Upon returning from his historic Apostolic Journey to the Arabian Penninsula, specifically the United Arab Emirates, Pope Francis said that Islamic world and the Christian world will work together to promote “common values.”
Speaking before his general audience in St. Peter’s Square on Wednesday, Pope Francis discussed his meeting with the Great Imam of Al-Azhar and their signing of the document on the Human Brotherhood, which condemned all forms of religious violence and the spreading of authentic values throughout the world.
“The Great Imam of Al-Azhar and I signed the document on the Human Brotherhood , in which together we affirm the common vocation of all men and women to be brothers in As God’s sons and daughters, we condemn all forms of violence, especially those with religious motivation, and we commit ourselves to spreading authentic values and peace throughout the world,” Pope Francis said. “It gives so much pressure to move forward in the dialogue on human brotherhood.”
The Holy Father said the document was meant to give a “clear and decisive sign” that different religions can respect each other in dialogue. He also denounced the temptation to see a “clash between Christian and Islamic civilizations.”
“In an era like ours, in which the temptation to see a clash between Christian and Islamic civilizations is strong, and also to consider religions as sources of conflict, we wanted to give a further, clear and decisive sign, that instead it is possible to meet, it is possible to respect and dialogue, and that, despite the diversity of cultures and traditions, the Christian and Islamic world appreciate and protect common values: life, family, religious sense, honor for the elderly, the education of young people, and others,” the Pope said.
The Roman Pontiff’s decision to visit the UAE was an entirely strategic one, given the country’s progress in recent years by becoming a “crossroads of East and West.”
“That country has grown a lot in recent decades: it has become a crossroads between East and West, a multiethnic and multi-religious “oasis”, and therefore a suitable place to promote the culture of encounter,” Pope Francis said of the UAE.
In perhaps his speech’s most emotional moment, Pope Francis told the audience of meeting one of the UAE’s first Catholic priests, who expressed deep joy despite being blind and confined to a wheelchair.
“I had the opportunity to greet the first priest – ninety – who had gone there to found so many communities,” Pope Francis said. “He is in the wheelchair, blind, but the smile does not fall from his lips, the smile of having served the Lord and of having done so well. I also said hello to another ninety-year-old priest – but that was walking and continuing to work.”
Pope Francis is the first Roman Catholic pontiff to visit the Arabian Peninsula, the birthplace of Islam.
For the first time, a Pope went to the Arabian peninsula. And Providence wanted it to be a Pope by the name of Francis, 800 years after the visit of St. Francis of Assisi to the sultan al-Malik al-Kamil. I often thought of Saint Francis during this journey: he helped me to keep the Gospel, the love of Jesus Christ in my heart, while I was living the various moments of the visit; in my heart there was the Gospel of Christ, prayer to the Father for all his children, especially for the poorest, for the victims of injustices, wars, misery …; prayer because the dialogue between Christianity and Islam is a decisive factor for peace in today’s world.
I sincerely thank the Hereditary Prince, the President, the Vice President and all the Authorities of the United Arab Emirates, who welcomed me with great courtesy. That country has grown a lot in recent decades: it has become a crossroads between East and West, a multiethnic and multi-religious “oasis”, and therefore a suitable place to promote the culture of encounter. I express my gratitude to Bishop Paul Hinder, Vicar Apostolic of South Arabia, who prepared and organized the event for the Catholic community, and my “thank you” extends with affection to the priests, religious and laity who animate the Christian presence in that land.
I had the opportunity to greet the first priest – ninety – who had gone there to found so many communities. He is in the wheelchair, blind, but the smile does not fall from his lips, the smile of having served the Lord and of having done so well. I also said hello to another ninety-year-old priest – but that was walking and continuing to work. Good boy! – and many priests who are there at the service of the Christian communities of the Latin rite, of the Syro-Malabar, Syro-Malankara rituals, of the Maronite rite that come from Lebanon, India, the Philippines and other countries.
In addition to the speeches, in Abu Dhabi one step was taken: the Great Imam of Al-Azhar and I signed the document on the Human Brotherhood , in which together we affirm the common vocation of all men and women to be brothers in As God’s sons and daughters, we condemn all forms of violence, especially those with religious motivation, and we commit ourselves to spreading authentic values and peace throughout the world. This document will be studied in schools and universities in several countries. But I also recommend that you read it, know it, because it gives so much pressure to move forward in the dialogue on human brotherhood.
