NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A court order issued Thursday fell short of granting the American Civil Liberties Union what it was seeking in its lawsuit against the Wilson County School System, according to attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund.

“This is a win for religious freedom and, if not a total loss for the ACLU, certainly a hollow, shallow victory. The court acknowledged that Christians cannot be discriminated against for their beliefs and that personal prayer, mentions of God, and Christmas references are constitutionally appropriate in school,” said ADF Senior Counsel Nate Kellum. “The ACLU hoped to wipe out every reference to God but walked away with a take-nothing judgment. ADF and its clients were successful in repelling the ACLU’s attacks.”

· National Day of Prayer observances

· Meetings on campus by the group Praying Parents

· Christmas and Thanksgiving observances with religious references
“All of these things will remain constitutionally permissible at the school,” Kellum said. “The order specifically states that these types of activities may continue.”

In typical congressional fashion, Senate Democrats have tried to shift the blame for high gas prices from themselves and others, to the oil company executives. Once again, Congressional Democrats are pointing fingers at the wrong people in their attempt to place blame for high gas prices on the president and anyone associated with energy providers in America. Again, the Democrats in Congress are attacking the very people who provide the energy we all depend on in our daily lives instead of seriously considering what they can do to help with the problem.

“Yet you rack up record profits, record profits, quarter after quarter after quarter, and apparently have no ethical compass about the price of gasoline,” injected Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-CA).

Sen. Herb Kohl (D – WI) is worried about fairness.

Aren’t we getting just a little tired of this three ring circus with the same old acts that do nothing but entertain the TV viewing audience? Here is what Congressmen and Senators who participate in this “made for TV” charade don’t want you to know as they place blame for high gas prices on the “obscene profits” of the oil companies. The following is the breakdown on the costs of 1 gallon of gasoline.

· Taxes: 12 percent

· Distribution and Marketing: 8 percent

· Refining: 8 percent

· Crude oil: 72 percent

Note: Distribution, Marketing, and Refining include about 4 cents on the dollar profit for the oil company. This represents the 4% “obscene profit margin” above costs that Congress is questioning them for.

“Congress should commit to the U.S., and people around the world, that we will resolve this issue of restricting supply once and for all,” said John Hofmeister, president of Shell. Showing a willingness to exploit domestic resources would send an important signal and would “knock the futures market on its head.” Hofmeister is saying that it would discourage traders from bidding up the price of oil based on a perception of tight supplies in the future.

If American oil companies completely eliminated their profit from gasoline sales, it would amount to a savings for the consumer of about 4c on the dollar or about 16c per gallon of gas at the current price of $4.00 per gallon. That is roughly one third of the savings that would result if Congress suspended the federal gas tax, which now costs us about 48c per gallon. If both were done, the best we could expect would be a about 64c per gallon decrease in gas prices at the pump. We would still be paying about $3.40 per gallon, so obviously the 16c profit is not the problem.

What kind of idiots have we elected to congress who don’t understand how the free market works, or that businesses are in business to make a profit – even as low as 4.0 percent? Congressional Democrats would like to see that profit taken away, or punish the oil companies for making it. By removing the profit from gasoline sales, we could all save 16c a gallon at the pump – what a relief that would be!

How about applying the same standard to the companies who are supporting these politicians with contributions to their campaigns in exchange for earmarks from the public treasury? I can assure you that the taxpayers would be saving a great deal more money than they would be by taking away oil company profits.

For many years in the recent past, American oil companies were just breaking even in gas sales. Now they finally are able to return some dividends to their millions of investors – and Democrats want to take that away. Some, with no understanding of how the free market works, have even suggested that the oil companies should operate at a loss. Rep. Maxine Watters (D-CA) even suggested, in pure communist style, that our oil companies should be nationalized and taken over by the government.

Brilliant! As if that would reduce the price of crude oil and the cost of gas. The word she was looking for is “nationalizing,” to which the oil industry reps said, “we’ve seen this movie before. It’s called Hugo Chavez, in Venezuela.”

Watters, after revealing her communist views with one foot in her mouth, then proceeded to place both feet in the mouth and finish her statement to the shock of other Democrats on the panel, and to the amusement of Republican members who couldn’t keep a straight face. Undoubtedly, Watters was admonished after the hearing by Pelosi, Dean, Obama, and George Soros, for letting their communist views out of the bag in front of a national TV audience.

This kind of talk is either insane or so naive that it boggles the mind when we hear it coming from members of the United States Congress. Even if the government were running the oil companies, they would still have to pay the same price for the imported oil and refining. Then we could add to the current costs, the cost of the bureaucracy to administer the government oil program. Sure, they could lower the price at the pump while increasing taxes to pay the difference. Either way, we still have to pay it but it would give the government, in true Marxist fashion, the ability to redistribute the wealth by having those who pay taxes, pay for the gas of those who don‘t.

Do you realize how many Americans have money invested in our oil companies? The answer is – just about everyone who has money invested in any mutual fund or retirement program. By taking away the profit from the oil companies, those investments return zero. So what happens when companies are mandated by government to operate at a loss or zero profit?

Investors withdraw their money from that investment, and before long the company goes broke. The country is left with no one to provide the gas for our cars, fuel oil for home heating, aviation and jet fuel, Diesel fuel for the trucking industry, and a variety of other products produced by the oil companies who are responsible for providing our standard of living in America. All of these products would either disappear, or the price of importing them would be unaffordable to most Americans.

Do you remember when Jimmy “Mr. Peanut” Carter froze oil prices back in the 1970s? If you could find a gas station that had any gas, you had to wait in a line a block or more long to get it. Now Democrats want to bring back those days again. It’s simple economics. If there is no profit, there is no product.

This is a profit driven society whether Democrats like it or not. If they all want to move to a vacant island somewhere, where they can start their own country, write their own communist/socialist constitution and live by it, they have the freedom to do so. They do not have the right to destroy the Constitution and capitalist society that this country has lived by for over 230 years since it’s founding, and take away the freedom and liberty that our Constitution guarantees each and every citizen.

That leaves Americans with a simple choice. We can either thank the oil companies for providing gasoline for our cars and other products, at the best price they can, or we can do without gas and the other products, which seems to be what the liberals want.

Here’s a thought: Why not just have the liberals get rid of their cars and use public transportation? That would reduce our oil consumption by about 25% right away which in turn, would reduce world oil demands which are now slightly higher than available supply. That in turn would reduce the cost of crude and result in lower prices at the pump for the rest of us. And since liberals have declared war on energy producers, including nuclear power plants, they should also stop using electricity.

Let them lead the way to the energy free life they so desire. Let them try it out first for a few years and then submit a government funded essay on what they’ve learned from their study. But they’ll have to file the report with handwritten or manual typewriter written pages.

Liberals like to complain but are they willing to make the sacrifice to resolve their complaints? Not likely. Al Gore is a perfect example in his energy guzzling home, SUV, and private jet travels, yet he wants to deny us the ability to sustain our standard of living. I am sick of these liberal hypocrites.

People are asking what products are produced from a barrel of oil. Here is what comes out of one barrel, about 42 gallons of crude oil.

Gasoline 53.8%

Diesel 15.9%

Jet Fuel 13.09%

Still Gas 5.71%

Fuel Oil 3.57%

All Others (plastics, lubricants, asphalt, etc.) 5.3%

Crude oil is a global commodity and is sold on the global market at the global market price. For every 5 barrels of oil the U.S. produces, we import 16 barrels just to meet our own domestic needs.

The U.S. uses 25% of all world oil produced. It’s not because we are hoggish and wasteful with oil. It’s because we are one of the most populous and technically advanced nations in the world. Everybody owns a car. Our lifestyle depends on abundant energy resources. That is one of the benefits of being American and what has made America the greatest nation on the planet. Now China and India are trying to catch up to our technical and industrial standard and are competing for the same oil. That has driven demands now slightly above the supply and contributed to the price increase.

