Open Letter to Breitbart News re: Gorsuch Opinion in Bostock v. Clayton County

Dear Mr. Pollak:

I read your article about the supposed co-existence of LGBT "rights" and religious liberties.

There are so many problems with this analysis, that I must push back on this.

Joel Pollak

First of all, the whole concept of homosexuality and transgenderism as "rights" because they are fixed genetic identities is deeply flawed, and fundamentally false.

Individuals are not born gay, nor are they born in the wrong body based on hormonal or biochemical differences.

Why should any government, let alone a court, recognize these behaviors as identities?

Secondly, Justice Gorsuch clearly departed from the doctrine of Originalism promoted by his predecessor Antonin Scalia. The word "sex" means ... sex. It does not mean "sexual behavior", it does not mean "sexual identity", and it does not mean "sexual orientation" or "gender identity" for that matter.

This is the grossest abuse of judicial power and authority yet, and with this ruling the Supreme Court, for all intents and purposes, has turned itself into a lawless laughingstock. It was no joke or statement of hyperbole when former Justice Scalia warned that that the Supreme Court was turning into one of the greatest threats to American democracy.

Furthermore, your statement towards the end of the article requires a rigorous challenge:

There is room for disagreement in this case, which will likely affect relatively few people. Few employers, even those who are religious, care about employees’ private sexual lives.

This judicial decision can and indeed will affect countless numbers of people. Consider what has already been happening to the baker in Colorado, Mr. Jack Philipps. How about the bakers in Oregon, or the florist in Washington State? The challenges to individual liberty and freedom of conscience because of the legal fiction to prevent discrimination against so-called homosexuals and transgenders will become more prevalent and manifest because of this decision. The Court arrogantly took the position that they could redefine words in a statute, which in effect war against reality itself.  The truth is that natural rights like religious liberty cannot coexist with unnatural perversions like a predilection for sodomy and transvestism.

Perhaps Breitbart should be called "Bi-Bart"?

Also, I must remind you that one of the cases connected with the Bostock decision involved a man pretending to be a woman, who was working at a funeral parlor in Michigan. His insistence on going along with the mentally delusional notion that he could become a she was not a "private" matter, at all. He insisted on this perverse, false recognition being made in public, and being accepted by others in public. 

For the record, private behavior of all kinds, including sexual conduct between consenting adults, does indeed have public consequences. For that reasons, nations and governments have routinely criminalized incest, prostitution, as well as homosexuality. The spread of venereal disease, the long-standing harms to public health and public safety, and now the cultural demise which has been imposed on us in the wake of militant LGBT advocacy, have widespread, far-reaching consequences. In Singapore, the court wisely struck down attempts to remove Section 377a, the statute which criminalizes gross acts of indecency between men. The inhabitants of Singapore are well-aware of the horrific political, moral, cultural, and even biological consequences which ensue one homosexual conduct becomes decriminalized and normalized.

Former liberal, now conservative British historian Paul Johnson wrote about the inevitable threat of militant LGBT advocacy in his autobiographical work The Quest for God.  I would urge you to read it.

Paul Johnson

Joel, I know and believe you to be an educated and erudite journalist, but this article you wrote abandons many of these timely insights and intellect that you have displayed in other articles. I am astounded that Breitbart News continues to embrace this pro-LGBT stance, when clearly accommodation for such anti-family policies and ideas are as anti-populist, anti-nationalist, pro-globalist, and pro-establishment as they get.

Sincerely,

Arthur Schaper, Organization Director

Website: MassResistance.org

ICYMI: BibIical Warning Against Fake News (H/T Joel Pollak)

Joel Pollak, editor-in-chief for Breitbart News, drew a stunning lesson on the power of Fake News to hurt a community and to destroy our society. Citing the passages in Numbers, where the 12 spies check out God's Promised Land and report what they saw, Pollak shows how the Timid Ten Spies gave an evil report, i.e. Fake News, vs. the Two True spies, Caleb and Joshua.

Some of the passages from Pollak's article are worth reviewing as a reminder of the fight we face to ensure a decent, honest media re-emerges in our political culture:

We tend to think of “fake news” as a new phenomenon, a product of advanced social media technology and our coarse and divided popular culture. But as Ecclesiastes observes (chapter 1, verse 9): “there is nothing new under the sun.”

Fake news — the deliberate spread of misinformation to sway public opinion — dates back to the days of the Bible.

Indeed.

This week [article was dated June 16, 2017), Jewish congregations worldwide will read the Torah portion of “Shelach” (Numbers 13:1–15:41), which tells the story of Moses and the spies.

"Shelach" means "Send", which comes from Numbers 13:2:

Send thou men, that they may search the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel: of every tribe of their fathers shall ye send a man, every one a ruler among them.