In an era like ours, in which the temptation to see a clash between Christian and Islamic civilizations is strong, and also to consider religions as sources of conflict, we wanted to give a further, clear and decisive sign, that instead it is possible to meet, it is possible to respect and dialogue, and that, despite the diversity of cultures and traditions, the Christian and Islamic world appreciate and protect common values: life, family, religious sense, honor for the elderly, the education of young people, and others.
About a million Christians live in the United Arab Emirates : workers from various Asian countries. Yesterday morning I met a representation of the Catholic community in St. Joseph’s Cathedral in Abu Dhabi – a very simple temple – and then, after this meeting, I celebrated for everyone. They were so many! They say that among those inside the stadium, which has capacity for 40 thousand, and those who were in front of the screens outside the stadium, it was 150 thousand! I celebrated the Eucharist in the city stadium , announcing the Gospel of the Beatitudes. In the Mass, concelebrated with the Patriarchs, the Major Archbishops and the Bishops present, we prayed in a special way for peace and justice, with special intention in the Middle East and Yemen.
Dear brothers and sisters, this Journey belongs to the “surprises” of God. We therefore praise him and his providence, and pray that the scattered seeds bear fruit according to his holy will.
Three years after Apple refused to give the federal government access to the devices used by the San Bernadino terrorists who killed and injured dozens in a mass shooting event, the company has given the office of the Special Counsel complete access to Trump advisor Roger Stone’s iCloud account, reports Apple Insider.
According to the Washington Post, Apple objected to giving the federal government backdoor access to the shooters iPhones, claiming it would “set a dangerous precedent.”
“From the beginning, we objected to the FBI’s demand that Apple build a backdoor into the iPhone because we believed it was wrong and would set a dangerous precedent. As a result of the government’s dismissal, neither of these occurred. This case should never have been brought.”
Fast forward to present, and we see that Apple no longer seems to have the same privacy concerns it once did in 2015. Without any fight, they simply turned over Roger Stone’s iCloud passwords and God knows what else, because Orange Man Bad. The fact that Apple views a political persecution less of a hill to die on than protecting the rights of terrorists who killed and maimed dozens of Americans is quite telling.
More from the Washington Post on Apple’s refusal to turn over access to the San Bernandino shooters devices…
“If allowed to stand, the order in Apple’s case would have forced company engineers to create software to disable a phone security feature so that the FBI could try its hand at unlocking the device by cracking a numeric password. Apple quickly resisted, arguing that forcing it to create such software would violate the company’s constitutional rights and weaken privacy for users around the world.”
Which makes us wonder… what exactly was Apple threatened with by Robert Mueller and the Office of the Special Counsel for them to abandon their firm stance against turning over user data and access to federal investigators? Surely they didn’t reason that two mass shooters were more deserving of their tough stand against government overreach and backdoor programs? There must be some explanation as to how they could give the federal government the power to access our privately held devices and accounts at will right?
You may not like Roger Stone and you may not agree with him. However, he has been charged with non-violent process crimes that have nothing to do with Russian collusion. Robert Mueller’s team has yet to provide one scintilla of evidence that points to real Russian collusion, instead using his unchecked power and un-elected authority to exact political revenge on the people who stopped his pal Hillary Clinton from becoming President.
This should concern Americans on all ends of the political spectrum. Right now it is Roger Stone… but anyone who dared imagine anything other than President Hillary Rodham Clinton is sitting in the cross-hairs of rogue prosecutor and his all too willing Gestapo goon squad.
A trio of far-left Democrats are normalizing blatant anti-Semitism in the Democratic Party as leaders in the party idly stand by and refuse to condemn their actions and statements.
Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Ilhan Omar (D-MN), and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) — all new members of Congress — have all defended anti-Semites or espoused anti-Semitic positions over the last several months.
The disturbing trend comes as the U.S. experienced the worst anti-Semitic attack in the nation’s history in October 2018 after a man walked into the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh and murdered 11 people, later telling law enforcement that he wanted all Jews to die.
Ocasio-Cortez, Omar, and Tlaib belong to Justice Democrats, a federal political action committee, which far-left Vox describes as “a left-wing group whose mission is to drag the Democratic Party left by making life miserable for incumbents…threatening them with progressive primary challengers.”
While Omar and Tlaib have stolen most of the national headlines on their anti-Semitism, Ocasio-Cortez’s ties to anti-Semitism are just as strong.
