My youngest son, Bram, age 7, loves to be outdoors. This is great and fits well with my philosophy of parenting that kids need to play outside. However, I have to admit that I am getting really sick of the daily pile of very dirty, muddy clothes from him running around like a typical little boy climbing trees, sliding down (muddy) hills, and all of the rest. So the other day as he was heading outside, I said, "don't get all dirty today!" (what was I thinking?) A little while later, he comes to the door and says, "Mom, the good news is that I am not ALL dirty, just my butt".
So do you want the good news first or last? We'll go with first. In three GOP primary/caucus races yesterday, Rick Santorum had an awesome finish. He sailed to victory in all three states, and not only claimed first place, but did so with amazing leads. While I happen to be a Rick Santorum supporter and am happy for that reason, there is more to the story. Even if I were not, I would still find the results exciting. For one thing, it is one of those "Rocky" moments where the underdog comes from behind. I have always been a stickler for that. But more than that, it upsets the establishment script. That is reason to cheer in and of itself. I hate it when the Party heads (whether Democrat or Republican) and the media try to determine these races ahead of the time. How long have we heard that it would be Romney that gets the GOP nomination? Then the narrative turned into "it is a two man race"--meaning between Romney and Gingrich. Before yesterday, less than 10% of the states had held any form of election, yet the race had been determined as far as the talking heads were concerned. That annoys me. I love it when the whole story gets turned upside down and they are left scratching their heads! Instead, the American people spoke. We are reminded again that our votes count! We can take solace in the fact that fellow Americans do not just blindly go along with what "the script" says, but they voice their own opinions and choices. Whether you are a Ron Paul, Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, or Newt Gingrich supporter (or none of the above), that is good news for all of us. Whoever the eventual nominee is, we need it to be someone elected by the people, not the media and Party leaders. Way to go, Rick Santorum!
Now for the bad news. In recent days, the White House and it's administration have released the details of their latest vice grip on Americans through the guise of "health care". It has to do with religious organizations providing for birth control and abortion coverage under their health insurance for employees. The government is now requiring that organizations like Christian backed colleges or hospitals have to provide this coverage even if it goes against the church's teachings. Churches themselves will be exempt from providing this coverage, but an institution like Catholic Social Services or a Christian private school would not. No matter what the organization feels about this. Why should that possibly be a consideration? After all, we would not really want to practice religious freedom, would we? Now don't be fooled, you might have heard yesterday that the administration has backtracked on this. What they have decided is that these institutions have one year to comply. Or in the words of Lanny Davis, commentator and former Clinton White House administration member, put it this way: these organizations have a year to come to terms with these matters of conscience. Oh great. You oppose abortion, so we will give you a year to get used to the idea before we make you support it in one way or another. That sounds like liberty.
No matter where you fall on this issue, it should concern you for the simple fact that the White House is trampling on our country's heritage of religious freedom. When our religious institutions loose the freedom to implement policies based on their faith, we are in a very dangerous place as a country. As usual, those touting "freedom of choice" only champion it when it goes in one direction----the path to more contraception and abortion.
In other news, now coming to college campuses near you...the ability to purchase The Morning After Pill in vending machines. Right next to the machines are the advisories to see the school nurse if you need a Tylenol. They might be a bit too dangerous without some supervision.
I think I would have rather heard about my son's muddy pants.
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