Stop Special Rights Legislation

I got this from CCV...

Here we go again!
 
A dangerous bill has been introduced into the Ohio House and Senate. The bill, under the guise of discrimination, will eliminate some Religious freedoms. The proposed law is titled the Equal Housing and Employment Act. If passed, the bill seeks to add “sexual orientation and “gender identity” to the protected list of gender, race, age, religion, that are punishable on the basis of discrimination. It is estimated that seventeen Ohio cities have passed these so-called anti-discrimination ordinances. However, we can not find one documented case where discrimination has actually been proven. If mass discrimination is not occurring then why do they want to pass this bill? 
 
Answer: Like Obamacare, it’s what comes after they pass this Bill that matters. We now know, after twenty years, that these discrimination laws are a disguised Trojan horse. For example, once homosexual activists get discrimination laws on the books, they will then move to the next level and force businesses to include anti-discrimination polices or will disallow them from doing business with the city or state. Another example was this year’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Cincinnati. Homosexual activists were told they could not participate in the parade and cried discrimination as the reason. Cincinnati passed an anti-discrimination ordinance and a second ordinance has now been introduced. Building upon the first anti-discrimination ordinance, the new ordinance says it’s discriminatory to not allow homosexual activists into any parade if the City pays any of the fees, such as cleaning up after the parade. They call it equality – we call it bullying and an attack on Religious freedoms.
 
On November 25, 1992 Cincinnati City Council passed a similar ordinance claiming homosexual activists were just like African Americans and deserved to be treated as a minority class. An organization associated with CCV, called Equal Rights not Special Rights, led the effort to collect 20,000 signatures and the issue was placed on the ballot. The people of Cincinnati voted in 1993 to change Article XII of the City Charter from allowing the City Council to pass any laws based on sexual orientation. The voters approved the change by a 62%-38% majority. The vote proved that the choice of someone’s bed partner does not classify them as a minority class entitled to preferential treatment or special rights. This disproves the popular idea being spread today that equates the push of homosexual activists to that of African Americans and the civil rights fight in the 1960’s. The change to the City Charter was then challenged in the Federal Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals by homosexual activists. The Federal Court ruled not once, but twice unanimously, that the people of Cincinnati had the right to not allow preferential treatment based on an individual’s sex partner or sexual orientation.
 
Because homosexuality is not a suspect class or quasi-suspect class, and “divested no one of any fundamental right” the court upheld the right of the voters to tell Cincinnati City Council they can not pass special rights laws.

Here is an excerpt from the 6^th Circuit Court of Appeals:

“Accordingly, because the Cincinnati Charter Amendment targeted no suspect class or quasi-suspect class, and divested no one of any fundamental right, it was not subject to either form of heightened constitutional scrutiny (namely "strict scrutiny" or "intermediate scrutiny"). ....”this court observed that the Cincinnati Charter Amendment advanced a variety of valid community interests, including enhanced associational liberty for its citizenry, conservation of public resources, and augmentation of individual autonomy imbedded in personal conscience and morality. Thus, Article XII satisfied minimal constitutional requirements”.
For the full court decision go to: http://www.ccv.org/issues/homosexuality/special-rights-legislation/u-s-6th-circuit-court-of-appeals-equality-foundation-v-cincinnati/
 
The people of Cincinnati later repealed Article XII of the City Charter. The 2004 vote to repeal Article XII was titled Issue 3.

However, the 6^th Circuit Court of Appeals case still stands as case law in Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee and Michigan that allows cities in those four states to prohibit Special Rights laws based on sexual orientation. 
 
Click on the picture to view the attached TV ad by Civil Rights leader Pastor Fred Shuttlesworth, who marched with Dr. Martin Luther King and Ralph Abernathy. They were called The Big Three in the fight for Civil Rights. When the attempt was made to repeal the City Charter language, Pastor Shuttlesworth opposed the change.  CCV asked Pastor Fred Shuttlesworth to respond to the claims of homosexual activists who said they were being discriminated against. Be sure to click on the photo to hear what the expert on discrimination had to say about discrimination. The photo attached with Dr. Martin Luther King, Ralph Abernathy and Pastor Fred Shuttlesworth was given to CCV to use by Pastor Shuttlesworth.
 
