It’s a well known fact that the Democrat and Chronicle’s OPINION page has a liberal bias and that they’ve been Obama sycophants since the 2008 election.

Today’s editorial, Don’t repeal health reform law; improve it instead took the cake though. It started right out of the gate:

The House Republicans are having a good ol’ time this week with their symbolic yet time-wasting moves such as organizing a reading of the U.S. Constitution.

Imagine that, it’s a waste of time for the House of Representatives to read the Constitution, the law of the land.

This is yet again another example of the foresightedness of the Founders for providing us with the First Amendment, that guarantees that the D&C and their fellow progressive Democrats the right to put their collective feet in their mouths, letting us know how they really feel about the Constitution!

Happy Thanksgiving to All RochesterConservative.com readers and authors!

The First Thanksgiving at Plymouth by Brownscombe

From: The First Thanksgiving, from Pilgrim Hall Museum

What has come down in American tradition as the “First Thanksgiving” was actually a harvest festival. In the spring of 1621, the colonists planted their first crops in Patuxet’s abandoned fields. While they had limited success with wheat and barley, their corn crop proved very successful, thanks to Squanto [Tisquantum] who taught them how to plant corn in hills, using fish as a fertilizer.

In October of 1621, the Pilgrims celebrated their first harvest with feasting and games, as was the custom in England, as well as prayer. The celebration served to boost the morale of the 50 remaining colonists and also to impress their allies. Among the Native People attending were Massasoit and 90 Wampanoag men. Following are accounts of the first Thanksgiving.

PRIMARY SOURCES FOR “THE FIRST THANKSGIVING” AT PLYMOUTH

There are 2 (and only 2) primary sources for the events of autumn 1621 in Plymouth :
Edward Winslow writing in Mourt’s Relation and William Bradford writing in Of Plymouth Plantation

Edward Winslow, Mourt’s Relation :
“our harvest being gotten in, our governour sent foure men on fowling, that so we might after a speciall manner rejoyce together, after we had gathered the fruits of our labours ; they foure in one day killed as much fowle, as with a little helpe beside, served the Company almost a weeke, at which time amongst other Recreations, we exercised our Armes, many of the Indians coming amongst us, and amongst the rest their greatest king Massasoyt, with some ninetie men, whom for three dayes we entertained and feasted, and they went out and killed five Deere, which they brought to the Plantation and bestowed on our Governour, and upon the Captaine and others. And although it be not always so plentifull, as it was at this time with us, yet by the goodness of God, we are so farre from want, that we often wish you partakers of our plentie.”

In modern spelling
“our harvest being gotten in, our governor sent four men on fowling, that so we might after a special manner rejoice together, after we had gathered the fruits of our labors; they four in one day killed as much fowl, as with a little help beside, served the Company almost a week, at which time amongst other Recreations, we exercised our Arms, many of the Indians coming amongst us, and amongst the rest their greatest king Massasoit, with some ninety men, whom for three days we entertained and feasted, and they went out and killed five Deer, which they brought to the Plantation and bestowed on our Governor, and upon the Captain and others. And although it be not always so plentiful, as it was at this time with us, yet by the goodness of God, we are so far from want, that we often wish you partakers of our plenty.”

William Bradford, Of Plimoth Plantation :
In the original 17th century spelling
“They begane now to gather in ye small harvest they had, and to fitte up their houses and dwellings against winter, being all well recovered in health & strenght, and had all things in good plenty; fFor as some were thus imployed in affairs abroad, others were excersised in fishing, aboute codd, & bass, & other fish, of which yey tooke good store, of which every family had their portion. All ye somer ther was no want. And now begane to come in store of foule, as winter approached, of which this place did abound when they came first (but afterward decreased by degrees). And besids water foule, ther was great store of wild Turkies, of which they tooke many, besids venison, &c. Besids, they had about a peck a meale a weeke to a person, or now since harvest, Indean corn to yt proportion. Which made many afterwards write so largly of their plenty hear to their freinds in England, which were not fained, but true reports.”

In modern spelling
“They began now to gather in the small harvest they had, and to fit up their houses and dwellings against winter, being all well recovered in health and strength and had all things in good plenty. For as some were thus employed in affairs abroad, others were exercised in fishing, about cod and bass and other fish, of which they took good store, of which every family had their portion. All the summer there was no want; and now began to come in store of fowl, as winter approached, of which this place did abound when they came first (but afterward decreased by degrees). And besides waterfowl there was great store of wild turkeys, of which they took many, besides venison, etc. Besides, they had about a peck of meal a week to a person, or now since harvest, Indian corn to that proportion. Which made many afterwards write so largely of their plenty here to their friends in England, which were not feigned but true reports.”