Here are Ocasio-Cortez’s ties to anti-Semitism:
1. Following her upset win in New York’s 14th Congressional District in June 2018, Ocasio-Cortez was photographed with a man “who ran unsuccessfully for New York City Council last year on a campaign against ‘greedy Jewish landlords.”
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez joins ranks of important pols who (mistakenly??) took a picture with anti-semitic asshole Thomas Lopez-Pierre pic.twitter.com/2Kb6iueW5q
Ocasio-Cortez responded to the photo, tweeting: “No idea who this guy is, hundreds of folks walked into the hall open to the public last night. I absolutely denounce any such bigoted and reprehensible statements.”
While she claims to not have known who Lopez-Pierre was, he appeared in a video “wearing an Ocasio-Cortez campaign shirt and declaring that he is campaigning against ‘greedy landlords.” On his alleged Twitter account, he appears to have tweeted that he “spent 8 hours handing out 1,000+ campaign flyers for Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in the Bronx.”
2. The following month, Ocasio-Cortez appeared on PBS’s “Firing Line with Margaret Hoover,” where she claimed that Israel was illegally occupying Palestine, a false claim that is commonly held by anti-Semites.
Socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez attacks Israel, calls them the occupiers of Palestine.
When pressed on what she meant she struggled to give an answer and then admitted she does not know what she is talking about. pic.twitter.com/e3Uq1eupD3
3. Following her disastrous PBS interview, which garnered significant national attention, Ocasio-Cortez appeared in an interview with the far-left group “Democracy Now!” where she refused to state if she supported for a two-state solution between Israel and “Palestine.”
4. Ocasio-Cortez has defended Linda Sarsour, an anti-Semite who called for Muslims to wage a form of “Jihad” against Trump. Sarsour also has connections to convicted terrorists that murdered people in two bombings in Jerusalem. Sarsour, a co-chair in the Women’s March, was recently called on by the group’s founder to step down over anti-Semitism.
Ocasio-Cortez not only has defended Sarsour, but she has also praised her, tweeting that “the far right constantly maligns her w/ false attacks” and that “she is, as always, fighting for everything our flag represents.”
Our future is a shared responsibility.
This woman putting it all on the line for healthcare, women & LGBT+ rights is @lsarsour.
The far right constantly maligns her w/ false attacks + threats of violence.
Yet here she is, as always, fighting for everything our flag represents. https://t.co/QR4rYnclLt
Ocasio-Cortez’s tweet on Sarsour even drew criticism from some of her followers, who noted Sarsour’s controversial nature.
5. Ocasio-Cortez’s political party, the Democratic Socialists of America, are openly anti-Semitic and called for the elimination of Israel during their 2017 national convention at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
After DSA’s 697 delegates voted to adopt the anti-Semitic Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) campaign, they chanted “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free. From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”
“The river in this formulation is the Jordan, the naturally occurring eastern border of Israel and of the West Bank; the sea is the Mediterranean to the west,” The Daily Beast reported. “Uttered by advocates of the Palestinian cause for decades, the pithy slogan very pointedly makes no place for Israel. It evokes a strip of Middle Eastern land where Israel is no more, replaced by a unified Palestinian entity in the space it once occupied.”
6. Ocasio-Cortez refuses to state whether she supports the anti-Semitic BDS campaign. When asked following her upset win in New York’s 14th Congressional District primary for the Democratic nomination whether she supports BDS, she said, “no comment…at this time.”
The Daily Caller asked Ocasio-Cortez in December to share her stance on the anti-Semitic movement.
Ocasio-Cortez spokesmen Corbin Trent responded to the inquiry, saying, “No, sorry.”
7. Ocasio-Cortez embraced and attended the anti-Semitic Women’s March in January after the Democratic National Committee (DNC), top Democratic lawmakers, and far-left groups abandoned the group over its blatant anti-Semitism.
Before the march took place, Women’s March co-president Tamika Mallory, who called notorious anti-Semite Louis Farrakhan the “greatest of all time,” refused to affirm Israel’s right to exist.
The co-president of the @womensmarch refuses to affirm Israel’s right to exist— saying “everyone has a right to exist…I just don’t feel that everyone has a right to exist at the disposal of another group.” pic.twitter.com/6BEwkAYVKT
— Firing Line with Margaret Hoover (@FiringLineShow) January 18, 2019
During the march, Sarsour openly championed BDS as Mallory nodded in agreement.
