Blog
World Politics
Leadership by example
Implementing Freedom and the principle of Subsidiarity
Americans have a love-hate relationship with the U.N. We appreciate its charter, which guarantees the sovereignty of its member states and holds out the hope of a more just and humane world. But we realize that the conduct by nations at the U.N. often does not live up to the institution’s great ideals...
[F]rom time to time a diplomat comes along who stands up to the dictators and tyrants with such force that the original promise of the U.N. re-emerges. America has been served by four such ambassadors – Democrats Adlai Stevenson and Daniel Patrick Moynihan, and Republicans Jeane Kirkpatrick and John Bolton...
With her actions, Nikki Haley has joined the ranks of America’s greatest U.N. ambassadors.
The courage to do what you know is right.
/fl
Homeland Security
Top 25 Defensive Gun Uses of 2017
With 2017 quickly drawing to a close, AWR Hawkins and Breitbart News thought the timing right to review the top 25 defensive gun uses (DGUs) of 2017.
January 2, 2017–Kay Dickinson was attacked while entering her Wilmington, North Carolina, apartment. WWAY reported that Dickinson had just gotten off work and was going into her apartment at Colonial Parke when she was attacked.” The suspect held her at gunpoint, “beat her and then tied her up with a broken belt in her bedroom.” She was able to work free, retrieve her gun, and kill the suspect.
January 12, 2017–An concealed carry permit holder saw an Arizona State Trooper being beaten on the side of Interstate 10. The permit holder pulled over, asked the Trooper if he needed help, then intervened when the Trooper answered in the affirmative. The permit holder ordered the attacker to stop, then shot him dead after he refused to comply. It turned out that the suspect had shot the Trooper before the permit holder arrived, then climbed on top of him in a rage and began beating him on the side of the road. The permit holder saved the Trooper’s life.
January 20, 2017–Charlotte, North Carolina’s Kim Badger was attacked in “broad daylight” by a home invasion suspect armed with a baseball bat. WCNC reported that the attacker struck Badger with the bat, then pursued her through the house. Throughout the attack Badger fought to deny the suspect control of a knife that was on a counter and, eventually, to deny him access to a sword. Badger’s teenage son joined the fight to keep the suspect away from the sword. As the son fought, the mother retrieved her gun and shot the suspect dead.
January 29, 2017–Two masked suspects entered West Philadelphia’s Eagele’s Corner Chinese takeout and “announced a robbery.” According to 6 ABC, police indicated that two store owners were present at the time and one of the owners pulled a gun and opened fire. The owner opened fire, causing both of the suspects to flee. One of the suspects was struck by the owner’s gunfire and was arrested after his accomplice drove him to the hospital for treatment.
February 9, 2017–A legally armed citizen in Holland, Michigan, shot and critically wounded a suspect who would not stop assaulting a woman inside a convenience store. Holland Police issued a press release recounting the incident by explaining that “the suspect violently punched the victim several times and threw her down to the ground, and it is at that point that the [armed] customer arrives and tries to intervene.” The suspect then turned and attacked the customer who was trying to intervene, leading the customer to open fire. The suspect was shot twice and hospitalized in critical condition.
March 8, 2017–A home invasion suspect who approached a family was shot and killed by the father after refusing to accept food stamps in lieu of money. WBRZ quoted East Baton Rouge District Attorney Hillar Moore saying, “The [father] was at his own home with his family and was confronted by another individual who was armed. There was a scuffle which eventually led to shots being fired and the person who came to the home was shot and killed.” The father offered the suspect food stamps prior to fighting and eventually killing him.
March 9, 2017–A Houston, Texas, smoke shop owner was shot multiple times yet managed to pull his own gun and kill one of two robbery suspects. ABC 13 reported that customers were in the store when the two suspects entered. Those customers called 911 and the dispatcher could hear the sound of gunshots in the background. The store owner was hospitalized in critical condition after the uninjured suspect fled the scene.
March 21, 2017–A 21-year-old suspect kicked in his ex-girlfriend’s apartment door, then died after being shot multiple times. As it turns out, the ex-girlfriend’s brother was in the Detroit apartment and opened fire on the suspect. Police responded to find the suspect had a gun and had left his car parked in the street with the engine running.
