“The Eucharist is the Sacrament of Love; it signifies Love, it produces Love.”

– St. Thomas Aquinas.

You already received it, last Friday! APRIL FOOLS!

Go back and read it. And enjoy a wonderful day.

GFK

“With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.  And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all.”

-– Acts 4:33.

The Observations has long warned about the increasing Islamization of America, more now than in the past. We state, and we mean, that Islam is incompatible with our nation’s values, laws, and Constitution. Below is an article about the growing Islamization of Great Britain. Readers should take it as a warning about what is happening here.

The Islamization of Britain is Almost Complete

British institutions are relentlessly embracing Islam, attacking classic British culture, and turning a blind eye to Islamic crime and antisemitism.

BY:          Janet Levy, The American Thinker (March 22, 2026).

The British Empire was the largest in history. With colonies on every continent, it covered more than a quarter of the earth’s land and governed over a fifth of the world’s population. Besides dominating military, economic, diplomatic, and political affairs, it transformed the world by spreading Western values, customs, and culture, as well as ideas such as individualism, rationalism, capitalism, and modern scientific thought. That influence continues in the educational, legal, and parliamentary systems of many countries.

But Britain is now a shadow of its former self, having allowed its institutions, the media, academia, and the public to be heavily influenced by Islam, which the late Christopher Hitchens described as “the most toxic form that religion can take.” Fashionable deference to Islam—the government, for example, treats even the most innocuous criticism of Islam as “hate speech”—has caused a noticeable shift in power, identity, and influence, and it may not be long before Britain becomes an Islamic state.

The Muslim population is projected to exceed 8% by 2030. There are over 2,000 mosques, more than 85 sharia courts challenge British common law, sharia finance is growing in popularity, halal food is widespread, and the government recognizes Islamic holidays with an enthusiasm that would shame many Muslim countries. Iftars are hosted at the House of Commons, and Ramadan prayers are offered at Windsor Castle, a symbol of Britain’s historical pre-eminence.

For years, public discourse has been filled with discussions about Britain’s Islamization. U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance once joked that Britain might be the first truly Islamic country to acquire nuclear weapons. Elon Musk criticized U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer for ignoring Muslim sex grooming gangs that exploit children and for remaining silent on Pakistani rape gangs when he was Britain’s director of public prosecution. But governments—especially Labour Party governments—have consistently ignored the warning signs and have encouraged Islam by permitting mass migration and giving in to every demand made by Muslim groups.

Examples are plentiful of Britain’s decline into submission to Islam and the replacement of its Western culture by sharia. Guidance documents for schools from Labor-run city councils in northern England warn educators that drawing and music lessons could be considered blasphemous to Islam. The Green Party of England and Wales plans to change school curricula to teach children that it is their moral duty to welcome immigrants. In the name of raising awareness about a religion from another culture, children too young to question their teachers are being brainwashed.

While the authorities go out of their way to accommodate Islam, they have no hesitation about attacking Christianity or being lenient with those who criticize it.

• Hatun Tash, a Turkish-born British citizen and former Muslim, was arrested twice for preaching Christianity and criticizing the Quran at Hyde Park’s Speakers’ Corner, a stronghold of free speech. Ironically, she was the victim in these incidents and has been stabbed and beaten by Muslims more than once.
• Daniel Ayettey, a pastor, was pulled off a ladder and threatened with a knife by a Muslim asylum seeker from Sudan who had 29 previous convictions for 67 offenses. The attacker was spared jail by a judge.
• A police officer instructed a group of gospel-sharing Christians to stop their activities.
• A preacher was detained for questioning a Muslim woman about Quranic verses related to domestic violence.
• Christmas markets across the UK were canceled in 2025, with city councils claiming they lacked funds, while money was allocated for Ramadan and Eid celebrations nationwide.

Perhaps the most powerful symbolic statement by Muslims was a recent Iftar gathering in London’s Trafalgar Square. Over 3,000 Muslims assembled for evening prayers, which started with the adhan; London Mayor Sadiq Khan attended and distributed dinner packages. When senior conservative Nick Timothy objected to the event, describing a public call of Allahu akbar as “a declaration of domination,” Starmer called for his removal as shadow justice secretary.

Islamist influence is already evident in self-proclaimed “Muslim areas” of London, where the vigilante Muslim London Patrol confronts passersby and advises them not to drink alcohol or wear short dresses. A 2013 report details how its volunteers scold non-Muslims and tell them to stay away from mosques. Gay men are called “dirty” and asked to leave.

Muslims are heard saying that England is not a Christian country and that Islam is on the rise. Anjem Choudary, a prominent radical preacher and Sharia court judge now serving a life sentence for terrorist activities, once led the Islamic Emirates Project, aiming to turn 12 British cities into independent Islamic states outside of British law.

Meanwhile, ignoring widespread expressions of Jew-hatred by Muslims, the British government has taken steps to define anti-Muslim hatred and Islamophobia. Currently, hate crimes against Muslims are twice as likely to result in prosecution as hate crimes against Jews. Antisemitism is blatant and rampant: Muslim mobs chant “Death to Israel” and call for the murder of Jews; at anti-Israel rallies, protesters mention a historic 7th-century battle against Jewish tribes, shouting Khaybar, Khaybar, oh Jews, the army of Mohammad will return; and Muslim clerics promote Jew hatred and support terrorist groups like Hamas. Significant efforts are made—by the government as well as the liberal media—to downplay such antisemitism.

But even perceived offenses to Muslim sensibilities invoke the wrath of the law, as West London restaurateur Harnam Singh Kapoor learned. Kapoor, a Sikh, has a sign at his restaurant Rangrez that says, “Proudly Non Halal Restaurant.” For this, he faced threats and confrontations from Muslim groups, while he and his wife received phone calls warning that their daughter would be raped by grooming gangs. To protect himself and his family, he began carrying a kirpan, a Sikh ceremonial dagger. On March 14, after Kapoor called for a non-halal meet-up at his restaurant, over 100 people gathered around the premises, chanting slogans. When he contacted the police, they arrested him instead.

The extent to which the British government is willing to accommodate Muslim practices is clear in its choice to normalize cousin marriage, ignoring scientific evidence that shows it increases the risk of inheriting recessive disorders. According to a Bradford study, the rate of cousin or relative marriage among immigrant Muslims reaches as high as 46%. This practice is banned in Norway and most American states and is set to be banned in Sweden.

Last year, Conservative MP Richard Holden proposed a bill for a similar ban in the U.K.

But the National Health Service (NHS) has directed its doctors and nurses to stop issuing blanket discouragements against the practice to Muslim families. They were informed that giving such advice is “unacceptable.” It even published a report—now withdrawn—praising the “benefits” of cousin marriage, and advertised for nurses to support families choosing close-relative marriages. Holden was outraged that public funds were being used to address a custom that should be banned outright.

As conservative commentator Patrick West writes in The Spectator: Should British culture be allowed to be diluted by a “self-abasing and cowardly coterie of white liberals,” all in the “dread names of multiculturalism, diversity, and inclusivity”? Can the British public genuinely support the idea that Muslims need special laws and protections in addition to those protecting other citizens?

How much longer before the once-greatest empire on earth is surpassed by Islam?

GFK

“We must not get tired of doing good, for we will reap at the proper time if we don’t give up.”

-– Galatians 6:9.

The Left held a series of “No Kings” rallies across the nation over the weekend. These were nothing but virtue signaling gatherings, largely populated by white women, old people, and hipster doofuses. The point was apparently to let everyone know that . . . Orange Man Bad.

The rallies in several cities were violent. Demonstrators in Portland, Oregon wore gas masks, and physically attacked police trying to keep order. In Dallas, Texas, Leftists attacked counter-demonstrators, hurling fists and profanities. And in Los Angeles, California, Leftists carried “Palestinian” and Mexican flags, and threw cement cinderblocks at police. New York City protestors carried the most vulgar and profane signs, shouting their vulgarities at police, and demanded an end of hostilities with Iran, the deportation of illegal aliens, and, of course, blamed Jews for everything.

The most amusing “No Kings” rally occurred in London, England. Seriously; people in a country with a king, were protesting America, where there is no king. You cannot make this stuff up.

The common denominator with all these rallies were the open calls for communist revolution, and the hatred of Jews, and the hatred of America. Which makes sense, since these rallies were funded, in large part, by the Chinese Communist Party.

Beginning in June, U.S. currency will bear the signature of Donald Trump. That popping sound you hear is the sound of Leftist heads exploding in anger.

The United States Senate passed a funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security that omitted any funding for ICE or the Border Patrol Then the cowardly Senators fled town for a 2 week vacation.

The United States House of Representatives rejected the deficient Senate spending bill, and instead passed a short term (8 week) funding bill for the entire Department of Homeland Security. Maybe Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R. S.D.) can get his colleagues to return to Washington, D.C., and do their jobs. Probably not.

Senator Bernie Sanders (I. Vt.) quickly departed D.C., sitting in a first class seat on a plane bound for Boston. Do socialists fly first class? Apparently so.

Representative Pramila Jayapal (D. Wa.) wants the federal government to pay reparations to illegal aliens for the “trauma” visited upon them by ICE. Sigh. Read that sentence again. A member of Congress thinks that criminals should be compensated for the “trauma” of being arrested and punished.

Senate Democrats have been opposing the SAVE Act, claiming that they do not oppose requiring photo IDs when voting, but insisting that other provisions of the bill are wrong. So Senate Republicans introduced a different bill, the sole provision of which required photo IDs when voting. Just 2 years ago, every Senate Democrat voted in favor of legislation that required photo IDs when voting. But this year, no. A hard “no”. What is the difference? Well . . . Orange Man Bad.

National Security Agency communications intercepts demonstrate that Ukraine laundered money–LOTS OF MONEY–into the China Joe reelection campaign. Oh, well, no harm, no foul. Nothing to see here.

In an unrelated story, President Trump jaywalked across Pennsylvania Avenue, in Washington, D.C. TYRANT! ARREST HIM! NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW! Except Democrats.

“We’re making clear that no one is above the law in this city, that everyone has to follow the rule of law.  I have made clear to the president, both in our private conversations and our public conversations, about the fact that I believe that ICE is a rogue agency.  I’ve also been public about my belief that ICE is an entity that should be abolished, and that is critically important in our city, where we’ve seen too many New Yorkers living in fear of even going to what would otherwise be routine immigration check ins . . . What we’ve had in the interim is a federal entity that has been operating with a level of impunity, and that has to come to an end.  I think that [“No Kings”] rallies are an incredibly effective way for New Yorkers to both organize together and make it clear what their vision is for the city, for the State, for this country.  I think that what we’ve seen is that there’s an attempt to make many in our city feel as if they are alone, when they believe that ICE has no place in our city, when they believe that every single New Yorker who lives in this city belongs in this city, and should be made to feel as if such.”

–Comrade Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D. N.Y.).

He is so full of it.  Illegal aliens are not New Yorkers, and do not belong in New York City.  They need to return to the Third World country from which they came.

In downtown Chicago, Illinois, a mob of teenagers gathered and engaged in riotous violence. Property was destroyed, cars hijacked, pedestrians beaten and robbed, and police attacked. And this is not a one off; apparently it happens regularly. Wow.