Contact your Ohio House Member and Ohio Senator Member and stop this unfair and unjust bill that will strip Religious Freedom and irrationally compare homosexual behavior to the plight of African Americans. Homosexual activists have the right to have sex with whom they want but they do not have the right to force acceptance of their behavior on Ohioans, our businesses or our children. Go towww.ccv.org and click on “Contact Elected Officials” to send a message to your Ohio Senator and House member objecting to this unjust law. In the Senate, the Bill number is SB-125 and in the House, the Bill number is HB-163. 

510 Promises, part 2

Last week I talked about a website put out by the St. Petersburg Times, which has recorded 510 (actually 511) Obama campaign promises and will track the progress of these promises throughout his term in office.

Last week I covered the first half of the list and found that there were only about 16% of these are promises that I wish he would keep. The percentage is even lower for the second half. There is so much wasteful spending in these promises. Its getting to the point where whether or not you believe a politician's lies doesn’t make any difference anymore because you don’t even want them to do what they say even if you did believe them!

We most definitely would be better off with a President who does nothing at all. We would be far better off with a President who would veto every bill, would rescind all executive orders and wouldn’t issue any new ones. It’s not just the wasteful spending. Here are some of the things that I found that were even worse:

Require all schools of education to be accredited

Push for enactment of Matthew Shepard Act, which expands hate crime law to include sexual orientation and other factors

Expand the Employment Non-Discrimination Act to include sexual orientation and gender identity

Support repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA)

Sign the Freedom of Choice Act

Here are the nine items in the last half of the list that I actually agree with. This makes about 50 altogether that I wish he would keep, making my agreement with Obama’s publically stated goals less than 10%.

Reduce subsidies to private student lenders and protect student borrowers (maybe just the part depending on how he intends to "protect" them)

Secure the borders

Crack down on employers who hire undocumented immigrants

Limit subsidies for agribusiness (These and all other subsidies should be eliminated altogether.)

Limit term of director of national intelligence (There should be no such office. Thanks, Bush for creating another position to be filled by corrupt political cronies.)

Ban lobbyist gifts to executive employees

Pressure Sudan to end violence in Darfu (…if this is to be done in a peaceful manner. If it’s another war he has in mind, then I’m against it.)

Reduce earmarks to 1994 levels (Why not eliminate them altogether, dufus?)

Cut federal contracts

The OBAMAgenda 2009-2012

Or, How to Destroy America in Four Years or Less

The following are some of the first immoral acts that the new American President will take as soon as he assumes power next January. The ghastly triumvirate of Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi and 'we gotta surrender' Harry Reid will surely try to push the following and more.

EXECUTIVE ORDERS OR THE KING'S DECREES?

· Mexico Policy, which now prohibits federal funding of organizations that promote or perform abortions overseas will be reversed by Obama.

· Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) – Obama will do away with measures which health workers are trained to emphasize ABSTINENCE and MARITAL FIDELITY and, instead, will emphasize Planned Parenthood-style comprehensive sex education, condom distribution, etc.

· Ban on Federal Funding of Embryonic Stem Cell Research (ESCR) – Obama will undo President Bush’s restriction on limiting funding to a limited number of stem cell lines that were already in existence at the time of Bush’s order.

· Ban on any offshore & domestic oil/gas/nuclear/coal development – Obama in order to placate his radical environmentalist supporters will cave into their demands to prohibit new development of oil, oil refineries,clean coal or nuclear energy to the detriment of America as a whole. He will promote the foolish and industry-killing carbon credits in honor of Algore.

SIGNING DESPICABLE LAWS & TREATIES

· "Freedom" of Choice Act (FOCA) – Obama’s top priority. Obama promised the genocidal and heinous Planned Parenthood Federation of America that this horrific piece of killer legislation will be the first that this Marxist-Socialist will sign as President. If this loathsome act becomes law it would eliminate parental consent laws, waiting periods before abortions could be done, restrictions on the atrocious partial birth abortion procedure at both the state and federal levels.

