Radio America Online News Bureau

News & Politics

Libs & Columbus, Cali’s Crazy Sexual Politics, Pence’s Protest & Trump Uncorked

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David French of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America start the week with a whole menu of crazy martinis.  They rip CNN and other social justice types for declaring President Trump’s Columbus Day statement insufficient because he didn’t mention the suffering that the explorers inflicted upon the indigenous people who were already adept at slaughtering each other.  They’re also staggered as California enacts one law to criminalize the use of pronouns that conflict with a person’s stated gender identity and another law that no longer makes it a felony to expose a partner to HIV without telling them.  And they react to Vice President Pence leaving Sunday’s Colts-49’ers game after some 49’ers knelt during the national anthem and President Trump’s tweetstorm against Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker.

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America’s Massive Double Standard

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Just days after the FBI announced it would not prosecute Hillary Clinton for her mishandling of classified information, U.S. Navy Petty Officer Kristian Saucier was sentenced to a year in prison for mishandling classified information, despite his plea for leniency based on the government’s refusal to prosecute Mrs. Clinton.

Now, Saucier is out of prison, deeply frustrated at very different standards of justice applied to him and Clinton, and determined to erase his conviction and move forward with his life.

In early July 2016, then-FBI Director James Comey offered a long public statement explaining Clinton’s poor conduct but ultimately deciding not to recommend prosecution because he saw no criminal intent on Clinton’s part.

Saucier was a 22-year-old in the U.S. Navy in 2009 when he took six pictures of the propulsion system on board the nuclear submarine USS Alexandria, on which he was serving.  Saucier says he knew he wasn’t supposed to take pictures in that part of the submarine but saw higher ranking personnel do it and simply wanted some memories of his proud service aboard the Alexandria.

Furthermore, those who were charged for taking such pictures usually received a slap on the wrist such as probation.

Saucier was charged with a felony for his actions in 2015.  He was forced to accept a plea deal that still made him a felon.  Saucier was imprisoned in October 2016.

Despite facing much stiffer legal problems than Clinton, Saucier says his illegal acts can’t hold a candle to Clinton’s repeated misdeeds.

“These pictures were classified at confidential, which is the lowest tier of classification, whereas, in comparison, the things Hillary Clinton had on email were top secret SCI, which is the highest level of classification.  So very different spectrums of what kind of damage it could have caused to national security,” said Saucier.

“I was prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law for what’s called unlawful retention of national defense information.  Basically, I possessed classified documents or images on an unsecured device, so exactly what Hillary Clinton did, but she didn’t get prosecuted because they said she didn’t have intent to cause national harm,” said Saucier.

“That’s not a prerequisite for the charge.  So I was prosecuted with no intent to cause national harm.  It was very clear to them that I had no intent.  I was just taking these pictures as mementos, and it didn’t matter.  They still prosecuted me and I was facing possibly ten years in prison,” said Saucier.

He says the takeaway for him and his family is obvious.  The powerful are held to a different standard.

“They protect their own, so higher ups in our government are protecting each other.  It’e the same with Gen. (David) Petraeus, who lied to the FBI and tried to spread disinformation.  He was head of the CIA,” said Saucier.

“They’re protecting him.  They’re protecting Hillary Clinton and they’re protecting all the people that are in their little clique right there.  Whenever it comes to an honest American citizen, they just go right after you,” said Saucier.

“If they can do this to somebody like me, who is a patriotic, honest American citizen who wanted nothing but to serve his country, and then looked the other way when people like Huma Abedin, John Podesta, and Hillary Clinton break the same exact law to a far more egregious standpoint and nothing happens to them, it’s very upsetting,” said Saucier.

Since he was charged shortly after Clinton’s use of private email and a private server were revealed, Saucier believes he faced stiffer penalties because of the illegal actions Clinton took but never paid a price for.

“It happened during the height of the presidential election when there was a lot of visibility with the Hillary Clinton case and the Obama administration was trying to prove they were tough on people that mishandled classified information,” said Saucier.

Saucier says if the Justice Department had been serious, it would have prosecuted Clinton since hers was a textbook case of mishandling classified information.

Nonetheless, Saucier and his attorneys used Comey’s exoneration of Clinton in a plea for leniency at sentencing.

