Collusion? Rep. Adam Schiff Met with Fusion GPS Founder Glenn Simpson in Aspen Last July

Rep. Adam Schiff, D-CA, House
Intelligence Committee chairman

by Debra Heine: Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), the new House Intelligence Committee chairman, is facing calls to recuse himself from the Russia investigation after photos emerged of him at an undisclosed meeting (colluding?) with Fusion GPS founder Glenn Simpson, a key figure in the Russia collusion scandal.

Perhaps Schiff should recuse himself from his Potemkin Russian Doll investigation https://t.co/FCVWTtEPK2

— Benjamin Weingarten (@bhweingarten) February 8, 2019

This comes as the Democrat-led committee is massively expanding the Russia probe to include Trump's business dealings.

The photos in question were taken at a prestigious Aspen security conference last July, The Hill's John Solomon reported. They show Schiff wearing a "sport coat and open-neck dress shirt, and Simpson wearing casual attire," according to Solomon, who has seen the pics.

Fusion GPS, which was hired on behalf of the Hillary Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) to find dirt on then-candidate Donald Trump, has a long history of smearing Republicans for profit. In 2012, for instance, Barack Obama's presidential campaign hired Fusion GPS to dig up dirt on Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, as well as his donors, to literally create an enemies list.

During a November 14, 2017, closed-door deposition before the House Intelligence Committee, Simpson said Fusion GPS was originally hired in the fall of 2015 by the Free Beacon to take "an open-ended look at Donald Trump's business career and his litigation history and his relationships with questionable people, how much he was really worth, how he ran his casinos, what kind of performance he had in other lines of work."
Work for the Free Beacon ceased in spring 2016, he said. Fusion GPS was later hired by law firm Perkins Cole, which had been retained by the DNC. "We began to review what we had learned over the previous months and talk about what we would do, you know, now that we would have resources to pursue this - some of these matters further," Simpson said.

"Specific lines of inquiry" into the GOP presidential candidate "were a lot of Mr. Trump's overseas business deals, his history with regard to tax disputes" and labor practices with his clothing line.Simpson hired former British spy Christopher Steele, who compiled the unverified anti-Trump dossier and went on to work closely with the FBI and DOJ official Bruce Ohr before, during, and after the 2016 presidential election. The Steele dossier was used by the FBI to obtain FISA warrants to spy on Trump campaign adviser Carter Page.

After the FBI officially stopped using Steele as a confidential source (because he had leaked to the media), they used then-associate deputy attorney general Ohr as a backchannel to Steele.

As Solomon notes, Simpson was an important witness in the House Intelligence Committee's Russia probe at the time of his encounter with Schiff in Aspen.
And by the time of the meeting, the House Intelligence Committee had already received evidence from a senior Justice Department official, Bruce Ohr, that called into question Simpson’s testimony to lawmakers.

Specifically, Simpson claimed he had not begun meeting with Ohr until after Thanksgiving 2016, well after the FBI had begun investigating Trump-Russia collusion and after the presidential election in which Simpson's client, Clinton, lost to Trump.

But Ohr provided compelling evidence, including calendar notations, testimony and handwritten notes, showing that Simpson met with him in August 2016, well before the election and during a time when Steele was helping the FBI start an investigation into Trump.When asked about the Aspen conference photos, representatives for both men insisted that nothing substantive about the Russia case was discussed.

“In the summer of 2018, Mr. Simpson attended a media-sponsored social event where he exchanged small talk with Rep. Schiff and many other people who were in attendance,” Fusion GPS said in a statement to Solomon. “The conversation between the two was brief and did not cover anything substantive. There has been no subsequent contact between Mr. Simpson and Rep. Schiff.”

Schiff spokesman Patrick Boland said: “The chairman did not have any pre-planned meeting with Glenn Simpson, and any conversation with him at the Aspen conference would have been brief and social in nature.”

One wonders what they talked about. Their grandkids, perhaps? Aspen's beautiful golf courses?

Solomon called the problematic encounter a case of "Forrest Gump-like" serendipity. "This was just a Forrest Gump-like moment in which the Democrats’ chief defender of the dossier and the man whose firm produced it met serendipitously," he writes.
There is nothing illegal or technically improper about a congressman meeting, intentionally or unintentionally, with a witness in an investigation. At least not under the law or the House Intelligence Committee’s rules.

But Schiff created a far higher standard two years ago when he demanded that his Republican counterpart on the committee, then-Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), be investigated for having meetings with national security council officials at the Trump White House without telling the committee. Schiff’s attacks led Nunes to temporarily recuse himself from the Russia probe.

Schiff assailed Nunes’s contacts with a source outside the committee confines as “a dead-of-night excursion” and said it called into question the impartiality of the inquiry because the committee wasn’t informed.“I believe the public cannot have the necessary confidence that matters involving the president’s campaign or transition team can be objectively investigated or overseen by the chairman,” Schiff said at the time.

Fast-forward two years: According to Solomon, Schiff's spokesman declined to say if his boss told the committee about his contact with Simpson. And both GOP and Democratic officials on the panel told Solomon there was no evidence that Schiff informed committee members about his contact with Simpson.

“I don't know if they’re under any obligation to disclose it but, certainly if we were conspiracy theorists the way that my Democrat colleagues appear to be, we could weave an awful tale into that and weave all kinds of nonsense about it,” Rep. Mike Conaway (R-Texas) told Hill.TV.

“Had the tables been turned and I had been seen at a circumstance like that, my guess is [Schiff] would have demanded I had a full conversation as to what I did,” he added.

Nunes was forced to recuse himself from the Russia probe in April 2017 amid ethics accusations, only to return at the end of December 2017 after he was cleared by the ethics investigation.

“It’s interesting that Simpson is at the heart of the dossier and the dossier played a mighty role in not only going after Carter Page but in much of Adam’s and Eric Swalwell’s (D-Calif.) quest to find collusion, that [Schiff] would in fact in that exact same conversation, or time frame, be in conversation or appear to be in conversation with the guy who’s principally responsible for the dossier,” Conaway told The Hill.

Solomon writes: "whatever happened in Aspen won’t stay in Aspen much longer. Expect Republicans in Washington to launch some questions at the House’s new Intelligence Committee chairman."

Republicans should do a lot more than ask questions. They should be pounding the table just like the Democrats would and demand an ethics investigation into Schiff's secret meeting with a key RussiaGate witness. Democrats play hardball. Republicans "launch questions."

