Right Side Patriots...Podcast                                            Here's the podcast of last nights LIVE show where Craig Andresen and Diane Sori discussed Trump's signing of an Executive Order calling on states and cities to "remove vagrant individuals" from the streets; acting ICE director warns 'fringe organizations' are using AI to dox ICE agents; Facebook censorship remains on going just in a different guise; and our 'Off the Cuff' segment. Listen to it on https://rspradio1.podbean.com or on our RSP website at https://rspradio1.com - go to podcasts.

RIGHT SIDE PATRIOTS...LIVE!                                                         

Today, Friday, July 25th from 7 to 8:00pm EST, RIGHT SIDE PATRIOTS Craig Andresen and Diane Sori discuss Trump's signing of an executive order calling on states and cities to “remove vagrant individuals” from the streets; acting ICE director warns 'fringe organizations' are using AI to dox ICE agents; Facebook censorship remains on going just in a different guise; and our "Off the Cuff" segment. Hope you can tune in to RIGHT SIDE PATRIOTS on https://rspradio1.com Click 'LISTEN LIVE' starting at 6:50pm EST, show begins at 7pm EST. 

RIGHT SIDE PATRIOTS...Podcast

 

If you missed last nights live broadcast where RIGHT SIDE PATRIOTS Craig Andresen and Diane Sori discussed Biden's D-Day ceremony disaster; Biden's border Executive Order fails on day one; the Hunter Biden gun trial; the possibility that a Trump 'Hush-Money' juror discussed the guilty verdict ahead of time;. and the successful NASA and SpaceX launches....listen to it and past shows at https://rspradio1.com ... go to Podcasts.

 

RIGHT SIDE PATRIOTS...LIVE!

Tonight, Friday, June 7th from 7-8pm EST, RIGHT SIDE PATRIOTS Craig Andresen and Diane Sori discuss Biden's D-Day ceremony disaster; Biden's border Executive Order fails on day one; the Hunter Biden gun trial; and the NASA and SpaceX launches....listen to it at https://rspradio1.com ... click 'LISTEN LIVE.'

 

Op-ed:
Vetting and Votes...Replete With Children Thrown In For Good Measure
By: Diane Sori / The Patriot Factor / Right Side Patriots on American Political Radio

"The United States will not be a migrant camp and it will not be a refugee holding facility”...“It won’t be. You look at what’s happening in Europe, you look at what’s happening in other places, we can’t allow that to happen to the United States. Not on my watch.”
- President Donald J. Trump's so rightful words

Fact: we cannot vet children...I cannot say it any plainer than that especially when you have no proof that the so-called “parents” they arrive at our southern border with are indeed really their parents. But you do know those allowed to stay will become future Democrat voters and that's all that matters to the Democrat hierarchy, especially as they are the very ones who are perpetrating the lie...aided by the media of course...that the current immigration problems we face are Donald Trump's fault.

Children...pawns in this never ending immigration game...a game not new but a game with updated rules replete with internet pictures 'photo-shopped' to tug at the heartstrings of both Democrats and Republicans while painting our president as an unfeeling ogre for how dare he “separate” children from their parents. Well let me tell you President Trump is no ogre for what has become a media feeding frenzy ignores the solution that has always been there...send the supposed “family unit”...children and all...back from whence they came for those who come here illegally, no matter their age...have no constitutional right affording them safe passage nor to the spoils of American citizen's labor.

And while this current crisis of separating children goes back to when Barack HUSSEIN Obama was president... and even before...it was he who used his infamous "pen and phone" to executive order in the Dream Act...an act “promising” children of illegals that he would not enforce immigration laws against them. And how he got away with this is truly amazing as being overlooked is the fact that Obama actually had no legal nor constitutional right to do what he did for a president swears an oath to uphold, protect, and enforce the laws of these United States not to unilaterally change them.

And while we now see President Trump willing to “honor”...if you will...a “promise” that should never have been made in exchange for securing our southern border, know securing the border is something the Democrats will never allow. And why...because as conservatism grows and grassroots anger increases against Democrats and their seemingly “open borders” policies...garnering more votes to try to keep said growth in check and said anger from boiling over as the midterm election looms large coupled with 2020 not so very far away...vote garnering has become Democrat priority number one.

And what better way to do so then to place in the middle of a political maelstrom “on cue” weeping children to draw sympathy from those not with big hearts, but from those with hatred of the man who beat their “anointed one”...those they hope will vote him out next time around.

But another key fact is that this political maelstrom using children as pawns was in no way whatsoever started by President Trump or even by Obama, but by Bill Clinton himself. Ever hear of the Flores Consent Decree which Billy-Boy signed in 1997? Flores was a class-action lawsuit filed against the I.N.S. because of its then in existence policies related to the detention, processing, and release of unaccompanied illegal minors. Flores intended not only to protect all the rights of minors while in I.N.S. custody, but to ensure their “well-being” as well. When the lawsuit was settled in March 1997, it resulted in new I.N.S. policies for the detention, processing, and release of unaccompanied children, stating that said children can be held only 20-days. A later ruling by the Ninth Circuit Court extended this 20-day limit to children who come as part of "family units."

So the Flores Consent Decree allowed children to be separated from their families 21-years ago and it was signed, sealed, and delivered by the Democrats very own Billy-Boy Clinton...and by Democrats then in Congress who are still in Congress today...Democrats who allowed "separation" then but now that Trump is president no longer accept it as fact nor find it desirable...politically desirable in a midterm election year that is.

Hypocrisy rears its ugly Democrat head yet again.

And then there is Barack HUSSEIN Obama, who in his two terms in office followed the Flores Consent Decree as well. In fact, during his second term in office Obama was part and parcel to over 5,000 illegal children being separated from their parents and placed in foster care all because their parents were rightfully being “detained by ICE,” along with the fact that one in four of those adults deported had U.S. born children (anchor babies) and who had lost their parental rights. Where was the Democrat outcry then and why wasn't that problem fixed as it was happening instead of trying to blame President Trump and his “zero tolerance” policy...as in emboldened border security to arrest, criminally charge and take children from any migrant adult who illegally comes into the U.S. Translation: enforce the laws currently on the books.

But Democrats never really cared about separating children from their families. One famous case in point concerns a little 5-year old boy. Remember back to November 21, 1999 when then 5-year old Elian Gonzales, his mother Elizabeth Brotons, and her boyfriend set sail in a 19-foot boat with 11 others from Cardenas, Cuba. The boat sank in the Florida Straits on their way to freedom in the U.S...freedom afforded them under the then in effect 'Wet Foot-Dry Foot' policy...and all but three drowned. Elian, the only child on board, survived by clinging to an inner tube for two days until rescued. Remember how his mother's Miami relatives took Elian in and lovingly raised him as part of their own family.

Remember how his father, a die-hard communist and loyalist of Fidel Castro, suddenly now on Castro's urging wanted his son back...a son he had little to do with as he had a new son with a new wife...and how he created an international “incident” in a back-and-forth child custody battle. Remember how without the benefit of a warrant duly issued by a court of law saw immigration officials on Bill Clinton's and then-Attorney General Janet Reno's orders kicking in the door of the family's private residence...a violation of both the fourth and fourteenth amendments...and at gunpoint ripped the terrified screaming boy from the arms of his mother's loving family and returned him to Cuba to a man who said that Fidel was "like a father" to him.

Remember all that...I surely do for we here in South Florida saw it live on television as it happened and saw the smirk on Attorney General Janet Reno's face while what amounted to a liberal court-condoned kidnapping operation was taking place.

Talk about separating a child from his loving family... where was the outrage from the Democrats then...where was the outrage for that little boy. Sadly, the Democrat's sympathies were with Fidel Castro's puppet-on-a-string father no matter the fact that Castro used the father and the son as political pawns in his game of hate against all things America. And the Democrats, liberal courts, and kumbaya sorts knew they were being played, yet they all still sided with Fidel Castro's communist regime...a regime the young mother and her only son desperately tried to escape from.

But even putting Elian Gonzales and the Flores Consent Decree aside, let's not forget that it was the Obama administration who actually expanded the system of detaining and separating families...usually mothers and their minor children...after a surge of Central Americans tried crossing the border back in 2014. This policy expanding resulted in many minors being detained in a number of locations, in much-criticized conditions, either with or without being separated from their families, and including those who crossed the border alone. And really, what kind of parent would let a minor child embark on such a perilous journey alone...none that I know of and I'm sure none you know of as well.

So where do we go from here...where do we go knowing well that children are still being and will continue to be rightfully separated from their parents...if indeed those are their parents...while asylum hearings take place? And how do we separate partisan rhetoric and bias from the media driven discourse that of course relishes in blaming President Trump for the separating of children from their parents when in fact it all started, like I said above, with the Democrats own Billy-Boy Clinton, and continued under Obama when those crossing our border illegally were put into the criminal justice system with families indeed being separated. So, we start by telling the truth and then backing it up with numbers.

