Columnist.
Churches in the People's Republic of Massachusetts have grave concerns about a new anti-discrimination law that could force congregations to accommodate the transgender community under the threat of fines and jail time. The law, which goes into effect in October, does not specifically mention churches or other houses of worship. However, the attorney general, along with the government commission assigned to enforce the law, have a different point of view. Attorney General Maura Healey wrote that places of public accommodation include "auditoriums, convention centers, lecture halls, houses of worship, and other places of public gathering." The Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination, the commission responsible for enforcing the anti-discrimination law, reinforced that interpretation in a document titled, "Gender Identity Guidance."
There are some football players left in this nation who are still proud to be American.
My friend Karen Kingsbury, the New York Times best-selling author, sent me the most wonderful suggestion for a story the other day. It's about a woman named Hope Painter from Lebanon, Pennsylvania, and her nine-year old son, Kingston. Hope was in Lower Manhattan on that fateful Tuesday morning 15 years ago. She was being evacuated when the second plane hit the World Trade Center towers. She saw things — unspeakable things — that caused her unimaginable trauma. The days turned into weeks and the weeks turned into months yet Hope was unable to escape from the memories of September 11, 2001. Years later, someone gave her a copy of Karen's novel about the events of that day, called "One Tuesday Morning." It's a story about sacrifice and redemption.
Hillary Clinton exposed her true nature Friday night at the LGBT for Hillary Gala, launching into a hateful smear against Donald Trump supporters. "To just be grossly generalistic, you can put half of Trump supporters into what I call the 'basket of deplorables. Right? Racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamophobic, you name it." The only thing deplorable was Hillary Clinton's basket of grossly generalistic comments. "And unfortunately, there are people like that and he has lifted them up," she went on to smear. "He has given voice to their websites that used to only have 11,000 people, now have 11 million. He tweets and retweets offensive, hateful, mean-spirited rhetoric." Hillary seems to think she can win the White House by insulting millions of God-fearing, patriotic Americans.
*The following is a transcript of Todd's speech at the 2016 Values Voter Summit in Washington, DC.* I don't know about you, but I am honored to share a fox hole not only with you but also with the Family Research Council as we fight to defend religious liberty. Now before I begin my remarks, I want to issue a warning, especially to any of you folks who suffer from micro-aggressions. It's about to get politically incorrect up in here — and as I promised you guys on the radio this morning, I'm about to shuck it to the cob. Several years ago when I addressed this incredibly attractive crowd of conservatives I told you that I was one of those folks President Obama referred to back in 2007 — one of those bitter clingers. And today I stand before you and proudly say that I am still a gun-toting, bible-clinging, flag-waving son of a Baptist, and I'm not bitter — I'm blessed.
Jesus Christ is no longer welcome at a school district in Tipton, Missouri. And neither are prayers nor a religious hymn. The Tipton R-VI School District decided to cleanse itself of anything remotely affiliated with Christianity after it was was bullied by the Freedom From Religion Foundation. They even pulled down a giant portrait of our Lord that was displayed in the grade school's library. The FFRF is a Wisconsin-based group of perpetually offended atheists, agnostics and free-thinkers. They fired off a nasty letter to the school board claiming to represent a "concerned attendee" of the annual high school awards program. For as far back as anyone can remember, students at Tipton High School always concluded their annual awards program with a candlelight ceremony.
President Obama stood on foreign soil and declared that Americans are lazy and the nation is imperfect. This guy really doesn't like us, does he? The president's latest USA shaming took place during a town hall gathering at the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative Town Hall in Laos. "And I'll be honest, everywhere we go, including here at ASEAN, sometimes people say, 'Ah, why are the Americans talking about these issues? This is none of their business; they shouldn't be meddling in other people's business. And also, America is not perfect. Look, it still has racial discrimination. It still has its own problems. It should worry about its own problems," he said. Really, Mr. President? Everywhere you go people are telling you that America is not perfect?
A public high school in the town of Virginia, Minnesota, is accused of turning a blind eye as a transgender student engaged in twerking, grinding and all sorts of scurrilous activity in the girls locker room, according to an explosive lawsuit filed in federal court. Alliance Defending Freedom is representing at least 11 families asking the court to stop Virginia Public Schools' policy that opens up showers and locker rooms to the opposite sex. "School policies should promote the rights and safety of every student, but that's not what Virginia Public Schools is doing — and it's certainly not what the departments of Education and Justice are doing," ADF senior counsel Gary McCaleb said. "No child should be forced into an intimate setting, like a locker room, with someone of the opposite sex."
