Swine flu forgotten, but not gone; free speech dead for Christians

A Houston elementary school shut down today until May 26 over a cluster of 12 confirmed swine flu cases. However, 400 out of 712 students total were home from school today. Earlier in the week, 76 were out; one day later the total jumped to 242 and then to today's 400. It's not known how many students are home sick and how many are home trying to avoid becoming sick.

Two things about this catch my attention:

1. It's pretty late in the year for a flu outbreak. Temperatures in Houston this week have been in the 90s. These are really not ideal conditions for transmission of the flu virus.
2. The growth rate in cases from day to day was rather prodigious.

And our second news item:

A graduate student at a Michigan public university was kicked out of her program for refusing to be "re-educated" about her evangelical Christian views of homosexuality:

Ms. Ward was enrolled in a graduate program at the school and as part of her education was required to enroll in a counseling practicum. In that practicum, she was assigned a case involving a homosexual who needed help. Ms. Ward did not feel that she could affirm the student's homosexual lifestyle because of her Christian beliefs, so she asked her supervisor what she should do. His advice was to refer the student to a counselor who had no qualms with affirming homosexual behavior. That is what she did, and it was all done before she saw the student. There was no counseling that took place between the two, there was no confrontation between the two, and there was no condemnation of homosexuality -- just an honest confession of her deeply held religious belief. But the story doesn't end there.

Julea was summoned to appear before a disciplinary hearing and told that if she wanted to continue on with her graduate program, she would have to submit to a "remediation" program so that she could see "the error of her ways." She refused to be forced into a re-education program designed to convert her from biblical faith, and as a result, she was kicked out of school. There's your tolerance.

I sincerely hope she files a lawsuit for discrimination and violation of her First Amendment rights -- and wins. What the hell happened to the establishment clause? Someone seriously needs to woodshed most of the academics in this country.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not anti-gay. In fact, I've been vehemently pro-gay most of my life even though I live in a state that is very socially conservative. (Gays just don't thrive in Texas (except Austin and one part of Houston). Why, I couldn't say...) Recently I've become more lukewarm on the matter as I've watched the gay community launch the most vitriolic, disrespectful attacks on Christians over Proposition 8 in California and the Carrie Prejean controversy. I think I'm done sticking my neck out for them, since they definitely don't seem inclined to grant me the same measure of respect that I've extended to them over the years.

Could DHS classify Texas as a terror state?

Don't be so quick to laugh. Conservatives all over the internet are disgusted over the latest DHS report on the growth of "rightwing extremism" in the U.S. Michelle Malkin has the story:

...[T]the piece of crap report issued on April 7 is a sweeping indictment of conservatives. And the intent is clear. As the two spokespeople I talked with on the phone today made clear: They both pinpointed the recent “economic downturn” and the “general state of the economy” for stoking “rightwing extremism.” One of the spokespeople said he was told that the report has been in the works for a year. My b.s. detector went off the chart, and yours will, too, if you read through the entire report — which asserts with no evidence that an unquantified “resurgence in rightwing extremist recruitment and radicalizations activity” is due to home foreclosures, job losses, and…the historical presidential election.

In Obama land, there are no coincidences. It is no coincidence that this report echoes Tea Party-bashing left-wing blogs (check this one out comparing the Tea Party movement to the Weather Underground!) and demonizes the very Americans who will be protesting in the thousands on Wednesday for the nationwide Tax Day Tea Party.

Jim Byrd at the American Thinker points out that, under those criteria, Texas would be classified as a terror state:

Islamic extremists' acts of domestic terrorism were recently given the dignity, by Homeland Security Secretary Napolitano and President Obama, of being classified as man-made disasters, and abroad, the "war on terror" has been reclassified as an "overseas contingency plan". But an entire non-Islamic class, or perhaps by extension entire states, according to the report, are not afforded such considerate and cordial titles if they are anti-abortion, tend to harbor returning soldiers stationed in the Middle East, aid and abet the reintegration of military personnel into civilian life within their borders, are anti-illegal immigration, are anti-gun control, possess Christian views, are against high taxes, and are opposed to the overreaching power of the federal government. They fit the assessment of "extremists" that was "provided to federal, state, local, and tribal counterterrorism and law enforcement officials so they may effectively deter, prevent, preempt, or respond to terrorist attacks."

On a more encouraging note, Byrd states that the Obama administration would especially regard Texas as a cause for concern because of Governor

Rick Perry's statement on the Governor's website . . . supporting HCR 50, which supports states' rights under the 10th Amendment. You know the 10th Amendment--the one that expounds on Article 1, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution and spells out explicitly the limits of the federal government, just in case the federal government became confused of their limits. Perry stated, "I believe that our federal government has become oppressive in its size, its intrusion into the lives of our citizens, and its interference with the affairs of our state. That is why I am here today to express my unwavering support for efforts all across our country to reaffirm the states' rights affirmed by the Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. I believe that returning to the letter and spirit of the U.S. Constitution and its essential 10th Amendment will free our state from undue regulations, and ultimately strengthen our Union....Millions of Texans are tired of Washington, DC trying to come down here to tell us how to run Texas."

The remaining text of the declaration:

"A number of recent federal proposals are not within the scope of the federal government's constitutionally designated powers and impede the states' right to govern itself. HCR 50 affirms that Texas claims sovereignty under the 10th Amendment over all powers not otherwise granted to the federal government."

It also designates that all compulsory federal legislation that requires states to comply under threat of civil or criminal penalties, or that requires states to pass legislation or lose federal funding, be prohibited or repealed.

This may be the first time ever that I've agreed with something Governor Goodhair did. God bless him, and God bless this great state.

Get the official DHS report here: Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment.

What Bittersweet Times are These . . .

. . . that we have to remind ourselves where our allegiances really lie.

Active military and law enforcement may want to take note of the existence of the Oath Keepers, a "non-partisan association of currently serving military, reserves, National Guard, peace officers, and veterans who swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic … and meant it." Their charter document is a list of orders that an Oath Keeper will refuse to obey.

It's sad that it's come to this, but comforting to know that there are those out there who take keeping their word seriously.

RIP: Constitutional Right to Assembly

Yes, folks, infringement of your Constitutional rights is alive and well.

Edited: An update.