As Conservatives, we stand up for individual right – and that includes religious liberty.  We take the Constitution at its word:  “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…” We understand that this does not mean that religion should be banished from the public scene, but that the government must protect the right of individuals to worship (or not worship) as each person may choose.  This is a bedrock principle, an important element in our nation’s foundation.  Without it, religion becomes a tool to exploit the masses and oppress a fundamental aspect of what it means to be human.

This Thanksgiving, as our nation expresses gratitude for the many rights endowed to us by our Creator, we need to also remember those around the world who do not enjoy the freedom to exercise the rights.  Despite our portrayal in the mainstream media, Conservatives do care about human rights.  Here’s one way we can stir up our own sense of thankfulness while simultaneously standing up individual rights and religious liberty.

Sayed Mossa is a husband and father of six.  He’s also currently imprisoned in Afghanistan for converting to Christianity from Islam.  In his own words, he is in jail “due to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, saviour of the world.”  Since he was arrested and put in jail earlier this past May, he has been beaten, spat upon, made to go hungry, kept from sleep, sexually assaulted, and more.

According to Justin Taylor, we can help Sayed by writing him letters.  These letter can raise awareness of his plight and mount pressure for his release.  However, we need to be careful in what we write.  Letters should be short and should have no explicit reference to Christianity or Jesus. Instead, we should address his situation as an issue of human rights and religious freedoms.

Here’s the text of the letter I am mailing to Sayed:

Dear Sayed Mossa,

I am so sorry to hear of your mistreatment and unjust imprisonment.  Your story is being told around the world.  Many people care about you and your family and hope to see you freed, including me.

You are in my thought,
Jake Porter

Letters can be mailed to:

Mr. Sayed Mossa
c/o International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
Charrahi Haji Yaquob
Shar i Naw
Kabul,
AFGHANISTAN

I hope you will join me in writing to Sayed, not only to raise awareness of his situation but also to provide him some encouragement.  As you write, please pray for him, as well.  Pray for his health and safety, for perseverance of faith, for his wife and children, and for those government officials who need to step out and boldly call for his release.

As Conservatives, we have to fight for our principles everywhere and at all times.  We can’t simply speak up when it is convenient or personal.  Truth is truth; right is right; wrong is wrong.  All men and women should be free from tyrannical governments, and free to worship as they chose.  Let’s take some time this Thanksgiving season to give thanks for our freedoms and to be a voice for those who are in need.

Lisa Murkowski has launched a new ad featuring Ted Stevens, a much-loved figure in Alaskan politics who died tragically in a plane crash earlier this year.  Apparently, just days before the plane went down, Stevens recorded a commercial voicing his endorsement of Murkowski.  In order not to come across as completely taking advantage of Stevens’ death, the Murkowski campaign worked with his family, particularly his daughter Sue, to record an introduction showing their approval of the use of this footage to support Murkowski’s endeavor.

If you watch the ad, there’s no doubt that Ted Stevens did have much respect and affection for Lisa Murkowski and clearly supported her in the Republican primary earlier this year.

Now, I’m just going to put it out there… Is it just me, or does it come across to anyone else as presumptuous and arrogant to assume that Stevens would now be backing Murkowski over Miller?

In the NORMAL universe – one where politicians actually respect the will of the people as expressed at the ballot box – after a primary, everyone rallies around the winner.  After the debate within the party, the party is supposed to come together, be a unified front, trusting that voters are smart enough to pick the right candidate, or at least the one they want.  Sure, occasionally this doesn’t happen, but for the most part that’s how it goes.

Obviously we aren’t living in a universe anything close to normal this year.

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Today, I nearly blew my lid and destroyed my reputation in Small Town, Texas.  I’ll tell you what happened, but first, a little context…

As I join the crowds who attempt to make sense of the political phenomenon we are witnessing unfold before us this year, my take is that this is neither exclusively anti-Democrat / pro-Republican, nor is it anti-incumbant / pro-fresh-face.  I would consider this a year of rebellion against The Establishment.

The Establishment exists in both parties.  Not all incumbents are a part of The Establishment (see Bachmann, DeMint, Coburn, and others), though it is safe to say that most of them are on their way.  The Establishment is made up of those self-proclaimed elite experts who believe themselves to have superior skill with political nuance.  They consider themselves to "know what’s best" for the rest of us.  Clearly, they operate on a whole other plane. The Establishment – on both the right and left – almost seems to become one with the government system in which they find themselves; that’s the only explanation for their reflexive defense of that government system.

This angers me.  This is why I can’t stand the Specter/Crist/Murkowski mentality.  It betrays their upside-down understanding of republicanism.  WE THE PEOPLE get to pick who we want to represent us.  You don’t get to pivot simply based on political expediency, Arlen.  You aren’t entitled to a nomination, Charlie.  And Lisa, you were rejected.  Get over it.

The American people are sick of government for the sake of government.  And that’s what The Establishment seems to promote.  People get to Washington and lose their sense of self as they become entangled with the system.  They can’t separate themselves from their positions of power and influence.  And then their top priority becomes the preservation of the government system for the ultimate purpose of their own personal preservation.  Government for the sake of government is not government of, by, and for the people.

I’m here to tell you, folks, it isn’t just in Washington.  That’s what makes the headlines.  That’s what is blaring on 24 hour cable news.  That’s what people talk are talking about at the water cooler and pooling millions of dollars to defeat.  But it isn’t just in Washington.  It’s in your town, too.

I’m a, oh, let’s say, "CEO" of a medium-sized non-profit charitable organization in a small community on the Texas Gulf Coast.  We are in a position to do some pretty significant renovations to some of our property.  Specifically, we want to build out a huge open medal building into a two story facility that has a large meeting area on the bottom and smaller rooms in the top.  This is a space our organization needs, but also a space we believe would benefit our community.  We have just enough money saved up for the project…

…if we don’t have to put in a sprinkler system.

This morning we had a meeting with our city building inspector and the fire chief.  In walked The Establishment.  The city building inspector was nice.  But that fire chief – someone I genuinely like as a person! – has The Establishment Mentality.  While the inspector was thinking that we wouldn’t have to put in a sprinkler system, the fire chief was rooting for one.

He started explaining the present code, and then agreed with the inspector that we might "slide through."  Then he starting talking about the coming code [cue lightening bold, thunder clap, and ominous minor chords].  In the next year, he said, our little city of Small Town, Texas, is going to adopt a code "better than Houston’s."  I gulped.

Oh yeah, it’ll be great, he said.  We’d absolutely need a sprinkler system then.  All new commercial buildings will, regardless of square footage and occupation numbers.  Not to mention the fire proof walls, excessive space around mechanical panels, and on and on and on.  Under the coming code, all these precautions will be mandatory.

I couldn’t hold my tongue.  "Would you please tell whoever is planning on making that decision that it will really stifle our town’s economic growth?"

"No, it really won’t.  It will mostly affect people who are already here who want to do upgrades.  For new businesses, they’ll just start out having to meet the code."

In my head, I wondered if the guy knew what he was saying.  I spoke up again.  "It is going to be very hard for small businesses, people who want to, say, build a small office building, to do so if they have to add the expense of all these codes – fire walls, sprinkler systems…"

"Oh, not just commercial buildings," the fire chief went on.  "Even homes over 4,000 square feet will be required to have a sprinkler system."

I couldn’t speak.  It was the grace of God.  Had I spoken, all kinds of venom would have come out.  But evidently my face expressed my disbelief and disgust.  The chief went on to argue that the savings in people’s insurance premiums would offset the initial cost of sprinkler systems.  "In 80 years?" my associate asked.

Then he went and said it.  The Establishment Mentality was exposed.  He said, "Look, in 20 years, this is going to make things so much better for THE FIRE DEPARTMENT" (emphasis mine).

I threw up in my mouth a little.