And if his contact(s) with Simpson are investigated, Schiff should recuse himself from leading the House Intelligence Committee probe into Trump's finances.

After all, his secret contact with a Democrat opposition researcher whose "specific lines of inquiry" into Trump in 2016 were his overseas business deals calls into question the impartiality of the committee's expanded inquiry into Trump's business deals. The Intelligence committee isn't supposed to be used as an opposition research firm for Democrats.
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Debra Heine is a Catholic, mom of six and long time political pundit. She has written for PJ Media and several blogs including her own, Nice Deb!

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Tags: Debra Heine, PJ Media, Collusion?, Rep. Adam Schiff, Met with Fusion GPS, Founder Glenn Simpson, in Aspen, Last July To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and "Like" Facebook Page - Thanks!

Collusion Delusion, Deal Coming Soon, Divided States Of America, AOC vs. ICE

Gary Bauer

by Gary Bauer, Contributing Author: Collusion Delusion - Senator Richard Burr, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said yesterday that after two years of investigation and testimony from more than 200 witnesses, his committee has found no evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.

Just in case you missed it on the evening news, Burr said:

"If we write a report based upon the facts that we have, then we don't have anything that would suggest there was collusion by the Trump campaign and Russia."

Burr also implied that his investigation would wrap up soon, saying, "We know we're getting to the bottom of the barrel because there are not new questions that we're searching for answers to."

So that gets us back to the motivation of the deep state and why the Obama FBI and Justice Department were spying on the Trump campaign in the first place. Is anyone investigating that?

Deal Coming Soon? Washington is buzzing with rumors that congressional negotiators may be close to a deal on border security. As President Trump said, "We'll see what happens." The devil is always in the details.

And this Washington Post headline tells you everything you need to know: "Congressional Negotiators Narrow Differences To Border Barriers, Detention Beds."

The sticking points have come down to this: Not only are left-wing members of Congress resisting effective barriers at the border, they are also demanding less money for beds at detention centers. The Post writes, "Democrats are trying to limit the Trump administration's ability to detain border crossers."

It wasn't that long ago when Democrats were outraged to find that illegal immigrants were forced to sleep on floors at our overrun detention facilities. They claimed the conditions were "cruel and inhumane." Yet now they refuse to fund more beds?

Think of what that combination means: Democrats want illegal immigrants to pour into the country and they want the government to be unable to detain them.

In other words, Democrats are trying to force Trump to reinstate the failed "catch and release" policy -- a de facto amnesty that allowed illegal immigrants to disappear into the interior of the country.

There is only one logical conclusion: The left is using the battle over the border to demographically and ideologically transform the country. They want to let in millions of people who will demand big government socialism and who are also vulnerable to the identity politics that now consumes the left. (More on that below.)

If they can do those two things, the Republican Party and conservatism are doomed. It could not be more obvious. Yet I seriously doubt whether a majority of elected Republicans understand this.

By the way, any Republican congressmen still fretting about a national emergency declaration at the border should consider the testimony of Admiral Craig Faller, head of U.S. Southern Command.

He warned yesterday that ISIS, Al-Qaeda and Hezbollah are all active in Latin America and looking for ways to exploit established drug and human trafficking routes.

The Divided States of America - Former Georgia State Representative Stacy Abrams had an article published recently in the prestigious journal Foreign Affairs. She lost her race for governor by more than 50,000 votes and acted like she was cheated.

I'm still scratching my head over how Abrams, a political loser, is seen as such a rising star that she was selected for the honor of delivering the State of the Union response. But the topic of her Foreign Affairs column, entitled "Identity Politics Strengthens Democracy," is even more bizarre.

As the title implies, it's identity politics on steroids. It's a total rejection of E Pluribus Unum -- from many one. Rather than uniting us, the left seeks to highlight differences and exploit divisions.

In her column, Abrams calls for all the disposed and "marginalized" groups of society -- minorities, immigrants, LGBTQ, and Native Americans -- to unite and "revolt" politically against, well Abrams doesn't exactly say against who or what. But it is obvious by who was excluded from her list.

Abrams insists that "By embracing identity . . . Americans will become more likely to grow as one." As Tucker Carlson put it: "Ponder that for a second, the less we have in common, the more united we will be. Is that true?"

I don't think so. And I also think that Martin Luther King would be weeping if he were alive today. Dr. King wanted black Americans to be treated as equals so that race-based analyses and identity politics would end, so that we would see past race and see only individuals. Today's left is rejecting Dr. King's legacy.

Green Deal Gone - As we told you, socialist Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez unveiled her "Green New Deal" yesterday. It immediately came under withering attack, and disappeared from her website late last night.

She is also struggling to get her story straight. She told Nancy Pelosi Radio, I mean National Public Radio, that her plan was a massive government intervention in the economy. But hours later, she told MSNBC that it wasn't.

We are in a battle for the heart and soul of our country right now. Tuesday night, President Trump felt compelled to declare that he would do everything he could to prevent America from becoming a socialist country.

And that is exactly what is at stake. Medicare for All. Seventy percent tax rates. The Green New Deal. It's all about a socialist transformation of America.

AOC vs. ICE After unveiling her ten-year plan to seize control of the economy under the guise of saving the planet, Ocasio-Cortez joined fellow radicals Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib at a press conference yesterday attacking ICE and American sovereignty.

She insisted ICE should be defunded, saying: "An agency like ICE, which repeatedly and systematically violates human rights, does not deserve a dime. . . They do not deserve any resources for their radical agenda."

ICE's "radical agenda" is catching and deporting criminal aliens. Last year, ICE removed more than 158,000 criminal aliens. Among them, they had:
1,641 homicide convictions.

1,294 kidnapping convictions.

3,740 sexual assault convictions.

More than 54,000 DUI convictions.

More than 55,000 dangerous drug offense convictions.Think about this irony: Conservatives do not want to fund Planned Parenthood because it destroys innocent unborn lives. But so-called "progressives" do not want to fund ICE because it deports killers, rapists and drug dealers.

Ocasio-Cortez also clearly stated her support for open borders and appeared to reject U.S. sovereignty, declaring that our immigration laws should not apply to illegal immigrants from Latin America due to a "right of human mobility" across borders.

"We are standing on Native land, and Latino people are descendants of Native people," Ocasio-Cortez said. "And we cannot be . . . criminalized simply for our identity and our status."

