Republicans don't need to dress up for Halloween this year. They're scaring the pants off Barack Obama's followers by their mere presence. Anything they say, wear or do provokes instant cries of "RAAAAACISM!" Wink, blink or think critical thoughts about Obama? You're a bigot! How many racial bogeymen have Obama operatives and sympathetic journalists discovered lurking in "coded language" and attire? Let us count the ways: -- During Tuesday's presidential debate, John McCain referred to Obama as "that one." Official Obama press agitator Bill Burton sent off an e-mail blast to reporters: "Did John McCain just refer to Obama as 'that one'?" Horrors. Taking their cue from Burton, spooked Obama supporters hyperventilated like teenagers on the film set of "The Blair Witch Project." "The racial undertones were subtle but unmistakable," declared Maya Wiley of the leftist Center for Social Inclusion. "McCain was tapping into a current of superiority among white voters. It was an attempt to 'otherize' Obama." "Otherize"? Sounds like something you do to your car tires to prepare for winter. UC Berkeley linguistics professor George Lakoff was also haunted by "That One": "The phrase was meant to say, 'You and I are in the same area, but he's the outsider.'" Memo to McCain: Next time, call him "The One." -- Obama supporters on the heavily trafficked Democratic Underground website (where such mainstream Democrats as Elizabeth Edwards hang out) saw the ghost of the Ku Klux Klan in Sarah Palin's white suit jacket. Yes, white clothes equal racism. Read On

GLIMMERS OF HOPE -- As bleak as things look right now, there are reasons to believe we may get through this economic decline sooner than the pessimists' predictions of one to two years. We've been through 10 recessions since the end of the 1940s, and the records tell us they averaged less than 10 months when they lifted national unemployment to an average of 7.6 percent. We're still a long way from that jobless number. For nearly two years now, the economic forecasters have been saying we're heading into a recession, and many say we're in a recession now. We are likely to be in one in this quarter (July, August and September) because exports, the one economic pillar propping up growth, have fallen as a result of a weakening global economy. Retail sales are flat or worse, and factory orders and construction have fallen sharply on top of the credit and debt catastrophe that has struck banks and Main Street businesses. Read On

'The Supreme Court has made it clear that once a state orders gay "marriage," public schools are going to be teaching about gay "marriage.'" Marriage advocates in California are rolling out a second television ad showing how same-sex "marriage" would change what's taught in the classroom. Gay activists, in their effort to defeat California's marriage amendment (Prop. 8), are claiming homosexual "marriage" has no effect on education. Yet, in the only other state that has legalized gay "marriage" — Massachusetts — schoolchildren are seeing some of the most egregious effects following the 2003 court decision. In 2006, a Massachusetts teacher read the gay-friendly book "King and King" to her first-grade class, which included Joey Wirthlin. His parents, Robert and Robin Wirthlin, met with the school principal to request they be given advance notice before such material was taught to their son. Two courts decided schools are not required to inform parents in advance of teaching about same-sex relationships. On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the appeal. “The Supreme Court has made it clear that once a state orders gay 'marriage,' public schools are going to be teaching about gay 'marriage,' " said Maggie Gallagher, president of the National Organization for Marriage "There is no parental opt-out.”Voters in California — and Arizona and Florida — should take note. "Proposition 8 protects our children from being taught in public schools about 'same-sex marriage,' " said Yes on 8 co-campaign manager Frank Schubert. "We're talking about 7- and 8-year-old children being exposed to gay 'marriage' in the schools, including being read a book that includes a scene of two men kissing. "Our opponents want Californians to think that gay 'marriage' is only about two loving adults, but (it) has profound consequences for all Californians, not the least of which is what kids will be taught in public schools." California's Education Code (Sections 51890 and 51933) requires that teachers instruct children as young as kindergarteners about marriage. If the marriage amendment fails, teachers will be required to teach young children there is no difference between gay "marriage" and traditional marriage. As for parental rights, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has already taken care of that.  In the 2005 case Fields v. Palmdale School District, the court ruled that parents' rights to control their children's education end at the school door. Reported by Jennifer Mesko with Focus on the Family.

Honesty, the Best Public Policy

Cheaters may not prosper, but according to a new ABC story, they do graduate. As technology evolves so has intellectual dishonesty. According to writer Dominick Tao, the Internet has become a haven for students who are both browsing-and sharing-ways to outsmart their teachers. Helped by everything from invisible ink pens to YouTube videos, this moral indifference is spreading faster than the products that fuel it. In a shocking national poll, more than 70 percent of collage students admitted to cheating at least once. When it comes to personal integrity, these young adults just don't get it. Considering the culture they live in, who can blame them? They've been taught by Congress, Wall Street, and Hollywood that the ends justifies the means. Unfortunately, this collapse of values at college has even wider implications. Not only are we raising a generation of moral relativists, but we have done so while witnessing what this deep-seated corruption can do to our country. It levels corporations, tarnishes our political process, and breeds an incredible mistrust between voters and their elected leaders. Until we get down to the business of instilling a sense of honesty and ethics into society, we are only cheating ourselves. Reported by Tony Perkins.

FAMILY CONCERNS

• Ohio Ordered to Verify Voter
• WSJ: U.S. Weighs Backing Bank Debt and All Deposits
• Oil Plummets to One-Year Low at $82
• McCain's mortgage plan ripped
• Palin Pre-empts State Report, Clears Self in Trooper Probe
• Are your school's textbooks trustworthy?
• Errors, inaccuracies, propaganda -- in textbooks
• Report: U.S. Eavesdropped on Calls From Americans
• Outreach plan takes churches back 2,000 years
• Voter demographics show tight race in NC
• McDonald's pledges neutrality in culture battle
• If elected president, how would Obama spend your money?
• High court likely to move further left if Obama elected
  

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