Conservative Corner: Social Injustice

There was a time in our not-too recent past when children would play sports and one team would win and one team would loose and that’s it. After a tough loose the team would dry their tears and try harder next time. Today, however, we don’t see anyone as winners or losers. Whether the kids win, loose, or ties a game; everyone wins an award of some kind. For that matter some want to eliminate the titles of “winners” and “losers” from the games all in the effort to not hurt the feeling of those who didn’t do as well. This is a form social justice that, unfortunately, is spreading.

            The meaning of social justice is quite clear in dictionary.com. It is the distribution of advantages and disadvantages within a society. In a world of pixie dust and rainbows this theory may be ideal, but in real world applications this is anything but, in fact, it is nearly considered theft from those who have earned an award or level of achievement. Even www.socialworkers.org refers to social justice as “the view that everyone deserves equal economic, political and social rights and opportunities.” A prime example of this may be seen in the case of concerning the New Haven, Connecticut Fire Department.

            In 2009 The Supreme Court was asked to decide whether there was a need for special treatment for minorities, or whether enough progress has been made to make existing laws obsolete, especially in a political atmosphere in which an African-American occupies the White House, according to www.cnn.com. This was in response to a group of minorities who sued the New Haven, Connecticut Fire Department because the plaintiffs could not pass a promotional exam and thought it was because they were being racially discriminated against. The plaintiffs believed that the requirements of the department should be lowered to allow people to pass the exam especially if they are minorities. A visit to www.cityofnewhaven.com proves that there is no racial discrimination in the ranks of the firefighters from New Haven. The recruits and emergency personal are of many different nationalities.  I don’t know about you, but if I was in a fire, auto accident or another emergency situation, I would only want the best to help me despite their skin color or nationality, unfortunately, not everyone feels this way.

            Ever since Obama used that notorious comment in front of Joe the Plumber during his 2008 election campaign tour, “spreading the wealth” has seemed to become the battle cry for liberals and progressives. Someone will always have more and will do better than you, and it seems like, according to liberals and progressives, it is up to the government to take away from those who have worked hard for what they have and give it to those who chose to do little or nothing all in the name or political or social justice.  

            Many on the left, especially those in Hollywood, make millions in the entertainment industry while preaching on income equality and the evils of the rich corporations who make money on the low and middle income wage earners. The left seems to turn a blind eye towards this kind of hypocrisy, especially if the rich support the liberals and the left.

            According to socialworktoday.com the reasons for social justice are so minorities, women, immigrants and gays and lesbians can have equal access to everything that others have. That may have been a good thing for a short time, however, like many other things, progressive groups seem to think that if they can get something for pushing for “equal” treatment, then how much more can they acquire for pushing even harder?

            This appears to be the agenda for the progressive movement. Either they change what they can to get their way, or they create law suites to make sure they get what they wish.  I can easily see supporting equal treatment, but for some on the left and progressives, too much is never enough. Some minorities even have more equality than others and still not are satisfied. If a certain minority feels they aren’t treated “fairly” they will contact the American Civil Liberties Union and peruse legal actions until their needs are met.

            The next time you take an exam, try not to amend the levels if you cannot achieve the level of physical or mental ability that the exam requires. What is more racist, lowering the standards for everyone so everyone is equally “average” or keeping the standards high so everyone can strive to be the best they can be and being proud of what is earned. It seems that social justice prays on racism, so why do we keep on bringing it up. It seems to me that social justice is anything but justice.

                                                   Dkhummel.com, dkhummel.blogspot.com

           

Conservative Corner: The Lost Children

Something very special happens when a person gazes into the eyes of a child. The beauty and innocents of that fresh face is enough to melt the coldest of hearts. The birth of a child can bring overwhelming love, happiness and joy to the eyes of the family.  A newborn brings on new and exciting challenges to first time parents and gives a huge sense of love and pride to the family who are given a brand new addition and a guarantee that the family line will continue. Unfortunately, some women chose to end the young life that grows inside them.

Doctors in the United States preformed 1.21 million abortions in 2005. According to www.womenscenter.com, 40% of pregnancies among white women, 69% among blacks and 54% among Hispanics are unintended. Oregonian women have had their share of abortions. It has been reported by www.johnstonsarchive.net that the Oregon has had 4,928 abortions in 2013.  Linn County women experienced 165 abortions in 2012 and 139 in 2013 as public.health.oregon.gov tells us. It is sad that so many Oregon women have chosen to take the life of their child.