First: Democrats know but choose to now ignore that Obama separated children from their 'supposed' parents throughout his entire presidency. Second: under President Trump those who seek legal asylum are not and will not be arrested nor will they see their children being separated from them. Third: no matter what the media or the Democrats say, it is not now nor has it ever been President Trump who is to blame for the ongoing “separation” of families for the blame lies squarely on the shoulders of the 'supposed' parents for they know well that they will be separated from their 'supposed' children when crossing our still unsecured border.

And why do I keep saying 'supposed' parents and 'supposed' children? How about a few more facts...facts the media does not want you to know: as per D.H.S. Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, “From October 2017 to this February, we have seen a staggering 315 percent increase in illegal aliens, fraudulently using children to pose as family units to gain entry into the country.” Now add in that the “vast, vast majority” of the current 12,000 children in federal custody were actually sent to the southern border with known human smugglers...and according to Nielsen, 10,000 of those 12,000 children were knowingly sent here by their parents with dangerous strangers. And yet “We now care for them. We have high standards. We give them meals, we give them education, we give them medical care. There’s videos, there’s TVs, I visited the detention centers myself.”...Nielsen said.

Fact: some of the 'supposed' families that have been “separated,” while not actually “smuggling” children per se, are still not actual family units but are illegal adults “posing” with children in an attempt to gain asylum in the U.S. And how do we know this...the children do not seem terribly familiar with their 'supposed' parents, and too many 'supposed' family units now crossing the border consist solely of adult males with male children of various ages. Sounds a bit like the muslim 'male' invasion of Europe...albeit now MS-13 style.

“When law enforcement attempts to debrief the adult males with children, they often cannot answer even the most basic questions about their supposed children. The children also rarely appear to know details of their apparent 'fathers,'" and “Only upon their detention do they offer the exact same credible fear of returning home, most of whom say the phrase in the exact same scripted way.” These are the words of an active border agent.

So where does this “separation” issue stand as I write this...Wednesday afternoon at about 3pm EST, President Donald J. Trump signed an executive order...a "stop-gap" appeasement measure really...to keep in place the "zero tolerance" immigration policy (charging the parents who crossed into our country illegally as lawbreakers rightfully putting them into the criminal justice system) while at the same time keeping the 'supposed' families together... possibly "indefinitely."

A rush to judgment and a bowing to political and media pressure, I think, as Democrats use the pictures of crying 'illegally' brought here children to tug on the heartstrings of the kumbaya sorts...all while this executive order...an executive order meant with all good intentions...possibly will not legally be able to accomplish the good of what it is trying to do.

And why...because under the current law families can only be kept together in detention for 20-days...unless the law is changed...before they're released with a "court date" in-hand... with only 3% keeping said date. And all this will happen while the number of illegal 'supposed' families entering our country grows by the day...all this will happen as the other 97% disappear into our country and vote Democratic courtesy of our, for the most part, no-ID required voting laws.

A great solution this executive order is not especially now that some U.S. military bases are being tagged to house the overflow of 'supposed' families...to house illegals possibly "indefinitely" on our taxpayer dime...a dime that actually equates into billions of American citizens hard-earned taxpayer dollars. If military bases are to become housing...even if it's only to be for a designated amount of time...why not instead house homeless veterans who served our country well...that makes more sense and is monies better spent than housing illegals...then housing criminals...I'd say. Too bad that for Democrats it's just all about future votes instead of doing the tight thing.

And finally, yesterday two competing Republican bills were brought to the floor...one a conservative measure that appeals to immigration hard-liners but repels more moderate Republicans, the other the negotiated so-called “compromise bill” that Republican leadership released last week...a bill that would trade "separation" and DACA for $25 billion going towards building the wall. Neither bill is a good solution, and while the more hard-lined bill failed the "compromise bill" has been delayed for further "discussion"..."discussion" when the solution is really quite simple and so sadly overlooked.

Again...send them all...mother, father, and children in tow...the entire supposed "family unit"...send them back from whence they came...let them fight to make their own countries right like we fought for ours...and end the invasion for that is what this is. End our hard-earned taxpayers dollars going to folks who are basically being enticed to come here solely to pad the Democrat's voting rolls while getting freebies and handouts in return. End it all and do so now for like President Trump says "it's the democrats fault"...and guess what...after 21-long years of "obstructionist" Democrats doing nothing and saying nothing about these children...he's totally right.

And might I add...American children...American veterans...American citizens...and legal immigrants first...always.

Copyright @ 2018 Diane Sori / The Patriot Factor / All Rights Reserved.

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For more political commentary please visit my RIGHT SIDE PATRIOTS partner Craig Andresen's blog The National Patriot to read his latest article A Simple Solution for Illegals and Liberals

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RIGHT SIDE PATRIOTS...LIVE!

Today, Friday, June 22nd from 7 to 9pm EST on American Political Radio, RIGHT SIDE PATRIOTS Craig Andresen and Diane Sori discuss 'Vetting and Votes...With Children Thrown In For Good Measure'; 'A Simple Solution for Illegals and Liberals'; and important news of the day.

Hope you can tune in at: http://listen.samcloud.com/w/73891/American-Political-Radio#history

Op-ed:

DACA and Guns...Two Hot-Button Issues of Contention

By: Diane Sori / The Patriot Factor / Right Side Patriots on American Political Radio

“The DACA program — which provides work permits and myriad government benefits to illegal immigrants en masse — is clearly unlawful.”

- White House Deputy Press Secretary Raj Shah

The Democrats are rejoicing as they wildly applaud the Supreme Court justices decision not to take up the Trump administration's “preemptive strike” appeal of a lower court's order to continue accepting renewal applications for all DACA recipients. Originally set by Trump to see DACA (the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program) being phased out starting this upcoming March 5th, the Democrats still fail to closely examine the high court's actual decision itself for if they did they would see that they won not a thing accept the buying of a bit more time to grandstand for those...the 'so-called' Dreamers...they only care about for their votes.

Saying that with the Supreme Court justices letting stand Obama's executive ordered in DACA program...the very program that allows illegals brought to the U.S. as young children to continue to apply for both work permits and protections from deportation...what the Democrats forget is that the justices actually sent the case back to the San Francisco based 9th Circuit Court of Appeals hoping that the lower court would reconsider federal judge William Alsup's injunction to keep DACA in place. And why reconsider...because Judge Alsup took it solely upon himself to rule that President Trump's repeal was based upon what he considered a “flawed legal premise”...which it was not...and thus he ruled that the Trump administration must “maintain the DACA program on a nationwide basis” no matter that it was the very program that Congress had explicitly and repeatedly rejected as a “usurpation of legislative authority.” 
 

And if the letter of the law is to be followed...if the Constitution is followed...Trump's wanted phase out leading to repeal was and is anything but “flawed,” and should in the end have legal standing as it was Obama's executive ordered in DACA program that was illegal to begin with. So the question is why can't Trump executive order DACA out...logic and the law says he should be able to repeal something that is in and of itself illegal.

But first, why exactly is DACA illegal and why is the judge's ruling itself a “flawed legal premise”... because under our Constitution Congress has “plenary authority” over immigration...meaning Congress alone has complete and absolute power to take action on a particular issue with no limitations, in this case immigration. The president, on the other hand, only has the authority delegated to him by Congress and Congress never gave then-President Obama the power to provide what is called “pseudo-amnesty” and government benefits to illegals...which is exactly what his DACA program did.

And Obama knew that he lacked the constitutional and the legal authority to implement said DACA program and yet he still went ahead and did it. In fact, Obama admitted back in 2011, when he first brought up the idea of DACA, that DACA was actually unconstitutional. Saying that he really could not legally "just bypass Congress and change the (immigration) law myself... That's not how a democracy works," remember that in Obama's mind democracy and the Constitution be damned.

And so in 2012, Obama went ahead and put DACA in place via executive order, thus unconstitutionality providing the above stated “pseudo-legal status” for illegal minors brought to our country by their knowingly law breaking illegal parents. Promising them they would not be deported as well as providing them with work authorization and access to Social Security and other government benefits like welfare and Medicaid...promises he had no legal right to make...Obama willfully and with malice ignored all previous immigration laws passed by Congress...laws that did not give this president nor any president the ability to do so. In fact, Congress has rejected other bills to provide illegals just such benefits.

But why do I say with malice...because by Obama's implementing DACA he knowingly and willingly took jobs away from hundreds of thousands of legal Americans by his now allowing those same jobs to go to illegals.

And then to make matters even more grievous and snub his nose at our Constitution yet again, in 2014, again via executive order, Obama sent in motion what he called DAPA (the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents program). And this program would also provide those DACA parents who have lived in the U.S. since 2010, with what was now being referred to as an “administrative amnesty,” while also giving them renewable three-year work authorizations and access to many other government benefits...benefits similar to those received by illegals now already covered under his constitutionally illegal DACA program.

