To gay advocates, acting on your sincerely held religious beliefs is bigotry.

In this case, as Jordan Lawrence writes in National Review, the line between providing a service and expressing a view is being deliberately blurred by liberals to destroy both free speech and religious liberty:

Daniel John Sobieski  "One wonders what would have happened if the Sweet Cakes by Melissa case involved not the owners refusing to be coerced to violate their religious conscience by providing a cake not to two same-sex people celebrating their union and calling it a marriage, but rather a Muslim bakery being forced to bake a cake decorated with a cartoon picture of the prophet Muhammad covered with bacon sprinkles.

"Would the bakery in that scenario be forced to pay a heavy business-killing fine for actually believing that the Founding Fathers meant freedom of religion when they enshrined it in the First Amendment?  Probably not, even if the ruling was made by a liberal Oregon judge who forget that this country was founded by people fleeing religious persecution and governmental war on their religious conscience:" . . . 

. . . On Thursday, however, the appeals court upheld the decision by the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries to fine the Kleins $135,000.  The hefty financial penalty ultimately forced the couple to close their bakery[.] ..."Freedom of expression for ourselves should require freedom of expression for others.  Today, the Oregon Court of Appeals decided that Aaron and Melissa Klein are not entitled to the Constitution's promises of religious liberty and free speech," First Liberty CEO Kelly Shackelford stated.

CNN Reporter Holds Joints, Lights Bong for Pot Smoker on Live New Year’s Eve Broadcast

If CNN can't fake news, they will create news.

The Gateway Pundit  "CNN reporter Randi Kaye, sporting large marijuana leaf styled earrings, lit a bong for a pot smoker during a live report from Denver broadcast on CNN’s New Year’s Eve show Sunday night that was hosted from Times Square by Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen. Kaye was also seen several times holding lit joints on air."

"Video posted online shows Kaye placing an unlit ‘gas mask’ bong to her face while she is reporting from Denver, where pot is legal on the state level, on a party Cannibus headed to a ‘puff, pass and paint’ party. Kaye then hands the bong to a man who tells Kaye the bong is “stuffed” with cannabis. Kaye is then seen on air lighting the bong for the man."

Video: A.F. Branco’s 2017 Legal Insurrection Cartoons

Legal Insurrection via Weasel Zippers
"This has been another year of great cartoons from A.F. Branco.

"We celebrated Tony’s 5th Anniversary at Legal Insurrection back in August. "That post has lots of details on the mystery man behind the legend, including a video in which you can hear him talk!

"Each year Tony produces a video compilation of his cartoons for that year. You can see prior years here:

2012
2013
2014
2015
2016

"On New Year’s Day we will continue the relatively new tradition of having a Reader Poll to select the Best cartoon of the year from a list of 10 I have selected. Here are prior year votes:

• Voted Best Cartoon – “That Was Then”
• Cartoonist A.F. Branco 5th Anniversary at Legal Insurrection (Reader Poll Best Cartoon)
• Best A.F. Branco Cartoon of 2016 (Reader Poll)(And The Winner is …)
• Runoff Election: Best A.F. Branco Cartoon 2015 (Reader Poll)
• Best A.F. Branco Cartoon of 2015 (Reader Poll)

"Here is Tony’s 2017 Video:

How Can We Miss You, Senator Franken, If You Won't Go Away?

Paul Jacob  "Where have you gone, Al Franken?

" A nation turns its Pervnado eyes to you

"The answer? " Nowhere. As we welcome in 2018, Minnesota’s discredited junior U.S. senator is still ensconced in the U.S. Capitol like a wet hair clump in a shower drain, employed by the people of Minnesota and paid in full by American taxpayers.

"That is until this coming Tuesday, January 2, 2018. That’s when the comedian turned cad turned politician turned pervert has pledged to resign his seat . . . and hopefully keep his mitts off other people’s seats to boot.

"Yet, Mr. Franken’s pending resignation, announced nearly four weeks ago, now appears to be the longest ongoing adios in modern history.

"I’m reminded of the Huntingtons’ smash hit, “How Can I Miss You If You Won’t Go Away?”

"All the while, there are concerns the senator may have contracted a case of resigner’s remorse. And polls show half of Land of 10,000 Lakes voters prefer Franken stay in the Senate.

"There is the small timing issue. According to CNN’s Chris Cizzilla, “Two things were clear after Al Franken finished his speech on the Senate floor . . . 1. He was resigning his seat by the end of the year.” Now it’s been pushed to the New Year, but what are a few days among scoundrels?