· Employment Non Discrimination Law (ENDA) – Obama is beholden to the same-sex activists groups like the misnamed Human Rights Campaign. This contentious law will unnecessarily and foolishly codify sexual orientation as a civil right protection in all employment. Various businesses will be forced to provide services, for which they will have to violate their conscience. For example, a caterer or photographer will be unable to refuse to serve a same-sex party or so-called civil “ceremony.” The ability to express one’s religious belief will be stifled.

· “Hate” Crimes Laws will make the homosexual, lesbians, etc. a special protected class deeming on them special protections above and beyond any other American, even helpless and defenseless children and the elderly. This will make saying or thinking ill of those who practice deviant behavior a crime. Preachers of Biblical truth will be subject to criminal action.

· Law of the Seas Treaty (LOST) – Obama will yield American sovereignty to the worthless, diabolical United Nations

· Kyoto Treaty – Global warming crock will become the standard that will destroy more American jobs and industry.

· “Fairness” Doctrine – Obama will support any and all attempts to restrict conservative and Christian radio programming.

The list goes on and on and . . .

APPOINTMENT OF EVEN MORE RADICAL ACTIVIST JUDGES

It is quite possible for President-elect Obama to appoint at least two Supreme Court Justices during the next four years. Connie Mattingly and Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council (FRC) on last week’s Washington Week in Review radio show stated that Obama has said that the Supreme Court is there to “correct injustice” or make policy or essentially make laws as opposed to being there to strictly interpret the constitution.

My reaction to all of this? It is a call to hold the line on the advancement of the radical socialist agenda and if necessary to recall or impeachment at the first chance possible this President . . .

ENDA: Wrong from the Start, Part 2 of 2

Today is part two of the two-part series (Click here for part one) on the heinous and totally unnecessary so-called Employment Nondiscrimination Act (ENDA) which recently passed the U.S. House of Representatives.

The movement to advance the homosexual agenda and the movement to keep and perpetuate a woman's "right" to choose to kill her baby, who is a living human being, are THE two major issues or threats face America. For me they are key determinants, deal breakers, as for whom I vote for in the 2008 primary and general elections for President and for Representative, for every elected office, for that matter.

ENDA, with an emphasis on the last syllable, "dah". What in the world is Congress doing passing such an abominable piece of legislation? There is only one reason and we will discuss it today. Again today I use much of the content of the Family Research Council's Washington Watch Weekly radio show from last weekend as the source of much of these two articles.

KEY AMENDMENT REJECTED

Congressman Randy Forbes (R-VA) had offered an amendment, a provision, to ENDA when it was being debated that simply said, “To the supporters of this legislation, you indicate that this is not going to impact marriage at all and that it is not going to impact the definition of marriage . . .” His amendment was on a motion to recommit.

The Forbes’ amendment simply said this, “Nothing in this bill can be used by a court to change the definition of marriage between one man and one woman. The Democrat led proponents of the bill defeated that amendment. They not only defeated that amendment, but when they did defeat the amendment, they had a huge applause from the majority. Tellingly, THAT is the bottom line, what they want to do in the true purpose of this particular piece of legislation. ENDA passed the House with a vote of 235 to 184.

ENDA IS BUT ONE OF THREE DISTINCTIVE, DESTRUCTIVE & DISTURBING MOVEMENTS IN CONGRESS

Congressman Forbes identified three big movements that he sees happening in Congress now. ENDA encapsulates one of these movements.

Forbes indicated that the first detrimental movement taking place in the Congress is the removal of any kind of indication of FAITH at all in this country. This includes removing name of God from any display or acknowledgment of Him in the Capitol. . . For example, the new visitors’ center is being sterilized with revisionist history preventing the telling about our historical faith that we have had in this country. That is one major movement.

The second is a huge movement to attach HATE CRIMES legislation to our Armed Services legislation. And for the first time what this would mean is that literally pastors who get up in a church services and talk about the fact that marriage should be between on man and one woman or ANYTHING about HOMOSEXUALITY could be subjected to criminal penalties.

