Rep. Ayanna Pressley: "We Don't Need Any More Brown Faces That Don't Want To Be A Brown Voice"
This quote from Rep. Ayanna Pressley demonstrates the ideological use of racism and intersectionality in today's culture. If I can summarize that Ms. Pressley is saying in my own words, "if you are black and don't hold to the leftist narrative, we don't want you. If you are brown and you don't hold to the leftist narrative, we don't want you, etc." In other words, race only matters to leftists when it supports the leftist narrative.This is why gay, Asian photographer, Andy Ngo, can be beaten by Antifa thugs and in Portland, OR and the mainstream media essentially ignore the incident. It doesn't fit the leftist narrative. Understand when you watch or read any of the mainstream media elites, you are hearing and seeing propaganda from the leftists coastal elites that currently control media, entertainment, and academia.
Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) speaks at Netroots Nation conference on Saturday: "I don't want to bring a chair to an old table. This is the time to shake the table. This is the time to redefine that table. Because if you're going to come to this table, all of you who have aspirations of running for office. If you’re not prepared to come to that table and represent that voice, don’t come, because we don't need any more brown faces that don't want to be a brown voice. We don’t need black faces that don't want to be a black voice. We don't need Muslims that don’t want to be a Muslim voice. We don’t need queers that don't want to be a queer voice. If you’re worried about being marginalized and stereotyped, please don't even show up because we need you to represent that voice."
Fresh from row with Trump, Ilhan Omar pushes pro-BDS resolution in House
It is both alarming and surprising to see overt, open anti-Semitism on the American Stage today. While the anti-Semitism of Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Muslim, should not surprise us, it is the mainstream media and the Democratic Party's open encouragement that is alarming.As this article notes, the Democratic-controlled House is set to introduce a nonbinding resolution condemning the BDS movement, but House Democrats are challenging the leadership of their party, cautioning them to not take a stand against BDS.Anti-Semitism is on the rise in both Europe and the United States. That fact that we have openly anti-Semitic lawmakers within the Democrat Party and the House of Representatives cannot take a stand condemning anti-Semitism is a grave cause for concern moving forward for American Jews.
US Representative Ilhan Omar introduced a resolution on Tuesday aimed at pushing back against laws seeking to clamp down on boycotts of Israel.The resolution, which does not explicitly mention Israel or the pro-Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, comes as Omar and several other progressive freshman Democrats have been thrown back into the spotlight, thanks to attacks on them by US President Donald Trump.The resolution affirms the right of Americans to participate in boycotts as an expression of free speech under the First Amendment, citing boycott movements against Nazi Germany, the USSR and apartheid South Africa.It is cosponsored by Rashida Tlaib, a Michigan Democrat whose family is Palestinian, and Georgia’s John Lewis, a civil rights pioneer.The resolution introduced Tuesday calls on the House to oppose “unconstitutional legislative efforts to limit the use of boycotts to further civil rights at home and abroad,” a reference to resolutions passed in several states that ban working with companies who back the BDS movement.Meanwhile, the Democratic leadership in the House is gearing up to introduce a non-binding resolution condemning BDS.However, some Democrats have cautioned House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer against introducing the measure next week, fearing it could open a new rift in the Democratic party.“I think the timing would not be very wise to take up additional measures around the Middle East,” Representative Mark Pocan told Politico this week. “Donald Trump just brought us all together, so let’s take advantage of that.”
House chaplain prays to exorcise 'all spirits of darkness ... at play in the people’s House'
The spiritual condition of America is becoming more and more transparent. The solution is not a policy-driven solution or a person-driven solution, but prayer. The house chaplain, Rev. Pat Convoy, recognized this in his opening prayer last Thursday (July 18, 2019).
“This has been a difficult and contentious week in which darker spirits seem to have been at play in the people’s House," the Reverend Pat Conroy began.Then, in a dramatic moment, Conroy raised both hands and said, "In Your most holy name, I cast out all spirits of darkness from this chamber. Spirits not from You. I cast out the spirit of discouragement which deadens the hope of those who are of goodwill."I cast out the spirit of petty divisiveness which clouds the sense and the desire to be of fruitful productivity and addressing the issues more appropriately before this House," he continued. "I cast out any sadness brought on by the frustration of dealing with matters detrimental to the honorable work each member has been called to engage in.”Conroy concluded with a plea to the Lord: "Annoit your servants here in the House with a healing balm to comfort and renew the souls of all in this assembly. May your spirit of wisdom and patience descend upon all so that any spirit of darkness might have no place in our midst. Rather, let Your spirit of comity, of brother-and-sisterhood, and love of our nation, and all colleagues in this chamber, empower our better angels to be at play in the common work to be done, for the benefit of all Your people. May all that is done within the people's House be for Your greater honor and glory. Amen."The chaplain is responsible for opening the House each day with a prayer and offering counsel to lawmakers and aides on the House side of the Capitol. Conroy is a Roman Catholic priest from the Jesuit order. The Jesuit motto is Ad maiorem Dei gloriam, or "For the greater glory of God."
