Christine Marsh – AZ LD4 Parents and Voters Should Not Send this Woke, Leftist Candidate Back to the Arizona Senate thumbnail

Christine Marsh – AZ LD4 Parents and Voters Should Not Send this Woke, Leftist Candidate Back to the Arizona Senate

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By John R. Ammon

The Prickly Pear recently published an article about Senator Nancy Barto running in Arizona Legislative District 4. Her opponent is Democrat Christine Marsh, also an Arizona State Senator. The Senate race in AZ LD 4 is a consequence of redistricting and pits two individuals truly on opposite sides of the issues that are of great importance to all Arizona parents, families and children.

The 2022 election at every level of government, from local communities to the United State Congress, are stark choices between pro-family, pro-children, pro-law and order and pro-America candidates and the radical leftist, progressive candidates that voters seem to be preparing to reject in less than two weeks on November 8th.

Christine Marsh is the candidate of the latter, a candidate and former school teacher of the radical left. Last elected in 2020 after receiving the endorsement of President Joe Biden, she has demonstrated her left-wing ideological beliefs in many Senate votes clearly against the interests of children (born and unborn), Arizona taxpayers, parental rights and families, border security, and police. Marsh supported the damaging, union supported mandates forced upon our children during the Covid pandemic with the now well documented learning loss our K-12 students suffered, always marching in step with the teacher unions.

Legislators campaigning to remain in office should always be judged on their voting history and policy priorities which typically reflect their ideologic approach to governing. Christine Marsh’s voting record and the priorities and ideology expressed by those choices are clear. Examples of her voting record and her approach to Arizona children, families, and parental rights follow.

  • Voted against curriculum transparency that allows parents to inspect their child’s classroom learning materials and activities
  • Voted for sex education for children in the K-4 grades in Arizona and to protect sexually explicit curriculum in schools that is being rightfully rejected by parents across America
  • Voted to block parents’ access to their children’s school medical records
  • Voted against limits to radical abortion in Arizona and voted for legislation to leave children who survive an abortion to die without care
  • Voted to promote illegal immigration and prevent the urgent attempts to close the southern border. Marsh has openly expressed the view that ICE should be abolished.
  • Voted against law enforcement’s ability to prosecute criminals bringing fentanyl into the state with the open border which she supports
  • Voted against making all Arizona K-12 students eligible for Empowerment Scholarship Accounts (ESAs), a law that did pass making Arizona a leading state in America for school reform
  • Voted against civics education being part of the curriculum for Arizona students
  • Voted to force female student athletes to compete again boys ‘identifying’ as girls

Christine Marsh’s voting record and the radical leftist ideology it reflects is on the ballot this election in every state and district in America. In Arizona LD 4, parents and grandparents and concerned citizens are awake – Christine Marsh is woke on all the issues affecting our children, our safety, our border, our police, our taxes and preserving both an Arizona and American way of life. She has no place in determining what is best for the children, parents and families of LD4 and certainly should not be voting on the issues that affect the quality of family and civic life for all Arizonans and especially the future of our state’s children after November 8th.


TAKE ACTION

How Not to Vote in Arizona

The 2022 midterm election is fast approaching. The system for voting in Arizona is predominantly by mail-in ballots (around 80% of all ballots).The ballots will be mailed out to all voters registered for mail-in voting on October 12th. The actual ‘day’ of the election is Tuesday November 8th..

Once upon a time when all voters went to the polls on the day of election, the tabulated results were announced the night of the election date. If the result of a specific race was razor thin and less than a legislated margin, a recount might prevent the naming of a winner. That was the exception for calling the results of the election. We at The Prickly Pear are very concerned about the flaws in Arizona’s predominant ‘mail-in’ voting system.

Please click on the red TAKE ACTION link below to learn How Not to Vote in Arizona as a mail-in ballot voter and to be certain your vote is included in the count the evening of November 8th.

Soros-Backed Maricopa County District Attorney Candidate Praised Groups that Hope to ‘Abolish Prison’ thumbnail

Soros-Backed Maricopa County District Attorney Candidate Praised Groups that Hope to ‘Abolish Prison’

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By The Editors

Editors’ Note: Attention Maricopa County voters – Democrat Julie Gunnigle is exactly the type of candidate, if elevated to the position of Maricopa County Attorney, will devastate the rule of law and unleash the horrific crime wave seen in blue cities in America with a police defunding, pro-criminal, and anti-victim ideology. The George Soros backed and financed far-left Democrat county and district attorneys in cities such as New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, et al are a major reason for the rampant violent crime devastating the residents and businesses of these locales. A vote for Julie Gunnigle is a vote against Maricopa County law and order and the well-being of all its residents. Current Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell is an experienced conservative, law and order prosecutor who represents the best in those responsible for holding dangerous criminals accountable and maintaining law and order and the safety of our streets and communities. The choice for this critical office is not hard but critical – Rachel Mitchell will defend the rule of law and prosecute crime. Julie Gunnigle will work to defund police, protect criminals and degrade the safety and well-being of all in Maricopa County with her progressive far-left ideology.

“I can’t say enough good things about Mass Liberation AZ,” Soros-backed Maricopa County District Attorney candidate Julie Gunnigle said in reference to an extreme, pro-criminal organization.

Gunnigle also stated that Mass Liberation AZ brings a “valued voice” to the conversation on criminal justice reform, “I’ve built relationships with other community organizations and I’m in conversation with folks like Mass Liberation and LUCHA because I think they bring a valued voice,” the Soros backed candidate remarked.

Mass Liberation AZ advocates for the abolition of prisons. Their website states unambiguously, “We believe all prisons, detention centers and jails should be abolished.”

The pro-criminal organization is also co-hosting an event titled “Do Black Lives Matter to White Women” alongside Planned Parenthood. The description of the anti-white event reads, “White Women need to show up now and support the movement for Black liberation. Join us to unlearn toxic whiteness.”

Continue reading  this article at Breitbart.

TAKE ACTION

How Not to Vote in Arizona

The 2022 midterm election is fast approaching. The system for voting in Arizona is predominantly by mail-in ballots (around 80% of all ballots). The ballots will be mailed out to all voters registered for mail-in voting on October 12th. The actual ‘day’ of the election is Tuesday November 8, 27 days later.

Once upon a time when all voters went to the polls on the day of election, the tabulated results were announced the night of the election date. If the result of a specific race was razor thin and less than a legislated margin, a recount might prevent the naming of a winner. That was the exception for calling the results of the election.

It is still this way in most first world countries but not the United States and certainly not Arizona. Voting rules (some unconstitutional) were dramatically altered in many states in 2020 because of the Covid pandemic.

We at The Prickly Pear are very concerned about the flaws in Arizona’s predominant ‘mail-in’ voting system.

Please click on the red TAKE ACTION link below to learn How Not to Vote in Arizona as a mail-in ballot voter and to be certain your vote is included in the count the evening of November 8th.

Nancy Barto – A Dedicated Arizona State Senator for Education, Parental Rights and Life Advocacy thumbnail

Nancy Barto – A Dedicated Arizona State Senator for Education, Parental Rights and Life Advocacy

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By John R. Ammon

Americans are hearing a constant drumbeat that the 2022 midterm election is the most consequential ever for our nation. There is much reason to consider this given the radical and foreboding leftist tilt of many in power on the Democrat side and the consequences of their exercised power in the past two years.

The choices made in this election cycle are unquestionably critical for families, parental rights, our children’s physical safety as well as the quality and appropriateness of what they are taught and exposed to in school, and certainly the protection of the most vulnerable in our society, born and unborn.

We are bombarded in this election cycle with constant political advertisements and propaganda from candidates, especially those with a radical progressive ideology contributing to the nation’s ills and the threats to American life. Voters are looking for candidates who have proven records of achievement and dedication that reflect the values they, the voters, possess.

A candidate that fits this description here in Arizona is Republican State Senator Nancy Barto representing AZ Legislative District 4. Senator Barto has a record of tirelessly working for education reform, curriculum transparency and safety for the children attending school in her district and throughout Arizona.

She has sponsored and championed legislation for school choice, increased funding for public school education (almost one billion dollars in the last budget), and the parental right to prospectively inspect curriculum and the content of material in school libraries.

Nancy Barto has led the fight against the invasive sexualization, promotion of gender confusion, and indoctrination of our children with Critical Race Theory (CRT) and its Trojan Horse, Social and Emotional Learning (SEL), and the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) movement of the progressive left.

Senator Barto has stood firm against the Covid mandates that have been so damaging to our students across America and can be counted on going forward. She has supported and sponsored legislation that is against the mandating of Covid ‘vaccine’ and booster injections for school attendance.

The recent CDC vote to add the Covid ‘vaccine’ and boosters to the childhood vaccine schedule will bring the issue of school attendance and mandatory Covid injections before parents again. Count on Nancy Barto to stand strong.

In a subsequent article, The Prickly Pear will present Senator Barto’s opponent in the AZ District 4 Senate race. The midterm election of 2022 is often referred to as the choice of opposites throughout the United States. This race between Nancy Barto and Christine Marsh is that – we will present the opposite choice for State Senator for Arizona Legislative District 4 in coming days.

For more information about Senator Nancy Barto’s advocacy for children, education, parental rights and life advocacy, and much more, click here.

TAKE ACTION

How Not to Vote in Arizona

The 2022 midterm election is fast approaching. The system for voting in Arizona is predominantly by mail-in ballots (around 80% of all ballots). The ballots will be mailed out to all voters registered for mail-in voting on October 12th. The actual ‘day’ of the election is Tuesday November 8, 27 days later.

Once upon a time when all voters went to the polls on the day of election, the tabulated results were announced the night of the election date. If the result of a specific race was razor thin and less than a legislated margin, a recount might prevent the naming of a winner. That was the exception for calling the results of the election.

It is still this way in most first world countries but not the United States and certainly not Arizona. Voting rules (some unconstitutional) were dramatically altered in many states in 2020 because of the Covid pandemic.

We at The Prickly Pear are very concerned about the flaws in Arizona’s predominant ‘mail-in’ voting system.

Please click on the red TAKE ACTION link below to learn How Not to Vote in Arizona as a mail-in ballot voter and to be certain your vote is included in the count the evening of November 8th.

U.S. Representative Andy Biggs – A Model of Constituency Service and Real Care of Those He Representatives thumbnail

U.S. Representative Andy Biggs – A Model of Constituency Service and Real Care of Those He Representatives

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By John R. Ammon

Arizona U.S. Representative Andy Biggs is a unique federal legislator. He is a strong advocate for liberty and the foundational and constitutional basis of the United States and aggressively fights to defend our liberty and opportunity for all Americans. We should expect no less from all our federal and state legislators who govern by our consent but in these foreboding times, we are often deprived of that passion and commitment. Andy Biggs gets a loud A+++ in this department for his work in Washington, DC on our behalf.

What isn’t as well known about this unique and superb U.S. Representative is the very real attention he and his staff pay to the actual needs of his individual constituents and their families. There are many examples that demonstrate the dedication of Andy Biggs and his staff that reflect his leadership in this key role for the constituents of Arizona Congressional District 5. He and his office staff are a model of constituency service and genuine, highly effective care for those he represents. We may call that a ‘personal touch’ or playing to the voters but in Representative Andy Biggs case, it speaks to his quality as a person, a man of faith and a dedicated public servant.

Please watch the following short videos of examples of the testimonies given about Andy Biggs’ service to his constituents and the role he has played for individuals and families in AZ District 5, all in addition to his work, stature, and leadership as a federal legislator in the United States Congress.

In addition to what Representative Biggs has done on the local level for his constituents, this last video is about the frightful and destructive invasion of our Arizona and national border and the fight he is waging to protect all of his constituents and all Americans. He is at the center of this battle and must be on the front line as we move beyond November 8th and then January 3, 2023 in the new Congress.

TAKE ACTION

How Not to Vote in Arizona

The 2022 midterm election is fast approaching. The system for voting in Arizona is predominantly by mail-in ballots (around 80% of all ballots). The ballots will be mailed out to all voters registered for mail-in voting on October 12th. The actual ‘day’ of the election is Tuesday November 8, 27 days later.

Once upon a time when all voters went to the polls on the day of election, the tabulated results were announced the night of the election date. If the result of a specific race was razor thin and less than a legislated margin, a recount might prevent the naming of a winner. That was the exception for calling the results of the election.

It is still this way in most first world countries but not the United States and certainly not Arizona. Voting rules (some unconstitutional) were dramatically altered in many states in 2020 because of the Covid pandemic.

We at The Prickly Pear are very concerned about the flaws in Arizona’s predominant ‘mail-in’ voting system.

Please click on the red TAKE ACTION link below to learn How Not to Vote in Arizona as a mail-in ballot voter and to be certain your vote is included in the count the evening of November 8th.

The Illusion of Being Offended thumbnail

The Illusion of Being Offended

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By Gayle Nobel

I cannot offend you.

You cannot offend me.

People seem to be offended all over the place today and wear that badge on their sleeves like an honor or a cause. So much so, that freedom of expression has been under attack in an unprecedented way in our country.

There have been successful attempts at controlling speech, topics of conversation, and opinions, all under the guise of protecting people from being offended.

There is righteousness in being offended. At the drop of a hat, I can become a victim when I believe I can be offended by something someone has said or done. Or even something I assume or believe someone is thinking.  And today, what higher rank is there than victimhood?

If you say something I disagree with, I may take it personally and voila, I can invoke the “O” word. Offensive. It has been elevated to have quite an energetic charge around it.

Something you call offensive may not be considered offensive by me. Something that you stew on for days will slide right through my consciousness like water.  How can this be explained?

By clearing up a simple yet profound misunderstanding of the human experience. Once we begin to understand the true source of our experience, even a tiny inkling,  the entire notion of being offended begins to unravel. That you can actually offend me and I might need protection, will look ludicrous.

The key is seeing that you do not have the power to offend me. In fact, you don’t have the power to create or cause any experience or feeling in me. Seeing this for the first time can be a game-changer.

In a nutshell: at any and every moment, we experience our own thinking. Our thinking is a function of the energetic power of thought. Thought creates every experience and feeling we have. We can’t have an experience or feeling without thought. The colored lenses we all wear from which we look out at the world are made of the energy of thought. Thought filters everything we take in through our senses, creating our experience of life. The illusion is that our experience comes from the outside in. The truth is that it comes from the inside out via the energy of thought.

This would account for why it seems we are each living in our own separate realities. We are!

And how we each can have a different experience of the same words or events. We can and we do!

And how our experience can change from moment to moment. Thought is fluid. It is truly like the river in which you can’t put your foot in the same place twice.

And how you can hear something and declare “I am offended” and yet it will roll right off the other person’s back. Or in one moment you are not offended yet in the next, someone says you should be, and you are.

This understanding of thought would account for how real things appear when we dream at night. How we can feel truly frightened while we are asleep in a bed under some cozy blankets? How our hearts can pound or we can break into a sweat while running from demons in a dream.  This thought energy is the same energy that creates our daytime experiences.

I recently got to wear virtual reality goggles and fly a plane in my son-in-law’s basement. My heart was beating so fast as I looked down at the ground far below me. I got scared when he asked me if I wanted to land the plane. I was afraid of crashing!

Sitting at a computer in front of a plane’s instrument panel, my mind got tricked into believing I could actually crash that plane. I felt it in my belly. A mix of fear and excitement. I knew I was sitting in a chair in front of a machine, yet the power of thought created an entirely different reality. What a powerful illusion!

Being offended by something we have heard with our ears, and read with our eyes, is also an illusion. We confuse thought with reality. Your beliefs/thoughts are creating your reality, as are mine.  And if they are in opposition in some way and the topic at hand feels big to one of us,  the “I am offended” sword might come out.

What would the world be like if we were able to shed light on the misunderstanding of where our experiences and feelings come from? What if we all knew it was an inside-out job rather than outside-in? What if we all knew it was impossible for one person to offend another?

This looks like it would be a game-changer. Censoring speech would seem silly. Needing a safe space because someone might feel offended by words would look ridiculous. Open and honest debate and a wealth of different viewpoints would be respected rather than shunned or censored. We might be willing to truly listen to another’s point of view and attempt to understand where they are coming from.

Understanding you do not have the ability to offend me is powerful. I keep my power where it belongs. Within. And I know that any hurt I am experiencing is created from my own thoughts about something you have said. You cannot push my buttons because buttons do not exist. They, too, are made of thought.

It is a relief to know, deep down, that my comfort level is not controlled by another. What a gift. I cannot offend or be offended.  I may get fooled from time to time but if I wait awhile, my thoughts will flow through and I will see clearly again.

Humans are unbelievably resilient. Safe spaces exist within each one of us rather than outside of us. We can feel the full gamut of human emotions (joy to hurt and everything in between) yet be safe within our core.  I cannot offend you. You cannot offend me.

Understanding this is a gift and a stepping stone on the road to harmony.

*****

Gayle Nobel is a life coach, author of 3 books, and blogger who is passionate about sharing a simple, yet profound understanding of the human experience.

TAKE ACTION

How Not to Vote in Arizona

The 2022 midterm election is fast approaching. The system for voting in Arizona is predominantly by mail-in ballots (around 80% of all ballots). The ballots will be mailed out to all voters registered for mail-in voting on October 12th. The actual ‘day’ of the election is Tuesday November 8, 27 days later.

Once upon a time when all voters went to the polls on the day of election, the tabulated results were announced the night of the election date. If the result of a specific race was razor thin and less than a legislated margin, a recount might prevent the naming of a winner. That was the exception for calling the results of the election.

It is still this way in most first world countries but not the United States and certainly not Arizona. Voting rules (some unconstitutional) were dramatically altered in many states in 2020 because of the Covid pandemic.

We at The Prickly Pear are very concerned about the flaws in Arizona’s predominant ‘mail-in’ voting system.

Please click on the red TAKE ACTION link below to learn How Not to Vote in Arizona as a mail-in ballot voter and to be certain your vote is included in the count the evening of November 8th.

Katie Hobbs Says She Supports No Limits on Abortion, Even Up to Birth thumbnail

Katie Hobbs Says She Supports No Limits on Abortion, Even Up to Birth

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By Corinne Murdock

In a Sunday interview, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Katie Hobbs said she wouldn’t put any limits on abortion. Hobbs also evaded questions about her strength to handle a debate with Lake, as well as who caused the present border crisis.

Hobbs’ remarks occurred during her 8-minute one-on-one interview with CBS host Major Garrett, as part of a “Face the Nation” segment that also featured a separate one-on-one with Lake. Concerning abortion limits, Hobbs stated repeatedly that no laws should exist limiting abortion.

“I support leaving the decision between a woman and her doctor, and leaving politicians entirely out of it,” said Hobbs.

Hobbs said she didn’t agree with the state’s 15-week limit on abortions. She didn’t denounce late-term abortions but claimed that they’re never elective.

When pressed about her refusal to debate Lake, Hobbs claimed that her opponent would create a “circus” of no benefit to voters. Hobbs refused to answer Garrett when he asked if she were strong enough to handle the “circus” Lake might concoct. Rather, Hobbs said voters had plenty of other opportunities to see her performance under crisis, referencing controversy over the 2020 election.

Hobbs said there were no circumstances under which she would debate Lake.

Hobbs again refused to answer Garrett when he asked who she considers responsible for the present border crisis, and whether the Biden or Trump administration policies were safer for immigrants. Rather, Hobbs said that decades of bad policies from both parties were to blame.

Garrett pressed Hobbs, reminding her that she’d criticized “current immigration policy” — which would be that of President Joe Biden’s administration. Hobbs admitted that Biden should do more to mitigate the border crisis, but didn’t say he was to blame. She noted that former President Donald Trump failed to fulfill his promise of a complete border wall.

“Biden does need to step up immigration and border security,” said Hobbs.

Hobbs also claimed that her economic plan, which includes upending Arizona’s universal school choice, would reduce inflation.

During her one-on-one interview, Lake took the opposite stance on all issues. Lake answered nearly all of Garrett’s questions directly, except for his question about whether she believed that President Joe Biden was the legitimate president. Rather, Lake said that distrust in elections has been a pervasive issue since the early 2000s. She said that the ability for people to question elections ceased with the 2020 election, though doubts over the 2016 election continue to be permitted.

“All of a sudden in 2020, we don’t have free speech anymore,” said Lake. “All I’m asking for is the ability to speak out: when our government does something wrong, we should be able to speak against it.”

Concerning her plan to form an interstate compact to secure the border, Lake explained that the Constitution granted her plan the legal authority to act. She disclosed that other governors agreed to join the compact.

“We meet all three criteria [of Article I Section X of the Constitution]: we have an invasion, our people are in danger, and time is of the essence,” said Lake. “I hope that Joe Biden doesn’t fight us, because then it will really look like he’s on the side of the cartels.”

Lake said that the “lust” for cheap illegal immigrant labor exists not only in Arizona, but nationwide. She pointed to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA-12) press conference remarks that Republican-led states should welcome illegal immigrants because they can “pick the crops” there. Lake expressed concern not only for the quality of life for illegal immigrants,

On abortion, Lake said that she would uphold the law as governor. She said that she was for “true choices” which would entail more than just abortion. Lake asserted that abortion was the only choice offered at abortion clinics, not other choices like adoption.

Lake agreed with last week’s arrest of an Iowa man who threatened a Maricopa County supervisor over the 2020 election. She opined that the root cause of these threats were frustrations from restrictions on free speech and expression that occurred during the pandemic.

The latest polling shows Hobbs and Lake tied among likely voters.

Read the full transcript of the Hobbs and Lake interviews here.

*****

This article was published by the Arizona Free News and is reproduced with permission.

TAKE ACTION

How Not to Vote in Arizona

The 2022 midterm election is fast approaching. The system for voting in Arizona is predominantly by mail-in ballots (around 80% of all ballots). The ballots will be mailed out to all voters registered for mail-in voting on October 12th. The actual ‘day’ of the election is Tuesday November 8, 27 days later.

Once upon a time when all voters went to the polls on the day of election, the tabulated results were announced the night of the election date. If the result of a specific race was razor thin and less than a legislated margin, a recount might prevent the naming of a winner. That was the exception for calling the results of the election.

It is still this way in most first world countries but not the United States and certainly not Arizona. Voting rules (some unconstitutional) were dramatically altered in many states in 2020 because of the Covid pandemic.

We at The Prickly Pear are very concerned about the flaws in Arizona’s predominant ‘mail-in’ voting system.

Please click on the red TAKE ACTION link below to learn How Not to Vote in Arizona as a mail-in ballot voter and to be certain your vote is included in the count the evening of November 8th.

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The Coming Radical Political Shift

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By Bruce Bialosky

Editors’ Note: The following article defines today’s Democrat party accurately. One no longer has to dissect through their ‘moderate’ messaging that has hidden their true agenda for decades. What you are seeing is what we get when today’s Democrats have unbalanced power. The Founders’ design of our Republic made every citizen sovereign rather than the government being sovereign and established that we are governed ‘by our consent’. Your vote is your consent. As you cast your ballot between now and November 8th, remember that the consequences of the consent you give will be how we are governed going forward. It is time to de-radicalize our governing class. Our future is in great jeopardy. The GOP is not a perfect party but it is not the party that engineered the southern border invasion and that is undermining our liberty, the rule of law, our children’s innocence and the security and safety of our neighborhoods and personal well-being. Let us resoundingly move the Democrats aside with this election by voting Republican all the way down your ballots and then demand the best from those we consent to govern us.

Many people believe that the current state of the Democrat Party is a danger to our constitutional structure and the underpinnings of what has made America the great country it has become. If you believe that is true you have not seen anything yet.

This column purposely strays from making predictions and rarely has done so in the last fifteen years of publishing weekly. The case that is being laid out is based on everything that is historical, facts you know, and historical reality.

We do not know for sure, but it is highly likely that the Republicans will take over the House of Representatives. It is hard to tell what will happen with the U.S. Senate. But with the current societal factors, particularly the economic ones, the chances of the Republicans taking control of the Senate increase daily. The overruling of Roe v. Wade changed little.

Let’s look at where that will leave the Democrats. They currently have leadership in the House and Senate that is collectively octogenarian. The last time the Dems took a beating, losing 63 seats in 2010, political normalcy would have seen the leadership tossed to the side. That did not happen because the remaining members of the house were the most liberal Democrat members and they kept Nancy Pelosi as their leader. However, this time she will be 82 years old and her top leadership team is just as old. There are legitimate questions about whether they will even remain in their seats.

There will also be pressure from the younger members to replace them and to toss Chuck Schumer in the Senate. The good thing is that the new leadership will not hide their leftist political leanings. They will be unabashed Leftists which will at least make matters clear to the voting public. Though many of the candidates supported by the far-left wing of the party have lost their primaries, many have won. There are already 100 members of the so-called “progressive caucus.” Now the caucus will completely control the House and members in the Senate will be in a greater position of control.

As for the presidency, the last two Democrats ran as moderates. They were barely disguised. We all remember then-candidate Obama proclaiming, “We are five days away from fundamentally transforming the United States of America.” He lied about being a moderate right up to the time his team realized McCain and his team were incompetent and Obama believed his election was a lock. Obama was tame compared to Biden who we were told was moderate. Biden signed 22 executive orders in his first week demonstrating he was even more prepared than Obama to transform America.

The Democrats remaining in Congress will feel even bolder and express no need to disguise their plans. They were a lot more forthcoming in 2021 than they were in 2009. Many of these far-Left elected officials expressed no indication they wish to hold back on their plans. They believe that not only are their policies the correct ones for our country, but they believe the reason the Democrats have failed is that the policies have not been implemented. In their minds, if the policies were enacted we would be so much better off as a country.

Here is where the radical political shift happens. Republicans will not stay in power forever. The history of our country shows a back-and-forth when the electorate gets upset with the party in power. We vote out one party and hand over the control of government to the other. We did in 2020 even though we had no clue what Biden really stood for. He had campaigned from his basement in Delaware. People were upset with Trump and dumped him even though we got someone totally unprepared to be President. Look what he has wrought.

The next time is going to be different. The leaders of the House and Senate will come from the radical wing of the Democrat party. The President will as well. They will enact some of their extreme plans which to them are mainstream, such as expanding the Supreme Court or ditching the electoral college. Fortunately, our Constitution is very difficult to amend though they will do their best to try.

If you believe some of the actions of the Left are over-the-top now, I can only advise you have not seen anything yet.

*****

This article was published by Flash Report and is reproduced with permission from the author.

TAKE ACTION

How Not to Vote in Arizona

The 2022 midterm election is fast approaching. The system for voting in Arizona is predominantly by mail-in ballots (around 80% of all ballots). The ballots will be mailed out to all voters registered for mail-in voting on October 12th. The actual ‘day’ of the election is Tuesday November 8, 27 days later.

Once upon a time when all voters went to the polls on the day of election, the tabulated results were announced the night of the election date. If the result of a specific race was razor thin and less than a legislated margin, a recount might prevent the naming of a winner. That was the exception for calling the results of the election.

It is still this way in most first world countries but not the United States and certainly not Arizona. Voting rules (some unconstitutional) were dramatically altered in many states in 2020 because of the Covid pandemic.

We at The Prickly Pear are very concerned about the flaws in Arizona’s predominant ‘mail-in’ voting system.

Please click on the red TAKE ACTION link below to learn How Not to Vote in Arizona as a mail-in ballot voter and to be certain your vote is included in the count the evening of November 8th.

Arizona Democrat Won’t Say If She Supports Any Limits On Abortion

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By Nicole Silverio

Democratic Arizona gubernatorial nominee Katie Hobbs refused to give a direct answer as to whether she supports any limitations on abortion during a Sunday appearance on “Face the Nation.”

The candidate said she opposes the national 15-week abortion ban proposed by Republican South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, prompting host Major Garrett to ask if she would put any limitations on the procedure. Graham’s abortion proposal is based on scientific research indicating that an unborn child can feel pain at 15 weeks gestation.

“If it’s not 15 weeks, what is it?” he asked.

“Abortion is a very personal decision that belongs between a woman and her doctor,” she replied. “The government and politicians don’t belong in that decision. We need to let doctors perform the care that they are trained and take an oath to perform.”

“So if an Arizona voter were to conclude from your previous answer that you do not favor any specific week limit on abortion, would they be correct?” Garrett asked.

“I support leaving the decision between a woman and her doctor and leaving politicians entirely out of it,” she answered.

Hobbs also criticized her opponent, Kari Lake, for supporting Arizona’s near-total abortion ban passed in 1864 that is currently being deliberated in the courts. She then claimed that Lake referred to women seeking abortions as “murderers” and “executioners.” (RELATED: ‘Why Not Go Into Specifics?’: Doocy, Jean-Pierre Spar On Abortion Limits)

“Under a Kari Lake administration, we would have government-mandated forced births that risk women’s lives. Her position is the one that’s extreme, it’s out of touch with where the majority of Arizonans are, who support access to safe and legal abortion, and under her administration, women would not be safe.”

Lake, who joined “Face the Nation” in the previous segment, told Garrett that Hobbs and the Democrats support abortion up to the point of birth. She then vowed to uphold the abortion law in the state once it is firmly decided and to help provide resources to pregnant women to ensure that they can raise the child or choose adoption.

“I will uphold the law, whatever that law is, and I want to see to it that we’ve saved more lives,” Lake said. “Right now, the Democrats have started pushing so far from that rare but safe to anything goes.”

Democrats have remained silent on whether they support abortion limits while decrying the Republicans’ 15 week limit proposal. All Senate Democrats except Joe Manchin of West Virginia voted in favor of legislation that would have lifted restrictions on partial-birth and sex selective abortions in May.

The party has made abortion a central issue in the midterm elections campaigns due to the overturn of Roe v. Wade by the U.S.  Supreme Court in June. Ahead of the upcoming gubernatorial election, Democratic Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers attempted to repeal the state’s current 1849 abortion ban in a special session Tuesday, which Republicans immediately adjourned.

*****

This article was published by the Daily Caller News Foundation and is reproduced with permission.

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Mark Kelly Can’t Hide From His Embrace Of Joe Biden

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By Tristan Justice

Mark Kelly is in lockstep with flailing President Joe Biden, and there’s no denying it.

There’s one statistic Sen. Mark Kelly can’t run from: The Arizona Democrat has voted with President Joe Biden’s radical agenda more than 94 percent of the time. With a White House approval rating below 43 percent, that’s not a number to run on during an election cycle historically hostile to the president’s party in power.

On the Arizona debate stage Thursday night, Republican Senate nominee Blake Masters made it a point right out of the gate to highlight the incumbent Democrat’s record being in lockstep with the Biden administration.

“Sen. Mark Kelly has messed everything up. Our border is in chaos. We’ve got drugs and illegal aliens just pouring in. Crime is up. The cost of groceries, actually the cost of everything you need to live, keeps going up and up,” Masters said in his opening statement. “It wasn’t like this two years ago. What changed? Joe Biden took over, and in Washington, Mark Kelly backed Joe Biden every single time.”

Kelly turning the traditionally red seat into one of the most reliable votes for the White House agenda has already been the subject of numerous ads in the state, and for good reason. In 2020, Biden carried Arizona by fewer than 43,000 votes, an even narrower margin than Kelly, who was elected the same year by a margin of fewer than 80,000.

While Masters scored quick hits on crime and inflation in the debate’s first quarter, the knock-out blow came when Kelly couldn’t answer in the affirmative when presented with a critical question posed by the Republican challenger.

“I just want to ask one question,” Masters said, pivoting to face Kelly to his right. “Sir, have you done everything in your power to secure our southern border?”

Masters asked the question after the junior senator tried to distance himself from Biden, characterizing himself as an independent lawmaker who has “pushed back on this administration multiple times.”

When confronted on stage over his record on border security, Kelly began talking about various tours he took with law enforcement.

“That, my friend, is called evasion,” Masters interjected. “We have a wide-open southern border so if that’s the best you can do, I respectfully request you resign.”

