By: Amy Lutz

Freedom and security are not mutually exclusive. I'm not free to break into my neighbor's house (well, I can, but it won't end up well for me). I'm not free to attack someone for disagreeing with me politically. There's this little thing called battery I'd have to contend with. However, beyond the basic, and necessary, laws we have in place to protect our natural rights, we should be (theoretically) free to engage in the pursuit of happiness without worrying about infringements on our life, liberty or property.

NSA Director Keith Alexander doesn't agree. He claims that as many as 50 terrorist attacks have been foiled since 9/11 due to the work of PRISM and the NSA's surveillance. All the government had to do was put on the guise of Big Brother and trample all over our right to privacy. Wrong. The situation Alexander presents is a mere false dichotomy. His implication is that without the massive surveillance and data collection carried out by the NSA, we'd be facing an attack approximately once every 86 days.

This is a blatant falsehood. The NSA isn't facing a choice between proper surveillance (attained with a warrant of those suspected of engaging in criminal activity) and universal surveillance, but that's what Keith Alexander's statement implies. We're not supposed to choose between freedom and security. We can have both. The issue at hand is that the federal government has crossed the line between doing their jobs and engaging in overly-invasive, privacy-violating, and possibly illegal surveillance. Of course the NSA has every right to protect us against terrorism, but they can do that WITHOUT the invasive surveillance tactics they've used.

I don't know about you, but I value my privacy. Sure, I've never committed a crime and the only thing incriminating in my phone records is a couple text messages ranting about an unpaid parking ticket. However, that's not the point. When you give the government an inch they take a mile. They've already taken a mile and what's to say the next one doesn't end up in your back yard? 

By: Amy Lutz

I enjoy the 1st and 2nd amendments. I like to wave at them as they pass by.

It's no secret that the Obama administration and the progressive agenda are chipping away at our 1st and 2nd amendment rights. However, you rarely see a day when both amendments are threatened within one news story. Well, congrats, today is that day.

According to National Review,  in April, 8th grader (Let me repeat, 8TH GRADER), Jared Marcum was arrested after refusing to remove his NRA t-shirt. After he refused to comply with the order, the police were called and Marcum was charged with "disrupting the educational process and obstructing an officer."

Here's the kicker. Jared Marcum wasn't given a mere slap on the wrist. No, he's facing a $500 fine or a YEAR in jail if convicted. Most 13-year-old boys spend their time talking about girls and video games. Jared Marcum's prepping his defense for his July 11th court appearance.

So instead of a patriotic response, or a pat on the back, standing for the 2nd amendment could possibly land one in jail. It's a T-SHIRT for crying out loud. It's not as if Marcum brought a loaded AK-47 to school (which he would have every right to do provided he grew up a few years and his school allowed campus carry). Sure, some schools have a dress code (I went to a private, Catholic school, I understand). Logan Middle School, where Marcum attends, does indeed have a dress code, but nowhere among the guidelines does it state that this shirt he was arrested for wearing was against the rules. Google "logan middle school handbook," if you want the entire text.

What we have here is a blatant overreaction to a student's First Amendment right to express his support of the Second Amendment.  The issue here isn't that the school wouldn't let him wear the shirt. Heck, when I was in elementary school, wearing nail polish was a mortal sin. The real problem is that this 8th grade boy faces a YEAR in prison (provided the case isn't dismissed), simply because he wore a non-threatening t-shirt expressing his support of the NRA. Why in the world were the police involved in the first place? Unless Marcum was blatantly disruptive or rude, even a suspension would be excessive, but an arrest? Come on.

While I understand that emotions are still raw from the Sandy Hook shootings as well as other tragedies that have occurred in the past year, I still don't understand the anti-gun hysteria. By our current standards, if anything (i.e. a pop tart, a hand signal) even looks like a gun, all hell breaks loose. According to our current culture, guns are evil, guns are only used for devious means, and guns magically turn average Americans into machine gun-wielding killers. Forget the millions of lives saved by firearms. Come on. If that's the culture, then the culture has to change.

