OUR COLUMNISTS Scalia Encourages the Foolish Church Commentary by Matt Friedeman Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia gave a humdinger of an indispensable speech for people of faith who are wondering when they are ever going to catch a break from their culture. Summary: bad treatment to be expected. Get used to it. I Think I Can't, I Think I Can't Commentary by Jane Jimenez With so much emphasis on finding happiness, perhaps we are unable to receive happiness because we are unwilling to recognize it when it arrives. Loathing Leon Commentary by Brad Locke Leon, of beer commercial fame, hyperbolically epitomizes our current superstar athletes. Even Randy Moss isn't that arrogant and ingrown -- I don't think -- but as with all good humor, there is an underlying truth present in the Leon character: individuality is the god of many an athlete. Christmas As It Was Originally Celebrated Commentary by David Sisler Christmas used to mean more than great deals on computers and peripherals. The conception of Christmas used to be a teenaged girl, pregnant before marriage, drenched in sweat. She had just pushed her first child into the cold night air of an unheated, smelly barn. The Left's 'Collective Conniption' Commentary by Mark Creech President Bush recently stated: "I don't see how you can be president, at least from my perspective, without a relationship with the Lord." Were those remarks terribly removed from the statements of previous presidents? Were they far removed from our nation's heritage? Hardly!.

...An American evangelical leader has urged Canadians to oppose same-sex "marriage" in a broadcast heard on more than 130 radio stations across the country. Focus on the Family's Dr. James Dobson said he hopes that Canadians who do not want same-sex marriage will be encouraged by efforts to block it in the United States. He said same-sex marriage is not a human rights issue and that it will undermine the institution and all of society. Dobson also criticized Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin for not allowing Liberal cabinet ministers to vote their conscience when the proposed marriage law is introduced later this year. Martin's Liberal government has drafted legislation to legalize same-sex marriage. A bill is to come before Parliament next month and could become law by this summer. [AP]

...Two Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill are being lauded for proposing legislation that would greatly increase indecency fines for television and radio broadcast stations. Earlier this week, Congressman Fred Upton of Michigan proposed that those fines be raised to as much as a half-million dollars and that, after three violations, the Federal Communications Commission consider revoking a station's license. The legislation is H.R. 310. Kansas Senator Sam Brownback followed that in the U.S. Senate with a measure (S. 193) boosting fines to $325,000 for a single violation and $3 million for continued violations. Tim Wildmon, president of the American Family Association, is urging both houses of Congress to support what he describes as "this much-needed decency legislation." He says it is time for broadcasters to start taking seriously the matter of indecency on the airwaves. "Until broadcasters face accountability with severe consequences, they will continue crossing the line of decency and ignoring the FCC's regulations, which is breaking the law," Wildmon says. The AFA president also called on President Bush to appoint a new FCC chairman who will be aggressive in enforcing already existing broadcast regulations. FCC Chairman Michael Powell recently announced his resignation from the post, and several pro-family groups are pushing for the administration to appoint Commissioner Kevin Martin to the top post. [Jody Brown]

...Senator Sam Brownback is also busy on the pro-life front. On Wednesday (January 26), he introduced legislation that recognizes the scientific evidence that unborn babies experience severe pain when aborted. The measure, which has 32 co-signers in the Senate, would require abortion providers to tell women who are seeking an abortion at least 20 weeks after fertilization that their child feels pain during the abortion procedure. Under the Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act (S. 51), those abortion clinics would also have to offer anesthesia for the baby before the abortion. Concerned Women for America's Wendy Wright says without such a law, abortionists "simply refuse" to give women up-to-date scientific and medically accurate information they need to know. "Women have a right to know what an abortion actually is, and what [a] baby will experience [during abortion]," Wright says. "It satisfies nothing to subject a baby already unjustly sentenced to death to excruciating pain -- more than you or I could endure." Until the day comes when unborn babies are treated with respect and allowed their constitutional right to life, she says, "we should at least do what we can to lessen the pain the baby endures." Republican Representative Chris Smith of New Jersey is introducing companion legislation in the House of Representatives. [Jody Brown]

...A military expert predicts Iraqi terrorists will be out in force as election day there draws closer -- and another analyst cautions against Americans hoping to see a military pullout in the immediate future. Jim Phillips of the Heritage Foundation believes the security efforts in Iraq will reach new proportions as the time for the nation's first democratic vote approaches. He says the reason is obvious. "I think there will be a spasm of violence in Iraq in the next few days," Phillips says. "I think probably Friday, Saturday, Sunday will [see] a lot of explosions going on in Iraq." Unprecedented security efforts are being undertaken as the people will select a parliament to write the nation's new constitution. Dana Dillon, a senior policy analyst with the Heritage Foundation, says the election is just the first step in establishing a democratic government in the war-torn country -- and that he does not see U.S. troops being able to pull out anytime soon. The retired Army major points out that Sunday's election will only elect what he calls a "transition team." "The transition team will form a constitution, and then there will be elections again at the end of this year in December -- and that will be the regular Iraqi constitutional government," Dillon explains. "I think that the Americans will be able to start pulling out after that." In the meantime, he says the Sunnis are going to continue to fight against elections tooth and nail. "What we need to do is try to get them involved in the political process as much as we can," he says, "and then turn it over to the Iraqis and let them solve it on their own, in their own terms." Dillon says as with any insurgent problem, there is no military solution -- only a political one. [Bill Fancher/Chad Groening]

...A member of the House Armed Services Committee says China still holds the key to compelling North Korea to scrap its nuclear weapons program. Republican Roscoe Bartlett believes the Chinese need to be more aggressive in applying pressure on Pyongyang. The Maryland lawmaker was part of a congressional delegation that recently visited North Korea and the other Asian nations involved in the six-party talks on North Korean disarmament. He believes the Chinese have the best leverage to make Pyongyang abandon its nuclear aspirations. "They are being reasonable in helping," he says of the Chinese. "We think they could be a whole lot more helpful if they wanted to be, and we're trying to commend the Chinese for what they have been doing and to encourage them to be even more aggressive." Meanwhile, Bartlett says he had heard about talks of Korean reunification. "I understand there are some backdoor talks between North and South Korea about reunification, [but] I have no idea whether this represents a minority or whether this is rejected by the leadership," Bartlett says. "The leadership can't help but look south to see how well the South Koreans are doing and [in comparison see] how poorly their people are doing. There's got to be some recognition of that." Bartlett hopes the congressional visit will pave the way for more official talks involving the U.S., Japan, Russia, China, and the two Korean nations. [Chad Groening]

...Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia says judges should be guided only by what the Constitution actually says when it comes to deciding religious cases. In early March, the Supreme Court will consider the constitutionality of government displays of the Ten Commandments. Lower courts have splintered over whether such exhibits in town squares and courthouses violate "separation of church and state" -- words that never appear in the Constitution. In a speech sponsored by the Ave Maria School of Law, Scalia said, "The Constitution says what it says and does not say what it does not say." Justice Scalia said it is wrong for judges to think of the Constitution as a "living" document to be interpreted differently in changing times. [AP]

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