There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true. —Soren Kierkegaard. "…truth is true even if nobody believes it, and falsehood is false even if everybody believes it. That is why truth does not yield to opinion, fashion, numbers, office, or sincerity–it is simply true and that is the end of it" – Os Guinness, Time for Truth, pg.39. “He that takes truth for his guide, and duty for his end, may safely trust to God’s providence to lead him aright.” – Blaise Pascal. "There is but one straight course, and that is to seek truth and pursue it steadily" – George Washington letter to Edmund Randolph — 1795. We live in a “post-truth” world. According to the dictionary, “post-truth” means, “relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief.” Simply put, we now live in a culture that seems to value experience and emotion more than truth. Truth will never go away no matter how hard one might wish. Going beyond the MSM idealogical opinion/bias and their low information tabloid reality show news with a distractional superficial focus on entertainment, sensationalism, emotionalism and activist reporting – this blogs goal is to, in some small way, put a plug in the broken dam of truth and save as many as possible from the consequences—temporal and eternal. "The further a society drifts from truth, the more it will hate those who speak it." – George Orwell “There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true.” ― Soren Kierkegaard
One thing I’ve begun to notice about prophetic discourse is (aside from all the varying opinions concerning it), is the tendency to see things as becoming increasingly negative or gloom and doom. A reader recently sent me an article written by Jan Markell and Olive Tree Ministries. The reader also included a screen shot of a book by Dave Hunt called, Whatever Happened to Heaven? In that book, he outlines what our focus as Christians should be, but often is not. Instead of Chrisitans who are looking forward to eventually being with the Lord at the end of our life here, many take up the cry to “transform” the world for Jesus! What this ostensibly means is to “claim” the world for God and essentially remake it in His image so that things would become far more favorable for His physical return.
Markell, in her e-newsletter, noted that a growing number of Christians in churches today are tired of all the “gloom and doom” related to prophecy teaching.[1] In fact, she spoke of how one particular church passed out a flyer about “End-Times Eddie” and how Eddie is “so focused on end-times that he has missed all the present opportunities and people in front of him.” This of course is absolute error on that church’s part. Anyone is who rightly focused on legitimate prophetic discourse is also about getting the Gospel out to the lost because the two go hand in hand. It’s not one or the other. It’s about helping people escape hell and prophetic discourse is often an avenue to that reality.
Churches and Christians who complain about prophecy do so because they either don’t understand the purpose of prophecy or they are too enamored with this life, or both. Christians need to wake up to the reality that this earth in this condition is not our permanent home. We should long to be with our Lord. We should understand that this life does not last forever and that at some point, we will leave this life for the next one.
Unfortunately, there is a growing trend within Christendom that believes that if only Christians got together to create the necessary changes in the world, then the Church would be victorious over the world and a new Kingdom would come into existence over which Jesus would rule. This is nothing more than the kind of thing that Dave Hunt talks about in his book with respect to Kingdom Now, Dominionism, Reconstructionism and COR (Coalition on Revival). All of these different groups believe that if Christians will diligently work hard to spread the Gospel, then the world will change for the better. On one hand, that makes sense IF a majority of people actually come to believe in Jesus and embrace eternal life. However, for the world to actually and specifically change, those in leadership positions in many governments throughout the world must also embrace the Gospel of Christ and live it out as well.
I don’t see this happening in Scripture. Do you? That doesn’t mean I’m a “naysayer” or a negative ninny or an Eeyore. What it means is that my understanding of Scripture and prophetic discourse tells me that just as Jesus stated, things in this world will become increasingly evil and will impact society to a terrible degree. Matthew 24 in Jesus’ own words, tells us that times will be exceedingly terrible just prior to His physical second coming. I’m not sure how a person can read His words in that chapter alone (not to mention all the other portions of Scripture), and not come away thinking that life during those times will be exceedingly challenging and even terrifying.
Jesus, Paul and many others throughout Scripture outline for us how the world will end up as things draw to a close, by God’s specific design. By “close” I am referring to the point in future time at which Jesus physically returns to this earth. When He does, He will then immediately set about to judge all those on earth who are alive at His return (Matthew 25:32-33). Those on His right will enter into the Millennial Kingdom following that judgment. Those on His left will be cast out into eternal judgment. Does this sound like the world will have renewed and remade itself to overcome all evil?
I realize people are getting tired of what they consider to be the “gloom and doom” related to all the prognosticating and prophecy talk about future things. Many instead, are simply shrugging their shoulders over the whole thing and prefer to simply live life and not worry about what’s coming. Some don’t want to deal with it anymore. Part of the problem is that there is simply so much discussion from talking heads. All their warnings, all their prognostications (that often don’t pan out), all their book sales and conference talks and everything else can get a bit much for the average person. It seems all built on sales pitches, at least to some extent, especially with deliberately alarming video and book titles, etc.
Many are simply saying that they don’t want to bother with what’s happening because what will happen will happen. They just want to be left alone. I get it. I fully understand that. The problem though is that globalists (under compulsion from Satan), are not giving up. They won’t quit because Satan understands now more than ever that his time is growing very short. He doesn’t have a whole lot of time to try to do what he is setting out to accomplish. He obviously cannot simply give up so he must continue. He doesn’t need sleep as we do so he continues on without let up. He can always find someone in this world on his side who is not sleeping and get a few things done. Then he’ll go to the next person when that other person needs to sleep.
It is very important for all of us to understand that we are literally in a spiritual war. The upshot of it is that this war is already won by our Lord but it still needs to play out. While Satan might like to keep us focused on minutiae, the truth of the matter is that our Lord wants us to be focused on His Word, His truth and His will. That includes understanding the times in which we live and knowing that we must continue to spread the Gospel to all people during this time is extremely important.
The problem with prophetic discourse as a vocation or avocation is that it can become a major sidebar. In other words, a person can become so enamored with it that it becomes the pursuit of knowledge only, which tends then to puff up. Rightly understanding prophetic discourse means that it should affect our lives to the point that we come to care deeply about other people and whether or not they are lost. If we truly believe that Jesus can return imminently, then we had also best be about warning people that time is short. If we are not doing this, then we are not doing what our Lord would have us do. Didn’t He do the same during His own earthly life? He preached the Gospel peppered with prophetic discourse.
There is a great deal happening throughout the world that is being orchestrated by Satan to usher in the final global empire over which Satan, via his spiritual son Antichrist, will rule. Just yesterday I was reading about Mark Zuckerberg’s “Meta” (which owns Facebook and Instagram), and they are currently working on another level of AI camerbuds for the consumer that will make it far more easier for those in authority to spy on everyone.[2] The new technology being worked on will be a combination of ear buds that include microphones and a camera. The data that Big Tech will gain from users (including those who are simply nearby those who wear these devices), will be a huge plus for Big Tech. What will make this work? Cell phone towers and WiFi. The surveillance net is being created right in front of us in order to literally capture people so that we are prisoners but still able to walk around “freely.” Once things are in place, I can imagine that freedom will become less and less obvious for individuals over time.
Satan’s goal is to enslave all of society over which he will be god. It all goes back to Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28. This has been his goal from the beginning but it’s taken this long to achieve because God and His timing. It appears God is finally allowing Satan to attempt to fulfill his aspirations so we should not turn away from prophetic discourse but embrace it. This world appears to be on its final stage before Jesus returns.
Kingdom Now or Dominion Theology tries to humanize God and deify man. Sadly, the world will continue to deteriorate and spiral into chaos, forcing man to consider the hope of Heaven and abandon thoughts of a glorified earth. Only when Jesus Christ returns at the Second Coming will all things be made new!
The church is not in the business of taking anything away from Satan but the souls of men. The world is a sinking Titanic ripe for judgment, not Garden of Eden perfection. Jesus will take dominion of the cleansed earth. For men to speak of doing that before the judgment of this earth is spiritually arrogant…
Bible prophecy is given as a light shining in a dark place (2 Peter 1:19). Talking about it should not instill fear in the Christian; rather, provide confirmation that the “blessed hope” is ever nearer and the time ever shorter to snatch people from the fire.
As Markell notes in her e-newsletter, too many churches are essentially saying, “Come Lord Jesus, but not too soon.” This life is not the end. It’s merely the way to the final destination. I look forward to being with our Lord, seeing His face, hearing His voice, sensing His love. Do you as well?
1 Samuel 22:5 — Sometimes you’re hurt by people who claim to be Christians, and as a result you want to swear off dealing with Christians ever again. Perhaps in response you just want to deal with “honest pagans.” But even though you can be hurt again, God calls us to fellowship with other believers (Hebrews 10:25) because no matter how much we think our situation is beyond hope, God is in control!
1 Samuel 22:8 — The King of Israel is sad that “there is none of you that is sorry for me.”
1 Samuel 22:18 — If Jesus was comparing the Pharisees to Doeg, Doeg had shed the blood of 85 priests who stood helplessly, as well as the entire city of Nob. What did the Pharisees do to the Son of God?
1 Samuel 23:4 — Notice the patience of the LORD. The same God who was so patient with Gideon, is also patient with David. God spoke to him and promised him victory twice, even though David was afraid.
1 Samuel 23:21 — Blessing people in the name of the LORD for helping you kill your loyal subject that you have made into an adversary … huh?
John 10:1-21 — Notice some of the characters in this parable:
The thief/robber – introduced in vs. 1
The hireling – introduced in vs. 12
The shepherd – introduced in vs. 2
Have you noticed the similarities between this and the parable of the wicked husbandmen (Matthew 21:33-46, Mark 12:1-12, Luke 20:9-19)?
In John 10:10-11 we see the action. The hireling flees, the thief kills, and the Shepherd dies. Yet, unlike the other parables, we are told the end of the story: in John 10:17-18 the Shepherd rises again!
Some other takeaways from this passage:
John 10:8, 16 – Who you hear indicates what you are
John 10:9-10 – Who you follow indicates where you go
Mr. Rogers of PBS fame asked his wife before he died, “Am I a sheep?” On the internet you have two responses (notice which incorporates more Scripture):
But I will deliver thee in that day, saith the Lord; and thou shalt not be given into the hand of the men of whom thou art afraid. (Jeremiah 39:17)
When the Lord’s faithful ones are suffering for Him, they shall have sweet messages of love from Himself, and sometimes they shall have glad tidings for those who sympathize with them and help them. Ebed-melech was only a despised Ethiopian, but he was kind to Jeremiah, and so the Lord sent him this special promise by the mouth of His prophet. Let us be ever mindful of God’s persecuted servants, and He will reward us.
Ebed-melech was to be delivered from the men whose vengeance he feared. He was a humble… man, but Jehovah would take care of him. Thousands were slain by the Chaldeans, but [he] could not be hurt. We, too, may be fearful of some great ones who are bitter against us; but if we have been faithful to the Lord’s cause in the hour of persecution, He will be faithful to us. After all, what can a man do without the Lord’s permission? He puts a bit into the mouth of rage and a bridle upon the head of power. Let us fear the Lord, and we shall have no one else to fear. No cup of cold water given to a despised prophet of God shall be without its reward; and if we stand up for Jesus, Jesus will stand up for us.
Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. (Matthew 4:4)
If God so willed it we could live without bread, even as Jesus did for forty days; but we could not live without His Word. By that Word we were created, and by it alone can we be kept in being, for he sustaineth all things by the Word of His power. Bread is a second cause; the Lord Himself is the first source of our sustenance. He can work without the second cause as well as with it; and we must not tie Him down to one mode of operation. Let us not be too eager after the visible, but let us look to the invisible God. We have heard believers say that in deep poverty, when bread ran short, their appetites became short, too; and to others, when common supplies failed, the Lord has sent in unexpected help.
But we must have the Word of the Lord. With this alone we can withstand the devil. Take this from us, and our enemy will have us in his power, for we shall soon faint. Our souls need food, and there is none for them outside of the Word of the Lord. All the books and all the preachers in the world cannot furnish us a single meal: it is only the Word from the mouth of God that can fill the mouth of a believer. Lord, evermore give us this bread. We prize it above royal dainties.
UAV explodes in lower Galilee IDF ground forces on Saturday evening entered the Jabalia “refugee” camp in the northern Gaza Strip once again in an attempt to prevent Hamas from restoring its rule in the camp. During the day, the IAF and IDF artillery bombarded buildings known to be housing Hamas terrorists with thousands of kilograms of explosives. Explosions were heard all the way in central Israel.
Why Israel can say ‘no’ to American diktats There’s no alternative to the alliance with the United States. But support from ordinary Americans and the GOP means it doesn’t have to sacrifice its security to please Biden.
Six months after election: Deal reached to form government in Netherlands Geert Wilders on Wednesday said a deal had been reached to form a new government, almost six months after a major election victory, Reuters reported. Wilders, whose PVV party won the elections in November, had been in talks with potential allies but they did not bear fruit. In March, Wilders said he was ready to forego the job of prime minister in an effort to facilitate the formation of a new right-wing government. On Wednesday, he announced the successful outcome of the deal between four parties.
Erdogan claims: Israel will target Turkey next Recep Tayyip Erdogan claimed on Wednesday that Israel would “set its sights” on Turkey if it succeeded in defeating Hamas in the Gaza Strip, AFP reported. “Do not think that Israel will stop in Gaza,” Erdogan told his party lawmakers in the parliament in the capital Ankara.
Jordan thwarts Iranian plan to smuggle weapons into kingdom Amman thwarted a suspected Iranian-led plot to smuggle weapons into Jordan to carry out acts of sabotage and undermine the ruling Hashemite dynasty, Reuters reported on Wednesday, citing two sources familiar with the matter. The arms were transferred from Iranian-backed militias in Syria to a cell of the Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan
Who is behind Biden’s decision to deny military aid to Israel? Jonathan Finer, Deputy National Security Adviser, an anti-Israel Jew who called assistance to Israel after Oct. 7th as a ‘misstep,’ and Maher Bitar, former leader of SJP at Georgetown and UNRWA employee, now employed at the US National Security Council.
Effects of hypomagnetic field on adult hippocampal neurogenic niche and neurogenesis in mice The elimination of geomagnetic field (GMF), also called hypomagnetic field (HMF), is one of the major environmental hazards faced by deep-space astronauts and the workers in magnetically shielded rooms on Earth. We previously reported that long-term HMF exposure impaired adult hippocampal neurogenesis (AHN) and cognition by reducing endogenous reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels in adult neural stem cells (aNSCs).
Coldest early May on record in European Russia The first ten days of May in the European part of Russia may be recognized as the coldest on record, according to Roman Vilfand of the Russian Hydrometeorological Center. Cold air masses from the Arctic Ocean caused temperatures to drop significantly, affecting not only Russia but also Turkey with severe weather.
Canada Starts Evacuating Oil Town as Wildfires Surge Authorities ordered residents of Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada, to be ready for evacuation at a moment’s notice as wildfires draw closer, threatening a region that produces more than one million barrels of oil per day.
Secret, Leaked Speech by Former Chinese Defense Minister Demonstrates China’s Intent to Destroy America “The central committee believes, as long as we resolve the United States problem at one blow, our domestic problems will all be readily solved. Therefore, our military battle preparation appears to aim at Taiwan, but in fact is aimed at the United States, and the preparation is far beyond the scope of attacking aircraft carriers or satellites.” – Chinese Defense Minister Gen. Wei Fenghe
WHO To Link All Pandemics To Global Warming PR Campaign The runaway power-grabbing United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) will use an ESCAPE HATCH to return the entire world to the human misery of universal LOCKDOWNS on a May 27 deadline. WHO’S easy-to-see see-through-escape hatch is based on a typical 11th-hour UN language change. What started out as a “Treaty” has been watered down to “AMENDMENTS”.
Slumbering Preachers Need To Wake Up To The Reality That The King Is Coming A ministry supporter in Washington State a few years ago sent me a flyer that was handed out in his church. It is more mocking. The flyer asks if folks have met “End-Times Eddie” in the church. It denigrates “Eddie” and suggests he is so focused on end-times that he has missed all the present opportunities and people in front of him.
Many countries have reached the point of over-medication There is not only evidence for the uselessness of much medical research: there are also sound indications that many developed countries have reached a point of over-medication which is harmful to health.
“It should be the highest ambition of every American to extend his views beyond himself, and to bear in mind that his conduct will not only affect himself, his country, and his immediate posterity; but that its influence may be co-extensive with the world, and stamp political happiness or misery on ages yet unborn.” —George Washington (1789)
Fellow Patriots, our fledgling nation arguably began on July 4, 1776, with the signing of the Declaration of Independence, which was an official letter “breaking up with” Great Britain and its monarch, King George. It took until this day in 1991 before a British monarch — Queen Elizabeth — would come to the United States and address Congress. Two nations that had been enemies have established a critical allyship in the world. —Mark Alexander
The twin spectacles are set for June 27 and September 10. Will they actually happen?
Nate Jackson
Few people thought Joe Biden would debate Donald Trump in this presidential campaign. Trump refused to debate his GOP primary opponents, giving Biden the opening to reject debates with a man he insists is not worthy or fit for the office (pot, meet kettle). More importantly, Biden’s cognitive decline has been so pronounced that he seemingly stands only to lose in such a contest.
As National Review’s Dan McLaughlin joked, “We have one candidate whose doctors don’t want him walking, and one whose lawyers don’t want him talking.”
But here we are, with two debates suddenly on the schedule after Biden dropped a tough-guy video on social media challenging his challenger.
Many folks immediately noticed that it took five jump cuts for Biden to make it through a 14-second clip. His team made it artsy for effect, but the purpose was clearly to help him seem lucid, which can happen only for a few seconds at a time.
“I myself would never recommend going on stage with Donald Trump,” said Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi. Her point was clearly to deny dignifying Trump with the stage, but surely she and every other Democrat fear that Biden’s simply not up to it.
According to The Hill, “The two campaigns in setting up the two debates spurned the Commission on Presidential Debates, which has facilitated the debates between presidential candidates since 1988.”
Still, Team Biden made sure to rig the debates in his favor. The first one on June 27 will happen on CNN with two pro-Biden moderators to gang up on Trump and no live audience for the former president to use for energy. The second will wait until September 10 on ABC. Neither will likely feature Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Neither debate will do much to enlighten anyone about policy either.
“If you were truly going to do a fairly moderated presidential debate,” opined Clay Travis, “you’d have MSNBC and Fox News each pick a single debate moderator and every question from Fox News would go to Biden and every question from MSNBC would go to Trump.”
Biden also telegraphed one of his punches: “I hear you’re free on Wednesdays.” That clearly refers to the only weekday on which Trump is not stuck in a courtroom. Biden will undoubtedly focus on Trump’s four indictments on 91 charges, as if there is no presumption of innocence or as if the whole charade is not politically motivated lawfare. Trump will rightly blast it as the latter — waged by Biden’s Democrat surrogates in New York and DC — but how many folks watching CNN won’t believe that?
Trump would do well to also bring up Hunter Biden’s trials. The one for gun charges begins June 3, and the one for tax evasion begins June 20.
June is awfully early in the campaign to have debates. In fact, neither man will officially be his party’s nominee. Therein lies what I think is part of the calculation: If Biden performs poorly or enough Democrats can find another reason, that early date gives them time to nominate someone else at the Democratic National Convention in August.
