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Doug Smith: Progressive Programs Promise Political Zanadu

10 Sep

They simply don’t promote personal responsibility!

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Doug Smith: Historian and Associate editor at Free State Patriot

September 10, 2018

 

There are some essential elements to every Progressive idea or program. These are worth bearing in mind as you vote for or against Santa Claus at the ballot box.  Senator Marco Rubio s latest proposal on a Paid Family Leave Act, paid for by government, provides an excellent opportunity to review a few of these.

 1)They are progressive.

  In this context, the word means it will creep ever toward the same direction. There is no End to the idea, just ever-increasing demands for more “free stuff” from government, and not coincidentally, more control by government of those getting the freebies.

(As a sub note to the above,)

 2)    There are no freebies. TANSTAAFL. There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch.

  Progressives are divided into 2 categories on this fact: True believers whose magical thinking makes them certain that Government has unlimited resources, but stingily refuses to share it, and cynical opportunists who understand this quite well, but are willing to use the fiction to further their own power. From its founding, all the way to Barack Obama, who spend more money that he did not have than all 43 POTUS before him combined, the Government “Has. No. Money.” They can only spend money in 3 ways:

 Borrow it. This ultimately costs every taxpayer, because Barack and Mitch and the powers that be in DC are committing YOU, not them, to pay the payments and the interest on their debts. Imagine if you saw your neighbor driving a $ 60,000 SUV, then got a bill in the mail for the payments on his ride, one you were demanded to pay.

 Print it. The Federal Reserve is a whole other article, and a problem in and of itself, but suffice it to say, when the government can print money by fiat, without backing up each bill with gold reserves, “The full faith and credit of the US Government” means, once again, YOU will back them up. So, if you have $ 100, and there are $ 1,000,000,000 dollars in circulation, and the Government (read that FED) decides to print, with no additional wealth to back it, another billion in currency, your 100 overnight becomes a 50. Sound outrageous? Unbelievable?

 Steal it. Seem harsh? By steal it, I mean taxes. Of course, no one comes to your house with a gun and demands 25% of your earnings. However, refuse to pay your taxes and see how long it is before someone with a gun comes to your house to cart you off to jail. Taxation is by force. The government takes from us part of what we earn, the deal being we get to choose, through our representatives in the House how much they may take, and for what they may spend it. Which of course, brings us back to progressive politicians, and the ever-growing programs, which will spend ever greater amounts of the money they tax from you. You are still paying, in every paycheck, for programs that were begun under Franklin Roosevelt.

Which leads us to the 3rd thing worth noting about progressive ideas and programs:

 3) They never ask, let along answer, the question of how we pay for it. 

The closest they come is a few well-worn clichés: Let the Rich pay their fair share, if we cut spending on Defense, we are only talking about (at this point we are meant to insert some figure which they will argue is inconsequential.)  As the late Sen Everett Dirksen once said, “A billion dollars here, a billion dollars there, first thing you know you are talking about some real money.” (Progressives, I should note, do not get the joke.) Never mind paying for it.  If it sounds good do it.  War on Poverty? Yes! Poverty is bad. Let’s spend 20 Trillion and wipe it out. Whereas the common household husband or wife must say “Rib Eye? Rib Eye good! Rib Eye $ 12/lb. Can’t afford Rib Eye. Pork Chops, here we come.  Of course, the common Joe in the grocery store is spending their own money and cannot print more if they run out. (Well, they CAN write a bogus check, but, unlike Congressmen, they go to jail for that.) Politicians NEVER spend their own money. They spend yours. Which is why you will eat Pork Chops or Macaroni and Cheese tonight, and not Rib Eye.

  On the subject of, “if it sounds good”: this is another aspect of progressive ideas. All they must do is sound good.

 They don’t have to work. They must appeal to emotions. Wipe out poverty! Help the poor! Improve the cities!  Progressive never hold themselves or their ideas accountable for the (inevitable) failure to work. “I’ve never worked so hard on anything in my life.” “I feel your pain.” (If you are young, you may not recognize those as Bill Clinton’s response to the failure of some of his progressive ideas. Progressives maintain that if they feel good about it, if they feel your pain, then they should not be held to account for “results.”  If it failed, and I care about you, then you should still trust me, and let me spend even more, and do more of the same, on a larger scale, to fix the problem created by the failure of my last 3 attempts. But for all their “caring” and “feeling” Progressives and Utopians have yet to discover how to pass a law or spend a dollar that will make water run uphill, or gravity not pull objects to the ground.

 Or make socialist ideas and central planning result in anything other than the disaster they always are. (Go to Venezuela and try to buy some toilet paper.)  Progressives remain sublimely convinced that progressive/socialist/utopian/statist ideas that have never worked, have always failed, will work out IF ONLY you give THEM the money and the power to make them work as they think they should. Of course, it also involves the power to MAKE people behave the way progressives think they SHOULD behave, and not the way they do.

 So, with that background, a few observations about the latest Socialist proposal from Senator Marco Rubio, who seems to want to be the new John McCain. (I knew John McCain, Senator. You are no John McCain.) And yes, I called it Socialist. And so, it is. (Progressive, it should be noted, wishes to progress toward, eventually, Socialism. 

It sounds good. (Progressive!) Why, of COURSE, Moms and Dads, and Grandma, should all have time off to bond with the new baby. Family is important. And so, it is. And fathers, breadwinners, have been for Eons, coming to see the new baby, gazing loving, if awkwardly at it, then heading back to the fields to plow and beat the rain. Because that baby has to eat. As does its Mom. And so, we work. Or, as in my own case, we go to sea, and come home to a baby months older than when we left. Because we have a job to do. It sounds great that we should give some time off, BUT: notice a couple of things. I just mimicked a progressive. Because it sounds good. But I did not mention Who gets to pay for it. The employer? No, he won’t. Or rather he will but will pass that along in lower wages for the one who gets the time off, more work for their coworkers while they are off, lower wages for them as well, because if the employer must pay for work not received, the money, Dear Marco, HAS to come from somewhere.

