Religion, Nations, and Geopolitical Review: SATURDAY, MAY 16

by A. Joseph Lynch

THE WEEKLY BRIEF
USING FLYNN TO OVERTHROW TRUMP

We at AoA were never terribly attached to General Michael Flynn. As Dr. Pence wrote on February 18, 2017:

General Michael Flynn is very much like Rudy Giuliani. He was a necessary and important part of the war that was the Trump campaign. But he is not suited for the kind of coalition building necessary to replace our bellicose foreign policy with a consort of great powers.  His press briefing "Putting Iran on notice" was a much worse offense than talking sanctions in December with the Russians. His not coming clean with Vice President Pence was inexcusable.  President Trump is a good judge of character and competence. He knows when someone doesn’t quite fit. Flynn was unjustly framed but  his own character faults led to his departure. The good patriot was properly let go after being improperly accused.   Flynn, Giuliani, Palin, Gingrich - good campaign warriors but no longer good for governance. The problem remains with the so called deep state (those elements of government that do not change with elections but often make policy through their own long term relationships). This was not a moral whistleblower but an act to subterfuge the ability of the elected executive to conduct foreign relations.  

Although we noted that the "problem remains with the so called deep state," we didn't know exactly how Flynn's take-down was an essential part of the deep state's plan. We now have much more information.

On December 22, 2016, Michael Flynn spoke with the Russian ambassador Kislyak while drinking on the beaches of Mar-a-Lago. Their call was recorded by the FBI. Due to laws protecting Americans from domestic spying Flynn's name was redacted from the transcript. It has been revealed this week that a host of political appointees within the Obama administration - like the ambassador to Italy -  requested the unmasking of Flynn. The phone call was later illegally leaked to the press and helped spin the Russian collusion narrative that launched the sham investigation of the president.

We also now know that an investigation was conducted into what was said in the phone call, which cleared Flynn of wrongdoing with a planned shut down of the investigation on January 4. The disgraced FBI agent Peter Strzok was the one who kept the case open by coming up with charging Flynn for violating the Logan Act, a defunct 1799 law that prohibited American's from illicitly representing the nation in foreign negotiations. Strzok brought this law to FBI director Comey who then presented it to President Obama, Vice President Biden, and other members of the administration's team the very next day, January 5. At this meeting a plan was made to interview Flynn.

Comey sat on the interview, however, until January 24 - less than 24 hours into Flynn's tenure as Trump's national security advisor. During this time a meeting was held between Comey and disgraced deputy director McCabe regarding the goal of the interview: get Flynn to lie or get him fired? Neither the former - entrapment - nor the latter - partisan politics - justified the interview. Furthermore, the fact that the FBI recorded the call also meant no interview was necessary. If there was something to charge Flynn for, charges could be brought. Yet we know that there was nothing improper in the phone call, which is why the case was set to close on January 4.

The Flynn interview, however, went forward. Comey bragged about how he took advantage of the new administration to skirt standard procedures and sent Strzok and another agent to the White House to interview Flynn. Flynn was never told he was being investigated, never asked to have a lawyer present, and never warned his words could be used for prosecution should he lie. The media later said Flynn was "grilled" - yet as far as Flynn knew he was helping the FBI out in an investigation of Kislyak in a very laid back interview.

It turns out that Flynn never lied to the FBI. When questioned about aspects of the conversation that could violate the Logan Act, Flynn spoke of his beach drinking during the call and that his memory was someone hazy. Flynn did later plead guilty to lying, but only after he was financially ruined and the FBI threatened to trump up charges on his son. Flynn was innocent. He knew it, Jim Comey knew it, Obama and Biden knew it, yet they all colluded to bring him down in hopes of derailing the Trump administration before it began. By eliminating Flynn, who knew how to purge the deep state in the national security "blob" (which played a huge role in the Trump impeachment), and forcing a recusal from Jeff Sessions' at Justice, Trump found himself without armor in the war that soon followed.

While AoA does not seek a return of Flynn to the White House, we do hope for justice - both for Flynn and for President Trump. The deep state took a stab at the president, we now hope its actors are soon revealed and prosecuted so that the president can win a second term and accomplish his full set of policy goals by 2024.

I. POPE FRANCIS AND THE CATHOLIC CHURCH

HAND OR TONGUE? Amidst the coronavirus outbreak Taylor Marshall hosted a good discussion of Communion in the hand versus on the tongue. Bishop Stika of Knoxville has already declared he opposes Church law - and USCCB coronavirus policy - and threatened banishment to those who attempt to receive on the tongue. Thankfully another bishop tempted to ban Communion on the tongue had a change of heart.

