Bloggers note:obviously there are good teachers out there, this does not apply to them, I’m directing this at the real life pond scum who have failed our young people for now second school year.
Folks I want to share a statement made by Comrad Gavin Newsom yesterday regarding the re-opening of schools. This taken directly from KCRA 3, an affiliate of MSNBC mind you, look for the emphasis I place on one word.
All California schools shouldreopen when the new academic year begins next fall, though his guidelines remain merely an expectation rather than a mandate.
Facing political pressure and a recall effort, Newsom has said he plans to lift most of California’s coronavirus restrictions June 15 as part of reopening the state to business-as-usual. Earlier this month, he made a similar pronouncement, but many districts and teachers remain reluctant.
The word is “should”, as in optional, not required. Again, note he will be re-opening most of California mid-June, Disney is already in stages of full re-opening, movie theaters are operational, but not schools. Mid-June also is smack in the middle of summer; thus, schools are typically not open. If they are, only those who are looking to get ahead, earn AP college credits, or failed a class are required to attend. Many students are falling behind, some even hopelessly behind. Virtual meetings work for work meetings, clubs, and certain social gatherings, may have merit but not school.
I have to hand it to our governor. He and his ilk, along with anti-Trumpers, 90-day guys, and cable watchers, successfully scared everyone into thinking this virus would wipe us all out; well except for the “essential workers, required to show up at an office like me” apparently this virus hop scotches over me. As a result, teachers have decided to milk the clock as long as they could, even while certain other sectors re-opened. Please answer, how I am safer at a home improvement store or at a mall than a child would be at school?
You may ask what I know about the latter? I know this much, the UPS guy who delivers to our office told me he dropped off an entire truck load of PPE, think plexiglass, shields, masks, bleach, wipes, etc. at a local elementary school. Nary a single box has moved or been open for over a month. Your tax dollars hard at work my friends! A local charter school group in our hometown still thinks the CDC claims 6 feet is safe in schools, that is false, they now say 3 feet. Fear not, the charter school system will not adhere to the new guidelines until the EGUSD board tells them too. Mind you these teachers are not union, and the administration rails against EGUSD constantly. I guess politics really do make strange bedfellows!
Additionally, the vaccine was made available to this charter school’s teachers 2 months ago, only 5 teachers showed up, the remainder staged a “sick-out” or claimed religious exemptions. To the latter group, I know of zero Middle Eastern folks teaching there, and the Pope has claimed only the Johnson and Johnson shot violates Catholic beliefs. It is non-sense. To the former, I always hear you are sacrificing monetarily to have a career teaching our youth…maybe try doing it? I heard a statement “when the going gets tough, the tough get going.” For some reason you all think that means hit the beach for spring break?
In closing I will say this, you are lucky you own this state. Gavin can’t attack you or he is toast, he knows it, your union leaders know it. Teachers work about 185 days a year. They start work after most folks are already at their jobs, and then go home far earlier than others begin their trek home each afternoon. The term last in, first out used to be a bad stigma, but you teachers live it daily. You avoid the vaccine not for any reason other than you do not wish to work. You half a**ed it all year for the same reasons. No longer keeping track of truancy or people ditching class, because, well I guess the administration told you not too. A school year has come and gone, and you have not had to teach in front of your full class. Fear not the bonuses will flow, and all will be well after you all celebrate graduation. Congrats on a job well done.
I never wish to hear about your trials and tribulations, or having a tough job ever again. You all quit on the students you are supposed to help. Just remember this next time you are temped to complain how rough your job is. You forced the young people to work at the grocer, or the fast-food places so you could grab a bite while you were home hiding in place and refusing to work.
Yep, after over a year of Covid shutdowns, California’s public schools are making preparations for standardized testing. The results are supposed to determine funding levels from the federal government. This year’s tests will be given to students with less security measures in place than Lori Loughlin’s daughters taking an SAT test. Most California students taking these tests will be unsupervised by anyone.
In a recent meeting of Elk Grove teachers discussing the topic, the following was announced to all in attendance.
“Whatever kind of shitshow it turns out to be, don’t sweat it and just move on. Relax, give it, and move on. Don’t stress your kids out or yourself out over it. It’s just another hoop we need to jump through for the federal government.”
Translation: this year’s testing results are gonna be a train wreck.
The test results are in on California’s children …
Some more conscientious teachers that I know, were concerned about such a comment. They know the test scores will be lower and think that’s bad because the quality of education over the last year has been abysmal. Some teachers really care that children have been harmed by the Covid restrictions.
My response was something like this:
Yes, the children have suffered due to the panic and isolation thrust upon them. They are suffering mentally and emotionally. It’s not natural for children to grow up without others to play with. They probably are being warped in their development.
But no worries. The good news is that the worse the test scores, the more money the teacher’s unions can get out of California taxpayers. I’m sure Gavin and our legislature will do much “for the children”. It really won’t help children recover from Covid—how do you give restitution to a kid for stealing a year of their already short youth—but the politicians will get facetime on camera saying that redistributing your wealth proved how much we care.
Yet another example of not letting a good crisis go to waste.
I have yet to meet anyone that demands that I celebrate Christmas on December 25th because it is the exact date when Jesus was born. The important thing is that Jesus was born on earth to become one of us. Celebrating his birth on a specific date in December or January (if you are an Orthodox Christian) is not a measure of piety or Christian orthodoxy. Contrast that with what you are about to read about Easter and Passover. It seems like some Protestant groups are always looking for ways to unchurch the rest of us. As you read this, I hope you keep this in mind…
If you thought we only swat Liberals on this blog, you’d be wrong. What follows is the result of an Easter weekend post on World Net Daily (WND) by the editor’s wife, Elizabeth. Before I get into this, let me just disclose that in the last days of the Sacramento Union that I knew Joe Farah and briefly worked for the Union. I even had an Op-Ed published in the paper. When the Union shutdown, Farah left the area and moved north—to Oregon I think—and started WND.
Elizabeth Farah starts her video with the claim that the topic that she wished to discuss (keeping Passover v Easter) was the first major schism of the Church. This is demonstrably false; the first schism was over Judaizes. Did Gentiles first need to become Jews and then Christians? Was circumcision, etc. necessary? In the 15th chapter of the Book of Acts, this issue necessitated the first church council in Jerusalem. Judaizes were a constant problem in the First Century Church.
“Keep the Passover of Jesus”
“The fact that most of ecclesia or churches of God kept Passover. It is important to remember. Rome’s will was to eradicate Passover and replace it with Easter; despite Jesus’ command to keep the feast and do this in remembrance of me.” Elizabeth Farah timestamp 8:10-33
“By the way, this is a biblical command not a custom.” Farah 17:31-35
Speaking of keeping the 14th day of the first month, “That was the Lord’s Command.” Farah 18:30-32
Farah is offended that Constantine wanted the Church to “separate themselves from the customs of the Jews”.
Farah thinks that we need to bless Israel (the Jewish people); however; the New Testament makes it plain that the Church is Israel. Or to paraphrase David Chilton, God divorced Israel for infidelity and took to himself a new bride, a new people, the Church. The Church is the new Israel.
Farah repeatedly tries to repudiate the Church Council of Nicaea by calling it a minority, which also undermines the legitimacy of the Creed. I find this very problematic and arguably just as intellectually lazy as parts of Constantine’s reasoning for adopting Easter. Constantine could have advocated regularizing fragmented practices of worship without dumping on the Jews but he didn’t.
At the end of her presentation, Farah also tries some bait and switch tactics to buttress her argument. She ignores that the Council was unanimous in its support of adopting Easter as a Christian feast and tries to flip it that Constantine is claiming that his will on the matter is God’s will. This is wrong. Anybody that has any experience with Churches making important decisions knows that a unanimous vote is understood as a group finding God’s will on the matter. In his letter, Constantine is simply repeating the declaration of the Council and using the vote to call for normalizing the practice throughout the Empire.
Farah is not the only person that you can find on the Internet promoting this understanding of Passover and Easter.
Many of the arguments on this topic seem rooted in strange interpretations of Scripture tied to the idea of the Regulative Principle of Scriptural interpretation. This idea is often invoked when people look at the Bible’s ideas of things like proper worship and moral behavior. Basically, the Regulative Principle of Scriptural interpretation is if it’s in the Bible we do it and if not, then we don’t. Some Protestant groups go further and say if it’s not specifically in the New Testament them we don’t follow it.
If you take this belief literally (especially limiting yourself to the New Testament), you can get some strange and theologically pretzel-like beliefs. For example, bestiality in only prohibited in the Old Testament but is not mentioned—let alone prohibited—in the New. Musical instruments are often mentioned as part of worship in the Old Testament but the New is silent on this topic, so what is the correct practice? This idea, especially when trying to divide the Bible against itself, results in crazy stuff.
You can see this belief being applied in the next article and when it is, in parts it’s gut splittingly funny.
The Apostle Paul confirms he maintained the customary observance of Passover, as was given to him by Christ Himself, when he said, “For I received of the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed [not Easter Sunday!] took bread” (1 Corinthians 11:23).
Ok, here is a twisted understanding of the Lord’s Supper. Yes, the first time Jesus celebrated it was on Passover, but the early church did this celebration every week, and not on the Sabbath to boot. The practice of the early church was to meet on the first day of the week—a regular workday for their society—and meet in the evening for a feast. In the Corinthians passage cited above, Paul was scolding them for abuses in how they were doing it. Some were eating too much and other were starving. At the conclusion of the feast, they would then celebrate Communion, Eucharist, the Lord’s Supper, or whatever your group wants to call it. Contrary to the claim above, this was not a once-a-year activity. It was weekly.
For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come.
1 Corinthians 11:26
Emperor Constantine – Saint or Villain
The absolute proof that Christians shouldn’t celebrate Easter is this next quote:
It is important we remember: Jesus Christ never kept an Easter in His life! Unequivocally, it is undeniable that Easter has no Biblical connection, foundation, or authority on the name of Jesus Christ that requires observance and/or recognition by any who claim Christ as their Savior.
Yep, Jesus never celebrated his own Resurrection while he was alive on earth and thus, we shouldn’t either. This, folks is the Regulative Principle of Scriptural interpretation in action. Just because Jesus rose on the first day of the week and the early church met on that day to worship has no bearing on the issue. Oh, while he was alive, Jesus worshipped on the Sabbath not the first day of the week. Remember when I said the Regulative Principle can tie you up in intellectual pretzels?
Later the author comments on the results of the Council of Nicaea:
It was now made “official”: Easter Sunday, the day after the first full moon, after the spring equinox, became the day to celebrate Jesus Christ’s resurrection. This was a serious and critical shift of theology. Critical, because it not only changed the day of the observance, but changed the focus, the meaning of the observance. It now became an observance and celebration of His resurrection, contrary to the Biblical admonition of remembering His death!
The author now claims that Christians celebrating the Resurrection is contrary to biblical admonition. So dear author, why were they meeting on the first day of the week for worship if celebrating the resurrection of our Lord is wrong? I don’t know about your church, but my preference is to celebrate a meal with Christ every time we worship not once a year. Christians celebrate both Jesus’ death and his resurrection. Trying say we can only pick only one is the unbiblical position. This is the logical fallacy of the false dilemma.
Lest you think I exaggerate read on:
Notice what Paul says, “For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death [not His resurrection] till he come” (1 Corinthians 11:26). There is a purposeful point of significance our Lord placed exclusively on Passover concerning His death. It’s very fundamental, but crucial to understand; Passover was intended to distinctly address the impeccable fact that it was by Jesus Christ’s sacrificed life and shed blood that we have access to eternal life. Unfortunately, merging His death and resurrection into one holy day, as Easter describes, blurs the deep profound meaning of both these events by taking away the emphasis that each so richly deserves.
This guy again opens his mouth and removed all doubt about how foolish his argument is. Most of the Christian Church celebrates both Good Friday and Easter. We do not merge “His death and resurrection into one holy day, as Easter describes…” This is the logical fallacy of the strawman.
The reality is that many churches have Holy Week services on almost every day of that week. Starting with Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, a Saturday Easter vigil, and Easter (or Resurrection) Sunday.
If you want to read yet another article on the subject, try this one.
This article is written by a group claiming to be neither Christian nor Jewish. They call themselves the Natsarim. It has a lot of information and claims not only all the stuff that you read already about the Passover but claims that the modern Jewish way of reckoning the Passover is wrong as well; talk about a pox on both your houses! This article also quotes the full letter by Constantine.
All three articles seem to agree that abandoning a lunar calendar for a solar one was a bad idea and dumping a Passover celebration in favor of Easter was even worse. In Constantine’s letter, it is clear that the Jewish people were not generally liked by Christians in the West.
Comments
I could go deeper into this subject, but I think this post is long enough as it is so I’m going to wrap it up with some Scriptures that illustrate that the articles mentioned above are cherry picking arguments that can’t stand up before the biblical record. Farah and her fellow travelers will find the New Testament is not in agreement with their claims.
Regarding days is a matter of personal liberty
Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:
Colossians 2:16
One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks.
Romans 14: 5 & 6
But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage? Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain.
Galatians 4:9-11
Christ our Passover
For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
I Corinthians 5:7b-8
Clearly these verses use Passover imagery, but to trying to limit their application to one day a year is a misreading of the text and wrenching them out of context. Paul is contrasting the way that people live, not discussing a literal Passover celebration.
The Bible makes it clear that Christ was both the Lamb sacrificed for us and also the High Priest. He died once for all and is seated at the righthand of the Father. We remember his words each time we gather together to eat the Lord’s Supper not just once per year.
Jesus raised on first day of the week
In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.
Matthew 28:1
And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun.
Mark 16:2
Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils.
Mark 16:9
Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them.
Luke 24:1
The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre.
John 20:1
Jesus appeared to the disciples on the first day
Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.
John 20:19
And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight.
Acts 20:7
Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come.
1 Corinthians 16:2
Conclusion
The actual date of Jesus’ birth, baptism, death, or resurrection or other event in his life is secondary to the reality that it happened. Creating a false dilemma over celebrating the Passover or his Resurrection is trivial. The truth is many Christians celebrate both events in his life and more. Saying that we shouldn’t celebrate his resurrection because Jesus didn’t is a stupid claim.
Clearly Jesus worshipped on the Sabbath, but his followers worshipped on the first day of the week. Were his Apostles incapable of following his example?
If following Jewish law and custom was so darn important then why did the disciples decide that Gentiles didn’t need to be circumcised, keep the sabbath, or follow the dietary laws?
The truth is that Passover was a shadow and a type of symbol of the work that Jesus completed on the cross. He is our Passover Lamb. His was a sacrifice once and for all. He is our High Priest. He is seated at the righthand of the Father making intercession for us. We come to him not on the basis of keeping rules or festivals but by way of his blood shed in our place.
Whenever we gather in worship, we should gather around his table as he instructed.
For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread:
And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.
After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.
For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come.
I Corinthians 11:23-26
In the early church, remembering his death was a weekly occurrence not an annual one.
Jews and Gentiles all come to the Father thru Jesus Christ or not at all.
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
John 14:6.
It is a myth in certain Protestant sects that Jews have special treatment and need not bow the knee to King Jesus to go to Heaven. Such ideas are sentimental crap and damnable heresy.
Efforts to unchurch the rest of us for using the wrong calendar or celebrating the Resurrection of Jesus, are efforts not spent spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
In what should surprise no one who possesses an IQ above room temperature, 60 Minutes debuted a hit piece on Florida Governor Ron DeSantis last night. DeSantis is a Republican and Trump ally so, he like most ignore science, and due to his actions more folks have died of Covid than any other state.*
*Florida actually has fewer deaths than California and New York, but that is usually left out of any analysis.
60 minutes reported Governor DeSantis gave grocery chain Publix “priority access to the virus vaccine, as a result of campaign contributions made by Publix to the Governor in the form of a pay to play scheme.” Publix like most grocery stores has a pharmacy and pharmacies are tasked with distributing the vaccine to the masses depending on eligibility.
DeSantis who has done a commendable job combating the virus, got support from the unlikeliest of people, the Mayor of Palm Beach County.
Palm Beach County Mayor Dave Kerner
Palm Beach County Mayor Dave Kerner, a Democrat, accused CBS’ “60 Minutes” of “intentionally false” reporting for suggesting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis gave grocery store chain Publix preferable treatment to offer the coronavirus vaccine because of donations to his PAC.
“The reporting was not just based on bad information – it was intentionally false,” Kerner said in a statement on Monday. “I know this because I offered to provide my insight into Palm Beach County’s vaccination efforts and ’60 Minutes’ declined. They know that the governor came to Palm Beach County and met with me and the county administrator and we asked to expand the state’s partnership with Publix to Palm Beach County.”
“We have confronted this pandemic for over a year. Our residents, like all Americans, are tired. And the media is making it worse. They are hellbent on dividing us for cheap views and clicks. ’60 Minutes’ should be ashamed,” Kerner continued, adding that the program left his side of the story out because it “kneecaps their narrative.”
Kerner thanked DeSantis for his work to help Palm Beach County.
“Because of his efforts, working in coordination with Palm Beach County officials, over 275,000 seniors in our county – which is over 75% of the total senior population – have been vaccinated. I am proud of how our county and state leadership have executed on this important mission, and the results speak for themselves,” Kerner said.
Publix called the notion that it received special access “absolutely false and offensive.”
“The irresponsible suggestion that there was a connection between campaign contributions made to Gov. DeSantis and our willingness to join other pharmacies in support of the state’s vaccine distribution efforts is absolutely false and offensive. We are proud of our pharmacy associates for administering more than 1.5 million doses of vaccine to date and for joining other retailers in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia to do our part to help our communities emerge from the pandemic,” a Publix spokesperson told Fox News.
“60 Minutes” journalist Sharyn Alfonsi pointed out that Publix donated $100,000 to the governor’s PAC and said Palm Beach County Commissioner Melissa McKinlay claimed DeSantis “never met with her about the Publix deal.”
There was no pay for play. 60 minutes, like most so called journalism shows these days, does nothing but paper or gloss over facts to fit a narrative. Case in point, Gavin Newsom and Andrew Cuomo are seldom talked about poorly, yet they have the highest covid-19 deaths of all states. Florida has one of the lowest, but you would think DeSantis and Texas Governor Greg Abbott killed all their citizens by “ignoring science.” Maybe we should ignore these journalists? Folks this should not surprise you, these talking heads only think one way…. something, something, something orange man bad…something, something, something Red state governors bad, something, something, something virus will kill us all.
This is why I make fun of the cable watchers so much. Not only will they believe all of this, but they also believe DeSantis is a killer. But then again Sacramento’s own Lester Holt, host of NBC Nightly News, made waves by saying in essence facts don’t matter anymore and to inject your own commentary. I guess Merriam Webster should change the definition of journalism.
