Dick Armey’s editorial in Sunday’s Washington Post is dead-on. He makes some astute observations, specifically that if Republicans lose the majority, it will NOT be because they are TOO conservative. My sentiments exactly. He states:

If Democrats take control of Congress on Nov. 7, they will form an accidental majority. They are not succeeding because of their principles or policy proposals, but simply because they have kept their heads down. Republicans, fearful of taking on big tasks and challenges, may be defeated next month by a party that offers nothing on the key issues of our day.

***

The likely Republican losses in next week’s elections will not constitute a repudiation of the conservative legacy that drove the Reagan presidency and created the Contract With America. To the contrary, it would represent a rejection of big government conservatism. When we get back to being the party of limited government, putting a national agenda ahead of parochial short-term politics, we will again be a party that the American voters will trust to deal with the serious challenges facing our nation.

Read it all.

Via: Human Events’ Right Angle

PS I am not so sure Republican losses will be as bad as the left and MSM (one in the same) would have us believe. For the last few election cycles, we have been told how dire it was for Republicans. I’ll put it this way: I am not thrilled with everything the Republicans are doing, but I am certainly not running to Democrats for relief.

We baptists are usually not very ceremonial. Most, including myself, recognize two ordinances of the church: baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Regarding baptism, we’re immersers, believing that is the biblical model. Both baptism and the Lord’s Supper are beautiful outward expressions of an inward event. They are symbolic acts full of deep meaning, if they are genuine. They have no magical powers for salvation, and if not practiced as a symbolic result of salvation, you have done nothing more than get wet, with baptism, or had a cracker and juice, with communion.

Jesus and His disciples were gathered together in the upper room to celebrate Passover when Christ instituted the Lord’s Supper. He broke and blessed the unleavened bread of Passover and said it was his body that was broken for us and that they should eat. He blessed the cup and told them all to drink of it as it was his blood which was shed for remission of sins. And so the symbols used in passover are given an even deeper meaning in the Lord’s Supper. Also on the table would have been bitter herbs and a fruit mixture, reminiscent of the bitter struggle of the Hebrew children and the mortar they used in conjunction with their bricks under slavery, respectively. Everything had a meaning and a purpose.

It is a beautiful event when a church celebrates the Lord’s Supper. At our church, I try to schedule the remembrance often enough that we are not neglectful of it, yet not so often that it looses its specialness. I shoot for once a quarter, and usually it is on a 5th Sunday, since there is one per quarter, though we do celebrate it in conjunction with certain Christian events during the year, Easter especially. It’s a time of solemnity, introspection, and deep fellowship, and it’s nice to share that as we remember the work of Christ.

The important message fo Passoever was, “Is there blood?” That remains the message today. “Is there blood?” John the Baptist looked at Christ and said, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” Christ is the one, true Passover lamb given for many. Can we say His blood covers us today? Is there blood? It’s the only question that really matters.

Just got in from Dallas today. Got home with barely time to take a quick breath and change clothes before church.

Dallas has to have the most confusing streets, roads, and interstates I have ever seen. I made it, but it took a while to get it figured out. I rarely have trouble being able to “feel” which way is north, but I get turned around all the time in Dallas. Maybe the illegal aliens do, too. That’s it, they’re not trying to sneak in, they are just confused about which way they are headed. They are trying to go south to go home, but inadvertantly come north to our home. Yeah, that’s the ticket…

I was there to do some a media escort for Barbara Cameron. We’re promoting her book, and we had a few media appearances and bookstore visits. You may not recognize Barbara’s name immediately, but you are likely familiar with two of her kids, Kirk and Candace Cameron of Growing Pains and Full House, respectively. Kirk also starred in the Left Behind movies and now works full time on his ministry with Ray Comfort, The Way of the Master. Kirk married Chelsea Noble, who played his girlfriend at the end of Growing Pains, and they have six kids! Candace married Val Bure, the NHL hockey player, and they have 3(?) kids. She is a stay-at-home-mom, though she does do some speaking where she can share her faith. Kirk and Candace flew in to do one of the media appearances with their mom, and they all did a great job. You can catch them on Life Today with James and Betty Robison, Thursday, February 1, 2007, on the Discovery Channel.

Barbara’s book, A Full House of Growing Pains, is the very well-told story of her raising “good kids” in the culture of Hollywood (Kirk and Candace have two other sisters). Although she was raising kids with moral instruction and values, it was not a Christian home. Because of that there were many struggles. Eventually, Kirk–an admitted atheist or agnostic–came to Christ. As he shared Ray Comfort’s message, “Hell’s Best Kept Secret,” changes began to occur. Candace accepted Christ. Barbara renewed her relationship with God. Barbar’s husband, a long-time non-believer, has now also accepted Christ and was baptized by Kirk a couple months back. God carried the family through the rough patches, and now He is working through the platform He gave Kirk and Candace when they were younger.

