Punishment For THEM? Where Oh Where To Begin?

But Jesus called the children to him and said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these."   — Luke 18:15-17

Yes, It Was The Right Thing To Do 'For Cause'

Sen. @RandPaul on former CIA Director John Brennan: "I think he should have had his clearance revoked for cause. He leaked information." @IngrahamAngle pic.twitter.com/el3ZgiA1vX

— Fox News (@FoxNews) August 17, 2018

What Do THESE Cities All Have In Common?

This has bee making the rounds and it's definitely worth sharing . . .
Last time a Republican was Mayor in the following cities: 

Atlanta 1879 

Chicago 1931 

Baltimore 1967 

Detroit 1962 

New Orleans 1872 

Pittsburgh 1934 

Seattle 1946 

Philadelphia 1952

 Cincinnati 1971 

No wonder they have high crime, failing schools, and are all bankrupt.

The record of Democrat urban America is one of abject FAILURE!

His Remarkable Journey Will Inspire You!

He's a college professor, an ordained Baptist minister, a business executive, an author and a nationally recognized public relations professional.
His journey from West Philly, through Central High School, Duquesne University and Palmer Theological Seminary led him all the way to the White House where he was honored as a Champion of Change in 2012. 
Click here to watch Dan Cirucci's chat with David W. Brown, one of Philadelphia's most accomplished professionals. His remarkable story showcases the good things that are happening in a city that needs more people like him!

What We Learned; Why We Won't Turn Back

Here are a few thing some people would do well to remember:
If you criticize President Trump he WILL respond -- usually in kind. 

He's a feisty Noo Yawkah who takes no gruff.  He's not artificial, not cosmetic and not created by pollsters and consultants. What you see is what you get, and that includes his reactions and responses. He's authentic. 

For far, FAR too long Republicans have followed a "turn the other cheek" policy and it has not served them well. They've been bashed and maligned by icons of the popular culture (movie stars, authors, musicians, artists, entertainers, etc.) as well as the media and academia.

And Republicans responded meekly or not at all. 

This happened either because they themselves were too averse to real combat and/or they were following the advice of highly-paid, blow-dried consultants. 

This approach has allowed a media/pop culture/academia cabal to set the agenda. They've mostly had a free ride -- all liberal chatter (and much liberal deceit) all the time. 

McCain and Romney and H. W. Bush let the liberals roll them -- and they all lost.

Remember how H. W. Bush buckled under pressure and agreed to Democrat tax cuts? How about the time McCain actually defended Obama while he was running against him? And who can forget how Romney allowed Candy Crowley and Obama to snooker him during that debate.

Those days are now over. 

Do I agree with President Trump every time he responds or in the way he responds? No, of course not. He's no angel. But I'm glad that the days of being routinely cowered by devious liberal loudmouths are finally over.

The point is that when Republicans run we don't just run against Democrats but we run against the Dems, establishment media (90% liberal), academia (90% liberal), big labor (90% liberal) and the arts and entertainment community (90% liberal).

It you're not aggressive (and incredibly media savvy) this mob will simply blow you away. 

So, we learned. 

We're not playing bean bag anymore.

The Shocking Truth About Their Descent!

Consider the two quotes that follow, one from the son in 2018 and the other from the father in 1984 - both Democrats, both governors of New York. Read them and realize how very far left the Democrat Party has turned, how seemingly hostile to America it appears to have become and how far it has fallen out of the mainstream of American life.


"It all comes down to this. We're not gonna make America great again. It never was that great." -Andrew Cuomo


Mario Cuomo quote courtesy of Jos Sarno.

The Quibbles Are Few And Far Between . . .

