UPDATED Saturday: ‘If you will not stand with Israel and the Jews, then I will not stand with you.’ – Ted Cruz.

RedState  "It would have been the easiest thing in the world for Senator Ted Cruz (R, Texas) to ignore the fact that the “In Defense of Christians” summit dinner that he was speaking tonight at had far too many people involved with it who, as the Washington Free Beacon notes, “includes some of the Assad regime’s most vocal Christian supporters, as well as religious leaders allied with the Iranian-backed terrorist group Hezbollah.” But he did not. Instead, he told those folks the truth:..."

 

"Those who hate Israel hate America,” he continued, as the boos and calls for him to leave the stage got louder. “Those who hate Jews hate Christians. If those in this room will not recognize that, then my heart weeps. If you hate the Jewish people you are not reflecting the teachings of Christ. And the very same people who persecute and murder Christians right now, who crucify Christians, who behead children, are the very same people who target Jews for their faith, for the same reason.”

Ted Cruz Stands Up to ‘Hatred and Bigotry’ at Conference of Middle Eastern Christians
"Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas) said in an interview with the Washington Free Beacon that the “hatred and bigotry” he encountered when he was booed off the stage at a Middle Eastern Christian conference for defending Israel on Wednesday night was like nothing he has previously seen in his political career."   Via www.lucianne.com/

It was when Senator Cruz said “Christians have no greater ally than Israel”  ... " But, as the Caller reported, “”Cruz had already had enough.” He declared: “If you will not stand with Israel and the Jews, then I will not stand with you. Good night, and God bless.” Then, in a show of character that is rare among politicians, Mr. Cruz just turned around and walked out. It was a marvelous moment and, we’d like to think, a glimpse of how Mr. Cruz might perform as president in the world organizations...."

Wait a minute, there. Aren't these the "Christians" we hope to defend against Islamic oppression? These tend to be liturgical Christians whose voice of authority is the Church organization and not the Scriptures. Love for Israel comes from a knowledge of it as learned from the Old and New Testaments where we read of the role Israel has played and will play in the course of history. TD

UPDATES:
Mideast Christian Conference Organizers Never Told Cruz That Israel Was Off Limits
“ 'Tonight’s injection of politics when the focus should have been on unity and faith, momentarily played into the hands of a few who do not adhere to IDC’s principles,” Baaklini said of the incident. “They were made no longer welcome.' ”
... "[Mark] Tooley also noted, however: “Cruz, a savvy politician, knew the reaction he would provoke from some by commending Israel, and he maximized his political moment before the many cameras.' ”

Spengler (David P. Goldman) asks: Why Did Middle Eastern Christians Drive Sen. Cruz from the Stage?

...Lebanon was a Catholic project from the outset, and the Vatican’s thinking about the region is colored nostalgia for a dying Christian community and a searing sense of regret for what might have been. If only the State of Israel hadn’t spoiled everything, many Arab Christians think, the Christian minority would have wielded enormous influence in the Arab world. It is true that in many Arab countries, Christians comprised a disproportionate share of merchants and intellectuals. But the same was true of the 130,000 Jews of Iraq before 1947, who owned half the businesses in Baghdad...

Why Was Ted Cruz Booed Wednesday Night?   ... "A key goal of the summit was to bolster resolve here in the U.S., focusing people on the looming elimination of Christianity over in the Middle East. As best I could tell from that ballroom Wednesday night, they booed Ted Cruz because, instead of using his platform to help nameless, foreign, forgotten Christians targeted by Islamic extremists, he added yet another distraction to the mix." ...

