Judicial Secularists Attack Religious Freedom

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On June 7, the U.S. District Court of the Middle District of Florida dealt the latest blow to religious freedom in our country.

The case arose from a request by Cambridge Christian High School, which had earned the opportunity to compete in the 2A division playoffs finals, to use the stadium’s public announcement system in prayer prior to the beginning of the game. The team’s opponent was another Christian school equally devoted to serving God and to conducting itself in His image with every activity it undertakes.

Citing issues of potential coercion and fearing that such prayer might be offensive to others, Dr. Roger Dearing, the executive director of the Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA), declined the request.

Of course, in so doing, Dr. Dearing dismissed the fact that the same FHSAA had approved such a request in 2012. He also dismissed the national tradition of engaging in prayer prior to the start of a football game. And most astoundingly he ignored that both teams, meaning all parties involved, wished to engage in a unified prayer as one community under Christ.

Following the denial, Cambridge Christian brought the case to the judiciary for consideration. After all, they weren’t asking for the announcer to lead everyone in prayer. They weren’t asking for the FHSAA to buy new equipment. They weren’t even asking for the game to be delayed for one moment because, in point of fact, the two teams were going to pray on the field and in front of the fans anyway.

No. The only question they were asking was, “Hey, man, can I borrow your microphone?”

Court predictably quashed religious freedom

But almost predictably, the court ruled against religious freedom citing issues of perceived endorsement of religion by government and of the infringement praying might have on the rights of others (yes, this is not a misprint).

Every time I learn of a case like this, I am baffled at the extent to which the state squashes the public’s ability to pray in an open forum merely because of government’s presence. This catastrophic road upon which the Supreme Court of the United States has placed us suppresses our right to worship and to pay reverence to God — in direct violation of the original intent First Amendment.  It ignores the spiritual aspects of human existence, and most importantly, casts aside the foundational roles of religion and religious worship in our nation’s birth.

Repeatedly, I am told that the reason for following this road is the wall of separation between church and state espoused by Thomas Jefferson in his letter written on the first day of 1802 to the members of the Danbury Baptist Church.

But there is so much that runs counter to this assertion.

First, President Jefferson’s comment was completely extrajudicial in nature.

Second, the concept of a wall of separation between church and state has been tainted by the agenda-driven nature of the Supreme Court’s 20th-century opinions. Following the 19th-century Court’s introduction of Jefferson’s wall into the legal corpus, the first two 20th-century cases invoking it did so in an effort to keep the government from interfering with state-based, religious-supporting programs.

But in 1947, the Court changed direction to one that would inhibit, rather than support, religious worship. With its McCollum decision, the court prohibited Bible verses from being recited in public schools, and later, it struck down prayer in schools as well as the observance of even a bland and neutral moment of silence.

The subsequent deterioration in the nation’s moral posture and the breakdown in the family as a central societal unit are the predictable consequences of these actions.

An alternative route ensuring freedoms

But lost in these recitations is the overt bias the Court displayed in selecting Jefferson’s wall of separation in its interpretation of the First Amendment.

Let’s consider a few similarly applicable observations made by some of the nation’s foundational greats in equally extrajudicial fashion.  George Mason, in writing the Virginia Bill of Rights, wrote, “all men are equally entitled to the free exercise of religion, according to the dictates of conscience; and. . . it is the mutual duty of all to practise Christian forbearance, love, and charity toward each other.” His proposed amendment was subsequently approved by the Virginia legislature, the same legislature Madison and Jefferson inhabited — a far greater weight of influence than one man’s personal letter.

Based on Mason’s language, would it not have been more appropriate for a 20th century court to hold that in interpreting the First Amendment we should recognize that our nation was created with the purpose of guaranteeing that all men be able to engage in Christian forbearance? If so, wouldn’t using a public microphone for spontaneously requested prayer be not only allowed, but encouraged?

Or how about using John Marshall, the most prolific justice in the history of the Supreme Court? When asked about the nexus of Christianity and the nation’s government, he wrote in a letter, just like Jefferson did, that, “The American population. . . is entirely Christian, and with us, Christianity and religion are identified. It would be strange indeed, if with such a people, our institution did not presuppose Christianity.”

Consequently, wouldn’t a more appropriate truism for the Supreme Court to follow in its interpretation of the First Amendment be that the United States of America, through its foundation and its culture, presupposes Christianity?

Or consider the observation made by Justice Joseph Story, one of the early members of the Supreme Court, who extra-judicially wrote, “My own private judgment has long been (and every day’s experience more and more confirms me in it) that government cannot long exist without an alliance with religion to some extent; and that Christianity is indispensable to the true interests and solid foundations of free government.”

From this, wouldn’t a more appropriate guide for the interpretation of the First Amendment be that Christianity is indispensable to the true interests, foundations, and existence of these United States of America?

Back the need for a legislative override

If any of these guides had been adopted instead of, or perhaps in addition to, Jefferson’s wall of separation, imagine how different American jurisprudence would be as it relates to religious liberty and our freedom to worship! Sharia law would be an impossible legal threat, and the concepts of love for one’s neighbor and respect for the dignity of man would be freely taught in our schools under the direct supervision of the community’s parents.

From this analysis a few conclusions may be reached.

First, there is no inherent reason for Jefferson’s wall of separation, at least as the courts apply it today, to be the only compass in interpreting the First Amendment of the Constitution. So long as all religious views are respected, the government can peacefully cohabitate with worshipers be they Christian, Jewish, or any peace-loving faith.

Second, neither the people of this great nation nor its elected representatives selected the road our nation has traversed regarding religious liberty. Instead, it was embraced by an oligarchy of legalists unaccountable to the will of the people.

Consequently, if it is true that the Courts have interpreted the Constitution in a manner inconsistent with the will of the people, then isn’t it up to We The People, as the true purveyors of the Constitution, to override an opinion of such a Court and reverse an ill-conceived opinion? We know, through their writings, that at least Jefferson and Madison would think so.

Truly, the road we are following regarding our religious freedom is nothing short of harrowing. It has diminished our sense of morality and has curtailed our abilities to teach our children that there are things bigger than themselves.

It is time for our country to navigate back to the road built upon Christian forbearance; the same road that would lead us to the shining city on the hill.

RELATED ARTICLE: 2 Cases Threaten to Shut Down Public Prayer. Why the Supreme Court May Need to Act.

EDITORS NOTE: This column originally appeared on The Revolutionary Act.

Two Alleged Hezbollah Jihadists Arrested in U.S.

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On June 8, 2017  the Department of Justice issued a press release, Two Men Arrested for Terrorist Activities on Behalf of Hizballah’s Islamic Jihad Organization.

As you will see, terrorists understand that naturalization enables them to act as “Sleepers” and hide in plain sight in the United States and facilitate their movement around the world where they threaten our allies and other countries.

While it is reassuring that these two terror suspects have been taken into custody, charged with an extensive list of terror-related crimes, the criminal complaints, filed in conjunction with this case note the extremely disturbing fact that these defendants as well as others, both known and unknown, committed overt acts in support of Hezbollah that are enumerated in the complaints concerning Samer el Debek, a/k/a Samer Eldebek and Ali Mohamad Kourani, a/k/a Jacob Lewis, a/k/a Daniel

In other words, while these two are out of action, others are still “out there” and may not all be known to law enforcement.  That chilling prospect is certainly not conducive to getting a good night’s sleep.

The press releasee, important to read in its entirety, also included this excerpt:

Ali Kourani, 32, of the Bronx, New York, and Samer el Debek, 37, of Dearborn, Michigan, aka, “Samer Eldebek,” were arrested on Thursday, June 1, on charges related to their alleged activities on behalf of Hizballah, a designated foreign terrorist organization.

Acting Assistant Attorney General for National Security Dana Boente, Acting U.S. Attorney Joon H. Kim for the Southern District of New York, Assistant Director in Charge William F. Sweeney Jr. of the FBI’s New York Office, and Commissioner James P. O’Neill of the NYPD made the announcement.

Acting U.S. Attorney Kim said: “Today, we announce serious terrorism charges against two men who allegedly trained with and supported the Islamic Jihad Organization, a component of the foreign terrorist organization Hizballah.  Recruited as Hizballah operatives, Samer El Debek and Ali Kourani allegedly received military-style training, including in the use of weapons like rocket-propelled grenade launchers and machine guns for use in support of the group’s terrorist mission.  At the direction of his Hizballah handlers, El Debek allegedly conducted missions in Panama to locate the U.S. and Israeli Embassies and to assess the vulnerabilities of the Panama Canal and ships in the Canal. Kourani allegedly conducted surveillance of potential targets in America, including military and law enforcement facilities in New York City. Thanks to the outstanding work of the FBI and NYPD, the allegedly destructive designs of these two Hizballah operatives have been thwarted, and they will now face justice in a Manhattan federal court.”

