I saw an irritating headline over at Pajamas Media, "Does Michael Vick Deserve a Second Chance?" Without even reading the column, let me answer the question, "No." Michael Vick doesn't deserve a second chance, neither do you, neither do I.

Giving someone a second chance is an act of grace. Yet, we use the language of entitlement to describe an act of grace. Grace, by its...read more

I've never listened to liberal Congressman Jim Hightower's radio program, but I know he has a way with words. The title of one of his books was, "If the Gods Had Meant Us to Vote, They'd Have Given Us Candidates."

And perhaps this is why voter turnout is so abysmal in many Boise City Council elections. Conservatives have no candidates and the North End predominates our voting...read more

I had to note Governor Butch Otter's effusive praise of the state lottery:

Butch Otter today approvingly called the Idaho Lottery "probably the clearest form of self-taxation that we have in the state." Here's a link to the governor talking about how much the lottery has raised for schools and state buildings in Idaho in the past 20 years, how much the state needs money right now, and how "we appreciate the people taxing themselves, voluntarily, through the lottery." When Idaho's state lottery commission chairman, Roger Jones, made ready to present this year's check to Otter on Tuesday, he said amid some laughter, "We're able to give another million dollars more than last year. ... Maybe it's all spent, Butch, I don'tknow."

Self...read more

Sharon Ullman lost a battle in her effort to reform government:

On Wednesday, the Valley Regional Transit (VRT) Board voted against consolidating with the Community Planning Association (COMPASS). I was the only VRT Board member to vote the other way.

It would make sense to consolidate these two closely-related agencies. VRT is responsible for the bus system and COMPASS does transportation planning. There is significant overlap between the Board members of the two agencies. Through consolidation, greater efficiencies would be realized and tax dollars would be saved:

At the end of May, after giving a great deal of thought to the matter of who could challenge Governor Otter, I came up with a name: Ada County Commissioner Sharon Ullman. Tonight, I was congratulated on the call by someone who thought I was crazy for suggesting it, because Sharon Ullman is in.

Ada County Commissioner Sharon Ullman told the Idaho Statesman Tuesday she will seek the Republican...read more

Last week, news broke that former Congressman Bill Sali was exonerated by the FEC over some campaign finance filing issues:

The Federal Election Commission concluded its own staff failed to adequately assist then-U.S. Rep. Bill Sali file a 2008 campaign finance report. In a May 1 memo, FEC staff members wrote the "repeated failure on the part of Commission staff to promptly follow-up...and help them with their software problem" led to the Republican House member's tardy July 2008 quarterly filing.

Vickie...read more

Peter Morrill over at Idaho Public Television writes a self-serving Reader's viewin support of public television. It's self-serving because Morrill is the general manager of Idaho Public Television and I have yet to meet someone who gets tax dollars who will argue that the money being appropriated his way is not money well-spent.

Morrill knows this is Idaho and a good way to generate sympathy...read more

Cheers to Nampa Classical Academy: Nathaniel Hoffman has a great piece over at Boise Weekly that it sure to give BW readers fits is well-balanced. He talks with Isaac Moffett, the founder of the public charter school. What's plain from Hoffman's article is that Moffett is not trying to start a Christian school, but rather a conservative school. Moffett is working within the guidelines of...read more

At the end of May, I wrote a post on what's wrong with Christian films, and noted there are many examples of good films and promised to write more in the future. Well, the future has arrived. In coming weeks, I hope to talk about someof myfavorite Independent Christian films, and I'll start out with perhaps the most successful Independent Christian Filmmakers: The Kendrick Brothers.

The...read more

I like Superintendent Tom Luna, but I think he's absolutely got it wrong on his goal of lowering the bar for passing school bonds:

State Superintendent of Schools Tom Luna says he's always been an advocate of lowering the supermajority to pass school bonds, while also reducing the number of possible dates when bond elections can be held. The successful legislation this year to consolidate elections, which will reduce school bond votes to only four dates starting in 2011, just did half of that - and would therefore, on its own, make it tougher for Idaho school districts to build new schools. "I think you've raised the bar considerably," Luna told Eye on Boise. "And I don't think that was necessarily the intent of all of those who supported election consolidation - it sure wasn't my expectation that we would stop with just election consolidation."

Luna, who will propose a constitutional amendment to lawmakers in January to lower the supermajority from two-thirds to 60 percent, said, "I think it's still a high bar the districts need to get over in order to pass local bonds and levies." Election consolidation means "you're going to see a lot more people show up at the polls," he said. "I'm not predicting that it will mean that districts will have an easier time. Quite frankly, with more, quite possibly with seven or eight times more people showing up at the polls, 60 percent is still going to be a high bar to get over."

There's...read more

This note come from the Spokesman Review that for State RepresentativeJana Kemp is running for Governor as an Independent. Thus, I feel validated in my decision to decline helping her 2004 State House effort after I lost the Republican Primary for the other seat. Our values were far apart, and while I will actively oppose no Republican in General Election, I will not waste my limited time and energies...read more

Well, folks, it's been fun, but, apparently, I have to pack up. You see, I'm identified as part of the religious right. (or as I once wasreferred to, "The Rite Wing.") And now orders have come down from on high, the Religious Right is over, for thus declareth Dennis Mansfield:

Nineteen years ago, I helped open the Idaho "franchise" of the Religious Right. I don't think I was the father of the movement, but I may have been the "godfather..."

Others in Idaho became in charge of the Religious Right and seemed to enjoy that fact. And, as it turned out, it lasted for a short season, as the lights flickered.

Now, with Rev. Bryan Fischer's recent exit, no one is in charge.

Since I've held a unique position from the start, maybe it's my job to turn out the lights, at the end.

There...read more

I was actually at the God and Country Festival in Nampa among the record 12,000 person crowd when I heard that the Pentagon had denied the request for the God and Country Festival to have a military flyover because of the nature of the event and the inclusion of God in the festival and presence of Christian ministries at the event.

Predictably, many on the left are proclaiming this as a decision...read more

I received an e-mail this week from Vaughn Ward trumpeting his endorsement by former Congressman Barry Goldwater, Jr, the son of the late Senator Barry Goldwater (R-Az.) This is one of those endorsements that a campaign makes a big deal about, but which your average voter couldn't care less about. Goldwater's father is revered by many older Republicans, but his son is an unknown to most. An...read more

Welcome to Give me Liberty, a new blog that will be focusing primarily on state politics from conservative perspective as well as the occasional post on religion, as well as other items that may be of interest to the community.

I've lived in Boise for nearly six years. I'm a political conservative and a science fiction writer who writes and publishes his own Christian Science fiction magazine...read more