There have been a plethora of new discussions popping up in the Prozac Nation lately, all of which have some relevance to the Bill of Rights. Megan Kelly, a celebrity newswoman, interviewed Alex Jones, a Sandy Hook denier. This has the Prozac Nation up-in-arms, because the interview happened near Fathers' Day. One would think that Americans would be a lot more outraged at the decline in men becoming fathers and the way American fathers are treated; but that's swept under the rug. The debate has, though, reignited attacks on the 2nd Amendment such as happened during Sandy Hook in 2012.
And as we wrote in our last article, the Southern Baptist Convention is due to vote on an historic resolution condemning extremism from the so-called Alt-Right. This has generated a lot of discussion on the Internet relating to Freedom of Speech. This follows on the heels of a weekend that saw riots in 33 cities over something to do with American Moslems. Neither side seemed exactly clear on what they were fighting for or against; but the incidents brought into question some questions about Freedom of Religion and Freedom of Assembly, etc.
The debate between personal liberty and collective responsibility is almost wholly a modern phenomenon in Western democracies. The issue emanates out of World War 2 primarily, although the seeds were being planted during WW1. Technologies which grew out of those wars demonstrated that, for the first, human capability of reaching masses of people. Prior to 1945, there were no weapons capable of destroying entire cities. There were no missiles capable of reaching other continents until 1954 and nothing capable of reaching Outer Space until 1957. The same is true of mass-communications. Radio became popular during the 1920s, but the experience the world saw with the Nazi Propaganda Ministry led to regulations in the post-war period. Television grew during the same period and from the 1990s onward, Internet technology has connected the world.
Some pundits of the 1950s and 1960s began to address this problem; and it is one that cannot be dismissed lightly. The Right to Keep and Bear Arms allows us access to weapons capable of self-defense against an entire violent street gang; but those same weapons can annihilate a church or school full of people. The Right of Free Speech and its ancillaries protect even opinions considered offensive; but the with the technology of today, those opinions can reach audiences of scores of millions of people. The old dilemma of the Sword and the Pen have given way to the ICBM and the Twitter Feed.
What has actually happened---as the older generations of Sociologists realized---technology has evolved at a faster pace than civilization. And it cannot be stressed enough here that we are speaking of the moral aspect of our Civilization. Mankind is not really more violent or uncivil than before; those tendencies always existed but technological developments can bring them to the fore in times of social unrest. But it can also bring many good things---advanced weaponry can make war too costly and encourage peaceful solutions. This is true incidentally in self-defense situations: a would-be rapist is less likely to attack a girl defended with a machinegun than one defended with a nail-file. And the remarkable humanitarian effort in Syria was made possible only by high-speed communications.
The Silver Lining to this cloud is to understand that these debates we're currently having ---unpleasant as they may be---are actually very necessary steps in Social Evolution. The Gun Rights' advocates have done a great job in the wake of mass-shootings of increasing education and promoting responsible gun ownership. The 1st Amendment advocates have much catching up to do; but there are positive signs on the horizon. Our Founding Fathers understood that in an atmosphere of Liberty, things will rectify themselves so long as we follow the Spirit of the Law, rather than its Letter. And education, as always, is key.
The Southern Baptist Convention is meeting this week in Phoenix. A Baptist leader named Dwight McKissic has introduced a Resolution to their congress, which is truly monumental in scope. If adopted, this will be one of the first communal denunciations of the New-Age Far Right as exemplified by the so-called Alt-Right and the Red Pill Cult.
"Resolved, that the Southern Baptist Convention denounces every form of 'nationalism' which violates Biblical teachings with respect to race, justice, and ordered liberty; and be it further resolved that we reject the retrograde ideologies, xenophobic biases, and racial bigotries of the so-called 'Alt-Right' who seek to subvert our Government, destabilize society, and infect our political system; and be it finally resolved that we earnestly pray both for those who lead and advocate this movement along who those who are thereby deceived, that they may see their error through the Light of the Gospel, repent of their perverse nationalism, and come to know the peace and love of Christ through redeemed fellowship within the Kingdom of God, which is established from every tribe, nation, people, and tongue." concludes the proposed Resolution.
The various Scriptural references and arguments for the proposal can be found here.
We have pointed out on many occasions elsewhere the heretical tendencies of this movement---especially regarding its cultish and openly anti-Christian positions. Its disciples have their own conversion process which they term taking the Red Pill. The Cult teaches the literal enslavement of women, racial supremacy, and denies multiple Christian Doctrines related to Salvation, the Divine Incarnation, Redemption and Original Sin. They are especially perverse in their teachings relating to gender relations; which often exceed in their grossness some of the worst behaviors of ancient Gnosticism.
