Monthly Archives: June 2017

Tim Farron just resigned as leader of the U.K.s Liberal Democratic party, and his statement explaining why should enter the history books: To be a political leader especially of a progressive, liberal party in 2017 and to live as a committed Christian, to hold faithfully to the Bibles teaching, has felt impossible for me, Farron said.

And so hes off.

The obvious rejoinder to Farrons statement is that he had to resign because he had a disastrous electoral showing. And to a degree, that is true. The Lib Dems have seemingly lost their political base in the last two elections. David Camerons modernizing of the Tories took one bite out of it. And Jeremy Corbyn has done a remarkable job consolidating the anti-Tory vote under Labour. Perhaps the Lib Dem strategy of making itself the party of die-hard Remainers actually hurt it when it seemed like the rest of the political class had moved on.

But part of the disastrous campaign for the Lib Dems was the fact that its leader was constantly interrogated for his religious beliefs, beliefs that had little to do with his public leadership. Farron had a long record of supporting gay rights and access to abortion. But the media wanted to know whether he thought they were sins. Farron would get on television wanting to talk up a second referendum to be held upon the results of Brexit negotiations. His media inquisitors wanted to talk about personal morality.

Guardian columnist Rafael Behr explains that Farrons problem was that the culture of contemporary liberalism is avowedly secular. That tells part of the story. The entire elite culture and much of the popular culture is secular in a quite specific way. It is not a secularism that encourages public neutrality while maintaining a generous social pluralism. Its a secularism that demands the humiliation of religion, specifically Christianity. And in Britain it has a decidedly classist flavor, one that holds it impossible for an Evangelical like Farron one of those people to represent the better sort of person.

This secularism is not without its sacred ground and hierarchical order. Farrons religious beliefs may be publicly interrogated, even if he has an immaculate history of quarantining them lest they contaminate his liberalism. Farrons beliefs are subject to casual public ridicule. If Tim Farron wanted his religion to be unreservedly praised in the British media, we all know what he had to do: Convert to Islam and blow up a few teenage girls. 2017 is the year we learned every Farron interview inspires people to kick Christianity and every terrorist attack starts a wave of public proclamations about the beauty of true Islam.

We live in an age in which our liberal media elite and most people who call themselves Christian in social surveys treat liberalism and Christianity as strangers to themselves and each other. Farron sought relief from his public trial by recalling the proud history of his faith in the reformation of British politics. No one wanted to hear it. He called upon the decency and forbearance that are supposed to mark British society. There is none left.

Unlike Tim Farron, I think the creative tension between political liberalism and Christian orthodoxy has ceased to be creative and is now just tension. But it is hard not to respect his witness. Today is the day Tim Farron landed on a truth in his statement: We are kidding ourselves if we think we yet live in a tolerant, liberal society. The truth has set him free.

READ MORE: Democrats to Pro-Lifers: You Are Unwanted and May Be Discarded Editorial: Trumps Half-Measure on Religious Liberty Will Trump Confront Renewed Religious Repression in Russia?

Michael Brendan Dougherty is a senior writer for National Review Online.

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Tim Farron's Resignation and the End of Liberal Christianity - National Review

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Posted: Jun 15, 2017 12:01 AM

After Republican Rep. Steve Scalise was shot yesterday, many liberals on twitter CELEBRATED and said things like,

The Only Good Fascist is a Dead One.

Thats a Shame but babies blown to bits at Sandy Hook was worse and Scalise takes money from the @NRA

If the shooter has a serious health condition then is taking potshots at the GOP leadership considered self defense?

If KKK support Steve Scalise dies, the shooter deserves a holiday, true leadership. Now the trumps, kush, & miller need to be transitioned.

Is it any wonder? The most prominent liberals in America regularly accuse conservatives of being racist, sexist, Nazis, fascists who want children to die and are killing the planet and ruining the environment all because of their hate of the poor and minorities. Liberals today aim a nastier stream of propaganda at Republicans than America did at the Nazis; so is it any wonder that some people take the next logical step and become violent?

Meanwhile, you have plays, rap videos and prominent liberals glorifying the murder of the President, liberals applauding unrepentant terrorists like Bill Ayers, all while cops at left-wing universities stand back and allow violent students to riot, threaten and disrupt conservative speakers. Were moving fast towards a point where clashes between armed gangs of thugs on both sides will leave people dead because liberals believe conservatives arent human beings and thus, dont deserve the same protection under the law.

Im not going to blame Bernie Sanders for the shooter who supported him or say that liberals and Democrats should be held personally responsible for it. The only person responsible for what the shooter did was the shooter. However, this sort of political violence is doomed to grow ever more common and bloodier unless liberal Democrats start changing the sort of rhetoric they engage in on a regular basis. Rhetoric like this

1) "Michele (Bachmann), slit your wrist. Go ahead... or, do us all a better thing [sic]. Move that knife up about two feet. Start right at the collarbone." -- Montel Williams

2) F*ck that dude. Ill smack that f*ckers comb-over right off his f*cking scalp. Like, for real, if I met Donald Trump, Id punch him in his f*cking face. And thats not a joke. Even if he did become president watch out, Donald Trump, because I will punch you in your f*cking face if I ever meet you. Secret Service had better just f*cking be on it. Dont let me anywhere within a block. Rapper Everlast on Donald Trump

3) I have zero doubt that if Dick Cheney was not in power, people wouldnt be dying needlessly tomorrow.Im just saying if he did die, other people, more people would live. Thats a fact. Bill Maher

4) I know how the tea party people feel, the anger, venom and bile that many of them showed during the recent House vote on health-care reform. I know because I want to spit on them, take one of their Obama Plan White Slavery signs and knock every racist and homophobic tooth out of their Cro-Magnon heads. The Washington Posts Courtland Milloy

5) F*** God D*mned Joe the God D*mned Motherf*cking plumber! I want Motherf*cking Joe the plumber dead. Liberal talk show host Charles Karel Bouley on the air.

6) Are you angry? [Yeah!] Are you angry? [Yeah!] Are you angry? [Yeah!] Well, weve been watching intifada in Palestine, weve been watching an uprising in Iraq, and the question is that what are we doing? How come we dont have an intifada in this country? Because it seem[s] to me, that we are comfortable in where we are, watching CNN, ABC, NBC, Fox, and all these mainstream giving us a window to the world while the world is being managed from Washington, from New York, from every other place in here in San Francisco: Chevron, Bechtel, [Carlyle?] Group, Halliburton; every one of those lying, cheating, stealing, deceiving individuals are in our country and were sitting here and watching the world pass by, people being bombed, and its about time that we have an intifada in this country that change[s] fundamentally the political dynamics in here. And we know every Theyre gonna say some Palestinian being too radical well, you havent seen radicalism yet. U.C. Berkeley Lecturer Hatem Bazian fires up the crowd at an anti-war rally by calling for an American intifada

7) "That Scott down there that's running for governor of Florida. Instead of running for governor of Florida, they ought to have him and shoot him. Put him against the wall and shoot him. He stole billions of dollars from the United States government and he's running for governor of Florida. He's a millionaire and a billionaire. He's no hero. He's a damn crook. It's just we don't prosecute big crooks." -- Rep. Paul Kanjorski, D-Pa

8) ..And then theres Rumsfeld who said of Iraq We have our good days and our bad days. We should put this S.O.B. up against a wall and say This is one of our bad days and pull the trigger. Do you want to salvage our country? Be a savior of our country? Then vote for John Kerry and get rid of the whole Bush Bunch. From a fund raising ad put out by the St. Petersburg Democratic Club

9) Republicans dont believe in the imagination, partly because so few of them have one, but mostly because it gets in the way of their chosen work, which is to destroy the human race and the planet. Human beings, who have imaginations, can see a recipe for disaster in the making; Republicans, whose goal in life is to profit from disaster and who dont give a hoot about human beings, either cant or wont. Which is why I personally think they should be exterminated before they cause any more harm. The Village Voices Michael Feingold, in a theater review of all places

10) But the victim is also inaccurately being eulogized as a kind and loving religious man. Make no mistake, as disgusting and deservedly dead as the hate-filled fanatical Muslim killers were, Thalasinos was also a hate-filled bigot. Death cant change that. But in the U.S., we dont die for speaking our minds. Or were not supposed to anyway. Thalasinos was an anti-government, anti-Islam, pro-NRA, rabidly anti-Planned Parenthood kinda guy, who posted that it would be Freaking Awesome if hateful Ann Coulter was named head of Homeland Security. Linda Stasi, New York Daily News,on a victim murdered in the San Bernadino terrorist attack

11) Cheney deserves same final end he gave Saddam. Hope there are cell cams. Rep. Chuck Kruger (D-Thomaston)

12) If I had my way, I would see Katherine Harris and Ken Blackwell strapped down to electric chairs and lit up like Christmas trees. The better to light the way for American Democracy and American Freedom! Democratic Talk Radios Stephen Crockett

13) May your children all die from debilitating, painful and incurable diseases. Allan Brauer, the communications chair of the Democratic Party of Sacramento County to Ted Cruz staffer Amanda Carpenter

14) Violence solves nothing. I want a rhino to f*ck @SpeakerRyan to death with its horn because it's FUNNY, not because he's a #GOPmurderbro. Jos Whedon

15) I hope Roger Ailes dies slow, painful, and soon. The evil that man has done to the American tapestry is unprecedented for an individual. Think Progress editorAlan Pyke

16) But, you know, the NRA members are the current incarnation of the brownshirts from Germany back in the early 30s, late 20s, early 30s. Now, of course, there came the Night of the Long Knives when the brownshirts were slaughtered and dumped in the nearest ditches when the power structure finally got tired of them. So I look forward to that day. Mike Malloy

17) "Or pick up a baseball bat and take out every f*cking republican and independent I see. #f*cktrump, #f*cktheGOP, #f*ckstraightwhiteamerica, #f*ckyourprivilege." -- Orange is the New Black star Lea DeLaria responding to a meme about using music to deal with violence

18) I wish they (Republicans) were all f*cking dead! Dan Savage

19) Sarah Palin needs to have her hair shaved off to a buzz cut, get headf*cked by a big veiny, ashy, black d*ck then be locked in a cupboard. Azealia Banks advocates raping Sarah Palin over a fake news story

20) Yes, Im angry. Yes, Im outraged. Yes, I have thought an awful lot about blowing up the White House, but I know that this wont change anything." -- Madonna

Originally posted here:

20 Liberal Calls For Violence Against Conservatives in Quotes - Townhall

According to the Belleville News-Democrat, a paper from the St. Louis area community in which Hodgkinson lived, the shooter has been identified with particularly progressive and liberal causes. He even worked as a volunteer on the presidential campaign of self-professed socialist Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. The suspects Twitter feed is also filled with tweets on liberal politics.

The paper reported that Hodgkinson belonged to a Facebook group called Terminate the Republican Party.

The shooters Facebook page was also linked to a long list of far left-wing groups and pages, including, Expose Republican Fraud, Liberal Democratic Socialist Party, Boycott The Republican Party, I Hate Donald Trump, Healthcare & Education Berners United to Resist Trump, among others.

The now deceased shooter also noted on his Facebook page that MSNBCs The Rachel Maddow Show was one of his favorite TV shows.

Facebook has since deleted the dead suspects account.

This afternoon, Sen Sanders responded to the fact that the shooter was a member of his own campaign by denouncing the shooting in no uncertain terms.

But Hodgkinson had been exhibiting stronger liberal views over the last year. Only a few days ago, Hodgkinson posted an attack against Trump on Facebook, saying, I Want to Say Mr. President, for being an [expletive] you are Truly the Biggest [expletive] We Have Ever Had in the Oval Office.