THE 53 PILGRIMS
AT THE FIRST THANKSGIVING :

4 MARRIED WOMEN : Eleanor Billington, Mary Brewster, Elizabeth Hopkins, Susanna White Winslow.
5 ADOLESCENT GIRLS : Mary Chilton (14), Constance Hopkins (13 or 14), Priscilla Mullins (19), Elizabeth Tilley (14 or15) and Dorothy, the Carver’s unnamed maidservant, perhaps 18 or 19.
9 ADOLESCENT BOYS : Francis & John Billington, John Cooke, John Crackston, Samuel Fuller (2d), Giles Hopkins, William Latham, Joseph Rogers, Henry Samson.
13 YOUNG CHILDREN : Bartholomew, Mary & Remember Allerton, Love & Wrestling Brewster, Humility Cooper, Samuel Eaton, Damaris & Oceanus Hopkins, Desire Minter, Richard More, Resolved & Peregrine White.
22 MEN : John Alden, Isaac Allerton, John Billington, William Bradford, William Brewster, Peter Brown, Francis Cooke, Edward Doty, Francis Eaton, [first name unknown] Ely, Samuel Fuller, Richard Gardiner, John Goodman, Stephen Hopkins, John Howland, Edward Lester, George Soule, Myles Standish, William Trevor, Richard Warren, Edward Winslow, Gilbert Winslow.

FAMILY GROUPS :

* ALDEN : John
* ALLERTON : Isaac with children Bartholomew, Mary, Remember; the Allerton servant William Latham
* BILLINGTON : John & Eleanor with sons Francis, John Jr.
* BRADFORD : William
* BREWSTER : William & Mary with sons Love, Wrestling; their ward Richard More
* BROWNE / BROWN : Peter
* CARVER: The Carver ward Desire Minter; the Carver servant John Howland; the Carver maidservant Dorothy.
* CHILTON : Mary
* COOKE : Francis with son John
* CRACKSTON : John
* EATON : Francis with son Samuel
* ELY: Unknown adult man
* FULLER : Samuel with nephew Samuel 2d
* GARDINER : Richard
* GOODMAN : John
* HOPKINS : Stephen & Elizabeth with Giles, Constance, Damaris, Oceanus; their servants Edward Doty and Edward Leister.
* MULLINS : Priscilla
* ROGERS : Joseph
* STANDISH : Myles
* TILLEY : Elizabeth
* TILLEY: Tilley wards Humility Cooper and Henry Samson
* TREVOR / TREVORE : William
* WARREN : Richard
* WINSLOW : Edward & Susanna with her sons Resolved White & Peregrine White; Winslow servant George Soule
* WINSLOW : Gilbert

The Pilgrims would not have called the event of 1621 a “Thanksgiving.” The Separatist Puritans recognized three kinds of holidays as sanctioned by the Bible : the Sabbath, days of thanksgiving, and fast days. Unlike the Sabbath, days of thanksgiving and fast days were not part of the established calendar. They were proclaimed by the governor only in response to a specific situation. A religious day of fasting could be invoked by a drought or war. A religious day of thanksgiving could be called to celebrate a particularly good harvest or providential rainfall. Although the event of 1621 is known today as the “First Thanksgiving,” that harvest feast had many secular elements and would not have been considered a religious day of thanksgiving by the Pilgrims.

LATER SIGNIFICANCE OF THANKSGIVING

The religious day of thanksgiving gradually evolved into a yearly Thanksgiving customarily held on a Thursday in November. As America grew and New Englanders moved to new states, the custom of an annual Thanksgiving Day took root throughout the country. The religious holiday added secular overtones, celebrating abundance, family and national unity.

The Pilgrim Fathers incorporated a yearly Thanksgiving day among the moral influences they sent over the New World. After our Independence the light crept slowly onward and westward… yet still it blessed and beautified the homes it reached.
Sarah Josepha Hale, Godey’s Lady’s Book 1865

Thanksgiving was not yet part of the national calendar. The governor of each state would determine when (or if) a Thanksgiving would be held. Thanksgiving did not become an annual national holiday until President Abraham Lincoln’s 1863 proclamation. Every President since has proclaimed an annual national Thanksgiving. In 1939, President Franklin Roosevelt moved Thanksgiving from the last Thursday to the third Thursday in November, to extend the Christmas shopping season. In 1941, this unpopular move inspired Congress to permanently fix the date on the fourth Thursday of November.

