a majority of voters now classifying themselves as pro-life, this doesn’t sound very mainstream to me.  I guess that’s one reason Bob McDonnell seems to be rolling over top of Deeds after his primary “bounce”.

If you’re not familiar with Twitter, you should get to know it.  It’s a great social media tool to carry on conversations with people all over the world, or in your own backyard.

One way of tracking conversations on Twitter is through the use of hashtags (#).  If you’re following the race for RNC Chair, there’s #rncchair.  If you’re part of the group Top Conservatives on Twitter, there’s #tcot.  Now, thanks to Brian Boettcher (@BrianBoettcher) we have #MDcons for Free State conservatives.

If you’re engaging in a conversation about that particular subject or as part of that particular group, you just add the hashtags to the message.  This leads to more like minded people to follow, and who may follow you.  You can also search for those particular conversations so that you can keep up with what you missed.

Check #MDcons out.

I’ve been building a list of fellow Marylanders (mostly conservative, but not all) that I’ve been following as a group on Twitter.  If any of you are interested in a copy of the list, let me know.

Update from Delmarva Dealings (@DMVDealings):

You can start by following -

Red Maryland
The Campaign Edge
Brian Griffiths
Mark Newgent
Kenny Burns
Michael Swartz
G. A. Harrison
Red County – Wicomico
Ted Pibil
Blog Net News – Maryland

Watch out though.  Twitter can be addicting.

cross posted at The Campaign Edge

The sacred south remains an important factor in national elections. How will Barack Obama fair?

Probably not very well. Southerners, as a rule, love and respect the military. We love football and NASCAR. Guns are a way of life (whether we hunt or not), not something we do on weekends. We don’t put up with phonies nor appreciate being pandered to.

Yet, left wingers like Barack Obama and Joe Biden feel nothing but comtempt for us. We’re hayseeds… rubes… idiots. We talk funny. One of the greatest regrets of my life was moving north and over time losing what Yankees referred to as “my accent”, which was never as distinct as many of my friends and neighbors.

Sorry, I digress.

In Human Events, AWR Hawkins asks the prescient question, “When is Barack going to shoot the goose?”. We know that it has to come.

This is when liberal Dems get their picture taken in neatly pressed, spanking new camo, holding a gun, acting like “one of us”. They also attend the obligatory NASCAR race. Maybe they’ll attend an SEC or ACC football game.

Given the media’s love affair with the ONE, at least Obama won’t be ridiculed in the MSM. It still won’t sell to folks down home. They can spot a phony from the next county.

What about Joe Biden? Oh, he’ll be REEEEAL popular down home. Given his record as one of the most anti-gun legislators in history Obama’s handlers will probably keep Biden north of the border states.

That’s OK Joe. We still have that video of you questioning the mental health of a law abiding gun owner.

If you missed Saturday night’s telecast of John McCain and Barack Obama from the Saddleback Civil Forum you really missed something. After watching these two candidates give answers to identical questions (without being able to hear the other’s answers) there is no question which man should be our next President.

McCain gave serious answers to serious questions. While he wasn’t as charismatic as Obama, he was definitely more inspiring. I walked away Saturday night thinking that Obama, who is my age, was auditioning more for a high school popularity contest than the greatest civic office in the world.

Even though he tried to withhold his normal “Blame America First” shtick, he couldn’t help but whine about America’s perceived moral failings. As to be expected, the government just isn’t spending enough money.

Some key examples of the differences between these two men:

What is YOUR greatest moral failing?

• Obama – selfishness

• McCain – the failure of his first marriage

What was your toughest personal decision?

• Obama – whether or not to support the invasion of Iraq while running for the US Senate.

• McCain – refusing to allow the North Vietnamese to release him from prison ahead of those who had been there longer than he had.

On Education -

• Obama – Spend more. Pay teachers more. Merit pay ONLY if the teachers’ unions get to set the benchmarks.

• McCain – Merit pay, school choice and competition.

No wonder the NEA has pledged to spend so much for Barack Obama.

On Taxes -

• Obama – raise taxes for “the rich” so we can spend, spend, spend. “If you want x, y, z … then we have to raise taxes”.

• McCain – the problem isn’t taxing too little, it’s the government spending too much.

If anyone thinks that McCain pandered on this issue, check his record. He has consistently fought for lower spending and the elimination of earmarks.

There was no question that Obama was pandering for his entire hour. He attempted to claim that Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) would be someone he would reach out to for advice. While he couldn’t dodge the abortion issue, he danced around the edges as much as possible. On gay marriage he tried to walk as close to the line as possible without getting thrown out of the Democrat party -

“Civil unions – yes, marriage – no”? Get real. The only thing he said on this issue that made any sense was that marriage is a state issue. Of course so were a lot of things until the federal courts decided to amend the Constitution from the bench.

If you don’t watch any of the debates this fall, watch this one. The Saddleback Civil Forum, in one shot, became the gold standard for presidental debates. Links to the video are below.

Barack Obama at the Saddleback Civil Forum – Part 1

Barack Obama at the Saddleback Civil Forum – Part 2

Barack Obama at the Saddleback Civil Forum – Part 3

Barack Obama at the Saddleback Civil Forum – Part 4

Barack Obama on Saddleback Civil Forum – Part 5

John McCain at the Saddleback Civil Forum – Part 1

John McCain at Saddleback Civil Forum – Part 2

John McCain at the Saddleback Civil Forum – Part 3

John McCain at the Saddleback Civil Forum – Part 4