Category: Family

Center For Arizona Policy Says Governor’s Veto Disregards Parents’ Rights

On By AZ ConservativeIn Arizona, Children, Culture, Family, Freedom, Governor, LegislatureLeave a comment

A Statement from Center for Arizona Policy President, Cathi Herrod, Esq.

Governor Ducey today sent a clear and deeply disappointing message to parents: The government knows better.

After 31 House Republican and 16 Senate Republican, pro-family lawmakers stood in the face of opposition for the rights of parents to guide the education and upbringing of their own children, Governor Ducey vetoed SB 1456.

SB 1456, sponsored by Senator Nancy Barto, would have ensured parents are given ample access, and time, to review sex education curriculum before deciding whether to opt-in their child. It also would have prohibited sex education through the fourth grade.

It did not prohibit or dictate any curriculum in grades 5-12; it merely would have ensured parents opt their children into instruction on human sexuality.

Parents have the fundamental right and responsibility to raise their children. Exactly what they are taught regarding human sexuality, and when, is up to parents, not the government.

In his veto letter, Governor Ducey expressed concern about child abuse prevention education. Abuse prevention is not sex education and would not have been blocked by any provision in SB 1456. Unfortunately, to my knowledge, this concern was not brought to the attention of lawmakers by the executive branch prior to the veto.

Our team will review Governor Ducey’s veto letter and his Executive Order on parents’ rights. An executive order is not the same as a duly enacted law. Further, at a minimum, the Executive Order fails to implement the prohibition of sex education prior to fifth grade.

Make no mistake, the need to advocate for the parents’ ability to guide the education of their children, especially with regard to matters of human sexuality, will continue to be a key priority for us, and the many Arizonans who supported SB 1456.Get Involved

Governor Ducey Issues Executive Order Mandating Transparency In Sex Education

On By AZ ConservativeIn Arizona, Children, Culture, Education, Faith & Freedom, Family, GovernorLeave a comment

PHOENIX — Governor Doug Ducey today issued an Executive Order that requires all sex education curriculum to be posted online for parents to review, without exception. This Executive Order includes more aggressive transparency requirements than Senate Bill 1456, which was vetoed by the Governor. Under that bill, posting sex education materials online would have been optional.

Arizona already has among the most pro-parental choice laws in the country around sex education. The state is one of only five across the nation that requires a parental “opt-in” on sex education, rather than “opt-out,” no matter what grade in which their child is enrolled. With this added transparency, parents can now make a more informed decisions, and school districts will be held accountable for inappropriate curriculum.

The order requires the State Board of Education to adopt the following requirements by June 30, 2021:

  • All meetings held for the purposes of reviewing and selecting the sex education course of study must be publicly noticed at least two weeks before occurring and be open to the public.
  • Any proposed sex education course of study must be available and accessible for review and public comment for at least sixty days before the governing board or governing body decides whether to approve that course of study.
  • At least two public hearings within the sixty-day period before the governing board or governing body approves any course of study must be conducted. 
  • Once a course of study has been approved, a school district or charter school shall make the sex education curricula available for parental review, both online and in-person at least two weeks before any instruction is offered. 
  • Any existing sex education course of study must be made available and accessible for review both online and in person.

“Arizona is and will remain a national leader in parental rights,” the Governor said upon issuing the Executive Order. “Too often, parents are left out of this process, and the importance is even greater when it comes to educating students about deeply personal matters like sex education. This Executive Order ensures that parents are in the driver’s seat when it comes to overseeing the education of their children.”

Concurrent to the issuance of the Executive Order, the Governor vetoed Senate Bill 1456. He called the legislation overly broad and vague, which could lead to unintended consequences, including concerns it could put vulnerable children at risk by limiting discussion around sexual abuse prevention. 

The parental rights and transparency measures included in the bill are upheld and even go further in the Governor’s Executive Order by requiring that all material be posted online and available for review. 

View the Executive Order HERE. 

View the Governor’s veto letter HERE.

FRC: Trans Debate Hits Too Close to Noem

On By AZ ConservativeIn America, Culture, Faith & Freedom, Family, Homosexal Agenda, Immorality, Religious Liberty, The LeftLeave a comment

There are defining moments in every political career — decisions that have the power to rewrite a person’s future. They can take a no-name conservative to celebrity status, or send a rising star cratering back to earth. Everyone with big dreams stands at those crossroads eventually — and for Kristi Noem (R-S.D.), that time is now. The popular governor, who made a name for herself bucking COVID restrictions, has had her eye on bigger things in the Republican Party for a long time. But if she fails this test — if she can’t find the courage to stand up to the Left — that’s all she’ll be remembered for.

