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Hagel funded group pushing talks with al-Qaida
Obama nominee wants legitimacy for jihadists behind hostage crisis
by Aaron Klein
TEL AVIV - Secretary of defense nominee Chuck Hagel sits on the small board of a peace fund that finances an international "crisis management" group that long has petitioned the Algerian government to cease "excessive" military activities against al-Qaida-linked jihadists, WND has learned.
The organization, the International Crisis Group, or ICG, called on Algeria to grant legitimacy to the very al-Qaida-linked group reportedly behind the kidnapping of about 40 foreign hostages, including several Americans, at a natural-gas field in Algeria.
Two Americans escaped today unharmed as Algerian special forces launched a rescue operation, according to the state news agency. At least six people were killed, the Associated Press reported. Dozens more remained unaccounted for, including Britons, French, Norwegians, Romanians, Malaysians, Japanese, Algerians, at least one American and the captors.
ICG petitioned for the Islamist group to participate in the Algerian government.
Fed-up Americans: 'We're not going to accept this. We're against it'
by Chelsea Schilling
Thousands of gun owners across America have had enough of the Obama administration's attack on the Second Amendment - and they're preparing to take their concerns to the capitols in at least 47 states this Saturday, Jan. 19, at 12 p.m.
Texan Eric Reed, founder and national coordinator of the "Guns Across America" rallies, told WND he's irritated about all the talk of new gun-control regulations and overreach by the federal government in violation of our Second Amendment rights.
"I was trying to figure out why people weren't being more proactive about this, Reed said. "Then I realized I'm part of the problem. It takes somebody to stand up and say, 'Hey, we're not going to accept this. We're against it.'
"We want Americans who feel the same way to come out. We want to stand up, be united and get our point across."
As WND reported today, President Obama announce a sweeping set of directives he intends will cut down on Americans' access to guns, setting the stage for a constitutional battle with states where lawmakers already are openly defying the latest power grab by the White House.
Obama's plan would demand federal access to the details every time an uncle sells a .22 to a nephew, would ban some weapons outright through a limit on ammunition capacity, would waive medical privacy laws in some cases so individuals can be reported, and others.
The president also listed 23 executive orders he is preparing to implement.
"He's essentially restricting and punishing all law-abiding American citizens," Reed said. "He's taking people who have never committed a crime in their lives and he's trying to tell them that these guns are 'assault weapons.' Well, I've got guns in my home. If they're 'assault weapons,' then mine must be defective because they haven't assaulted anybody."
Frustrated by the narrative coming out of Washington, Reed noted that "assault weapons" have been banned since 1934.
"The aesthetics of a rifle do not determine what an assault rifle is," he said. "That's what our elected officials in Washington, D.C., are trying to sell to the American people. I mean, if you take a body of a Ferrari and stick it on a Chevrolet, it's still a Chevrolet. It's going to perform like a Chevrolet; it's just a cool-looking Chevrolet."
WE MUST STAND UP AND BE COUNTED WHEN OUR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS ARE UNDER ATTACK! What are you willing to sacrifice to join with other patriots and raise your voice in defense of our Second Amendment right to protect our families against evil men and tyrannical government? This Saturday, the national media will cover the rally in Harrisburg and the local media will cover the rally in Norristown and numbers DO count. Anyone interested in carpooling to either of these Support the Second Amendment rallies, please contact me or Kathy Bessler at the email addresses above or call me at 267-374-6201. Jaime Rep. Metcalfe will be holding a press conference on Tuesday, January 22, beginning at 11 a.m. in the Capitol Media Center, Representative Metcalfe will be joining with other legislators to announce the reintroduction of the "Pennsylvania Open Workforce Initiative." This package of legislation would make Pennsylvania the 25th Right to Work State.
UPCOMING EVENTS
1. Pro Gun Rally---Nationwide Event! January 19th
at Noon On the steps of our State Capitol Building ---Harrisburg! Carpool??? Contact me at email address above (I'm not going but others may be)
2. Gun Rights/Anti-UN Agenda 21 Awareness Rally January 19th from 2:00-4:00? Montgomery County Courthouse 2 East Main St., Norristown 19401
Bring tasteful signs to promote 2nd Amendment, limited govt, American sovereignty, anti-U.N./global control
Carpooling available (Kathy from Telford; Jai.\
WE MUST STAND UP AND BE COUNTED WHEN OUR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS ARE UNDER ATTACK! What are you willing to sacrifice to join with other patriots and raise your voice in defense of our Second Amendment right to protect our families against evil men and tyrannical government? The national media will cover this nationwide effort and numbers DO count. I'm planning to go....anyone interested in carpooling, please contact me.m
rom Sellersville)
3. Coalition For Advancing Freedom--Sam Rohrer,Pa. Pastors Network
January 23rd at 10:00 am at the State Capitol Building
Concealed & Open Carry welcome...no long guns
Opposition and possible confrontation likely
5. Annual March for Life Rally January 25th in Washington DC Bus available from: St. Isadore Church at 8:00 am Contact: Sandy Slater 215-530-1390 Cost: $30.00 per person. Includes Buffet dinner in Maryland
6. Agenda 21 Seminar January 26th from 9:00 am to 12:00 Friendship Fire Hall, 610 South 2nd Ave. Lebanon, Pa 17042 Cost: $20.00 per person or $30.00 per couple RSVP or more info at: central.montco.ptpp@gmail.com Should be very informative - Carpooling available
7. Rep. Metcalfe will be holding a press conference on Tuesday, January 22, beginning at 11 a.m. in the Capitol Media Center, Representative Metcalfe will be joining with other legislators to announce the reintroduction of the "Pennsylvania Open Workforce Initiative." This package of legislation would make Pennsylvania the 25th Right to Work State.
Come see CNN Anchor and Chief White
House Correspondent Jake Tapper talk about his latest book,
THE OUTPOST
Thursday, January 24, 2013
8:00pm
Temple Beth Hillel-Beth El
1001 Remington Road
Wynnewood, PA 19096
Open to the public
Contact Information: Lee Bender, Chairman, Israel Advocacy Committee:
WHETHER YOU ARE A GUN OWNER OR NOT, YOU MUST READ THE FOLLOWING:
The recent tragedy in Newtown, CT has shocked our country and left us all with an emptiness in our hearts. The media and liberal politicians are using this act of evil to demonize the 2nd Amendment and all of those that support it. The politicians and media that are now calling for landmark gun control do so not out of genuine concern for safety, but rather to exploit a tragedy for their own self-serving agenda. It is yet another step in their ultimate goal of weakening the American citizenry and consolidating power into the federal government. Their actions are disingenuous in the process of developing meaningful solutions so that events such as Newtown, CT are never repeated.
It is reported that Sen. Feinstein (D-CA) will introduce a bill on January 22 that will affect up to 75% of all currently owned guns. This bill could require current gun owners to register their guns into a new national database and then force owners to pay an annual tax in order to keep their guns. In addition, the bill would ban the production and/or sale of many firearms and require that they be surrendered to the government upon the owner's death and not be able to be transferred to living relatives, etc. Gun registration has historically been a precursor to gun confiscation. We need not even consider past totalitarian regimes to confirm this; consider San Francisco, NYC, Australia and the UK where gun ownership is essentially banned. Basically overnight, millions of law-abiding, tax-paying, U.S. citizens would be forced to either obey an illegal law or be deemed a criminal.
Even if you are not a gun owner, you can see how such far reaching legislation is in violation of the Constitution and would give the government unprecedented power making us all subjects rather than citizens. Further, President Obama is threatening to circumvent Congress and use Executive Orders to pass legislation!!!
Please contact your representatives and tell them to vote "No" on Sen. Feinstein's Bill. Here is a list of officials and their phone numbers and corresponding websites that you can cut and paste in your browser:
In addition, here is some information that may prove helpful in your contact with them:
According to the FBI in areas where right to carry have been implemented gun crimes have been reduced and the converse is also a fact. A prime example of the decrease after the right to carry is Florida, Texas and Michigan; After the handgun ban Chicago saw an increase in handgun murders and DC saw an increase in murder rate after the handgun ban.
Dr. Gary Kleck, a criminologist at Florida State University, estimated that approximately 2.5 million people used their gun in self-defense or to prevent crime each year, often by merely displaying a weapon. The incidents that Kleck studied generally did not involve the firing of the gun and he estimates that as many as 1.9 million of those instances involved a handgun. The National Rifle Association regularly reprints locally-published stories of ordinary citizens whose lives were saved by their guns.
In the international scene, the homicide rate in England and Wales has averaged 52% higher since the outset of the 1968 gun control law and 15% higher since the outset of the 1997 handgun ban. In Australia, five years after the gun ban assault rose 49.2 percent, robbery rose 6.2 percent rape increased 29.9 percent and overall Australia's violent crime rose 42.2 percent. At the same time, U.S. violent crime decreased 31.8 percent: rape dropped 19.2 percent; robbery decreased 33.2 percent; aggravated assault dropped 32.2 percent.
Schools(like the Friend's school where President Obama's children attend, in addition to the Secret Service), celebrities, politicians and other wealthy are protected by armed guards and are not attacked. Essentially the one percenters are the ones who can afford this protection.
In Israel, teachers are armed and there are no school shootings.
Yours in Liberty, The Kitchen Table Patriots Team
Dear NR Friend,
It's time to lift ourselves off the mat, shake off the cobwebs, get reoriented, and start to fight back, to fight for our principles, to fight for our great nation.
It's time to honestly assess the conservative movement's priorities and to forge the way ahead.
That's why our friends at the National Review Institute are sponsoring an important, must-attend conference this January 25-27 in Washington, a critical summit where we can meet, talk, and forge The Future of Conservatism.
Your participation is vital. The National Review Institute's conservative summit will feature a tremendous line-up of leading conservatives and libertarians (and even a controversial figure or two) who will take part in developing a new and revitalized message for our movement. Confirmed speakers to date include
Gov. Scott Walker (WI), Gov. Bobby Jindal (LA), Gov. Bob McDonnell (VA), Rep. Paul Ryan (WI), Sen. Ted Cruz (TX), AG Ken Cuccinelli (VA), Mark Steyn, William Bennett, Charles Krauthammer, Jim DeMint, Larry Kudlow, Laura Ingraham, Hugh Hewitt, Jonah Goldberg, Michael Mukasey, Artur Davis, Rich Lowry, Mona Charen, Ralph Reed, Monica Crowley, Joe Scarborough, Mia Love, Robert Costa, Andrew McCarthy, John Allison, James Pethokoukis, Harold Hamm, Arthur Brooks, Maggie Gallagher, Kellyanne Conway, Kathryn Lopez, Reihan Salam, Mark Krikorian, Jay Nordlinger, John O'Sullivan, Heather Higgins, Peter Thiel, Darcy Olsen, Rob Long, Charles Kesler, Ed Whelan, John Podhoretz, John Fund, Ross Douthat, John Hood, Yuval Levin, Amity Shlaes, Tim Phillips, Travis Brown, and many more.
Be there as we listen to, engage, talk with, and derive inspiration from top conservative thinkers, writers, and politicians. The Future of Conservatism Summit will be a critical and memorable gathering, where wide-ranging discussion and debate will forge a successful vision for the movement and the cause of liberty.
