It’s Nice to be Emperor

If you don’t like something or want to get something done, you don’t let little things like the Constitution get in your way.

For more than three years Emperor Obama has been behaving as if the separation of powers is a pesky fly to be swatted away whenever it becomes too annoying.

If Congress doesn’t pass the legislation he desires, he uses his executive powers and regulatory agencies to get his way. If he doesn’t like a law or thinks it’s unconstitutional, he tells his minions and bureaucrats not to enforce it.

In the past Emperor Obama used the EPA to create new cap-and-trade laws and the Department of Health and Human Services to force Catholics and other religious groups to go against their own consciences and provide their employees with abortion and birth-control coverage in their health care packages.

His latest edict came last week when he decided it would be nice to give about 1.4 million undocumented young immigrants temporary relief from deportation.

It didn’t matter to Emperor Obama what the legislative branch thought about the “DREAM Act,” which would provide conditional permanent residency to the well-behaved children of parents who came to the U.S. illegally.

It also didn’t matter to him that various versions of the act had failed to get through Congress for 10 years. He signed an imperial order and pronounced that his administration would stop deporting young illegal immigrants who meet the requirements of the DREAM Act.

In other words, once again our imperial president told Congress to buzz off. Saving his royal butt from being tossed out of the White House was more important than the rule of law and constitutional niceties.

This latest presidential power grab really wasn’t about helping young Latinos or working toward a long-run solution to a tricky immigration problem. It was about getting more Latinos to reward him with their votes in November.

Senator Marco Rubio had put forth an immigration plan that sought a long-term solution, but now it’s been shelved. Instead of doing the right thing and reaching across the aisle to Rubio and working with him, our imperious president played his usual cynical game of political solitaire.

Have you noticed how he never wants to solve anything in the long run? Whether it’s the payroll tax extension, the Keystone Pipeline or immigration, he wants it to remain an issue until December so he can use it as a ploy to get re-elected.

Emperor Obama obviously could not care less about helping the Latino population. When Democrats had control of both houses of Congress he did absolutely nothing for them.

Now he’s doing to Latinos what Penn State coach Jerry Sandusky allegedly did to the children of Pennsylvania — using and abusing them. With his short-sighted politicking, Emperor Obama has hurt the Latino cause in the long run.

More important is his disrespect for the U.S. Constitution. When he was elected president, not emperor, he raised his hand and swore to uphold the Constitution — the whole Constitution.

But like so-called “Cafeteria Catholics,” who pick and choose which rules of the Church they’ll abide by, or like those who pick and choose which of the Ten Commandments to follow, Barack Obama has become a Cafeteria Constitutionalist.

People on the right and many on the left are seriously concerned that we have an imperial president in the White House. Let’s hope the America people will be made aware of it, too, because they’re the only ones who can dethrone Emperor Obama.

Michael Reagan

Michael Reagan, the eldest son of Ronald Reagan, is heard daily by over 5 million listeners via his nationally syndicated talk radio program, “The Michael Reagan Show.”

http://townhall.com/columnists/michaelreagan/2012/06/20/its_nice_to_be_emperor/page/full/

Obama: “The Joke’s on You”

If Obama blows his reelection bid, maybe he can apply for a gig with a late night talk show.

Sure, his jokes aren’t that funny, but I presume that most of what he saying now really is just a joke.

And perhaps between now and November the jokes will get much better.

They could get worse, but let’s hope for the sake of our country that they don’t get that much worse.

After months of Obama telling us “All is well, the recovery is finally beginning!” the country faces one of the most dramatic slowdowns in economic activity since 2008-2009.

And it wasn’t like we didn’t predict this- since even before Obama was elected.

Economists are generally sticking with GDP growth rates for the United States of around an anemic 2-2.5 percent now that the inflation gravy train has slowed to a standstill. But if the optimistic forecasts of the same guys who did the math to take the risk out the subprime mortgage market doesn’t make you nervous, let’s try out the dystopian views of our Comedian-in-Chief.

How else do you describe the president of a country, mired in the most persistent unemployment since the great depression, who then blithely tells the rest of us that the economy “is just fine?”

