Dr. Arnn is the President of Hillsdale College. That alone generated enough interest for me to read this book. In order to understand the current debate regarding our Constitution, the author explores the connections between it, and the Declaration of Independence. He points out substantial evidence for the faith of the men involved in writing these documents. Furthermore, he gives specific examples of documents they wrote that shed light on how they did not operate in an isolated vacuum from each other.

Today’s efforts to redefine the Constitution cause people (and even scholars) to suggest that the Declaration of Independence has nothing to do in the debate, because they are separate documents. Arnn argues that many of the men involved in crafting the Constitution had lived through the Revolution, and knew full well that the outcome of their “experiment” depends on having a government that serves the people.

The book is a little over 200 pages of hard hitting factual analysis, with a substantial part of the volume given to reprinting foundational readings, including The Declaration of Independence, The Constitution of the United States of America, Federalist No. 10, Federalist No. 39, Federalist No. 48, Federalist No. 49, Federalist No. 51, and “Property” by James Madison.

Arnn relies heavily on Virginians Jefferson and Madison for his points, but reinforces them with evidence from others, such as Washington and John Adams.

For an interesting look at the linkage between our country’s foundational documents, check out this book.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Related articles

• The Founders’ Key by Larry P. Arnn (My thoughts about the book) (haroldcameron.wordpress.com)
• Book Review : The Founders Key (stevenruff.wordpress.com)
• Book Review: The Founders’ Key (thewritelife2.wordpress.com)

Max Golladay, Chairman of the Yakima County Republican Central Committee, signed a picture of an American Bald Eagle as well.

Raines is the 3rd Commissioner District Director for the Yakima County Republicans, and was also elected during the Yakima County Convention as a delegate to the 2012 Washington State Republican Party Convention in Tacoma.

Autism Awareness (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

April Is Autism Awareness Month

Members of the Sunnyside School Board and Sunnyside City Council all have expressed support for autism awareness this month. Last Thursday, March 29, members of the school board unanimously approved a resolution of support; followed last night by the city council also voting unanimously for a similar proclamation.

Council Member Jim Restucci was absent from last night’s meeting, but spoke to me ahead of time and expressed his support for the proclamation as well.

Dr. Liebe addressed the City Council Monday evening, speaking about symptoms of autism, and services available through Children’s Village, an organization she works with in our area. Dr. Liebe mentioned working with a child yesterday that is two years of age, and that new research into autism is allowing some children to be evaluated when they are as little as six months old.

The proclamation approved by the school board and city council mentions the prevalence of autism as 1 in 110 births, however Dr. Liebe said the prevalence is increasing. New numbers from the CDC, (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in Atlanta, Georgia), now show the rate of autism is 1 in 88 births.

Cody Gardiner, Director of Special Education in the Sunnyside School District, addressed the Sunnyside School Board on autism last week, and was also on hand at the meeting of council to relay information about services available through the schools. Entities such as Children’s Village work with kids until they are three years old, and then they are eligible for services through the school district.

Mr. Gardiner mentioned developmental preschool programs, which students can enroll in with an Individualized Education Program, or IEP. He also said that getting these types of intervention services early is of tremendous benefit to the children as they progress through the school system.

The following is text of the proclamation approved by the Sunnyside City Council:

A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE

CITY OF SUNNYSIDE, WASHINGTON, SUPPORTING

AUTISM AWARENESS WEEK

WHEREAS, autism effects all persons regardless of race, religion, socio-economic status or geography; and

WHEREAS, autism is a lifelong developmental disability which occurs in approximately 1 in every 110 births, the causes of which are not fully understood; and

WHEREAS, a child is diagnosed with autism every 20 minutes; and

WHEREAS, speech and language may be absent or delayed, and cognitive abilities may be affected, causing the person with autism to relate in different ways to people, objects and events, and causing great stress to families; and

WHEREAS, while there is no cure for autism, it is well-documented that if individuals with autism receive treatment early in their lives, it often is possible for those individuals to lead significantly improved lives; and

WHEREAS, early diagnosis, research, training, education and therapies are vital to reducing the effects of autism; and

WHEREAS, the City of Sunnyside, jointly with the Sunnyside School District, support awareness efforts in order to educate parents, professionals and the general public about autism and its effects.

NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SUNNYSIDE, WASHINGTON, along with the Sunnyside School District, as follows:

SECTION 1. That the City Council supports the proclamation of April 2012 as Autism Awareness Month.