The third movement and that is what ENDA, if enacted, would accomplish is to now say that any hiring decision across the country, you can’t discriminate in any way based upon even a PERCEIVED sexual orientation problem. The real winners in this legislation are the trial lawyers because the HIDDEN clause in ENDA was one giving attorneys fees in any of these case. When a suit is filed, people are going to have to settle the suit because if they lose the suit, then they will not only have to pay penalties to the plaintiff, but also all the attorneys fees. Then the final thing was what is going to be the really bad part of this legislation – courts can use this legislation as a SPRINGBOARD to say that this slows the public policy of the Congress of the United States. With this public policy we cannot justify supporting ANY statutes around the country, state or federal that would say marriage is limited to one man or one woman. They will use this legislation to strike down those marriage statutes.

ENDA is part of the full court press of the Left. The worst thing is that the average American across the country doesn’t even know how that the Left orchestrated this move and how fast the new majority has acted to get this agenda on the table and moving forward.

TAKE ACTION NOW

First, people need to stand-up and realize what I said on the floor yesterday. Our country was built on a certain foundation of certain VALUES and BELIEFS that kept us strong and will continue to do so. We are seeing those values and beliefs constantly being eroded and the worst thing we can do is just sit in our seats and not stand up to make sure we are protecting those values and beliefs. People around the country ought to start stand up and say and act as they have had enough we are not going to the happen anymore.

The second good thing is we have a lot of good people in Congress who are trying to fight ENDA to make sure that this legislation doesn’t continue to expand like it is doing. Representative Forbes said, "I am optimistic that the President will VETO this legislation and give us another crack at trying to stop it." Forbes adds that he is “confident we will have enough votes in the House and Senate to sustain his veto.”

At the end of the radio program Ken Blackwell summarized by stating, “This is an important piece of legislation that will not be going away in this new Congress. The Democrat Party leadership will continue to push this RADICAL legislation through Congress.”

Blackwell then urged Americans to call or write an email to our Representative, our two Senators and President Bush and tell them how you feel about ENDA and what this will do to the first amendment rights of all Americans. You can visit www.FRCradio.org to contact your elected officials’ ink or you can call 866-372-1212 for more information.

ENDA: Wrong from the Start, Part 1 of 2

The on-going abortion (anti-life) atrocity and an advancing (anti-one-man, one-woman marriage, anti-natural family) homosexual agenda are the two most critical issues facing America today. Recently the perverse, unnecessary and righteous-sounding Employment Nondiscrimination Act (ENDA) passed the U.S. House and is headed for passage in the Senate, if Senator Edward Kennedy gets his way.

Today's article is part one of a two-part series about this key piece of legislation. It has major ramifications for the health and life of America and for God-honoring people everywhere. See my previous article about ENDA.

WHAT ENDA MEANS FOR AMERICA

On the surface, a piece of legislation may be given an impressive, yet very deceptive, title. ENDA is an example of such deceit. The recently passed Employment Nondiscrimination Act (put-an-END-A to freedom of speech and freedom to the exercise of one’s faith) is an example of such deceit. Like so-called HATE CRIMES legislation this law is reprehensible and needs to be scrutinized in detail to expose its underlying nefarious purposes.

Ironically, the stated purpose of the bill is supposedly to stop “discrimination” against persons who practice homosexual behavior, but, instead, in the end it will discriminate against true Christian believers. The ultimate affect of this horrible law is the silencing of the proclamation of God’s inerrant Word and stifling of Christians’ right to express and live by their moral convictions. Therefore, anyone who refuses to compromise their biblical beliefs that homosexuality, specifically homosexual behavior, is immoral and abhorrent to God and is incompatible to any civilized society, and furthermore that marriage is between one man and one woman, that person or organization will be criminalized.

Actually, there is little or no discrimination against persons who seek sexual relations with the same sex. Most of the stories about alleged Hate Crimes and Discrimination against homosexuals are exaggerated or even prefabricated by a sympathetic and homosexual-agenda supportive media. As a matter of fact, many homosexuals and lesbians have very lucrative and politically powerful positions, far higher of a percentage than the general population as a whole. Additionally, there are already sufficient wage and labor regulation that cover the workplace. Persons and their supporters desiring to justify, to rationalize or to legitimize their illegitimate, immoral, unnatural and unhealthy behaviors seek this legislation.

Just as there is virtually no need for new immigration laws, only enforcement of existing laws, so there is no need for any more laws creating additional protected class, especially when we are talking about people who willingly choose to practice a certain type of behavior. It would be analogous to thieves seeking special laws protecting their activity.

