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on: Today at 07:40:20 AM
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In Him Is No Darkness
“This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.” (1 John 1:5)
Light is the most fundamental and important form of energy, and energy includes every phenomenon in the physical universe. It is appropriate for John to affirm that God is light, because everything created must reflect the character of its Creator. The term “light,” therefore, has come to be applied not only to light in the physical sense, but also to that which is true in the intellectual realm, and holy in the moral realm as well.
In terms of truth and genuine knowledge, “the entrance of thy words giveth light” (Psalm 119:130). “In thy light shall we see light” (Psalm 36:9). Without God’s truth, there is only darkness. “The god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them” (2 Corinthians 4:4). The Bible also speaks of light as moral holiness. “For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light. . . . And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them” (Ephesians 5:8, 11).
There are still other analogies: “In him was life; and the life was the light of men” (John 1:4). Not only is light symbolic of life itself, but it also depicts God’s daily guidance for our lives. “I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life” (John 8:12). Since there is no darkness in God, “if we walk in the light as he is in the light” (1 John 1:7), there remains no excuse for any darkness in our lives. “For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6). HMM
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on: December 17, 2018, 05:14:12 PM
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Started by nChrist - Last post by nChrist
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Paul and the Children of Adam
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam
But in due time, under Paul’s ministry, God cast away His covenant people (temporarily) along with the Gentiles, concluding all in unbelief “that He might have MERCY upon all” (Rom. 11:32, 33). 6 Thus it is Paul that takes us back, in his theology, not to David or Abraham, with whom the covenants were made, but to fallen Adam, pointing out that “as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin,” so by another “one Man” we may be delivered from sin and death (See Rom. 5:12-19).
“Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness [or, righteous act] of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life” (Rom. 5:18).
Thus in Paul’s epistles former distinctions disappear. “Henceforth,” he says, “know we no man after the flesh” (II Cor. 5:16).
“For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek; for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon Him.
“For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Rom. 10:12,13).
There are, to be sure, human distinctions between Adam’s children that are still to be observed, but before God there is no difference, except that which we found existing between Adam’s first two children, the difference between faith and unbelief.
Now the sacred secret revealed through Paul has cast its light upon the story of Cain and Abel. The blood sacrifice which God then required was typical of that which He has since provided and by which believers not only receive witness that they are righteous but become partakers of all of the merits of Calvary: oneness with Christ, oneness with each other in Christ, a heavenly position, heavenly blessings, a heavenly prospect and all “the riches of His grace.”
“To the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved.
“In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace;
“Where He hath abounded toward us…” (Eph. 1:6-8).
“That in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:7).
Those who reject this forgiveness and these riches of grace are often much like Cain. They may be industrious, sensitive and refined. They may indeed be religious, but instead of approaching God in His way, through the blood of Christ, they come, like Cain, offering what they think is better: the fruit of their toil, their “good” character or their religious efforts.
Tell these good, religious people that only the blood of Christ can save them and, like Cain, their countenances fall. But the very religious leaders who have protested that the doctrine of the blood is “loathesome to the finer senses,” have also been the leaders in the apostasy that has encouraged communism and the brutality and godlessness that is even now engulfing our nation in its perils. Such is the inconsistency of unbelief, and it is of such that God says: “Woe unto them, for they have gone in the way of Cain…” (Jude 11).
THE ONLY DISTINCTION
During this dispensation of Grace God does not favor one race, or nation, or class above another where salvation is concerned. The one basic distinction is that which we found existing at the very beginning between Cain and Abel, and this distinction now, as then, determines our destinies.
“And the Lord had respect unto Abel AND TO HIS OFFERING, but unto Cain AND TO HIS OFFERING He had not respect.” Each man was accepted or rejected on the basis of His offering.
Today, since Christ has already given Himself as a sacrifice for us, we may either trust in His finished work and be accepted by God or bring our own sacrifice and be rejected.
Those who are rejected will one day have to say with Cain: “My punishment is greater than I can bear.” Those who are accepted will forever enjoy “the exceeding riches of His grace…His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.”
“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31).
Notes:
1 A.V. renders this “sin” but in the Hebrew the word for sin offering is the same as the word for sin. Evidently “sin offering” is intended here.