Notice that this move is God's direction for Moses and the people. God wanted His children to see the goodness that He had in store for them. The twelve spies enter the Promised Land to scout how good it is and what it has.

God wanted His people Israel to appreciate the great land He had promised them through their father and His friend Abraham.

Pollak then relates what the spies share with the congregation of Israel:

The majority, ten out of the twelve, give a discouraging report to the people. “We came to the land to which you sent us, and it is flowing with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. However, the people who inhabit the land are mighty, and the cities are extremely huge and fortified, and there we saw even the offspring of the giant. … We are unable to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we. … The land we passed through to explore is a land that consumes its inhabitants, and all the people we saw in it are men of stature. … There we saw the giants …. In our eyes, we seemed like grasshoppers, and so we were in their eyes.” (13: 27-33)

Then comes a penetrating analysis:

This is the first recorded example of “fake news.” It includes two types of fakery. One involves “facts” that are just made up — stories of giants and grasshoppers. The other involves true facts — “milk and honey” — that are spun in a damaging way, couched in editorial language — “We are unable” — that is calculated to create division and despair.

There were indeed giants in the land. That is not a lie. One of their descendants, Goliath of Gath, would fall before a little yet beloved shepherd boy named David. The true fake news has to do with context and worldview. The basis of the Promise came from God's own mouth.

He event cut a covenant with Himself through an Intercessor for Abraham, Christ Jesus in pre-incarnate appearance (Genesis 15:17).

Fake News is all about perspective and spin, and taking the truth and focus off of what is true, eternal, and established.

The minority — Caleb and Joshua — dissent vigorously. “We can surely go up and take possession of it, for we can indeed overcome it,” Caleb protests (13:30).

They also called the giants "bread for us." They refused to give into the lie that the land was out of their reach or their strength. In fact, they rejected the lie that they were on their own to take the land. It was God's gift to them and throughout Joshua's leadership and ministry, the Israelites relied and attained victory after victory because of God's blessings.

But the people are dismayed: “If only we had died in the land of Egypt, or if only we had died in this desert.” (14:2) They despair: “Let us appoint a leader and return to Egypt!” (14:4)

The “fake news” has had its effect — not only misinforming the people, but encouraging political division and sedition.

Yes! How true. Fake News causes man to look at man's limited resources, rather than God's grace and blessings. Shame on the Timid Ten.

Caleb and Joshua reiterate their report, and tell the people to have faith. “The land we passed through to scout is an exceedingly good land,” they say, urging the people to have faith that the Lord will protect them from harm.

It is to no avail: for their trouble, the Bible says, “The entire congregation threatened to pelt them with stones.” (14:10)

As punishment, the Children of Israel are condemned to wander in the desert for another 40 years, until nearly all of the adults have died. Only a new generation, the Lord decrees, will be able to enter the Promised Land. (14: 29-35)

The New Generation, those who see the miracles of God, who see Him taking care of all the people without regard to the enemies surrounding them.

So fake news is nothing new. What fundamentally divided the spies was not what they saw when they scouted the land, but what they believed about their ability to inhabit it. The majority did not have enough faith, and sought to undermine the faith of others. They planted faulty intelligence with that deliberate, destructive agenda in mind.

Yes, but also their faith in God and His goodness. This is the fundamental issue when it comes to faith. The writer of Hebrews explains what faith is about:

"But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." (Hebrews 11:6)

Pollak ties this culture of Fake News to the modern press:

Today we face the same problem. The truth is obvious enough for our reporters to see. But some are determined to divide the country and undermine its leadership. They feed false information to the public, or present true facts in the most negative light. As a result, half the country lives in a nightmarish alternate reality, terrified of the country’s leadership.

"Facts in a negative light" covers the press' perverse need to disparage the President and his many accomplishments with the Republican Congress.

It is not just a crisis of reporting, but also a crisis of faith. We lack faith in the country’s institutions; we lack faith in ourselves.

Faith, yes, but rather faith in God's Word and His promises.

Why didn't the Israelites believe God? They were looking at themselves, not at Him who has been from the beginning (1 John 2:14)

“Fake news” has brought this country to a breaking point. Nightmares are becoming reality. Unless we redouble our faith in what we have in common, we are doomed to wander.

Final Reflection

When we know the truth, we are set free. The truth is about a Person, not just a set of ideas or facts.

The distortions and misrepresentations we witness come from the fact that we do not rest in the grace and truth of Christ Jesus (John 1:17). They are two sides of the same coin. There is no discussion of truth without talking about grace, and vice versa. It's time for us to take a firm stance for these verities. Because of a lack of respect for Divine Power and Favor, the media has devolved into a pitiful conflict between power brokers peddling narratives in their own interests.

