It’s Time to Bring Ethos & Logos Back to the School House & Public Square

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Logos: The Word of God, or principle of divine reason and creative order, identified in the Gospel of John with the second person of the Trinity incarnate in Jesus Christ. In Jungian psychology the principle of reason and judgment, associated with the animus.

Ethos: The characteristic spirit of a culture, era, or community as manifested in its beliefs and aspirations.

First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

In 1962 the U.S. Supreme Court in Engel v. Vitale, 370 U.S. 421, ruled that it is unconstitutional for state officials to compose an official school prayer and encourage its recitation in public schools, due to violation of the First Amendment.

This decision was not made based upon the wording of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, a.k.a. the Establishment Clause. Justice Potter Stewart, in his dissent, argued,

“[T]he Establishment Clause was only meant to prohibit the establishment of a state-sponsored church, such as the Church of England, and not prohibit all types of government involvement with religion. In particular, he found that the nondenominational nature of the prayer and the ‘absentee’ provision removed constitutional challenges.”

Before Engel v. Vitale, 370 U.S. 421 in United States law, the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, together with that Amendment’s Free Exercise Clause, form the fundamental and inalienable constitutional right of freedom of religion.

Since Engel v. Vitale, 370 U.S. 421 we have witnessed the following:

  1. Logos removed from all public, private and charter school curriculum.
  2. Removal of prayer from the school house to the White House.
  3. The infusion of atheism into the school house.
  4. The teaching and grooming of children for underaged sex.
  5. The replacement of Ethos and Logos with Pathos.

Pathos appeals to the emotions of the audience and elicits feelings that may already reside in them or have been pushed upon them using propaganda. Pathos is a used most often in rhetoric, as well as in literature, film and other narrative art. Today we see pathos used by Hollywood to push certain political agendas rather than tell stories based upon logos and ethos.

Today emotion overrules logic and asperations.

If you don’t believe us then just look at the outbursts by politicians and others the day Roe v. Wade was nullified.

Pathos examples in everyday life today includes:

  • Denying the scientific fact that there’s only two genders: Male or XX and Female or XY.
  • Believing that one can choose their personal pronouns.
  • Believing that government, not God, is supreme.
  • Believing that Communism is good and capitalism is evil.
  • Believing that religion is the opiate of the masses.
  • Believing that underaged sex with adult pederasts and pedophiles is permissible.
  • Not believing in truth, facts and science but rather in emotions better prepares one for life.
  • Believing that we must do everything to save the planet from climate change no matter how much doing so harms mankind.

The Bottom Line

As George Orwell wrote:

Nazi theory indeed specifically denies that such a thing as “the truth” exists. … The implied objective of this line of thought is a nightmare world in which the Leader, or some ruling clique, controls not only the future but the past. If the Leader says of such and such an event, “It never happened”—well, it never happened. If he says that two and two are five—well, two and two are five. This prospect frightens me much more than bombs.

In his book The Road to Serfdom, Austrian economist, legal theorist and philosopher who is best known for his defense of classical liberalism Friedrich August von Hayek wrote,

The most effective way of making everybody serve the single system of ends toward which the social plan is directed is to make everybody believe in those ends. To make a totalitarian system function efficiently, it is not enough that everybody should be forced to work for the same ends. It is essential that the people should come to regard them as their own ends.

[ … ]

If all the sources of current information are effectively under one single control, it is no longer a question of merely persuading the people of this or that. The skillful propagandist then has power to mold their minds in any direction he chooses, and even the most intelligent and independent people cannot entirely escape that influence if they are long isolated from all other sources of information.

We wrote that it is time for the U.S. Supreme Court to reconsider Obergefell v. Hodges, 576 U.S. 644 decided on June 26th, 2015 and mandated gay marriage recognition nationwide and Lawrence v. Texas the June 26th, 2003 in which the Supreme Court ruled that sanctions of criminal punishment for those who commit sodomy are unconstitutional.

Today we believe that the Supreme Court should also reconsider, and ultimately overturn, Engel v. Vitale, 370 U.S. 421. By doing so it will restore ethos and logos to the school house and create a culture and society that our Founding Fathers envision when they wrote the First Amendment.

William O. Douglas during a speech to the Author’s Guild Council in New York, on receiving the 1951 Lauterbach Award said,

“Restriction of free thought and free speech is the most dangerous of all subversions. It is the one un-American act that could most easily defeat us.”

There is a reason that the First Amendment begins with the words, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…”

Without freedom of religion there is no freedom of thought or speech. To take religion out of the class room is taking away an understanding of the roots of  free speech. America was founded as a Judeo-Christian nation. That is why the Constitution begins with,

We the People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Amen!

©Dr. Rich Swier. All rights reserved.

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Unhinged Olbermann: Dissolve SCOTUS Over Pro-2nd Amendment Ruling

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Thursday on Twitter, unhinged political performance artist and perennial loser Keith Olbermann responded to the Supreme Court’s pro-Second Amendment ruling by — predictably — calling for the high court to be dissolved.

After SCOTUS struck down New York’s proper cause requirement for concealed carry, Olbermann flipped out and tweeted, “It has become necessary to dissolve the Supreme Court of the United States. The first step is for a state the ‘court’ has now forced guns upon, to ignore this ruling. Great. You’re a court? Why and how do think you can enforce your rulings?”

He followed up with this idiotic challenge: “Hey SCOTUS, send the SCOTUS army here to enforce your ruling, you House of Lords radicals pretending to be a court.”

Earlier this month Olbermann, who can’t keep a job even in the leftist media because he’s such a clown, tweeted his embarrassingly ignorant claim that the Second Amendment does not protect a right to “own” guns: “Shove your ‘responsible gun owners’ crap up your ass. The 2nd Amendment does not include the word ‘own.’ There is no right.”

Um, yes there is a right, but don’t let the facts get in the way of your juvenile ranting, Keith.

Keith Olbermann

34 Known Connections

In February 2011, it was announced that Olbermann would work for Current TV, a public-affairs channel co-founded by Al Gore. Olbermann made his Current TV debut on June 20, 2011. His program there — like his previous show at MSNBC — was called Countdown With Keith Olbermann.

Near the end of March 2012, Current TV terminated its increasingly acrimonious relationship with Olbermann and replaced his program with Viewpoint with Eliot Spitzer. In response to the firing, Olbermann promptly filed a lawsuit against Current TV, seeking somewhere between $50 million and $70 million.

In July 2013, Olbermann was hired to host a one-hour nightly sports program (debuting August 26) on ESPN-2.

On February 24, 2015, ESPN suspended Olbermann for controversial remarks he made on Twitter, where he derided students who were participating in Penn State University’s annual dance marathon — called “Thon” — which raised money for pediatric cancer research and care. In his various tweets, Olbermann referred to PSU students as “pitiful,” mocked one of his critics as a “goober,” and called another man “stupid.” Olbermann later issued an apology on Twitter, but ESPN decided to suspend him for one week.

In July 2015, ESPN elected not to extend Olbermann’s contract — which was scheduled to expire at the end of that month — after he refused to move his program from its Times Square studio to the network’s headquarters in Bristol, Connecticut…

To learn more about Keith Olbermann, click here.

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EDITORS NOTE: This Discover the Networks column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Biden holds notes that read ‘YOU enter the Roosevelt Room,’ ‘YOU take YOUR seat’???

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How evil is the left? They hounded, persecuted and impeached the greatest President of our lifetime to illegitimately install this demented degenerate and hail him as the second coming. Astonishingly, people still believe the legacy media.

Biden holds notes that read ‘YOU enter the Roosevelt Room,’ ‘YOU take YOUR seat’

A White House official tells Fox News such notes are a long-standing practice for politicians

By Joseph A. Wulfsohn | Fox News June 24, 2022:

Photos taken at a White House meeting with cabinet members show specific directions listed for President Biden.

On Thursday, Biden made remarks during a “Meeting on Federal State Offshore Wind Implementation Partnership” where he had a binder with talking points and was handed a chart showing how tall the offshore wind turbines being discussed are compared to landmarks like the Empire State Building and the Eiffel Tower.

Later on, he held up a separate note card and was reading from one side of it.

However, the other side of the note card facing the cameras had a list of directions for the president.

“YOU enter the Roosevelt Room and say hello to participants,” the first bullet point read. “YOU take YOUR seat.”

After a bullet point that said, “Press enters,” the next one read, “YOU give brief comments,” with a parenthetical statement reading, “2 minutes.” Biden ended up speaking for roughly eight minutes.

Once when the “Press departs,” Biden was then told, “YOU ask Liz Shuler, President, AFL-CIO, a question,” with a note that Shuler was “joining virtually.”

The final bullet points read, “YOU thank participants” and “YOU depart.”

President Joe Biden speaks from his notes at the White House on June 23, 2022.

President Joe Biden speaks from his notes at the White House on June 23, 2022. (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)

A White House official tells Fox News that this is a very standard format used by politicians and government officials at public events.

Hannah Hankins, a former White House communications official for then-President Barack Obama told Fox News he too used a similar format of notes during his presidency.

This is not the first time Biden’s notes have gone viral. In March, he was seen holding a card reading, “Tough Putin Q&A Talking Points” during a news briefing about the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

During an event last July, the president was handed a note reading, “Sir, there is something on your chin.”

AUTHOR

Pamela Geller

EDITORS NOTE: This Geller Report column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Big Hedge Fund Citadel Moving From Chicago to Miami Following Democrat Crime Spike

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Just last month Boeing announced that they are leaving Chicago as well. The radical mayor of Chicago refuses to take any action to keep her citizens safe. As such, we could be seeing the beginning of a corporate exodus from the iconic Windy City.

Ken Griffin Moving Citadel From Chicago to Miami Following Crime Complaints

By WSJ, June 23, 2022

Billionaire Ken Griffin is relocating his big hedge-fund firm Citadel from Chicago to Miami, the third major employer to announce the move of a corporate headquarters from Illinois in the past two months.

In a letter to employees Thursday, Mr. Griffin said he had personally moved to Florida—a state that doesn’t collect personal income tax—and that his market-making business, Citadel Securities, would also transfer. He wrote that he views Florida as a better corporate environment and though he didn’t specifically cite crime as a factor, company officials said it was a consideration……

AUTHOR

Geller Report Staff

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EDITORS NOTE: This Geller Report is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Google Search is Bad. On Purpose.

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Charlie Warzel of Galaxy Brain has an Atlantic essay on Google that’s far short of Galaxy Brain. It recapitulates the now famous thread on why searching Reddit is better than searching Google, and offers random speculation on what’s wrong with Google Search and whether it might not be “leaving us behind”.

It’s packed with so many Google apologetics, I certainly hope that Google paid for it, e.g.

Google search might be worse now because, like much of the internet, it has matured and has been ruthlessly commercialized. In an attempt to avoid regulation and be corporate-friendly, parts of it might be less wild. But some of what feels dead or dying about Google might be our own nostalgia for a smaller, less mature internet. Sullivan, the Search liaison, understands this longing for the past, but told me that what feels like a Google change is also the search engine responding to the evolution of the web…

Haynes agrees that ads’ presence on Search is worse than ever and the company’s decision to prioritize its own products and features over organic results is frustrating. But she argues that Google’s flagship product has actually gotten better and much more complex over time. That complexity, she suggests, might be why searching feels different right now.

Nah.

The problem with Google Search can be easily summarized as a lack of competition. Aside from Bing and satellite search sites like DuckDuckGo that use Bing’s search index, there’s nothing.

Google so thoroughly dominates search that there’s no competition. And so no incentive for it do anything except monetize search up to its eyeballs.

Alphabet doesn’t need good searches. Its searches are so bad because it stopped having any interest in having you find things a while back. What it wants you to do is…

  1. Click on its services
  2. Click on its ads
  3. Search in predictable ways so that it can sell ads

Helping you find things is not on the list because Google does not make money if you spend 2 seconds clicking on the first search result and find what you’re looking for.

Google makes more money when you can’t find things than when you do. It makes more money when it serves you bad results. It makes more money when it ignores what you searched for and instead serves up the results that make it money.

This is the definition of why monopolies are terrible. But Google has a monopoly on internet search for reasons I’ve gone into before. And so internet search is terrible and as Google, like most big companies, gets hungrier, they’re going to get worse.

AUTHOR

DANIEL GREENFIELD

RELATED ARTICLE: Can a mobile device replace your home internet?

EDITORS NOTE: This Jihad Watch column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

DHS Tells Catholic Churches to Prepare for ‘Extreme Violence’

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Roe v. Wade has at long last been overturned, and the Left’s response has been predictable: Leftists are pounding the walls and gnashing their teeth with rage and hatred. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-Make Mine a Double) has shouted that the decision is “illegitimate” and led pro-abortion activists in chants of “into the streets.” Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Unhinged) has proclaimed, “The hell with the Supreme Court. We will defy them!” But no one expects the supporters of Antifa and Black Lives Matter to confine their rage to words alone: even Old Joe Biden’s Department of Homeland Security paused from hunting for “white supremacists” on Friday to warn Catholic churches to prepare for a “night of rage.”

If there is violence at churches, it certainly won’t be anything new. Live Action’s Lila Rose pointed out Thursday that “Since the Dobbs v Jackson draft was leaked, pro-abortion activists have: -Vandalized 16 churches -Vandalized at least 16 pro-life pregnancy centers -Firebombed 4 pro-life pregnancy centers and offices -Attempted to assassinate a Supreme Court Justice Where’s the outrage?”