“This is not normal.  These guys [ICE agents] aren’t doing a damn thing.  They weren’t qualified to be here in Minnesota.  They’re not qualified to be at the airport, and they are dang sure not qualified to be anywhere near a polling station.  But I would be absolutely shocked if he [Donald Trump] is not already making plans.  I mean, Democratic states are seeing this assault.  We have the most secure, fairest elections anywhere, and they’re still coming for it.”

–Tampon Tim (D. Mn.) whining and crying, because he is wholly irrelevant in every way.

Virginia General Assembly Republicans demanded a gas tax holiday in the Commonwealth, due to rising gasoline prices. Governor Abigail Spanberger (D.) rejected it out of hand. Because government can never do without more money. Let the people suffer.

Pennsylvania Democrat legislators introduced a resolution commemorating “Women’s History Month”. When Republican legislators filed an amendment to the resolution, defining who/what constituted a “woman”, Democrats quickly withdrew the resolution from consideration. Because they are scared to death of their whacked out constituents.

Yesterday, on Palm Sunday, more than 1,000 Episcopalians marched to the Michigan State Capitol building in Lansing. They placed their palm fronds on the Capitol’s steps, and demanded in the name of the Jesus that government did more; more for people to have healthcare, food, housing, to be more welcoming to illegal aliens, and for dignity to be afforded to all persons. Which is quite interesting, since you can read the entire Bible, cover to cover, the Old Testament, the New Testament, and you will never find God, and you will never find Jesus, commanding government to do anything. No, God commands individuals to do good works. Jesus instructs his followers to do good works. But The Episcopal Church USA has forgotten the story. Christians do not get to outsource their responsibilities for their neighbors, the poor, and the sick to the government. God does not advocate for government contracting. But the Episcopal Church is more interested in government action, instead of individual responsibility and duty. Because The Episcopal Church as an entity is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Democrat Party. And that is sad.

Blue Bell’s creamery unveiled Brookie À La Mode Ice Cream, available in stores now.   It is a delicious combination of two of the most popular baked desserts: a brownie and a chocolate chip cookie.  Mix that with Blue Bell ice cream.  YUM! 

The Clayton Club Saloon is a dark, Western-themed dive bar with the cowboy boots of fallen regulars dangling from the ceiling and, outside, hitching posts for horses that are still used today.  The bar has anchored the tiny historic downtown of Clayton, at the foot of Mount Diablo, since 1873.  It has survived the Great Depression, Prohibition, and numerous owners and name changes.  But yesterday, after 153 years, the Clayton Club Saloon closed for good.  Very sad.

Päivi Räsänen, a medical doctor by trade, and a member of Finland’s Parliament, claims that homosexuality is a developmental disorder.  She included that claim in a church pamphlet, with Biblical quotes to support her claims.  Notwithstanding all of this, she has now been convicted of the crime of inciting “hatred”.  The court found that while her citations and recitation of Biblical quotes were protected, Mrs. Rasanen was still guilty of a crime, because she actually believed in the Scripture.

The Yemeni Houthis attacked Israel. Big mistake.

“Why would he [Eldrick Woods] need to play golf anymore?  I think he should probably ask himself that.  Consider not playing golf anymore.”

–Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee. 

Eldrick Woods was arrested in Jupiter, Florida for driving under the influence. He was speeding through a residential neighborhood, and attempted to pass a gardening truck hauling a trailer. His Land Rover clipped the trailer, and overturned in the roadway. Thankfully, no one was injured.

Eldrick refused to submit to a urinalysis test, and will now lose his license for 18 months. He will likely also be convicted of the DUI charge, and face further punishment. Good. Eldrick Woods may be a great golfer, but he is also a selfish, self-entitled SOB, who deserves public shame and scorn. This is not an isolated incident. And this could have turned out so much worse. Someone should take his keys away, for good.

On occasion, I represent individuals charged with drunk driving. If someone comes to me with their 1st charge, usually not involved in any sort of accident or high speed, I try and show them some compassion. People make mistakes, and an isolated incident of driving under the influence does not make you a bad person. The important thing is to learn, and to not do it again. By contrast, this is the 4th incident Eldrick Woods has had with an automobile. That we know of. I would submit that Eldrick Woods is a bad person, who does not learn from his mistakes. He does not care. If this continues, real tragedy will occur.

Congratulations to Chase Elliott on winning the Cookout 400 at the Martinsville Speedway. Enjoy your grandfather clock.

It is estimated that more than $170 million was spent in Martinsville and Henry County this past race weekend. That is a lot of beer and hot dogs.

The NCAA Men’s Basketball tournament Final Four has been determined. Arizona will play Michigan in the semi-finals, and Illinois will play Connecticut in the semi-finals. The winners will square off on Monday, April 6, for the National Championship.

Singer/songwriter Darrell Crofts, of the duo Seals & Crofts, has died at age 87. He “shall never pass this way, again.” R. I. P.

Four (4) time Pro Bowl linebacker Jeff Siemon has died at age 75. R. I. P.

Dave Newhouse, longtime sports columnist at The Oakland Tribune, has died at age 87. R. I. P.

Former Minnesota Viking Defensive Back Joey Browner has died at age 65. R. I. P.

GFK

“So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, crying out, ‘Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!’”

–– John 12:13.

“But Palm Sunday tells us that it is the cross that is the true tree of life.”

-– Pope Benedict XVI.

“Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the Lord!”

-– Psalm 31:24.

On Palm Sunday, Jesus entered the city of Jerusalem to the cheers of the city’s residents. Before another 5 days passed, those same residents would be calling for his crucifixion.

Today begins the most intense week of the Christian year. On Palm Sunday, we enter into the very mystery of our salvation: Our Lord’s passion, death and resurrection. The Epistle, from S. Paul’s letter to the Christians at Philippi, speaks to the centrality of this mystery. Here S. Paul emphasizes Our Lord’s humility as He undertakes the work of man’s salvation:

Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

We might find it somewhat challenging to understand S. Paul’s intent of this passage from the Authorized Version of the Bible (King James I authorized version of 1611). Even scholars are divided as to S. Paul’s purpose in using so obscure a term translated as “robbery.” The Revised Standard Version translates verse six as: though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped… Used rarely in the Hebrew scriptures and only once in the New Testament, the verb harpagmos suggests “taking what one does not have.”

S. Paul seems to have in mind Christ as the new Adam. Whereas the first Adam grasped for what he did not possess, that is bring equal to God, the new Adam who is “very God of very God” (the incarnate Christ) does the opposite. He exercises profound humility by embracing our human nature, even choosing to die the ignoble death of crucifixion. Where the first Adam sought to raise himself to the level of his Creator, it is God who exalts the second Adam and enthrones Him in heaven precisely because of His willingness to humble Himself for our sake.

This is the mind that we are to have as followers of Christ. Meditating upon Our Lord as servant should inspire us to serve one another. 

As we reflect upon Our Lord’s passion, in particular His Via Dolorosa, we see a concrete expression of His humility. Bearing the weight of the cross, Our Lord stumbles and falls to the ground. Simon of Cyrene is pressed into service by the Roman soldiers. There is no doubt that Our Lord, in His divinity, could have carried the cross. But precisely in His humility He needs Simon to share the burden of the cross. As S. Paul writes to the Christians in Galatia: Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.

To be servants one of another is to be willing to bear another’s burden. How often do we resist reaching out to others because we value too much our own time or comfort!

This week we have the opportunity to walk with Our Lord from the Antonia Fortress (the “judgement seat”) to Mount Calvary. As we stand with him during the Triduum – Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday – we witness the law of Christ revealed on the cross. 

In His humility, He bears our sins. But in so doing, He is exalted to the glory of the Father. By dying to self in imitation of Our Lord, and by our willingness to take on the burdens of others we too will be glorified and raised up into the eternal realm of the Blessed Trinity!

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Jews and Christians: United We Stand, Divided We Fall

The overlap of Passover and Easter is no accident of the calendar — it’s a call for solidarity.

BY:          Josh Hammer, The American Spectator (March 27, 2026).

For a brief window this coming week, Passover and Holy Week, the sacred observances of Jews and Christians, respectively, will overlap. Jews around the world will gather this Wednesday and Thursday evenings for the Seder, which recounts the Exodus from Egypt and God’s redemptive hand in history. And after Good Friday and Holy Saturday, on Sunday, April 5, Christians will celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the promise of eternal salvation. Two biblical traditions, distinct but from the same Abrahamic family tree, will thus find themselves marking holy seasons at the same time.

In this fraught moment, this calendar convergence feels like quite a bit more than mere serendipity. It is a visceral reminder of the shared moral and theological inheritance that undergirds Judaism and Christianity — the common foundation that has molded and shaped what we know today as Western civilization.

At their core, both holidays tell a story of redemption. For Jews, Passover is the story of a people delivered from bondage, divine justice meted out against tyranny, and covenantal purpose eventually forged after national liberation. Likewise for Christians, Easter is a story of redemption — of sin confronted and overcome, of sacrifice and renewal, of life triumphing over death. The theological particulars certainly differ, and Judaism’s heavier emphasis on particularism contrasts with Christianity’s universalist orientation, but the underlying message is still strikingly similar: Hope springs eternal.

These shared values — redemption, repentance, moral accountability — help constitute the bedrock of Western civilization today.

Equally central to both traditions, and both springtime holidays, is the idea of repentance. In Judaism, the concept of teshuvah — returning to God through repentance and righteous action — is a cornerstone of religious life. Jewish tradition teaches that in addition to the fall High Holiday season’s well-known focus on repentance, the springtime season of Passover is also a perfect occasion to atone and confidently step closer to God. Christianity, of course, also places repentance at the heart of spiritual renewal, calling believers to turn away from sin and toward charity and grace. The searing imagery of Christ’s crucifixion is ensconced in the West’s collective memory, perhaps more than anything else, for its emphasis on atonement for mankind’s sins.

These shared values — redemption, repentance, moral accountability — help constitute the bedrock of Western civilization today. Zooming out from the overarching themes of this season’s calendrical overlap, consider some of the West’s other defining principles: the rule of law, the dignity of the individual, the sanctity of life, the pursuit of justice. The fingerprints of the ecumenical biblical inheritance are ubiquitous. This is our common inheritance. This is who we are.

And yet, at this very moment when the alignment of Passover and Easter should prompt reflection on that shared inheritance, bad-faith actors on the home front are seeking to tear Jews and Christians apart at the seams. The timing of this subversion could not possibly be worse. The West finds itself under unprecedented strain. The threats are multifaceted and very real.

There is the challenge of Islamism — a totalitarian political ideology, historically beyond America’s borders but increasingly also found within, which seeks not peaceful coexistence but dominance. There is the rot of woke neo-Marxism, which rejects objective truth, undermines meritocracy, and seeks to replace individual responsibility with collective grievance and a debilitating victimhood culture. And there is the ever-insidious force of globalism, which threatens to erode national sovereignty, dilute cultural identity, and promote homogenized technocratic governance over the democratic accountability that only the nation-state can provide.

Against these challenges, Jews and Christians must not stand apart. We simply cannot afford to. The symbolic overlap of Passover and Easter this year should serve as a moment of reflection that, despite real theological differences, we are bound together by an overwhelming common inheritance and an inescapable common destiny.

This does not mean erasing distinctions. But it does mean acknowledging that we are allies in a broader civilizational struggle. It means recognizing the values we share are far more significant, at this juncture in history, than the doctrines that divide us. Loud provocateurs notwithstanding, the Judeo-Christian tradition has long been a powerful unifying force in the United States — a framework that transcends denominational lines.

