912 Patriots of Lower Bucks - Your Daily Updates ALL in ONE Place!
March 18, 2013
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"The ultimate determinant in the struggle now going on for the world will not be bombs and rockets but a test of wills and ideas-a trial of spiritual resolve: the values we hold, the beliefs we cherish and the ideals to which we are dedicated."
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Common Core as Trojan Horse
It's time to opt out of the creepy federal data-mining racket.
By Michelle Malkin | March 15, 2013 12:00 A.M.
Last week, I reported on the federal government's massive new student-tracking database, which was created as part of the nationalized Common Core standards scheme.
The bad news: GOP "leadership" continues to ignore or, worse, enable this Nanny State racket. (Hello, Jeb Bush.)
The good news: A grassroots revolt outside the Beltway bubble is swelling. Families are taking their children's academic and privacy matters out of the snoopercrats' grip and into their own hands. You can now download a Common Core opt-out form to submit to your school district, courtesy of the group Truth in American Education.
Parents caught off guard by the stealthy tracking racket are now mobilizing across the country. According to the New York Daily News, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, echoing parents across New York City, blasted the tracking database in a letter to government officials: "I don't want my kids' privacy bought and sold like this." This Wednesday, prompted by parental objections, Oklahoma state representatives unanimously passed House Bill 1989 - the Student Data Accessibility, Transparency and Accountability Act - to prohibit the release of confidential student data without the written consent of the student's parent or guardian.
As I noted in last week's column, the national Common Core student database was funded with Obama stimulus money. Grants also came from the liberal Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (which largely underwrote and promoted the top-down Common Core curricular scheme). A division of the conservative Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. built the database infrastructure. A nonprofit startup, "inBloom, Inc.," evolved out of this strange-bedfellows partnership to operate the invasive database, which is compiling everything from health-care histories, income information, and religious affiliations to voting status, blood types, and homework completion.
Marxism in Education - The Infiltration of Our School Systems by the Common Core Standards
Details
Written by Terresa Monroe-Hamilton
Right Side News has been reporting on progressive education reformers and the Common Core Standards being implemented in our public schools across the nation. Here is an excellent article with videos detailing how the Obama Administration is requiring the public schools in your county through grants (bribes) to adopt Common Core Standards.
Bottom line: the Obama Administration is using your tax money to indoctrinate your children to a Marxist mindset. You can make a difference, as explained below the videos by downloading an OPT-OUT form and submitting that to your local school district.
Terresa Monroe-Hamilton, Noisy Room Blog
I caught Glenn Beck on The Blaze and his excellent showcasing of Obama's Common Core Standards that are now in 45 states, including my state of Idaho. Common Core is Marxism for children. It is state run propaganda and is meant to dumb down and control our little ones. It is evil and it has been a long time coming. Obama pushed it through slyly and quickly after coming into office, but I can tell you, this has been brewing since at least the 1990s.
A little background... When my children were in school in the 1990s, my husband and I requested to see the school curriculum for their school in Las Vegas, Nevada. We were refused and basically told we were too dumb to understand what the teachers were instructing our son and daughter in. The last straw came when they wanted to put my daughter in the second grade on Ritalin instead of disciplining her. I was pulled in front of four teachers and accused of not raising my daughter correctly, as well as basically being an abusive and stupid parent.
I promptly told these teachers that they could pound sand and pulled our children (our son was in third grade at the time) out of school that very same day. I left the Fortune 500 and home schooled both of them till high school and in retrospect, should have kept them out even then. My children could not do the simplest of math or read when we pulled them out. I tested them and started them all over again with the ABEKA home schooling system, which at the time, cost a great deal of money.
Forty-five states, the District of Columbia, four territories, and the Department of Defense Education Activity have adopted the Common Core State Standards.
[SHORT VERSION] Black conservative leaders discuss how the NRA was created to protect freed slaves
The Metcalfe Minute: Medicaid Expansion
Secret Service Agent Blasts Obama
Posted on March 14, 2013
A former agent blasted President Obama for blaming the Secret Service for the decision to shut down White House tours, calling it "an act of political cowardice" on Your World with Neil Cavuto this afternoon. Dan Bongino explained that the agency's job is to provide security for the White House; it does not determine who comes in. "To say that this was the Secret Service, and that they somehow injected themselves into a political decision - well, do they get to tell [the president] to stop taking vacations and to stop going golfing as well?" Bongino said. "This doesn't even pass the smell test."
On March 26th, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in the Perry case, which will determine if Proposition 8 - the citizens initiative approved by the people of California in 2008 to protect marriage - is constitutional or not. More importantly, the question of same-sex "marriage" and the right of Americans to protect marriage will be decided.
It is imperative that political leaders, the media, and the culture see that we care about protecting marriage enough to stand up and march for it.
The March is being organized by the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) alongside a broad coalition of pro-family organization, state partners, African-American, Latino, Catholic and Protestant leaders. Speakers include Gary Bauer (American Values), Bishop Harry Jackson, Dr. Robert George (Manhattan Declaration), Penny Nance (Concerned Women for America) and Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone.
Here's the schedule of events for the March on Tuesday, March 26th:
8:30am - Gather at the National Mall location between 10th Street and 12th Street NW & between Madison Drive NW and Jefferson Drive SW
9:30am - March to Supreme Court and then return to the National Mall location.
11:00am - 1:00pm - Rally begins at National Mall location.
Saturday, March 23, 2013 from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM (EDT)
Seating is very limited, but as of now there are about 80 spots left. When inviting people, keep in mind that we want the most active and involved people to attend. This is a training event, so we want to train the best, brightest, and most dedicated to become Citizen Watchdogs!
In Liberty,
Matthew M. Hissey
(267) 838 2380
Grassroots Director Americans For Prosperity Pennsylvania
Updated PA Leadership Conference Agenda Released
The conference which will be held April 19-20, 2013 at the Radisson Penn Harris Convention Center in Camp Hill (Harrisburg), PA.
Registration includes admission to all conference functions EXCEPT the pre-dinner reception. Registration DOES include the Friday evening dinner with speaker Steve Hayes of Fox News/The Weekly Standard (do not register separately for the dinner); the Saturday breakfast with John Gizzi and Saturday lunch with pollster/commentator Scott Rasmussen. It also includes all panels, workshops and speakers. The only function NOT included in the registration fee is the pre-dinner reception with Steve Hayes, which is priced separately.
It will be a vital addition to your ministry when you attend this very important luncheon. ABSOLUTELY FREE! Olive Tree Ministries and our event hosts invite you to join us for a Middle East Briefing with Pastor Victor Styrsky on April 4th and 5th. Victor a speaker your will love! His straight forward and passionate heart drew enthusiastic response last Fall when his powerful message about Israel reached audiences throughout Delaware and Pennsylvania region. Victor has just returned from Israel where he hosted over 50 pastors on life - changing tours and briefings. As the First State, Delaware need to be on God's radar in support fo Israel, the apple of His eye! Won't you become part of our initiative here in this area to bring together Pastors, Rabbis and congregational Leaders for Israel? NOW is the time! We will look forward to having you join us. Staff of Olive Tree Ministries.
Click above to register for either or both events Bring spouses and guests. You will be linking directly to the CUFI registration pages. Your guests are welcome but each individual person must register as indicated on the registration pages.
$25 OFF Bus if you register before April 22 $25 OFF Participation if you register before April 22
June 19 - 21 we will convene at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, DC for our fourth annual National Conference & Legislative Briefing.
And here's some really great news: This year's registration fee is only $229! Register by April 15th and you'll receive our "Early Bird" rate of just $189!
We also offer again this year special benefits for Patriot Eagle and Patriot sponsors.
We have some exciting new wrinkles planned for this year's event, and our list of confirmed speakers already includes:
Steven Emerson - Journalist, author, and the Executive Editor of the Investigative Project on Terrorism. A. M. Rosenthal, late-managing editor of The New York Times, described Emerson as "one of the nation's best national security correspondents."
John Guandolo - Former FBI agent and one of America's leading authorities on the Muslim Brotherhood and its inner workings in America. Guandolo spoke at our conference in 2011 and received rave reviews from conference attendees!
Ezra Levant - Canadian lawyer, author, newspaper columnist with Sun Media, and former publisher of the Western Standard. Hauled before a Canadian "human rights commission" because he published the Danish cartoons that satirized Muhammad, Levant's personal account of a politically correct government inquisition is something you won't want to miss!
The National Conference & Legislative Briefing will begin on Wed. evening, June 19th, and conclude on Friday, June 21st at noon, with additional optional training sessions Friday afternoon.
It will again feature our very popular Capitol Hill Awards Luncheon and our signature gala banquet-and of course, our Legislative Briefing, where Members of Congress will brief you on various issues and answer your questions.
So make your plans now to join us in our nation's capital for what promises to be our best National Conference & Legislative Briefing ever!
More details to come!
Coming March 25th & 27th: Two Skills Clinics for Pennsylvania Conservatives
Holding Congress accountable is tough work, and it can seem even more daunting when you're tackling the task alone. Whether you are new to the fight or a seasoned activist, the Sentinel Skills Clinic will help you better engage Congress and have your voice heard. Join fellow Pennsylvania conservatives as we share the tools to take meaningful action at this crucial time in our country's history.
Lancaster Skills Clinic
Homewood Suites by Hilton Lancaster 200 Granite Run Drive Lancaster, Pennsylvania, 17601
· Navigating Sentinel and the Heritage Action Dashboard · Effective Meetings with your Congressman · Twitter 101 · And more!
We're asking $5 to cover a pizza dinner at the door.
Register for your local clinic today and bring your friends,
Russ Vought Political Director Heritage Action for America
PS: Don't see a clinic near you? Talk to our Pittsburgh or Philadelphia regional coordinators to start planning a local skills clinic now.
2013 RedState Gathering -- Early Bird Special
Dear RedStater,
We announced earlier this week that we'll be headed to New Orleans the first weekend in August for this year's RedState Gathering. As a member of our RedState family, we'd like to extend exclusive Early Bird registration and pricing to you (just use the promo code EARLYBIRD on the registration page).
The 2013 RedState Gathering will be held August 2-3 at the Westin Canal Place in New Orleans, LA. We'll have two full days of speakers and activities and you can expect a good mix of elected officials and potential candidates for the 2014 cycle (we'll keep you informed as additions are made).
The Gathering has always been a unique event, in that all speakers, even the most in-demand and influential, pay their own way and make their own travel arrangements. This helps keep our costs low, a savings we are happy to pass along to our conference attendees. Additionally, we strive to get you up close to the speakers, ask them to take your questions, and we take care of nearly all your meals during the conference. Bottom line: fewer frills, more thrills and access.
We are thrilled to once again be joined by Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, who will be hosting a reception for all attendees and appear at the Gathering podium as a keynote speaker. A huge hit in 2012, we're looking forward to Gov. Jindal playing an even larger role this year as he welcomes us to his home state.
Now, more than ever, true conservative activists must come together to exchange ideas and strategize for the future. That's what this year's Gathering is all about. We hope you'll join us.
P.S. Don't delay! You'll receive 20% off if you register today - just use the promo code EARLYBIRD. Click here.
Glenn: Help us get in millions of home
Why should you support the "Get TheBlaze" movement to get TheBlaze in millions of homes across the country? For starters, how about a network that will cancel out the damage Al-Jazeera will be doing in America as it replaces Current in your lineup? Check out Glenn's "why" in this exclusive letter HERE.
Ready to take action? Click here to contact your TV provider and urge them to add TheBlaze.
ATTENTION: Are you a Verizon FiOS Subscriber? They've created a new form for you to fill out to request TheBlaze! You can complete the form HERE. And don't forget to make your request public by posting on their Facebook page. Thank you for supporting us!
Hi All - I just spoke w/ Lisa Lnancollas@aol.com (717 437 1327) who lives in Lewistown, Pa and is majorly involved in fighting the smart meters............and it's more than just electric, it's water, furnaces/ac's and wells too
We need to share this information. I asked her if she'd speak to groups in our area and she said yes, but would like to include Mike Reese who's written several bills that we want to get out of committee and approved:
2.signs in our yards saying NO SMART METERS......put them around like election signs
3.Let our State Reps know how you feel ie Warren Kampf....tell him you're in favor of the bills against smart meters
4.Do neighbor alerts........call your neighbors if you see trucks coming into the area
5.Write letters to the editors....remember if they get several letters, they're more likely to put at least one in.....educate the public
6.Prepare handouts
7.Send certified letter to electric company and get return receipt of name of person who signed for it
Be aware:
Water Smart Meters.........(IF YOU LET THEM IN, you're giving permission.) YOU DO NOT HAVE TO LET THEM IN
Well Smart Meters......are coming and will limit the amount of water you use.
If you get someone knocking on your door asking if you want to save money on your heat/ac, do not say yes or they'll put a clip on your unit that will limit your usage of air conditioning. The fan will work, but your usage will be CONTROLLED.
IF you get a new wall mount (thermostat & it may be required w/ a new ac unit because of the wiring) for your AC DO NOT GET ONE WITH A GPS in it........there is a cheaper model that has no GPS........ask questions BEFORE you start or consider any changes!!!!!!!!
Important Announcement from SFL
You're probably wondering why you've been getting more emails from me and Sustainable Freedom Lab after having had next to none for quite some time.
Well, the truth is that I've been very busy. As always, I spend enormous amounts of my time researching, writing, and speaking to the public about the threats of Agenda 21 and Regionalism.
I've also been working on important projects behind the scenes.
Now I'm finally ready to reveal the first of these "secret" projects: The DVD version of "Stopping Agenda 21 in Your Community".
Like the title suggests, this DVD program offers step-by-step training on how you can fight back against those who would bring Agenda 21 into your community. The test audience who saw this program during the limited streaming we held last Fall felt it was critical viewing for anyone concerned about the erosion of our property rights.
If you've been wanting an interesting, clearly written, how-to-manual for identifying and fighting UN Agenda 21, here it is. Agenda 21--All the information you need to understand what is happening in your town, why it's happening, who is behind it, and what you can do to stop it. BEHIND THE GREEN MASK: U.N. Agenda 21 is 172 pages of truth. Part history, part current events, part hand-to-hand combat, and part blueprint for keeping your freedom, this is one book that you'll put to work immediately. Boots on the ground and all hands on deck is the order of the day. Awareness is the first step in the Resistance.
Awareness about Agenda 21 is finally spreading throughout the country, due in no small part to your efforts. But knowing it is there isn't enough. Now we need to educate ourselves on how to combat it. That's where you come in.
American Policy Center has recently released a booklet that explains everything you need to know to start fighting back against sustainable programs both locally and nationally. The booklet is called Special Report: Agenda 21 and How to Stop It and is available in the APC store for only $5.95.
I wrote this 35 page booklet in order to give activists a succinct resource they can refer to if they suspect Agenda 21 or Sustainable Development is being implemented in their area. It includes my own research coupled with incredibly helpful graphics created by Carroll County, Maryland Commissioner Richard Rothschild.
In the booklet you will find answers to several roadblocks that grassroots anti-Agenda 21 activists often face, including a definition of property rights and "Resolution to Protect Citizens' Property Rights," which many concerned citizens are already using to tie the hands of power hungry politicians.
This booklet is a great resource for anyone interested in preserving their property rights. It includes all the information to put up a first line of defense and step by step instructions for how to proceed from there. If you face Agenda 21 or Sustainable development in your area or are simply concerned with the national fight this booklet is a must read.
P.S. - The American Policy Center store has recently updated our inventory to include everything you need to fight back against Agenda 21. The revamped catalogue includes the "Stop Agenda 21 Action Kit", which provides users with everything they need to know about Agenda 21 in their own living room, as well as ways to share it with other concerned activists and critical knowledge on how to fight back. The store also offers DVDs of past successful conferences and symposiums, books and articles that deal with the issues of sustainability and Agenda 21 and individually packaged manuals and workbooks to aid you in your activism. You don't need to look any farther than the American Policy Center Store for everything you need to combat Agenda 21 and Sustainable Development in your area.
How to Raise an American Patriot: Making it Okay for Our Kids to Be Proud to Be American
Parents are the number one people to teach this to their kids.
This historic book will give parents the talking points they need to teach their kids why it's good to love our country and understand why it's so important to fight for our freedom and their rights.
We will lay the foundation for our next "greatest" generation.
I interviewed 13 American patriots, all with different backgrounds and upbringings - several you have heard of and several you haven't heard of but you should.
Ed Meese,former Attorney General and staff member under President Reagan.
Jackie Gingrich Cushman,syndicated columnist, daughter of Newt Gingrich.
Eric Erickson,editor of RedState.com, radio host, CNN contributor and author of the current best-seller "Red State Uprising."
Rachel Campos-Duffy,fill-in voice of The View, author, wife of Sean Duffy.
Kevin Jackson,political pundit, bloggor and author of "The BIG Black Lie.
Reverend Steven Craft,pastor, author, former prison chaplain and national speaker.
Charlie Rhoads,former military officer, CEO of Joe Foss Institute.
Rick Green,former Texas legislator, author and national speaker for Wallbuilders.
Cathy Gillespie,political and philanthropic activist, co-founder of Constituting America, wife of former Republican National Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie.
Janine Turner,actress, author, speaker, founder of Constituting America and radio talk show host, The Janine Turner Show. on Talk Radio 570 KLIF.
Dr. Larry Arnn,president of Hillsdale College, the premier educational institute for constitutional principles.
Seth Swirsky,award-winning songwriter, singer, artist, film maker and musician.
Debbie Lee,Gold Star mom and founder of America's Mighty Warriors.
