News Briefs and the Surrender of Journalistic Integrity

1. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) instituted a policy that recognized the religious and cultural traditions of some of its members. The decision came following a complaint from an Asian Indian officer who insisted on facial hair, a beard, and wearing a turban. The new policy does have restrictions, facial hair cannot be more than one inch in length, and the turban worn under a regular officer cap. The military has also revised its dress codes. Is America losing its cultural identity, a victim of diversity and multiculturalism?
2. President Obama recently signed a bipartisan International Religious Freedom Bill (H.R.1150). I guess it is probably wise to follow the old proverb “Never look a gift horse in the mouth”. But you must admit, Barack Obama signing off on a religious freedom bill, on its face, is truly the height of hypocrisy. This is a president who has shown indifference and contempt for religious liberty in his own country, and who through executive fiat has defied nature and nature’s God, denied traditional values and marriage, and threatened Christianity with mandates and lawsuits that undermine religious faith.
3. The American people and the rest of the civilized world, by now realize how those on the left have completely lost reason and control. The hopes, dreams and wishful thinking of angry, disturbed, despondent and even deranged liberals that the president elect will through some scandal or political maneuverings be driven out of office is, sad. These desperate and confused souls are even going so far as to bring into the discussion the 25^th amendment to the Constitution as a means of removing the president elect before he even assumes office. We have reached a point where they must be muzzled to protect us from their rabid bite.
4. Loser, sexist. mutt, demagogue, scatterbrained, Hitler-like, misogynist, Stalin-like, punk, unethical, bully, creature from the black lagoon, crude, riffraff, dangerous, deplorable, despicable, braggart, liar, ignoramus, bigot, deadbeat, brat, malevolent, vulgarian, repugnant, Russian operator, reckless, chauvinist, woman-hater, egomaniac, Islamaphobe, homophobe, and lest we forget racist. These are just some of the references made toward President Trump. The next phase of all this liberal/progressive raucous and unhinged behavior could be revising dictionaries, but instead of definitions alongside each of the negative references is a picture of Mr. Trump.
5. Recently Barbara and Jenna Bush penned a letter to Malia and Sasha Obama, giving the two young girls helpful advice and information as they begin their lives after their father leaves office. But even this kind and selfless act could not escape the slings and arrows of a snowflake liberal in distress.

In the Sunday January 15 New York Daily News, Linda Stasi wrote a scathing column, criticizing the Bush daughters and using their act of kindness to insult and criticize their father the former president. Ms. Stasi can at time be rather harsh, even contemptuous and uncompromising in her liberal ideological leanings. In response to her column, I forwarded the following to the editor:

Surrender your journalistic integrity to liberal insolence; you wind up in the gutter. Linda Stasi does herself a disservice, which seems to be occurring often as of late. What was meant as a selfless and honest gesture by the daughters of former President George W. Bush is turned into an opportunity to once again, as has been Ms. Stasi’s habit of doing, to bash Mr. Bush in an intemperate, vile and hysterical tirade of misinformation by comparing his tenure as president with that of Barack Obama, whose legacy will find little, if any, commendation.

Was it not that long ago that Ms. Stasi gave us another column similar in content where she heaped praise and adulation on Mr. Obama who she referred to as a “Class Act”, or did I get that wrong, was it classless act. This is starting to get messy and embarrassing. Ms. Stasi appears to be possessed by an unreasonable passion, behaving like an infatuated school girl who would do well to calm down.

I believe Ms. Stasi owes Barbara, Jenna Bush and the former president an apology, not only for inferring that their missive to the Obama daughters was nothing more than “Bush League”, and without substance, but also for too often disrespecting and insulting their father, a former president. But I doubt she is capable of that, liberals, with few exceptions, lack the capacity for graciousness and understanding.

For all Ms. Stasi’s laudation of Barack Obama, there is one major issue that when weighed in the balance completely diminishes all his so called attributes and success; Barack Obama, aside from being a petulant and arrogant demagogue, has no respect for the dignity of human life. His is the most extreme position of any president in recent memory on abortion, supporting this grotesque killing of the innocent up to and after birth; recall his votes in the Illinois state legislature.

Edmund Burke wrote, “Men (and women) of intemperate minds cannot be free, their passions forge their fetters”. I would suggest Ms. Stasi remember this, lest she embarrasses herself once again.

Currently before the Congress is multiple pending legislation; in particular are three bills that we hope will be enacted now that republicans are the majority in the three branches of government:

• Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act H.R.36 is sponsored by Republican Congressman Trent Franks, and S.1553 by Republican Senator Lindsay Graham. This legislation would prohibit an abortion provider from performing the procedure after 20 weeks gestation, this will be based on a physician first determining the post-fertilization age of the unborn child. As of March 2016, there were nineteen states that have enacted a 20 week ban: Alabama,Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, West Virginia and Wisconsin. (Rewire News/Legislative Tracker)
• First Amendment Defense Act S.1598 is sponsored by Republican Senator Mike Lee. This legislation would uphold religious liberty and prevent the federal government from discriminating against those who oppose same sex marriage, I.e. bakers, photographers, artists, small Christian business owners in general.
• Religious Liberty Protection Act H.R. 4396, sponsored by Republican Congressman Blaine Leutkemeyer. This bill would prohibit the Secretary of Health and Human Services from rules that would mandate that medical insurance coverage include contraceptives and sterilization.

Every so often in future articles, I will discuss news briefs that span a wide spectrum of issues, I would hope they are informative and enlightening.