Remembering 9/11

On this the 25th anniversary of the horrific terrorist attacks by Islamic jihadists on the United States -- attacks which murdered nearly 3,000 people and created immense and long-enduring waves of fear and grief -- I’m not only remembering those despicable events this morning but also considering how very little America and the rest of the Western world learned from them. Let me write down a few of my reflections.

1) I was in southern Poland when the mass murderers struck. I was part of a small team serving handicapped people and their families by making friends, sharing the gospel, and distributing much-needed wheelchairs and walkers. We were doing so through the graces of Joni Eareckson-Tada’s Wheels for the World ministry. We had concluded most of our work for the day and had just begun a meal with some town officials when shocked faces and whispered conversations suggested something terrible had happened. But no one told us anything; well, except in learning the meeting was canceled due to a great tragedy occurring back in the United States. The locals suggested we go back to our hotel. 

Imagine hearing this and then walking back through the little town shadowed by unknown fears and sorrow and speculation. Had there been an earthquake or tornado swarms? An assassination? We were at a complete loss. Then, finally we arrived at the hotel where there were a few Poles who spoke English. But before they tried explaining, they openly wept, embraced us, and then pointed us to the television screens where we saw the films of the airplanes striking the Towers. The reality turned out to be more dire, more wicked than anything we had imagined. And there were a lot more horrors to come. 

Miraculously, I was able to make telephone contact with Claire fairly quickly and there was much comfort in that. But, as the hours and days stretched on, there was much more to learn, to mourn, and to try and deal with. And we had to do it apart from one another for there were no planes flying into the U.S. They wouldn’t be for many days to come. Therefore, our team decided to go ahead and complete the ministry tasks before us. Claire had to “play the medic” with friends and family stateside while also praying, getting accurate information to pass on to me, and fighting the paralyzing shock which came from sitting too long before the television’s endless replays of the attacks. It would be another 10 days or so before I got back to Nebraska to be with her.

2) My remembrances of these awful, awful days will always brightened a bit by the recall of Poland’s remarkable outpouring of sympathy and solidarity and tender friendship towards the United States...and to me personally. Everywhere we went there were tears and embraces and flowers and attempts to say in English “I am so sorry” and “We are praying for you” and so on.

I was to eventually learn that there was no nation that even came even close to expressing the love and loyalty and spiritual kinship to America as did Poland in that time. And being one of those blessed to experience in direct and abundant ways their tender hearts, I thank the Poles from the depths of my heart.

3) There was a lot made in those first days about the terrorist attacks serving as an awesome alarm, a trumpeting judgment, an ominous warning to America and the West about our indifference to God and to the low stupidity of mere secularism as a way of life. And, as Claire explained to me over the phone, there were people going suddenly to church, there were more references to God even by politicians and media agents, and more of an honest recognition of our nation’s spiritual unpreparedness. But what happened? Well, it was a very shallow, very brief awakening indeed. And by the time I arrived back into the country, everything was back to its dead normalcy. It turned out that even the shock of these historically unique and unimaginably barbaric terror attacks was not enough to persuade us to get right with Almighty God. In fact, the powers that be were soon twisting these demonic attacks into a bizarre tapestry of symbols and slogans, religious syncretism, empty (and coldly ironic) platitudes about unity and brotherhood, and over-the-top praises of our brave, tolerant, enduring, and free-spirited selves.

Oh yes; there were a few brave and faithful voices calling out for genuine repentance and close attention to the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ: Franklin Graham, Jack Hibbs, John MacArthur, Greg Laurie, and others. But most Christian leaders, including the local pastors, failed to take this dramatically open door to teach the truths about the wages of sin, the exclusivity of the gospel, and the brutal and wicked blasphemies which pervade the “peaceful” religion of Islam.

4) And that last point introduces my 4th theme of these reflections this morning. My friends, we must admit that a combination of a) an unconscionable ignorance of the tenets of Muslim religion, b) an unconscionable ignorance of the history of Islamic militancy, and c) a rank cowardice to take a stand for truth that kept America and the West from honestly, effectively dealing with 9/11. For we can read what the Koran openly teaches. We can read the history books detailing Islam’s attitudes (and actions) toward the non-Muslim world. And we can look around us to see how far the evil character of Muslim jihad has invaded the West in just the last 3 generations.