PEORIA CO-ADJUTOR: Bishop Jenky, who has tirelessly fought for Fulton Sheen's canonization, will soon be replaced by a Chicago priest whose ties make him seemingly less likely to fight for Sheen. More from Church Militant.

CHURCH IN COURT: Two federal judges ruled against the Democrat governor of Kentucky, ruling that his ban on church gatherings lacks a "compelling reason" to deny citizens an "essential" part of their religious faith, the protection of which is guaranteed by the first amendment. God love the Baptists who filed suit and brought about the ruling.

PELL'S TROUBLES CONTINUE: If Pell has any evidence against the corrupt in the Vatican, he made need to speak up quickly. His enemies are already plotting against him.

II. PRESIDENT TRUMP AND AMERICA

VOTE FOR SOMEONE ELSE: Biden continues to tell questioning voters to vote for someone else. He has now told those who believe he assaulted Tara Reade "probably shouldn't vote for" him. As Biden bungles coronavirus numbers and fails to connect with voters from his basement, is it time to dump Biden? Perhaps the real Democrat strategy is to keep him around until the convention in August and then nominate someone else in hopes Trump wasted too much campaign dollars attacking Biden while cutting short the time on GOP opposition research on the new candidate. Time will tell.

TRUMP WINNING: A new CNN poll - which CNN conveniently buried - shows Trump beating Biden in fifteen battleground states, including the typically blue states of Minnesota, Colorado, Maine, Michigan, New Mexico, Virginia, and Pennsylvania. The president also tied his highest approval rating as president.

BLAMING CHINA: Trump has done a masterful job in laying out the narrative on who's to blame for the coronavirus. He has not attacked local Democrat mayors, governors, or legislators, though in many cases they were inept at the virus' outset. He also didn't blame the partisan impeachment proceedings, though he certainly had cause to say it was a huge distraction during the outbreak's onset. Instead he has kept his eye on his policy endeavors. China is to blame. China pressured the WHO to hold back information about human-to-human transmission and locked down Wuhan while allowing international flights from Wuhan to continue. Once again the president is entirely in sync with the American people, 73% of whom also blame China. The war Trump wants to fight is not a partisan blame game but a war to bring jobs back to America from China. Hammering home China's fault in the pandemic will do just that.

GOP WINS BIG: Republicans flipped their first California House seat since 1998, decisively winning the seat by 12 point while winning a 15-point blowout in Wisconsin. Meanwhile Nebraska Democrats have nominated a far Left candidate, Kara Eastman, to run for the state's 2nd congressional district making it much more likely that the GOP will be another seat towards retaking the House in November.

III. THE NATIONS

VE DAY AT 75: Commemorations of the seventy-fifth anniversary of VE Day were significantly muted by the coronavirus pandemic. As tensions with Russia and China continue to mount, we recommend our readers re-read Dr. Pence's article on the twentieth century. Here is an excerpt on the what took place following VE and VJ Days:

Soon after VE and VJ days, the alliance that won WWII was seared... Communists had paid their dues in the wars against the fascists. The Soviet has suffered the most and killed the most Nazis. The Chinese had suffered the most from the Japanese. It seemed to the Soviet and Chinese Communists  that the imperialist capitalists-America, France and Britain were rebuilding the fascist countries of Japan and Germany to make a new cross national integrated ruling class. Communism  presented itself as the scientific road to modernity for the colonized in their wars of national liberation. Americans presented themselves  alternately as a religious people standing for the soul of the individual against the totalitarian state and free market advocates for the good life of capitalist consumerism. The battle in the post colonial world would be over who would speak for the new emerging nations in Africa and Asia.

CHINESE NATIONALISM: Nationalism can be a force for peace and limitations of power projections beyond one's own territory. But what to do when a territory perceived as one's own has broken away? With the coronavirus keeping the US Navy - especially her carrier forces - on the mend, a nationalist fever in China is driving calls for an invasion of Taiwan.

SAUDI TAX HIKE: With oil prices in steep decline, the Saudis are looking for ways to generate revenue and cut costs. The state recently announced plans to triple taxes on basic goods and cut $26 billion in spending. This certainly gives the Saudis some pressure to end their brutal - and costly - war in Yemen. Thankfully a ceasefire deal has been reached and progress is being made for a truce as the coronavirus hits the region. In other hopeful news, disputes between the US and the Saudis over oil production have led the US to pull two anti-missile weapon systems from Saudi Arabia.