 I remember a number of years ago, hearing Herself, Hillary, whining that the FMLA that her hubs had just signed “Only gave 6 weeks, when Mrs. It takes a Village, Idiot, felt sure that everyone would agree that 12 weeks was needed. And, of course, they should be paid for the time off.  (See? Progressive: more is never enough, someone else has to pay for it, it sounds good) 

 Now, Marco s plan (and, by the way, Hillary’s) is that Government (at this point you should bow and genuflect and the mention of the great Deity of the Left) will pay for it. But what did we observe about Government? Think hard, I’ll wait.

…..

Right!  Government Has. No. Money.

 So, if Government pays for 12 weeks of new baby leave, (Am I the only one who finds it ironic that the same people who want the right to dismember said baby, alive, in the wombs, and sell its body parts to buy a Lamborghini, are the ones pushing hardest for this latest “Gummint” Freebie?) Gummint has to TAKE the money from somewhere.

(as a thought exercise, reach in your purse or wallet. Take out all your money. Count out 10%. Put it back in your wallet and put the 90% in an envelope marked Government. Feel happy? Because that was the top marginal tax rate under Jimmy Carter, before the Reagan revolution lowered it to 39%)

 Now, Marco wants to pay for the leave by the mechanism of delaying retirement for an equal number of weeks, and essentially borrowing the money from the individual’s Social Security account. It seems too obvious to state, but

 There IS NO Social Security Trust Fund. Congress long since spent that. What is paid out to current retirees must come in from current FICA taxes taken from current workers. Because: (Say it with me)

 Government HAS-NO-MONEY!

 So, if Dick and Jane, who both have to work, because Progressive taxes make it impossible for families to live on a single income, as they could when Dick and Jane helped us learn to read, have a baby, and both get 12 weeks paid family leave, not only are they NOT borrowing from an account which they will pay into later on, they are NOT paying in now for 12 weeks, and are increasing the amount taken out of Gummint revenues for 12 weeks. So, if we have current commitments now, the Dick and Jane times the number of babies born every month equals that much more that Marco would have us pay out right now. So, Government must reach into its wallet, and take out (Average 76,000 babies born each week in US times average salary of 48,000 time 2 parents comes to $7.6 billion each week time 12 weeks comes to 91 Billion to fund Marco s little program)

 BUT! What have we learned?  Government has no money.

 So, 91 Billion must be borrowed, or taken out of other funds, or taken from payments to current retirees to pay for Marco s largesse. But, he would say, it will be paid back by the recipients working an extra 12 weeks till retirement.

 Permit me to point out a few logical fallacies.

 Dick and Jane might not live till retirement age.

Dick and Jane might not work till retirement age. (They might start drawing Disability)

Dick and Jane, having no particular incentive to save up and pay for this time, wont.

 Human nature being what it is, freebies will encourage everyone to take the maximum available, so they don’t “get ripped off”. And, I’ll bet anyone reading this a 1000-dollar bill, that IF this were to pass, 12 weeks Gummint paid FMLA, taken out of SS, Progressives will figure out why that is not enough and come weeping to the mike and demand more. Any takers?

 Now. Here is a proposal.  Dick and Jane both work. Jane sees a sparkle in Dicks eyes, and Jane goes to a baby shower and gets the fever. Let’s have a baby, she says. Sure honey. How about next year?  Meantime, we will both work an extra 5 hours of Overtime a week for the next year, and that will give us enough to pay our salaries for up to 12 weeks when the baby is born while we take off and change diapers.

 There is one way to do it, involving personal responsibility.

 Here is another. Insurers can offer a rider to Health policies that will pay supplemental income for a period of time after a birth. Couples of children bearing age can elect to pay for this rider and use it when they have their children.

And here is an even better idea for it, one certain to make Progressive head explode. If you are a Progressive who accidentally began reading this column, please, please stop reading. I’m not responsible for what happens if you continue.

 Still here?

 Ok, then. What if we had an organization dedicated to family planning, funded by large infusions of government money, and anxious to show that 97% of their function is women’s health issues.  Wouldn’t that be an ideal organization to set up and offer family leave insurance and savings policies? Especially if they are large enough to have a multi-billion-dollar reserve, and a billion dollar a year budget? And doesn’t paid family leave sound better than “I want a Lamborghini?” 

Yes, Marco, here is a cause for you to champion. Let us have Planned Parenthood set up and run family leave policies for prospective parents. After all, Planned Parenthood is what they are all about, right? Who needs another progressive socialist big government program? The answer was staring us in the face all along.

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Mark Caserta: Has “The Swamp” come to Huntington, West Virginia?

9 Sep

Does Huntington have its own progressive version of the “Deep State”?

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Mark Caserta:  Free State Patriot editor

September 8, 2018

 

During the past two years, I’ve written often about the so-called “Deep State” within our nation’s capital. This suspected syndicate of clandestine individuals wielding ominous power, possibly even elected by the American people, sanction an ideology antithetical to the peace and prosperity of our nation’s citizens.

These shadowy figures are resolute in their mission to destroy the Trump presidency, at all costs, simply to regain the power to negate his wins for Americans and return us to the “Obama era” and the successes of the progressive movement.

This past Friday, as former Huntington City Councilman, Scott Caserta, and I were filling in for Tom Roten on the “Tom Roten Morning Show” on 800 News Radio WVHU, one of our distinguished guests, Steven Davis had some thought-provoking input. Steven is the founder of the League of Principled Citizens and League of Principled Men and has his finger on the pulse of Huntington.

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(Steven Davis:  Founder of League of Principled Citizens and League of Principled Men)

During our interview, Steven referenced the Deep State within our city.  Admittedly, the notion took me by surprise.  But the evidence supporting the possibility is mounting.  We discussed several key indicators that this may be a reality with which we must deal.

Has Huntington, WV. allowed the fostering of a Deep State within our own city?  Have we allowed the spawn of progressive power and influence to prostitute our city for political expediency?  Is there a network of individuals, each possessing applicable resources to include your tax dollars, local media and a “stump” from which to orate, determined to cripple our city for political gain?

As I’ve observed through the years, allegations of misappropriation of funds, inability to effectively manage a budget and inappropriate declarations of social injustice have materialized within our city’s leadership hierarchy. Now, in fairness, these are issues hundreds of cities across our nation face with comparable degrees of severity.

But very few cities in our country rise in comparison to Huntington, WV. when it comes to failure in effectively dealing with the opioid crisis and the subsequent collapse of infrastructure and sustainability.  And sadly, it’s placed our once great city on the nation’s radar.

A March 7, 2017 Washington Post column by Christopher Ingraham revealed how the drug overdose related deaths in West Virginia helped overwhelm a “state program providing burial assistance for needy families for at least the fifth year in a row.” The column went on to share the program nearly ran out of money four months before the end of the fiscal year, per the WV Department of Health and Human Resources.

In 2015, per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, West Virginia’s drug overdose rate stood at 41.5 cases per 100,000 residents, the highest rate in the country and nearly three times the national average.

And as 2020 Mayoral candidate, Scott Caserta observed on our radio show, “Those are just the ones reported!”

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(Scott Caserta:  2020 Huntington Mayoral Candidate)

An October 2017, PBS News Hour show with Hari Sreenivasan, entitled, “America Addicted”, shared that opioids are now the biggest drug epidemic in American history.

The PBS team traveled to the Mountain State city of Huntington, WV for a first-hand glimpse of the problem. They discussed the fact that tragically embedded in what was deemed to be the biggest drug epidemic in American history, West Virginia had the highest death rate from drug overdoses in the country and Huntington was at the apex of city’s hardest hit by the epidemic.

A June, 2017 CNN column by Andrew Iden, entitled “An EMTs view from the front lines of America’s heroin crisis,” offered unique perspective from Gordon Merry, director of Cabell-Huntington Emergency Medical Services, which is on the front line of the battle against opioid addition.

“One overdose is too many. It is unacceptable. The people, I don’t know why they do it,” he said. “It’s destroying a whole generation. We’re losin’ em.”

The column shares Merry, while spending over 60 years in Huntington, is at a loss as to why people turn to the drug that is now, by local health estimates, “affecting a quarter of Cabell County’s population.   A well-documented statistic revealed, at one point, the city endured 27 heroin overdoses in the “span of four hours,” per the column.

Now, I realize “common-sense” isn’t so common anymore, however, given the magnitude of Huntington’s drug problem and the escalation of associated crime, wouldn’t any intellectually honest person expect city leadership to heighten and empower levels of law enforcement within the city?

Yet, in January 2017, per WSAZ News in Huntington, WV., Huntington Mayor Steve Williams authorized the dismissal of 24 city employees from the Police and Fire Departments, along with announcing a hiring and nonessential spending freeze until further notice.

Mayor Williams explained:

“The fact is when we came down through the end of the fiscal year and knew that some things were tight, we asked for budgets as we were preparing for the coming year,” Mayor Steve Williams said on an edition of “First Look at Four.” “… the next thing, we look at where we are right now, and that’s when the overages in each department became extremely clear. This should’ve been seen sooner. This is nobody’s fault but mine.”

So, how has city leadership decided to address Huntington’s growing drug epidemic?

They haven’t.  In fact, they’ve gone as far as enabling them in their addiction.

Cabell-Huntington’s health department, to maintain blood-borne diseases associated with intravenous drug use, began a needle exchange program, which provides drug users syringes free of charge when they return a used needle.

Two problems here:  The first is the notion of someone avoiding a blood-borne disease when they’re dead seems like liberal reasoning to me.

Second, reported tracking of the needle exchange program reveals it is far from balanced.  Only a percentage of needles are returned, completely negating the program’s purpose and providing a method of injection, at no cost, to an individual who probably doesn’t have the money to purchase it, otherwise.

Reportedly, 3,800 individuals visited the needle exchange from September 2015 through 2017,
“accounting for about 21,000 visits, an average of about six visits per person.”

The Kanawha-Charleston Health Department recently discontinued it “syringe exchange program” under pressure from local police.  Charleston Police Chief Steve Cooper implemented a new set of regulations which included using “only retractable needles, serving only Kanawha County residents, requiring patients to present a government-issued ID to receive needles, and confining the program to a one-for-one needle exchange.

I suppose these common-sense requirements were simply too restrictive in nature.  Yet, Cabell-Huntington Health Department continues its program fecklessly.

Another tool employed by local emergency medical entities involves the use of “Narcan”, a drug designed to block the effects of opioids in the brain and bring the overdosed individual back to consciousness.

Again, the problem is that while every life is precious and none of us would intentionally withhold the deployment of this drug if we could save a life, it simply does not address the issue.  It enables it.

The underlying question from many individuals informed in the matter is, “Why do city leaders continue to execute steps proven to be ineffective in reducing opioid abuse in our city?”

Some believe it’s about money.  I’ve heard the charge that “there is money in addiction”. Narcan, needles, counseling, and other associated services tending to the crisis, all put money, your money, into someone’s coffer.

Admittedly, 5 years ago, I would never have subscribed to such an allegation.  After all, Huntington, my home town of nearly 60 years, is better than that!  Our leaders are better than that!  Our citizens would never allow that to happen!

But in 2018, the population of Huntington, WV. is on the decline.  Good people are leaving.  Our base of Christian conservatives is shrinking in comparison to the spawn of progressive, liberal-minded knuckleheads.

Are we losing the battle?  Is there a Deep State of progressives spreading like a debilitating virus throughout the Tri-State? Does Huntington, WV. have their own local version of “the Swamp” filled with liberal vermin.

If so, what can the citizens of Huntington, WV. do to combat it?

I propose we escalate the fight.  We must become informed and engaged -NOW!

My friend, Steven Davis, also made another profound declaration during our interview last Friday.

“You don’t drain a swamp, you fill it in!”

My jaw dropped when he eloquently spoke these words!  Draining the swamp leaves a marshy, muddy mess which will only be inhabited by a different sort of critter.  We must fill the swamp with rich, viable, business-friendly earth that will provide an environment for the return of business and quality residents to our area.

There was a time, Huntington was recognized as a city where one would desire to raise a family and nurture children.  We were a town built on principle, ethics and with the peace and prosperity of its citizens in mind.

