Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Liberalized center is 'Capitol' crime
by Matthew Spalding, Ph.D. | Heritage Foundation | December 2, 2008
As an expert in the U.S. Constitution and America's founding, I thought I had lost the ability to be shocked by politically correct distortions of our history. Then I visited the new Capitol Visitor Center.
The just-completed Visitor Center, which opens Dec. 2, is a 580,000-square-foot cavern dug at the foot of the U.S. Capitol at a cost of $621 million (almost nine times over budget).
The Capitol is a noble monument to American liberty. The neoclassical architecture is meant to be approached from afar. We are supposed to walk up vast flights of stairs to enter a magnificent rotunda, inspired to reflect on the grandeur of our self-governing republic.
Now the public will approach the Capitol underground and enter, mole-like, through the basement.
What Congress has arranged for the public to be taught before they get in is a scandal.
Designed to provide "an enhanced educational experience," the Visitor Center allows guests to make on-line reservations before spending time at two gift shops, enjoying a 530-seat restaurant, visiting any of 26 restrooms or watching an orientation film in one of two theaters, all in air-conditioned comfort.
The "educational" part is the Exhibition Hall, the theme of which is "E Pluribus Unum -- Out of Many, One." The etching in marble initially referred to that phrase as the nation's motto. Now, however, that etching is covered by a bad plaster job, because … well, "E Pluribus Unum" is not the nation's motto. Our actual motto, "In God We Trust," is notably absent, along with other references to faith.
read the whole thing
As an expert in the U.S. Constitution and America's founding, I thought I had lost the ability to be shocked by politically correct distortions of our history. Then I visited the new Capitol Visitor Center.
The just-completed Visitor Center, which opens Dec. 2, is a 580,000-square-foot cavern dug at the foot of the U.S. Capitol at a cost of $621 million (almost nine times over budget).
The Capitol is a noble monument to American liberty. The neoclassical architecture is meant to be approached from afar. We are supposed to walk up vast flights of stairs to enter a magnificent rotunda, inspired to reflect on the grandeur of our self-governing republic.
Now the public will approach the Capitol underground and enter, mole-like, through the basement.
What Congress has arranged for the public to be taught before they get in is a scandal.
Designed to provide "an enhanced educational experience," the Visitor Center allows guests to make on-line reservations before spending time at two gift shops, enjoying a 530-seat restaurant, visiting any of 26 restrooms or watching an orientation film in one of two theaters, all in air-conditioned comfort.
The "educational" part is the Exhibition Hall, the theme of which is "E Pluribus Unum -- Out of Many, One." The etching in marble initially referred to that phrase as the nation's motto. Now, however, that etching is covered by a bad plaster job, because … well, "E Pluribus Unum" is not the nation's motto. Our actual motto, "In God We Trust," is notably absent, along with other references to faith.
read the whole thing
hear Cecilia Muñoz speak about immigration
fast forward to 2:46 to hear Ms Muñoz.
Cecilia Muñoz is an 18-year veteran of the National Council of La Raza (NCLR), and has been tapped for President-elect Barack Obama’s White House staff.
La Raza Activist Joins Obama White House Staff
Wednesday, December 03, 2008
By Penny Starr, Senior Staff Writer
(CNSNews.com) – An 18-year veteran of the National Council of La Raza (NCLR), who advocated for federal legislation to give the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in the United States a path to citizenship, has been tapped for President-elect Barack Obama’s White House staff.
Cecilia Muñoz, who currently serves as senior vice president for the office of research, advocacy and legislation at the NCLR, will serve as director for intergovernmental affairs in the Obama administration.
. . . Bob Dane, spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), told CNSNews.com that the director of intergovernmental affairs will play a critical role in the next administration, but it is a role that may be difficult for Muñoz to fulfill, given her background.
“Her affiliation with La Raza taints her ability to represent the broader national interest,” Dane said. “La Raza exists as a way to systematically dismantle enforcement and any semblance of discipline in the immigration system. Are we to believe that she is going to distance herself in her new role to represent the broader national interest?”
read the whole thing
Monday, December 1, 2008
it's just too easy
Take away people's guns, and yes, you've heard it before . . . only outlaws will have guns.
good-bye Posse Comitatus
Pentagon to detail military to bolster security --
Plan would dedicate 20,000 uniformed troops inside U.S. by 2011
By Spencer S. Hsu and Ann Scott Tyson
updated 9:46 p.m. MT, Sun., Nov. 30, 2008 | Washington Post
The U.S. military expects to have 20,000 uniformed troops inside the United States by 2011 trained to help state and local officials respond to a nuclear terrorist attack or other domestic catastrophe, according to Pentagon officials.
The long-planned shift in the Defense Department's role in homeland security was recently backed with funding and troop commitments after years of prodding by Congress and outside experts, defense analysts said.
There are critics of the change, in the military and among civil liberties groups and libertarians who express concern that the new homeland emphasis threatens to strain the military and possibly undermine the Posse Comitatus Act, a 130-year-old federal law restricting the military's role in domestic law enforcement.
read the whole thing
quotes
All socialism involves slavery.... That which fundamentally distinguishes the slave is that he labors under coercion to satisfy another's desires. The relation admits of many gradations. Oppressive taxation is a form of slavery of the individual to the community as a whole. The essential question is -- How much is he compelled to labor for other benefit than his own, and how much can he labor for his own benefit? --Herbert Spencer
You and I are told we must choose between a left or right, but I suggest there is no such thing as a left or right. There is only an up or down. Up to man's age-old dream--the maximum of individual freedom consistent with order -- or down to the ant heap of totalitarianism. Regardless of their sincerity, their humanitarian motives, those who would sacrifice freedom for security have embarked on this downward path. Plutarch warned, 'The real destroyer of the liberties of the people is he who spreads among them bounties, donations and benefits.' --Ronald Reagan
You and I are told we must choose between a left or right, but I suggest there is no such thing as a left or right. There is only an up or down. Up to man's age-old dream--the maximum of individual freedom consistent with order -- or down to the ant heap of totalitarianism. Regardless of their sincerity, their humanitarian motives, those who would sacrifice freedom for security have embarked on this downward path. Plutarch warned, 'The real destroyer of the liberties of the people is he who spreads among them bounties, donations and benefits.' --Ronald Reagan
act now and we'll throw in a Joe Biden Chia Pet for only $19.95
Now you can own a piece of history! Celebrate the victorious election of our 44th President of the United States, America's first African-American Commander in Chief, with the commemorative plate
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