Liz Cheney Continues Her Trek Out of Office
Liz Cheney continued her trek out of office at a press conference Wednesday when she was asked whether President Trump should be speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference scheduled to take place this week in Orlando, Florida. The question was first answered by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy who responded in the affirmative. Cheney was then posed the same question. Her answer was to remind the reporter that she had already made her position known about the President, and although the decision was CPAC's, she continued, "I don't think he should be playing a role in the future of the party or the country." As reported by thefederalistpages.com Ms. Cheney's assault on Former President Trump is highly unpopular in her home state of Wisconsin. Cheney has was unanimously censured by the Republican Central Committee of Carbon County and targeted for expulsion from her leadership position in Congress. Although ultimately she survived the vote from her colleagues with a tally of 146-61, she was ultimately censured by the Wyoming Republican Party, which called on her to immediately resign and refund donations made to her for the 2020 campaign. Clearly, her tone deafness is not going to win her any favors if she runs for reelection in 2022.
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Time for Psaki to Stop Sowing Division.
Sadly, bad faith politics is running rampant amongst Democrat leadership today despite owning all three pillar of power. President Designate Joe Biden’s Press Secretary, Jen Psaki, demonstrated a poignant example of this in a recent press conference when asked whether the pseudo-administration could have done more to prevent the 100,000 COVID-19 deaths that have occurred during its mere one-month existence. Needless to say, the question itself was disingenuous as President Designate Joe Biden took office amidst an unprecedented peak in the COVID pandemic. Ms. Psaki would have been well served to simply point out the question's misleading premise and discuss all the things (if any) the Biden pseudo-administration has undertaken to deal with a gargantuan national challenge. Instead, Psaki chose to say the following: "Well, I think; one; we inherited a circumstance where there were not enough vaccines ordered. There were not enough vaccinators available to vaccinate Americans, and there were not enough places to, for people to go, ahh. to get those vaccines shot into their arms." At best, her answer runs counter to the call for unity she and the pseudo-administration for which she works claim to subscribe. More realistically, her answer is a bad-faith, divisive and misleading answer meant to injury her political opponents instead of shedding light onto a most important national challenge. First, it is not true that the limiting factor in the national vaccination effort has been insufficient procurement. The bottleneck lies in production. The Johnson and Johnson vaccine is not yet available, while the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines have been snatched up as quickly as they have been produced. It also follows that since the bottleneck is in production, the issue has not been, at least in states like Florida, the lack of personnel or facilities to "get those vaccines shot into [people's] arms," to borrow Psaki's sophisticated language. Thus, her words are not delivered in an honest attempt to answer a question. It is time for Ms Psaki to stop playing politics in addressing issues of great national importance such as the COVID-19 pandemic and start providing insightful answers meant to promote solutions. Move to Remove Shakespeare From College Curriculum Afoot From the Left
In a furtherance of its attack on Western Civilization, the modern Left is now increasing its efforts to remove Shakespeare from the classroom. The New York Post is reporting efforts at numerous college campuses because of the iconic writer's "misogyny, racism, homophobia, classicism, anti-Semitism, and misogynoir." One professor from Arizona State University is quoted as saying that "Shakespeare was a tool used to 'civilize' black and brown people in England's empire." Ironically, the same thing can be said about the Bible. Unquestionably, the Left would like to remove it from our culture as well. The fact is that, despite the Left's ever-growing cancel culture, Shakespeare was the greatest wordsmith of all time–literally. Without Shakespeare, words like exposure, expedience, eyewink, flowery, imploratory, ill-tempered, howl, import, useful, watchdog, gallantry, gentlefolk, and freezing, to name a few would not even exist. Twenty Percent of COVID-19 Deaths Have Occurred Under Biden's Watch.
This week, the United States reached the 500,000 COVID deaths milestone, a random number the press has sought to publicize. Ironically, the same press that has been cushioning President Designate Joe Biden's candidacy and early incumbency is now pointing out that 100,000 of those deaths, or 20% of them, have occurred in his one-month watch. These stark figures mean that, despite the Left's relentless attacks on President Trump's handling of the pandemic, he has actually lost about a third of the number of Americans per month due to the pandemic than Biden has lost in his first month of office, a grim reminder of the hypocrisy of modern political discourse in this country. A Day of Trump Carnage at the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court denied Trump and his allies the opportunity to have cases regarding election fraud and constitutionality reviewed, ending the possibility for these issues to be evaluated through judicial review. The multiple rulings ended cases in Georgia, Arizona, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin. In an unrelated matter, the Supreme Court dealt Former President Trump another blow when it allowed New York state prosecutors access to his personal and corporate tax returns despite the vague and nonspecific motivations for the request. This means that the Court has allowed a prosecutor to access an individuals' personal tax records, not because he has committed a crime, but rather for the sole purpose of finding a crime to prosecute. The difference between the two postures threatens to immensely magnify government's power over the individual. Newsmax Making Strides. Fox News Plummets.
