January 9, 2015
Highlights of the Week…
Rep. Louie Gohmert and the Brave Patriots
We salute Texas Rep. Louie Gohmert this week for running for House Speaker and standing firm on his convictions. Although he and the other brave conservatives eventually failed in preventing Speaker of the House John Boehner from being elected to a third term, these representatives listened to the will of the people who overwhelmingly wanted someone else as speaker in a recent poll.
Mr. Gohmert, one of our leaders in the House, is an unabashed constitutional conservative who speaks his mind and is dedicated to saving the republic. If our country had more politicians like him, perhaps Congress would do what the people actually elected them to do rather than adhere to crony capitalism, party loyalty, and special interests.
Other members who stood tall and voted their conscience include incoming freshman Gary Palmer of Alabama who voted for Senator Jeff Sessions for speaker and Virginia’s 7th district congressman Dave Brat, famous for defeating former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor in last June’s primary, who cast a ballot for Rep. Jeff Duncan of South Carolina.
As Martin Luther King Jr. famously said, “The time is always right to do the right thing.”
To these 25 patriots who took on the risk of facing retribution for voting against the establishment, we thank you for doing the right thing and appreciate your courage.
Mark Levin
Never one to back down to anyone, radio talk show host Mark Levin took to Facebook this week to challenge members of the House who tried to justify their vote for John Boehner’s third term as speaker.
One House member in particular, Rep. Mick Mulvaney of South Carolina, chastised Mark indirectly for creating a movement on talk radio to oust Speaker Boehner. Mr. Levin then rebutted the representative and contested his claim that he voted against Speaker Boehner two years ago when in fact, as “The Great One” points out, Rep. Mulvaney didn’t vote at all.
Whether spending three hours a night railing against the establishment, expanding our knowledge and understanding of the U.S. Constitution, or litigating cases as President of Landmark Legal Foundation, Mark Levin is a leader, a professor, a patriot, and our mentor.
Lowlights of the Week…
NFL Officiating
During this past Sunday’s NFC Wild Card game between the Detroit Lions and the Dallas Cowboys, the Lions were holding onto a slim three-point lead in the fourth quarter and had the ball at the Cowboys 46 yard line when a pass interference penalty was called on Dallas LB Anthony Hitchens on a 3rd down and 1 play. FOX’s officiating guru Mike Pereira agreed with the call as did the broadcast team of Joe Buck and Troy Aikman.
After referee Pete Morelli announced the penalty to the crowd, the officiating crew huddled together and inexplicably picked up the flag, reversing the call, and forcing the Lions into a fourth down. Following an unspeakable and untimely punt of only 10 yards by Detroit’s Sam Martin, the Cowboys got the ball back with great field position and drove down the field to score the winning touchdown.
The reaction of the officials picking up the flag immediately on social media and other outlets during the game and hours and days after was of outrage and shock. Even the president sympathized with the Detroit Lions. If this was a regular season game, this incident would be a stain on the league and its officials. But a playoff game!??
To make matters worse, the NFL admitted to the Lions organization on Tuesday that they also missed a blatant hold call on Detroit defensive end Ndamakong Suh on Dallas’ winning drive that would have put the Cowboys into a 4th and 16 and forced a punt instead of a new set of downs preceding the winning TD.
Then finally, the NFL also admitted on Wednesday to the Cowboys brass that the officiating crew also missed seven penalty calls on Detroit during the game.
For a league that has had to deal with some very public and embarrassing off-the-field issues this year, these events add another black eye to the NFL whose tv ratings were flat overall compared to last year.
Shame on the NFL and its officiating crew for becoming the narrative instead of the action on the field.
John Boehner Punishes Dissenters
Again, the establishment takes its usual spot on our weekly lowlights.
After winning his third term this Tuesday, the crying Speaker of the House acted more like a schoolboy bully than the third highest elected official in the U.S. government by punishing members of the House of Representatives who didn’t vote for him for another term. Expectedly, Boehner and his allies denied that the speaker is seeking retribution against the 25 dissenters.
However, Republican Congressman Tim Huelskamp of Kansas has publicly stated that he has been denied the opportunity to chair the Veterans Affairs subcommittee that he had hoped to lead due to voting against the speaker.
Other members who voted for someone other than Mr. Boehner on Tuesday have echoed Rep. Huelskamp’s sentiments.
None of this is surprising as there were similar rumblings of punishment by the speaker in 2012 for a few rogue members who voted against the leadership’s wishes on certain votes.
If Speaker John Boehner would take the fight to President Obama and Nancy Pelosi in the same manner in which he delivers political blows to solid constitutional conservatives, perhaps the speaker would enjoy a wide array of support from the grassroots movement.
But that is just wishful thinking. The speaker, despite his trying insistence, is not conservative nor a leader and, unfortunately, the vast majority of the lower chamber isn’t either which is why the conservative base continues to rebel against them for those reasons.
If you don’t vote in lock-step with the House leadership, you will be punished.
Mr. Boehner, 100 years from now, no one will remember that you were the Speaker of House and you will just be a footnote to history.
Stop acting like a bully and grow up!