The cost for the Summit, which includes participation in all events (receptions on Friday and Saturday nights, dinner on Saturday, breakfast on Saturday and Sunday, lunch on Saturday and Sunday, plus panel sessions, debates, speeches, and "Night Owls") is only $250 a person (which doesn't even cover the per-person food bill!).
The agenda / itinerary is still being finalized as new speakers are being added, but here are some highlights:
Lunch speeches Governors Scott Walker and Bobby Jindal, Senator Ted Cruz, and former Congressman Artur Davis
Dinner speeches by Jim DeMint and Bill Bennett
Breakfast speeches by Congressman Paul Ryan and Gov. Bob McDonnell
Rich Lowry discusses the state of the movement with Charles Krauthammer
a Saturday "Night Owl" with Mark Steyn, Jonah Goldberg
a Friday "Night Owl" with Laura Ingraham, Kathryn Lopez, Monica Crowley, Mona Charen, and Mia Love
Larry Kudlow hosts a panel on "The Way Out of the Fiscal Mess"
Hugh Hewitt and Mark Krikorian debating immigration policy
Panels on "Selling Capitalism," the Constitution, what's being achieved in the states, demographics, energy, foreign policy, marriage,
and much more
If you've been to a previous NRI Summit, you know how invigorating they can be. They are -- and later this month will once again be -- an ideal opportunity to learn, to contribute, to network, to energize.
Please join us (NRI has made this especially affordable so you can attend). Get complete (developing) information www.nrinstitute.org/summit. You can also register there.
And you can get a special rate on a great hotel room at the Omni Shoreham Hotel -- do that here.
Price: $30/per person includes buffet dinner at Cactus Willies, Maryland
Departure: The bus leaves from St. Isidore Church at 8:00 AM
Snacks will be provided Contact Sandy 215-538-1390 for details
Bring your lunch
Entertainment on the bus
CCG Patriots,
There is no more fundamental Constitutionally guaranteed right than the RIGHT TO LIFE. Over 55 million babies have been robbed of their right to life since Roe v. Wade in the mass genocide of abortion. If you believe that abortion is a crime against the innocent and a plague which must be removed from our land, please DO something about it! Join us and tens of thousands of other believers in every American's right to life at the 40th annual MARCH FOR LIFE in Washington DC on January 25th.
You will make your voice heard on behalf of the innocent babies who are murdered every day and will be inspired and encouraged to fight on as courageous pro-life leaders in Congress share their passion for life. Following the rally, in the Congressional office building, you will have an opportunity to meet personally with Congressman Mike Fitzpatrick and other pro-life legislators to encourage them to support vital pro-life legislation. We must continue to push for the complete defunding of Planned Parenthood which, according to Sandy, in 2011-12 was subsidized with half a Billion dollars of our money which supported the killing of 333,964 babies.
One of the most enjoyable ways to participate in the March is to join Sandy Slater, president of the Bucks County Pro-Life Coalition and CCG Press Liaison, on the bus trip from St. Isidore's Church, that she organizes every year. Sandy will update you on pro-life legislation on the trip down so you can talk to your representative. Snacks, water, a comfortable ride with fellow pro-lifers, and dinner at a great buffet are all included for only $30. Contact Sandy to sign up today (see attached flyer and info below).
Please
copy and post this flyer
at your church (or organize your own church bus/van). We must engage others in ACTION to fight this holocaust. Hope to see you there, Jaime
From SANDY SLATER :
You may know that the wonderful founder of the DC March for Life, Nellie Gray died at the age of 86 this past August. She had led the March for Life for 40 years. She is being succeeded by a board member, Jeanne Monahan. This March also marks the 40th anniversary of Roe vs. Wade.
The purpose of the e-mail is to advise you that our Federal Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick again will meet with the participants in this event who are from Dtistrict 8. Because of the crowd and the number of congressmen who tried to accommodate us in DC last year, he would like to have a separate room for Bucks County District 8. This should enable better organization. I know some of the churches who are going to the March but probably not all. Therefore you may get another e-mail as well.
If you are planning to go to the March and would like to meet with Rep. Fitzpatrick, please respond to this e-mail to advise and possibly your number. He is making himself available between 2 & 5 PM on the day of the March 1/25/13. I do not know the place yet.
Another reason for the e-mail is if you have a particular concern or question, and these should be directed toward pro-life, you may want to formulate that beforehand to help him in helping you. There are many pro-life bills that have been introduced but they will have to be re-introduced
Sandy
600 Memorials for 55 Million Babies
Next Tuesday, January 22, 2013, the 40th anniversary of the infamous Roe v. Wade U.S. Supreme Court ruling which legalized abortion on demand, pro-life advocates across America are being urged to memorialize the 55 million pre-born babies who have been aborted since that ruling 40 years ago on that date.
When people want to express their sorrow for tragic deaths, they often bring symbols of their grief to the sitesof the deaths, including candles, flowers and messages. When children are killed, those symbols often include stuffed animals and balloons, such as for the recent school massacre in Newtown. Pro-lifers can help commemorate the 55 million pre-born babies who were aborted before they could even take a breath.
RNC for Life is urging those who value the sanctity of life to remember those innocent babes by placing flowers, balloons and stuffed animals at the approximately 600 abortion facilities across America next Tuesday. We also encourage you to pray silently in front of the abortion facility after placing your memorial.
You don't have to spend much time at the abortuary and you don't have to spend much money on the symbols you place there. But these memorials - hopefully 600+ of them - will send a message to all who see them: Some of the 55 million innocents were killed HERE and we grieve for them.
We hope that these spontaneous memorials will be placed at every abortuary, accompanied by sweet reminders of unborn children and even messages to those innocent babies. We are confident that, in seeing these hundreds of memorials with thousands of participants, America will come to realize the magnitude of the horror that abortion is and has been for four decades. A flyer suitable to distribute is available here which will give you specific suggestions.
Please forward this to everyone you know who believes in the sanctity of Life. We must not let this infamous anniversary go by without memorializing these babes who have been murdered in the womb at the rate of about 3300 EVERY DAY!
Thank you for your help.
Concerned Guns Owners of Bucks County
Doylestown, PA
MEETING ANNOUNCEMENT
Topic: Resisting Federal Gun Control and Registration
Where: Warminster VFW Post,
645 Louis Dr, Warminster, PA
(1/10th Mile east of Street Rd (Rt 132) Between Rts 263 and 332)
When: Monday January 28 2013, 7 to 9 PM
The recent tragedy in Newtown, CT has shocked our country. Unfortunately, the media and liberal politicians are using this evil act to demonize the 2nd Amendment and law-abiding citizens. Draconian gun control is being called for to exploit this tragedy. It is yet another step in their ultimate goal of weakening the American citizenry and consolidating further power and control into the federal government.
THE THREATS
Vice President Biden's task force released recommendations that calls for many semi-automatic rifles and 30 round magazines to be banned.
Sen. Feinstein (D-CA) is introducing legislation that will affect up to 75% of all lawfully owned guns and 100% of all law-abiding gun owners. This bill could require amongst other things:
current gun owners to register themselves as if pre-criminals
registration of firearms and creation of federal tracking database
force owners to pay an annual tax in order to keep their guns.
ban the production and/or sale of many firearms and magazines
require that firearms be surrendered to the government upon the owner's death and not be able to be transferred to living relatives, etc.
Mr. Obama has publicly stated that he will use Executive Orders to implement gun control if Congress should resist implementing severe gun control measures. This is an unconstitutional usurpation of authority and all about CONTROL.
History has demonstrated repeatedly - Gun registration is precursor to gun confiscation!!
A CALL TO ACTION
This meeting will bring together concerned, law-abiding gun owners to discuss:
these gun control activities in Washington DC, and
the ACTIONS we should and will take together as a free people to stop this legislation and power grab.
Now is the time to get actively involved, and draw a line in the sand. If we lose the 2nd amendment, there will be no limits to what can done to us.
Spread the word and pass this notice on.
Citizens of Bucks, Montgomery and other counties welcome.
"FrackNation," a film by investigative journalist Phelim McAleer, will be broadcast on Jan. 22, 2012 at 9 p.m. ET according to The Hollywood Reporter. AXS TV is a cable network owned by Mark Cuban, Ryan Seacrest and entertainment companies AEG and CAA.
In a press release, McAleer said of the film, "FrackNation has been described as the first 'pro-fracking film.' I would describe it as pro-journalism and pro-truth. It asks hard questions of the environmental movement and its campaigns. And they seem to not like difficult questions."
In the film, McAleer travels across the U.S. and interviews people on both sides of the fracking issue, including farmers who have leased their property for natural gas drilling and say it is safe, as well as others who want to lease their lands, but cannot due to bans on the practice. He also scrutinizes claims made by Josh Fox, the anti-fracking filmmaker of Gasland.
The new documentary film was funded through Kickstarter, a crowdfunding website, and was co-directed by McAleer, his wife Ann McElhinney and their colleague Magdalena Segieda. "FrackNation's" debut will come just a couple weeks after the anti-fracking drama "Promised Land" starring Matt Damon and John Krasinski hits movie theaters nationwide.
The timing is intentional and meant to urge debate following "Promised Land's" release, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Cuban said "Of course the timing is relevant."
"Promised Land" will merely be the newest entertainment media attempt to demonize the practice of fracking, following episodes of TV programs like "Rizzoli & Isles." The U.S. news media, when they talk about fracking also often portray it negatively. The New York Times ran an entire series of misleading reports in 2011 about fracking and continued to attack the process, even after the paper's ombudsman criticized the Times' coverage.
McAleer has made two previous documentaries, Not Evil Just Wrong and Mine Your Own Business.
Friendship Fire Hall - 610 South 2nd Avenue, Lebanon PA, 17042
January 26th from 9:00 to 12:00.
Registration will take place from 9:00 to 9:30 and then the Seminar will begin at 9:30 sharp. John Anthony's presentation is 90 minutes long and this will be followed by William O'Neal's presentation on the success of his efforts in dealing with Sustainable Development in Upper and Lower Makefield.
If you choose to pay the registration for this event in advance you can send payment to
Sue Rodkey (Treasurer)
814 Walnut Street
Lebanon PA, 17042
Cost is $20/person or $30/couple - Twp Supervisors get in free. Make checks payable to The Lebanon 9-12 Project. Please RSVP to us, central.montco.ptpp@gmail.com if you want to go so I can give them a headcount.
Sam Rohrer, President of the PA Pastors Network, will be speaking at the Coalition for Advancing Freedom's January meeting. January 22, 2013 at 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Hilton Garden Inn, 815 East Blatimore Pike (Rt 1), Kennett Square, Pa
E15, a higher blend of ethanol and gasoline, has rolled out in a handful of states. But its use in older vehicles is generating warnings from AAA, which says E15 could be harmful to pre-2012 vehicles.
The AAA says the Environmental Protection Agency and gasoline retailers should halt the sale of E15, a new ethanol blend that could damage millions of vehicles and void car warranties.
AAA, which issued its warning Friday, says just 12 million of more than 240 million cars, trucks and SUVs now in use have manufacturers' approval for E15. Flex-fuel vehicles, 2012 and newer General Motors vehicles, 2013 Fords and 2001 and later model Porsches are the exceptions, according to AAA, the nation's largest motorist group, with 53.5 million members.