“They argued that this just happened.  She got caught mishandling classified information.  She lied to the American public and lied, probably, to the FBI and she’s allowed to get off.  [Lawyers] argued that based on my military service – two tours of duty in the Middle East an 11 years of honorable service – that I should be allowed to receive probation,” said Saucier.

District Court Judge Stefan Underhill was not moved and imposed the one year prison sentence.  Saucier says he wasn’t surprised.

“We argued it to a judge who was appointed by Bill Clinton so it kind of fell on deaf ears,” he said.

Clinton’s explanation about her mishandling of classified information changed throughout 2015.  First, she said there was no classified information on her private account or private server.  Later, she said nothing was marked classified.  Saucier says both stories are ridiculous.

“Hillary Clinton was what’s called an Original Classification Authority, so she’s capable, based on her training and the clearances that she possessed, of picking out things that aren’t classified and saying this is classified.  So she’s able to lower classifications or heighten classifications.  Her claiming ignorance to that is just insane,” said Saucier.

“She knew.  She got more classification briefings than I ever did on the things that she was allowed to do and not allowed to do.  So she knew exactly about taking emails from a secure government server and putting them on an unsecured server was wrong on so many levels.  That’s Classification 101.  You don’t do this sort of thing,” said Saucier.

Saucier is also balking at Comey’s conclusion that Clinton had no intent to commit a crime.

“It wasn’t just her.  It was a series of other people.  Now it’s a criminal conspiracy between her, Cheryl Mills, Huma Abedin, and John Podesta.  Then they were clearly trying to destroy evidence, which is obstruction of justice, by Bleach Bitting their servers after they got found out.

“It’s a very clear case of the criminal mindset.  If they didn’t think they were classified, why did they go through and try to delete them after they got caught,” said Saucier.

Saucier is now on home arrest after getting out of prison, meaning he cannot work.  He was given a less than honorable discharge from the military and his VA benefits are revoked.  His family is bankrupt as a result of the huge legal fees he incurred after the government refused to allow him military counsel or provide a public defender.

He is now urging people to help him convince President Trump to issue a pardon in order to help him moving forward

“If I get off house arrest and I get a presidential pardon, then I can fight to get my disability benefits back from the VA for service related injuries,” he said.

“We as the American people won’t accept that there’s a double standard in our country.  I think if President Trump looks over my case again he’ll realize that’s what happened,” said Saucier.

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Dem Leadership Divide, Major ‘Feminist’ Hypocrisy, Fallon Fawns Over Hillary

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Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America pop some popcorn  as California Rep. Linda Sanchez says House Democrats need new leadership, leading one Nancy Pelosi ally to suggest such criticism of Pelosi is sexist.  They also shake their heads as feminists, celebrities, and many Democrats are suddenly silent in the wake of extensive sexual misconduct allegations – and settlements – published about Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein in the New York Times.  And they roll their eyes as the “Tonight Show” embarrassingly fawns over Hillary Clinton.

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Will Left Push Full Repeal? Cabinet ‘Suicide Pact,’ Michelle’s Identity Politics

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Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America actually welcome the increasing chatter from the left and from the op-ed pages for Democrats to embrace full repeal of the Second Amendment as a way of drawing clear lines in the gun debate.  They also wince as three top Trump cabinet officials reportedly agree to a so-called “suicide pact,” meaning all three will leave office if President Trump fires one of them.  And they slam Michelle Obama for another round of horrible statements, this time claiming people don’t trust politics because Republicans are supposedly all men and all white.

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Huckabee Talks Trump, New TV Show

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Mike Huckabee has a new TV show and he has plenty to say about it and his first guest.

“We had a little difficulty getting somebody who makes news, but we got the next best thing we could.  President Trump is going to be our very first guest on our very first show,” said Huckabee.

Huckabee was governor of Arkansas from 1996-2007 and later sought the Republican presidential nomination in 2008 and 2016.  In between those campaigns for the White House, Huckabee hosted the highly-rated “Huckabee” each week on the Fox News Channel.

His new program, also entitled “Huckabee,” premieres Saturday, October 7, at 8 p.m. ET on the Trinity Broadcasting Network, or TBN.

As he prepares to interview Trump, Huckabee says he, like many other Americans, is frustrated by the lack of progress of major legislation.

