The Bulletin Board:(Please SCROLL DOWN this page to find the article titled on this post in LARGE CAPITAL LETTERS. Thank you.)
U.S. Supreme Court has Reconvened: Let's be praying WHENEVER the Court is in session as their decisions can have impact on GENERATIONS to come. The fact that they may have an opportunity this session to actually vote on same-sex "marriage" where it has the same impact on this country that Roe v. Wade did should be motivating enough!
Of course, let's CONTINUE PRAYING FOR AN END TO THE EBOLA CRISIS IN WEST AFRICA AND THE HEALING OF ALL THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN INFECTED.
"Obama’s Cuba Move Shows He’s Listening to International Left" - Mike Gonzalez/ @Gundisalvus / December 21, 2014 / http://dailysignal.com/2014/12/21/obamas-cuba-move-shows-hes-listening-to-international-left/?utm_source=heritagefoundation&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=morningbell&mkt_tok=3RkMMJWWfF9wsRoluqzLZKXonjHpfsX56eguXa%2B3lMI%2F0ER3fOvrPUfGjI4FScFjI%2BSLDwEYGJlv6SgFQrLBMa1ozrgOWxU%3D [AS I SEE IT: As this article makes clear, our President's unilateral action in changing the US's relationship with Cuba only reflects the views of the political Left that he brought into office. What is equally disturbing, I believe, is that the Pope is said to have encouraged this action within days of assuming his office. Just from the standpoint of human rights, it's hard to understand that one who is supposed to be a leader of a body of Christians supports showing favor to a country that clearly has oppressed its people for over half a century. Let's be praying that the Congress has enough collective sense and authority to override our President's reckless action. - Stan]
Why did President Obama go for broke on Cuba, announcing the United States would normalize relations with that repressive regime? The answer appears in his statement to the nation. There, the president not only made clear that this change has been on his bucket list for some time, but also that his knowledge of Cuba comes straight out of the international Left’s playbook.
“When I came into office, I promised to re-examine our Cuba policy,” Obama said, proving once again that last month’s midterm shellacking seems to have had an odd effect on our president. Rather than make him humble, rejection at the polls has liberated him to do all the things he wants in his “legacy.”
His rationale for acting was instructive, too. In essence, for 15 minutes Obama reeled off a list of talking points one could hear anywhere from the Left Bank of the River Seine to, say, any dusty classroom in Cuba. The only thing missing was the picture of Che so omnipresent in Paris or Havana. The image his platitudes sought to create was the following: The embargo, not Communism’s internal insanity, has left Cuba a pauperized police state; our relations have been frozen by ideology, not principles or national interests; and the United States used to be Cuba’s colonial power.
Now, the one thing all these views have in common is that they are A, untrue, and B, favorite talking points of the international Left.
President Obama Versus Reality
Obama: “I was born in 1961, just over two years after Fidel Castro took power in Cuba and just a few months after the Bay of Pigs invasion, which tried to overthrow his regime. Over the next several decades, the relationship between our countries played out against the Cold War and America’s steadfast opposition to communism. We are separated by just over 90 miles. But year after year, an ideological and economic barrier hardened between the two countries.”
Reality: The Castros are still in power not because of the embargo, but because they practice state terror.The remarkable aspect of this is that for 55 years one man, with help from his brother, has imposed Communist repression on the Cuban people, plunging them into economic penury while perfecting a police state. The United States was simply reacting to the theft of its property and the affront to its principles. In the Bay of Pigs, it was Cubans who invaded their island. Gone unsaid is that Cuba played host to nuclear missiles aimed at America (see: Cuban Missile Crisis).
Obama: “Today, Cuba is still governed by the Castros and the Communist Party that came to power a half-century ago. Neither the American nor Cuban people are well served by a rigid policy that’s rooted in events that took place before most of us were born.”
Reality: The policy is not rooted in the Bay of Pigs, or the Missile Crisis, for that matter. It is rooted in the beatings and imprisonment that Cuban dissidents receive today and the affront to our values that human rights being trampled 90 miles away represents. The Castros are still in power not because of the embargo, but because they practice state terror.
Obama: “To the Cuban people, America extends a hand of friendship. Some of you have looked to us as a source of hope, and we will continue to shine a light of freedom. Others have seen us as a former colonizer intent on controlling your future … Let us leave behind the legacy of both colonization and communism.”
Reality: Nobody in Cuba sees the United States as a former colonizer, namely because the United States never colonized Cuba. Only the communist regime speaks in these terms to the 11 million Cubans it tries (unsuccessfully) to indoctrinate. The United States, much to its credit, came to the aid of Cubans in 1898 after they had spent more than three decades in an on-again, off-again protracted war with Spain. After dispatching Spain in a matter of weeks, the United States said right from the beginning that Cuba would become independent, which it did only four years later.
The United States Did Not Colonize Cuba
Three of my great-grandfathers fought in this war, on both sides (the fourth had not yet arrived from Spain). I grew up with a grandmother who was seven years old when the war ended. My house, in other words, resonated with talk of the war and the U.S. occupation 60 years later. The consensus was that there was no way Cubans would have been free from Spain if the United States had not entered on the side of the Cubans.
Sure, the United States played a large role in Cuba until the Castro takeover in 1959. These were the results: In 1957, Cuba had the lowest infant mortality rate in all of Latin America, and 13th-lowest in the world. It now has dropped to 25th in the world. In the pre-revolutionary era, Cuba was third in all of Latin America in terms of caloric intake. It now ranks last in per capita daily caloric intake. In the 1950s, Cubans had 58 newspapers to choose from; only four other countries in Latin America had more. By 1994, the print media had decreased to only 17; all are controlled by the Cuban government.
In other words, President Obama could have been proud of the role that the United States has played in Cuba, from 1898 to the present. Instead, he chose to spout the clichés of the internationalist Left and to curry their favor by recognizing Raul Castro.
[bold, italics, and underline emphasis mine]
[This article orginally appeared on TheFederalist.com.] Mike Gonzalez, a senior fellow at The Heritage Foundation, is a widely experienced international correspondent, commentator and editor who has reported from Asia, Europe and Latin America. He served in the George W. Bush Administration first at the Securities and Exchange Commission and then at the State Department. His book, "A Race for the Future: How Conservatives Can Break the Liberal Monopoly on Hispanic Americans," was published in September. Read his research.
PRAY FOR AMERICA: THANK GOD for His many blessings on America throughout it's history. May we then ask that AMERICA once again be a blessing TO GOD, by once again submitting to HIS will in our affairs - both personal and national - that He may truly "heal our land." (2 Chron. 7:14)
Here is an example of how a 13-year old can say things much more eloquently than too many adults. In the midst of all the protests over recent decisions regarding officer actions, people are forgetting the daily sacrifices SO MANY make. Especially during this season of the year, you would think people would pause to remember our PEACE officers. [Let's all be in prayer for this teen and the other members of the families grieving as we prepare for Christmas.]
NOW THAT THE ELECTION IS OVER:1) Let's be praying that God showed us grace in giving us representatives who will sincerely work to DO NO HARM to us and future generations. Let's also be praying that should He have chosen to give us those who WILL do us harm, that He extends mercy to us now and for the years ahead. His will is now done as far as the results we have. Now it's up to us to be diligent to hold those elected accountable!, and 2) Let's be praying that the present lame-duck session in Congress will not be allowed to pass legislation that will do harm to our country as they can easily do. (See post #1051 - 'Return of the Zombie).
Here is an example of how a 13-year old can say things much more eloquently than too many adults. In the midst of all the protests over recent decisions regarding officer actions, people are forgetting the daily sacrifices SO MANY make. Especially during this season of the year, you would think people would pause to remember our PEACE officers. [Let's all be in prayer for this teen and the other members of the families grieving as we prepare for Christmas.]
NOW THAT THE ELECTION IS OVER:1) Let's be praying that God showed us grace in giving us representatives who will sincerely work to DO NO HARM to us and future generations. Let's also be praying that should He have chosen to give us those who WILL do us harm, that He extends mercy to us now and for the years ahead. His will is now done as far as the results we have. Now it's up to us to be diligent to hold those elected accountable!, and 2) Let's be praying that the present lame-duck session in Congress will not be allowed to pass legislation that will do harm to our country as they can easily do. (See post #1051 - 'Return of the Zombie).
URGENT PRAYER REQUEST: Save Christian Mom Asia Bibi from Execution - A Christian mom has been sentenced to death in Pakistan for her faith. Asia Bibi was falsely accused of “blasphemy” – speaking against the prophet Muhammad. Now this wife and mother of five will hang for her Christian faith.She would be the first woman executed under Pakistan’s Shariah blasphemy law.This is the ultimate human rights violation. We’re mobilizing our international affiliate – the European Centre for Law and Justice – and its partner in Pakistan to stop this atrocity. Add your name to our letter to the government of Pakistan demanding Asia Bibi’s freedom.Go to http://aclj.org/persecuted-church/save-christian-mom-asia-bibi-from-execution; please add your signature to mine and over 35,000 others AND pray for Asia Bibi.
U.S. Supreme Court has Reconvened: Let's be praying WHENEVER the Court is in session as their decisions can have impact on GENERATIONS to come. The fact that they may have an opportunity this session to actually vote on same-sex "marriage" where it has the same impact on this country that Roe v. Wade did should be motivating enough!
WORLD-WDE PRAYER REQUESTS:
Friday, Sept. 26th - Two Year Anniversary of Pastor Saeed Abedini's Imprisonment in Iran! - [NOTE TODAY'S POST!]
We need to continue to pray for Pastor Saeed - that his health will improve and that he will be re-united with his wife and two young children who live in the United States. [If you have not yet, please sign the petition for his clemency- http://beheardproject.com/saeed#sign] For comfort and .\
"Not Everyone Happy with Religious Ambassador Pick," Caitlin Burke,July 29, 2014;
http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2014/July/Obama-Taps-Rabbi-for-Religious-Freedom-Ambassador/ "..An estimated 76 percent of the world's population live in countries where religious freedom is restricted. Secretary of State John Kerry said the United States must take a strong stand against those violations. "Around the world repressive governments and extremists groups have been crystal clear about what they stand against, so we have to be equally clear about what we must stand for," Kerry said. "We stand for greater freedom, for greater tolerance, greater respect, for rights of freedom of expression and freedom of conscience," he said A key development in the 2013 report is the large number of displaced members of religious communities, including entire Christian communities in Syria and Iraq that have been forced to flee their homes because of persecution."
SIGN A PETITION TO THE UN FOR THE PROTECTION OF CHRISTIANS :" The church in Syria has shone brightly for 2,000 years. But today violence and persecution threatens its survival. Thanks to an incredible response, Open Doors is helping 8,000 families in Syria survive each month. We believe the signatures and prayers of 500,000 people will encourage the UN to act and protect the rights and lives of all Syrians, especially the vulnerable Christian community." Go to: http://lp.opendoorsusa.org/emails/nov-13-action/save-syria.html?utm_source=action&utm_medium=email&utm_content=button&utm_campaign=november
Of course, let's CONTINUE PRAYING FOR AN END TO THE EBOLA CRISIS IN WEST AFRICA AND THE HEALING OF ALL THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN INFECTED.
PRAY FOR THE CRISIS HAPPENING NOW IN IRAQ (see post #907) Pray that allied forces will be able to drive the group ISIS back (see post #964)
/PRAYER ALERT- UKRAINE: As the Lord leads, please pray:
*For God to suppress President Putin’s ambitions to "restore" the Soviet empire.
*For the people of Ukrainen [esp. for the church 'to be THE church'] as they wait to see if the Russian troops will advance.
*About President Obama and to use wisdom in crafting our foreign policy, and wisdom for his advisers.
Continue to Pray for EGYPT - Continue to pray for the tense situation in Egypt and especially for the Christian believers who are being targeted with violence by Muslim Brotherhood members.]
--------------------------------------------------------
"Obama’s Cuba Move Shows He’s Listening to International Left" - Mike Gonzalez/ @Gundisalvus / December 21, 2014 / http://dailysignal.com/2014/12/21/obamas-cuba-move-shows-hes-listening-to-international-left/?utm_source=heritagefoundation&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=morningbell&mkt_tok=3RkMMJWWfF9wsRoluqzLZKXonjHpfsX56eguXa%2B3lMI%2F0ER3fOvrPUfGjI4FScFjI%2BSLDwEYGJlv6SgFQrLBMa1ozrgOWxU%3D [AS I SEE IT: As this article makes clear, our President's unilateral action in changing the US's relationship with Cuba only reflects the views of the political Left that he brought into office. What is equally disturbing, I believe, is that the Pope is said to have encouraged this action within days of assuming his office. Just from the standpoint of human rights, it's hard to understand that one who is supposed to be a leader of a body of Christians supports showing favor to a country that clearly has oppressed its people for over half a century. Let's be praying that the Congress has enough collective sense and authority to override our President's reckless action. - Stan]
Why did President Obama go for broke on Cuba, announcing the United States would normalize relations with that repressive regime? The answer appears in his statement to the nation. There, the president not only made clear that this change has been on his bucket list for some time, but also that his knowledge of Cuba comes straight out of the international Left’s playbook.
“When I came into office, I promised to re-examine our Cuba policy,” Obama said, proving once again that last month’s midterm shellacking seems to have had an odd effect on our president. Rather than make him humble, rejection at the polls has liberated him to do all the things he wants in his “legacy.”
His rationale for acting was instructive, too. In essence, for 15 minutes Obama reeled off a list of talking points one could hear anywhere from the Left Bank of the River Seine to, say, any dusty classroom in Cuba. The only thing missing was the picture of Che so omnipresent in Paris or Havana. The image his platitudes sought to create was the following: The embargo, not Communism’s internal insanity, has left Cuba a pauperized police state; our relations have been frozen by ideology, not principles or national interests; and the United States used to be Cuba’s colonial power.
Now, the one thing all these views have in common is that they are A, untrue, and B, favorite talking points of the international Left.
President Obama Versus Reality
Obama: “I was born in 1961, just over two years after Fidel Castro took power in Cuba and just a few months after the Bay of Pigs invasion, which tried to overthrow his regime. Over the next several decades, the relationship between our countries played out against the Cold War and America’s steadfast opposition to communism. We are separated by just over 90 miles. But year after year, an ideological and economic barrier hardened between the two countries.”
Reality: The Castros are still in power not because of the embargo, but because they practice state terror.The remarkable aspect of this is that for 55 years one man, with help from his brother, has imposed Communist repression on the Cuban people, plunging them into economic penury while perfecting a police state. The United States was simply reacting to the theft of its property and the affront to its principles. In the Bay of Pigs, it was Cubans who invaded their island. Gone unsaid is that Cuba played host to nuclear missiles aimed at America (see: Cuban Missile Crisis).
Obama: “Today, Cuba is still governed by the Castros and the Communist Party that came to power a half-century ago. Neither the American nor Cuban people are well served by a rigid policy that’s rooted in events that took place before most of us were born.”
Reality: The policy is not rooted in the Bay of Pigs, or the Missile Crisis, for that matter. It is rooted in the beatings and imprisonment that Cuban dissidents receive today and the affront to our values that human rights being trampled 90 miles away represents. The Castros are still in power not because of the embargo, but because they practice state terror.
Obama: “To the Cuban people, America extends a hand of friendship. Some of you have looked to us as a source of hope, and we will continue to shine a light of freedom. Others have seen us as a former colonizer intent on controlling your future … Let us leave behind the legacy of both colonization and communism.”
Reality: Nobody in Cuba sees the United States as a former colonizer, namely because the United States never colonized Cuba. Only the communist regime speaks in these terms to the 11 million Cubans it tries (unsuccessfully) to indoctrinate. The United States, much to its credit, came to the aid of Cubans in 1898 after they had spent more than three decades in an on-again, off-again protracted war with Spain. After dispatching Spain in a matter of weeks, the United States said right from the beginning that Cuba would become independent, which it did only four years later.
The United States Did Not Colonize Cuba
Three of my great-grandfathers fought in this war, on both sides (the fourth had not yet arrived from Spain). I grew up with a grandmother who was seven years old when the war ended. My house, in other words, resonated with talk of the war and the U.S. occupation 60 years later. The consensus was that there was no way Cubans would have been free from Spain if the United States had not entered on the side of the Cubans.
Sure, the United States played a large role in Cuba until the Castro takeover in 1959. These were the results: In 1957, Cuba had the lowest infant mortality rate in all of Latin America, and 13th-lowest in the world. It now has dropped to 25th in the world. In the pre-revolutionary era, Cuba was third in all of Latin America in terms of caloric intake. It now ranks last in per capita daily caloric intake. In the 1950s, Cubans had 58 newspapers to choose from; only four other countries in Latin America had more. By 1994, the print media had decreased to only 17; all are controlled by the Cuban government.
In other words, President Obama could have been proud of the role that the United States has played in Cuba, from 1898 to the present. Instead, he chose to spout the clichés of the internationalist Left and to curry their favor by recognizing Raul Castro.
[bold, italics, and underline emphasis mine]
[This article orginally appeared on TheFederalist.com.] Mike Gonzalez, a senior fellow at The Heritage Foundation, is a widely experienced international correspondent, commentator and editor who has reported from Asia, Europe and Latin America. He served in the George W. Bush Administration first at the Securities and Exchange Commission and then at the State Department. His book, "A Race for the Future: How Conservatives Can Break the Liberal Monopoly on Hispanic Americans," was published in September. Read his research.
No comments:
Post a Comment