The End of Free Speech

That Will End America

Now that the government has fully inserted itself

into the news and information industry,

the criminalization of free speech is a very real threat.

By: J.B. Shurk

Gatestone Institute

May 28, 2023

If legacy news corporations fail to report that large majorities of the American public now view their journalistic product as straight-up propaganda, does that make it any less true?

According to a survey by Rasmussen Reports, 59% of likely voters in the United States view the corporate news media as “truly the enemy of the people.” This is a majority view, held regardless of race: “58% of whites, 51% of black voters, and 68% of other minorities” — all agree that the mainstream media has become their “enemy.”

This scorching indictment of the Fourth Estate piggybacks similar polling from Harvard-Harris showing that Americans hold almost diametrically opposing viewpoints from those that news corporations predominantly broadcast as the official “truth.”

Drawing attention to the divergence between the public’s perceived reality and the news media’s prevailing “narratives,” independent journalist Glenn Greenwald dissected the Harvard-Harris poll to highlight just how differently some of the most important issues of the last few years have been understood. While corporate news fixated on purported Trump-Russia collusion since 2016, majorities of Americans now see this story “as a hoax and a fraud.”

While the news media hid behind the Intelligence Community’s claims that Hunter Biden’s potentially incriminating laptop (allegedly containing evidence of his family’s influence-peddling) was a product of “Russian disinformation” and consequently enforced an information blackout on the explosive story during the final weeks of the 2020 presidential election, strong majorities of Americans currently believe the laptop’s contents are “real.” In other words, Americans have correctly concluded that journalists and spies advanced a “fraud” on voters as part of an effort to censor a damaging story and “help Biden win.” Nevertheless, The New York Times and The Washington Post have yet to return the Pulitzer Prizes they received for reporting totally discredited “fake news.”

Similarly, majorities of Americans suspect that President Joe Biden has used the powers of his various offices to profit from influence-peddling schemes and that the FBI has intentionally refrained from investigating any possible Biden crimes. Huge majorities of Americans, in fact, seem not at all surprised to learn that the FBI has been caught abusing its own powers to influence elections, and are strongly convinced that “sweeping reform” is needed. Likewise, large majorities of Americans have “serious doubts about Biden’s mental fitness to be president” and suspect that others behind the scenes are “puppeteers” running the nation.

Few, if any, of these poll results have been widely reported. In a seemingly-authoritarian disconnect with the American people, corporate news media continue to ignore the public’s majority opinion and instead “relentlessly advocate” those viewpoints that Americans “reject.” When journalists fail to investigate facts and deliberately distort stories so that they fit snugly within preconceived worldviews, reporters act as propagandists.

Constitutional law scholar Jonathan Turley recently asked, “Do we have a de facto state media?” In answering his own question, he notes that the news blackout surrounding congressional investigations into Biden family members who have allegedly received more than ten million dollars in suspicious payments from foreign entities “fits the past standards used to denounce Russian propaganda patterns and practices.” After Republican members of Congress traced funds to nine Biden family members “from corrupt figures in Romania, China, and other countries,” Turley writes, “The New Republic quickly ran a story headlined ‘Republicans Finally Admit They Have No Incriminating Evidence on Joe Biden.'”

Excoriating the news media’s penchant for mindlessly embracing stories that hurt former President Donald Trump while simultaneously ignoring stories that might damage President Biden, Turley concludes:

“Under the current approach to journalism, it is the New York Times that receives a Pulitzer for a now-debunked Russian collusion story rather than the New York Post for a now proven Hunter Biden laptop story.”

Americans now evidently view the major sources for their news and information as part of a larger political machine pushing particular points of view, unconstrained by any ethical obligation to report facts objectively or dispassionately seek truth. That Americans now see the news media in their country as serving a similar role as Pravda did for the Soviet Union’s Communist Party is a significant departure from the country’s historic embrace of free speech and traditional fondness for a skeptical, adversarial press.

Rather than taking a step back to consider the implications such a shift in public perception will have for America’s future stability, some officials appear even more committed to expanding government control over what can be said and debated online. After the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), in the wake of public backlash over First Amendment concerns, halted its efforts to construct an official “disinformation governance board” last year, the question remained whether other government attempts to silence or shape online information would rear their head. The wait for that answer did not take long.

The government apparently took the public’s censorship concerns so seriously that it quietly moved on from the collapse of its plans for a “disinformation governance board” within the DHS and proceeded within the space of a month to create a new “disinformation” office known as the Foreign Malign Influence Center, which now operates from within the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Although ostensibly geared toward countering information warfare arising from “foreign” threats, one of its principal objectives is to monitor and control “public opinion and behaviors.”

As independent journalist Matt Taibbi concludes of the government’s resurrected Ministry of Truth:

“It’s the basic rhetorical trick of the censorship age: raise a fuss about a foreign threat, using it as a battering ram to get everyone from Congress to the tech companies to submit to increased regulation and surveillance. Then, slowly, adjust your aim to domestic targets.”

If it were not jarring enough to learn that the Office of the Director of National Intelligence has picked up the government’s speech police baton right where the DHS set it down, there is ample evidence to suggest that officials are eager to go much further in the near future. Democrat Senator Michael Bennet has already proposed a bill that would create a Federal Digital Platform Commission with “the authority to promulgate rules, impose civil penalties, hold hearings, conduct investigations, and support research.”

Filled with “disinformation” specialists empowered to create “enforceable behavioral codes” for online communication — and generously paid for by the Biden Administration with taxpayers’ money — the special commission would also “designate ‘systemically important digital platforms’ subject to extra oversight, reporting, and regulation” requirements. Effectively, a small number of unelected commissioners would have de facto power to monitor and police online communication. Should any particular website or platform run afoul of the government’s First Amendment Star Chamber, it would immediately place itself within the commission’s crosshairs for greater oversight, regulation, and punishment.

Will this new creation become an American KGB, Stasi, or CCP — empowered to target half the population for disagreeing with current government policies, promoting “wrongthink,” or merely going to church? Will a small secretive body decide which Americans are actually “domestic terrorists” in the making? US Attorney General Merrick Garland has gone after traditional Catholics who attend Latin mass, but why would government suspicions end with the Latin language? When small commissions exist to decide which Americans are the “enemy,” there is no telling who will be designated as a “threat” and punished next.

It is not difficult to see the dangers that lie ahead. Now that the government has fully inserted itself into the news and information industry, the criminalization of free speech is a very real threat. This has always been a chief complaint against international institutions such as the World Economic Forum that spend a great deal of time, power, and money promoting the thoughts and opinions of an insular cabal of global leaders while showing negligible respect for the personal rights and liberties of the billions of ordinary citizens they claim to represent.

WEF Chairman Klaus Schwab has gone so far as to hire hundreds of thousands of “information warriors” whose mission is to “control the Internet” by “policing social media,” eliminating dissent, disrupting the public square, and “covertly seed[ing] support” for the WEF’s “Great Reset.” If Schwab’s online army were not execrable enough, advocates for free speech must also gird themselves for the repercussions of Elon Musk’s appointment of Linda Yaccarino, reportedly a “neo-liberal wokeist” with strong WEF affiliations, as the new CEO of Twitter.

Throughout much of the West, unfortunately, free speech has been only weakly protected when those with power find its defense inconvenient or messages a nuisance. It is therefore of little surprise to learn that French authorities are now prosecuting government protesters for “flipping-off” President Emmanuel Macron. It does not seem particularly astonishing that a German man has been sentenced to three years in prison for engaging in “pro-Russian” political speech regarding the war in Ukraine. It also no longer appears shocking to read that UK Technology and Science Secretary Michelle Donelan reportedly seeks to imprison social media executives who fail to censor online speech that the government might subjectively adjudge “harmful.” Sadly, as Ireland continues to find new ways to punish citizens for expressing certain points of view, its movement toward criminalizing not just speech but also “hateful” thoughts should have been predictable.

From an American’s perspective, these overseas encroachments against free speech — especially within the borders of closely-allied lands — have seemed sinister yet entirely foreign. Now, however, what was once observed from some distance has made its way home; it feels as if a faraway communist enemy has finally stormed America’s beaches and come ashore in force.

Not a day seems to go by without some new battlefront opening up in the war on free speech and free thought. The Richard Stengel of the Council on Foreign Relations has been increasingly vocal about the importance of journalists and think tanks acting as “primary provocateurs” and “propagandists” who “have to” manipulate the American population and shape the public’s perception of world events. Senator Rand Paul has alleged that the DHS uses at least 12 separate programs to “track what Americans say online,” as well as to engage in social media censorship.

As part of its efforts to silence dissenting arguments, the Biden administration is pursuing a policy that would make it unlawful to use data and datasets that reflect accurate information yet lead to “discriminatory outcomes” for “protected classes.” In other words, if the data is perceived to be “racist,” it must be expunged. At the same time, the Department of Justice has indicted four radical black leftists for having somehow “weaponized” their free speech rights in support of Russian “disinformation.” So, objective datasets can be deemed “discriminatory” against minorities, while actual discrimination against minorities’ free speech is excused when that speech contradicts official government policy.

