Here is one court case that every American should be concerned about.

The Eighth Circuit court of Appeals has ruled that driving with large sums of cash is evidence of drug trafficking, and the money can be confiscated by authorities whether or not other evidence supports the illegal sale of drugs.

Now, the plaintiffs in the case clearly were very stupid. They were driving around with $125,000 in cash in the vehicle. They were stopped by police who confiscated the money after a police dog smelled drugs. However, there was no evidence that the drug scent was not merely left over from a previous owner. When you have that much cash, the chances are high that at least one bill was involved in a drug deal in the past. Nevertheless, the bills were confiscated even though the men were not charged. (more…)

President Bush signed a bill today that would transfer the land that the Mt. Soledad cross in San Diego sits on to the federal government. The cross, which is part of a Korean War memorial, has been under attack for years by atheists who deem it a violation of separation of church and state for the cross to be on city land.

What this transfer does is force the issue to be decided in the federal courts independent of the California constitution. The federal constitution has been widely interpreted to contain fewer restrictions on church and state than the state constitution.

This should just about end the controversy. If this cross is unconstitutional, then it would have to be deemed that all crosses and religious symbols on federal land are in violation. That means the displays in Arlington and Gettysburg, among other places, would have to go as well. (more…)

With the rejection of Joe Lieberman in their Connecticut US Senate Primary, the Democratic party has declared that it is truly the party of cut and run.

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I recall the day I learned my father was being deployed to Iraq. It was about a month before I started high school. I was at a Family Readiness Group (FRG) meeting, and the sweltering midnight sun of Fort Wainwright, Alaska baked the interior of the old Army classroom. Needless to say, my friends found out right after I did. I figured if they knew right away, they’d be able to help me through the entire deployment, from start to finish.

I was excited at that time. I knew full well of the risk of my dad being hurt or even killed, but it seemed so abstract and tucked away. My dad, having over 20 years in the Army, was a young, adventurous man with the age and wisdom of a 40 year old. To this day, I’ve never met an individual like him.

The next months flew by, starting high school, participating in cross country running, training for wrestling, and struggling to maintain an average grade in biology took my mind off of losing my dad for a year, until the fateful day in mid-January. It was just a few days before my birthday, and I sat in the back seat of our SUV, shivering from the frigid Alaskan air. My dad, dressed in his desert combat uniform (DCU), hugged my mom, brother, and I individually, and finally stepped off to the hangar. I was sure there was no other person in the world who felt the way I did at that moment. I was bleeding with pride, but shivering at the idea of living a year without a quarter of my family. Then I saw another pilot, and another. They walked with the same solemn stride–masculine in a patriarchal, almost old-fashioned sort of way. At that time, I realized that our family couldn’t make it through the deployment alone, neither could the rest of the battalion. Babies had just been born, kids were graduating, and newly wedded wives looked at the future in confusion. (more…)