Far-left activist Linda Sarsour champions Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel while speaking at the Women’s March amid the organization’s growing anti-Semitism scandal.
When asked at the march about the group’s anti-Semitism scandal, Ocasio-Cortez claimed, without evidence, that the Trump administration were the ones that have a problem with anti-Semitism.
“I think that concerns of anti-Semitism with the current administration in the White House are absolutely valid and we need to make sure that we are protecting the Jewish community and all those that feel vulnerable in this moment,” Ocasio-Cortez said.
8. Ocasio-Cortez’s congressional campaign appears to have hired a man to be a field director who was fired by another Democrat for anti-Semitism.
Robert Akleh, whose LinkedIn page states that he was a Field Director for Alexandria Ocasio Cortez for US Congress, appears to be the same Robert Akleh that was fired in 2014 over anti-Semitic comments he posted on Facebook.
FEC records show that Ocasio-Cortez’s congressional campaign paid Akleh $1,823.31.
9. Ocasio-Cortez praised notorious anti-Semitic Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn on Sunday following a phone meeting the two far-left politicians had.
“It was an honor to share such a lovely and wide-reaching conversation with you, @jeremycorbyn!” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted. “Also honored to share a great hope in the peace, prosperity, + justice that everyday people can create when we uplift one another across class, race, + identity both at home & abroad.”
1. Omar’s anti-Semitic views have been public for years. In 2012, she tweeted: “Israel has hypnotized the world, may Allah awaken the people and help them see the evil doings of Israel.”
Responding to criticism over the tweet, Omar claimed she was “drawing attention to the apartheid Israeli regime.”
“The oft-repeated notion that Israel is an “apartheid” nation is incorrect on multiple grounds,” The Daily Wire reported in October. The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) refutes the notion that Israel is an “apartheid” nation:
Arab citizens of Israel enjoy the full range of civil and political rights, including the right to organize politically, the right to vote and the right to speak and publish freely. Israeli Arabs and other non-Jewish Israelis serve as members of Israel’s security forces, are elected to parliament and appointed to the country’s highest courts. They are afforded equal educational opportunities, and there are ongoing initiatives to further improve the economic standing of all of Israel’s minorities.
In a New York Times column, Bari Weiss slammed Omar’s conspiracy-minded views on Israel:
The conspiracy theory of the Jew as the hypnotic conspirator, the duplicitous manipulator, the sinister puppeteer is one with ancient roots and a bloody history. In the New Testament, it is a small band of Jews who get Rome — then the greatest power in the world — to do their bidding by killing Christ. Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor, speaks to the Jews about Jesus in the book of John: “Take him yourselves and judge him according to your own law.” But the Jews punt the decision back to Pilate: “We are not permitted to put anyone to death.” And so Pilate does the deed on their behalf. In the book of Matthew, the implications of this manipulation are spelled out: “His blood is on us and our children,” the Jews say — a line that has been so historically destructive that even Mel Gibson cut it from his “Passion of the Christ.”
In the two millenniums that followed, even after 1965, when the Catholic Church formally disavowed the belief that the Jews killed Jesus, this was the template for the anti-Semitic conspiracy: the ability of this tiny minority to use its wiles and its proximity to power to con others into accomplishing their evil ends. It has led to countless expulsions, murders, massacres and pogroms throughout Europe and elsewhere.
The Jewish power to hypnotize the world, as Ms. Omar put it, is the plot of Jud Süss — the most successful Nazi film ever made. In the film, produced by Joseph Goebbels himself, Josef Süss Oppenheimer, an 18th-century religious Jew, emerges from the ghetto, makes himself over as an assimilated man, and rises to become the treasurer to the Duke of Württemberg. Silly duke: Allowing a single Jew into his city leads to death and destruction.
2. In a January interview, Omar defended her tweet, saying those were “the only words I could think about expressing at that moment.”
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) defends past anti-Semitic comments she made on Twitter, saying those were “the only words I could think about expressing at that moment” pic.twitter.com/u5G50LXK2f
3. Omar later stated in an interview on CNN that she did not understand why Jewish Americans would find her anti-Semitism to be offensive.
“I wonder what your message is this morning … to Jewish Americans who find that deeply offensive?” CNN’s Poppy Harlow asked.
“Oh, that’s a really regrettable way of expressing that,” Omar responded. “Um, I, I, don’t know how my comments would be offensive to Jewish Americans.”
