Why Progressivism and Religion Don’t Go Together

Hillary, Soros and the political genocide of Christianity  She "seems to have a problem with religious liberty when it conflicts with her progressive goals."

National Review  . . . "In the wake of that demoralizing defeat, some have suggested that the party’s top leadership is the main issue, and Democratic politicians in the House have begun openly grumbling against minority leader Nancy Pelosi. Others on the Left believe that Democratic candidates have been losing because they’ve stayed too close to the center, rather than endorsing the increasingly progressive policies some voters desire. Still others have posited that the underlying issue is the party’s dismissive attitude toward religious values and even organized religion itself.

"While the problems afflicting the party must stem from some combination of these factors, Democrats’ scorn for religion should be their biggest concern. That scorn is compounded by the party’s sudden and dramatic swerve to the Left on key social issues — abortion, contraception, religious liberty, and marriage, to name a few — in a quest for votes from far-Left, progressive Americans.
Just after the election in Georgia, historian Daniel Williams wrote an opinion piece in the New York Times titled “The Democrats’ Religion Problem.” In it, he suggested that Bernie Sanders’s presidential campaign might offer the party a way of reaching religious Americans. He writes:

Mr. Sanders’s non-Christian background may have hurt him in the South; he did poorly among African-American voters, despite his consistent civil rights record. But he did what few other secular candidates have done: He won a sympathetic hearing from conservative evangelicals with a speech that gave a religious grounding for his economic views, complete with biblical citations. When Mr. Sanders spoke at Liberty University, he did not pretend to share evangelical Christians’ faith, but he showed respect for his audience’s religious tradition.

"Williams concluded by arguing that Democratic politicians must convince religious voters that they are not enemies of faith, and they ought to do so by “grounding their policy proposals in the religious values of prospective voters.' ”

Johns Hopkins Psychiatrist: ‘Transgendered Men Don’t Become Women,’ They Become ‘Feminized Men,’ ‘Impersonators’

In addition, he said, “both the state and federal governments are actively seeking to block any treatments that can be construed as challenging the assumptions and choices of transgendered youngsters.”

CNS News  "Dr. Paul R. McHugh, the Distinguished Service Professor of Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University and former psychiatrist–in-chief for Johns Hopkins Hospital, who has studied transgendered people for 40 years, said it is a scientific fact that “transgendered men do not become women, nor do transgendered women become men.”

" 'All such people, he explained in an article for The Witherspoon Institute ,  “become feminized men or masculinized women, counterfeits or impersonators of the sex with which they ‘identify.’”

"Dr. McHugh , who was psychiatrist-in-chief at Johns Hopkins Hospital for 26 years, the medical institute that had initially pioneered sex-change surgery – and later ceased the practice – stressed that the cultural meme, or idea that “one’s sex is fluid and a matter of choice” is extremely damaging, especially to young people.

"The idea that one’s sexuality is a feeling and not a biological fact “is doing much damage to families, adolescents, and children and should be confronted as an opinion without biological foundation wherever it emerges,” said Dr. McHugh in his article, Transgenderism: A Pathogenic Meme." . . .

The Necessity of Looking Stupid

"Not being afraid to look stupid has great benefits."

Inside Higher Ed  "When anthropologist Lauren Herckis tried to figure out why new teaching strategies developed at Carnegie Mellon were not being widely adopted, she found that one of the reasons instructors were hesitant was because their “No. 1 challenge was to make sure that they were not an embarrassment to [themselves] in front of students.” 

"For some, I can imagine that this manifests as a fear at looking stupid. In others, it may be a desire to appear smart.

"I sure do remember walking into a classroom consumed with the fear of looking stupid.

"It’s happened both as a student and an instructor. As a student, it was part and parcel of the writing workshops of both college and graduate school where my work was going to be the sole focus of everyone’s attention for an hour. What if my submission was terrible, just shamefully bad? My hands would tremble beneath the seminar table, waiting for the first verdicts to come in.

"As a TA in grad school, I was terrified my students would out me as a fraud. For that reason, early on I stuck to the script of the textbook, sometimes spending entire periods just reading it out loud to them, occasionally adding emphasis to particular sentences where it seemed appropriate." . . .