April 14, 2017–A homeowner in Pierce County, Washington, awoke to the sound of someone trying to enter his home around 3:30 a.m. The homeowner retrieved a gun and went to investigate, ultimately firing one shot and killing 28-year-old Viktor Starovevrov. The Pierce County Sheriff’s Department responded to a call of shots fired and arrived to find Starovenrov beyond hope of survival. A 32-year-old woman and three-year-old girl were asleep in the house when the invasion was foiled.
April 23, 2017–A St. Louis 7-11 clerk was taking a smoke break around 3:50 a.m. when a robbery suspect approached and attempted to rob her. The clerk pulled her own gun and exchanged fire with the suspect, shooting him multiple times. The suspect’s wounds proved fatal. The clerk was also wounded in the gunfight, yet was in stable condition following the incident.
May 3, 2017–An Arlington, Texas, man described by witnesses as an “active shooter” was shot and killed by a concealed carry permit holder in Zona Caliente Sports Bar around 6:15 p.m. WFAA reported that the armed suspect shot and killed the bar manager and was then was engaged by the permit holder, who shot the aggressor dead. Police explained that the permit holder intervened out of fear that inaction would lead to a further “loss of life.”
May 12, 2017–A female homeowner shot and killed a suspect who allegedly brought his seven-year-old son along for the home invasion. The San Antonio Express-News reported the suspect allegedly tried to break in through a window in the very room where the homeowner happened to be asleep. The woman heard the suspect trying to make entry into her home, armed herself, and fired at least two rounds. Police arrived in time to transport the alleged intruder to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
May 18, 2017–A home invasion suspect wearing only underwear was shot and killed after breaking into a pastor’s home in Cypress, Texas. The suspect entered the home around 2:00 a.m. and attacked the pastor and his wife. As the intruder went room to room looking for other would-be victims, he came upon an extended family member who was armed. That family member shot and killed the intruder, saving others in the home from coming under attack.
May 29, 2017–An armed neighbor in Ada, Oklahoma, came to the rescue of three children who were being drowned by their father. Cash Freeman was alerted to the situation when a terrified 12-year-old ran to his house to say the estranged father had taken the children from the mother and was trying to drown them. Freeman arrived to find the father holding three-month-old twins under water. Freeman shot the father twice, killing him and saving the children.
June 7, 2017–An Indianapolis mother protected her children by opening fire and killing a home invasion suspect who struck in broad daylight. Fox 59 reports that the mother heard someone trying to get into the apartment, then came to face-to-fact with 19-year-old Michael Hawkins. She opened fire at that point and Hawkins dropped dead “inside the doorway.” The mother and the children were not harmed.
June 17, 2017–A man was shot and killed by his ex-girlfriend after he allegedly threatened her and showed up to her house with an “assault rifle.” The incident occurred in Florida’s Pasco County around 10:30 pm. According to Fox 13 News, law enforcement officials said 45-year-old Frank Harrison had “previously threatened his ex-girlfriend.” When she saw him approaching her home she opened the front door and shot him dead before he could enter.
July 17, 2017–With a car thief on the lose near her family’s home 17-year-old Kimber Wood called her dad and asked if she could retrieve one of his guns to keep close at hand for self-defense. Her father said yes, so Kimber retrieved the gun and was ready when the suspect entered the house. Kimber and the suspect came face to face, only to have to him flee when she pointed the gun at him and ordered him to leave the home. She chased him as he fled and fired a warning shot to assure him that she knew how to use the gun.
July 31, 2017–A Katy, Texas, grandma opened fire on two home invasion suspects, leaving one dead. According to ABC 13, Harris County Sheriff’s deputies said the 60-year-old grandma was home alone when two suspects allegedly entered through the garage. Deputy Thomas Gilliland said, “Both were armed with pistols. She confronted both suspects, retrieved a handgun and fired several times at both subjects.”
August 5, 2017–An elderly homeowner in Lakewood, Florida, shot and killed a home intruder. The homeowner was in the home with his wife when they heard the suspect make entry. He grabbed a gun, confronted the suspect, then killed him. Law enforcement officials did not report how many times the suspect was shot, only that he was dead when responding officers arrived.
September 6, 2017–Three Taco Bell employees opened fire and killed an armed robbery suspect in Cleveland, Ohio. According to Fox 8, police said two suspects entered the store “wearing masks and ordered the employees to the ground at gunpoint.” There were multiple employees in the store at the time and three of them responded by opening fire. When officers arrived the suspect who had been fatally wounded was lying face down and a gun was still in his hand.