Now that's radical!
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Gary Bauer is a conservative family values advocate and serves as president of American Values and chairman of the Campaign for Working Families

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House Plans To Vote On Universal Background Checks Next Week

Nancy Pelosi, aka Anti-2nd Amendment Activist

by Tom Knighton: Democrats are eager.

For the first time in ages, they feel like they have a chance to push through some gun control and they’re not going to wait around to do it. In fact, they have plans to vote next week.

The U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee will take up legislation next week that would require universal background checks for gun buyers, the panel’s Democratic chairman said on Thursday.

The panel will mark up the bill, known as the Bipartisan Background Checks Act, on Feb. 13 and send it to the House floor for a vote, committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler told a news conference. The legislation has 230 House co-sponsors, including five Republicans.

“It’s finally time for action in Congress,” Nadler said. “This bill will close the loopholes that have allowed felons, domestic violence abusers and other prohibited persons to purchase guns through private sales.”

The bill would require background checks for all firearm sales and most firearm transfers. The legislation would likely pass the Democratic-controlled House. But there are no signs that it would succeed in the Republican-led Senate.That’s because the Senate knows a few things that the House doesn’t.

For one, it knows that criminals buy their guns on the black market, not through otherwise legal transfers. As such, a universal background check bill won’t change anything about criminal behavior.

For another, they know that a universal background check system is unenforceable unless you know who has what to begin with. As it stands, even if this bill somehow passed, there’s no way to stop Joe from selling a gun to Bob without a background check. Further, it would be impossible for anyone to tell when Joe sold it to Bob, meaning they wouldn’t know if it were before the effective date of such a law or after.

In other words, the entire bill is a freaking waste of time.

Then again, it’s not like any other gun control measure has managed to keep criminals from getting guns, now have they? Not one bit.

Making matters worse is that Democrats know damn good and well these bills won’t get passed in the Senate. They know it, and they’re doing this anyway. Why? Simple. They’re grandstanding. They’re making a big show of introducing bills that they know won’t pass so they don’t have to live with the ramifications of their passage.

Honestly, it’s no different than when Republicans kept passing bills to repeal Obamacare when they held the House and Democrats held the Senate. They knew it wouldn’t go anywhere, but they did it anyway. Then, when they could pass the laws and get them signed into law, what happened? Not a whole lot.

This is pretty much the same thing. Democrats will pass these bills to signal to their base that they’re fighting, but they know nothing will happen.

The difference is, if they get control of the Senate and the White House, I believe they’d pass these same bills and turn them into law. I guess that means we all need to work to make sure anti-gun politicians don’t get in office, don’t we?
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Tom Knighton is a Navy veteran, a former newspaperman, a novelist, and a blogger at Bearing Arms. He lives with his family in Southwest Georgia.

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Work Requirements Are Working in Arkansas

by Nick Horton: Today, the food stamp program is one of the largest welfare programs in the federal budget. And of the nearly 40 million people enrolled, 20 million of them are able-bodied adults. This surging enrollment has led to record-high spending, topping out at nearly $80 billion just a few years ago.

The good news is that there’s a proven way to reduce dependency and improve lives at the same time: work requirements. And one state is showing once again just how effective work requirements can be, as detailed in a brand new study from the Foundation for Government Accountability (FGA).

In 2015, as one of his first major policy moves as governor, Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson instructed his welfare agency to let the state’s work requirement waiver expire. Under federal law, able-bodied adults without dependents are expected to work, train, or volunteer at least part-time if they want to receive food stamps. But until Governor Hutchinson took office, Arkansas had never enforced this requirement statewide.

Starting in January 2016, that changed. Able-bodied, childless adults would be expected to work part-time if they wanted to stay on food stamps. Here’s what happened.

First, enrollment dropped by 70 percent within a year.

As soon as the requirement was in place, childless adults started dropping off the rolls. Within three months, more than 8,000 had left the food stamp program. And within a year, enrollment dropped by a whopping 70 percent.

This is good news because ultimately, every dollar spent on these able-bodied adults is a dollar that can’t go to truly needy Arkansans. Freeing up these resources means there’s more money for the truly needy, education, and public safety.

Second, state revenue increased, and taxpayers saved big.

After Arkansas’ welfare reform, able-bodied adults went back to work and contributed an estimated $1.7 million in income taxes—an increase of more than 454 percent. Within two years, they were contributing $2.3 million, more than seven times the amount when they were still on welfare.

Even better, taxpayers are saving an estimated $28 million per year because of the program’s lower caseloads, which means more money that can go to help the truly needy.

Third, enrollees’ incomes tripled on average, more than offsetting lost benefits.

Arkansans who left welfare saw their wages more than triple within the first two years, more than offsetting their food stamp benefits and leaving them better off than they were before.

The results out of Arkansas—which are consistent with results in Kansas and Maine—are instructive for policymakers everywhere. If policymakers are serious about reducing dependency and improving lives, work requirements are the obvious answer. And voters overwhelmingly agree.

But here’s the problem: a lot of states have used gimmicks and loopholes to obtain work requirement waivers, exempting many or all able-bodied adults from commonsense requirements. This is robbing resources from the truly needy and robbing able-bodied adults of better lives.

Thankfully, the Trump administration is working to crack down on this waiver abuse and make sure more Americans have the opportunity they deserve. But states can and should help by making sure able-bodied adults, across all welfare programs—including Medicaid—get the hand up they need.

Because with record-low unemployment and over seven million open jobs, there has never been a better time to get Americans back to work.
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Nicholas Horton lives in central Arkansas and is a Senior Research Fellow at the Foundation for Government Accountability. And shared articles with numerous publicans including Townhall.

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Why Many Americans are Praying for Trump

Lloyd Marcus

by Lloyd Marcus: Extremely respectful and supportive of Islam, Obama was more hostile to Christianity than any other U.S. president.

With the election of president Trump, prayer has made a striking comeback in the political arena. Everywhere I turn, I hear people asking fellow Americans to pray for our president. During a conference call, V.P. Mike Pence asked religious leaders to pray for president Trump. President Trump humbly asked for our prayers. "Trump Prayer Warriors" is one of several Facebook groups advocating praying for our president. Christian leaders contributed prayers to a book titled Prayers for the President. Why are so many Americans feeling an urgent need to pray for our president and country?

