Newsmax Highlights Five ‘Hurdles’ to a Palin Presidential Run

December 29 2014 
By: Steve Flesher

 
As you know, Newsmax is currently profiling many individuals who are recognized as potential presidential candidates for 2016.  iizthatiiz reported on their showcasing of Governor Palin’s positions on many issues. As such, Newsmax has followed up their original article with a presentation of what is perceived as being Governor Palin’s strongest hurdles that she’d likely face if she chooses to announce a run for president. They are listed as follows with my responses:

1.) The mainstream media.  "The mainstream liberal media has Sarah Palin in their sights and are eager to shoot her down at the slightest opportunity. There appears to be no line the media and entertainment liberals will not cross."

The mainstream media is a problem for any presidential candidate who runs on the GOP ticket.  Do "binders full of women" or "war on women" ring any bells?  It’s true, there is "no line the media and entertainment liberals will not cross" when it comes to Governor Palin which has always said more about them and their obvious perception of her as a political threat to their peaceful world of good old boys than it says about her.  I guess one can call this a "hurdle" but one could also call it an asset for two reasons.  First, Governor Palin is more vetted than any candidate ever, her skin is thicker than any potential GOP candidate one can name, and she continues to make great achievements despite the media’s attempt to assassinate her strong record of reform and accomplishment.  Second, it might not be a bad idea to have a stark contrast for the American people to see during a national election when they compare how the media will treat a liberal woman like Elizabeth Warren versus what we know to expect from them where a conservative woman is concerned. Additionally the media’s attempt to slander Governor Palin during a presidential run would ultimately have to boil down to a regurgitation of old talking points which have become pretty weak sauce at this point.  The real story here is how attacks fire her up and strenghten her as opposed to discouraging her.

2.) Communication style.  "Sarah Palin’s unique vocalisms are often the target of detractors who cannot get past her folksy manner of speech."

Well perhaps her "detractors" are elitists who run candidates like Mitt Romney or hope for candidates like Jeb Bush.  Her "folksy manner of speech" combined with her undeniable record of accomplishments speaks volumes and connects to millions of ordinary hardworking Americans who love this country and want to see Obama’s fundamental transformation of the country they love stopped in its tracks.  It’s who she is — a straight-shooting reformer who calls it like she sees it.  Again, this is an asset, not a "hurdle."

3.) Divided conservatives.  "Sarah Palin is a polarizing figure in that people seem to either love her or hate her. While she has a very large and devoted conservative base, which includes the Tea Party, conservatives are divided on what role Sarah Palin should play."

They then go on to quote a piece from an article written over at The Week (who should probably consider changing their name to The Weak).  Just yesterday I posted a new poll from CNN/ORC reflecting Jeb Bush as the new frontrunner for the GOP yet highlighted how the same respondents don’t seem to agree with him on any issues.  I think it’s probably safe to assume that some of these "conservative" writers at The Week are probably among the few that do agree with him on those. They go on to quote a Red State article that says:

"Sarah Palin like Ronald Reagan understands that presidential elections are won in the grassroots campaign trenches found in Ohio counties and Pennsylvania coal fields … America’s conservatives know full well that Sarah Palin also knows how to use a microphone. Much like, Reagan, Palin is committed to let millions across the nation speak through it in 2016!"

One gets the impression that The Week would have had very little good to say about Ronald Reagan who faced the establishment favorites in his own primaries. To say Governor Palin faces a hurdle because of this also acknowledges that the same would occur in the case of Senator Cruz or Joni Ernst who’ve both been endorsed by Governor Palin and have overcome them.  Her unwillingness to go along to get along with the GOP’s establishment is an asset to the majority of grassroots voters.

4.) 2008 election: "Some conservatives say John McCain’s pick of Sarah Palin as his running mate cost him the election and gave America Barack Obama. Former McCain advisor Nicolle Wallace has repeatedly trashed Palin. However, Breitbart reports this as an attempt to cover up Wallace’s inept campaign advice that contributed to the election loss."

The only time McCain’s numbers went above Obama’s in the general election of 2008 was right after the convention and the introduction of Governor Palin as his running mate who ultimately carried the weight of that ticket’s momentum on her shoulders.  Ultimately her star was used inappropriately as many staffers clutched onto its coattails and went on to sell her out for their own gain.  For example, Nicolle Wallace’s continued bashing of Palin has reaped rewards for the failed staffer with attention at MSNBC and a spot on ABC’s The View.  That’s the same media described above who view Governor Palin as a political threat. Incidentally after Wallace was brought on to The View, ratings took a "drastic plunge."

5.) Overexposure: "Sarah Palin was the governor of Alaska and the 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee. She has been a Fox News contributor, has written three New York Times best-selling books, is the executive editor of the Sarah Palin Channel, the host of "Amazing America" on the Sportsman Channel, and Time Magazine listed her as one of the 100 most influential people in the world. While these are all impressive accomplishments, the media has continuously targeted Sarah Palin and her family, and her detractors have an arsenal of vitriol to use against her in a political campaign."

One thing they failed to mention is her political action committee and her continued activism which has taken up as much (if not more) of her time as her other projects have.  Accordingly, Governor Palin has spent more time on the ground talking with Americans in flyover country than most D.C. politicians.  She does this while she honors vets, speaks at various conservative events, and campaigns for candidates that she endorses.  In 2008, the narrative on Governor Palin suggested that she didn’t know enough about the lower 48 or international affairs to be VP.  Now that she has given speeches in Hong Kong, met with Netanyahu in Israel, and has probably been in every state across this nation multiple times since then, it looks like the critics who viewed her as an unknown in 2008 are prepared to punish her unique talent for tapping into pop culture as a famous conservative by claiming she’s been overexposed. The bottom line is no conservative has defied the intentional attacks of the mainstream media, fully represented the grassroots on issues, desires to reform the corruption in DC from top to bottom, connects to average hard working Americans, can get so many good conservatives elected to office, and successfully utilize pop culture to their advantage like Governor Palin has done.

If these are her hurdles, she’s in pretty good shape to run if and when she chooses.

Conservatives 4 Palin.

Science Increasingly Makes the Case for God

By Eric Metaxas 
12/29/2014 

 In 1966 Time magazine ran a cover story asking: Is God Dead? Many have accepted the cultural narrative that he’s obsolete—that as science progresses, there is less need for a “God” to explain the universe. Yet it turns out that the rumors of God’s death were premature. More amazing is that the relatively recent case for his existence comes from a surprising place—science itself.

Here’s the story: The same year Time featured the now-famous headline, the astronomer Carl Sagan announced that there were two important criteria for a planet to support life: The right kind of star, and a planet the right distance from that star. Given the roughly octillion—1 followed by 24 zeros—planets in the universe, there should have been about septillion—1 followed by 21 zeros—planets capable of supporting life.

With such spectacular odds, the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, a large, expensive collection of private and publicly funded projects launched in the 1960s, was sure to turn up something soon. Scientists listened with a vast radio telescopic network for signals that resembled coded intelligence and were not merely random. But as years passed, the silence from the rest of the universe was deafening. Congress defunded SETI in 1993, but the search continues with private funds. As of 2014, researches have discovered precisely bubkis—0 followed by nothing.

What happened? As our knowledge of the universe increased, it became clear that there were far more factors necessary for life than Sagan supposed. His two parameters grew to 10 and then 20 and then 50, and so the number of potentially life-supporting planets decreased accordingly. The number dropped to a few thousand planets and kept on plummeting.

Even SETI proponents acknowledged the problem. Peter Schenkel wrote in a 2006 piece for Skeptical Inquirer magazine: “In light of new findings and insights, it seems appropriate to put excessive euphoria to rest . . . . We should quietly admit that the early estimates . . . may no longer be tenable.”

As factors continued to be discovered, the number of possible planets hit zero, and kept going. In other words, the odds turned against any planet in the universe supporting life, including this one.

Probability said that even we shouldn’t be here.

Today there are more than 200 known parameters necessary for a planet to support life—every single one of which must be perfectly met, or the whole thing falls apart. Without a massive planet like Jupiter nearby, whose gravity will draw away asteroids, a thousand times as many would hit Earth’s surface. The odds against life in the universe are simply astonishing.

Yet here we are, not only existing, but talking about existing. What can account for it? Can every one of those many parameters have been perfect by accident? At what point is it fair to admit that science suggests that we cannot be the result of random forces? Doesn’t assuming that an intelligence created these perfect conditions require far less faith than believing that a life-sustaining Earth just happened to beat the inconceivable odds to come into being?

There’s more. The fine-tuning necessary for life to exist on a planet is nothing compared with the fine-tuning required for the universe to exist at all. For example, astrophysicists now know that the values of the four fundamental forces—gravity, the electromagnetic force, and the “strong” and “weak” nuclear forces—were determined less than one millionth of a second after the big bang. Alter any one value and the universe could not exist. For instance, if the ratio between the nuclear strong force and the electromagnetic force had been off by the tiniest fraction of the tiniest fraction—by even one part in 100,000,000,000,000,000—then no stars could have ever formed at all. Feel free to gulp.

Multiply that single parameter by all the other necessary conditions, and the odds against the universe existing are so heart-stoppingly astronomical that the notion that it all “just happened” defies common sense. It would be like tossing a coin and having it come up heads 10 quintillion times in a row. Really?

Fred Hoyle, the astronomer who coined the term “big bang,” said that his atheism was “greatly shaken” at these developments. He later wrote that “a common-sense interpretation of the facts suggests that a super-intellect has monkeyed with the physics, as well as with chemistry and biology . . . . The numbers one calculates from the facts seem to me so overwhelming as to put this conclusion almost beyond question.”

Theoretical physicist Paul Davies has said that “the appearance of design is overwhelming” and Oxford professor Dr. John Lennox has said “the more we get to know about our universe, the more the hypothesis that there is a Creator . . . gains in credibility as the best explanation of why we are here.”

The greatest miracle of all time, without any close seconds, is the universe. It is the miracle of all miracles, one that ineluctably points with the combined brightness of every star to something—or Someone—beyond itself.

Eric Metaxas

The Yeshiva World

Black Mob Violence at Christmas, All Over the Country

December 28, 2014
By Colin Flaherty

 Holidays are a special time for practitioners and deniers of black mob violence. The Fourth of July, Memorial Day, Labor Day and of course New Year’s are among the most popular.
 
