The Front Page Cover
"I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened"
Featuring:
The Uncivil War to End All Wars
Burt Prelutsky
"Rise up together as one voice"
"Be careful where you stand"
~~~lll~~~
BIG TO-DO LIST FOR SIXTEENERS IN N.H.
The New Hampshire primary looks wide open, which is why every top-tier candidate in the GOP field is beating a path to the Granite State today and tomorrow to audition for party activists there. The First in the Nation Republican Leadership Summit kicked off today and continues into Saturday. But while many candidates have good chances to win, they have very different tasks this weekend and in New Hampshire in general.
Affirmed: Walker needs to remind voters why they like him - Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is so far the man to beat in New Hampshire, but that also makes him the top target. His campaign swing through the state last month impressed voters. If Walker were to hold on to win both Iowa and New Hampshire, as polls currently suggest, he’d be hard for the GOP establishment to derail. The question now is whether early support will dissipate in an expanding field. Walker is also taking the smart step of wooing the top GOP political figure in the state, Sen. Kelley Ayotte.
[AP: “Scott Walker’s expected campaign for the White House got a boost Thursday as his former campaign managers formed a political group able to raise and spend unlimited amounts of money. Two former campaign managers for the Republican governor of Wisconsin said Thursday they have formed a super PAC to support Walker. It’s called Unintimidated PAC…] -Fox News
The New Hampshire primary looks wide open, which is why every top-tier candidate in the GOP field is beating a path to the Granite State today and tomorrow to audition for party activists there. The First in the Nation Republican Leadership Summit kicked off today and continues into Saturday. But while many candidates have good chances to win, they have very different tasks this weekend and in New Hampshire in general.
Affirmed: Walker needs to remind voters why they like him - Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is so far the man to beat in New Hampshire, but that also makes him the top target. His campaign swing through the state last month impressed voters. If Walker were to hold on to win both Iowa and New Hampshire, as polls currently suggest, he’d be hard for the GOP establishment to derail. The question now is whether early support will dissipate in an expanding field. Walker is also taking the smart step of wooing the top GOP political figure in the state, Sen. Kelley Ayotte.
[AP: “Scott Walker’s expected campaign for the White House got a boost Thursday as his former campaign managers formed a political group able to raise and spend unlimited amounts of money. Two former campaign managers for the Republican governor of Wisconsin said Thursday they have formed a super PAC to support Walker. It’s called Unintimidated PAC…] -Fox News
Unpacking baggage: Jeb has to break with history - His family has an unhappy electoral history in New Hampshire. Can Jeb Bush start a new trend? Bush is off to a pretty good start as he shows himself to be accessible and relatively unguarded with voters. To accept a national front runner, especially the scion of a patrician Connecticut clan, New Hampshire voters will expect to see lots of Bush and he will have to keep taking all the tough questions. Bush picked a wise moment to ditch his low-carb diet.
[WaPo: “Presumed Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush urged Republicans to move ahead with confirming Loretta Lynch to be the next attorney general, but stopped short of actually endorsing her nomination.]
Other end of U.S. 1: Rubio needs to break through - WaPo: “For [Sen. Marco Rubio], the challenge on this trip is much like his broader national challenge: Find a way to get noticed and build a following as an underdog in a crowded field…. Rubio has already hired a staffer to help him break though in the first-in-the-nation primary state: Jim Merrill, a veteran campaign strategist who worked for Mitt Romney….Rubio was most recently in New Hampshire in February as he traveled the country to promote his new book. His busy Friday schedule — he is also doing an interview with CBS's "Face The Nation" and sitting down with the New Hampshire Union Leader newspaper — underscores his belief that he can compete for the state.
[Wayne Berman, adviser at the investment firm Blackstone Group, will hold a fundraiser for Rubio at Berman’s Washington, D.C. home. Berman happens to be neighbors with Hillary Clinton.]
Hunting trip: Cruz looks to poach libertarians from Paul - Fox News: “The battle for the 2016 Republican nomination is on in New Hampshire, where presidential contenders Ted Cruz and Rand Paul have targeted the libertarian vote in hopes of winning the country’s first primary. Marco Rubio, the third GOP candidate to announce thus far, has yet to visit the state as an official presidential contender. In New Hampshire, libertarian voters represent 10 to 15 percent of the vote in a Republican primary – a percentage that could make or break a candidate’s shot at the nomination.”
[Cruz revealed to The Federalist his favorite Simpson’s episodes: “Round Springfield” and, aptly, “Treehouse of Horror VII”, in which aliens Kang and Kodos run for president.] -Fox News
[WaPo: “Presumed Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush urged Republicans to move ahead with confirming Loretta Lynch to be the next attorney general, but stopped short of actually endorsing her nomination.]
Other end of U.S. 1: Rubio needs to break through - WaPo: “For [Sen. Marco Rubio], the challenge on this trip is much like his broader national challenge: Find a way to get noticed and build a following as an underdog in a crowded field…. Rubio has already hired a staffer to help him break though in the first-in-the-nation primary state: Jim Merrill, a veteran campaign strategist who worked for Mitt Romney….Rubio was most recently in New Hampshire in February as he traveled the country to promote his new book. His busy Friday schedule — he is also doing an interview with CBS's "Face The Nation" and sitting down with the New Hampshire Union Leader newspaper — underscores his belief that he can compete for the state.
[Wayne Berman, adviser at the investment firm Blackstone Group, will hold a fundraiser for Rubio at Berman’s Washington, D.C. home. Berman happens to be neighbors with Hillary Clinton.]
Hunting trip: Cruz looks to poach libertarians from Paul - Fox News: “The battle for the 2016 Republican nomination is on in New Hampshire, where presidential contenders Ted Cruz and Rand Paul have targeted the libertarian vote in hopes of winning the country’s first primary. Marco Rubio, the third GOP candidate to announce thus far, has yet to visit the state as an official presidential contender. In New Hampshire, libertarian voters represent 10 to 15 percent of the vote in a Republican primary – a percentage that could make or break a candidate’s shot at the nomination.”
[Cruz revealed to The Federalist his favorite Simpson’s episodes: “Round Springfield” and, aptly, “Treehouse of Horror VII”, in which aliens Kang and Kodos run for president.] -Fox News
WITH YOUR SECOND CUP OF COFFEE
45 years ago today, earth’s inhabitants collectively held their breath as Apollo 13 astronauts Jim Lovell, Fred Haise and Jack Swigert hurtled through the upper atmosphere toward the Pacific Ocean. A drama that began four days earlier with an onboard explosion followed by the words “Houston we’ve had a problem,” gripped the world’s attention. As the astronauts and NASA ground teams overcame numerous hurtles to bring the crippled spacecraft home, their progress was followed by a hopeful and prayerful public. A final uncertainty – whether their heat shield would hold up during a fiery re-entry – kept the world watching in suspense. After a torturing communication blackout, mission control and crowds in places like New York’s Grand Central Station burst into applause at the sight of the spacecraft Odyssey, under blossoming parachutes, as it drifted to a gentle splashdown in the warm Pacific waters. -Fox News
45 years ago today, earth’s inhabitants collectively held their breath as Apollo 13 astronauts Jim Lovell, Fred Haise and Jack Swigert hurtled through the upper atmosphere toward the Pacific Ocean. A drama that began four days earlier with an onboard explosion followed by the words “Houston we’ve had a problem,” gripped the world’s attention. As the astronauts and NASA ground teams overcame numerous hurtles to bring the crippled spacecraft home, their progress was followed by a hopeful and prayerful public. A final uncertainty – whether their heat shield would hold up during a fiery re-entry – kept the world watching in suspense. After a torturing communication blackout, mission control and crowds in places like New York’s Grand Central Station burst into applause at the sight of the spacecraft Odyssey, under blossoming parachutes, as it drifted to a gentle splashdown in the warm Pacific waters. -Fox News
WILL VOTERS CARE FOR KASICH’S COMPASSIONATE CONSERVATISM?
Ohio Gov. John Kasich is preparing to run for president. He’s getting ready to launch his campaign apparatus and before he heads to New Hampshire this weekend, he’s heading down to campaign in South Carolina. Can the former congressman who was forced to abandon a 2000 bid use his new status as swing-state governor to push his way into a crowded field? That will largely depend on whether Republicans are ready for a candidate who is preaching a social justice doctrine and wielding scripture like a Jesuit.
Kasich points to tax cuts in his home state to bolster his conservative bona fides, but supports Common Core, a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants and expanding Medicaid. “I’ve cut taxes in Ohio,” he told CNN in February. “That’s kind of conservatism.” He defended his decision to expand Medicaid in Ohio with: “Mathew 25 says that it’s about how you treat the widowed, how you treat the poor” adding, “[T]he conservative movement is you don't just kick people to the shadows, or push them off the side of the road.”
