To Vietnam, Freedom of Expression Is a ‘National Security Offense’

“In Vietnam, there is no such thing as a ‘prisoner of conscience,’ and there’s no such thing as people being arrested for ‘freely expressing opinion,’” Vietnamese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang told reporters in April.

The exact opposite is true.

A recent report by Amnesty International listed 97 known prisoners of conscience in Vietnam—all facing or serving stiff sentences on national security-related charges for peacefully exercising their rights.

Vietnamese military members march during an honor guard ceremony at the Ministry of Defense in Hanoi, Vietnam, Aug. 14, 2014. Photo: U.S. Department of Defense

In Vietnam, activist groups campaigning for democracy and environmental protection are often treated as criminals “aiming to overthrow” the state.

In similar fashion, writing articles criticizing government policies constitutes “conducting anti-state propaganda” or “abusing democratic freedoms,” while authorities imprison religious minorities for “undermining the national unity policy,” according to Amnesty’s report.

The case of Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh, a human rights activist popularly known as “Mother Mushroom,” clearly demonstrates the government’s intolerance for criticism.

Since 2006, Nguyen, 38, has written extensively on controversial issues, such as deaths in police custody, government policies toward China, and environmental issues.

She was arrested in 2016 because her critical postings allegedly “caused detriment to national security and social order.” Last year, the People’s Court of Khanh Hoa sentenced her to 10 years’ imprisonment for “conducting propaganda against the state” under Article 88 of the country’s 1999 penal code.

Last November, Human Rights Watch reported that Nguyen’s mother and fellow activists staged a protest outside the court. They defended her innocence and condemned the unfairness of the trial, upon learning that the appeals court upheld the original verdict.

But within minutes, protesters were attacked by several men in civilian clothes who did not hesitate to beat them in the presence of uniformed police, who did not take any action to stop them.

In addition to lengthy prison sentences, political prisoners of Vietnam are often singled out for physical abuse and solitary confinement. Prison authorities reportedly assault the prisoners to exact “confessions.”

Detainees with health problems are compelled to admit to crimes for which they are then convicted if they want necessary medical treatment. To make family visits difficult, political prisoners were often held far away from their homes.

Domestic and international communities alike have urged the government to repeal the vaguely defined national security provisions, which are frequently cited to punish people for peacefully exercising their rights.

However, according to the Vietnam Committee on Human Rights, a new penal code that came into force this year not only preserved the problematic provisions, but also made amendments that criminalize “preparation” for such “crimes.”

To make matters worse, the revised penal code introduced a new provision that holds lawyers criminally responsible for failing to report their clients to the authorities for a number of crimes, including national security offenses.

Despite some prisoners’ releases upon completed sentences, 2017 and the first quarter of 2018 saw a net increase in the number of prisoners of conscience over previous years.

The Vietnamese government’s response to condemnations of its human rights record has been intensified suppression of people’s freedom to silence their growing voices.

COMMENTARY BY

Sang Hyuk Park is a member of the Young Leaders Program at The Heritage Foundation.

Portrait of Olivia Enos

Olivia Enos is an Asian Studies Center Research Associate within The Davis Institute for National Security and Foreign Policy at The Heritage Foundation. Twitter: .

Dear Readers:

With the recent conservative victories related to tax cuts, the Supreme Court, and other major issues, it is easy to become complacent.

However, the liberal Left is not backing down. They are rallying supporters to advance their agenda, moving this nation further from the vision of our founding fathers.

If we are to continue to bring this nation back to our founding principles of limited government and fiscal conservatism, we need to come together as a group of likeminded conservatives.

This is the mission of The Heritage Foundation. We want to continue to develop and present conservative solutions to the nation’s toughest problems. And we cannot do this alone.

We are looking for a select few conservatives to become a Heritage Foundation member. With your membership, you’ll qualify for all associated benefits and you’ll help keep our nation great for future generations.

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PODCAST: The Smoke and Mirrors of the Democrats

TRANSCRIPT W/LINKS

The Democrats are desperate. Regardless of what the Main Stream Media says, they are losing ground to the Republicans going into the 2018 midterm elections. We have discussed how the MEDIA twists the facts in their favor and the steps taken by the Democrats to change VOTING regulations, both of which hit below-the-belt. This desperation hints at the power struggle going on within the party itself with the progressive’s trying to retain control. If they lose in November, they’ll likely lose in 2020 and forfeit control of the party.

The latest sign of distress is represented by the Democrat’s recent calls for “Draining the Swamp,” a slogan coined by President Trump. Since they have no policies of substance to sell to the American public, other than to reverse the actions of the president, they are setting down a smoke screen to confuse and mislead voters, a little slight of hand if you will.

The truth is, the Democrats have already been branded as an integral part of the swamp by the president, so it is unlikely anyone will buy into their argument other than their own constituents. This is just the point; instead of offering viable proposals to help the economy, protect our borders, and secure the safety of the country, they are doing nothing more than “smoke and mirrors.” Even their new theme of “A Better Deal for Our Democracy,” stems from an earlier time (Teddy Roosevelt invented the “Square Deal” and Franklin Roosevelt introduced the “New Deal”). However, the “Better Deal” lacks substance, leaving the Democrats without a legitimate platform to run on. This is why they will lose.

Donald Trump’s Contract with the American Voter represented his platform, a lot of which he delivered on, but not everything, such as a proposal for Congressional term limits. Nonetheless, his “contract” was much more substantive than the “Better Deal” of the Democrats. This is what the American voters are looking for, but will not get from the Democrats. Instead, they will get smoke and mirrors. Their mantra may be appealing to their own party, but certainly not to Republicans. More importantly, they are offering Independents no compelling reason to vote for their party.

So, why the smoke screen? What are they trying to hide? Frankly, it’s the economy which is now booming under Republican control. President Trump’s approach to lowering taxes and reducing regulations is putting more money in the pockets of Americans and reducing unemployment. It is this approach which runs contrary to the Democrats who want higher taxes and bigger government. This explains why they will never admit the economy has improved and why Rep. Nancy Pelosi demeans it as just “crumbs.” The Trump approach promotes capitalism, and the Democrats want to promote socialism. It’s a shame young people do not comprehend the differences between the two, which the Democrats are counting on going into November.

One last thing; time and again, the party talks about America as a Democracy, something which it most certainly is not, and I get tired of hearing this. It is a “Republic” meaning we elect representatives to vote and act on our behalf. In a true Democracy, the public would vote on everything. We do not, which is what we elect representatives to do for us. The Democrats’ excessive use of the word makes me wonder if anyone in the party truly understands how our government works. I guess this explains why they do not understand or appreciate such things as the Electoral College.

Until such time as the Democrats get serious and quit trying to deceive American voters, they will continue to lose. Yes, they should be worried. Their ship is sinking and instead of fixing the hole or manning the life boats, they are content re-arranging the deck chairs.

Keep the Faith!

VIDEO: Republicans like Elizabeth Heng may be part of California’s millennial ‘red wave’

The Boston Globes’ James Pindell in a December 8, 2016 article titled “Calif. was the exception to 2016’s red wave. Now it might be Trump’s bulwark too” wrote:

In last month’s election, Republicans even surprised themselves with how well they did across the country.

Except in California.

Donald Trump won the popular vote when you add up 49 states.

Except when you include California.

Hispanics and white liberals simply didn’t turn out to vote at the levels they needed to give Hillary Clinton a victory in the presidential election.

Except in California.

Indeed, Democrats are at a low point nationally.

Except in California, where they control the governorship, both Senate seats, and super-majorities in the Legislature.

Read more.

One of the Congressional seats up for grabs is District 16, currently held by Representative Jim Costa (D-Fresno). Costa is being challenged by Elizabeth Heng a business woman who has never held public office and has no military experience. Sound familiar?

PRNewswire reports

Elizabeth Heng is launching a district-wide television campaign highlighting her congressional campaign with a vision to restore our communities and bring new leadership to Washington, D.C.

“Great things can come from great adversity” is a central theme for 33-year-old Elizabeth Heng, who is passionate about giving back to her community.

The daughter of refugees who lived through the killing fields of the Cambodian Khmer Rouge, Elizabeth was raised in Fresno where her family instilled a strong work ethic. Growing up, she worked at the local Asian grocery store her parents still run.

Elizabeth attended public school in Fresno and was class Valedictorian of Sunnyside High School. Elected student body president at Stanford University, she earned her bachelor’s degree in Political Science and went on to graduate from the Yale University School of Management with an MBA.

After graduating, Elizabeth helped her family build a successful cellular phone business. Today, the company employs more than 800 people throughout the state.

Elizabeth worked for the bi-partisan U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee and learned firsthand how to fix what’s broken in Washington, D.C. A next-generation leader, Elizabeth is a committed problem solver with a new vision to create opportunities for the district.

Learn more about Elizabeth Heng by clicking here.