September 14, 2017–An Indianapolis father shot and killed an intruder who burst through the front door and rushed into the apartment. The father’s two young children were home at the time of the foiled invasion. CBS 4 quoted Indianapolis Metropolitan Police officer Aaron Hamer, who said, “It appears [the suspect] was yelling to get into the residence because he believed his kids were in the house. It turns out the kids inside did not belong to him.” The father and his two children were not harmed.
September 18, 2017–A female accountant shot and critically wounded a suspect who broke into her office as she was there typing alone. The suspect was fleeing police when he entered the office and the accountant asked to stop coming at her before she pulled the trigger and shot him in the neck. The suspect survived being shot, but has to undergo rehab to learn how to walk again.
September 24, 2017–Two home invasion suspects rushed into a Bridgeville, Maryland, home around 11:55 pm. Police indicated that at least one of the suspects was armed. The homeowner, home alone at the time off the invasion, wrestled with the armed suspect and shot was fired, killing the suspect. The suspect’s body was lying in the kitchen when police arrived. The homeowner was not injured.
November 5, 2017–Stephen Willeford was in his home in Sutherland Springs, Texas, when his daughter rushed inside to let him know someone was shooting congregants at the First Baptist Church. Willeford grabbed his AR-15 and a handful of bullets and ran barefoot toward the church in order to confront the killer. Upon arriving, Willeford took a defensive position behind a truck and exchanged fire with the killer, shooting him twice. The killer fled the scene after Willeford shot him, driving roughly 11 miles before taking his own life. Willeford proved anew the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.
December 6, 2017–A father with a handgun license shot and killed an armed suspect who confronted the father and his family in a Popeye’s restaurant. According to Fox 29, the suspect pointed a gun at the father and “demanded his property.” The father asked that his family be released, then pulled his own gun when the suspect became distracted by individuals walking out the restroom. The father shot the suspect multiple times, killing him on the spot.
A secure homeland calls for every law-abiding citizen being able to interdict evil when they can and as best they can. As AWR Hawkins pointed out in his article, "these 25 examples are only a smidgen of the hundreds of thousands of DGUs that occur each year."
Thanks to AWR Hawkins and Breitbart News for reporting the facts and recognizing the importance of freedom.
Have a Safe and Blessed New Year!
/fl
Law
"Shotgun" Joe's Home State High Court Understands!
After many years of prohibiting firearms in state parks, citizens may now exercise their civil right to bear arms in those parks due to a recent Delaware Supreme Court ruling. The ban on weapons carried into state parks was rescinded.
The issue here is not whether the government may regulate firearms, but whether DNREC and DOA (the “Agencies”) can justify a near total ban on the right to possess a lawful gun to defend one’s self and family with a firearm in Delaware’s State Parks and Forests. The Agencies not only fail to justify such sweeping regulations, but fail to show that they had the authority to enact such unconstitutional regulations in the first place....
...that, “the need to respond to a threat with a firearm is diminished when firearms are prohibited in the area,,, is premised on the questionable notion -- unsupported by reference to any evidence -- that outlawing possession of firearms in an area makes law-abiding citizens safer because criminals will, for some reason, obey the Regulations.
The writer of the majority opinion, as customary, went on to articulate some of the reasoning.
The Heller Court found “[t]he very text of the Second Amendment implicitly recognizes the pre-existence of the [citizen's] right [to keep and bear arms] and declares only that it ‘shall not be infringed,’” as the Second Amendment “was not intended to lay down a ‘novel principle’ but rather codified a right ‘inherited from our English ancestors.’” Indeed, as explained in Heller, “[b]y the time of the founding, the right to have arms had become fundamental for English subjects.” Blackstone, the prominent authority on English law of the time, “cited the rms provision of the Bill of Rights as one of the fundamental rights of Englishmen.” Justice Scalia observed that “[Blackstone’s] description of [the right] cannot possibly be thought to tie it to militia or military service. It was, [Blackstone] said, ‘the natural right of resistance and self-preservation,’ and ‘the right of having and using arms for self- preservation and defence.’”
