The Front Page Cover
~ Featuring ~
What Charlie Gard Has Taught Us
by Minister Michael Brown
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Senate GOP Votes to Debate, Not to Do Anything
Senate Republicans moved Tuesday to begin debate on various measures to repeal, replace or at least modify liar-nObamaCare. Barely. It took Vice President Mike Pence's tie-breaking vote to do so. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) could afford just two defectors, and Susan Collins (R-ME) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) obliged. Collins has been a de facto liar-nObamaCare supporter all along. Though she voted "no" on the original law, she has routinely rejected appeal and reform attempts ever since. Murkowski is another matter. She reversed course from her vote for repeal while Barack liar-nObama held the veto pen. The Senate should "repeal and fix this unworkable law," Murkowski declared in May 2016, adding that "a full repeal of the law would be the best course of action." Well, never mind then.
The first bill that came for a vote was the Better Care Reconciliation Act, the Senate's version of repeal-and-replace. Predictably, it went down in defeat, 43-57. For those keeping score at home, nine Republicans broke ranks and voted with Democrats. Moderates Collins and Murkowski opposed it, while conservatives Mike Lee (R-UT) and Rand Paul (R-KY) stubbornly insisted the bill was insufficient. And then there were Bob Corker (R-TN), Tom Cotton (R-AR), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Dean Heller (R-NV) and Jerry Moran (R-KS), who each voted no for various reasons.
The Wall Street Journal nailed weak-kneed Republican moderates, saying, "Members have been debating among themselves for weeks, they know or should know the bill's essential policy choices, and the bill isn't getting prettier with age. That's especially true on Medicaid reform and spending, which is the chief gripe of the so-called moderates. ... They keep demanding more money. They keep getting it, but it's never enough."
On this count, President Donald Trump got it exactly right: "It's a very, very difficult situation, because you move a little to the left, and you lose four guys. You move a little bit to the right, and all of a sudden you have a bloc of people who are gone. You have a one-inch road and it wheels through the middle of the valley." To use another metaphor, some Republicans are willing to sink a "good" bill with a torpedo named "perfect." Others are happy to stay aboard the Democrats' Titanic listening to the band play as the ship goes down.
Next is an up-or-down vote on complete repeal with replace coming later. That too is sure to fail, but at least liar-nObamaCare's Republican defenders will be on record for voters to judge. Two years ago, every Republican but Collins voted for straight repeal. This time, it could be a dozen who oppose it.
~The Patriot Post
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Gowdy Twists Schiff’s Snarky Comments
Back Into A Criticism Of Himself, Dems
by Rick Wells
{rickwells.us} ~ While discussing the upcoming witnesses in the Russia, Russia, Russia investigation, Rep Trey Gowdy, who is a member of the House Intelligence Committee... is asked about comments made by the Democrat who hijacked that committee, Rep Adam Schiff (D-CA). Schiff, who has conducted himself as the investigative panel chairman since his George Soros funded allies filed ethics complaints against Rep Devin Nunes, had some snarky comments about Mr. Gowdy. He doesn’t like it when anyone introduces objectivity into his witch hunt. CNN’s Erin Burnett quotes the congressional bobble-head Schiff, saying, “Mr. Gowdy took the role as a second attorney for Mr. Kushner.” Schiff had intended to beat Kushner up with a series of inane questions in hopes of somehow tripping him into making a mistake that could then be distorted, misquoted or otherwise manipulated into something of value to the snipe hunt. Apparently there were times when Rep Gowdy intervened and Shifty didn’t appreciate it... http://rickwells.us/gowdy-twists-schiffs-snarky-comments-back-criticism-dems/
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Firing Mueller Could Precipitate A Crisis At DOJ
by Kevin Daley
{dailycaller.com} ~ The prospect of Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ dismissal seems especially high, as President Trump disparages his longtime loyalist in daily tweets and refuses to say whether he has confidence in his leadership... The most dangerous scenario attending this unprecedented situation, however, would be if Trump fired Sessions as part of a broader push to oust special counsel Robert Mueller, who is leading the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Such a scheme could precipitate a wave of departures at the highest levels of the Justice Department, where Trump’s repeated knocks have leveled morale. If Trump dismisses Sessions, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein will likely become acting AG, though BuzzFeed News’ Chris Geidner notes, Trump could install any Senate confirmed official in the post on a temporary basis...I doubt that he will fire Session. He will fire Mueller thou. http://dailycaller.com/2017/07/26/firing-mueller-could-precipitate-a-crisis-at-doj/.
{israelnationalnews.com} ~ Jordan has decided not to allow the return to Jordan of the Israeli Ambassador to Amman and her staff until the security official who shot and killed an attacking terrorist at the Embassy compound is tried in Israeli court... according to the Jordanian paper al-Rad. On Monday night, the Israeli Ambassador to Amman returned to Israel with the rest of her staff, including the security official in question, within the framework of agreements between the King of Jordan and Prime Minister Netanyahu. On Wednesday, Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely told Arutz Sheva that there was “no doubt” that the security official would be returned to his position at the Embassy... http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/233067?utm_source=activetrail&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl
Jordan sets conditions
for return of Israeli Embassy staff
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North Korean ICBM Test Was ‘Game Changer’
by Bill Gertz
{freebeacon.com} ~ North Korea's recent test of an intercontinental ballistic missile has increased the danger the country's leader Kim Jong Un will be able to strike the United States sooner than expected... the commander of U.S. Forces Korea said on Wednesday. Commenting on reports that the July 4 test of what the military is calling a KN-20 missile moved up estimates of the timeline for fielding a reliable long-range nuclear missile, Army Gen. Vincent Brooks, the commander, said in a brief interview, "We believe they have." "It is a bit of a game changer for us," the four-star general said of the missile test that flew 1,700 miles into space and flew for 37 minutes—longer than any previous North Korean missile flight test... http://freebeacon.com/national-security/general-north-korean-icbm-test-game-changer/?utm_source=Freedom+Mail&utm_campaign=8a5e547bee-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_07_26&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_b5e6e0e9ea-8a5e547bee-45611665
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Liberal German Immigration Courts
Overwhelmed, Facing 5 Year Backlog
by Rick Wells
{rickwells.us} ~ Just as liar-nObama deliberately overloaded the immigration courts with “refugee” cases by entitling those from neighboring countries other than Mexico to a hearing to determine whether they could be deported back to where they belong... German courts are now critically backlogged. Once again the similarities between the Merkel destruction in Europe and liar-nObama in the United States are striking. Hundreds of thousands of Islamic invaders are clogging the German judicial system as the word has spread that the ticket to extending your free ride on the German citizens is to appeal your ruling denying refugee status. Invaders who were initially granted “subsidiary protection” status by the German authorities, are now suing in an effort to obtain full refugee status. According to a report in the Amazon Washington Post, “Those with subsidiary protection status can stay in Germany for up to three years, but do not have the right to reunify with family.”...http://rickwells.us/liberal-german-immigration-courts-overwhelmed-facing-5-year-backlog/.
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What Charlie Gard Has Taught Us
by Minister Michael Brown
{townhall.com} ~ Isn’t it remarkable that a tiny little baby who cannot utter a word has spoken to the world? Isn’t it remarkable that a handicapped child who, under normal circumstances, might have lived and died in obscurity, has become the focal point of a debate affecting millions? God has His ways of using the weak and the vulnerable, and He has done it again through Charlie Gard.
By now, most all of us have heard that his parents gave up the fight for his life, stating that the window of opportunity for special treatment was closed. This must be an extraordinarily bitter pill for them to swallow, since it is their country’s health care system that refused to allow him to receive him any experimental treatment, thereby sealing his fate.
In the words of Charlie’s mother Connie, “We are so sorry we couldn't save you. We had the chance but we weren't allowed. Sweet dreams baby. Sleep tight our beautiful little boy.”
What is Charlie saying to us?
First, Charlie reminds us that all human life is valuable, whether strong or weak, young or old, healthy or sick. As expressed in the mantra of the children’s story Horton Hears a Who, “A person’s a person, no matter how small.” How true.
As we looked at the pictures and videos of Charlie, so helpless and dependent, we saw a person, a special person, a person worthy of love, a person created in the image of God. And we saw this despite the fact that he could do nothing and say nothing.
His worth was not found in his great riches or his many accomplishments. His worth was simply found in being a person, a fellow-human being. And that is enough.
Ironically, Dr. Seuss, who wrote Horton Hears a Who, was reportedly not a pro-life advocate. It appears he failed to grasp the implications of his own story.
Second, Charlie reminds us of the tenacity of a parent’s love. While we prayed and petitioned and cried from a distance, Charlie was his parents’ jewel, their own flesh and blood, their little champion.
In these days when children are often an afterthought if not an inconvenience, when leftists fight vigorously for the “right” to abort their babies, and while ethicists argue that infants suffering outside the womb should be euthanized, the devotion of Charlie’s mom and dad reminds us of the depth of a parent’s love.
No one can hold out hope like a mom and dad. No one can nurture like a mom and dad. No one can persevere like a mom and dad. There is no higher calling than being a mom and dad. God has placed a human life into our care.
Third, Charlie reminds us that the state cannot be the ultimate caregiver and the ultimate arbiter of life and death. I’m not talking here about the court sentencing criminals to their appropriate fate, whatever that may be. I’m talking about health care.
To be perfectly clear, I’m the last person to offer in-depth analyses of the current healthcare debate or to enter into a detailed critique of liar-nObamacare. And I’m certainly not the one to offer a better alternative to President liar-nObama’s Affordable Care Act.
I’m also aware of some positive sides to the socialized medicine found in Europe, as related to me by friends and colleagues over the years.
But what Charlie’s case says to us – no, shouts to us – is that the courts and government cannot stand in the way of parents urgently seeking to provide treatment for their child or individuals seeking to get treatment for themselves.
It’s one thing if the system refuses to pay the costs of a particular treatment. We can understand that, and we’ve gladly lived with it for years. On a regular basis, Americans seek out alternative treatments not recognized by the medical industry, and we’re willing to pay for this out of pocket.
But it’s another thing entirely when the system says, “We will not allow you to take your child for alternative treatment.”
That’s where we must respectfully say to the government, “I’m sorry, but you are not God.”
Unfortunately, Charlie’s parents had no choice but to comply with the courts, since they were powerless to remove him from the hospital and transport him to a place where he could be treated.
This, then, is an urgent lesson to all of us here on the other side of the pond: Whatever our lawmakers decide regarding healthcare, it can never come to something like this. The government must not play God.
Finally, one last thought about the value of Charlie Gard’s life.
It’s possible that by the time you read these words, he will have left this world without uttering a syllable. Yet his legacy will last for years, perhaps making an impact on nations, probably an impact far greater than if he had lived a normal, healthy life.
Here too we are reminded not to measure things as the world does but to measure things from God’s perspective. In His sight, what is insignificant to people can be of massive, eternal importance. And so Charlie, being dead, will speak for years to come.
May we honor his legacy in word and deed.
{townhall.com} ~ Isn’t it remarkable that a tiny little baby who cannot utter a word has spoken to the world? Isn’t it remarkable that a handicapped child who, under normal circumstances, might have lived and died in obscurity, has become the focal point of a debate affecting millions? God has His ways of using the weak and the vulnerable, and He has done it again through Charlie Gard.
By now, most all of us have heard that his parents gave up the fight for his life, stating that the window of opportunity for special treatment was closed. This must be an extraordinarily bitter pill for them to swallow, since it is their country’s health care system that refused to allow him to receive him any experimental treatment, thereby sealing his fate.
In the words of Charlie’s mother Connie, “We are so sorry we couldn't save you. We had the chance but we weren't allowed. Sweet dreams baby. Sleep tight our beautiful little boy.”
What is Charlie saying to us?
First, Charlie reminds us that all human life is valuable, whether strong or weak, young or old, healthy or sick. As expressed in the mantra of the children’s story Horton Hears a Who, “A person’s a person, no matter how small.” How true.
As we looked at the pictures and videos of Charlie, so helpless and dependent, we saw a person, a special person, a person worthy of love, a person created in the image of God. And we saw this despite the fact that he could do nothing and say nothing.
His worth was not found in his great riches or his many accomplishments. His worth was simply found in being a person, a fellow-human being. And that is enough.
Ironically, Dr. Seuss, who wrote Horton Hears a Who, was reportedly not a pro-life advocate. It appears he failed to grasp the implications of his own story.
Second, Charlie reminds us of the tenacity of a parent’s love. While we prayed and petitioned and cried from a distance, Charlie was his parents’ jewel, their own flesh and blood, their little champion.
In these days when children are often an afterthought if not an inconvenience, when leftists fight vigorously for the “right” to abort their babies, and while ethicists argue that infants suffering outside the womb should be euthanized, the devotion of Charlie’s mom and dad reminds us of the depth of a parent’s love.
No one can hold out hope like a mom and dad. No one can nurture like a mom and dad. No one can persevere like a mom and dad. There is no higher calling than being a mom and dad. God has placed a human life into our care.
Third, Charlie reminds us that the state cannot be the ultimate caregiver and the ultimate arbiter of life and death. I’m not talking here about the court sentencing criminals to their appropriate fate, whatever that may be. I’m talking about health care.
To be perfectly clear, I’m the last person to offer in-depth analyses of the current healthcare debate or to enter into a detailed critique of liar-nObamacare. And I’m certainly not the one to offer a better alternative to President liar-nObama’s Affordable Care Act.
I’m also aware of some positive sides to the socialized medicine found in Europe, as related to me by friends and colleagues over the years.
But what Charlie’s case says to us – no, shouts to us – is that the courts and government cannot stand in the way of parents urgently seeking to provide treatment for their child or individuals seeking to get treatment for themselves.
It’s one thing if the system refuses to pay the costs of a particular treatment. We can understand that, and we’ve gladly lived with it for years. On a regular basis, Americans seek out alternative treatments not recognized by the medical industry, and we’re willing to pay for this out of pocket.
But it’s another thing entirely when the system says, “We will not allow you to take your child for alternative treatment.”
That’s where we must respectfully say to the government, “I’m sorry, but you are not God.”
Unfortunately, Charlie’s parents had no choice but to comply with the courts, since they were powerless to remove him from the hospital and transport him to a place where he could be treated.
This, then, is an urgent lesson to all of us here on the other side of the pond: Whatever our lawmakers decide regarding healthcare, it can never come to something like this. The government must not play God.
Finally, one last thought about the value of Charlie Gard’s life.
It’s possible that by the time you read these words, he will have left this world without uttering a syllable. Yet his legacy will last for years, perhaps making an impact on nations, probably an impact far greater than if he had lived a normal, healthy life.
Here too we are reminded not to measure things as the world does but to measure things from God’s perspective. In His sight, what is insignificant to people can be of massive, eternal importance. And so Charlie, being dead, will speak for years to come.
May we honor his legacy in word and deed.
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