It is important to note that, allegedly, they were both given military training overseas, tasked with conducting surveillance at military bases, law enforcement facilities and critical infrastructure in New York City and elsewhere and with establishing contacts who could provide them with weapons.

Recently I wrote about the ENLIST Act: When “Compassion” Endangers National Security.  This ill-conceived legislation would reward illegal aliens with a pathway to lawful immigrant status and put them on the pathway to U.S. citizenship if they serve in the U.S. military.

Aliens who are involved with terrorism could exploit this program to gain access to military bases, military training and military weapons in the United States.

Both of the defendants are naturalized United States citizens and, in point of fact, the New York Times article about this investigation, Bronx Man Accused of Casing J.F.K. Airport for Potential Hezbollah Attack included this paragraph:

The man, Ali Kourani, a 32-year-old naturalized citizen from Lebanon, told the F.B.I. in a series of interviews that he believed he had been recruited to join Hezbollah’s Islamic Jihad Organization as part of an effort to develop “sleepers” who lived ostensibly normal lives but could be “activated and tasked” with conducting operations, the complaint said.

“Sleeper Cells” are an area of concern for our law enforcement agencies and I have addressed this vulnerability in some of my Congressional testimony and in some of  my articles such as, Sleeper Cells: The Immigration Component of the Threat.

Often terrorist sleepers seek to acquire lawful immigration status by submitting fraud-laden applications for immigration benefits such as  falsely claiming political asylum, by acquiring resident alien status and ultimately, attaining U.S. citizenship through the naturalization process, concealing their connections with terrorist organization and their overt and covert actions.

The New York Times article went on to note:

Mr. Kourani said in the interviews that he had been allowed to attend a Hezbollah “boot camp” in Lebanon when he was 16 years old because of his family’s connections to a high-ranking Hezbollah official, according to the complaint.

“Kourani considers his family name to be akin to the ‘bin Ladens of Lebanon,’ and one of his brothers is the ‘face of Hezbollah’ in Yater, Lebanon,” the complaint said.

Mr. Kourani said he had been recruited to join the organization in 2008, in light of his education and because he lived in the United States, the authorities said in the complaint. They said that he had told the authorities that one of his first instructions from his “handler” in Lebanon, a man called Fadi, was to obtain American citizenship as soon as possible, which he did in 2009.

Given the above paragraph, apparently Terrorists Value U.S. Citizenshp More Than Our Politicians Do.

If, in fact, Kourani’s family’s relationship wth Hezbollah was so public, the obvious question is how he could have been naturalized or, going further back, how could he have been lawfully admitted into the United States in the first place?

All applicants for United States citizenship are supposed to undergo a “Good Moral Character Investigation.”  This is supposed to be a far more stringent investigation than simply running fingerprints to search for any criminal history, but has been all but eliminated by a succession of administrations.

As United States citizens these alleged terrorists could use their U.S. passports  to keep a lower profile, gain access to corporate and government office buildings and access to airliners.  They use their may use their U.S. passports to get jobs that may have national security or critical infrastructure implications and to more easily gain entry into countries that might have required that they apply for and receive visas before seeking entry.

Furthermore, having multiple passports makes it easier for terrorists and transnational criminals to cover their tracks by using their passport alternately as they travel around the world.

The complaint filed in the Eastern District of New York concerning defendant El Derek includes this statement by FBI Special Agent Daniel M. Ganci:

“El Debek said he was first recruited by Hizballah in late 2007 or early 2008 and began to receive a salary from Hizballah shortly thereafter.  Although El Debek said he did not know why he was recruited, he said he believed he was recruited because he held a U.S. passport.”

That complaint, in articulating in part, the justification for declaring Hizballah (Hezbollah) a terrorist organization, reported on four individuals who were Lebanese dual-nationals who acquired citizenship in Sweden, France and Canada and had carried out activities in support of Hezbollah’s acts of terrorism, murder and violence in the Middle East and elsewhere as members of IJO (Islamic Jihad Organization).

It is important to note that those three countries are all Visa Waiver countries.

For example, at the time of his arrest in Cyprus in 2015 Bassam Abdallah, a Lebanese-Canadian possessed a fraudulent passport when he was found in possession of 8.2 tons of ammonium nitrate.

There are those who claim that young people turn to terrorism because of a lack of opportunities and hence, poverty, however, the New York Times article also reported:

The complaint said that Mr. Kourani had also obtained a bachelor of science degree in biomedical engineering in 2009, and in 2013, a master of business administration. The complaint did not identify the colleges, but a LinkedIn page for a man with his name who obtained those degrees in those years identifies the schools as City College of New York and DeVry University’s Keller Graduate School of Management.

Kourani’s engineering degree could be described as a case of Educating ‘Engineers of Jihad’ at US Universities and certainly equipped with him with the essential skills to carry out sophisticated terror attacks in the United States.

In point of fact, the ability of terrorists to acquire such high tech training at U.S. universities that would thereby enable them to construct weapons of mass destruction was a concern voiced by Senator Feinstein at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing conducted on February 24, 1998 on the topic, “Foreign terrorists in America : five years after the World Trade Center.”

Nevertheless, today there are college administrators at schools across the United States who have turned their campuses into Sanctuary Campuses that refuse to cooperate with DHS.

After the attacks of September 11, 2001 a veritable parade of politicians strutted up to podiums bristling with microphones to complain bitterly that “No one connected the dots.”

Today we have connected a number of those dots and it is time for our politicians irrespective of political affiliations to act and act swiftly, indeed.  Time is not on our side.

EDITORS NOTE: This column originally appeared in FrontPage Magazine.

NJ Court: State Can’t Criminalize Possession of ‘Pencils’ and Other Lawful Objects for Home Self-defense

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It is refreshing to finally see some common sense coming out of a court in NJ, as the state is notoriously known for its illogical and Draconian gun laws that do little more than make felons out of law-abiding gun owners.

Last week, the Supreme Court of New Jersey upheld the right to lawfully possess and hold a weapon for self-defense in the home, rejecting arguments advanced by the State that would treat a citizen like a criminal for simply answering an angry knock at his own door while holding an object that was legal to possess.

The case, Montalvo v. State, arose out of a commonplace neighborhood dispute. Daleckis, downstairs of Montalvo, banged on the ceiling to let Montalvo know he was upset about the noise from upstairs. Montalvo then knocked on the Daleckis front door, and, getting no response, threw a table off their shared porch, which he acknowledged was a “stupid” thing to do. Shortly after, Daleckis went to the Montalvo apartment to confront him over the broken table. Montalvo and his wife claimed Daleckis was not just knocking but angrily kicking and slamming on their door. Uncertain of what to expect, Montalvo took the precaution of picking up a machete – used in his work as a roofer and kept with other tools – before opening the door. In the exchange that followed, Daleckis said Montalvo pointed the machete at him, while Montalvo testified he held the machete down the entire time. Both agreed, though, that Montalvo never stepped outside of his own apartment.

By the time the police arrived, the quarrel had fizzled out (Daleckis ultimately refused to provide a statement to police). Montalvo was arrested on charges that included two weapon possession offenses. The first count, possession with a purpose to use the weapon unlawfully, requires an intent to use the weapon against another’s person or property. The second was a violation of N.J. Stat. Ann. § 2C:39-5(d) (knowingly possessing the machete “under circumstances not manifestly appropriate for such lawful uses as it may have”), which prohibits possession of a weapon other than a firearm where the defendant has not yet formed an intent to use the object as a weapon, but possesses it under circumstances in which it is likely to be so used. This second count became the focus of the litigation.

Because New Jersey law defines a “weapon” as “anything readily capable of lethal use or inflicting serious bodily injury,” Section 2C:39-5(d) criminalizes possession of ordinarily lawful objects (scissors, razors, kitchen knives) in circumstances where the possession is not “manifestly appropriate” for lawful use, regardless of the actual intent of the possessor. This offense is a fourth degree crime, punishable by between three and five years’ incarceration on conviction.

At Montalvo’s trial, the model instructions to the jury directed that only three elements were necessary for a Section 2C:39-5(d) conviction: a weapon, possessed “knowingly,” in circumstances where a reasonable person would agree the object was likely to be used as a weapon. In response to the jury’s questions about self-defense, the judge advised that self-defense could not justify possession unless the defendant had armed himself as a “spontaneous” response to repel an immediate and compelling danger – anticipatory self-defense did not qualify. So instructed, the jury found Montalvo guilty of the Section 2C:39-5(d) offense but acquitted him on the first charge, and he was sentenced to 18 months in jail.

