As President Reagan might say: “There they go again.” The “they” in this instance is … yet again … the New York Times.  As the Republican Party prepares to renominate the former president, the Times headlines their latest projection this way, in capital letters of course:                 DONALD TRUMP IS UNFIT TO LEAD Then the Times editorial board is off and running in Projection Land — that special political haven where Joe and his friends at the Times accuse Trump and Republicans of what they themselves have been about. Where to start? Here. The Times says:   A once great political party now serves the interests of one man, a man as demonstrably unsuited for the office of president as any to run in the long history of the Republic, a man whose values, temperament, ideas and language are directly opposed to so much of what has made this country great. Really? If the GOP is as great as the Times claims? Then why, pray tell, does a little research show that the paper has endorsed Democratic presidential candidates 29 times, versus 14 times for Republicans? Note well that it says this: The Republican Party once pursued electoral power in service to solutions for such problems, to building “the shining city on a hill,” as Ronald Reagan liked to say. Its vision of the United States — embodied in principled public servants like George H.W. Bush, John McCain and Mitt Romney — was rooted in the values of freedom, sacrifice, individual responsibility and the common good. Not mentioned? The Times endorsed Jimmy Carter and Walter Mondale over Reagan, Michael Dukakis and Bill Clinton over Bush, and Obama over McCain and Mitt Romney. In a classic bit of self-unawareness, the Times is essentially saying that Bush, McCain, and Romney were in fact “principled public servants” — or the Times would have endorsed them at the time. But, of course, the Times support went to their opponents — just like it is going to Joe Biden’s opponent — Trump — this time. The Times says:  Mr. Trump has shown a character unworthy of the responsibilities of the presidency. He has demonstrated an utter lack of respect for the Constitution, the rule of law and the American people. Really? It is Joe Biden, not Donald Trump, who has unleashed a weaponized government on his leading opponent. It is Joe Biden who has made “lawfare” a staple of the Democratic Party. Under Biden’s leadership, Trump has become the first presidential opponent in history to be repeatedly targeted by Biden’s own Justice Department, not to mention Democrat prosecutorial apparatchiks in New York and Georgia. New York Attorney General Letitia James, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, and Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis have one and all followed Biden’s corrupt addiction to using their respective offices to target Biden’s leading opponent. A greater corruption of presidential power would be hard to imagine. Yet there is the New York Times cheering the corruption onward. And all of that is before the repeated corruption of a corrupt Joe Biden using his public offices to corruptly enrich his family to the tune of millions. And all of that is before Biden’s historic weakness that has resulted in Russia’s Putin invading Ukraine and Hamas invading Israel. Which never happened in the Trump presidency.  In short, the Times, through its own record of deliberately misleading the American public about former Trump and his record, is at it again. Again, from President Reagan: There they go again. Donald Trump is more than fit to lead America back to greatness.  And millions of Americans know it. The post Donald Trump Is More Than Fit to Lead appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.

WASHINGTON — Let’s remember the original sin in the Joe Biden saga. In 2008, Barack Obama chose the then-Delaware senator to be his running mate. Obama, then an Illinois senator, wanted someone with years of Washington experience to balance his first-term decision to run for the presidency. Biden had the glad-handing skills the cerebral Obama lacked — but that didn’t mean Obama wanted Biden to succeed him. After Obama won the White House, he and his brain trust made it clear that they did not think the then-vice president had what it took to take the Oval Office. As Politico reported in 2020, Obama campaign manager David Plouffe met with Biden in 2015 and warned him against running, lest Biden end his decades-long career with a third-place finish in Iowa. Obama backed Hillary Clinton, who went on to lose to Donald Trump. In the 2020 Democratic primary, as Biden competed in a field that included Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Obama made no endorsement. And Biden won. That showed the Obama brain trust, or, in Bidenspeak, the “elites.” I mention all this as numerous Democrats claim to be shocked at the downward turn Biden has taken since his June 27 debate failure against Trump. They’re shocked, they profess, at a slide that they claim first appeared in the last few months. But really, anyone who watches cable news saw that Biden, 81, has been slipping for some time. It’s sad to watch. And everyone knows that Biden is going to show his cognitive decline again. It’s not a matter of if but when. Democrats are left with two unpleasant options. House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi chose the political path, as she tried to nudge Biden out the door without offending him. So she has offered that Biden is going to have to make up his mind about running. She ignores the fact that Biden has made up his mind. In a letter he sent to fellow Democrats on July 8, Biden made it clear he plans to stay in the race. George Clooney doesn’t have to be polite. In an opinion piece in the New York Times, the actor wrote that while he considers Biden a friend, the party needs a new nominee because time is not on the president’s side. (Republicans, please note that the same argument will be used against Trump, 78.) Clooney’s prescription, however, shows how much the party settled for mediocre talent. Clooney proposed a convention battle for the nomination, even though Vice President Kamala Harris is next in line. That’s a cynical admission that both the president and vice president aren’t up for the job. That didn’t stop Clooney from hosting a fundraiser that raised $28 million for Biden-Harris. Up until the situation threatened to undermine a Democratic win in November, operatives on both coasts kept silent. They were banking on Biden beating Trump. It was only after the debate that what passed for a conscience in Washington kicked in. In his book, A Promised Land, Obama wrote that 2008 GOP nominee John McCain’s pick of Sarah Palin as his running mate was problematic because the rookie Alaska governor’s ineptitude was “troubling on a deeper level” and “her incoherence didn’t matter to the vast majority of Republicans.” And that’s from the guy who brought America President Joe Biden. Contact Review-Journal Washington columnist Debra J. Saunders at dsaunders@reviewjournal.com. Follow @debrajsaunders on X. COPYRIGHT 2024 CREATORS.COM The post Democrats Face Two Options: The Pelosi Way or Clooney Way appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.