"There’s the other thing, too: “2. He didn’t believe he had done anything for which he should have been forced to resign.”

" Of course, no one “forced” Senator Franken to step down. He did so voluntarily. Why?

"Simply put, because three-quarters of Democratic Party senators demanded he resign, clearing the way for an attack on Republican sexual sleaze-balls without partisan distraction. Then, many of these same senators reportedly hugged Franken after his announcement.

" 'Made me sick,” remarked Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), calling the behavior of his fellow Democrats: “hypocrisy at the highest level I’ve ever seen in my life.' ” . . .

Why ‘Dunkirk’ is the Best Film of 2017

American Greatness

"Let us begin at the end of the beginning: “Dunkirk” is the best film of 2017. It is an epic war movie, where names are neither memorable nor necessary because the scenes are unforgettable. And the suspense is almost unbearable, as the story is more about psychological terror than physical turmoil. The terror of aloneness. The terror of bombardment from air, land, and sea. The terror of abject failure, as the enemy attempts to destroy Europe’s only hope for freedom and drown England’s only chance to remain free. The terror of watching this epic unfold in record time (106 minutes), without having to hear the voice of Hitler or the shouting of the Nazi Hun.

“ 'Dunkirk” uses minimalism to maximum effect. It shows us how inconsequential man is in the face of nature, while it proves how consequential men can be when they face—and overcome—the worst of human nature.

"It shows us the actor Cillian Murphy as a shell-shocked soldier clinging to the propeller of a torpedoed ship, where each blade is as brown—and dead—as the petals of the biggest flower. He is a speck in the flotsam of the English Channel, impotent before the laws of physics and immobile before this unlawful attack of Nazi aggression. He is inseparable from that flower, which symbolizes his all-but-inevitable burial at sea. The terror of the sea is not its turbulence, but its totality: a seemingly endless expanse of water, unfit to drink and unrelenting in its drive to down whatever touches the surface.

"Murphy is a tragic figure, as much a sign of God’s wrath as he is a reminder of what happens when men violate—and mock—the warnings of a prophet. That prophet is Winston Churchill. He speaks to us through Tommy, the everyman’s name of the British soldier from the Great War, when the boy reads the words of England’s greatest leader.

"He reads them aloud, hearing for the first time what the audience listens to as the film’s final words; that “we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.' ” . . .

Trump agrees to recruit the mentally ill for military service and pay for 'sex change operations'

Ed Straker   "Trump agrees to recruit the mentally ill and pay for sex-change operations

"A few months ago, President Trump agreed to ban transvestites, the so-called "transgendered," from the military.  Obama, on his way out the door, had ordered these mentally ill people to be recruited into the military...but only after he left office.  Curious, that. . . ." The petulant juvenile struck again.TD

. . .
"If the Trump administration had taken this to the Supreme Court, it is very likely it would have prevailed.  There is no constitutional right for the mentally ill to be in the military, despite whatever name they invent for themselves.  Trump could even have gone to the Supreme Court right now to get the preliminary injunction stayed.

Instead, not only did Trump fold on the preliminary injunction, but he gave up on the entire case.

Now that the mentally ill are going to be admitted to the military (and given free "sex change operations"), you can bet that the military will become advocates for their inclusion and seek them out for recruitment.  They will be put in the middle of life-and-death situations and given control of dangerous weapons.  That's not a place for the mentally ill to be.

The next time you see a flattering news story about a mentally ill fighter pilot in charge of a billion-dollar bomber armed with nuclear warheads, think to yourself, "Thanks, President Trump!"

Can't you see a Democrat administration bringing this about here?

UK Socialized Medicine Asks for  Female Nurse for Cervical Smear, Gets Tattooed Trans Man With Stubble  "The National Health Service (NHS) patient said she was “embarrassed and distressed” when summoned by a nurse with “an obviously male appearance … close-cropped hair, a male facial appearance and voice, large number of tattoos and facial stubble” to carry out a cervical smear, The Times reports.

"When she pointed out what she thought was a mistake, the nurse told her off: “My gender is not male. I’m a transsexual.”

"Speaking after the examination, which she ultimately decided to abandon, the patient said it was “weird where somebody says to you: ‘My gender is not male’ and you think: ‘Well, what does that even mean? You are clearly a man.’ ”

"In a formal letter of complaint, she objected that “People who are not comfortable about this are presented as bigots and this is … kind of how I was made to feel about it.”

