Texas A&M SA revels in egg on its face

After the crosses were taken down from the building on the Texas A&M San Antonio campus a few months ago it seemed that the episode was over. Sadly that has never been the case as Sissy Bradford, the professor who made the request to have them taken down,  was ostracized by the administration, harassed by staff and students alike, had her car vandalized and received death threats from parties unknown. When she reported the death threats to the university police she was told she’d have to prove who threatened her.

Professor Bradford continued to teach and was assigned four classes in the fall for which a number of students registered. After getting no help from anyone on campus she talked to the press and within hours of the latest story being published her fall classes were canceled. Does anyone really think that’s a coincidence?

When a student with a Presidential scholarship went to talk to the university president on Prof. Bradford’s behalf she was told “I don’t like you anymore” and lost her scholarship.

Sissy Bradford’s story has now been covered by Rick Casey on KLRN television and gone international with the Guardian in the United Kingdom publishing the story as well. The Texas Tribune, the New York Times and other media outlets are preparing stories on the situation. Texas A&M San Antonio now has egg on its face once again and it’s all the administration’s fault for not taking Prof. Bradford’s safety seriously.

War on Drugs - epitome of big government waste

In “Say ‘no’ to pot” Wednesday, Bobby Traeger writes about the potential harmful effects of marijuana as though that alone is reason to keep it illegal. Well then why aren’t alcohol and tobacco illegal, after all they’re both harmful to health and addictive?

Alcohol was illegal in the 1919 to 1933 and look at what a debacle that was. Not only was there a dramatic rise in organized crime, violence and government corruption but Americans lost respect for law enforcement as well. We’re repeating the same process and losing once again.

The “War on Drugs” is nothing more than a big government money waster. Last month the Federal Bureau of Prisons reported that nearly half of all its prisoners were being held for drug convictions. If you believe in small government eliminating the “War on Drugs” should be one of your biggest priorities due to the obscene cost in time and resources for police, prosecution and prisons.

If you’re interested in keeping teens healthy and safe take a lesson from how alcohol and tobacco are regulated and the success of education about the dangers of tobacco. We have successful models to use; let’s stop the insanity of repeating the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.

American Taliban Strikes Again

Once again the American Taliban has struck a blow against our Constitution’s protection of religious freedom by promoting the National Day of Prayer on Thursday.

The right frequently makes the claim that if something isn’t specifically stated in the Constitution our federal government shouldn’t be involved in it, yet when it comes to religion and prayer they say just the opposite. The Constitution of the United States makes only two references to religion and both are in the negative. In Article VI it says “…no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.” In the First Amendment it says “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;…”

No where in our Constitution does it say that this is a “Christian” nation as theocratic extremists repeatedly assert. No where in our Constitution or its history is there any evidence that it is based on any of the several versions of the Christian bible.

As Rev. Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State reminds us “Americans don’t need to be told when or whether to pray”. Sadly Mayor Castro refused to sign a proclamation urging citizens of San Antonio to celebrate the First Amendment. It is time our elected officials stop pandering to those who would impose an unconstitutional theocracy on the citizens of this great nation and do away with the “National Day of Prayer”.