Democrats Have a Religion Problem

The Atlantic

A conversation with Michael Wear, a former Obama White House staffer, about the party’s illiteracy on and hostility toward white evangelicals.

 

"There aren’t many people like Michael Wear in today’s Democratic Party. The former director of Barack Obama’s 2012 faith-outreach efforts is a theologically conservative evangelical Christian. He is opposed to both abortion and same-sex marriage, although he would argue that those are primarily theological positions, and other issues, including poverty and immigration, are also important to his faith.

"During his time working for Obama, Wear was often alone in many of his views, he writes in his new book, Reclaiming Hope. He helped with faith-outreach strategies for Obama’s 2008 campaign, but was surprised when some state-level officials decided not to pursue this kind of engagement: “Sometimes—as I came to understand the more I worked in politics—a person’s reaction to religious ideas is not ideological at all, but personal,” he writes.

"Several years later, he watched battles over abortion funding and contraception requirements in the Affordable Care Act with chagrin: The administration was unnecessarily antagonistic toward religious conservatives in both of those fights, Wear argues, and it eventually lost, anyway. " . . .

Barack Custer

WND  "Mike Lester illustrates Obama commenting on 3rd-term possibility"

Painting That Depicts Police Officers As Pigs Hangs In The US Capitol

Missouri Congressman Hangs Painting In US Capitol Showing Own Cops As Pigs

Downtrend

"This is both disturbing and offensive. A painting which depicts police officers as pigs hangs in the US Capitol, mocking and insulting law enforcement. The piece of art, and I use the term loosely, shows the “pigs” terrorizing a black Missouri neighborhood. It was the winner of a Congressional art contest hand-selected by Rep. Lacy Clay (D-MO).

"The St. Louis American reported back in June that the painting was created by a St. Louis area high school student. It won first prize in Missouri’s 1st Congressional District as part of the United States Congressional Art Competition and now hangs on Capitol Hill.

"As you can see, this is a representation of the Ferguson, MO riots that erupted after thug Michael Brown was killed for attacking officer Darren Wilson. Brown, who had just robbed a convenience store and was high on drugs, tried to take Wilson’s gun and was shot as he charged the officer. Days and months of violence and destruction followed.

"In the painting, Michael Brown is depicted as aa Jesus-like figure, crucified on justice scales with his graduation cap on. Rioters hold signs reading “history, stop killing, and racism kills.” In the back ground is the St. Louis Gateway Arch, and the Ferguson beauty supply store that was looted several times." . . .

Silencing professor speech to prevent students from being offended — or from fearing discrimination by the professors

Volokh Conspiracy  "People often support disciplining and even firing professors who say things that are perceived as racist on the grounds that 1) those professors can’t be trusted to evaluate minority students fairly, 2) students will be afraid that they won’t be judged fairly, or 3) students will more broadly lose confidence in the professors (or just couldn’t stand to be in the room with them) or even in the institution, and won’t learn as effectively. I’ve seen these arguments made often, most recently as to the University of Oregon controversy. One response to my Oregon post, for instance . . .  “What does the institution say to students of color by allowing [Prof. Nancy] Shurtz back into a classroom?” — seems to be implicitly making these arguments (though it seems to focus most clearly on No. 3. But, again, this is just one example among many."

Eugene Volokh teaches free speech law, religious freedom law, church-state relations law, a First Amendment Amicus Brief Clinic, and tort law, at UCLA School of Law, where he has also often taught copyright law, criminal law, and a seminar on firearms regulation policy.

Obama’s Late Hit on Israel

Charles Krauthammer

It’s his final, most shameful, legacy moment. “When the chips are down, I have Israel’s back.”    — Barack Obama, AIPAC conference, March 4, 2012

"The audience — overwhelmingly Jewish, passionately pro-Israel, and supremely gullible — applauded wildly. Four years later — his last election behind him, with a month to go in office and with no need to fool Jew or gentile again — Obama took the measure of Israel’s back and slid a knife into it.

" Many people don’t quite understand the damage done to Israel by the U.S. abstention that permitted passage of a Security Council resolution condemning Israel over its settlements. The administration pretends this is nothing but a restatement of longstanding U.S. opposition to settlements. 

"Nonsense. For the last 35 years, every administration, including a reelection-seeking Obama himself in 2011, has protected Israel with the U.S. veto because such a Security Council resolution gives immense legal ammunition to every boycotter, anti-Semite, and zealous European prosecutor to penalize and punish Israelis. 

"An ordinary Israeli who lives or works in the Old City of Jerusalem becomes an international pariah, a potential outlaw — to say nothing of the soldiers of Israel’s citizen army. “Every pilot and every officer and every soldier,” said a confidant of Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, “we are waiting for him at The Hague” — i.e., the International Criminal Court." . . .

Video Hilariously Mocks Liberals Suddenly Concerned With Reining In Executive Power

Daily Wire  "In the video, the soon to be ex-president somehow tells the reporter with a straight face,"What I worry about in our politics is people getting impatient with the slowness of democracy."
"Then a montage of clips start that show Obama threatening to use executive orders to cram his own agenda down America's throat, with quotes that include:" . . .

"Exit thought from an article at The Federalist titled, "Democrats Are Suddenly Terrified By The Prospects Of An ‘Imperial Presidency":" 

Hat tip to The Conservative

Chicago 2016 in one picture

Thomas Lifson

"If Chicago were run by a Republican machine, and if President-Elect Trump had adopted it as his home town and political base, the media would constantly proclaim it a stain on our national honor, a killing field maintained for the purpose of killing young black men.  There would be ceaseless reminders that an intolerable climate of violence has been fostered and tolerated by evil Republicans. " . . .

"Of course, Chicago has been run by Democrats almost since dinosaurs roamed the earth, so nobody in the media much cares." . . . 

