The American Principle: There Can Be No Blessings Without God in Our Lives

What is the secret ingredient to building a safe, prosperous, and free republic? Separation of powers? Check. Checks and balances? Check. The right balance of federalism? Check. The proper definition of fundamental rights? Check.

Our Founders were all ready to kick off the new republic with much hope (and concern). Yet there was one element missing. During the worst crisis moment of the Constitutional Convention in the humid Philadelphia summer of 1787, when negotiations collapsed over the crafting of Article I of the Constitution, the sagacious and elderly Benjamin Franklin reminded his younger colleagues of the secret ingredient to success that had sustained the nascent republic during the previous 11 years since 1776:

I will suggest, Mr. President, that propriety of nominating and appointing, before we separate, a chaplain to this Convention, whose duty it shall be uniformly to assemble with us, and introduce the business of each day by an address to the Creator of the universe, and the Governor of all nations, beseeching Him to preside in our council, enlighten our minds with a portion of heavenly wisdom, influence our hearts with a love of truth and justice, and crown our labors with complete and abundant success!

There is no foundation to this republic without acknowledgment of God as the source of its blessing

God is not only mentioned in our Declaration of Independence but identified as the source of our “self-evident” inalienable rights. As such, it was quite obvious to our Founders that he is the source of all blessings to the nation that was founded on those self-evident truths. Our nation has been the most successful one in modern history because it was led by people who understood that its success was inextricably linked to beseeching God for his blessings and thanking him when blessings are given.

This point is punctuated by the actual words spoken by Franklin on that fateful Thursday before July 4, 1787, as recorded in Madison’s notes:

In the beginning of the Contest with G. Britain, when we were sensible of danger we had daily prayer in this room for the divine protection. Our prayers, Sir, were heard, and they were graciously answered. All of us who were engaged in the struggle must have observed frequent instances of a Superintending providence in our favor. To that kind providence we owe this happy opportunity of consulting in peace on the means of establishing our future national felicity. And have we now forgotten that powerful friend? I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth — that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid? We have been assured, Sir, in the sacred writings, that “except the Lord build the House they labour in vain that build it.” I firmly believe this; and I also believe that without his concurring aid we shall succeed in this political building no better than the Builders of Babel: We shall be divided by our little partial local interests; our projects will be confounded, and we ourselves shall become a reproach and bye word down to future ages. And what is worse, mankind may hereafter from this unfortunate instance, despair of establishing Governments by Human Wisdom and leave it to chance, war and conquest.

Indeed, 10 years earlier, Samuel Adams drafted a Thanksgiving Proclamation on behalf of the Continental Congress. On December 17, 1777, the colonists marked a day of thanksgiving “to acknowledge with Gratitude their Obligation to him for Benefits received, and to implore such farther Blessings as they stand in Need of.”

Two years after the Constitutional Convention, when George Washington had become president and the fledgling Congress was beginning to create our foundational laws, they turned to God in what would become an annual fall Thanksgiving modeled after the Judeo-rooted biblical holiday of Tabernacle celebrating the fall harvest. On September 25, 1789, the House passed a resolution requesting President George Washington to set aside a “day of public humiliation and prayer,” which was to be observed “by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.”

The biblical roots of Thanksgiving

This day of prayer and thanksgiving to God that Congress called for on September 25, in the words of the great Roger Sherman, was to replicate through the celebration of the Constitution “the solemn thanksgivings and rejoicings which took place in the time of Solomon, after the building of the Temple,” a “precedent in holy writ” he thought “worthy of Christian imitation on the present occasion” (Annals of Congress, 1st Cong., 1st sess., 950).

President Washington issued the proclamation on October 3, to be observed on November 26 that same year. October 3 of that year was actually just one day before the Jewish holiday of Tabernacle, which means its biblical origin was very likely on his mind. Some historians believe the original feast of the Pilgrims in 1621 upon which the holiday was modeled also occurred in early October. It would be reasonable to conclude that the Pilgrims, who referred to their new civilization as “little Israel,” had Biblical Tabernacle in mind.