USA Today is reporting Newsmax's viewership gains amongst Trump voters against Fox News. According to a poll performed by Suffolk University/USA TODAY of Trump voters, 34% trusted Fox News most, 17% trusted Newsmax and 9% One America News. The numbers represent a significant shift compared to prior polling data. On a side note, the poll also asked Trump voters whether Joe Biden was "legitimately elected" President. Seventy-three percent of the Trump voters polled responded he was not. Another Blow to Boeing. This Time From Its Pratt & Whitney Engines.
Boeing Airlines suffered another blow Sunday when a Boeing 777 jet owned by United Airlines suffered a catastrophic engine failure, mid-flight, over Colorado. Fortunately, no one was hurt as a result of the mishap. This is the third engine failure involving the Pratt & Whitney engine, which The Wall Street Journal reports is used in the United States only by United Airlines. Boeing responded to the news by ordering all airlines to stop flying the Boeing wide-body 777 jets equipped with the Pratt & Whitney engines. The move will affect about a dozen American jets, but in Japan, over a hundred such planes have been grounded by authorities. A Long-Ago Abandoned Concentration of Faith. by Julio Gonzalez, M.D., J.D. This is the first of a Sunday series by thefederalistpages.com about the Christian faith. It is hoped that through it a greater appreciation for the indispensible role Christianity plays in supporting a just society will be developed and eventually, lead us back to a road of charity, love, and peace. It was two years ago when I first heard a speech by Dr. Timothy O'Donnell on the nineteenth century plight of Irish Catholics. The lecture was delivered in support of the Institute for Catholic Culture, an organization designed to promote the understanding of the Catholic faith and its evangelization. In it, Dr. O'Donnell, President of Christendom College, told a story of an Irish man to whom a priest had attended in his final days of his life. The events took place in the early twentieth century, and the man, in a state of terminal weakness, lied on his gurney, awaiting his passage to the Kingdom of God. As the priest began attending to him, he noticed the man's left leg draped over the side of the cot. He attempted to lift the man's leg onto the cot, but found that he resisted him. "No, no, father," the man uttered despite his weakness, and told the priest of how he had purposely placed his left leg over the side of the bed so that it would not receive the comfort he afforded the rest of his body. The priest, of course, was befuddled, and it was then that he learned of the man's life-long oath, a promise he was in the final stages of fulfilling. You see, as a youngster, the man lived at the time of the potato famine. Those were times of utter devastation, interminable suffering, and overwhelming disease. It was around 1845, and Irish Catholics had just come off a period of unspeakable oppression at the hands of British Protestants. Among other unjust restrictions, Irish Catholics were not allowed to purchase land, or lease it. They could not vote or enter a profession. They were prohibited from holding public office. They weren't even allowed to gather for mass. The conditions were so bad that it was not uncommon for Irishmen to create wagons designed as makeshift altars so they could be dragged onto the sea, just beyond the Protestant landowner's property line, from which they could hold mass with the parishoners gathered in the cold North Atlantic water. Others would take on the responsibility of dressing up as priests and standing near where the masses were held so that when the British officials came near, they would chase down the decoy instead of destroying the actual flock, often resulting in the bait's death. The English, anti-Catholic penal laws were lifted in 1829, but not in time to prevent the interminable sickness that was to strike the Irish just sixteen years later, when a fungus destroyed the island's potato crops; the only food sufficiently cheap and plentiful food to sustain the Irish Catholics who at this time were relegated to serving as peasants and hired hands. Adding to the insult was the fact that there was really no food shortage in England, or even in Ireland proper, as the exportation of rabbit, peas, and honey continued at robust levels during the Great Hunger while that of livestock and butter even increased. Yet the Irish population was decimated, so much so that it was not uncommon for the frailest to make their ways into prefabricated holes to die so that they would not burden others with the task of burying them. It was there that our old man lived when he was young, continuously tempted with the lure of warm soup, or even a ration of bread. All he had to do was renounce his Catholic faith. One day, in a moment of weakness, the young man did falter and made his way to the nearby Anglican Church, resolved to get a bite to eat. He actually went so far as to open the door and take one step inside with his left foot before coming to his senses and abandoning the idea. He quickly became so disgusted with himself that he promised never to give his treasonous left leg comfort. The old man's personal saga is indeed poignant, but so are the questions it invites. What happened to the fervent faith this man had? Where is this strength of conviction shown not only by him, but by millions of other Irish who refused to escape their torture for fear of renouncing their love for Christ? To these questions, Dr. O'Donnell adds more testimony through the letters of Comte De Monte Lombaires, a French noble who traveled to Ireland in 1829. He wrote:
In a separate letter, the Count continues:
Of course, this level of dedication by a whole nation did not survive. What tyranny and oppression could not extricate from the Irish, wealth, modernism, and liberalism did. Thus Ireland, the nation responsible for saving Christianity during the Middle Ages, now stands in a state of moral turpitude.