Where indeed? We can only imagine what would be happening now on CNN and in The New York Times if 16 abortion clinics had been vandalized, but the guardians of acceptable opinion can’t be bothered to deplore violence in the service of their pet causes.

Pro-abortion activists have been threatening violence if Roe was overturned for quite some time. It would be more surprising at this point if Leftists remained calm and vowed to work peacefully and within the bounds of the law than if they started howling with irrational rage and burning things down, as they sought to forbid states from outlawing the murder of children.

Accordingly, the DHS has told churches to be ready for “extreme violence.” This is striking in itself. Considering that Biden’s handlers’ Justice Department has taken the unprecedented step of publicly dissenting from the Supreme Court’s decision, and that the Biden administration refused to condemn the illegal protests at the homes of the Justices who were seen as likely to vote to overturn Roe (and did so), it’s nothing short of astonishing that this warning was issued at all. After all, the Biden Department of Homeland Security was only recently setting up a Disinformation Governance Board to monitor and control Americans’ speech. Now it cares if Catholic churches are targeted for being pro-life? It’s intriguing that DHS apparently believes it has to keep up appearances in this regard. Is the DHS aware that the cultural momentum is swinging away from the hard Left that has dominated American society for so long?

And so, the DHS warned Catholic Churches that pro-abortion terrorists, including the Antifa-linked Jane’s Revenge, are planning a “Night of Rage” for Friday night, with churches and pregnancy centers as their primary targets. Jane’s Revenge fulminated, “We have agonized over this apparent absence of indignation. Why is it that we are so afraid to unleash hell upon those who are destroying us? Fear of state repression is valid, but this goes deeper than that.”

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Stockton, Calif., accordingly issued an “urgent memo” to its clergy and parishes. It explained that a DHS agent, Jesse Rangel, had informed diocesan officials that an “extremist group” had issued a “manifesto” calling for attacks on churches beginning at 8 p.m. on the night that the Dobbs decision was issued, which would of course be Friday night.

According to Newsweek, “the memo does not describe the specific threats facing churches, but states that Rangel told the diocese that ‘large groups with cells nationwide have already been discovered ‘casing’ parishes, including here in California.’” Accordingly, the Stockton diocese issued a “critical notice” for clergy and parish officials to “develop a plan should you see or hear anything suspicious.”

The memo told the churches, “Make sure you have ushers and or security available during your services and perhaps identify who among your volunteers and parishioners are law enforcement. Suspicious activity would include someone asking out of place questions (Largest Mass times? Doors always open? Do you have security?), looking around church property, protestors, and general disturbances.”

That’s fine, but it also underscores the apparent fact that the churches are on their own. All the DHS did was issue a warning? Imagine if a militant pro-life group had announced plans to “unleash hell” on abortion centers. Do you think in that case that DHS would have limited itself to sending out a warning? The National Guard would be posted at every abortion center in the country. But when it comes to churches — well, there’s that two-tiered justice system again.

AUTHOR

ROBERT SPENCER

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EDITORS NOTE: This Jihad Watch column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

With Roe Aborted It’s Time to Reconsider SCOTUS’ Gay Marriage & Sodomy Rulings

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“No one can change their gender! What one can do is mutilate themselves psychologically, spiritually and physically. It’s the greatest and most destructive myth of our generation.” — Dr. Richard M. Swier, Ed.D., LTC U.S. Army (Ret.), talk show host, journalist, writer and publisher.

“Conditioning children into believing a lifetime of chemical and surgical impersonation of the opposite sex is normal and healthful is child abuse…Rates of suicide are 20 times greater among adults who use cross-sex hormones and undergo sex reassignment surgery.” — The American College of Pediatricians.

In my lifetime there have been three U.S. Supreme Court rulings that have defied the Constitution and defiled logic and science. On June 24th, 2022 one, Roe v. Wade, was overturned. Now there’s others that must be reconsidered Obergefell v. Hodges, 576 U.S. 644 decided on June 26th, 2015 mandated gay marriage recognition nationwide and Lawrence v. Texas the June 26th, 2003 in which the Supreme Court ruled that sanctions of criminal punishment for those who commit sodomy are unconstitutional.

Like Roe v. Wade, we believe Obergefell v. Hodges and Lawrence v. Texas are demonstrably erroneous and issues to be decided via the democratic process at the state level.

It appears that Justice Clarence Thomas agrees with us that Obergefell v. Hodges because he, like we, fundamentally disagree with the concept of “substantive due process“—that “due process” protects not just procedures but fundamental rights—has a constitutional foundation. Justice Thomas has a history of arguing that the Due Process Clause does not actually guarantee rights but rather protects that proper procedures are followed.

Justice Thomas wrote:

For that reason, in future cases, we should reconsider all of this Court’s substantive due process precedents, including Griswold, Lawrence, and Obergefell. Because any substantive due process decision is “demonstrably erroneous,” Ramos v. Louisiana…(THOMAS, J., concurring in judgment)…we have a duty to “correct the error” established in those precedents, Gamble v. United States…(2019) (THOMAS, J., concurring)….After overruling these demonstrably erroneous decisions, the question would remain whether other constitutional provisions guarantee the myriad rights that our substantive due process cases have generated.

Justice Thomas previously made similar arguments. In October 2020, Thomas and fellow conservative Justice Samuel Alito urged the Supreme Court to “fix” its ruling in Obergefell.

Justice Thomas wrote,

It would be one thing if recognition for same-sex marriage had been debated and adopted through the democratic process, with the people deciding not to provide statutory protections for religious liberty under state law. But it is quite another when the Court forces that choice upon society through its creation of atextual constitutional rights and its ungenerous interpretation of the Free Exercise Clause, leaving those with religious objections in the lurch.

The Bottom Line

The dual issues of sodomy and gay marriage have impacted our culture, society and our children and grand children.

Since Obergefell v. Hodges  and Lawrence v. Texas were decided we have witnessed a juggernaut of efforts to normalize the unscientific premises that gay marriage and sodomy are  normal. That traditional marriage between one man and one woman and their biological children, the bedrock of all cultures, is abnormal.

These dual myths are being promoted from the school house to the White House. 

In our September 16th, 2017 column “Perverts, pedophiles and pederasts in high offices” we reported:

Daily Americans are bombarded with negative news about political and religious leaders who have fallen from grace. This has led to a loss of confidence in not only these individuals but the institutions, political parties and churches through which they used their positions of trust to abuse underage children.

Our title includes three distinct classes of abusers. A pervert is, “a person whose sexual behavior is regarded as abnormal and unacceptable.” This category includes both heterosexual and homosexual men and women. A pedophile is, “a person who is sexually attracted to children.” A pederast is, “a man who indulges in pederasty (sexual activity involving a man and a boy).” All pederasts are by definition homosexuals.

