Could This Pastor’s VP Pick for Trump Help Defeat America’s Jezebel?

/26 Comments/in , /by

One pastor in Iowa recently suggested that despite, or rather, because of the bitter rancor among Evangelical Christians over Donald Trump that one particular running mate could persuade naysayers to actually support Trump.

Who is this Hawkeye pastor and why should anyone care about his opinion?

In 2012, conservative commentator, Iowan Steve Deace, a #NeverTrump and Cruz supporter, identified the most effective “super-operatives” in Iowan politics. One, he wrote was an “unassuming pastor” of Walnut Creek Church, who “could very well be the most powerful man you’ve never heard of.”

“He could easily mean the difference between victory and defeat for a candidate in a caucus or straw poll … [making him] a formidable player in the Iowa Caucus. But what makes him dangerous to opposing campaigns is the fact that you don’t see him (or his army) coming until it’s too late. Just ask Sam Brownback and Tom Vlassis.”

What Deace doesn’t mention is that both former Sen. Rick Santorum and Gov. Mike Huckabee could not have won Iowa in 2008 and 2012, respectively, without this pastor’s influence.

I met the most powerful man no one has ever heard of when I also first met former presidential candidate and Gov. Mike Huckabee. I joined roughly 100 pastors to retrace the steps of Pope John Paul II and several other leaders to record how faith (in whom or what) influences every single political decision ever made. My conversations with these pastors marked the beginning of incredibly valuable friendships and confidential insight into the world of politics and pastors.

Pastor and author Terry Amann, who endorsed Mike Huckabee for president, suggests that Huckabee is the best vice presidential choice for Trump. He argues:

“Four years ago there were many people saying they would not vote for Romney because he was a Mormon. Instead of reaching out to evangelicals he tried to keep them at arms length. It was reported that two weeks before the election Romney met with evangelical leader Ralph Reed to utilize his database of 17 million evangelicals. But it was too late. Trump has a Romney problem, though not necessarily for the same reasons.

“There are many voices that say they will never vote for Trump. This is why Trump needs to have a VP selection that will put evangelicals at ease. The logical choice is Mike Huckabee. He has a good relationship with Trump. Huckabee has executive experience without the taint of Washington. He is sober-minded and an exceptional communicator. He has had high numbers in favorability polls and he is a known and vetted commodity.

“And, Huckabee has been tested by the Clinton machine for over three decades, and won.”

I reached out to many pastors nationwide to find out if they agreed. Would they vote for Trump, assuming there is no third-party candidate, as opposed to Hillary Clinton? Or would they not vote at all?

The majority of pastors, roughly two-thirds, affirmed that a Huckabee vice-presidential running mate would make it much easier to vote for Trump. Nearly all said they would vote for Trump, and for anyone other than Hillary Clinton.

Rev. Brad Atkins, Senior Pastor of Powdersville First Baptist Church in S.C., best articulated what the majority of pastors said about voting: “To not vote is not an option. As U.S. citizens it is our duty to be a part of what makes our nation so great, freedom. Freedom to vote, freedom to campaign, and even freedom to hope against all hope that there is still time for a miracle.”

Atkins, who supports Cruz, emphasized that he’d “love to hear how Huckabee [would be] able to reconcile such a ticket in his heart and mind.”

Another Cruz supporter, Rev. Thomas Peetz of Word of Life Christian Fellowship, in Concord, N.H., told me, “If Mr. Trump is the nominee and Mike Huckabee his running mate, I would vote for them in a heartbeat. What’s the alternative? A third term of the Obama administration? No thank you.”

And from Las Vegas, Nev., Kevin Boyd, Sr. Pastor of TCM International explained, “Let me be clear, up to this point I have not voted for Trump or promoted him whatsoever. He is obviously not what any of us had in mind, but I would support him, and so would a very large percentage of my church.

“I would definitely vote for Mr. Trump if he’s the GOP nominee before I would vote for Hillary Clinton or waste my vote by writing in another name. The Republican Party is still the party of Life & Traditional Marriage (although, there seems to be a continued rejection within the party of true conservatism). Actually, it is this continued moving within the GOP towards the center/Left that has made a President Trump a very real possibility.

“Having Gov. Huckabee as his VP would make it much more palatable… and quite frankly… be an answer to prayer! This would also solidify my current belief that Mr. Trump is willing to surround himself and be counseled by truly conservative and godly men and women.”

Yet, Executive Director of the Baptist Convention of Iowa, Tim Lubinus, disagrees. And his perspective mirrors that of many #NeverTrump evangelicals. He told me:

“A Trump/Huckabee ticket will change my opinion of Huckabee. Even though we all knew for least a month before the Iowa Caucuses that Huckabee would not prevail this cycle, he has failed to use his considerable God-given talent, skills, and reputation to support the only conservative candidate with a path to the nomination. So far Huckabee seems to be using his resources to undermine rather than support Ted Cruz. If Huckabee joins with a candidate who undermines many of the values that Huckabee claims that he holds, he will make a Hillary Clinton presidency more likely and only confirm my fear that he has made a deal to compromise himself, our Constitution, and our country for a hellish stew of power, fame, and greed.

“Right now, my plan is for neither to get my vote. Anyone who really doesn’t want Hillary to be president should do everything they can to support Ted Cruz.”

While the responses I received are too numerous to cite, perhaps the very best perspective is one offered by J. Matt Barber, Assoc. Dean and Professor of Law at Liberty University. Barber asks if God’s chosen for America, “a King Cyrus? A man, or woman, who has yet to display through word or deed a heart broken and a will surrendered – a life marked by humility and repentance? [If so,] please surround him with men like Daniel.”

Could America’s next leader, Barber asks, be another Saul of Tarsus? If so, he pleads, “Break his/her heart and give us a President Paul. If done before the eyes of the world, oh what a testament to the transformative power of Christ!” He also asks God to spare America from its “just deserts – an unrighteous leader, an Ahab or a Jezebel.”

According to Amann, “When people say to me ‘Never Trump’ I ask them if that opinion would change if Huckabee were on the ticket. The answer is almost always positive.

“What’s more, is that Huckabee understands what the Republican Establishment does not–that there is a revolution underway and Trump is leading it. Trump would do well to add a general like Huckabee to the ticket sooner than later, and then, together, we can say, ‘#Never Clinton’.”

(Listen to a recent interview with the author:)

If these pastors’ responses bear any indication, Huckabee might be a sure bet to help elect a Cyrus or a Paul, rather than a worse successor of America’s current nemesis, Ahab: an evil queen Jezebel. (For more from the author of “Could This Pastor’s vp Pick for Trump Help Defeat America’s Jezebel?” please click HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Mark Levin Just Revealed Surprising Reason GOP May Lose Election – It’s Not What You Think

/93 Comments/in , /by

Talk-show host Mark Levin just issued a dire prediction for the Republicans and their chances of winning the presidential election.

Levin believes it’s not Donald Trump’s mouth that will cost him the election, but rather, his Twitter account . . .

“As a matter of fact, I’m starting to think we’re not going to win. It’s actually been in the back of my mind for some time now,” Levin said. “I fear we’re going to get blown out, and part of it is tactics, and part of it quite frankly is Donald Trump’s tweeting problems.”

Levin is worried Trump is shooting himself in the foot. Adding there’s a sordid strangeness to Trump’s tweets Levin said, “He tweets like he has Tourette’s, like he’s obsessed. Nothing personal, but it gets crazier and crazier, and it’s turning off more and more people.”

Trump’s support among blue-collar workers remains strong, according to recent favorability statistics. But, as Levin pointed out, “These negative numbers are coming in big time. A negative view of Trump: 70 percent of women, 72 percent of millennials, 83 percent of blacks, 77 percent of Hispanics. Here you go, 68 percent of suburbanites.” (Read more from “Mark Levin Just Revealed Surprising Reason GOP May Lose Election – It’s Not What You Think” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Tabloid Allegations Again Fly in a Political Campaign — and Why No One Can Look Away [+video]

/4 Comments/in , /by

By Domenico Montanaro. Once again, the political world is talking about a National Enquirer story.

