Muddling Toward Maturity Blog

TUCKER CARLSON - "YOU CAN CHOOSE YOUR OWN GENDER?"

Tucker Carlson directs some questions to DNC advisor Zac Petkanas.  Must viewing.    

 

MORNING WORSHIP SERVICE ON TRUMP INAUGURATION DAY JANUARY 20, 2017

Tim Wildmon of the American Family Association attended St John's Church in Washington, D.C. with about 200 others the morning of Donald J. Trump's inauguration as the 45th President of the United States.  I found Wildmon's description of the service quite interesting; he provided information I had not read elsewhere.  Wildmon wrote:

As we entered the small sanctuary, I pointed out to Alison the front pews, where small cards on the first three rows read “Reserved for the Pence family, “Reserved for the Trump family” and “Reserved for Secret Service.” We found a seat about eight rows back, eagerly awaiting the arrival of the Trump and Pence families.

At 8:30 Vice President-Elect Mike Pence walked down the aisle with his wife and family. At 8:35 President-Elect Donald Trump came down the aisle with his wife and the Trump family. It was really quite surreal.

The service included hymns, Scripture reading, and a short sermon by Dr. Robert Jeffress, pastor of First Baptist Church of Dallas. Dr. Jeffress delivered a message from the book of Nehemiah. After he concluded, Dr. James Dobson came to the pulpit and asked Mr. Pence to stand. Dr. Dobson challenged him to live for God every day and then prayed over him.

Next, evangelist James Robison walked to the pulpit and asked Mr. Trump to stand. The evangelist then talked directly to Mr. Trump about the importance of honesty and integrity. Before praying for him, Robinson said he believes God is going to use Donald Trump for “such a time as this” (Esther 4:14). The service lasted about 30 to 40 minutes and was one of the most remarkable spiritual events I have ever seen. I think everyone in the room was moved by the power of God.  [more . . .]

NINETH CIRCUIT JUDGES - A DANGER TO THE CONSTITUTION AND THE U.S.

The following analysis written by Matthew Vadum is one of the most comprehensive analyses available.  At the end I have offered additional links related to the Ninth Circuit's ruling.  Vadum writes:

Three unelected federal judges in San Francisco yesterday ordered the Trump administration to continue accepting visitors and would-be immigrants from seven dangerous countries that are incubators of Muslim terrorism.

When President Trump learned his temporary ban on the admission of aliens from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen that was put on hold Feb. 3 by Seattle-based Judge James L. Robart would continue in abeyance, he got on Twitter immediately.

At 6:35 p.m. Eastern time he tweeted in all caps: “SEE YOU IN COURT, THE SECURITY OF OUR NATION IS AT STAKE!”

The open-borders crowd doesn’t have a legal leg to stand on. That may be why at a press conference celebrating the outrageous ruling, a member of Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s (D) team deployed the phrase “social justice” to justify the decision. “Social justice” is a magical amulet that nullifies anything the Left doesn’t like, including the president’s executive order. Its very invocation is an admission that a cause is illegitimate and un-American.

The Ninth Circuit’s fairy dust-based decision is “an intellectually dishonest piece of work,” said retired Judge Andrew Napolitano.

OBAMA SCHEMES TO SABOTAGE TRUMP'S PRESIDENCY

If Paul Sperry (writing in today's New York Post) is right, the United States remains subject to the tentacles of a failed and discredited Obama who has put in motion an apparatus to torpedo Trump's vision of an "America First" presidency.  (HT: Drudge)  Quite maddening!  Other presidents don't fight their successors!  Sperry writes:

When former President Barack Obama said he was “heartened” by anti-Trump protests, he was sending a message of approval to his troops. Troops? Yes, Obama has an army of agitators — numbering more than 30,000 — who will fight his Republican successor at every turn of his historic presidency. And Obama will command them from a bunker less than two miles from the White House.

In what’s shaping up to be a highly unusual post-presidency, Obama isn’t just staying behind in Washington. He’s working behind the scenes to set up what will effectively be a shadow government to not only protect his threatened legacy, but to sabotage the incoming administration and its popular “America First” agenda.