If the Baptists adopt this Resolution, it will be a major step forward for Conservative Christians---who especially need to address what McKissic rightly calls "a growing menace" that "affects the minds and actions of its violent disciples". As St. Clement spoke of the earlier Gnostics: "Their behavior causes the Name of Christ to be slandered throughout the Earth."
Now Nationalism per se is not a negative thing. But America has always existed as a culture predicated on cultivating the best aspects of various cultures towards a systemic whole. It's interesting that the other major country with a similar cultural philosophy is Russia. The US and Russia have been the two global superpowers since the end of WW2. So far from weakness and division, what the Red Pills call a convergence of cultures actually is beneficial: and we also have the earlier Hellenist, Roman, British, and French Empires as examples of national strength and unity through cultural interaction. The reason for this is obvious: a mixed culture is by nature going to be more innovative and open to new strategies and ideas. As we've mentioned here before, if cultural isolation and homogeneity were national strengths then Saudi Arabia and North Korea should logically be the world's most progressive and enlightened cultures.
But as Christians, we know from the Apostle John that we are "saved not by birth nor of the will of man" and St. Luke testifies that the Holy Spirit spoke in various tongues to the first converts. St. Philip, the first missionary, converted an Ethiopian ambassador and Christ appeared in a vision to St. Peter telling him, "What God has called clean, do not you call unclean." There is also a great diversity of cultures within Christianity itself---certainly we are not weakened by it at all.
Of course, the Red Pills are incensed at this proposal; denouncing the Southern Baptists as 'Cuckservatives', 'Churchians', and 'SWJ Converged." Vox Day, both on his own blog and via one of his sock-puppet faux-Christian blogs Bravian Thought, have called for Dwight McKissic's impeachment. In fact, they've turned the argument around and accused McKissic of being a "Social Justice Warrior" who himself is trying to infiltrate the Baptists!
"If the SBC makes this Resolution permanent" Vox/Bravian sternly warns, "that institution shall have fallen to the Prince of Lies. To prevent this, all members of the SBC should get a copy of 'SJWs Always Lie' (note: a book written by Vox Day himself; sort of the Dianetics of the Red Pill Cult) "and to clean up the Convention of any anti-Christian offenders, no matter how big they are, or how insignificant they may seem."
The 'two' bloggers also cite an anecdote from a 'Christian'---who's been a convert less than a year---complaining that he can't find a Baptist Congregation that isn't 'SJW Converged'. The cultishness here is transparent. Vox is clearly setting up a false dichotomy to distinguish his 'true faith' from the 'apostate' Baptists and draw any SBC dissidents into his camp.
Any readers who follow the Baptist Denomination should support McKissic's proposal---and actually work to build on it, because it is a good start. But even if one has some legitimate issues with it; work within the Baptist Church to modify it in some constructive and Christ-like way---and don't be fooled by charlatans like Vox.
Defense Secretary James Mattis---Commandant of the USMC under Obama---announced a new politically-correct appointment on Friday. 'Lt. Col.' Megan Brodgen will become the first female commander of a US Special Forces' Unit.
'Colonel' Brodgen will assume command of the 3rd Special Forces Support Group (yes, they actually call them support groups these days), stationed at the all-inclusive Fort Bragg. Col. Bradley Moses of Fort Bragg---all giddy with glee over the appointment claimed that 'Colonel' Brodgen was chosen for her leadership abilities and not her gender. It should be noted though that Ms. Megan spent her entire career in the Quartermaster Corps, a purely non-combat position.
In 2016, though, Mattis' former boss Obama officially allowed women to serve in combat positions, shortly after he eliminated restrictions on homosexuals in the Military. These changes also brought a lowering of standards to qualify for Special Forces. Attrition in these units remains high, as is finding quality replacements. No one in the effete Beltway Culture can figure out why top-quality fighting men don't wish to take orders from women, camp out with homosexuals or act as nursemaids for foreign militias.
During the nearly six months that Mattis has run the Defense Department, not one of these Obama-Era policies has been changed. In fact, Mattis hasn't even replaced any commanders from Obama's term: even the Pentagon's Official Spokesman is a holdover. The only swamp-draining or changes of any note have come from outside the Pentagon. Crackdowns on corruption have mostly initiated from the Justice Department. The Military Courts have overruled a few policies. Loosening the Rules of Engagement and increased readiness testing have come on the orders of President Trump.
One of Trump's campaign promises was to revitalize the US Military. It's becoming more and more clear though that these changes will not happen under 'Mad Dog' Mattis. Mattis' ties to the Deep State, via his connections to Obama and to his financial connections with shady defense contractors like General Dynamics indicate that reform and the national interest are not his top priorities. His appointment of 'Colonel' Brodgen and his unwillingness to de-feminize the Military shows that he is ideologically in sync with the previous failed presidential administrations, which he served faithfully.