Rumor has it that CRA’s favorite warrior, Jorge Riley, may be granted their highest honor at the California Republican Assembly’s statewide convention later this month. The Freedom Fighter Award was first bestowed by CRA on Lt. Colonel Oliver North in 1991.
Why Oliver North got the award
Marine Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North did something really, really bad. He sold weapons to Iran in an effort to help fund rebels fighting Nicaragua’s Socialist government.
Translation, in the midst of the Cold War, North found a way to finance the opposition to the socialist/communist government of Nicaragua (funded by Russia) by selling US arms to another country (Iran) and funneling the proceeds to freedom fighters that the American Congress refused to help. The Congress was majority Democrat and loved hanging out with Communists like Castro and other likeminded dictators.
North’s nationally televised testimony before Congress portrayed the political class as a bunch of idiotic, children that knew nothing about protecting American interests abroad. His testimony shredded the premise for the hearings which really was a witch hunt that Democrats hoped would implicate President Ronald Reagan and give them an excuse to remove him via impeachment. Democrats were so sure they had Reagan in their sights that they never even bothered to depose North and others before the live television broadcast.
After the Congressional dog and pony show was over, Reagan was still firmly in control of the White House. North was charged and convicted of lying to Congress—something Congress does to the American people on a daily basis with no repercussions. North’s conviction was eventually overturned because he had been granted immunity prior to his Congressional testimony.
The California Republican Assembly invited North to speak at their convention and wanted a way to thank him for his service to our country and for making the other Party look like a bunch of jackasses. At the time, CRA was claiming more than 30,000 members.
The Award in Recent Years
In the years since, the Freedom Fighter Award has been occasionally granted to others. The most recent recipient was Tom Hudson. Hudson presided over CRA as the membership shrank to less than 1,000 souls scatted throughout the state.
Hudson is best known for his ferocious defense of CRA when the Just Us Brothers shredded the records of the organization—including its membership records—and deleted or withheld much of the financial ones as well.Hudson and his fellow CRA attorney, Craig Alexander, prosecuted George and Aaron to the fullest extent of the law. As a result, the Park Brother left California in disgrace and moved to Nevada.
Oops, Tom promised to do all that stuff and more to the Just Us Brothers but after filibustering for over a year eventually did nothing. However, the Park Brothers really did leave California for the Silver State.
Riley on Deck?
In the wake of his recent recognition for leadership by the Sacramento Chapter of CRA, Jorge Riley, seems on track to gain the Freedom Fighter award in a matter of weeks. Riley brought much needed attention to CRA as a result of his penetration of security at the Nation’s Capitol. By one act, Riley has done more on social media to publicize CRA than all his predecessors during the last two decades of the organization’s history. Who knew there were any Republicans left in California? Thankfully, Riley set the record straight and finally got the media talking about what a difference that one man can make. (Riley’s job on the statewide CRA Board was to boost the CRA on social media.)
So why else are we so confident that Riley will be so honored?
Look at the CRA support that Jorge Riley has received.
Riley is supported by Bill Cardoza. Bill has been in, under, and around, those controlling the levers of power in CRA since Barbara Alby and Greg Hardcastle took over the organization in the late 1980s and early ‘90s. Bill then followed this group as they then took over the California Republican Party. Word is that he bought the plane ticket so Riley could pay his respects to Speaker Pelosi on January 6th.
Riley is supported by the aforementioned Tom Hudson. As a CRA Board officer, Hudson is uniquely qualified to recognize raw talent when he sees it on CNN.
Sue Blake helped guide the Sacramento Republican Party into obscurity by selling-out her values for an opportunity to hangout with political consultants and cigar smoking armchair quarterbacks.
Riley also has the backing of both current and former rank-and-file members of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). Any Republican that can gain such support without compromising his values, is worthy of another look; especially, here in California.
Jorge Riley Facebook page 03/11/2021
I could go on, but as they say, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” Pictured above, Angela Azevedo, Tom Hudson, Bill Cardoza, Jorge Riley, Russell Gray, Justin Hardcastle, Sue Blake, and Todd Freeman.
Disclaimer: Folks I try to be as ecumenical as possible —as long as we can agree on the Historic Creeds—but sometimes you just gotta chime-in. I was once a Roman Catholic but became a Protestant during my teenaged years. In my experience, nothing divides otherwise orthodox Christians as much as the doctrines surrounding Mary. Truthfully, I think this divide concerning Mary is a bigger obstacle to reuniting the Western Church than the Papacy!Oh, I’ve been working on this post for several days, that fact that it’s going live on Good Friday is not by design.
In Roman theology, beliefs about Mary have continued to evolve over the years.
Per Rome:
Mary lived a sinless life,
Mary was a perpetual virgin,
She ascended into Heaven,
She is Queen of Heaven,
She and various saints are routinely prayed to,
And now she is being further elevated to Co-Redemptrix.
Mary in the Roman Church
Here is more info on Mary from Roman Catholic sources.
The Catholic Church relies heavily on sacred tradition, as passed down from the apostles, and manifested in the teaching authority of the Church. The assumption of Mary is one doctrine of the Church that has emerged from apostolic tradition, rather than directly from scripture. It is not officially declared whether or not Mary underwent human death. However, what the Church does officially pronounce is that after the course of her earthly life, Mary was assumed body and soul into heaven by the power of God. The Church’s belief that Mary’s soul was perfectly sinless gives us confidence that she went directly to God. At the same time, her body was not subject to corruption, as our human bodies typically are.
The Immaculate Conception means that Mary, whose conception was brought about the normal way, was conceived without original sin or its stain—that’s what “immaculate” means: without stain. The essence of original sin consists in the deprivation of sanctifying grace, and its stain is a corrupt nature. Mary was preserved from these defects by God’s grace; from the first instant of her existence she was in the state of sanctifying grace and was free from the corrupt nature original sin brings.
In fact, Catholics hold, it extended over the whole of her life, from conception onward. She was in a state of sanctifying grace from the first moment of her existence.
The doctrine of the Assumption says that at the end of her life on earth Mary was assumed, body and soul, into heaven, just as Enoch, Elijah, and perhaps others had been before her. Some people think Catholics believe Mary “ascended” into heaven. That’s not correct. Christ, by his own power, ascended into heaven. Mary was assumed or taken up into heaven by God. She didn’t do it under her own power.