INDIA VICTORY IN KASHMIR: India has successfully killed its second leader of Islamic rebel forces in Kashmir. As the coronavirus locks many Indians in their home, the counter-terrorist victory is sure to raise the morale of Indian citizens across the country.

CASPIAN REPORT: The YouTube Channel, Caspian Report, offer a wealth of information on geopolitics, history, and geography. It recently posted videos on Portugal's planned territorial expansion at sea, the geopolitics of Jordan, and the geopolitics of the Black Sea.

IV. CULTURE OF LIFE, CULTURE OF PROTECTION

FATHER-SON ARREST: The killing of Ahmaud Arbery is making headlines this week after a father and son were arrested for his death. Despite calls to investigate the killing as a hate crime, recent updates call into question early reports surrounding Arbery's death. It is said Arbery was jogging, yet he was ten miles from his house. Arbery was killed after being caught trespassing a home under construction - a site he's been recorded rummaging through several times in the past at it appears thousands of dollars of equipment, along with a handgun, was stolen. It turns out that the local police gave the home owner the contact information of the now arrested father and retired police officer, Greg McMichael, for help should the trespassing continue. The end result was tragic, but obviously clear that the McMichaels should never have been arrested.

WHO IS THE FASCIST? As more protests unfold in against Gov. Whitmer of Michigan, Whitmer has essentially called the protesters neo-Nazis for using images of swastikas. She failed to mention the use of the symbol was aimed at her for her fascist crack down on the people of Michigan while the rest of the country begins to reopen.

POLYGAMY DECRIMINALIZED: Utah has made polygamy a crime no worse than a traffic violation. 160 years after the Republican Party was founded to destroy the twin evils of slavery and polygamy, the GOP's lackluster defense of marriage has led the nation to embrace gay marriage and Utah to essentially restore polygamy.

THE PRICE IS WRONG: The classic daytime game show, The Price is Right, hosted RuPaul for a special night with a hefty donation to charity due to the coronavirus. The recipient? Planned Parenthood. Once again, out of touch celebrities work to support the causes of the Sexual Left. Meanwhile it was announced that President Trump made sure no stimulus money made it to Planned Parenthood.

BRITISH VICTORY: Britain has banned sex change surgeries for minors. Back stateside there are reports that Google has rolled back its diversity and and inclusion programs. Is the culture war beginning to turn?

Religion, Nations, and Geopolitical Review: SATURDAY, MAY 9

There will not be Religion, Nations, and Geopolitics Review this week. The article will return next week with much to discuss. AoA will see you next week!

Religion, Nations, and Geopolitical Review: SATURDAY, MAY 2

R&G ROUND UP

May 2, 2020

by A. Joseph Lynch 

FUNDING WUHAN LAB: As President Trump indicates he has seen evidence that the coronavirus was inadvertantly leaked from a virolgy lab in Wuhan, reports indicate the United States, under President Obama, gave around $3 million to the lab in question.

LEAKED VIRUS INTEL: We've been less than enthused by the "Five Eyes" intelligence community composed of the US with the old white dominions of the British Empire.

READE CORROBORATION: We now have infinitely more evidence to support Tara Reade's allegation againt Joe Biden than the allegation made against Justice Kavanaugh by Christine Blasey Ford. Recall that Ford's allegation, which involved no intimate sexual contact, couldn't remember when the incident took place or where it took place, nor was there a single person who could recall her talking about until recent years. We now have evidence that Tara's mother called in on CNN to talk it Larry King about it (though the video has mysteriously disappeared from Google Play), and several other have come forward to say that Tara told them about it around the time it happened.

BIDEN ON DEFENSE: Joe Biden took to MSNBC to defend himself against Reade's allegation. The results were less than stellar. Biden refused to allow his Senate records to be examined, was utterly speachless when questioned about a limited search of the files, and then referred journalists and investigators to a place where no Senate records related to sexual assaults would be held. He had to quickly walk back a comment about believing all women until it's "proved" they are lying. The interview went so poorly that today the New York Times has called for a DNC invesitigation into the Biden allegation.

DEATH OF ME TOO: "I believe Biden" has now replaced "I believe her." We're glad to see that Democrats have finally rediscovered the need for due process. We at AoA have never supported the radical positions of the "Me Too" movement, epsecially in its disregard for due process. Even President Trump has come to Biden's defense. Yet the fact remains that this moement of Democrat hypocrisy may torpedo Joe Biden's candidacy. We hope that this brings about a return to sanity in relation to baseless sexual allegations in the future.

