ProgDems Caught like Deer in Headlights as Allegations and Confessions of Sexual Harassment Just Keep Coming

THE REAL NEWS TODAY IS THAT WE ARE LOSING COUNT OF THE NUMBER OF POLTICIANS AND MEDIA CELEBRITIES ACCUSED OF SEXUAL HARASSMENT. And in this period of the #Metoo feeding frenzy, some men are going to be wrongly accused and ruined because of the charges. This is not to say that all or most of the current charges are not true, but it is to say that some common sense and caution should be applied, especailly as the ProgDem leftist mainstream media was, until their icons got caught in the deer headlights, using the Judge Moore allegations of 40 years ago in order to get at President Trump in the hope of reviving the unproven charges launched during the campaign when the ugly videotape surfaced. • • • MOORE IS HOLDING HIS OWN AGAINST THE PROGDEMS AND THEIR MSM. Breitbart reported last Friday that Alabama Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore has opened up a solid lead over Democrat opponent Doug Jones, according to a new poll by Sky Research, suggesting that allegations of sexual impropriety have not fatally damaged Moore’s candidacy. Alabama Today reported that the poll showed Moore with 46.7% compared to Jones’ 39.6%, with 13.7% undecided. The poll was conducted on Nov. 21 and had a margin of error of 3.1%. • The sky Research poll was released just days after another poll by Atlantic Media and Research showed Moore up by 6%. The Sky Research poll could still be swung Jones’ way by undecided voters, but that seems unlikely. • Judge Moore has been dogged by allegations of sexual impropriety, being accused of sexual misconduct with a 14-year-old when he was in his 30s. [Google the Breitbart article by Aaron Klein on November 21, 2017 for a full argument about how court records involving the girl's custody case show that her accusations against Moore contradict facts.] • But, Moore refused to give up, insisting that the allegations were false and led by the Progressive Left determined to keep him out of the US Senate and by Senate Majority Mitch McConnell's equal determination to keep Moore from opposing McConnell's leadership position if elected to the Senate. And, it has changed Moore's fortunes. Moore himself has made clear that he was their target, telling Breitbart News : “I believe with all my heart that Mitch McConnell [Senate Majority Leader] and the establishment are in cahoots with the Democrats to stop this campaign. They have taken a calculated risk for two years with a Democrat [Doug Jones] and [then will] try to elect another Republican in two years. They want me out. So that’s what’s going on.” • Moore also got a boost by an indirect endorsement from President Trump, who told reporters as he was leaving the White House to go to his Florida home for Thanksgiving : “He totally denies it. He says it didn’t happen,” Trump said. “Forty years is a long time. He’s run eight races, and this has never come up.” Trump also reminded the deep-red state that it may not want a “liberal Democrat” representing them in the Senate : “I’ve looked at his [Jones'] record. It’s terrible on crime. It’s terrible on the border. It’s terrible on the military. I can tell you for a fact, we do not need somebody that’s going to be bad on crime, bad on borders, bad with the military, bad for the Second Amendment.” • • • IT WAS NEVER GOING TO BE EASY FOR DEMOCRAT JONES TO WIN IN ALABAMA. It is very helpful that Moore is running in Alabama where 62.3% of the respondents in the polls identified as Republican, suggesting that Jones has an uphill climb to get Alabamians to vote for him. • Blabber Buzz and The New American reported last week that : "In an “unscientific” poll conducted by the Trussville (Alabama) Tribune on Monday [November 20], Senate candidate Judge Roy Moore is leading his Democratic opponent Doug Jones by 58% to 35%. The Tribune quizzed 2,741 readers in Trussville and surrounding towns in the suburbs of Birmingham (total population : 70,000) 80% of whom told the Tribune that they were not buying into the media depiction of Moore as a sexual predator. • Evangelical Christians in Alabama aren’t "buying in" either. Several national evangelical leaders, including Franklin Graham, head of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, and Jerry Falwell, Jr., president of Liberty University, have expressed their support for Moore while others say that they believe Moore is being unfairly persecuted for his faith by the mainstream media and particularly the Republican establishment. • Moore's active refusal to give up has also been helped by what seems like ProgDem media spreading baseless rumors -- either not fact-checked or outright Fake news. A widespread claim that Moore was banned from a local mall for preying on teenagers was debunked by the former mall manager, casting