The Death of Journalism
It has been over 20 years since Dennis McCallum published The Death of Truth: What's Wrong With Multiculturalism, the Rejection of Reason and the New Postmodern Diversity in 1996. We are witnessing the full impact of the death of truth in our culture today.Fake News is not a new reality for Americans, but it has taken until 2019 for the average American to accept that when it comes to journalism, there is no truth anymore. If truth died in 1996, we will put the shovel to journalism in 2019.Two hate hoax stories in the last month serve as the final stake in the heart for American journalism. The first, the Covington Catholic School debacle, and the second, the Jussie Smollett story, showed journalists for what they really are in 2019: unashamed political hacks so devoted to the Cult of Progressivism they see no truth beyond what they believe truth to be.That is indeed sad.From the New York Times to the LA Times to the Washington Post to the Associated Press, Reuters, ABC News, and CNN, they all pushed forward the unproven narrative of Smollett's alleged assault as if it were proven fact. Politicians from Nancy Pelosi to Cory Booker to Kamala Harris all expressed their outrage at the "culture of hate" that permeates America. (See "Did the Media Jump the Gun on the Jussie Smollett Story?")When the Chicago Police Department started to suggest the the accusation was a hoax, you could almost hear a collective, "Noooooooooooooooo" from the leftists elites.I think Nana Efua Mumford writing in the Washington Post best summed up the leftist angst concerning the possibility that Smollett made up the story:
If Smollett’s story is found to be untrue, it will cause irreparable damage to the communities most affected. Smollett would be the first example skeptics cite when they say we should be dubious of victims who step forward to share their experiences of racist hate crimes or sexual violence. The incident would be touted as proof that there is a leftist conspiracy to cast Trump supporters as violent, murderous racists. It would be the very embodiment of “fake news.”And that reason, more than any other, is why I need this story to be true, despite its ugliness and despite what it would say about the danger of the world I live in. The damage done would be too deep and long-lasting. This could be one tragedy that the Lyon family — and more importantly, the ordinary people who loved the show and invested in Smollett and his character — could never overcome.
Sometimes even the most devoted disciples of the Cult of Progressivism and their doctrine of intersectionality trip over the truth, and the truth still hurts.Mumford is correct. If it is proven that Smollett was race-bating and staged the entire story in order to sow mistrust and deceit, then his actions and the actions of the celebrity leftists who voiced the emotion-laden support for Smollett in the hours after the story broke minimize and discredit all victims of true racism and violence.That is another unintended consequence of the Cult of Progressivism: true racism and our ability to call it out and identify it with authority and integrity has also died.How can we stand in judgment of someone accused of racism or violence when every day new stories emerge that trumpet the left's desire to prove their narrative right only to learn that their entire narrative is nothing but a house of cards. Racism, violence, and the host of other labels the left throws around like confetti have lost their value and impact in our culture. That is sad.In many ways, I read Mumford's editorial as the rough draft of an obituary for journalism in America. "I need this story to be true, despite its ugliness and despite what it would say about the danger of the world I live in. The damage done would be too deep and long-lasting."Unfortunately, the elitist left will not learn from this painful lesson. Just as they quickly brushed the Covington hoax under the red carpet, so this hoax will quickly die and the Progressive bandwagon will wait until the next big story about MAGA-wearing thugs surfaces and they will race to twitter to express their outrage and support.A generation ago, Walter Cronkite, "the most trusted man in America," used to sign off with the words, "And that's the way it is..."Today, journalists end their report with the words, "And that's the way we want it to be, so it is true."
Satire Drives Home Painful Truth: Why My Wife And I Decided To Abort Our Unborn Gay Son
Many times satire is used to drive home painful, unavoidable truths. Enter exhibit A. The Federalist published an article last week that hits on all points of the cultural absurdity we find ourselves at the hands of the Cult of Progressivism. Intersectionality is one of the most absurd, illogical philosophies to plague a culture. It simply doesn’t make sense. Yet, in many ways, these are rules the Progressives live. It is a core doctrine.Stephen Lavedas published an essay titled, “Why My Wife And I Decided To Abort Our Unborn Gay Son.” It is brilliant. What is truly sad is that, like many pieces of brilliant satire, many leftists won’t even get it. They will be outraged that someone could be so cruel and inhuman to abort a child simply because he is gay. Here is just a taste of Lavedas’ brilliance:
We got to the clinic almost an hour early. They made us sit in the waiting room for a while and finally called us back, but instead of walking us into a table with stirrups like we expected, they escorted us into an office. A man in a lab coat was waiting at a desk.“I recognize you,” he said, after looking at us sternly for what seemed like an eternity. I didn’t know what to say, so I didn’t say anything. My wife didn’t speak either. “What you are doing should be a hate crime, and I won’t have any part in it,” the man said, looking angry.“But it’s my body,” my wife said, sounding defiant, but like a little girl too. “It’s my right.”“It’s hateful,” the doctor responds. “You are terminating this pregnancy because you don’t want a gay child. Are gay children less valuable than straight children?” He sounded like a teacher trying to impart a lesson to a very slow student.“No, but—” my wife started to say.“A gay child has just as much value as a straight child. In fact, you are lucky! Gay children are very rare. Census numbers put the number of homosexuals in America at around 3 percent. It wouldn’t take many more people like you,” he nearly spits the words, “to eliminate homosexuality in America. That’s genocide, and I won’t have that on my conscience!”With that, we were ushered out. My wife cried all the way home. When we got there, we found that someone had firebombed our rented townhouse and wrote “Bigotry Doesn’t Belong Here!” and “Love Wins!” in spray paint on the sidewalk. I guess some fetuses are more equal than others, but I can’t understand it. I just followed all the arguments I’ve heard from our society to their logical conclusions.
A piece like this will never win a Pulitzer Prize, but it deserves an award of equal stature. It is brilliant. Read it and weep for our country.