Meanwhile, the DHS has been exposed for paying tens of millions of dollars to third-party “anti-terrorism” programs that have not so coincidentally equated Christians, Republicans, and philosophical conservatives to Germany’s Nazi Party. Similarly, California Governor Gavin Newsom has set up a Soviet-style “snitch line” that encourages neighbors to report on each other’s public or private displays of “hate.”

Finally, ABC News proudly admits that it has censored parts of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s interviews because some of his answers include “false claims about the COVID-19 vaccines.” Essentially, the corporate news media have deemed Kennedy’s viewpoints unworthy of being transmitted and heard, even though the 2024 presidential candidate is running a strong second behind Joe Biden in the Democrat primary, with around 20% support from the electorate.

Taken all together, it is clear that not only has the war on free speech come to America, but also that it is clobbering Americans in a relentless campaign of “shock and awe.” And why not? In a litigation battle presently being waged over the federal government’s extensive censorship programs, the Biden administration has defended its inherent authority to control Americans’ thoughts as an instrumental component of “government infrastructure.” What Americans think and believe is openly referred to as part of the nation’s “cognitive infrastructure”— as if the Matrix movies were simply reflecting real life.

Today, America’s mainstream news corporations are already viewed as processing plants that manufacture political propaganda. That is an unbelievably searing indictment of a once-vibrant free press in the United States. It is also, unfortunately, only the first heavy shoe to drop in the war against free speech. Many Chinese Americans who survived the Cultural Revolution look around the country today and see similarities everywhere. During that totalitarian “reign of terror,” everything a person did was monitored, including what was said while asleep.

In an America now plagued with the stench of official “snitch lines,”censorship of certain presidential candidates, widespread online surveillance, a resurrected “disinformation governance board,”and increasingly frequent criminal prosecutions targeting Americans who exercise their free speech, the question is not whether what we inaudibly think or say in our sleep will someday be used against us, but rather how soon that day will come unless we stop it. After all, with smartphones, smart TVs, “smart”appliances, video-recording doorbells, and the rise of artificial intelligence, somebody, somewhere is always listening.

JB Shurk writes about politics and society.

It Was Always Only About Power With the Left

By: Victor Davis Hanson

May 29, 2023

Why do so many liberal climate-activist grandees fly on private jets? Or why do those who profited from Black Lives Matter have a propensity for estate living? Or why do the community-activist Obamas prefer to live in not one, but three mansions?

The answer is that calls for radical equity, “power for the people,”and mandated equality are usually mostly sloganeering for those who enjoy power and the lucre it brings, and their wish is to augment both for themselves. The result is that the issue du jour of mandated equality often becomes secondary if not irrelevant. There is neither fear of inconstancy nor hypocrisy, given the central theme that governs a leftist party line is political utility—or the ends of power always more than justify the hypocritical means used to obtain it.

Spout racialist nonsense for 40 years? Harass women and young girls by blowing in their hair and squeezing them too tightly? Create a family grifting syndicate to leverage foreign cash in quid pro quo fashion? Praise racial segregationists?

Joe Biden did all those things and more. But he also did them in service to a supposed noble cause, sort of like the current board president of the NAACP promoting a black travel ban on Florida, while he lives—in Florida!

Keep political utility in mind and the baffling hypocrisy of the Left makes all too perfect sense.

January 6 vs. the “Summer of Love”

From all the tens of thousands of January 6 Capitol protesters, a small percentage entered the Capitol itself. Of that group, an even smaller number committed violent acts. Most of those seriously injured that day were among the protesters themselves. Despite official propaganda, there were not five police officers killed on January 6 as alleged by the Left.

Instead, the only likely death at the hand of another was the diminutive, 5’2’’, 14-year-military veteran and unarmed Ashli Babbitt. She was lethally shot by a Capitol officer Michael Byrd for the likely misdemeanor of trespassing and—illegally entering a broken window to the Capitol.

Yet over a thousand protesters were arrested, tried, and mostly convicted of various charges from parading without a permit to insurrection. Many of them were sentenced to long prison sentences. Some may spend most of their remaining lives in prison.

The Left has justified long sentences on three grounds: 

One, the protesters targeted iconic government buildings as the object of their attacks. 

Two, the protesters were ideologically motivated and seemed bent on insurrection to warp the political process. 

Three, the protesters were attempting to nullify an election by their massing at the Capitol and therefore questioned the very integrity of the 2020 election.

In theory, these were legitimate reasons to treat harshly any convicted of such insurrectionary crimes. But in reality, the Left cared little about its pretexts justifying harsh responses, much less proving their charges. What mattered were the political opportunities offered by January 6, and the chance to leverage the occasion to consolidate power.

Why and how can one assume that?

In 2020, for 120 days, left-wing mobs led by Antifa and Black Lives Matter wrought far greater destruction in nonstop rioting, arson, looting, and assault. Over 35 people died. Two billion dollars in property damage followed. Some 1,500 officers were assaulted and injured. Over 14,000 protesters were arrested.

Yet few were convicted of any serious crimes; fewer were sentenced to long sentences—given prosecutors, state and federal, claimed the violence was merely a result of protesters exercising their “constitutional right” of dissent.

Left-wing politicians and activists from then-vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris (“They’re not going to let up, and they should not, and we should not.”) to Nikole Hannah Jones(“Destroying property, which can be replaced, is not violence.”)either excused the often violent protests or urged that they continue.

Far from sending in 20,000 federal troops, as occurred after January 6, the Left demanded that then-President Trump not resort to such Draconian measures.

Note that there were lots of government properties deliberately targeted in iconic fashion. A Seattle police precinct (with officers inside ) was set afire. A mob in Washington, D.C. tried to storm the White House grounds in a fashion that sent the president and secret service agents into a subterranean bunker. A historic Washington, D.C. church was torched. Violent mobs set federal and state courthouses on fire in Las Vegas, Minneapolis, and Portland.

Second, note these riots and violence were not random. They were coordinated and seemed to wax and wane with some sort of precise coordination—a fact deemed useful in an election year by the Democratic Left.

In her now notorious self-confessional Time essay, Molly Ball bragged that “There was a conspiracy unfolding behind the scenes, one that both curtailed the protests and coordinated the resistance from CEOs.”  “The conversation that followed was a difficult one,” Ball explained, “led by the activists charged with the protest strategy . . . We wanted to be mindful of when was the right time to call for moving masses of people into the street.”

Third, had Trump won the 2020 election, the Left was gearing up for yet another round of violence under the pretense that the election had been stolen, in the fashion of its coordinated Washington, D.C. violence on the day of Trump’s 2017 inauguration.

Left-wing election denialism—and real efforts to overturn a presidential election—were certainly not new. After the 2016 election, wealthy leftists and celebrities ran television ads begging electors to reject their constitutional fidelity and the popular vote counts in their states, and instead, in insurrectionary style, cast electoral ballots for Hillary Clinton.

Prominent leftists from Jimmy Carter to Hillary Clinton also had been on record following the 2016 election claiming that Trump was an illegitimate president and the 2016 election had been rigged in Trump’s favor due to the hoax of Russian collusion.

Hillary Clinton—who paid Christopher Steele to use Clinton-related fake sources to compile fabrications and destroy her 2016 rival—later even bragged she was joining “La Résistance.” The chairman of the January 6 committee that damned Trump’s supposed election denialism, Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), himself was an election denialist par excellence, who absurdly voted in the Congress to reject George Bush’s popular vote victory in Ohio that decided the 2004 election.

By any fair measure, the violence of 2020 was a far greater and more deadly threat to the republic than anything occurring on January 6, 2021. But most of the 14,000 arrested perpetrators who were responsible for that incredible summer of violence were exempted because their mayhem was deemed politically useful—in the same fashion it was advantageous to turn the buffoonish Capitol protesters into seasoned revolutionaries. The common denominator was only the Left’s efforts to warp events to achieve power.

Liberalism That Loses Utility is Left Behind

California has been building massive solar farms in pristine deserts and rural areas. Many spread over thousands of acres and require disruptive supporting infrastructure. In the American Midwest, these new generations of solar farms are unlike anything in our recent past. Often in size larger than Manhattan, they take out of production tens of thousands of acres of prime farmland.

What is curious about all these next-generation projects is the relative silence of environmentalists to the radical disruptions and dangers they pose to fragile and pristine natural landscapes, rare species of flora and fauna, and quality of life for surrounding rural communities.

In the case of hundreds of thousands of lost farm acres, prior liberal advocacy for preserving America’s heartland, and its precious family farm acreage and those who work it, likewise go out the window.

Yet if any clean-burning natural gas plant, affordable housing development, a border wall, retirement community, or farming operation caused as much havoc to the environment as solar—and often wind—farms, there would arise leftist outrage replete with environmentalist-driven court injunctions. In other words, left-wing environmentalism is calibrated only by whether the Left or the Right is reengineering the landscape.

Title IX was an addendum to the 1964 Civil Rights Act that prohibited discrimination on the basis of sex. Through liberal lawsuits and the intervention of activist courts, the statute soon was transmogrified into a sports equity act. Title IX then began to revolutionize high school and college sports programs by demanding equity—in the sense of mandating equal budgets and facilities for women’s and men’s sports.

The rationale was that women’s athletics could only achieve parity with male sports if they were gifted the same sorts of budgets, infrastructure, and institutional support. Whatever the intent of the original statute, whatever the effects of activist court intervention, the result was that women’s sports did achieve a much higher social and cultural profile.

So how ironic, then, that a half-century of athletic transformation has been completely undermined by the current ritual takeover of the sport by biological men declaring themselves transgendered women. The transgendered have done more damage in three years to women’s sports than a century of chauvinist pigs.

In almost every category of competition—track and field, swimming, team sports—prior women’s records have been shattered by athletes who enjoy huge advantages in natural musculoskeletal mass, body size and weight, and innate strength. In the Cold War past, males competing as females were largely a Soviet or Eastern European phenomenon—most notably the Ukrainian sisters, Tamara and Irina Press. The communist bloc, as the Third Reich had earlier in the case of Heinrich Ratjen, scored propaganda points by using males to win “women’s” events.

Soon in reaction, hormonal testing and eventually DNA tests were used to ensure an equal playing field for biological women. No matter. What was once a feminist issue is now considered a right-wing hate crime of insisting that biological males not be allowed simply to redefine an entire segment of American life and culture.

Note that the Left has sided against feminism in its near-hysterical promotion of its newest cause célèbre, transgenderism. Note further that biological women do not win many, if any, events as transgendered males, despite the shibboleth that one can construct one’s own sexual identity that will be equivalent to a biological one.

Finally, note that there is no transgendered effort to create a separate category of transgendered sports. Apparently, a transgendered Olympics or NCAA event would not offer transgendered contestants and champions the attention and lucre they now achieve by dominating women’s sports. Again, “equity” and feminism were never left-wing positions, but simply useful malleable issues to embrace or reject depending on where and how contemporary political advantage was calibrated.

From Reining in Government Abuse to Cheering It

Read the contemporary news accounts of the 1975-76 so-called “Church Committee,” a select Senate committee formed to expose and rectify dangerous abuses of civil rights and constitutional norms by the CIA, NSA, and at times the FBI.

Most Democrats cheered the post-Watergate committee on, eager to virtue signal as civil libertarians and to stop the rogue and often politically weaponized antics of our investigatory and intelligence agencies.

But while there were true civil libertarians, Left and Right, who weighed in on the committee, the general left-wing giddiness over the investigations was predicated on the post-Watergate Democratic revival—one that ensued from ridding the nation of Richard Nixon and using his disgrace to discredit what were considered conservative institutions.

Fast forward to 2015-23. Over the last eight years, it is hard to imagine any illegal act that the CIA, NSA, or FBI would not commit. Their directors—James Clapper, John Brennan, and Andrew McCabe—have all confessed to lying under oath. A more insidious Robert Mueller, James Comey, and Christopher Wray simply invoke amnesiac excuses or plead ignorance when asked directly about the wrongdoing of their agencies or investigations.

The U.S. government, along with the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign, paid a foreign national to spy on a rival campaign, compile lies about a rival candidate, and then spread them through government and the media. The FBI arguably sought to alter both the 2016 and 2020 elections.

In this same eight-year period, a FISA court was deluded, and an FBI lawyer altered court documents. Phone records were wiped clean. Subpoenaed devices were destroyed. Key evidence that affected a current campaign was put under FBI wraps. Agents openly texted their intent to ensure a predetermined presidential election result. Americans in general were routinely spied upon. Many were framed by FBI skullduggery and had their lives ruined.

The extent of the lawbreaking and the warping of elections dwarfs anything discovered during Watergate. And yet the Left never objected to these violations of civil rights or the illegal freelancing of intelligence agencies. Far from it—the Left cheered on the illegality.

Why? Because for them hating or worshiping the CIA, NSA, and FBI—or for that matter the Pentagon, IRS, and Justice Department—was never a matter of consistent principle. Instead these bureaucracies were deemed pathological when associated with conservatism and traditionalism, and angelic when their extralegal efforts were put to use for the progressive agenda.

There are some grassroots leftists who are deluded into sincerely believing “equity” can be achieved by government confiscation and redistribution. But for most of the elite, the cause is a means to personal and professional power, a fact that explains why one day walking only on four leftist legs is alone correct, the next day just two.

DeSantis Twitter Event Breaks Records – Brings in Massive Haul in only One Hour

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis officially announced his presidential campaign this week. He did it in unique fashion, taking to free speech platform Twitter. Elon Musk hosted the live event, which welcomed users to watch through the social app.

And boy, did it break records.

So many people tried to watch live, that Twitter experienced technical difficulties. After some “initial scaling challenges” the event continued. And now, we are learning just how impactful this presidential announcement was.

Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis‘ special event on Twitter Spaces Wednesday evening was “by far” the most viewed in the history of the company…

Musk confirmed the news by retweeting Sacks’ tweet and replying to another tweet that noted there were more than 700,000 concurrent users on the Twitter Space at one time. 

Journalist Ian Miles Cheong tweeted: “Elon didn’t have any more than 200k concurrent listeners on his space with the BBC, which had around 3 million listeners after the recording went up. The space with DeSantis was at 701k and it was crashing long before it got to that number. That’s the highest it’s even been.” [Source: Daily Wire]

At the time of this writing, over 3 million people watched the event after it went live. But during the event, there was 700,000 users watching at one time–the most ever for a Twitter Spaces event.

But that wasn’t the only big news coming out of this event.

https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=true&embedId=twitter-widget-0&features=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%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1661517177718026242&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nationalinsiders.com%2Fdesantis-twitter-event-breaks-records-brings-in-massive-haul-in-only-one-hour%2F&sessionId=e753cb5ee0192d0a9504181e0ded81d8aa902c38&theme=light&widgetsVersion=aaf4084522e3a%3A1674595607486&width=550px

Within the first hour of the announcement, DeSantis’s campaign press secretary announced they brought in $1 million in donations. That number might have gone up in the hours following, with the total even higher.

There are some of the strongest reactions to a Republican candidacy announcement that we’ve seen in some time. Many Republicans have thrown their hat into this race, but we didn’t see enthusiasm like this from Nikki Haley or Tim Scott supporters.

It is possible that DeSantis will gain tremendous momentum in the coming weeks, quickly eclipsing Donald Trump as the current frontrunner.

Trump has been attacking DeSantis for months, long before the governor announced his race. It seems clear that Trump considers DeSantis the only true threat to his re-election chances. But all the mudslinging hasn’t seemed to slow DeSantis down so far.

We’ll have to see what happens next.

Fox News Has Gone Full Woke with Gender Rules

By

 Madeleine Jackson

 – 

 May 24, 2023  

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ANALYSIS – The recent firing of Tucker Carlson from Fox News has added to the perception that the cable news network is actively watering down its conservative brand. But the shocking news of just how woke the corporation has become is only now coming to light.

“Fox News devotes hours of programming to attacking ‘woke companies,’ but ironically Fox is as woke as the rest of them,” one former Fox News employee told The Daily Signal, saying that its viewers would be “astonished to find out what the company is like.” 

Specifically, this wokeness is seen in its policies toward employees.

According to the Daily Signal, the Fox News employee handbook has been imposing woke gender rules on its staff for at least two years, since the rules were published in 2021. Employees are reportedly allowed to use bathrooms that “align with their gender identity,” rather than their biological sex. 

They must also be addressed by their preferred name and preferred pronouns in the workplace. 

Cross-dressing as the opposite sex to align with their preferred, made-up gender is also allowed. Fox also offers to help employees develop a “Workplace Transition Plan” to manage their gender transition at the office. 

Using the far-left Human Rights Campaign, one of the most aggressive LGBTQ groups in the country, the Fox handbook defines a host of newly made-up gender terms such as cisgender, gender expression, gender-fluid, gender identity, gender non-conforming, gender transition, non-binary, and transgender. 

None of these terms existed 20 years ago, and none have any basis in biology or science, but there you go.

But it’s not just about how it regulates employee behavior.

These disturbing revelations come as Fox Digital is also now also using leftist activist language such as “gender-affirming care” in news stories on its website.

I have previously written about how modifying and dominating language is a key tactic of the left. Calling the genital mutilation and sterilizing effect of life-altering hormones on children as “gender-affirming care” isn’t just deceiving its diabolical.

Laws enabling these extreme procedures on children are also being used to keep them from their parents.

Fox Digital is now also consistently using female pronouns for biological males like the trans-TikTok celebrity Dylan Mulvaney of Bud Light fame, and swimmer Will Thomas who now calls himself Lia.

The Daily Signal reported that a source still at Fox said that after Carlson’s show was canceled in April, producers for the new 8 p.m. “Fox News Tonight” program was specifically told by high-level executives not to bash Mulvaney. 

I have steadfastly referred to all persons in my writings in accordance with their science-based biological sex, not made-up preferred pronouns, and will continue to do so.

A former producer for “Tucker Carlson Tonight” told The Daily Signal: 

They want you to think it’s this place that supports traditionally conservative values. But in reality, they’re pushing this [woke] nonsense behind the scenes.

This ‘nonsense’ is also infecting Fox News’ programming which is airing segments favorable to the transgender agenda.

https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=true&embedId=twitter-widget-0&features=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%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1535341897522323456&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fgreatamericanewsdesk.com%2Fopinion%2Ffox-news-has-gone-full-woke-with-gender-rules%2Fnjackson%2F2023%2F05%2F&sessionId=184496af3dbf39ee08de2c48b8e1adc81f0a2628&theme=light&widgetsVersion=aaf4084522e3a%3A1674595607486&width=550px

Sadly, as far as Fox’s employee policies go, it appears they are aligned with the legal requirements in New York City, where the company is headquartered, as well as California, where many of its employees work.

New York City’s insane Human Rights Law requires employers to use the preferred name and pronouns that a person identifies with regardless of their biological sex. Companies will be breaking the law if they refuse to use a person’s preferred name or pronouns. 

That law also regulates the use of single-gender bathrooms by all of the made-up genders, regardless of biology.

These obscene laws, and the corporate policies they require, sound like an excellent reason for Fox to move out of California and New York City. The problem is – the executives at Fox News may actually agree with them.

Opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of Great America News Desk.

THE CATHOLIC MONITOR

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NY Times: Bishop [Gracida] Excommunicates 2 In Texas for Abortion Stance & Bp. Gracida: “I can only attribute the silence of those cardinals & bishops to their embarrassment because they surely had abortion clinics in their own dioceses” 

May 27, 2023

Bishop Excommunicates 2 In Texas for Abortion Stance

• Give this article

By Ari L. Goldman

• June 30, 1990

Credit…

The New York Times Archives

A Twelve Step Program for Bishops – Bishop Rene Henry …

EWTNhttps://www.ewtn.com › catholicism › library › twelve…

As a Catholic in public office, the individual can never favor or condone a right to abortion, but to the contrary, must strive to limit and revoke pro-choice

Bishop Gracida explains why pro-abortion Catholics must …

Catholic News Agencyhttps://www.catholicnewsagency.com › news › bishop…

Oct 4, 2004 — Bishop Rene Henry Gracida, Emeritus of Corpus Christi, Texas, … Bishop Gracida explains why pro–abortion Catholics must be excommunicated.

Bishop Rene Henry Gracida’s 100th birthday is coming up on June 9 so I am reading his autobiography in preparation for the great day. 

Bishop Gracida tells of asking “Cardinal O’Connor if [he] could speak about…the abortion clinics and the excommunications. At the end… After what seemed an eternity of silence in which not a single member of the Committee asked any questions or made any comment… I was stunned!  I can only attribute the silence of those cardinals and bishops to their embarrassment because they surely had abortion clinics in their own dioceses and what I had done in Corpus Christi showed them up for their failure to stand up for the sanctity of innocent human life” 

Here from the book is some background on his talk to the National Conference of Catholic Bishops Committee on Pro-Life Activities on excommunicating pro-abortion Catholic which lead to “the silence of those cardinals and bishops”:

One of the first things I learned about Corpus Christi was that the local newspaper, The Corpus Christi Caller-Times, like the papers I left behind in Miami and Pensacola, was hostile to the Catholic Church.  The wife of the publisher, Janet Harte, was reportedly the founder of both the local chapter of Planned Parenthood and FAIR (The Federation for Immigration Reform).  Planned Parenthood International was founded by Margaret Sanger to reduce the number of blacks in the United States and FAIR was founded to prevent anymore “brown-skinned Catholics” from coming to the United States from Mexico.  It did not take long for me to clash with Janet Harte and the paper.

Corpus Christi had two abortion clinics and a doctor who performed abortions in his office.  With the help of a recent Catholic convert, Rex Moses, and a lot of dedicated people we organized The Body of Christ Rescue and began demonstrations in front of all three locations.  Eventually, after the directors of the two clinics and the doctor (all of whom professed to be practicing Catholics) publicly proclaimed their dissent from the teaching of the Church about the immorality of abortion and after months of trying to persuade them to renounce their support of abortion, I issued decrees announcing that they had incurred automatic excommunication by their performing abortions.  Eventually the clinics and the doctor’s office were closed.  Corpus Christi, named after the Body of Christ, is now abortion free.

Shortly after the excommunications I attended a meeting of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops Committee on Pro-Life Activities of which I was a member.

The Committee consisted of its Chairman, John Cardinal O’Connor, and seven bishops among whom there was Bernard Cardinal Law and Roger Cardinal Mahoney.  At the end of the meeting I asked Cardinal O’Connor if I could speak about the three excommunications in Corpus Christi.  He granted me permission and for about ten minutes I told the whole story about the abortion clinics and the excommunications.  At the end I said that I would be happy to answer any questions.  After what seemed an eternity of silence in which not a single member of the Committee asked any questions or made any comment, Cardinal O’Connor declared the meeting ended.  I was stunned!  I can only attribute the silence of those cardinals and bishops to their embarrassment because they surely had abortion clinics in their own dioceses and what I had done in Corpus Christi showed them up for their failure to stand up for the sanctity of innocent human life. [http://extraordinarybishop.blogspot.com/2014/09/here-is-series-of-posts-by-bishop-rene.html]

Pray an Our Father now for reparation for the sins committed because of Francis’s Amoris Laetitia.

Pray an Our Father now for the restoration of the Church as well as the Triumph of the Kingdom of the Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

Stop for a moment of silence, ask Jesus Christ what He wants you to do now and next. In this silence remember God, Father, Son and Holy Ghost – Three Divine Persons yet One God, has an ordered universe where you can know truth and falsehood as well as never forget that He wants you to have eternal happiness with Him as his son or daughter by grace. Make this a practice. By doing this you are doing more good than reading anything here or anywhere else on the Internet.

Francis Notes:

– Doctor of the Church St. Francis de Sales totally confirmed beyond any doubt the possibility of a heretical pope and what must be done by the Church in such a situation:

“[T]he Pope… WHEN he is EXPLICITLY a heretic, he falls ipso facto from his dignity and out of the Church, and the Church MUST either deprive him, or, as some say, declare him deprived, of his Apostolic See.”
(The Catholic Controversy, by St. Francis de Sales, Pages 305-306)

Saint Robert Bellarmine, also, said “the Pope heretic is not deposed ipso facto, but must be declared deposed by the Church.”
[https://archive.org/stream/SilveiraImplicationsOfNewMissaeAndHereticPopes/Silveira%20Implications%20of%20New%20Missae%20and%20Heretic%20Popes_djvu.txt]

– “If Francis is a Heretic, What should Canonically happen to him?”: http://www.thecatholicmonitor.com/2020/12/if-francis-is-heretic-what-should.html

– “Could Francis be a Antipope even though the Majority of Cardinals claim he is Pope?”: http://www.thecatholicmonitor.com/2019/03/could-francis-be-antipope-even-though.html

– If Francis betrays Benedict XVI & the”Roman Rite Communities” like he betrayed the Chinese Catholics we must respond like St. Athanasius, the Saintly English Bishop Robert Grosseteste & “Eminent Canonists and Theologians” by “Resist[ing]” him: https://www.thecatholicmonitor.com/2021/12/if-francis-betrays-benedict-xvi.html 

 –  LifeSiteNews, “Confusion explodes as Pope Francis throws magisterial weight behind communion for adulterers,” December 4, 2017:

The AAS guidelines explicitly allows “sexually active adulterous couples facing ‘complex circumstances’ to ‘access the sacraments of Reconciliation and the Eucharist.'”

–  On February 2018, in Rorate Caeli, Catholic theologian Dr. John Lamont:

“The AAS statement… establishes that Pope Francis in Amoris Laetitia has affirmed propositions that are heretical in the strict sense.”

– On December 2, 2017, Bishop Rene Gracida:

“Francis’ heterodoxy is now official. He has published his letter to the Argentina bishops in Acta Apostlica Series making those letters magisterial documents.”

Pray an Our Father now for the restoration of the Church by the bishops by the grace of God.

Election Notes: 

– Intel Cryptanalyst-Mathematician on Biden Steal: “212Million Registered Voters & 66.2% Voting,140.344 M Voted…Trump got 74 M, that leaves only 66.344 M for Biden” [http://catholicmonitor.blogspot.com/2020/12/intel-cryptanalyst-mathematician-on.html?m=1]

– Will US be Venezuela?: Ex-CIA Official told Epoch Times “Chávez started to Focus on [Smartmatic] Voting Machines to Ensure Victory as early as 2003”: http://catholicmonitor.blogspot.com/2020/12/will-us-be-venezuela-ex-cia-official.html

– Tucker Carlson’s Conservatism Inc. Biden Steal Betrayal is explained by “One of the Greatest Columns ever Written” according to Rush: http://catholicmonitor.blogspot.com/2021/01/tucker-carlsons-conservatism-inc-biden.html?m=1

– A Hour which will Live in Infamy: 10:01pm November 3, 2020:
http://www.thecatholicmonitor.com/2021/01/a-hour-which-will-live-in-infamy-1001pm.html?m=1

What is needed right now to save America from those who would destroy our God given rights is to pray at home or in church and if called to even go to outdoor prayer rallies in every town and city across the United States for God to pour out His grace on our country to save us from those who would use a Reichstag Fire-like incident to destroy our civil liberties. [Is the DC Capitol Incident Comparable to the Nazi Reichstag Fire Incident where the German People Lost their Civil Liberties?: http://catholicmonitor.blogspot.com/2021/01/is-dc-capital-incident-comparable-to.html?m=1 and Epoch Times Show Crossroads on Capitol Incident: “Anitfa ‘Agent Provocateurs‘”:
http://catholicmonitor.blogspot.com/2021/01/epoch-times-show-crossroads-on-capital.html?m=1] 

Pray an Our Father now for the grace to know God’s Will and to do it.