"It is clear that millions of Americans are unfamiliar with E15, which means there is a strong possibility that many may improperly fill up using this gasoline and damage their vehicle," AAA President and CEO Robert Darbelnet tells USA TODAY. "Bringing E15 to the market without adequate safeguards does not responsibly meet the needs of consumers."
On Monday, President Barack Obama nominated former Republican Senator Chuck Hagel to be his next Secretary of Defense in succession to Leon Panetta. Chuck Hagel's record is one of being a frightening and dangerous apologist for terrorist groups like Hamas and Hizballah, as well as for the Iranian terrorist regime, while being arguably one of the most vicious and hostile critics of Israel. The ZOA believes that appointing Chuck Hagel as Defense Secretary would also serve to confirm the fears that many have that President Obama is no friend of Israel and is not serious about stopping Iran's nuclear program.
ACTION:
Please call your U.S. Senators to urge President Obama not to nominate Chuck Hagel and to vote against his appointment if Hagel's name goes forward for Secretary of Defense. You can reach all U.S. Senators through the Capitol Hill switchboard: 202-224-3121.
Call Sen. Casey 202-224-6324
Call Sen. Toomey 202-224-4254
New Jersey:
Call Sen. Lautenberg 202-224-3224
Call Sen. Menendez 202-224-4744
Delaware:
Call Sen. Carper 202-224-2441
Call Sen. Coons 202-224-5042
BACKGROUND:
In 2009, Hagel signed a letter urging President Obama to begin direct negotiations with Hamas, a U.S. designated terrorist group committed in its Charter to the destruction of Israel and the murder of Jews, a position President Obama has not taken up.
In a 2006 interview with former Middle East negotiator Aaron David Miller, Hagel said that "the Jewish lobby intimidates a lot of people" on Capitol Hill ('Hagel named to intelligence board,' Jewish Telegraphic Agency, October 29, 2009).
In July 2006, at the outbreak of the Lebanon war, Hagel argued against giving Israel the time to break Hizballah, urging instead an immediate ceasefire ('Key Republican breaks with Bush on Mideast,' CNN.com, July 31, 2006).
December 2005: Hagel was one of only 27 senators who refused to sign a letter to President Bush urging him to pressure the Palestinian Authority (PA) to ban terrorist groups from participating in Palestinian legislative elections.
June 2004, Hagel refused to sign a letter urging President Bush to highlight Iran's nuclear program at the G-8 summit and was one of only two senators in to vote against renewal of the Libya-Iran sanctions act.
November 2001: Hagel was one of only 11 senators who refused to sign a letter urging President Bush not to meet with the late Yasser Arafat until his forces ended the violence against Israel.
In July 2001, Hagel was one of only two senators to vote against extending the original Iranian sanctions bill.
October 2000: Hagel was one of only four senators who refused to sign a Senate letter in support of Israel.
If you want to understand what is happening to our beloved country please watch this important movie. Please share it with everyone.
Yes, it's true: You can support ACT! for America-at no cost to you!An important message from Guy Rodgers, Executive Director
The next time you make an online purchase of almost anything, you could be helping ACT! for America-at no cost to you.
Sound too good to be true? It isn't.
All you have to do is sign up for "iGive"-a program that's been around since 1997.
The concept is as powerful as it is simple.
Every time an iGive member makes an online purchase at over 1,000 brand-name stores, a percentage of that purchase is donated to that person's charity of choice.
And with the holidays just around the corner, you could be helping ACT! for America with every gift you buy!
The concept isn't new. In the mid-1990s many supporters of non-profit organizations signed up with long distance telephone programs where a percentage of their bill was donated to their charity of choice.
But our investigation of iGive has convinced us that this program has an ease of use and sophistication that we find remarkable.
Imagine booking a hotel room on Orbitz-and having 1.6% of that purchase price donated to ACT! for America.
Or buying an Xbox at Best Buy-and having 1.2% of the purchase price donated to ACT! for America.
The same goes for buying merchandise at Amazon, Bath and Body Works, Advance Auto Parts, Game Stop, Kmart, Home Depot, Holiday Inn, Old Navy, NASCAR Superstore, Overstock.com, Mattel, J.C. Penney, Office Max, QVC, Radio Shack, Shoe Carnival, Pottery Barn-and on and on the list goes.
In other words, every time you make a purchase of merchandise you would buy anyway, you would be financially supporting ACT! for America!
All you have to do is log on below and follow the directions to create your account and download the iGive "button." (Note: downloading the "button" is key).
When I was first informed of iGive, I was skeptical. I've seen these ideas come and go. Often, they're too good to be true. Or there are all kinds of glitches and problems.
So I spent hours researching.
I looked at online customer reviews (which were very good). I read all of iGive's fine print, such as Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. I signed up and even emailed two tech support questions to see how good their tech support was.
And the more I dug, the more I liked what I saw. For instance, both of my tech support questions were responded to within 60 minutes. How often does THAT happen?
As you know from our Patriot Partner program, we're all about encouraging a lot of people to each do a little-to do something. When everyone does a little, together we accomplish a lot.
So consider what could happen.
If just 1% of ACT! for America members each purchased just $400 in merchandise in 2013, from all the available outlets, and the average percentage donated to ACT! was 1.5%, the total amount donated back to ACT! for America would be...
...$15,000. That's a lot of money, wouldn't you agree?
And if you were one of those ACT! for America members, it wouldn't cost you one thin dime to help ACT! for America receive $15,000.
If this idea really caught on, and eventually 5% of our members made purchases with iGive, that $15,000 could explode to $50,000, $75,000 or more!
What's more, that 1.5% figure might be low. Many of the merchants offer percentage donations that are much higher. One printer inkjet company I looked at offered 13%!
Every merchant website you visit tells you right at the top what percentage of your purchase price will be donated to ACT! for America.
Just think what we could accomplish with an extra $15,000, $50,000 or $75,000 in our fight against radical Islam!
One of the things I most wanted to know was their Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Check it out for yourself. I confirmed the terms with a company representative. And I like what I learned. As security-conscious as I am, I have no hesitation using the service-and I'm already doing so.
I know there are many people out there who would love to support ACT! for America, or give more than they're giving, but in these tough economic times they simply can't.
Well, here's a way that everyone who believes in our mission can easily support what we're doing-at no cost to them.
It doesn't get any better than that.
There are already chapter leaders who have signed up for the program, and the feedback I have been getting from them has been all positive. They love the idea and many of them are already using it.
So please, join me and these ACT! for America chapter leaders who are already signed up and using the iGive service.
Yours for a safe and free America
Guy Rodgers
Dear Fellow Conservative,
Registration for CPAC 2013 is now open! The American Conservative Union's legendary annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) is scheduled for March 14-16, 2013 at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center.
Register Now for CPAC 2013 Don't miss your chance to help take our country back to the right. To register now and reserve your space, visit conservative.org.
Join the Celebration In honor of CPAC's 40th Anniversary, we look forward to joining conservatives from across the nation for CPAC 2013, celebrating the accomplishments of the movement while also energizing the next generation of conservatives.
New Location CPAC 2013 boasts a new location at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center. Complimentary CPAC shuttle busses to and from the Gaylord Center will be available at convenient locations across the National Capitol Region. Details will be released in the coming weeks; please visit conservative.org for updates.
CPAC Past & Present The ACU has hosted CPAC in the Nation's Capital since 1973, and it now stands as the largest annual gathering of conservatives in the country. Additionally, the ACU this year hosted two regional CPACs designed to energize and mobilize Midwest and Mountain West conservatives, giving them the tools needed to defeat the liberal agenda in 2012 while also highlighting rising conservative stars and issues in the region. Stay tuned for details on 2013 regional CPAC locations!
Interested in Sponsoring CPAC 2013? National and local partners are critical to achieving a successful event. CPAC 2013 provides an excellent platform to promote your message and network with the leaders and activists who are on the frontlines of the conservative movement. We invite you to review the special opportunities available to join the action at CPAC 2013 by visiting conservative.org.
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The Great Betrayal: Obama's Wars and the War in Iraq
Jul 18th, 2012
Daniel Greenfield's new Freedom Center pamphlet,The Great Betrayal: Obama's Wars and the War in Iraq, is an effort to understand the politics of the "war on terror" which has now reached a final punctuation point with the U.S. decision to speed its withdrawal from the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan (where success was once deemed so crucial to national security), and to practice an incoherent form of regime change in Libya while ignoring more serious threats in Syria and Iran.
The war on terror began, Greenfield shows, as an admirable bipartisan commitment soon after the tragedy of 9/11-an effort to transcend party lines not only to punish those who attacked our country but also to interrupt planning for further attacks and try to stop the international spread of the Islamic jihad behind the attacks. But the Democratic Party, with the honorable exception of a few individuals like Richard Gephardt and Joe Lieberman, turned its back on a war soon after authorizing it, and did so at a time when American troops were facing hostile enemy fire.
Although Senate Democrats on the intelligence oversight committee had been granted access to every piece of data available to the White House, they now accused President Bush of tricking them to secure their approval. In fact, their own about-face was entirely dictated by political considerations when a Sixties antiwar activist, Howard Dean, surged ahead in the Democratic primary polls and it appeared for a moment that Americans were on the side of retreat and capitulation.
Although regime change in Iraq had been official U.S. policy since Bill Clinton signed the Iraq Liberation Act of 1998, Democratic senators such as John Kerry who only months earlier had supported the war effort now launched demoralizing attacks on the American commander-in-chief and his troops in the field, stigmatizing it as "the wrong war in the wrong place at the wrong time." If the truth was the first casualty of their war against the Bush administration, the second casualty was the principle of bi-partisanship that had guided foreign policy debates throughout the Cold War, the principle that "politics stops at the water's edge." Now partisan politics trumped security.
The unrestrained attacks on the Iraq War as illegal and unjustified went largely unanswered by Republicans who failed to call the Democratic saboteurs of the nation's war effort to account or to decry the risk their cynical attacks posed to American servicemen and women on the battlefield. As Greenfield demonstrates, the Democrats' partisanship had consequences not only in Iraq but elsewhere in the region: the paralysis that resulted from their "anti-war" campaign led straight to the destruction of Lebanon and the installation of a terrorist army, Hezbollah, there as a regime within a regime. And it emboldened an overtly Islamofascist regime in Iran not only to supply the IEDs responsible for most of our troop fatalities in Iraq but also to proceed with a nuclear program aimed directly at Israel and the West.
The Great Betrayal shows that Barack Obama's abandonment of Iraq is a betrayal of all the Americans and Iraqis who gave their lives to establish freedom in that country. And the result of his policies in Afghanistan has been as disastrous. While the President presented his rationale for pursuing war there as the pursuit of al-Qaeda, after abandoning his "surge" (which resulted in two thirds of all America's Afghan casualties there and the resurgence of the Taliban allies of al-Qaeda), he blithely prepared for withdrawal as if national objectives had been met.
Order your copy of The Great Betrayal today by clicking here.
Individuals sympathetic to the Muslim Brotherhood's sinister agenda have infiltrated the Obama Administration.