Thanksgiving has proved one of the most enduring and popular symbols of the Pilgrims. Millions of immigrants who arrived in America between 1880 and 1920 learned “Americanism” from the story of the Pilgrims and their celebration of Thanksgiving. Today, as we celebrate America’s multicultural heritage, the story of the Pilgrims and Wampanoag sharing a harvest celebration remains an inspiration to many.

Our beloved friend, Charlie Eames, passed away a year ago, on November 1, 2009. I thought it would be fitting to honor Charlie by dedicating this Veterans Day tribute to him. Charlie served Honorably in the United States Air Force, during the Vietnam Era in the early 70′s. Here’s a photo of Charlie that will forever be known as “Veteran’s Salute”:

Charlie was also one of the pioneer contributors to RochesterConservative.com and it’s our third anniversary today! Charlie, Veterans Day and RochesterConservative.com will forever be intertwined into my heart…

And we can’t forget starting the Tea Party Movement in Rochester. Charlie was there, speaking at the first three Tea Parties:

Charlie speaking at the first Rochester Tea Party, 3/11/2009

In the following video, you’ll hear Charlie speaking at the 2009 Tax Day Rochester Tea Party:

“I’m finally glad to see people standing up as Americans”.

Right after, you’ll hear phantomlord proclaiming:

“In the present crisis, government isn’t the solution to our problems, government IS the problem!”

We can all buy into those sentiments!

Charlie also spoke at the Rochester Independence Day Tea Party on July 3rd, 2009:

Charlie Eames believed in the American values of limited government, individual liberty and the Constitution and he layed those beliefs and his reputation on the line by standing for those values publicly, where all could witness and be inspired.

I don’t know about you, but I was both inspired and amused by Charlie! I loved Charlie’s commitment to liberty and also for his quirky sense of humor that I miss to this day.

After Charlie left us to be with the Lord Jesus Christ, we honored him and his wife, Donna, daughter, Tiffany and Aunt Vera at the 2010 Tax Day Rochester Tea Party by dedicating the “Tribute to Veterans” to him:

In closing, I feel compelled to share that life is not quite the same without you, Charlie. We love and miss you!

Elaine Woods wrote:

I’m coordinating a free lecture on Saturday, Oct. 9 from 2:00-5:00 p.m. at Lakeshore Community Church on Latta Road in Greece. The speaker is just great – Dr. Shanon Brooks; I paid to go to a 2-day seminar with him last spring so I know how knowledgeable he is. The lecture is part of the ReValue America New York tour that he’s doing – he’s coming in from out west -from Utah, I think – to speak about the real story of our nation’s founding, the ideals of our founding fathers,where America is in the cycle of history and how we need to prepare for what’s coming, and encouragement to not only become real leaders ourselves but also to prepare our children for that role so that we can be “re-founders”.

I especially like the video that explains the cycles of history and where we’re at. You can view it here and then look over more information if you’d like. If you feel that it’s something you could support, would you please either post or forward the information to the Rochester Conservative group? I think they’d really enjoy hearing all the information that Dr. Brooks is going to share. There will be opportunities to follow up and get more if people are interested, but the lecture is valuable just in itself.

Here’s a video of Dr. Shanon Brooks:

Anti-Semitism reared its ugly head at the Ground Zero Mosque (GZM) counter protest. Daniel Halper from the Weekly Standard reports:

At Sunday’s Ground Zero mosque protest, I spoke to one man who had been with the counter-protesters, Joey “Boots” Bassolino, immediately after the police pulled him out from the crowd. What happened, I asked? “There was a guy standing up, a Pakistani guy, who had identified himself as a Pakistani, and he said: ‘We’re not going to sit there and back these Zionist Jews,’” Bassolino recounted, still clearly a little shaken up.

“And I’m like, whoa, wait a minute. What’s up with the racism? And they’re like, ‘what’s racist about that?’” The guy behind Bassolino yelled “f*** you,” reached forward, grabbing his camera and hitting it. “So I kicked him in the shin,” Bassolino said. Bassolino, a disabled U.S. army veteran, claims that he’s an “objective” observer and was in the group of counter-protesters to “document what was going on.”

“These are people that are supposedly protesting racism, yet you get people standing up there on a soap box yelling about ‘Zionist Jews.’ What the hell is that? That’s racism to me, man,” Bassolino explained to me.

Here’s the video that Joey Bassolino took and the incident took place 3:55 minutes into the video:

So much for religious tolerance and bridge building that the GZM supporters are touting.

In the meantime, Gov. Paterson is meeting with NY Archbishop Timothy Dolan today (8/24/2010) to discuss the GZM. From WENY-TV News:

NEW YORK (AP) — Gov. David Paterson says he’ll meet the Archbishop of New York City to discuss the mosque planned for two blocks from Ground Zero.

