December 25-31, 2020
Dec 25 00:09 The King of kings & Lord of Lords Dec 26 23:56 Keith Ellison's warped priorities Dec 27 19:36 The perfect Walz Christmas gift Dec 28 13:48 William Clark refuses to unlearn, sues Nevada charter school Dec 31 06:00 Peacetime Emergency Powers reform
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The King of kings & Lord of Lords
Over 2020 years ago, the Man known as the King of kings and Lord of lords was born. The Gospel of Luke Chapter 2 provides the best details of what happened the night of Jesus' birth:
And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed. 2 (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) 3 And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. 4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) 5 To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. 6 And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. 7 And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.
8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. 10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. 12 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, 14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
That night over 2020 years ago, the God who created the universe stepped out of eternity and into time and space. The what is important. The why is far more important. Before moving on, though, think of the example Christ set by where he wasn't born.
Christ wasn't born in a hospital, house or hotel. Christ was born in a barn. After he was born, he was wrapped in "swaddling clothes" and placed in a cleaned out feeding trough. The King of kings humbled Himself to that extent to bring eternal life to all who want a relationship with Him.
Earth was Jesus' birthplace. Heaven is His home. Hebrews Chapter 11 instructs us about what God's children want:
13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off [e]were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. 14 For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. 15 And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God , for He has prepared a city for them.
In an act of extreme love, God sent us a Saviour so that we could spend eternity with Him. God wants that relationship with us that much. In the summer of 1975, I accepted that invitation. I'd love to have you join me. There's an old saying that goes like this: 'Life has many choices. Eternity has 2.'
To accept Jesus' invitation, all you have to do is admit that you're a sinner who needs the forgiveness that only Christ provides. Please accept that invitation ASAP.
Posted Friday, December 25, 2020 12:09 AM
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Keith Ellison's warped priorities
Keith Ellison's priorities are getting clearer with each lawsuit . This week, the "Minnesota Department of Public Safety Alcohol and Gambling Enforcement Division has let Cornerstone Cafe in Monticello, The Interchange in Albert Lea and The Pour House in Clarks Grove know of its intention to revoke their liquor licenses for 60 days for violating Gov. Tim Walz's Executive Order 20-99."
That's just part of it. According to the article, "Alibi Drinkery in Lakeville, Mission Tavern in Merrifield, Neighbors on the Rum in Princeton and Boardwalk Bar & Grill in East Grand Forks, which the Attorney General's Office also has a temporary restraining order against, are among those facing suspensions."
Cease-and-desist orders and restraining orders
Meanwhile, Attorney General Keith Ellison's office has filed lawsuits against Cornerstone Cafe, Cork in Anoka, Neighbors on the Rum, Boardwalk Bar & Grill and St. Patrick's Tavern in New Prague.
Ellison and Walz are doing their best to put Minnesota out of business. These bars aren't causing the spread of COVID. Walz and Ellison know that. They don't care apparently. They're power-tripping and loving every minute of it. The only cure for that disease is firing them the next time they're up for re-election. This is exactly the right way of thinking of Gov. Walz during this Christmas season:
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Gov. Walz isn't a leader. He's an autocrat. There's a gigantic difference between the 2. An autocrat says 'go this direction.' A leader says 'let's head this direction.' An autocrat gives orders. A leader provides insight, instruction. Gov. Walz isn't insightful. He doesn't provide leadership, either.
Keith Ellison is an autocrat, too. Thus far as Minnesota's AG, he's been thrilled to push people around. That's especially true of mom and pop restaurants. As a young attorney, he ran interference for Joanne Chesimard, aka Akata Shakur, and for Kathleen Soliah :
Sara Jane Olson pleaded guilty Wednesday to possessing bombs with intent to murder Los Angeles police officers. The St. Paul resident said despite her guilty plea, she is innocent of the charges. Olson says she wasn't able to get a fair trial in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks. Local supporters say they're surprised, but supportive of Olson's decision.
Sara Jane Olson, previously known as Kathleen Soliah, had been charged with conspiring to blow up two police cars in 1975. Prosecutors said the bombs were retaliation for the deaths of six Symbionese Liberation Army members who died in a shootout. The bombs never exploded. Since the incident, Olson, 54, had been living in St. Paul and was arrested here two years ago. The actress and mother of three has always maintained her innocence.
Keith Ellison isn't a leader, either. Pushing people around is his specialty, too. He's enforcing a dictate that isn't enforceable. The court rule is that a solution must be the least intrusive when taking away a person's fundamental rights. Feeding one's family is definitely a fundamental right.
