As Hillary's Sins Cascade over Us, We say with St. Paul : "If God is for us, who can be against us?"

It is always good to begin with the facts. Fact -- 18 U.S.C. § 201, Bribery of public officials and witnesses, states in Section 11(a) what the term "public official" means -- 11 (a) For the purpose of this section - (1) the term "public official" means Member of Congress, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner...or an officer or employee or person acting for or on behalf of the United States, or any department, agency or branch of Government thereof, including the District of Columbia, in any official function, under or by authority of any such department, agency, or branch of Government, or a juror. In Subsection (3) the term "official act" is defined to mean "any decision or action on any question, matter, cause, suit, proceeding or controversy, which may at any time be pending, or which may by law be brought before any public official, in such official's official capacity, or in such official's place of trust or profit. Section 11(b) defines "bribery" : "Whoever - (1) directly or indirectly, corruptly gives, offers or promises anything of value to any public official or person ... or offers or promises any public official...to give anything of value to any other person or entity, with intent - (A) to influence any official act; or (B) to influence such public official or person...to commit or aid in committing, or collude in, or allow, any fraud, or make opportunity for the commission of any fraud, on the United States; or (C) to induce such public official...to do or omit to do any act in violation of the lawful duty of such official or person. Section 11 states the penalty for any person bribing or attempting to bribe a "public official" : the person "shall be fined under this title or not more than three times the monetary equivalent of the thing of value, whichever is greater, or imprisoned for not more than fifteen years, or both, and may be disqualified from holding any office of honor, trust, or profit under the United States." ~~~~~~ With the federal criminal statute defining and providing the penalty for bribery of a "public official" in mind, it is easy to understand why Republicans are demanding that the State Department remove Undersecretary for Management Patrick Kennedy. The newly released FBI records showed he offered a "quid pro quo" with federal authorities during the Hillary Clinton email probe. Documents released by WikiLeaks revealed claims that Kennedy tried to horse-trade with the FBI, offering additional slots for the bureau overseas if they would de-classify a particular email from Clinton’s server marked “SECRET.” The files also revealed he repeatedly tried to “influence” the FBI’s decision when his offer was denied, even taking his plea up the chain of command. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, at a campaign rally in Wisconsin on Monday, called the new revelation "worse than Watergate." Trump accused the State Department of "trying to cover up Hillary's crimes of sending classified information on a server our enemies could easily access." He also blasted Kennedy, saying : "The FBI documents show that Under-Secretary of State Patrick Kennedy made the request for altering classification as part of a 'quid pro quo,' in other words a deal. This is felony corruption. Under-Secretary Kennedy needs to resign." Trump is right. ~~~~~~ On Monday, Trump told Fox that he is demanding that fellow Republicans in Congress begin an investigation now : "It's a crime, and I hear the Republicans are going to hold hearings after the election, why would you hold them after the election? We want to hold those hearings before the election. It's a criminal act and it's incredible that they can do this and get away with it." Republican lawmakers have already called for Kennedy’s removal or resignation. In a joint statement, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz, and House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes called Kennedy’s actions “extremely disturbing” and “reckless.” -- “Someone who would try to get classification markings doctored should not continue serving in the State Department or retain access to classified information. Therefore, President Obama and Secretary Kerry should immediately remove Under Secretary Kennedy pending a full investigation." North Carolina Senator Richard Burr hammered Clinton and the State Department in a series of tweets : "Secretary Clinton & her team deliberately set up a personal server on which to conduct official, often classified, government business....Classified information was transmitted, as other government agencies have confirmed....State Department knew it, Patrick Kennedy knew it, and yet they continue to fight it. The allegations of a potential quid pro quo are serious." Florida Senator Marco Rubio said in a statement that Kennedy should be “removed immediately. The fact that Under Secretary Kennedy allegedly ‘pressured’ the FBI to change the classification of an email to benefit Secretary Clinton as part of a ‘quid pro quo’ after her behavior came to light is alarming, and a sign of just how corrupt the State Department became under her tenure. Kennedy should be removed from his position immediately until a real investigation is completed.” ~~~~~~ But, even as pressure to remove Kennedy mounts, on Tuesday morning, her Hillary & Hacks team members rallied around the Corrupt Hillary with excuses, including suggesting that the FBI account is a lie. State Department spokesman John Kirby insisted on Fox that there was no 'quid pro quo' as described in the FBI documents. State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Kennedy isn’t going anywhere. Toner also denied there was