Signs and Wonders 03.16

Girl Scouts take low road. Juliette Low began the Girl Scouts 100 years ago this week, on March 12, 1912, in Savannah, Ga. The original Girl Scout promise was: "On my honor, I will try: to do my duty to God and my country, to help other people at all times, to obey the Girl Scout laws." But, over the years, Girl Scouts have become increasingly liberal and secular, dropping "duty to God" from its oath. As a result, an Ohio woman, Patti Garibay, started the more traditional American Heritage Girls in 1995, as a conservative alternative. American Heritage Girls now has troops in 45 states. It's oath: "I promise to love God, cherish my family, honor my country, and serve in my community."

Romney's rolling in cash. According to an analysis by McClatchy Newspapers, Mitt Romney has spent more than $200 million in his seven-year quest for the White House. More than $44 million has been his own money. He'd spent about $54 million through Jan. 31, and a whole lot more by now. Romney-related super PACs have spent at least another $32 million. Steven Schier, a political science professor at Carleton College, told McClatchy that Romney has been "aggressively pursuing and exploiting" loopholes in campaign law for years, and that without his personal wealth and financial connections, Romney's campaign would be dead by now. Take them away and, according to Schier, "Where is he? He's nowhere."

Gay play. Hollywood's politically correct came out last Saturday for the West Coast premiere of 8, a play about 2010 federal court fight against California's Proposition 8, which defined marriage as being only between one man and one woman. The play featured liberal activists/actors Martin Sheen and George Clooney, so don't expect a fair representation of the conservative side. Lesbian actress Jane Lynch played an opponent of same-sex marriage, so don't expect a sympathetic portrayal there, either. Gay activist and screenwriter Dustin Lance Black wrote the screenplay. He's also a former Mormon and was a writer for the HBO drama about polygamy called Big Love. The event raised $2 million for pro-homosexual causes.

MSM blackout of Ron Paul? The mainstream media no longer covers Ron Paul's presidential campaign. According to Politico, NBC's Anthony Terrell, the last "big media" reporter on the Paul campaign trail, has been reassigned. Why the media pullout? "Paul doesn't have as many events right now as the other candidates in the race," Hunter Ryan, the politics editor at Fox News Channel, told Politico. The website Conservative Action Alert called that explanation "pure fiction," adding "Paul's events consistently attract numbers in the thousands." But the media like a horse race, and Paul's pony is bringing up the rear.

Bullying the pulpit. The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) announced this week its new "Commentator Accountability Project," which puts 36 conservative commentators on a "watch list" in order to warn news outlets not to use them as commentators or interviewees. I'm kind of offended I didn't make the list, but I console myself that I'm friends with most of the folks on it, including Focus on the Family's Jim Daly, Glenn Stanton and Candi Cushman (who has written for WORLD). Others on the watch list are Exodus International president Alan Chambers (WORLD's most recent "Daniel of the Year"), Prison Fellowship founder Chuck Colson, and Princeton University professor Robert George.