American News Commentary Sample

American News Commentary Sample

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THIS WEEK'S INTRODUCTORY EDITORIAL COMMENT: The

first lines of Charles Dickens' 19th century epic novel,"A Tale of Two Cities,"

are remarkably appropriate to the year 2011 -- at least today, at its mid-point:

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of

wisdom, it was the age of foolishness ...it was the spring of hope, it was

the winter of despair." They could well have been released by the Obama

administration's press and publicity spokesman. The Obama view is that we're

in a recovery period, but unemployment is at highs not seen in recent memory,

and increasing; in addition to two legally declared wars, we have a "non-war"

war underway in Libya and are actively bombing Yemen; living expenses have

shot up by approximately 35% already this year, and housing values have

literally "tanked." Morally, our nation seems trying to achieve new lows, and

the ethical behavior demonstrated by government leaders has become a source

of bad jokes. T ruly,what should have been the best of times, is becoming by

every standard, the worst of times. And the person in charge of this disastrous

change of course for our nation is seeking re-election? Hello, American voters

-- is everybody asleep? Does anybody care what is happening?

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"I think it's important for every country to enforce its immigration laws

and try to protect its borders." -- President Bill Clinton

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AS THE MEDIA CONTINUES TO DIRECT OUR ATTENTION

ELSEWWHERE, OUR NATIONAL PROBLEM OF ILLEGAL

IMMIGRATION REMAINS IGNORED AND UNSOLVED

And that is just one of the problems we face, as American citizens, and more

specifically as Christian American citizens. But while it may not even be one

of the most serious problems we face, it is one that our government can no

longer just ignore on the basis that this is re-election time, and all of his

promises of "amnesty" will guarantee Mexican votes for Mr. Obama. Aside

from the millions of illegal immigrants already in this country, obviously

holding jobs that our millions of unemployed desperately need (plus the costs

of health, education and law enforcement expenses the illegals entail) -- there

is the increase in drug cartel associated murders. Granted, mostly in Mexico,

but more and more spilling across into the U.S. Border states. We get very

upset about reports of several hundred slain in Libya or Syria or the Sudan,

but those are half-a-world away. In 2010 more than 15,000 were murdered

just across our southern borders in Mexico -- for a total of nearly 35,000 in

the past 5 years. And now Congressional investigations are under way to get to

the roots of operation "Fast and Furious," whereby U.S. government agencies

supplied weapons to the drug cartels. Mr. Obama has called this a mistake,

but insists that neither he nor Attorney General Holder authorized it. But it is

obvious that someone did.

Meanwhile, Democrat National Chairperson, Debbie Wasserman Schultz

(watch for quotes from her -- she may be another Joe Biden) made this very

revealing statement: "I think the president was clearly articulating that his

position — the Democrat position — is that we need comprehensive

immigration reform. We have 12 million undocumented immigrants in

this country that are part of the backbone of our economy. And that is

not only a reality but a necessity...The Republican solution that I’ve seen

in the last three years is that ...in fact it should be a crime and we should

arrest them all." Mark Alexander, writing in Patriot Post, explained (or

tried to explain) Ms. Schultz' reasoning: "Illegal immigration isn’t actually

a crime in her world...There is a reason that “illegal” is usually put in

front of 'immigration' and 'immigrant/alien,' because it’s they are, well,

you know, illegal. Violating the law."

We couldn't have said it better! From Jack Marshall, writing in Ethics

Alarms: "What reasonable people should not accept and must not

accept is the increasingly routine practice among many news outlets

of dropping 'illegal' from the phrase 'illegal immigration' and 'illegal

immigrants' when discussing such measures. The practice is no less

than a lie, an effort to misrepresent as bigotry legitimate objections to

providing the benefits of American citizenship to those who willfully

violate U.S. immigration laws and procedures. Slyly substituting

'immigrant' for 'illegal immigrant' is cheating, putting a journalistic

thumb on the scales of a legitimate policy dispute...those who tolerate

or defend the practice know that they have a losing argument, and can

only prevail through rhetorical deception."

But there are so many other problems . . . we can't discuss them all, but

we can at least remind you of some of them, and leave it with you to decide

that the unfulfilled Obama slogan of 2008 is more applicable today than it

was then: "Hope and Change."

There is, of course, the economy. Bill Clinton had it right with the slogan

that was a big factor in keeping his campaign focused: "It's the economy,

stupid." Among other things that Mr. Obama doesn't seem to grasp is that

Clinton slogan. And that is understandable. In recent days just about his entire

Economic Council has resigned -- most recently the Council chief, Austan

Goolsbee followed Christina Roemer, Larry Summers and Peter Orszag, plus

half a dozen mid-level executives of the White House Economic Council

Team. Of the original Obama economic appointees, only Timothy Geithner,

Treasury Secretary, remains, and he can hardly be considered an asset.