A blog by John Warner, author of the story collection Tough Day for the Army, and a novel, The Funny Man, on teaching, writing and never knowing when you're going to be asked to leave.

After Cop’s Slaying, A Call For More Bullet-resistant Glass

The Yeshiva World

. . . "Experts say that while fortifying police vehicles is worth it to save even one life, it isn’t a panacea for gun violence against police officers. They also suggest that posting officers in stationary command centers can make them sitting ducks for anyone planning an attack.

"In the case of Wednesday’s slaying of 12-year NYPD veteran Miosotis Familia, she had been assigned to work out of a command vehicle that had been placed in a high-crime section of the Bronx after a triple shooting three months ago." . . .

. . . "Frank Merenda, a former NYPD captain who is now an assistant professor of criminal justice at Marist College, said the extra protection could give officers a tactical advantage but has its limitations.

“ 'It’s important to remember the job of the police is to fight crime and keep communities safe, which begins with engaging the community, not just fortifying themselves from it,” he said."

Tucker Carlson Asks, ‘How Did Maxine Waters Afford $4.3 Million Home?’

Weasel Zippers

Not blasé about de Blasio

Power Line Blog    "The New York Post is not too thrilled by the timing or the mission of Mayor de Blasio’s sudden departure to join the mob in Hamburg. The Post headline reads “De Blasio races to Germany to protest G20 summit.” The Post has five reporters on the story. They bring the heat:

Mayor de Blasio on Thursday skipped an NYPD swearing-in ceremony made somber by this week’s assassination of a cop — then hours later revealed he was busy preparing to jet off on a surprise trip to join leftist protesters at the G-20 summit in Germany. Hizzoner’s overseas jaunt was kept under wraps until just 90 minutes before he took off from Newark Airport. A last-minute announcement said he “will attend several events surrounding the G-20 Summit, including Saturday’s Hamburg Zeigt Haltung rally.” De Blasio will be the keynote speaker, organizers of the demonstration — Hamburg Shows Attitude — tweeted.

"Hamburg Shows Attitude has nothing on the New York Post. The New York Post Shows Attitude…in this classic cover:"

CNN: guardians of our freedom

CNN: The Corleone Network

When CNN reports on the collusion scandal, it focuses on the Trump campaign, Vladimir Putin, and maybe once in a blue moon, Hillary Clinton.  But it chooses not to report on the entity that truly colluded in the Russia claims: the media. 

americanthinker.com

CNN was better when it was boring  "A couple of years ago, you could have described the three cable news channels this way. FOX was dynamic, MSNBC was unwatchable and CNN was boring.   

"Well, CNN is now worse than boring. They are just plain silly and self absorbed, as Roger Kimball wrote:   

A couple of weeks ago in this space, I speculated that CNN, the Crackpot News Network, had reached the terminal stage of malevolent implausibility. 

“[I]t would be a good thing,” I wrote, “were CNN humiliated and sued out of existence. It performs no journalistic function, merely a destructively partisan one.”

As usual, I was too kind. CNN will not have to be sued out of existence, as Gawker Media, another disgusting purveyor of malicious gossip and fake news, was a year or so back. 

No, CNN seems to be performing a species of hara-kiri or seppuku in public.    

"Yes, they are self-destructing indeed, no matter how much they try to put on a happy face.     

"Jeff Zucker, President of CNN, is now complaining that President Trump istrying to intimidate his network. Really Jeff? Are you that soft? What if President Trump had said that CNN is trying to intimidate him? Wouldn't CNN mock that?     

"On a more serious note, "the bean counters" may soon be asking Mr. Zucker for a meeting to discuss ratings. CNN continues to be #3 and way behind #2. In fact, CNN Can’t Crack Top 10 In Cable News Ratings!

"All of this begs a question: What if CNN had responded to Mr. Trump's wrestling video with their own wrestling video? What if they had responded with humor rather than this self-righteous crap that President Trump is threatening journalism? "  (It does not "beg the question; it prompts the question! TD)

Who can ever forget this jewel from CNN's Dan Lothian?

CNN Slides To #13 In Cable Rankings

The Rubicon Is Crossed in North Korea. What now?

What Does It Mean to Cross the Rubicon?   

"To cross the Rubicon means to take an irrevocable step that commits one to a specific course. " . . .