“I think he’s got to get the Republicans to understand they weren’t elected to go up there and sit on their hands.  Many of us are extremely frustrated that after seven-and-a-half years of saying they would repeal and replace Obamacare if they had an opportunity.  They’ve had two great opportunities and they’ve blown both of them.  There’s just no excuse for that,” said Huckabee.

However, he is quick to assert that Trump does not deserve the blame.

“I can’t blame that on the president.  I’ve got to blame it on the members of the Congress who were very disingenuous in saying they were going to do something and it turns out they didn’t have any intention of getting it done.  That is a leadership issue in the Congress.  The president has done his part,” said Huckabee.

Huckabee also has strong words for GOP members who he believes allow the perfect to be the enemy of the good.

“Some of the Republicans have to understand that if it’s an all-or-nothing, now-or-never proposition for them, they’re going to get nothing and they’re going to get it forever.  You can’t have people walking into the kitchen, 535 members of the House and Senate, all bring their spoon and their spice and saying, ‘I want it just like I want it.’  Doesn’t work like that,” he said.

Huckabee is known for his good-natured political sparring, so what does he think of Trump’s combative style with the media?  He sees Trump doing an excellent job of taking his message straight to the people.

“Clearly the media does not care much for President Trump and I think they make that so very vividly clear.  But he has a way around them.  He has social media.  He can go on shows like mine, which he’s going to do this weekend.  He’ll be able to talk to America, where he doesn’t get filtered by a reporter from the New York Times or the Washington Post,” said Huckabee.

Huckabee has a very personal connection to the Trump administration’s confrontation with the left-leaning press.  His daughter, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, serves as White House Press Secretary. Huckabee says her unflappable style is very impressive in a fairly hostile atmosphere.

“People ask me, ‘Are you nervous when she goes up there?’  Absolutely not.  I have every confidence that’s she’s absolutely capable of doing that job and doing it well.  I watch, basically saying, ‘Way to go, girl.  Good job,'” said Huckabee.

He says the secret to Sanders staying calm is her refusal to escalate the tensions in the press room.

“She never takes that stuff personally.  She’s lived her whole life, since the time she was a little kid, in the world of politics.  So she’s not shocked by all of the stuff that she sees and hears every day.  It’s kind of old hat to her.  They’re just not going to be able to get under her skin,” said Huckabee.

From his daughter’s work in the West Wing to his own endorsement of Trump last year after ending his own campaign, Huckabee has spent plenty of private time with President Trump.  He is very impressed with the man he’s gotten to know.

“He’s really an incredibly gracious, personable, warm individual.  His relationship to his children is enviable.  There’s no father in America that would not to have the kind of closeness and repoire with his adult children any more than he does,” said Huckabee.

“I’ve seen a lot of political people who would come from backstage, they would walk out to the crowd.  They would hold hands, they would wave and they would smile.  I would see them backstage and it was anything but that.  With Donald Trump, the most warm moments are the ones backstage when no one is there but his family,” said Huckabee.

While some Republicans are wary of Trump doing business with key Democrats on immigration and federal spending, Huckabee says it sets a positive precedent.

“It’s kind of like how we’re going to approach issues on the show.  I want to get Democrats on the show and ask, ‘How do you fix this?  What is your idea?’  They may have some good ones.  And I’m not going to yell and scream at them and talk on top of them so we can’t hear what they say,” said Huckabee.

“Sometimes what they say may come across as ridiculous.  If it does, it does, but we need a country where there really is that kind of give and take that I feel like we have been missing for a long time,” he added.

In that vein, Huckabee vows his show will not be the traditional fare of competing talking heads.

“I want to make sure that we don’t do it in a way that’s become increasingly prevalent, which is what I call political ping pong.  You get a couple of people, one on the left and one on the right, and they just bounce back and forth between very predictable talking points,” said Huckabee.

How will his program be different?  Huckabee says he’s taking a “vertical” approach as opposed to a horizontal one.

“Rather than focus so much on the left versus the right, I want to talk about what makes [things] better, what makes [them] worse, what are the real solutions and not just to play the blame game and point fingers.  How could we fix health care?  Why haven’t we?  I want to give the viewer an understanding of how government actually works and why things either happen or don’t,” said Huckabee.

The show is not just politics.  Huckabee says there will be a lot of music and other entertainment.  He is excited to host the show from Nashville and tap all the talent in Music City, but he also plans to highlight the uplifting stories found all across America.

