News Weakly - 3/2/2019

You've Come a Long Way, Baby
Since forever in America only men could put themselves in harm's way in the military. Women could serve in non-combat roles, but only men would go to the shooting part of war. In the last couple of decades, that was overturned. We opted to take the best of humanity -- women -- and place them in the worst of situations -- war -- and call it "equality". Of course, that only went so far. The idea was that women who wanted to be put in that kind of danger could, but none would be required to. That's not equality. A federal court has ruled that a male-only draft is unconstitutional. What's good for the gander is good for the goose, and women get the "privilege" of signing up to die in the case of sufficient conflict. If they don't register for the draft, there will be consequences. There's your equality. Good job, ladies.

Kissing America Goodbye?
Ultra-liberal Democrat Senator Dianne Feinstein collided with climate activist children in a duel over what constitutes sufficient action to save the planet from human-caused global climate change. The children from the Sunrise Movement assured her that we need to eliminate capitalism and turn our lives over to a socialist government to save the planet and she assured them, "I know what I'm doing." It did not play well. Unfortunately, the large and growing portion of the Democratic party as well as the younger generation has no concept of the evils of socialism and really believe that the philosophy of government and economy that made America great in its first 200 years plus of existence have no place in this world. They'd much rather kiss that America goodbye and let a government run our lives.

The Wrong Message
I mentioned the Green New Deal before. I mentioned how Majority Leader Mitch McConnell planned to bring the Senate version by Senator Markey to a vote and how odd it was that Senator Markey was opposed to it. Not to be outdone, a crowd of activists from the Sunrise Movement (those kids again) are equally upset by McConnell's plan ... to bring the bill to a vote ... which would seem like he's giving the bill its day in the sun ... but apparently is not. A group of 42 mostly young people were arrested for obstructing the Capitol building, but more were there including as young as 7. McConnell appears to want the Democrats to go on record that they support this kind of socialism in America, and these folks appear to want that socialism but ... not on record??

What I want to know is who is brainwashing these young minds?

Be afraid, America. The loudest young voices want to remove your capitalism and your democracy and make it a socialism. Oh, you be afraid. I have other plans.

Disappointing
Generally speaking, if I go somewhere new and need to find a church -- say, on a Sunday while on vacation -- I can generally expect that a Baptist church, especially Southern Baptist (SBC), should be okay. With the latest scandal of so many being sexually abused in the SBC, I have to think again. Then a story like this hits the headlines and I'm ... disappointed. A Southern Baptist megachurch in Texas ordained a woman to the pastorate. I would like to think that an SBC church would stand firmly on the Word, but I suppose this is wishful thinking.

Outdoing Others
New York passed a baby-killing bill that the governor said could extend to post-partum abortion. Vermont followed suit with a "kill 'em any time up to birth" law. Illinois is considering its own plan to eliminate restrictions on abortion up to birth and require churches and other religious organizations to provide insurance that covers it. In the meantime, a host of names that includes many of the current group of 2020 presidential candidates is on a bill before Congress aimed at insuring the slaughter of the most defenseless humans is legal and unlimited, aimed specifically at all those states that have tried to limit abortion through limitations on medical professionals or informed consent. What they want to do is make America pro-abortion/anti-life by law.

At the same time, a bill was introduced that would protect newborns who were born alive. Seems like a no-brainer, but the Senate shot it down. They failed to secure enough votes to outlaw infanticide -- actual killing of infants. The declaration is absolutely clear: "They are not persons until we say they are persons ... and we're not saying when that is" with a faint, threatening echo of "We haven't decided if you're a person, either."

Not to be Outdone
While the "Green New Deal" is running its news gauntlet trying to push America into socialism, House Democrats have unveiled another "next step" plan to get us away from market forces and let the government handle things. Democratic Representative Pramila Jayapal from Washington state has revealed her bill for a single-payer "Medicare for All" program. The government will pay for your healthcare. She has not revealed how the government would pay for it, but there would be no premiums or deductibles or out-of-pocket costs. She suggests it will come from that "tax on millionaires and billionaires" pot that the other socialists in government are planning to tap for everything else. Goodbye 70% tax rates; hello 90%. (The New Green Deal, Forbes tells me is expected to cost $2.5 trillion a year for the next 10 years, added to the 2018 $4.5 trillion budget. All this "prosperity" is going to get pricey, folks.)

Wrong-headed, Right Vote
The United Methodist Church (UMC) rejected a move to ease their ban on same-sex marriage and ordination of openly gay clergy. That was, frankly, a surprise. A pleasant surprise, but a surprise nonetheless. Why it was a surprise to me was illustrated in the story. A "former Methodist pastor Rebecca Wilson" (emphasis mine) said she was devastated because she left the clergy "because I'm gay," and not because they don't ordain women. Included in that story was the suggestion that "the faith" was somehow up for a vote. In other words, God's Word is not the authority here and there is no such thing as "the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints" (Jude 1:3).

In general, the UMC believes in no such thing, as illustrated by the outrage and defiance from their people at this vote for what is termed "the Traditional Plan." The Reconciling Ministries Network (RMN), a United Methodist organization promoting LGBTQIA+ (their letters, not mine) inclusion, complained that any opposition to including "LGBTQIA+" people is based on "a white nationalist strain of Christianity", which is strange since one of the main reasons the Traditionalist Plan passed was the large African presence who demanded biblical rather than social positions. Go figure.

Some Dare Call It Treason
Bradley Manning ... oh, I'm sorry ... Chelsea Manning, a guy who decided to be a girl ... on your dime ... while serving his time for violations of the Espionage Act (what most of us call "treason") has been subpoenaed by a federal grand jury to testify, we don't know what about. Probably about his, sorry, "her" contact with Julian Assange. I understand that. What I don't understand is when issuing a subpoena became unconstitutional. At least, that's where Manning's legal team plans to go. This will be so cool if we discover that the government no longer has the right to call people in to court. The end of the American justice system as we know it. Good plan ... from a documented traitor.

Quick Question
While France wrestles with giving females their own job titles, I'm wondering who's looking out for the "T's" (of the LGBT)? Given the "given" that gender is not binary, when are the "in-betweens" going to get their own job titles? I'm just wondering ...