Freedom of Speech {1943}
by Norman Rockwell for
The Saturday Evening Post

This week the ITPS team will bring to The Public Square a discussion of upcoming election issues with general observations about candidates and the 12 propositions appearing on the California Ballot. For listeners outside of California, many of the issues remain relevant to the nation at large, since California unfortunately, is a bellwether state in terms of culture and politics. The issues and outcome on this ballot here will affect the political strategies of both sides throughout the nation. John Snyder, Alexandra Berauer and David Llewellyn will discuss the pivotal Proposition 8 Marriage Amendment in addition to the proposed Parental Notification law regarding abortions provided to minors. There will also be a discussion of each of the various bond issues. Also ITPS will discuss the disquieting trend of partisan Secretaries of State to couch ballots in non-objective language with intent to bend the clear meaning of propositions and initiatives. Call in LIVE at 888-923-1380.

In a speech before Wall Street’s movers-and-shakers, President Bush engaged in the Orwellian doublespeak that has plagued his administration and its many followers among the loyal Republican rank-and-file.

I think you overstate our President’s shortcomings while ignoring his successes. If you criticize the man, at least be constructive. It does none of us who consider ourselves part of the conservative movement any good to see those who should be on our side tearing down our leader. (Good or bad, this man is the ranking Republican in the land).

When I think of the Republican Party I think of Rick’s Café Americain, the nightclub that served as the backdrop for the Warner Brother’s 1942 film classic Casablanca. Most of the story takes place in a saloon run by the romantic and cynical American expatriate Richard Blaine. His nightclub represents an oasis in an oasis, and a place of escape for refugees fleeing Nazi occupied Europe.

Two seemingly unrelated events occurred on election day – Sen. Barak Obama, the self described “community organizer,” became the 44th President of the United States, and three state constitutional amendments (in California, Arizona and Florida), declaring the union of a man and woman the only legal definition of marriage, were approved by the voters.

Well, it's over for Sen. John McCain. Not only is Barak Hussein Obama President Elect, his electoral coattails increased the Democratic majority in the U.S. Congress. McCain, I’m sure, will take comfort in the fact that when he returns to the U.S. Senate, he can fulfill his Presidential campaign pledge to "reach across the aisle," helping the sizable Democratic majority in the good-old Republican spirit of bipartisan co-operation – “Country First,” and all that.

The New York Times has discovered more damning evidence against the Republican Vice Presidential contender Sara Palin – her belief in a moral universe.

Joe Wurzelbacher – a.k.a. Joe the plumber – asked the Democratic presidential candidate Barak Obama a straight question, “Your new tax plan is going to tax me more, isn’t it?”

During a recent campaign town hall meeting, John McCain spoke to some very frustrated supporters.

“We want to fight, and I will fight,” said McCain, “but we will be respectful. I admire Sen. Obama and his accomplishments. I will respect him (boos from the audience). No, no, I want everyone to be respectful. And let’s make sure we are because that’s the way politics should be conducted in America.”

During the first Presidential candidate debate, moderator Jim Lehrer asked a series of questions about how the financial bailout of Wall Street might affect each candidate’s priorities if elected President of the United States .  Unsatisfied with the responses from Senators McCain and Obama, Lehrer rephrased the question three times:

Even while America is reeling from Congressional sticker shock from the $700 Billion bailout, we must come to grips with a phenomenon which is likely be become a fixture of a Congress controlled by the political left.

What we must prepare ourselves for is a country ruled less by law and moral conscience and more by the Rule by Crisis.

“And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.” –Book of Revelation, Chapter 18

In a national vote on October 15, 2005, a majority of Iraqis ratified that nation’s constitution making Sharia (Islamic Law) the law of the land. The Iraqi Constitution reads in part: