Mark Levin to Romney: Not ‘Standing Up’ for Chick-fil-A Is Wrong

The ever evolving Ethch a Sketch candidate says that standing up for an American businessman whose First Amendment rights are under assault by the radical left is "not part of his campaign;" -- but apparently criticizing the London Olympics is. 

You aren't required to nominate this contemptibly hollow man, Republican delegates. You need not be responsible for yet another disastrous GOP nomination. In an hour of national crisis, is this really the best you can do?

Conservative radio talk show host Mark Levin lashed out at GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney for not “standing up” for Chick-fil-A and demanded that the former Massachusetts governor pick a conservative to be his running mate.

“We want a little bit more than crumbs,” Levin asserted on Monday’s show. “We want a conservative running mate and we want some conservatives who have real speaking time at prime time.”

Levin said he continues to be “very concerned” about Romney, particularly with the candidate’s public reticence in recent days to join conservatives who have made statements and appearances on behalf of the embattled fast-food chain.

Read the rest of this entry at Newsmax >>

Pope Sees "Threats of Unprecedented Gravity" to America's Religious Liberty

Commends Knights of Columbus for defending the rights of all religious believers.

 

"We have a little surprise for you, Mr. President, but you can't open it until November."

 

On Tuesday August 7th the 130th Supreme Convention of the Order of the Knights of Columbus gets underway in Anaheim, California. The Order, founded on the principles of charity, unity and fraternity, will gather together thousands of its members under the banner Proclaim Liberty Throughout All the Land. Below a message to the Convention addressed to Supreme Knight Carl A. Anderson of behalf of Pope Benedict XVI signed by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone.

Dear Mr. Anderson,

His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI was pleased to learn that from 7 to 9 August 2012 the 130th Supreme Convention of the Knights of Columbus will be held in Anaheim, California. He has asked me to convey his warm greetings to all in attendance, together with the assurance of his closeness in prayer.

The theme of this year’s Supreme Convention – Proclaim Liberty Throughout All the Land – evokes not only the great biblical ideals of freedom and justice which shaped the founding of the United States of America, but also the responsibility of each new generation to preserve, defend and advance those great ideals in its own day. At a time when concerted efforts are being made to redefine and restrict the exercise of the right to religious freedom, the Knights of Columbus have worked tirelessly to help the Catholic community recognize and respond to the unprecedented gravity of these new threats to the Church’s liberty and public moral witness. By defending the right of all religious believers, as individual citizens and in their institutions, to work responsibly in shaping a democratic society inspired by their deepest beliefs, values and aspirations, your Order has proudly lived up to the high religious and patriotic principles which inspired its founding.

The challenges of the present moment are in fact yet another reminder of the decisive importance of the Catholic laity for the advancement of the Church’s mission in today’s rapidly changing social context. The Knights of Columbus, founded as a fraternal society committed to mutual assistance and fidelity to the Church, was a pioneer in the development of the modern lay apostolate. His Holiness is confident that the Supreme Convention will carry on this distinguished legacy by providing sound inspiration, guidance and direction to a new generation of faithful and dedicated Catholic laymen. As he stated to the Bishops of the United States earlier this year, the demands of the new evangelization and the defence of the Church’s freedom in our day call for “an engaged, articulate and well-formed Catholic laity endowed with a strong critical sense vis-à-vis the dominant culture and with the courage to counter a reductive secularism which would delegitimize the Church’s participation in public debate about the issues which are determining the future of American society” (Ad Limina Address, 19 January 2012).

Given this urgent need, the Holy Father encourages the Supreme Council, together with each of the local Councils, to reinforce the praiseworthy programs of continuing catechetical and spiritual formation which have long been a hallmark of your Order. Each Knight, in fidelity to his baptismal promises, is pledged to bear daily witness, however quiet and unassuming, to his faith in Christ, his love of the Church and his commitment to the spread of God’s Kingdom in this world. The forthcoming inauguration of the Year of Faith, which commemorates the fiftieth anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council, is meant to deepen this sense of ecclesial responsibility and mission in the entire People of God. His Holiness prays that the celebration of this Year of spiritual and apostolic renewal will inspire in the Knights an ever firmer resolve to profess their baptismal faith in its fullness, celebrate it more intensely in the liturgy, and make it manifest through the witness of their lives (cf. Porta Fidei, 9).

