Monday, May 11, 2009

Governor to Feds – Please Tread On Me

Humphrey Stevenson

published by www.conservativetruth.org

On April 24th, Governor Brad Henry (D – OK) vetoed Oklahoma House Joint Resolution 1003. The resolution had passed the state House 83 – 13 and the state Senate 29 – 18. So, what kind of misguided resolution could have caused Governor Henry to take such action? HJR 1003 claimed the State of Oklahoma has “… sovereignty under the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.”

I’ll pause while you compose yourself.

That’s it. Plainly put, the simpletons in the state legislature had the audacity, the unmitigated gall to think that Oklahoma is a sovereign state having “… rights the federal government may not usurp;” (HJR 1003). Well this could not stand. I mean after all, what would Obama think? So, Governor Henry put a stop to that nonsense.

In his veto message, Henry said, “… there is no need to spend valuable legislative time on a resolution expressing support for any particular amendment or constitutional right.” However, the resolution had already passed in the House and Senate, so the “legislative time” was already spent by the time it reached the governor’s desk, seems to me, that argument should have been made earlier. No use crying over spilled milk. Nevertheless, I’m sure it is comforting to the citizens of the reddest of the Red States to know that we have a governor who believes that the sovereignty of this state or the defense of the rights thereof, is a waste of time. Anyway, the state legislators didn’t see it that way.

Henry continued, “Furthermore, HJR 1003 alleges, without offering any evidence or explanation, that past and current U.S. leaders may have violated the Constitution and committed crimes against the states and the country.” May have violated the Constitution? Oh no, permit me to be more direct; they have violated the Constitution. But if it’s evidence Governor Henry wants, allow me; how about Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Food Stamps, ESEA, Bilingual Education Act, National Endowment of the Arts, EPA, CAFÉ, Community Reinvestment Act, TARP, bailout of the auto industry and on and on. All done by “U.S. leaders” and none of which can I find in the enumerated powers of the federal government in Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution.

Henry further stated that the resolution implied that the state should reject federal tax money. He feared that this would prevent federal tax dollars paid by Oklahoma citizens to be used in the state to address “critical needs” and provide “vital services.” I can only imagine that he is referring to the so called stimulus money. However, HJR 1003 doesn’t specifically address the stimulus package. The relevant section merely demands, “THAT all compulsory federal legislation which directs states to comply under threat of civil or criminal penalties or sanctions or require states to pass legislation or lose federal funding be prohibited or repealed.” Henry seems to be suggesting that the stimulus money comes with a hook in it.

“In short,” Henry said in closing, “HJR 1003 could be detrimental to Oklahoma and does not serve the state or its citizens in any positive manner.” I fail to see how any resolution that demands that the federal government retract its tentacles restrict its power to those enumerated in the Constitution could be detrimental to any state or its citizens. Governor Henry has obviously forgotten that the states created the federal government to act as their agent, not the other way around. HJR 1003 was to remind the federal government of that fact.

I know that several other states that have “Tenth Amendment” resolutions in various forms working through these states’ legislatures. If you are a citizen of such a state, call your legislator, call your governor. Tell them you want the resolution passed and signed into law. The only way we are going to get this monstrous federal government reigned in is for the states and the people to demand it.

Sunday, May 3, 2009

My Father's Favorite Story

Humphrey Stevenson

This was my father’s favorite story and he told it often when I a little boy. At least it was one you could share in mixed company; he was a sailor after all. I thought you might enjoy the story and its message.

There was a very young bird in a nest high in an oak tree at in a small patch of woods at the edge of a pasture. The sun was shining bright on a bitterly cold morning with a biting wind blowing from the north. But the little bird was safe and warm in the nest while his mother was gone looking for food for him. The little bird was curious and poked his head above the edge of the nest and watched as the older birds jumped out of their nests and took off in glorious flight. The little bird wanted to fly so badly. He had been jumping around the nest lately and he was growing and getting stronger by the day, but was still too young to fly. The older birds made it look so easy and it looked like so much fun.

The little bird decided that he had waited just about long enough. So, he struggled his way up onto the edge of the nest, stood arrow straight, flapped his wings as hard as he could, leaped off the nest and … plummeted, like a rock, to the ground. Surprisingly, the little bird was unhurt, just very cold. He then started screaming in hopes that his mother would hear and come and put him back in the nest. But his mother had journeyed too far to hear him.

However, a cow grazing nearby did hear the little bird and came over to investigate. She found the little bird shivering on the ground and surmised what had happened. She looked up and saw that the nest was far too high for her to reach. But she knew that the little bird would freeze to death if she didn’t do something. So she turned around, carefully positioned herself and gently plopped a big, steaming pile of manure right on the little bird. When she turn around to inspect her handiwork, she found that while the little bird may not smell too good, he would be safe and warm until his mother returned. She then went to rejoin the rest of the heard which had moved to the far end of the pasture.

Once the little bird found that he could not free himself from his smelly cocoon, he began to scream even louder for his mother. Only this time it wasn’t his mother or a benevolent cow, but a fox, that that heard his protests. The fox found the little bird, pulled him from the manure pile, pick every bit of the manure from him and … ate him in one bite.

The moral of the story is; 1) those who dump crap on you aren’t always trying to hurt you, 2) those who clean crap off of you aren’t always trying to help you and 3) when you’re up to your neck in crap, keep your mouth closed.