In his appeal, Montalvo argued the jury had been misdirected on self-defense, and that his conviction criminalized the possession of an otherwise legal weapon in his home in violation of the Second Amendment. After an appellate court affirmed his conviction and sentence, Montalvo launched a further appeal to the state’s highest court, the Supreme Court of New Jersey. 

The Attorney General of New Jersey took the unusual step of filing a “friend of the court” brief in the appeal, arguing that, while citizens are entitled to possess lawful weapons in the home for self-defense, the State is concurrently authorized to regulate the manner in which these weapons are possessed. “Everyday objects, which are entirely lawful to possess in their own right, even a pencil, can be used as weapons. The Legislature did not issue a wholesale prohibition on such lawful objects, but rather sought to regulate only the circumstances under which such objects may be possessed.” (Emphasis added.) This brief, consistent with the submissions by the prosecution, claimed the Second Amendment could not apply because Montalvo’s “disproportionate” response, arming himself where there was no “actual threat,” exceeded the boundaries of the right of self-defense in the home. In furtherance of this extremely narrow interpretation, the Attorney General’s brief asked that the court modify the model jury instructions for use in future cases to clarify that weapons for active self-defense in the home could be used only if the person armed himself spontaneously to repel an immediate danger.

A unanimous Supreme Court of New Jersey rejected this outlandish approach as both unworkable and unsupported by U.S. Supreme Court decisions in District of Columbia v. Heller and McDonald v. City of Chicago (extending to “all instruments that constitute bearable arms”).

Justice Fernandez-Vina, writing for the court, noted at the onset that the case did not demand “an extensive Second Amendment analysis. We need only observe that the Second Amendment protects the right of individuals to possess weapons, including machetes, in the home for self-defense purposes.” Montalvo’s possession of the machete was lawful and it made no difference “whether his possession was for roofing or for self-defense because either would qualify as a lawful purpose.”

The interpretation of the law promoted by the State and the Attorney General was inconsistent with the very core of this fundamental right. The right to possess a weapon in the home for self-defense would be almost useless “if one were required to keep the weapon out-of-hand, picking it up only ‘spontaneously’” when and if the circumstances made clear an immediate danger existed. Calibrating the right so exactly to the presence of an immediate danger made it impossible to hold a weapon in anticipation of such potential, but not yet imminent, threats. This did not mean Montalvo could threaten the use of a machete merely for the purpose of inciting fear in another, but it did mean he could answer his door simply holding a weapon.

The court reversed the judgment below confirming the conviction and remanded the case; at the same time, the court directed a review and revision of the jury charge for Section 2C:39-5(d) offenses. The revision language, as suggested by the court, would clarify that possession of a lawful weapon in one’s home could not form the basis of a conviction under Section 2C:39-5(d); that a person may possess, in the home, objects that serve multiple lawful purposes, including the purpose of anticipatory self-defense; and that a person who responds to the door of his home with a concealed weapon that threatens no one acts within the bounds of the law.

Although we welcome this common sense ruling by the Supreme Court of New Jersey, this case affords yet another illustration of the importance of the courts and how dependent, in practice, the exercise of Second Amendment rights is on what any particular court considers to be the boundaries of the law. Since the Supreme Court’s rulings in Heller and McDonald, there have been all too many judges that have concluded the right to keep and bear arms is some kind of second-class constitutional right.

Profile of Terrorist James T. Hodgkinson: From disbelief to anger to violence to mayhem to mass murder [Videos]

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Steve Scalise, the majority whip of the House of Representatives. Credit Gabriella Demczuk for The New York Times

For Democrats free speech has morphed into hate speech. Hate speech has morphed into violence and mayhem in the streets and on college campuses across America. Hate speech then morphed into action. Action became a politically motivated mass shooting at a baseball field in Alexandria, Virginia with five wounded and the shooter dead. Among those critically wounded was Steve Scalise, the Republican majority whip of the House of Representatives.

All of this carried out by armed Democrat James T. Hodgkinson who specifically targeted unarmed Republicans, their families, children and supporters.

The below video was taken at the Republican Congressional baseball practice in Alexandria, Virginia:

The narrative from Democrats is two fold. Deny this act of pure hate was politically motivated. Point to anything other than the individual who carried out this crime against humanity, i.e. focus on the gun. The proper responses to what James T. Hodgkinson, with malice and forethought, did are blame the shooter for the shooting, the terrorist for terrorism.

James T. Hodgkinson

Democrats are relentlessly yelling “fire” in a crowed political theater. The predictable result is assassination for political purposes.

18 U.S. Code § 871 – Threats against President and successors to the Presidency states:

Whoever knowingly and willfully deposits for conveyance in the mail or for a delivery from any post office or by any letter carrier any letter, paper, writing, print, missive, or document containing any threat to take the life of, to kidnap, or to inflict bodily harm upon the President of the United States, the President-elect, the Vice President or other officer next in the order of succession to the office of President of the United States, or the Vice President-elect, or knowingly and willfully otherwise makes any such threat against the President, President-elect, Vice President or other officer next in the order of succession to the office of President, or Vice President-elect, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.

Alex Jones notes,

“Days ago a standing ovation for the simulation of the assassination of the President of The United States. And now, a baseball practice loaded with Republican congressman and staffers became a live mass shooting event. James T. Hodgkinson was identified as the shooter that railed off over 50 shots at the 100 year old traditional event that included children. He was killed by Capitol Police. House Majority Whip was shot in the hip and transported to the hospital along with four others.”

Here is a short video and pictorial profile of a loyal “Democrat Socialist”, supporter of Senator Bernie Sanders, member of “Terminate Republican Party” and now known terrorist James T. Hodgkinson.

James T. Hodgkinson in 2011 at Occupy Wall Street rally:

Social media posts by James T. Hodgkinson:

Responses by liberals to the mass shooting:

RELATED ARTICLES:

20 Liberal Calls For Violence Against Conservatives in Quotes

James T. Hodgkinson Belonged to ‘Terminate the Republican Party’ Facebook Group

Hodgkinson Was Occupy Protester, Attacked the “One Percent”

Shooter Was Bernie Bro Who Joined ‘Terminate Republican Party’ Group

Shooting turned GOP baseball practice into ‘killing field’

After shooting, soul-searching on United States’ polarization

Gunman attacks GOP lawmakers

Leftists Know No Shame As Writer Posts Most Vile Tweet EVER About Alexandria Shooting

Department of Veterans Affairs Accountability Legislation Heads to President’s Desk

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Washington, D.C. – Today, the House passed the Department of Veterans Affairs Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act to bring accountability to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The legislation will now head to the president’s desk. Chairman Phil Roe, M.D. (R-Tenn.) and representatives from Veterans Service Organizations (VSO) released the following statements:

“I’ve said time and time again that the vast majority of VA’s employees are hard-working public servants who are dedicated to providing quality healthcare and benefits for veterans,” said Roe. “But, for far too long, the failures of the bad actors have tarnished the good name of all VA employees. Today, the House came together to change that. The Department of Veterans Affairs Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act will create the culture of accountability at VA that our nation’s heroes deserve, while protecting the men and women who blow the whistle on injustices at VA. I thank Senators Isakson, Rubio and Tester for leading the charge on accountability in the Senate, as well as all of my colleagues in the House, particularly Ranking Member Walz, for supporting this legislation that will allow us to bring wholesale reform to VA. I’m also grateful to Secretary Shulkin and the entire Trump Administration for their strong support of accountability from day one, and I look forward to President Trump signing this legislation into law so we can once and for all bring accountability to the Department of Veterans Affairs.”

The American Legion

“On behalf of the 2.2M members of The American Legion, we applaud the House of Representatives passing of the VA Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act of 2017.  This legislation, as currently written, will provide the Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs the authorities to improve accountability and raise employee performance and morale.  We are impressed by the speed by which Congress acted to move this critical legislation forward to the President’s desk in a bipartisan manner. We look forward to this bill becoming law.” Charles E. Schmidt, National Commander

Concerned Veterans for America

“For years a toxic culture has plagued the Department of Veterans Affairs, but the VA Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act will be a meaningful step toward turning the troubled department around. Finally, Secretary Shulkin will be empowered with the authority to quickly remove those who under-perform, neglect patients, or even engage in criminal activity. We believe this historic piece of legislation will help usher in a new era of integrity and accountability at the department entrusted with caring for our heroes. We thank Chairman Roe, Senator Rubio, and concerned citizens across the country who pushed relentlessly to generate support from both sides of the aisle and make this reform a reality.” Dan Caldwell, Policy Director

Disabled American Veterans

“DAV supports enactment of the Department of Veterans Affairs Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act of 2017. I applaud the bipartisan effort to ensure greater accountability and strengthened whistleblower protections within VA. We thank Chairman Roe for his leadership to ensure VA is able to enforce accountability standards to attract, hire and retain the brightest and best employees our nation has to offer to care for ill and injured veterans.” Garry Augustine, DAV Washington Headquarters Executive Director.

Fleet Reserve Association

“Accountability in the VA, and within the department, should be an authentic and transparent continuum of a prime-mover for the defined core-values, care and benefits for our nation’s Veterans and their families.   This should be the mainstay, the anchor, and responsible course of action now and forever.” Thomas J. Snee, M.Ed, National Executive Director

Got Your 6

“The veteran community has been pushing for three years now to adequately address the need for greater accountability at the VA while also maintaining a workplace that is able to attract and retain high quality professionals. Got Your 6 works to be a collaborative partner of the VA and we strongly support this approach to empower VA leadership with more efficient workforce management options. We applaud the House for quickly taking up this bill after Senate passage and look forward to the President signing it into law.” Bill Rausch, Executive Director

Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America

“This is welcome news to veterans nationwide. Given that the scandal in Phoenix alerted the country to the outrageous state of the VA health care system nearly three years ago, this change is long overdue. IAVA applauds the leadership of Majority Leader McCarthy and Chairman Roe to hold a House vote on the Senate-passed bill that will empower the VA to remove bad-acting employees. IAVA and our members have fought relentlessly to give the VA Secretary the tools needed to address workforce accountability and save veterans’ lives, and we are extremely pleased that final passage into law is within reach.” IAVA Founder and CEO Paul Rieckhoff

Military Order of the Purple Heart

“The ability to hold bad employees accountable and protect whistleblowers is absolutely critical for VA to accomplish its mission of caring for our nation’s veterans.  MOPH deeply thanks all members of the House and Senate who voted “yes” on this legislation, and especially Chairmen Roe and Isakson and Ranking Members Walz and Tester for their steadfast, bipartisan leadership on this important issue.” Hershel Gober, MOPH National Commander

Paralyzed Veterans of America

“No other large healthcare system rivals VA’s competence to deliver specialized services at a national level, such as spinal cord injury and disease and polytrauma care, or synthesizes access to healthcare, benefits, support, and peer mentorship better than VA. But what VA needs most right now is the one ‘ability’ it presently lacks and can no longer be taken for granted — accountability. Whether that means better protecting whistleblowers, shortening the reprimand process, or recouping ill-gotten bonuses and relocation expenses, achieving a state of being answerable to the public, the Congress, and most importantly, veterans, will be dictated by the worst behavior the VA Secretary has to tolerate. This bill will be a major step toward having to tolerate such behavior no more.” Sherman Gillums, Executive Director

Student Veterans of America

“We have witnessed first-hand why it is imperative to have stronger accountability measures for VA employees. This bill gives the Secretary of VA the authority to take necessary action against negligent employees, such as recalling their bonuses and relocation expenses. Accountability is a major challenge for VA and this bill addresses accountability challenges with specific measures.” Jared Lyon, President and CEO of Student Veterans of America

United States Army Warrant Officers Association

“This bipartisan legislation will ensure the VA Secretary has crucial, enforceable tools at his disposal to provide more efficient services to our Veterans in need, and enforce greater accountability of the professionals tasked with serving them.” CW4 (Ret) Jack Du Teil, Executive Director

Veterans of Foreign Wars

“The VFW wants Secretary Shulkin to have the authority to manage his people in a manner expected of all senior executives, public or private. The VFW wants the secretary to weed out the nonperformers and those whose personal conduct brings doubt and dishonor upon thousands of dedicated employees. And the VFW wants this bill passed into law, because maintaining the status quo doesn’t work for those who have borne the battle.” VFW National Commander Brian Duffy

Vietnam Veterans of America

“Vietnam Veterans of America has been advocating strongly for much greater accountability from VA management since our founding in 1978. We haves one so in public statements and countless testimonies on Capitol Hill. This statute is a real milestone in that journey; a journey that at times seemed to be a very lonely effort. We are gratified to see this day. The Secretary now has the proper tools. Now it is up to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to hold managers accountable at VA.” John Rowan, VVA National President

Background:

The Department of Veterans Affairs Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act of 2017 would:

  • Create a new streamlined and efficient process to remove, demote or suspend (for longer than 14 days) any VA employee for poor performance or misconduct with a concrete shortened timeline, while still protecting employees’ due process rights, and would provide them with the right to appeal the action.
  • Provide expanded protections for whistleblowers and would specifically bar VA from using this removal authority if the employee has an open whistleblower complaint/case with the Office of Special Counsel.
  • Provide the Secretary with the authority to reduce an employee’s federal pension if they are convicted of a felony that influenced their job at VA; recoup a bonus provided to an employee who engaged in misconduct or poor performance prior to receiving the bonus; and allow the Secretary to recoup any relocation expenses that were authorized for a VA employee only through the employee’s ill-gotten means, such as fraud waste or malfeasance.
  • Authorize the Secretary to directly appoint individuals to the positions of Medical Center Director and Director of Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN) if they have a demonstrated ability in the medical profession, health care administration or health care fiscal management. This will make it easier to fill these critical positions quickly.

The Senate passed this legislation on June 6, 2017. More information on the bill can be found here.

RELATED ARTICLE: Making the VA Accountable Again

Amid Efforts to Impeach, Trump is Winning for America

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Vice President Mike Pence said nothing touches and encourages himself and president Trump more than hearing Americans say they are praying for them. Folks, given president Trump’s superhuman focus on winning for America while enduring unprecedented vitriolic attacks from all sides, I’d say our prayers are working.

After months on the road working to elect conservatives in special elections, I’m back home. I ran into my favorite bank teller, a middle-aged Hispanic woman. “Oh Mr Marcus, it is so good to see you.” Folks, I was taken aback as she began expressing her extremely heartfelt thanks for my working to elect Trump and the work I do around the country. Frankly, I was stunned by how much Trump winning meant to her. Fake news media will never understand the phenomenal connection Trump has with a majority of the American people. They (We the People) get it. They know Obama was destroying our country. They know Trump is committed to bringing us back from the edge of destruction and they are extremely excited and grateful. None of fake news media’s 24/7 attempts to politically assassinate Trump is working — quite the opposite.

Who could have imagined that Trump’s Washington DC inexperience would be one of his greatest strengths. Trump governs free of pro-politician political correctness. A gifted businessman, Trump is instinctively using his talent; making deals good for America while getting us out of deals bad for America. Case in point, Trump pulled us out of the disastrous Paris climate deal. 

Meanwhile, Washington DC establishment elites are outraged, “That’s not how we do things in this town. Trump can’t say that! Trump can’t do that! How dare Trump speak directly to the American people via tweets!”

I’ve heard talking heads supposedly on our side say they wish Trump would conform more to traditional presidential behavior. I say Trump is doing just fine being 100% Trump. He has made remarkable positive changes in 100 days that would have taken other Republicans 10 years. Whenever Republicans win elections they are advised to move slowly and be careful not to anger Leftists too much to avoid fake news media backlash.

America’s number one radio personality, Rush Limbaugh said, “If what you do relies on talent, you will never be your best doing it someone else’s way.” Based on his proven talent, I trust Trump to govern his way as long as he functions according to our Constitution. I could not care less that Washington insiders view him as a bull in their Washington DC china store. Break more stuff Mr President. Please break more stuff.

Leftists worldwide are so obsessed with removing Trump from office and blocking his agenda, they appear to have suspended interest in all else.

The Left was brutally tough on Sarah Palin; everything out of her mouth was spun to brand her an idiot. Compared to how the Left is relentlessly going after Trump, Palin was treated with kid gloves.

Though under reported we are winning in unprecedented ways under president Trump.

Trump appointing Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education was huge for America, a serious blow to Leftists’ government indoctrination of our kids. Though high-tech bludgeoned by Leftists, DeVos strongly advocates restoring parent’s rights. 

Along with the confirmation of conservative Neil Gorsuch on the Supreme Court, Trump just nominated 11 new conservative federal judges. These are awesome selections with long term positive effects.

Trump has rolled back a ton of Obama’s overreaching stupid job-killing and economy-dragging regulations.

Keeping his campaign promises and rolling back Obama’s mess, Trump has signed a remarkable list of executive orders.

During his Infrastructure speech at the Department of Transportation, Trump expressed his desire to cut absurd regulations. Trump said,

“It is time at last to put America first. No longer can we allow these rules and regulations to tie down our economy, chain up our prosperity and sap our great American spirit.”

Wow, now that’s what I am talkin’ about folks — ignore fake news media’s lies. We are winning under Trump. We are winning.