Charles Krauthammer  "Across 25 years and five administrations, we have kicked the North Korean can down the road. We are now out of road. 

"On July 4, North Korea tested an intercontinental ballistic missile apparently capable of hitting the United States. As yet, only Alaska. Soon, every American city. 

"Moreover, Pyongyang claims to have already fitted miniaturized nuclear warheads on intermediate-range missiles. Soon, on ICBMs.

" Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s initial reaction to this game changer was not encouraging. “Global action is required to stop a global threat,” he declared. 

"This, in diplo-speak, is a cry for (multilateral) help. Alas, there will be none. Because, while this is indeed a global threat, there is no such thing as global interests. There are individual national interests, and they diverge. In this case, radically. 

"Take Russia and China. If there’s to be external pressure on North Korea, it would come from them. Will it? On Tuesday, they issued a joint statement proposing a deal: North Korea freezes nuclear and missile testing in return for America’s abandoning large-scale joint exercises with South Korea. 

"This is a total non-starter. The exercises have been the backbone of the U.S.–South Korea alliance for half a century. Abandonment would signal the end of an enduring relationship that stabilizes the region and guarantees South Korean independence. In exchange for what? A testing freeze? The offer doesn’t even pretend to dismantle North Korea’s nuclear program, which has to be our minimal objective.

"Moreover, we’ve negotiated multiple freezes over the years with Pyongyang. It has violated every one."  Read more

Trump’s Warsaw Uprising

PJ Media

"If you want to know why Donald Trump will go down in history as a great president, listen to (or read, when it is available) his speech in Krasinski Square, Warsaw today.

"Yes, there is a lot of the usual diplomatic persiflage: “Thank you, President Duda. Thank you, Poland.” But be an adult and distinguish the gem from the setting. While the anti-Trump press was busy running stories warning about “unease in Brussels” over Trump’s visit to Poland, Trump once again totally outflanked his critics.  Those who have ears, let them hear:

1. The United States is absolutely committed to securing Poland’s access to alternative sources of energy.  Now, to whom do you think that was addressed?  What country would use access to oil and gas as political blackmail (do what we say or you can’t warm your homes, light your streets, run your factories)? Who would do such a thing?
2. The United States is absolutely committed to its trans-Atlantic partnership. That partnership, said Trump in his aspirational mode, has never been stronger: suitably translated, that means that he wishes to assure that it will never be stronger.  It was a proffered hand.  Will the EU bureaucrats reach out and grasp it?
3. Speaking of bureaucrats, Trump also—mirabile dictu—warned about “steady creep of government bureaucracy” that, left unchecked, saps a people's will and makes the flourishing of individual initiative, the very marrow of freedom, impossible.  This was a direct kick against the administrative state: I like to see it. Drain the Swamp.
4. Trump reaffirmed his absolute commitment to Article 5 of the NATO agreement -- the bit that pledges members to “collective defense”: an attack on one member is an attack on all. He praised Poland for stepping up to meet its statutory financial commitment to NATO and urged other European countries to do the same. A strong NATO means a strong Europe.
5. He noted other challenges faced by the West, including cyber-warfare and Russia’s “destabilizing activities” in Ukraine, Syria, and Iran.
6. . . . 
7. But the best part came about three-quarters of the way through.  After reminding his audience about the million people who gathered to hear John Paul II celebrate Mass in 1979, he asked: what did the people want? Answer: “We want God.” This led into the heart of Trump’s speech.  . . .

The Democrat Party is no longer the anti-socialist party of Truman and (John) Kennedy

This is most definitely not my father's Democrat Party.

Happy 4th of July From the Left to America

A few choice tweets from our friends on the left celebrating America the only way they know how: by bringing the hate. As an extra added bonus, a few rollicking responses from the right.

Trevor Thomas: The Vile, Crazy Left  . . . "And nasty is as nasty does. The left simply can’t help itself, because, for the most part, it is simply who they are. In addition to their dishonest attempts to undermine President Trump and the GOP’s agenda, time and again, liberals have left nearly no insult unturned as they have sought to ridicule and insult President Trump and his family. Along with the countless vile attacks on the President,Ivanka (see here, here, and here), Melania, (see here, here, and here), and even 11 year-old Barron Trump (see here, here, and here) have suffered the evil ire of the modern left.