I have escorted Barbara a few times now, and she is a thrill to work with. Kirk and Candace are great, also. They are the most down-to-earth folks, and there’s not a bit of Hollywood pretension in the bunch. It is a pleasure to be working with them.

It’s a little dark, but here’s a picture of us from the green room at Life Today:

I conducted the first of what I hope are many Wynn-terviews on the WynnCast. I talked to Bill “Wild Bill” Kerr of the Passionate America blog. He is an Oklahoma blogger, and he broke the story about the identity of the the page in the Mark Foley scandal. Check it out.

One of the stories to come out recently is tangential to the eminent domain case at OSU. As you may know, OSU (my alma mater) has decided to create an “Athletic Village” by using the power of the state forcibly to require citizens to sell their property to the State. There have been a few problems with this deal, and I have to say that as an alum I have been embarrassed by some of OSU’s behavior in this matter.

The latest story in the Tulsa Whirled reports that OSU Board of Regents has sued McCloskey Brothers, real estate investors, to get the last piece of property it needs to move on with the whole Athletic Village idea. McCloskey Bros. counters by saying that the Board of Regents is unconstitutional. How so? Well, it seems that our pesky Oklahoma Constitution requires that a majority of the Board of Regents for Agricultural & Mechanical Schools and Colleges be farmers. Yep, you read right. A majority must be farmers.

Oklahoma Constitution, Article 6, Section 31a, states in full (bold emphasis mine):

§ 31a. Board of Regents for agricultural and mechanical schools and colleges – Members – Vacancies – Removal – Terms.

There is hereby created a Board of Regents for the Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical College and all Agricultural and Mechanical Schools and Colleges maintained in whole or in part by the State. The Board shall consist of nine (9) members, eight (8) members to be appointed by the Governor by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, a majority of whom shall be farmers, and the ninth member shall be the President of the State Board of Agriculture. Any vacancy occurring among the appointed members shall be filled by appointment of the Governor by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. The members of the Board shall be removable only for cause as provided by law for the removal of officers not subject to impeachment. The members shall be appointed for terms of eight (8) years each, with one term expiring each year, provided that the members of the first Board shall be appointed for terms of from one (1) to eight (8) years respectively. Provided that no State, National or County officer shall ever be appointed as a member of said Board of Regents until two years after his tenure as such officer has ceased.

You should also know that the President of the State Board of Agriculture must also be a farmer, as all members of the State Board of Ag must be. Eight others, a majority of whom shall be farmers, are to be selected by the Governor with standard advice and consent of the State Senate. A majority of 8 is 5. That means, if the article is correct and none of the Regents are farmers (other than the President of the State Board of Ag), only three of the current OSU Regents appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Senate are qualified to hold that position of trust; they are illegitimate.

You would think this fact would invalidate their actions. Not so, says the State Attorney General. Or at least that is what OSU is alleging. OSU has said that the makeup of the Regent Board is irrelevent to the eminent domain case due to a 1987 state attorney general’s opinion saying actions by an unconstitutionally composed board remain valid. That would seem contrary to logic. If that were so, what motivation is there to compose board and commissions constitutionally. I have not yet found that AG’s opinion to read for myself, but remember, it’s only an opinion. The current AG filed an amicus brief on behalf of all us Oklahomans against the boy scouts in the big Supreme Court case. Yes, I said against the boy scouts. Not the best use of his opinion powers, eh?

The bottom line for me is that the Constitution is sacred. It is the contract we make with the government, which we empower by its ratification. I don’t care how weird or unreasonable a provision of the Constitution may seem, it is to be obeyed by the government because it was put there directly by the people. If the people determine that OSU Regents all must be left handed, that requirement must be followed to the letter because the people said so. Everyone loves the idea of democracy until a ruling elite thinks it knows better. Some of the current (illegitimate) Regents say things like OSU needs a broader range of experience on the Board of Regents. Ok then, campaign to amend the constitution. You don’t just get to decide that this idea seems better. Plus, the Constitution currently allows a minority of the Regents to be as broad as the Governor wants.

In fact, the OSCN site contains the note that that part about the Regents was: 

Added by State Question No. 310, Ref. Petition No. 87, adopted at election held July 11, 1994

A direct vote of the people put it there, in the section about Board fo Agriculture (think maybe we were serious about the farming thing?), in 1994. If I am not mistaken that is more recent than the 1987 AG’s opinion OSU is clinging to as a way out of this embarrassment.

Long story short: Five OSU Regents are not qualified for the positions they hold. The last five appointed should be allowed to resign, though no resignation is necessary. Since only three seats are properly filled, Governor Henry should immediately appoint five farmers to the Board of Regents, to be confirmed by the Senate. End of story.