doubt on some of the mainstream media reporting on the allegations. Moore has taken on the Republican establishment, showing that in at least two cases, the mainstream media got essential facts in their charges against him grossly wrong. In a campaign statement issued early last week, Moore’s campaign headquarters “unveiled statements from key witnesses that completely bust the story of [two of Moore’s accusers of sexual impropriety] and further reveal an unconscionable bias on the part of state and national press to hide the truth from Alabama voters who will undoubtedly see through the ‘fake news’ and elect Judge Moore for the man that they have always known him to be.” • Not only are Alabamans not buying into the media’s false frenzy but they are suporting Moore's campaign financially -- Moore’s campaign chairman Rich Hobson told ABC News that they have “raised more than $1 million in the last 10 days since the falsehoods came out. And that’s without the support of the NRC (National Republican Committee).” • • • PROGDEM SEXUAL HARASSMENT ALLEGATIONS KEEP COMING. It is rather ironic that Moore’s campaign is being helped by real and provable sexual predations by Democrats. First, there were the revelations about charges levied against Harvey Weinstein for sexual harassment, sexual assault, and rape. These opened Pandora’s Box because of Weinstein’s close connections to top people in the Democrat Party and Hollywood. Then came Senator Al Franken, whose sexual escapades came to light last week, reported by journalist Selwyn Duke -- to read a good exposition by Duke, go to the November 26, 2107, American Thinker article by Selwyn Duke, "Ex-Cop Making Roy Moore Harassment Claim Is Leftist, Anti-Moore Opponent" < http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2017/11/breaking_excop_making_roy_moore_harassment_claim_is_leftist_antimoore_opponent.ht ml#ixzz4zZS6vWdw >. According to Duke, these were just the most obvious and most recent of sexual predations linked to Democrats : "On the liberal side we have Harvey Weinstein, Bill Clinton, Kevin Spacey, Anthony Weiner, Ben Affleck, directors James Toback and Oliver Stone, journalist Mark Halperin, NPR editor Michael Oreskes, Congressman John Conyers, Vox Media editorial director Lockhart Steele, New York Times correspondent Glenn Thrush, CBS’s Charlie Rose, and Al Franken -- and the list goes on." The list does indeed go on. Last Monday it was confirmed that Michigan Democrat John Conyers, the longest-serving member of the House of Representatives, settled a complaint for $27,000 in 2015 from a woman who alleged that she was fired because she wouldn’t “succumb to [his] sexual advances.” • These allegations, many apologized for by the harasser, is making Moore's absolute denial look much more believable when compared to the serious and provable accusations involving Democrats. • So, the GOP establishment and corrupt ProgDems -- who want so desperately to keep Moore out of the Senate -- are instead building the case, and the momentum, for Moore to outlast Jones in the December 12 contest and take Jeff Sessions' place as junior Senator from Alabama. Duke quotes Huffpo’s Amanda Terkel, who wrote that the best chance to defeat Moore is : “ 'for the Democratic Party to lie low.' Why? Because their positions are damning in Dixie. Consider how Terkel also wrote that 'Doug Jones is trying to distinguish himself from the national party….' Well, he’s not trying very hard. He’s pro-prenatal infanticide, apparently even up to the moment of birth. He’s pro-'transgender' agenda, which includes support for 'transgenders' in the military and having confused (or clever) boys use girls’ locker rooms. He’s also pro-amnesty, pro-CO2 regulation, pro-ObamaCare and is a tax-and-spend politician. This is the real scandal in the Senate special-election campaign : that Doug Jones wants to bring New York values to Alabama. And maybe this is why Democrats have to bring a Hollywood scandal to Roy Moore." • ANd, on Saturday, Carson News wrote that : "One of the many contingencies being floated by Senate Republicans regarding the impending election of Roy Moore, expulsion after the fact, is fraught with legal peril, a former House general counsel wrote for Politico. Stan Brand writes that the Senate, after what would certainly be months of grueling hearings, could use "disorderly behavior" as the mitigating factor to expel Moore," because of sexual harassment allegations made against Moore, but Brands sees two problems : "For one, Senators would need two-thirds vote to expel him. However, more important is that Moore's alleged misconduct happened before he was a Senator, meaning overturning the will of the people, who were well aware of his alleged improprieties, but voted him in anyway. In the end, the Supreme Court case Powell v. McCormack dictates that as long as a candidate