Music video by George Harrison performing What Is Life. (C) 2002 G.H. Estate Ltd, under exclusive licence to Calderstone Productions Limited, a division of Universal Music Group
“What Is Life” is a song by the English musician George Harrison, released on his 1970 triple album All Things Must Pass. In many countries, it was issued as the second single from the album, in February 1971, becoming a top-ten hit in the United States, Canada and elsewhere, and topping singles charts in Australia and Switzerland. In the United Kingdom, “What Is Life” appeared as the B-side to “My Sweet Lord“, which was the best-selling single there of 1971. Harrison’s backing musicians on the song include Eric Clapton and the entire Delaney & Bonnie Friends band, with whom he had toured during the final months of the Beatles. Harrison co-produced the recording with Phil Spector, whose Wall of Sound production also employed a prominent string arrangement by John Barham and multiple acoustic rhythm guitars, played by Harrison’s fellow Apple Records signings Badfinger.
An uptempo composition in the soul genre, “What Is Life” is one of several Harrison love songs that appear to be directed at both a woman and a deity. Harrison wrote the song in 1969 and originally intended it as a track for his friend and Apple protégé Billy Preston to record. Built around a descending guitar riff, it is one of Harrison’s most popular compositions and was a regular inclusion in his live performances. Rolling Stone magazine has variously described it as a “classic”[1] and an “exultant song of surrender”.[2]
Even before his temporary departure from the Beatles in January 1969 (documented in the song “Wah-Wah“),[3] their Apple Records label was an “emancipating force” for Harrison from the creative restrictions imposed on him within the band, according to his musical biographer, Simon Leng.[4] In his “definitive” article on All Things Must Pass for Mojo magazine, John Harris has written of Harrison’s “journey” as a solo artist beginning in November 1968 – when he spent time in Woodstock with Bob Dylan and the Band – and incorporating a series of other collaborations through the following eighteen months, including various Apple projects and a support role on Delaney & Bonnie and Friends’ brief European tour.[5] One of these projects, carried out intermittently from April to July 1969,[6] was his production of That’s the Way God Planned It, an album by Billy Preston, whom Harrison had met during the Beatles’ Hamburg years and had recently recruited to guest on the band’s troubled Get Back sessions.[7][8] It was while driving up to a Preston session in London from his home in Esher, Surrey, that Harrison came up with the song “What Is Life”.[9]
In his autobiography, I, Me, Mine, Harrison describes it as having been written “very quickly” and recalls that he thought it would be a perfect, “catchy pop song” for Preston to record.[10] His lyrics, while simple, were similarly uplifting and universal:[11][12]
What I feel, I can’t say
But my love is there for you any time of day
But if it’s not love that you need
Then I’ll try my best to make everything succeed.
Tell me, what is my life without your love?
And tell me, who am I without you, by my side?
These lyrics have caused some debate among biographers and music critics, as to whether “What Is Life” should be viewed as a straightforward love song – perhaps a “lovingly crafted paen” to Harrison’s wife Pattie, as Alan Clayson puts it[13] – or a devotional song like many of Harrison’s compositions.[12][14] Ian Inglis writes that the song title suggests a “philosophical debate about the meaning of life”, yet its rendering as “what is my life” in the choruses “reshapes [the meaning] completely”.[11] Theologian Dale Allison finds no religious content in “What Is Life” but notes the “failure of words to express feelings” implied in the opening line (“What I feel, I can’t say“), a recurring theme of Harrison’s spiritual songs such as “That Is All“, “Mystical One” and “Pisces Fish“.[15] Joshua Greene, another religious academic, identifies the song as part of its parent album’s “intimately detailed account of a spiritual journey”: where “Awaiting on You All” shows Harrison “convinced of his union with God”, “What Is Life” reveals him to be “uncertain that he deserved such divine favor”.[16]
The song’s second verse repeats what Inglis refers to as the “somewhat confusing promise” from Harrison (in lines 3 and 4) should his love be “rejected”:[11]
What I know, I can’t do
If I give my love out to everyone like you
But if it’s not love that you need
Then I’ll try my best to make everything succeed.
Musically, Simon Leng describes “What Is Life” as “Motown-spiced” and a comparatively rare example of its composer’s willingness to embrace the role of “entertainer” in his songwriting.[17]
In I Me Mine, Harrison recalls that he changed his mind about offering “What Is Life” to Preston once he’d arrived at Olympic Studios and found the singer busy working on more typical material – or “playing his funky stuff” as Harrison puts it.[10][9] Rather than attempt it with the Beatles during the band’s concurrent Abbey Road sessions, he stockpiled the track with his many other unused songs from the period – “All Things Must Pass“, “Let It Down“, “I’d Have You Anytime” and “Run of the Mill” among them[18] – and revisited it a year later, after completing work on Preston’s second Apple album, Encouraging Words.[19]
By May 1970, having recently collaborated with “genuine R&B heavy-weights” such as Doris Troy and Preston, as well as participating in the “blue-eyed soul“[20] Delaney & Bonnie European tour, along with Eric Clapton, the previous December, Harrison was well placed to record “What Is Life”, Leng observes.[21] With Phil Spector as co-producer and all the Friends team on hand, the song was among the first tracks taped for Harrison’s debut post-Beatles solo album;[22] recording took place at Abbey Road Studios in London, during late May or early June.[22][23] The same core of musicians – Bobby Whitlock, Carl Radle, Jim Gordon, Bobby Keys and Jim Price – would similarly elevate other All Things Must Pass tracks such as “Awaiting on You All”, “Art of Dying” and “Hear Me Lord“.[24]
The recording is defined by Harrison’s descending, fuzztone guitar riff,[2] which also serves as the motif for the chorus.[12] The track opens with this riff,[25] which is then joined by Radle’s bass and “churning” rhythm guitar from Clapton, before Gordon’s drums bring the full band in.[9][26] During the verses, Gordon moves to a square, Motown-style beat – or “rock-steady Northern soulbackbeat” in Leng’s words[21] – before returning to the “galloping rhythm” of the more open, “knockout” choruses,[2] and the song is driven equally by Badfinger drummer Mike Gibbins‘ powerful tambourine work.[27]
On “What Is Life”, Spector provided what music critic David Fricke terms “echo-drenched theater”, in the form of reverb-heavy brass, soaring strings (arranged by John Barham) and “a choir of multitracked Harrisons”.[2] The vocals and Barham’s contribution, along with a brief slide-guitar commentary from Harrison over the final verse,[12] were overdubbed at Trident Studios, most likely during late August through September.[28] Dated 19 August, Spector’s written comments on Harrison’s early mix of the song had suggested a “proper background voice” was still needed;[29] like sound engineer Ken Scott,[30] Spector would be impressed with the result, saying, “He was a great harmoniser … he could do all the [vocal] parts himself” and rating Harrison “one of the most commercial musicians and songwriters and quintessential players I’ve ever known in my entire career”.[31]
“What Is Life” was released in late November 1970 as the first track on side two of All Things Must Pass, in its original, triple LP format.[32][33] Along with “My Sweet Lord” and “Isn’t It a Pity“, the song had already been identified as a potential hit single by Allan Steckler, manager of Apple’s US operation.[33] Backed by another album track, “Apple Scruffs“, “What Is Life” was issued as a single in America on 15 February 1971 (as Apple 1828), just as the “My Sweet Lord”/”Isn’t It a Pity” double A-side was finally slipping out of the top ten.[34][35]
French picture sleeve for the “What Is Life” single – a cropped and colorised version of Barry Feinstein‘s cover image for All Things Must Pass
The front of the single’s US picture sleeve consisted of a photo of Harrison playing guitar inside the central tower of his recently purchased home, Friar Park, in Henley-on-Thames.[36] The tower’s sole, octagonal-shaped room was an area that Harrison had adopted as his personal temple and meditation space.[37] This picture was taken by photographer Barry Feinstein, whose Camouflage Productions partner, Tom Wilkes, originally used it as part of an elaborate poster intended as an insert in the album package. The poster featured a painting of the Hindu deity Krishna watching a group of naked maidens beside a bathing pond.[38] Harrison apparently felt uncomfortable with the symbolism in Wilkes’s design – the Friar Park tower image filled the top half of the poster, floating among clouds above the Krishna scene – so Wilkes abandoned the concept and instead used a darkened photo of Harrison inside the house as the album poster.[39] The more common picture sleeve internationally was a close-up of Feinstein’s All Things Must Pass front-cover image, taken on the main lawn of Friar Park.[40] In Denmark, the sleeve featured four shots of Harrison, again with guitar,[41] taken on stage during the Delaney & Bonnie tour.[42]
At the end of March, “What Is Life” peaked at number 10 on the BillboardHot 100[43] and number 7 on Cash Box‘s Top 100 chart,[44] making Harrison the first ex-Beatle to have two top-ten hits in the United States.[45][46] The single was a success internationally, climbing to number 1 in Switzerland[47] and on Australia’s Go-Set National Top 60,[48] and reaching the top three elsewhere in Europe and in Canada.[49] In Britain, where Harrison had resisted issuing a single from All Things Must Pass until midway through January,[50] “What Is Life” appeared on the B-side to “My Sweet Lord”[51] – a combination that became the top-selling single of 1971 in that country.[52]
“What Is Life” is one of Harrison’s most commercial and popular songs[53] – a “spiritual guitar quest” that “became [a] classic”, according to Rolling Stone magazine.[1] On release, Billboard magazine’s reviewer wrote of “What Is Life” and “Apple Scruffs” as “intriguing rhythm follows-ups” to Harrison’s previous single, which were “sure to repeat that success” and “should prove big juke box items”.[54] In their Solo Beatles Compendium, authors Chip Madinger and Mark Easter refer to it as an “intensely catchy track” and view its pairing with “My Sweet Lord” in the UK as perhaps the strongest of all of Harrison’s singles.[22] Writing in 1981, NME critic Bob Woffinden grouped “What Is LIfe” with “My Sweet Lord”, “Isn’t It a Pity” and “Awaiting on You All” as “all excellent songs”.[55]
Reviewing the 2001 reissue of All Things Must Pass, for Rolling Stone, James Hunter wrote of how the album’s music “exults in breezy rhythms”, among which “the colorful revolutions of ‘What Is Life’ … [move] like a Ferris wheel“.[56] The following year, in Rolling Stone Press’s Harrison tribute book, David Fricke included “What Is Life” among his selection of “essential Harrison performances” (just three of which date from the ex-Beatle’s solo years) and described the track as an “exultant song of surrender”, abetted by Harrison’s “pumping fuzz guitar” and the song’s “singalong magnetism”.[57]AllMusic‘s Richie Unterberger similarly praises “What Is Life” for its “anthemic” qualities, “particularly snazzy horn lines”, and a guitar riff that is “one more entry in the catalog of George Harrison’s book of arresting, low, descending guitar lines”.[12]
Writing in the book 1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die, author Tom Moon refers to “the upbeat single ‘What Is Life'” as an example of how Harrison “grabs what he needs from his old band – that insinuating hook sense – and uses it to frame an utterly comfortable metaphysical discourse”.[58] Alan Clayson describes “What Is Life” as a seemingly “lovey-dovey pop song” that “craftily renewed the simplistic tonic-to-dominant riff cliché”,[27] while Simon Leng credits Harrison’s “innate ability to write very fine pop-rock songs” and deems the result “as innovative an exercise in rock-soul as The Temptations’ ‘Cloud Nine‘”.[21] Among Harrison biographers, only Ian Inglis is less than enthusiastic, acknowledging that Barham’s orchestration and the other musicians give the track “undoubted excitement and energy”, but lamenting that the song offers “little overall coherence between words and music”.[11]
In a 2010 poll to find the “10 Best George Harrison Songs”, AOL Radio listeners voted “What Is Life” third behind “My Sweet Lord” and “Blow Away“.[59] A similar list by Michael Galluci of Ultimate Classic Rock placed it second (behind “My Sweet Lord”), as Galluci wrote of the track having “a giant pop hook as its guide” as well as “the catchiest chorus Harrison ever penned”.[25] In 2009, Matt Melis of Consequence of Sound listed it sixth among his “Top Ten Songs by Ex-Beatles”, writing: “it’s arguable that Harrison’s All Things Must Pass is the best solo album put out by a Beatle. ‘What is Life’ … with its riff-driven bounce, soaring harmonies on the choruses, and perfectly placed sax and trumpet, [is] probably Harrison’s catchiest pop song.”[60] In the 2005 publication NME Originals: Beatles – The Solo Years 1970–1980, Adrian Thrills rated it first among Harrison’s “ten solo gems”, adding: “One of Harrison’s greatest guitar riffs – brilliant pop.”[61] The song is said to be a favourite of Foo Fighters singer Dave Grohl.[2] In a Rolling Stone readers’ poll, titled “10 Greatest Solo Beatle Songs”, the song placed fourth, with the editor commenting: “The track is deceptively simple, and more layers become apparent the more often you play it.”[62] “What Is Life” has featured in Bruce Pollock’s book The 7,500 Most Important Songs of 1944–2000, Treble website’s “The Top 200 Songs of the 1970s” (ranked at number 101) and Dave Thompson‘s 1000 Songs That Rock Your World (at number 247).[63]
Subsequent releases and appearances in films[edit]
An alternative studio version of “What Is Life” – in fact, a rough mix of the original backing track with different orchestration (in this case, piccolo trumpet and oboe)[69] – was issued as one of five bonus tracks on the 2001 remaster of All Things Must Pass.[70] In the accompanying booklet, Harrison writes that this orchestral arrangement was discarded because he “didn’t like the feel”.[71] Speaking to Billboard editor-in-chief Timothy White in December 2000, Harrison explained the reason for the lack of a guide vocal on this version: “I’m playing the fuzz guitar part that goes all through the song. So all I could do on the [initial] take was to give the band the cue line – the first line of each verse – and then go back to playing that riff. So that rough mix without the vocal – I’d forgot all about it …”[72] The track also appears on the 2014 Apple Years 1968–75 reissue of All Things Must Pass.[73]
A live version of the song, recorded with Eric Clapton and his band in December 1991, is available on Harrison’s 1992 album Live in Japan album.[74] The performance was recorded at Tokyo Dome on 17 December,[75] during the final show of the tour.[76]
Part of a concert performance of “What Is Life” from Harrison’s 1974 North American tour with Shankar is included in Scorsese’s George Harrison: Living in the Material World.[77] While challenging the commonly held view that this controversial 1974 tour was a “disaster”,[78][79] Simon Leng writes of a Fort Worth performance of “What Is Life” that was “greeted with a reception that matched anything the New York audience at the Bangla Desh concerts expressed”.[80]
In 1971, British easy listening pianist Ronnie Aldrich covered “What Is Life” (as well as “My Sweet Lord”) on his album Love Story.[91] That same year, a version by the Ventures appeared on their New Testament album.[92]Also in 1971, a Finnish-language version of the song, titled “Mikä Saa Ihmisen Elämään”, was released as a single by local singer Oliver – better known as Veikko Laiho, of the Laiho Trio.[93]
Following Harrison’s death, Japanese band the Collectors contributed a recording of “What Is Life” to the Gentle Guitar Dreams tribute album, released in May 2002.[98] Classical guitarist Joseph Breznikar recorded a version of the song for his 2003 tribute album George Harrison Remembered: A Touch of Class.[99] In November 2004, Neal Morse released his recording of “What Is Life” on the special-edition version of his album One.[94]Les Fradkin included a cover of “What Is Life” on his 2005 tribute CD Something for George.[100]
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President Trump’s 11-26-20 Press Conference May Have Been His BEST!!!!
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Speaker 3: (18:33) Mr. President, do you have any big plans for your last Thanksgiving in the White House?
Donald Trump: (18:37) Well, we don’t know what is last, if you look at what’s going on. You have to really take a look at what’s going on. They’re finding tremendous discrepancies in the votes. Nobody believes those numbers. Those numbers are incorrect numbers. A lot of numbers have already been reported that’s incorrect.
Donald Trump: (18:55) You’re going to see things happening over the next week or two that are going to be shocking to people. If you look at the numbers in Michigan, if you look at the numbers in Pennsylvania, if you look at fraudulent voting and fraudulent votes, so I can’t say what’s first and what’s last in terms of is this the last one or is this the first one of a second term. We’ll see what happens. Nobody wants to see the kind of fraud that this election has really come to represent.
Donald Trump: (19:25) We are looking at things that are so bad in Georgia, they don’t want to show us signatures. The reason they don’t want to show us signatures is very simple, because we will find thousands and thousands… it’s a very close race. It’s hair-thin. But we’ll find thousands and thousands of discrepancies, fraud. Why they aren’t wanting to show those signatures is amazing. They’re doing recounts, and even in the recount they found thousands of votes that were off. But now we want to look at the signatures, and you will find tens of thousands of false ballots, forged ballots. You’ll see it all over. You’re going to see a lot of it.
Donald Trump: (20:04) And you go to Pennsylvania, you saw the meeting we had yesterday with Pennsylvania. You saw people come up, they went to vote, and they said, “No, you can’t vote. Somebody else already sent in a ballot, and a woman…” But this is happening tens of thousands of times. I think it was 600 and some-odd thousand, 687,000 fraudulent votes cast in Pennsylvania, and I will tell you, if you look at the state house now, the Republican state house, they’re starting to see what’s going on there. But they’ve really known it for a long time.
Donald Trump: (20:36) Then you go to Michigan and you look at what happened in Wayne County and Detroit. I went through a list. I went almost every county and you see it, almost everybody, 78%, 72%, 68% going through the list. Then you get to Wayne, and something happened, tremendous numbers. You saw the canvassers that refused to sign their document because they said, “We can’t sign a fraudulent document.” Horrible things went on. That’s in Wayne County, Detroit. But you look at the votes that were just tabulated, and they were left today. Look at all the counties. I won almost all of them except Detroit was so egregious. It was phony.Look at what’s going on in Wisconsin. Wisconsin they’re finding tremendous discrepancy. You just take a look at that, tremendous discrepancy, and elsewhere. So we’re going to see what happens. But you can’t have somebody assume office and already they want to get rid of America First. I mean they want to get rid of America First. They don’t want America First. You know why? Because China doesn’t want it. China expressed their wish, “Please get rid of America First,” and the Biden administration said, “That’s okay, we’ll get rid of American First.” No, we don’t want to get rid of America First. We want to put America first, and other countries should put themselves first too, and I tell them that all the time. But we don’t want to get rid of it.
Donald Trump: (22:00) So I don’t know what is going to happen. I know one thing, Joe Biden did not get 80 million votes, and I got 74 million. But there were many ballots thrown away, so I got much more than that. But I got 74 million. 74 million is 11 million more than I got last time. It’s millions more than Ronald Regan got when he won 49 states. I guess he won 49 states, yes, and it’s millions more than Hillary Clinton got. Joe Biden did not get… and by the way, Joe Biden did not beat Barack Obama with the Black vote, didn’t beat him. But they have him as beating him.
Donald Trump: (22:43) And if you look at the numbers, the numbers are false. The numbers are corrupt. It was a rigged election, 100%, and people know it. That’s why you have people marching all over the United States right now. They know it was a rigged election and look at what’s happening in Georgia. A lot of things are being found in Georgia and they are absolutely against showing… I mean it’s a sad thing. They don’t want to show signatures. It can be solved if you show signatures. But you’re going to find out the people that signed aren’t the people that are supposed to be signing. You’re going to find that the people that signed those envelopes, they didn’t do the ballots, envelopes… and then somebody said, “Maybe the envelopes were thrown out.” There’s tremendous fraud here.
Donald Trump: (23:27) If you look [crosstalk 00:23:28] wait, just one second. If you look at 10:00 in the evening, you saw what happened. Then you had these massive dumps. Nobody’s ever seen anything like it. You have Dominion, which is very, very suspect to start off with. Nobody knows the ownership. People say the votes are counted in foreign countries and much worse than that, by the way, with Dominion. So Dominion is also partially based in Canada, but it’s based in other countries too, and nobody knows where the votes… But you know, Canada refuses to use Dominion. Canada uses paper ballots. So think of it, they’re based in Canada, and Canada refused-
Donald Trump: (24:03) Think of it. They’re based in Canada and Canada refuses to use them. They’re smart. They use paper ballots because paper ballots are, frankly, the only thing that really you’re going to get an accurate tab on because those machines are fixed, they’re rigged. You can press Trump and the vote goes to Biden. All you have to do is play with a chip, and it’s shown all the time. All you have to do is play with a chip, and they played with a chip, especially in Wayne County and Detroit. You take a look. In Philadelphia, you take a look. We’ve had excellent meetings with senators from Pennsylvania, Republican senators and others, and they’re seeing things. They knew it was dishonest, but they didn’t know it was this dishonest. You’ll see it all. You’ll see it also, so we’ll see. Speaking of Georgia, I’ll be going there.