But thankfully in the case of DAPA, numerous states filed lawsuits regarding what they considered the unconstitutionality of Obama's actions leading to a 2015 temporary injunction blocking DAPA from going into effect while the states lawsuits worked their way through the courts. And thankfully, in June 2016, the Supreme Court split in a 4–4 decision thus leaving the block in place allowing for now President Trump to finally rescind DAPA on June 1, 2017.

In other words, one constitutional battle won leaving one constitutional battle to go.

But know that DACA suffers from exactly the same constitutional “challenges” as DAPA did and as such, I believe, as do many others, that President Trump has every legal right afforded him under the Constitution to negate...in this particular case to phase out...an unconstitutional executive order put in place by a president who willfully did not honor the very document he swore his allegiance to.

So how do we constitutionally solve the conundrum of DACA when blue states want DACA kept in place so those recipients continue to receive benefits in return for their voting the Democrat party line... never forget it's all about votes...we solve it in the way the illegal issue should have always been dealt with...we debate it in the very halls of Congress and institute a constitutionally sound legislative “fix”...a "fix" not involving the White House where it never had any business being in the first place.

But by not allowing...actually by not forcing...Congress to fully negate Obama's unilateral and so unconstitutional overreach...two dangerous precedents would be set...first would be a precedent that weakens our constitutionally mandated balance of powers and second would be a precedent that would actually jeopardize our constitutional republic itself. And we all know President Trump rightfully would never allow that.

So in the end, and only time will tell, I do believe that the DACA issue will be resolved in President Trump's favor by the Supreme Court (if not before by Congress itself) as the 9th Circuit Court rarely reverses its decisions. And Trump also knows well that the justices sending it back to the lower court was nothing but a “procedural ruling” that follows the law as laid out in the Constitution...something our Democrat friends are more than willing to ignore.

And something else the Democrats ignore...most willingly I assure you...is that 'We the People's' Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms is something that will not go away. They can whine and scream all they want but the facts are that the NRA kills no one...guns do not kill people, people kill people...and its he or she who pulls a trigger that is the guilty party alone in any deaths that may occur. The sooner Democrats and some bleeding hearts supposedly on our side accept these facts the safer we will all be.

And while the Democrats are always trying to disarm we law abiding citizens, it always seems to reach a crescendo right after a mass shooting occurs, especially when said shooting involves children as the victims. But they would be wise to know that the Second Amendment is something we Republicans (minus the RINO's of course), we Conservatives, and we Constitutionalists will protect with our lives if need be.

The Constitution is sacred to us...after all it's the law of our land...and it's what protects us from a chance that our government will run amok for it protects us against the type of government our Founders and Framers rebelled against in order to create this country...this republic. And it's the Second Amendment that gives us both a physical and tangible way to protect ourselves and our loved ones from those wishing to us harm.

Simply put...we need more good guys with guns, beyond just the police, to protect us from bad guys with guns...and at times that includes protecting ourselves from government officials who know that by we citizens merely being in possession of guns is what helps keep our government in check. But unfortunately, as we are now seeing in the weeks after the February 14th Parkland, Florida school shooting, sometimes that does not keep our politicians in check...obviously the gun control spewing Democrat politicians but sadly now including Republican politicians supposedly but no longer on the Constitution's side.

And it so pains me to say this but one of those Republican politicians is my own Florida Governor Rick Scott...a man who should indeed know better especially after his having to face that 17 innocents lay dead on his watch. And why do I say this...it's because Governor Scott recently said on FOX News Sunday that he will not support President Trump's plan to arm specially trained teachers with guns...as in he will not support a common sense solution of teachers being able to level the playing field by being able to fight back against those wishing to them and their students harm.

So what is my governor's solution to keeping Florida's students and teachers safe...it's a six-step band-aid plan that first, increases funding to protect schools...second, puts the focus in Florida on strengthening law enforcement... third, tightens gun restrictions on those with mental health issues...fourth, raises the legal age to buy any gun to 21...fifth, bans the sale of bump stocks (the added on device that allows a gun to fire like an automatic)...and lastly, Scott's plan includes what he calls a “red flag law” which would allow families or authorities to go to court and request guns be taken away from someone they think is a threat because of mental illness or threatening statements they’ve made.

In other words what Gov. Rick Scott wants is a Republican version of the Democrat's calling card known as 'gun control.'