What was the nature of this public day of prayer? To beseech God “to pardon our national and other transgressions” and “to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue.” The day was grounded in the self-evident and ubiquitous notion of the time that “it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor.”

An enduring American tradition that best characterizes us as a people

The holiday was eventually codified as a regular observance on Thursday at the end of November by Abraham Lincoln in 1863, at the urging of Sarah Josepha Hale. Following in the tradition of Washington, he issued the proclamation on October 3 to be observed on November 26. Hale, “the Godmother of Thanksgiving,” spoke of a fixed date at the end of November because, among other reasons, “harvests of all kinds are gathered in” and the blessings of God are most evident.

Already in 1923, Calvin Coolidge referred to it as a “wise custom” of Americans, from “their earliest days” by “acknowledging each year the bounty with which divine Providence has favored them.” This is why he believed that Thanksgiving Day was “not only one of the oldest but one of the most characteristic observances of our country.”

Why does it capture the essence of our national character more than any other day? As Coolidge wrote in his 1923 proclamation, “On that day, in home and church, in family and in public gatherings, the whole nation has for generations paid the tribute due from grateful hearts for blessings bestowed.” He added the following year that Thanksgiving “has the sanction of antiquity and the approbation of our religious convictions.” “In acknowledging the receipt of divine favor, in contemplating the blessings which have been bestowed upon us, we shall reveal the spiritual strength of the nation.”

Courts use our own history against us and banish God from our lives

September 25, 1789, the day Congress called for Washington’s proclamation, was also the day that Congress passed the Bill of Rights with a joint resolution between the House and Senate, sending it to the states for ratification. So on the very same day that our legislators ordered such a religious prayer of thanksgiving, they passed the First Amendment, which includes the Establishment Clause directing the national government not to establish a religion. Anyone who lived during the time of our Founding clearly understood that this meant just one thing – that government wouldn’t coerce anyone to violate their conscience. As James Madison explained during the initial floor debate on August 20, 1789, Congress should not establish a religion and enforce the legal observation of it by law, nor compel men to worship God in any manner contrary to their conscience.

Yet we now have unelected judges erasing our religious Founding. They use an amendment designed to prevent coercion against conscience to eliminate voluntary recognition of God and religion by our government. Even worse, we have judges establishing paganism as the official religion to downright coerce those who believe in the Bible to violate their conscience with their private property.

Here’s another fun fact of 1789: Just four days prior to President Washington’s October thanksgiving proclamation and four days after both passage of the Bill of Rights and the resolution calling for a day of prayer, the House passed the final version of the Judiciary Act of 1789, which created the entire structure and jurisdiction of the federal judiciary.

No less a figure than John Marshall himself said (Durousseau v. United States, 1810) that implicit in this bill was the exercising of Article III, Section 2, which grants the judiciary only the jurisdiction provided to it by Congress and that this bill placed a “negative on the exercise of such appellate power as is not comprehended within it.”

So let’s get this straight: In the same week that Congress granted the judiciary its jurisdiction, it also passed the Bill of Rights — including the Establishment Clause — and called for a national day of prayer. Now we are told that this same judiciary can remake our culture and borders in every way imaginable by using the Bill of Rights to uproot prayer from our governmental consciousness. It’s gotten so bad that we now have judges saying there’s no religious liberty right to be left alone with your property and conscience, but there is a First Amendment right to immigrate against the consent of an established nation and to perform FGM on someone’s daughter as a “religious” tradition. This is the vile legacy of the disgraceful legal profession that is refuted by the immutable facts of our Founding era, history, and traditions.

We can only turn to God and nowhere else

Many days, it appears that our political problems are insurmountable. Every aspect of our system of governance, sovereignty, culture, history, and traditions has been flipped upside down, made into an Orwellian carcass of the original republic. Nonetheless, although we are so disappointed in what has become of our republic, we must still be thankful that we at least have the freedoms to debate these issues and raise our concerns without being prosecuted for hate speech as in other “western” countries (at least not yet).

