Washington's Birthday

Today, February 22nd, marks the 275th birthday of George Washington. In honor of his birthday, I thought I would ask a trivia question:

Who was the first President of our country?

If you answered George Washington, well, you would be right but also wrong. Washington was the first President under the Constitution of the United States. But the country actually existed prior to the ratification of the Constitution having been creating on July 4, 1776. America's first Constitution was actually the Articles of Confederation, which also provided for a President but one with very weak powers.

There is some debate over who served as the first President under the Articles of Confederation but according to "The U.S. Constitution and Fascinating Facts About It" published from www.ConstitutionFacts.com, the very, very first President of the United States was John Hanson in 1781. His official title was "President of the United States in Congress Assembled". He served for a one-year term. Eight men served as President under the Confederation (and thus prior to George Washington).

So when we refer to Washington as our first President we are actually talking about our first president under our current form of government defined by the United States Constitution.

First Inaugural Address
Second Inaugural Address
Mount Vernon Estate (including a virtual tour of Washington's home)
Biography
George Washington Papers

Overturning Roe v. Wade

abcnews.com has posted a report by AP Correspondent Jim Davenport that Senator and Republican presidential candidate John McCain told a South Carolina audience that "I do not support Roe versus Wade. It should be overturned."

I don't know if McCain is serious about this or just engaging in political pandering but I am sure that pro-choice organizations will deride this as trying to take away a woman's right to choose.

It's fair to ask what would happen if Roe v. Wade was overturned. Would abortion become illegal throughout the nation? The answer is no. The question of abortion would be returned to each state. We'd see a variety of abortion laws from state to state - some more restrictive, some more open.

But proponents of choice do not want the states to have the choice to choose because they know that the vast number of states and Americans think that abortion should be, as Bill Clinton stated, "safe, legal, and rare." (emphasis mine)

For the Planned Parenthoods and the NARALs of the world, it is far easier to convince five judges sympathetic to their ideology to mandate the terminating of unborn human children than it is to convince the legislatures of 50 states.

The Content of One's Character

Last night, the Indianapolis Colts won the Super Bowl. On the stage to accept the trophy CBS Sports announcer Jim Nantz reminded Colts head coach Tony Dungy of the historic social implications of the becoming the first African-American to win a Super Bowl. To which Dungy replied:

"I'm proud to be the first African-American coach to win this. But again, more than anything, Lovie Smith [Chicago Bears' Head Coach] and I are not only African-American but also Christian coaches, showing you can do it the Lord's way. We're more proud of that."

Dungy did an extraordinary thing. He first acknowledged the emphasis on race that others were giving the occassion. Then he emphasized that which transcends race, that which defines there character, their bowing the kneww to the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Dungy's words echo those immortal words spoken from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial nearly 45 years ago:

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."

To Dungy and Smith, being an African-American (i.e. the color of one's skin) is not the most important thing. Being a disciple of Jesus Christ (content of one's character) is.