SECTION 2. This Resolution shall be effective upon passage, approval and signatures hereon in accordance with law.

PASSED this 2nd day of April, 2012.

Related articles

• New study finds huge increase in autism diagnoses (mnn.com)
• Autism Speaks (autismspeaks.org)

At a recent council meeting, a motion was made to bind city council members to an unconstitutional code of conduct. While noble in intent, I took a principled stand to allow council members and the public the opportunity to express criticism of city officials.

At all times I have said that people should treat each other with dignity and respect. In my view, allowing citizens to express themselves is important to the functioning of our representative form of government. I learn from others, and appreciate all points of view. In order to make good decisions, council members need to hear all points of view from the citizens.

People should be treated with common courtesy because that is the decent thing to do. There are some that think this issue should be dealt with by the Sunnyside Municipal Code. I respectfully disagree. We can not legislate good manners by issuing a decree from council. Furthermore, it is abhorrent to think that the government is going to be in charge of determining who is exhibiting the proper “respect” towards others.

One provision of the so-called code of conduct is “never publicly criticize an individual employee.” The code of conduct also prohibits this same criticism in private conversation. In effect, it prohibits council members from calling out corruption, incompetence, inefficiency, or a host of other issues that may need to be addressed.

This does not pass the smell test. My colleagues who are crying the loudest for “respect” are unwittingly failing to perform the full duties of their position. Despite the best of intentions, those that are trying to silence their opposition on the altar of “respect” are missing the big picture. Scott M. Missall, a municipal law attorney, recently sent a fax to the mayor addressing this issue. A copy of this communication is being provided to this newspaper along with my comments. Mr. Missall says:

“…each Council member is an independently elected City official, and it is therefore incumbent on him or her to abide by state law and the constitution, which each Council member has sworn to uphold, in the execution of their duties. It would be in derogation of those responsibilities and statutes for any Council member to be less than forthcoming in public about governance or management issues connected with the performance of a city manager. Similarly, it would be improper for one Council member to attempt to curtail another Council member’s public comments or concerns about a city manager’s performance.”

While I respect my colleagues on council, and appreciate the work they do for our community, I will continue to do my part of the heavy lifting as well. Whether it is tackling the issue of out of control legal bills ($770,000 in a 28 month period), or laying off police officers which allowed shootings to increase from 17 to 38 (a 124% increase from 2009 to 2010) and homicides to increase an astounding 600% in the same time period; I will not stop pushing for public safety and sensible spending as priorities at City Hall.

The good news is that the police department’s “Gang Elimination Strategy” is producing positive results for our city. According to statistics recently compiled by the city’s crime analyst, shootings decreased from 38 in 2010 to 21 in 2011. This is a 45% reduction following the hiring of additional officers, and implementing an aggressive stance against the violent offenders. This strategy saw homicides decrease from six in 2010, to only one in 2011.

And while council has not received a monthly financial statement from city staff in 2012, until the recent hiring of Mr. Sweet, our new Interim City Manager has promised we will be getting monthly financial reports from this time forward.

Armed with this information, we can make the difficult decisions that will be required in order to stop using reserve funds to balance the city budget. With all due respect, these are the sensible spending patterns that citizens should expect from Council.

“The government makes it dangerous for us to be right when it is wrong.”

This is the basic premise behind this book by Andrew P. Napolitano, otherwise known as “The Judge” from Fox News and talk radio programs. For those who have not read any of his prior books, it is an excellent illustration of his libertarian views of politics, government, and Constitutional philosophy. Others who have read prior works of his, will find it fits with the ideas he has written about in prior works.

As a lover of liberty, I typically react in a positive way to Judge Napolitano’s books. When Napolitano says “The government is here to protect free choices – even bad ones – from the tyranny of the majority,” I could not agree more. In our age of out of control political correctness, the thought police are applying ever more pressure on people to modify their behavior, speech, and if possible, their thoughts, to the group-think model they espouse.

Napolitano argues for the notion of individual rights, without apology. He cites historical examples, such as the English Declaration of Rights which enshrined the “right of the subjects to petition the King, and all commitments and prosecutions for petitioning is illegal.” In this instance, penalties on the right of the people to petition were being used to try and prevent the very petitions in the first place.

