Thorner & O’Neil: Common Core: a fiasco for the next generation

Friday, January 22, 2016

By Nancy Thorner and Bonnie O’Neil – 

Author Patrick Wood warned us that America’s schools were in danger back in 2005. In his article “Global Schooling: The Hijacking of American Education”, he equates the virtual takeover (or hijacking) of American education to that of seizing control of a moving vehicle by use of force, in order to reach an alternate destination. The time period for this hijacking coincides with the economic plundering of America.  According to Patrick Wood, the takeover started roughly in 1973 and is still in progress today.

The success of this globalism agenda rides on the back of manipulating the minds of students to reflect patterns of global dogma. The students may be academically inferior to their 1970 counterparts, but scholarship was easily traded for the globalist-friendly character traits of a globalized citizen, one who will not question the globalist agenda but instead welcome it as an inevitable evolution of civilization.

Wood’s article takes the reader through the timetable of Phase 1 for executing the Plan: the PREPARATORY PERIOD, 1980 to 1995, when the Globalist Plan went into high gear with the establishment of the Center on Education Policy (CEP), which was founded and financed by Globalist foundation money and staffed by operators who would carry out their elite wishes. Its Statement of Purpose has the audacity to proclaim “We do not represent any special interests.” What follows, however, doesn’t jive with the previous Statement’s denial of special interests representation: “We try to help citizens make sense of the conflicting opinions and perceptions about public education and create the conditions that will lead to better public schools.”

On the surface, President George W. Bush’s “No Child Left Behind Act” passed in 2002 seems to address turning the education system around, but instead it was the capstone of an effort stated in the 1980s to federalize education for all students.  NCLB achieved two major goals for global education operatives: For the first time in the history of the U.S., all education standards fell under the umbrella of the federal government. Second, it created a mechanism for mandatory national testing and data collection for children in public schools.

Through the monetary bribery of states, the Common Core curriculum had its beginnings in the Obama administration in 2010.  States were permitted to drop the highly unpopular “No Child Left Behind Act” (NCLB), if they agreed to accept Common Core.  Most states signed on sight unseen and before the new education program was even tested.  

Presently, Common Core curriculum has been accepted by most states.  Cause for great concern is warranted, because Common Core specifies the textbooks and curriculum that must be used in carrying out the Common core lesson plans, curriculum that contains the indoctrination material of the Global elites. Common Core’s “recommended” reading list originated from one centrally controlled location.

Why would Global elitists, through the ACLU, want all vestiges of Judeo-Christian tradition removed from the classroom?  Their Global education agenda would not and could not work as long as students could compare the elitists’ propaganda to the uncompromising Judeo-Christian ethic. In Communist Russia, Lenin and Stalin’s solution to Christianity and Judaism was simple: kill the Christians and Jews.

The Deceptiveness of Common Core

Dr. Sandra Stotsky, an EducationViews Contributor, was the only English Language Arts “content expert” on the Common Core Validation Committee, She and her teammate, retired math professor John Milgram, have now become critics of the merits of the Common Core State Standards.  Stotsky claims that the Common Core writers were not qualified.  Although the states that adopted Common Core’s standards did so legally (usually by a vote of their State Board of Education), many state policymakers deliberately minimized public awareness and discussion of the standards’ academic deficits in order to ensure the passage of Common Core and its continued usage.

Some State officials chose to deceive the public about aspects of Common Core in outright defiance of the expressed will of State Legislators, who wished to revise or eliminate Common Core’s standards.  This was the situation in South Carolina, Oklahoma, North Carolina, Louisiana, and New Jersey.

Dr. Stotsky’s article of Dec. 24, 2015, explains how State Departments of Education deliberately deceived parents about Common Core, apparently using a common excuse that “the end justifies the means.”  Following are some of the popular ploys used to deceive the public:

• Giving PARCC, a national Common Core-base test, another name to minimize Common Core’s involvement.
• Using restricted review methodology that inhibits statewide reviewers from a standard-by-standard review.
• Stacking review committees with Common Core partisans and giving them limited purview to minimize participation by undergraduate teaching faculty in Mathematics and English. 
• Skewing public discussion with unbalanced public forums that used speakers who were biased for Common Core.
• Relying on rigged external reports, seemingly unbiased external reports by groups such as the Thomas B. Fordham Institute and Achieve, Inc., both of which are funded by the Gates Foundation that had supplied millions of dollars in the Common Core project.

Common Core given new life by a bi-partisan Congress

Lest anyone think that acts of deception about Common Core have come only from one side of the political aisle and/or specific State Departments of Education, perhaps the greatest act of deception is the preposterous claim about the thrust of the recent re-authorization of ESEA by its major author Senator Lamar Alexander.

In an op-ed in The Tennessean on December 12, 2015, Senator Alexander implied that he had “repealed the federal Common Core mandate and reversed the trend toward a national school board.” Instead, as Peter Cunningham, a former official in the USDE pointed out, “the new law that the Senator from Tennessee is so proud of, the Every Student Succeeds Act, now mandates the very thing he rails against.”

Under the new law, every state must adopt “college-and career-ready” standards. Thus, the new law all but guarantees that Common Core State Standards—or a reasonable imitation under a different name—will likely remain in place in most states.” Senator Lamar Alexander, former president of the University of Tennessee, has managed to deceive not only his constituents in Tennessee and the entire country but also himself.

See here Thorner’s published article of January 11, 2016, at Illinois Review: “Republicans Accused of Cynical Scheme that Led to Odious Education Law” (the “Every Student Succeed Act” or S1177).  Common Core activists tried for months to warn Congress that the new Federal Education Bill was a disaster that would cement, not overturn, the odious progressive-education philosophies of the Obama Administration,  Except for 64 House members (click here to see how your member voted) and 12 senators (click here to see how your senators voted) who were brave enough to buck Republican leadership, their warnings were dismissed. 

Is Common Core a ruse to sell books?

A recent article dated January 12, 2016, defined Common Core as a disaster in terms of delivering quality and meaningful education.  Instead, it’s a system designed for Sustainable Development and Technocracy. Nevertheless, bookmakers and publishers are raking in money hand-over-fist as they replace virtually every book in the U.S. school system with the new curricula.  The same publishers will sell another round of books to put things back where they were when Common fails. Purchasing Common Core material is a must, as testing is geared to the Common Core Curriculum.

The West Coast sales manager from one of the nation’s biggest school book sellers, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, told an undercover muckraker with Project Veritas that “I hate kids.  Don’t even kid yourself for a heartbeat.”  She added that “it’s all about the money. What are you, crazy? It’s all about the money.  You don’t think that the educational publishing companies are in it for education, do you? No, they’re in it for the money.”  Naturally the sales manager was fired when her remarks reached her employer, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

States Common Core standards exist

This map shows the state level adoption of Common Core with its progressive and brainwashing curriculum.

States that have withdrawn:  Indiana, South Carolina.

States that never adopted Common Core:  Virginia, Texas, Nebraska, and Alaska.

Partially adoption state:  Minnesota.   

The most recent polls indicate Common Core is becoming more and more unpopular, as parents experience it and the public becomes more knowledgeable about it.  Whether you are a parent who has concerns, or a citizen who objects to a federalized education system conceived and initiated by suspicious sources with an agenda, it is important for you to speak out and let your voice be heard. 

Join the fight with millions of concerned citizens and parents who realize the new national system is not right for America.  Attend school board meetings to make public statements; contact your local, state and federal representatives to express your concerns.  Oh, and tell all those officials that our forefathers specified education was exclusively the responsibility of each State government and they need to take back their job and keep control at the local level.  That might frustrate those who promote Global education and a one-World government, but for those of us who value our local sovereignty, we will fight back against the wealthy elitists’ agenda, because we love the U.S.A.

Friday, January 22, 2016 at 10:02 AM | Permalink

Thorner: Life activists celebrate family at 2016 March for Life-Chicag0go

Thursday, January 21, 2016

 

Photos by Benjamin Weadick

By Nancy Thorner – 

What a feather in the cap for pro-life supporters!  Busloads arrived from surrounding states, five alone from neighboring Wisconsin, to join with fellow pro-lifers on Sunday, January 17, for the 2016 11th annual “March for Life Chicago” on Chicago’s Federal Plaza to proclaim the sanctity of human life and to call for the overturn of the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion in the United States.  Despite the extreme cold (-15 degrees wind chill), over 5000 pro-life advocates filled Federal Plaza.

My participation in “March for Life Chicago” began when I boarded a bus at Marytown in Libertyville, arranged by Lake County Right to Life based in Grayslake, IL. The pro-life organization is headed by Bonnie Quirke.  Accompanying me were the three oldest children (eight in all) of a Christian, home-schooled, pro-life family from Wauconda, Illinois.

Arriving at Federal Plaza, there was an eagerness to get involved, for across Dearborn, already gathered, could be seen a large congregation of pro-life individuals, many sporting signs.  Even more enticing were the yellow balloons and umbrellas dotting the landscape which added a festive aura to the pro-life celebration.

 

 

Photos by Benjamin Weadick

Participation, however, was momentarily delayed, for upon stepping off the bus, riders were greeted by members of a pro-choice rally. The number of abortion activists was woefully small (although loud) in comparison to the crowd of pro-lifers assembled across the street.  Also noted was that the abortion supporters didn’t have the fortitude or the drive to withstand the bitterly cold weather. They soon abandoned their quest to shout down and embarrass the massive delegation of pro-lifers. Chicago policemen were on hand to insure that none of the pro-life protesters crossed over Dearborn to Federal Plaza Square.

Crossing over Dearborn to join the throng of hardy, dedicated pro-life individuals filling the Plaza, it was heart-warming to see the strong support present from college students and young adults. Might this bode well for the future?

 

Emily Zender, Executive Director of the Illinois Right to Life and President of the March for Life Chicago, welcomed the crowd. She thanked all for coming, lightheartedly acknowledging their commitment as “pro-life popsicles,” further acknowledging that because of the frigid temperature the scheduled speakers would practice brevity in their comments. Ms. Zender shared how she wants every woman and man in an unplanned pregnancy to know that no matter what obstacles they may be facing, the pro-life family is there to support them, comments which tied in with the theme of this year’s march, “We Are Family.”

The Right Reverend Paul (Gassios), Bishop of Chicago and the Midwest Orthodox Church of America opened the event in prayer.

Bundled up in an effort to help ward off the -15 degree wind chill with scarves, hats, earmuffs, and gloves — which turned out to be an almost impossible feat for participants — the first speaker of the afternoon nevertheless received a warm response, Reverend Corey Brooks, pastor of New Beginnings Church of Chicago.  His message was geared toward the African American community. Despite 12.6% of the population, this is where 30% of all abortions occur.  Pastor Brooks called on Planned Parenthood to stop the targeting of African American communities.  62% of their facilities are placed within walking distance of the African American people.  Passionate words from Pastor Brooks conveyed how “Black lives matter – All lives matter -Baby lives matter.”

A very moving testimony was given by Jessica Lowen, pregnant at 19, whose “well-planned out life” was disrupted by a pregnancy. Jessica explained that her now-regretted abortion did not change the fact that she became a mother of a child that died through abortion.

Chicago’s Archbishop Blaze Cupich was again featured after his 2015 Chicago debut.  He is Chicago’s highest ranking Catholic.  As to why the event is held in Federal Plaza, Archbishop Cupich intoned:  “Abortion is a federal (national) issue and not just about Chicago.”  In speaking about protecting life worldwide: “The womb should not be their tomb.  Life is given by God and not by us.”  In speaking to the Federal government: “Make room for children in the world.”

The Archbishop drew laughter with his remark making light of the cold:  “This isn’t cold, it’s Chicago.”  Cupich then contrasted the bitter cold weather with the warmth felt in the hearts of those gathered for the unborn child.

My ears perked up when I heard the name of the next speaker, Dan Kulp, who was presented as a comedian and author. Dan is also the pastor of the First Baptist Church of Manchester, near Rochester, New York. Why my interest?  My maiden name is Kulp, which is representative of a Pennsylvania Dutch heritage.  Might there possibly be some ancestral connection?  Dan Kulp cracked jokes but was serious about why he and his wife have adopted three children with special needs, which included the first child ever adopted out of China having Down syndrome.  Dan and his wife Elizabeth now have a child of their own, little Emily, making them parents of four wonderfully enthusiastic children.  Cited was Kulp’s newest book, Confounding the Wise, published May 8, 2015 by WordCrafts Press.  Other books by Dan Kulp are Relationships and Family and Children with special needs. Children with special needs are not always given to those who are both willing and able to meet their needs. Kulp urged those gathered not to overlook the joy of adoption.

In a show of bi-partisan unity, Congressmen Randy Hultgren (R-IL) and Dan Lipinski (D-IL) took the stage together to affirm their pro-life positions.  Hultgren invited those who might be attending the national “March for Life” in Washington, D.C. this Friday, January 22, to drop by his office. “We are created in God’s image.  Life is precious and valuable.  Our first right is embracing the value of life.  Fight for justice. Be there for the unborn.”  Hultgren then read this verse from Proverbs 31:8 (NLT), titled “Wisdom Calls for a Hearing”:

Listen as Wisdom calls out!  Hear as understanding raises her voice! On the hilltop along the road, she takes her stand at the crossroads. By the gates at the entrance to the town, on the road leading in, she cries aloud, “I call to you, to all of you!”  I raise my voice to all people. You simple people, use good judgment. You foolish people, show some understanding.

Abortion survivor Melissa Ohden had a powerful story to tell, having the opportunity to be on stage only because she had survived abortion. Melissa’s biological mother was a 19 year-old college student when she had a saline infusion abortion in August of 1977 that was meant to end her life.  Although Melissa’s  biological mother thought that she was less than five months pregnant when she had the abortion, the fact that Melissa survived and weighed almost 3 pounds indicates that her biological mother was much further along in her pregnancy than she realized.  For five days Melissa fought for her life in her mother’s womb, surrounded by a salient infusion that was meant to scald her to death from the outside in. The intention was for her life to end.  Melissa charged that what was done to her mother was likewise horrible.

In a declaration meant for all, Melissa expressed the thinking of all gathered with these words: “We are pro-life, we are pro-baby, we are pro-woman, and we are pro-love.”  Listen here to Melissa Ohden’s testimony in front of Congress on September 9, 2015.

 

With a sea of yellow balloons, yellow umbrellas, and signs with various pro-life messages from diverse groups representing multiple church denominations and a variety of college campuses that came together. They were from across Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan, Iowa, and Ohio. An estimated 5000 pro-lifers walked through the Loop in a procession that stretched for blocks, exhibiting pride and warmth for the unborn, at least in their hearts.

Bear owner Pat McCaskey spoke at the official after party at the Sidebar Grille.

Photos by Benjamin Weadick

Thursday, January 21, 2016 at 10:17 AM | Permalink

Technorati Tags: Illinois Review, March for Life 2016, prolife

 

Thorner: Are America’s greatest days yet to come?

Wednesday, January 13, 2016

By Nancy Thorner – 

While the vast majority of Americans say that their nation’s not headed in a good direction, there’s a minority that are optimistic about the future. Indeed, author Michael Lotus believes America’s greatest days are yet to come.

Mr. Lotus draws his optimistic attitude by reaching back into this nation’s history. Although a young nation, America has survived other dark periods and has emerged stronger for them. Examples stem from the Civil War and this nation’s confrontation with the 3rd Reich (Nazi regime in Germany). After these two momentous events in the life of this nation, the economy buzzed, Americans thrived as a people, and great advances were made. 

Paramount in sustaining Lotus’ hope is a cultural formula that has remained consistent over many centuries.  This cultural foundation is technically termed the “Absolute Nuclear Family.” Lotus explained that this nation has an individualistic society, with the weakest extended family of any country in the world, making her unlike any other nation in the world. For example: In Arab-Muslim countries, traditionally the young don’t pick their own spouses. Theirs is an extremely clan-like family network. 

That important concept was just one introduced Saturday morning, January 9, to the Women’s Republican Club of Lake Forest-Lake Bluff — now it its 75th year since its founding. Club member Hillary Till introduced Lotus, her former classmate at the University of Chicago. 

Lotus is the co-author with James C. Bennett of America 3.0, Rebooting American Prosperity in the 21st Century–Why American’s Greatest Days Are Yet to Come.  The book has been endorsed or favorably reviewed by many, including National Review Editors-at-Large Jonah Goldberg and John O’Sullivan; Michael Barone, Senior Political Analyst for the Washington Examiner; “Instapundit” Glenn Reynolds; and hailed as an “intellectually ambitious and accessible work” by The Washington Times.

America 3.0: has two sub-title: “Rebooting American Prosperity in the 21st Century and “Why America’s Greatest Days Are Yet to Come.” Mr. Lotus prefers the latter sub-title, believing that America’s greatest days are yet to come despite this nation’s high unemployment level, the existing low trust by the American people for established institutions, and how senior citizens have been impacted negatively because of low interest rates, etc.

Reasons to be Positive

The Absolute Nuclear Family foundation gave rise over the centuries to a political culture in England then in the USA. That political culture is expressed in three important American documents:

• U.S. Constitution (described by Lotus as “a perfect code that doesn’t need to be edited”).

• Declaration of Independence.

• Northwest Ordinance – an achievement of Thomas Jefferson in 1787.  It established clear property rights, which were very important.  Without them nations remain poor.

English-speaking people have created wealth and innovation based on their practice of finding the most talented people they can find to build something, such as when starting a business, rather than relying on relatives.  At the same time it is not a utopia, and complaints that America can be a cold or lonesome society have some basis in fact. 

This nation has the ability to assimilate people unlike anywhere else in the world.  As such we shouldn’t panic at allowing a certain number of immigrants to come to America.  (The author took exception with Mr. Lotus on immigration. Lotus never clarified specifically whether he was speaking about illegal immigrants, those of refugee status, or those who wait for years to enter this nation legally.) 

Defining 1.0 and 2.0 America 

America 1.0 was described by Mr. Lotus as the society of our Founding Fathers, one of small scale, local government and based on agriculture.  People were free but poor.  It was based on muscle power, since machine power had not been invented.

The transition to an America 2.0 first began to be visible in the Northeast before the Civil War. The introduction of steam power began to change the entire economy and society. It was the Civil War, particularly the mobilization of men, war material, and money required that created the initial outline of America 2.0.  It was those of the Civil War generation (those who weren’t killed) who are credited as the true founders of 2.0.  The change was not without pain, as big cities grew and politics became corrupted.  Just as now, it was perceived by the American people that our nation’s Constitution had been undermined, and that America’s best days were behind her.  But America got through that transition successfully.

The railroads enabled people and goods to move more freely.  Factories sprung up and required lots of people doing things in a systematic way in order to achieve huge returns.  The automobile replaced the horse and carriage. With the development of transportation suburbs were built, offering the American people a quality of life which only the wealthy had enjoyed before.

From its onset America 2.0 required some centralization.  More rules and regulations were needed for the huge influx of people from farms into cities.  Change led to the development of a progressive political movement which took several generations to affect change.  The political framework for America 2.0 happened with the election of FDR and his “Great Society.”  Social Security came into being which led the American people to believe that government would take care of their retirement years.

In retrospect, mid-20th century America looks like a Golden Age.  Big Business thrived. WWII was won and prosperity returned to this nation.  The building of suburbs exploded where families could have their own homes and yards.  Our grandparents, and the World War II generation, built the America we grew up in, which was a very great country in its day.

Another important achievement of 2.0 were technological advances such as the Internet, which allows instant communication, and can be considered the beginning of America 3.0.  

Transitioning from 2.0 to 3.0

The transition from 2.0 to 3.0 is already underway.   The big government of today will eventually have to fail, for unable to keep its obligations, default is inevitable.  The American people will experience pain as the government sector shrinks, but hopefully the cuts demanded will be made as as painlessly as possible.  Mr. Lotus called for an open and transparent reduction of government, which he called “The Big Haircut.” 

We can only speculate what America 3.0 will bring. Lotus suggested the following things as likely:

• Already self-employment is the growing sector. This trend will continue.
• The factory floor will no longer require thousands of people showing up for work every day, but will exist everywhere.
• The Internet will allow individual to work at gigs rather than at set jobs.
• 3-D printers will create no waste. Everything manufactured will be made to exact dimensions.  
• Driverless cars will especially help those who are no longer able to drive:  10 years when a typical woman can’t drive a car; for men it’s 6 years.  Commute time will become productive time.
• Robotic technology will become common place.
• Technology like BitCoin may replace money.
• Education and healthcare, now dominated by the government, will crumble, and be replaced by competitive industries offering many choices.
• Genetic engineering for body parts, etc.
• DNA manipulation

As changes come and are integrated into society, the cost of living will go down.  

As with electronic devices whose technology is increasing at a rapid pace, to be fully accepted requires a generation who grew up with it and take it for granted before it become universal.

Mutineers needed with personal, moral courage

Although bad things will continue to happen during the transitional period, Mr. Lotus fervently believes that only when the situation becomes bad or oppressive enough will enough people rise up to demand change.  This seems to be happening now, as millions of Americans are saving NO to establishment presidential candidates from either party in favor of candidates who are considered outsiders. The change from 2.0 to 3.0 must allow the creative powers of the American people to be realized and developed, despite a government machine that doesn’t want this to happen.  It doesn’t help that we live in a “creepy state” where government has the capacity to spy on us.  It will require political will to rein in this threat and subject it to lawful control.

Lotus enjoined all present to act as mutineers, keeping in mind that the spirit of freedom still exists within the American people to resist and reject submission, and that the nuclear family is still the norm when the American people are given that choice.

The conservative inclination is to go back to something considered more pleasing, perhaps to the 1950’s?  Some conservative even try to romanticize America 1.0, but you can never go “back” to anything. Both political parties have become corrupted. It will take personal moral courage to fix something as bad as it is now.

George Washington and the Founding Father were willing to roll the dice and make change happen.  The signers of the Declaration of Independence risked their lives knowing they could be hung as traitors. 

Like those who risked death in Colonial America, as America 3.0 struggles to be born, activists and concerned citizens must take the lead, even if the personal risk is not so great. If they don’t others will do so in their absence, and the America of the future will not be as good as it should be and can be.  The conditions are in place for change, given the excesses and the flaunting of our Constitution by our government and by cronies who benefit from it.  We must be ready to seize the day.

Wednesday, January 13, 2016 at 03:00 PM | Permalink

Thorner & Ingold: Gun Control: Much to ado about nothing?

Monday, January 11, 2016

Thorner & Ingold: Gun Control: Much to ado about nothing?

By Nancy Thorner & Ed Ingold – 

As we digested events from last week in the light of President Obama’s Executive Order about gun control, it became clear that gun control was secondary to his attempt to marginalize the NRA. There was lots of sizzle, but no steak in the end. Even diverting attention from Gitmo, ISIS, North Korea, China, and the Middle East played a minor, but useful role.

The NRA refused to bite, so Obama was left to debate an empty chair. According to polls, undecided voters weren’t fooled either. They overwhelmingly agree with the NRA and the Republican candidates in opposition to the President. 

Obama’s references to “Smart Guns” were vague and not picked up by the press nor the NRA, but they are available for purchase.  Not popular at the moment, nevertheless, we took the liberty to explain later in our article what Smart Guns are all about and whether it would be advantageous for you to consider one.

Perhaps the most memorable event during this past week was Obama’s confrontation with Tara Kyle at his town hall meeting at George Mason University in Virginia where Obama sat stunned.  When he couldn’t answer her question, he fell back on the old “something is better than doing nothing” trick.

Background:

The day after the December 2 assault on a Christmas party in San Bernardino, President Obama appeared on television to denounce “yet another tragic example of gun violence,” and renewed his vows to bypass Congress on gun control if they wouldn’t do as he asked. To Obama’s embarrassment, his FBI director announced that San Bernardino would be a terror investigation, not one of workplace violence as depicted by the President.

By at least one account, supposedly leaked from Obama’s inner circle, the President was outraged to be made a fool by director Comey. Accordingly, Obama, Valerie Jarrett and Loretta Lynch made plans to mitigate the situation. The next day Director Comey conducted a press conference, describing the nature of the investigation, accompanied by Attorney General Loretta Lynch.

While Comey outlined the facts of the case, Lynch restricted her comments to a threat to prosecute anyone depicting Muslims as terrorists. When Comey opened the podium to questions, the video feed was suddenly cut off. Actual video of the remaining conference appeared briefly on the internet the next day, but was deleted within hours.

Scare Tactics:

In order to gain support for his forthcoming announcements, the President mentioned things like using the no-fly list to disqualify gun buyers, which has serious constitutional issues. Re-classifying who needs a license to sell firearms. Streamlining reporting of mental issues (HIPAA issues), banning high (actually standard) capacity magazines and assault weapons based on cosmetic features, and mandating weapons to have electronic safety features tying them to one user.

Actual Announcement:

When the President announced his decisions on Tuesday, January 5, they were basically as follows:

• Directed the ATF to establish rules for licensing requirements to sell firearms. It was not an order to change the rules, rather a directive to start the rule-process, including public comment and Congressional review, which will last well into 2017.

• Simplify the rules under which mental health professionals can report issues to NICS without violating HIPAA rules. Technically only involuntary examinations are affected, including court-ordered procedures.

• Increase the budget for mental health research in violence by $500M (subject to Congressional approval).

• Ask Congress to allow the CDC to study violence as a public health issue (banned by Congress in 2003, following highly questionable and biased reports).

• Asked for more funding to study “smart gun” technology, comparing it to seat belts in cars and safety standards for toys. This escaped the notice of the press, and apparently the NRA too.

Significance:

In an interview with Fox News, former Attorney General, Michael Mukasey, described the President’s actions as “rearranging furniture.”  Generalities were used by Mukasey: 

• Less than 1% of guns used in crimes were purchased at gun shows (0.7% by FBI statistics). Most guns used in crime come from illegal street sales (40%) and close relatives (30-40%), not subject to background checks.

• Potentially criminalizes private individuals selling guns without a license, after the fact, depending on the prosecutor, not clear rules.

• $500M for mental health research was immediately tabled by the administration, without consulting Congress.

• No mention was made of using the no-fly list.

• No mention was made of “assault weapon” bans

• Mental health issues already impose a limit on who can purchase a firearm, but are not reported reliably by many states. Criminal convictions are not consistently reported to NICS either.

• Over 2/3rds of Obama’s “gun deaths” are suicides, which occur at the same rate in countries like Great Britain and Japan where no guns are allowed at all.

• More deaths occur on the streets of Chicago in a month than in all  “active shootings” since Obama was elected.

• The 24/7 news cycle emphasizes incidents like San Bernardino for weeks on end, while ignoring the daily carnage in cities like Chicago, St. Louis, Baltimore and New Orleans, all run by  unrepentant liberal Democrats. NYC is still somewhat below the national average (4/100K), but climbing rapidly under DeBlasio’s liberal policies.

• “Smart guns” restrict their use to a single person, using biometrics or an electron finger ring. The technology already exists, in case someone wants it. The acceptance has been very low, almost zero. While it keeps children from firing the weapon, failure would keep the owner from firing it too in an emergency, like an air bag which won’t deploy or a flashlight gone dead when the lights go out. The political implications are serious. At least one state, New Jersey, requires all guns to have this technology once it becomes available. The Democrats would be quick to spread this across the country, and Bloomberg would sponsor initiatives in states where they are allowed (e.g., Washington and Oregon). It would not have protected the cop in Philadelphia, who was shot with a gun stolen from the police. Any mechanism of the sort is easily disabled in a few minutes. The law would come down heavily on any citizen disabling this feature, but what does a criminal have to lose?

Town Hall Meeting:

Obama held a town hall meeting on Thursday, January 7, at George Mason University in Virginia, moderated by CNN. While packed with anti-gun activists and gun violence victims, a few surprises occurred.

Following a lecture by the President, containing familiar talking points, the meeting was opened to questions from the audience. Tara Kyle, widow of the “American Sniper,” Chris Kyle, who was murdered in 2013, pointed out that homicides are at an historic low, gun ownership at an historic high, criminals don’t do background checks, and federal prosecutions for gun crimes are down by 40% since Obama took office. Why?

Making NRA the Strawman:

The NRA was invited to attend, but declined. In an interview with Fox News, NRA Director Chris Cox explained that they were allowed one pre-screened question, and would be held hostage while Obama leveled one accusation after another. In fact, that is precisely what Obama did anyway – accused the NRA of blocking this or that and of raising panic among gun owners, the classic Strawman approach. While there was a marked increase in gun purchases, the NRA had nothing to do with it. Gun owners tend to keep one ear to the ground, and the President made a lot of noise leading up to Tuesday. The NRA was surprisingly low key throughout the two weeks, waiting to discuss facts not assumptions.

It is clear that the President wants to demonize the NRA as the enemy of public safety. With a budget of about $37M, the NRA isn’t even in the top 100 list of lobbying organizations, but their members (and even more followers) are passionate about their right to keep and bear arms for personal safety. Michael Bloomberg alone spends about $20M a year in anti-gun activities, including $2M alone in the Chicago primary race to replace disgraced Jesse Jackson Jr in the House of Representatives, for a race which normally costs less than $500K. The issue – gun control.

Distracting from domestic and international stumbles: 

Throughout the last two weeks, the President has made nearly daily announcements regarding his gun control agenda. This has captivate the attention of nearly everybody, most important the network and cable news industry. This seems to be a Machiavellian attempt to control the news cycle and divert attention from the political situation in the Middle East. It also kept attention from Obama’s continued effort to close the Gitmo prison. Seventeen dangerous Al Qaeda members are scheduled for release in January, almost unnoticed by the press. By law, the Secretary of Defense must affirm (in writing) that these pose no security problem to the US or its allies. Robert Gates, Leon Panetta and Chuck Hagel all resigned in protest. Ashton Carter, who majored in Physics and Medieval History, with a career as a technical advisor, seems more … compliant in this regard.

What would work?

Criminals are going to get firearms as long as it is necessary to do what they do. They will go to the streets, suburbs, other states or other countries if necessary, and they won’t get background checks. If you can’t keep guns from the hands of criminals, why not do as much as possible to keep their hands away from guns. Prosecute them under existing gun laws!

As noted, prosecutions for federal gun crimes are down 40% since Obama took office. In Chicago, there are nearly 3500 illegal guns seized each year, but the average sentence served is less than one year. Under federal law, the minimum is 5 years and can be much longer, yet there were no prosecutions under federal law since Obama took office. It’s a lot harder for criminals to get guns in prison (unfortunately not impossible), and the public would get 5 years of relief from that individual’s depredations.

Mr. President, where is your Department of Justice? Is your reticence due to the demographics of violent crime in your home city?

Monday, January 11, 2016 at 08:38 AM | Permalink

Thorner: Republicans accused of cynical scheme that led to odious education law

Thursday, January 07, 2016

Thorner: Republicans accused of cynical scheme that led to odious education law

By Nancy Thorner – 

Proponents of the “Every Student Succeed Act” (ESSA) — a bi-partisan, progressive, 1061-page “No Child Left Behind” reauthorization education bill passed by Republican majorities in both houses and signed by President Obama on December 10, 2015 – have argued that the bill is worthy of conservative support, claiming it stops Common Core, reins in Obama’s Department of Education, and consolidates a number of federal education programs.

Not so!  Instead, S 1177 represents an unprecedented expansion by the federal government into education, which contrasts the conservative view that education decisions should be made by state and local decision.

According to “Conservative Review”:

The bill retains the fundamental mandate requiring states to concoct uniform standards in reading and math that would be applied statewide throughout all jurisdictions. The bill also keeps the plethora of federal testing requirements that have been the driving force behind the adoption of Common Core, and does nothing to address the duplicate and wasteful programs funded by the Department of Education.  Although a few programs were cut, the bill retains many more programs and even adds a few, such as a pre-K program grant, which will increase spending levels increase over the life of S. 1177. And despite popular rhetoric from supporters, ESSA does not eliminate Common Core, much to the outrage of millions of parents.

Jane Robbins, a respected writer and author on education issue (including Common Core) for “Truth in American Education”, has this to say regarding the newly added ESSA’s preschool program (extending federal tentacles over toddlers) and its institution of President Obama’s pet project, “21st-century community learning centers.” 

 

“The latter means that schools will be expanded to replace family and church as the center of every child’s life, offering myriad “services” including mental-health programs. Few things should alarm parents more than the prospect of the government’s assessing their child’s mental health and proceeding to fix any problem the government claims to find. But this is what the Republican Congress has given us.”

ESSA represents a further erosion of local control and the continuation of a data driven model which corporate interests will benefit from, with its data collection, competency based pay for teachers, pipeline services from birth to age 20, an expansion of data driven computer adaptive testing, and in-school mental health services which will not be protected by HIPPA privacy protection laws.

 

Laurie Higgins, in writing for Illinois Family Action  (sister organization to Illinois Family Institute) on December of 2015, sums up the most pressing problems inherent in the l061 page “No Child Left Behind” reathorization bill:

• No provision for states to opt out of programs that fall under the ESSA through FY2020.

• No portability for Title I public school funds, therefore, limiting parental choice of schools.

• Authorizes $250 million for a new federal preschool program to be administered by the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Education.

• Education spending levels rise in accordance with the Obama-Boehner budget deal that lifts spending caps and waives debt limit.

The Heritage Foundation offers these additional shortcomings of S 1177:  

• It doesn’t stop Common Core. 

• It doesn’t rein in Obama’s Department of Education.  

• It consolidates a number of federal education programs. 

It is rumored that S. 1177 bill rushed through the U.S. House with too little time for voters to read and digest it in order to protect Jeb Bush’s floundering campaign. It hasn’t helped so far.  Bush did admit to helping re-write the bill.

 

According Emmett McGroarty in his December 21, 2015 article titled, “Obama Administration Reveals GOP Leaders’ Betrayal on Common Core in Ed Bill”, Senator Lemar Alexander, Rep. John Kline, and House Speaker Paul Ryan carried out a cynical scheme to betray their constituents and give the Administration everything it wanted after Anti-Common Core activists tried for months to warn Congress that the new federal education bill (the Every Student Succeeds Act, or ESSA) was a disaster that would cement, not overturn, the odious progressive-education philosophies of the Obama Administration,  Except for 64 House members (click here to see how your member voted) and 12 senators (click here to see how your senators voted) who were brave enough to buck Republican leadership, their warnings were dismissed.

 

The Republican betrayal was revealed by Secretary of Education Arnie Duncan — assuming Duncan is telling the truth and as a lame duck on his way out the door, why shouldn’t he?  In relating a conversation he had with Speaker Paul Ryan a month before the final Senate passage of the bill, Duncan asked whether Ryan was willing to take on the far right.  Ryan replied, “Absolutely.  We’re going to back this.”

 

So Alexander, Kline, and Ryan asked the Administration to keep quiet, not to specifically praise bill and let it get through, while they slipped policies into the bill that they would then market to their “far right” as something that overturned what has been the core of progressive education goals from Day One.  U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Congressman John Kline (R-MN) then fed this bill to their colleagues with talking points that it returns local control, provides more flexibility for states, and “ends Common Core.” Heard over and over again was how this bill will end the “national school board. 

 

Is it not surprising that Arnie Duncan took a victory lap after the bill was passed.  And why not? Just as the grassroots warned, the “core of the [leftist] agenda” is embodied in the unread 1,061 pages of ESSA. Every member of Congress who claims to be conservative and who voted for this, deciding to trust the establishment rather than the knowledgeable constituents who know this issue intimately, should hang his or head in shame.

 

Had members of Congress actually read the bill, they would have seen the bill for the leftist educational agenda that it represented.

Now that the damage has largely already been done, it is up to states to peel themselves away from Common Core and other unauthorized federal incursions on their programs.  In that the federal footprint has not been reduced in any meaningful way insures that ESSA will maintain its current accelerated spending pace.

 

Unfortunately, the S 1177 conference report represents a missed opportunity for Republicans to provide a contrast with the left on this important issue, and to enact legislation to significantly improve our nation’s K-12 education system.

Thorner:  Common Core alive and well, thanks to Republican support

Thorner: Republicans accused of cynical scheme that led to odious education law

Thursday, January 07, 2016

By Nancy Thorner – 

Proponents of the “Every Student Succeed Act” (ESSA) — a bi-partisan, progressive, 1061-page “No Child Left Behind” reauthorization education bill passed by Republican majorities in both houses and signed by President Obama on December 10, 2015 – have argued that the bill is worthy of conservative support, claiming it stops Common Core, reins in Obama’s Department of Education, and consolidates a number of federal education programs.

Not so!  Instead, S 1177 represents an unprecedented expansion by the federal government into education, which contrasts the conservative view that education decisions should be made by state and local decision.

According to “Conservative Review”:

The bill retains the fundamental mandate requiring states to concoct uniform standards in reading and math that would be applied statewide throughout all jurisdictions. The bill also keeps the plethora of federal testing requirements that have been the driving force behind the adoption of Common Core, and does nothing to address the duplicate and wasteful programs funded by the Department of Education.  Although a few programs were cut, the bill retains many more programs and even adds a few, such as a pre-K program grant, which will increase spending levels increase over the life of S. 1177. And despite popular rhetoric from supporters, ESSA does not eliminate Common Core, much to the outrage of millions of parents.

Jane Robbins, a respected writer and author on education issue (including Common Core) for “Truth in American Education”, has this to say regarding the newly added ESSA’s preschool program (extending federal tentacles over toddlers) and its institution of President Obama’s pet project, “21st-century community learning centers.” 

“The latter means that schools will be expanded to replace family and church as the center of every child’s life, offering myriad “services” including mental-health programs. Few things should alarm parents more than the prospect of the government’s assessing their child’s mental health and proceeding to fix any problem the government claims to find. But this is what the Republican Congress has given us.”

ESSA represents a further erosion of local control and the continuation of a data driven model which corporate interests will benefit from, with its data collection, competency based pay for teachers, pipeline services from birth to age 20, an expansion of data driven computer adaptive testing, and in-school mental health services which will not be protected by HIPPA privacy protection laws.

Laurie Higgins, in writing for Illinois Family Action  (sister organization to Illinois Family Institute) on December of 2015, sums up the most pressing problems inherent in the l061 page “No Child Left Behind” reathorization bill:

• No provision for states to opt out of programs that fall under the ESSA through FY2020.

• No portability for Title I public school funds, therefore, limiting parental choice of schools.

• Authorizes $250 million for a new federal preschool program to be administered by the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Education.

• Education spending levels rise in accordance with the Obama-Boehner budget deal that lifts spending caps and waives debt limit.

The Heritage Foundation offers these additional shortcomings of S 1177:  

• It doesn’t stop Common Core. 

• It doesn’t rein in Obama’s Department of Education.  

• It consolidates a number of federal education programs. 

It is rumored that S. 1177 bill rushed through the U.S. House with too little time for voters to read and digest it in order to protect Jeb Bush’s floundering campaign. It hasn’t helped so far.  Bush did admit to helping re-write the bill.

According Emmett McGroarty in his December 21, 2015 article titled, “Obama Administration Reveals GOP Leaders’ Betrayal on Common Core in Ed Bill”, Senator Lemar Alexander, Rep. John Kline, and House Speaker Paul Ryan carried out a cynical scheme to betray their constituents and give the Administration everything it wanted after Anti-Common Core activists tried for months to warn Congress that the new federal education bill (the Every Student Succeeds Act, or ESSA) was a disaster that would cement, not overturn, the odious progressive-education philosophies of the Obama Administration,  Except for 64 House members (click here to see how your member voted) and 12 senators (click here to see how your senators voted) who were brave enough to buck Republican leadership, their warnings were dismissed.

The Republican betrayal was revealed by Secretary of Education Arnie Duncan — assuming Duncan is telling the truth and as a lame duck on his way out the door, why shouldn’t he?  In relating a conversation he had with Speaker Paul Ryan a month before the final Senate passage of the bill, Duncan asked whether Ryan was willing to take on the far right.  Ryan replied, “Absolutely.  We’re going to back this.”

So Alexander, Kline, and Ryan asked the Administration to keep quiet, not to specifically praise bill and let it get through, while they slipped policies into the bill that they would then market to their “far right” as something that overturned what has been the core of progressive education goals from Day One.  U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Congressman John Kline (R-MN) then fed this bill to their colleagues with talking points that it returns local control, provides more flexibility for states, and “ends Common Core.” Heard over and over again was how this bill will end the “national school board. 

Is it not surprising that Arnie Duncan took a victory lap after the bill was passed.  And why not? Just as the grassroots warned, the “core of the [leftist] agenda” is embodied in the unread 1,061 pages of ESSA. Every member of Congress who claims to be conservative and who voted for this, deciding to trust the establishment rather than the knowledgeable constituents who know this issue intimately, should hang his or head in shame.

Had members of Congress actually read the bill, they would have seen the bill for the leftist educational agenda that it represented.

Now that the damage has largely already been done, it is up to states to peel themselves away from Common Core and other unauthorized federal incursions on their programs.  In that the federal footprint has not been reduced in any meaningful way insures that ESSA will maintain its current accelerated spending pace. The S 1177 conference report represents a missed opportunity for Republicans to provide a contrast with the left on this important issue, and to enact legislation to significantly improve our nation’s K-12 education system.

Thursday, January 07, 2016 at 01:46 PM | Permalink

Thorner: Common Core alive and well, thanks to Republican support. well, thanks to Republican support

Wednesday, January 06, 2016

By Nancy Thorner –  

The success of Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, and Ben Carson represents an anguished shout from Republican voters to the powers-that-be in Washington: The system is broken; it’s not working.

If you want to know why millions of Republicans voters hate their party politics in Washington, D.C., consider what massive GOP majorities in both the House and the Senate did in December of 2015.  Not only did GOP majorities pass the catastrophic Omnibus bill, but they also extended and give new life to the failed “No Child Left Behind” bill signed by President George W. Bush in 2002.

By renaming the bill and rigging the game so it would pass, “No Child Left Behind” is now called the “Every Student Succeeds Act.”

The lengthy bill (S 1177) was posted only two days (12/8/2015) before the legislation was voted on,  ensuring that few legislators would have time to read it and that the American people would have no time to weigh in. Notwithstanding, the army of highly paid lobbyists had already secured their pieces of the action during months of what are described as intense negotiations. 

So it was that after months of secret negotiations to reconcile the House and Senate versions to replace the failed “No Child Left Behind”, the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) was signed by President Obama on December 10, 2015. Read here the text of the bill.

This bipartisan measure reauthorizes the 50-year-old Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) — the nation’s national education law and longstanding commitment to equal opportunity for all students passed as a part of United States President Lyndon B. Johnson‘s “War on Poverty” in 1965.  President Obama’s quick and willful signature on S 1177 only increases the skepticism that the “Every Student Succeeds Act” will not meaningfully reduce federal meddling in education. 

As stated by President at the signing ceremony of S. 1177:   

“With this bill, we reaffirm that fundamentally American ideal—that every child, regardless of race, income, background, the zip code where they live, deserves the chance to make of their lives what they will.” 

According to Jane Robbins, S 1177 is so progressive that it was supported by all Democrats in Congress, President Barack Obama, the owners of the Common Core national standards (National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers), and every other pro-Common Core and pro-progressive education interest group in the country, while the bill was adamantly opposed by over 200 anti-Common Core grassroots organizations.  Jane Robbins has written and published numerous articles about education (including Common Core controversy) for “Truth in American Education.” 

In the final analysis, ESSA represents a retreat on nearly all of the selling points that accompanied the House-passed H.R. 5 bill (Student Success Act – H.R.5) passed on July 8, 2015, which sought to reduce the federal footprint and restore local control, while empowering parents and education leaders to hold schools accountable for effectively teaching students. As CQ Roll Call noted, the “the final agreement largely resembles” the Senate-passed bill, specifically the conference report. 

Republicans should have listened to the more than 200 pro-Constitution, anti-Common Core grassroots groups that laid out in detail their objections to this bill and practically begged their ‘conservative’ elected officials to reject IL 1177. Instead, all but 64 members of the House and 12 senators ignored their knowledgeable constituents and did the bidding of the White House and the Republican leadership. 

Here in Illinois every U.S. Republican Congressman (all seven) voted for S. 1177, as did Republican Senator Mark Kirk.

In a news release of Dec. 9, 2015 Senator Mark Kirk celebrated the passage of S. 1177.  As the only member of the Illinois delegation that serves on a Congressional committee overseeing education policy; Kirk helped shepherd ESSA through the committee and conference process.  Working with the 10th District congressman, Bob Dold, impact ad assistance was maintained for schools in North Chicago (North Chicago borders Waukegan in northern Illinois.). 

As testimony to the final progressive outcome of the bi-partisan “Every Student Succeeds Act”, Dold and Kirk have Republican voting records that are equal or lower than legislators having a “D” after their names.  Heritage Action’s Scorecard puts Dold at 23%.  Even lower is Kirk’s at 13%.  The Heritage Action Scorecard doesn’t separate Republicans from Democrat legislators.  They are all lumped together in one list.  See how your U.S. senator and representative are rated.  

Despite glowing reports from many progressive groups over the re-authorization of ESSA through 2020, less than glowing  reports were forthcoming from respectable organizations who believe that education decisions should be made by state and local decision.  ESSA neither stops Common core, nor does it rain in Obama’s Department of Education.

Wednesday, January 06, 2016 at 10:30 AM | Permalink

Comments

Thorner/Hasty: Is Trump bashing merited or blatant, emotionally-charged hatred?

Saturday, January 02, 2016

Thorner/Hasty: Is Trump bashing merited or blatant, emotionally-charged hatred?

By Nancy Thorner and Elvira Hasty – 

The Republican Establishment has become unhinged on its hatred for Donald Trump.  As Steven Simpson mused in his December 14, 2015 American Thinker article, “Donald Trump: Right as Usual:”

At this juncture, the election is almost a year away.  Much will occur in that period.  One thing is for sure:  Donald Trump is his own man, and as long as the Man Upstairs protects him from all his enemies, he is not going away.  The political elitists of both parties have better accept it.  Perhaps the Silent Majority is indeed back again.

This article by Kelleigh Nelson dated October 27, 2015, “Why the GOP Establishment Hates Trump”, gets down to the nuts and bolts of why Trump is so despised.  It’s because “he’s thrown a money-wrench into the plans of the New World Order.” (To understand the NWO, read Dr. Dennis Cuddy’s chronology of same.) 

Kelleigh goes on to say: 

Who would have thought that an outsider, like billionaire Donald Trump, would capture the attention of the American people, and at the same time, infuriate the GOP, DNC, and MSM, but mostly his own party!”. . . . Trump stands for “the opposite of what the New World Order gang wants! And that gang includes both the left and the right, and has for over 50 years now. Without Trump in the race, the Globalist, Wall Street, Corporate Media and RNC/GOP delivery of Jeb Bush would ultimately be the outcome. So, Mr. Donald Trump has struck fear in the hearts of the elitist globalists, and Donald is beholden to no one…not one special interest, nope, not one.

As Kelleigh further notes: 

The criticisms of Trump are amazingly missing something. They are lacking in negative stories from those who work for him or have had business dealings with him. After all the employees he’s had and all the business deals he’s made, there is a massive void of criticism. In fact, long term employees call him a strong and merciful leader and say he is far more righteous and of high integrity than people may think.

It is indeed appalling how much time and energy is spent denouncing Trump and trying to make him look bad. They keep talking about Trump’s rudeness but not a word about how others have insulted him.  Jeb Bush called Trump a jerk.  For someone at 3% in the polls, he should instead stop insulting the over 30% who choose Trump and re-evaluate his candidacy. It tells me these individuals care more for their elitist positions in D.C. than for their country and the American people.

“Intellectuals” and their ill-advised Trump Fury

Fox News likewise spends more time bashing Trump than exposing Obama and Hillary for their treason. It happens with the 6:00 p.m. news (EST) with Bret Baier and his crony panel and old timers Brit Hume, Stephen Hayes, George Will, Charles Krauthammer.  Fox News even wants to bring Megyn Kelly back to its final presidential debate as moderator. Really?  We have likewise seen a real effort to trash Trump in Pajamas Media, particularly by Roger Simon and lately by Victor D. Hansen, who should stick to history. “Intellectuals” think trashing Trump elevates them because Trump refuses to be PC like they are.  Might intellectuals even be considered losers who have never contributed to any good thing in our society? 

Donald Trump has provided jobs for many people, who then pay taxes and raise families.  This benefits our country. Intellectuals, on the other hand, write and espouse and comment but don’t create jobs for anybody else except themselves. Their jobs often contribute little of anything except “entertainment”. Frequently intellectuals cannot even give us straight news; watching the world, as they do, from the inbreeding chit chats at DC cocktail parties.  Could it be that their inner selves tell them how useless their lives have been in the D.C. circle, making their hatred for Trump nothing more than jealousy at a man who has achieved the American Dream.

Recently the label of a dictator has been foisted upon Trump by some writers. Daniel Greenfield excellently explains in his latest blog how this wouldn’t be so out-of-line since for the past seven years this Congress has allowed Obama to trash the Constitution and rule as a dictator.  As Greenfield says:

“The conservative establishment has all sorts of replies, but none of them amount to much. Yes, the rule of law is important. But when the other side is breaking the law to destroy the law, the contention that it should be allowed to destroy the Constitution rather than violate the Constitution becomes idealistic absurdity.”

Regarding the inappropriate dictator label ascribed to Trump, its purpose it to portray Trump as a bully instead of a decisive leader.  In the business world one has to work with several people and be able to delegate in order to be successful.  Perhaps to the media “getting things done” means it can happen only by force, since D.C. seems to be populated by mostly those who talk for a living.

Americans reject PC of Washington, D.C. elitists

The American people are frustrated with Congress.  The Republican Party has twice been rescued by voters, once in 2010 when they won the House of Representatives, and then in 2014 when the people gave them the Senate.  What has happened since we placed Republicans in charge of Congress?  Obama has been allowed to continue to rule by executive order and obtain every single desire in his progressive agenda with help from a majority of Republicans.  We have had a few loyal conservatives in Congress who have voted against the leadership and have brought hearings on certain scandals, such the IRS targeting of conservatives and the Benghazi crime, but even these conservatives have not been able to accomplish anything other than their NO votes and some eloquent rhetoric against the corruption.

Why is everyone in D.C. so afraid to tell the truth?  Most Americans of average intelligence already know:  Obama and his minions are traitors. Obama dislikes our country.  Obama is a dedicated Alinsky disciple who will never bend our way.  He is also, if not a Muslim, someone who admires Islam and blames the White European Christians for all the world’s inequalities and troubles.  Obama has given us countless unconstitutional decisions that are indeed impeachable, but not one Congressman has ever admitted to it.

Why then do the D.C. elitists wonder what makes Donald Trump so popular?  Trump is the only person in America who tells the truth and is not politically correct, even if it sounds rude to the delicate ears of the GOP establishment.  The authors believe that allowing Muslim refugees into our country, having an unprotected border, helping to establish ISIS in the Middle East, and the nuclear deal with Iran, happen to be much more important to our national security and way of life than how rude a candidate may sound to some when on the campaign trail. Undoubtedly Trump will clean up his campaign-style rhetoric if elected president.

DC elitists, which of course includes the GOP establishment, seem to think that good manners and friendliness are important qualifications for our leaders when negotiating with our enemies.  Remember how George W. Bush kept telling us that Islam was “a religion of peace.” This was the same President who allowed the Clintons’ crimes to go unpunished.  George W’s father, G. H. Bush came to adore Bill Clinton. Some have even likened it to a father/son relationship. And what about Jeb Bush?  It was on September 10^th, 2013, the eve of the first anniversary of the terrorist attack in Benghazi, that Jeb Bush, as chairman of the board of trustees of the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, presented Hillary Clinton with that year’s Liberty Medal, at which time he offered this laudatory Hillary statement:

“Former Secretary Clinton has dedicated her life to serving and engaging people across the world in democracy. These efforts as a citizen, an activist, and a leader have earned Secretary Clinton this year’s Liberty Medal.”

Yes, this is the same public service that brought millions of dollars to the Clinton Foundation to sell their country out to our enemies.

Trump Not the Problem, but the Solution to Many Americans

Our Founding Fathers were very intelligent, but they were human.  John Adams had commented that the Constitution was meant for a moral people. That in itself tells us that it then fails to take into account the sinfulness of man.  We now see the emergence of this arrogance and fear of the “DC inner class” (Republican Establishment) to lose their power and prestige under a so-called Donald Trump “dictatorship.”

As was stated by Rush Limbaugh on December 10, 2015 as part of a long commentary:

“The entire Washington establish is like a bunch of parents and grandparents, just in absolute shock over what Trump is doing and saying, and they’re out there condemning it. But they don’t have the moral authority to pass judgment on Donald Trump, or anybody else.  Nor does the media.  They’ve squandered it all with the majority of the American people.  They have squandered it all with the Republican base.  So deep and wide is this disconnect.”

Hear also what Laura Hollis has to say in her Townhall commentary of December 31, 2015, “Understanding Trump”: 

“People are tired of being silenced. A lot of Americans — not just middle-class whites — are tired of being told that their concerns are stupid, that they are racist or sexist or ableist or otherwise biased and should shut the hell up. They have questions. They have concerns. They have opinions; they have something to say. In comes Trump, who says what he thinks, insulated from political consequences by his fortune, and undaunted by the shame-and-blame game that the press has dutifully doled out for years to protect Democrat candidates and whittle the Republican herd. He has thumbed his nose at those who think they control the message in this country; he is speaking for a lot of people, and they are cheering for him.”

If you really want to know what Donald Trump stands for and believes, here is an article from Doug Johnson’s, Horse Sense blog that spells it out clearly and succinctly, and should make every conservative pleased to have Donald Trump as the Republican Presidential Candidate for 2016.

We the People must rise up in 2016 not only against the political class but also against the media, entertainment, and academic groups that have contributed for years to the decline of our moral values, our Founding Fathers principles and our Judeo/Christian values.  Donald Trump is not our problem.  To millions of Americans he is the solution.

Saturday, January 02, 2016 at 09:43 AM | Permalink