Re-posted from the Canada Free Press By Dr. Robert R. Owens —— Bio and Archives—July 20, 2020

Make America Great Again Again!  He did it once and he can do it again.  By taking the shackles off the American people and our economy President Donald Trump in three short years led us from the doldrums of Obama’s New Normal to the greatest economic boom the world has ever seen.  Record growth, record unemployment, and corporations returning from overseas by every metric America was taking off like a rocket.  Then came the Social Security Flu and the plandemic.  Then came the outrage in Minneapolis and the 1619 revolution.

Like a one-two punch these twin catastrophes have America reeling on the edge of the abyss.  The Democrat Party is all in with BLM and ANTIFA.  They cheer as the outrages and demands grow into the shrill cries of America-as-we-have-known-her hating revolutionaries on the barricades of autonomous no-go zones.  Labeling anyone who gets in the way of their takeover as racists, these black shirted thugs operate as the military arm of the socialists attempting to remake America in the image of their revered Cuba and Venezuela.

America First Agenda: immigration, China, big tech censorship, Democrats push for voting by mail, and the radical left’s war on America’s heritage and monuments

Most Republicans shake in fear of the broad-brush ad hominin attacks of the democrats who identify as journalists.  In stark contrast to this toothless and despicable abdication,  President Trump boldly stands almost alone trying to rally the forces of civil society in the face of anarchy and rebellion.  The rising crescendo of attacks, accusations, investigations, and who knows maybe even another manufactured impeachment debacle fall like hammer blows.  Never has one politician stood up under such a relentless daily attack.

Think about it. If Hillary had won where do you think we would be right now?  If the socialists manage to drag Old Joe and whoever they really want to be president over the cheat-by-mail finish line where do you think we will be in a year from now?

Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country.  All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing.  Our President is sounding forth the trumpet that shall never sound retreat.
President Donald Trump staked out some major positions of his re-election campaign during a powerful speech in the Dream City Church in North Phoenix at an event organized by Students for Trump and Turning Point Action.  In this speech our President didn’t equivocate or evade.  He forthrightly addressed the big issues of our times outlining major themes of his America First Agenda: immigration, China, big tech censorship, Democrats push for voting by mail, and the radical left’s war on America’s heritage and monuments.

To thunderous applause he said, “This is a choice of two futures: the left’s vision of disunity and discord or our vision of equal opportunity and equal justice.  We will never cave to the left-wing and the left-wing intolerance. We will never surrender to mob violence, and we will uphold American freedom, equality, and justice for every citizen of every background,”

The president pointed out that we are engaged in a relentless fight against a radicalized left.  And that they use their almost complete control of the media, entertainment, and academia to suppress free speech saying, “Anyone who dissents from their orthodoxy must be punished, canceled, or banished.  Democrats have embarked on a mission to tear down existing American traditions and institutions, no matter what the cost.  We’re not going to take moral lectures from the same left-wing ideologues who oppose school choice, who support deadly sanctuary cities, who want to defund our police – defund and abolish our police.  Think of it: Defund and abolish is now their theme.”

The illegal efforts to destroy and deface America’s monuments and statues by the 1619 rebels shows how much they want to fundamentally change everything about our country.

The President said, “They’re tearing down statues, desecrating monuments, and purging dissenters.  It’s not the behavior of a peaceful political movement; it’s the behavior of totalitarians and tyrants and people that don’t love our country.”

Turning to the Democrat push for universal mail-in voting which amounts to changing the rules in the middle of an election year, without any reliable vetting procedures in place,  the President observed, “This will be, in my opinion, the most corrupt election in the history of our country.”

Not one to leave foreign policy out of his equations President Trump reminded the crowd that previous leaders allowed China to rip off the United States.  He is the first president in decades to stand up to the communist behemoth. Warning that, “A vote for Biden in 2020 was a vote for China.  They get in, China will own this country” the President brought his audience to their feet.