But not Christmas. Not usually. Not until this year: Black mob violence and resentment erupted across the country during the 72 hours before, during and after Christmas. And not the “carry signs and send out a press release” kind of political violence.
 
This year’s Yuletide racial violence was more spontaneous. More deadly. More old school.  Not connected to the recent political protests over Mike Brown, Eric Garner and fill in your favorite atrocity that racist police inflicted on black people For No Reason What So Ever.
 
Let’s start in a small town near Houston called Texas City, where hundreds of black people decided to celebrate Christmas Night at a party promoting “Hood Night.’
 
Near midnight, one of the patrons found himself in the parking lot, shooting a handgun. When police arrived, he was shooting toward the crowd and ignored orders to drop the weapon.
 
That is when Hood Night got real: The man with the gun turned towards police and they shot him dead. At least that is what the nightclub owner told local news stations after he reviewed the footage from his security cameras.
 
And what is Hood Night without a riot? “Police had to dispatch reinforcements after some people in the crowd starting throwing rocks at officers and police vehicles,” reported the local Fox affiliate.
 
The dead man’s mother and sisters said he was a good person and not prone to violence and people should not believe the police or witnesses or videotapes or anything else because the 20-year old man had recently graduated from high school and was getting his life together.
 
Next stop, Pawtucket, Rhode Island, Christmas night: Police responded to a large group of black people fighting and destroying property at a nightclub. When police suggested to Aderito Andrade that he refrain from the violent behavior that he appeared to be exhibiting, he declined.
Andrade punched one cop in the face, knocking him out. Then he assaulted another.
 
By this time, the crowd of 50 to 100 black people was fully aware of the injustice of trying to arrest a man who had just attacked a police officer, so they responded in kind by attacking a female cop:

“Police said during the officers’ struggle to arrest Andrade, a large group of people surrounded the officers and began yelling obscenities,” reported Channel 12 news.  “A third officer was kicked several times by men in the group. Police then sprayed the crowd with pepper spray, causing them to disperse.”

In San Antonio, police responded to a noise complaint at a party. When they found the host, “things got out of hand,” said the Fox affiliate. "Instead of helping the officers, he stepped aside and into the middle of the crowd and began yelling things about the police,” Sgt. Joe Mckinney said.

That is when party-goers started punching the police and throwing rocks and bottles at them. Several black people were handcuffed. One of the people who threw the party was charged with inciting a riot. But this all happened a few days before Christmas, so maybe it does not count as part of this Holiday roundup.
 
Off to Chicago, the day after Christmas: The Navy Pier hosted a holiday gathering called Winter WonderFest. During the party, 100 to 200 black people fought, raged, rampaged, destroyed property and fired guns.
 
In almost every episode in this report, people said guns were fired, but police said they were not. Unless someone got shot.
 
Back at Chicago’s most popular tourist destination, Navy Pier, one pregnant woman was injured and taken to the hospital. Five black people were arrested.  For a fuller picture of the holiday chaos, let’s turn to Chicago’s most reliable source for crime news: The Second City Cop Blog, a must read for law enforcement in the area. Or for anyone who wants a realistic account of black mob violence there. A few comments:

“It wasn't a disturbance, it was a battery in progress. It wasn't 50, it was more like 1000. There was also a report of a man with a gun and shots fired, although never verified. Not to mention a call for teens smoking weed in the Imax theater.”

Said another:

“Every race is getting sick and tired of the black teens running around acting like thug fools. No black mommas coming out to condemn their actions. The media continues to conceal the race of the thugs...although they mention the race of every white officer and every unarmed and armed black “victim.””

And one more:

“Got love it a large group of blacks male and female got to an area where it's mainly white and they cause all this damage. Does the news report how this group hurt white citizens???”

The  following day, police shut down early Chicago Ridge Mall after hundreds of black people were creating mayhem in the food court.  One mall worker told the Chicago Sun Times that the disturbance was a “riot.”
 
Soon after the mall was evacuated, a Facebook page that tracks Chicago fire department calls posted: “Approximately 30 minutes ago Large fight inside the mall at 95th & Ridgeland involving around 500 people. Large groups on public transportation now headed east on 95th approaching the area of 95th & Pulaski. CPD has alerted all districts up to the Dan Ryan Red Line Station.”
 
Like Jacob Marley explaining to Scrooge, this holiday tour is just getting started. Let’s be on our way to the Monroeville Mall near Pittsburgh, the day after Christmas. Prior to this Yuletide riot, this mall was chiefly known as the setting for the 1978 zombie movie classic, Dawn of the Dead.
 
The day after Christmas, as many as 1000 black people descended on the mall and chaos, violence, property destruction, defiance, and other mayhem ensued, much of it on video.
 
So much so even the local news anchors had trouble believing what they were seeing. Two people were hurt and no one was arrested.
 
Despite the video evidence, police and mall officials tried to downplay the widespread violence. Commenters at local web sites insisted on some truth instead:
Said Kayla Valerina to WTAE:

“I was a witness of a teenage boy get jumped in JC Penny's while I was shopping. He was kicked until he had bruises all over and probably a concussion. They took things such as his phone and things he had bought. I called 911 later bringing cops to the mall before everything went crazy.”

