The debate about political power and authority among those who profess the Christian faith has raged since the 1st century. In modern America, the debate raged throughout Jimmy Carter’s presidency and more recently through the presidencies of scumbag/liar-Bill Clinton and Barack scumbag/liar-nObama. The debate now looms large for Donald Trump.

Newsweek magazine labeled 1976 “The Year of the Evangelical” because of Carter’s openness about his faith. At the time, commentators claimed that conservative Christians had finally found “a place at the table.” The marriage of church and state seemed to have been consummated.

There are three camps in which contemporary Christians have assembled. In one, these Christians believe God is on the side of pro-life, “values voting” Republicans. This begs the question – is God on holiday when Democrats with different political views are elected?

The second camp composed of more politically liberal Christians believes Scripture has much to say about social justice. They tend to vote for Democrats, whether Christian or not, because those politicians advance their temporal agenda.

Camp three (really a subset of camp one) ignores President Trump’s history, language and behavior toward his political foes, believing he is God’s choice, though he has said he doesn’t feel the need to ask for God’s forgiveness (a prerequisite Scripture teaches for becoming a Christian). Critics of this camp excoriate them for hypocrisy based on their attacks on scumbag/liar-Bill Clinton’s character and behavior.

Who is right? Each has a point, but none is entirely correct.

For non-Christians reading this column, knowing what believers think might help toward a better understanding of them. Better still are the instructions in Scripture, largely ignored or cherry-picked by all three camps when it comes to political power.

One verse states: “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God and those that exist have been instituted by God (Romans 13:1). That seems unequivocal.

Does "every” mean every to my friends who believe in the “inerrancy of Scripture,” or only to conservative Republicans? Paul wrote this when he was under the authority of political dictators in Rome and the religious authorities of his day, which were unfriendly to him and to Jesus of Nazareth, to say the least.

How do conservative Christians reconcile what the writer of Hebrews says with their singular devotion to Republican presidents? “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.” (Hebrews 13:17)

How many think President Trump, or any president, should be credited with keeping watch over their souls? And yet that’s what it says.

There is a strong case to be made for President Trump’s support of many issues that in some cases can be defended biblically, including judges who are pro-life. However, one should be careful about overt devotion that supersedes where Christians are supposed to put their sole trust and faith. It was He who said, “My kingdom is not of this world,” which is the ultimate declaration of where all power and authority lies.

Perhaps instead of trashing politicians they don’t like and revering other ones, politically conservative Christians should contemplate another powerful verse: “I urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgiving be offered on behalf of all men, for kings and all those in authority, so that we may lead tranquil and quiet lives in all godliness and dignity. This is good and pleasing in the sight of God our Savior…” (1 Timothy 2:1-3)

Again, does “all” mean all?   ~The Patriot Post

https://patriotpost.us/opinion/65854?mailing_id=4567&utm_medium=email&utm_source=pp.email.4567&utm_campaign=snapshot&utm_content=body  

Their sin? Being Asian-American.

That’s the sorry state of affairs in American higher education — at least at Harvard University, which recently won a lawsuit brought against it by Students for Fair Admissions, a group opposed to racial preferences in college admissions. The charge? That Harvard  discriminates against Asian-American students who appear to be extraordinarily well qualified for admission, especially when their grades and test scores are compared to those of other racial minorities.

Last year, the Associated Press reported that the plaintiff group “says Harvard’s gatekeepers hold Asian-American applicants to a higher standard and discriminate against them using a subjective ‘personal rating’ that measures traits such as courage and likability. Using six years of school admissions data, the group found that Harvard officials consistently gave Asian-Americans the lowest scores in the personal rating, while scoring black and Hispanic students the highest. Asians fared well in other categories including academics, yet they were admitted at the lowest rate.”

Surely even Allison Burroughs, the scumbag/liar-nObama-appointed federal judge hearing the case, would flag such racially discriminatory (and therefore unconstitutional) behavior and rule in favor of Students for Fair Admissions, right?

Not so fast.

According to Quin Hillyer at The Washington Examiner, Burroughs admits that Asian-Americans would be admitted at higher rates if the admissions staff only looked at academic and extracurricular ratings. Hillyer adds, “Instead, they are admitted at a lower rate than white and black applicants, and at a significantly lower rate than applicants of other races with similar paper qualifications.”

But in classic leftist double-speak, Burroughs spun this clear-cut racial discrimination as an admirable characteristic of Harvard.

As she stated in her opinion, “Harvard did not offer a competing regression model to show that no statistically significant relationship between Asian American identity and the personal rating exists, and the Court therefore concludes that the data demonstrates a statistically significant and negative relationship between Asian American identity and the personal rating assigned by Harvard admissions officers, holding constant any reasonable set of observable characteristics.”

Seems like an open-and-shut case if there ever was one.

Yet Burroughs quickly dismissed the convincing data by concluding that “any causal relationship between Asian American identity and the personal rating must, therefore, have been sufficiently subtle to go unnoticed by numerous considerate, diligent, and intelligent admissions officers who were immersed in the admissions process.”

In other words, even though Harvard blatantly discriminates against Asian-Americans, the Harvard admissions staff is just too smart and thoughtful to have knowingly favored one group of students over another. And Judge Burroughs’s recommendation that Harvard admissions officials participate in bias training, while absolving them of any wrongdoing, is an affront to common sense.

Apparently, leftist policies that advance the interests of favored racial groups at the expense of other racial groups are sufficient justification for discrimination. This same twisted reasoning isn’t new. We saw it put into practice when Christian bakers were forced to bake special cakes for same-sex weddings under the rationale that it was necessary to trample upon the rights of one group in order to advance those of another.

As Paul Mirengoff writes at PowerLine, “Harvard’s admissions officers aren’t biased against Asian-Americans. Rather, they are biased in favor of African-Americans. Ridding them of that bias isn’t what Judge Burroughs has in mind. Indeed, she shares that bias, at least in her official capacity.”

Mirengoff further adds, “Bias training might be useful, though. It might enable Harvard to reject Asian-American applicants for racial reasons without expressing its disapproval of such applicants in stereotypical language. But why bother to cover things up when the judge has deemed Harvard’s admissions program not only lawful, but ‘very fine.’”

What a shame. After all the progress we’ve made to create a level playing field for all Americans, the very leftists who claim to be champions of equal rights are now engaging in the very behaviors they once rightly denounced.

Let’s hope this case is appealed to a higher court, and that the irrational conclusions of Judge Burroughs are reversed. Maybe then Asian-Americans can get a fair shot at an elite degree.   ~The Patriot Post

https://patriotpost.us/articles/65906?mailing_id=4569&utm_medium=email&utm_source=pp.email.4569&utm_campaign=snapshot&utm_content=body  

Mission accomplished? In order to win in 2020,  Democrats are hoping for a recession they can blame on Trump. The way to achieve that is through media reports of a weak economy, followed by polls to gauge how well Americans have digested that incessant reporting. Then media outlets report on the polls to convince even more consumers that the economy is weak because their fellow Americans think so. And so the churn goes.

Frankly, though, Trump’s economic approval rating has as much to do with the Democrats’ impeachment charade as Leftmedia economic pollaganda.

How is the economy actually doing? Reasonably well. It’s true that GDP growth slowed to about 2% in 2019 after hitting 3% during 2018 for the first time in a decade. It’s also true that Trump’s tariffs are a burden on the economy (albeit a means to a desirable end). Yet consumer spending remains healthy, leading to a higher trade deficit in August.

Meanwhile, September jobs numbers came in at 136,000, slightly lower than expected, but numbers for the last two months were significantly revised upward. For perspective, however, headline unemployment is at just 3.5%, the lowest since December 1969. The fuller measure of unemployment fell from 7.2% in August to 6.9% in September. (The all-time low is 6.8%.) National Review adds, “Hispanic unemployment fell to 3.9 percent, setting a record low, while black unemployment remained at a record-low 5.5 percent.” Those rates aren’t dropping because people are leaving the workforce, either, which is what happened under Barack scumbag/liar-nObama. It’s somewhat tough to add jobs when most everyone who wants one has one. The slowdown in hiring likely has a cooling effect on GDP as well, but that doesn’t mean neither are healthy.