If the Muslim inspired mass murders of 9/11 cannot awaken us to what Islam is and what Islam demands, what on earth will? If Europe (including the United Kingdom) tolerates (and sometimes even embraces) Islamic extremes -- sharia law, forced conversions, honor killings, genital mutilation of women, rape, and lazy individuals leeching off the fruits of Western civilization until they’re completely used up -- who will ever draw a “no more surrender” line? And as goes Europe, so too is going Canada and Australia...and the United States of America. 

Alas, the slogans of 9/11 ring terribly hollow now. For rather than dealing with the horrid realities, we are electing vehemently anti-American Muslims to public office, allowing loudspeakers to sound their strident calls to prayer throughout the day, requiring citizens to observe Muslim holidays, and so on. And, all the while, acting with straight faces like Islamophobia is a real thing while ignoring the waves of anti-Semitism and anti-Christianity that are engulfing the world. Good grief. 

So...my reflections on the anniversary of 9/11? They are intense; they are sad; and they are not very optimistic. But then, I joyfully remember this overarching fact -- because I have trusted Jesus Christ as my Savior, I am a citizen of another country, another kingdom and He has settled my eternal future in the New Jerusalem which He will bring out of heaven as eternity begins. And because of that glorious future, because of the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit available to me right now, and because His Word is solid and effective in directing my steps now and until He takes me home, I can live my life as a light-bearing ambassador for the Lord Jesus in any culture, any circumstance. Thank You, Lord. Revive Your people and cause us to walk in Your ways. 

Dear President Trump...

 Dear President Trump,

I write as one who has enthusiastically promoted your ideas and agenda, defended you against foolish and mean-spirited criticism, and regularly prayed for God’s richest blessings on your life and family and leadership. 

However, I have become especially and increasingly disillusioned with two areas in your administration. 1) The fumbling away of the massive advantage you had won over Iran. Remarkably now, these arrogant, unrepentant terrorists who remain viciously anti-American and anti-Israel, are getting away with it! Getting away with mass murder, with jihadist intentions towards Israel, and with winning from the U.S. and other nations yet more millions of dollars as they profit from blackmail and violence. Why, oh why the hesitation, the second guessing, the gullibility, the hypocrisy? When your friends (Israel and the genuine conservatives in the Republican Party here) are alarmed and disappointed at your actions (or, in this case, the lack thereof), and your unprincipled enemies like Hillary Clinton are patting you on the back, something stinks very badly. 

Please, President Trump, get this thing over with!

And then 2) Your pro-life statements notwithstanding, sir, your administration’s ongoing promotion of abortifacient poisons is – quite -- literally killing millions of preborn kids and inflicting serious damage on the bodies and souls of thousands and thousands of moms. Please, Mr. President, stop the double-mindedness you’ve shown to date on this critically important issue and start today to truly protect human lives from the abortionists’ bloodthirsty designs.

Most sincerely,

You Get Rid of Religion...and You Can't Hire Enough Police

I believe it important to share Clay Christensen's profound video clip every once in awhile. It's only 90 seconds but its ever-relevant, ever-challenging. Watch it; reflect on it; share it.

There Are Wolves in the World

"Brothers and sisters, there are wolves in the world — ravenous, treacherous, and relentless wolves in the world. These beasts are also proud, wicked, and full of bloodlust. And, make no mistake, their frantic passions are ever-increasing to kill and devour, to spread panic and despair..."

The rest of the September letter from Vital Signs Ministries is right here.

In the Era of Putin's Aggression, Remember Alexander Solzhenitsyn

The injustice and cruelty of the Soviet Union’s vast organization of labor camps in the 1930’s and 1940’s are now well known. But that knowledge didn’t have to surface. Indeed, without the grace of God acting through such heroic individuals as Alexander Solzhenitsyn, the truth might well have remained buried by Communist cover-ups.