In the New York Times bestseller, Sweet Land of Liberty, Ellis the Elephant sets off on a quest to find out how America became a free and exceptional nation. Now Ellis is back and ready to learn about the birth of our great nation in Land of the Pilgrims' Pride.
Written and illustrated by Callista Gingrich and Susan Arciero, Ellis once again educates and entertains as he discovers America's thirteen original colonies. Starting in Virginia, Ellis journeys through each of the colonies and learns about their unique characteristics. From Pocahantas to Benjamin Franklin, Ellis experiences life in Colonial America.
Perfect for children ages 4-8, Land of the Pilgrims' Pride will delight young and adult readers alike while exploring how America began.
In Sweet Land of Liberty, Ellis the Elephant sets off on a quest to find out.
Through an amazing afternoon at the library, Ellis travels through time and discovers the pivotal moments that have shaped our nation's unique history, including,
the Pilgrims' first Thanksgiving
the Boston Tea Party
George Washington crossing the Delaware
pioneers settling the great frontier
the first man on the moon
...and many more of the astounding events and people whose dreams, courage, and hard work have made America great.
With its vivid illustrations and charming rhymes, Sweet Land of Liberty is a must read for children and parents alike who want to explore our nation's great history-and discover why America is a free and exceptional nation.
From "One Nation Under God' through "Ten Amendments in the Bill of Rights," this is the perfect book to teach little patriots about the basics of America.
One Nation Under God: A Book for Little Patriots guides children through the building blocks of America in a fun and engaging way. Beautiful full-color illustrations by Anthony Resto.
A book every Conservative parent should read to thier children!
Please Note: All sale pricing and discount codes are eligible for new orders and cannot be applied to previously placed orders or orders placed after expiration dates have expired. Unless otherwise specified, special pricing expires three days after original date of advertisement. In order to process shipments as quickly as possible and to ensure accuracy, orders submitted separately cannot be combined nor additional items added once submitted. Orders receiving free shipping will ship via our choice of shipping method. Free Shipping offers apply to the 48 U.S. contiguous states and will not apply to HI/AK/ International orders unless otherwise specified. Please review our Shipping and Return policies prior to placing order, as submitting your order indicates agreement to all stated information provided in these policies. Utilizing our convenient website, available 24/7, allows payment via credit/debit card, check/money order or Paypal. Please submit your order fully through our webstore and verify accuracy to ensure correct addressing and processing. Thank you for your support! Your business is valued and appreciated. We look forward to providing an exceptional experience. Please share any concern or suggestion you may have for us through the Contact Form on our website.
Has Communist Ideology Overtaken America? Education is crucial. Today I want to share two very interesting lists with you, and rather than adding an extensive amount of my commentary, I want to give you the chance to examine the facts for yourself. It is my opinion that many communist goals have already been accomplished. I also believe that advancement has been made in other areas. But, you owe it to yourself to do your own research. I believe not only in the freedom of speech, but also in the responsibility of free thought. So please don't take my word for it. Examine the facts for yourself.
Again, I want to share two lists with you. The first is a list that was entered into 1963 Congressional Record. The second is the 10 planks of The Communist Manifesto.
If you can't see this happening in America, and a ton of progress being made, then I offer two potential explanations:
You are one of the "useful idiots" of communist teaching.
I am one of the "village idiots" that your Mama probably warned you about.
Some of these points will be open for debate and some will not. In some cases it is blatantly obvious that they have achieved their goals. It is even rumored that our own President has deep communist ties. You might want to check that out as well but I will withhold my opinion at this point. Let's just lay it out and you can interpret it.
This list was originally printed in "The Naked Communist" by Cleon Skousen. It was entered into Congressional Record in 1963 as the 45 goals of "The Communist Takeover of America."
If I Were the Devil - (BEST VERSION) by PAUL HARVEY audio restored
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
America needs a history lesson
Sign up now for Hillsdale's newest online courses - available FREE to every American!
Did you know that over 500,000 other students have already registered for one of our free online courses?
As Ronald Reagan once said during a speech delivered on our campus in 1978, "Hillsdale deserves the appreciation of all who labor for freedom...Your creative outreach on national issues enables little Hillsdale to cast a long shadow."
As a school of only 1,400 students, we reach over 350 TIMES that number with our online courses on the Constitution and America's founding principles.
Now is your chance to join with your fellow citizens!
Register now for this free "American Heritage" online course so you can better understand - and defend - the principles of liberty. This is the type of education America's Founders thought necessary to preserve our republic. Lectures in this not-for-credit online course are delivered by members of Hillsdale's history department faculty, and readings are drawn from the American Heritage Reader used in the American Heritage core course taught on Hillsdale's campus.
Course Schedule
Approximately 40 minutes in length, lectures will be released each Monday according to the schedule below. Once available, each week's materials can be viewed at your convenience.
33 East College Street ~ Hillsdale, Michigan 49242
CPAC 2013 - U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL)
CPAC 2013 - U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY)
CPAC 2013 - Former Governor Sarah Palin (R-AK)
CPAC 2013 - President Obama's Prayer Breakfast Club (feat. Dr. Ben Carson and Eric Metaxas)
CPAC 2013 - Governor Rick Perry (R-TX)
CPAC 2013 - Lt. Col. Allen West
NRA's LaPierre: 'Let them be damned'...
RedState Morning Briefing
For March 18, 2013
1.Mitch McConnell Declares Surrender on Obamacare
Joining Eric Cantor, John Boehner, Kevin McCarthy, and Paul Ryan, Mitch McConnell is declaring surrender on Obamacare.
He will no longer fight it.
You'd never know that if you paid attention to his preferred words about Obamacare at CPAC. McConnell told the crowd that "Obamacare should be repealed root and branch." He also told the crowd that those who think he's given up the fight are wrong. He pledged to continue to fight.
I call bull.
The part of his speech that McConnell hopes you ignore is him saying, "When it came to Obamacare, we gave it everything we have, everything we have, and we just lost." He's also signaling that the Senate Republicans will neither filibuster the continuing resolution nor shut down the government.. . . please click here for the rest of the post →
2.Cyprus to raid private bank deposits, on orders from European Union.
Basically, it goes like this: the EU bails out Cypriot banks to the tune of 10 billion euros, in partial exchange for a 6.75% to 9.9% raid on Cypriot personal accounts (which is supposed to net about 5.8 billion euros in revenue), collectable probably now Tuesday.
Naturally, the subjects of Cyprus (I can't in either good conscience or grammar call them "citizens") are freaking out and trying to yank what money they can out of the banks; many wonder if the rest of the EU is going to follow suit.Should the average European be worried?. . . please click here for the rest of the post →
3.Union Hypocrisy On Display: SEIU's Union Staff Votes To Strike
The Other Drone Question: Is Obama Building A Federal Police Force? Tara Servatius DHS appears to be planning a vast surveillance network, and it is rapidly developing the technology to create it, usurping many functions that used to be handled by local law enforcement without any help from the federal government. More
Boehner to Keep Funding ObamaCare J. Robert Smith All these symbolic votes House Republicans cast against ObamaCare mean less than voting for your favorite American Idol contestant. The GOP needs to get real. More
Is Pope Francis Liberal or Conservative? Selwyn Duke Like all popes, the new one operates according to principles that are neither left nor right nor center... but eternal. More
Is It Time To Starve The Beast? Jeff Greenlee What happens when Americans are disarmed and helpless before enemies bent on replacing Judeo-Christian values and principles with secular totalitarian rule? More
S.E. Cupp, CPAC, and Homosexuals J. Richard Pearcey This conservative "proponent of gay rights" has not yet come to terms with the full implications of her positive stance concerning "gay marriage." More
American Thinker Blog
Why LIVs Love Obama March 18, 2013 Can "The Pimp with the Limp" do "Dancing with the Stars?" More
Ann Coulter does a 180 on Chris Christie March 17, 2013 I suppose Ann must now think it was a good thing that the GOP ignored her advice on making Chris Christie its nominee. More
A judge on Thursday blocked the federal government from requiring the founder of Domino's Pizza to provide mandatory contraception coverage to his employees under ObamaCare.
Romney, we were told, had ultimately been a bad choice to run against Obama specifically because his support of traditional values and personal responsibility in lieu of the "nanny state" made him unpalatable to the nation's increasingly dependent culture.
John Boehner said he would not include language to defund Obamacare in the continuing resolution bill when it returns to the House, stating, "our goal" is "not to shut down the government."
This is the same mayor who thought putting windmills on top of all of the city's skyscrapers was a great way to generate electricity. Wealth, apparently, is no defense against extreme stupidity.
This case highlights yet again the greater restrictions on speech in free societies outside of the United States and how these restrictions can limit open debate about Islam.
The DOE report exposes the big lie that Common Core is about raising academic standards by revealing its progressive designs to measure and track children's "competencies" in "recognizing bias in sources," "flexibility," "cultural awareness and competence," "appreciation for diversity," "empathy," "perspective taking, trust (and) service orientation."
"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
Posted by Daniel Greenfield @ the Sultan Knish blog
To understand how we got to the point that spending hundreds of millions of dollars to support a government run by people who have been at war with us for almost a century is a policy that most foreign policy experts endorse, it helps to take a brief trip back in time.
In the last century, our big three wars, the two we fought and the one we didn't, were against enemies who were seen as being distinguished by a lack of democracy, with the Kaiser, the Fuhrer and the Commissar embodying the antithesis of the American system.
The Democratic Party, which stood at the helm during both hot wars, was able to link its brand to the wars by defining them as struggles for democracy. The process of de-nationalizing war from a conflict between nations and ethnic groups was only partly realized in WW1, where invective against the "Huns" still simmered, but was largely achieved in WW2; with some exceptions made for Japan.
This idealization of war made post-war reconstruction and alliance easier. National and ethnic grudges were set aside and replaced by ideological platforms. If the trouble was a lack of democracy, then all we needed to do was defeat the tyrant's armies, inject democracy and stand back. Focusing on democracy made it possible to rebuild Germany and Japan as quasi-pacifist entities expressing their grievances toward the Allies from the pacifistic stance of the moral high ground, rather than through military rearmament and revenge.
The United States had traded Hitler for Gunter Grass and while both hated the United States, Gunter Grass would write nasty essays about it, instead of declaring war on it.
And democracy made it easier to turn liberals against the Soviet Union, which had tossed aside every pretense of being a bottom-up system for what was clearly a top-down tyranny. The liberals who had believed in a war for democracy in Europe had difficulty tossing it aside after the war was over. And that emphasis on democracy helped make a national defense coalition between conservatives and liberals possible. Both might have fundamental disagreements, but they agreed that democracy was better than tyranny. And if that was true, then America was better than the USSR.
Posted by Daniel Greenfield @ the Sultan Knish blog
A CONSERVATISM OF PRINCIPLES
Robert Spencer has written an article, "Why I am not a conservative" after his CPAC mistreatment. I appreciate his feelings, but I think it's a mistake to define conservatism in terms of personalities.
Conservatism cannot be defined by Romney or Norquist, or for that matter by any politician.
Floridians have seen Marco Rubio pivot on immigration and Rick Scott on ObamaCare. The crusading politician of yesterday easily becomes the sellout of tomorrow.
I have been sometimes criticized for "attacking" Republicans who are the saviors of the moment. I don't do that. What I do is hold them to conservative principles, rather than jumping on the momentary bandwagon.
I have written positive things about Chris Christie and negative things about him, long before Republicans had begun bashing him. I have done that for most politicians, because I believe that politicians are politicians. No politician trumps principle. Only people as a group can.
Conservatism isn't the latest dodge of the moment. It's not amnesty, gay marriage, anti-war or any of the other gems that show up on some conservative sites every day. It's not the latest clever plan to win. It's why we should win.
Conservatism is not defined by CPAC. It's defined by you. You either see yourself as a conservative or you don't. And I would encourage Robert Spencer to reject CPAC's pandering to Islamists on conservative terms.
When Progressives and Internationalists hijack what being Conservative means, they are attacking an idea by trying to displace it and replace it with something else. And they cannot be allowed to get away with it.
I support Robert Spencer on a number of grounds, and one of them is that the Internationalists should not be able to hijack Conservatism to promote Islamism.
I think Allen West, whose credentials on Islamism are solid, said it best at CPAC. "There's no shortage of people telling us what Conservatism cannot accomplish. What we can't do, how we cannot connect, how we must change our values to fit the times.
Well Ladies and Gentlemen, I want to tell you that that truly is a bunch of malarkey. Last time I checked a bended knee is not and nor shall it ever be a conservative tradition."
Report Claims Obama States Israel Won't Make Concessions
The Zionist Organizations of America (ZOA) has expressed concern at remarks reported to have been made by President Barack Obama during a recent meeting with leaders of Arab-American organizations ahead of his March 20 trip to Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA).
According to unnamed participants, President Obama is reported to have blamed the difficulty of achieving an Israeli/Palestinian peace on the Israeli government for refusing to make concessions, saying, "since the Israeli government has not been willing to make concessions, there is no point in pushing [for negotiations] right now." He also reportedly blamed the U.S. Congress for providing cover to the Israeli government whenever he attempts to apply pressure to it and indicated that he plans to bring an additional $500 million in aid for the PA. Additionally, President Obama is also reported to have said that "The only people more frustrated than me .... [are] Palestinians living in West Bank and Gaza - it's a legitimate frustration" (Hisham Melhem and Muna Shikaki, '"Secrets of Obama's upcoming visit to the Middle East revealed,' Al-Arabiya, March 12, 2013).
The ZOA has called upon the President to disclaim the reported remarks if he did not make them.
ZOA National President Morton A. Klein said, "The accounts that have emerged of this meeting furnish grounds for real concern.
"President Obama's claim that Israel has made no concessions is completely false. Israel has ceded 42% of Judea and Samaria and 100% of Gaza to Palestinian control. Former prime ministers Ehud Barak and Ehud Olmert, in 2000 and 2008 respectively, proposed creating a Palestinian state in all of Gaza and over 90% of Judea and Samaria but the PA refused these proposals without a counter-offer. Israel implemented an unprecedented 10-month freeze on Jewish construction in Judea and Samaria and, for over four years, has called for immediate negotiations without preconditions.
"In contrast, not only has the PA refused to negotiate throughout almost the entirety of the past four years, but it has not arrested terrorists nor has it ended the incitement to hatred and murder in the PA-controlled media, mosques, schools and youth camps, as required under the Oslo Accords. It continues to praise and glorify Jew-killing terrorists and PA officials from Mahmoud Abbas on down and have publicly stated that no Jew will be allowed to live in a future Palestinian state. Abbas and others have written and stated that a Palestinian state would only lead them to approach international courts and human rights bodies to internationalize the issue. There is no PA map showing Israel as a state even confined to the pre-1967 armistice lines. Its maps only show the territory as 'Palestine.'
"Yet, if reports are true, President Obama blames Israel for the lack of peace, believes it has made no concessions, and wishes to give more unearned aid to the PA, which has made no concessions and which refuses even to talk with Israel.
"If these reports are untrue, President Obama should say so immediately and clarify that these are not his positions."
March 14, 2013
ZOA Critical of Obama Excluding Ariel U. Students From J'lem Speech
President Obama is due to visit Israel on March 20 where, the next day, he is to deliver an address in Jerusalem's Binyanei Ha'uma (International Convention Center) to Israeli university students. According to reports, students from Israeli universities received invitations to hear the president's speech in Jerusalem - with the conspicuous exception of Ariel University. Ariel University was recognized last year as Israel's eighth full-fledged state university.It has a student body of 14,000, is one of the country's most distinguished universities, and its Chairman is former Israeli Defense Minister and Foreign Minister, Moshe Arens.
Israeli MK Yoni Chetboun (Jewish Home party) described the exclusion of the West Bank institution "puzzling" and inconsistent. On the one hand the president announces his intentions are not political, he said, "but in the same breath he makes a political decision, boycotting Ariel University ... if the president invites students of all Israeli universities, he should also invite representatives from Ariel University, which is recognized by the Israeli government as legitimate academic institution." Shai Gill, Chairman of Ariel University's student council said that the students were "shocked by [Obama's] discrimination" and added that this decision has provoked hostility among students and promised their presence in the vicinity of the event ('MK slams Obama for excluding Ariel U. from speech,' Jerusalem Post, March 13, 2013).
The U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv has now denied a report that Ariel students were being barred but indirectly confirmed that they had not been invited to President Obama's Jerusalem speech when an embassy official stated that only students from academic institutions with partnerships or joint programs with the embassy had been invited ('U.S. embassy denies Obama boycott of Ariel University students,' Jewish Telegraphic Agency, March 14, 2013).
Ariel University is located in Ariel, an Israeli town of 22,000 inhabitants in Samaria, has over 600 Arab students, as well as the largest number of Ethiopian university students in all of Israel. Even when former leftwing Israeli prime ministers Ehud Barak and Ehud Olmert, in 2000 and 2008 respectively, offered more than 90% of Judea and Samaria to the Palestinian Authority (PA) as part of a proposed peace settlement, Ariel was part of the territory to be retained by Israel. It is part of a majority consensus in Israel that Ariel will remain part of Israel under any possible future agreement with the Palestinian Arabs.
Additionally, the Israeli Prime Minister's Office and a number of Knesset members passed messages to the White House saying they would much prefer if President Obama's speech took place in the Knesset, but this has been rejected in the White House.
ZOA National President Morton A. Klein said, "We are surprised and disappointed that President Obama declined to address the Knesset. The stated official reason is that President Obama wishes to make a less overtly political speech and to address more directly the Israeli public, especially Israeli youth.
"Quite apart from the fact that one of the best ways to address the Israeli public is to deliver a televised speech to its democratically elected representatives in the Knesset, there is something deeply divisive and politicized in President Obama's decision to exclude from his audience Jewish and Arab students from Ariel University.