Here is Elizabeth Heng’s powerful campaign ad:

A Lessen of Liberty in North Korea

The worst part of the State Department’s new report on international religious freedom isn’t the stories it tells, but the ones it doesn’t.

In some of the darkest corners of the world, a lot of people aren’t even captured in the statistics. They just vanish — victims of a brutal war that’s been waging for centuries on faith.The West has seen flashes of the cruelty in places like North Korea, where the simple act of bowing your head could be all the evidence the government needs to ship you to prison camp. There, refugees warn, you’ll be beaten — sometimes to death — or die from something as simple as diarrhea because there’s no access to medicine. It’s a country where Christians trust no one. Kim Jong Un’s spies are everywhere, trained to “uncover religious people.” Even a secret prayer meeting could be a trap, organized by state officials to catch believers. Some Chinese pastors are even recruited and paid to turn in North Korean believers.

The ones who are caught talk about the torture, the brainwashing, and executions. “The government continued to deal harshly with those who engaged in almost any religious practices,” the State Department report read. “An estimated 80,000 to 120,000 political prisoners, some imprisoned for religious reasons, were believed to be held in the political prison camp system in remote areas under horrific conditions.” Children grow up never knowing their parents were believers, a fact that’s hidden from thousands of young people for their own protection.

Christians like Han-me flee to China, only to be captured and sent back with a virtual death sentence. “Some defectors [on the train] had been arrested before,” she says. “They told me: ‘When you’re interrogated, there are two questions you should never answer ‘yes’ to. The first one is: Have you been in touch with Christians? The second one is: Have you read in the Bible?’ It turned out to be true. In prison, the interrogators tied me to a chair and beat me with chains and a wooden stick wrapped up in a newspaper. They pressed me to confess I had been in contact with Christians. I told them I hadn’t met any Christians while in China. It was a lie, but I wanted to survive. It was all I could think of.”

Higher profile Christians are the targets of assassination. After one Christian, who was heavily involved in an underground railroad for refugees, was murdered, South Korean intelligence officials stepped up their surveillance of people crossing the border. They called one local man and warned him not to meet up with a North Korean acquaintance. “This man will attempt to murder him, they say. Not much later at a train platform, South Korean police arrest the North Korean agent carrying needles and poison.”

Over the last seven years, the crackdown has only gotten worse. When Kim Jong Un succeeded his father in 2011, the already-brutal regime became the stuff of real-life horror. More house raids, more spies, more killings. “Every Christian in my country has the spirit of martyrdom in him,” said the friend of one detainee. “If you lose that spirit for one second, you cannot carry the burden of being a follower of Jesus.”

Unfortunately, this is the grim backdrop U.S. officials face in their high-stakes negotiations with North Korea.”Religious freedom is in the American bloodstream,” Secretary Mike Pompeo told reporters yesterday during the flurry of behind-the-scenes work to salvage talks with Kim Jong Un. “The release of the report is critical to our mission to defend religious liberty, and brings to light the state of religious freedom all over the world.”

From more allied countries like Saudi Arabia to known enemies in Iran and Nigeria, the report outlines the tall — but not impossible — task of Pompeo and U.S. Ambassador at Large for Religious Freedom Sam Brownback. In hot spots like Myanmar, the attacks seem to be growing right along with worldwide outrage. Extremists are burning, raping, and killing their way through the Rohingya Muslim population with a ferocity world leaders are desperately trying to stop. In a dramatic turn from the Obama years, Trump’s State Department was quick to label the campaign “ethnic cleansing.”

“It’s extraordinarily significant when the United States formally designates something as ethnic cleansing,” said an advocacy director for Human Rights Watch. “Ethnic cleansing is a crime against humanity.” Almost a quarter million Rohingya have already fled to Bangladesh, the report points out, where the situation is just as dire. Mudslides continue to wipe away makeshift shelters, stripping families of whatever peace of mind they had leaving the turmoil at home.

Fortunately for the Rohingya — and every persecuted faith group — they have an ally in this White House. “Our goal is to protect the freedom of conscience for all people. That means protecting a Muslim, Buddhist, Falun Gong practitioner or Christian in China and their ability to pray and live out their life,” Ambassador Brownback said. His partner in the effort, Secretary Pompeo, told reporters what most Americans already know: “Religious freedom is, indeed, a universal human right that I will fight for.” The world has made important strides, he went on, “but we still have a lot of work to do.” Thanks to this report, they know exactly where to start.


Tony Perkins’ Washington Update is written with the aid of FRC senior writers.


RELATED ARTICLE: We’ll See You… in September!

Marijuana Industry Harming Babies? Not on Our Watch!

Two weeks ago, The Marijuana Report published a story (3rd article) about a new study showing that 70 percent of 400 Colorado dispensaries recommended marijuana to pregnant women for morning sickness. Scientific studies show the drug can harm the unborn when mothers use it.

Today, the Marijuana Accountability Project (MAC) and Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) are hanging baby bibs on dispensary doors, State House offices and the Colorado Department of Revenue, which regulates the industry. The bibs display the slogan: “Don’t hurt our future – CO kids.”

“Going against all available science, the marijuana industry is now recommending pot for pregnant women, actively putting their profits ahead of the healthy development of future Coloradans,” says Justin Luke Riley, MAC’s founder.

“This is a new low,” adds Dr. Kevin Sabet, founder and president of SAM. “We demand that the Colorado state government take immediate action and stop the pot industry from continuing with this. Pot and pregnancy don’t mix.”

See the MAC/SAM news release here.


Acute Poisonings from a Synthetic Cannabinoid Sold as Cannabidiol — Utah, 2017–2018

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that a federal/state investigation identified 52 suspected cases in Utah of adverse reactions people experienced after consuming CBD products that turned out to contain a synthetic cannabinoid, 4-CCB, but no CBD. Most of the people vaped the liquid, and 60 percent went to emergency departments with such adverse effects as altered mental status, nausea or vomiting, and seizures or shaking.

Many of the products were labeled Yolo CBD oil, pictured above. They displayed no manufacturer’s name or list of ingredients.

Cannabidiol is a non-psychoactive component of marijuana that scientists are studying for potential medical use. It is illegal under federal law and in Utah, although it can be bought online and in local shops.

Rapid discovery of the problem and state and federal warnings to the public contained the outbreak.

The CDC report warns, “This investigation highlights the hazards of consuming unregulated products labeled as CBD. States could consider regulating products labeled as CBD and establishing surveillance systems for illness associated with products labeled as CBD to minimize the risk for recurrences of this emerging public health threat.”

Executive Editor’s note: Amazon lists 13 pages of CBD oil products. Typing “CBD oil images” into Google brings up hundreds more. There is no guarantee any are safe. States that have legalized marijuana for medical use sometimes test products and find their labels are not always accurate.

Read the CDC report here.


Inside a Raid on a Cuban Drug Den in Colorado

This week NBC’s Today Show aired a video that shows everything is not all right with marijuana legalization in Colorado, as its officials would have you believe.

Advocates promised voters in 2012 that legalization would wipe out the marijuana black market. But the law allows people to grow their own at home, and pot cartels are taking that literally. Many are renting homes in upscale communities, gutting them, and growing huge marijuana crops inside. And that’s not legal, even in Colorado.

This shocking video shows how out of control the black market has become in the state by taking up residence in people’s homes and neighborhoods.

Click on picture or here to view the video.


Study Links Marijuana to Increased Death Risk among Young Heart Attack Sufferers

About 10 percent of people age 50 or younger who suffer a certain kind of heart attack (a Type 1 myocardial infarction or MI) use marijuana, cocaine, or both.

Researchers studied 2,097 patients in that age range from two Boston medical centers. They identified marijuana use in 6 percent of patients, cocaine use in 4.7 percent, and 1.7 percent used both.

Compared to nonusers, ratios for all-cause mortality were 2.09 for marijuana and 1.91 for cocaine; for cardiovascular death, ratios were 2.13 for marijuana and 2.32 for cocaine.

The researchers stress not enough is known yet to confirm causal effects, but say their study indicates a pressing need for more research to determine the potential relationship between drug use and poor cardiovascular outcomes.

Read Cardiovascular Business article here.

Read the Journal of the American College of Cardiology abstract here.


When Marijuana Is Used before Cigarettes or Alcohol: Demographic Predictors and Associations with Heavy Use, Cannabis Use Disorder, and Other Drug-related Outcomes

Gateway drugs for youth are alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana. This study finds that adolescents who use marijuana first are more likely to be male, older, and Black, American Indian/Alaskan Native, multiracial, or Hispanic rather than White or Asian.

Researchers analyzed data on 275,559 people aged 12 to 21 from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health between 2004 and 2014. Over that time, those using marijuana first (compared to alcohol or tobacco first) increased from 4.8 percent to 8.8 percent.

