Forgive Me, Lord, for I Have Virtue-Signaled

"The urge to play along is irresistible."

American Spectator  "Ever since virtue signaling became a thing, and a sin, on both sides of the Atlantic, I’ve been determined never to indulge. Why? Because it’s the preserve of the needy and weak, and those who are more concerned with talking about their virtue than having any. How could I ever sink that low? I’ve valued my self-respect too much.
"For those who are yet to come across this nauseating vice, virtue signaling is officially “the action of publicly expressing opinions intended to demonstrate one’s moral correctness.” To put it another way, it’s the practice of gratuitously showing-off left-leaning, liberal, progressive viewpoints in order to make people admire you, and to position yourself in the mainstream of prevailing thought.
"You see, to be a virtue signaler, it’s not enough just to have progressive opinions; you must volunteer them — face-to-face, at work, with friends and especially through social media.
"So, for example, voting Remain here in the UK is virtuous, and ripe for signaling; voting Leave is your guilty secret. Pro-choice is good (tell as many people as you like), pro-life is bad (keep it to yourself at all costs). Believing in gay marriage is to be applauded (take a bow); believing only in a union between man and woman is backward (you’d better leave now, please). And so on.

"Alright, to some extent, virtue-signaling has been around for decades. But in recent years, with the rise of Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and their echo chambers, it has become more and more evident, so that it now threatens not just freedom of speech but independence of thought. After all, if only certain opinions are virtuous then the opposite views, by definition, must be morally suspect, if not downright evil. Forget about encouraging people to think for themselves, and to work things out. All they need do is follow the path of goodness and virtue, as defined by Twitter, and everything will be fine.

"It’s hideous and insidious, no doubt about it. But there’s an added problem. It’s catching. Even for people like me whose revulsion is so well-honed that we could be accused of the very thing that we rail against.

"I admit it, I’ve caught the bug." .

 . .

The Party of Death, Out in the Open

First this: USA Today: Most Americans don't want a standing ovation for abortions until birth. But Democrats do.

Townhall

American Greatness   "Safe, legal, and rare was a lie."  

"President Bill Clinton in 1996 told Americans abortion should be “safe, legal, and rare.” That was then. Now the cult of death, pro-abortion movement has taken over the Democratic Party whole-cloth, and the result is the infanticidal law passed in New York on the anniversary of Roe v. Wade. Now the party line has shifted to abortion on demand, paid for by taxpayers, at any time, even up until moments before birth: witness what just took place in New York state. The Empire State no more; New York is now the Abortion State."
. . . 

And you don’t even need a doctor to conduct this abortion; New Yorkers can have physician assistants and even midwives perform some abortions. New York’s new abortion laws put it in the same class as China, Vietnam, and North Korea, where abortion is available at most any point.

The bad company in which New York now finds itself should speak to the immorality of this law. Just because people pass a law and make something “legal” doesn’t mean an action thereby becomes moral or ethical or right: slavery was legal, too. To hear the cheers on the floor of the New York Senate when the law passed must have been the same sound slave owners made when a new big shipment of fresh slaves came pulling into port or the cheers that echoed through the Reichstag with the passage of the Nuremberg Laws.

"New York can legalize evil all day long, but it won’t change the brutal reality that a human child dies with every abortion. “Legality” didn’t justify the Nazis’ atrocities, nor did it legitimize institutionalized racism and slavery in America’s Antebellum South. Neither can it legitimize abortion on demand.

. . . "To add further to the sickness of it all, some of these same people, no doubt would be horrified by the killings of kittens or puppies or baby sea turtles, yet with a straight face and acting as though it’s perfectly normal they propose killing a human baby right at the moment of birth.

Liberal policies carried to their ultimate end:

Ben Sasse: Gov. Northam And Every 2020 Candidate Should Answer The Infanticide Question Or “Get The Hell Out Of Office” 

Smile, Democrats; your press has your back.

Washington Post rushes to rescue Virginia Democrat from her late-term abortion debacle  "If there’s a Democrat in trouble, you can be sure there's a newsroom nearby, ready to clean up the mess.
"Take, for example, the energy that the Washington Post has dedicated this week to rehabilitating the image of Virginia Del. Kathy Tran. Tran became a viral sensation for all the wrong reasons after she unveiled a bill allowing for late-term abortions up to birth, even in cases where the mother is dilating.

“ 'Del. Kathy Tran was known for nursing her baby on the House floor. Now she’s getting death threats,” reads the headline to an article published Thursday. That’s an updated version of the original headline. The original version read, “Until this week, Del. Kathy Tran was known for nursing her daughter on the House floor. Now Republicans are calling her a baby killer.” 

"Oh, please" . . .

