The First Amendment of the United States Constitution is taking a beating in the liberal media this week.

First, let me join the growing outrage over the firing of news annalist Juan Williams by National Public Radio. One of the five rights protected by the First Amendment is the freedom of speech. Williams expressed his natural concern when boarding an airplane and seeing passengers dressed in Arabian clothes.

It is called National PUBLIC Radio for a reason. Much of its financing comes from tax payers through government grants. Because they accept public money (out of our pockets) they, of all people, should be adhering strictly to Constitutional authority. Sense they actively limit the right to speak to people with strong left wing opinions, they are violating this basic constitutional guaranteed right.

NPR should immediately lose all government funding. I might even go so far as to question their right to hold radio and TV broadcast licenses.

Delaware Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell is catching hell for saying that “separation of church and state” is not in the constitution. She is right. The First Amendment forbids Congress for the “establishment” of a religion or interfering in the right to practice a religion.

“Establishment” means to create or put in place. IF Congress were to pass a bill requiring all Americans to worship “Nature’s God,” that would be an establishment of a religion. Simply allowing government documents to recognize the roll of faith in national affairs is not “establishment.”

The term “A wall of separation between church and state” appears in a private letter written by Thomas Jefferson. It is not in the Constitution.

The Constitution was written in clear unambiguous words and phrases. It is easy to understand. And it was intended to be understood as written. And you don’t have to be smarter than a fifth grader to understand it!

This Constitution day. Have you read it recently. Do you know exactly what the constitution says about the federal government, its powers and responsibilities? Do you know the limits imposed on the federal government?

Most of the things our government does today is not permitted by the Constitution. The Constitution does not authorize the federal government to involve itself in Education, for example. None of the farm programs are constitutionally authorized.

If the federal government were to be reduced to the size and responsibility authorized by the Constitution, it would be at least 80% smaller than today. Reducing the government to within its allowed powers, and then developing a fair tax system to pay for its authorized duties, we would have a huge surge in small and family businesses that would create jobs for anyone who wants one.

I have a supply of booklets containing the constitution and the declaration of Independence that are free for the asking. Come by the Sons of Confederate Veterans booth at the Comer fair and I will give you one.

Don’t accept what the politicians say about the Constitution. Read it for yourself.

This is going too far. In DeKalb County, a homeowner has been charged for growing too many vegetables on his own land. According to a report in the Atlanta Journal, he is being forced to rezone his yard and pay a $5,000 fine.

Among those “natural rights” protected by the U.S. and Georgia constitutions is the right of private property. What you grow in your back yard is your own affair unless it is illegal or infringes on the rights of your neighbors.

In addition, here are definite health benefits to eating fresh grown vegetables. Thus Steve Miller of Clarkston is providing a significant benefit to himself and the neighbors with whom he shares his produce by keeping his community more healthy.

He is also adding to the attractiveness of his community. There is nothing more pleasing that rows of corn, beans and tomatoes in a back yard. That is a definite improvement over the mixed grasses that fills most back yards, including mine.

Dekalb County should leave Mr. Miller alone and devote their time to real problems.

It is starting to look like the Obama administration may be learning a lesson from former president Bill Clinton. The lesson is that you cannot ignore the will of the American people.

One of the first things the Clinton administration tried to do was a massive government takeover of the healthcare system. That program was totally rejected by the voters and contributed to the Republican takeover of Congress.

After that embarrassing loss, Clinton and the Democrats moved dramatically from their leftist position back to the political center. I remember clearly when President Clinton declared: “The era of big government is over!” By the end of his term as President, we had the first balanced budget along with a significant surplus in years.

Then when the Democrats regained control of congress, President George Bush chose not to fight their shift back to the left, and big government and big tax and spend programs made a dramatic comeback. When these programs drove our economy into a nosedive, President Obama and the democrats launched a “Blame Bush” campaign and proceeded to launch a massive increase in government spending and regulation that just dug the pit deeper. And once again, we the people are making our displeasure clear.

Evidence that Obama is hearing our voices came clear this week when he praised President Bush’s devotion to the American military and acknowledged that the radical left wing policies being promoted by himself and the democratic congress are likely to cost them dearly in the November elections.

Meanwhile Michelle Obama has made a joint appearance with Laura Bush at the memorial for flight 93 in Shanksville PA honor the crew and passengers for their bravery is stopping the plane that was believed to be targeting the Whitehouse.

President Clinton bowed to the will of the people and it saved his presidency. The question now is whether President Obama will do the same.

Have a happy labor day! This day, just as most holidays, has evolved to an excuse to BBQ and drink beer. A recent survey showed that no more than 15% of Americans list it as their favorite holiday.

That matches the status of labor unions in America today. The number of private employees in unions has steadily dropped, while public employee unions are expanding. Why do you suppose that government workers now make far more than workers in the private economy. That includes salaries, bonuses, and all the extras like insurance and paid vacations.

Let me remind you that the economy’s purpose is to make possible the production and distribution of goods and services. Government jobs usually interfere with this process rather than contribute to it.

Labor unions are expected to provide the best for working people. But they actually harm workers by pushing for ever greater government spending that takes money out of the workers civil pockets and gives it to non- productive government bureaucrats.

I think we need to morn this day, not celebrate it.

I wish to express my support and encouragement to Michael Douglas in his battle with cancer. I know just how painful and debilitating the disease is. I have had two of them. I also know that they can be defeated. As of now, I am cancer free.

I hope his doctors are making it clear to him that recovering from the treatment can take longer than recovering form the disease. The loss of energy, especially, can take a long time to recover. I started treatments four years ago and I still have a significant lack of energy and motivation. I have to make myself get out of the chair and go do physical work. Then I have to take frequent rest breaks. Of course my age contributes to that problem.

To the rest of you, please get tested regularly, keep watch over your body and have any unusual symptoms checked immediately. The secret of winning over cancer is to detect it early. Not only does early detection and treatment improve your chances of a cure, it also reduces the amount of “collateral” damage to your body. Remember that both chemotherapy and radiation cause harm to you. The goal if the therapy is to kill the cancer while limiting damage to healthy tissues. The key word there is “limit”

I encourage another effective treatment for cancer, prayer. There were numerous people and groups who offered prayers for my healing and I am convinced that they made a difference. Thank you. I urge all of you to pray for Michael Douglas and all other cancer victims. When we fight that disease, we need all the help we can get.

In a recent article about the Glenn Beck rally at the Lincoln Memorial on the site and the date that Martin Luther King gave his “I Have A Dream” speech, the writer quoted Al Sharpton as saying: “We're not giving them this day. This is our day, and we ain't giving it away.”

The “we” And “our” Sharpton referred too is the black community. While accusing Beck and his supporters of racism out of one side of his mouth, he clearly was claming the day and space was the property of the black race. Sharpton, then, is clearly the racist.

Left wing reporters made a big deal over the fact that most of Beck’s audience was white. They ignored the fact that ALL of Sharpton’s audience was black. They took careful note of the religious nature of Beck’s program at the same time that they carefully referred to Sharpton as Reverend.

I have said it many times, and I will say it again. A racist is a racist no matter the color of the racist. Racism was rampant in Washington last Saturday. Everywhere, that is, except for Glenn Beck’s gathering.