Said another: “Pictures and VIDEOS are worth a 1000 words....So if you think I am racist for this comment .....then you are a special kind of Stupid.”
 
Off to the Wolfchase Mall in Memphis: Basically the same as the Monroeville Mall, except the crowd of 250 black people was smaller. Though many in the area say racial violence has become an every day fact of life in Memphis, and this is just the latest example.
Said Frank G Bilbro to a local paper: 

“Wolf chase will soon go the way of the Mall of Memphis, Raleigh Springs and Hickory Hill malls. Ghetto will take over and no decent person will want to go there. It will happen slowly at first with one store closing, then another and another and no retailers to take their place. Wolfchase will become an empty hulking monument to lack of decency and lawlessness.”

In Sacramento at the Arden Fair mall, a large group of black people were fighting and destroying property first in the food court, then outside. First upstairs, then downstairs, lasting several hours.
Police closed the mall 90 minutes early at 7:30 p.m. the day after Christmas and hauled two dozen people away in handcuffs, said KCRA News.
One police spokesperson did tell Fox 40 that this kind of violence around the holidays is normal because of “heightened emotions.”
 
In Davenport, Iowa — yes, Iowa — two days after Christmas, 10 police were called to the NorthPark mall to break up a group of black people engaged in a “large fight.” Three were arrested for various charges including rioting, assaulting a police officer and interfering with a police officer.
Police broke up the riot with pepper spray.
 
On Twitter, Shonnie warned them about acting the fool: “While yall are at northpark make sure not to have a crowd b/c the mall cops are petty & will make yall leave.”
But they did not listen.
 
In Orlando the day after Christmas, a group of black people were fighting inside a Publix grocery store. One person was shot, several fled.  A man only identified as Eric said he saw the suspects flee. He told the Orlando Sentinel: He “was not surprised by the gunfire: "I've lived here for a long time. I've seen a lot.”
 
No one was arrested.
 
In Nashville two days after Christmas, and just a few hours after a visit from both the Notre Dame and LSU football teams in town for the Liberty Bowl game,  150 black people fought, destroyed property, and rampaged through the Opry Mills Mall. Initial reports place two people in jail and one in the hospital.
 
Early news reports were sketchy, but Twitter was full of eyewitness accounts: “Wow! Just left Opry Mills Mall!,” said Amy Dulaney. “The Teenagers running amok, fights breaking out, kids running in groups from one side to the other! It was getting crazy! We were in Fossils and it got so bad the manager closed the doors to his store! 4 blue lights passed by as we were leaving! Crazy times!”
 
At Independence, Missouri, near Kansas City on the day after Christmas, “Independence Center locked down some stores early Friday night after large groups of youths congregated at the shopping mall and some fights broke out, ” said the Kansas City Star.
 
Hundreds of black people were fighting in the mall, outside of the mall, and for blocks in several directions away from the mall. Some of it on video.
More from The Star:

 “Ashley Jones of Independence had just finished eating with friends at Applebee’s when they walked out about 8:20 p.m. and saw multiple police cars. One officer opened his trunk to retrieve a large gun, Jones said.
“We said, ‘Is it that bad?’ And he said, ‘Better safe than sorry,’” Jones said.

Then they saw a second officer getting a gun from his trunk. That officer told them a riot had broken out.

“We heard screaming and yelling, and we took off running,” Jones said. “It was very scary.”

At least one congressman can say “I told you so.”  That would be former mayor of Kansas City, Emanuel Cleaver. When last year, the Kansas City Council discussed imposing a curfew to curtail the regular and frequent black mob violence at the upscale Country Club Plaza, Cleaver advised against it: “All we are going to do is make a lot of black kids angry,” he said. “And they will just take out their anger someplace else.” 

That dude is a psychic.

The Star disabled comments for the story. 

To top off the holiday racial violence, twitchy.com assembled a curious collection of Tweets from black female rapper Azealia Banks.

Banks might not be the biggest rapper in the world, but with 580,000 followers on Twitter, she is far from the smallest. Her latest cause is forcing white people to pay black people reparations for slavery and racism and for general purposes.

Throughout the holidays she was urging her followers to track down the descendants of slave owners and do all sorts of bad things to them.

Which sounded like a pretty good idea to James DeWolf Perry, well known among the PBS set: “Executive Director of the Tracing Center, James DeWolf Perry has devoted a major portion of his life to educating Americans about the horrors of slavery. He was “nominated for an Emmy Award for his role as the principal historical consultant for our PBS documentary, Traces of the Trade: A Story from the Deep North.”

He wanted to get on the Azealia Banks love train and told her so in a tweet: “I'm a white person who agrees with everything you're saying about history, and about racial reality today.”
Azealia was not feeling the love: “@JDeWPerry someone should kick your ass, and punch you right in your stupid smiling cracker face.”


Colin Flaherty is an award winning reporter and author of the best selling book, White Girl Bleed a Lot: The return of racial violence to America and how the media ignore it. You can find many of the videos on racial violence mentioned in this article on his YouTube channel.  

