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
Let me begin by saying that the Bible is a book like any other book. Before you unfriend me or delete Place for Truth from your favorite bookmarks, let me explain.
The biblical writings contain elements found in other documents, e.g., metaphor, simile, metonymy, synecdoche, synonyms, allegory, ellipses, brachylogy, Zeugma, euphemism, litotes, meiosis, irony, epizeuxis, hyperbole, and all their subspecies, as well as word order, parts of speech, and everything else that made high school English so hard to master. Before you consult your dictionary—sorry, Google—don’t worry about those words; they are not germane to this discussion, except to say that, with all of these nuances to consider, how do we expect to find the correct meaning of a Bible passage?
To be sure, I affirm that the Bible is “other” than other writings because it is wholly the product of God’s Spirit superintending the authors to write the autographs without error of any kind (2 Timothy 3:16;2 Peter 1:21). But God’s intention was to speak plainly to humans, and it’s the prerogative of fallible humans to, under the illumination of the Holy Spirit, determine what He means to say. This is known as “hermeneutics,” simply defined as “the science of interpretation.”
Article XVIII of the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy mandates rightly dividing the Word of God (2 Timothy 2:15), emphasizing “grammatico-historical exegesis … literary forms and devices … Scripture is to interpret Scripture.” What does this mean?
Feinberg offers a useful definition of “inerrancy”: “Inerrancy means that when all facts are known, the Scriptures in their original autographs and properly interpreted will be shown to be wholly true in everything that they affirm, whether that has to do with doctrine or morality or with the social, physical, or life sciences” (Inerrancy, Norman L. Geisler, ed., Zondervan, Grand Rapids, 1980, 294). Inerrancy is not dependent upon the interpreter knowing all the facts; it is intrinsic to the Scriptures and the Divine Author. Proper exegesis, based on proper hermeneutics, is the attempt to find out what God meant to say (which is always what Hedoessay) and bridge the gap between the original recipients and the current reader. Hence, one must understand the historical context and the use of words in that context.
The Ligonier Statement on Inerrancy affirms a Christocentric view of Scripture, “no more and no less Christ’s view.” As my old seminary president said, “Jesus is the best example of anything he ever did.” InLuke 24:27, Jesus “hermeneuticed” the Scriptures to the disciples. We don’t know what he said, but we know from other Scriptures that Christ often referred to historical events and figures in his inerrant teaching.
A grammatical understanding of Scripture is vital for its application to life. If we don’t correctly understand the Word, we can miss out on God’s manifold blessings. Recognizing that word meanings may change, and grammar and syntax rules are altered by time, does not mean language is an unreliable means of communication. Also, just because the Bible is inspired by God doesn’t mean the words can’t be taken at face value. Looking for hidden or deeper meanings can only lead to confusion. God is not the author of confusion (1 Corinthians 14:33).
Many believe in taking the words of Scriptureliterally. Skeptics counter with, “Does that mean Jesus was a literal door or vine or lamb, Ha ha?” My preference is to take the wordsnormally. In other words, words have a literal meaning, but this view allows for figures of speech, which only make sense when based on literal words.
Because the Bible is uniquely encased in the inspiration of God, with a singular message and flow, it is logical to allow Scripture to interpret Scripture. Many genres but one Author, Who cannot contradict or confuse Himself. Word study is like ripples moving outward in a pond: start with the immediate context, move to the surrounding context, then the author’s other works, other writers, and, if necessary, nonbiblical sources.
The Bible is not a history book, but it contains history, explains history, and was written within the bounds of history, to people who understood the language in their slice of history. Therefore, to understand what the original audience understood requires understanding the historical context and language. Indeed, the Word of Godishistory—past, present, and future. Although the message is timeless, the acts and actors were staged within a particular culture with its unique language and society, thousands of years removed from ours. So it is vital to contextualize their writings to understand what God meant to say to them.
Knowing the historical circumstances of a text not only aids our understanding—it helps us relate to people with their foibles, emotions, temptations, and victories; gives depth to the words, and immerses the reader into the events, adding a tangible “You are there” quality. Why was Jesus’ “I am the light of the world” statement so powerful? Was it weird that Abishag was given to David to keep him warm? How could something as offensive as slavery be regulated, and not outlawed, by God? Why didn’t Jesus ride a white stallion into Jerusalem? How could Quirinius the governor command a census before Quirinius was governor? Without historical context, the Bible becomes just a collection of nice sayings.
The Bible is not like aStar Trekepisode (the product of man’s fallible imagination) that is set in a future time that cannot be examined, documented, or verified. That is only possible with the human past. There is ample historical evidence buried in the ground and written into ancient documents to shine light on the inerrancy of the Bible.
Finally, remember that as sinful human beings, our interpretations of the infallible Word are not infallible, as proven by the plethora of denominations.
Time and word counts don’t allow lessons on hermeneutics, exegesis, and historiography, or examples of each. May this article serve as motivation for, and proof of, the need to carefully examine every jot and tittle of the Word and the history of the human authors to whom it was given, so as to be understood by us for whom it was also written.
Alan P. Allegra is a graduate of Calvary Baptist Theological Seminary. He and his wife, Lynda, live in Bethlehem, PA. Alan is editor of Lifestyles over 50 magazine. He is also an adult Bible teacher at First Baptist Church, Allentown, PA.
WE AFFIRM that the Holy Spirit bears witness to the Scriptures, assuring believers of the truthfulness of God’s written Word.
WE DENY that this witness of the Holy Spirit operates in isolation from or against Scripture.
In our previous argument on the witness of church history to the inerrancy of Scripture, we noted that men throughout the history of God’s church have affirmed that the Scriptures are God’s truth revealed to men through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Inerrancy is a thoroughly historical doctrine, and the witness of these men should bolster the believer’s confidence in the Scriptures. But is the witness of history or rational argument or Scriptural evidence enough to confirm within an individual the inerrant nature of God’s Word? The writers of the Chicago Statement stand with these men of history to also affirm the necessary action of the Holy Spirit in assuring the individual of the Truth of God’s Word. The Spirit and the Word are ever intertwined, as the authors suggest. The Spirit is the internal witness in the heart and mind of a believer that the Scriptures are God’s truth revealed to us. John Calvin says, “With great insult to the Holy Spirit, it is asked, who can assure us that the Scriptures proceeded from God; who guarantee that they have come down safe and unimpaired to our times; who persuade us that this book is to be received with reverence, and that one expunged from the list, did not the church regulate all these things with certainty?”[1]Later in that same chapter, Calvin says definitively, “Let it therefore be held as fixed, that those who are inwardly taught by the Holy Spirit acquiesce implicitly in Scripture; that Scripture carrying its own evidence along with it, deigns not to submit proofs and arguments, but owes the full conviction with which we ought to receive it to the testimony of the Spirit.”[2]Calvin spends the whole next chapter on proofs that the Scriptures are the Word of God, so he is not discounting the place of reason and even of Scriptural proofs themselves as evidence for the truth of Scripture, but his point is clear: it is the testimony of the Spirit that brings full conviction of this doctrine. This is of course consistent with the Scripture itself, wherein Paul says, “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Cor. 2:14).
In the denial, the relationship between the Spirit and the Word is further clarified. The authors declare that the Spirit and the Word operate together. The Spirit uses the Word to bring the conviction of the truthfulness of Scriptures. Whereas the Chicago Statement is preoccupied with the nature and fact of inerrancy, the doctrine they bring forth here extends far beyond inerrancy. It extends to biblical convictions about God’s very nature, with the second person of the Holy Trinity, the Word, cooperating with and sending forth the Spirit, the third person, to accomplish His work within His people. It extends to biblical convictions on the nature of salvation, that men and woman are always brought to saving faith by the Spirit using the Word of God to bring conviction of sin and trust in the atoning work of Jesus. It extends to our ecclesiology, that it is the Spirit of God at work within the gathered people of God to hear the preaching of the Word of God and be further conformed into the image of the Son of God. To state it simply: the Spirit and the Word always go together. How dead is the heart that can read the Word but feel no heat of conviction or the cold soothing balm of comfort, a work which is accomplished by the Spirit. Yet how utterly ridiculous and disastrous is the church which focuses entirely on spontaneous and outrageous “works” of the Holy Spirit yet is devoid of the faithful preaching and exposition of the Word of God. To separate the work of the Spirit from the Word is to make shipwreck of one’s faith. It is always the Word of God that the Holy Spirit uses to accomplish the purposes of God.
Keith Kauffmanattended University of Maryland (B.S.) and Capital Bible Seminary(M.Div.). Keith currently works at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD, working in the Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases studying the immune response to Tuberculosis. Keith serves as an elder at Greenbelt Baptist Church.
[1]Calvin, John.Institutes of the Christian Religion, 1,7,1. Hendrickson Publishers: Peabody, MA, 2008. 31.
Ezra 7:1 — Don’t gloss over this genealogy! Who is Seraiah? The last high priest of Jerusalem (2 Kings 25:18, Jeremiah 52:24). The priests were executed as vanquished leaders (2 Kings 25:21, Jeremiah 52:27) by the Babylonians. God exercised judgment on the Babylonians and put the Persians in charge. They have a much different attitude toward Ezra than toward his father.
Ezra 7:5 — Remember Phinehas the Bold? Yes, we have his descendant with us. Ezra the scribe was birthed to be high priest, he descended from the valiant, he was studied in the Law, and he was ultimately favored by the king.
Ezra 7:9 — Ezra was in a 4-month-long wagon train with thousands of his kinfolk, and we complain about rush hour traffic, delays boarding our seat on a plane, or flying international in just economy!
Ezra 7:10 — Great verse to memorize and to apply!
Seek it (2 Kings 22:8-10 – Josiah did so upon discovering the Law)
Do it (James 1:22 – Doers of the Word and not hearers only)
Teach it (1 Timothy 4:11 – These things command and teach)
Ezra 7:15 — Five surprising things in the Royal Letter:
The king is giving to the God of Israel silver and gold (Ezra 7:15)
The king is not specifying what can be purchased (Ezra 7:18)
The king is giving a blank check (Ezra 7:20, Ezra 7:22)
The king is giving tax exemption (Ezra 7:24)
The king is establishing a theocracy (Ezra 7:26)
1 Corinthians 4:7 — ”What hast thou that thou didst not receive?” Everything we have is from God – why are we boasting in what we have and comparing ourselves?
1 Corinthians 4:10 — What does Christian love entail (John 13:34)? Appearing foolish, appearing weak, being despised, hungering, thirsting, being naked, being beaten, being homeless, earning your own pay, being reviled, being persecuted, and giving your best (1 Corinthians 4:17). This is the result of the love their spiritual father, Paul, had for them (1 Corinthians 4:15).
And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. (John 12:32)
Come, ye workers, be encouraged. You fear that you cannot draw a congregation. Try the preaching of a crucified, risen, and ascended Savior; for this is the greatest “draw” that was ever yet manifested among men. What drew you to Christ but Christ? What draws you to Him now but His own blessed self? If you have been drawn to religion by anything else, you will soon be drawn away from it; but Jesus has held you and will hold you even to the end. Why, then, doubt His power to draw other? Go with the name of Jesus to those who have hitherto been stubborn and see if it does not draw them.
No sort of man is beyond this drawing power. Old and young, rich and poor, ignorant and learned, depraved or amiable—all men shall feel the attractive force. Jesus is the one magnet. Let us not think of any other. Music will not draw to Jesus, neither will eloquence, logic, ceremonial, or noise. Jesus Himself must draw men to Himself; and Jesus is quite equal to the work in every case. Be not tempted by the quackeries of the day; but as workers for the Lord work in His own way, and draw with the Lord’s own cords. Draw to Christ, and draw by Christ, for then Christ will draw by you.
Mom’s have a lot go great questions regarding how they can share their faith with unbelievers, and raise kids who are empowered to do the same. Should we ambush our friends with all the knowledge we’ve streamed over the past week or keep silent for fear of rocking the boat? In this podcast Lindsey Medenwaldt gives some great advice on how build bridges with those around us. Listeners will find out where to start their witnessing journey, tool needed, how to navigate different worldviews, and witnessing in the midst of cancel culture.
When we’re bridge building with people, we want something that can hold a lot of weight. And how do we do that? We have a good foundation, and a good foundation as a Christian should be, first and foremost, truth. – Lindsey… Click To Tweet
One question I get a lot is about like ‘I just don’t have the confidence, or what if I screw it up?’ You’re in great company, we’ve all messed up and we’re still kingdom builders. God is not surprised by the silly things that come… Click To Tweet
You’re already a walking apologetic for Christ. Whether you know it or not, you are saying things and doing things that are telling people about what you believe, so you might as well just continue to equip yourself explicitly so… Click To Tweet
Genesis 43:15-34 In this week’s studies we observe the love of Joseph poured out on his brothers when they return to Egypt.
Theme
The Prime Minister’s Kindness
The story begins with the brothers’ fear, the same fear that had gripped them when the return of their silver had first been discovered. At their father’s insistence they had brought double the money on this journey, the first part to pay for the grain already purchased, and the second part to pay for a new supply. But when they presented themselves in Egypt and were immediately invited to eat with Joseph at noon, they suspected a plot against them. The text says, “They thought, ‘We were brought here because of the silver that was put back into our sacks the first time. He wants to attack us and overpower us and seize us as slaves and take our donkeys’” (v. 18). The complaint was pathetic. Joseph intended only good for them, but they supposed he was hostile. “He wants to enslave us and even take our poor donkeys,” they said.
It is when they were in this frame of mind that the benevolence of the prime minister began to be poured out on them. First, they were reassured about their money by Joseph’s steward. They explained the situation to him. But he, who presumably knew about and may perhaps even have carried out the former arrangements, replied with tongue in cheek, “It’s all right. Don’t be afraid. Your God and the God of your father has given you treasure in your sacks; I received your silver” (v. 23). They were not to worry about their money any more.
Second, the steward brought out Simeon. This must have been a cause of great joy for these brothers. Not knowing Joseph’s intentions, they may have suspected that his treatment of Simeon would be dishonorable and that he might already have sold him into slavery in which path they were soon to follow. But no, Simeon had not been enslaved, and now he was no longer even imprisoned. The prime minister was a man of his word. Their brother had been given back to them.
Third, they were given water to wash their feet and food to feed their donkeys. These were signs of great respect and courtesy. They were being treated as friends, not enemies.
Fourth, Joseph arrived and began to speak kindly. He inquired about their health, asking how they were. He asked about their father: “How is your aged father you told me about? Is he still living?” (v. 27). Lastly his gaze settled on Benjamin. “Is this your youngest brother, the one you told me about?” he inquired. When told that he was, Joseph responded, “God be gracious to you, my son” (v. 29). In all this Joseph had been trying to control himself, being deeply moved at the sight of his full brother whom he had not seen for more than twenty years. On the verge of breaking down, he moved quickly from the room to weep privately.
Fifth, an elegant feast was spread before the astonished brothers. A day before they had been on the verge of starvation, which is why they had come to Egypt. Now they were introduced to the bounty of this most favored land. The last line suggests that they enjoyed it. Up to this point they may have been fearful, suspecting evil motives on the prime minister’s part. But dining with him broke their fears down. Joseph must have been the kindest of hosts, and they must have warmed to his gracious hospitality. He would have asked questions of them, and they would have replied with what he most wanted to hear—tales of their families and home. This scene is too tender even for the Bible’s words. The story says simply, “So they feasted and drank freely with him” (v. 34).
The interesting thing, however, is that the brothers enjoyed the benefits of Joseph’s affection without actually knowing who he was. And when the feast was over—perhaps on the next day—the brothers simply prepared to return home, leaving this interesting interlude behind them.
Study Questions
When the brothers arrived again in Egypt, what was their first thought when they were invited to eat with the prime minister?
What five things did Joseph do to show his kindness to his brothers?
What was the brothers’ reaction at their meal with the prime minister? What unusual thing happened in verses 33-34?
Application
For Further Study: Download for free and listen to Daniel Hyde’s message, “Faith Amidst Flames.” (Discount will be applied at checkout.)
Possibility of a rare rain event over southern Egypt The generally arid region of southern Egypt might experience a rare rain event as some forecast models predict up to 30 mm (1.2 inches) of accumulated rainfall over the region in early August 2024.
Taliban Gets $239 Million In US Aid After State Dept. Fails to Vet Recipients At least $239 million have likely filled the coffers of the extremists running the Islamic Republic since the 2021 U.S. military withdrawal. The government watchdog, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), issued a July 2024 report identifying at least 29 grants where the Taliban may have erroneously received counterterrorism funds.
“Transgender” ideology is a political coup of the transhuman agenda “Transgender” is not a type of person but a conglomerate of political and corporate pressure, grooming the next generation for industrial body dissociation. Synthetic sex identities manifested by elites in the medical-technology industry are conditioning the public to accept radical changes to human biology and our perceptions of ourselves as a species.
“A dependence on the people is, no doubt, the primary control on the government; but experience has taught mankind the necessity of auxiliary precautions.” —James Madison (1788)
ON THIS DAY in 1945, a U.S. B-29 named Enola Gay dropped the first atomic bomb, this one on Hiroshima, to avoid a horrendous invasion of Japan that planners estimated would cost 300,000 American lives.
Douglas Andrews, Thomas Gallatin, & Jordan Candler
Politics
Harris taps Walz: This morning, Kamala Harris selected Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate. Most political insiders thought the relatively moderate, pro-Israel governor of Pennsylvania, Josh Shapiro, would take the prize, but placating the anti-Semitic base of the Democrat Party was apparently more of a concern than Walz’s record of social injustice in his state. Our Douglas Andrews has more in today’s profile of Walz, including his performance during the 2020 George Floyd riots.
Satire: Democrats worried choosing Jewish vice president may cost them the all-important “Death to America” vote (Babylon Bee)
Harris secures Dem nomination with middle-of-the-night vote after skipping primary process (Fox News)
Primaries to watch in Kansas, Missouri, Michigan, and Washington (Roll Call) | “Squad” Dems to rally for Cori Bush as she fights for her political life (Fox News)
Harris’s basement campaign dwarfs Biden’s: At least Joe Biden had the COVID pandemic as his cover for avoiding press interviews and conferences during his infamous basement campaign in 2020. Kamala Harris has no such excuse to hide behind, and yet she has avoided the press like the plague. Since she was announced as the Democrats’ presumptive presidential nominee, Harris has held exactly zero press conferences. At this point in his 2020 campaign, Biden had done two press interviews. It’s clear that if she can get away with it, Harris will avoid facing the press. And that’s because she is terrible off script. While she is infamous for her mind-numbing word-salad answers, what may be the bigger issue is Harris being forced to respond to questions regarding policy or even her history of radical leftist views. Even more glaring is the fact that Donald Trump has done at least five press interviews, including with hostile reporters, since Harris was coronated.
Trump re-alienates a state he needs: Donald Trump still hasn’t gotten over his grudge after losing Georgia in 2020, which he blames on the Peach State’s popular Republican governor, Brian Kemp, for his refusal to go along with Trump’s election fraud claims. Furthermore, Trump’s comments served to throw the two Senate races to the Democrats, which effectively handed them control of the Senate. Then, during the 2022 gubernatorial primary, Trump pushed to unseat Kemp via former Senator David Purdue. Thankfully, that effort failed, and Kemp went on to again defeat Democrat Stacey Abrams soundly. Yet, despite the bad blood, Kemp has endorsed Trump for president. But Trump threw Kemp under the bus yet again at a rally in Atlanta on Saturday, saying, “He’s a bad guy, he’s a disloyal guy, and he’s a very average governor.” Trump added, “[If it] wasn’t for me, he would not be your governor. I think everybody knows that.” Really? As noted above, Trump did try to get Kemp removed and failed. Trump didn’t help Kemp get elected; Kemp got Kemp elected. The fact is that Trump, for whatever reason, doesn’t understand Georgia. His attacking the state’s Republican leadership only serves to undermine his unity message, making it harder for Trump to gain victory in a must-win swing state.
