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The Front Page Cover
~ Featuring ~
The Return of Virtue
by Cal Thomas
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Bye, Bye, Rex?
by Political Editors: The latest rumor out of the mill on Capitol Hill is that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will soon be stepping down. It has long been suspected that Tillerson’s stint at the State Department wouldn’t last a year, and it now appears that speculation may become fact. The basis for this rumor has been a strained relationship between President Donald Trump and Tillerson. It seems that Trump has been repeatedly frustrated by Tillerson’s handling of major international issues, specifically the Iran nuclear deal and North Korea. Arguably, the writing has been on the wall ever since it was leaked that Tillerson had privately referred to Trump as a “moron.”
by Political Editors: The latest rumor out of the mill on Capitol Hill is that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will soon be stepping down. It has long been suspected that Tillerson’s stint at the State Department wouldn’t last a year, and it now appears that speculation may become fact. The basis for this rumor has been a strained relationship between President Donald Trump and Tillerson. It seems that Trump has been repeatedly frustrated by Tillerson’s handling of major international issues, specifically the Iran nuclear deal and North Korea. Arguably, the writing has been on the wall ever since it was leaked that Tillerson had privately referred to Trump as a “moron.” Assuming Tillerson does step down, the plan according to various reports is for current CIA Director Mike Pompeo to step in at State, and his Senate confirmation should be easily assured. Who then would fill the role of CIA chief? Well, this is where the story gets interesting. Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) has been floated by the White House, and he has indicated that he would be willing to take the post. What is so interesting about this choice is the obvious problem it poses for Senate Republicans, who are already clinging to a slim majority that might get that much slimmer should Democrat Doug Jones defeat Roy Moore in Alabama next month.
While Arkansas Republican Governor Asa Hutchinson is sure to appoint a Republican to replace Cotton, that would still put the seat up for election next year — a year that many are fearing could be bad for Republicans. We now await to see how all these rumors pan out. ~The Patriot Post
https://patriotpost.us/articles/52677
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Judicial Watch Obtains 29 Pages Of
FBI Tarmac Docs They Were Told Didn’t Exist
by rickwells.us
{rickwells.us} ~ Judicial Watch released on Thursday 29 pages of documents they sued for and finally obtained from the reluctant and obstructive FBI... which they were originally told did not exist. If someone told the FBI a similar falsehood they’d be looking at prison. The FBI is not held to those same standards. Once DOJ documents were turned over to Judicial Watch that indicated they had exchanged correspondence with the FBI their own documents magically appeared, at least a portion of them. They relate to the tarmac meeting between their leader, AG Loretta Lynch and the husband of the subject of their spurious investigation, liar-Bill Clinton. What is evident is that the level of concern and the response at the FBI was greatest in the area of suppressing public knowledge of the encounter. The fact that it was inappropriate was less of an issue than the potential damage to their public charade to protect liar-Hillary Clinton. The habitual leaker James Comey had a real concern with them at this juncture... https://rickwells.us/judicial-watch-fbi-tarmac-docs/.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions releases
powerful statement after shocking Kate Steinle verdict
by FSM NATIONAL SECURITY TEAM
{familysecuritymatters.org} ~ "When jurisdictions choose to return criminal aliens to the streets rather than turning them over to federal immigration authorities," Sessions said in a statement... "they put the public's safety at risk. San Francisco's decision to protect criminal aliens led to the preventable and heartbreaking death of Kate Steinle." "While the State of California sought a murder charge for the man who caused Ms. Steinle's death-a man who would not have been on the streets of San Francisco if the city simply honored an ICE detainer-the people ultimately convicted him of felon in possession of a firearm," he added. "The Department of Justice will continue to ensure that all jurisdictions place the safety and security of their communities above the convenience of criminal aliens," he continued. "I urge the leaders of the nation's communities to reflect on the outcome of this case and consider carefully the harm they are doing to their citizens by refusing to cooperate with federal law enforcement officers," Sessions concluded... http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/publications/detail/attorney-general-jeff-sessions-releases-powerful-statement-after-shocking-kate-steinle-verdict?f=must_reads.
Khatallah's Acquittals on Benghazi
Murders Show, Again, Need for New System
by ANDREW C. MCCARTHY
{familysecuritymatters.org} ~ There was never going to be justice for the American war dead of the Benghazi attack. The jihadist strike on the eleventh anniversary of the 9/11 atrocities was too bound up in the politics of the 2012 presidential election... Moreover, the prosecution of the lone defendant charged in the attack was a product of the progressive ideological insistence that acts of war can seamlessly be downgraded into mere penal offenses, adjudicated with all the due-process strictures that implies. This bull-headed conceit is a fiction, and thus the experiment is a failure. It is not my purpose to make a competing "I told you so" claim that Ahmed Abu Khatallah should have been designated an enemy combatant and consigned to military detention and trial. Yesterday, after an eight-week trial in civilian federal court in Washington, Khatallah was acquitted on the most important charges against him - the charges that arose out of the murders of U.S. ambassador J. Christopher Stephens, State Department employee Sean Smith, and CIA security contractors Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods. Despite these 14 acquittals, he was convicted on four charges involving material support for terrorism, destruction of property, and carrying a firearm during a violent crime. There is no reason to believe that the outcome would have been more just - or even that we would have an outcome yet - had the case been assigned to the existing, deeply flawed military-commission system...What is going on with our system of law. We are losing in the military courts just as well in our civil courts. http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/publications/detail/khatallahs-acquittals-on-benghazi-murders-show-again-need-for-new-system?f=must_reads.
