Proposed Resolution for the Texas Legislature

A Response to H.C.R. No. 58 by Phil Stephenson

According to the Internet, Texas state representative Phil Stephenson filed a resolution calling on the Texas legislature to mention the Judeo-Christian-Islamic god more and to post more copies of the Ten Commandments. This annoys me on a number of levels.
http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/tlodocs/83R/billtext/pdf/HC00058I.pdf#navpanes=0

First, resolutions like this are essentially meaningless, and engaging in meaningless activities when the nation has Things To Do is a waste of time and money.

Second, I'm tired of people telling me, as this resolution does, what the Founding Fathers thought about something in an attempt to do an end run around the clear language of the Constitution. Understanding what the Founders thought about things certainly helps illuminate the Constitution, but it's only the words that made it into that document that bind us. And those words established a secular government, not a church.

GOP Still Doesn't Get It

According to the Internet, the Republican Party still thinks it can "message" it's way back to relevance.

We care: Cantor wants to give GOP a 'makeover', change the message

Eric Cantor apparently wants everybody to forget the Republican message of the last few years. Part of that message was portraying Obama as a socialist/communist/marxist foreigner who wants to destroy America. Part of that message was that America is divided into makers and takers. Part of that message was that multinational corporations are not only American citizens, but they're special citizens who are exempt from responsibility and exempt from the morals that bind individuals. Part of that message is that it's okay to attack labor unions, even though they're an integral part of the free market.

Part of that message was the psychotic pseudo-principle that tax rates can only ever decrease. Part of that message was the insane notion that unemployment is caused by the unemployed. Part of that message was that it's okay to be anti-freedom as long as you yell real loudly that you're pro-freedom. Part of that message was that scientists are frauds and liars who are  incompetent even in their own specializations, but conservative entertainers and politicians are ultimately reliable authorities about everything. Part of that message was that the GOP wants to theocratize America, partly by preaching fundamentalist Christian doctrine in public schools, even if they have to ignore and violate the Constitution to do it. Part of that message was that we can ignore the unintended consequences of our actions, even though that is a complete rejection of conservative principles.