In it, . . . → Read More: Bobby Franklin == Jeremiah Wright]]> For those that have ever doubted whether State Rep Bobby Franklin (who CONTINUES to support a man known to have “indiscretions” with young girls) is absolutely a Statist Theocrat nutjob, you need look no further than the note below the fold, which he posted on his facebook page about 2 hours ago.

In it, he essentially echoes Jeremiah Wright, President Obama’s former PASTOR (as in, not his former Imam), in saying:

Not “God Bless America”! NO! God DAMN America!

I’m not going to spoil the front page of this site with this guy’s insane ramblings, but I did want to put it here just in case he actually grows a brain cell at some point and decides to take it down.

The Greatest Threat Facing America b Bobby Franklin

Recently a friend asked me to listen to a debate that he had just heard concerning the “war on terror.” One side took the view that we need to fight the terrorists over there so that we won’t have to fight them over here. The other side took the view that while Islam is a threat, and that possibly someday we will be fighting them over here, we have no business nation-building and besides, there has been no constitutional declaration of war against either Iraq or Afghanistan. I believe that both sides ignored the main issue.

If Islam is a new threat to us, how has it changed from its founding principles? It hasn’t. Islam is no more violent or militant today than it was 1300 years ago.

Islamic terrorism is not the greatest threat facing America. God is.

God tells us in Leviticus 26 and in Deuteronomy 28 that he blesses the culture that obeys Him and that He curses the culture that disobeys Him. (It’s interesting to note that the curses take up more space than the blessings.) We see this blessing and cursing played out in the book of 2 Chronicles.

2 Chronicles 15 begins with what life was like at the start of the reign of King Asa. “For a long time Israel was without the true God, without a priest to teach and without the law.” (v.3) Sounds like America, doesn’t it? We have rejected Christ. We have rejected His rule over us. We have rejected His law. Our pastors don’t want to offend anyone, so they refuse to preach God’s righteous requirements found in His Word.

As a result of Israel’s rejection of the one true God, “In those days it was not safe to travel about, for all the inhabitants of the lands were in great turmoil. One nation was being crushed by another and one city by another…” (v.5, 6) Sounds like America, doesn’t it? It’s not safe to travel about. Look at all of the “security” at our airports. There is more fighting in more parts of the world than in any time before.

What was the source of all of this trouble? Was it terrorists? Picking up with the remainder of verse 6, “… because God was troubling them with every kind of distress.” It is God who brings the judgment. This is also brought out in Isaiah 45:5-7 “I am the LORD, and there is no other; besides Me there is no God. I will gird you, though you have not known Me; that men may know from the rising to the setting of the sun that there is no one besides Me. I am the LORD, and there is no other, the One forming light and creating darkness, causing well-being and creating calamity; I am the LORD who does all these.”

Even General Stonewall Jackson understood this when he reminded us that “national sins must be punished in this life as there are no nationalities beyond the grave.” Or as my pastor likes to quote from a bumper sticker he once saw, “Don’t get God started.”

Our secular culture has succeeded in having even the Christians forget that it is God who rules over the affairs of men. It is He who raises up kingdoms and it is He who brings them down. It is He who protects a nation and it is He who judges a nation.

A great example of God’s hand of blessing over a nation is found in Exodus 34:24, “For I will cast out the nations before you and enlarge your coasts, so that no man shall desire your land, when you shall come up to appear before the Lord your God thrice in the year.” When we obey the Lord, He moves the hearts of our enemies so that they don’t even think about doing us any harm. That’s protection!

Back to 2 Chronicles. Chapter 17 describes the beginning of the reign of King Jehoshaphat. He began by doing what the civil magistrate is charged with doing – he built up his nation’s defenses. (v. 1-2)

But then we read the source of Jehoshaphat’s greatness. “The LORD was with Jehoshaphat, because he walked in the earlier ways of his father David. He did not seek the Baals, but sought the God of his father and walked in his commandments, and not according to the practices of Israel.” (v. 3-4) Additionally, “His heart was courageous in the ways of the LORD. And furthermore, he took the high places and the Asherim out of Judah.” (v. 6)

Do our civil rulers seek the Lord as David and Jehoshaphat did, or do they praise the gods of pagan religions, like President George W. Bush does? Is their heart courageous in the ways of the Lord, or do they fear the voters? Do they work to tear down the idolatrous temples or do they approve changes to local zoning ordinances to allow more pagan temples to be built? We will not see revival until we insist that our civil magistrates follow Jehoshaphat’s example.