American Thinker

American Achiever of 2014: Sarah Palin

December 27, 2014
By M. Joseph Sheppard 

 
 It would be the height of churlishness for even the most inveterate leftist to deny the import of someone who made Time magazine's "100 Most Influential People" list, and then the Smithsonian Institution's "100 Most Significant Americans Of All Time" list.  Both affirmations were earned by former Alaska governor and vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin.

To then accept Governor Palin as "American Achiever of the Year 2014" would be for most, if not all on the left (and to be fair, many in the GOP) no doubt a bridge too far.  However, such partisanship should not stand in the way of a general acknowledgement of what was a remarkable year for Palin.

Palin achieved what such luminaries as President Obama did not: a place in the Smithsonian's prestigious "Most Significant" list.  After being written off by many in the media, and especially the left, as "irrelevant" and predicted by MSNBC's Krystal Ball as "not going to have an effect on the [2014] midterms," Palin's record of success of her endorsed candidates was nothing short of phenomenal.

Governor Palin endorsed 22 candidates for various offices during the midterm finals, including senators, governors, lieutenant governors, congressmen, and attorneys general.  Of those so endorsed, an incredible 20 were elected – contrasted with, for example, Hillary Clinton's record of 8 wins out 24 endorsed candidates.

Beyond the success of her endorsed candidates lies a much deeper reason for Palin being seen as "Achiever of the Year": those Palin endorsed in their respective primaries who then went on to win the general election battles.  As in the past with, among others, senators Ted Cruz, Kelly Ayotte, and Deb Fischer, and Governor Nikki Haley, who owe their elections in their primary campaigns to Palin's endorsement at a critical juncture, so too could new senators Ben Sasse and Joni Ernst, and new Alaska governor Bill Walker (and, remarkably, his Democrat lieutenant governor Byron Mallott) be considered to owe all or a substantial part of their nominations to Palin's endorsement.  For all her detractors’ cries of "irrelevance" and "she's just a reality show entertainer" (those two being among the nicer epithets), Palin goes on, election cycle after election cycle, populating Congress with her endorsed candidates in a cost-effective manner, and in such numbers that the likes of Karl Rove with his 1% success rate can surely view only with hidden admiration, if not downright envy.

In what is perhaps the most interesting aspect of Palin’s year of achievement, in instance after instance where Palin was ridiculed for a straightforward statement (e.g., "death panels" or the true history of Paul Revere), her most strident critics have agreed, in whole or in part, with her views.  But 2014 saw the most impressive of this historical revisionism.

After Russian president Putin invaded the Ukraine and annexed the Crimea, video surfaced of Governor Palin's 2008 speech where she predicted exactly that occurrence should then presidential candidate Barack Obama be elected.  Palin sounded a deserved note of triumphalism in March:

"Yes, I could see this one from Alaska," Palin posted on Facebook, saying she said "told-ya-so" in the case of her "accurate prediction being derided as 'an extremely far-fetched scenario' by the 'high-brow' Foreign Policy magazine."

"Here’s what this 'stupid' 'insipid woman' predicted back in 2008," Palin said.  "After the Russian Army invaded the nation of Georgia, Senator Obama's reaction was one of indecision and moral equivalence, the kind of response that would only encourage Russia's Putin to invade Ukraine next."

Palin's post has been shared by more than 16,000 Facebook users and "liked" by more than 70,000.

American Thinker

What is America's survival plan against Islam?

December 26, 2014
By Carol Brown

 
We’re facing the greatest national security threat we have ever known and there is no coherent plan to battle the enemy. This nation is so far behind the eight ball, the president and his minions won’t even name the enemy, no less fight it.

Name = Islam

Even worse, those in positions of power and influence misrepresent what the enemy stands for. Like a pre-recorded announcement that just won’t stop, we are endlessly subjected to the false refrain: Islam is a religion of peace. By Muslim lights, we live in the Dar al Harb, the territory of war, simply because we refuse to accept Islam. We didn’t declare war, Mohammed did.
And when it comes to the threat of Islamic supremacism, it’s not only the left that’s putting us at risk. 

The right is hardly better, as both parties serve up a boatload of ignorance, complicity, and cowardice on a daily basis. Our elected officials draft legislation, set foreign policy, speak at podiums, sit on panels, write press releases, pen op-eds, and yack away on talk shows about the wonders of Islam. If anyone challenges what they’re peddling, the peddlers get rather hot under the collar. As for the truth-tellers, they are mocked, marginalized, and vilified.

And what a truth it is, as we confront a totalitarian ideology bent on world domination ruled by one religion -- an ideology that is infecting every aspect of our culture and which has the potential to destroy all of civilization. 

Despite this grave threat, you can count on one hand how many leaders are informed and speaking the truth. And even they -- and God bless every single one of them -- have offered ideas in bits and pieces, with faint calls to investigate Huma Abedin, a proposal to designate the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization, a proposal to strip citizenship from Americans who travel overseas to fight for terrorists, along with a few states that passed anti-Sharia laws. Woefully inadequate as these actions are, three-quarters of them barely saw the light of day as the truth-tellers were pilloried and the legislation never came to pass. In any case, the solutions noted above are not an overarching strategy.

Not even close.