Displaying arrogant wickedness, Democrats are boldly lying to the American people, falsely accusing Trump of high crimes and misdemeanors. They have taken their first legislative steps to remove Trump from office by drafting articles of impeachment. 

Leftist law professor Marjorie Cohn absurdly said Trump pulling us out of the Paris climate deal is an impeachable offense. These people on the left are deranged. Still, they must be taken seriously and blocked. If allowed, Democrats and fake news media will impeach our president based totally on lies. 

I am confident we who love America will remain firmly entrenched in our support for our president.

Thanks to God and Trump’s talent, we are winning.

Ninth Circuit rules, HIAS crows as Judicial coup is confirmed

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It is not a surprise that the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled against the President and his legal Constitutional power to keep America safe.

I’m in a hurry this morning to get to my chores, so just want to give you Daniel Greenfield’s reading of the decision here at FrontPage magazine:

9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Announces It Is In Charge of Determining National Interests

Here is his opening paragraph:

The Judicial coup against democracy rolls on. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals announced with its latest ruling that it has the powers of the executive branch. To understand how insane the latest illegal and unconstitutional judicial effort to block common sense migration reform is, here are the powers that the 9th has decided it possesses.

Continue reading his excellent analysis.

As I have said till I’m blue in the face, I regret the fact that the 50,000 CEILING was announced in an Executive Order when the President already had the power to admit any number under the 110,000 CEILING set by Obama last September without even mentioning any cap.  He could have quietly slowed the flow the minute he took office.  At that time we had admitted just over 30,000 refugees in this fiscal year.  Now, the Trump State Department is approaching 50,000 with months yet to go.

But, more troubling is the utter confusion created by proposing a complete ‘travel ban’ from six countries in the same EO as an announcement on refugee admission numbers and a temporary moratorium from across the world (across all nationalities and all religions).  What a mess!

Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society cheers along with two other federal resettlement contractors which have a financial stake in keeping numbers of refugees high—they are paid by the head to place them in your towns and cities.

HIAS was joined in its amicus brief by the International Rescue Committee and the US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants—all multi-million dollar federal resettlement contractors who have a pecuniary interest in the outcome.

HIAS press release yesterday begins:

WASHINGTON—Today, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued a ruling in the challenge to President Trump’s March 6 executive order barring the resettlement of refugees for 120 days, banning the entry of people from six Muslim-majority countries for 90 days, and cutting the overall number of refugee admissions for the year by more than half. The challenge was initiated by the State of Hawaii on behalf of individuals impacted by the executive order, and supported by HIAS and other refugee and human rights advocates in the public and private sector.

After hearing oral arguments before a three-judge panel on May 15, the court has affirmed the injunction on the parts of the order that would suspend entry of nationals from the six designated countries, suspend refugee admissions for 120 days, and cap the number of refugees to be admitted this fiscal year at 50,000. This ruling will allow refugees to continue finding safety in the United States through the refugee admissions program, unless the Supreme Court chooses to reverse the Ninth Circuit.

The Fourth Circuit case does not address the 50,000 CEILING issue. So, let’s hope that lawyers for the Justice Department are doing their homework and separating the CEILING issue from the ‘travel ban.’

And, HIAS knows they are on shaky ground regarding the President’s power to limit the numbers from all over the world (all religions/all ethnic groups) and so they continue to mix the ‘Muslim travel ban’ issue with the 50,000 cap to confuse their donors and the uninformed public.

If you missed it, see (here) how far below the CEILING other Presidents have gone—even Obama was tens of thousands below some of his earlier CEILINGS.

Also, see that HIAS, a federal contractor dependent on millions of your tax dollars, organized an anti-Trump rally, here in February.  There ought to be a law—federal contractors shouldn’t be able to stage anti-government protests!  Did they use any federal dollars???

Imagine the outrage if a military contractor was staging demonstrations because they wanted more federally-funded work!

Lawsuit Against Collier School Board To Halt Political Indoctrination Of Students

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When it comes to our children and their future, “Where is your line in the sand?”  FLCA has found ours, and we invite you to join with us.

After two years of trying to get the Collier School board to do the right thing, we are suing the Collier County School Board for violating Florida Sunshine law and multiple statutes that require them to teach our founding values and principles, and which require balanced, unbiased and factual material (see a copy of the filed complaint).  We issued a press release about the lawsuit on May 31st.  Here’s an excerpt from the press release:

Florida Citizens Alliance has decided,  “Enough is enough!”  We are now an active participant along with Collier parents in a lawsuit for an emergency injunction to stop this “flawed” textbook adoption process. This lawsuit was filed today, May 31st , 2017 in The Circuit Court for the 20th Judicial Circuit in and for Collier County. The Collier County School Board (CCPS) has violated Florida Sunshine Law and ignored at least four Florida statutes, all at the expense of our 46,000 plus students who deserve the “highest quality .instructional materials of professionalism and historical accuracy”.  Quote: FS 1003.42

[Full press release]

We strongly believe the School Board here in Collier County has violated Chapter 128, Florida’s sunshine law and at least four other Florida Statutes including FS 1003.42, FS 1006.28, FS 1006.31(2), and FS 1006.283.

UPDATE:video clips from the Collier County Public Schools “Special Hearing” meeting on June 1, 2017 show clearly that CCPS is NOT interested in community and parental input, nor are they interested in following Florida law.

RELATED ARTICLE: Florida Teacher Bans Cross Necklaces in Class, Promotes LGBT Day of Silence

NSA leaker Reality Winner sympathized with bin Laden and Taliban

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She isn’t a jihadist. She is just a Useful Idiot. Clearly these sympathies indicate that she hates President Trump, and would do anything she could to make his administration look bad.

Reality Winner mug shot.

“‘I want to burn the White House down’: NSA leaker Reality Winner, 25, is DENIED bail as prosecutors claim she may have stolen more top secret information, was fascinated with Islamic terrorism and planned to play the ‘pretty, white girl’ card in court,” by Louise Boyle, Regina F. Graham and Liam Quinn, Dailymail.com, June 9, 2017:

Reality Winner portrayed little emotion in court Thursday as she was denied bond in her federal espionage case after the government alleged that she may have stolen other top secret information and poses an ongoing risk to national security.

The Air Force veteran, 25, is accused of mailing a classified report on a Russian military intelligence cyber-attack in 2016 to a news website.

She entered a plea of not guilty before Judge Brian K. Epps at U.S. District Court in downtown Augusta, Georgia on Thursday afternoon after she was charged with a single count of ‘willful retention and transmission of national defense information’….

The prosecution stated that Winner had a fascination with the Middle East and Islamic terrorism.

The government claimed that they had found handwritten notes during a search at Winner’s home which appeared to sympathize with Osama bin Laden and other terrorists.

Authorities claim another handwritten statement found during a search of Winner’s home allegedly read: ‘I want to burn the White House down and go live in Kurdistan.’

Prosecutors said in recorded jailhouse calls that Winner told her mother how to play her side of the story in the media.

They also said in a phone call she made to her sister that she was confident in how to ‘play the court’ during her bond hearing.

‘I’m pretty, white and cute,’ she allegedly told her sister. Prosecutors said Winner told her sister she would braid her hair and cry in court….

Winner’s notes allegedly contained sympathetic statements on Osama bin Laden and Taliban leader, Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour, and referenced going to live in a number of countries including Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nepal and Mexico. Solari said that Winner had taken a three-day trip to Belize last month and had researched travelling from Atlanta to Tel Aviv in September 2017.

Solari also said that in recorded conversations from jail, Winner had told her mother to ‘play that angle’ with the press that she had been afraid for her life when FBI agents arrested her at her home. In a separate call she also told her sister that she would ‘go out and play the cute, blonde white girl. Braid my hair, going to cry.’…

RELATED ARTICLE: Sharia UK: Two arrested over video of Qur’an burning

Comey’s Revenge

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On June 8, 2017, former FBI Director James Comey once again testifies before the Senate Intelligence Committee, somewhat of a contradiction in terms itself. The swamps massive PSYOP to remove President Trump from office by any means necessary, takes center stage again in Senate hearings.

At the start of this circus, Obama CIA Director Brennen has been identified as the person who created the Russia-Trump narrative. Brennen gave that PSYOP file to Sen. John McCain who in turn, gave the file to James Comey at the FBI.

The anti-American “fake news” media is promoting the upcoming Comey testimony as if it were the political super bowl of all time, complete with their “guide how to watch,” yet another PSYOP effort to prepare the jury (you) ahead of the big show by planting in your mind, “what Comey will say” in advance. How do they already know what Comey will say? Who told them? Did they violate laws or “taint the jury” by publicly disclosing testimony not yet given?

