Masterpiece Cakeshop wins again – Colorado drops prosecution for refusal to bake ‘gender-transition cake’

Legal Insurrection

Jack Phillips dropped his federal lawsuit after the State backed off: “Today is a win for freedom. I’m very grateful and looking forward to serving my customers as I always have: with love and respect” 

"The second attempt by the State of Colorado to punish Jack Phillips and his Masterpiece Cakeshop has come to an end, once again, with a victory for the baker.

"Round 1 was the baker’s refusal to create a custom cake for a same-sex marriage, on the ground that it violated the baker’s Christian faith to create a message celebrating same-sex marriage.

"The baker also refused to create Halloween cakes and other cakes whose messages he viewed as religiously unacceptable. He didn’t refuse to sell to LGBT people, he just didn’t want to have to create the message. He won the case in the Supreme Court, mostly on procedural grounds with the court not reaching the larger constitutional issues of freedom of religion and freedom of speech (to avoid compelled speech).

"Round 2 was when the State went after him because he refused to create a cake celebrating a transgender transition. We covered the lawsuit in Colorado goes after Masterpiece Cakeshop again – this time over “gender transition” cake:" . . .

. . . 

But we shouldn’t let this victory lead us to complacency.

Jack has been targeted multiple times by customers seeking to harass him, including people requesting cakes celebrating Satan. And it wouldn’t surprise us if Jack is harassed again because of his faith.

"The targeting of the Cakeshop has cost it business, but not yet put it out of business:

“Today is a win for freedom. I’m very grateful and looking forward to serving my customers as I always have: with love and respect,” Phillips told Fox News, adding that he never imagined this chapter of his life — which has cost him over 40 percent of his business — when he opened up his cake shop years ago.

"Let’s seek if Colorado starts Round 3."

ISIS Bride Who Wants To Return To U.S. Is Asked About Her Tweet Urging People To Slaughter Americans

Daily Wire

. . . "In an interview with NBC's Richard Engel two weeks ago that has gotten more attention online this week after being highlighted by NewsBusters' Curtis Houck, Muthana was asked why people should believe that she has actually renounced radicalism, particularly because of some of the tweets she posted. Muthana laughed and responded dismissively, "I know that, but it was an ideology that really was just a phase."

"There's one tweet in particular where you talk about calling on Americans to do drive-by shootings, to rent a truck to drive over people, spilling their blood — and you say Memorial Day, Veterans Day, go out and do it," Engel said, speaking with Muthana inside her tent in a section of a Syrian refugee camp reserved for foreign ISIS families.

"Again, my lawyer told me not to speak about these things," she responded.

"Here’s a clip of the moment tweeted out by Houck:

Video: The treasonous ISIS bride has been such a sympathetic figure in the liberal media, but there's one clip that needs to be shown more - When NBC's Richard Engel asked her about a tweet calling on people to carry out terror attacks on Memorial or Veterans Day, she goes silent pic.twitter.com/hzVHlZ0WhA

"We’re going to need the cisgendered Olympics."

In Defense of Women’s Sports   "We’re going to need the cisgendered Olympics.

"The state of Connecticut has offered a dismaying picture of the future of female athletics, with two transgender runners routinely outpacing the competition at the state track championships. 
"The two biologically male students, Terry Miller and Andraya Yearwood, finished first and second respectively in the 55-meter dash this year, crushing the competition. Miller set a new girls indoor record, and also won the 300-meter. The year before, the two finished first and second in the 100-meter state outdoor championships.
"Connecticut allows students to compete in sports as the gender they identify as, with no further requirements. If fashionable opinion has anything to say about it, this will be the universal trend. 
"Everyone is supposed to ignore the madness of it. In sports, the alleged subjectivity of gender identity runs up against the ineluctability of sex." . . .

Martina Navratilova asks: ‘where did I go wrong’ on ‘the transgender problem’? Umm... Trans-advocating magazine attacks her:

. . . "It’s been heartbreaking to many that an icon celebrated for their leadership on LGBTQ and human rights issues would break away from allyship, and join our enemies in advocating for exclusion of the most marginalized members of our community." . . . 

Ocasio-Cortez: U.S. Should Not Have Authorized Use Of Force Against 9/11 Perpetrators

Daily Wire

Ocasio-Cortez's comments came as she was defending Rep. Ilhan Omar's (D-NY) most recent anti-Semitic remarks from over the weekend.

" 'It is disturbing that Rep. Omar continues to perpetuate hurtful anti-Semitic stereotypes that misrepresent our Jewish community. Additionally, questioning support for the U.S.-Israel relationship is unacceptable," Democrat Rep. Juan Vargas (CA) tweeted. "Israel has and remains a stalwart ally of the United States because of our countries’ shared interests and values. I condemn her remarks and believe she should apologize for her offensive comments."
"Ocasio-Cortez responded in a dishonest manner, suggesting that Vargas was calling out Omar's foreign policy stances, not her anti-Semitism.
" 'I‘m curious if Rep. Vargas will further explain his stance here that it’s unacceptable to even *question* US foreign policy," Ocasio-Cortez tweeted. "Plenty of Dem members have asserted that discussion + debate on this issue is fair and merited. Is this stance a departure from that?"