Solzhenitsyn's was the foremost voice raised against the grandiose and oppressive Soviet machine. Through rare courage and sacrificial efforts, he managed to alert the whole world to the barbaric injustices committed against countless numbers of human beings.

Solzhenitsyn’s most famous (though not often read) book is the riveting 3-volume Gulag Archipelago. In that incredible work, the former slave camp worker documents the massive catalog of outrageous lies, violence, and criminal corruption that were the “very stuff” of Soviet Communism. In the Gulag (and even in his fiction), Solzhenitsyn serves primarily as an historian. It is enough, he insisted, to simply record what happened, to give the truth an open hearing. He had a bold faith in the triumphant power of truth and he therefore believed that when people learned the real story of Soviet tyranny, they would never again allow the devil an open door to such blasphemy and brutality.

It is in this sense that Alexander Solzhenitsyn is hailed as a prophet – not as a foreteller of future events but as a “forthteller” of what had already happened. He held up the banner of truth and, simply by performing that service, he helped change the world.

Solzhenitsyn’s play The Love-Girl and the Innocent is set in a forced labor camp in Siberia in 1945 and it features one of the persecuted men listing just a few of the monstrous crimes performed by Soviet thugs that he had personally witnessed. The prisoner is beside himself with fury, feeling utterly helpless to do anything about this all-enveloping injustice. But in response, Pavel Gai, an imprisoned ex-soldier who has experienced more than his own share of horrors, answers him with chilling authority. “What can we do? Remember – that’s all.”

And that's precisely what Alexander Solzhenitsyn did.  He remembered.  In fact, it was his constant plea to God to help him remember specific events, people, and situations so that he could record the true history of the Soviet Union's crimes against humanity and God. Solzhenitsyn desired more than anything else to be a faithful historian in order to effectively honor the gulag’s victims, and perhaps more important, preserve and proclaim the truths about Communism that could set the future free.

Ronald Reagan was one of those inspired by those revelations and he acted on the knowledge that Solzhenitsyn had so bravely preserved. The camps were emptied. The Wall finally came down. Truth, just a simple presentation of the truth, can indeed destroy the darkness.

And now in our day, with Vladimir Putin’s savage return to the dark lies of totalitarianism, persecution, and terrorism with which he is trying to drown the truth of Communist Russia’s corruption, inefficiency and failure, Alexander Solzhenitsyn's example and exhortations are as valuable as ever.

Note: I am undertaking a re-read of Solzhenitsyn’s Gulag Archipelago this spring and summer. Anyone interested in joining me?

Praying God’s Arrows Will Fly

In recent years my intercessory prayers have included specifically “targeted” prayers against the mindless, nihilistic lawlessness which is spreading across the world – lawlessness seen not only in riots, looting, and increased homicides in our cities, but also in the rebellion of the general culture against God’s distinct and holy laws regarding sexuality, sanctity of life, respect for parents and the “ancient boundaries,” modesty, humility, just punishment for criminal acts, and the exclusivity of the gospel.

These prayers have frequently utilized a biblical metaphor that I was drawn to in our reading of Psalms and Job; namely, the arrows of God.  Let me give you a couple of examples.

“Your arrows are sharp; the peoples fall under You; Your arrows are in the heart of the King’s enemies.”  (Psalm 45:5, NASB)

“If a man does not repent, He will sharpen His sword; He has bent His bow and made it ready.  He has also prepared for Himself deadly weapons; He makes His arrows fiery shafts.”  (Psalm 7:12-13 NASB)

“He sent out His arrows, and scattered them, and lightning flashes in abundance, and routed them.”  (Psalm 18:14 NASB)

“For the arrows of the Almighty are within me. Their poison my spirit drinks. The terrors of God are arrayed against me.”  (Job 6:4 NASB)

I have been praying, therefore, for the arrows of God’s judgment to fly into the heart of the King’s enemies, that the corrosive poison they possess would weaken and overcome the wicked purposes devised by the devil.  For those who will not repent, who will not submit to the holiness and mercy of God, I pray that His fiery shafts will fly swift and sure into their ranks, bringing about confusion, deflation, and defeat.