Shell, Exxon-Mobil, and other U.S. oil companies cannot control the price of oil any more than the president can. Exxon owns only 2% of the world’s oil and cannot dictate price to the government owned oil giants of OPEC. But any one country with oil resources can lower the global price of oil by increasing their oil production.

President Bush had to go begging to the Saudis for an increase in oil production to help lower the price because our own Democrat controlled congress won’t allow it. We need new refineries. We need to open up new oil fields offshore and in Alaska. The Democrats in Congress for decades have said “no.” and blocked any legislation to permit it. California and Florida continue to prohibit any drilling off their shores.

“Congress should commit to the U.S., and people around the world, that we will resolve this issue of restricting supply once and for all,” said John Hofmeister, president of Shell. “Showing a willingness to exploit domestic resources would send an important signal and would knock the futures market on its head.” Hofmeister is saying that it would discourage traders from bidding up the price of oil based on a perception of tight supplies in the future.

Why are these Democrats in Congress so ignorant to how a free economy works? Why are they so ignorant to the real problem of a domestic oil shortage, forcing us to buy foreign oil? Why do they refuse to face the reality that they have caused by blocking domestic oil production? Why do they insist on pointing fingers at the wrong people and accusing them of profiting at the expense of the American people? Why won’t Congress allow the U.S. to increase our own production to bring down the cost of gas? Why are polar bears in Alaska giving a higher priority than the survival of the American way of life?

You’ll just have to ask the Democrats in Congress and see if you can get a straight answer. Good luck. They prefer to badger oil company executives and blame gas prices on them in order to boost their own image in front of the TV cameras to impress the less informed liberals and make them think they are trying to do something about the price of gas in hopes of gaining their votes.

When will the Democrats in congress stop pandering to environmental extremists and admit the reality of what they have done, and are continuing to do, to the people of this country? Are they really as stupid as they appear in these gas price hearings, or are they just putting on an act for those who are? In either case, they are either not capable, or not willing to do the job they were elected to do and must be removed from Congress just as soon as possible. The future of America’s survival depends on it.

If Congress was serious about bringing down the cost of oil, perhaps they should look in the mirror and ask themselves “what can we do about the problem?” Then, instead of beating up on American oil company executives, call on the carpet the foreign governments who own OPEC, along with the owner and chief financier of the Democrat party, George Soros, and other speculators in the oil futures market. If congressional Democrats want to point fingers over gas prices, they should make sure they are pointing them at the right people including the ones they see in the mirror.

It could be argued that the arrogance prevalent in today’s American culture is a direct by-product of our entitlement society; a society that manufactures high self-esteem and then bestows it on people who have done nothing to deserve it. Logic mandates that when a person believes that he is the “end all be all” it isn’t that far of a stretch for that person to develop a belief that he is owed the good things of life; to expect things rather than to work toward earning them. This can lead to a culture populated entirely with “chiefs” with nary an “Indian” to be found. A society – or an organization, government, team, etc. – cannot function when everyone expects to be the boss.

This prevailing character flaw is effecting more than the individual. Its collective societal impart is corroding the fiber of our nation and doing so in every walk of life.

In education we are seeing teachers, administrators and union infiltrators narcissistically injecting their special interest topics into class curriculum and beyond. Where in eras past the onus of education was on the mastery of the tools that contribute to the gathering of information, its discernment and the development of critical thinking skills, today there is more emphasis placed on sex education than reading and on diversity than the accurate teaching of American history.

The encroachment of special interest content in curriculum, at the hand of factional narcissism, is producing graduates who possess an artificially elevated level of self-esteem but no critical thinking skills. The self-centered nature of what can only be termed our public special interest educational system is churning out graduates who believe they are correct on every issue they address even when they know very little about the issue. After all, they have been taught that it is their right to be correct.

