A former presidential writer for George W. Bush and son of former
U.S. Congressman Jim Ryun, Ned Ryun is currently the head of American
Majority (www.americanmajority.org), a national organization committed to identifying and
training liberty‐minded leaders. Ned was the co‐founder and former director of the Generation Joshua
program. Ned earned degrees in English and History from the University of Kansas and has co‐authored
Heroes Among Us and The Courage to Run with his father and
his twin brother, Drew. Ned and his wife, Becca, reside in Northern
Virginia with their sons, Nathaniel and James. The views expressed on this blog are solely those held by Ned Ryun and do not necessarily represent the views of his current or previous employers.
06 27th, 2008
If it weren’t so troubling. Spain has now extended human rights to gorillas. Upon reading the article, I found something interesting at the end: the Great Ape Project was co-founded by a Peter Singer. Now Dr. Singer, that esteemed Princeton professor, is a notorious proponent of the idea of “quality of life” over “sanctity of life.” In short, he thinks that gorillas deserve human rights, but nine-month old babies don’t. And I quote Singer: “Human babies are not born self-aware or capable of grasping their lives over time. They are not persons. Hence their lives would seem to be no more worthy of protection that the life of a fetus.” Stupidity and hypocrisy. So gorillas are worth more than a nine-month old baby . . . and this is progress?
06 27th, 2008
The absurdity of the Democrat convention and wanting to be “green” was chronicled by the Wall Street Journal. Putting ballons in compost piles to double-check if they are bio-degradable? Again, just goes to show you that the Dems are beholden to the leftie enviro-nuts; can I call them enviro-facists? Which is all very funny when talking about the Dem convention, but ceases to be when talking about energy problems and national security.
06 24th, 2008
Pun intended. Here you have dozens of U.S. Senators who are refusing to disclose the details about some of their finances, and potentially are involved in a scandal over mortgages; not saying all are, but that behavior is suspicious. I think the public deserves to know the facts. Some will say it’s none of the public’s business. Really? As public servants, who are paid by the public, I think disclosure by the Senators is our business.
06 24th, 2008
Kathryn Jean Lopez of NRO thinks that McCain ought to make a bigger deal of Planned Parenthood’s funding. I agree. Why does Planned Parenthood, as Lopez points out, which performs 1 out of every 5 abortions in America and is sitting on $1 billion, get over $300 million a year in government money? In tough economic times, we’re giving $300 million to a billion dollar organization to perform abortions? Doesn’t make sense at any level. I think this is a great issue for McCain: it can unite the social and fiscal conservatives. The SoCos want to see the number of abortions reduced in America. Cutting $300 mil from Planned Parenthood would help. The fiscal conservatives want to see wasteful spending cut: I propose Exhibit A of $300 mil. And this does bring up the question: If our government is supposed to secure the rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, why is it funding to the tune of $300 mil the killing of innocent babies?
06 23rd, 2008
I’m wondering how much this new oil refinery in India, the biggest in the world I think, will impact America’s needs. I hear there is another large refinery being built in China as well. The Indian refinery is going on-line any day now. Also, how much will the new 200,000 barrels a day from the Saudis impact prices? (Not much it seems in the immediate). But I have to think the OPEC guys aren’t stupid: they should be worried about prices getting too high. A friend made the point to me that if prices get too high, it will only encourage exploration and production elsewhere, which in the long run hurts OPEC. They have to be trying to find the proper balancing point between it costing too much and driving people to other sources, and making sure that it costs enough to make a handsome profit, but low enough that people will tolerate the price and not seek oil elsewhere. I can’t say this is true, but that’s what I’d think about. Another thought is on building our own oil refineries. I think it takes 5 years now to build a new refinery. Surely we can cut that down to 3 years by reducing the red tape, etc. Finally, I keep on hearing this drivel from Dems that, “It would take 10 years to get oil from new drilling.” You know, that’s kind of the same argument most of those jokers made back in 1995 when Clinton vetoed ANWR. Let’s see. That was 13 years ago. If we’d drilled then . . . we’d be experiencing oil production from ANWR, and who knows where else, right now. We can’t afford to put off domestic drilling any longer.