But Ireland is not alone in its debacle. Indeed, all of western society has waivered and similarly stammers under the torments of strengthened demons and a generalized moral apathy. Part of the reason for our fall is that we have forgotten what it is like to have a country united in faith, to live in a community committed to the divinity of Christ and to the service of the Lord. We exalt those who died in battle or triumphed in discovery, but we forget those who died in prayer and love, chasing only the aspiration of promoting God's peace on earth. With all the misery, the violence, and the chaos that surrounds us, it is time we resume honoring and remembering those men and women who chose Christ over all else, who chose love over hate, and who spread His word and grace despite the insurmountable threats that confronted them. Some say our present condition stands without remedy, but as we shall see, ours pales in comparison to those confronted by other Christians at other times. Whether we think our nation beyond salvation or not, one thing holds true, it is for this battle in the name of righteousness and virtue that we Christians have been placed here on this earth. And it is likely we are the last hope for improvement of the condition of man. Thus, we will next visit those who best knew the man who for our salvation died. We will continue by visiting the apostles themselves. Read more from our Christianity Series by visiting thefederalistpages/news. Dr. Julio Gonzalez is an orthopaedic surgeon and lawyer living in Venice, Florida. He served in the Florida House of Representatives. He is the author of numerous books including The Federalist Pages, The Case for Free Market Healthcare, and Coronalessons. He is available for appearances and book signings, and can be reached through www.thefederalistpages.com. Who Were the Apostles? by Julio Gonzalez, M.D., J.D. Imagine being asked to follow someone, abandoning everything you're doing, and leaving at that instant! Then, once you follow him, engaged in a mission of goodness and love, the world turns on your leader, and he is put to death by the state in the most degrading and insulting of ways as a punishment for delivering the message you have worked to deliver. Yet, despite the hostility, despite the persecution, despite the bitter denigrations of everything you worked to achieve; after his death, you pick up, by yourself, and deliver his message to the furthest corners of the known world. What kind of person would do that? Who would show such devotion? Such perseverance? The apostles did. They are our only window to Jesus the man, to the Word made flesh. Everything we know of who Jesus was, what he said, how he acted, and what he taught came to us from them. . . .at their great peril! Indeed, the strongest evidence of what happened on the third day following Passover is the lives these men led. So, who were these twelve men that brought Christianity to the world? The ones who taught the Church Fathers? Who walked with Jesus and then lived to tell us about it? Technically, the first apostle was John the Baptist, the product of a miraculous pregnancy between the elders Zechariah and Elizabeth. Elizabeth was Mary's "relative," making John the Baptist Jesus's "relative" once removed. It appears that John was an Essene, a member of an ascetic Jewish sect that vowed poverty and immersion in water for cleansing. The Essenes lived at the shores of the Dead Sea, having concluded that Jerusalem and cities like it had become too material; too corrupt to allow for the proper worship of God. They are the same people that left us the Dead Sea scrolls. John the Baptist fulfills the prophecy made by Isaiah that there would be one who, from the wilderness while wearing clothes of camel hair and living on locusts and wild honey, would announce the coming of the Messiah. John the Baptist spent the greater portion of his life announcing the kingdom of heaven and building a large following of disciples about the Jordan River, north of the Dead Sea. He baptized Jesus Christ, though he protested by saying it was he who should be baptized by Jesus, not the other way around. Ultimately, he complied after Jesus persisted. (Matthew 3:13-17). John the Baptist did not live to see the Crucifixion nor the Resurrection since Herod, at his mistress Herodias's insistence, beheaded him. According to Josephus, the contemporaneous, non-Christian, Jewish historian, his execution took place at around 29 A.D. in the fortress at Machaerus to the east of the Dead Sea. John's followers were an easy source from which Jesus could recruit his own disciples. Andrew Bar-Jonah (son of Jonah) was one such disciple who followed Jesus when John the Baptist singled him out as "the Lamb of God." Andrew then sought out his brother, Simon Bar-Jonah, announcing, "We have found the Messiah." When Simon was brought to Jesus, he said, "You are Simon the son of John; you will be called Cephas," which translates to Peter. Thus, Peter, the first Pope, entered the Church. The next day, Jesus went to Galilee where he found Philip, who was from Bethsaida, the same town from which Andrew and Peter originated, and one of the places where John the Baptist often preached. It is therefore likely that Philip knew Andrew, Peter, and even Jesus prior to being called. John the Apostle tells of how Philip told his friend, Nathaniel, of Jesus and recruited him. Nathaniel, initially hesitated because he