At a GOP governors meeting in November, Kasich called Common Core “common sense” and said he wouldn’t oppose eventual citizenship for illegal immigrants, because “We’ve got to think about what’s going to bring about healing.” And influential conservatives at a NY dinner last month weren’t happy when Kasich answered health policy wonk Avik Roy’s question about Medicaid being a top-down government program with: “Maybe you think we should put them in prison. I don't. I don't think that's a conservative position….I think rehabbing them, getting them on their feet, training them and getting them jobs, is a conservative position.” Kasich’s contrast to the bulk of the GOP field, makes for a singular challenge and makes him a standout target for critics. -Fox News
Ohio Gov. John Kasich is preparing to run for president. He’s getting ready to launch his campaign apparatus and before he heads to New Hampshire this weekend, he’s heading down to campaign in South Carolina. Can the former congressman who was forced to abandon a 2000 bid use his new status as swing-state governor to push his way into a crowded field? That will largely depend on whether Republicans are ready for a candidate who is preaching a social justice doctrine and wielding scripture like a Jesuit.
Kasich points to tax cuts in his home state to bolster his conservative bona fides, but supports Common Core, a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants and expanding Medicaid. “I’ve cut taxes in Ohio,” he told CNN in February. “That’s kind of conservatism.” He defended his decision to expand Medicaid in Ohio with: “Mathew 25 says that it’s about how you treat the widowed, how you treat the poor” adding, “[T]he conservative movement is you don't just kick people to the shadows, or push them off the side of the road.”
At a GOP governors meeting in November, Kasich called Common Core “common sense” and said he wouldn’t oppose eventual citizenship for illegal immigrants, because “We’ve got to think about what’s going to bring about healing.” And influential conservatives at a NY dinner last month weren’t happy when Kasich answered health policy wonk Avik Roy’s question about Medicaid being a top-down government program with: “Maybe you think we should put them in prison. I don't. I don't think that's a conservative position….I think rehabbing them, getting them on their feet, training them and getting them jobs, is a conservative position.” Kasich’s contrast to the bulk of the GOP field, makes for a singular challenge and makes him a standout target for critics. -Fox News
1.
The Most Egregious Evil nObama Perpetrating As He Puts The Boot
(rickwells.us) - It’s all I can do not to throw this laptop across the room when I hear this vacuum cleaner salesman turned community organizer turned communist faux-president tell us his complete and utter fabrications...the bald-faced lies that our “precious planet” is being destroyed by humans and we must surrender to his cadre’s authoritarian domination in order to save it. I can barely stomach to look at him and the sound of his voice is gag-inducing, but to understand what is happening and to be in a position to fight back, some discomfort is sometimes unavoidable. The fact that these pirates are getting away this, the greatest fraud ever perpetrated in the history mankind, virtually unchallenged is unthinkable, but it is happening. The people of this country are proving themselves to be, on the whole, nothing short of complete unworthy idiots who place little value on their liberty, their now steadily declining standard of living, or the futures of their slavery-bound children. http://www.rickwells.us/the-most-egregious-evil-obama-perpetrating-as-he-puts-the-boot-of-tyranny-to-america-our-children/
2.
Contempt of Congress? These Days, It’s No Big Thing
(Benny Huang) - America must really be the land of second chances. Barely two weeks ago Hilly Clinton obliterated every “0” and “1” on the home email server she had used for official State Department business and today she is the front runner for the 2016 presidential race...According to Hilly, her life is an open book. “I want the public to see my email,” she tweeted less than a month before dumping the data. Don’t believe her? Stop with the conspiracy theories! There’s nothing shady about keeping a secret email server at home and wiping it after a congressional committee subpoenas it. In a sane world, destroying subpoenaed evidence would end a politician’s career. What Hilly Clinton did was a crime yet she won’t pay any legal penalty any everyone knows it. http://patriotupdate.com/articles/contempt-of-congress-these-days-its-no-big-thing/?utm_source=Liberty_Headlines_Is_Giving_Your_Site_Free_Traffic_for_Now
(Benny Huang) - America must really be the land of second chances. Barely two weeks ago Hilly Clinton obliterated every “0” and “1” on the home email server she had used for official State Department business and today she is the front runner for the 2016 presidential race...According to Hilly, her life is an open book. “I want the public to see my email,” she tweeted less than a month before dumping the data. Don’t believe her? Stop with the conspiracy theories! There’s nothing shady about keeping a secret email server at home and wiping it after a congressional committee subpoenas it. In a sane world, destroying subpoenaed evidence would end a politician’s career. What Hilly Clinton did was a crime yet she won’t pay any legal penalty any everyone knows it. http://patriotupdate.com/articles/contempt-of-congress-these-days-its-no-big-thing/?utm_source=Liberty_Headlines_Is_Giving_Your_Site_Free_Traffic_for_Now
3.