The Belleville News-Democrat also reported, In 2012, Hodgkinson took part in a protest outside the downtown Belleville post office. He said he was part of a 99% team drawing attention to the amount of money and political power the top 1 percent of Americans acquired.

Additionally, the suspect recently donated a small amount to the far left activist group ACTBLUE.

Hodgkinson voted Democrat in the 2016 Democratic primary, was described as a union tradesman, and was a licensed home inspector.

The shooter also has a history of altercations with the police. According to court records, Hodgkinson was charged with battery and damage to a motor vehicle in April 2006 in St. Clair County, Illinois. Ultimately, the charges were dismissed.

The suspect also recently came to the attention of the St. Clair County Sheriffs office when shots were heard being fired in a local patch of trees. Police found Hodgkinson with a rifle but let him go after finding he had a valid firearm owners card (FOID), a requirement for gun owners in Illinois.

According to Rep. Mike Bost, the Illinois Republican who represents the southern Illinois 12th Districtin which Hodgkinson lived, the suspect was always angry and repeatedly called the officers to complain, the Washington Post reported.

Every issue that we were working on, he was not in support of, Bost said, saying the communications were of a left-wing slant but were never delivered with any threats, only anger.

Illinois Congressman Peter Roskam denounced the shooting.

I am deeply saddened by the shooting this morning in Alexandria, Virginia. Elizabeth and I are praying for Rep. Steve Scalise, the Capitol Police, and all those involved, Roskam, a Republican, told Breitbart via email. I wish those harmed a speedy recovery and commend the bravery demonstrated by the Capitol Police and those who tended to the injured. We are fortunate to live among the brave men and women in uniform who serve to keep us safe each and every day.

Congressman Bost also slammed the lefts political rhetoric that caused the shooters mental breakdown.

With reports indicating that Wednesday mornings shooter is from my district, this is a tragedy that certainly hits close to home. As we continue to gather information, Tracy and I would like to send our prayers to my friend and colleague, Steve Scalise, as well as members of the security detail and congressional staff who were injured, Bost said in a statement. We live in challenging times, and the political rhetoric has been turned up to an alarming level. This should serve as a wake-up call for all of us to step back from the battle lines and come together to strengthen our nation.

The Illinois GOP did not respond to a request for a statement on the matter.

Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston, or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail.com.

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Congressional Shooter Had History of Violence, Supporting Liberal Causes - Breitbart News

In a sense it was the Liberal Democrats who did worst in this odd election. For the point of this party is to attract progressives who find Labour too dogmatic. And in the past two years Labour has been taken over by old-fashioned socialist dogma. It was the perfect opportunity to create a huge base of homeless New Labour voters. And then came Brexit, doubling this golden opportunity, for the Liberal Democrats were the main party of Brexit-scepticism.

Why was the chance missed? Maybe English voters can only really believe in the two main parties, when it comes to governing. In fact, most of us find one of these parties only intermittently credible.

So whats the point of the Liberal Democrats? They must seek purpose and coherence in an idea, a cause. Liberalism is too vague: there are aspects of liberalism that the Tories are stronger on, and aspects that Labour is as strong on, or stronger.

I have a modest proposal. The point of the Liberal Democrats should be to encourage debate about the big ideas that the other parties prefer to shun. And I mainly mean religion: I would like to see the party adopt an explicitly liberal Christian position. But if it went the other way and became secularist, that would be something it would help our politics to confront awkwardly large-scale ideas. But, as Ive argued before, there are grounds for thinking that a stable progressive force needs a religious basis so this could be the means by which they finally break out of third-party irrelevance.

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Embracing liberal Christianity can lead the Lib Dems out of irrelevance - Spectator.co.uk (blog)

The baseball field that is the scene of a shooting in Alexandria on June 14 where House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA) was shot at a congressional baseball practice. CREDIT: AP Photo/Alex Brandon

Early Wednesday morning, a gunman opened fire at a Republican congressional baseball team practice in Alexandria, Virginia, injuring at least five people.