Mainstream media seek to convince us that a majority of Americans embrace their anti-Christian anything-goes-sexually agenda. The truth is, millions of Americans are disturbed by our nation's cultural and moral decline. A growing number of TV commercials selling everything from milk to phone services interject homosexuality. I told my wife, "Next they will have men kissing." Thirty minutes later, a Diet Coke TV commercial featured two men kissing in a cab.

With every new TV drama and sitcom, the question is, in which episode will the show promote homosexuality? LGBTQ are only 3% of the population. Why is there such an intense, relentless push to shove homosexuality into our faces?

While babysitting, my brother overheard the kid video his grandson was watching talk about having two daddies. The video promoted homosexual parents. My brother discarded the DVD.

Some say, Lloyd, get over it. The LGBTQ agenda is the new normal. Why don't you accept it and move on? Every time we allow ourselves to become desensitized to a deviance, Democrats introduce another more evil. Who could imagine that Democrats would seek to legalize pedophilia and murdering babies even after they are born?

Our nation was shocked when Democrats in New York responded with a standing ovation to passing a bill to kill babies even on the date of birth. Virginia's Democrat governor, Ralph Northam, kicked Democrats' evil up to a new extreme by defending a bill to murder babies after birth.

Rather than backing away from this demonic idea, other Democrat states are pushing to pass laws to murder babies on their birth dates.

In a sane world, how could these evil people get elected? Rush Limbaugh theorizes that because Democrats fear the overturn of Roe v. Wade, they seek to kill as many babies as possible.

For years, Planned Parenthood claimed that abortion is okay because they are only removing an unviable tissue mass, not a baby. Technology confirms that it is a baby. "I knew you before I formed you in your mother's womb" (Jeremiah 1:5).

Planned Parenthood now says it does not matter that it's a baby. A mother has a moral right to abort her baby for any reason she deems necessary before or after birth. Here is a link to a brief video of an abortion doctor explaining to Congress, in graphic detail, the procedure he used to perform second-trimester D&E abortions. Anyone not extremely disturbed by this video is spiritually ill. Democrats desiring to murder born alive babies is a whole new level of satanic evil.

Speaking of Democrats rising to new levels of evil, Democrats are pushing to legalize pedophilia. Tom Delay exposed an Obama DOJ secret memo that included pedophilia on a list of 12 perversions it planned to legalize.

Big Mouth on Netflix is an insidiously evil animated cartoon to sexualize teens going through puberty. The show features boys and girls masturbating and talking to their genitalia. One scene has a boy's father telling him it is okay to kiss another man's penis. Despite public outrage over the show's pedophilia, Netflix has signed on for season three of Big Mouth.

A film on Netflix titled Desire features play between two girls under ten years old that becomes sexual. Again, public outrage availed nothing.

Leftists (Democrats) claim that pedophilia is a sexual orientation that society should accept. They will argue that opposing pedophilia is bigotry. They plan to keep forcing pedophilia upon us until we become desensitized or give up pushing back against it. Their narrative is that pedophilia is simply another form of love. Who can argue against love? How many Christians will be deceived into embracing pedophilia, believing that it is what Jesus would do?

"But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to fall away – it would be better for him if a heavy millstone were hung around his neck and he were drowned in the depths of the sea" (Matthew 18:6).

The LGBTQ agenda has progressed from supposedly only seeking tolerance to destroying and jailing anyone who does not bow down in worship to their lifestyle.

Americans are beginning to comprehend mainstream media's unprecedented intense hatred for Trump and his voters. They see fake news media's 24-7 lies to stop Trump's America first agenda and to remove him from office. Even some in Trump's own party are colluding with his enemies.

Americans realize that Trump is the only wall between We the People and leftists' anti-Christian, anti-American, and anti-morality tyranny.

Only almighty God can protect Trump. This is why so many Americans feel divinely led to pray for president Trump. Please keep our president in your prayers.
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Lloyd Marcus (@LloydMarcus) is an "Unhyphenated American" and an internationally renowned conservative columnist, singer/songwriter and author. He is Chairman of the Conservative Campaign Committee Political Action Committee. He is a prominent voice of the American Tea Party movement and the singer/songwriter of the ”American Tea Party Anthem.” Marcus has been on Fox News, CNN, PJTV and more.

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Trump's Surprisingly Reflective and Disciplined State of the Union

Michael Barone

by Michael Barone: "This year," President Trump stated in his widely viewed and positively rated State of the Union address, "America will recognize two important anniversaries that show us the majesty of America's mission and the power of American pride."

"On D-Day, June 6, 1944, 15,000 young American men jumped from the sky, and 60,000 more stormed in from the sea," he said. And in July 1969, "brave young pilots flew a quarter of a million miles through space to plant the American flag on the face of the moon."

None of the commentators I've seen have questioned why Trump chose to spotlight these events. He is not usually given to historical references; his trademark slogan is vague about just when American was great. Celebrating others' past achievements has not been his thing. But beginning the speech by celebrating these two American triumphs provided a shrewd framing with the potential to elevate his image.

Trump has obviously paid heed to the political numbers that show him likely to lose the next election. He got 46 percent of the popular vote in 2016 and won because he threaded several needles to win enough electoral votes.

His job approval is now down to 41 percent, and in November, his party lost 40 House seats, almost all in affluent, high-education districts. Losses were especially great among upscale women, hence his generous salute to the increasing number of (mostly Democratic) women in Congress.

But that came later in the speech. The larger point made at the beginning, underlined by the appearance of three D-Day veterans and astronaut Buzz Aldrin, was a refutation, without specific mention, of an argument that underlies so much of the upscale loathing of Trump and his politics.

That is the idea -- call it the cosmopolitan argument -- that nationalism is always bad, a primitive and unsophisticated bias in favor of the home team, a short step (if that) from Nazism. The argument is attractive to many because it makes them feel more sophisticated than the rubes who always praise America.

But the argument is weak, if you know more history. "I ask you to join with me in prayer," then-President Franklin Roosevelt said in his fireside radio chat on the evening of D-Day. "Almighty God: Our sons, pride of our Nation, this day have set upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our Republic, our religion and our civilization, and to set free a suffering humanity."