When did we stop acknowledging evil and try to justify or explain it instead?

I find myself asking this question as the media scrapes the bottom of the barrel of classmates who knew alleged Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhr Tsarnaev. He was a “quiet, sweet boy.” He was “an angel.” He was a lifeguard, a student, a normal kid. Well I don’t know about you, but “normal” teenagers don’t detonate bombs feet away from an 8-year-old child.

Chechen President, Ramzan Kadyrov, suggested that the Tsarnaev brothers learned their evil ways, claiming, “It is necessary to seek the roots of evil in America.” Others have suggested that he is the product of a bad upbringing. However, no matter what the explanation of the moment may be, the words “terrorist” and “evil” have become far from politically correct.

This shouldn’t surprise anyone, to be completely honest. We simply don’t label evil anymore. James Holmes? Well he was inspired by the violence media. Oh and he had a gun, which obviously turn normal Americans into vicious killers. Or something. Adam Lanza was also armed and had been on some sort of medication. According to the left, Jared Loughner was incited by the “violent rhetoric” spun by the Tea Party (give me a break). Kermit Gosnell is merely a product of an unregulated abortion system. No matter what the blameworthy person or cause of the day, our culture always finds a way to point the finger away from the person who pulled the trigger (or planted the bomb, etc.).

When did it become so horrible to call out evil for what it is? I don’t know about you, but I have no issue with calling someone who takes innocent lives for whatever reason evil. Shooting up a theater of innocent movie-goers? That’s evil. Snipping the spines of living, breathing babies? That’s evil. No amount of political correctness should keep us from labeling an evil act for what it is. Unfortunately, that seems to be exactly what’s happening. No one wants to “label” another human being so we keep our mouths shut. Tucson shooter Jared Loughner had obvious issues long before he pulled the trigger on that fateful January day. Yet we didn’t hear about the numerous safety reports regarding his behavior in college until after he had been arrested. By then it was too late. Apparently the doctrine of “if you see something, say something” has gone by the wayside.

G. K. Chesterson said, “Unless a man becomes the enemy of an evil, he will not even become its slave but rather its champion.” No wonder we have so many problems in the world today. How can you possibly become an enemy of evil if you’re not even willing to claim it exists? Nowadays it isn’t evil anymore; it’s a violent culture, poor upbringing, etc. We’re no longer a nation of personal responsibility. Rather, we’re people of collective blame.

C. S. Lewis said, “God created things which had free will. That means creatures which can go wrong or right.” We’re a flawed species; evil will exist until the end of time. However, it will run rampant and we will become passive supporters to the forces of evil if we’re unwilling to call it out as we see it. How will we even have a shot at preventing the next terrorist attack if we’re still trying to justify the last one? Evil is evil is evil is evil. There’s no other way to put it. You want to know why “Uncle Ruslan” is so loved? It’s because we as a people crave those who blatantly label evil for what it is. However, our slow cultural shift from individuality to collectivism makes it politically incorrect to say so. Individuals are no longer to blame. It’s society, it’s families, it’s medications, it’s guns. We are free to choose good or evil, but with this freedom comes a duty. We have the duty to avoid evil individually and label it when it’s committed by another. Acknowledgement is the first step towards victory over evil. As Chesterton said, we cannot merely be passive observers in the fight between good and evil. We must become the enemy of evil or else we are doomed to become its passive supporters from now until the end of time.

Full Post via The College Conservative 

By: Amy Lutz

For most, the last few days have seemed like a thousand years. Between the Boston Marathon bombing, Gosnell trial, Ricin incident, and West Texas explosion, hope seems lost. I wish I could say I knew the magic words that would suddenly kindle hope inside the hearts of all Americans. I don't. All we can do now is pray.

However, though I can't seem to find the right words to say, I thought I'd let others speak for me.