For Noem, protecting girls’ sports isn’t a heavy lift. The one-time athlete and mom of three doesn’t need to look far to find enormous support for the battle her state is waging. Thanks to Joe Biden, who started a gender war on day one, bills like the one South Dakota is considering have caught fire — fanning out across almost 30 states and becoming law in two. Across gender, party, and generational lines, Americans have come out in force, demanding an end to the transgender agenda that’s destroying girls’ competition. In a state that Donald Trump won by 26 points, the idea of keeping biological boys off the girls’ teams isn’t radical — it’s practical.

Noem herself seemed to be on board with the idea at first, tweeting that she was “excited to sign this bill very soon.” Two weeks later, after meetings with the Left’s top critics, the Chamber of Commerce, and Amazon, the governor suddenly changed her mind. On Friday afternoon, to the astonishment of everyone, she announced that she was vetoing HB 1217 — caving to the mob in spectacular fashion. She tried to tamp down the outrage by scheduling a Monday press conference. Damage control, people assumed. But the damage was a lot more than she counted on.

Over at Alliance Defending Freedom, Kristen Waggoner was speechless. “Governor Noem had an opportunity to protect women and girls… but instead she pandered to the demands of special interests… We are shocked that a governor who claims to be a firebrand conservative with a rising national profile would cave to ‘woke’ corporate ideology.” Others, like American Principles Project Terry Schilling, made it clear that Noem had just thrown away her chances for a spot on the big stage. “If you can’t stand up to the Chamber of Commerce, how will you stand up to China?” he wanted to know. Matt Walsh was equally frustrated. “Republicans who don’t stand up to the Left’s gender madness are useless. This is a hard line issue. No capitulating. No compromise. Our side is 100 percent right. The other side is 100 percent wrong. They should get no concession and no consideration.”

Unfortunately, not everyone was surprised by the governor’s cowardice. Groups like FRC and Republicans on the ground were already well acquainted with Noem’s bad track record on transgenderism. Most people never knew it, but Kristi Noem was responsible for killing a much better bill that would have protected kids in February of last year. Right before the virus exploded, South Dakota was on the verge of becoming the first state in the country to put an age limit — 16 — on gender reassignment surgery and cross-sex hormones. Very quietly, after the legislation passed the House, Noem started working behind the scenes to kill it. Publicly, she said she was “concerned” about the idea. Privately, Republicans in both chambers told us, her message was much stronger: make it disappear. If she couldn’t be bothered to stand with parents then, it was probably foolish to think she’d start now.

And unfortunately, what Noem has done by bowing to the phony power of the NCAA and the corporate Left has implications for a lot more than her career. In this morning’s media event, the governor did tremendous damage to the entire effort by suggesting this debate over girls’ sports can be solved with a meaningless Title IX pep rally. As far as she’s concerned, all conservatives need to do is hold hands, sign a petition, and hope this whole thing blows over. “Once we have enough states on board, a coalition big enough where the NCAA cannot possibly punish us all, then we can guarantee fairness at the collegiate level,” Noem said Monday. That’s not a serious strategy, and she knows it. That’s a full-blown, white-flag surrender. It’s political theater, Waggoner fired back. “Empty words.” The only thing that will stop this lunacy is for states to pass laws — and, if necessary, fight for those laws in court.

In a desperate attempt to justify her decision, Noem resorted to the Left’s talking points, claiming that South Dakota “would face retaliation” if they passed the bill, “and that would be a cost to taxpayers.” It’s the same tired argument we’ve heard from the other side for years. If the NCAA pitches a fit and pulls their tournaments from her state, so be it. If Amazon decides to take its 1,000 jobs away from Sioux Falls, then you know what? That’s a small price to pay for a generation of women’s scholarships and opportunity.

North Carolina’s Republicans did a much harder thing by passing a privacy bill five years ago, and they were fed the same baloney about financial ruin, boycotts, and the collapse of their collegiate sports. As usual, none of the Left’s prophecies of doom ever materialized. In fact, North Carolina went on to top Forbes’s Best States for Business List three years running! Job growth, gross state product growth, hospitality were among the strongest — if not the strongest — in the entire country in 2017, 2018, and 2019. Even the state’s population grew twice as fast as the U.S. average. North Carolina didn’t just weather that storm, they thrived.

Someone once asked then-Lt. Governor Dan Forest what he would tell other states who were on the corporate hot seat over social policies. His advice? “Don’t be bullied. When these fights come to you, you need to stand up and fight.” South Dakota’s daughters deserve a fighter and a leader. So far, in Noem, they have neither.