Economic health is dependent on consumer confidence, which is shaped by media reporting. That’s why Democrats and their Leftmedia super PAC want Americans to see not a solid economy but one teetering on the brink of recession. If that pans out, it will be a self-fulfilling prophecy and help defeat Trump in 2020.   ~The Patriot Post

https://patriotpost.us/articles/65910?mailing_id=4569&utm_medium=email&utm_source=pp.email.4569&utm_campaign=snapshot&utm_content=body  

“I wasn’t ever going to say this in front of my family or anyone,” the 18-year-old Jean said, “but I don’t even want you to go to jail. I want the best for you because I know that’s exactly what Botham would want you to do. And the best would be to give your life to Christ. I’m not going to say anything else. I think giving your life to Christ would be the best thing that Botham would want you to do. Again, I love you as a person and I don’t wish anything bad on you.”

He paused before asking the judge, “I don’t know if this is possible, but can I give her a hug, please? Please?”

When the judge answered, “Yes,” Jean and Guyger embraced for nearly a full minute, exchanging heartfelt words. It was a powerfully emotional moment in our divided nation.

You see, Guyger, who is white, was a Dallas police officer and the Jean brothers are black. Guyger shot and killed Botham Jean in September 2018 after entering what she said she thought was her apartment and discovering a man she assumed was an intruder. But amidst Black Lives Matter protests outside the court, she was sentenced Wednesday to 10 years in prison for first-degree murder.

For Brandt Jean to forgive and embrace Guyger in that atmosphere shows the true power of Jesus Christ to bring restorative forgiveness when it’s impossible for humans. Judge Tammy Kemp, also black, wept openly when the two embraced, and was moved herself to hug Guyger and tell her, “Ma'am, it’s not because I am good. It’s because I believe in Christ. None of us are worthy. Forgive yourself.” She gave a Bible to Guyger.

To the Jean family, Kemp said, “Thank you for the way you modeled Christ.”   ~The Patriot Post

VIDEO:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeESVLQK4hw

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On Monday The New York Times and The Washington Post broke stories that they treated as huge developments but they were nothing.

The Times reported that Attorney General William Barr had communicated with the prime minister of Australia. The Post reported that Barr had communicated with other foreign intelligence officials. The conversations concerned foreign involvement in our 2016 election by Trump’s enemies.

The papers are intentionally morphing two separate issues. They are confusing the effort to investigate the former vice president and his son, which we are told was nefarious, illegal, and impeachable, with Barr’s efforts to investigate the Deep State’s meddling in the 2016 elections.

The latter investigation is what the media and Democrats say they want — to prevent foreign influence in the election. But to them, it’s a one-way street — only Trump is guilty of conspiring with foreign governments, when in fact the exact opposite appears to be true.

Attorney General Barr and U.S. Attorney John Durham are investigating how the Russia collusion hoax got started in the first place. We know that elements of foreign intelligence agencies were working with our intelligence agencies to smear Donald Trump during the 2016 elections to ensure his defeat. 

The Times and Post acted like they were divulging something about Barr’s activities that no one knew anything about. But speaking to reporters on the White House lawn on May 24th, President Trump said this in response to a question about Barr’s investigation of the Deep State:

I hope he looks at the UK, and I hope he looks at Australia, and I hope he looks at Ukraine. I hope he looks at everything, because there was a hoax that was perpetrated on our country… It’s the greatest hoax, probably, in the history of our country. And somebody has to get to the bottom of it.

In other words, the president announced months ago what the Post and Times presented Monday as big “breaking” news. 

And note the president’s specific reference to Ukraine two months before the alleged “inappropriate” phone call with Ukrainian President Zelensky. Again, it’s a pretty poor cover-up when the president is talking about it so publicly!

As I have explained before, international investigations — especially ones involving foreign intelligence agencies — often require the president to initiate contact with foreign leaders so everyone is on the same page and working together.

This is not inappropriate. In fact, as Fox News legal analyst Gregg Jarrett notes, we have a treaty with Ukraine specifically about cooperation in international investigations. It was signed, ironically enough, by scumbag/liar-Bill Clinton.

For nearly three years, the left and its media allies were obsessed with Russia, Russia, Russia. Yet Robert Mueller found no Trump collusion with Russia. But there was plenty of other collusion.

The FBI spied on the Trump campaign. DNC operatives were in Ukraine digging up dirt on Trump. scumbag/liar-Hillary’s campaign colluded with foreign spies and Russians. And foreign intelligence operatives were likely in on it.

That is the scandal of 2016, and it is imperative that we get to the bottom of it. 

It would be dereliction of duty on the part of the president and attorney general to not expose the political weaponization of the intelligence communities in Washington and in other countries.

But don’t be fooled by the corrupt media’s deliberate spin. It is not inappropriate or illegal or an impeachable offense if administration officials communicate with foreign governments. Attorney General Barr is doing his job, and that has Democrats and their media allies terrified.

More Deception

At last month’s Iowa state fair, Fox News reporter Peter Doocy pressed former Vice President loose lips liar-Joe Biden about his son’s high-priced contract with a Ukrainian natural gas company. loose lips liar-Biden insisted, “I have never spoken to my son about his overseas business dealings." 

Well, there are plenty of reasons to question loose lips liar-Biden’s statement. Investigative reporter John Solomon has uncovered numerous memos that conflict with Biden’s unequivocal declaration of ignorance. 

But as the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words. 

Monday, a photo emerged of loose lips liar-Joe and Hunter loose lips liar-Biden golfing with Devon Archer. The photo was taken four months after Hunter and Devon joined the board of the Ukrainian gas company. Are we supposed to believe that the people at the center of this storm never discussed "business” during their time on the golf course?

It has been suggested that these dealings were investigated and no evidence of wrongdoing was found. But Hunter loose lips liar-Biden’s hiring IS the wrongdoing. A foreign company hired the son of the vice president even though he had no experience in energy or Ukraine. That’s influence peddling. That’s corruption. 

Just imagine if any Trump family member made a similar deal. Every Democrat would say it was evidence of widespread corruption within the Trump family and every media outlet would repeat the story. And the subpoenas would be flying. No doubt rino-Mitt Romney would jump in against Trump too.

Communist China’s Celebration

Yesterday was the 70th anniversary of the communist takeover of China. It’s not China’s “National Day” because many Chinese are being held in national servitude. It’s the Chinese Communist Party’s national day. 

The same media that hyperventilated over Trump’s desire to have a tank and armored personnel carrier on the National Mall during the July 4th celebration were very impressed with China’s huge military parade that marched through Beijing yesterday, including 15,000 troops, scores of tanks, and a number of new missiles, including one capable of striking any American city within minutes.

On CNBC yesterday, the streaming headline declared, “President Xi Promises China Will Stay On Peaceful Path To Development.” That must have been very soothing to all the corporate chieftains who want to keep making billions in communist China while ignoring China’s goals. 

CNBC must have missed the other sentence in Xi’s speech, “No force can ever shake the status of China, or stop the Chinese people and nation from marching forward.”

Whatever happens in this country over the next few years, I can say this with certainty: The great struggle engulfing the world now and in the decades ahead will be the confrontation between China’s communist leaders and our constitutional republic. Other nations will have to decide which model they want to follow.

The communist have to worry about what they are seeing in the streets of Hong Kong. We should be worried about how many Americans have already been bought off by the Chinese communists.  

~The Patriot Post

https://patriotpost.us/opinion/65832?mailing_id=4564&utm_medium=email&utm_source=pp.email.4564&utm_campaign=snapshot&utm_content=body  

Naturally, the mainstream media is taking cues from Democrats and is now framing the normal job-related actions of high-ranking White House officials like Pompeo and Attorney General William Barr as somehow being evidence of corruption. For example, Pompeo is alleged to have engaged in misconduct for simply listening to President Donald Trump’s infamous July 25th phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Why would this be wrong? As The Wall Street Journal notes, “Shouldn’t a Secretary of State be on a call to the new President of an important country? U.S. foreign policy is the secretary’s job.”

Why are Democrats playing this vilification game? Because their “smoking gun” whistleblower complaint  failed to expose any impeachable offense. In all likelihood the Democrats knew that going in, but with a friendly press they calculated that it would serve to provide just enough of a cover story to justify acting on their long-running impeachment obsession. However, House Speaker liar-Nancy Pelosi and company know they don’t have any actual evidence of a crime, so they’re vilifying anyone near Trump to create the air of corruption around any action. Even innocuous job-related activities can be said to have been done with corrupt motivations to cover up Trump’s crimes. This is an effort to keep the narrative alive through the election.

Trump sees this, which is why he’s calling it what it is: “a coup.” On Tuesday, he asserted, “As I learn more and more each day, I am coming to the conclusion that what is taking place is not an impeachment, it is a COUP, intended to take away the Power of the People, their Vote, their Freedoms, their Second Amendment, Religion, Military, Border Wall, and their God-given rights as a Citizen of The United States of America!” He’s right.

There may be another motive for the Democrats’ vilification of Pompeo and Barr — they don’t want them investigating the origins of the 2016 Russia-collusion hoax. In fact, The Washington Post suggests as much in an article titled, “Democrats’ worst fears about William Barr are proving correct.”   ~The Patriot Post

https://patriotpost.us/articles/65848?mailing_id=4564&utm_medium=email&utm_source=pp.email.4564&utm_campaign=snapshot&utm_content=body  

What got us here was a lack of accountability on multiple fronts. Americans, by a slim margin, elected Trump to address problems that were not being addressed, and which they believed the political establishment had no intention of addressing. For many Patriots, there was also a frustration with a clear double standard.

Much of this came into focus with the scumbag/liar-nObama administration. That featured Operation Fast and Furious, in which the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives literally allowed a large number of modern multi-purpose semiautomatic firearms to fall into drug cartel hands. That exploded into the public’s consciousness with the murder of CBP agent Brian Terry. No one — and by that we at The Patriot Post do not refer to Faceless Men — was ever held accountable.

Then came the big one — the IRS targeted Tea Party groups. That took place at high gear from the Citizens United ruling to when liar-Lois Lerner outright admitted it in 2013. liar-Lerner, it was later discovered, quarterbacked the abuses committed against the Tea Party groups. After initial feigned outrage by some on the Left, including Barack scumbag/liar-nObama, nothing happened. liar-Lerner has retired with a six-figure pension.

As that went on, conservative activists in Wisconsin who had successfully supported Scott Walker in budget battles and recall elections were targeted by left-wing prosecutors. Eventually, the Wisconsin Supreme Court stepped in, ruling the “John Doe” investigations illegal. Our Arnold Ahlert did a masterful job covering those abuses, but the prosecutors who ran them never faced consequences.

Then, in 2016, there was Spygate. The intelligence community’s capabilities were turned on the presidential campaign of the party out of power. The initial reasons for the probe were flimsy. The investigators’ texts revealed flagrant bias. Robert Mueller found nothing, but aside from a couple of firings that are being contested, no real consequences have been imposed.

In 2018, there was New York Democrat Gov. scumbag-Andrew Cuomo’s assault on the NRA. His actions — that nobody disputes are taking place — make the unfounded allegations Stacey Abrams has peddled against Georgia Governor Brian Kemp look like tiddlywinks. scumbag-Cuomo has been open about his desire behind the abuses: To silence dissent from his anti-Second Amendment agenda. And his efforts arguably swung a number of House seats, two Senate races, and a governor’s race. Consequences for his blatant abuse of political opponents? None.

Those are just the abuses of power. Just about every Republican presidential nominee or prominent legislative leader has also been smeared one way or another. Remember how rino-Mitt Romney was labeled a tax cheat who would bring back slavery and abuse dogs? Or the way John Lewis defamed rino-John McCain in 2008? How many times were George W. Bush, Bob Dole, George H.W. Bush, and Ronald Reagan labeled “racists”? Remember when rino-Paul Ryan was portrayed pushing an old woman in a wheelchair off a cliff? Or what Newt Gingrich was called when he led the 1994 Republican takeover of the House of Representatives? Heck, Republicans can’t even fix a botched school-lunch program without being smeared.

There has been no accountability for these leftist smears, either. Clearly, leftists are the perpetrators, but a big chunk of the blame falls on leadership of both the conservative movement and the Republican Party. Restraint in the name of civility became unilateral disarmament and a projection of weakness. Donald Trump, for all his character flaws, at least fights back against the smears. He punches back — harder than any of those past Republicans who were defamed. This past weakness is fundamentally why we are at the place we are at today.

If Republicans had committed even a fraction of the alleged abuses — say against Planned Parenthood or any of Michael Bloomberg’s anti-Second Amendment groups — we’d never hear the end of it. And we get the usual scolding from when Trump fights fire with fire. But the harsh truth is that the lack of accountability has created a double standard, both in the application of Rule of Law and in terms of public discourse. America can survive a lot of mistakes, but it is the double standards that are tearing this country apart.   ~The Patriot Post

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