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Mattis

Navy Considering Atheist Chaplains

March 16, 2018 by GregC

http://dateline.radioamerica.org/podcast/3-16-gacek-blog.mp3

The U.S. Navy is considering allowing atheists into the Chaplain Corps, a move that even the Obama administration opposed and that Christian conservatives say would squander precious resources and open the corps to almost anything in the years ahead.

“I do think it would be really deleterious,” said Family Research Council Senior Fellow Chris Gacek.

This is not the first round of this fight.  In 2015, Jason Heap filed suit to become a Navy chaplain after the Defense Department rejected his request because he sought to affiliate with a pair of humanist groups instead of a religious denomination.  The Obama administration fought Heap’s lawsuit and won but Heap is making the push again.

This time, the U.S. Navy seems more open to the idea.

“The Defense Department won all the cases against Jason Heap so you would think that they would leave well enough alone and, therefore, there wouldn’t be a problem in the future.  But there is a board called the Chaplain Appointment and Retention Eligibility Advisory Group that is recommending that the Navy accept him as a chaplain.

“So even though he couldn’t get it through the courts or through other processes, there’s another group of faceless bureaucrats that have an agenda and are trying to push it through,” said Gacek.

Gacek argues that if the Navy allows an atheist chaplain there’s no telling where that decision could lead.

“What’s the limit?  There’s no reason to think it would just be stuck at one or that you wouldn’t have more of them or all sorts of people coming in here who are just basically yoga instructors,” said Gacek.

“It’s like saying the pastors and priests division has to accept atheists.  A does not equal B here.  It’s like having square wheels or something.  It’s kind of hard to imagine you even have to have this debate.

“It’s important I think to maintain the integrity of the institution.  We’ve had chaplains since 1775, when George Washington himself had Congress establish the chaplains,” said Gacek.

While the Navy considers and possibly advances this idea, Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., 22 other senators and 40 House members are pushing back.  Gacek says that pressure and possible appropriations riders on funding could force the Navy’s hand on this.

Gacek says he’s surprised this idea has any oxygen at all in a Republican administration.

“If you had a sensible Secretary of Defense and they were in charge of these things, this would be taken care of.  It’s sort of amazing that this is happening in the Trump administration,” said Gacek.

In addition to pointing out the logical inconsistency of an atheist chaplain, Gacek says scarce resources for the Chaplain Corps would stretched even thinner for those identifying with a specific faith or denomination.  He says those chaplains are vital in ministering to people far from home.

The Chaplain Corps is already strained.  Gacek says eight years of Obama’s cultural agenda took a heavy toll.

“In the Obama administration, you had certain social agendas being pushed.  There were people who wouldn’t accede to the idea of same-sex marriage.  I can imagine it’s only getting worse with all these new gender categories they’re trying to cram down everybody’s throat.

“Since the Bible has a set idea about sex, there being only two of them, and there being only two genders, this isn’t really going to fly for a lot of people,” said Gacek.

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Filed Under: News & Politics, Podcasts Tagged With: atheists, chaplains, Mattis, Navy, news

No Sleep Lost for Mattis, Kushner’s Curious Contacts, Kelly’s Caution on Terror

May 30, 2017 by GregC

Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America applaud Defense Secretary James Mattis for telling CBS News that he doesn’t lose sleep over anything but makes other people lose sleep.  They also scratch their heads over Jared Kushner allegedly discussing a secret communications channel with Moscow during the Trump transition and wonder why a real estate guy is dealing with national security.  They shudder a bit as Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly says people wouldn’t leave the house if they knew what he knows about terrorism.  And they are not exactly teary as they discuss the death of former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega.

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Filed Under: News & Politics, Podcasts Tagged With: communications, death, Kelly, Kushner, Martini, Mattis, National Review, Noriega, russia, sleep, Terrorism

Trump & Intel, Dem Wage Hypocrisy, Mad Dog’s Cell Number

May 16, 2017 by GregC

Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America discuss reports that President Trump revealed very sensitive intelligence during his meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.  They also get a kick out of a lawsuit against the Democratic National Committee, alleging staffers weren’t paid the current minimum wage for their work in 2016.  And they have some fun with the news that a published photo of President Trump’s bodyguard revealed the personal cell phone number of Defense Sec. James Mattis.

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Filed Under: News & Politics, Podcasts Tagged With: cell phone, classified, democrats, intelligence, Martini, Mattis, minimum wage, National Review, russia, Trump

Mattis Gets Real, Nuking the Filibuster, Trump Vows Health Bill ‘Easy’

March 29, 2017 by GregC

http://dateline.radioamerica.org/podcast/3-Martini-Lunch-3-29-17.mp3

Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America applaud Defense Secretary Jim Mattis for doing his best to limit civilian casualties while explaining that are often unavoidable in wartime as the U.S. dramatically ramps up the military action against ISIS.  They also discuss how Democrats are boxing themselves into a corner by trying to filibuster Neil Gorsuch – a move that could lead to rule changes that make the Democrats powerless to stop anything.  And they react to Pres. Trump telling senators a deal on health care legislation will be “easy.”