It is not a historical accident that Delaware’s 1757 Militia Act uses similar language in proclaiming that “[s]elf-preservation is the first Principle and Law of Nature, and a Duty that every Man indispensably owes not only to himself but to the Supreme Director and Governor of the Universe, who gave him a Being...
Although the United States Supreme Court has not expressly decided whether the Second Amendment protects public carry (i.e., carrying arms outside the home), the conclusion that self-defense is the Second Amendment’s “core purpose” suggests that it must allow citizens to be armed outside the home given that “in some circumstances a person may be more vulnerable in a public place than in his own house...
Under intermediate scrutiny, the Agencies have the burden to: first, articulate their important governmental objectives in enacting the Regulations; second, demonstrate that the Regulations are substantially related to achieving those objectives; and, third, show that the Agencies have not burdened the fundamental right to bear arms in self-defense more than is reasonably necessary to ensure that the asserted governmental objectives are met.126 The Agencies are required to show more than a “general safety concern.”
...the Regulations fail as they “burden the right to bear arms more than is reasonably necessary...
I think that Shotgun Joe understands too; he's just not admitting it...
/fl
Politics and National Security
Cognitive Dissonance or Senility?
Illegal migrants “embody the best of our nation,” says the leader of the Democrats in the House of Representatives, Rep. Nancy Pelosi.
“Our Dreamers, they make America dream again,” Pelosi exclaimed in October. “They’re so lovely and we, frankly, owe a debt to your parents for bringing you here to be such a brilliant part of our future.”
[Pelosi's] praise, moreover, is complicated by facts...
Reality is:
The vast majority of foreign nationals sitting in American federal prisons are illegal aliens, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) revealed in a year-end report.
According to newly released data, nearly 95 percent of all foreign nationals in DOJ custody are illegal aliens in the U.S. In total, there are 58,766 known or suspected foreign nationals in federal prisons at the end of the 2017 Fiscal Year. This includes 39,455 foreign nationals who are in Bureau of Prisons (BOP) custody and 19,311 foreign nationals under U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) supervision.
The suspect who allegedly shot a Humboldt County sheriff’s deputy with a shotgun on Sunday is an illegal immigrant from Mexico.
The man suspected of shooting a three-year Humboldt County sheriff’s deputy in the left shoulder with a 12-gauge shotgun at a Ferndale dairy farm early Sunday morning was a Mexican national here illegally who was previously deported in 2015, according to Humboldt County Sheriff William Honsal.
Pelosi’s claim that the House GOP is ‘inviting’ violent criminals to carry concealed weapons. Three Pinocchios. Washington Post. Dec. 12, 2017. by Glenn Kessler.
Senility in the halls of congress is nothing new, but when it is exhibited by a "leader", to the point of affecting national security, it becomes compelling news.
/fl
Biography
Theodore Roosevelt
Here is something for the history buff's, and all student's of history—young and old. A good video synoptic brief about one of our nation's great leader's.
Theodore Roosevelt was one of the two most influential presidents in American history. Dr. Albert Mohler discusses what leadership lessons can be learned from the extraordinary life of Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt, who was one of history's greatest examples of "leadership distilled into action."
/fl
Service Arms
M-17's
I have long believed that every able-bodied, law-abiding U.S. citizen should be familiar with and capable of operating our nation’s service rifle and service pistol.
This is a step in the right direction:
US soldiers set to receive new holster as Army deploys its latest pistol
/fl
Culture
Pain and Dollar Signs
Sutherland Springs family sues outdoors store where church shooter purchased gun
This is yet another case where some so-called "lawyer", possibly blinded by the desire to profit from the misery of innocent victims, either doesn't know or intentionally ignores, the law; they always wind up adding more pain to the bewildered victim.
If there is one thing that most of the anti-gun crowd has in common, it's ignorance of the law.
/fl
Politics
Neurosis at the polls
The dust is settling on Alabama's special election for Jeff Session's old Senate seat, and the election process was enough to make Jiminy Cricket neurotic. This election left a lot of people confused and uneasy about some of the campaign rhetoric. The winner, Doug Jones, will be a "short termer" with the seat up for grabs again in 2020.
The effect that this election will have remains to be seen.
/fl
Law
The Constitutional Question of Reciprocity
Who is sovereign in the United States? Is it the people themselves, or is it an elite determined to rule citizens who are seen as incapable of making choices about their own lives? This is the central question in the American gun-control debate.