The Church has never formally defined whether she died or not, and the integrity of the doctrine of the Assumption would not be impaired if she did not in fact die, but the almost universal consensus is that she did die.
Mary’s body has been glorified in heaven and she has been given an important role near her Son as Queen of Heaven and Earth. Mary is entitled “queen” because she is the Mother of Jesus, who is truly a King of kings. With the queenship Mary has been given by her Son, Mary offers abiding mercy and compassion, interceding for all of God’s children. In the book of Revelation 12:1, Mary’s status as queen is reflected, “and a great portent appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.” The feast of Mary’s queenship is celebrated on August 22nd of each year.
The Op-Ed that I wish to comment on finds me somewhat on the same side as the Pope; a position that puts me at odds with the author of this article, published on Life Site News.
It is a sad state of affairs in the Church when a simple child of God, devoted to Our Lady, hears words shocking to pious ears coming from the Vicar of Christ himself and feels the need to cry out in protest, from the depths of a heart consecrated to the Immaculate Heart, in order to defend Our Lady’s honor, against anyone — even the Holy Father — who would appear, through apparently casual and careless remarks, to very nearly deny Her the just veneration due to Her as Mother of God who participated, through her Compassion, in Her Son’s salvific mission from His Conception to Calvary. However, such is the sorry state of Holy Mother Church today.
…Pope Francis had qualified the idea of Mary being given the title of Co-Redemptrix as being mere “foolishness”.
[the Pope] has reiterated his hostility to this title: “The mother who covers everyone under her mantle as a mother, Jesus entrusted us to her as a mother, not as a goddess, not as a co-redemptrix, as a mother.”
Part of the rebuttal to the Pope put forward by the author reads as follows:
Indeed, this theologian [Father Frederick William Faber] explains beautifully in what sense Our Lady cooperated with our Lord in the redemption of the world by showing the necessary link between the Divine Maternity and Our Lady’s Coredemption, and so between Mary as Mother of God and as Co-Redemptrix:
“Her free consent was necessary to the Incarnation … She gave Him the pure blood, out of which the Holy Ghost fashioned His Flesh and bone and Blood. She bore Him in her womb for nine months, feeding Him with her own substance. Of her was He born, and to her He owed all those maternal offices which, according to common laws, were necessary for the preservation of His inestimable life. She exercised over Him the plenitude of parental jurisdiction. She consented to His Passion; and if she could not in reality have withheld her consent, because it was already involved in her original consent to the Incarnation, nevertheless she did not in fact withhold it, and so He went to Calvary as her free-will offering to the Father … the cooperation of the Divine Maternity was indispensable. Without it our Lord would not have been born when and as He was; He would not have had that Body to suffer in … It was through the free will and blissful consent of Mary that they flowed as God would have them flow. Bethlehem, and Nazareth, and Calvary, came out of her consent, a consent which God did in no wise constrain.”
A few paragraphs later, the author put forward this to buttress his thesis.
The martyr-saint Maximilian Maria Kolbe links the promise of a Co-Redemptrix at the dawn of time with Her essential role in the triumph of the end times: “From the moment of the Fall, God promised a Redeemer and a Co-Redemptrix, saying ‘I will place enmities between thee and the Woman, and thy seed and her Seed: She shall crush thy head.’” And, quoting Pope Leo XIII, Saint Maximilian calls for prayers to Our Mother to hasten the solemn dogmatic proclamation of Our Lady’s role as Co-Redemptrix and Mediatrix of All Graces: “We have recourse to the Immaculata and we are instruments in Her hands, because She distributes all the graces of conversion and sanctification to the inhabitants of this valley of tears … Every grace passes through Her hands from the Sweetest Heart of the pure Jesus to us … In his encyclical on the Rosary (September 22, 1891), Pope Leo XIII says: ‘It can be affirmed in all truth that according to the divine will nothing of the immense treasury of grace can be communicated to us except through Mary.’ Let us pray, therefore, that our Holy Mother may expedite the solemn proclamation of this Her privilege, so that all humanity may run to Her feet with complete trust, since today we are in great need of Her protection.”
Mary as Co-Redemptrix
For Protestants readers, the above is mind-blowingly heretical. This is a good example why some Protestants have no place in their theology for Church Tradition. I think Tradition in the Church has a place but when it becomes more important than the Scriptures then it’s out of balance.
I’d like to point-out a few problems with the arguments being advanced about Mary; however, my intent is not to scorch the earth as I do so. I think Protestants tend to totally discount the role of Mary while the Roman Catholics err in the opposite direction.
I’ve tried to get my head around this Co-redemptix idea, and it seems to hinge on a rather novel concept, Jesus died with Mary’s consent and permission. Thus, Mary was an active participate in the passion of her son.
The Second Vatican Ecumenical Council (1962-1965), in its Dogmatic Constitution on the Church (Lumen Gentium) of November 21, 1964, painted this picture of Our Blessed Lady’s collaboration with the Almighty, which included her heroic surrender to Christ’s ignominious death.“
Thus the Blessed Virgin advanced in her pilgrimage of faith, and faithfully persevered in her union with her Son unto the cross, where she stood, in keeping with the divine plan, enduring with her only begotten Son the intensity of his suffering, associated herself with his sacrifice in her mother’s heart, and lovingly consenting to the immolation of this victim which was born of her.”
Deacon Miravalle spells out precisely what Mary did next to her dying Son.
“Mary uniquely participated in the sacrifice of Jesus on Calvary and in the acquisition of the graces of Redemption for humanity (theologically referred to as “objective redemption”). Mary offered her Son and her maternal rights in relation to her Son to the Heavenly Father in perfect obedience to God’s will and in atonement for the sins of the world. Mary’s offering of her own Son on Calvary, along with her own motherly compassion, rights and suffering, offered in union with her Son for the salvation of the human family, merited more graces than any other created person. As Pope Pius XII confirmed in his encyclical On the Mystical Body, Mary “offered Him on Golgotha to the Eternal Father, together with the holocaust of her maternal rights and her motherly love, like a New Eve for all children of Adam.”
“Well, I guess you could call it Hail Mary. You throw it up and pray” Roger Staubach 1975
My Brief Rebuttal
Folks Mary observed the life of her son and pondered these things in her heart (Luke 2:19) but the claims above are nowhere found in the Bible.