"Yet President Trump is supposed to remain “dignified” and “presidential?” He is probably doing well to respond only in the manner he has. I’m not sure there is a husband and father the world over who has been forced to endure such attacks on himself and his family as has Donald Trump." . . .

"Alas, whether elected officials, members of the press, entertainers, educators, and even those devoted to ministry, liberalism corrupts. And liberals still wonder how -- just how any self-respecting person could support Donald Trump. Maybe those devoted to killing children in the womb, killing the family, killing capitalism, redefining the oldest institution in the history of humanity, redefining gender, redefining the Second Amendment, defending and promoting pornography (and virtually any other sexual perversion imaginable), defending and promoting socialism, defending and promoting the myth of global warming, and so on, should consider how vile and vulgar many Americans find the tenets of modern liberalism.

"In other words, if modern liberals want to see something really revolting, most of them need to examine their own politics and policies."

NY Times (Wait! What?):  Back to the center, Democrats

The Democratic Party's Ominous Shift   . . . "One could also argue alarming similarities are beginning to appear between the way in which the Left and their leadership in the Democratic Party are acting today and the way radical Democrats acted in 1861 when Abraham Lincoln was elected.  And we all know what happened to Lincoln.

"Just as then, many today are in denial about the seed of hatred that is being deliberately planted by the Left.  In 1861, it was Lincoln who drew the ire of the Democrats.  They loathed his vision for America. Today, the same can be said of President Trump.  This is why the Left is so enraged over him.  He’s all about the Constitution and rule of law -- the archenemy of the Left and its relentless march for absolute power.  As long as Trump is in the White House, the Democratic party will never stand down." . . .

A clash of lefties over single-payer   . . .Let them propose "universal care" and then explain how they are going to pay for it.  My advice to Senator Warren and Senator Sanders is to check with the California Democrats who couldn't find enough rich people to pay for it.

Actress Betty Gilpin Flips Off Republicans on Independence Day  
Russ Vaughn makes this comment about Gilpin's TV show:

While most Hollywood liberals are content with just showing contempt for conservatives and their beliefs, Little Debbie, visibly demonstrating her limited math skills, takes it a step further in quite clearly saying "F--- off!" to a potentially huge segment of her television audience. 

The word is "sex", and not "gender"

UPDATED:Trump's CNN takedown stirs the pot

VIDEO: Trump Body-Slams ‘Fraud News’ CNN In WWE Tweet I like what Trump is attempting in his administration, I hope he succeeds erasing Obama's oppressive executive orders and regulations; I admire many in this administration where Obama's were feckless ineffective's. But I so wish President Trump would please stop this petty tweeting. TD

‘Extremely Unethical’ — CNN Draws Backlash After Threatening To ID Reddit User Behind Trump’s WWE Video

"CNN sparked a backlash Tuesday night after threatening to identify the Reddit user who claimed to have created a meme of Donald Trump body-slamming the CNN logo that the president later shared on Twitter."

UPDATE: Rush Limbaugh: "CNN Goes Bat Crazy Over Trump Tweet, Threatens to Dox Video Maker" 

 . . . "While many of the president’s supporters online reacted to the video with humor, the consensus among [reporters] seemed to be that Trump was inciting violence against the media.”"These same reporters also reached the consensus that Donald Trump being murdered every night on a stage in Central Park was not an incitement of violence. That was art. Donald Trump as Julius Caesar, Shakespeare in the Park getting murdered every night? “That’s just art. Trump needs to develop a thick skin!” Trump didn’t complain about it. Trump supporters did. CNN and their statement said: “It is a sad day,” a very, very, very sad day, “when the president of the United States encourages violence against reporters.”"Wait a minute. Didn’t CNN’s parent company, Time Warner, proudly announce they’re gonna continue to sponsor the Trump assassination play? See how this one-way street works in the media? They can report things that cause deranged, insane lunatic leftists to pick up guns and start shooting at Republicans — and barely even condemn it, by the way. “ABC News’ chief political analyst Matthew Dowd” former Bush administration official, George W. Bush, said that “Trump is ‘advocating violence against media…'” No, he’s not. He’s laughing at you people! He’s not advocating violence." . . .

CNN’s Cuomo Asks Whether Networks Should Expose American Citizens They Don’t Like, Deletes Tweet