A Riot in Dearborn...

I hope you all are having a great summer so far. I've been busy blogging and with my internship, but it's going great so far. I have a new post up on TheCollegeConservative you'll want to check out... "Flirting with Radicals: Obama & The Muslim Brotherhood." I did some research on the administration's odd relationship with this radical Islamic group, and on the motives of these radical Islamists as well, and it's pretty disheartening and disturbing considering the Muslim Brotherhood just won the presidential election in Egypt, and MB members (including the new president) are already speaking words that seem almost threatening to Israel. Check it out here: http://thecollegeconservative.com/2012/06/27/flirting-with-radicals-obama-the-muslim-brotherhood/

Today I was scrolling through TheBlaze.com (love this site... ) and came across another disturbing article. At an International Arab Festival in Dearborn, Michigan, a few Christians demonstrated by holding signs with Bible verses printed on them. I'm not sure of the wisdom of choosing that venue to demonstrate, but regardless, the result is a little unnerving. An over 20 minute long video shows Muslims at the festival shouting obscenities and literally hurling rocks, bottles of water, plastic crates, and more at the Christian demonstrators who did not retaliate. The group of Muslims turns into a riot and ends up injuring a few of the Christians. The police do not intervene, and actually end up kicking the Christian demonstrators out because their holding signs and "demonstrating" itself is what they consider to be a disturbance and threat to public safety (not the riot throwing rocks and water bottles).

Watch the video, at least part of it... I have to wonder why the police didn't take more action to calm the riot down, but rather made the Christians leave. As the man videoing says in the video footage, it appears that by doing this they're rewarding riotous behavior.

I haven't seen this on any other news outlet, either. I have to wonder, also, what the reaction would have been if the situation had been flipped... if Christians had been the ones throwing rocks and bottles at a group of Muslim demonstrators. My guess is there would've been a lot more media coverage and victimization of the demonstrators if that had been the case.

Read the article and watch the video here:
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/allahu-akbar-shock-video-shows-muslims-allegedly-stoning-christian-protesters-in-michigan/

Obamacare & Immigration...New Blog Posts

I've been busy blogging these last few days! I have several new posts I hope you'll check out if you haven't already. For the sake of space, I'll just provide you with a brief excerpt followed by the hyperlink to get to each new post! 


"Obama's 'Policy Change': Flawed, Political, Tyrannical"

"I love this country, and I truly love the fact that for centuries, America has been a beacon of hope for people of all races, colors, and creeds looking for the opportunity to succeed and live free. Perhaps this kind of policy would be worth consideration if our border were secured and in the influx of illegal immigrants stifled. But this latest policy change simply rewards illegal actions that will gradually diminish the opportunity for prosperity and the prospects for success in this nation.

This is no DREAM come true for anyone—legal or not—who loves America and wants a future here. The President’s disregard of Congress and the American people is deplorable. I agree wholeheartedly with Glenn Beck’s blunt analysis of Barack Obama’s actions: “This is exactly what a dictator does.”

Read more at http://thecollegeconservative.com/2012/06/19/obamas-policy-change-flawed-political-tyrannical/

"This is What a Dictator Does" 

"It’s great the President knew, at one point, how our system of checks and balances is supposed to work. But apparently, basic civics don’t apply to Barack Obama during an election year.

This is a double slap in the face to legal Americans, first and foremost in the manner in which Obama’s going about this “policy change” by simply implementing it, with no consideration as to his “appropriate role as president” as he said he understood in 2011. But secondly, this action shows blatant disregard for legal, working Americans. Unemployment is above 8%, and the President just added 800,000 new employees to the workforce when legal folks are still struggling to find the few jobs that remain. Let’s hope Breitbart reporter Mike Flynn is right when he says, “This message will not be lost on working-class voters.”

Read more at http://www.efcollegians.org/blog/2012/06/18/this-is-what-a-dictator-does/

"Religious Liberty First, Religious Liberty Always"

"It’s ironic how President Obama placed his hand upon the Holy Bible and swore an oath to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States. But for a majority of his presidency, he and many other liberal Democrats have been trampling upon the very first Amendment of the Constitution, ramming their arrogant agenda through Congress and into law against the will of the American people.

Something I find equally as ironic is the deafening silence from groups like the ACLU. Put a cross up in your yard, post the Ten Commandments in a public school, say the word “God” within earshot of their offices (I hope I’m kidding on that one), and you’ve got a huge lawsuit on your hands for “violating religious liberty.” But when the government—the President himself—signs into law a bill that will force religious institutions to violate their religious beliefs or face a fine, the ACLU literally overlooks it and says the Catholic Church is in the wrong."