The cancer of societal arrogance can be seen in the public arena as well.

Former Presidential Press Secretary Scott McClellan is engaging the talk show circuit to promote his new “tell all” book about his disillusionment with his White House years. In his offering he contends that not only was he lied to about a number of things but that he himself perpetrated disinformation on the American public, sometimes unknowingly and other times with full knowledge of the truth. Of course, the Socialist-Progressive-Left is glomming onto his portrayal of the Bush Administration as the gospel, even in the face of repudiation by an overwhelming number of those who would know the truth.

I for one am categorizing McClellan’s literary effort as a work of fiction tinged with a splattering of reference to actual events and here’s why.

All you ever had to do was to watch a press conference led by McClellan to understand that he was never – in his wildest dreams – ever going to be offered one of those high-paying contributor jobs by FOX News, MSNBC or CNN. Besides being unable to cogently communicate the message of the White House, McClellan always seemed to be on the verge of “flop sweat,” the malady of perspiration occasionally affecting comedians who are “bombing.” To say his communication skills were wanting would be an understatement.

Because McClellan wasn’t “set for life” due to his years in the employment of the White House, it would seem a “no brainer” to write a book about them and as we all know the literary field is filled with nefarious characters who would put book sales above the truth.

I mention the truth because in interviews McClellan has eluded to the notion that former Vice Presidential Chief of Staff ‘Scooter’ Libby and Presidential Advisor Karl Rove colluded behind closed doors on the Valerie Plame issue. McClellan makes his claim while admitting he wasn’t privy to any conversation taking place between Rove and Libby on the issue. Rove has indicated that none took place. He explained that not only did their respective official duties require he and Libby to interact almost on a daily basis but that they were friends away from work. Even to the most appeasable eye it is transparent that McClellan included this assertion to sell books, most likely at the prodding of his publisher.

Which presents these questions: Why? Why now? Did he think beyond his own selfish reasons for writing this book before he signed on?

We have already arrived at the answer to the first question. McClellan did it for the money. Why now is apparent. The time is ripe for a scandal-ridden tell-all book on the Bush Administration. With the president not running for office, the Socialist-Progressive-Left and the rest of the Democrats would eat this book up. Congressman Robert Wexler (D-FL) has already indicated he wants McClellan to testify to his allegations in front of the House Judiciary Committee. McClellan’s allegations will no doubt be used by Leftist spin doctors in an effort to discredit John McCain, pay no mind to the fact that McCain and President Bush have clashed on just about every piece of legislation and appointment during the president’s tenure.

That leaves us with the third question: Did McClellan think beyond his own selfish reasons for writing this book before he signed on? The answer to this question is debatable but I have to believe that he didn’t.

While I take issue with McClellan’s talents as a presidential press secretary and his mastery of critical thinking skills, I don’t go as far as to question his patriotism. I believe he loves his country. That said I do not believe that he understands the consequences of his actions, and I believe his actions to be not only disloyal to a man who gave him perhaps the most important experience of his life but self-centered and visionless.

We stand, as a nation, with boots on the ground in a battle for the survival of our country, our uniquely American ideology. Where we have a violent and advancing foe in aggressive Islamofascism we also have a foe in those who would destroy our nation from the inside; the American Fifth Column. These people will stop at nothing and employ any propaganda – no matter how devoid of fact, no matter how transparently false – to succeed in electing and installing those who would transform our Constitutional Republic into a Socialist democracy. McClellan’s tome is a vehicle tailor made for this effort.

As we enter in to the final stages of this excruciatingly long election cycle (thank you Democrats) you can bet the farm that those who employ deceitful partisan political tactics in their quest for power will use the questionable information in McClellan’s book to their advantage. They will quote McClellan as an “in-the-know” Bush insider even though former Assistant to the President and Counselor to Vice President Dick Cheney, Mary Matalin, espouses that McClellan was a non-contributor in meetings and that he was seldom privy to policy discussions. The American Fifth Column will embrace McClellan’s allegations as truth and promote them with vigor through a complicit mainstream media.