On stage, Kelly tried to frame himself as a champion for border security, but the senator has voted to reject reinforcements for law enforcement and denied agents more equipment for drug detection. Kelly also voted to end the Trump administration’s “Remain in Mexico” policy, opening the migrant floodgates.

“Call me old fashioned, but I think the correct amount of illegal immigration is zero,” Masters said. Moments earlier, Masters pointed out Kelly’s vote for an army of 87,000 IRS agents in the dubiously-named Inflation Reduction Act while the Arizona lawmaker denied residents an army of agents to secure the southern border.

“Mark Kelly said no to 18,000 more border patrol agents but yes to 87,000 new IRS agents,” Masters said. “That shows you what his priorities are.”

Later in the match-up, Kelly sought to frame Masters as an extremist on abortion.

“He has supported state and national abortion bans that will deny the right for a woman to make this decision by themselves,” Kelly said.

But Masters didn’t shy away from his own platform, which is far more in line with public opinion and the rest of the developed world than the Democrat Party’s stance of taxpayer-funded, on-demand abortion for any reason at any time.

“I’m pro-life, and that means I believe in limits,” Masters said. “Now I support restrictions because I don’t believe in being extreme on this issue.”

The Republican venture capitalist branded Kelly as the “abortion radical” for sponsoring the Democrats’ legislation mandating that all 50 states legalize abortion for all nine months of pregnancy up until birth. In contrast, Masters reiterated his support for a state and federal ban on the procedure after 15 weeks, which is the policy in a bill Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., introduced in September.

When the Democrat senator was pressed on his support for late-term abortion, Kelly kept returning to his support for the now-extinct Supreme Court precedent in Roe v. Wade.

“Have you supported sixth-, seventh-, eighth-month [abortions]?,” the debate moderator asked, seeking to nail down whether the senator supported any hard limit.

“I have supported Roe v. Wade,” Kelly said in an effort to dodge his own record of voting for a law that was more extreme than the five-decade-old precedent.

Kelly tried to play down his abortion extremism by claiming that “late-term abortion only happens when there’s a serious problem.” But according to an analysis of the medical literature by the pro-life Charlotte Lozier Institute, the majority of late-term abortions are not performed for “maternal health complications or lethal fetal anomalies discovered late in pregnancy.”

*****

This article was published by The Federalist and is reproduced with permission.

TAKE ACTION

How Not to Vote in Arizona

The 2022 midterm election is fast approaching. The system for voting in Arizona is predominantly by mail-in ballots (around 80% of all ballots). The ballots will be mailed out to all voters registered for mail-in voting on October 12th. The actual ‘day’ of the election is Tuesday November 8, 37 days later.

Once upon a time when all voters went to the polls on the day of election, the tabulated results were announced the night of the election date. If the result of a specific race was razor thin and less than a legislated margin, a recount might prevent the naming of a winner. That was the exception for calling the results of the election.

It is still this way in most first world countries but not the United States and certainly not Arizona. Voting rules (some unconstitutional) were dramatically altered in many states in 2020 because of the Covid pandemic.

We at The Prickly Pear are very concerned about the flaws in Arizona’s predominant ‘mail-in’ voting system.

Please click on the red TAKE ACTION link below to learn How Not to Vote in Arizona as a mail-in ballot voter and to be certain your vote is included in the count the evening of November 8th.

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Banned Books Week Looks More Like Porn For Kids Week

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By Nicole Solas

Banned Books Week is not about censorship. It’s about power.

Let’s get one thing straight about Banned Books Week: there are no banned books in America. The American government does not prohibit the publishing or importing of books as Czarist or Communist Russia did. Books sexualizing children are not burned in a pyre in front of gender clinics — instead, pornographic books for kids are meticulously collected for displays in school libraries and promoted by the American Library Association’s “Banned Books Week.”

In America, “banned” books are celebrated, commissioned, and distributed on the manufactured outrage that they are “banned.” It’s like having a party every day to protest how you’re never allowed to have parties. Banned Books Week is a marketing campaign pretending to be a protest, and this year they are marketing to groomers. When nine out of the Top Ten Most Challenged Books are “considered to be sexually explicit” or “considered to have sexually explicit images,” Banned Books Week looks a lot more like Porn For Kids Week. Even The Boston Globe rewrote an article after it falsely stated that I called to ban books.

The most challenged book, Gender Queer, is a graphic comic book-style autobiography by Maia Kobabe containing cartoon images of children performing oral sex, numerous penises, pedophilia, masturbation while driving, and “bonding with friends over erotic gay fanfiction.” Although these images sound objectively sexually explicit, the ALA still pouts that these images are merely “considered” to be sexually explicit, presumably by pesky parents protecting their children from the trauma of pornography.

According to the ALA, libraries make “informed choices” about which books to include in (or exclude from) their collections by using a selection criteria that includes “appropriateness to the age and level of the user.” Books in school libraries should “be appropriate for the subject area and for the age, emotional development, ability level, learning styles, and social, emotional, and intellectual development of the students for whom the materials are selected.”

The reading age for Gender Queer is “18 years and up.”

One must ask the ALA: if pictures of children performing sex acts in adult books are appropriate for children in school libraries, is there any book that isn’t appropriate? Saturating pornography in diversity does not sanitize pornography for children’s eyes.

The very existence of ALA’s selection criteria concedes that some books should not be included in school libraries. Selection is not censorship. But who gets to select the books? Banned Books Week would have you believe that parents wield unlimited power in selecting books in school libraries because they are the ones accused of “banning” them. This is a lie.

According to Bannedbooks.org, “Banned Books Week brings together the entire book community — librarians, booksellers, publishers, journalists, teachers, and readers of all types — in shared support of the freedom to seek and to express ideas, even those some consider unorthodox or unpopular.”

The key word in that mission statement is “some.” By “some” who consider certain ideas to be unorthodox or unpopular, ALA means anyone objecting to children’s books with pornography, even when that “some” makes up a majority.

Banned Books Week is not about freedom or ideas. It isn’t about government censorship. It’s about power — the power to influence the values and character of a generation and, thereby, an entire country. And that power lies not with parents, but with librarians, education “experts,” and corporations.

Why isn’t Abigail Shrier’s Irreversible Damage featured during Banned Books Week after Target banned it and Amazon suppressed it? Surely the free expression of ideas includes books that raise questions about the mastectomies and castrations of children. I can’t imagine why incoming ALA President, Emily Drabinski, a self-described “Marxist lesbian,” would NOT want to include a book about the medical abuse of children with gender dysphoria in Banned Books Week. Was there a “selection criteria” for the Top Ten Banned Books too?

The actual banned books aren’t part of ALA’s LGBTQ ad campaign. A book is truly banned when the ideas of the book are so suppressed that the majority of society isn’t even aware that these ideas existed before they were suppressed. None of ALA’s top ten books fit that criterion.

Perhaps ALA’s “banned books” represent a legitimate societal objection to the normalization of a certain criminal behavior that merely naming on Twitter gets you banned yourself.

In that sense, no books are banned in America. Just people are. Well, “some” people are banned…and it’s never a librarian.

*****

This article was published by The Independent Women’s Forum and is reprinted with permission.

TAKE ACTION

How Not to Vote in Arizona

The 2022 midterm election is fast approaching. The system for voting in Arizona is predominantly by mail-in ballots (around 80% of all ballots). The ballots will be mailed out to all voters registered for mail-in voting on October 12th. The actual ‘day’ of the election is Tuesday November 8, 37 days later.

Once upon a time when all voters went to the polls on the day of election, the tabulated results were announced the night of the election date. If the result of a specific race was razor thin and less than a legislated margin, a recount might prevent the naming of a winner. That was the exception for calling the results of the election.

It is still this way in most first world countries but not the United States and certainly not Arizona. Voting rules (some unconstitutional) were dramatically altered in many states in 2020 because of the Covid pandemic.

We at The Prickly Pear are very concerned about the flaws in Arizona’s predominant ‘mail-in’ voting system.

Please click on the red TAKE ACTION link below to learn How Not to Vote in Arizona as a mail-in ballot voter and to be certain your vote is included in the count the evening of November 8th.

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Stop the Attacks Against Peaceful, Pro-Life Americans

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By Melanie Israel

In the five months since someone leaked a draft majority opinion by the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade—which the high court officially did June 24—pro-life Americans have faced a wave of violent attacks.

Pro-abortion politicians from President Joe Biden on down haven’t just been silent about the attacks on pro-life organizations. They’ve helped fan the flames.

Have you not heard about these attacks that have swept the country? That makes sense. After all, most of the corporate media either has ignored or woefully underreported it.

An Overview of Pro-Abortion Violence

In the past five months, hundreds of attacks have targeted churches, pro-life organizations, and pregnancy centers.

From vandalism to verbal threats to firebombings, groups such as Jane’s Revenge have organized and taken credit openly for such attacks. Crickets from the Justice Department.

Activists protested for weeks outside the homes of Supreme Court justices. Protesters harassed justices’ families, neighbors, and communities.

The Biden administration basically did nothing to address these demonstrations, even though at least some apparently violated federal law.

One abortion supporter even confessed to traveling from California to assassinate Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

In July, a pro-life teenager in Kansas reported being assaulted by an abortion supporter while canvassing for a pro-life amendment to the state constitution.

In September, an 84-year-old Michigan woman was shot in the back by an abortion supporter while she canvassed against a pro-abortion amendment to that state’s constitution. (Thankfully, she is recovering.)

Also in September, Students for Life—no stranger to acts of vandalism and verbal harassment on college campuses—reported that an abortion supporter threw a cup of urine at two pro-life students while the group was peacefully displaying information about a pro-life campaign.

Most recently, FBI agents arrested Mark Houck, a pro-life Catholic activist and father of seven, at his home in Pennsylvania. The FBI’s dubious charge is that Houck violated a law called the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (also known as the FACES Act), which makes it a crime to use force to intimidate or obstruct someone from getting or providing an abortion.

The incident stemmed from an altercation earlier this summer in which Houck reportedly pushed an abortion clinic volunteer away from Houck’s 12-year-old son, who was being harassed by the volunteer. Local officials had refused to bring charges against Houck.

Biden’s Justice Department, however, is pursuing federal charges that carry a penalty of up to 11 years in prison.

Months ago, Houck’s attorneys told the FBI that he would cooperate fully with law enforcement. No matter. The FBI still chose to raid his home at gunpoint in the early morning in front of his wife and children.

Pro-Abortion Leaders Double Down

The wave of violence against pro-life activists and organizations is an outrage.

Biden’s “unity speech” last month in Philadelphia rang hollow for many reasons, his silence on pro-abortion violence among them.

“Joe Biden did get one thing right tonight,” Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts said at the time. “We are indeed fighting a battle for the soul of our nation. The problem is, he’s fighting on the wrong side.”

