Broken Judicial System

Trial by Jury, a precious civil right.  Except it’s not.  It’s not right.

 

This would be local news but it’s now becoming national.  Here in Illinois the state slogan among politicians is, “We can do anything if you have enough money to pay us off”.  It’s a political lap dance.  Pay money they dance and degrade themselves as much as you want them to.

 

Our last REPUBLICAN governor who single-handedly destroyed the republican party in Illinois and who used a diversion factor like outlawing the death penalty which endeared him to liberals has been accused of fraud. 

 

Now there’s not much doubt that the man is sleazy.  Crooked.  ETC!

 

He’s a politician and he’s from Illinois.  Nuff said. When I moved here from North Dakota 20 years ago the level of graft out in the open was like a third world country.  It’s now only like a 2-2 ½ world country today. 

 

And as a result we have no republican party in Illinois any longer.  It’s a pity. I digress.

 

What’s the issue is Ryan is on trial.  This trial regarding graft has been going on for over 6 months.  The trial is over.  The jury has it. Deliberations have begun and are now in their 9^th day. 

 

Suddenly it becomes known that there is a problem with one or two of the jurors.  They are given an 85 question quiz before they are interrogated to be put on the jury. 

 

A couple of the questions are:

#75

Have you had any particularly good or bad experience of contact with the Illinois Secretary of State’s office of any other State Governmental agency?  Y/N

 

Ryan had been Secretary of State before he became Governor.  But, what kind of a question is that.  EVER?  ANY bad experience? 

 

Or how about this doozey:

#82

Have you or has any closed friend or relative ever been charged with or accused of a crime?   Y/N

 

Relationship               Crime(s) Charged             Outcome of the Case

 

Who could answer this question?

 

They want Jesus as a Juror.  No wait, he was accused of a crime.  NO GO.

 

So the upshot is after 6 months a potential for mistrial at worst and a potential for a restart of 9 days of deliberation is about to begin with an alternate.

 

The law does not require anyone to do a background check on these folks.  My friend Rob Port could uncover the junk found in these two jurors backgrounds in 18 minutes flat. 

 

And, WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE WHO CAN SIT ON THIS JURY FOR 6 MONTHS @ $40 per day plus travel.

 

I have a friend who owns a large company who was called for this case and almost made the Jury.  He didn’t.  But, what if. 

 

Who in the world or more important what kind of people end up on this jury.  Government workers get their salary even if it goes 6 months.  That’s a good deal for them at your expense. 

 

So we have people with an axe to grind lying to get on and screw up the trial.  Or we have bureaucrats. 

 

Why not engage intelligent retired folks.  They don’t mind the distraction, they don’t mind the money, they have wisdom of lifetimes of experience and they don’t mind having something to do.

 

That’ll never work.  Makes too much sense.

 

My conclusion is, our trial by jury system is out of whack and needs repair. 

 

At least in Illinois.

 

 

 

Who does God want to win the Final Four

I am accused of being prophetic.  So, in that bent I will now tell you God's will regarding the Final Four.  You will want to write this down.

 

I watched with Illinois interest the basketball game between Memphis and the Mighty Bradley (Illinois) Braves.  During the first part of the game it looked like from time to time that Bradley was going to pull it off.  Then not. Back and forth.  I was struck with this thought; If they are like every other basketball team they prayed before the game.  I would have.  They prayed a sportsmen's prayer.

"Lord, let us play well, fairly, let no one be hurt, and Lord bless us and the other team".  That would have been the spoken prayer.  Under their breath was the fervent prayer of a righteous man, "Lord let us win".  This is no place for a namby pamby if it be thy will prayer.  This is "Kill em Lord, we wanna win".  When the testosterone is that high that's the level of prayer that takes place.  I won't tell you how I know.  It's none of your business.

 

So, who does God want to win?  What was his will in this game?  Did God have a favorite? And if he knows all things (like the final score of the final four) how can he watch and enjoy this game on his heavenly plasma screen? 

 

His will is and his enjoyment of the game of basketball (I believe I can prove from scripture that he enjoys the game as much as you or I do) is the game itself.