Democrat Rep. Ilhan Omar says she doesn’t know why Jewish Americans would be offended by her anti-Semitic comments. And she also called the Israeli government a “regime” live on CNN. pic.twitter.com/N8FdOWB9oS
4. Immediately after winning her congressional election, Omar changed her views on anti-Semitic BDS campaigns from saying it was “counteractive” during her campaign to saying that she “believes in and supports the BDS movement, and has fought to make sure people’s right to support it isn’t criminalized.”
5. In an interview last week, Omar suggested: “that Israel should not be allowed to exist as a Jewish state, Israel is not a democracy, and compared Israel to Iran — which is the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism,” The Daily Wire reported.
“I want to talk about Israel because it has been a point of contention,” Yahoo News’ “Through Her Eyes” host Zainab Salbi said. “How can America work productively towards a just and lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians in your opinion?”
“Most of the things that have always been aggravating to me is that we have had a policy that makes one superior to the other and we mask it with a conversation that’s about justice and a two-state solution when you have policies that clearly prioritize one over the other,” Omar responded.
When pressed for examples, Omar responded: “Our relationship, really with the Israeli government and the Israeli state.”
“And so when I see Israel institute, um, law that recognizes it as a Jewish state and does not recognize, um, the other religions that are living in it and we still uphold it as a democracy in the Middle East, I almost chuckle because I know that if, you know, we, we, we, we see that in any other society we would criticize it.”
“We would call it out,” Omar continued. “We do that to Iran.
6. On her first day in office, Omar embraced anti-Semite and alleged Muslim Brotherhood sympathizer Linda Sarsour.
“Linda Sarsour is an extremist who has ‘roots in [the] Muslim Brotherhood,’ according to an English-language feature on Al-Arabiya, the Saudi Arabia based news channel,” The Jerusalem Post reported. “The article published in idiomatic English on Sunday accused the Brotherhood of ‘shaping the thoughts of American activist Linda Sarsour, [which resulted in] her declaring her ‘Jihad’ against US President Donald Trump.'”
Here are Tlaib’s ties to anti-Semitism:
1. Tlaib has promoted anti-Semitic conspiracy theories as she unleashed an “anti-Semitic slur leveled at her Congressional colleagues for their support of a bill which would allow local, state, and federal agencies to avoid doing business with entities that support the anti-Israel Boycott-Divestment-Sanction (or BDS) movement.”
“They forgot what country they represent. This is the U.S. where boycotting is a right & part of our historical fight for freedom & equality,” Tlaib tweeted. “Maybe a refresher on our U.S. Constitution is in order, then get back to opening up our government instead of taking our rights away.”
“The idea of Jews as having divided loyalty, and of using their influence to convince others to act against the interests and principles of their own country, is an age-old anti-Semitic trope,” The Washington Examiner reported.
This “dual loyalty” canard is a typical anti-Semitic line#BDS isn’t about freedom & equality, it’s about destroying #Israel
And if boycotting #Israel is constitutionally protected, then boycotting companies that boycott #Israel is also constitutionally protected https://t.co/6yBM0bQB5L
2. On her first day in office, Tlaib embraced anti-Semite and alleged Muslim Brotherhood sympathizer Linda Sarsour.
“Saudi Arabian state media has accused her of being linked to the Muslim Brotherhood, a group that the Trump administration has considered designating a terrorist organization,” The Daily Wire reported.
3. Tlaib supports anti-Semitic BDS campaigns.
“Congresswoman-elect Rashida Tlaib has become just the second US lawmaker to express support for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement…” MME reported.
“I personally support the BDS movement,” Tlaib said.
4. Tlaib does not support a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine.
“Before her victory in last week’s Michigan Democratic primary, Tlaib’s campaign represented her as supporting a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and endorsing continuing U.S. aid to Israel,” Haaretz reported. “Since the primary win, Tlaib has staked out far different positions in media interviews, explicitly endorsing a one-state solution and opposing aid, a change celebrated by far-left Palestinian activists, who sharply criticized her for seeking out and receiving the J Street endorsement.”
5. Tlaib has been photographed with supporters of Islamic terrorist organizations who have said that Israel has no right to exist.
“Freshman Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., was photographed with a Palestinian activist who praised the terrorist group Hezbollah, said Israel did not have the right to exist, and has called for Israeli “Zionist terrorist” Jews to return to Poland, where roughly three million Jews were killed during the Holocaust,” The Washington Examiner reported.