Yes, it's nationalism and a prayer; Roosevelt mentioned allies only in passing. Trump underscored Roosevelt's assertion that American nationalism is for the good by introducing (and leading the singing of "Happy Birthday" for) 81-year-old Holocaust survivor Judah Samet. As Trump explained: "Judah says he can still remember the exact moment ... when he and his family were put on a train and told they were going to another camp. Suddenly the train screeched to a halt. A soldier appeared. Judah's family braced for the worst. Then, his father cried out with joy, 'It's the Americans!'"

Today, Trump argued, American nationalism continues to be benign, whether it's trying to stop Iran's nuclear and genocidal ambitions by withdrawing from the Obama nuclear deal, or seeking, while deftly following up on Latin nations' initiatives, to oust the disastrous Maduro dictatorship in Venezuela.

This State of the Union can also be seen as a refutation of the identity politics conceit that white cisgender males are inevitably the villains of history, ever ready to oppress women and people of color, and that virtue inheres only in their intended victims.

That just doesn't compute when you watch Trump's salute of SWAT Officer Timothy Matson, who "raced into the gunfire and was shot seven times" at the Tree of Life Synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh and brought down the hateful murderer.

There was less emphasis on divisive issues -- the border "barrier," as Trump has taken to calling it, and abortion -- than many predicted. On these, Democrats are at risk of getting out on flimsy limbs.

The state legislation that abortion-rights groups passed in New York and pushed in Virginia legalizes and would legalize abortions up to, and apparently after, birth -- not a majority view, to say the least. And House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's argument that border walls are "immoral" may not be sustainable if it segues into a case for open borders.

Absent from Trump's speech was the note of contempt for those with different views that is typical of many of his tweets. Instead, he moved from his opening positive framework to celebrate his accomplishments and assert his views without disparaging others.

That suggests he approached this speech with deeper reflection and more self-discipline than usual. Will that continue?
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Michael Barone is a Senior Political Analyst for the Washington Examiner and a Resident Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a Fox News Channel  and co-author of The Almanac of American Politics Shared by Rasmussen Reports.

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Tags: Michael Barone, editorial, Rasmussen Reports, President Trump, Reflective and Disciplined, State of the Union To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and "Like" Facebook Page - Thanks!

Stop Medieval Diseases With A Medieval Wall . . .

. . . How the legalization of illegal migration and homelessness is leading to a new wave of disease outbreaks.

by Daniel Greenfield: The media recently reported that Los Angeles County’s ongoing typhus epidemic had infected Deputy City Attorney Liz Greenwood.

"Who gets typhus? It's a medieval disease that's caused by trash,” she wondered.

Greenwood is partially correct. The typhus outbreak, like the hepatitis outbreak, was directly caused by social justice policies that legalized public vagrancy, and leaving trash and human waste on sidewalks. The piles of trash, human waste and people combine to create horrifying diseased conditions. Before Greenwood, many Los Angeles patients who had been diagnosed with typhus were indeed homeless.

"There are rats in City Hall and City Hall East," she complained. "There are enormous rats and their tails are as long as their bodies."

The rats are a problem, but the fleas that carry the virus that Greenwood has can live on a variety of animals, including stray cats and possums. That’s why the typhus outbreak isn’t just happening in Skid Row, but has spread to Long Beach and Pasadena. And while the homeless encampments act as incubators for the disease, it’s not the only social justice policy spreading disease across America.

Or at least in California and Texas.

“It’s never been considered a very common disease,” Peter Hotez, the dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, noted, “but we seem to see it more frequently. And it seems to be extending across from Southern California all along the Mexican border into southeastern Texas and then into the Gulf Coast in Florida.”

America never had much of a history of typhus, but Mexico did. And our brief episodes of typhus invariably involved immigrants and migrants carrying the disease from Europe or Mexico.

The first outbreak of the disease in this hemisphere occurred in Mexico back in the 17th century and there have been 22 major outbreaks since then, caused in part by refugees and crowded conditions. Typhus was so associated with Mexico that it was even known as Tabardillo or Mexican typhus fever. There was extensive debate as to whether Mexican typhus was different than European typhus.

The first case of typhus in southern California was linked to Mexican refugees.

Dr. L.M. Powers, a Los Angeles physician, was the first to spot it. "The first recognized and recorded cases of typhus fever in southern California occurred in the summer of 1916, when many Mexicans came to this section during a civil war in their own country," he wrote in a paper published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The first victim of typhus had visited El Paso. Dr. Powers linked many other typhus cases in Los Angeles to Mexico. Historical records show that these cases involved migrants and Mexican railway workers.

In saner times, American authorities understood the problem and took common sense measures to fight the spread of the disease. The rise of typhus cases in California a century ago led to a campaign that included the delousing of anyone coming into the United States from certain parts of Mexico. Leftists have revisited this history in recent years to make obscene analogies to Holocaust gas chambers.

But despite the insistence that disinfection stations were motivated by racism, rather than real fear of the disease, the 67 typhus cases in El Paso make it very clear that there was a real problem.

El Paso’s efforts to keep out typhus were touched off by the death of Dr. W. C. Kluttz, who spotted the disease in the Mexican refugees that he was treating, before becoming infected and dying of it.

Dr. Kluttz was far from the only medical professional who lost his life to the disease. Dr. Howard Taylor Ricketts, the brilliant pathologist after whom Rickettsia, the genome that causes typhus is named, died while trying to isolate typhus in Mexico City at the request of the Mexican government.

At Dr. Kluttz's funeral, El Paso's Mayor Lea called for "a strong federally enforced quarantine here that would effectively stop the entrance into this country of disease-bearing persons from south of the Rio Grande."

The ambitious 2,000 mile quarantine ultimately proved to be a success, preventing Mexico’s typhus outbreaks from spreading into the United States. But it also claimed a toll with at least one inspector, David M. White, conducting disinfection procedures, contracting typhus and dying of the disease.

Illegal migrants seeking to bypass the quarantine however spread the disease in unlikely places.

A 1921 outbreak of typhus on a Navajo reservation was attributed to it being on a “pathway for itinerant laborers.” That particular outbreak appears to have killed 27 Navajo Indians.

The quarantine is history and typhus cases continue to rise in border states.

Texas saw a surge of typhus cases between 2008 and 2016. And the cases have been heavily concentrated in counties with high illegal populations. But officials insist on blaming ‘global warming’.

The number of typhus cases rose from 30 in 2003 to 519 in 2017. Hidalgo County had the highest incidence with 99 cases. Hidalgo County contains 6% of the state’s illegal alien population. Harris County has the second highest rate with 71 typhus cases and contains 24% of the state’s illegal alien population. Hidalgo has some of the youngest and newest illegal alien arrivals which may account for its high typhus infection rates.