BYE-BYE AMBASSADOR: Ambassador Bill Taylor, whose hawkish stance on Ukraine led him to participate in the soft coup against the president, is stepping down. Given how badly Taylor's argument was dismantled by Rep. Jim Jordan in November, we're surprised this didn't happen sooner.

ITALEXIT: Italy's version of Brexit seems to be moving forward. According to Salvini, the leader of Italy's religious nationalists: “This [EU]  isn’t a ‘union.’ This is a nest of snakes and jackals.... First we defeat the virus, then we have a rethink about Europe. If it helps, we say goodbye. Without even a thank you.”

KISSINGER CRITIQUE: AoA has a great deal of respect for Henry Kissinger, especially in his work - and book - on China. Yet Kissinger has many blindspots. Pat Buchanan points out some of them.

Religion, Nations, and Geopolitical Review: SATURDAY, APRIL 25

by A. Joseph Lynch

I. POPE FRANCIS AND THE CATHOLIC CHURCH

SSPX INVESTIGATION: Church Militant released a damning exposé on sexual abuse within the SSPX, particuarly from homosexual predators. Read the full transcript.

SHROUD SCIENCE: An excellent video on the science behind the Shroud of Turin was recently released. Taylor Marshall had a good interview with the video's creator.

CHURCH FUNDING: How much does the US Catholic Church receive from its parishioners and how much is given from government coffers? A 2015 report says that the US Catholic Church received $1.6 billion from the US government over a period of three years - that's over $500 million a year. America Magazine ran an article in 2017 reporting fears that Trump's budgets might gut these revenues. Could this be one big reason why Trump is so unpopular with the Church's hierachy? And if this money is still coming in, it may be a big incentive to keep parishes closed.

II. PRESIDENT TRUMP AND AMERICA

IMMIGRATION SUSPENDED: President Trump has suspended immigration into the US for the next 60 days. Expect it to be extended. Although Democrats are hyperventaliting about the shut down, a USA Today poll reveals that 79% of Americans agree with the president/

BIDEN ACCUSATION ON CNN: The sesxual assault accusation against Joe Biden deepened this weekend as a 1993 video recording of the victim's mother calling in on Larry King surfaced.

CRITICISM OF CHINA: A leaked EU report reveals some harsh criticism of China during the virus outbreak. China hit back, and the New York Times is reporting that the EU caved to Chinese pressure. Don't expect this from America, where the state of Missouri has become the first state to sue China over the virus. And don't expect the US to drop the reports that Chinese agents were spreading disinformation in the US as the virus struck.

"LET THEM EAT ICE CREAM": As Americans struggle amid the virus shut down, Nancy Pelosi went on TV to talk about all the ice cream filling her $24k set of refrigerators. President Trump mocked the out-of-touch gaffe in a devestating ad released this week.

WHO NEEDS MONEY? Pelosi is not the only out-of-touch member of the liberal elites. Celebrities are being criticized anew for their "One World: Together At Home" concert that raised money for the World Health Organization. This is the same organization that happily fed the world Chinese propanda in a Janaury 14 tweet that said: "Preliminary investigations conducted by the Chinese authorities have found no clear evidence of human-to-human transmission of the novel coronavirus."

III. THE NATIONS

BIBLICAL FAMINE: As nations begin keeping vital resources at home, like food, famine might kill far more people than the virus. The UN is now warning that famine of a biblical proportion could soon threaten dozens of nations and up to 265 million people.

FAILED PROTECTION: Canada announced that one million respirator masks it bought from China failed to meet safety standards and could not be used by frontline workers in the virus fight. As an international virus blowback is sure to befall China, the nation must do a much better job of assisting the nations in the struggle.

MORE CHINA FALLOUT: The president of Tanzania is cancelling a $10 billion loan from China because "the Terms and Conditions... can only be accepted by drunkard person." Expect more Afrian nations to follow suit in the months and years ahead.

PULLING OUT OF CHINA: According to a new report, three of the world’s four largest economies, the United States, Japan and the European Union, are drawing up separate plans to lure their companies out of China.

VIRAL SPREAD: A recent study of the virus outbreak at a call center in South Korea reveals how the virus can be limited even within an indoor setting. While 43% of the center became infected, the infection was remarkably limited to about one half of the center.

TRACKING THE VIRUS: Now available is a new userfriendly chart that allows you to select nations of your choice and track the virus deathtoll. It's an excellent comparison tool for those looking to see how the virus is impacting the nations.

FAULTY NUMBERS: To the surprise of no one, the real number of virus cases in China may have been four times higher in February than what was officially reported.