Trump sees it, too. “He might as well get it over with, probably should do it early so that he can, you know, because he’s not going to get any better,” Trump said. “Every day is a down factor for him.” Asked if he thinks Democrats will dump Biden as the nominee, Trump said: “I do, I do. I don’t think they’ll have a choice.”
There’s still a lot of skepticism that these debates will happen. Neither Trump nor Biden shies away from smashing “norms” when they find it beneficial to do so. One thing is abundantly clear: It’s not normal or good for the country to have a nearly incapacitated 81-year-old man trying to cling to the presidency until he’s 86.
Biden now plans to take border action, Democrats are losing blacks, Biden calls “executive privilege” on Hur interview, and more.
Douglas Andrews, Thomas Gallatin, & Jordan Candler
Cross-Examination
Slumming for votes, Biden now plans to take border action: There’s an election to win, and so Joe Biden now needs to address the number one issue on the minds of the voters: illegal immigration. The New York Post reports: “Biden is planning executive action that would allow him to shut down the US-Mexico border once the number of migrant crossings reaches 4,000 per day. … The order would match a provision in the bipartisan border bill that failed to pass the Senate in February, which gave the president authority to expel migrants when border crossings reached the same daily average.” Strange. All this time, Biden has been prattling on about how “Congress needs to act.” On a related note of administrative malfeasance, new Border Patrol data indicates that the number of “gotaways” in the past two years (nearly 1.3 million) is approaching the cumulative total of the previous decade (1.4 million).
Biden’s inflation lie: You know it’s bad when the Leftmedia calls out a Democrat for lying. Joe Biden’s repeated false claim that inflation was 9% when he took office is a pants-on-fire lie that even The Washington Post is unwilling to tolerate. “Fact-checker” Glenn Kessler gave him the full four Pinocchios. In April, Biden said, “We have dramatically reduced inflation from 9% down to close to 3%.” Then, last week, Biden again made the false claim: “It was 9% when I came to office.” And on Tuesday, Biden used the false talking point once more, claiming inflation “was at 9% when I came in, and it’s now down around 3%.” The truth is that when Biden took office, inflation sat at 1.4%. Since then, cumulative inflation is fast approaching a whopping 20%. The average annual inflation rate during Trump’s four years was 1.9%. Under Biden, it has been 5.7%.
Dems are losing blacks: One of the reasons Biden has been peddling the blatant lie about inflation is because it’s costing him support among a demographic he can ill afford to lose. According to a new survey from Cygnal, Democrats are struggling with “two traditionally reliable Democrat voting blocks” — blacks and women. There are two reasons: the aforementioned high inflation, and the party’s leftist extremism. Cygnal Vice President of Polling Brock McCleary observed: “Democrats are in trouble with black voters, as the number of those saying the Democrat Party is more extreme than the Republican Party has increased by 20% since March. Biden is similarly in trouble, with over a third having an unfavorable view of the president, and it’s largely because they’re most concerned with the cost of living and not ideological issues like climate change and election integrity that his administration has chosen to prioritize.” McCleary further noted, “Among key voter groups like college-educated women, married women, and black voters, Trump’s approval has also jumped 5%.” Even more worrisome for Biden, “Nostalgia for Trump’s first term continues to gain steam,” McCleary states. “Battleground voters now give Trump positive job approval for his four years in the White House while disapproval of Biden remains high.”
Attacks on cops increase, and Dem reps side with illegals: Over 100,000 police officers have been attacked on the job over the last few years. From 2021-2023, 194 officers were killed in the line of duty, according to the FBI, and last year alone saw 79,091 instances of officers assaulted, the highest in a decade. Retired Lt. Randy Sutton, founder of Wounded Blue, blamed the increasing assault rate on the national anti-police narrative, such as the Left’s defund-the-police movement that dehumanizes law enforcement. “What this means is that law enforcement officers are afraid to defend themselves,” Sutton charged. “Many of these attacks wind up in disabling injuries or serious injuries, which can have dramatic effects on the life [and] on the mental and physical well-being of these law enforcement officers.” Meanwhile, true to form, 148 House Democrats voted against a bill that would require the deportation of any illegal alien who assaults an officer. “There is no reason that an illegal alien who attacks our law enforcement should remain in our country,” Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ), who introduced the bill, stated back in February. “That shows zero respect for our rule of law or our institutions, and they will not be positive contributors to society.” Thankfully, despite the anti-cop contingent of the Democrats, the bill passed the House 265-148.
Biden calls “executive privilege” on Hur interview: On the day Joe Biden took office, former White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said, “His objective and his commitment is to bring transparency and truth back to government.” This claim didn’t age well. Just this morning, we got yet another example of this when, as The Wall Street Journal reports, Biden’s “Justice” Department said that the president has “asserted executive privilege over the audio of his two-day interview with the special counsel investigating his handling of classified documents.” Frankly, we can’t blame Biden’s handlers for wanting to keep this material from the American people. After all, it indicates that Biden is “a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory,” which is hardly a winning campaign slogan. The DOJ’s disclosure comes as House Republicans threaten to hold AG Merrick Garland in contempt for refusing to cough up the recordings. “We have gone to extraordinary lengths to ensure that the committees get responses to their legitimate requests, but this is not one,” Garland huffed. So much for “transparency.”
The UN is being played by Hamas: The headline at Legal Insurrection is both chilling and infuriating: “IDF Footage Shows Hamas Terrorists Using UN Vehicles in Rafah, Shooting Civilians Seeking Aid From UNRWA Compound.” If true — and we have no reason to believe that it isn’t — this would be in violation of the Geneva Convention, not to mention the fundamental tenets of honor and decency among warriors. The Israel Defense Forces released drone footage yesterday “showing Hamas terrorists using UN marked vehicles, which enjoy protection in a combat zone,” Legal Insurrection reports. “The clip also shows Hamas gunmen apparently shooting at unarmed civilians in and around the UNRWA humanitarian aid depot in Rafah.” According to Israeli TV, the footage shows “a Hamas terrorist firing at Palestinian civilians trying to get aid at a UNRWA compound east of Rafah.” Meanwhile, on college campuses across the U.S., filthy Jew-haters continue to side with the butchers of Hamas.
Populist Slovak prime minister shot in assassination attempt: Eight years ago, at the beginning of his third term in office, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico expressed what he thought was an existential threat to his nation: “Islam has no place in Slovakia,” he said, and immigrants are “changing the face of the country.” Fico is clearly a popular politician. He served as prime minister from 2006 to 2010 and from 2012 to 2018, and he founded the Direction — Social Democracy party in 1999, a party he’s led since its inception. As a populist, though, Fico has no doubt enraged Slovakia’s Angry Left, and it appears that one such leftist shot him five times yesterday in an assassination attempt. The shooter is apparently a poet and a supporter of the Progressive Slovakia party. He was — get this — a founder of the so-called “Movement against violence,” whose manifesto declared its goal was to “unite people, preserve peace and restore democracy.”
Public schools’ abysmal math proficiency: Many bemoan the condition of America’s public schools, and there is good reason for it. Not only have schools increasingly been exposed for pushing leftist ideology, but they are also doing a poor job teaching the basics. New York serves as a perfect example. In FY 2022, the Empire State spent $29,284 per student in its public schools, the highest of any state in the union. That’s a lot of taxpayer money, yet the results are abysmal. In math, only 28% of eighth graders scored proficient or better. In reading, just 32% scored proficient or better. In Washington, DC, which spends $28,128 per student, just 16% of eighth graders were proficient or better in math, and only 22% achieved that mark in reading. On the flip side, Utah spent $9,496 per student, the lowest of any state, but saw better results, though still not impressive — proficiency in math and reading for eighth graders were 35% and 36%, respectively. Funding is not the problem.
Headlines
Here are all the restrictions Biden’s team demanded in their Trump debate offer (Fox News)
Congress passes FAA bill with airline safety and traveler upgrades (Washington Post)
Congress launches second investigation into Fani Willis’s alleged misuse of federal funds (Washington Free Beacon)
Cocaine found at U.S. Capitol Police HQ (Townhall)
Drug overdose deaths fell in 2023, first decrease in five years (ABC News)
Grocery prices fall for first time in a year (The Hill)
NFL says it does not agree with Harrison Butker after he voices Christian values (Breitbart)
HHS halts grants for nonprofit EcoHealth that funded gain-of-function research in Wuhan (NY Post)
Peru classifies transgender, nonbinary, and intersex people as “mentally ill” (NY Post)
Humor: Here are Biden’s 10 conditions for debating Trump (Babylon Bee)
Non-governmental organizations are profiting handsomely off the plight of unaccompanied children.
Emmy Griffin
The invasion at the southern border is a masterclass in human trafficking and federal negligence. Millions of people have poured across the open border since President Joe Biden took office. It’s a tragedy and a travesty, but one of the worst aspects of this permitted invasion is the vast number of unaccompanied minors who are not only abused on their journey to the U.S. but who are funneled into even more nefarious forms of trafficking once here.
The Free Press reports on a particularly disturbing aspect of the plight of these unaccompanied minors — namely, non-governmental organizations that are cashing in and further facilitating a cycle of harm. These nonprofit NGOs are basically subcontracted by the government with the task of resettling these children. Charles Marino, former Obama DHS adviser, says: “The amount of taxpayer money they are getting is obscene. We’re going to find that the waste, fraud, and abuse of taxpayer money will rival what we saw with the Covid federal money.”
If the amount of waste and fraud is at COVID levels, then heads should roll.
The Free Press focused its investigation on three of the largest NGOs: Endeavors, Inc., Global Refuge, and Southwest Key Programs. It found that each organization received an astronomical influx of government funding, and the use of that funding was questionable.
Each CEO makes between half a million and a million dollars a year.
