Sutherland Springs church invites public to see interior

MSN  "SUTHERLAND SPRINGS, Texas — Red roses and first names grace 26 empty chairs.  
"Voices without faces read aloud verses from the scripture.

"For everyone who believes in him shall have eternal life," says one in a simple recording on a loop over a public address system.

"That's what several dozen residents of Sutherland Springs and nearby communities saw and heard when the church that witnessed a horrific mass killing was opened for short, solemn tours."

. . . " 'We had some amazing people come and pull off a miracle to basically rebuild this sanctuary," Associate Pastor Mark Collins said at the broken church's front door.

"Church officials, who earlier had suggested the nearly 100-year-old building would come down, said no decision has been made on whether to demolish it or to give it new life. Either way, Collins said, services will be held inside the building next Sunday.

"That sanctuary showed to the public was stripped of any outward sign of violence. Blood-stained carpet was gone and the concrete floor painted white. Pews where worshipers were slain were taken out." . . . Photo gallery of the memorial

Feminists saved the 42nd president of the United States in the 1990s. They were on the wrong side of history; is it finally time to make things right?

The Atlantic: "Bill Clinton: A Reckoning"

"The most remarkable thing about the current tide of sexual assault and harassment accusations is not their number. If every woman in America started talking about the things that happen during the course of an ordinary female life, it would never end. Nor is it the power of the men involved; history instructs us that for countless men, the ability to possess women sexually is not a spoil of power; it’s the point of power. What’s remarkable is that these women are being believed.

"Most of them don’t have police reports or witnesses or physical evidence; many of them are recounting events that transpired years—sometimes decades—ago. In some cases, their accusations are validated by a vague, carefully couched quasi-admission of guilt; in others they are met with outright denial. It doesn’t matter. We believe them. Moreover, we have finally come to some kind of national consensus about the workplace; it naturally fosters a level of romance and flirtation, but the line between those impulses and the sexual predation of a boss is clear.

. . . 

"The notorious 1998 New York Times op-ed by Gloria Steinem must surely stand as one of the most regretted public actions of her life. It slut-shamed, victim-blamed, and age-shamed; it urged compassion for and gratitude to the man the women accused. Moreover (never write an op-ed in a hurry; you’ll accidentally say what you really believe), it characterized contemporary feminism as a weaponized auxiliary of the Democratic Party." Steinem wrote:

What if President Clinton lied under oath about some or all of the above? According to polls, many Americans assume he did. There seems to be sympathy for keeping private sexual behavior private. Perhaps we have a responsibility to make it O.K. for politicians to tell the truth -- providing they are respectful of "no means no; yes means yes" -- and still be able to enter high office, including the Presidency.
Until then, we will disqualify energy and talent the country needs -- as we are doing right now.

Well, Bill did have the energy all right. 

elcome To The Sue-nited States Of America

craigcoogan

Zero Hedge  "On the morning of February 27, 1992, 79-year old Stella Liebeck and her grandson Chris pulled up to a McDonald’s drive-through in Albuquerque, New Mexico and ordered a $0.49 cup of coffee.

"Chris pulled the car over and parked momentarily so that his grandmother could add cream and sugar.

"While doing so, she accidentally spilled the entire cup onto her lap, instantly scalding her.

Liebeck was hospitalized for eight days with third degree burns; she received numerous skin grafts and required in-home care for several weeks after her release.

"She blamed McDonald’s for the incident and demanded $20,000 to cover anticipated medical expenses. McDonald’s balked, so the case went to court.

"The trial took place more than two years later, in August 1994, resulting in an unbelievable victory for Liebeck– the jury awarded her more than $2.7 million.

(The total compensation was subsequently reduced, but still ended up being a huge payday for her.)

"This is one of the more famous cases frequently cited as a frivolous lawsuit. But it’s just the tip of the iceberg, especially in the Sue-nited States of America." . . .

Libs prepare for Thanksgiving

Don Surber  "The holiday season is upon us. Thanksgiving is only 10 days away. You know what that means. Buying turkeys and trimmings. Cleaning up the house. Getting out the folding chairs.

"Liberals are preparing by reading this year's rendition of "How to talk politics at your family holiday meal this year.' "

. . . The next year, Gawker ramped it up with "How to Talk to Your Conservative Relatives." It offered this advice:

First of all, this is not a list of "counter-arguments," or methods by which you can convince a conservative relative that their beliefs are wrong. . . .

