I've been keeping up on the Democrat Filibuster / 39-Hour Debate in the U.S. Senate. The important thing I've learned is that this is a very vital issue, which is why the Republicans are making such a big deal about this. This is hugely important.

The four judicial nominees have passed the very high standards necessary to reach their positions; Hilary Clinton knows this, yet refers to them as "lemons." The Democrats have labeled them "right wing extremists." Do you know why? Because A) they are personally pro-life, and B) some of them are Christians. These nominees would, in turn, influence circuit judges, and before you know it, there might actually be some anti-abortion laws enforced. The Democrats claim that, because of their belief in God (in Democratese, "deeply held beliefs" is a code word for Christianity), they wouldn't be able to make fair judgements, and fear that they would try to legislate from the bench to favor their personal ideologies. The hair-pullingly frustrating thing about this is that this is precisely what Democrat justices have been doing. They don't want these nominees in office because the Dems know they would enforce the Partial-Birth Abortion ban...something the "unbiased, non-lawmaking" Democrat-backed justices will bend over backwards to avoid doing themselves. Who's incapable of being impartial? Take a look at the judgements of the Ninth Circuit of the Supreme Court. Perhaps they know they are incapable of being impartial and upholding the law themselves so they assume everyone else is similarly handicapped.

Yet, if someone dares to point out to the Democrats that this is what they're doing, they're labeled as engaging in "Religious McCarthyism."

["You're in violation of..." " No, YOU'RE in violation!" -- sorry, only one person on Earth will get that, but it's what I'm thinking of, Michael. Every argument the Dems pull out sounds exactly like this inanity. I don't know where you fall on this issue - I know that we tend toward different ends of the Right-Left/Conservative-Liberal spectrum, but to be honest, I have trouble seeing this as anything but a clear-cut black-and-white issue.]

One of them is a woman. Why isn't Hilary Clinton, Miss Self-Appointed Women's Rights Advocate, supporting her nomination? One of them is Hispanic-American. Where are the defenders of minority advancement? One of them, Justice Pickering, was a civil rights activist in the deep South in the 1960s; among his many deeds in this arena, the man confronted the Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan in court - a terrorist organization if ever there was one in the U.S. at that time - and yet now the Democrats are painting him as "racially insensitive." Are you angry yet?

Besides - if the Democrats don't want them in office, they can vote against them. That's what the vote is for. Filibustering - preventing the vote from being conducted at all - is ENTIRELY against the Constitution. Despite the Democrat's claims, there is absolutely no precedent for this. This is the first time in the history of America that this has been done.

As the Republicans have been stating, this is an important issue because it determines what kind of nation this is going to be: a nation of laws, which holds itself to the Constitution as written; or a nation which makes up its laws as it goes along, starting down the road to anarchy.

Christians should be especially aware of this. This is just laying out the red carpet for the Antichrist's rise to power. If you've ever been outraged by a court ruling forbidding Christian images to be displayed on public property or prayers at graduation ceremonies or whatever other anti-Christian legislation has been made based on an erroneous and biased understanding of the Establishments Clause (the First Amendment), you should be very much upset about what the Democrats are doing. They claim to be neutral and unbiased when in truth they are anything but; they're blatantly anti-religion, and specifically anti-Christianity. Are you angry yet, Christian?

The Democrats, from what I've seen, have demonstrated one argument, and one argument only: that tired old "168-4" poster. They claim that they've "only" blocked the vote on four candidates, while allowing the vote on 168 others, so we should laud them for their devotion and longsuffering. Do I need to explain why this is spurious logic?

First, saying they've "only" blocked four is akin to saying, "Well, we've had 168 fair trials and only 4 which were lynchings without a trial. That's a pretty good record, isn't it? That's a good effort. We should be congratulated for meting out so much justice."

Second, the numbers are flawed. As I said, this is the first time in American history that such a vote has been prevented, so the numbers should read something more like 2600 (or however many justices have ever been voted on, total) - 4 (these four today).

Another thing I should point out is that the Democrats who are continuing this filibuster are in the minority; they are a radical political group that do not accurately reflect the nation as a whole, yet they - through their actions - have demonstrated their unflinching belief that the majority (the public) should be ruled by an elite minority who make themselves the architects of law. All you need is a coronation ceremony to make it pretty. Are you angry yet?

Anyway, from what little I've seen on the Big Media about this story, the networks are spinning this as a ridiculous circus of attention-seeking Republicans who don't have a case, and the business-minded Democrats who only have to point at their numbers and ask that we move along. This is a huge disservice to the public, and should be a pretty clear indication of how trustworthy the Big Media is for accurate reporting.

The sad part about the entire thing is that, as the Republicans have admitted, this will change nothing in the Senate. The Democrats aren't going to budge on this. The only way change will be enacted is through the voice of the voters. Remember this incident when you vote.

Something else you can do is call your state senators - you can Google them easily enough if you don't know who they are (I found them in a list on Yahoo). The number of the Capitol switchboard is (202) 225-3121 - just ask for the Senator whose office you wish to speak with, and let them know what you think of this situation. I called the Republican senator for Minnesota to thank him for his efforts (and these people could really use the encouragement - when I was listening to the radio coverage on KKMS last night, the senator from New Jersey said they hadn't received a single phone call about it); unfortunately, California only has Democrat senators, but you can still call them and tell them if you take issue with what they're doing. I did. Both for California and Minnesota. Few enough people actually get involved to the point that they send messages to their senators these days that every single phone call and e-mail really does matter. They keep lists, folks.

You know me - I'm not normally a huge political activist. However, listening to the radio all day yesterday at work, combined with the things I've learned about the Constitution recently, has made me understand exactly how important this is, both as an American and, more importantly, as a Christian. The Antichrist is coming, but that doesn't mean we should just shrug and do nothing about his approach. As American citizens, we have the power and the responsibility to be involved with how our nation is governed. As Christians, we have a duty to promote God's word and to bring our nation to repentence before God.

We're living in the End Times. I don't think there can be any doubt about it, really. Have you read about the growing anti-Semitism in Europe? Maybe I'm a crazed paranoid and it's been too long since I had contact with my old friends, but I'm telling you, I'm becoming seriously convinced time is short.