Endeavors, Inc. — which gets 99.6% of its revenue from the government — shows abundant evidence of waste. It provides pet, plant, and music therapy for the migrant children. One of the music therapists it employs made $533,000 in 2021. To put this in perspective, the national average income of a music therapist is $86,000, according to Glassdoor.com.
Global Refuge — an organization that houses migrant children and facilitates adoptions — also has a somewhat troubling financial track record. In 2019, it was able to house 2,591 minors with a total expenditure of $30 million. In 2022, it served only 1,443 minors and yet spent $82.5 million. In other words, Global Refuge had about half the children and almost triple the expense. Inflation is bad, but this seems fishy.
The CEO of Southwest Key Programs paid himself $1 million in 2022 and is the highest-paid of the trio. According to The Free Press: “Despite a number of scandals in the recent past, including misuse of federal funds and several instances of employees sexually abusing some of the children in its care, Southwest Key continues to operate — and rake in big government checks. In 2020, the year of Covid-19, its government grant was $391 million; by 2022, its contract was nearly $790 million.”
These NGOs and others are raking in government grants dolled out by Health and Human Services’s Office of Refugee Resettlement. Besides the massive amount of taxpayer money being wasted through them, the other problems associated with the rehoming of these minors are exacerbated. There is little to no oversight put in place to protect them. Moreover, the goal is to get them processed and released as quickly as possible. That means the likelihood of them being placed with bad actors, traffickers, and exploiters is higher.
Yet the cycle will continue on both sides of the open border. On the Mexican side, the cartels won’t stop because they rake in tens of millions of dollars a week. On the American side, the NGOs will continue to obtain government funding to the collective tune of billions. It’s a lose-lose for American taxpayers and for the illegal immigrants who are exploited.
It’s a clash of the causes as the FBI warns of possible terrorist attacks during Pride Month.
Samantha Koch
It’s time to put away the pro-Palestinian decorations and dig out the stored boxes of pride flags and rainbow paraphernalia. That’s right. We’re moving from college protest season to Pride Month in June, the time when Americans are expected to honor the depraved fetishes of the mentally ill and label this misfit minority as “brave” for the degenerate intimate activities they carry out in private.
Amidst the unrest happening on college campuses in recent weeks, it feels as though Pride Month snuck up on us this year. The two are related, however. Celebrations are about to erupt across the country to praise the countless gender-confused identities of those who have normalized some of the most vile behaviors in society while they simultaneously express their solidarity with a group of people who would throw them off a building for pedaling their nonsense. It’s quite the moment in history.
Pro-Hamas rallies throughout the country have been led by many loud and proud members of the “LGBTQIA community.” The existence of groups like “Queers for Palestine” leave most of us wondering if we should laugh or shake our heads in disbelief. Or both. These deeply delusional and demonstratively uneducated activists are under the false impression that they could exist in peace under their made-up pronouns and open expressions of their sexual preferences in places like Gaza, and that the terrorist organization they are calling on to wipe Jewish people off the planet would stand with them in their mutual position against Israel.
This foolishness is obvious to anyone living in the real world, as members of Islam consistently and publicly decry rainbow activities and often punish those who act on those feelings.
A clip of a British Islamic scholar went viral on social media recently because he blamed Hamas losses on the presence of far too many gay people at the pro-Palestinian protests in the West. Apparently, they are not concerned about being labeled as “homophobes” or “transphobes” or about losing their jobs for not being “inclusive.”
Even more astonishing is that prominent LGBTQ organizers have acknowledged that the primary source of the threats they receive on a global scale during Pride Month come directly from the very terrorist groups that many are destroying their own academic institutions to support. “We get threats annually,” admitted Sandra Perez, executive director or NYC Pride. “We get threats throughout the year.”
Ahead of the upcoming Pride festivities, the FBI and DHS are warning event organizers about “the threat of foreign terrorist organizations targeting LGBTQIA+ related events and venues.” The agencies point to the discovery of “an English-language messaging board” that contained “anti-LGBTQIA+ rhetoric and rallied against the growth and promotion of the LGBTQIA+ community.”
Also noted in the official public service announcement is the remembrance of the June 2016 Pulse Night Club shooting in Orlando, Florida, in which 49 people were killed and 53 wounded by an Islamist. That murderous rampage was celebrated by foreign terrorist organizations.
Coming in second place amongst the leading risks to the alphabet activists and their growing group of puzzled perverts are the very members with whom they share gender labels, poster boards, and college campsites — the “LGBTQIA community.”
Last year, before the kickoff of Pride Month, there was a significant public outcry against Target and its agenda to focus rainbow merchandise on children and babies. There was predictable backlash because many people are not on board with the gender madness. In response, Target has now toned down the rainbow displays in many stores.
Target insisted that the move was out of concern for the safety of employees because of how those opposed to the constant display of rainbows and gender ideology might react. But the real story is that numerous bomb threats made to various stores throughout the U.S. came from members of the LGBTQIA mob who were angered by the retail chain’s capitulation to the supposedly “hateful” Right.
What a time to be alive. We’re watching the sheep rally for their own slaughter and attack anyone who tries to save them from their own demise.
Screeching leftists continue to hold their blue-haired rallies for terrorists, who teach their young people to hate and murder anyone with even the slightest deviance from one of the only two scientifically recognized binary gender labels. At the same time, the mainstream media and Democrat political leaders fuel the outrage mob with the lie that their army of mental patients should only fear Christian conservatives with their Bibles and American flags.
The great but unhinged actor visited “The View” this week to spew expletives at former President Donald Trump.
Douglas Andrews
“But then actors and musicians started to ruin it for me. They started speaking. Shouting. Ranting. Not about acting, not about music, but about politics. … It is also their tone — unfailingly arrogant, invariably patronizing. They believe they have cornered the market on wisdom and experience, not just in the entertainment world but in the entire world.” —Laura Ingraham, Shut Up & Sing, 2003
Things haven’t changed much in two decades, have they? Today, as yesterday, entertainment elites think they know better than us, and, more than anything else, they want to tell us how to vote. This is sad because it often tarnishes our view of what they do so well, which is usually one of two things: singing or acting.
Take Robert De Niro, for example. From “Taxi Driver” to “Raging Bull” to “Goodfellas” to “Heat” to “The Irishman,” his body of work is spectacular. Even his comedic stuff, from “Midnight Run” to “Meet the Parents,” is a hoot.
And yet the guy is a vile, foul-mouthed, 80-year-old Trump-deranged lunatic.
De Niro’s white-hot hatred of the former and perhaps future president isn’t something new, either. He’s been profanely expressing his desire to “punch” Trump “in the face” for years now. He might need a step stool to do it, of course, but still. One wonders if maybe, back in the day, Trump sauntered into Tribeca and sauntered out with De Niro’s girl or something. Anyway.
“I don’t understand why people are not taking him seriously,” De Niro whined to the girls on “The View” on Tuesday, “because you read about it historically in other countries that they didn’t take the people seriously. Think of [wait for it!] Hitler and Mussolini. They were fools and clowns. Well, and I hear, some people — I mean, who does not think that this guy is going to do exactly what he says he’s going to do? He’s done it already.”
Indeed, Trump has done it already. He was president for four years, during which time his “America First” foreign and domestic policies brought us enviable economic prosperity and kept us out of ruinous wars.
The Hitler stuff is so pathetic and so tiresome, but it’s ultimately revealing because it’s such a laughable leap. Just for grins, then-National Review’s Kyle Smith took the bait back in 2017, when an unfortunately named New York Times columnist, Charles Blow, intoned, “Trump is no Hitler, but the way he has manipulated the American people with outrageous lies, stacked one on top of the other, has an eerie historical resonance.” Said Smith in response:
As far as I’m concerned, what Blow has accomplished is not unlike the discovery of penicillin, or the theory of relativity. It is certainly, as he says, completely unheard-of — a “shock,” as he puts it — to hear someone compare Trump to Hitler. The intellectual history of our age must henceforth be divided into the period before and after Blow built the conceptual framework connecting Hitler to Trump for the very first time.
Adolf Hitler, of course, murdered six million Jews and countless other millions during the catastrophic world war he started, while Trump’s nearest crime was to make a Trumpian observation about the loyalty of his base: “I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn’t lose any voters.”
But just for good measure, Smith ran some additional numbers: “HITLER: Invaded the sovereign states of Austria, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Free State of Danzig, Denmark, France, Guernsey, Hungary, Italy, Jersey, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Monaco, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, San Marino, the Soviet Union, and Yugoslavia. TRUMP: Has invaded no sovereign states. HITLER: Started a world war that killed more than 5 million in his armed forces alone, plus many millions more in other countries. TRUMP: Has started no world wars.”
“It’s going to happen,” continued De Niro. “If he gets elected, it’s going to change this country for everybody, and they might think that it’s going to make their life better or just want, excuse my French …” At this point, the show’s producers mute the audio, De Niro goes on an expletive-laden rant, the “View” girls get all giddy, and the star-struck audience cheers.
As Fox News’s Greg Gutfeld quipped last night: “Will someone please show Bob a doll and have him point to the place where Trump hurt him? We’re gonna have civil strife? Under Joe Biden, Jews can’t go to class, and illegals are attacking cops and getting away with it.”
If only someone on “The View” had asked De Niro to critique the Biden presidency so far on matters such as illegal immigration, crime, Jew-hatred, inflation, China, and the Mexican cartels teaming up to kill 70,000 Americans per year with fentanyl. Stuff like that.
As for De Niro’s profanity, and as for the Left’s lack of decorum and decency, those in the media and on the Left — but I repeat myself — will dismiss it while decrying the virality of, for example, the “Let’s go Brandon” chant. But the latter was not only organic, it was actually funny. De Niro’s outburst, on the other hand, was dire and deadly serious, and with a hint of murderous intent, as have been other similar outbursts from his fellow Hollywood elites, from Kathy Griffin to Madonna to Johnny Depp.