One of the organizations that have provided many of these life-ending choices is the oxy-moron know as Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood does offer other important services, like care for STDs, birth control, and men’s women’s health, however, in 2012  51 percent of Planned Parenthood’s yearly clinic income, their only self-sustaining revenue source, comes from tax payer-funded abortion according to www.lifenews.com.

The question many have asked is when life actually begins. This question seems to make it easier for some women to end the life of their child. Perhaps the idea that is the young life inside of them isn’t really a child, but just a glob of cells. This is a futile notion. CNN reported that Dr. Joseph DeCook, executive director of the American Association of Pro-life Obstetricians and Gynecologists, has said an embryo is a living human being at the moment of fertilization. Dr. Cook went on with “There’s no question at all when human life begins, when the two sets of chromosomes get together, you have a complete individual. It’s the same as you and I but less developed.”

It seems to me when a woman goes for an abortion it is an incredible selfish act. She will claim that is her body and her choice, however, for the next 9 months she won’t be the only one in there. She may also say that there is no other way, but there is always a way for the life of a child. I can maybe see the use for an abortion if the birth is complicated and the mother’s and child’s life is in danger, but even under rape or incest, if the mother doesn’t need or want the reminder of a truly traumatic experience, someone will want to adopt the child no matter the mother’s back ground.

The life of a child is truly a blessed gift from God, so why would we just throw them away? Let’s end most of these senseless murders and not have any more forever lost children.

                               Dkhummel.com, dkhummel.blogspot.com

Conservative Corner: A Grass Roots Birthday

When citizens of a constitutional republic are happy, or even satisfied, with their government’s actions they just go about their daily lives. However, there are times in a government when greed and corruption manage to taint the system that many people gave their life for. Our founding fathers were statesmen, not politicians.  The founding fathers knew if the evils of greed and corruption were allowed in the Congress it could result in the government controlling the people instead of the people controlling the government.

Just as it was foreseen, those evils have made themselves comfortably at home in Washington DC in the hearts of our lawmakers and have turned them from statesmen to politicians. There is a group of patriots, however, who are fighting this kind of corruption and tyranny. These people, despite what you may have been told, are in fact, a grass-roots organization. These people are citizens, veterans, and patriots who are black, white, old young, men and women of any political or social value and see the need to stand up and fight for the Constitution, Bill of Rights and America. The group does not see themselves as an official political party, but only as a movement. This group of American activists call themselves the Tea Party.

Last month the Tea Party group celebrated their 5^th anniversary. The good news is the group is celebrating five years and going of fighting for the Constitution and America. The bad news is because of negative news media coverage and ill-informed liberals; the party has gotten bad publicity. This kind of negativity has made the Tea Party appear to the average American as a bad group that has even tainted their appearance to the Republican establishment. Weather you fully support the grass-roots organization, or hate them; you cannot deny the power of the Tea Party.

During the 2010 mid-term elections Tea Party candidates were voted in to congress and tilted the power of the House of Representatives from the Democrats to the Republicans. This was quite a blow to the party that shoved Obamacare, tax increases, auto bail-outs and the “stimulus” down the throats of America. Its government intrusions like these that the Tea Party fights against.  

 Many in the Tea Party movement credit the original Boston Tea Party of 1773 as the driving force for its actions.  According to www.infoplease.com CNBC's Rick Santelli is credited for the inspiration of the grassroots movement. While on the floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange on February 19, 2009, Santelli unleashed a rant against the Obama Administration's proposal to help homeowners facing foreclosure refinance their mortgages. This began an onslaught of people who either haven’t protested in many years, or not at all, to pick up a copy of the Constitution, the American Flag, and a home-made sign and proclaim their support for a strong military, traditional family values, gun ownership, small government, a balanced budget, an end to deficit spending, reducing taxes, and an end to government intrusion. A visit to www.teaparty.org will explain the groups goals and values.

I keep hearing from liberals about the influence that big corporations and the Koch Bros. have over the Tea Party. It is said that the Tea Party is “owned and operated” by the big corporations and the Koch Bros. To my knowledge, this is just propaganda put out by the Democrats and liberals to discredit the tea party. I consider myself a Tea Party follower and I have never received money from anyone for my support of the movement, nor have I ever hear of anyone receiving money for their protesting.