What did Jehoshaphat do to “walk the walk” and thus demonstrate that his heart was right with God? He sent his civil officials, as well as the church officials, to go throughout the land to teach God’s law to the people. “In the third year of his reign he sent his officials, Ben-hail, Obadiah, Zechariah, Nethanel, and Micaiah, to teach in the cities of Judah; and with them the Levites, Shemaiah, Nethaniah, Zebadiah, Asahel, Shemiramoth, Jehonathan, Adonijah, Tobijah, and Tobadonijah; and with these Levites, the priests Elishama and Jehoram. And they taught in Judah, having the Book of the Law of the LORD with them. They went about through all the cities of Judah and taught among the people.” (v. 7-9)

As a result of Jehoshaphat’s faithfulness to the Lord, “Therefore the LORD established the kingdom in his hand. And all Judah brought tribute to Jehoshaphat, and he had great riches and honor.” (v. 5) The Lord does bless those whose hearts are courageous toward Him.

But what does this have to do with the threat of Islamic terrorism or any other manifestation of God’s judgment? Let’s keep reading. “And the fear of the LORD fell upon all the kingdoms of the lands that were around Judah, and they made no war against Jehoshaphat. Some of the Philistines brought Jehoshaphat presents and silver for tribute, and the Arabians also brought him 7,700 rams and 7,700 goats. And Jehoshaphat grew steadily greater.” (v. 10-12)

Did you get that? The Lord placed His shield of protection around His people so that even their enemies brought them tribute! When Judah was disobedient, it was not even safe to travel about. When they were taught God’s Law, and became obedient to it, their enemies brought them tribute and they prospered.

Throughout history God has blessed cultures when they obeyed Him and He has cursed those who reject Him. Remember the time when one of the prophets complained to the Lord that the Assyrians were more wicked than Israel, yet the Lord said that He had raised up the Assyrians to judge Israel?

When God judges us, whom He uses to bring that judgment is not the issue. He could raise up Aruba, Zimbabwe, or any country in between, to judge America for our sins. He could judge us by having us overrun by Islamic terrorists or destroyed by some plague or new world order elite. Regardless, it is God who is sending the judgment.

So, how can we avoid His judgment? When we, as Christians, humble ourselves, pray, seek His face, and turn from our own wicked ways, then He will hear our prayer, forgive our sins, and heal our land. (2 Chronicles 7:14)

What are some sins of which Christians need to repent? We need look no farther than our violation of the first commandment. Remember what tempted Adam and Eve in the garden? It was the lie that by eating the forbidden fruit they would be like God. Our own selfishness is nothing but a sinful desire to be like God. Most every other sin flows from this sin of selfishness.

We see this in our violation of the second commandment when, like Nadab and Abihu, we want to worship God in ways that feel good to us rather than by worshipping Him in the ways He has directed us in His Word. (Leviticus 10:1-2)

We see this in our violation of the third commandment when we complain about our circumstances, thus criticizing God’s providential care over us. (Philippians 2:14-15)

We see this in our violation of the fourth commandment when we seek our own pleasure rather than taking delight in the Lord’s Day. (Isaiah 58:13-14)

The list could go on and on, but you get the point.

And we haven’t even touched on our own lack of faith in failing to trust God to, well, actually, be God. God tells us in Romans 14:23 that “whatever is not of faith is sin.” Fear is the fundamental manifestation of a lack of faith. And today most Christians are paralyzed by fear of the “boogy-man”; therefore, we vote for a “lesser of two evils.” This sin has resulted in the establishment of perversion, the decriminalization of prenatal murder in all of its forms, and other national evils that have stemmed from that elected “lesser evil’s” rejection of Christ’s rule over us.

Until we, as Christians, repent of our own sins, I am much more concerned about God’s coming wrath on America than I am about Osama bin Laden. Whether he is over there or over here.

How?

By saying “no” to roosters in subdivisions.

So they had their go-to boy, State Rep Bobby Franklin, introduce a bill that would preempt local control on this issue and . . . → Read More: Roosters in Subdivisions? Say It Aint So!]]> Lately, some “liberty” (I use the term loosely here) activists have gotten it into their heads that local governments are trying to persecute them.