Of course, there’s also Joe Biden’s oft-expressed high school fantasy, in which he takes Trump “behind the gym” to “beat the hell out of him.” Never mind that these days, ol’ Scranton Joey would be bowled over by a stiff wind.
And let’s not forget Barack Obama, who, at a campaign event, once looked at a well-built attendee and pondered how fun it would be to turn him loose on Fox News’s Sean Hannity. And who once told his fellow Democrats that when it comes to dealing with Republicans, “If they bring a knife to the fight, we bring a gun.”
Spare us the indignation, then, and get a grip on yourselves — before some unhinged individual takes your calls to violence seriously.
Democrats are panicking over Joe Biden’s sustained bad polling numbers.
Thomas Gallatin
Denial is generally not a good strategy for overcoming a problem. But that seems to be the play Democrats and Team Biden are running as Joe Biden’s polling numbers continue to fall further behind Donald Trump.
Well, that denialism is now being challenged by those on the Left. Alex Shephard, writing for the New Republic, observes a new New York Times/Siena poll that shows Biden trailing Trump in five of six battleground states, and in some cases by double digits.
Shephard says, “The poll is rightly causing panic among Democrats.”
CNN’s Van Jones called it “a wake-up call,” adding: “Young people are upset. And it’s not just the situation in Gaza — the economic prospects for young people are miserable.” Jones contends that Biden’s student loan transfer gambit is “not going to be enough for Joe Biden.”
Harry Enten, CNN’s polling expert, called the poll results an “absolute disaster” for Biden. “The Trump coalition is changing,” he said. “That’s basically what’s cooking here.”
Enten notes that if Biden won all the states that were too close to call, he would win reelection — but just barely, 270 to 268.
For Shephard, that looks more like wishful thinking bordering on denialism. As he later concludes: “[Democrat voters] really don’t like Biden. And that, in turn, ought to make the party think very seriously about whether he ought to remain atop the 2024 ticket.”
Shepards expands on his assertion, contending that even if things were to change with the economy, and/or if Trump were to be criminally convicted, Biden’s polling would see little change. He points to a simple reason: “Voters know Joe Biden — and they’ve decided that they don’t think he’s capable of doing the job of president for a second term.” Yep.
The clearly aged-addled Biden is not getting any younger. Voters see this and conclude that the 81-year-old won’t last much longer in the office.
Democrats are stuck in a dilemma of their own making. Biden’s age and his disastrous policy decisions are weighing him down. Vice President Kamala Harris has a similar problem with unpopularity and will seemingly never be ready for prime time. Biden foolishly limited his choice of running mate to a “woman of color” and then proceeded to choose one of the worst available. But identity politics is the Democrats’ bread and butter.
Our Mark Alexander has insisted that Biden will not be the nominee since October 2022. But how to get rid of the old man?
The Democrats’ first obstacle is Biden himself, who appears entirely uninterested in stepping down. How does a party get rid of a president who refuses to leave gracefully and endorse his successor?
The second obstacle is Harris. If Biden were to step down, Harris would naturally be the replacement. If Biden handed over the reins before the Democratic National Convention, Harris would become the first female president. That would check off a big identity box for Democrats, but it would be short-lived if she loses the presidential election in November.
The third obstacle is picking a candidate around whom the party would quickly coalesce. Names that have been floated are California Governor Gavin Newsom, whose popularity has been waning lately, and Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, whose lack of national name recognition would prove problematic, especially as a last-second candidate.
Then there’s the wild card problem of former Democrat Robert F. Kennedy Jr. If Biden drops out, RFK will use it as a prime opportunity to court Democrat voters, as he’s running a positive, upbeat campaign with historical name recognition.
Meanwhile, thanks to the Democrats’ lawfare strategy against Trump, which is proving only to make him stronger, it might not matter who their eventual candidate is. They may be heading for defeat irrespective of what they do.
Latest PodcastPopCon #44: The BSA is DeadThe Boy Scouts of America is dead. In 2025, the name will officially change to Scouting America, driving the inevitable last nail into the coffin. What led to the tragic demise of such a valuable institution? Thomas, Sterling, and Andrew outline the events leading up to this moment.
Editor’s Note: Each week we receive hundreds of comments and correspondences — and we read every one of them. Click here for a few thought-provoking comments about specific articles. The views expressed therein don’t necessarily reflect those of The Patriot Post.
‘I Almost Can’t Believe This Is Real’ — Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-CA) slammed the president of Sonoma State for agreeing to many of the demands of anti-Israel protesters.
“How do we have a large body of people [illegal immigrants] that are in our city, our country, that are excellent swimmers and at the same time we need lifeguards — and the only obstacle is that we won’t give them the right to work to become a lifeguard.” —New York City Mayor Eric Adams
“The deep state is packed with patriots.” —ABC News’s George Stephanopoulos
Race Bait
“I’m so tired of white men failing up.” —Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (D-MA)
Village Idiots
“I visited Columbia University. I went to the encampment. I met with students there so I could learn more about their perspective, their position on what’s happening there. I saw a library. I saw mental health supports. I saw students protesting peacefully.” —Congressman Jamaal Bowman (D-NY)
“I never see Hamas as a terror organization.” —Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
For the Record
“The brutal reality is that, despite having access to more information than ever before in human history, we don’t share the same reality. And when the words of a terrorist organization are deemed unquestionably trustworthy not only by Palestinian activists but journalists, human rights organizations and the pro-facts president of the United States, how can we hope for change?” —Ian Haworth
“Public engagement is not a university’s job. Taking an official position on issues of the day — whether it’s the Paris Climate Accord or Israel’s war on Hamas — incorrectly signals to students and faculty that there is only one right way to think.” —Betsy McCaughey
Political Futures
“In the past six months, Biden has traveled the country, touting what he believes are his economic accomplishments. He has spent zillions of dollars on advertising, focusing specifically on the key states. And at the same time, Trump was either preparing to go on trial or, since April 15, actually on trial in New York, facing a maximum of 136 years in prison. And Biden is still unable to catch Trump.” —Byron York
“If one had to define Biden’s political worldview, it would be simply this: Follow the Democratic herd, and desperately attempt to place yourself dead center in the middle of it. … Joe Biden has tried to be everything to everyone — and has ended up as no one to anyone. … It turns out that the presidency is a bad place for pinwheels.” —Ben Shapiro
“Joe Biden and Donald Trump agreeing to a debate feels like LIV Golf and the PGA tour agreeing to a merger. I won’t believe it’s true until all details are agreed to and Biden takes the stage. I have a hard time believing Biden’s people actually want him to do this.” —former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer
Upright
“Young people today start working and immediately have 6.2% of their paycheck deducted in payroll tax for Social Security, with their employer matching this with another 6.2% — all paid into a system that is bankrupt. … Individuals should be allowed to take ownership of the payroll tax they are forced to pay and use these funds to invest in their own personal retirement account.” —Star Parker
And Last…
“From claiming there was no border crisis to now repeatedly claiming he inherited 9% inflation Biden habitually lies to the country.” —Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL)
President Joe Biden was once again widely mocked on social media over a short video his handlers posted of him accepting former President Donald Trump’s debate challenge.
The video appeared to contain several “jump cuts,” leading observers to speculate that despite its short length, Biden took several attempts to get the message right, though he seemed to be reading it off a teleprompter.
“In a super short 14 second video, the Biden campaign needed to do 5 jump cuts because Crooked Joe couldn’t deliver a clean reading. Total disaster,” Trump campaign official Steven Cheung posted on X.
“Biden’s video has 5 cuts in 13 seconds. What will Biden do in a debate when his many handlers can’t edit and splice his sentences together,” Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) wrote with laughing emojis.
“Biden made five cuts in 14 seconds to say 51 words. I think the world knows who will win this debate,” conservative podcast host Graham Allen added.
“Biden needed 5 cuts to make it through this 13 second video,” noted conservative Daily Wire pundit Matt Walsh.
“lol. Biden’s comms director says he ‘did not mince words’ in this video. They literally cut them up,” talk radio host Vince Coglianese said on the X platform, posted alongside a clip of Biden-Harris campaign director Michael Tyler’s interview on MSNBC.
“This 14 second video had so many cuts its almost like a claymation film,” conservative writer and editor Jay Caruso observed mockingly.
Biden’s video has 5 cuts in 13 seconds. 😂😂😂 What will Biden do in a debate when his many handlers can’t edit and splice his sentences together https://t.co/H4KdHeHFKT
The “Trump campaign [is] desperate because they’ve been begging to debate and he got called out,” a Biden campaign adviser told the New York Post in a push-back against the criticism.
“So they are grasping at straws trying to make a common online [video-editing] tactic be an attack,” the adviser added, noting the video was filmed at the White House.
Biden and Trump have announced their agreement to participate in a debate hosted by CNN in Atlanta on June 27 at 9 p.m., followed by another debate hosted by ABC News on September 10. Trump, who opted out of all 2024 GOP primary debates, has frequently taunted Biden on this matter, alleging that the incumbent is afraid to confront him. Trump repeatedly said during the GOP primaries he saw no need to debate because he was so far ahead of his challengers.
After Trump said he was in, Biden said in a post on X that he “received and accepted an invitation” from CNN. “Over to you, Donald. As you said: anywhere, any time, any place,” Biden wrote.
When asked for a comment, Trump told Fox News Digital that he would accept the invitation and “will be there.” The Republican added that he is “looking forward to being in beautiful Atlanta.”
The proposal, initially detailed by the Biden-Harris campaign in a letter to the bipartisan Commission on Presidential Debates on Wednesday morning, moves away from the longstanding tradition of three fall debates organized by the commission. Following the announcement, Trump told Fox News Digital that he would accept the timeline proposed by the incumbent Democrat.