Is it permissible for a state to be "harshly unfair" to a law-abiding resident of another state, to the point of placing said non-resident in jeopardy of losing their freedom over the exercise of a civil right enumerated and guaranteed by the United States Constitution?
David B. Kopel, Research Director of the Independence Institute, a public policy research organization in Denver, Colorado, and an Associate Policy Analyst with the Cato Institute in Washington DC, in an interview with Caleb Brown, offers his thoughts on the subject.
/fl
Law and Order
Incarnate Evil
The event recorded in this video occurred in Mexico where Mexican citizens, as a whole, are severely hindered from carrying arms for self defense.
A team of gunmen entered a restaurant to execute a local police chief in the Mexican State of Chihuahua. The attack appears to be an escalation of the violence between the Juarez and the Sinaloa Cartels for regional control.
The video reveals the moment when two gunmen enter the Mariscada restaurant and sit at a table behind the police chief in uniform. In less than a minute, the gunmen attack Perez and then escape.
The police alone cannot control this kind of activity. Only a free and armed citizenry can keep people like these encumbered and/or confined to their holes.
/fl
History
In Recognition
In the annals of United States and World History, these dates stand out as being of major significance:
May 14, 1948
President Truman’s decision to officially recognize the Nation of Israel.
May 15, 1948
Israel’s Rebirth
December 6, 2017
President Trump’s decision to officially recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
The significance of the U.S. recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel
About 1000 years before the birth of Christ, Jerusalem became inseparable from the Jewish people in terms of geography and imagination. Jerusalem became inseparable from God's covenant promises to Israel. And Jerusalem became central to Israel's self-identity as God's covenant people. Jerusalem became known as the city of David, and not only that, associated with Mount Zion, the place where the temple would eventually be built, and the place therefore associated with the worship of God. In the 122 Psalm there is an entire Psalm of David about Jerusalem. David wrote,
“I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of the Lord!” 2 Our feet have been standing within your gates, O Jerusalem! 3 Jerusalem—built as a city that is bound firmly together, 4 to which the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord, as was decreed for[a] Israel, to give thanks to the name of the Lord. 5 There thrones for judgment were set, the thrones of the house of David. 6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem! “May they be secure who love you! 7 Peace be within your walls and security within your towers!” 8 For my brothers and companions' sake I will say, “Peace be within you!” 9 For the sake of the house of the Lord our God, I will seek your good.”
It was in Jerusalem of course that Jesus Christ was tried, and where he was crucified, and where he also rose from the dead. It was from Jerusalem that he ascended into heaven. It was Jerusalem that was destroyed by Roman attack where the temple itself was also destroyed in A.D. 70. Then in the time from A.D. 70 through successive generations and centuries Jerusalem became a place that was under the control of others, first the Romans, eventually the Ottoman Empire. And then when Israel was declared a state and won its independence in 1948, that original war of independence included action in which Israel took possession of West Jerusalem. When Israel was attacked by its Arab neighbors in 1967, Israel actually gained control of the entire city of Jerusalem both the West and the East. In 1980 the Jewish government adopted legislation identifying Jerusalem as the capital of the nation. And then on December 6, 2017, Donald Trump the President of the United States announced that the United States would recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital and would eventually move its embassy there.
So Israel lost control of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 as the Romans destroyed the city, and then Israel regained Jerusalem as we know it today in 1967. You can do the math. That's a span of about 1900 years between A.D. 70 and A.D 1967. When President Trump made the announcement yesterday, the international media and most of the mainstream media in the United States responded with the absolute declaration that the president's action was controversial. The Washington Post in its headline declared the president's action to be a reversal of longtime U.S. policy. Is it? Well that gets complicated. Back in 1989 the United States actually arranged from Israel the long-term lease of property that could become an American embassy. Keep that date in mind, 1989. In 1995 the United States Congress overwhelmingly passed legislation that would require America's government to move the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. That's 1995. The president speaking yesterday announced that the United States would now move forward with recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and would also put into action plans to move the embassy as well. That move at the embassy could be as simple as turning the current consulate in Jerusalem into an embassy. That's basically just a declaration of new status. It could also involve as the president indicated an entirely new building and compound that would become the United States Embassy in Jerusalem.