The last time was during the 2008 presidential campaign when the tabloid alleged that Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards had fathered a child out of wedlock. When the rumor first surfaced, the media largely ignored it . . .

This time around, the story involves Ted Cruz and allegations of multiple extramarital affairs. To be clear, the story quotes none of the alleged women involved nor does it even mention their names. It has not been substantiated by any other media outlet, including NPR.

And despite whether any of it is true, unlike the Edwards story, this one has been harder for the media to ignore. Why? Because Cruz himself brought it up.

“Let me be clear: This National Enquirer story is garbage,” Cruz said, unprompted by questions from any reporters, in an on-camera statement in Wisconsin, where the candidate is campaigning before the April 5 primary there. “It is complete and utter lies. It is a tabloid smear.” (Read more from “Tabloid Allegations Again Fly in a Political Campaign — and Why No One Can Look Away” HERE)

___________________________________

The Remarkable CNN Exchange That Took the Ted Cruz Affair Rumors From the Tabloids Into the Mainstream

By Callum Borchers. If you’re just now hearing the unsubstantiated rumor that Ted Cruz engaged in multiple extramarital affairs, there’s a good reason: Mainstream media outlets had been ignoring the gossip since Wednesday afternoon, when the National Enquirer posted it online.

But by midday Friday, there was no avoiding the smutty story line — not after a Boston Herald columnist and radio host suggested live on CNN that Cruz’s former communications director had slept with her one-time boss, with the former Cruz aide appearing right there with her on live TV . . .

CNN anchor Kate Bolduan, who’s had an eventful couple days on the air, shook her head in dismay as Adriana Cohen, a Trump enthusiast, hijacked a live interview that also included former Cruz spokeswoman Amanda Carpenter and steered it straight into the gutter. Bolduan asked Cohen if she was ready to move on from another unseemly subject — Trump’s tasteless, Wednesday-night retweet that unfavorably compared the physical appearance of Cruz’s wife, Heidi, to that of Trump’s wife, Melania. (Read more from “The Remarkable CNN Exchange That Took the Ted Cruz Affair Rumors From the Tabloids Into the Mainstream” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

The Inside Story of Donald Trump’s Strategy to Protect His Delegates

/1 Comment/in , /by

By Katherine Faulders and Ryan Struyk. As Donald Trump rolls through the political calendar, his campaign has already begun focusing on a new battle that may have a broader set of consequences — finding delegates who will be loyal to his cause at the Republican National Convention . . .

“You try to learn as much as you can about everybody and figure out what makes them tick, what it is they think is important,” Barry Bennett, a Trump Senior Adviser, told ABC’s Chief White House Correspondent Jonathan Karl and ABC’s Political Director Rick Klein on ABC’s Powerhouse Politics podcast.

“We make sure of their ‘woo-ability.’ If they can be wooed they are going to get wooed and they are going to get to know Donald Trump,” he said . . .

Emails obtained by ABC News show the Trump campaign calling on supporters in Michigan to watch for precinct-level delegates who may defect to a rival candidate during a contested convention.

“Are they a true Donald Trump supporter?” an email to supporters asks. “Many impostors that are actually aligned with the establishment will emerge from the woodwork and try to throw off the process.” (Read more from “The Inside Story of Donald Trump’s Strategy to Protect His Delegates” HERE)

______________________________________

Republicans Sour on Way Election Process Is Working

By Frank Newport. Thirty percent of Americans say the presidential election process is working as it should, down from 37% in January. The decline is driven mainly by Republicans’ increasingly cynical views as the campaign season has progressed. The percentage of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents who say the election process is working has fallen from 46% to 30% since January. Democrats’ and Democratic leaners’ views haven’t changed.