And while Gov. Scott freely admitted that there are some states where teachers already are armed, he still misguidedly wants the main focus in Florida to be strengthening law enforcement. Saying that, "I have $500 million expectations out of my legislature. I've been talking to them all weekend. I'm going to focus every day on making sure we get that money and we get the law enforcement and we get the mental health counselors. We're going to do the right things in our state," what Gov. Scott forgets is that mental health councilors mean not a thing when it's the mentally ill who most easily slip through the bureaucratic cracks just like Parkland's Marjorie Stoneman Douglas shooter Nikolas Cruz did.

You can read all about those bureaucratic cracks and the need for mental health records being a mandatory part of background checks in my article More Guns Not Less Guns that was published on February 23rd.

Continuing to spout his band-aid fix, Gov. Rick Scott said that, "I believe we ought to make sure we have law enforcement presence, we make sure they're trained”..."I want to make sure that all our budgets go through our sheriff's departments to make sure that they know how the money is going to be spent, because they're responsible for our law enforcement." Oh really, honestly I don't care how the monies are spent for the only thing that will give parents a true sense of security is knowing that teachers have a chance to protect their precious children by fighting back, because in the time it takes for the police to be called and then to arrive could see it being their child who is shot dead.

And know that President Trump is right in defending his on-the-table proposal to arm specially trained teachers saying he believes "retribution" is the only way to prevent more school shootings. And he's one hundred percent correct with that because the shooter would now be aware that there's a good chance of his being the one shot dead, and that will be a possible deterrent to school shootings happening again. But notice I did not say from never happening again because mental stability for some, no matter the mental help gotten or the anti-psychotic drugs taken, is tenuous and fleeting at best. And dare we forget the bureaucratic cracks...always present...always ready to be slipped through whether it be through incompetency or simple unintentional paperwork mistakes.

And while Gov. Scott, who by the way is an NRA member and who now wants to be Florida's next senator, does understand that we must make sure that guns...that firearms of any kind...must be kept out of the hands of the mentally ill...nothing in Rick Scott's proposals are strong enough to do so. And so the man who recently said that, “I’m a dad, I’m a granddad, and I’m a governor. I want my state to be safe. I want every child to be in a safe environment,” might see his heart being in the right place, he sadly still misses the point that the only way America's children will be relatively safe while in school is to have guns put into the hands of teachers, otherwise all our children will remain sitting ducks.

DACA and guns...two contentious issues...two issues that can be successfully resolved if only our politicians on both sides of the aisle would look passed their party's and their personal agendas...after all that's exactly what they were elected to do.

Copyright @ 2018 Diane Sori / The Patriot Factor / All Rights Reserved.

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RIGHT SIDE PATRIOTS...LIVE! 

Today, Friday, March 2nd from 7 to 9pm EST on American Political Radio, RIGHT SIDE PATRIOTS Craig Andresen and Diane Sori discuss the two hot-button issues of DACA and guns; another aspect of the Parkland school shooting; and important news of the day.

Hope you can tune in at:http://listen.samcloud.com/w/73891/American-Political-Radio#history

Op-ed: 

An Executive Order That Might Not Be in the Best Interest of Our Country

By: Diane Sori / The Patriot Factor / Right Side Patriots on American Political Radio

‘Separation of church and state’ has once again come to the forefront of American politics with last Thursday’s signing by President Trump of a new executive order that expanded religious rights...a move that could very possibly redefine the role of religion in ‘We the People’s’ day-to-day life. And yet that order did not go far enough for some far right conservative who had expected even more...more as in measures leading up to a theocracy perhaps.

No one is ever happy it seems and everyone tries to push the envelope...as in give an inch, try to take a mile.

Now as for the Trump order itself...it must be understood that this executive order did not change any rules currently on the books as it simply instructed the IRS to stop investigating religious groups who preach politics from the pulpit...a move that obviously had Evangelicals loudly cheering. Saying it was a victory for religious freedom and for free speech, it now has leaders of more liberal-minded Christian and Jewish denominations fearing that worship services will soon become nothing but ‘worked into a frenzy’ political rallies.

So which side is right? 

To answer that question and understand exactly what President Trump’s executive order really intended, we first must look at what some believe is meant by ‘separation of church and state’ and the truth of what it does mean via the words of our Founders and Framers...words you an see President Reagan understood well.

First, know that the actual words ‘separation of church and state’ are not in the Constitution but the idea and intent of ‘separation’ is. Article VI provides that all state and federal officials "shall be bound by oath or affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States,” and the First Amendment's Establishment Clause means that neither a specific church nor a specific religion can become the official faith of these United States. 