How?

By saying “no” to roosters in subdivisions.

So they had their go-to boy, State Rep Bobby Franklin, introduce a bill that would preempt local control on this issue and mandate that no local government could prohibit gardening nor the keeping of chickens, goats, or rabbits – and nor could they require a permit for these activities.

I don’t know much about farming – while my grandfather was a farmer and I spent quite a bit of time with him as a kid, I’ve always lived a much more suburban/exurban life. But I do know that to create an edible chicken egg, you need sperm. Sperm, in chickens, comes from roosters. Roosters tend to crow a lot, and not just in the mornings. They are VERY loud and can, in the right conditions, be heard for MILES around.

Again using the City of Leesburg as my basis: Leesburg is roughly 2 miles square. It is possible for a rooster to crow on the farmland just north of my house and be heard – again, assuming the right conditions – clear across town in Indian Oaks (some of the southern most homes in the City).

To my knowledge, goats have a similar problem as roosters. They bleet a lot. (Is that the right word for their vocalizations?) They’re loud. They probably can’t be heard quite as far away as a rooster, but I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t want one within 20′ or so of your bedroom wall, as property lines in subdivisions often are.

I don’t know much about rabbits, but I know they multiply like crazy. Being herbivores, they are also prey for animals such as bobcats, wolves, foxes, and coyotes. Ever heard of the sequence 1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21…? It is the Fibonacci Sequence, and historically it describes the population of rabbits. It is also an exponential function – numbers start very small, but get very large VERY quickly. In real life, as the population of rabbits grows, various things start happening: rabbit poop everywhere, cars running into rabbits on the road, rabbits interfering with peoples’ gardens… and rabbits being eaten by growing numbers of predators.

The problem for suburbanites and exurbanites is that we tend to have small animals as pets. These small pets are often roughly the size of… rabbits. If a large population of predators is attracted to an area due to an abundance of rabbits, these pets are now at risk.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I support local control outside of a clear violation of trust or a clear reason a higher level of government MUST handle the duty in question. As a man active in his local government, and as a former and potentially future candidate for my City Council, I have genuinely serious reservations with this bill. Quite frankly, this decision is not one that deserves to be made 300 miles away in Atlanta. It deserves to be made, for Leesburg, about a mile and half down the road from my house at Leesburg City Hall.

If you don’t like what your city or county has done on this issue, work with them to change it, work with your fellow citizens to change the governing board via the ballot box, or move to another town.

Don’t force Leesburg down one path just because Marietta said you couldn’t have a rooster in your subdivision.

Looking at just his pre-files for the 2010 session of the General Assembly that starts in about a month, he’s got several bills that are GREAT philosophically, though at least some of them are pure “mental . . . → Read More: Why I Want to Support Bobby Franklin But Can’t]]> State Rep Bobby Franklin is certainly an interesting case study in terms of political philosophy and political pragmatism/practicality.

Looking at just his pre-files for the 2010 session of the General Assembly that starts in about a month, he’s got several bills that are GREAT philosophically, though at least some of them are pure “mental masturbation” (ideas that are fun to debate, but stand little actual chance of happening) pragmatically. Then he’s got Ray McBerry’s “War Bills”. These are bills that, if enacted, would lead directly to a physical shooting war with the US Government – an idea he has said he supports.

Let’s take a brief look at the bills he has pre-filed this session:

HB 869 would allow a legal mechanism to enforce furlough days on the General Assembly in times of budget constraints. Currently, any furlough days taken by the General Assembly members are purely voluntary and therefore symbolic. This bill would end that, and thereby allow the General Assembly to emphasize more with their constituents who have furlough days forced upon them.

HB 870 is one whose basic concept sounds good – to eliminate all unconstitutional agencies. The problem is two-fold: 1) There are quite a bit of agencies that are constitutional per the GA Constitution that are not discussed in the US Constitution – such as education and insurance, among others. 2) This bill, if enacted, would be a flagrant violation of the First Amendment to the US Constitution by officially establishing Franklin’s own particular brand of Christianity as the religion of this State.

HB 871 would eliminate mandatory vaccinations in Georgia and make them voluntary vaccinations instead. This is another one I could support due to it allowing the individual and the parent more control over his/her (or his/her child’s) own bodies. All health decisions are ultimately private decisions, and government has no right to dictate these concerns. Of course, Franklin also opposes women’s rights to make certain other health care decisions on their own, instead wanting government to dictate to them in that regard… Can we get a bit of consistency on principles here, Rep Franklin?