Now is the time to build on that foundation. As families gather around the Seder table and for Easter services, there is an opportunity to reflect not only on the past but also on the future. What kind of civilization do we want to preserve and leave to our children? What values, customs, and ways of life are worth defending? And who will stand together in that defense?

The story of the West is, in many ways, a shared story. It is a story rooted in the belief that man is made in God’s image, redemption is possible, repentance is necessary, and human beings are called to something higher. It’s up to us, ultimately, to take that message seriously — and to lock arms and stand shoulder to shoulder like never before to preserve our inheritance for many more generations to come.

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Hegseth’s prayer for our troops echoed centuries of U.S. wartime prayers

But both America’s proud history and the Bible are offensive to the left, who expressed pearl-clutching outrage over Hegseth’s prayer.

BY:          Andrea Widburg, The American Thinker (March 28, 2026).

On March 25, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth spoke at a Christian Prayer and Worship Service held at the Pentagon. He prayed for American success and for the enemy’s defeat, quoted directly from a WWII-era, Psalm-based prayer. The pearl-clutchers on the left were outraged. How dare an American leader ask God to smite the enemy and preserve our troops! Indeed, how dare an American leader even publicly address God!

In fact, Hegseth’s prayer was entirely consistent with the prayers that political and military leaders have been making since the American Revolution. They, too, have called for God to protect and support American troops while bringing his wrath to America’s enemies.

Hegseth specifically anchored his prayer in history, reminding the audience that he was quoting what was said to the troops preparing for a brutal raid on Iwo Jima, one those men knew was likely to leave many or most of them dead:

It wasn’t just during WWII that troops went into battle with the Biblical God at their back. It was a constant throughout American history:

On March 16, 1776, the Continental Congress issued a proclamation recommending a day of prayer across the colonies. In it, Congress beseeched God to give

his assistance to frustrate the cruel purposes of our unnatural enemies… But if continuing deaf to the voice of reason and humanity, and inflexibly bent on desolation and war, they constrain us to repel their hostile invasions by open resistance, it may please the Lord of Hosts, the God of Armies, to animate our Officers and Soldiers with invincible to guard and protect them in the day of battle, and to crown the Continental arms by sea and land with victory and success.

There was nothing unusual about this. Throughout the Revolutionary War, the Continental Congress issued proclamations asking God to destroy Britain and lead the Patriots to victory.

Abraham Lincoln, the American leader Democrats admire so much that they insist he was one of them, frequently turned to God, asking him to provide strength to the righteous side (which he believed was the Union side) during the Civil War.

Franklin D. Roosevelt famously broadcast a prayer regarding D-Day that ended with these stirring words:

And, O Lord, give us Faith. Give us Faith in Thee; Faith in our sons; Faith in each other; Faith in our united crusade. Let not the keenness of our spirit ever be dulled. Let not the impacts of temporary events, of temporal matters of but fleeting moment let not these deter us in our unconquerable purpose.

With Thy blessing, we shall prevail over the unholy forces of our enemy. Help us to conquer the apostles of greed and racial arrogancies. Lead us to the saving of our country, and with our sister Nations into a world unity that will spell a sure peace a peace invulnerable to the schemings of unworthy men. And a peace that will let all of men live in freedom, reaping the just rewards of their honest toil.

While political leaders offered prayers focused on peace and justice, people closer to the battlefield prayed for the complete military subjugation of their enemies. The Iwo Jima prayer that Hegseth recited is a great example of this.

Another famous invocation occurred ahead of the Battle of the Bulge, when rain was blocking the Allied advance. General Patton asked Chaplain James H. O’Neill to compose a “weather prayer,” which was printed on 250,000 wallet-size cards and distributed to every soldier in the U.S. Third Army. It was not an ecumenical, politically correct prayer:

Almighty and most merciful Father, we humbly beseech Thee, of Thy great goodness, to restrain these immoderate rains with which we have had to contend. Grant us fair weather for Battle. Graciously hearken to us as soldiers who call upon Thee that, armed with Thy power, we may advance from victory to victory, and crush the oppression and wickedness of our enemies and establish Thy justice among men and nations. Amen.

When the weather cleared, Patton and others believed that the power of prayer had made the difference. Patton awarded a Bronze Star to Msgr. O’Neill because of the prayer’s efficacy (and that’s true whether you believe it brought God to the battle on America’s side or because it psychologically aided the troops). No one objected.

O’Neill also issued a training letter to military chaplains urging them to have troops pray for “the defeat of our wicked enemy whose banner is injustice and whose good is oppression. Pray for victory.”

This wasn’t just a WWII phenomenon. Military prayers looking to the Psalms for powerful images of enemy defeat abounded during American Wars. Here’s what Rev. Samuel Webster told New Hampshire troops during the American Revolution:

[H]edge up their way and not suffer them to proceed and prosper. But put them to flight speedily… make them run fast as a wheel downward, or as fast as stubble and chaff is driven before the furious whirlwind. As the fire consumes the wood… so let them be laid waste and consumed… and so return to their own lands, covered with shame and confusion.

You can easily find other, similar examples.

But for America’s leftists, who hate God, hate American military victory, and desperately want to deny America’s troops the consolation of faith in battle, Hegseth’s prayer was a grave offense. The Guardian summarizes this attitude well, doing its own pearl-clutching about a Secretary of War daring to call for “violence” against a wartime enemy:

Hegseth’s insertion of his Christian faith into his role has drawn criticism and legal complaints.

Military veterans previously told the Guardian that Hegseth’s use of religion in the department was causing division and could weaken the military.

“We’re gonna see a lot of Christian nationalists join the military,” Kristofer Goldsmith, an Iraq war veteran and the CEO of non-profit watchdog Task Force Butler, told the Guardian last year. “They’re not gonna perform very well, and our national security will suffer for a generation for it, because those that don’t wash out will be toxic leaders.”

Americans United for Separation of Church and State filed lawsuits against the defense and labor departments this week to access public records about prayer services at the departments, including invited speakers, recordings of prayers and any complaints from employees about the services. The records will help the organization understand whether the departments are staying neutral on religion and respecting workers’ religious freedom, the group said.

American history shows that all these claims are rote leftist bull fecal matter. War and Biblically-based prayer have always been a part of America.

The usual suspects on social media made the same outraged claims. Grok assembled some of the replies to the video (above) of Hegseth’s prayer:

Martina Navratilova (@Martina): “Hegseth is one sick man , hiding his psychopathy behind his version of Christianity.”

@Eva_eva_P: “This is absolutely, unequivocally batshit crazy… By quoting violent imprecatory Psalms and demanding ‘no mercy,’ Hegseth is framing the Iran war as a Christian Holy War against Islam.”

@DANKCHAINS: “Call me old fashioned, but I’d rather the head of my military not speak in this overtly religious and sanctimonious manner. As if our bombs are dolling out divine justice by default.”

@holly___xxx___: “Why is there a prayer service at the Pentagon in the first place? Whatever happened to separation of church and state?”

@WatcherUpNorth: “Jesus didn’t pray for violence, he told people to love their enemies… ‘Those who deserve no mercy’ is the tell. The moment you think you get to decide that, you’ve left faith behind in favour of power.”

@TheChefTrevor: “Save it drunk Pete. Jesus isn’t returning your calls bro!” (with a meme image).

@Frank_Giustra: “Looks like we are sliding back to the Old Testament. No more love, just the wrath of God. Nuts.”

@jh336405: “Pete and the Trump Administration absolutely sound no different than the Mullahs. Crazy Jihadists.”

Other replies called it “blasphemy,” “insane,” “Goofy ass televangelist shit,” or accused it of turning the military into a “Christian Holy War.”

Here’s what these leftists don’t want to acknowledge: America is and always has been a Christian nation, deeply grounded not just in the New Testament, but in the Old, as well.

And the Old is very explicit about God taking a side in war.

Moreover, whether the left likes it or not, this is a religious war—because Iran has made it a religious war. For the Secretary of War to seek God’s help against both God’s and America’s avowed and genocidal enemies is appropriate and entirely consistent with every aspect of American history.

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Christianity collapsing, Islam rising (Again)?

The collapse of Christendom has been rapid and dramatic. 

BY:          Eric Utter, The American Thinker (March 28, 2026).

Strange days are these.

Trump is in the White House, but traitors are everywhere.

Crime rates are allegedly down, but that claim doesn’t “feel” right to many of us in many areas.

There is no doubt, however, that rates of idiocy, insanity and disingenuousness are at all-time highs.

One of the two major political parties in the United States actually detests U.S. citizens and incessantly woos illegal aliens … and the other party doesn’t really do much about it.

And a country that has deep, profound — and almost ubiquitous — ties to Christianity seems to eschew religion in favor of an anything goes hyper-secularism, yet welcomes, tolerates, and defends Islam, a pseudo-religion that considers women as property, stones gays and adulterers, and whose “bylaws” state that infidels must be converted, enslaved, or exterminated. Weird, wild, wacky stuff. And deeply disturbing.

So, an Austrian Catholic diocese hosts pro-LGBT Stations of the Cross, “reinterpreted” stations intended to reflect the supposed experiences of queer refugees.

Lovely.

And we learn that California Gov. Gavin “Slick” Newsom’s wife Jennifer, in a 2022 interview, stated that traditional Christians are “just pulling us back as a country to a time and a place where we don’t deserve to be and we’re not gonna be.”

And that Canada’s House of Commons just passed a bill that would criminalize quoting numerous passages of the Bible, particularly those pertaining to homosexuality and gender. This after all debate on the bill was successfully shut down by Liberal MPs while it was in committee stage. It now heads to the Canadian Senate where it is expected to pass.

Moreover, by God, an allegedly Christian school in (formerly) Great Britain allegedly encouraged its students to practice Islamic prayer. A short video, recently circulating on social media, shows rows of schoolkids neatly arranged on prayer rugs, prostrating themselves before Allah. This is not your grandfather’s Christianity.

Meanwhile, an Austrian boy, the only Christian in his class, was bullied for just that reason.

The collapse of Christendom has been rapid and dramatic. The Christian Church, at least as formerly constituted, has become virtually extinct in the Netherlands and is on life support in several other European nations.

It is no coincidence that this has corresponded to the rapid rise of Islam in the West, and the consequent explosion in the number of mosques. And it has happened because progressives have infiltrated the Church and bastardized its main themes. The now hyper-tolerant practitioners of the Christian religion are all but demanding that the stupendously intolerant practitioners of Islam replace them on the world stage … which, of course, they planned to do anyway. They are giddily incredulous that their global task has been made infinitely easier by the very infidels they seek to destroy.

And yet the West sleepwalks on, accommodating, defending — and aiding and abetting — the invasion that will ultimately lead to its demise.

Ironically, the U.S. will fight Islam elsewhere, but never here at home where it is capable of doing the most damage. Capable, in fact, of eventually effectively annexing the nation in a mass convert or enslave operation. Mindboggling. Everywhere Muslims gain a solid foothold, they eventually take over institutions and governments and institute Sharia law.

So, rapes are covered up because “Muslim boys are already under enough police scrutiny.” Really? Wonder why?

What’s more, a repeat sexual offender, labeled ‘devious and manipulative,’ successfully blocked his deportation from Britain by citing his right to a ‘family and private life’ under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

What about the multiple victims’ right to family, privacy, and safety? And that of their families? Victims whose parents will never be the same?

Yet, an English immigration tribunal has ruled that an Albanian criminal should be allowed to remain in Britain in part because his son doesn’t care for the chicken nuggets elsewhere.

In fact, the tribunal found that it would be ‘unduly harsh’ for the 10-year-old boy to be forced to move back with his father given his dislike of the home country’s cuisine.

Sometimes, ladies and gentlemen, you just have to shake your head and wonder what caused so many people to lose their minds.

Nonetheless, schools in northern England have been advised to ban drawing, dancing, and music that Muslims deem idolatrous and not halal. And they’ll probably do just that … instead of issuing the proper rejoinder, which would be, “No bleeping way. We will continue to teach the Western canon. The ungrateful invading Muslim hordes can go to hell.”

Not that things are different in Sweden lately, but that country’s sheep farmers are locking their sheep inside pens and shelters at night to prevent them from being slaughtered by Muslims observing the dictates of Eid. Slaughtered or shagged? Either way, it should not be tolerated.

Strange days are these. It is indeed a wild and wooly world in which we live. Just don’t slaughter the wool bearers. Or shag them.

And—pro tip!– never tolerate those that seek to convert, enslave, or kill you.

Because they will do so. If your own government doesn’t beat them to it.

GFK

“Lent is a time to turn away from sin and toward God.”

-– St. John Paul II.

If you have ever been talked down to, watched a so-called “expert” on television lecture you on why your views are wrong, or just have a friend or relative who attended Harvard, this article below is for you. Because you are not stupid, you are not [necessarily] wrong, and no one with half a brain attends Harvard. Enjoy.

The Liberal’s Insufferable Superiority Complex

They truly believe they have a monopoly on intelligence and morality.

BY:          Armando Simon, The American Thinker (March 21, 2026).

One of the many obnoxious characteristics of present-day liberal elitists that makes them so detestable is their deep superiority complex, their Sophomania, their delusional belief that they are intellectually—as well as morally—superior to everyone else, particularly conservatives whom they see as Neanderthals. They truly believe they have a monopoly on intelligence and morality.

Camille Paglia put it well: “Many highly educated, upper-middle-class Democrats regard themselves as exemplars of ‘compassion’ (which they have elevated into a supreme political principle), yet they routinely assail Trump voters as ignorant, callous hate-mongers.”

This smug Sophomania of theirs, combined with their self-righteous stance, is something that they bounce back and forth as they view with contempt the rest of the country, particularly the working class. When working class-Americans “dare to complain about the southern border or about jobs getting shipped overseas, what do they get called? They get called racists, they get called bigots, xenophobes, or idiots.”

The leftist writer, Christopher Lasch, wrote that liberals see the rest of the public as “hopelessly shabby, unfashionable, and provincial.” And in their way. Yes, the people are standing in the way of progress, liberals being certain of the lack of “capacity of ordinary citizens to grasp issues.”

Back in the 1930s and 1940s, the complete opposite was the case. The common man was seen as the salt of the earth, imbued with kindness, friendship, loyalty, and common sense. Frank Capra films illustrated this populist philosophy.

That has changed. Just like the esteem towards “populism” has changed.

Now, they openly voice their contempt for regular people.

In regard to the inflation caused by Biden and the Democrats, one elitist at The Atlantic stated that the inflation was the public’s fault for buying things. You know, things like food. Toothpaste. Gas. School supplies. Paying rent.

Country music is one of their bete noirs, as being the music of those with subnormal intelligence. They always consider Europe to be intellectually and culturally superior to America. It would send them into seizures to learn that American country music is played on some stations in the Austrian Alps, or that some bands, such as Los Secretos in Spain, use the country western format in some of their songs.

At PBS, its principal counsel was recorded stating, “Americans are so f****** dumb. You know, most people are dumb. It’s good to live in a place [like Washington, D.C.] where people are educated and know stuff. Could you imagine if you lived in one of these other towns or cities where everybody’s just stupid?”

Because in other towns, they don’t know “stuff.”

Liberals have a particular hatred for rural denizens. In fact, rural citizens are seen as a threat to “OUR democracy.” Journalist Paul Waldman and University of Maryland professor Thomas Schaller stated, “We lay out the four-fold interconnected threat that white rural voters pose to the country. They’re the most racist, xenophobic, anti-immigrant, anti-gay geodemographic group in the country.” Democrat Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger is presently attempting to openly disenfranchise Virginia rural voters.

The elites’ Sophomania is such that they assume the public is so dumb they will not notice what the elites are doing, or that we do not realize their intentions. “You’ll own nothing and you’ll be happy” was an actual slogan we were all meant to gladly embrace during their imagined Great Reset. The public was also supposed to swallow the idea of eating crickets while giving up beef (which would be reserved for the elites). We were supposed to give up gas stoves “to save the planet.” We were supposed to ignore the fact that people were dropping dead or getting seriously ill after taking the COVID “vaccine.” They actually expected us to believe that a blatantly senile Biden was sharp as a tack. We are supposed to believe that men can get pregnant and have babies, and that men pretending to be women are, indeed, women. The media hivemind lies and lies to all of us—blatantly lies in front of our eyes—and to add insult to injury, they actually believe we are so stupid that we do not know they are lying.

As Alexander Solzhenitsyn so eloquently put it, “We know they are lying. They know they are lying. They know we know they are lying. We know they know we know they are lying. But they are still lying.”

One article laid it out plainly: “When Men Are Crowned First Place In Female Beauty Pageants, You Know Elites Think You’re Stupid Cattle.”

That living skeleton, James Carville, stated in an interview, “The problem the Republican Party has is they got really stupid people that vote in their primaries. And when you have that, you’re going to get in—really stupid people demand to have really stupid leaders. And that’s where the Republican Party is now.”

Donald Trump was put on a show trial just before the presidential election for the horrible crime of borrowing money and paying it back on time with interest. Liberals’ superiority complex was so intense that they actually thought the public would believe he had committed a horrible, blood-curdling crime instead of seeing the trials for what they were: the weaponization of the justice system for the purpose of persecuting political rivals. Liberals were subsequently shocked when hours—hours—after Trump was imposed an unprecedented, gargantuan fine ($335 million), a record-setting number of donations ($52.8 million) for Trump poured into his presidential campaign—almost all from small donors. From the peasants.

Now you can understand why liberals like Jonah Goldberg warned that small donors are a threat to democracy. After all, the 15 wealthiest congressional districts in the United States in 2024 all elected Democrats to the House of Representatives.

And why, when liberals warn about “threats to our democracy,” they really do mean “OUR democracy.”

As Taki put it, “Mind you, the Donald is very hard to defend at times, but the anti-Donald camp is impossible to excuse. It believes in democracy as much as Robert Mugabe does, and its smug bicoastal liberals are furious that those they see as deplorables had their way via the ballot box.”

It follows that since present self-righteous elites think of us as being inferior to them, they automatically have a deep loathing, a blinding hatred, for everything that the people hold dear, be it country music, the nation’s flag, the Constitution, Christianity (Democrats actually booed God during their 2012 national convention), or the country itself (patriotism).

The supreme irony in all of this, of course, is that those with Sophomania are actually very stupid.

They are stupid not because they are inherently so, no, but because they embrace with fanatical fervor ideologies that run counter to reality and are unquestionably stupid: men can get pregnant, requiring an ID to vote is racist, women have far fewer rights than men, there is systemic racism in this country, Hispanics are a separate race simply because they speak Spanish, Catholics are domestic terrorists, 2+2=4 is a racist concept, black criminals should not be held accountable for their actions; toddlers who can barely speak know they are transgender, children should be sexually mutilated. Democrats also claim that their voters are more educated than Republicans, while also stating that their voters are too stupid to know how to get an ID for voting in elections.

To quote the incomparable Richard Feynman, “Never confuse education with intelligence. You can have a PhD and still be an idiot.”

GFK

“Self-denial means knowing only Christ, and no longer oneself. It means seeing only Christ, who goes ahead of us, and no longer the path that is too difficult for us . . . Self-denial is saying only: He goes ahead of us; hold fast to him.”

― Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Today is April Fool’s Day, a day whereby folks will play pranks and tell jokes, all in good fun.  Holland Koontz has played many pranks on her Mother, some successfully, some, not so much. 

One year, when Holland was 8 or 9, she ran into the bedroom in the morning, yelling, “Mom, Mom, Mom!  Help, there’s a leak in my bathroom sink!”  English hopped up, quite irritated and grumbling the whole way down the hall, as she went to help Holland.  And when she got there, she found . . . a leek in the sink.  I used it to flavor the pot roast I fixed for dinner that evening.

Today we offer 2 articles. One calls for a cessation of the baseless attacks by The American Taliban against our Founding Fathers, in this particular case, Thomas Jefferson. The other calls for erasing the legacy of Cesar Chavez, irrespective of the truth of recent allegations against him. Enjoy.

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Restoring The Legacy Of Thomas Jefferson

We should honor the architects of American liberty in an age of pernicious revisionism.

BY:          Lars Moller, The American Thinker (March 27, 2026).

Thomas Jefferson stands as one of the colossal figures in the pantheon of America’s Founding Fathers, a classically inspired champion whose intellectual and legislative genius helped forge the United States as a beacon of Western civilization. Drawing upon the republican ideals of ancient Greece and Rome, the Enlightenment’s emphasis on reason, and the profound Christian conviction that every human soul bears the imprint of divine worth, Jefferson articulated a vision of a republic grounded in the inalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

As the principal author of the Declaration of Independence and a tireless advocate for constitutional governance, Jefferson did not merely theorize freedom; he institutionalized it. His Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, his advocacy for public education, and his relentless correspondence on the nature of republican virtue established the intellectual scaffolding upon which the American experiment was built. In an era when monarchy and aristocracy still dominated much of the globe, he dared to proclaim that government derives its just powers from the consent of the governed, thereby elevating the dignity of the individual citizen above the claims of inherited power. This was no abstract philosophizing; it was heroic statesmanship that shaped a nation where liberty was not a privilege of the few but a birthright of the many.

Yet in recent years, revisionist voices—often self-styled as “woke” guardians of historical purity—have sought to diminish this towering legacy by fixating upon one undeniable fact: Jefferson was a slaveholder. The same charge has been leveled against George Washington and other founders. Critics portray this as an irredeemable hypocrisy that invalidates every word that he wrote and every institution that he helped create. Such attacks, however, betray a shallow historicism that ignores the profound paradox at the heart of Jefferson’s life while simultaneously refusing to situate that paradox within the inexorable march of historical time. 

Yes, the contradiction exists: a man who penned the immortal sentence “all men are created equal” also owned human beings in bondage. To deny the moral tension would be intellectually dishonest. However, to reduce Jefferson’s entire contribution to this single failing is to commit a graver error—an anachronistic judgment that measures an eighteenth-century Virginian planter by the moral standards of a twenty-first-century activist rather than by the standards of his own revolutionary age.

History, properly understood, reveals that slavery was not an American invention but a tragic inheritance from the ancient world, perpetuated across continents and civilizations for millennia. By the time Jefferson entered public life, the institution was deeply entrenched in the economic and social fabric of the southern colonies. The constitutional framework that he helped design deliberately left the question of slavery to future generations precisely because the young republic lacked the political consensus and moral maturity to abolish it outright without risking dissolution. Only under the crucible of Abraham Lincoln’s leadership, amid the bloodiest conflict in American history, did the nation finally become ripe for the Thirteenth Amendment’s constitutional break with slavery in 1865.