2 This applies to His offer of salvation to all, for as far as salvation itself is concerned He does not “have mercy upon all” (See Rom. 9:18).
3 A.V. renders this “sin” but in the Hebrew the word for sin offering is the same as the word for sin. Evidently “sin offering” is intended here.
4 This applies to His offer of salvation to all, for as far as salvation itself is concerned He does not “have mercy upon all” (See Rom. 9:18).
5 A.V. renders this “sin” but in the Hebrew the word for sin offering is the same as the word for sin. Evidently “sin offering” is intended here.
6 This applies to His offer of salvation to all, for as far as salvation itself is concerned He does not “have mercy upon all” (See Rom. 9:18). |
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on: December 17, 2018, 05:13:19 PM
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Started by nChrist - Last post by nChrist
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Paul and the Children of Adam
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam
THE WORLD’S FIRSTBORN
In Genesis 4:1 we read that when the first child was born into the world Eve exclaimed: “I have gotten a man from the Lord!” and the babe was named Cain, meaning Acquisition.
Some Hebrew scholars have held that Eve actually said: “I have gotten a man—Jehovah!” However this may be, it seems clear that Eve did conclude that she had given birth to the promised Seed of Genesis 3:15.
Eve thought Cain was Christ. As she gazed at the child in loving pride, she doubtless said to herself: “A second Adam! The promised seed! And sent in such a lovely way! A man from God in my own arms!”
Eve would have been cold-blooded and hard-hearted had she not thought this. Yet she was wrong, for Cain was not Christ. Rather he was “of that wicked one” and soon enough he would grow up and it would be seen that “his works were evil” (I John 3:12).
CAIN AND ABEL
Whether or not Genesis 4:14 indicates that Adam’s children were already numerous when Cain was driven from the presence of the Lord, it is clear that the record of Scripture deals only with Cain and Abel until Seth is born to fill Abel’s place (Gen. 4:25).
Let us go back, then, to Cain and Abel, the world’s firstborn sons. Here at the dawn of history there were no racial distinctions, no Jew and Gentile, no black and white—just the two sons of one father, Adam. Yet there was one great difference between the two: the difference between faith and unbelief.
It is quite possible that had we known Cain and Abel personally we might have preferred Cain’s companionship to that of Abel. Cain was industrious, “a tiller of the ground,” while Abel was a shepherd. Cain may have been the more religiously inclined too, for we read first of Cain that “he brought an offering to the Lord,” and then of Abel that “he also” brought one (Gen. 4:3,4). Furthermore Cain may well have possessed the more refined and sensitive nature since he brought to the Lord, not a bleeding, quivering, dying lamb, but an offering “of the fruit of the ground.” Yet the record goes on to say:
“…And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering;
“But unto Cain and to his offering He had not respect…” (Vers. 4,5).
The reason for this is made perfectly clear in Hebrews 11:4, where we read:
“By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and by it he, being dead, yet speaketh.”
The fact that Abel, unlike Cain, brought his sacrifice by faith, must mean that God had instructed the brothers as to the sacrifices they were to bring, for “faith cometh by hearing” (Rom. 10:17).
UNBELIEF AND SELF-WILL
As faith is the mother of obedience, so unbelief is the mother of disobedience and self-will.
Cain could, like Abel, have approached God in God’s way. Had he done so he would, like Abel, have been accepted and would have “obtained witness that he was righteous.”
It was unreasonable, therefore, but typical, that when he was not accepted he “was very wroth, and his countenance fell” (Ver. 5). How gracious of God, then, to reason with him as He did.
“And the Lord said unto Cain, why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?
“If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, a sin offering 5 lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him” (Vers. 6,7).
The meaning is clear. Do what is right and you will not need to bring a sacrifice, but even now that you have sinned, you need not be rejected for a sin offering lies at hand and you can bring it in sacrifice.
THE INCONSISTENCY OF UNBELIEF
But Cain was adamant. His pride had been hurt. And thus it was that one day “Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him” (Ver. 8).
Think of the inconsistency of this brutal act! The man who had been too sensitive, too refined, to bring a slain animal to God in sacrifice for his sins, was not too sensitive or refined to bludgeon his own brother to death.