"The excuse for the non-invitation to Ariel students offered by a U.S. embassy official is obviously lame and nonsensical. Whether or not an Israeli university has a partnership or joint program with the embassy in no way precludes the embassy from inviting Ariel students if it wishes to do so. Now that the matter has been raised publicly, this standing non-invitation is almost certainly deliberate.
"If President Obama states he wants to speak to Israeli university students, that, of course, has to include Ariel University students. It is entirely irrelevant whether Ariel University has any relationship with the embassy. Would President Obama have excluded Hebrew University students or Tel Aviv University students if those universities lacked a relationship with the embassy?
"One would have thought that a desire to speak directly to the Israeli public would have included an eagerness to speak to all sections of that public, including Israelis who live and study in Ariel.
"If the failure to invite Ariel students is merely an innocent oversight, we urge President Obama to immediately rectify this and to instruct the U.S embassy, which reportedly has been dispatching invitations to the President's forthcoming speech, to invite Ariel students."
March 15, 2013
CAIR bullying teacher
Teacher overwhelmed when she learns ACT! for America is rallying to her defense!
Mary Janda, a veteran of 21 years of teaching at Concrete Middle School in Concrete, Washington, is under attack by the Washington affiliate of Hamas-connected CAIR (Council on American-Islamic Relations).
Her "offense?" During a class discussion on bullying, she referred to Hamas and the Taliban as examples of organizations that use violence to "bully people."
A student in class objected, saying "My father is a Muslim and these statements aren't true."
Of course they are.
Hamas is a terrorist organization and the Taliban is who we're fighting in Afghanistan!
The school district investigated the incident and correctly concluded Ms. Janda did nothing wrong.
But CAIR-Washington jumped into the fray, alleging "racism," contacting the media, and even demanding a Justice Department civil rights investigation.
The Muslim father didn't talk to the teacher to get her side of the story. Had he done so he would have known that Ms. Janda made it clear she wasn't referring to Muslims or Arabs in general.
CAIR-Washington didn't talk to the teacher, either.
No, CAIR-Washington saw this as an opportunity to further its faulty, cynical narrative that Muslims across America are regular victims of discrimination and civil rights abuses.
CAIR-Washington is now alleging there is a "pattern" of discrimination in the school district, demanding extensive information on curriculum, textbooks, and internal correspondence.
Meanwhile, a veteran teacher with an exemplary record, who stated something that is factual and provable, is under attack-her good name smeared so that CAIR-Washington can advance its political agenda.
When local citizens in Concrete reached out to ACT! for America for our help, we responded. We connected Ms. Janda to pro bono legal counsel. And our chapters and members in Washington have organized a local rally in support of Ms. Janda.
The rally will take place on Tuesday, March 19th, at 7:30 PM, at a local church in Concrete. An email about this rally is going out to all our members in Washington.
If you would like to send a note of support to Ms. Janda, please email it to us at info@ActforAmerica.org and we'll make sure she gets it. Please use subject line "Mary Janda." And if you're interested in attending the rally, email us and we'll give you the name of the church.
When people ask us why we spend so much time and money building a grassroots citizen action network, here's one reason why.
When residents of Concrete reached out for our help, we were there. You can't do that if all you have is a mailing list.
Your financial support during our Spring Pledge Drive will help us build this citizen action network bigger and stronger.
For anyone going to the upcoming Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), I'm sure by now you're aware that there will be no panels conducted regarding the threat of Islam this year. Allof our leading experts on Islam-Robert Spencer, Pamela Geller, Frank Gaffney and others-have been banned from speaking and/or holding panels.
Unfortunately, many Conservatives still aren't aware that two of the most influential organizers of CPAC-seemingly innocuous tax guru Grover Norquist and former aide in the Bush administration Suhail Khan-are fighting together to eliminate any dissenting voices about the influence of the Muslim Brotherhood in America. Why is this?
Last year, I personally learned firsthand that no one-not even a simple blogger like me-is allowed to even question the threat of Islam in America at CPAC. In a very small panel moderated by Suhail Khan, I asked him about his previous year's statement at CPAC, in which he told the press, "There is no Muslim Brotherhood in America." I reminded Khan that the Muslim Brotherhood via CAIR has said, "Yes, we are here in America", along with four federal U.S. judges who also declared the same. So when I asked Khan if he wanted to retract his very dangerous statement-which I believe is the same as telling someone there aren't any snakes in a room full of snakes-without answering my question, I was asked to leave the conference room and I was ridiculed by Khan and his followers.
For the record, educating Americans about Islam and Sharia has nothing to do with being "anti-Muslim" or any type of bigotry, as both Khan and Norquist have accused their opposers as being. This is about public awareness and understanding who our enemy really is-and burying our heads in the sand about the very real influence of Islam in America will not protect us from those 'thousand paper cuts from within'.
This week my PolitiChick co-anchor Morgan Brittany and I will be reporting from CPAC and we will not allow this blacklisting of our foremost American experts on Islam to go unnoticed. For all bloggers and videographers who are attending, I hope you'll join us in asking our Conservative leaders the following questions over and over:
Why, in your opinion, aren't there any panels on the threat of Islam this year? In light of the takeover of the Middle East by the Muslim Brotherhood, not to mention 9/11/01 and 9/11/12 isn't it one of the most important topics we can discuss at a Conservative convention?
Why are our leading American experts on Islam-including Robert Spencer, Pamela Geller and Frank Gaffney-banned from speaking this year?
Rep. Michele Bachmann, Rep. Louis Gohmert (TX), Trent Franks (AZ), Lynn Westmoreland (GA) and Thomas Rooney (FLA) conducted an investigation into the Muslim Brotherhood penetration of the Washington policy-making chain. Without looking into the facts presented, the investigation was silenced by both the Left and the Right. Why?
If we're not allowed to discuss the threat of Islam and creeping Sharia at a Conservative convention, what chance do we have to fight it?
Below is the PolitiChicks episode regarding my confrontation with Khan at CPAC last year, followed by a transcript of the exchange (with apologies for the audio): (CLICK THE LINK FOR THE VIDEO)
A-M: Last year you said there is no Muslim Brotherhood in the United States but the Muslim Brotherhood themselves have said that 29 Muslim-American organizations are-they describe them as being 'our organizations and the organizations of our friends. These include the Islamic Society of North America; the Council on American Islamic Relations; the North American Islamic Trust and four federal judges have confirmed that these organizations are friends of the Muslim Brotherhood. So do you stand by your statement that there is no Muslim Brotherhood in America?
Suhail: Ma'am what this panel is about is conservative inclusion...
A-M: Should they [the Muslim Brotherhood] be included in conservative politics?
Woman on front row: That's not what this is about!
Suhail: That's not what this panel's about so if you want to take up those questions with other people you can. We're here to talk about conservative message Americans so if your group, and other Alinsky-like factions-I can see where you come from.
Published on Wednesday, 13 March 2013 12:28 Written by Memri
Ahead of U.S. President Barack Obama's visit to Jerusalem on March 20-21, 2013, rumors were spread that he was planning to visit the Western Wall and Al-Aqsa mosque. Though these rumors received no confirmation from American or Israeli sources, Palestinian officials and clerics - from the PA, Hamas and Islamic Jihad, and even from the Islamic Movement in Israel - warned Obama not to visit the Western Wall or Al-Aqsa Mosque with Israeli escort, on the grounds that this would constitute support for Israel's occupation of Jerusalem and a perpetuation of this occupation.
The officials stressed that Jerusalem is an occupied Palestinian Arab city, and that Al-Aqsa mosque and the Western Wall, which they call the Wall of Al-Buraq, are Islamic waqf belonging to the Muslims alone, the Jews having no rights to them whatsoever.
The officials argued that, if Obama wishes to visit these places, the visit must take place under the sponsorship and responsibility of the Islamic Waqf in Jerusalem, and must affirm Jerusalem's status as an occupied city and the Palestinian sovereignty over Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa. Otherwise, there would be "grave consequences."
Especially harsh was the response of Hamas, which warned that, if Obama visited Al-Aqsa with an Israeli escort, the movement would call upon the Palestinians to launch a battle against the U.S. and its interests in the region. Hamas official Mushir Al-Masri said that the visit would constitute a declaration of war on the Muslims, and an article in Hamas's daily Al-Risala called on Palestinians to oppose the visit by force, even at the cost of injuries and fatalities, and to clash with the Israeli security forces before the visit.
On Monday, President Obama prepared for his trip to the Middle East by meeting with around 10 Muslim and Arab officials that provided him with "recommendations." The attendees included representatives from the Muslim Public Affairs Council and the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, two anti-Israel groups with a record of pro-Hezbollah advocacy. The meeting came four days after his meeting with Jewish leaders.
A joint press release by the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), American Task Force for Palestine, American Federation of Ramallah Palestine and the Arab-American Institute boasted of the meeting. Separately, the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) alerted its supporters that the director of its Washington D.C. office, Haris Tarin, also attended. He was previously thanked by President Obama in a personal phone call for his activism on July 13, 2011. The ADC earlier tried to get President Obama's attention by helping to organize an interfaith "No Blank Check for Israel" rally in the capital near Inauguration Day.
The meeting took place in the Roosevelt Room near the Oval Office and also involved unidentified national security officials and Valerie Jarrett, the senior adviser who was a keynote speaker at the 2009 annual convention of the Islamic Society of North America, a group with Muslim Brotherhood origins. The meeting apparently wasn't all good news for the invitees. The president of ADC, Warren David, complained that President Obama has let down many Arab-Americans with his Middle East policy and said he left with a "bittersweet feeling."
The ADC was founded by the first Arab-American Senator, who praised Hezbollah during its war with Israel in 2006. He also has stated that Zionists were secretly behind the 9/11 attacks. The ADC leadership opposed its designation as a Foreign Terrorist Organization. In 2000, an ADC spokesperson called Hezbollah a "responsible liberation force." The ADC also honored Helen Thomas after she said the Jews in Israel should "get the hell out of Palestine" and go to Poland.
Similarly, MPAC stood against the designations of Hamas and Hezbollah as terrorist groups in a 2003 policy paper. On the other hand, it called Israel a state sponsor of terrorism in 2001. It said that the 1983 bombing of the U.S. Marine barracks in Lebanon did not qualify as terrorism. In 2006, MPAC explained it was only stating a "highly relevant fact" and did not support the attack. In 1998, MPAC co-founder and senior adviser Maher Hathout said Hezbollah's attacks on armed forces are "legitimate" and the following year, MPAC president Salam al-Marayati said that its attacks on Israeli soldiers are "legitimate resistance."
On 9/11, al-Marayati said that Israel should be considered a suspect. Hathout similarly entertained suggestions of a 9/11 conspiracy. In 2000, Hathout referred to Israel as "butchers" and "an apartheid state" and predicted that the Arab governments would be "flushed down in the cesspools of history of treason" by a "general intifada."
Hathout and his brother, another MPAC co-founder, are disciples of Hassan al-Banna, the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood and formerly served in his organization. They continued to promote al-Banna's Islamist preaching in the 1990s. However, Hathout has stated that he opposes the Muslim Brotherhood's power grab in Egypt and that Sharia's penal code is not applicable anymore. He recently expressed a tolerant view of homosexuals. Regardless of what his views on Sharia Law may be, MPAC's record on Israel and Hezbollah is undeniable.
This meeting is the latest entry in the Obama Administration's record of ties to the ADC and MPAC. Kareem Shora, who was appointed to the Department of Homeland Security's Advisory Council and then served as a community engagement liaison for the DHS, was an ADC official since 1999 and was its national executive director.
President Obama reportedly intends to nominate in-your-face radical leftist lawyer Thomas Perez as his next Secretary of Labor.
Now an assistant attorney general at the U.S. Department of Justice, Perez is a former top aide to the late Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) and possibly a perjurer.
Perez led the Obama administration's assault on voter ID laws last year. As John Fund and Hans von Spakovsky report in Who's Counting, as a member of the Montgomery County, Md., Council in 2003 he also tried to force governments to accept fraud-prone matricula consular ID cards issued by Mexican consular offices. He was a board member of Casa de Maryland, an advocacy group for illegal aliens funded by George Soros and the recently deceased Hugo Chavez.
Perez is apparently in favor of Saudi-style anti-blasphemy laws. In Saudi Arabia and other Islamic countries offenders can be condemned to death merely for insulting Islam.
Amazingly, at a congressional hearing last year, Perez pointedly declined to rule out bringing such laws to the United States. At the July 27, 2012, meeting of the House Judiciary Committee's subcommittee on the Constitution, Perez refused to say whether he would uphold the religious speech protections in the First Amendment in the future.
"Will you tell us ... that this administration's Department of Justice will never entertain or advance a proposal that criminalizes speech against any religion?" Congressman Trent Franks (R-Ariz.) asked four times to no avail.
Perez, like so many Obama administration officials, believes that America is a seething hotbed of "Islamophobia," filled with ignorant racist rubes who irrationally fear the Muslim religion. He has worked with hardcore Islamist groups such as the terrorist-linked Islamic Society of North America and applauded Islamists for lobbying against airline security measures.
Yesterday President Obama nominated Deborah Jones, a former ambassador to Kuwait, to be the new U.S. ambassador to Libya. The nomination comes six months after the deadly attacks on our consulate in Benghazi, that killed Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans.
But congressional Republicans are threatening to delay her confirmation if the administration continues stonewalling the investigation of the Benghazi attacks. In addition, several members of Congress are suggesting that they are prepared to take the unusual step of issuing subpoenas to the survivors of the Benghazi attacks.
Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA) has been informed that seven Americans "have been or are currently being treated" for injuries at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. Moreover, a second source told the congressman that as many as 30 Americans may have been injured in the attacks. But so far the administration has refused to allow members of Congress to speak with them.
When asked recently by Fox News why the survivors were being kept under lock and key, Secretary of State Kerry responded, "Why have we not heard from any of the Benghazi survivors? I can't tell you the answer to that." But Kerry added, "I can tell you that I have visited with one of the survivors ... who is a remarkably courageous person, who is doing very, very well."
Are the Benghazi survivors under house arrest? It is unacceptable for the administration to prevent members of Congress or their staff from interviewing them. Demand answers now.
Conservatives Confront Obama & His Agenda
President Obama met with House Republicans yesterday and reportedly received two standing ovations. I assume those came when he walked into the room and when he left. As Politico put it, "House Republicans found out Wednesday that Barack Obama looks and sounds the same behind closed doors as he does on TV." According to National Review, several House conservatives confronted the president with very pointed questions and predictably he dug his heels in.
For example, Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) challenged the president on his energy policy, and asked if he would approve the Keystone pipeline. Obama reportedly rattled off a bunch of left-wing talking points against the pipeline and said that he would make a decision soon.
Rep. Tom Price (R-GA) asked Mr. Obama where the White House's budget plan was. The White House is legally required to submit a budget to Congress by the first Monday in February. Obama has routinely ignored that requirement.
But on the substance of the budget, Obama told House Republicans he didn't believe that the short-term debt was "that bad." He added that his budget, whenever it shows up, would reflect his campaign promises.
Meanwhile, on the other side of Capitol Hill, Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) forced the Senate to vote on an amendment defunding Obamacare. Senator Cruz is among a handful of "young Turks" who are determined to shake things up in the Senate.
Some argued that Cruz's amendment was pointless. I disagree. Every day we are learning more and more about Obamacare's negative side effects. And yesterday Senator Cruz forced every one of his colleagues to go on the record for or against Obama's big government healthcare nightmare.
Every Senate Republican voted to defund it, while every Senate Democrat voted to keep it going. I believe Senator Cruz's amendment was a valuable service to the voters, reminding them which party stands for freedom and consumer choice and which party stands for higher taxes and bureaucratic control.
Pope Francis
Congratulations to our Catholic friends on the election of Pope Francis. As we learn more about the new pope, I am encouraged that he will continue to speak out forcefully in defense of the sanctity of life, God's ordained institution of marriage and the right to worship in freedom. Pope Francis has been unambiguous on these critical issues as he has been forced to confront a hostile anti-religious government in Argentina.
In a time when radical secularism is advancing on all fronts, when many are silent and pastors of large evangelical churches are all too often AWOL, it is encouraging to see the new Pope with clear views on the sanctity of life and God's institution of marriage.
He has also earned respect from Jewish leaders for his outreach and friendship with Argentina's Jewish community. The Anti-Defamation League released a statement yesterday praising him for his "important strides in maintaining positive Catholic-Jewish relations."
Fluent in several languages, with degrees in chemistry, philosophy and theology, Francis has a heart for evangelism. Last year he instructed his priests, "Jesus teaches us another way: Go out. Go out and share your testimony, go out and interact with your brothers, go out and share, go out and ask. Become the Word in body as well as spirit." As a conservative Evangelical that sure sounds like the "Great Commission" to me!
Yesterday, the White House announced that Vice President Joe Biden, a supporter of abortion and same-sex marriage, would be going to Rome to attend the new pope's Inaugural Mass. I pray Biden will be inspired to take the tenets of his Catholic faith more seriously. I still believe in miracles!
One of the headlines from this past week read...
Senate Dems preparing to ram immigration bill through after Easter recess?
There's new speculation that Congress might shove a "comprehensive immigration reform" bill that offers amnesty to 11 million illegal aliens through Congress before Americans or lawmakers can learn what's actually in the bill. Sen. Lindsey Graham's comment from last week sparked the speculation.
"You don't want to leave it hanging out for two weeks to get shot up."