Tale as old as time . . . 
Well, no -- we're not talking about Beauty and the Beast. No quite, anyway.
But we are talking about a story of transformation -- one that does involve a mismatched pair. But this is a story with an ending that is neither happily-ever-after nor obviously definitive.
Still, it is an old an enduring tale -- one that has its roots in Greek mythology.
It's George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion, the story of that endlessly captivating pair, Eliza Doolittle and Professor Henry Higgins. She, the common, oafish, poorly-educated mangler of the English language and he, the erudite, sophisticated, condescending defender of the Mother Tongue.
When composer Frederick (Fritz) Loewe and lyricist Alan Jay Lerner set out to turn Shaw's play into a Broadway musical, they found themselves facing a puzzle they almost could not solve. How do you convert such a loquacious piece of theater into a pop operetta? They wrestled with this dilemma for a very long time. And then Lerner (who also wrote the libretto for the show) got out of the weeds and discovered a solution that was right in front of them: wherever possible, turn Shaw's words into songs and integrate them seamlessly into the story.
The result is My Fair Lady, one of the most endlessly chatty and enormously successful musicals in Broadway history -- so successful, in fact, that it's been called Broadway's "most beloved musical".
But for all of its appeal, My Fair Lady doesn't deliver a classic Broadway sound. To begin with, it remains veddy British. And, the music veers between an English music hall sound and the mannered patter of a proper drawing room. It's sort of a mash up of Lionel Bart, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Anthony Newly with a bit of Noel Coward thrown in. Yet, it remains distinctly its own property.
From the bombastic I'm Getting Married in the Morning to the lush I Could Have Danced All Night; from the rigid and repetitive Rain in Spain to the rapturous On The Street Where You Live, My Fair Lady covers all the bases and in the process plays on both our sensibilities and our heartstrings.

In its new Broadway production at Lincoln Center's Vivian Beaumont Theater, this captivating musical gets a full, glorious treatment with a cast of 37 and an orchestra almost as large. Under the able direction of Bartlett Sher, the entire production moves along like a well-oiled and very precise British timepiece.
What we're treated to is a bit more adept Eliza in Lauren Ambrose (she's certainly got her wits about her) and a younger, perhaps less brittle Higgins in Harry Haddon-Patton. To be sure, they're quite a match and they do go at one another along a choppy road dotted with malapropisms, brickbats and an ample dose of verbal daggers. Of course, it's still hard not to think of Rex Harrison (we saw a revival with Harrison years ago) and Julie Andrews in the lead roles. But this is an updated edition with an Eliza who's more of a peppered redhead and a Higgins who is lithe and stylishly handsome.
And, the supporting cast is so adroit that the big show stoppers like I'm Getting Married are not only intact but they're actually better and more energetic than we remember them. Here, the credit must go to  Christopher Gatelli's fine choreography and the standout performance of Norbert Leo Butz as Eliza's father, Alfred P. Doolittle. Butz is an absolute Broadway treasure -- a performer who radiates such energy and who so completely inhabits a role that he takes your breath away. The joy that he takes in his performance is palpable and it is a highlight of the show. And what a special treat it is to see Diana Rigg as Mrs. Higgins, the wise an imperious materfamilias who still holds sway over her smug and irascible son. Rigg doesn't overplay the role but rather sets just the right tone. And Michael Yeargan's design of Higgin's stately abode is simply a three-dimensional treasure.
Do we have any quibbles with this grand production? Well, yes. Jordan Donica as Freddy is a bit too giddy and somewhat too operatic in his deliver of On The Street Where You Live. It's all up here when it should be more nuanced. The song needs to be acted rather than belted. And Allan Corduner is a tad too fey as Colonel Pickering. On top of all that, Catherine Zuber's costumes are not terribly memorable. But than again, who could possibly top Cecil Beaton?
To be sure, these are minor objections since, overall this is as fine a production as you are likely to currently see.

And now comes the spoiler alert: We all know that the final scene of My Fair Lady can be wonderfully touching and romantic for some (Eliza returns!) or maddeningly inconclusive for others (well, does she really?). In this production, no dialogue has been changed but there is an alteration in the staging of the final scene. We won't give the ending away completely but we will tell you this: we didn't like it! You, on the other hand, may have a completely different reaction.

Note: This review originally appeared in the Dan On Broadway blog. 

Badly Needed Change Gains Cross-Party Support

New Jersey State Senate Republican Leader Tom Kean released the following statement on today’s NJ Transit Legislative hearing and Gov. Murphy’s announcement regarding lifting residency requirements for “mission critical” NJ transit employees.

Senator Tom Kean comments on the Aug. 16, 2018 NJ Transit hearing and Gov. Murphy’s announcement regarding lifting residency requirements for NJ transit employees. (SenateNJ.com)

“I appreciate the fact that NJ Transit Executive Director Kevin Corbett, the DOT Commissioner, and others were willing to come and testify before us today. It was refreshing to hear these officials acknowledge the pain and suffering our commuters are going through,” Senate Republican Leader Tom Kean (R-21) said.

“We know now, from multiple summers of hell, that one person taking an unplanned vacation day can shut down an entire train line. The staffing issues at NJ transit are extremely problematic. Individual choices are impacting thousands of lives.

