The Front Page Cover
"I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened"
Featuring:
Who Will Stand?
Robert P. George
"Know who you are standing with"
"Show me your friends and I'll show you your future"
~~~lll~~~
THE F WORD: COULD CONGRESS BECOME FUNCTIONAL?
Budgets are moving ahead on schedule. The annual charade of blocking Clinton-era cuts to Medicare has officially ended. And now, lawmakers have actually asserted their clout on foreign policy for the first time in memory. Forcing the president to back down on his bid to circumvent Congress with his plan to lift sanctions on Iran may not sound like the biggest deal in the world. And there certainly is a large trap door built into the back of the plan that would give the president an ample opportunity to slip congressional oversight in the end. But for a president who started out with a plan to flout Congress using executive power and the UN to end up acceding to congressional review is something of a signal moment. It’s more significant given the fact that Congress has so consistently, miserably failed to take any action on foreign policy despite years of bitter criticism and invective.
This matters for a couple of reasons. First, it could shape the way other initiatives are handled. Now that rebellious Democrats have found that the president will cave on key issues, they will keep pushing. The administration has backed off before, but succumbing to open defiance from the minority leader in waiting, Chuck Schumer, and others will invite further intra-party brigandage. And nObama, legacy-minded as always, may see newfound merit in achievement over ideological purity and ego protection. If congressional Republicans have sufficiently sorted out – or put on hiatus – their various blood feuds to avoid successive collapses over the next 18 months, Washington could stand in a very different light. And that could shape the political narrative for 2016. Presumptive Democratic nominee Hilly Clinton has a campaign message predicated on making Washington work again. So how would she fare if Washington was (kinda) working?
There’s no chance for sweetness, light and grand bargains, but if Washington has found its way to something that actually works, it would be a miracle. After a decade of intensifying dysfunction, even basic operation would be welcome to most voters. That would likely help the ratings of both parties. The less Washington makes America think about it, the better America likes Washington. And that could deprive Clinton of her self-designated role as the technocratic leader born to make government work again. That could also give the eventual Republican nominee a better chance to avoid the label as an extremist or hostage taker -Fox News
Budgets are moving ahead on schedule. The annual charade of blocking Clinton-era cuts to Medicare has officially ended. And now, lawmakers have actually asserted their clout on foreign policy for the first time in memory. Forcing the president to back down on his bid to circumvent Congress with his plan to lift sanctions on Iran may not sound like the biggest deal in the world. And there certainly is a large trap door built into the back of the plan that would give the president an ample opportunity to slip congressional oversight in the end. But for a president who started out with a plan to flout Congress using executive power and the UN to end up acceding to congressional review is something of a signal moment. It’s more significant given the fact that Congress has so consistently, miserably failed to take any action on foreign policy despite years of bitter criticism and invective.
This matters for a couple of reasons. First, it could shape the way other initiatives are handled. Now that rebellious Democrats have found that the president will cave on key issues, they will keep pushing. The administration has backed off before, but succumbing to open defiance from the minority leader in waiting, Chuck Schumer, and others will invite further intra-party brigandage. And nObama, legacy-minded as always, may see newfound merit in achievement over ideological purity and ego protection. If congressional Republicans have sufficiently sorted out – or put on hiatus – their various blood feuds to avoid successive collapses over the next 18 months, Washington could stand in a very different light. And that could shape the political narrative for 2016. Presumptive Democratic nominee Hilly Clinton has a campaign message predicated on making Washington work again. So how would she fare if Washington was (kinda) working?
There’s no chance for sweetness, light and grand bargains, but if Washington has found its way to something that actually works, it would be a miracle. After a decade of intensifying dysfunction, even basic operation would be welcome to most voters. That would likely help the ratings of both parties. The less Washington makes America think about it, the better America likes Washington. And that could deprive Clinton of her self-designated role as the technocratic leader born to make government work again. That could also give the eventual Republican nominee a better chance to avoid the label as an extremist or hostage taker -Fox News
100 DAY REPORT CARD
The day after Republicans took control of both the House and the Senate last fall, House Speaker backstabber John Boehner and then-elect Senate Majority Leader Mitch McCon-nell set a detailed agenda for what they wanted to accomplish. Today marks 100 days since the new Congress began, and it’s time for a progress report on how they’re doing.
Keystone - Check this off the list. Although President nObama vetoed the Keystone Pipeline XL bill, it was the first piece of legislation Sen. McCon-nell brought to a vote in the new Congress.
Veterans - The House passed the Hire More Heroes Act unanimously only hours after being sworn in, but it is still under review in the Senate. Over at the VA, major problems still abound.
