MILITARY AWOL IN EARLY VOTING

No one has a greater claim to the democratic process than the men and women protecting it. As members of the military, they stand guard over our most basic rights--without any guarantee that they'll get to exercise theirs. That's the surprising conclusion of a new report by the Military Voter Protection Project (MVP), which rocked the presidential race yesterday with news that absentee military voting is down as much as 70% from 2008 in crucial states like Ohio, Virginia, and Florida. "These are the lowest numbers we've seen in the last decade," Eric Eversole, the group's founder, told reporters.
To most people, the decline raises plenty of questions. Given all that's happened in the last four years, our troops should be some of the most motivated voters in the country. After all, no one has borne the brunt of this administration's radical agenda like the U.S. military. Its service members have witnessed the slashing of their health care, the integration of open homosexuality, the slow death of religious liberty, violations of the federal marriage law, the suppression of early voting, and now the threat of a half-trillion dollar cutback. So are America's troops suddenly disinterested in the race for their next commander-in-chief--or is something fishy?
Eversole blames the latter. And he's not alone. Even with the drop in deployments, the military's ballot requests (just 33% of 2008's) are suspiciously low. By law, every military installation was ordered to establish a voter assistance office where "incoming [troops] could register to vote, change address, or receive other assistance." It was all part of the 2009 Military and Overseas Voting Empowerment Act (MOVE). But even Defense officials admit that the Pentagon is dragging its feet. (Of course, Governor Romney's 20-point advantage with military voters has nothing to do with the delay.) According to the Inspector General's office, "our attempts to contact [Voting Assistance Offices] failed about 50% of the time." That figures, since almost half of our overseas military bases still haven't designated a place where troops can register to vote. The Pentagon was probably too busy ensuring the President's repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" was enforced to make provisions for military personnel to exercise their right to vote.
Meanwhile, Texas Senator John Cornyn (R) thinks this is part of a broader effort to silence the men and women in uniform. In a letter to Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, he called it "an unacceptable failure by Pentagon leaders to comply with the law and ensure our service members and their families are able to exercise one of the most fundamental rights for which they sacrifice every day." Together with his colleagues, he's outraged that "many of the on-base voter assistance offices that do exist are grossly inadequate and at least half of them are either closed or completely unstaffed." No wonder Americans are upset. The same President who's fighting to let ineligible people vote is disenfranchising the military! It all points to what's actually absentee--and that's leadership.
Redefine Marriage? Quoth this Raven, Nevermore!
As a center, the Baltimore Ravens' Matt Birk is used to moving the ball. So it was a pleasant surprise when #77 did the same for the debate over marriage. The devout Catholic and six-time Pro Bowler isn't sitting on the sidelines before the crucial votes on November 6. Proving he really is one of America's smartest athletes, Birk reiterates his support for traditional marriage in a new video for the Minnesota Catholic Conference. Like football greats David Tyree and Ron Brown, Birk is using his public platform to take a stand for what's right and "to clarify that not all NFL players think redefining marriage is a good thing."
After publishing an op-ed on the topic, Matt followed up his column with a taped clip. "They say if we stand up and talk about the national definition of marriage that we are somehow being mean--or bullies," he says. "Supporting the basic rights of children and the authentic rights of people with same-sex attraction are not mutually exclusive, and we must resist the forces that are telling us otherwise." Although Birk stressed the importance of a respectful debate, the only response so far has been a profane tirade from Minnesota Vikings punter Chris Kluwe. Ironically, all he did was prove our point: if you don't have the facts on your side, the only solution is intimidating the opposition. (If Kluwe thinks a little heat will scare off Matt Birk, he doesn't know #77.)
Of course, the unique thing about Matt's involvement is that it touches two states with marriage on the ballot: Minnesota, where he grew up, and Maryland, where he plays for the Ravens. Let's hope his voice in the movement leads to the same result as his play on the field: Victory!
The Gospel According to HHS
If Jesus Christ were in Illinois printing Bibles, even he couldn't get an exemption from the President's health care mandate! That's the gist of a new lawsuit from Tyndale House Publishers, which the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) refuses to excuse from its contraception and abortion pill mandate. Despite being incorporated as a Christian business, HHS insists that the Bible publisher isn't religious enough for an exemption. To point out the absurdity of these rules, our friends at Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) are taking the administration to court. "Tyndale House is a prime example of how ridiculous and arbitrary the Obama administration's mandate is," attorney Matt Bowman said in a statement. "Americans today clearly agree with America's founders: the federal government's bureaucrats are not qualified to decide what faith is, who the faithful are, and where and how that faith might be lived out."
** In case you missed it, I was on "The Mike Huckabee Show" earlier today to talk about Dan Savage's most recent attacks against me and FRC. To listen, click over to the FRCBlog.