“I am glad to see that Kevin Corbett and Governor Murphy agree with me, that we need to lift residency requirements and expand the pool of hires. This is a solution I have spent years advocating for. I hope that Legislative leaders will also consider expanding this effort to include all types of public employees, as I have proposed. There is no reason not to bring the best and brightest candidates to New Jersey. In the meantime, we need to pass this limited exemption immediately.

“Everyone knows the old saying, ‘we train them and they leave.’ We hear it from business owners all the time. Why not lift this rule and grab highly trained candidates from other states while we can? This is a crisis. Commuters need us to use every tool at our disposal to solve it.

“Executive Director Corbett is right – there is no magic wand of silver bullet, but there are certainly steps we can take right now to get this agency back to where it needs to be.

“We will continue to fight alongside each other, regardless of party, to make sure our commuters have a safe, reliable and accessible way to get to work on time.”

Here's Something We Hope NEVER Changes!

Yes, It's Personal And We're Right To Be ENRAGED!

A Facebook friend writes as follows:

This is personal.

My family knew one of the N.J. priests who's been (back) in the news over the past few days. This monster baptized my brother; he was a dinner guest at our home. I know many fellow Catholics can and have shared similar stories about what now seem like "close calls" with men we trusted. We were lucky nothing ever happened. Other fellow Catholics weren't so lucky.

And why did it happen? Our Church "leaders" knowingly allowed evil to enter into our parish halls and homes. It's the biggest crisis in modern Church history.

Francis and the bishops want to focus on Donald Trump "separating families" at the border.
Maybe it's a deliberate misdirection; he and his buddies in purple and red would prefer to point fingers outward than incur scrutiny themselves for what these protected, shielded, re-shuffled clerical monsters did to families on their watch.

Right Now: Making News All Over The World!

Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul, died Thursday morning at her home in Detroit from advanced pancreatic cancer, her family said in a statement. She was 76 years old. The family said that the cause of death was confirmed by Franklin's oncologist. "In one of the darkest moments of our lives, we are not able to find the appropriate words to express the pain in our heart," Franklin's family said in the statement. "We have lost the matriarch and rock of our family. The love she had for her children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, and cousins knew no bounds."

She Brought The House Down; Now She's Gone!

Aretha Franklin performing at the Kennedy Center Honors in 2015.

Aretha Franklin, the undisputed Queen of Soul is dead.

Known for having one of the greatest voices in music history, and for hits like "Respect," and "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman"  Aretha Franklin died Today after a long battle with pancreatic cancer.

She passed away in her Detroit home where she was under hospice care. She'd been in poor health for many months and she was reportedly down to 86 pounds. It was recently announced that she was gravely ill.

She was surrounded by friends and family when she passed.

Early On, He Mastered The Medium . . .

Well, he's hardly the first actor to become president -- and he probably won't be the last!

We Demand That They Clean House, NOW!