--Sen. Graham
Conservative voters don't seem to be convinced, however, that an amnesty is the right direction. Yesterday, conservatives from around the country began gathering near Washington for the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). On the first day, the event coordinators featured a pro-amnesty, mostly open-borders panel on the i mmigration issue, but the biggest applause line came when Rep. Raul Labrador said there shouldn't be any immigration reform until enforcement measures are put in place.
Gang of Eight Member Marco Rubio had one of the largest attended speeches on CPAC's opening day, but he made no reference to the "comprehensive immigration reform" bill he's helping to write. And on Friday, Donald Trump said that offering an amnesty to 11 million illegal aliens would be a "suicide mission" for the Republican party. So while the CPAC organizers are trying to push amnesty on the attendees, after a day and a half, it doesn't seem like the attendees are going along.
CALL YOUR SENATORS
The pro-amnesty advocates are holding a national week of action this week, asking their activists to call their Senators and urge them to support an amnesty for 11 million illegal aliens. We need your calls to help counter this nationwide effort.
Please call your Senators today. You can use the Capitol Switchboard - 202-224-3121 - or view the phone note on your Action Board. Tell your Senators:
1) You oppose all versions of comprehensive immigration reform.
2) All comprehensive immigration reform proposals are based on there being a labor shortage and a need for millions more foreign workers.
3) There is no labor shortage when 20 million Americans can't find a full-time job.
Thanks!
CHRIS CHMIELENSKI
Fri, Mar 15th
Morning Jolt - March 15, 2013
By Jim Geraghty
Here's your Friday Morning Jolt.
Beware the Ides of March!
Jim
Gohmert-mania Sweeps CPAC
So who's the big star of CPAC so far? Rand Paul? Marco Rubio? Strong contenders, but I hear from our Betsy Woodruff that there's a folksy Texas congressman who was the first to really fire up the crowd:
"I am not cut out for this," says one of Representative Louie Gohmert's staffers. We're caught in the middle of an hour-and-a-half-long Gohmert feeding frenzy that started as soon as the Texas Republican set foot on Radio Row, here at the Conservative Political Action Conference. It finally wraps when his staffers pry him away from the last reporters and dash him back to the Hill.
CPAC sometimes feels like the Grammy Awards of movement conservatism. And if that's the case, then Gohmert is Willie Nelson - accented and outspoken. And faced with hordes of fans, he's enamoring. It's not just a CPAC thing - his staffers tell me that they're always juggling media invites - but here, Gohmert might as well be Elvis. Nobody doesn't want a piece of Louie.
He descends into the fray after concluding a panel called "Too Many American Wars?" Gohmert's on-stage take: "Benefit your friends, make sure your enemies suffer from being your enemies." People seem to have liked it, and right now, Gohmert is benefitting his friends.
Also, if you haven't become a fan of Tim Scott yet, the bandwagon is filling up. Erika Johnsen, over at the unlinkable Even-Warmer-Than-Warm-Air dot com, summaries:
How's the brand-new senator from South Carolina getting along? He made his first stand on the Senate floor in support of Rand Paul's filibuster last week, and I challenge you to watch his CPAC speech from today and not A) laugh out loud, and B) feel at least a little surge of optimism about conservatism's up-and-coming future. Paul and Rubio were great, but Scott's speech specifically was a real breath of fresh air against the toxic cloud of redistribution and class-warmongering spewing from the White House on the regular. Not to mention, he was unscripted, personable, and didn't include any undue or boring wonkiness - and none of that "tokenism" nonsense for this guy.
Forecasting the Odds on Big Deals in Deadlocked Washington
I'm writing this from Orlando, Fla.; by the time you read this, I will have spoken on a panel before the annual convention of the Association of Chief Human Resource Officers about what to expect out of Washington in the coming year.
This shindig is closed to the press, although I don't see anything wrong with sharing my prepatory notes with you folks.
On sequestration:
I would not count on the sequestration cuts being reversed anytime soon. If you subscribe to the theory that they represent some sort of awful cut, then the good news is that it's slightly easier starting in the next fiscal year, where they'll have 12 months to implement a year's worth of cuts instead of seven months. But the Obama administration clearly thought that the public would treat it like a government shutdown, and so far, it hasn't.
So instead of reacting, "oh, these cuts are terrible, you have to un-do them," the general reaction has been, "wait, why are you still funding all of this crap instead of the tours of the White House?"
On whether we'll see a government shutdown:
Nobody wants a government shutdown; thus it is extremely unlikely that you'll see one. The GOP is winning the sequestration debate, or at least they think they're winning the sequestration debate, because the public hasn't really noticed the cuts. Certainly the markets don't mind. A government shutdown would be noticed and for Republicans, they would come across as not merely anti-waste but anti-government and a government shutdown would probably also be bad news for Obama. His job approval rating is already underwater again, and a government shutdown would add to the sense that things are on the wrong track on his watch.
On whether we'll see a reform of Obamacare - which these human-resource officers are preparing to implement, and a significant percentage have serious concerns about:
The Republicans are not going to be eager to save Obama or Congressional Democrats from themselves. Their reaction to most of the problems that people and businesses experience under Obamacare is going to be, "see, we told you so." Ringing in the ears of just about every Republican is Pelosi's line, "we have to pass the bill so you can see what's in it." If the consequences are sufficiently catastrophic, perhaps Republicans will be coaxed to support legislative changes.
Having said that, just yesterday I saw an AP report that Aetna and other insurers were predicting premium hikes of 20 to 100 percent next year. THAT could be enough to spur bipartisan outrage and actual momentum for a second shot at this. In fact, that would make the Tea Party movement look like actual tea parties.
On whether we'll see a deal on immigration reform:
There is a significant chunk of the Republican Party that wants what, allegedly, a lot of the currently illegal immigrants want: a worker visa. Stunning as it may seem to those of us who are citizens, but some people who come here illegally don't want to become citizens. They're perfectly happy to just work here and retain their citizenship from their original country, because in many cases they intend to return someday. That's more or less the heart of the Rubio plan: you get to stay, you get to work here legally, but you don't get to become a citizen for a long time.
To Democrats, this isn't good enough, because they want those people voting. Until you can resolve that difference, I don't think you'll see a deal. And Obama and the Democrats will be quite happy to run on the issue in 2014 anyway, demonizing those mean, xenophobic Republicans who won't allow a path to citizenship.
Schultz: My Audience on Weekends Will Be Nuz-zing, I Tell You, Nuz-zing!
Well, we won't have MSNBC talk-show host Ed Schultz to kick around anymore.
Okay, technically, we will. His show is being moved to the weekend evenings of MSNBC, likely to be sandwiched between Lockup: San Quentin and To Catch a Predator or similar fare. Which is pretty much the same as disappearing. I hear both of Schultz's viewers are just heartbroken about it.
Over at Mediaite, Andrew Kirell points out that not long ago, Schultz vehemently denied rumors his show was moving:
[Chris] Hayes will leave his weekend morning show to host the prime time gig, while Schultz claims he "raised his hand" and volunteered for the "opportunity" to end The Ed Show and host a new weekend 5-7 p.m. show. Right.
Happy faces aside, it seems clear this was Schultz's spin and that, in fact, MSNBC had pushed him out of the more far prestigious primetime slot.
No one knows exactly why Schultz was demoted to weekends, but the shift undoubtedly comes as a move towards the young, technocratic image the network has effectively crafted under the Obama administration. As The Week notes, Schultz's bellicose manner is a relic of the Bush era, when progressives were fired up and on the warpath. But now, it's likely MSNBC wanted to make room for the youthful, cerebral and mild-mannered Hayes to fill out an evening that also includes young wonk-in-chief Rachel Maddow.
The media world remembers when New York Times media reporter Brian Stelter broke the storyback in November that Schultz was likely on his way out of 8 p.m. In return, the fiery host unleashed a flurry of insults at Stelter, accusing him of reporting "media garbage" and not being able to "sniff very well" when digging through a scoop.
One of the hallmarks of Schultz's tenure was haranguing Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who last year prevailed in a brutal recall ballot. "Brutal," in part, because of Schultz himself. In one broadcast, he said the reason Walker was being recalled was that "the guy sucks."
When Walker won the contest to remain in office in June 2012, Schultz was visibly upset, parroting a liberal talking point that he "could very well be indicted in the coming days." That was a reference to an investigation of some Walker aides dating back to his tenure as Milwaukee county executive. According to a Reuters report from this month, the probe is now closed, with no charges against Walker.
That was another embarrassment.
Wemple doesn't even mention the most absurd sight of the night of the Wisconsin recall election, when Schultz, anchoring MSNBC's coverage from Madison, essentially told viewers to disregard what NBC News' decision desk had just projected: "In many respects it's to be expected, considering how much money was thrown at this race. You know, NBC is calling it for Walker. Okay, I think it's awful close and there's a lot of absentee ballots yet that are still out and it's going to be very, very close down to the wire."
Before Karl Rove broke out his white board and debated the Fox News decision desk, there was Schultz.
By the way, if there are any suspicious fires in MSNBC's offices in the coming days or weeks, remind the arson investigators of this story:
MSNBC talk show screamer Ed Schultz had a meltdown in the network's 30 Rock newsroom, shouting at staff, "I'm going to torch this [bleep]ing place."
The hot-tempered anchor of "The Ed Show" lost it during a phone call in the packed studio and slammed down the phone before exploding.
As astonished MSNBC staff members fell silent, Schultz glared around the room and yelled, "[Bleep]ers!"
A witness told us, "Ed was furious the network was running election-night promos and he wasn't in them. He'd been arguing on the phone with marketing, then he slammed down the phone and exploded. It was like Mel Gibson had entered the newsroom."
ADDENDUM: From our friend Byron York: "Line of the day, from GOP activist attending CPAC: 'Can we at least have two Reagans before we have three Bushes?'"
The History Channel's inaccurate, relativist treatment of the Good Book.
Ever since medieval mystery plays, the Bible has offered a lucrative playground for show business. The Good Book's engrossing stories and a guaranteed audience provide the ingredients of success for a profession wedded to ratings. Believers rightly approach these attempts with trepidation. After all, not a little Christian blood has been spilled over the correctness of artistic forays into the spiritual. Jews and Muslims, Abraham's other children, even ban such projects altogether.
In early February, the Congressional Budget Office, using fairly aggressive growth assumptions, projected that the government will run cumulative deficits during the next ten fiscals years through 2023 amounting to $7 trillion, and that the "debt held by the public" (i.e., what Uncle Sam owes its bondholders and creditors) will grow by $7.7 trillion.
Sequestration may ultimately lead to longer airport lines, spotty food inspection, and compromised military preparedness, but the issue that appears stuck in everyone's craw is the decision to terminate public tours of the White House.
Dick Morris, whose once rock-solid political reputation has taken a shellacking in the wake of some questionable recent analyses, said Thursday that Republicans need to acknowledge "we lost'' the last presidential election and make the changes necessary to get back in the game.
Both senators gave mighty speeches, effortlessly weaving either conservatism with populism or libertarianism with conservatism. Both brought the crowd to its feet. Both were at their personal best in terms of ease, messaging, and humor.
A grand jury is investigating New Jersey Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez's ties to Democratic Party mega-donor Dr. Salomon Melgen, the Washington Post reports.
The Post's Carol Leonnig and Peter Wallsten cite "three people aware of the probe" as saying a Miami federal grand jury has launched an investigation into Menendez's activity in government advocating in favor of business interests of Melgen, including the now infamous port security contract that would make Melgen $250 million over a decade if approved.
Time To Opt Out Of Creepy Fed Ed Data-Mining Racket By Michelle Malkin HumanEvents.com
School districts and state governments are pimping out highly personal data on children's feelings, beliefs, "biases" and "flexibility" instead of doing their own jobs imparting knowledge--or minding their own business.
"When you want to help people, you tell them the truth. When you want to help yourself, you tell them what they want to hear." ~ Thomas Sowell
With Sarcasm Bordering On Brinksmanship, Iran Gives Mrs. Obama Prize
Islamic Regime To 'Honor' Michelle Obama WorldNetDaily
Iran will give First Lady Michelle Obama a special award for allegedly exposing a direct link between Hollywood and the White House, the commander of Iran's Basij paramilitary forces announced Wednesday.
McCain And Graham, Irrelevant Or Dangerous By Doug Patton CanadaFreePress.com
When a Republican United States Senator prefers to attack Rand Paul and Ted Cruz for defending liberty rather than Barack Obama and Eric Holder for trying to destroy it, that senator has become irrelevant at best or dangerous at worst.
Brainwashing In The Classroom By DTN RightSideNews.com
Rethinking Schools (RS) was founded in 1986 by a group of Milwaukee-area teachers seeking to "help shape reform throughout the public school system in the United The Indoctrination of Public School Children for the Government GoodStates." Today RS is a nationally prominent publisher of educational materials, with subscribers in all 50 U.S. states, all 10 Canadian provinces, and many other countries around the world. Its primary objective is to turn K-12 students into social activists for left-wing causes.
" ... [T]he government of the United States is a definite government, confined to specified objects. It is not like the state governments, whose powers are more general. Charity is no part of the legislative duty of the government." ~ James Madison
For A So-Called 'Religion Of Peace,' These Things Are Getting Too Big To Be Anomalies
Peaceful Muslims Riot: Burn 200 Christian Homes, Churches And Businesses Posted On America's Conservative News
On Friday, local police began the process of filing charges against a Christian, Sawan Masih and Saturday morning saw several thousand local Muslims armed with guns and batons ...
Obama Admits He's Off Balance--And Chides US For Caring
Captain Balance: My Budget Won't Balance Either, Not That it Matters By Guy Benson TownHall.com
Watch as America's leading "balanced approach" fetishist casually mentions that his own budget won't balance whenever he gets around to releasing it, and that Americans shouldn't really care ...
With What Other US President Would Nations of Islam Dare This Cheek?
Palestinian Officials Warn Against Obama Visiting Al-Aqsa Mosque With Israeli Escort By Memri RightSideNews.com
Palestinian officials and clerics--from the PA, Hamas and Islamic Jihad, and even from the Islamic Movement in Israel-- warned Obama not to visit the Western Wall or Al-Aqsa Mosque with Israeli escort, on the grounds that this would constitute support for Israel's occupation of Jerusalem and a perpetuation of this occupation.
US Plans To Let Spy Agencies Scour Americans' Finances Thomson/Reuters/Newsmax.com
The Obama administration is drawing up plans to give all U.S. spy agencies full access to a massive database that contains financial data on American citizens and others who bank in the country, according to a Treasury Department document seen by Reuters.
Senators Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) got into a testy exchange this week during a Senate Judiciary Committee meeting. While debating Feinstein's legislation to limit Second Amendment rights, Senator Cruz asked his liberal colleague what other constitutional rights Congress might attempt to restrict. Their exchange provided an interesting contrast in how conservatives and liberals make the case for their beliefs.
Senator Feinstein's bill specifically lists which guns she would allow and which ones she seeks to ban. So, Senator Cruz asked whether it would be constitutional in her view for Congress to attempt to limit the First Amendment too by identifying the books protected by the First Amendment as well as the books "that Congress has deemed outside the protection of the Bill of Rights."
It was a good point to make regarding the Second Amendment. There are plenty of liberals who believe that Feinstein's bill doesn't go far enough. They would like to ban all guns, regardless of what the Second Amendment says.
But more significantly, their exchange was a good illustration of how both sides operate. Cruz was respectful. He's a constitutional lawyer. He clerked for the late Chief Justice William Rehnquist. He did not yell at Senator Feinstein, nor was he rude.
In contrast, Feinstein's reaction was immediately emotional. "I'm not a sixth grader," she shot back. While she went on at some length, she never engaged Cruz on the substance of his questions -- the importance of the Bill of Rights, individual liberty or why we even have a Second Amendment.
The Senate is supposed to be a deliberative body. But rather than debate Senator Cruz, Feinstein did what the left frequently does: When logic failed her, she tried to shut him down with emotional arguments. By the way, the media are attacking Cruz regularly now. They are suggesting he is too confrontational and pushy for a freshman senator. He ought to "pipe down," "pay his dues" and be more respectful of his elders and superiors. Senator Cruz is a Hispanic conservative. If he were a liberal Hispanic senator and Republicans were telling him to stop being so uppity, charges of racism would fill the air.
The Battle Of The Budgets
While we're on the subject of contrasts, consider the budget battle raging in Washington today. Just as they are for every family and business, budgets are a statement of priorities. And most people don't like debt. Out-of-control debt can destroy families, businesses and nations too.
The American people know our national debt is a problem. A January Fox News poll found that 83% of the public felt federal spending was out-of-control. A recent Rasmussen poll found that 81% of the public supported slashing salaries of members of Congress by at least 25% until the budget was balanced. So how is Washington responding?
House Republicans, led by Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI), have proposed a reasonable budget that balances in 10 years.
Senate Democrats haven't passed a budget for three years. But they are trying this year -- after House Republicans successfully included the "No Budget, No Pay" act to legislation raising the debt limit. Senate Budget Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray (D-WA) has introduced a plan that doesn't even try to balance the budget -- even after including another massive tax hike. Instead, it increases spending 62% over the next ten years.
What about President Obama? He told members of Congress this week that he didn't think the debt was "that bad." Really? Let's review.
When Obama was campaigning in 2008 he justifiably criticized the Bush Administration for overspending. He said, "#43 [George W. Bush] added $4 trillion by his lonesome, so that we now have over $9 trillion of debt that we are going to have to pay back â€" $30,000 for every man, woman and child. That's irresponsible. It's unpatriotic."
Well, President Obama, all by his lonesome, has added $6 trillion to the national debt, so that we now have nearly $17 trillion to pay back, about $53,000 per citizen. Who is being irresponsible and unpatriotic now?
Another Blow To Obamacare Mandate
Obamacare's contraception mandate, which many believe is a direct assault on religious liberty, took another blow this week. Thomas Monaghan, the founder of Domino's Pizza and Ave Maria University, sued the federal government, arguing that the mandate violates his religious beliefs.
Judge Lawrence Zatkoff agreed. In his opinion, Judge Zatkoff wrote that the mandate would "result in a substantial burden on Monaghan's right to free exercise of religion, since the mandate requires him to choose whether to comply and violate his beliefs, or accept the financial consequences of not doing so."
This gets us back to the discussion of constitutional liberty that Senator Cruz was attempting to have with Senator Dianne Feinstein. Unfortunately, the left has no problem limiting religious liberty in America. In its view, "free" birth control is more important than freedom of worship.
March For Marriage
There is news this morning that Ohio's Rob Portman has become the first Senate Republican to publicly endorse same-sex "marriage." According to the reports, the senator's son is gay and that is why Portman has changed his opinion on the issue.
With all due respect to the senator, marriage predates him and his son. To suggest that his son being gay justifies abandoning several thousand years of Judeo-Christian belief is depressing. Not to mention that 62% of Ohio voters approved a constitutional amendment preserving the definition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman. But that amendment and others like it in more than two dozen states across the country are in jeopardy.
On March 26th the Supreme Court will hear arguments in a case seeking to redefine marriage. Just as it did with abortion, in which the Supreme Court imposed its morality on the people, the left is once again hoping that the high court will invalidate the will of millions of Americans and force same-sex "marriage" on every state in the union.
You and I may not have a vote in the Supreme Court, but we can still make our voices heard!
Join me in our nation's capital on Tuesday, March 26th for the March for Marriage. I am proud to co-sponsor the March for Marriage along with the National Organization for Marriage and other pro-family organizations.
Please share this report with like-minded friends, family members and fellow worshippers, and encourage them to attend. Visit MarriageMarch.org for handouts, talking points, a schedule of the day's events and more.
Mar 15, 2013 01:15 pm Congressman Jason Chaffetz (R_UT) explains on Fox News... Watch the latest video at video.foxnews.com Related posts: GOP Lawmakers Demand Access To Benghazi Survivors Congressman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) is leading the charge... Watch the... Congressman: Obama Administration's Libya Narrative Falling Apart Congressman Jason Chaffetz talks to talk show host Laura Ingraham...
Mar 15, 2013 01:13 pm John Cruz, a former HSBC (global Swiss Bank) Senior Vice President for Relationship Management has charged Obama's Department of Justice under Eric Holder as handing them a virtual "slap on the wrist" for being a criminal enterprise. HSBC agreed to pay a fine of $1.92 billion dollars for money laundering profits from Mexican and Columbian [...]
Kerry's Wife Major Donor To Radical-Left Slush Fund
Mar 15, 2013 12:15 pm Secretary of State John Kerry's wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, is a primary donor to the Tides Foundation, one of the country's biggest financiers of the radical left. Tides is controversial clearinghouse that funds groups such as MoveOn.org, ACORN, Media Matters for America and a litany of so-called anti-war organizations. Tides is also heavily connected to [...]
Mar 15, 2013 11:29 am Pat Caddell, the Fox News Contributor and Democrat pollster who engineered Jimmy Carter's 1976 Presidential victory, blew the lid off CPAC on Thursday with a blistering attack on "racketeering" Republican consultants who play wealthy donors like "marks." "I blame the donors who allow themselves to be played for marks. I blame the people in the [...]
Mar 15, 2013 11:22 am TRENTON, N.J. - Republican Gov. Chris Christie has been asked to apologize for referring to the first black female leader of the state Assembly by race and gender, not by name, during a church-hosted meeting. Christie, who's white, told an audience Tuesday that an "African-American female speaker of the Assembly" is blocking a vote on [...]
Mar 15, 2013 11:19 am ANNAPOLIS, Md.- It's been eight years since Maryland executed a convicted killer, but that could be the last time if the General Assembly, as expected, gives final passage this week to a bill to abolish capital punishment. Gov. Martin O'Malley, a Democrat, has been pushing for the change since his first year in office. Now [...]
Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood Comdemns Expanding Women's Rights
Mar 15, 2013 11:11 am (CNSNews.com) - As the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women tries to finalize a document on violence against women by the end of its two-week session Friday, Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood is leading a pushback by governments that accuse it of trying to undermine religious or cultural values. Egypt's ruling Islamist party called on all [...]
Mar 15, 2013 11:04 am WASHINGTON - After a couple of false starts, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved a bill Thursday that would ban assault weapons, restrict the size of ammunition clips and require universal background checks on gun sales. But in spite of passionate pleas by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., the bill's sponsor, it heads to the Senate floor [...]
Mar 15, 2013 10:55 am On Thursday, March 14, the Kansas House of Representatives approved House Bill 2199, the Second Amendment Protection Act, which would nullify any new federal restrictions - passed either by Congress, presidential executive order, agency order, rule, or regulation - on firearms, magazines, and ammunition. The bill originally passed Wednesday, March 13, by a voice vote, [...]
How would you feel if the U.S. government decided that they could tax the money you had in the bank? That's exactly what happened in one Eurozone country this weekend. On Saturday, people with bank accounts in Cyprus were shocked to learn that as part of an agreement reached with international creditors, the government has imposed a tax on all deposits to help bail out the nation and its banks. Read how much the people are being taxed and learn if this could happen anywhere elseHERE.
The honeymoon that Pope Francis has enjoyed since his remarkable election hit a bump Friday, with the Vatican lashing out at what it called a defamatory and �anti-clerical left-wing� media campaign, questioning his actions during Argentina�s murderous military dictatorship. See the storyHERE.
The North Dakota Senate overwhelmingly approved two anti-abortion bills Friday, one banning abortions as early as six weeks into a pregnancy and another that prohibits women from having the procedure because a fetus has a genetic defect, such as Down syndrome. With the introduction of these bills, North Dakota could be the first state in the U.S. to adopt such laws. Rep. Bette Grande, a Republican from Fargo who introduced both bills said, �It�s a good day for babies.� Get the whole storyHERE.
Enzo is a philosophical, TV-watching dog that loves his race-car driving master, Denny Swift, and does his darndest to keep the fragmenting Swift family together. Grab this uplifting bestseller for just $2.99 right HERE.
The creators of box office smash �2016: Obama�s America� have just announced that they're bringing another movie to the big screen. A preview for the film teases: �Columbus� discovery of America was an accident. It was a navigational error. So what if this blunder never happened? History would look very different�� Watch the trailer for the upcoming movieHERE.
The spokesman for Iran�s armed forces says military commanders have been given the authority to respond immediately to enemy attacks.Gen. Masoud Jazayeri also says that �all options are on the table� for Iran forces, language similar to that used by U.S. President Barack Obama to leave open the possibility of military action against Iran�s nuclear program. See the rest of the story HERE.
Venezuela has decided not to embalm the body of late President-for-Life Hugo Chavez after all. The new leadership had planned to put their old boss on permanent display, but things have changed. What triggered the shift? Get the detailsHERE.
Greyhound bus riders were accompanied by some uninvited passengers during a trip to New York on Friday. Hundreds of cockroaches emerged from the vents and began scurrying over the windows, walls and on the passengers themselves. Yes, we have the videoHERE.
With the stunning announcement out of the Vatican yesterday that the conclave had chosen its next Pope from Latin America, all eyes were on the slight, bespectacled, kind cardinal from Argentina. Who was Jorge Mario Bergoglio? What kind of Pope would he be? Was he a Pope in the mold of Benedict XVI? Or was he more in line with the Pope who appointed him to the College of Cardinals, John Paul II? Read the rest of S.E. Cupp's pieceHERE.
Friday, during an interview with Fox News� Jenna Lee, Jay Carney snapped at some of the anchor's questions regarding the effects of sequestration. Just how offensive or dismissive was the Press Secretary? Watch the actual interview and judge for yourselfHERE.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) alleges that the Obama administration has told the injured survivors of the Benghazi terror attack �to be quiet.� While Congress presses for more information surrounding the infamous Sept. 11, 2012 terror attack, Graham says the survivors feel as if they can�t reach out and tell their stories. Get all the detailsHERE.
Friday afternoon, one session at the Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC) conference focused on the GOP reaching out to minorities descended into chaos after a male audience member asked what Frederick Douglass�s former slave master had to be sorry for: �For giving him food and shelter?� TheBlaze interviewed the man who made that statement and a few more outrageous comments. See the video from the session and read the man's comments to TheBlazeHERE.
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) has been criticized heavily for attacking Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas) following Paul�s historic filibuster focused on drone strikes. The senator from Arizona called the Kentucky and Texas senators "wacko birds" in a previous interview with the Huffington Post. On Friday, McCain formally apologized, saying it was �inappropriate� to name call after Fox News� Neil Cavuto asked him about his recent exchanges with Paul and Cruz, both rising stars within the GOP. Watch the apologyHERE.
Some street performers take their jobs very seriously. For many in the trade, it is an art perfected over many years. That might be why a �human statue� street performer, reportedly in Surfers Paradise, Australia, lost his cool when an annoying guy came up to him and began relentlessly harassing him. The very entertaining video isHERE.
Earlier this week, Colorado lawmakers approved a 15-round limit on ammunition magazines. On Friday, they also approved a landmark expansion of background checks on firearm purchases in Colorado. The bill now heads to Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper, who is expected to sign it into law within two weeks. Get all the details HERE.
A West Allis, Wisc., man stumbled upon a dangerous � and potentially deadly � situation while driving home at 4 a.m. on Tuesday. Charlie Blackmore, a Marine Corps veteran, saw a woman on the ground being repeatedly kicked in the head and stomach. Blackmore quickly got out of his car and told the male assailant to stop attacking the woman. And that�s when the perpetrator, 44-year-old Kenneth Harris, started charging toward him. Little did Harris know, but Blackmore was carrying a gun. See the video and learn how it all endedHERE.
Day two of the three-day CPAC event in Washington DC revealed a side of the Conservative world that is rarely seen by the media: tattoos. On Thursday night, during the very crowded Blog Bash event at CPAC, we spotted one very special tattoo. That tattoo (seen in the story) triggered an idea to look for others with a similar theme. See what we foundHERE.
KTLA-TV'sMeteorologist Henry DiCarlo got pranked badly by a viewer during his Wednesday morning shout-outs segment. The result was a fit of uncontrollable laughter in the newsroom. Watch the shenanigansHERE.
One month ago, Rob Rhinehart posted on his blog that he had a goal to stop eating food, but still maintain his current fitness level. Rob was frustrated with the cost and time involved in preparing healthy meals. It appears that he may have come up with a plan that accomplished his goal. See what Rob has inventedHERE.
The Common Core State Standards initiative is a state-led effort coordinated by a group of governors and state school officers. It claims to be developed �in collaboration with teachers, school administrators, and experts, to provide a clear and consistent framework to prepare our children for college and the workforce.� Some teachers disagree with this and appeared on Glenn Beck's TV program. See this fascinating segmentHERE.
Thursday night on Fox News, Conservative firebrand Ann Coulter joined Sean Hannity to reflect on the heated exchange on the Senate floor between Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.). Coulter was unforgiving towards Feinstein, saying her constitutional arguments are �preposterous.� The video of Ms. Coulter's scathing rant is HERE.
Welcomed to the stage with a lengthy period of applause, National Rifle Association (NRA) Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre took the stage at CPAC Friday and heralded the Second Amendment as the means through which Americans will remain free and independent. Watch LaPierre's rousing speechHERE.
Can you believe this video? It's a phenomenon. In fact, it was sent to more than 289,000 people in just the first 24 hours! This video is the 'shot heard around the world' the establishment prayed would never come. Before it's banned, watch it here.
Chris Matthews has long championed the "Republicans-are-all-just-a-bunch-of-birthers argument". And on his Thursday program he resurrected it again, this time using Donald Trump and his invite to speak at CPAC to insinuate the conference and the conservative movement is promoting the idea that Obama is an �illegal immigrant.� See the clip from MSNBC HERE.
At a press event following Donald Trump's Friday morning speech at CPAC, Mr. Trump delivered some verbal shots to MSNBC host Chris Matthews and his criticism of Trump's CPAC invite. The boastful billionaire said Matthews is critical of his because he needs to make a salary from the liberal network. Mr. Trump also had some strong words for disgraced NY Gov. Elliot Spitzer. Learn exactly what was saidHERE.
Thursday afternoon at CPAC, after beginning his speech with the line �God bless Texas,� Republican Texas Gov. Rick Perry said the popular media narrative that the U.S. has shifted away from conservatism is false. He slammed the establishment GOP for not nominating true conservatives in the last two elections. Watch the Governor's speechHERE.
Father William Finnegan is on trial for alleged sexual assault of a teenage girl in England. But that�s not the only trouble he�s in. The Roman Catholic faith leader has a massive, earth-shattering secret � one that came out in court as officials were exploring the abuse case this week. He�s married. See the rest of the shocking storyHERE.
Republican Senator Ted Cruz must have ruffled a few feathers Thursday morning when he questioned Sen. Dianne Feinstein�s �assault weapons� ban, because during his closing remarks before the Senate Judiciary Committee, someone could be heard on a hot mic mocking his speech � on two occasions. Listen to the insults and see if you can figure out who was insulting the SenatorHERE.
While Philly�s WCAU-TV interviewed the school�s Rev. George Bur, S.J. about new Pope Francis I, a student in the back row is seen on video wetting his finger and putting it into the ear of a classmate. Watch the clipHERE.
A woman and her two friends go to a movie. Watching the previews with snacks in hand, something seems a bit off with one of the trailers for an upcoming flick. The young woman in the audience knew something important was coming her way when she saw a picture of herself included in what was increasingly revealed to be a fake movie trailer. Watch what happened when the video endedHERE.
"The principle of spending money to be paid by posterity, under the name of funding, is but swindling futurity on a large scale." --Thomas Jefferson
It's budget time in Washington, which for the last four years has meant the Democrat-controlled Senate not passing a budget. Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), Chairman of the House Budget Committee, released his third "Path to Prosperity" budget with several tweaks to previous versions. Believe it or not, Ryan's Senate counterpart, Patty Murray (D-WA), also released a budget blueprint this week. Naturally, one budget is reasonable, and the other exacerbates the problem.
Ryan's budget is far from extreme as the Left wants us to believe. On the positive side, he made changes to bring the budget into balance in 10 years instead of 30. But spending under his budget still increases 3.4 percent annually compared to Democrats' planned 5 percent growth. Over a decade, that means federal expenditures of $41 trillion instead of $46 trillion. Ryan calls for, but does not assume, tax reform -- just two individual income tax brackets of 10 percent and 25 percent, which would create far more economic growth than any "stimulus" plan. He emphasizes economic growth rather than austerity.
On the downside, Ryan assumes that the recent Obama tax hikes remain in place and that tax revenue will be roughly 19 percent of GDP over the next decade, almost a whole percentage point higher than the post-1980 average. While his budget does assume the repeal of ObamaCare -- impossible given the current White House occupant -- it keeps ObamaCare's $1 trillion tax increases.
Just as Barack Obama's budget has, the plan counts "savings" from no longer fighting the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Yet those expenses won't be incurred regardless of what budget, if any, becomes law. Though Ryan's budget is generally strong on defense, this accounting gimmick is disappointing.
Finally, Ryan's budget continues to put off real entitlement reform. Medicare reform is deferred until 2024, and Social Security isn't touched at all. In light of political reality in Washington, this is at least understandable, but since Ryan's budget stands no chance of becoming law, why not lay out real limited government priorities? These programs are unsustainable in their current form -- Medicare will be insolvent by the time reforms kick in -- and Ryan's plan should have been stronger and more than just "not the Democrats' plan."
Suspension of military tuition assistance; Obama's budget cut retaliation up-close and personal
This week the Air Force joined with the Army and Marines in cutting tuition assistance due to "sweeping" federal budget cuts. When faced with a budget crisis-whether real or imagined like Obama's sequestration-too many politicians will threaten first responders before they cut their own bloated, nonproductive programs. The Armed forces is one of the few constitutionally mandated functions that exists today. Of course, Obama plans to make budget cuts personal so he and Organizing for America can manufacture sob stories making any opposition to his massive spending programs appear cruel. Big Government will not be denied.
Impact
Education in today's all-volunteer military is a major factor in considering promotions. An unnamed recruiter stated that "College benefits are the absolute main reason they do it, it's going to be pretty hard," he said. "You start wondering what else will be cut." (1) ... Continue Reading:Commander in Chief guts more benefits of hated military members
Last year a 27 year old elected Democrat who represents Scottsville in the Albermarle County Virginia Board of Supervisors, was charged with a serious sexual crime. As the charges go, while he was a law student Christopher Dumler committed the vilest type of criminal sexual assault on a fellow female law student. Both were at the University of Virginia Law School at the time.
Court records show that Democrat Supervisor Dumler was accused of committing an act of forcible anal sodomy "by threat or intimidation upon the victim."
The police in Albermarle County investigated the charge and say Democrat Supervisor Dumler knew the victim and that they are "working closely with the commonwealth attorney's office" in their investigation. Denise Lunsford, the Commonwealth's Attorney for Albermarle County is an elected Democrat, so what do you think happened?
Blacks officials in the rapidly deteriorating city of Atlanta decided to sue rather than allow successful White "evacuees" to incorporate prosperous new cities in the Northern suburbs of Dekalb and Fulton counties.