“Crooked Joe Biden is the worst debater I have ever faced – he can’t put two sentences together,” Trump told Fox News Digital. “Crooked is also the worst president in the history of the United States, by far.”
Trump also told the outlet that “it is time for a debate to take place – even if it has to be held through the offices of the Commission on Presidential Debates, which are totally controlled by Democrats and who, as people remember, got caught cheating with me with debate sound levels.”
“I’m ready to go,” Trump said. “The dates that they proposed are fine. Anywhere. Anytime. Any place. Let’s see if Joe can make it to the stand-up podium.”
“The proposed June and early September dates are fully acceptable to me,” Trump added in his statement to Fox News Digital. “I will provide my own transportation.”
Some Democrats, however, are voicing concerns. On Wednesday, Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi revealed her personal views on the debates.
“I myself would never recommend going on stage with Donald Trump, but the president has decided that’s what he wants to do,” Pelosi said. Fox News reported. “I think the format he is suggesting is a good one.”
The California Democrat also suggested that instead of a debate, she would prefer to see “separate town hall meetings” for each candidate to let the audience “challenge them with questions about the future.”
A seven-foot bronze statue honoring the late Rev. William Franklin “Billy” Graham was unveiled inside the U.S. Capitol’s National Statuary Hall on Thursday.W…
Trump legal spokesperson Alina Habba joined ‘Fox & Friends First’ to discuss her reaction to Robert Costello emerging as a possible defense witness as the NY v. Trump trial is set to resume in Manhattan. #FoxNews
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich discusses how President Biden and former President Trump agreed to two debates on ‘The Ingraham Angle.’Subscribe to Fox Ne…
SENOIA, GA — Officials are reporting significantly reduced traffic volumes in the areas around Senoia today. A town spokesperson said this is due to a Biden rally happening downtown later this afternoon.
“Traffic volumes are way down today, pretty much across the board,” said town spokeswoman Alison Smith. “We’re reporting no delays on any area highways or side streets. Not a single car to be seen anywhere!”
“Honestly, I can’t ever remember ever seeing anything like it,” Smith continued. “There are fewer cars out there than during the first few days of the COVID shutdowns. The last time I saw our roads this clear was when they closed them completely to film those scenes for ‘The Walking Dead.”
Local resident Matt Johnson is among those fleeing the city in droves to avoid being associated with the Biden rally. “I mean, it’s not like I planned to go, but I figured it would look better if I were a few thousand miles away when [the rally] happens,” Johnson noted. “Better to flee the state for a few days and risk losing my job than to be mistaken for a Biden supporter.”
At publishing time, Smith said Atlanta officials have begun planning for a 600% increase in traffic for an upcoming Trump rally at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. “We’ve got 200,000 people camped out already, and the rally is still over a month away,” she noted.
Want proof that Jesus was a woke socialist? Look no further than these classic quotes straight from the Bible.
Joe Biden looks out the window of the Oval Office to the Rose Garden of the White House Monday, July 26, 2021. (Official White House photo by Adam Schultz)
Just as Congress was preparing a contempt citation for Joe Biden’s attorney general, Merrick Garland, for refusing to comply with a subpoena for the audio tapes of special counsel Robert Hur’s grilling of the president, the White House is insisting they are protected by executive privilege.
That, of course, is the same authority that Democrats have set aside in their multiple cases that they have developed against President Donald Trump during their lawfare campaign against him, trying to prevent his success in his 2024 bid for the Oval Office.
The Hur interviews with Biden have proven catastrophic for Democrats, as he found that Biden probably broke federal law in taking and keeping classified documents as a senator and then vice president for Barack Obama.
Not only did he not have authority to do that, he then stored them in unsecure locations like a garage at his home, and even shared them with a ghostwriter.
Hur, however, recommended against prosecution for Biden because of his “diminished” capacity, and how he likely would be seen by a jury as an old man with significant memory problems.
The report said now Biden “undercut” House Republican efforts to pursue a contempt charge against Garland over his refusal to release the tapes, which members of Congress say can provide a lot more information than just a transcript of the statements.
The report said it was the White House that told the House Oversight and Judiciary Committee Chairmen James Comer, R-Ky., and Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, of Biden’s claim.
White House counsel Edward Siskel claimed in a letter obtained by the Examiner, “Because of the president’s longstanding commitment to protecting the integrity, effectiveness, and independence of the Department of Justice and its law enforcement investigations, he has decided to assert executive privilege over the recordings.”
Siskel pointed out Biden did not try to censor Hur’s actual report, although it is known that the White House did try to get the special counsel to edit it so that it would not reference Biden’s declining mental status.
Hur said that needed to be included because it was part of his reasoning for recommending against charges.
Siskel continued, “As you know, the attorney general has warned that the disclosure of materials like these audio recordings risks harming future law enforcement investigations by making it less likely that witnesses in high-profile investigations will voluntarily cooperate. In fact, even a past president and attorney general from your own party recognized the need to protect this type of law enforcement material from disclosure.”
Siskel claimed there was an “absence of a legitimate need” for the recordings.
Siskel also claimed members of Congress were going after prosecutors they dislike and witnesses in cases of which they disapprove.
In fact, it is Democrat prosecutors and the Department of Justice under Joe Biden who have weaponized the federal justice system to bring multiple questionable cases against President Donald Trump just as he is in a campaign for re-election to the Oval Office.
Some of the cases have been identified by experts as a reach, and in one situation those experts have said there’s simply no case there. But Democrats still insist on the prosecutions going forward.
Siskel even, stunningly, demanded that that the norm is for “these law enforcement processes” to be played out “free from such political interference.”
The report said Garland and told Biden to launch the executive privilege claim.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said Biden now “is apparently afraid for the citizens of this country and everyone to hear those tapes.”
“They obviously confirm what the special counsel has found, and would likely cause I suppose, in his estimation, such alarm with the American people that the president is using all of his power to suppress their release and rather than defend our closest ally at war, President Biden is using his authority to defend himself politically.”
Itwas reported only days agothat House members were moving forward on plans to cite Garland with contempt, a charge that on conviction could have put him behind prison bars.
Congress needs the actual tapes to assess Biden’s behavior as part of its investigation into a possible impeachment case.
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Of the churchgoers who left the church for a reason other than a residential move, 1 in 4 (26%) simply became disenchanted with the church.
By Marissa Postell Sullivan
Each year, pastors watch as some regular churchgoers leave their church. Most leave because they’re making a residential move (60%). But some are leavingfor a church across town(40%).
Of the churchgoers who left the church for a reason other than a residential move, most say they changed churches because of changes at the church they did not like (29%) or because the church was not fulfilling their needs or reasons for attending (29%). But 1 in 4 (26%) simply became disenchanted with the church.
Those with a bachelor’s (34%) or graduate degree (35%) are more likely than those who are high school graduates or less (19%) or have some college (18%) to say they left their church because they became disenchanted with it.
Additionally, those who’ve been attending their current church for 10 years or more are the least likely to say they left their previous church because of disenchantment with it. Regardless of whether their opinions about their previous church are accurate, churchgoers’ perceptions of their churches can give pastors insights into why some may be leaving their congregation.
Congregational disenchantment
The 26% who left their previous church because they became disenchanted with their church have a variety of complaints. Around 3 in 10 said they became disenchanted with their church because the church members were judgmental of others (32%), the church members seemed hypocritical (30%), the church didn’t really seem to be a place in which God was at work (29%), and the church settled for mediocrity (29%). And 1 in 4 (26%) said they felt the church was run by a clique that discouraged others from getting involved.
Fewer pointed to other reasons for disenchantment with the church, including:
The church members seemed insincere (23%)
The church had no clear purpose or vision (23%)
The church was unfriendly or unwelcoming (18%)
Their child had a bad experience (12%)
The church members lacked convictions about their beliefs (11%)
The church had too many expectations of their time and money (10%)
The church did not do enough to prevent sexual abuse or harassment (10%)
Other reasons (17%)
Current church comparisons
Churchgoers are more likely to say they’ve found the things they were hoping for in their new church. Churchgoers who switched churches because they were disenchanted with their previous one are most likely to say the church members were judgmental, while others say the church was unfriendly or unwelcoming.
But among churchgoers who switched churches for any reason, most say their current church is more welcoming and friendly than their previous church (57%). Others complain that church members at their previous church seemed hypocritical or insincere, but most say the church members at their current church seem more authentic, real, and down-to-earth (57%).
Although some say they became disenchanted with their church because it didn’t seem to be a place where God was at work, most who switched churches say they see God at work in people’s lives more at their current church (57%).
Others left their previous church because they felt the church settled for mediocrity. But those who switched churches say their current church does things with excellence more than their previous church (55%).
Another common complaint among churchgoers was that their previous church was run by a clique that discouraged others from getting involved, but most say there is more unity among members at their current church (55%).
Some who became disenchanted with their previous church say it was because church members lacked convictions about their beliefs, but most who switched churches say their current church fosters more spiritual growth and maturity (56%).
Who sees what
Compared to their previous church, churchgoers ages 18-29 and 30-49 are among the most likely to say they see God at work in people’s lives more at their current church (63% and 64%), their current church is more welcoming and friendly (66% and 68%), and there is more unity among members at their current church (57% and 64%).
Those 30-49 are also among the most likely to say their current church does things with excellence more than their previous church (66%) and fosters spiritual growth and maturity more than their previous church (63%).
African American and white churchgoers are among the most likely to say church members at their current church seem more authentic, real, and down-to-earth (60% and 59%) and that their current church does more to foster spiritual growth and maturity (62% and 55%) than their previous church.