Thus far, authorities havent confirmed any details about the assailant or his motivations, though several news outlets including the Washington Post have reported his name is James Hodgkinson, 66, of Belleville, Illinois. Hodgkinson died from his injuries following the incident.

Hodgkinson appears to have posted anti-Trump posts on his Facebook page and wrote letters to his local paper critical of Republican policies. Two House Republicans who were at the park for a practice ahead of Thursday nights annual congressional baseball game say they believe Hodgkinson approached them and asked if the lawmakers on the field were Democrats or Republicans before opening fire.

But even before Hodgkinson was identified as the shooter, a number of right-wing figures rushed to place collective blame on liberals and the media for the violence.

It wasnt just fringe figures like Walsh or Watson who did this. During a Fox News interview conducted before the shooter was identified, Rep. Rodney Davis (R-IL) traced the violence to political rhetorical terrorism.

This political rhetoric and political discourse that has led to hate, has led to gunfire, Davis said. I never thought Id go to baseball practice for charity and have to dodge bullets. This has got to stop and it has got to stop today Weve got to ratchet down the rhetoric that weve seen, not only on social media, but in the media, in the 24-hour news cycle.

Rep. Chris Collins (R-NY) went a step further and explicitly pinned blame for the shooting on Democratic rhetoric during an interview with a Buffalo radio station.

Collins, who was the first member of Congress to endorse Donald Trump during the presidential campaign, went on to suggest the violence was an understandable reaction to Democrats outrageous criticisms of Trump.

The rhetoric has been outrageousthe finger-pointing, just the tone and the angst and the anger directed at Donald Trump, his supporters, he said. Really, then, you know, some people react to things like that. They get angry as well. And then you fuel the fires.

Donald Trump Jr. linked the shooting with New Yorks Public Theaters controversial production of Shakespeares Julius Caesara play actually meant to illustrate the futility of political violence.

Theres an obvious difference between opposing policies like Trumps Muslim ban or a health care bill that will strip coverage for millions and advocating violence against Republicans. No prominent Democrats have done the latter, and many quickly condemned Hodgkinsons actions.

Trump avoided playing the blame game and offered measured comments about the shooting during an 11:30 a.m. briefing at the White House.

We are strongest when we are unified, and when we work together for the common good, Trump said. Please take a moment today to cherish those you love, and always remember those who serve and keep us safe.

While the link between Hodgkinsons political views and the mass shooting it appears he perpetrated is tenuous at best, the Daily Beast reported he was arrested for domestic battery in 2006.

Data has consistently shown a strong connection between acts of domestic violence and acts of mass violence.

Read more here:

An online rush to blame 'liberal rhetoric' for Virginia mass shooting - ThinkProgress

Until now, ESPN and its hosts have repeatedly denied that it has a liberal bias problem. Last year ESPN ombudsman Jim Brady published an investigation into the claim of liberal bias that ran thousands of words only to reach the conclusion that there was no liberal bias.

But that wasnt all; the question so vexed the network that it hired a polling firm to find out if there is any liberal bias and, if so, has it hurt the networks ratings. Unsurprisingly, the survey bought and paid for by ESPN miraculously showed that there was no liberal bias at the network.

ESPNs survey, though, flies in the face of three other surveys that did find that the network has a liberal bias problemand that the constant left-wing content is driving viewers away.

Many liberal members of the sports media, such as Awful Announcings Andrew Bucholtz, joined ESPN to pish-tosh any notion that the network has a liberal bias problem.

But there seems to be a changeup in the discussionas at least one liberal sportsman is now saying ESPNs dive into liberalism is a good thing for the network that is losing 10,000 subscribers a month.

According to Ty Duffy of Awful Announcing, ESPNs liberal bias is a good thing because it will bring in young, liberal fans.

There is truth in the liberal claim. ESPN has tilted leftward under John Skipper, Duffy initially observed.

Despite that admission, Duffy goes on to claim there is no proof that conservative fans have abandoned ESPN over its constant left-wing content. Naturally Duffy ignoredthe three surveys that serve as proof of conservative discontent and relied only on ESPNs bought and paid for survey to prove his contention.

But even as he offers no statistical proof to buttress his own claim, Duffy insists that ESPNs drive leftward is a shrewd move because it will bring young, woke viewers to replace the fleeing conservative audience.

Major brands, such as ESPN, are now expected to exhibit a political and social consciousness. They pay a cost when they are tone deaf. If there are now two Americas, ESPN (and sports leagues) will move with the one advertisers want to reach: young people, people with disposable income, and growing minority populations.

Of course, Duffy indulges gross generalizations. Only far left-wing liberals expect major brands to exhibit a political and social consciousness. Even if that is the case, he also seems to simply assume that even liberals dont want a place to escape politics and instead want politics to invade and conquer the sports world.

Time will tell, of course, but it is interesting to see how this argument is morphing from staunch proclamations that ESPN isnt liberal to the admission that, yes, some hosts are liberal, and finally to the obdurate notion thatyeah, were liberal. What of it?

Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail.com.

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The Changeup: Liberals Now Say ESPN's Liberal Bias a Good Thing - Breitbart News

This morning, someone who specifically wanted to kill Republicans sprayed more than 50 shots at a GOP Congressional baseball practice, wounding at least five including Congressman Steve Scalise (R-La.). Within minutes, the sadly inevitable Tweets began:

Yes, it is too soon.

I have never been a gun guy, and Ill leave it to others to argue gun control vs. gun rights and how they relate to issues of safety, security, and freedom.

But the rush to blame Scalises own political stances for his misfortune should shock the conscience of Americans, and I reject the idea that both sides do it. While Republicans sometimes point out the way Democrat policies (generous welfare, the minimum wage) hurt the people they are supposed to help, virtually none of us gloat and seek political advantage when Democrats face death or grievous bodily injury.

Yet during the health-care debate, I heard some liberals openly wish Republicans who supported Trumpcare would themselves suffer painful illnesses, or witness them among family members.

Were seeing the same vengeful point-scoring today.

As the saying goes, conservatives think liberals are wrong; liberals think conservatives are evil. Democrats often seem certain that Republicans choose economic policies from malice toward the poor; health-care proposals out of indifference to sick people; and attitudes toward affirmative action due to racism.

And when Republicans take NRA money (for their campaigns, not themselves) in exchange for supporting policies that objectively lead to the deaths of children, its simple greed.

The smug idea that conservatives would abandon their positions if they affected them personally is a bedrock of the liberal cultural stance. Countless TV shows have portrayed traditionalist characters who dont support gay marriage until a family member comes out. A Republican Senator in a recent off-Broadway, Church and State, sees the light about gun control after a shooting at the elementary school his children attend. Liberal newspapers trumpet confessionals by women who were pro-life until they got pregnant.

Todays tweets are particularly obnoxious when they offer thoughts and prayers. Thats a manifestation of what is known on the internet as concern trolling pretending sympathy for the other side to undermine its case. Anyone who really seeks prayers for Representative Scalise calls for prayers for him, and joins in. They dont attack Scalises policies and his campaign donor list while they do so.

And it needs to be said: the shooter was not a conservative. He stopped to check the political affiliation of the practicing legislator-athletes before opening fire. Seriously? Democrats have gone back to defending gun control today as a means to control their own people from murdering Republicans? Words cannot

Were already seeing conservative responses online to the blame-guns crowd, pointing out that if the shooter had not been himself shot by armed guards the event would have been a massacre. Those debates will likely continue for weeks. But its not too early to upbraid those who waited but minutes to exploit a legislative opponents tragedy to score political points. Shame on you.

David Benkof is a columnist for The Daily Caller. Follow him on Twitter (@DavidBenkof) and Muckrack.com/DavidBenkof, or E-mail him at [emailprotected].

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Liberal Shoots Republicans; Democrats Blame GOP Gun Policies - The Daily Caller