Donors To The Clinton Foundation Swaying State Dept. Invest.
(Ed Morrissey) - Is another shoe about to drop on the Clinton Foundation, and on Hilly Clinton’s problematic rollout? Newsweek’s Rory Ross reported this morning that the largest individual donor to the Clinton family business has conducted trade with Iran, perhaps in breach of US sanctions...Ukrainian energy mogul Victor Pinchuk has connections to the Clintons that go back almost a decade, and financial connections to the regime in Tehran that go much farther: Newsweek has seen declarations and documents from Ukraine that show a series of shipments from Interpipe to Iran in 2011 and 2012, including railway parts and products commonly used in the oil and gas sectors. Both the rail and oil and gas sectors are sanctioned by the US, which specifically prohibits any single invoice to the Iranian petrochemical industry worth more than $1m. In other words, Interpipe should have been slapped with penalties and sanctions for its operations with Iran. Pinchuk’s company has a US subsidiary, which means that US sanctions apply across the entire organization. The agency for imposing penalties for sanctions violations in these cases, Ross notes, is the State Department. Who was in charge at the State Department during this period? None other than Hilly Clinton. http://hotair.com/archives/2015/04/18/newsweek-largest-individual-donor-to-clinton-foundation-has-trade-ties-to-iran/
4.
State: Striking marriage would 'undermine' liberty
(Bob Unruh) - The high court justices will hear arguments April 28 in an appeal of a 6th Circuit ruling that states have the right to define marriage...The friend-of-the-court brief filed on behalf of the state of Alabama, where the state Supreme Court rejected a federal judge’s attempt to impose same-sex marriage, warns legal manipulation would be needed to justify a change could have far-reaching effects. The brief, filed by the Alliance Defending Freedom, argues that those who want the court to redefine marriage to legitimize same-sex duos are incorrectly arguing for the highest level of court review. “But this case is about more than marriage. It is also about the proper role of the federal courts in scrutinizing state policy decisions. The presumption is that state laws are constitutional. And they should be subject to searching federal-court review only if they differentiate based on a suspect classification or impact a fundamental right,” the brief says. Neither applies in this case, the brief explains. http://www.wnd.com/2015/04/state-striking-marriage-would-undermine-liberty/
5.
MSNBC meltdown: 'Media arm of DNC' in tailspin
(Alex Newman) - MSNBC, with its imploding ratings and extreme bias, is widely regarded as an irrelevant propaganda organ, even among many liberals and some radical leftists...Its executives are fully aware of that, too. But it did not have to be that way. Founded by two major U.S. corporate powerhouses, Microsoft and General Electric’s NBC unit (now owned by Comcast), MSNBC had the potential to be hugely influential and profitable. Instead, its executives chose ideology over business savvy, according to insiders and analysts. And the consequences are clear. http://www.wnd.com/2015/04/network-meltdown-media-arm-of-dnc-in-tailspin/
(Alex Newman) - MSNBC, with its imploding ratings and extreme bias, is widely regarded as an irrelevant propaganda organ, even among many liberals and some radical leftists...Its executives are fully aware of that, too. But it did not have to be that way. Founded by two major U.S. corporate powerhouses, Microsoft and General Electric’s NBC unit (now owned by Comcast), MSNBC had the potential to be hugely influential and profitable. Instead, its executives chose ideology over business savvy, according to insiders and analysts. And the consequences are clear. http://www.wnd.com/2015/04/network-meltdown-media-arm-of-dnc-in-tailspin/
6.
Khamenei: US Created 'Myth' of Iranian Nuclear Weapons
(voanews.com) - Iran's Supreme Leader lashed out at the United States on Sunday, accusing Washington of inventing the "myth" of Tehran's nuclear weapons threat...Ayatollah Ali Khamenei also urged "defensive preparedness" for Iranian armed forces after a top U.S. general warned last week about military action against Tehran's nuclear sites. Saturday, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif dismissed remarks by U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman General Martin Dempsey, who Thursday said "the military option ... to ensure that Iran does not achieve a nuclear weapon is intact." Zarif wrote off the general's statement as an "old habit that dies hard." http://www.voanews.com/content/khamenei-us-created-myth-of-iranian-nuclear-weapons/2725645.html
7.
The Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, once the grandest cathedral in the Christian world.
Churches in Turkey on the Verge of Extinction
(Uzay Bulut) - While Eastern Orthodox Christians recently celebrated their Easter holy week, a historic church in Istanbul -- the once magnificent Christian city of Constantinople -- is witnessing yet another abuse at the hands of its current authorities... "The historic Istanbul cathedral and museum, Hagia Sophia, witnessed its first Quran recitation under its roof after 85 years Saturday," reported the state-run Anatolian News Agency of Turkey. "The Religious Affairs Directorate launched the exhibition "Love of Prophet," as part of commemorations of the birth of Islamic Prophet Muhammad." Even though Christians are a tiny minority in Turkey today, Christianity has a long history in Asia Minor, the birthplace of many Christian Apostles and Saints, including Paul of Tarsus, Timothy, Nicholas of Myra, and Polycarp of Smyrna. http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/5584/turkey-churches
8.
Massive Influx of Islamic Terrorists into US Due to nObama
(Joseph R. John) - The genocide of Syrian and Assyrian Christians by ISIL, Al Q’ieda, and Muslim Brotherhood trained Radical Islamic Terrorists, on the Plains of Ninveh in Iraq, has resulted in 3.5 million Muslim and Christian refugees seeking relief...In addition to the hundreds of thousands Muslim refugees who have already been given entry into the US by nObama, more than 360,000 Muslim refugees are being targeted for additional resettlement in the US by the UN Resettlement Program. nObama is encouraging the acceptance of more Muslim refugees, for resettlement in the US, than all the other countries in the world combined. When the UN Muslim Resettlement Program began, it was run and controlled by Secretary of State Hilly Clinton by agencies of her State Department. nObama directed Hillary to let the Muslim refugees enter the US without slowing the process down by the time-consuming investigation of their backgrounds to determine if they had terrorist ties. On nObama’s orders, Hilly placed all entering Muslims on a fast track to obtain US citizenship. nObama ordered Hilly to resettle and integrate the Muslim refugees in communities throughout the US without informing elected state and city officials and local law enforcement officials where they were being resettled; this has been going since Hilly Clinton was Secretary of State. http://joemiller.us/2015/04/massive-influx-of-islamic-terrorists-into-us-due-to-obamas-open-door-muslim-immigration-policy/?utm_source=JoeMiller.US+List&utm_campaign=7a85240a39-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_065b6c381c-7a85240a39-230998701
9.
Judicial Watch Investigator On Discovery Of ISIS Training Camp
(rickwells.us) - Judicial Watch broke the story of an ISIS camp being discovered just eight miles south of the Mexican American border near Ciudad Juarez, in a drug cartel-controlled area...They also were the source of a report which details a meeting between FBI officials and the Mexican military and police which excluded DHS and regular FBI operatives. Chris Farrell, the Director of Research and Investigations for Judicial Watch, provided details. He says there were two objectives of the meeting, one being the formulation of a press strategy to knock down the Judicial Watch story, to deny and attempt to refute their claims. The second point was to determine the source of the leaks. Farrell stands by the claims of his sources. They are known to his organization and have a track record of being accurate in the past. They also are coming forward in spite of personal risk in the interest of the nation. He felt compelled to tell their story. http://www.rickwells.us/judicial-watch-investigator-on-discovery-of-isis-training-camp-near-el-paso-and-secret-fbi-meeting/
10.
No Bottom To The “President’s” To Compromise And Surrender
(rickwells.us) - Former UN ambassador John Bolton believes that the focus of discussions will place Iran front and center, most critically their nuclear ambitions as well as other destabilizing and threatening activities they are engaged in...The the full agenda of topics will include ISIS and al-Qaeda as well. Bolton is asked about the latest Iranian demand that sanctions be lifted immediately upon the signing of a deal and their announcement that they will not allow inspectors into their nuclear sites and the new marching orders for Hanoi John Kerry to engage in “creative diplomacy.” Eric Shawn asks Bolton what that means and whether nObama is once again giving ground. Bolton replies, “It means more surrenders. I think it just boggles the mind that after all of the concessions that have been made in the last two years, on top of all the other concessions that have been made over the full twelve years of negotiations with Iran, that there’s still no bottom to the ‘president’s’ ability to compromise and surrender.” He continues, saying, “And I’m sure that’s an incentive to the Iranians, to keep up the negotiations, and I’m sure it’s just causing more heartburn, both in Israel and among the Arab countries, the members of the GCC.” http://www.rickwells.us/john-bolton-no-bottom-to-the-presidents-ability-to-compromise-and-surrender-to-iranians/
The Uncivil War to End All Wars
(burtprelutsky.com) - There is a war taking place in the Middle East that pits Muslims against Christians, Jews and those Muslims who belong to a different cult.