Brainwashed by the Muslim Students Association and then propelled in to the position of Deputy Chief of Staff to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the David Horowitz Freedom Center tracks the path of Huma Abedin and other Muslim sympathizers who have navigated their way into positions of great influence in the Obama Administration. Everything is revealed in the explosive new Freedom Center pamphlet, "The Muslim Brotherhood in the Obama Administration," written by Frank Gaffney, national security expert who served as Assistant Secretary of Defense under Ronald Reagan.
The David Horowitz Freedom Center is committed to educating the public on the Muslim Brotherhood's sinister Agenda. That is why we are giving away this pamphlet for FREE.
This is a major push forward for APC in the battle to stop Agenda 21, and I need you to look it over and sign your approval to it.
Let me explain this vital project.
Across the nation, individuals and local activists have been working to stop the ravages of Agenda 21 and Sustainable Development. And we have won some astounding victories.
We've made Agenda 21 a major issue.
But we are vastly outgunned by the Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that are pushing this agenda from the UN all the way to your city council.
They are flooding state capitals with lobbyists, money, and a flood of issue documents. They are rich, powerful and well organized.
We aren't. We are a rag tag band of dedicated activists with passion for the cause of freedom and little else.
That has got to change.
Our activists need the tools necessary to win.
That's just what my "Stop Agenda 21" project is designed to provide.
Phil Klein is out with a column that I can only assume comes from House Republican Leadership talking points. I can only assume that because House Republican leaders and those close to them have been whispering about this scenario for about a month now to as many Republican strategists, pundits, and others as would listen.
They want to move on.
They want the next fight. So desperate are they to move on, in January of 2013, House Republicans want their base to know they think they'll lose the House in November of 2014 unless they cave now so please let them cave.
In the days leading up to President Obama announcing his gun control plans, and now that he has, the focus of Republicans and Conservatives has been squarely on his ever-encroaching attack on the Second Amendment.As Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus stated on the President's move, "He paid lip service to our fundamental constitutional rights, but took actions that disregard the Second Amendment and the legislative process."While Obama's disregard for Americans' Constitutional rights should absolutely be a primary argument against the President's plans, we should not forget another vastly important detail.
President Obama has a spending problem.In his FY2013 budget, the President submitted $3.8 trillion in new spending which does not include the $500 million (or by some accounts $45 billion) he would like Congress to spend on his gun proposals.Obama, and his fellow Democrats, would like to point to his spending cuts to deflect his out-of-control budget going forward, but in truth he has admitted to cutting (over the next ten years) only $1.7 trillion.As Ed Morrissey notes at Hot Air, "the federal government is on track for a fifth straight year of trillion-dollar deficits under Obama."Many Americans may think the President's gun control spending is the first in 2013, forgetting that the federal government started its fiscal year last October.The government actually spent $638 billion before we even reached December.At the current rate, the government is spending $10.45 billion per day, 435.8 million per hour and borrowing 46 cents for every dollar it spends.The growth of the country's spending is so much that the money it takes in, up 10% already this fiscal year, cannot keep pace.If this is avoiding the fiscal cliff, we're in for a nasty fall.. . . please click here for the rest of the post →
3.The Senate is dismantling the budget process and abdicating Congress's spending authority
During the last debt ceiling fight, some pundits in the media and on the left wished for the "Gephardt rule" when the House automatically raised the debt ceiling when they passed a budget. Josh Green at the Atlantic praised it in 2011, saying we should"bring [it] back."Now he is at Bloomberg and at it again and again and again. These pundits, and this is my first point, misunderstand what they are advocating for. Second, what they are misunderstanding reveals a startling blindspot: they ignore the dysfunction in the Senate. And my third point is that this is rewinding the clock on deliberative congressional consideration of spending proposals back to 1921 or before.
But first, what is the Gephardt Rule? The Gephardt rule deemed the House to have passed a debt ceiling increase when the House passed a conference report, aka an agreement between House and Senate negotiators, on the budget resolution. That's a lot of procedural mumbo-jumbo, but the critical fact about was that the House and Senate had a negotiation and agreed. So once the House endorsed that agreement, it endorsed the debt ceiling increase. This was invented by Dick Gephardt in 1979. It was repealed by House Republicans in 1995 due to criticism, correctly to my mind, didn't properly focus the mind on the increasing debt.. . . please click here for the rest of the post →
4.Liberals Don't Need Revenue to Grow Government Anymore
Once upon a time, liberals were somewhat principled in their pursuit of a utopian dirigisme.Sure, they always liked to play a bit of class warfare, but they fundamentally believed in taxing everyone.After all, if you want a cradle-to-grave government-run society, it's got to be purveyed by the broad populace. There simply aren't enough rich people to raise the requisite funds for a rapacious federal monstrosity.That's why Walter Mondale openly campaigned on raising everyone's taxes."Look at em, we're gonna tax their a**es off," he declared privately after his 1984 convention speech. . . . please click here for the rest of the post →
New York Declares War on the Second Amendment William A. Levinson New York's Governor, Andrew Cuomo, has just shown why supporters of the Bill of Rights must use legal, nonviolent, and socially acceptable methods to destroy gun grabber organizations like the Million Mom March in 2000 and break political careers. More
Obama Playing Chicken with American Men Daren Jonescu The left may have determined that, for all the tough talk, American gun owners will not, in the end, have the nerve to stand firm against federal orders involving firearms. More
Hijacking Rights Craig Schwartz The philosophy of Barack Obama is a version of altruism called "egalitarianism." It is a philosophy not of political equality but a claim to equality in reality. It is a belief that we need to equalize the unfairness in nature. More
Farm Bureau Turns Against Small Farmers on Boneta Bill Mark J. Fitzgibbons Farm Bureau is the insurance company that is the equivalent of AARP for farmers. It believes that it is the gatekeeper of all legislation affecting farmers. Protecting freedom and property rights evidently take a back seat. More
Obama Defiles Reagan Stagecraft Jeannie DeAngelis The difference between Reagan and Obama is that instead of doing what the Gipper did, which was to impart a measure of his own patriotic optimism to the country, Obama openly exposes his resentment. More
Spot the Greedy Ones Frank Ryan In defining the plight of America as the "greedy" wealthy, the president has failed to effectively solve any of our problems at all. And what about the greedy unions? More
Small Sacrifices Mary Gammon Obama dismissed a majority of Americans -- across the political and religious spectrum -- who disagree with him on a crucial moral point, More
Criminal control, not gun control January 18, 2013 Being tough on crime, which means being tough on criminals, is not something liberal Democrats are known for More
Lies and the National Agenda January 18, 2013 Where the "new lie" is concerned, the old "common sense" litmus test no longer applies. More
Grounding the Dreamliner January 17, 2013 Is the Boeing 787, heretofore known as the Dreamliner, becoming a nightmare for Boeing? More
Banned by Facebook January 17, 2013 Israeli journalist banned while Hamas continues to post. More
Obama and the Children January 17, 2013 The babies who were left to die after surviving abortions, for whom Obama worked to deny protection, are in heaven along with the children who were murdered in Newtown. More
Bang for your buck: that's what the Freedom Center provides. Ammunition for the culture war against the Left: that's what your contribution buys. So please act now and help us in the fight we are waging on many fronts for America's future. America is under assault from within and without. There is no time to lose.
An important new and powerful piece of evidence linking teen violence and media imagery of violence has come to the fore, what Grossman et al. call the "Final Nail in Hollywood's Coffin."
That would mean that KSM, the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks on the U.S., would be able to meet with his fellow terrorists outside his cell five times a day to "pray."
As a top advisor to Mr. Morsi, Dr. Al Eryian called for "Arab Jews" to vacate the state of Israel and "return to their home countries, particularly those states undergoing a transformation to democracy."
The man who is suspected of okaying the smuggling of guns into the hands of the Mexican drug cartels -- known as Fast and Furious -- has 'outed' himself as the king of the gun grabbers.
Officially called the Affordable Care Act (ACA), Obamacare will surely migrate into a bureaucratic death sentence for an American healthcare system once deemed the best in the world.
"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same." ~ Ronald Reagan
The column below, written by Harris Zafar and recently published in The Washington Post, defines "free speech" in a way that can only be described as classic doublespeak.
Zafar's premise reminds us of a column written by Sheikh Ali Gomaa, the Grand Mufti of Egypt, which appeared in The Wall Street Journal on October 8, 2009. Gomaa wrote:
We have upheld the right of freedom of conscience, and the freedom of expression, within the bounds of common decency...
We are committed to human liberty within the bounds of Islamic law. [emphasis added]
Who defines what is "common decency?" Sharia law, of course. For example, "common decency" does not include the right to criticize Islam.
The Organization of Islamic Cooperation is fighting, with the help of our State Department, to get UN Resolution 16/18 passed. This resolution calls on nations to prohibit speech about religion that incites people to violence.
Once again, we see who claims authority to define what speech should be protected and what speech prohibited. This is stealth jihad at its stealthiest.
Please read Zafar's column below, and see if you can spot the doublespeak and the questions about who and what define what is acceptable and permitted speech.
Here's an example to get you started: "...it [Islam] promotes free speech when our intention is to serve a good purpose..." "Good purposes" in sharia law include "fighting in the cause of Allah" (jihad) against anyone who opposes Islam, but do not include questioning anything Muhammad said.
While many celebrated the winter holidays, news broke of the arrest in Saudi Arabia of liberal writer Turki Al Hamad for allegedly insulting Islam on Twitter. We also heard of another Saudi activist, Raif Badawi, who was arrested in June and will now continue with his trial, accused of apostasy for ridiculing Saudi Arabia's religious police and making other comments that officials found insulting. These incidents have re-ignited the age old debate about the use of freedom of speech, especially with regards to Islam.
The difference between Islam's view on free speech and the view promoted by free speech advocates these days is the intention and ultimate goal each seeks to promote. Whereas many secularists champion individual privileges, Islam promotes the principle of uniting mankind and cultivating love and understanding among people. Both endorse freedom for people to express themselves, but Islam promotes unity, whereas modern-day free speech advocates promote individualism.
Let me explain.
The ultimate goal of Islam is to unite mankind under a single banner of peace. The Koran- Islam's holy scripture - says God created everyone in unity, but our own man-made differences has compromised our unity (2:214). In order to unite mankind, Islam instructs to only use speech to be truthful, do good to others, and be fair and respectful. It attempts to pre-empt frictions by prescribing rules of conduct which guarantee for all people not only freedom of speech but also fairness, absolute justice, and the right of disagreement.
The Koran instructs people to speak the truth (33:71), to speak in a manner that is best (17:54), to speak to others kindly (2:84) and to refrain from inappropriate speech (4:149). With Islam's guidance to purify our intentions, it promotes free speech when our intention is to serve a good purpose, promote peace, bring people closer to God and unite mankind. If, however, our intentions are to insult others or promote disorder or division, we should refrain.
The most vocal proponents of freedom of speech, however, call us towards a different path, where people can say anything and everything on their mind. With no restraint on speech at all, every form of provocation would exist, thereby cultivating confrontation and antagonism. They insist this freedom entitles them the legal privilege to insult others. This is neither democracy nor freedom of speech. It fosters animosity, resentment and disorder.
