Encourage LA County to Fight the ACLU
Topic: Cultural Civil War
(What are "political devotions"? Click here.)

FoxNews.com reports on the latest battle in the ACLU's radical secularism jihad:

LOS ANGELES The American Civil Liberties Union plans to sue Los Angeles County if it does not remove a cross from its official seal.

County officials say the cross represents the Spanish missions, which are part of California's history.

They add that it would be expensive to redesign the county seal, which was designed in 1957 and appears on most official county property: walls, documents, water bottles, uniforms, cars and trucks.

On Friday, the ACLU gave the county two weeks to eliminate the seal.

"What is the message that it sends?" said Ramona Ripson of the ACLU. "What that message is to everyone in California is one of Christianity, and we are a state of diverse people."

Last month, the threat of litigation by the ACLU forced the city of Redlands, about 50 miles east of Los Angeles, to redesign its 40-year-old logo, which also included a cross.

"Here you have this radical left-wing organization whose own symbol should be the hammer and sickle," said Mike Antonovich, one of five Los Angeles County supervisors. "They are using pressure tactics trying to rewrite history."

Some local officials argue that the cross simply reflects history. The ACLU says that shouldn't matter because some members of the public find it offensive.

The county has asked its lawyers for a legal opinion on whether to fight the ACLU.

If you would like to send a message to the LA County supervisors, encouraging them to fight the ACLU thought police with all means available, you can contact individual supervisors through the board of supervisors website, and here is a form for sending a message to county's Executive Officer.

"The phones in Washington just aren't ringing"
Topic: Judicial Tyranny
(What are "political devotions"? Click here.)

In the May 29, 2004 issue of World Magazine, Joel Beltz noted:

On the issue of homosexual marriage--almost unthinkable just a year ago--most evangelicals say they're opposed, but have profoundly disappointed conservative political activists by remaining largely silent on the issue. "The phones in Washington just aren't ringing," says Matt Daniels, author of the Federal Marriage Amendment, which would limit marriage to a union of one man and one woman

For Evangelicals whose opposition to judicial tyranny goes beyond mere talk, Focus on the Family CitizenLink has a suggestion:

. . . Focus on the Family and other pro-family groups
hope you will dedicate yourself now to joining the fight
to preserve traditional marriage.

We have identified 10 U.S. senators whose votes on the
Federal Marriage Amendment (FMA) -- which would define the
institution as solely the union of one man and one woman
-- are key to the legislation's passage. Without the FMA,
other states are certain to legalize or recognize gay
marriages -- making it a matter of when, not if,
homosexual couples will be married in your town.

To prevent that from happening, we'd like residents of the
states represented by the senators on our list to call
them at their district offices today and urge them to
support the FMA.

The senators, and their district office numbers, are
listed below.

** Sen. Tom Daschle, D-S.D.
Sixou Falls: 605-334-9596
Aberdeen: 605-225-8823
Rapid City: 605-348-7551

** Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind.
Indianapolis: 317/554-0750
Evansville: 812/465-6500
Ft. Wayne: 260/426-3151
Jeffersonville: 812/218-2317
Hammond: 219/852-2763
South Bend: 574/236-8302

** Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio
Columbus: 614/469-6697
Cleveland: 216/522-7095
Cincinnati: 513/684-3265
Toledo: 419/259-3895

** Sen. Mike DeWine, R-Ohio
Columbus: 614/469-5186
Cincinnati: 513/763-8260
Cleveland: 216/522-7272
Toledo: 419/259-7536
Marietta: 740/373-2317
Xenia: 937/376-3080

** Sen. Bill Pryor, D-Ark.
Little Rock: 501/324-6336

** Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla.
Orlando: 407/872-7161
Tallahassee: 850/942-8415
Tampa: 813/225-7040
Miami: 305/536-5999
West Palm Beach: 561/514-0189
Jacksonville: 904/346-4500
Davie: 954/693-4851

** Sen. John Breaux, D-La.
New Orleans: 504/589-2531
Baton Rouge: 225/248-0104
Lafayette: 337/262-6871
Monroe: 318/325-3320

** Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La.
New Orleans: 504/589-2427
Baton Rouge: 225/389-0395
Shreveport: 318/676-3085
Lake Charles: 337/436-6650

** Sen. Christopher Bond, R-Mo.
Jefferson City: 573/634-2488
Springfield: 417/864-8258
Cape Girardeau: 573/334-7044
St. Louis: 314/725-4484
Kansas City: 816/471-7141

** Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska
Anchorage: 907/271-3735
Fairbanks: 907/456-0233
Juneau: 907/586-7400
Kenai: 907/283-5208
Ketchikan: 907/283-5208
Wasilla: 907/376-7665

Even if none of the senators above represent you, though,
you can still play a key role in supporting the FMA. For
contact information for your own senators, visit the
CitizenLink Action Center and type your ZIP code into the
space provided.

http://capwiz.com/fof/dbq/officials/

And remember, you won't be connected to the senators
themselves, but to staff members, who will only want to
know whether you support or oppose the FMA. While it is
not necessary for you to have an arsenal of arguments when
you call today, if you would like more information on the
FMA, you can visit the link below.

http://www.family.org/cforum/extras/a0024645.cfm

Thank you for doing your part to protect the traditional
family -- and to stand for God's truth.

How Many Warnings?
Topic: World War IV
(What are "political devotions"? Click here.)

Eventually, God is going to lose patience with us.

As the always-eloquent Charles Krauthammer put it last night on Fox, it appears Al Gore is off his lithium again. But for the fact that a few farmisht Florida seniors accidentally marked their ballots for Pat Buchanan, this barking lunatic would be president. For those who say there is no God, I point to the results of the 2000 presidential election. Let's call the narrowly averted catastrophe of a Gore presidency Big Warning A, and let's call 9-11 Big Warning B.

Will God in his grace give us another chance in the form of a Big Warning C, or will he allow us to reap that which our narcissism, laziness and cowardice have sown? How long before Al Qaeda's dream of slaughtering 4 million Americans is realized?

And of course the dream doesn't end there. The Islamist's vision is a worldwide caliphate, what Krauthammer has called "Taliban Afghanistan, writ large."

Allow me to repeat my familiar refrain: Anyone, including a rogue state or a terrorist network, can win a war if they possess nuclear weapons and are willing to strike first.

The World War II generation, the Greatest Generation, never questioned the morality of annihilating America's enemies before they could annihilate the US. Can an America populated with the Baby Boom generation, the Worst Generation, find that resolve? The central question is: What are we prepared to do?

Are we prepared to do whatever is necessary to win in Iraq, what President Bush properly characterizes as the major overseas front in the war on Islamic terror? Are we prepared to take the battle to other necessary fronts, such as Iran and North Korea?

And on the home front, are we prepared to deport, at least for the duration of the war, all non-US citizens from terrorist-sponsoring states? To place armed forces and an Israeli-style fence on our borders? To employ racial, ethnic and religious profiling in immigration, transportation security and law enforcement? To institute strict immigration controls to avoid a demographic shift that would gradually transform the US into just another Islamic hellhole, as is occurring in Europe as we speak?

Will Western historians one day recount the early 21st century as the era in which the US used all its powers to avert a new Dark Ages? Or will there be no future Western historians, only a glorious history of Allah's destruction of the Crusaders' empire, written by authorization of the world's ruling mullahs?

Our resolve, and our action, will decide these questions. God has warned us twice. We should not expect his indulgence forever.

Quality Punditry

(What are "political devotions"? Click here.)

Recently Daniel Pipes offered two important pieces on Muslim Europe and Europe's Threat to the West:

Whence comes the main danger to homeland security in North America and Western Europe?

With the exception of the Oklahoma City bombing of 1995, notes Al-Qaeda authority Rohan Gunaratna, all major terrorist attacks of the past decade in the West have been carried out by immigrants. A closer look finds that these were not just any immigrants but invariably from a specific background: Of the 212 suspected and convicted terrorist perpetrators during 1993-2003, 86% were Muslim immigrants and the remainder mainly converts to Islam.

