To God Be The Glory

This is the day the Lord hath made; let us rejoise and be glad in it!

What a lovely autumn we are having here in PA! Driving Nantmeal Rd. between Rt. 100 and Rt. 401, I had to praise God for His wonderful works and awesome creations. Mile after mile of 200+ year old stone farmhouses and barns nestled into the hills, horses grazing in the pastures, with copper oaks and golden maples and beech trees stretching into the distance as far as the eye could see. If His creation in this world is so gorgeous, what will the new one be like? I can only imagine!

As if we don't have enough to be thankful for here in Penn's Woods, the God who rules over the kingdoms of the earth just answered prayer here in a big way! Some of you know about the sneak pay raise that our fat and kicking lawmakers slipped through at midnight with no debate earlier this year. Well, no legislators were up for election this year, but two Supreme Court justices were on the ballot for retention. Both of these judges received the pay raise.

Retention votes are a pure formality. Rather than two candidates running against one another, there is simply a yes or no vote on whether the judge should be retained or a new one appointed. Never before in the history of the state has a judge lost a retention vote. Never. But as they say, there's a first time for everything! Justice Nigro was removed from office and from the enjoyment of his illgotten salary, and Justice Newman barely avoided the same fate. YES!!!

I heard Justice Nigro complaining today that he was a victim of misguided voter outrage over the pay grab. Tough luck. Next year we'll have the same opportunity to send a few legislators packing. In the mean time, the bipartisan establishment needs to hear the message loud and clear. WE ARE SICK OF PROFESSIONAL POLITICIANS! If the major parties in this commonwealth can't find someone with principles to save their hide, they can take the cue and get out of the way for a real statesman.

A special note to Republicans - you have an opportunity in the next gubernatorial election to put a real statesman at the forefront of the party. Jim Paynard has the principles to garner support from those who, like myself, see the current GOP as a controlled opposition party, and a poorly managed one at that. I am no longer a Republican, but if Paynard wins the GOP primary he will have my full support, and that of many other genuine Americans as well.