Abbas Hamideh tweeted out of a photo of himself with a smiling Tlaib, writing, “I was honored to be at Congresswoman @RashidaTlaib swearing in ceremony in #Detroit and private dinner afterward with the entire family, friends and activists across the country.”
Here are some of Hamideh’s tweets:
I was never a band wagoner. Always loved this heroic resistance leader! Long live Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah! #Lebanonpic.twitter.com/hRFwaH496g
I’m willing to go back to my country #Palestine if the Zionist terrorists go back to Poland. Deal? Let’s get that ball rolling ASAP. Get off Twitter and let’s make that happen.
6. Tlaib belongs to a group that “frequently demonizes Jews, and its Palestinian founder, Maher Abdel-qader, raised substantial funds for Tlaib for her congressional campaign as well as organizing some of her campaign events,” The Daily Wire reported.
“Claims of Abdel-qader’s virulent anti-Semitism are buttressed by various facts: he reportedly shared on his Facebook page and on the page of the “Palestinian American Congress” an anti-Semitic video that claimed Jews aren’t really Jews and their historical claim to Israel was a fiction they created,” The Daily Wire added. “The video also parroted the usual anti-Semitic claim that Jews control the media as well as purveyed the idea that the Holocaust was fake, stating, “Research the truth about the Holocaust, and you’ll definitely start to question what you thought you knew.”
The Daily Wire further noted that “Tlaib, honoring Abdel-qader for his help with her campaign, during which she took a number of pictures with him and he sometimes was a speaker at her events, gave him a medal for his contributions.”
The Washington Post in Sunday’s print paper ignored a major pro-life rally in Virginia, protesting comments by state-wide Democrats that some consider to be encouraging infanticide. Yet, the same paper last week found time for “activists calling for “menstrual equity” at the Education Department.
As our deeply divided nation prepares to listen to the President’s State of the Union address this Tuesday, I think every politically-minded American has an idea as to what they might like to have the President say. It could be something regarding new policies or proposed legislation, or it could be how he responds to certain current events.
I have a few tings I would like to see him address, and one of those relates to how he addresses us.
One way I believe the President could improve upon his Administration’s success would be by creating a complete and coherent communication strategy so that his supporters can better understand and get behind his efforts and initiatives. The President’s use of Twitter and social media has made him the most communicative President in U.S. history. He is always weighing in on anything that is within the immediate news cycle. The volume and frequency of communication is unprecedented. This allows him to move beyond the mainstream media which will not present him fairly or accurately to American citizens.
Those quick-hits on Twitter are great for current events. On more substantive issues, like the border wall, the President needs to understand that the typical American citizen is filled with political and economic interest and passion, but they are not proportionately filled with political or economic knowledge. That means they are not necessarily able to follow or understand what he might be trying to do. Shifts in positions or rapid advances or retreats on his part can seem random and inexplicable to the average person. At their core, people may very much believe in his agenda and want to support him, but they can start to lose patience or interest if they can’t figure out what he is doing.
Many supporters find themselves wanting to defend the President but not knowing how to do so because they can’t really articulate the purpose of his actions or the plan within which they are undertaken. His communication style evokes passion in people but doesn’t necessarily lead to execution. His words are sometimes like a brilliant locker room speech that sends everyone charging out onto the field inspired, but then realizing when they get out there they don’t know what game they are supposed to be playing.
In his SOTU address, I think he would do well to offer a new “Communication Compact with America.” President Trump could make some sort of pledge to conduct his version of FDR’s fireside chats where he agrees to address the nation regularly to clearly state and explain what he is trying to accomplish and what he needs his supporters to do to help make it happen. The world of social media has nearly killed the complete sentence. It hasn’t killed the need, however, for people to still hear complete sentences.
The President is facing two years where Congress will be hostile and uncooperative. Chaos will reign within elected government. People should be, and need to be, assured in the State of the Union that the President will continuously help them to understand exactly what he is doing and will tell them exactly what they must do to help. Clear expectations need to be set. Citizens need to be asked to help. It is what then-businessman Donald Trump had to do with his company employees. The American people are willing to go to work in the President’s employ, but they need a better understanding of company objectives and their job description.
President Trump needs to let his supporters know that he is going to do a better job of helping them to help him. He is also going to make them better prepared to answer his critics in coffee shops, in the workplace, and on social media.