Fort Gordon, Georgia---home to the Army's self-proclaimed 'Cyber Center of Excellence'---is minus its commander of communications upgrades. Col. Anthony Roper was arrested this morning along with his wife and two defense contractors on charges of bribery, criminal conspiracy, perjury, and obstruction of justice.
According to the indictment, Col. Roper plotted with an unidentified ex-Army officer who headed the CREC Group---a defense contractor---to arrange supply contracts in exchange for bribes. Col. Roper also falsified Defense Department and Small Business Association documents. The scheme ran the entire 8-year course of the Obama Administration and took the Government for around $20 million.
These are the kinds of parasites with whom the Deep State has infested the Pentagon. President Trump has given Military commanders greater authority; but like many Conservatives, he has too great a faith in the character of the postmodern armed forces. Mattis, McMaster, Votel, Harris---and many others---are holdovers who worked for and served the corrupt Clinton, Bush, and Obama Administrations. Commanders of these types groomed officers like Roper and their track-record with vetting contractors has been disgraceful. That's to say nothing of their overall incompetence as commanders in the field.
Fort Gordon is not only the home of Army Cyber Programs, it is a major center of Military Intelligence and their NSA coordinators. And these crooks had access to all its internal and external communications' systems.
But nobody really needs to hack Fort Gordon too much. The base even has its own Facebook page. Last week, the base hosted the USA Masters Cycling Championship, for example. And Adventure Camp opened this week for the kids; last week was the annual Kids' Spring Fishing Derby. On June 1st, the Fort posted a friendly reminder that June is LGBTQ "Pride Month"; complete with the hashtag #DoDPRIDE.
Yes, General Mattis, you're doing a really great job draining the swamp. All of us can rest more safely knowing that Military Intelligence and Cyber-Communication are in the hands of people like this. Well, at least they seem to be having a good time, anyway. But it's time to tell Mattis, "You're fired."
In fact, Fort Gordon even scores 3.9 on Google Reviews. Commenters have noted the gym facilities, the wonderful shopping at the PX, and some have remarked on what a great concert venue it is (Hank Williams, Jr. is appearing next week, incidentally).
God help us all if we ever have to fight a real military again.
A Florida judge today announced that it had sentenced Lucy Richards to six months in prison after conviction on four federal counts of interstate transmission of death threats. Richards, a 57 year-old longtime welfare recipient threatened Lenny Pozner, whose son Noah was murdered during the 2012 Sandy Hook Massacre.
Prosecutors say that Richards became outraged after viewing Internet sites claiming that the Sandy Hook shooting is a hoax. We're all quite familiar with the pattern: charlatans become celebrities while the kooks they incite to criminal activities pay the price. Lenny Pozner is especially targeted because he hosts a website for families and friends of mass-killing victims.
In 2012, a loser named Adam Lanza with probable ties to Red Pill/Alt-Right movements (the same who mostly promulgate the theory that the shooting is a hoax), stole a cache of weapons and massacred 26 people, including his mother and several schoolchildren at the Sandy Hook Elementary School. Richards is the third person since 2012 convicted of harassing or threatening Sandy Hook victims' relatives. A known confidence-man was also arrested after posing as Lanza's uncle and giving a published interview with the fake-news outlet, The New York Post.
The conspiracy theories---which are all essentially the same---allege that actors hired by the government staged the Sandy Hook Massacre. A few variant theories allege that Israeli Intelligence carried out the attack, although nobody seems to know exactly why Israel would decide to attack Connecticut; or why the US Government would cover up such an attack.
Nor do any of these theories know how Julian Assange, Edward Snowden, the Chinese Government, Anonymous, or any of the other whistleblowers and hackers who seem to take top secret information from US officials at will, have found nothing relating to a Sandy Hook Conspiracy. The sheer number of people who would have had to have been involved in staging a hoax like this makes the possibility of a successful cover-up completely implausible.
Now it is true that the anti-2nd Amendment Left, led by former President Obama, did exploit the shooting to advance their agenda; and there does appear to have been a lot of fake and incompetent reporting at the time. But that is not conspiracy; that is typical Deep State behavior.
As bad as that is, it is even worse for provocateurs and trolls to incite further attacks on innocents affected by Sandy Hook. Gene Rosen, a septuagenarian retiree who sheltered six children during the attack was harassed to the point that family and friends had to do internet sweeps on his behalf.
The reason that we as Conservatives need to fight and expose these fakes is because they pose a serious danger to our civil liberties. If the Deep Statists didn't hesitate to exploit an abuse of the 2nd Amendment to curtail gun rights, they won't hesitate to use abuses of the 1st Amendment to curtail free speech.
Though ignored by the Corporate Media, US Attorney-General Jeff Sessions shut down a corrupt policy instituted by Obama flunkies Holder and Lynch. Obama and his henchmen in the Justice Department instituted a policy whereby third-party 'activist groups' who sued entities in Federal Court could receive a 'contribution' as part of an out-of-court settlement in a lieu of a federal fine against the Defendant.