any proposed deal, saying the FBI official first raised the number of bureau personnel approved to be in Iraq at the end of the phone call as a separate issue -- [if you read the WikiLeaks-released emails, this is not the actual chain of discussion]. As for the FBI official's account, Toner said : "I can't speak to what this person's intent, whether they misunderstood the atmosphere of that conversation, I have no idea. All I can say is that there was no quid pro quo." Clinton spokesman Brian Fallon downplayed the release, saying there was strong disagreement among government agencies about the decisions to retroactively classify material that had been sent to the then-Secretary of State. The line of defense taken by the State Department concerning the Kennedy chain of emails makes it easier to understand why State and the White House had much earlier explained the delay in releasing Hillary's emails -- they were apparently trying to declassify as many as possible so that, as Kennedy suggested to the FBI in his 'quid pro quo' emails, the declassified emails could be buried by the Clinton team, "never again to see the light of day." ~~~~~~ As Thomas Lifson of American Thinker wrote on Monday : "Three little words that change everything" : quid pro quo," calling the words quid pro quo (“this for that”) "an important legal standard, a red line, if you will. Courtroom dramas, Congressional hearings, and coverage of scandals all reinforce the gravity of crossing the line that it draws in the sand." Lipson observed that "Even CNN took notice : "A top official at the State Department repeatedly sought to have the FBI back down on classifying the contents of an email from Hillary Clinton's private email server....One interviewee described feeling 'pressured' by another FBI official at Kennedy's request." Chris Cillizza’s headline Tuesday in the Washington Post sums up the problem : “Hillary Clinton’s email problems just came roaring back.” ~~~~~~ Other revelations in the Sunday WikiLeaks dump of Hillary emails are astounding. (1) There is an email discussion within the Hillary Clinton campaign about whether they should continue to take money from people who were registered with the US government as foreign government agents under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. First, on April 15, 2015, high-level campaign officials met by telephone and made the honorable decision to not take money from foreign government agents, but, as Hillary’s national finance director, Dennis Cheng, reopened the decision later that same day, emailing : “we are leaving a good amount of money on the table.” The final decision appeared to have been made on April 16. Clinton’s campaign manager, Robby Mook, wrote : “I'm ok just taking the money and dealing with any attacks.” The next day, Clinton’s communications director, Jennifer Palmieri, said : “Take the money!!” The Clinton decision to "take the money" undoubtedly means that Americans who are registered foreign government agents for oppressive governments such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Oman, are contributing to Hillary's campaign. The money helping her to be elected indirectly comes from Islamic countries covered in sharia-laced oppression and blood. But, the Clintons are immune to scrutiny. (2) Then, there are the emails that show Clinton operatives conspiring in June 2015 on how to best threaten the Supreme Court to rule their way in King v. Burwell, the case that could have effectively ended Obamacare. On June 2, 2015, Neera Tanden, the president of the Soros-flagship Progressive Center for American Progress, emailed Clinton advisor Jake Sullivan about how to put the most pressure on the Supreme Court to rule in favor of Obamacare. Basically, she wrote, scaring the Court would be the best tactic. Tanden went on to offer the strategy whereby the campaign would have to make the Supreme Court aware of “negative political consequences to ruling against the government,” which it could do by planting stories about how Clinton would turn the Supreme Court into an election issue....the Court itself would become a hugely important political issue. Tanden said the CAP could “get that story started,” but acknowledged it “rests on you guys to make it stick.” In subsequent emails on the chain, Jennifer Palmieri (communications director) approved of the approach, while Brian Fallon (press secretary) offered his help in getting the story out there. CLEARLY, the message to the Supreme Court was 'Vote against us, and you'll regret it.' Obama directly warned the “unelected” Justices against an “unprecedented” ruling of “judicial activism.” The day after his April 2012 speech, one GOP Senator openly accused Obama of threatening the Supreme Court : “What President Obama is doing here isn't right. It is threatening, it is intimidating.” But, in Clinton World, that strategy worked in 2012, so why not do it again in 2015. In the days and weeks after that email conversation, the King v. Burwell story was framed by the media and by Democrats to push their anti-constitutional narrative : the constitutional arguments don't matter. Think of the political backlash!!! ~~~~~~ Another Hillary & Hacks strategy is to portray Donald Trump as someone the military is afraid of -- that they think he would be dangerous as Commander-in-Chief. When Hillary did that at the second debate, Trump once again said how proud he is to be backed by 200 generals and admirals. Who are those among America’s finest, bravest, most admirable men who support Trump publicly : 17 medal of honor winners, 15 brigadier generals, 34 major generals, 18 lieutenant generals, 41 rear admirals, 6 vice-admirals, and three 4-star generals and admirals. Such men don't publicly support a candidate without