The President’s communication style is largely what got him elected. It was brilliant. It remains brilliant on many levels. There is need, I believe, to adjust it a bit to help him more effectively govern.
In the State of the Union, he needs to reassure people that he hasn’t forgotten his campaign promises. He should dwell less upon those fulfilled and focus on the ones that remain. He then needs to let people know how he is going to work toward those ends, and tell people how to help him. He needs to promise people that he is going to communicate with more clarity going forward.
Over the centuries, many political philosophers have held many different opinions as to the nature of man and his attendant role in society. One thing that no philosopher of whom I’m aware has ever contended is that people do best in an environment that feels chaotic and disordered. America today feels that way. Many supporters don’t feel comfortable that they know what the President is doing. Too many spend time speculating or auto-completing what they believe are his plans.
This President is the most proven negotiator ever to hold the office. The problem is that it is difficult to negotiate with today’s American progressives. They are a hate-filled bunch anxious to tear down Western Civilization and the United States along with it. The President is at war, and to win a war you need troops who clearly understand the objectives and their orders.
On Tuesday, the President needs to place his hand on the shoulder of the nation, look into its eyes, and say “Don’t worry. We’re going to get through this together. I will lead you. Let me tell you what to do.”
Charlie Kirk is the founder and president of Turning Point USA.
Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo has gained even more fans in the liberal media. Acevedo’s department experienced a nightmare recently when four of his officers were shot on the same day while executing a raid on a drug dealer’s house. The department, the community and the state government all came together in sympathy and support for the brutal attacks, with Governor Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton sending their expressions of support and offering thoughts and prayers for the affected families. (As is the usual practice among civil people.)
This inspired Acevedo to fire back at them, deriding the “thoughts and prayers” comments and issuing calls for new gun control measures. Any time you have a police officer saying something like that, they immediately receive national attention from liberals in the media. This was no exception, and the Washington Post was soon singing his praises.
“WE DON’T elect people to pray for us. We elect people to lead us.” The day after four of his officers were shot while on duty, that is what Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo had to say to politicians who offer up “thoughts and prayers” in the wake of tragic shootings. His scolding of elected officials who do absolutely nothing about the public-health epidemic of gun violence was well earned. It ought to shame Congress into finally enacting some sensible gun safety policies…
“I appreciate your prayers . . . but the question is, what are policymakers willing to do, besides prayers, to address a public-health epidemic?” said Mr. Acevedo.
It’s not the first time the chief, who leads a police department in the fourth-largest city in the United States, has spoken out about the need for gun reform. After 10 people were killed in a school shooting last year in nearby Santa Fe, Tex., he posted a statement on Facebook that said he had “hit rock bottom” with gun rights arguments. His frustration about government inaction was palatable. One of the officers who was shot Monday as he tried to rescue injured colleagues had been shot twice before. But, as Mr. Acevedo painfully pointed out, gun violence doesn’t impact law enforcement only.
Here’s an extra bit of irony for you. Acevedo took to Twitter on the day of the incident and asked people to pray for the officers.
We have had several officers shot please pray for officers on the way to the scene now more information to follow.
The spat over thoughts and prayers isn’t the real issue here. What I’m sure Acevedo knows but isn’t mentioning is the fact that it’s highly unlikely that the guns the two drug dealers who shot the cops were using were purchased legally. When we see high-profile shootings being investigated and the source of the weapons is known, that information is generally released. I’ve checked multiple press reports of this incident, with statements from Acevedo and others in Houston and there’s no mention of where those two men obtained their handguns.
But they were definitely heroin dealers, a fact provided by Houston’s own police who sent an informant there to make a purchase. What are the odds that these two guys in a house where they’re dealing drugs and packing heat were able to pass a background check? As in the lion’s share of cases, these criminals probably bought them on the black market or stole them. And if they were able to pass a background check somehow, then they still would have had the guns anyway.
And if that’s the case, calling for new restrictions on “assault rifles” and extended magazines or conducting more background checks wouldn’t have prevented those officers from being shot. Chief Acevedo should know better and stop playing to the gun control crowd using his own wounded officers as promotional material.
Roger Stone Attorneys Provide Evidence of Justice Department Special Counsel Leak Ahead Of Conservative Author and Activist’s Arrest
Just over a week after his televised arrest was carried exclusively by CNN, attorneys for the longtime Trump adviser Roger Stone have sent a letter to the House and Senate Judiciary Committees detailing how some reporters may have received an early draft copy of the indictment.