Arizona Leftists Trash Religious Liberty

On By AZ ConservativeIn Arizona, Children, Constitution, Culture, Democrats, Faith & Freedom, Family, Legislature, Religious Freedom, Socialism, The LeftLeave a comment

By Cathi Herrod, President, Center for Arizona Policy

One of the most foundational aspects of being American is the freedom to exercise your religious beliefs, to worship who and how you choose. It is to live and work according to your faith, free from being forced to choose between your faith and your livelihood.

Our Founding Fathers fled religious persecution and experienced the heavy hand of governmental coercion in the most sacred area of life. Because of that, they enshrined into the U.S. Constitution an American’s right to, not only believe, but to exercise those beliefs. Further, they protected us from the government establishing a particular religion or belief.

Nearly 230 years after those protections were knit into the fabric of our country through the Bill of Rights, opponents are doing their best to unravel them. Daily, I witness in America a new level of hostility toward people of faith.

Two recent examples played out at the Capitol this week.  

1) HB 2648 clarifies that houses of worship and religious organizations are essential, and should be treated as other essential businesses, especially during a public crisis like the pandemic.

Here is a sample of the responses from those opposed:

“HB 2648 is a radical piece of legislation that would let religious organizations off the hook for almost any violation of any law at any time. Under HB 2648, religious organizations could claim immunity from criminal prosecution for the abuse of children that occurs in connection with religious activities or rituals. It could also result in a patient losing the right to sue a religious hospital for medically negligent or reckless care that was provided based on the hospital’s religious beliefs. HB 2648 would also allow corporations that claim a religious purpose to evade important worker protection, not comply with non- discrimination laws, deny their employees’ critical healthcare, and evade important civil and criminal laws that protect the public from fraud, abuse, and discrimination.” -Arizona ACLU

“HB2648 gives extreme legal immunity to religious groups … This “Trojan horse” bill supposedly protects religious institutions from discrimination. But … the bill’s wild definition of “discrimination” and excessively broad language create loopholes in which religious entities can ignore any law they don’t like. And it gives them the power to sue you if you try to seek justice.” – Secular Coalition of Arizona

“The bill allows organizations under the guise of religion, to abuse children and deny abuse victims their day in court.”-Senator Martin Quezada

“Some religions justify beating women, or marrying multiple wives, or marrying elderly men to children… or allow prostitution, or the surgical removal of body parts.” – Dianne Post, The National Organization of Women (NOW)

“Stop Christian nationalism! Our first freedom is not religious liberty. It’s freedom of not having tyrants legislate religious supremacy, making slaves of the sovereign people, who cannot debate God’s law and plan.” – Request To Speak (RTS) entry

I assure you, HB 2648 allows for none of this. It safeguards conduct protected by the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment. It doesn’t give religious organizations immunity from harming someone any more than the Free Exercise Clause does. Everyone must comply with state laws, even when they are exercising their religion – as long as the law applies to everyone, generally, and does not target religion. This bill simply codifies into state law recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings to ensure Arizona houses of worship are not discriminated against or treated differently than other businesses and organizations during a state of emergency.

Senator J.D. Mesnard called out the hyperbole during a committee hearing, saying,

“It doesn’t allow all these “host of horribles” that [churches] can just do whatever … I guess you can go out and commit mass murder on the basis of religious belief and they’re going to suggest that that is protected? That’s ludicrous.”

HB 2648 did pass out of the Senate Government Committee with a 5-3 vote.

2) HB 2575 allows clergy to visit dying patients in the hospital, even during a health crisis like the pandemic.

Here is a sample of the responses from those opposed:

“It privileges religious people over non-religious people, and excludes atheists.” – Tory Roberg, Secular Coalition of Arizona

“It echoes language used to justify discrimination against LGBTQ+ people & other protected groups under the guise of religious liberty! OPPOSE!” – RTS entry

“Discrimination disguised as religious liberty should not continue.” – RTS entry

“Don’t give clergy privileges during a pandemic. Gods do not protect people from contagion.” – RTS entry

Again, I can assure you, the retorts are completely unfounded, even aimless. This bill has nothing to do with sexual orientation or gender identity. Still, that seems to be the battle cry for every issue supporting religious freedom.

HB 2575 did pass out of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee with a 5-2 vote.

The hostile response to simple bills that protect basic religious exercise should awaken us to the real dangers of losing what we hold dear. A recent op-ed speaks with disgust about those of faith, and calls our friends at Alliance Defending Freedom, “Christian Nationalists.”

