Tag Archives: PROGRESSIVES

Mark Caserta: Voter registration for the homeless is bad idea for the city of Huntington.

4 Feb

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Mark Caserta is an opinion columnist and editor at Free State Patriot

February 4, 2020

 

Liberal Democrats seem willing to do or say absolutely anything to stay in power. Their actions are proving they are willing to compromise the very heart of the city of Huntington, WV. to advance their progressive agenda. Even if it means garnering illegitimate support from voters who will refuse to bite the hand that feeds them.

We’ve witnessed the rapid decay of our fair city under this current administration. The citizens of Huntington have watched from the sidelines as our mayor has marched our city down the field of degeneracy and economic decline.

I’ve written on the city administration’s feckless approach at building an economic model on drug rehabilitation. We know we have rehab facilities in our city that are actively soliciting addicts from outside our city and state to come to Huntington for rehab. Of course, all of this is being done under the guise of compassion.

Of course, the fact that these programs and salaries, supported by your tax dollars provided based on the supply and demand of the rehab process, couldn’t possibly factor into this equation.

In a pig’s eye!

I have no doubt there are a few genuinely concerned individuals in these programs who truly have a heart for the addict. I also have no doubt there are individuals prospering financially as the need for rehab grows in our area.

Everyone wants to see addiction conquered. We just adamantly disagree on the process. Enabling an addict is a poor method of rehab. We have to provide them hope for the future – not needles.

Common sense would also dictate it would behoove these rehab houses to support an administration that would continue to pave the way for the growth of the rehab industry.

Yes, I said industry. And it’s rapidly becoming Huntington’s number one business, if not already.

So, pursuant to acquiring voters willing to support the growth of this industry, there is currently a voter registration initiative for registering the homeless and felons to vote. A homeless person would simply use an “agent’s” address as noted in their flyer promoting the program.

“No address? No problem! Based on the flyer, just ask a staff member of Harmony House and they’ll gladly cut through the red tape of voter legitimacy! Just be sure you pull the lever on the left.

How far will we allow the city of Huntington to decline under liberal rule? As economically productive people are being pushed outside our city limits, we have institutions that are readily replacing them with non-productive, dependents.

And now, we are seeing a valid liberal “quid pro quo”! We’ll provide you all the amenities and benefits of citizenship in return for your allegiance and voter support.

How about the legality of such an offering?  The potential abuse of the process is obvious!

Certainly, there couldn’t possibly be any collaboration with city officials to support this process – could there?

I submit the mayor and the deep state lurking in the shadows of our dilapidating city realize Huntingtonians have had enough of the failing liberal policies under which we’ve incurred the rapid ruin of our city. They realize to win an election, they must build a new voter base. A voter base with no allegiance to the growth of a city, but to an administration that will cuddle and comfort them.

This is an absolute debacle and a slap in the face to the citizens of Huntington.

Folks, it’s time to step up for our city. This behavior is not designed to improve Huntington. It’s designed to dominate it with liberal policies. Our city is dying a slow death. How long before it takes it’s final breath?

Stop the insanity by draining the Huntington swamp.

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Mark Caserta: Huntington, WV – By every standard is ready for a change in leadership!

17 Jan

However, the collateral damage by the Williams administration will take time to repair.

city of huntington——————————————————————————————————————————–

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Mark Caserta is an opinion columnist and editor at Free State Patriot

April 1, 2020

 

In the city of Huntington, WV. we’ve allowed an administration of liberals to dictate the direction of our city. Progressives are rapidly converting our once, thriving community into the East coast hub for substance-abuse rehabilitation, crime and destitution.

Understand, this isn’t about compassion. Anyone with a heart cares about those bound by addiction, buried in poverty or impacted by crime. We are simply in deep disagreement as to how it should be addressed. And conservatives can certainly love people while not condoning their behavior.

This is in stark contrast to liberals, who have proven themselves incapable of this disciplined approach to life. They equate love with an unqualified acceptance of any lifestyle, regardless of the content. They prove it every time they lash out in disagreement immersed in hateful rhetoric.

I’m convinced the only way we are going to begin winning against the progressive movement is to do so at the local level. National change must begin with individual communities rising to the occasion and refusing to be overtaken by failing, enabling liberal policies.

And the citizens of Huntington, WV. are ready to make a change!

Several things must happen sequentially for our city to be returned to greatness. The first, arguably, is understanding the progressive movement and its modus operandi. It will be impossible to distinguish qualified leadership until we’re able to discern their heart and genuine intent. We must be able to hear beyond eloquent verbiage, which while “sweet to the ears”, is venomous to the body.

I’ve spent nearly two decades writing about the progressive movement and how it’s destroying our nation. And while it isn’t complicated, it is resilient. The progressive movement relies upon conservatives being either ignorant of the issues or disengaged from the solution. And frankly, they’ve been working diligently in the schools and in the media, to keep us that way.

And sadly, too often, we’ve accommodated them from the sidelines.

Liberals are in the business of creating controversy, very similar to how a pyromaniac starts a fire. First, they require some sort of accelerate to spark a flame. This is usually something by which they can trigger an emotional response by a segment of the population marinated in questionable behavior, usually outside of the Biblical values upon which our country was founded.

Once the flame of contention has been ignited, they are tenacious about “fanning the flame” by striving to be the voice heard above the fray. They understand that while many people in society lack engagement and knowledge about an issue, everyone has emotions. It’s the emotional response they seek to germinate in the soil of contrariety.

It’s a fact that people will respond more often to an emotional stimulation much more than to an intellectual one. Count on liberals to seize upon every opportunity to leverage “identity politics” to rally troops to the far left. They cannot win in the theater of ideas. Truth will never get in the way of a liberal.

Hence, the promulgation and success of the progressive movement.

There are timely examples of how liberals have used this technique. One example is how they’ve converted “illegal immigration” into an emotional issue about separating families at the border. Another would be how “abortion” is all about women’s health. Every time there is a shooting, liberals use emotions, rather than common sense, to suggest taking guns away from law abiding citizens will reduce gun crime. Still another would be how Christian conservatives “hate” the LGBTQ population simply because we don’t condone their behavior or give them additional “protected” status above and beyond the protections we are all allocated by the Constitution.

The list goes on and on.

Liberals have purchased and now “own” terms like “inclusion, acceptance or tolerance.” Sadly, with the complicity of the liberal media, Christian conservatives have allowed them to do so. With identity politics, they’ve also attempted to purchase African-Americans, woman, Hispanics, LGBTQ and illegal aliens.

The only segment of the population liberals have never been able to purchase is Christians.

The liberal infestation is never going to change on the national level, until states, cities and communities stand up against leaders hell-bent on inflicting their liberal policies at the local level.

I can’t think of a better city upon which to build this change than our own city of Huntington. We are better than this! But we’ll never succeed in our valiant efforts to return our city to greatness under the current leadership.

We must change leadership.

The empty recognition our city’s leadership has received for being at the “forefront” of the fight against opioid abuse is laughable, but it’s also very troubling. We keep doing the same things over and over and expecting different results.

Step outside your door and take off your blinders. Are things really getting better in the city of Huntington? Are their fewer drugs? Is there less crime? Are you making more money? Are you proud of your city? Anyone committed to intellectual honesty knows the answers.

Next steps? Turn the sound down on your television or be more discerning about what you hear. Use our local newspaper to line your bird cage. Begin relying on reliable sources for your information – but there aren’t many.

Beware of “wolves in sheep’s clothing” who outwardly appear sincere and forthright, but are inwardly laden with deception and greed.  And people have become savvy to politicians who try to make themselves look better by attacking the opposition.  They understand the effort is simply meant to invoke a vote “against” a candidate, versus a vote “for” themselves.

Tearing someone else down doesn’t increase one’s stature or integrity.  People are so tired of political hypocrisy and personal attacks.  They want to move on and support a better system.

And once you’ve gotten the facts, make sure your voice is heard above the fray. Be diligent, committed and prayerful in your actions.

We will make a difference this election.  And as a unified community, we’ll keep it going.

Huntington will, once again, become “The Jewell City.

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Mark Caserta: WSAZ host bitter over response to promoting Drag Queens Slay Cancer Fundraiser

13 May

Version 2

WSAZ’s “First Look at Four” promotes Drag Queens Slay Cancer Fundraiser

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

May 13, 2019

 

The progressive movement is alive and well in Huntington, WV.

A few weeks back, WSAZ, a local television affiliate of NBC, deemed it appropriate to promote the “Drag Queens Slay Cancer Fundraiser”, which occurred on April 26th at the Marshall University Student Center.

Bad enough – right? Apparently not.

Reportedly, unsupervised children watching the early news were exposed to video clips of drag queens dancing on a stage promoting the event.  Not cool.

Needless to say, liberals wrongly anticipated viewer reaction.

Concerned citizens and the Family Policy Council of West Virginia immediately expressed concern over the event and WSAZ’s decision to publicly promote it. And most people would support the right to do so, without recompense.

But not WSAZ host, Tim Irr.

Following the Family Policy Council’s feedback, Irr took to social media bitterly criticizing the response, calling it “sad from a humanity standpoint”.

“There are plenty of people who believe they have a moral responsibility to stand up for their religious convictions, and how they would like to see those convictions applied to the rules of society,” Irr maintained on his Facebook page. “Conversely, there are plenty of people who see no redeeming value whatsoever in a society guided by what they perceive as religious intolerance.”

Liberalism 101: Progressives always equate moral convictions with religious intolerance.

It appears Tim Irr is comparing the intolerance of the citizens of Huntington to having gender confused men dress up like women parading down a runway in a public venue, to the intolerance of someone exercising their religious freedom and free speech as provided by the Constitution.

Irr went on to suggest how we feel about “the other side” may be best kept in our own thoughts, versus exercising freedom of speech.

Is Irr really suggesting Christians are intolerant because they choose to express their concern over the promotion of an event clearly established by individuals who are intentionally seeking a venue to surreptitiously promote their lifestyle?

I never cease to be amazed how liberals love exercising their freedom of speech to disenfranchise yours.

Irr’s position, as I interpret it from his post, is that if the “cause” is a noble one, such as raising money for cancer research, we should turn a blind eye and honor the event and it’s expressed intent, rather than express our views based upon our religious beliefs.

In other words, our morality should be on a sliding scale commensurate to accommodating the progressive movement’s warped ideology.

While Irr asserts the guests, who appeared on WSAZ’s “First Look at Four” were not there “promoting adherence to a certain lifestyle, anyone who believes the singular motivation behind this Drag Queen event was to raise money for The American Cancer Society is either shockingly naïve, intellectually dishonest, or just plain ignorant.

As with other events in our city spawned by our mayor’s policy of “inclusion”, such as Drag Queen Story Hour, this fundraiser, under the guise of compassion, is about validating a disturbing segment of society and contributing to society’s desensitization of an immoral lifestyle – period.

Under Irr’s “tenets of tolerance”, would WSAZ promote a Klu Klux Klan fundraiser for cancer research? How about NAMBLA, North American Man Boy Love Association? Is he truly suggesting there are situations where opinion should be silenced if liberals determine the end justifies the means?

This ideology totally disregards the impact on the most impressionable among us – our children. I’ve been keenly aware the promotion of these Drag Queen events has been consistent in verbalizing they’re openness to all ages – especially Drag Queen Story Hour, which encourages children to look beyond gender “stereotypes”.

Really?

And for Irr to chastise those expressing legitimate concern over the potential impact to our community and its total disregard for our religious beliefs is both arrogant and disingenuous.

As I’ve often noted, so-called “fake news” is news designed to influence rather than inform. Understand, the subtlety of this influencing can vary from “in your face” to “under the radar”. Simply providing a venue to these Drag Queens helps propagate their mission of influencing their lifestyle upon others.

As far as desiring our religious convictions to be applied to the rules of society, as Irr suggests is a Christian’s ultimate goal – of course we do! It’s called morality! It’s the defining attribute of a thriving society! And I don’t want my grandchildren raised in a world void of it!

I suppose our local media (including The Herald Dispatch, which also promoted the Drag Queen event) would better understand the principle of convictions, if they didn’t appear to lack them in much of their reporting.

Bottom line: Tim Irr, WSAZ, and The Herald Dispatch have the right to promote whatever they want.

Just understand, as citizens, we have the right to boycott their services and their advertisers if they continue to operate contrary to the best interests of our community.

 

 

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Mark Caserta: Where will Huntington, WV be in 5 years? The Shadow knows!

14 Apr

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“The Shadow” lives in American history as a radio classic

 

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

April 14, 2019

 

“Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows!”

Such was the introduction from the mid-1930’s radio program, “The Shadow”, spoken by actor Frank Readick. While certainly before my time, it sparks a question extremely relative for society today.

Truth be known, if voters could see into the hearts of many politicians today, they certainly would not elect them. However, one does beg to wonder, “What would many of today’s politicians attempt to do if they knew they could not fail?

So, let’s ask the question!

If Huntington’s Mayor, Steve Williams knew he could successfully turn our city into a “sanctuary city”, (as many of the mayors across the nation have done) would he do it?

For a couple of years now, Mayor Williams has integrated into his agenda an “Open to All” anti-discrimination campaign. Admittedly, I’m shamefully unaware of many potential tangibles related to the policy. I am, however, aware of the acceptance of Drag Queen’s reading to our young children attempting to “broaden” their acceptance of alternative lifestyles.

So, from where I stand, the success of the campaign is ambiguous, at best. But, I believe the intent is much clearer.

A January 2018 column in The Herald Dispatch attempted to explain that the goal of Mayor Williams’ anti-discrimination campaign is to “promote diversity and inclusion by broadening views beyond race, gender and sexual orientation.”

Many readers know I’ve been on a mission for well over a decade to promote our nation’s founding principles and expose the progressive movement for the treasonous enterprise it’s become. So, understand, this piece has nothing to do with what I believe to be the liberal mindset of our local paper.

But it has everything to do with illuminating the ethos of the progressive movement.

Let me be perfectly clear. The goal of liberals is NOT to promote diversity and inclusion. I can expunge that argument simply by asking why they are so averse to Christians and the views of Christianity? While some lay claim to adhering to the precepts of God’s Word, don’t be fooled by their “sheep’s clothing” or poetic oratory.

Progressives “loathe” the boundaries and prescriptions of Christianity. God’s Word is the antithesis of liberalism and the progressive movement. And trust me when I tell you it is the only barrier between liberals and achieving all of their goals!

Additionally, don’t allow liberals to “muddy” the water by allowing them to argue from a premise that doesn’t even exist, simply to validate their bogus “compassion” for the “alienated and downtrodden.”

Case and point. Let’s look at the premises on which Mayor Williams’ campaign builds its case for his policies of inclusion.

By embarking upon a mission to promote diversity and inclusion in Huntington, WV., Mayor Williams is asserting that our city has traditionally done otherwise. His desire to “broaden views beyond race, gender and sexual orientation” suggests there is currently a narrow focus among our city’s residents.

By encouraging “maintaining a safe and welcoming environment” for all inhabitants of the River City, one must surmise the mayor believes we currently do not have a safe and welcoming environment for those of certain races, religions, ancestries, sexes, ages, sexual orientations, genders or varying income status.

Based on these assumptions, city leadership feels there is a case for “fundamentally changing” Huntington.

Gee, that sounds so familiar. Where have I heard that before???

For those knowledgeable of our city history, Huntington was long considered a wonderful city in which to raise a family or work. The quagmire in which we now find ourselves is simply the handy work of liberal Democrats – period.

The goal is not to bring social justice to Huntington. The goal is to get votes by garnering support from those who subscribe to the tenets of liberalism.

The goal isn’t to “broaden views,” the goal is to “broaden the power” for the Deep State lurking in the shadows of City Hall.

Understand, where politicians are concerned, my humor is questionable, at best. It often borders on sarcastic disgust.

Recently, I read an April article by Richard Cowan of Reuters that shared President Donald Trump’s tweet last Friday which stated he was considering sending immigrants illegally entering our country to the various “sanctuary cities”, rather than deport them.

Frankly, I laughed out loud.

Well, why not? They want them, don’t they? The wisdom and political incorrectness of President Trump drives liberals crazy! It’s such a beautiful thing.

Trump’s tweet read as follows:

“Due to the fact that Democrats are unwilling to change our very dangerous immigration laws, we are indeed, as reported, giving strong considerations to placing Illegal Immigrants in Sanctuary Cities only,” Trump wrote on Twitter.

Mayors of sanctuary cities across the country were reportedly incensed, yet many continued to hide behind inclusiveness and defiantly declared “everyone” would be welcomed to their city.

Now, I know these must be intelligent people. After all, they got themselves elected to the position of mayor. But they sure don’t act intelligent!

But their commonality is that their policies don’t reflect the best interests of their citizens and constituents! And they incessantly seem to strive to provide more rights and privileges for those from whom they are seeking support, than other law-abiding, indigenous citizens.

That, my friends, is not inclusiveness.

So, beyond the lofty ambitions and jaded words, where are we as a city and where will we be in 5 years? Could we evolve into a sanctuary city?  I’m not sure.  But…

The Shadow knows!

 

 

 

 

 

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Mark Caserta: Tensions mounting in Huntington, WV. – Concerned citizens wary of pending future

2 Mar

huntington, wv

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

March 3, 2019

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In my 45 years of following politics, presidential administrations and the “to and fro” power of Congress, I can honestly record I’ve never been as disgusted and unimpressed as I am now with liberal Democrats on Capitol Hill.

I’m convinced far-left-leaning Democrats are willing to “turn over” America’s multiple wins under President Donald J. Trump simply to foil his successes for the American people and discredit him as the man who soundly defeated their liberal queen, Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election.

Not only is it childish, it’s borderline treasonous. As I’ve often alleged, the current nest of verminous Democrats in power, hate Donald Trump more than they love their country.

For representatives of the people, duly elected and hired to represent the interests of their constituents, to defy such a salient calling of servanthood to the people is simply despicable.

The irony behind these disloyal Americans calling for the impeachment or removal of a president who has in every way, put America first, is the epitome of hypocrisy and must cost them dearly at the polls.

Equally concerning is the fact most Republicans are sitting on the sidelines allowing Democrats and the liberal media to attack the very man, who may have helped seal their re-election in 2020.

Last week, Republicans successfully scored a rare victory in a Democrat-controlled House, passing legislation requiring authorities to notify U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) any time an illegal immigrant tries to purchase a gun.

Per ICE reporting, an average of more than 10 illegal immigrants attempt to purchase a gun every day in the U.S., ignoring yet, another law.

Earlier in the month of February, Democrats had approved legislation to require background checks for essentially all sales and firearm transfers, but rejected GOP-led efforts to amend the legislation to alert law enforcement when illegal immigrants failed those background checks.

Thank goodness, the Democrat suggestion for authorities to turn their heads on calling out illegal immigrants attempting to purchase guns was so outlandish, 26 Democrats (no doubt fearing “election retribution”) joined in support of the GOP amendment, with legislation ultimately passing on a 220-209 vote.

Now, I understand Washington, DC. Seems a long way from Huntington, WV. But folks, our city leaders and local media have the very same stench of liberalism as those progressives on Capitol Hill.

They are, indeed, cut from the very same bolt of cloth. The results of their policies support this conclusion.

The city of Huntington, WV., reportedly has a population of 48,735, yet only employs 19,494 people per Data USA, a free platform that allows users to collect, analyze and visualize shared U.S. government data. It is an ongoing partnership between Deloitte, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Macro Connections Group and Datawheel.

Both statistics are on the decline.

Our city’s primary employers include Healthcare and Social Assistance, Educational Services, and Accommodation and Food Service.

The Median Household Income is just under $30,000.00 with a poverty rate of 30.8 percent.

In comparison, the nation’s Median Household Income is $57,617.00 with a poverty rate of 14 percent.

With Huntington’s crime rate now among the highest per capita per U.S. cities, per Neighborhood Scout and our city leader’s apparently lacking any tangible plan of action, the lack of light at the end of the tunnel is troubling, to say the least.

Data shows that only 3 percent of cities across the nation are more dangerous than Huntington, WV. This is a far cry from the city in which I was born and raised.

We are now less than 5 months away from the end of the 18-month period during which Mayor Steve Williams promised, “We would be managing our way out of this…”, speaking of our fiscal mess resulting from the apparent mismanagement of funds.

It’s been my experience, politicians only understand the language of engaged voters. If Huntington’s citizens are to see any improvements in our crime rate, economy, jobs, and drug abuse, it isn’t going to happen with our current leadership.

This isn’t a personal attack on any individual. It’s a conservative assault on progressive polices that promote a self-centered approach to advancing political careers and liberal ideologies in a town spiraling downhill in nearly every single metric.

And don’t doubt me when I say, this effort to expose our local progressive leadership and their failing policies is just beginning. Conservatives are building their own movement and are determined to take our city back and return it to greatness.

Frankly, we’ve been backed into a corner, forced into taking matters into our own hands.

Our number one weapon? Our vote.

Get ready for a huge change in 2020.

 

 

 

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Mark Caserta: Progressives never accept blame for unintended consequences

2 Dec

PROGRESSIVES

(Progressives march on behalf of LGBTQ and inclusiveness)

me

Mark Caserta is an opinion columnist and editor of Free State Patriot

December 2, 2018

Progressives are the most innocent among us and should never accept blame.

Right.

Last week, I wrote a very thoughtful column on the progressive movement and their tenacious attempt to desensitize the most innocent among us, our children, to their liberal ideology. Understand, this progressive mindset always involves “skirting” or challenging God’s Word and insists morality be placed on a sliding scale.

After all, how could God’s Word or the U.S. Constitution be relative to today’s society, hundreds and even thousands of years (in the Bible’s case) after they were penned?

The meat of the column dealt with “Drag Queen Story Time” coming to Pullman Square in Huntington. I offered solely facts about the Rainbow Pride of West Virginia’s sponsored event which included free admission, cookies and hot chocolate. The books to be read were, “And Tango Makes Three” a book that “focuses on the contemporary, philosophical issue: What constitutes a family?” and “Jacob’s New Dress”, which openly “introduces children to the idea that all people are worthy of love and respect and in all clothes!”, per the graphic promoting the event.

“Jade” and “Giselle” are to be the featured readers of the books to the children. As I mentioned in last week’s column, I can only assume Jade and Giselle are men dressed as women. We saw record views on www.freestatepatriot.com dealing with the event and Mayor Williams’ recognition by Rainbow Pride of West Virginia for his policies on inclusion.

After writing opinion for over 14 years, I’m fairly, tough-skinned when it comes to feedback. It’s been my policy never to respond to criticism. Right, wrong, fair, unfair, that’s my policy. I learned early on, it’s impossible to win an argument conversing online via email or forum. I simply present fact-based thoughts and allow the readers to decide.

Now, this lack of attention to their complaints drives liberals crazy. They are so needy and high maintenance. C’est La Vie.

I also requested, via the column, as well as on The Tom Roten Morning Show, last week, that if this reading event was truly meant to sponsor “inclusiveness” and “tolerance”, allow me or someone equal time to attend and read from God’s Word.

Is that an unfair request? It must be, since I’ve not gotten a response.

Once you understand progressivism, it’s really, quite easy to identify a liberal by their argument and “who” or “what” they attack. Progressivism 101 prescribes eliminating any pre-conceived foundational principle which doesn’t support liberal ideology. Once the rules have been re-defined, it’s simply a matter of executing a constant barrage of challenges, usually under the guise of compassion or tolerance. For a progressive, baby-steps is accepted modus operandi.

And progressives are never willing to accept blame for any unintended consequences – period.

One of the dissenters to my column shared, quite inappropriately, that she fielded phone calls for a suicide hot-line. Now, this is an honorable and worthy cause for which I’m grateful she has a calling. I pray she has tremendous success in her mission.

She was adamant that my opinion column was damaging in that people were calling her hot-line upset at me for presenting my conservative stance. I assume it was confusing and maybe even hurtful for them to read what I believe in my heart to be the truth.

But wait! Is it fair to accuse a third-party opinion columnist for the confusion and hurt these individuals felt? Who confused them in the first place about their gender? Who led them to the fork in the road advising them they have a choice whether to identify as a man or a woman? Who enabled them to acquire the disability of gender confusion? Who intentionally removed the teaching of God’s creation of man and woman from their childhood teaching which couldn’t be clearer in our Creator’s intent.

To a liberal blinded by the darkness, it must be a Bible believing, Christian conservative. One only need read some of the responses I receive to my opinion columns to see who spews hatred and intolerance. It certainly isn’t conservatives.

The liberal argument will always be, Christians couldn’t possibly be acting in love if they don’t condone or enable a lifestyle which conflicts with God’s Word. And they may truly believe their position, since they don’t understand the Love of God.

Jesus loved everyone, but He didn’t condone a sinful lifestyle. But in moments of true repentance, He was faithful and just to forgive, after which He told them to “go and sin no more”.

My Associate Editor at Free State Patriot, one of the most brilliant historians I know, was quick to remind me that Drag Queen Story Time coming to Huntington is simply a symptom of a much larger problem and we shouldn’t get bogged down focusing on a single incident.

And he was right.

drag queen story time

The larger issue is we have city leaders who are embracing a “San Francisco-esque” sanctuary policy of tolerance and permissiveness that will continue to cripple our already foundering city. And while crime continues to grow, city leaders are more focused on enabling debilitating behaviors than they are building an infrastructure to support healthy growth and prosperity.

We must demand a “Huntington first” policy from our city leaders and work toward making Huntington great again. I don’t believe that’s going to happen with the elected officials currently at the helm.

Forming an LGBTQ and Diversity committee with the mission of brainstorming ideas on how Huntington can become more tolerant of alternative lifestyles sounds innocent enough. Everyone deserves respect and an equal welcome to our town, but frankly, I’ve not seen anything otherwise.

Trust me when I tell you, it’s simply a step toward more progressive, open-ended decisions that will erode the fiber of morality in our area, one stitch at a time.

We must be proactive in our approach to protecting our city, as the Mayor and his deep state minions are in fundamentally changing it.

It’s time to get informed, engaged and involved – before we lose our city to career liberal politicians.

Make Huntington Great Again! (MHGA)

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Mark Caserta: Don’t complain about what you permit.

11 Nov

divided

(We must be men and women of action.  A half-hearted attempt at greatness will result in mediocrity)

me

Mark Caserta is a conservative columnist and editor for Free State Patriot

November 11, 2018

 

A wise preacher I once knew said, “Don’t complain about what you permit.”

That challenge has resonated with me for the past 35 years. How often in life, do we find ourselves complaining about the world around us, but do absolutely nothing to enact change?

Christians, listen up! We have permitted way too much! It’s time to get off your backsides and make a difference!

  • We should not be “okay” with the murder of an unborn child just because someone made a poor choice and the pregnancy has become an “inconvenience” to them.
  • We shouldn’t be okay with a few far-left liberals wanting to redefine traditional marriage simply because they think we’re being homophobes and intolerant conservatives.
  • We can’t be okay with a few liberal loons in society eliminating gender identity simply because they don’t believe a man or a woman should be restricted by their God-given anatomy.
  • We shouldn’t be okay with a man being allowed to go into a women’s restroom simply because a few liberal nut jobs believe if a man identifies as a woman, we must honor that identity crisis, even in the face of peril for a child.
  • We shouldn’t be okay with the legalization of drugs simply because a few progressives want to profit from the death of people and the destruction of our society.
  • We shouldn’t be okay with anti-gun extremists who want to ignore the Second Amendment and take away our right to “keep and bear arms” to protect our families.
  • We shouldn’t be okay with politicians who want to take more of your hard-earned money to recklessly spend on pet projects and line their pockets with your wealth.
  • We shouldn’t be okay with re-electing representatives who lie to their constituents and refuse to live up to their campaign promises, year after year.
  • We shouldn’t be okay with liberal Democrats who are willing to undermine the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and remove the presumption of innocence until proven guilty just to protect their progressive agenda.
  • We absolutely cannot be okay with liberals resorting to intimidation, mob rule and childish temper tantrums simply to get their way.
  • We simply can’t be okay with a liberal media incessantly filling the airwaves and print with fake news designed to influence, rather than inform.
  • We should not be okay with liberal Democrats wanting open borders to allow more “undocumented Democrats” to enter and vote for the hand that feeds them.
  • We shouldn’t be okay with liberals maligning the 1st Amendment of the Constitution and telling us we cannot pray or worship in public.
  • We shouldn’t be okay with our local Health Department providing needles to penniless addicts under the guise of preventing disease.
  • We shouldn’t be “okay” with the progressive agenda which removes God and boundaries of decency from our schools and society so a few liberal buffoons can sew “wild oats” of immorality in the minds of our youth.
  • We also shouldn’t be okay with liberals who would re-write history to disparage our nation’s greatness and exceptionalism in the annuals of antiquity.

We must be men and women of action. No battle was ever won through apathy and indifference. And a half-hearted attempt at greatness will always result in mediocrity.

We must be resolute in standing up for right over wrong! If Christians don’t, who will?

Don’t simply complain – do what you can do to fix it.

 

 

 

 

 

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Doug Smith: Nanny state has crippled a generation

19 Oct

 

 

doug and mark 1

Doug Smith is an author, historian and Associate editor of Free State Patriot

October 19, 2018

 

Throughout the history of civilizations, across various cultures and peoples, there have been rites of passage to adulthood. In hunter gatherer societies, a young man was required to show off his ability to provide food. Later, he might demonstrate his skill with a weapon, such as a sword or battle ax, or how to handle a boat. Among the Jews, a young man goes through his Bar Mitzvah, showing his mastery of the tenets of his faith and culture. For millennia, young men and women have taken their place alongside the adults, in the fields, in the home, on the battlefield, in the shops and forges, on ships at sea. Even Paul wrote nearly 2000 years ago, of putting aside childish things when he became a man. Adolescence; that state of not quite a child but not quite an adult, is a fairly recent development. You were either a child, dependent on others, or an adult, caring for yourself and others.

As I grew up, there were less well defined, but still evident lines of demarcation between childhood and adulthood. One of my friends went to dinner with his Dad, at which he was given $ 300, a suitcase with his clothes, and an invitation to come to dinner sometime. My own passage was a bit less brutal and personal: it began at 5 in the morning with the kicking of a 30-gallon aluminum garbage can and the loud voice of a First Class Bosun’s Mate. Welcome to the Navy. I might not be good at “adulating” yet, but adulting had found me: no one was going to pick up my socks or gently wake me up for breakfast. I was expected to listen and learn new things, strange things. Take the unfamiliar, come to terms with it, and move on and do what had to be done. Whether you like it or not, folding that T shirt and putting it in your locker is a responsibility and an important part of shipboard life. Suddenly, you ARE going to use Geometry, after all. A year ago, you may have been in marching band, but today, you are adulting in blue.

But a curious and sad phenomenon has taken place. Our cradle to grave nanny state, anxious to preserve its own usefulness, has created an entire class of crippled child-men and child-women. Oh, their bodies have grown to adult size, but their minds are still in the nursery with nanny.

‘’ Don t say such things around the children, it will upset them.”  This is a fine, and perhaps wise admonition when dealing with a 3-year-old, but not an adult. Words and ideas are out there. You are going to hear them. You are going to have to decide if the Nihilist ideas of Hegel and Nietche and their practical applications in 1930s Germany are good and wise, or if the ideals of liberty put forth by Burke and natural rights by Locke, which midwifed America, are ideals for which to strive. A functioning adult IS going to hear, and must evaluate, ideas and principles that are fine and worthy of emulation, and despicable and to be eschewed. I can appreciate my own country, but so much more if I understand her history, and why she followed the English rather than French common law. I must, at some point, read of the horrors of WW2, and understand what it is we fought against. I must read, and shudder, about police states, to understand why they are a thing to avoid. In short, adulting.

I must pay my bills, care for my loved ones, keep my promises, do my best at my work, expect to work for what I get, and learn how to live with people, whether I agree with them or not, whether I like them or not. I must learn to be polite and considerate of others, and deal with them as I would like them to deal with me. (Hey that is good. Someone should write it down. Why, its golden.) I should act with manners toward other people and expect them to return the gift.

But the large children populating our campuses and streets have never learned these truths. And so, they have never become adults. They shriek with horror at the thought that someone might say something with which they disagree or state an idea they have never heard. They think it is fine and laudable to rudely interrupt people at their meals to express their feelings. They act, in short, in ways that would, during any sane period of our history, have earned that proverbial 3-year-old a stinging swat on the behind and immediate correction.  Yet, even the supposed adults have proven unwilling to take a firm hand with these large children. Mayors permit them to have the freedom to destroy and obstruct. Afraid to offend, or to be seen as harsh. Adults understand that you can either gulp and take a hard line with bad behavior of the 3-year-old or raise a monster. Children are not born knowing good behavior, they must be taught.

Left to their own devices, they will become and remain selfish little tyrants.

One does not have to look very far to see groups of selfish, full sized, tyrants, who never learned the lessons that produce adult, yet inhabiting adult bodies, and demanding, demanding mind you, the protections of children and the privileges of adults.

Robert Heinlein writes in Starship Troopers, through the voice of a teacher, about a proposed method of training a puppy. You let him make messes wherever he wants, you clean up after him, and you never correct him. One day, noticing that he is a full-grown dog and still doing his business on the carpet, you promptly shoot him. Comment? His students agree that is the stupidest way of raising a dog they ever heard. You must teach him right away, and rub his nose in it, and make sure he knows what to do and how to behave.

Heinlein’s students had it right: it is the stupidest thing in the world.

How will it end with our current crop of large children? Badly, I am certain. But I suspect that unpleasant steps will eventually be required to restore maturity, and that even San Francisco will, at some point before they are buried in feces, needles, and a handful of wealthy enclaves, be forced by realities to take those steps that are orders of magnitude harder with large children than with small. If not, then reality, Mother Nature, red of tooth and claw, will enforce common sense and punish dam foolery, as she always has.

Just because a city is famous and has buildings and art centers does not repeal gravity.

Nor does it give immunity from typhus or cholera. The large children who deny facts and realities or were never forced to learn them in the time-honored ways of millennia, will come to grips with them at some point. Carthage, London, Sparta, all came face to face with realities. In the arrogant assurance of the child mob they are certain they will never face the inevitable consequences of their choices.

It has been said, often, and with wisdom, that those who do not learn from history are destined to repeat it. One might also say, those who do not learn history, are going to be shocked when they repeat it, and think it a new thing. But the clues were there all along, and they are still.

Perhaps the child mobs can still read of Robespierre and consider a different path.

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Mark Caserta: President Trump really has divided America

15 Oct

But not in a bad way…

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Mark Caserta:  Free State Patriot editor

October 15, 2018

 

Yes, President Donald Trump has, indeed, divided America.  But not in a bad way.

The “Trump Factor”, which employs many successful attributes, is exacerbated by an unapologetic approach by the president to put “America first” in every decision he makes.  This lack of “political correctness” has exposed a growing dichotomy of ideology in our nation and driven people into their metaphorical corners.

In the first camp, we have patriots who love America and seek the continuation of our founding principles. These are God-fearing people who believe our nation is built on Biblical principles and our founding fathers sought direction from the Almighty in framing our U.S. Constitution.

In the second camp, we have dissenters who believe America is the problem and would fundamentally change society to align with their liberal passions.  They believe principles and morality are on a sliding scale and our Constitution is antiquated to our modern-day challenges.

Many of those who’ve lost hope in perpetuating their progressive agenda, suffer from “Trump Anxiety Disorder”, causing them to act and respond irresponsibly to even the simplest of issues.  While funny to watch, it’s disconcerting that many are so hopeless, they now advocate eliminating civility and conversation in lieu of intimidation tactics, up to and including violence.