How can that be? The most brutal and ruthless enemy is advancing toward us and has infiltrated every arm of our government, and there is hardly a word said, no less a plan offered, as to how to beat them back. Quite the opposite. We are welcoming them with open arms. Giving them the keys to the kingdom.

If we are to survive, this madness must end. And toward that end, I suggest the following:

Name the enemy:  If you don’t name the enemy, how can you win the war? Let’s stop talking like idiots. We’re battling a totalitarian ideology as written in the Koran, and the people who follow it. It’s called Islam. Not “radical Islam.” Just Islam. By any standard, the teachings in the Koran are radical. When people say “radical Islam,” it suggests there is some other form of Islam that is more tempered. Moderate, as they say. But such a thing does not exist, except as neglect of scriptural imperatives. 

And should anyone claim there are peaceful verses please point them to Chapter 2, Verse 106 (Abrogation) which states that later (violent) verses override and/or replace earlier (peaceful) ones.

Stop saying “war on terror”:  This expression is vague and minimizes the scope of the battle. We’re fighting Islamic jihad in all its forms -- from physical violence to creeping Sharia and everything in between. We are at war with those who follow the teachings of the Koran -- whether they are violent jihadists or members of the school board trying to influence curriculum.

Shut down Iran’s nuclear program:  Iran is a mortal threat to Israel, the United States, and indeed the entire civilized world. We should not be involved in negotiations with a nation that has declared its murderous intentions against America and her allies. If Iran develops a nuclear weapon, the world as we know it will be forever altered as a blanket of death will descend. We must destroy Iran’s ability to develop a nuclear weapon before it is too late. And the clock is running down. Quickly.

Address the malevolent influence of the Muslim Brotherhood:  It is critical that we address how deeply the Muslim Brotherhood has infiltrated our government. We must designate the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization, remove members of the Muslim Brotherhood from government positions, and shut down all Muslim Brotherhood front groups. We cannot survive if the enemy is not only attacking from without, but also from within (per their stated plan). Terrorists have no place on American soil, no less within our government. Identify them, arrest them where appropriate, and send the rest packing.

Stop construction of mosques and shut down most of those already built:  Mosques are popping up all across America, with a 75% increase in new construction since 9/11. There are now well over 2,000 mosques in America (some of them “mega mosques”) with no end in sight. Two separate studies document that 80% of mosques in the United States preach jihad. That number is staggering. The situation is intolerable. It pushes the limit of freedom of religion and freedom of speech. A nation cannot endure direct threats against it if it hopes to survive.

Shut down Islamic schools and get Islam out of public school classrooms:  We cannot allow Islamic schools to indoctrinate the next generation of Muslim Americans, where students are taught Islamic dominance, forced conversions, death to non-believers, and the destruction of Israel. This is not a reflection of American values and serves as a direct threat to our future. If Muslim Americans want their children to attend such schools, the family should relocate to an Islamic country. We must also remove Islamic propaganda from our public schools, private schools, college and universities. And while we’re on the subject, Muslim colleges are blossoming. The most prominent (Zaytuna College) opened five years ago in Berkeley, California. But there have been others, including the Islamic Online University. At the very least, these institutions must be monitored.

Shut down American jihadist training compounds:  We cannot tolerate Muslim enclaves in America where jihadist training is taught. Muslims of America have training compounds scattered throughout the country poised to inflict violence on a massive scale. This cannot stand. America is a nation that is free, not a nation that is stupid. “Anything goes” is not our founding principle. It is sheer insanity to tolerate people and organizations that train jihadists to attack Americans. Plus, last I checked, it’s against the law. We know where these compounds are. We must shut them down. Immediately.

Address prisons as breading grounds for Muslim converts:  Prisons have become breeding grounds for Islamic converts and jihadist indoctrination. We must block the outside influence from Saudi Arabia and terror states, ensure those in the prison power structure become educated about Islam, and involve subject matter experts to help vet and monitor Muslim chaplains. No one -- imams or prisoners -- must be allowed to engage in violent rhetoric or activity, Muslim prison gangs must be broken apart, and perks that Muslim prisoners alone get must be stripped away.

Stop immigration from Islamic countries:  As seen throughout Europe, it doesn’t take a lot of Muslims to wreak havoc on a nation. To help ensure we don’t wind up like Europe, we must halt all immigration from Islamic countries. The risks are simply too high. No nation has an obligation to allow immigration from any and all countries. And in the case of immigration from Islamic countries, it is impossible to fully vet Muslim immigrants for the following reasons: (1) We cannot know who has an agenda to impose Sharia law (and stats show most support it). (2) We need to recognize that increasing numbers of Muslims who seem like regular folks are morphing into jihadists. (3) We must understand the role that taqiyya (sanctioned deception) plays in any vetting process. Islam is not compatible with Western values. It is not compatible with Judeo/Christian values. It is not compatible with liberty and freedom. It’s illogical to import people from cultures where some, many, or most individuals hate America and want to destroy everything we stand for. (When considering this issue, one should also keep in mind the 3 stages of jihad.)