We see it, too, on a national level, in the Equality Act, in President Biden’s Executive Order redefining human sexuality, and so much more. But lately, as evidenced above, the hostility to religion is no longer couched in covert rhetoric. It’s overt, unapologetic, and aimed at gutting the centuries old foundation of the free exercise of religion.

But we won’t make it easy for them. Standing in defense of our cherished First Amendment freedoms is a top priority at CAP. Both bills move on, and we will keep you posted on their progress. You can follow all CAP-supported bills on our BILL TRACKER.

In honor of religious freedom, we chose to release part one of a two-part series podcast discussing how bringing together the shepherds of the church and the shepherds of the government can change lives and communities. Click on the picture below to listen:

Leftist Insanity: AZ Ed Dept. Prepares ‘Equity Toolkit’ To Combat Infant Racism!

On By AZ ConservativeIn America, Arizona, Big Government, Children, Corruption, Democrats, Depravity, Education, Family, Socialism, The LeftLeave a comment

You cannot make this stuff up!

The Arizona Department of Education reportedly created an “equity toolkit” that includes an infographic that shows how racism develops in children as young as three-months old, and recommended readings that suggest that white people are “ignorant, color-blind, and racist,” Discovery Institute scholar Christopher Rufo reported.

The toolkit shows a spectrum of children from birth to ages over six, with the title “They’re not too young to talk about race!” It cites a study that shows at birth, “babies look equally at faces of all races. At 3 months, babies look more at faces that match the race of their caregivers.” 

SCOOP: The Arizona Department of Education has created an “equity” toolkit claiming that babies show the first signs of racism at three months old and that white children “remain strongly biased in favor of whiteness” by age five.

Let’s review the resources in the toolkit. ???? pic.twitter.com/g4Sk6X0VuO

— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) March 2, 2021

By 30 months old, children use race to choose playmates, and at ages 4 and 5, “expressions of racial prejudice often peak.” 

“By five, Black and Latinx children in research settings show no preference toward their own groups compared to Whites; White children at this age remain strongly biased in favor of whiteness,” the graphic says, citing a 2008 study. 

The document encourages adults to talk to children about race instead of letting children “draw their own conclusions based on what they see.” 

Specifically, white parents are urged to address “anti-racism” with their children before they can even speak, or their children will learn racism “from the world around them,” a document entitled “How White Parents Can Talk To Their Kids About Race” explains. Parents are encouraged to demonstrate “anti-racist” attitudes with children within months of their birth.

The Department of Education recommends a reading that claims babies are not “colorblind” and that parents must instill “antiracist attitudes and actions” beginning at birth, in order for their children to not “absorb bias from the world around them.” pic.twitter.com/6WsfMTKJMx

— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) March 2, 2021

Another recommended reading, entitled “What White Children Need to Know About Race,” says white students can “change racism” by “seeing themselves in a larger radicalized context” that precludes them from experiencing disadvantages that people of color face, Rufo reported.

Another recommended reading claims that “all white people are white in the context of a society that continues to disadvantage people of color based on race.” The document teaches schools how to “change what it means to be white” and inculcate an “antiracist white identity.” pic.twitter.com/7Whc717K5q

— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) March 2, 2021

The document also cites a book by Beverly Daniel Tatum that says there are “only three ways to be white: ignorant, color-blind, and racist.” Because these options may prevent people from wanting to identify as white, there need to be an “antiracist white identity.”

An additional recommended reading claims that white people use terms like “the race card, black-on-black crime, reverse racism, and colorblindness” to “alleviate some of their white fragility.”

“These are made-up terms that some white people use to feel better about themselves,” the article, entitled “You Can Have A Black Friend, Partner, Or Child And Still Be Racist,” says.

The Department provides additional resources for “families & community,” telling white parents that they “can have a black friend, partner, or child and still be racist.” The article claims that white people deny their own racism to “alleviate some of their white fragility.” pic.twitter.com/eCa6SSXx3x

— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) March 2, 2021

The article claims that relations with colored people do not “give you a one-way ticket out of Racism Town” and that unless white people are changing their racist behaviors, they are proving that “white people cannot stand not to be at the center of every single conversation, policy, and action.”

The Arizona Department of Education did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication.

Numerous public schools across the country have reportedly offered trainings with similar “antiracist” messaging, often requiring students or teachers to participate, Rufo has previously reported.

In February, whistleblower documents revealed Buffalo Public Schools in New York reportedly required its kindergarten students to participate in a lesson on “racist police and state-sanctioned violence” which involved showing images of black children who have died.

In the district’s middle school, students are reportedly taught that “all white people play a part in perpetuating systemic racism” and “white elites” play an outsized role in perpetuating racism, making them especially important to hold accountable.

