The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/68821
OPINION told a group of black clergymen that the right to vote was being threatened by peo- ple who are seeking to block access to the ballot box by blacks and other minorities. This is truly world-class chutzpah, by an Attorney General Eric Holder recently Attorney General who stopped attorneys in his own Department of Justice from com- pleting the prosecution of black thugs who stationed themselves outside a Philadelphia voting site to harass and intimidate white voters. This may have seemed like a small ep- isode to some at the time, but it was only the proverbial tip of the iceberg. The U.S. Attorney who was prosecuting that case— J. Christian Adams—resigned from the De- partment of Justice in protest, and wrote a book about a whole array of similar race- for religious organizations Time is running out tion with the [Obama] ad- ministration and legisla- tion with the Congress— and we'll keep at it—but there's still no fix. Time is running out." Running out, that is, for "We have tried negotia- By Ed Feulner many religious organiza- tions across the country that provide services to people in need. For when Cardinal Timothy Dolan, president of the U.S. Con- ference of Catholic Bish- ops, said the words quot- ed above, he was defend- ing the right of these groups to serve inner- city children, the elderly, deaf, HIV/AIDS patients, developmentally disabled and homeless—among many others. All together, 55 re- for churches and other houses of worship. Not for religiously affiliated hospitals, colleges, char- ities and other non-prof- its. As Cardinal Donald Wuerl, Archbishop of Washington, has pointed out, "[The Obama admin- istration's] conception of what constitutes the prac- tice of religion is so nar- row that even Mother Te- resa would not have qual- ified." So now we have govern- ment deciding who's reli- gious enough and who isn't. Imagine what the Founding Fathers would say about that. Many of these groups Wednesday, June 6, 2012 The Press-Dispatch Observations by Thomas Sowell Holder's chutzpah based decisions on vot- ing rights by Eric Hold- er and his subordinates at the Department of Justice. The book is titled "In- justice: Exposing the Racial Agenda of the Obama Justice De- partment." It names names, dates and plac- es around the country where the Depart- ment of Justice stopped its own attorneys from pursuing cases of voter fraud and in- timidation, when it was blacks who were ac- cused of these crimes. If Mr. Adams is lying, he has taken a huge risk in citing individuals by name and quot- ing them directly. Yet, despite the fact that most of those he accuses are lawyers, ap- Continued on page 3 Justice for Justin The no-spin zone—by Bill O'Reilly Justin Bieber. In the other corner, some guy who was aggressively tak- ing his picture in a California shop- ping mall. Los Angeles County police are in- ner, weighing 110 pounds and standing 5-feet 7-inches tall, 18-year- old pop star In this cor- to a local hospital where he was treat- ed and released into the custody of a lawyer who immediately contacted the media. Now, I am certain being attacked by Justin Bieber is no laughing matter. If the guy ever got a haircut and a neck tattoo, he could look menacing. Per- haps Justin knows kung fu. But the odds are that this is yet an- vestigating accusations that Justin struck a photographer, which, if true, would violate California Penal Code 242 even if the striking blow was, well, glancing. Detectives want you to call them if you saw the brawl or if Justin attacked you, as well. So far Bieber is not talking. Apparently, the photographer called other shakedown generated by a loser and his sleazy attorney who will game the system hoping Bieber will throw some money at them in order to make the annoyance go away. There are now legions of lawyers say, didn't the adminis- tration carve out a reli- gious exemption? Yes, force these groups to pay for coverage of abor- tion-inducing drugs, con- traception and steriliza- tion. Never mind that this stands in direct op- position to a central te- net of their faith. The Obama administration is taking the Rhett Butler approach to their right to practice their religion without government in- terference: "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn." Hold on, some may ligious organizations have joined 23 separate lawsuits filed in district courts nationwide. Their common foe? The Obam- acare anti-conscience mandate. The mandate would are not ones inclined to- ward activism, or to op- posing the administra- tion. Among the plain- tiffs, in fact, is the Uni- versity of Notre Dame, who only three years ago invited President Obama to deliver a commence- ment address and award- ed him an honorary law degree. If this is his way of saying thanks, imagine what he must do to those who cross him. Three evangelical in- the Malibu-Lost Hills Sheriff's depart- ment last Sunday afternoon. The vic- tim says he was "battered" by the sing- er, who was accompanied by his girl- friend, Selena Gomez. The victim com- plained of "pain" and was transported who will file lawsuits against famous and rich people for just about anything. Lawsuits cost money to defend, and the media are overjoyed to publicize any and all alleged "transgressions." No evidence has to be provided to the press; a lurid accusation is enough. This is now an industry: Fleecing the Rich and Famous. In fact, it could be a reality show. Paging Robin Leach. But if you really look at what's hap- pening, it's despicable. Legalized ex- tortion and blackmail are now epidem- ics in America. Famous people are rou- tinely slandered, libeled, followed and menaced in public. And there's little they can do about it. If you are a pub- lic figure and/or have money, you are a huge target and will get little sympa- thy from the court or from the court of public opinion. Recently, I took three young teen- C-2 agers to see the play "Jesus Christ Su- perstar." Upon leaving the theater, a guy who identified himself as an "Oc- cupy protester" was waiting for me with a camera and recorder. He began screaming nonsense. I told the guy to knock it off because he was scaring the kids. He actually yelled louder and even chased my car down the street. The girls were unnerved. I truly wish Bieber had been with me that night so he could have smacked down that guy. I guess I could have done it, but the line of attorneys re- sponding would have stretched from Broadway to Michigan. stitutions of higher learn- ing—Colorado Christian University, Louisiana College and Geneva Col- lege—are also suing over the mandate. In an op-ed for The Wall Street Jour- nal, they explained that what's at stake here is much bigger than a fight over birth control: "The Obama adminis- tration has passed a rule that will penalize our col- Continued on page 3 broach the subject of the healthcare mandates that are coming via what is re- ferred to as Obamacare. I am sure there are good things in the plan, and pro- visions that are objection- able. The Supreme Court will render its verdict on the plan this summer, so we will know soon what is in store for us in the near future. What Americans fail to re- I have been reluctant to alize is the healthcare man- date goes beyond govern- ment intrusion into your health, and another manda- tory law will follow. The law is needed to fund the heath care crisis that is looming. Health care is costly. Sta- Points to ponder—by Rev. Ford Bond We Can't Escape It in an accident or has some congenial issues, who really needs expensive insurance before the age of 40 or 50? Insurance for young males is cheap. A healthy male who elects just to purchase major medical, the lowest priced policy available is around $36.23 a month. However, as economists will tell you, you get what you pay for. The typical health insur- tistically, it is in the last five years of life that most health- care costs are incurred. The young do not need health- care; unless one is involved problems staring us in the face. We want maximum benefits from the govern- ment ("it didn't cost me a dime"), while at the same time ignoring healthy liv- ing and becoming indignant to think government should ance policy for a family that has small deductibles with little or no out of pocket will cost a family in excess of fifteen hundred dollars a month ($18,000 a year). Therefore, we have two The straws in the wind A woman's perspective—by Mona Charen in single spies but in battalions."—Wil- liam Shakespeare The Obama campaign may not be in "When sorrows come, they come not sents a fresh wound for the Obama campaign. That's the chief sorrow for Chicago, but there are a thousand other cuts. The acutely embarrass- panic mode yet—there's still plenty of time for that—but they must be stoop- ing a bit under the weight of bad news that has come their way in the past sev- eral weeks. Every month's jobs report repre- ing tale of Massachusetts senate candidate (and former Obama appoin- tee) Elizabeth Warren's risible claim to Cherokee ancestry is a perfect en- capsulation of liberal ab- surdity. Even if her story of 1/32nd Cherokee blood were true, how ludicrous is it to say with a straight face that it was an important part of her identity? How much more ridiculous, and frankly, corrupt, to be counted a "minority" in the great affirmative ac- tion hustle on such grounds? Prof. Warren has now been forced to admit, in contrast to her earlier state- ment that she only learned that Har- vard was claiming her as a "Native American" faculty member when she read about it in the Boston Herald, that she did, in fact, tell Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania about her "Native American" ancestry. Since Prof. Warren lied once, skep- ticism is bound to greet her new con- tention that she informed the univer- sities of her Indian heritage only af- ter being hired. This story is haunting her like a bad dream. Even if it isn't enough to deny her a senate seat, it highlights for voters around the na- tion one of the dirty secrets about af- firmative action that liberals like to ob- scure—it is a rigged and often dishon- est system that distributes benefits not to those most in need but mostly to the already privileged. David Axelrod and his colleagues in Chicago cannot comfort them- selves with the money advan- tage. In 2008, Obama famously broke all previous fundraising records ($771 million to Mc- Cain's $239 million). This year, team Obama predicted they'd raise $1 billion. That isn't hap- pening. Obama will still have plenty of money to spend, but the Romney campaign and Re- publican superpacs are on track to match it, or come close. Obama White House, is there a differ- ence?