Some Educated Reaction to the President's 9/10/ 2014 speech

CNN: 5 takeaways from Obama's ISIS speech     ... " I thought the first part of the speech as he talked about the attack on ISIS was strong and presidential and serious. You could quibble with it, I am sure there will be disagreements. But as a presidential speech, it did very well. What surprised me was the second part of the speech when he started to talk about how well the country is doing with jobs and leading around the world. I think for an awful lot of people, America is feeling pretty blue right now. I think those kind of assertions don't ring true to a lot of people. It seemed to me it detracted from the main message of the speech. - David Gergen - CNN commentator and former adviser to presidents from both political parties"

From 9/9: 10 questions for Obama on ISIS  from Newt Gingrich

 

Arizona lawmakers react to President Obama speech on ISIS   

What Obama Got Right—and Wrong—in His ISIS Speech   ... "He mentioned that Secretary of State John Kerry in particular was seeking more Arab assistance.  Unfortunately, Kerry’s credibility is weak, and the Arab countries are not big “joiners” when the fight is tough. But the president is right to seek this. It is a key to any measure of success." ...
" Never tell your enemies what you will not do, Mr. President."

Obama's poll-driven ISIS speech pleases almost no one   ... "So he went on television last night to enunciate…something.  Because he has to do something.  (“Do” in his customary sense of “say.”)  The particulars don’t matter nearly as much as the appearance." ... American Thinker

The speech "succeeded in tone but failed in substance." "When it comes to foreign policy, a presidential speech is measured by two things: strategic tone and strategic substance."...
 "It was self-limiting when it comes to our capabilities, it was hedging in intent, and it manifested an obsession with domestic opinion." NRO

Andrew Malcolm: Tardy Obama talks tough on ISIS. But can anyone really believe him?

 

... "Unfortunately, these 1,985 well-spoken words of Obama's come in the context of a presidency that has been degraded and virtually destroyed by his own actions -- and inactions."
"Barack Obama has squandered the hope, good will and, most importantly, the credibility he carried into the Oval Office nearly a thousand years ago. His serial lies, misleading claims and phony stats have not only corroded trust in him and his office but crushed and ground it into microscopic dust."
... Via Lucianne

Obama Rejects 'Best Military Advice' in Fighting ISIS   ... "Recommitting ground combat forces to Iraq would have been highly controversial, and most likely would have been opposed by a substantial majority of Americans. But Austin’s predecessor, retired Marine Gen. James Mattis, said the decision not to send ground troops poses serious risks to the mission.

" ' 'The American people will once again see us in a war that doesn’t seem to be making progress,' Mattis said. 'You’re giving the enemy the initiative for a longer period.' '"

 

Obama’s ‘Strategy’ Has No Chance of Success  "President Obama just announced that he is bringing a counter-terrorism strategy to an insurgency fight. He was at pains to repeat the phrase “counter-terror” four times in a short speech. Noting that ISIL is not a state (partly because the international community thankfully does not recognize it), he declared, “ISIL is a terrorist organization, pure and simple. And it has no vision other than the slaughter of all who stand in its way.”  Neither of those sentences, unfortunately, is true."
...
 "ISIL has described a very clear vision of seizing control of all of the territory of Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, and the Palestinian Territories.  It intends to abolish all of the borders and redraw them according to a new structure of governance suitable to its hateful version of an old Islamic heresy.  That vision also makes it more than a simple terrorist organization.  It’s awfully hard to develop a sound strategy when you start by mis-diagnosing the problem so profoundly. That’s why the “strategy” the president just announced has no chance of success."   FREDERICK W. KAGAN and KIMBERLY KAGAN 

Online posts show ISIS eyeing Mexican border, says law enforcement bulletin

 

Jana Winter;   "Social media chatter shows Islamic State militants are keenly aware of the porous U.S.-Mexico border, and are “expressing an increased interest” in crossing over to carry out a terrorist attack, according to a Texas law enforcement bulletin sent out this week.

“ 'A review of ISIS social media messaging during the week ending August 26 shows that militants are expressing an increased interest in the notion that they could clandestinely infiltrate the southwest border of US, for terror attack,” warns the Texas Department of Public Safety "situational awareness" bulletin, obtained by FoxNews.com.

Texas Department of Public Safety Issues Bulletin Warning of Increased "ISIS Interest on the Southwest Border"    Quoting Judicial Watch:  

Intelligence officials have picked up radio talk and chatter indicating that the terrorist groups are going to “carry out an attack on the border,” according to one JW source.  “It’s coming very soon,” according to another high-level source, who clearly identified the groups planning the plots as “ISIS and Al Qaeda.” An attack is so imminent that the commanding general at Ft. Bliss, the U.S. Army post in El Paso, is being briefed, JW’s sources say. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) did not respond to multiple inquiries from Judicial Watch, both telephonic and in writing, about this information. 