At R.I. Meyerholz Elementary School, part of the Cupertino Union School District in San Jose, Calif., third-grade students were reportedly told to deconstruct their racial and sexual identities in order to understand “power and privilege.” At Cherokee Middle School, which is part of the Springfield Public Schools in Missouri, teachers were told to identify themselves on an “oppression spectrum,” and then watched a video of “George Floyd’s last words.”

Vote NO On Proposition 208

On By AZ ConservativeIn Arizona, Children, Culture, Democrats, Education, Elections, Family, Taxpayers, The LeftLeave a comment

Legislative Council reports that Proposition 208 will impose a 3.5 percent surcharge on taxable income over $250,000 for a single person or a married person filing jointly, on anyone earning $500,000 as a married couple or single person who is the head of a household. This will be added to the current 4.5 percent tax rate to come up with an 8 percent tax rate. Fifty percent of the tax revenue generated would go to education for youths and classroom support personnel hiring and base salary increases, 25 percent goes to education grants, 10 percent to grants for mentoring and retaining new classroom teachers and 12 percent to train high school students for career training. Also, an Arizona Teachers Academy would get 3 percent to incentivize college students to commit to teaching school in Arizona.

Among the risks of voters passing Prop 208 are these:

  • It would be the largest permanent tax increase in Arizona history and move the state up to fifth nationally for highest tax rate;
  • It would unfairly punish small businesses;
  • It will not inject additional funds into Arizona classrooms’
  • There will be no accountability;
  • There will be no education reform;
  • It will reverse the state’s economic progress and will not help K-12 education in the long run;
  • It is largely funded by out-of-state interest groups;
  • It doubles the income tax on tens of thousands of Arizona families;
  • It is opposed by the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and the Arizona Manufacturers Council;
  • It does not provide funding for colleges and community colleges;
  • The revenues generated will go almost entirely to salaries;
  • Education funding should be shared by all Arizonans, not unfairly on only some citizens who are being punished for job and wealth creation;
  • 208 is favored by the radical National Education Association, which is more concerned about politics than educating our children;
  • It is an ill-advised and poorly written proposition full of loop-holes on the money will be handled;
  • It makes future pay raises for teachers unlikely;
  • It will discourage economic growth in Arizona;
  • It is neither sustainable nor a wise path for Arizona. Imposing an uncompetitive personal income tax on higher wage-earners and hamper the innovative spirit of the state’s economic dynamism and hurt Arizona’s potential for attracting employers and job creators, who will simply take their business to states with a more friendly business climate. In other words, Prop 208 will make Arizona more like Califronia–a state losing businesses due to excessive taxes.

 

The Slow Burn of America

On By AZ ConservativeIn America, Family, Lawelssness, The LeftLeave a comment

By Tony Perkins

When the mobs picked up guns and baseball bats and headed back into the streets last night, it was no longer about George Floyd. The chaos that’s erupting at dark has stopped telling his story — and started telling ours as a lost and desperate country. “It’s okay to be angry,” George’s brother said. But the man in whose name policemen are being shot, cities are being burned, and businesses are being destroyed would have never wanted this. He was “about peace.” And if the rioters cared about justice, they would be too.

But as dawn broke, even more cities had been brought to their knees by raging crowds that left officers in critical condition and communities beyond ruin. Despite curfews, low-flying military helicopters, and the deployment of the National Guard, hordes of crowds bent on violence hurled whatever they could find — rocks, fireworks, bricks — at teams in riot gear, torching cars and buildings along the way. As President Trump said earlier in the day, “These are not acts of peaceful protest. These are acts of domestic terror. The destruction of innocent life and the spilling of innocent blood is an offense to humanity and a crime against God.”

Like most Americans, the Floyd family has looked on with horror. “If his own family and blood are trying to deal with it and be positive about it, and go another route to seek justice,” Terrance Floyd insisted on ABC, “then why are you out here tearing up your community?” Floyd’s girlfriend also tried, emotionally telling them that “Waking up this morning to see Minneapolis on fire would be something that would devastate [him]. He loved the city.” Even Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s daughter, Bernice, tried to break through the madness. Peaceful protests “did not fail my father.” And, President Trump insisted, they will not fail us now.

“America is founded upon the rule of law,” he reminded the country. “It is the foundation of our prosperity, our freedom, and our very way of life. But where there is no law, there is no opportunity. Where there is no justice, there is no liberty. Where there is no safety, there is no future. We must never give in to anger or hatred. If malice or violence reigns, then none of us is free.” If state leaders refuse to realize that and act, he will. “If a city or a state refuses to take the actions that are necessary to defend the life and property of their residents, then I will deploy the United States military and quickly solve the problem for them.”

