The Child Custody Protection Act (S. 851)
Topic: Legislation
(What are "political devotions"? Click here.)

Wanna stop an Episcopal priest from secretly transporting your minor daughter across state lines to have your unborn grandchild killed? (No, I'm not making this up.) The Family Research Council reports on new legislation to protect unborn children and their teenage mothers from the Left's guerrilla tactics:

[On June 3rd] the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on the Child Custody Protection Act, which would ban adults from taking minors across state lines for an abortion. Katherine Hancock Ragsdale, an Episcopal priest, testified on behalf of the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice. She explained why she volunteered to take a minor for an abortion: "I was stunned - a fifteen-year-old girl was going to have to get up at the crack of dawn and take multiple buses to the hospital alone?"

Ragsdale seems to think that riding the bus is more dangerous than an abortion. Yet she gave her testimony right after the testimonies of Crystal Lane and her mother Joyce Farley. When she was just 13, Crystal was taken out of state for an abortion by the mother of her 19 year-old boyfriend. Crystal's own mother never knew about the abortion until afterwards, when Crystal developed severe complications that required hospitalization. Sounds much more dangerous than the buses that most of us ride. To email your elected officials in support of this important legislation, click [here].

Topic: Quality Punditry
(What are "political devotions"? Click here.)

In his recent FrontPage Magazine piece, Defeating Global Jihad: Reagan Showed the Way, Robert Spencer, an author and director of Jihad Watch, ponders how Ronald Reagan might have fought World War IV:

"How do you tell a Communist?" Reagan asked in 1987. "Well, it's someone who reads Marx and Lenin. And how do you tell an anti-Communist? It's someone who understands Marx and Lenin." How do you tell a jihadist? Well, a contemporary Reagan might say, it's someone who reads the Qur'an and Sunnah. How do you tell an anti-jihadist? It's someone who understands how these Islamic texts are used to recruit and motivate terrorists -- and who is willing to call upon self-proclaimed moderate Muslims to face this fact and initiate an honest, definitive and thoroughgoing reform. And if they will not? Then at least they should know that the lines have been drawn, and that the lovers of freedom are not going to stand for more mayhem wrought by those who would enclose non-Muslims and women behind a wall of oppression.

If Islam is no part of the problem, such reform cannot be part of the solution. By vilifying and attempting to marginalize those who dare tell the truth about Islamic radicalism as Reagan did about Communism, today's intelligentsia provides ample cover to radical Islamic terrorists, allowing them to operate under the radar screen of media scrutiny and even law enforcement.

Freedom is under attack by the warriors of jihad; the battle lines do indeed resemble those of the Cold War. "There are very useful analogies to be drawn between communism and Islam," says Ibn Warraq. "Communism has been defeated, at least for the moment; Islamism has not, and unless a reformed, tolerant, liberal kind of Islam emerges soon, perhaps the final battle will be between Islam and Western democracy."

This is the war we're in now. If only we had a Reagan to fight it.

Remember Ronald Reagan

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

" . . .When I saddle up and ride into the sunset it
will be with the knowledge that we've done
great things. We kept faith with a promise as
old as this land we love and as big as the sky.
A brilliant vision of America as a shining city
on a hill. Thanks to all of you, and with God's
help, America's greatest chapter is still to be
written, for the best is yet to come."

President Ronald Reagan
- December 1, 1988

At the Ronald Reagan Memorial Foundation website, you can leave a condolence message for Mrs. Reagan, and donate to the Ronald Reagan Memorial Fund, in support of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.

Topic: Quality Punditry

From the holy city of Selma, California, Victor Davis Hanson muses on The New Defeatism:

. . . This present generation of leaders at home would never have made it to Normandy Beach. They would instead have called off the advance to hold hearings on Pearl Harbor, cast around blame for the Japanese internment, sued over the light armor and guns of Sherman tanks, apologized for bombing German civilians, and recalled General Eisenhower to Washington to explain the rough treatment of Axis prisoners.

We are becoming a crazed culture of cheap criticism and pious moralizing, and in our self- absorption may well lose what we inherited from a better generation. Our groaning and hissing elite indulges itself, while better but forgotten folks risk their lives on our behalf in pretty horrible places.

. . . Our very success after September 11 -- perhaps because of the Patriot Act, the vigilance of domestic-security agencies, and the global reach of our military -- has prevented another catastrophe of mass murder, but also allowed us to become complacent, and thus once more cynical and near suicidal.

Practice Budget Control With H.R. 3800
Topic: Legislation
(What are "political devotions"? Click here.)