CNN Covers for Pro-Abortion Northam, Suggests Critics Misunderstood  "After initially ignoring the controversy surrounding Virginia Democratic Governor Ralph Northam suggesting it would be both legal and acceptable under a proposed new abortion law if a baby were delivered and then allowed to die outside the mother's body, CNN finally ran a few briefs on Thursday morning -- mostly early -- and MSNBC ran one.

"But the reports provided cover for Northam, with CNN host Dave Briggs in particular suggesting conservatives might have misunderstood him even though the Democratic governor clearly stated that not resuscitating a newborn baby would be an allowed option.

"By contrast, Fox News Channel's three-hour Fox and Friends show spent more than 28 minutes on the controversy in addition to the attention that it got from nearly all other Fox News shows. The morning show even spoke with three OB/GYN physicians who were horrified at Governor Northam's comments." . . .

Ocasio-Cortez Is Showing She’s Pretty Spooked Over Threat of Dem’s Plans to Primary Her

Brandon Morse  "The Democrats’ newest and shiniest lawmaker, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, may have a short-lived career in Washington if some of the Democrats get their way and primary her in 2020.

"After an article from The Hill broke that told the story of how various Democrat groups and politicians were planning to find candidates to run the young democratic socialist out of office after only one term, Ocasio-Cortez seems to have gotten a tad spooked, and is now buying up dozens of Facebook ads in order to fundraise in preparation for a 2020 battle.

"As well she should. Some of the groups angry with her are the Black Caucus, the Hispanic Caucus, and various politicians from her own district. While Ocasio-Cortez assures the Black Caucus that she’s not going after any black Democrats, she is brazenly going after one Hispanic Caucus member, Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas).

"As first reported by the Daily Caller, AOC’s camp has purchased as many as 90 ads on Facebook (Pictured below, TD) since the article from The Hill dropped, all of them bearing messages of Democrats coming after her for shaking things up." . . .

The Democrats stage their own Wansee Conference*

*Wansee Conference:  "On this day, Nazi officials meet to discuss the details of the “Final Solution” of the “Jewish question.' ”

Rich Terrell

The Federalist: Democrats’ Inexorable Abortion Logic Has Finally Caught Up With Them   "From unrestricted late-term abortions to infanticide, Democrats are now facing the consequences of a position that never had a limiting principle." . . . 
"This week, Democrats finally succumbed to the inescapable logic of abortion. They have admitted, perhaps against their better judgement, that there really is no difference between abortion and infanticide." . . .

 Memo to the people running the Trump 2020 campaign  . . . "It could go like this:  "I create jobs, he (or she) supports the abortion of babies".

"It's rough but someone has to hit Hispanics between the eyes and remind them that the party they support does not value life or marriage between a man and a woman."

Networks, Liberal Cable News Ignore Virginia Governor’s Endorsement of Aborting Delivered Babies . . . "The whole ordeal is a major lurch leftward for Democrats and a candid shot of their actual beliefs on abortion. Nevertheless, the story was blacked out of primetime coverage, not just on network news, but on CNN and MSNBC too." . . . 

John D. Dingell III: NY abortion bill promotes targeted slaughter of girls in the womb
. . . "The left's infatuation with abortion has now come full circle. It has become a blatant attack on women and the lower classes.  It will take a while for women and the lower classes to realize this.  Sadly, by the time they do, the damage will have been done."

Even the leftist pro-abortionists will not address the issue for what it  is. Watch how this Democrat reverts to bumper sticker slogans and liberal talking points. Naturally she uses the bromide "as a woman". TD    Rush Limbaugh introduces this clip:

So let’s go to the audio sound bites. We have Tucker Carlson interviewing Monica Klein. She is the founding partner of something called Seneca Strategies. And Tucker Carlson’s question, “I wonder what you think about what Dr. Northam, the governor of Virginia, said. The infant is born. There’s a point where the mother and the physician can decide whether to kill the infant or not.” I want you to listen to the anger and the hatred in this woman’s voice. She hates Republicans. She hates Trump. She hates Kavanaugh. Tucker asks her, “What do you think of what the governor of Virginia said?” . . .

A Handy Guide To Facial Expressions

Babylon Bee  "How do you tell if someone is hatefully sneering at you or just smiling? It's a difficult task.

"We consulted with over five hundred facial expression experts, showing them various images and asking them to identify which ones were a normal human emotion and which ones were literally Hitler. If a video ever comes out of someone making one of these expressions and you need a quick hot take to tweet out, consult this handy chart:

Tennessee Senator Marsha Blackburn Bringing Knoxville Dad Whose Son Was Killed by Illegal Alien to SOTU

Weasel Zippers

"Republican invites American family who lost a son allegedly killed by an illegal alien. Democrats invite an illegal alien. And there in a nutshell, is all you need to know about the two parties. 

"Via Free Beacon:

Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn (Tenn.) announced on Thursday that a Knoxville firefighter whose son was killed by an illegal immigrant will be her guest at President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address next Tuesday.