Donald Trump: (24:55) I spoke with the two great senators. They’re great senators, Kelly and David. I’ll probably be going on Saturday. We’re looking for a site. We’re going to have a tremendous turnout, and we seem to always have a good turnout. The people are very disappointed that we were robbed. We were robbed. I won that by hundreds of thousands of votes. Everybody knows it. You go down the streets, there are Trump/Pence signs all over the place. We won that by hundreds of thousands, Georgia, so they’re disappointed. I don’t want them to be disappointed. That’ll solve itself. We’re finding the votes. Once we get to the signatures, we’ll take over 100%. Once we get to signature, 100%. We will take over Georgia and we will get Georgia, but they have to show us the signatures. Stacey Abrams pulled the wool over the secretary of state. I don’t know who he is, but the secretary of state.
Donald Trump: (25:46) It doesn’t matter. He says that, too, but I don’t know him. I never met him. I have no idea who he is. All I know is that’s the ultimate. “I donated to Trump. I respect Trump. I love Trump. I think Trump is great. By the way, we’re giving nothing.” This guy got played like I’ve never seen anybody played. Tell him, if he donated to Trump, if he likes Trump, let us see the signatures. Why is he not letting us see? There’s only one reason you can’t see the signatures. That’s because there’s fraud all over the place. Even without looking at signatures, as you know, we found thousands of wrong votes. By the way, always against me. It was not 50/50. It was always against me.
Donald Trump: (26:23) The other thing, take a look at Michigan. Take a look at what they did with respect to counties, every county, 78%, 72%, 76%, 59%. The whole thing, one after another after another, and then you get to Detroit and it’s more votes than people. Dead people voting all over the place. But anyway, going back to Georgia just for a second. I’ll be going there on Saturday night, and maybe I’ll go twice. It’s very important that we win those races. These are two great people. I know them both very well. They’re both great people. I think the two people… I beat the one gentleman. He ran against a congressional candidate who was an excellent person, frankly, and he didn’t even live in the right community, and that’s how we won. Now I have to beat him again. He lost as a congressman. He was going for Congress, as you remember, and now against Karen. And now he’s running against David. He doesn’t deserve to be there. He’s a lightweight. The other one is either a communist or a socialist. I can’t figure that one out yet. But he’s either a communist or socialist, probably a communist. This is not for Georgia. I just want to tell my people, don’t be disappointed yet because this race is far from over. But I’m going on Saturday night. I’ll be in Georgia. We’re going to have a tremendous crowd. They’re looking for the right site. Probably, we’d love to take one of the big stadiums, but you can’t because of the COVID, so we’ll have an outdoor form of probably an airport. Most likely it’s an airport. They’re looking for the biggest space. We’ll have tens of thousands of people show up. I think it’s very important. Then, I may go a second time. Depending on how they’re doing, I may go a second time. But they’re two really good people. Yeah?
Donald Trump: (28:32) As to whether or not I can get this apparatus moving this quickly, because time isn’t on our side, everything else is on our side. Facts are on our side. This was a massive fraud. This should never take place in this country. We’re like a third world country. We have machines that nobody knows what the hell they’re looking at. You take a look at all the mistakes they made. Look at even Georgia. Look at all the mistakes they made, and all that was is a simple you press a button. Look at Georgia. All the votes they found just by going… And I said they shouldn’t even do it because it doesn’t mean anything. They’re doing a recount right now in Georgia that is meaningless.
Donald Trump: (29:09) The only recount that matters in Georgia is to look at the signatures on the envelope, and you will find that those signatures do not match the people that were, many of them, hundreds of thousands of them, hundreds of thousands, and I only lost by 12,000 votes. I didn’t lose. I don’t even like to say I lose. I guess we’re 11,000 or 12,000 votes short. That’s out of millions and millions of votes. They just got it over the line. One of the things that happened, I did so well, and I was told this in two other states, that they didn’t know what to do. They panicked. Take a look at their drops at 3:00 and 3:42 in the morning on certain states. They did drops where you’re going along like this, and then you’ll have a spike that goes up to the ceiling at that. It’s disgraceful. We can’t let that happen.
Donald Trump: (29:56) I will tell you, in Philadelphia, the Republicans, State House Republicans are very, very upset, and it’s appropriate because Philadelphia’s become very activist, if you look at what’s going on. They don’t want that to happen to Pennsylvania, to the state of Pennsylvania. I don’t even like to use… It was a rigged election.
Speaker 5: (30:19) Sir, just to be clear, if the electoral college votes for Joe Biden, will you concede?
Donald Trump: (30:25) If they do, they made a mistake, because this election was a fraud.
Donald Trump: (30:29) Just saying, I said, this election was a fraud. They have Biden beating Obama, and Obama’s vote, in areas that mattered in terms of the election, in swing states, and yet he’s losing to Obama all over the place, but he’s beating Obama in swing states, which are the states that mattered for purposes of the election. No, I can’t say that at all.
Donald Trump: (31:00) You’re just a lightweight. Don’t talk to me that way. I’m the President of the United States. Don’t ever talk to the president that way.
Donald Trump: (31:07) All right, I’m going to go with another question. Go ahead.
Speaker 6: (31:10) If the electoral college does elect President-Elect Joe Biden, are you not going to leave this building?
Donald Trump: (31:16) Certainly I will. Certainly I will, and you know that. But I think that there will be a lot of things happening between now and the 20th of January, a lot of things. Massive fraud has been found. We’re like a third world country. We’re using computer equipment that can be hacked. They talk about glitches. How many glitches did they find? A glitch, oh gee, we had a glitch, 5,000 votes. In all cases, right? In all cases, the votes went from Trump to Biden. They didn’t go from Biden. The glitches were never from Biden to Trump. They had many glitches, and they said, “Oh, we had a glitch.” A glitch is like the equipment is a little broken, we’ll fix it up. No, a glitch is, in this case, we caught them cheating, we caught them stealing, we caught a fraudulent effort to get votes, and they said, “Oh yes, it’s true, there was.” And there were many of them. But here’s the problem. There were probably 10, 20, 30 times that didn’t get caught. We just got lucky and caught numerous of them.
Donald Trump: (32:20) What that is, is very simple. If you look at the glitch, the glitch means, “Oh, we got caught. We got caught with the votes and now let’s just call it a glitch.” It wasn’t the machinery. By the way, the machinery, if you look, just take a look anywhere on the internet, you will see many, many people where they’re experimenting with this stupid machinery, where if you set it a certain way, the votes go from Trump to Biden. If you look at these counties, if you look at Arizona where I was going to win very easily, I’ve had the biggest politicians in Arizona say, “There was no way you lost Arizona.” There’s no way I lost Pennsylvania, with his anti-fuel and with his anti-fracking and all of the things that they stand against. There was no way.
Donald Trump: (33:12) Now, Texas, you all said that I was going to lose Texas by a lot, four points. I won Texas by eight or nine points. Right? I won it very easily. In Wisconsin, you all said I was going to lose, or the poll said, certain polls, Washington Post, ABC, said I was going to lose by 17 points. Think of how dishonest. I thought I was going to win it, and essentially I did win it. It’s very, very close. It’s very, very close. We’re going to win because they found, by the way, in Wisconsin, they have found massive discrepancy, just so you understand, massive discrepancy. But they said I was going to lose by 17 points and I won the state, but it’s very close. It shows very close, whether you say win or lose, it shows very close.
Donald Trump: (33:55) When you look at the massive discrepancy that we’ll be revealing, that’s already been revealed, everybody knows it, they just don’t want to play it. Between big tech and the fake news media, you just put out like this little railroad trade. Now, I think it’s not right that he’s trying to pick a cabinet, but I can’t imagine whether it’s courts or legislatures. If you’re going to catch hundreds of thousands of false ballots, and I’m talking in each state. Just so you understand, many, many more votes that we’re talking about that we need, you understand, I’m not saying we caught 23 dead people, but we were short 20,000 votes. No, no. We have tens of thousands votes more than we need in all cases. Okay? In all cases. I think you’re going to see something. I think it’s going to be a very big story. Yeah, please.
Donald Trump: (35:03) Because this is far from being-
Speaker 7: (35:07) If and when Joe Biden takes over, will you announce candidacy for 2024?
Donald Trump: (35:08) Look, look, look. I and the people that work in this are very professional and all of this stuff is coming. A lot of it came out, if you look at the Philadelphia meeting, if you look at the Pennsylvania meeting yesterday, a lot of it came out. This has a long way to go. This has a long way to go. You’re going to find tremendous fraud. You’re going to find fraud of hundreds of thousands of votes per state. You’re going to find fraud of many, many times the votes that I need. Again, we’re not talking about less votes where 20 votes, but it doesn’t turn the election. No, we’re talking about thousands and thousands of votes beyond what we need to turn a state. When you see that, I think it’s very hard, even for the media to say that Biden should win the state.
Donald Trump: (35:59) There’s no way that Biden got 80 million votes. By the way, the only way he got 80 million…
Donald Trump: (36:03) … That Biden got 80 million votes. By the way, the only way he got 80 million votes is through a massive fraud. There’s no way that he got 80 million votes.
Speaker 8: (36:07) Can you give us a timeline of when you’re going to present the evidence of voter fraud to talk about?
Donald Trump: (36:10) Well, it’s happening now. I mean-
Speaker 10: (36:19) Mr. President, if you don’t think that the presidential election was legitimate and you think that it was stolen, what confidence do you expect voters in order to have when they go to the polls to vote for, say, Loeffler or for you?
Donald Trump: (36:32) Well, I told them today, I think you’re dealing in a very fraudulent system. I think I’m very worried about that. They are tremendous people. Kelly Loeffler, David Perdue are tremendous people. They should be in the United States Senate. They’re desperately needed. But I told them today, I said, “Listen, you have a fraudulent system. You have a system with the flick of a switch or the putting in of a new chip can change the course of history, and you have to be very careful.”
Donald Trump: (37:01) I read this morning where Stacey Abrams has 850,000 ballots accumulated. Now, that’s called harvesting. You’re not allowed to harvest, but I understand the Secretary of State who is really, he’s an enemy of the people. The Secretary of State, and whether he’s Republican or not, this man, what he’s done, supposedly he made a deal, and you’ll have to check this, where she’s allowed to harvest, but in other areas they’re not allowed. What kind of a deal is that? They’re not allowed to harvest during the presidential.
Donald Trump: (37:35) But how can she say she has 850,000 ballots? That would mean that she’s got 850,000 ballots for her. That’s not supposed to be happening. That’s not an election. You know, an election should be a one day deal. You walk in and you vote. And if you can’t do it, if for some reason you’re not feeling well or there’s a problem… But what they did is they used COVID in order to defraud the people of this country. And the whole world is watching, and the whole world is laughing at our electoral process. The whole world is watching, and it’s a very sad thing, a very sad thing.
Donald Trump: (38:12) And you know what? I’ve done a lot of things. You just saw Space Force, and you’ve seen the tax cuts, and the regulation cuts, and the way we’ve taken care of the vets, and what we’ve done with Anwar and Alaska and all the different things we’ve done, more than just about anybody’s done, even though it’s four years. There are those that say what I’m doing right now is the single most important thing I’ve ever done, and I think it may be true. It may be true. The vaccines, and by the way, don’t let Joe Biden take credit for the vaccines. If Joe Biden… Joe Biden failed with the swine flu, H1N1. Totally failed with the swine flu. Don’t let him take credit for the vaccines because the vaccines were me and I pushed people harder than they’ve ever been pushed before. And we got that approved and through, and nobody’s ever seen anything like it. And you got a big resistance in the FDA from years and years of people working there for years and years, different administrations. But the vaccines, there are those that says one of the greatest things. It’s a medical miracle. Don’t let anyone try and take credit for it.
Donald Trump: (39:19) But with all of the things I’ve done, this could be the most important because there’s been voter fraud going on, but never at this scale. Tens of millions of ballots have been sent out to people that didn’t even want them. Many people, and I know you’ve heard, many people have received two, three, and four ballots, and many people have taken those two, three, and four ballots and they’ve voted them.
Donald Trump: (39:43) This election was a fraud. It was a rigged election. I mean, I hate to say it, but this was rigged, at the highest level, it was a rigged election. So we have to figure it out. And yes, I think it’s very dangerous for the two people that are running against two totally unqualified people. And I think it’s very dangerous for our nation.
Donald Trump: (40:05) And I’ll go a step further. I said today, other than the fact that you have all of the eyes and ears, but the media doesn’t cover it properly because the media, if they saw something wrong, I’m convinced that media would not report it because you have many things that you know are wrong and you don’t report. But if the media was honest in this country, which, for the most part, they’re not, this would never have happened. This has taken place. This fraud has taken place. If the media were honest, this would never, ever have happened.
Donald Trump: (40:37) But you have a big election coming up. You have a woman or somebody announced 850,000 absentee ballots have already been collected. 850, and I told David Perdue today, and I told Kelly yesterday, I said, “They’re talking about having collected already 800,000 ballots against you.”
Donald Trump: (40:56) You can’t do that. You can’t do that. What kind of a race is that? You can’t allow that to happen. And I’m serious. If the media were honest and if big tech were honest, which it’s totally not, it’s a terrible thing. That whole Section 230 is a disgrace that they even have it. But big tech is totally dishonest. If the media were honest and big tech was fair, this wouldn’t even be a contest, and I would have won by a tremendous amount, a tremendous amount. And I did win by a tremendous amount, but it hasn’t been reported yet. But people understand what’s happened. They know what happened. Yes, please go.
Speaker 11: (41:32) Do you know, of course, it is tradition-
Donald Trump: (41:59) When they don’t allow a poll watcher, which is a sacred person in our country, people don’t know what a poll watcher is. A poll watcher is, it’s considered sacred in our country. When they throw them out of rooms-
Speaker 11: (42:15) But that’s not true. They didn’t do that.
Donald Trump: (42:16) And when they put them in pens-
Speaker 11: (42:18) Your attorneys admitted they were in the room then.
Donald Trump: (42:18) Excuse me. No, they didn’t. My attorneys did not admit anything and it’s all different places. But where they throw the amount of counting rooms, where they put them in what’s called pens and they’re 20, 30, 40 feet away, and in some cases 200 feet away, when things like that happen. When a woman walks in on November 3rd to vote, a proud woman, and this is by the thousands, tens of thousands, and she said, “I’m here to vote.” And they said, “You’ve already voted, ma’am. I’m sorry.”
Donald Trump: (42:47) “No, I didn’t vote. I wanted to vote on November 3rd. I want to cast my vote in person.” “I’m sorry, ma’am, you’ve already voted. You voted by ballot.” And then they leave. This is a horrible thing, and we have tens of thousands of that happening. This is a horrible thing.
Donald Trump: (43:04) They gave Biden a lot of votes that he would never have gotten. This is not a candidate that could get 80 million votes. This is just not a candidate. This is not a candidate that beat Barack Hussein Obama with the Black voter, okay? This is not a candidate that beat Obama with the Black voter. This is not a candidate that beat Hillary Clinton to a pulp. It just doesn’t work that way. But when you look at the number, when you look at the data, and when you look at the things we have, we have affidavits from hundreds and hundreds of people. This election was a rigged election. Thank you very much, everybody. Thank you.
—- Biden Won Despite Losing Most Bellwether Counties
Biden is set to become the first president in 60 years to lose the states of Ohio and Florida on his way to election. For a century, these states have consistently predicted the national outcome, and they have been considered roughly representative of the American melting pot as a whole. Despite national polling giving Biden a lead in both states, he lost Ohio by eight points and Florida by more than three.
For Biden to lose these key bellwethers by notable margins and still win the national election is newsworthy. Not since the Mafia allegedly aided John F. Kennedy in winning Illinois over Richard Nixon in 1960 has an American president pulled off this neat trick.
Even more unbelievably, Biden is on his way to winning the White House after having lost almost every historic bellwether county across the country. The Wall Street Journal and The Epoch Times independently analyzed the results of 19 counties around the United States that have nearly perfect presidential voting records over the last 40 years. President Trump won every single bellwether county, except Clallam County in Washington.
Whereas the former VP picked up Clallam by about three points, President Trump’s margin of victory in the other 18 counties averaged over 16 points. In a larger list of 58 bellwether counties that have correctly picked the president since 2000, Trump won 51 of them by an average of 15 points, while the other seven went to Biden by around four points. Bellwether counties overwhelmingly chose President Trump, but Biden found a path to victory anyway.
Joe Biden achieved the impossible. It’s interesting that many more journalists aren’t pointing that out.
J.B. Shurk is a proud American from Daniel Boone country
Documents show financial ties between ERLC & left-wing George Soros Open Society Foundations, Pierre Omidyar of the Democracy Fund, and Paul Singer of the American Unity Fund.
A report from Enemies within the Church, printed below, contains documents obtained by the filmmakers that link grants and funding from leftist billionaires to the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) of the Southern Baptist Convention and its head Russell Moore. The documents include grant data showing the Democracy Fund provided $50,000 to the controversial ERLC’s and The Gospel Coalition’s MLK50 Conference
Other documents in the report include Dr. Moore’s name in the Podesta emails published in 2016 by Wikileaks.
On Friday, November 6, the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Commission (ERLC) posted a statement on its website:
“Currently, there has been no evidence that voter fraud has been occurring…
“There are numerous reasons why widespread election fraud is difficult, if not impossible, to pull off at the presidential level… Extensive research has shown that voter fraud is exceeding rare, that voter impersonation is virtually nonexistent, and that many instances of alleged fraud are merely mistakes by voters or election administrators.”
The article is attributed to the “ERLC Staff,” and the statement is date-stamped November 6, 2020, at which point a number of states had not fully resolved allegations of balloting improprieties: most notably Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Arizona, and Nevada. It is difficult not to assume that the ERLC (Ethics and Religious Leadership Council) is purposefully seeking to influence the election outcome for primarily two reasons: (1) Dr. Russell Moore, the president of the ERLC, has consistently and publicly opposed Donald Trump and actively sought to undermine his evangelical reach, and (2) the ERLC seems to have financial ties to at least three progressive billionaire activists: left-wing George Soros of Open Society Foundations, Pierre Omidyar of the Democracy Fund, and Paul Singer of the American Unity Fund.
Who are these donors? Are they influencing the ERLC?
Behind Billionaire Door #1: George Soros
Dr. Moore’s ties to George Soros have been the subject of heated debate. At various times, those sympathetic to Dr. Moore have denied that he receives funds from Soros. Denials have hinged on arguments about whether the National Immigration Forum (NIF) and the Evangelical Immigration Table (EIT) – both progressive organizations – are actually the same thing. EWTC was able to obtain what appear to be authentic internal documents from a 2015 meeting in New York of the Open Society U.S. Programs Board;
These should put debate to rest.
George Soros’ Open Society Foundations have been clear that they hope to infuse left-wing ideology into every community of discourse that exists. To broaden the influence of his radical agenda, he has made a point to fund “rent-an-evangelical” schemes like the kind underscored in a cautionary article by Stream writer John Zmirak four years ago:
Joining “faith” fronts, Soros also funds thousands of … collaborators and projects that suggest his goal is to demoralize America (and Europe)… In the ironic rhetoric of compassion, Soros and friends also fund mass immigration followed by voting “rights” and redistricting schemes, while financing the campaigns of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. (Soros is a major donor to the Democratic Party and co-chairman of Ready for Hillary PAC.)
Earlier this year, Baptist Standard ran an article disputing “rumors” that Russell Moore received funding from Soros’ foundations. Dr. Moore and the ERLC have found themselves in the crosshairs of Soros-related debates because of Moore’s active involvement with the EIT. A document from November 13, 2012, addressed to President Obama clearly lists the ERLC alongside nine other groups as the groups comprising the EIT: World Relief Corporation, Sojourners, Council for Christian Colleges and Universities, Bread for the World, Liberty Counsel, National Association of Evangelicals, National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, National Latino Evangelical Coalition, World Vision, and G92.
In 2013, spokespeople for the EIT had already admitted to Breitbart News that their group “does not exist as its own non-profit” and “sought a neutral third-party institution, the NIF, to help facilitate our work.” Despite the strenuous denials that Mr. Soros’ money was involved, it is clear that the “facilitation” of the EIT depends on a structure financed by Mr. Soros, the NIF. Any doubt of separation between the initiatives now hold no weight since Dr. Moore is prominently listed as a speaker for the 2020 convention of the NIF and has his own webpage on the NIF website.
EWTC obtained meeting notes from “OPEN SOCIETY US PROGRAMS BOARD MEETING,” hosted by Open Society Foundations in New York City on October 1-2, 2015. One section of the meeting notes states the following:
“In part, our active role reflects our observation that the refugee advocacy community while long-standing and sophisticated in the inner workings of refugee policy, does not have a strong advocacy capacity or deep grassroots ties. In the course of our work, we were able to generate engagement by a group of mayors through Emma Lazarus II Fund grantee Cities United for Immigration Action… and some conservative voices such as evangelical Christians and Southern Baptists through grantee NIF. In the face of this pressure, the Obama administration announced Sept. 20 that by 2017, it would raise to 100,000 the total number of refugees the US takes worldwide each year. “
The bolded section above makes clear that the Open Society Foundations earmarked a grant to the NIF, specifically so funds could be channeled to the Southern Baptist Convention in exchange for the SBC’s help in putting “pressure” on officials to raise the number of refugees the US could take in.