Keep in mind, these morally depraved individuals are a minority and would be quietly whimpering in the corner in the fetal position, if it wasn’t for the liberal media giving them voice.  Trust me, when I tell you there isn’t anything progressives won’t say or do if it means convincing Americans to disavow the Trump presidency.

This so-called “fake news” is simply a reality of the world in which we live.  Understanding its existence is the first step to returning our country, state and city to greatness. But understanding its purpose, will help each of us circumvent it in our daily lives.

As a reminder, the definition of fake news is “reporting designed to disingenuously influence” rather than to genuinely inform.  The ethical principles of journalism, in stark contrast, have no place in progressive reporting.  Truth in reporting will never stand in the way of a manipulative story for liberals.

Remember, Hillary Clinton, while campaigning for president in 2008, told a story in a speech at George Washington University how she landed “under sniper fire” during a 1996 trip to Bosnia.

“There was supposed to be some kind of a greeting ceremony at the airport,” Clinton reminisced, “But instead we just ran with our heads down to get into the vehicles to get to our base.”

Too bad the Bosnia war ended in 1995.  The Washington Post debunked her claim with old news footage taken when Clinton landed.  It revealed the former first lady calmly walking away from the plane and greeting people on the tarmac, while an 8-year-old Muslim girl read her a poem.

One can see how this could easily have been mistaken for sniper fire.

How about the 2015 admission of Brian Williams, then a very popular news anchor on NBC, falsely claiming to have been on a helicopter shot down by enemy fire while on a news reporting trip to Iraq in 2003?  Williams told the story numerous times, of how his Chinook helicopter was forced down by rockets and small-arms fire.

But factually, per crew members aboard the craft, Williams and his crew landed prematurely due to an impending sandstorm about to erupt in the Iraqi desert.

Interesting how a seasoned field reporter mistook sand and wind for a ground to air attack.

In both instances, the purpose of these prevarications was to disingenuously inform and influence behaviors conducive to their success and the progressive movement.

An underlying lesson one might also extrapolate from these outright lies, is that liberals welcomed both Clinton and Williams back in their good graces.  Their assets in the progressive theater, obviously outweighed their liability as liars.

Liberals are very predictable in the use of fake news to mislead and influence marginally-informed people around us.  Frankly, without the liberal news media, far-left progressives would be virtually powerless in propagating their agenda.  The bully-pulpit lends itself to impacting the masses.

In a recent study conducted by such authors as Stephen Hawkins, Daniel Yudkin, Miriam Juan-Torres, and Tim Dixon, entitled, “Hidden Tribes: A Study of America’s Polarized Landscape,” most Americans fit outside the camps of “hard-left” liberals and “hard-right” conservatives.

However, conservatives, in the general sense of the term, far outnumber radical or even moderate liberals.  Christian conservatives continue to be the most powerful voting demographic in the country, when we bind forces.

Based on the report, 25 percent of Americans are traditionally or devoted conservatives.  Of course, that metric varies greatly, depending on geography.  But only 8 percent of Americans consider themselves progressive activists, with views far less typical than either conservatives or moderates. If that 8 percent also varies with geography, the percentage must be miniscule here in Appalachia.

How did Huntington get so lucky to have most of them set up camp downtown?  And if these numbers are accurate, why does the liberal fringe seem to have the loudest voice in the room?

2 reasons: Among the 8 percent, fall the liberal media. They leverage their venue to the fullest. Secondly, Christians are way too lazy and complacent.  In many cases, we’ve simply allowed liberals to have their warped way with our city and our families while we sit on the sidelines waiting on Jesus to return.

I believe Jesus is going to have many hard questions to ask of those who didn’t join the battle.  Our savior took 12 men and shook the world! What have you accomplished with all you’ve been provided?

Consider this colossal attempt at molding history with fake news.

How many media outlets or journalistic pundits predicted Donald Trump’s victory in the 2016 presidential election? None, but not only did they not predict his victory, they amused themselves before their audiences with the incredulity of the Donald even running for the office!

No doubt, this liberal faction was split among those to whom the possibility of a Trump presidency was so revolting, they couldn’t bring themselves to adequately assess reality, and those who truly believed the American people were so disengaged they couldn’t possibly understand how frustrated most Americans were with failing liberal policies.

Either way, the same liberal loons who assured us of a Clinton victory are the same ones promising us a “blue wave” during the November mid-terms.  Once again, liberal Democrats are attempting to leverage the progressively complicit media in convincing the American people to stay home.

Liberals know the game always must be rigged for them to achieve victory.  And trust me when I tell you, they are shameless in doing so.  All’s fair in love and politics to progressives.

Understand what’s at stake in this November election.

If liberal Democrats regain power in the House of Representatives or the Senate, the least that can happen is the Trump agenda will be slowed.  But the worst is not beyond speculation.

Liberals will work diligently to accomplish the following in a very short period of time:

  • Eliminate Trump’s tax reform and raise your taxes.
  • Seek total and lasting elimination of parameters on abortion.
  • Re-instate EPA powers of regulation over energy industries, including coal.
  • Implement Obamacare to the fullest degree, to include the individual mandate. Once this fails, expect a government orchestrated healthcare system trapping you in its socialist net.
  • Despite our thriving economy, they will work to eradicate all Trump has done to rebuild it.
  • Liberals will work hard to impeach President Trump and Justice Brett Kavanaugh – and anyone else in their way!
  • Return us to the dysfunctionality of the Obama era, to include a lack of respect for America on the global stage.

The list goes on.

Additionally, understand, this liberal agenda will be supported 100% by our liberal leaders right here in Huntington, WV. who sadly, have their priorities for our city upside down.  All one need do is drive through our historic streets to witness first-hand the heartbreaking economic decay.

And as with Washington and the liberal media, our local print media is complicit with Huntington’s progressive agenda.  The leadership of The Herald Dispatch, have caused such degradation of the paper, it’s difficult to read.  And they’re surely no supporter of President Trump’s winning strategies.

Truly the only reason to vote Democrat is if you’re simply tired of winning.

Don’t listen to the media’s fake news.  We can own this election if we get out to vote.