U.K. Prime Minister Warns of ‘Greatest Terrorist Threat’ in History. Hours Later, Obama Made This Comment at Fundraiser.
“[I] promise you things are much less dangerous now than they were 20 years ago, 25 years ago or 30 years ago,” Obama said after referencing challenges posed by the Islamic State terror group, the Ukrainian crisis and China’s advancing economy." ...

@BailofRights wrote:

I laughed at "America is safer" Lol. We may as well have a welcoming committee with fruit baskets & guns on the southern border.

George W. Bush 2007: Pulling all troops from Iraq will risk throwing away gains

Legal Insurrection    "No, George Bush hasn’t actually commented on present events in Iraq, probably because he doesn’t believe it’s helpful for ex-presidents to criticize their successors.

"But he already described the situation back in 2007, when he gave a speech explaining why he was vetoing a bill passed by the Democratic Congress which would have pulled troops out of Iraq (the first three minutes of the video are especially relevant):

 

"For those who say “but Bush negotiated the agreement under which Obama ended up completely pulling out of Iraq,” there is no question that everyone involved in those Bush negotiations expected that the next president would forge a new agreement with the Iraqi government when the time came, and that it would involve leaving some residual forces there. But it was clear that Obama had no interest in doing so; he barely participated in the talks and pulled out when the going got the least bit rough.

"Contrast Bush’s speech in the video above with this speech of Obama’s which he made on the occasion of the complete withdrawal from Iraq. He justifies and celebrates that withdrawal by praising the accomplishments the US had made in Iraq up to then—including and especially those of the surge which he had bitterly opposed as a senator. Ironically and tragically, those achievements have evaporated now, although their loss might well have been prevented had he left a small residual force in the country.

"If we had a real press, they’d all be pointing this out on their front pages. But we don’t."

No Shortage of Advice for Obama: More on What He Should and Will Say About ISIS Tonight

The Daily Signal
 

 

"President Obama “has to avoid the risk of talking about what he will not do and what America will not do,” says Steve Bucci, a former top Pentagon official and a director at The Heritage Foundation. “We have to get the message across that we are going to stand firm against ISIS, that it is going to be with international support … and he needs to avoid putting a timeline on it.”

"Heritage Foundation’s Nile Gardiner, a former adviser to former prime minister Margaret Thatcher, also weighed in on the speech, remarking that, “the international community wants to see real leadership from the United States.' ”

Warning: are we prepared to see videos of captured allied forces being beheaded in TV?

The Chicago Sun-Times: Obama’s ISIS plan appears modest, realistic    "America’s experience in Iraq and Afghanistan over the last 13 years has been an unending stream of negative unintended consequences. As America contemplates its next move in the struggle against terrorism, a clear set of lessons has emerged: embrace skepticism, fully anticipate unintended consequences and, above all else, set humane and realistic expectations." Via http://www.lucianne.com/

National address on eve of 9/11 will outline plan for military action, aid for US-backed opposition forces in Syria fighting Islamic State.   "The president's plan includes additional support for opposition militias in Syria vetted by the United States, which will serve as a ground force complementing America's air campaign.

"Former Kurdish fighters or Peshmerga forces currently serve that role in America's air war against Islamic State in Iraq, holding cleared ground after US strikes occur. Obama has ruled out introducing US combat troops on the ground.

"The new policy in Obama's speech will be his expressed intent to strike the group in Syria, after months of deliberation among members of the National Security Council.

"Speaking from the State Floor of the White House, Obama will also discuss a coalition of partners he has rallied to the fight, which thus far includes the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates."