Further, the court is supposed to insist that there be proof that the dictate be proven scientifically. With roughly 2% of COVID cases coming from restaurants, it's safe to say that shutting down restaurants isn't the least intrusive solution. In fact, it isn't proof that it's a solution. I'd argue that a court is giving the government too much deference in these cases.
Posted Saturday, December 26, 2020 11:56 PM
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The perfect Walz Christmas gift
Representative-Elect Erik Mortensen has figured out the perfect Christmas gift for Gov. Walz . I'd just nitpick a little by saying anyone voting to keep businesses closed should get the same 'gift'. According to Representative-Elect Mortensen's Facebook post , he wrote "Finally found the perfect present for Governor Tim Walz," reads Mortensen's post. "When a Governor orders people out of work, he shouldn't receive a paycheck either."
I agree with Representative-Elect Erik Mortensen that Gov. Walz shouldn't get a paycheck in that situation. I'd argue, though, that legislators who vote to keep businesses closed by keeping Gov. Walz's Peacetime Emergency Powers intact shouldn't get paid their salary, their per diem or other payments, too. These DFL politicians are to blame, too. If the DFL voted to end this ridiculous shutdown, Gov. Walz couldn't do the job-killing things that he's doing.
I know virtually nothing about Representative-Elect Mortensen but he's already one of my favorite Republicans. I hope there are more Republicans like him in both houses of the legislature. I especially want more Republicans like him in the Senate, where Republicans can stop Gov. Walz's boneheaded ideas dead in their tracks.
This morning on @Issue, Andy Brehm stated things emphatically when he said that tax increases should be DOA with Republicans. I wholeheartedly agree. Minnesota has a spending problem. Were already in the top 5 in state income taxes. We don't need to become more uncompetitive.
PS- I'm glad I took the time to do a search on Representative-Elect Mortensen. I found this video, which I found invigorating:
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Posted Sunday, December 27, 2020 7:36 PM
Comment 1 by eric z at 03-Jan-21 09:33 PM
Is the My Pillow guy going to be the GOP candidate? He is a multimillionaire. So he can outspend Walz from within his own money. He does not need little guys to invest in his dreams. He can buy his own.
William Clark refuses to unlearn, sues Nevada charter school
Thank God (literally) for William Clark, a high school senior at a charter school in Nevada. He and his mother filed a lawsuit, titled Clark v. State Public Charter School Authority , on the grounds that it's violating his First and Fourteenth Amendment rights .
According to the lawsuit, "the young plaintiff William Clark and his mother Gabrielle Clark claim their First and Fourteenth Amendment rights were being violated. Students were allegedly told that by refusing to identify with an oppressive group, they were exercising their privilege or underscoring their role as an oppressor." That's just part of it. Here's more information on what's happening:
William was directed "in class to ' unlearn ' the basic Judeo-Christian principles [his mother] imparted to him, and then [the school] retaliated against [him]."
"Some racial, sexual, gender and religious identities, once revealed,"the complaint states, "are officially singled out in the programming as inherently problematic, and assigned pejorative moral attributes by Defendants."
That's what real oppression looks like. That isn't perceived oppression. It's definitely real.
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William Clark was required for assignments the legal complaint says "to reveal his racial, sexual, gender, sexual orientation, disabilities and religious identities," by his teacher who greeted the students by saying, "Hello my wonderful social justice warriors!" Clark was told the next step would be to determine if parts of his identity "have privilege or oppression attached to it." Privilege was defined as "the inherent belief in the inferiority of the oppressed group."
The legal argument the Clarks make is that William is being compelled "to make professions about his racial, sexual, gender and religious identities in verbal class exercises and in graded, written homework assignments which were subject to the scrutiny, interrogation and derogatory labeling of students, teachers and school administrators." The defendants "are coercing him to accept and affirm politicized and discriminatory principles and statements that he cannot in conscience affirm."
This is professional brow-beating by unaccountable administrators. That's otherwise known as indoctrination, which is totally unacceptable. Most importantly, telling people what they're allowed to practice in terms of religion is what started the writing of the Declaration of Independence, which led directly to the Revolutionary War, then subsequently to the First Amendment. The oppressor isn't white people. It's Big Government Democrats ! They're the people governing by fiat. Think Tim Walz, Gavin Newsom, Gretchen Whitmer, Andrew Cuomo, Lori Lightfoot, Keith Ellison and Eric Garcetti.