Certainly he’s a comedian.

A poor comedian, for sure, but a jokester none the less.

But that’s not the latest joke.

Stop me if you’ve heard this one:

OBAMA:

This notion that somehow we caused the deficit is just wrong. It’s like somebody goes to a restaurant, orders a big steak dinner, martini, all that stuff, and then just as you’re sitting down, they leave and accuse you of running up the tab.

Yeah. The rest of us ran up the tab. Sure.

Who’s writing this material? Steve Martin?

Because: Excuuuuuuse me.

At least there was a tab before Obama. Obama now just demands blank checks and then never pays the tab.

Even the room full of Democrats laughed at that one.

Or how about the one he told last week where he is now majestically, regally allowing illegal immigrants stay and take jobs from people who reside in the country legally? With unemployment tracking at the highest level since the Great Depression?

That sure was funny to the 14.8 percent- and rising!- of people who are officially counted on the Bureau of Labor Statistics unemployment/underemployment rolls.

It was especially funny to Hispanics because Obama’s policy actually just encourages illegal immigrants to register for later deportation.

True fact: Obama used to brag that he deported more illegal immigrants than George W. Bush.

That’s Obama hypocrisy that we all can find quite hilarious.

It’s of the same type of hypocrisy that has Obama passing healthcare reform that does nothing to contain costs, banking reform that does nothing to contain systemic risks, a green jobs program that contains no jobs, a deficit reduction plan…oh yeah.

Biggest joke of all.

Remember last year when the budget deficit played for fifteen minutes of fame on D.C.’s Short Attention Span Theatre?

Obama couldn’t sit down at the table because he wasn’t even at the restaurant.

He was on vacation.

Ha!

Funny, right?

John Ransom

John Ransom is the Finance Editor for Townhall Finance. You can follow him on twitter @bamransom and on Facebook: bamransom.

http://finance.townhall.com/columnists/johnransom/2012/06/21/obama_the_jokes_on_you/page/full/

Why the ‘Disrespect’ for President Obama?

Last week, a “right-wing activist” (according to Michael Eric Dyson, guest-hosting for Ed Schultz on MSNBC) interrupted President Barack Obama as he explained his executive order that bars deportation for at least 800,000 illegal aliens who came to America — “brought to this country by their parents” — before the age of 16.

 

As Obama stood in the White House Rose Garden and outlined the plan, Neil Munro, a reporter with a conservative website, shouted, “Why do you favor foreigners over American workers?” Based on his colleagues’ reaction, one would have thought he’d thrown a shoe at the President. Reporters and pundits called him unprofessional, rude and even racist for interrupting Obama.

Never mind Munro asked a legitimate question — one that probably wouldn’t have even occurred to amnesty-supporting media: Will this harm the job prospects for struggling young American citizens? (Nor has anyone had the chance to ask Obama why, only a year ago, he told a Univision audience that he lacked the power to suspend student deportations via an executive order.)

Munro, for his part, claims he assumed the President had concluded and wanted to get in his question. Obama holds few press conferences, a matter of frustration to the White House press corp. When a president restricts access to the press, the newshounds grow restless and become more aggressive — at least they should.

In a 1987 article titled, “Why Do Grown Men and Women Shout at President Reagan?” The Associate Press wrote: “They do it for a living … shouting, badgering Reagan for one last word. It even takes place at ceremonies (including) the Rose Garden. … They … blame … Reagan and his aides, who have sharply curtailed opportunities for the press corps to engage the President under more civil circumstances.” Longtime White House correspondent-turned-columnist Helen Thomas often crossed the line when giving commentary that only masqueraded as inquiry. When “questioning” President George W. Bush, Thomas made it clear she opposed the Iraq War and accused President George W. Bush of starting “a war for oil.”

In Munro’s case, MSNBC contributor Julian Epstein asked: “Would the right wing be doing this if we had a white president there? … We’ve never had a president heckled so disrespectfully. We’ve never had this otherness afforded to any other president. And I think the right wing is going to have some explaining to do, because to me, it seems patently obvious.”