Here in America, there is a war taking place that pits liberals and homosexuals -- to the extent there exists a smidgen of difference between them -- against Christians.
One merely has to look at every situation in which Christians attempt to defend their religious rights. Whether it’s companies that don’t wish to provide birth control in the form of contraceptives or provide funding for abortions; or devout individuals, who are even willing to accept homosexuality as an optional life style, but draw the line at playing any role in a same-sex wedding, the gays and their journalistic, corporate and political, henchmen will unite to put them out of business.
If you don’t feel that Christians are singled out for attack, why is it that Muslim florists, photographers and bakers, are never pressured to act in opposition to their religious beliefs? There is ample evidence that one would be hard-pressed to find a Muslim who would agree to provide any of the same-sex wedding wares or services that Christians are condemned for not providing.
Wouldn’t it make for a nice change if just once the gays gave the business to Muslims? Or are they simply terrified that they, who so love to label those who are put off by anal sex “homophobic,” would suddenly find themselves hoisted upon their own petard, tarred as “Islamophobic”?
The question that comes to mind is what makes homosexuals, lesbians and the transgender crowd, so heroic in the eyes of liberals, while devout Christians, who are far likelier to be numbered among their friends and neighbors, are so casually dismissed, written off as bigots and haters?
Furthermore, when it comes to haters, it is hard to get any nastier than the creeps who lit up social media threatening to kill or mutilate the Connors, the family that owns Memories Pizza in Walkerton, Indiana, simply because the daughter, when questioned by a reporter, said they would happily sell pizzas to anyone, but they would draw the line at catering a same-sex wedding. Apparently nobody thought to ask the reporter when he or she had last heard of a pizzeria catering a wedding.
The good news is that of this writing, the Connors have received over $800,000 in donations from Americans who appreciate their standing by their convictions. The bad news is that I, who also stand by my convictions, can only look on in envy, salivating like one of Pavlov’s dogs.
♦ Speaking of money, hardly a day passes that my wife and I don’t receive fund-raising appeals from Ben Carson, and he hasn’t even said he’s running yet. Frankly, I hope he doesn’t. As columnist S.E. Cupp recently spelled out, there is nothing to recommend him as a president. I mean, unless you think that what the office requires is someone with absolutely no political experience, what are his selling points? That he had the opportunity to tell nObama what’s wrong with the Affordable Care Act merely means that he got to attend a prayer breakfast where millions of us who would have said the same thing weren’t invited? That really isn’t much to go on, especially when the Supreme Court will have the opportunity this June to make it a non-issue in 2016.
As Cupp wrote, “Carson thinks the Second Amendment should be applied, well, selectively.”
Furthermore, he has suggested that the Israeli political system should be changed to the one we have. Well, the best argument against that simpleminded notion is that their system has given them Benjamin Netanyahu and ours saddled us with eight years of Barack nObama.
Cupp pointed out Carson told Chris Christie that homosexuality must be a choice “because a lot of people go into prison straight, and when they come out, they’re gay.” Now if he had pointed out that a great many felons are non-violent when they enter prison, but come out as committed jihadists because we foolishly allow Islamic imams to act as prison chaplains, he’d be on far steadier ground.
Carson also decided that nObama must be a psychopath, not because of the things he says and the things he does, but because he is so well-dressed. I know Carson was supposed to be a hell of a doctor, but did he make a habit of diagnosing a brain tumor by looking at a patient’s shoes?
What Ms. Cupp neglected to mention was that one night on Fox, when Dr. Carson was supposed to debate some issue or other with Jesse Jackson, he spent the first few minutes praising Jackson as a great civil rights leader. No mention of Jackson’s being a world-class adulterer and extortionist.
♦ A reader, taking notice of the fact that, even when praising the religiously oriented, I tend to mention I am secular, wondered if I was agnostic or atheistic. I replied that I tend to be repulsed by those whose sole mission in life is to deny God’s existence, and who then take the next step and deride those who are believers.
