Charlie Crist’s First Major Policy Announcement a Disaster

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“Former Gov. Charlie Crist on Tuesday [July 29th] unveiled one of the first concrete policy proposals in his campaign to reclaim his old job, promising to use the state’s contracting power to boost wages for some workers and bar discrimination against gay and transgender Floridians… the plan relies almost entirely on the governor’s ability to influence state contracting. Companies that do business with agencies controlled by Crist would have to boost the minimum wage for workers to $10.10; face new policies on differences in pay between men and women; and be barred from discriminating against gay, bisexual or transgender employees,” reports Brandon Larrabee from The News Service of Florida.

This is Crist’s “First Day of Fairness” policy initiative. This policy announcement is a disaster because Crist does not understand the five basic principles of human nature.

John Hawkins published a column titled “5 Obvious Principles of Human Nature That Baffle Liberals” on the same day that Crist made his first major policy announcement. Hawkins states, “Liberals are forever struggling to understand the basic tenets of human nature that most other people just take for granted… Since it’s easier for light to escape a black hole than it is for a liberal to entertain a new thought, it’s probably hopeless to try to make them aware of what they’re missing. However, if you’re aware of the mistakes they habitually make, you may at least be able to keep more open-minded people from following them over a cliff.”

Republicans followed Crist over a cliff when they elected him governor. Let’s hope Democrats are smarter and more open-minded than that?

What are the 5 obvious principles of human nature that Crist ignores? Here is the short description of each principle as presented by Hawkins:

  1. People respond to incentives: This isn’t just Humanity 101; it’s Life On Earth 101. Want to teach a dog a trick? Get him to do the trick and then pet him on the head and give him a treat. Repeat it enough times and you can get the dog to sit, roll over, and give a high-five on command.
  2. Personal responsibility is good for people: The easiest way to foul anything up is to put someone in charge of it who won’t pay any price if it goes wrong. That’s one of the many reasons children are so hopelessly incompetent compared to adults. They’re not earning money, they’re don’t have any big responsibilities on their shoulders, and if things go wrong, Mommy and Daddy are at fault because they were in charge!
  3. Human beings are not angels: As James Madison said, “If men were angels, no government would be necessary.” Yes, people will come to this country specifically to get welfare and food stamps. Yes, people will commit voter fraud. Yes, there are an awful lot of poor people who DESERVE to be poor because they’re lazy, waste their money, or keep popping out kids by different daddies. Yes, there are just bad people out there who will murder you for no other crime than being American, Jewish, or even just “not Muslim.”
  4. Nobody cares as much about other people as they do for themselves: The modern Left’s intellectual forefathers in the Soviet Union never could wrap their heads around this one. “From each according to his ability, to each according to his need” may sound nice in theory, but in principle it can never work because of the ugly truth about human nature.
  5. Men and women are different: Rather famously, Time Magazine did a cover story in 1992 called, “Why are men and women different? It isn’t just upbringing. New studies show they are born that way.” Congrats to the liberal who finally figured something out in 1992 that cavemen who didn’t know how to make fire already grasped instinctively.

Read Hawkins full article by clicking here.

Crist in his first major policy announcement violates all five of these principles of human nature. Will Democrats follow him over the cliff?

EDITORS NOTE: The featured image is an edited graphic of an interview Charlie Crist had with the LGBT magazine Watermark. In the interview Crist now supports big government, unions, homosexuals and abortion. He states, “As a Republican, on social issues I always felt I was a round peg in a square hole. I just didn’t fit. But I tried, until I couldn’t do it any more… until I had to say, ‘Enough is enough.’” Crist got that right.

IRS and Obama State Department conferred about ways to deny tax-exempt status to pro-Israel groups

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Obama ought to be impeached for this alone. He has turned the United States government into an instrument to punish his political enemies, and shows in this particular incident how deeply he hates Israel and how ardently he supports the “Palestinian” jihad. Obama and the Left seem bent on destroying what was one of the great achievements of the United States: the continued existence of a loyal political opposition that was not subject to violence or oppression, but allowed to operate freely and accorded respect, as it accorded the same respect to the majority. Those days are over. There is a single perspective that is allowed in the mainstream media, the educational system, and the entertainment industry, and now Obama has gone one step beyond that and endeavored to make a group’s legal privileges subject to its submission to his political line. Dark days, indeed.

“The IRS’s Foreign Policy,” Wall Street Journal, July 28, 2014:

The IRS has stuck by its story that tax-exempt applications by conservatives got slow-rolled because of bureaucratic bungling not because the groups opposed President Obama’s policies. Now the slow drip of email evidence to congressional investigators is casting further doubt on that tale.

In 2009 the Pennsylvania group Z Street applied for tax-exempt status for its mission of educating people about Israel-related issues. In 2010 an IRS agent told Z Street that its application was delayed because the tax agency’s Washington, D.C. office was giving special scrutiny to groups whose missions might conflict with Administration policies. The IRS’s “Be On the Lookout” list that November also included red flags for groups referring to “disputed territories.”

Z Street sued in August 2010 for viewpoint discrimination and its case is headed for discovery in federal court. Emails uncovered by the House Ways and Means Committee show that the IRS and State Department were conferring in 2009 about pro-Israel groups like Z Street and considering arguments to deny their tax-exempt applications.

In an April 16, 2009 email, Treasury attache to the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem Katherine Bauer sent IRS and Treasury colleagues a 1997 JTA News article sent to her by State Department foreign service officer Breeann McCusker. The subject was whether 501(c) groups buying land in Israel’s disputed territories were engaged in “possible violations of U.S. tax laws.” The article chronicles the controversy and whether “ideological activity” can “legally be financed with the help of U.S. [tax] dollars.”

“Thought you might find the below article of interest—looks like we’ve been down this road before,” Ms. Bauer wrote. “Although I believe you’ve said you can’t speak to on-going investigations, I thought it was worth flagging the 1997 investigation mentioned below for you if it can be of any use internally when looking for precedence [sic] for the current cases.” A Treasury spokesman declined comment on Ms. Bauer’s behalf.

The “current cases” would have been applications like Z Street’s in which Israel-related activity was apparently being scrutinized for its ideological and policy content. The government says Z Street got special scrutiny because it was focused in a region with a higher risk of terrorism, which is hard to believe and in any case doesn’t explain all of the IRS’s behavior.

It doesn’t cover, for instance, why one questionnaire we’ve seen from the IRS to another Jewish group applying for tax-exempt status asked, “Does your organization support the existence of the land of Israel?” and “Describe your organization’s religious belief system toward the land of Israel.” No matter the answers, they should not affect the processing of an application for 501(c) status. The State-IRS emails reveal a political motivation for IRS scrutiny that gives Z Street powerful evidence for its suit charging IRS bias….

RELATED ARTICLES:

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Israeli reporter says Obama-Netanyahu transcript legitimate
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Joe Biden is a Vile Little Man

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Words can not express my disdain for the reprehensible behavior of Vice President Joe Biden and his Democrat co-conspirators. At a gathering of mostly black civil rights leaders Biden strategically launched a nasty false narrative for the sole propose of ginning up racial hate and division.

Republicans are requesting that Americans show an ID to vote, which is only common sense. This vile little man, Joe Biden, characterized the Republicans’ identification requirement as racial hate and an attempt to block blacks from voting.

As my late mom would say, adding yeast to his lie, Biden claimed Republicans have tried to curtail voting rights 83 times this year.

Biden’s accusation is absurd; a self-serving evil lie conceived by a deviant mind. Insidiously, Biden’s game plan is to rip open and pour enough salt into old 1960s civil rights movement wounds to motivate blacks to flock to the polls in November to vote against their perceived white racist enemies.

I refuse to give Biden’s “hate speech” a pass by chalking it up to politics as usual. Stoking the flames of racial hatred for political gain, polarizing Americans along racial lines is serious business, irresponsible and extremely dangerous.

Biden and his fellow Democrats cavalierly throwing “race grenades” whenever it serves their political purpose is a slap in the face to Americans, black and white, who suffered, sacrificed and died to bring us to where we are today; a black man occupying the Oval Office.

My 86 year old black dad, Dr. Rev. Lloyd E. Marcus was very active in the early civil rights movement. Dad knows the price that was paid to win blacks the right to vote. Upon my four siblings and me reaching voting age, Dad stayed on our case. “Today is election day — make sure you vote!” Dad instilled in us that voting is a duty and a privilege of being a citizen.