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Filed Under: News & Politics, Podcasts Tagged With: civilian casualties, democrats, easy, filibuster, Gorsuch, health care, ISIS, Martini, Mattis, National Review, Trump

Three Martini Lunch 1/6/17

January 6, 2017 by GregC

http://dateline.radioamerica.org/podcast/3-Martini-Lunch-1-6-17.mp3

Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America applaud House Republicans and Democrats for an overwhelming vote condemning the UN resolution against Israel.  They also groan as the Trump transition and Gen. James Mattis butt heads over who should fill top Pentagon positions.  And they get a kick out of news that former Bush operative Matthew Dowd is thinking of running against Ted Cruz in 2018.

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Filed Under: News & Politics, Podcasts Tagged With: Cruz, Dowd, house, Israel, Martini, Mattis, National, Review, Senate, Trump, UN

Gen. Boykin Cheers Mattis for Defense Secretary

December 2, 2016 by GregC

http://dateline.radioamerica.org/podcast/12-2-boykin-blog.mp3

Retired U.S. Army Lt. General William “Jerry” Boykin is applauding President-Elect Donald Trump’s selection of retired U.S. Marine Corps Gen. James Mattis to be the next Secretary of Defense and believes Mattis will do an excellent job of restoring the military to its original purpose and moving it away from the giant social experiment its become during the Obama years.

Boykin, who served 36 years, many of them in special operations, sees Trump and Mattis as kindred spirits in that they both despise political correctness.  Mattis, known as “Mad Dog” and “Chaos” during his years in uniform comes to the confirmation process with a sterling reputation as a military scholar and leader and for speaking his mind bluntly.

“I think what Donald Trump was looking for was somebody who would send a very strong message to our military, to the people in the ranks of our military that we are going to get back to a focus on what the military’s mission is.  And this is plain and simple to win the nation’s wars.  I think Mattis sends that signal.  It’s a very good choice.  I’m excited about it,” said Boykin.

When asked how Mattis would tackle priorities like ISIS or strengthening the military, Boykin says the most urgent priority is something else.

“I think his top priority will be restoring the warrior ethos here.  We’ve been plagued by various social experiments for the entire eight years Obama has been out commander-in-chief.  It has created a huge morale problem.  It has reduced our readiness.  It has made our ability to win the nation’s wars questionable,” said Boykin.

Boykin says there are limits to what Mattis can do to reverse the social engineering implemented in the military during the Obama years.

“There are some things that he cannot roll back.  What he can do is put an end to all the wasted training time that is associated with every social experiment,” said Boykin.

“For example, when you allow transgenders to serve in the military, there is a training program that goes with that.  Every soldier, sailor, airman, Marine and Coastguardsman has to go through hours and hours of that training.  What does that do?  It causes them to have to give up something in their training program,” said Boykin.

He points to January’s incident in the Persian Gulf, in which Iran took American sailors prisoner, took video of them on their knees and forced the commanding officer to apologize.  The U.S. later apologized and even thanked Iran for it’s hospitality of our personnel.

“That’s not acceptable under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.  The problem was they didn’t get that kind of training.  What they did get was diversity and inclusion and tolerance and white privilege and all those things that go with social experiments and they contribute nothing to the ability to fight and win the nation’s wars,” said Boykin.

Boykin is confident Mattis can handle the job of running a massive organization like the Department of Defense.  And while Boykin, strongly prefers civilian leadership at the Pentagon, he says we need Mattis right now.

“I fully endorse civilian control of the military.  It’s a fundamental principle to our constitutional republic.  We all believe in that.  But these are extreme circumstances.  These are extreme situations we find ourselves in now,” said Boykin.

“So in this situation, I am comfortable with it.  I would not want it to be the norm.  But again, we’re not in a normal situation or circumstance,” said Boykin.

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Filed Under: News & Politics, Podcasts Tagged With: culture, Defense, ethos, Mattis, news, Trump, warrior

Three Martini Lunch 12/2/16

December 2, 2016 by GregC

http://dateline.radioamerica.org/podcast/3-Martini-Lunch-12-2-16.mp3

Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America applaud Donald Trump for selecting retired U.S. Marine Corps Gen. James Mattis to be Secretary of Defense.  They also roll their eyes as Clinton campaign officials contend white supremacists won the election for Trump.  And they explain why Trump’s deal is good for Carrier employees but a bad model to follow as an economic policy.

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Filed Under: News & Politics, Podcasts Tagged With: Carrier, Clinton, Conway, economics, Martini, Mattis, National, racism, Review, Trump

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