Political Insider gets more to the point: . . .  "Whatever point Ocasio-Cortez is trying to make in debating military action against the perpetrators of 9/11, she is sorely lacking in historical acumen.

"Nobody debated the need for military action against al Qaeda in 2001 because it was an essential response to an act of war. Even Barbara Lee agreed, opposing the AUMF on grounds that it was too broad in allowing the President to take action further down the line, not because she opposed an actual military response.
“ 'Like everyone throughout our country, I am repulsed and angered by these attacks and believe all appropriate steps must be taken to bring the perpetrators to justice,” Lee wrote in the San Francisco Chronicle at the time.
“ 'We must prevent any future such attacks. That is the highest obligation of our federal, state and local governments. On this, we are united as a nation.' ” . . .

New York's high-flying Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez dropped a startling social media bomb Tuesday, arguing that not only was the post-9/11 war on Afghanistan a "mistake," but that "non-intervention" might have been an appropriate answer to the terrorist attacks.

Jake Tapper asks AOC what would she have done? . . . “ 'I think that our decision to enter unlimited engagement in Afghanistan, particularly through the AUMF + Congress’ abdication of power + decision-making w/ passage of the AUMF, was a mistake. Other options: targeting the network itself, limited engagement, non-intervention,” Ocasio-Cortez responded." . . .

Alexandria Ocasio Cortez Refuses To Denounce Venezuelan Dictator Maduro…

Anonymous Strikes — Again and Again

Victor Davis Hanson

The premise of efforts to undermine Trump is that the establishment has such power, prestige, and authority to overturn the verdict of the 2016 election.

"On September 5, 2018, the New York Times published an anonymous editorial by a supposed “senior official” in the Trump administration. In astounding fashion, the unnamed writer claimed that he/she was part of a legion of administration appointees and government officials who were actively working to undermine the Trump presidency by overriding his orders, keeping information from an unknowing Trump, or acting independently of his directives. Or as Anonymous unapologetically put it:

Trump is facing a test to his presidency unlike any faced by a modern American leader.

It’s not just that the special counsel looms large. Or that the country is bitterly divided over Mr. Trump’s leadership. Or even that his party might well lose the House to an opposition hellbent on his downfall.

The dilemma — which he does not fully grasp — is that many of the senior officials in his own administration are working diligently from within to frustrate parts of his agenda and his worst inclinations.

I would know. I am one of them.

"The Times author then continues by confessing to a sort of slow-motion coup to undermine the Trump presidency:" . . .  Read more...

Democrats seek to financially destroy anyone connected to Donald Trump

House Democrats are inadvertently forming the Beria Caucus: "Show me the man, and I'll show you the crime."

Thomas Lifson . . . "As a result of this demand, the targets will be forced to hire pricey lawyers, and for those who are not wealthy, the burden can be financially disastrous.  This is an old D game elevated to the level of scorched-earth tactics.  Anyone contemplating working for Donald Trump (or any future swamp-drainer) is on notice that financial ruin is in prospect once Democrats control either house of Congress.

"If, as is widely predicted, the Mueller reports finds no evidence of Russia collusion, there is great peril for the Democrats.  Don't take it from me, though; even David Axelrod, the former Obama political guru, sees the danger." . . .

I've maintained since Obama was president that America had become a third-world country. TD

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez 'supports' impeachment, says Trump's finances should be focus instead of Russia  Still the "greatest country on earth"?

How can the US media NOT be seen as a star chamber*?

CNN's Toobin Rewrites History: Unlike Trump, Obama Had No Scandals!

. . . "This is the way Washington works now. You go work in the White House, you sort of presume you're going to end up having to hire a lawyer for better or for worse,” she shrugged. That’s when CNN’s chief legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin jumped in to argue this was only a Trump problem, not a politics problem:

“ 'You know, people in Barack Obama's White House, they didn't have to hire lawyers because there were no scandals. It's true,” Toobin gushed. Trying not to appear partisan, he quickly added, “George W. Bush, there were no scandals to speak of in the White House there.”

"Borger agreed. “That's the way it is now. It's the way it is now,” she stated. Toobin continued defending Obama:

“ 'Well, no, I don't think it's just the times. I think it's the presidency,” he stated, adding, “[I]t's like not all presidents are the same. I mean, this is a president who is under investigation for good reason.' ” . . .

The Seven Most Undercovered Obama Scandals
IRS Targets the Tea Party 
Fast and Furious Scandal

VA Scandal Gets Less Coverage Than Local New Jersey Story 
Relying on “Stupidity of the American Voter” to Pass ObamaCare
ObamaCare Failures
Solyndra Scandal
Ransom for Hostages? 

Exposed: Media Double Standard in Attack on Karen Pence’s Christianity
. . . "The media sunk to a new low when they attacked second lady Karen Pence this week for her decision to teach art at a Christian school in Virginia.