On the other hand, the Free Exercise Clause states that Congress shall not make laws "prohibiting the free exercise" of religion. In other words, one can freely practice their chosen religion but one cannot try to force their chosen religion or its tenets and doctrines on government operations nor on the public at large.

And all this brouhaha over what role religion is to play or not to play in American political life is not the sole property of today’s politicians for the questioning of this issue started when our nation was young with Thomas Jefferson’s January 1, 1802 letter to the Danbury, Connecticut Baptists and his three key words “walls of separation.” Written to assure their leaders that the Establishment Clause had been put in place to protect them and others of faith, the simple truth is that by 1802, ‘separation of church and state’ was already deeply rooted in both American religious and secular history.

 

In fact, James Madison had already written that government involvement with the church "implies either that the civil magistrate is a competent judge of religious truth; or that he may employ religion as an engine of civil policy. The first is an arrogant pretension falsified by the contradictory opinions of rulers in all ages, and throughout the world: the second an unhallowed perversion of the means of salvation." In other words, Madison felt that the use of religion by political leaders for their own ends was a danger both to the faithful and to what he called the “peace of society”...the very basis of the Constitution.

And let’s not forget the words of retired conservative Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor who in 2005 wrote that, "Those who would renegotiate the boundaries between church and state must therefore answer a difficult question: why would we trade a system that has served us so well (the Constitution) for one that has served others so poorly?"...as in religion has not always served those who believe or our country well. 

Remember, our Founders and Framers, with some being men of faith also saw others being deists, hence not all were followers of Christ for if all were, and if Christianity was intended to be the religion of this nation, why then were the words ‘God’ and ‘Jesus’ not in the Constitution, and why is religion only referenced as something not to be a factor in government as in the afore mentioned "religion will not be a test for public office."

 

Why...that probably harks back to the words of the Declaration of Independence itself which states, “When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation,” meaning that our Founders and Framers clearly did not put religion over science (ie, the "Laws of Nature") nor science over religion but treated them equally under the eyes of the law...with equally being of paramount importance.

And while they did include the word ‘Creator’ in the Declaration of Independence as in “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”...it does not necessarily allude solely to the Christian God for the word 'God' and the word 'Creator' does mean different things to different people, as referenced by the Founders and Framers very words "their Creator" not 'the Creator.'

Simply, when all this is melded together into one cohesive whole, it should become obvious that the intent of our Founders and Framers was to allow everyone to believe as they wished in regards to religion, but that the government must not endorse or favor one religion over another nor must any religion dictate law to the government...and that, I believe, is the true meaning of ‘separation of church and state.’

And so our Founders and Framers intended that the Constitution alone be the law of the land and not the Holy Bible. And again why...because they knew the Bible was open then and would be open in the future to the interpretations of the individual while the Constitution was to be adjudicated as written with its intent, when questioned, left to the Supreme Court alone to decide. And let’s not forget that they intended for the ‘separation of church and state’ to be as much for the protection of the Church as it was to be for the protection of the state, because they knew that if the Church can dictate state matters, the state in turn could dictate to the religious how their religion is to be practiced....something the religious far right has not yet realized.

And I am not talking about things like ‘wedding cakes’ and ‘pizza parlors’...which are social issues and as such belong to the states alone...but in the actual way one practices their Christian faith as in when churches are to be open and how and when one prays. And know that nowhere in today’s America is any Christian prevented from going to Church, praying in Church, or praying in their homes. And while outwardly praying in public places remains a hot topic of debate, one is free to silently pray at the time or place of their choosing. 

So, how does all this relate to the executive order just signed by President Trump?

First, you need to understand that what President Trump signed was simply an easing of federal restrictions on some political activities by religious groups thus “promoting free speech and religious liberty.” The final version of the order addressed two key issues alone...it instructed the Internal Revenue Service “not take any adverse action against any individual, house of worship, or other religious organization” that endorse or oppose candidates from the pulpit (and know that this applies only to advocating for or against a specific candidate...taking positions on issues has always been permitted)...and it instructs the Departments of Treasury, Labor, and Health and Human Services to "consider amending" regulations in the still in effect ObamaCare (the American Health Care Plan must still pass in the Senate before becoming law) that requires most employers to cover contraception in employee insurance plans. 

Now let me say that I wholeheartedly support the second part of this order...and I am happy that the Catholic nuns known as the Little Sisters of the Poor won their case against ObamaCare...as I believe the government has no business whatsoever in any part of our reproduction process from the forcing on us of contraception to the act of abortion, and that includes having our taxpayer dollars pay for said abortions...for I truly believe that if you want an abortion you must pay for it yourself and let your conscious and your God deal with the aftermath of what you have done.

