Treasury Secretary Mnuchin says most in middle class will get a break under Republican tax reform proposal . . .

. . . but stops short of promising it to all

UK Daily Mail  . . . "Mnuchin pointed out Sunday that the complexity of the tax code makes predicting every scenario impossible, adding that Republicans in the House and Senate want to simplify the code with proposed legislation. 

 " 'For most people - and, again, it may not be 100 percent, but by far the majority - both the House and Senate version provide middle-income tax relief,' Mnuchin said on CNN.

" 'What's so complicated in our tax situation today is that everybody has a different situation, takes advantage of different parts of the code, it's very complicated. So by simplifying the code, we're putting everybody on a level playing field,' he said." . . . Read more 

Atheism and the Texas Church Shooter

Selwyn Duke  “ 'If God does not exist, everything is permitted,” wrote Fyodor Dostoevsky in The Brothers Karamazov.  Mentioning this in association with Devin Patrick Kelley, the militant atheist who last Sunday perpetrated the worst church shooting in U.S.  history, is bound to raises hackles.  Of course, few atheists will descend into committing murder; in fact, I’ve known some I’d call “good people.” Moreover, note that I myself once not only didn’t believe in God, but like Kelley thought religious people were “stupid.” Yet is it possible a straight line can be drawn between atheism (the belief) and increasing crime and immorality? Ideas do have consequences, after all." . . . 
. . . 

. . . "This may take a dark form or just that of the atheistic but generally good-hearted young man I once knew who responded, when I mentioned that something he was contemplating was wrong, “But it’s not wrong for me.” The point, however, is that atheism’s implied moral nihilism can justify anything.  Rape? Kill? Steal? Why not? Who’s to say it’s wrong? This brings us to one last matter. 

"When someone points out that atheistic Marxist governments have killed 65 to 110 million people, atheists will often retort, “But atheism doesn’t prescribe that!” They’re correct.  Atheism doesn’t prescribe any behavior.

"It also doesn’t proscribe any behavior.

"And that’s the problem.  Silence on moral matters would be fine if man by nature were angelic.  But by nature, he’s barbaric — and he remains so unless some civilizing agency enters the equation.  Atheism’s mistake is one of omission. "

"A Republic, if You Can Keep It"

An argument for the Electoral College and against "popular vote"

John F. McManus  . . . "The Founding Fathers supported the view that (in the words of the Declaration of Independence) "Men ... are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights." They recognized that such rights should not be violated by an unrestrained majority any more than they should be violated by an unrestrained king or monarch. In fact, they recognized that majority rule would quickly degenerate into mobocracy and then into tyranny. They had studied the history of both the Greek democracies and the Roman republic. They had a clear understanding of the relative freedom and stability that had characterized the latter, and of the strife and turmoil — quickly followed by despotism — that had characterized the former. In drafting the Constitution, they created a government of law and not of men, a republic and not a democracy.

"But don't take our word for it! Consider the words of the Founding Fathers themselves, who — one after another — condemned democracy.

"• Virginia's Edmund Randolph participated in the 1787 convention. Demonstrating a clear grasp of democracy's inherent dangers, he reminded his colleagues during the early weeks of the Constitutional Convention that the purpose for which they had gathered was "to provide a cure for the evils under which the United States labored; that in tracing these evils to their origin every man had found it in the turbulence and trials of democracy...."

"• John Adams, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, championed the new Constitution in his state precisely because it would not create a democracy. "Democracy never lasts long," he noted. "It soon wastes, exhausts and murders itself." He insisted, "There was never a democracy that 'did not commit suicide.'"

. . .  Full article here.

CNN’s Awful Week: Lies, Meltdowns, Ratings Collapse, New Discrimination Suit

comicallyincorrect.

Big Journalism
. . .

CNN Communications‏Verified account @CNNPR

Replying to @DRUDGE

CNN is pacing to have its 2nd highest year in primetime since 2008 - behind only 2016 elex year. Those are the facts.

. . . "If CNN was only in competition with itself and its own dismal ratings, that tweet would make sense. The problem for last-place CNN, though, is that it has actual competition in the form of MSNBC and Fox, both of which are shellacking The Least Trustws Name In News in every conceivable metric.