The suffering of Jesus was twofold, the physical pain and the spiritual pain. The beating, torture, and humiliation of Jesus are better understood than the spiritual pain of bearing the cup of God’s wrath for the sins of the world; this was clearly the difficult part of his crucifixion. (Matthew 26:39) God the Father turned his back on the Son—sin separates—when Jesus became sin for us. This is why Jesus, while on the cross said, “My God, my God, why has thou forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46)
All four Gospels are silent to the idea that Mary “collaborated” in the sacrifice of Christ or “lovingly consenting to the immolation of this victim which was born of her.”There is zero biblical evidence affirming the claim of “Mary’s offering of her own Son on Calvary”.
The gospels say that “…the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45)
Jesus gave his life not Mary.
“Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again.” (John 10:17)
“For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45)
The idea that Jesus needed Mary’s consent, cooperation, or permission to be sacrificed is anathema to Holy Scripture.
Claims that “Mary ‘offered Him on Golgotha…’” are without any biblical foundation.
Roman Catholicism attributes to Mary things which are solely those titles belonging to Jesus.
Throughout the last two decades, there has been an increasing interest in three words used to honor Our Blessed Mother and describe her role in our regard: Co-redemptrix, Mediatrix and Advocate.
Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many. (Matthew 20:28)
For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many. (Mark 10:45)
Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time. (I Timothy 2:6)
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. (John 3:16-17)
Jesus is our Mediator.
For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; (I Timothy 2:5)
But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises. (Hebrews 8:6)
And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. (Hebrews 9:15)
And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel. (Hebrews 12:24)
Jesus is our Advocate.
My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: (I John 2:1)
Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. (Romans 8:34)
Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. (Hebrews 7:25)
Conclusion
Biblically there is no warrant to claim that Mary is Redeemer, Mediator, or Advocate. All three titles are clearly those of Christ Jesus. Thus, there is no biblical basis for us to pray that Mary intercedes on our behalf before God. Only Jesus can rightfully be prayed to. Only He makes intercession on our behalf with the Father. John reminded believers that “…if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:” (1 John 2:1)
And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. (John 14:13)
Brief as this blog post may be, I think I have pointed-out that the Roman Catholic beliefs about Mary are as much or more problematic to Protestants than maybe even the Papacy. That I’m agreeing with the Pope-especially this one—about anything is THE definition of “irony”. Heck, if you give this a few more centuries then Mary might be inducted as the fourth person of the Holy Trinity. From an orthodox Protestant viewpoint, that seems to be the trajectory of Marian theology.
Yep, remember that pesky voter fraud problem that Big Tech, Democrats, the Media, and others claim never happened? Well, the truth is slowly leaking out that voter fraud is a universal problem that goes beyond the so-called swing states.
The November election is being given a second look in many states including Nevada, Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Montana. Here are a few recent examples from March 2021; five months after the election). For those that have eyes to see, isn’t not hard to find even more examples of fraud or opportunities for it.
Montana 03/24/2021
MISSOULA COUNTY, Montana — A mountainous, 2,600-square-mile region with a population of approximately 119,600 does not seem like your prototypical setting for machine politics. Yet a recent audit of mail-in ballots cast there found irregularities characteristic of larger urban centers — on a level that could have easily swung local elections in 2020, and statewide elections in cycles past.
‘Unexplained irregularities’ found in large percentage of ballots
In November, the group approached state Rep. Brad Tschida, a Republican, to formally take up the issue. Tschida hired a lawyer involved in the group, Quentin Rhoades, to represent him in corresponding with Missoula County Elections Administrator Bradley Seaman, a Democratic appointee and a longtime supporter of progressive causes.
Seaman’s office complied with Tschida’s request for access to all of the county’s ballot envelopes, and on Jan. 4 a team of volunteers, overseen by Rhoades, conducted an audit with the assistance of the Missoula County Elections Office. The audit consisted of both a count and review of all ballot envelopes and comparing that to the number of officially recorded votes during the Nov. 3, 2020, general election.
Its conclusions were troubling: 4,592 out of the 72,491 mail-in ballots lacked envelopes— 6.33% of all votes. Without an officially printed envelope with registration information, a voter’s signature, and a postmark indicating whether it was cast on time, election officials cannot verify that a ballot is legitimate. It is against the law to count such votes.
What’s more, according to auditors, county employees claimed that during the post-election audit, some of the envelopes may have been double-counted, possibly indicating an even higher number of missing envelopes.
Auditors also tested a smaller, random sub-sample of 15,455 mail-in envelopes for other defects. Of these, 55 lacked postmark dates, and 53 never had their signatures checked — for a total of 0.7% of all ballots in the sample. No envelope had more than one irregularity.
Extrapolating from the sub-sample, that would make more than 5,000 of Missoula County’s votes — roughly 7% — with unexplained irregularities.
Still another issue arose during the audit that aroused auditors’ suspicions: Dozens of ballot envelopes bore strikingly similar, distinctive handwriting styles in the signatures, suggesting that one or several persons may have filled out and submitted multiple ballots, an act of fraud.
One auditor asserted that of 28 envelopes reviewed from the same address, a nursing home, all 28 signatures looked “exactly the same” stylistically.
Another auditor reported that among the envelopes she reviewed, two very unique signatures appeared dozens of times, describing one such signature as starting out flat, moving to a peak, and tapering out, and another as consisting of numerous circles — a “bubble signature.”
Auditors were unable to conduct a more comprehensive count because, they say, Missoula County elections officials refused to permit them to take pictures of the signatures, and envelopes were not shared across the different tabulation tables at the audit, so reviewers could not cross-compare ballot samples.
The magnitude of defective — and potentially fraudulently cast — ballots identified during the Missoula County ballot audit is particularly troubling given the small margins by which local 2020 elections were decided, and previous statewide elections have been decided.
The 2020 local House District 94 race was determined by 435 votes; that of local House District 96, a mere 190.
In 2012, Bullock won his gubernatorial race by just 7,571 votes. Montana’s then-superintendent of public instruction, also a Democrat, won her race by an even smaller margin of 2,231 votes. If Missoula County generated problem ballots on the level of those cast during 2020, they may well have swung these statewide elections.
Nevada 03/11/2021
More than 90,000 ballots mailed to registered voters in Nevada’s largest county were returned undeliverable, according to an analysis of the election data by a conservative legal group.
Clark County, which includes the Las Vegas metro area, made the extraordinary move to mail ballots to all the nearly 1.3 million active voters in the county instead of just those who requested them. The county justified the move as helping people vote remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic.