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by Christopher Tomlinson, The National Pulse: Approximately 85,000 children who crossed the U.S. border as unaccompanied minors are missing after being placed with sponsors. Government whistleblowers shared this information with a Senate panel on Tuesday. They said that children are often placed with individuals who are not their relatives and provided evidence of abuse and trafficking. Tara Lee Rodas, a whistleblower with a […]

July 12, 2024 Breaking Up With ComparisonMEGHAN RYAN ASBURY Lee en español "I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." Philippians 3:14 (NIV) Comparison loves to ruin my contentment. For me, it usually starts when I've finished my morning time with Jesus. I've not only managed to get up early to read my Bible, but I'm also feeling genuinely connected to God. After I've said grateful prayers and found a positive outlook for the day ahead, I reach for my phone. Almost instantly, my mood changes ... A group of my friends got together last night for a beautiful dinner. All smiling and laughing. And they didn't invite me. Another friend announces that she, her husband and her children (in perfectly matched outfits) are expecting yet another baby. It takes all of three minutes for my morning to get hijacked by jealousy. Comparison is one of the enemy's ploys against us as we live out who we're called to be in Christ. If Satan can get us fixated on all the things we aren't or things we don't have, we will get stuck there. Instead of running after what God has called us to do, we will run after something else. But when we quit playing the comparison game and instead consider Jesus as our prize, we win. One of my favorite Bible verses is Philippians 3:14: "I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."  Paul wrote these words from prison, but he was looking to the prize. To him, nothing was greater than eternity with Jesus. Contentment and comparison cannot coexist. And if contentment is found inwardly, we cannot go looking for it externally. It starts with choosing not to look at other people's lives as markers of where we need to be. When we're so busy looking at what God is doing in them, we miss what He's doing in us. We miss what He has already done. If you are struggling with this today, here are three invitations for you: Spend time alone with God in His Word. Remind yourself of His love for you by reading the stories of what He has done and what He will do. Ask the Holy Spirit to examine your heart and reveal where you've sought to find satisfaction in external things. Allow God to trade your limited, earthly perspective for hope in His eternal promises. Friend, God's plan for your life is not meant to be compared to His plan for anyone else. Who God has called you to be is unique. How God is molding you into that person is also intentional (Psalm 139:13-14). May we be willing to shift our gaze from what everyone around us is doing and see what God is doing in us. God, I confess I've looked with envy at what You are doing in the lives of people around me. But I know all the things they have, the things I want, will never satisfy me in the ways Jesus does. Show me how to stop comparing so I can find true contentment in You alone. In Jesus' Name, Amen. OUR FAVORITE THINGS What if God has more in store for your life than you've given Him credit for? The pressure of unmet milestones and unfulfilled dreams can make you feel like you've already missed out on the life you were "supposed" to have. But you don’t have to exhaust yourself by trying to keep up; you can enjoy what’s right in front of you. Click here to preorder Meghan Ryan Asbury's new book, You Are Not Behind: Building A Life You Love Without Having Everything You Want, today! When navigating difficulties in a relationship, do you ever find yourself asking, Is this normal? Is every relationship this hard? Lysa TerKeurst understands. After years of personal counseling and extensive time spent in God's Word, she's learned all relationships can be difficult at times but they should not be destructive to our well-being. That’s why she recorded an important conversation with her counselor Jim Cress and Dr. Joel Muddamalle. Listen to "Am I in Denial That This Relationship Is Unhealthy?" here! ENGAGE Connect daily with Meghan on Instagram @meghanryanasbury for biblical encouragement and practical ways to grow in your faith. And don't miss opportunities to get free resources and more tools to help you build a life you love - all through Meghan’s weekly newsletter at alwaysmeghan.com. FOR DEEPER STUDY Philippians 4:11, "I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances" (NIV). 2 Corinthians 4:18, "So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal" (NIV). Where do you feel most tempted to compare yourself to others? Instead of looking at everyone else's life, how can you shift your gaze to what God is doing in your life? We'd love to hear from you! Share your thoughts in the comments. © 2024 by Meghan Ryan Asbury. All rights reserved. Proverbs 31 MinistriesP.O. Box 3189 Matthews, NC 28106 www.Proverbs31.org The post Breaking Up With Comparison –  Encouragement for Today – July 12, 2024 appeared first on GodUpdates.