God's will for the teams on all sides is that they play.  That they play well.  That they play to the best of the God Given ability they have.  That they play to win. That they play within the bounds of the court.  That they play by the rules.  That they play and play and not give up till the final buzzer sounds.  He wants to see men who never give up.  Men who fight hard.  Men who put in the second effort.  Men who hear the coach and who respond to words of encouragement with action.  That's his will for the final four.  His will for the team that will win is the one who does all these things and everything else it takes to get the job done.  During the Duke / LSU game one big player from Duke saved a potential out of bounds ball by tumbling across the media table.  This was a demonstration of what God is looking for.  It doesn't mean we always win. It does mean we must keep playing and sometimes risk life and limb to get the victory.

 

So, now you can place your bets.  Or not. 

 

Of course, you know this is about life.  If you pull punches, if you play it safe, if you try to go without rest, if you decide not to listen to your coaches, if you decide to skip practice you will lose.  That's like that in the Kingdom of God.  You can figure out the parallels.  It is a real conundrum to think that many Churches are out trying to reach the world and still pull punches, play it safe, overdo too many activities (programs), work with players who won't attend practice, and not listen to the coach God has placed in their lives.  When I look at the world of Christendom and see that 3/4 billion people on the planet right now are part of powerful Holy Ghost Filled churches and winning more souls at light speed and that traditional denominational churches are dying with liberal philosophies, powerless preaching and pulled punches theologies. It's no wonder they never see the light of day in the sweet 16 of faith or the elite 8 and never in the final four. 

 

The Christian playoffs against the devil require players willing to leap across the media bench to make a save.  That may not be in your denominational theology  but it's in God's.  He put it there.  Man has said, "the Gifts of the Sprit (all 12) are not for today, that they ceased".  Man has said, "the 5 fold ministry gifts are no longer in existence".  Man has said, "do these things and you are in the game".  God says, "I don't want your money, I don't want your time, I don't want your weak efforts; I want your heart and the rest will follow".

 

We have a lot of Baptized unevangilized people walking the earth with a false assurance of salvation. This my main argument against infant baptism.  It can be used as a tool of the devil to make people think they are OK with God when they are no more saved than is a crescent wrench dropped into a swimming pool.

 

We must get our team ready to play.  That means our message of salvation must be preached particularly to the many among us who have been baptized and confirmed but who now live quite outside the Christian life.

 

We have our work cut out for us.  Duke learned that, Gonzanga learned that, Bradley learned that.  Play hard and you might win.  Your chances are at least better.  It's God's will.

 

God wants us to win, he's given us everything we need.  He just needs us to stay on the bicycle and keep peddling as long as we can.  We only fall off when we stop peddling.

 

Enjoy the rest of the playoffs. 

T - T - T - TREASON

This story won't get much play in the media because it's about the media and it's not complementary.

I listened to Hugh Hewitt last night and heard the interview which is noted in this link. Read the whole thing please. I made a couple comments. We are now at the point in this country to ask this question and ask it carefully.

IS TREASON STILL POSSIBLE AND IS THERE A LINE THAT IF IT IS CROSSED IS TREASON AND AS SUCH SHOULD IT BE PROSECUTED?

More important, are we there now? I think we might be.

I know many people who read this blog from time to time are of liberal persuasions. I don't mean this as a slam against you personally. I do mean this as a slam against an institutional media hatred of Bush and a kneejerk belief that the Iraq war is bad. I blame it on people who follow blindly what the liberal media spews.

Do you know for instance that the US Military death rate is down over half from a few months ago and dropping fast?. Do you know that it was the military that rescued the hostages today?. Do you know that solid evidence was found in the last 3 days connecting Saddam and Bin Laden?. Do you know that more people were killed in the military to this point during the same time in the Clinton administration than have been killed during the Bush administration?. And we are at war.

The reason you don't know of this is becausse there is a liberal treasonous media effort to suppress the truth. If you believe it you have been had. Deceived, Duped.

This is war. This is not a lightweight police action. This is very serious and the time has come to treat it that way. Many of us believe this war is essential and worldchanging if we win or lose. You may not see it that way but I do.

We must win. You would do well to read this editorial from the Wall Street Journal.

What if we lose the Iraqi War? What are the consequences?

