Tag Archives: Patriotism

Mark Caserta: Where have America’s defenders of truth and freedom gone?

26 Mar

Mark Caserta is an opinion columnist and editor for Free State Patriot.

March 26, 2002

President Ronald Reagan

Ronald Reagan was the 40th President of the United States

Throughout history, America’s evolution into becoming the greatest nation on earth and exemplary in the display of American exceptionalism has been forged in fire by great leadership and an unwavering faith in God.

But where have America’s great leaders and defenders of truth and freedom gone? 

President Ronald Reagan was quoted as saying, “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.  We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream.  It must be fought for, protected and handed on for them to do the same.”

So, who is “We” in this quote?  To whom do you suppose the man known as the “great communicator” was referring?

President Abraham Lincoln told us, “The philosophy of the school room in one generation will be the philosophy of government in the next.”

To whom do you suppose President Lincoln was challenging to protect the minds of our precious future – our children?

Per the Department of Defense, the total number of Americans killed in all U.S. wars is more than 1.1 million brave men and women.  Many of us have family members who are included in this devastating statistic.

For whom do you suppose these heroes were willing to give their lives?

I dare to make the comparison of Jesus dying on the cross for future generations’ salvation to these heroes who so willingly gave their lives for our current freedom, but yet they are similar in spirit.

Salvation and freedom, alike, were far from free.  They both came at the precious cost of life and each involved someone taking action on behalf of God.  In the event the freedom of God’s people was at risk, His will was set in motion by a deliverer.

During the reign of Pharaoh, God sent Moses to deliver the Israelites from bondage. During the reign of the Roman empire, God sent His son, the Messiah to plant the seed of Christianity for the deliverance of all mankind.  Indeed, throughout history, God has positioned men and woman of valor to orchestrate His Will, such as our Founding Fathers and great presidents.

God takes care of his people, but we are the tools by which he provides His freedoms.

Yet, as Americans we find ourselves threatened domestically and abroad by those who would sacrifice both salvation and freedom of others simply for power.  In a treasonous manner, these individuals are attempting to rewrite history and relinquish our sovereignty in the name of progressivism.

The liberal methodology is to equate the advancement of science and technology with the need for a social evolution which includes a sliding scale of morality which leans incessantly toward the left.

What amazes me about God is he never seems to require an army!  Jesus took 12 men and shook the world!  Paul wrote two-thirds of the New Testament.  Ronald Reagan was the father of conservatism!

All God requires is the obedience of a few.  Even the Bible says, “One of your men puts to flight a thousand, for the Lord your God fights for you!”

Are you willing to stand by idly while a few evil people steal our freedom?  Are we willing to continue to allow our voices to be drowned by a few treasonous individuals?

All the liberal media and evil on the planet cannot overshadow even the tiniest portion of the power and will of our mighty God – if only a few will rise for battle.  It is in our weakness His strength is made known.

Yes, returning our nation to greatness will take more than a man – it will take God.  But a man, with God by his side, can move mountains.

Don’t allow this generation to be the one where we succumb to evil and lose our freedom.  As with generations of the past, a deliverer arose. Are you willing to fight for the freedom of the next generation?

We are the chosen few.  We are the shakers and movers. We are the ones who are called to protect our freedom and defend truth.  It begins with you!

Commit to being an instrument of change – good change.  God will do the rest.

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Seth Caserta: What is “patriotism”?

4 Sep

prayer vigial

seth

Seth Caserta is an aspiring columnist and a 17-year-old senior at Covenant School

September 4, 2019

 

If I were to choose a word that illustrates the importance of our flag – I would choose patriotism.

So, what exactly is patriotism? It is defined in the dictionary as “Devotion to and vigorous support for one’s country.”  In other words, it’s the love of your country. Patriotism is the foundation on which our nation is built, the glue holding us together as a nation united.

It took patriotism to build this country, to fight for its right for existence and liberty and separate from the British dictatorship. It took loyalty, devotion, and bravery, for the veterans to defend our great Nation against Germany in World War 2 and in Vietnam.

The Love for one’s country is like gas in a car, it fuels it and helps it go and progress. We, as one Nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all, are responsible for our future and what becomes of our nation.

Matthew 3:25 states that “If a house is divided against itself, it cannot stand.” If we, the American people, do not put forth what is best for our country, instead of our own political views, how can we progress?

