I would like to bring to your attention an exciting free on-line course being offered by Hillsdale College.   The course title is “Constitution 101:  The Meaning & History of The Constitution” and, according to the announcement, is part of a major national campaign to educate millions of citizens, including our elected officials, about the Constitution.

Hillsdale College is providing this course to anyone interested partly in response to the grassroots interest in returning our country back to its foundational principles.  These cherished principles are articulated in the Declaration of Independence,  the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights.  But sadly, many of us have neglected studying these documents and as a result, we are weak advocates of the principles of conservatism and allow liberal leftists to steal our liberties one by one.

Please consider taking this free on-line course to hone your political skills.  The Constitution cannot enforce itself and we all have a civic duty to protect and defend it for ourselves as well as our posterity.

You can find out more about this class by going to HillsdaleCollege.com.

https://www.hillsdaleoffer.com/civicrm/contribute/transact?reset=1&id=13&custom_16=OCC&custom_31=HIP7NAPP&custom_32=E007H

Has it been three weeks?  Is that how long ago Perry withdrew from the race?  You’ll have to forgive me as I have lost track of time while mourning the loss of the first politician I have ever wept for.  Not to mention the temporary (although, initially, I didn’t know if I would ever post here again) loss of my RedState comrades.

As some of you know from the second diary I wrote here, I am one of the Tea Party-type newbies to the political scene and started reading and commenting at RedState last June.  If what our country is going through were not so serious and wrought with peril at every turn, I would be able to look at my experience here as just a hobby of sorts and perhaps I would not have been so profoundly affected by Perry’s (premature, IMO) withdrawal from the race.  But, instead, in all of my humble naivete, I was completely caught off guard when Perry dropped out.   And just one day after I had decided I would no longer stay involved at RS because Erick joined in with the other pros who insisted that if Perry had any future left, he should do the right thing, be a hero and drop out of the race.

So stunned, angry, disappointed and despondent was I that I ran back to my familiar surroundings — something closer to a pew or an altar where I could safely weep before the Lord.  Prior to my jump into the nuts and bolts of politics, I was deeply involved (we’re talking twenty-two years) inside the church which entailed, among other things,  much study of scripture and many years of allowing the Lord to do a deep work in my life as He, of necessity, must do with all of His children.

My devotion and love for Him eventually led me to discover that He delights in seeing his broken, weak followers give their all to Him and for me that meant my musical talent.  So, I was equally delighted when He allowed me to honor Him as a singer/songwriter and dancer/choreographer by writing songs to Him and dancing dances that might somehow convey my adoration for the best friend I ever met.

So, that is where I have been the last few weeks.  Safely hidden inside the love of my Savior allowing the music and dance to enable me to grieve, regain my composure and get back in the battle.  Not saying I am done yet but I just had to stop by, say hello, let you know I am okay and that I will be back some time soon.  I miss you all terribly and am equally stunned at the depth of affection I have for so many friends I feel like I made here.

I forgive you, Martin Knight, for your somewhat harsh post-mortem of Perry.  Remember the five stages of grief?  Denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance?  Maybe your diary reflected a man in the second stage — anger — and for you, lashing out at the missteps Perry made is your way of dancing and singing before the Lord.

This diary is not meant to be snarky.  I am struggling with my own conscience and would like to hear from other like-minded RSers to see how they are dealing with this issue.

For the sake of context, a little more self-disclosure is in order.  I’m a fairly new poster to RS but more than that, I am one of the new Tea Party-type political activists.  In other words, I don’t know what the heck I am doing and feel really naive compared to the veteran activists who are regular contributors here.

Shortly after Obama was elected, I felt compelled to get involved to try to save our country from self-destruction.  I stumbled into the political process last year and for the first time ever, volunteered to help Meg Whitman get elected here in California.  (That was really disappointing as I watched her waffle into a RINO as soon as she won the primary.)  I am also involved in a new local Tea Party and plan on diving into the Republican Party ala Cold Warrior style soon.

So, let’s just cut to the chase.  What is my problem?  I am wondering how other Christians who have more than a superficial commitment to the Lord deal with all of the sleaziness and dirty word wars.  It seems extra apparent right now that we really have some fine Republican candidates running for president in the primary, but by the time we get done “vetting them” they seem to be no better than the most low-down low-life one could imagine.

This is vexing my conscience as I am gleefully joining in the process.  For those who aren’t Christians or who don’t know what the scriptures have to say about this, let me just say that it is highly frowned upon.  Since we have been graciously and freely forgiven of our shortcomings, we are admonished to overlook others faults, be kind and tender-hearted toward others and keep a guard over our tongue in terms of hastily accusing others or defaming their character.

Am I the only one feeling guilty about this?  Does anyone have suggestions for how we could improve things along these lines?  Given the nature of the game, it seems we almost have to join in the process as nothing is hidden from view these days but so much of what we are doing seems destructive and counter productive so I just thought I would put this diary out here and see if anyone has anything to say about the mess.

In a 22-13 party line vote, the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday passed legislation by Chairman Lamar Smith (R-TX) that would require all employers to use the E-Verify employment verification program.  The legislation, entitled “Legal Workforce Act” (H.R. 2885) includes limiting the number of documents employers may accept to verify employee eligibility and increases the penalties for employers who knowingly hire illegal aliens or fail to use E-Verify.

In May of this year, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a similar bill passed by Arizona giving states the green light to pass mandatory E-Verify legislation.  As a result of that decision, the business community, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, is now pushing for a federal mandatory E-Verify bill to make the system uniform across the nation.

Given the super-hot nature of the politics surrounding illegal immigration right now, thought you all may be interested in this new development.