He says the heroes in Las Vegas this week are a perfect example.

“There were people who were laying their lives down for others, risking their lives.  Many people came out of their without their shirts because they had torn them to make tourniquets and bandages for people they didn’t even know,” said Huckabee.

“That’s who we are as a country.  We’re not the guy on the thirty-second floor indiscriminately killing people.  We’re the people who rushed to the sounds of the guns so that we could help those who had been shot.  That’s the America that we need to put a big focus on and shine the spotlight on it,” said Huckabee.

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Gun Control Doesn’t Work, Murphy’s Abortion Mess, Pence Aide Urges GOP ‘Purge’

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Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America welcome research from a liberal expert showing that no policy pushed by gun control advocates would likely stop previous or future mass shootings and that focusing on people instead of weapons is likely a better approach.  They also slam Republican Pennsylvania Rep. Tim Murphy for posing as pro-life while encouraging his supposedly pregnant mistress to get an abortion and urge him to leave office as soon as possible.  And they react to Mike Pence’s chief of staff suggesting it was time for a purge of Republicans who aren’t sufficiently loyal to Pence and President Trump.

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Billy Graham Team Reaches Out to Las Vegas

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As countless families and friends grieve the deaths of loved ones, pray for the recovery of the wounded, or search frantically for news about their loved ones, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association is deploying chaplains from the area and around the nation to minister to those impacted by the horrific shooting.

The Rapid Response Team was created in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and has ministered to people following more than 300 acts of violence and natural disasters since that time.  Just this year, chaplains responded to the Berlin truck attack, terrorism in Barcelona and Manchester, and in the wake of deadly hurricanes in Texas, Florida, and Puerto Rico.

It’s mission is simple.

“We do it to share the love and compassion that we know comes from the only God that we serve and comes through His Son, Jesus Christ,” said Jeff Nader, manager of chaplain development and chaplain relations at the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.

Monday morning, the group immediately made plans to help in Las Vegas.

“We stopped everything else we were doing in the office and dedicated every minute to moving chaplains in this direction,” said Nader.  “Today we have 18 chaplains here on the ground, many of them just landed.  We had chaplains out near the site of the shooting last night and around Mandalay Bay until midnight.”

Nader says the Rapid Response Team ministers in multiple ways, but he says the biggest focus is on the ministry of presence, literally just being there for hurting people.

“Most people can probably look back on a time when they were sitting in an emergency room waiting area or someplace else, wishing someone else was there with them during their lonely time.  Having a chaplain walk up just to be there with them is over half the work that we do,” said Naber.

“That’s going on right now and I ask you to pray at this very moment for people who are talking with and for people who are standing next to one of our chaplains, that they would feel the love and they would feel the compassion that flows from our chaplains to them from Christ,” said Naber.

The next focal point is praying with the people impacted by the massacre.

“Since I’ve been here, I’ve prayed with people at the airport.  I’ve prayed with people who were serving me food.  I prayed with the person at the (hotel) front desk.  We ask people if they would like to pray, not to pray for them but to pray with them,” said Naber.

“In this town, with what happened, everyone just stops what they’re doing and openly says yes when we ask that question about prayer,” said Naber.

The third element of the Rapid Response Team is to share the gospel.

“We pray that the Holy Spirit will open the hearts of people.  Its not everyone we come in contact with but specific people, that their hearts are open and that they would be accepting of not only hearing the message of salvation, but of accepting Jesus as their savior,” said Naber.

As the days march on, the team will look to connect people they minister to with local churches.

The Rapid Response Team is accustomed to getting some blowback to its presence in these places.  Naber says some don’t want them there, but that doesn’t change the mission.

“We know there are people and groups that oppose us.  But we’re to love on them the same as anyone else.  We will probably have opportunities here to meet people who are opposed to what out mission is and may be opposed to God,” said Naber.

He says the ministry is to the entire Las Vegas community because virtually everyone has some sort of personal connection with people impacted by the attack.

“An event like this can have such a devastating impact on the emotional and spiritual parts of us.  It can effect the whole community and that’s what we’re here for is to help people through that time and to show them the love and the comfort that only comes from our Savior, Jesus Christ,” said Naber.