All of the “fake news” reports have been launched by The Washington Post (WaPo), which is owned by Jeffrey Bezos of Amazon.com, where Clinton campaign manager John Podesta also resides. Meet the real WaPo, fake news ground zero. Keep in mind that Bezos was also awarded a $600 million contract with the CIA via Brennen, to build and host a CIA “cloud.” Also remember that over 90% of all Federal employee campaign donations went to Hillary Clinton in 2016.

The so-called investigation now seems to revolve around recent statements that Trump tried to stop the Russia investigation in a private meeting with Comey, an event that Comey allegedly notated in his person files after that meeting. Although it has been widely reported by the leftist media, no one has actually seen that note-to-self, if it exists at all, when it was written or whether or not any such request by Trump was ever made.

However, Comey has a problem in this effort to “get Trump” – In his sworn testimony of May 3, 2017, Comey unequivocally stated that “no one ever tried to stop the Russia investigation.” When asked, Comey stated that “Trump never asked him to alter the investigation.”

Then you have the statements of Senators Grassley and Feinstein, both of whom are on record stating three critical facts per Comey, Trump is not under investigation, no one asked the FBI to impede any investigations and there is no evidence of any Trump campaign collusion in Russia election hacking.

Further, the firing of James Comey while he was three-thousand miles away speaking at a FBI recruitment event in California, allowed the Department of Justice to seize all of Comey’s files and computers back at FBI HQ. Comey had been playing political gate-keeper of truth and justice on behalf of Obama and the Clinton’s for many years. All of it is now in the hands of Attorney General Jeff Sessions, all of it…

The media frenzy over Comey’s upcoming testimony clearly indicates that the NeverTrumpers think they can smell blood in the water. They are circling Trump like a school of great whites that hadn’t had a meal in months. But is there really any blood in the water?

If Comey is entering the hearing with revenge in mind, Comey could hang himself in the end. Clearly, someone has been lying…

The potential for Comey to be caught in a perjury trap, or disclosing classified information in a televised hearing, is huge. He will have to choose every word very carefully. When the lights, camera, action come up… and the show begins, Comey will sit in the spotlight with eyes around the world looking on.

The anti-Trump media will be looking for anything they can spin into a justification for impeachment. Pro-Trump viewers will be glued to their TVs hoping to see Comey lynch himself. It’s high drama, the likes of which even Hollywood could never create.

In the end, what are we likely to learn?

Once again, we are likely to learn that James Comey should have never been trusted at the helm of the FBI to begin with, and should have been fired the minute Trump was sworn into office. We might also learn just what kind of swamp creature Comey really is…

As for the so-called investigation – we are not likely to learn anything new, unless Comey decides to contradict his prior testimony in a vengeful act, in which case, we will see if the Senate Intelligence Committee will hold Comey accountable for perjuring himself in a coordinated effort to “get Trump.”

RELATED ARTICLE: Three Ways to Look at Comeypalooza

VIDEO: Griffin Doubles Down on Stupid

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Kathy Griffin’s “apology” for attacking President Trump and his family vanishes as she now tries to play the victim.

We’re having none of it!

Soros Watch and new Clinton emails

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President Obama “weaponized” the agencies of our government to advance his leftist agenda both at home and abroad.  Little reporting was done regarding his funneling of tax dollars to an organization run by George Soros that sought to impose left-leaning policies on other nations.  We’re in the lead in shedding some light on that misdeed.

We filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) for records relating to their funding of the political activities of the Soros Open Society Foundation – Albania (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Agency for International Development (No. 1:17-cv-01012)).

We sued last week here in DC after both State and USAID failed to respond to our requests for:

  • All records relating to any contracts, grants or other allocations/disbursements of funds by the State Department (USAID) to the Foundation Open Society-Albania (FOSA) and/or its personnel and/or any FOSA subsidiaries. Such records shall include, but is not be limited to proposals, contracts, requests for funding, payment authorizations, invoices, and similar budget records, as well as any and all related records of communication between State Department officials, employees, or representatives and officials, employees, or representative of the U.S. Agency for International Development.
  • All records of communication between any officials, employees or representatives of the State Department (USAID), including but not limited to U.S. Ambassador Donald Lu, and any officials, employees or representatives of Foundation Open Society-Albania, its subsidiaries and/or affiliated organizations.
  • All assessments, evaluations, reports or similar records relating to the work of Foundation Open Society-Albania and/or its subsidiaries or affiliated organizations.
  • All records of communications transmitted via the State Department’s SMART system sent to or from any employee of the U.S. Government operating under the authority of the Chief of Mission in Tirana that pertain to Foundation Open Society-Albania, its subsidiaries and/or affiliated organizations.

In a March 14, 2017, letter to Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson, six U.S. Senators (Sens. Lee (R-UT), Inhofe (R-OK), Tillis (R-NC), Cruz (R-TX), Perdue (R-GA) and Cassidy (R-LA)) called on the secretary to investigate the relations between USAID and the Soros Foundations and how U.S. tax dollars are being used by the State Department and the USAID to support left-of-center political groups who seek to impose left-leaning policies in countries such as Macedonia and Albania.

In the letter, the senators reference USAID funding of Soros activities in Macedonia and then cite similar activities in Albania:

Much of the concerning activity in Macedonia has been perpetuated through USAID funds awarded to implement in entities such as George Soros’ Open Society Foundations. As the recipient of multiple grant awards and serving as a USAID contractor implementing projects in this small nation of 2.1 million people, our taxpayer funded foreign aid goes far, allowing Foundation Open Society-Macedonia (FOSM) to push a progressive agenda and invigorate the political left…

This problem is not limited to Macedonia, but appears to follow a pattern of alarming activity in this volatile region. Respected leaders from Albania have made similar claims of US diplomats and Soros-backed organizations pushing for certain political outcomes in their country. Foundation Open Society-Albania (FOSA) and its experts, with funding from USAID, have created the controversial Strategy Document for Albanian Judicial Reform. Some leaders believe that these “reforms” are ultimately aimed to give the Prime Minister and left-of-center government full control over judiciary power.

Soros’ association with the State Department in Albania goes back at least to 2011 when Soros urged Hillary Clinton to take action in Albania over recent demonstrations in the capital of Tirana. Fox News reported on August 17, 2016, that:

Newly leaked emails and other files from billionaire George Soros’ web of organizations are shedding light on the liberal powerbroker’s extensive influence in political and diplomatic affairs.

One email chain shows the Wall Street titan in 2011 personally wrote then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, urging intervention in Albania’s political unrest. Within days, an envoy he recommended was dispatched to the region.

In May 2016, USAID announced that it was providing $9 million for the “Justice for All” project in Albania “to improve the performance of Albanian courts by introducing comprehensive judicial standards for efficiency, transparency, accessibility, and accountability.” According to the announcement, the project “will be implemented by USAID Contractor East-West Management Institute” (EWMI). According to EWMI’s 2011 financial report, it has received funding from the Soros Economic Development Fund: “loans … of up to $1,000,000.”

This is our second FOIA lawsuit to uncover the truth about the scandal of the Obama administration’s siphoning of tax dollars to the Soros operations in Europe. We expect the Trump administration to finally let the sunlight in on this gross politicization of our tax dollars.

On April 19, 2017, Judicial Watch filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the Department of State and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) for records and communications relating to the funding and political activities of the Foundation Open Society-Macedonia (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Agency for International Development (No. 1:17-cv-00729)).

In February, we reported:

The U.S. government has quietly spent millions of taxpayer dollars to destabilize the democratically elected, center-right government in Macedonia by colluding with leftwing billionaire philanthropist George Soros, records obtained by Judicial Watch show. Barack Obama’s U.S. Ambassador to Macedonia, Jess L. Baily, has worked behind the scenes with Soros’ Open Society Foundation to funnel large sums of American dollars for the cause, constituting an interference of the U.S. Ambassador in domestic political affairs in violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.

Here’s how the clandestine operation functions, according to high-level sources in Macedonia and the U.S. that have provided Judicial Watch with records as part of an ongoing investigation. The Open Society Foundation has established and funded dozens of leftwing, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in Macedonia to overthrow the conservative government. One Macedonian government official interviewed by Judicial Watch in Washington D.C. recently, calls it the “Soros infantry.” The groups organize youth movements, create influential media outlets and organize violent protests to undermine the institutions and policies implemented by the government. One of the Soros’ groups funded the translation and publication of Saul Alinsky’s “Rules for Radicals” into Macedonian. The book is a tactical manual of subversion, provides direct advice for radical street protests and proclaims Lucifer to be the first radical. Thanks to Obama’s ambassador, who has not been replaced by President Trump, Uncle Sam keeps the money flowing so the groups can continue operating and recruiting, sources in Macedonia and the U.S. confirm.

