The radical left is attacking Second Lady Karen Pence. She is returning to the classroom to teach art appreciation at the same northern Virginia school where she taught for 12 years when then-Congressman Mike Pence served in the House of Representatives. 

So what’s the big deal?

It turns out that the school is a private Christian school that takes the Bible seriously. I happen to be very familiar with this school. It is affiliated with the church Carol and I attend.

As you might expect, the school has a code of conduct governing the behavior of employees, students and their families. Mrs. Pence and the school are now being attacked by the Huffington Post, the Washington Post, CNN and radical gay rights groups as “hateful bigots.”  

Once again, the left is demonstrating that it has zero tolerance for men and women of faith, particularly Christians.

No one is compelled to send their children to this Christian school or work at this school. If you want to teach your kids that marriage is anything you want to call it, that boys can use the girls’ bathrooms or that your 13 year-old daughter should be on birth control, then feel free to send your kids to some of our public schools.

But you cannot force Christians to teach radical social values in our schools. 

Sadly, that is what the left wants to do. This is another manifestation of Barack Obama’s attempt to force Catholic nuns to do things contrary to the teachings of their faith.

For those who may have already forgotten or who may be weary of the battle, the attack on Mrs. Pence and this Christian school is a stark reminder of just how much was at stake in 2016 when Donald Trump and Mike Pence defeated Hillary Clinton. 

Without their victory, there would be two more Ginsburg clones on the Supreme Court today. Our religious freedom, which we celebrated Wednesday, would be restricted to the confines of our churches and synagogues. 

If you would like to send a note of encouragement to Mrs. Pence, I will make sure her office receives it. You can send messages to [email protected]. Thank you!

Mission Accomplished?

Vice President Mike Pence is also taking heat today. During a speech at the State Department Wednesday, the vice president praised the administration’s war effort against ISIS and declared, “The caliphate has crumbled and ISIS has been defeated." 

Unfortunately, the vice president’s remarks were delivered about an hour after four Americans were killed by an ISIS suicide bomber in Syria. The attack triggered a lot of handwringing about the president’s plans to withdraw U.S. forces.

Whatever you think about pulling U.S. troops out of Syria, jihadist bombings cannot be the measurement by which we determine success. Eliminating every jihadist, as desirable as that may be, is an unattainable goal. 

We have been at war with radical Islam since the days of the Barbary Pirates. Radical Islam has been at war with Western Civilization since the Middle Ages. 

What the Islamic State is trying to do is establish a caliphate in the Middle East, which Barack Obama allowed to happen. You may recall that Obama ignored repeated warnings about ISIS and even dismissed it as a "JV team." 

Under Donald Trump and Mike Pence, ISIS has lost its caliphate. But the jihadi ideology remains. That is a problem for peace-loving Muslims to resolve. America cannot police the civil war within Islam. 

Meanwhile, we got yet another reminder Wednesday of the danger that exists within our homeland with the arrest of Hasher Jallal Taheb, who was plotting to attack the White House on behalf of ISIS.

Pelosi’s Gift

Yesterday I suggested that Speaker Nancy Pelosi may have rescinded her State of the Union invitation because she did not want to give the president another prime time opportunity to make his case for the border wall.

Her excuse about security concerns during the speech is a lie. Even the liberal media aren’t buying it. 

The Secret Service said Pelosi’s office never reached out to them. Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said, "The Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Secret Service are fully prepared to support and secure the State of the Union.”

Here’s another reason Pelosi may have had second thoughts: Perhaps she’s afraid that Trump will turn around at the podium and directly confront her on the issue of border security, just as he did in the Oval Office last month.

I guarantee Trump will have Angel families in the audience at the State of the Union address, just as he did last year. Pelosi doesn’t want to talk to these folks, and she certainly doesn’t want the American people to know more about them.

Perhaps she is afraid of the increasingly vocal “Crazy Caucus” within her party and the degree of disrespect they may show toward the duly-elected president of the United States.

Whatever her motivation for disinviting the president, Nancy Pelosi has handed Donald Trump a tremendous gift. Not only has she put a very bright spotlight on the petty behavior of her party, she has invited the president to do something very dramatic. 

For example, my friend Mark Levin suggested that Mike Pence, in his capacity as president of the Senate, and Majority Leader Mitch McConnell should invite President Trump to address the Senate instead. Others have suggested that the president should deliver the State of the Union address from a location along the border.

At a minimum, Pelosi just elevated the whole reason we are now experiencing the longest government shutdown ever: Because Democrats refuse to secure the border. They would rather have open borders than open government. 

Thursday, news broke that President Trump cancelled a military transport that was scheduled to fly Pelosi and a congressional delegation to Europe and the Middle East. 

The president informed Speaker Pelosi that her “seven-day excursion” should be rescheduled until the shutdown is over, and that she should remain in Washington to negotiate a deal that secures the border and re-opens the government. 

Can you imagine “President Romney” having the intestinal fortitude to do that?!

TAKE ACTION: The primary responsibility of government is to protect its citizens. That begins by securing our borders. Congress needs to do its job.

Click here to send a message urging your members of Congress to support additional funding for serious border security. 

Speaking Of Immigration…

Kudos to our friends at the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS)! 

The conservative think tank has just hit the far-left Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) with a racketeering (RICO) lawsuit for labeling CIS a “hate group." 

For years, the SPLC has been smearing Christian pro-family organizations as the equivalent of the KKK in an attempt to make normal conservative ideas unspeakable. Now the left is equating border security with racism.

Advocating for immigration policies that put American workers and taxpayers first is not bigotry. It’s just common sense — something in very short supply on the political left these days.