Indeed, even in our worst state of affairs, we are still head and shoulders above the rest of the world. As George Washington observed in his 1795 Thanksgiving Proclamation, “When we review the calamities which afflict so many other nations, the present condition of the United States affords much matter of consolation and satisfaction.”

We must use this continued blessing to promote the truth, but in doing so and strategizing our next moves, we must never forget the admonition of Franklin to his colleagues – that a republic cannot be restored without the aid of “the God who governs the affairs of men.”

Despite the sad spiritual and political state of affairs, we must thank God for all the bounty he has given us, blessing this country with unprecedented abundance and wealth. But as Calvin Coolidge noted in his 1925 Thanksgiving Proclamation, not everything is about material things. We must have a spiritual revival. “As we have grown and prospered in material things, so also should we progress in moral and spiritual things,” warned Coolidge. Imagine Coolidge having a vision of today’s Thanksgiving being usurped by the unbridled hedonism and often violence of “Black Friday.”

The only way to maintain our material blessings, restore our political system, and achieve growth in spirituality is by beseeching the Lord of Abraham for guidance in the coming year and thanking him for his existing abundance so that we may merit his blessings. As Coolidge said in 1923, “We have been a most blessed people. We ought to be a most thankful people.”

“Give thanks unto the LORD for He is good, for his kindness endures forever.” —Psalm 136

(For more from the author of “The American Principle: There Can Be No Blessings Without God in Our Lives” please click HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

U.S. Judge Aids in the Horrifying Normalization of Female Genital Mutilation

U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman continues his complicity in the torture of young girls with his dismissal of female genital mutilation charges against multiple doctors who engaged in the barbaric practice.

Violent misogynists have found a friend in Friedman, who continues to make a mockery of the law and bends to the will of the defense attorneys in one of the ugliest ongoing battles in the country. In this historic case, two Michigan doctors stand accused of heading a conspiracy involving six other people for a dozen years to mutilate the genitals of at least nine girls. Although 27 states already have state laws completely banning FGM, the “doctors” are being charged for breaking the federal law that specifically protects minors from FGM.

Judge Friedman is ruling that transporting minors across state lines with the specific intention of soliciting the services of professional torture artists is not covered by the Commerce Clause, and thus, federal law should be stricken down. . .

FGM is slowly invading America, with the rate of girls and women subjected to FGM having tripled in the past three decades, predominately in California, New York, and Minnesota. Interestingly, Minnesota just elected a congresswoman who was one of only four state representatives to vote against a state law that made FGM a felony. Her name is Ilhan Omar.

On its face, the continued rationale of Friedman’s rulings, from removing three mothers who knowingly tricked their daughters into traveling to force them to undergo FGM from the case to now trying to strike down the 22-year-old federal law under the absurd claim that Congress lacks constitutional authority to prohibit professional torture, specifically the kind that pushed at least a handful of minors across state lines, is patently absurd. (Read more from “U.S. Judge Aids in the Horrifying Normalization of Female Genital Mutilation” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Roberts, Trump Spar in Extraordinary Scrap Over Judges

President Donald Trump and Chief Justice John Roberts clashed Wednesday in an extraordinary public dispute over the independence of America’s judiciary, with Roberts bluntly rebuking the president for denouncing a judge who rejected his migrant asylum policy as an “Obama judge.”

There’s no such thing, Roberts declared in a strongly worded statement contradicting Trump and defending judicial independence. Never silent for long, Trump defended his own comment, tweeting defiantly, “Sorry Justice Roberts.”

The pre-Thanksgiving dustup was the first time that Roberts, the Republican-appointed leader of the federal judiciary, has offered even a hint of criticism of Trump, who has several times blasted federal judges who have ruled against him. (Read more from “Roberts, Trump Spar in Extraordinary Scrap Over Judges” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

If We Can’t Stop This Invasion, We No Longer Have a Sovereign Nation

You might not have heard the news overnight, but our national government has been shut down. Yes, that long-dreaded government shutdown is upon us. No, there was no appropriations lapse of 18 percent of the bureaucracies, nor was there a three-inch snowstorm in the nation’s capital. A single district judge thinks he can violate all rules of standing, 130 years of Supreme Court precedent on sovereignty up to and including Trump v. Hawaii, and shut down any effort to secure our border, including the administration’s half-baked plan on bogus asylum.

