The Speaker Steps Down

Speaker John Boehner stunned the D.C. political establishment [Friday] morning when he announced that he would resign from Congress at the end of October.

Conservatives have grown increasingly frustrated with his leadership. So much so that Rep. Mark Meadows filed a resolution at the end of July to “vacate the chair” — the speaker’s chair.

During his remarks at the Values Voter Summit [Friday] morning, Senator Marco Rubio’s best applause line came when he informed the crowd of Boehner’s resignation.

Media Manipulation

If you watched any of the news coverage of Pope Francis’ visit to Washington, D.C., you undoubtedly saw the little girl who “braved the barricades” to get a message to the pontiff. It turns out that her parents are illegal immigrants and she wanted the pope’s help in keeping them in the country because she is afraid they might be deported.

It was a touching moment, and anything but spontaneous. The Associated Press reports that the group Full Rights for Immigrants Coalition had been planning this stunt from the moment it learned Francis was coming to America. Had she failed to get attention in D.C., the group was prepared to travel to New York and Philadelphia to repeat this stunt.

This manufactured event is one more example of how public opinion is being manipulated by left-wing special interests. Remember “hands up, don’t shoot”? The left-wing media don’t question the favored narrative, they just take the bait hook, line and sinker.

On a different subject, there is more evidence that “Ahmed the clockmaker” is part of a similar setup involving various Muslim special interest groups and a family with a long history of exploiting the American media.

The Pope’s Priorities

The Obama White House is certainly pleased with Pope Francis’ visit so far. The left-wing media are ecstatic today, hailing him as a critic of capitalism and a champion of climate change.

I am hearing a lot of disappointment from traditional Catholics. If you are among our many Catholic friends, I would be interested in your feedback about the pope’s visit and his remarks.

But setting American politics aside for a moment, I want to mention something that I felt was almost unforgivable. I remember when Pope John Paul II returned to Poland, his homeland. Every step of the way, he confronted the communist government there.

John Paul II defied every attempt the regime made to manage his presence, to prevent him from speaking with dissidents. You can read more about this incredible event in a great biography by George Weigel entitled “The End and the Beginning.”

That kind of bold leadership, a willingness to speak truth to power, is what people expect from the leader of the Catholic Church. In contrast, Pope Francis went to Cuba and met with an aging dictator who has done nothing but bring suffering to the Cuban people.

Under the Castro regime, hundreds of Catholic churches and schools were closed. The church was driven underground. Only last year did the communist government finally lift its ban on the construction of new churches.

Hundreds of dissidents were arrested during Pope Francis’ visit to Cuba. He made no attempt to meet with them.

I hope the pope at least asked President Obama to get his foot off the necks of the Little Sisters of the Poor. Think about that: Obama won’t lift a finger to investigate Planned Parenthood, but he’ll bring the full weight and power of the federal government to bear against a group of nuns.

Obama’s Priorities

Expansionist China regularly threatens the United States. It has hacked the personnel files of the government workers. Security analysts fear lives could be in danger as a result. Xi Jinping, president of China, mocks Barack Obama with some regularity in his public comments. China is threatening our allies and cleaning our clocks at the trade table.

But don’t worry. The major newspapers [reported Friday] morning that the president of China and the president of the United States [reached] an agreement to control the weather.

Xi’s pledge to lower carbon emissions is meaningless — he has little control over China’s collapsing economy and nothing lowers carbon emissions faster than a cratering economy.

And when it comes to enforcing this new agreement, the administration has already signaled that its intention, just like the Iran deal, is to bypass Congress completely.

So President Obama will make an agreement on what is perhaps the least important issue, and he intends to enforce it through regulation. His policies will stifle our economy, cost jobs and cause hardworking families to pay higher energy bills.