Pray an Our Father now for America.

Pray an Our Father now for the restoration of the Church as well as the Triumph of the Kingdom of the Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.SHARE

D E  I

An Examination

By: Bill Schoettler

May 23, 2023

Diversity, equity, and inclusion, when it comes to people, are nonsensical concepts that deny reality and common sense, and human experience.  

What Is Diversity?

My cell phone tells me it is the state of being diverse; variety. That’s pretty much what I thought it was. But I heard our beloved President tell the Howard University graduating class that white supremacy is the greatest terrorist threat to our country. 

My reaction was to wonder how a college graduating class of black students would react to the naming of otherwise unidentified white people as being a terrorist threat to the country.  

This is the type of speechifying that one expects to hear when trying to rouse up the battle urge in troops, or perhaps a half-time talk to a football team to go out to the field and pulverize the opposition. But there is no opposition out there, no identifiable enemy to combat. Unless, of course, Biden was talking about all white people.  

Did he mean all white people are terrorists? Or just some of them? Are there any terrorists who pose a threat to this country who are not white? Certainly, it would seem that all we had to do was round up all white people and put them in concentration camps…possibly for re-education. Certainly, there must be some who can be salvaged! 

I didn’t hear the whole speech so it is possible that Biden gave further and more specific definitions and descriptions of these white supremacist terrorists. Again turning to my cell phone for guidance [this is a handy gadget, including phone calling, it gives me directions and definitions] I learn that a supremacist is a person who believes that a particular group, especially one determined by race, religion, or sex, is superior and should therefore dominate society. 

I guess that a white supremacist must believe that white people are somehow superior and therefore should dominate society. Is this not diversity? Do we not celebrate the opposite of unity? I mean, if we are going to celebrate our differences there is no need to call for something as archaic as unity when it is the diversity we are praising. Or is it the 15% of our population that should dominate? When we celebrate diversity we need to emphasize what makes us different from each other and being black is a noticeable difference. Should we talk about black supremacists [terrorists]

So I have looked around at this country’s recent history and found a black President. I have found two black Supreme Court Justices. I have found current and recent black mayors, black congressmen (oops, and black congresswomen), black millionaires, and black people performing virtually every job, occupation, trade, or profession. Recognizing that blacks represent roughly 15% of the total population of this country and freely confessing I did not make an actual count of these diverse mixtures of racial colors in the workplace, I would say that it would be pretty much an appropriate percentage distribution of colors per the color-representation in the population. But that’s only an impression and I’m sure that the President checked those stats with much more accuracy when he gave his speech. Continuing my confession of scanty investigation I will reveal I live in California and have not visited as many States recently as has the Pres. 

I do have access to information sources such as the published FBI national crime statistics…where I would have expected to find ample evidence of what the President described as the greatest terrorist threat to this country. 

What I did find in these stats is the majority of crimes have been committed not by whites but by blacks…just as the majority of victims of crimes seem to be blacks. I suppose that those white criminals, the minority of those who commit crimes, may well be actual white supremacists and thus are the basis for the President’s attack. Presumably, the blacks committing the majority of the crimes and blacks being the majority of the victims of crimes presents an interesting but convoluted foundation for winnowing out the white-on-black white supremacist terrorists as distinguished from the simple but non-terrorist blacks who prey on black victims. I can only presume that the President and his speech-writer(s) have done this winnowing out and his speechified conclusion is amply supported.  

Of course, I began this discussion about Diversity. Where is it and how do we find it? Can we find diversity in the criminal statistics that are annually published by the nation’s leading law-enforcement agency? 

But this brings up a more realistic issue…at least as I view the subject. The entire concept of diversity is, to me at least, being misapplied entirely. When one looks at a forest, for example, one sees a diversity of trees. Some are tall, some short, some have different kinds of leaves, branches grow differently, some are older, some younger, and usually many have fallen and are in diverse stages of decay. But the forest, like virtually every other thing in nature…as well as every aspect of human life and the production of things by humans…is, to put a word on it, a complex matter. That is, everything is made of up many little parts, each one separately identifiable and unique. A forest is a forest and, yes, it is a collection of a diversity of trees plus bushes and other growing things. But it is a forest. Or is it? 

People are made up of multiple parts as are automobiles, houses, airplanes, animals, trees, rose bushes, and on and on and on. Which sort of suggests that for anything to even exist requires cooperation and diversity. All the parts have to work in concert with each other so the whole will not just survive but function as it was designed to function.  

We have an American Society made up of many different parts. Again, with the help of my cell phone, I learn that there are between 350 and 430 languages spoken in the United States of America, making it one of the most linguistically diverse countries in the world. Now THAT is what I would call DIVERSITY. 

We hear a lot about diversity these days. The phrase is usually part of a sentence that says we need diversity. But, for crying out loud, EVERYTHING IS DIVERSE. WE HAVE HAD DIVERSITY SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THE PLANET…which, you have to admit, is about as long as anything can exist. Some program and movement or effort to achieve diversity is a sort of silly idea when you think about it.  

What makes a human what he/she is? Obviously have the combination of all the diverse parts…because all those diverse parts work together to make the whole able to function. What makes a nation is all the diverse parts that work together to make the whole able to function. If my fingers decide to work independently, my whole body won’t function properly.  

How can a nation exist with diversity? By absorbing its diverse elements and WORKING TOGETHER to make a better world. United with a common language, common goals, common history, common everything…for everybody. There is an old (common) saying…United We Stand, Divided We Fall. 

What is Equity?

Like so many traditional words, this one has different meanings. The traditional meaning is…the quality of being fair and impartial. This kind of equity may be termed philosophical equity. 

The other type of equity, in the traditional sense, may be termed financial. If one is purchasing a house, and if good fortune has smiled upon this one, then the difference between the mortgage, the amount of the purchase price that is still owed, minus the present market value of the house (the amount for which the house can now be sold to another) is called equity. As a more specific example, the difference between how much is owed to complete a purchase and the full market value of anything may be called equity. 

As we all know, there is yet another conceptual definition that certainly isn’t financial but tends to be more philosophical, at least in a sense. The term “equity” refers to fairness and justice and is distinguished from equality. Whereas equality means providing the same to all, equity now means recognizing that we do not all start from the same place and must acknowledge and make adjustments to imbalances. 

There is an old maxim (a short pithy statement expressing a general truth or rule of conduct) in the law…” one who expects equity must do equity” which suggests that if you want equitable treatment you must provide equitable treatment. But the use of “equitable”coupled with the word “treatment” suggests something entirely different from the last-above given definition of equity. And the way the word is used in the now classical diversity, equity, and inclusion combination certainly suggests a meaning which is not traditional. In fact, the latest definition of equity is a construct…something made up of whole cloth. The idea that making adjustments to imbalances is part of equity is someone’s idea of a joke. The philosophical definition of equity includes the principle of balance. That is, something is equitable if it is in balance. 

Somehow the new idea of equity includes a concept of imbalance, which, when you think about it, is absurd. The concept of equity includes the concept of balance. To separate these ideas is not just a violation of language, it is a violation of common sense.  

Okay, I realize that someone decided that those people generally identified as “black” have been handicapped in this country because of the prejudicial attitude of non-blacks. Therefore, the only way to provide blacks with the balance they call “equity”, a balance that will bring blacks to the same level as non-blacks, is by providing special treatment and special advantages for blacks so as to move them into the same balance as non-blacks. The word “equity” has been re-defined to incorporate the concept of making adjustments to imbalances. 

The current definition suggests some kind of philosophical idea that, to me, sounds strange. The new definition says that I should recognize that we do not all start from the same place. I can certainly agree with that. Starting from the same place sounds like the way a classical race is begun. People, contestants, or competitors all line up at the same place, the traditional gunshot is heard and all competitors/contestants begin racing. The purpose of the exercise is to find out who crosses the finish line first.  

I suppose if we’re beginning a philosophical discussion about starting at the same place and making adjustments to imbalances we raise more questions than we answer. For example, on an oval racetrack runners begin in a staggered lineup to accommodate the curves that occur…but the ending, the finish line is straight across the track…which means that each runner actually runs the same distance and they compete with each other over the same distance. This is equality…something that didn’t use to be different from the concepts of equity.  

What we have in this country is opportunity. This suggests that if a person can demonstrate a certain level of ability, either in academics or a trade, or simply reach a minimum age, that person can: 

Enter an apprenticeship,  

Enter an educational program, 

Enter an employment. 

Some people will not qualify because they lack the demonstrable ability/competence/intelligence to function at the entry-level of such programs. But for the past half-century or more this country has made available to people of all colors, from all ethnic backgrounds educational programs designed to help everyone start from the same place. There is another old saying that might apply…you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink.

The English language is taught at all levels of education in this country. Those who were not born into the language are provided special assistance to learn. Those who were born into the language but who lack vocabulary or grammar are also provided special assistance. Those who have demonstrated minimum fluency in the language are provided examples of literature and orations showing different levels of excellence in communication in the language.  