KIDS NEED TO BE IN THE KITCHEN

I greatly enjoyed an article in yesterday's Wall Street Journal titled "There's No School Like the Kitchen."  The online version carries the subtitle, "Cooking helps kids learn, appreciate different cultures and refine their motor skills."  I found Lorraine Allen's article both intriguing and convincing.  She writes:

My husband and I cook daily for our 8-year-old daughter because, like 15 million other Americans (an estimated two children per classroom), she has food allergies. For our daughter, this ritual is inspiring and educational. She loves helping out—rolling dough, mixing sauces—and creating her own dishes, from tarts to homemade linguine. At age 6 she opened her own allergy-friendly bakery. I’m no gourmet chef, but I spent much of my own childhood helping my grandmother in the kitchen, a lucky thing, I now know.

As our child grows, I’ve come to realize that helping in the kitchen develops far more than basic cooking skills. Children gain countless crucial developmental skills, and because they absorb these lessons in a hands-on, playful way, they are immediately engaged without parental nagging.

For toddlers, the kitchen is a perfect place to hone their gross and fine motor skills, using their hands to wash and peel produce, stir sauce, or dig out a measure of flour or pinch of salt. A preschooler will gain important cognitive skills from sorting forks and spoons, matching lids on sippy cups, and avoiding a hot stove.

NO MORAL EQUIVALENCY BETWEEN THE U.S. AND PUTIN'S REGIME

I agree with Trump on many things, but his stated moral equivalence between Russia and the United States must be regarded as profoundly twisted and disturbing.  David French properly takes Trump to task.  

I didn’t think I’d ever see the day when a Republican president equated America with Russia — and did so in a way that echoed the worst of fever-swamp radical leftism. There has already been enough commentary on Trump’s headline-grabbing initial response to Bill O’Reilly’s claim that Vladimir Putin is a “killer.” Trump said, “There are a lot of killers. We have a lot of killers. Well, you think our country is so innocent?” I’d like to focus on the follow-up, when O’Reilly gave him an opportunity to amend his statement:

O’REILLY: I don’t know of any government leaders that are killers.

TRUMP: Well — take a look at what we’ve done, too. We made a lot of mistakes. I’ve been against the war in Iraq from the beginning.

O’REILLY: Yes, mistakes are different than –

TRUMP: We made a lot of mistakes, OK, but a lot of people were killed. So, a lot of killers around, believe me.

French continues: 

When I was a young man living for the first time in the heart of leftist America, I was stunned at the number of books and lectures that made the case that there was no moral difference between the United States and its enemies. Some even went so far as to declare that we were somehow worse than the Soviets — or on some kind of par with Imperial Japan for Nazi Germany because, after all, we dropped a nuclear weapon. We engaged in area bombing. They killed. We killed. What’s the difference?

A CAMPUS FREE SPEECH ACT IS DESPERATELY NEEDED

George Leef writes in National Review Online:

I wrote last week about the importance of the model bill drafted by the Goldwater Institute — the Campus Free Speech Act. In my latest Forbes article, I elaborate on the problem and why state legislators must take action.

Free speech is far too important to leave to the campus crowd of administrators, faculty, and zealous students who are little inclined to stand up for free speech. Mostly, anti-speech views rule — that is to say, speech is tolerated only if it aligns perfectly with “progressive” ideology. Since campus officials have shown that they cannot be entrusted with the crucial task of justifying and defending free speech, it’s time for state lawmakers to step in. Sure, the academic elite will howl that such legislation interferes in “their” domain, but public colleges and universities are not theirs to run.

Let us hope that legislators who want to restore the First Amendment and its values on our campuses introduce the model bill in each state. It certainly won’t pass everywhere, but the debate will be enlightening.

** Update:  Lt. Gov. Dan Forest of North CArolina issued a news release 2/7/16:

Lt. Governor Dan Forest to Push for Campus Free Speech

Raleigh, NC – Lt. Governor Dan Forest today announced his intention to work with members of the General Assembly to pass the “Restore Campus Free Speech Act”.  Recently, in spectacles that have been broadcast around the nation, speakers at college campuses are being denied their first amendment rights to freedom of speech.  This proposed legislation would ensure the First Amendment right of freedom of speech is upheld on North Carolina public university campuses.

"REVELATION SONG" - SUNG IN ELEVEN LANGUAGES!

What a wonderful foretaste of heaven!   The video below celebrates the praises of God in Hebrew, Spanish, Japanese, German, Dutch, Chinese, Korean, French, Finnish, Portuguese and English.   I agree with the friend who sent this to me; it would have been still more wonderful if singers in Arabic and Swahili could have participated!  But they will be there in that future Day!  Scripture says, before long there will be "a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb.. crying out with a loud voice, 'salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb!'" (Rev. 7:9)