The latest update, based on interviewing conducted March 16-17, shows that Republicans and Democrats now have similarly low levels of belief that the election process is working properly, based on their views of the way the presidential campaign is being conducted. This situation differs from what Gallup found in January, when Republicans were much more positive. Since then, the GOP field has narrowed substantially from a large number of candidates to the three still in the race — Donald Trump, Ted Cruz and John Kasich. And the lion’s share of attention is going to the controversial Trump, the clear front-runner at this point. By contrast, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders have remained the two main Democratic candidates all year. (Read more from “Republicans Sour on Way Election Process Is Working” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

GOP Congressman Suggests He Could Vote for Hillary Clinton

/12 Comments/in , /by

Republican Congressman Carlos Curbelo (Fla.) said Thursday he won’t ever support Donald Trump for president, and left the door open to voting for Democratic presidential contender Hillary Clinton instead.

“I think both Donald Trump and Mrs. Clinton are flawed candidates. If you look at the polls, the majority of Americans have negative views on both of them,” Curbelo told a CBS affiliate in Miami. “So I am going to wait and see what happens on our side. But I have already said I will not support Mr. Trump. That’s not a political decision; it is a moral decision.”

Asked point blank if that means he’d vote for Clinton over Trump if it came down to it, Curbelo kept it vague.

“Not necessarily,” he said. (Read more from “GOP Congressman Suggests He Could Vote for Hillary Clinton” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Obama: Don’t Worry If It’s ‘Socialist Theory or Capitalist Theory… Just Decide What Works’ [+video]

/2 Comments/in , /by

Thanks to advances in technology, “You don’t have to settle for the world as it is; you can create the world as you want it to be,” President Barack Obama told young people in Buenos Aires, Argentina on Wednesday. “You have the freedom to build the world in powerful and disruptive ways.”

One of the young community organizers at the town hall picked up on that point, saying she honestly believes that the world needs to change. She asked Obama for his advice on creating social change — in her case, by empowering young people living in poverty.

In the course of answering the question, the president indicated that the “sharp division” between “capitalist and communist or socialist” is starting to blur, and instead of clinging to any one of those ideologies, people should just do what works to create change:

“[S]o often in the past, there’s been a sharp division between left and right, between capitalist and communist or socialist,” Obama said. “And especially in the Americas, that’s been a big debate, right? Oh, you know, you’re a capitalist Yankee dog, and oh, you know, you’re some crazy communist that’s going to take away everybody’s property.

“And, I mean, those are interesting intellectual arguments, but I think for your generation, you should be practical and just choose from what works. You don’t have to worry about whether it neatly fits into socialist theory or capitalist theory — you should just decide what works.” (Read more from “Obama: Don’t Worry If It’s ‘Socialist Theory or Capitalist Theory…Just Decide What Works'” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

U.S. Marines Providing Artillery Fire to Support Advancing Iraqi Ground Troops

/0 Comments/in , /by

Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said on Friday he’s “pleased” to see Iraqi security forces beginning their advance to retake the city of Mosul from Islamic State terrorists, and he said they’re doing it with the help of U.S. Marines on the ground.

Those Marines are providing artillery firepower for the advancing Iraqi troops.

Just five days ago, on Monday, a U.S. military spokesman announced that a 200-strong Marine detachment had been sent to the Makhmour area of Iraq to protect the Americans who are advising the Iraqi troops for the coming battle in Mosul.

The Marines were there for “force protection.” It is not a “combat outpost,” Army Col. Steve Warren told reporters on Monday. But he admitted that could change — and apparently, it has.

On Friday, Carter said, “The U.S. Marines we’ve sent near Makhmour, where Staff Sgt. Carter gave his life, are now providing artillery fire at the request of the Iraqis to help support the ISF (Iraqi Security Forces) advance against the enemy and protect their forces. (Read more from “U.S. Marines Providing Artillery Fire to Support Advancing Iraqi Ground Troops” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

ISIS Supporters Release Video With Exploding Eiffel Tower

/0 Comments/in , /by

By Bridget Johnson. A new video posted online by ISIS supporters shows the Eiffel Tower exploding and crashing to the ground in stylized, video game animation.

The video begins with a river of blood pooling and dripping off a wooden table filled with stacks of American money, guns, knives and bullets.

It’s ripped from a video game, as betrayed by the name of a video game designer with a U.S. company carved in the wood of the animated table.

The video is titled “A message to the Western Kafir [Disbelievers] from the Supporters of the Caliphate.” It’s narrated in English and subtitled in Arabic, and was posted on YouTube and other file-sharing sites.

It included Defense Department footage related to strikes on the Islamic State and news footage of ISIS attacks. (Read more from “ISIS Supporters Release Video With Exploding Eiffel Tower” HERE)

______________________________________

Belgium Fears Nuclear Plants Are Vulnerable

By Allisa J. Rubin and Milan Schreuer. As a dragnet aimed at Islamic State operatives spiraled across Brussels and into at least five European countries on Friday, the authorities were also focusing on a narrower but increasingly alarming threat: the vulnerability of Belgium’s nuclear installations.

The investigation into this week’s deadly attacks in Brussels has prompted worries that the Islamic State is seeking to attack, infiltrate or sabotage nuclear installations or obtain nuclear or radioactive material. This is especially worrying in a country with a history of security lapses at its nuclear facilities, a weak intelligence apparatus and a deeply rooted terrorist network.

On Friday, the authorities stripped security badges from several workers at one of two plants where all nonessential employees were sent home hours after the attacks at the Brussels airport and one of the city’s busiest subway stations three days earlier. Surveillance footage of a top official at another Belgian nuclear facility was discovered last year in the apartment of a suspected militant linked to the extremists who unleashed the horror in Paris in November. (Read more from “Belgium Fears Nuclear Plants Are Vulnerable” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Hillary Wants to Reveal Area 51 Secrets

/3 Comments/in , /by

Hillary Clinton says barring any national security risk, she would like to open up the government files on Area 51 to the public if she is elected president.

“I would like us to go into those files and hopefully make as much of that public as possible,” she told Jimmy Kimmel Thursday night on his late night ABC talk show. “If there’s nothing there, let’s tell people there’s nothing there.”

When Kimmel followed up by asking what she would do if she discovered there was actually something alarming in the files, Clinton replied: “Well, if there is something there, unless it’s a threat to national security, I think we ought to share it with the public.” (Read more from “Hillary Wants to Reveal Area 51 Secrets” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Near Misses Between Drones and Airplanes on the Rise in US, Says FAA

/0 Comments/in , /by

A report of drone sightings from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) shows that despite a new registration scheme, near misses between unmanned and piloted aircraft in American are on the rise. Sightings by pilots and airport officials have steadily increased from less than one a day in 2014, to over 3.5 between August 2015 and January this year, many of them from commercial passenger aircraft.

In the most serious incident, the pilot of an American Airlines jet last September had to swerve to avoid a drone. On September 13, flight 475 took off from Atlanta, Georgia en route to Charlotte, North Carolina. It was climbing to 3,500 ft when the pilot of the Airbus had to take evasive action to avoid a collision with an unidentified unmanned aerial system (UAS) or drone. The pilot told the FAA that he or she “just missed’ the drone.

In another incident in November, a helicopter leaving St Louis Children’s Hospital in Missouri encountered a black and grey drone 1,400 ft above a city centre park. The pilot of the air ambulance reported that he had to make a steep banking turn to avoid the UAS, passing it at less than 100 feet. There were no patients on board, and no reports of any injuries or damage.

In both cases, local law enforcement was notified but no arrests seem to have been made.

Of the 582 sightings of drones reported to the FAA between August and January, there were two other instances where pilots were forced to take evasive action. In October, a helicopter pilot approaching Miami airport had to swerve after a drone approached to within 150 feet. (Read more from “Near Misses Between Drones and Airplanes on the Rise in US, Says FAA” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.