For years government scandals, rackets, political corruption and charges of bribery have plagued a city which is becoming known as "The Detroit of the South," all culminating in the threatened 2013 loss of accreditation for the Dekalb County School System. During that time, communities in the North Atlanta suburbs "...began the process of incorporating into cities," with 6 having been carved out of the Atlanta hinterland by 2011 as hundreds of thousands of taxpayers were lost from the city's tax base. (1)
But the continued electoral fortunes-and perhaps, increasing personal wealth- of Atlanta's politicos depend upon preserving the lynchpin of Democrat politics-robbing from the rich in order to acquire the votes of the poor. And that's a system which doesn't work ... Continue Reading:Race Cards fly as Whites flee corrupt, Black-controlled Atlanta
First the good news; the Catholic Church has a new pope. Now the better news; Pope Francis is a strong conservative who has expressed strong opinions about what constitutes adherence to Catholic doctrine.
The elevation of Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina as the new Pope, who is now known as Pope Francis, (not Francis I because there has never been another Pope Francis) is a clear signal that the Roman Catholic Church has taken a decided turn to the right. Pope Francis will redefine the roll of priests to one that is more inclusive of evangelizing in an increasingly secular world and much more.
While Pope Francis the first Jesuit Pope, the first and first non- European Pope in more than a thousand years, the importance of his elevation is that he is exactly the right man to step forward and protect orthodox Catholic doctrines. The doctrines of marriage as a ... Continue Reading:Pope Francis is the answer to the question: How to deal with fake "Catholic" politicians?
Back in 2008, candidate Barack Obama went off his teleprompter and added a couple of sentences to the text of a speech about expanding the Peace Corps and AmeriCorps. Over rolling applause, the soon-to-be president of the United States said: ...(more)
Dr. Benjamin Carson, the director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital who garnered national headlines for his pointed remarks at last month's National Prayer Breakfast, says that President Obama and his political allies are trying to "destroy the country." ...(more)
Pat Caddell, the Fox News Contributor and Democrat pollster who engineered Jimmy Carter's 1976 Presidential victory, blew the lid off CPAC on Thursday with a blistering attack on "racketeering" Republican consultants who play wealthy donors like "marks." ...(more)
NRA executive vice president Wayne LaPierre is not cowed by the criticism he and his organization have received in the wake of the shooting in Newtown, Conn. In a fiery speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference - met with cries from the audience of "Right! Right!" ...(more)
Mark Kelly's campaign against "assault weapons" such as the AR-15 rifle has sparked a local backlash. On March 13, a Tucson, Arizona radio host published a photograph of former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords holding an AR-15 rifle at a gun range. Giffords has since confirmed that the photograph is authentic ...(more)
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, the wealthiest American, said on "some days" he wishes the U.S. political system were like England's, so that President Barack Obama could have "slightly more power." ...(more)
Police in Clayton, New Jersey, confiscated two guns from a woman after she complained about county government moving to raise her property taxes and inspect her property without a search warrant ...(more)
Uh oh. Something ferocious racing to Earth right now
NASA says a major event has just happened on the sun, and it is NOT a solar flare.
And right now, something ferocious is headed right for Earth at 900 miles per second.
Look which radio talker has joined the heavyweights
Sure, you've got Limbaugh and Savage to keep you on track on weekdays.
But what about weekends? The world doesn't stop then.
This latest addition to the radio industry's highly coveted Talkers' "Heavy Hundred" is watching the world on weekends and breaking news you need to know.
Despite all the fanfare over recent passage of the Violence Against Women Act, its supporters have made nary a peep of protest since this barbaric practice was uncovered.
What makes it worse is that American taxpayers may be footing the bill ...
A little-known military study put out by the U.S. Army War College paints a frightening picture of the vulnerability of America's armed forces to a variety of threats that could leave the homeland crippled and the Pentagon an impotent player in the nation's recovery.
It all the more maddening because of THESE bureaucrats who won't do their jobs ...
Admittedly, it wasn't as exciting as that day in 1856, when Rep. Preston Brooks walked over from the House of Representatives to the U.S. Senate -- the "world's greatest deliberative body" -- and savagely caned Sen. Charles Sumner.
But watching Sen. Ted Cruz rattle Sen. Diane Feinstein to the point of fury with a refresher on the Constitution was a sight to behold.
On Twitter via John Podhoretz, I see that Kay Hymovitz points to the demographic breakdown of the entering freshman class at Stuyvesant High School. Stuyvesant is one of New York's specialized public high schools where entrance is determined solely by Specialized High School Admission Test scores:
-Stuyvesant offered admission to 9 black students; 24 Latino students; 177 white students; and 620 students who identify as Asian.
Hymowitz just says "wow," which seems like a good start, but I hope she will elaborate.
Hymovitz is a fellow at the Manhattan Institute and the coauthor of Knot Yet: The Benefits and Costs of Delayed Marriage in America (the link is to a press release), a new report from the National Marriage Project, the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy and the Relate Institute, which is excerpted here in this weekend's Wall Street Journal.
What are Rand Paul's biggest assets as he attempts to convert the GOP into an isolationist party? He has several, and one of them is John McCain.
McCain surely is among the names Paul "didn't need to mention" when he declared before CPAC that "the GOP of old has grown stale and moss-covered." Paul also didn't perceive a need to name the GOP policies he believes are stale. Instead, he followed that shot by talking about the importance of getting government "off our backs" - a worthy goal, but one that Republicans long have stood for.
Better for Paul to remain vague about his policy differences with the "old GOP," ride his current wave of popularity, and allow Republicans to give him the benefit of the doubt as they fill in the blanks. Better for Paul to present himself as the antithesis of McCain - who advocates a strong defense and U.S. engagement overseas but is unpopular with Republicans for very different reasons - than openly to advocate sharp reductions in defense spending and U.S. disengagement from the world.
At times, Paul is less coy about his desire for the U.S. to disengage. Bill Kristol points out that in a recent interview, Paul commended Joe Biden for saying during the vice presidential debate that "we're coming home." Paul continued: "I think that's what people want; I think that's what people are ready for, that we're coming home."
Even here, Paul was being a bit coy. His isolationism almost surely exceeds what Joe Biden has in mind. Even Biden's boss does not entirely eschew the possibility of serious U.S. engagement in the Middle East, albeit not with boots on the ground. And one can imagine circumstances under which Biden might favor "leaving home" to fight terrorism or to oppose out-and-out aggression.
I have never heard Paul say anything that provides even a modest level of comfort on these scores. From all that appears, Paul understands "coming home" not as a description of our policy towards Afghanistan, but as a broad prescription for American defense and foreign policy in general. In other words, he means it in the McGovernite sense at best, and more likely in the Ron Paul sense.
Fortunately, as Krisol reminds us, there are fresh conservative voices that uphold the traditional Republican position on the need to protect America from its enemies:
It fell to a freshman congressman, speaking at CPAC on the same day as Rand Paul, to tell some hard truths. "I know there is war weariness among the American people, just like there is war weariness among conservatives, and in this audience, no doubt," said Tom Cotton from Yell County, Arkansas. "It's no surprise, though, that the American people are war weary when their commander in chief is the weariest of them all."
But, Cotton reminded his audience, "We're fighting. . .a war against radical islam and jihad." He continued, "Our president often says 10 years of war are ending. Wars are not movies. They do not end. They are won or they are lost. The quickest way to end a war is to lose it." And Cotton pointed out the obvious: "We have the manpower to win the war. We have the matériel to win the war. The question is, do we have the most essential element to combat power? Do we have the will to win the war? Our enemies certainly have that will. They question now whether we do."
Cotton is 35 years old. He's not stale or moss-covered. A combat veteran, he understands real war weariness. But he also understands it needs to be resisted and overcome. Above all, he understands, as did the GOP of old, the GOP of Nixon, Reagan, and Bush, that while we may not be interested in war, our enemies remain interested in us.
And so, Cotton concluded his remarks, "We as conservatives must have the will to win."
In the current moment, Rand Paul can thrive politically as an isolationist by remaining vague and by drawing favorable, general comparisons between himself and John McCain (without naming him, of course). But this strategy won't remain viable as 2016 approaches. Although that election may come too soon for Tom Cotton, it will arrive too late for John McCain.
If Paul wants to demonize anti-isolationists during the primary season, he probably will have to attempt this at the expense of, say, Marco Rubio and/Paul Ryan. That clash won't feature the old vs. the new. It will feature the responsible vs. the smugly complacent.
While we carry on with the favorite pastime of pundits-handwringing about "gridlock" in Washington-let's recur to Churchill's comments on the defects of democracy in his 1931 essay "Fifty Years Hence," which fit the Age of Obama quite well:
Democracy as a guide or motive to progress has long been known to be incompetent. None of the legislative assemblies of the great modern states represents in universal suffrage even a fraction of the strength or wisdom of the community. Great nations are no longer led by their ablest men, or by those who know most about their immediate affairs, or even by those who have a coherent doctrine.
Democratic governments drift along by the line of least resistance, taking short views, paying their way with sops and doles, and smoothing their path with pleasant-sounding platitudes. Never was there less continuity or design in their affairs, and yet toward them are coming swiftly changes which will revolutionize for good or ill not only the whole economic structure of the world but the social habits and moral outlook of every family.
Keep in mind also Churchill's famous axiom that democracy is the worst form of government-except for all the others ever tried.
I first wrote about Dr. Ben Carson here after his outstanding speech at the National Prayer Breakfast last month. Dr. Carson is a pediatric neurosurgeon who has lived a life of incredible accomplishment defying seemingly impossible odds.
Watching the video, of his speech at the National Prayer Breakfast, I couldn't help but wonder if Dr. Carson might not have a greater contribution to make outside the field of medicine. The Wall Street Journal, for one, declared rather forcefully that he does. I also couldn't help but wonder what Obama was thinking. My guess was he was thinking: this is a dangerous guy.
Dr. Carson appeared at CPAC yesterday. "In 106 days I will be retiring," Dr. Carson announced. "I'd much rather quit when I'm at the top of my game. And there's so many more things that can be done." We will stay tuned.
Although the video has a slight glitch or two, it is limited to Dr. Carson's remarks without the introductions that preceded them. (The whole program including Eric Metaxas's remarks is posted here. Hot Air has posted it here.) I believe that somewhere along the line Dr. Carson picked up the principles of ethos, logos and pathos that define compelling public speaking.
UPDATE: At NRO, Patrick Brennan reports on Dr. Carson's appearance on CNN this morning. I am not sure what to make of it.
I think of CPAC as the event in which endless speakers (that's the bad part) serve up red meat to a conservative audience (that's the good part). But this year, there seemed to be a ban on red meat conservatism as it pertains to the immigration issue. And with various Republican legislators lining up behind, or softening their opposition to, amnesty/a path to citizenship for illegal aliens, the vegetarianism was especially inappropriate.
But today, Ann Coulter charged into the breach. "If amnesty goes through," she declared (exaggerating only slightly), "America becomes California and no Republican will ever win another national election."
Coulter also asked a question that, minus the snark, has been on my mind:
I can see why Democrats would want amnesty, but why on earth are Marco Rubio and these endless Bushes supporting it? Even Shemp and Zippo Bush are supporting amnesty for illegals.
She then answered her own question:
Republicans are grasping at these suicidal policies because they're panicked, they're demoralized after the last election. Stop panicking, Republicans!
Coulter's answer is correct as to many Republicans. For others, it may be too charitable.
How did the CPAC audience greet Coulter's timely rant? With cheers.
That cheering stands in marked contrast to the "smattering of polite applause" with which the audience responded to the pro-amnesty speakers that CPAC served up on its panel discussion of immigration. Let's hope that House Republicans were paying attention.
CPAC is drawing to a close. The speakers who got the most press, and the most enthusiastic receptions, were mostly those you would expect: Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, Sarah Palin. But Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell was also well worth listening to, and to some, I suspect, surprisingly hard-hitting:
There has been talk about a primary challenge to McConnell next year by someone ostensibly more conservative. We conservatives have done some stupid things in recent years, but trying to unseat McConnell would be a new low. McConnell is a solid conservative; his lifetime ACU rating, after 28 years in the Senate, is certifiably right-wing at 90%. And McConnell has done, I think, an excellent job as minority leader. It is true, in general, that the Senate's rules tend to make the majority leader look inept and the minority leader look like a genius; that said, as I wrote here, McConnell has repeatedly bested Harry Reid and Barack Obama.
The Democrats would love to take McConnell out. It appears likely that their candidate will be actress Ashley Judd. Judd may seem like a strange choice; she knows little or nothing about politics, has said lots of dumb things over the years, doesn't live in Kentucky, and is the least talented member of her own family. But she satisfies the Democrats' principal criterion for office: she has lots and lots of money, and can raise much more from her friends in Hollywood.
Miss Judd may be over the hill as an actress, but she shouldn't be underestimated as a political candidate. We live in an age of celebrity, and many low-information voters-always a majority-will flock to an attractive Hollywood personality who spouts liberal platitudes and gets a pass from the press. The dumbest thing conservatives could possibly do is challenge one of their own, Mitch McConnell, split the Republican Party, and potentially allow a far-left nonentity like Ashley Judd to become a senator, thereby destroying any chance the GOP may have of capturing that body next year.
The Democrats hurt themselves by launching a racist attack against McConnell's wife, from which the party was forced to officially distance itself. In the short term, the incident helped McConnell. But the Democrats' race-baiting is a reminder of how vicious their 2014 campaign against McConnell, and other Republicans, will be. The party needs to be unified in 2014, and we can't afford to weaken our own candidates with foolish primary challenges. Let's hope that doesn't happen in Kentucky.
Yup, it's time once again for our look back at the best photos, cartoons, and "socially constructed" memes of the week. I'm tempted to say "The Ends Justify the Memes," but that would be wrong. (Loyal reader RS also suggests the useable headlines, "I Smell a Rattner," or "Rattner's Choice Theory." I'll keep these in the inventory.)
Is this the coolest mailbox ever?
I know the new guy has a mess to clean up, but this seems hasty.
A somewhat dated pop culture reference, but I still like it.
Not sure I want to try these.
And I KNOW I don't want to see whatever movie these two might come up with.
I've long argued that Greenpeace deserves to be considered the John Birch Society of the environmental movement-an extremist organization that ought to be openly shunned by "mainstream" environmental organizations, just as the modern conservative movement decided to marginalize the John Birch Society starting back in the early 1960s. That's if the "mainstream" environmental movement actually wants to be taken seriously by mainstream Americans. There is some doubt about this question.
It turns out that Greenpeace is not merely extremist, but lawless, too, encouraging its activists to board ships and drilling platforms to obstruct Shell's activities until their short summer-season "drilling window" in the arctic closed them down. Its general counsel legitimizes the lawlessness of its members, which ought to be grounds for disbarment of the general counsel.
Greenpeace's lawlessness is detailed in an opinion issued last Tuesday by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in the case of Shell Offshore v. Greenpeace ("A California Corporation," the opinion notes of Greenpeace), which upheld the injunction Shell received in District Court against Greenpeace's lawless behavior. The opinion first has to swat away the usual hurdles of standing (Greenpeace incredibly claimed that Shell suffered no harm from its interference, despite the fact that Greenpeace publicly boasted of having prevented oil production), mootness, and jurisdiction. As Judge Wallace Tashima, author of the majority opinion, notes, "we have every reason to believe that the underlying wrong will recur." Gee, I wonder what could ever give him the idea that Greenpeace might try to board ships and oil platforms again in the future?
Judge Tashima goes on to note now Greenpeace, and its legal counsel, openly embrace lawlessness:
But "stop Shell" is not merely a campaign of words and images. Greenpeace USA also uses so-called "direct actions" to achieve its goals, and its general counsel has conceded that direct action can include illegal activity. There is evidence that Greenpeace USA and its counterparts around the globe are united in the goal of stopping Shell. When Greenpeace activists forcibly boarded an oil rig off the coast of Greenland in 2010 and used their bodies to impede a drilling operation, Greenpeace USA's executive director described their conduct as "bold non-violent direct action" by "our activists." Greenpeace USA similarly endorsed the forcible boarding of a Shell vessel by Greenpeace New Zealand activists in February 2012, again referring to them as "our brave activists." (Emphasis added.)
There are other zingers in the opinion that mark out the ridiculousness and extremism of Greenpeace's legal claims as well as their behavior:
We find it too plain for debate that such tactics at minimum pose a serious risk of harm to human life, particularly if attempted in the extreme conditions of the Arctic Ocean, and that such harm could find no adequate remedy at law. . . Shell has an interest in conducting legally authorized exploration of its Arctic leases without dangerous interference from Greenpeace USA. Greenpeace USA has a countervailing First Amendment right to protest Shell's drilling activities, and the injunction imposes safety zones around Shell vessels that prevent Greenpeace USA from exercising its rights in close proximity to those vessels. Greenpeace USA argues that this is an undue speech restriction, prohibited under Schenck v. Pro-Choice Network of W.N.Y., 519 U.S. 357 (1997). We disagree.
The safety zones do not prevent Greenpeace USA from communicating with its target audience because, as the district court observed, Greenpeace USA has no audience at sea. And although the injunction imposes a safety "bubble" around Shell's vessels, Greenpeace USA's reliance on Schenck and its discussion of bubble zones around abortion clinics is sorely misplaced. Speech is, of course, most protected in such quintessential public fora as the public sidewalks surrounding abortion clinics. But the high seas are not a public forum, and the lessons of Schenck have little applicability there.
This is actually pretty funny stuff if you're a student of the droll language of legal opinions. ("Greenpeace has no audience at sea." Heh. What about Charlie Tuna?) Can't believe Greenpeace hasn't yet won a coveted Power Line Green Weenie before now. The award was practically created with them in mind.