And Charles Colson opines on A Sacred Duty: Why Christians Must Vote

This fall Americans will go to the polls and elect a president--one who will influence the direction in which the country's moral compass will point. But according to a recent report, only a third of evangelical Christians--those who ought to be most concerned with moral values--will actually vote.

These are shocking figures. Of all people, we ought to vote, not just as a right, but as a spiritual duty. All it takes is to lose your right to vote, as I did once, to know how precious that is.

If 4 million Evangelicals sit out the upcoming election, as they are estimated to have done in 2000, we can say hello to President Kerry and an administration with the sensiblities of Ted Kennedy and Nancy Pelosi.

Feel the fear . . . and take action.

The Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act
Topic: Legislation
(What are "political devotions"? Click here.)

The Family Research Council reports on more legislation in defense of the unborn:

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council (FRC) President Tony Perkins released the following statement in support of Sen. Sam Brownback's (R-KS) "Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act" legislation:

"We cannot deny the medical evidence now before us. From testimony taken during the recent partial-birth abortion hearings and advancements in the field of in utero technology, science is telling us unborn children as young as 20 weeks old can feel pain. The evidence we have is clear, and we should not keep that evidence from women.

"I'm sure pro-abortion proponents will come out in strong opposition to this bill, which will go a long way in exposing their hypocrisy on the issue of women's rights. Women have the right to know what happens when they have an abortion and they have a right to know the pain their unborn child will experience when it is being aborted. Anyone who would deny a woman such information is hardly a defender of women's rights.

"This legislation does nothing to infringe on so-called 'abortion rights,' it would simply require abortion providers to tell women seeking an abortion about the medical evidence on pain experienced by unborn children during an abortion. This legislation falls in the 'right to know' category. Those who oppose this legislation show that their true allegiance is to the 'abortion on demand' agenda - not women."

Use our Take Action page to express your support for this bill to your Senators and Representative.


Davis Amendment Update

The good news is that the Davis amendment to H.R. 4200 was defeated. The bad news? Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Hell) is poised to give it another try.


Quality Punditry

The Washington Times' Tony Blankley advises President Bush to rely on his sound instincts as to Iraq: America - The Strong Horse


And finally . . .

A dispatch from the holy city of Cleveland.

Defeat the Davis Amendment to H.R. 4200
Topic: Legislation
(What are "political devotions"? Click here.)

From the Family Research Council:

When the House considers the Fiscal Year 2004 Department of Defense authorization bill this week, Rep. Susan Davis (D-CA) is expected to offer an amendment which would repeal current law and authorize abortion-on-demand at military hospitals. Rep. Davis's amendment will seek to turn DOD medical treatment facilities into abortion clinics. Pushing abortion-on-demand in U.S. military facilities is an extremist view that does not represent the wishes of the majority of the American people nor of the military doctors who would be affected by the change.

* Under current U.S. law (10 U.S.C. 1093(b)) no abortions may be performed in military facilities, except when the life of the mother would be endangered if the unborn child were carried to term or in cases of rape or incest.

* When President Clinton changed the military abortion policy in 1993, all military physicians refused to perform elective abortions. The administration then sought to hire civilian physicians to perform abortions. Therefore, if the House adopts the Davis amendment, in addition to taxpayer-funded facilities supporting abortion on demand, new personnel could be hired at taxpayers' expense to perform these abortions.

* Military treatment centers should not be forced to facilitate the taking of innocent human life.

The House of Representatives has voted consistently against attempts to mandate federal funding of abortions at overseas military medical facilities since 1996 and should do so again.

Contact your Representative and tell him or her to vote against the Davis amendment to HR 4200.

The alert includes a CapWiz utility for doing so.

And in the if-it-was-about-Islam-it-would-be-prosecuted-as-a-hate-crime department:

Check out the story on the latest instance of Christian bashing by Hollywood.

Keep the Base Realignment and Closure Process Alive
Topic: Legislation
(What are "political devotions"? Click here.)

