2017: The New Year we’ve been waiting for

Seeing Red AZ sends sincere best wishes for a satisfying, productive, safe and healthy New Year to our valued readers. As Americans, we’ve endured eight long years of the most disastrous presidency imaginable.

From Barack Obama’s failed dealings with Iran, funding the America-hating dictatorship with $33 Billion and making it nuclear capable, while backstabbing Israel at the U.N., to overseeing the growth of ISIS foolishly calling it a “JV Team.” He gave us the lie-based Obamacare and steadfastly refuses to say the words “radical Islamic terrorism.” His commitment is to flooding the United States with illegal aliens and unable to be vetted Middle Eastern “refugees.” His efforts to constrain our Second Amendment rights, to his obsessive use of Executive Orders bypassing Congress and disseminating phony stats on job numbers in our still struggling economy to giving credibility to the Black Lives Matter thugs by inviting them to the White House. The list goes on.

Although Obama twice swore an oath to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, he intentionally failed to do so. His stated intent was to fundamentally transform the most free, prosperous and generous nation on Earth.

In three weeks we have a fresh beginning with Republican President Donald Trump and newly elected Republican House and Senate majorities — an undisputable repudiation of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, his choice to implement his third term.

As we embark upon this New Year, there is no better time to renew our acquaintance with America’s founding documents: The Declaration of Independence, our U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

They have served us well. The least we can do is stay familiar with what they contain, hold our Republican congressional majorities accountable and ensure that our children know what blessings we have been given as a nation.

Has Meghan McCain already become a liability for Fox? & UPDATE

Regurgitating father’s odd, self-serving views doesn’t match conservative format

Just weeks ago to much fanfare and hoopla, Meghan McCain was named a permanent co-host of Fox network’s weekday news program “Outnumbered.” Tattoos hidden, nostrils sculpted, a couple of enhancements added and newly slimmed — Meghan is clearly not the brightest bulb in the all-fem chandelier — the format of which features a lone male guest. The day her father, then in a tough senate reelection race, showed up on the set as that guest, awkwardly epitomized bungled thinking.

“I’m grateful for the opportunity to share my unique perspective with viewers on a now daily basis,” Meghan solemnly stated as she began her new job. Her “unique perspective“?  In this interview with People magazine after the Republican National Convention, Meghan McCain, 32, admitted she cried when the Republican Party made Trump its presidential nominee. “This is a garbage election with two garbage candidates and America deserves a lot better than this,” she said at the time. As a testament to her impeccable judgment, Megan registered as an Independent when she was 18 and bragged that she voted for John Kerry in the 2004 presidential election.

Ms. McCain’s Republican credentials have always been suspect. She became a Republican as a Father’s Day surprise, in a display of “commitment” to her Dad. It’s worth noting that at the time, he was the GOP nominee for the U.S. Presidency.

As John McCain, who withdrew his lukewarm support from GOP candidate — now President-elect Donald Trump — showboats, things have gotten even dicier.  McCain and his omnipresent traveling buddy and senate colluder Lindsey Graham have announced they will hold hearings on what they regard as Russia’s interference with our presidential elections. The aim is to cast doubt on Trump, delegitimizing the breadth of his popularity and neutralizing him on the world stage before he assumes office. Even the hard-left Rolling Stone writes the Russian hack story of the Democrat National Committee emails “stinks.“

And Meghan?  Unable to continually spew her daddy’s talking points, she has been absent from the “Outnumbered” set for several days. She’s too new at the job to be given holiday vacation time that long timers have earned. It would be a wise corporate move to say she’s unable to continue her gig due to other pressing considerations.

UPDATE:

It would be understandable that after her 81-year-old father’s mid-July diagnosis of what his doctors at Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale described as an “aggressive form of brain cancer,” (which they initially downplayed), Meghan would want to spend time with him as he undergoes chemotherapy treatments. But Dad is busy using his waning days to continue to bash President Donald Trump — most recently attending an international economic (must see video) and policy conference in Lake Como, Italy. Still unable to come to terms with his own massive presidential defeat, he threw these shots at Trump where he could get the most mileage. McCain was so proud of his undercutting the president on the international stage that he posted his remarks on his senate website.

