The debate between Charles Cooke and David Frum about Jennifer Rubin is what conservative intellectuals have been discussing the last two days. Dreher’s piece here has links to both of their articles. David French and many others have written about the dispute.
Cooke’s criticism of Rubin is correct. Rubin, who has never been that conservative, has flip-flopped in order to always stay opposed to Trump. Frum, who I also never viewed as a conservative, failed in his attempt to defend Rubin, but did make a decent point about the type of “conservatism” that would survive Trump.
We already know all this, and it’s been this way for a loooong time. Everyone knows the “Christians” who show up for Easter and Christmas and no other time.
He says this at the end…..
“The point I want to make here is that faith is not only what you believe, but what you do. If you prefer not to be active in religious life, that’s your free choice, but you shouldn’t fool yourself about your religious status. If you don’t practice your faith, in what sense can it be said to exist?”
Everyone knows this from James 2:14-26.
Are you and Dreher really making the argument that faith without voting for the right candidate is dead? That’s what it sounds like. It also sounds really stupid.
And you’ll have to forgive me for assuming it was another reference by you about Christians supporting Trump. That’s been a theme with you pretty much daily.
“The Office of Compliance of the U.S. House of Representatives revealed on Tuesday three additional sexual-harassment settlements it paid out, totaling $115,000, the Hill reports. The disclosure comes just one month after the Washington Postrevealed the Office paid more than $17 million since 1997 to settle 264 workplace complaints (including harassment allegations).
According to the Hill, the three payments were made between fiscal years 2008 through 2012. Yet, the disclosure doesn’t include any information about the recipients of the settlements, or from which offices the complaints originated.
Representative Gregg Harper, the chair of the House Administration Committee, released a statement, saying that his group had asked for a breakdown of the $17 million total amount paid to settle the aforementioned complaints. Harper added that the committee still hasn’t received all of the requested information.”
“President Trump is well known for his brash and confrontational style of governing – but it could be the more diplomatic side of his administration generating some of the biggest victories in 2017.
Amid all the debate over issues like the travel ban, the border wall and health care, senior officials in the White House and State Department have quietly worked behind the scenes to resolve a major concern of the president: securing the release of American citizens detained by foreign governments and terror groups.
“Immediately after President Trump took office, he told Secretary [of State Rex] Tillerson to prioritize bringing home Americans who’ve been wrongfully detained or held hostage in foreign countries,” State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert told Fox News in an email. “We are proud that we’ve been able to secure the release of several Americans as a result of U.S. diplomatic efforts.”
While the administration has been successful in securing the release of numerous Americans held abroad, officials noted there are at least 10 other U.S. citizens – like Joshua Holt in Venezuela – who are being wrongly detained.
“The work, however, is not complete as we continue to press foreign governments for the release of other wrongly held U.S. citizens,” Nauert said.”
Well this makes voting easier for me. At least I know who I won’t be supporting for Sen. Corker’s replacement next year. And it’s a shame, because she is a Trump supporter. :–/
After the FCC’s Republican majority voted successfully to repeal net neutrality protections last week, Rep. Marsha Blackburn gleefully applauded the outcome, cheering what she called the beginnings of a “light-touch regulatory regime.” As chair of the House Energy Subcommittee on Communications and Technology, which is charged with the oversight and funding of the Federal Communications Commission itself, Blackburn, perhaps more than any other member of Congress, deserves credit for enabling last week’s vote to proceed……
Seeking to cement the ability of the ISPs to impose new fees on internet customers and carve up the internet into fast and slow lanes (known in the industry as “paid prioritization”), Blackburn announced her own bill Tuesday night, which—with the aid of lazy reporters at august news publications—she’s masquerading as a “net neutrality” bill. Having witnessed the backlash against the FCC’s vote over the past few days, and with Democrats swiftly mobilizing to campaign on the issue next year, it will be interesting to see just how many of Blackburn’s GOP colleagues join her cause.
To get an idea of how much power Blackburn believes ISPs should have, we turn to an interview she gave CNN last winter when allegations of “fake news” influencing the presidential election were still fresh. It was during this interview, which took place less than a month after the November 8 elections, that Blackburn suggested giving Verizon, Comcast, AT&T, and other leading broadband carriers the authority to vet and censor information viewed by American voters online.
Internet providers have an “obligation,” she said, to get fake news “off the web.”
The fact that Americans can hardly agree on what constitutes “fake news” notwithstanding, the notion that AT&T should be obligated to censor the internet ranks high on the list of the dumbest ideas any lawmaker has ever had with regard to internet regulation. As you can imagine, Blackburn’s idea of “fake news” likely varies greatly from those who don’t share her political views.
Another black eye for the FBI. And they already had 2.
Hiding intra-FBI memos again. Like with the Mueller witch hunt and Comey’s handling of Clinton, prosecutorial misconduct rears it’s ugly head. And like those cases, it matters.
“Federal Judge Gloria Navarro declared a mistrial in the case against Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, who is accused of leading a standoff against the government in 2014. The trial includes his sons Ryan and Ammon and Montana militia leader Ryan Payne.
Navarro “tentatively set a new trial date for February” and said that the prosecutors “willfully withheld critical and ‘potentially exculpatory” evidence from the defense.”
Back in 2014, Bundy and his friends decided to revolt against the Bureau of Land Management after it issued him a court order to round up his cattle since he has refused “to pay fees required to graze his herds on federal property” for the last two decades. People responded to support Bundy and the government eventually backed off. No one fired a shot in the four day standoff..
In this trial, the four men “were accused of enlisting armed gunmen to force government agents to abandon the effort.” They faced a maximum 20 year prison sentence.
From Reuters:
Navarro had warned prosecutors last week that she might declare a mistrial after listing documents previously undisclosed by prosecutors that could be used to impeach government witnesses or bolster defendants’ arguments that they felt surrounded by government snipers prior to the standoff.
In a stinging rebuke on Wednesday, Navarro said prosecutors knew or should have known of the existence of memos from FBI agents that may have been helpful to the defense.
Those memos and other documents, some 3,300 pages in all, were not turned over until well after an Oct. 1 deadline, and then only after repeated efforts by Bundy’s defense counsel, Navarro said.
It took her almost an hour to explain her choice and “stopped short of dismissing charges against the four men.” A new hearing will occur on January 8 when she will hear defense arguments, but we do not know if “the case will be retried because Navarro did not rule whether the mistrial was with or without prejudice.”
The Bundy family have maintained that they “felt endangered by government ‘snipers’ positioned on the hill above their ranch.”
Previous attempts to charge these men and others have not worked.””
Religious schools, homeschoolers to get a boost in GOP tax plan, thanks to Ted Cruz and Mike Pence
_____________________________
Parents would get new federal tax breaks for sending their children to private or religious schools or teaching them at home if the final Republican tax overhaul bill becomes law.
For that, they can thank Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who offered the original amendment to extend 529 college savings plans to grade school and high school, including costs for homeschooling. …
_______________________________
“Lawmakers are launching an investigation into Obama-era efforts to thwart a longstanding U.S. investigation into the Iranian-backed terror group Hezbollah, according to multiple congressional officials and insiders who spoke to the Washington Free Beacon.
The Obama administration worked behind the scenes to thwart a decade-long Drug Enforcement Agency investigation into Hezbollah and its highly lucrative drug trade in Latin America, according to a report in Politico. These officials are believed to have run interference on the investigation in order to avoid upsetting Iran and jeopardizing the landmark nuclear accord.
Senior Obama officials in the Treasury and Justice Departments are said to have undermined the DEA’s investigation at multiple junctures
in order to avoid angering Hezbollah’s patron Iran, which could have jeopardized the landmark nuclear agreement.
Congress is now taking steps to formally investigate the reports, which multiple sources described to the Free Beacon as part of a larger Obama administration effort to overlook Iran’s global terror operations in order to cement the nuclear deal.”
Bill Kristol is hard on poor Trump. We are now constantly told that children must have self-esteem.
Not to be too earnest and all–but as someone proud to have had the privilege of working for a bit in the White House, I've got to say this makes me slightly sick. https://t.co/ZAMvtCikoh
You and Kristol are scraping the bottom of the barrel now that you’re re-tweeting the clown editor of TPM. You may have scraped clean thru into the mud. Seems fitting I guess.
Wandering Views 
David Brooks notes that Yuval Levin seems to be leading the way in developing political plans that may persuade people to return to the workforce:
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Kathleen Parker on words to be banned:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-government-shouldnt-ban-words-but-heres-my-list/2017/12/19/d4fb3844-e4fd-11e7-ab50-621fe0588340_story.html?utm_term=.7b4688bfaa5e
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Dreher on the pitfalls of “Christianity Lite”:
http://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/christianity-cross-r-marie-griffith/
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The debate between Charles Cooke and David Frum about Jennifer Rubin is what conservative intellectuals have been discussing the last two days. Dreher’s piece here has links to both of their articles. David French and many others have written about the dispute.
http://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/conservatism-after-trump/
Cooke’s criticism of Rubin is correct. Rubin, who has never been that conservative, has flip-flopped in order to always stay opposed to Trump. Frum, who I also never viewed as a conservative, failed in his attempt to defend Rubin, but did make a decent point about the type of “conservatism” that would survive Trump.
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Ricky, about the first Dreher link,
So his point is what exactly?
We already know all this, and it’s been this way for a loooong time. Everyone knows the “Christians” who show up for Easter and Christmas and no other time.
He says this at the end…..
“The point I want to make here is that faith is not only what you believe, but what you do. If you prefer not to be active in religious life, that’s your free choice, but you shouldn’t fool yourself about your religious status. If you don’t practice your faith, in what sense can it be said to exist?”
Everyone knows this from James 2:14-26.
Are you and Dreher really making the argument that faith without voting for the right candidate is dead? That’s what it sounds like. It also sounds really stupid.
Perhaps you can clarify it for me.
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AJ, Dreher’s first link has nothing to do with voting or politics.
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OK, so the point of posting it was?………
And his point in writing it was?……….
What’s next from Dreher, 10 paragraphs on why water is wet?
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And you’ll have to forgive me for assuming it was another reference by you about Christians supporting Trump. That’s been a theme with you pretty much daily.
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More settlements with our money.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/congress-discloses-3-more-sexual-211917622.html
“The Office of Compliance of the U.S. House of Representatives revealed on Tuesday three additional sexual-harassment settlements it paid out, totaling $115,000, the Hill reports. The disclosure comes just one month after the Washington Postrevealed the Office paid more than $17 million since 1997 to settle 264 workplace complaints (including harassment allegations).
According to the Hill, the three payments were made between fiscal years 2008 through 2012. Yet, the disclosure doesn’t include any information about the recipients of the settlements, or from which offices the complaints originated.
Representative Gregg Harper, the chair of the House Administration Committee, released a statement, saying that his group had asked for a breakdown of the $17 million total amount paid to settle the aforementioned complaints. Harper added that the committee still hasn’t received all of the requested information.”
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And another Hollywood pedophile is outed.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-ct-goddard-accusers-20171220-story.html
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Another example of Trump successes being mostly ignored.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/12/20/trump-administration-finds-success-in-bringing-home-americans-detained-abroad.html
“President Trump is well known for his brash and confrontational style of governing – but it could be the more diplomatic side of his administration generating some of the biggest victories in 2017.
Amid all the debate over issues like the travel ban, the border wall and health care, senior officials in the White House and State Department have quietly worked behind the scenes to resolve a major concern of the president: securing the release of American citizens detained by foreign governments and terror groups.
“Immediately after President Trump took office, he told Secretary [of State Rex] Tillerson to prioritize bringing home Americans who’ve been wrongfully detained or held hostage in foreign countries,” State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert told Fox News in an email. “We are proud that we’ve been able to secure the release of several Americans as a result of U.S. diplomatic efforts.”
While the administration has been successful in securing the release of numerous Americans held abroad, officials noted there are at least 10 other U.S. citizens – like Joshua Holt in Venezuela – who are being wrongly detained.
“The work, however, is not complete as we continue to press foreign governments for the release of other wrongly held U.S. citizens,” Nauert said.”
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Well this makes voting easier for me. At least I know who I won’t be supporting for Sen. Corker’s replacement next year. And it’s a shame, because she is a Trump supporter. :–/
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Another black eye for the FBI. And they already had 2.
Hiding intra-FBI memos again. Like with the Mueller witch hunt and Comey’s handling of Clinton, prosecutorial misconduct rears it’s ugly head. And like those cases, it matters.
https://legalinsurrection.com/2017/12/federal-judge-declares-mistrial-in-cliven-bundy-case/#more-236684
“Federal Judge Gloria Navarro declared a mistrial in the case against Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, who is accused of leading a standoff against the government in 2014. The trial includes his sons Ryan and Ammon and Montana militia leader Ryan Payne.
Navarro “tentatively set a new trial date for February” and said that the prosecutors “willfully withheld critical and ‘potentially exculpatory” evidence from the defense.”
Back in 2014, Bundy and his friends decided to revolt against the Bureau of Land Management after it issued him a court order to round up his cattle since he has refused “to pay fees required to graze his herds on federal property” for the last two decades. People responded to support Bundy and the government eventually backed off. No one fired a shot in the four day standoff..
In this trial, the four men “were accused of enlisting armed gunmen to force government agents to abandon the effort.” They faced a maximum 20 year prison sentence.
From Reuters:
Navarro had warned prosecutors last week that she might declare a mistrial after listing documents previously undisclosed by prosecutors that could be used to impeach government witnesses or bolster defendants’ arguments that they felt surrounded by government snipers prior to the standoff.
In a stinging rebuke on Wednesday, Navarro said prosecutors knew or should have known of the existence of memos from FBI agents that may have been helpful to the defense.
Those memos and other documents, some 3,300 pages in all, were not turned over until well after an Oct. 1 deadline, and then only after repeated efforts by Bundy’s defense counsel, Navarro said.
It took her almost an hour to explain her choice and “stopped short of dismissing charges against the four men.” A new hearing will occur on January 8 when she will hear defense arguments, but we do not know if “the case will be retried because Navarro did not rule whether the mistrial was with or without prejudice.”
The Bundy family have maintained that they “felt endangered by government ‘snipers’ positioned on the hill above their ranch.”
Previous attempts to charge these men and others have not worked.””
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http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/religious-schools-homeschoolers-to-get-a-boost-in-gop-tax-plan-thanks-to-ted-cruz-and-mike-pence/article/2643722
Religious schools, homeschoolers to get a boost in GOP tax plan, thanks to Ted Cruz and Mike Pence
_____________________________
Parents would get new federal tax breaks for sending their children to private or religious schools or teaching them at home if the final Republican tax overhaul bill becomes law.
For that, they can thank Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who offered the original amendment to extend 529 college savings plans to grade school and high school, including costs for homeschooling. …
_______________________________
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And we’re up to 4 black eyes for the DoJ/FBI..
http://freebeacon.com/issues/congress-to-investigate-obama-scheme-to-nix-investigation-into-hezbollah-terrorists/
“Lawmakers are launching an investigation into Obama-era efforts to thwart a longstanding U.S. investigation into the Iranian-backed terror group Hezbollah, according to multiple congressional officials and insiders who spoke to the Washington Free Beacon.
The Obama administration worked behind the scenes to thwart a decade-long Drug Enforcement Agency investigation into Hezbollah and its highly lucrative drug trade in Latin America, according to a report in Politico. These officials are believed to have run interference on the investigation in order to avoid upsetting Iran and jeopardizing the landmark nuclear accord.
in order to avoid angering Hezbollah’s patron Iran, which could have jeopardized the landmark nuclear agreement.
Congress is now taking steps to formally investigate the reports, which multiple sources described to the Free Beacon as part of a larger Obama administration effort to overlook Iran’s global terror operations in order to cement the nuclear deal.”
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Another secret message from Dreher:
http://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/nobody-meets-their-spouses-at-church/
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Bill Kristol is hard on poor Trump. We are now constantly told that children must have self-esteem.
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You and Kristol are scraping the bottom of the barrel now that you’re re-tweeting the clown editor of TPM. You may have scraped clean thru into the mud. Seems fitting I guess.
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