An action alert from the National Taxpayers Union focuses on how the preservation of local pork is harming the nation and armed forces:

While our nation's military planners search for ways to get the most from the hundreds of billions of taxpayers' dollars our nation annually spends on defense, many in Congress and in state and local governments are more concerned with keeping military bases open in their home districts - whether they are a military necessity or not. The Department of Defense estimates that the 2005 BRAC round could yield as much as $6 billion in recurring annual savings. A delay of two years, as currently outlined in the Defense Authorization bill, will cost taxpayers billions of dollars without increasing our level of safety. This is money that could be put to better use improving the quality of life for our men and women in uniform or investing in new, modernized weapons systems.

The alert includes further details, plus an e-mail utility and sample message.

Resources on Same-Sex Marriage
Topic: Judicial Tyranny
(What are "political devotions"? Click here.)

Today, by order of the state's Supreme Judicial Court -- not by vote of the people, nor even the legislature -- same-sex marriages will be performed in Massachusetts.

I recall that several months ago when I e-mailed the Massachusetts legislature on this issue, one of the reps took the time to send me a personal reply equating me with racists in the Jim Crow south and asserting that he did not know why I thought I should be allowed to vote on granting the "civil right" of same-sex marriage.

What representative what's-his-name failed to grasp is that someone's votes will decide this issue. The question is whether the votes will be those of a few judges (maybe only one), instituting law created by unconstitutional judicial fiat, or those of all the states' duly-elected legislators, in acceptance or rejection of the Federal Marriage Amendment.

To help concerned citizens address the same-sex marriage issue, the Family Research Council has compiled an essential page:

The issue of same-sex 'marriage' will be debated not just on television and among lawmakers here in Washington, but around kitchen tables and in local communities across the country. You will have to be the spokesmen for the family.

If we are to prevail in the battle to keep the definition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman, it will be because you talked to your neighbor, you called your elected officials, you got your church involved. You are the foot soldiers in this battle.

To that end, FRC is here to arm you with the latest information, talking points and materials you'll need to engage your community. You are encouraged to not only read the information . . . but also forward to friends and make copies to pass out at your church. This is a crucial moment in America's history. Not only will our children ask us where we were when homosexual "marriage" became legal in America, they will ask us what we did.

Retain Rumsfeld
Topic: World War IV
(What are "political devotions"? Click here.)

In his most recent essay in National Review Online, Victor Davis Hanson analyzes the Democrats' jihad against Donald Rumsfeld and our suicidal American Cannibalism:

Have we any memory of a man in a suit and tie, nearly three years ago wading through the din and panic amid the morning rubble, assuring millions of stunned Americans that the national headquarters of their armed forces was still intact and capable of defending us after the mass murder of 3,000? And have we no shame in recognizing that should some congressional critics and Washington harpies get their way, Americans will accomplish what bin Laden's suicide bombers could not on September 11: remove America's finest Secretary of Defense in a half century?

The idea that anyone would suggest that Donald Rumsfeld and now Richard Meyers! should step down, in the midst of a global war, for the excesses and criminality of a handful of miscreant guards and their lax immediate superiors in the cauldron of Iraq is absurd and depressing all at once.

What would we think now if George Marshall had been forced out on news that 3,000 miles away George S. Patton's men had shot some Italian prisoners, or Gen. Hodges's soldiers summarily executed German commandoes out of uniform, or drivers of the Red Ball express had raped French women? Should Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Colin Powell have been relieved from his command for the February 12-13, 1991, nocturnal bombing of the Al Firdos compound in Baghdad, in which hundreds of women and children of Baathist loyalists were tragically incinerated and pictures of their corpses broadcast around the world, prompting the United States to cease all further pre-planned and approved attacks on the elite in Saddam's bunkers throughout Baghdad? Of course not.

While I can't imagine President Bush will yield to the maniacal demands of the likes of Ted "Hero of Chappaquiddick" Kennedy, a message of support for Rummy is in order. Use our Take Action page to send one, and to copy your Senators and House Rep.

The Video Programming Choice and Decency Act
Topic: Legislation
(What are "political devotions"? Click here.)

Some good news from the Parents Television Council:

. . . [C]able choice may soon be a reality. A measure offered by Rep. Deal would allow cable or satellite operators to voluntarily offer customers cable channels on an "a la carte" basis, which means you will be able to pick and pay only for those channels you want.