The private meeting is scheduled for Tuesday at the governor’s Manhattan office.

Opponents and protesters say the mosque should be moved farther away from where Islamic extremists destroyed the World Trade Center in 2001. Supporters say religious freedom should be protected.

Paterson has renewed his offer of state assistance to the project’s developers if they want to move.

I wonder if Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf will make an effort to even listen to Paterson’s offer? We’ll soon see…

Hat tip to Harry Riley for the heads-up on this!

Sorry that I haven’t posted anything in a while. I had family business to attend to and I also needed a break from blogging to recharge my batteries.

What a story though, to break my recent “blogger’s block”, than Nancy Pelosi’s latest baring of what she really thinks of we “unwashed masses”. Check out this video:

Yeah, you heard that right, rather than call for an investigation on where the Cordoba Institute is obtaining the funding for their proposed Ground Zero Mosque, she has the unmitigated audacity to call for an investigation of the Mosque opponents! In a recent CNN Poll, nearly 70% of Americans oppose the proposed Ground Zero Mosque. Also, there’s strong opposition against this Mosque, from the families of the 9/11 victims.

Haven’t the families of the 9/11 victims suffered enough with the loss of their loved ones to Islamic extremists? Nancy Pelosi wishes to further persecute the 9/11 victims families by investigating them because they oppose a Mosque that celebrates their loved ones deaths.

Nancy Pelosi is warped beyond help. So is the American Left for their unquestioning compliance, acting as enablers and apologists for radical Islam! David Horowitz wrote about this in his book, “Unholy Alliance: Radical Islam and the American Left”, and the actions by the left and their strangely sudden defense of religious freedom concerning the Ground Zero Mosque, bares out Horowitz’s claims.

During my break from blogging, I spent time on the D&C OPINION page, debating the Ground Zero Mosque issue. Every single one of the leftists that post there see no problem with the building of this Mosque and call opponents of the Mosque, bigots and Islamophobes. A couple have even speculated that the families of the 9/11 victims are bigots for opposing the Ground Zero Mosque!

Nobody who opposes the Ground Zero Mosque is challenging the builders under Constitutional grounds. We are challenging the builders concerning their offending the 9/11 victims families and the nearly 70% of Americans who don’t want a Mosque built near the site of an atrocity, the deliberate murder of innocent civilians, committed in the name of Islam, as well as the intentions of the builders. When presented with evidence that Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, who’s sponsoring this Mosque, is a radical Islamist in sheeps clothing, the leftists on the D&C either ignore it or call it propaganda.

If Imam Feisal were truly the moderate Muslim that he’s trying to portray himself as, why would he:

Blame the US for 9/11 on a “60 Minutes” interview, 19 days after the attacks!

Would a moderate Muslims do that?

His organization who’s sponsoring the Ground Zero Mosque, the Cordoba Institute, has close ties with CAIR and their parent organization, the Muslim Brotherhood, whose aim it is to make Sharia the law of the land in the US!

Do moderate Muslims want this?

Imam Rauf was quoted on an Arab language website at the University of Cairo, saying “I don’t believe in religious dialogue”!

I thought moderate Muslims welcomed religious dialogue.

He refuses to call Hamas a terrorist group!

Do moderate Muslims believe that Hamas is not a terrorist group?

Imam Rauf blames the West for bringing on jihad!

Wasn’t jihad initiated by the Muslims after the inception of Islam, when the Arabian Peninsula was conquered by Mohammed, by the sword?

Imam Rauf claims to be building bridges but he deliberately burned those bridges by refusing Gov. Paterson’s offer of an alternative site, further away from Ground Zero, puposely ignoring the sensitivities of the families of the 9/11 victims. Imam Rauf showed that he cares NOT for the sensitivities of the families or for nearly 70% of Americans who are against this Mosque!

Fellow Muslims have called out Rauf on his real intentions behind the building of this Mosque.

From the commentary, “The Mosque at Ground Zero, a Muslim View: Planting a Flag on an Islamic Conquest”, by Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury in the Hudson New York:

“Rauf calls himself a Sufi, evoking among non-Muslims a “peace and love” image. But that’s not the whole picture. Sufism has many sides to it, including the Koranic injunction to spread Islam one way or another, and it has a rich history of waging war, too. Could it be that one of the frequently used tools of war, lying to the enemy, explains the contradiction between Rauf’s image as reconciler of religions and his sympathies and associations with terrorists?