As a result of his brutal obstinacy Cain was driven from the presence of the Lord to become a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth, and to cry with the doomed: “My punishment is greater than I can bear” (Ver. 13).
PAUL AND THE CHILDREN OF ADAM
It was given to the Apostle Paul to “fulfil [or complete] the Word of God” (Col. 1:25), not statistically, or textually, or chronologically, but doctrinally, by the revelation of “the mystery” (Ver. 26).
Paul’s God-given message was the capstone of divine revelation, for “the mystery” revealed to him is the secret of all God’s dealings with men and it is in its light that we must consider even the ancient account of Cain and Abel.
For nearly four thousand years God had made distinctions between man and man, distinctions between the line of Seth and the line of Cain, between the seed of Abraham and that of the pagan world about him, between the seed of Isaac and that of Ishmael, between the nation Israel and the other nations. |
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on: December 17, 2018, 05:10:56 PM
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Started by nChrist - Last post by nChrist
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Full Assurance
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam
It is wonderful to have the full assurance of salvation, and it is God’s will that every one of us enjoy this assurance. Toward the close of his life the Apostle John wrote by divine inspiration:
“These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that ye may know that ye have eternal life…” (I John 5:13).
There are three bases upon which believers in Christ may enjoy the full assurance of salvation: First, God urges every true believer: “Let us draw near, with a sincere heart, in full assurance of faith…” (Heb. 10:22). This is the full assurance that results from simply believing God; much as a child implicitly believes what his father has said and is absolutely sure that it is true. God says: “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life” (John 3:36). We may simply — and with good reason — believe His Word and enjoy the full assurance of faith.
Second, we may enjoy what Heb. 6:11 calls “the full assurance of hope.” The hope of the Bible, however, must not be confused with wishing. The Christian’s “hope” is “an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast” (Ver. 19). It comes from having proved God. Thus the full assurance of hope is the confidence that results from having accepted God’s Word.
But third, and best of all, is what Col. 2:2 calls “riches of the full assurance of understanding.” This full assurance is God’s reward to Christians who study His Word and His purposes, beginning with His plan of salvation as revealed in “the gospel of the grace of God.” When one not only believes God’s Word, but begins to understand it he cannot but be gripped by its sublime reasonableness, its powerful logic, and its provision for his deepest needs, and thus he comes to enjoy “all [the] riches of the full assurance of understanding.” |
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on: December 17, 2018, 05:08:08 PM
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Started by nChrist - Last post by nChrist
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The Patriot Post Digest 12-17-2018
From The Federalist Patriot
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Apparently some efforts by the FBI and DOJ to maintain integrity and guard against destruction of evidence are “more equal” than others. In yet another stunning revelation43, IG Horowitz revealed a number text messages between anti-Trump ex-FBI officials Peter Strzok and Lisa Page have “gone missing,” and government phones issued to Strzok and Page by Mueller’s office had been “wiped completely clean” — by the special counsel’s records officer. Americans also learned that form 302 records of the FBI interview precipitating Gen. Michael Flynn’s prosecution were altered44 — months after the fact.
How long the increasingly transparent corruption can stay hidden remains to be seen. MDA Analytics LLC, a company run by ex-federal criminal investigators turned over45 6,000 pages of evidence attached to a whistleblower submission filed secretly more than a year ago with the IRS and FBI. That evidence alleges the Clinton Foundation engaged in illegal activity. Those documents are in addition to the more than 5,000 documents and detailed daily briefs to the FBI turned over by Campbell — also more than a year ago.
Nonetheless, the Russian collusion investigation remains focused on Trump — enabled and conducted by a cadre of people who themselves should be investigated.
And those who dare to expose their malfeasance? Until former Attorney General Jeff Session lifted it, Campbell was issued a gag order and threatened with prosecution by the Loretta Lynch-led Justice Department when he pursued a civil action that would have revealed information about the sale. Cain had his home raided, and the FBI declines to say who authorized it or why it was authorized.
In short, what is being reported by a wholly corrupt, Trump-hating media as an investigation into the current administration’s collusion with Russia is looking more like a counteroffensive, aimed at preventing genuine Russian collusion perpetrated by several members of the Obama administration — and possibly Obama himself — from being exposed.