Bexar County, with 59 typhus cases, the fourth highest rate of infections, hosts 4% of Texas illegals.

Typhus had fallen off the radar in the United States. It had been delisted by the CDC in 1994. And then it made a comeback in the middle nineties. Los Angeles saw a rise in the number of typhus cases in 1996 around the same time as futile efforts were being launched to fight the plague of illegal migration.

Now the situation has worsened. And it will only keep getting worse.

Like superstitious dark age types, leftists insist on blaming the typhus outbreaks on global warming, caused by an angry ‘Mother Earth’ rather than on the very real spread of disease by people. Instead of preventing the spread of disease, they insist that we must repent for our crimes against the environment, and recycle more, and then the earth will cool and the typhus outbreak will stop.

This denial of basic scientific facts is at the root of the typhus outbreak. Raising taxes in a bizarre scheme to change the weather is a bizarre folly that will do absolutely nothing to stop the spread of typhus.

The legalization of illegal migration and homelessness, is leading to a new wave of disease outbreaks.

Epidemiology shows us that typhus flares up in border counties and areas with large illegal alien populations. From there, it takes root in poor areas with bad hygiene. Fleas carried by rats, possums and cats can then pass on the disease to people who would have never expected to come down with it.

We know how to stop typhus. It begins with ending public vagrancy and illegal migration.

The Los Angeles Deputy City Attorney called typhus a “medieval disease”. Senator Kamala Harris of California ridiculed President Trump’s proposal for a border wall as “medieval”. California Rep. Harley Rouda urged Trump to “give up on the outdated notion of building a wall from medieval times.”

Rouda represents parts of Orange County. The O.C. had 15 typhus cases last year.

If you want to stop a medieval disease, you might want to start with a medieval wall.
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Daniel Greenfield is Shillman Journalism Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center and a New York writer focuses on radical Islam and the radical left. David Horowitz is a Contributing Author of the ARRA News Service

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White Wing Extremist . . .

. . . Democrat women, When you wear White it shows everything, like revenge politics, infanticide, socialism, national election fraud etc.

Editorial Cartoon by AF "Tony" Branco

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There is Something Demonic Happening in the Democrat Party

There is something demonic
happening within the
ranks of the Democrats.

by Todd Starnes: I was honored to be among those Americans selected to sit in the House gallery at the State of the Union address Tuesday night. I was a guest of Rep. Jody Hice, a Republican congressman from Georgia.

It was one of those uniquely American moments – where strangers sat together – many of opposing political views – united under the belief that we are a free people, one nation – under God.

My seatmate was a Democrat from Illinois. She runs a non-profit food pantry in Aurora. We found common ground by talking about food – the belief that no American should ever have to go to bed hungry.

Also in my section was an investment guy from the Silicon Valley and a Packers fan from Wisconsin – and a decorated Army Ranger from Texas. He was gracious as all of us shook his hand and thanked him for his service.

Rep. Mike Levin, D-Calif., acknowledged that he had invited an illegal immigrant to attend the SOTU. She had been an intern on his campaign in 2018.

The congressman could have selected a law-abiding, American taxpayer to watch the SOTU but instead, he chose someone who does not even legally belong in the country. What made that person so special?

As near as I could tell there were not too many fans of President Trump sitting in my section of the gallery. More than once I was the only person giving the president a standing ovation. And I might have triggered a few microaggressions when I hollered, “Amen!” when the president delivered a passionate defense of the unborn and newborn.

He used graphic language to call out New York lawmakers who passed a law allowing mothers to abort their babies in the birth canal.

“Lawmakers in New York cheered with delight upon the passage of legislation that would allow a baby to be ripped from the mother’s womb moments before birth,” the president said. “These are living, feeling, beautiful babies who will never get the chance to share their love and dreams with the world.”

He went on to publicly shame Virginia Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam for affirming “that he would execute a baby after birth.”

“To defend the dignity of every person, I am asking the Congress to pass legislation to prohibit the late-term abortion of children who can feel pain in the mother’s womb. Let us work together to build a culture that cherishes innocent life. And let us reaffirm a fundamental truth – all children – born and unborn – are made in the holy image of God.”

The Republicans rose with a mighty force and roared their affirmation of the president’s remarks. It was, in my estimation, the most passionate and emotional moment of the evening.

But the reaction from Democrats was stunning albeit predictable. They refused to stand in agreement that newborn children deserve the right to live.

There they sat for the nation to see – many dressed in white – as they sat stone-faced in their seats.

A few days ago I caused a bit of an uproar when I said on “Fox News at Night” that there was an evil in the Democratic Party. After what I saw on Tuesday night — I absolutely stand by those words. There is something demonic happening within the ranks of the Democrats.

Perhaps they should consider swapping their white dresses and cloaks for sackcloth and ashes.
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Todd Starnes (@toddstarnes) is A Christian Conservative, the host of Fox News & Commentary and heard daily on 250+ radio stations and on his iTune podcasts.

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Test of Humanity

by Paul Jacob, Contributing Author: It has been a big week for socialism — or, rather, anti-socialism.

The high point was probably President Trump’s State of the Union Address, in which he opposed not only the murderous, ruinous regime in Venezuela, but also the rising tide of socialism in the Democratic Congress — with Senator Sourface, er, Bernie Sanders, trying not to explode as he heard that taboo word “free” applied to America . . . not goodies.

Meanwhile, Panera Bread announced, The Blaze reports, that it is closing “its last pay-what-you-can restaurant, located in Boston, on Feb. 15.”

“Panera Cares” was, it appears, “initially created to serve food to low-income people nine years ago in 2010,” but sure seemed to be itching to prove a sort of post-capitalist point. The company’s founder, Ron Shaich, said that “the program’s aim was a ‘test of humanity.’”

More like a test of gullibility.

No branch of the “experiment” ever ran in the black. Like experiments in society-wide socialism, it relied upon subsidy to carry on — but unlike in socialism, Panera could not force people to cough up the dough needed to keep it going.

Once upon a time, the great economist Vilfredo Pareto, during a lecture, was repeatedly interrupted by one Gustav von Schmoller, who denied that economists had discovered any enduring principles, especially ones that would undermine his beloved socialism. So Pareto dressed down as a bum and approached Schmoller on the streets, inquiring about a restaurant that served meals for free. When Schmoller told him that there were only cheap, but no free meals, at restaurants, Pareto stood up with the ultimate gotcha:

“So there are laws in economics!”