Imagine, lessons in civility from the network that gave a show to the race-hustling incendiary, the Rev. Al Sharpton. This “civil rights activist” became famous by falsely accusing a white man of raping a black teenage girl. Sharpton helped foment the 1991 Crown Heights riots, a three-day outburst of mostly black-driven, anti-Semitic violence that one Columbia University professor called “a modern-day pogrom.” Sharpton once called David Dinkins, the black mayor of New York City, a “n–ger whore.” MSNBC also gave a show to Ed Schultz, who once called conservative radio host Laura Ingraham a “right-wing slut.”

But the claim that racism drives much of the opposition to Obama does not confine itself to cable. Former President Jimmy Carter also blames racism for much of Obama opposition: “I think an overwhelming portion of the intensely demonstrated animosity toward President Barack Obama is based on the fact that he is a black man, that he’s African-American. Racism … still exists, and I think it’s bubbled up to the surface because of a belief among many white people, not just in the South but around the country, that African-Americans are not qualified to lead this great country.” Proof? None required.

Lack of respect for the office of the presidency? In the interest of time, we provide but a few reminders from the distant past:

“George W. Bush is our Bull Connor,” said Rep. Charlie Rangel, D-N.Y., comparing Bush to the Southern lawman who turned dogs and water hoses on civil rights marchers during the ’60s.

“Bush is an incompetent leader,” said then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. “In fact, he’s not a leader. He’s a person who has no judgment, no experience and no knowledge of the subjects that he has to decide upon.”

Sen. (then-candidate) Claire McCaskill, D-Mo.: After Hurricane Katrina, President Bush “let people die on rooftops in New Orleans because they were poor and because they were black.”

“I sometimes feel that Alfred E. Neuman is in charge in Washington,” said then-Sen. Hillary Clinton, referring to the dimwitted icon of Mad magazine. She even used Neuman’s catchphrase, “What, me worry?” to describe how Bush handled tough issues.

Democratic Sen. (and then-Minority Leader) Harry Reid of Nevada called Bush a “loser” and a “liar.” Reid apologized for the “loser” comment, but “liar” stood.

Etc., etc.

Former ABC White House reporter Sam Donaldson, who called Munro’s interruption “wrong and unusual,” wrote: “Many on the political right believe this President ought not to be there — they oppose him not for his polices and political view, but for who he is, an African American.”

“Many”? As many as those who support and defend Obama — because he is black? Or is it rude — and racist — to ask such a question?

Larry Elder

Larry Elder is a best-selling author and radio talk-show host. To find out more about Larry Elder, or become an “Elderado,” visit www.LarryElder.com.

http://townhall.com/columnists/larryelder/2012/06/21/why_the_disrespect_for_president_obama/page/full/#

Polygamy: Despite the best efforts of TLC, it still is not normal

Written by Chris Johnson

Another week, another episode of Polygamists are People Too (AKA Sister Wives) on the Normalizing Offensive Things Channel (AKA TLC).

This week’s episode featured the odd family doing normal family things in front of a camera to prove that they are just like everyone else and that their lifestyle should be accepted by society. Actually, that is a pretty good synopsis of the whole show.

TLC pulls out all the stops as it continues to portray the repulsive concept of group marriage as something “normal” and acceptable.  And several corporations are digging in their heels as they continue to sponsor “Sister Wives.”

Take Action!  Click here to send a message to the corporations empowering the legitimization of polygamy with their sponsorship of “Sister Wives.”

 

Repeat advertisers include:  Burger King, Subway, Sargento cheese, Jeep/Chrysler, Unilever products (Suave, Lipton), Chattem products (Gold Bond, Cortizone 10), AT&T, Comcast Xfinity, Mazda, and Resolve carpet cleaner.

 

Burger King has advertised on every single episode of this season’s “Sister Wives.”  The Tennessee based company Chattem, Inc. has also sponsored nearly every episode -advertising a variety of their products such as  Gold Bond, Allegra, Icy Hot, Cortizone 10.

 

These corporations need to hear from us repeatedly.  Our persistence will demonstrate that they will risk alienating potential customers by choosing to support controversial themes.

