Thanksgiving wishes

  

We take a moment to reflect today on the many blessings we enjoy as citizens of this great land, and wish the abundant bounties of this uniquely American holiday to each and every one of our readers.

‘Happy Holidays’ from AZ Capitol Times

An email from former Maricopca County Republican Chairman, Lyle Tuttle, contained this impossible-to-argue-with message:

As I brought in my mail, I noticed I had received an elaborate card from Arizona Capitol Times. Two items caught my eye.

1. The message on the front of the card was ”Happy Holidays.”
2. That greeting was accompanied by an offer to subscribe to their publication.

One must assume they are referring to Christmas, based on the photo of branches covered with snow as the background on the card. Further, there were no pumpkins, turkeys, fall colors, all suggesting Thanksgiving, nor were there any menorahs for Chanukah, nor party hats and champagne for New Year festivities. Of course, there was nothing suggestive of Kwanzaa.

I am returning their kind offer of a subscription with a ‘gentle’ reminder to them that it is CHRISTMAS, not ‘Holiday.’

How about you?

Isn’t it time we stopped being PC Wimps and returned to calling it what it is: CHRISTMAS.

Shame on the Dolan Media Company, aka Arizona Capital Times.  This disappointing greeting is not going to win my business. I hope others agree, Tuttle wrote.

Seeing Red AZ joins in that thought.

Atheists declare God is “an affront”

House Minority Leader John Boehner and 44 other Republican lawmakers have joined a legal crusade to keep “In God We Trust” inscribed above the newly constructed visitors’ entrance to the U.S. Capitol.

In July, the Freedom From Religion Foundation filed a federal lawsuit to block the engravings at the visitor center. The group claims the phrase and the Pledge of Allegiance violate the separation of church and state.

Earlier this week, the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) filed a brief in U.S. District Court arguing the lawsuit borders on the frivolous.

“The fact is that Congress acted appropriately and consistent with the Constitution with the inclusion of the national motto and the Pledge of Allegiance in the Capitol Visitor Center,” said Jay Sekulow, chief counsel of the ACLJ. “These expressions echo the sentiments found in the Declaration of Independence and recognize the undeniable truth that our freedoms come from God.”

Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, said she hopes to have the Supreme Court eventually decide whether the national motto violates the First Amendment.

“The engraving at the Capitol Visitor Center is an affront to the 15 percent of Americans who do not believe in God,” she said. “The First Amendment states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”

The GOP lawmakers argue that the intent was to prohibit a state-sponsored religion – not to remove all references to God from government.

Read more in the Cincinnati Inquirer here.

Honoring Our Veterans (Parade route included)

Veterans Day parade: 11:00 AM – 2 PM today

The annual VA Veterans Day Parade will kick off this morning at 11 A.M.. This year’s parade theme is “Home of the Free, Because of the Brave,” honoring veterans who have fought in the war efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan, also referred to as the Global War on Terror.

The parade is one of the nation’s premier Veterans Day parades, with more than 200,000 people expected to attend. The Phoenix-based commemoration is one of the largest such events in the nation and has been designated as a Regional Site for celebrating the holiday.

It will feature approximately 100 entries, including historic military vehicles; numerous Veterans Service Organizations, marching units, color guards, canine and equestrian units, floats, giant helium balloons and bands.

This year’s Celebrity Grand Marshall is Dave Pratt, well-known local radio personality, entertainer, author and community supporter.

Phoenix Veterans Day Parade route:

The Parade runs northbound from the Carl T. Hayden VA Medical Center, beginning at Seventh Street and Montecito, turning westbound on Camelback Road, then northbound on Central Avenue to Bethany Home Road, where it will conclude at North Phoenix Baptist Church.

The Phoenix VA Health Care System’s Veterans Day Parade began in 1997 with 50 entries and approximately 10,000 spectators. The Parade is designed to commemorate and honor our veterans and to educate Americans about the service and sacrifices our veterans have made to protect our freedoms.

For additional information, including the listing of Grand Marshals, check here.  A photo display of participants and floats from the 2008 parade and events can be seen here.

Ronald Reagan at Brandenburg Gate: “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”

 

World leaders — minus Barack Hussein Obama — gathered in Berlin today, two decades after the fall of the wall, to celebrate and reflect on the event. Many will remember that we once had a president who didn’t travel the world apologizing for America, but reveled in its greatness and referred to it as “the shining city upon a hill,” whose beacon light guides freedom-loving people everywhere.

Symbolizing the fall of the Berlin Wall, 1,000 towering plastic foam dominoes were placed along the wall’s route to be tipped over. The New York Times, European edition has a spectacular pictorial covering the time line.

A special Veterans Day show of appreciation

Three major dining chains —Applebee’s, McCormick & Schmick’s and Golden Corral — are offering free meals to veterans and active-duty military personnel in observance of Veterans Day. (The official holiday is Wednesday.)

