by A. Joseph Lynch
With Commentary from Dr. David Pence
THE WEEKLY BRIEF
THE SWAMP STRIKES BACK
BARRON ON MODERN THEOLOGY: While we have had our issues with Bishop Barron - his visually stunning Catholicism series is much better on mute - and Dr. Taylor Marshall has rightly questioned his position on universal salvation, Barron offers a good assessment of modern Catholic theology as he attempts to defend his own place within it.
CATHOLIC IDENTITY DECREE SUSPENDED: On June 21, Archbishop Charles Thompson of Indianapolis decreed a local Jesuit high school had lost its Catholic identity over a teacher seeking a gay marriage. The Vatican’s Congregation for Catholic Education has now suspended that decree while it investigates. So much for subsidiarity and for decentralizing the role of the Vatican in local affairs.
VATICAN RAIDS: Vatican police raided its financial offices this week as Pope Francis appointed an anti-mafia prosecutor to confront financial corruption within the Vatican. Five have been suspended but time will tell how effective investigations will be.
II. PRESIDENT TRUMP AND AMERICA
PETER THIEL TALK: There is a shift taking place within America's political parties. Much of Peter Thiel's talk at the National Conservatism Conference echoes these changes, particularly in its rejection of the song Imagine and his defense of nationalism.
TRUMP FUNDRAISING RECORD: Political fundraising reports show that President Trump has raised $125 million in the third quarter and has $150 million cash on hand for 2020. While this is far above Democrat fundraising, it's also nearly double the $71 million President Obama raised at the same time in his re-election efforts. President Trump won 2016 being outspent 2-1, imagine how he'll do with the financial tables turned.
IS BERNIE'S POLITICAL END NEAR? Bernie Sanders this week suffered a heart attack and received two stents. He then not only cancelled events, but also ad buys in Iowa. His campaign says he plans to be at the next presidential debate on October 15, but might he soon drop out?
With Commentary from Dr. David Pence
THE WEEKLY BRIEF
THE SWAMP STRIKES BACK
President Trump came to power as a nationalist populist, seeking to break the neoconservative-globalist-imperialist hold on the Republican party and the nation. Since his election, a shift has begun to take place within the two dominant American political parties. The "Never Trump" conservatives have begun to ally themselves with the globalists and imperialists within the Democratic party while Trump seeks to rally patriots, laborers, and religious Americans to his cause. In 2018, he brilliantly focused on keeping the Senate, replacing many "Never Trumpers" with nationalists. This cost control of the House. Given the radical, do-nothing, investigate-and-impeach liberals controlling the House, however, it would seem like Trump could be set for a huge sweep back into control of both houses and the presidency. What's more, a GOP-controlled House would now be thoroughly nationalist-populist with many "Never Trumpers" not seeking re-election.
Despite this, the neoconservatives and globalist liberals still have wide-ranging support from within U.S. intelligence agencies. This week Tucker Carlson rightly pointed out this reality, explaining that the intelligence community has been gunning for Trump since January 2017. Dr. Pence reminds us how the intelligence community, headed up by Jim Comey (FBI), James Clapper (Director of National Intelligence), and John Brennan (CIA), manipulated their offices to launch the debunked Russia collusion investigation:
Despite this, the neoconservatives and globalist liberals still have wide-ranging support from within U.S. intelligence agencies. This week Tucker Carlson rightly pointed out this reality, explaining that the intelligence community has been gunning for Trump since January 2017. Dr. Pence reminds us how the intelligence community, headed up by Jim Comey (FBI), James Clapper (Director of National Intelligence), and John Brennan (CIA), manipulated their offices to launch the debunked Russia collusion investigation:
According to his memos, Mr. Comey gave [a] Jan 6 briefing to President Trump at the suggestion of Office of National Intelligence Chief James Clapper. Clapper, as well as John Brennan of the CIA, were at the briefing. CNN had the "Russian dossier" in early January. They wanted to publicize it but needed a "News Hook" by which it would seem a news story, instead of serving as a televised megaphone for opposition gossip. The Comey briefing became the CNN news story on Jan 10. Other outlets then published the details of the dossier. The WHCA awards gushed "thanks to this CNN investigation 'the dossier' is now part of the lexicon. The depth of reporting... showed breaking news reporting at its best." James Clapper, who suggested the Comey briefing, now works for CNN as a consultant. The real news story is the collusion of anti Donald Trump government officials and anti Donald Trump news media turning fabrications of Russian held prostitute videos into a news story and then a national security crisis requiring a special prosecutor. Most importantly this has poisoned a signature initiative of the Trump Presidency to reformulate relations with Russia in the post Cold War environment of competing nations and civilizations. The two year resistance movement of high ranking intelligence officials hampering effective governance and a new foreign policy by election winner and outsider Donald Trump is an amazing story crying out for investigative journalists.The new investigation into the president and Ukraine began with a member of the intelligence community submitting a second-hand account to investigators. No one has yet reported who, only days prior, changed the whistle-blower forms to allow complaints based on second-hand accounts (otherwise known as rumors). Reporting has also been slow to point out Adam Schiff's connection to quid pro quo Ukraine arms deals. As the Trump team ramps up their own investigations into 2016, both in terms of Democrat and intelligence leadership collusion with foreign governments (be it Ukraine or the UK's MI6) as well as new investigations into the Clinton emails, pressure is on to keep Trump from finishing his work. And with a potentially devastating IG report coming any day, another fake investigation seems to be the last ditch effort at distracting America from the truth. It won't work, and it might take out front-runner Biden in the process. One thing is for certain: 2020 will be a very important year for America.
I. POPE FRANCIS AND THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
BARRON ON MODERN THEOLOGY: While we have had our issues with Bishop Barron - his visually stunning Catholicism series is much better on mute - and Dr. Taylor Marshall has rightly questioned his position on universal salvation, Barron offers a good assessment of modern Catholic theology as he attempts to defend his own place within it.
CATHOLIC IDENTITY DECREE SUSPENDED: On June 21, Archbishop Charles Thompson of Indianapolis decreed a local Jesuit high school had lost its Catholic identity over a teacher seeking a gay marriage. The Vatican’s Congregation for Catholic Education has now suspended that decree while it investigates. So much for subsidiarity and for decentralizing the role of the Vatican in local affairs.
VATICAN RAIDS: Vatican police raided its financial offices this week as Pope Francis appointed an anti-mafia prosecutor to confront financial corruption within the Vatican. Five have been suspended but time will tell how effective investigations will be.
PETER THIEL TALK: There is a shift taking place within America's political parties. Much of Peter Thiel's talk at the National Conservatism Conference echoes these changes, particularly in its rejection of the song Imagine and his defense of nationalism.
TRUMP FUNDRAISING RECORD: Political fundraising reports show that President Trump has raised $125 million in the third quarter and has $150 million cash on hand for 2020. While this is far above Democrat fundraising, it's also nearly double the $71 million President Obama raised at the same time in his re-election efforts. President Trump won 2016 being outspent 2-1, imagine how he'll do with the financial tables turned.
IS BERNIE'S POLITICAL END NEAR? Bernie Sanders this week suffered a heart attack and received two stents. He then not only cancelled events, but also ad buys in Iowa. His campaign says he plans to be at the next presidential debate on October 15, but might he soon drop out?
III. THE NATIONS
CROWN PRINCE DOC: Watch the new PBS documentary on Saudi Arabia's crown prince.
CONSERVATIVES WIN AUSTRIA: Conservatives under the leadership of Sebastian Kurz won in landslide in Austria while the far right dipped due to a scandal last spring. As a coalition government forms, it remains to be seen who the conservatives will align with.
ERDOGAN'S OIL IMPORTS: Turkey's 80 million citizens and growing economy runs on electricity that is 40% powered by gas imports. Despite sanction threats from the US, energy needs have led Erdogan to continue oil imports from Iran. Turkey and Iran are certainly in no alliance, but it's very good to see that Iran is not facing a united Saudi-Turkish threat against it.
NETANYAHU STUMBLES: After being tapped to form a new government, Netanyahu is still working to form a coalition. He now faces a leadership threat from within his own party.
BUCHANAN ON CHINA: His analysis as China's government turns 70.
IV. CULTURE OF LIFE, CULTURE OF PROTECTION
NYC SPEECH POLICE: "Alien" might be the legal term to describe a non-citizen resident, but don't say "illegal alien" in NYC or threaten to call ICE as you could be facing a $250k fine. Debate surrounds the reach of the policy set by the city’s Commission on Human Rights, but many see it as the newest attack on free speech from the Left.
VIRGINIA TEACHER FIRED: A teacher in Virginia is suing after he was fired for not using the preferred gender pronoun of a female student who identifies as a male. It appears as though the issue is being framed as religious discrimination rather than based on free speech or in terms of gender reality. In any case, it's further evidence that extending the rights of the "LGBTQIA+" will only lead to discrimination and persecution of the gender sane.
AWARD-WINNING DEPUTY DEMEANED: During his own award reception, the first of its kind in the southern Florida town, Deputy Joshua Gallardo was stunningly told he was a bad police officer by city commissioner Mike Gelin, who was arrested by Gallardo in 2015. Gelin, an African American, had been recording the police during an arrest and was arrested after being told to stop recording. Apparently his nine hours in a jail cell has left him rather bitter. He now faces a city reprimand for incivility.
MEXICO AND ABORTION: While nation still protects the unborn at the federal level, the state of Oaxaca is now allowing abortions. Meanwhile a pro-abortion mob attempted to burn down Mexico City's cathedral.
GEORGIA FETAL HEARTBEAT LAW BLOCKED: As Respect Life month kicked off, on October 1 a judge blocked Georgia's fetal heartbeat law that effectively banned abortion after six weeks. We now wait to see if the new conservative majority in the Supreme Court will uphold it.
VIRGINIA TEACHER FIRED: A teacher in Virginia is suing after he was fired for not using the preferred gender pronoun of a female student who identifies as a male. It appears as though the issue is being framed as religious discrimination rather than based on free speech or in terms of gender reality. In any case, it's further evidence that extending the rights of the "LGBTQIA+" will only lead to discrimination and persecution of the gender sane.
AWARD-WINNING DEPUTY DEMEANED: During his own award reception, the first of its kind in the southern Florida town, Deputy Joshua Gallardo was stunningly told he was a bad police officer by city commissioner Mike Gelin, who was arrested by Gallardo in 2015. Gelin, an African American, had been recording the police during an arrest and was arrested after being told to stop recording. Apparently his nine hours in a jail cell has left him rather bitter. He now faces a city reprimand for incivility.
MEXICO AND ABORTION: While nation still protects the unborn at the federal level, the state of Oaxaca is now allowing abortions. Meanwhile a pro-abortion mob attempted to burn down Mexico City's cathedral.
GEORGIA FETAL HEARTBEAT LAW BLOCKED: As Respect Life month kicked off, on October 1 a judge blocked Georgia's fetal heartbeat law that effectively banned abortion after six weeks. We now wait to see if the new conservative majority in the Supreme Court will uphold it.
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