This week's Jeffersoniad Journal

Or, at least, that's what the working title of this series is [rolls eyes at self].

Anyway, I'm trying to keep up with the Virginia blogosphere (conservative side, of course), and my Jeffersoniad family is a great way of doing it. I am blessed to be associated with thoughtful, gracious men and women who are staunch conservatives and who know how to make their points persuasively and intelligently. So, I thought the best way to do this would be to do a weekly roundup of things they found of interest, along with any non-Virginia links they considered interesting and noteworthy this week.

I'm going to give pride of place to my blog-sisters, Leslie Carbone, Conservativa and Crystal Clear Conservative:

Leslie is talking about the new security x-ray machines. I sort of agree with her (we do need  to respect the boundaries of privacy and not succumb to invasive searches) but I also sort of don't: we need to use the best technology and information we have to catch terrorists who are willing to sacrifice themselves while doing us great harm. It is a terrible and difficult balance to maintain...

Leslie also has a short post up about California's Supreme Court legalizing gay marriage that has a huge discussion that is well worth reading. Now, gay marriage is something I do not support, and from my understanding of this instance, it's a classic case of judicial activism; the residents of California have already expressed their opinion that marriage is one man and one woman (back in 2000, IIRC). Judges are supposed to interpret existing law, and the people make the law through voting and through their elected officials in the legislature. Therefore, I believe that the CASC has overstepped its bounds in this case. But I'm not a lawyer, so your mileage may vary.

Conservativa, who has great photographs on a regular basis (No, I am not jealous of her photographic talent... Much.), posts this example of party unity. Congressman Eric Cantor and Attorney General Bob McDonnell share a handshake at a local convention... Conservativa also passes along this link (page one of a two page item) in the Weekly Standard about Rev. Jeremiah Wright:

I obtained the 2006 run of Trumpet, from the first nationally distributed issue in March to the November/December double issue. To read it is to come away impressed by Wright's thoroughgoing political radicalism. There are plenty of arresting sound bites, of course, but the larger context is more illuminating--and more disturbing--than any single shock-quotation. Trumpet provides a rounded picture of Wright's views, and what it shows unmistakably is that the now-infamous YouTube snippets from Wright's sermons are authentic reflections of his core political and theological beliefs. It leaves no doubt that his religion is political, his attitude toward America is bitterly hostile, and he has fundamental problems with capitalism, white people, and "assimilationist" blacks. Even some of Wright's famed "good works," and his moving "Audacity to Hope" sermon, are placed in a disturbing new light by a reading of Trumpet.

As they say, read the whole thing.

Now we have the Crystal Clear Conservative asking "Where does the Republican Party Go From Here?" Indeed, an excellent question! What does she say?

...we are a party that needs to return to the principles of limited government, liberty and freedom, and economic conservatism. Ronald Reagan once said, “Government is not the solution to our problem, it is the problem.”

AMEN, sister! AMEN, indeed...!

CCC also reminds readers that the RPV Chairman's Debate will be on May 22nd... Go over to check for the rest of the details.

And now for my brothers -

First, please remember that Scott, of Scott's Morning Brew has finally had it with his old servers and moved to new ones. I believe that his RSS feeds (if you subscribe via Feedburner) will remain the same but make sure you fix your other links to the new domain URL: http://www.scottsmb.com/

Another brother I love dearly, Mike at the Write side of My Brain, has a trio of posts worth your time:

• Obama's 57 State Tour (*snicker*) - "We have to wonder how many more states he’ll have to add to make Michelle proud of her country again." BWAHAHAHAHA!!!
• Hillary's Fatal Attraction (I'm surprised the comparison is being made only now)
• John Edwards endorses Obama - a classic video of Silky Pony at his best... I'm wondering how many people it brought to Obama's side... Four?

Pretty good posting for a guy who's had a nasty week... I've got you in prayer, Mike - {{{hughughughughug}}}

Next up, we have the brilliant and prolific DJ of the Right Wing Liberal who excoriates Rob Whittman for voting for the bloated farming bill and spitting on the principles of limited government. Then he moves on to explaining just why it is that Republicans are losing government seats:

It’s bad enough Republicans are acting like big-government Democrats; now they’re even talking like them - i.e., saying anything the voters want to hear and hoping their too stupid to notice.

Oh, yeah, DJ - don't get me back up on my soapbox on a Friday night, OK?

Finally, we have reserved the "best for last" spot for one of my oldest (as in the "known a long time" sense, NOT the age sense: he's still a young whipper-snapper compared to me, LOL) Virginia blog brothers, J. R. Hoeft of Bearing Drift. J.R., darlin', when you ask "How long does it take Democrats to whine?" you know it's going to beat how long it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop...

(Sorry, I couldn't resist...)

J.R. has also posted a for fun poll asking which candidate for Virginia's senatorial race has the best website... Huh. Dunno - I'll have to go check them out!

Well, that's this week's tour of the Jeffersoniad's bookshelves. If I have any other entries, I will be sure to put them up [eying my other Virginia blog-brothers sternly] [and badrose, too!]