Excuse me?  Last time I checked, the fire department was a public service.  PUBLIC service.  Public SERVICE.  They exist for us, right?  Apparently not.  Apparently, our city counsel in Small Town, Texas feels it needs to expand regulation so that it can justify enforcing the regulation – doesn’t that sound like a better job for a fire chief than – oh, I don’t know – putting out fires?!

My point is this, friends:  Don’t lose site of your state and your county and your town.  Our voices are certainly needed in fighting The Establishment in Washington D.C., but we all have much more power in our states, and even more power in our counties and cities.  We need to be vigilant there, as well.  Regulation that stifles the free market is bad, no matter who imposes it.  Government for the sake of government is no good.  So pay attention and speak up!

The city counsel and mayor of Small Town, Texas will be hearing from this Tea Party Preacher.  I’ll keep you posted.

Politico has just reported that by this time tomorrow, Senate Republicans will have decided just where Lisa Murkowski, former Republican and born-again Independent, stands in her former party.

Murkowski was the ranking Republican on the Senate’s Energy Committee, quite a resume booster.  She also enjoyed a some seniority and a position among the GOP’s Senate leadership.  Apparently, tomorrow the Senate Republicans will come together to consider whether or not they should take away from Murkowski her ranking committee position.

Is it just me or is this one a no-brainer?

When Murkowski decided not to respect the decision of the Republican voters of her state, followed by the decision to become an Independent write-in candidate, she pretty much lost her GOP identity.  I mean, how can the LOSING Republican who has DISRESPECTED voters and ABANDONED her party to become an independent expect to retain a position of power in the very party she’s just walked out on.

Once again, we have a clear picture of the problem with the GOP Establishment.  They seem to forget something really important… that they are where they are because of the voters!  They serve at the will of the voters!  Ms. Murkowski does not get to decide for herself whether or not is finished being the Republican Senator from Alaska.  The voters already took care of that.  Sure, she has the right to try to become the Independent Senator from Alaska, but such a rejection of the will of those who participated in the Republican primary alienates her from the Republican Party.

Which brings me to The Establishment.  The Senate Republicans better get this right tomorrow.  (For the record, I think they will).  They had better remove Murkowski from any leadership position or ranking position on a committee.  Not to do so would merely be an echo of the same disregard for Alaskan Republican primary voters that Murkowski herself is showing.  Much of the frustration with both political parties is based on the perceived attitude that the voters exist at the mercy of the elected officials.  The Tea Party Uprising is an attempt to push the reset button.

That’s what Alaska’s voters have done (and Florida’s, and Nevada’s, and Colorado’s, and Delaware’s).  They are rejecting a top-down mentality.  I sincerely hope the Republican leadership is listening.  They had better side with Miller and turn their back to Murkowski.  Not because she’s a bad woman, but because that’s what the voters did.  It’s time for the party to side with the voters.

Lisa Murkowski has gone and done it now.  Yesterday on CNN’s “State of the Nation,” the Senator said:

But what happened in my particular race, you had the Tea Party Express, this California-based group, come in at the last minute in a campaign, run a mudslinging, smear — just a terrible, terrible campaign, with lies and fabrications and mischaracterization. They came in, they dumped $600,000 into a small market here in Alaska, and they absolutely clearly influenced the outcome of that election.

Yet the day before, Murkowski held a conference call with the most powerful of Washington Lobbyists, no doubt seeking far more than $600,000 from them for her write-in campaign.  Just one more expression of the talk and the walk of so-called “moderate Republicans” not matching up.

I am neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet, but mark my works:  Murkowski will lose this write-in effort.  Before announcing her born-again candidacy, polling showed Miller ahead of Democratic nominee McAdam’s by 6-8 points.  As of now, I haven’t seen polling for the new three-way race, but I imagine it is going to be pretty tight.  At first.

But Murkowski is setting herself up to be Crist 2.0.  In order to win, she’s going to have to pursuade Republicans who did not support her in the primary AND moderate democrats.  But as she moves to the left in an effort to accomplish the latter, she will find herself unable to do the former.  She’ll end up being a galvanizing force for Tea Party-minded voters (a group that far outnumbers those who actually participate in the Tea Parties) and splitting the rest of the electorate.  Assuming Miller has the resources to stay fully engaged in his campaign (donate here!) he could end up winning with a far smaller percentage than he’d need if he were just facing McAdams.

So why is Murkowski doing this?  Because she thinks she can.  Just like Spector, just like Crist.  Murkowski is among The Establishment – those who know better than the rest of us.  She can’t image someone like Joe Miller ousting her.  “Something MUST be done to stop this!” she tells herself.

We who study psychology call this denial.

Which brings me to Christine O’Donnell.  We all heard the ranting of The Experts on the news shows:  “How could *that woman* defeat the likes of Mike Castle?  How could the voters of Delaware demonstrate such myopic behavior?”  When O’Donnell won her primary last week, I knew very little about her.  But I have a feeling that she might just pull this thing off with the HELP of The Establishment’s opposition.

I’ve always liked Karl Rove, so a part of me hates even saying this, but…  O’Donnell’s campaign needs to use Rove’s ranting against her in campaign commercials.  He’s talking like The Establishment, and a HUGE part of what is motivating Tea Partiers and those who are following them to the polls is this “Leave-It-To-The-Professionals-Because-We-Know-Best” mentality coming from the party’s entrenched “experts.”  Blame Sara Palin all you want, Rove.  Blame Jim DeMint all you want, Rollins.  In the end, you’re ticking off the PEOPLE who voted by implying they are mindlessly lead to the polls by charismatic headliners.

The problem, as I see it, is that people are sick and tired of being treated like simple-minded drones who vote as they are told.  What we’ve learned is that people want real choices come election day.  Murkowski and Rove alike are demonstrating their frustration that voters might reject their plans, as well as their unwillingness to accept that reality once it has happened.  Aren’t they The Experts?  Don’t they hold positions among The Establishment?

Voters are ready for authentic representation in D.C., something Murkowski and Rove reject via their rejection of the AK and DE primary results.  Miller needs to run against The Establishment Murkowski.  O’Donnell needs to run against The Expert Rove.  This will stoke the fire in the voters’ bellies, and they might just win.

Various reports over the last few days suggest that leaders of the congressional Democrats are considering wrapping up this session of Congress early.

Please do.

I often wonder – more often aloud to my friends who need some help thinking through their political convictions – if our nation’s Founders ever envisioned Congress operating like it does today.  I can’t help but think they imagined people traveling to D.C. for the legislative session, and then making the trip home, back to the farm or to the law practice or wherever.

We do this in my home state, the Lone Star State.  The Texas Constitution calls for our state legislature to meet for 140 calendar days every other year.  Check it out in Article 3, Section 5 .  That’s right.  No full-time legislators in Texas.  Folks who make the law have to go out and try to make a living under it.

Is this not part of the problem with Washington?  Both Republicans and Democrats get so entrenched in their office up on that high Capitol Hill that they inevitably find themselves far removed from the rest of us.

Want to see some real change in our federal government?  Limit the activity of Congress like that of the Texas Legislature.  Consider:

• No time to worry about light bulbs or the breeding practices of some specific fish or whatever other nonsense earmark you’d like to cite.
• With less time, they’d actually have to focus THE BASICS – you know, like the basic enumerated powers of our much loved Constitution.
• Because they couldn’t hole up in D.C. all the time, they would have to – wait for it, wait for  it – WORK!  You know, like, OUTSIDE GOVERNMENT!  (Gasp!)

Pipe dream?  Yeah, probably.  But it is certainly a point worth pondering.  Do some Google searches to compare and contrast Texas and California, a state with a full time legislative body.  What you’ll find is that Texas is doing a far better job growing its economy than California.  Could it be because we in the Lone Star State have worked hard to have LESS government getting our way?

So anyway, please adjourn, Washington.  Go home.  Campaign.  Whatever.  At least you won’t be raising taxes, increasing regulation, destroying healthcare, or otherwise sucking the life out of Americans’ will to prosper and provide for their families.