Those who began with marijuana were also more likely to become heavy users and to develop a cannabis use disorder.

The researchers say their study suggests that drug prevention strategies may need to target groups differently based on their risk of initiating alcohol, tobacco, or marijuana use first.

Read Prevention Science study here. See chart explanation on page 5.


Marijuana: Big Tobacco 2.0

This excellent article explains the parallels between the tobacco and marijuana industries.

“Savvy corporations such as Philip Morris, Lucky Strike, R.J. Reynolds, and the rest pitched their products with campaigns that made use of what were then revolutionary fields of advertising, public relations, and social psychology, portraying an inherently worthless, corrosive product as something that empowered, bettered, and liberated its consumers,” the author writes. And the marijuana industry is executing the same playbook, he continues.

“As was the case with smoking tobacco, smoking marijuana is said to prove you’re sociable, hip, and modern.

“As with tobacco, marijuana is portrayed not only as largely harmless, but as objectively good for you, with a credible function as self-medication for all sorts of ailments.

“As with tobacco, marijuana is presented as a signifier of individual liberty and self-empowerment.

“As with critics of tobacco, critics of marijuana are cast as petty tyrants trampling on freedom while peddling hysterical junk science.

“And as with the tobacco industry, a cash-flush marijuana industry is eager to use its wealth to slant scientific study and political debate, lest its flattering claims begin to sire organized suspicion.”

Read full National Review article here.

My Cousin was Executed by the Nazis in 1942 for telling a ‘politically incorrect’ joke — fast forward to Rosanne Barr

In November, 2017 I wrote a column titled “The Origins of the ‘Cult of Political Correctness’ [a.k.a. Cultural Marxism].” I felt a need to expose what happens when someone is deemed to be “politically incorrect.” The most recent example is Rosanne Barr who tweeted a joke about former Obama senior advisor and confidant Valerie Jarrett typing “muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes had a baby=vj.”

What Rosanne got wrong is Valerie Jarrett’s Communist background. According to Discover the Networks:

Valerie Jarrett was born as Valerie Bowman on November 14, 1956, to American parents in Shiraz, Iran.

[ … ]

Jarrett’s Father

Valerie Jarrett’s father—an American-born physician named James Bowman (1923-2011)—worked as a pathologist and geneticist at a children’s hospital in Shiraz as part of a U.S. aid program to assist developing countries. He resided in Chicago from approximately 1947-53, precisely when Frank Marshall Davis, the Communist journalist who would later serve as a mentor to a young Barack Obama, launched his Communist Party-line newspaper, the Chicago Star. Bowman and Davis undoubtedly knew one another during these years. Bowman subsequently moved to Iran, where Valerie Jarrett was born, after his discharge from the Army Medical Corps in 1955.

As evidenced by his lengthy FBI file, Bowman was a Communist who often collaborated with other Chicago-based members of the Party.

[ … ]

Jarrett’s Mother

Valerie Jarrett’s mother is the early-childhood-education author Barbara Taylor Bowman (born 1928), who in 1966 co-founded a Chicago-based graduate school in child development known as the Erikson Institute, named after the psychoanalyst Erik Erikson. (In 1950 Erikson became a hero to the left by choosing to resign from his professorship at the University of California rather than sign an anti-communist loyalty oath as the school required.) Indicative of the Erikson Institute’s radical political orientation is the fact that its board of trustees has included, in addition to Mrs. Bowman, such figures as Tom Ayers (father of the former Weather Underground terrorist and lifelong Marxist Bill Ayers) and Bernardine Dohrn (longtime wife of Bill Ayers). Bill Ayers, for his part, called Mrs. Bowman “a neighbor and friend” in his 1997 book A Kind and Just Parent, noting that his neighbors also included Louis Farrakhan and “writer Barack Obama.”

Read more…

Here are members of ABC’s The View mocking Christianity and Joy Behar calling saying people who believe Jesus talks to them are “mentally ill.”

Rosanne’s ABC television show was promptly cancelled. And Joy Behar and those on the view are still on the air.

Political incorrectness killed Rosanne’s show, but Behar is safe and sound.

Marian Pilatowicz

The same is not true for my cousin Marian Pilatowicz. According to my families records Marian was a factory worker in occupied Poland during WWII. Marian told a joke to some of his fellow workers about the Germans who controlled his country. Marian was reported to the Gestapo, arrested and executed in the notorious Auschwitz-Berkinau concentration camp on November 3rd, 1942. Marion was a 23-year old.

Origin of Political Correctness

Have you ever wondered where the idea of political correctness originated?

The Washington Times in a November, 2015 op-ed titled “A little history of ‘politically correct’: The Soviets invented it and the university tolerates it” notes this about the cult of political correctness:

It’s a wicked attitude intended to stifle the conscience and suppress belief and conviction.

The term “politically correct” was coined in the late 1920s by the Soviets and their ideological allies around the world to describe why the views of certain of the party faithful needed correction to the party line.

If my cousin were alive today he would agree that America, like the Nazis, has picked up on the power of stifling free speech by making certain speech punishable.

Political Correctness is cultural Marxism.

In a column titled “The Origins of Political Correctness” Mr. Bill Lind notes:

If we look at it analytically, if we look at it historically, we quickly find out exactly what it is. Political Correctness is cultural Marxism. It is Marxism translated from economic into cultural terms. It is an effort that goes back not to the 1960s and the hippies and the peace movement, but back to World War I. If we compare the basic tenets of Political Correctness with classical Marxism the parallels are very obvious.

First of all, both are totalitarian ideologies. The totalitarian nature of Political Correctness is revealed nowhere more clearly than on college campuses, many of which at this point are small ivy covered North Koreas, where the student or faculty member who dares to cross any of the lines set up by the gender feminist or the homosexual-rights activists, or the local black or Hispanic group, or any of the other sainted “victims” groups that PC revolves around, quickly find themselves in judicial trouble. Within the small legal system of the college, they face formal charges – some star-chamber proceeding – and punishment. That is a little look into the future that Political Correctness intends for the nation as a whole. [Emphasis added]

In “Orwell’s Doublespeak: The Language of the Left” Linda Goudsmit wrote:

George Orwell introduced the language of doublespeak in his dystopian novel “1984″ published in 1949. Doublespeak is the language of opposites. Up is down and down is up.

The word doublespeak derives from two Orwellian words “doublethink” and “newspeak.” Doublethink is when a person accepts two mutually contradictory thoughts as correct without being aware or troubled by the glaring contradiction between them. Doublethink statements like “war is peace” “freedom is slavery” “ignorance is strength” are made without discomfort. Newspeak is a method of controlling thought through language – it is the language of fake news. Doublespeak combines doublethink and newspeak in language that deliberately obscures, distorts, disguises, or reverses the meaning of words to manipulate public opinion in a mass social engineering effort.

Goudsmit presents a glossary of leftist doublespeak.

The Principles of Politically Correctness.

A detailed explanation of Newspeak, today’s political correctness, is found in this paragraph from an Appendix to Orwell’s novel “1984”, under the title, The Principles of Newspeak:

The purpose of Newspeak was not only to provide a medium of expression for the world-view and mental habits proper to the devotees of Ingsoc (English Socialist Party) but to make all other modes of thought impossible. It was intended that when Newspeak had been adopted once and for all and Oldspeak forgotten, a heretical thought — that is, a thought diverging from the principles of Ingsoc — should be literally unthinkable, at least so far as thought is dependent on words.

Its vocabulary was so constructed as to give exact and often very subtle expression to every meaning that a Party member could properly wish to express, while excluding all other meanings and also the possibility of arriving at them by indirect methods. This was done partly by the invention of new words, but chiefly by eliminating undesirable words and by stripping such words as remained of unorthodox meanings, and so far as possible of all secondary meanings whatever.

To give a single example. The word free still existed in Newspeak, but it could only be used in such statements as ‘This dog is free from lice’ or ‘This field is free from weeds’. It could not be used in its old sense of ‘politically free’ or ‘intellectually free’ since political and intellectual freedom no longer existed even as concepts, and were therefore of necessity nameless. Quite apart from the suppression of definitely heretical words, reduction of vocabulary was regarded as an end in itself, and no word that could be dispensed with was allowed to survive.

Newspeak was designed not to extend but to diminish the range of thought, and this purpose was indirectly assisted by cutting the choice of words down to a minimum.

Read more.

“Ideas are more powerful than guns. We would not let our enemies have guns, why should we let them have ideas.” – Joseph Stalin

“To learn who rules over you, simple find out who you are not allowed to criticize.” – Voltaire

“It’s getting funnier because everybody’s categories are disintegrating, and the cult of political correctness dictates that we never point out that other people don’t make sense.” – Terence McKenna, American philosopher.

Speak freely, do not fear. The Truth Shall Set You Free!