Equity, equality, and balance – all suggest a sameness. Which is a valid concept. What is not a valid concept is the reality that each one of us is different and unique and true equality IN OUTCOME is impossible. Always has been. Always will be. The inequality of every individual is so apparent that is not worth mentioning. Not only are the genders different. Within each gender there are differences. People are all different but at the same time, we are also similar. We hold roughly similar goals in life and have similar wants. But each of us has identifiable, unique characteristics not shared by any others. This is a reality and no amount of re-defining, re-imagining, re-setting or re-wording of language will erase those differences.  

What is Inclusion? 

As you might have guessed, this word has two meanings. The first, and more traditional is the action or state of including or being included within a group or structure. And then our recent and woke meaning; The practice or policy of providing equal access to opportunities and resources for people who might otherwise be excluded or marginalized such as those who have physical or intellectual disabilities and members of other minority groups. 

Once again we run up against revisionism, the re-defining of words into a meaningless mish-mash of syllables that by themselves make sense but when coupled with others of the same ilk turn common sense into gobbledegook. [My own word, admittedly, but valid nonetheless]. 

Advertisers have long told prospective customers that “included within this offer will be two-free passes to …whatever”. Or, “included with your purchase will be a ‘free gift’ that will delight you”. You get the idea. The word “included” suggests that for the price of something you get something extra. That “extra” means it will be “included”. We would call this process “inclusion”. 

But the new definition has nothing to do with a bonus or something extra. The new word does more than imply, it frankly states that there are people in this world [impliedly but not specifically stated “in this country”] who have been excluded or marginalized because of physical or intellectual disabilities.  

Now if we stop there, stop with the description of those excluded or marginalized people, we have an easily-identifiable group. This group, these groups would be people who have what is traditionally called “disabilities” such as combat wounds or other physically-caused handicaps that occurred sometime during their lives…or possibly handicaps that were revealed at birth such as physical deformities or missing limbs or other physical handicaps. Civil laws, both national and State laws provide for protection and support for such unfortunate people.  

The definition, however, goes on to include a reference that refers to groups that are both easily identifiable and difficult to identify. These are those who are members of other minority groups. 

Need we ask for the identity of other minority groups? Obviously blacks, so-called African-Americans. But to be honest, if we’re going to discuss other minority groups we must be honest. Following the “logic” of language, a minority group would be any identifiable grouping of citizens (oops, are we limiting our categories here to only citizens?) who have previously (or even currently) been treated with less than equal respect. For example, in this country, there is a history of less-than-equal-respect shown toward Irish Americans, Native Americans, Italian Americans, Mexican Americans, English Americans, Polish Americans, African Americans, Catholics, Jews, Moslems, members of many different religious sects (such as Branch-Davidians), and currently even MAGA-Republicans, Conservative-Republicans, Democrats. Have I exhausted the totality of victims of mistreatment in this country?  Probably not. Blonds are the butt of many jokes (i.e., mistreatment) as are women with large breasts, women with small breasts, children who have to wear glasses, children who are inept at playing sports, and people wearing some kinds of clothing. The list is almost endless. 

After all, being a victim is more a subjective attitude than a realistic condition. How can we say such a thing? Easily. One is only a victim if one decides to be a victim. Handicaps exist more in the mind than in actual reality. A double amputee just climbed Mount Everest, for example. Thalidomide babies born without arms have learned to function in daily life as have others with physical and mental and emotional conditions that can easily be called “disabilities”. Excellence in any activity requires focus and devotion and mental discipline. Being born a certain “color”, to certain parents or in a certain lifestyle is no guarantee of either ultimate performance or ultimate failure. It is frequently seen that twins born and raised with equal treatment/opportunity/benefits will be easily identifiable by their respective outcomes in life.  

Diversity, equity, and inclusion, when it comes to people, are nonsensical concepts that deny reality and common sense, and human experience.  

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Who Was Sister Wilhelmina Lancaster, Whose Body Is Now the Center of Attention in Missouri?

The second of five children born to Catholic parents in St. Louis on Palm Sunday, April 13, 1924, Mary Elizabeth Lancaster (she took the name Wilhelmina when she made her vows) was raised in a deeply pious home.

Kelsey Wicks/ACI Group/CNANationMay 24, 2023

When the Benedictine Sisters of Mary, Queen of the Apostles exhumed the body of their foundress, Sister Wilhelmina Lancaster, on May 18, they found the unexpected: Four years after her death and burial in a simple wooden coffin, her body appeared remarkably well preserved.

The news quickly spread on social media about the unusual state of the remains of the contemplative order’s African American foundress, drawing hundreds of pilgrims to the monastery in rural Missouri.

The body of Sister Wilhelmina Lancaster is seen on May 20 in Gower, Missouri. | Kelsey Wicks/CNA

Questions remain to be answered about whether an investigation will take place to examine her remains scientifically. In the meantime, many people want to know more about this woman who, at the age of 70, founded the order of sisters best known for their chart-topping Gregorian chant and classic Catholic hymn albums.

A Vision of Jesus 

The second of five children born to Catholic parents in St. Louis on Palm Sunday, April 13, 1924, Mary Elizabeth Lancaster (she took the name Wilhelmina when she made her vows) was raised in a deeply pious home. 

According to the current abbess, Benedictine Mother Cecilia Snell, as told in a biography published by her community, the future Sister Wilhelmina had a mystical experience at her first Communion at age 9 wherein Jesus invited her to be his. 

“She saw something of him at her first Communion. Maybe not very clearly, but she saw he was so handsome,” the abbess said. 

“He said, ‘Will you be mine?’

“And she said, ‘He is so handsome, how can I say No?’”

After this experience, at age 13, her parish priest asked her if she ever considered becoming a sister. Though she had not, she was quickly moved by the idea and wrote to the Oblate Sisters of Providence in Baltimore seeking permission to join, “but she was too young [so] she had to wait a little bit longer.”

The excerpt of the letter reveals a stunning straightforwardness and enduring faithfulness, given that she would die having lived 75 years under religious vows. 

“Dear Mother Superior,” it reads. “I am a girl, 13 years old, and I would like to become a nun. I plan to come to your convent as soon as possible. I will graduate from grade school next month. What I want to know is whether you have to bring anything to the convent and what it is you have to bring. I hope I am not troubling you any, but I have my heart set on becoming a nun (of course I am a Catholic.) God bless you and those under your command. Respectfully, Mary Elizabeth Lancaster.”

Catholic Education and a Lifelong Vocation

Growing up under segregation, Mary Elizabeth was once taunted with the nickname “chocolate drops” as she ran through a white neighborhood on her way home from school, and although she also was ridiculed as the lone Catholic among Baptist and Methodist peers, she refused to harbor resentment for her treatment. 

When the local Catholic high school became segregated under the Christian Brothers and public school seemed like her only option, her parents went to great efforts to ensure that their daughter and her schoolmates could continue their Catholic education. 

According to Sister Wilhelmina, as recounted in her biography, her “parents, who did not want me to go to the public high school, got to work and founded St. Joseph’s Catholic High School for Negroes, which lasted until Archbishop Ritter put an end to segregation in the diocese.” 

She graduated as valedictorian of the school her parents helped to found and then entered the Oblate Sisters of Providence, one of only two religious orders for Black or Hispanic women. She would remain with these sisters for 50 years under vows. 

The Habit and the Traditional Latin Mass

During her 50 years in religious life, Sister Wilhelmina witnessed the changes brought by Vatican II and sought to preserve the habit, even constructing one of her own when the sisters stopped producing them.

“She spent so many years fighting for the habit,” said Mother Cecilia, who said Sister Wilhelmina took seriously the idea that the habit signifies the wearer as a bride of Christ. 

According to her biography, she made a habit for herself, creating parts of the headdress out of a plastic bleach bottle, even as her sisters no longer wore theirs. 

As the Catholic Key reported, her homemade habit may have saved her life when she was working as a teacher in Baltimore and the stiff, high-necked collar known as the guimpe deflected the knife of a disgruntled student. 

Her biography tells of an occasion when a sister, passing her in the hallway, pointed at the traditional headdress and asked, “Are you going to wear that all the time?” 

“Yes!” Sister Wilhelmina responded and would later quip, “I am Sister WIL-HEL-MINA — I’ve a HELL of a WILL and I MEAN it!”

After years of trying to get her order to return to the habit, she happened to hear about the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter starting a group of sisters, and she had rediscovered the Latin Mass and fell in love with it, Mother Cecilia said. 

“And one day, she packed her bags — and she’s 70 years old, and she went to found this community — just a complete leap of faith.” 

In 1995, with the help of a member of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter, the community began. Over time, it would take on a more contemplative and distinctly Marian charism, with a special emphasis on praying for priests. 

In her proposal for a new community, Wilhelmina said she wanted to return to regular observance, something she petitioned for during the general chapter of the Oblate Sisters of Providence. “The wearing of a uniform habit, the surrendering of all monies to a common bursar, the obeying of lawful authority in all departments, the guarding of enclosure and of times and places of silence, and the living together an authentic fraternal life,” she wrote.

In short, in her new community, she imagined a return to the ordinary discipline of religious life. 

The new community, which began in Scranton, Pennsylvania, followed St. Benedict in his Rule and chanted the traditional Divine Office in Latin. In 2006, the community accepted an invitation from Bishop Robert Finn to transfer to his Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph in Missouri. 