It was, as Lincoln himself acknowledged, “high time.” Yet that achievement rested upon the foundation that Jefferson had laid: the Declaration’s assertion of universal human equality provided the moral language that Lincoln later invoked at Gettysburg. Without Jefferson’s articulation of “natural rights,” the intellectual ammunition for emancipation would have been far weaker. Thus, the paradox is not evidence of Jefferson’s moral failure but of the gradual, painful evolution of a nation towards its own highest ideals. To erase him from the national story because he did not single-handedly complete that evolution is to practice historical amputation rather than honest scholarship.

Far more essential to the nation’s self-understanding is a clear-eyed recognition of the enormous work that Jefferson performed in constructing a just society. He envisioned a republic where every citizen—regardless of station—possessed the opportunity to develop his faculties, to cultivate virtue, and to pursue happiness while respecting the equal rights of others. Through his advocacy for westward expansion, for the diffusion of knowledge via the University of Virginia, and for a yeoman farmer class independent of both aristocratic privilege and urban wage slavery, he sought to create conditions in which freedom could flourish organically. 

Jefferson’s Bill for the More General Diffusion of Knowledge aimed to educate the citizenry so that tyranny could never again take root. His insistence on religious liberty protected the sacred space of conscience from state coercion. These were not the gestures of a man indifferent to justice; they were the deliberate labors of an intellectual legislator who understood that true liberty requires both institutional safeguards and a morally educated populace. In this light, Jefferson emerges not as a flawed relic to be canceled but as a heroic pioneer who planted the seeds of freedom in soil still tainted by the sins of earlier epochs.

The activists who today labor to rewrite the nation’s history are, in many cases, the very same forces that actively sow division and discourage genuine reconciliation. Their narrative is selective, punitive, and ultimately corrosive to the civic bonds that hold a diverse republic together. Not all political forces in the United States work for democracy and freedom. For some ideological strategists, the historically just cause of opposing slavery has been repurposed as a propagandistic instrument of manipulation. Justice is not their ultimate goal; power is. 

This pattern recurs throughout history: every call for revolution cloaks itself in moral rhetoric while pursuing control. The revisionist project does not seek to perfect the American experiment; it seeks to delegitimize it entirely, replacing the founders’ imperfect but aspirational framework with an alternative vision that privileges grievance over gratitude, identity over individual agency, and state-directed equity over constitutional liberty. In doing so, these voices undermine the very principles that enabled the slow but real progress towards a more perfect union. They forget—or deliberately obscure—that the abolitionist movement itself drew its moral authority from the Declaration that Jefferson authored.

A sobering contrast illuminates the magnitude of Jefferson’s achievement. While North America has evolved into a society where individuals of any background—whether white or dark-skinned—can, through talent, effort, and character, pursue their dreams, much of Africa remains mired in conditions that mock the very concept of liberty. Slavery, though formally abolished in international law, persists in various forms across regions north and south of the Sahara: forced labor, child trafficking, and hereditary servitude continue in parts of Mauritania, Sudan, Libya, and the Sahel. Political chaos, tribal conflict, and authoritarian oppression have characterized too many post-colonial states, where the promise of independence devolved into kleptocracy and civil war. 

This is not to indict an entire continent but to underscore a historical reality: the institutions and ideals that Jefferson helped embed in the American republic—limited government, rule of law, protection of property, and the right to personal initiative—produced a society capable of self-correction and upward mobility. The descendants of those once enslaved in America have, within the framework that he helped create, risen to positions of leadership, wealth, and cultural influence that remain unattainable in many of the lands from which their ancestors were taken. This outcome is not accidental; it is, among other things, the enduring merit of Thomas Jefferson as a Christian and intellectual legislator who believed that divine providence had entrusted America with a unique mission. 

Jefferson’s Christian faith, though sometimes characterized as “deistic” by modern scholars, was in fact profoundly informed by the ethical teachings of the Gospels. He compiled his own “Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth,” extracting the moral core of Christianity as a guide for virtuous citizenship. This faith reinforced his conviction that every human being possesses inherent dignity bestowed by the Creator. Far from excusing slavery, this belief fueled his private condemnations of the institution and his public efforts to restrict its expansion. He understood, as few of his contemporaries did, that slavery corrupted both master and slave, violating the natural order established by God. His legislative attempts—however imperfect—to mitigate its worst effects and to prepare the ground for its eventual extinction reflect the heroic tension of a statesman operating within the constraints of his time while pointing towards a higher moral horizon. 

In conclusion, to diminish Thomas Jefferson is to diminish the very source of American exceptionalism. His colossal merits—intellectual clarity, legislative foresight, and moral courage—far outweigh the failures inseparable from his historical moment. The revisionist assault is not scholarship; it is ideological warfare dressed in the language of justice. True patriotism requires neither blind veneration nor reflexive condemnation but a mature appreciation of how imperfect men in an imperfect age laid the foundations for a nation that has continually strived towards its founding promise.

In honoring Jefferson, we honor the ongoing American project: a republic where liberty is both inheritance and aspiration, where every citizen is called to rise above the sins of the past, and where the pursuit of happiness remains open to all who embrace its responsibilities. His legacy endures not because he was flawless, but because he was visionary—intelligently heroic in the service of truths that transcend any single generation.

The United States of today, with all its diversity and opportunity, stands as living testimony to that vision. To forget this is to risk losing the very freedom that Jefferson helped secure for posterity.

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Cancel Cesar Chavez, Whether the Allegations Are True or Not

He was a self-serving leftist activist. There’s no reason America as a whole should ever have honored him.

BY:          Arthur Schaper, The American Thinker (March 27, 2026).

Cancel culture is back in the news, this time over long-gone United Farm Workers founder and leader Cesar Chavez.

He survived and thrived among leftist thought leaders and liberal politicians because he was an icon of the organized farm labor movement for decades. He even received his own holiday in California, Barack Obama created a national monument in his name, and the Navy plastered his name on a WWII Liberty ship.

Now, all of that has come crashing down.

A massive bombshell report from the New York Times has cast a pall on that legacy. After months of research, investigative work, interviews, and massive corroboration (if we take the reporting as accurate), the public learned that Chavez was hardly the scintillating labor and civil rights icon that the left dressed him up to be.

Instead, the report claims, he was a groomer, a predator, a child molester, an all-around creep who took advantage of his power and preeminence to bring in little girls, cozy up to them, then take away as much good and innocence from them.

Adding to these horrific discoveries, the Mother (or Madre? Or Mamacita?) of the farm labor movement, Dolores Huerta, also came forward. At the ripe old age of 96, she finally admitted that there is far more to the horrid story, declaring that she had been holding onto this horrible secret trauma for a decade, that Chavez sexually assaulted her, as well. He fathered two children with her, and she gave up both children for adoption so that they could live peacefully without further trauma or harm.

Why did she keep all this abuse secret? Such a long-standing secret suddenly revealed certainly raises doubts. In her press release, she explained that her silence resulted from her full commitment to the farm workers. She didn’t want a sex scandal to distract, delay, or destroy the greater effort of achieving workers’ freedoms on farm and field.

Let’s confront the obvious question right away: Are the allegations against Chavez true? Just because the New York Times states that they “did the research” doesn’t mean we should go along with it. They’ve employed bad reporters before who lied about plenty before!

For now, I am willing to take the reporting at its word. First, the article references a letter from the Chavez archives, written by one of the thirteen-year-old girls whom he groomed and molested. Even without the horrid background, the letter’s language is fawning, off-putting, and inappropriate for a child to use with an adult. If Chavez had had any integrity, he would have ended that relationship. The numerous interviews and testimonies also support the allegations.

As expected, conservatives argue that we should not condemn so swiftly after a series of allegations have only recently emerged. The #MeToo movement ignored male victims of abuse, and many men were unfairly and wrongly abused by the social media lynch mob.

Then again, the left started that pattern of vigilante justice, so it serves them right to take down one of their own icons. Besides, reports from former leaders in the farmers’ union movement suggest that they always knew about Chavez’s predatory ways and looked the other way anyway.

Conservatives are also pushing back by claiming that the whole groomer-molester allegation storm stems from the fact that Chavez was a vocal opponent of illegal immigration (they undermined union efforts by taking jobs for less pay and pricing out the legal workers). In other words, leftists are cynically destroying Chavez so nobody notices his stance on open borders.

But here the real point: Conservatives have had this penchant for promoting and championing liberals who have held otherwise conservative issues on key, contentious matters. Thus, when Democrats championed the “value” of open borders, conservatives would often retort: “One of you left-wing heroes, Cesar Chavez, opposed illegal immigration!” He even called the invaders the un-PC term ‘wetbacks’ to vent his outrage.

However, that “Own the Libs” thinking has never helped us. For decades, Big Labor and Big Progressive movements had no problem celebrating the guy, despite his aggressive take on border security. Why? Because at heart, he was still a leftist agitator, an aggressive social justice warrior who frustrated free markets, free enterprise, and free people. He lined up with the progressive-leftist platform on all the other issues. That’s why he remained a big hero of the Left for so long.

And for those reasons, I see no problem with pulling the plug on this self-serving anti-hero.

He’s not an icon for American anything. He was a leftist organizer who felt no compunction about frustrating farmers and hindering their yields. We should have never allowed his day, his work, or his legacy to be celebrated—long before all these heinous sexual abuse allegations surfaced!

Cancel Chavez, even if somehow, someway, all the nasty charges against him turn out to be false! He was a progressive leftist, an ally of liberal Democrats, and a blunt contrarian who undermined the natural rights of Americans. His example as a labor leader does not deserve praise or sympathy.

And now a few other comments …

Assuming that the horrendous allegations are true, I give no quarter to Dolores Huerta. She claims that she kept things quiet to preserve the farm labor movement’s power and cohesion. So what?! How many more women and girls ended up getting assaulted, abused, and molested because of her ideological fanaticism? Let’s face a bigger, more odious reality: she put her presence, power, and prestige ahead of truth, justice, and integrity. The farmers’ union’s efforts would have survived without Chavez if he had been exposed, expelled, and subsequently arrested. The power of collective action should rise above the failures of its initial leadership, right?

Or could it?

I believe that Huerta didn’t want to come clean because the whole United Farm Workers movement, at its core, is a sham. The power of collective action in general deserves more scrutiny and criticism than it currently receives.

Property owners have a right to hire as they see fit. Labor unions in general do not help workers get better wages. Sadly, their actions can hasten job losses as business owners flee to better labor markets, mechanize their operations, or simply close down entirely (read The Theory of Collective Bargaining by Economist William Hutt for more information).

If the movement had been only as strong as the charismatic leader the workers put their faith in, it would never have lasted on its own to begin with.

The cancellations are rolling in fast and furious, whether because politicians want to right wrongs, or because they want to support a left-wing civil rights icon who might have agreed with President Trump on one signature issue, or because politicians want to stay one step ahead of the latest #MeToo tidal wave, it doesn’t matter.

Getting rid of Chavez and all the hagiography/iconography surrounding him is a welcome move. It should have happened sooner. No American, if he did not provide a service that affirms the well-being of all citizens or our country, should have received such excessive praise to begin with. Perhaps this country is ready for tougher discussions, such as focusing only on celebrating Americans who have actually benefited all of us, rather than just those who served a specific interest or political movement.