We have reported on efforts by groups such as B4U-ACT and the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network (GLSEN) to indoctrinate our children into believing that sex with men by children is not only normal but encouraged (watch the below video for a history of these two groups).

We must do the right thing and focus now on overturning Obergefell v. Hodges as well as Lawrence v. Texas.

In 2017 we warned, “There are many who fear being labeled bigots, homophobic or intolerant for telling the truth about these perverts, pedophiles and pederasts.”

Today we see parents who object teachers teaching about sex and gender in public schools, sexuality and homosexuality in public school classrooms, pornographic books in public school media centers and the grooming of children in public schools labeled terrorist by the Department of Justice.

The myths of diversity, inclusion and equity are destroying the traditional family and Western Civilization. It’s time that pro-family and pro-life groups join together to attack those two social evils: gay marriage and sodomy.

It’s time to tell the truth and empower parents and the democratic process to weed out these myths that have destroyed so many lives and families.

©Dr. Rich Swier. All rights reserved.

RELATED ARTICLE: America College of Pediatricians Says Encouraging Transgenderism is Child Abuse

Toronto’s Largest School Board to Drop Auditions, Aptitude Requirements for Specialized Programs in the Name of Equity

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Unsurprisingly, the move was first proposed by the board’s Enhancing Equity Task Force.

“The year was 2081, and everybody was finally equal. They weren’t only equal before God and the law. They were equal every which way. Nobody was smarter than anybody else. Nobody was better looking than anybody else. Nobody was stronger or quicker than anybody else. All this equality was due to the 211th, 212th, and 213th Amendments to the Constitution, and to the unceasing vigilance of agents of the United States Handicapper General.”

Thus begins Kurt Vonnegut Jr.’s famous short story Harrison Bergeron. The satire story paints the picture of a dystopian future where absolute equality has been achieved thanks to various handicapping devices that force all the smart, good-looking, and talented people down to the same intellect, looks, and skills as everyone else. The rationale, of course, is that it wouldn’t be fair to let them get ahead because of their privilege while others are left behind.

The story has enduring appeal because it asks a question that strikes at the heart of our culture, namely, how much are we willing to sacrifice excellence in the name of equality? Should those who are endowed with more privilege or talent be allowed to reach their potential, even if it means others have fewer opportunities, or should those who are less gifted be given an equal chance at success, even if it means holding the gifted back?

The Toronto District School Board (TDSB) seems to have chosen the latter approach. In May, the board’s Trustees voted to approve the Student Interest Programs Policy, which will change the way students are admitted into specialized arts, athletics, and STEM programs. Currently, admission into most of these programs is based on various “assessments of ability” such as auditions, portfolios, and report card marks. But starting in September 2023, these assessments will be scrapped and replaced with a random selection from students who express interest in the programs. In short, equality will take precedence over excellence.

“It is our responsibility to take action to improve access for all students where we identify systemic barriers,” said Alexander Brown, Chair of the TDSB. “This new policy will ensure a greater number of students have access to these high quality programs and schools while reducing barriers that have long-prevented many students from even applying.”

Unsurprisingly, the move was first proposed by the board’s Enhancing Equity Task Force.

“The idea that your child entered one of these programs because of his talent, which he had the privilege of cultivating, I don’t think is appropriate in a public school system,” said Trustee Robin Pilkey. “We need to make sure people have access to all programs.”

To paraphrase, “it wouldn’t be fair to let them get ahead because of their privilege.” Sound familiar?

Many students, teachers, and parents who are involved with the specialized programs are concerned that this change will lower the quality of the programs. A small protest was held in mid-May, and hundreds of students walked out of class to attend.

“It’s going to water down the program and it’s just going to blend into nothingness,” said Essien Udokang, a parent whose son is in an arts program.

He’s also concerned that the new policy will leave behind talented kids from underprivileged backgrounds who would otherwise have a chance to prove themselves.

“Folks like me, who can afford it, we’ll just put our kids in private school or pay thousands of dollars a month for private lessons instead of wasting their time in a program like this. If there are students who have capability and through lottery don’t get picked…I think those will be the most hard done by. Because they will have talent that could have been cultivated through a high quality of teaching, instruction and opportunity, but now they would have just been randomly selected out of the process. But they can’t pay for private lessons.”

The whole debate over these programs hits close to home for me. I attended one of these specialized arts schools from grade 4 to 8, and another one from grade 9 to 12. For nine years, these programs were my life, and they helped me get through the otherwise tedious system that is government schooling.

Speaking from personal experience, I can tell you that removing audition requirements will be absolutely devastating for these programs. We had nearly professional-level productions at my high school and some fairly high-profile gigs. But without auditions, that all changes.

Kids who have less aptitude will get into these programs while kids with more aptitude will be left out. The efforts of the teachers, many of whom are specialists in their respective fields, will be wasted on those who simply don’t have the capabilities to really succeed. Meanwhile, many of those who do have the capabilities to succeed will be stuck in “normal school,” where it will be much harder to cultivate their skills.

The result is that teachers in these programs will be forced to teach to the lowest common denominator. The gifted kids that manage to make it in will get bored and won’t come close to reaching their potential.

In some ways, this story reminds me of a scene from The Incredibles. In the scene, Bob and Helen get into an argument over whether to let their speedster son Dash compete in sports.

Helen: I can’t believe you don’t want to go to your own son’s graduation.

Bob: It’s not a graduation. He is moving from the fourth grade to the fifth grade.

Helen: It’s a ceremony.

Bob: It’s psychotic. They keep creating new ways to celebrate mediocrity, but if someone is genuinely exceptional then they…

Helen: This is not about you Bob. This is about Dash.

Bob: You want to do something for Dash? Then let him actually compete. Let him go out for sports!

Helen: I will not be made the enemy here. You know why we can’t do that.

Bob: Because he’d be great!

Helen: This is NOT ABOUT YOU!

Dash clearly has outstanding abilities. And Bob’s right, he would be great if he were allowed to compete. Now, we may not have super heroes in our world, but we do have many kids who, like Dash, are genuinely exceptional.

The question we need to ask ourselves, then, is how should we deal with the Dashes of the world? Do we tell them to hide the parts of them that are “incredible” because flexing their ability would be unfair to others? Do we give them a random chance at a specialized program, one that likely won’t push them because the coaches will have to constantly attend to the slower kids? Or do we set up programs that cater to those with exceptional abilities so that their talents can be fostered and their skills developed?

The answer seems obvious to me.

There’s a reason why admission to medical school is reserved for the top students. It’s the same reason why the best ballet schools only accept the best dancers, and why the best hockey teams only accept the best hockey players. Simply put, they recognize that admission based on merit is the only way to foster excellence. Filling our top institutions with amateurs is a recipe for society-wide mediocrity.