Rather than focusing on privileges, Islam focuses on the principle to avoid speech that causes separation and conflict. Our words should have a positive impact on people's lives, promote truth and promote justice. We agree with former U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower, who once said: "A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both." Treating speech as supreme at the expense of world peace and harmony is an incredibly flawed concept. No matter how important the cause of free speech, it still pales in comparison to the cause of world peace and unity.
Opponents of Islam claim it denies freedom of speech and censors those who insult Islam. This is factually incorrect. Islam does not prescribe any worldly punishment for unseemly speech. So people who insult should not be persecuted. Islam grants everyone the right to express disagreements with others. After all, the Prophet Muhammad called differences of opinion a blessing in society and never sought to censor or threaten those who verbally attacked him.
[Editor's note: Zafar is either ignorant of accepted Islamic history, including authoritative Islamic sources, or he is practicing taqiyya (deception.) Muhammad dealt harshly with those who dared to mock or criticize him, including ordering their assassination.]
According to the Koran, disbelievers called him "a mad man," "a victim of deception," a "fabricator" and treated him as a liar. Some claimed he was taught by another person instead of receiving revelations from God. They called the Koran "confused dreams" and "mere stories of the past" and even tore it into pieces.
Through this all, he courageously endured all verbal assaults. Rather than calling for any punishment, the Koran instructs us to "overlook their annoying talk" and "bear patiently what they say." The lesson here for all Muslims is that we are not to be afraid of insults. Rather, we must have the same courage as our Prophet to face such insults in the eye and respond with forbearance and calm, righteous speech. Muslims must learn how their faith instructs them to respond when they are verbally attacked. No riots; no violence. We respond to speech with speech, but our speech is to be better and more dignified.
So while antagonists and enemies of peace create slanderous videos, cartoons or advertisements - like the "Innocence of Muslims" film, Pamela Geller's new ignorant NYC subway ads and Charlie Hebdo's cartoon about Prophet Muhammad - let us not fall for their claim that an individual's privilege to say whatever they want is more important than the higher principle of uniting people and saving this planet from a path of animosity, hatred and destruction. Rather than falsely accusing Islam of censorship, let us understand the beauty of giving higher consideration to mankind over our own personal privileges. And let us listen to the wisdom of the Khalifa of Islam, His Holiness Mirza Masroor Ahmad, who said: "Let it not be that in the name of freedom of speech the peace of the entire world be destroyed."
Harris Zafar is National Spokesperson for Ahmadiyya Muslim Community USA - among the eldest Muslim organizations in America - and a frequently lecturer about Islam throughout the country.
Posted by Daniel Greenfield @ the Sultan Knish blog
So after a long bout of mocking Mitt Romney for saying that he sought out binders full of qualified female appointees, complete with protesters outside one of his campaign offices dressed in binders, the appointed hour came and the new cabinet of the man who was too good for binders of women was white and male.
There was some awkward fidgeting in the media. A few suggestions that maybe there should be a little more diversity. And that was followed by the new official talking point that diversity doesn't matter, it's all about the impact of the policies. Suddenly the Party of Affirmative Action began making conservative arguments for merit and representation, over racial preferences.
To some this was proof that liberals don't really believe in anything. And that's true and it isn't.
Modern American Liberalism is the movement of a wealthy white upper class meant to suppress the working class and the mercantile class. Think of it as the revenge of the barons against the merchants and the wrath of the old New England elites against the Nouveau Riche. It adopted the Jewish and Catholic immigrants who accepted its values and codes. It even occasionally brings in more exotic figures, like Barack Obama, so long as they have gone to the right schools and share their values.
Liberals champion multiculturalism, they enact diversity requirements and push through immigration, and then they send their children to private schools and buy houses in white neighborhoods. They are mostly unaware that they are doing this. They're just doing what comes naturally. Like most people, liberals are most comfortable among their own kind.
WASHINGTON (AP) - The nation's top military leaders warned Congress in unusually stark terms that its failure to pass a 2013 defense budget - coupled with the threat of automatic budget cuts - has pushed the Pentagon to the brink of a crisis.
They wrote in a joint letter to congressional leaders that the readiness of U.S. armed forces is at a "tipping point."
A copy of the letter was provided Wednesday to The Associated Press.
The military leaders said that troops in combat and those who are being treated for wounds will get the funds needed. But the rest of the force will be severely compromised if the Pentagon has to continue operating on last year's budget.
"We are on the brink of creating a hollow force," said the letter signed by the chiefs of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and National Guard, as well as the chairman and vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The Pentagon is facing two major money problems. First is the threat of drastic additional budget cuts if Congress and the Obama administration are unable to agree on debt-reduction measures by March. The second is Congress' failure thus far to pass a 2013 budget; that has left the Pentagon on a spending path based on its previous budget.
In their letter the military leaders said the main risk is that budget conditions will create such a wide disconnect between their spending needs and the available funds that the armed forces will be ill prepared for future combat.
"Should this looming readiness crisis be left unaddressed, we will have to ground aircraft, return ships to port, and stop driving combat vehicles in training," they wrote, adding that training would have to be reducing by almost half of what was planning just three months ago.
"To avert this crisis we urge you to take immediate action to provide adequate and stable funding for readiness," they wrote.
"Under current budgetary uncertainty, we are at grave risk of an imposed mismatch between the size of our nation's military force and the funding required to maintain its readiness, which will inevitably lead to a hollow force."
Shameful: WH Posts Videos of Kids Advocating Gun Control
Leah Barkoukis Web Editor, Townhall.com
Jan 17, 2013
The Obama administration has taken exploiting children to a new low. On Thursday, the White House posted four YouTube videos of children reading letters to the president about finding a solution to the gun violence problem (the same kids sitting behind him on Wednesday). In Hinna's video, for example, she says, "Can we stop using guns? I think if there are no guns on the street no one could get hurt. Bullets don't have eyes, it can hurt anyone. I'm really scared of guns and criminals around the world. I love my country and I want everyone to be happy and safe. No guns, no guns, no guns, no guns."
Benghazi Bagman, Denis McDonough, to be named Obama's Next Chief of Staff
Hagel, Brennan, Kerry ... and now Denis McDonough. President Barack Obama plans to name Deputy National Security Adviser Denis McDonough as his next chief of staff, a Democratic source briefed on the plans tells POLITICO. McDonough would replace Jack Lew, the communist Obama nominated to be his new Treasury secretary.
Denis McDonough, Deputy National Security Advisor and a former senior fellow at the uber far left Center for American Progress, is the man most responsible for orchestrating the Benghazi jihad cover-up. McDonough rewrote the CIA talking points on Benghazi, misrepresenting the video, when the true motive behind the terrorist attack was well known. But lying to the American people was what was most important to Obama, not American lives, to ensure his re-election.
Denis McDonough met with Muslim Brotherhood groups linked to Hamas and took the lead in blaming the video. A top White House official has blasted as "truly abhorrent" the anti-Islam film which appears to have triggered an outpouring of violence against U.S. diplomatic posts in Egypt and Libya.
Speaking to an international religious freedom conference in Washington Wednesday, Deputy National Security Adviser Denis McDonough endorsed efforts to create "a world where the dignity of all people-and all faiths-is respected."
According to his prepared remarks released by the White House, he then added: "This work takes on added urgency given the truly abhorrent video that has offended so many people-Muslims, and non-Muslims alike-in our country and around the world."
That makes Denis McDonough a front runner in the Benghazigate competition.
I believe the Attorney General is out of touch with the common person when it comes to guns!!!
After rolling over us on every possible thing we can imagine, now they plan to disarm us so that a complete government takeover will be much simpler. Do you agree?
Attorney General Holder says,
"WE HAVE NO RIGHT TO POSSESS GUNS."
TAKES 10 SECONDS ... DO IT AND PASS IT ON.
Guess they were not happy with the poll results the first time, so USA Today is running another one... Be Sure To Vote Now!
Attorney General Eric Holder, has already said this is one of his major issues. He does not believe the 2nd Amendment gives individuals the right to bear arms. This takes literally 2 clicks to complete. Please vote on this gun issue question with USA Today. Then pass the link on to all the pro-gun folks you know.
Hopefully the results will be published later this month.
Here's what you need to do:
First - Vote.
Second- Send it to other folks, then we will see if the results get published.
"O sir, we should have fine times, indeed, if, to punish tyrants, it were only sufficient to assemble the people! Your arms, wherewith you could defend yourselves, are gone ..." ~ Patrick Henry
Treading Toward Tyranny
Second Congressman Calls For Obama Impeachment Daily Caller/Posted On America's Conservative News
A second Republican congressman is suggesting that impeachment should be an option as President Barack Obama takes executive action to enact gun control measures.
Chicago Murders Top Afghanistan Death Toll By Michael Thompson World Net Daily
The death toll by murder in Chicago over the past decade is greater than the number of American forces who have died in Afghanistan since the beginning of Operation Enduring Freedom, according to a police analysis.
Pelosi Apparently Wasn't Listening When She Took The Oath
Pelosi: More Gun Control Needed Because 'We Took an Oath to Protect and Defend' By Elizabeth Harrington CNSNews.com
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said action must be taken in the aftermath of the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School because members of Congress took an oath to "protect and defend," although the actual oath says to "support and defend the Constitution of the United States ..."
Militants Seize Dozens Of Hostages In Algeria NewsMax.com
As Algerian army helicopters clattered overhead deep in the Sahara desert, Islamist militants hunkered down for the night in a natural gas complex they had assaulted Wednesday morning, killing two people and taking dozens of foreigners hostage in what could be the first spillover from France's intervention in Mali.
Two handguns and two pistol permits were stolen from the New City home of a man whose name and address are listed on the website of a local newspaper as possessing gun permits, police said.
The thieves ransacked the house Wednesday night, breaking into ...(more)
Bob Schieffer somehow topped Chris Matthews during CBS News's special coverage of President Obama's gun control press conference on Wednesday, as he became the worst caricature of a foaming-at-the-mouth cheerleader for the chief executive ...(more)
A second Republican congressman is suggesting that impeachment should be an option as President Barack Obama takes executive action to enact gun control measures ...(more)
Where is the liberal outrage? Where is the liberal suspicion about powerful, unchecked governments? Where is the liberal unflinching devotion to individual liberty?
We have a president who has radically reshaped the landscape of American government so ...(more)
Thursday, January 17, 2013
To: Friends & Supporters
From: Gary L. Bauer
Obama's America
As I watched the evening news and thought more about Barack Obama's press conference yesterday, I began thinking about how Obama's reaction to the Sandy Hook shootings reflected the "fundamental transformation" of America that he is desperately trying to achieve. The way the debate over the future of Second Amendment rights is unfolding fits a pattern that Obama has followed repeatedly over the last four years.
When the Obama Administration began, it used the economic meltdown as an excuse to massively expand the government. Remember Rahm Emanuel's infamous quip, "You never want a serious crisis to go to waste"? He added, "This crisis provides the opportunity for us to do things that you could not do before." That's how we ended up with an $800 billion stimulus bill that dramatically expanded the budgets of every bloated bureaucracy.
Now a despicable crime in Newtown, where children were brutally murdered, is being used by the left as the latest "opportunity to do things that you could not do before" -- namely act on the left's long-term goal of disarming the law-abiding public. But liberals are often uninterested in disarming criminals. As a state senator, Barack Obama opposed tougher penalties for gun crimes committed in schools!