We can return. We can “Make Huntington Great Again”. But as we’ve seen on a national level, it means removing the ineffectual leadership and replacing it with someone who will put “Huntington first” rather than a liberal ideology.

I believe in you Huntington. There are no better people on earth.  Those of us indigenous to the area know we are hard-working, intelligent, principled, God-fearing people.

Let’s take our city back.  Let’s remove the cancer that’s growing and crippling the function of all other body parts.

Let’s do it by being informed, engaged, vocal, and avid voters.

May God bless and protect our city and our great people.

 

 

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Mark Caserta: Help me write my next column! Please respond to this poll!

8 Sep

Do you read the Herald Dispatch newspaper in Huntington, WV?

  • Always
  • Sometimes
  • Most of the time
  • Never
  • I’d rather use it for some sort of animal waste!
  • I love the Herald Dispatch!

Please take 60 seconds to visit this poll and answer the question.  You may select multiple options.  

http://www.easypolls.net/poll.html?p=5b9404dee4b0564f7676d7f6

 

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Sarah Thacker: Understanding Christianity and the Constitution

4 Sep

Christianity and the Constitution.doc

 

 

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Sarah Thacker is a professional, free-lance writer and staff contributor to Free State Patriot.

September 4, 2018

 

I’ve read a lot of peoples’ thoughts on the Constitution lately, and the consensus is that because the word “God” isn’t specifically said in the document, the document itself wasn’t written by Christians and shouldn’t be read that way. I like reading various opinions, but this one is very short-sighted, and I’m going to tell you why in this column. By the end of it, you’ll come away with a better understanding of the Constitution and the people who wrote it.

The first thing you need to look at is the very first Amendment. It covers religious freedom. The very first one! It’s no accident that religious freedom came first. That was very intentional. The Founding Fathers thought it was more important to have religious freedom than free speech, the right to bear arms, or anything else. This is because they came from a place where the government told them which religion they had to practice. Plus, during America’s early years, many states had a state religion, and many people were advocates of a national religion, but they all fought about which one should be chosen. So, it’s easy to understand why freedom of religion was important to them.

Did you know that there are three different references to Jesus and Christianity in the Constitution? One was omitted, but the language is still there. It was in the First Amendment, the one guaranteeing religious freedoms. It originally read:

“All men have an equal, natural and unalienable right to the free exercise of religion, according to the dictates of conscience; and that no particular sect or society of Christians ought to be favored or established by law in preference to others.” (Rowland, 1892)

Why was it important to make sure that no particular sect of Christianity was favored? Well, a lot of people assume that Christian is Christian, and don’t take into account that there are hundreds of different varieties. And, there were plenty of protestant sects, even in the 1700’s. This is part of why people came to America to escape religious persecution from England. At the time, there actually was one preferred religion in England: The Church of England. So, that language wasn’t added in there to include every religion, just to make sure that no one type of Christian was given prominence. And, for a long time, it was considered so important that the President actually went to a different church every Sunday so that it wouldn’t appear that he had any favorites. The reason it was removed was the Founding Fathers found it largely redundant. There really weren’t many other religions, or none that they knew of, so of course they didn’t think they needed to include others in the Constitution. It wasn’t a matter of arrogance, so much as ignorance during that time period.

The next mention of Christianity in the Constitution is in Article 1, Section 7.

“If any Bill shall not be returned by the President within ten days (Sundays excepted), after it shall have been presented to him, the same shall be a law, in like manner as if he had signed it.”

Now, unless you’re a Christian, it’s easy to miss the important part of that section. “Sundays excepted”. Why would Sundays be excepted? If the Founding Fathers meant to exclude Jewish religious observances, it would have said “Saturdays excepted”, or “Fridays excepted” if they were observing Muslim practices. But, they specifically indicated that the President, the government and its operations would cease work on Sunday in observance of Christian practices.

There’s one more mention, and it’s a big one. The Constitution may not say “God”. But you know what it DOES say? “Our Lord”. It specifically says:

“Done in convention by the unanimous consent of the states present the Seventeenth Day of September in the Year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven…”

If you’ve read any historical documents, this probably seems commonplace to you. But, there were other ways at the time to record dates and times without using Christian annotations. It gets even better: the term “our Lord” doesn’t refer to any generalized God. It doesn’t even refer to God, the father. It refers to God, the Son. That’s right: there’s a direct reference to Jesus in the United States Constitution!

So, it’s easy to see that Christian concepts were incorporated into our Constitution. It’s important to know that the Declaration of Independence states what the ideals of our country are, and the Constitution provides guidelines and rules about our government. So, if there is Christian language in both, logic dictates that they were intended to form a Christian nation.

And that’s exactly what they did!

“For the kingdom is the LORD’S And He rules over the nations.” Psalms 22:28 

 

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Mark Caserta: The War on Christianity is one we can win

2 Sep

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Mark Caserta:  Free State Patriot editor

September 2, 2018

 

The liberal media avoids promoting Christianity as the remedy for our nation’s woes, like it was the Bubonic Plague of the 1300’s.

The reason? Well, the precepts of Christianity, based on the teachings of Jesus, are the antithesis of everything the liberal media and progressives pursue in society. Principles and the steadfast standards of morality are way too cumbersome for the loosely principled liberal lifestyle.

Now, this is the point in the column where liberals stop reading, get angry and flagrantly respond in anger. They’re so pitifully predictable.

Recently, in a speech by President Trump to a group of evangelicals during a Monday night dinner, he warned the 2018 mid-term elections are “going to be a referendum on your religion”. Trump’s message, which was mischievously recorded by someone in the room, dealt with the extreme level of hatred and animus of the left toward the Trump presidency and its supporters along with their desire to “violently” negate every positive achievement of this administration.

To heck with the impact on our nation. That doesn’t even factor into their insidious, self-serving equation. They simply hate Trump more than they love America and his failure is more valuable to their movement, than America’s success.

The underlying premise of the president’s fervent plea with his evangelical audience was to implore them to vote and encourage others, who care about our nation’s future, to vote for candidates who will support the Christian ideology and faith in our Creator.