Right now, cable and satellite companies force customers to buy big packages of channels that may contain programming they neither watch nor want to pay for. Why should parents have to subsidize cable channels that undermine their core values and beliefs? Why should a parent who wants their child to benefit from educational programming on the Disney Channel or the Discovery network also have to underwrite programs like The Shield, which recently featured an episode in which a police captain was forced to copulate a gang member at gun point? Or MTV's Spring Break which glorifies and glamorizes high-risk promiscuity and binge-drinking to young viewers.

Offering parents the ability to choose the channels they want, and to pay only for those channels, puts power back in the hands of the consumer and forces the producers of indecent or violent programming to fund their own raunch. These raunchy networks have been carried on the backs of American consumers long enough. It is time for this extortion to end.

Please Act Now!

Help us let Congress know you're fed up with lack of cable choice. Act now and send a message to the House Energy and Commerce Committee to support the Video Programming Choice and Decency Act of 2004.

The PTC has a sample message for your Representative and an e-mail utility here.

Five Questions on the Murder of Nick Berg
Topic: Nuclear Terrorism
(What are "political devotions"? Click here.)

Does anyone believe that the scum who murdered Mr. Berg will hesitate for one second to detonate nuclear weapons in the US, as soon as they get them?

Does anyone believe that if Mexican busboys and multi-ton shipments of cocaine can easily penetrate our borders, Islamic terrorists and nuclear weapons cannot?

Does anyone know why immigrants from terrorist-sponsoring states are here, and more are still allowed entry? How much immigration from Germany and Japan was allowed during World War II?

Does anyone know what will awaken our country, if 9-11 and the parade of Moslem atrocities following it have not?

And, on a related topic, how is the beheading of a fetus in the womb less barbaric than what happened to Mr. Berg?

Just asking.

Barbarians With Nuclear Weapons, Part 9
Topic: Nuclear Terrorism
(What are "political devotions"? Click here.)

From Army Radio, via the Jerusalem Post, comes news that Israel, whose 1981 attack on Saddam's Osirak nuclear reactor saved Western civilization from nuclear terror, may be rehearsing for a repeat performance:

US: Israel may strike Iranian nuclear plants

Israel may be preparing to attack Iranian nuclear facilities within the year, according to US administration assessments reported on Army Radio Saturday morning.

Officials say that the attempt to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons has been discussed at various levels, as well as the effects such an attack would have on US military and political efforts in Iraq and in the Persian Gulf.

The UPI news service says President George Bush and Prime Minster Ariel Sharon recently discussed the subject at their most recent meeting. Following the meeting, Bush said it was inconceivable for the Middle East for Iran to acquire nuclear weapons.

When the attack occurs, the "international community" will howl, of course. But hopefully the US will not make the same mistake it made in 1981 by condemning what would be a key move in winning the war on Islamic terror.

Use our Take Action page to urge President Bush to, upon news of the Israeli strike, send Ariel Sharon a nice fruit basket and a thank you note.

(For more on nuclear terrorism, click the "Nuclear Terrorism" link on the topics list at the upper left of this page.)

End The Visa Lottery
Topic: Homeland Security
(What are "political devotions"? Click here.)

Agape Press reports on one of the many gaping holes that still exist in US immigration policy:

Immigration Program May Threaten Homeland Security, Expert Warns

There is growing concern among many people in the U.S. capital that the federal government could be undermining its own homeland security efforts.

Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies feels U.S. government immigration policies may be compromising America's homeland security. According to him, each year tens of thousands of foreigners are granted green cards through an arbitrary government- run lottery program.

"The federal government runs a lottery for immigrants -- a visa lottery that gives 50,000 randomly selected people from around the world access to the United States, to move here and eventually to become citizens," Krikorian says.

The immigration expert notes that the program was originally begun to help Irish illegal immigrants, but in recent years it has become a conduit for immigrants coming from the Muslim world, many from nations whose governments have proven untrustworthy or hostile to the U.S.

Krikorian says over the years the lottery has turned into an "Islamic world and sub-Saharan African immigration program" that ends up resulting in "an enormous amount of fraud" taking place. In fact, he says, "Some of the top countries that send immigrants under this visa program are some of the most corrupt countries in the world."