For my part, I would like to believe that God exists and, if so, how He sees His role. As I understand it, in the old days, He seemed to take an active part in human affairs. At times, He flooded the earth, He destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, He turned Lot’s wife into a pillar of salt, He parted the sea, He passed along the 10 Commandments, etc., etc. But He seemed to lose interest along the way, and who can blame Him? So I am left to question if He truly exists and, if so, whether His patience has simply run out and He has decided give up on us in pursuit of other interests, the way a child will eventually lose interest even in the toy he believed he couldn’t live without.
♦ One major fact that emerged from the events in Ferguson, MO, was that all of the black witnesses who initially claimed that Michael Brown had his arms raised in surrender when Officer Darren Wilson shot him later recanted their testimony. When asked why they had lied in the first place, they said they felt intimidated if they didn’t promote the false narrative. Frankly, I don’t blame them.
When you see the amount of violence blacks commit at every resort area they visit on Spring Break – and that’s when they’re having fun! – you can easily imagine how frightened their neighbors must be of young, well-armed, black thugs, who are no more reluctant to kill other blacks than Shiites are to kill Sunnis.
♦ Recently, I have made fun of people who spend their lives critiquing such things as music and art. After all, we are all prone to say something along the lines of, “I may not know what art is, but I know what I like.” And when you do that, the professional critic will dismiss you as an ignoramus, if not a barbarian.
But as far back as 1958, I found myself wondering how it was decided at the International Tchaikovsky Piano Competition that a 23-year-old from Texas named Harvey Lavan Cliburn was the greatest pianist in the world. But the judgment call was made and, calling himself Van Cliburn, he went on to enjoy a great career playing to packed concert halls and for every president until he passed away in 2013.
But what about the guy who came in second? Was he really inferior to Cliburn? It was a question I found myself wondering about for several years. Then one day, I had occasion to interview classical violinist Itzhak Perlman. Perlman, who was born in Tel Aviv, in 1945, developed polio at the age of four. He recovered, but walks with crutches, and went on to perform while sitting down.
I asked him, a world-renowned soloist, if he can tell fellow soloists apart if he’s not looking at them, but merely by their technique. He said he often could, but one day while riding in a car he heard a violinist on the radio. He recognized that the fellow was quite good, but he had no idea who it was until the piece ended and the violinist was identified as…Itzhak Perlman.
I felt myself vindicated. But, then, as you may have noticed, I usually do.
Here in America, there is a war taking place that pits liberals and homosexuals -- to the extent there exists a smidgen of difference between them -- against Christians.
One merely has to look at every situation in which Christians attempt to defend their religious rights. Whether it’s companies that don’t wish to provide birth control in the form of contraceptives or provide funding for abortions; or devout individuals, who are even willing to accept homosexuality as an optional life style, but draw the line at playing any role in a same-sex wedding, the gays and their journalistic, corporate and political, henchmen will unite to put them out of business.
If you don’t feel that Christians are singled out for attack, why is it that Muslim florists, photographers and bakers, are never pressured to act in opposition to their religious beliefs? There is ample evidence that one would be hard-pressed to find a Muslim who would agree to provide any of the same-sex wedding wares or services that Christians are condemned for not providing.
Wouldn’t it make for a nice change if just once the gays gave the business to Muslims? Or are they simply terrified that they, who so love to label those who are put off by anal sex “homophobic,” would suddenly find themselves hoisted upon their own petard, tarred as “Islamophobic”?
The question that comes to mind is what makes homosexuals, lesbians and the transgender crowd, so heroic in the eyes of liberals, while devout Christians, who are far likelier to be numbered among their friends and neighbors, are so casually dismissed, written off as bigots and haters?
Furthermore, when it comes to haters, it is hard to get any nastier than the creeps who lit up social media threatening to kill or mutilate the Connors, the family that owns Memories Pizza in Walkerton, Indiana, simply because the daughter, when questioned by a reporter, said they would happily sell pizzas to anyone, but they would draw the line at catering a same-sex wedding. Apparently nobody thought to ask the reporter when he or she had last heard of a pizzeria catering a wedding.
The good news is that of this writing, the Connors have received over $800,000 in donations from Americans who appreciate their standing by their convictions. The bad news is that I, who also stand by my convictions, can only look on in envy, salivating like one of Pavlov’s dogs.