RELATED ARTICLES: To Vietnam, Freedom of Expression Is a ‘National Security Offense’

Iran backed Hamas has fired more rockets into Israel in the last 24-hours than during the past 3-years

As of 8:00 PM, May 29, 2018 over 114  mortars and rockets have been launched by Hamas and Jihad both Iranian proxies into civilian areas in Israel. A kindergarten was targeted but fortunately the children had not yet arrived in school when it hit the play area.

The Western media wasn’t reluctant to blame Israel while protecting their border, but their silence is loud and clear with this massive attack against Israeli citizens.

CUFI Talking Points: More rockets fired into Israel over the past 24 hours than during past 3 years

As of right now, at least 70 mortars have been fired into Israel from Gaza in the last 24 hours and the situation continues to grow more serious.

The current mortar attack is the largest assault on Israeli civilians since the 2014 Gaza war.

Early this morning, as Israelis were just waking up and taking their children to school, they found themselves under attack by an initial barrage of more than 30 mortars fired into southern Israel from Gaza. Families had 15-30 seconds to get under cover after hearing the piercing Red Alert sirens warn of an incoming projectile.

Several homes and vehicles were hit by mortars as mothers tried to pull their screaming, confused babies into the closest safe room and shield the children with their bodies.

Minutes before crowds of Jewish children were scheduled to arrive, an Israeli kindergarten near the Gaza border was hit with pieces of shrapnel large enough to tear chunks of concrete out of the school’s walls and entrance doorway.

For some of the youngest Israeli children under four years old, the last 24 hours of constant Red Alert sirens and explosions nearby were the most traumatizing day of their lives. They are too young to remember the last time Israelis were besieged by such massive sustained rocket fire from Gaza, during the summer of 2014. For their parents, today brought back a familiar sense of terror as they spent the entire day within steps of the closest bomb shelter or huddled inside while the firestorm continued late into the night.

The Iranian-backed terrorist groups Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad issued a joint statement claiming “credit” for the attack on Israel, and continued to escalate by launching more sophisticated and dangerous rockets into Israel throughout the night.

During the last eight weeks of Hamas-led violent riots along the border with Gaza, Hamas has openly bragged on Arabic television that they would “tear down their fence just like we will tear out their [the Israeli’s] hearts from their chests.” The worldwide media ignored Israel’s evidence that the riots were largely carried out for the purpose of terrorism, but today’s assault on Israeli families and children in their homes and schools proves that Hamas is determined to murder innocent Israelis.

While the American media obsesses over a controversial sitcom as the biggest news of the day, millions of Israelis are sleeping in bomb shelters and praying the Red Alert sirens stay silent. Today was a somber reminder that Iran’s proxies are growing bolder and more aggressive in their provocations. As the ruling power in Gaza, Hamas is solely responsible for maintaining the peace by controlling its radical factions. If they cannot or will not prevent attacks on Israeli civilians, the IDF has every right to take whatever action necessary to protect the families trying to live peacefully in southern Israel.

Read more.

EDITORS NOTE: The featured image is of Palestinian members of the al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Hamas movement, displaying Qassam home-made rockets during an anti-Israel military parade on August 21, 2016 in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90)

State Department Reviews Religious Freedom around the World

The State Department’s 2017 International Religious Freedom Report was released today. Issued under the direction of Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback, with guidance from other senior officials in the State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL), the report serves as a guide to the work yet to be done on this issue in many places around the world.

The places which one might expect to be covered in detail (North Korea, Iran, Syria, Iraq, Nigeria, etc.) featured discussions of the major persecution taking place within their borders. Yet countries less well-known as religious persecution hot spots were featured too. For example, the report notes that in Burkina Faso, several individuals were killed and others threatened “if they did not start teaching the Quran in schools instead of the regular curricula,” and the discussion of the Comoros observes the strict enforcement and preference for Sunni Islam in law.

Muslim/Christian interreligious conflict continues to simmer at a lower level in a number of sub-Saharan countries, in some worse than others. Discomfort and conflict persists within these communities when one is seen as having the upper hand in government or society. While the concerns in these countries are often relatively less serious, it is important to address them before they flare up into larger, more destabilizing situations. And regardless, all religious freedom violations, however small, deserve to be addressed as a matter of principle.

Human rights and humanitarian concerns drive much of the State Department’s reporting on international religious freedom which we see reflected in the 2017 report. Very often, in each country’s section of the report, there is a note stating that the U.S. embassy or its officials in that country hosted meetings or met with religious or government leaders to raise religious freedom concerns. While this attention is good and helpful, there is much more to the story of religious freedom. Not least in this story is the emerging proof of religious freedom’s benefit to security and economic prosperity — proof which is not being raised by our diplomats and foreign policy professionals, whether in Foggy Bottom or around the world.

As long as religious freedom is seen merely as a humanitarian issue, governments and leaders who see nothing in it for themselves will be reluctant to address it, and we will be resigned to continue the worldwide backsliding on religious freedom that has occurred in recent years. But when the United States seriously and systematically begins to show others around the world that religious freedom is in their interest — their security and economic interests — we can begin to make headway.

Raising religious freedom as a human right is the right thing to do. But we have only achieved so much with this approach. If we increasingly explain the many benefits of religious freedom to those who otherwise wouldn’t care about it, they may begin to see a real shift towards protecting it. Whatever else, doing what we can to protect religious freedom for the maximum number of people around the world is always the right thing to do.


Tony Perkins’ Washington Update is written with the aid of FRC senior writers.


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Gun Control for Dummies – It’s Common Sense not Hoggwash!

Fluffyshotme posted the below video. Fluffy notes:

This video gives a further explanation of the Second Amendment to the Constitution in the context of the why the Bill of Rights was included along with the establishment of the Federal Government. Please share this with your friends so that they can help educate America.

Constitution of United States of America 1789 (rev. 1992)

Amendment III

No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

EDITORS NOTE: Please check out Fluffy’s photography at http://www.fluffyshotme.com.

She Voted for Obama Twice. Now Antonia Okafor Explains Why She’s a Conservative Who Advocates Gun Rights.

This is an edited transcript of a conversation between Antonia Okafor and Katrina Trinko on the May 22 edition of The Daily Signal podcast. Okafor weighed in on her own journey to becoming a conservative, Kanye West, gun rights, and school safety. 

Katrina TrinkoJoining us today is Antonia Okafor, a political commentator and the CEO of EmPOWERed, an organization devoted to the Second Amendment rights of women on college campuses. Antonia, thanks for joining us today.

Antonia Okafor: Thanks for having me, Katrina.

Trinko: First question. You yourself voted for Barack Obama in both 2008 and 2012.

Okafor: Yes.

Trinko: Why did you vote for him and what since then has changed your mind on political matters?

Okafor:  I grew up in a pretty traditional Democratic family. I remember when I was young my mom telling me that, ‘If you could vote right now, you would vote for Bill Clinton.’ I remember that.

I just thought I was a Democrat growing up and then I went to college and realized … I was actually taking public policy courses and realizing … [that the policies] for the Democratic Party, I didn’t actually believe in.

Doing a lot more research and realizing that, you know what, my values that I grew up with that actually, coincidentally, and ironically [the values] my mother taught me—working very hard, education is an equalizer for everyone, that traditional family and the nuclear family is important to success, and having a faith in Jesus Christ is important to success as well—and just those traditional values really made me realize that I was in a party that did not reconcile with my values and I needed to change, particularly with the pro-life issue, but then later on, the pro-gun issue.

The only party that I believe that was really always consistently focused on those issues was the Republican Party.

After 2012, I’m [remembering] … voting for Barack Obama, even though I did have a hard time at that even doing that, but realizing that I will never vote again against my values and I would not vote for the Democratic Party because they weren’t doing what was important in that instance for my values.

Trinko: I think your story is particularly interesting because so many people go to college and actually come out liberal, or come out more liberal. This is sort of a personal question, but I’d just be curious: Why do you think you were open to changing? Why was your experience so different than so many other college students?

Okafor: You know what? I think I was open because kind of like what’s going on right now, [although] I think it’s to a worse degree because everybody’s so anti-Trump. It’s because the media’s so focused on making Republicans look like racists, and sexists, and misogynists, and horrible people.

Then me, I guess, I just have this affinity to be around people, or to seek out information for myself. I remember I was like, OK, if they’re really this bad I want to see for myself. Going out and talking to people who were Republicans and finding out that they weren’t bad people, in fact, they were amazing people and they actually share the same values. I mean, who would’ve thunk it that if you did your actual research, that you would find a lot of what people were saying is false.

That’s what happened to me, and so a lot of questions ensued after that of what else I was just believing without actually doing my research and homework on.

I came to find out that there were a lot of things that I didn’t believe that mainstream media for a long time was telling me that I should. It was them saying that you must be a certain way as a black woman, you must think this certain way or you’re not a black woman that made me actually, ‘You know what, I want to do my research and find out why they’re saying this.’