Stop moral equivalence:  All cultures are not the same. All ideas are not the same. All religions are not the same. Stop speaking as if they are. Islam is the 21^st century Nazism. As Prime Minister Netanyahu said, “We’ve seen this before. There’s a master race; Now there’s a master faith.” Human beings have the ability to discern. Let’s start using this God-given gift. Western cultures are better than Islamic cultures. The idea of liberty is better than the idea of oppression. Values of love and life trump those of darkness, death, and destruction. Everything is not the same. Spread the word.

Ban the burqa and niqab:  A person’s face must be exposed for all the obvious reasons. In addition, swaths of fabric draped over and around one’s body mask the human form and can also hide weapons. We’ve already had criminals exploit burqas in order to commit crimes. This sort of identity-hiding garb has no place in a modern, Western society. If a Muslim insists on wearing a burqa I suggest she move to any one of the dozens of Muslim countries where such attire is welcome, if not required. It’s not how we do things in the United States and we shouldn’t start. Cultures are different. 

Values are different. The United States, thank God, is not an Islamic nation. And we shouldn’t slide any further down the path of embracing Islamic values (such as they are) and norms. Including Islamic dress codes.

Allow people who want to join terror groups overseas to leave the country and ensure it’s a one-way ticket:  When we become aware of persons planning to travel overseas to join ISIS or any other terror organization, we should not stop them. There is no reason to have such individuals among us. We should let them go, then slam the door behind them so they can never return: revoke their passport, visa, and U.S. citizenship. They must not be allowed to engage in this treasonous act without consequence (as is currently the case).

Secure the border:  The United States must secure its borders so that, among other things, we don’t leave ourselves open to terrorists coming across. It defies common sense and sound national security to have open borders. The border must be secured.

Achieve energy independence:  We must break our reliance on oil from Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern countries that are run by dictators who use their power and influence to undermine our nation. There is no reason this great nation cannot become energy independent if we set about to achieve that goal. We have the resources. Now we must find the will.

Stop supporting terror:  We must stop all funds that go to the Palestinian Authority. We must investigate Turkey and Qatar as state sponsors of terror and reassess our ties with these nations. We should suspend funding for the UN Human Rights Commission.

Become citizen activists:  This battle must be fought on all fronts by everyone. Leftists might be permanent goners, but there are a lot of folks who are simply uninformed. Get involved and speak out. Be savvy about the best way to approach others. Don’t overwhelm. Choose your focus, your words, and your support materials carefully. Here are a few ideas:

Educate others about the Koran:  This is critical. Islam is a totalitarian ideology at its core and we must tell it like it is when we speak about it. Educate yourself. Then educate others. Robert Spencer has two excellent books that I highly recommend if you haven’t read them already:  The Complete Infidel’s Guide to the Koran and The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades)

Educate others about the 3 stages of jihad:  Islam has a methodical method to the bloody madness. Part of that method involves how to advance jihad in three stages to reach its most bellicose form. 

David Wood of Answering Muslims has an excellent video on the subject, here.

Support people and organizations that are on the front lines of this battle:  There are many brave patriots working tirelessly to wake people up to the threat of Islam. They are a great resource and they also need our support. For blogs that focus exclusively on Islam, see here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here among countless examples. See here and here for political action organizations focused exclusively on Islam. 

(Remember, you don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Joining Act for America, for example, can help provide focus.) For legal centers on the front lines of this battle, see here and here.

Reach out to others in your place of worship:  Churches and synagogues should be leading voices in this battle. Sadly, they’re not. “Interfaith dialogue” has become all the rage as many churches and synagogues enable the enemy. In addition, many churches have joined the BDS movement against Israel -- a nation on the bleeding edge of the fight against jihad. We must shift this dangerous course. (When enlightening members at your place of worship, the Christian Action Network might be a resource for some that is particularly resonant.)

Know what’s going on in your community:  In addition to the construction of new mosques, there are myriad ways that creeping Sharia creeps. Stay on top of what’s going on in your community and take action. See here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here for a snapshot among an endless battery of examples that are reminders of how vigilant we must be.

Stay on top of what is going on in schools:  Whether you have children in school or not, it behooves all of us to know what’s going on in the school system. Lord knows, CAIR and other Muslim Brotherhood front groups are campaigning, lobbying, applying pressure, and in some cases, suing to make sure Islam marches through the halls of our public and private schools (as well as colleges and universities). We will all pay a price for the next generation’s brainwashing if we don’t address it. See here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here among countless examples.

Let your elected officials know where you stand and what you expect from them:  Most of them are clueless. At best. They need to be educated. Who’s going to educate them? That would be us. We cannot, for example, ever again have an imam lead a prayer in Congress. Not. ever. again.

Contact the media:  Speak out about biased and erroneous coverage of Islam, Sharia, and terror. Urge them to stop inviting guests who are members of Muslim Brotherhood front groups. Educate them about this issue.

Be creative and take initiative:  Every day, whether on an international, national scale, or local level, the West is increasingly in the grip of Islamic law. Find ways to speak the truth and educate the public. Here’s an inspiring story: A group of concerned citizens formed an organization called the Counter Jihad Coalition. They created brochures on Islam and, armed with knowledge and these materials, they stand in a public square (in this case, 3^rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica, California) and educate others. To read more about them and hear an interview, see here.