And yet, Dad’s Democratic party people are attempting to devalue the right to vote by giving it away to anyone they believe will vote Democrat, regardless of their legal status. The Democrats’ propensity for voter fraud cheapens the value of every American’s vote . This is why Biden and the Democrats vehemently oppose voter ID.

Meanwhile, rather than challenging the Democrats’ absurd claim that Republicans are trying to keep blacks from voting, political know-it-alls advise Republicans to concede the point. They say Republicans must convince blacks that they are not racist by lightening up on requiring blacks to show an ID to vote. Surrendering to the Democrats’ ridiculous claim and and pandering in accordance to it is sickeningly immoral and cowardice.

By the way, as a proud American who happens to be black, I am extremely insulted by the Democratic Party’s entrenched bigotry of lowered expectations. While Americans are required to present an ID to complete a plethora of daily transactions, Democrats are saying presenting an ID is too challenging for us blacks. We’re special…a bit slower than other Americans. With friends like the Democrats, blacks do not need any enemies.

In regards to national race relations, America has come a long way, baby. Older Americans have powerful memories, deep scars and countless stories of Americans behaving at their best and worse in our struggle to achieve Dr Martin Luther King Jr’s dream. I am talking much blood, sweat and tears.

And yet, Biden and the Democrats have callously tossed hard-fought national race relations on the alter into the fire to be burned as a sacrifice in worship of Obama and furthering their socialist/progressive agenda.

There is talk of Joe Biden running for president in 2016. The last thing America needs is another vile little man in the Oval Office willing to fuel the flames of division and racial hate, pitting Americans against each other for political expediency.

As my patriot brothers in New Jersey would say, “So you wanna be president Joe? Forget about it!”

RELATED VIDEO: “When I Meet a Democrat” by Bill Finley

[youtube]http://youtu.be/7EriclIRMTI[/youtube]

Law Center Calls for Immediate Impeachment

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In my previous column, I lay out exactly why the future of the Republican Party will be determined this November on the single issue of impeachment. In short, congressional Republicans have played dead for six years and unless they take a stand with the people who fund and elect them and impeach, their base will abandon them come November.

In an interview with the Chuck Wilder Show out of L.A. on July 22nd I field questions that should remove any doubts you might have about that. (July 22nd show – second hour at about 54 minutes in.)

After six years of manufactured disaster after purposeful disaster by the most impeachable administration in U.S. history, it all comes down to the Rule of Law or a totally lawless society and congressional Republicans are fast running out of time to choose a side.

As a result, the North American Law Center (NALC) has drafted the most complete and accurate set of Articles of Impeachment to date and is working with pro-American activists across the country to push House Republicans to stand up and fight for our Constitutional Republic and the Rule of Constitutional Law.

Influential Republicans Allen West, Gen. Jerry Boykin and Sarah Palin have all been pounding out the drumbeat of impeachment in recent statements and the North American Law Center is openly calling upon them and others to stand together behind a very carefully crafted set of Impeachment Articles in a joint effort to convince House Republicans to honor their oaths of office and end the assault on all things American.

NALC Lead Counsel Stephen Pidgeon explained the Articles on the July 28th Erik Rush Show:

“Since House Republicans lack the courage and decency to draft proper Impeachment Articles, we did it for them. And if they need thousands of Americans to force them to do the right thing, we will try to do that too”… Pidgeon said. – “Nothing in these Articles is about the so-called “birther” issue. It’s about truth, known facts and the rule of law.”

The NALC proposed Articles of Impeachment are very straight forward and yet, complete. They are broken into three general articles as follows;

ARTICLE I – Usurpation of the Oval Office via criminal identity fraud

“Compelling prima facie evidence exists which demonstrates that Barack Hussein Obama has engaged in false personation and aggravated identity theft and in conspiracy to commit false personation and identity theft in the pursuit of high office and governmental power.”

ARTICLE II – Malfeasance, misconduct and abuse of the Oval Office

“Using the powers of the office of President of the United States, Barack Hussein Obama, in violation of his constitutional oath faithfully to execute the office of President of the United States and, to the best of his ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, and in disregard of his constitutional duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, has repeatedly engaged in conduct violating the constitutional rights of citizens, impairing the due and proper administration of justice and the conduct of lawful inquiries, or contravening the laws governing agencies of the executive branch and the purposed of these agencies.”

ARTICLE III – Aiding and Abetting known enemies of the United States

“In his conduct of the office of President of the United States, Barack Hussein Obama – has directly engaged in the covert aiding and abetting of foreign entities via the funding, arming, training and intelligence assistance to the Muslim Brotherhood, ISIS, Al Qaeda, Hamas, the Taliban, the Palestinian Authority, Hezbollah, the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, the Free Syrian Army and others. He has directly or indirectly through the agencies under his direct command, used American tax dollars and assets to aid and abet known enemies of the United States, including known terror organizations and organizations identified on a Terrorist List established by the United States as enemies to the United States, in Egypt, Libya, Lebanon, Syria, Pakistan, Yemen, Tunisia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Kenya, Iran, Ukraine and North, Central and South America.”

The FULL ARTICLES OF IMPEACHMENT are available HERE in PDF form, including related laws pertaining to the crimes alleged in the articles.

Despite a growing number of public calls for impeachment in an effort to stop the ongoing destruction of our Constitutional Republic and block the Obama administration from single-handedly granting amnesty to millions of illegal invaders flooding into the country by Obama’s open invitation, Republican members of the House are floating nearly a dozen lame excuses for not keeping their oaths to protect and defend the nation and uphold the Rule of Constitutional Law.

  1. Republicans can’t impeach because it will cost them the 2014 election
  2. Republicans can’t impeach without Democrat support
  3. Republicans can’t impeach because Obama will initiate Martial Law
  4. Republicans can’t impeach because Harry Reid won’t convict
  5. Republicans can’t impeach because Joe Biden is worse than Obama
  6. Republicans can’t impeach because Obama is a usurper
  7. Republicans can’t impeach because they will be called “racists”
  8. Republicans can’t impeach because they will lose the illegal Latino vote
  9. Republicans can’t impeach because Bill Clinton wasn’t removed from office upon conviction
  10. Republicans can’t impeach because blacks will riot in the streets

If you are intent on never doing the right thing, any excuse will serve a tyrant.

The list of lame excuses for why Republicans “can’t” impeach is nearly endless, just like their list of excuses for why they can’t enforce existing immigration laws, or stop unconstitutional ObamaCare, or stop Obama from aiding and abetting known foreign enemies, or even block him from appointing known terror organization members to his cabinet.

Republicans have not even forced this administration to pass one lousy federal budget in six years. So, of course they can think of a dozen reasons not to impeach, or do anything else that matters today. That’s why groups like the North American Law Center have to do it for them! — And that’s why average American citizens feel it necessary to take law enforcement into their own hands on the Southern Border.

Yet there is only one reason needed to impeach…. It’s the right thing to do!

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to affect their Safety and Happiness.” – Declaration of Independence

The U.S. Constitution provides the peaceful and constitutional solution when bad actors find their way to power and the people must alter the government in order to protect and preserve freedom, liberty and the rule of law. It’s called impeachment…

“The President, Vice President and all Civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.”

Impeachment was placed in the U.S. Constitution for just the conditions we find ourselves in today. It provides a peaceful and orderly transition of power, from the hands of bad actors guilty of crimes and awaiting trial, and into the hands of those who will stop the disaster from getting any worse.

Supreme Court Justice Joseph Story (1811-1845) explained:

“The offenses to which the remedy of impeachment has been and will continue to be principally applied are of a political nature… What are aptly termed political offenses, growing out of personal misconduct, or gross neglect, or usurpation, or habitual disregard of the public interests.”

James Madison explained impeachment during the debates of the Constitutional Convention of 1787:

“Some provision should be made for defending the community against the incapacity, negligence, or perfidy of the chief magistrate. He might pervert his administration into a scheme of peculation or oppression. He might betray his trust to foreign powers.”

Alexander Hamilton explained in The Federalist Papers (No. 65) that:

“[I]mpeachment of the president should take place for offenses which proceed from the misconduct of public men, or in other words, from the abuse or violation of some public trust. They are of a nature which may with peculiar propriety be denominated political, as they relate chiefly to injuries done immediately to society itself.”

Over seventy-percent of Americans believe that the Obama Administration has abused public power and violated the public trust in so many ways that it would take a few encyclopedia volumes to chronicle it all. Half of Americans are convinced that Barack Hussein Obama is hiding his true identity and the true nature of his anti-American policies.