The director of the Center for American Immigration Studies says America's own immigration policy has already been used to funnel terrorists onto her shores. And, he notes, that policy could still be further undermining U.S. efforts to provide security and prevent another terrorist plot like the 9-11 attacks from being carried out.

Krikorian says something has to be done to stop the immigrant visa program, or it could end up being used to help usher more terrorists onto American soil.

Perhaps you'll recall this was the visa program under which the freelance terrorist who on July 4, 2002 murdered two people at the LAX El Al counter had been allowed to remain in the US. It's a scandal that programs like this exist after such an incident, let alone after 9-11, which should have been the wake up call that changed American immigration policy forever.

Our leaders are slow learners. Educate them by sending this article to your representatives and urging them abolish the immigrant visa lottery.

Speak Out to Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney

(What are "political devotions"? Click here.)

From Focus on the Family CitizenLink:

Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has backed away from a
requirement that homosexual couples applying for marriage
licenses prove they live in the Bay State.

That means, even though the state's official policy is
that only gays who are residents can be married, there's
nothing to prevent any couple from lying about where they
live on their application.

Romney's decision could have grave consequences for every
other state in the union, because if out-of-state couples
are married in Massachusetts, they could then demand their
home states recognize the unions.

Please take a moment to ask Gov. Romney to reconsider his
actions. You can find contact information, including an
easy-to-use e-mail form, by clicking [here].

National Day of Prayer

(What are "political devotions"? Click here.)

In 1787, Benjamin Franklin gave these remarks to members of the Constitutional Convention:

In the beginning of the contest with Britain, when we were sensible of danger, we had daily prayers in this room for Divine protection. Our prayers, Sir, were heard, and they were answered. All of us who were engaged in the struggle have observed frequent instances of superintending Providence in our favor. . . . And have we now forgotten this powerful Friend? Or, do we imagine we no longer need His assistance?

I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing I see of this truth: that God governs in the affairs of man. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his Aid?

We have been assured, Sir, in the Sacred Writings that except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it. I firmly believe this. I also believe that, without his concurring aid, we shall succeed in this political building no better than the builders of Babel; we shall be divided by our little, partial local interests; our projects will be confounded; and we shall become a reproach and a byword to future ages. And what is worse, mankind may hereafter, from this unfortunate instance, despair of establishing government by human wisdom and leave it to chance, war, or conquest.

I therefore beg to move that, henceforth, prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven and its blessing on our deliberation be held in this assembly every morning before we proceed to business.

For more information on today's National Day of Prayer, visit NationalDayOfPrayer.org.

Codify The Oath of Allegiance With H.R. 3191
Topic: Legislation
(What are "political devotions"? Click here.)

Agape Press reports:

Kansas Congressman Wants to Codify Immigrants' 'Oath of Allegiance'

A Kansas congressman has introduced legislation that would codify the oath of allegiance immigrants must make when they become U.S. citizens. The bill would make it clear that new citizens must be loyal to their new country -- and would prevent that oath from being watered down.

Republican Jim Ryan was concerned about proposed changes to the oath of allegiance drafted by the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services. Ryan says those changes were intended to make the language more modern, but instead would transform an absolute commitment to the Constitution into a conditional statement, weakening citizenship.

"What we're attempting to do with the oath of allegiance and with legal immigration is to continue to encourage those who are coming in that this is a great country and these are the standards that we've had in the past," Ryan explains. "We want to all be on the same page as we move forward, fighting this war on terrorism -- and I don't believe this is the time to lower those standards."

The Kansas lawmaker introduced HR 3191 in September 2003, which he says would codify into law what the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services wants to change. He says those who want to pursue the "American dream" need to realize it requires a full-time commitment to citizenship -- and a willingness to defend the United States. . . .

According to Ryan, HR 3191 -- which is working its way through the House Judiciary Committee -- would establish the oath of allegiance as federal law, giving it the same protection as the Pledge of Allegiance and the National Anthem. The names of more than 60 co-sponsors are attached to the legislation.

Use our Take Action page to ask your Representative to support this bill.

Pray for The President, and Adopt a Troop

(What are "political devotions"? Click here.)