Now as for the first part...while Trump’s executive order directs the government “to vigorously enforce Federal law’s robust protections for religious freedom,” nowhere does it state exactly what protections for religious freedoms it alludes to. Therefore, does it mean muslims have the religious right, as per islamic/sharia law, to perform female genital mutilation...it very well could and also could see cases currently before the courts regarding this practice to be thrown out based upon religious grounds.

And know this executive order...an order less than some religious leaders had hoped for...was issued to be a first step toward fulfilling one of President Trump’s campaign promises made to social conservatives whose votes he needed to get elected but who still refuse to understand and accept as fact that the social issues belong solely to the states. But what is scary to me is that on Wednesday night at a small dinner party at the White House before Trump’s announcement was made, former Liberty University Vice President Johnnie Moore tweeted that "it truly is an amazing evening. Evangelicals feel right at home in the @WhiteHouse.”

A specific religion feels right at home in the very House that should show no preference for any religion...dangerous grounds being trod upon I would say.

And while Moore and his fellow Evangelicals relish in this new order, other far right conservatives say that it does little in actuality because while it overturns the prohibition on pastors endorsing or opposing political candidates from the pulpit it still requires an act of Congress relating to approval, and because the IRS still has flexibility in what it chooses to enforce. Citing the order’s words “exercise maximum enforcement discretion of the prohibition,” which alludes to the Johnson Amendment...the provision in the U.S. tax code that prohibits all 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations from endorsing or opposing political candidates...including Houses of Worship...these folks remain unhappy that the issues of gay marriage and gender were not touched upon.

And while more moderate conservatives believe this belly-aching is nothing but Evangelicals wanting a license to discriminate against any and all who do not agree with their beliefs...I must admit that I agree with the moderates on this as once again the Evangelicals refuse to understand that these gender and lifestyle issues are state’s issues and cannot be part of federal executive orders. And they willingly choose to forget that the Supreme Court’s ruling regarding gay marriage concerned legal matters only, and did not touch upon the religious aspect of this union.

So, how does this executive order breach the ‘separation of church and state’ issue?

With America being one of the most religiously tolerant countries in the world, and while President Trump did open the door to future policy shifts when he directed Attorney General Jeff Sessions to "as appropriate, issue guidance interpreting religious liberty protections in Federal law," ACLU Executive Director Anthony D. Romero questioned the order’s infringing upon the long-held ‘separation of church and state’ intent saying that, “The actions taken today are a broadside to our country’s long-standing commitment to the separation of church and state. Whether by executive order or through backroom deals, it’s clear that the Trump administration and Congressional leadership are using religion as a wedge to further divide the country and permit discrimination. We intend to file suit today.”

And it seems the majority of Americans if not outright agreeing with him do understand the intent and need for ‘separation of church and state’ and how it has kept our country from becoming a theocracy. In fact, as per a 2016 Pew Research Center survey few want the previously stated Johnson Amendment repealed. According to said survey 71% of Americans oppose allowing houses of worship to endorse political candidates while maintaining their tax-exempt status. In fact, only 36% of white Evangelicals support enabling churches to support candidate, mainline white Protestants hold at 23%, Catholics at 25%, and black Protestants at 19%.

And here’s a fact the religious hardliners do not want known...in an open letter to President Trump, 1,300 faith leaders opposed his executive order, including its possible weakening of the above stated Johnson Amendment.

So what does this all mean...it means that this executive order...no matter President Trump’s words that “We are giving churches their voices back”...knowingly or not puts the wishes of a small sector of the religious far right above the wishes of the many, thus actually compromising the true meaning of religious freedom as it allows a small but very vocal religious minority to play politics and doing so while hiding behind the guise of religion as they will continue to discriminate against those who do not live up to their religious tenets and dogma. 

And that indeed violates the intent of ‘separation of church and state’ and can lead us down a very dangerous path towards a theocracy...something our Founding Fathers never wanted or intended us to be.

Copyright © 2017 Diane Sori / The Patriot Factor 

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RIGHT SIDE PATRIOTS...LIVE! 

Today, Tuesday, May 9th from 7 to 9pm EST on American Political Radio, RIGHT SIDE PATRIOTS Craig Andresen and Diane Sori discuss President Trump's executive order regarding religious freedoms; white privilege and racism: and important news of the week.

Hope you can tune in at:  https://americanpoliticalradio.com/archived-media/