Despite spending $892 billion on the military and defense, we refuse to assert our rights over our own border because the ACLU and judges evidently control our borders. We continue to allow lawfare to incentivize and actually allow the entirety of Central America to cross our border, along with drugs, gangs, violence, poverty, and possibly diseases.

In every media interview I’ve given, when asked about the future of the caravan, I emphatically said that there was no way Trump would allow any of them to submit “asylum” claims, because if he couldn’t stop such a brazen invasion, it would be the end of his presidency. Nonetheless, I expressed concern that we’d still ignore the dangerous invasion of roughly 1,000-2,000 coming over every day independently smuggled in by coyotes.

Now it appears I was too charitable. We are not even categorically blocking the caravan, and that was before last night’s illegal, lawless injunction from an Obama judge in San Francisco. It appears that the people in the caravan are being allowed to submit claims, 100 a day. I guess slow-motion catch-and-release is better than a mass rush, but why should we be “managing” an invasion rather than repelling it, as required by the Constitution’s Guarantee Clause, Article IV, Section 4? Slow-motion admission is not what Trump promised before the election:

If we can’t stop a belligerent group of economic migrants carrying flags of their “persecutors” and will instead indulge them as questionable asylees, we no longer have a sovereign nation. Mexicans in Tijuana are now vigorously protesting the caravan’s illegal occupation of their own country. The migrants are reportedly smoking weed and throwing garbage in their neighborhoods, after rejecting Mexico’s own offer of asylum, which in itself is a violation of international asylum law.

Here is a video of a Honduran man in the caravan threatening to kill Mexicans and burn Tijuana after residents of Playas de Tijuana demanded that the caravan leave.

Folks, a functioning government would send our military to the San Diego border, not as “confidence builders” for Border Patrol, as Defense Secretary Mattis suggested, but locked and loaded. This is an invasion, plain and simple. Why are we even discussing how many of these applications we should process? What ever happened to the promise to use Trump’s inherent and delegated authority to shut down all border migration for the time being?

The Trump administration deserves credit for its decision yesterday to shut down all northbound lanes and half the pedestrian crossings into the San Ysidro crossing at Tijuana. That will slow down the pace, but still, why are we taking in invaders at any pace? And why is the DOJ even showing up in two separate lawsuits lodged by the ACLU on behalf of invaders, when the most unassailable case law says that A) the president controls who comes into the country; B) foreign nationals have no standing to sue; and C) courts have no jurisdiction to second-guess the executive on exclusions? If after 130 years of settled law on this issue, we are going to allow California judges to destroy our border, that is the ultimate government shutdown.

And this is just the problem with the caravan at the points of entry. The larger problem is the invasion of hundreds of thousands between the points of entry who are helping the drug cartels prosper. In just two days last week, over 650 illegals were apprehended in the Yuma sector. This is just one sector, which means that the pace of the broader border invasion has intensified to well over 1,000 apprehensions a day. And that means there are at least as many we don’t apprehend.

I spoke with Sheriff Leon Wilmot of Yuma County yesterday, and he was frustrated that everyone is missing the point about the lawfare. “We already have a fence here, and it worked fine during Operation Streamline last decade, when we prosecuted 100 percent of the border crossers rather than processing them. But now they are just hanging off the fence and surrendering themselves to border agents.” He told me about women “dropping babies off the fence” and breaking limbs. His sheriff’s deputies must deal with the medical emergencies. “None of these folks are being prosecuted. My deputies are the ones who have to take those rape and robbery reports because the feds refuse to do their jobs.”

Meanwhile, drugs continue to pour over the Arizona border. While most of the drug operations in recent years have been in the Tucson sector, Sheriff Wilmot, who is also the chairman of the Southwestern Border Sheriff’s Coalition, has seen an increase in drugs in Yuma in recent months. “Cartels are exploiting the situation in remote areas by backpacking in meth while border agents are busy dealing with the family units hanging off the fence. They are also exploiting juveniles – both the unaccompanied aliens and the American citizens who have family in Mexico but cross over to go to school on our side of the border.” He lamented that the feds will do nothing about the teenage drug smugglers and that the cartels are fully aware of that.