—has expended time and trea- sure concocting a "Republican war on women" in an effort to cement the vote of the weaker sex. Turns out, women are more strong-minded than he ex- pected. Latest polls show Obama's support among women has declined by 7 points in the past month, while Romney's female support has grown by 13 points. Boomerang. It looks like the administration traduced the First Amendment and alienated Catholics for nothing, or worse than nothing. Wisconsin is a testing ground for The Obama campaign—no, wait, the whether union power can defeat a Re- publican reformer. Democrats and unions have poured millions into the effort to recall Gov. Scott Walker. He seems on track to win by a large mar- gin. Polling suggests that he has con- vinced Wisconsinites that public em- ployee unions are overpaid. The pro- jected results seem likely to validate the old wisdom that "if you aim at the King, you'd better kill him." If Walker wins, he becomes an immediate star— a huge draw for fundraisers and an at- tractive spokesman for the Republican party. Wisconsin will also be in play for the presidential race in 5 months. When a president is weak, mem- not take care of us regard- less of costs. Another bad dose of real- ity is to look around at the nations that have socialized medicine (Canada and Brit- ain are examples), and you will find that healthcare is rationed, and demands are made for patients needing costly procedures to change their lifestyles before the procedure. As I previous al- Since I am nearing retire- ment age, I cannot be neu- tral. Asking such a question makes me take a stand that will be either against yours or in my own interests ("but it won't cost me a dime"). This is the nature of gov- luded to, the pur- pose of mandat- ing the purchase of health insur- ance is to get the age groups (18 to around 40) to buy health insurance that they do not need as a means to pay for retirees' health care. It is a shifting of the cost of medical care from the old to the young. Is that ethical or fair? ernment. As an economics professor long ago pointed out, when government be- comes involved in a phase of life, the cost to the con- sumer for that item or ser- vice goes up. Nonetheless, the ancients bers of his own party begin to assert their independence. The Democrati- cally-controlled Senate again voted 99-0 against President Obama's bud- get. A number of leading Democrats, including Newark Mayor Cory Book- er, former Pennsylvania Governor and DNC chairman Ed Rendell, for- mer Congressman Harold Ford, for- mer car czar Steve Rattner, and Sen. Mark Warner have criticized Obama's attacks on Bain Capital. But perhaps the worst news of the month is the decision of former Dem- ocratic congressman Artur Davis to join the Republican Party. Davis, an African-American with Ivy League credentials surpassing even Obama's (he graduated magna cum laude from Harvard), was the first non-Illi- nois congressman to endorse Obama in 2008. His message now is exactly what Axelrod and Co. have most rea- son to fear: He says Obama has gone too far left. "I thought he was going to be . . . pro-growth. I thought he was going to focus on national unity. . . In- stead he went in another direction. . . There is no center/right in the Demo- cratic Party." understood the power of government coercion and its power to confiscate. We read in the Book of I Sam- uel, chapter eight that the MR. AND MRS. FRANK HEURING, PUBLISHERS ANDREW G. HEURING, EDITOR The Press- Dispatch JOHN B. HEURING, ADVERTISING MANAGER Wednesday, June 6, 2012 Entered at the Post Office in Petersburg, Indiana for trans- mission through the mails as Periodical Mail, Postage paid at Petersburg, Indiana. Published weekly. will please give old address as well as new one along with phone number. We cannot guarantee prompt change unless this is done. Postmaster: send changes to Post Office Box 68, Petersburg, Indiana 47567-0068. Change of Address—Subscribers changing addresses P.O. BOX 68, PETERSBURG, INDIANA 47567 E-mail—news@pressdispatch.net (604-340) Phone 354-8500 • FAX—354-2014 Pike and Surrounding Cos. ......$ 10.00 $15.00 $25.00 $45.00 Elsewhere in Indiana ................ 14.00 Outside Indiana ............................18.00 19.00 28.00 27.00 43.00 SUBSCRIPTION RATES 3 mos. 6 mos. 1 year 2 years 49.00 75.00 and your goodliest young men, and your beasts of burden, and put them to his work. He will take the tenth of your sheep: and ye shall be his servants" [1 Samuel 8:13-17]. What a dose of reality. We them? We read, "And he will take your daughters . . . he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your olive-yards . . . he will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards . . . he will take your menser- vants, and your maidservants, children of Israel demanded of the prophet Samuel that they have a king. Samuel be- sought the Lord over this, and God responded with these words: "Now therefore hearken unto their voice: howbeit yet protest solemn- ly unto them, and show them the manner of the king that shall reign over them." What did Samuel tell would expect the assembled to say "we want a govern- ment of the people, by the people, and for the people"; but we read, "Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, 'Nay; but we will have a king over us.'" We do not have a king, but we have a government of our own designs that pledges to us everything that we de- mand, and at no cost to us, and we threaten to revolt Continued on page 3