To the anarchists, arsonists, looters, criminals, rioters, Antifa, and others, the message was simple: America won’t tolerate more. It’s time, former Cincinnati mayor Ken Blackwell said, “for local leaders to harness peoples’ grief and anger and channel it in a constructive direction.” Mayors, he insisted, “are the ones whose leadership matters the most right now… If they sit on the sidelines or if they fiddle [in fear] while their cities burn, they create a context where this sort of lawlessness is this accepted. And if you cower to lawlessness or you turn a blind eye… what you’re going to get is more of it.” And that, he warned, will rip apart the fabric of the community. In the end, Ken promised, that “will do more harm to [America] than COVID-19.”

Unfortunately, Americans have already seen what comes from a wasteland of leadership in places like Minneapolis, where Mayor Jacob Frey (D) stepped back and fueled the lawlessness by refusing to contain it. And quite frankly, he bears a lot of the responsibility for what’s spreading across the nation. He put his hands up and turned his city over to the agitators — giving leaders in other communities the license and excuse to do the same. Now look at the mess America’s in. Our law enforcers are literally engaged in hand-to-hand combat on U.S. streets. “What he did,” Ken agreed, “was actually tantamount to a dog whistle to terrorists and lawless thugs to terrorize his city.”

President Trump is taking the issue seriously, because he understands, as Ken said, “Those of us in positions of authority or influence have a duty to restore and unite for justice. Chaos and mindless destruction will destroy our communities.”

And for change to ever take root, there are deeper problems at work in this country that have to be addressed. Mob violence and police brutality spring from the same fountain: moral bankruptcy. As I explain in the Washington Times, the abuse of power, disregard for human life, and uncontrolled rage were witnessing in cities across our country, all flow from a society that is rapidly losing a sense of right and wrong, of transcendent truth. If there is an upside to this, it might be that in the quiet of our hearts, we’ll finally realize that goodness, truth, and beauty only comes from God. He’s the One who delivers hope — and in the midst of this crisis — the One who delivers healing.

For more, check out Ken Blackwell’s Fox News column on what this former mayor would do in a nationwide wake-up call like this one.

Mob violence and police brutality result from a morally bankrupt America

On By AZ ConservativeIn America, Depravity, Family, Lawelssness, The LeftLeave a comment

By Tony Perkins – – Monday, June 1, 2020

ANALYSIS/OPINION:

Police brutality and mob violence spring from the same fountain.

The disturbing video of a veteran police officer kneeling on the neck of a subdued suspect and, thereafter, the spreading wave of violence and looting in the name of George Floyd are painful. Yet these things are not surprising.

As one who served as a police officer for over a decade on the street, I would say that if the department approved of the tactic of kneeling on the neck of a man who was handcuffed and on the ground, there are bigger problems in Minneapolis than Derek Chauvin. The failure of the other officers to intervene would suggest this type of brutality is pervasive. That is not to say that there are a lot of bad cops in Minneapolis, it just says they have an administration that tolerates the abuse of power.

The abuse of power, disregard for human life, and the wanton destruction and uncontrolled rage we are witnessing in cities across our country, all flow from a society that is rapidly losing a sense of right and wrong, of transcendent truth. This truth deficit means justice will not be equal because it is determined by the position you hold or the zip code in which you reside.

This loss of a moral consensus is not a new development; what’s happened is that it has reached a crisis point. The foundation of America’s shared morality has been under steady assault for over half a century. Leftists will convulse with disdain and rage at this assertion, but let the mockers mock.

For over 50 years, we’ve systematically removed God from public life, the belief that He holds all people accountable for their actions, and that He has the authority to do so because He is the Creator. He made us and the laws that govern creation. He gave us those laws not to crush our freedom but to place it within wise boundaries.

Freedom does not mean the right to do whatever one wants. It means that we have the power to choose a good path, one with guiderails that lead and protect us. When we tear those guiderails down, chaos ensues. The kind of chaos we’re now seeing, as legitimate protest turns not only to the destruction of businesses and other private property but to the endangerment of human life itself and the wounding of our nation’s soul.

How have we come to a place where human lives are treated with the kind of contempt we saw when a man crying, “I can’t breathe!” was held down for eight minutes? Or when the potential for violence outside the White House became so great that the president of the United States was taken by the Secret Service to a protected location? Could there be a connection between the banishment of God, along with His truth from our schools and the broader culture and the steady devaluing of human life?