Immigration wasn’t forgotten in this speech either as the President pointed to the progress on the wall on the southern border and his curtailing of visas in favor of American workers.  He thundered from the podium, “We took historic action to block the entry of foreign workers into our nation.  We believe that companies should hire American workers and American students first.”

The Masters of the Universe tech giants didn’t escape President Trump’s target

The Masters of the Universe tech giants didn’t escape President Trump’s target as he warned of their efforts to censor the free speech of anyone who doesn’t toe the Liberal-Democrat-Socialist line.  “As everyone knows, they’re using their enormous power to silence conservative voices.  You know that. It’s not even close. I don’t even think they’re hiding it anymore,” he said.

The president spoke about the righteous defiance of those who made America free in the first place and who stood up throughout our history to keep the light of liberty alive.  He repeatedly urged Americans to keep the fire of freedom burning.  Noting that we are in a spiritual battle,  the President said, “It’s the same spirit that compels each of you to stand strong against the dull, mindless, soul-crushing conformity mandated by far-left pundits, professors, and liberal politicians.  They’re taking our country in the wrong direction.”

Seeing his opponent, former Vice President Joe Biden, as merely a straw man, a cat’s paw the left are exploiting to regain the power they lost when he was elected President, Trump noted, “If ever he became President, this country would be a mess. They would rip down everything … He wouldn’t call the shots.  He would have nothing to do with it. The left would only lock him in the Oval Office so they could do as they pleased.”

Some see the election of Donald Trump in 2016 as nothing less than a miracle.  Whether the President believes that or not I don’t know.  Keeping his remarks to a more secular turn the President attributed his surprise election to the fact that Americans weren’t happy with the way the country was headed under former President Barack Obama and his Vice President Joe Biden.  Looking directly into the cameras he said, “I’m only here because of President Obama and the job he did, and Sleepy Joe Biden and the job that he didn’t do.  People were very unhappy. The fake news doesn’t report it. There was tremendous dissent, tremendous anger.”

Keep the faith.  Keep the peace.  We shall overcome

What does all this mean to us?  Those of us who support President Trump must soldier on.  We may have relatives and friends shun us.  We will see our standards, goals, and beliefs disparaged daily in the media.

We may face discrimination and reprisals at work, at school, and at home.  But we cannot waver. We must do all we can to preserve truth, justice, and the American way.

As Thomas Paine told us at the beginning of the American experiment when we dared to face off against the most powerful country in the world, “These are the times that try men’s souls.  The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.

Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.  What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives everything its value.  Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as freedom should not be highly rated.”

Keep the faith.  Keep the peace.  We shall overcome.

Re-posted from the conservative Tree house By Dr. Sam Clovis —— Bio and Archives—July 20, 2020

..respecting the establishment of a religion or the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people to peaceably assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

This is the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. Since the democrat socialists came into congress in full dress in the middle 1960s, the Constitution has been under a full-throated assault by the forces of progressivism. This assault—intentional and destructive—is the most serious threat to the nation manifested now in BLM and Antifa. Not since the start of World War II has this nation faced such a serious force of corrupt and corrosive usurpation of power allowed by the feckless republicans and encouraged by the democrats. The most recent attack on the First Amendment is not only unconscionable but also immoral.

The Establishment Clause

I want to know how destroying monuments and statues will bring more jobs to the inner city. I want to know how painting murals on streets is going to make schools better in urban neighborhoods. I want to know where the elected officials are in defending the rich history of the nation. Why are there not more politicians out there saying enough is enough? Where are the school boards who will stand up to teacher unions and administrators to ensure that real intellectual diversity is presented in the classrooms? Where are the boards of trustees who will make college presidents bring intellectual diversity to their campuses? Where are the regents? Anyone? Anyone?

Since the Founding, the tensions between governments and religious institutions have been a constant in the political discourse of the nation and a frequent subject of adjudication in our judicial system. The very basis of most of the immigration into the New World was to escape religious persecution. Though many states attempted to establish “state” religions, the wisdom of the Founders held forth so that the national government would not be allowed to establish such “state” institutions. In fact, in the body of the Constitution, one finds reference to the fact that religious beliefs cannot be a disqualifier of an individual who seeks public office.