Bill Nye wants 'economic sanctions' against states that deny climate change

Rick Moran  "When Bill Nye first hit TV in the 1990's, he was an inoffensive, nerdy guy playing a real scientist (he has a degree in mechanical engineering). He was a mildly entertaining science popularizer and was a hit with a certain segment of science nerds.

"If he had kept that persona, he probably would have slipped into obscurity. Instead, he has reinvented himself as a the left's favorite science guy, largely because of his outrageous advocacy of global warming and gender issues.

"On Friday, Nye appeared on MSNBC hawking his favorite theories on global warming and targeting those who disagree with him.

. . . 

"If he gets to refer to "hillbillies" on national TV, we can call him a pointy-headed climate hysteric.

"In worrying about the national debt, Nye betrays a shocking ignorance of how we would go about bringing it down. I daresay that most liberal social programs - including every program created to deal with climate change - would be cut to the bone. So, in a sense, Nye is advocating we do nothing about the problem - a curious position for such an hysteric.

"If Nye wants war, he can have it anytime."

Looks like a Happy New Year for the Forces of Freedom

Clarice Feldman  "As I leave D.C. for a weekend in frosty New York City, thousands of people are taking to the streets of Iran to protest the corruption and mismanagement of the ruling mullahs. 

The White House is not following the last president's "bearing witness" to the pleas of the oppressed.  It has, instead, issued through the Department of State a release strongly supporting the protesters and asking "all nations to publicly support the Iranian people and their demands for basic rights and an end to corruption."

"I have to believe that the protesters are heartened by President Trump's new view of the Middle East and our role in it and the change of rulers and outlook in Saudi Arabia.  While the prior U.S. administration sent pallets of cash to their oppressors, this president has stood firm.  And where once they might have feared Saudi intentions on their homeland, I think they see a new Saudi Arabia – desirous of bringing the region into the modern world, stamping out corruption and terrorism, and encouraging capital formation and investment as the collapse in oil revenue ends the days of easy living.  Lavish living based on little more than exploitation of oil, which the rise in U.S. production based on new energy policies makes the old Saudi way certain of diminishing returns.

. . . 

"Well, we'll see soon enough which view proves correct.  In the meantime, asScott Adams notes, the president has demolished the GOP and reconstituted it; the DNC lacks a leader and funds; the Clinton and Bush dynasties are over; the public has learned to distrust the media; the NFL ratings are down; the FBI leadership has lost all credibility, as have the pundits, nearly all of whom "were wrong about Trump's nomination, election, and successful (by Republican standards) first year"; federal government regulations are far fewer; Hollywood has alienated almost half its audience; North Korea's economy has gone from pathetic to even worse; ISIS has been largely defeated; and we bade adieu to the Paris Accord and the TPP.

"As for the economy, the stock market is up, employment is up, and the upper Midwest economy is growing its fastest in three years.

"I don't think any president in my memory has had such a consequential first year, and certainly none had the pathetic dossier and corrupt FBI and DOJ officials to contend with at the same time."

Trump fires back at Rouhani slam amid deadly Iran protests . . . " Earlier Sunday, Trump tweeted that Iranians were “finally getting wise as to how their money and wealth is being stolen and squandered on terrorism.
“ 'Looks like they will not take it any longer,” Trump wrote. “The USA is watching very closely for human rights violations!”
"Rouhani’s comments came hours after two protesters were killed at a rally.
"The deaths were the first of the demonstrations, which appear to be the largest to strike Iran since the protests that followed the country's disputed 2009 presidential election. Thousands of people have taken to the streets."

Iranian Women Protesting Versus American Feminazis Protesting

Weasel Zippers

"The Iranian woman who stood against the hijab and for the protests has reportedly been detained today."

VIDEO: Protesters In Iran Shout “Death To The Iranian Revolutionary Guard” Outside An IRGC Barracks…

Top Iranian Cleric Shows Support for Anti-Government Protestors  "But, he did not go so far as to support the anti-Islamic nature of these protests. It is hard to argue that these protests are purely economic driven as protestors chant “Death to Rouani” referring to the president and topple public displays of Supreme Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. As noted byExpress U.K., Khamenei has previously attempted to cast blame on the United States and President Donald J. Trump for Iran’s economic problems." . . .

But President Trump and the United States State Department firmly support the people of Iran. Late last night, President Trump sent a tweet warning Iran that the “world is watching.”

Now there is a  tweet I can get behind! 

Iran's protests are powerful and real. Why are mainstream media outlets so hesitant to report on them?