♦ Speaking of money, hardly a day passes that my wife and I don’t receive fund-raising appeals from Ben Carson, and he hasn’t even said he’s running yet. Frankly, I hope he doesn’t. As columnist S.E. Cupp recently spelled out, there is nothing to recommend him as a president. I mean, unless you think that what the office requires is someone with absolutely no political experience, what are his selling points? That he had the opportunity to tell nObama what’s wrong with the Affordable Care Act merely means that he got to attend a prayer breakfast where millions of us who would have said the same thing weren’t invited? That really isn’t much to go on, especially when the Supreme Court will have the opportunity this June to make it a non-issue in 2016.
As Cupp wrote, “Carson thinks the Second Amendment should be applied, well, selectively.”
Furthermore, he has suggested that the Israeli political system should be changed to the one we have. Well, the best argument against that simpleminded notion is that their system has given them Benjamin Netanyahu and ours saddled us with eight years of Barack nObama.
Cupp pointed out Carson told Chris Christie that homosexuality must be a choice “because a lot of people go into prison straight, and when they come out, they’re gay.” Now if he had pointed out that a great many felons are non-violent when they enter prison, but come out as committed jihadists because we foolishly allow Islamic imams to act as prison chaplains, he’d be on far steadier ground.
Carson also decided that nObama must be a psychopath, not because of the things he says and the things he does, but because he is so well-dressed. I know Carson was supposed to be a hell of a doctor, but did he make a habit of diagnosing a brain tumor by looking at a patient’s shoes?
What Ms. Cupp neglected to mention was that one night on Fox, when Dr. Carson was supposed to debate some issue or other with Jesse Jackson, he spent the first few minutes praising Jackson as a great civil rights leader. No mention of Jackson’s being a world-class adulterer and extortionist.
♦ A reader, taking notice of the fact that, even when praising the religiously oriented, I tend to mention I am secular, wondered if I was agnostic or atheistic. I replied that I tend to be repulsed by those whose sole mission in life is to deny God’s existence, and who then take the next step and deride those who are believers.
For my part, I would like to believe that God exists and, if so, how He sees His role. As I understand it, in the old days, He seemed to take an active part in human affairs. At times, He flooded the earth, He destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, He turned Lot’s wife into a pillar of salt, He parted the sea, He passed along the 10 Commandments, etc., etc. But He seemed to lose interest along the way, and who can blame Him? So I am left to question if He truly exists and, if so, whether His patience has simply run out and He has decided give up on us in pursuit of other interests, the way a child will eventually lose interest even in the toy he believed he couldn’t live without.
♦ One major fact that emerged from the events in Ferguson, MO, was that all of the black witnesses who initially claimed that Michael Brown had his arms raised in surrender when Officer Darren Wilson shot him later recanted their testimony. When asked why they had lied in the first place, they said they felt intimidated if they didn’t promote the false narrative. Frankly, I don’t blame them.
When you see the amount of violence blacks commit at every resort area they visit on Spring Break – and that’s when they’re having fun! – you can easily imagine how frightened their neighbors must be of young, well-armed, black thugs, who are no more reluctant to kill other blacks than Shiites are to kill Sunnis.
♦ Recently, I have made fun of people who spend their lives critiquing such things as music and art. After all, we are all prone to say something along the lines of, “I may not know what art is, but I know what I like.” And when you do that, the professional critic will dismiss you as an ignoramus, if not a barbarian.
But as far back as 1958, I found myself wondering how it was decided at the International Tchaikovsky Piano Competition that a 23-year-old from Texas named Harvey Lavan Cliburn was the greatest pianist in the world. But the judgment call was made and, calling himself Van Cliburn, he went on to enjoy a great career playing to packed concert halls and for every president until he passed away in 2013.
But what about the guy who came in second? Was he really inferior to Cliburn? It was a question I found myself wondering about for several years. Then one day, I had occasion to interview classical violinist Itzhak Perlman. Perlman, who was born in Tel Aviv, in 1945, developed polio at the age of four. He recovered, but walks with crutches, and went on to perform while sitting down.
I asked him, a world-renowned soloist, if he can tell fellow soloists apart if he’s not looking at them, but merely by their technique. He said he often could, but one day while riding in a car he heard a violinist on the radio. He recognized that the fellow was quite good, but he had no idea who it was until the piece ended and the violinist was identified as…Itzhak Perlman.
I felt myself vindicated. But, then, as you may have noticed, I usually do.
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