Religion, Nations, and Geopolitical Review: SATURDAY, AUGUST 3

by A. Joseph Lynch
& Past Commentary of Dr. David Pence

THE WEEKLY BRIEF
DEMOCRAT CONTENDERS DEBATE 

Democrats just held their most recent round of presidential primary debates. Absent was any reference to Vladimir Putin, the Russia collusion hoax, and the disastrous Mueller testimony on obstruction of justice. Instead, they practically spent more time criticizing former president, Barack Obama, than they did President Trump. This is understandable as the far Left has pushed the liberal agenda so far that even Obama, the most liberal president in American history, is now seen as too conservative (see this video that shows college students mistaking Obama on immigration for Trump).

The biggest headliner, however, was Tulsi Gabbard's take down of Kamala Harris saying that as a prosecutor Harris "put over 1,500 people in jail for marijuana violations and then laughed about it when she was asked if she ever smoked marijuana... she blocked evidence that would have freed an innocent man from death row until the courts forced her to do so. She kept people in prison beyond their sentences to use them as cheap labor for the state of California." It was quite a moment for Gabbard and we hope it is reflected her future poll numbers. Gabbard, however, is seen as too close to Trump in terms of foreign policy and is now facing attacks from the mainstream media for her attack on Harris. Twitter refused to acknowledge her trending after the Kamala take down. She is especially detested for meeting with Assad in 2016. Although it seems like the deck might be stacked against her, we wish Gabbard well in her presidential pursuits. Here is what Dr. Pence had to say about Gabbard after her meeting with Assad, and later President-elect Trump, in November 2016:

"The natural allies for Mr Trump’s foreign policy position should be antiwar Democrats. Representative Gabbard is Hindu and understands the radical Sunni nature of the sources of terrorism (think Pakistan as well as the Sauds). There will definitely be a tilt toward India in a Trump administration. Her being a Hindu is treated as an esoteric curiosity in the diversity conscious strategically clueless mainstream media. Anyone who understands the Pakistan-India world was not surprised at the Hindu nationalist support for his candidacy. One wonders where the antiwar left was in the Democratic primary. Rep Gabbard switched to Bernie Sanders after he lost South Carolina because she was so opposed to the Clinton/Weekly Standard foreign policy. The rest of the antiwar Democrats were in hiding, supporting the hawkish Mrs Clinton as they feared for their places in the pecking order of the brave new Clinton world. Mr. Trump is going to be aggressively opposed by Senator John McCain and insulted by Lindsey Graham as he changes our course in the Mideast. He needs to develop a solid base of Democratic senators and representatives who will help him pull away from war with Russia and assemble the forces (Russia, Syria, Iraq, and Iran?) which can crush ISIS. When it comes to who are our allies and who will be against us,  Rep Gabbard is a good trade for Lindsey Graham."

I. POPE FRANCIS AND THE CATHOLIC CHURCH

OPUS BONO SACERDOTTI: The small non-profit group has been supporting accused clergy for nearly twenty years, operating from un-marked buildings across rural Michigan. Although not "officially" tied to the Church, it was supported by the late Fr. John Neuhaus (d. 2009) and Avery Cardinal Dulles (d. 2008), both known conservatives in the Church. The group has also formed a spin-off group to "assist" accused priests called Men of Melchizedek, or "MOM" for short. How fitting. More from Crux.

CHURCH OF THE APOSTLES: Archaeologists have discovered the ancient church built upon the home of brothers St. Peter and St. Andrew on the northern shores of Galilee. It is also believed that this was the location of the biblical town of Bethsaida. More discoveries are expected in the season to come.

II. PRESIDENT TRUMP AND AMERICA

DAN COATS OUT: Effective August 15, Dan Coats - the director of national intelligence - is leaving his post. This a very good turn of events for the President as he needs more like-minded men facilitating his nationalist vision for America's foreign policy. Rumor has it that Bolton will soon leave as well, another positive development if true. We invite readers to re-read our February 2 post that includes our take on the 2019 threat assessment, partly presented by Coats. Here is an except of what Dr. Pence had to say:

Comey, Brennan and Clapper are gone. The deep state remains. It is not all powerful - it is ever present in its careerism but incestuously small in its grasp of events. There seems no comprehension that the Trump nationalist agenda of meeting with leaders of large influential nation-men can break up the most dangerous scenario of all: Russia and China leading African nations allied with Sunni Turkey and Shiite Iran vs the globalist West led ideologically by feminist Sweden and militarily by a dispirited NATO. If Haspel, Coats, and Wray are now considered "the adults in the room", the baby boomer project of first coarsening, then feminizing, and finally infantilizing American public discourse has been completed.

DEAL WITH GUATEMALA: President Trump reached a deal with Guatemala on immigration. In a huge win for his presidency, Guatemala agreed to a safe third country deal with the US. This now means that asylum seekers who pass through Guatemala, on Mexico's southern border, en route to the US must seek asylum in Guatemala first. The Trump Administration is working on similar arrangements with the two nations on Guatemala's southern border, Honduras and El Salvador. We invite readers to look at our post on mapping Central America to get a better sense of the region and map that might help explain the geographic importance of the agreements being reached.

EXODUS AT THE DCCC: The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is seeing a rather large turnover as white leaders and their support staff begin to exit because they have the wrong skin color. Outgoing chairwoman, Cheri Bustos, said in her departure that the DCCC needs "a staff that truly reflects the diversity of our Democratic caucus and our party." Many who have left led the effort to re-take the House from the GOP in 2018. It remains to be seen who effective the new leadership will be in 2020. What's more, will this decrease odds of the two white men leading the pack of presidential contenders, Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders? And will all this further alienate white and moderate voters going into the 2020 election? Time will tell.

MAGA HAT WEARER BEATEN: After a minority American who wore a MAGA hat was brutally beaten in NYC for supporting President Trump, liberals on social media said he deserved it, adding that he shouldn't dress that way. The media, which gave around the clock coverage to actor Jussie Smollett when he made the false accusation that MAGA-wearing attackers beat him for being gay, have paid no attention. Instead, they've focused coverage on a Trump supporting throwing a punch at a protester in Kentucky. While there is certainly anger on both sides, we should all be troubled that the media fails to cover it on the Left while liberals on social media attempt to justify violence so long as it's directed towards the Right.

NEW DEFENSE SECRETARY: Mark Esper is the new Secretary of Defense.

III. THE NATIONS

NEW UK PRIME MINISTER: Boris Johnson has won and becomes the UK's new prime ministry - but his Tory majority is holding on to power by a thread. It remains to be seen how this will this impact the October 31 Brexit deadline.

NEW GREEK GOVERNMENT: Dr. Steve Turley on the new Greek government defending its borders and the Orthodox Church.

TURKEY-US RELATIONS: Relations between the Turks and Russians have come a long way since the Turks shot down a Russian fighter in 2015. In buying Russian air defenses, the US cannot sell the Turks the F-35. Pat Buchanan comments as NATO cracks and Mideast tensions continue. 

IV. CULTURE OF LIFE, CULTURE OF PROTECTION

THE GENDER PAY GAP: ...is a myth.

MARIO LOPEZ SCANDAL: Mario Lopez found himself in hot water for making a common sense statement regarding transgenderism and three-year-old children. The fact that he had to apologize is indicative of how extreme the sexual Left is pressing itself in our culture and on cultural figures and celebrities.

GILLETTE - GET WOKE, GO BROKE: Do you remember this advertisement from Gillette accusing men of toxic masculinity? On YouTube it's received twice as many thumbs-down votes as thumbs-up. It's now cost its parent company 8 billion dollars. Insulting your customer is probably not the best way to make sales. P&G said "it was worth it." Was it really?

DECLINING US BIRTH RATE: Demographers are fearing a demographic time bomb if US birth rates continue to decline. 2.1 children per woman is required to maintain the current population, and the US is now down to 1.76. This puts us ahead of Italy's 1.33 and the UK's 1.75 but behind Russia's 1.82 and France's 1.85. All are behind the top ten (all African) nations whose birth rates are between 5 and 7 children per women (see all national birthrates here).

FARMER'S MARKET SHUT DOWN: The mayor of Bloomington, Indiana shut down the city's farmer's market for two weeks after protesters came to decry a vendor, Sarah Dye, with a privately-held conservative viewpoint. How much has this cost other vendors? Will Dye be allowed back?

DANCING, GENDER, AND WAR: An intriguing take on the origins of dancing and its relation to mate-selection and war.