Tax reform - Doubtful. Both sides have talked about a broad-based plan, and new House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Paul Ryan keeps pushing. But Hill watchers are skeptical that a grand bargain could come together, especially with funding and spending deadlines looming at the end of September. And after that, the vortex of 2016 elections will have Congress fully in its thrall.
Education - “We’ll also consider legislation…to support innovative charter schools around the country,” backstabber Boehner and McCon-nell wrote back in November. While education choice has been a hot topic in several cities and states around the country the new Congress hasn’t really touched on it.
Terrorism - While backstabber Boehner and McCon-nell vowed to fight Terrorism, that’s not really in their job descriptions. Aside from funding, there’s not much for Congress to do. But the budget plans floating around Capitol Hill provides full funding for the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security.
Government regulation - While there have been lots of hearings, Congress hasn’t yet done much on this front.
nObamacare - No, not repealing it. backstabber Boehner and McCon-nell decided to try and reverse nObamacare’s definition of full-time employment. Eighteen House Democrats joined Republicans to pass the Save the American Worker Act, which restores the definition of a full work-week as 40 hours verses nObamacare’s 30 hours. It’s awaiting Senate action and subject to a threatened presidential veto. -Fox News
The day after Republicans took control of both the House and the Senate last fall, House Speaker backstabber John Boehner and then-elect Senate Majority Leader Mitch McCon-nell set a detailed agenda for what they wanted to accomplish. Today marks 100 days since the new Congress began, and it’s time for a progress report on how they’re doing.
Keystone - Check this off the list. Although President nObama vetoed the Keystone Pipeline XL bill, it was the first piece of legislation Sen. McCon-nell brought to a vote in the new Congress.
Veterans - The House passed the Hire More Heroes Act unanimously only hours after being sworn in, but it is still under review in the Senate. Over at the VA, major problems still abound.
Tax reform - Doubtful. Both sides have talked about a broad-based plan, and new House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Paul Ryan keeps pushing. But Hill watchers are skeptical that a grand bargain could come together, especially with funding and spending deadlines looming at the end of September. And after that, the vortex of 2016 elections will have Congress fully in its thrall.
Education - “We’ll also consider legislation…to support innovative charter schools around the country,” backstabber Boehner and McCon-nell wrote back in November. While education choice has been a hot topic in several cities and states around the country the new Congress hasn’t really touched on it.
Terrorism - While backstabber Boehner and McCon-nell vowed to fight Terrorism, that’s not really in their job descriptions. Aside from funding, there’s not much for Congress to do. But the budget plans floating around Capitol Hill provides full funding for the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security.
Government regulation - While there have been lots of hearings, Congress hasn’t yet done much on this front.
nObamacare - No, not repealing it. backstabber Boehner and McCon-nell decided to try and reverse nObamacare’s definition of full-time employment. Eighteen House Democrats joined Republicans to pass the Save the American Worker Act, which restores the definition of a full work-week as 40 hours verses nObamacare’s 30 hours. It’s awaiting Senate action and subject to a threatened presidential veto. -Fox News
MORE QUESTIONS, STILL NO ANSWERS ON HILLY EMAIL SCANDAL
In December 2012 congressional investigators asked Hilly Clinton directly if she used a private email account while serving as secretary of state. Her answer: Silence. The question, in a letter from House Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., and first reported by the New York Times, was posed seven weeks before Clinton’s tenure ended. When the State Department eventually responded to Issa’s demand in March 2013, nearly two months after she left office, officials also ignored the question about Clinton’s digital hygiene. Given Clinton’s admission that she used a personal account (and a private server) exclusively as secretary, news of this apparent dodge ads to a scandal that has cost the Democratic presidential candidate dearly in polls. As the drip of damaging details continues, when and in what venue Clinton will address the growing scandal is the question. -Fox News
In December 2012 congressional investigators asked Hilly Clinton directly if she used a private email account while serving as secretary of state. Her answer: Silence. The question, in a letter from House Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., and first reported by the New York Times, was posed seven weeks before Clinton’s tenure ended. When the State Department eventually responded to Issa’s demand in March 2013, nearly two months after she left office, officials also ignored the question about Clinton’s digital hygiene. Given Clinton’s admission that she used a personal account (and a private server) exclusively as secretary, news of this apparent dodge ads to a scandal that has cost the Democratic presidential candidate dearly in polls. As the drip of damaging details continues, when and in what venue Clinton will address the growing scandal is the question. -Fox News
DEM CHAIRWOMAN: NO LIMITS ON ABORTIONS
Megyn Kelly pressed Democratic National Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz on her response to a question on abortion from 2016 Republican contender Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky. Asked about his views on exceptions to late term abortion, Paul told reporters to ask the Democratic leader “if she is OK with killing a seven-pound baby that is not born yet.” On “The Kelly File,” Schultz defended her opposition to restrictions on late-term abortion:
“The state has a right to step in on behalf of the fetus and say at some point that fetus does obtain rights,” Kelly pressed. “You would admit that you can’t have women aborting third trimester just on a whim?” “Certainly not on a whim,” Schultz responded. “There is no ambivalence here. We are very clear. We believe that that decision is best left not to government, but between a woman and her doctor. So, I can’t tell you a specific date and time past which we on all cases are certain that choice shouldn’t be made. Because that decision is very unique and individual to the woman and should be in consultation with her conscience and her God and her doctor. That is a decision left to her.” Watch the full interview here. -Fox News
Megyn Kelly pressed Democratic National Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz on her response to a question on abortion from 2016 Republican contender Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky. Asked about his views on exceptions to late term abortion, Paul told reporters to ask the Democratic leader “if she is OK with killing a seven-pound baby that is not born yet.” On “The Kelly File,” Schultz defended her opposition to restrictions on late-term abortion:
“The state has a right to step in on behalf of the fetus and say at some point that fetus does obtain rights,” Kelly pressed. “You would admit that you can’t have women aborting third trimester just on a whim?” “Certainly not on a whim,” Schultz responded. “There is no ambivalence here. We are very clear. We believe that that decision is best left not to government, but between a woman and her doctor. So, I can’t tell you a specific date and time past which we on all cases are certain that choice shouldn’t be made. Because that decision is very unique and individual to the woman and should be in consultation with her conscience and her God and her doctor. That is a decision left to her.” Watch the full interview here. -Fox News
1.
Global Warming in Hot Water
(Mark Steyn) - I know the (Aussie) ABC are a bunch of doctrinaire lefties for the most part, but I always enjoy my appearances thereon and Tony Jones is a not un-agreeable host, all things considered...Still, it's sad to see them providing a platform for serial litigant and Clime Syndicate warmano Michael E Mann...As you know, Mann is suing me for describing his famous scary "hockey stick" graph as "fraudulent", which it is. The graph shows a straight-line "shaft" of the stick representing 900 years of stable global temperature, followed by a sharp upturned blade representing the 20th century temperature rocketing up and out the top right-hand corner. The "message" (which Mann and his colleagues were concerned not to "dilute" with any subtleties or qualifications) was simple: We're all outta graph paper. This thing's off the charts with nowhere to go but up through the ceiling at an unprecedented rate. Give us all your money or the planet's gonna fry. http://www.steynonline.com/6908/global-warming-in-hot-water#.VS7Qu027UnA.twitter
2.
Hilly Clinton signals support for marriage equality and nObamacare
( Ed Pilkington) - This woman feels nothing for the people who must pay nObamaCare penalties. Her entire focus is on those who now have insurance, mostly because of Medicaid expansion...an expense with which participating states will be more and more burdened after the ‘free’ introductory years are over. Hilly Clinton headed out of Iowa on Wednesday — by plane this time, not in a Scooby-Doo van — at the end of a two-day trip that signaled a new beginning for the veteran politician and sounded a clarion call to a legion of voters on the left of the Democratic party who remain skeptical of her progressive credentials. http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2015/04/hillary-clinton-signals-support-for-marriage-equality-and-obamacare-as-she-concludes-iowa-trip/
3.
Iran coordinates academic cheating to get students into Norway...
(themuslimissue.wordpress.com) - The Norwegians are smart people. They know something ‘is wrong’ with Islam. They got suspicious early on about foreign funded mosques, funded by Saudi Arabia to infiltrate Salafism into Norway...They were shocked to discover the extremism and racism of Palestinians and put an end to their aid to Gaza. They have stopped Muslim Brotherhood from establishing HQ’s in the country while Europe was funding the MB. They have reduced to take in Muslim migrants and openly acknowledged that 100% of their rapes in Oslo was committed by Muslim males. Too bad they have dhimmi socialists in the government that constantly try and undermine all sensibility. Islamic immigration into the West must be banned. Mosques need to be abolished, Islam made illegal and the faithful deported. Investments must be stopped from Muslim countries. All trade, transport, visas, residency, passports, asylum and refugee program for Muslims must be stopped and banned. https://themuslimissue.wordpress.com/2015/04/16/norways-intelligence-iran-coordinate-academic-cheating-to-get-students-into-norway-to-steal-tech-secrets/
4.