It’s no secret, liberal Democrats are anticipating success of the party, “not in power” during this upcoming election, which seems to be the trend, historically. In this case, the so-called “blue wave” or vast recovery of seats by the Democrats would be disastrous for our nation, our state and our communities. And I’ll tell you why.

From all the sources from whom I’m able to gather information, liberal Democrats are gearing up for the largest presidential rebuke in our nation’s history. Legal teams across the liberal plains are combining forces and preparing to challenge and reverse every action by President Trump. And for those matters they can’t dissolve expeditiously, they plan to tie up in the courts for years.

But, the Holy Grail for liberal Democrats is the impeachment of Donald J. Trump. And if they regain power, rules won’t matter. They’ll find a way to change them. Honor and integrity will never stand in the way of progressivism.   In fact, honor and integrity simply aren’t required competencies to be a progressive. It’s much too restrictive.

It’s important to remember the definition of fake news is information designed to disingenuously influence others.

Remember the media during the 2016 presidential election ridiculing Donald Trump’s chances of winning the presidency? I recall most liberal outlets and progressive pundits constantly preparing us for the inevitable election of Hillary Clinton as our next president. This presumptive message continued throughout the evening of November 8th, 2016, as voters traveled to and from the polls.

Thankfully, conservative Christians weren’t deterred by the fake news.

If you remember, the exact same thing happened during exit polling of the presidential elections involving George W. Bush and Senator’s John Kerry and Al Gore. Exit polls were conclusively reporting Bush would lose! Both times they were wrong!

We must not succumb to the influence of the liberal media. They do not like you or care about you in any shape, form or manner. All they care about is power. They operate under the guise of compassion and totally inclusive tolerance, until they own you.

Liberal Democrats are perpetually attempting to purchase the vote of any demographic they deem disenfranchised by the right, such as illegal aliens, African Americans, women, the LGBT crowd, the Ecology crowd, and any religion that’s “not” Christianity.

The only demographic they will never own is Christians. And they can’t stand you because you were instrumental in electing Donald Trump. Trust me when I tell you they are going to do everything in their power to make you pay the ultimate price.

I recall the Monday evening prayer vigil at our church the day before the 2016 presidential election. We joined believers around the country who realized this was the most important election in their lifetime. If Hillary Clinton was elected, it meant, at least, four more years of failed liberal policies that were killing our country. We gathered, we prayed and we placed the outcome in God’s Hands.

The good news is Hillary lost and our nation is rebounding in a miraculous manner!

But the battle isn’t over.

It’s time to come together as Christians, once again and leverage our authority in the name of Jesus. It’s time we begin controlling that which God has called us to maintain here on earth and envelope ourselves in the purpose for which each of us is called.

And I submit we reference the only inerrant manual ever known to mankind – the Bible, for our battle plan.

First, we must recognize the enemy.

Ephesians 6:12 says, “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”

Please don’t doubt me when I tell you that’s exactly what we’re facing. This is no longer about political parties. It’s about the very soul of our nation. And this is a battle we can win!

Matthew 16:18-19 says,” Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

As Christians, we’ve been given the power and authority to bind attacks of the enemy using the name of Jesus. We can also “loose” his power on our behalf from Heaven, with our faith and spoken word. We won’t be alone in the battle. God has told us many times, He would never leave us or forsake us.

Matthew 18:20-23 says, “For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them”. He will be in our midst, strengthening the bond.

And in what liberals will perceive as our weakest moment, God’s Mighty Hand will prevail, delivering us from evil.

So, from whence comes our strength during the fight? Admittedly, the liberal media can wear upon our faith with a constant barrage of negativity!

“Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not yet seen,” according to Hebrews 11:1. We can’t allow what we “see” to override what we “know” to be the truth. Progressives are constantly trying “shock in awe” to desensitize us to sin all around us. Don’t fall prey to this manipulation!

Psalm 16:11 tells us, “…In thy presence is fullness of joy.” This is extremely important! When Paul and Silas were chained and imprisoned, they did the unthinkable. They began praising God and singing hymns! Suddenly, their chains were loosed and the bars flew open! I’m committed to doing exactly the opposite of what liberals want me to do!

Nehemiah 8:10 tells us, “…The joy of the Lord is your strength.”

I take joy every time I’m attacked by a liberal. They attack that which they fear! Don’t forget that! The fiercer the attack, the more they fear you. Why do you think they attack President Trump so vehemently?

So, here’s the plan.

First, don’t all prey to fake news. Realize it’s a trick of the enemy, working through the liberal media.

Second, begin praising God for the victory before it even happens! This will drive the enemy crazy!

Third, take joy in the fact that we’ve read the end of the book and we know Jesus Christ has already paid the price and given us every tool we need to be winners on earth and bring great change to our nation.

Just as we did in 2016.

Finally, register to vote and on November 6th, get to the polls and show the world we are more than Christians, we are “overcomers!”

If we stay lockstep in this battle plan, it’s impossible for us to lose. And losing simply isn’t an option.

 

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Lance Wallnau: Trump Delivers Prophetic Warning to Christian Leaders.

31 Aug

This is a must see for Christians.  You must prepare for what lies ahead.  Once again, we must rally to defeat progressivism in our country.  Listen to Lance Wallnau as he reads words from our president warning Christians of our future if we sit back and allow evil to prosper.

 

 

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Doug Smith: Free State Patriot is a conservative blog on a mission

23 Aug

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Doug Smith is a historian who proudly served our nation in the Navy aboard the submarine “USS Gato”.  He is also Free State Patriot associate editor

August 23, 2018

 

Mark Caserta began a blog in 2013 as an adjunct to the regular conservative commentary he was contributing in newspapers.  The idea was simple: to expose the Progressive Movement. This is more necessary than it sounds. 

The history of the Progressive Movement is that it cannot win in the public arena of ideas, or in a straight up battle of candidates in an election. To put it more personally, progressives, the folks who adhere to that movement, cannot win with the truth. They never run up the middle toward their goal: it is always an end run or a back-alley deal.  Why? Because their ideas and nutty, and anathema to most common-sense people. So, they lie, they deceive, the alter the meaning of words, the promise the moon, in order to get power, then they do whatever they wish.