Oh, wait! CNN had their usual approach viv-a-vis President Trump and Iran

Fox News   

"For all the squabbling that social media platforms are notorious for, their relevance to the media landscape plays an important role in times of protest.

"This was evident with Black Lives Matter, among other movements. It’s been evident for the past three days in Iran, where thousands have taken to streets and public squares calling for an end to the hardline conservative regime of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

"The question that needs to be asked right now is why traditional mainstream media outlets – grandstanding over their importance in this new, bold era of fact-checking and truth-telling – have largely ignored a blossoming revolution. 

"Despite a near blackout, these protests are not intended for domestic Iranian audiences only." . . .

How will the Obama Presidential Library wing look celebrating a nuclear deal with an oppressive Iranian regime that could possibly be deposed by security forces and the military joining with protesters, thirsty for democracy and a return to an Iran before the 1979 revolution?
More to the point, how will it look if the Trump administration, of all things, facilitates and encourages such change in Iran?
The prospect of this is not lost on the self-styled resistance and anti-Trump media, all too anxious to witness the ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Obama Library or hand a Nobel Prize to former Secretary of State John Kerry.
Overseeing the fall of an oppressive, hardline Iranian regime that sponsors terror all around the globe – followed by the rise of a democratic Iran not interested in aggression against its neighbors – would be a foreign policy victory for President Trump, one of the biggest for a president since the fall of the Berlin Wall.

The problem of Nancy

Richard Rail  "She's kind of drifted off the front pages thanks to Harveygate, but Nancy Pelosi is a lingering problem for Democrats in 2018.  The old girl's lost it, but she refuses to go away.  They might get crazy Maxine Waters to talk to her, but Maxine's so race-paranoid and Nancy so feminist-suspicious that they might gang up on the party and take them to court.

"And win.

"But if they use Maxine to get rid of Nancy, what happens to the plan to use Nancy to get rid of Maxine?  And once both are gone, who will make bonehead comments and stupid allegations about Republicans when the Democrats have nothing to say – which is usually – but need to get some face time on the news lest America forget who they are again?

"And who will provide comic relief?

"Other Dems are too scared to ask Hillary's help in, er, getting rid of Nancy because Hillary might turn to Huma and the Muzzie Brotherhood, who don't always use the best of judgment and might blow away Democrat headquarters.  That would certainly solve the problem, since there would then be no one left to think there is a problem, but..."  . . . 

Nancy's past favorites:

Trump expresses support for Iranian protests as regime’s hard-liners counter opposition

Just as Obama should have been president enough to have stood for the Iranian people against the mullahs. We could now have been less one major world threat. But then Obama always respected our enemies than our allies. TD

Washington Times

"President Trump voiced support Saturday for Iranians protesting in the streets against their government, saying Tehran’s oppressive regime “cannot endure forever.”

“The entire world understands that the good people of Iran want change, and, other than the vast military power of the United States, that Iran’s people are what their leaders fear the most,” Mr. Trump tweeted. “Oppressive regimes cannot endure forever, and the day will come when the Iranian people will face a choice. The world is watching!”

"His comments echoed a speech that Mr. Trump gave to the United Nations last fall, in which he called on the Iranian people to return to their “proud roots as a center of civilization, culture and wealth.”

"The president, noting numerous reports of protests by Iranians angry with the regime’s corruption and “its squandering of the nation’s wealth to fund terrorism abroad,” said the government in Tehran “should respect their people’s rights, including right to express themselves.”

"It’s unclear what effect Mr. Trump’s support would have. Iranians already are largely skeptical of him over his refusal to re-certify the nuclear deal. Mr. Trump’s insistence in an October speech on using the term “Arabian Gulf” in place of the Persian Gulf also has also riled the Iranian public.

"Iranian hard-liners rallied Saturday to support the country’s supreme leader and clerically overseen government as spontaneous protests sparked by anger over the country’s ailing economy roiled major cities in the Islamic Republic."

Iran HARD-LINERS Rally as New Protests CHALLENGE Government

. . . "Early on Saturday, U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted out his support for the protests.

“ 'Many reports of peaceful protests by Iranian citizens fed up with regime’s corruption & its squandering of the nation’s wealth to fund terrorism abroad,” he wrote. “Iranian govt should respect their people’s rights, including right to express themselves. The world is watching! (hashtag) IranProtests.”

"It’s unclear what effect Trump’s support would have. Iranians already are largely skeptical of him over his refusal to re-certify the nuclear deal. Trump’s insistence in an October speech on using the term “Arabian Gulf” in place of the Persian Gulf also has also riled the Iranian public." . . .