Twenty-two-year-old Pierce Corcoran was killed just after Christmas when he was hit by Francisco Eduardo Franco Cambrany, a 44-year-old illegal immigrant who was charged with criminally negligent homicide and driving without a license or insurance. Blackburn’s guest for the address will be his father, Knoxville fire captain D.J. Corcoran, whose wife will also be in attendance as the guest of Rep. Tim Burchett (R., Tenn.).

“The tragedy the Corcoran family has endured is one no family should ever have to experience,” Blackburn said. “The attendance of Pierce’s parents at the State of the Union serves as a reminder that we as a Congress have a duty to keep the American people safe. It is an honor to attend with Captain Corcoran.' ” . . .

If Democrats Hadn’t Embraced Crazy, Howard Schultz Wouldn’t Be A Threat To Them

Derek Hunter  "He’s just a man, one who happens to be very wealthy. A very wealthy man who is considering using a slice of his substantial fortune to run for president of the United States. Not as a Republican or a Democrat, as an independent. That fact has progressive activists beside themselves with rage that this man, former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, could be the spoiler of their plans to win the 2020 election. The question is this: are their fears founded?

Tom Stiglich

"Schultz is worth in the neighborhood of $3.5 billion, which is a very nice neighborhood. I, like most people, would be happy to simply live in the same zip code as a neighborhood like that. The air there always smells like fresh flowers and some kind of food most of us couldn’t pronounce, let alone imagine tasting.
"That sort of life lends itself to both delusions of grandeur and actual grandeur, provided you didn’t arrive at it through the luck of birth. People who earn great wealth through means not related to numbered balls falling out of a machine matching a $2 ticket tend to know the value of a dollar. "They’ve worked for it, worked hard, and took risks to get it. That generally means they don’t set piles of it on fire on vanity projects or out of boredom.
"This is why the idea of Schultz should concern everyone, not just Democrats. The same, by the way, goes for another progressive billionaire, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Unlike Schultz, Bloomberg, should he run, will run as a Democrat. It’s in no small part how Donald Trump became president, so it’s a model that has been shown to work." . . .

Who Benefits From Mass Immigration? Not You!

Ann Coulter

"Assiduous readers of my columns know that I have frequently made the point that America's immigration policies benefit only three groups of people: 1) rich Americans with a lot of employees, 2) the immigrants themselves, and 3) their grandmothers back in Chiapas.

"The money illegal immigrants send out of the country doesn't come from their low wages. It comes from the taxpayers, who are required to subsidize immigrants so that investment bankers can have cheap nannies. Yes, it is a problem that they couldn't possibly live on what I pay them, but that's where YOU come in, taxpayers!

"When the rich merely have to pay Social Security taxes on their nannies, they quickly say, Oh, never mind, as we saw in the 1990s, when Bill Clinton's first two female attorney general nominees had to withdraw because of the illegal aliens raising their kids, and we finally ended up with Janet Reno.

"Zoe Baird, the first nominee caught up in Nannygate, promptly fired her illegal alien nanny and chauffeur, Lillian and Victor Corderos, who were deported.

"That's how much the rich love Latino immigrants! As Baird's spokeswoman, Jamie Gorelick, said at the time: "I think it truly pains them that Lillian has had to pay this price. ... They have true affection for her.' " . . .

"I was born in New York"; how many will be around to say that after a few years?

The People's Cube

"Albany, NY -- New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo continues to make major changes in the name of progress and tolerance. These will appeal to liberal-progressives, and benefit ex cons and mass murderers across the nation. Signing off on these new policies will launch the governor's bid for his presidential run among the 353,739 candidates now on the Democrat ticket.
"The governor just signed into law after ending the death penalty, a woman's right to abort about-to-be-born babies who could live outside the womb - up to the moment of birth.
"Shrugging off criticism of having passed a death sentence on babies after having ended the death penalty for murderers, Cuomo said, "Our base is what matters, not what people think."
"The new law means, if a mother chose to abort as soon as she is experiencing labor pains, or second thoughts, whichever came first, she can have the child's head liquified and sucked out with a Hoover. In the name of progress, doctors will give classes to would-be serial killers and other progressives who might try their hands at this soon-to-be-popularized sport." . . .

 

 

 

 

 

Democrat-governed Virginia hopes to one-up New York:
Virginia Governor Asked Whether He Supports Abortion While Woman Is Giving Birth. His Response Is Bizarre  . . “ 'If a mother is in labor, I can tell you exactly what would happen. The infant would be delivered. The infant would be kept comfortable. The infant would be resuscitated if that’s what the mother and the family desired, and then a discussion would ensue between the physicians and the mother,” Northam said in a WTOP interview." . . .
"Aborting a baby after it has been born is illegal." . . .
“ 'Clearly, this kind of legislation is an attempt to create legal infanticide as viable babies are aborted to the cheers of abortion extremists,” Students for Life President Kristan Hawkins said in a statement."