GFK

“The cross is the ultimate symbol of love.”

-– St. Paul.

IT IS OFFICIAL! Holland Koontz will attend the Dedman School of Law at SMU next year. English and I are so proud of her achievements. WOO HOO!

The United States Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit overturned a radical Leftist federal district court judge, holding that any noncitizen present in the United States without having been lawfully admitted is subject to mandatory detention without bond under 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2)(A). WINNING!

Among other States, the Eighth Circuit covers Minnesota. Which is where the radical Leftist federal district judge is located. Take that, Tampon Tim!

El Salvador’s prisons might be harsh, but the conditions therein do not serve as grounds for an illegal alien to be granted asylum in the United States. So says the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. It makes sense. Why should a foreign criminal be rewarded with entry into our country? After all, it you can’t do the time, don’t do the crime. MORE WINNING!

Senator Bernie Sanders (I. Vt.) and Puddin’head are introducing legislation to place a moratorium on data centers in the United States. That is not the federal government’s job, or a proper concern of Congress. It is also a really dumb idea. Only socialists could love this idea.

Representative Jason Crow (D. Co.) went on FOX News to explain why Democrats opposed the reopening of the Department of Homeland Security. According to Jason Crow, no “deal” was possible so long as ICE was able to deport illegal aliens. Which is, of course, ICE’s job.

“[S]ometimes politics gets in the way.”

–former Secretary of State Antony Blinken, explaining why the China Joe Administration was so lenient with Iran.

Even The Washington Post thinks that Governor Abigail Spanberger (D. Va.) erred in signing onto the Democrats’ radical redistricting scheme. Stick a fork in her, she’s done!

Of course the Post still wants the Democrats’ power grab to succeed. Naturally.

The Cherry Blossoms along Washington, D.C.’s Tidal Basin are in full bloom. WOO HOO! It is a beautiful sight indeed. My Mother loved seeing the Cherry Blossoms in the Spring. As a little girl she would come up regularly by train, staying with her family at their Arlington farm, and wander around. As an adult, she did not come up as often, but occasionally she would cajole my Father into driving her up here. She would dragoon me into taking her downtown, and making a day of it. It was one of her simple, yet great pleasures. And I freely admit, it was an experience to walk on the paths under the blossoming limbs and take in all that beauty. I miss doing that with my Mother.

But as wonderful as the Cherry Blossoms in full bloom are, The Washington Post naturally takes a dim view of the event. You see, it should not happen this early in the Spring season. It only happened because of man-made “climate change”. And thus, the beautiful gift from the nation of Japan is a cruel reminder that we are all doomed.

Reporters asked Governor Abigail Spanberger (D. Va.) about the murder of Stephanie Miller by an illegal alien in Fairfax County. She blamed ICE for not deporting him [under China Joe]. No comments about the Democrat Fairfax prosecutor who let the guy go every time he was arrested and charged. No comments about the Democrat Fairfax Sheriff refusing to honor ICE detainers. No comments about China Joe’s open borders or her support for not deporting illegal aliens while she served in Congress. No, no, no. It is all on ICE. And President Trump.

“I can’t believe we have to say this, but in the United States of America, we’re not going to tolerate masked roving militias pretending, pretending to be well-trained law enforcement agents.”

–New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill (D.), signing legislation criminalizing ICE agents operating with masks.

I can’t believe I have to write this—again!—but States do not have the authority to direct how federal law enforcement does its job.  Hey, Governor!  Ever heard of the Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution?

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania District Attorney Larry Krasner (D.), who affectionately refers to ICE agents as “Nazis”, is vowing to arrest any ICE agents deployed to assist the TSA at the Philadelphia Airport. Wow.

Philadelphia is one of the nation’s most dangerous cities in the nation. And District Attorney Krasner is going after federal law enforcement. Go figure. This will not end well. For Larry Krasner, that is.

“For every US soldier that returns home in a casket, we cheer.  Until we have done everything in our power to bring the United States to its knees, let us not lose sight of the enemy.”

–Chants of a pro-Iran crowd demonstrating in downtown Philadelphia.

Disgusting. 

Leftists are pointing to an incident that occurred in the San Francisco International Airport as demonstrating how ICE was unsuitable to assist the TSA during the ongoing shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security. A Guatemalan woman and her child were seized by ICE agents. The travelers who witnessed the event booed and hissed, as the woman cried and screamed. Here are the facts. First, the TSA alerted ICE as to the woman’s presence. Second, the woman attempted to flee ICE agents, abandoning her daughter. Third, the woman and her daughter were subject to a 2019 final deportation order, and had been evading ICE ever since. Fourth, ICE was not deployed to the San Francisco Airport that day. Indeed, ICE has not been deployed to that airport, and paid private contractors are manning security checkpoints.

So, in San Francisco, there was no ICE brutality or overreach. Rather, a woman and her daughter who had no business or right to be in this country were apprehended. And today, they are back at home in Guatemala. Where they belong.

“No human’s existence is illegal, and we quickly changed our wording to reflect that.”

–Loyola University’s student newspaper.

The Loyola University student newspaper, the Loyola Phoenix, issued an erratum, apologizing for referring to Sheridan Gorman’s murderer as “an illegal immigrant”. The Phoenix now refers to the illegal alien as a “Rogers Park resident”. Sigh.

Chicago, Illinois Mayor Brandon Johnson (D.) unveiled a brand new city owned snowplow truck named “Abolish ICE”. What an insult to the family of Sheridan Gorman, and that little girl’s memory. Democrats have no shame. Democrats do not care about others.

“Just think of what he said the last few days, last few weeks.  He said that he told the European leaders that they basically need to take their knee pads off.  In other words, they crouch down before Trump and perform a foul sex act upon him.  That’s what he said.  And then his team, when the brave young kid [Nick Shirley] who was trying to expose all of the fraud and help the taxpayer comes to California, he tweets out that he’s a . . . with pictures as if he’s a sexual predator.  And he’s tweeted out that he’d like to hit Trump in the mouth.  He’s gone to a group of accomplished black people and said that they’re no smarter than he is, he’s no smarter than they are.  I mean, every time he opens his mouth, he says something either foul vile, mean, stupid, self-incriminating.”

–Victor Davis Hanson, commenting on Governor Gavin Newsom’s (D. Ca.) crude, rude public persona.

Chevron agreed to purchase oil Sable Offshore, Corp., the company that has facilities in California, which the U.S. Energy Secretary ordered to reopen operations pursuant to the federal War Production Act. Governor Hair Gel is livid.

The Church of England installed Sarah Mullally as Archbishop of Canterbury. Episcopalians celebrated her installation because she is a woman. That’s it. Just because she is a woman. The Observations views this as just another body blow to the Church’s spiritual integrity. We do not celebrate; we mourn.

Iran rejected the United States’ 15 point peace proposal to end the war in West Asia and instead issued its own 5 point ceasefire proposal, calling for war reparations and sovereignty over Strait of Hormuz, Tehran’s state media reported.

Iran’s Press TV, quoting a senior political-security official on yesterday, reported that Tehran is insisting the end of conflict will only occur on Tehran’s own terms and timeline. “Iran will end the war when it decides to do so and when its own conditions are met,” the official was quoted as saying.

Oh, yes. Let’s see how that works out for the mullahs.

BASEBALL IS BACK! On Opening Day, the New York Yankees shut out the San Francisco Giants 7-0, with pitcher Max Fried recording the win.

It is race weekend in Southside Virginia, as the Cook Out 400 is run at The Martinsville Speedway. The Speedway is not only “The Augusta National of the NASCAR short track”, but is also the oldest of all the NASCAR tracks, having been founded in 1947. This weekend’s winner will take home a Grandfather Clock trophy, a tradition dating back 62 years.

I avoid race weekends like the plague. More than 100,000 people descend on our little community, clogging the roads, grocery stores, hotels, campgrounds, and restaurants. The fans have much fun, and it is great for the local economy. But a hassle for residents.

The International Olympic Committee has banned men from competing in women’s competitions. Now, was that so hard?

GFK

 “Lent is a time for new beginnings.”

-– St. Francis of Assisi.

Last week, two statues were installed on the White House grounds. On the north side of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building stands a statue of Christopher Columbus. On the south side is “Freedom’s Charge,” a life-size portrayal by Chas Fagan of two soldiers in the Continental Army, one with a rifle, the other with a billowing Bunker Hill flag. The Observations dares the American Taliban to try and deface them, or take them down.

Democrats want you to suffer at airports so illegal aliens do not have to suffer deportation and more Americans are dying.

As is in their DNA, Senate Republicans caved, offering Democrats virtually everything they demanded, in exchange for opening up the Department of Homeland Security. The only thing Republicans withheld was the ability of ICE agents to make arrests at “sensitive locations” such as election polling sites. The Stupid Party acted stupidly. BUT THEN, The Evil Party turned them down. It was not enough! Illegal aliens should not be intimidated from voting in American elections. So the funding deal failed, and the shutdown continues. Because Democrats will not let DHS be funded until the borders are reopened, and the flow of illegal aliens begins anew.

“He’s lying. He’s lying like fish swim.”

–Senator John Kennedy (R. La.), speaking about Senator Charles Schumer (D. N.Y.), and his comments about the funding and shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security. 

“I tend to believe Iran more than I would believe Donald Trump.”

–former CIA Director John Brennan, speaking on MS NOW.

My gosh, how they hate the man! And their country. We are at war with Iran, and the Left sides with . . . Iran!

John Brennan is an admitted former Communist [though I would contest the “former” characterization], having voted for Communist Party nominee Gus Hall for President. He abused his power, spied on members of Congress, assisted in the Russia! Russia! Russia! hoax, and lied repeatedly in testimonies before Congressional committees. Who care what in the world he thinks?

Former Director of the National Counterterrorism Center Joe Kent suggested that Israel–a “foreign nexus”–was involved in Charlie Kirk’s assassination. Sigh. Never mind that the accused Tyler Robinson confessed to the killing, or that all the forensic evidence points to Tyler Robinson as the assassin. No, no, no. It’s all a set up. Because . . . the Jews.

This is pure insanity. Cockamamie conspiracy theories. My goodness!

Former FOX News host Tucker Carlson said he no longer views communist China as a major threat and is calling for the United States to share power with Beijing in a new world order with a weakened America.

“The U.S. is not going to defend.  It cannot defend Taiwan.  I think we’ve reached the limits of our power, and power has limits . . .  Power is not infinite.  You can squander it and we’re in the process of doing that.”

–Tucker Carlson.

Mr. Carlson made these comments while interviewing a Beijing-based school teacher, Jiang Xueqin, who was asked how he would address the Iran conflict if he were the U.S. president.

Mr. Jiang said the “American empire” is “overstretched” and probably was provoked by Israel into a “never ending” Middle East war.

“So what I would do is basically sit down everyone, including Russia, China, Iran, and say it’s time for a new world order where we are partners in this relationship,” Mr. Jiang said.

Mr. Jiang also said as U.S. leader, he would host talks where “where everyone is respected, where America is no longer the bully, but a winning partner in creating a new economic order that benefits everyone, and not just a few.”

Mr. Jiang’s comments mirror Chinese Communist Party narratives promoted in propaganda that the U.S. is a declining power and should acquiesce to China as an emerging superpower.

“I think that’s the wisest possible advice, and probably the only path that preserves civilization.  But the one country standing in the way of that is Israel, which is the only beneficiary of this war, as you just said.”

–Tucker Carlson.

Tucker Carlson used to be an amusing drunk. He was fun at parties. He was an excellent writer. And he had a sharp mind. But recent musings, as exemplified by his comments above, demonstrate that Tucker Carlson has lost his *#&$! mind. He may still be a drunk, but not an amusing one. He does not get invited to the parties we used to attend. And his mind is not sharp.

Tucker Carlson is less Patrick J. Buchanan or William F. Buckley, Jr. He is more akin to Lord Haw-Haw, Tokyo Rose, or Axis Sally. He should align himself with those who typically call for and predict America’s decline, like the late Senator Edward Kennedy (D. Ma.), former Senator John Kerry (D. Ma.), Senator Bernie Sanders (I. Vt.), and former Vice-President Henry Wallace (D. Ia.). He is the intellectual soulmate of Noam Chomsky, and Howard Zinn. He is not “America First”. He is not even “America Last”. Tucker Carlson is “America Defeated”. He could easily play British Colonel Nicholson in a remake of The Bridge Over The River Kwai. Tucker Carlson needs to go away. Just go away.

The University of Southern California cancelled a scheduled gubernatorial debate, after not enough “candidates of color” qualified for the debate. Oh, my . . . ! I am so glad that Holland Koontz did not attend USC. The Trojans football team plays in the BIG 10 and chokes, and the school administration is actually worse.

If there are an insufficient number of “candidates of color” (colored candidates?) on the Fall ballot, will California cancel the election? Asking for a friend.

Chicago, Illinois Mayor Brandon Johnson (D.) refused to apologize to Sheridan Gorman’s parents for her murder. Of course he did! So what if Democrats protected predators like the illegal alien who murdered Sheridan Gorman? It is illegal “Americans” who they care about most! Besides, . . Orange Man Bad.

The Maryland General Assembly passed a law mandating that tampons be provided in all men’s rooms in all public buildings. That is just plain stupid.

A 25 year old Dallas, Texas man was arrested for painting a LGBTQ++ rainbow in a crosswalk. State law prevents painting crosswalks with political messages and symbols.

Texas based chain Whataburger has been judged the best value in hamburgers, easily beating out McDonald’s, Burger King, and Wendy’s. Congratulations. If you have not tried Whataburger, you should. And their breakfast sausage? DELICIOUS!

The University of North Carolina fired men’s head basketball coach Hubert Davis, apparently over anger at the team’s ouster from the NCAA tournament by Virginia Commonwealth University. This was a mistake. Hubert Davis played under Dean Smith, and served on Roy Williams’s staff. UNC had a good season, but was hampered at the end by injuries. UNC should have beaten VCU, but it lost. VCU is a good team. And do you really fire your head coach over 1 loss? The Observations predicts that UNC will regret treating one of its own so shabbily.

GFK

“Lent is a journey into the desert of our own heart.”

-– St. Augustine.

I bought diesel fuel yesterday for my car, and was not pleased with the high price. But I am not complaining.

I am not complaining because the price is temporarily high. I am not complaining because the high price reflects accurately how global markets work (and the price of oil is most definitely subject to events that affect the global markets). And I am not complaining because the price of diesel is not due to the federal government doing its best to make oil unaffordable. Rather, the price of diesel, and all gasoline, is due to the uncertainty surrounding the hostilities with Iran.

I am actually grateful that the price of diesel (and gasoline) is not higher, and this is due to the Trump Administration’s efforts to expand drilling, and to ease permitting for exploration and refining. The United States is a net exporter of oil, and we are energy independent. Thank goodness we do not live in Europe, or India, where we would be subject to the whims of Russia and Iran.

And I am also mindful of the danger that Iran poses to the West. Iran has been at war with the West, particularly the United States and Israel, since 1979. It is time to end that war. And that is what President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu are working to do. There are American and Israeli servicemen risking their lives, prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice, in order to make the world safer. In order to make our lives safer. The least I–and others–can do is to not complain about the price of diesel and gasoline at the pump. The very least.

Instead, we should be grateful for those brave men fighting evil. We should be grateful that the price per gallon of diesel and gasoline is not higher. And we should be grateful that we have diesel and gasoline to buy. Those of us of a certain age can remember the 1970s, when unrest in the Middle East not only raised gasoline prices, but also created shortages. There were gasoline lines, limits on purchases, and shortages. We do not face that today. We should all be very grateful.

Thank you President Trump. Thank you Prime Minister Netanyahu. And thank you especially to all members of the U.S. Armed Forces and the Israeli Defense Forces. May God Bless you all.

An MS-13 gang member, imprisoned for murdering a juvenile in Virginia, is suing the Trump Administration, demanding that he be given “gender affirming care” (i.e. genital mutilation surgery). He believes that he is a “she”, and demands that you, the taxpayer, fund his delusions.

The Senate confirmed Senator Markwayne Mullin (R. Ok.) to be the next Secretary of Homeland Security. Good luck!

“The people we care about most, the undocumented Americans.”

–Senator Chris Murphy (D. Ct.).

You already knew this to be true, didn’t you? Of course you did!

But did you know that illegal aliens were “Americans”? I did not.

“Large out-of-state companies are buying up homes and pushing Georgia homebuyers out of the market.  I’m launching this investigation to get answers for Georgia families who are struggling to afford rent and homeownership.”

–Senator Jon Ossoff (D. Ga.).

Guess who just raised the rent by $1,500.00 per month on his rental home tenants?  Hmmmm.  Affordability?

“The day the Affordable Care Act passed was one of my proudest moments as president, because it meant that millions of Americans would have access to health care, some for the first time.  The ACA also prevented insurance companies from denying people with pre-existing conditions coverage, allowed young people under the age of 26 to remain on their parents’ plan, expanded Medicaid, and so much more.  But the ACA was always meant to be a first step.  We still have to do more to expand access and make health care more affordable for everyone.”

–Former President Barack Hussein Obama.

Did you catch that penultimate line?  That Obamacare “was always meant to be a first step”?   Funny, Mr. Obama has never said that before, certainly he did not say it when pushing the legislation. 

Democrats will not rest until they impose socialized medicine on everyone.  They want complete control over your lives.  Just like the Soviets did in the Soviet Union.

“[Democrats need to] effectively make the case that even though this seems unfair in Virginia, it’s totally fair for America, for those of us who believe that taking back the House is the most significant thing we can do to stop Donald Trump.”

–Representative Donald Beyer (D. Va.).

Virginia redistricting is nothing but a Democrat power play. Representative Beyer admits the truth; this is not about Virginians, this is about the Democrat Party. In order to “stop Donald Trump”, Virginia Democrats will sacrifice Virginians. They will give Northern Virginia hold and sway over the Rest of Virginia, instituting almost total Democrat control.

And for those of you who may think that this is truly “temporary”, think again. It was just a couple of years ago that Virginia Democrats pushed and passed the bipartisan commission to handle redistricting. Now when it is inconvenient to have fair congressional districts, Virginia Democrats want to impose unfair congressional districts, which just happen to favor them. What makes you think that they will not change their minds again?

And by the way; what is so critical that the rights of approximately 1/2 of all Virginians be trampled, in favor of enlarging those of the other 1/2? Stopping Donald Trump? Oh, please! Governor Abigail Spanberger and her fellow Democrats have more in common with Stalin, Mao, Fidel, and Kim than the do with Jefferson, Henry, Mason, and Washington.

New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill (D.) donned a head scarf and visited a mosque headed by an imam convicted of funding Hamas. Why? Why, why, why?

Sheridan Gorman was an 18 year old student at Loyola University in Chicago. Last week, an illegal alien, who was let into the country by China Joe, and protected from ICE by Chicago authorities, murdered her as she and her friends strolled through a park. Tragic. Absolutely tragic. And so preventable. But what is really disgusting is the reaction of Chicago Alderman Maria Hadden (D.) who suggested that Sheridan Gorman should not have been walking through the park, and she likely “just startled” her murderer.

REALLY? It is this little girl’s fault that an illegal alien shot her in the head?!? ARE YOU *&#^! KIDDING ME?

You know who murdered Sheridan Gorman? Democrats. Democrats like China Joe and Alejandro Mayorkas who let all those illegal aliens into our country. And Democrats like Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson (D.) and Alderman Maria Hadden who protected those illegal aliens from ICE. And Democrat judges who do everything in their power to block the deportation of illegal aliens. Yes, I am looking at you Judges Boasberg, Murphy, and Xinas.

Muslims desecrated 9-11 memorials in New York City and Concord, California. In Concord, Muslims covered the memorial plaque with a blanket, obscuring it from viewers. In New York City, Muslims draped their prayer rugs over the memorial to firefighters who died on September 11, 2001. Disgusting. The “religion of peace”.

Iran launched a new wave of attacks against Israel. Does not appear like the mullahs want peace.

“It felt good. The car was real stable.”

–Tommy Hurley, driver of “The Martinsville Missile”.

“The Martinsville Missile”, a stock car built by Joey Arrington, and driven by Tommy Hurley, broke the land speed record, at Cape Canaveral, Florida, reaching a top speed of 253 mph. The “Missile” was a rebuilt 1969 Dodge Daytona Charger with a 1,000-horsepower, 358-cubic-inch motor. It was shifted out of first gear at 55 mph, reached third gear at 80 mph and hit fourth gear at 190 mph. The “Missile” took 34 seconds to achieve the target speed of 250 mph, topping out at 253 mph, before driver Tommy Hurley fired the twin parachutes from the rear of the car that slowed the rolling rocket. Southside Virginia does it again. WOO HOO!

GFK

“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”

— Matthew 16:24.

I am back in Clarke County. The forsythia in our front yard is bright yellow. The red tips are beginning to bloom. The Bradford Pears lining the driveway are bursting with white flowers. And the maple tree outside my bedroom window has its bulbs sprouting, from which there will soon be green leaves. Spring is here.

Sadly, before I left Chatmoss, my Mother’s pink Azaleas had yet to bloom. I need to return soon in order to see them. When in full bloom, they are quite beautiful.

“Now with the death of Iran, the greatest enemy America has is the Radical Left, Highly Incompetent, Democrat Party!” 

–President Donald J. Trump.

Huh. We really cannot disagree with that observation.

The Department of Homeland Security remains shut down. Critical employees are not being paid. Because . . . Democrats.

President Trump is sending ICE agents into American airports in order to assist TSA personnel. Of course, ICE agents would arrest any illegal aliens on sight. Hmmm. That will frost Democrats’ flakes. Maybe it will move them off the shutdown dime.

But probably not. Senator Richard “Da Nang Dick” Blumenthal (D. Ct.) insisted that ICE would make airports worse, “terrorizing families, shooting citizens, killing . . . .” Good grief!

Drug overdose deaths are down 20% under President Trump. WINNING!

The federal Department of Education sued Harvard University for violating the civil rights of its Jewish students. A Justice Department filing accuses Harvard of “tolerating” harassment of Jewish students.