Come to find out, that’s exactly the opposite.

I think that’s what really spurred me onto being more open to finding out what my actual beliefs were and if I believe what they believe.

Trinko: OK. Well, that’s interesting because that relates to, of course, Kanye West, [who] had a huge backlash when he didn’t even really say he supported Trump, just said maybe not everything conservatives say is the spawn of Satan, essentially. What did you think about the backlash? Are we in a unique moment here? What’s going on?

Okafor: Well, two things. Even with Kanye West, I think actually I’m more saddened about what Chance the Rapper said and the backlash that he got right after that. Actually, he had apologized when he said that not all black people have to vote for Democrats. He apologized after that.

I was like, what are you apologizing for? I mean, statistically that’s true but unfortunately with, I think, African-Americans … the media, mostly the left, has been able to monopolize the conversation and narrative when it comes to that, [making it] … that you’re black and these people are white and therefore, if you’re a black person, you should vote for the Democratic Party.

Only white people are for gun rights, only white people are Republican, are conservatives. They’ve done a great job of doing that for so long but, no, because you’re a black person does not mean that you have to vote for the Democratic Party. If anything, when I found out that 95 percent of African-Americans voted for Barack Obama and then 88 percent of them voted for Hillary Clinton, that’s more than any other demographic group and it’s an overwhelming proportion more as well. I mean, Latinos, they voted 66 percent for Hillary Clinton.

I think, for a long time the left has used this narrative that as a black person particularly … you are supposed to vote a certain way.

I think a lot of people like Kanye, and Chance the Rapper, if they apologize or not, are starting to realize that maybe I don’t vote for Republicans, maybe I’m not a conservative. That’s what Kanye said—he said, I don’t really know if I would label myself as a conservative, but I think a different way.

We’ll see what he says, but I think it’s good that we’re having a conversation anyway, to say that you as a person are independent and you can think independently and make up your own decisions regardless of your race or your gender.

I think people are sick and tired of people putting them in boxes. I know I was sick and tired of it.

Trinko: Well, one of the criticisms of conservatives over the years has been they don’t really show up to a lot of minority events. Sen. Rand Paul [R-Ky.], when he was running for president, made a big deal of [it]: ‘I’m actually going to go to African-American neighborhoods, I’m going to speak, I’m going to be involved.’ What do you think conservatives should be doing to reach out to African-Americans?

Okafor: You know what? I’m a testament that that worked, because I remember seeing him when I was afraid of—

Trinko: Oh, Paul?

Okafor: Yeah, of seeing that he was going out to Howard [University in Washington, D.C.], he was going out to these HBCUs [historically black colleges and universities] and … still talking about conservative values.

I hadn’t seen that before, I hadn’t seen politicians on our side who had these values that would go out and talk to people, but not also pander to them and change their values because they’re in a different area.

I remember looking at Rand Paul and him being so focused and so true to his beliefs and his principles, and not budging on those. But the fact that he was even there in the first place just went to show that, yeah, these values are for everyone.

It made me realize that I could be conservative—come out of the closet—and champion these values. Also, still be a black person, still advocate for the fact that I’m very pro-criminal justice reform, and prison reform, and I’m so glad that now we’re seeing that with Trump looking into that, and people coming to a consensus.

It’s a lot of things that we can come to an agreement with and come together in but unfortunately, especially the other side I think sees that and sees that if they don’t make it a partisan issue then they could lose people.

They could have people like me five years later going from voting for Obama to voting for President Trump. That’s scary to them.

Trinko: Well, to switch gears a little bit, you’ve mentioned your support for gun rights. There was, unfortunately, another tragic school shooting in Santa Fe, Texas. You’re a Texan yourself. What do you think the response should be? How do you think we should handle all these calls from the left for gun control [being] the answer?

Okafor: Part of it is that, unfortunately, they always get to dictate when we get to talk about the whole issue, after [the shooting]. You know, every time we have a tragedy, to be honest, now it’s like [comedian] Chelsea Handler says something, that’s when it starts the conversation on Twitter, unfortunately.

Trinko: Oh, Twitter.

Okafor: She’s the precursor of when gun control and gun rights conversation [happens]. It’s a sad society, but it’s true. They get to dictate when it’s appropriate to start talking about that, and we respond.

We shouldn’t respond anymore, we should be on the forefront, we should be leading the conversation.

That’s why I started my organization, Empower, because I knew as a gun rights activist, as someone who was part of the organization that brought campus carry to Texas in 2015, we are really … The movement is going to be pushed by young women.

I found that as a young woman that self-defense is important to us, particularly on college campuses. With the … gun control narrative, they don’t want people to see that. They don’t want to say that the strong, empowered woman, the college-educated woman [who] knows other strong, empowered, college-educated women who also happen to be pro-gun.

They want the narrative to be: If you’re a feminist, if you’re pro-female, then you can’t be pro-gun. That’s false. If anything, if you’re pro-female, you should be pro-gun, it’s one of the best equalizers that we have in this great country.

It’s horrific and we do need to do something about it. If anyone, especially my generation … [having] grown up in Columbine [era], grown up with both Virginia Techs and all these shootings on college campuses and high school campuses …

We don’t believe in [gun control] anymore and we want something different. This is our time to put out something different and to say that it’s not about the gun, it’s about the person behind the firearm that we should be focusing on.

Trinko: I certainly share your frustration that feminism always seems to box out conservative women, whether it’s abortion, or gun rights. No matter what, if you’re not right thinking, oh, suddenly you don’t care about women, which drives me insane.

Okafor: That New York Times article.

Trinko: Oh my gosh.

Okafor: They just had saying that the myth of conservative [feminism]—

Trinko: They were saying [conservatives] can’t appropriate feminism …

Okafor: I was like, thank you. First of all, the first feminists are the ones who were pro-life, so if anything, we could say ‘the myth of liberal feminism’ … I’m not going to say that because feminism is not dictated by liberal, or progressive, or being conservative. It’s about equality between the sexes. Absolutely, I believe it’s a big 10 issue when it comes to that.

Empowering women can look like, you can be empowered as a woman and believe that you have a right to defend yourself with a firearm just as much as you can be empowered if you don’t want that. I mean, just as long as you’re not impeding on other people’s rights, I think that’s what it comes down to. That’s really the equality of rights.

Trinko: What is the response to your group then on college campuses? As I mentioned, I don’t think historically or traditionally people tend to think of college women as gun carriers or advocates of gun rights.

Okafor: Yeah, well, it was because of my time as an advocate for campus carry and realizing that’s who the anti-gun side was always focusing on … women on college campuses, and making it seem like they were the ones who should not have guns. They were the ones who should not have any, or be advocates of anybody having firearms at all, and being very frustrated in the fact that, no, that’s exactly the opposite.

I wanted those pro-gun women to have a voice because I knew they were out there, I’d talked to them, I’d spoken to even professors who definitely don’t feel like they have a voice if they’re pro-gun on campuses. They would email me all the time during my time with students for conceal carry saying, ‘I completely support what you’re doing, I just cannot say anything or I would never get tenure.’

Trinko: Oh gosh, that’s so frustrating.

Okafor: Yeah, exactly. I was just like, you know what, they’re out there. People don’t want them to have a voice, but I can give them a voice, I have a platform, let me do so. I think that was my opportunity and so I’ve been grateful the last year that people actually believe the same thing too, I thought it was just me being crazy, but it’s not.

There are a lot of people who are just afraid to say something. The same thing with March for Our Lives and these high school students telling me that they’re afraid to say things too because their peers and their administrators are telling them the opposite, [that] if they believe anything other than being anti-gun, then they’re awful people, and that’s just not true. We need people to stand up for them because they’re afraid to stand up for themselves.

Trinko: And that’s such an important point. I often think, how different would our politics be if everyone was able to speak about what they truly believed?

Okafor: Yeah.

Trinko: I do realize, not everyone gets to work at a conservative outlet where you’re OK with that. There’s a lot of societal pressure, but I’ve definitely experienced the same phenomenon where people will say to you quietly, or behind closed doors, ‘I agree.’ It’s like, OK, well say that out loud.

Okafor: I’ve had people who agree with me after lectures. There’s a few African-American women that came up to me after my Dartmouth lecture just a couple weeks ago. I was like, ‘Can I take a picture with you?’ They’re like, ‘You had really good points.’ [And then] they’re like, ‘Is this going to be on social media?’ I was like, ‘Yeah, you don’t want it.’ [They said], ‘Yeah, let’s not do it.’ I’m like, ‘Oh, OK. Well, I understand.’

It’s sad that they feel like they can’t outwardly agree with me because then they’ll be a traitor to their race and their gender.

Trinko: Well, someday.

Okafor: Yeah, someday.

Trinko: I’m sure you’re inspiring a lot of people … thank you so much for joining us today, Antonia.