Socialism fails reality’s test.

Humanity has not failed socialism’s.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
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Paul Jacob is author of Common Sense which provides daily commentary about the issues impacting America and about the citizens who are doing something about them. He is also President of the Liberty Initiative Fund (LIFe) as well as Citizens in Charge Foundation. Jacob is a contributing author on the ARRA News Service.

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Trump Admin. Should Reject $3.7 Billion Loan To Japanese-owned Company

. . . For Florida Higher-speed Rail Project Operating On Mexican Company-owned Line

by Robert Romano: The Department of Transportation could be on the verge of approving a $3.7 billion Railroad Rehabilitation & Improvement Financing (RRIF) low-cost loan to Virgin Trains USA, owned by the $100 billion market cap SoftBank Group based in Tokyo, to build a higher-speed train project on a freight rail line in eastern Florida owned by Grupo Mexico.

The project would expand Virgin Trains USA from southeast Florida, currently operating between West Palm Beach and Miami, all the way to Orlando. Future phases include Orlando to Tampa and up the eastern coast to Jacksonville.

The RRIF Loan would be more money than the Trump administration has received from Congress to date to build the southern border wall and that was only $1.6 billion to repair existing fencing. It would also be the largest RRIF loan in Department of Transportation history, beating out Amtrak’s $2.45 billion loan in 2016.

Virgin Trains USA has already raised $1.2 billion in private equity from Fortress Investment Group, which Japan-based SoftBank Group bought in 2017.

The Virgin Trains USA (formerly Brightline) project has been approved by the Build America Bureau (also run by the Department of Transportation) for $1.75 billion of tax-exempt private activity bonds, $600 million for phase one and $1.15 billion for phase two to Orlando.

In addition, Virgin Trains USA has an initial public offering on Nasdaq planned for Feb. 13 for another $619 million.

So, what does it need more Department of Transportation funds for? This is a multibillion project owned by the same company, SoftBank Group, which owns Sprint, even has a 30 percent stake in Alibaba and could just issue its own bonds to cover the costs of the project, were it so inclined.

This is to say nothing of Grupo Mexico which will be the other net beneficiary of the public funds as Virgin Trains USA will be paying for the right of way on the tracks. Essentially, Grupo Mexico is getting a free track out of the deal and double the freight capacity.

This is the definition of crony capitalism, where private companies that can afford to sustain themselves nonetheless come to taxpayers looking for grants or low-cost loans to mitigate their risk. Low interest federal loans and tax-free Private Activity Bonds are taxpayer subsidized financing schemes which, if Virgin Trains USA projections are accurate, mean cash in the pockets of foreign corporations.

In the meantime, the project has not been fully vetted by the state of Florida, which does not even have state regulations governing higher-speed rail (trains going 80-125 mph), according to the Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability (OPPAGA), a research arm of the Florida legislature. The Office contracted an independent, international transportation consulting firm, CPCS, to conduct the study.

The OPPAGA study, notes the gap in regulations, stating, “While the Federal Railroad Administration and the Florida Department of Transportation have in place regulations for conventional (up to 80mph) and high-speed (126 mph to 220 mph)rail, neither agency has developed additional regulations that are specific to higher-speed rail (81mph to 125mph).” Meaning, what Virgin Trains USA is building may not meet the safety regulations Florida ultimately comes up with. Shouldn’t Florida develop its regulations before the project is funded partially using taxpayer dollars?

Making matters worse, according to a Dec. 13, 2018 letter from U.S. Rep. Bill Posey (R-Fla.) and U.S. Rep. Brian Mast (R-Fla.) to Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, “since the AAF-Virgin high speed train began testing and operating the South Florida portion of its line last year, ten fatalities and multiple accidents have already been reported.” That number is now up to 14 fatalities.

Other possible impacts to Virgin Trains USA financing include two lawsuits currently in the courts. One group of challenges by Indian River County now at the appellate level of federal court questions the validity of the Department of Transportation approving the Private Activity Bonds and whether the National Environmental Protection Act requirements are being met. Indian River County also has a local suit challenging Virgin Trains USA’s ability to require local taxpayers to pay for crossing upgrades and equipment maintenance for the new service.

Given the safety concerns, it’s a wonder the Florida Department of Transportation did not fully consider an alternate route for the rail project away from densely populated areas with fewer road crossings, such as the one suggested by a 2010 Economic Development Research Group, Inc.-Siemens study on behalf of the U.S. Conference of Mayors that would have run along a coastal bypass route of the Florida Turnpike (Phase 2, Option 2 below).

Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning questioned the project in a statement, asking, “Why in the world would the Trump administration even consider the largest RRIF loan in history for a project that not only endangers lives but is overwhelmingly opposed by the people who would be directly impacted by it?”

Manning urged the Trump administration to reject the project, concluding, “Limited government means ending crony capitalism and the Trump administration needs to just say no to the lobbyists trying to reach into the taxpayers’ pockets.”
---------------
Robert Romano is the Vice President of Public Policy at Americans for Limited Government.

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For Reagan's Birthday, Commit To Redefeating Socialism

Michael Reagan

by Michael Reagan: My father was born over a century ago in a small, second floor apartment on the main thoroughfare of Tampico, Ill. The town’s population in 1911 was little more than 800, and my grandfather worked at the variety store across the street.

These were humble beginnings for a man who so profoundly altered the course of human history. What made such a rise possible were firm beliefs that he spent his life championing. The view that each human is an individual; a respect for law; the vigilant defense of traditions; an understanding that man’s rights are not a gift from government, but from God; and that the state serves the citizen, never the other way around.

Societies guided and governed by these ideals flourish. The men and women living in them can fulfill their destinies as they please and climb as high as their efforts allow. We call this philosophy conservatism. When my father first addressed Conservative Political Action Conference as president of the United States in the winter of 1981, it was the underpinning of a revolutionary political movement.

What was radical in 1964 and 1980 is, today, widely accepted. To be sure, the indifference and intolerance toward the proponents of limited government my father mentioned at CPAC endures. But today it is found in cultural outposts far from where the vast majority of Americans work, pray, and raise their families.