This is an excellent read for those wanting to learn about the Constitutional rights which we have (and in some instances have lost) in America.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Image via Wikipedia

Recently, a very fine fellow made a very fine suggestion.  Let’s have everybody show respect for each other.

It is a very fine suggestion, and all is fine with adopting it.  We SHOULD all show respect for each other.  However, I could not quite bring myself to join in the erstwhile enthusiasm of my colleagues, for you see, this kind of suggestion is more symbolism than substance.

While I agree that everyone should be shown courtesy and respect, it is an unfortunate reality that even the loftiest of sentiments can be used to take away the liberties of our citizens.

Over 150 years before Sunnyside became a city, our country was faced with a situation where a man named Zenger said some rather unflattering things about a local government official.

The official in question, William Cosby, was the governor of the colony of New York.  Among his dubious actions, he sought to raise his own salary in an unsavory way.  When the courts expressed concern on the legality of his actions, he removed the chief judge and appointed one of his buddies to the position.  When a local newspaper, published by John Peter Zenger, said disrespectful things about the government official, Zenger was brought up on charges.

In a case of great renown, a jury refused to convict Zenger for telling the truth.  Zenger was accused of:

“being a seditious person and a frequent printer and publisher of false news and seditious libels” had “wickedly and maliciously” devised to “traduce, scandalize, and vilify” Governor Cosby and his ministers. Bradley said that “Libeling has always been discouraged as a thing that tends to create differences among men, ill blood among the people, and oftentimes great bloodshed between the party libeling and the party libeled.” *

As students of history know, this landmark case helped establish freedom of the press in colonial America, and later in the United States.  Zenger was not convicted for the simple fact that he told the truth.

In our local community, I have seen government officials cringe at the sight of criticism.  Our community is well served by its respectful citizenry, even when they dare criticize their local officials.  Our citizens are responsible enough to accept accountability for their utterances (whether respectful or not), and if truthful, will be defended by this author.

It is ironic that the values decided in this case decided nearly 276 years ago are not now well known.  In showing respect, we should also acknowledge the truth.  Or put another way, is it disrespectful to tell the truth?

Please read this article Sunnyside’s popular coffee hub closes, from today’s Yakima Herald Republic.

I wish Aaron, Lino, and the rest of their family the best of luck in their future endeavors. Guerra’s Coffee Co. on South First will be missed.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

2011 Christmas Eve Candlelight Service at First Baptist Church, Sunnyside, Washington

Those interested in leadership and military history will find this book about “Black Jack” Pershing to be a quick and informative read. At one time, over a million men followed this man into battle, but yet he is not a major figure in contemporary discussions of history. However, he was highly regarded in his own time, and was discussed as a potential candidate for President following the “Great War.”

This book on John J. Pershing (1860-1948) is part of a series called “The Generals.”

Pershing was born in 1860, and his Missouri hometown of Laclede was subject to a Confederate raid in 1864. At times his family struggled financially, because of war damage, and subsequent economic conditions.

Later, Pershing taught black students in grade school, and eventually sought an appointment to West Point because it provided a free college education. His early Army career saw him commanding a black cavalry unit of “Buffalo Soldiers” fame. Critics of Pershing tagged him with a derogatory nickname from this experience, which newspaper editors later softened into “Black Jack.”

The book is a short, easy to read, overview of the life of John J. Pershing. In fact, most of the book centers on his family, and early career prior to World War I. Because of this, most readers will be intrigued by information that is not generally taught in U.S. History classes in our schools.

Pershing was renowned for his attention to detail, tough enforcement of regulations, and organizational leadership skills. Presidents McKinley, Teddy Roosevelt, Wilson, Franklin Roosevelt, and Harry Truman all had complimentary things to say about him.

Future Army officers of note such as Douglas MacArthur, George Marshall, and George Patton all credited Pershing with being a significant influence on their leadership development.

His leadership legacy includes creation of the Military Police, Pershing Rifles, and significant influence over teaching Army leaders through a formal education system within the military. Lessons learned during the European conflict are still taught to junior military officers today.

For a short introductory biography of a man somewhat neglected in teaching of history, I highly recommend this book. For serious students of history, this book will serve as a good primer for detailed study of Pershing.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze® book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Pershing: Commander of the Great War by John Perry

ISBN 978-1-59555-355-3

224 Pages

Published by Thomas Nelson, Nashville, TN, 2011

List Price: $19.99

Author: John Perry, Series Editor: Stephen Mansfield