No one can remotely justify giving the Russians any control whatsoever of America’s uranium production capacity. The stench rising from this deal and the wholly one-sided, see-no-Democrat-evil “investigation” conducted by Mueller is overwhelming.
“So I blow the whistle on the FBI, get raided by the same FBI, and now they want to keep the FBI’s reasons secret? Do we now live in a secret police state? Feels a little like 1984,” Cain tweeted last Monday.
It feels a lot like 1984.
https://patriotpost.us/articles/60074-fbi-slash-doj-corruption-getting-impossible-to-ignore
OPINION IN BRIEF
Ryan T. Anderson: “Does the golden rule ever require bad public policy? That’s the implication of what some political strategists are proposing in the name of fairness. At issue is a proposal among some Christian leaders to strike a compromise with some LGBT activists to balance ‘LGBT rights’ with religious liberty. The proposal would elevate ‘sexual orientation and gender identity’ (SOGI) to protected classes in federal law in exchange for certain exemptions for religious colleges and institutions. They call this approach ‘Fairness for All.’ Compromises can be good, but this particular one is bad. As I explain in a recent issue brief, such proposals would not result in actual fairness for all. Instead, they would penalize many Americans who believe that we are created male and female, and that male and female are created for each other. They would violate the privacy and safety of women and girls, the conscience rights of doctors and other medical professionals, and the free speech and religious liberty rights of countless professionals who find themselves outside the select group of institutions who are exempted. Establishing bad public policy for everyone and then exempting select religious institutions is not acting for the common good — and is certainly not fair for all. And there are better ways forward for those who seek compromise.”
SHORT CUTS
The Gipper: “Of the four wars in my lifetime none came about because the U.S. was too strong.”
Upright:“If you’re a campaign-finance lawyer, and a candidate asks your advice on how to buy the silence of a porn star and hide that payment entirely from the American people, your best response should be, ‘Have you considered not running for office?’” —David French
BREAKING NEWS: “I’m not a person of color.” —Elizabeth “Fauxcahontas” Warren
Food for thought: “Just imagine the media’s reaction if Mike Pence or some conservative member of Congress had posted a picture of Representative-elect [Ilhan] Omar praying with the caption ‘Allah take the wheel!’ Of course, that would be no laughing matter. Sadly, hundreds of people have been killed by jihadists who were shouting praise to Allah while at the wheel of trucks and vans in Israel, in Europe and even here in the United States.” —Gary Bauer
Delusions of grandeur: “Our federal government is working on behalf of corporations and their bottom lines at the expense of people. So they’re rolling back regulations that prevent pollution and make people sick and make people die.” —Tom Steyer
Tone-deaf: “When our leaders are content on making up whatever facts they want, a lot of people have begun to doubt the notion of common ground.” —Barack Obama
And last… “For the 66th year in a row, Miss Universe is a biological woman. The bigotry is astounding.” —Matt Walsh
https://patriotpost.us/articles/60084-monday-short-cuts
Join our editors and staff in daily prayer for our Patriots in uniform — Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, and Coast Guardsmen — standing in harm’s way in defense of Liberty, and for their families. We also humbly ask prayer for your Patriot team, that our mission would seed and encourage the spirit of Liberty in the hearts and minds of our countrymen.
Semper Vigilans Fortis Paratus et Fidelis
Nate Jackson, Managing Editor
Mark Alexander, Publisher |
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on: December 17, 2018, 05:07:06 PM
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The Patriot Post Digest 12-17-2018
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ON THE WEB TODAY
Modern Education: Activism Has Displaced Academics14 — Fascism in our schools is raising kids who are the antithesis of what the Founders stood for.
Mixed Messages for Saudi Arabia and Yemen15 — Congress is muddling an alliance with its vote to undermine American foreign policy.
The Bill of Rights16 — Today is the anniversary of the 1791 ratification of our Bill of Rights, the first 10 Amendments to our Constitution.
Boston Tea Party17 — On Dec. 16, 1773, “radicals” from Boston threw 342 chests of tea into Boston Harbor.
Video: Seven Things About Free Speech in Schools18 — Part of a video series on free speech and the law by UCLA law professor Eugene Volokh.
Video: Is ‘Baby It’s Cold Outside’ Too Offensive? Students React19 — Cabot Phillips headed to George Mason University to see what students thought of the song.