Demonizing Disagreement
Then there is the false claim by Obama that he is seeking "a national conversation." How many times have we heard that in the past four years? A conversation or dialogue insinuates that reasonable people will discuss a problem and look for solutions.
But Obama and his leftist allies immediately attempt to demonize and marginalize anyone who holds conservative views. In the early years of the administration, if you were against Obama's big spending initiatives you were accused of wanting to kick elderly nursing home patients out onto the streets or forcing children with disabilities to fend for themselves.
When it comes to guns, where is the "national conversation?" In his remarks yesterday, Obama said that members of Congress are going to have to decide "what's more important -- doing whatever it takes to get an A grade from the gun lobby" or "giving parents some peace of mind when they drop their child off for first grade?"
In President Obama's mind, that is evidently a fair description of how pro-Second Amendment congressmen and women think. With little kids on stage, Obama essentially said, "If you don't agree with me, the only thing that could possibly be motivating you is fear of the gun lobby."
Playing On Emotions
Obama also uses emotionalism to establish an impossible goal. This is done so that even if liberals win the debate, it's not over. They will come back for more.
During the Obamacare debate, liberals declared that no one should have to go without healthcare because they can't afford it. Like a lot of the liberal agenda, it may sound good, but it is impractical. When Obamacare fails, liberals won't admit they were wrong and repeal it. They will simply demand more -- more spending, higher taxes and even bigger government. By the way, they already are.
What does CBS anchor Bob Schieffer have to add to the "national conversation" on guns? He suggested that defeating the NRA now is somehow akin to defeating the Nazis.
According to Schieffer, "unless we figure out a way to make sure that something like Newtown never happens again, we're not the country that we once were."
It would be nearly impossible to guarantee something like Newtown will never happen again. To do so would require a police state, and that would guarantee that we would never be America again!
No Respect For Rule Of Law
Lastly, I have been struck by the left's regular hostility to the Constitution and the procedures it establishes. Do you remember Nancy Pelosi's dismissive reaction when she was asked the constitutional justification for Obamacare's individual mandate? She had no answer. Her only response was to feign outrage by asking, "Are you serious?" In other words, "How dare you question me!"
Last month, a Georgetown law professor suggested that we just dump the Constitution -- "with all its archaic, idiosyncratic and downright evil provisions" -- in order to "try extricating ourselves from constitutional bondage." At least he is honest.
More recently, CNN's pompous Piers Morgan mocked a conservative guest and his "little book." That "little book" happened to be a copy of the Constitution.
Let me state a truth that I think most of us know, but that a lot of Americans who aren't paying as much attention don't realize or appreciate: If the left could wave a magic wand -- Obama, liberal judges, professors -- it would repeal the Second Amendment, and no one would be allowed to carry a firearm except for government officials.
Liberals can't do that, but they are unwilling to do the appropriate thing, which would be to state publicly that they don't think Second Amendment is a good idea and they want to repeal it. Fundamentally, they don't respect the rule of law. If they did, they would have to admit that the Constitution matters.
The Solution
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, elections have consequences. Yes, we face tremendous challenges on a host of fronts. But we cannot govern unless we first win elections. That's why I formed Campaign for Working Families -- to help elect men and women who will fight for our values.
I am not giving up, my friends. We have some good opportunities in 2014, and I will let you know more in the days ahead.
For liberals facts are never really important. "Truth" to liberals like Democrat New York City Congressman Jerrold Nadler is what he "feels" it is. Nadler has said: "Hunters don't use large ammunition clips, and as far as self- defense, I mean who are you defending yourself against? If you're defending yourself against a robber... two or three or four shots should be enough-period."
It's a safe bet Nadler has never faced an assailant fueled by adrenalin drugs and alcohol. That doesn't matter, of course, since no one will ever challenge Nadler on his supposed knowledge of the danger presented by people who are psychotic and drunk - "period."
The "period" at the end of Nadler's pronouncement is the classic liberal dismissal of anyone daring to disagree with their use of "feelings" as facts.
The Republicans in Congress look like they are about to sell us out on the question of protecting the Second Amendment. The way they took a dive on the "fiscal cliff" gives us an idea of what they will probably do when confronted with Barack Obama's fearsome attacks on gun ownership. They won't listen to us. They will jump as high as the media and Obama tells them to and count themselves lucky if they aren't singled out as a Hillbilly and an ogre for opposing "common sense" gun control.
According to a newly released report, based on the results of a major sampling of conservatives-the kind of people who vote in Republican primaries-if this scenario plays out many Republicans might be in for a rude awakening.
When I began writing about the menace of increased federal involvement in our medical delivery system, I was surprised to discover that some doctors actually supported it. These misguided medicos represented only a small minority of practicing physicians, and most were profoundly ignorant about health care economics, but the "M.D." following their names provided them with a façade of credibility.
As you might expect, the most entertaining reactions to President Obama's speech on gun control have come from Obama supporters. We have collected the best from all sides of the argument. See themHERE.
Sen. Rand Paul will propose legislation early next week to �nullify� President Barack Obama�s executive actions on guns. Sen. Paul told Fox News host Sean Hannity that Obama�s executive orders are a breach of the constitutional separation of powers between the executive and legislative branches. Watch the segmentHERE.
On Wednesday, MSNBC host Andrea Mitchell argued that even Americans� �inalienable rights� may be infringed upon by the federal government, including our freedom of speech and Second Amendment rights. Watch Eric Pratt of Gun Owners for America deliver a well thought out analogy that seemingly dismantled Mitchell�s argumentHERE.
This �entitlement generation� is the topic Glenn Beck tackled on his Wednesday evening broadcast. Exploring the detrimental, indeed anti-social (ironically) impact social networking is having on young, budding egoists today, Beck noted that the new level of self-focus is dangerous. See the segmentHERE.
Wednesday, on Fox News� America Live, anchor Megyn Kelly explained how viewers can create a �porn name� for themselves. Seriously. Watch Ms. Kelly explain the process, and create your own identityHERE.
If you tell Steven Kozar his paintings look like photographs, he�ll be quick to tell you that this isn�t his intention. He isn�t trying to trick his viewers. �Being a photorealistic painting really helps if you can find those people who appreciate it,� Kozar said in a phone interview with TheBlaze. See some of Kozar's amazing works of artHERE.
The unfolding story of Notre Dame football player Manti Te�o and his non-existent girlfriend, Lennay Kekua, has lit fires across media outlets. Sports, news, entertainment � all formats are ablaze with speculation and disbelief. However, many questions about this story remain unanswered. See the latest and decide if you think Te'o was involved in the scam or just an innocent victim HERE.
Real News from TheBlaze -- The failure of the Obama Doctrine In Mali - Tune in to Real News tonight for the answers -- 6pm ET or on-demand on TheBlaze TV.
Wilkow! -- Is the gun control issue being used to hide other failures of this administration? Watch Wilkow! at 6pm ET -- only on TheBlaze TV.
Things got heated when Texas lawmaker Steve Toth, told CNN's Wolf Blitzer that his state is going to ensure that when it comes to the 2nd Amendment �we follow the United States Constitution." Watch the testy segment HERE.
�Protecting my family from worst-case violence is TODAY my highest priority. Yet relying on a firearm can be a huge mistake. The solution I found protects my family... and can protect yours, too. >>Here�s how>>�
If you hear God speak audibly, does that mean that you�ve gone insane � or, at the least, that you�re in the process of completely losing your marbles? TheBlaze has organized a special poll to ask about any intriguing interactions you have had with a higher power. We invite you to be part of our surveyHERE.
Jan 17, 2013 01:42 pm What do Al Hunt of Bloomberg News, David Gregory of "Meet the Press", and President Obama have in common - besides their liberal politics? They all send their kids to Sidwell Friends School. With campuses in Washington, D.C. and Bethesda, Md., the highly selective private school is where the Clintons and the Gores sent their [...]
Rush Limbaugh also says the media has still not vetted him... Related posts: Mark Levin: Background Check Needed For Barack Obama Mark Levin is calling for background checks for all politicians,... LOL: Rush Spoofs Eastwood Halftime Ad I laughed and laughed when I heard this spoof of...
Congressman Responds To President Obama's Dangerous Proposals
Jan 17, 2013 01:20 pm Gun bans and anti-gun laws have always lead to one thing - more gun violence. We owe it to innocent people to make this country as safe as possible. Sadly, in President Obama's announcement every tragedy he mentioned was either in a state that aggressively restricts the right to keep and bear arms or was [...]
Video: Senator: I'm Afraid Obama Has A King Complex
Jan 17, 2013 01:16 pm
Sen. Rand Paul unveils plan to stop assault on 2nd Amendment on Fox News' Hannity... Related posts: Senator On Gun Control Executive Order: Obama Is Not 'King' "I'm against having a king," Senator Rand Paul said. "I... Rand Paul: Obama Acting Like King Here is an interview with Senator Rand Paul on radio...
Dem. Jerrold Nadler: "2 To 4 Self-defense Shots Are Enough"
Jan 17, 2013 01:09 pm For liberals, facts are never really important. "Truth" to liberals like Democrat New York City Congressman Jerrold Nadler is what he "feels" it is. Nadler has said: "Hunters don't use large ammunition clips, and as far as self- defense, I mean who are you defending yourself against? If you're defending yourself against a robber... two [...]
Video: Will Obama Take Away Our Access To The Internet?
Jan 17, 2013 01:01 pm
I think so, probably within the next five or six months if not sooner. Related posts: Georgia Judge Orders Obama To Attend Ballot Access Hearing ... Continue to Post... ForgeryGate: Attorney Says "Discovery Is Underway" In Florida Obama Ballot Access Challenge Attorney Larry Klayman is a patriot in trying to get...
Jan 17, 2013 12:57 pm America is a Judeo-Christian country. Some say "Duh!" while others make statements I can't repeat in my family friendly posts (LOL). Hereafter called its "J-C baseline" America's religious heritage is ground zero for what Pat Buchanan famously called the "Culture War". Americans come in all faiths. We also have those who profess no faith. Our [...]
Video: Rubio: Obama "Doesn't Have The Guts To Admit He Doesn't Believe In The 2nd Amendment"
Jan 17, 2013 12:56 pm
Marco Rubio had this to say on Barack Obama's 23 gun control actions: Related posts: Marco Rubio Pushes Back At Colin Powell's Diversity Criticism Of Republican Party Appearing on "The Andrea Tantaros Show" this morning, Sen. Marco... Rubio: Pentagon 'Wrong' To Give Bin Laden Filmmaker Access Senator Marco Rubio criticized the Obama administration for cooperating [...]
Obama Use Of Children As Props Mirrors Hitler, Stalin
Jan 17, 2013 12:43 pm On Wednesday Barack Obama used children as props in order to attempt to pull on the heartstrings of the public, snookering them into supporting his proposals for gun bans and a national database of all gun owners. Supposedly the message in the photo-op is that no matter how egregious the attack on the rights of [...]
Video: AZ State Senator Slams Obama's Gun Control Plan
Jan 17, 2013 12:38 pm Arizona State Senator Lori Klein says the President's gun control plan is a slippery slope when it comes to freedom... Related posts: NY State Senator Walks Off Stage In Fury At NYC Muslim Parade On a beautiful September Sunday afternoon, not far from the... Obama Supported Infanticide As A State Senator Obama's record, while a [...]
Video: Allen West: Why We Need To Stand Up For Our Future
Jan 17, 2013 12:30 pm
Allen West, Director of Next Generation Programming, discusses his plans to start a national conversation about preserving the American dream so his daughters (and all young Americans) have the same opportunities in life he has. Related posts: Video: Allen West To Obama, Fire Holder Or You're Complicit! As always, Allen West is the man.... Continue [...]
When NRA suggested putting armed security in every school across America, mainstream media sharply criticized Wayne LaPierre - calling him everything from "laughable" and "tone deaf" to "whacked," "evil" and "out of step with America." Related posts: Obama's Columbia Classmate Speaks Out Wayne Allyn Root, Obama's outspoken classmate, talks to radio host... Flashback: Pres. Clinton [...]
Video: Dobbs: Obama Using Scare Tactics Over Debt Ceiling
Jan 17, 2013 11:52 am FBN's Lou Dobbs on what actually happens if Congress does not raise the debt ceiling... Watch the latest video at video.foxbusiness.com Related posts: Dobbs Explores The Mysterious Robert Roche And His White House Influence Lou Dobbs on the fight for votes ahead of November's... Video: Richard Viguerie And Lou Dobbs Discuss D.C.'s Addiction To Debt [...]
Jan 17, 2013 11:47 am In just two months the globalists of the UN will gather in New York City to put the final touches on plans to impose strict regulations worldwide on the right of the individual to buy, sell, trade, or own guns and ammunition. On March 18, 2013 in New York City the next round of negotiations [...]
Jan 17, 2013 11:42 am WASHINGTON (OfficialWire) - House Democrats are pushing legislation to repeal the federal debt ceiling, saying the borrowing limit has no practical purpose and has come to be used for political maneuvering that can have devastating economic repercussions. New York Rep. Jerrold Nadler said the debt ceiling is arbitrary, doesn't affect the deficit and has become [...]
Video: Gun Rights Advocates Face Off With Piers Morgan
Jan 17, 2013 11:38 am
Dana Loesch and Scottie Hughes tell Piers Morgan: "We have the right to bear arms!" Related posts: Piers Morgan Blows Up On Larry Pratt Over Gun Rights Piers Morgan being a pompous goofball as usual...... Continue to... Christine O'Donnell Walks Off Piers Morgan Interview In a bizarre incident, former Delaware GOP Senate candidate Christine...
Video: Andrea Mitchell Shut Down By Gun Rights Advocate
Jan 17, 2013 11:29 am In a contentious exchange with Eric Pratt of Gun Owners of America on her Wednesday MSNBC show, host Andrea Mitchell declared that Constitutional rights, like the right to bear arms, were more like suggestions: Related posts: Andrea Mitchell Lauds 'Living Legacy' Of Anita Hill, Knocks Clarence Thomas According to MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell, Clarence Thomas' accuser, [...]
More Evidence That Nancy Pelosi Is A Low-Information Member Of Congress
Jan 17, 2013 11:25 am Have you ever wondered why ignorant people get elected to political office? The voters know that they will not follow the rules. They know that they will not keep their oath. If enough pressure is put on them, they will vote the way The latest ignorance coming from House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is [...]
Video: Democrats Have No Right To Claim Lincoln's Legacy
Jan 17, 2013 11:19 am
The Democratic Party opposed President Lincoln and just about every other civil rights advance in the United States. So what gives the Democrats and Hollywood liberals the right to claim Abraham Lincoln as their president? Hear what AlfonZo Rachel thinks. Related posts: Obama Represented And Won Zo is not surprised that President Obama won reelection. [...]
Sen. Rand Paul Introducing Bill To 'Nullify' Obama's Executive Action On Guns
Jan 17, 2013 11:18 am (CNSNews.com) - Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) says he plans to introduce a bill next week that "will nullify anything the president does that smacks of legislation." Paul spoke with Sean Hannity Wednesday night, hours after President Obama signed 23 executive orders on gun control. Paul said several of those executive orders appear to be a [...]
Video: EPA E-mail Scandal Questions Still Unanswered
Jan 17, 2013 11:10 am Chris Horner exposed this flap... Watch the latest video at video.foxnews.com Watch the latest video at video.foxnews.com Related posts: New Hearing Set On Fast And Furious Scandal A new hearing for the Fast and Furious gunwalking scandal... New Questions About Old Dust-up Between Gallup, Obama Camp David Axelrod shows how much of a cry-baby he [...]
Hagel On Board Of Soros Group Pushing 'Nuke-free World.'
Jan 17, 2013 11:02 am Former Sen. Chuck Hagel, President Obama's nominee for defense secretary, serves on the board of a George Soros-funded group that advocates a nuclear-free world. The Ploughshares Fund has a long history of anti-war advocacy and is a partner of the Marxist-oriented Institute for Policy Studies, which has urged the defunding of the Pentagon and massive [...]
Eliminating Feminist Teacher Bias Erases Boys' Falling Grades, Study Finds
Jan 17, 2013 10:55 am January 17, 2013, (LifeSiteNews.com) - Has the Sexual Revolution, and the feminist ideology that drives it, pushed men out of universities by undermining boys in school as early as kindergarten? Some writers are beginning to connect the dots between the shift over the last few decades in educational practices from fact-based grading to evaluation based [...]
How About Some Hate Control Before More Gun Control?
Jan 17, 2013 10:46 am As most informed people know, there was a tragic and senseless school shooting incident in Newtown, Connecticut last month that left defenseless children and adults killed by an obviously deranged young man. It is inconceivable to most people how a young man can go so astray that he murders random people for no obvious reason. [...]
Jan 17, 2013 10:27 am Following the defeat of 2012, it seems as if everyone - yours truly included - has an opinion about where the conservative movement goes from here. But right now presents an excellent opportunity to rally the Right again. Following the fiscal cliff fiasco, the next big battle inside the beltway will be the debt ceiling [...]
Congressman Responds To President Obama's Dangerous Proposals
Jan 17, 2013 10:20 am Gun bans and anti-gun laws have always lead to one thing - more gun violence. We owe it to innocent people to make this country as safe as possible. Sadly, in President Obama's announcement every tragedy he mentioned was either in a state that aggressively restricts the right to keep and bear arms or was [...]
Jan 17, 2013 10:17 am America is a Judeo-Christian country. Some say "Duh!" while others make statements I can't repeat in my family friendly posts (LOL). Hereafter called its "J-C baseline" America's religious heritage is ground zero for what Pat Buchanan famously called the "Culture War". Americans come in all faiths. We also have those who profess no faith. Our [...]
Jan 17, 2013 10:14 am Imagine what it must feel like to be the only person in the world selectively excluded from participating in the Presidential Inaugural Prayer Breakfast, an event designed to pray for the nation's future. That's what was reported about me by the George Soros slander machine Media Matters while I was out of the country last [...]
Jan 17, 2013 10:10 am (Author's note: Please offer this to a liberal Black person you know.) Black folks, we literally stand at a cross roads with oblivion! The Ghetto looms ever larger as the center of contemporary Black culture, which means disaster for America- starting with us! Socialists and mainstream enablers say denouncing our out-of-( self ) control inner [...]
In March 2003, amidst simmering legislative controversy over the future of Chicago's lakefront airport, Meigs Field, then-Mayor Richard M. Daley sent bulldozers in the dead of night to carve the letter "X" several times into the runway, rendering the airport useless and ending the debate. That stunt is a model for President Barack Obama's second term, in which he is determined to exceed the boundaries of his power.
On every front, the Obama administration is testing its constitutional limits. Yesterday's announcement of 23 executive orders to implement gun control without the consent of Congress is only the most recent example. Obama knows that some of the orders will not stand, just as some of the legislation he has proposed will not pass. But if he can make even a small dent in the Second Amendment, he can change the debate forever.
After veering away at the last minute from a fiscal cliff over federal spending, Congress and the White House appear to be racing toward another economic precipice, this one dealing with the nation's debt limit. So how will this play out? There exist several potential scenarios.
A rule of the modern age: all confident, re-elected presidents trip up in the second term. LBJ was sunk by Vietnam. Reagan faced Iran-Contra. Bill Clinton had his comeuppance with Monica. George W. Bush was overwhelmed with the Iraqi insurgency and Katrina. And Obama will have his as well, obsequious media or not.
The tragic murder of three female Kurdish activists in Paris last week shocked the Kurdish political world. This is the first time that Kurdish political figures have been targeted in Europe since the murder of four Kurdish nationalist leaders in a restaurant in Berlin in 1992 by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.
In the good old days, consumers got what they wanted. Supply and demand, not causes or ideology, governed product design and manufacturing. But the Green Movement's worship of scarcity has changed the consumer landscape for the worse. Below are seven crappy products we must endure, courtesy of the Green Movement.
In the highly competitive world of the news media, one New York newspaper is apparently more than happy to embarrass another in connection with the recent gun-map controversy.
Get a load of the hate mail flooding in from around the country.
Did you know that yesterday was Religious Freedom Day in America? It didn't get a lot of attention, since President Obama was busy signing executive orders, but he also put out a proclamation on religious freedom.
"Because of the protections guaranteed by our Constitution, each of us has the right to practice our faith openly and as we choose," the President wrote. "As we observe Religious Freedom Day, let us remember the legacy of faith and independence we have inherited, and let us honor it by forever upholding our right to exercise our beliefs free from prejudice or persecution."
That's one heck of a proclamation from an Administration whose actions have attacked religious liberty for Americans.
The best-known example is Obamacare's Health and Human Services (HHS) mandate that employers pay for contraceptives and abortion-inducing drugs in their health care plans. This has caused business owners to face excruciating decisions between complying-and violating their consciences-or facing massive fines.
The sad fact is, under President Obama, Americans have been forced to fight for their religious liberty in the courts. More than 110 plaintiffs are fighting the HHS mandate, and that's hardly the only religious liberty battle being waged.
The Supreme Court has already rebuked the Administration for its attacks on religious liberty-and it did so unanimously:
The Administration argued in a recent Supreme Court case, Hosanna Tabor v. EEOC, that religious employers should not have the ability to maintain the integrity of their institutions through religious hiring practices. In an embarrassing incident for the Obama Administration, the Supreme Court dismissed the Department of Justice's argument, unanimously ruling in favor of institutional religious liberty.
Americans are battling at the state level as well. In Illinois, a court battle finally came to an end, upholding pharmacists' right to practice their profession in accordance with their beliefs.
And the drive toward redefining marriage-now under consideration in the Supreme Court-has already begun to affect people who disagree by interfering with their rights to practice their faith. Heritage's Andrew Walker notes:
These trends are disturbing, but they are hardly new in the scheme of history. As Jennifer Marshall, Heritage's director of domestic policy studies, wrote in "Understanding American Liberty":
Authoritarian governments-whether religious or secular-have long sought to curb or even to extinguish religious liberty. On the other hand, the limited American government established by our Constitution respects the institutions of our civil society-including, especially, religious institutions. The American Founders believed that strong religious congregations and vibrant faith communities were essential to ordered liberty. As a result, Americans have long enjoyed the fullest religious liberty in the world, and we have reaped the benefits of a flourishing civil society rooted in that religious freedom.