fits the qualifications -- age, citizenship, residency -- undoing the will of the people is not and should not be an easy undertaking. Can the Senate get away with expelling Moore regardless of these precedents? Maybe. Moore might have a tough legal case to make. But so would the Senate." • • • THE 'SLUSH FUND.' Many online outlets -- not so much the MSM -- have reported in the past week that congressional sexual harassment settlements are paid for by US taxpayers. Patriotic Viral News wrote : "We knew that there were a lot of perks that come with the job of being a Member of Congress, but this is truly infuriating. Your tax dollars are paying to settle the sexual harassment complaints against Representatives and Senators. Plus, based on the way the special law that Congress wrote for itself is structured, the settlements are kept in absolute secrecy. The taxpayers never get to know which Senators and Representatives are spending our money to settle their sexual harassment cases!" • The existence of the 'slush fund' was revealed during a recent hearing of the House Committee on Administration. Congress set its own rules on sexual harassment as part of the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995. Since that time, 264 staffers have been paid more than $17 million in 'hush money' -- that is the right term because each settlement requires the victim to sign a nondisclosure agreement preventing the victim from talking about the situation -- after they were harassed on the job. Congress also made it extremely difficult for staffers to file a harassment complaint against them to begin with -- before a complaint can be filed, a victim is required to attend 30 days of mediation. At least two current Members of Congress -- one Republican and one Democrat -- have used this taxpayer settlement money to silence their victims. According to testimony before the House last week, one Member of Congress invited a female staffer to his home to drop off some paperwork and greeted the young woman in a towel. Then, of course, he dropped the towel as soon as she came inside. Your tax dollars at work!" • Sounds a lot like the special Obamacare treatment MEmbers of Congress and their families and staffs get. • And, despite all, CNN’s Gloria Borger is calling for some understanding to be extended to the poor, suffering Democratic Senator from Minnesota Al Franken, who has been accused of sexual abuse and sexual harassment. Borger says the Senator “is suffering greatly," adding "He was not a member of Congress at the time this occurred. He was just a comedian. I don’t doubt his remorse....and I think look, we have to look at the context in which all of this is occurring, which is Moore, Judge Moore, and, that has been brewing, percolating, whatever you want to say, for days and days and days.” • There is also Michigan Representative John Conyers, whose office paid a woman more than $27,000 under a confidentiality agreement to settle a complaint in 2015 that she was fired from his Washington staff because she rejected his sexual advances. On Sunday, Conyers stepped aside as the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, but again denied recent allegations of sexual and inappropriate conduct. Conyers issued a statement : “In light of the attention drawn by recent allegations made against me, I have notified the Democratic leader of my request to step aside as ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee during the investigation of these matters....I have come to believe that my presence as ranking member...would not serve these efforts while the Ethics Committee investigation is pending. I cannot in good conscience allow these charges to undermine my colleagues in the Democratic Caucus.” The 88-year-old Conyers, starting last week, was hit with several allegations of misconduct while in Congress that are now being investigated by the House Ethics Committee. • BUT, House Democrat Leader Nancy Pelosi is defending Conyers as an "icon" for women's rights and declining to say whether the longtime lawmaker should resign over allegations that he sexually harassed female staff members. The Ethics Committee announced last week that it had begun an investigation into Conyers, after receiving the allegations of sexual harassment and age discrimination involving staff members and about the congressman using "official resources for impermissible personal purposes." As an example, Melanie Sloan, a lawyer who worked with Conyers on the House Judiciary Committee, said she was called into the long-serving congressman's office to discuss an issue and found him “walking around in his underwear.” Sloan worked on the Judiciary Committee in the 1990s, but it was not clear when the alleged incident occurred. She also claims Conyers often screamed at her, fired and re-hired her, criticized her for not