But how things have changed. After just a few months in office, on July 14,

2009, Mr. Obama said, "Now, my administration has a job to do as well,

that job is to get this economy back on its feet. That's my job, and it's a

job I gladly accept. I love these folks who helped get us in this mess and

then suddenly say, well, this is Obama's economy. That's fine. Give it to

me." In those days the president received a daily economic briefing, which

Robert Gibbs, his press secretary, said was comparable in importance to the

daily intelligence and security briefings the president gets every morning. But

somewhere in time, those economic briefings disappeared from his daily

schedule. Maybe it's because his team of economists have all departed. It's as

Michelle Malkin said, "Life is good for left-wing academics. Everyone else

pays dearly."

And probably most notable in the "paying dearly" category has been the

soaring price of gasoline. But that should not come as a surprise to any of

us. Remember last December when the Obama Secretary of Energy, Stephen

Chu, said: “Somehow we have to figure out how to boost the price of

gasoline to the levels in Europe.” They haven't quite reached that level yet,

but they're trying. The next time you fill up at the pump, remember that the

Obama administration doesn't want to lower costs, they want to raise them.

Mr. Obama keeps saying he doesn't worry about a "double dip recession."

During last week's meeting with German Chancellor Merkel, he said, “I’m

not concerned about a double-dip recession. I am concerned about the

fact that the recovery that we’re on is not producing jobs as quickly as

I want it to happen.” And we agree. There is no point in worrying about a

second dip until the first dip has ended -- and that hasn't happened yet.

This week the president said, "I won't be satisfied until everyone who

wants a job, has a job." That may be a long time off. Last week the new

jobless clams jumped to 427,000, marking 8 weeks in a row they have

averaged around 420,000. The White House description of these continued

disasters being "unexpected" is now sounding ridiculous. And in the housing

market, somewhere between a third and a quarter of home owners owe

more on their mortgage than their home is worth, and one in four now have

no equity in their home.

And to name one part of the American way of life which is being adversely

affected -- consider the local churches and the Christian missionary and

Christian aid organizations which are seeing their income gradually eroded.

Before we leave the subject of "problems," let us just mention two more

which have to be of great concern. First, there is the international situation,

where we have at least two wars in progress, in Iraq and Afghanistan, and

where deaths of American military continue . . plus the uneasy situation in

Pakistan, where American lives continue to be taken . . . and the non-war

war in Libya, with no end in sight . . . and the needed-war in Syria, where

President Assad, long called a "reformer" by President Obama, Secretary

of State Clinton and our frequent visitor there, Senator Kerry, continues to

slaughter his own people, while posing a future threat -- along with Iran --

against Israel. The entire Middle-East Muslim world, where Mr. Obama is

supposed to have such insight, is in uproar, and where by no standard does

America enjoy a favored nation status. Presently this problem is not being

addressed well.

And the other problem -- of direct serious concern to American Christians,

is the downward trend in moral values in our nation -- those values which our

Founding Fathers referred to as "virtues." We have a president who claims

to be a Christian, yet celebrates Muslim observances, and ignores events like

our National Day of Prayer . . . who encourages the funding of abortion mills,

which have already killed some 50 million babies . . . he encourages the

LGBT movement (Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual, Trans-gender), and has pledged

to repeal DOMA (Defense of Marriage Act) and thus further destroy the

American family by making same-sex marriages legally recognized in every

state. And against the position held by his predecessor presidents, he insists

that America is no longer a Christian nation.

A concise final word on "problems," by Joel Rosenberg, political pundit,

in Joel Rosenberg's Blog: "Record breaking natural disasters keep

happening around the world. The global economy remains in serious

trouble. Millions are sinking into poverty. Islam is spreading around the

world. Rumors of new wars in the Middle East are mounting. New

threats to Israel are metastasizing. Yet as the world is being shaken and

serious new threats and challenges are rising, so much of the world

seems to be asleep. Alarm bells are going off, yet so much of the Church

seems to be asleep as well, intoxicated by the pleasures of the world and

unable or unwilling to respond to the call of God to pray, fast, and

repent despite the fact that, as the Hebrew Prophet Joel wrote in the

Bible, 'the day of the Lord is coming; surely it is near.'"

Those are some of the problems which must give us serious concern

as we approach a national election, Nov. 6, 2012 . . . now just 510 days

away, 510 days to pray for our nation, and for God's direction as we vote

to restore America to the kind of a nation that it was always intended to be.

As always, because the media is so liberally biased, we bring you from

our research these examples of "What Others Are Saying."

Hugh Hewitt (in TownHall.com ): "Two huge stories are waiting for the

MSM [Main Stream Media] when it recovers from the Weiner implosion.

One concerns domestic policy and the other foreign."

Dr. Michael Evans (Jerusalem Prayer Team): "The media isn't telling

us the truth! The Middle East is in a spiritual battle driven by Islam. Over

500 million youth are unemployed and poor. The battle is being waged in

mosques, madrasas, and by mullahs...Who is fueling this battle? The New

Age secular, Liberal Left media in the U.S. run by ideologues from the

1960's revolution is in the forefront. It kills the soul while the body is left

to the jihadists."