Religious Freedom Day commemorates the anniversary of the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, written by Thomas Jefferson and passed by the state assembly in 1786. Jefferson wrote that "no man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place, or ministry whatsoever, nor shall be enforced, restrained, molested, or burthened in his body or goods, nor shall otherwise suffer on account of his religious opinions or belief; but that all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinion in matters of religion."
Words that don't match deeds from this President simply add insult to the many injuries his Administration has caused people of faith in the past four years.
Research assistant Sarah Torre contributed to this article.
January 17, 2013
Hundreds of Thousands March for Marriage in France
French leaders, once poised to pass a same-sex marriage bill, are meeting opposition to their efforts.
A multi-faith coalition including Christians, Jews, and Muslims are protesting the move to redefine marriage.
The legislative effort is a troubling move for the country, which is facing its own deteriorating marriage culture. Redefining marriage would intensify the confusion plaguing France over the purpose and public nature of marriage.
Government recognizes marriage because it is an institution that is fundamental to society's stability. Government-whether French or American-should not obscure the truth about marriage by accepting a revisionist view of marriage, which sees marriage as primarily about emotional bonds or legal privileges.
In redefining marriage to include same-sex relationships, government would weaken marital norms, which would further delink childbearing from marriage and hurt spouses and children-especially the most vulnerable. It would deny a mother or father to a child as a matter of policy. Citizens would also lose more of their freedom of religion and conscience.
Sadly, reports indicate that the French government is ignoring the people's voice, insisting that it will move ahead with their proposal to introduce legislation this month in hopes of passage in June.
Low-Income Families Affected Most by Prevalence of Abortion
About two-fifths of abortions are performed on women whose income is below the poverty line. Nearly one-half have never been married. Learn more on the demographics of abortion in America at FamilyFacts.org
DeVos Center for Religion and Civil Society at The Heritage Foundation
Founded in 1973, The Heritage Foundation is the nation's most broadly supported public policy organization. Heritage established the DeVos Center for Religion and Civil Society in 2004 to educate government officials, the media and the public about the role religion, family, and civil society play in sustaining
Medicaid Expansion Is Too Good To Be True
In the months since the Supreme Court ruling that made the Obamacare Medicaid expansion optional, the state costs associated with expansion still remain highly uncertain-making expansion a dicey course for states and their budgets.
Indeed, states should not lose sight of the fact that the original Medicaid expansion was coercive for a reason. As Nina Owcharenko, director of Heritage's Center for Health Policy Studies, points out, "The fact that the authors of Obamacare felt the need to threaten states with total defunding tells you that they knew many states would resist expanding their programs-even with 100 percent federal funding.
States are still weighing their options. Many of them have commissioned studies to project the state costs of expanding. However, all cost estimates reflect the assumptions used to construct them, and using different assumptions can result in estimates varying wildly between (and sometimes within) states.
For instance, Florida Governor Rick Scott (R) released a study that projected that an Obamacare Medicaid expansion would cost his state $26 billion over 10 years. A different Florida study made alternative assumptions, concluding it would cost Florida about $3 billion over 10 years. The major difference between the competing studies is that Scott's does not assume that the federal government's enhanced match rate will continue as described in the law.
Scott is right to distrust the federal government. In the Administration's 2013 budget, the President proposed using a "blended" reimbursement rate for Medicaid. A blended rate could cost states considerably more than the funding levels promised in Obamacare. According to Heritage's Center for Data Analysis calculation, under the Obamacare rates it would cost the 50 states a total of almost $42 billion from 2014 to 2022, while under one version of a blended rate it would cost states about $120 billion over the same period.
THE INCREASE IN ENTITLEMENT SPENDING DUE TO OBAMACARE
Over the next ten years, entitlement spending will drastically increase due to the implementation of Obamacare. Learn More >>
About The Heritage Foundation
Founded in 1973, The Heritage Foundation is a research and educational institute - a think tank - whose mission is to formulate and promote conservative public policies based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values, and a strong national defense.
The Heritage Foundation | 214 Massachusetts Ave NE, Washington, DC 20002 | 202.546.4400 | heritage.org
The New York Times reports an amazing discovery in the hysteria over assault weapons and puts it at the top of the article, Journalism 101-style:
One obstacle President Obama may face in proposing a new federal ban on assault weapons could lie in the use of the term "assault weapon" itself.
You see, there is an apparently lack of clarity over what constitutes an assault weapon. I hope the folks writing the Times editorials on the subject get wind of this amazing discovery. It's almost enough to make you think they don't know what they're talking about.
On February 16, 2002, a Palestinian terrorist blew himself up in a packed pizzeria in the Israeli town of Karnei Shomron, killing American citizens Keren Shatsky, 15, and Rachel Thaler, 16 and Israeli teenager Nehemia Amar, 15. The Israel Law Center does not want to forget what was revealed in the apparently privileged document inadvertently produced by the Palestinian Authority/PLO in the lawsuit brought against them in federal court by the parents of the murdered American teenagers:
In exploiting kids as props to promote his schemes of the moment, President Obama stoops to conquer. He's done it before and he'll do it again. It worked - rhetorically, at least - for Bill Clinton. As I recall, just about every damn exertion of federal control or expansion of the welfare state was for the children. Obama is picking up where Clinton left off and "improving" on him. The kids can be used to argue just about any point, though, can't they?
I wrote this post for The Corner, in an ecumenical spirit:
President Obama unveiled his proposals to combat gun violence today, and they turned out to be anti-climactic. There were no surprises, unless you expected him to mention the culture of violence fostered by Democratic Party donors in Hollywood and the video game industry. He didn't.
The administration's gun proposals turned out to be retreads. Obama could have tried something new, perhaps something more sweeping: a ban on all semiautomatic rifles, perhaps, or even a ban that includes some handguns. Instead, the White House paper that explains the president's proposals says the administration wants to ban "military-style assault weapons," using that phrase repeatedly. Obama, too, used the phrase "military-style assault weapons" at least four times during his press conference today.
Rick Perry has presided for some years now over America's most successful state. His track record of success is unmatched, so his voice should be listened to. This is what he had to say about Barack Obama's gun control pronouncements:
The Vice President's committee was appointed in response to the tragedy at Newtown, but very few of his recommendations have anything to do with what happened there.
Guns require a finger to pull the trigger. The sad young man who did that in Newtown was clearly haunted by demons and no gun law could have saved the children in Sandy Hook Elementary from his terror.
. . . .
Matt Drudge noted the creepy antecedents of Obama's abuse of children to serve his political agenda, with these images:
Not all uses of children by politicians are contemptible, but this one certainly was.
Standing on the Graves of Sandy Hook By Ben Shapiro Forget about having an honest political discussion about how to solve the problem of murder by guns in the United States. Not one of the solutions Obama proposes would have stopped what happened in Sandy Hook. But Obama's implication is clear: disagree with him, and you are fine with what happened in Sandy Hook.
Seemingly benign, a closer look at the new gun orders unveiled by the President yesterday reveals the typical progressive agenda at play. These 23 orders don't ban guns outright but they set a disturbing precedent going forward and lay the groundwork for future action. Check out Glenn's breakdown on radio today.
CBS: Defeating NRA like defeating the Nazis
Everyone knows the TV news media tends to lean to the left, so it should come as no surprise that CBS would attack gun proponents. What is surprising, however, is a "journalist" equating the NRA and others in the gun lobby with the Nazis. Check out the comments and Glenn's response on radio today.
Glenn Beck's 2013 Misfit Inauguration Ball on TheBlaze TV
Monday, January 21 at 5pm ET, join Glenn as he hosts the 2013 Misfit Inauguration Ball live from his studio in Dallas, TX. Join some of the infamous "misfits" no longer welcome in Obama's America - champions of freedom, smaller government, and the Constitution. With live red carpet commentary from Pat & Stu, this is one black-tie affair you won't want to miss.
NY's new gun laws...unconstitutional?
New York's new gun laws aren't only the most restrictive in the country, they may very well be unconstitutional. How? New York is trying to apply the new legislation retroactively - essentially making law abiding gun owners, who legally purchased items that are now illegal, criminals. Is this Constitutional? Find out HERE.
Will Cain destroys Democrats over the use of children in gun control debate
Will Cain appeared on a panel discussion with some leftist Democrats and completely decimated their weak defense of Obama's "children-as-human-shields" show yesterday. Is there a place for emotion in a policy debate? Will argues, quite effectively, that emotion doesn't encourage debate, it silences it. Check out the segment HERE.
Want to see a hilarious picture of Glenn & Pat from twenty years ago? Stu reveals this gem on Pat & Stu today. Let the merciless mocking commence. WATCH
Manti Te'o in on elaborate dead girlfriend hoax?
It'll be tough to top this for most bizarre story of 2013: Star linebacker for Notre Dame, Manti Te'o, touched the hearts of many when he took the field after learning his grandmother and girlfriend died on the same day. But yesterday the shocking twist came that his girlfriend never existed. While Te'o claims he was victim of an elaborate hoax, the evidence suggests he was in on it. The saddest part of this story is the state of the media - how in the world did they not figure this out?
NRA President tells Jay Severin that Obama not upholding oath of office
Republicans have been throwing the 'I' word around in the halls of Congress recently, but has President Obama gone so far off the rails that he has warranted an impeachment trial? TheBlaze Radio host Jay Severin talks with the NRA President about just how far over the line Obama has gone. Check out the conversation HERE.
"It really grips you...I lost a lot of sleep reading it." -Tim LaHaye, co-author of the LEFT BEHIND series.
Glenn's e-book thriller series Wrath & Righteousness examines the eternal battle between Light and Darkness while asking one of the fundamental questions of our existence: what is mankind's relationship to the spiritual world? The seventh episode in the 10-part series is available HERE. Download the previous 6 episodes HERE to catch up. Have a question or comment about the series? Visit our FAQ page.
A generation of entitlement addicts
"Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country." Where did Democrats like that go? We're raising a generation of "entitlement addicts" strung out on freebies and trophies. How do we fix it? The solutions are easier than you think.
Small businesses are more than their products. They are members of families, passionate creators and dream chasers.Join The FREE Marketplace newsletter and get to know them as well as we have.
Inspirational Story of the Day: The Tank Man
On radio this morning, Glenn shared the story of the "Tank Man" - the man at the center of the now iconic picture that emerged from the Tiananmen Square protests. The photo of the lone man standing in the middle of the street as tanks barreled toward him quickly became the inspiration for freedom movements everywhere. As Americans continue to face threats to their freedom, it is important to remember the significance of such displays of courage. STORY
TONIGHT: Mercury One to hold NYC rock concert to help Sandy victims. Get all the details HERE.
iOS users: Do you have the latest version of TheBlaze app?
A few weeks ago, Version 1.0.6 of TheBlaze app for iPhone and iPad was released. Effective at the end of January, this version will be required to watch TheBlaze TV on your iOS device. If you regularly update your apps via iOS App Store, then you probably already got the update. To ensure that you're fully updated, click this link from your iPhone or iPad - if you see an OPEN button, then you're updated; if you see an UPDATE button, click it to get the latest version. And stay tuned for a whole new version of TheBlaze app coming this Spring!
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Glenn breaks down the 23 exec orders