We've neglected great professors of English literature in the Power Line Best 100 Professors roster so far, but our first selection in the field, Paul Cantor, the Clifton Walker Barrett Professor of English at the University of Virginia, is so intellectually peripatetic that it risks an injustice to call him merely an "English professor." Narrowly you might consider him a Shakespeare specialist, but once you begin to pull back your field of vision you can see he is remarkably adept at political philosophy and economics, too. And then there's popular culture.
Ordinarily almost anything that might be considered "cultural studies" can be counted upon to be a nihilist wasteland, but Cantor's works on popular culture are the notable exception. His splendid 1999 book, Gilligan Unbound: Pop Culture in an Age of Globalization, managed to tease out some interesting and serious themes from two icons of 1960s television (Star Trek, the original series, and Gilligan's Island), and two iconic shows of the 1990s (The Simpsons and the X-Files). In Cantor's hands, Publishers Weekly said, "television has never been more interesting."
He returned to this theme with a new book out at the end of last year, The Invisible Hand in Popular Culture: Liberty vs. Authority in American Film and TV. In this new oeuvre, he adds South Park, Deadwood, and classic films such as Mars Attacks! to the mix. Beyond pop culture, Cantor, who studied some economics with Ludwig von Mises at NYU years ago, can also bring an A Game in the dismal science, too, and naturally make it a whole lot less dismal. How many literature professors can you name who've also won the Ludwig von Mises Prize for Scholarship in Austrian School Economics? More significantly, though, is the way in which Cantor turns the tables on the Marxist literary critics, and shows how the libertarian tradition of the spontaneous order is a much superior economic framework for understanding the evolution of cultural trends.
But if you want the standard scholarly High Lit stuff, you can also take in his books on Hamlet and another on MacBeth (though his MacBeth book seems to be available only in German). Cantor clearly resembles the classic "Renaissance man" more than an Elizabethan; you might call him an Erasmus for our time, a veritable one-man walking university. Jonathan Last of the Weekly Standard says, "Paul Cantor knows all the words to the songs in the South Park movie, speaks fluent Klingon, and has forgotten more about the X-Files than Fox Mulder ever knew. Finally, pop-culture nerds have an intellectual to call their own."
For a good survey of his views on how conservatives have neglected popular culture, check out this short interview, or take in this six-minute video with ReasonTV's Nick Gillespie.
Surely some portmanteau word - here is a good list - can capture the appropriate reaction to Senator Rob Portman's Columbia Dispatch column "coming out" in favor of gay marriage. Smog? Turducken?
Senator Portman is in my view a serious man and a model Senator. He has a great contribution to make to our public life. In a body full of blowhards, Senator Portman stands out as someone who distinguishes himself by his knowledge of the subjects he addresses. Long may he run.
Senator Portman's column in support of gay marriage seems to me to fall somewhat below the standard of seriousness that he himself has set on other issues of public policy. In advocating for gay marriage, Senator Portman explains:
Two years ago, my son Will, then a college freshman, told my wife, Jane, and me that he is gay. He said he'd known for some time, and that his sexual orientation wasn't something he chose; it was simply a part of who he is. Jane and I were proud of him for his honesty and courage. We were surprised to learn he is gay but knew he was still the same person he'd always been. The only difference was that now we had a more complete picture of the son we love.
There are several assumptions packed into this paragraph, such as the implicit argument based on "orientation." Does "orientation" matter? Among those whose orientation is more flexible - the bicurious, say, to invoke another portmanteau - is the argument inapplicable?
If his son's "coming out" has led Senator Portman to rethink his previous support of traditional marriage, he must not have thought too deeply about it. He professes, however, "to have thought a great deal about the issue."
One wonders if Senator Portman is saying he did a lot of thinking about the issue before his son "came out," or just after. If he is saying he thought a lot about it before, his column provides no evidence of it.
Isn't the possibility of our children's homosexuality a question we all pose to ourselves in testing our thinking on this issue? Senator Portman doesn't say whether he had gone through the exercise prior to Will's "coming out," or how he erred if he did so. He implies that he did not:
At the time, my position on marriage for same-sex couples was rooted in my faith tradition that marriage is a sacred bond between a man and a woman. Knowing that my son is gay prompted me to consider the issue from another perspective: that of a dad who wants all three of his kids to lead happy, meaningful lives with the people they love, a blessing Jane and I have shared for 26 years.
Now a conservative who cites his "faith tradition" seems to me a fellow who has fallen victim to Stockholm Syndrome. Is it rude to wonder whether he takes the tenets of his faith to be true? Probably. Senator Portman has to raise them to a level of New Age generality to continue to profess them:
I wrestled with how to reconcile my Christian faith with my desire for Will to have the same opportunities to pursue happiness and fulfillment as his brother and sister. Ultimately, it came down to the Bible's overarching themes of love and compassion and my belief that we are all children of God.
And if we are all children of God, then what? Here the argument such as it is more or less stops. What about the old-school Mormons or Muslims and their devotion to plural marriage? They too were (and are) children of God. They deserve a better-reasoned argument than this, as do we all.
Senator Portman only alludes to the central role of the family in the argument for traditional marriage. He confines his argument to the fulfillment of the two individuals involved. That's an argument that justifies a lot more than gay marriage, but Senator Portman doesn't seem to have much interest in testing its limits. Reading a bit further into the column, one gets the impression that Senator Portman is rushing to catch a train that is leaving the station, as it very well may be.
PAUL adds: I saw an interview with Sen. Portman in which I understood him to say he hadn't thought deeply about the issue of gay marriage before his son's "coming out." Portman noted that he's always been primarily concerned with fiscal and budgetary issues.
As Scott says, Portman has put family concerns ahead of a particular tenet of his religion, and then tried to reconcile his faith and his family concerns by appealing to the former at a very general level.
I don't blame Portman for this. However, his rethinking of gay marriage is so obviously founded in personal circumstances that it ought not influence the view of the rest of us.
Portman clearly hopes to influence us, though. Otherwise, why announce his new opinion when, to my knowledge, there is no pending Senate vote on the matter?
I assume Portman choose to speak publicly in the interest of family solidarity. Again, I don't blame him, but believe his view is not entitled to the publicity it has received.
In all likelihood, Rand Paul cannot be nominated for president by the Republican Party unless he distances himself to a considerable degree from the views of his father. The younger Paul seems to understand this. For example, he has recently showed far more sympathy for Israel (which he visited) than Ron Paul ever displayed.
But Rand Paul's filibuster against (non-existent) drone attacks on American citizens minding their own business in the U.S. may well have changed all that. It gave Paul rock-star status among a fairly broad array of conservatives. Having achieved that status through a pure Paulist (and leftist) theme - the threat to our national soul caused by the war on terror - the Senator from Kentucky may now see far less need to recalibrate Paulism.
Paul's speech to CPAC manifested little tendency to recalibrate. Though nothing he said precludes a course correction, Paul came across to me as a politician who expects the Mountain to come him, by virtue of the power of his heart-felt creed, without the need for much accommodation. View the speech for yourself and see what you think.
If I'm right about Paul's state of mind, then he has probably peaked too soon for his own good. The Republican "Mountain" isn't inclined to come to outsiders, and cannot be expected to come to an outsider who doesn't seek an accommodation with two-thirds of its base.
We have written several times about the extravagant budget offered by Patty Murray and Senate Democrats, and will return to that topic in the days to come. For the moment, one significant point that has received hardly any publicity relates to welfare. With welfare now the biggest item in the federal budget, one would think that any sane budget would look for ways to control burgeoning welfare costs. But no: the Democrats block each and every effort at reform.
In yesterday's mark-up process in the Senate Budget Committee, Republican senators offered several amendments that addressed out-of-control welfare spending. The Democrats voted them all down, unanimously. One of these was particularly egregious. Jeff Sessions offered an amendment that addressed the Obama administration's outrageous policy of advertising the easy availability of food stamps in foreign countries. This is how Sessions described the amendment:
Contrary to sound policy, the United States is spending money advertising food stamp benefits in foreign consulates. This amendment would prohibit any funds from being spent on this controversial promotion campaign.
Federal law has long prohibited immigration to the U.S. by anyone who is likely to become a public charge. Instead of enforcing this law, the Obama administration has willfully violated it by encouraging immigration to the U.S. by Mexicans and others, precisely because they will become public charges and thereby contribute to the expansion of the welfare system. The administration's promotion of the food stamp program to foreign nationals is part of this effort.
It is hard to imagine an easier way to cut federal spending than by ceasing the advertising of easy availability of food stamps in foreign consulates, but every Democrat on the Budget Committee-Senators Murray, Wyden, Nelson, Stabenow, Sanders, Whitehouse, Warner, Merkley, Coons, Baldwin, Kaine and King-voted "No." If one of them represents you, you should let him or her know what you think of this vote.
Readers of a certain age will recall the battles over missile defense that raged during the Reagan administration. Virtually all Democrats opposed all forms of missile defense, deeming the concept not only unfeasible-"like hitting a bullet with a bullet," as though that were impossible-but destabilizing as well. John Kerry's denunciations of missile defense were typical: "a dream based on illusion, but one which could have real and terrible consequences," As recently as 2008, Barack Obama said that he didn't "agree with a missile defense system" and promised to slash funding for development of such systems. He did, too.
I was reminded of all of this by a low-key, matter of fact story in today's newspapers:
The Obama administration will add 14 interceptors to a West Coast-based missile defense system, reflecting concern about North Korea's focus on developing nuclear weapons and its advances in long-range missile technology, officials said Friday. ...
The Pentagon intends to add the 14 interceptors to 30 already in place in California and Alaska. That will expand the system's ability to shoot down long-range missiles in flight before they could reach U.S. territory. ...
"As we think about our homeland missile-defense posture, we do not have a 'just-in-time' policy," [James Miller, defense undersecretary for policy] said. "Our policy is to stay ahead of the threat - and to continue to ensure that we are ahead of any potential future Iranian or North Korean ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missile) capability."
Well, that is good news. Still, one wonders: has anyone ever asked Secretary of State John Kerry whether he now admits that he was wrong about missile defense being a "dream based on an illusion," with "real and terrible consequences?" Or how about the Democratic Senators and Congressmen, many of them still in office, who bitterly attacked President Reagan for wanting to develop missile defense systems, and President Bush for wanting to deploy such systems? Does anyone ever ask whether they have changed their minds, or how they now feel about our ability to defend against North Korean missiles?
Being a Democrat means never being reminded of the times when you were wrong.
I try to discount reports of future White House doings, but veteran reporter Neil Munro's Daily Caller article - Obama will press Israel to mollify furious Arabs" - is sourced to Ben Rhodes, the president's deputy national security adviser for strategic communications. Rhodes contributes another chapter in the praise of folly that Obama has brought us over the past four-plus years:
"It is obviously a good thing that the people in the region are seeking to express themselves democratically," declared Ben Rhodes, the president's deputy national security adviser for strategic communications.
"Israel needs to take into account the changing dynamic and the need to reach out to public opinion across the region as it seeks to make progress on issues like Israeli-Palestinian peace and broader Arab-Israeli peace,' he insisted.
Munro works in a little editorial commentary, extra wry with a twist, and with a slightly more realistic perspective than a wire service reporter would bring to the table:
That task may be very difficult, in part, because a vast majority of Arabs who are living alongside Israel wish to destroy the state.
Thank you, Mr. Munro.
Israel's chief of military intelligence is Aviv Kochavi. Kochavi cannot indulge in the kind of mindless kibbiting to which Obama is prone. Here is Kochavi's assessment of Israel's neighborhood, after a discussion of the Iranian threat:
Kochavi also commented on the Syrian civil war: "In many ways, the country is disintegrating with 60,000 killed so far, among them 50,000 civilians and 13,000 soldiers, 1.4 million refugees, mostly around Jordan who are growing by 800 a day, and thousands of serious attacks.
"Therefore, Syria shouldn't be treated as a unified state. It should be referred to as Assad's state and the rebels' state, as two thirds of Syria's habitable areas are under rebel control.
"Most of the cities are under complete or partial rebel control. The Golan Heights is a string of enclaves in rebel or army control engaged in daily warfare with each other."
He added that "Assad is preparing to use chemical weapons." According to Kochavi, Assad "still shows control of chemical weapons and the air force."
He pointed out that the Syrian president has started using missiles such as Scud and M600.
"He already fired 70, in addition to 600 rockets with warheads containing 300 kilos of explosives," Kochavi said.
Referring to the Arab Spring and its regional consequences, the MI chief said: "The upheaval is here to stay and will continue to simmer and affect the entire Middle East.
"The uprising's main achievement belongs to the public and its right to participate in the social process, but we see no new ideas springing up due to the upheaval.
"The forces which brought the masses in the city squares were not translated into political power. The resulting vacuum was occupied by Islamist parties, with the main movement rising up being the Muslim Brotherhood."
Kochavi noted that "for the first time in many years the four main powers - Iran, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt are controlled by religious leadership."
According to Kochavi, "The State of Israel is considered by them as unacceptable, so it will be increasingly difficult in the coming years to reach agreements and normalization."
Obama and Rhodes to the contrary notwithstanding, Israel has little to nothing to do with the upheaval in its neighborhood and there is little to nothing it can do to alleviate it other than going out of business. Kochavi's assessment represents a more clear-eyed view than that of Obama and his advisers.
NOTE: I've opened and closed two or three quotes in the Kochavi article to correct what seem to be punctuation errors.
Anyone who doubts that Rand Paul is a force to be reckoned with in the Republican Party should watch his CPAC speech and then think again. But anyone who believes that Paul can lead the Republican Party to victory should engage in similar reflection.
Since the days of Reagan, the Party has stood, famously, on the three-legged stool of free-market conservatism, strong national defense conservatism, and social conservatism. Lately, to be sure, this formula hasn't produced success in presidential races. But will Republicans flourish if they saw off two of the stool's three legs?
This is what Rand Paul would do. His "war on drones" (or war on behalf of the Bill of Rights, as he self-righteously would have it) is really an assault on the successful war on terrorism the U.S. has waged for the past 11 years. This reflects his even broader quarrel with strong national defense conservatism.
Paul gave this away (again) in his CPAC speech when he said that, once upon a time, Barack Obama respected civil liberties. Paul was referring to the days before Obama had the awesome primary responsibility for protecting Americans from terrorism and jihad. In those days, the Senator from Illinois could afford to be a persistent leftist critic of the war on terror.
By embracing that Barack Obama, Paul confirms that he is his father's son when it comes to national security. Thus, one leg of Reagan conservatism is severed.
The social conservative leg fares no better. Paul told CPAC that the new Republican Party he contemplates will "embrace liberty in the economic and personal sphere." The substantial portion of the Republican base that rejects hard-core libertarianism in the social sphere will no longer have a home in the party Paul aspires to lead.
With whom does Paul propose to replace social conservative and national security oriented conservatives? That's easy - he will replace them with "the Facebook Generation." Its members will flock to Paul, like children to the pied piper, because, says Paul, they "can detect falseness and hypocrisy a mile away." Maybe the Wall Street Journal and John McCain were onto something after all.
Paul does not appear bothered by the fact that these unerring detectors of B.S. have twice voted overwhelmingly for Barack Obama. Presumably, Paul attributes this to Obama's opponents (as he said, we don't have to name names).
But Paul has indulged in a fallacy. The Facebook Generation's alleged "leave us alone" attitude towards government can explain why its members did not embrace (okay, let's name names) John McCain. It can conceivably explain why they did not embrace Mitt Romney. But it cannot explain the enthusiasm of the Facebook Generation for Barack Obama, particularly after Obama had spent four years demonstrating that he has no intention of letting anyone alone.
Portions of the Facebook Generation may talk a good self-reliance game. But the voting pattern of this cohort as a whole isn't promising. Instead, it suggests that they like "free stuff" at least as much as their parents do.
For me, the idea that a Paulist Republican Party could attract enough young voters to offset the destruction of its traditional stool is laughable. Paul's blueprint would make for a great Third Party, but comes nowhere close to charting the course for a Republican resurgence.
In his State of the Union address, President Obama said he wanted to "make high-quality preschool available to every child in America" and "make sure none of our children start the race of life already behind."
So Heritage experts took a look at the President's plan to see if it would actually help America's needy children get ahead in the "race of life."
Another government-controlled, top-down, one-size-fits-all program-what could go wrong?
Look at the government's record. As Heritage's Lindsey Burke, the Will Skillman Fellow in Education, and research associate Rachel Sheffield point out in their new paper, "Washington already has a poor track record for K-12 education, with federal spending nearly tripling over the past three decades while academic achievement and attainment languishes."
Look at the government preschool we already have. There are already 45 government preschool programs run by numerous federal agencies, including the Departments of Education, Health and Human Services, Agriculture, the Interior, and Housing and Urban Development. Burke and Sheffield note that these 45 programs "are estimated to cost taxpayers more than $20 billion annually. Many are duplicative and ineffective, failing to serve the needs of children from low-income families."
After nearly 50 years of operation, the federal Head Start program has failed to improve the educational outcomes and kindergarten readiness of participating children. Head Start should be eliminated, or at the very least it should be reformed, to allow states the flexibility to make their Head Start funds portable, allowing families to use their dollars to send their children to a private preschool of their choice.
The President's new proposal wouldn't help low-income children. Low-income families already have access to taxpayer-funded preschool through state programs and Head Start (which, if it continues to be funded, should be reformed to serve them better). President Obama's proposal would subsidize middle-income and upper-income families-with no new benefit to low-income parents.
Three-quarters of four-year-olds are already in preschool. Many parents prefer to care for their young children at home. But for those who want preschool programs, there are a variety of programs available. There is no public demand for new, large-scale government spending in this area. Burke and Sheffield report that "An estimated 74 percent of four-year-old children are enrolled in preschool, public and private, across the country."