The only way to achieve excellence as a society is to allow the best to rise to the top of their respective fields, regardless of whatever good fortune may have helped them get there. And if that means tolerating a certain degree of inequality along the way, then maybe that’s worth it.

After all, the alternative is a dystopian nightmare.

This article was adapted from an issue of the FEE Daily email newsletter. Click here to sign up and get free-market news and analysis like this in your inbox every weekday.

AUTHOR

Patrick Carroll

Patrick Carroll has a degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Waterloo and is an Editorial Fellow at the Foundation for Economic Education.

RELATED ARTICLE: One Prominent Libertarian Explains Why Unschooling Is the Best Way to Educate Kids

EDITORS NOTE: This FEE column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

OPEN LETTER TO KROGER: Stop Pulling Patriotic Items From Your Shelves!

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Dear Kroger,

Do you have any idea how offensive it is for our once-favorite grocery chain to pull patriotic items from its shelves? Do you have any idea where we shall buy our groceries, floral items, paper products, and other such products because your grocery chain has favored those who denounce America over those who embrace this country that embraced our legal immigrant parents fleeing from Nazi atrocities?

Our family fled the remnants of Europe after seven years as Jewish slaves, easy targets of the Nazis who disarmed the populace in order to enslave them and extinguish their lives. We Americans are proud to have ended World War II, which we did not commence but had to intervene in, at grave costs of American lives and limbs and minds.

Removing patriotic products from Kroger’s customers is a bitter reminder of the ugly past that forced “America the Beautiful” to die to defeat National Socialism; for it is today’s socialists who actively disrespect America’s history, Constitution, and traditions, seeking to impose their dictates upon the American People by pressuring corporations to appease their socialist demands.

In short, we love the country that loves us and the corporations that respect this nation.

Sincerely,

Beverly Newman
Daughter of a Holocaust Survivor

Please send your email to the following:

rodney.mcmullen@kroger.com

corpvps@kroger.com

©Beverly Newman. All rights reserved.

Gun Ruling Knocks Libs Off Their Rocker

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There are some seriously unbalanced liberals running loose out there. They’re losing their minds over the Supreme Court’s gun ruling, among other things.

Most states allow people to carry guns outside the home but, to hear these libs tell it, the Supreme Court’s ruling is ushering in Armageddon.  TV talking head Keith Olbermann said the Supreme Court should be abolished. Libs in the Twitterverse said the Court’s goal is to create chaos and crime to usher in authoritarian government.  Sounds like liberal projection to me, given how libs love Antifa riots, burning cities, and want every criminal to go free.  Joy Reid accused the Court of wanting to “repeal the 20th century” because it actually paid attention to the Constitution.  By the way, Joy, the 20th century ended 22 years ago.  Elie Mystal said the Supreme Court just granted a “right to shoot people.”  Uh-huh.  Actor Rob Perlman said the Court’s decision is for whites only.  That’s crazy.  There was a whole book written about how Martin Luther King and other civil rights leaders were all packing heat – for self-protection, the exact rationale the Court employed yesterday.  New York Governor Kathy Hochul trotted out the tired old argument the Second Amendment only applies to muskets.  That’s like saying free speech only applies to quill pens.  The Founders were well aware technology would advance.  That’s why they put patent protections in the Constitution, to promote scientific progress.  That Hochul would make such a stupid argument that can be demolished in two seconds shows you just how unhinged she is.

Let’s look at some other issues that have upended liberals’ mental equilibrium, lately.

A Democrat chief of staff on Capitol Hill hates Marjorie Taylor Greene so much he vandalized her office, not realizing he was being caught on camera the entire time. Oops.

In another case of Liberal Derangement Syndrome making people overlook the obvious, a climate protester tried to smear cream cake on the Mona Lisa, but it’s behind glass.  Nice try.

Unbalanced Squad member Jamaal Bowman honestly believes civil war will break out in this country if Republicans are elected in November.  I’d go, but I don’t think people should be allowed to carry guns outside the home.

Hillary Clinton said Trump supporters are a “clear and present danger to American democracy.”  That would include me.  This from a delusional woman who started the Trump/Russia collusion hoax and still thinks she won the 2016 election.  Calling Dr. Freud.

Speaking of mental illness, a totally bonkers woman made a video after paying $98 to fill up her gas tank blaming Biden’s inflation on the religious right. I’d ask you to see if you can follow that logic, but there isn’t any.

Antiracist guru Ibram X. Kendi is worried about his daughter who likes playing with a white doll.  He suspects her mind has already been taken over – colonized – by white supremacy.  The guy has a million bucks.  You’d think he could afford to buy his daughter a black doll, if that’s what he wants her to play with.

Buried in all this hilarity is a serious point: civil discourse in this country is suffering because liberals and Democrats are making themselves sick in the head, believing all kinds of nonsense.  I implore you, come back to reality.  I miss our long serious talks about the direction of the country, but you don’t seem to be capable of that, at the moment.

Visit The Daily Skirmish and Watch Eagle Headline News – 7:30am ET Weekdays

©Christopher Wright. All rights reserved.

Education Is the State’s Greatest Tool for Propaganda

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“It is not difficult to deprive the great majority of independent thought.”

In chapter 10 of The Road to Serfdom, Hayek describes how some of the worst people always end up rising to the top of the political heap. Continuing to touch on this theme in the eleventh chapter, Hayek digs even deeper and discusses the control of information and the very basis of truth in a planned society.

In a society where totalitarianism reigns, truth is found not in objective principles, but in a government’s desired ends. Once these ends have been established, all other forms of information are tailored to reinforce that “truth.” Reason is henceforth thrown out the window and the state’s version of truth is beyond contestation. As George Orwell wrote:

Nazi theory indeed specifically denies that such a thing as “the truth” exists. … The implied objective of this line of thought is a nightmare world in which the Leader, or some ruling clique, controls not only the future but the past. If the Leader says of such and such an event, “It never happened”—well, it never happened. If he says that two and two are five—well, two and two are five. This prospect frightens me much more than bombs.

But this on its own is not enough to sway entire nations. Instead of the people merely accepting these “truths,” it is important that the state convince them that these truths are their own. When individuals begin to tie their interests to the state’s interests, a terrifying unity occurs, the likes of which can be seen in almost every deceptive dictatorship throughout history.

As Hayek says:

The most effective way of making everybody serve the single system of ends toward which the social plan is directed is to make everybody believe in those ends. To make a totalitarian system function efficiently, it is not enough that everybody should be forced to work for the same ends. It is essential that the people should come to regard them as their own ends.”

In order to do this, all propaganda is orchestrated to reinforce these ends in order to push individuals in the desired direction. Common themes and slogans are repeated over and over again in order to beat these goals into the minds of the people. Anything contrary to the end goal must be squashed immediately. Anyone speaking out against them must also be destroyed in the name of national security. As Hayek says, “But the minority who will retain an inclination to criticize must also be silenced.”