 Make no mistake, the Progressive Movement is ALL about gaining power, then enforcing their ideas on the unwilling, who, in their eyes, must be unenlightened if they have the temerity to disagree with them. They (so their thinking goes,) are the best and the brightest, and everyone will be better off if we are in charge. In the Progressive mind, the Founders were wrong to restrict the power of the Government to protect the People (the purpose of the Bill of Rights), instead, they insist, the role of Government is to make people be, and act, like they think they should, and govern based on what “ought to be, “rather than what is.  They are not fans of individual liberty, and certainly not of this great experiment in, as President Lincoln noted, “Government of the people, for the people, and by the people. “

 But people are cantankerously self-interested, and a lot of the old saws of wisdom remain true, despite the most voluble protests of the Progressives:

 There really Aint no such thing as a free lunch

 If you teach a man to fish, he will eat for a lifetime. If you give him a fish, he will eat today. And then come back tomorrow to get another fish.

 And, in Progressiveland, vote Democrat.

 Their ideas are unpopular, not simply because, as they would have it, no one is quite as bright, or virtuous, or will intentioned, as they, but because their ideas are nutty, wrongheaded, ignoring basic truths of human existence, and more importantly, always, always, result in misery and destruction.

 Ronald Reagan quipped that the scariest words in the English language are “I’m from the government, and I’m here to help.” Given that Progressives are firm believers that all things good and worthwhile come from government, he might well have said, I m a Progressive, and I’m here to help YOU.

 Not convinced?  In 1916, Woodrow Wilson ran for re Election on the campaign of “He Kept Us out of the War (WW1)”, and “Too Proud to Fight”. Indeed, in early 1917, the war was winding down, with both sides weary of fighting and nearing a settlement. Wilson won, and was Inaugurated in January, 1917. In April 1917, he went to Congress to request to go to war with Germany. So much for his promises. And the results of Wilson s “best and brightest” leading?  Over 300,000 American casualties, Wilson largely responsible for the Treaty of Versailles, which set in motion a chain of events that led to WW2, and the deaths of 80 million people worldwide.

 The Great Society of LBJ and his War on Poverty has spent 20 Trillion dollars, and done little to reduce poverty. Back to the fish analogy, if we feed a man a fish, and reward his ability to breath and show up every day for a fish, we pass out a lot of fish, but we don’t get many fishermen. Nothing is more costly, less efficient, or longer lasting than a temporary government program.

 We believe, based on observation of our country and our world, that the greatest thing to raise people out of misery and poverty are the property rights and free market protected by our Founders. They understood that all rights have to do with property.

 Every man beneath his vine and fig tree, and none shall make him afraid. None shall prune his vine or pick his figs, either, he must do so for himself and sell them or eat them.  American, since its founding, has done more to raise the economic status and individual freedom of more people than any other nation in history. It is a nation, at its core, not of “immigrants”, as our Progressive friends would tell us, but of ideas. Our Founders formed this nation on the notion that any who came to embrace our ideas and build a strong country on that basis were welcome to roll up their sleeves and jump in.

 Our founding principles are good and sound. That is why we extoll their strength and virtue, as well as exposing the moral bankruptcy of the Progressives.

 Never before, or since, in history, has a nation fought a war to give rights to men who were enslaved. Never before has a nation gone to war to rescue and free other people from tyranny without keeping the land that they subdued.

 Never before has any nation so totally been a draw to outsiders to come and live in it, or to turn to it for help in times of trouble. No nation in the world worries that taking money or food or medicine from the United States will cause it to be subjugated.

 America is unique in history, unique among the nations of the world, unique in her peoples and her core ideals. This we believe.

 So our purpose here at FSP is to educate about the strengths and sound ideas of America, to expose the deceit and bad, dangerous ideas of the Progressives and the Left, and by shining light on both, encourage people to choose the good, sound, tried and true principles and ideas that have built, not a “ Perfect Day” , not a Utopia, but “ A more perfect union,” that is devoted to “ securing the blessings of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness to ourselves and our posterity.”

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Bill Moore: The Public Square: Social media and the First Amendment

21 Aug

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Bill Moore:  Author and regular contributor to Free State Patriot

August 21, 2018

 

At the dawn of our great country, the town crier, broadsides, pamphlets all were different ways of spreading both news and opinion beyond the publication of a newspaper. Newspapers at the time of our American Revolution numbered around 38 spread across all the colonies. They were generally 4-page editions published weekly and the information could be days, weeks, or months old. These papers averaged a circulation of 600 making their reach about 1 percent of the estimated population in 1776. Each different way of disseminating information was necessary to the keep the population informed of events and to rally the patriots around the goal of independence.

Standing in a well-traveled public area shouting the news to passersby the town crier effectively was a news anchor.  The town crier read legal notices, local bylaws and even advertisements. The town crier would ring a bell to gather attention, shout “hear ye, hear ye” (actually “Oyez, oyez”) and commence reading the notifications of the day.

Printing a broadside and posting it on trees, lampposts, exterior walls and other highly visible areas is exactly what the public at large does on Facebook, Twitter or YouTube today. Broadsides contained current information more so than the newspapers, as well as advertisements and legal notices. Nothing more than a print version of the town crier. Broadsides were designed to be discarded or removed as new information came available.

Pamphlets on the other hand are more detailed and designed to persuade rather than inform. Making them more like a personal blog website in the present era. In fact, many of the pamphlets of the late 1700’s were written under pseudonyms, or screen names if you will.  Many of the heroes of our country used pen names such as Samuel Adams (Candidus, Populus, A Son of Liberty and 22 more), and Alexander Hamilton (Publius, Americanus), Benjamin Franklin (Silence Dogood, Richard Saunders), Robert Livingston (Cato), and James Madison (Helvidius).

Each of these methods of information dissemination was integral to the freedom we now enjoy. In our current society and speed of light news reports we still need each and everyone of the different methods (albeit the modern equivalent listed). We, as a society, must stand and fight against the systemic silencing of voices that don’t follow the leftist dogma promulgated by legacy media and their corporate sponsors.