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Late Night Activism, Trump Resists Gun Control, GOP Embraces Deficits

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Jim Geraghty of Natonal Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America sigh as liberal late night comedians demand new gun control legislation while getting their facts wildly wrong.  They also react to reports that President Trump does not appear likely to embrace gun control efforts in the wake of the horrific attack in Las Vegas that killed dozens and wounded hundreds.  And they shake their heads as White House Budget Director Mick Mulvaney  – a deficit hawk while in Congress – says he is embracing deficits as part of the emerging tax reform legislation.

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‘We Are Hurting and Only God Can Heal America’

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As Americans stand horrified by the atrocities in Las Vegas, a leading Christian author says turning to God is the only way to heal this nation from wounds of division, violence, and even natural disasters.

Dr. Michael Brown is a national radio host and a contributing editor at thestream.org.  His latest book is “Saving A Sick America.”

“America is hurting, be it from the hurricanes ravaging our nation, be it from the murders that take place in our inner cities every single day, be it from the racial strife and division that’s in our nation to the mass murders.  We are hurting and only God can heal America,” said Brown.

He says with the onslaught of horrible news in recent weeks and recent years, it’s easy to lose sight of just how devastating events like the concert shooting in Las Vegas is, with at least 58 people dead and more than 500 injured.

“We become so desensitized that I don;t even know if we understand how evil evil really is, how dark dark really is.  What’s going to make it apparent?  The light shining.  Martin Luther Kind said, ‘The church has to be reminded it’s not the master of the state or the servant of the state but the conscience of the state,'” said Brown.

“My greatest concern is not so much with the presence of darkness but with the absence of light,” added Brown.

Brown says a reliance on God is vital to America thriving again.

“America can only be great if America is good.  America cannot be good without God.  The founding of our nation attached our freedoms to morality and morality to God,” said Brown.

However, Brown is very quick to clarify that the carnage inflicted in Las Vegas is the responsibility of one depraved gunman with massive firepower and should not be interpreted as dive judgment.

“This [isn’t] because of gays or abortion.  No.  There’s a madman who’s a murderer.  He and anyone who’s complicit with him, he or they alone are responsible.  I am not saying, oh this is because they’re in Las Vegas and it’s in Sin City.  Come on.  These are people attending a country music concert.  They’re just like anybody else, any other family,” said Brown.

“To make it as if they’re the worst of sinners or this because of is Las Vegas or this is God’s wrath.  No, this is human evil,” said Brown.

So what does a nation turning to God look like?  Brown begins by explaining what it doesn’t include.

“I’m not talking about a theocracy.  I’m not talking about imposing the Bible on the culture and hitting people over the head with it.  I’m saying that our very liberties, our very foundation are based on scriptural principles, on human beings being created in the image of God and our need for him as a creator.  If we turn back to Him, I believe He’ll help us,” said Brown.

“The problems are too big.  This is not a gun control issue.  This is a political issue.  There’s no social band-aid.  We need to say, ‘God, right now we need you.’  I don’t think there’s any other solution,” said Brown.

Brown says it’s clear to him that’s there’s only one smart direction for America to turn.

“Where are we going to go?  Who can help us?  Who’s big enough?  You going to look to the president?  You going to look to the Republican Party, the Democrat Party, the media?  Even the church itself is often so compromised.  Many times our pulpits sound like they’re entertaining people than challenging people.

“We need a fresh awakening.  The bad news is I think America’s in critical condition.  The good news is we’ve had really dark times before in our nation and those were followed by Great Awakenings,” said Brown.

He says such an awakening is possible because God rescued him from being “a heroin-shooting, LSD-using hippy rock drummer” in 1971.

Brown says Christians need to be the light that Jesus called them to be.

“I don’t believe people are really turning away from God.  They’re turning away from religion as they know it.  I believe if we could come – not with just a pep talk message but with a real message of truth.  If those who claim to follow Jesus  and believe the Bible can demonstrate there’s a better way, I believe our families will be healthier, our kids would be healthier, our country would be healthier,” said Brown.

 

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Horror in Vegas, Attack Quickly Turns Political, Honoring the Heroes

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Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America react to the horrific attack in Las Vegas that left at least 58 people dead and more than 500 wounded.  They also slam the endless politics as so many activists  – and politicians themselves – immediately declare the Las Vegas shooting to reinforce their political cause long before the facts are in.  And they join President Trump in applauding the heroism of the first responders, saved countless live with their rapid response.

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