What this policy actually amounted to was legalized extortion. Corporations, municipalities, state governments, churches, etc. were forced to shell out millions of dollars to Left-Wing front-groups---oftentimes simply to avoid negative publicity or a lengthy court-case.
Sessions put a stop to this yesterday. He stated: "When the Federal Government settles a case against a corporate wrongdoer, any settlement funds should go first to the victims and then to the American people---not to bankroll third-party special interest groups or the political friends of whomever is in power. With this Directive, we are ending this practice and ensuring that settlement funds are only used to compensate victims, redress harm, and to punish and deter unlawful conduct."
Sessions' actions follow recommendations from a Congressional Inquiry begun earlier this year into allegations that tax funds and other government monies were being funneled into Left-Wing fronts through the Justice and State Departments. Sessions investigated immediately and acted. In contrast, 'Rainbow Rex' Tillerson not only refused to investigate, he praised George Soros and the good works Soros was doing.
Congressman Bob Goodlatte, one of the team investigating the DOJ thanked Sessions for his prompt and decisive action. Goodlatte said that the investigation will continue into possible illegalities and conflicts-of-interest involving Obama, Holder, and Lynch. He issued a statement noting that preliminary investigations have found that nearly $1 billion in settlement funds were channeled to Liberal activist groups while Conservative nonprofits received little or nothing.
"The practice is wrong no matter which party is in power." Goodlatte said. "Attorney-General Sessions' integrity stands in stark contrast to the behavior of Obama Administration officials."
Last night, ISIS gunmen attacked two vital points in Tehran, killing 12 people and wounding 25. It was the first successful terrorist attack in Iran in 35 years. An attack on Iran has been an objective of ISIS since Iran joined the Allies fighting ISIS. Iranian authorities have foiled several planned attacks before they came to fruition.
ISIS' plan was clearly an attempt to destabilize the Iranian Government. Eight gunmen armed with assault rifles and suicide vests simultaneously attacked the Iranian Parliament Building and the Shrine of the late Ayatollah Khomeini. In the Parliament attack, a lone security heroically held off the ISIS thugs, allowing the officials time to evacuate into an emergency shelter. The guard gave his life in the attack, by some accounts remaining at his post though mortally wounded. All of the ISIS operatives were killed after a nearly hour-long running gunfight with the Revolutionary Guard.
At the Khomeini Shrine, four ISIS terrorists---including two females---sprayed the citadel with gunfire before being surrounded by Revolutionary Guardsmen. One of the women surrendered, the other committed suicide by detonating a suicide vest. One of the male attackers also committed suicide and the other was killed by security forces.
Following the attack, the White House issued a foolish statement to the effect that 'state-sponsors of terrorism' get their just desserts. Actually that would apply more to US Foreign Policy than to Iran: the US has suffered far more terrorist attacks than Iran has and Iran is responsible for far more damage to ISIS than anything the so-called 'Coalition' has ever done.
In a speech at the University of Tehran, Supreme Ayatollah Ali Khamenei praised the heroism of the security forces and assured the people that the attacks would have no effect on Iranian resolve to continue the fight against ISIS.
"Had Iran not taken a stand against Jihadi terrorism in the region, we would be facing much worse problems today. I have full optimism that God-willing that the terrorist forces will soon face ultimate defeat." the Ayatollah stated. He further added that, despite the carnage, that the efforts of the Jihadists were puny in comparison to recent Allied victories on the battlefield.
President Rouhani stated today, after meeting with military and intelligence officials that the attackers had definite connections to foreign provocateurs. He stated that the terrorists were paid and equipped by powers outside Iran, but that the investigation was ongoing. The Revolutionary Guard issued a statement corroborating President Rouhani's remarks and vowing that the victims would be avenged.
There are two noteworthy things about this incident. One is that, unlike the Bush and Obama Administrations, the Ayatollahs had no hesitation about admitting these attacks the handiwork of Islamic extremists. The other is that---unlike all Western countries---Iran called upon its citizens to stand firm and assist its efforts to defeat the Jihad.
And also a word of praise must be said for the Revolutionary Guard and the Iranian Police. What footage has so far emerged shows them fearlessly engaging the terrorists---often without the 'precautions' that Western forces take to secure the safety of their personnel first. The Iranians moved in, kicked butt, got the job done, and saved lives.
There will be more details of this story to be certain; and unfortunately it is probably not the final attack, as we've seen recently in Britain and France as well. The ISIS fiends have called upon their followers to execute attacks against their enemies during the Islamic Holy Month of Ramadan. That should also illustrate that fanatical cults are always a dangerous menace, whether they pretend to be Christians or pretend to be Moslems.