A very special message from Brian Birch, President of CatholicVote.org: I just got off the phone with the New York Times...  The reporter asked: “So what are Catholics thinking now -- in light of the McCarrick and Pennsylvania stories?”  What would you say?  I told her Catholics are in a state of shock, frustration, anger -- and sadness.  This morning, a dear friend of CV wrote to say she cried throughout morning mass. She reported that it was pouring rain outside the church, and she couldn’t help but think these were the tears of Our Lady on her feast day.  In some ways, today feels like coming home to find your house burglarized and ransacked. You feel violated and exploited. But in this case, we’re not talking about things, but persons. We’re forced to confront, once again, the widespread abuse of human souls by our purported leaders, in our own Church!  Only this time it feels worse.  Not only because things were supposedly “fixed” last time.  But also because many of the factors that contributed to this crisis have never been properly addressed.  Certainly a primary culprit has been the widespread dissent from Church teaching on human sexuality, beginning with Humanae Vitae50 years ago -- and the failure of Church leaders to defend these truths. And the extent of the rampant homosexual subculture among the clergy that has not been identified, rooted out, and destroyed. And the yearning for relevance and approval from the world, lest we be accused of being too “rigid” or judgmental.  We can no longer pretend that those willfully ignoring Church teaching on human sexuality, together with a cowardice and worldliness that masquerades as "pastoral outreach," has not contributed deeply to this crisis.  In truth, many of the newly-revealed cases of abuse occurred decades ago. But McCarrick’s promotion through the ranks of the U.S. Church occurred after his misdeeds were known to many. And new evidence shows that many current bishops, even Cardinals, participated in cover ups and failed to take quick and decisive action against abusive priests. At least some, in the case of McCarrick, were predators themselves.  This may be one of the darkest moments in the Church’s 2,000 year history. But Church history also shows us the way forward.  We either shrug again at the perversion and leaders who have failed us, or we lay people roll up our sleeves and get to work rebuilding our Church -- no matter the cost.  CatholicVote is taking the latter course and I urge you to stand with us. We’re going to fight with everything we have to confront our bishops and demand that they clean house. It will require public criticisms, difficult conversations, and even demands that many resign or face time in prison.  It won’t be comfortable, but it will be necessary.  And we’re going to rally faithful Catholics to join us in this work. As lay people, we can make our voices heard at the chanceries and even the Vatican. Together we can demand justice and reform with our movement that now numbers over 500,000 strong and growing. And we will refuse to go away until we have proof of real reform. At the same time we will not lose focus on our primary mission. Especially because our work in politics is related to the crisis in the Church. We’re going to demand even more of our elected representatives. No more “personally opposed” Catholics. No more nonsense equating policy disagreements over net neutrality and the Paris Climate Accord to the murder of millions of innocent human lives.  Follow Church teaching. We know where it leads when we don’t.  Protect the innocent unborn.  Stand up for the integrity of the family.  Defend religious liberty.  Hold leaders accountable.  And when burdened with despair and hopelessness, we must cling to the example of St. Peter. After seeing His followers leave Him when He gave His first instruction on the Eucharist, Our Lord asked:  “Will you also leave?”  Peter looked Him in the eyes and said:  “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of everlasting life.”  Brian Birch, President, CatholicVote.org P.S. We’re in the final stages of compiling the results of the survey. The results are explosive. Once released, they cannot be ignored. I plan to share them with you first in the coming days.

Long Overdue: Needed Now More Than Ever!

In response to reports that Governor Phil Murphy’s administration has failed to produce monthly performance updates to taxpayers, Senator Joe Pennacchio (R-26) is calling for the passage of his “Transparency in Government Act,” legislation that would hold school boards, State and local agencies, and government authorities accountable to all New Jersey residents, by preventing abusive spending of public funds.

In response to reports that Gov. Phil Murphy’s administration has failed to produce monthly performance updates to taxpayers, Sen. Joe Pennacchio is calling for the passage of his bill to prevent the abusive spending of public funds. (Pixabay)

“Transparency is an essential public instrument that holds government officials accountable for how they spend taxpayer dollars,” Pennacchio said. “Governor Murphy’s latest lapse in fiscal responsibility exposes the urgent need for a comprehensive website that shows if public money is being spent wisely. Additionally, the creation of a transparency committee places public interest at the forefront. I have been advocating for this bill for many years now. I hope that my colleagues in the Legislature will finally be able to work together to deliver honest government throughout the Garden State. ”

In the category of transparency, New Jersey received a C- for from the Public Interest Research Groups (US PIRG.) US PIRG grades each State’s ability to offer accessible government spending data and information to the public.

Currently, New Jersey’s transparency website, YourMoney.NJ.gov, is maintained by the Office of the New Jersey State Treasurer, Elizabeth Muoio. Under Governor Murphy’s direction, three State agencies have not submitted an updated fiscal report since former Governor Christie’s left office, according to The Associated Press. The AP report also revealed that Governor Murphy’s administration will be updating the website less frequently.

Sen. Pennacchio’s “Transparency in Government Act” (S-397) would address New Jersey’s incapacity to deliver easily-accessible data. The Senator noted that this effort is especially critical now, given the Murphy Administration’s scale-back on regularly updating fiscal reports.

Additionally, S-397 would establish a State public finance website, a transparency committee, and would require certain public entities that receive State funds to establish similar websites.

Pennacchio noted his bill would also mandate that the website be regularly updated and include information in regards to the annual revenues, expenditures, and total bonded indebtedness for each fiscal year.

In addition, Sen. Pennacchio’s “Transparency in Government Act” would require this information be released no later than 45 days after the last day of the previous fiscal year.

“State, county, and municipal officials are responsible to the people they serve. These officials control billions of taxpayer dollars each year,” Pennacchio said. “This bill is a long-overdue measure that will hold our representatives to a higher standard. Without it, the resulting lack of transparency is a recipe for the violation of public trust.”