Documents obtained exclusively by The Gateway Pundit show a copy of the draft indictment without the PACER filing number or official stamps of the court, with metadata on the document identifying it as being authored by “AAW”, who is suspected to be lead Special Counsel prosecutor Andrew Weissmann.
CNN’s camera crew allegedly arrived at Stone’s residence a whole hour before the raid and CNN’s Sara Murray provided Stone’s attorney with a draft copy of the indictment in an early morning communique to confirm the FBI raid and arrest.
While CNN has spent an entire week claiming their presence at the FBI raid on Stone’s South Florida home was a combination of luck and hard work, this evidence proves that their “source” was indeed the Office of the Special Counsel, who colluded with the notoriously anti-Trump news network to produce a propaganda broadcast of the arrest that is reminiscent of the Nazi era tactics of the Gestapo and propaganda ministry lead by Joseph Goebbels.
Stone’s attorneys are asking both the House and Senate Judiciary Committees to investigate these leaks and provide answers to the American people on how someone could have obtained sealed grand jury indictments.
Here is a copy of the Metadata that shows the copy CNN obtained came from the FBI and not the courts.
Metadata 2
The DC judge in Mr. Stone’s case has claimed that the New York Times bestselling author and political commentator’s vigorous public defense against the sham charges being leveled against him could “taint the jury”, though she has failed to address CNN’s role in Stone’s arrest, or the illegal nature of CNN obtaining a sealed draft indictment.
** Roger Stone spent the past few days in DC for two court appearances and a media blitz to defend his honor. To help Roger fight back against this rogue prosecutor, patriots can visit StoneDefenseFund.com.
I’m going to put this up front, just in case someone decides to misreport what I write: No, the University of New Orleans is not banning Valentine’s Day cards over fears of sexual harassment.
The university’s speech code, however, could include Valentine’s Day cards as evidence of sexual harassment if someone reports they received a “suggestive” card from someone they do not like.
The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education each month highlights the speech code of one university. In February, the organization is highlighting UNO because its broadly worded sexual harassment policy includes and list of examples that include “[s]ending suggestive or obscene letters, notes, or invitations.” Such things may be found on Valentine’s Day cards, and given this country’s current moral panic over sexual assault and sexual harassment, a simple card could leave some lovestruck Lothario – or even a decent guy who misread some signals – on the wrong side of a campus kangaroo court.
[T]he “Prohibiting Discrimination, Harassment, and Retaliation” policy at the University of New Orleans says examples of sexual harassment include “[s]ending suggestive or obscene letters, notes, or invitations,” among other types of conduct. The policy’s list of examples fails to note that individual examples are only punishable when they actually meet the legal standard for peer hostile environment harassment in the educational setting, as set forth by the Supreme Court. As a result, those examples look like they’re prohibited when standing alone, creating a chilling effect on protected expression.
FIRE’s Laura Beltz writes that many colleges and universities write their speech and sexual misconduct policies this way, “providing a definition of harassment (to varying levels of success at tracking that Supreme Court’s harassment standard), but then listing out a multitude of examples that include speech that wouldn’t meet that standard when standing alone.”
Beltz notes that its helpful for schools like UNO to provide examples of what could be considered sexual harassment, but writes that policies must make clear that each example is not “banned across the board and punishable on its own.”
As an example, Beltz points to the University of North Florida, which notes in its policies that individual examples of misconduct could be punishable on its own if severe and pervasive enough, but typically must be part of a larger pattern that meets the school’s definition of harassment.
Good advice for students this Valentine’s Day: Be careful what you write on cards or notes or letters, as what may seem innocuous to one person may seem harmful to another.
The card could be used to punish a student for sexual harassment, even if the card was not intended as such. Being in a committed relationship doesn’t make this any less of a problem, as cards can be saved for future accusations.
We’re living through a moral panic where all it takes is an accusation for someone to be considered a victim. There are many people out there who are socially awkward and may be misreading signals from a potential partner. Be very careful this Valentine’s Day.
Even Twitter’s CEO admits he can’t keep track of his company’s banning policy. Jack Dorsey made a few damning admissions and omissions during his interview with radio host Joe Rogan on February 2. While Rogan has been heavily panned by his fanbase for giving Dorsey “softball” questions, Dorsey has voiced openly contradictory positions on freedom of speech as well as his platform’s policies.