“I realize that I come to Italy at a time when many are questioning whether America is still committed to remaining engaged in the world, to upholding our traditional alliances and standing up for the values we share,” he said. “I also realize—and there is no point in avoiding a little straight talk here—that this doubt has much to do with some of the actions and statements of our President.”

Very statesman-like.

It’s obvious the marginal Meghan McCain is absent from co-hosting Fox’ Outnumbered due to reasons entirely separate from her father’s serious illness. Her short-lived tenure served the purpose of getting him coverage during his 2016 senate race in which no lie was too outrageous to use against his very able and conservative opponent, Dr. Kelli Ward, whom he outspent 10 to 1. and bizarrely accused of aiding ISIS. It was McCain, himself, who actually admitted to having an ongoing relationship with the terrorists, calling them “freedom fighters.”

In the presidential race Meghan and John McCain voted for scandal plagued liberal Hillary Clinton. Sick or well, young or old, that’s who they are. It’s in their DNA. In the meantime, don’t hold your breath waiting for her return to co-hosting duties on Fox.

Rev. Franklin Graham sparks controversy for saying “God showed up”

Graham one of six offering readings and words of prayer at Trump’s swearing-in ceremony

 Leave it to the left-wing media to label Rev. Franklin Graham “controversial.” Graham, the son of renown preacher Rev. Billy Graham, is among several religious leaders slated to give  readings and benedictions at President-elect Donald Trump’s Jan. 20, 2017 inauguration. Franklin Graham previously gave the invocation for George W. Bush.

An early Trump supporter, Graham endorsed his candidacy in 2011. Since the election, Graham has appeared at many of Trump’s national “Thank You” rallies.

 “Many thought the Trump/Pence ticket didn’t have a chance. None of them understand the God-factor,” Evangelist Franklin Graham told the crowd in Mobile, Alabama.

“I don’t have any scientific information. I don’t have a stack of emails to read to you. But I have an opinion. I believe it was God. God showed up. He answered the prayers of hundreds of thousands of people across this land who had been praying for this country,” the Washington Examiner reports.

Franklin Graham is no longer a Republican, having left the GOP last year due to his disapproval of Congressional Republicans joining Democrats on the passage of the massive 2,000 page, $1.8 trillion omnibus tax and spending bill that continues to fund abortion provider Planned Parenthood. The bill was praised by House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate President Mitch McConnell and quickly signed by Obama, who met little resistance. Planned Parenthood’s officials were caught on tape haggling over the price in the sale of fetal body parts. One abortionist laughingly stated she needed enough to buy herself a Lamborghini sports car.

Joining Rev. Franklin Graham at Trump’s presidential inauguration ceremonies will be other religious leaders, who are named in this Press Release from the Presidential Inaugural Committee.

Kerry, still lying, carries Obama’s water in parting shot to Israel

John Kerry foolishly states, “Israel can either be Jewish or Democratic”

After watching the shocked reaction to Secretary of State John Kerry’s betrayal of Israel on the news throughout the day Wednesday, it’s important to take a breather and remember who John Kerry is. The former U.S. Senator and 2004 Democrat nominee is a traitor. Here he is in 1971, spewing lies to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, as he betrayed our brave men and women in uniform fighting in Vietnam in order to advance himself. He joined with the notorious Jane Fonda giving aid and comfort to the Communists killing and maiming Americans.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denounced Kerry after his excessively long (hour and 13 minutes) speech rightly stating Israelis do not need to be lectured about the importance of peace by foreign leaders. Netanyahu was able to get his point across in just nine minutes.

Kerry neglected to mention that the Palestinian Authority pays a salary to those who kill Jews. He didn’t acknowledge that Arabs have been members of the Knesset (legislative body) since Israel’s first elections in 1949. He apparently forgot that Israel, the sole Democracy in the Middle East,  protects the holy sites of Christians, Muslims and Jews. Most importantly for the Israelis, the Palestinians have steadfastly refused to acknowledged Israel’s right to exist. As the Obama administration calls on Israel to make concessions, the same demands are not made on the Palestinians. How does one negotiate with those who have repeatedly stated their aim is Israel’s annihilation?

“Whole countries in the Middle East are collapsing, terror is everywhere and for an entire hour the Secretary of State of the United States talks only about the only democracy in the Middle East, a democracy that is one of the only stable places in the entire Middle East,” Netanyahu said.

“We are now celebrating Christmas,” the Israeli PM said. “Maybe Secretary of State John Kerry didn’t see that Israel is the only place in the Middle East where Christians can celebrate Christmas in security and peace and happiness. Unfortunately, that doesn’t interest the president of the United States,” Netanyhau added.

“If the U.S. administration would have taken the same energies that they put in condemning Israel in stopping the Palestinian terror, maybe they would have helped the peace process more,” Netanyahu said.

The Prime Minister unequivocally stated, “We have it on absolute, incontestable evidence that the United States organized, advanced and brought this resolution to the United Nations Security Council.  We will share that information with the incoming administration.”

Watch as David Keyes, spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also maintains that Israel has “ironclad” proof that the Obama administration was behind the anti-Israel U.N. resolution, which deceptively calls areas such as Jerusalem and the Western Wall “occupied Palestinian territory.”

We decided to add this instructive composite picture showing how Barack Obama and Benjamin Netanyahu spent their 20s. Not much has changed.

H/T Patriot Post

Conservative icon Thomas Sowell takes an early retirement

While the deaths of celebrities who have spent their careers engaging in risky behaviors that shortened their lives make headlines, conservatives mourn the passing of a remarkable assemblage of wisdom.

Though Thomas Sowell, at age 86, has more years behind him than ahead, he is — judging by his commentaries — still mentally fit, and hopefully, healthy.   

But with his announcement of retirement in this final column simply titled “Farewell,” a bright light has dimmed. Dr. Sowell was a high school dropout who left due to his family’s financial hardships and despite being accepted into the gifted program in a prestigious school. Born in North Carolina, he grew up impoverished in Harlem, NYC. working at menial jobs and then was drafted into the U.S. Marines Corps during the Korean War.

He later attended high school at night in order to get his diploma. Sowell graduated from Harvard Law School but still could not be contained, ultimately earning his Masters Degree at Columbia University and a Ph.D. in economics at the University of Chicago — packing several lifetimes into his nearly nine decades. He has been on the faculties of numerous prominent universities.

Dr. Sowell epitomizes brilliance.

If we had our druthers, he’d reconsider this rash decision to retire, as he opts instead to devote more time to his hobby of photography. Yes, he has carved out time for a hobby! Check his artistic side out here. 

Seeing Red AZ has frequently posted his columns under the heading, “Weekend Reading Guaranteed to Make You Smarter.”

Here is a partially archived listing of his prolific nationally syndicated columns on a wide variety of topics courtesy of Creators Syndicate. 

It’s impossible not to learn something from reading any one of them. Then begin on his books. 

Propaganda Ministry now a reality

The more we learn about the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 the more suspicious it sounds. A bipartisan bill — Countering Disinformation and Propaganda Act — sponsored by U.S. Senators Rob Portman (R-OH) and Chris Murphy (D-CT) sounds more than vaguely Orwellian. This too slick Press Release by Sen. Portman raises more questions than it answers, as it extols outgoing president Barack Obama signing this just prior to embarking on his Hawaiian Christmas vacation. 

ZeroHedge writes:

Fast forward to December 8, when the “Countering Disinformation and Propaganda Act” passed in the Senate, quietly inserted inside the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) Conference Report.

And following Obama’s signing of NDAA on Friday evening, the Countering Disinformation and Propaganda Act is now law.

And so, with the likes of WaPo having already primed the general public to equate “Russian Propaganda” with “fake news” (despite admitting after the fact their own report was essentially “fake“), while the US media has indoctrinated the public to assume that any information which is not in compliance with the official government narrative, or dares to criticize the establishment, is also “fake news” and thus falls under the “Russian propaganda” umbrella, the scene is now set for the US government to legally crack down on every media outlet that the government deems to be “foreign propaganda.”

Quick as a wink, the US Ministry of Truth is officially born.

In 2013 Seeing Red AZ wrote about Winston Smith, the protagonist in George Orwell’s best seller “1984.” Smith was employed as a clerk in the government’s Ministry of Truth Records Department. His job was to rewrite historical documents to align with the constantly changing current political deception. Newspeak, a reduced language, became the tool to limit free thought and concepts posing a threat to the totalitarian regime.  Any form of thought alternative to the party’s construct was classified as “thought crime,” “crime think,” or “doublethink.”

Smith’s work included manipulating facts, revising newspaper articles and doctoring photographs to remove “unpersons,” the term used to describe people who had fallen out of favor with the party. We conservatives are “unpersons” to the MSM liberals. But we still have a voice. We need to continue to use it.

When his book was published in 1949, Orwell wrote, “By 2050 — earlier, probably — all real knowledge of Oldspeak will have disappeared.”  He turned out to be a reliable prophet.

On the senate side, guess who sponsored this bill? None other than John McCain. McCain and Flake both voted for S. 2943

H/T Commenter Conservative Since Birth

Charade is over: Obama no longer needs Jewish votes

Obama disses Israel with United Nations abstention vote

An angry Barack Obama has taken the gloves off. Having lost his third term with Hillary Clinton’s thunderous fail and incensed that Donald Trump not only won the presidency, but Republicans have secured majorities in both the U.S. House and Senate by commanding margins —  a clear repudiation of Obama and his policies. What better time for Obama to once again give a knuckle sandwich to Israel?

Former presidential candidate Mike Huckabee criticized the Obama administration (video) for the United States’ abstention Friday during a United Nations vote condemning Israeli settlements in the West Bank, according to Fox News Insider.

“This is about evil and good,” Huckabee, a Baptist minister for a dozen years said, “I am just beyond in a seething rage over what this administration has done in its last days… have some just common decency.”

Huckabee called US Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power’s abstention during an otherwise unanimous vote condemning Israel “cowardly” and said that her silence was effectively an agreement with the motion. “It basically says to Israel, ‘you don’t deserve to be a nation that has secure borders’,” Huckabee said.

Huckabee said the term ‘settlements’, used by the UN, is a misnomer, as the Israelis are building neighborhoods in land “given to them by the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob” four thousand years ago, as he called the “two-state solution” plan feckless and dangerous, concluding the United Nations has become a “laughingstock.”

Samantha Power, a left-wing native of Ireland, who has advocated for the United States to invade Israel and said that American Jews were too rich and powerful,* was appointed U.S. ambassador to the United Nations by Barack Obama in 2013.  Such outlandish opinions didn’t dissuade Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake who voted in support of her confirmation. John McCain was one of only three of the 100 U.S. Senators who did not vote.

* H/T Debbie Schlussel (bio)

Obamas & Trumps celebrate Christmas Eve differently

A study in contrasts

While President-elect Donald Trump and his wife Melania sought to remember the birth of the Christ Child in church on Christmas Eve, the Obama family engaged in an hour-long live action “escape room” game with their entourage at a resort in Waikiki. The fawning press gleefully reported that they “won with just 12 seconds to spare.” Afterward they went out for shaved ice treats.

When the Trumps entered the sanctuary of the Episcopal Church in Palm Beach, Florida, the congregation stood and broke into a round of spontaneous applause. (video). They knew that what they were witnessing hadn’t been seen for eight years.

2016: Joyous Christmas Wishes

With sincere best wishes for a Merry Christmas to all of our readers.

May the peace and goodwill of this holiday season be with us all. We express our gratitude to our service personnel, many stationed far from their own families, who ensure our countless freedoms.

May God continue to bless America.

Seeing Red AZ

T’was the night before Christmas….

 

As is our tradition, we present this charming image of Clement Clarke Moore’s original, handwritten poem, “A Visit From Saint Nicholas.” It was penned in 1822 as a gift to his children. Here is the full, easier to read version.

Enjoy Christmas Eve.