How many lives have those Democrats ruined this year? It's disgusting. These Democrats have ruined lives through school indoctrination, COVID shutdowns and one-size-fits-all COVID policies. Whitmer, Newsom and Pelosi have disgusted people through the Democrats' do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do fiats. It's time to throw these jacka$$es out of office the next election.
Most importantly, it's time to stand up for the Constitution and the First Amendment. If we do that, though, it's essential that all who trust in the First Amendment stand up together. William Clark has provided the example. I pray that we all stand with him in this fight.
Posted Monday, December 28, 2020 1:48 PM
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Peacetime Emergency Powers reform
It's been clear for months that the statutes pertaining to the governors' Peacetime Emergency Powers needed reforming. Currently, the authorities get extended if the governor says they're required and either the House or Senate agrees with the governor.
What's required is for these authorities to be limited to 30 days initially. If the authorities need to be extended, then both the House and Senate must be required to approve of the extension. In this instance, a Democrat House is protecting a DFL governor. There might be a time when an extension is required. I'm not disputing that. What I'm disputing is the situation that we're currently in. The current situation includes the governor unilaterally shutting down cafes and restaurants :
Five more Minnesota restaurants have been issued cease-and-desist orders and license suspension notices from the Minnesota Department of Health. A press release from the MDH claims Long Pine Store in Pine River was observed on Dec. 18 serving beverages in person, and Jamieson's on Main in Oslo was found serving food for in-person dining on Dec. 21.
Investigators determined "that the facilities had violated executive orders designed to protect their employees, customers, and communities from the COVID-19 pandemic." The governor's Executive Order 20-99 prohibits restaurants and bars from offering dine-in options. Cease-and-desist orders were issued to both within the last week, as well as notices of "license suspension." The news release does not specify which licenses MDH plans on suspending.
Gov. Walz unilaterally decided to shut these restaurants down. He didn't consult with the legislature. He didn't seek testimony from the restaurateurs or their worker. He just issued EO-99. He didn't even talk with these owners.
The DFL is complicit in this by extending the not-that-limited DFL lockdown by not ending Gov. Walz's shutdown. That means that the DFL, from Gov. Walz to Melissa Hortman, own this recession and deficit. This borders on the dictatorial:
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The Declaration of Independence emphatically states "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal , that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed , --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness."
Gov. Walz isn't issuing these executive orders with the consent of the governed . He's issuing them because he's trying to look like he's doing something while the ship sinks. Yes, the ship is sinking under his watch. Life savings have been lost. He's turned a surplus into a significant deficit. He and the DFL are threatening people with crippling fines for trying to make a living. He's done these things without listening to the people.
That's the definition of a tyrant!"
Posted Thursday, December 31, 2020 6:00 AM
Comment 1 by Chad Q at 31-Dec-20 11:11 AM
I agree whole heartedly that the statute needs to change but what is worse than unilateral power by one man/party is the people who are turning these bars and restaurants in for not bowing down to Walz' edicts. Bunch of brownshirt, jack-booted thugs each and every one of them. What a miserable life those people must lead.
Comment 2 by J. Ewing at 01-Jan-21 09:11 AM
I'm wondering when the government, or the Governor specifically as an individual, will be sued under the "takings" clause of the Constitution? I mean, you tell a man he cannot use his property in a lawful manner, you must compensate him for that.
Comment 3 by John Palmer at 01-Jan-21 09:54 PM
It is clear that the actions of the Governor has taken property rights from the businesses and individuals. It is possible the type of "takings" the Governor has employed is legal under current law. Also, as we have seen from the post election litigation, courts apparently can avoid hearing a case without considering the merits and injuries parties have no recourse.
Comment 4 by John Palmer at 01-Jan-21 09:58 PM
Maybe the quickest solution to Gov. Walz behavior is to recall him. Here is a link to how recall works in MN: https://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/hrd/pubs/ss/ssrecall.pdf
Comment 5 by eric z at 04-Jan-21 09:51 AM
Flies spread disease. Especially unmasked barflies. That, as I see it, is Walz's point. After closing time they go out and infect the remainder of the non-barfly world. If they kept it among themselves natural selection would cull them, but, not so, hence demand better behavior. This Repubican pissing and moaning is all aimed at ginning up dislike for Walz, who is too conservative for my liking, and my guess is Erin would have been much better, especially on the environmental issues. But Walz vs. the My Pillow guy; get real.
