Lorie Smith, the Christian graphic artist and website designer, is a modern-day American hero. The state of Colorado insisted she kneel at the LGBTQ altar and abandon her Christian faith by promoting a same-sex wedding. They literally tried to compel her to “speak” what they ordered her to say. She said “no” and took her case all the way to the Supreme Court. Recently she won a 6-3 victory for the freedom of speech and religious liberty. In the heavens, our Founding Fathers thanked her.

But this is America in 2023 and tyrants grow more powerful each day. After she won her case, she was viciously attacked. Biden and Harris led the charge. Left-wing commentators piled on, calling her and the six justices that sided with her and the Constitution un-American, bigoted and haters.

The unhinged left heard the message loud and clear: “Get her!” Lorie Smith told the Epoch Times that she is facing “…horrific attacks, people saying they hope I would be raped; they want to burn my house down; they know where I live, and they want to come kill me and my family.”

Kellie Fiedorek, Senior Counsel and Government Affairs Director for Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), the firm that represented her throughout the legal battle, said, “Our security team is monitoring all of the comments that come in very, very closely to determine the best way to protect Lorie and to take action consistent with the threat.”

Lorie Smith’s battle was seven years long. Her victory at the Supreme Court was historic and a desperately needed victory for our Bill of Rights.

But we would understand if Lorie Smith now regretted her seven-year battle. Would she stand up today if she knew what would happen to her?

She said, “Absolutely, absolutely I would. Freedom of speech is worthy of protecting … not just for us here today… freedom of speech is for everyone, for this generation and the next and the next.”

Think about the courage and faithfulness of this one Christian woman the next time you pass a “woke” church with the LGBTQ flag flying outside. I pray her example will inspire us all. It is this, and only this, kind of courage that can save our country from the nihilistic, socialist left.

“Cocaine Gate”

Watching the Biden Administration manage the discovery of cocaine in the White House has been entertaining. Every day the story changes. The first press reports indicated it was found on a street outside the White House. Wrong. It was found in the library. “NOPE.” It was in a heavily-traveled unsecure area. “NOPE.” Now MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell is reporting it was discovered in a “limited access place” near the “Situation Room.” That’s the room the president and security officials use in a crisis.

I know this area well. The cocaine was found inside the West Executive entrance to the West Wing. I have gone through that entrance hundreds of times, but not during Biden’s presidency. If I got close to that entrance today, they would call in a drone strike on me. That entrance is used by administration officials, staffers and visitors on official business.

A White House staffer can bring a personal guest through this entrance, but only if they submit their personal information, undergo a background check and are cleared by the Secret Service.

When you enter that door, on the left there are small lockboxes each with an individual key. You are required to place your cell phone in these boxes and take the key for that specific lockbox so you can retrieve your phone when you leave.

The bottom line is that Biden and his people lie about everything. The withdrawal from Afghanistan was “perfect.” The Chinese balloon crossed the U.S. by “accident.” COVID-19 came from a bat. Boys can be girls. Cocaine? What cocaine?

Confidence in U.S. Institutions Plummets

Gallup is reporting that public confidence in 11 of 16 American institutions has significantly declined. The five worst-rated institutions are newspapers, the criminal justice system, television news, big business and Congress. They all have confidence ratings of less than 20% of the public with Congress at an anemic 8%.

I don’t think it is a coincidence that four of the five are increasingly seen as being controlled by the left. The fifth, Congress, is evenly divided between right and left, so virtually everyone “hates” them.

Institutions enjoying the most public trust are small businesses (65%), the military (60%) and the police (43%) — all seen as conservative leaning. But the presidency, big tech companies, public schools and organized labor, all associated with the left, get meager ratings between 25% and 27%.

For years we have noted that the political and cultural left has been “marching” through American institutions, taking them over one by one. The lesson here is that once the left prevails in an institution, the average American then rejects it. Big businesses — think Anheuser-Busch and Target — are learning that lesson the hard way.