And while most people associate propaganda with political posters and multimedia, there is no greater tool for propaganda than a nation’s education system.

State-Controlled Education

No matter how intelligent an individual may be, almost every person is susceptible to propaganda. This is because, in many instances, most are unaware that they are falling prey to it. It seeps into our lives through all forms of entertainment but most especially through state-sponsored education.

In Nazi Germany, indoctrinating the youth was one of the easiest ways to ensure the fervent support of future generations. Adolf Hitler himself said, “He alone, who owns the youth, gains the future.” Children were forced into youth groups where their role in the Third Reich was reinforced continually. Germany even tailored toys, games, and books towards the desired ends of the Reich, ensuring that children would believe whatever they wanted them to believe.

Hayek writes:

If all the sources of current information are effectively under one single control, it is no longer a question of merely persuading the people of this or that. The skillful propagandist then has power to mold their minds in any direction he chooses, and even the most intelligent and independent people cannot entirely escape that influence if they are long isolated from all other sources of information.”

And this was the aim of the Third Reich. If the German people were to not only accept but condone the acts of their government, there was no better way to do it than to teach them young, and lead them to believe that this has always been the case.

Touching on this, Hayek says:

The most effective way of making people accept the validity of the values they are to serve is to persuade them that they are really the same as those which they, or at least the best among them, have always held, but which were not properly understood or recognized before.”

Or, to pull from Orwellian speak, the goal is to make these children believe that “we have always been at war with Eastasia.”

But this deliberate molding of minds does not only occur in young students. In fact, once these children’s minds have been sufficiently indoctrinated, they are passed off to institutions of higher education where a belief in intellectual elitism is then instilled.

The Educated Elite

Trained to learn by rote methods rather than critical thinking, young adults, eager to assert their independence, were thrown into colleges and universities and told that they are now part of the intellectual elite. But from this comes the dangerous tendency to stop questioning the information that is presented to you. After all, your professors are highly regarded for their intellect. Why would they steer you in the wrong direction?

But when these professors begin to present state opinion as unquestioned truth, this is where the real problems arise.

The field of eugenics, for example, was once taught as if it were doctrinal truth. If racial superiority could be “scientifically” proven, or, rather, if the state could assert that this was fact, then questioning this doctrine became heresy.

As Hayek says:

The need for such official doctrines as an instrument of directing and rallying the efforts of the people has been clearly foreseen by the various theoreticians of the totalitarian system. Plato’s “noble lies” and Sorel’s “myths” serve the same purpose as the racial doctrine of the Nazis or the theory of the corporative state of Mussolini. They are all necessarily based on particular views about facts which are then elaborated into scientific theories in order to justify a preconceived opinion.”

And, as has been seen throughout history, once a theory becomes part of the scientific narrative, it contributes to the direction of all societal ends. Hayek comments on this saying, “Thus a pseudoscientific theory becomes part of the official creed which to a greater or lesser degree directs everybody’s action.” While the eugenics example may seem rather extreme, it was very applicable to the time that Hayek was writing.

And while it is not easy in hindsight to understand how an entire population could fall for theories this callous, Hayek reminds us, “It is not difficult to deprive the great majority of independent thought.”

It may be easy to cast blame on the media and the entertainment industry for being natural propaganda machines, but history tells a different story. As we have now seen, state-controlled education is one of the worst and most effective propaganda tools that has ever existed.

AUTHOR

Brittany Hunter

Brittany is a writer for the Pacific Legal Foundation. She is a co-host of “The Way The World Works,” a Tuttle Twins podcast for families.

EDITORS NOTE: This FEE column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Abortion & Other Socialist Plans to Destroy America — One Down, Two to Go

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EDITORS NOTE: This article “Abortion & Other Socialist Plans to Destroy America” was originally published on October 3rd, 2020.

We have been subjected to so many lies, deceptions, disinformation and fraud by agitators and provocateurs for years that most people are disoriented and puzzled. Who is doing that to us? The answer is America’s Socialist Party through its Socialist Charlatans. They are preaching hate to cover-up the crime they have committed for several decades. They are accusing Trump of all sorts of things to divert your attention from the crime they had committed. They have followed Stalin’s postulate: Never admit crime committed, instead accuse the adversary in that exact crime.

You can also answer the question by remembering my definition of Stalinist Political Correctness made in 2017: “… Political correctness is a Stalinist policy, driven by a political agenda, a skillfully crafted design of a quintessential system of lies, fraud, and a long-term strategy of war against Western civilization to create a One World Socialist Government under the Kremlin’s rule.”  Stalinist Political Correctness is a mechanism of preventing the Truth from getting out. It is aimed at hiding or masking the Truth. Trump’s negative attitude to PC locked me in as his supporter, because I knew PC and had written about it even before Trump’s presidency. Political Correctness is a monumental weapon to destroy successful capitalism and the political system left to us by the Founding Fathers. America’s Socialist Party (Democrats) has used PC against the American Republic and conservative Republicans for decades…

Abortions: Political Correctness and the Pro-Choice Fraud

It is painful to see how Stalinist Political Correctness continues deceiving and misleading the American public in the 21st century. Abortion is an issue that divides our country and a vivid example of the Dems’ work, armed with Stalinist PC. Their policy has a long history, going back to the 60s. The pro-choice/pro-life framework overlooked the many hidden ways in which the law impacts women’s reproductive freedom. What the abortion debate left out was logic: Yes, logic and the knowledge of Stalinist Political Correctness.

 In my articles written in 2010-2013, I gave several examples of the PC machinery that infiltrated all spheres of our society: politics, culture, art, education, and so on. Those columns have been deleted by the corrupt Obama FBI. Hence, I will present this example in the application of PC exercised by Socialist Charlatans. Abortion is the real issue that divides America, especially the women of America. I had several abortions in my past life in the USSR and it is hard to describe the awful feelings I had after each experience. Besides excruciating physical pain (a surgery without anesthesia), I felt a psychological doom, a combination of grief, guilt, and a black hole in my entire existence. In America, I also found a description of women’s feelings, but it was much softer than mine.

“Many women with unplanned pregnancies believe abortion is their only option. This is what their boyfriends, family, and culture tell them. In moments of vulnerability and confusion, they end up making a choice they never wanted.” What’s a human life worth? Townhall.com Nov. 9, 2015. It is a very true description of some pregnant women’s lives—confusion and vulnerability. I felt that way exactly… Don’t forget—a pregnant woman feels confusion and vulnerability in any culture and country she lives due to the pregnancy, which is changing the chemistry of her entire body and mind, regardless of her race and nationality.