Okafor: Thank you so much for having me. I appreciate it.

COMMENTARY BY

Portrait of Katrina Trinko

Katrina Trinko is managing editor of The Daily Signal and co-host of The Daily Signal podcast. She is also a member of USA Today’s Board of Contributors. Send an email to Katrina. Twitter: .

Dear Readers:

With the recent conservative victories related to tax cuts, the Supreme Court, and other major issues, it is easy to become complacent.

However, the liberal Left is not backing down. They are rallying supporters to advance their agenda, moving this nation further from the vision of our founding fathers.

If we are to continue to bring this nation back to our founding principles of limited government and fiscal conservatism, we need to come together as a group of likeminded conservatives.

This is the mission of The Heritage Foundation. We want to continue to develop and present conservative solutions to the nation’s toughest problems. And we cannot do this alone.

We are looking for a select few conservatives to become a Heritage Foundation member. With your membership, you’ll qualify for all associated benefits and you’ll help keep our nation great for future generations.

ACTIVATE YOUR MEMBERSHIP TODAY

Trump’s Populist Coalition Reshapes American Politics

Salena Zito and Brad Todd recently co-authored the book “The Great Revolt: Inside the Populist Coalition Reshaping American Politics.” They spoke to The Daily Signal’s Ginny Montalbano about who the Trump voters are, what motivated them during the 2016 election, and what they can tell us about the future.

Ginny Montalbano: Your new book called “The Great Revolt: Inside the Populist Coalition Reshaping American Politics” just came out. Can we start with what inspired you to write this book and what it’s about?

Brad Todd: I didn’t see Trump’s nomination coming in 2016 in the election. I was working for a different candidate. After watching it come about in spite of my expectations and then watching the general election develop, I really was interested to know if the long-term question; was this something that was just starting, was this something that was in the middle, or was this something that was finishing with this reforming of the coalition on the right?

Salena Zito: He and I had numerous conversations that began back in 2006 when we first met, in trying to understand this disruptive force that was starting to build among conservatives. That’s not just Republicans, but independents and Democrats as well.

I saw that this was coming, but mainly because as a reporter I live in Pittsburgh, so I spend my time outside the Beltway. I saw the evidence of this in 2016, really beginning with the April Pennsylvania primary. How Trump just steamrolled through my state and created an enthusiasm that I have never seen among Republican primary voters.

I remember right before the night of the primary election going to the Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg, which is massive. I went there and there was 25,000 people inside, there’s at least 10,000 to 15,000 outside. I remember thinking, “Wow, this is April in Pennsylvania. Something’s happening here.”

Montalbano: The president has tweeted about your book. He said, “It does much tell the story of our great election victory, the forgotten men and women are forgotten no longer.” What is the disconnect between the actual Trump voters and the Trump voters that a lot of the media tries to portray?

Todd: It’s a pretty optimistic coalition. I think you see a lot of the stories about the Trump voters convince you that they’re all destitute, and laid off factory workers who are strung out on heroin, and convinced that they’re angry with the world.

We found something exactly the opposite. In traveling through the five Rust Belt states that switched from Obama to Trump and conducting a survey of Trump voters in those states, 86 percent of those people actually are optimistic about their own economics situation and their own economic career prospects.

They’re scared to death about their communities, but they’re very optimistic. We think that that sense of optimism and forward-looking nature is a thing that was missed.

Zito: Yeah, absolutely. I think one of the things that people will enjoy about “The Great Revolt” is that there is these seven different archetypes, the most surprising archetypes of the Trump coalition, that emerge and come to life. I think as people read it, more often than not that they’ll see themselves through these stories.

Brad is right about the optimism. “Make America Great Again,” people made fun of it as nostalgic or racist. I’ve even heard dog whistle, which I’m not even sure what that means. To them it was an aspirational about doing something and being part of something that was bigger than themselves.

That’s a very important component, a very uniquely American thing whether you have been in this country for two weeks or for seven to nine generations. It’s something that you find inherent within all American people. I think that the national press missed that and missed that understanding of who these voters are.

Montalbano: You’ve written that Trump was not the cause of this movement, he was the result of it. What exactly are these Trump voters reacting to and what can they tell us about the future?

Todd: Nothing in American politics happens on accident for one time, usually it’s something that builds. When these trends happen, it builds over a period of time and it continues. Trump, it may have taken someone as uniquely outside the political system to fully catalyze the coalition.

Most Trump voters just think both parties are responsible for the dysfunction in Washington, they trust him more than they trust politicians of either party. To some extent, therefore, he definitely was essential in bringing it together, that’s a fair argument.

In the end, this populous coalition, this fusion of populism and conservatism, it’s been coming for a while. We saw it in Republican primaries in 2010, 2012, and 2014. It really almost had to crystallize in the general election at some point and it’s going to continue even after Trump’s off the stage.

Zito: Yeah, absolutely. I think one of things that’s really important to understand is that the influence of this coalition goes well beyond the ballot box. We saw evidence of that on Wednesday, when you saw what the NFL made the decision about what they’re going to do about what happens if you as a player want to make this decision to kneel or not.

To me and Brad, you can tell me if this is wrong, to me, it meant that they cried uncle. That they recognized that in these past two seasons, that they have seen a crumbling of not only their fan base, but also of their brand, a gold standard brand.

Todd: This means that the fans got what they asked for. The league’s original position was that they were going to allow players to kneel, there would be no ramifications for it. The fans spoke, I’m not saying every person in that fan base is politically motivated, but it’s another example of a coastal decision-maker getting it wrong and the customer base responding.

That’s really what it was in the election, both in the Republican primary and the general. Jeb Bush and Hillary Clinton represent the last gasp of the legacy brands in politics and the voters broke both of them.

Zito: Brad makes this point all the time, he said, “Look where the NFL’s located, Park Avenue.” They make their decisions based around that sort of life and people that are like them. Brad has said to me several times, “They should be located in Canton, Ohio, where the Hall of Fame is.” They would be more attuned to how their fan base thinks.

Montalbano: What are you hoping that political elites and media take away from the lessons that you’ve learned throughout writing this book?

Todd: This culture craves respect. That I think that treating them and their cultural backgrounds without respect is peril for both sides.

Zito: Absolutely. I think that both political parties have shown these voters, and a lot of voters across the board, very little dignity. They have made it appear as though their opportunities aren’t as important as coastal opportunities are. Again, that’s a problem in the ballot box, it’s a problem outside of the ballot box. Honestly, both parties would learn from “The Great Revolt.”

Montalbano: Thank you both so much.

Zito: Thank you.

Todd: Thanks a bunch.

COMMENTARY BY

Portrait of Ginny Montalbano

Ginny Montalbano

Ginny Montalbano is a contributor to The Daily Signal. Send an email to Ginny. Twitter: @GinnyMontalbano.

RELATED ARTICLE: These California Rebels Are Working With Trump, Not Against Him

Dear Readers:

With the recent conservative victories related to tax cuts, the Supreme Court, and other major issues, it is easy to become complacent.

However, the liberal Left is not backing down. They are rallying supporters to advance their agenda, moving this nation further from the vision of our founding fathers.

If we are to continue to bring this nation back to our founding principles of limited government and fiscal conservatism, we need to come together as a group of likeminded conservatives.

This is the mission of The Heritage Foundation. We want to continue to develop and present conservative solutions to the nation’s toughest problems. And we cannot do this alone.

We are looking for a select few conservatives to become a Heritage Foundation member. With your membership, you’ll qualify for all associated benefits and you’ll help keep our nation great for future generations.
ACTIVATE YOUR MEMBERSHIP TODAY

EDITORS NOTE: The featured image of President Donald J. Trump at the U.S. Naval Academy graduation 2018 is by Kevin LaMarque/Reuters /Newscom.

VIDEO: Geert Wilders speaks out, demands the release of ‘freedom fighter’ Tommy Robinson

Jerry Gordon in his September, 2017 column “Telegraaf interview Dutch MP Geert Wilders — ‘In my opinion Islam is not a religion‘” wrote:

Party for Freedom leader Geert Wilders is deeply concerned about Muslim integration. In our series Islam in the Netherlands  he is warning about the “perishing”of our culture. “It is not five to twelve or two to twelve, it is almost morning!” The leader of the second party in the country is pondering about very far-reaching measures.

It appears that England’s culture is perishing with the arrest and imprisonment of Tommy Robinson. Geert Wilders calls Tommy Robinson a “freedom fighter.” MP Wilders should know. His freedom to speak about Islam has led to his being sued by his own government.

RT.com in an article titled “‘UK behaving like Saudi Arabia’: Geert Wilders calls for release of Tommy Robinson” reports:

A petition asking Prime Minister Theresa May to free Robinson has collected over 400,000 signatures.

EDITORS NOTE: The featured image is of Tommy Robinson’s supporters on Saturday,  May 26, 2018 outside Downing Street / Facebook.