And:  The Counter Jihad Report has compiled a comprehensive list of things citizens can do. Each item on the list links to a page with more detail on the particular area of interest. There are also excellent suggestions on the best ways to approach people. I highly recommend AT readers visit this page where you can explore and find one or two things to act on, here.

In closing, I would like to say that the current state of affairs with respect to our nation’s retreat is unsustainable. We either fight with everything we have, or we will be undone. The terrifying command to “convert or die” will not be a savage reality forced upon people in other nations. It will be bellowed through this land. And while many of us feel overwhelmed with our time and energy stretched thin, please consider that if we don’t take this on now, an inconceivable darkness will envelope our lives that will silence our voices -- if not our beating hearts -- on this, and every single thing.   

No one will be immune to the evil that is coming. Democrats, Republicans and Independents; patriots and dhimmis; men, women, and children; the young, the old and everyone in between; rich and poor; Christians, Mormons, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, agnostics, and atheists; black, brown, and white; the educated and uneducated; public servants and private sector employees; doctors, teachers, roofers, truck drivers, lawyers, veterinarians, CEO’s, cooks, plumbers, dog walkers; as well as dogs.

America is the ultimate target of this evil. We either fight now, or face the unthinkable later. And later is much sooner than we think.

American Thinker

EPA Deception Exposed, Energy Prices Dropping, NY Times Panics

Barney Brenner | Dec 10, 2014

The Sunday Times headline smacked of conspiracy and governmental corruption: “Energy Firms in Secretive Alliance With Attorneys General.” The firms and the AGs have valid concerns that the EPA is grossly overestimating air pollution caused by energy companies order to place even more restrictions on US energy drilling and production.

The Times fretted instead that a complaint letter sent to Washington by the Oklahoma AG was drafted by industry lawyers. No insight from the article whether the letter was truthful or accurate. (The AG had edited the letter and made appropriate changes, but it was so well-researched and written, few were needed.)

And it takes some searching of the article’s internal links to get to the text of the letter. Readers who did would find it damaging not to the targets of the article but to the EPA. Judging from the 1500+ comments, few bothered.

Citizens, taxpayers and energy users (meaning all of us) should be cheering that there’s a new sheriff in town, actually a posse of attorneys general, who have the power to stand up against the overreach of Obama’s EPA.

In 2008, Obama famously declared war on coal. We now have more insight into his frack-attack: concerns in the letter were damning. Under Obama, the EPA changed its methods for measuring emissions to show 35 times as much discharge from conventional gas wells. For frack wells they multiplied prior results by 8850.

But wait, there’s more! Factor in multiple incorrect assumptions about how those emissions are managed and you get results which can fairly be trusted by no one. The obvious questions are, “Which of the wildly divergent estimates are correct, if either, and if the EPA can be so inaccurate in its assessments, how can we believe anything they say?”

In fact, the EPA has a history of playing fast and loose with facts in order to promote its current eco-fascist agenda. (For anyone bristling at that label, harsh socioeconomic and political control over industry and the livelihoods of citizens defines fascism. Throw in some environmental hysteria and the portrayal is complete.)

And they’ve been doing this – on steroids – for the entire six years of this destructive administration.

As part of its war on coal in Oklahoma and Arizona, the EPA wants to reduce haze, which not only has no defined health risks, but the measurements they’re using are similarly bogus. Of no concern to EPA bureaucrats are the devastating effects on struggling citizens, since Obama’s war may entail the closing of power plants which not only provide household electricity, but run pumps delivering water to southern AZ. The EPA also wants to burden almost the entire continental US with new ozone restrictions.

The fact is that the small amounts left of formerly significant pollutants are disproportionately expensive to address and their further reduction often confers no measurable benefits. But the human cost of regulation in diminished way of life is rarely considered.

The NY Times, never bothered by DC government’s growth, writes breathlessly of “the unprecedented, secretive alliance that [OK AG Scott] Pruitt and other Republican attorneys general have formed with some of the nation’s top energy producers [you know, the ones supplying us with electricity, fuel and the necessities of modern living] to push back against the Obama regulatory agenda.”

Apparently the unprecedented level of secrecy surrounding this administration has gone unnoticed by the Times. Big business is evil but not big Washington. The nearsightedness of major media would be laughable if so many folks weren’t its victims.

US citizens are sick of Obama’s overreach and in addition to giving Republicans a significant majority in the Senate in November, they also voted in state legislators, governors and attorneys general whom they hope have the will to stand up for and defend them from a regime which is, to our detriment, “fundamentally transforming the United States of America.” The implication that these elected officials will somehow roll over and allow environmental destruction is deceitful.

Should the Oklahoma AG have rewritten the “smoking gun” letter to have appropriate authorship? 

Perhaps. But the misdirection of fear and the hiding of issues of genuine concern has been a significant hallmark of the Times since at least the 1930s. The New York Times, which has had genuine plagiarism issues, has little authority to carp about this document.

And the real question remains. Does this EPA manipulate and falsify data and harm industry and citizen in pursuit of its eco-agenda?

Unfortunately, that’s a rhetorical question. It’s their MO.

Townhall

Must Watch Video – Mark Levin ALEC 2014

Girls Just Wanna Have Guns: The Real War on Women

Brilliant anti-Common Core Speech by Dr. Duke Pesta