Columnist.
For Naghmeh Abedini, it was a celebration more than three years in the making. The dream that her husband, Pastor Saeed, would be free from Iranian captivity finally came true on Saturday, which was also (fittingly) Religious Freedom Day in America. Since 2012, the mom of two had been pleading with U.S. officials to intervene in the case — even quitting her job and traveling the country holding rallies for his release. Now, she and her family are swapping their tears, vigils, and prayers for joy at the news that President Obama himself called to confirm.
After hearing from the president on Tuesday, America took a turn listening to the people vying for his job. And the GOP candidates made one thing clear right off the bat: their take on the state of our union is radically different than Obama's. Governor Chris Christie (R-N.J.) highlighted that in one of the funnier quips of the night, saying that he tuned in two nights earlier. "...I watched story time with Barack Obama, and it sounds like everything in the world was going amazing."
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) must take the same view on faith that she does on health care: you have to subscribe to it before you find out what's in it. The woman who once called abortion "sacred ground" did Catholicism another major disservice this week when the former House Speaker claimed she's a "devout, practicing Catholic" who's never supported abortion on demand.
If there's one thing conservatives have been looking forward to since President Obama's first State of the Union address, it's his last. [Tuesday] night, that moment finally arrived — and with it, the overwhelming relief that this administration is writing its last chapter in America's history. In this seventh and final installment, the president seemed to take us into a parallel universe where his failed policies on health care, foreign policy, climate change, social change, and the economy were hailed as victorious achievements.
When he took office, Barack Obama promised hope. And with his final term almost over, Americans finally have it. For most of the country, the last seven years have been a tragic departure from the values that made America a great nation. But as far as the White House is concerned, that isn't cause for concern — but celebration. It means that this president has accomplished exactly what he said he set out to do: fundamentally transform America.
For once, the GOP isn't in retreat — they're headed to one. After a few rocky years, the House's new leadership team is ready to kick off a new chapter at its planning and strategy meetings in Baltimore this week. Many would say the year is already off to a good start after Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) put the first-ever rebuke of ObamaCare and taxpayer funding of Planned Parenthood on the president's desk. Now, with Obama prepping for his final act, one last State of the Union speech, Republicans are chomping at the bit to help drive the messaging in a year pivotal to their — and the country's — survival.
Only the Department of Education would try to stop bullies by becoming one! Instead of starting a dialogue about what constitutes sexual harassment, the agency is ordering colleges to adopt its radical new definitions — or lose federal funds. Like the rest of the Obama administration, the DOE has gotten into the habit of throwing its weight around without any accountability or justification in the law. And while one of the biggest culprits of that, Secretary Arne Duncan, may be gone, his legacy of intimidation continues.
President Obama could never undo his pro-abortion legacy — but this week, Congress is giving him an opportunity to try. In perhaps one of the single greatest accomplishments of the last seven years, Republicans managed their first-ever, dual-chamber rebuke of Planned Parenthood and ObamaCare. After more than 60 tries, Speaker Paul Ryan's (R-Wisc.) party celebrated the victory at a special signing ceremony of the Restoring Americans' Health Care Freedom Act this afternoon.
The media's focus may have been on the president's tears during his gun control speech, but it should have been on the cries of freedom-loving Americans. After seven years of watching the administration wipe its feet on the Constitution, this latest power grab epitomizes everything people have come to resent about the White House. This week, the president's impersonation of the legislative branch got personal with the announcement of a four-point plan to curb one of the country's most important rights: to keep and bear arms.
If anyone's anxious to turn the page on 2015, it's Planned Parenthood. Rocked by more scandals than any organization not named the IRS, it hasn't exactly been smooth sailing for Cecile Richards's group since David Daleiden pulled back the curtain on the organization's trafficking in baby organs. With videos of her sinister side business in the double digits, it's only by the Obama administration's crass indifference that the group has survived this long.
Christmas may be gone, but Scrooge is still here! Much to our disappointment, Congress passed a massive funding bill before leaving town for Christmas that continued the taxpayer funding of Planned Parenthood and the farce of the "Affordable" Care Act. When conservatives cried foul, Republicans pointed out they didn't have the 60 Senate votes they needed to end Americans' forced partnership with Planned Parenthood.
Christmas can be one of the busiest times of the year. Our many activities can be meaningful and fun but can also be exhausting and even distracting. How much time do we spend reflecting upon what really happened that first Christmas? Hectic days work against quiet reflection. Additionally, we've heard the story of Jesus' birth so often that it can seem almost incidental to our celebrations.
If there's anyone busier than Santa, it's Rep. Hal Rogers (R-Ky.). As Chair of the House Appropriations Committee, it's up to him to make sure the government's stockings get stuffed for next year. That means another working weekend for he and the budget negotiators, who've been plodding through hundreds of pages of spending legislation before its release next week.
"[O]nly 16 percent of Islam is a religion — the rest is a combination of military, judicial, economic, and political system."
The North Pole may get all the attention this month, but for politicians — it's the "South polls" that matter. In a fiercely competitive race for the GOP presidential nomination, candidates are counting down the days to more than Christmas. In less than two months, a shrinking field will test their mettle in the first big test: the Iowa Caucus. From there, it's on to the South, where the Republican Party decided to hold half of its 12 March 1st primaries, after the first in South Carolina.
The word "contentious" doesn't begin to describe the American immigration debate over the last two decades. But in recent days, the lines are being redrawn — and with it, the national conversation. The focus is no longer being dominated by illegal immigration south of Texas but "legal" immigration coming from across the Atlantic, where a bold new enemy is exposing weaknesses in the West's tolerance.
The IRS isn't exactly topping conservatives' nice list this Christmas — so the idea of handing over even more sensitive information to an agency caught leaking it doesn't exactly thrill most Americans. Unfortunately, that's exactly what the Obama administration is proposing under a little rule quietly announced this September. The IRS didn't make much noise about the idea, and considering the opposition — it's easy to see why.
If Americans tuned in to the president's speech [Sunday] night hoping for a substantive, long-term strategy to defeat ISIS, they're still waiting. In a rare talk on terrorism (from an even rarer setting), the president managed to talk for 13 minutes without saying anything new. Backed into a corner by tragedies his failed policies helped create, President Obama tried to answer his critics on the administration's inadequate response to radical Islam. But after a familiar lecture on tolerance and gun control, all he accomplished was proving his opponents right.
The only package pro-lifers cared about this Christmas was the budget reconciliation one. And thanks to the hard work of conservatives in the House and Senate, they got it! In the early evening [Thursday], Americans celebrated the first major victory against Planned Parenthood and ObamaCare since the GOP took control of Congress. After weeks of late nights and procedural gymnastics, the Senate delivered its most stinging rebuke of the president's favorite twin pillars of policy: his signature health care law and favorite abortion business. With one more vote than they needed, the GOP is a small step away from sending the Restoring Americans' Health Care Freedom Reconciliation Act to the president's desk, where the responsibility for the failure of ObamaCare and nation's complicity in abortion's barbarism will ultimately rest.
Of all the horrific shootings this country has suffered these past few years, [Wednesday's] tragedy at San Bernardino may have been the most significant. Not because it took more lives than others, or even because of the gunmen's potential motives. No, Wednesday's tragedy was more stunning because it prompted an even fiercer attack — on faith. Instead of turning to one another for strength in crisis, Americans turned *on* each other.