When my father addressed CPAC in 1981, it was as a newly minted president; the great experiment of whether conservatism was a viable governing philosophy was just beginning. In the decades since, conservatives have regularly held majorities in the federal and state legislatures, they have repeatedly sat in governors’ offices, and three of the five men who followed my father into the White House were conservatives. The two who were not conservatives still paid lip service to limited government, and one even feigned admiration for my father.

Over time, the lonely walk begun by Barry Goldwater, the editors of National Review, and most definitely the American Conservative Union, became a march of millions.

Conservatism’s victories were not limited to America’s elections. When he spoke to CPAC in 1981, my father took aim at international adversaries; those “who preach the supremacy of the state,” the evil empire propped up on the “Marxist vision of man without God.” That night, he predicted it would be viewed by history as a “false faith,” and history has proven him right. The Soviet Union is dead. Though far too many still suffer under it, communism has largely vanished from the earth.

Now, though, is not the time for a conservative valedictory.

Improbably, there are those in our country today who want to revive the very things that failed so spectacularly in the Eastern bloc and elsewhere. They are not our enemies, as the Soviets were, but rather countrymen who have forgotten or ignored what my father described at CPAC as “the secret of the camps” — the lessons passed on by those who escaped communism’s clutches.

In the early 21st-century, too many have once again been seduced by a Faustian bargain: if a people will only cede their power to a set of bright minds gathered in a far-off capital, life’s challenges and hardships will dissipate. Of course, my father would have reminded us that this is a lopsided bargain; one that greatly favors the governors at the expense of the governed.

And yet, a political party is wondering, bizarrely, why what didn’t work in Russia can’t work in America. And make no mistake, these voices are growing louder and their pathways to power are becoming clearer. The men and women who demand government do evermore have even taken to proudly calling themselves socialists once again.

Our charge in the coming years will be to counter this burgeoning program through debate and at the ballot box. To do this, we must again rally around the principles that were at the heart of my father’s labors that he laid out so eloquently during his first presidential address at CPAC: the dignity of the citizen, the danger of the state, and fidelity to laws higher than our own. The alternative, a population pitted against itself based on race and class, is a road to serfdom, despotism, destitution, and disaster.

This nation, as my father said that night, was “entrusted to us, to stand by, to protect, and yes, to lead her wisely.” This trust continues. And, so too, must our defense of the very things it was built upon.

My father was an optimist. Naturally, so too am I. If we heed his wisdom and remember the things that make our movement, America’s potential will remain limitless.
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Michael Reagan is the president of the Reagan Legacy Foundation and President Ronald Reagan’s eldest son.

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Grand Canyon University's Disgraceful Cancellation

David Limbaugh

by David Limbaugh: It’s disturbing that Grand Canyon University canceled a speaking event on its campus by Ben Shapiro arranged by the student organization Young Americans for Freedom. Under criticism, the university folded.

An outspoken and hard-hitting conservative, Shapiro has been protested and threatened, as well as disinvited by other schools, but it is troubling that a Christian school, especially one that holds itself out as a Bible-believing institution, caved to leftist thought-police bullies rather than promote the free exchange of ideas in the public square.

In its statement of cancellation, the school hid behind its desire to unite all communities, elevating that “virtue” above all others, including the freedom of academic inquiry and open dissemination of ideas — not to mention the school’s own mission statement. It is particularly objectionable that the university would reflexively acquiesce to the insidious leftist notion that right-wing ideas are inherently divisive rather than recognize that a greater threat of divisiveness emanates from those who demand that politically conservative views be silenced. Has it even occurred to this feckless institution that disunity does not evaporate when you suppress expression or that such suppression may very well exacerbate disunity?

The school stated: “We believe in many of the things that Ben Shapiro speaks about and stands for, including his support for ideals that grow out of traditional Judeo-Christian values and his belief in a free market economy. Our decision to cancel Shapiro’s speaking engagement is not a reflection of his ideologies or the values he represents, but rather a desire to focus on opportunities that bring people together.”

Excuse me, but how much do you really believe these things if you are not willing to allow people to articulate them on campus because of your fear of vocal opposition? How important are these beliefs to you if at the first hint of conflict you effectively abandon them, thereby lending credence to the protesters’ position that these ideas are innately offensive and divisive?

Why not demonstrate the courage of your professed convictions and respond that you will not be intimidated by those who demand censorship? Why not call out the objectors for their intellectual intolerance and affirmatively state that the communication of ideals you believe in is not divisive but healthy?

Our society and its institutions are increasingly falling for this misguided notion that unity and harmony are the greatest virtues and should be promoted at all costs. It is gloriously fortunate that the Black Robe Regiment — Colonial preachers active at our founding and promoting the cause of independence — did not suffer from the same type of pathetic indifference to the cause of the American Revolution, or else we wouldn’t be having this debate, and you wouldn’t be able to even pretend to believe in ideals that flow from the great American experiment in constitutional governance.

If you truly believe that bringing people together is the highest good, then why do you even bother to promote the Gospel? Haven’t you heard that millions find it offensive and that many of Jesus’ and the Apostle Paul’s statements are considered hate speech today? It would be bad enough if your mission statement endorsed some watered-down version of the Gospel, but you hold yourselves out as adhering to Christian orthodoxy and expressly embracing the Nicene Creed, which, among other things, does not look favorably on theological heresies. Thank God that the Creed’s formulators didn’t have a lukewarm attitude toward doctrine. It’s one thing to have a strong mission statement; it’s another to honor it.

I’m not fond of the practice of “proof-texting,” or cherry-picking Scripture in support of arguments, but I think these arresting words of Jesus’ are quite applicable here: “I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! But I have a baptism to undergo, and what constraint I am under until it is completed! Do you think that I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

If you are going to stand for Christ, you have to be willing to stand for his Gospel, which is guaranteed to offend vast swaths of human beings who visit your campus and possibly even students who attend. Does your unwavering priority to foster unity supersede the Gospel truth? Do you — or will you in the future — muzzle yourself in service to it?

Preach unity all you want, but at what cost are you willing to pursue this ephemeral aspiration? Indeed, I wonder whether it is actually unity you seek or freedom from criticism from notoriously vocal leftist ideologues. What a regrettable turn of events!
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David Limbaugh is a writer, author and attorney. His latest book is "Jesus is Risen: Paul and the Early Church." Follow him on Twitter& @davidlimbaugh and his website at davidlimbaugh.com.

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