Oh, the memes! President Joe Biden needed to swing for the fences and hit one out of the park. He swung a lot, hit maybe a seeing eye infield single, tried to steal second, and we’ll see if he’s thrown out. But the memes! Of course Biden was 90 minutes late getting there, or 2 1/2 hours if you include the original 5:00 p.m. start that was changed to 6:00 p.m. When he arrived at the podium, the president spoke for about six minutes giving his prepared remarks, mostly about Ukraine and the history of NATO. He speaks well from a teleprompter, so nobody was expecting any major gaffes. He then offered to take questions from a prepared list of reporters. Biden stayed lucid and took a good number of questions, so that goes in his column.  First question (paraphrase for length), Jeff Mason from Reuters: some people think you should step aside; what concerns do you have about Vice President Harris beating Trump, if she were at the top of the ticket? Biden: I would not have picked Vice President Trump to be vice president, if she’s not qualified to be president…let’s start right there.” Oh no. Trump was watching. And the memes! Just before the presser, Biden stood on a stage and introduced Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy: “ladies and gentlemen, President Putin.” President Biden was not a drooling, blithering idiot. He did not freeze up. He did not speak in riddles or spout complete nonsense. He (mostly) kept to the topics of the questions. He trained himself to say “anyway…” when he was tempted to stray (his aides must have conditioned him like the North Koreans did to Raymond Shaw). Another meme. Sarah Isgur, who co-hosts the Advisory Opinions podcast with David French, tweeted“This isn’t perfect but it is more than enough to keep him in the race.” It’s very sad that the bar to keep the sitting president in the race for his own re-election as an incumbent is to stand on a stage and not fall over or go glassy-eyed. But here we are. Reporters generally didn’t hold their powder, firing questions about Biden’s ability to function as president, to beat Trump, and to continue for another term. The president insisted that he is ready. Reality insists a bit differently. But to me, the ultimate moment of the night was when Biden set the conditions of his own surrender. When asked what it would take for him to step aside, if he was shown data that indicated other candidates might do better against Trump, he answered that he would step aside if he was shown data that he had no chance of winning. The Democrats who want Biden to yield have their task cut out for them. They need to let Trump romp to the point where Biden’s own campaign team—already brushing up their resumes and writing their candidate’s political obituary—convinces him and his family that there’s no path to victory. This might not be as difficult as some might think. The Republican National Convention fires up on Monday, and Trump will be the center of attention as he picks his Vice President. Trump could not remain silent about tonight. You may think Biden should get out of the race. You may think the best chance of beating Trump is for Biden to stay in. When asked about Trump’s mocking as he was leaving the stage, Biden remarked—with no lack of disgust—“Listen to him!” And he walked off. One thing we learned tonight is that Biden has set the conditions of his exit. Perversely, Biden’s own party has to convince him that he has no hope of beating Trump. The key to Biden staying in might be how nuts, Fascist, illiberal, or gibberish-spouting Trump sounds next week. But listening to Trump could also seal Biden’s fate. I can’t imagine a worse torture for President Biden than having his own political future determined by Donald J. Trump. Can you? Follow Steve on Twitter @stevengberman. The First TV contributor network is a place for vibrant thought and ideas. Opinions expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of The First or The First TV. We want to foster dialogue, create conversation, and debate ideas. See something you like or don’t like? Reach out to the author or to us at ideas@thefirsttv.com.