Facebook, et al. hide behind the “we are a private corporation and don’t have to subscribe to the protections of free speech” facade. As with most laws and court decisions a connect the dots game is required to gain an understanding of how to apply them to a specific situation. Going back to 1980, in Pruneyard Shopping Center v. Robins, the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed a California Supreme Court decision recognizing that California’s Constitution protected the right of high school students to gather signatures at a privately-owned shopping center for a petition objecting to a United Nations resolution that said Zionism was a form of racism.  In other words, the public square had shifted. The public no longer gathered in the town square but moved to privately owned shopping places with common areas for the public. These common areas were viewed as the modern town square.

Fast forward to 2017 and a case involving restricting a registered sex offender from the internet in general. In that case the Court declared the Internet to be one of the traditional “quintessential forums” of public exchange of ideas, such as streets or parks. Keeping the sex offender off the internet deprived him of information like learning of a job opening or even applying for a job. He could not register a product for warranty, educate himself, check his bank account or any of the other mundane tasks done via the internet. His offense took place in 2002 and he had long paid for his crime by serving time but because of North Carolina’s laws regarding a sex offender the internet was off limits. While acknowledging the depravity of the crimes committed by any registered sex offender, the US Supreme Court concluded that “to foreclose access to social media altogether is to prevent the user from engaging in the legitimate exercise of First Amendment rights.” Of course, this prevention was at the behest of the NC state government. However, it is not a far leap to conclude a ban from social media by a corporation is also designed “to prevent the user from engaging in the legitimate exercise of First Amendment rights.”

We now have, thus far, created a dot of ‘private business property can be considered public square’ and a second dot of ‘state governments cannot prevent an individual from accessing and using the internet under the First Amendment’. The final dot that will make a complete picture is not legal ruling or written law bit something that is unfortunately in short supply – common sense. Facebook and Google (owner of YouTube) have in the past pitted one state against another for the best tax breaks and other tax considerations when they look to build server farms and other corporate infrastructure. This year Facebook was granted $150 million in tax breaks over twenty years for employing a whopping 50 people in a new facility in Utah. Just as a reminder, in the first quarter of this year FB had $12 BILLION in revenue.

Let’s connect the dots and finish the whole picture. If a state government grants tax breaks and other considerations to encourage a business to build within their specific state couldn’t a savvy lawyer point out that those tax breaks and considerations mean the government by default supports the operating guidelines and disciplinary actions of said corporation? By allowing Facebook to ban a person that has otherwise broken no laws the government effectively has done two things. They have passed on their authority to discipline (arrest, fine, ticket etc.) citizens based on a corporate decision rather than law AND the state has allowed this action without benefit of due process.  Corporate tyranny, anyone?

Facebook, Twitter, YouTube have banned over a dozen right and far-right voices in the last three weeks. A few days ago, MasterCard has joined the fray refusing to process donations on Patreon for JihadWatch.org. The owner for JihadWatch.org has written 18 books and led seminars on Islam for the FBI, the United States Central Command, United States Army Command and General Staff College, the U.S. Army’s Asymmetric Warfare Group, the Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF), the Justice Department’s Anti-Terrorism Advisory Council and the U.S. intelligence community. Obviously not a “hate filled nut case”. This decision effectively makes MasterCard a tyrannical dictator basing a decision on half-truths and out and out lies. The aim of the ban is to prevent donations that support the website. These bans have little to with hate filled rants or dangerous ideas. They are designed to cut off cash flow and cripple voices that lean to the right. If an outright ban can’t be rationalized, then strikes or other slaps that curtail views and thus ad revenue. Underfunded sites then self-censor content hoping not to get completely banned. For the liberal left only two things matter power and money. Anyone that states opposing views must be a fascist and a Nazi and therefore must be silenced, no proof necessary.

The midterms are around 10 weeks away. In that time there will more attacks on conservative voices, liberals specifically are harassing known conservatives. Antifa and other harassment orientated groups are flagging conservative content in mass. (Facebook’s Zuckerberg admitted this in the case of Alex Jones and admitted he made the decision to ban Jones anyway) We, as conservatives, can’t wear a MAGA hat without fear of physical abuse. We can’t state opposition to liberal positions without the threat of losing our platforms on social media. We can’t even eat in a restaurant if we are recognized as Trump supporters. Candice Owens and Sarah Sanders can attest to that.

Think about those folks and the patriots that fought for our rights when you whip out that MasterCard branded debit card to pay for your Starbucks Latte. Be thankful you aren’t wearing a MAGA hat. Keep your conservative light under the bushel at least then you won’t have to wonder who will shove a bull horn in your face and scream like a banshee hoping to goad you into taking a swing. For me I’ll follow the advice of Captain John Parker when he was at the Battle of Lexington in 1775.

 

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Mark Caserta: So, what is fake news and how do I recognize it?

20 Aug

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Mark Caserta:  Free State Patriot editor

August 20, 2018

 

The term, “fake news” has been bandied about a lot by both sides of the political spectrum.  Its definition seems to evolve based on its political expediency.

Discerning truth in reporting means being able to recognize fake news, so allow me to define the term as I see it applying to most media outlets today.

Fake news is information presented in a manner designed to disingenuously influence rather than inform.

There are basically three types of fake news.

The first is the “outright lie” or fabrication of a story or event. A perfect example would be the liberal Democrat procurement of a “fake” dossier on Donald Trump from Christopher Steele, of Fusion GPS, who was paid by the Democrat Party to do opposition research on Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign.

As the investigation repeatedly failed to produce a single shred of evidence of collusion between Trump and Russia, the salacious dossier was fabricated and used no less than four times to obtain Foreign Intelligence Surveillance (FISA) warrants to continue investigating Trump, hoping to “strike gold” in the progressive pursuit to cripple his presidency.

After all, liberals have already proven Trump’s failure will be more rewarding for their mission than America’s success.

The next example of fake news is “filtered reporting” that conveniently eliminates facts or details that would fail to support a desired narrative.

A good example is the recent story about a “training camp” at a New Mexico compound accused of abusing children while training them to commit heinous acts of mass murder in their schools.

The liberal media nearly “wet” themselves as they excitedly reported the story, detailing the assault style weapons, handguns, ammunition and a shooting range found at the facility. The reports included information regarding surveillance of the facility and one of the children successfully texting authorities they were all in need of food and water.