EWTC obtained the following three documents showing the undeniable purpose of a significant funding stream earmarked by Open Society Foundations for Dr. Moore’s clique at the ERLC:
ERLC:
As more refugee resettlement means more grants to faith-based organizations to resettle refugees a great potential for corruption exists. The North American Mission Boardoversees the SEND Network, which plants churches. These plants stand to gain if they can pitch their efforts as community revitalization; something that pairs neatly with refugee resettlement. One vice president of the SEND Network is Dhati Lewis, whose ties to the ERLC are evident by his appearance on their website. Dhati Lewis also takes the stage prominently with Kevin Ezell, leader of the SBC’s North American Mission Board. Kevin Ezell’s leadership of NAMB has been fraught with controversy, as one can see quite clearly by following the website of Will McRaney, a Southern Baptist who has spent years documenting the corruption at NAMB online.
Dr. Moore has tied ostensible gospel efforts to a political lobby funded by George Soros, a man who opposes Biblical doctrine on ethics, life, sexuality, etc., and who openly says he wishes to invest large amounts of money in any willing evangelical that can spin his left-wing politics into a “Christian” endeavor.
Behind Billionaire Door #2: Pierre Omidyar
Russell Moore survived the 2017 post election push-back, becoming emboldened even further the following year during a conference marking the fiftieth anniversary of the death of Martin Luther King, Jr. The “MLK 50” Conference brought out rhetoric that was not merely liberal or Democratic, but overtly steeped in critical race theory.
What does the billionaire founder of e-Bay, have to do with a Southern Baptist conference? As Omidyar has a philanthropist streak that delights some progressives and dismays others, it’s not difficult to identify his stake in the conference. In an interview with EWTC, progressive musician Michelle Shocked (who happens to be Christian) explained that Mr. Omidyar has a hybrid philosophy of philanthropy, believing that a charity without a profit motive would be suspect. Therefore Omidyar liked to cast his social-justice pursuits as “charity on a for-profit model.” Pando writer Mark Ames explained this laid this philosophy: He says, “Perhaps no other figure embodies the disconnect between his progressive anti-state image, and his factual collaboration with the American national security state and the global neoliberal agenda, than Pierre Omidyar.”
To clarify this, Ms. Shocked provided several articles by left-wing Yasha Levine. Mr. Levine has flagged the relationship between Pierre Omidyar and Brazil-based journalist Glenn Greenwald as problematic. Mr. Omidyar funded the creation of the Intercept by Glenn Greenwald. Mr. Greenwald built the Intercept into a vibrant online news and commentary source but then ran afoul of management (and presumably, Omidyar), when Intercept principals told him he could not publish anything critical of Joe Biden. Yasha Levine explains the deceptive nature of Omidyar’s political involvement:
“Pierre’s surprising generousness — combined with the fact that he seemed to be on the Good Side, on the side of Edward Snowden and his NSA leaks — brought the man a huge amount of good will… Even now, while Silicon Valley’s leadership — from Zuck to Bezos — have been getting knocked about and criticized from every angle, Pierre has been able to skate by with no critical attention thrown his way, despite his involvement in funding far-right regime change ops, global surveillance projects, and the trail of impoverished bodies he’s left behind in the wake of his various colonial investment initiatives.”
If this unflattering assessment of Mr. Omidyar’s philanthropy is honest, we can see the obvious attraction of Omidyar’s non-profit to the ERLC. The SBC is the largest Protestant denomination in the United States, with roughly 46,000 churches. This is a massive client base.
As to Russell Moore’s interest in Pierre Omidyar, given the extent of Baptist tithes that flow into the ERLC, why would Dr. Moore take upon himself such an unfavorable business connection? The lavish scale of the MLK 50 event seems rather exaggerated since Dr. Moore could have put on a simple conference with speakers drawn from churches across the SBC rather than booking bigger names like Karen Swallow Prior, Matt Chandler, and John Piper. The oversized scale entangled Dr. Moore in the funds of a man described even by left-wing activists as “a rapacious tech oligarch.”
A likely draw was Mr. Omidyar’s anti-Trump fervor and his profit-driven charity model. Mr. Omidyar has funded all kinds of anti-Trump activities, including projects to bring evangelical Christians into his sphere of influence. It seems that Dr. Moore likes the money that comes with Christian causes, except that he wants to shift away from abortion and gay marriage to more consumer-friendly causes.
Pierre Omidyar funds the Trinity Forum as well. This organization recently hosted an event billed as a symposium to ask, “how do Christians discern ways of engaging culturally and politically that pursues justice, the common good, and love of neighbor?” Coming just before the heated 2020 election, this overtly socialist reading of the gospel fit in perfectly with Omidyar’s anti-Trump political goals as well as the crass “for-profit charity” model that progressives despise. The main speakers for the Trinity Forum event were Justin Giboney, the president of the AND Campaign, and the “co-chair of Obama for America’s Gen44-Atlanta initiative”; and Shirley Hoogstra, president of the “Council for Christian Colleges and Universities.” Hoogstra states in her press release that she “focused on expanding diversity and inclusion on CCCU campuses,” which refers, at least partly, to the movement to force Christian colleges to water down their stance on LGBTs.
EWTC was able to obtain what appears to be a February 3, 2012, memo from “Bill Vandenberg, Program Director, Democracy Fund” to “U.S. Programs Board.” In this memo, Vandenburg states the group’s goals: (1) investing “in faith-based advocacy and the engagement of the faith community,” (2) “public opinion research…of faith demography,” (3) “strategic communications work”, (4) “field meetings,” and (5) “fellowships to faith-based thinkers.”
That Russell Moore intertwined the Southern Baptist Convention with these cynical efforts to manufacture and disseminate liberal Christian dogma raises serious concerns.
Behind Billionaire Door #3: Paul Singer
Finally, Dr. Moore remains tied through mutual partnerships to the funding of Paul Singer, arguably the most pernicious of the three billionaires. Unlike Omidyar and Soros, Mr. Singer does not present himself as a leftist in any way, rather funding Republican and conservative organizations. He was a major backer of Marco Rubio, the candidate that Dr. Moore seemed to favor in the 2016 Republican primaries.
On this issue Tom Littleton once again offers a bank of invaluable information. In a broadside posted in late 2019, Mr. Littleton spells out how Paul Singer’s longstanding quest to normalize homosexuality in conservative circles left a trail of bread crumbs to an effort called Fairness for All (as well as the typically connected AND Campaign). The American Unity Fund, Paul Singer’s organization, funds the Alliance for Lasting Liberty, which is tied to the Fairness for All Movement. Like a merry-go-round of funding, these groups then contribute to the AND Campaign, which features leaders Justin Giboney and Michael Wear. These men all travel in the same circles, as Mr. Littleton documents at Thirty Pieces of Silver.
Conclusion
A man as intelligent as Dr. Moore must know that there is a mountain of evidence pointing to significant voter fraud in the 2020 election. Since Dr. Moore is neither foolish nor crazy, it’s difficult not to come to the somewhat obvious conclusion: those who wanted Donald Trump defeated have been financing Dr. Moore’s friends, associates, and partners for years. This has clearly influenced him and the SBC.
We are fighting the corruption of the true gospel by those who would replace it with the gospel of social justice – we need your help! Donate today to help us complete the film, Enemies within the Church!
——
It pays to remember history. Today I am going to go through some of it and give an outline and quotes from the great Southern Baptist leader Adrian Rogers (1931-2005).
Somehow Newt Gingrich’s righteous indignation over CNN’s debate moderator John King’s questioning Gingrich over his ex-wife’s allegations that Newt Gingrich wanted an “open marriage” with both his then wife, Marianne Gingrich and Gingrich’s present wife Callista, appears to be a simple little temper tantrum by the seemingly cry-baby ex-Speaker.
Gingrich came off a whiner having a hissy fit over what is more than likely “the truth”..
One only need go back to the nineties when Gingrich was outraged over the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal. The press and Gingrich went full throttle to paint President Clinton as the lowest form of life possible.
Gingrich had no problem with the Press and cable TV’s trial by media events that took place in what could be described as an incessant level of coverage back then.
Now all of a sudden he chooses to castigate the “elite media” and the debate moderator for reporting the story and in King’s case, for asking about the story. Newt Gingrich appears to be a victim all the time.
Would you like some cheese with that whine Mr. Gingrich?
___________________________
My former pastor Adrian Rogers summed this up best in 1998 during the Clinton scandal (“Does Character Count? A Biblical Treatment,” SBC Life, November 1998, 1):
[Rogers] suggests the comfort of the middle class has larger implications for American society. His concern in the recent presidential intern scandal was with the large number of people who were not particularly upset. “My concern is with the people whose response to a lack of character in our leaders is a roaring, “SO WHAT? LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL!” As long as there are people in this country who believe that a leader’s personal character makes no difference in any way, then I tell you that we are in the throes of crisis!”
Does Character Count? A Biblical Treatment by Adrian Rogers
“Vice is a monster of such awful mien, that to be hated needs but to be seen, but seen too oft, familiar with her face, we first endure, then pity, then embrace.”
Our nation is in crisis and as a minister of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, I feel I must address this matter!
We cannot, we dare not, we must not, and we shall not ignore what is happening in America today. Some terrible and shocking accusations have been made against the President of our beloved republic. It is our duty as Americans and as Christians to pray that truth will be revealed and justice administered.
In this article I want to address not so much the crisis at the highest levels of our government, but the bigger and even more disturbing crisis at the level of everyday American life where most of us live. Let me explain what I mean…
(Some will believe the charges against the President and some will not).
Then there is a third response to serious moral and ethical charges against a person in high office. This is the group I want to talk about, because it is here that America’s shocking, degrading moral crisis rears its ugly head.
This third group of people are those who, instead of saying the accused is guilty or innocent, say, “SO WHAT? Who cares? Guilty, innocent – what difference does it really make so long as he is doing a good job?”
These people argue that there is no connection between a man’s personal life and his political abilities. And according to all indications, this response to scandal and serious charges is the most common response among Americans!
A recent editorial in U.S. News & World Report said: “A majority seem to believe in the President’s programs and politics even if they don’t believe in him. They care far more about the good times. As one wag put it, ‘People say they vote Dow Jones, not Paula Jones.'”
Another editorial writer argued that in the case of the President, “We elected him knowing his propensities. The economy is strong and he has a promising agenda. Tossing him out to keep up appearances would merely match the President’s destructive self-indulgence with our own.”
This man assumes the President has done wrong. But he’s saying that the economy is good and the President’s programs are so good. Why mess up a good thing?
In a newspaper article, a sociologist made this observation: “Character has been slowly bred out of many Americans, especially baby boomers and their children.” He argued that decades of pampering and organized activities and “feel-good” approaches in which participants do not have to take personal responsibility have made character almost passé.
Is character passé in America? A Newsweek magazine poll said that voters tend to believe the President is lying about his adulterous affairs, yet he is enjoying his highest approval rating ever. These sentiments sum up the attitude of this third group and indicate that we are in deep trouble as a nation!
I want you to understand that no matter what has been revealed or what action has been taken by the time this is read, the crisis I want to address will not just go away. My concern is with the people whose response to a lack of character in our leaders is a roaring, “SO WHAT? LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL!”
As long as there are people in this country who believe that a leader’s personal character makes no difference in any way, then I tell you that we are in the throes of crisis!
But make no mistake. It makes every difference what a person in leadership believes and does in his personal life. Character counts with God, and it must count with us if we want to stay the judgment of God on this great nation.
The Character God Requires
What does God say about the kind of leadership a nation needs? I want to give you four principles I have ferreted out from the Word of God. Let’s think first of all about the character God requires. The Bible says in Proverbs 29:2, “When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn.”
One argument we are hearing these days is that national leaders are like airplane pilots. “We don’t care about a pilot’s morals,” this line goes, “as long as he can fly the airplane. His character doesn’t matter as long as he can get us from point A to point B. We want a safe take-off, a safe trip, and a safe landing. What the pilot does in his personal life behind closed doors is none of our concern.”
This argument about a leader’s character might hold water if we did not need the BLESSING OF GOD on this country. If we are going to say, “God, we don’t need You to bless our leaders or our people,” then this argument may be valid.
But let me use another analogy. Suppose you were going to have open-heart surgery. Would you want the surgeon to come from the restroom and into the operating room without even washing his hands? Would you want him to hold your heart in his hands if they were not sanitary? I want the hands of those who hold the heart of this nation to be clean. Clean hands and a pure heart are necessary for godly leadership and godly leadership is a prerequisite to blessing.
The fact is that America desperately needs the blessing of God! We are ruined without it. But God says, “If you want My blessings, here are some things that are necessary.” Let me give you six biblical characteristics that God requires of leaders before His blessing can rest on a nation.
Below are the verses that should describe our leaders:
“It is an abomination to kings to commit wickedness: for the throne is established by righteousness” (Prov. 16:12).
“I wisdom dwell with prudence. … By me [wisdom] kings reign and, princes decree justice. By me princes rule, and nobles, even all the judges of the earth” (Prov. 8:12, 15-16).
Proverbs 17:7 tells us, “Excellent speech becometh not a fool: much less do lying lips a prince.” According to Proverbs 20:28, “Mercy and truth preserve the king.”
(Avoid bad counselors) Proverbs 29:12 says, “If a ruler hearken to lies, all his servants are wicked.”
“The words of king Lemuel, the prophecy that his mother taught him. What, my son? and what, the son of my womb? and what, the son of my vows? Give not thy strength unto women, nor thy ways to that which destroyeth kings” (Prov. 31:1-3).
A Leader Must Be a Man Who Protects the Weak
Here’s a final trait of leadership that God requires. A leader must protect the weak and the helpless.
In Proverbs 31:8-9, God says to King Lemuel, “Open thy mouth for the dumb in the cause of all such as are appointed to destruction. Open thy mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy.”
A president, or any leader, must speak up for those who can’t speak up for themselves, those who are about to be destroyed. When a president is inaugurated, he takes a pledge to defend the nation. There are many defenseless people in America today, and they’re depending on the government to defend them. The President should be standing up for the unborn, the most defenseless of all those who cannot speak for themselves.
I once testified in Washington before a Senate committee dealing with abortion. After I left the room there at the Capitol, a female lawyer met me in the hall. “You don’t understand,” she said. “You’re a man, so you don’t understand what a trauma it is to have an unwanted pregnancy.”
I said to her, “Do I understand you to say that if somebody traumatizes you, you can eliminate them? Because you’re traumatizing me right now. What if I were to put both my thumbs on your windpipe and strangle you right now? At least you could scream or run. But a baby in its mother’s womb can’t do either.”
She just turned and walked off. I’m sure she told someone, “That Baptist preacher said he was going to strangle me!” But I only said, “What if?”
It’s the job of a ruler to speak up for the unborn! “Open thy mouth for the dumb in the cause of all such as are appointed to destruction,” God commands the one in authority. Someone may say, “But Pastor Rogers, abortion is legal.” Then hear these verses: “Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with thee, which frameth mischief by a law? They gather themselves together against the soul of the righteous, and condemn the innocent blood” (Ps. 94:20-21).
If a throne of iniquity is one that uses the law to commit evil, then what we have in America today is a throne of iniquity! Laws are passed to shed innocent blood. But NOTHING IS POLITICALLY RIGHT THAT IS MORALLY WRONG.
Jeremiah said concerning evil King Jehoiakim, “Thine eyes and thine heart are not but for thy covetousness, and for to shed innocent blood, and for oppression, and for violence, to do it” (22:17). The prophet Habakkuk warned, “Woe to him that buildeth a town with blood, and stablisheth a city by iniquity!” (2:12).
The king, the prince, the president, must be the protector of the helpless. This is the character that God requires.
Does character count? It does if there is a God in glory – a God who helped our founders establish this nation, and who has sustained this nation and brought us thus far.
But if our people are willing to say, “God, we don’t need You anymore. We don’t want Your rule anymore. We know what we are doing. Our skill and ingenuity will see us through,” then I say God help America! Because God will say, “You don’t need Me? That’s fine. But then don’t call on Me when judgment falls.”
Do you remember what happened when Peter preached his great sermon on the Day of Pentecost? The people of Israel “were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?” (Acts 2:37).
This is the question God’s people need to ask today.
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Newt should have had a steadfast love for his wife!!! Take a look at this clip below:
Some Southern Baptist leaders defended Newt Gingrich’s past moral failings and attempted to explain why the former Speaker of the House could be supported as the Republican standard-bearer. (Photo: Gage Skidmore)
Last week, I reported on a coordinated and completely illegal votes-for-cash scheme in tribal areas of Nevada, spearheaded by a group called the Nevada Native Vote Project, which is part of a larger effort called Native Votefunded by the National Congress of American Indians, or NCAI.
Under the guise of a get-out-the-vote campaign, these nonprofit groups were bribing tribal members to vote, offering them gift cards, electronics, and other “prizes” in exchange for proof that they voted. They documented these efforts through their own social media channels, either unaware or unconcerned that what they were doing directly violates federal election laws.
But it turns out the Nevada Native Vote Project is just one of many supposedly nonpartisan organizations engaged in vote-bribing and illegal electioneering, all under the thin guise of GOTV campaigns. Similar efforts in as many as a half-dozen other states, including every major battleground state, were undertaken by groups that worked hand in hand with the Biden campaign to deliver votes for Democrats.
These GOTV Campaigns Are Openly Partisan
One of these groups is called Radicalize the Vote, a “GOTV campaign, led by indigenous womxn, that is building a unique, centralized indigenous registration list to get out the vote in record number during the COVID-10.” The campaign is a partnership between NCAI-funded Native Vote and an organization called Seeding Sovereignty, which describes itself as “an Indigenous-led collective,” that “works to radicalize and disrupt colonized spaces through land, body, and food sovereignty work, community building, and cultural preservation.” Seeding Sovereignty and Radicalize the Vote appear to sharestaff.
Although claiming to be a nonpartisan group, Radicalize the Vote was remarkably open about its opposition to President Trump, posting a photo on its official Instagram pagethat read: “Every Trump sign is a desperate plea for toxic white supremacy to be seen and validated. It should remind you how fragile and threatened colonizers feel knowing their beliefs are dying an unremarkable and pitiful death.”
Another Radicalize the Vote post showed a photo of Ivanka Trump and law enforcement officers with the comment, “Halloween was scary. #vote #vote #vote #vote.”
In another post, a member of the group’s “digital youth street team” explains why she’s voting: “I’m voting for Breonna Taylor, who doesn’t have the opportunity to vote this year but whose voice needs to be heard. I’m voting for the babies in cages at the border. I’m voting so that our lands and waters will be protected for generations to come.”
Radicalize the Vote also posted an interviewwith Rep. Deb Haaland, in which the New Mexico congresswoman goes on at length about the importance of electing Biden and how great the Biden campaign’s policies are on things like climate change and health care. As Haaland talks, two Radicalize the Vote staffers nod along in agreement.
It also appears that Seeding Sovereignty is sympathetic to the goals of anarchist and Antifa groups, in one case giving a shout out on its Instagram page to a group called the Black Rose Anarchist Federation: “Social Movements have a long history of success and Empires have fallen before. All of us carry valuable tools for revolution. Plug in where you are needed! Thank you blackrosefed.org”
This Was A Coordinated Effort Nationwide
The creation and funding of groups like Radicalize the Vote seems to be just one part of a larger, highly coordinated effort to deliver Native votes for the Democratic Party and the Biden campaign. In some cases, these efforts received indirect assistance from state lawmakers and election officials.
In Nevada, the state legislature not only expanded voting by mail, sending ballots to every eligible voter whether he or she requested one or not, it also passed a law in August that allowed for nearly unrestricted ballot-harvesting of absentee ballots. The new law allowed non-family members, community health representatives, political parties, community organizers, and groups like Radicalize the Vote and the Nevada Native Vote Project to pick up absentee ballots from voters in tribal areas.
In Arizona, which Trump lost by three-tenths of a percentage point, Secretary of State Kate Hobbs’ office set up special online voter registration URLs for select nonprofit groups back in May. The stated goal was to increase voter registration, but the online registrations were heavily promoted by left-wing groups like Native Vote. The special URLs were only given out to a handful of nonpartisan groups, including the Phoenix Indian Center, which in turn amplified GOTV messaging from Native Vote on its Facebook page.
These kind of interlacing efforts were ubiquitous in the months leading up to the election. Official Democratic Party events in Arizona routinely featured the same Democrat speakers as Radicalize the Vote teleconferences—namely, Haaland and actor Mark Ruffalo, but also official Democratic candidates like Paulette Jordan, a member of the Coeur d’Alene Tribe and a former Idaho state legislator who ran and lost against GOP incumbent Sen. Jim Risch.
The Biden campaign also worked closely with Native Vote and Radicalize the Vote, promoting the latter through its “Natives for Biden” social media account and often showing up to distribute campaign swag at polling precincts in cooperation with Native Vote and the Nevada Native Project.
These efforts were part of a concerted outreach strategy by the Biden camp, which in July hired Clara Pratte, former chief of staff for Navajo Nation President Russell Begaye, as “tribal engagement director” for the campaign.
The effects of all these efforts are hard to quantify and, like voter fraud itself, harder still to prove. But it’s obvious that an entire network of Native advocacy organizations, together with left-wing activists groups and the Democratic Party, worked together to deliver votes for Biden under the pretext of running GOTV campaigns.
And it appears to have helped, especially in swing states like Arizona where voter turnout on tribal lands surged compared to 2016. Pratte told the Associated Press that Biden’s razor-thin victory in Arizona couldn’t have happened without the Native vote, and as a reporter for the Arizona Republic noted on Twitter, a side-by-side comparison of tribal areas and election results shows that Native communities across the state overlay almost perfectly with areas that voted Democrat.
It’s the same story in Wisconsin, another key battleground state that Biden won by less than 21,000 votes. Native Americans make up about 1.2 percent of the state’s population, or about 70,000 people, so their votes really matter—and might have been decisive.
Although there isn’t accurate exit polling of tribal areas statewide, places like Menominee County can be seen as a bellwether. The border of the county traces the Menominee reservation, whose inhabitants are 90 percent Native. Biden took Menominee County 82-13. In fact, Biden won all seven Wisconsin counties with large Native American populations.
This Is A Crisis That Can’t Be Ignored
It’s undeniable that groups like Native Vote and Radicalize the Vote, supported with funding from the NCAI, have had an outsized effect on the presidential election. It’s also undeniable that they were flagrantly violating federal election laws and acting not as nonpartisan organizations just trying to increase voter turnout, but arms of the Biden campaign and the Democratic Party.
Catherine Engelbrecht, founder of True the Vote, a group that’s been advocating for accountability and transparency in elections for a decade, told me that this sort of illegal activity has been going on for years. The difference is that drastic changes to mail-in voting, enacted in the name of the pandemic, caused “the dam to burst in 2020.”
The groups that pushed for mass mail-in voting this year, Engelbrecht added, are the same groups that have been suing states for years to prevent them from updating voter rolls. Once you expand mail-in voting with corrupted voter rolls, and then allow ballot-harvesting on a mass scale, it’s like “harvesting fog,” says Engelbrecht. “The fraud has been institutionalized, and we’ve been desensitized to it.”
At a time Trump’s legal team is distracting the country with exotic and implausible theories that Dominion and other shadowy forces stole the election though high-tech vote switching, not enough attention is being paid to the very quotidian and all-too-familiar forms of illegal electioneering and ballot fraud that are right in front of us.
These things happen every election season, of course. The only difference is that this time they happened on a mass scale, in broad daylight, sometimes with the cooperation of state officials. It doesn’t necessarily mean the election was stolen from Trump, but it does means something perhaps worse: unless we fix this, Americans will never trust our elections again.
John is the Political Editor at The Federalist. Follow him on Twitter.
Biden Won Despite Losing Most Bellwether Counties
Biden is set to become the first president in 60 years to lose the states of Ohio and Florida on his way to election. For a century, these states have consistently predicted the national outcome, and they have been considered roughly representative of the American melting pot as a whole. Despite national polling giving Biden a lead in both states, he lost Ohio by eight points and Florida by more than three.
For Biden to lose these key bellwethers by notable margins and still win the national election is newsworthy. Not since the Mafia allegedly aided John F. Kennedy in winning Illinois over Richard Nixon in 1960 has an American president pulled off this neat trick.
Even more unbelievably, Biden is on his way to winning the White House after having lost almost every historic bellwether county across the country. The Wall Street Journal and The Epoch Times independently analyzed the results of 19 counties around the United States that have nearly perfect presidential voting records over the last 40 years. President Trump won every single bellwether county, except Clallam County in Washington.
Whereas the former VP picked up Clallam by about three points, President Trump’s margin of victory in the other 18 counties averaged over 16 points. In a larger list of 58 bellwether counties that have correctly picked the president since 2000, Trump won 51 of them by an average of 15 points, while the other seven went to Biden by around four points. Bellwether counties overwhelmingly chose President Trump, but Biden found a path to victory anyway.
Joe Biden achieved the impossible. It’s interesting that many more journalists aren’t pointing that out.
J.B. Shurk is a proud American from Daniel Boone country
Documents show financial ties between ERLC & left-wing George Soros Open Society Foundations, Pierre Omidyar of the Democracy Fund, and Paul Singer of the American Unity Fund.
A report from Enemies within the Church, printed below, contains documents obtained by the filmmakers that link grants and funding from leftist billionaires to the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) of the Southern Baptist Convention and its head Russell Moore. The documents include grant data showing the Democracy Fund provided $50,000 to the controversial ERLC’s and The Gospel Coalition’s MLK50 Conference
Other documents in the report include Dr. Moore’s name in the Podesta emails published in 2016 by Wikileaks.
On Friday, November 6, the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Commission (ERLC) posted a statement on its website:
“Currently, there has been no evidence that voter fraud has been occurring…
“There are numerous reasons why widespread election fraud is difficult, if not impossible, to pull off at the presidential level… Extensive research has shown that voter fraud is exceeding rare, that voter impersonation is virtually nonexistent, and that many instances of alleged fraud are merely mistakes by voters or election administrators.”
The article is attributed to the “ERLC Staff,” and the statement is date-stamped November 6, 2020, at which point a number of states had not fully resolved allegations of balloting improprieties: most notably Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Arizona, and Nevada. It is difficult not to assume that the ERLC (Ethics and Religious Leadership Council) is purposefully seeking to influence the election outcome for primarily two reasons: (1) Dr. Russell Moore, the president of the ERLC, has consistently and publicly opposed Donald Trump and actively sought to undermine his evangelical reach, and (2) the ERLC seems to have financial ties to at least three progressive billionaire activists: left-wing George Soros of Open Society Foundations, Pierre Omidyar of the Democracy Fund, and Paul Singer of the American Unity Fund.
Who are these donors? Are they influencing the ERLC?
Behind Billionaire Door #1: George Soros
Dr. Moore’s ties to George Soros have been the subject of heated debate. At various times, those sympathetic to Dr. Moore have denied that he receives funds from Soros. Denials have hinged on arguments about whether the National Immigration Forum (NIF) and the Evangelical Immigration Table (EIT) – both progressive organizations – are actually the same thing. EWTC was able to obtain what appear to be authentic internal documents from a 2015 meeting in New York of the Open Society U.S. Programs Board;
These should put debate to rest.
George Soros’ Open Society Foundations have been clear that they hope to infuse left-wing ideology into every community of discourse that exists. To broaden the influence of his radical agenda, he has made a point to fund “rent-an-evangelical” schemes like the kind underscored in a cautionary article by Stream writer John Zmirak four years ago:
Joining “faith” fronts, Soros also funds thousands of … collaborators and projects that suggest his goal is to demoralize America (and Europe)… In the ironic rhetoric of compassion, Soros and friends also fund mass immigration followed by voting “rights” and redistricting schemes, while financing the campaigns of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. (Soros is a major donor to the Democratic Party and co-chairman of Ready for Hillary PAC.)
Earlier this year, Baptist Standard ran an article disputing “rumors” that Russell Moore received funding from Soros’ foundations. Dr. Moore and the ERLC have found themselves in the crosshairs of Soros-related debates because of Moore’s active involvement with the EIT. A document from November 13, 2012, addressed to President Obama clearly lists the ERLC alongside nine other groups as the groups comprising the EIT: World Relief Corporation, Sojourners, Council for Christian Colleges and Universities, Bread for the World, Liberty Counsel, National Association of Evangelicals, National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, National Latino Evangelical Coalition, World Vision, and G92.
In 2013, spokespeople for the EIT had already admitted to Breitbart News that their group “does not exist as its own non-profit” and “sought a neutral third-party institution, the NIF, to help facilitate our work.” Despite the strenuous denials that Mr. Soros’ money was involved, it is clear that the “facilitation” of the EIT depends on a structure financed by Mr. Soros, the NIF. Any doubt of separation between the initiatives now hold no weight since Dr. Moore is prominently listed as a speaker for the 2020 convention of the NIF and has his own webpage on the NIF website.
EWTC obtained meeting notes from “OPEN SOCIETY US PROGRAMS BOARD MEETING,” hosted by Open Society Foundations in New York City on October 1-2, 2015. One section of the meeting notes states the following:
“In part, our active role reflects our observation that the refugee advocacy community while long-standing and sophisticated in the inner workings of refugee policy, does not have a strong advocacy capacity or deep grassroots ties. In the course of our work, we were able to generate engagement by a group of mayors through Emma Lazarus II Fund grantee Cities United for Immigration Action… and some conservative voices such as evangelical Christians and Southern Baptists through grantee NIF. In the face of this pressure, the Obama administration announced Sept. 20 that by 2017, it would raise to 100,000 the total number of refugees the US takes worldwide each year. “
The bolded section above makes clear that the Open Society Foundations earmarked a grant to the NIF, specifically so funds could be channeled to the Southern Baptist Convention in exchange for the SBC’s help in putting “pressure” on officials to raise the number of refugees the US could take in.
EWTC obtained the following three documents showing the undeniable purpose of a significant funding stream earmarked by Open Society Foundations for Dr. Moore’s clique at the ERLC:
ERLC:
As more refugee resettlement means more grants to faith-based organizations to resettle refugees a great potential for corruption exists. The North American Mission Boardoversees the SEND Network, which plants churches. These plants stand to gain if they can pitch their efforts as community revitalization; something that pairs neatly with refugee resettlement. One vice president of the SEND Network is Dhati Lewis, whose ties to the ERLC are evident by his appearance on their website. Dhati Lewis also takes the stage prominently with Kevin Ezell, leader of the SBC’s North American Mission Board. Kevin Ezell’s leadership of NAMB has been fraught with controversy, as one can see quite clearly by following the website of Will McRaney, a Southern Baptist who has spent years documenting the corruption at NAMB online.
Dr. Moore has tied ostensible gospel efforts to a political lobby funded by George Soros, a man who opposes Biblical doctrine on ethics, life, sexuality, etc., and who openly says he wishes to invest large amounts of money in any willing evangelical that can spin his left-wing politics into a “Christian” endeavor.
Behind Billionaire Door #2: Pierre Omidyar
Russell Moore survived the 2017 post election push-back, becoming emboldened even further the following year during a conference marking the fiftieth anniversary of the death of Martin Luther King, Jr. The “MLK 50” Conference brought out rhetoric that was not merely liberal or Democratic, but overtly steeped in critical race theory.
What does the billionaire founder of e-Bay, have to do with a Southern Baptist conference? As Omidyar has a philanthropist streak that delights some progressives and dismays others, it’s not difficult to identify his stake in the conference. In an interview with EWTC, progressive musician Michelle Shocked (who happens to be Christian) explained that Mr. Omidyar has a hybrid philosophy of philanthropy, believing that a charity without a profit motive would be suspect. Therefore Omidyar liked to cast his social-justice pursuits as “charity on a for-profit model.” Pando writer Mark Ames explained this laid this philosophy: He says, “Perhaps no other figure embodies the disconnect between his progressive anti-state image, and his factual collaboration with the American national security state and the global neoliberal agenda, than Pierre Omidyar.”
To clarify this, Ms. Shocked provided several articles by left-wing Yasha Levine. Mr. Levine has flagged the relationship between Pierre Omidyar and Brazil-based journalist Glenn Greenwald as problematic. Mr. Omidyar funded the creation of the Intercept by Glenn Greenwald. Mr. Greenwald built the Intercept into a vibrant online news and commentary source but then ran afoul of management (and presumably, Omidyar), when Intercept principals told him he could not publish anything critical of Joe Biden. Yasha Levine explains the deceptive nature of Omidyar’s political involvement:
“Pierre’s surprising generousness — combined with the fact that he seemed to be on the Good Side, on the side of Edward Snowden and his NSA leaks — brought the man a huge amount of good will… Even now, while Silicon Valley’s leadership — from Zuck to Bezos — have been getting knocked about and criticized from every angle, Pierre has been able to skate by with no critical attention thrown his way, despite his involvement in funding far-right regime change ops, global surveillance projects, and the trail of impoverished bodies he’s left behind in the wake of his various colonial investment initiatives.”
If this unflattering assessment of Mr. Omidyar’s philanthropy is honest, we can see the obvious attraction of Omidyar’s non-profit to the ERLC. The SBC is the largest Protestant denomination in the United States, with roughly 46,000 churches. This is a massive client base.
As to Russell Moore’s interest in Pierre Omidyar, given the extent of Baptist tithes that flow into the ERLC, why would Dr. Moore take upon himself such an unfavorable business connection? The lavish scale of the MLK 50 event seems rather exaggerated since Dr. Moore could have put on a simple conference with speakers drawn from churches across the SBC rather than booking bigger names like Karen Swallow Prior, Matt Chandler, and John Piper. The oversized scale entangled Dr. Moore in the funds of a man described even by left-wing activists as “a rapacious tech oligarch.”
A likely draw was Mr. Omidyar’s anti-Trump fervor and his profit-driven charity model. Mr. Omidyar has funded all kinds of anti-Trump activities, including projects to bring evangelical Christians into his sphere of influence. It seems that Dr. Moore likes the money that comes with Christian causes, except that he wants to shift away from abortion and gay marriage to more consumer-friendly causes.
Pierre Omidyar funds the Trinity Forum as well. This organization recently hosted an event billed as a symposium to ask, “how do Christians discern ways of engaging culturally and politically that pursues justice, the common good, and love of neighbor?” Coming just before the heated 2020 election, this overtly socialist reading of the gospel fit in perfectly with Omidyar’s anti-Trump political goals as well as the crass “for-profit charity” model that progressives despise. The main speakers for the Trinity Forum event were Justin Giboney, the president of the AND Campaign, and the “co-chair of Obama for America’s Gen44-Atlanta initiative”; and Shirley Hoogstra, president of the “Council for Christian Colleges and Universities.” Hoogstra states in her press release that she “focused on expanding diversity and inclusion on CCCU campuses,” which refers, at least partly, to the movement to force Christian colleges to water down their stance on LGBTs.
EWTC was able to obtain what appears to be a February 3, 2012, memo from “Bill Vandenberg, Program Director, Democracy Fund” to “U.S. Programs Board.” In this memo, Vandenburg states the group’s goals: (1) investing “in faith-based advocacy and the engagement of the faith community,” (2) “public opinion research…of faith demography,” (3) “strategic communications work”, (4) “field meetings,” and (5) “fellowships to faith-based thinkers.”
That Russell Moore intertwined the Southern Baptist Convention with these cynical efforts to manufacture and disseminate liberal Christian dogma raises serious concerns.
Behind Billionaire Door #3: Paul Singer
Finally, Dr. Moore remains tied through mutual partnerships to the funding of Paul Singer, arguably the most pernicious of the three billionaires. Unlike Omidyar and Soros, Mr. Singer does not present himself as a leftist in any way, rather funding Republican and conservative organizations. He was a major backer of Marco Rubio, the candidate that Dr. Moore seemed to favor in the 2016 Republican primaries.
On this issue Tom Littleton once again offers a bank of invaluable information. In a broadside posted in late 2019, Mr. Littleton spells out how Paul Singer’s longstanding quest to normalize homosexuality in conservative circles left a trail of bread crumbs to an effort called Fairness for All (as well as the typically connected AND Campaign). The American Unity Fund, Paul Singer’s organization, funds the Alliance for Lasting Liberty, which is tied to the Fairness for All Movement. Like a merry-go-round of funding, these groups then contribute to the AND Campaign, which features leaders Justin Giboney and Michael Wear. These men all travel in the same circles, as Mr. Littleton documents at Thirty Pieces of Silver.
Conclusion
A man as intelligent as Dr. Moore must know that there is a mountain of evidence pointing to significant voter fraud in the 2020 election. Since Dr. Moore is neither foolish nor crazy, it’s difficult not to come to the somewhat obvious conclusion: those who wanted Donald Trump defeated have been financing Dr. Moore’s friends, associates, and partners for years. This has clearly influenced him and the SBC.
We are fighting the corruption of the true gospel by those who would replace it with the gospel of social justice – we need your help! Donate today to help us complete the film, Enemies within the Church!
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It pays to remember history. Today I am going to go through some of it and give an outline and quotes from the great Southern Baptist leader Adrian Rogers (1931-2005).
Somehow Newt Gingrich’s righteous indignation over CNN’s debate moderator John King’s questioning Gingrich over his ex-wife’s allegations that Newt Gingrich wanted an “open marriage” with both his then wife, Marianne Gingrich and Gingrich’s present wife Callista, appears to be a simple little temper tantrum by the seemingly cry-baby ex-Speaker.
Gingrich came off a whiner having a hissy fit over what is more than likely “the truth”..
One only need go back to the nineties when Gingrich was outraged over the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal. The press and Gingrich went full throttle to paint President Clinton as the lowest form of life possible.
Gingrich had no problem with the Press and cable TV’s trial by media events that took place in what could be described as an incessant level of coverage back then.
Now all of a sudden he chooses to castigate the “elite media” and the debate moderator for reporting the story and in King’s case, for asking about the story. Newt Gingrich appears to be a victim all the time.
Would you like some cheese with that whine Mr. Gingrich?
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My former pastor Adrian Rogers summed this up best in 1998 during the Clinton scandal (“Does Character Count? A Biblical Treatment,” SBC Life, November 1998, 1):
[Rogers] suggests the comfort of the middle class has larger implications for American society. His concern in the recent presidential intern scandal was with the large number of people who were not particularly upset. “My concern is with the people whose response to a lack of character in our leaders is a roaring, “SO WHAT? LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL!” As long as there are people in this country who believe that a leader’s personal character makes no difference in any way, then I tell you that we are in the throes of crisis!”
Does Character Count? A Biblical Treatment by Adrian Rogers
“Vice is a monster of such awful mien, that to be hated needs but to be seen, but seen too oft, familiar with her face, we first endure, then pity, then embrace.”
Our nation is in crisis and as a minister of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, I feel I must address this matter!
We cannot, we dare not, we must not, and we shall not ignore what is happening in America today. Some terrible and shocking accusations have been made against the President of our beloved republic. It is our duty as Americans and as Christians to pray that truth will be revealed and justice administered.
In this article I want to address not so much the crisis at the highest levels of our government, but the bigger and even more disturbing crisis at the level of everyday American life where most of us live. Let me explain what I mean…
(Some will believe the charges against the President and some will not).
Then there is a third response to serious moral and ethical charges against a person in high office. This is the group I want to talk about, because it is here that America’s shocking, degrading moral crisis rears its ugly head.
This third group of people are those who, instead of saying the accused is guilty or innocent, say, “SO WHAT? Who cares? Guilty, innocent – what difference does it really make so long as he is doing a good job?”
These people argue that there is no connection between a man’s personal life and his political abilities. And according to all indications, this response to scandal and serious charges is the most common response among Americans!
A recent editorial in U.S. News & World Report said: “A majority seem to believe in the President’s programs and politics even if they don’t believe in him. They care far more about the good times. As one wag put it, ‘People say they vote Dow Jones, not Paula Jones.'”
Another editorial writer argued that in the case of the President, “We elected him knowing his propensities. The economy is strong and he has a promising agenda. Tossing him out to keep up appearances would merely match the President’s destructive self-indulgence with our own.”
This man assumes the President has done wrong. But he’s saying that the economy is good and the President’s programs are so good. Why mess up a good thing?
In a newspaper article, a sociologist made this observation: “Character has been slowly bred out of many Americans, especially baby boomers and their children.” He argued that decades of pampering and organized activities and “feel-good” approaches in which participants do not have to take personal responsibility have made character almost passé.
Is character passé in America? A Newsweek magazine poll said that voters tend to believe the President is lying about his adulterous affairs, yet he is enjoying his highest approval rating ever. These sentiments sum up the attitude of this third group and indicate that we are in deep trouble as a nation!
I want you to understand that no matter what has been revealed or what action has been taken by the time this is read, the crisis I want to address will not just go away. My concern is with the people whose response to a lack of character in our leaders is a roaring, “SO WHAT? LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL!”
As long as there are people in this country who believe that a leader’s personal character makes no difference in any way, then I tell you that we are in the throes of crisis!
But make no mistake. It makes every difference what a person in leadership believes and does in his personal life. Character counts with God, and it must count with us if we want to stay the judgment of God on this great nation.
The Character God Requires
What does God say about the kind of leadership a nation needs? I want to give you four principles I have ferreted out from the Word of God. Let’s think first of all about the character God requires. The Bible says in Proverbs 29:2, “When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn.”
One argument we are hearing these days is that national leaders are like airplane pilots. “We don’t care about a pilot’s morals,” this line goes, “as long as he can fly the airplane. His character doesn’t matter as long as he can get us from point A to point B. We want a safe take-off, a safe trip, and a safe landing. What the pilot does in his personal life behind closed doors is none of our concern.”
