TheFrontPageCover
~ Featuring ~
Getting Harder To Be Catholic
by Tom McLaughlin
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Brutal and Pragmatic Honesty – President Trump Releases Statement on Kashoggi and Saudi Arabia
by sundance
{theconservativetreehouse.com} ~ President Trump, not necessarily the White House – but rather, President Trump, releases an absolutely pitch-perfect statement... that encapsulates the myriad of interests that have sought to exploit, manipulate, leverage and utilize the murder of Jamal Kashoggi. This entirely accurate and brutally honest statement by President Trump will drive the left-wing media, specifically WaPo, NYT and CNN, absolutely bananas: The world is a very dangerous place! The country of Iran, as an example, is responsible for a bloody proxy war against Saudi Arabia in Yemen, trying to destabilize Iraq’s fragile attempt at democracy, supporting the terror group Hezbollah in Lebanon, propping up dictator Bashar Assad in Syria who has killed millions of his own citizens, and much more. Likewise, the Iranians have killed many Americans and other innocent people throughout the Middle East. Iran states openly, and with great force, “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!” Iran is considered “the world’s leading sponsor of terror.” On the other hand, Saudi Arabia would gladly withdraw from Yemen if the Iranians would agree to leave. They would immediately provide desperately needed humanitarian assistance. Additionally, Saudi Arabia has agreed to spend billions of dollars in leading the fight against Radical Islamic Terrorism. After my heavily negotiated trip to Saudi Arabia last year, the Kingdom agreed to spend and invest $450 billion in the United States. This is a record amount of money. It will create hundreds of thousands of jobs, tremendous economic development, and much additional wealth for the United States. Of the $450 billion, $110 billion will be spent on the purchase of military equipment from Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon and many other great U.S. defense contractors. If we foolishly cancel these contracts, Russia and China would be the enormous beneficiaries – and very happy to acquire all of this newfound business. It would be a wonderful gift to them directly from the United States!...
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by sundance{theconservativetreehouse.com} ~ President Trump’s statement on Saudi Arabia is one of the most forthright explanations of foreign policy by a US President, ever... No obfuscation; no convoluted parseltongue; just plainly spoken brutal honesty. The Saudis may do bad things but they are better than their enemies, and our alliance with them is in our national interest. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo delivers a similar statement in his media press briefing today.
https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2018/11/20/secretary-of-state-mike-pompeo-holds-press-briefing-answers-questions-on-kashoggi-determinations/VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ag4AR4l2bEk
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Trump’s Pick for Saudi Ambassador
is Expert on Hezbollah and Iran
by Seth J. Frantzman
{meforum.org} ~US President Donald Trump has nominated John Abizaid as ambassador to Saudi Arabia... The retired general has opposed the Iranian nuclear program but also urged Israeli restraint in confronting it. As an observer for the UN in 1985, Abizaid saw some of Hezbollah’s first terrorist attacks, and has spoken about the threat of terrorism in the region. His nomination comes at a crucial juncture for US-Saudi relations and also Riyadh’s role in the region. Abizaid will fill a spot that has been open for several years. A former US Central Command commander, Abizaid has a long background in the Middle East and its wars. Abizaid is of Lebanese descent and a fluent Arabic speaker. Retiring from the US military in 2007, he was the longest serving commander of the United States Central Command (CENTCOM) at a time when the US was embroiled in a variety of wars in the region. This gives him an unprecedented view into the current US role, including the fight against ISIS in Iraq and Syria, areas that Saudi Arabia also has an interest in. However, much has changed in the last decade, and Abizaid is coming to Riyadh at a unique time. He has viewed Iran’s nuclear program as a danger to the region, but also said in 2007 that the US could learn to “live with a nuclear Iran.” In comments to the Center for Strategic and International Studies that year, he noted that the US had learned to deal with a nuclear China and Russia...
https://www.meforum.org/articles/2018/trump’s-pick-for-saudi-ambassador-is-expert-on-hez
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EU still struggling with payment system to
bypass Iran sanctions
by Behnam Ben Taleblu
{fdd.org} ~ Austria’s refusal to play host to a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) payment system that would circumvent U.S. sanctions... is the latest in a series of setbacks for EU states struggling to save the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran. EU members appear to understand that playing host to the SPV increases their potential for exposure to U.S. secondary sanctions. Since the U.S. left the Iran nuclear deal in May, the EU has been scrambling to find creative ways to incentivize Iran to continue adhering to the accord. While EU leaders desired to have the SPV established by November, devising a sanctions-proof channel to clear trade and engage in bartering with Iran was much harder than anticipated. The value of the proposed European SPV is more symbolic than economic. EU leaders remain committed to sovereignty over their trade and security policies, yet there are three main impediments to the plan’s success: The power and reach of U.S. secondary sanctions. Risk aversion of banks and businesses toward an essentially illicit finance vehicle many European and multinational firms have already withdrawn from the Iranian market. The challenges of establishing a payment system that avoids the U.S. financial system altogether... https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2018/11/19/eu-still-struggling-with-payment-system-to-bypass-iran-sanctions/
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Getting Harder To Be Catholic
by Tom McLaughlin
{tommclaughlin.blogspot.com} ~ When secular American culture unraveled after the 1960s, I took comfort that the Catholic Church seemed to anchor traditional morality. Now, however, I’m cheering the secular authorities investigating corruption in the Catholic Church because the Lavender Mafia controlling both the Vatican and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) continues to bury it. Attorneys general in more than a dozen states have begun investigations into cover-ups of sexual predation and coverup by Catholic bishops similar to the one reported out by the Pennsylvania AG last summer. In just the past month, two federal investigations began and two lawsuits were filed in federal court as well. 