The Mechanism That Fraudulent Political Correctness Operates

The cure is truth, spoken boldly. Yes, and you are the witnesses of the system of incredible lies promoted by the followers of Stalin’s PC. Let’s go to the Truth and analyze the mechanism of Stalinist precepts: They are:

  1. Establishment of a false premise for a future theory or action.
  2. Usage of the false premise as a foundation of the theory or action.

While introducing Stalin in my books, among other epithets, I called him a charlatan of a highest class. Today, I’d like to show you the dreadful harm, which has been brought to the world by Stalinism and his PC. Please, look at the real definition of the word ‘Premise’ in the Dictionary:

Noun

LOGIC

1.

a previous statement or proposition from which another is inferred or follows as a conclusion.

“if the premise is true, then the conclusion must be true”

Verb

1.

base an argument, theory, or undertaking on.

“the reforms were premised on our findings”

The first example I bring is a misleading meaning to the term “pro-choice,” inculcated by the intimidating power of political correctness used by the Marxist/Socialists. The issue has a long history which grew as a snow ball to the gigantic cultural fraud due to PC. The premise is clear—prevention of pregnancy. Be attentive to the premise—prevention of pregnancy. The Charlatans just moved the time span one bit further and the Republicans, as usual, swallowed the fraudulent hook.

The real pregnancy comes to life by the sexual act and the actual choice is the prevention of that sexual act. The partners, especially a woman, have a choice before a sexual act. It is action taken before the sexual act that prevents pregnancy and not actions after the fact. Using PC, Democrat-Charlatans just reprogrammed the human mind, moving the time span and making the choice after the sexual act, which is a fraud. The abortion issue has become a tool for the Democrats to undermine our traditional culture, and our set of values. Just count the disproportional murder of black fetuses and fatherless black families to see the enormous cultural implications of this leftist fraud.  Unfortunately, this fraud has affected all ethnic groups in America. You see it today–eighteen percent of pregnancies (excluding miscarriages) ended in abortion in 2017.

The issue of abortion is quite complicated one. Besides politics, it is the actual application of medicine mixed with three participants or subjects: the fetus, the woman’s will and the action of a doctor directed to abort the fetus. It doesn’t matter how you see a fetus, an alive child or not—the fetus is there, an integral part of the abortion procedure itself. The scandal revealing Planned Parenthood being related to the sale of babies’ body parts just confirms my point. A woman has a choice, a free choice in America when she is facing and intending to have a sexual encounter. Yes, it is her body… Morally, she ought to decide before the sexual act—THAT is the real choice for any women…

Now, please, combine the previous topic of a fraudulent time issue and abortion, spread nationwide for four decades in America to see an extremely negative cultural implication domestically, created and supported by the Democrats. More than 58 million babies have been aborted in America since 1973, more than 17 million of those were black babies. These are the awful numbers. They testify to the dramatic changes in our culture and moral slide if not outright degradation of our value system successfully created by the Democrat-Charlatans’ fraud. America still has not found the solution…What a shame!

Other Frauds Perpetrated by Socialist Charlatans in America

Abortion is only one of the numerous frauds of different forms and shapes executed by Socialist Charlatans in America. Illegal harvesting of the ballets is one of the most arrogant of them. Yet, it is being allowed in different states. The racial division created by Obama is unprecedented, he politicized the entire society, dividing even the medical community. You saw it. At the time of threat of Chinese coronavirus we become defenseless, as different groups of “experts” couldn’t produce one professional decision. Moreover, some C.D.C. workers are now political activists: Socialist Charlatans are playing with numbers to confuse you.

Socialism’s corruption brought to America’s soil has implemented its modus operandi, which is: lies, deception disinformation and fraud. A fraud in the media is no less haughty and dangerous than in the medical community. Progressive Insurance has advertised the Progressive-Dems on all channels, including cable for years. The show 60 minutes has contrived advertising Progressive Insurance twice during their one hour show and nobody noticed it. What an obnoxious arrogant fraud! The Biden/Harris ticket is the focal point and apogee of that fraud and deserves a separate column… Watch the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett and learn about Democrats–Socialist Charlatans.

Knowledge of Russia, her Security Services, and Socialist Charlatans in America is a must. They are not only the Radical Left—they are Socialist Charlatans. I have warned you with this refrain for the last thirty-five years, because I know the importance of this topic. Today, it is not only the Stalinist PC, lies, deception, disinformation and fraud confronting our values and our exceptional political system. We had six Democrat-candidates, vetted and sponsored by the Russian Security Services competing for the U.S. Presidency—they were arrogantly talking about the shape of our democracy! You can see all six on the display when Biden accepted his nomination. Our dysfunctional FBI have not vetted Dems’ candidates, as a result we may be on the path to elect the third America’s Manchurian President! It is a reality in America today… Alas, Sen. Tom Cotton is not the FBI Director…

Our corrupt-dysfunctional FBI and CIA in both Democrat and Republican administrations slept during the collapse of Socialism in the Soviet Union and allowed an abysmal Socialist fraud to become a legitimate issue in America: America’s Socialist mafia and its Socialist Charlatans created a Socialist movement in the heart of America’s Congress—the House of Representatives. You saw the result: how, in militant hatred to Trump’s SOTU speech, it was been ripped up—with criminal intent to confront our unique political system, left to us by our Founding Fathers.

My fellow Americans!

Enough is enough! The momentum in America’s history has come to get in behind President Donald J Trump and defend the exceptionalism of America and our system of government from enemies foreign and domestic. And Mighty God will help us!!!

To be continued www.simonapipko1.com or at www.drrichswier.com/author/spipko/

©Simona Pipko. All rights reserved.

Supreme Court Overturns Roe vs. Wade

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CatholicVote.org reports:

CV NEWS FEED // The Supreme Court on Friday repealed pro-abortion legal precedents Roe vs. Wade and Planned Parenthood vs. Casey, returning the matter of abortion to elected officials in each state.

The 5-4 ruling in the case of Dobbs vs. Jackson Women’s Health has long been anticipated by both sides of the political aisle.

Democrats and abortion industry leaders have worked for months devising ways to thwart the ruling, including by enshrining the so-called “right to abortion” in blue state constitutions. Republican lawmakers in at least 18 states, meanwhile, have enacted “trigger” laws to protect unborn life immediately in the event of Roe’s repeal.

“Held: The Constitution does not confer a right to abortion,” wrote Justice Samuel Alito in the Supreme Court majority opinion released Friday:

Roe and Casey are overruled; and the authority to regulate abortion is returned to the people and their elected representatives.

CatholicVote President Brian Burch hailed the decision and called on pro-life Americans to immediately act in the interests of cementing the Supreme Court victory at the state and local levels throughout the country.