questioned what good could come from Nazareth. Nathaniel's conversion was sealed only after Jesus told him that he had seen him under the fig tree. Nathaniel was so surprised at having Jesus know him despite not having previously met that he declared, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel." Jesus answered, "Do you believe because I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than this." (John. 1:49-51) Jesus asked James the Greater and John the Apostle to join him when he came across them while they were fishing. They were also siblings, the sons of Zebedee and Salome. Salome is thought by many to be the daughter of Joseph by his first marriage, making her Jesus's half sister, and James and John his nephews. Older church tradition holds that Salome, known as Mary Salome, is one of three daughters of St. Anne who were named Mary. Under this interpretation, Salome would be Jesus's aunt, making James the Greater and John the Apostle Jesus's cousins. Either way, it seems they were closely related. It is possible that Matthew Levi and James the Less or the Younger were also siblings, as they were sons of Alphaeus, likely with another woman called Mary. Matthew's addition to Jesus's closest followers is all the more offensive to the Pharisees because he was a tax collector, amongst the most despised class of citizens in Jerusalem. The relationship adds an extra dimension to the confrontation between the Pharisees and Jesus regarding the appropriateness of paying taxes to the Romans. Another set of siblings is Jude (also known as Thaddeus), Simon the Zealot, and James the Just. These apparently were brothers of Salome and sons of Joseph, making them Jesus's half brothers. They are mentioned in the Bible as brothers of the Lord. Although James the Just was not one of the twelve, he became the first Bishop of Jerusalem where he was martyred. Matthias appears in the Acts of the Apostle and is thought to be the oldest of the apostles. He is thought to be one of the seventy disciples that were sent by Jesus to proselytize and was promoted to apostle in place of Judas the Traitor. He was born in Bethlehem. Thomas is the doubter, but as we shall see, it is likely he traveled further than any other apostle in spreading the word of Christ. He is also called Didymus, which translates to "twin." Eusebius, the fourth century historian, says Thomas also went by Judas. There is much speculation but little substance as to how Thomas got his nickname or even if he had a twin. Some even say he was called Didymus because he looked so much like Jesus. So, it appears that, almost to a tee, the apostles were Jesus' family and some of his closest friends. But their efforts at promoting his word did not end with the stories passed down in the Bible. As we shall see, each of these men lived out incredible lives full of personal sacrifices, triumphs, and pain. James the Greater went to Spain while Mark proselytized in Egypt. James the Less worked in Arabia, and Matthew went just to the north of the Arabian Sea. Simon the Zealot spent his days in Persia and Iran just to the south of where Nathaniel preached. Jude went to Armenia and Andrew to the north of Jude, east of the Black Sea. Phillip missioned in Constantinople, and John the Apostle ends up at Ephesus. That these men would leave everything to spread the gospel after having witnessed Jesus's passion and crucifixion is perhaps the greatest testament to their love and devotion for our Lord and to the overwhelming effects what they witnessed had on them and upon their lives. In the next installment we will begin examining what is known about the individual experiences of these incredible men, and we will do so by looking into the life of James the Greater. Read more from our Christianity Series by visiting thefederalistpages/news. Dr. Julio Gonzalez is an orthopaedic surgeon and lawyer living in Venice, Florida. He served in the Florida House of Representatives. He is the author of numerous books including The Federalist Pages, The Case for Free Market Healthcare, and Coronalessons. He is available for appearances and book signings, and can be reached through www.thefederalistpages.com. Ark of the Covenant Raid Attempted. Hundreds Die Defending It.
Multiple sourcesare reporting that an attempt was made to steal the Ark of the Covenant in December 2020 in Ethiopia. The story, which is only now being discovered by western sources, indicates that the attempt was carried out by federal troops in conjunction with members of the Amhara militia, which aimed to transfer the Ark to Addis Ababa. The plotters were identified by local residents who responded in the hundreds in an attempt to protect the Ark. It is unclear whether the raid met with any success, but the Ark is reported to be held "safely" in a church in Axum. The raid was reportedlyassociated with a massacre of local Christians, including the killing of parents in front of their children. The Ark of the Covenant is said to house the tablets of the Ten Commandments. It was carried into Jerusalem under Moses's direction. The Ark was captured by the Philistines in battle and was subsequently lost. It said to be kept in a Church in Ethiopia where only one monk is allowed access to it at any time. No one has been able to independently confirm its presence or determine whether it is the actual Ark referenced in the Old Testament. |
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