Kudos to Philip Klein at the Washington Examiner for reminding us that liberals loved to paint Republican Attorneys General – Ed Meese, John Mitchell, John Ashcroft – as jack-booted thugs trying to crush a free press. But Klein notes that Eric Withholder “has prosecuted more government officials for alleged leaks under the World War I-era Espionage Act than all his predecessors combined.” Add in his refusal to comply with FOIA requests and his repeating of “Ida Know” in front of Congress like the kids from “Family Circus.” No wonder there are no negative stories about the Obama Administration. Print one, and you might end up in Gitmo!

Is the Conservative Movement WHIGging Out?
In the mid-19th century, even after producing several presidents, a major American political party rose and just as quickly fell after falling out of favor. The Whig Party was a political conglomeration that was more interested in stopping the Democratic Party, often with good reason, than promoting any sort of consistent and coherent policy agenda of its own.

So you’re wondering why this matters in this second decade of the 21st century? The modern Republican Party is facing a similar fate. Indulge a moment of history here.

One major wedge issue within the party was that of abolition. Part of the party wanted to take a “moderate” approach toward the egregious evil of slavery, preferring to slow its spread while leaving the existing elements of the institution in place, rather than taking a principled stand and stamping it out altogether. In the other major wing of the party, people were promoting the outright abolishing of slavery, thus upholding the fundamental values of our free society and of natural law. The two warring views proved irreconcilable, and the party fell apart and its adherents were absorbed into two other major parties: the Democratic and the newly-formed Republican Party. The failure of a major segment of the party to stand on principle precipitated a collapse of the whole coalition.

Back to today and lessons Republican have to heed. There are two major philosophies in the present GOP, and neither is all that warm or open to the other. On the one hand, there are those establishment Republicans who are socialists light on the economy and secularists light on the culture, which aren’t all that different than the Democrats. Then, there are those who would love to move the party to an outright libertarianism that is more focused on economic policy and political purism than building a consistently conservative movement on social and economic issues. Then, in between, there are the majority of us conservatives who are neither establishment, nor outright libertarian, who make up the backbone of the conservative movement. These kinds of conservatives are what we might call “common sense” conservatives, who are worried about the run-away size of government, the breakdown of cultural values that promote healthy families and strong communities, and the abandonment of free-market economics and fiscal sanity.

This third category of the modern conservative movement, made up of full-spectrum conservatives, is the key to keeping the Republican Party from becoming the modern equivalent of the Whigs. The potential for this element to avert catastrophe will only be realized, however, if consistent conservatives reassert a clear conservative philosophy that promotes the protection of life, builds strong families and communities, and promotes free market economics to ensure prosperity for all of the American People. Only this full-spectrum of social and economic values will be able to gain the necessary support to win elections and preserve freedom for future generations.

The key take-away from the collapse of the Whig Party is that principle cannot be sacrificed in the name of political expediency. The Whigs were so determined to decimate the Democrats that they never really had an agenda all their own; their agenda was to make sure the other side didn’t win, which was one of the surest ways to ensure that they did. Moderates compromised on the core issues of their time, negating any reason why citizens would honor them with their vote. Absent any agenda of their own, other than winning an election to gain power for themselves, the Whigs became politically impotent and unnecessary.

The modern GOP similarly needs to stop compromising on core convictions like the sanctity of human life, the sanctity of natural marriage, individual liberty and the efficiency of free market economics. On some of the more minor issues, we should extend one another grace and friendship, while building a movement of unity around the fundamental, major issues that make up the conservative policy platform.

If conservatives cannot come together over essential elements of a pro-liberty policy platform, then we may one day say that the modern conservative movement went the way of the Whigs, and ceased to be a national force after it lost a clear vision of national governance. The Republican Party needs to stop fighting over control of the party, and start uniting around an opportunity agenda that can govern the country.

More people feel guilty than just one abortionist…A Philadelphia jury found Dr. Kermit Gosnell guilty on three counts of first degree murder for killing babies born alive during botched abortions. But he’s not the only one who’s guilty. The media are guilty of turning a blind eye because this case didn’t fit their unexamined views on abortion. In fact, when ABC News reported the verdict, it broke a 56-day streak of not mentioning the trial at all. The state health department is guilty of allowing itself to be politicized to the point of not even inspecting abortion clinics, for fear they’d be accused of impeding the “right to choose.” Pundits are guilty of abusing the language: these weren’t botched abortions that resulted in the termination of fetuses. They were induced births that resulted in the murders of babies. And a lot of observers feel guilty after they were forced to realize there’s nothing about the birth process that magically turns a “cluster of cells” into a baby. If it’s a baby when it’s born, then it was a baby five minutes before. Gosnell could face the death penalty. His lawyer might try arguing that all human life is sacred. If so, I hope that makes him feel guilty.
Pro-life activists are hailing the guilty verdicts, which also included an involuntary manslaughter conviction for killing an adult patient. And not just because a jury didn’t buy the argument that killing a late-term baby who’s alive outside the womb is legal abortion. They also say it shines a spotlight on the type of dangerous abuse that they say isn’t isolated to Gosnell’s house of horrors, but runs rampant in abortion clinics nationwide. On the other side, pro-choice activists warned that more restrictive laws would leave to dangerous, unsanitary, back-alley abortion clinics that would kill women. You mean like the ones that the current lack of any restrictive laws on abortionists have already led to?