"It is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of
Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits,
and humbly to implore his protection and favors." --George
Washington

From PresidentialPrayerTeam.org's information page:

ABOUT THE PRESIDENTIAL PRAYER TEAM

Many across America and Americans in other countries are heeding the call to pray for our President. In a short time since the September 11 terrorist attacks, well over a million people have registered their promise to pray daily for the President. That number is increasing by the thousands of new team members every month. News of The Presidential Prayer Team is spreading rapidly throughout America as people march to the tempo of an almost forgotten tune, "God Bless America."

The independent, nonprofit organization behind The Presidential Prayer Team, has a singular purpose: to encourage Americans to pray daily for the President.

There is no fee or obligation for joining. Members receive a handsome free window decal and prayer updates by email. Anyone choosing to remember the President in daily prayer is urged to sign up.

The Presidential Prayer Team has now grown to more than 2.8 million members, and its mission has never been more important. Americans should remember that our nation exists at God's sufferance. Our enemies did not use nuclear weapons on 9-11 for one reason alone: they did not have them. When they obtain these weapons, only divine intervention, and divine guidance for our leaders, will prevent their eventual use. That's why prayers of wisdom and courage for President Bush, and his successors, are sorely needed.

You can join the team by clicking on "Join PPT" at the Presidential Prayer Team Website.

You can also adopt an individual U.S. troop from the site's database of military members who have requested prayer.

Weakness is Provocative, Part 2
Topic: World War IV
(What are "political devotions"? Click here.)

In an insightful piece in National Review Online, Barbara Lerner reveals why the State Department should not be running the Iraq occupation, and why the military should:

Rumsfeld's War, Powell's Occupation

The latest post-hoc conventional wisdom on Iraq is that Defense Secretary Rumsfeld won the war but lost the occupation. There are two problems with this analysis (which comes, most forcefully, from The Weekly Standard). First, it's not Rumsfeld's occupation; it's Colin Powell's and George Tenet's. Second, although it's painfully obvious that much is wrong with this occupation, it's simple-minded to assume that more troops will fix it. More troops may be needed now, but more of the same will not do the job. Something different is needed and was, right from the start.

A Rumsfeld occupation would have been different, and still might be. Rumsfeld wanted to put an Iraqi face on everything at the outset -- not just on the occupation of Iraq, but on its liberation too. That would have made a world of difference.

Rumsfeld's plan was to train and equip -- and then transport to Iraq -- some 10,000 Shia and Sunni freedom fighters led by Shia exile leader Ahmed Chalabi and his cohorts in the INC, the multi-ethnic anti-Saddam coalition he created. There, they would have joined with thousands of experienced Kurdish freedom fighters, ably led, politically and militarily, by Jalal Talabani and Massoud Barzani. Working with our special forces, this trio would have sprung into action at the start of the war, striking from the north, helping to drive Baathist thugs from power, and joining Coalition forces in the liberation of Baghdad. That would have put a proud, victorious, multi- ethnic Iraqi face on the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, and it would have given enormous prestige to three stubbornly independent and unashamedly pro-American Iraqi freedom fighters: Chalabi, Talabani, and Barzani.

Jay Garner, the retired American general Rumsfeld chose to head the civilian administration of the new Iraq, planned to capitalize on that prestige immediately by appointing all three, along with six others, to head up Iraq's new transitional government. He planned to cede power to them in a matter of weeks not months or years and was confident that they would work with him, not against him, because two of them already had. General Garner, after all, is the man who headed the successful humanitarian rescue mission that saved the Kurds in the disastrous aftermath of Gulf War I, after the State Department-CIA crowd and like thinkers in the first Bush administration betrayed them. Kurds are not a small minority and they remember. The hero's welcome they gave General Garner when he returned to Iraq last April made that crystal clear.

Finally, Secretary Rumsfeld wanted to cut way down on the infiltration of Syrian and Iranian agents and their foreign terrorist recruits, not just by trying to catch them at the border -- a losing game, given the length of those borders -- but by pursuing them across the border into Syria to strike hard at both the terrorists and their Syrian sponsors, a move that would have forced Iran as well as Syria to reconsider the price of trying to sabotage the reconstruction of Iraq.