Jared Kushner questioned by Mueller investigators
by foxnews.com
{foxnews.com} ~ Senior White House aide Jared Kushner -- who is President Donald Trump's son-in-law... met this month with special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigators, Fox News has confirmed via a source with direct knowledge of the meeting. Investigators questioned Kushner about a meeting he had with an unnamed Russian ambassador and former national security adviser Michael Flynn, the New York Times reported. The Associated Press also reported about the meeting, citing an anonymous source. The meeting reportedly took place in December 2016 during then-President-elect Trump’s transition into the White House. Other details about the meeting were unclear... http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/11/30/jared-kushner-questioned-by-mueller-investigators.html.
DOJ weighing federal charges in Kate Steinle murder case, after not guilty verdict
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfYD8IDwWZw
http://video.foxnews.com/v/5664309340001
The Ingraham Angle: Illegal immigrant found not guilty of Kate Steinle murderhttp://video.foxnews.com/v/5663996925001
Mark Steyn: Steinle verdict was "miscarriage of justice"http://video.foxnews.com/v/5663886106001
RUSH: Are We In The Midst Of A CRACK-UP And BREAKDOWN Of The Hypocritical Leftists In The Drive-By Media?https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfYD8IDwWZw
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Hannity connects the dots…see how all roads in the current scandals lead right back to liar-Clinton.
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The Return of Virtue
{townhall.com} ~ Rarely has the idiom "virtue is its own reward" looked better than it does in light of the sex scandals sweeping the nation. The so-called "prudishness," of a previous generation and the respect most men were once taught to have for women -- and which Hugh Hefner and his disciples of "free love" mocked -- are looking better with each passing day.
Conservatives have been told they can't impose their morality on others, so how is its opposite working out for individuals and the culture?
Washington Post columnist Christine Emba writes, "...now could be the time to reintroduce virtues such as prudence, temperance, respect and even love."
"What's love got to do with it?" asked Tina Turner? Everything. If you love somebody or something -- from institutions, to people -- you are bound to treasure them, as opposed to what you dislike, don't respect and treat like a disposable item that is useful for the moment, but is discarded when it has served your purpose.
Who decided traditional virtues were no longer viable and should not be taught to schoolchildren? Was a study conducted that found young people were being damaged from learning how to live and respect one another? Were they expected to catch these virtues on their own without guidance from elders? If so, why do we teach table manners, not interrupting when someone else is talking, sharing and many other things to counter what our lower nature doesn't teach us?
The idea behind virtue being its own reward is that people who pursue virtue enjoy a layer of protection from the sins now being exposed in so many, from Washington to Hollywood and in between. People who are faithful to their spouses in marriage, honest in their financial dealings, respected for their character and integrity in public and in private don't have to worry about being "embarrassed and ashamed," as Sen. Al Franken said of his behavior toward some women.
Former Secretary of Education William J. Bennett published "The Book of Virtues" in 1993. It is a collection of moral tales designed to instruct us on the benefits of virtue and the consequences of its opposite.
The chapter titles reveal a list of ancient truths that seem increasingly scarce in modern society. They include some of the things Ms. Emba notes we are missing in today's culture: Self-discipline, Responsibility, Courage, Honesty, Loyalty and Faith. Question: Would anyone argue these virtues have exceeded their "sell-by" date? It turns out that living by one's own moral code, or none at all, has been a disaster for individuals and for the nation.
In the introduction to his book, Bennett writes of the necessity of reaching "the inner part of the individual, to the moral sense." Today, he writes, "We speak about values and the importance to 'have them,' as if they were beads on a string or marbles in a pouch. But these stories speak of morality and virtues, not as something to be possessed, but as the central part of human nature, not as something to have, but as something to be, the most important thing to be."
In the train wreck of our present culture, we are witnessing the failure over the last 50 years to instruct and discipline our children in ways that as adults they are more likely to embrace the values that can lead to a virtuous life. Why did we expect any other outcome after mostly abandoning these virtues? If you penalize and discourage virtuous things you will get less virtue; conversely, if you subsidize and encourage virtue, you will get more of it.
The scandals playing out in newspapers and on TV speak to this. The question now is will we "repent," as the Scriptures advise, and seek a new path which, in fact, is a very old path that leads to a more virtuous life, or continue down the current path which leads to destruction?
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