wearing stockings and once even ordered her to baby-sit one of his children. Conyers has denied Sloan's allegations : “I deny [all of] these allegations, many of which were raised by documents reportedly paid for by a partisan alt-right blogger. I very much look forward to vindicating myself and my family.” The blogger to whom Conyers seems to be referring is President Trump supporter Mike Cernovich, who reportedly gave BuzzFeed the harassment settlement documents, which the news outlet says it independently verified -- gee, jounalists actually doing their job.. After Conyers announced his withdrawal as ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said : “Zero tolerance means consequences. As a woman and mother of four daughters, I particularly take any accusation of sexual harassment very seriously. Any credible accusation must be reviewed by the Ethics Committee expeditiously. We are at a watershed moment on this issue, and no matter how great an individual’s legacy, it is not a license for harassment. I commend the brave women coming forward.” Pelosi was talking on Sunday's “Meet the Press,” andwhile the above statement might sound honorable, Pelosi also defended former President Bill Clinton and Senator Al Franken, as well as Representative Conyers against allegations of sexual misconduct while attacking President Donald Trump and Alabama GOP US Senate candidate Roy Moore. On Clinton, Pelosi said : “I think it is a generational change. Let me say the concern we had then was that they were impeaching the President of the United States, and for something that had nothing to do with the performance of his duties and trying to take him out for that reason.” On Conyers, Pelosi said, “We are strengthened by due process just because someone is accused and is it one accusations or two? He has done a great deal to protect women. Right wing is praising him for his work on that and did great work on that. The fact is as John [Conyers] reviews his case I believe he will do...He will do the right thing.” Asked if she believed Conyers’s accusers, Pelosi answered : “I don’t know who they are," adding that they hadn't come forward. On Franken, she added : “I don’t believe you can equate Senator Franken with Roy Moore. It is two different things.” Pelosi called Roy Moore “a child molester.” On Trump, she said “So many women have had a bad experience. Now they are saying I have had a bad experience and now a person who possibly engaged in that activity is the President of the United States. I’m speaking out.” • • • DEAR READERS, leave it to Nancy Pelosi to wrap the Progressive arguments up in a big red ribbon. She is often of late being called old or senile or past her time, but her ProgDem instincts are intact and they move always to justifying ANY Democrat and/or Progressive act, while excoriating Republicans and/or conservatives for things they never did. • This is a long and disgusting history of Progressive and Democrat harassment of and indifference to the inherent humanity of women. And, it is joined at the hip with Hollywood and media elites. More tomorrow.

Casing the Colors © Week 37 (Final Chapter, Book I)

Casing the Colors © Week 37 • • • CHAPTER 55 • • The same afternoon, as her father and Maurice tried to strengthen Kate for the road ahead, one which they knew would require from her a public image strong and confident of the future in Russia and America, Jacques LeNoir arrived, unannounced, by helicopter. He warmly embraced Kate and when she told him of the letter from Alexei, he offered his assurances that all would be well. Then, he asked if he could freshen himself, descreetly motioning for Maurice to follow him. Alone with Maurice in a guest room, Jacques closed the door. "I have also received a letter from Alexei," he said quietly, handing it to Maurice. General Julien took the note carefully, as if its contents could be physically dangerous. "Dear Jacques," it read, "I have written to Katharine to prepare her for what must surely follow. The hard-liners have driven me out of Moscow. I am near Ekaterinburg, but I know it will not be for long. I believe this time they mean to kill me so they can make use of the Alliance with Washington to push General Bennett toward his natural position as leader of a military state. Please go to Rome and speak with the Holy Father. He will give you the few details of my life that you do not already have. Take care of Katharine and Alexander and ask General Julien to provide for them. When you return from Rome, you will be able to explain to him and Kate's father why it is so important that she and Alexander survive. Merci. Je te revois, ici ou ailleurs. Alexei." "What details?" Maurice demanded. "Hasn't Kate had enough of the damned Alliance and conspiracy? Can't Alexei leave her in peace to find a life for herself and Alexander?" Maurice railed