"Moreover, when compared to the same month last year, CNN’s October 2017 ratings collapsed a whopping 52 percent. Meanwhile, Fox News is only down 26 percent, MSNBC down a mere 6 percent.

"My reference to “last place” is not a specious one. Until CNN turned into a 24/7 RedBaitingAntiTrumpFakeNewsHateMachine, the left-wing network was in second place, beating MSNBC much more often than not. So not only has CNN lost more than half of its year-over-year viewers, it has lost its bragging rights over its left-wing counterpart at MSNBC.

"And things continue to get worse, primarily through unforced errors caused by CNN’s blinding hate and rabid partisanship. Without a doubt, CNN has just suffered through its worst week since those hilarious weeks back in June when CNN staffers had to be fired over hate-sprees against President Trump, and a barrage of firings occurred after the network was caught red-handed telling one audacious lie after another.

"To begin with, although CNN and its elite media brethren are covering this news up, on Thursday we learned that CNN is facing yet-another massive racial discrimination lawsuit— a class-action suit. And when you look back and remember the efforts CNN put into stirring up riots in predominantly black neighborhoods, this should surprise no one.

"CNN’s public missteps this week, however, left all kinds of bruises." . . .

Will Trump bring peace to the Middle East?

Jerusalem Post

. . . "The report says Trump's main advisors currently working on the plan are special advisors Jared Kushner and Jason Greenblatt. Deputy national security adviser Dina H. Powell, US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman and others from the State Department and National Security Council. "The team is said to consult with the consul general in Jerusalem Donald Bloom. "Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu complimented Trump and his advisors last week for “taking a fresh approach” and “thinking out of the box.” "Trump had said in the past that he is Israel’s “biggest friend” and that he was aiming for the"ultimate deal." "However some skeptics point out that more than a few American presidents entered the Israeli-Palestinian fry with great hopes only to emerge out of it with less success then they had hoped for. "What changed? "Saudi Arabia and other moderate Arab states seem more interested than ever before in solving the Arab-Israeli conflict in order to invest the attention and energy needed to prevent Iran from increasing its dominance in the Middle East. "Egypt had also been an important ally of those who seek stability and possibly a peace agreement by recently brokering a reconciliation deal between the Hamas government in Gaza and Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah. "It remains to be seen if the Palestinian Authority will assume control of Gaza and if Hamas will give up its’ arms. "Skeptics point out that even a strong personal commitment from a residing US President is not always enough to turn around a century of conflict and personal mistrust between the various leaders involved in the conflict. “ 'Ultimately, both Netanyahu and Abbas just have this long, long history and they’ve played this game really well,” said Foundation for Defense of Democracies scholar Grant Rumley. “ 'They don’t trust each other and I don’t think they will ever get to the point where they will trust each other.' ”

Armistice/ Veterans Day in America; Remembrance Day in the United Kingdom. Rich Terrell update

Rich Terrell update

What We Owe the War Dead  . . . "If death in war is only to be lamented, and its cause decried, then far from paying honor to the "victims" (i.e., dead soldiers), as our self-righteous lamenters claim to be doing, we are actually only absolving ourselves of the truest and ultimate honor we owe the dead, which, to paraphrase the most popular war poem from the age before the folk music leftists got at the topic, is to take the torch from their failing hands and hold it high – that is, to honor the fallen by honoring their cause and their sacrifice with similar, though perhaps never equal, moral seriousness.

"This does not mean we must support an unsound or wasteful political decision about a particular war of which we disapprove, merely because soldiers have died in that war. ("A thing is not necessarily true because a man dies for it," as Oscar Wilde wrote.)  What it means is that men who died, even if unnecessarily, in the name of the general cause of defending the freedoms we enjoy – or rather the freedoms upon which our societies were founded, though we have largely forsaken them today – ought to serve as reminders of the true value of those freedoms, and also as inspiration to rededicate our own lives to preserving or revitalizing them." . . .

Remembrance Day and Lessons Forgotten 

  "On this Remembrance Day 99 years later, recall that some 750,000 British soldiers, marines, and sailors were killed in WWI; nearly 400,000 more in WWII.