Illegal Muslim boat migrants threw Christians into sea to their deaths
(themuslimissue.wordpress.com) - Without any concerns at all they throw Christians to their death to drown, merely for being Christians – while seeking asylum in a Christian country…Is no one awake to the contradictions here, and ask what these people truly want in Europe?...Ban all Muslim immigration now before this problem is irreversible. Block and stop all investments from Muslim countries and citizens. Put an end to visas, residency, passports from and to Muslims. Push them back to their own countries and isolate them. They have not arrived to integrate or be a positive addition to society. They have come to commit crime, hate, rape, kill and terrorize. It will be an endless problem. Stop bringing them in now. Deport those who are already in the country to secure some kind of safety for future generations. There exist no funding resources in the whole world to deal with Muslim issues and problems once their numbers expand and grow. https://themuslimissue.wordpress.com/2015/04/16/italy-illegal-muslim-boat-migrants-threw-christians-into-sea-for-being-Christian/
5.
Aerial Footage: Reporters Investigate ISIS Bases in Mexico
(infowars.com) - Infowars reporters Joe Biggs and Josh Owens take to the skies in search of the reported ISIS base hidden among cartel compounds just across the U.S. border in Anapra, Mexico...While flying over Anapra there are very strange, secluded compounds with what look to be religious grounds nearby. There is also a bizarre line of people walking to a truck in the middle of nowhere just at the base of the mountains where the border opens up and provides free reign into the United States. Usually I don't post InfoWar, but I did this time because nObama won't do anything to prove ISIS is here. http://www.infowars.com/aerial-search-for-isis-camp-at-u-s-border/
6.
Liberal Media Say Clinton Campaign Lacking “Substance”
(Don Irvine) - While some in the liberal media have been fawning over Hilly Clinton’s campaign, since she officially announced that she was running for president on Sunday, there are some who are unimpressed by her efforts to date...The Huffington Post’s Howard Fineman is one of those who sees little difference between this campaign and the one she ran in 2008. Fineman told MSNBC’s Jose Diaz-Balart that Hilly’s problem is that “she was the establishment then and she’s the establishment now,” adding that she’s failed to make any news about the “substance” of her blueprint for the future. http://www.aim.org/don-irvine-blog/liberal-media-say-clinton-campaign-lacking-substance/?utm_source=AIM+-+Daily+Email&utm_campaign=email041615&utm_medium=email
7.
Senate 'just rewrote the … Constitution'
(Bob Unruh) - The New York Times reported “the essence of the legislation is that Congress will have a chance to vote on whatever deal emerges with Iran — if one is reached by June 30...But the newspaper noted it would be reviewed “in a way that would be extremely difficult for Mr. nObama to lose.” The report explained Congress “would essentially be able to vote on an eventual end to sanctions, and then later take up the issue depending on whether Iran has met its own obligations. But if it rejected the agreement, Mr. nObama could veto that legislation – and it would take only 34 senators to sustain the veto, meaning that Mr. nObama could lose upward of a dozen Democratic senators and still prevail.” There will be no stopping nObama now ... http://www.wnd.com/2015/04/senate-just-rewrote-the-constitution/
8.
Can the president kill Americans?
(Judge Andrew Napolitano) - Can the president kill you? The short answer is: Yes, but not legally. Yet, President nObama has established a secret process that involves officials from the Departments of Justice and Defense, the CIA and the White House senior staff...whereby candidates are proposed for execution, and the collective wisdom of the officials then recommends execution to the president, who then accepts or rejects the recommendation. If the recommendation is to kill and the president rejects the recommendation, the CIA is directed to arrest the person. If the president accepts the recommendation to kill, then death is ordered. This is not unlike the procedure used in the reign of the monstrous British King Henry VIII, except that the king himself delegated the final say to his chancellor so that he could publicly disavow participation in the government murders. http://www.wnd.com/2015/04/can-the-president-kill-americans/
9.
Rep. Trey Gowdy: Witness list will include...