Much of rest of the discussion in this article is based on remarks made by Representative Randy Forbes (R-VA-4th), a moderate Republican, made in an interview with Ken Blackwell of on the Family Research Council (FRC) Washington Watch Weekly radio show interviewer last weekend. I have transcribed some of the program's content below.

ENDA WARS AGAINST AMERICAN’S RIGHTS & VALUES

Ken Blackwell referred to ENDA as "one of the most damaging bills related to first amendment rights."

Congressman Forbes started his explanation by stating that ENDA was sponsored by the new Democrat majority in the U.S. House of Representatives. It is a further erosion of BASIC VALUES across the country, and will cause basic limitations on freedom of speech and freedom of action that many people of faith will experience across the nation. Just in the last couple of weeks in our Capitol (see my AGC … article) we have seen a huge movement in the Nation’s Capitol to:

(1) Remove God from the certification of flags
(2) Remove any kind of statement relating to faith in the Washington Monument
(3) Take any reference to God out of the flag folding ceremonies at our Veterans cemeteries.

ENDA DISSECTED

The ENDA bill was proclaimed by many liberal groups as crucial to advancing the homosexual agenda. They say that it is the most important homosexual vote that has ever been taken to date in the Congress of the United States. Furthermore, ENDA will serve as the FOUNDATION on which to build future (anti-marriage, pro-homosexual) legislation.

Congressman Forbes sees ENDA as having two major fearsome impacts. One, ENDA prohibits anybody in an employment situation from hiring or “discriminating” in any fashion against anyone based on actual or even PERCEIVED sexual orientation. This is the first time any legislation has ever been passed dealing with sexual orientation in the workplace, more bizarre and troublesome is that it establishes the notion of discrimination by employers of PERCEIVED sexual orientation. As will be noted later, ENDA will be another bonanza for trial attorneys.

Two, the other fear of this legislation is what has already has already occurred in state courts in Massachusetts, Vermont, and New Jersey. Legislation like ENDA, supposedly nondiscriminatory legislation, has been used to in conjunction with activist judges saying that the legislation shows STATE POLICY and they use that to tear down marriage statutes so that they can say you can no longer have a marriage statute that limits marriage to one man and one woman. The difficulty with this type of legislation is that it becomes a SPRINGBOARD so that the activist judges can use it to make additional laws. Then once they have those ruling in a particular state – the full faith and credit clause makes it applicable across the country.

Tomorrow we will conclude our discussion of ENDA, which a one of the three major movements underway in Congress which Congressman Forbes has identified as negative political drivers. We will also discuss what we average Americans can do to stop ENDA from becoming the law of the land.

to be continued

Is it (the beginning of the) ENDA?

Well the Speaker of the House Nancy "I am the most powerful woman in the world" Pelosi-led Democrat Congress did it. Tonight (Wednesday, just before 7:00 pm) they passed ENDA (H.R. 3685) by a vote of 235 to 184. There are many dangers that ENDA (the Employment Nondiscrimination Act). One thing it does is elevates “sexual orientation” to that of a protected civil right, which is especially insulting to blacks, the aged and the disabled.

What does this bill’s passage mean to Christians? It means that religious freedom for Christian employees and Christian business owners is in jeopardy. Religious freedom for Christian employees and business owners is in jeopardy!

THE BILL'S DANGERS

Some of the dangers that would result from passage of this needless and heinous bill include:

1. Companies could not refuse to hire a man who wanted to be a woman, dress like a woman and use the woman's restroom!

2. ENDA abolishes the concept of male/female and forces employers to accept the idea that gender exists only in the mind.

3. Employers will be forced to defend against frivolous complaints about dress and grooming standards. For example, a man who wants to wear a mini skirt to work can complain that the employer is discriminating, when the employer is simply upholding a corporate image.

TAKE ACTION

President Bush has said that he will veto the bill. A veto override would require 270 votes (2/3 of the House).

Call or contact the White House and ask President Bush to follow through on his promise to veto ENDA (H.R. 3685).

Comments: 202-456-1111
Switchboard: 202-456-1414
FAX: 202-456-2461
EMAIL: comments@whitehouse.gov It would be best to copy & past this email address when composing your email.