"The most heralded British war poets, emerging in 1915, were not practitioners of armchair verse. They were officers, and men, at the front in the trenches. Over four years their tone changed from lofty patriotic apologetics, to stark portraits of everyday horrors, and instant death within arm’s reach.

. . . 

"Who is Winston Churchill to this generation? An historical trifle, another dead white guy reeking of privilege, and toxic masculinity?  Or instead will anyone remember Churchill as the last defender of the western canon, his singing Sunday service hymns with FDR in 1941 on the deck of HMS Prince of Wales at Placentia Bay, Newfoundland? Who will remember?

"If the generation born in this decade can somehow recall the exploits of their great-grandfathers, and the reasons why those exploits mattered, they may be willing to emulate those historical offerings of a holy gift, for a noble purpose. If not, submission will lead to subjugation, and slaughter. And no one will remember."

Armistice Day: Nation falls silent to remember war dead  . . . "Among those remembering, 99-year-old Les Cherrington (pictured, right), of the Staffordshire Yeomanry Queen's Own Royal Regiment, who was the only survivor from his tank crew in the North African desert in 1943.  

"Mr Cherrington's Sherman tank was left a flaming wreck by a German field gun, but he managed to escape despite being badly burned and his left arm nearly severed by shrapnel." . . .

Asied Debly's Vintage Images Gallery

Chelsea Manning Has A Despicable Veterans Day Message

Weasel Zippers

New York church invites its congregation to bring their firearms to services after Texas mass shooting

UK Daily Mail

" 'Times are changing,' Russell told Spectrum News, noting that it is church leadership that has advocated for the ability to bear arms during services, not necessarily the congregation. 

 "' 'People say 'well, pastor, you’re talking about killing some,' and I say 'well, if I don’t protect my people, I’m being complicit,' Russell said, adding that, 'A shooting here, that’s not going to happen.'

"Outside the Lighthouse Mexico Church of God, a sign now reads, 'We say it again, we are not a gun free zone' and the church's website prominently displays a scrolling message reiterating the message and also stating 'we protect our people!' 

"Spectrum News reported that the Pentecostal church offers parishioners lessons in self-defense and identifying suspicious behavior ." . . . Read more

School District Orders Coaches to Stop Bowing Heads in Prayer

Todd Starnes

"Heaven help the coach who bows his head to pray in Coweta County, Georgia. 

The Coweta County School District issued an edict banning all coaches and other employees from participating in student-initiated or student-led prayer or other forms of worship while acting in their official capacity.

"They cannot join hands, bow their heads, take a knee or commit another act that otherwise manifests approval with the students' religious experience," school board attorney Nathan Lee wrote in a letter obtained by the Newnan Times-Herald. 

"The prayer ban stems from a complaint filed by the Freedom From Religion Foundation, a Wisconsin-based group of disgruntled atheists, agnostics and free-thinkers. 

"They obtained video of East Coweta County High School football coach John Small bowing his head during a team prayer. 

" 'It is illegal for public school athletic coaches to lead their teams in prayer," FFRF attorney Christopher Line wrote in a letter to the school district. "Coach Small's conduct is unconstitutional because he endorses and promotes his religion when acting in his official capacity as a school district employee."

"The Freedom from Religion Foundation has an ugly history of bullying small towns into eradicating any public displays of the Christian faith. And they have spies lurking everywhere." . . .

School Marching Band Stands Up to Tone Deaf Atheists     . . . "This year’s show features renditions of among others Amazing Grace, Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee and Swing Low, Sweet Chariot.

"In addition to the religious-flavored music, the marching band’s routine includes church pews – on the football field.

"While the show is quite popular with most of the folks in town, it’s not exactly a toe-tapper for an aggrieved atheist.

"The Freedom From Religion Foundation, a Wisconsin-based group of perpetually offended atheists, agnostics and free-thinkers, fired off a letter to the school district – warning that the halftime show violates the law." . . .

New Video: Shaking And Barefoot Texas Shooting Hero Explains What Happened To Police

Weasel Zippers

I'd have my doubts about Judge Moore if not for seeing so much evil in the Democrat Party.