(nicedeb.wordpress.com) - On Wednesday’s “Hugh Hewitt Show, House Benghazi Select Committee Chairman Rep Trey Gowdy, the chairman of the House Select Committee on Benghazi, said Cheryl Mills, Huma Abedin, Sidney Blumenthal, Susan Rice and Ben Rhodes...will be on his witness list to testify before the committee or commit to a transcribed interview. Asked if his witness list would include Cheryl Mills, the former Secretary of State’s chief of staff, Gowdy responded, “absolutely, and it was always going to include Ms. Mills. But, if you studied the correspondence between the State Department and Secretary Clinton after she decided to return the public record to the public a couple of months ago, that correspondence was directed to Cheryl Mills. So, Cheryl Mills needs to be talked to, not only with respect to Benghazi, but also with respect to the retention of the public records by Secretary Clinton after she separated.” https://nicedeb.wordpress.com/2015/04/16/rep-trey-gowdy-witness-list-will-include-cheryl-millshuma-abedin-and-sid-blumenthal/
10.
With Cartel Help, ISIS Crossing Border From Mexico
(Alex Newman) - An explosive report released April 14 by the non-profit Judicial Watch, citing official Mexican military and law-enforcement sources, states that the terrorist group ISIS, now calling itself the “Islamic State,” is operating a camp in Mexico just miles away from the U.S. border...The sources also told the government watchdog that human smugglers working for Mexican drug cartels were helping ISIS operatives cross the U.S. border into New Mexico and Texas. Moments after its release, the Judicial Watch report sparked headlines across the United States and around the world. And while government sources were quick to issue official denials, considering the troubling facts behind the rise of ISIS and the U.S. government’s well-documented relationship with some Mexican drug cartels, it would hardly be surprising if the seemingly unrelated forces were cooperating. http://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/crime/item/20678-report-with-cartel-help-isis-crossing-border-from-mexico?utm_source=Newsletter&utm_campaign=cc296b3db2-The_Editors_Top_Picks_3_12_143_12_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_8ca494f2d2-cc296b3db2-289778381
Who Will Stand?
Robert P. George
(firstthings.com) - The lynch mob came for the brilliant mild-mannered techie Brendan Eich.
The lynch mob came for the elderly florist Barronelle Stutzman.
The lynch mob came for Eastern Michigan University counseling student Julea Ward.
The lynch mob came for the African-American Fire Chief of once segregated Atlanta Kelvin Cochran.
The lynch mob came for the owners of a local pizza shop the O'Connor family.
The lynch mob is now giddy with success and drunk on the misery and pain of its victims. It is urged on by a compliant and even gleeful media. It is reinforced in its sense of righteousness and moral superiority by the “beautiful people” and the intellectual class. It has been joined by the big corporations who perceive their economic interests to be in joining up with the mandarins of cultural power. It owns one political party and has intimidated the leaders of the other into supine and humiliating obeisance.
And so, who if anyone will courageously stand up to the mob? Who will resist? Who will speak truth to its raw and frightening power? Who will refuse to be bullied into submission or intimidated into silence?
I'm not asking, which leaders? Though that, too, would be good to know. Are there political or religious leaders who will step forward? Are there intellectual or cultural leaders who will muster the courage to confront the mob?
No, I'm asking what ordinary people will do. Are there Evangelical, Catholic, and Orthodox Christians who will refuse to be intimidated and silenced? Are there Latter-Day Saints, Orthodox and other observant (or even non-observant) Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs? Buddhists?
Oh yes, the mob came first for the Evangelicals and the Catholics and the Latter-Day Saints; but do not be deceived: it will not stop with them. It's true that many in the mob have a particular animus against Christians, but the point of destroying the reputations and livelihoods of the initial victims is pour encourager les autres. If you believe you belong to a group that will be given a special exemption or dispensation from the enforcement of the new orthodoxy—by any means necessary—you will soon learn that you are tragically mistaken. No one who dissents will be given a pass.
We have seen how swiftly the demands have moved from tolerance to compulsory approbation of behavior historically rejected as contrary to morality and faith by virtually all the great religious traditions of the world. And now it is not only approbation that is demanded, but active participation. And do you honestly think that we have now reached the endpoint of what will be demanded?
Of course, some will say—indeed some are saying—that the battle is over, the cause is lost. All we can do is seek the best terms of surrender we can get, knowing that at this stage they will not be very good.
What should we say to that? Well, it is certainly true that the political, economic, and cultural power now arrayed against people of faith and their rights and liberties is formidable. No question about it: This is David against Goliath.
But then, we know how that contest ended, don't we?
If we refuse to surrender, we will certainly be demonized; but everything will depend on whether we refuse to be demoralized. Courage displayed in the cause of truth—and of right—is powerful. And it will depend on whether ordinary people—Protestants, Catholics, Jews, Mormons, Muslims, others—inspired by their faith to stand firm, will also be willing to stand shoulder to shoulder, and arm-in-arm, with their brothers and sisters of other traditions of faith to defy the mob.
http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/2015/04/who-will-stand
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