BEST OF RIGHT OPINION
60077 60063 60069 60075 60070
For more of today’s columns, visit Right Opinion20.
TOP HEADLINES
White House shake-up a retooling effort ahead of Democrats’ House takeover (The Washington Times21)
Mueller memo says Flynn’s lies were “voluntary and intentional” (NBC News22)
Mueller investigation cost tops $25 million (ABC News23)
Comey, dubbed “amnesiac with incredible hubris,” back on Hill for new round of grilling (Fox News24)
Trump picks OMB Director Mick Mulvaney as acting chief of staff (The Daily Wire25)
Democrats defy Trump shutdown threat: “He is not going to get the wall in any form” (The Washington Times26)
Government can’t shut down — because 75% is already funded (CNS News27)
Nations at UN climate talks back universal emissions rules (NBC News28)
Gun-related deaths reached 40-year peak in 2017, CDC study finds (Fox News29)
Humor: Ninth Circuit Court rules border wall must be “short enough that a pregnant woman carrying a child in each arm could be expected to scale it without difficulty” (The Babylon Bee30)
Policy: Why a judge ruled ObamaCare unconstitutional, and what policymakers should do next (The Daily Signal31)
Policy: The right way to overhaul our health care system (The Daily Signal32)
For more of today’s news, visit Patriot Headline Report33.
https://patriotpost.us/articles/60085-monday-top-headlines
FEATURED ANALYSIS
FBI/DOJ Corruption Getting Impossible to Ignore36
Arnold Ahlert
The corruption at the highest levels of the FBI is getting impossible to ignore — unless one is a member of the mainstream media.
In what should be one of the biggest stories of the year, 16 FBI agents raided37 the home of Dennis Nathan Cain on Nov. 19. Cain is a former FBI contractor, and what makes the raid highly questionable is the reality that he is also a recognized Justice Department whistleblower. One, according to his attorney Michael Socarras, who had already delivered documents the FBI was seeking to DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz, who turned them over to the House and Senate Intelligence committees.
Those documents allegedly reveal that federal officials didn’t properly investigate potential criminal activity perpetrated by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the Clinton Foundation, and a Russian company called Rosatom, which purchased Canadian mining company Uranium One in 2013.
The transactions resulted in Russia obtaining 20% of America’s uranium production capacity.
Which federal officials? The head38 of the FBI at the time was Robert Mueller. The investigation was supervised by former Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe. It was centered in Maryland, whose U.S. attorney was Rod Rosenstein. And it ended in late 2015, during the tenure of former FBI Director James Comey.
In other words, the same James Comey who purposefully manipulated Rod Rosenstein into green-lighting an investigation conducted by Robert Mueller to determine if Donald Trump colluded with the Russians.
What does genuine collusion with the Russians look like? The Obama administration “green-lighted the transfer of control over one-fifth of American uranium-mining capacity to Russia, a hostile regime — and specifically to Russia’s state-controlled nuclear-energy conglomerate, Rosatom,” Andrew McCarthy explains39. “Worse, at the time the administration approved the transfer, it knew that Rosatom’s American subsidiary was engaged in a lucrative racketeering enterprise that had already committed felony extortion, fraud, and money-laundering offenses.”
That racketeering enterprise was conducted by Vadim Mikerin, the Russian official in charge of Tenam USA, the American arm of Rosatom subsidiary Tenex. He secured the help of since-identified American lobbyist William D. Campbell to facilitate his deal-making. When Campbell became uncomfortable with the illegality of Mikerin’s machinations, he became an FBI informant.
The FBI had proof of Mikerin’s racketeering in 2010, when any disclosure of it would have killed the deal. Yet the agency allowed it to continue for another three years. At that point Rosenstein allowed Mikerin to plead guilty to one count of money-laundering conspiracy, rather than charging him with far more serious crimes with far more serious prison sentences.
The deal was cosigned by the DOJ’s Fraud Section, then run by Andrew Weissmann, one of Mueller’s lead investigators.
The raid on Cain’s residence was permitted by a court order signed Nov. 15 by Judge Stephanie A. Gallagher in the U.S. District Court for Baltimore. According to the special agent from the FBI’s Baltimore division who conducted it, Cain possessed stolen federal property. But the agency refused to explain who authorized the raid on a recognized whistleblower.