In a particular way, His Holiness wishes me to convey his profound personal gratitude for the spiritual bouquet of prayers and sacrifices which the Knights and their families have offered for his intentions throughout this year which marks the thirty-fifth anniversary of his episcopal ordination. He is pleased to see in this act of spiritual solidarity not only an outstanding testimony of love for the Successor of Saint Peter, who is “the perpetual and visible principle and foundation of the Church’s unity in faith and her communion” (cf. Lumen Gentium, 18), but also a sign of especial fidelity, loyalty and support during these difficult times.

With these sentiments, the Holy Father commends the deliberations of the Supreme Convention to the loving intercession of Mary, Mother of the Church. To all the Knights and their families he cordially imparts his Apostolic Blessing as a pledge of joy and peace in the Lord.

Adding my own prayerful good wishes for the work of the Supreme Convention, I remain

Yours sincerely, Card. Tarcisio Bertone
Secretary of State 

From the Vatican, 19 July 2012

Obama's College Classmate: 'The Obama Scandal is at Columbia'

From The Blaze

By Wayne Allyn Root

I am President Obama’s classmate at Columbia University, Class of ’83. I am also one of the most accurate Las Vegas oddsmakers and prognosticators. Accurate enough that I was awarded my own star on the Las Vegas Walk of Stars. And I smell something rotten in Denmark. Obama has a big skeleton in his closet. It’s his college records. Call it “gut instinct” but my gut is almost always right. Obama has a secret hidden at Columbia- and it’s a bad one that threatens to bring down his presidency. Gut instinct is how I’ve made my living for 29 years since graduating Columbia.

Polish President Accuses Obama of Betraying Poland

The Polish president has accused Barack Obama of betraying Poland by cancelling a promised missile defence system. 

Poland's President Bronislaw Komorowski Photo: AFP/Getty Images

Reflecting Warsaw's long-standing anger over the 2009 cancellation of a controversial Bush-era anti-ballistic missile system President Bronislaw Komorowski said Poland should build its own missile shield to ensure national defence.

"Our mistake was that by accepting the American offer of a shield we failed to take into account the political risk associated with a change of president," said Mr Komorowski in a magazine interview. "We paid a high political price. We do not want to make the same mistake again. We must have a missile system as an element of our defences."

Read the rest of this entry at The Telegraph >>

Wages Now Lower Than in 1968

From Chronicles Magazine

By Tom Piatak

This month (July) the Census Bureau reported that the inflation adjusted median income for male workers was $32,127 in 2010, less than the $32,844 such workers earned in 1968.  There are, of course, many reasons for this prolonged wage stagnation, but chief among them are mass immigration, which began with the Immigration Act of 1965, and free trade, which was given a substantial boost by the Kennedy Round of GATT, also occurring in the mid-1960s.  Unfortunately, despite some rhetorial flourishes, both Barack Obama and Mitt Romney remain committed to both mass immigration and free trade.  So, whoever wins in November, middle class Americans will continue to lose.

Taxing the Rich: The Numbers Inside a Hot-Button Issue

Amid the Debate About Whether and How to Reform the Tax Code, a Look at How the Picture Has Changed

 

President Barack Obama says someone has to pay more taxes if the U.S. is to tame its budget deficit and provide the government he thinks the nation needs. He proposes that the best-off Americans pay more. It's only fair, he says. 

"There are a lot of wealthy, successful Americans who agree with me because they want to give something back," he said in a speech in Roanoke, Va., that set off dueling campaign ads. "Look, if you've been successful, you didn't get there on your own."

His Republican opponent, Mitt Romney, counters that the deficit can be reduced without raising taxes if Washington is tough on spending. He thinks raising taxes on the best-off would be unwise and unfair. "President Obama attacks success, and therefore under President Obama we have less success," he said.

Read the rest of this entry at The Wall Street Journal >>

 

Olympics: Athletes Flock to Daily Mass

From Vatican Radio

Who would have thought that the London Olympics could offer the perfect opportunity to put New Evangelisation into practise? The Catholic Church of England and Wales- that’s who, and in particular the network of Christian Churches and communities in the host city: “I am delighted to be able to report that aside from there being three masses celebrated everyday within the athlete’s village itself, specifically for the athletes and officials, the highest attendance at any of the religious services is at daily Mass. There are a number of athletes and officials from various nations who are coming there every day and they are placing Christ at the beginning and the centre of all they do”, says James Parker, Catholic Executive Coordinator for the 2012 London Games. Listen to James Parker’s full interview with Emer McCarthy: