Finally Banned... Maybe?

The US Supreme Court has finally, definitely, possibly… ok maybe temporarily Greenlit the travel ban. Are we ever going to get some kind of finality on this? This version of the ban - the third if anyone’s still counting - was issued FOUR months ago. It’s currently facing ongoing opposition from two lower courts in two separate challenges. Those cases will be heard this week, so that temporary win for the administration might end up be a short celebration.

You’ve really gotta give it to the Social Justice Warrior activists, media AND politicians. It’s pretty impressive how they can take any issue AT ALL, and turn it into Social Justice jihad. Are you Pro-Life? Well then you somehow hate women. Are you pro-religious liberty? Wow… what a fascist bigot you are. I would’ve loved to be a fly on the wall at the strategy table for when they began to strategize how to spin the travel ban.

“Quick guys what do all these countries have in common?”

Nerdy guy in the back raises his hand… “umm, they all have a lot of sand? Trump hates desert climates!”

“Nice thought! Maybe we could spin a climate change argument here. Quick! More ideas!”

Brainy girl with glasses stands up… “Uh, all these areas are conflict zones?”

“YOU IDIOT! That’s the stupidest idea we’ve heard. You can’t just say that and not follow it up with an agenda. Here, let me do the work for you… ‘these are unstable areas. A prime example of the effects of global colonialism.’ Boom.”

“Wait a minute. Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Yemen and Chad. There’s a lot of Muslims in these areas! Change the wording from ‘Trump’s Travel Ban’ to ‘A Travel Ban On Muslim Majority Countries.’ Of course there is that small issue of North Korea and Venezuela, but screw it. Done and done!”

Back to reality here for a second. If this truly were a Muslim ban then why the addition of North Korea and Venezuela? Why wouldn’t you add in the most populous Muslim countries in the world? Indonesia has 13% of the world’s Muslim population and thus the largest. India’s number 2 and Pakistan is number 3. The only country in the travel ban the breaks the top 10 is Iran.

Why are people so comfortable with putting a false Social Justice agenda ahead of National Security? Maybe it’s because the people pushing this will never have to live with the consequences? How many of them live in neighborhoods that will be overrun by illegal immigrants or refugee resettlements? I’m going to wager very few. Look at Hawaii. The state that has become famous for overruling the Travel ban. Since 2010 Hawaii has accepted a grand total of TEN refugees. That’s less than 1%. And non of their legal immigrants come anywhere close to the conflict areas listed on the Travel Ban… oh, but they’re all about allowing North Korea to stay on the ban list. So here’s to a little safety...well, for the next few days at least.

Conservative Principle Put Into Practice

After eight years of progressivism gone wild under President Obama, it’s startling when something conservative actually happens in government.

Yesterday, President Trump was in Utah to sign proclamations that reduce the size of two National Monuments – Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante. The monuments were created by Barack Obama and Bill Clinton. Keep in mind, all that Trump did yesterday was reduce the size of these monuments, he did not abolish them altogether.

However, Trump clearly hates the environment. At least that’s the predictable mainstream media take on his action. He doesn’t care about nature, he just wants to open protected lands so evil developers can swoop in and build condos.

The kind of national monument I’m talking about isn’t a statue, it’s land that Congress, or a president, is allowed to set aside and protect as a “historic landmark” of some kind. Once the land is declared a national monument, it’s closed to ranching, mining, recreation, or development of any kind – even if the local community doesn’t want the land to be protected as a national monument. In fact, often the local community actually needs the land for things like making a living.

This power to create national monuments comes from a provision in the 1906 Antiquities Act. That kind of provision is like giving crack to a Progressive. Bill Clinton, and then especially Barack Obama went crazy during their presidencies, scooping up ridiculous amounts of land for the federal government as national monuments. Obama declared more national monuments than any president in history. Congress has only declared 30 monuments in the 111 years since the Act – Barack Obama and Bill Clinton declared 41 monuments just between the two of them.

Trump has already been criticized for his “unprecedented use of presidential power” yesterday to reduce the size of Bears Ears by 85% and Grand Staircase by 50%. But where was the criticism of Barack Obama’s “unprecedented use of presidential power” to create 265 million acres of new National Monuments? The Left didn’t care, they thought it was heroic.

President Trump is not a true conservative, but this should be applauded for the rare thing it is – a conservative principle actually put into practice. Local control of land usage makes sense. Obama’s federal land grabs were an absolute overreach. There’s nothing wrong with Trump trying to fix those abuses.

Charitable Slushfund

A $750 birthday cake.

$13,582 for a Beyonce concert.

$15,000 on a Jaguars box.

And $89,852 on a bus trip from Jacksonville in 2013 for President Barack Obama's second inauguration.

Those are just some of the ways former U.S. Representative Corrine Brown used the funds from her charity “One Door for Education.”

The $800,000 that was donated to the charity under the pretense that it would be used for scholarships was actually used as Brown’s personal slush fund.

Of the $800,000, only two scholarships were ever awarded. They amounted to a paltry $1,200.

After serving nearly 25 years in Congress, Brown received her punishment for this disgusting fraud. On Monday, a federal judge sentenced her to five years in prison.

During sentencing, the federal judge called Brown actions “especially shameless.” He continued, “This was a crime born out of entitlement and greed committed to ensure a lifestyle that was beyond her means.”

Just think of the good that Corrine Brown could have been done with that money instead of throwing lavish parties and going shopping. Think of all the children she could have helped. Now, Brown’s legacy is one of avarice and greed and unnecessary Beyoncé concerts. A legacy far worse than that of even Ebenezer Scrooge.

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