Let us seek the truth, to know that God is--and is a rewarder of those who want what he wants, who allow Him to lead us!

Redlands Tea Party Patriots: Breitbart Senior Editor Joel Pollak

                        

The Redlands Tea Party Patriots invited an incredible guest to be their keynote speaker.

Joel Pollak, the Senior Editor-in-Chief of Breitbart News.

I really wanted to meet this guy, but more importantly, I wanted to learn about the inner workings of Breitbart News.

Most importantly, though, Pollak intended to discuss Election 2016, and how Donald Trump trumped the experts, the pundits, and the political class to become the next President of the United States.

His talk was very informative. He commiserated with the epic loss that Angel Moms have endured--because of illegal immigration. He made a point about Breitbart's coverage of Kate Steinle's murder, which forced the mainstream media to cover it--which in turn shocked the nation and forced Congress and all Presidential candidates to take illegal immigration and sanctuary cities seriously.

The entire speech is in the clip above.

After his speech, Pollak sold copies of his book "How Trump Won". Someone in the Redlands Tea Party group graciously purchased every single copy! I was able to get my own autographed copy!

He even told me: 'I watch your videos on YouTube!"

That opened up the window for me to give him my resume, then I told him: "I want to work for Breitbart."

Let's see what happens!

All in all, Pollak's speech was great, but he also offered somber concerns about the future of the country, and how vigilance on the part of the people is more important than ever!

Breitbart Fail RE: Nanette Barragan Town Hall

I have a growing suspicion as to why Breitbart California is sinking fast.

Most of their articles get very few shares.

They spend more time aggregating from other conservative sites.

There is very little actual reporting, and most of it is inside baseball from other conservatives who just narrate the long list of failures at the state level.

One of the key contributors, Jon Fleishman, is a self-congratulatory throwback, Sure, Republicans in Sacramento were very worried about what Fleischman would think of them, or what he would report about them.  But after ten years of seeing Republicans in the state legislature decline, and a growing leftist cohort take over Sacramento, why bother worrying about Fleischman?

The man was anti-Trump to the very end. He ended up writing in Vin Scully, the sports announcer for the Los Angeles Dodgers. I have tried to speak with him, and he is very rude and arrogant. Other people have shared the same opinion of the man. He seems to think he is still an influential conservative legend, even if his FlashReport site has few visitors.

Breitbart California had a brief splash of glory. Their advertising launch contained such risue photos including a mash-up of Nancy Pelosi's head attached to the twerking profile of Miley Cyrus. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy had his editorial pulled from the site immediately after the advertising launch.

Other conservatives have stuck around, but the readership is still very low.

There is so much activism, advocacy, and local victories in California, yet Breitbart California doesn't report on it.

When they do report on something, however, they get the facts wrong, or they make mistakes. They have errors, too, which don't get attended to very uickly, either.

Check out what they just published about We the People Rising and LA for Trump's protest at the Nanette Barragan town hall last Thursday:

Rep. Nanette Barragán (D-CA), a first-year congresswoman from the 44th congressional district, abandoned a town hall meeting on Friday evening in the city of Carson in Los Angeles County after she was faced with an overwhelmingly pro-Trump audience.

First problem; it was Thursday. How about indicating the specific date? June 1, 2017. This is fundamentally sloppy.

I woudl submit that the audience was not overwhelming "Trump", but we overwhelmed her lies and hateful rhetoric against our President.

After the meeting began without the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance, the pro-Trump attendees recited it on their own. Rep. Barragán then began her remarks to the meeting by attacking Trump, and was immediately drowned out by jeers and chants: “We love Trump!” “Respect our president!”

This part was great! But where's the "and" between “We love Trump!” “Respect our president!” ?

Then the rest of the article goes to more general comentaroy, how this Demcoratic Congresswoman got a taste of what Republican Congressmen have been forced to tolerate for the past six months.

Final Reflection

Outburts like this and other protests from pro-Trump Californians have been happening all over Sounthern California. Not once did Breitbart California look into what We the People Rising contended with at UC Riverside against State Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon.

Where was Breitbart for that?

To the credit of some of the writers, they are catching up with Joseph Turner's proposal to defund sanctuary cities by repealing the local utility users' tax, but even then they piggy-back off of other people's reporting.

I just wish that these reporters spent more time following up on these events, checking their facts, reaching out to activists like Joseph Turner, Robin Hvidston, and myself to make a stronger impact.

Oh, and the Barragan article ... why didn't they simply snippet a more lively photo from the YouTube videos outright? Frankly, our videos portrayed our fight much better than anything that Joel Pollak wrote for this post. It is any surprise that We the People Rising, LA County for Trump, Grindall61, and other citizen media are getting more traction than websites like Breitbart?