More than 450,000 voters cast their votes through the mail-in ballots. But more than 92,000 ballots were returned by the postal service as undeliverable, according to the Public Interest Legal Foundation’s (PILF) March 10 research brief (pdf).
(Thus 17 percent of the ballots mentioned in the preceding paragraph were returned.)
Michigan 03/22/2021
A small county in northern Michigan voted to conduct a hand count for its primary election instead of using its Dominion Voting Systems machines that became the subject of a lawsuit that has drawn national attention.
Antrim County Clerk Sheryl Guy, who issued the request, said the machines were not “certified for use” as required by the Michigan secretary of state because of a forensic examination conducted in December as part of the November election lawsuit against the county.
As I’ve said before, as long as the Party in power stays in power, there is zero chance of meaningful election reform. Whether they want to admit it or not, is irrelevant to the truth of its existence.
I grant there has been a lot in the news lately about Democrat men exploiting women and getting a pass on it; not that this is really anything new but …
When I think about news stories of Democrat men behaving badly, obviously there is Joe Biden sniffing women’s hair and making inappropriate comments to them, and New York Governor Mario Cuomo groping the women around him. Nine accusers and counting. (Funny how one false accusation is almost enough to keep you from the US Supreme Court if you are a Conservative but nine is not enough to make a Democrat Governor resign.)
Also, I thought of Kamala Harris getting together this week with Bill Clinton to talk about empowering women. Clearly the funniest story of the week. Clinton has preyed on women his whole adult life and gotten off with hardly any consequences (OK there is one guy in Arkansas who claims to be Bill’s Love Child) while Harris is Vice President today because she slept her way to the top—thanks to Willie Brown and Lord knows who else.
Vice President Kamala Harris has accepted an invitation from former President Bill Clinton to join him Friday to discuss “empowering women and girls in the U.S. and around the world.”
Kamala Harris dons mask to protect her from Bill Clinton prior to their joint appearance
When he was mayor of San Francisco, Gavin was messing around with his appointment secretary. As a result, his wife dumped him and went to work for Fox News. How bad of a notorious cheater do you have to be for your wife to dump you and change political affiliation?
Kimberly Guilfoyle and Gavin Newsom were married 2001 – 2006
Then this morning I read that Governor Newsom has been playing hide the salami with his Capitol staffers. Some people never learn.
Hews Media Group- Cerritos News has learned from high-level sources that Gov. Gavin Newsom is having a romantic relationship with one of his close staffers.
With his recall heating up, this could be the last straw between voters and Newsom.
The sources are telling HMG-CN that many of Newsom’s other high-ranking staffers are aware of the relationship, and are ready to jump ship. Another said, “I have heard rumors!”
Newsom is currently married to Jennifer Siebel Newsom and they have four children.
Will the “worst-kept secret in Sacramento” blow into public view?
It’s hard to say.
The secret? That Gov. Gavin Newsom was engaged in multiple alleged extra-marital affairs over the course of 2020, a time where many of his orders shuttered nearly all personal and economic activity across the nation’s largest state.
Sources on K Street and within the Capitol complex peppered The Sun with corroborating rumors of infidelity by Newsom during the pandemic year.
One such instance allegedly occurred with a high-ranking official within his own office, K Street sources told The Sun.
“This is spiraling into the worst-kept secret in town,” a K Streeter, speaking anonymously to The Sun on Wednesday afternoon, said.
Underlying the growing chatter? Word of an impending exposé from The Los Angeles Times, adding professional woes of the 40th Governor currently under threat of recall.
Wednesday night, hours after announcing Rob Bonta as his appointee for Attorney General to replace U.S. Health and Human Secretary Xavier Becerra, the top auto-fill search result for “Newsom” on Twitter was “Newsom affair.”
Late in the evening, Capitol sources noted that POLITICO had also joined the chase for the story.
While Newsom deserves to be recalled, the position of this blog is that whoever replaces Newsom will be worse than he is so why subject taxpayers to this Quixotic exercise? Will this be the straw that causes Dems to abandon Newsom and rally around another? The morality of this lot is so twisted that I won’t be surprised by whatever happens.
Folks, the likely recall outcome is that we will get a more efficient tyrant than Garvin that will harm us even more.
My family’s plans to escape California took several big steps forward this past week.
First, we are getting proper access to our property installed from the main road by a contractor that we hired. The driveway should be completed in a few weeks. The house plans are slated to be ready soon as well.
We also took steps to get utilities installed on the property. The final price is unknown but the local government overseeing everything has had their preliminary fees paid to do the necessary engineering. We also met with the person installing electrical service to the property. Unlike California, where we are moving, hydroelectric is considered a reliable renewable energy source.
As part of our plan, I have accepted a promotion with a new agency, the dreaded Employment Development Department (EDD). Per conversations with some folks working there, it’s supposed to be an improvement from where I was before. The only concerning part is that the interview process was very minimal which makes me think they are just throwing as many people as they can at their problems. It is a “limited term” assignment which means I could be there 12 to 24 months, unless they convert me to permanent. I’d settle for the 24-month option. It will be more pay which of course will allow me to get more when I retire in two years …such a bargain.
I find it funny that after all these months of working from home, two weeks before I leave my current agency, I finally was issued the official department laptop. This laptop from Dell is perfectly fine, or it was before the IT department got ahold of it. Folks, I’m a better IT guy than almost anyone they have on their payroll. After years of trying to get hired by them, I finally gave up. Anyway, the laptop that I was issued was missing the accounting program and the VPN (Virtual Private Network) software. I had to get our building’s IT guy to install the programs. When I got it home and tried to use it, I found even more problems. The IT department stripped out the default Windows Power Plans and set it to use one of their own design. The max CPU usage I can get out of the thing is about 15 percent. My Excel program tops out at 2 percent CPU usage when under load and running macros in Excel. My Windows XP box from ten years ago was faster. Due to all the Group Policies, poor patching, and other nonsense, this thing is 85 percent brick and 15 percent computer. Oh, i7 processor and 16 GB of RAM should be faster. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think it was a 32-bit OS. The IT guy tried to remote in and fix it, but he doesn’t even know that Windows has Power Plans or how to configure them. Oh, this thing is so slow that web pages won’t resolve because they time-out’ thus looking for help on the Internet is impossible with this machine.
Also, there is no antivirus program on the laptop. I should have McAfee End Point Enterprise AV but that too is missing.
