January 16, 2009 - Washington, DC

Today is Blackberry turn in day for Bush staff / A farewell to GWB / Final Bush proclamations / Obama's gay military / Hillary goes to Foggy Bottom / Inaugural "pig sex" / People say debt is the problem with America / RFC social networking sites and Facebook / The Left's antisemitism / Persecuted Iraqi Christians
Read More Below

THE PRESIDENCY

BLACKBERRY TURN-IN DAY- Officially the government does not change hands until about 10:00 AM on Tuesday, January 20th, but today is actually the last real day the Bush Administration has any effective control. All of my friends at various departments, such as Justice, State, Labor and even the White House were ordered to turn in their Blackberry handsets today. Although they will be paid through Tuesday, they were told not to report to work on Monday.

A FAREWELL TO GWB- When George W. Bush was sworn in as Governor of Texas in 1995 my wife Nancy and I were present in Austin, Texas. We moved the offices of the Religious Freedom Coalition to Washington, DC from Dallas, Texas shortly after that. We were also at both of George W. Bush's presidential Inaugurations, in 2001 and 2005, and in fact participated in Inaugural Balls both times. Going full circle now, we have been invited and will attend the farewell ceremony for President George W. Bush at Andrews Air Force Base on January 20th. We were not invited to any of the Inaugural Balls or other events for Barack Obama.

OBAMA'S GAY MILITARY - Barack Obama has indicated that one of his first orders as Commander-in-Chief will be to eliminate the "don't ask, don't tell" policy toward homosexuals in the military initiated by President Clinton and continued by President George W. Bush. Under the order to be issued by Obama, homosexuals will be allowed to openly flaunt their sexual encounters in the military. Why is this a problem? In a combat unit men must act as a team. When "lovers" are in the unit they watch out for each other and not the team. Read more

BUSH PROCLAMATIONS - Before leaving office, George W. Bush issued two proclamations of interest to social conservatives. He proclaimed January 18th as National Sanctity of Life Day. The March for Life will be held in Washington, DC on January 22nd, the anniversary of Roe V. Wade. President Bush could not issue a proclamation for that date because Barack Obama will be president. It is VERY doubtful that Obama will ever issue a "Sanctity of Human Life" proclamation because he simply does not believe an unborn child is a human life. President Bush also proclaimed today, January 16, 2009 as Religious Freedom Day. I do not know if these links will work after Barack Obama is sworn in.

THE CONGRESS

CLINTON GOES TO STATE - Senator Hillary Clinton was confirmed this week as Secretary of State and has already moved into her new digs in Foggy Bottom. Before she could get out of her Senate office a delegation consisting of myself, my wife Nancy, and Father Keith Roderick delivered an Iraqi Christian Coalition letter to her, asking that she assist persecuted Iraqi Christians upon becoming Secretary of State. Photo is of Nancy Murray at Hillary Clinton's office.

PLEASE ACT NOW - Congressman Todd Akin is once again preparing to introduce the Pledge Protection Act which would defend "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance to our nation's flag. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has sat on the atheist lawsuit to remove "under God" from the Pledge in hopes that the Justice Department under Barack Obama will agree with them that it is unconstitutional. We must be ready to defend "under God" in the Pledge. The Religious Freedom Coalition has a new social networking site to form groups to defend "under God" at www.pledgeundergod.com. Please register to help at that site!

CULTURE AND RELIGION

INAUGURAL "PIG SEX" - This is beyond disgusting. This weekend, as part of their celebration in helping to elect Barack Obama, homosexuals will hold a "pig sex" event at the Doubletree Hotel here in Washington, DC. The hotel is owned and operated by the Hilton Hotel Corporation. The acts and conduct that is advertised at their Internet site cannot be reproduced here, but I can say that the activities make those in Biblical Sodom look mild in comparison. Please read more about this and contact the Hilton Hotel Corporation with your comments. (WARNING: THE READ MORE LINK HAS GRAPHIC PHOTOS AND DESCRIPTIONS.)

THE PEOPLE SAY: "DEBT IS THE PROBLEM" - A new poll indicates that 80% of Americans believe that the problem with the economy is government and personal debt. Read more. Personally I believe that a tax structure that promotes use of debt rather than equity led to the meltdown in 2008. Rather than sell stock, companies borrowed funds to expand. No interest needs to be paid to those who invest in stock, but a bond holder wants his interest payments regularly. Every one of the corporate bankruptcy filings, including that of Circuit City and others, came about because they could not make interest payments on a huge debt load.

NEW CHAIRMAN'S REPORT - The all new January 1, 2009 Chairman's Report is now available to read in PDF format. This issue contains material about the assault on "under God" in the Pledge and new details about Barack Obama. The issue also contains more on the "War on Christmas." Read more. Click here to view PDF

SOCIAL NETWORKING

OUR SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES - Do you have a Facebook page? If so, you know how to use social networking sites and we need you to join the Religious Freedom Coalition social networking site to protect "under God" in the Pledge. Please check out our new social networking site a www.pledgeundergod.com.

FACEBOOK FOR IRAQI CHRISTIANS - The Religious Freedom Coalition also has a Facebook page to expose the crisis faced by Iraqi Christians. If you have a Facebook account, please become our friend at this link.

INTERNATIONAL

LEFT'S ANTISEMITISM - All except one of the leaders of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, including former Democrat presidential candidate Richard Kucinich, either voted against or answered "present" on a resolution supporting Israel against the terrorist organization HAMAS. Below I have once again listed the link to the video, HAMAS, In Their Own Words. I have done this because Muslims have posted an answer to it declaring that YES ..."We are antisemitic." Read more

HAMAS IN THEIR OWN WORDS- What are the stakes in Gaza for Israel and the world? If Israel does not defeat HAMAS, the world is in danger. View this special edition video, HAMAS IN THEIR OWN WORDS.

PERSECUTED IRAQI CHRISTIANS - The first week of February, Governor David Beasley (R-SC) and several members of the Iraqi Christian Coalition will be holding meetings and visiting with Congressmen and Senators. Please pray we can bring attention to and shine light on this crisis. if you need a reminder of the situation, please watch the testimony video of those who have lived through the persecution. Please help today.

CHRISTIAN INTERNET SUPER STORE

ALL OCCASION GIFTS FROM A CHRISTIAN STORE How about birthday and anniversary gifts with a Christian theme? Our Internet Christian Super Store has tens of thousands of books, CD's DVD's, jewelry, food and more. AND ... Our store does not sell the atheist and satanist books that you will find on Amazon.com. When you buy from our store you help our work. Please take a look at our store today at www.rfcstore.com

Contributions to the work of the Religious Freedom Coalition can be made at www.rfcnet.org.