None of this happened, however, because State and CIA fought against Rumsfeld's plans every step of the way. . . .

Men like Chalabi, Talabani, and Barzani have nothing but contempt for [U.N. envoy] Mr. Brahimi, the U.N., and old Europe. They know perfectly well who their real enemies are, and they understand that only decisive military action against them can create the kind of order that is a necessary precondition for freedom and democracy. They see, as our State Department Arabists do not, that we will never be loved, in Iraq or anywhere else in the Middle East, until we are respected, and that the month we have wasted negotiating with the butchers of Fallujah has earned us only contempt, frightening our friends and encouraging our mortal enemies.

The damage Brahimi will do to the hope of a new day in Iraq and in the Middle East is so profound that it would not be worth it even if empowering him would bring in a division of French troops to reinforce ours in Iraq. In fact, it will do no such thing. Behind all the bluster and moral preening, the plain truth is that the French have starved their military to feed their bloated, top-heavy welfare state for decades. They couldn't send a division like the one the Brits sent, even if they wanted to (they don't). Belgium doesn't want to help us either, nor Spain, nor Russia, because these countries are not interested in fighting to create a new Middle East. They're fighting to make the most advantageous deals they can with the old Middle East, seeking to gain advantages at our expense, and at the expense of the oppressed in Iraq, Iran, and every other Middle Eastern country where people are struggling to throw off the shackles of Islamofascist oppression.

Use our Take Action page to send President Bush, Condoleezza Rice and Donald Rumsfeld a link to the Lerner piece. And be sure to excerpt the last paragraph:

It is not yet too late for us to recognize these facts and act on them by dismissing Brahimi, putting Secretary Rumsfeld and our Iraqi friends fully in charge at last, and unleashing our Marines to make an example of Fallujah. And when al Jazeera screams "massacre," instead of cringing and apologizing, we need to stand tall and proud and tell the world: Lynch mobs like the one that slaughtered four Americans will not be tolerated. Order will restored, and Iraqis who side with us will be protected and rewarded.

S. 2056 Stalled
Topic: Legislation
(What are "political devotions"? Click here.)

From the Parents Television Council:

We urgently need your help. As you know, Congress is considering legislation that would severely punish broadcasters who violate indecency laws. Unfortunately that legislation has stalled in the US Senate. If the Senate doesn't vote on this bill, S. 2056, in the next few days, it will likely die.

We need you to take immediate action to tell your Senators and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist to vote on S. 2056 now! The public is outraged over the Super Bowl halftime show, the F-word on television broadcasts, and the graphic sexual content on morning drive-time radio. If we are to be successful in our efforts to reduce the obscene, indecent, and profane broadcasts from the public airwaves, then the FCC must have the power to impose meaningful fines and/or revoke station licenses of broadcasters who break the law. Don't let the broadcasters sweep our national outrage under the rug.

The alert includes links to talking points, and to contact information for all senators.

The Adoption Information Act, H.R. 1229
Topic: Legislation
(What are "political devotions"? Click here.)

From the Family Research Council:

Pro-abortion advocates constantly scream about protecting women's health through access to "family planning services," although what they really mean is access to abortion. There does not seem to be real concern on behalf of abortion advocates to giving women real choices with real information.

Women seeking family planning services in federally funded health clinics rarely receive all the information necessary for them to make an informed decision. Information on adoption and referrals for adoption services are rarely discussed at all, and when they are, that information is often inaccurate and incomplete.

To remedy this and help women be educated on the resources available to them Congresswoman Jo Ann Davis (R-VA) has introduced the Adoption Information Act, H.R. 1229. This bill would require all family planning clinics that accept Title X funds to provide a detailed pamphlet of adoption information to all people seeking family planning services.

Specifically, this pamphlet must include comprehensive contact information for all adoption centers in the appropriate state. The legislation aims to ensure that women are provided with accurate and complete information to make informed decisions.

The alert links to the FRC's congressional directory, or you can use our Take Action page to ask your Representative to support this bill.

And on the same topic . . .

Wanna know if your favorite celebrity marched in support of sucking the brain out of a nine month old fetus? Click here.