inwardly at the world of politics that seemed to sweep Kate along in its flow without offering even so much as a glimpsed safe shore. "I will take her to Rome with me," Jacques LeNoir responded calmly. "She has a role more important than any of us and she needs to understand." "Tell me while we walk," Maurice said, leading Jacques toward the guest room door, "and don't bother with the historical perspective, I can work it out myself," he said, half cynically, half in fear of the revelation he was about to hear. • • Early the next morning, Kate Gordon Katerinov and Jacques LeNoir traveled by helicopter to Paris while Alexander stayed safely with Maurice and the governess he had hired. In Paris, the two exchanged the helicopter for a small jet and headed for Rome. The plane was met by a limousine that took them to Vatican City, where a Cardinal met them and showed them to a small room meant for private papal audiences. "What do you expect to learn?" Kate asked. "We will have to speak with the Pope first," he answered. "I really don't know what he will say." They sat in silence until, a quarter of an hour later, the same Cardinal reappeared and asked Jacques LeNoir to follow him. "We will only be gone a short time," he assured Kate. "I have asked someone to bring you tea." President LeNoir followed the Cardinal's swaying red cassock down a long wide marble-tiled hallway lined with gilt tables above which hung huge renaissance paintings of saints in their death agony. What a fitting backdrop, Jacques thought, knowing that the next few hours would not be pleasant. He had known the Pope well for many years, often meeting him clandestinely to discuss world events from the vantage of the protected Vatican world where only eternity fought with the human urge toward money and power. The Pope was waiting alone in a high-ceiling light-filled private sitting room. He stood when the former French president entered, reaching out to bless and embrace him in one flowing gesture. "Your Holiness, I am honored that you have found time to receive me," Jacques said, wondering what would be the importance of the information he would receive from his old friend. "Jacques, I am so pleased to see you looking fit. Retirement becomes you, I believe. I wish I could try it for myself." "I still find much of my time reserved for politics, but I can escape to other interests without feeling guilty," Jacques replied. Without further small talk, the Pope sat and motioned for Jacques to do the same. "What do you know of Alexei Katerinov?" Jacques LeNoir knew that it was time to reveal the truth hidden in his friendship with Alexei and thus to share its burden. "He told me years ago that his great-grandmother was the mistress of Tzar Nicholas and that before the Tzar and his family were murdered by the Bolsheviks, she managed to escape Ekaterinburg, where they were being held, disappearing into the Urals for safety. She had enough gold and jewelry to live comfortably and gave birth to Alexei's grandmother six months later. They never separated, even after the child was married to a minor landowner who had managed to keep his holdings together by working for the Revolution. Alexei told me there was irrefutable proof of his ancestry but he never explained what it was." Jacques sat back in his chair to wait. He was certain that whatever proof existed was known to the Pope and that he was about to be made privy to it. Without contradicting any of Jacques LeNoir's recitation, the Pope said, "I have a box that was delivered to Pope Benedict in 1921 by a Russian priest who escaped from Ekaterinburg during the First World War. He said it was given to him by the woman he knew to be the mother of the only living Romanov and that her instructions were for it to be guarded by each Pope and handed on to the next. She told him that the Holy Father would know when to make use of the information it contained." "Has the box been opened?" Jacques LeNoir asked impatiently. "Once by each successive Pope, but we will open it again today," the Pope responded. He went to a secretary desk and inserted a key that he had taken from his pocket. Jacques could see inside the desk a small gold box encrusted with jewels. The Pope returned to his chair with the box and took another key from his pocket. "Should we have a witness?" Jacques LeNoir asked. "You are my witness," the Pope replied, opening the box carefully. Inside was a note handwritten in Russian and a gold chain from which was suspended a crown set with a ruby. Jacques recognized the design immediately. They read the note, the Pope succeeding to translate it sufficiently to let Jacques LeNoir understand that it was in the hand of Tzar Nicholas and was meant to explain who his mistress was and that she was carrying his child. The note was dated 10 July 1918. "Just a week before they were murdered," Jacques