Liberty Counsel provided some of the above information on ENDA.

ENDA is a Pretenda

Americans for Truth about Homosexuality (AFT) is the primary source for much of the following information. I have modified the memo slightly and added the emphasis.

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MEMO

TO: President George W. Bush & the Republican Leadership of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives

FROM: gregjaye

DATE: June 12, 2007

RE: ENDA Must Not Pass!

I was deeply troubled to learn that the so-called Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) – legislation that provides homosexuals with special privileges and powers in the workplace – has been put on the fast track by Barney Frank and other radical leftists Democrats.

This bill – and the view of sexuality that underlies it – is contrary to the moral code to which Americans have always subscribed. In attacking the institution of marriage and the family, the homosexual/lesbian “rights” movement has declared war on society itself. But moreover, the real and dark purpose behind this draconian bill is not to stop non-existent "discrimination" against homosexuals in the workplace -- since you can not stop something that does not exist in the first place -- but rather to silence small business owners and Americans who practice deeply held religious beliefs.

Consider the following scenario. For years, Mom and Dad -- church-going Bible-believers -- have operated a candy store on the corner of Main and Reagan. After school and on Saturdays, the place is swarming with children and their parents. When they advertise for a clerk, the leader of the local "homosexual/lesbian rights" movement applies for the job, he tells Mom and Dad: "You're Christian bigots and if you don't hire me, I'll haul you into court." Mom and Dad have three choices:

(1) They can hire him, knowing that when they do, the children will stop coming around, and count the days until they lose their business.

(2) They can fight him in court, spend thousands of dollars in legal fees with no hope of winning. and count the days until they go out of business

(3) They can decide NOT to count the days and simply take the shingle down and go out of business the next day.

Decent, normal Americans are demanding that conservatives use every parliamentary maneuver available to stop this bill from passing. We won’t tolerate any pussyfooting, any attempt to appease the homosexual lobby by approving ANY pro-homosexuality legislation. Conservative legislators are already skating on thin ice. Don’t make the mistake of assuming you can let ENDA slip through Congress without the very deleterious consequences.

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DISASTEROUS RESULTS
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Here are some of the things ENDA, if passed, would bring about:

>>>Under ENDA, the FBI would be forced to investigate organizations like the Boy Scouts and haul them into federal court, where they would be fined and told to recruit homosexual Scoutmasters or disband
immediately;

>>>give the federal government new and unprecedented power in the workplace, particularly over small businesses. (The whole purpose of ENDA is to generate lawsuits against "homophobic" businesses and force them to accept homosexuality as a normal, natural, and healthy form of recreation);

>>> elevate sodomy to the level of marital relations, punish anyone who thinks otherwise, and protect men who dress up like women and people who undergo "sex change" operations;

>>> turn America into freak show, a sexual zoo teeming with nauseating behavior contrary to the tenets of Christianity, Judaism, and the other great religions of the world;

>>> prohibit employers from taking sexual conduct (and misconduct) into consideration when hiring or firing employees in charge of the young, -- e.g., teachers and child care workers;

>>>give homosexuals special rights and protections -- protections that are not based on race, color, creed or sex, but rather bestowed on individuals based on their behavior.
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GREGJAYE’S COMMENTS
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I have said it before our activist courts together with radical leftist leaders in the Democrat Party, academia and the main stream media have conducted an onerous and relentless campaign to make homosexuality generally acceptable. This is in spite of the fact that homosexuality is abnormal, unnatural, immoral and unhealthy. ENDA is just another tool used in the homosexual activists’ bag of tricks to bring the nation to ruin.

“Homosexual/Lesbian/Transgender/Transvestite Rights” or “A Woman’s Right to Kill Her Baby (Abortion)” or the so-called concept of “Separation of Church and State” and the derived “Right To Not Be Offended By Religious Symbols In The Public Square” are fabricated rights. They are definitely not grounded in the U.S. Constitution. They are antithetical to it. Therefore, here and now is where the line must be drawn in the sand. Enough is enough, no more apathetic acquiescence, no more appeasement to the radical leftists and their various and sundry harmful and anti-American causes.