Whether McClellan intended for his book to serve as a tool used to advance the American Fifth Column is uncertain, but one thing isn’t, the self-centered actions of this alleged friend to George W. Bush, the person, have done exactly that.

It would seem that in today’s America the concept of loyalty is wasted on the self-absorbed.

Frank Salvato is the Executive Director and Director of Terrorism Research for BasicsProject.org a non-profit, non-partisan, 501(c)(3) research and education initiative. His writing has been recognized by the US House International Relations Committee and the Japan Center for Conflict Prevention. His organization, BasicsProject.org, partnered in producing the original national symposium series addressing the root causes of radical Islamist terrorism. He also serves as the managing editor for The New Media Journal. Mr. Salvato has appeared on The O’Reilly Factor on FOX News Channel and is a regular guest on talk radio including on The Right Balance with Greg Allen on the Accent Radio Network and on The Captain’s America Radio Show catering to the US Armed Forces around the world. His opinion-editorials have been published by The American Enterprise Institute, The Washington Times & Human Events and are syndicated nationally. He is occasionally quoted in The Federalist. Mr. Salvato is available for public speaking engagements. He can be contacted at newmediajournal@comcast.net.

Despite warnings by scientists throughout the world, 31,000 at last count, a gullible public led by devious politicians genuflects at the alter of global warming preachers. People throughout the world have bought into the most incredible scam since Lenin and his brethren sold the religion of communism paid for by the blood of millions in his country and elsewhere.

In the United States we are about to have lifestyle-changing laws imposed upon us so that enormous amounts of money can be made by perpetrators of the hoax and Americans accept the outcome without so much as a whimper. When the Lieberman-Warner bill and others already in the congressional hopper are passed through the legislature and signed by whoever becomes the next president, all the sheep can do is pray for justice in the next world because there will be none in this one.

Recent reports that Canada has newly opened a cap and trade carbon credit market, joining other countries that have opened shop in Europe and the United States, reveals a glimpse of the world to come. Under the premise of giving polluters a chance to buy and sell carbon credits, Canada is providing their country’s first emissions-trading market. The TSX Group Inc. has launched the Montreal Climate Exchange to give polluters a place to buy and sell carbon credits. Since Canada is a country that’s a big emitter, the market potential is very large.

The world’s best current day opportunity to throw off Mid East oil shackles is the Canadian tar sands and oil production in British Columbia is a major “emitter”. This industry alone will have to buy carbon credits that will earn for the hoax perpetrators amounts of money to be envied by even the fat cat sheiks of Arabia. Luc Betrand, the deputy chief executive officer of TSX Group and the head of the company’s Montreal-based derivatives operations said in a good example of understatement “Our sense is this is going to be a very important market in Canada. You can see the size of the market when you look at the tons of carbon dioxide that we emit.”

Carbon credits trading is a growing business around the world as more countries limit the amount of pollution that companies can produce. Companies that emit less than they are allowed by law can earn credits that they can sell to companies that pollute too much. Exchanges similar to the newly opened exchange in Montreal are up and running in Europe and the United States. The global market for carbon credits could reach €2-trillion by 2020 ($32-trillion U.S. dollars) from about €46-billion ($72 billion) this year, according to Oslo-based forecaster Point Carbon. That’s a lot of money even for those in congress who are accustomed to giving a way billions of dollars every year.

So as you line up to buy the last remaining incandescent light bulbs and tickets to see the “Inconvenient Truth”, you can be content in the knowledge that you are helping to support Al Gore’s 25,000 square foot mansion and providing an opportunity for the global warming crowd to live the high life. History is full of examples of sheep being led to slaughter, but none on such a grand scale as we have today.

Vincent Gioia is a retired patent attorney living in Palm Desert, California. His articles may be read at www.vincentgioia.com and he may be contacted at gioia@gte.net.