The State Of The Left, The Intolerant Left, Big Labor Braces For Big Loss

by Gary Bauer, Contributing Author: The State Of The Left - The annual State of the Union address is a chance for the president to highlight his priorities. He does this primarily in his speech, but also symbolically through his choice of guests who sit with the first lady during his remarks. As I noted yesterday, the president has invited advocates of Obamacare, open borders and same-sex marriage to be present at his final State of the Union address.

Members of Congress are getting in on the act too. According to various reports, 20 congressional Democrats are inviting Muslims to attend tonight's State of the Union address to protest what they allege is discrimination toward American Muslims. Reps. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) and Alcee Hastings (D-FL) have invited representatives from CAIR, a group with ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, to be their guests at the Capitol tonight.

Yet, according to FBI statistics, hate crimes against American Muslims have not significantly increased since the 9/11 attacks. But last week, a police officer in Philadelphia was nearly assassinated by a radical Islamist. Last month, 14 Americans were gunned down by two jihadists. Islamic extremism and anti-Semitism are on the rise on U.S. campuses.

But the first instinct among some left-wing members of Congress is to invite Muslims to the State of the Union address in protest of America's alleged bigotry. That tells you a lot about the state of the left in America today.

Kudos to Speaker Paul Ryan for inviting the Little Sisters of the Poor to be his guests tonight.

Obama's Empty Seat - President Barack Obama will deliver his last State of the Union Address tomorrow night. That's something we can applaud. The Obama era is coming to an end!

Obama is expected to trumpet the "progress" his administration has made over the past seven years. In keeping with modern tradition, the White House has invited several guests who are emblematic of that progress to sit with the first lady during the address.

Among those selected for this honor are advocates of Obamacare, the president's immigration amnesty policies and same-sex marriage.

But the president has added a special, symbolic twist to this year's address. There will be an empty seat in the first lady's box representing "the victims of gun violence who no longer have a voice."

Perhaps President Obama's empty seat will inaugurate a new tradition, one that opens a number of possibilities for the next conservative president. For example:

How about an empty seat representing all the babies lost to the violence of abortion who never had a voice?

How about an empty seat for men and women of faith and religious business owners who are rapidly losing the right to voice an opinion in America?

How about an empty seat for police officers killed in the line of duty?

How about empty seat representing the allies around the world that we used to have?

How about an empty seat for the Christian victims of genocide that is taking place in the Middle East?

Ultimately, the seat we want to avoid seeing empty is one representing a dying Judeo-Christian civilization, which is in danger abroad and here at home.

The Intolerant Left - As Barack Obama delivers his last State of the Union address tonight, we can all enjoy waving goodbye to this far left president. But even after Obama is gone, the left will retain a firm grip on many U.S. institutions, including our institutions of higher learning.

On Fox & Friends this morning, Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz, a liberal American Jew, commented about the growing intolerance of the left. Here's what he said:
"In fact, when I was first teaching in the '50s there were attempts to censor speech by Senator McCarthy. The right-wing was trying to censor left-wing speech. Now it's the hard left that's trying to censor . . . conservative speech, Christian speech, pro-Israel speech, you name it.

"And this idea of safe spaces, we have to distinguish between safe spaces for ideas, there should be none, and physically safe places where you're not intimidated or you're not threatened. And Christian speakers, pro-Israel speakers, speakers that are not politically correct today, have their physical safety endangered.

"I know when I speak on college campuses in favor of Israel, I need armed guards protecting me from radical leftist students who would use physical intimidation. They won't give me a safe space. They won't give pro-Israel students a safe space, they won't give Christian students a safe space.

"For example, when a group of Christians who were against abortion said all lives matter . . . they were attacked. They were told to be subject to training, and sensitivity, and the president of Smith College had to apologize for using that term."Professor Dershowitz is right. Whether it was speaking out in defense of unborn babies, in support for the normal meaning of marriage or for a safe and secure Israel, I have been on the receiving end of the left's hate for many years. In the past, armed guards have parked in my driveway 24-hours a day because of threats to our family.

The "tyrants of tolerance" can be incredibly intolerant. Yet, we cannot surrender the field to those who would use the brute force of big government to crush our values and restrict our rights. We must fight back!

Big Labor Bracing For Big Loss - Mandatory union dues faced a skeptical hearing yesterday at the Supreme Court. The justices heard arguments in a case challenging California's law that requires school teachers to pay union dues. The court's four conservatives and Justice Anthony Kennedy appeared ready to strike down the court's 1977 ruling that upheld forced union dues.

If they do, it could have major implications for public sector unions throughout the country. According to the Los Angeles Times, nearly two-dozen "mostly 'blue' states have union-friendly laws requiring" mandatory union dues.

Roughly 40% of union members vote Republican due to foreign policy, values issues or concerns about amnesty and open borders. But unions spend the vast majority of their funds helping to elect left-wing candidates.
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Gary Bauer is is a conservative family values advocate and serves as president of American Values and chairman of the Campaign for Working Families where his articles are also shared.

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