Straight From The Hart

Straight From The Hart By Joan Rowden Hart I have always been fascinated by the study of our U.S. Constitution. In the fall of 1991, I sat transfixed in front of my television set during the confirmation hearings for Clarence Thomas who had been nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court by President George H.W. Bush to replace Justice Thurgood Marshall.  The hearings lasted for hours and into the next day if I recall, and I was fascinated by the profundity of the arguments and testimony.  I was then, and remain today, a steadfast supporter of Justice Thomas. But even before then, in the spring of 1988, I served as a delegate to the Jefferson Meeting, a bi-partisan non-advocacy debate of issues concerning the Constitution sponsored by the Missouri Press-Bar Commission in Jefferson City. The Jefferson Meeting’s format is based on the original Constitutional Convention and it is an open public debate.  I was designated one of the group speakers in the category ...

I will never forget the day a young Lebanon business owner came up to me with tears in his eyes to confess that for some time he had “harbored resentment” against the people of Lebanon, his home town, after returning from Viet Nam because no one, other than family members, had acknowledged his service in any way. He went on to say that “Today, for the first time the load is lifted and I feel a peace in my heart which I never had before.” That “day” was July 21, 1984,and we had just concluded a special service remembering those still held Prisoner of War or Missing in Action, while also honoring our local Viet Nam veterans, those who had returned as well as those who had made the ultimate sacrifice. I had been working with Rusty Carmichael for several months prior to that time with regard to our MIAs and POWs.  Rusty was the Commander of District 8 VFW State POW/MIA Awareness Chairman at the time. So I approached leaders in the local VFW, American Legion, and Disabled Americ...

Is Barack Obama simply too busy to be Chief Executive of the United States?  Apparently.  One of the primary functions of the president is to keep the nation safe, to preserve it from its enemies.  To do that effectively, one would actually have to maintain something of a consistent level of attention to the moving pieces that directly influence how future events will unfold. None other than the truly sycophantic thinks for a second that President Obama cares a whit for anything that does not involve fundamentally altering the social composition of this country.  Or golf.  During the five-plus years that we have been without a real president, meaning one who actually was aware of all aspects of the position and tried, even just a little, to perform them, everything that was predicted to occur during his tenure has materialized.  We are weaker, less respected, less feared, less liked and, well, just less.  No surprise there, really.  Conservative...