LeNoir sighed. "How could he have got it past his guards?" "There are many questions to be answered," the Pope said. "Are you certain that this is the right time to raise them?" "Kate will want to know everything. She is an intelligent and stubborn young woman and we had better be prepared before we confront her with Alexei's history." "Perhaps there are things best left unsaid for the present. She is, as you say, young and she will have burden enough caring for her son alone, with the media intruding on her every move. What could she do today with the knowledge that Alexander is the heir to the throne of all the Russias? He is an infant who would be devoured by those wanting to use him for his right to power. They would both be manipulated for unsavory political purposes. Why should she have to withstand the intense interrogation and mockery, as well as the certain threats to her son's life if the truth is as we believe? Is it not enough for the present that she is the wife of the president of Russia, preserving his ideals by raising his son to fulfill them?" "What do you suggest?" Jacques LeNoir asked skeptically. He knew that everything the Pope had predicted was likely to be correct, but he did not want to leave Alexander's birthright or Kate's future to the vagaries of 21st century Vatican politics. "I suggest we meet at this time each year, to review the question. Name someone to replace you, as I will be replaced by the next Pope. Let us be wise rather than hasty to act. When Alexander is old enough to make use of his legacy, we can place it in his own hands." "Let me think about it this evening. Can we meet again tomorrow?" Jacques asked, wondering what the next few hours could possibly provide him of wisdom or conviction. "Of course. I will send for you at eight o'clock tomorrow morning." As Jacques LeNoir followed his escort back to the room where Kate was waiting, he could feel his heart pounding with the anticipation of engaging her without divulging the secret he now knew to be true, that President Alexei Katerinov, former Soviet deputy and freedom fighter, was the uncrowned Tzar of Russia. Kate realized immediately that Jacques was struggling in the aftermath of his meeting. Her mind raced to imagine what he could possibly have learned to agitate him so thoroughly. "Please, Jacques, sit down and rest." "Kate, there is something you must promise me," he said in a hoarse whisper, ignoring her suggestion and going instead to the desk where he found the stationery he needed. He scribbled a long note and folded it, sealing it in an envelope. On the envelope he wrote 'For General Julien'. He handed the envelope to Kate. "Give this to Maurice and follow his advice exactly." "Of course, Jacques, but why give me a note? Can't we talk to Maurice together?" Jacques LeNoir looked at her, her eyes full of confusion, her lovely face straining for composure, and he knew that his judgment was right. There was something terrible in the air taking away his breath and making him fear for her safety while she stayed in the Vatican. He wondered if it was a premonition or simply the information he had received filling him with imagined scenarios of intrigue and danger. "Take the envelope to Maurice, please, Katharine," he repeated. "I need to stay here until tomorrow but I want you to go now. I will arrange everything." He held her shoulders and kissed her cheeks. Then he helped her with her coat and led her into the hall to find the butler. When Kate was safely in a limousine on her way to Jacques LeNoir's private plane and the security of Maurice Julien's chateau, Jacques LeNoir returned to the room to wait for a bedroom to be prepared for him for the night. While he was waiting for the butler to return, he walked to the French doors to watch the sky darken into evening. His heart was still pounding and he felt slightly dizzy so he opened the doors to take some air, hoping it would calm him. He walked out onto the terrace, wondering what he would say to the Pope the next morning. His note to Maurice Julien was brief but Jacques knew that he could rely on Maurice to act quickly to secure the rings in Kate's possession and to tell her all that he had learned from Jacques' note. Of one thing he was absolutely certain. Kate was perfectly capable of making her own decisions without the interference of the Pope, or himself for that matter. She was young, as the Holy Father had said, but her years in the public eye, her strength of character, her almost hypnotic hold over the men she encountered, these would enable her to survive and to prepare her son for his heritage. He had told Maurice to give her as much freedom of action as the overriding need to protect her would allow. He looked out over the lawns with their perfectly manicured flower gardens and then up at the deep blue Roman sky. It seemed to