serious thought. They wrote a public letter : "The 2016 election affords the American people an urgently needed opportunity to make a long-overdue course correction in our national security posture and policy. As retired senior leaders of America’s military, we believe that such a change can only be made by someone who has not been deeply involved with, and substantially responsible for, the hollowing out of our military and the burgeoning threats facing our country around the world. For this reason, we support Donald Trump’s candidacy to be our next Commander-in-Chief. For the past eight years, America’s armed forces have been subjected to a series of ill-considered and debilitating budget cuts, policy choices and combat operations that have left the superb men and women in uniform less capable of performing their vital missions in the future than we require them to be. Simultaneously, enemies of this country have been emboldened, sensing weakness and irresolution in Washington and opportunities for aggression at our expense and that of other freedom-loving nations. In our professional judgment, the combined effect is potentially extremely perilous. That is especially the case if our government persists in the practices that have brought us to this present pass. For this reason, we support Donald Trump and his commitment to rebuild our military, to secure our borders, to defeat our Islamic Supremacist adversaries and restore law and order domestically. We urge our fellow Americans to do the same." The letter to the voting public was organized by Major General Shachnow, whose amazing life story is told in his memoir, Hope and Honor. His life experience help explains his leadership in opposing Hillary Clinton and supporting Donald Trump. Shachnow is the only Holocaust survivor to become a US General and was a legend in the Green Berets, with whom he served for 40 years. Like Hillary supporter and Nazi collaborator George Soros, Shachnow was a 7-year-old child in Nazi-era Europe when the Nazis invaded his town, burned alive doctors and patients in the hospital, gunned down the elderly and orphans, and rounded up the Jews, sending ten thousand directly to their deaths. Shachnow and his parents were sent to the nightmare Kovno concentration camp, where he survived for three years before his resourceful family escaped once again, only days before the children’s death march to Auschwitz. Months of surviving in forests were endured before the Shachnows joined up with Zionist partisans and crossed thousands of miles of Soviet-occupied Europe to reach freedom in the American zone in Germany. Eventually, Shachnow’s family immigrated to America. He joined the US Army before graduating from high school and, for obvious reasons, volunteered for the Green Berets. He eventually rose to command the Green Berets and helped develop America’s modern Special Forces. In his memoir, General Shachnow wrote: “I remembered how the American GIs had inspired me as a young immigrant and ignited in me dreams for freedom and a better life…Freedom is a reality that everyone deserves.” If you google the letter, you will see why Trump is utterly sincere when he states he is "humbled and honored" by their support. Among them is Hershel Woodrow "Woody" Williams (born October 2, 1923), a retired United States Marine who received the Medal of Honor for his actions in the Battle of Iwo Jima during World War II. He is the last surviving recipient of the Medal of Honor from that battle. These are the military men who stand with Trump and want him as our Commander-in-Chief. ~~~~~~ Too many American voters still think this is a conventional election, that we are choosing between two candidates on the basis of experience, policies, and character. This is anything but a conventional election. This is war. An American Thinker article called it : "all-out culture war. It's not a war that conservatives started or have ever wanted. It is a war that has been thrust on us. But if we don't treat it as a war, if we don't take it seriously as a war, we will lose and lose miserably. We will lose not just for the next four years, but for the next 40 years, and possibly the next 400 years." The Clinton war to conquer America has left many Clinton associates dead. James McDougal, the Clintons' convicted Whitewater partner died of an apparent heart attack while in solitary confinement. He was a key witness in Ken Starr’s investigation. Mary Mahoney, a former White House intern was murdered July 1997 at a Starbucks Coffee Shop in Georgetown, just after she was to go public with her story of sexual harassment in the White House. Vince Foster, former White House counselor, and colleague of Hillary Clinton at Little Rock’s Rose Law firm, died of a gunshot wound to the head, ruled a suicide but with evidence pointing to the contrary. Ron Brown, Secretary of Commerce and former DNC Chairman, was reported to have died by impact in a plane crash, but a pathologist close to the investigation reported that there was a hole in the top of Brown’s skull resembling a gunshot wound. At the time of his death Brown was being investigated, and spoke publicly of his willingness to cut a deal with prosecutors. The rest of the people on the plane also died. Ed Willey, a Clinton fundraiser, was found dead in November 1993 deep in the woods in Virginia of a gunshot wound to the head. It was ruled a suicide, but Willey died on the same day his wife Kathleen Willey claimed Bill Clinton groped her in the oval office in the White House. Jerry Parks, head of Clinton’s gubernatorial security team in Little Rock, was gunned down in his car at a deserted intersection outside Little Rock. Park’s son said his father was building a dossier on Clinton and had allegedly threatened to reveal this