Information on Industrial Hemp:
1. Click for more
2. Myth vs Reality:
Myth: United States law has always treated hemp and marijuana the same.
Reality: The history of federal drug laws clearly shows that at one time the U.S. government understood and accepted the distinction between hemp and marijuana. a
Myth: Smoking Industrial Hemp gets a person high.
Reality: The THC levels in Industrial Hemp are so low that no one could get high from smoking it. Moreover, hemp contains a relatively high percentage of another cannabinoid, CBD, that actually blocks the marijuana high. Hemp, it turns out, is not only not marijuana; it could be called “anti-marijuana”.
Myth: Even though THC levels are low in hemp, the THC can be extracted and concentrated to produce a powerful drug.
Reality: Extracting THC from Industrial Hemp and further refining it to eliminate the preponderance of CBD would require such an expensive, hazardous, and time-consuming process that it is extremely unlikely anyone would ever attempt it, rather than simply obtaining high-THC marijuana instead.
Myth: Industrial Hemp fields would be used to hide marijuana plants.
Reality: Industrial Hemp is grown quite differently from marijuana. Moreover, it is harvested at a different time than marijuana. Finally, cross-pollination between hemp plants and marijuana plants would significantly reduce the potency of the marijuana plant.
Myth: Legalizing hemp while continuing the prohibition on marijuana would burden local police forces.
Reality: In countries where hemp is grown as an agricultural crop, the police have experienced no such burdens.
Myth: Feral hemp must be eradicated because it can be sold as marijuana.
Reality: Feral hemp, or ditchweed, is a remnant of the Industrial Hemp once grown on more than 400,000 acres by US farmers. It contains extremely low levels of THC, as low as .05 percent. It has no drug value, but does offer important environmental benefits as a nesting habitat for birds. About 99 percent of the “marijuana” being eradicated by the federal government-at great public expense-is this harmless ditchweed. Might it be that the drug enforcement agencies want to convince us that ditchweed is marijuana in order to protect their large eradication budgets?
Myth: Those who want to legalize Industrial Hemp are actually seeking a backdoor way to legalize marijuana.
Reality: It is true that many of the first hemp stores were started by Industrial Hemp advocates who were also in favor of legalizing marijuana. However, as the hemp industry has matured, it has come to be dominated by those who see hemp as the agricultural and industrial crop that it is, and see hemp legalization as a different issue than marijuana legalization. In any case, should we oppose a very good idea simply because some of those who support it also support other ideas with which we disagree?
Myth: Hemp oil is a source of THC.
Reality: Hemp oil is an increasingly popular product, used for an expanding variety of purposes. The washed Industrial Hemp seed contains no THC at all. The tiny amounts of THC contained in Industrial Hemp are in the glands of the plant itself. Sometimes, in the manufacturing process, some THC- and CBD-containing resin sticks to the seed, resulting in traces of THC in the oil that is produced. The concentration of these cannabinoids in the oil is infinitesimal. No one can get high from using Industrial Hemp oil.
Myth: Legalizing Industrial Hemp would send the wrong message to children.
Reality: It is the current refusal of the DEA and ONDCP to distinguish between an agricultural crop and a drug crop that is sending the wrong message to children.
Myth: Industrial Hemp is not economically viable, and should therefore be outlawed.
Reality: The market for Industrial Hemp products is growing rapidly. But even if it were not, when has a crop ever been outlawed simply because government agencies thought it would be unprofitable to grow?
3. Then, what is marijuana?
Marijuana is a preparation made from varieties of Cannabis sativa L. that are intended for medical and recreational drug use. They are grown for their THC content, primarily in the flowering tops and to a lesser extent in the leaves. Cannabis sativa L. grown for marijuana is characterized by being high in THC (delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol) and low in CBD (cannabidiol). The THC content is greater than 1%, usually 3% to 20%. The ratio of CBD to THC is less than one.
Is industrial hemp marijuana?
No. Even though they both come from Cannabis sativa L., the varieties that are used to make industrial hemp products (seed, fiber, etc.) and those that are used to make marijuana (flowering tops and leaves) are distinctly different. They are scientifically different and are cultivated in very different ways.
Sources

NBC-5 in Dallas reports that because of a legal technicality, Nidal Hasan – who “allegedly” stood up in a Fort Hood cafeteria and began shooting, killing 13 people and wounding 32 others while shouting “Allahu Akbar!” – is still collecting a salary on the taxpayers’ dime. The Military Code of Justice says his salary can’t be suspended until he’s found guilty. And his attorneys have dragged the trial out so long, over urgent issues like whether he has to shave his beard, that he’s collected $278,000 since the shootings.
Meanwhile, many of the victims are barely scraping by, unable to work or feed their families, and fighting for medical benefits. That’s because the government refuses to call this what it obviously was – a terrorist attack – and insanely classifies it as “workplace violence.” So the victims aren’t entitled to the benefits of military members wounded in combat. That’s right: wounded soldiers are denied medical benefits while the man who – “allegedly” – shot them is paid over a quarter million taxpayer dollars and counting. If anyone still thinks the Obama Administration’s refusal to call terrorism by its proper name is inconsequential, try telling that to the Fort Hood shooting victims. The attack was terrorism. The government’s reaction to it so far has been a “man-caused disaster.”