Applebee’s: Applebee’s is offering a free entree on Wednesday to veterans and all active-duty military from 11 a.m. to midnight at all 1,900 locations. Although Applebee’s requests some kind of military ID, “We’re not going to argue with folks who might forget to bring it,” says Sam Rothschild, senior vice president of operations.

McCormick & Schmick’s: For the 11th year in a row, the 87 locations in 25 states are offering free entrees to veterans on Sunday. The chain also requests military ID and highly recommends reservations. The promotion is on Sunday instead of Veterans Day, “because it allows vets to bring their families who might not be available during the week,” CEO Bill Freeman says.

Golden Corral: The 485-unit chain is offering free buffet meals — including beverage and dessert — to current military and vets on Monday, Nov. 16, from 5 to 9 p.m. No military ID is required for its ninth annual Military Appreciation Monday, says Dolly Mercer, national events manager. The event is held on this date, she says, “so we don’t interfere with Veterans Day activities.”

Others are in the mix with promotions. Outback Steakhouse offers a free Bloomin’ Onion appetizer and beverage to past and present military members on Wednesday, and Krispy Kreme has free doughnuts. Home Depot and Lowe’s are offering 10% discounts to military and vets, according to a USAToday report.

Seeing Red AZ joins in sending sincere gratitude to all of our military personnel — past and current — for your dedication to keeping America free.

Obama: Making polygamy a 21st Century issue

No sooner had we celebrated the exit of Barack Obama’s Green Jobs Czar, Van Jones, because of his Communist connections, another off-the-wall Administration embarrassment surfaced. President Obama nominated for commissioner of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) a woman who signed a radical manifesto endorsing polygamy.

We thought our nation had settled the polygamy issue a century and a half ago, but this nomination makes it a 21st century controversy. Obama’s nominee for the EEOC, a lesbian law-school professor named Chai R. Feldblum, signed a 2006 manifesto endorsing polygamous households.

Read the complete article by Phyllis Schlafly. It concludes with these words:

We may have to depend on the Republican Party to maintain government’s proper role in defining and protecting traditional marriage. The very first Platform adopted by the Republican Party, in 1856, condemned polygamy and slavery as the “twin relics of barbarism,” and the 2008 Republican Platform calls for “a constitutional amendment that fully protects marriage as a union of a man and a woman, so that judges cannot make other arrangements equivalent to it.”

Celebrating the 45th Anniversary of “The Speech”

Watch and enjoy: “A Time for Choosing” — October 27, 1964

Arizona Republic: Take the wax out of your ears!

Today’s daily reports on the press conference Sen. Russell Pearce (R-Dist.18) held yesterday on the state Capitol lawn. Well, let’s be honest. They don’t actually report.  They contort, warp and deceive. And that’s just in the headline.

Emblazoned on the front of the Valley & State section is this article topper: Immigration foes pledge new bill, voter initiative. The article calls it an “anti-migrant push,” and uses the fallacious term “undocumented immigrants.”

Apparently the newspaper’s cutbacks and slicing of benefits included hearing exams. Numerous times, various speakers stressed the fact that America is indebted to its immigrants. Those assembled were not anti-immigrant.  In fact several of the speakers were Hispanic and immigrants, including activist  Anna Gaines. There is a vast difference between actual immigrants who enter this country lawfully and assimilate to become proud Americans as generations of newcomers to this country have done — and those who enter in violation of the law. 

Sen. Pearce announced that he will urge Gov. Jan Brewer to call a special legislative session to enable lawmakers to respond to recent attempts by the federal government to erode Arizona’s progress in combating the costly problem of illegal immigration. Pearce plans an initiative campaign as a backup to the legislative effort, which is called “Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act.”

Key components include prohibiting sanctuary cities, criminalizing unlawful entry and granting subpoena powers to prosecutors to enforce the state’s employer sanctions law.

“If you say you are going to secure our borders, then secure them, if you say you are going to enforce the law, then enforce it. If you take an oath of office, then keep it,” Pearce said.

He was joined by Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio; Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas; former congressman and current KFYI radio talk show host J.D. Hayworth; Mark Spencer, president of the Phoenix Law Enforcement Association (PLEA); Brandon Judd, Vice President of the Border Patrol Officers Association; and numerous legislators and supporters.

Keep America Safe

The recently launched Keep America Safe focuses on such issues as troop levels, missile defense, detainees, and interrogation, according to Liz Cheney, who heads the group along with Weekly Standard editor William Kristol and Debra Burlingame.

Here is their first commercial, aired last evening on the Sean Hannity Show.

And unlike Obama’s Department of Homeland Security, with former Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano at the helm  — providing none of what the title of her office implies — the team at Keep America Safe is not afraid to use the words, “We face a growing threat from rogue regimes” or “foreign terrorists.”