turn slowly over his head, moving as if he were in the Sistine Chapel pivoting to see the entire masterpiece simultaneously. Suddenly his heart pounded violently and he reached for the table on the terrace to steady himself. The blue sky turned dark and he tried to call out for help. "Kate, Kate," he whispered, "be safe, be strong." The butler found his body lying beside the table, one of his hands gripping its ornate iron pedestal. • • The Pope took the unprecedented step of withholding the news of the death of Jacques LeNoir until he could personally phone Katharine Gordon to ascertain what she knew. When he reached her at General Julien's chateau, she told him she had only just arrived. The Pope excused his phone call by saying he was sorry to have missed her because he wanted to send a blessing for her son and husband through her. She thanked him, thinking it peculiar that he should telephone and not Jacques LeNoir. She asked if Jacques wanted to speak with her. Her response told the Holy Father that she knew nothing of what he had revealed to Jacques. He responded that Jacques was not with him and then he gave her his blessing before ending the conversation. Putting down the phone, Kate turned immediately to Maurice and her father to hand them the sealed envelope. "I wanted to open it, but I decided to follow Jacques' instructions and give it to you, Maurice," she said. The three sat at the table in the garden room and read the extraordinary note. In it, Jacques LeNoir explained exactly who Alexei was and asked Maurice Julien and Jim Gordon to place the rings and his note in a Swiss bank for safekeeping. He suggested that if something should happen to him, Maurice should wait until some weeks had passed and then contact the Vatican for a personal meeting with the Pope, naming himself as Jacques LeNoir's successor. His final instruction was to arrange for constant protection for Kate and Alexander. "Under no circumstances allow her to move about unguarded and do not trust anyone with the information I have given you. It is," his note concluded, "our last work to protect the best chance the next century will have to bring to a close the circles of war and distrust between east and west. Katharine and Alexander are the future of the world. Do not betray it." Kate tried to speak but her father's hand reached out to stop her. He looked at Maurice Julien, whose face was a mask of brooding contemplation. "I thought all our battles were over" Jim Gordon said, "but I believe we have been called to one last muster. Will you respond with me, General?" General Julien stood up and held out his hand. Kate spoke. "When Jacques arrives, we'll be able to talk to him and make our plans." It was early the following morning when the news of the untimely death of the former President of France was released by the Vatican press office. Hearing it, the awful possibilities reverberated unspoken between Kate and her protectors. They would face the future without the political power of either Alexei or Jacques to help them. Only Alexander, sleeping in his crib, was unaware of their shared isolation and danger. It was Jim Gordon who took control. "We will get things in order this morning before the media finds us here. Kate, give me the rings and get yourself and Alexander ready to travel. I'll phone Scott Bennett to send a helicopter to take us to Paris and on to Geneva and to arrange an escort to meet us in Geneva. Maurice, get on the phone to Rabat to make arrangements for our visit to Mr. Thompson." Maurice smiled, looking at Jim Gordon. "We haven't cased the colors just yet, have we, General?" Jim regarded Maurice. "Affirmative." The future of Katharine Gordon Katerinov and her son, Alexander, well-placed in the hands of two tough old soldiers by Jacques LeNoir, was taking shape, but it is a tale to be told another time. -----30------

Thanksgiving History by the Pilgrims Who Lived It

THERE IS A LOT OF FAKE HISTORY WRITTEN ABOUT EVERY THANKSGIIVING. But there are 2 -- and only 2 -- primary sources for the events of autumn 1621 in Plymouth -- Edward Winslow writing in Mourt's Relation and William Bradford writing in Of Plymouth Plantation. • • • EDWARD WINSLOW, A FORGOTTEN LEADER OF PLYMOUTH PLANTATION. Edward Winslow was born in Droitwich, County Worcester in 1595. He was traveling in the Low Countries and became acquainted with the Pilgrims' church in Leiden. He was married in Leiden in 1618 to Elizabeth Barker, and was called a printer of London at the time. It is quite possible he was assisting William Brewster and Thomas Brewer in their publishing of religious books that were illegal in England. Edward Winslow and wife Elizabeth traveled on the Mayflower to Plymouth in 1620. Elizabeth died the first winter, and Edward remarried to the widowed Mrs. Susanna White, on 12 May 1621 -- the first marriage in the