"There's some good in this world, Mr. Frodo, and it's worth fighting for." --Lord of the Rings

“Remember, Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.” ― Stephen King

“Life's under no obligation to give us what we expect.” ― Margaret Mitchell

"Saruman believes it is only great power that can hold evil in check, but that is not what I have found. I found it is the small everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay. Small acts of kindness and love. Why Bilbo Baggins? Perhaps because I am afraid, and he gives me courage." -- The Hobbit

We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope." -- Martin Luther King Jr. 

“So do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us. There are other forces at work in this world Frodo, besides the will of evil. Bilbo was meant to find the Ring. In which case, you were also meant to have it. And that is an encouraging thought.” — Gandalf (Ian McKellen)

"The flower that blooms in adversity is the most rare and beautiful of all." — The Emperor (Mulan)

“Nobody is gonna hit as hard as life, but it ain’t how hard you can hit. It’s how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. It’s how much you can take, and keep moving forward. That’s how winning’s done.” – Rock Balboa (Sylvester Stallone)


“Hope – it is the only thing stronger than fear.” -- The Hunger Games


“Beginnings are scary, endings are usually sad, but it's what's in the middle that counts.  So when you find yourself at the beginning, just give hope a chance to float up. And it will.” -- Hope Floats

By: Amy Lutz

"I am in politics because of the conflict between good and evil, and I believe that in the end good will triumph."

"Being powerful is like being a lady. If you have to tell people you are, you aren't."

"I am extraordinarily patient, provided I get my own way in the end."

"I love argument, I love debate. I don't expect anyone just to sit there and agree with me, that's not their job."


“The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.” 

“If you just set out to be liked, you will be prepared to compromise on anything at anytime, and would achieve nothing. ” 

“Don't follow the crowd, let the crowd follow you.” 

“I always cheer up immensely if an attack is particularly wounding because I think, well, if they attack one personally, it means they have not a single political argument left.” 

“Do you know, one of the greatest problems of our age is that we are governed by people who care more about feelings than they do about thoughts and ideas? Now, thoughts and ideas, that interests me.” 

"We want a society where people are free to make choices, to make mistakes, to be generous and compassionate. This is what we mean by a moral society; not a society where the state is responsible for everything, and no one is responsible for the state."

"Look at a day when you are supremely satisfied at the end. it's not a day when you lounge around doing nothing; it's when you've had everything to do and you've done it."

By: Amy Lutz

So while I was absentmindedly sending out sarcastic tweets today, this happened:

Apparently actress Elizabeth Perkins has a little issue with people who disagree with the president. After I send a sarcastic tweet to President Obama, she proceeded to troll my twitter feed, including reading my older tweets just so she could bash me some more.

For a member of the Hollywood guild which claims to be "tolerant and inclusive," Ms. Perkins certainly doesn't practice what she preaches. Ironically, she probably would agree with me on many of my small government positions on gay marriage. Ignorance is bliss I suppose. 

And of course my favorite: 

Hypocrisy is hilarious, isn't it? 

By: Amy Lutz

On next week's episode of Law and Order: SVU, the show plans to take the gutsy move to address an issue which I though was put to rest a long time ago: Todd Akin's "legitimate rape" comment.

And by "gutsy," I mean not gutsy at all. 

While I'll be the first to admit I'm a fan of SVU, the program has a long history of painting current events with a very liberal brush. Main character Olivia Benson is staunchly pro-choice, an issue which is frequently brought up on the show. At least former detective Elliot Stabler was there to butt heads with her on the issue (he was a pro life Catholic), but Stabler exited the show long ago. 

THIS is why culture matters. Conservatives can no longer allow liberalism to run rampant in mainstream television, corrupting the less politically-minded among us. Todd Akin's idiotic comment is the gift that keeps on giving for the left. Although his statement in no way reflects the opinion of the mainstream pro-life movement, it was (and still is) persistently used to imply (falsely) that 1. The pro-life movement is not compassionate to victims of rape and 2. The Republican party hates women. 

Say it with me. 

This is why we can't have nice things.