But I’m not praying for these things in general. I’m praying that these divine arrows fly into the heart of certain key strongholds of the enemy. In fact, here are the specific targets in my list.

* Islam and other false religions (including Communism and the various other strains of Marxism).

* The apostasy, syncretism, cowardice, and love of the world’s approval which increasingly marks the churches of our day.

* The mega-abortion corporation that is Planned Parenthood.

* The lying, manipulative media.

* The Democrat Party and its fellow travelers who have completely sold out to abortion, sexual perversion, religious intolerance, the coddling of criminals, and anti-Americanism.

* The monopolistic and irreligious powers of government educators.

* The malevolent powers of Big Tech (Google, Twitter, YouTube, Amazon, and others) which are, like the “old guard” media, going all out to suppress the truth, to persuade people to believe lies, and to mock all things godly.

* The Deep State.

A couple of things to note – If you feel uncomfortable with this kind of prayer, perhaps it is because you have paid more attention to the prayers you normally hear in church than to the prayers you find in Scripture.  I would suggest you read through Psalms (prayers for God’s judgments upon the wicked absolutely abound there) but also in the prophets, the New Testament epistles, and Revelation.

Also keep in mind that the pattern of prayer Jesus gives His disciples in Matthew 6:9-13 and Luke 11:2-4 includes an appeal for God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.  That means dispensing holiness and justice in Washington, D.C., Beijing, the Kremlin, Damascus, and everywhere else. (Don’t forget, however, that the faithful disciple of Christ desires God’s will be done also in one’s home, business, entertainment decisions, finances, the kids’ education, etc.) So, make no mistake. Prayers for God’s judgment upon sin and rebellion are not only always in order; they are our duty.

Finally, remember always the cautionary promise of Romans 12:19. “‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord.”  That’s a promise that first appears in Deuteronomy 32:35 but it is repeated in Psalm 94:1-3, here in Romans, and in Hebrews 10:30. It is obvious, then, that God wants us to appreciate that the dispensing of judgment isn’t a bad thing at all.  That is, unless we try to deal it out ourselves.  No, our hatred and anger, our cursing and complaining; any dirty tricks we might want to play on our enemies – none of that serves the cause of justice. Indeed, none of that pleases God in the least.  However, vengeance delivered from the throne of God is another thing altogether.  God’s vengeance is wonderful, holy, and eminently just. It is a comforting promise that underscores both His righteousness and His power.  And so it’s a good thing to pray for. 

Lord, let Your arrows fly into the heart of Your enemies.  Let their wicked schemes crumble and fall apart. And in the confused fight from their destruction, let many souls turn to the liberating, cleansing power of the gospel message.  Yet, even so, Lord Jesus; please come soon for Your Church.

I invite you to join Claire and me in this intercessory campaign against these (and other) demonic strongholds. 

“Five Annihilating Words: One Night He Heard Screams”

“The daughter of a former German diplomat in Moscow was trying to explain to me why her father, who, as an enlightened modern man, had been extremely pro-Communist, had since become an implacable anti-Communist. It was hard for her because, as an enlightened modern girl, she shared the Communist vision without being a Communist. But she loved her father and the irrationality of his defection embarrassed her. ‘He was immensely pro-Soviet,’ she said, ‘and then -- you’ll laugh at me, but you must not laugh at my father -- and then one night in Moscow, he heard screams. That’s all. Simply one night he heard screams.’

A child of Reason and the 20th Century, she knew that there is a logic of the mind. She did not know that the soul has a logic that may be more compelling than the mind’s. She did not know at all that she had swept away the logic of the mind, the logic of history, the logic of politics, the myth of the 20th Century, with five annihilating words: one night he heard screams.