In the march to push God from our corporate conscience, we’ve left behind the understanding that life has value not because of what it produces or where it resides, but because of Him in Whose image it was created. Only if we recognize the reality of a God Who is present in human experience and calls us not only to standards of behavior but of heart attitudes and convictions, can we keep from descending into armed enclaves of resentment and fear.

Yet we now mock the idea that a personal Creator is the Author of not only of our rights but our essential dignity, turning the core beliefs of our Founders on their heads. Instead of self-evident truths, we now claim there is no truth except whatever is desired by each individual according to his or her preferences, preferences that can change by the moment.

As a result, episodes of police brutality and burning of cities should come as no surprise; when you sow the wind, you reap the whirlwind. As C.S. Lewis wrote, “We make men without chests and expect from them virtue and enterprise. We laugh at honor and are shocked to find traitors in our midst.”

If there is an upside to any of this, it might be that in the quiet of our hearts we will see that our cultural bankruptcy must be replaced by the richness of the goodness, truth, and beauty of the God Who offers life and hope. It’s my prayer that during this time of growing crises in health, safety, racial discord, and social erosion, millions of us will turn to the One Who alone can bring the healing America urgently needs.

• Tony Perkins is president of the Washington, D.C.-based Family Research Council.

The Reign of America’s Most Corrupt President Comes to an End

On By AZ ConservativeIn America, Big Government, Constitution, Corruption, Culture, Democrats, Depravity, Economy, Education, Elections, Faith & Freedom, Family, Forward, Illegal Aliens, Immorality, Life, Marriage, Obama, Planned Parenthood, Sheriff Arpaio, Socialism, Taxpayers, The LeftLeave a comment

A list of Obama’s Scandals

Abuse of power — using the IRS to punish political opponents

Abuse of power — using the Department of Justice to protect wrongdoing by his administration

Fiscal malfeasance — adding $8 trillion to the national debt

Performance malfeasance — playing golf on average every nine days, exorbitant mis-use of public funds by exceeding vacation allowance all eight years in office

Clunker presidency — he used your tax dollars to attempt to take old inefficient cars off the roads, but the term “clunker presidency” describes his incompetence in eight years as president

Dishonesty — lying and deceit are the hallmarks of his failed presidency

Obamacare — you could not keep your doctor, your premiums rose substantially, your premiums did not guarantee that you actually received medical treatment

Enemy of the people — the Obama State Department was an enemy of the people at the United Nations, where it opposed the sanctity of human life, marriage and religious freedom

Campaign finance violations — Obama, like Clinton before him, accepted illegal foreign contributions for his election campaigns

Billions of taxpayer dollars gambled on “green” companies like Solyndra, NextEra, Ener1, Solar Trust and many others — all of which went bankrupt.

An intentional refusal to enforce federal immigration laws.

Destruction of the economy — bad business policies discouraged 14 million Americans from participating in the work force; the number of Americans out of the work force under Obama increased an astounding 17.5 percent, to 94 million; Obama threatened to close down businesses and private charities for refusing to provide health insurance coverage of abortion-inducing drugs

Stimulus — Obama gave billions of your tax dollars to union friends who in turned gave it back to him in the form of campaign contributions

Food stamp America — 15 percent of Americans are now on food stamps, an unprecedented figure

Weakened the U.S. military and damaged morale by threatening dishonorable discharges for chaplains and service personnel who wanted to exercise their First Amendment religious freedom

Weakened the military by interjecting the radical homosexual agenda onto the armed forces

Operation Fast and Furious — supplied guns to Mexican drug cartels who in turn used these weapons to kill an American border patrolman

Drugs — Obama’s open border allowed illegal drugs into the United States, damaging the lives of Americans and perpetuating drug addictions

Endangering Americans by flying foreign children with communicable diseases into the U.S.

Intervened our military in Libya without consent of Congress

Changed laws through executive order, circumventing the separation of powers

Ran weapons illegally out of Bengazi and left four Americans to die during a terrorist attack and then lied to their families about the actual cause of the attack

Wasted millions of your tax dollars on Solyndra and other failed companies.