"Gregory Sims, 25, was Chicago's 522nd homicide of the year,  according to the authoritative research of HeyJackass.com."

HeyJackass!.com Illustrating Chicago Values

30 Day Stupidity Trend

Israel should be thankful for the 22nd Amendment of America's Constitution

"When had the U.N. ever condemned the Palestinians for their actions or penalized them?  Has anything been done by this administration or the U.N. when Palestinians name parks and schools after murderers?  Simple answer: no."

Image by Ghenghis Gary

Israel Celebrates Hanukkah, Weathers an Obama Betrayal

"As Hanukkah began, President Obama and his administration did not give their well wishes, but instead gave Jews all over the world the finger.  People should not be surprised, considering their previous actions.  But fear not, because the holiday itself is a reminder of how the Jews have stood up to their enemies under adverse conditions.

"A recent film, On the Map, signifies how Israelis have fought the David versus Goliath story.  It tells the against-all-odds story of Maccabi Tel Aviv's 1977 win of the European Basketball Cup.  Moments after this highly charged and historical win, Israeli-American basketball hero Tal Brody stated, "Israel is on the map – not just in sport, but in everything."  Unfortunately, not if the Obama administration has its way, because their recent actions have shown they want Israel off the map, replaced by a Palestinian state." . . .

Happy, like, y'know, New Year from this vindictive president

Nearing exit, Obama seeks to tie Trump's hands  "President Obama has taken a number of unilateral actions in the waning days of his tenure that appear designed to box in President-elect Donald Trump.

"Obama's decision Thursday to sanction Russian entities for election-related hacking is just the latest obstacle he has placed in Trump's way.

"Days before the sanctions were unveiled, the Obama administration allowed the U.N. Security Council to condemn Israeli settlement activity — something that could have an indelible impact on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

"Obama has also permanently banned oil and gas drilling across large swaths of the Atlantic and Arctic oceans, closed off 1.6 million acres of Western land to development and scrapped the last vestiges of a registration system used largely on Muslim immigrants.

"Those actions, as well as Obama’s claim that he could have won a third term, seem to have irked Trump and his associates as the transition period enters its final weeks. " . . .

Does Al Sharpton owe $4 million in delinquent taxes? Bye-bye passport.

Snopes

UNDETERMINED: The amount of unpaid back taxes that Sharpton currently owes is in excess of $4 million. TRUE: Al Sharpton accrued a significant   amount of delinquent federal and state taxes. Uh Oh, Al Sharpton Can’t Leave the Country "If you owe the IRS more than $50,000, your passport might be worthless. Congress is about to pass a law that will deny or revoke passports for all those delinquent taxpayers in arrears for more than $50,000, according to Wall Street Journal. The first person that comes to the mind of most of us is AL SHARPTON. He won’t pay his taxes. "The bill will take effect in January and is part of the new highway bill. The Congress hopes to collect $358 million in delinquent taxes over the next ten years. They should start with Al Sharpton who owes somewhere in the neighborhood of $4.5 million in state and federal taxes according to an investigation by The New York Times. "It’s not just Sharpton." . . .

Obama, the man and the President, has been judged and found wanting

"If you like your doctor, you will be able to keep your doctor. Period."

“I didn’t set a red line. The world set a red line.”

Dershowitz said Obama . . . told him that he “will always have Israel’s back.”

Obama’s final, most shameful, legacy moment

 . . ."People don’t quite understand the damage done to Israel by the U.S. abstention that permitted passage of a Security Council resolution condemning Israel over settlements. The administration pretends this is nothing but a restatement of long-standing U.S. opposition to settlements."

 "Nonsense. For the last 35 years, every administration, including a re-election-seeking Obama himself in 2011, has protected Israel with the U.S. veto because such a Security Council resolution gives immense legal ammunition to every boycotter, anti-Semite and zealous European prosecutor to penalize and punish Israelis.

An ordinary Israeli who lives or works in the Old City of Jerusalem becomes an international pariah, a "potential outlaw. To say nothing of the soldiers of Israel’s citizen army. “Every pilot and every officer and every soldier,” said a confidant of Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, “we are waiting for him at The Hague,” i.e., the International Criminal Court.

"Moreover, the resolution undermines the very foundation of a half-century of American Middle East policy. What becomes of “land for peace” if the territories Israel was to have traded for peace are, in advance, declared to be Palestinian land to which Israel has no claim?

Leah Barkoukis, writing at Townhall agrees with Dr. Krauthammer

Anger accumulating toward the UN

Emboldened By Secretary Kerry’s Remarks, PA Leader Willing To Resume Talks On His Terms  . . . "Contradicting Kerry is PA Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki, who rejects the statements made by Kerry that the PA is prepared to recognize Israel as a Jewish State. He has no such plans. So much for the Obama administration’s final “comprehensive vision”. "

Leave the UN  "The United Nations is a grand failure that has never worked and will never work.  The idea of the U.N. was invented during the Second World War, when the term "United Nations" actually meant the wartime alliance of certain nations against other nations.

. . . 

"This new organization should not feign real authority to act through sanctions or war, but it should rather be a public forum for the leaders of these free nations to state to the world their intentions and to reach a general understanding on issues that affect the world. 

"What of the United Nations?  America should give it no money, give it no offices in New York, pay it no heed, and leave it where it belongs – in the dustbin of history."

TX Rep. Louie Gohmert Is Drafting A Bill To Defund The UN

. . . "Israel, as the only true democracy in the Middle East, is very open to allowing Arabic people to have a say in their government. In fact, they are well represented within the Israeli government, and non-government areas of Israeli society, alike.

"The Palestinians, on the other hand, would deny the very existence of Israel or the Jewish people, which is what makes the resolution passed last week by the U.N. so reprehensible."  . . .