HB 872 would eliminate the Governor’s emergency ability to take your guns and prevent you from buying more. I’m completely with Franklin on this one.

HB 873 is one of the pure mental masturbation bills. It would completely eliminate all Georgia laws regarding “dangerous instrumentalities” on the (correct) basis that items themselves are not dangerous – people using those items makes them dangerous, and the people should be held accountable for using them in dangerous ways. Even if this wasn’t pure mental masturbation though, it still faces one concrete problem of again violating the First Amendment, though not nearly as bad as HB 870 above.

HB 874 would allow dairy farmers – or anyone with a dairy cow, presumably – to sell raw whole milk to any willing buyer without government regulation. I’m pretty sure I personally would never purchase such milk, but I know there are others who would, and I agree with Franklin that such commerce should not be regulated.

HB 875 is one where Franklin lays out his case beautifully in the findings section – this time without violating the First Amendment – before doing something that turns this bill into complete mental masturbation – eliminating all drivers’ licenses in Georgia. This is one that is absolutely solid philosophically, but even I do not think would work in the real world. There needs to be basic standards of knowledge in order to be allowed to hurl a 2000 lb object at speeds up to and above 65 mph (the highest legal speed limit I am aware of). Now, if he wanted to use this thought process to eliminate any and all restrictions on foot travel (other than not violating private property, of course), THAT I could both support and think may be possible in the real world.

HB 876 would force government agencies to get a search warrant before capturing any image of a person or that person’s property. Exceptions are made for fixed security cameras on government buildings, express consent of the person or routine booking/ID badge photos, and cameras in cop cars that record traffic stops only. This is another one that actually sounds like a solid idea to me – though I doubt it will ever see the light of day on the Floor of the House.

HB 877 is one of the most direct “War Bills” of the bunch. It would have all Georgians pay Federal taxes to the State, then create a “Federal Tax Fund Panel” – which could have no lawyers on it – to decide how much money to send to DC, and direct that money to specific programs. Money and economics are the number one cause of war throughout history -indeed, ALL wars essentially come down to money – and this bill is truly the mouse poking the lion with a stick. HB 878 would make felons out of Federal agents doing their jobs when seizing financial assets. HB 880 would extend this to any agent of the any Federal, multinational, or international agency who enforces any law Bobby Franklin and Ray McBerry doesn’t like, and really shows their black helicopter conspiracy theories in full form.

HB 879 would exempt any product “grown, manufactured, assembled, mined, extracted, generated, or created” in Georgia for use by Georgians within the State from Federal regulation. The problem with this one is that a person could bring in the components to a nuclear weapon into the Port of Savannah, assemble the final weapon in Georgia, use it against any number of targets in Atlanta or throughout the State, and under this bill could get away with everything up until the moment of detonation. In other words, if Eric Robert Rudolph assembles and transports the weapon before handing it off to Timothy McVeigh for final detonation, only McVeigh could be charged here. Rudolph did nothing wrong under this bill. I know it is an extreme example, but sometimes to fully show a flaw in a line of reasoning, you must use inductive reasoning to take the idea to its extreme and see if it holds up at that point. Quite simply, this bill – as well as the rest of the “War Bills” – does not.

Finally, Franklin has pre-filed HR 1085, which would be a Constitutional Amendment to allow any citizen of this State legal grounds to challenge any law enacted by the General Assembly. This is one that sounds AMAZING, but I can already see Franklin and his friends salivating at the chance to clog up the Georgia court system with Constitutional challenges. This bill is, in effect, his own admission that he is absolutely, completely, and utterly ineffective as a legislator and cannot use the legislative process to repeal laws he finds repugnant.

So you see, there are some bills even this session that I REALLY want to be able to support Bobby Franklin on. But then with other bills he exposes his Theocratic and black-helicopter conspiracy theory-based beliefs – not to mention his either ignorance of history or outright lunacy in desiring war.

Therefore, I simply can NOT, in good conscience, support such beliefs.

In the Speaker chase, several new . . . → Read More: Moving Targets]]> Quite a few new developments came out yesterday in the continuing saga of the fallout of Glenn Richardson’s political collapse, and I want to get y’all caught up, for the moment, on where things currently stand – at least as best as possible, given the currently available information.