For most of the first 150 years of the nation’s existence, the “state” stayed out of the religion business just as Jefferson had promised. However, things would change, particularly when those who felt that any form of religious expression tied to government activity was a breach of the “wall of separation between Church and State.”

The actions of the Supreme Court have virtually eliminated any links between religion and government. Though many believe that God must be part of government, getting this genie back in the bottle will be extremely difficult. Though the “state” may be prohibited from “establishing” a religion, the state is also prohibited from interfering in the “free exercise” thereof.

As with most cases dealing with the Bill of Rights, our national court system has been at the very center of the constant storm that whirls around this topic. The “free exercise” clause of the First Amendment has been very much a constant of the court system since the late 19th Century.

The court standards have changed over time, but the first set of rules indicated that the “state” did not have a compelling interest in the exercise of religion as long as that practice did not violate the law. The first significant case before the Supreme Court dealt with a Mormon who was a bigamist. Though his religious beliefs were not in question, the fact that he broke the law by being married to two women was what got him in trouble. Think about this for a moment. The court thought that his exercise of religion and his beliefs were not in question, but he had broken a public law divined from common law (societal norms). The whole of society, save this particular sectarian element, believed that marriage was between one man and one woman. Hmmm.

Most of the “free exercise” cases that have come before the court have been decided in favor of the individual or organization seeking the protections of the Constitution to worship or practice religion as they wish. In order for the state to interfere, there must be a compelling state interest. This is a very high threshold to cross.

During democrat administrations, the government rules coming out of the Department of Health and Human services and other agencies opened serious breaches in the wall of separation. The “state” argued that “reproductive services,” including morning-after pills, were a right protected by common law. These mandates have been arbitrary and have required religious institutions to violate the doctrines—the free exercise of—their beliefs. Because the institutions were not breaking any element of existing law, these rules really had no legal standing and were also unconstitutional from the outset.

One further point to make is that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993, as amended, prohibits the national government from imposing “rules that unnecessarily burden religious institutions from the free exercise of their beliefs.” This law, though parts were found unconstitutional in 1997, placed prohibitions on the national government. These prohibitions were upheld by the Supreme Court as late as 2014. More recent court decisions, including the 2020 decision defending the Little Sisters of the Poor, indicate that religious liberties may be safe for the time being. If Joe Biden gets elected, all bets are off. The next three Associate Justices appointed to the Supreme Court may knock religious protections into a cocked hat. The courts and their make-up are critical to the protection of our First Amendment rights.

A democrat administration with a democrat majority in the Senate would alter the very culture of the nation for a generation to come. Of course, I probably won’t be here to see the endgame. However, my three sons will have to bear that cross.

Freedom of the Press

The Founders believed that a free press was one of the many checks and balances that would protect the people from “imprudent magistrates.” Though calling journalism a profession stretches credulity, one can make the case that a free press has been an essential element in pursuit of the protection of liberty—perhaps until now.

Over the past 60 years or so, however, we have seen an erosion in journalistic standards so that today, our society entertains “news” outlets that are nothing more than propaganda machines for one special interest or another. The one special interest left out of this “traditional” mix is that of the American people. Were it not for talk radio, Fox News networks and this President, one can only imagine where we would be as a nation.

Going back to the Reagan administration and the efforts of the Federal Communications Commission, one can find the seminal decision that, more than any other policy decision, perhaps saved the nation. When in 1986, the FCC decided to suspend enforcement of the Fairness Doctrine, alternative voices was allowed to grow and flourish in the country. No longer did the progressive machines who dominated the print and broadcast media have a hold on information flow. Accurate Information should be the coin of the realm when it comes to making informed decisions about government in America.

Today, with the Internet and a host of other outlets, the free market should determine the ebb and flow of ideas. One should be grateful that a free press protects not only the Washington Post and the New York Times but also Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Jacob Hall and Sam Clovis. A free press used to be a vigilant guard on the ramparts of liberty. This next election may determine the viability of the Constitution.