Under this cloud, the USCCB met in Baltimore last week. Its president, Cardinal Archbishop Daniel DiNardo of Houston, Texas wanted that body to vote on a measure that would do two things: form a lay Catholic commission to investigate the Cardinal McCarrick scandal, and petition the Vatican to release documents on McCarrick's case. DiNardo knows how angry ordinary Catholics are that the pope and the Vatican hierarchy continue to cover for homosexual predators in their midst and that US bishops have either cooperated in this or remained silent. He knows grassroots Catholics want action now.
But it was not to be. Pope Francis pulled the rug out from under DiNardo as the conference began when he brazenly ordered that no vote be taken! The pope’s toadies in the USCCB like Cardinal Cupich of Chicago and others cheered this move and suggested the USCCB vote should be taken next spring instead — after still another “conference” with the pope in Rome. They want to kick the can of corruption down the road yet again.
Humiliated by this action from The Dictator Pope (the title of Henry Sire’s devastating book on Pope Francis I just finished reading), Cardinal DiNardo moderated a debate over an obsequious motion that would only suggest the pope do these things. Unbelievably, even that vote failed 137-83. That means there are still 137 American bishops who think they can just drift along as they always have and ordinary Catholics in the pews will sit back and let them.
They’re wrong. Millions left the church after the 2002 Boston Globe Spotlight Series exposed widespread corruption. Many who remained have been further sickened by the revelations this past summer that hierarchical corruption was only covered up yet again. Worse, Archbishop Vigano, the former papal ambassador to the United States, has testified that the corruption extends to the Chair of Peter itself and calls on Pope Francis to resign! Vigano also accused US Cardinals Cupich and Wuerl of lying about it all. Another resolution in support of Vigano’s testimony was debated at last week’s USCCB Conference. Although it too failed, at least 43 bishops voted in favor.
Does that mean nearly a quarter of US Bishops believe Pope Francis should resign? Do they also believe many of their fellow bishops and cardinals are lying? It appears that way. What does this say about the spiritual condition of the Catholic Church in the United States and around the world? Locally, Maine’s Bishop Robert Deeley and Manchester, New Hampshire’s Bishop Peter Libaski were among the 83 voting for an investigation, but sadly, neither voted in support of the Vigano testimony.
Foreign Affairs Magazine calls this is the worst crisis in Catholic Church since Martin Luther posted his “95 Theses” in 1517 and precipitated the Protestant Reformation. Others claim it’s the worst since 1054 AD when the Roman Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox Churches split.
According to Market Watch, some of us protest with our wallets. We don’t put money in the collection box or have severely cut back on what we used to contribute. When attending mass in nearby New Hampshire, I’d be sickened seeing a photo of former Manchester Bishop John McCormack on the wall of the narthex and I wasn’t about to put anything over $5 in the collection box if he was going to get any of it. I know I was not alone.
My wife and I attend mass at several different parishes depending on where we are on any given Sunday. Given the performance at last week’s bishops’ conference in Baltimore, I’m not inclined to raise my contribution anywhere in New England. Instead of money, some Catholics have begun putting a signed note in the box protesting both the pope and the USCCB. Maybe that will shake things up enough for real reform. Nothing else has worked.
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| Cardinal DiNardo |
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| Written under Henry Sire's pen name |
Humiliated by this action from The Dictator Pope (the title of Henry Sire’s devastating book on Pope Francis I just finished reading), Cardinal DiNardo moderated a debate over an obsequious motion that would only suggest the pope do these things. Unbelievably, even that vote failed 137-83. That means there are still 137 American bishops who think they can just drift along as they always have and ordinary Catholics in the pews will sit back and let them.
Does that mean nearly a quarter of US Bishops believe Pope Francis should resign? Do they also believe many of their fellow bishops and cardinals are lying? It appears that way. What does this say about the spiritual condition of the Catholic Church in the United States and around the world? Locally, Maine’s Bishop Robert Deeley and Manchester, New Hampshire’s Bishop Peter Libaski were among the 83 voting for an investigation, but sadly, neither voted in support of the Vigano testimony.
Whether it’s the worst in five centuries or the worst in a millennium, it’s getting harder to be a traditional Roman Catholic these days. I understand those who have been steadily leaving since 2002, but I choose to stay and fight. However, if last week’s USCCB meeting was a battle, traditionalists like me appear to be losing. Polarization in the Catholic Church is widening and there are many suggestions about how to participate in the struggle for its soul.
My wife and I attend mass at several different parishes depending on where we are on any given Sunday. Given the performance at last week’s bishops’ conference in Baltimore, I’m not inclined to raise my contribution anywhere in New England. Instead of money, some Catholics have begun putting a signed note in the box protesting both the pope and the USCCB. Maybe that will shake things up enough for real reform. Nothing else has worked.
Comments
Bonnie
I was born a catholic but have changed to a relationship with the Lord Jesus. I do recall going to church and not understanding what the catholic priest was saying and all the moves one had to do to speak to the Lord. Don't have to worry anymore but do hear about the cover ups.
the middle east has always been a complicated mess
as for being catholic wow w/all of the priests and their pedophilia and the cover up yes i too would find it tough today