If ever in U.S. history there was an administration so ripe for impeachment, it is the Obama administration which starts and ends every day with more impeachable offenses. Even members of the black community are calling for impeachment.

But as NALC Lead Counsel Stephen Pidgeon points out, “It’s not enough to impeach, it must be done correctly, in the interest of the United States and the Rule of Constitutional Law.”

To uphold, protect and preserve constitutional law, we must simply follow and enforce constitutional law.

When our representatives in congress lack the decency, courage and good sense to do what must be done, the buck does not stop with them. The buck stops with the American people who sit idle and allow their public servants to behave in such a cowardly self-serving manner with complete impunity.

The buck stops with the American people!  

Before today’s Republicans are going to “do the right thing,” the American people will have to do the right thing first!

The people must stop sitting around on social networking sites whining, complaining and playing armchair political strategist focused on how elect to more politicians that they will never hold accountable after the election. It’s time; no… it’s well past the time to hold our current crop of public servants fully accountable for their actions and their fatal in-actions.

Before members of congress will grow the stones to take a real stand for the United States of America, “We the People” will have to grow the stones first!

It’s up to “the people” to make their representatives represent them.

It only takes one House member to place these Articles of Impeachment into the House Judiciary Committee. Make sure that YOUR House member is that ONE! Send the Articles to your House Representative HERE. All members of congress will be on August recess as of the end of this week. Make sure they don’t have a moment’s peace and quiet in their home districts on recess.

See them while they are at home and hand-deliver the Articles to their local offices.

Make sure that every member of the House Judiciary Committee receives a copy HERE.

Also, if you are working to support a congressional challenger in the 2014 election cycle, make sure that they have a copy. If they will not openly support impeaching the most impeachable administration in U.S. history, why are you supporting their do-nothing challenge of a do-nothing incumbent?

The bottom line is that “the people” must accept personal responsibility for how their public servants behave. If you won’t do the right things, why should they and how can you even expect them to?

Impeachment is not up to them. It’s up to you!

The North American Law Center is a public policy and constitutional law division of The United States Patriots Union. They are requesting support for this action HERE.

The Common Core Fight: Small Victories and the Way Forward

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“You’re lined up against business interests, the entire public school bureaucracy, Bill Gates and his billions, public broadcasting, the rest of the media, the Chamber of Commerce, and every elected official who is indebted to the Chamber of Commerce, which means virtually every elected official,” Says Tina Trent, who has been leading Common Core workshops on political organizing in Georgia and Florida.

In spite of hundreds of millions of dollars from Bill Gates and affiliated business and non-profit groups, and promotion by the Department of Education, support for Common Core among parents of school-age children is plummeting.

A united front stands against Common Core, as even Washington Post columnist Valerie Strauss acknowledged.  She wrote recently, “even more sober-minded people felt the Obama administration had coerced states into adopting the standards with federal money and No Child Left Behind waivers.”  Opposed to the “more sober-minded people” in Strauss’s estimation, were “far-right-wingers who saw the Core as a federal conspiracy to turn students gay, or communist.”  Those Strauss smears as “far-right-wingers,” however, were the first to recognize Common Core for the federally coercive radical effort that it is.

Potential Republican presidential candidates are also suddenly recognizing the wisdom of the grassroots and making some about-faces.

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, former Common Core champion, recently signed an executive order to replace Common Core tests with new tests, for which he has been threatened with a lawsuit. Then, seventeen lawmakers filed a lawsuit seeking an end to the Common Core standards in the state.

New Jersey governor Chris Christie announced at the recent National Governors Association meeting that he is considering an executive order against Common Core.  Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker said he had proposed a state measure to replace Common Core.  The National Governors Association, a major player in ushering in the standards in 2009, did not even put Common Core on their agenda this year.

In state legislatures there were some victories, and some partial victories.  Indiana officially dropped Common Core, but activists are calling out Governor Pence for keeping the standards under a new name.

In Missouri, the Missouri Coalition Against Common Core publicly thanked Governor Jay Nixon for signing HB 1490 into law.  According to the website, the bill’s main purpose is “to define a system wherein state education experts will evaluate and recommend state K-12 education standards.”   The bill means relying on the professional integrity of those in the work groups.

Still it is a “step forward,” for the coalition, described by co-founder Dr. Mary Byrne, Ed.D., as “a group of people throughout the state who respect each other’s strengths and honor independent thought and action.”  Various volunteers keep track of multiple bills, when necessary.  The core members are registered lobbyists, although they deliberately speak without charge and pay for the materials they distribute in order to be free from “top-down control.”

Two states did pass Common Core withdrawal bills, Oklahoma and South Carolina.

Pushback came, though.  The Oklahoma Board of Education sued the lawmakers, alleging that they did not have the Constitutional authority to repeal Common Core standards.  The Oklahoma Supreme Court, however, ruled against them.

According to Jane Robbins, senior fellow at the American Principles Project, Oklahoma succeeded because of a solidly conservative legislature, a longer legislative session that allowed more time for planning and lobbying, and a governor attuned to the grassroots.

But for South Carolina, Robbins is not yet ready to declare victory.  The State Superintendent seems determined to develop genuinely new standards and not just re-brand Common Core, Robbins says.  However, he faces challenges: the standards will have to be approved by the State Board and the Education Oversight Committee.  She advises the grassroots to keep up the pressure on these groups and the incoming State Superintendent (after November elections) to make sure the ball isn’t dropped.

One of the strategies of Common Core promoters is to implement new tests before standards, and then to argue that it would be a waste of money to change the standards after so much had been spent on tests. The South Carolina bill requires the new test be implemented the year before the new standards are.  (The “funds already spent” was a frequent argument in Georgia.)  Activists need to be aware of such pitfalls in testing contracts.

Georgia, as I reported in Part I, experienced a major defeat on Common Core withdrawal legislation this last session.  Although corporate interests “won this round,” Robbins states, “Georgia parents won’t go away. Their children are too important.”

That is why they stay in the David-and-Goliath fight.  Tina Trent, who has been leading workshops on political organizing in Georgia and Florida, tells activists to be realistic: Many just learned the ropes of state lobbying this year.

It will be a multi-year fight, Trent warns.  She advises patience, long-term planning, and coalition-building.  Activists are up against an array of well-organized political and corporate interests, “an army of paid, professional lobbyists,” and teachers and school administrators whose paychecks depend on implementing Common Core.

“You’re lined up against business interests, the entire public school bureaucracy, Bill Gates and his billions, public broadcasting, the rest of the media, the Chamber of Commerce, and every elected official who is indebted to the Chamber of Commerce, which means virtually every elected official,” Trent says.

The July 22 Georgia primary run-off suggests that the public is turning against candidates they associate with such interests.  Pundits on both sides attribute Republican U.S. Senate candidate Jack Kingston’s loss to his association with the Chamber of Commerce.  At the state school superintendent level, Common Core opponent Richard Woods won with a 700-vote lead over Common Core proponent Mike Buck. At Buck’s request, a recount is expected to take place this week.

The grassroots anti-Common Core activists are learning from experience, and seeing the big picture.  This means keeping education decisions at the local level.  Christina Leventis, an activist in Nevada, warns about bills like her state’s SB197, which was passed in 2011.  The law replaced the 10-member elected board of education with a seven-member panel: four elected from each of the state’s congressional districts and three appointed by the governor.  Parents and citizens lose influence when power is ceded to the executive in this way.

“Top-down” control is just not good—as the founding fathers determined.  Common Core, of course, is top-down all the way, and that is the bottom-line reason why it needs to be defeated.

EDITORS NOTE: This column originally appeared on the Selous Foundation for Public Policy Research. The featured image is courtesy of the Selous Foundation.

Responding to a Gay Man Who Wants to Redefine Marriage

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Ryan T. Anderson responded to this question from a gay man, “Why should I, as a gay man, be denied the same right to file a joint tax return with my potential husband that a straight couple has?” This video of Anderson’s reply adds clarity to why marriage is defined as between one man and one woman in Florida:

Anderson also talked about the differences between the law’s interest in contracts and in marriage:

Curious in hearing more? Here are the highlights from Anderson’s remarks, his full speech, and the full Q&A courtesy of The Daily Signal.