Mark Alexander (in Patriot Post): "It is said that Nero fiddled while

Rome burned. Barack Hussein Obama, likewise, has certainly been

occupying himself with frivolity whilst the U.S. economy edges closer to

collapse."

Dr. Michael Youssef (Leading the Way): "Both the religious and

secular Left in America seem to want government to replace the church

in ministering to the poor and needy. One of Barack Obama's first

proposals as president was a plan to slash tax deductions for charitable

donations by high-income taxpayers. President Obama reasoned that a

tax deduction 'shouldn't be a determining factor as to whether you're

giving that hundred dollars to the homeless shelter.' Maybe so—but since

private charities do so much good for the poor, why eliminate incentives

for charitable giving? Could it be that liberals see private charities as

competing with the big government welfare state?"

Tony Adkins (Conservative Action Reports): "The enemy adheres to

an all-encompassing Islamic political-military-legal doctrine known as

Shariah. Shariah obliges them to engage in jihad to achieve the triumph

of Islam worldwide through the establishment of a global Islamic State

governed exclusively by Shariah, under a restored caliphate."

Henry Kissinger (in Wahington Post): "The American role in

Afghanistan is drawing to a close in a manner paralleling the pattern of

three other inconclusive wars since the Allied victory in World War II:

a wide consensus in entering them, and growing disillusionment as the

war drags on, shading into an intense national search for an exit strategy

with the emphasis on exit rather than strategy."

And from the past, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: "Peace for Israel

means security, and we must stand with all our might to protect its right

to exist, its territorial integrity. I see Israel as one of the great outposts

of democracy in the world ... Peace for Israel means security and that

security must be a reality." (Mar. 25, 1968; just 2 weeks before his death)

And here are some great (although a bit long) "One Liners" . . .

"To borrow a turn of phrase that's been in the news of late...we can

'say with certitude' that this economy stinks." -- Arianna Huffington,

long-time Liberal commentator and advocate

"In my house, growing up, The New York Times substituted for religion.

If The Times said it, it was the absolute truth." -- Jill Abramson, on being

named the new editor of The New York Times.

And here's an oldie: "There is only one way to kill capitalism—by taxes,

taxes, and more taxes." -- Karl Marx, author, The Communist Manifesto

And here are a few random "Afterthoughts" . . .

So you won't forget, here are 2 brief news items on Muslim jihads.

(1) On June 7, Muslim extremists from the Boko Haram sect shot and killed

a Church of Christ in Nigeria (COCIN) pastor and his church secretary in

northeastern Nigeria. The Rev. David Usman, and church secretary,

Hamman Andrew were the latest casualties in an upsurge of Islamic militancy

that has spread across northern Nigeria this year, resulting in the destruction

of church buildings and the killing and maiming of Christians. (2) An outbreak

of violence in Egypt incited by Salafi Muslims since President Mubarak's

ouster, has left at least 24 Christians killed, hundreds wounded and three

churches destroyed. During the U.S. supported uprising in January, Egyptian

youth were seeking democratic reforms, but for the Salafi Muslims, it became

an opportunity to try to establish an Islamist agenda for the Egyptian nation.

Sectarian violence, largely against Coptic Christians, is leading many to seek

to leave the country. American Christians should pray for our fellow believers

in Muslim dominated areas of the world, and our government should develop

a better understanding of national situations before offering our support.

And here is a brief note on a current poll: In a May 5-8 telephone survey,

Gallup asked more than 1,000 U.S. adults in all 50 states: "Just your best

guess -- what percentage of Americans today are gay or lesbian?"

Those adults estimated that 25% -- that's a quarter of all Americans -- are

gay or lesbian. The facts? Official data discloses that gays and lesbians

comprise between 2% and 4% of the population. One wonders why Mr.

Obama works so hard to please such a small segment of our population and

thus get their vote.

Remember when Nancy Pelosi was Speaker of the House . . . and she

said that they had to pass the Obamacare bill in order to find out what was in

it. Well, we are beginning to find out, and a new study by McKinsey &

Company discloses that 30% to 50% of employers who currently provide

health insurance for their employees are likely to stop providing that coverage

because of some of the more onerous provisions of Obamacare. So much for

Mr. Obama's promise that if you like your present insurance, you can keep it.

Note this word about our Founding Fathers from Thomas Winter, Editor,

Human Events: "Tom Brokaw labeled the World War II generation

the 'Greatest Generation' — but he was wrong. That honor belongs

to the Founders — the men who pledged their lives, fortunes, and

sacred honor for the cause of liberty, and who established the United States."

"'Tis our true policy to steer clear of permanent Alliances, with any portion

of the foreign world." -- George Washington, 1796

"If there is a form of government , then, whose principle and foundation is

virtue, will not every sober man acknowledge it better calculated to promote

the general happiness than any other form?" -- John Adams, 1776

"A rigid economy of the public contributions and absolute interdiction of all

useless expenses will go far towards keeping the government honest and

unoppressive." -- Thomas Jefferson, 1823

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