Also last month, Vice President Kamala Harris applauded Democrat state attorneys general for “taking on” life-saving pregnancy resource centers, even as these groups dealt with threats, vandalism, and worse.

In Congress, pro-abortion lawmakers are promoting legislation authorizing the Federal Trade Commission to fine pregnancy resource centers for “disinformation,” meaning accurate information about the physical and psychological harms of abortion, as well as alternatives to abortion.

Last week, the FBI reportedly questioned a pro-life sidewalk counselor over an altercation outside a Planned Parenthood clinic. The counselor apparently had tried to stop an abortion advocate from destroying a pro-life sign with a boxcutter.

As with the case of the Philadelphia dad, local officials declined to press charges. So why is the FBI engaging? Is another FACE Act raid on a pro-lifer in the works?

Americans Deserve Better

For their part, some members of Congress are demanding answers. Should they get the chance next year, pro-life lawmakers should hold oversight hearings and hear directly from Justice Department employees under oath.

In any case, the Biden administration should—at the very least—call for an end to the violence. The FBI must answer for its selective enforcement of the law.

Congress must follow through on its commitment to conduct oversight on the Biden administration’s policies.

And every American should resolve to uphold our country’s foundational principles of free speech and peaceful expression. We can’t afford not to.

*****

This article was published by The Daily Signal and is reproduced with permission.

TAKE ACTION

Are you fed up? Are you worried that America in rapidly sliding into a neo-Marxist state by the radical left in control of Washington with historically narrow majorities in the U.S. House and Senate and an Executive controlled by unnamed far leftists in place of a clinically incompetent President Biden? They are desperate to keep power and complete their radical progressive agenda that will change America and our liberty forever.

Americans just witnessed the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 without one Republican vote in the U.S. Senate and House (just as Obamacare was passed in 2010). The IRS  will be hiring 87,000 new agents, many armed, to terrorize American taxpayers.

Americans witnessed the FBI raid at the Trump Mar-A-Lago home and property of President Trump, truly a first in all of American history. We know what that is about. 

It is undeniable that the Democrat Party and the administrative state (the executive branches of the DOJ, FBI, IRS, et al) are clear and present dangers to our Republic and our liberty as they increasingly veer further away from the rule of law and the Constitution. What is the solution? At this critical juncture, there is only one action we can all take.

The only viable and timely solution at this critical point is to vote – yes, vote correctly and smartly to retake the U.S. House and Senate on November 8th and to prepare the way to retake the White House in two years. Vote and help everyone you know to vote. Please click the TAKE ACTION link below – we must vote correctly and in great numbers to be sure our votes are counted to diminish the potential for the left to rig and steal the midterms and the 2024 elections as they are clearly intending to do after their success in 2020.

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Drag Queens Are the New Black Face

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By Neland Nobel

It is easy to find on YouTube numerous videos of parents dragging their own children to drag queen shows where the children are encouraged to touch the genital areas of the performers or stuff dollar bills into the same geography. Or they will haul their children to a place of learning, usually a library or school, where they can see strange men dressed up as women.

The ostensible reason for this is the holy cause of “diversity” and the acceptance of gay men.

One area to explore is the danger this is to children. The other less explored area is the danger this is to women.

Recently, a woman on Twitter made the comment that drag queens are the new black face. As is typical with Twitter, she had space only for the floating thought, that was left undeveloped. If I could remember who she was, I would be glad to give her complete credit for an eye-opening observation.

That more women are not speaking frankly about this cultural rot is a source for another essay. A few are, but they are still largely silent. Likely, they feel some sort of sympathy. Having struggled as women, they empathize with people struggling to be gay.

Suffice it to say, this man will attempt his own development of this passing observation. We won’t stay silent. It is time for men, who really love and honor women, to speak up. I hope many more women will follow.

For a man to assume the persona of a woman, is a degrading form of cultural appropriation. Having not held down a job and raised children, and been a good wife, all difficult and exhausting tasks; this man has the temerity to put on garish makeup and clothes for a few minutes and pretend to be a woman.

We are supposed to honor his pretensions and celebrate his kinkiness.

The woman he portrays, of course, is not a woman who has endured labor several times and gotten up to nurse and change diapers at 2 am in the morning and then went on to an 8- or 10-hour job. No, he sees a woman through his own sexual desires and designs a highly stylized version of female entertainment for men. Almost always there is makeup applied with a trowel, garish in color, fingernails that could shred a buffalo, a flamboyant dress, huge eyelashes, and enormous artificial breasts. All this is usually in the cause of “pride”, that is to say, his sexuality trumps the normal.

In this “art form”, women are sexual objects for men, projected by a man pretending to be that sexy woman.

This is deeply offensive to all the courageous and caring women around us. I think of my mother, who found in her the energy to love and raise me, even though I was one of eight. I think of my wife of more than 40 years, who trained as a special education teacher, and wound up with an autistic son. She raised two normal girls, wrote three books, acquired credentials as a life coach, and still cares for our 38-year-old son. He needs 24-hour one-on-one care. She has done all this, and still had time for me. What a woman. I think of my sisters, struggling with their lives and yet accomplished in their fields. I think of both of my daughters, strong and accomplished women, who are above all, really good people. I burst with pride when I think of them. I think of my business associate of 15 years, who helped make my success with her hard work and dedication, all done while raising a young family. I think of the female doctors and nurses who have helped me when I was in pain and physical danger. My personal doctor is a woman, my eye doctor is a woman, heck, my veterinarian is a woman.

These were all women of great courage, compassion, intelligence, perseverance…all noble qualities in a man, and equally so in women.

Does this get reduced to stage porn? A man dressed as a woman cavorting provocatively in heavy makeup and plastic boobs? This usually is all promoted by people who tell us women should be more than sexual objects!

Come to think of it, this is degrading even for legitimately sexy women who entertain men. They at least are real women, who know they are titillating men. They are not a man titillating himself.

What was so offensive about blackface?  It was mostly men dressing up as black people without having their difficult “lived experience” and sort of saying, you are inferior to me, but I like the way you can dance and sing, so I will put on makeup and clothes and pretend I am black.  Because it is insulting to black people, the rubes I entertain will find it funny. I will fake the talent you have and express my art because it benefits me, and not you. And, for the black person who may see my display of fake talent, enjoy the show and the mockery I am making of your difficult experience.

So, to the point made by the woman on Twitter, what really is the difference?

We live in the time of “presentism”, a perverse form of historical analysis that judges the action of people and events in history, through the prism of today’s morality and sensibilities. It is almost always selective and dishonest analysis because it assumes that those we criticize from centuries ago have the knowledge we have today. Ironically, the harsh judgments they make about our forefathers are constantly made by people who say we should not be judgmental!

Well, why is making fun of and degrading women by men, gay or not, acceptable? We say this not judging people from the past, but people in the present, by the standards of the present, who lecture the rest of us on being sensitive to others’ “lived experience.” Why is this acceptable to progressive women?  Why is this display of disrespect something we should take our children to see? Why are female librarians and school officials promoting this crap?

It is fascinating to see that progressives, who are big advocates of presentism and critics of “cultural appropriation”, and who pretend to champion women are the very people promoting drag queens and transgenderism in general.

Now it is true drag shows are not new. But previously, they were limited to specialized clubs and other narrow venues of entertainment where ID was checked or the clients controlled. Now, however, activists want these shows for children. What happened to safe spaces for students?

As they say, the word irony just is not sufficient to convey the level of contradiction and hypocrisy we see on display by our cultural elites. How about storybook time, in blackface with dramatic readings from Little Black Sambo?  How would that go down? Well, that is what you are doing to women. Why should the denigration of women be inflicted on children while blackface is banned?

For men who truly love and respect women, we should simply say, you fake sick fools, you are not even a pale shadow of the women I know. Keep your fetish at home. It is not suitable for children and it is degrading and insulting to the brave and inspiring women all around us.

TAKE ACTION

Are you fed up? Are you worried that America in rapidly sliding into a neo-Marxist state by the radical left in control of Washington with historically narrow majorities in the U.S. House and Senate and an Executive controlled by unnamed far leftists in place of a clinically incompetent President Biden? They are desperate to keep power and complete their radical progressive agenda that will change America and our liberty forever.

Americans just witnessed the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 without one Republican vote in the U.S. Senate and House (just as Obamacare was passed in 2010). The IRS  will be hiring 87,000 new agents, many armed, to terrorize American taxpayers.

Americans witnessed the FBI raid at the Trump Mar-A-Lago home and property of President Trump, truly a first in all of American history. We know what that is about. 

It is undeniable that the Democrat Party and the administrative state (the executive branches of the DOJ, FBI, IRS, et al) are clear and present dangers to our Republic and our liberty as they increasingly veer further away from the rule of law and the Constitution. What is the solution? At this critical juncture, there is only one action we can all take.

The only viable and timely solution at this critical point is to vote – yes, vote correctly and smartly to retake the U.S. House and Senate on November 8th and to prepare the way to retake the White House in two years. Vote and help everyone you know to vote. Please click the TAKE ACTION link below – we must vote correctly and in great numbers to be sure our votes are counted to diminish the potential for the left to rig and steal the midterms and the 2024 elections as they are clearly intending to do after their success in 2020.

FBI, Justice Department Twist Federal Law to Arrest, Charge Pro-Life Activist thumbnail

FBI, Justice Department Twist Federal Law to Arrest, Charge Pro-Life Activist

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By Hans von Spakovsky and Cully Stimson

In an early morning raid Friday in Kintnersville, Pennsylvania, about two dozen FBI agents with weapons drawn pounded on the door of Mark Houck’s home, where he lives with his wife and seven children.

The FBI agents arrested Houck based on a federal indictment. Sounds serious, right? Is Houck a domestic terrorist, an American jihadist, a dangerous militia member, a violent felon, or someone with a prior history of violence toward law enforcement who would require such an overwhelming show of force?

Not even close.

Houck is a pro-life activist and president of The King’s Men, a Catholic ministry. He has no prior criminal record. He was arrested Friday morning for an alleged violation of the federal Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, known as the FACE Act.

Again, sounds potentially serious. But given the Obama-Biden administration’s prior abuse of the FACE Act, as well as what we know already about the facts, we have serious reasons to doubt that this is a legitimate case and prudent use of federal law enforcement resources. More likely, it is a politically motivated abuse of federal law by both the FBI and the Justice Department. 

It is not a coincidence, we suspect, that this takedown of someone who, at best, committed a misdemeanor assault came almost exactly three months after the Supreme Court issued its decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overruled Roe v. Wade and abortion on demand in America. The FBI’s raid of Houck’s home was designed to send a warning to pro-life activists engaging in activities protected by the First Amendment.

The FACE Act (18 U.S.C. § 248) forbids physically obstructing, injuring, intimidating, or interfering with anyone “obtaining or providing reproductive health services.” But Congress specified that the FACE Act doesn’t “prohibit any expressive conduct (including peaceful picketing or other peaceful demonstration) protected from legal prohibitions by the First Amendment to the Constitution,” including the “free speech or free exercise clauses,” occurring “outside a facility.”  

Houck apparently would regularly drive two hours from his home to a Planned Parenthood clinic in Philadelphia to pray and speak outside the facility, often taking his 12-year-old son with him.

The federal indictment claims that almost a year ago, Houck “verbally confronted” and “shoved” an escort for an abortion patient “to the ground” and “intentionally injured, intimidated and interfered” with the escort.

What the indictment fails to mention, say Houck’s wife and a family spokesman, is that on multiple occasions this pro-abortion escort said “crude … inappropriate and disgusting things” to the Houcks’ son, such as “your dad’s a fag” and other vulgar slurs.

Houck kept telling the escort to stop harassing his son, they say, but the escort refused to stop and when the foul-mouthed vulgarian got too close to his son, Houck protected him by shoving the escort away.

The escort fell down, but, according to Houck’s family, the only injury he suffered required “a Band-Aid on his finger.”

The incident occurred Oct. 21, 2021. The assault claim against Houck is so weak that not only did Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, a Soros-backed rogue prosecutor, refuse to file any misdemeanor charges against Houck, but, the family says, a civil lawsuit filed by the escort was thrown out of court.

Now, almost a year later, the FBI shows up at Houck’s home in force and the Justice Department charges him with two felonies for an injury that required a Band-Aid. His conviction could result, according to the Justice Department, in a maximum penalty of “11 years in prison, three years of supervised release and fines of up to $350,000.”

No doubt, Houck’s defense attorney will explore any and all defenses, starting with whether the man shoved by Houck even falls within the “obtaining or providing” requirement of the federal statute. It also may be a clear case of self-defense, since Houck apparently was defending his 12-year-old son from an adult who was harassing and intimidating a minor.

The fact is that the Justice Department, under Democratic administrations, has a history of misusing the FACE Act to go after abortion opponents.

In 2012, for example, a federal judge in Florida tossed out a FACE Act indictment against Mary Susan Pine, a  pro-life activist who had been conducting peaceful sidewalk counseling outside an abortion clinic for many years. The judge excoriated the Justice Department for the behavior of its lawyers, saying that the indictment seemed to be the “product of a concerted effort between the government and the [abortion clinic] … to quell Ms. Pine’s activities” rather than to enforce the statute.

The timing of this indictment of Houck also is suspect and calls into question the motive behind the Justice Department’s move. If this situation played out the way the Justice Department claims, even viewed in the light most favorable to the government this was, at best, two minor incidents of misdemeanor assault.

It’s significant that local authorities, including the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office, decided not to file charges against Houck. It means that, for whatever reason, they didn’t even think Houck’s conduct warranted a misdemeanor assault charge, much less the two felony charges that he now faces.

Most likely, the local authorities didn’t file charges because, upon examining the facts, it was, at best, a case of “mutual combat” in which two adults got out of hand and ended up in a minor scuffle. In such cases, typically neither party is charged, and the case goes away. 

If this was such an important violation of the FACE Act, what took the Justice Department 337 days to indict Houck? This is the simplest of simple, factual cases. Houck either pushed the escort twice, unprovoked, or he didn’t.

Perhaps the more important number is 91. That’s how many days elapsed between the day the Supreme Court issued its decision in Dobbs and Houck’s indictment. Or maybe it’s 49—the number of days between Houck’s indictment and the mid-term elections.

And why did the Justice Department decide to send armed FBI agents to Houck’s house in a show of force? Houck has no criminal record, is a man of faith, and is the father of seven children. He is no threat whatsoever.

Contrast this prosecution with the fact that vandals physically have attacked and damaged roughly 70 pro-life pregnancy centers, which also are protected under the FACE Act’s definition of a facility that “provides reproductive health services.”

So why hasn’t the Justice Department filed a single FACE Act indictment against anyone for those crimes?

Clearly, the leadership of the FBI and the Justice Department should be asked these and other important questions surrounding this case, as well as their lack of action against real threats.

*****

This article was published by Daily Signal and is reproduced with permission.

TAKE ACTION

Are you fed up? Are you worried that America in rapidly sliding into a neo-Marxist state by the radical left in control of Washington with historically narrow majorities in the U.S. House and Senate and an Executive controlled by unnamed far leftists in place of a clinically incompetent President Biden? They are desperate to keep power and complete their radical progressive agenda that will change America and our liberty forever.

Americans just witnessed the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 without one Republican vote in the U.S. Senate and House (just as Obamacare was passed in 2010). The IRS  will be hiring 87,000 new agents, many armed, to terrorize American taxpayers.

Americans witnessed the FBI raid at the Trump Mar-A-Lago home and property of President Trump, truly a first in all of American history. We know what that is about. 

It is undeniable that the Democrat Party and the administrative state (the executive branches of the DOJ, FBI, IRS, et al) are clear and present dangers to our Republic and our liberty as they increasingly veer further away from the rule of law and the Constitution. What is the solution? At this critical juncture, there is only one action we can all take.

The only viable and timely solution at this critical point is to vote – yes, vote correctly and smartly to retake the U.S. House and Senate on November 8th and to prepare the way to retake the White House in two years. Vote and help everyone you know to vote. Please click the TAKE ACTION link below – we must vote correctly and in great numbers to be sure our votes are counted to diminish the potential for the left to rig and steal the midterms and the 2024 elections as they are clearly intending to do after their success in 2020.

Poll: Arizona Democrats Riding on Abortion Rights to Make Up for Poor Biden Approval thumbnail

Poll: Arizona Democrats Riding on Abortion Rights to Make Up for Poor Biden Approval

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By Cole Lauterbach

Democrats in Arizona say they’re more interested in November’s election, with abortion laws becoming their battle cry. But, they will have to outwork President Joe Biden’s mid-term approval ratings.

A recent Arizona Public Opinion Pulse poll from OH Predictive Insights found that 59% of Arizona voters think there should be limits on which abortions should be legal in the state, while just 9% say it should be illegal in all instances; the latter category supports a stricter law than the one that is currently on the books in Arizona. Meanwhile, 41% of voters said abortion should be legal in all circumstances.

With most voters thinking that abortion should be legal in at least some circumstances, it’s an issue pro-choice Democrats may try to emphasize in the coming weeks.

“With the reinstatement of the Abortion Ban from 1864 that took effect recently, the data shows that sentiment on this issue among important voter blocs could likely be a deciding factor when they arrive at the ballot box this November,” Mike Noble, OHPI Chief of Research, said in a press release.

A Pima County judge lifted an injunction on Arizona’s pre-Roe v. Wade abortion ban last week, meaning the procedure is legal in the state only to protect the life of the mother. The polling doesn’t reflect that ruling since it was conducted between Sept. 6 and Sept. 9. OHPI surveyed 829 Arizona registered voters, giving the poll a 3.4% margin of error.

“Democratic hopes will be heavily contingent on younger, female, and perhaps Independent demographics showing up in droves for this election, especially those who are more likely to vote for candidates based on their stance on abortion,” Noble added.

Meanwhile, the poll found that Arizonans don’t generally have a favorable view of President Biden. It found that 41% approve of the president’s job performance while 55% disapprove.

Noble said these poor approval numbers give hope to the Republican Party.

“As we get closer and closer to Election Day, voter sentiment begins to turn encouragement for the GOP into a reality for the Democratic party,” Noble said in the press release. “As much as Biden has attempted to rise above water with voters, the impacts of his disapproval are likely to affect Republicans in November.”

*****

This article was published by The Center Square and is reproduced with permission.

TAKE ACTION

Are you fed up? Are you worried that America in rapidly sliding into a neo-Marxist state by the radical left in control of Washington with historically narrow majorities in the U.S. House and Senate and an Executive controlled by unnamed far leftists in place of a clinically incompetent President Biden? They are desperate to keep power and complete their radical progressive agenda that will change America and our liberty forever.

Americans just witnessed the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 without one Republican vote in the U.S. Senate and House (just as Obamacare was passed in 2010). The IRS  will be hiring 87,000 new agents, many armed, to terrorize American taxpayers.

Americans witnessed the FBI raid at the Trump Mar-A-Lago home and property of President Trump, truly a first in all of American history. We know what that is about. 

It is undeniable that the Democrat Party and the administrative state (the executive branches of the DOJ, FBI, IRS, et al) are clear and present dangers to our Republic and our liberty as they increasingly veer further away from the rule of law and the Constitution. What is the solution? At this critical juncture, there is only one action we can all take.

The only viable and timely solution at this critical point is to vote – yes, vote correctly and smartly to retake the U.S. House and Senate on November 8th and to prepare the way to retake the White House in two years. Vote and help everyone you know to vote. Please click the TAKE ACTION link below – we must vote correctly and in great numbers to be sure our votes are counted to diminish the potential for the left to rig and steal the midterms and the 2024 elections as they are clearly intending to do after their success in 2020.

EXCLUSIVE: Trump-Endorsed Arizona Attorney General Nominee And Former Prosecutor Abe Hamadeh HAMMERS Woke Anti-Police Radical Kris Mayes During AG Candidate Forum (VIDEO) thumbnail

EXCLUSIVE: Trump-Endorsed Arizona Attorney General Nominee And Former Prosecutor Abe Hamadeh HAMMERS Woke Anti-Police Radical Kris Mayes During AG Candidate Forum (VIDEO)

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By Jordan Conradson

Editors’ Note: As the 2022 midterm election approaches (November 8th), mail-in ballots are to be mailed out on October 12th. The Prickly Pear asks all readers and all Arizonans two simple questions: Is Arizona to be a state like California where there is widespread crime, homelessness, defunding of police and rapid deterioration of the quality of life for hard-working citizens as its “brand”? Is Arizona a state where fundamental liberties, safe streets, quality, civic minded education for our children and a thriving economy with opportunity for all is our “brand”? 

The Democrat party, its policies and certainly its 2022 candidates like Katie Hobbs, Adrian Fontes, Mark Kelly and Kris Mayes answer the first question in the affirmative, often trying to hide the truth of their radical progressive ideology. The Prickly Pear recently published the reasons to support all the Republican candidates on your ballot as a yes answer to the second question above. Kari Lake as Governor, Blake Masters as U.S. Senator, Mark Finchem as Secretary of State and Abe Hamadeh as Attorney General will all deliver an affirmative answer and fight to ensure we keep Arizona the state it is and can be rather than a slide into woke, leftist chaos and a place liberty loving citizens and families escape from. 

Trump-Endorsed Arizona Attorney General Nominee Abe Hamadeh shredded his opponent, radical pro-defund the police leftist Kris Mayes, during the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s Attorney General Candidate Forum on Thursday, September 15.

“Stacey Champion is a kook, Kris… She has said all law enforcement officers equals killing black people, and I’ve not heard you denounce that,” Abe exclaimed while speaking about the Attorney General’s duty to support law enforcement and enforce Law and Order in Arizona.

Abe later told TGP, “Kris Mayes claims she does not support ‘Defund The Police’ but has surrounded herself with consultants and groups that have publicly supported this dangerous policy. Her media consultant has said vile things on social media about our police, and she has done nothing to disavow or detach herself from these groups and has yet to fire her consultant or rescind any endorsements — this is why law enforcement agencies from around the state overwhelmingly support Abe Hamedeh for Attorney General.” 

The Gateway Pundit previously reported that liberal Kris Mayes, running for the Chief Law Enforcement Official in the State, does not even support law enforcement. Her campaign PR consultant, Stacey Champion, actually hates the police and has tweeted, “We live in a country where ‘law enforcement’ = killing black folks and arresting women who need to buy tampons.”

“Killing black folks and arresting women who need to buy tampons.” What the hell does that even mean?

Stacey Champion has also been an outspoken advocate for legalizing homeless street camping and for climate action with “an equity lens” while promoting her 2030 agenda.

These fear-mongering leftists don’t care about the truth or the law.

We recently reported that an Arizona Judge has ruled that the State can enforce its ban on abortion following the Supreme Court’s ruling on Roe v. Wade.

Abortion is now illegal in the State, and anybody can still buy tampons. And pro-choice women can also choose to abstain from sex or use legal contraceptives like condoms and birth control.

However, During the forum, Kris Mayes promised not to enforce any current Arizona abortion laws if she is elected.….

*****

Continue reading this article at The Gateway Pundit.

TAKE ACTION

Are you fed up? Are you worried that America in rapidly sliding into a neo-Marxist state by the radical left in control of Washington with historically narrow majorities in the U.S. House and Senate and an Executive controlled by unnamed far leftists in place of a clinically incompetent President Biden? They are desperate to keep power and complete their radical progressive agenda that will change America and our liberty forever.

Americans just witnessed the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 without one Republican vote in the U.S. Senate and House (just as Obamacare was passed in 2010). The IRS  will be hiring 87,000 new agents, many armed, to terrorize American taxpayers.

Americans witnessed the FBI raid at the Trump Mar-A-Lago home and property of President Trump, truly a first in all of American history. We know what that is about. 

It is undeniable that the Democrat Party and the administrative state (the executive branches of the DOJ, FBI, IRS, et al) are clear and present dangers to our Republic and our liberty as they increasingly veer further away from the rule of law and the Constitution. What is the solution? At this critical juncture, there is only one action we can all take.

The only viable and timely solution at this critical point is to vote – yes, vote correctly and smartly to retake the U.S. House and Senate on November 8th and to prepare the way to retake the White House in two years. Vote and help everyone you know to vote. Please click the TAKE ACTION link below – we must vote correctly and in great numbers to be sure our votes are counted to diminish the potential for the left to rig and steal the midterms and the 2024 elections as they are clearly intending to do after their success in 2020.

Court Allows Arizona’s Near-Total Abortion Ban To Go Into Effect

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By Trevor Schakohl

Are you fed up? Are you worried that America in rapidly sliding into a neo-Marxist state by the radical left in control of Washington with historically narrow majorities in the U.S. House and Senate and an Executive controlled by unnamed far leftists in place of a clinically incompetent President Biden? They are desperate to keep power and complete their radical progressive agenda that will change America and our liberty forever.

Americans just witnessed the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 without one Republican vote in the U.S. Senate and House (just as Obamacare was passed in 2010). The IRS  will be hiring 87,000 new agents, many armed, to terrorize American taxpayers.

Americans witnessed the FBI raid at the Trump Mar-A-Lago home and property of President Trump, truly a first in all of American history. We know what that is about. 

It is undeniable that the Democrat Party and the administrative state (the executive branches of the DOJ, FBI, IRS, et al) are clear and present dangers to our Republic and our liberty as they increasingly veer further away from the rule of law and the Constitution. What is the solution? At this critical juncture, there is only one action we can all take.

The only viable and timely solution at this critical point is to vote – yes, vote correctly and smartly to retake the U.S. House and Senate on November 8th and to prepare the way to retake the White House in two years. Vote and help everyone you know to vote. Please click the TAKE ACTION link below – we must vote correctly and in great numbers to be sure our votes are counted to diminish the potential for the left to rig and steal the midterms and the 2024 elections as they are clearly intending to do after their success in 2020.

To Our Conservative and Moderate Friends thumbnail

To Our Conservative and Moderate Friends

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By Kim Miller

Are you considering voting for a Democrat, or not voting for a Republican because you think they’re crazy?

If you’re someone who votes according to the “candidate I like,” rather than the political party, consider what RESULTS your vote will bring to America, Arizona, and your family. A candidate’s likability and respectfulness mean nothing if their actions bring destruction.

You may like a Democrat as a person, and they may seem “reasonable” compared to the Republican alternative, but gone are the days when you could assume both parties have the same goals for America with different ideas to achieve them. Today’s Democrats have the opposite vision for America than Constitutional Republicans.

What is your vision for America, for your everyday life, for your family’s well-being? Don’t give your vote to a politician who will dismantle and eventually destroy your vision. Check the voting record and statements of ANY Democrat. (I’m not saying every Republican is wonderful; only that they will at least do far less damage than any Democrat.) Think I’m exaggerating? Look at what Democrat ideas have done to your daily reality:

THIS is what EVERY Democrat represents—no matter how “reasonable” a person they seem to be. Just look at the results of President Biden, Chuck Schumer, Nancy Pelosi, and virtually every Democrat in power—including every Congressperson. And don’t forget about Mark Kelly who ran as a moderate but votes 94% of the time with Democrats. Mark Kelly = Joe Biden. Katie Hobbs = woke insanity.

This is a different America than we had 20, 10, or even 1 year ago. And the main reason is a Leftist “long march through the institutions,”(Christopher Rufo) and a long strategy grounded in communism and socialism which has overtaken the Democrat party, big business, education, culture, law, and even medicine. Think about it. This is not the America we could have imagined even a few years ago.

Conrad Black sums up the RESULTS of Leftist Democrat policies:

“A disastrous and shaming flight from Afghanistan is described by President Joe Biden as ‘a triumphant success,’ while Dr. Anthony Fauci retires with dignity after doing terrible damage to the country with his nonsense about shutting schools, ‘droplets,’ the ups and downs of masking, the ‘abolition of hand-shakes’—almost all of it now thoroughly discredited.

Six years ago, no one could have imagined that these outrages would have occurred, much less that they would be accepted by a bedraggled, degraded, demoralized United States, its federal government in the hands of lawless and authoritarian myth-makers, applauded by the complicit national political media. Can this be America?”

What will your kids and grandkids experience if we keep putting Democrats in power?

It will only get worse.

That’s why a return to Constitutional Americanism is the only way to restore sanity, dignity, productivity, and hope to America.

And the surest way there is to elect Republicans (no matter how flawed one may be) to replace the destructive RESULTS of Democrats (no matter how nice one may seem).

TAKE ACTION

Are you fed up? Are you worried that America in rapidly sliding into a neo-Marxist state by the radical left in control of Washington with historically narrow majorities in the U.S. House and Senate and an Executive controlled by unnamed far leftists in place of a clinically incompetent President Biden? They are desperate to keep power and complete their radical progressive agenda that will change America and our liberty forever.

Americans just witnessed the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 without one Republican vote in the U.S. Senate and House (just as Obamacare was passed in 2010). The IRS  will be hiring 87,000 new agents, many armed, to terrorize American taxpayers.

Americans witnessed the FBI raid at the Trump Mar-A-Lago home and property of President Trump, truly a first in all of American history. We know what that is about. 

It is undeniable that the Democrat Party and the administrative state (the executive branches of the DOJ, FBI, IRS, et al) are clear and present dangers to our Republic and our liberty as they increasingly veer further away from the rule of law and the Constitution. What is the solution? At this critical juncture, there is only one action we can all take.

The only viable and timely solution at this critical point is to vote – yes, vote correctly and smartly to retake the U.S. House and Senate on November 8th and to prepare the way to retake the White House in two years. Vote and help everyone you know to vote. Please click the TAKE ACTION link below – we must vote correctly and in great numbers to be sure our votes are counted to diminish the potential for the left to rig and steal the midterms and the 2024 elections as they are clearly intending to do after their success in 2020.

Dr. Devil Worshiper Vs. Monkeypox

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By Rod Dreher

Are you fed up? Are you worried that America in rapidly sliding into a neo-Marxist state by the radical left in control of Washington with historically narrow majorities in the U.S. House and Senate and an Executive controlled by unnamed far leftists in place of a clinically incompetent President Biden? They are desperate to keep power and complete their radical progressive agenda that will change America and our liberty forever.

Americans just witnessed the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 without one Republican vote in the U.S. Senate and House (just as Obamacare was passed in 2010). The IRS  will be hiring 87,000 new agents, many armed, to terrorize American taxpayers.

Americans witnessed the FBI raid at the Trump Mar-A-Lago home and property of President Trump, truly a first in all of American history. We know what that is about. 

It is undeniable that the Democrat Party and the administrative state (the executive branches of the DOJ, FBI, IRS, et al) are clear and present dangers to our Republic and our liberty as they increasingly veer further away from the rule of law and the Constitution. What is the solution? At this critical juncture, there is only one action we can all take.

The only viable and timely solution at this critical point is to vote – yes, vote correctly and smartly to retake the U.S. House and Senate on November 8th and to prepare the way to retake the White House in two years. Vote and help everyone you know to vote. Please click the TAKE ACTION link below – we must vote correctly and in great numbers to be sure our votes are counted to diminish the potential for the left to rig and steal the midterms and the 2024 elections as they are clearly intending to do after their success in 2020.

Make Democrats Defend Their Abortion Extremism thumbnail

Make Democrats Defend Their Abortion Extremism

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By David Harsanyi

The modern left isn’t pro-choice anymore.

Senator Lindsey Graham has introduced the “Protecting Pain-Capable Unborn Children from Late-Term Abortions Act” which would limit abortions past 15 weeks of pregnancy. The bill includes exceptions for rape and incest, offers protections for the woman’s life, and prohibits the prosecution of those seeking abortions. By any objective historical standard, it’s a moderate bill. And yes, it’s also just a political stunt meant to highlight the Democrats’ intractable position on the issue. Good.

According to WPA Intelligence, a GOP political consulting firm, “battleground state voters” say Republicans are more extreme on abortion than Democrats by a 51 to 32 percent margin. It’s unsurprising. For one thing, panicky Republicans are cowardly and ineffective at making the pro-life case. For another, the media not only avoid accurately defining the left’s maximalist position – abortion on demand, for any reason, until the moment of birth, funded by taxpayers – but they would rather write risible “fact” “checks” obscuring that reality than ask a Democrat to defend it. And it’s never going to change.

So let Democrats treat a Republican bill that’s more permissive than abortion laws in Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Spain, as the coming of the Republic of Gilead. Within the European Union, only Sweden (at 18 weeks) and the Netherlands (at 22) feature laws more lenient than the one Senate Republicans are proposing. But, of course, it’s not as if Democrats would accept Swedish or Dutch limits, either.

Of course, Democrats have opposed 20-week heartbeat bills in the Senate on three occasions. The left supports no limits on terminating a pregnancy—not at the detection of a heartbeat, not at viability, and sometimes, not even after birth. Not long after then-Virginia Gov. Ralph Northman infamously described the negligent homicide of an unwanted child, Senate Democrats blocked Ben Sasse’s unanimous consent on the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act – a bill that did nothing to limit abortion but simply protected babies lucky enough to survive the procedure. Not a single coherent argument for opposing the specifics of the bill was offered.

These days, Democrats, led by Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, are peddling odious legislation like “The Stop Anti-Abortion Discrimination Act,” which would crack down on crisis pregnancy centers, and charities that offer women material, emotional, and mental health services. The law would fine centers, which have become targets of vandalism and fire-bombings since the Dobbs decision, $100,000 or half their total revenue, for spreading “disinformation” related to abortion—a political euphemism for disagreeing with progressives. The bill isn’t only an attack on decency, but the First Amendment, as well.

“Today, Senator Graham introduced a national ban on abortion which would strip away women’s rights in all 50 states,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre claimed. “This bill is wildly out of step with what Americans believe.” Is it? Pollsters love to ask irrelevant questions aimed at the overturning of Roe v. Wade, as if voters have contemplated its constitutional dimensions. But whenever pollsters bother to ask voters specifics about the procedure, things become complicated. And nearly every poll that’s bothered to ask voters about post-first trimester bans finds more support than opposition. Which is why Democrats (and many journalists) have taken to calling Graham’s bill a “federal abortion ban” rather than a “15-week abortion ban.” If the ban was as deeply unpopular as Democrats claim, they wouldn’t need to do this.

The left likes to claim that post-15-week abortions are incredibly rare, and that when they do occur they are mostly to support women whose lives are in danger. Graham’s bill doesn’t ban abortion for women experiencing “a life-endangering physical condition caused by or arising from the pregnancy itself.” What it does is close Roe’s allowance for late-term abortion due to emotional “distress.” These abortions might be a small percentage of the whole, but they are not rare. There are likely around 10,000 viable or nearly viable unborn aborted every year and probably around 50,000 after 15 weeks. Those abortions are not predominately about health. As the pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute once found (it avoids the topic nowadays), a majority of women who seek these abortions “do not do so for reasons of fetal anomaly or life endangerment.” The pro-life Charlotte Lozier Institute also found that medical literature shows that a majority of late-term procedures are not performed for “maternal health complications or lethal fetal anomalies discovered late in pregnancy.”

Not that the American left has shown any inclination to limit or even discourage the termination of the viable unborn for convenience’s sake. The modern left isn’t pro-choice anymore. It’s pro-abortion. Make them own it.

*****

This article was published by The Federalist and is reproduced with permission.

TAKE ACTION

Are you fed up? Are you worried that America in rapidly sliding into a neo-Marxist state by the radical left in control of Washington with historically narrow majorities in the U.S. House and Senate and an Executive controlled by unnamed far leftists in place of a clinically incompetent President Biden? They are desperate to keep power and complete their radical progressive agenda that will change America and our liberty forever.

Americans just witnessed the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 without one Republican vote in the U.S. Senate and House (just as Obamacare was passed in 2010). The IRS  will be hiring 87,000 new agents, many armed, to terrorize American taxpayers.

Americans witnessed the FBI raid at the Trump Mar-A-Lago home and property of President Trump, truly a first in all of American history. We know what that is about. 

It is undeniable that the Democrat Party and the administrative state (the executive branches of the DOJ, FBI, IRS, et al) are clear and present dangers to our Republic and our liberty as they increasingly veer further away from the rule of law and the Constitution. What is the solution? At this critical juncture, there is only one action we can all take.

The only viable and timely solution at this critical point is to vote – yes, vote correctly and smartly to retake the U.S. House and Senate on November 8th and to prepare the way to retake the White House in two years. Vote and help everyone you know to vote. Please click the TAKE ACTION link below – we must vote correctly and in great numbers to be sure our votes are counted to diminish the potential for the left to rig and steal the midterms and the 2024 elections as they are clearly intending to do after their success in 2020.

Religious Individuals Versus Collectivist Control thumbnail

Religious Individuals Versus Collectivist Control

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By Bruce W. Davidson

A century ago, Princeton scholar J. Gresham Machen remarked that “historic Christianity is in conflict at many points with the collectivism of the present day; it does emphasize, against the claims of society, the worth of the individual soul. . . It does give a man courage to stand, if need be, against the world.”

Doing that very thing, in California Grace Community Church successfully battled the county and state governments after resuming face-to-face worship services during a lockdown. Similarly, members of the orthodox Jewish community of New York City clashed with the authorities over a refusal to cancel gatherings. However, dissident religious people seem to be in the minority; most conformed to such draconian government decrees.

One significant gift of Judaism and Christianity is the concept that an individual is responsible and valuable apart from the group. As Larry Siedentop explains in his book Inventing the Individual, Western civilization’s moral and legal foundations owe a great deal to that legacy. Before that, the ancient Romans and Greeks considered loyalty to the family clan to be an absolute religious duty.

The main responsibility of family members was to make offerings to their ancestors, who otherwise might be transformed into vengeful demons inflicting harm on their descendants. A similar but less demanding expectation continues to pervade a number of Asian societies today. Every August, the Obon festival in Japan ritually welcomes ancestral spirits to their homes.

The Greek city-state eventually evolved out of the family clan. Then people had value only insofar as they were connected to the city and served its interests. The advent of Judeo-Christian religiosity into the Greco-Roman world undermined this concept and replaced it with the idea that each individual had distinct importance as well as personal responsibility before God.

As Salman Rushdie expressed it, such thinking helps to undergird “the basic idea of all morality: that individuals are responsible for their actions.” In contrast, the modern collectivist mindset often excuses individual wrongdoing as long as it is carried out in the name of some greater social good. 

Unfortunately, the religious individual has often not only had to contend against secular collectivism but also against a religious variety. Martin Luther famously came to oppose the Roman Catholic Church authorities of his time. Faced with the demand that he submit to the Church’s official teaching, he declared in his defense that he dared not set aside personal convictions, declaring that “to go against conscience is neither right nor safe.” 

The persistent, worldwide phenomenon of religious collectivism still retains a great deal of power and influence. In many places, religion has functioned as a powerful force to bind and control. The high priest/king of pagan societies was often considered an incarnate deity. As a typical example, the god-king Pharaoh had the power to kill, enslave, or free from bondage. During World War II, Zen Buddhism became ensnared in the militaristic, self-sacrificing national cult of Japan, leading one scholar to call it “The Zen Cult of Death.”

Likewise, in his book, Preachers Present Arms, Ray Abrams chronicles how many church leaders in the US promoted the idea that Americans had a religious duty to participate in the first world war, viewing it as a kind of “holy war.” Moreover, from its very beginnings collectivist allegiance has been an essential component of the thinking of Islam – often expressed in military endeavors.

Originally, the early Christians did not aim at controlling the unbelieving community around them. Jesus’s well-known distinction between one’s allegiances to God and Caesar (Mark 12:17) is one scriptural basis for that. However, the pagan tribal cults of Europe were eventually replaced by the powerful medieval Roman Catholic church organization. In that culture, the efficacy of the sacraments depended not on personal faith but rather on the church institution as God’s corporate conduit of blessing. An individual’s salvation depended on being under the umbrella of that sacral organization, and the church also had the power of the sword to enforce membership.

This religious and political power corrupted the Roman church. When Lord Acton stated his famous dictum “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely,” he knew that it also had been true of Roman Catholicism. He authored a book about the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre in August, 1572, in which tens of thousands of Protestant Huguenots in France met their deaths at the instigation of church and state authorities.

Even in the English-speaking world, it took a long time to return to the New Testament idea that Christianity is ultimately a matter of individual conscience and commitment. As one example, the Presbyterian Westminster Confession was originally created by the English Parliament as a creed to be forcibly imposed on everyone in England. Imprisonment, fines, or possibly death would have been the lot of resistant non-Presbyterians.

For the well-being of society, it was thought that everyone needed to conform to a single creed and church polity. Thanks to later political developments, that plan was never implemented. Among the thirteen original American colonies, the Baptist Roger Williams was the first to guarantee religious freedom for everyone in Rhode Island.

In those blessed places that managed to obtain the freedom of individuals from collectivist control, it has taken centuries of struggle. Those who now heedlessly throw that freedom away do not realize what they are doing. As Herbert Hoover once put it, “Salvation will not come to us out of the wreckage of individualism.”

Bruce Davidson is professor of humanities at Hokusei Gakuen University in Sapporo, Japan.

*****

This article was published by The Brownstone Institute and is reproduced with permission.

TAKE ACTION

Are you fed up? Are you worried that America in rapidly sliding into a neo-Marxist state by the radical left in control of Washington with historically narrow majorities in the U.S. House and Senate and an Executive controlled by unnamed far leftists in place of a clinically incompetent President Biden? They are desperate to keep power and complete their radical progressive agenda that will change America and our liberty forever.

Americans just witnessed the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 without one Republican vote in the U.S. Senate and House (just as Obamacare was passed in 2010). The IRS  will be hiring 87,000 new agents, many armed, to terrorize American taxpayers.

Americans witnessed the FBI raid at the Trump Mar-A-Lago home and property of President Trump, truly a first in all of American history. We know what that is about. 

It is undeniable that the Democrat Party and the administrative state (the executive branches of the DOJ, FBI, IRS, et al) are clear and present dangers to our Republic and our liberty as they increasingly veer further away from the rule of law and the Constitution. What is the solution? At this critical juncture, there is only one action we can all take.

The only viable and timely solution at this critical point is to vote – yes, vote correctly and smartly to retake the U.S. House and Senate on November 8th and to prepare the way to retake the White House in two years. Vote and help everyone you know to vote. Please click the TAKE ACTION link below – we must vote correctly and in great numbers to be sure our votes are counted to diminish the potential for the left to rig and steal the midterms and the 2024 elections as they are clearly intending to do after their success in 2020.

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