In 2018, their abbey, Abbey of Our Lady of Ephesus, was consecrated with Mother Abbess Cecilia as the first abbess, with Sister Wilhelmina under her authority. In 2019, seven sisters left the abbey to establish the order’s first daughter house, the Monastery of St. Joseph in Ava, Missouri.

Today, the sisters continue to lead lives of silence and contemplation, following St. Benedict’s Rule. They partake in the Extraordinary Form of the Mass and use the 1962 Monastic Office, with its traditional Gregorian Chant, in Latin.  

The community records an album in the St. John’s Chapel. | Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles

Devoted to the Blessed Mother

Sister Wilhelmina is remembered for her love of Our Lady, even in the last years of her life, when she was suffering from fragile health.

Regina Trout, a former postulant who cared for Sister Wilhelmina and is now married with children and a lecturer in biology at Purdue University Fort-Wayne, recalled seeing her visibly moved.

“Whenever you would talk to her about Our Lady, you could just see that spark. She loved Our Lady so much, and that came through so strongly,” she said. 

Sister Wilhelmina’s last conscious words — “O Maria,” sung two days before her death as part of the hymn O Sanctissima — were a reflection of her deeply Marian piety as well as the charism of the chart-topping music that glorifies God that the Benedictine Sisters of Mary are known for. 

“She loved our Blessed Mother,” Mother Cecilia said. “That’s what she would tell everybody coming here. ‘Pray the Rosary. Don’t forget to pray the Rosary.’ Love the Blessed Mother. She loves you.” 

“Her death was beautiful,” the abbess told EWTN’s ACI Group. “God arranged everything.”

“We were singing ‘Jesus, my Lord, my God, my all.’ When we got to the rest of the song — ’Had I but Mary’s sinless heart, with which to love Thee with, O what joy’ — she opened her eyes and looked up.

“I mean, she had been comatose. We know she could hear us, but she was just not responsive at all for a couple of days. And then she just looked up with this face full of bursts of love.”

For the abbess, it seemed like “she was just already in heaven” in those moments. 

THE CATHOLIC MONITOR

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When Kwasniewski says that he has “no moral certainty that Benedict XVI did not successfully abdicate” that apparently means that he is not absolutely certain which means he may have doubts about the resignation 

May 26, 2023

“Moral certainty is a concept of intuitive probability. It means a very high degree of probability, sufficient for action, but short of absolute or mathematical certainty.”Moral certainty – Wikipedia [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moral_certainty#:~:text=Moral%20certainty%20is%20a%20concept,of%20absolute%20or%20mathematical%20certainty.]

“Even those who think they have a watertight case in favor of validity should, out of intellectual honesty, grapple with what Socci presents here. If they can defeat his arguments, all the better for the defense of truth. If they cannot or will not, however, this would seem to indicate a moral or mental weakness.” – Dr. Peter Kwasniewski [https://cityoftheimmaculate.com/?p=159]

“I studied the work of Antonio Socci and Edmund Mazza, and while intriguing and disturbing… [it] has led me to no moral certainty that Benedict XVI did not successfully abdicate.” –  Dr. Peter Kwasniewski ( The Road from Hyperpapalism to Catholicism – by Peter Kwasniewski, page xiii, 2022)

When Dr. Peter Kwasniewski says that he has “no moral certainty that Benedict XVI did not successfully abdicate” that apparently means that he is not absolutely certain which means he may have doubts about the resignation.    

The important theological book “Rodriguez and the Confession of Doubtful Mortal Sins” in page 225 says:

“If one does not resolve the doubt and deliberately does the action anyhow, it means that he is willing to offend God gravely, and therefore he commits a mortal sin.”
(Google: Theological Studies -cdn- 1 PDF by U. Adelman – Cited by 1 Related articles)

Moreover, Dogmatic theology scholar Fr. Elwood Sylvester Berry (1879-1954), who was professor at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Maryland, in his apologetic and dogmatic treatise which according to his introduction “was originally written in Latin” stated that according to Doctor of the Church St. Robert Bellarmine: “a doubtful pope is no pope… ‘if a papal election is doubtful for any reason'” therefore a imperfect council of bishops is needed:

“Hence the saying of Bellarmine: a doubtful pope is no pope. ‘Therefore,’ continues the Cardinal, ‘if a papal election is really doubtful for any reason, the elected should resign, so that a new election may be held. But if he refuses to resign, it becomes the duty of the bishops to adjust the matter, for although the bishops without the pope cannot define dogma nor make laws for the universal Church, they can and ought to decide, when occasion demands, who is the legitimate pope; and if the matter be doubtful, they should provide for the Church by having a legitimate and undoubted pastor elected. That is what the Council of Constance rightly did.'” 8
(The Church of Christ: An Apologetic and Dogmatic Treatise, By Rev. E. Sylvester Berry,  Page 229, Note 8: Bellarmine, “De Concilio, ii, 19)

Pray an Our Father now for reparation for the sins committed because of Francis’s Amoris Laetitia.

Pray an Our Father now for the restoration of the Church as well as the Triumph of the Kingdom of the Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

Stop for a moment of silence, ask Jesus Christ what He wants you to do now and next. In this silence remember God, Father, Son and Holy Ghost – Three Divine Persons yet One God, has an ordered universe where you can know truth and falsehood as well as never forget that He wants you to have eternal happiness with Him as his son or daughter by grace. Make this a practice. By doing this you are doing more good than reading anything here or anywhere else on the Internet.

Francis Notes:

– Doctor of the Church St. Francis de Sales totally confirmed beyond any doubt the possibility of a heretical pope and what must be done by the Church in such a situation:

“[T]he Pope… WHEN he is EXPLICITLY a heretic, he falls ipso facto from his dignity and out of the Church, and the Church MUST either deprive him, or, as some say, declare him deprived, of his Apostolic See.”
(The Catholic Controversy, by St. Francis de Sales, Pages 305-306)

Saint Robert Bellarmine, also, said “the Pope heretic is not deposed ipso facto, but must be declared deposed by the Church.”
[https://archive.org/stream/SilveiraImplicationsOfNewMissaeAndHereticPopes/Silveira%20Implications%20of%20New%20Missae%20and%20Heretic%20Popes_djvu.txt]

– “If Francis is a Heretic, What should Canonically happen to him?”: http://www.thecatholicmonitor.com/2020/12/if-francis-is-heretic-what-should.html

– “Could Francis be a Antipope even though the Majority of Cardinals claim he is Pope?”: http://www.thecatholicmonitor.com/2019/03/could-francis-be-antipope-even-though.html

– If Francis betrays Benedict XVI & the”Roman Rite Communities” like he betrayed the Chinese Catholics we must respond like St. Athanasius, the Saintly English Bishop Robert Grosseteste & “Eminent Canonists and Theologians” by “Resist[ing]” him: https://www.thecatholicmonitor.com/2021/12/if-francis-betrays-benedict-xvi.html 

 –  LifeSiteNews, “Confusion explodes as Pope Francis throws magisterial weight behind communion for adulterers,” December 4, 2017:

The AAS guidelines explicitly allows “sexually active adulterous couples facing ‘complex circumstances’ to ‘access the sacraments of Reconciliation and the Eucharist.'”

–  On February 2018, in Rorate Caeli, Catholic theologian Dr. John Lamont:

“The AAS statement… establishes that Pope Francis in Amoris Laetitia has affirmed propositions that are heretical in the strict sense.”

– On December 2, 2017, Bishop Rene Gracida:

“Francis’ heterodoxy is now official. He has published his letter to the Argentina bishops in Acta Apostlica Series making those letters magisterial documents.”

Pray an Our Father now for the restoration of the Church by the bishops by the grace of God.

Election Notes: 

– Intel Cryptanalyst-Mathematician on Biden Steal: “212Million Registered Voters & 66.2% Voting,140.344 M Voted…Trump got 74 M, that leaves only 66.344 M for Biden” [http://catholicmonitor.blogspot.com/2020/12/intel-cryptanalyst-mathematician-on.html?m=1]

– Will US be Venezuela?: Ex-CIA Official told Epoch Times “Chávez started to Focus on [Smartmatic] Voting Machines to Ensure Victory as early as 2003”: http://catholicmonitor.blogspot.com/2020/12/will-us-be-venezuela-ex-cia-official.html

– Tucker Carlson’s Conservatism Inc. Biden Steal Betrayal is explained by “One of the Greatest Columns ever Written” according to Rush: http://catholicmonitor.blogspot.com/2021/01/tucker-carlsons-conservatism-inc-biden.html?m=1

– A Hour which will Live in Infamy: 10:01pm November 3, 2020:
http://www.thecatholicmonitor.com/2021/01/a-hour-which-will-live-in-infamy-1001pm.html?m=1

What is needed right now to save America from those who would destroy our God given rights is to pray at home or in church and if called to even go to outdoor prayer rallies in every town and city across the United States for God to pour out His grace on our country to save us from those who would use a Reichstag Fire-like incident to destroy our civil liberties. [Is the DC Capitol Incident Comparable to the Nazi Reichstag Fire Incident where the German People Lost their Civil Liberties?: http://catholicmonitor.blogspot.com/2021/01/is-dc-capital-incident-comparable-to.html?m=1 and Epoch Times Show Crossroads on Capitol Incident: “Anitfa ‘Agent Provocateurs‘”:
http://catholicmonitor.blogspot.com/2021/01/epoch-times-show-crossroads-on-capital.html?m=1] 

Pray an Our Father now for the grace to know God’s Will and to do it.