Politics have escalated so much into what Republicans and Democrats believe is best that the question of “where does patriotism come into play” rises. It’s like a rivalry between 2 siblings, one trying to outdo the other by whatever means necessary.  

 Patriotism is the desire to help one’s country in times of need, “to make it great”, in simpler terms. It took one man to come forth, against the odds, to lead this country toward a brighter future. His name is Donald J Trump. 

Some may disagree with the president’s political views but they cannot deny that he has helped our economy grow more in 3 and a half years, than Obama did in his entire presidency! But if we focus on the mistakes our president makes, rather than the successes, where is Patriotism?

It is the job of “We the People” to stand beside our president and honor him, even if we don’t agree with him entirely. If we don’t, then pray for him rather than falsely accusing him of something just to impeach him.

So, once more, the question of “what is patriotism” comes into play. George Washington fighting the British for our right to be a nation, Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg address, in attempt to unite the North and south, Veterans sacrificing everything to protect their country, a president persisting to make America great against the odds of both parties.

That is Patriotism. 

 

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Mark Caserta: Each of us has a role in defending our republic

24 Mar

me

Mark Caserta:  Free State Patriot editor

Mar 23, 2018

america

 

 

Following the Constitutional Convention of 1787, Benjamin Franklin was asked by a citizen, “Well Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?” It is said, Franklin responded, “A republic, if you can keep it.”

So, how have we done, as citizens, to “keep” our republic? Have we guarded it in a manner befitting our forefathers’ vision?

At the Battle of Gettysburg, 50,000 brave men died in three days. Shortly afterward, President Abraham Lincoln consecrated the ground in a speech famously known as The Gettysburg Address. Lincoln’s remarks, while short, were meant to resonate forever in the hearts of men and women across this great land.

“It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us – that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

But has the flame in Lincoln’s oratory dimmed over time? Nearly 150 years later, are our hearts resolved “that these dead shall not have died in vain,” and this nation under God shall be swaddled in the freedoms provided by their sacrifice?

Frankly, the number of people in our country who aren’t engaged with its governing is troubling. Many with whom I’ve spoken simply say it doesn’t interest them.

But our elected officials were hired to frame, within the Constitution, the very environment in which we live and raise our families! Not only should you be interested, you should be helping facilitate their representation!

Our freedoms are envied around the world, and there are entities, both foreign and domestic, that would render them void or transform them into something unrecognizable. And I submit, we’ve entrusted those freedoms to our elected representatives and they should be held accountable for protecting them.

A classic film directed by Frank Capra nearly eight decades ago always reminds me of the vulnerability of freedom within our own government.

“Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” is the story of Jefferson Smith (Jimmy Stewart), leader of the Boy Rangers, who is appointed by the governor of his state to the Senate, where he is teamed with his state’s senator and childhood hero, Sen. Joseph Paine.

As with many “junior” politicians who have “visions of grandeur” for their constituents, Sen. Smith discovers the multiple deficiencies of politics, including his hero, Paine. He falls prey to the “so-called” political machine, which after failing to corrupt him, attempts to destroy him with a “fake news” scandal.

But, Smith, with some coaching from a savvy political assistant, learns just enough of the Senate’s parliamentary procedure to filibuster the chamber until his message of truth emerged.

Where are the Jefferson Smiths today? Is it possible they’ve become so mired in the swamp they can’t or won’t be heard above the fray?

If so, it’s because we’ve permitted it.

We witnessed in the 2016 presidential election how engaged voters can bring the political machine to a grinding halt. Subsequently, we’re witnessing government being returned to the people in an unprecedented timeline. Together, we helped return our nation on the path to greatness.

Our representatives weren’t hired to do our thinking. America is only as strong as your knowledge and engagement.

Your voice is crucial. Your vote is non-negotiable. Your duty is clear.

You are “We the People,” defender of the Republic. Will you help keep it?

Mark Caserta is a conservative blogger, a Cabell County resident and a regular contributor to The Herald-Dispatch editorial page.

 

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Mark Caserta: It’s time for liberals to put America first

16 Jun

me

Mark Caserta:  Free State Patriot editor

Jun 16, 2017

best flag

 

Liberal Democrats are allowing the sheer hatred of President Trump and his supporters to render them senseless to the needs of our country.

Let’s be clear. It’s not the Russians destroying our Democratic electoral process; it’s liberals.

And this isn’t a war on President Trump; it’s a war on you!

Americans decided overwhelmingly, in the manner governed by our Republic, to elect someone who was the antithesis of his predecessor. Anyone willing to be intellectually honest would admit our nation was in a death spiral both economically and on stage in the global theater. Americans knew we needed a true leader, one who would never place political correctness over the needs of our country.

America needed Donald J. Trump.

Liberals realized immediately after Trump won his party’s nomination that something was wrong. How could this outsider possibly have come this far in the race? Surely, this was a fluke. But nevertheless, something had to be done. So, they began the process of delegitamizing Donald Trump, the man.

Every step Trump took, it would be his last. Every time he tweeted, he’s surely crossed the line. Every time he said something politically incorrect, it was the beginning of the end for Donald Trump.

But it never happened. The more he resisted pressure to align with the Washington norm, the more popular he became.

But the months leading up to the 2016 presidential election set the stage for the ultimate shocker for liberals. Not a single progressive talking head could find a path to victory for Donald Trump.

Democrats and the mainstream media were certain Hillary Clinton would win in a landslide. Her pompous arrogance and assurance of victory prompted a feckless campaign which failed to propose any significant strategy beyond perpetuating the failed policies of Barack Obama.

Even when Hillary’s success within her own party became shaded after the Democrat National Committee website experienced a cyber-attack exposing Democrats attempting to undermine the presidential campaign of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, Hillary’s faithful stood by her.

But in the wee hours of the morning, on Nov. 9, 2016, the walls of the DNC started to crumble. As final election returns were confirmed and reported by the news outlets, it appeared Donald Trump was winning. And not just barely winning. He was winning “big time.”

Liberal Democrats were livid, but not finished. After coming to terms with the results of the election, they had to do something to regain power, despite the unintended consequences. So, the current strategy to undermine the presidency of the United States and our electoral system began.

Even as jobs are returning and the world leaders are once again recognizing the leadership of the United States as legitimate, progressive anger flourishes. We see liberals acting erratically, using foul language and despicable displays of hatred against the president.

Is this the future you want for our country? Hate has never succeeded, and love never fails. It’s time for liberals to put America first.

It’s time to love our country more than you hate the president.

Mark Caserta is a Cabell County resident and a regular contributor to The Herald-Dispatch editorial page.

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Doug Smith: The Tyranny of Perfection

5 Apr

My country ’tis of thee…

doug-for-fsp

Doug Smith:  Author and historical, social and political editor for Free State Patriot

April, 5, 2017

 

america

My wife is a perfectionist.

So, I live with this phenomenon and understand it. She was the sort of Straight A student who would be very upset at getting a 99, if someone else had ever gotten a 100, or getting a 100 if extra credit made a 103 possible.  This all made her a driven and excellent student, but not a very happy one.

Nothing she ever did was going to be good enough for her. Now, being a much more laid back sort, I find myself shaking my head at this attitude, because it is amazing that a straight A, Summa Cum Laude student so frequently growls “Stupid, stupid, stupid” at herself. You think you might get a little credit for those A s, and the long nights? No?

Now, she is not alone. The Utopians among us, clear back to Plato, and moving all the way to today’s progressives and socialists, build in their mind a perfect society; one which has never existed, but might, if only they were put in charge. Now not to pop their collective little bubbles, but if some 6,000 years of human civilization has never produced a Utopia, what in the world would make them think they are so much smarter, wiser, and better than a Solomon or Marcus Aurelius that they will finally get it done?

And there has not been a perfect society or civilization, ever. But the Utopians live lives of noisy misery, focused on every fault of the best civilization the world has seen. By their emphasis on the problems, they miss the joy of what they have, lack appreciation of the good, and buy into many Brooklyn Bridge fantasies of how good things could be if only. Moral relativism is a miserable frame of mind when it leads you to long for the gulags and empty shelves of Russia, and decry the missing 10 % in the 90 % society.

Western civilization, and American civilization, is the highest, best, and most desirable the world has yet seen. (Easy snowflakes, don’t have your stroke just yet. I’m not done assaulting your sensibilities.) It is not perfect, but then all nations, being peopled by, well, people, are imperfect. Still, the horse kissers, (as in gift), who decry the blessings they enjoy by being born into or permitted to live in the greatest nation in the history of the world, have a peculiar blindness and tunnel vision when it comes to the nation and culture which spawned and nurtured them.

Let s review the record.

Ok right up front. The United States had slavery. Yep. Sure, did. And in the 16th through 18th century, so did a large portion of the world. The countries from which many American slaves came had a long history of capturing and selling slaves. And in fact, many still do. Slavery is rampant today, in the 21st century, throughout the Muslim world, for which the critics and snowflakes of America love to act as apologists.

The United States also had a long growing moral objection to slavery, nearly derailing the formation of the nation’s Constitution. It took several decades, but then erupted into a war which raged for four years, left over half a million dead, and devastated the country. Aside from the revolt of Spartacus, which was fought BY the slaves, trained as gladiators, and ended in disaster, what nation has ever in history fought such a war to destroy an economy based on slavery, and free slaves?  Feel free to do your own research, but spoiler alert: none, ever.

It was a long an arduous process bringing former slaves closer to parity with the rest of the citizenry, and we are not without problems yet. But a quick look at Ben Carson and Barack Obama must tell anyone looking, that tremendous progress has been made.

Yet there are those who still focus on Thomas Jefferson holding slaves. As though nothing else has ever happened in our nation. We ought to be judged by who we were in the world as it stood then, and what we have done in the meantime. So many want to judge us based on some impossible perfection standard, or judge the United States of 1800 by the standards of 2000.

As though the United States, alone, has not fought more, bled more, spent more, to free more people from tyranny than any other nation in the history of mankind. No nation as powerful as the United States has ever, from the outskirts of Eden to now, spent its treasure, and blood, and young men to free other nations from tyranny, and taken possession of only the amount of ground necessary to bury our 10,000 dead in French soil. French soil. Not occupied France. Not the American zone. French. French soil holds the blood and bodies of the men of the 29th Infantry Division, just above the beach on which they died. It was named Omaha, for a city in America, but it was, and remained, a French beach.

The United States has given more to the world than any other nation, ever. The British Empire can make a claim for a near second, yet the United States has done more to lift more people, both our own citizens and others, out of poverty than any other nation in history. The United States has fed more of the world than any other nation, ever. The United States has given the world light bulbs, (thanks Tom Edison), electricity, education, literature, the Panama Canal, eradicated polio, nearly eradicated malaria (until one of the “aint it awful crowd” pulled DDT from the shelves and signed a death warrant for 100 million).  Absent the United States, totalitarian empires would have plunged the world into a dark age from which it might never emerge.

Who would give the world advances in food production, medicine, balance the power of despots and tyrants, raise the standard of living of the world to a higher level than it has ever seen, serve as the example and shining city on the hill to which millions aspire if not the United States? To which other country would so many risk life and limb and imprisonment to come? They know, unlike the horse kissers who refuse to appreciate what we have been blessed with, how truly superior in so many ways are the United States of America.

So many of the Occupy Antarctica Snowflake Brigade focus on every fault, and deny every virtue of this, the greatest nation in the history of mankind. They roll their eyes, and look down their sniffing little noses at “flag waving” and patriotism.

Well, I am a patriot, and I have a flag flying on the back of my home. I served in the uniform of my country, and saluted that flag every day for years. I learned the history and tradition of the Navy whose uniform I wore, and of the Sailors and Marines who fought and died for this country with that flag as their symbol and rallying point. I served in a difficult, demanding, dangerous job, which required us to be the deadliest force imaginable. If we were ordered to do so, we would have killed thousands. If caught, we would have been sunk and killed. We did the job because we believed in it, and the country. Value judgement: It is worth my life to protect this country; it is worth causing the deaths of thousands I would never see if so ordered to keep the country safe. We took an oath which said “I promise to protect, preserve, and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic. “I did not see any expiration date when I took it.

I love this country, and while recognizing its faults, still believe it is the greatest country ever.  I am unashamedly a fan and supporter of the United States, and her friends and allies, and all others take a back seat.

If it comes to the interests of the United States or any other country, this country, which houses my children, and the ideas which let them live as they wish comes first.

Always. Forever. And without apology.

 

 

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Mark Caserta: Fundamental change must come from people

30 Apr

Not from government!

me

Mark Caserta: Free State Patriot Editor

Apr. 30, 2015 @ 12:01 AM

“We’re approaching the end of a bloody century plagued by a terrible political invention – totalitarianism. Optimism comes less easily today, not because democracy is less vigorous, but because democracy’s enemies have refined their instruments of repression. Yet optimism is in order, because day by day democracy is proving itself to be a not-at-all-fragile flower.”

It’s been 32 years since President Ronald Reagan spoke these words in his enduring “Westminster Speech” to the members of the British Parliament. But there is undeniable wisdom for today in the speech, which laid the foundation for bursts of democracy throughout the world.

reagan 1

Watch this enduring speech from President Ronald Reagan

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7tpKDQH9nE

In a manner feared by some, yet revered by all, the Great Communicator poised America for decades of a prodigious heightening of America’s strength and resolve. Reagan was quick to recognize and fearless to expose any internal threat of government overreach and lack of steadfastness in principle. In his speech, he spoke directly to these dangers.

“At the same time there is a threat posed to human freedom by the enormous power of the modern state. History teaches the dangers of government that overreaches – political control taking precedence over free economic growth, secret police, mindless bureaucracy, all combining to stifle individual excellence and personal freedom.”

Noble words from the father of conservatism, yet we live in a day in which “individual excellence” is losing ground to the Marxist notion, “from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.”

President Reagan understood the ultimate determinant in America’s struggles with those who would challenge democracy would “involve a test of wills and ideas, a trial of spiritual resolve, the values we hold, the beliefs we cherish” and the “ideals to which we are dedicated.”

reagan 2

But around the globe, America’s enemies are emboldened, and our allies dispirited. Nations once inspired by the stoutheartedness of the United States are now disheartened by its disquieted purpose.

But democracy has always had its price. In our nation’s nearly 240 years of sovereignty, we’ve endured plenty. But the American spirit has always persevered and emerged from the challenge stronger than before.

But America has never faced an enemy with such a tailwind as the progressive movement. The liberal assault on our nation over the last six years has been cataclysmic and relentless. We’ve witnessed America’s decline in nearly every measurable area.

But the blame no longer rests solely on the liberal movement. The current GOP party leaders have become complicit in this war on America. They’ve failed their constituents time and again by offering false hope and empty promises.

But I choose to believe that optimism is still in order. We are still a republic where the people are empowered to pursue change.

It’s incumbent upon each of us to study our choices carefully, regardless of political affiliation. Has your candidate demonstrated a commitment to integrity? Have they represented your values, beliefs and ideals? Will they govern by principle versus what’s popular? These characteristics must be non-negotiable in America’s next leader.

Fundamental change must not come from government, but from the people.

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Mark Caserta is a conservative blogger, a Cabell County resident and a regular contributor to The Herald-Dispatch editorial page.

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Maureen Dowd: The Golf Address

23 Aug

AUG. 23, 2014

 
gettysburg links

FORE! Score? And seven trillion rounds ago, our forecaddies brought forth on this continent a new playground, conceived by Robert Trent Jones, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal when it comes to spending as much time on the links as possible — even when it seems totally inappropriate, like moments after making a solemn statement condemning the grisly murder of a 40-year-old American journalist beheaded by ISIL.

I know reporters didn’t get a chance to ask questions, but I had to bounce. I had a 1 p.m. tee time at Vineyard Golf Club with Alonzo Mourning and a part-owner of the Boston Celtics. Hillary and I agreed when we partied with Vernon Jordan up here, hanging out with celebrities and rich folks is fun.

Now we are engaged in a great civil divide in Ferguson, which does not even have a golf course, and that’s why I had a “logistical” issue with going there. We are testing whether that community, or any community so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure when the nation’s leader wants nothing more than to sink a birdie putt.

We are met on a great field of that battle, not Augusta, not Pebble Beach, not Bethpage Black, not Burning Tree, but Farm Neck Golf Club in Martha’s Vineyard, which we can’t get enough of — me, Alonzo, Ray Allen and Marvin Nicholson, my trip director and favorite golfing partner who has played 134 rounds and counting with me.

We have to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting place for my presidency, if I keep swinging from behind.

obama golfing

Yet it is altogether fitting and proper that I should get to play as much golf as I want, despite all the lame jokes about how golf is turning into “a real handicap” for my presidency and how I have to “stay the course” with ISIL. I’ve heard all the carping that I should be in the Situation Room droning and plinking the bad folks. I know some people think I should go to Ferguson. Don’t they understand that I’ve delegated the Martin Luther King Jr. thing to Eric Holder? Plus, Valerie Jarrett and Al Sharpton have it under control.

I know it doesn’t look good to have pictures of me grinning in a golf cart juxtaposed with ones of James Foley’s parents crying, and a distraught David Cameron rushing back from his vacation after only one day, and the Pentagon news conference with Chuck Hagel and General Dempsey on the failed mission to rescue the hostages in Syria.

We’re stuck in the rough, going to war all over again in Iraq and maybe striking Syria, too. Every time Chuck says ISIL is “beyond anything we’ve ever seen,” I sprout seven more gray hairs. But my cool golf caps cover them. If only I could just play through the rest of my presidency.

ISIL brutally killing hostages because we won’t pay ransoms, rumbles of coups with our puppets in Iraq and Afghanistan, the racial caldron in Ferguson, the Ebola outbreak, the Putin freakout — there’s enough awful stuff going on to give anyone the yips.

So how can you blame me for wanting to unwind on the course or for five hours at dinner with my former assistant chef? He’s a great organic cook, and he’s got a gluten-free backyard putting green.

The brave foursomes, living and dead, who struggled here in the sand, in the trees, in the water, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or subtract a few strokes to improve our score. Bill Clinton was Mr. Mulligan, and he is twice at popular as I am.

Why don’t you play 18 with Mitch McConnell? And John Boehner is a lot better than me, so I don’t want to play with him.

It is for us, the duffers, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who played here have thus far so nobly advanced to get young folks to stop spurning a game they find slow and boring.

It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us of getting rid of our slice on the public’s dime — that from this honored green we take increased devotion to that cause for which Bobby Jones, Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy gave their last full measure of devotion — and divots.

We here highly resolve that these golfing greats shall not have competed in vain, especially poor Tiger, and that this nation, under par, shall have a new birth of freedom to play the game that I have become unnaturally obsessed with, and that golf of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.

So help me Golf.

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Conservative introspection: Mark Caserta – Columnist

22 Aug

obama golfing
 I understand it must be terribly difficult to be the leader of the free world from the 17th hole. In retrospect…perhaps we’re better off.

But seriously, I believe this president just finally decided he didn’t really want this job after all – it’s way too much work. So he’s giving the world a big “hand in the face” and doing whatever he wants.

After his 3 minute… heartfelt rebuke of the ISIS scum who beheaded Jim Foley, he was on the golf course 8 minutes later. At the very least, that’s incredibly poor judgment. But the total disregard for America and the office of president is appalling!!!

And honestly, since Obama can do no wrong in the eyes of liberal minions who worship at the altar of Barack, he doesn’t give them a second thought.

And our foreign policy is in the tank. No world leader respects him and no foe fears him.
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And I couldn’t care less about his skin color. I love my African-American brothers and sisters with all of my heart. I would stand by them in any move of racism. We’re God’s people – period. The Holy Spirit is color-blind and that’s how I’m led. My close friends know this all too well. The president has certainly done nothing to help in this regard. If anything, he has enriched and given re-birth to racism in the nation through his divisive tactics.

Divide and conquer is an old methodology.

I just believe Barack Obama is a product of his rearing and doesn’t think very much of America.

I would love nothing more than for him to do a turn around and show some backbone and lead for once.

But I don’t think he will. The American people will have to take the lead moving forward.
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God light our path and direct our steps. We can’t do this without you.

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Mark Caserta: National security no flippant matter

5 Jun

CIA obama

Jun. 05, 2014 @ 12:00 AM

Admittedly, every administration leaks its share of classified information. But it seems Team Obama has raised the bar.

Last week, in one of Washington’s “Friday afternoon” information dumps, the White House admitted it had revealed the name of the CIA’s top officer in Kabul, Afghanistan, to some 6,000 journalists on a list provided to news organizations of senior U.S. officials participating in the president’s surprise visit with U.S. troops.

Upon learning of the error, the administration issued a revised list that didn’t include the individual who had been identified on the initial release as the “Chief of Station” in Kabul, a designation used by the CIA for its highest-ranking spy in a country.

“It shouldn’t have happened,” deputy national security advisor Tony Blinken told CNN. “We’re trying to understand why it happened. The chief of staff, Denis McDonough, asked White House counsel to look into it, to figure out what happened and make sure it won’t happen again.”