Compared to their previous church, African American churchgoers are also among the most likely to say they see God at work in people’s lives more in their current church (63%), their church does more with excellence (63%), and there is more unity among members (58%).
Furthermore, Baptist and Restorationist movement churchgoers are among the most likely to say they see God at work more at their current church than their previous one (61% and 60%) and their current church does more with excellence (56% and 59%).
Baptist churchgoers are also among the most likely to say members at their current church seem more authentic compared to their previous church (57%). And Restorationist movement churchgoers are among the most likely to say there is more unity among members at their current church than at their previous one (59%).
Compared to their previous church, churchgoers with evangelical beliefs are more likely than those without such beliefs to say their current church fosters more spiritual growth and maturity (63% v. 48%), their current church does more with excellence (60% v. 49%), and there is more unity among members at their current church (59% v. 49%).
House Oversight Chairman James Comer (R-KY) on Thursday told Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo that his Committee found new Biden family bank accounts.
Comer said the Biden family has dozens of bank accounts and dozens of LLCs without any legitimate business.
James Comer told Maria Bartiromo that he issued a subpoena for targeted financial information from a “certain financial institution” related to Jim Biden, Sara Biden and Hunter Biden.
— Mornings with Maria (@MorningsMaria) May 16, 2024
House Republicans previously announced they reviewed 170 suspicious activity reports linked to the Biden Crime Family.
Last year Comer identified the NINE Bidens who are implicated in the corruption.
“Bank records show the Biden family, their associates, and their companies received over $10 million from foreign nationals and their companies,” Comer said.
“Joe Biden’s son. Joe Biden’s brother. Joe Biden’s brother’s wife. Hunter Biden’s girlfriend/Beau Biden’s widow, Hunter Biden’s ex-wife. Hunter Biden’s current wife. And 3 children of the president’s son and the president’s brother. So we’re talking about grandchildren – a grandchild. That’s odd. Most people that work hard every day a grandchild doesn’t get a wire from a foreign national,” Comer said.
Comer also recently uncovered a $200,000 direct payment to Joe Biden after he received James and Hunter’s subpoenaed documents.
In 2018, Jim Biden received $600,000 in ‘loans’ from Americore Health LLC, a failing/bankrupt rural hospital operator. According to bankruptcy documents, Jim Biden received the loans “based upon representations that his last name Biden could open doors and that he could obtain a large investment from the Middle East based on his political connections.”
On March 1, 2018, Americore Health LLC wired a $200,000 payment to Jim and Sara Biden’s personal bank account. On that very same day, Jim Biden then wrote a $200,000 check to Joe Biden, AKA, “The Big Guy.”
Additionally, Comer revealed Joe Biden received $40,000 of Hunter Biden’s laundered China money.
Here’s how it went down:
On August 8, 2017, Northern International Capital, a Chinese firm affiliated with CEFC, transferred $5 million to Hudson West III. This venture was co-established by Hunter Biden and Gongwen Dong, an associate of CEFC. On the same day, Hudson West III transferred $400,000 to Owasco, P.C., an entity owned by Hunter. Within a span of a few weeks, a series of transfers took place, culminating in Sara Biden, sister-in-law to the President, writing a $40,000 check to Joe Biden, labeled as a “loan repayment.”
(Guest-hosted this week by Kay Smythe)
Today’s 20-min top headline news brief includes:
[1:11] – Lara Trump: “Get the popcorn ready. Biden and Trump debate will end in an epic knockout.” [Rob Schmitt Tonight]
[5:55] – Biden’s list of demands for showdown with Trump. [Carl Higbie Frontline]
[12:04] – Chris Salcedo: “Did you notice how many edits were made in Biden’s video?” [Chris Salcedo Show]
[17:19] – RNC Spokesman says Biden is truly afraid of debating Donald Trump. [Chris Salcedo Show]
The tremendous chaos that is gripping communities all over this country did not emerge out of a vacuum. For years, poverty and homelessness have been on the rise. According to a recent report from Harvard University, the number of homeless Americans has increased by almost 50 percent in less than a decade. Meanwhile, the ranks of the poor have been growing as the middle class has been eroding. Today, approximately 40 percent of the entire U.S. population is considered to be either living in poverty or among the “working poor”. According to Wikipedia, the bottom 50 percent of the U.S. population only has 2.6 percent of the wealth. And that number is from 2021, and so things are almost certainly even worse today. All of this economic suffering is helping to fuel a deeply alarming explosion of theft and violence in our major cities, and our leaders don’t seem to have any solutions.
Everyone knows that homelessness is out of control in large coastal cities such as Los Angeles and New York, but we are seeing the same thing happen in the middle of the country too…
Nashville residents say they are increasingly struggling to afford a home as an influx of out-of-state buyers drive real estate prices up, leaving many with no where to go.
Rates of chronic homelessness in the Tennessee capital have soared 77 percent this year, according to the city’s official stats.
77 percent in one year.
Take a moment and let that number sink in.
Many of these homeless people are actually working, but affording a place to live is out of reach.
Today, the average one bedroom apartment in Nashville will set you back more than $1,400 a month…
Rent for a one-bedroom apartment in the Nashville area soared $200 in the past year to $1,442 a month, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Young said without more affordable housing, the issue will worsen: ‘I guarantee you it’s going to double from where we are now.’
And home prices in Nashville have soared to absurd heights…
The median home sale price in Nashville at the end of February was $414,012, compared to $290,983 five years prior.
Home prices are at the heart of the cost of living crisis that is causing so much pain all over the nation right now.
As I discussed yesterday, home prices in the U.S. have risen by 47 percent since the start of the decade.
So this helps to explain why tent cities are popping up from coast to coast.
In my entire lifetime, I have never seen so many people sleeping in the streets of America.
The City of San Francisco is providing free beer and vodka shots to homeless alcoholics at taxpayer expense under a little-known pilot program.
The “Managed Alcohol Program” operated by San Francisco’s Department of Public Health serves regimented doses of alcohol to voluntary participants with alcohol addiction in an effort to keep the homeless off the streets and relieve the city’s emergency services. Experts say the program can save or extend lives, but critics wonder if the government would be better off funding treatment and sobriety programs instead.
“Established in countries such as Canada and Australia, a managed alcohol program is usually administered by a nurse and trained support staff in a facility such as a homeless shelter or a transitional or permanent home, and is one method to minimize harm for those with alcohol use disorder,” the California Health Care Foundation explains in an 2020 article describing the pilot program.
Are you kidding me?
Of course San Francisco has been giving free syringes to drug addicts for a long time too.
Needless to say, the problems that San Francisco is facing have only gotten worse, and we have seen countless businesses leave the city as a result.
Yet another retailer is leaving Downtown San Francisco amid the city’s spiraling crime and homeless crises – at the especially embattled San Francisco Centre mall.
American Eagle announced it is closing its doors at the former Westfield San Francisco Centre over the summer, citing more 100 significant security incidents that allegedly occurred between May 2020 and May 2023.
Drug addicts constantly have to steal stuff in order to fund their addictions.
Right now, we are in the midst of the worst addiction crisis in the entire history of the United States, and this is one of the primary reasons we are facing the worst retail theft crisis in the entire history of the United States.
If you’ve paid attention to recent retailer earnings reports, you have undoubtedly heard the phrase retail shrink cited as a key factor contributing to margin erosion and poor earnings performance. Shrink is the industry term for inventory loss often attributed to theft and shoplifting, damage or errors. Once simply considered a cost of doing business, retail shrinkage resulted in profit losses exceeding a staggering $100 billion in 2022.
What’s more problematic, the trend of shrink appears to be far from reversing course, with losses more than doubling over the past five years.
These are the facts.
I am sorry if some people out there do not like them.
In addition to rampant theft, our streets are also filled with rampant violence.
The rate of assaults on American law enforcement reached a 10-year high in 2023, with more than 79,000 officer attacks reported, according to a new FBI report released Tuesday.
The report analyzes data from state, local, federal and other agencies across the U.S. to determine trends in violence against law enforcement. It shows that the number of officers assaulted and injured by guns is also climbing.
I would not want to work as a police officer in any of our major cities at this stage.
It is way too dangerous.
Sadly, our ongoing national crime wave is being made worse by “organized crime groups” that are coming in from other countries…
A Michigan sheriff is sounding the alarm on “burglary tourism” – a recent trend where international organized crime groups enter the U.S. to skillfully rob wealthy suburban homes.
“We believe that there has to be some kind of training camp because they come so well-trained, so equipped, and so knowledgeable about how to move and how to attack a home,” Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard told “Fox & Friends” Wednesday.
“They do a lot of pre-op surveillance. They determine as best they can when someone won’t be in a home. They go very quickly to the home, they break a window. They go through it, not opening a door or window. They have an electronic jammer.”
Bouchard says that the gangs that are causing so much chaos in his area of Michigan are mostly coming in from Chile…
Bouchard said the gangs, mostly from Chile, are then able to quickly target home safes and small high-end items.
“They’re very focused on high-end jewelry, like watches, cash, high-end purses… things that are highly, valuable and disposable. And out they go and they move on. They usually hit a number of homes in our area, and then they move on to another part of the country, and then another crew will come in. And it’s been a cycle.”
In other parts of the nation, groups from other areas are responsible for enormous spikes in crime.
The federal government keeps trying to tell us that things aren’t that bad, but a Gallup survey discovered that a whopping 63 percent of all Americans believe that crime is either an “extremely serious” or “very serious” problem in this country…
Sixty-three percent of Americans describe the crime problem in the U.S. as either extremely or very serious, up from 54% when last measured in 2021 and the highest in Gallup’s trend.
“Palestine will be free!” chant the protesters. “From the river to the sea.
Some says that’s a call for genocide — another holocaust — elimination of Israel and all Jews.