What Communist has not heard those screams? They come from husbands torn forever from their wives in midnight arrests. They come, muffled, from the execution cellars of the secret police, from the torture chambers of the Lubianka, from all the citadels of terror now stretching from Berlin to Canton. They come from those freight cars loaded with men, women and children, the enemies of the Communist State, locked in, packed in, left on remote sidings to freeze to death at night in the Russian winter. They come from minds driven mad by the horrors of mass starvation ordered and enforced as a policy for the Communist State. They come from the starved skeletons, worked to death, flogged to death (as an example to others) in the freezing filth of sub-arctic labor camps. They come from children whose parents are suddenly, inexplicably, taken away from them – parents they will never see again.

What Communist has not heard those screams?”

(Whittaker Chambers, Witness, pages 13, 14)

A Post-Branson "Catch Up"

Being in Branson the past couple of weeks for a family reunion and then a week of our traditional autumn working vacation, not to mention the extra duties I've embraced because of Claire's broken ankle, I have neglected compiling a selection of “must read” posts for awhile.

I remedy that now with these gems:

* “America’s abortion extremism” (Sheila Liaugminas, Mercator)

* “President Donald Trump Defends Defunding Intl Planned Parenthood: We Must ‘Protect the Unborn’” (Steven Ertelt, LifeNews.com)

* “Weinstein Dropped $100K at 2017 Planned Parenthood Gala” (Katie Yoder, MRC NewsBusters)

* “5 lessons Harvey Weinstein can teach us about Hollywood” (Michael Cook, Mercator)

* “Trump’s Great Call on UNESCO” (Paul Mirengoff, Power Line)

* “Google Honors Planned Parenthood CEO Cecile Richards as a “Modern-Day Hero” (Micaiah, Bilger, LifeNews.com)

* “Don’t Call Climate Skeptics ‘Deniers,’ Call Us ‘Correct’” (Christopher Monckton, American Spectator)

* “Never Forget: Muslim Hate Crime Hoaxes” (Michelle Malkin, National Review)

* “Boy Scouts Are Now Allowing Girls to Join” (Henry Rodgers, Daily Signal)

* “Actress Elisabeth Moss Will Star in New Movie Glorifying a Network of Secret Abortionists” (Micaiah, Bilger, LifeNews.com)

Solzhenitsyn on America's “Decline in Courage”

With the momentous happenings of last week; particularly the straightforward long overdue speech of President Trump to the United Nations, followed by the latest cave in of Washington politicians to Obamacare, Planned Parenthood, the leftist media, and even the rants of unhinged dictators in North Korea and Iran,  I recalled a particularly relevant  passage from Alexander Solzhenitsyn’s commencement speech at Harvard in 1978.

“A decline in courage may be the most striking feature which an outside observer notices in the West in our days. The Western world has lost its civil courage, both as a whole and separately, in each country, each government, each political party, and, of course, in the United Nations. Such a decline in courage is particularly noticeable among the ruling groups and the intellectual elite, causing an impression of loss of courage by the entire society. Of course, there are many courageous individuals, but they have no determining influence on public life.

Political and intellectual bureaucrats show depression, passivity, and perplexity in their actions and in their statements, and even more so in theoretical reflections to explain how realistic, reasonable, as well as intellectually and even morally worn it is to base state policies on weakness and cowardice. And decline in courage is ironically emphasized by occasional explosions of anger and inflexibility on the part of the same bureaucrats when dealing with weak governments and with countries not supported by anyone, or with currents which cannot offer any resistance. But they get tongue-tied and paralyzed when they deal with powerful governments and threatening forces, with aggressors and international terrorists.

Should one point out that from ancient times declining courage has been considered the beginning of the end?”

The Deathly Legacy of Socialism

On this Throwback Thursday I think it’s relevant to remember just how ugly, barbarous, and enslaving Socialism actually is. On this day in 1962,  East German guards machine-gunned a young man who was making an escape attempt over the Berlin Wall into West Berlin. They shot him, shot him again, and then left him to bleed to death as horrified onlookers from the western side of the Wall begged them to provide help. It was just one of the many murders Socialism committed at the Berlin Wall…and that’s not figuring the millions and millions of others perpetrated in the 20th Century by Soviet Russia, her puppet leaders of Eastern Europe, Cuba, Vietnam, North Korea, and Communist China.