I’ll be sure to report to you as appropriate if and when we finally get documents on this scandal (I worry the money is still flowing—even under the Trump administration).

Judicial Watch Uncovers Shocking New Clinton Emails

Let’s remember that amid the miasma of charges and accusations hovering over Washington the real scandal of the Clinton email scheme is being exposed – without fanfare in the press – as bureaucrats reluctantly relinquish the evidence to the only game in town when it comes to fighting and exposing government corruption – Judicial Watch!

This week JW released 2,078 pages of documents revealing yet more instances of the former secretary of state sending and receiving classified information via an unsecured email server. They also show Clinton’s daughter Chelsea and others involved with the Clinton Foundation receiving special favors from Huma Abedin, the former secretary’s deputy chief of staff.

The records were obtained in response to a court order from a May 5, 2015, lawsuit filed against the State Department (Judicial Watch, Inc. v. U.S. Department of State (No. 1:15-cv-00684)) after it failed to respond to a March 18, 2015, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request seeking: “All emails of official State Department business received or sent by former Deputy Chief of Staff Huma Abedin from January 1, 2009 through February 1, 2013 using a non-‘state.gov’ email address.”

The new documents include 115 Clinton email exchanges not previously turned over to the State Department, bringing the known total to date to at least 432 emails that were not part of the 55,000 pages of emails that Clinton turned over to the State Department. These records further appear to contradict statements by Clinton that, “as far as she knew,” all of her government emails were turned over to the State Department.

On December 6, 2010, Secretary Clinton shared classified information with non-U.S. government employees Justin Cooper, then-aide to President Clinton who helped manage Hillary Clinton’s unsecure email system, and Clinton Foundation director Doug Band (neither of whom held security clearances). The email instructs her aide Oscar Flores to “print for Bill” (presumably Bill Clinton). The email exchange, which involved allegations of the theft of foreign aid by Bangladeshi banker and major Clinton Foundation donor Muhammad Yunus, started with an email from an unidentified person to State Department official Melanne Verveer, who forwarded her exchange on to Hillary Clinton, who then sent it on to Flores, Cooper and Band.

Yunus was accused of embezzling $100 million from the Grameen Bank he founded and was removed from it, although the charges were never proven, and Yunus reportedly returned the money. Subsequently, Clinton’s State Department was accused of threatening IRS action against the Bangladesh prime minister’s son in an attempt to stop a Bangladesh government investigation of Yunus.

In a similar instance on March 14, 2011, State Department official Maria Otero emailed Clinton information about the Grameen Bank/Foundation that was again deemed classified as Confidential by the State Department and redacted under FOIA exemption B1.4(D) – “Information specifically authorized by an executive order to be kept secret in the interest of national defense or foreign policy … Foreign relations or foreign activities of the United States, including confidential sources.” Clinton then responds to Otero using her HDR22@clintonemailcom account and copies Abedin on Abedin’s unsecure email account, huma@clintonemail.com.

In a May 21, 2011, email exchange sent to Abedin’s unsecure account, then- Ambassador Princeton Lyman sent information relating to his conversation with South Sudan President Salva Kiir Mayardit that is also redacted and classified as “Confidential.”

On July 17, 2012, Abedin forwarded to her private email account for printing a call briefing sheet for Clinton’s upcoming call with Joint Special Envoy Kofi Annan, which was classified Confidential and redacted under FOIA exemption B1.4(D).

The new Abedin emails also reveal additional instances in which Clinton’s then- scheduler Lona Valmoro forwarded the former secretary of state’s detailed daily schedule to top Clinton Foundation officials.

The new emails also reveal a number of favors that were requested and carried out.

In May 2010, Ben Ringel, whose donations to the Clinton Foundation Judicial Watch previously documented, asked Abedin to intervene in an employment dispute on behalf of a USAID employee. Abedin agreed, telling Ringel to forward the woman’s documents to her official State Department email account.

Also in May 2010, Abedin tells Band that she has “hooked up” people from the Russian American Foundation with “the right people” at the State Department after Abedin received a request from Russian American Foundation Vice President Rina Kirshner, forwarded by Clinton Foundation donor Eddie Trump (no relation to President Trump).

On Mon, May 10, 2010 at 9:41 PM, Huma Abedin <Huma@clintonemail.com> wrote:
Hi Rina – wanted to connect on meeting at state department. Eddie trump passed on your email. Will be in touch soon

From: Rina Kirshner
Sent: Wednesday, May 12, 2010 11:29 AM
To: Huma Abedin
Subject: Re: Eddie Trump/Doug Band

Ms. Abedin,

Just wanted to follow up and express our gratitude. I was contacted today by Ms. Christina Miner who invited us to be part of the US-Russia Cultural Sub-Working Group meeting next week. Thank you very much for all your assistance – if there is any way we can be of assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Sincerely,

Rina Kirshner

From: Huma Abedin [Huma@clintonemail.com]
Sent: Wednesday, May 12, 2010 12:19:12
To: Doug Band
Subject: FW: Eddie Trump/Doug Band

fyi – we hooked her up with the right people here

The Russia-American Foundation, which was staffed by Clinton political supporters and operatives, received over $260,000 in grants for “public diplomacy” from the Clinton State Department, and its leadership was supportive of Obama’s Russia policies.

In July 2011, when Chelsea Clinton, using the alias Diane Reynolds and the email address dreynolds@clintonemail.com, was planning to fly to Germany to see the U.S. women’s soccer team play, her travel agent asked Abedin to confirm that Chelsea’s travel costs could be placed on her parents’ credit card. In response, Abedin tells the agent that she can “stand down” from making arrangements to get Chelsea to Germany, as Chelsea and Bari Luri, Chelsea’s Clinton Foundation chief of staff, would be made part of the “official delegation” going to the match and she would “fly on official govt plane both ways and they will take care of hotels and all transportation.” Chelsea was a fully employed Clinton Foundation executive at this time.

In July 2011, Hillary Clinton tells Abedin that she doesn’t wish to fly on the same airplane with Michelle Obama on their way to Betty Ford’s funeral: “I’d be honored to speak. Is it ok that we and Mrs. O take two separate planes?”

A December 15, 2012, email chain shows that a committee of Clinton staffers, including Cheryl Mills, Huma Abedin, Jake Sullivan and Philippe Reines, was required to draft a “doctors statement” as to why Hillary supposedly fainted due to “dehydration,” causing her supposedly to hit her head and suffer a “concussion” in December 2012. The same committee then prepared a “discharge statement” when Hillary was released from the hospital.

These shocking new Clinton emails show why the Justice Department should reevaluate, reopen, or reinvigorate Clinton, Inc. investigations. The casual violation of laws concerning classified material and noxious influence peddling show the Clinton State Department was “corruption central” in the Obama administration. No wonder Clinton’s allies in the State and Justice Departments have been slow-walking and hiding these emails.

There are more emails to come, so check back often over the next few weeks and months.

Kathy Griffin’s Offense and Revisiting Free Speech Rulings

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Kathy Griffin’s grotesque and vile defilement of the President of the United States is the most shocking and offensive display of hatred towards a public figure I have ever seen delivered by an American citizen. I have not yet seen or heard anyone defend her actions as being appropriate, or even valid. But recurrently, the left’s answer to her disgusting video is that they eagerly defend her right to have done it because the First Amendment protects her rancid form of expression.

Well. . . guess what?. . . it shouldn’t, as her expressions do not carry with them a sufficient sense of civility or decency to merit the protections of a provision as austere as the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.

Griffin’s “political expression” of stoically holding a very accurate likeness of the severed head of the President of the United States for others to marvel is not political speech.

There is no logic in it. It does not advocate for a particular policy, or a political philosophy.  There isn’t even a political opinion that is expressed. The “bold statement” that her “art” makes, at best, is a raw hatred for this President and the pleasure that she would take at his decapitation. At worst, it is an invitation for similarly sick people to take up arms against our nation’s leader and bring harm to him in a manner akin to those employed by our present enemies.

In short, there isn’t much veiling of the threat to the life of the President of the United States contained in the images fabricated and published by Griffin.

But Griffin, like her fellow leftist haters, will misguidedly shroud herself with the First Amendment; defiling it in no less a fashion than she did the President himself. How can she do that? How is it that a whole group of people can make such a deranged argument about the protections afforded to them by the Constitution?

Free speech precedents

If you think about it, their argument comes not from the Constitution itself, but rather the interpretations of that document contained in two opinions. Yes, that’s all they are; opinions.

The first proceeds from a 1964 U.S. Supreme Court case known as New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, a legal confrontation between the Montgomery, Ala., Public Safety Commissioner, L.B. Sullivan, and supporters of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. regarding an advertisement those supporters had taken out in the New York Times. In that advertisement, they published inaccuracies about the actions of the Alabama State Police and how they handled Civil Rights activists.