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So, should the chant be illegal?
The House of Representatives just voted to make it illegal at universities. Both Republicans and Democrats voted for the bill.
Canadian politicians go further. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wants people “advocating genocide” sentenced to life in prison.
“We’re a laboratory of bad ideas,” says Canadian Ezra Levant in my new video. Levant, founder of Rebel News, asks, “Who’s going to determine who’s going to be prosecuted? A law like that gives a politician the chance to criminalize his peaceful opponent!”
Canadian politicians already do that.
“I wrote a (critical) book about Justin Trudeau,” says Levant, “a knockoff of ‘The Sopranos.’ I called it ‘The Libranos’ because he’s with the Liberal Party. He hated that book… and so, I was prosecuted.”
Levant was called before investigators working at a government organization that polices “unregistered political advertising,”
“They fined me,” he says. “Five years later, I’m still in court over a book that criticized Justin Trudeau.”
“Canadians must like this,” I tell him. “Trudeau gets reelected.”
“A lot of Canadians and Americans and Brits,” he sighs, “want a net nanny — for the other guy.”
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Brazil already has that.
A judge there recently ordered X to block the Twitter accounts of people who support the former Brazilian president.
Elon Musk refused. He said, “We will probably lose all revenue in Brazil and have to shut down our office there. But principles matter more than profit.”
Good for Musk.
A new law in Scotland says “misgendering” someone, like calling a trans woman “he,” can get you seven years in jail.
“Freedom of speech and belief are at an end,” responded “Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling.
The day Scotland’s new law took effect, she intentionally broke it by misgendering people on Twitter, saying, “I look forward to being arrested.”
By law, she shouldhave been.
Last year, British police arrested thousands of people for “spreading hate” on the internet.
“J.K. Rowling has the wealth to fight a strong defense,” Levant points out. “She and Elon Musk are the two people in the world who have done more to stop cancel culture.”
Being “canceled” shouldn’t be an issue in America. Our First Amendment says, “Congress shall make no law … abridging the freedom of speech.”
Should that “River to the Sea” House bill become law, it would be something new.
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Americans have mixed feelings about free speech. A RealClearPolitics poll reports that 61% believe government should restrict hateful posts. Yikes. Government? Will the party in power get to decide what’s “hateful”?
“I don’t think you reduce hate when you police it in that way,” says Levant. “The ability to speak the truth is a more pressing value. Even if we’re going to hurt a feeling, even if we’re going to upset the apple cart, that’s what freedom of speech means. It trumps other values. Give people that peaceful outlet for their grievance.”
“If you cork them up, if you don’t let them have the safety valve of free speech, they’ll explode in another way, possibly including violence… Free speech is a preventive mechanism that prevents an escalation of problems.”
I agree. It’s good that so far, American police say their campus arrests are for trespassing or property damage, not words.
I don’t agree with what most of the demonstrators say.
But I’ll defend their right to say it.
John Stossel is author of “Give Me a Break: How I Exposed Hucksters, Cheats, and Scam Artists and Became the Scourge of the Liberal Media.” For other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit www.creators.com.
Many of my readers know about the very important book Live Not by Lies released in 2020 by Rod Dreher (Sentinel). In my view this is one of the most vital and necessary books written during the past decade. The strong cautions given in that volume MUST be taken seriously, or the West will likely quickly and permanently disappear. See my review of it here: https://billmuehlenberg.com/2020/12/30/a-review-of-live-not-by-lies-by-rod-dreher/
In his introduction Dreher explains the title that he chose for the book:
The Western world has become post-Christian, with large numbers of those born after 1980 rejecting religious faith. This means that they will not only oppose Christians when we stand up for our principles—in particular, in defense of the traditional family, of male and female gender roles, and for the sanctity of human life—but also they will not even understand why they should tolerate dissent based in religious belief.
We cannot hope to resist the coming soft totalitarianism if we do not have our spiritual lives in order. This is the message of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, the great anti-communist dissident, Nobel laureate, and Orthodox Christian. He believed the core of the crisis that created and sustained communism was not political but spiritual.
After the publication of his Gulag Archipelago exposed the rottenness of Soviet totalitarianism and made Solzhenitsyn a global hero, Moscow finally expelled him to the West. On the eve of his forced exile, Solzhenitsyn published a final message to the Soviet people, titled, “Live Not by Lies!” In the essay, Solzhenitsyn challenged the claim that the totalitarian system was so powerful that the ordinary man and woman cannot change it.
Nonsense, he said. The foundation of totalitarianism is an ideology made of lies. The system depends for its existence on a people’s fear of challenging the lies….
While I have appealed to both Dreher and Solzhenitsyn often, I have not penned a piece mainly quoting from this important 1974 essay. So let me do so here. Early on Solzhenitsyn says this:
We are approaching the brink; already a universal spiritual demise is upon us; a physical one is about to flare up and engulf us and our children, while we continue to smile sheepishly and babble: “But what can we do to stop it? We haven’t the strength.”
We have so hopelessly ceded our humanity that for the modest handouts of today we are ready to surrender up all principles, our soul, all the labors of our ancestors, all the prospects of our descendants—anything to avoid disrupting our meager existence. We have lost our strength, our pride, our passion. We do not even fear a common nuclear death, do not fear a third world war (perhaps we’ll hide away in some crevice), but fear only to take a civic stance! We hope only not to stray from the herd, not to set out on our own, and risk suddenly having to make do without the white bread, the hot water heater, a Moscow residency permit.
We have internalized well the lessons drummed into us by the state; we are forever content and comfortable with its premise: we cannot escape the environment, the social conditions; they shape us, “being determines consciousness.” What have we to do with this? We can do nothing.
But he reminds us of this truth: the system “will never come unstuck by itself, if we all, every day, continue to acknowledge, glorify, and strengthen it, if we do not, at the least, recoil from its most vulnerable point. From lies.” He goes on to say this:
When violence bursts onto the peaceful human condition, its face is flush with self-assurance, it displays on its banner and proclaims: “I am Violence! Make way, step aside, I will crush you!” But violence ages swiftly, a few years pass—and it is no longer sure of itself. To prop itself up, to appear decent, it will without fail call forth its ally—Lies. For violence has nothing to cover itself with but lies, and lies can only persist through violence. And it is not every day and not on every shoulder that violence brings down its heavy hand: It demands of us only a submission to lies, a daily participation in deceit—and this suffices as our fealty.
And therein we find, neglected by us, the simplest, the most accessible key to our liberation: a personal nonparticipation in lies! Even if all is covered by lies, even if all is under their rule, let us resist in the smallest way: Let their rule hold not through me!
And this is the way to break out of the imaginary encirclement of our inertness, the easiest way for us and the most devastating for the lies. For when people renounce lies, lies simply cease to exist. Like parasites, they can only survive when attached to a person.
We are not called upon to step out onto the square and shout out the truth, to say out loud what we think—this is scary, we are not ready. But let us at least refuse to say what we do not think!
Solzhenitsyn reminds us that resisting lies and standing for truth will always be costly:
Yes, at first it will not be fair. Someone will have to temporarily lose his job. For the young who seek to live by truth, this will at first severely complicate life, for their tests and quizzes, too, are stuffed with lies, and so choices will have to be made. But there is no loophole left for anyone who seeks to be honest: Not even for a day, not even in the safest technical occupations can he avoid even a single one of the listed choices—to be made in favor of either truth or lies, in favor of spiritual independence or spiritual servility. And as for him who lacks the courage to defend even his own soul: Let him not brag of his progressive views, boast of his status as an academician or a recognized artist, a distinguished citizen or general. Let him say to himself plainly: I am cattle, I am a coward, I seek only warmth and to eat my fill.
For us, who have grown staid over time, even this most moderate path of resistance will be not be easy to set out upon. But how much easier it is than self-immolation or even a hunger strike: Flames will not engulf your body, your eyes will not pop out from the heat, and your family will always have at least a piece of black bread to wash down with a glass of clear water.
He finishes with these words:
Betrayed and deceived by us, did not a great European people—the Czechoslovaks—show us how one can stand down the tanks with bared chest alone, as long as inside it beats a worthy heart? It will not be an easy path, perhaps, but it is the easiest among those that lie before us. Not an easy choice for the body, but the only one for the soul. No, not an easy path, but then we already have among us people, dozens even, who have for years abided by all these rules, who live by the truth.
And so: We need not be the first to set out on this path, Ours is but to join! The more of us set out together, the thicker our ranks, the easier and shorter will this path be for us all! If we become thousands—they will not cope, they will be unable to touch us. If we will grow to tens of thousands—we will not recognize our country!
But if we shrink away, then let us cease complaining that someone does not let us draw breath—we do it to ourselves! Let us then cower and hunker down, while our comrades the biologists bring closer the day when our thoughts can be read and our genes altered. And if from this also we shrink away, then we are worthless, hopeless, and it is of us that Pushkin asks with scorn:
“Why offer herds their liberation? ………………… Their heritage each generation The yoke with jingles, and the whip.”
Dreher quotes this ending to Solzhenitsyn’s essay as he concludes his own book. He writes: “Our cause appears lost . . . but we are still here! Now our mission is to build the underground resistance to the occupation to keep alive the memory of who we were and who we are, and to stoke the fires of desire for the true God. Where there is memory and desire, there is hope.”
He calls us “saboteurs for the Kingdom of God” recalling the words of C. S. Lewis who said in Mere Christianity: “Enemy-occupied territory—that is what this world is. Christianity is the story of how the rightful king has landed, you might say landed in disguise, and is calling us all to take part in a great campaign of sabotage.”
And that is who we are and that is what we must do. Now more than ever we must CHOOSE to not live by lies. We must choose truth, whatever the cost. Not to do so will prove to be even more costly.
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