But more on this particular atrocity — It was on August 17, 1962, that two young men from East Berlin made their desperate break for freedom.  One made it, though suffering terrible cuts from the barbed wire. His friend didn’t. He was shot down by machine guns mounted on the East Berlin side. The young man fell, managed to struggle to the Wall itself, and began to climb over. The machine guns spat more flame and bullets as the man fell back screaming. For nearly an hour, he lay there bleeding to death and crying for help. West German guards threw bandages to the man while an angry crowd of West Berliners implored  the German “security soldiers” to do something to help the dying man. They did nothing and the young man bled to death.

The Socialists of the Soviet Union and East Germany always claimed that the Wall was a protection from the pernicious influences of Western capitalism and culture. Yet they murdered almost 80 people who tried to escape over that dastardly Wall during the years of its existence, 1961 to 1989.

No one was ever shot trying to enter East Berlin. For Socialism must use mind-numbing propaganda, comprehensive repression, and even deadly force to keep its population in line.

A Few Letters

A couple of weeks ago, Claire and I were invited to a meeting of one of the small groups from our church because they wanted us to show them how to create a letter-writing party, one that would feature some of the letter targets we regularly emphasize in our quarterly Vital Signs Ministries letter-writing parties, but would also blend in some that were more particular to their church. Great.  We were delighted to do it.

Many of the letters and cards written that night were sent to politicians and business leaders with fervent appeals to defund Planned Parenthood while several others were sent that dealt with religious freedom and protection of conscience. Still others concerned the "bathroom wars," judicial appointments, cutting ties to terrorist supporting nations, and thank you notes to missionaries and other heroes of the Faith.

I print below just a few of the 45 letters that were written that night. In showing you how brief (but purposeful) they are, perhaps they will prompt you to consider trying a letter-writing party of your own. Claire and I would be honored to help.

Dear Mr. Simpson,

After reading that Hersheypark has not yet changed its disastrous bathroom policy (i.e. allowing men who merely “identify” as female to use the female facilities), I must write and tell you that I am among the many who have crossed off Hersheypark from our vacation considerations.

Please return to a measure of sanity and safety on this matter.

Dear Vice-President Pence,

Just a quick word of thanks for your excellent services in this critical office and in demonstrating such principle, courage, fairness, and a winsome witness to the Christian faith.  We are proud of you and we pledge our continued prayers for God’s protection, wisdom, and all other needed graces.

Wes & Laurie,

A quick word of thanks for your ongoing work for the Lord at the orphanage.  We are profoundly grateful too for the opportunity to pray for the Lord to bless your work and keep you in the palm of His Hand.

Dear Cal, (Cal Thomas)

We miss you on Fox News but it makes us appreciate all the more your excellent columns.  Thank you so much for staying the course for the Lord and His truth over these many years.  And may God continue to use your voice.

Dear Ken & Joni, (Tada)

A few of us from Community Bible Church in Omaha, Nebraska are writing letters tonight in our efforts to be salt and light for the Lord.  And along with letters to politicians and business leaders, we thought we’d write a few thank you notes to some of the heroes of the Faith who we are so grateful for.  And so we write to you two dear saints with deep gratitude, admiration, and promise to keep you both (and the ministry of Joni & Friends) in our frequent prayers.

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Catching Up

From the weekend -- and the auspicious start of this week -- comes a list of some of the web's best reading. Have at 'em.

* “How Obama is scheming to sabotage Trump’s presidency” (Paul Sperry, New York Post)

* “Teen Vogue’s Pro-Abortion Assault on Underage Girls” (Stephen Herreid, The Stream)

* “Hillary's ‘Future Is Female’ Femme-A-Goguery” (Michelle Malkin, Town Hall)

* “The ever-expanding family of LGB acronyms” (Michael Cook, Mercator)

* “Planned Parenthood Still Hasn’t Produced an Annual Report. Here’s Why That’s a Problem.” (Melanie Israel, Daily Signal)

* “Why is Saturday Night Live News?” (John Hinderaker, Power Line)

* “Rogue Federal Bureaucrats Threaten Trump’s Agenda” (Fred Lucas, Daily Signal)

* “Report: 72 convicted of terrorism from ‘Trump 7’ mostly Muslim countries” (Paul Bedard, Washington Examiner)

What To Read on Inauguration Eve? (Try These.)