But why the controversy? Well when you look at the headline from the Washington Post again it declares this is as a reversal of longtime U.S. policy. But as we said that's very complicated because the United States Congress in 1995 voted overwhelmingly to move the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Furthermore the United States Senate reaffirmed that vote just in terms of recent months. So how in the world can it be a reversal of U.S. policy? Why in the world would it be controversial? Well here's another twist in the tale. If you look at the United States Congress in 1995, it adopted that legislation in what we would now call a symbolic action. Congress did not intend that at that time the Clinton administration would actually move the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. It was a symbolic action that was intended to offer a certain amount of political leverage in terms of the peace talks at the time. It was also understood to be a symbolic action that would be an encouragement to Israel and would also be warmly supported by Jewish people in the United States and friends of Israel. The legislation adopted in 1995 also included a trigger framework that required every administration to report every six months on why it had not moved the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. And ever since 1995, every six months the incumbent president of the United States has explained that the embassy was not moved for national security reasons.
So what are those national security reasons? They're not actually about the national security of the United States, first and foremost, but about America's national security interest in securing peace in the Middle East. That's the big complication. It’s not only Israel that claims Jerusalem as its capital city, but also Jerusalem is claimed particularly East Jerusalem as the capital city of what would be hoped by many Palestinians to become a reality of a Palestinian state. Part of the reluctance in previous administrations or even the Trump administration until now in actually moving forward with the recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel was that it would be destabilizing in terms of peace talks and furthermore can actually lead to Palestinian retaliation.
In his speech given yesterday President Trump referenced that legislation from 1995 known as the Jerusalem Embassy Act, and then he continued,
“Yet, for over 20 years, every previous American president has exercised the law’s waiver, refusing to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem or to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital city. Presidents issued these waivers under the belief that delaying the recognition of Jerusalem would advance the cause of peace. Some say they lacked courage, but they made their best judgments based on facts as they understood them at the time. Nevertheless, the record is in. After more than two decades of waivers, we are no closer to a lasting peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians.” The president then said, “It would be folly to assume that repeating the exact same formula would now produce a different or better result. Therefore, I have determined that it is time to officially recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.”
So what would be the result of the president's announcement? For one thing it immediately changes the entire international scene when it comes to the understanding of the capital of Israel. The United States thus becomes the very first major power to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital. That's not only symbolic, that’s substantial as it comes to political action. Furthermore, the president announced that the United States would actually move the embassy from Tel Aviv to Israel that goes beyond the first step of recognizing Jerusalem to the second step of making that concrete in terms of a metaphor in the form of an American embassy.
In his speech yesterday the president said that this did not mean in any way that the United States is retreating from a commitment to an international peace process in terms of especially the dispute between Israel and the Palestinians. But make no mistake this is absolutely big news. This is big news both in Israel and in the United States and just about everywhere in the world. It also underlines another basic fact, and that is that the majority of nations in the international community do not recognize Israel's claim not only to Jerusalem as the national capital but to East Jerusalem as Israeli territory. The move yesterday is likely to be very encouraging to the current Israeli government and to the Israeli people. It is also going to be extremely irritating – that’s beyond controversial – for many of the other nations of the earth, particularly major European capitals, that had been trying their very best to forestall the United States from taking this action.
In terms of major Arab capitals there is likely to be a voice of protest, but it’s not likely to go much beyond that the answer to that is actually very surprising. It has to do with the fact that the Arab nations do not see Israel as a threat. They see Jerusalem in terms of this claim as an irritation, but they do not see Israel as a threat. In more cases than not they see other Arab nations as a greater threat. There is no question that in the United States domestic scene this announcement cannot be separated from the president’s support base. It was the president as a candidate who pledged that if he were elected he would move the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and that support base includes many millions of evangelical Christians. Some of those evangelicals are likely to see this action as having something to do with biblical prophecy. On the other hand, a good many evangelicals will see this more importantly as a matter of American foreign policy.
An honest assessment would have to acknowledge the fact that we often simply are unable to know the midterm or the long-term impacts of a decision of this kind of foreign policy consequence. Even those publicly identified as Zionists both in Israel and in the United States are divided over whether or not this announcement is in the best interest of Israel. Some very ardent Zionists say that the symbolic action will not be worth the risk in terms of an increase in the war on terror or the declaration of a new intifada with its center in Jerusalem. On the other side is the argument that this is the appropriate and timely recognition of Israel's right to its own capital and to the territory that it seized only after being attacked. The other argument is that the announcement that came yesterday was simply timely, recognizing the right of the people of Israel to declare their own capital, and furthermore to include in that capital East Jerusalem as was gained by Israel only after it had been attacked by its Arab neighbors.