Roy Moore Continues to Deny Sexual Misconduct Allegations

“The allegations are completely false. I believe they’re politically motivated.”

"Embattled Alabama Republican Senate Candidate joined Sean Hannity’s radio show Friday to defend himself against allegations that he had improper relationships with girls as young as 14 when he was in his thirties.

"Four women now have come forward alleging Moore came on to them while they were still teenagers. On Hannity’s show, Moore admitted to knowing two of his accusers, saying he remembers being friends with one, but does not remember if they dated.

"Moore maintains the allegations were concocted to bring down his Senate campaign. Before the allegations broke, Moore led his Democratic opponent by 9 percentage points." . . .

Interview here:

Comments to this post:

To any sane person who’s worked in journalism, the idea that the Washington Post would conspire to fabricate a story like this is plainly ridiculous. But an unsettling number of Americans now seem to find it plausible.

Which strikes you as more plausible: that Roy Moore did what those women claim, or that all four, not knowing each other, all spontaneously made up similar stories when the Post knocked on their door? http://bit.ly/2hnrxOE

Local Republicans BACK embattled Senate candidate accused of preying on teen girls - as supporters share photo of his accuser working as an interpreter for Hillary Clinton  Pictured below:
"Moore accuser Deborah Wesson Gibson is seen working as a sign language interpreter at a Hillary Clinton campaign rally in Florida in 2016. She claims Moore kissed her on a date."

Study: Networks Loud on Roy Moore Allegations, Quiet on Bob Menendez Trial  

Alabama Accuser Deletes Anti-Moore Postings from Facebook, Rants About Removing Trump from Office   . . . "Other posts still active on her page repeatedly urge the immediate removal of President Donald Trump from office and show that Gibson “likes” far-left activist groups.  She also pushed a petition drive to remove Steve Bannon from the National Security Council last February when Bannon was serving as the White House chief strategist." . . .

Poll: Post-Moore Scandal, Alabama All Tied Up
. . . "Sixty-three percent of Republican voters say they stand by Moore, while 17.7 percent say they prefer to write in Moore’s primary opponent, Sen. Luther Strange. Fifteen percent of GOP voters say they prefer the Democratic candidate, Jones." . . .

Media Covered Up Sexual Assault To Score Points For The Left

"Via The Federalist:"

Federalist senior writer Mary Katharine Ham joined CNN’s “Inside Politics” on Friday to discuss why Americans often don’t consider the media trustworthy when it covers sexual assault allegations.

In the wake of sexual assault allegations against Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore, political strategist and Breitbart editor Steve Bannon has said the claims are political hit jobs.

“The reason that Bannon can say ‘this is all just a hit job’ is because the media has not been trustworthy on some of these issues in the past,” Ham said." . . .

Progressives are normalizing violence against conservatives – and it is working

Or maybe ask Jameson Hsieh, the rodeo clown who was banned for life from the Missouri State Fair for wearing an Obama mask.

Thomas Lifson  "The political equivalent of a mafia "contract" has been placed in Republican politicians, through efforts at all levels of the progressive political culture to "normalize" violence against President Trump and his enablers.  The horrific mass assassination attempt on the congressional delegation is never mentioned in the media, other than honors for Rep. Scalise (who almost died and needs a scooter) and the hero cops who prevented the intended mass slaughter.

"And now we learn Senator Rand Paul was attacked by a rabid Trump-hater, and that neighbors deny that landscaping was the root of the attack, which was the first story put out by the national media by the suspect's lawyer, no doubt aware that the penalties for a political attack on a senator are severe.

"At one end of the cultural spectrum, Antifa fascists and campus radicals preposterously argue that conservative speech is violence, while cultural grandees shoehorn a Trump assassination into Shakespeare in the Park at the other.  In between, Kathy Griffin retracts her apology for planting the image of a beheaded Trump in the minds of hordes of crazy people who have been told Trump is the same as Hitler.  The more violence is praised, and the more times the at-risk population is exposed to images of violence against Trump, the more people will be encouraged to act out.  We have largely closed our mental hospitals and have a lot of unstable people in a nation of 330 million." . . .