information. After he died the files were mysteriously removed from his house. James Wilson was found dead in May 1993 from an apparent hanging suicide. He was reported to have ties to Whitewater. Kathy Ferguson, the ex-wife of Arkansas Trooper Danny Ferguson, was found dead in May 1994, in her living room with a gunshot to her head. It was ruled a suicide even though there were several packed suitcases, as if she were going somewhere. Danny Ferguson was a co-defendant along with Bill Clinton in the Paula Jones lawsuit, and Kathy Ferguson was a possible corroborating witness for Paula Jones. Bill Shelton, Arkansas State Trooper and fiancee of Kathy Ferguson, critical of the suicide ruling of his fiancee, was found dead in June, 1994 of a gunshot wound, also ruled a suicide, at the grave site of his fiancee. Suzanne Coleman, who reportedly had an affair with Clinton when he was Arkansas Attorney General, died of a gunshot wound to the back of the head, ruled a suicide -- not easy to do. She was pregnant at the time of her death. There are 46 unexplained deaths among Clinton associates. The most recent was Seth Rich, the DC staffer murdered and “robbed” (of nothing) on July 10. Wikileaks found Assange claims he had info on the DNC email scandal. ~~~~~~ Hillary Clinton used the State Department as a pay-for-play to enrich her Clinton Foundation. And now we know that one of her close aides when she was Secretary of State, Patrick Kennedy, asked the FBI to falsely label the security classification on the emails that had not already been deleted by Hillary & Hacks, offering the FBI some overseas slots in exchange -- as a bribe -- there is no other reasonable explanation. We are told to accept the State Department story that Kennedy did this on his own, so now we may reasonably assume that Kennedy is being used as a convenient shield to protect Hillary and others. But, we know that, at every step, Hillary chooses to lie, cheat, destroy records, hide records, and evade the truth to advance her career. She wants power, money, and glory. She has never told the truth and never accepted responsibility. In the aftermath of the 2012 presidential election, an American Thinker article concluded that America had voted : "to end modern civilization -- literally, that a major world-historical shift had, for the first time, been effected by means of a democratic election. America, the planet's last principled guardian of modernity's political victories -- natural equality, individual sovereignty, limited republican government -- was faced with the choice of reelecting or rejecting a Marxist president supported by the Communist Party, who had promised to fundamentally transform the country and used his first term to begin fulfilling that promise. She [America] voted to stay the course, although the course, in this case, meant an ever-accelerating descent toward the abyss of Ronald Reagan's projected 'thousand years of darkness.'" That 2012 assessment was dismissed as poetic excess or a mood caused by a "disappointing" election result. The article was clear : "...watching a glorious seven-hundred-year historical arc exhausting itself at last; seeing the immense intellectual achievements of philosophers and artists from Aquinas and Dante to Locke and Swift being snuffed out in favor of neo-Marxist critical theory and the nihilistic, infantilizing vulgarity of our popular entertainment; and observing in real time the final outcome of the civilized world's two-hundred-year submersion in the moral quicksand of government-controlled child-rearing (i.e., public school), is not 'disappointing.' It is revelatory. What has been revealed is that this age has tempted fate too long. Tocqueville's prediction, more than 175 years ago, about the peculiar threat to political freedom, namely the successful free people's careless slide into the comfortable compliance of soft despotism, has not merely proved correct; it has perhaps become irreversible....The American majority, primed over generations for this moment, is finally embracing its demise, and therefore indirectly the demise of the entire civilized world, which for generations has stupidly and ungraciously enjoyed its Doomsday Eve party primarily on America's dime....you can be sure you are witnessing a society in freefall. For its majority has succumbed to the fundamental legal premise of tyranny, which means men have rationalized their own enslavement." ~~~~~~ Dear readers, it is deeply, fundamentally depressing. All any of us can do is try to warn America. The probable near future is not pleasant to consider. I don't think Trump supporters will go quietly into the night if he loses, nor will he, for that matter. His son-in-law is already investigating the creation of Trump TV. And Trump's predictions about a rigged election are absolutely true. Worse than that is the damage Hillary Clinton will wreak on the Constitution...there will be nothing left of what little we have preserved under Obama. And if Hillary & Hacks touch the Second Amendment there will surely be riots. So, happy Wednesday. Say a prayer with your friends and then do all in your power to turn out the vote for Donald Trump. The war is not over, but the 2016 election is its Last Stand and Waterloo, rolled into one. Just like the Apostle Peter did before he went to Rome to be tried and crucified as was his right as a Roman citizen, all we can do right now is visit our friends and take courage together by voting. But, there is still hope that a miracle will occur and Trump will win. Maybe God is still with us. Nobody else seems to be. And to quote another Founding Saint, Paul : "What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?" (Romans 8:31). I must be feeling particularly Christian today...every day really.