 

One company, Pfizer, seems to have gotten the message.  Pfizer was becoming a hardcore sponsor of “Sister Wives,” advertising their products for four weeks in a row – May 13, 20, 27, June 3) – even after hearing from many of you.  However, after repeatedly receiving “take action” messages each week from thousands of our readers, Pfizer has not advertised since June 3.

The following demonstrates how TLC uses innocuous behavior to portray evil as good.

In this week’s episode Kody took his first (but not favorite, of course) wife on an awesome vacation to Mexico where they climbed a pyramid, swam with dolphins, and rappelled to an underground lake. The rest of the wives, of course, were fine with it because he hadn’t done much for her birthday or their anniversary.

Since he usually takes whichever wife has a birthday or anniversary on an overnight trip, but hadn’t been able to this year, a week on the beach in Mexico is a rough equivalent. Apparently, at least, it’s the same in his mind, the minds of the wives who didn’t get to go, and the kids who saw their dad showing favoritism to the one that, odds are, isn’t their mom.

I have to wonder if people actually think this show is an accurate representation of “plural” families. The Browns have made it perfectly clear that they are trying to paint a pretty picture of the polygamist lifestyle, so when the wives say, “no, I don’t mind if he takes her to the ocean for a dream vacation and leaves the rest of us behind,” I find that rather hard to believe.

The cameramen also were sure to interview one of the guides on their vacation who had been shocked to learn that this was no normal couple, but that there were three more “wives” at home. The guide said exactly what you would expect someone who had a camera stuck in their face and were asked what they thought of the subjects of the TV show – something along the lines of, “they were nice and fun.”

The second half hour episode was a question and answer time with the husband, the wives, and the teenagers. They answered many of the questions everyone has been dying to know like, “are people in Las Vegas more judgmental than people in Utah?” and “how does Kody do his hair?” Unfortunately no one asked the question that’s been bugging me: is Kody related to the Geico caveman?

The answer that TLC couldn’t wait to air – you could tell because they advertised that it was coming up no less than three times during the episode – was to the question, “what does Kody take to keep all those women happy in bed?”

After sending all the teens out of the room for some reason (read – to tease out the suspense) Kody showed that he had higher morals than the audience because he would never discuss such a question among the family, let alone in front of an audience.

Vapors! Not only are polygamists normal, but they have higher morals! At least once you get passed the whole multiple wives thing.

Click here to send a message to the corporations empowering this promotion of group marriage.

http://www.americandecency.org/archives/polygamy-despite-the-best-efforts-of-tlc-it-still-is-not-normal/#more-6778

J.C. Penney President Francis Resigns

Last week we urged you to email J.C. Penney.  You remember don’t you?  It was entitled:  Seriously? J.C. Penneys Father’s Day homosexual ad

Our email read (in part):

Yes, seriously.  The once trusted J.C. Penney has turned its back upon their core consumers:  people who believe that adultery and homosexuality and same sex marriage go against the Creator God –  the God of the Bible.

J.C. Penney thinks people like you don’t care about God’s loving and holy standards of the Bible.

As we sent this out I wondered,  isn’t there someone there at Penney’s headquarters that yet has a conscience – a concern for what God thinks about such evil, such blatant wickedness?

I was therefore shocked when our staff showed me an article stating: J.C. Penney President Francis resigns – effective immediately. It was unexpected.  He had only been with JC Penney since October. He was hired to turn the faltering company around. Now he’s suddenly gone.

We wish no ill will toward him or any individual.   We also hope and will pray that he experienced a deep regret at the appalling direction the once great J.C. Penney corporation has gone.

Make no mistake.  Their chief executive (whom you emailed to last week) was also hired as a turn-around wizard.   He is not oblivious to J.C. Penney’s Father’s Day homosexual ad campaign.  That’s for sure.

Click here to express concern to Chief Executive Ron Johnson as these egregious issues continue at J.C. Penney.

Here’s the article referenced above:

After just eight months, JC Penney (JCP: 21.94, -2.39, -9.82%) said its president, Michael Francis, will be leaving the company, effective immediately.

 

Chief executive Ron Johnson will assume direct responsibility and oversight of the company’s marketing and merchandising functions.

