The Socialist wave isn’t about Trump — it’s the Democrat Party’s reality

 This year has seen socialists make their furthest inroads into “mainstream” American politics than any time since the early 20th century.

Even though this is clearly a phenomenon manifesting itself within the Democrat Party, more than a few media commentators have incorrectly attempted to tie this socialist red wave to President Donald Trump.

A recent editorial in the Wall Street Journal titled, “Trump Opened the Window for the DSA,” argued essentially that Trump is just so mean and awful, he’s caused so much derangement on the Left, that they decided to embrace communism to stop him.

“Both his genuine sins and his imagined ones handed the left permission to come unglued, pushing otherwise serious but mainstream left-leaning ideologues to adopt positions they would have laughed at a decade ago,” the authors argued. “The radical, dangerous and merely stupid are not only permissible but mandatory.”

Undergirding this argument is the absurd premise that to stop Democrats from becoming bloodthirsty communists we just have to be nicer to them — unlike that meanie Trump — and maybe give them what they want.

But this argument is bunk for several reasons, a significant one being the words of the insurgents who’ve been quite clear that their movement is only tangentially about the president.

Here’s a socialist victory party in New York City where the attendees shouted, “you’re next,” directed at House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. Not exactly someone likely to be sporting a MAGA hat.

When Melat Kiros, the newest socialist darling who won her House primary in Colorado was asked if she supported Jeffries she said, according to the New York Post, “I’m not supporting anyone for leadership who takes corporate PAC money. I’m dead serious about this issue. We have to start setting a standard now.”

It’s clear when you listen to what the socialists have to say they are directing their fire mainly at the Democratic Party establishment. They aren’t just about opposing Trump. They are about bringing about a socialist revolution, and obliterating Israel, of course.

The Democratic Party and its media allies can hardly be accused of going soft on Trump over the years. They’ve pretty much pulled out the stops to ruin him for over a decade. From accusing him of being a Manchurian candidate, to multiple impeachments, to nearly throwing him in jail, they’ve broken pretty much every political norm to crush the “bad, orange man.”

The Socialist wave isn’t about Trump — it’s about the Democrats

South Carolina passes bill to ban 'debanking' based on religious, political beliefs

 South Carolina has banned large financial institutions in the state from engaging in “debanking” amid allegations that some large banks have cut off financial services to individuals and organizations based on their political and religious beliefs.

South Carolina Republican Gov. Henry McMaster signed House Bill 5538, also known as the Guarantee Banking Act, into law Tuesday. The measure passed without opposition in the Republican-controlled South Carolina House of Representatives. Only two members of the Republican-controlled South Carolina Senate voted against it.

The legislation is scheduled to take effect at the start of the new year and prohibits financial institutions from taking actions that “discriminate in the provision of financial services to a person.”

It defines discrimination as “taking an adverse action against a customer” based on the customer’s “exercise of religion that is protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, federal law, or the Constitution or laws of this state, including all aspects of religious observance and practice, as well as belief and affiliation.”

The law also defines discrimination as taking adverse action against a customer based on the customer’s “speech, expression, opinions, expressive activity, or association that is protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, federal law, or the Constitution or laws of this State, including the lawful preservation of privacy regarding those activities, such as declining to disclose contributions or political activity beyond what is required by applicable state and federal law.”

Banks with more than $100 billion in total assets, as well as credit card companies and payment processing platforms, are subject to the new law. Examples of prohibited adverse actions include closing checking and savings accounts or terminating access to money transfers, loans and credit cards.

South Carolina passes bill to ban 'debanking' | Business

EU turning a blind eye to arrests of Armenian church leaders, letter says

 The European Union has been accused of turning a blind eye to the Armenian government’s actions against the Armenian Apostolic Church.

Opposition leader Samvel Karapetyan, a businessman and Russian national who has been held in detention and is now under house arrest, instructed his legal representatives, Amsterdam & Partners LLP, to initiate legal action against the EU for its support for Armenia.

In a legal letter, the EU is accused of standing by Pashinyan’s government and presenting it as a democratic success story, despite ongoing concerns about its treatment of opposition figures and the Armenian Apostolic Church, which dates back to the fourth century.  

Tensions between church and state in the country have increased since Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan came to power in 2018. Relations deteriorated even more sharply following Armenia’s defeat in the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war.

Several bishops have been arrested, while the head of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Catholicos Karekin II, has been barred from leaving the country. Critics have accused Pashinyan of acting like a Soviet-era dictator.

For his part, Pashinyan has said he is attempting to save the church from “anti-Christian” and “anti-state” elements. Senior church leaders have been accused of supporting the violent overthrow of a democratically elected government and of condoning calls for the assassination of government ministers.

In the letter, Karapetyan’s legal representatives questioned the validity of Armenia’s recent parliamentary election. Karapetyan’s Strong Armenia party received 23% of the vote, less than half the 49% achieved by Pashinyan’s Civil Contract party.

The election result has been challenged in the courts by Strong Armenia, although the party has said it has little faith in the independence of the courts.

Robert Amsterdam, managing partner of Amsterdam & Partners LLP, said, “The European Union has not acted as a neutral observer. It has chosen to align itself with a government that has overseen widespread arrests, targeted its critics, attacked the Church and weakened democratic safeguards.