* “7 Things Trump Should Include on His Religious Freedom To-Do List” 
(Liberty McArtor, The Stream)

* “Sponsors of Anarchy” (Michelle Malkin, Creators Syndicate)

* “After Ignoring Obama Scandals For 8 Years, Reporters Are Now Making Them Up About Trump” (Editorial, Investor’s Business Daily)

* “Brennan, the Russian Dossier and Obama's Grand Political Strategy” (Lee Smith, Weekly Standard)

* “What Trump Is Up Against” (Steven Hayward, Power Line)

* “Why liberals just love to set terrorists free” (Bob McManus, New York Post)

* “Obama scores the worst legislative record in history: Signed fewer bills into law than one-term Carter” (Stephen Dinan, Washington Times)

* “Report: Schools Are Teaching Kids To Hate America Under The Guise Of ‘Civics’” (Joy Pullmann, The Federalist)

* “Border Patrol Alters Stats to Hide Release of Criminal Aliens, High Recidivism” (Judicial Watch)

* “A list of the most insane things uttered by the abortion activist speaking at the Vatican next month” (Claire Chretien, Life Site News)

Midweek Roundup (And Really Good Ones, At That)

* “Obama’s Commutation of Manning Sentence Sends a Horrible Message to Service Personnel” (Cully Stimson, Daily Signal)

* “The Assassination of Donald Trump: Except it’s not working.” (Ben Stein, American Spectator)

* “Outgoing Obama has granted more commutations than the past 12 Presidents Combined” (Will Kirby, Daily Express)

* “‘Women’s March’ Ousts Pro-Life Feminists from Protest” (Thomas D. Williams, Breitbart)

* “Safe Spaces for Fascists” (Daniel Greenfield, Front Page Magazine)

* “CNN Contributor Considers These Men ‘Mediocre Negroes’? (Michael Brown, The Stream)

* “Democratic Senator: Russian Interference Had An Impact On The Election Results — No, They Didn’t” (Matt Vespa, Town Hall)

* “Trump's NATO blunder” (Washington Examiner editorial)

* “These eight US states have shrunk in 2016: U.S. population growth is at an 80 year low.” (Shannon Roberts, Mercator)

* “Dear Younger Me, Don’t Abandon Orthodoxy” (Chelsen Vicari, Juicy Ecumenism)

* “EPA Stiffs the People It Injured” (John Hinderaker, Power Line)

Obama Claims He's Made the World a Safer Place. Has He?

A Little Post-Christmas Light

* “Islamists Attack Christmas, but Europeans Abolish It” (Giulio Meotti, Gatestone Institute)

* “‘Islamist Terrorists Continually Slaughter Christians’: Trump Says What Obama Refused to Say” (Michael Brown, The Stream)

* “Obama’s Betrayal of Israel Is a Black Day for American Diplomacy” (Andrew C. McCarthy, National Review)

* “Obama Leaves Another Hot Mess” (Jonah Goldberg, National Review)

* “U.S. Should Not Only Defund U.N. But Withdraw From It” (Daniel Greenfield, Front Page Mag)

* “A Problem From Hell, Indeed” (Editorial, The New York Sun)

* “Texas to Defund Planned Parenthood” (Amanda Prestigiacomo, Daily Wire)

* “Professor tweets ‘all I want for Christmas is white genocide’” (Thomas Lifson, American Thinker)

* “Is Trump Becoming a Conservative?” (John Hinderaker, Power Line)

* “The Failure of Public Schooling in One Chart” (Dan Mitchell, The Stream)

The Latest Roundup (Of Important News & Commentary)

* “Diplomatic terrorism at the UN, courtesy President Obama” (Anne Bayefsky, Fox News)