Christians looking at the announcement made yesterday understand that the consequence and the meaning is not just in the context of the last say 30 years or even three centuries but three millennia in which Israel has been at the very center of our theological imagination. But we are also reminded by that very text in the 122 Psalm that we are to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. And that means praying for a genuine peace, praying for a lasting peace, a peace that is in reality not merely in symbolism and a peace that recognizes the fact that many of the Palestinians who will be most offended by this action are those who are identified as Christians trying to find their own way in terms of the tumultuous politics not to mention the geography of Israel today. There will be those who will celebrate, and there will be those who criticize perhaps are alarmed by the announcement made yesterday. But what Christians know to do is simply to obey that mandate from the 122 Psalm – above all things pray for the peace of Jerusalem.
Shalom, Semper Paratus, et Fidelis!
/fl
Law and Order
Democrat Fundraiser Charged With Multiple Felonies After Pointing Gun and Yelling Racial Slurs
According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the individual at whom [Matthew] Lieberman allegedly pointed a gun was standing at an Amoco station. He is then alleged to have fired several rounds at the gas station. Investigators who studied the station’s surveillance film said Lieberman can be seen on it and “bullet casings at the scene matched the make and model of bullet casings found in Lieberman’s car.”
After allegedly shooting at the Amoco, “Lieberman was at the Jack in the Box on Hampton Avenue, shouting racial epithets at maintenance workers.” He then allegedly fired several shots from inside his Mercedes.
He was arrested Wednesday and charged with “unlawful use of a weapon and armed criminal action.” One of the charges also carries a hate crime enhancement, as police officers indicated Lieberman’s “conduct and use of epithets indicate his actions to be motivated by race.”
Lieberman “has been a longtime fundraiser for Democrats in Missouri, including former St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay.” He lives in St. Louis.
This is a good example of the type of person that we see opposing the right of individual citizen's to keep and bear arms. Freedom comes with a necessary requirement of responsible behavior.
There is no greater requirement for responsible behavior than being free to keep and bear arms. Thankfully, the majority of our society is up to the task.
It's obvious that the refusal of some people to conduct themselves in a responsible manner is what underlies their projecting "gun control."
/fl
Law
Supreme Court Spurns Challenge to Maryland Assault Weapons Ban
The court turned away an appeal by several Maryland residents, firearms dealers and the state NRA association, who argued that the ban violated their right to keep and bear arms under the U.S. Constitution’s Second Amendment....
The challengers, who had sued Maryland’s governor and other officials in 2013, appealed a February ruling by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia that upheld the state’s law. The 4th Circuit said it had no power to extend constitutional protections to “weapons of war,” and it found little evidence such guns were well-suited for self-defense.
I guess that it depends on where you are in relationship with the fight, as to whether the evidence is big or little.
Some people seem to be oblivious to the fact that the term "assault rifle" has both offensive and defensive implication. To the law-abiding citizen, intent on defending themselves from an assault, the term is used as brevity for the more lengthy term: "a tool to defend yourself from an assault", as we recently saw evidenced in Texas. In that regard, why wouldn't the right to keep and bear "assault rifles" be included as a civil right guaranteed by the Second Amendment to our Constitution?
It appears that somebody still has their finger on the scale!
/fl
Law
National Reciprocity
Finally, some signs of life....
National reciprocity for concealed carry passed the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, and is expected to receive a floor vote before the end of the year.
The Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2017 was introduced by Rep. Richard Hudson (R-NC) on January 3, 2017. It changes federal law that so concealed carry permits are treated like driver’s licenses, making a permit from one state valid in the other 49. This would fix the complicated and often confusing patchwork of concealed carry laws currently in effect throughout the country.
To put it simply, Hudson’s bill allows the common man to defend himself and his family as he travels throughout this country.
You would think that since this issue involves an enumerated civil right guaranteed by the United States Constitution, we could have settled the matter long before the end of 2017.
All ahead slow....
/fl