This argument about a leader’s character might hold water if we did not need the BLESSING OF GOD on this country. If we are going to say, “God, we don’t need You to bless our leaders or our people,” then this argument may be valid.
But let me use another analogy. Suppose you were going to have open-heart surgery. Would you want the surgeon to come from the restroom and into the operating room without even washing his hands? Would you want him to hold your heart in his hands if they were not sanitary? I want the hands of those who hold the heart of this nation to be clean. Clean hands and a pure heart are necessary for godly leadership and godly leadership is a prerequisite to blessing.
The fact is that America desperately needs the blessing of God! We are ruined without it. But God says, “If you want My blessings, here are some things that are necessary.” Let me give you six biblical characteristics that God requires of leaders before His blessing can rest on a nation.
Below are the verses that should describe our leaders:
“It is an abomination to kings to commit wickedness: for the throne is established by righteousness” (Prov. 16:12).
“I wisdom dwell with prudence. … By me [wisdom] kings reign and, princes decree justice. By me princes rule, and nobles, even all the judges of the earth” (Prov. 8:12, 15-16).
Proverbs 17:7 tells us, “Excellent speech becometh not a fool: much less do lying lips a prince.” According to Proverbs 20:28, “Mercy and truth preserve the king.”
(Avoid bad counselors) Proverbs 29:12 says, “If a ruler hearken to lies, all his servants are wicked.”
“The words of king Lemuel, the prophecy that his mother taught him. What, my son? and what, the son of my womb? and what, the son of my vows? Give not thy strength unto women, nor thy ways to that which destroyeth kings” (Prov. 31:1-3).
A Leader Must Be a Man Who Protects the Weak
Here’s a final trait of leadership that God requires. A leader must protect the weak and the helpless.
In Proverbs 31:8-9, God says to King Lemuel, “Open thy mouth for the dumb in the cause of all such as are appointed to destruction. Open thy mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy.”
A president, or any leader, must speak up for those who can’t speak up for themselves, those who are about to be destroyed. When a president is inaugurated, he takes a pledge to defend the nation. There are many defenseless people in America today, and they’re depending on the government to defend them. The President should be standing up for the unborn, the most defenseless of all those who cannot speak for themselves.
I once testified in Washington before a Senate committee dealing with abortion. After I left the room there at the Capitol, a female lawyer met me in the hall. “You don’t understand,” she said. “You’re a man, so you don’t understand what a trauma it is to have an unwanted pregnancy.”
I said to her, “Do I understand you to say that if somebody traumatizes you, you can eliminate them? Because you’re traumatizing me right now. What if I were to put both my thumbs on your windpipe and strangle you right now? At least you could scream or run. But a baby in its mother’s womb can’t do either.”
She just turned and walked off. I’m sure she told someone, “That Baptist preacher said he was going to strangle me!” But I only said, “What if?”
It’s the job of a ruler to speak up for the unborn! “Open thy mouth for the dumb in the cause of all such as are appointed to destruction,” God commands the one in authority. Someone may say, “But Pastor Rogers, abortion is legal.” Then hear these verses: “Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with thee, which frameth mischief by a law? They gather themselves together against the soul of the righteous, and condemn the innocent blood” (Ps. 94:20-21).
If a throne of iniquity is one that uses the law to commit evil, then what we have in America today is a throne of iniquity! Laws are passed to shed innocent blood. But NOTHING IS POLITICALLY RIGHT THAT IS MORALLY WRONG.
Jeremiah said concerning evil King Jehoiakim, “Thine eyes and thine heart are not but for thy covetousness, and for to shed innocent blood, and for oppression, and for violence, to do it” (22:17). The prophet Habakkuk warned, “Woe to him that buildeth a town with blood, and stablisheth a city by iniquity!” (2:12).
The king, the prince, the president, must be the protector of the helpless. This is the character that God requires.
Does character count? It does if there is a God in glory – a God who helped our founders establish this nation, and who has sustained this nation and brought us thus far.
But if our people are willing to say, “God, we don’t need You anymore. We don’t want Your rule anymore. We know what we are doing. Our skill and ingenuity will see us through,” then I say God help America! Because God will say, “You don’t need Me? That’s fine. But then don’t call on Me when judgment falls.”
Do you remember what happened when Peter preached his great sermon on the Day of Pentecost? The people of Israel “were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?” (Acts 2:37).
This is the question God’s people need to ask today.
________
Newt should have had a steadfast love for his wife!!! Take a look at this clip below:
Some Southern Baptist leaders defended Newt Gingrich’s past moral failings and attempted to explain why the former Speaker of the House could be supported as the Republican standard-bearer. (Photo: Gage Skidmore)
Biden is set to become the first president in 60 years to lose the states of Ohio and Florida on his way to election. For a century, these states have consistently predicted the national outcome, and they have been considered roughly representative of the American melting pot as a whole. Despite national polling giving Biden a lead in both states, he lost Ohio by eight points and Florida by more than three.
For Biden to lose these key bellwethers by notable margins and still win the national election is newsworthy. Not since the Mafia allegedly aided John F. Kennedy in winning Illinois over Richard Nixon in 1960 has an American president pulled off this neat trick.
Even more unbelievably, Biden is on his way to winning the White House after having lost almost every historic bellwether county across the country. The Wall Street Journal and The Epoch Times independently analyzed the results of 19 counties around the United States that have nearly perfect presidential voting records over the last 40 years. President Trump won every single bellwether county, except Clallam County in Washington.
Whereas the former VP picked up Clallam by about three points, President Trump’s margin of victory in the other 18 counties averaged over 16 points. In a larger list of 58 bellwether counties that have correctly picked the president since 2000, Trump won 51 of them by an average of 15 points, while the other seven went to Biden by around four points. Bellwether counties overwhelmingly chose President Trump, but Biden found a path to victory anyway.
Joe Biden achieved the impossible. It’s interesting that many more journalists aren’t pointing that out.
J.B. Shurk is a proud American from Daniel Boone country
Documents show financial ties between ERLC & left-wing George Soros Open Society Foundations, Pierre Omidyar of the Democracy Fund, and Paul Singer of the American Unity Fund.
A report from Enemies within the Church, printed below, contains documents obtained by the filmmakers that link grants and funding from leftist billionaires to the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) of the Southern Baptist Convention and its head Russell Moore. The documents include grant data showing the Democracy Fund provided $50,000 to the controversial ERLC’s and The Gospel Coalition’s MLK50 Conference
Other documents in the report include Dr. Moore’s name in the Podesta emails published in 2016 by Wikileaks.
On Friday, November 6, the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Commission (ERLC) posted a statement on its website:
“Currently, there has been no evidence that voter fraud has been occurring…
“There are numerous reasons why widespread election fraud is difficult, if not impossible, to pull off at the presidential level… Extensive research has shown that voter fraud is exceeding rare, that voter impersonation is virtually nonexistent, and that many instances of alleged fraud are merely mistakes by voters or election administrators.”
The article is attributed to the “ERLC Staff,” and the statement is date-stamped November 6, 2020, at which point a number of states had not fully resolved allegations of balloting improprieties: most notably Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Arizona, and Nevada. It is difficult not to assume that the ERLC (Ethics and Religious Leadership Council) is purposefully seeking to influence the election outcome for primarily two reasons: (1) Dr. Russell Moore, the president of the ERLC, has consistently and publicly opposed Donald Trump and actively sought to undermine his evangelical reach, and (2) the ERLC seems to have financial ties to at least three progressive billionaire activists: left-wing George Soros of Open Society Foundations, Pierre Omidyar of the Democracy Fund, and Paul Singer of the American Unity Fund.
Who are these donors? Are they influencing the ERLC?
Behind Billionaire Door #1: George Soros
Dr. Moore’s ties to George Soros have been the subject of heated debate. At various times, those sympathetic to Dr. Moore have denied that he receives funds from Soros. Denials have hinged on arguments about whether the National Immigration Forum (NIF) and the Evangelical Immigration Table (EIT) – both progressive organizations – are actually the same thing. EWTC was able to obtain what appear to be authentic internal documents from a 2015 meeting in New York of the Open Society U.S. Programs Board;
These should put debate to rest.
George Soros’ Open Society Foundations have been clear that they hope to infuse left-wing ideology into every community of discourse that exists. To broaden the influence of his radical agenda, he has made a point to fund “rent-an-evangelical” schemes like the kind underscored in a cautionary article by Stream writer John Zmirak four years ago:
Joining “faith” fronts, Soros also funds thousands of … collaborators and projects that suggest his goal is to demoralize America (and Europe)… In the ironic rhetoric of compassion, Soros and friends also fund mass immigration followed by voting “rights” and redistricting schemes, while financing the campaigns of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. (Soros is a major donor to the Democratic Party and co-chairman of Ready for Hillary PAC.)
Earlier this year, Baptist Standard ran an article disputing “rumors” that Russell Moore received funding from Soros’ foundations. Dr. Moore and the ERLC have found themselves in the crosshairs of Soros-related debates because of Moore’s active involvement with the EIT. A document from November 13, 2012, addressed to President Obama clearly lists the ERLC alongside nine other groups as the groups comprising the EIT: World Relief Corporation, Sojourners, Council for Christian Colleges and Universities, Bread for the World, Liberty Counsel, National Association of Evangelicals, National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, National Latino Evangelical Coalition, World Vision, and G92.
In 2013, spokespeople for the EIT had already admitted to Breitbart News that their group “does not exist as its own non-profit” and “sought a neutral third-party institution, the NIF, to help facilitate our work.” Despite the strenuous denials that Mr. Soros’ money was involved, it is clear that the “facilitation” of the EIT depends on a structure financed by Mr. Soros, the NIF. Any doubt of separation between the initiatives now hold no weight since Dr. Moore is prominently listed as a speaker for the 2020 convention of the NIF and has his own webpage on the NIF website.
EWTC obtained meeting notes from “OPEN SOCIETY US PROGRAMS BOARD MEETING,” hosted by Open Society Foundations in New York City on October 1-2, 2015. One section of the meeting notes states the following:
“In part, our active role reflects our observation that the refugee advocacy community while long-standing and sophisticated in the inner workings of refugee policy, does not have a strong advocacy capacity or deep grassroots ties. In the course of our work, we were able to generate engagement by a group of mayors through Emma Lazarus II Fund grantee Cities United for Immigration Action… and some conservative voices such as evangelical Christians and Southern Baptists through grantee NIF. In the face of this pressure, the Obama administration announced Sept. 20 that by 2017, it would raise to 100,000 the total number of refugees the US takes worldwide each year. “
The bolded section above makes clear that the Open Society Foundations earmarked a grant to the NIF, specifically so funds could be channeled to the Southern Baptist Convention in exchange for the SBC’s help in putting “pressure” on officials to raise the number of refugees the US could take in.
EWTC obtained the following three documents showing the undeniable purpose of a significant funding stream earmarked by Open Society Foundations for Dr. Moore’s clique at the ERLC:
ERLC:
As more refugee resettlement means more grants to faith-based organizations to resettle refugees a great potential for corruption exists. The North American Mission Boardoversees the SEND Network, which plants churches. These plants stand to gain if they can pitch their efforts as community revitalization; something that pairs neatly with refugee resettlement. One vice president of the SEND Network is Dhati Lewis, whose ties to the ERLC are evident by his appearance on their website. Dhati Lewis also takes the stage prominently with Kevin Ezell, leader of the SBC’s North American Mission Board. Kevin Ezell’s leadership of NAMB has been fraught with controversy, as one can see quite clearly by following the website of Will McRaney, a Southern Baptist who has spent years documenting the corruption at NAMB online.
Dr. Moore has tied ostensible gospel efforts to a political lobby funded by George Soros, a man who opposes Biblical doctrine on ethics, life, sexuality, etc., and who openly says he wishes to invest large amounts of money in any willing evangelical that can spin his left-wing politics into a “Christian” endeavor.
Behind Billionaire Door #2: Pierre Omidyar
Russell Moore survived the 2017 post election push-back, becoming emboldened even further the following year during a conference marking the fiftieth anniversary of the death of Martin Luther King, Jr. The “MLK 50” Conference brought out rhetoric that was not merely liberal or Democratic, but overtly steeped in critical race theory.
What does the billionaire founder of e-Bay, have to do with a Southern Baptist conference? As Omidyar has a philanthropist streak that delights some progressives and dismays others, it’s not difficult to identify his stake in the conference. In an interview with EWTC, progressive musician Michelle Shocked (who happens to be Christian) explained that Mr. Omidyar has a hybrid philosophy of philanthropy, believing that a charity without a profit motive would be suspect. Therefore Omidyar liked to cast his social-justice pursuits as “charity on a for-profit model.” Pando writer Mark Ames explained this laid this philosophy: He says, “Perhaps no other figure embodies the disconnect between his progressive anti-state image, and his factual collaboration with the American national security state and the global neoliberal agenda, than Pierre Omidyar.”
To clarify this, Ms. Shocked provided several articles by left-wing Yasha Levine. Mr. Levine has flagged the relationship between Pierre Omidyar and Brazil-based journalist Glenn Greenwald as problematic. Mr. Omidyar funded the creation of the Intercept by Glenn Greenwald. Mr. Greenwald built the Intercept into a vibrant online news and commentary source but then ran afoul of management (and presumably, Omidyar), when Intercept principals told him he could not publish anything critical of Joe Biden. Yasha Levine explains the deceptive nature of Omidyar’s political involvement:
“Pierre’s surprising generousness — combined with the fact that he seemed to be on the Good Side, on the side of Edward Snowden and his NSA leaks — brought the man a huge amount of good will… Even now, while Silicon Valley’s leadership — from Zuck to Bezos — have been getting knocked about and criticized from every angle, Pierre has been able to skate by with no critical attention thrown his way, despite his involvement in funding far-right regime change ops, global surveillance projects, and the trail of impoverished bodies he’s left behind in the wake of his various colonial investment initiatives.”
If this unflattering assessment of Mr. Omidyar’s philanthropy is honest, we can see the obvious attraction of Omidyar’s non-profit to the ERLC. The SBC is the largest Protestant denomination in the United States, with roughly 46,000 churches. This is a massive client base.
As to Russell Moore’s interest in Pierre Omidyar, given the extent of Baptist tithes that flow into the ERLC, why would Dr. Moore take upon himself such an unfavorable business connection? The lavish scale of the MLK 50 event seems rather exaggerated since Dr. Moore could have put on a simple conference with speakers drawn from churches across the SBC rather than booking bigger names like Karen Swallow Prior, Matt Chandler, and John Piper. The oversized scale entangled Dr. Moore in the funds of a man described even by left-wing activists as “a rapacious tech oligarch.”
A likely draw was Mr. Omidyar’s anti-Trump fervor and his profit-driven charity model. Mr. Omidyar has funded all kinds of anti-Trump activities, including projects to bring evangelical Christians into his sphere of influence. It seems that Dr. Moore likes the money that comes with Christian causes, except that he wants to shift away from abortion and gay marriage to more consumer-friendly causes.
Pierre Omidyar funds the Trinity Forum as well. This organization recently hosted an event billed as a symposium to ask, “how do Christians discern ways of engaging culturally and politically that pursues justice, the common good, and love of neighbor?” Coming just before the heated 2020 election, this overtly socialist reading of the gospel fit in perfectly with Omidyar’s anti-Trump political goals as well as the crass “for-profit charity” model that progressives despise. The main speakers for the Trinity Forum event were Justin Giboney, the president of the AND Campaign, and the “co-chair of Obama for America’s Gen44-Atlanta initiative”; and Shirley Hoogstra, president of the “Council for Christian Colleges and Universities.” Hoogstra states in her press release that she “focused on expanding diversity and inclusion on CCCU campuses,” which refers, at least partly, to the movement to force Christian colleges to water down their stance on LGBTs.
EWTC was able to obtain what appears to be a February 3, 2012, memo from “Bill Vandenberg, Program Director, Democracy Fund” to “U.S. Programs Board.” In this memo, Vandenburg states the group’s goals: (1) investing “in faith-based advocacy and the engagement of the faith community,” (2) “public opinion research…of faith demography,” (3) “strategic communications work”, (4) “field meetings,” and (5) “fellowships to faith-based thinkers.”
That Russell Moore intertwined the Southern Baptist Convention with these cynical efforts to manufacture and disseminate liberal Christian dogma raises serious concerns.
Behind Billionaire Door #3: Paul Singer
Finally, Dr. Moore remains tied through mutual partnerships to the funding of Paul Singer, arguably the most pernicious of the three billionaires. Unlike Omidyar and Soros, Mr. Singer does not present himself as a leftist in any way, rather funding Republican and conservative organizations. He was a major backer of Marco Rubio, the candidate that Dr. Moore seemed to favor in the 2016 Republican primaries.
On this issue Tom Littleton once again offers a bank of invaluable information. In a broadside posted in late 2019, Mr. Littleton spells out how Paul Singer’s longstanding quest to normalize homosexuality in conservative circles left a trail of bread crumbs to an effort called Fairness for All (as well as the typically connected AND Campaign). The American Unity Fund, Paul Singer’s organization, funds the Alliance for Lasting Liberty, which is tied to the Fairness for All Movement. Like a merry-go-round of funding, these groups then contribute to the AND Campaign, which features leaders Justin Giboney and Michael Wear. These men all travel in the same circles, as Mr. Littleton documents at Thirty Pieces of Silver.
Conclusion
A man as intelligent as Dr. Moore must know that there is a mountain of evidence pointing to significant voter fraud in the 2020 election. Since Dr. Moore is neither foolish nor crazy, it’s difficult not to come to the somewhat obvious conclusion: those who wanted Donald Trump defeated have been financing Dr. Moore’s friends, associates, and partners for years. This has clearly influenced him and the SBC.
We are fighting the corruption of the true gospel by those who would replace it with the gospel of social justice – we need your help! Donate today to help us complete the film, Enemies within the Church!
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It pays to remember history. Today I am going to go through some of it and give an outline and quotes from the great Southern Baptist leader Adrian Rogers (1931-2005).
Somehow Newt Gingrich’s righteous indignation over CNN’s debate moderator John King’s questioning Gingrich over his ex-wife’s allegations that Newt Gingrich wanted an “open marriage” with both his then wife, Marianne Gingrich and Gingrich’s present wife Callista, appears to be a simple little temper tantrum by the seemingly cry-baby ex-Speaker.
Gingrich came off a whiner having a hissy fit over what is more than likely “the truth”..
One only need go back to the nineties when Gingrich was outraged over the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal. The press and Gingrich went full throttle to paint President Clinton as the lowest form of life possible.
Gingrich had no problem with the Press and cable TV’s trial by media events that took place in what could be described as an incessant level of coverage back then.
Now all of a sudden he chooses to castigate the “elite media” and the debate moderator for reporting the story and in King’s case, for asking about the story. Newt Gingrich appears to be a victim all the time.
Would you like some cheese with that whine Mr. Gingrich?
___________________________
My former pastor Adrian Rogers summed this up best in 1998 during the Clinton scandal (“Does Character Count? A Biblical Treatment,” SBC Life, November 1998, 1):
[Rogers] suggests the comfort of the middle class has larger implications for American society. His concern in the recent presidential intern scandal was with the large number of people who were not particularly upset. “My concern is with the people whose response to a lack of character in our leaders is a roaring, “SO WHAT? LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL!” As long as there are people in this country who believe that a leader’s personal character makes no difference in any way, then I tell you that we are in the throes of crisis!”
Does Character Count? A Biblical Treatment by Adrian Rogers
“Vice is a monster of such awful mien, that to be hated needs but to be seen, but seen too oft, familiar with her face, we first endure, then pity, then embrace.”
Our nation is in crisis and as a minister of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, I feel I must address this matter!
We cannot, we dare not, we must not, and we shall not ignore what is happening in America today. Some terrible and shocking accusations have been made against the President of our beloved republic. It is our duty as Americans and as Christians to pray that truth will be revealed and justice administered.
In this article I want to address not so much the crisis at the highest levels of our government, but the bigger and even more disturbing crisis at the level of everyday American life where most of us live. Let me explain what I mean…
(Some will believe the charges against the President and some will not).
Then there is a third response to serious moral and ethical charges against a person in high office. This is the group I want to talk about, because it is here that America’s shocking, degrading moral crisis rears its ugly head.
This third group of people are those who, instead of saying the accused is guilty or innocent, say, “SO WHAT? Who cares? Guilty, innocent – what difference does it really make so long as he is doing a good job?”
These people argue that there is no connection between a man’s personal life and his political abilities. And according to all indications, this response to scandal and serious charges is the most common response among Americans!
A recent editorial in U.S. News & World Report said: “A majority seem to believe in the President’s programs and politics even if they don’t believe in him. They care far more about the good times. As one wag put it, ‘People say they vote Dow Jones, not Paula Jones.'”
Another editorial writer argued that in the case of the President, “We elected him knowing his propensities. The economy is strong and he has a promising agenda. Tossing him out to keep up appearances would merely match the President’s destructive self-indulgence with our own.”
This man assumes the President has done wrong. But he’s saying that the economy is good and the President’s programs are so good. Why mess up a good thing?
In a newspaper article, a sociologist made this observation: “Character has been slowly bred out of many Americans, especially baby boomers and their children.” He argued that decades of pampering and organized activities and “feel-good” approaches in which participants do not have to take personal responsibility have made character almost passé.
Is character passé in America? A Newsweek magazine poll said that voters tend to believe the President is lying about his adulterous affairs, yet he is enjoying his highest approval rating ever. These sentiments sum up the attitude of this third group and indicate that we are in deep trouble as a nation!
I want you to understand that no matter what has been revealed or what action has been taken by the time this is read, the crisis I want to address will not just go away. My concern is with the people whose response to a lack of character in our leaders is a roaring, “SO WHAT? LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL!”
As long as there are people in this country who believe that a leader’s personal character makes no difference in any way, then I tell you that we are in the throes of crisis!
But make no mistake. It makes every difference what a person in leadership believes and does in his personal life. Character counts with God, and it must count with us if we want to stay the judgment of God on this great nation.
The Character God Requires
What does God say about the kind of leadership a nation needs? I want to give you four principles I have ferreted out from the Word of God. Let’s think first of all about the character God requires. The Bible says in Proverbs 29:2, “When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn.”
One argument we are hearing these days is that national leaders are like airplane pilots. “We don’t care about a pilot’s morals,” this line goes, “as long as he can fly the airplane. His character doesn’t matter as long as he can get us from point A to point B. We want a safe take-off, a safe trip, and a safe landing. What the pilot does in his personal life behind closed doors is none of our concern.”
This argument about a leader’s character might hold water if we did not need the BLESSING OF GOD on this country. If we are going to say, “God, we don’t need You to bless our leaders or our people,” then this argument may be valid.
But let me use another analogy. Suppose you were going to have open-heart surgery. Would you want the surgeon to come from the restroom and into the operating room without even washing his hands? Would you want him to hold your heart in his hands if they were not sanitary? I want the hands of those who hold the heart of this nation to be clean. Clean hands and a pure heart are necessary for godly leadership and godly leadership is a prerequisite to blessing.
The fact is that America desperately needs the blessing of God! We are ruined without it. But God says, “If you want My blessings, here are some things that are necessary.” Let me give you six biblical characteristics that God requires of leaders before His blessing can rest on a nation.
Below are the verses that should describe our leaders:
“It is an abomination to kings to commit wickedness: for the throne is established by righteousness” (Prov. 16:12).
“I wisdom dwell with prudence. … By me [wisdom] kings reign and, princes decree justice. By me princes rule, and nobles, even all the judges of the earth” (Prov. 8:12, 15-16).
Proverbs 17:7 tells us, “Excellent speech becometh not a fool: much less do lying lips a prince.” According to Proverbs 20:28, “Mercy and truth preserve the king.”
(Avoid bad counselors) Proverbs 29:12 says, “If a ruler hearken to lies, all his servants are wicked.”
“The words of king Lemuel, the prophecy that his mother taught him. What, my son? and what, the son of my womb? and what, the son of my vows? Give not thy strength unto women, nor thy ways to that which destroyeth kings” (Prov. 31:1-3).
A Leader Must Be a Man Who Protects the Weak
Here’s a final trait of leadership that God requires. A leader must protect the weak and the helpless.
In Proverbs 31:8-9, God says to King Lemuel, “Open thy mouth for the dumb in the cause of all such as are appointed to destruction. Open thy mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy.”
A president, or any leader, must speak up for those who can’t speak up for themselves, those who are about to be destroyed. When a president is inaugurated, he takes a pledge to defend the nation. There are many defenseless people in America today, and they’re depending on the government to defend them. The President should be standing up for the unborn, the most defenseless of all those who cannot speak for themselves.
I once testified in Washington before a Senate committee dealing with abortion. After I left the room there at the Capitol, a female lawyer met me in the hall. “You don’t understand,” she said. “You’re a man, so you don’t understand what a trauma it is to have an unwanted pregnancy.”
I said to her, “Do I understand you to say that if somebody traumatizes you, you can eliminate them? Because you’re traumatizing me right now. What if I were to put both my thumbs on your windpipe and strangle you right now? At least you could scream or run. But a baby in its mother’s womb can’t do either.”
She just turned and walked off. I’m sure she told someone, “That Baptist preacher said he was going to strangle me!” But I only said, “What if?”
It’s the job of a ruler to speak up for the unborn! “Open thy mouth for the dumb in the cause of all such as are appointed to destruction,” God commands the one in authority. Someone may say, “But Pastor Rogers, abortion is legal.” Then hear these verses: “Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with thee, which frameth mischief by a law? They gather themselves together against the soul of the righteous, and condemn the innocent blood” (Ps. 94:20-21).
If a throne of iniquity is one that uses the law to commit evil, then what we have in America today is a throne of iniquity! Laws are passed to shed innocent blood. But NOTHING IS POLITICALLY RIGHT THAT IS MORALLY WRONG.
Jeremiah said concerning evil King Jehoiakim, “Thine eyes and thine heart are not but for thy covetousness, and for to shed innocent blood, and for oppression, and for violence, to do it” (22:17). The prophet Habakkuk warned, “Woe to him that buildeth a town with blood, and stablisheth a city by iniquity!” (2:12).
The king, the prince, the president, must be the protector of the helpless. This is the character that God requires.
Does character count? It does if there is a God in glory – a God who helped our founders establish this nation, and who has sustained this nation and brought us thus far.
But if our people are willing to say, “God, we don’t need You anymore. We don’t want Your rule anymore. We know what we are doing. Our skill and ingenuity will see us through,” then I say God help America! Because God will say, “You don’t need Me? That’s fine. But then don’t call on Me when judgment falls.”
Do you remember what happened when Peter preached his great sermon on the Day of Pentecost? The people of Israel “were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?” (Acts 2:37).
This is the question God’s people need to ask today.
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Newt should have had a steadfast love for his wife!!! Take a look at this clip below:
Some Southern Baptist leaders defended Newt Gingrich’s past moral failings and attempted to explain why the former Speaker of the House could be supported as the Republican standard-bearer. (Photo: Gage Skidmore)
Randy DeSoto noted in The Western Journal that “Donald Trump was pretty much the only incumbent president in U.S. history to lose his re-election while his own party gained seats in the House of Representatives.” Now that’s a Biden miracle!
In 2020, The Cook Political Report and The New York Times rated 27 House seats as toss-ups going into Election Day. Right now, Republicans appear to have won all 27. Democrats failed to flip a single state house chamber, while Republicans flipped both the House and Senate in New Hampshire and expanded their dominance of state legislatures across the country.
Christina Polizzi, a spokesperson for the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, went so far as to state: “It’s clear that Trump isn’t an anchor for the Republican legislative candidates. He’s a buoy.” Amazingly, Biden beat the guy who lifted all other Republicans to victory. Now that’s historic!
Joe Biden achieved the impossible. It’s interesting that many more journalists aren’t pointing that out.
J.B. Shurk is a proud American from Daniel Boone country
President Donald Trump’s campaign has paid $3 million to Wisconsin to cover the cost of vote recounts in two of the state’s counties. (Photo: Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)
The Trump campaign announced Wednesday that it’s filing a petition seeking election recounts in two Wisconsin counties.
The campaign said it paid $3 million to the state to cover the cost of the recounts.
In a statement, the Trump campaign said that the petition calls for recounts in Milwaukee and Dane counties, citing what it says are “illegally altered absentee ballots, illegally issued absentee ballots, and illegal advice given by government officials allowing Wisconsin’s voter-ID laws to be circumvented.”
The website for the Milwaukee Election Commission reported that former Vice President Joe Biden received 194,661 votes in heavily Democratic Milwaukee, while President Donald Trump drew 48,414.
The left is actively working to undermine the integrity of our elections. Read the plan to stop them now. Learn more now >>
In Dane County—which includes Madison, the state capital and home to the flagship campus of the state university system—Biden drew 260,157 votes, while Trump received 78,789 votes, according to the county clerk’s website.
“The people of Wisconsin deserve to know whether their election processes worked in a legal and transparent way,” Jim Troupis, counsel to the campaign, said in the Wednesday statement.
“Regrettably, the integrity of the election resultscannot be trusted without a recount in these two counties and uniform enforcement of Wisconsin absentee-ballot requirements. We will not know the true results of the election until only the legal ballots cast are counted.”
According to the Trump campaign, “municipal clerks across Wisconsin issued absentee ballots to voters without requiring an application, in direct conflict with Wisconsin’s absentee-voting safeguards.”
The campaign maintains that “Wisconsin law expressly requires that absentee ballots may not be issued without receiving a written application requesting the ballot,” adding:
Despite this clear mandatory requirement, clerks uniformly issued absentee ballots without collecting a written application from persons who requested absentee ballots in person during the two-week in-person absentee-voting period that ran from October 20, 2020, through November 1, 2020.
The campaign added that “[i]n clear abuse of Wisconsin’s provision to issue ballots to indefinitely confined voters without requiring them to present voter identification, some Democrat county clerks illegally advised voters to illegally mischaracterize that they were indefinitely confined to circumvent Wisconsin voter-ID law,” adding:
Those claiming to be “indefinitely confined” rose from 72,000 in 2019 to more than 240,000 at the time of the November 3, 2020, election. A substantial number of those claiming that status were sent and then returned ballots without proper identification and without otherwise meeting the requirements for that status.
In a statement Wednesday, Meagan Wolfe of the Wisconsin Elections Commission said that the recount request “appears, upon facial review, to meet all of the requirements in pairing with the payment that was received late yesterday.”
“We understand the eyes of the world will be on these Wisconsin counties over the next few weeks,” she said. “We remain committed to providing information about the process and assisting our county clerks by providing facts on the mechanics of a recount and status updates.”
The Biden campaign dismissed the likelihood that the partial recount would change the outcome in Wisconsin. “A cherry-picked and selective recounting of Milwaukee and Dane County will not change these results,” Biden campaign spokesman Nate Evans said in a statement.
But Troupis said the Trump campaign won’t relent on its demand for clarity on what occurred in Wisconsin.
“We will not stop fighting for transparency and integrity in our electoral process to ensure that all Americans can trust the results of a free and fair election in Wisconsin and across the country,” he said.
John Fund
Voter Fraud is real and can affect the outcome of close elections!!!
A guilty plea in a Kansas City, Missouri, voter fraud case this week illustrates something the U.S. Supreme Court pointed out when it upheld Indiana’s voter ID law in 2008:
[F]lagrant examples of [voter] fraud…have been documented throughout this Nation’s history [and] occasional examples have surfaced in recent years that…demonstrate that not only is the risk of voter fraud real but that it could affect the outcome of a close election.
On Monday, John C. Moretina pleaded guilty to a federal felony count of voter fraud in the August 2010 Democratic primary in Missouri’s 40th legislative district. Moretina falsely claimed he was living in the 40th district just so he could vote in the primary. This is a Democratic district where the winner of the primary, John J. Rizzo, was highly likely to become the district representative in the state house and, in fact, was elected. But Rizzo beat his Democratic opponent, Will Royster, by only one vote: 664 to 663.
Moretina did not inform the court whom he voted for, but since he is Rizzo’s uncle, it is not too much of a stretch to guess that he gave his nephew the winning margin of victory. Moreover, there were also allegations that Moretina’s wife fraudulently voted in this primary election as well, although she was not charged.
What is undeniable is that, as the Kansas City Star says, “the wrong candidate was declared [the] winner of the 2010 Democratic primary.”
Some opponents of voter ID mistakenly claim that this fraud shows that “stricter voter ID” requirements are not needed because voter ID would not have stopped this fraud. While no one claims that voter ID is a solution to all types of voter fraud, it is one of the critical steps that should be taken by states to improve the integrity of the election process.
As John Fund and I outlined in our book Who’s Counting? How Fraudsters and Bureaucrats Put Your Vote at Riskand as the Supreme Court said,voter fraud is real, and it can change the outcome of a close election. It certainly changed the outcome of this state legislative race in Missouri.
I got a chance to visit with John Fund the last time he came to Little Rock to speak and he made a great case that there is voter fraud happening in recent times and something has to be done about it. Here is an article that shows how liberals are denying reality when they […]
Wall Street Journal columnist John Fund discusses the stimulus bill during Missouri Chamber Day at the Capitol Part 2 Last week I got to attend the first ever “Conservative Lunch Series” presented by KARN and Americans for Prosperity Foundation at the Little Rock Hilton on University Avenue. This monthly luncheon will be held the fourth […]
John Fund at Chamber Day, Part 1 Last week I got to attend the first ever “Conservative Lunch Series” presented by KARN and Americans for Prosperity Foundation at the Little Rock Hilton on University Avenue. This monthly luncheon will be held the fourth Wednesday of every month. The speaker for today’s luncheon was John Fund. John […]
Ep. 7 – Who Protects the Consumer [1/7]. Milton Friedman’s Free to Choose (1980) Milton Friedman served as economic advisor for two American Presidents – Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan. Although Friedman was inevitably drawn into the national political spotlight, he never held public office. In the clip above you can see Milton Friedman […]
Ep. 8 – Who Protects the Worker [1/7]. Milton Friedman’s Free to Choose (1980) Speakers at the First Richmond Tea Party, October 8-9, 2010 John Fund John Fund is a columnist for The Wall Street Journal and its OpinionJournal.com and an on-air contributor to 24-hour cable news networks CNBC and MSNBC. He is the […]
Today I got to attend the first ever “Conservative Lunch Series” presented by KARN and Americans for Prosperity Foundation at the Little Rock Hilton on University Avenue. This monthly luncheon will be held the fourth Wednesday of every month. The speaker for today’s luncheon was John Fund. John Fund writes the weekly “On the Trail” column […]
Voting booths await users in Flint, Michigan, at a polling place on Nov. 3. Michigan was one of the hotly contested swing states. (Photo: Seth Herald/Agence France-Presse/GettyImages)
Noncitizens likely voted at a high enough rate to alter the 2020 Electoral College tally, potentially flipping the states of Arizona and Georgia in the presidential election, according to an analysis by Just Facts, a research group.
That’s significant, and while it wouldn’t be enough to hand the election to President Donald Trump, it potentially could have made a difference. Only U.S. citizens are legally allowed to vote in federal elections.
The revised estimate, as of Monday, shows that Trump could have won 259 electoral votes if noncitizen votes were not counted. But that would likely still leave former Vice President Joe Biden with 279 electoral votes, nine votes more than the 270 needed to win.
The current electoral vote tally stands at 306 for Biden, 232 for Trump. Arizona has 11 Electoral College votes, while Georgia gets 16.
The left is actively working to undermine the integrity of our elections. Read the plan to stop them now. Learn more now >>
Just Facts first released an analysis on Nov. 8, five days after the election, that calculated a lower and upper estimate of the extent of noncitizen voting. That analysis determined that Trump could have won as few as 259 electoral votes—or as many as 285. The latter would have secured a second term.
However, as more mail-in votes were counted, Biden’s lead widened in states such Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Nevada.
Several major media outlets have projected Bidenas the president-elect, but the Trump campaign is still litigating in several battleground states. The Trump team has not made noncitizen voting a significant part of its allegations of voter fraud.
The revised study estimated the number of noncitizen votes cast in the states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin, Nevada, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania—all of which were closely contested on election night.
It estimated that 234,570 noncitizen votes benefited Biden across seven battleground states. That estimate did not change as more votes were counted.
“Based on the latest vote counts and the upper and lower bounds of the study results, Georgia and Arizona would flip to Trump, leaving him with 259 Electoral College votes,” James Agresti, president of Just Facts, told The Daily Signal. “Under the upper bound, Nevada gets really close, with Trump down by 3,858 votes.”
With the exception of Arizona, each of the states in question appeared to be favoring Trump until the early-morning hours of Nov. 4, but began to shift to Biden over several days. North Carolina is the only state of the seven that appears likely to go to Trump.
The Electoral College will cast its vote in 50 states and the District of Columbia on Dec. 14.
The estimate is based on the percentages of noncitizens that voted in previous elections, predicated on a 2014 study by researchers at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, that evaluated rates of noncitizen voting in 2008 and 2010, Agresti said, applied only to the seven battleground states.
The Old Dominion study determined 6.4% of noncitizens voted in the 2008 presidential election and 3% in the 2010 congressional midterm elections, with 81% voting Democrat.
The rate was high enough to change the Electoral College vote count in 2008 (although not enough to swing the presidential election) and actually change the outcome of some congressional races, particularly the Senate race in Minnesota that year.
That race was decided in favor of Democrat Al Franken over Republican Norm Coleman by just 312 votes out of more than 2.86 million votes cast.
Agresti noted that illegal noncitizen voting is just “one type of fraud” that could have occurred in the 2020 election.
Asked about the proliferation of mail-in voting and ballot harvesting, he said, “That could certainly make it easier, with fewer checks and balances,” for a larger number of noncitizens to vote.
Last week, USA Today criticized the initial study claiming in a “fact check” column that rated the study as “missing context,” and arguing that it “relies on unverifiable estimates.”
Just Facts issued a rebuttal on Tuesday to what it called a “slanderous ‘fact check’” of its study:
The Just Facts study doesn’t claim to have the precise 2020 numbers, and is clear in its reliance on the Old Dominion study and other sources, such as a 2008 Harvard/YouGov survey, the Government Accountability Office, and the Social Security Administration, to apply data from past elections as the basis for the assumptions of the numbers this year.
Agresti noted that as many as 15% of noncitizens said they were registered to vote, based on survey data cited in the Old Dominion report.
The full extent of noncitizen voting is a problem, as demonstrated in past years in Pennsylvania, said Hans von Spakovsky, the manager of the Election Law Reform Initiative at The Heritage Foundation.
Part of the problem is that when states register to vote people obtaining a driver’s license, officials don’t ask about citizenship.
“We don’t know the full extent of the problem, but we know it is a problem,” von Spakovsky, a former member of the Federal Election Commission, told The Daily Signal. “We need to require proof of citizenship from people registering to vote.”
I got a chance to visit with John Fund the last time he came to Little Rock to speak and he made a great case that there is voter fraud happening in recent times and something has to be done about it. Here is an article that shows how liberals are denying reality when they say we don’t need better voter ID laws.
We are constantly told by liberals that there is no voter fraud — or at least not any that involves voting at the polls.
Well, the son of Representative Jim Moran, the Democrat who represents Virginia’s Washington suburbs, has just resigned as field director for his father’s campaign for essentially proving them wrong. Moran was caught by videographer James O’Keefe’s camera advising an undercover reporter on how to commit in-person voter fraud. The scheme involved forging utility bills that would satisfy Virginia’s voter-ID law and then rely on the assistance of Democratic lawyers stationed at the polls to make sure the votes were counted.
A leading Virginia liberal blog called “Not Larry Sabato” minced no words about Patrick Moran’s behavior: “No reason to sugarcoat this in any way, it is totally unacceptable,” was his conclusion. He then went on to say “it’s time for his dad to retire.”
Representative Moran, who has been in office for 22 years, is a rough-and-ready politician who has frequently embarrassed himself with politically incorrect comments and controversial positions. It will be interesting to see if his fellow Democrats stand with him now that his campaign has made it more difficult for them to repeat the tired claim that “there is no voter fraud.”
The 26-minute O’Keefe video begins with the undercover reporter approaching Moran at a Cosi restaurant in Arlington. The reporter tells Moran, whom he has never met, that he has a friend who has found a list of 100 Virginia residents who haven’t voted in the last three elections but are registered to vote.
After Moran finally understands that the goal is to use the list to cast fraudulent votes in the names of those non-voters, he explains how that could be done. He suggests creating fake utility bills, which would serve as a form of acceptable identification for voters. He warns that the state’s new voter-ID law will mean poll workers will be “cracking down” on possible voter fraud, but there is a way around the law.
“So, if they just have the utility bill or bank statement — bank statement would obviously be tough . . . but faking a utility bill would be easy enough,” Moran says. The two men then discuss how Microsoft Word can be used to manufacture a fake utility bill.
If there’s any trouble, Moran then advises, an Obama for America lawyer, or another Democratic lawyer working the polling place would be available to help:
“You’ll have somebody in house, that if they feel that what you have is legitimate, they’ll argue for you.”
Moran then helpfully invites the O’Keefe associate into the Arlington County Democratic Party’s office where he tells him he should contact the registered voters on his list to make sure they won’t be voting. One method he suggests is to impersonate a pollster and ask if they plan to vote.
Last April, a 22-year-old O’Keefe associate showed how easy it is to vote in the name of someone else at a polling place that doesn’t require ID by simply mentioning the name of attorney general Eric Holder, and then being offered his ballot. Now O’Keefe has shown just how easy it could be to commit in-person voter fraud, even with some form of ID law, by simply using Microsoft Word and manufacturing a utility bill.
Here’s hoping against hope that O’Keefe’s latest video will stir some in the media to engage in the kind of investigative journalism that is so lacking on voting issues.
Wall Street Journal columnist John Fund discusses the stimulus bill during Missouri Chamber Day at the Capitol Part 2 Last week I got to attend the first ever “Conservative Lunch Series” presented by KARN and Americans for Prosperity Foundation at the Little Rock Hilton on University Avenue. This monthly luncheon will be held the fourth […]
John Fund at Chamber Day, Part 1 Last week I got to attend the first ever “Conservative Lunch Series” presented by KARN and Americans for Prosperity Foundation at the Little Rock Hilton on University Avenue. This monthly luncheon will be held the fourth Wednesday of every month. The speaker for today’s luncheon was John Fund. John […]
Ep. 7 – Who Protects the Consumer [1/7]. Milton Friedman’s Free to Choose (1980) Milton Friedman served as economic advisor for two American Presidents – Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan. Although Friedman was inevitably drawn into the national political spotlight, he never held public office. In the clip above you can see Milton Friedman […]
Ep. 8 – Who Protects the Worker [1/7]. Milton Friedman’s Free to Choose (1980) Speakers at the First Richmond Tea Party, October 8-9, 2010 John Fund John Fund is a columnist for The Wall Street Journal and its OpinionJournal.com and an on-air contributor to 24-hour cable news networks CNBC and MSNBC. He is the […]
Today I got to attend the first ever “Conservative Lunch Series” presented by KARN and Americans for Prosperity Foundation at the Little Rock Hilton on University Avenue. This monthly luncheon will be held the fourth Wednesday of every month. The speaker for today’s luncheon was John Fund. John Fund writes the weekly “On the Trail” column […]
As President Trump’s campaign officially requested another recount of ballots in Georgia over the weekend, Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, the Republicans in the critical Jan. 5 Senate runoff races in the state, backed the recount effort as they continue to slam the handling of Georgia’s vote tallies in the presidential election.
Loeffler and Perdue both previously called for Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to resign, saying, “The management of Georgia elections has become an embarrassment for our state.” An initial recount commissioned by Raffensperger did not erase a lead of less than one half of one percent that Biden holds.
Now that Raffensperger has certified the Biden win, the Trump campaign is requesting another recount, which is within its rights due to the close margin of the Biden victory. The campaign is emphasizing that “signature matching” must be a part of the new recount or else “this would be as phony as the initial vote count and recount.”
Loeffler and Perdue also called for signature matching in the new recount. But the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that officials cannot engage in signature matching on this next recount because after signature matching is conducted a first time, when ballots are counted, the envelopes with signatures are separated from the ballots to ensure the secrecy of individual votes.
“I support President Trump’s request for a recount in Georgia, one in which signatures on absentee ballot envelopes are properly matched and verified to their signature on the registration,” Perdue said in a tweet despite the fact further signature matching is not possible. “Anything less than that will not be a full and transparent recount.”
Perdue added: “I have spoken to President Trump several times in the last week about this, and as I have said from the beginning: every legal vote cast, should be counted. Any illegal vote shouldn’t. Georgians deserve full transparency and uniformity in the counting process.”
Loeffler backed the Trump campaign’s recount request and its demand for further signature matching in a very similar statement.
“I fully support President @realDonaldTrump’s request for a recount in Georgia,” Loeffler said. “We must match and verify absentee ballot signatures to their corresponding voter registration signatures, investigate all voting irregularities, and count only the votes that were legally cast.”
“This isn’t about politics — this is about the foundation of our democracy. Every Georgian — and every American — deserves to have confidence in the integrity of our state’s election results, and this process is the best way to make that happen,” the senator said in a separate tweet.
The Biden campaign, in response to the Trump recount request, said that it will simply “reaffirm Joe Biden’s victory in Georgia a third time,” according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. On signature matching, the Biden campaign said “both parties were aware of the rules set fore months before the election and all signatures have already been matched.”
The Beatles – All Things Must Pass (Full Band Demo – 1969)
Uploaded on Jun 16, 2011
The Beatles performing “All Things Must Pass”, the George Harrison classic in 1968 during the Get Back / Let It Be sessions, 1969.
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George Harrison – All Things Must Pass (Live – 1997 on VH1 – HQ Audio)
Uploaded on Nov 2, 2011
George Harrison’s legendary impromptu performance of “All Things Must Pass” on VH1 in 1997, George’s last live performance before his death. The audio has been cleaned up and is high quality.
Paul McCartney – All things must pass (Concert For George)(HQ)
The subject matter deals with the transient nature of human existence, and in Harrison’s All Things Must Pass reading, words and music combine to reflect impressions of optimism against fatalism. On release, together with Barry Feinstein‘s album cover image, commentators viewed the song as a statement on the Beatles’ break-up. Widely regarded as one of Harrison’s finest compositions, its rejection by his former band has provoked comment from biographers and reviewers. Music critic Ian MacDonald described “All Things Must Pass” as “the wisest song never recorded by The Beatles”,[1] while author Simon Leng considers it “perhaps the greatest solo Beatle composition”.[2] The recording was co-produced by Phil Spector in London; it features an orchestral arrangement by John Barham and contributions from musicians such as Ringo Starr, Pete Drake, Bobby Whitlock, Eric Clapton and Klaus Voormann.
Although the Beatles failed to formally record the song, a 1969 solo demo by Harrison appears on their compilation Anthology 3 (1996). An early version from the All Things Must Pass sessions was released on Harrison’s posthumous compilation Early Takes: Volume 1 in 2012. Paul McCartney performed “All Things Must Pass” at the Concert for George tribute in November 2002, a year after Harrison’s death. Jim James, the Waterboys, Klaus Voormann and Yusuf Islam, and Sloan Wainwright are among the other artists who have covered the song.
The Band in Woodstock in 1969, with Levon Helm (centre) and Robbie Robertson (second from right)
Like his friend Eric Clapton, George Harrison was inspired by Music from Big Pink, the seminal debut album[3] from the Band, the former backing group for Bob Dylan.[4][5] Released in July 1968, Music from Big Pink was partly responsible for Harrison’s return to the guitar, his first instrument,[6] after he had spent two years attempting to master the more complex Indian sitar.[7][8] Harrison duly shared his enthusiasm with the British music press, declaring Big Pink “the new sound to come from America”, drummer Levon Helm later recalled, thus helping to establish the Band internationally.[9] In appreciation, Robbie Robertson, the Band’s guitarist, extended an invitation to Harrison to stop by in Woodstock, New York, when the opportunity arose.[10]
I respected the Band enormously. All the different guys in the group sang, and Robbie Robertson used to say he was lucky, because he could write songs for a voice like Levon [Helm]’s. What a wise and generous attitude.[11]
Late in 1968, after producing sessions in Los Angeles for a solo album by Apple Records signing Jackie Lomax,[12] Harrison spent Thanksgiving and much of December in upstate New York,[13] where he renewed his friendship with a now semi-retired Dylan and took part in informal jam sessions with the Band.[1][14]According to Helm, they discussed making a possible “fireside jam” album with Clapton and an Apple Films “rock western” called Zachariah, but neither project progressed beyond the planning stage.[9] The bucolic surroundings proved fruitful for Harrison as a songwriter, producing his first collaboration with Dylan, “I’d Have You Anytime“,[15] and leading him to write “All Things Must Pass”.[16][17] He later described the latter song as a “Robbie Robertson–Band type of tune”,[18]and said that he always imagined it being sung by Helm.[19]
While discussing “All Things Must Pass” with music journalist Timothy White in 1987, Harrison recalled that his “starting point” for the composition was Robertson’s “The Weight” – a song that had “a religious and a country feeling to it”.[11] Musically, the verses of “All Things Must Pass” are set to a logical climb within the key of E;[20] the brief choruses form a departure from this, with their inclusion of a B minor chord rather than the more expected major voicing. Author Ian Inglis notes that the composition incorporates the same “modes, cadences and suspensions” found in Band songs such as “The Weight” and “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down“.[21]
For his lyrics, Harrison drew inspiration from “All Things Pass”, a poem published in Timothy Leary‘s 1966 book Psychedelic Prayers after the Tao Te Ching.[16][22][nb 1] In his 1980 autobiography, I Me Mine, Harrison refers to the idea for the song originating from “all kinds of mystics and ex-mystics”, including Leary.[18] Like later Harrison compositions such as “Here Comes the Sun“, “So Sad” and “Blow Away“, the lyrical and emotional content is based around metaphors involving the weather and the cycle of nature.[25] Harrison states in the opening lines of verse one: “Sunrise doesn’t last all morning / A cloudburst doesn’t last all day“.[26]
The Catskill Mountains in upstate New York, surroundings that inspired the music of the Band, and Harrison’s song “All Things Must Pass”
According to Harrison biographer Simon Leng, the lyrics reflect “life’s ephemeral character” and the “transitory” nature of love.[27] Inglis suggests that the song is “[o]stensibly” about “the end of a love affair”.[21] He and theologian Dale Allison note the optimism offered in Harrison’s words,[21][28] since, as Leng puts it, “a new day always dawns.”[27] Although “All Things Must Pass” avoids religiosity, Allison writes that its statement on the “all-inclusive” transience of things in the material world explains why so much of its 1970 parent album, All Things Must Pass, “finds hope and meaning only in God, who does not pass away”.[29] The song’s main message is offered in its middle eight:[30][31]
All things must pass
None of life’s strings can last
So I must be on my way
And face another day.
Ultimately, the cycle of nature offers “consolation”, Leng writes,[30] as further evidenced in the verse-three lines “Now the darkness only stays at night time” and “Daylight is good at arriving at the right time“.[21]
The lyrics underwent some minor changes after Harrison presented the song to the Beatles in January 1969, when they began working at London’s Twickenham Film Studios for the so-called Get Back project (released as the Let It Bealbum and film).[32] He had initially written the second line of verse two as the more literal “A wind can blow those clouds away“,[33] but bootlegs from the sessions reveal John Lennon suggesting the word “mind” to introduce a bit of “psychedelia” into the song.[34] Similarly, the repeated line “it’s not always gonna be this grey” was originally “It’s not always been this grey” in verses one and two.[35]
In contrast with the creative equality he enjoyed with Dylan and the Band in Woodstock,[36][37] Harrison returned to the Beatles fold and found the same discordant atmosphere that had blighted the White Album sessions in 1968.[5][38] Early on during the Get Back rehearsals – and tellingly, music journalist John Harris notes, before the arrival that day of Lennon and his partner Yoko Ono – Harrison enthused with fellow Beatles Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney about the Band’s camaraderie and group ethos, saying: “They’re just living, and they happen to be a band as well.”[39]
I got back to England for Christmas and then … we were to start on the thing which turned into Let It Be. And straight away, again, it was just weird vibes. You know, I found I was starting to be able to enjoy being a musician, but the moment I got back with the Beatles it was just too difficult.[13]
On 2 January, day one of the Twickenham film shoot,[40] Harrison introduced “All Things Must Pass”, and the band worked on the song intermittently over the next four days of filming.[41][42] In the search for a suitable musical arrangement, Harrison stressed his preference for a “feel” akin to the Band, a suggestion that resulted in Lennon switching from guitar to Lowrey organ, a keyboard favoured by the Band’s Garth Hudson.[43] During the Twickenham rehearsals, the Beatles also discussed the idea of Harrison performing “All Things Must Pass” solo for inclusion in the proposed film.[44]
They returned to the song briefly towards the end of January, by which time the project had moved location to their own Apple Studio, in central London[32] – one of Harrison’s conditions for rejoining the Beatles after his temporary walkout on 10 January.[3][45] Although the band gave a fair amount of time to “All Things Must Pass”, it was ultimately pushed aside,[46] just as other Harrison compositions including “Old Brown Shoe“, “Isn’t It a Pity“, “Let It Down” and “I Me Mine” received a lukewarm reception,[47][48] particularly from Lennon.[49][50]David Fricke of Rolling Stone has referred to this period as a “struggle” for Harrison “against the patronizing restrictions of writing within and for the Beatles”.[51] Doug Sulpy and Ray Schweighardt, authors of Get Back: The Unauthorized Chronicle of The Beatles’ Let It Be Disaster, observe that Lennon and McCartney routinely rejected Harrison’s songs, “even though some were far better than their own”.[52]
The Beatles never formally recorded “All Things Must Pass”,[32] and only rehearsal takes circulate on bootleg compilations from the sessions.[53] The Fly on the Wall bonus disc accompanying the McCartney-instigated Let It Be… Naked album (2003) includes a snippet of the Beatles indulging in some Band-like chorusing on the song.[54]
During the Beatles’ Apple Studio session on 28 January,[55] Harrison talked with Lennon and Ono about possibly doing a solo album of his unused songs, in order to “preserve this, the Beatle bit, more”.[56] Lennon offered his support for the idea.[56] While author Bruce Spizer has suggested that Lennon was keen to “spare” the band from having to work on Harrison’s songs,[57] Sulpy and Schweighardt consider that Lennon’s enthusiasm was because such a solo project would allow him and Ono to continue their own recording activities “without causing friction within The Beatles”.[55][nb 2]
On 25 February 1969, his 26th birthday, Harrison entered Abbey Road Studios alone and recorded a demo of the song, along with other recent compositions “Old Brown Shoe” and “Something“.[59][60] With Ken Scott serving as engineer,[1] he recorded two takes of “All Things Must Pass”, adding extra electric guitar onto the second.[32][61] This version was eventually released in 1996 on the Beatles’ outtake collection Anthology 3.[32]
Soon after Harrison had begun talking publicly about making a solo album, during the final months of 1969,[62][63] he offered “All Things Must Pass”, along with the more recent “My Sweet Lord“, to Billy Preston for the latter’s album Encouraging Words.[64][65] Through Harrison’s invitation,[66] Preston had played keyboards for the Beatles once the Get Back/Let It Be sessions resumed at Apple Studio,[32][67] where the 22-year-old Texan had impressed with his superior musicianship and convivial presence.[68][69] Preston was soon offered a recording deal with Apple Records,[70]Encouraging Words being the second album under the contract.[71][72]
Co-produced by Harrison, Preston’s reading of “All Things Must Pass” betrays an obvious debt to his former mentor, Ray Charles.[73] While Harrison’s later recording is generally viewed as the definitive version,[74] Bruce Eder of AllMusic considers this treatment of the song the superior of the two.[75] Preston’s version appeared in September 1970,[76] five months after the Beatles’ break-up.[77]
While completing his production on Preston’s release,[78] Harrison chose to record the song himself for what became the title track of his post-Beatles solo debut, the triple album All Things Must Pass.[79] In describing “All Things Must Pass” as a “haunting hymn about the mortality of everything”, author Elliot Huntley notes the added poignance in Harrison’s version, due to the death of his mother in July 1970 after a long period of illness.[80]
With Phil Spector as his co-producer, Harrison taped the basic track at Abbey Road Studios between 26 May and early in June.[81] Other participants included Clapton, German bassist Klaus Voormann and Starr, the latter another avowed Band fan.[82] Leng credits the song’s piano part to Bobby Whitlock, who also sang backing vocals with Clapton,[27] his future bandmate in Derek and the Dominos.[83] In his 2010 autobiography, Whitlock states that it was Preston who played the piano on “All Things Must Pass”, while his own contribution was pump organ, or harmonium.[84][nb 3] Although Leng lists both Harrison and Clapton as having played acoustic guitar and Starr and Jim Gordon on drums,[27]according to the personnel that Whitlock offers, neither Clapton nor Gordon played on the song.[87] Among the overdubs on the track, Nashville session musician Pete Drake recorded a pedal-steel guitar part during a brief visit to London,[88] to participate in sessions for Harrison songs such as “Behind That Locked Door” and “I Live for You“.[89][nb 4]
I’d play it to them and they’d say, “Wow, yeah! Great song!” And I’d say, “Really? Do you really like it?” I realised that it was okay …[91]
– Harrison discussing the reception his compositions received during the album sessions
Spector’s erratic behaviour[92] during the All Things Must Pass sessions left Harrison to handle most of the project alone,[93][94] but in August 1970, after receiving a tape of Harrison’s early mixes of the songs, Spector provided him with written feedback and guidance.[27] Spector wrote of “All Things Must Pass”, “This particular song is so good that any honest [vocal] performance by you is acceptable as far as I’m concerned”,[27] but he expressed his disapproval of the horns at the start of the track.[74] In the words of authors Chip Madinger and Mark Easter, “clearer heads prevailed” and Jim Price and Bobby Keys‘ horn parts were retained.[74]
The recording opens with “unvaryingly steady” piano chords, Inglis writes,[21] and what Leng terms “sensitive” string orchestration from John Barham,[27] soon joined by the horns and Drake’s pedal steel.[32] Leng highlights this combination as providing the song with its rising and falling musical moods, implying variously light and darkness;[27] Inglis writes of the musical arrangement mirroring the “competing impressions” of hope and melancholy found in Harrison’s lyrics.[21] True to its Catskill roots, the recording evokes the Band’s “The Weight”[74][95] and their eponymous second album,[96] the tracks on which were similarly inspired by “the beauty of that autumn in Woodstock”, according to Helm.[97][nb 5]
The song’s title and message provided inspiration for Barry Feinstein‘s cover photo for All Things Must Pass
Almost two years after Harrison wrote the song, “All Things Must Pass” was released in November 1970,[48] closing side three of the triple album in its original LP format.[99] Despite its high retail price, All Things Must Pass was a major commercial success,[100][101] comfortably outselling concurrent solo releases by Lennon and McCartney.[94][102][nb 6]
The song’s title was invariably seen as a statement on the demise of the Beatles,[21][104] as commentators viewed the album as Harrison’s liberation from the artistic constraints imposed on him within the band.[105][106] The album’s cover image, showing Harrison seated on his Friar Park lawn surrounded by four reclining garden gnomes – thought to represent the Beatles – was also viewed as reflecting this theme.[107] While commenting that “All Things Must Pass” had “accrue[d] new layers of relevance” during the album’s creation, particularly with the death of Harrison’s mother, former Mojo editor Paul Du Noyer writes: “Nobody in November 1970 could have mistaken the title’s significance … As if to cement the association of ideas, the wry cover picture has George in solitary splendour, surrounded by a quartet of gnomes.”[108] In a 2001 interview, photographer Barry Feinstein admitted that the words “All Things Must Pass” had helped inspire his set-up for the photo, saying: “What else could it be? … [It] was over with The Beatles, right? And that title … Very symbolic.”[104]
On release, Ben Gerson of Rolling Stone described “All Things Must Pass” as “eloquently hopeful and resigned” while labelling the album “the music of mountain tops and vast horizons”.[109]Beatles Forever author Nicholas Schaffner noted in 1977, with reference to Harrison’s commercial and critical dominance over his former bandmates following the break-up: “The very fact that the Beatles had kept George’s flowering talents so under wraps proved to be his secret weapon.”[110] Schaffner named “All Things Must Pass” and “Beware of Darkness” as the two “most eloquent” songs on All Things Must Pass, “musically as well as lyrically”, with “mysterious, seductive melodies, over which faded strings and horns hover like Blue Jay Way fog”.[111]
Writing for Rolling Stone in 2000, Anthony DeCurtis praised the song for its musical demonstration of “the sweet satisfactions of faith”.[106] On a triple album where “nearly every song is excellent”, AllMusic picks “All Things Must Pass” as one of five standout tracks (or AMG track picks),[112] with Richie Unterberger writing of its autumnal theme: “It’s the kind of song that fits the mood in November, when the trees are getting stripped bare of their leaves, the days are getting shorter and colder, and you have to resign yourself to knowing it’s going to be tougher and tougher in those regards for months, also knowing that those hardships will pass away come springtime.”[113] In his book on Harrison, subtitled A Spiritual Biography, Gary Tillery refers to the song as “magisterial” and a “majestic title track” that “leaves even the shallowest listener contemplative”.[114] Michael Gallucci of Ultimate Classic Rock places “All Things Must Pass” third on his list of Harrison’s best solo songs (behind the two hit singles from All Things Must Pass, “My Sweet Lord” and “What Is Life“), and comments: “The album’s title track takes on more poignancy after Harrison’s death [in 2001], but it’s always been great.”[115] Writing for Rough Guides, Chris Ingham similarly describes the song as “a heart-rending piece of significant prescience which seems to take on more poignancy with every passing year”.[116]
Among Harrison’s biographers, Simon Leng considers “All Things Must Pass” a “classic of Harrison’s lyrical ambiguity, in essence a hopeful song, without sounding so”, with a lyric that “approaches Bob Dylan standard”.[117] Ian Inglis also praises the lyrics, writing: “The song contains some of Harrison’s most insightful and pensive words. ‘Daylight is good at arriving at the right time’ is a fine example of his … ability to position the profound within the commonplace.”[21] Elliot Huntley rates it as one of Harrison’s “most beautiful” songs, “if not the very best”, and suggests that the sentiments behind “All Things Must Pass” would have made it a “fitting conclusion” to the final album recorded by the Beatles, Abbey Road (1969).[80]
Bruce Spizer similarly rates “All Things Must Pass” a highlight of Harrison’s career,[32] while Leng considers it “perhaps the greatest solo Beatle composition” of all.[2] In his book Revolution in the Head, Ian MacDonald describes “All Things Must Pass” as “the wisest song never recorded by The Beatles”.[1] In 2009, The Guardian included the track in its list of “1000 Songs Everyone Must Hear”.[118]
“All Things Must Pass” was not a track that Harrison ever played in concert,[119] although it appeared on his preliminary setlist for the 1971 Concert for Bangladesh shows.[120] He twice performed the song live in front of TV cameras during the final years of his life,[121] beginning with his appearance with Ravi Shankar on VH1‘s Hard Rock Live, filmed in New York on 14 May 1997.[122][123] The pair were on the show to promote their recent collaboration, Chants of India,[123] but at host John Fugelsang‘s urging, Harrison accepted an acoustic guitar and performed a brief rendition of “All Things Must Pass”.[124][125][nb 7] In late 2000, Harrison sang “All Things Must Pass” while again seated on a stool on Friar Park’s main lawn, a performance that was included in the press kit for All Things Must Pass‘s 30th anniversary reissue early the following year.[127][128][nb 8]
Coinciding with this 2001 reissue, the song appeared on a promotional single as the B-side to “My Sweet Lord (2000)“.[130][131] After being omitted from the “cursory” selection of 1970–75 tracks on The Best of George Harrison (1976), Inglis writes, the song appeared on Harrison’s 2009 career-spanning compilation Let It Roll.[132]
Steve Wood and Daniel May composed music to the 1998 documentary film Everest incorporating melodies from some of George Harrison’s songs, one of which was “All Things Must Pass”.[138] At the Concert for George tribute to Harrison, held at London’s Royal Albert Hall on 29 November 2002, Paul McCartney sang “All Things Must Pass”,[2] backed by a large band that included Preston, Clapton, Voormann and Starr.[139] Leng notes the irony in McCartney performing the song,[2] while Beatles biographer Peter Doggett comments: “it wasn’t hard to imagine Harrison’s cynicism as McCartney led the band into a soulful rendition of ‘All Things Must Pass’ – one of the songs that the other Beatles had refused to take seriously in January 1969.”[140] According to Clapton, author Robert Rodriguez writes, McCartney “was humbled at having to relearn it”.[141]
Several other artists have recorded “All Things Must Pass” in the years since Harrison’s death. In 2003, Bobby Whitlock and his wife, CoCo Carmel, included the song on their acoustic live album Other Assorted Love Songs, Live from Whitney Chapel.[142]Jazz guitarist Joel Harrison covered “All Things Must Pass” on his album Harrison on Harrison: Jazz Explanations of George Harrison, released in October 2005.[143] In 2007, a live version by the Waterboys appeared on their CD single “Everybody Takes a Tumble”,[144]and the following year Sloan Wainwright included a cover of the song on her album Rediscovery.[145]
“All Things Must Pass” was among the Harrison compositions covered by Jim James on his Tribute ToEP, recorded in December 2001 but not released until August 2009.[146] Also in 2009, Klaus Voormann released a version of the song on his solo album A Sideman’s Journey,[147] with Yusuf Islam on vocals and acoustic guitar.[148][149]
Jump up^By this point, Harrison had already released the largely instrumental soundtrack album Wonderwall Music, which was soon followed by Lennon and Ono’s experimental work Two Virgins.[58]
Jump up^Alternatively, Harrison said in 1971 that American musician Gary Wright had “played piano on the whole [All Things Must Pass] album”.[85]Leng concedes the difficulty in ascertaining precise musicians’ credits for each track and names Wright and Whitlock as the two “core” keyboard players on the sessions.[86]
Jump up^Whitlock recalls that originally he had whistled a melody, which Spector recorded onto the basic track, and that this served as a guide for Drake’s contribution.[90]
Jump up^Leng identifies the Band’s minimalist tradition as a significant influence on other All Things Must Pass songs, particularly “Run of the Mill” and “Behind That Locked Door”.[98]
Jump up^As of 2011, it remained the most successful album by any of the former Beatles.[103]
Jump up^Although 150 minutes of Harrison and Shankar’s appearance was filmed, VH1 originally aired only 22 minutes of footage, on 24 July, as George & Ravi – Yin & Yang.[124] Omitted from the broadcast but also performed by Harrison was the Traveling Wilburys tune “If You Belonged to Me” and “Any Road“, a track subsequently released on his posthumous album Brainwashed (2002).[124][126]
Jump up^On the day after Harrison’s death was publicly announced, the quirky, Terry Gilliam-inspired graphics on Harrison’s website, allthingsmustpass.com, were changed to show just a single gnome and the lyrics to “All Things Must Pass”.[129]
Dale C. Allison Jr., The Love There That’s Sleeping: The Art and Spirituality of George Harrison, Continuum (New York, NY, 2006; ISBN 978-0-8264-1917-0).