These inaccuracies included claims that the state police had arrested Dr. King seven times when in fact he was arrested four times. They also reported the wrong song that the demonstrators sang at the steps of the state capitol, and they misreported the reason for the expulsion of nine college students. Sullivan argued that these inaccuracies held him in a false light and were defamatory of him.

Ultimately, the Supreme Court sided with the New York Times. In its ruling, the Supreme Court found that a successful prosecution of the defamation of a public official required that actual malice (so called New York Times malice) be proved. The Court then defined New York Times malice as one where the defendant (the person delivering a statement) displayed a reckless disregard for whether the statement was true or not.

Eliminating any accountability

The effect of this case was to strip any legal liability of what is said regarding a public official. This resulted, of course, in fake news, reckless media frenzies, and the misguided belief that one can say whatever he or she wants about a public official, regardless of how disgusting or personally threatening such an expression may be.

Following that was the opinion of the 1989 case of Texas v. Johnson. Here, the Supreme Court held that the burning of the American flag, the same flag hundreds of thousands of Americans died protecting, was a form of political expression and thus protected under the Constitution.

You now have all the precedents you need to legally make the argument for Griffin in court.

But the Johnson case was by no means unanimous, as it was decided by a 5-4 majority that, oddly, saw the revered conservative Justice Antonin Scalia join Justices Blackmun, White, Kennedy, Marshall, and Brennan in the majority. In his descent Chief Justice Rehnquist reminded us that the flag, as the national symbol, deserved special protections against its desecration while making the point that Johnson’s actions expressed no specific political thought, but rather represented “an inarticulate grunt.”

Fast forward to Kathy Griffin and her terrible video. Doesn’t the President of the United States who, like the flag, represents our nation and is a living, breathing human being, and the ultimate target of our nation’s enemies, deserve the defenses of which Chief Justice Rehnquist speaks?

Time to revisit some precedents

Griffin’s case highlights all the things that have gone awry with the nation, its culture, and its modes of political expression since the creation of New York Times malice precedent.

But like so many things, these degradations are a result of the legislative environment in which we live, which oftentimes comes not from the reasoned (or heated) policy battles waged within the halls of Congress, or in our state capitols. Rather, they are the result of misguided Supreme Court opinions inconsistent with the will of the people regarding the Constitution’s proper interpretation.

No, the First Amendment does not protect Griffin’s inarticulate, vile, and disgusting grunt. She should be held accountable, not merely through the punishments of her employers and of the public, but through our judicial system as well.

In light of all that has happened and continues to happen with the press and the nation’s predictable deterioration in the conduct of its activists and its political commentators, it is time the Supreme Court revisit its misguided decisions. More importantly, it is time for a judicial override amendment (about which I have previously written) to be passed.

EDITORS NOTE: This column originally appeared in The Revolutionary Act.

Lawsuit filed to Stop the Political Indoctrination of Collier County, Florida Students

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Collier County, FL – Florida Citizens Alliance has decided, “Enough is enough!”  We are now an active participant along with Collier parents in a lawsuit for an emergency injunction to stop this “flawed” textbook adoption process. This lawsuit was filed today, May 31st, 2017 in The Circuit Court for the 20th Judicial Circuit in and for Collier County (see a copy of the filed complaint).

The Collier County School Board (CCPS) has violated Florida Sunshine Law and ignored at least four  Florida statutes, all at the expense of our 46,000 plus students who deserve the “highest quality instructional materials of professionalism and historical accuracy”. Quote: FS 1003.42

We strongly believe the School Board here in Collier County has violated Chapter 128, Florida’s sunshine law and at least four other Florida Statutes including FS 1003.42, FS 1006.28, FS 1006.31(2), and FS 1006.283.

As parents, grandparent and taxpaying community members, we demand that the Collier School Board pause the current process and start the adoption process over on June 1st for three overriding reasons:

  1. The text book adoption process, that the prior board authorized and that has been used under  the current Board’s supervision, violates Florida Sunshine law (Chapter 286 of the Florida Statutes).
  2. This process included hand-picked reviewers with an extreme political bias. Many of these reviewers do NOT represent Collier demographics and have turned this process into biased and political indoctrination.
  3. The Social Studies materials Collier School Board members are considering to adopt are riddled with violations of several Florida laws including FS 1003.42, FS 1006.28, FS 1006.31(2), and FS 1006.283.

To approve both the process and any of the materials considered….we repeat, any of these materials, the Collier School Board not only violates the School Board’s legal/constitutional responsibility but also is fiducially a major waste of budget and taxpayer money.

THIS IS NOT A PARTISAN ISSUE. IT IS ABOUT OUR CHILDREN’S FUTURE, following FLORIDA LAWS and adopting FACTUAL, UNBIASED TEXTBOOKS that are not used to indoctrinate our children.

This is three year adoption process. There is no rush and the process can be corrected by following Florida laws.

Reluctantly, after numerous and varied interactions to get Collier School Board members to honor Florida Statutes, we have concluded that our only course of action is to seek an emergency injunction to stop this injustice to each and every student, parent and community member in Collier County.

According to Florida Statute, the Collier School Board is constitutionally responsible for the Instructional materials- NOT the Superintendent, NOT the FL Dept. of Education!

RELATED ARTICLE: San Diego school district sued over anti-Islamophobia campaign

Convicted Uzbek Terrorist Indicted in Attempt to Kill Prison Warden

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Obama’s US Attorney for Idaho, Wendy Olson.

For all of the refugee contractors and their groupies busily spreading propaganda that refugees never commit crimes, take note of Muslim Fazliddin Kurbanov who was already in prison, convicted on terrorism charges, and then tried to kill the prison warden a year ago this week!
Where the heck was (is!) the national media on this story? 

We surely would have heard about the attempted murder by one of our star refugee criminals if anyone had reported it before now.

What do you think? Should I give the refugee advocates the benefit of the doubt and when they say there are no refugee criminals, maybe it’s because the media rarely reports those stories.

See a few of our recent ones, here, here and here(yesterday!).

You might want to see our archive on Fazliddin Kurbanov by clicking here.

Don’t miss this story where Idaho US Attorney Wendy Olson suggested that Americans might demonstrate “acts of bias” during his 2015 trial! (You will see that the Idaho Statesman story is now gone!)

Olson showed her bias as she attempted to tamp down the controversy surrounding the Refugee sexual assault case in Idaho as well, here.  (But, I digress!)

From KTVB-7 titled (LOL! just a “man”):

Indictment: Boise man serving terrorism sentence tried to kill prison warden

RIVERSIDE, California — A Boise man who was convicted in 2015 of terrorism-related crimes has been indicted after prosecutors say he attacked the warden at the federal prison where he was held.

Fazliddin Kurbanov, 34, was just months into a 25-year sentence when the attack happened May 31, 2016 at the Federal Correctional Institute in Victorville, California.

He was indicted Wednesday on charges of attempted murder of a federal officer, assault on a federal officer with a deadly or dangerous weapon, and possession by an inmate of a prohibited object intended to be used as a weapon.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Kurbanov used a prison-made knife to attack Calvin Johnson, seriously injuring him. According to the Amercian Federation of Government Employees, the warden needed more than 80 staples to close wounds on his torso.

The indictment describes the knife as “a metal blade or ‘shank’ approximately three to four inches in length.”

Kurbanov was moved to FCI Terminal Island in San Pedro after the attack. Johnson, who recovered from his injuries, is also now working at a different prison.

Kurbanov, an Uzbek national, was convicted of one count of conspiracy to provide material support to a terrorist organization, one count of attempting to provide material support to a terrorist organization and one count of possession of an unregistered destructive device in November 2015.

Prosecutors in that case outlined how Kurbanov communicated online with members of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, promising to send money and supplies, and expressing interest in carrying out an attack in the United States.

Kurbanov told FBI informants that he was considering Ann Morrison Park or Mountain Home Air Force Base as possible attack sites. Although he did not carry out any attack before his arrest, Kurbanov had stockpiled explosive ingredients including including fertilizer, Tannerite, ammonium nitrate, acetone and aluminum powder in his Curtis Road apartment before his arrest.

Typical! no mention of the ‘R’ word! REFUGEE!

Interesting! The Daily Mail has a story on Kurbanov and mentions that he considered attacking West Point as well.

There is something very fishy about the admission of Uzbeks during the Bush and early Obama years, wish we knew the full story.

Readers: Let me know if the latest on this charming refugee (who will be costing us a fortune to keep in prison for life!) makes it to any national news story or any cable news outlet!

RELATED ARTICLE: 45,732 refugees admitted this fiscal year so far, 45% are Muslim