 

From our traditional and loyal allies, Great Britain:  Barack Obama and Isil: time for America's deliberator-in-chief to man up   "Tonight, exactly one year after Barack Obama strode to a microphone in the East Room of the White House to make a prime-time televised address to the nation on "what to do about Syria", the US president is preparing once again to do…just that.
Even by the tortured standards of Mr Obama, the 2013 address was a truly dismal affair in which the President could be heard arguing with himself over his own non-response to the Assad regime's use of chemical weapons.
In "my judgment as Commander in Chief", the president said, Assad should suffer "a targeted military strike" for breaking the century-long taboo against using chemical weapons. But as "President of the world's oldest constitutional democracy", Mr Obama explained half a breath later, he had decided to "take this debate to Congress".   Via http://www.lucianne.com/

Former Secretary of Defense Cheney speaks on the threats in the Middle East

Mr. Cheney as we know him

Behind Closed Doors, Cheney Tells Republicans That Obama Supported Muslim Brotherhood
... "According to Rep. John Fleming of Louisiana, Cheney said Obama “has actually done things that have supported the Muslim Brotherhood.” The former vice president then went on to name the Muslim Brotherhood as “the beginning of all the Islamist groups that we’re dealing with now like Hamas and ISIS.”
"In Fleming’s account, Cheney said that by “facilitating the Muslim Brotherhood…our policies have been exactly opposite to where they should be.”

Mr. Cheney as pictured by the left

Cheney attacks Obama support for Muslim Brotherhood in closed door meeting with House Republicans     ... "With President Obama poised to give a major speech on Wednesday about military action against ISIS in Iraq and Syria, Cheney spoke to the assembled Republican congressmen about the situation in the Middle East at their weekly caucus meeting. And while the GOP has been fiercely divided over foreign policy in recent years, Cheney didn’t wade into that debate, instead opting to pillory Obama in front of an audience giving him “rapt attention.' ”

Cheney: Obama 'pink slips' to troops have military at 'crisis point'   "Former Vice President Dick Cheney said Wednesday that President Obama has slashed the military so deeply that troop levels will be below where they were on the 9/11 attacks, a gutting that begs foes to exploit the Pentagon’s vulnerabilities.

“ 'We’re investing in defense as if the dangers of the world were all in quiet retreat,” warned Cheney, a former defense secretary, in a morning speech at the American Enterprise Institute.

"With typically blunt words, Cheney said that Obama has whittled away the strong military he was left with by former President George W. Bush." ...
 

Reading list on the President's speech tonight

Blackfive: Major Garrett (CBS) asks "Why watch Obama talk about ISIL?"  "Major Garrett of CBS asked "Why would anyone watch?" Obama talk about his ISIL strategy tonight when he will not be announcing any specifics or an actual plan to win. Painful but legit question, I have some painful and funny truth in response."

truthrevolt.org

Taegan Goddard's Political Wire:  Obama's Prime Time Challenge  "President Obama will address the nation in a prime-time speech at 9 p.m. ET on the threat posed by the Islamic State.
"Morning Line: "The president's challenge tonight -- the day before the 13th anniversary of 9/11 -- is to sell military action to a war-weary country skeptical of military intervention and of his ability to lead. By the way, don't expect it to be a long speech, which may indicate an address meant to make the moral case but short on detail."
"First Read: "It's also worth pointing out that Obama's speech tonight is unusual for a president outlining a strategy for military action. Why unusual? Because the country is already there; in some ways, it's the public trying to rally the Commander-in-Chief."  (Emphasis mine, TD)

From JustOneMinute:   Prepping For Obama's Call To Arms    "Tonight Obama will attempt to rally a troubled nation behind his uncertain leadership. I offer this passage as a suggestion to his strategic thinking:" ...

World Mag: Globe Trot: Will the president order anti-ISIS airstrikes in Syria?  "Beyond political considerations, lives and homelands are at stake across the Middle East. Ryan Crocker, former U.S ambassador to Iraq and Syria warns: 

“There is no time left to argue, dither, and wonder what should be done about those who are butchering Americans—and anyone else they care to—across a growing portion of the Middle East.

The enemy has no such doubts. They are not going away. They are getting stronger. The war, ladies and gentlemen, is truly on. We’re just not a meaningful part of it yet.”

Democrats in Congress poised to approve $5 billion in new funding  How will it be spent?

Andrew C. McCarthy; Obama’s belief that he can “manage” the Islamic State may collide with reality.