Keith Badman, The Beatles Diary Volume 2: After the Break-Up 1970–2001, Omnibus Press (London, 2001; ISBN 0-7119-8307-0).
Harry Castleman & Walter J. Podrazik, All Together Now: The First Complete Beatles Discography 1961–1975, Ballantine Books (New York, NY, 1976; ISBN 0-345-25680-8).
Alan Clayson, George Harrison, Sanctuary (London, 2003; ISBN 1-86074-489-3).
Peter Doggett, You Never Give Me Your Money: The Beatles After the Breakup, It Books (New York, NY, 2011; ISBN 978-0-06-177418-8).
The Editors of Rolling Stone, Harrison, Rolling Stone Press/Simon & Schuster (New York, NY, 2002; ISBN 0-7432-3581-9).
Joshua M. Greene, Here Comes the Sun: The Spiritual and Musical Journey of George Harrison, John Wiley & Sons (Hoboken, NJ, 2006; ISBN 978-0-470-12780-3).
John Harris, “A Quiet Storm”, Mojo, July 2001, pp. 66–74.
George Harrison, I Me Mine, Chronicle Books (San Francisco, CA, 2002; ISBN 0-8118-3793-9).
Olivia Harrison, George Harrison: Living in the Material World, Abrams (New York, NY, 2011; ISBN 978-1-4197-0220-4).
Levon Helm (with Stephen Davis), This Wheel’s on Fire: Levon Helm and the Story of The Band, A Cappella Books (Chicago, IL, 2000; ISBN 978-1-55652-405-9).
Mark Hertsgaard, A Day in the Life: The Music and Artistry of the Beatles, Pan Books (London, 1996; ISBN 0-330-33891-9).
Elliot J. Huntley, Mystical One: George Harrison – After the Break-up of the Beatles, Guernica Editions (Toronto, ON, 2006; ISBN 1-55071-197-0).
Chris Ingham, The Rough Guide to the Beatles, Rough Guides/Penguin (London, 2006; 2nd edn; ISBN 978-1-84836-525-4).
Ian Inglis, The Words and Music of George Harrison, Praeger (Santa Barbara, CA, 2010; ISBN 978-0-313-37532-3).
Peter Lavezzoli, The Dawn of Indian Music in the West, Continuum (New York, NY, 2006; ISBN 0-8264-2819-3).
Simon Leng, While My Guitar Gently Weeps: The Music of George Harrison, Hal Leonard (Milwaukee, WI, 2006; ISBN 1-4234-0609-5).
Ian MacDonald, Revolution in the Head: The Beatles’ Records and the Sixties, Pimlico (London, 1998; ISBN 0-7126-6697-4).
Chip Madinger & Mark Easter, Eight Arms to Hold You: The Solo Beatles Compendium, 44.1 Productions (Chesterfield, MO, 2000; ISBN 0-615-11724-4).
Barry Miles, The Beatles Diary Volume 1: The Beatles Years, Omnibus Press (London, 2001; ISBN 0-7119-8308-9).
Mojo: The Beatles’ Final Years Special Edition, Emap (London, 2003).
Robert Rodriguez, Fab Four FAQ 2.0: The Beatles’ Solo Years, 1970–1980, Backbeat Books (Milwaukee, WI, 2010; ISBN 978-1-4165-9093-4).
Nicholas Schaffner, The Beatles Forever, McGraw-Hill (New York, NY, 1978; ISBN 0-07-055087-5).
Bruce Spizer, The Beatles Solo on Apple Records, 498 Productions (New Orleans, LA, 2005; ISBN 0-9662649-5-9).
Doug Sulpy & Ray Schweighardt, Get Back: The Unauthorized Chronicle of The Beatles’ Let It Be Disaster, St. Martin’s Griffin (New York, 1997; ISBN 0-312-19981-3).
Gary Tillery, Working Class Mystic: A Spiritual Biography of George Harrison, Quest Books (Wheaton, IL, 2011; ISBN 978-0-8356-0900-5).
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MUSIC MONDAY Rolling Stones New Album Part 3 The Rolling Stones Mick Jagger chats about new album “Blue & Lonesome” on BBC Breakfast 02 Dec 2016 Rolling Stones – I Gotta Go Rolling Stones – ‘Blue & Lonesome’ Review Barry Nicolson 12:52 pm – Dec 2, 2016 57shares The Stones sound their youngest […]
_____________ Carpenters Close To You Karen Carpenter’s tragic story Karen Carpenter’s velvet voice charmed millions in the 70s… but behind the wholesome image she was in turmoil. Desperate to look slim on stage – and above all desperate to please the domineering mother who preferred her brother – she became the first celebrity victim of […]
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Wallbuilders’ Founder and President David Barton joins Glenn Beck on the Fox News Channel for the full hour to discuss our Godly heritage and how faith was the foundational principle upon which America was built.
___________
February 4, 2021
President Biden c/o The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
Dear Mr. President,
There have been many articles written by evangelicals like me who fear that our founding fathers would not recognize our country today because secular humanism has rid our nation of spiritual roots.
America once stood on the foundation of God’s Word. But that foundation is crumbling – even in the church – and being replaced by man’s word, observed one Christian apologist.
“Whatever we (America) once were, we are no longer. We have changed,” said Ken Ham, president of Answers in Genesis, in his second State of the Nation address on Tuesday.
The Young Earth creationist was citing President Obama’s well-known mantra that America is no longer just a Christian nation as he delivered an hour-long speech outlining where America and Christianity stand today – just weeks after Obama’s State of the Union address.
He sees Christianity being thrown out of the public sector and mocked and generations of Americans building their worldview on secular humanism.
“Most of the founding fathers of this nation … built the worldview of this nation on the authority of the Word of God,” he said. “Because of that, there have been reminders in this culture concerning God’s Word, the God of creation.”
America’s Religious Heritage As Demonstrated in Presidential InaugurationsReligious activities at presidential inaugurations have become the target of criticism in recent years, 1 with legal challenges being filed to halt activities as simple as inaugural prayers and the use of “so help me God” in the presidential oath. 2 These critics – evidently based on a deficient education – wrongly believe that the official governmental arena is to be aggressively secular and religion-free. The history of inaugurations provides some of the most authoritative proof of the fallacy of these modern arguments.In fact, since America’s first inauguration in 1789 included seven distinct religious activities, that original inauguration is worthy of review. Every inauguration since 1789 has included numerous of those activities.The First InaugurationConstitutional experts abounded at America’s first inauguration. Not only was the first inauguree (George Washington) a signer of the Constitution but numerous drafters of the Constitution were serving in the Congress that organized and directed that first inauguration. In fact, just under one fourth of the members of the first Congress had been delegates to the Convention that wrote the Constitution. 3 Furthermore, the identical Congress that directed and oversaw these inaugural activities also penned the First Amendment. Having therefore produced both the Constitution and all of its clauses on religion, they clearly knew what types of religious activities were and were not constitutional. Clearly, then, the religious activities that occurred at the first inauguration may well be said to have the approval and imprimatur of the greatest collection of constitutional experts America has ever known. Therefore, a review of the religious activities acceptable in that first inauguration will provide guidance for citizens in general and critics in particular.The first inauguration occurred in New York City. (New York City served as the nation’s capital for the first year of the new federal government; for the next ten, Philadelphia was the capital city; in 1800, the federal government moved to Washington, D. C. for its permanent home). George Washington had been at home at Mt. Vernon when Charles Thomson, Secretary of the Continental Congress, notified him that he had been unanimously elected as the nation’s first president.
On receiving this news, Washington departed from Mt. Vernon and began his trek toward New York City, stopping first at Fredericksburg, Virginia, to visit his mother, Mary¬ – the last time the two would see each other. Mary was eighty-two and suffering from incurable breast cancer. Mary parted with her son, giving him her blessings and offering him her prayers, telling him: “You will see me no more; my great age and the disease which is rapidly approaching my vitals, warn me that I shall not be long in this world. Go, George; fulfill the high destinies which Heaven appears to assign to you; go, my son, and may that Heaven’s and your mother’s blessing be with you always.” 4Washington did go, and he did indeed fulfill the high destinies assigned him by Heaven. A moving painting was made of her giving him her final charge; his mother passed away a few months after that final meeting.
Leaving his mother, Washington continued northward toward New York City. In town after town along the way, special dinners and celebrations were held – including in Alexandria, Georgetown, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Trenton, and other locations. Finally reaching Elizabethtown, New Jersey, Washington boarded a barge that carried him the rest of the way, where another celebration awaited him upon entering New York Harbor.
On April 30th, 1789, George Washington was to be inaugurated on the balcony outside Federal Hall. (Federal Hall was originally named Old Hall, but New York City – in an effort to convince the new federal government that the City was serious about becoming the national capital – remodeled the structure, renaming it Federal Hall. The House and Senate met in two chambers inside that Hall, and the inauguration took place on the remodeled building’s balcony.) Incidentally, religious activities had been planned to precede the inauguration, with the people of New York City being called to a time of prayer. The papers in the Capital City reported on that scheduled activity:
[O]n the morning of the day on which our illustrious President will be invested with his office, the bells will ring at nine o’clock, when the people may go up to the house of God and in a solemn manner commit the new government, with its important train of consequences, to the holy protection and blessing of the Most high. An early hour is prudently fixed for this peculiar act of devotion and . . . is designed wholly for prayer. 5
The preparations for the inauguration had been extensive; everything had been well planned; the event seemed to be proceeding smoothly. The parade carrying Washington by horse-drawn carriage to the swearing-in was nearing Federal Hall when it was realized that no Bible had been obtained for administering the oath. Parade Marshal Jacob Morton hurried to the nearby Masonic Lodge and grabbed its large 1767 King James Bible.
The Bible was laid upon a crimson velvet cushion (held by Samuel Otis, Secretary of the Senate) and, with a huge crowd gathered below watching the ceremony on the balcony, New York Chancellor Robert Livingston was to administer the oath of office. (Robert Livingston had been one of the five Founders who had drafted the Declaration of Independence; however, he was called back to New York to help his State through the Revolution before he could affix his signature to the very document he had helped write. As Chancellor, Livingston was the highest ranking judicial official in New York.) Beside Livingston and Washington stood several distinguished officials, including Vice President John Adams, original Supreme Court Chief Justice John Jay, Generals Henry Knox and Philip Schuyler, and a number of others. The Bible was opened at random to the latter part of Genesis; Washington placed his left hand upon the open Bible, raised his right, and then took the oath of office prescribed by the Constitution. Washington then bent over and kissed the Bible, reverently closed his eyes, and said, “So help me God!” Chancellor Livingston then proclaimed, “It is done!” Turning to the crowd assembled below, he shouted, “Long live George Washington – the first President of the United States!” That shout was echoed and re-echoed by the crowd below.
Critics today claim that George Washington never added “So help me God!” to his oath 6 – that associating religious intent with the oath is of recent origins. After all, the presidential oath of office as prescribed in Article II of the Constitution simply states:
I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.
But overlooked by many today is the fact that the Framers of our government considered an oath to be inherently religious – something George Washington affirmed when he appended the phrase “So help me God” to the end of the oath. In fact, it was universally acknowledged by every American legal scholar of that day that any legally-binding oath was overtly religious in nature. As signer of the Declaration John Witherspoon succinctly explained:
An oath is an appeal to God, the Searcher of Hearts, for the truth of what we say and always expresses or supposes an imprecation [a calling down] of His judgment upon us if we prevaricate [lie]. An oath, therefore, implies a belief in God and His Providence and indeed is an act of worship. . . . Persons entering on public offices are also often obliged to make oath that they will faithfully execute their trust. . . . In vows, there is no party but God and the person himself who makes the vow. 7
1. A number of legal authorities, university professors, and news writers have criticized inaugural religious activities. See, for example, Alan M. Dershowitz, “Bush Starts Off by Defying the Constitution,” Los Angeles Times, Wednesday, January 24, 2001 Metro section, Part B, p. 9; Larry Judkins, Religion Page Editor, Sacramento Valley Mirror, “Dershowitz Piece Misleading: All Presidents Flaunt Constitution,” in Positive Atheism Magazine, Thursday, January 25, 2001 (at: http://www.positiveatheism.org); “President Bush Announces Religious Agenda on Inauguration Day,” Americans United for Separation of Church and State, January 20, 2001 (at:http://www.au.org/site/News2?abbr=pr&page=NewsArticle&id=6095); et. Al.(Return)
2. Noted atheist Michael Newdow filed suit in federal court to have prayers barred from the Presidential Inauguration of 2001, 2005, and in 2009 to have inaugural prayers halted and to prevent the Chief-Justice of the U. S. Supreme Court from saying “So help me God” when administering the oath of office to the president. (Return)
3. Significantly, many of the U. S. Senators at the first Inauguration had been delegates to the Constitutional Convention that framed the Constitution including William Samuel Johnson, Oliver Ellsworth, George Read, Richard Bassett, William Few, Caleb Strong, John Langdon, William Paterson, Robert Morris, and Pierce Butler; and many members of the House had been delegates to the Constitutional Convention, including Roger Sherman, Abraham Baldwin, Daniel Carroll, Elbridge Gerry, Nicholas Gilman, Hugh Williamson, George Clymer, Thomas Fitzsimmons, and James Madison.(Return)
4. Benson J. Lossing, Our Country: A Household History for All Readers (New York: Henry J. Johnson, 1877), Vol. IV, p. 1121. (Return)
5. The Daily Advertiser, New York, Thursday, April 23, 1789, p. 2. (Return)
6. See, for example, Newdow v. Roberts, complaint filed by Newdow on December 29, 2008, pp. 20-21, par. 103-104 of the complaint. See also Cathy Lynn Grossman, “No proof Washington said ‘so help me God’ – will Obama,”USA Today, January 9, 2009 (at:http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2009-01-07-washington-oath_N.htm). (Return)
7. John Witherspoon, The Works of John Witherspoon (Edinburgh: J. Ogle, 1815), Vol. VII, pp. 139-140, 142, from his “Lectures on Moral Philosophy,” Lecture 16 on Oaths and Vows. (Return)
Thank you so much for your time. I know how valuable it is. I also appreciate the fine family that you have and your commitment as a father and a husband.
Sincerely,
Everette Hatcher III, 13900 Cottontail Lane, Alexander, AR 72002, ph 501-920-5733
Francis Schaeffer and Gospel of Christ in the pages of the Bible
(The Bible is the key in understanding the universe in its form)
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Dr. Francis schaeffer – The flow of Materialism(from Part 4 of Whatever happened to human race?)
Dr. Francis Schaeffer – The Biblical flow of Truth & History (intro)
Francis Schaeffer – The Biblical Flow of History & Truth (1)
Dr. Francis Schaeffer – The Biblical Flow of Truth & History (part 2)
—
Francis Schaeffer’s books and films influenced me tremendously ever since the 1970’s when I was first introduced to them.
Below Dr. C. Everett Koop is pictured with Ronald Reagan. Dr. Koop was delayed in his confirmation by Ted Kennedy because of his film Whatever Happened to the Human Race? which was co-authored by my spiritual hero Francis Schaeffer.
Dr. Koop with President Ronald Reagan on his appointment as Surgeon General
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“Vice is a monster of such awful mien, that to be hated needs but to be seen, but seen too oft, familiar with her face, we first endure, then pity, then embrace.”
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Constitutional experts abounded at America’s first inauguration. Not only was the first inauguree (George Washington) a signer of the Constitution but numerous drafters of the Constitution were serving in the Congress that organized and directed that first inauguration. In fact, just under one fourth of the members of the first Congress had been delegates to the Convention that wrote the Constitution. 
Washington departed from Mt. Vernon and began his trek toward New York City, stopping first at Fredericksburg, Virginia, to visit his mother, Mary¬ – the last time the two would see each other. Mary was eighty-two and suffering from incurable breast cancer. Mary parted with her son, giving him her blessings and offering him her prayers, telling him: “You will see me no more; my great age and the disease which is rapidly approaching my vitals, warn me that I shall not be long in this world. Go, George; fulfill the high destinies which Heaven appears to assign to you; go, my son, and may that Heaven’s and your mother’s blessing be with you always.” 
The Daily Hatch 