Fined oil companies for causing the death of eagles and hawks, but refused to fine wind turbine companies for causing the deaths of many times more raptors

Gave away $800 billion in tax dollars to “shovel-ready” jobs that did not exist

Gave away millions of tax dollars for stimulus jobs in non-existent congressional districts, such as the non-existent 15th Congressional District in Arizona

America’s credit rating was downgraded due to his incompetence

Appointed numerous czars to positions without any oversight or accountability to government agencies, including the communist Van Jones

Appointed Kevin Jennings, a radical leftist who supported pedophilia, to be “safe schools czar”

Sued states and law enforcement officials for attempting to uphold federal immigration laws

Befriended Islamic terrorists

Endorsed Planned Parenthood, an organization under investigation for defrauding the government of millions of taxpayer dollars, refusing to report the sexual offenders of underage girls and illegally selling baby body parts

Damaged relations with long-standing American allies

Interfered with elections in Israel and obsessed on pressuring Israel to make concessions to Islamic terrorists

Appointed Tim Geithner, who had evaded paying taxes, secretary of the treasury

Fired government investigator Gerald Walpin for uncovering scandals by Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson, a friend of and donor of Obama

Compiled from staff and news reports, including The Investment Watch blog

Meet a Liberal Fascist: Hillary Clinton

On By AZ ConservativeIn America, Big Government, Children, Constitution, Culture, Elections, Faith & Freedom, Family, Hillary Clinton, Socialism, The LeftLeave a comment

Hillary Clinton is the leading member of a generational cohort of elite liberals who brought fascist themes into mainstream liberalism. She and her cohort embody the maternal side of fascism—which is one reason why it is not more clearly recognized as such.

Hillary Clinton is conventionally viewed by her supporters as a liberal—or by conservative opponents as a radical leftist in liberal sheep’s clothing; but it is more accurate to view her as an old-style progressive and a direct descendant of the Social Gospel movement of the 1920s and 1930s.

Hillary increasingly draped herself in the rhetoric of the movement—the youth movement, the women’s movement, the antiwar movement—and gravitated toward others who believed that both her generation and her gender had a rendezvous with destiny.

After graduation from college, Hillary was offered an internship by her hero Saul Alinsky—famed author of Rules for Radicals—about whom she wrote her thesis: “There is Only the Fight: An Analysis of the Alinsky Model.” In an unprecedented move, Wellesley College sequestered the thesis in 1992, even refusing to divulge the title until the Clintons left the White House.

Alinsky would invent his famous “method” of community organizing, borrowing tactics from Al Capone’s mobsters, University of Chicago sociologists and John L. Lewis’s union organizers. His violent, confrontational rhetoric often sounded much like that heard from Horst Wessel or his Red Shirt adversaries in the streets of Berlin. Alinsky joined forces with the CIO—then chockablock with Stalinists and other communists—learning how to organize in the streets. In 1940, he founded the Industrial Areas Foundation, which pioneered the community activism movement. He became the mentor to countless communist activists—most famously Cesar Chavez—laying the foundation for both Naderism and the Students for a Democratic Society.

Alinsky believed in exploiting middle-class mores to achieve his agenda, not flouting them as the long-haired hippies did. Alinsky believed that working through friendly or vulnerable institutions in order to smash enemy redoubts was the essence of political organization. He worked closely with reformist and left-leaning clergy, his chief patrons. He mastered the art of unleashing preachers as the frontline activists in his mission of “rubbing raw the sores of discontent.”

Alinsky’s methods inspired the entire 1960s generation of New Left agitators (Barack Obama, for years a Chicago community organizer, was trained by Alinsky’s disciples).

Hillary turned down Alinsky’s job offer in order to attend Yale Law School. He told her it was a huge mistake, but Hillary responded that only by marching through America’s elite institutions could she achieve real power and change the system from within. Hillary helped edit the Yale Review of Law and Social Action, which at the time was a thoroughly radical organ supporting the Black Panthers and publishing articles implicitly endorsing the murder of police. One article, “Jamestown Seventy,” suggested that radicals adopt a program of “political migration to a single state for the purpose of gaining political control and establishing a living laboratory for experiment.” An infamous Review cover depicted police as pigs, one with his head chopped off.

Hillary volunteered to help the Panthers’ legal team, even attending the trial to take notes to help with the defense. She did such a good job of organizing the student volunteers that she was offered a summer internship in the Berkeley, California law offices of Robert Treuhaft, one of Bobby Seale’s lawyers. Treuhaft was a lifetime member of the American Communist Party who had cut his teeth fighting for the Stalinist faction in the California labor movement.

The most revealing aspect of Hillary’s career prior to her arrival in Washington was her advocacy for children. Clinton wrote articles advocating the rights of children to “divorce” their parents. Hillary Clinton’s writings on children show a clear, unapologetic and principled desire to insert the state deep into family life—a goal that is in perfect accord with similar efforts by totalitarians of the past. She condones the state’s assumption of parental responsibilities because she is opposed to the principle of parental authority in any form. Clinton’s writings leave the unmistakable impression that it is the family that holds children back, the state that sets them free.

Selections from “Liberal Fascism,” by Jonah Goldberg (Brave New Village chapter)