06 19th, 2008
A friend sent me this link and asked, “Didn’t we win the Cold War?” The best Dems can come up with is, “Let’s nationalize the oil refineries?” Are you kidding me? It’s so far removed from what the real problem is that it makes me think Dems have absolutely no clue about the simple fact of supply and demand: if there is a low supply, higher demand, higher cost. And one of them made the suggestion that the oil companies are sitting on oil resources so that they can get $200-300 a barrel. That’s also asinine. To quote a somewhat famous Democrat figure, Joseph Kennedy, “Only a fool holds out for the top dollar.” Oil companies are not fools, and I can almost bet you they are scrambling to find more resources right now so that they can make more money; that’s kind of how it works in the real world. Here’s a thought for the Dems: why don’t you take some lessons on economics, and then stop kow-towing to the enviro-left and start doing what’s best for the majority of the American people? I’m still staggered by the absurdity of their responses. The question is whether the majority of American people will feel the same way come November.
06 18th, 2008
Says he wants to build 45 new ones by 2030. I’m liking the chord McCain is striking with a bold, aggressive, and needed, energy plan. All I hear from Obama is dropping billions into creating new “green energy.”
06 18th, 2008
Both McCain and Bush are calling for offshore drilling. It’s about time. In the last six weeks, the polls have shown an almost exact flip from 3 to 1 enviroment over energy to 3 to 1 energy over environment. The time is now to take it to the enviros; I’m all about ethical, clean, environmentally sound practices, but enough is enough. Some say the question is environment vs. energy, as though if we want new energy sources, we have to sacrifice the environment. Oil drilling practices, coal plants; all these have changed over the last 30-40 years. Enviros want Americans to envision coal plants belching out massive plumes of black smoke. Not happening. They want Americans to have images of Exxon-Mobile oil spills happening every month. Not going to happen. They want America to see horrible nuclear disasters if we build nuclear plants. Not really going to happen. I’m not saying there won’t be occasional disasters; they happen because humans are fallible. The real question is this: is America going to get serious about becoming more self-sufficient in regards to energy production, or is it going to be subservient to foreign powers like Saudi Arabia and Venezula? America will never be totally self-sufficient in regards to energy production, but between offshore, drilling on federal lands, utilizing coal, building nuclear plants, and developing more wind and other “green” alternatives, we can dramatically reduce our foreign dependence.
Now, with that all said, I’m going to dare any Democrat to take a campaign stance that says, “I will not vote for offshore drilling or other means of increasing our oil supplies.” Try it and see what happens this fall when gas prices could get to $5 a gallon. The LA Times is reporting that suddenly the enviros are realizing that their “allies” are peeling away, and there is a reason for that; most politicians are experts in self-preservation. They like being in office. If they think an issue will get them booted from office, they aren’t going to take it up. So the question becomes are the Dems going to fight or capitulate on offshore drilling.
06 16th, 2008
Spunky Homeschool pointed out to me that HSLDA had trademarked “Generation Joshua.” I’d actually forgotten that we’d trademarked the term. But again, not sure how it all works out as Obama’s Joshua Generation is a different term and occupies different “space.” I was thinking about this issue over the weekend and I think the real question is, “Will Joshua Generation work?” I think it will. I think Obama will get thousands, maybe tens of thousands, of young Catholic and Evangelicals to help out on his campaign; help out a candidate that has made it fairly clear that he is very pro-choice and for same sex marriage. Why? Because I think a lot of the Catholic and evangelical youth don’t know how to practically apply their faith to the public arena. I think some will be caught up in the emotions of “change” and “hope.” And I have to say that I don’t believe the church of today is giving the youth a rational, practical reason as to why they believe what they believe. This is a huge issue, far more complex topic than what I’m giving it time for, but all to say I think Obama will get a very good response to his Joshua Generation outreach.
06 12th, 2008
Someone pointed out to me that maybe GenJ would have a case against Obama because GenJ and Joshua Gen., being the same types of organizations, would “occupy” the same “space.” Well, I’m no lawyer, but it’s a little hard for a non-profit (GenJ) to occupy the same space as a political entity (Joshua Generation). So tough sell I think. And besides, I would think the Joshua Generation Dance Company would have a better case against Obama anyway. Certainly more entertaining. I also got this link today and called my brother Drew for a good laugh. As I remember it, a deputy director of the RNC (Drew) called his brother, the executive director of HSLDA PAC and GenJ (me) and said, “We really need some help for the 72 hour task force).” So under the auspices of HSLDA PAC (GenJ is a c4), I helped organize teams in PA, OH, KY, etc. etc. That all being said, I don’t think there will be much HSLDA PAC activity this fall, due to lack of resources and planning. Which is a shame.
