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News/Politics 11-4-13

What’s interesting in the news today?

Kirsten Powers has long been one of my favorite liberals. On a lot of issues, she get’s it. And now I have another reason to like her. 🙂

From ChristianityToday  “Just seven years ago, if someone had told me that I’d be writing for Christianity Today magazine about how I came to believe in God, I would have laughed out loud. If there was one thing in which I was completely secure, it was that I would never adhere to any religion—especially to evangelical Christianity, which I held in particular contempt.”

“I didn’t know what to do, so I spoke with writer Eric Metaxas, whom I had met through my boyfriend and who had talked with me quite a bit about God. “You need to be in a Bible study,” he said. “And Kathy Keller’s Bible study is the one you need to be in.” I didn’t like the sound of that, but I was desperate. My whole world was imploding. How was I going to tell my family or friends about what had happened? Nobody would understand. I didn’t understand. (It says a lot about the family in which I grew up that one of my most pressing concerns was that Christians would try to turn me into a Republican.)

I remember walking into the Bible study. I had a knot in my stomach. In my mind, only weirdos and zealots went to Bible studies. I don’t remember what was said that day. All I know is that when I left, everything had changed. I’ll never forget standing outside that apartment on the Upper East Side and saying to myself, “It’s true. It’s completely true.” The world looked entirely different, like a veil had been lifted off it. I had not an iota of doubt. I was filled with indescribable joy.

The horror of the prospect of being a devout Christian crept back in almost immediately. I spent the next few months doing my best to wrestle away from God. It was pointless. Everywhere I turned, there He was. Slowly there was less fear and more joy. The Hound of Heaven had pursued me and caught me—whether I liked it or not.”

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Well we already know that “If you like your insurance, you can keep it” turned out to be a lie. Looks like “If you like your Doctor, you can keep them” will be the next lie exposed.

From TheWallStJournal  “My grievance is not political; all my energies are directed to enjoying life and staying alive, and I have no time for politics. For almost seven years I have fought and survived stage-4 gallbladder cancer, with a five-year survival rate of less than 2% after diagnosis. I am a determined fighter and extremely lucky. But this luck may have just run out: My affordable, lifesaving medical insurance policy has been canceled effective Dec. 31.

My choice is to get coverage through the government health exchange and lose access to my cancer doctors, or pay much more for insurance outside the exchange (the quotes average 40% to 50% more) for the privilege of starting over with an unfamiliar insurance company and impaired benefits.”

“Before the Affordable Care Act, health-insurance policies could not be sold across state lines; now policies sold on the Affordable Care Act exchanges may not be offered across county lines.

What happened to the president’s promise, “You can keep your health plan”? Or to the promise that “You can keep your doctor”? Thanks to the law, I have been forced to give up a world-class health plan. The exchange would force me to give up a world-class physician.”

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The number of cancellations continues to grow.

From TheAP  “Now is when Americans start figuring out that President Barack Obama’s health care law goes beyond political talk, and really does affect them and people they know.

With a cranky federal website complicating access to new coverage and some consumers being notified their existing plans are going away, the potential for winners and losers is creating anxiety and confusion.”

“The Obama administration insists nobody will lose coverage as a result of cancellation notices going out to millions of people. At least 3.5 million Americans have been issued cancellations, but the exact number is unclear. Associated Press checks find that data is unavailable in a half the states.”

“Speaking in Boston’s historic Faneuil Hall this past week, Obama said the problem is limited to fewer than 5 percent of Americans “who’ve got cut-rate plans that don’t offer real financial protection in the event of a serious illness or an accident.”

But in a nation of more than 300 million, 5 percent is a big number – about 15 million people.”

It’s not Obama’s fault you picked a plan you liked. He’s saving you from your own bad decisions, right Barry? Sure it costs way more, but it’s for your own good. 🙄

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This is how the Obama admin treats whistleblowers. Character assassination and smears.

From TheDailyBeast  “The Benghazi whistleblower whose new book details massive security failures in the run-up to the September 11, 2012 attacks denies he wrote an incident report made public this week that undermines key details in his memoir.

The debate over the Obama administration’s actions before and after the attack on the U.S. mission was reignited following an Oct. 27 60 Minutes report featuring an interview with Morgan Jones, a pseudonym for a British security contractor who trained and advised the local Libyan guard force for the U.S. mission in Benghazi. Jones’s book, The Embassy House, was released two days later and contains a firsthand account of his time in Benghazi and his actions during the series of attacks that resulted in the death of four Americans, including U.S. Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens.”

“In an interview Saturday with The Daily Beast, Davies said he did not write the incident report, nor had he ever seen it.

“I am just a little man against some big people here,” Davies said. “They can do things, make up things, anything they want, I wouldn’t stand a chance.” Davies said he did not know who leaked the report to the Post but said he suspected it was the State Department, an allegation that could not be independently corroborated. “It would not be difficult to do,” Davies said. “I knew I was going to come in for a lot of flack and you know mud slinging, so yeah I’d say it was them, but I can’t be sure.” 

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Here’s an interesting poll. 🙂

From PublicPolicyPolling  “PPP’s newest national survey finds that in the wake of the shutdown, Republican voters now view Ted Cruz as their party’s leader. 21% picked Cruz to 17% for Chris Christie, and 15% for John Boehner. Cruz finished well ahead of the other GOP Senators we tested- Rand Paul got 9%, John McCain 7%, and Mitch McConnell only 4%. Mitt Romney at 8% and Sarah Palin at 4% were the other people we tested.

Numbers PPP will release next week show Ted Cruz would be an exceedingly weak Presidential candidate in the general election. The good news for the GOP is that even if the party base sees Cruz as their leader Democrats and independents actually see Chris Christie, who has far broader approval, as the leader of the Republican Party these days. With Democrats Christie gets 23% to 17% for Boehner and only 10% for Cruz. And with independents Christie gets 25% to 17% for Cruz and 10% for Boehner. Even if Republicans themselves see Cruz as their leader, they’re better off with everyone else seeing it as Christie.”

Cruz is the conservative type candidate, Christie appeals to the same folks as McCain and Romney did. We were told they were more electable too. We know how that turned out. Maybe this time we shouldn’t let the RINO’s, Independents, and Dems chose the candidate. Just a thought….

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12 thoughts on “News/Politics 11-4-13”

  2. Michelle posted the link to Kirsten Powers’ article yesterday. I commented that .there are other Christians on the Fox News lineup. Shannon Bream graduated from Libertu U. I don’t know what all that means, but it means something.

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  3. Concerning the “whistleblower thing”. It appears worse than that. I suspect it’s an Obama plot to cut off the maleness of the military. (There’s a word for that, but I’m afraid to use it.)

    This from Newsmax online.

    1. Obama Accused of Military ‘Purge’
    The United States military is being “purged” of officers suspected of disloyalty to or disagreement with the Obama administration, several sources charge.
    “We recognize President Obama is the commander-in-chief and that throughout history presidents from Lincoln to Truman have seen fit to remove military commanders they view as inadequate or insubordinate,” Investor’s Business Daily (IBD) observed.
    “Yet what has happened to our officer corps since President Obama took office is viewed in many quarters as unprecedented, baffling, and even harmful to our national security posture.”
    Retired U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Paul Vallely believes Obama is “intentionally weakening and gutting our military and reducing us as a superpower, and anyone in the ranks who disagrees or speaks out is being purged.”
    According to Breitbart.com, at least 197 officers, mostly at the rank of colonel or above, have been relieved of duty for a variety of reasons, or for no stated reason at all.
    Nine senior commanding generals have been fired by the administration this year, “leading to speculation by active and retired members of the military that a purge of its commanders is underway,” IBD reported.

    I wouldn’t be at all surprised if we don’t have a lesbian for Sec. Defense before Obama leaves office.

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  5. The Kirsten Powers column made the rounds with some of us on fb yesterday, starting with michelle — there actually had been an article about her conversion and connection to Keller’s Redeemer Presby church some months ago as well that many of us had seen and shared. But this one had the more personal, first-person backstory.

    It also served to inspire me anew somewhat, especially her comments about how suddenly she saw God “everywhere.” I had to confess to myself that I’d lost some of that daily vision of the divine and the eternal. So now I am making a concerted effort to get it back — day by day, every day. God, indeed, is always on the move all around us and in us. Lord, give me eyes to see.

    On the health insurance debacle, I’m hoping the problems will loom large enough that it will stop or at least delay all of it. Please. Can’t we just start over?

    I can’t help but believe there’s a bipartisan solution out there – maybe one that can be tried out here and there on a small scale first – that would avoid what has become a massive mess threatening only to get worse.

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  6. 🙂 I don’t need credit.

    Stifling of the media–why is this story coming out of a business weekly? I think that’s what disturbs me the most.

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  7. The Kristin Powers testimony is encouraging. I’ll be interested to see where she is, spiritually, in five years. The proof is in the pudding. Some of those items in her background can be hard to shake, even snaring those seeds that seemed to be taking root. It’s telling, isn’t it, that someone like her–who is in a profession where you’d think intellectual honesty and awareness of diverse worldviews is virtually mandatory for your work–could be so woefully ignorant that there are “normal” Christian people in the world. As she recounts, her boyfriend (and there are a couple yellow flags there, too) invoked an “open mind,” and to her credit, that compelled her to investigate. But Christianity has a couple thousand years of history! And she’s a journalist! No excuse to be ignorant of at least some of the intellectual arguments Keller and the like have made for Christianity. Whether it’s her or the culture or the people she was hanging with, somebody is to blame for her incredible lack of knowledge in that regard.

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  8. In my opinion, for all his imperfections, Ted Cruz is an example of the value of voting your conscience, and not just for the guy who can get elected. His popularity is a byproduct of the rise of the Tea Party (with all *its* imperfections). More and more people are beginning to realize the McCains of the world are getting us so-called conservatives nowhere. And what’s so great about Christie? I don’t get it.

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  10. Kirsten Powers experience reminded me of mine. It was just like that–this simple realization that what I’d thought was far-fetched and ridiculous was absolutely true. I even remember thinking those words to myself in astonishment, “This is really true!”

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