The retailer, which has been undergoing a major overhaul, did not say why Francis suddenly resigned, and it did not immediately respond to FOXbusiness.com for a comment.

 

“We thank Michael for his hard work at JC Penney and wish him the best in his future endeavors,” Johnson said in a brief statement released late on Monday.

 

JC Penney nabbed (Francis) from Target (TGT: 58.27, -0.20, -0.34%) in October, where he was a 21-year veteran and last served as the retail chain’s chief marketing officer. He was lured to JC Penney to help revamp the third-largest U.S. department-store chain shortly after Johnson was appointed as CEO.

 

Shares of Plano, Texas-based JC Penney were down more than 5% to $23.09 after hours. They had closed the session down 2.25% to $24.33.

 

So far, the retailer’s highly-anticipated overhaul has largely been viewed as a flop. Last month, JC Penney reported an 18.9% drop in same-store sales. Read more: http://www.foxbusiness.com/industries/2012/06/18/jc-penney-michael-francis-stepping-down/#ixzz1yFlFl2qV

To support our efforts please *click here* https://secure4.afo.net/ada/donate.php

or mail your gift to American Decency Association (ADA), PO Box 202, Fremont, MI 49412.

American Decency Association is a member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability.

http://www.americandecency.org/archives/j-c-penney-president-francis-resigns/#more-6774

When God comes knocking

“I slept but my heart was awake.      Listen! My beloved is knocking: ‘Open to me, my sister, my darling,      my dove, my flawless one. My head is drenched with dew,      my hair with the dampness of the night’.” — Song of Solomon 5:2

King Solomon writes “I slept but my heart was awake.” How can a person be both asleep and awake at the same time? As you probably guessed, Solomon wasn’t referring to a physical condition; he was referring to a spiritual one. A person can be spiritually asleep, and yet even as they slumber, something deep inside of them remains wide awake. Somewhere deep within there is a feeling of emptiness, discomfort, and restlessness.  Even when the body is asleep, the soul does not experience tranquility.

        “Listen! My beloved is knocking . . . ” Even the deepest sleeper can be awakened. There are times in our lives when we hear the Lord knocking at our door. It can be during times of great joy – like the birth of a child or a marriage. Or it can be at times of great sorrow – like losing a loved one or going through a serious illness.

It can really be any time at all. Sitting underneath the stars or hiking up a great mountain – at some point everyone experiences, however so briefly, what can only be described as the Divine. They are moments of clarity and awe. They are the moments that encourage us to be better and become greater. But more important than those moments themselves are the minutes that follow.

How do you respond when God comes knocking on your door? Do you get up and let Him in? Do you make the changes that you are inspired to make? Sadly, the woman in the Song of Solomon hesitates.  She has just gotten into bed and she doesn’t want to dirty her feet.  Eventually, she decides that getting her feet dusty is a small price to pay for the gift of seeing the love of her life, but by the time she gets to the door, he is already gone.“I opened for my beloved, but my beloved had left; he was gone. My heart sank at his departure” (Song of Solomon 5:6). A moment’s hesitation can lead to a lifetime of regret.

Don’t be that woman.  When God pays you a visit – when you get a flash of inspiration or you are suddenly clear about your path in life – don’t think it over too much. When God is at your doorstep, let Him in!  Let Him into your life and let Him change your life.

http://www.holylandmoments.org/devotionals/when-god-comes-knocking

To Win in Life

“Run in such a way as to get the prize.”                             1Co 9:24 NIV

William Arthur Ward wrote: “Believe while others are doubting. Plan while others are playing. Decide while others are delaying. Prepare while others are daydreaming. Begin while others are procrastinating. Work while others are wishing. Save while others are wasting. Listen while others are talking. Smile while others are frowning. Persist while others are quitting.” To win in life requires three things: (1) You must start. That may seem obvious, but many of us are stuck in the starting blocks waiting for something to get us going. What has God called and equipped you to do? Step out and do it, and He will empower you! (2) You must give it your all. Divers in the Olympics don’t save all their effort for their final dive. They concentrate on nailing every single one, increasing their chances for a gold medal. Don’t settle for mediocrity at any stage of life (See Php 3:14). (3) You must never quit. In the 1992 Olympics, Derek Redmond of Britain was competing in the 400 meter race when he suffered a torn hamstring and fell. As the other runners breezed past him, he began to struggle to his feet. His father, whose face was covered with tears, suddenly ran down from the stands to help him up. Slowly, agonizingly, they made their way around the rest of the track and crossed the finish line as the stadium in Seoul burst into thunderous applause. Redmond didn’t win a medal, but he won something more important—the respect of the world. The Bible says, “Run in such a way as to get the prize.”

http://theencouragingword.wordpress.com/2012/06/21/to-win-in-life/

John The Baptist Tells Of Jesus’ Work

While Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea and Herod was ruler of Galilee, a man named John, the son of Zachariah, lived in the desert country. And God commanded him and he went into all the country around the river Jordan calling upon men to be baptized to show that they were sorry for their sins and wished to be forgiven. Those who were truly sorry for their sins, he baptized in the river Jordan.

This John wore a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt, and his food was locusts and wild honey.

Then the people of Jerusalem and all Judea and the country around the Jordan began to go out to him to confess their sins and to be baptized by him in the Jordan.

To the crowds that went out to be baptized by him he said, “You children of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Bear fruits, then, that will prove that you are truly sorry for what you have done. Do not say to yourselves, ‘We are children of Abraham‘; for I tell you, God can raise up children for Abraham from these stones. Already the axe lies at the root of the trees. Every tree, therefore, that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

The crowds kept asking him, “What must we do?” He answered them, “Let him who has two coats share with him who has none; and let him who has food do the same.”

When the tax-gatherers came to be baptized, they said to him, “Teacher, what must we do?” He said to them, “Do not take more from any one than rightfully belongs to you.” Soldiers also asked him, “And what must we do?” To them he said, “Do not take money from anybody by force, nor make false charges, but be content with your wages.”

Now as the people were wondering whether John might possibly be the Christ, John said to them all, “I indeed baptize you with water; but One is coming mightier than I, whose shoe-strings I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. His fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly cleanse his threshing-floor, and will gather the wheat into his storehouse; but the chaff he will burn up with fire that cannot be put out.” In this way, and with many other earnest words, he told the good news to the people.

http://kids.ochristian.com/Childrens-Bible/John-The-Baptist-Tells-Of-Jesus-Work.shtml

Intense Prayer

Peter was kept in prison: but prayer (instant and earnest prayer) was made for him” (Acts 12:5, margin).

Peter was in prison awaiting his execution. The Church had neither human power nor influence to save him. There was no earthly help, but there was help to be obtained by the way of Heaven. They gave themselves to fervent, importunate prayer. God sent His angel, who aroused Peter from sleep and led him out through the first and second wards of the prison; and when they came to the iron gate, it opened to them of its own accord, and Peter was free.

There may be some iron gate in your life that has blocked your way. Like a caged bird you have often beaten against the bars, but instead of helping, you have only had to fall back tired, exhausted and sore at heart. There is a secret for you to learn, and that is believing prayer; and when you come to the iron gate, it will open of its own accord. How much wasted energy and sore disappointment will be saved if you will learn to pray as did the Church in the upper room! Insurmountable difficulties will disappear; adverse circumstances will prove favorable if you learn to pray, not with your own faith but with the faith of God (Mark 11:22, margin).

Souls in prison have been waiting for years for the gate to open; love ones out of Christ, bound by Satan, will be set free when you pray till you definitely believe God.

–C. H. P.

Emergencies call for intense prayer. When the man becomes the prayer nothing can resist its touch. Elijah on Carmel, bowed down on the ground, with his face between his knees, that was prayer–the man himself. No words are mentioned. Prayer can be too tense for words. The man’s whole being was in touch with God, and was set with God against the powers of evil. They couldn’t withstand such praying. There’s more of this embodied praying needed. –The Bent-knee Time

“Groanings which cannot be uttered are often prayers which cannot be refused.”

–C. H. Spurgeon

http://devotionals.ochristian.com/mrs-charles-cowman-streams-in-the-desert-devotional.shtml

 

An Assuring Presence

An Assuring Presence.