Now while an internal investigation will likely satisfy Obama supporters, it’s a far cry from the bitter tone used years ago when the Bush administration leaked Valerie Plame’s identity. At that time, words like “traitor” and “treason” were used to describe Bush officials involved in the controversy.

But the leaks from the Obama administration stretch back for years and are some of the more notable in recent history.

Shortly after the successful raid that killed Osama Bin Laden, the Obama administration revealed the classified identity of SEAL Team Six, Special Operations Force behind the raid, placing a target on the backs of the team members as well as their families.

Speaking at an event two days following the raid, Vice President Joe Biden, apparently giddy over the mission’s success, publicly identified the unit that tracked down and killed America’s foremost enemy, giving jihadists a clear target to avenge the death of Bin Laden.

The Obama administration would then go on to “out” the Pakistani doctor who helped the CIA track down Bin Laden. Dr. Shakil Afridi, a Pakistani physician who helped the CIA confirm Osama Bin Laden’s presence in the city, was sentenced to 33 years by the Pakistani government for his role in the attack.

Even allied nation’s secrets apparently aren’t safe with this administration.

In December 2012, the Obama administration “accidentally” revealed extensive details about a top-secret missile base the U.S. planned to build for Israel to host a new ballistic-missile defense system called the Arrow 3. Israeli military officials were shocked when they learned that the U.S. revealed details of the project in documents it published seeking contractor bids.

Now many folks aren’t sure if this administration’s reckless disclosure of our nation’s secrets is for political gain or simply from sheer incompetence. I believe it may be both.

But it’s time for Obama to end his flippant approach to national security — before it results in catastrophic loss of life.

Mark Caserta is a conservative blogger, a Cabell County resident and a regular contributor to The Herald-Dispatch editorial page

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Bergdahl release arrangement could threaten the safety of Americans, Republicans say

1 Jun

G BAY

By Karen Tumulty, Published: May 31

Amid jubilation Saturday over the release of U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl from captivity by the Taliban, senior Republicans on Capitol Hill said they were troubled by the means by which it was accomplished, which was a deal to release five Afghan detainees from the military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Top Republicans on the Senate and House armed services committees went so far as to accuse President Obama of having broken the law, which requires the administration to notify Congress before any transfers from Guantanamo are carried out.

“Trading five senior Taliban leaders from detention in Guantanamo Bay for Bergdahl’s release may have consequences for the rest of our forces and all Americans. Our terrorist adversaries now have a strong incentive to capture Americans. That incentive will put our forces in Afghanistan and around the world at even greater risk,” House Armed Services Committee Chairman Howard P. McKeon (R-Calif.) and the ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, James M. Inhofe (Okla.), said in a joint statement.

Lawmakers were not notified of the Guantanamo detainees’ transfer until after it occurred.

The law requires the defense secretary to notify relevant congressional committees at least 30 days before making any transfers of prisoners, to explain the reason and to provide assurances that those released would not be in a position to reengage in activities that could threaten the United States or its interests.

Before the current law was enacted at the end of last year, the conditions were even more stringent. However, the administration and some Democrats had pressed for them to be loosened, in part to give them more flexibility to negotiate for Bergdahl’s release.

A senior administration official, agreeing to speak on the condition of anonymity to explain the timing of the congressional notification, acknowledged that the law was not followed. When he signed the law last year, Obama issued a signing statement contending that the notification requirement was an unconstitutional infringement on his powers as commander in chief and that he therefore could override it.

“Due to a near-term opportunity to save Sergeant Bergdahl’s life, we moved as quickly as possible,” the official said. “The administration determined that given these unique and exigent circumstances, such a transfer should go forward notwithstanding the notice requirement.”

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said that the detainees transferred from Guantanamo to Qatar, where they are to stay for at least a year, “are hardened terrorists who have the blood of Americans and countless Afghans on their hands. I am eager to learn what precise steps are being taken to ensure that these vicious and violent Taliban extremists never return to the fight against the United States and our partners or engage in any activities that can threaten the prospects for peace and security in Afghanistan.”

Beyond this individual instance, some raised the larger question of whether it is sound policy for the United States to have, in the words of House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (R-Mich.), “negotiated with terrorists.”

Rogers said the action marked a “fundamental shift in U.S. policy.”

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