ABOUT RYAN T. ANDERSON

Portrait of Ryan T. Anderson

Ryan T. Anderson researches and writes about marriage and religious liberty as the William E. Simon Fellow at The Heritage Foundation. He also focuses on justice and moral principles in economic thought, health care and education, and has expertise in bioethics and natural law theory. Contact Ryan at: Ryan T. Anderson@RyanT_Anderson

RELATED ARTICLE: Why One Judge Says There Is No to Right Same-Sex Marriage

Quinnipiac Poll on Florida Amendment 2: Misleading Question, Faulty Methodology

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The Vote No on 2 Campaign today issued the following statement, attributed to its Spokesperson Sarah Bascom, in regards to the Quinnipiac Poll released today on Amendment 2.

“Why won’t Quinnipiac ask whether or not voters support Amendment 2 – which is the only thing that will appear on the ballot?  That’s the real question.

“This poll has been, and continues to be, a complete outlier in support of medical marijuana because it asks a question that won’t be on the ballot.  Amendment 2 doesn’t require a doctor’s prescription.

“Even the recent poll by the Yes on 2 campaign shows significantly less support for their own Amendment than this poll that relies on misleading wording and flawed methodology.”

Background

Quinnipiac’s methodology appears to show that they are not concerned with historical voting patterns commonly used to predict election outcomes.  Here’s a sample of just a few data points.

2012  Florida Turnout       2010 Florida Turnout        2014 Quinnipiac model

39% Republican                    46% Republican                    28% Republican

40% Democrat                        38% Democrat                      31% Democrat

21% Independent                 16% Independent               32% Independent

13% – 18-29                               5% – 18-29                              15% – 18-29

Back in Iraq? Foreign policy déja vù all over again by Doug Bandow

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Little more than a decade ago, the United States invaded Iraq. The promised cakewalk turned out far different than expected. Today its government and entire state, created by Washington, are in crisis. Yet the same voices again are being raised calling for military intervention, with the promise that this time everything will turn out well.

Social engineers never seem to learn. It is hard enough to redesign and remake individuals, families, and communities in the United States. It is far harder to do so overseas.

Nation-building requires surmounting often vast differences in tradition, culture, history, religion, ethnicity, ideology, geography, and more. Doing so also requires suppressing people’s natural desire to govern themselves.

It doesn’t matter if Americans could do it better. With positions reversed they would insist that the foreigners, however well-meaning, leave them alone. Imagine if the French offered to—nay, insisted on—sticking around at the end of the Revolutionary War to “help” the backward colonials make a new nation. Guns would again be pulled down from fireplace mantles across the land!

Yet these days Washington continues to try to fix the world’s problems. In recent years the United States has deployed forces to Haiti, Somalia, Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Iraq. Occupying these lands was in no case a military necessity. Nation-building has not turned out particularly well.

However, until now Washington at least has limited itself to one bout of society-molding per country. Reentering Iraq would be an attempted redo barely a decade after the first go. Rarely has a victorious war proved to be so fruitless and counterproductive so quickly.

Remember the original promises surrounding the Iraq operation? A quick, bloodless war would destroy dangerous weapons of mass destruction and “drain the swamp,” eliminating terrorism.The United States would guarantee a friendly, compliant government by imposing as president an exile who hadn’t lived in the country for decades. The new Iraq would implement democracy,eschew sectarian division, protect women’s rights, and even recognize Israel, while providing America bases for use in attacking neighboring states, including Iran, which with its Shia majority shared manifold religious, cultural, and personal ties with Iraq.

It was a wonderful wish list. Alas, it turned out to be pure fantasy. The conflict killed thousands and wounded tens of thousands of Americans, while killing hundreds of thousands of Iraqis and displacing millions more. The ancient Christian community was destroyed. The ultimate financial cost to the United States, including the expense of caring for those who sustained debilitating wounds, will likely run $3 trillion or more. The invasion stained the United States’s reputation, empowered Iran, and gave training to a new generation of terrorists.

Finally, Baghdad’s sectarian misrule wrecked national institutions and fostered the rise of an ugly Islamic totalitarianism. While the ISIL “caliphate” is likely to find it harder to actually rule than to claim to rule, the movement now calling itself the “Islamic State” seems capable of creating more than its share of human hardship along the way.

That’s quite an impact from that one little invasion so long ago. Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?

The obvious—indeed, only—policy for Americans is to run, not walk, away from the mess.

Yet many of the architects of the original disaster are back, advocating a second shot. Never mind the past, they argue. No need to cast blame, they assert. Everything was going swell before the new administration took over.

The President is putting in Special Forces. Many others advocate drone and air strikes. A few forthrightly call for boots on the ground. William Kristol and Frederick Kagan, for instance, want Washington to take on everyone: Defeat ISIL, force Baghdad government to include Sunnis, and make Iran withdraw its military aid. A three-sided war this time! What could possibly go wrong?

There’s no doubt that ISIL is a malignant force. But the United States should make clear to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki that Americans will not bail him out after his policies led to the ongoing catastrophe. Without political reform it is hard to see how Iraq can be saved.

Part of the political response must be to engage Sunni tribes and former Ba’athists who allied with ISIL to oust the national government from Sunni areas of Iraq. It is unlikely that they want to go back to the seventh century; in fact, they already are chafing under the group’s ruthless Islamic rule, as well as increased economic hardship after being “liberated” by a pretend nation state. Iraq’s Shia majority needs to propose reforms that offer Sunnis a better option than remaining in caliphate hell.

In any case, Washington should drop its insistence that Iraq stay together. Kurds are moving toward a vote for independence. Sunnis are deeply alienated. Baghdad’s Shiite leadership remains committed to narrow sectarian politics. Extensive federalism/partition may be the only way to prevent endless killing.

The United States also needs to stop supporting Syria’s opposition. Instead, the priority should be stopping ISIL, which gained its first victories, along with access to financial resources and military material, in Syria. President Bashar al-Assad is odious, but his dictatorship is not dedicated to destabilizing the entire region. If Washington further undermines Assad, it will inevitably help ISIL. Arming the moderate opposition, which so far has lost ground and weapons to the radicals, might do little more than end up further empowering ISIL.

Finally, American officials should invite allies, friends, and even adversaries to cooperate to contain ISIL. The group’s professed ambitions cover much of the Middle East. Numerous nations have good reason to isolate, sanction, and even strike ISIL. Turkey has a first-rate military. Jordan has a capable though fragile government, and a powerful incentive to act: It has been destabilized both by Arab Spring sentiments and by a refugee tsunami from Iraq and Syria, andit  is in ISIL’s gunsite.

Iran, though no friend, shares Washington’s antipathy toward ISIL and wants to preserve rule by its co-religionists in Iraq. Lebanon is even more vulnerable than Jordan. The Gulf states,including Kuwait, the emirates, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia, though mostly Sunni, also are targeted for subversion. Israel does not want to see a radical Islamist state, especially one that wrecks Jordan next door. These nations have different capabilities and interests, but all could help contain and ultimately roll back ISIL’s gains.

The Iraq war should have demonstrated beyond doubt that military intervention has unintended and unforeseen consequences, just like economic intervention. People devoted to individual liberties and limited government should be particularly skeptical of proposals to expand the state—after all, war is the biggest Big Government program—for the purpose of social engineering around the world.

The revival of civil war and veritable collapse of Iraq’s central state are tragedies, but not ones affecting vital American interests. The lesson from 2003 is clear: War truly should be a last resort, never just another policy tool to be used when convenient. The Iraqi imbroglio beckons the usual policy suspects, but the right response is to say, no, the Americans aren’t coming.

dougbandow3540ABOUT DOUG BANDOW

Doug Bandow is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute and the author of a number of books on economics and politics. He writes regularly on military non-interventionism.

EDITORS NOTE: The featured image is courtesy of FEE and Shutterstock.

Proof that the Council for American Islamic Relations (CAIR) is HAMAS

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The Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) describes itself as a “non-profit, grassroots membership organization…established to promote a positive image of Islam and Muslims in America,” and to protect Muslims from hate crimes and discrimination. According to the council’s spokesman Ibrahim Hooper, “We are similar to a Muslim NAACP.” CAIR has further explained that it is “dedicated to presenting an Islamic perspective on issues of importance to the American public.”

There is one problem, this non-profit is supporting the blockade of ships coming to the Port of Oakland. The poster below was found by Ken, one of our readers, on the CAIR Facebook members page. Is this promoting a “positive image of Islam and Muslims in America”? Is this the role of a non-profit? Should not this clear political action against a U.S. ally not cause the IRS to review and potentially withdraw CAIR’s non-profit status?

cair poster

Poster on the CAIR Facebook members page. For a larger view click on the poster.