From the commentary, “We Muslims know the Ground Zero mosque is meant to be a deliberate provocation”, Raheel Raza and Tarek Fatah in the Ottawa Citizen:

New York currently boasts at least 30 mosques so it’s not as if there is pressing need to find space for worshippers. The fact we Muslims know the idea behind the Ground Zero mosque is meant to be a deliberate provocation to thumb our noses at the infidel. The proposal has been made in bad faith and in Islamic parlance, such an act is referred to as “Fitna,” meaning “mischief-making” that is clearly forbidden in the Koran.

The Koran commands Muslims to, “Be considerate when you debate with the People of the Book” — i.e., Jews and Christians. Building an exclusive place of worship for Muslims at the place where Muslims killed thousands of New Yorkers is not being considerate or sensitive, it is undoubtedly an act of “fitna”

Despite all of the evidence that Imam Rauf is not the moderate Muslim he’s trying to portray himself as and the warnings from fellow Muslims that Rauf’s true intentions behind the Ground Zero Mosque are not good, the left continues to cover for and apologize for Imam Rauf! Nancy Pelosi wants to rub salt in the wounds of the 9/11 victims families and the majority of Americans by investigating them!

Pelosi’s call to investigate the 9/11 victims families and the nearly 70% of Americans who oppose the Ground Zero Mosque proves that she would persecute Americans in order to cover for and defend the enemies of America and the left is complicit in this as well!

A Federal Judge overturned California’s Proposition 8, the ban on homosexual marriage. This is the second time a Judge has overturned legislation that was voted in by the people of California. The first was back in May of 2008, when the California Supreme Court struck down Proposition 22, which was voted in back in March 2000. It passed by a margin of 61.4% to 38%. Proposition 8 passed back on November 2008 by a margin of 52.2% to 47.8%.

Charles Donovan, Senior Research Fellow with the Heritage Foundation had this to say. From The Orange County Register:

Today’s decision by a federal district judge in San Francisco striking down state constitutional protections for marriage and inventing a spurious federal constitutional right to same-sex marriage is an example of extreme judicial activism. Moreover, it is an affront to the millions of California voters who approved Proposition 8 in 2008 after months of vigorous public debate.

Governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed. The people of California, and the United States, have made clear in numerous ways that they have not consented to the redefinition of marriage. For the past two decades they have considered the arguments advanced by some for overturning marriage as it has been understood in our country. In state after state – 45 in all – they have chosen to reaffirm the meaning of marriage as the union of one man and one woman. They have done so because they understand that establishing same-sex marriage would transform the institution into a set of private interests rather than buttress it as a multi-generational reality binding mothers, fathers and their children biologically, socially and legally.

Again, this is the second time the judiciary has overturned the will of the people of California, judicial tyranny at its worst!

There was a good article on townhall.com by Brian Walsh about Dan Maffei and Ann Marie Buerkle and the NY 25th Congressional race:

Excerpt from: 2010 Race of the Day: Democrats’ Maffei Problem

Highlighting the growing concern over Maffei’s left-wing voting record and Republican candidate Ann Marie Buerkle’s broad appeal, Buerkle was endorsed by the Independence Party this week, strengthening her bid to take this seat in November. Her campaign theme is “Jobs are Job Number One” and it has resonated loud and clear among central New Yorkers. Having united Independents and Republicans of all stripes, Buerkle faces no primary and will be the only candidate on the ballot in November under the Republican line, the Conservative line, and the Independence line.

Incumbent Rep. Maffei has voted with Nancy Pelosi 96.5% of the time over the past two years, which has made his constituents, and most notably independents in the 25th District, tired of the same old Washington politics. A former aide to the corrupt Congressman Charlie Rangel, Maffei has only voted against his party’s agenda a handful of times. He voted for the stimulus, healthcare reform, and now the costly financial overhaul bill, supporting the current Administration’s out-of-control spending and disregard for America’s future. In the past two years, all Maffei has proven is that he’s just another unimpressive Pelosi puppet, one who holds his party’s agenda above his constituents’ interests.

Click here to read the full article

Incumbent Rep. Maffei has voted with Nancy Pelosi 96.5% of the time over the past two years

A former aide to the corrupt Congressman Charlie Rangel

If I had input into Ann Marie Buerkle’s campaign, I’d be running with the above factoids, both Ann Marie herself bringing them up while on the campaign trail and also in ads. The ratings for Pelosi’s Congress are at 21.8% according to the RealClearPolitics Poll Average. That’s even lower than W’s ratings at the end of his presidency. Rangel’s corruption case is front and center now and as a former aide, how could Maffei not have known what a crook Rangel is! Heck, Rangel helped Maffei get elected.

Shout Maffei’s voting record and ties to Charlie Rangel from the roof tops, Ann Marie!

Here’s a video of Ann Marie at the 2010 Tax Day Rochester Tea Party

Remember in November!