Let’s shock the world and liberal media, once again, by keeping America great and making Huntington great again!

 

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Doug Smith: The Perfect Man

12 Oct

Modern progressive obsession or liberal mob oppression?

 

doug and mark 1

Doug Smith is an historian and associate editor at Free State Patriot

10.12.2018

 

Brave soul, ’twere well if all the same would say,
And artists aim their patron’s wish t’obey.
What signifies a wart, or e’en a scar?
Leave both, skilled hand, and paint us as we are.
The crowfeet paint, the wrinkles on the brow,
The hollow cheek, the form inclined to bow,
The tear-dim’d eye, the hair well streaked with gray,
The hardened hand, begrim’d with soot and clay,
And if you use the seer’s revealing glass,
Remember this, ‘
All flesh is as the grass.’

Joseph Horatio Chant

 

Winston Churchill once got into an angry argument with his butler, and they exchanged some heated words. Later, they had this exchange:

WC: “You should apologize, you were rude to me.”

Butler: “You were rude to me first.”

WC: “Yes, but I am a great man.”

I think that nicely sums up the dichotomy that was Sir Winston Churchill. Students of history, whether they admire him, as I do, or detest him, can easily agree on two salient points.

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Winston Churchill

WC was a man of many parts, some of them shocking to the sensibilities of people who did not come to maturity during the reign of Queen Victoria, and begin a political career the very year of the start of the Edwardian era. He was a man of his times and his class, which is to say his attitudes on Empire may shock modern sensibilities. FDR said of Churchill, He is not a Victorian, he is The Victorian. He grated on peers of his own time as well. He was not, in short, a collegial gent with whom you might enjoy sharing his evening cognac and cigar. He was eccentric, opinionated, a man of the 19th Century British Empire making his way in the most turbulent part of the 20th.

He was also a brilliant man, courageous and astute, and the singular indispensable man of 1930s England. He once said, “History will treat us well, for I intend to write it. “ And so he did, winning the Nobel Prize in Literature. As much as it is true that absent George Washington, it is doubtful that American in her current form would exist, it is utterly certain that, absent Winston Churchill, England would have been defeated by Hitler, and the face of the 20th century world would have been very different indeed.

So I find it curious that the modern progressive leftists insist on wart-less heroes. One wonders if they have a mirror. In their quest, like some out of place, frustrated Diogenes, for the “perfect man”, no doubt to people their “perfect Utopia”, they readily toss out the memory, or the actuality, of truly great men. They are, like the lefties, and me, and, forgive me, but you as well, alloyed and flawed. But it is sometimes the case that flawed men can do exemplary things.

Progressives, who are the latest iteration of the Utopians, whose sordid, foolish, and bloody history stretches back into antiquity with the Spartans, Plato, and perhaps even the Tower of Babel, are like warped versions of Diogenes, searching the world in a futile quest for an honest man. But instead, they waste their lives, much of their energy, and as always, much that is good in the world, seeking perfection. Their idea of a perfect society, is (of course!) one in which the “best and the brightest” (always beware that term), by which they mean (of course!) themselves, will make all the decisions for the less enlightened Plebes, ( the rest of us) and usher in the Age of Aquarius, or Enlightenment, in short, Utopia. (It is worth noting that the so called Age of Enlightenment in fact coincided with the French Revolution, the Jacobins, and the Terror: mob rule which murdered 16,000 people, and brought about not a Utopia, but Napoleon and decades of war.) Despite the noble sounding words, the Utopians/progressives always bring about the result of misery, starvation, terror, and oppression. They do it with the highest of “intentions”, the ends justifying the most brutal and horrible means, but their reality Is the means. There are never “ends”. The Soviet Utopians, under Lenin, Stalin, and Khrushchev, had control of the Russian empire for 70 years and ruled with brutality, causing some 100 million deaths, until they finally collapsed of their own weight. There was never the promised Utopia, nor was there ever going to be.

I reflected after the latest progressive mob spasm over an astronaut quoting from Winston Churchill, a truly great man, one of the greatest of the 20th century, (choke on that, snowflakes), because they disagree with some of his positions. In the progressives’ search for the perfect man, who they will never find (well, they could of course, but they would not want to look where He lived.), great achievement means nothing. Sharing their current sensibilities and beliefs is everything. This explains a great deal about the modern leftist, and why he inevitably fails. The Left celebrates correct thought (as did Stalin and Pol Pot) far above effective action. Thus Bill Clinton can say, with a hint of weeping in his voice, “I never worked so hard on anything in my life” about a failed attempt at legislation, and be celebrated. Jimmy Carter can drive the country into the doldrums that are the late 70s, and swing a hammer or give some speeches, and be thought of as a good man.

Thomas Jefferson penned the documents that began a new and unique nation and people in an 18th Century world; one that would forever change the face of the world moving forward, yet be sneered at by the Left for being a man of his times. George Washington, who is properly viewed as the Father of his country, without whom we would never have won the war, and would likely have established a new monarchy and began England all over again, is likewise reviled for being an 18th century aristocrat.

All of these men were men of their times and reflected the beliefs of the age in which they lived, but put their values and beliefs to good use and lead their nations into something better.

This is the distinction the leftist who finds his hair melting that one might quote a gem of wisdom from a man who held Victorian views, but led a successful fight against a brutal tyranny with ambitions to enslave the world. “Perfect” is always the enemy of “Better.”

Winston Churchill was not a perfect man. But he left his world a better place. He is one of my heroes. He may have believed the British Empire ought to continue to rule India, but he ensured that Hitler did not rule everything. He was not the perfect man whom the left seeks, but never finds. But he was a man of accomplishments who stands in stark contrast to the leftist who uses the “correct” terms and expresses the “right” beliefs, but oppresses speech and freedom, and ultimately, builds the Gulags. (If you are too young to know that term, read The Gulag Archipelago.) We have much to learn from imperfect men who accomplished good and thus left their mark on their world.

Unless we waste our lives vainly ignoring them while searching for the elusive “perfect man.”

For the leftist who is serious about finding the perfect man whom they may follow, don’t waste your time reading my words. Instead, try the Gospel of John.

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