THE FOUNDATION
“Patriotism is as much a virtue as justice, and is as necessary for the support of societies as natural affection is for the support of families.” —Benjamin Rush, letter to His Fellow Countrymen: On Patriotism, 1773
TOP RIGHT HOOKS
Ah, the innocence of short-term groupthink. Sixty-one percent of Greeks voted Sunday to resist the economic demands of international creditors. In doing so, the Greeks are strumming their Bouzoukis right into a steaming pile of economic mess. How could they not? International creditors are telling the country to cut its spending, telling the country how to spend its money. And the birthplace of democracy has figured out it can vote itself into regulatory tyranny and a death by entitlement spending. A vote against accepting the repayment plan is a vote for Greece’s bull-headed independence, whatever the consequences. Well, the consequences are dire for the country with the economic clout of Connecticut, as there’s a good chance it will bebooted from the Eurozone. Greece’s pile of rubble for an economy will disintegrate even further because it may try to resurrect its own currency, the drachma. Cue the inflation, cold creditors and hard times. While Greece’s plight sounds like the international version of a shopper with five-too-many credit cards, America should not be quick to laugh. Our entitlement spending is increasing our $18 trillion federal debt. Meanwhile, the Greek government plans on going back to the rest of Europe to ask for another bailout, a move that sounds like it will go over like a lead balloon.
Chicago had yet another bloody weekend, as some 64 were shot and 10 killed. Amazingly, this Independence Day weekend was a bit better than last year’s tragic numbers, and not terribly different from any weekend on the shores of Lake Michigan. Leftists continue to cry for something to be done — “Where are the gun laws?” demands Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel. But the Windy City sports some of the nation’s toughest gun control laws. Leftists often blame out-of-state guns, but, clearly, this isn’t a “gun problem.” It’s also worth noting that none of the gangbangers doing the shooting were flying Confederate flags, which, we gather from leftist drivel, are responsible for the Charleston murders last month. From the South Carolina state capitol to Amazon and TV Land, the Confederate flag is being purged from society, as if the Left’s politically correct exorcism can heal all racial wounds. Yet there’s nary a peep about the plague of inner city black-on-black violence created by deliberately institutionalized urban poverty plantations, which have become mass breeding grounds for such violence.
How hard must it have been for CNN to report this story: “A former CNN reporter was wounded three times Tuesday night during a deadly shootout with a man who allegedly tried to rob him and his wife in a New Mexico motel room. Chuck de Caro and his wife, former Headline News anchor and CNN correspondent Lynne Russell, were on a road trip and spending the night at an Albuquerque motel when de Caro killed the man during what Russell called an attempted robbery.” No charges will be filed against Caro, who clearly acted in self-defense. “I am really proud of him,” Russell said. “I thank him over and over for saving my life. He really is my hero.” Of course, if the network itself had its way with guns, as typified by former anchor and anti-gun zealot Piers Morgan, this pair wouldn’t have been able to defend themselves, and CNN would be reporting about the deaths of two former CNN employees.
FEATURED RIGHT ANALYSIS
By Nate Jackson
Not only do Christians who oppose same-sex marriage no longer have their religious liberty, they no longer have the right to free speech. At least that’s what an Oregon judge decided in the case of the bakers who refused to bake the cake for a same-sex wedding. Expect the beatings to continue until morale improves because this is what happens when “love wins.”
In February 2013, Aaron and Melissa Klein, who owned the now-closed Sweet Cakes by Melissa, declined to bake a wedding cake for Rachel and Laurel Bowman-Cryer. At the time, same-sex marriage wasn’t even yet legal in Oregon, but no matter — the offended couple filed a complaint.
In January 2014, the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries, which enforces discrimination law, decided the Kleins illegally discriminated.
Last Thursday, Oregon Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian issued his final decision on the punishment — just in time for Independence Day, and only days after the Supreme Courtendorsed “gay marriage.” The Kleins must pay a fine of $135,000 in “emotional damages” to the couple they denied service. The alleged suffering included — no kidding — “acute loss of confidence,” “doubt,” “excessive sleep,” “loss of sleep,” “felt mentally raped, dirty and shameful,” “high blood pressure,” “impaired digestion,” “loss of appetite,” “migraine headaches,” “pale and sick at home after work,” “resumption of smoking habit,” “shock,” “stunned,” “surprise,” “uncertainty,” “weight gain” and “worry.”
Clearly, this couple needs serious counseling, not $135,000.
And to add gratuitous insult to unbelievably ridiculous injury for the Kleins, Avakian put a gag order on them. That’s not terribly surprising, given Avakian’s previously stated desire to “rehabilitate” the Kleins and his association with “Basic Rights Oregon,” a pro-homosexual group. Avakian wrote, “The Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor and Industries hereby orders [Aaron and Melissa Klein] to cease and desist from publishing, circulating, issuing or displaying, or causing to be published … any communication to the effect that any of the accommodations … will be refused, withheld from or denied to, or that any discrimination be made against, any person on account of their sexual orientation.”
The only thing missing was the horse’s head in their bed.
The gag order is somewhat moot because the Kleins already lost their business to the Rainbow Mafia, but it may still affect the orders they take from home.
“This effectively strips us of all our First Amendment rights,” the Kleins responded. “According to the state of Oregon we neither have freedom of religion or freedom of speech.”
But some rights are more equal than others. “This case is not about a wedding cake or a marriage,” Avakian declared. “It is about a business’s refusal to serve someone because of their sexual orientation. Under Oregon law, that is illegal.”
Avakian is dead wrong. The Kleins declined to endorse same-sex marriage by providingparticular services for the couple’s wedding — they did not entirely refuse to serve them because of their gender disorientation pathology.
It’s no small irony that all of this came to a head just before Independence Day. Our nation was founded by pilgrims seeking religious freedom. Our Declaration of Independence cites “the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God,” both of which are violated by same-sex marriage. And yet here we are with Rule of Law turned on its head to suit the feelings of the offended.
But the Kleins aren’t going quietly. They wrote, “We will NOT give up this fight, and we will NOT be silenced. We stand for God’s truth, God’s word and freedom for ALL Americans. We are here to obey God not man, and we will not conform to this world. If we were to lose everything it would be totally worth it for our Lord who gave his one and only son, Jesus, for us! God will win this fight!”
The Kleins' resolve reminds us of the Declaration itself, whose signers declared, “[F]or the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.” We pray they ultimately succeed, and we exhort like-minded Patriots to have such a relentless attitude in the battle for Liberty.
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BEST OF RIGHT OPINION
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OPINION IN BRIEF
Stephen Moore: “[H]ere’s the dirty little secret that motorists aren’t being told: the so-called highway funding shortfall is a hoax. … The problem is that Congress steals money from the highway trust fund to finance projects that have nothing to do with roads. Overall, about 20 cents of every federal gas tax dollar underwrites non-highway projects like mass transit, bike paths, high-speed rail and bus lines. Think about that the next time you plunge into a watermelon-sized pothole. This year alone roughly $8 billion of highway trust fund money will be raided and used for mass transit projects. Funding rail and buses with the gas tax violates the principle that those who use the infrastructure should pay for it. … Then there is the federal Davis Bacon Act that requires effectively a ‘prevailing wage’ be spent on all federal road projects. This adds as much as 20 percent to the cost of building a road. We could get a free bridge for every five we build, if we could repeal this SOP to the unions. If Congress would implement these two measures alone they could fully fund the interstate roads America needs. … The gas tax is supposed to be a user fee to pay for roads. Right now it pays for Washington waste. The gas tax hike isn’t about roads; it’s about Congress making another bipartisan raid of taxpayers' wallets.”
SHORT CUTS
The Gipper: “I hope that when you’re my age you’ll be able to say, as I have been able to say: we lived in freedom, we lived lives that were a statement, not an apology.”
Alpha Jackass: “[Clarence Thomas] is a clown in black face sitting on the Supreme Court. He gets me that angry. He doesn’t belong there. … He is an embarrassment. He is a disgrace to America.” —Star Trek actor George Takei, who doubled down before finally apologizing (“It’s one thing to critique Thomas' positions. I do all the time. But to suggest that’s he’s [a] ‘blackface clown’ and ‘unqualified’ is wrong.” —liberal pundit Marc Lamont Hill)
From the expert on making things up: “They are good people but their ideas are bad. They will be making a whole bunch of stuff up.” —Barack Obama on the Republican field and the economy
Let them eat cake: “I’m not the type to have [guns] in my house. The security at the front of my house might but not in my house. I truly honestly believe we don’t have strict enough gun control laws and it would change a lot.” —Kim Kardashian (Guns for her guards but not for you commoners.)
The BIG Lie: “If we don’t get a deal, if we don’t have a [nuclear] deal [with Iran], if there’s absolute intransigence, if there’s an unwillingness to move on the things that are important, President Obama has always said we’ll be prepared to walk away.” —Secretary of State John Kerry, who really, really wants a deal, on tomorrow’s deadline
Dezinformatsia: “American independence in 1776 was a monumental mistake. We should be mourning the fact that we left the United Kingdom, not cheering it.” —Vox’s Dylan Matthews
And last… “Speaking about a new State Department report, John Kerry said ‘the United States has room to improve’ on human rights. OK, so where are we coming up short? Beheadings or stonings?” —Fred Thompson
Semper Vigilans Fortis Paratus et Fidelis!
Managing Editor Nate Jackson
Join us in daily prayer for our Patriots in uniform — Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen — standing in harm’s way in defense of Liberty, and for their families.