You don't want to know. Your children and grandchildren would not live in the America they live in today. They would live in fear and defeat. And it isn't because of Bush, it's because of the left.

Who is our real enemy? We are at war with our enemies. Who's side are you on?

Election Repulsed

Last Night the returns for the primary elections in Illinois came in. I watched. Stayed up past midnight.

Here are the high (low) lights:

We still don’t know who won the race between Stroger and Claypoole for County board president. This is the 21’st century right? But down on the south side of Chicago they are counting (Packing the ballot box) like it’s 1950 all over again.

Graft is good. Right????

None of the candidates I supported won. None. All the winners are all out of step with me.

Or something.

So, now for Governor in Illinois is the following choices:


A machine controlled liberal puppet insider pro abortion democrat

OR

A machine controlled liberal puppet insider pro abortion republican


Now there’s a real race. And, as a friend of mine pointed out. They both wear their hair in exactly the same cut. Hey man, that dude look like a woman. or That woman look like a dude man.

When I moved to this fine state 20 years ago every single constitutional office was held by a republican. I was home. Now I’m an alien.

It’s time for a revolution.

Blond Iraqi Children

Yesterday I was having lunch with Karma, a friend of mine. We were talking about all things human. During which I commented on the poignancy of an essay a mutual read of ours had made on her blog.

Julie had talked about a little blond haired boy who was of probable German seed from when construction workers had been in Nicaragua for a project. How he had been ostracized. Read it here.

Then Karma said something that caused me to start, “There will be a lot of little blond haired kids in Iraq when we leave”. Like there were a lot of blond haired blue-eyed Vietnamese and a number of dark skinned children after we left there.

I get it. Have you ever seen the women of Iraq? Behind the veil they are strikingly beautiful. Long raven hair, dark eyes, rich auburn skin. They can take your breath away with their beauty.

Karma is right. I wish she weren’t. Somehow the genetic mixing I can envision doesn’t work well. Like the little boy in Julies post. These children will have a more difficult time. And then there are the Honor Killings. Life isn’t fair, particularly to children.

Sigh.

The Check is in the Mail – Honest

You have seen the story. Katrina and Wilma hit with hurricane force. Thousands out of house. So, Red Cross and US Government so as not to appear too stingy give out Cash Cards for $2000 to all comers to be used at the strip club of your choice. TV newscasts were full of positive appellations for the generosity towards these poor folks.

Well, a few, (like maybe a couple hundred thousand) we’re working the system it seems. And we should be shocked because??

So now in an attempt to recover a fumble Fema is are trying to get the money back. I’m so certain that all those fine folks who got those cards with phony Social Security numbers, phony addresses and phony names are putting the check right in the mail.

Why are we surprised at these things? What is it about the effort to do good by throwing mass quantities of money at a thing and having it go bad that is such a shock?

Now the government will spend twice as much money trying to get it back, create bad publicity (Wait for the first 60 minutes report about John Jackson from New Orleans who lives with his Momma and from whom Fema wants the money back).

Forget it. They stole the money. You left it on the doorstep. What were they supposed to do.

It’s not worth it. It’s gone and you aren’t ever getting it back. Ask Johnny.

Church a Bomb

Tonight as we often do we were off to Rockford to Faith Center for Church.

 

Worship was excellent.  Many great prophetic and encouraging words.  Then a young pastor came to speak. He was good.

 

Well into his talk Pastor Lyon came forward and without much emotion said, "I hate to interrupt but, we have had someone call in and tell us there is a bomb in the building.  I don't believe it but I am responsible to do the right thing.  Please take your things and leave the building".

 

People filed out in order. No panic.  No screaming.

 

These are people ready for heaven. 

 

My only question is who is the nutcase who does such a thing.  Is it a kid who thinks this is funny?  I hope they have caller ID.

 

Is this someone who hates Faith Center, or the speaker, or what? 

 

Or is it someone who is just a nut who hates Jesus.  We'll never know for sure. 

 

It's too bad.  I was enjoying the speaker.

 

Hard to scare Christians with death.  That's an improvement.  I would have just as soon sat thru it an called his bluff.  But, who knows what's right to do.  That's the first Church Service that ever bombed with a threat in my experience.