EU ignoring arrests of Armenian church leaders: letter | World

Irish teacher imprisoned 700 days for refusing to use trans pronouns released

 Irish teacher Enoch Burke has been released from prison on the orders of the High Court in Dublin, ending the latest chapter in a long-running legal dispute that has drawn worldwide attention. 

Burke, an Evangelical Christian and former teacher at Wilson's Hospital School in County Westmeath, was forcefully imprisoned for 700 days for refusing to use wrong-gender pronouns, which led to him being ordered not to return to work as an educator. 

He was suspended in August 2022 after a dispute arose with the school management over the introduction of a policy requiring that staff misgender students who choose to self-identify as the opposite sex. Burke objected on grounds of conscience.

The dispute escalated when he continued to return to the school grounds despite being suspended and courts injunctions later ordering him to stay away. 

Christian teacher Enoch Burke released from prison | World

Street evangelist to sue Texas city after police threaten arrest over religious speech

 A Texas-based street preacher who attorneys say was threatened with arrest for his evangelism outreach at a Fort Worth pride event is suing the police department.

David Grisham, a longtime evangelist, was cited by Fort Worth police in an incident captured on video at the Trinity Pride Fest in downtown Fort Worth on June 27. The now-viral video showed an unidentified female police officer threatening to arrest Grisham and another member of a street preaching team during the public event.

As the street preaching group continued to question police about the warning while they were moved to an area outside police barricades, the unidentified officer is heard telling them, “If someone is offended by your talking, then we have a problem. ... If they are offended by your speech, OK, I will write you a ticket, and we’ll go from there.”

Grisham was ultimately issued a citation for “unreasonable noise,” but no further explanation was provided. The city of Fort Worth website states that its “unreasonable noise” ordinance is “intended to apply to, but is not limited to” noise linked to animals or construction work.

In a statement shared Thursday, attorney CJ Grisham said the claim made by an unidentified Fort Worth police officer about “unreasonable noise” was “indefensible” because the city’s noise ordinance requires that officers must first measure the challenged noise using a decibel meter.

“This ordinance was not followed because no officer performed a decibel check,” said Grisham, who said he has no known familial or professional relation to the plaintiff. “Officers failed to follow the Fort Worth ordinance.”

Grisham further argued the city of Fort Worth’s noise ordinance is unlawful because it contradicts state law by making the city’s decibel level limit lower than the state’s.

“Mr. Grisham was exercising his right to express his views on matters of significant public concern. The Fort Worth Police Department responded, not by protecting his constitutional rights, but by threatening him with arrest and ultimately issuing a citation,” he said, adding the city must “immediately dismiss the citation and retract any related enforcement action.”

Street evangelist to sue Texas city after arrest threat | U.S.

Phil Johnson Chief of Wife Abusing and PDfile protecting ring Grace to You/Grace Community Church retires after 43 years, cites incurable cancer

 Less than a year after Pastor John MacArthur's death, the longtime head of his Grace to You ministry has announced he is retiring after more than four decades, citing an incurable cancer diagnosis and the need for a new generation of leadership.

Phil Johnson, executive director of Grace to You (GTY), said Wednesday that he will retire effective July 1 after 43 years with the California-based ministry.

"I've had a wonderful career at Grace to You for the past 43 years," Johnson wrote in a Facebook post on Wednesday. "I turned 73 on June 11. I have Multiple Myeloma, which is not curable and has diminished my energy level. I am busy enough with preaching engagements that sometimes involve travel."

Johnson said the ministry is entering a pivotal season following MacArthur's death and believes it is time for new leadership.

"And at this pivotal time in the ministry's history, GTY needs to be in the hands of leadership that will steer the ministry into the next generations of technology and strategy," he wrote. "So I'm retiring."

"I'm profoundly grateful for the amazing privilege I had to work alongside John MacArthur for more than 4 decades. I love Grace to You with all my heart, and nothing will ever change that."

Johnson did not announce a successor.

Grace to You, founded by MacArthur and affiliated with the California-based Grace Community Church, says its mission is to spread biblical teaching by "unleashing God's truth, one verse at a time" through radio, digital media and publishing.

MacArthur led the megachurch for more than half a century until his death last year. The Grace to You website contains an archive of MacArthur’s sermons dating back to 1969. Another project of Grace to You, the Study Bible, features “25,000 explanatory notes” from MacArthur on “virtually every passage based on the [English Standard Version] text” in addition to “more than 140 two-color maps, charts, timelines, and illustrations.” 

According to Grace Community Church’s official website, Johnson’s work isn't limited to the Grace to You ministry. Johnson has also edited most of MacArthur’s books and delivered sermons in his capacity as an ordained elder and pastor at Grace Community Church. He has founded multiple websites, including The Spurgeon Archive, The Hall of Church History and the Pyromaniacs. 

Johnson first revealed his Multiple Myeloma diagnosis in an X thread two years ago, which provided an update on his health following his hospitalization that spring. “My ‘catastrophic’ kidney malfunction turned out to be a sort of blessing in disguise,” he asserted at the time.

“In the hundreds of blood tests and a bone-marrow biopsy doctors ordered, they discovered I had Multiple Myeloma, a kind of blood cancer that lets the proteins in my blood attack other organs,” he explained. After discussing how he was prescribed a treatment, Johnson clarified that “Multiple Myeloma is not curable” while predicting that “This treatment should make it go into remission.”

Phil Johnson announces retirement from Grace to You | Church & Ministries

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