According to Discover the Networks, CAIR has strong ties to the terrorist group Hamas:

  • “[CAIR] was formed not by Muslim religious leaders throughout the country, but as an offshoot of the Islamic Association of Palestine (IAP). Incorporated in Texas, the IAP has close ties to Hamas and has trumpeted its support for terrorist activities.” Former chief of the FBI’s counter terrorism section, Oliver Revell, called the IAP “a front organization for Hamas that engages in propaganda for Islamic militants.”
  • CAIR’s head, Nihad Awad asserted at a 1994 meeting at Barry University, “I am a supporter of the Hamas movement.”
  • Former FBI counter terrorism chief, Steven Pomerantz, stated publicly that, “CAIR, its leaders and its activities effectively give aid to international terrorist groups.”

CAIR promotes extremist views and a radical Islamic vision:

  • At a speech in Fremont, California, Omar M. Ahmad of CAIR proclaimed that, “Islam isn’t in America to be equal to any other faith, but to become dominant. The Koran…should be the highest authority in America, and Islam the only accepted religion on Earth.”

CAIR spokesman Ibrahim Hooper equates Christian leaders such as Rev. Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson and Rev. Jimmy Swaggart with Osama bin Laden because he claims that given the chance, they would commit mass murder against Muslims. “They’re the equivalent of our Osama bin Laden,” Hooper told WABC Radio’s Steve Malzberg. When asked to clarify if Osama bin Laden’s goal was to kill Christians, Jews and Westerners, Hooper responded, “Yes, that’s one of his goals. And I’m sure that, given the right circumstance, [Falwell, Robertson and Swaggart] would do the same in the opposite direction.”

  • CAIR is an apologist for convicted Islamic terrorists:
  • CAIR’s founder, Nihad Awad, wrote in the Muslim World Monitor that the 1994 World Trade Center trial, which ended in the conviction of four Islamic fundamentalist terrorists, was “a travesty of justice.” According to Awad — and despite the confessions of the terrorists from the 1993 attack — “there is ample evidence indicating that both the Mossad and the Egyptian Intelligence played a role in the explosion.”
  • On Feb. 2, 1995, U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White named Siraj Wahhaj as one of the “unindicted persons who may be alleged as co-conspirators” in the attempt to blow up New York City monuments. Yet CAIR deems him “one of the most respected Muslim leaders in America” and includes him on its advisory board.

CAIR is reluctant to condemn terrorists and terrorism:

  • In October 1998, the group demanded the removal of a Los Angeles billboard describing Osama bin Laden as “the sworn enemy,” finding this depiction “offensive to Muslims.”
  • In 1998, CAIR denied bin Laden’s responsibility for the two Al Queda African embassy bombings. According to CAIR spokesman Ibrahim Hooper, the bombings resulted from a “misunderstandings of both sides.”

CAIR supports organizations that fund terrorism:

  • When President Bush closed the Holy Land Foundation in December 2001 for collecting money that intelligence found was “used to support the Hamas terror organization,” CAIR decried his action as “unjust” and “disturbing.

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Catholic Church and Money: The Church Must Stop Taking Government Money!

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PART 1: SERVING TWO MASTERS

When the Holy Catholic Church takes money from the corrupt, liberal government (whether it is Common Core or Immigration money) that same government then gets to pull the strings, call all the shots and order the Catholic Church to “jump” when it says “jump. “How High?” the Church leaders continue to ask.

So, which is it going to be? Does the Holy Catholic Church sell her soul for “30 pieces of silver” and worship the almighty dollar or does the Holy Catholic Church obey her own 8th Commandment and stick to her sacred Church teachings and focus on worshiping the Almighty Father?

Hope all is well with you as this controversial topic of Federal Government Money and the Holy Catholic Church is brought to light once again. (I will make it a point to try not to talk about the “Curse of Common Core” and how it relates to the Federal Government and the Catholic Church). This particular article that I am bringing to you today does a terrific job in elaborating on the “predicament” that the Holy Catholic Church puts herself into whenever the people who run the Church get greedy, do business with the devil, forget about the Almighty Father and chase that Almighty Dollar. I have written about this topic “7 times 70 times” – yet, those who run the Holy Catholic Church continue to break that 8th Commandment and “steal from the Kingdom”… with no “Father, Forgive me” in sight.

And, notice that I continue to say “Those who run the Holy Catholic Church”… As time goes on and I see the evil and wickedness that attacks our beloved Church on a daily basis and I see so many of our church leaders “fall from grace” – I seem to fall more in love with this Church…with the original church that Jesus built upon the rock of Peter 2,000 years ago and the one who Jesus said that “the gates of hell will not prevail”. That is the Catholic Church that I belong to – the old school – the one who I adore and worship with all my being. The one with the 7 Sacraments, the 8 Beatitudes, the 10 Commandments, the 12 apostles, the 14 stations of the cross, the 1.2 billion followers. The one that Saint Francis of Assisi was so fond of. I will never leave that One Holy Catholic & Apostolic Church even if “hell freezes over”. That is the Holy Catholic Church that I signed up for and will remain Faithful until I go meet the One who created me. But, it is not this eternal Holy Catholic Church that disturbs me today – but, rather, it is the people who run this same Holy Catholic Church today that have no business running it that has me and so many others up in arms because it is just that:

THE HOLY CATHOLIC CHURCH IS NOT A BUSINESS – IT IS A MINISTRY!

And, until these ever-confused lay employees and leaders of the Church begin to understand that concept, the Holy Catholic Church will continue to fall from grace, the church leaders will continue to be corrupt and the clergy sex scandals will never go away. The Holy Catholic Church is NOT a business. It is a ministry. Let’s get that straight. That is why Jesus collected 12 apostles and commanded that they baptize all nations in the name of the Holy Trinity and that they love one another while doing so. That was a life-long ministry deal – not a “quick buck” business deal. There was no money exchanged here – just a ton of faith, hope and love. Those apostles got it. When those who run the church today “do not get it” and run it like a business and not like a ministry, the Church has no choice but to fail because they are missing what Jesus taught His beloved disciples. And, that is the underlying problem with our beloved Church today. We are missing the true teachings of the One who was crucified for us. And, when the 21st century MAN gets involved in running our church like a business instead of a ministry (a loving way of life) – then, sin comes to the forefront and we begin to do business with the evil one, himself… and, friends, the devil never carries change with him…

And, when the Holy Catholic Church allows MAN to do business with the devil and allows these “un-churched” lay individuals to run our beloved church (like “elected” outside Board of Directors who have their own agendas and their own religious beliefs) – then, all hell breaks loose and Heaven begins to seem like a long shot…and the word “salvation” does not come into play with what our mission on this earth is. Our mission statement then becomes clouded; the focus is lost and we forget what the Catholic Church actually teaches. If our church leaders and those unfocused lay people who run the daily operations of it have no clue what Catholic Church teachings are, then, how in GOD’S name is our beloved Church supposed to thrive, let alone survive??? Who is accountable? Who is responsible for the success or failure of our Church today when we don’t know what the Truth is?

The better question here is: “Who is teaching our up-coming generations about true Catholic Church teachings when those running the church (majority are lay people), have no clue what the Catholic Church teaches”? The blind leading the blind and there are plenty of “Blind Barnabas” out there…We need more than mud and spit here, friends…

THE TRUTH OF THE MATTER

Honest food for thought… I am bringing these issues up because this is what we see on a daily basis and we do not know any better. Because nobody takes the time to teach us the real truth!

Do you have any idea how many times our own beloved priests and pastors have come to me and expressed this very issue about Catholic Church teachings that I am talking about and they, themselves telling me that they don’t even know what the Catholic Church teaches anymore? Many of them are confused and unsure because there is no “recurrent training”. Now, that is beyond frightening. Let that sink in for a moment. Maybe two. Our own pastors and priests not knowing what Pope Francis meant when he said “Who am I to Judge” when speaking about not judging the homosexuals of the world and embracing everybody. What did our beloved Holy Father mean by those “5” profound words? Was he telling the entire world that he is “taking the 5th”? With all due respect for our beloved Holy Father, did he mean that anything goes? So, is homosexuality accepted in the Catholic Church now??? Are we going to have same sex marriages in our Holy Catholic Church? Who knows? Who are we to judge? Who in today’s world has the guts to speak the Real Truth and share it with the rest of the 1.2 billion Catholics in this world?

IS IT TIME FOR VATICAN III?

When clergy around the country have humbly confessed to me that they cannot even be “spiritual directors” any more because they do not know what the “trends of the Church” are today – that they have not been instructed as to what is acceptable in today’s society and today’s church – that scares the hell out of me. Our own priests cannot keep up with what is going on today and the Truth now all becomes blurred, watered down and skewed. Relativity comes into play…Relative to what, I ask? What used to be evil is now good. What used to be good is now evil. Where does the Catholic Church stand on all this? I will be the first to admit that I am a bit confused, myself.

When a good majority of our clergy cannot explain to a 15 year old Life Teen kid today how the Church stands on the controversial issue of contraception…on why abortion is accepted by so many Catholics today and that “we cannot speak about it from the pulpits because we may lose a good number of our parishioners and tithing”. Our own clergy have a tough time explaining why 51% of those same liberal Catholics voted for a President who supports everything that the Holy Catholic Church is against…Oxymoron to the nth degree…Are all of our priests on the same page today? Are they all in the same book? Are they all receiving the same instruction from the same manual – the Holy Bible?

Think about this for one moment: If more than half of your parishes’ congregation voted for abortion, same sex marriage, and all the immoral positions that the Obama administration holds near and dear to their liberal hearts – how are our clergy supposed to make sense of this entire debacle and try to explain that to the “rest” of the congregation? Which “half”? Who is right? Who is wrong? What does the Catholic Church teach? Try to put yourself in one of our pastors’ positions today when you know that more than half of your congregation believes in killing unborn babies and accepts the fact that two men can marry at the sacred altar – and your job is not to teach the Truth – but rather, to keep them coming back…What are your Homilies going to talk about? Just think about that for another moment. Until we clean house and speak the Truth from our pulpits in every Catholic Church in America today, we will continue to fool ourselves, sugar coat reality and not only play devil’s advocate – but, play the devil, himself…We’ve got to get that damn devil out of our churches today…

And, why are there are so many cars parked at our Diocesan headquarters – the Pastoral Center in Palm Beach Gardens – that still have Obama/Biden bumper stickers on their cars? There were dozens of them during the elections of November, 2012. Yes, parked right here at our sacred Catholic Headquarters promoting a president who has wreaked havoc on our innocent unborn for the past 6 years…Employee parking? You can see for yourself. Take inventory, guys. It’s time to clean the Lord’s house…

Why we continue to run Catholic events at hotels and establishments that support Planned Parenthood and the atrocities of abortion. Why we continue to defy the “Planned Parenthood Boycott List” and do business with the devil because it is “more convenient & less expensive”…Why we continue to allow the Girl Scouts of America to sell their ever-popular cookies at all of our parishes, while knowing that 15% of their profits go straight to Planned Parenthood’s abortion mills. Why so many Catholic dioceses around the country (100), continue to even entertain implementing the “Curse of Common Core” when I have called every single one of them out on it because of the intrinsic evils it represents and that we cannot serve two masters? Why do they insist on continuing to push the envelope while trying to do business with the devil and chase after that Almighty Dollar? Why can’t our Catholic priests come out and publicly tell the congregations at every single church in the country that “Holy Matrimony is between one man and one woman, only”?…

Why we have NOT stood up against the unethical Obama administration, the H.H.S Mandate, Obamacare and King Obama’s countless Executive Orders – in regards to our religious freedom and how they have attacked our Christian Faith repeatedly – forcing the Catholic Faithful to take orders from the White House instead of the Vatican…I can go on and on…Who knows anything about this and why can’t they bring these topics to light to the Catholic Faithful? What church leaders are accountable for getting these issues out in the public square and in our churches? Who is teaching anything about these current events today as they relate to Catholic Church teachings? What are we to tell our beloved children about these controversial issues that never to seem to go away? Why are there only a handful of priests speaking up about these issues from our pulpits today? Where is our beloved USCCB when we need them??? It seems like everybody who has any leadership roles in our beloved Catholic Church is so fearful of taking a stand and telling the Truth. And, friends, all I am doing here in this e-mail is simply “Telling the Truth”…Not pointing fingers at anybody – just “Telling the Truth”. One cannot get in trouble when speaking the Truth…and that is all I have done since I was a little kid attending Catholic schools.

In Part II, I will elaborate more on this ever-controversial topic as I will allow “The Bold One”, himself, Michael Voris & his Church Militant, to show us a little bit about the horrors behind the scenes of the Catholic Church when it comes to who is actually running the day to day operations of the largest religious institution in the world. Beyond frightening, folks. Fasten your seat belts and do the sign of the cross, brothers and sisters…

Meanwhile, click on to the link below and see what this eye-opening article has to say in terms of the Catholic Church taking the devil’s money in order to do business. This column focuses on the same topic that I wrote about two weeks ago in my Dr. Rich Swier E-Magazine article – “Immigration and the Holy Catholic Church“. Check it out. It makes a ton of sense…I mean, a ton of cents…It’s the root of all evil.

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The Church Needs To Stop Taking Government Money | Acton PowerBlog

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The Church Needs To Stop Taking Government Money | …

Phil Lawler at CatholicCulture.org voices what should be obvious: that by taking federal money and grants, the Catholic Church has put herself in a very …
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The Next Great War: Al Qaeda on the march

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In the July 24 edition of The Wall Street Journal there was a commentary, “Wanted: Converts to Judaism” by the chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary, Arnold M. Eisen. I thought to myself that this was an extraordinary time to be suggesting conversion to a faith that is literally under attack in Israel and being attacked by the reemergence of anti-Semitism in Europe. Here in America we are witnessing the most pro-Islamic and anti-Semitic administration in the history of nation.

In the wake of the Holocaust following World War Two what anti-Semitism existed in the U.S. gave way to an era of good will toward Jews. In Europe open expressions of anti-Semitism were out of favor. Eisen’s concern is the extensive inter-marriage between Christians and Jews in which Judaism is often abandoned in our historically Christian society. The news about Jews in the post-war years was largely about the nation of Israel and the wars it fought to re-establish and maintain the Jewish state.

What those wars should have told us was that Islamic hatred of Judaism extends to Christianity as well.

For Americans that lesson was driven home on September 11, 2001, but even the memory of that event has begun to fade to such an extent that Americans have twice elected a President who has never hidden his admiration for Islam, whose father was a Muslim, and who spent part of his youth in the Islamic nation of Indonesia. In office, his antipathy to Israel has been in stark contrast to the decades of support for Israel that presidents since Harry Truman have demonstrated.

A curious trend has emerged in America that runs counter to its entire history. The celebratory elements of Christian holy days, particularly Christmas, came under attack with demands that holiday scenes of crèches and even crosses be removed from public areas. Being religious was not encouraged and the tradition of starting the school day with a prayer was banned.

It is not too far a reach to say that the West, America and Europe, has been abandoning the depth of faith that distinguished it as church attendance fell off and resistance to attacks on the practice of religion declined. Home to some of the most beautiful churches on Earth, those in Europe are too often virtually empty.

This has not been the case in the Middle East and parts of Africa where Islam has awakened from its passive existence due in part to the colonization that preceded and followed World War One. The riches that oil provided have played a role and today a nation like Qatar is funding the emergence of ISIS, the self-declared caliphate calling itself the Islamic State.

Other oil-rich Middle East nations have supported al Qaeda only to discover that they were among its targets. ISIS has turned on Muslims in the area between Syria and into northern Iraq whom they declare hypocrites and apostates. In Mosul, Christians have been told to convert, pay a tax, or die.

While the rockets that have rained down on Israel are dramatic, the attacks on Christians throughout the Middle East have received less attention, but Christian Arabs have been driven from their homelands in the same way the establishment of Israel saw Jews forced to abandon homes in which they had lived for generations.

While Americans, joined by European negotiators, attempt to get Iran to abandon its nuclear weapons program, they remain blind to the role Iran has played for decades, using Hezbollah and Hamas, two Palestinian terrorist organizations, to wage war on Israel and, by extension, the U.S. Not a day goes by without the calls, “Death to America” and “Death to Israel.” There is only one way to end Iran’s nuclear program and that is to destroy the facilities that enrich uranium and plutonium. At some point, it will come to that because it must.

Israel is making it clear to the world that there is only one way to rid itself of Hamas and that is a military operation. Its troops are finding an astounding matrix of tunnels whose only purpose is to attack it.

Utterly devoid of any moral standards, Hamas uses homes, schools and hospitals to hide its arsenal of rockets and Palestinian civilians are forced to act as human shields. The world’s media focuses on the deaths of their men, women, and children, but little notice of the rockets and missiles that continue to be fired at Israel. Meanwhile Hamas has been abandoned by Egypt and most other Middle Eastern nations other than Iran and Turkey.

The so-called Palestinians have been led by men like the late Yassir Arafat and currently by Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority, Fatah. Abbas has recently moved his family to a home in Jordan in the face of criticism that he has been too “cooperative” with Israel. On Quds Day last week, an event organized throughout the Middle East by Iran, an estimated 10,000 protesters gathered in the West Bank to protest Israel’s control of Jerusalem, a holy city to Jews and Christians, claimed as well by Islam. It was founded by King David.

Even so, the European business sector was quick to engage with Iran following the news of the negotiations which have been extended and which have granted Iran billions in return for sitting at the table to discuss an end to the nuclear program that it will never abandon.

In 1913, no one in Europe or America would have ever predicted the beginning of World War One in 1914. It began on July 28, 1914. As the historian Charles Emmerson said of the unanticipated war, “Humanity looked into the abyss and peering into the depths, found its own dark, disfigured reflection staring back.”

In 2014, a century later, humanity needs to take a look at the fascistic, utterly immoral objectives and practices of Islam, and understand that it is at war with us, with moderate Muslims, and with all other faiths. It’s not “if” will shall have to deal with it militarily as Israel is doing, but “when.” That day is not far off.

© Alan Caruba, 2014

RELATED ARTICLE: Hamas to Buy N. Korean Weapons as Kerry Pledges $47 Million in Gaza Aid

PLO calls Rubio an “Islamophobe” — Rubio says HAMAS must be “eliminated”

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Senator Marco Rubio took to the floor of the U.S. Senate to provide perspective on the Gaza conflict and to respond to a letter from the Palestinian Liberation Organization. Senator Rubio responded by stating:

I hope the United States continues to be firmly on the side of Israel, because there is no moral equivalency here. What is happening between Israel and Hamas is totally 100 percent the fault of Hamas. There is no moral equivalency here. All of the blame lies on Hamas. And for this crisis to end, Hamas must either be eliminated as an organization, or they must lay down their weapons and adhere to the true precepts of peace. Which is the desire to live peacefully with their neighbor Israel.” [Emphasis mine]

The difference between the death of the three Israeli youth and the death of the young Palestinian is clear. In the case of the death of the three Israelis the Palestinians began celebrating the kidnapping and giving out candy. The PLO took no action against the perpetrators of this heinous kidnapping and murder.  In the case of the young Palestinian Israelis mourned, the Israeli government gave aid and succor to the family and the perpetrators were captured and await trial for the murder.

Ayn Rand wrote, “In any war between the civilized man and the savage, support the civilized man.” Senator Rubio is standing with the civilized man, he is standing with Israel. Rubio notes, “Don’t tell me both sides are to blame here? Because it’s not true. It isn’t true.”

Watch Senator Rubio’s full 15 minute floor speech on Thursday, July 24, 2014:

U.S. Senator Marco Rubio
Senate Floor Speech (Excerpt)
July 24, 2014
http://youtu.be/C3JpkdF0qCU

“So please don’t come to me and say that both sides are to blame here. That’s not true. This crisis would end tomorrow if Hamas would turn over its rockets and stop bombarding people. This would end tomorrow, by the way, if the Hamas commanders were not such cowards. And I’ll tell you why they’re cowards. Because while they’re on TV asking their people to go to the rooftops of these buildings, you know where they are? They are hiding in the basement. They are hiding in their basement command center, which by the way is located, as I said, in the basement, underneath of a hospital. This would end tomorrow, the civilian deaths could end tomorrow, if they stopped storing rockets in schools, including a U.N. school – where by the way, when the U.N. discovered these rockets, you know what they did with them? They turned them back over to Hamas. 

“Don’t tell me both sides are to blame here? Because it’s not true. It isn’t true. This is the result of one thing and one thing alone: Hamas has decided to launch rockets against Israel. Hamas has decided to build this extensive network of underground tunnels so in a moment of conflict they can get these commandos into Israel and kill Israelis. And what is Israel doing? What any country would do.

“Of course this is not an excellent example, but imagine for a moment if one of our neighboring countries decided to start hitting us with rockets?  What would the United States do? Would we sit there and say, ‘Boy, we really have to be restrained and hold back here?’ We would not tolerate that. Imagine if in your city, every night and every morning sirens were going off because rockets on their way in, and you spent the better part of the day running in and out of shelters and taking cover. What would you say? You would say, ‘Take care of this problem once and for all.’ Why would we ever ask Israel to do anything less than we would do, if we were in the same situation? 

“And that’s what they’re doing. And in the process of taking care of the situation, tragically, civilians are dying. And you know why? Because Hamas is deliberately putting them in the way. And I just read you these quotes. Hamas is asking their people to do what their leaders themselves won’t do, asking their own people to get in harm’s way, to act as human shields. Because they want these images to be spread around the world. They are willing to sacrifice their own people to win a PR war. And I think it is absolutely outrageous that some in the press corps, domestically, and most of the press corps internationally, is falling for this game. So please don’t tell me that both sides are to blame here, and please don’t tell me that this was caused by Israel. 

“In my time here in the Senate, I have had the opportunity to visit multiple countries. I have never met a people more desirous of peace than the people in Israel. But peace cannot mean your destruction – and that’s what they’re facing here. An enemy force that wants to destroy them, that wants to wipe them out as a country. And so it’s impossible to reach any sort of peace agreement with an organization like that. That’s what Israel is facing here. 

“So, Mr. Ambassador, what I would ask of you is that you go back to your government and you ask them to separate completely from Hamas, to condemn what Hamas is doing to your own people, to condemn the use of human shields. That’s what I ask you to do. Stop writing letters to U.S. senators and being angry at us when, by the way –  we shouldn’t be doing it because the law says that no money should be going toward any organization linked with Hamas. It is the United States that has been helping you stand up your security forces in the West Bank through our taxpayer money. Don’t be writing letters to the U.S. Congress complaining to us about what Israel is doing when the people you just created a unity government with is launching rockets against civilians in Israel and using its own people as human shields. 

“I think you need to take responsibility for your own people, for your own part of the world. And if you truly want peace, peace begins with laying down your arms and stopping these attacks, and condemning those that are conducting these attacks and using innocent civilians as human shields. If you want peace, that’s what you should spend your time doing. Not trying to rally public support around the world for the idea that Israel is responsible for war crimes. 

“And from our perspective, I hope the United States continues to be firmly on the side of Israel, because there is no moral equivalency here. What is happening between Israel and Hamas is totally 100 percent the fault of Hamas. There is no moral equivalency here. All of the blame lies on Hamas. And for this crisis to end, Hamas must either be eliminated as an organization, or they must lay down their weapons and adhere to the true precepts of peace. Which is the desire to live peacefully with their neighbor Israel.”

Secretary of State Kerry views the Gaza Conflict through the prism of his Vietnam experience

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Secretary of State John Kerry was dispatched last week to begin a new round of shuttle diplomacy between Cairo, Ankara and Qatar endeavoring to find some leverage with Hamas to obtain a longer cease fire. His latest attempt as of this writing was rejected by Israel as the offer he put on the table simply reiterated Hamas’ previously rejected terms. Those terms proposed by Hamas were based on the November 2012 cease fire agreement.  An agreement the Administration used to encourage Israel to relent to shipment of cement, steel and equipment for reconstruction of Gaza. This reconstruction was funded by $405 million from Qatar, a Hamas supporter. Israel’s fears about diversion of those resources were confirmed in the discovery of the elaborate fortifications and tunnel network during the current Operation Defensive Edge. Kerry returned to Washington this weekend via Paris, where he met with foreign ministers from Turkey, Qatar, France, the U.K. and the EU foreign relations commissioner, without the likelihood that further mediation between the warring parties could yield an agreement to return to calm.

Perhaps the lack of success in mediating a cease fire agreement may be that  Kerry views the Gaza conflict with Hamas through the prism of his Vietnam War experience over 44 years ago. The WSJ Weekend Edition “Notable & Quotable” had  this insightful  exchange between Israeli PM Netanyahu and Secretary Kerry drawn from a July 20th New Republic article by Ben Birnbaum  and Amir Tibon:

The prime minister opened the meeting by playing Kerry a video on one of his favorite topics: Palestinian incitement. It showed Palestinian children in Gaza being taught to glorify martyrdom and seek Israel’s destruction. “This is the true obstacle to peace,” Netanyahu told Kerry.

“It’s a major issue,” Kerry replied. “And nothing justifies incitement. I hate it. I’ve read Abbas the riot act about it. You know I have. But it is worthwhile to try to understand what life looks like from the Palestinian point of view.”

“This has nothing to do with the occupation and the settlements,” Netanyahu said.

Kerry pressed on: “When I fought in Vietnam, I used to look at the faces of the local population and the looks they gave us. I’ll never forget it. It gave me clarity that we saw the situation in completely different ways.”

“This isn’t Vietnam!” Netanyahu shouted. “No one understands Israel but Israel.”

Kerry tried explaining himself again: “No one is saying it’s Vietnam. But I’ve been coming here for thirty years, and I’m telling you, what’s building up in the Palestinians has only gotten worse. I’ve seen it. It doesn’t matter if it’s right or wrong; it just is. It can’t be solved if you can’t see it how they see it.”

To get some sense of what Kerry was talking about in this exchange with Netanyahu, I went back to his April 22, 1971 testimony on the so-called Winter Soldiers Study of Viet Nam anti-war veterans before the Senate Foreign Committee, chaired by the late Sen. J.W.  Fulbright of Arkansas.  Here is an excerpt from the opening stanza of his testimony:

We found that not only was it a civil war, an effort by a people who had for years been seeking their liberation from any colonial influence whatsoever, but also we found that the Vietnamese whom we had enthusiastically molded after our own image were hard put to take up the fight against the threat we were supposedly saving them from.

We found most people didn’t even know the difference between communism and democracy. They only wanted to work in rice paddies without helicopters strafing them and bombs with napalm burning their villages and tearing their country apart. They wanted everything to do with the war, particularly with this foreign presence of the United States of America, to leave them alone in peace, and they practiced the art of survival by siding with whichever military force was present at a particular time, be it Vietcong, North Vietnamese, or American.

We found also that all too often American men were dying in those rice paddies for want of support from their allies. We saw firsthand how money from American taxes was used for a corrupt dictatorial regime. We saw that many people in this country had a one-sided idea of who was kept free by our flag, as blacks provided the highest percentage of casualties. We saw Vietnam ravaged equally by American bombs as well as by search and destroy missions, as well as by Vietcong terrorism, and yet we listened while this country tried to blame all of the havoc on ‘the Vietcong.

Fast forward to July 2014 and Kerry’s exchange with Israeli PM Netanyahu quoted in the New Republic  article. The contrast is that Netanyahu   knows his people are besieged with rockets and mortar indiscriminately raining down on four fifths of the Jewish nation from terrorist groups Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad controlling Gaza.  Further, that Hamas and its partner in the Palestinian unity government, PA President Mahmoud Abbas marinate young minds in hatred and violence seeking destruction of the Jewish dhimmi state that has shamed them.  If you substitute Hamas for Viet Cong or North Vietnam, you suddenly realize where Kerry’s head is at when it comes to mediating cease fire between two unmovable adversaries. Israel is the only reliable democratic ally in the region  combating  Hamas, a foreign terrorist organization designated by our State Department.

According to a report in The Times of Israel sources in Jerusalem accused Kerry of “completely capitulated to Hamas” in the proposed cease fire rejected by Israel.

EDITORS NOTE: This column originally appeared on the New English Review.

Did you know all of the Sarasota County School Board/Union salary and benefit negotiations are open to the public?

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I didn’t think so.

If you go to the Sarasota County School District website in the lower right is a section titled “Upcoming Events”. If you click on the small print “Click for Monthly Calendars” you will learn that the School Board has since June 11th, 2014 been negotiating salaries and benefits with the Sarasota County Classified/Teachers Association (SC/TA). These negotiations are normally scheduled each Wednesday from 3:00 – 5:00 p.m. The next scheduled School Board and SC/TA meeting will be on Wednesday, July 30, 2014. All negotiations are held at the SC/TA offices located at 4675 South Tamiami Trail, Sarasota, FL.

What you can’t find on the website is that all of these negotiations are open to the public. 

According to Scott Ferguson, Communications Specialist Sarasota County Schools, “The meeting location and dates/times are posted to our website for public notification; members of the public may attend if they wish.”

You would think the Sarasota County School Board members would want the public to know about these negotiations since salaries and benefits make up such a large portion of the district budget. According to the 2013-2014 Final Budget General Fund Executive Summary salaries and benefits make up approximately 78% of the total budget.

Why should taxpayers care about the Sarasota County School Board Budget? Because 76% of the money comes directly from local property taxes. About 23% comes from the state and less than 5% comes from the federal government.

Another reason these negotiation are important is because President Obama’s Race to the Top for Student Success, codified in Florida Senate Bill 736, requires all teachers be evaluated and paid based on performance measures.

According to the White House website on Race To The Top (RTTT):

Race to the Top marks a historic moment in American education. This initiative offers bold incentives to states willing to spur systemic reform to improve teaching and learning in America’s schools. Race to the Top has ushered in significant change in our education system, particularly in raising standards and aligning policies and structures to the goal of college and career readiness. Race to the Top has helped drive states nationwide to pursue higher standards, improve teacher effectiveness, use data effectively in the classroom, and adopt new strategies to help struggling schools.

Improve teacher effectiveness means performance pay for teachers. Specifically Florida’s RTTT for Student Success: Reforms teacher evaluations; Ends Professional Service Contracts for new teachers hired after July 1, 2011; Creates 2 pay schedules after July 1, 2014: “Performance” and “Grandfathered” Pay Schedules; Eliminates pay supplements for advanced degrees out of certification area; and Ends “last-in-first-out” for reduction in force decisions.

The Florida Education Association describes President Obama’s Race to the Top for Student Success (SB 736) thusly:

Despite all the talk about local control and less government, this bill reduces a school district’s flexibility and authority over teacher evaluations, pay schedules and working conditions. This bill gives new power and authority to the Department of Education and the Florida Legislature.

RTTT for Student Success is a component of Common Core State Standards, renamed Florida Standards.

According to the June 11, 2014 Bargaining Negotiation Notes, “Some conversation ref. highly effective teachers, summer school and performance pay – parties tabled the discussion for later.” To see a sample of the new PRIDE Teacher Evaluation Form click here or the PRIDE Document Checklist click here. Ferguson states, “Topics/proposals to be discussed at future meetings have not yet been determined.”

Taxpayers and interested citizens may want to sit in on these negotiations that will define “effective teachers” and lay out teacher “performance pay” and evaluation standards. Don’t you think?

Question from our readers: Why doesn’t the Sarasota County School Board hold all of these negotiations in the District chambers and televise them?

Senate Democrats playing disgusting political game with Israel’s security

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Call me whatever you want and personally attack me as you like for saying this, but Senate Democrats are playing a disgusting game with the security of Israel for political purposes.

The U.S .Defense Department has asked for emergency funding of $225 million in support of Israel’s Iron Dome protective weapon system that has had over a 90 percent success rate in shooting down incoming Hamas rockets. In the Democrat-controlled Senate, instead of allowing this as a stand-alone appropriations measure, they seek to tie this with funding support of President Obama’s request in the current illegal immigration border crisis. Funny — I didn’t see any caveats when the Secretary of State gave Hamas, a terrorist organization, $47 million in U.S. taxpayer dollars.

Who do you think the American people would rather see their taxpayer dollars support — more mock illegal immigrant courts, an Islamic terror group, or our ally in the Middle East facing an onslaught of incoming rockets?

This is the devious way funding is manipulated on Capitol Hill — and I don’t consent to either side doing this practice, so spare me the partisan diatribe. This is blatantly wrong and demonstrates to Prime Minister Netanyahu that for Democrats it’s not about doing what’s right, it’s about their immigration agenda.

And for you anti-big bank/government bank supporters, Democrats are also looking at linking support for the Export-Import (Ex-Im) Bank to the illegal immigration funding measure. So you progressive socialist, Occupy Wall Street types, you can see your beloved Democrats will sell out their principles — if they had any — for anything.

And if you want to check, I voted against the renewal of the Ex-Im Bank as it is not the business of the federal government and skews the free market economy.

But just remember, as Israel fires Iron Dome missiles, their supply dwindles. It is a race to conduct a ground operation, Operation Protective Edge, that eliminated Hamas rocket firing points and capability, as well as destroying the Hamas ammunition stockpile, which is funded by Qatar and Iran. And did I mention, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon flew to Israel aboard a flight paid for by the Qataris?

Senate Democrats are playing a very horrible game with the survival of a nation, Israel. Call your Senators and tell them to have a single vote on the emergency funding for Iron Dome. If you choose not to, then we know on whose side you stand.

EDITORS NOTE: This column originally appeared on AllenBWest.com.