Why So Quiet?

Hello all (or any) readers!

I'm still alive. I apologize for not posting any blog entries over the last six months or so. I had some health problems earlier in the year leading up to a surgery in the late summer. I'm not completely out of the woods yet, but my health is steadily improving. Now I just have to dig out of under all of the things (particularly in my home and finances) that have piled up over the past year. Writing on this blog was one of those things that just had to go while I dealt with a lot of other issues.

I have started writing again as an instructor for the newly created George Washington School of Freedom (see http://gwschool.net/), a free online resource for learning more about our Constitution, American History, and how freedom principles apply to our every day lives. I strongly recommend that you check it out and sign up!

I was asked to join because I bring a different perspective - that of a mom and community activist - to all of these topics. I've included at the end of each lesson a section called "Ideas for Learning and Application" with all sorts of ideas for teaching these principles at home to your kids, maybe at Family Home Evening or a homeschool group.

The lessons that I write for the school are still mine, so I can post them here. I've already written three: 101 - Why I Love the U.S. Constitution, 102 - George Washington - An American Hero, and 103 - Introduction to the Bill of Rights. The lesson I'm working on right now is about the French and Indian War. I hope to be able to post these lessons here before too long, although this blog still has to take a back row seat from time to time so I can focus on my family and personal health issues first.

In the meantime, check out http://gwschool.net/ and sign up for this amazing free resource.

Take care & have fun reading & learning!

You're Definitely Right, Dr. Elia!

I took a class from Dr. Elia Gourgouris a few years ago at a BYU Education Week class. He is a very talented life coach and counselor. I'm reprinting (with permission) the first few paragraphs of an article he wrote this week that applies equally to families and politics. My feelings after I read this article? AMEN!!!!

Finding hope, peace in these troubled times

By Elia Gourgouris

Published: 2010-03-30 00:22:08

I don't know if these are the "last days," but I do know these are troubled times.

Everywhere I look, I see pain, suffering, anger, betrayal, and most of all fear! Lots and lots of fear. From the destructiveness caused by natural phenomena like earthquakes in divers places (most recently Haiti and Chile) to the continued uncertainty in the world's economy.

In the political arena, I see our country divided far worse than at any given time in the last 40 years. This goes far beyond the normal lack of bipartisanship. It's starting to feel like people are so fearful of the way this country is going that they're willing to take things into their own hands and act outside of the law. It is scary to me to think that we would turn on each other violently. That happens in other, less civilized countries, not to us Americans.

The vitriolic statements and sentiments coming from our elected officials in Washington are unprecedented. But it does not stop there because those same sentiments are heard throughout this great land of ours in our colleges, schools, in small towns and large cities and in the media.

I believe all this collective fear and anger together with the financial insecurity we all feel, is spreading to our homes. I see more couples fighting, more families struggling to keep it all together and more children acting out. There's more divisiveness and blame going around than accountability and personal responsibility. This is not a good sign for our country or our families. The old adage, " a house divided against itself will fall" could not be more true in today's world. Part of the problem of course is that we have stopped listening empathetically to each other. Actually we've stopped listening period! Instead we've turned up the volume and made the one who "barks" the loudest win the argument. So what are we to do?

I encourage you to read the whole article here:
http://www.mormontimes.com/mormon_voices/elia_gourgouris/?id=14115

See also: http://www.ldscoaching.com/ and http://www.askdrelia.com/

Oh My, They Actually Did It

Despite the Sunday prayers of hundreds of thousands of Americans, Obama got his way and the horrible "Obamacare" health overhaul package passed the US House of Representatives last night by 7 votes, 219 - 212. (Read the KSL.com story here: House sends health care overhaul bill to Obama) Even more, a companion "fix-it" bill also passed the House 220 - 211, and is expected to be "fast-tracked" in the Senate, essentially strangling the voice of conservative lawmakers that have continually objected to this overwhelming socialist agenda.

I am sure the stories of all the arm-twisting, vote-buying, and manipulating could fill a book even larger than the almost two thousand page bill.

One part of this article, stuck near the very end, caught my eye:

Now Obama will have to sell the bill to the public, and a White House aide said he was likely to take at least one trip this weekend to emphasize the legislation's benefits.

Compare that quote with the one near the beginning of the article stated by Obama himself:

"This is what change looks like," Obama said later in televised remarks that stirred memories of his 2008 campaign promise of "change we can believe in."

"We proved that this government _ a government of the people and by the people _ still works for the people."

The absolutely brazen arrogance and downright obstinate blindness of Obama, Pelosi, Reid, and other Democratic leaders just blows my mind. (I was about to write something awfully strong and not very nice, but I figured it wouldn't do much good to be vitriolic.)

Thank heavens elections are coming up again in November!

Do What Is Right - Let the Consequence Follow

I admit that Governor Herbert has quite a bit more background knowledge and resources than I have on the SB 11 states' gun rights issue. That being said, I have read the bill and it seems exactly something that we need to start getting the federal government off of our backs and out of our pockets.

The last I've heard from online buzz and radio buzz, this bill has passed both houses (Senate: 19-10-0; House: 56-17-2) and now it's on Governor Herbert's desk to sign. I've also heard that he is getting a TON of persuasion to veto it, based on fears of a court challenge, etc.

So, finally this morning I figured I needed to let my voice be heard and I emailed our Governor about this specific issue. Here's the email I wrote:

********************************************

Dear Governor Herbert,

As a citizen of Utah and an active leader in the Utah County Republican Party, I ask you to please sign SB 11 Utah Firearms Freedom Act. This is a time to act out of faith, not react out of fear.

Please consider the following chorus to a song you may recognize:

Do what is right;
Let the consequence follow.
Battle for freedom in spirit and might;
And with stout hearts look ye forth till tomorrow.
God will protect you;
Then do what is right.

("Do What Is Right", Hymns No. 237.)

I know that God will not only protect you but Utah as well if you choose to act out of faith and principle instead of reacting out of fear and expediency. May God bless you in your service to our state and country.

Sincerely,

Wendi J. Baggaley
Leg. 56 Education Officer
Vice Chair, UCRP Constitution & Bylaws Committee

************************************************

If you want to learn more about this issue and email or call Governor Herbert yourself, please check out the following links:

SB 11 main page from the Utah State Legislature website

Governor Herbert's email: gherbert@utah.gov

Governor Herbert's answering service: 801-538-1000

States' Rights Bills in the Utah State Legislature 2010

For those of you who haven't followed the Utah State Legislature much, there are a whole bunch of bills this session addressing our states' rights that have been taken over by the federal government.

The 10th Amendment to the US Constitution states:

"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."

Unfortunately, over the last several decades or more, Congress has used both the "commerce clause" and "necessary and proper clause" in the Constitution to justify micromanaging everything from transportation and agriculture to the water flow in our shower spigots. It's hard to find a part of our lives that hasn't had the hand of the federal government in it. No wonder our country is in such debt - the government is trying to do too much and then give us the bill for it!

Thanks to the efforts of a fairly new movement called "The Patrick Henry Caucus", some of our state legislators (including mine, Representative Ken Sumsion - Go Ken!!!!) have joined with legislators from other states to write bills that directly challenge this usurpation by the federal government. Yes, these bills are designed to get challenged by the US Supreme Court. But what else is going to stop the federal government from consistently overstepping its bounds?

So, here's a few of the state's rights bills/resolutions in this legislative session with links to find more about them on the state legislative website:

SB 11 Utah State-made Firearms Protection Act

HCR 2 Concurrent Resolution on States' Rights

HCR 17 Concurrent Resolution Opposing the Use of Presidential Power to Create New National Monuments in Utah

HJR 11 Joint Resolution Regarding Federal Health Insurance Reform


Since I don't have time to write about all of these, please post a comment if you have a question and I'll try to answer it in a fairly timely matter.

Loss of Sovereignty in England - Ouch!

This obscure article in today's Daily Herald intrigued me today:

http://www.heraldextra.com/news/world/europe/article_3e6ab7db-5eb1-57f6-b3ec-106ea6259360.html

It's about a guy who constructed a castle without going through the local planning authorities and kind of tried to hide it. The local guys claim that he should take down the castle because of the shady beginnings. The castle guy says he's lived in it for enough years to claim protection under another law. The High Court sided with the local planning people, but of course that ruling is under appeal.

In any case, this is the part that caught my eye:

Fidler's lawyer, Pritpal Singh Swarn, said the decision would be appealed at the Court of Appeal because it raised important planning issues. A further appeal to European courts is possible if British courts again reject Fidler's bid to legitimize his castle.

I don't know about you, but I'd be kind of scared by this if I were an English citizen. But what if this situation was applied to America? Those who receive a ruling they don't agree with will naturally want to keep pursuing the issue if there's any chance of a reversal. Regardless of whether a ruling is "right" or "wrong" (a lot is probably based on perceptions and the justices making the best judgment they can given the evidence available at the time) there has to be an end, a place where the buck stops once and for all.

The main question is: Do we want to make a multi-country court or an international court the last word on arguments? If we do, bye bye to our sovereignty!

The Need for Civic Work / Civic Virtue

[Note: This is an excerpt from an email I sent tonight to the members of the Utah County Republican Party Constitution & Bylaws Committee, the four elected County Party Officers, and the County's Education officer. My email was a response to last night's County Central Committee Meeting.]


Rep. Dougall last night referred to our culture as a "fast food culture" - expecting that other people will do the work while we enjoy the benefits. That comment really struck me. On the one hand, I can understand how individuals don't want to sit around for hours feeling like they're wasting their time on a Saturday morning or a Thursday night. And all of us can do our part to make sure that our meeting time together is as productive as possible. (Taylor & Lisa, thank you soooo much for instituting and continuing to provide agendas for our meetings. It makes a world of difference!)

However, despite our best efforts, it seems to me that many people expect to come and be informed and entertained, but don't want to "get into the weeds" as Taylor put it. It's the same with conventions - people want to elect their candidates, but don't want to have to deal with the "messy" decisions. So they walk out right after the ballots are cast, invariably we lose a quorum, and then the convention has to adjourn without finishing the work. What many don't realize is that the price of freedom requires the willingness and ability to confront and clear out those weeds. Anyone who expects anything less is asking for "fast food", a fast fix, a momentary high but short-lived result.

I strongly feel that we need to instill the value of civic work or, as I call it, civic virtue: the ability to govern ourselves peaceably by confronting our differences and resolving them in the best way we can while maintaining trust, good will, and a common purpose among us. In my opinion, it is precisely the lack of this kind of civic virtue that has created the maelstrom we have in Washington, D.C., right now. But how in good conscience can we point fingers at them if we are unable to do it ourselves in our county party?

I think it was Senator Madsen last night that referred to the appalling lack of civic education in our society over the past few decades. Realistically we can't expect everyone to change overnight. But we can and we must start emphasizing the responsibilities as well as the privileges of being a delegate, a precinct officer, a Central Committee member, etc., and we need to emphasize that "responsibility" is not a bad thing. Honestly, one of my several reasons for being involved is to allow myself to learn and grow stronger in civic virtue. I know that people get involved for a lot of other reasons besides wanting to a better person, but we can help point out that it's a good thing to seek for.

I'm really grateful for Adrielle's awesome work at preparing the "responsibilities from the bylaws" page for leg. officers and precinct officers. It's a great start. I know I'll also be emphasizing civic virtue in my leg. district trainings, both before and after the caucuses.