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam Defends Leaving Infants to Die After Birth  . . . "Later in the interview, he did disagree with Tran’s attempt in the bill to lift a requirement for multiple physicians to weigh in on the need for a late-term abortion.
“ 'I think it’s always good to get a second opinion,” he said, “and for at least two providers to be involved in that decision because these decisions shouldn’t be taken lightly.' ”

Abortion: where are we headed?



Rich Terrell



The truth about Virginia Democrats and abortion becomes a deep embarrassment
"Deranged Democrats in the Old Dominion are candidly admitting their repulsive priorities, creating problems for more practical members of their party. Even abortion fans refuse to defend Virginia governor’s candor on post-birth murder of abortion-surviving infant.  It is both stomach-turning and amusing to watch abortion enthusiasts refuse to address the casual truth-telling about the degree to which many Democrats are willing to go in order to prevent a new human being survive birth should the mother want it eliminated." . . .

. . .The Democrats are now captive to their most extreme supporters, and are pushing proposals and new laws that are deeply unpopular with the mainstream of American life. Not just on abortion, but on taxation, national security, the border and many other areas of life. Trump Derangement Syndrome, after all, is derangement.  . . .

The Infanticide Craze   So much for "safe and rare".
"Democrats are increasingly explicit in their support for killing unborn children at any stage of pregnancy — and sometimes even of denying normal medical care to born children." . . .

  

 

What's WRONG with AMERICA! 3rd-Trimester ABORTION Bills: 'MORALLY Repugnant' “This is morally repugnant,” Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., said in a statement to National Review. “In just a few years pro-abortion zealots went from ‘safe, legal, and rare’ to ‘keep the newborns comfortable while the doctor debates infanticide.’ I don’t care what party you’re from — if you can’t say that it’s wrong to leave babies to die after birth, get the hell out of public office.”

 

Virginia Del. Kathy Tran Submitted Bill To Save Caterpillars On Same Day As Late-Stage Abortion Bill  "The Democratic Virginia delegate who has recently come under fire for sponsoring a bill in the Virginia House of Delegates that would allow the termination of a pregnancy up to 40 weeks old, is also the chief patron of a bill that would protect the lives of “fall cankerworms” during certain months.
"Democratic Virginia Del. Kathy Tran introduced “House Bill No. 2495 – Fall cankerworm; spraying prohibited during certain months” on Jan. 9, the same day as “House Bill No. 2491 — Abortion; eliminate certain requirements.”
"Tran came under fire Tuesday for her support of legislation that would allow an abortion to be performed just moments before the birth of a child. (RELATED: VA Considering Bill Legalizing Abortion Until 40 Weeks In Pregnancy)" . . .
. . .
 “Where it’s obvious a woman is about to give birth…would that be a point at which she could still request an abortion?” Republican Del. Todd Gilbert asked Tran. (RELATED: Trump Rips Virginia Democrats On Abortion Comments)
“My bill would allow that, yes,” she confirmed.
"Tran’s other piece of legislation aims to protect insects such as “gypsy moths” and “cankerworms.”
According to Virginia’s Legislative Information System, House Bill No. 2495 is:

A BILL to amend and reenact § 15.2-2403 of the Code of Virginia and to amend the Code of Virginia by adding in Article 1 of Chapter 9 of Title 15.2 a section numbered 15.2-926.4, relating to cankerworms; eradication; prohibition on spraying during certain months.

"Tran apparently deleted all of her social media following backlash to her abortion bill." . . .

 Perhaps Obama would give the newborn a couple of aspirins as he waits for them to die:
 

A few words about those National Anthem Performers at sports events

From a good friend in Tillamook County, Oregon comes this shared post:

"So with all the kindness I can muster, I give this one piece of advice to the next pop star who is asked to sing the National Anthem at a sporting event: Save the vocal gymnastics and the physical gyrations for your concerts. Just sing this song the way you were taught to sing it in kindergarten - straight up, no styling. Sing it with the constant awareness that there are soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines watching you from bases and outposts all over the world. Don't make them cringe with your self-centered ego gratification.
Sing it as if you are standing before a row of 86-year-old WWII vets wearing their Purple Hearts, Silver Stars and flag pins on their cardigans and you want them to be proud of you for honoring them and the country they love, not because you want them to think you are a superstar musician. They could see that from your costume, makeup and your entourage.
Sing 'The Star Spangled Banner' with the courtesy and humility that tells the audience that it is about America, not you."

Gladys Knight, an Atlanta native and "Empress of Soul," will sing the Super Bowl 53 national anthem prior to kickoff in 2019.

Hear this if you can take it:



Here's how it deserves to be sung, the way the NY Yankees did it once: