The Democrat's Palatine Hill, and The Seven Hills of Rome

Government can be defined in two words.  Corruption and Compromise.  Corruption on it's worst days, and compromise on its best days. 

 

By Rich Kozlovich

 

 

Palatine Hill?  What's the significance of that?   Of the Seven Hills of Rome, the Palatine Hill, was the center most, and is considered to be the most ancient parts of Rome.  It's also where the wealthy, privileged, and powerful built their palaces, surrounded by six hills filled with the lesser classes.

 

Think of Washington DC as America's Palatine Hill, and the center of America's administrative state, filled with the ideological "palaces" of the elite, powerful, and privileged, surrounded by lesser mortals whose views are dismissed .... arrogantly. 

On December 2014 Thomas Sowell published one of his many outstanding, "Random Thoughts on the Passing Scene", saying:

When the political left wants to help the black community, they usually want to help the worst elements in that community -- thugs they portray as martyrs, for example -- without the slightest regard for the negative effect this can have on the lives of the majority of decent black people.....

 

If anyone in the mainstream media is at a loss for what New Year's resolution to make, try this: Stop "spinning" or censoring stories about race, and try telling the plain truth, if only for the novelty of it.....

 

There are few modest talents so richly rewarded -- especially in politics and the media -- as the ability to portray parasites as victims, and portray demands for preferential treatment as struggles for equal rights........ 

 

Has anyone asked the question, "How could so many people across the country spend so much time at night marching, rioting and looting, if they had to get up and go to work the next morning?"........ 

 

Republicans complain when Democrats call them racists. But when have you ever heard a Republican counterattack? You don't win by protesting your innocence or whining about the unfairness of the charge. Yet when have you heard a Republican reply by saying, "You're a lying demagogue without a speck of evidence. Put up or shut up!"...

That was ten years ago, and things have changed.  For the left, all things are either racist, or Islamophobic, but this administration, conservatives, and the alternate media aren't letting that slide.  They're attacking!  What must really be driving the left crazy, especially the media, is that conservatives don't care what they think or what they're saying.  They're either attacking the left and humiliating them, or worse yet, laughingly at them with a "no one cares what you say attitude" because you're certifiably nuts.   

After 2008 the track was cleared for total big government tyranny with the election of Obama. The Democrats were always able to hide who they really were with the support of the Pravda media, and get elected via voter fraud, but it was clear where Obama was taking the nation, and if Hillary had been elected, it might have even been worse. After Biden it was impossible to claim otherwise, and they’re not even trying to hide the tyranny they wish to impose on the nation…. not to mention bankruptcy.

Here’s where I’m going with this. They have no bench. Not one of those who could be the nominee in 2028 can ever portray themselves as anything but far left tyrants who would destroy the Constitution, including former VP candidate Tim Walz, who unlike the rest of them is incapable of hiding the fact he's nuts.  Josh Shapiro was their best bet, but, now there’s a murder case in his state in which he may be implicated. A case where a woman was stabbed 20 times, once in the back, and it was called suicide. And he was their best bet?

As for the 2026 midterms, if the administration goes after all the states for their voter fraud issues, I’m convinced the House Democrats will lose massively, and it’s possible the Republicans can get 60 seats in the Senate. But the nationwide criminal network for voter fraud must be crushed, and as many as possible end up in jail for it…. a massive RICO investigation is warranted, and things are changing at the grass roots, and seemingly among a significant number of young people who are moving to the right.  This last election drove home how the Democrats made a "hot mess" of just about everything, and are clinging to their "hot mess" because to change would mean telling the world they're wrong on everything they support, and become conservatives.  They would have to become the kind of people they hate and despise beyond reason.  They won't change because they can't change, they can only be crushed.  These are the hills the Democrats will die on.

After reading what I've listed here I think it's incumbent on everyone to ask, and answer, two questions, especially after Trump's address to Congress.  Do these people sound and act sane, and if not, does treason qualify as a mental disorder?  As for sane, here's one of their heroes who thinks Trump is actively trying to destroy the nation because he hates America.  I think that answers the sanity part at any rate.

ANTISEMITISM

 

And With That Number, the Democrats Are the Party of Antisemitism and Hamas - Either I missed the polling, or one was never done. It’s likely the former; sorry, folks, I’ve been enjoying the winning and return to normalcy under Donald Trump that I missed this shocking, though also unsurprising poll regarding the Democrats’ attitudes toward the State of Israel. The party was once a bastion for Israeli support, but that’s changed since the “woke” zombies took over. All I can say is that’s a lot of Democrats who hate Jews. Also, the donkey party is now the one which supports Hamas, antisemitism, and let’s say it—neo-Nazism. ......

 

Hollywood Hates Jews - “I’ve had someone say to me, ‘Let’s not forget what Hollywood is made up of. Be careful,’”  Guy Pearce told a Jewish writer at Vanity Fair in response to a question about his attacks on Israel.  In an industry where talent has been cancelled for the most minor perceived offenses against political correctness, Pearce’s remarks went unnoticed and he was rewarded with an Oscar nomination for playing an antisemite on screen in The Brutalist and in real life. Contrast that with the backlash against ‘Karla Sofia’ Gascon, starring in Emilia Perez, the Oscar frontrunner, over old Spanish-language tweets speaking out against Black Lives Matter and Islam, which he has already apologized for several times..........

 

Israel again incurs the world’s ‘outrage’ - One of the things that’s a hallmark of a world without a moral compass is that it’s lost touch with reality. We see that in America with the insistence that sex is a mental construct, not a biological reality, a fantasy that’s led to child mutilation, adult mutilation, women raped in prisons, and a general unleashing of immoral insanity across America’s institutions. Germany’s unhinged Jew hatred also led it to the madness of genocide and a destructive belief that it could use its military to conquer the world.......

DELUSION

The Bottomless Pit of Leftist Liberal Hatred -  Democrat Jasmine Crockett from Texas is "rooting" for Mexico and Canada in sports because Donald Trump is president, and she despises Donald Trump. Actually, she hates Donald Trump because she hates America. So she can't.................

Democrats swear to swear - Once a politician crosses the nuclear threshold, their equally TDS afflicted followers, who can never be satisfied only temporarily mollified, will never allow them to back down.........  

Tampon Tim Claims America Was Stolen by “Fascists” and “Nazis” - Former vice presidential candidate and Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz was caught claiming that America is being stolen by “fascists and Nazis,” according to an alleged recording of his statements. Walz defended the Democratic Party’s loud protests against President Donald Trump and Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) overseer Elon Musk by stating that his party wants to protect the U.S. from so-called “Nazis,” according to a recording obtained by Alpha News. The outlet claimed to have received the recording from Republican Minnesota State Sen. Nate Wesenberg, who said the remarks were made at a Minnesota Nurses Association event......

Former Cackling Kamala Comms Director Thinks Andrew Cuomo Would Be a Good Presidential Candidate in 2028 - Jamal Simmons, who served as communications director for former vice president Kamala Harris, is now pitching disgraced ex-New York governor Andrew Cuomo as a top Democratic contender for the White House in 2028........

Nobody likes Brandon -Mayor Brandon Johnson of Chicago is getting a quick lesson on performance approval polls. It turns out that lousy mayors and governors get bad approval numbers. Here is the story: In January 2023, shortly before the February Chicago mayoral elections, former Mayor Lori Lightfoot had a dismal 22% approval rating. Current Mayor Brandon Johnson’s approval has now sunk even lower, to only 6.6% in the latest poll, as issues such as rising crime concern residents of the Windy City. In the latest poll from M3 Strategies, which surveyed 696 likely Chicago voters Feb. 20-21, 67% said that crime was one of the top three issues facing Chicago, followed by high taxes at 54% and inflation at 41%.  Who knew that voters concerned about crime, high taxes, and inflation would say "thumbs down" when talking about their mayor?.............

Carville: Trump 'Collapse' Is Already Underway - During an appearance on Thursday’s broadcast of Fox News Channel’s “Hannity,” long-time Democrat strategist and media commentator James Carville declared the collapse of President Donald Trump to be underway already. Carville, who predicted former Vice President Kamala Harris would be elected to the presidency last November, cited polling and urged Democrats to “just sit back” and let the so-called “collapse” take place.............

Clooney: ‘No Rules Count Anymore’ Under Trump - Actor and Democrat activist George Clooney recently lamented that “no rules count anymore” under President Trump. Speaking with the New York Times’ Maureen Dowd, Clooney said that Americans have fallen for made up narratives divorced from facts.......

Dem Rep Reveals the Party's Grand Plan to Defeat Donald Trump -  Democrats could quickly turn things around if they focus on job creation, fairer trade deals, and not being weirdos. They may be past the point of no return, as they claim the work that President Trump and the Department of Government Efficiency are doing is unpopular—it’s not. Now, we talk of oligarchies and other messages that are still clearly aimed for the elitist wing of the party. .........

Easy to be stupid - Leftists have traditionally clung to at least some degree of power by making it really easy to be stupid. Why bother going to the trouble of taking care of yourself when there’s usually some kind of “social” program that can better do that for you? Back during the “Great” Recession of 2008, Nancy Pelosi expressed the epitome of this kind of thinking: “For every dollar we spend on increased unemployment benefits, the economy expands by $1.25.” Really? Were that anywhere close to true, we’d all be better off by just staying home, watching TV, and guzzling beer. Oh, yeah… who’s going to produce the TV shows and brew the beer?.......

 

Hakeem Jeffries Had Yet Another Bad Sunday Show Appearance -  As we covered at the time last week, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) certainly floundered during his Sunday show appearance on ABC News' "This Week" during his interview with Jonathan Karl. Jeffries kept ranting about prices, even when confronted by Karl about President Donald Trump's high approval ratings. Another Sunday, and another Sunday show appearance has gone by, with Jeffries once more being confronted about approval ratings, this time for members of his own party......

Same Ol' Situation, Same Ol' Democrat Party - believe one of the reasons why these leftists come up with this tomfoolery is to hide their history, which is one of slavery, secession, segregation, and socialism. None of these S-words have had any positive benefit on the Black community and America as a whole. The Democrat party has been and continues to be, a party that is focused on the two forms of enslavement—physical and economic. It is a party that embraces a principle of totalitarian control over the lives of the individual, something antithetical to the American experiment of self-governance and individual sovereignty. I mean, who else would reject the ideals of natural rights theory and see it as a threat? And if you really want to laugh, watch the Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, then-Senator Joe Biden, question SCOTUS nominee Clarence Thomas on Natural Rights Theory.

This is the Left Mark Lewis - We know that, in principle, theory, and dogma, the Left, the modern Democratic Party, is a Marxist, anti-traditional American, anti-God, amoral movement.  It’s not just politics; it is an entire worldview.  In this article, I’m not going to explain the philosophic underpinnings of Leftism (I’ve done that in countless articles before); I intend to list some specific and very clear examples of what Leftism has produced—in word and deed.  This is the Left.  This is what they actually do and say........

 

Are some Trump voters really already tired of winning? - Sadly, many folks actually do get tired of winning. Or, more accurately in this case, many simply get exhausted by the rapid pace of change that President Trump has brought to the otherwise bloated, stale, entrenched, and corrupt government. Many voted for “hope and change” in the guise of Barack Hussein Obama, and never had a problem with him weaponizing nearly every federal government agency against his political opponents, because he did so surreptitiously, behind the scenes, hiding this from the citizens he supposedly served. Trump, on the other hand, and his right-hand-man Elon Musk, have been in-your-face transparent. This blitzkrieg push for efficiency and transparency is exactly what the country needs, yet has left some folks feeling overwhelmed. And it has, predictably, led to Democrats, Deep Staters, and mainstream media outlets alike going ballistic and — in some cases -- threatening violence and civil war against the administration.

 

Naive Liberals - We do not live in an entirely peaceful or civilized world.  Conservatives realize that fact and wish to prepare for the worst by strengthening our military, shoring up the value of our currency, and ensuring economic prosperity.  In contrast, liberals live in a fantasy land, in which everyone is presumed to be “nice” and no other nation wishes to harm us......

Democrats in the Wilderness - The Democrat party appears determined to spend the next 40 years wandering in the wilderness. There have been no fruitful reflections leading to productive responses to the drubbing Democrats took in the 2024 national elections. The few Cassandras who think some change in course is required are considered by Democrat elitists to be dinosaurs worthy of disdain.......

The Soul of the Democrats - As Japan’s defeat during World War II became obvious, many of its soldiers performed harakiri -- a ritual suicide by disembowelment using a sword -- as an honorable alternative to surrendering. Perhaps one of the most notable moments of a U.S. presidential candidate performing political harakiri occurred in March 2004.   Explaining his vote in support of $87 billion for our wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the Democrat candidate Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass) responded, "I actually voted in favor of the $87 billion before I voted against it." His words famously became reduced to “I was for it before I was against it.” Critics had a field day with this, accusing Kerry of wanting to have it both ways in trying to be everything to everybody. The flip-flop effectively derailed his campaign......

 

Democrats fecklessly continue to sabotage themselves - Democrats are hysterical over Trump’s response to Zelensky’s bad manners and decision to scuttle the rare earth minerals deal he had agreed to sign.  They claimed, instantly, that Trump was responsible for the blow-up, but that is nonsense.  Trump reacted to Zelensky’s insolent eye-rolling and constant interruptions like a normal person; like a good parent to a rude and incorrigible child.  He did not let Zelensky get away with his overt disrespect in the White House.......

 

LeftSpeak - Leftist newspeak and wordsmithing have evolved to the point that a new English-to- LeftSpeak dictionary need-be established should any communication between the left and traditional English speakers be salvaged.  For starters:  Democracy:  Government by a permanent, unelected, leftist bureaucracy.– Fascism: Any leadership not subservient to the progressive deep state. – Constitutional crisis: Anything said or done by the Trump Administration.– Existential threat: Any challenge to the progressive agenda......(and much more)

DOGE

Clinton Foundation’s USAID Fraud: Billions of US Tax Dollars Are Missing From Haiti Relief Projects -  There are those that say all government aid is a scam in one way or another, and so far the revelations surrounding USAID are proving those people right daily.  Democrats and the establishment media, in a bid to muddy the waters and save face, continue to claim that there was never any fraud at USAID and that the Trump Administration is simply labeling projects they “disagree with” as suspect.  Of course, spending American tax dollars on projects the public never asked for............

Democrats defend the indefensible - In less than a month after his triumphant return to the White House, President Donald Trump has turned the Washington, D.C. establishment on its head. We have never seen a new administration act with such gusto while delivering on so many campaign promises in such a short period of time. So far, Trump has effectively sealed the Southern border; deported thousands of illegal immigrants with criminal records; eliminated Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs in the federal government; protected female athletes from competing against males; unleashed the American energy sector; and exposed just how rotten and corrupt the federal bureaucracy has become.............

 

This Article Only Makes These Whiny Federal Workers Look Worse-The Department of Government Efficiency and Elon Musk will continue to be attacked by the media, but it will do no good. Americans support their work in uprooting government waste and potential fraud. They want the DC workforce slashed. Yes, Democrats, this is what we voted for; you just weren’t paying attention.............The latest Axios article tries to drum up sympathy for these people facing layoffs, but it won’t move the needle. It will only elicit feelings of schadenfreude or anger: millions of people have endured job loss and anxiety associated with it. Government employment was never meant to be permanent or protected (via Axios):

 

Democrats Won’t Fund Government Unless Trump Stops Overriding Congress - Representative Jake Auchincloss (D-MA) said Democrats will not vote to fund the government unless President Donald Trump stops overriding Congress spending. Auchincloss said, “Checks and balances, the separation of powers is going to be the dominant theme of this first year of Donald Trump’s presidency — the presidency. Article 2 is in a boxing match with Congress. Article 1 and the court’s Article 3 over our ability to prevent an imperial presidency. The Supreme Court has, at least here, held its own in round one. Round two is going to be Congress and the presidency boxing over appropriations. Congress has claim on the power of the purse. Speaker Mike Johnson is definitely not a prize fighter. And so Democrats are going to have to step up and insist that to fund the government this spring the president needs to respect the fact that one, he cannot use emergency powers to spend money that we did not appropriate. And number two, he  has to appropriate the funds that we have called for. That is the power of the purse. That is not up for debate.”........

 

Is DOGE negativity being overhyped by the Dems? - AMAC Newsline columnist Andrew Shirley pointed out an interesting bit of forgotten history about Bill Clinton’s reduction of the federal workforce.  It seems Bill Clinton made even more extreme cuts to the federal workforce during his second term in office than has the Trump/Musk DOGE team.  This history has apparently been conveniently forgotten, or purposely buried, by the mainstream media so they can continually b...last anyone and everyone connected with DOGE like it’s causing an end of the world disaster.

 

Hakeem Jeffries Was Asked to Provide Evidence of GOP Cuts to Medicaid and His Answer Was a Train Wreck - House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries has the same problem many a Democrat has right now: he can deliver the talking points, but when pressed, he collapses into a mumbling mess. It was a marvel to witness. The New York Democrat was doing his part, trying to gin up fear about the budget reconciliation process, which cleared its first big hurdle this week. Speaker Mike Johnson got all but one of the defecting Republicans back on board, which was enough to pass the resolution with a 217-213 vote. We still have a ways to go, but this was a huge win. Yet, Democrats insist that Medicaid will be cut. ......

ECONOMICS

Axios: Wrong (again) on Trump tax cuts -So much misinformation.  Hard-left Axios  has taken on the Trump/Republican tax cuts, and as usual, it either misses the point or wittingly presents falsehoods to its readership in service to its DNC masters............In years past, we might have expected, and certainly experienced, the typical response, but as we’ve seen with Trump 47, the  typical response  has been thrown out the window. Axios knows, or should know, that lower tax  rates, as instituted by Trump 45, George Bush, Ronald Reagan, and John F. Kennedy increased (not decreased) federal revenues.   Lower tax  rates  stimulate investment and growth (GDP).   Revenue is the result of Rates x Investment x Growth.  .......

The radical left is boycotting companies abandoning leftist insanity - Today might be a great day to go shopping. If you’ve already been to Walmart, Target, or other major retailers, you might have noticed that the people there looked...well, normal. No blue hair. No nose rings. No giant holes in their earlobes. No tattoos. No “Free Palestine” t-shirts. No bearded men in dresses and heels. It might have looked strangely like shopping in 1985, at the height of Reagan’s America....

 

Liberal Celebs Push “Economic Blackout” to Tank Economy - The “we love this country so much we want to destroy it” crowd is back at it. An effort to encourage U.S. consumers to participate in a day of protest by not spending money Friday has picked up momentum online, with thousands of people across social media saying they plan to take part in the “economic blackout.” Started roughly a month ago by John Schwarz, a Chicago-area meditation and mindfulness educator, the idea has taken off on social media, where searches for the term surface hundreds of posts of people sharing screenshots of infographics and encouraging others to participate in the protest. Google’s search data shows queries for “economic blackout” have surged in recent days........

 

Harris Faulkner Asks Democrat Contributor What Ideas Democrats Have to “Improve the Economy” -  Fox News host Harris Faulkner suggested to Democratic contributor Leslie Marshall on Tuesday that the Democrats had not offered any ideas to make the economy better, even as they criticized President Donald Trump.  Some congressional Democrats have plans to bring egg cartons highlighting the increased price of eggs, noisemakers or signs opposing the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to Trump’s Tuesday night address to a joint session of Congress. After Faulkner asked Marshall about the reported antics, she then brought up whether Democrats had any proposals to address the economy.

“What should Democrats be doing? I mean, I understand the guest situation, but they have a lot of media today,”..... “All day long there are those of us in the media business that are talking to anybody who wants to come up to the microphones and get the story before the president speaks. Why no positive messaging from Democrats?”......

• Hate-filled Democrats to come armed with eggs to Trump's address to Congress, vowing to disrupt it

GENDER

 

The (Trans) Ladies Doth Protest Too Much"Daily Dose of Reason"Why all the violence for "transgender" rights? The men who dress like women and want to be called the gender they prefer to be called on the whim of the moment surely are a violent bunch. Latest example: Iowa yesterday,...........

 

GOP Congress: Let’s protect women’s ‘Gaines’ in sports -Democrats wear white to presidential speeches to show “support for women,” but vote against women’s interests. Let’s show them how it’s really done tonight, and dress up for Riley Gaines when President Trump addresses Congress....

 

 Democrats Choose Fake Women Over Real Women—Again -  The Democratic Party has once again shown us exactly where their priorities lie—and it's not with protecting women and girls. On Monday, Senate Democrats banded together to block a common-sense bill to keep biological males from invading women's sports.  The Republican-led Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act fell short of the 60 votes needed to overcome the Democrats' filibuster. Every single Democrat who voted opposed the bill. Sens. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) and Peter Welch (D-Vt.) didn't even bother to show up. Apparently, protecting girls and women from having to compete against biological males with inherent physical advantages isn't important enough for Democrats to support.......

 

Senate Dems Unanimously Vote to Keep Trans Athletes in Women’s Sports - A U.S. Senate bill to prevent men from participating in women’s sports failed to overcome the 60-vote threshold needed to pass the filibuster on Monday night.  The bill came down to a strict 51-45 vote along party lines, with Democrat Sens. Elissa Slotkin (MI) and Peter Welch (VT) abstaining. Per Fox News:............

Your ‘inseminated person’ should know - They are crazy up in Wisconsin, especially at the Governor’s office.  What are they smoking or putting in their coffee?  Your guess is as good as mine, but the governor is proposing a change to how we refer to “mom,” having decided that “inseminated person” is a better descriptor.  I couldn’t believe this story and had to read it twice to make sure it was true. On the other side, here comes Doug Schoen, a sane Democrat who probably sends his mother a card purchased in the Mother’s Day section at your favorite store, has a message for the Democrats.  This is the story:....

Donald Trump takes down Maine's Governor - Donald Trump is unlike any previous politician. He’s certainly unlike any previous President. Politicians, particularly at the highest levels, normally keep hard realities and words behind closed doors. Quizzed later, they characterize such confrontations as “frank and productive exchanges.” Riiiight. This has been so partly to support the idea that politicians are uniformly wise and benevolent statesmen, people whose only concern is the welfare of their constituents. They’re beings of superior intellect and morality, above the failings of lesser beings, perfect in form, style, function and intention..............

 

A majority of Democrats believe there are more than two sexes -poll - A survey by Quinnipiac, taken Feb. 13-17, revealed that 96% of Republicans agree with President Trump’s executive order affirming that there are only two sexes, while an astounding and depressing 77% of Democrats oppose the order, apparently believing there to be God-knows-how-many different sexes. Only 14% of Democrats support the order. 59% of independents support the order.

 

Maine Needs A New State Slogan - Maine is one of those delusional states that refuses to get out of its own way. The state slogan is Dīrigō, which is Latin for "I direct" or "I lead," based on its once being the only state to hold its elections in September.  Those days have long passed, and Maine, based on recent decisions within the state, needs to adopt a more realistic slogan. Something closer to the truth would be ignorantia, meaning ignorance and want of knowledge, or more appropriately, inscitia, meaning ignorance, folly, inexperience, incompetence, incompetency, and want of skill. Maine, you see, is one of those states that has evolved into a state of an alternative reality. ..............

Ousted Kennedy Center President Defends Drag Queen Performances Following Trump Criticism - The recently-fired head of the Kennedy Center has defended the federally-funded institution’s decision to put on drag queen performances — including shows aimed at minors — following President Donald Trump’s promise to rid the organization of wokeness and restore its former glory......

Judge Spars with DOJ Atty over Pronouns at Trans Military Ban Hearing - A U.S. District Judge sparred with an attorney representing the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Tuesday over the use of pronouns pertaining to President Donald Trump’s ban on transgender people in the military.....

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers Supports Bill Replacing ‘Mother’ with ‘Inseminated Person’ -  Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers (D) supported a Democrat Senate bill that would replace the word “mother” with the word “inseminated person,” and replace the word “husband” with the word “spouse.”.

It Appears Democrats Have Finally Picked a Hill to Die On - Democrats are doubling down on left-wing gender ideology despite their viewpoints being increasingly unpopular with the average American. The vast majority of Americans support reversing the Biden administration’s extreme approach to transgender issues, including barring biological males from participating in women’s sports. But Democratic lawmakers, including those representing congressional districts President Donald Trump won in November, are continuing to push left-wing stances on transgender issues that are seemingly at odds with their own voters...........“Every Democrat who voted against keeping biological males out of girls’ sports is showing the American people that they care more about bowing to the radical left than protecting young women,” Congressional Leadership Fund spokeswoman Maureen O’Toole told the DCNF.

After This Vote, the Dems Show They Really Haven't Learned Anything From Their 2024 Loss - It’s pretty simple: men shouldn’t be playing in women’s sports. The Left can say that trans women are women all day—it doesn’t negate the fact that they’re dudes. It’s science fiction. It’s also veered into a bizarre cult-like obsession. It didn’t take long for this issue to become virtually 80/20 in support of keeping males out of these competitions. We won’t uproot societal order to cater to a small minority; they will have to deal with it.....

 

IMMIGRATION

Birthright citizenship and Democrat hypocrisy  - Congress passed the 14^th Amendment on June 13, 1866, more than a year after the Civil War ended. It then required three-fourths of our states to ratify it. This occurred on July 9, 1868, with South Carolina being the 28^th state. Most everyone (except those who prefer white robes and hoods) agreed that the 14^th Amendment was the right thing to do to help our nation heal after the bloody Civil War. Doing more than giving former slaves citizenship, its impact is still felt today. The 14^th Amendment: .......

Clyburn: Woke and DEI Are Substitutes for N-Word - On Friday’s broadcast of CNN’s “Laura Coates Live,” Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC) said Gen. CQ Brown was removed as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff due to his race and responded to pushback that other officials who are white were dismissed by stating that Brown got called “woke” and “DEI” and “they are substituting these acronyms for the n-word. So, why would you apply the term woke to Gen. Brown? What does that mean?” Clyburn began by saying,” I believe that everybody knows what an outstanding soldier Gen. Brown is and has been, for many, many years. He has a 40-year career in the military. Nobody has found any fault with him. Because of his skin color, he has been declared DEI or woke.”..........

 Van Jones: Brown Was Fired Due to ‘Slander that He’s Woke and DEI’ - On Friday’s broadcast of CNN’s “Laura Coates Live,” CNN Political Commentator and former Obama Adviser Van Jones said that the only reason he can find to dismiss Gen. CQ Brown as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is “this slander that he’s woke and DEI. Well, if you are the head of a military that is multiracial and multicultural and you want it to be cohesive, you need to have policies in place to help that happen.”.....

“DEI Isn’t for Us”: Black-Owned Businesses Say Diversity Policies Don’t Work - Some black-owned businesses are blowing the whistle on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies, telling Reuters that the initiatives have not been effective in helping out black people and other minority business owners. Black business owners are now saying that they have not benefited much from diversity efforts intended to help them, and are largely unfazed by the Trump administration rolling back DEI programs nationwide, Reuters reported on Tuesday. The report comes amid President Donald Trump’s ongoing efforts to crack down on DEI initiatives in the U.S., including in universities and across the federal government.............

The radical left is boycotting companies abandoning leftist insanity - Today might be a great day to go shopping. If you’ve already been to Walmart, Target, or other major retailers, you might have noticed that the people there looked...well, normal. No blue hair. No nose rings. No giant holes in their earlobes. No tattoos. No “Free Palestine” t-shirts. No bearded men in dresses and heels. It might have looked strangely like shopping in 1985, at the height of Reagan’s America.......

E pluribus, infirmitas? - I always do a mental double-take when someone says, “Diversity is our strength.”  Perhaps it depends on context.  Our military, for instance, includes men and women of various races and religions, yet their training emphasizes conformity to ensure unity and effectiveness.  Historically, the most stable societies share customs, language, and cultural norms — at least enough to function cohesively.  Differences exist, of course, but when they become too extreme or numerous, friction often follows, sometimes escalating into civil unrest.  Tensions between Asians and African-Americans in certain U.S. jurisdictions illustrate this dynamic........

The Democrats These Last 75 Years -The Kennedy years are often called Camelot. However, it was not quite the romance. The long Cold War had begun; a failed attempt to put Castro out of business at the Bay of Pigs was planned during the Eisenhower administration but was reluctantly carried out by Kennedy. JFK was hesitant only because he didn't want the world to know what was already common knowledge: the United States was planning and carrying out a coup in Cuba. Later, the Cuban Missile Crisis was a contest to see who would blink first.............

Dumping Donkeys: How America ‘Divorced’ the Democrat Party - Here’s a hypothetical that, oh, pretty much everyone can relate to: You’ve just shut the door on a tumultuous, chaotic, messy relationship. (Doesn’t have to be a romantic relationship: Could be an intense, demanding friendship or even trauma-bonding in the workplace.) It was one of those exhausting situations where your brain, heart, and soul felt like punching bags..........

LIES 

Susan Rice misleads Americans again - Susan Rice was the UN Ambassador and behind the scenes Democrat/socialist/communist (D/s/c) whisperer who blatantly lied about the Benghazi attack. She claimed the murder of multiple Americans was just a protest over a video that got out of hand. Rice was quickly forced to admit she made a harmless little mistake and didn’t mean to mislead anyone. As the BBC noted at the time “Republicans were unconvinced.” So was anyone with a functional BS detector. Americans weren’t buying her lies then any more than they are now.....

The viral lie of how censorship is a ‘vaccine’ to freedom of speech - “Freedom of speech is a virus. Censorship is the vaccine.” This chilling mantra, echoed in the corridors of power throughout Europe and the UK, has become the unspoken creed of a globalist left eager to maintain control. It serves as a seductive soundbite for those who fear the chaos of open discourse—a justification for silencing dissent under the guise of protecting the public. But beneath its clinical facade lies a profound betrayal of the principles that shaped the modern world. If freedom of speech falters, it won’t be an isolated casualty; it will drag down every other right with it...........

 

Sky High Lies: Cuck Schumer Says Trump Is Crashing Planes to Further Enrich Billionaires - Senator Chuck Schumer touched down in the Senate today to spread more lies about FAA cuts. Schumer is trying to link Trump to recent plane crashes. He says crashing planes puts more money in billionaires’ pockets. No, it’s not supposed to make sense. It’s just Democrat desperation..........

RACE 

Van Jones: Brown Was Fired Due to ‘Slander that He’s Woke and DEI’ - On Friday’s broadcast of CNN’s “Laura Coates Live,” CNN Political Commentator and former Obama Adviser Van Jones said that the only reason he can find to dismiss Gen. CQ Brown as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is “this slander that he’s woke and DEI. Well, if you are the head of a military that is multiracial and multicultural and you want it to be cohesive, you need to have policies in place to help that happen.”.....

Clyburn: Brown Was Fired Along with White Officials Because He's Black - On Friday’s broadcast of CNN’s “Laura Coates Live,” Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC) said Gen. CQ Brown was removed as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff due to his race and responded to pushback that other officials who are white were dismissed by stating that Brown got called “woke” and “DEI” and “they are substituting these acronyms for the n-word. So, why would you apply the term woke to Gen. Brown? What does that mean?” Clyburn began by saying,” I believe that everybody knows what an outstanding soldier Gen. Brown is and has been, for many, many years. He has a 40-year career in the military. Nobody has found any fault with him. Because of his skin color, he has been declared DEI or woke.”.......

 

 REPUBLICANS AND RINO'S

 

‘Grinding the Democrats Down’: Sen. Markwayne Mullin on Trump’s Cabinet and the GOP Game Plan - The following is an edited transcript of an interview between Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief John Bickley and U.S. Senator Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) on a Sunday edition of Morning Wire. So far, President Trump is batting a thousand on confirmations for his cabinet secretary nominees. Just this week Kash Patel was confirmed as Director of the FBI while Labor Secretary Linda Chavez-DeRemer seems to have secured the support of the Senate. This is the fastest pace since 2001. Oklahoma Senator Markwayne Mullin joined Morning Wire to discuss Trump’s cabinet nominees, the Senate’s strategic approach to the confirmation process, and the significance of the GOP’s “Big Tent” strategy in uniting diverse political factions within the Republican Party...........

 

 Why Republicans’ Old Tricks Aren’t Working On Trump This Time -  Donald Trump has spent eight years in and around Washington. Though he has persuaded a fair number of congressional Republicans to adopt a new tune, he has had a harder time getting them to change the lyrics. They still did much of what they wanted, even as they picked up a few new slogans. Lukewarm Republicans clung to the Bush-era policies Trump specifically ran against, but most learned to dress up their views in pro-Trump language and gestures.

 

Trump’s common sense revolution: Transformation and revelation -  Trump’s common sense revolution is transforming the Republican Party.  By transforming the Republican Party into the party of common sense, Trump is making it the natural home of any American voter who cares about America.  But what he is accomplishing does not stop there.   His revolution has also brought about an astonishing revelation.  With Trump’s help, more and more Americans are realizing that the Democrat party is the party that rejects common sense — and with it the American idea...... 

 

Critically Thinking about "My Body My Choice"

What does that mean — and is that the real question?

John Droz, Jr., Oct 01, 2024 @ Critically Thinking About Select Societal Issues

It seems that since each US political party has prioritized one societal issue, citizens should do some Critical Thinking about both of them. My most recent commentary was a Critical Thinking analysis of the US immigration issue (that the Republicans are emphasizing). Now, let’s look at the Dem’s main talking point…

In the recent Presidential debate, Kamala Harris strongly emphasized that women should have a choice over their bodies. Surprisingly, all sides actually agree that (from both a man’s and woman’s perspective), My Body My Choice is what should apply! The difference is a matter of timing.

KEY TERMS

Before we consider the timing aspect, let’s think about the two key terms involved here: Body and Choice.

Body: As humans we have rights. The US Constitution says we are born with inalienable rights. Where did those inherent rights come from? God. If not then who?

Choice: Two elements are needed for real choice: 

1) knowledge, and 2) intellectual maturity.  (For example: can a ten-year-old make a legit choice about what house the family should buy and live in? No, because a child lacks both essential elements.)

REPRODUCTION

From a woman’s point of view, a situation may arise where she has a very important choice to make, as her body is involved. It is whether or not she consents to having a special physical interaction with a man, that might produce a new human being.

If she says NO (or does not have the ability to consent), and it happens anyway — then we have rape. (The woman should have the right to terminate any consequence of an interaction that she did not initially consent to.)

On the other hand, if she says YES, then she does not give life to a new human being, the interaction does. The woman then takes on the role of caregiver: providing nutrition and protection for this newly created life.

When does this new creation become human? Only God can say that definitively. However, we know for 100% certainty that this transition does NOT just magically happen at the time of a natural birth, 9± months later.

For example, a friend’s daughter recently was carrying twins and she had some medical complications. At 7± months the decision was made to accelerate the birth of both babies, via C-Section. Following that, when her food supply (umbilical cord) was cut the babies were able to survive on their own — so clearly they were already human prior to delivery. (FYI six months later they are still fine.)

But what about buyer’s remorse? Let’s say that the father turns out to be a total jerk. Or their financial status substantially changes so that a baby would be a major economic burden. These and other real-world developments happen all the time.

However, the My Body My Choice has already been made by the woman. Somewhere soon after her choice, there is a new third party created, that she had consented to.

The issue is no longer My Body My Choice, as that decision was made well prior to that time. The question now is: should the woman stop providing nutrition and protection for this third person, that she had originally contractually consented to provide?

There are several details skipped in this overview, as the important point is to clearly understand the fundamentals involved in the procreation decision.

Four common examples of My Body My Choice 

1. REPRODUCTION: See above.
2. EDUCATION: The brain is arguably the most important part of the body. The Left has specifically targeted the brains of defenseless children — e.g., in 25,000± hours of K-12 class time, they are subjecting them to incessant propaganda. Further, the key message is that they should be conformists (i.e., NOT use their brains!). The Left sees that the parents, the legal guardians, are usually barred from knowing what propaganda is being instilled into their children’s minds.
3. GENDER: Why should an eight-year-old child be put into a position of making a gender choice? They have neither the knowledge nor intellectual maturity to make such a decision. The parents, the legal guardians, are often excluded from this decision process. The Left is promoting this illusionary “choice” — not because it is in the child’s interest, but rather for political, virtue-signaling, reasons.
4. VACCINES: Under the My Body My Choice premise, adults should have the right to say that they do not consent to being injected with an unknown bio-chemical combo that has not had meaningful long-term safety tests. The Left says that if you make such a choice, you will be severely penalized. Watch this fabulous short video.

So, which political party is really advocating for the best interests of your body, and which political party is genuinely defending your right to make an informed choice? Bottom Line —

So after critically thinking about the main issue of each US political party, what are our conclusions?

1. The reality and implications of the immigration issue are understated.
2. The reality and implications of the abortion issue are overstated.
3. The Left is clearly NOT the party protecting our bodies.

This should not be surprising as what we have heard about each of these issues primarily comes from mainstream media, which is: a) very Left, and b) operating under the assumption that there are few critically thinking citizens.

Here are other materials by this scientist that you might find interesting:

I now am offering incentives for you to sign up new subscribers!

I also consider reader submissions on Critical Thinking on my topics of interest.

Check out the Archives of this Critical Thinking substack.

WiseEnergy.org: discusses the Science (or lack thereof) behind our energy options.

C19Science.info: covers the lack of genuine Science behind our COVID-19 policies.

Election-Integrity.info: multiple major reports on the election integrity issue.

Media Balance Newsletter: a free, twice-a-month newsletter that covers what the mainstream media does not do, on issues from COVID to climate, elections to education, renewables to religion, etc. Here are the Newsletter’s 2024 Archives. Please send me an email to get your free copy. When emailing me, please make sure to include your full name and the state where you live. (Of course, you can cancel the Media Balance Newsletter at any time - but why would you?

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How to Really End ESG

Russell Greene September 13, 2024 @AIER, Tags: Daily Economy, Environmentalism, Capitalism, Books

 

Eleanor Roosevelt holds a poster of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Lake Success, NY. 1949. Courtesy FDR Presidential Library & Museum.

ESG investing poses a grave threat to the principles that lifted billions out of poverty. It neither does much good nor performs very well. Therefore, it must end.  

So asserts Ending ESG, a collection of essays edited by Phil Gramm and Terrence Keeley. Gramm, a former Republican senator and economics professor, and Keeley, a former managing director at Blackrock, are well-suited to make the case. The book’s lengthy introduction is co-authored by Gramm and Keeley. It traces the Environmental, Social and Government (ESG) investment movement back to the United Nations. Not to the Kofi Annan era of the late 90s and early 2000s, that is, but all the way back to the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights.  

The authors do not dwell upon this early history, but it is worth briefly unpacking. Eleanor Roosevelt chaired the drafting committee of the UN Declaration. She explained that many of its members “thought that lack of standards for human rights the world over was one of the greatest causes of friction among the nations, and that recognition of human rights might become one of the cornerstones on which peace could eventually be based.” This was a pressing priority in the wake of World War II.

Jacques Maritain, a French Philosopher who provided intellectual inspiration for the document, explained how consensus was achieved: “we agree on these rights provided we are not asked why. With the ‘why’ the dispute begins.” History has since tested the stability of agreeing not to ask why.

Over the next 75 years, the UN’s declaration of rights eventually led to ESG. Inspired by the declaration, the UN launched development goals (eradicating poverty, gender equality, environmental sustainability, etc.). Then, the UN released investment principles based on these goals, to be adopted by major asset managers, banks, public pensions, and regulatory bodies. To the shock of anyone familiar with other UN efforts, the UN’s work on ESG has paid off.  

ESG has been adopted by major institutions over the world, in word if not always in deed. The result is that “the private economy is increasingly being coerced into meeting a growing number of environmental and social goals that Congress never mandated.”  

The cost of such coercion is high. For one, it undermines the legal and ethical basis of economic progress. Whereas the economic Enlightenment was “founded on the principle that people own the fruits of their own labor and thrift,” ESG is a “throwback to the medieval concept of communal property.” Throughout 14 essays, mostly penned by Gramm and/or Keeley, Ending ESG argues against such an ESG-inspired return to medieval economics.

ESG might seem high-minded and noble compared to the hard-nosed alternatives of fiduciary responsibility and shareholder primacy. But appearances are deceiving. When it comes to results, the economic enlightenment enabled 128,000 individuals to escape abject poverty every single day. In contrast, it’s not clear if the ESG movement has accomplished anything of note, other than lowering the popularity of Wall Street and Corporate America among conservatives, contributing to the anti-business turn on the right.

And though the ESG movement claims to care about eradicating poverty and protecting the environment, we should not take these claims too seriously. Keeley cites a research finding that there is “no evidence that socially responsible investment funds improve corporate behavior.” Moreover, it’s difficult to even assess the impact of ESG strategies since “ESG scores among leading rating agencies correlated only 54 percent of the time.”  

The evidence is compelling, but it raises a puzzling question: if ESG does “neither much good nor very well,” why do so many people seem to believe it does both? Where did ESG critics go wrong? Why did it take nearly two decades for ESG to face substantial backlash?  

One problem is that the defenders of fiduciary responsibility failed to provide adequate moral foundations for their view. Keeley cites Milton Friedman’s classic 1970 New York Times piece, “The Social Responsibility of Business is to Increase Its Profits.” There, Friedman argued:

In a free‐enterprise, private‐property system, a corporate executive is an employee of the owners of the business. He has direct responsibility to his employers. That responsibility is to conduct the business in accordance with their desires, which generally will be to make as much money as possible while conforming to the basic rules of the society, both those embodied in law and those embodied in ethical custom.

Friedman, a committed positivist, did not found his concept of social responsibility on a universal ethical standard, other than the need for business executives to defer to shareholder desires. And, in his view, this will usually mean to seek profits while conforming to existing laws and customs. These laws and customs will vary from time to time, and from place to place. And so, apparently, will the social responsibilities of businesses.

In his essay “How Conservatives Can Get ESG Right”, Keeley endorses Friedman’s analysis. Yet it suffers from two major flaws, flaws that also weaken Keeley’s arguments. First, businesses and investors are not just passive recipients of laws and ethical customs. Business leaders are norm-makers, not just norm-takers.  

The most successful business leaders are able to cast a compelling long-term vision, one that includes but goes beyond making money, and to persuade their investors to remain focused on the long-term. That is, business leaders lead their investors, they don’t merely respond to investor preferences. Further, policymakers depend on the counsel of industry to respond to technological innovations, as we are now seeing with artificial intelligence. And business leaders seek to influence both the law and public opinion, such as through lobbying, public relations, media, and publishing their own thoughts.  

This is understandable. To survive, businesses cannot merely conform to the basic rules of society — they must influence them. But how, and in which direction? For example, should they oppose crony subsidies and regulations, which may help their profits, at least in the short term, but undermine economic dynamism and the very legitimacy of their businesses? Friedman’s positivism does not provide much guidance here.  

After all, the ethical customs and laws of a society may grow increasingly hostile to private enterprise. Indeed, they seem to be doing so now. Business leaders cannot be expected to stand by as activists assault the legal and ethical foundations of economic progress, or as government agencies violate their constitutional rights. While Ending ESG recommends that business leaders “keep politics out of the boardroom,” this is no longer an option for major corporations, if it ever was.

Moreover, activist shareholders increasingly are advancing shareholder proposals that are harmful to the long-term interests of the very corporations in which they own shares. This means businesses increasingly have to defend themselves against their own shareholders. Complicating matters further, the nature of business ownership has radically changed since 1970, with the rise of passive index investors and pension-fund activism. It’s no longer safe to assume that major investors will all agree on maximizing the long-term value of a particular firm, especially if that firm is engaged in ESG-unfriendly lines of business. What most investors do, and should, prioritize is very much up for debate.

Keeley claims “there is no practical alternative to shareholder primacy.” But clearly, there is. For one, many American states now have the option of “benefit corporation,” an option that replaces shareholder primacy with responsibilities to an array of stakeholders. And in Europe, the concepts of double materiality and co-determination override any commitment to shareholder primacy.  

Now, it’s true that such stakeholder governance often comes at a cost. On the other hand, stakeholder advocates will claim the cost is worth it, whether to save the planet, or to advance “equity.” It’s incumbent, therefore, upon ESG critics to advocate an alternative vision, not merely to fall in line with convention.

Without casting a bold vision for the future of free enterprise, there is no hope of ending ESG. Keeley himself recommends that “Republicans need a road map that would enable society to get all the good out of ESG without the bad.” He also refers approvingly to “growing numbers of shareowner resolutions seeking lower carbon emissions or increased workforce diversity.” But why defer to the United Nations, of all institutions, as a moral authority? Why grant any moral worth to counterproductive Western divestment from fossil fuels? Why pay even lip service to skin-deep diversity metrics?  

Just as Friedman recommended business leaders “conform” with convention, Keeley accepts ESG’s goals, while challenging its methods on pragmatic grounds. This is not a sustainable division of labor. It makes no sense for capitalists to legitimize the NGOs, global institutions, and academics working to delegitimize capitalism and advance the “religion of humanity.”

In the words of Argentine President Javier Milei,

Milton Friedman used to say that the social role of an entrepreneur is to make money. But that’s not enough. Part of their investment must include investing in those who defend the ideals of freedom, so the socialists can make no further advances. And if they don’t do it, they [the socialists] will get into the State, and use the State to impose a long term agenda that will destroy everything it touches. So we need a commitment from all of those who create wealth, to fight against socialism, to fight against statism, and to understand that if they fail to do so, the socialists will keep coming.

Fortunately, there are reasons for hope. 

Some business leaders are taking a more active role in advocating for the principles of economic enlightenment. In 2023, prominent Silicon Valley investor Marc Andreesen published the Techno-Optimist Manifesto. Andreesen’s manifesto defended free markets and attacked ESG as part of a “mass demoralization campaign.” Tech founder Brendan McCord launched the Cosmos Institute. Cosmos is bringing together philosophers with technologists in an Oxford University seminar, to discuss how technology can promote human flourishing. Elon Musk, of course, been scathingly critical of ESG, calling it a scam. And Liberty Energy CEO Chris Wright releases an annual Bettering Human Lives report that argues for prioritizing the elimination of energy poverty over ESG goals.

Beyond business leaders themselves, the Alliance Defending Freedom recently released a “Statement of Principles on the Purpose of a Corporation.” The statement declares that “the proper purpose of business is to advance human flourishing by creating economic value through excellence in the provision of goods and services.” And the Abundance Institute has been making the case for “long-term tech optimism.”

To be sure, no particular one of these efforts is definitive. Nor, combined, will they be sufficient to defend the “economic enlightenment” against illiberal assaults. Yet if more affirmative visions for free enterprise are paired with reasonable, evidence-based critiques of ESG, such as those offered by Gramm and Keeley, ESG’s days might, indeed, be numbered. 

 

Russell Greene is a Senior Fellow for the Economy at Stand Together Trust, where he manages a grant making portfolio focused on federal regulatory affairs and strategic litigation. Prior, he worked for CrossFit Inc., directing the company’s brand defense and government affairs efforts. He has a BS in International Politics from Georgetown University’s Walsh School of Foreign Service, where he learned both Classical and Modern Standard Arabic. He studies Ancient Greek and Latin in his spare time. Russ has published a number of articles on classical liberalism, ESG and related issues. 

 

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That’s Fine, If That’s What You Believe

By Rob Pue @ Wisconsin Christain News

There are several common attitudes and beliefs about spiritual matters, Christianity and various world religions.  Among the most common are: 

1. Most people don’t really think about God all that much. 
2. They never really consider their eternal destiny, but believe they’ll be fine.
3. They really don’t know much at all about the Bible or what it says, but they make drastic, sweeping assumptions about it.

Perhaps the most important thing to note is that most people today believe spirituality should be an individual, private thing, not something talked about, and certainly no one should seek to “convert” anyone else to their faith.  “It’s whatever you believe,” is a common theme.  This is moral relativism.  “Your truth” may not be “My truth,” and the very idea of “truth” is an ever-changing concept.  What was true a hundred years ago may not be true today.  That may be correct when it comes to our knowledge of science and technology or the cost of living or a myriad of other ever-changing things in our world.

But when it comes to the things of nature and nature’s God, there absolutely are absolute truths, which never change.  They have never changed, and they never will.  Some things in this world are just plain natural and true.

An example of absolute truth is that in all species of animals — and plants — there are two genders: male and female.  It takes both genders to reproduce.  Two females cannot reproduce, nor can two males.  Further, only females can conceive and bear children, but they can’t do it without a male father.  And only mothers are able to breast-feed their babies.

Today’s Leftist Lunatics will try to tell you there are 72 genders and they can’t define what a “woman” is.  Certainly, they can go to great lengths to try to prove “transgenderism” is a real thing — that it’s possible for a male to “transition” to a female.  But the absolute truth is, they can take sterilizing drugs, they can get themselves disfigured through diabolical surgeries and they can play “dress up” all they want, but a male can never be anything other than a male, and despite the purple hair, piercings, tattoos, “butch” haircuts and foul-mouthed vocabularies, a female can never possibly “transition” to be a male.  Such ideas are delusional, the product of depraved minds that choose to believe the lies of Satan, the enemy of our souls.

For centuries, people heard, believed and knew the truth about the one true God of Creation and His Son, Jesus Christ, but today, when approached with the Gospel message, people will say, “That’s fine if that’s what you believe, but don’t try to tell me about it.”  When pressed, most people seem to conclude that all the religions of the world ultimately lead to the same god, like spokes of a wheel leading to a center point. So, if you believe in buddah, or allah or Jesus Christ, that is your option, all these are equally valid, and all ultimately lead to the center, to God. 

If this is your belief, then it’s terribly “intolerant” for someone to say that there’s only one way to God, and we can’t all just “co-exist” because all the other symbols on that bumper sticker are paying homage to false gods and doctrines of demons. Yes, to our limited human understanding, it would certainly make sense that all the peoples of the world seek God in their own way, following their own traditions; all the peoples of the world believe in a god, and as long as you believe it and follow your religion to the best of your ability, and live a good life and try your best to be a “good person,” you will ultimately find God, because there are as many paths to Him as there are people in the world. 

This way of thinking makes perfect sense — to imperfect, ignorant and self-centered human beings, many of whom believe they themselves are “god.”  At the same time, the truth of the Gospel is often considered nonsense to these same people, who by the way, are perishing by their refusal to open their minds to the truth we’ve so graciously been given. 

These are just regular, ordinary everyday people from all over the world. Wherever you go, the attitude seems to be the same:

1. There are many paths to God. 
2. Follow your path, (your religion), to the best of your ability and you’ll get to heaven in the end. 
3. Whatever you believe is fine — as long as you’re a good person, God will understand, forgive you of any wrongdoing and welcome you to heaven. 
4. Don’t try to tell me what you believe. That’s fine if that’s what you believe, but don’t try to make me believe. 

So, following this logic, believing something, then, makes it true? As long as you believe it, it’s true?  That’s really what they’re saying!   Ok, let’s see if that theory holds true anywhere in the world...

Let me provide an example. If I had jokingly told my kids when they were small, “Guess what! Today I ordered us an in-ground heated swimming pool. They’ll be coming to start work on it next week!” — as young children, they might have believed me.

“Really?! Wow, Dad, is it a big one? When will it be done?” Not knowing any better, they would hardly be able to contain their excitement. They could see themselves jumping in right then. My wife, on the other hand, would know I was only joking. Imagine.  The kids believed it. My wife did not. So, because my kids believed it, does that mean that for them, there’s a brand new, in-ground heated swimming pool in our backyard for them to play in, and because my wife didn’t believe me, for her there is no pool?

“That’s a ridiculous example,” you say. Really? But the kids believed it. They should have a pool, because whatever you believe is fine, as long as you’re a good person, you will get what you believe. Well, bottom line is, we always had lots of grass in our backyard, but there was never a pool. Sorry kids.

Let me give you another example...many years ago, I changed my cell phone number. I tried to inform as many people as I could that the number had changed, but there were still a lot of people who believed my old number was still my number. These folks tried to call me but got someone else. Why would that happen? They believed they had the right number. They even dialed it twice to be sure. Why didn’t they get ahold of me?

The keys on a keyboard are laid out in a particular pattern, one that we learn and memorize when we learned to type.  As long as we begin typing a letter, article or message with our fingers in the proper place on “home row,” what we type will make sense.  But if we deviate by moving our fingers over by just one key, we can type away forever, but all we’ll end up with is gibberish.

Likewise, if I go to play my guitar and place my fingers on the fretboard in such a way as to form a proper chord, what I attempt to play will sound right.  But if just one finger is in the wrong position, on the wrong fret or the wrong string, everyone will immediately know there is such a thing as absolute truth — and the absolute opposite.

You see, folks, it doesn’t matter what you believe if it isn’t true. If you believe something that isn’t true, then it isn’t true regardless of how much belief you may have. Some have said, “It’s not what you believe, but Who you believe.”

Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life. NO ONE comes to the Father, but by Me.” (John 14:6). That may sound intolerant, but in fact, it is just simply true.

Satan is our enemy. He plots day and night against us. The last thing he wants is for us to know the truth. Unlike my joke about a swimming pool or making a mistake with a phone number, a keyboard or a guitar, Satan’s lies are designed to be deadly.

Many can see the folly of following the violent religion of Islam, yet many more believe it. We can look back to 1997 and remember in sadness and amazement at the “Heaven’s Gate” cult. Most people realize it was ridiculous to think a spaceship was cloaked in the tail of the Hale-Bopp comet, yet 39 people believed it so strongly, they committed suicide to meet that spaceship. We remember in horror the sickening images in the news in 1978 when 900 people believed so strongly in Pastor Jim Jones that they followed him to their deaths in the jungles of Guyana.

Remember. Remember these things before you have the attitude of, “That’s fine if that’s what you believe.” It’s not fine. Believing lies can kill you.  And believe it or not, some people knowingly choose to believe lies.  2 Thessalonians 2, “...and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false,  in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”

Satan is the father of lies. Perhaps one of his biggest is the lie that says we’re more compassionate if we’re more tolerant of other views, even if they’re in error. In reality, we’re not more compassionate, just more cowardly. It takes courage to share your faith. More courage than many people can muster. In our desire to not offend anyone, many Christians stand idly by as our friends and loved ones and acquaintances go happily through life, ignoring God and believing all is well. 

Parents often think it’s more “loving” to be non-judgmental, accepting and affirming when their children fall victim to the “woke mind virus” and  declare they’re now “homosexual” or “transgender.”  Or when they turn away from God and accept some weird “new age” form of false spirituality.  But Jesus said, “No one comes to the Father but by Me.”  We could have told them the truth in love, but instead, we wanted them to like us.  It was more “tolerant” and “affirming” to let them believe whatever they believed and so many “love” them straight to hell.

But with so many religions in the world, how do we know that Christianity is the one true way to God? We need more than a trite, “God said it, I believe it, that settles it” answer. Getting back to a point I made earlier, many people make broad sweeping assumptions about what the Bible says without ever reading it. 

These assumptions may come from vague childhood memories of a Sunday School class, things they inferred from Christians they’ve known in the past, ideas presented in a movie somewhere, or any number of other experiences that together formed their view of Christianity. But they’ve never really opened the Bible to read God’s Words for themselves.

This is dangerous. Because without a solid Bible education, you develop a worldview based on assumptions, with no real facts. It’s a foundation for life built on ignorance. In such a case, it’s easy to be deceived. And this deception has eternal consequences. In our modern world, it’s even easier to take the broad, easy path of not bothering to find out the truth, not even caring about spiritual, eternal things. And today, even if you go to church, you can’t rely on that alone for your Christian education. There are many deceivers, many compromisers — and Satan’s lies have infiltrated most modern American churches now.

The only way to discover the truth is to read and study the Bible for yourself. Don’t take anyone’s word for anything. And don’t assume you know the Bible if you’ve never — or rarely — opened one. There are many good resources available to aid your study and help strengthen your walk with the Lord, but there is no substitute for the Book He wrote Himself — and no other place to begin. 

Many who consider themselves “spiritual” will revere “ancient” books of wisdom of all kinds, yet despise and dismiss the most ancient of Books, the most reliable of Books, the most sacred and Holy of Books, with the most truth of any Book ever written.  Open God’s Word. Study it. It’s the history of the world, it’s the future of all life, and it contains the key to the Kingdom of God.  In this world of deception and lies, it’s the one thing we really can believe.

© 2024 Rob Pue, WISCONSIN CHRISTIAN NEWS, 225780 Rib Mountain Dr. # 229 • Wausau, WI  54401 (715) 486-8066, www.WisconsinChristianNews.com