Now, if the jailbreak bill passes, the traffickers will enjoy multiple leniencies. And a number of sanctuary cities are giving taxpayer funding for “free” legal counsel for illegal aliens. If you or I were attacked by illegal aliens, we’d need to marshal our own resources to seek justice, yet they can invade for free.

Rather than waste the final month of GOP control of the trifecta of government on promoting a bill that releases these very drug traffickers from prison, Trump should shoot for the moon on immigration in the December budget bill. Unless he demands not just full funding for the wall and border patrol, but clarity in statute on asylum, UACs, sanctuary cities, and interior enforcement, his presidency is done, and we will face the ultimate government shutdown: the end of our sovereignty. Unless Trump leverages his veto until Congress reiterates existing law – that courts have no jurisdiction over border security – he should just step down and allow the ACLU to run our border. (For more from the author of “If We Can’t Stop This Invasion, We No Longer Have a Sovereign Nation” please click HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Vet Tweets He’s Going to Kill Himself. Then James Woods Launches Effort to Save Him.

On Monday night, actor James Woods went all-in to help save a suicidal veteran who had tweeted that he was going to kill himself. Although the vet deleted his tweets, a look at Woods’ tweets gives a pretty clear idea of the dialogue Woods initiated and Woods’ efforts to help keep the vet talking while Woods launched a search to find him. In the process, Woods showed his empathy by acknowledging that he, too, like most people, had experienced some depression at one time in his life, and encouraged the vet to hold on so that he could be an inspiration to other vets who experience the same feelings.

(Read more from “Vet Tweets He’s Going to Kill Himself. Then James Woods Launches Effort to Save Him.” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Here’s How Much Turkey It Takes to Feed the Heroes Who Can’t Come Home This Week

American troops stationed around the world will spend their Thanksgiving Day away from their loved ones. Turns out it takes a lot of chow to give our heroes abroad the holiday dinners they deserve.

According to a report at CNBC, the Pentagon has delivered over 300,000 pounds of traditional Thanksgiving food to personnel stationed in places like the Middle East, Africa, and Asia, as well as those currently at the southern U.S. border.

According to the report, the list of food shipped includes:

9,738 whole turkeys

51,234 pounds of roasted turkey

74,036 pounds of beef

21,758 pounds of ham

67,860 pounds of shrimp

16,284 pounds of sweet potatoes

81,360 pies

19,284 cakes

7,836 gallons of eggnog

That’s a lot of food, and the sheer volume serves to remind us just how many of our fellow Americans are currently giving up quality time and annual traditions with their famies in the course of their service.

This year, as you take inventory of all the things you have to be thankful for, don’t forget those who sacrifice to keep this country safe and secure. (For more from the author of “Here’s How Much Turkey It Takes to Feed the Heroes Who Can’t Come Home This Week” please click HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

A Judge Just Ruled Asylum Claims Must Be Accepted Anywhere Along Border

The White House announced earlier this month that migrants hoping to enter the U.S. could only claim asylum at certain points of entry, not just anywhere along the border. Critics accused President Trump of circumventing Congress and rights groups like the ACLU challenged the decision in court. The opponents have now won a short term victory.

Judge Jon S. Tigar of the United States District Court in San Francisco issued a temporary restraining order on Monday blocking the new rule. . .

President Trump has sounded off on the migrant caravan heading toward the U.S.-Mexico border, calling it an “invasion.” He sent about 5,000 troops to the border to prevent the caravan from entering the U.S.

(Read more from “A Judge Just Ruled Asylum Claims Must Be Accepted Anywhere Along Border” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Nineteen States Ask the Supreme Court to Uphold Down Syndrome Abortion Ban

A coalition of 19 state attorneys general filed a friend of the court brief late last week asking the Supreme Court to review and uphold a 2016 Indiana law which bans abortions that are chosen solely due to a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome. The law also bars other discriminatory abortions chosen solely because of other disabilities, biological sex, or race.

Last month, Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill asked the Supreme Court to review the law after the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against the measure, finding it to be “unconstitutional.”

The coalition, led by Wisconsin’s attorney general, argued in the brief that the measure “furthers the State’s compelling interest in prohibiting the discriminatory elimination of classes of human beings by race, gender, or disability.”

“The Seventh Circuit invalidated this law by purporting to find within this Court’s case law a ‘categorical’ right to pre-viability abortion,” the brief noted, “a right that a State cannot infringe no matter how powerful its interest…That conclusion is legally wrong and would perversely place the unenumerated right to pre-viability abortion above even core protections of the Bill of Rights.”

They pointed out that if laws to prohibit discrimination against the Down syndrome community in other areas are under the authority of the state then preventing abortion practices that could eliminate the community should also be within the state’s authority. (Read more from “Nineteen States Ask the Supreme Court to Uphold Down Syndrome Abortion Ban” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

The VA Needs a Lot of Help. These Members of Congress Are Going to Work on… the Motto

File this under “proposals to paint the barn while the house is on fire.” Two members of Congress want to change the VA’s motto to be more gender-inclusive, according to a report from Stars and Stripes.

Currently, the department’s motto is a quote from President Abraham Lincoln’s 1865 inaugural address that reads: “To care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow, and his orphan.”

Instead, Reps. Kathleen Rice, D-N.Y., and Brian Mast, R-Fla., want the new motto to read: “To fulfill President Lincoln’s promise to care for those ‘who shall have borne the battle’ and for their families, caregivers, and survivors,” according to the report.

“The brave women who have worn our nation’s uniform and their families deserve to be equally embraced by the motto of the very agency meant to support them,” reads a statement from Rice’s office last week.

However, days after the proposed motto change was announced, six veterans’ groups called for improvements to the quality of care in the department, citing instances that are “nothing short of horrifying,” while thousands of veterans face the prospect of homelessness because the department has been late in sending out their GI Bill payments.

Let’s face facts: With all the help the VA needs to properly do its job of caring for our nation’s heroes, whether or not the motto is inclusive enough for 21st-century sensibilities ought to be at the bottom of the list, if not at the very bottom.

Supposedly people can walk and chew gum at the same time, but we’re talking about the federal government, where even necessary reforms and changes to programs like the VA are infamously slow and where any minor distraction from those necessary reforms has the potential to completely derailed the task at hand.

But, sure, let’s spend time and resources making sure that a quote from President Lincoln doesn’t leave anyone feeling left out. (For more from the author of “The VA Needs a Lot of Help. These Members of Congress Are Going to Work on… the Motto” please click HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Ivanka Trump’s Lawyer Dispels ‘Misinformation’ in Report That She Used Her Personal Email in a Government Role

Peter Mirijanian, a spokesman for Ivanka Trump’s lawyer Abbe Lowell, replied Monday evening to a Washington Post report that the first daughter, who holds the title of assistant to the president, had sent government emails on her private account.

Mirijanian told the Post that Trump had used her personal account before being briefed on ethics rules.

“While transitioning into government, after she was given an official account but until the White House provided her the same guidance they had given others who started before she did, Ms. Trump sometimes used her personal account, almost always for logistics and scheduling concerning her family,” he claimed. . .

He also addressed the comparisons her email use had been inviting with the personal email use of Hillary Clinton. Clinton’s use of personal email on a private server for government business was a large scandal on the 2016 campaign trail.

“To address misinformation being peddled about Ms. Trump’s personal email, she did not create a private server in her house or office,” he wrote, “there was never classified information transmitted, the account was never transferred or housed at Trump Organization, no emails were ever deleted, and the emails have been retained in the official account in conformity with records preservation laws and rules.” (Read more from “Ivanka Trump’s Lawyer Dispels ‘Misinformation’ in Report That She Used Her Personal Email in a Government Role” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.