Anti-gun liberals immediately leaped on the story blaming gun rights activists and Second Amendment proponents like the NRA.  The reporting of the training facility was chocked full of details which supported the liberal narrative that “guns” were the problem and their availability was causing massacres in our schools.

But nay, nay.  The liberal media reports included some of the details of the horrific facility, but not all! Progressive pundits failed to report one critical piece of information that would have stifled their narrative in dramatic fashion.

The individuals running this training camp were Islamic jihadists!  One of the Islamists is the son of an unindicted co-conspirator in the first World Trade Center bombing in 1993, Siraj Wahhaj, an Imam, who had formerly offered prayer at a Democratic National Convention event in 2012.

This information was “conveniently” left out of the reporting as it didn’t support the liberal, anti-gun narrative.

Truth and integrity never seem to stand in the way of liberal news reporting. Only propagating the narrative matters.

Finally, fake news can also include “lop-sided” reporting, where a news outlet overwhelmingly presents one side of an argument while offering a “token taste” of the opposition under the guise of “balanced” reporting.

I believe we see that now, locally, from the Herald Dispatch (HD) in Huntington, WV., which seems to have succumb to its liberal cravings.

In my 14 years as a regular contributor to the paper’s opinion page, I’ve never seen it present partisan, liberal opinion it does now.  And despite being plagued by numerous critics and dwindling readership, the Herald Dispatch leadership are determined to “stay the course” in allowing their personal opinions of President Trump to dictate the balance of commentary.

It seems that not only is the First Amendment no longer important (a clause the HD should humbly remove from the paper) but also the return to advertisers and even the prosperity of their employees have now taken a back seat to their progressive political ideology.

Admittedly, the 24-hour news cycle has changed the dynamics of reporting. Each news entity is struggling to survive by being assertive and even aggressive in their reporting.  In fairness, there are some that still honor truth and integrity in journalism. They’re just hard to find.

But it’s important for each of us to know we can’t place our trust in a single news outlet for “truth-in-reporting”.  We must do our homework.  We must be cognizant of the facts and be prepared to take a stand where needed.

If we fail to arm ourselves with the knowledge needed to recognize and counter fake news, we will lose to their artful deception – plain and simple.

Sadly, when the smoke clears, it’s our country and ultimately our children who will pay for our lack of engagement.

 

 

 

 

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Bill Moore: Fake News and the War on the Press

15 Aug

 

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Bill Moore:  Local author and regular contributor to Free State Patriot

August 15, 2018

 

Over 100 newspapers from around the country are colluding to spread propaganda concerning our President, Donald Trump. Strong words, “collusion” and “propaganda”. They create images of spies or criminals in dark alleyways planning illegal activities. Or perhaps dropping leaflets or posting flyers giving a positive slant to an intolerable government.  In this case those words may not be strong enough.

On August 16th, 2018 at the behest of the Boston Globe the above mentioned 100 plus newspapers will run editorials denouncing what the Globe called a ‘‘dirty war against the free press.’’ We have all seen and heard the President call out different legacy media outlets as “fake news” or “failed such and such magazine”. Being called “fake news” is a far cry from a war on the “free press”. At no time has President Trump called for the destruction of the free press or the First Amendment which protects both free speech and free press. In other words, each newspaper that runs an editorial stating Trump has declared war on the press is creating more “fake news”. Basically, another day and another lie by the legacy media.

Collusion is defined has a “secret agreement undertaken for illicit or fraudulent purposes; conspiracy”. I will bet none of the papers will mention the editorials they publish were encouraged by The Boston Globe and “industry groups such as the American Society of News Editors and regional groups like the New England Newspaper and Press Association.” These groups encouraged all papers to unite against the “war” regardless of their own generalized editorial support or opposition of Trump’s policies.  That comment in and of itself is comical as Trump only receives 10% positive news coverage according to the Washington Times. Even Pew Research indicates Trump has double the negative press of Obama, Bill Clinton or George W Bush.

I highly doubt any paper actively supports our President in a meaningful way or with enough readership to matter. Given our improving status around the world, lower taxes, lower unemployment and improved GDP, why exactly is the news always so negative?

Propaganda according to my trusty dictionary is “information or statements of opinion that are deliberately circulated among the public to persuade the population to accept a particular point of view, esp. one in favor of or opposed to a particular movement, cause, or doctrine”. Clearly any editorial opinion is propaganda if it means to portray a situation or event in a manner to garner support for said opinion.

By collectively publishing editorials this week these newspapers are engaging in propaganda designed to convince the public that Donald Trump has declared war on the press and by extension the U.S. Constitution.

Calling a report “fake” or standing up for yourself and defending your reputation is a far cry from declaring war. War by its very nature must have some type of destruction. There has been no damage to the freedom of the press other than the self-inflicted variety. One could argue with all the un-named sources, uncorroborated tell all books and out right fiction published as news on an hourly basis, that the legacy media is doing a bang-up job of waging war against the First Amendment. In a real-world war propaganda is used to either by enemies of the state to inform the citizenry at large the current leadership is corrupt or by the state itself to defend its own policies drumming up support.

Next is for each side to repeat the lies until they are believed by enough people one way or the other. Once a critical mass of duped people is achieved, let the revolution (or impeachment ) begin.

The propaganda publishing newspapers include the Houston Chronicle, Minneapolis Star Tribune, Miami Herald, and Denver Post, to small weekly papers with circulations as low as 4,000. I believe this group of editorials will make the rounds of TV news shows as well. They may even try to pass all the different editorials off an organic “just kind of happened” movement.

Make no mistake this is a plan to further erode support of Trump and by association Republicans in the upcoming mid-term election. The legacy media is trying to neuter Trump’s impact on close races. All knowledgeable accounts indicate Trump rallies turned the tide for the Ohio race in favor of Republicans. Trumps coattails are proving to be strong. This has the Democrats and the left leaning media worried.

It is imperative Americans stay informed, support and protect each other while ferreting out the lies, fake news and propaganda running 24 hours a day on pretend news channels. 

 

 

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