 . . . "In 2011, the insufferable liberal was pumped for Thanksgiving.

From Scott Stenholm at HuffPost:

The most stereotypical, called-out liberals in America, for generations, have been the most creative, the most educated and the most well informed members of our society. Who wouldn’t want to be grouped in with them?! Yet the holidays are upon us, and for many of us this does not just mean heading home for some quality time with our kin and stuffing ourselves with turkey and pumpkin pie. It also means that for liberals who grew up with conservative families, or even just that lone uncle who thinks “Obama is ruining this country with his socialism” or that “the gays shouldn’t be getting married” or that “scientists are pulling a fast one with all this climate change mumbo jumbo,” that we are on a collision course with the inevitable: the Thanksgiving dinner political argument. . . . 

Slate cartoon

"For Thanksgiving, there was this from the Los Angeles Times:

Know how to deal with annoying peacekeepers. If you have an audience of more than two, someone will probably say, “Why don’t we just try to have a nice time on Thanksgiving?” That’s when you say, “For sure, in a minute, but these are serious times and I think it’s good for all of us, as Americans, to talk through what’s going on.” The “as Americans” line is especially difficult to argue with on Thanksgiving.

"Jesus said blessed are the peacemakers. The Times said #$%^ the peacemakers."
. . . 
"In 2014, the Union of Concerned Scientists gave us, "How to Talk About Climate Change at Thanksgiving: Recipes for Good Conversations.' "

"And Joel Silberman at the Los Angeles Times said it was a patriotic duty to talk politics at Thanksgiving:' " . . . 

But wait! There's more! So very much more! . . .

The Democrat media stands tall against sexual harrassment

Thomas Lifson: Confused lefty pundit blames Trump for Harvey Weinstein (or something)    See the MSNBC video at the link.

"Isn’t it a good thing that courageous women are speaking up about the sexual abuse endemic in Hollywood?

"True enough, it has damaged the cause of Democrats, and as the truth-telling (along with potential false accusations) seems to be hitting mainstays of the Democrats. And all those women who spoke up about Bill Clinton’s predation are certainly awkward now that Weinstein’s accusers are celebrated.

"So what’s a lefty feminist journalist to do? . . .

Crazy Uncle Joe: Democrat presidential hopeful

"The answer to that question is easy: attack Trump.

"So, that’s what the national editor of The Nation did on MSNBC (of course).

"No mention of all the Democrats who received money from Harvey and looked the other way despite his well-known sexual abuse. No, it is Donald Trump who somehow is bad." . . .

Speaking of crazy Uncle Joe: . . . "I have to give Biden some credit, though. At least he’s got a woman of legal age on his mind. Usually he’s groping the kiddies, getting in their personal space, making everything creepy." . . .

iOTWreport

Trump Shines in Foreign Policy

Trump is supposed to be an idiot, but this idiot has been a success in the international hotel business for years, and people like that have to know about currencies and commodities. They have to have credible information sources or they'll make the wrong moves. They have to read price signals. Rex Tillerson is one likely source for Trump, and so is Mattis.

James Lewis

"Remember ISIS? When Obama left office, it was still a growing network of eager sadistic killers, with secret sponsorship by Turkey, by some Gulf Arab regimes, the Wahhabi radicals, and by the Iranians. Today a lot of those boastful YouTube killers are just smoking splotches in the sand.

"A single MOAB bomb was dropped on a mountain tunnel complex in Afghanistan, apparently a clean target with no "weddings" going on. The day afterwards the media said that 94 ISIS killers died, but that assumes that somebody had already cleaned up that collapsed tunnel structure; not a chance. So a hundred or more of the worst human beings since Hitler died in one big explosion. 

"Most important, the United States sent a strong signal of determination. Trump-Mattis announced a strategy of "surround and kill the enemy in place." For mass-murdering criminals there will be no mercy.

"The U.S. media just rolled its eyes and yawned, but the Muslim world got the message loud and clear. They’ve been wondering how long the United States, which was the winning power in the Cold War and the two world wars was going to come back to its senses. Well, the MOAB bombing wasn't wish-washy, it wasn’t half-hearted and it didn't signal cowardice and weakness. The United States was finally getting serious.

"Obama would never even name the enemy, and most importantly, under Obama the United States lost the moral high ground against child-murdering sadists; we started to support Sunni killer cults in Syria.