Read more at http://www.efcollegians.org/blog/2012/06/19/religious-liberty-first-religious-liberty-always/

Thanks for reading, everyone! Feel free to pass these articles on to your friends, even if they don't agree with your political views. Comments are always welcome, as well :) God bless, have a great week!

Sarah

God & Self-Government

Today was a productive day at Eagle Forum. I posted a blog post about Senator Rand Paul here, if you would be so kind as to check it out! A few words about Rand Paul: in my blog post, I included a youtube video of the Senator literally demolishing a woman from the Department of Energy over whether the government should be able to tell you what kind of light bulbs to buy to put in your house. (He points out, lucidly, that an administration that is so pro "choice" when it comes to human life is staunchly NOT pro "choice" when it comes to choosing one's lightbulbs.) In other words, the government thinks you're capable of making the choice as to whether to terminate an unborn life, but when it comes to choosing light bulbs, that's a decision left up to Uncle Sam. 


I also posted a link to a video I made of Paul's CPAC speech on the EFC blog (my first time using iMovie, and I loved it! There will be many more similar videos to come on the efcollegians Youtube channel!). But, here's a quote from Senator Paul's speech that, in working on this blog post today, has stayed with me since I heard it in Chicago last weekend: 

“And when they come to retrieve from my freedom and the fruits of my labor, I will reply that no man, and no government can take my freedom. My freedom predates government. My freedom comes from my Creator, and preexists before all schemes that attempt to confine and restrict it.”

It's good to be reminded of this, especially in the politically volatile world we're living in. Government doesn't give us freedom. Our politicians don't give us freedom. Nor do either of those two entities give us "rights." Our inalienable rights and our freedom come from He who created us in the first place. There are those who seek to suppress this individual liberty granted to us by our Creator; there are those in government who truly think that they--the Ivy League "educated," the "elites"--know better than we do what's best for ourselves, our families, our homes, our futures. There are those that would have us replace our faith in God with faith in government. And there are those on the left who believe that man is not capable of governing himself. But if man is not capable of governing himself, what's to say that he has the right and the capability to govern other men? 


I believe that we are capable of individually governing ourselves without the assistance and guidance of government. This principle of self-government, though, is grounded in the fact that "man must be governed internally by the spirit of God rather than by external forces." In doing a little research on this subject, I came across this great page from the Foundation for American Christian Education. (http://www.american-heritage.org/Content/Docs/Parent/7Principles.pdf) "The principle of self-government," it says, "is God ruling internally from the heart of the individual." So in effect, I contradict myself--we are not capable of governing ourselves...unless we have God's help. Because even though we may be free politically, living in a free nation with little suppression, if we don't have God ruling internally within us guiding our actions, then we are then governed by "external forces" which will likely enslave us just as much as an intrusive government will.


In essence, then, God makes us free!

EF Collegians Blog! & George HW Bush...

Hey friends! I know this is my second post today, but this summer I have so much more time to blog compared to during the school year I figure I might as well take advantage of it. I hope you all are enjoying my posts! Don't forget to check out my other writing on TheCollegeConservative.com. And beginning today, you'll also be able to read my blog posts on the newly launched Eagle Forum Collegians blog!

As you may or may not know, I am interning at Eagle Forum this summer. So far, I LOVE IT. Eagle Forum is an organization that was started by the legendary Phyllis Schlafly to promote faith, family, and freedom and to educate Americans on those three things, doing so in various ways...one being Eagle Forum Collegians. This summer I'll be updating the blog regularly, and so will the other Eagle Forum interns. Videos of past and future Eagle Forum Collegians Summit speakers will soon be posted, as well, and other commentary on current events. Please check it out regularly and share it with your friends, especially any college students you know! 

And one more thing I wanted to talk about...today I was looking at Yahoo News and came across a story about an emotional interview with former President George H. W. Bush. He interviewed with his granddaughter, Jenna Bush Hager (a Today Show contributor) and discussed aging, and read an emotional letter he wrote to his family, reflecting on his life. You can read the article here: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/cutline/george-hw-bush-jenna-today-interview-video-151030029--finance.html (Copy and paste into search bar if link doesn't work!)

What struck me most, though, were the comments on this article. I scrolled through and was disgusted, saddened, and really disturbed to see so many comments directed at the former President, like "the sooner you die the better," "drop dead, you're Hitler," "may it be your last birthday and take your white trash family with you," etc etc. Scroll down to the bottom of the Yahoo page if you really want to read more comments like this.

I'm not perfect nor am I saying I'm better than the people who made these comments, but I have to vent. Reading all those similar comments gives me little hope for humanity. Ok, so you don't agree with what Bush Sr. did during his presidency, and/or you don't agree with his political views. But have we lowered ourselves as a people and a society that much to wish DEATH on those we disagree with? To those who wrote those comments--yes, he's a republican. But he's a HUMAN first, just like you are. Disagree, dislike his leadership and what he did as President, great! Everyone has an opinion. But can we please not lower ourselves to such hate and malice that we wish death on those with whom we disagree?

Also, sadly and ironically, I'm betting many of those people who made such comments towards Bush Sr. are dedicated supporters and fans of things like the "NO H8" campaign. So much for "no hate." It's funny how that double standard works.

Reagan's Speech @ Brandenburg Gate

Anyone know what happened on this day in history? Specifically, June 12, 1987? 

 

Ronald Reagan gave his famous speech at the Brandenburg Gate on this day, 25 years ago. This one of my favorite speeches of all time. I've always admired Reagan, but I find him even more of a role model after writing a very research-intensive paper on him and how he dealt with the Cold War for a world history class last semester. His firm leadership led this country safely through one of the most tense times in history. Enjoy this clip of his speech, or watch the entire speech here:

I hope I can someday be half the leader, half the communicator as Reagan was! 

"A lesson in irony"

Hey folks! Check out my friend Christian's blog, Operation Liberty USA... he posted his one-on-one interview with Michele Bachmann from CPAC Chicago! And "like" Operation Liberty USA on Facebook as well!

Also, my friend Julia tagged me in this post on Facebook and I couldn't help but share. It's funny, but sadly, true...

A Lesson in Irony

The Food Stamp Program, administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, is proud to be distributing the greatest amount of free meals and food stamps ever.

Meanwhile, the National Park Service, administered by the U.S. Department of the Interior, asks us to "Please Do Not Feed the Animals."

Their stated reason for the policy is because the animals will grow dependent on handouts and will not learn to take care of themselves.

This ends today's lesson.


I'd like to meet and shake the hand of whoever wrote that! Brilliant :) 


As I said before, I'm interning at Eagle Forum in St. Louis this summer. I'll be starting up the Eagle Forum Collegians blog soon, and I'll let you know when that's up and running! Have a great week, God bless! 


Sarah

Meeting Michele Bachmann

Michele Bachmann and I at CPAC Chicago!

I was so fortunate to meet Congressman Bachmann at CPAC yesterday! She's very small/short in person...but she definitely doesn't look that way when she's giving speeches!! Her CPAC speech was energetic, yet disturbing--she talked about radical Islamic groups and their goal of Sharia law in the United States. She noted President Obama's sick and twisted and disgustingly friendly relationship with radical muslim groups, and showed this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1U5N34WhTng (if the link doesn't work, just copy and paste it in the search bar) ... a commercial for a radical Islamic conference taking place just a few miles away from where CPAC was held in Rosemont, IL. She delivered her message with passion and clarity--I hope I am capable of someday delivering a speech half as good as she can!

On a lighter note... special thanks to my friend Christian Scalise whom I met at CPAC for letting me tag along as he interviewed Bachmann for his publication, Operation Liberty USA. Christian interviewed Bachmann as well as Herman Cain, and both of those interviews will be on his website. Check it out here: http://www.operationlibertyusa.com/ Thanks again, Christian!

CPAC gave me a great deal of inspiration and hope--so I'll have a few new posts on TheCollegeConservative.com soon! Have a great weekend!

CPAC: Pics and Reflection!

Well...today was awesome. If you didn't read my last post, I spent today at CPAC Chicago, listening to some great contributors to the conservative movement like Michele Bachman, Rand Paul, Chris Christie, Rick Santorum, Herman Cain and Bobby Jindal. I met some new conservatives as well and I'm leaving Chicago very, very inspired and energized for the continued fight to restore American values and common sense.

I won't ramble on about each individual speaker's remarks, but I have to say that I was very impressed, especially by Chris Christie and Bobby Jindal. I've heard these two speak before but never in person. Both of them were excellent in conveying their message without reading from a teleprompter or directly from notes. Both speeches were fascinating, also, because both of them are Governors of states in which they've had to face crises, be it self-inflicted crises or not.

Governor Jindal of Louisiana faced the traumatic BP oil spill in 2010. He related this event and the Obama administration's despicable handling of it to the President and his cabinet's overall incompetency. Governor Christie of New Jersey faced a challenge not from nature but from teacher's unions. (If you don't remember hearing about that ordeal, it's a blog post in itself!)

Overall, I was impressed with all of the speakers and noticed that many of those holding positions such as governor/senator (Governor Kasich of Ohio, Governor Christie, Governor Jindal, Senator Rand Paul, Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin) have all led by example in fiscal responsibility, making improvements to their states' financial situations with needed cuts and firm leadership.

I also had the privilege of meeting and getting a picture with Bobby Jindal and Michele Bachmann. It was great to finally meet such great patriots in person. Both were very friendly... and Michele Bachman now has one of my business cards :)

So finally, here are some photos from the day! I will have a photo of Michele Bachmann and I soon, as it wasn't taken on my camera. Also, if you want to see video clips of any of the speakers, let me know, becuase I videoed a little bit, if not all, of each of the speeches by Santorum, Paul, Bachmann, Jindal, cain and Christie.

Me and Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana

Kentucky Senator Rand Paul

Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey

I'll post my photo of Bachmann and I when I get it! Thanks for reading, hope you all have a safe, blessed weekend :) 

CPAC CHICAGO! And Scott Walker...

Hey ya'll! I'm sitting in Chicago right now waiting impatiently for tomorrow when CPAC Chicago will start at 8 AM! For those of you who don't know, CPAC is a conference (there are a few held at different times of the year in different places) with conservatives speakers and panels. Tomorrow's CPAC features Chris Christie, Rick Santorum, Rand Paul, Bobby Jindal, Michele Bachmann, and many other great conservative minds from across the country! I'm especially excited because two of my fellow blogging-friends and I got media credentials, so we have special access to the media room where we will *hopefully* be able to interview/meet/get pictures with some of the people I listed above. I've also got my digital camera and a flip video camera...so I'm hoping to get some good material and lots of inspiration for blog posts. :) Here's the schedule if you're curious... http://conservative.org/cpacchicago/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/CPAC-CHI-Schedule-v6.6.pdf

Also, I can't help but comment on the vast amount of Wisconsin liberals and union thugs who are most likely weeping in defeat right now after Scott Walker's epic victory in the recall election. Talk about inspiration. America still values fiscal sanity and responsibility and they proved it by keeping in office their Governor who is making positive changes to Wisconsin. There is hope!

And one more thing! If you're in the state of Missouri, you may want to check out the Republican Senate Candidate Debate at Lindenwood on Monday night. It's being hosted by 97.1 FM Newstalk and moderated by STL Radio personalities Jamie Allman and Dana Loesch. Here's a link to reserve tickets! http://www.971talk.com/debate/

Well, thanks for reading! Check back for updates and *hopefully* photos from CPAC! Follow me on twitter for live updates, as well, as I'm going to try to live-tweet the whole thing! My twitter handle is: @sarah_hinds76

God bless, have a great weekend!

Inspiring Summer Vacation...

I just returned home today from my family vacation to Virginia... we took forever to decide just where we were going to go this year, but decided once again on a place that's come to be our "old faithful" vacation spot. We love it! We went to Chincoteague Island, hung out on the beach there for a few days, and then I got into full history-nerd mode when we got to Colonial Williamsburg.

If you've never been to Williamsburg, please...do yourself and your family a huge favor and GO! I've been there more times than I can count, and it never gets old. If you've never been there... within the town of Williamsburg is an area that has been in existence since the very early days of America. The main street, Duke of Gloucester, is lined with restored buildings according to how the town looked in the 18th century. There are a few original buildings, too (my favorite...) including the George Wythe house, most notably. This house is where George Washington spent time before the siege of Yorktown (just a short drive away, also an amazing place to visit...). Reenactors dressed in 18th century clothing take on 18th century characters and you're really taken back in time when you visit the historic area. (And aside from the historic value, the food is amazing...) :)

I'm going to show my nerdiness here, but as I was walking down that street, seeing the original buildings as well as the restored and renovated ones like the Capitol and the Governor's Palace, it was amazing to me that people who were so instrumental in getting this fledgling nation off the ground had stood in the same spot I stood over two and a half centuries ago. When you're standing in front of a house in front of which George Washington and his staff stood and resided in before winning the siege of Yorktown, those people you only read about in textbooks in school become more real than ever!

Every once in awhile, I get discouraged and depressed as to where this country is headed. I look at the principles embodied in the Declaration and the Constitution, that our Founders believed so strongly in, and then I look at the self-interest and arrogance of political leaders today, and in the apathy and entitlement of American society today, and the past and present disturbingly contrast each other. But in that time that history becomes more than just words on a page is when I become more motivated. Motivated to do my part to protect the ideals that the earliest Americans pledged their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor for; ideas of individual liberty--not widespread entitlement--and self-government--not the mindset that a few elites know best how to govern a dependent people.

In other words, this trip to Virginia was a huge inspiration to keep on doing my part, fighting the good fight to preserve liberty, and to continue relying on God to show me how I can serve Him and others.