 

"President Obama says he intends to shrink the al-Qaeda-spawned Islamic State into a “manageable problem.” Perhaps we’ll learn more about how when he speaks to the nation on Wednesday evening. Still, the question presses: Is he the manager for the job?

"In answering that question, past performance is more a guarantee of future results than is any statement of newfound purpose from a president whose innate dishonesty has turned his signature phrase “Let me be clear” into notorious self-parody." ...

Thomas Sowell: Obama’s Shameful ISIS Strategy ;  "The president’s only concern is getting the crisis off the front pages."

... Generations of Americans yet unborn may curse us all for leaving them hostage to a nuclear terrorist Iran. But generations yet unborn do not vote, so they carry no weight with Barack Obama.

... "Everything in Barack Obama’s history suggests that he is going to leave the job half done, so long as that gets the issue off the front pages and off the TV newscasts."

  
 

How to Shrink Your Church and Your Political Party

The American Culture

 

... So how do you shrink your church? Throw your principles out the door (in this case principles would be historic, orthodox doctrine), and adopt cultural values that are at war with those principles. This, of course, is supposedly the way to attract more people, especially those paragons of wisdom and virtue, millennials. Because no doubt if something is appealing to someone in their 20s, or even 30s, it must be right! But alas, it doesn’t quite work out this way: 

 [A] number of Christian denominations have already taken significant steps towards liberalizing their stances on homosexuality and marriage, and the evidence so far seems to indicate that affirming homosexuality is hardly a cure for membership woes. On the contrary, every major American church that has taken steps towards liberalization of sexual issues has seen a steep decline in membership.

Full Article.

How To Shrink Your Church In One Easy Step                                                           

 "Every major American church that has taken steps towards liberalization on sexual issues has seen a steep decline in membership." 

 

 Photo at right from Energetic Procession

 

Former prosecutor says Wisconsin investigation 0f Gov. Walker fuled by “hyper-partisan” DA and union activist wife

Hot Air   ... "This is only the latest skirmish in the Left’s apparent campaign to criminalize political disagreement — ranging from a proposed Constitutional amendment restricting political speech, to an endless ‘Bridgegate’-to-nowhere investigation in New Jersey, to the utterly preposterous indictments against Texas Gov. Rick Perry.  If these tactics prove successful, what’s to stop agenda-driven prosecutors in heavily partisan jurisdictions from routinely cooking up criminal inquiries and charges for the sole purpose of hanging a dark cloud over a rival politician during an election season?  By the time the target has time to clear his or her name, the political damage has been done." ...

... " Genuine public corruption is a scourge that must be rooted out, but abusing the legal system to harass and silence ideological opponents is disgraceful.  I’ll leave you with one of Walker’s latest ads touting Wisconsin’s job growth..."
 

The Virtue of Subtlety: A U.S. Strategy Against the Islamic State

STRATFOR    "U.S. President Barack Obama said recently that he had no strategy as yet toward the Islamic State but that he would present a plan on Wednesday. It is important for a president to know when he has no strategy. It is not necessarily wise to announce it, as friends will be frightened and enemies delighted. A president must know what it is he does not know, and he should remain calm in pursuit of it, but there is no obligation to be honest about it.

"This is particularly true because, in a certain sense, Obama has a strategy, though it is not necessarily one he likes. Strategy is something that emerges from reality, while tactics might be chosen. Given the situation, the United States has an unavoidable strategy. There are options and uncertainties for employing it. Let us consider some of the things that Obama does know."   Read More..

By George Friedman

A photograph that will haunt you

Know the enemy we must fight.

Republican Security Council

The DOJ plans to issue a warrant for this man's arrest and a lawyer

will be appointed for him.

"This photo shows an Islamic State (IS) militant with a terrified 7 year old girl in Syria. IS refers to her as a kafir, which has no human value to them. They can be exploited for skills, sex, slavery, or anything else. "

17-year-old says she is one of about 40 Yazidi women and girls, some as young as 12, still being held captive and sexually abused on a daily basis by Isil fighters

Would you feel safe?…

Liberal Logic 101