"CNN’s chief national correspondent John King even questioned whether or not Pence should receive taxpayer-funded security protection or government housing because she is working for a Christian school." . . .

Tony Branco

Quora comments that CNN is most unbiased!:  . . . "Two channels clearly take a one sided view of the news. MSNBC's reporting clearly favors the left (liberal Democrat) viewpoint. Fox News should be renamed RNNN (Republican National News Network) because of its close alignment with the a Republican Party and its radically right bias.

"Of all the U.S. news channels, CNN is certainly the most unbiased. However, as with all U.S. based new channels, CNN reports predominantly US news." . . .

*Star chamber . . . "Definitions for an ancient high court exercising jurisdiction in certain cases mainly criminal which sat without the intervention of a jury It consisted of the king's council or of the privy council only with the addition of certain judges It could proceed on mere rumor or examine witnesses it could apply torture" . . .

Biden's Betrayal of SEALs should Doom Presidential Run

Daniel John Sobieski  . . . "Biden was the top choice for 28 percent of likely Democratic primary voters surveyed in a recent University of Massachusetts Amherst poll, despite his not having declared a 2020 presidential bid. Yet while critics of President Trump’s foreign policy accuse him of a degree of recklessness and immaturity that place the nation’s security at risk, Biden’s service in an administration that gave us the criminal negligence and incompetence of Benghazi, provides us with an example of why he should not be trusted with the nation’s security or the lives of its heroes."
"As author and attorney David Shestoksas points out in his review of Betrayed: The Shocking The Shocking True Story of Extortion 17 as told by a Navy SEAL's Father, Biden betrayed the heroes that killed Osama Bin Laden to further his political ambitions:" . . .

"Then there is Joe Biden, whose loose lips got members of Seal Team 6 targeted for revenge and killed in an Afghan mission known as Extortion 17. As Investor’s Business Daily recounted on May 28, 2013:" . . .

. . . "The Chinook helicopter carrying the rescue team was shot down by a Taliban-owned rocket-propelled grenade over the Wardak Province on Aug. 6, 2011, killing 38, including 30 Americans and 15 members of Navy SEAL Team 6, the unit that killed Osama bin Laden just three months prior." . . .

. . . "The deaths of more than 20 Navy SEALs from the unit that took out Osama bin Laden is connected to a loose-lipped vice president who likes to sometimes pose as a presidential action figure. " . . .       

Betrayed: The Shocking True Story of Extortion 17 as told by a Navy SEAL's Father 

. . . Adding insult to injury, Billy learned that a Muslim Imam was invited by our own US military leaders to “pray” over his son’s dead body. As US war heroes lay in their caskets before their last flight home, the Imam damned America’s fallen warriors as “infidels” who would burn in hell. As US military leaders observed the ceremony at Bagram Air Base, the Imam boasted over the deaths of US heroes with words such as, “The companions of heaven [Muslims] are the winners.”  . . .

Obama stonewalls SEAL Team 6 helicopter crash probe, watchdog says

. . . "Charlie Strange, whose Navy cryptologist son, Michael, was on Extortion 17, told The Times last year that it was too much of a coincidence for Taliban to be standing so near the landing zone. “Somebody was leaking to the Taliban,” said Mr. Strange. “They knew. Somebody tipped them off. There were guys in a tower. Guys on the bush line. They were sitting there, waiting. And they sent our guys right into the middle.”

Oh, well. Celebrities and talk show hosts love the guy, so what do a bunch of warriors - 38 to be exact - mean to the Obamas?

Pentagon releases names of 30 Americans killed in Afghanistan helicopter crash

Wreckage is seen from the Chinook helicopter shot down last week that left 30 Americans and eight Afghans dead.

9/11 Poster Featuring ISIS Rep. Ilhan Omar At State West Virginia Capitol Is Accurate - Democrats “Outraged”

Pamela Geller

"The Democrats and their running dogs in the enemedia are having hissie fits over a poster in the West Virginia statehouse that suggests Americans have forgotten the horrors of 9/11 and the promise to “Never Forget” because Americans are electing pro-jihad, pro-Islamic State Jew-haters such as Ilhan Omar. Indeed, the poster is accurate. Ilhan Omar pushed a judge for lenient sentences for Muslims who joined the Islamic State group. The Islamic State shared the same religious ideology and goals as Al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden. In many cases, the Islamic State was more brutal, more savage than al Qaeda. The poster is correct.
. . . 
"Once again the left equates opposition to jihad terror with islamophobia." . . .

Muslim Kafir-phobia often leads to bloodshed. TD

When is Nancy Pelosi going to rid the House Foreign Relations Committee of Ilhan Omar?  . . . "But in Omar's case, there's a real problem for Pelosi, because Omar's singularly unfit to be in it, given that her repeated expressions of anti-Semitism are indistinguishable from those of a streetcorner 'Jews rule the world' conspiracy theorist, or for that matter, Farrakhan himself.

"Pelosi's response That of a wimp. One can only hope this baggage travels with her as she seeks to win another stretch as Speaker of the House in 2020."