In the Speaker chase, several new names cropped up. Erick Erickson, in an endgame I knew had to exist, went forward endorsing Tom Graves for the job late last night. Earlier in the day, a Facebook group to get Barry Loudermilk the job was created, and Bill Greene, a recent candidate for Mayor of Braselton, GA, wrote an article on the Campaign For Liberty site about this. The Facebook group was created by Jenny Hodges, Ray McBerry’s campaign manager, and quite a few of its current 22 members are people associated with Ray McBerry’s campaign, including the man who openly called for war against the US Government a month ago, State Rep Bobby Franklin. Quite frankly, while Loudermilk is well regarded, he simply doesn’t have the influence to pull this move off, and it is a VAST over-reach, which we’ll talk about in a moment.

Also placing his name in the Speaker chase was Tommy Smith, whom AJC’s Political Insider Jim Galloway credits as being the first entrant. Smith, an unknown who had many questions of “Who??” and “What????” erupting (even though he has been in the House for 30 years, much of that time as a Democrat) is running for the job on the promise of ending the hawk system I still need to get a chance to write about, but which DuBose Porter has made some great points against.

Others who have been named as possible contenders include Larry O’Neal of Warner Robbins (currently the chairman of the very influential Ways and Means Committee) and David Ralston.

Not only do you have the Speakership officially up for grabs, but there are also movements to replace Mark Burkhalter as Speaker Pro-Tem and even Jerry Keen as Majority Leader – positions which aren’t up for election until 2011 unless some drastic things happen. Into those cauldrons, names such as David Ralston, Rich Golick, Jan Jones, and Clay Cox have been thrown – which Golick and Cox officially in the races. I already said my piece on Ralston, but let me note that Jan Jones is Mark Burkhalter’s closest ally. Any advance she makes would give Burkhalter a back-door influence, particularly if she replaces him as Speaker Pro-Tem.

On Cox, I take issue with the closing line of the email he sent out announcing his candidacy for the job. He, a Representative from Gwinnett County (barely 30 miles away from the Gold Dome), said “You also know that I go home at night to my wife and children- and that will not change.” That’s all well and good, but what about the rural legislators from down here in South GA – or even parts of North GA – who can’t go home to their wife and children every night, because it is literally a 3+ hr drive? Do you honestly think you are somehow better than they, Mr. Cox?

With all the names being considered for these jobs, it potentially opens up other jobs down the line, and we will see where the dominos continue to fall in this era of such rapidly moving targets.

But here’s the thing to remember, going back to the over-reaching aspect I mentioned in connection to Loudermilk above: Politically, it is very important to play agressive yet conservative here. The biggest danger any of these or others face is in over-playing their hand and losing big. It could very well remove whatever levels of influence they currently have, and that will take time to rebuild – if it is even possible. For some of these unknowns, rather than going for one of the top jobs in the House/Caucus, why not try to move up the ladder by angling for a Chairmanship or higher-ranking Chairmanship if you’re already a Chairman? Instead of going for Speaker, cut the deal with someone else to throw your support to them for Speaker in return for them supporting you for Majority Whip or some slightly lower position. Play the game well, and you could win big – if you’re patient. Play too aggressively too early, and become the next Bobby Franklin in a real big hurry.

My final note on this is the same one I mentioned yesterday: Remember, whatever happens in the coming weeks, this coming Session it is important to rock the boat enough that voters don’t rock you out, but politically the next few months are all about not rocking too hard and losing what influence you have right now.

Because the real battle within the Caucus and the House is not right now. It is 2011, when all positions are open for re-election, including committee chairmanships and assignments. At the very least, the game right now must be played with that simple fact in mind.

In it, he states “As we remember our veterans today, let’s hope that someday soon maybe perhaps some will be willing to pay the ultimate price for freedom here at home.” (emphasis mine)

This is a CLEAR call for Civil War – soon – from a sitting member of the Georgia General Assembly!!!!

Of course, he is also a complete moonbat whackjob that no one in power listens to, and very few not in power listen to.

And he is EXTREMELY closely associated with “States’ Rights” Governor Candidate Ray McBerry – indeed, he is the sponsor for those 10 States’ Rights bills McBerry is so proud of!

I will update this story later tonight with more details and thoughts.