Supreme Court spurns bid to block Trump sentencing and gag order in hush-money case (Daily Wire)
Jamie Raskin: We’ll disqualify Trump: If Donald Trump wins the election on November 5 but Democrats manage to retake the House, things may get mighty interesting between that date and the presidential inauguration date of January 20. It’s admittedly an unlikely two-part scenario, but Maryland congressman, former law professor, and lead Trump impeachment manager Jamie Raskin said publicly in February that if Trump does indeed win the election, Congress must “disqualify” him. So it appears that Raskin is a true-believer, a dead-ender who thinks the 14th Amendment, Section 3 was meant to prevent The Insurrectionist Trump from being president, rather than preventing ex-Confederates from holding federal office after the Civil War.
“We have to stay woke”: The clip is viral, it’s cringeworthy, and the ads write themselves. There she is, Kamala Harris, chatting with philanthropist Laurene Powell Jobs, widow of Apple cofounder Steve Jobs, during the annual Recode conference in 2017. And she says: “We have to stay woke. Like, everybody needs to be woke. And you can talk about if you’re the wokest or woker, but just stay more woke than less woke.” This is the real Kamala Harris, the hard-left Bay Area progressive and the daughter of the Marxist college professor. No wonder she’s been dodging that sit-down interview with the mainstream media ever since she accepted Joe Biden’s nomination for president. As Fox News reports, “The conference focused on issues such as immigration and the environment, including Harris speaking out against the Trump administration’s drug policies and immigration polices just moments ahead of her call on Americans to be ‘woke.’” We’re not sure how the word “woke” is polling these days, but we suspect it isn’t good. And we look forward to Harris having to explain herself, if she ever sits for an honest interview or gets challenged at a debate.
Big Tech
Google trust-busted: On Monday, Federal District Judge Amit Mehta ruled that Google had violated the Sherman Antitrust Act by engaging in deals with the likes of Apple, Samsung, and AT&T that made its search engine the default option on most smartphones. Mehta said that these deals “are exclusive and have anticompetitive effects. Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly.” This ruling represents the first time in over 20 years that the Justice Department has won an antitrust case against Google. The Big Tech giant promised to appeal the decision. Kent Walker, Google’s president of global affairs, argued, “This decision recognizes that Google offers the best search engine, but concludes that we shouldn’t be allowed to make it easily available.” Meanwhile, an attorney for Google admitted to the House Judiciary Committee that its autocomplete function did indeed fail to populate “Trump” when searches for “assassination attempt” were typed in. Google claimed this error was due to built-in protections against political violence, which were “out of date.”
Regulatory Commissars
$1.2 trillion worth of regs in eight months: Under Donald Trump, the nation enjoyed financial savings thanks to tax cuts as well as cuts to burdensome government regulations. Concerning the latter, Americans’ regulatory burden decreased by some $100 billion. This was a welcomed reversal of the Obama era, during which the country was saddled with over $308 billion in new regulatory costs. Unfortunately, under Joe Biden, the regulatory state returned with a vengeance. His administration has added nearly $1.7 trillion in new regulatory compliance costs, with $1.2 trillion of that total being added in the last eight months. Biden has added more in regulatory compliance costs than any president before him.
Security
Israel takes out commander of elite Hezbollah unit in drone strike (NY Post)
UNRWA spent months denying it works with Hamas. Then it fired nine staffers for participating in the October 7 massacre. (Washington Free Beacon)
Several U.S. personnel injured in Iranian-backed terror attack on base in Iraq (Daily Wire)
Cheatle wanted White House cocaine destroyed: Anyone who wondered whether former Pepsi security chief and Secret Service director Kim Cheatle was an unfair fall gal for the agency’s catastrophic failure to protect Donald Trump on July 13 should wonder no more. We knew she was incompetent, as evidenced by her “sloped roof” comment, but now we know she’s also deeply partisan. Remember the cocaine that was discovered in the White House last summer? As RealClearPolitics reports, Cheatle and others wanted to destroy it, “but the Secret Service Forensics Services Division and the Uniformed Division stood firm and rejected the push to dispose of the evidence, according to three sources in the Secret Service community.” Why might Cheatle want to destroy it? Perhaps she knew the truth. RCP continues: “At least one Uniformed Division officer was initially assigned to investigate the cocaine incident. But after he told his supervisors, including Cheatle … that he wanted to follow a certain crime-scene investigative protocol, he was taken off the case.” Sounds like a cover-up to us.
100 illegals on terror watchlist let loose in U.S.: Kamala Harris is enjoying an extended honeymoon, but it can’t last forever. She’ll eventually have to account for her flip-flopping. And, more important, she’ll have to account for her abject failure as our nation’s border czar. According to a new House Judiciary report, “Under the Biden-Harris Administration, of the more than 250 illegal aliens on the terrorist watchlist who were encountered by Border Patrol at the southwest border between fiscal years 2021 and 2023, DHS has released into American communities at least 99, with at least 34 others in DHS custody but not yet removed from the United States.” Beyond those potential terrorists, there are plenty of other potential national security risks: 2,134 Afghan nationals, 33,347 Chinese nationals, 541 Iranian nationals, 520 Syrian nationals, and 3,104 Uzbek nationals among them. The media’s whitewash continues, but these facts are stubborn things.
Economy
The Dow Jones slumps over 1,000 points as fears about the U.S. economy intensify (NPR) | Satire: Kamala desperately Googles “What is a stock market crash” (Babylon Bee)
Electric vehicle owners getting hit with negative equity as depreciation crushes used EV values (Just the News)
In the end, the Jewish question was a bridge too far for the Democrats.
Think about what that matter-of-fact statement says about today’s Democrat Party. This isn’t 1930s Germany, after all. And yet it’s Kristallnacht clear that Kamala Harris and her handlers are afraid of upsetting their Jew-hating base — which is why she opted against selecting Josh Shapiro, a popular, charismatic, relatively moderate Democrat governor of a must-win swing state, and instead settled on an older, further-left, relatively unknown Minnesota governor to be her running mate.
Because the former is Jewish and the latter isn’t. If only we could find a Republican bold enough to speak about this sensitive topic with honesty and clarity. Oh, wait.
“Let’s be honest,” said Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton. “Kamala is the most anti-Israel member of Biden’s team, always siding with Hamas and Iran’s interests. Shapiro and Walz’s views on Israel aren’t that different. But Harris catered to her pro-Hamas, antisemitic base who opposed Shapiro because he’s Jewish.”
He’s right, of course. The Democrats are afraid of losing the “Death to America” vote in Dearborn, Michigan, so they steered clear of the Jewish guy.
“Let’s be clear,” Cotton added a few minutes later. “Kamala didn’t cave to the antisemitic, pro-Hamas wing of the Democratic Party. She belongs to the pro-Hamas wing of the Democratic party.”
Nonetheless, Harris and her Praetorian Guard media will spin the Walz pick as “bold” and “smart” and “savvy” and “inspiring.” Here’s how the gaffe-prone, debate-dodging, interview-avoiding candidate herself announced it to the world: “I am proud to announce that I’ve asked Tim Walz to be my running mate. As a governor, a coach, a teacher, and a veteran, he’s delivered for working families like his. It’s great to have him on the team.”
Pssst, Kamala: You forgot the part about Walz having been governor of Minnesota back in 2020 during that “mostly peaceful” George Floyd summer of rage, when rioters and looters and arsonists and other assorted Democrats took to the streets of Minneapolis while Walz pretty much watched it burn.
You remember May 28, 2020, right? That was when Minneapolis’s Third Police Precinct was set upon and torched by the mob. That was a dark day for our nation, and an even darker one for Democrat governance.
And Tim Walz owns it.
As Republican Majority Whip Tom Emmer, himself a Minnesotan, said of Harris’s decision: “It’s not surprising Kamala Harris picked Tim Walz to be her running mate — he embodies the same disastrous economic, open-borders, and soft-on-crime policies Harris has inflicted on our country the last four years. Walz is an empty suit who has worked to turn Minnesota into Harris’ home state of California, and solidifies this ticket’s full embrace of a radical, America-last agenda.”
Harris and Walz will make their first public appearance together later today at a rally in Philadelphia. But imagine the optics just below the surface: Here’s the older, crankier version of Tim Kaine I selected instead of your very popular Jewish governor.
“I think Pennsylvania now is wide open for Trump to come in,” said Keystone State radio personality Rich Zeoli. “J.D. Vance brings in the Midwest, so the battle for the Midwest is there. It’s clear. What does Tim Walz bring to the table in Georgia? I mean, this is a guy who signed a law that there had to be tampons in boys’ bathrooms. I don’t really think that plays well in Georgia or North Carolina.”
Indeed, the prospect of Walz debating Donald Trump’s Millennial VP pick JD Vance is a delicious one. Walz can’t be underestimated, but nor can he run away from his record. After all, he supports open borders and he supports sanctuary cities.
As former Trump CIA Director and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo put it: “Kamala Harris and Tim Walz want to make the rest of America look like San Francisco and Minneapolis: High crime, anti-police, high illegal immigration, and support for the pro-Hamas, anti-Israel core of the Democrat party. Harris-Walz is the most radical, extreme leftist ticket our nation has ever seen.”
Many on the Right have already said it, but it bears repeating: This is the most hard-left presidential ticket in our nation’s history. Mark my words: You’re going to be hearing variations of that attack line in your sleep between now and Election Day.
Never fear, though, said Nancy Pelosi on MSNBC earlier today. “To characterize him as ‘left’ is so … unreal. [H]e’s right down the middle. He’s a heartland-of-America Democrat.”
Michael Swartz: The Debate Over the Presidential Debates — Both Donald Trump and Kamala Harris are angling for a debate advantage, but unless they can come to an agreement, the American voter will be the ultimate loser.
Thomas Gallatin: Chevron Moves to Greener Pastures — Demonized for years by California Democrat lawmakers, the oil giant is leaving the Golden State for business-friendly Texas.
Emmy Griffin: Family Malaise — Our low birth rate is largely because of childless cat ladies — a symptom of a deeply ailing culture.
Caleb Nunes: Decoding and Discussing DEI — One need not be racist to think that Kamala Harris’s identity has played a more important role than her competency.
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.
Harris Blames Trump as Economy Edges Toward Recession — Nearly everything on Wall Street is tumbling as fear about a slowing U.S. economy worsens, setting off another sell-off for financial markets around the world.
Don’t You Dare Criticize Kamala Harris — Dr. Peterson and Piers Morgan discuss the current outrage culture being used to dismiss genuine criticism of public officials.
“Kamala Harris has always been for border security. … Today, border crossings are lower at the southwest border than they were at the end of the Trump presidency.” —Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT)
Reality Check
“There’s a lot of irrational exuberance on the Democratic side of the aisle right now because there was despair for some period of time about what November was going to look like. … But it is absolutely Trump’s race to lose right now. He is ahead, and he is ahead in most of the battleground states. … I think it’s a wide-open race, but Trump has the advantage right now, and … everybody should be sober about that on the Democratic side.” —former Obama adviser David Axelrod
For the Record
“Iran was contained, deterred and increasingly isolated by the burgeoning Sunni-Israeli alliance while Trump was president. Iran is unconstrained and aggressively threatening American assets and allies all over the region under Biden-Harris. That is not a coincidence.” —Ben Shapiro
“Kamala created the inflation that’s crushing hardworking American families. Kamala’s failure as Border Czar left us WIDE OPEN to 10M+ illegal aliens. Kamala’s weakness on the world stage has led to historic foreign policy disasters & new wars. This is the Kamala Harris record.” —Congressman Byron Donalds (R-FL)
“They tanked the economy, opened the border, doubled gas prices, and blundered us into WW III but vote Kamala because Trump will destabilize things.” —Jimmy Failla
“Vice President Harris must immediately — without a script — explain her economic policies. If she can’t answer a single question, she can’t handle the job.” —Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR)
“Would love for Kamala Harris to answer what a Bull Market is, on the spot without notes or a binder.” —Stephen L. Miller
Inquiring Minds Want to Know
“How long until Kamala blames the stock market crash on climate change?” —Tim Young
Praetorian Guard
“The media is about to switch from all systems firing on ‘Kamala will continue Biden’s economic recovery’ for the last two weeks to ‘Kamala will put out the fire caused by Trump’s tax cuts’ and hope nobody notices. Dishonesty is the point. Lying is their value.” —Buck Sexton
Upright
“What does [an independent judiciary] mean to you as an American? It means that when you’re unpopular, you can get a fair hearing under the law and under the Constitution. If you’re in the majority, you don’t need judges and juries to hear you and protect your rights. You’re popular! It’s there for the moments when the spotlight’s on you, when the government’s coming after you. And don’t you want a ferociously independent judge and a jury of your peers to make those decisions? Isn’t that your right as an American? And so I just say, be careful.” —Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch
Former Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann, now dean of the Robertson School of Government, served with now Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz for years.
And after Kamala Harris tagged Walz as her pick for the Democrat party’s nomination for vice president, she spoke out.
“I went to Congress with Tim Walz in 2006 and served with him for 8 years. On the outside, he looks like an awe-shucks, back slapping, nice guy politician, when in fact he is as radical as AOC or more,” Bachmann said.
She said, “Because of Tim Walz, more people have moved out of the state than at any other time in Minnesota’s history. Last year, $2 billion and 30,000 people left the state of Minnesota.” And she noted Walz promoted “the strongest transgender protection bill in the country and the strongest pro-abortion bill in the country.”
AOC is Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., one of the “squad” of leftists and progressives in Congress and one of the extremists promoting her ideologies.
Bachmanne cited an analysis of the Minnesota government’s recent actions that described a 40% spending explosion, the fact that tens of thousands of Minnesotans are moving out of the state, and condemned Democrats for their “legislative skullduggery.”
The leftists in the state even have removed any language that requires a doctor to keep an infant alive if the little boy or girl survives an abortion, the analysis confirms.
Further, the Democrat majority adopted laws creating up to $10 billion in new taxes over just the next four years, and a budget boost of $11 million for the governor’s office.
And now the state will give unemployment compensation to hourly workers who have summers off by virtue of their jobs in school districts. Lawmakers also banned the “intimidation” or even the transmission of information that would “impede” voters.
Stunningly, the state’s leftists even removed language stating that adults attracted to children “are not a protected class.”
“Pedophiles may now potentially be considered a protected class should an activist judge decide to ‘read’ that right into the state constitution,” the analysis warns.
The report documents how under Walz, Minnesota now is an “abortion sanctuary” with no limits, at all.
And how background checks are now required if parent wants to gift a firearm to a son.
“A hate speech database will be created, where people and organizations can report hate speech to the Dept. of Human Rights, even if the speech is not illegal,” the report details.
Citizenship, or even permanent residency, no longer is required for driver’s licenses, and that process includes being offered the chance to register to vote.
It gets worse, the report details: Now, in Minnesota the law “prohibits non-religious non-profits that serve minors from discriminating against employees who are gay or transgender. This includes organizations like the Girl Scouts, who would potentially be forced to hire or allow to volunteer biological men who identify as women.”
And the state now claims the authority to “take temporary emergency custody of minors who travel to Minnesota to receive gender-affirming treatment,” which includes chemicals to alter the body, or even body-mutilating surgeries.
Content created by the WND News Center is available for re-publication without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contactlicensing@wndnewscenter.org.
Vice President Kamala Harris selected Waltz as her running mate on Tuesday, allying herself with the most far-left choice among those on her short list, as Breitbart Newsreported.
Below are seven things to know about Waltz’s record:
Bro, Kamala Harris just picked the most radical candidate on the board as her running mate in Tim Walz and here’s how the Washington Post is covering the Minnesota Governor:
Provided drivers licenses (and thereby the vote) for illegal aliens in Minnesota. Check!
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Supports open borders. Check!
Locked Minnesotans in their houses and then set a snitch line so that people could rat out their neighbors who weren’t complying with his draconian lock down. Check!
Walz Education Plan focuses On equity, ‘achievement gap.” Check!
It’s official – Kamala has chosen the white guy for her VP who allowed black communities in Minnesota to be burned, looted, and destroyed in the 2020 BLM riots
Governor Tim Walz of Minnesota thinks kids should be able to undergo s*x change surgery, cut off their body parts, and get sterilized and chemically castrated by injecting irreversible puberty blockers and hormones which are linked to many dangerous long-term side effects. pic.twitter.com/ckMEFR0x1k
Instead of picking the centrist Jewish American dynamo Shapiro, @KamalaHarris will reportedly choose as VP Tim Walz—a far-left gov. who let BLM burn down MN and is best buds with Hamas caucus members Ilhan Omar & AOC. He’s all smiles with the U.S.’s top Israel-haters. pic.twitter.com/smbJFZOfLZ
Washington, DC (August 6, 2024) – The Republican Jewish Coalition released the following statement in response to VP Kamala Harris’s selection of MN Governor Tim Walz as the Democrats’ vice presidential candidate. RJC CEO Matt Brooks said:
Today, California radical Kamala Harris selected far left liberal Tim Walz as her running mate. This is the same guy who famously said, “One person’s socialism is another person’s neighborliness.” Seriously?
This isn’t the Democratic Party of your parents or grandparents. Let’s be clear: if elected, the Harris-Walz ticket would be, by far, the most left-wing President and Vice President in US history.
Of particular concern for the American Jewish community is Governor Walz’s embrace of the most vicious anti-Israel and antisemitic Member of Congress, Ilhan Omar. Walz has endorsed and supported this notorious Squad member for years, championing her as a “progressive leader” in Congress. This is the same disgraceful Ilhan Omar who has trafficked antisemitic conspiracy theories, falsely accused Israel of genocide and apartheid, and voted against funding for the Iron Dome missile defense system that is currently protecting countless innocent civilians in Israel from terrorist rockets.
Governor Walz’s failed record in Minnesota also includes:
Going completely AWOL in the summer of 2020 when he let rioters burn sections of Minneapolis to the ground.
Signing a bill to reduce prison sentences for violent criminals.
Gaslighting parents and business owners during draconian COVID lockdowns, saying that it, “Wasn’t that bad.”
Covering up Joe Biden’s obvious mental decline, saying it was “ageism” for Americans to be concerned about Biden’s health and stamina.
Signing a bill to give illegal immigrants free tuition, drivers licenses, and health benefits; and saying he should invest in a “ladder factory” to help illegal immigrants climb the border wall.
And that’s just what he did while serving as Governor of Minnesota – imagine the far Left nightmare that he and Kamala Harris would unleash on America if the Democrats win in November.
Our country is at an inflection point, and we need strong conservative leadership now more than ever. Clearly Kamala Harris’s priorities are not our priorities, and the American people will reject her and Tim Walz’s extremism in this election.
MINNEAPOLIS, MN — Following his selection as Kamala Harris’ running mate, Minnesota governor Tim Walz has assured voters across the United States that, if elected, he will make America as great as Minneapolis.
According to reporters, Walz vowed to bring the rest of America to the same level of greatness as Minneapolis in his speech accepting the vice-presidential nomination.
“As the governor who presided over the looting and burning of Minneapolis during the summer of 2020, I have full confidence that I will be able to apply my experience stirring up race riots on the national scale as well as I have in my home state,” Walz reportedly stated. “If I am elected vice-president, I solemnly swear to ‘raze’ every American city to Minneapolis’ level of greatness.”
Residents of Minneapolis were unavailable for comment, as most had already fled or taken cover in case Walz actually managed to become Vice President. However, Walz has received official endorsement from several prestigious entities, such as Hamas, the government of Somalia, and top Antifa leaders.
At publishing time, Walz had also vowed to oversee the cleaning up America’s environment just like he had overseen the cleaning out of Twin Cities Targets, Auto Zones, and pharmacies during the summer of 2020.
Watch how a D.E.I. consultant magically turns a video game into… well, something else entirely.
In this episode, Dinesh continues his discussion on Kamala Harris and is joined by author and writer Roger Kimball to talk about whether the media “remaking” of Kamala Harris is working or not.
Mary chats with Holly Varnum of Reasons for Hope in her role as Director of Curriculum Development, writer, editor and proofreader. With a new school year looming, once again we turn our thoughts to how to best educate our kids, in the way that they should go – as individuals made in God’s image, male and female. Holly has a love of teaching truth and having a strong biblical worldview. In these times of gender homogenization, what are the hard-wired differences in the brains of men and women? How does acknowledging and living out these differences bring glory to God? Holly has some fascinating insights into our God-given traits and physical characteristics that originate in the brain. In particular, we look at how we learn differently and to celebrate the differences, while the world tries its best to erase them. Thought provoking, mind altering topic!
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