“Catholics and pro-life advocates across the country celebrate today’s landmark Supreme Court decision as the ‘dawning of a new day in America’ – a long-awaited first step toward the full protection of American women and children,” said Burch:

The Court finally righted the notorious decision in Roe vs. Wade after nearly 50 years of heroic efforts by millions of Americans in pursuit of justice. Nowhere in our Constitution do we find a right to take innocent human life. Further, the humanity of children in the womb has become plain and undeniable thanks to the decades of technological advances since Roe was decided. Millions of women have been coerced, threatened, or forced into a decision they regret. They too are worthy of protection. A dark chapter in our nation’s history has finally been closed.

Burch exhorted the pro-life movement to “resolve to work ever more diligently toward building a culture of life that respects the dignity of both mother and child.”

The Court today has merely allowed state legislators to begin the important task of supporting women in need, and protecting their vulnerable children from the grisly practices of the abortion industry,” he said:

We urge state legislatures along with our federal representatives to move quickly to enact broad protections for women and children, and support for pregnancy centers, maternity homes, and programs that offer real choices for women to keep and love their children.”

CatholicVote Communications Director Joshua Mercer added that he saw a great significance in the date of the ruling, from a Catholic perspective. “Not only was this realized on the day we celebrate the Sacred Heart, but every other year it will fall on the Nativity of John the Baptist — who recognized the humanity of Christ in the womb,” he said.

Continuing Coverage

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced in response to the Supreme Court ruling that abortion is now fully illegal in the Lone Star State. In addition, June 24 is now a state holiday.

Read more.

SUPREME COURT’S ROE V. WADE DECISION: READ THE DOBBS V. JACKSON WOMEN’S HEALTH RULING

©CatholicVote.org. All rights reserved.

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Missouri Becomes First State to Ban Abortions After Supreme Court Overturns Roe

South Dakota Becomes 2nd State to Ban Abortions After Supreme Court Overturns Roe

Arkansas Becomes 3rd State to Ban Abortions After Supreme Court Overturns Roe

Kentucky Becomes 4th State to Ban Abortions After Supreme Court Overturns Roe

Texas Abortion Businesses Close, “Not Taking Appointments Until Further Notice”

Pelosi Lambasts SCOTUS As ‘Radical’ And ‘Extremist’ While Holding Back Tears

Democrats Totally Unglued After Supreme Court Overturns Roe: “Horrifying Decision”

26 States Will Likely Protect Babies From Abortions Now That Roe Has Been Overturned

The Supreme Court Stands Up For the Right to Self-Defense

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The Supreme Court’s infamous 2007 decision DC vs Heller recognized that the Second Amendment established a right to bear arms in self-defense. But in the years since, the high court has hardly taken any gun rights cases further fleshing out this precedent—leaving loopholes states have exploited to restrict citizens’ right to self-defense.

No more.

In a seismic 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court just struck down a New York scheme that heavily restricted citizens’ right to carry a firearm in public for self-defense.

The New York policy in question was its “may issue” approach to concealed carry permit applications, which allow citizens to carry a concealed pistol on their person for self-defense. Many states have a permitting process—others have “constitutional carry”—but New York’s was particularly extreme. Not only did it require a basic background check and gun safety certification like many states do, it allowed government officials to deny the application unless the applicant could “demonstrate a special need for self-protection distinguishable from that of the general community.”

That’s right: It made a mockery of our rights and treated them as a privilege, only granting permits to celebrities or people who had explicitly been threatened. Living in a high-crime area or generally wanting to exercise your right to defend yourself wasn’t good enough. This was essentially a way the state worked around the Second Amendment to heavily limit our ability to bear arms.

Thankfully, Justice Clarence Thomas just took a flamethrower to this subjective, unjust system. The court’s decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. Bruen strikes down the New York scheme and affirms that “the Second and Fourteenth Amendments protect an individual’s right to carry a handgun for self-defense outside the home” without needing to accommodate the subjective whims of some bureaucrat.

“We know of no other constitutional right that an individual may exercise only after demonstrating to government officers some special need,” Justice Thomas writes. “That is not how the First Amendment works when it comes to unpopular speech or the free exercise of religion. It is not how the Sixth Amendment works when it comes to a defendant’s right to confront the witnesses against him. And it is not how the Second Amendment works when it comes to public carry for self-defense.”

“New York’s proper-cause requirement violates the Fourteenth Amendment in that it prevents law-abiding citizens with ordinary self-defense needs from exercising their right to keep and bear arms,” the majority opinion concludes.

This is a big win for liberty.

The right to life is an inherent human right, and the right to defend your own life from would-be violence is inherent to that right. This is exactly what the Second Amendment was meant to enshrine. It’s great that the Supreme Court is at long last standing up for our inherent right to self-defense—and standing against petty bureaucrats who would leave us at their mercy.

AUTHOR

Brad Polumbo

Brad Polumbo (@Brad_Polumbo) is a libertarian-conservative journalist and Policy Correspondent at the Foundation for Economic Education.

RELATED ARTICLE: New York’s Unconstitutional Gun Law Was Written By A Notorious, Corrupt Thug

EDITORS NOTE: This FEE column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Planned Parenthood Wages Insurrection at Wisconson State Capitol

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Planned Parenthood and abortion insurrectionists took over the Wisconsin state Capitol building on Wednesday, as the GOP was set to uphold a pro-life law that will take effect if Roe v. Wade is overturned.

Governor Tony Evers (D-WI) signed an executive order this month calling for the special session to repeal a 173 year-old ban on abortion, noting, “While the governor has the authority to call lawmakers into a special session, lawmakers are not obligated to take action on any bills.”

“Whose choice? Our choice!” dozens, if not hundreds, of protesters chanted inside the Capitol rotunda, protesting the GOP’s expected refusal to overturn the ban. “If we don’t get it, shut it down! If we don’t get it, shut it down! If we don’t get it, shut it down!”

“The people of Wisconsin support access to abortion! Our legislators need to listen and pass the Abortion Rights Preservation Act!” Planned Parenthood Advocates of Wisconsin tweeted Wednesday.

Many protesters were wearing Planned Parenthood gear and sporting the abortion provider’s signs.

Despite pressure from loud protesters inside the Capitol, the Republicans in the Senate and Assembly quickly gaveled in and out of Evers’ special session without taking votes to repeal the state’s abortion ban.

Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA)

274 Known Connections

PPFA opposes any limitations on access to abortion, including the procedure commonly known as partial-birth abortion, and also opposes mandatory parental notification for minors wishing to undergo the procedure. Approximately one-third of PPFA’s clients are girls younger than 18 who live with one or both parents. Some 97 percent of these girls qualify for federal assistance to reimburse a provider of social services. This is because PPFA teaches its affiliates how to exploit federal “family planning” programs by qualifying as many clients as possible for federal subsidies of pregnancy tests, contraceptives, and abortions covered by Medicaid…

To learn more about Planned Parenthood, click here.

EDITORS NOTE: This Discover the Networks column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.