Pray an Our Father now for America.

Pray an Our Father now for the restoration of the Church as well as the Triumph of the Kingdom of the Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.SHARE

The Left Has Pushed 

the Envelope

By: Victor Davis Hanson
American Greatness

May 25, 2023

(Emphasis added)

The Left is waging a full-fledged cultural revolution against traditional America. And the Maoist results are often as absurd as they are terrifying.

Special counsel John Durham just issued his final report on wrongdoing within the FBI, CIA, and the Department of Justice.

The summary confirms that our premier investigatory and intelligence agencies interfered in the 2016 and 2020 presidential campaigns.

Directors and high-ranking FBI officials lied under oath. They misled Congress. They altered court documents and deceived federal judges.

The FBI hired a foreign national to gather dirt on Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign—while he was being paid by the rival Hillary Clinton campaign.

The FBI contracted Twitter to suppress news stories. It kept the Hunter Biden laptop under wraps, even as former intelligence officials flat-out lied it was likely “Russian disinformation.” That was a blatant effort to aid the 2020 Biden campaign.

The IRS just conceded whistleblowers were correct and the agency fired its entire multiyear audit team responsible for investigating Hunter Biden’s purported tax irregularities.

The agency claimed it was ordered to do so by the Department of Justice, headed by Biden’s appointee Merrick Garland.

California is facing a crushing $32 billion deficit. Yet it flirts with an $800 billion-dollar “reparations” payout to the state’s black residents.

No one has any idea where the money for that would come from. No one can define who would qualify. No one can explain why a state that never allowed slavery eight generations ago now owes selected Californians billions of dollars it does not have.

One of the reparations board leaders asserts blacks might be willing to accept an “installment” plan of payments.

The NAACP just issued a “travel alert” advising blacks not to visit Florida. The announcement was timed to draw negative attention to conservative Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ announcement of a presidential bid.

Chicago, Baltimore, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, and Indianapolis—all outside Florida—have the highest black murder rates in the nation.

Florida in contrast, with a black population of 3.3 million, has the second-largest number of black businesses in the nation. The chairman of the NAACP’s board of directors is himself a Florida resident!

Black Lives Matter has just announced it lost millions of dollars in investments and ran up huge deficits.

The culprit was its former corrupt leadership.

Its extravagant spending, plush homes, and family hangers-on have nearly bankrupted the advocacy group. It cannot account for the millions of dollars in corporate guilt and protection money it leveraged following the George Floyd riots in 2020.

In New York, a threatening subway career criminal with 42 prior arrests was subdued by a bystander and died during the confrontation. The criminal is now deified. The would-be Samaritan is charged with felony manslaughter.

The deceased’s uncle is vocal about his late nephew’s confrontation. But he himself was just arrested with stolen property and armed with a knife. He was mysteriously still roaming the streets despite 70 prior arrests and current active arrest warrants.

In almost every American city and town, biological males, with enormous advantages in size and musculoskeletal mass, routinely win women’s sporting competitions.

They are systematically destroying decades of progress that sought to ensure parity between men’s and women’s sports.

Corporate America has joined this cultural revolution hysteria. Companies are apparently now hellbent on destroying their brands, profits, and net worth.

Under pressure from LGBTQ activists, the Los Angeles Dodgers reinvited the “Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence” to celebrate Pride night at Dodger Stadium.

Catholics and Christians had objected to the invitation because the group’s notoriety hinges on its sexualized and often pornographic mockery of Catholic ritual, the Holy Trinity, and Christian faith.

The supposedly courageous group would never dare extend its street-theater blasphemy to other religious groups such as Muslims or Hindus.

The Dodgers apparently do not care that Greater Los Angeles may be home to 6 million Mexican American citizens and resident Hispanic immigrants. Most are Catholic and many were avid Dodger fans.

Anheuser-Busch has nearly destroyed its best-selling Bud Light brand by hiring transgender performance-art activist Dylan Mulvaney to hawk the brand—and his own transitioning—to America’s working classes.

The Disney corporation, for decades, has enjoyed multibillion-dollar concessions and a veritable 40-square-mile private fiefdom gifted from the taxpayers of Florida.

No matter. Disney has rebranded its films, amusement parks, and television offerings to reflect radical transgendered, gay, and race advocacies.

The results so far are billion-dollar losses in Disney stock, subscribers, and viewers.

A woke CNN has all but destroyed its once-global audience. It now has fewer viewers than certain popular podcasts.

All these implosions are not just shocking but surreal. Why are our government, corporations, and popular culture colluding in mass suicide—to the delight of our enemies like Communist China?

The Left Has Pushed 

the Envelope

By: Victor Davis Hanson
American Greatness

May 25, 2023

(Emphasis added)

The Left is waging a full-fledged cultural revolution against traditional America. And the Maoist results are often as absurd as they are terrifying.

Special counsel John Durham just issued his final report on wrongdoing within the FBI, CIA, and the Department of Justice.

The summary confirms that our premier investigatory and intelligence agencies interfered in the 2016 and 2020 presidential campaigns.

Directors and high-ranking FBI officials lied under oath. They misled Congress. They altered court documents and deceived federal judges.

The FBI hired a foreign national to gather dirt on Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign—while he was being paid by the rival Hillary Clinton campaign.

The FBI contracted Twitter to suppress news stories. It kept the Hunter Biden laptop under wraps, even as former intelligence officials flat-out lied it was likely “Russian disinformation.” That was a blatant effort to aid the 2020 Biden campaign.

The IRS just conceded whistleblowers were correct and the agency fired its entire multiyear audit team responsible for investigating Hunter Biden’s purported tax irregularities.

The agency claimed it was ordered to do so by the Department of Justice, headed by Biden’s appointee Merrick Garland.

California is facing a crushing $32 billion deficit. Yet it flirts with an $800 billion-dollar “reparations” payout to the state’s black residents.

No one has any idea where the money for that would come from. No one can define who would qualify. No one can explain why a state that never allowed slavery eight generations ago now owes selected Californians billions of dollars it does not have.

One of the reparations board leaders asserts blacks might be willing to accept an “installment” plan of payments.

The NAACP just issued a “travel alert” advising blacks not to visit Florida. The announcement was timed to draw negative attention to conservative Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ announcement of a presidential bid.

Chicago, Baltimore, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, and Indianapolis—all outside Florida—have the highest black murder rates in the nation.

Florida in contrast, with a black population of 3.3 million, has the second-largest number of black businesses in the nation. The chairman of the NAACP’s board of directors is himself a Florida resident!

Black Lives Matter has just announced it lost millions of dollars in investments and ran up huge deficits.

The culprit was its former corrupt leadership.

Its extravagant spending, plush homes, and family hangers-on have nearly bankrupted the advocacy group. It cannot account for the millions of dollars in corporate guilt and protection money it leveraged following the George Floyd riots in 2020.

In New York, a threatening subway career criminal with 42 prior arrests was subdued by a bystander and died during the confrontation. The criminal is now deified. The would-be Samaritan is charged with felony manslaughter.

The deceased’s uncle is vocal about his late nephew’s confrontation. But he himself was just arrested with stolen property and armed with a knife. He was mysteriously still roaming the streets despite 70 prior arrests and current active arrest warrants.

In almost every American city and town, biological males, with enormous advantages in size and musculoskeletal mass, routinely win women’s sporting competitions.

They are systematically destroying decades of progress that sought to ensure parity between men’s and women’s sports.

Corporate America has joined this cultural revolution hysteria. Companies are apparently now hellbent on destroying their brands, profits, and net worth.

Under pressure from LGBTQ activists, the Los Angeles Dodgers reinvited the “Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence” to celebrate Pride night at Dodger Stadium.

Catholics and Christians had objected to the invitation because the group’s notoriety hinges on its sexualized and often pornographic mockery of Catholic ritual, the Holy Trinity, and Christian faith.

The supposedly courageous group would never dare extend its street-theater blasphemy to other religious groups such as Muslims or Hindus.

The Dodgers apparently do not care that Greater Los Angeles may be home to 6 million Mexican American citizens and resident Hispanic immigrants. Most are Catholic and many were avid Dodger fans.

Anheuser-Busch has nearly destroyed its best-selling Bud Light brand by hiring transgender performance-art activist Dylan Mulvaney to hawk the brand—and his own transitioning—to America’s working classes.

The Disney corporation, for decades, has enjoyed multibillion-dollar concessions and a veritable 40-square-mile private fiefdom gifted from the taxpayers of Florida.

No matter. Disney has rebranded its films, amusement parks, and television offerings to reflect radical transgendered, gay, and race advocacies.

The results so far are billion-dollar losses in Disney stock, subscribers, and viewers.

A woke CNN has all but destroyed its once-global audience. It now has fewer viewers than certain popular podcasts.

All these implosions are not just shocking but surreal. Why are our government, corporations, and popular culture colluding in mass suicide—to the delight of our enemies like Communist China?