Why does the left think so poorly of the tea party? I would guess because some liberals and progressives feel threatened by the values that the movement supports like small government, low taxes, the support of the 1^st and 2^nd Amendments, the right to life, traditional marriage, less regulations and more freedoms. Why else would tea party members be labeled such awful names like racists, homophobes, rednecks, and sometimes even domestic terrorists?   

No matter what you may think of the Tea Party, they are here to stay. As long as there is an overbearing, tyrannical government attempting to take away basic American rights and values they will be there to support the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and the country that our founding fathers fought so hard to create. Join me in wishing a very happy birthday to the Tea Party with many more to come!

                           Dkhummel.com, dkhummel.blogspot.com

Conservative Corner: The World’s Policeman

Since the beginning of our county we have prided ourselves in the fact that we, as Americans, are free and been blessed with God-given rights including life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Our constitution guaranties this. The United States was the first county in modern history to exercise our form of government successfully. Democracy is a wonderful thing, unfortunately, it is not for everyone. Some governments may have a modified form of democracy or not at all. One of the biggest problems our elected officials and leaders face is to have the wisdom of when to help out in another country’s problems and knowing when to keep to ourselves.

In cases like the attack by the Japanese on Pearl Harbor and the terrorist attacks on 9/11the choice seemed just and right. Defending American soil and the defense of American lives is always important and a worthy reason for our country to activate America’s armed forces. Unfortunately, our reasons for going to war or to have our military participate in “police actions” may not always been as worthy and just as some of us would like it to be.

World War I and II both seemed like worthy causes for the United States to be involved with. The Korean Conflict and the Vietnam War had different reasons for fighting. During WWII Americans fought against Hitler’s army and the Japanese Empire, however, in Korea and Vietnam it wasn’t that simple. After WWII we began a new kind of conflict known as the Cold War. It was not necessarily a war of bombs and bullets, although munitions were defiantly used, it was mainly a war between democracy vs. communism, socialism vs. capitalism and them vs. us. It began a war of conspiracy, paranoia, accusations, and fear. I joined the U.S. Army in 1986 and we were always preparing to do battle against the communistic forces of the Soviet Union. However, with the fall of the Berlin Wall, it was thought that communism may also have fallen. Now, of course, our military of today had a new enemy to prepare for, terrorists and terrorist cells.

The war against terrorists and terrorism is one of those wars that is fought both in the battle field of the Mid-East and in our own back yard. Because of 9/11, we are threatened by inspections, searches and sometimes improper “pat-downs” in search of devises that could be used to turn a plane in to a missile. Even though Osama Bin Laden is no longer on this Earth, in the long run he and his network of terrorists have won the battle of the mind. It appears now, unfortunately, that communism may be, once again, rearing its ugly head.

When the Iron Curtain fell some of its states broke away from the Soviet Union to create their own governments. Some did well; some weren’t so fortunate and suffered with corrupt governments and protesting for years. Ukraine is one of these countries struggling with trying to establish a government that will make all of its residents happy. It is becoming quite a challenge. Ukrainian elections have been suffering from various degrees of malpractice for the last few years according to www.independent.co.uk. The web site went on to say that the elections “were marked by the abuse of state resources, lack of transparency of campaign and party financing, and the lack of balanced media coverage”.

Last Sunday the Russian Army moved in and took control of a badly out-numbered military base at Perevalne. No shots were fired and www.nbcnews.com said that the Ukrainian soldiers were feeling overwhelmed with sheer numbers, rocket propelled grenades at the ready, and the fact that many of the people in the area are pro-Russian. The Ukrainians just laid down their weapons.

Is America going to help Ukrainian President Viktor F. Yanukovych fight the Russians? That is something we will find out. Like with Syria, I believe the last thing we need to do is help another country fight a civil war. With the national debt over $17 trillion and growing, the cutbacks in our military going to pre-WWII levels and the decline of the quality of our military personnel, the last thing we need is to engage in more wars we can’t win or afford.

I have no problem with our military fighting a just and moral battle for freedom and democracy, however, we have been fighting long enough. It’s time we pulled back, regrouped, lick our wounds and take care of our own. Isn’t it about time we stopped being the world’s police and keep our noses to ourselves this time? We have enough troubles of our own to deal with. Let’s deal with them.

Dkhummel.com, dkhummel.blogspot.com