"If ISIS is just a minor nuisance, as Obama tried to tell us, that would make the genocides of history meaningless. " . . .

"The new heir to the Saudi throne (known as MBS for Mohammed bin Salman) and the aging king needed our help against Iran. They know Trump won't help Saudi Arabia if they don't purge their own jihad sponsors. That is one big reason for the purge over there, and we will have to see how it comes out."

You can't fool McGruff the Crime Dog

Photosnark by Rich Terrell

Senate Democrats pushed nine different gun controls during the past six weeks, and ABC News has now emerged with a tenth gun law which they suggest may be the ringer.   . . . "That law would legalize firearm confiscation orders like those in Washington state. Such orders allow a judge to issue an ex parte order for the confiscation of an American’s firearms. This means the order can be issued without the firearm owner even being present for the process. His or her first knowledge of the order would come when police knocked on their door to sweep the house for firearms.

"According to ABC News, the orders are supported by Sandy Hook Promise, the gun control group to which Tim McGraw donated concert proceeds in July 2015. The firearm confiscation orders are also supported by Michael Bloomberg-funded Everytown for Gun Safety.

"In fact, ABC News reported that Everytown claims “4,500 Americans died due to gun violence in August” of this year. This claim is misleading in a number of ways.

"For one, it does not differentiate between Americans who die due to suicide versus those who die via gun crime, homicide. Gun crime only makes up one-third of gun deaths each year in America. Two-thirds of the deaths are suicides." . . .

I Went To Church Today

Red State  . . . "But as big as it has grown, it still feels like “home” to me when I attend. Because, in my observation, it has always stayed on message, on point. On God. I have yet to leave a service without feeling like God spoke to me and moved in my heart." . . .

"But that isn’t why I’m writing this. In fact, as I read back over the previous paragraphs, I realize they serve to highlight the question: If it’s so wonderful, why haven’t I been going lately? 

. . .  For in the sanctuary of church, we aren’t typically on guard, prepared to do battle. Some might even say we are vulnerable.

"That was my initial thought, upon hearing the horrific news last Sunday. But that was quickly followed by a sense of resolve. No, you don’t get to scare me away from my church and my God. Not with your guns, nor your bombs, nor your hate. Not even with your honest misunderstanding and mistrust of faith and of prayer. My faith is my strength, not my vulnerability.

"So I promised myself I’d go back to church. Initially, I thought of it as a show of solidarity for the people of Sutherland Springs, Texas — and Antioch, Tennessee, and Charleston, South Carolina. But I realize, that’s hubris. My heart does ache for them and I will continue to pray for them. But, in truth, I’m going back for me. Because I’ve been the one holding myself back. I’ve been the one standing in my own way. And it’s long past time for me to get over myself." . . . Full article.

The Dems Are Back, Baby!

Power Line Blog

"And celebrating their return on Saturday Night Live."

"If only the Democrats’ leaders were as young as the comics who portray them in this skit…"

However "Chuck Schumer" looks more like Ezekiel Emanuel, also known as "Easy-kill Emanuel" for his stance on abortion.

Bill Clinton's looming reckoning as a sexual predator

Thomas Lifson  "So far, there has not been much holding of Bill Clinton to account by progressives, despite the change in zeitgeist for sexual predation by the powerful.  Never mind that it's fashionable on the left today to hold the founders of our country to present-day standards.

"But the inevitable is happening.  At first, a few progressives start mentally applying the post-Weinstein ethic to Bill Clinton.  In the process, they eventually have to reflect on their own past and regret their support for him throughout Kenneth Starr's revelations, impeachment, and beyond.  That will take a long time.  

"But if they don't publicly reflect, I am sure their friends on the feminist left and the entire right will be happy to dig up whatever the politicians and pundits said at the time about private matters being off limits.  It's only sex!

"Worst of all: Just as with Harvey Weinstein, everybody knew.  That's why Hillary and Betsy Wright put together the "bimbo eruptions" team.  Bill's victims were double-victimized, dismissed, pictured as chasing a hundred-dollar-bill dragged through a trailer park by James Carville.

"The dam may be leaking among the progressive pundits, in cable news, at least.  Justin Caruso of the Daily Caller is covering the awakening of MSNBC's Chris Hayes on Twitter.  This tweet is the general charge, but Hayes gets more specific:

As gross and cynical and hypocrtical [sic] as the right's "what about Bill Clinton" stuff is, it's also true that Democrats and the center left are overdue for a real reckoning with the allegations against him.

— Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes) November 10, 2017

. . .
"The omertà on Bill Clinton's predation of less powerful women lasted through last year, as Caruso points out:

Broaddrick and several other Clinton accusers appeared with then-candidate Donald Trump before the second debate with Hillary Clinton in 2016. She said at the time, "Actions speak louder than words. Mr. Trump may have said some bad words, but Bill Clinton raped me and Hillary Clinton threatened me. I don't think there's any comparison."

"The MSM commentariat knew, and they kept their mouths shut.

"They even knew that Hillary, the breaker of glass ceilings, was the enforcer." . . .

"As always when we are fighting the cultural hegemony of the progressives, we use Alinsky's Fourth and hold the enemy to its own rules.  It works most of the time."

To wit:

You Have to Hand It to Hillary – the Girl Can Smear

Clarice Feldman   "With the help of the DNC (broke, but forking over millions to this end), Hillary pulled off what Kimberly Strassel rightly calls “one of the dirtiest tricks in U.S. political history." She hired a smear outfit (Fusion, headed by Glenn Simpson) which put together ludicrous claims, leaked them to willing press cohorts, including David Corn at Mother Jones, hired Christopher Steele (GPS) to concoct a fairytale about Donald J Trump and had Steele give the Dossier to the FBI in July 2016. Then press megaphone Michael Isikoff at Yahoo News -- obviously tipped off by Steele -- reported, “U.S. intel officials probe ties between Trump advisor and Kremlin.”

"Having generated this nonsense, handed it off to the FBI, and shared the news of that handoff to Isikoff, Hillary “jumped all over it, spinning its own oppo research as a government investigation into Mr. Trump.”  . . .

. . . 

"And his effort to keep from turning over to Congress the bank records, which seem likely to disclose the names of journalists whom his outfit Fusion paid, has hit a bump as far as he is concerned. The Obama-appointed judge who was handling the bank records case has been removed -- perhaps because her law firm represented Huma Abedin and other Democratic insiders and a new judge appointed to hear it;

"If you, like me, prefer to remember the day when Americans were smarter and more resourceful than to be taken in by this foolishness, I draw your attention to an obituary in this week’s New York Times.

"It’s about Irv Refkin, from my hometown, Milwaukee. When he was 3 or 4 his immigrant parents died in an auto accident and he spent the next 10 years in a German Lutheran orphanage where he learned to speak German. Through a series of mix-ups while in the U.S. Army, he was mistaken for a Canadian and flown to Britain, “before the United States army knew he was missing, he had parachuted into occupied France.” He carried out three missions for the British and when the U.S. entered the war he worked for the O.S.S. as a “saboteur, assassin and courier behind enemy lines.”

"It’s good to remember that once upon a time in a country called the USA we had people with enough courage and wit to know how to do the right thing. "

Are mass murderers always insane? Researchers don't think so

UK Independent   File under "They know this because....?"  

" 'In almost all high-end mass killings, the perpetrator’s thinking evolves,' says one expert"

If what people do is any reflection of who they are, then Devin Patrick Kelley, who slaughtered 26 churchgoers on Sunday in Texas, surely was a madman.

Before the atrocity, he had attempted to sneak weapons onto an Air Force base after making death threats to his superiors, according to a local police report. In 2012, he had escaped from a mental hospital in New Mexico to which he had been sent after assaulting his wife and fracturing his stepson’s skull.

"A video of the church killing reportedly shows Mr. Kelley working his way methodically through the aisles, shooting some parishioners, even children, at point-blank range.

"But the rest of these murderers do not have any severe, diagnosable disorder. Though he was abusive to his wife, Omar Mateen, who killed 49 people in an Orlando nightclub, had no apparent serious mental illness. Neither did Stephen Paddock, who mowed down 58 concertgoers from a hotel window in Las Vegas."

"Ditto for Dylann Roof, the racist who murdered nine African-American churchgoers in South Carolina in 2015, and Christopher Harper-Mercer, the angry young man who killed nine people at a community college in Oregon the same year." . . .

"Adam Lanza, who in 2012 killed 26 people at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn., exhibited extreme paranoia in the months leading up to his crime, isolating himself in his room."