* “Final tally shows Trump lost popular vote by 2.8 million – but he BEAT Clinton by 3 million votes outside of California and New York” (David Martosko, Daily Mail)

* “White House Chief of Staff Absurdly Claims Obama ‘Most Catholic of Presidents’” (Dustin Siggins, The Stream)

* “Count your blessings much, Mrs. Grinch?” (Michelle Malkin, Jewish World Review)

* “Obsolete Climate Science On CO2” (Richard A. Epstein, Defining Ideas)

* “Obama shock: Another $6 billion in ‘midnight regulations’” (Paul Bedard, Washington Examiner)

* “A last kiss for mama: Jihadi parents bid young daughters goodbye... before one walks into a Damascus police station and is blown up by remote detonator” (Julian Robinson, Daily Mail)

* “Cops nab 20-year-old student who allegedly littered his Long Island college campus with swastika graffiti” (John Annese, New York Daily News)

* “The Trump nail in the media coffin” (Victor Davis Hanson, Jewish World Review)

* “George Washington University Removes U.S. History as a Requirement for History Majors” ( Andrew Stiles, Heat Street)

Surveying the Ground

Here's the latest compilations of news and commentary that you can use...and that you'll certainly not see dealt with fairly in the old guard media.

* “The Slaughter at Cairo” (Editorial, New York Sun)

* “The 7 Worst Examples of Fake News From the Mainstream Media” (John Hawkins, Town Hall)

* “Convicting Geert Wilders of ‘speaking’ seems to have backfired” (Jazz Shaw, Hot Air)

* “Obama’s Second Term Was a Complete Failure” (Jim Geraghty, National Review)

* “Trump Election Saves Us From the Evil Party” (Ross Kaminsky, American Spectator)

* “CDC: Heroin Deaths Surpassed Firearm-Related Homicides in 2015” (Awr Hawkins, Breitbart)

* “Report: Costly wind turbines projected to yield $1.39 in daily savings” (Fox News)

* “Venezuela’s Socialists Play Santa Claus” (John Hinderaker, Power Line)

Chronicles of Culture You Shouldn't Miss

Here's the latest roundup of news and commentary that, like Vitamin C and
exercise, is very good for what ails you.

* “The Nationalist Spirit of 2016: A Conservative Spring” (David Brog & Yoram Hazony, NRO)

* “Who do you trust on the economy: Obama or your own lying eyes?” (Andrew Malcolm, Hot Air)

* “Media Say We're In A Jobs Boom — We're Not” (Editorial, Investor’s Business Daily)

* “Are You Being Played? (Answer? Yes!)” (Sharyl Attkisson video clip, Reposted on Vital Signs Blog)

* “World Vision’s Decades-Long Hate Campaign Against Israel” (Luke Moon, The Tower)

* “Study blames DDT ban — not global warming — for U.S. mosquito eruption” (Valerie Richardson, Washington Times)

* “A Complete List of Radical Islamic Terror Attacks on U.S. Soil Under Obama” (James Barrett, Daily Wire)

* “Good riddance Harry Reid” (Editorial, Washington Examiner)

* “Assessing the Obama Legacy — Against His Own Mileposts” (Victor Davis Hanson, NRO)

Catching Up from the Weekend

* “Why The Left Loves Totalitarians Like Fidel Castro” (Paul Bonicelli, The Federalist)

* “In America, a Thousand Little Castros” (Andrew Cline, NRO)

* “Why Trump’s Phone Conversation with Taiwan’s President Is a Good Sign” (Ian Tuttle, NRO)

* “Should Claire McCaskill Determine Who Will Replace Scalia?” (Paul Mirengoff, Power Line)

* “Obama administration fails to check immigrants against FBI databases, approves citizenship” (Stephen Dinan, Washington Times)

* “For a ‘Peaceful’ Group, Black Lives Matter Sure Does Love Cop Killers and Murderous Dictators” (David French, NRO)

* “Big Labor threw tons of cash at Democrats, but workers voted red” (Carl Campanile, New York Post)

* “Illegal Voting and What To Do About It” (Paul Mirengoff, Power Line)