That didn’t sit too well with Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA). He sent40 a letter addressed to DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz and FBI Director Christopher Wray, requesting that they “produce all documents to the Committee and provide an update with respect to the steps you have taken, or plan to take, regarding the FBI’s treatment of Mr. Cain’s disclosures no later than December 12, 2018.”
Grassley also wanted to know if the FBI was aware of Cain’s lawful disclosures to the IG and the congressional committees, whether it considers them protected, whether any of the information was classified, and if it was when Cain had it at his residence — and on what basis the agency conducted the raid, including a copy of the warrant and all supporting affidavits.
Grassley’s deadline was ignored41, and the bombshell report42 by the Daily Caller two days earlier explains why: “The Department of Justice is requesting that the justification of an FBI raid on a reportedly recognized whistleblower’s home remain secret, according to a letter from U.S. Attorney Robert Robert Hur.”
The letter was a response to the Caller’s request to unseal court documents that would reveal the why the raid was conducted and whether the FBI and Gallagher were aware that Cain was a legally protected whistleblower. Hur insisted that releasing such info would “seriously jeopardize the integrity of the ongoing investigation.” He further insisted the department’s opposition to public release was an effort “to guard against possible tampering of witnesses and destruction of evidence, and to maintain the ability of the grand jury to investigate this matter.” |
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on: December 17, 2018, 05:06:02 PM
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The Patriot Post Digest 12-17-2018
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The Patriot Post® · Mid-Day Digest
Dec. 17, 2018 · https://patriotpost.us/digests/60093-mid-day-digest
THE FOUNDATION
“I acknowledge, in the ordinary course of government, that the exposition of the laws and Constitution devolves upon the judicial. But I beg to know upon what principle it can be contended that any one department draws from the Constitution greater powers than another in marking out the limits of the powers of the several departments.” —James Madison (1789)
https://patriotpost.us/fqd/60090-founders-quote-daily
IN TODAY’S EDITION
A judge struck down ObamaCare, but it likely won’t last.1
Leftists are exploiting the death of a migrant girl.2
Daily Features: On the Web3, Columnists4, Headlines5, Memes6, Cartoons7, Opinion in Brief8, and Short Cuts9.
Featured Analysis: FBI/DOJ Corruption Getting Impossible to Ignore10
IN BRIEF
A Short-Lived Victory Against ObamaCare?11
Nate Jackson
ObamaCare is dead. Long live ObamaCare. Texas Judge Reed O'Connor struck down the laughably named “Affordable” Care Act Friday in a ruling cheered by President Donald Trump and many conservatives. But it’s complicated and that celebration is likely premature.
When Republicans passed tax reform, they repealed the tax penalty that enforced ObamaCare’s individual mandate. In doing so, they intentionally recalled Chief Justice John Roberts’s tortured logic and despotic legal rewrite in saving ObamaCare in 2012. He declared the mandate to be illegal under the Commerce Clause — “The Framers gave Congress the power to regulate commerce, not to compel it” — but then he rewrote the law to declare the penalty a tax so as to justify it under Congress’s tax authority. Never mind that Democrats spent four years declaring it wasn’t a tax, or that they had drafted the law to specifically avoid that language. Republicans set the tax at $0.
Thus, 20 suing states argued and O'Connor agreed that the law is undermined and unconstitutional since the tax no longer exists and the entire law depends on the mandate. Republicans hoped for this outcome when drafting tax reform, but having repealed the tax while leaving the rest of the law standing, they undermined their own argument. Roberts did get it entirely wrong in 2012, but O'Connor’s ruling is unlikely to stand when it goes before the Fifth Circuit Court and then potentially the Supreme Court.
California led the 17 states opposing Texas and 19 others. The pro-ObamaCare states will challenge the ruling on the grounds that it represents, as California Attorney General Xavier Becerra put it, “an assault on 133 million Americans with pre-existing conditions, on the 20 million Americans who rely on the A.C.A.‘s consumer protections for health care, on America’s faithful progress toward affordable health care for all Americans.”