Look at the academic evidence. Do these formal preschool programs really help kids in their academic careers? Our authors write: "Evaluations of preschool programs consistently find that any gains children make as a result of preschool quickly fade away in their early elementary years." The Obama administration turns to a 50-year-old evaluation of a high-intervention preschool program with 58 at-risk children to make his case for taxpayer-funded, universal preschool. That means President Obama is making what researcher Russ Whitehurst calls "a prodigious leap of faith." The outcomes of that program, known as the Perry Preschool Project, have never been replicated.
It is far more likely that the President's proposal will produce outcomes akin to Head Start, which, according to the scientifically rigorous evaluations conducted by Health and Human Services, are abysmal.
Everyone wants children to have the best start in life. Large-scale government preschool programs are not the way to ensure that happens.
"We must take control of our ideas and our message," he said during his keynote address to the annual conservative conference. "We must win the hearts and minds of the American people - all of the American people. We must help Americans see the connection between their hopes and dreams and the public policies that will help them achieve their goals."
DeMint outlined four important steps conservatives can take right now to advance freedom and rebuild America:
Continue to battle Obamacare. "We cannot give up on repealing Obamacare. Accepting Obamacare is giving up on America."
Fix our immigration system to promote lawful entry. "We have to fix the system, but we cannot design our national immigration policies to accommodate those who broke our laws."
Balance the budget. "Conservatives must lead with a plan that balances the budget in the next decade without raising taxes." Or we can balance the budget even sooner, he said, by not passing yet another increase in the debt limit.
Strengthen families and other private institutions. "Economic and social conservatism go hand-in-hand. They're natural allies. Strong families, churches and voluntary institutions build strong character and economic independence."
Some states, including New York and Massachusetts, could realize cost savings-in part by shifting costs to federal taxpayers. But these are the exception, not the rule. Most states can expect new costs to dwarf any spending reductions.
Moreover, Heritage expert Ed Haislmaier says even in states that could see spending reductions, cuts may not be realistic politically: "governors and state legislators should expect their state's hospitals and clinics to lobby them for more-not less-state funding to replace cuts in federal DSH payments."
Find out how your state will be affected in the list here.
News reports often make dubious claims about trade and international commerce.
Here's one example from the Associated Press: "A narrower trade gap boosts growth because it means U.S. companies are earning more from overseas sales while U.S. consumers and businesses are spending less on foreign products."
This widely reported explanation is easy to disprove. "In recent years, our economy has performed better when the trade gap increases than when it narrows," Heritage Foundation expert Bryan Riley explains:
During the past 10 years, whenever the trade deficit increased, real GDP always increased-on average by 2.7 percent. But when the trade deficit decreased, real GDP did not boom-in fact, it increased on average by less than one-tenth of 1 percent.
Ultimately, countries with low barriers to trade and commerce are much more prosperous than those that restrict imports. The new 2013 Index of Economic Freedom, published by The Heritage Foundation and the Wall Street Journal, shows that. Reporters should focus on this fact when reporting about trade.
Yesterday, during the Senate Judiciary Committee's mark-up of Senator Dianne Feinstein's Assault Weapons ban bill, liberals voted down an amendment offered by Senior Texas Senator John Cornyn that would have exempted women who have been afforded protective orders as defined in the Violence Against Women Act from arming themselves for their protection.
This Act would have ensured that women fearing for their safety would have the freedom to defend themselves effectively against possible attack, but the liberals put their unconstitutional anti-gun agenda above women's safety. We must not let them get away with it! American women do not want their legislators patronizing them as victims, we demand that our legislators protect our freedom to keep us from being victimized in the first place by defending our constitutional right to carry guns to defend ourselves.
In recent months leading to the passage of the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act, liberals relentlessly attacked conservatives who sought accountability or reform for this expensive, highly politicized, dangerous and ineffective law, claiming that those conservatives did not care about women being raped or killed.
In truth, even liberal family violence expert Dr. Angela Moore Parmley reported, "We have no evidence to date that VAWA has led to a decrease in the overall levels of violence against women." To the contrary, some studies indicate an increase in violence against women, including one study that notes a 60% increase in intimate partner homicides that is directly connected to VAWA-mandated mandatory arrest laws.
After nine years and more than $1 billion in taxpayer money, liberals claim to protect women through VAWA which has not effectively countered violence against women, but they vote to take away guns, which are very effective at allowing women to protect themselves? Consider these statistics:
Each year an estimated 200,000 women use guns to defend themselves against sexual assault.
According to a study conducted in the early 1990s, 650 rapes a day were stopped because the intended victim was armed or claimed she was armed.
Women in particular need guns because more than 90% of violent crimes occur without a firearm, but instead involve physical size and strength. This puts women at a disadvantage and guns are an effective equalizer.
Recent surveys of prisoners estimate that 3,600 rapes each day are never attempted because the victim had or claimed to have a gun.
Liberals claim that no one needs what they define as an assault weapon (multiple rounds of ammunition that can be fired without reloading), but as Independent Women's Forum expert Gayle Trotter recently testified before the Senate, women need multiple rounds of ammunition to protect against multiple attackers.
We must speak out about the liberals' hypocrisy and expose the real war on women!
Take Action!
If you use social media like Twitter and Facebook, please take a moment to thank Senator John Cornyn (@JohnCornyn) to thank him for taking a stand against the real war on women, liberals' effort to kill our constitutional freedoms. Please follow us at @EagleForum if you would like to retweet some of our commentary on this issue.
Suggested tweets:
Thank you Senate Judiciary Republicans for protecting women's rights to protect themselves from attackers.
Shame on Senate Judiciary Dems for killing women's right to protect themselves from attackers. You are waging the true war on women!
We also urge you to take some time to submit a letter to the editor to your local newspaper to bring attention to this important issue. To identify local media in your area, click here.
Would Sen. Rob Portman Support Stealing if His Son was a Thief?
Posted on March 16, 2013 by Gary DeMar
Rob Portman an Ohio Senator is the first Republican in the Senate to support homosexual marriage. In 1996, Portman voted for the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which prohibits federal recognition of same-sex marriage. Three years later he voted to bar homosexual couples in Washington, D.C., from adopting.
Why did he suddenly change his position? Because one of Rob Portman's sons said that he was a homosexual. His son told him that he's always "felt" this way. Keep in mind that everybody feels certain ways about lots of things, but their better moral sense stops them from acting on them.
Following President Obama's lunch meeting with Senate Republicans on Capitol Hill, Maine Republican Senator Susan Collins described the food served and said the president was not able to eat since his "taster" was not present.
"University of Maine recipe for healthy lobster salad - I pointed that out to the president in keeping with the first lady's initiatives and Fox Family Potato Chips made in Aroostook County where I'm from and wild blueberry pie full of anti-oxidants, see this was a healthy lunch as well. We did have a little ice cream on the pie too, also made in Maine, Gifford's Ice Cream. So in all seriousness this was well received," Collins told reporters on Thursday after the meeting at the Capitol.
On May 23, Boy Scout leaders from your state will meet with scout leaders from other states to vote on whether or not to amend its longstanding membership policy restricting open and avowed homosexuals.
This is why your involvement is so desperately important.
Your local council executive and at least one local citizen will represent your community by voting for or against a resolution to change the current policy.
Will you take a few minutes to help the millions of boys who will be affected by this vote?
We believe scouting should not include homosexual men who go on overnight camping trips with young boys.
We believe scouting should not cave to political correctness in the form of social experimentation.
We believe scouting should not make its religious sponsoring organizations vulnerable to lawsuits by homosexual activists. (Chartering organizations are currently protected, but any change to the policy could severely jeopardize that legal protection.)
* Politely share your concerns and ask your local council representatives to vote against any change to the current membership policy. * Ask your local scout executive where his position is. * IMPORTANT: Send a report of your visit to bsareport@afa.net. Please be brief and include the name of the council office you contact.
- My last post was another of my frequent attempts to warn people against falling prey to the political claymore mines of the sham party system. These are events, like Rand Paul's Mini-Me filibluster (oops, I mean filibuster, of course), orchestrated by the system's elitist faction controllers in order to waste principled conservatives (in terms of their political hopes and resources) who might otherwise devise a successful vehicle for opposing the de facto coalition government the GOP has formed with Obama... (more)
- The culture war is in part a fight against evil. This essay will focus upon the nature of evil, how we should confront evil, and the agendas and tactics of evil we may encounter in the culture war... (more)
- Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina was elected in a surprise choice to be the new leader of the troubled Roman Catholic Church on Wednesday, taking the name Francis I and becoming the first non-European pontiff in nearly 1,300 years... (more)
- Wednesday marked several firsts for the Roman Catholic Church with the papal election of Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina: As Pope Francis, he becomes the first pontiff from the Americas, the first non-European pope in more than a millennium, and the first Jesuit successor to the Throne of St. Peter... (more)
- Jan van Lohuizen, a former George W. Bush pollster with a Ph.D. from Rice, is on a mission to show that opposition to same-sex marriage is a political and demographic dead end, propped up by a shrinking core of the old, the undereducated, and the highly churched. Bitter clingers, if you will, to the idea of traditional marriage... (more)
- Gun control efforts are largely a culture-war offensive by liberals who dislike the parts of America that own guns and love guns. This meddling motivation shines through in the rhetoric of gun control advocates and in the laws they push... (more)
- Let's say your car is on cruise control at 100 miles per hour, and there's a brick wall in the distance. The responsible course of action would be to slow down gradually and turn the car so it's no longer pointed toward the brick wall... (more)
- The spooks don't preside over the most secretive agency of the government. It's no place for spies or their spymasters, so it isn't the Central Intelligence Agency, the National Security Agency or even the Office of National Intelligence. The place where the deepest secrets are kept is where the gnomes of the central banks work... (more)
- The Obama administration is drawing up plans to give all U.S. spy agencies full access to a massive database that contains financial data on American citizens and others who bank in the country, according to a Treasury Department document seen by Reuters... (more)
- China is building one of the world's largest drone fleets aimed at expanding its military reach in the Pacific and swarming U.S. Navy carriers in the unlikely event of a war, according to a new report. The Chinese military -- known as the People's Liberation Army (PLA) -- envisions its drone swarms scouting out battlefields, guiding missile strikes and overwhelming opponents through sheer numbers... (more)
- An assistant attorney general President Obama is considering for labor secretary oversaw a Justice Department section hampered by racially-charged ideological divisions, an inspector general report says... (more)
- President Obama will elevate the controversy over his recess appointment powers to the highest level. The National Labor Relations Board on Tuesday said it will ask the Supreme Court to overturn a lower-court ruling that said Mr. Obama overstepped the Constitution, a decision that was a major legal setback for Mr. Obama... (more)
- Herring Broadcasting, owner of the Wealth TV network, and The Washington Times announced Thursday that they have joined in a strategic partnership to create a new national cable news network called One America News, set to debut nationwide this summer... (more)
- I hope I'm not too late to the fight. Last week, freshman senator Rand Paul (R., Ky.) held an old-fashioned filibuster against the nomination of John Brennan to head the CIA. Paul's stated reason for taking to the floor and talking for 13 hours was that the Obama administration wouldn't give him a straight answer on the question of whether the president can unilaterally order the killing of American citizens on American soil with "lethal force, such as a drone strike . . . and without trial."... (more)
- When, in a recent column, I called same-sex marriage "one of the most radical ideas considered since child sacrifice," I apparently hit a nerve. But I didn't expect to hear outrage from as far away as Egypt... (more)
- There will be no breath of fresh air at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). On March 4, President Obama introduced Gina McCarthy, a veteran of the EPA bureaucracy, as his choice to run the 17,000-employee agency during his second term. Passing the baton to an insider is a signal that the administration stands behind its "anything goes" attitude in advancing the global-warming agenda... (more)
- The Beltway is buzzing over President Obama's likely nomination of Thomas E. Perez as the next head of the U.S. Department of Labor. But when Americans find out whom Perez has lobbied for most aggressively over the course of his extremist left-wing "social justice" career, they'll be wondering which country Obama's pick really plans to serve... (more)
- A top aide to a left-wing American Catholic Cardinal, reportedly in the running for the job of pope, taught a course called "Matthew, Marx, Luke, and John" at a pro-Marxist think tank in Washington, D.C. The course included a discussion of "the future of the Christian alliance with Marxism" and the "theology of the oppressed."... (more)
- "While our country remains untainted with the principles and manners which are now producing desolation in so many parts of the world; while she continues sincere, and incapable of insidious and impious policy, we shall have the strongest reason to rejoice in the local destination assigned us by Providence... (more)
JOSEPH FARAH - I listened to Sen. Rand Paul's filibuster last week. It was unlike any political theater I have ever witnessed in Washington before. It was compelling TV. I was riveted. His focus was simple. Though the issue was technically the Senate confirmation of John Brennan as CIA director (a bad idea), it was more specifically on a much more fundamental matter: Does the Constitution still matter?... (more)
Administration Admits it Released Thousands of Criminal Aliens
As the president calls on Congress to pass "comprehensive immigration reform" (amnesty), his administration continues to undermine existing immigration enforcement efforts by releasing thousands of criminal illegal aliens back onto the streets. Take a stand with FAIR today to oppose the administration's strategy of dismantling immigration enforcement!
When news broke two weeks ago that illegal aliens were being released from detention centers, the Obama administration downplayed the matter by suggesting that only a few hundred non-criminal aliens were released. Yesterday the truth was revealed when the Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) John Morton testified in front of Congress that his department released 2,228 illegal alien detainees, over 600 of whom have criminal records. But even that isn't the end of the story; according to leaked internal documents, ICE plans to release an additional 3,000 illegal aliens this month alone due to "budget reasons."
Linda, you may remember John Morton as the author of the infamous "Morton Memos," which implemented the president's administrative amnesty by restricting U.S. immigration enforcement. The release of thousands of criminal illegal aliens illustrates the administration not only plans to continue, but expand its administrative amnesty agenda in the midst of pushing for a legislative amnesty -- despite outrage from Members of Congress and the American public.
FAIR is a non-partisan, non-discriminatory non-profit organization dedicated to securing our borders, ending illegal immigration and promoting immigration levels consistent with the national interest. FAIR relies solely on the tax-deductible contributions of citizens and philanthropic foundations.
'No Holds Barred' Questions for Obama? By L. Brent Bozell III Here are some tough, no-holds-barred questions for President Obama. They are also perfectly acceptable questions for serious journalists to ask. But no serious journalists are allowed anywhere near this president.
Pope Francis -- Against the West? By Patrick J. Buchanan The secular media's reaction to Pope Francis reveals that traditional Catholicism is today almost as deeply alien to our present-day West as it was in Roman times, only the West chooses to ignore Catholicism, where Rome feared and persecuted it.
Time To Opt Out of Creepy Fed Ed Data-Mining Racket By Michelle Malkin Last week, I reported on the federal government's massive new student-tracking database, which was created as part of the nationalized Common Core standards scheme. School districts and state governments are pimping out highly personal data on children's feelings, beliefs, "biases" and "flexibility" instead of doing their own jobs imparting knowledge -- or minding their own business.
How Obama is dumbing down America's schoolchildren
You've likely never heard of Common Core - and that's the scariest thing about it. MORE
Michelle Malkin Op-Ed: Common Core as Trojan Horse. It's time to opt out of the creepy federal data-mining racket. STORY
Ted Cruz stands up to Feinstein on guns
Senator Ted Cruz has made quite a splash since getting elected to the Senate. He's gone toe-to-toe with Obama's controversial nominees, and now he's taking the fight to career politician Dianne Feinstein. Cruz took her to task over the constitutionality of the new proposed gun regulations and needless to say, she didn't appreciate him schooling her on the country's founding documents. Check it out HERE.
Sen. Rand Paul jabs progressives Republicans, big govt spending, and stands for the "Facebook generation" during CPAC speech. Watch the Senator's full speech HERE.
How are you making a difference?
Feel like you're fighting against an unbeatable opponent? Are you starting to think that big government is unstoppable? Don't throw in the towel just yet. On radio today, Glenn recapped how the Tea Party and other grass roots organizations are changing Congress for the better. Glenn runs down the list on radio today.
Tim DiDonato is the Design Manager of 1791 Supply & Co. He has been with 1791 since its founding and is responsible for the research and design of the products. Tim is also married to Glenn's daughter, Hannah, and the two live with their rescue dog, Hans and their cat in Dallas, Texas. Get a glimpse into Tim's typical day HERE.
Man in the Moon and the Tower of Babel
Glenn's epic July 4th week celebration of America is taking shape and some amazing things are coming to life. For example, the Tower of Babel is being recreated, and it's going to be unlike anything you've ever seen. Hear Glenn talk about the latest production update & get all the information about attending the event HERE.
Glenn's daily radio show is now available on demand for free!
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NOW AVAILABLE: Get the eighth episode of Wrath & Righteousness!
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 eighth episode in the 10-part series is available HERE. Download the previous 7 episodes HERE to catch up. Have a question or comment about the series? Visit our FAQ page.
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Glenn: Help us get in millions of home
American Policy Center has recently released a booklet that explains everything you need to know to start fighting back against sustainable programs both locally and nationally. The booklet is called Special Report: Agenda 21 and How to Stop It and is available in the APC store for only $5.95.
Has Communist Ideology Overtaken America? Education is crucial. Today I want to share two very interesting lists with you, and rather than adding an extensive amount of my commentary, I want to give you the chance to examine the facts for yourself. It is my opinion that many communist goals have already been accomplished. I also believe that advancement has been made in other areas. But, you owe it to yourself to do your own research. I believe not only in the freedom of speech, but also in the responsibility of free thought. So please don't take my word for it. Examine the facts for yourself.