When transferring to the laptop, I abandoned about 90 percent of the files on my desktop machine and only transferred a few working files, and my photos and podcasts that I had accumulated over the last ten years. It’s a good thing I didn’t try to transfer everything. I have about 250 GB of data on my desktop and the laptop SSD is about 250 GB so it wouldn’t all fit anyway.
In light of my impending move to EDD, my question was how to get my personal stuff off of the laptop. Over the years the IT guys have gradually blocked thumb drives, DVD burners, and cell phones. I tried file transfer via network and Bluetooth but that didn’t work. Since I can’t get webpages to resolve, I couldn’t even use email to move anything. I know BIT Locker has been hacked but I had decided not to brute force any solution. I had about 50 podcasts and about 25 GB in photos that I wanted to move plus a few other odds and ends. (In most cases, the photos were copies that I probably had elsewhere but I wanted to compare them to my master copy on my home computer before deleting them.) I did many web searches on my desktop computer before I found a solution that worked. Thankfully, the IT guys don’t run Windows 10 in the real world so what I did was use something already baked into the OS.
Here is the solution that I found:
On both your home computer and the laptop, go to Setting > Shared Experiences and turn on both sharing buttons.
Then in Windows Explorer you can select files and broadcast them from one machine to another. I found that this usually worked but I was limited to about 14 files at a time. To move 25 GBs of photos at this rate would take forever. As a workaround for this file limit, I found that I could zip a whole directory of photos and transfer them as one file. I was able to move 8.5 GB of photos in a single zip file. I then deleted the stuff on the laptop. I recommend that you add Shared Experiences to your toolbox of things to consider as a method for moving files. The speed is limited only by your Wi-Fi.
Arizona Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego announced a proposal Friday to strip benefits for active or retired military members who participated in the Capitol Riot on January 6, according to Stars and Stripes.
Gallego wrote a letter to the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) Secretary Denis McDonough and other top military officials March 18, stating, “Unfortunately, many veterans led or participated in this insurrection. Reporting suggests that nearly 20% of the insurrectionists were either veterans or military retirees, including some of the most violent members of the mob.”
“Any veteran or service member who stormed the Capitol on January 6 forfeited their moral entitlement to privileged benefits at the expense of the people of the United States,” the letter read.
“I ask you to quickly identify, investigate, and prosecute any active service member or retiree that participated in the attack under the jurisdiction of the Uniform Code of Military Justice,” Gallego said.
Folks, I have strong feelings on this idea. As readers should know, I am a veteran. Here is a little background before I address the Congressman’s idea.
Buried in the bowels of my enlistment contract is a clause that I was subject to recall to active duty until I reached the age of 55 even though I never had to serve a day in the Reserves—Active or Inactive. So yes, the government, in special circumstances, does have a limited claim on military personnel even after they are discharged.
Also, I did take an oath to protect and defend the country of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic. Actually, I’ve taken that oath many times as both an elected official and a service member. Funny thing is, I was never released from that oath, either as a military member or an office holder.
So, when I read this article, it makes me mad for a number of reasons. First, the Democrat Party is the home of the domestic enemies of the United States. Look at what that Party stands for: they hate God, limited government, life, they welcome racists and racism, they are all about the color of people’s skins and not the content of their character, they oppose hard work and passing an inheritance to your grandchildren, they protect the guilty and punish the innocent, they oppose self-defense, demonize law enforcement, embrace tyranny, hate the Constitution, our Founders, and our history.
Given the oath that we veterans have taken, and the election fraud used to keep Democrats in power, I can fully understand that many veterans were in Washington D.C. on January 6th. Do I believe that what happened was an insurrection? NO. Remarkably, despite claims this was an armed event, no one in officer or law enforcement has yet to prove a single firearm was taken into the Capitol Building let alone used in an attempt to overthrow the government. It does appear that folks did not properly enter the building but for the most part, the worst they are guilt of is trespassing or something similar. Folks like buffalo boy and Jorge behaved stupidly by going into places that they shouldn’t like the House floor and Pelosi’s office. Had they stayed in public areas, much of the drama on that day would not have occurred.
Congressman Gallego is just pandering for some publicity. Invoking the UCMJ (Uniform Code of Military Justice) is laughable [for reasons that I will explain in a moment] and meant only to impress the uninformed masses. There is no legal precedent to do what he is suggesting. Oops, he is a Democrat so when has the law even been an impedance to what they do?
Many parts of the UCMJ are not followed by the military except as a tool for selective enforcement. Here’s a few examples. Ever seem a sailor with a tattoo? Per the letter of the UCMJ, a tattoo is forbidden, allegedly as the destruction of government property. Although this policy has softened over the years.
Adultery is forbidden. As is homosexuality, at least until Obama was in office. The UCMJ covers many moral areas which are routinely not enforced. My point being that the UCMJ is being softened by the civilian government and not the military. The trend is away from enforcing many provisions and making the military, …well less military.
Sorry Congressman but attempting to use the UCMJ is a nonstarter in my eyes. Secondly, I know of no possible way that the military can touch the life of a discharged veteran or retired person. Gallegos wants to waive a magic wand and take away veteran benefits? Sorry dude. Whatever happens in the civilian world, we earned the benefits. Even veterans in prison can get benefits from the Veteran’s Administration.
After a diligent Internet search, it looks like the Congressman has this in mind:
Can A Veteran Receive Retired Military Pay While In Prison?
Generally, yes. Being convicted of a crime almost never jeopardizes a federal pension – the rare exception to this rule are charges relating to criminal disloyalty to the United States: espionage, treason, sabotage, etc.
Sorry Congressman but what happened on January 6th falls way short of “espionage, treason, sabotage”. Jorge Riley and others have been charged with many things, but none come close to the threshold needed to go after veteran’s benefits.
The truth is that most veterans and other folks in Washington D.C. on January 6th were peaceful. If the veterans were wanting to overthrow the government do you really think they’d bring their wives and children to help?
If that doesn’t help then try this, the purpose of the military is to kill people and break things. Since the evil veterans on January 6th didn’t come properly prepared with vests, guns, and other military stuff, then how were they planning to overthrow the government? Harsh pronouns and colorful metaphors?
This is just another attempt to use the power of the Federal Government to attack Trump supporters that believe that the Democrats cheated yet again and get publicity at the same time. Such selective enforcement is tyranny and doing it retroactively is doubly so.