From the National Taxpayers Union:

Tell Congress to Protect Family Budgets by Reforming the Federal Budget Process

The current Congress has one last chance to prevent the budget process from becoming a fiscal train wreck. Although budget process reform is not a "glamorous" issue like tax cuts or significant spending reductions, adoption of common-sense mechanisms like those contained in H.R. 3800 -- legislation introduced by Rep. Hensarling (R-TX) and co-sponsored by more than 100 Members of the House -- will guide Congress towards a more fiscally-responsible future. House Leadership has finally heard the outcry from voters and from fiscally responsible members of their own party, so they are allowing the full House to vote on the strong taxpayer protections contained in the Family Budget Protection Act. Only a massive outpouring of support from voters will push these important taxpayer protections through Congress.

The alert contains further information on the bill, plus an easy-to-use e-mail form for contacting your Representative.

Thought Crimes Legislation
Topic: Legislation
(What are "political devotions"? Click here.)

An alert from Concerned Women for America:

Senators Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Gordon Smith (R-Oregon) are planning to bring up the Kennedy-Hatch federal "hate crimes" amendment, perhaps as early as next Wednesday. They plan to amend the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2004 (S. 1382).

"Hate crimes" laws violate the fundamental legal principles of equal protection and the limitation of criminal liability to actions - not thoughts or beliefs. Acts such as cross-burning and church desecration are already distinct federal offenses, and there is no evidence that authorities anywhere are prosecuting crimes less vigorously on account of the identity of the victim or perpetrator.

A "hate crimes" law can lead to "thought crime" as is found in totalitarian countries. To put it more to the point: This "hate crimes" law, which includes "sexual orientation," lays the groundwork for persecution of Christians in this country.

In Canada and Sweden, it is now a "hate crime" to criticize homosexuality in any fashion. Canadian broadcasters are forbidden to air any critical discussion of homosexuality, and private citizens have been hauled before "human rights" commissions and threatened with fines and jail time. In Sweden, a pastor was arrested at his church after he began reading Bible verses about homosexuality. The "gay" lobby is frank about its desire to persecute Christians in America in just the same way, and this "hate crimes" bill is a key step in that strategy.

The alert includes an e-mail form for contacting your senators, plus info on contacting the Capitol Hill switchboard.

Topic: Random Thoughts

While watching the World War II Memorial dedication, it occurred to me that had the post-9/11 George W. Bush been president in 1938, perhaps the loss of 55 million lives, and the most costly war in history, could have been averted. When Hitler took Czechoslovakia, W. would have said, "Let's roll." Would he have received from the Greatest Generation the vicious opposition he is receiving for doing the same today? It's possible, but I doubt it. If called, they would have served and sacrificed, just as they ultimately did.

Bad News, Good News on the County Seal
Topic: Cultural Civil War
(What are "political devotions"? Click here.)

The bad news is the LA County supervisors decided to remove the cross from the county seal.

The good news is the decision is not irreversible, and that big fish like Dennis Prager and Charles Johnson (of Little Green Footballs fame) are now on the issue. There is no question that if every Christian in LA County contacted his supervisor, the board would have no choice but to put up a fight against the ACLU jihadists. Will LA County Christians do their duty on this one? We'll see.

Check out Monday's entry for contact info, particularly if you live in LA County.

Barbarians With Nuclear Weapons, Part 10
Topic: Nuclear Terrorism
(What are "political devotions"? Click here.)

In a recent piece in National Review Online, Michael Ledeen analyzes a declaration of war made by a top Iranian official in a speech to regime loyalists at the Technical College of Tehran. Ledeen notes Iran is sabotaging the US economy, organizing terror attacks on our soil, and is speeding toward acquisition of nuclear weapons. And he offers a fair challenge to President Bush:

You'd have thought this president, who has spoken so often and so well about his support for freedom in Iran, would have long since insisted that his administration develop a coherent policy to support the Iranian people's desire to rid themselves of these murderous mullahs. It hasn't happened. Moreover, President Bush eloquently and spontaneously condemns the mullahs in private conversations as well as in public speeches, yet he seems oddly detached from his State Department's slow mating dance with the black widows in Tehran.

Sooner or later we will be forced to fight back against the mullahs, because their war against us is driven by fanatical hatred of everything we stand for and the knowledge that their regime is doomed if we succeed in Iraq and Afghanistan. There is no escape from this war, whatever the appeasers in Foggy Bottom may think. We can win or lose, but we can't get out of it.

Faster, please.

If you would like to ask that President Bush order his administration to develop and articulate a policy on Iranian regime change, you can do so at this page at Whitehouse.gov.

Topic: Random Thoughts

If you could travel back in time 60 years, and try to explain to a passerby that in 2004 both presidential candidates would be injured in the same month from falls off their bicycles, he would think you were nuts.

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.