Representative Marie Perez (D. Wa.) portrays herself as a “moderate” Democrat. Well, what does this “moderate” Democrat favor doing? How about raising the age for the purchase or possession of firearms to 21? Also, ending open carry in Washington State, a mandatory waiting period on firearms purchases, mandatory registration and licensing, a volume limit on firearms and ammunition ownership, a sweeping “assault weapons” ban, a ban on magazines with a capacity greater than 10, mandatory liability insurance for firearms owners, the criminalization of 3-D printed firearms, and ending reciprocity for concealed carry licenses for States who wouldn’t adopt these radical restrictions.

Puddin’head has not been in the news lately, and that apparently upset her, because she is now back with a vengeance. It seems that Puddin’head spent $19,000 on a psychiatrist for the administration of “ketamine therapy”. Ketamine is a horse tranquilizer, and it is what killed actor Matthew Perry. We might now have a clue that might explain Puddin’head’s bizarre behavior.

Hmmm. Since when did gutting Constitutional rights become “moderate”?

Senator John Kennedy (R. La.) asked for a bill to pass by unanimous consent, that would halt the pay of members of Congress while the federal government was shut down. Predictably, a Democrat Senator objected, thus blocking unanimous consent. But then it got strange. Normally, objecting Senators state their objections, and engage in a colloquy with the proposing Senator. But not this time. Senator Brian Shatz (D. Hi.) poked his head into the Senate chamber, objected, and then fled the chamber, and the building. What the . . . such a coward!

“Almost no illegal immigrants are voting.”

–Senator Charles Schumer (D. N.Y.).

“Almost”? How many illegal immigrants constitute “Almost”? And should not the goal be they NO illegal aliens are voting? Which would be a good reason to require photo ID and proof of citizenship as a requirement of registration, would it not?

Senate Democrats blocked legislation that would ban men from competing in women’s sports. Huh. They really do worship the “trans”, don’t they?

“Over 60% of illegal alien headed households are using at least one form of a welfare program, and usually more than one, at a cost of tens of billions of dollars to taxpayers.”

–Center for Immigration Studies Director Jessica Vaughan.

That’s not good.  That’s not good for anyone.

“Today, an administrative immigration judge ordered the deportation of Rafael Rubio, a City Council employee.  This is an affront to justice.  A dedicated public servant with legal authorization to remain in the country, Rafael showed up for a routine immigration appointment and, despite following the rules, he was detained and has now been held for months.  He should be immediately released.”

–Comrade Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D. N.Y.).

Well, that is not exactly true. Mr. Rubio overstayed his visa for 9 years. That is a crime, and he is an illegal alien. He does not have “legal authorization” to stay, and he is not authorized to work. And he was arrested just last year for criminal assault. This is who Comrade Mayor Mamdani wants to protect–a criminal illegal alien.

Comrade Mayor Mamdani lit up Eid Mubarak lights on the streets of Harlem, to mark the end of Ramadan. Sigh. In New York City. Where Muslims attacked the United States and killed more than 3,000 people.

When Leftists scream “separation between church and state”, what they really mean is “separation between Christianity and state”. The Islamization of America is just fine with them.

“They’re living in this silo, this evangelical, conservative silo that, ultimately, is just pulling us back as a country to a time and a place where we don’t deserve to be, and we’re not going to be.  Because honestly, young women and fathers of daughters are awake now, and they’re woke, and they’re not going to let us go back.”

–Jennifer Newsom, wife of Governor Hair Gel (D. Ca.).

What is she babbling about? Other than hating Christians?

Five (5) Mexican nationals were indicted on federal drug trafficking and weapons charges this week after authorities discovered a clandestine methamphetamine lab in Northern California, leading to the seizure of nearly 3,000 pounds of the drug.  That is illegal in so many ways.

Oh, and the Mexican meth manufacturers were armed to the teeth.  That is also very illegal. Illegal aliens are not permitted to possess firearms.

Daryl Collins was a convicted double murderer, who was serving a 50 year sentence in prison. The California Parole Board took pity on the former youthful offender, and gave him a 2nd chance, releasing him after only 25 years. Daryl Collins celebrated his new found freedom by murdering a single mother with young children.

Way to go Leftists! You are abolishing the death penalty, expanding parole, releasing violent criminals early, and innocent people are dying. Darryl Collins got his 2nd chance. Who is going to give that young mother, or her now orphaned children, a 2nd chance?

Governor J.B. Pritzker (D. Il.) put down his bag of donuts long enough to announce his “Project 2029”, which is to criminally prosecute, and civilly pursue, every Trump Administration official for their official actions, including, but not limited to, the President. Because . . . Orange Man Bad.

Chicago, Illinois is drowning in debt. Its bond ratings are plummeting. And Mayor Brandon Johnson (D.) is assigning blame. It’s Donald Trump’s fault! OF COURSE!

“Before I was a politician, I was a public school teacher in San Antonio, Texas, on the west side of the city, and I taught a lot of undocumented students, and those students tended to be my most patriotic students.  They understood something about this country that a lot of us who are native born forget, that this is supposed to be the land of opportunity, that this is supposed to be the place where dreams come true.  The fact that we have the most powerful politicians in the country terrorizing my former students and their families — people who work hard every day to contribute to this economy and to this country — to me, is immoral.  It’s unconscionable. It’s unacceptable, and it has to end.”

–U.S. Senate hopeful James Talarico (D. Tx.).

Yes, yes, yes. Illegal aliens are more patriotic than U.S. citizens. Atheists are more Christian than Christians. Up is down. War is peace. Blah, blah, blah, blah!

Mr. Talarico also doubled down on his previous comments that God was “non-binary”, claiming that Scripture absolutely backed him up on this claim. Sigh. When you find yourself in a deep hole, it is usually best to stop digging.

Federal judge Paula Xinis, a China Joe appointee, is blocking Abrego Garcia’s deportation of Liberia, citing his preference to be deported to Costa Rica. Oh, really? Would he like a hot towel, perhaps some nuts, and a cocktail, too?

University of Maryland students are demanding that the school’s campus be declared a “sanctuary” campus. They do not want ICE agents to disrupt illegal aliens’ studies during exams.

Wisconsin socialists (aka Democrats) want to spend $100 million to open a “affordable” government owned, government run, grocery store. Do they not have grocery stores in Wisconsin? And what is so affordable about spending $100 million of taxpayer dollars?

Connecticut requires people with large recyclable amounts to provide photo ID before the recycling centers will accept the refuse. Hmmm. But Connecticut does not require photo ID to vote. And its 2 Senators–Richard “Da Nang Dick” Blumenthal (D.) and Chris Murphy (D.) oppose requiring photo ID to vote. Is that not interesting?

Five Guys hamburger restaurants have ditched their fry cups for bags. Instead of serving their handcut fries in a styrofoam cup, Five Guys is using a thin bag, made of recyclable materials, which permits the grease to soak through and make a mess in your car. Customers are less than pleased.

Ruth’s Chris steak house recently made news reminding patrons of its dress code, and in the process, irritated the perpetually immature. Now Chili’s entered the fray, advertising the fact that it has no dress code. Huh. Well . . . ? Chili’s is no Ruth’s Chris, either.

Benjamin’s Steakhouse in midtown Manhattan is serving a hot chocolate cocktail. The drink, which is garnished with gold leaf and is composed of Mozart Dark Chocolate Liqueur, Bailey’s Irish Cream, Kahlúa, fresh espresso, steamed milk and orange bitters, plus delicately heated Grand Marnier Quintessence and Hennessy Richard cognac. The price for this “interesting” drink is $1,000.00. Sigh. Pass.

An Air Canada jet collided with a fire engine truck upon landing at New York’s LaGuardia Airport. Tragically, both pilots died in the collision.

Klevis Disha, an Albanian, illegally entered Great Britain, and then applied for asylum. It was discovered that Mr. Disha lied about the facts underlying his asylum claim. Then Mr. Disha committed a violent crime, and was imprisoned. But when Great Britain moved to deport this criminal illegal alien back to Albania, a judge halted the deportation. It appears that the judge was moved by Mr. Disha’s claim that his young son hated Albanian food, and really, really wanted to remain in Great Britain. So the judge relented, and now Klevis Disha, a criminal illegal alien, and his spoiled brat of an illegal alien son, get to remain in Great Britain.

Also in formerly “great” Britain, the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero is considering using meters that can measure heat radiating from buildings. The purpose of the experiment is to monitor homeowners’ dwellings, so as to measure how warm (or cold) they are keeping the interior temperature. If your home is too warm, measures will be taken to discourage such behavior. Stated differently, the British government is working to ensure that you do not have the liberty to decide a comfortable temperature in your own home.

This is just tyranny. Look for Democrats to try and adopt a similar scheme here in America.

Australian Prime Minister Albanese recently traveled to a mosque to condemn “Islamophobia” and to kowtow to the Muslims. It did not work. The Muslims inside the mosque heckled the Prime Minister, and shouted “Allahu Akbar” at him. The heckling and menacing chants continued outside the mosque as the Prime Minister left.

Appeasement doesn’t work.  Islam is not a religion; it’s a sociopolitical movement with a theological veneer that seeks to dominate the entire world.  It is wholly incompatible with Western values. Indeed, it is a deadly threat to Western Civilization.

Iran fired 2 ballistic missiles at a joint U.S./U.K. air base in Diego Garcia, some 2,500 miles from Iran. The 1st missile failed, and a U.S. naval ship shot down the 2nd missile. But so much for the silly claim that Iran posed no threat to U.S. or allied assets and interests.

Fr. Jakob Rolland is a Catholic priest in Iceland. He is a fervent defender of the Faith and of Scripture. So when asked if those engaged in homosexual conduct could receive communion, Fr. Rolland responded:

“If a person has a tendency or inclination toward homosexuality, that’s not a sin.  It becomes a sin when such an inclination is lived out in a sinful manner.  First, one must undergo conversion, go to confession, and truly consider the possibility of changing one’s life and living in chastity in order to receive Communion.”

Pretty straightforward, right? That is what the Catholic Church teaches. So why in the world the ensuing uproar? LGBTQ++ groups are howling in outrage, demanding that Fr. Rolland be arrested and criminally prosecuted for breaking a law banning “conversion” of homosexuals. Wow.

The reigning NBA champions Oklahoma Thunder declined an invitation to visit the President in The White House. That is just plain rude. Unless you are attending your funeral, you do not refuse an invitation to The White House.

There was horrible and vicious fall out concerning actor Chuck Norris’s death. Leftists took to social media to slam the deceased. Two (2) examples are emblematic of the hateful reaction:

“Chuck Norris was a shit person.  He was MAGA, Zionist, went on a homophobic rant about the Boy Scouts because they were no longer excluding gay scouts, and ascribed to the racist birther conspiracy theory about Obama.  Great martial artist.  Shit person.  Rest in piss.

Before posting about Chuck Norris we need to remember that he was a huge Israel advocate, supported banning gay marriage, endorsed the sexual predator Roy Moore and, in all honesty, was not that great of a human being.  He’s a reminder that actors are not always their characters.

Notice that these Leftists HATE Chuck Norris because of his ideas. Not because Chuck Norris committed evil acts, but because he was a traditional, conservative American. The Left hates. The Left tolerates no dissent. The Left is truly evil.

Disgraced former FBI Director and Special Counsel Robert Mueller has died at age 81. R. I. P.

Famed California winemaker Michel Rolland has died at age 78. R. I. P.

Former Major League Baseball player Larry Stahl, who is most famous for spoiling a perfect game by Chicago Cubs pitcher Milt Pappas, drawing a walk, has died at age 84. R. I. P.

GFK