Memorial Day: Our Principles Are Still Worth Fighting For!

By KrisAnne Hall, JD

Our contemporary American experience seems often Orwellian. We have a Congress that denies our Rights in the name of security. We have a judiciary that often denies the Constitution and violates it by asserting a power to make law. Many patriots have expended a great deal of energy this year in the fight to see our Liberty protected and America’s greatness restored. We are all aware that there are still many struggles ahead and mountains yet to be conquered. But let us be reminded of a hope that is rooted firmly in the original American experience that makes our land so exceptional.

Our history is rich with men and women who have surrendered all so that many could live in the greatest place the world has ever known. For over 700 years before the Declaration of Independence, men and women were learning the lessons that would be taught to our founders. Lessons that would infuse our founders with the courage and hope that would build this exceptional land.

Patrick Henry said, “I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided, and that is the lamp of experience. I know no way to judge the future but by the past.” He was letting us know that his knowledge of those last 700 years, were the very reason he knew how this fight would turn out. He knew that every time men and women understood the value of Liberty and pledged all to protect it, they were always victorious.

These guarantees of history must have raced through Henry’s head; 1100 Charter of Liberties, Magna Carta, 1628 Petition of Right, 1641 Grand Remonstrance, and his very own Bill of Rights of 1689. These were battles fought in the name of Liberty and he knew that victory was a guarantee. This is our history. This is our guarantee. This is our victory!

We have so much to be thankful for. Let us not forget that Liberty is a gift that was purchased for us with great sacrifice. Among the many things we have to be thankful for, we must be eternally grateful for the wisdom of men and women that understood that Liberty was a gift from God and that all God’s gifts are worth our every sacrifice. John Adams, in a letter to Abigail in 1777 expressed this sacrifice.

“Posterity! You will never know how much it cost the present generation to preserve your freedom! I hope you will make a good use of it. If you do not, I shall repent in Heaven that I ever took half the pains to preserve it.”

We must honor this sacrifice by honoring their memory and continuing their efforts. Too often I see the revisionism of our history in an effort to demean these men and women with the purpose of destroying our Constitution. We do not properly respect their efforts by allowing these lies to be taught to our sons and daughters. We must teach the truth. We owe it to them. We owe it to our children. It is our hope.

I am not trying to give the founders some divine status or even suppose them a level of perfection that they did not have. We must understand that our Liberty was not founded upon people, but upon principles. The people that gave us our exceptional American principles were flawed vessels just like you and me. However, the really amazing part of this history is that flawed men understood that the foundation of an enduring union must be Liberty moored in morality.

Consider these words by Alexander Hamilton:

“Equal pains have been taken to deprave the morals as to extinguish the religion of the country [France], if indeed morality in a community can be separated from religion…The pious and moral weep over these scenes as a sepulcher destined to entomb all they revere and esteem.

“The politician who loves liberty sees them with regret as a gulf that may swallow up the liberty to which he is devoted. He knows that morality overthrown (and morality must fall with religion), the terrors of despotism can alone curb the impetuous passions of man, and confine him within the bounds of social duty.” The Stand, No. III (April 7, 1798)

Our founders knew that Liberty is a combination of two equally important parts — it is freedom under the constraints of moral law. Liberty cannot survive where there is pure freedom. Pure freedom gives man the right to do whatever is right in his own mind: cheat, lie, rob, murder. Pure freedom is anarchy. At the same time, Liberty cannot survive with moral law alone. Moral law not mingled with freedom is theocracy. Theocracy in the hands of men is tyranny in the name of religion. Our founders attempted give us this balance and secure the blessings of liberty for us in our founding documents. If we abandon our history, we abandon our founding documents and disregard our moral foundations, then liberty is in peril.

Thomas Jefferson gave us this warning: “Can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are a gift from God? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, that is justice cannot sleep forever.”

While Benjamin Franklin warned America’s founders directly:

“In the beginning of the Contest with Great Britain, when we were sensible of danger, we had daily prayer in this room for Divine protection…. All of us who were engaged in the struggle must have observed frequent instances of Superintending Providence in our favor…have we now forgotten that powerful Friend? or do we imagine we no longer need His assistance?…. God Governs in the affairs of  men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid?”

Patrick Henry said “Three millions of people, armed in the holy cause of liberty, and in such a country as that which we possess, are invincible by any force which our enemy can send against us. Besides, sir, we shall not fight our battles alone. There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations, and who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us.”

Did these brave men and women live without fear? Hardly so! Mercy Otis-Warren articulated this dilemma so well.

“I have my fears. Yet, notwithstanding the complicated difficulties that rise before us, there is no receding; May nothing ever check that glorious spirit if freedom which inspires the patriot in the cabinet and the hero in the field, with courage to maintain their righteous cause, and to endeavor to transmit the claim to posterity, even if they must seal the rich conveyance to their children with their own blood.”

They knew that bravery was not the absence of fear, but doing what you must in the face of fear. They knew that the battle for Liberty, as Mercy called it, was a righteous cause. Knowing the source of her courage is the key to understanding her resolve. Mercy wrote a letter to her friend Mrs. Macauley in 1774, from this letter we can know the source of her strength. She said they were “ready to sacrifice their devoted lives to preserve inviolate, and to convey to their children the inherent rights of men, conferred on all by the God of nature.”

The key to victory, the key to the courage that brings victory is not simply fighting the fight, but knowing we fight a righteous battle for the One who gave us that Liberty. Our founders were in a position to pledge their lives, the lives of their families, everything that they had because they were firmly rooted in all the assurances of Liberty. Our founders knew that Liberty is a gift from God, and those that stand for God’s gifts will be victorious through God’s promises. They firmly believed that living in tyranny was worse than dying for Liberty. They knew that through their faith in Christ, their rewards in standing for God’s gift would be certain, whether on the battlefield or in Heaven.

As Thomas Paine so eloquently put it, “These are the times that try men’s souls.” But Paine’s full statement gives a richness that is lost with the initial quote alone. Payne continues to tell us who will last in this battle and why they will last.

“The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing (sic) its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as freedom should not be highly rated.”

If we want to have the resolve that Mercy Otis-Warren spoke of, the confidence that Patrick Henry displayed, we must know what Thomas Jefferson knew so we will not become the sunshine patriots Thomas Paine condemns. We must know Liberty is a gift from God. We must know this Gift, although coming at a high price, is worth fighting for because God is with us. If God be with us, who can be against us?

As an exceptional union built upon exceptional principles, we cannot deny that we are built with a foundational understanding of an exceptional God. Thomas Jefferson reminds us that, “We are not in a world ungoverned by the laws and the power of a Superior Agent. Our efforts are in His hand, and directed by it; and He will give them their effect in His own time.”

Because of our historical understanding that America was built on the principles of freedom and morality, America has always been the haven of rest when tyrants oppress their own. She is the vineyard of innovation and opportunity. We are a people that open our arms to the tired, to the poor, to the oppressed, to the huddled masses yearning to breathe free. No other people can claim this legacy; no other people have this birthright. This is the shining city upon a hill, and we cannot hide our light under a bush.

The focus of our education should not be on the flaws of the men who gave us our Constitution, but on the exceptional principles that they gave us. We have an exceptional union where “all men are created equal and endowed with certain inalienable rights.” A land birthed by the principle that the power of the government is to be held by the people and not where the government holds power over the people. A country that believes the principle that says all are free to worship according to the dictates of their conscience, and all are equally free, “Jews, Turks, pagans, and Christians.” We have prospered based on the principle that ideas and hard work open the door to prosperity regardless of bloodline, skin color or social status. A land that has remained free based on the principle that liberties remain secure by maintaining the right to defend self, property and Liberty.

In the profound words of Daniel Webster,

“Is our Constitution worth preserving? Guard it as you would guard the seat of your life, guard it not only against the open blows of violence, but also against that spirit of change…Miracles do not cluster. That which has happened but once in six thousand years, cannot be expected to happen often. Such a government, once destroyed, would have a void to be filled, perhaps for centuries, with revolution and tumult, riot and despotism.” An Anniversary Address by Daniel Webster July 4th 1806

Let us maintain a true focus on what is important. In this day it is so popular to denigrate America for every little flaw. Why not take back a bit of American Exceptionalism? Why not embrace what makes us different from every other place on the globe? America is exceptional because we are built on exceptional principles. Principles of Liberty, freedom, morality, and equality as derived from our Creator. And these principles are STILL WORTH FIGHTING FOR!

ABOUT KRISANNE HALL

KrisAnne Hall is a former biochemist, Russian linguist for the US Army, and former prosecutor for the State of Florida. KrisAnne also practiced First Amendment Law for a prominent Florida non-profit Law firm. KrisAnne now travels the country teaching the foundational principles of Liberty and our Constitutional Republic. KrisAnne is the author of 6 books on the Constitution and Bill of Rights, she also has an internationally popular radio and television show and her books and classes have been featured on C-SPAN TV. KrisAnne can be found at www.KrisAnneHall.com.

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

TRUMP’S CANDOR, ANIMALS AND MS-13: What the Left’s feigned anger about our president’s honesty really reveals.

President Trump recently used the term “animals” in referring to members of MS-13, a vicious, barbaric and murderous transnational gang.

The mainstream media immediately attacked the President and falsely claimed that he used the term “animals” to describe all immigrants.  In reality, a reality substantiated by videos of the President making his remarks about MS-13, the President was solely referring to members of the MS-13 Gang as “animals.”

The lies spewed by the mainstream media, wherein President Trump was seriously and intentionally misquoted, was paraded as a factual news reports that provided the leader of another infamous gang, the Washington-based, “Gang of Eight,” Chuck Schumer, an opportunity to once again get his voice heard.

However, Schumer was no more honest than the reporters who misquoted the President.

Schumer said that it was wrong to call immigrants animals and noted that his grandparents, who immigrated to America, were not animals, thereby blithely ignoring that the President was crystal clear that he was not lumping all aliens in with the barbaric gang members whose tactics parallel those of ISIS terrorists.

This is the same Chuck Schumer who, at the helm of the Gang of Eight (or “Eight Gangsters,” as I came to call that bipartisan Senate wrecking crew) attempted to provide millions of illegal aliens trespassing on America, with lawful status and even United States citizenship yet proposed federal legislation that would incarcerate, for a period of five years, anyone who trespasses on national landmarks and/or critical infrastructure.

What hypocrisy!

I began investigating MS-13 roughly 25 years ago.  Back then their numbers were relatively small, but their proclivity to use extreme violence to recruit new members, some as young as 8 years of age (that is not a typo), caught the attention of law enforcement.

Since then the number of MS-13 and other transnational gang members in the United States sky-rocketed particularly as a result of the “Unaccompanied Minors” program of the Obama administration.

In June 2017 a pair of hearings were conducted in the House and Senate to explore the threats posed by MS-13 and other violent transnational gangs in the United States.

I wrote about those hearings in my June 28, 2017 article, America’s Gang Crisis: Congressional Hearings Focus on MS-13 in which I called attention to the way that international terrorists and transnational gangs exploit failures of the immigration system and, all too often, with deadly consequences.

The article included the prepared testimony of Subcommittee Chairman Peter King who focused on how the flood of unaccompanied minors from Central America flooded America with young and violent gang members who are now recruiting more gang members in our schools.

Here is the brief description of that hearing, and its predication, as posted on the official Congressional website:

This field hearing will examine the threat posed by transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), particularly Mara Salvatrucha 13 (MS-13) and the extent to which this violent gang is able to circumvent border security measures to gain entry into the U.S.  Since January 2016, there have been 17 murders linked to MS-13 in Suffolk County alone. The hearing will feature testimony from the stakeholders related to the interaction and cooperation between Federal, State, and local law enforcement agencies to combat MS-13. Additionally, testimony will be provided by community members directly impacted by these TCOs. The two panels reflect the broad cross section of the community required to respond to the threat posed by MS-13 and other TCOs on Long Island and across the nation.

My article also included Judiciary Committee Chairman, Senator Chuck Grassley’s statement and this excerpt of his prepared remarks about MS-13:

This organization has been dubbed the world’s “most dangerous gang,” and some say it could be a terrorist organization. But, you wouldn’t expect anything less from a group whose motto is “kill, rape, and control.”

Unfortunately, over the past two years, this terrifying motto has become a vicious reality for many communities across our nation. So far this year, the gang has been publicly linked to dozens of high-profile killings, rapes, and assaults across the country, from the Washington D.C. metro area to Houston, Texas.

If the term “Animal” is inappropriate to describe these savage thugs, it would be because animals only kill to survive, to protect themselves or to eat.  These gang members kill for sport- for the pleasure they derive from their unspeakable crimes.

A day or two after the video of President Trump, in which he clearly explained that he was referencing MS-13, was widely circulated, the mainstream media had to concede that the President was solely referring to MS-13 when he used the term“Animal.”

Unbelievably, even in spite of this, Nancy Pelosi quickly jumped into the fray and indignantly took to referencing Scripture as was reported in the May 17, 2018 Blaze articleNancy Pelosi says Trump denies the ‘spark of divinity’ with insult to MS-13 gang members.

Pelosi’s reaction was stunning.  For years the carefully crafted and very false narrative that had been constructed by the immigration anarchists, claimed that “immigrants” commit far fewer crimes than anyone else including American citizens.

Of course, as I have noted in a long list of previous articles, because of a bit of slight of language by the Carter administration, the term “Immigrant” has come to be used to describe all aliens, no matter whether they were illegally or legally present in the United States, and no matter how they entered the United States and whether or not they were admitted for a temporary period of time as nonimmigrants or lawfully admitted for permanent residence and issued Alien Registration Receipt Cards also known as “Green Cards.”

In furtherance of the strategy to eliminate the term “Alien” from the vernacular and therefore, from the document that over the years satisfies the statutory requirement that aliens carry such proof of registration at all time, today such cards are often referred to as “PERMS.”  (When I was a boy growing up in Brooklyn, my mom and her friends would frequently go to a beauty parlor to have their hair treated to get a “perm.”)

How the times, nomenclature and ethics have changed!

Back then journalists took their profession seriously and understood that democracy requires an informed electorate.  For the most part Americans trusted the journalists.

Today all too many “journalists” are propagandists and the majority of Americans understandably do not trust these members of the “Fourth Estate.”

Lawful immigrants are generally law abiding.  They value their lawful immigrant status because many had spent years and incurred significant expenses pursuing their status.

Many have come to America from countries around the world, the way our own ancestors did, legally, to share in the American dream and experience freedom.

Illegal aliens, however are, not to be confused with lawful immigrants, except, of course in the rhetoric of the immigration anarchists.

As John Adams famously observed, “Facts are stubborn things.”

My recent article Illegal Immigration And Crime began with the following sentence:

On December 21, 2017 the Department of Justice issued a press release, “Departments of Justice and Homeland Security Release Data on Incarcerated Aliens—94 Percent of All Confirmed Aliens in DOJ Custody Are Unlawfully Present.”

The false rhetoric and the false narrative created by these anarchists from both parties and in the mainstream media, insisted that the “immigrants” were all doing the work Americans wouldn’t or couldn’t do.  They were all simply trying to grasp their thin slice of the “American Dream” and it is because of this bogus narrative that the concept of the DREAM Act, was born.

(Of course where the American Dream is concerned, Americans need not apply!)

Pelosi’s statement marks a serious turning point.  She has made it blatantly clear that for her, aliens, including aliens who rape, torture, kill and dismember others, often children, are worthy of protection and respect.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if she treated the victims of these vicious savages with half as much concern or reverence as she demonstrated for MS-13 gang members?

Incredibly, members of the mainstream media jumped into the battle to defend Pelosi and other Democrats.  To provide a case in point, on May 24, 2018 KITV reportedTrump claims Democrats are ‘sticking up for MS-13,’ but his example misleads.

This article included the following “explanation”:

At a news conference last week, Pelosi did not express support for the gang, but criticized the President’s use of the term “animals.” At the time, Pelosi appeared to be referencing media reports that Trump was referring to all undocumented immigrants, though he was speaking about gang members.

The point is that Pelosi and many of her colleagues in the Democratic Party support “Sanctuary Cities” and now “Sanctuary States.”  These jurisdictions should truly be called “Magnet Cities” and “Magnet States” because they attract international terrorists, transnational gangs such as MS-13.

Indeed, Sanctuary Cities Endanger – National Security and Public Safety.

Actions do, indeed, “Speak louder than words.”

The creation of unforgivable criminal “Sanctuary” policies and jurisdictions Ms Pelosi and many of her Democratic Party colleagues support, constitutes an action that demonstrates their irrefutable support for vicious criminals including members of MS-13.

Could Pelosi and company possibly demonstrate more contempt for the innocent victims of these savages?

Let’s get that language straight.  Pelosi is not “Pro-Immigrant” she is an immigration anarchist!

EDITORS NOTE: This column originally appeared in FrontPage Magazine.

Brotherhood – I Choose Life

matt best ranger

Matt Best, U.S. Army Ranger.

Mat Best is a former U.S. Army Ranger turned online video satirist and film producer. Mat has five OIF/OEF combat tours with the 2nd Battalion 75th Ranger Regiment. Mat is the President of Article 15 Clothing. I learned about Mat from a column David Reeder did in Issue 14 of RECOIL Magazine.

One of the videos Mat did is titled “Brotherhood – I Choose Life.” On Memorial Day 2018 it is fitting and proper that we watch this video by Mat, who knows what this day truly means.