THE FATHERHOOD OF GOD ON DIVINE MERCY SUNDAY: “On that day are open all the divine floodgates through which graces flow"

[first published April 27, 2014]


Those are the words of Our Lord to Saint Faustina.

An entry from her Polish diary:

“Strangely, all things came about just as the Lord had requested. In fact, it was on the first Sunday after Easter [April 1935] that the image was publicly honored by crowds of people for the first time. For three days it was exposed and received public veneration.”   (#89)

Three years later she died in Krakow at the age of 33. The Church's  emphasis on the Octave of Easter that Christ's Passion is a manifestation of the mercy of The Father is not a peculiar quirk of a Polish nun made famous by a Polish Pope. The mystic nun did not invent this day. The liturgical readings were never changed. All octaves are resonating contemplations of the prior feast. That's been true since eight day circumcision established the spiritual communal identity of the Jewish male.   It is true on the Octave of Pentecost when we contemplate the eternal interpersonal communion of the Trinity which subsumes humans in the Church. Christ admonished Phillip that seeing Him clearly was "seeing the Father".  St Faustina needed no admonishing. She saw clearly the Father acting in her  contemplation of the Cross. This Octave is a great celebration of the Fatherhood of God. (This becomes especially clear  in reading St John Paul II on Dives in Misericordia. Here is a good explanation of his subsequent naming the Octave of Easter as Divine Mercy Sunday)

                                                      

The image of Divine Mercy is the red and white lights of Mercy from our incarnate Lord. It is the blood and water that flowed from his side at Calvary, when like the first Adam he allowed the new Eve of the Church to come from his side. The water and blood are Baptism and the Eucharist, by which men are incorporated into the Body of Christ.

The Gospel on this Octave of Easter recounts the first act which Christ did on Easter evening. In a locked upper room, He transmitted the Father's  Divine Mercy in a sacramental form that would resonate through the ages.  He deliberately set aside the Apostles as He breathed the Spirit on them to empower them to forgive sins as He had done. He instituted the sacrament of mercy (reconciliation/confession) and just as the saving blood and water could only come from his side, forgiveness of sins is mediated only through His Apostolic priesthood. This part of today's Gospel reading almost always gives way to the second story about Thomas and his reluctance to believe without seeing and touching. (The Thomas episode happened eight days later on the Octave Sunday) Because his experience of doubting is such a universal one, that episode is almost always the topic of Catholic and Protestant homilies on this day. But on Divine Mercy Sunday -- in this special papal year of Divine Mercy -- let us concentrate on the first episode of today's Gospel.  This is the Christian Day of Atonement because there is a new designated Holy of Holies where every Christian through the ages can come to meet God face to face and beg forgiveness. The Divine Mercy of the Father is manifested in Christ and works through a sacramental order. Man is rescued from Satan in Baptism, confirmed in the Spirit by a bishop, forgiven of sins by a priest in confession, and  integrated into the salvific Body of Christ in the Mass. Mercy overflows but it comes from a narrow spigot, a very particular and well-formed font: the side of Christ, the Apostolic Church, the reality of the sacraments.
                                               

UPDATE: It's remarkable, but both Faustina and Hans Urs von Balthasar were born in the month of August 1905.  They certainly came to different views of Hell's existence!  Another excerpt from Faustina's diary:

“Today, I was led by an Angel to the chasms of hell. It is a place of great torture; how awesomely large and extensive it is …  I, sister Faustina, by the order of God, have visited the abysses of hell so that I might tell souls about it and testify to its existence. I cannot speak about it now; but I have received a command from God to leave it in writing. The devils were full of hatred for me, but they had to obey me at the command of God. What I have written is but a pale shadow of the things I saw. But I noticed one thing: that most of the souls there are those who disbelieved that there is a hell.” 

              
Good Pope John, son of the soil of northern Italy, was canonized today (along with the Polish man in full, John Paul). Angelo Roncalli's sharecropper parents had 13 children. An army chaplain in the First World War, Angelo later served in Bulgaria, Turkey, and France as a Vatican diplomat.


Here is Faustina (the first saint of the 'Great Jubilee' of 2000) on the power of the Eucharist:

"All the good that is in me is due to Holy Communion... Herein lies the whole secret of my sanctity... One thing alone sustains me, and that is Holy Communion. From it I draw all my strength; in it is all my comfort... Jesus concealed in the Host is everything to me... I would not know how to give glory to God if I did not have the Eucharist in my heart... O living Host, my one and only strength, fountain of love and mercy, embrace the whole world, and fortify faint souls. O blessed be the instant and the moment when Jesus left us His most merciful Heart!"