The Democrats’ strategy in establishing ObamaCare was politically and practically brilliant. They constructed a new entitlement that could survive legal challenge even when it shouldn’t have, and millions of Americans now depend on the law, making repeal of any kind — via Congress or the courts — effectively untenable. Ask congressional Republicans. And, as we warned from the beginning, the Democrats’ ultimate goal was single-payer health care. ObamaCare was deliberately faulty and incomplete, for which the convenient “solution” is total government health care. Bernie Sanders and his ilk have made this plain with “Medicare for All.”
We hate to play the role of Debbie Downer, but this ruling may end up being little more than a blip on the radar. Congressional Republicans cannot outsource to the courts the work of ObamaCare repeal.
https://patriotpost.us/articles/60087-a-short-lived-victory-against-obamacare
Left Uses Coffin of Migrant Child as Campaign Soapbox12
Sadly, a seven-year-old illegal alien girl died from sepsis shock last week while in the custody of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). The Guatemalan girl had been traveling with her father and was part of a group of 163 migrants who turned themselves in to the Border Patrol shortly after they illegally crossed the U.S.-Mexico border near the town of Lordsburg, New Mexico. The girl died approximately eight hours after being taken into CBP custody.
CBP agents “took every possible step to save the child’s life under the most trying of circumstances,” explained the Department of Homeland Security in a statement. “Unfortunately, despite our best efforts and the best efforts of the medical team treating the child, we were unable to stop this tragedy from occurring.” The DHS also noted, “The initial indication from Providence Hospital is that she passed due to sepsis shock. Her father was with her.”
The CBP said that the girl had evidently not eaten or consumed water for several days. The group of migrants had crossed a very remote and arid region of New Mexico, where there is little access to water and food. DHS also addressed the ultimate culprit, stating, “Once again, we are begging parents to not put themselves or their children at risk attempting to enter illegally. Please present yourselves at a port of entry and seek to enter legally and safely.”
Attorneys representing the migrant girl’s family pushed back against the CBP’s report, claiming that her father “made sure she was fed and had sufficient water.” Yet the Centers for Disease Control describes sepsis as the body’s extreme reaction to an existing infection somewhere in the body that can lead to rapid organ failure and death. In other words, it appears that this girl was already suffering from an infection that was exacerbated by the extreme desert conditions she was subjected to.
Unfortunately and predictably, many on the Left heaped blame for this child’s death upon border agents. Cynthia Pompa, an advocacy manager for the ACLU, suggested that “lack of accountability, and a culture of cruelty within the CBP” resulted in the girl’s death, not negligence on the part of her father. Yet he was the one responsible for dragging his daughter across a desert to illegally cross a border he knew he was not allowed to cross.
This tragedy also exposes the problem with accepting asylum requests from migrants who cross the border illegally. Ending the abuse of the U.S. asylum system13 will help to dissuade migrants from the notion that just making it across the border is a ticket to an indefinite stay.
https://patriotpost.us/articles/60064-left-uses-coffin-of-migrant-child-as-campaign-soapbox |
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8
on: December 17, 2018, 04:36:02 PM
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Started by Shammu - Last post by nChrist
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Megachurch pastor buys wife $200,000 Lamborghini 'My hubby is a hard worker, he worked his whole life and he saved to bless his wife' Published: 6 hours ago One day megachurch Pastor John Gray was in the news for encouraging veterans, single parents and widows in his church to take money out of his collection baskets. Two weeks later he was in the news for buying his wife a $200,000 Lamborghini for an anniversary president. Read more at https://www.wnd.com/2018/12/megachurch-pastor-buys-wife-200000-lamborghini/#kU0iCsTOVxGUweRd.99~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Pastor Gray better get his life squared away, soon!!! Extravagant purchases like this from offerings make me sick. I can't understand how the congregation puts up with things like this. |
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9
on: December 17, 2018, 04:30:06 PM
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Started by Lioness - Last post by nChrist
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And it has happened,  Hoppitty died sleeping between my legs. I finally found the spay paper and she was 28 years old. I am still trying to get over the loss of Pop-Pop, both my kids cried when they found out she died and I'm still trying to deal with her gone. I'm sorry to hear this. I know how hard it is when elderly and beloved family dogs pass away. You will be in my prayers. |
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10
on: December 17, 2018, 04:24:59 PM
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Started by nChrist - Last post by nChrist
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