And you won't believe how students react
The facts surrounding 9/11 are very clear. Islamic radicals committed jihad on American soil.
A group of New York Muslims has taken offense at a small town's new memorial honoring those who died in the September 11th, 2001, terrorist attacks. The Islamic Organization of the Southern Tier fired off a letter to city leaders in Owego, alleging that words engraved in the granite memorial would encourage hatred to Muslims. The memorial, which will be dedicated on Saturday, identifies those responsible for the attacks as "Islamic terrorists." That's a problem for the Islamic Organization of the Southern Tier, based in nearby Johnson City, NY.
President Obama defended NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick's decision not to stand during the playing of the National Anthem calling the controversial move "sincere." "As a general matter, when it comes to the flag, and the National Anthem and the meaning that that holds for our men and women in uniform and those that fought for us — that is a tough thing for them to get past, to then hear what his deeper concerns are," Obama said. "But I don't doubt his sincerity. I think he cares about some real, legitimate issues that need to be talked about and, if nothing else, what he's done is generated more conversation about some topics that need to be talked about." The president, speaking at the G20 economic summit in China, said Kaepernick had a "constitutional right" to protest.
These days it seems that celebrating America is not exactly politically correct, whether its public schools banning the U.S. flag or professional football players refusing to stand for the Star-Spangled Banner. We've seen protesters burn Old Glory while politicians bicker about whether these great United States are still a most exceptional country. But there's a little high school on the shores of Lake Michigan that still believes in America. They still believe in concepts like God and Country, duty and honor — the idea that we are still that shining city on a hill. And what they folks at Mona Shores High School did before the Thursday night football game on Sept. 1st has folks all across the fruited plain grabbing for a hanky.
A public school district near Louisville, Kentucky, has come down with a bad case of what I call "Participation Trophy Syndrome," or PTS. The Greater Clark County School Board in Jeffersonville, Indiana, is considering a plan to eliminate the valedictorian system because it creates "unhealthy competition," according to Supt. Andrew Melin. Unhealthy competition? Is he serious? Did a kid suffer a concussion while trying to parse a participle?
The Good Book has been banished from rooms at a hotel operated by Arizona State University. The religious cleansing of the Thunderbird Executive Inn took place after the Freedom From Religion Foundation complained. It was a story first reported by Billy Hallowell of Deseret News. "Providing Bibles to Inn guests sends the message that ASU endorses the religious texts," attorney Madeline Ziegler wrote to the university. The FFRF is a group of perpetually offended atheists and agnostic whack-a-doodles from Wisconsin. They are very unpleasant and very litigious people.
Kaepernick apparently despises the police more than he despises the national anthem.
It seems like every day there's a news story about a school banning the U.S. flag or a second-rate professional football player hating on America. These days it's not politically correct to say that you are proud to be an American. So you can imagine my delight when a reader told me about a group of patriots at a Michigan middle school just a stone's throw from the Muskegon River. Boys and girls at Big Rapids Middle School gathered around the flag pole on Monday — the first day of the new school year. A trumpeter played Reveille as they raised a crisp, new American flag. And then, a huge crowd of students and teachers began reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.
Rodney Ivester of Corinth, Texas, is the kind of guy you'd like as a neighbor. He maintains a tidy lawn, doesn't make much of a racket and he flies an American flag. About three weeks ago, Rodney decided to post another flag alongside Old Glory to honor law enforcement. It's a black and white version of the U.S. flag adorned with a blue stripe. He told me that posting the flag was a small way that he could honor the memory of the five police officers gunned down in Dallas in July. "I love my country and I wanted to show my support for law enforcement and military personnel," he told me. "I put the flag up so that I can honor the fallen officers and support those that are in the heat of the battle."
Rush Limbaugh made an excellent point about the controversy over San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick and the Star-Spangled Banner. The Dallas Cowboys wanted to put a decal on their helmets to honor five Dallas police officers killed by a sniper. But the National Football League denied the request. "Everyone has to be uniform with the league and the other 31 teams," a team spokesman told the Dallas News. "We respect their decision." But the NFL took a very different approach to Mr. Kaepernick, the second-rate quarterback with a great big unpatriotic chip on his shoulder.
A decision to prohibit flags at football games prompted an uproar.