Plymouth Colony. • Winslow quickly became one of the more prominent men in the colony. He was on many of the early explorations of Cape Cod, and led a number of expeditions to meet and trade with the Indians. He wrote several first-hand accounts of these early years, including portions of A Relation or Journal of the Proceedings of the Plantation Settled at Plymouth (London, 1622) and the entirety of Good News from New England (London, 1624). • Edward Winslow became involved in defending the Plymouth and later Massachusetts Bay Colonies from their opponents and adversaries in England, and made several trips back and forth between England and Massachusetts, including trips in 1623/4, 1630, and 1634. On one of these vowages he was arrested and thrown into the Fleet Prison in London by his adversaries, on grounds that he had performed marriage ceremonies without being ordained -- the Pilgrims viewed marriage as an event to be handled by the civil magistrates, not by the Church. • In Plymouth, he held a number of political offices, and was routinely elected an assistant to Governor William Bradford. Winslow himself was elected governor of Plymouth on three occasions: 1632/3, 1635/6, and 1644. • Winslow later returned to England shortly after the English Civil War, and published several pamphlets in defense of the New England colonies, including Hypocrisy Unmasked (1646) and New England's Salamander Discovered (1647). He also wrote the introduction to the Glorious Progress of the Gospel Amongst the Indians in New England (1649). After Winslow returned to England, he was on several Parliamentary committees. He died in 1655 at sea between Hispaniola and Jamaica, while serving as a commissioner for Oliver Cromwell on a military expedition to retake the island of Hispaniola. • • • MOURT'S RELATION, THE RECORD OF THE FIRST THANKSGIVING. What makes Edward Winslow particularly important on Thanksgiving is that his account of the 1621 Thanksgiving is one of only two eye-witness accounts of the Feast. Winslow's account is usually called Mourt's Relation because of the signature of G. Mourt, found at the end of the address to the reader, although historians are in agreement that he did no more than commend the work to the public. There is general agreement that G. Mourt was George Morton, and that the Relation was the work of William Bradford and Edward Winslow. Mourt's Relation was written between November 1620 and November 1621 and describes in detail what happened from the landing of the Mayflower Pilgrims on Cape Cod in Provincetown Harbor through their exploring and eventual settling of Plymouth Colony. The book describes their relations with the surrounding Native Americans, up to what is commonly called the first Thanksgiving and the arrival of the ship Fortune in November 1621. Mourt's Relation was first published and sold by John Bellamy in London in 1622. • In Mourt's Relation, Winslow wrote an account of the first Thanksgiving of 1621 : "Our harvest being gotten in, our governour sent foure men on fowling, that so we might after a speciall manner rejoyce together, after we had gathered the fruits of our labours ; they foure in one day killed as much fowle, as with a little helpe beside, served the Company almost a weeke, at which time amongst other Recreations, we exercised our Armes, many of the Indians coming amongst us, and amongst the rest their greatest king Massasoyt, with some ninetie men, whom for three dayes we entertained and feasted, and they went out and killed five Deere, which they brought to the Plantation and bestowed on our Governour, and upon the Captaine and others. And although it be not always so plentifull, as it was at this time with us, yet by the goodness of God, we are so farre from want, that we often wish you partakers of our plentie." • • • GOVERNOR BRADFORD's ACCOUNT OF THE FIRST 1621 THANKSGIVING. William Bradford wrote his version thus : "They begane now to gather in ye small harvest they had, and to fitte up their houses and dwellings against winter, being all well recovered in health & strenght, and had all things in good plenty; for as some were thus imployed in affairs abroad, others were excersised in fishing, aboute codd, & bass, & other fish, of which yey tooke good store, of which every family had their portion. All ye somer ther was no want. And now begane to come in store of foule, as winter approached, of which this place did abound when they came first (but afterward decreased by degrees). And besids water foule, ther was great store of wild Turkies, of which they tooke many, besids venison, &c. Besids, they had about a peck a meale a weeke to a person, or now since harvest, Indean corn to yt proportion. Which made many afterwards write so largly of their plenty hear to their freinds in England, which were not fained, but true reports." • • • THE SECOND SHIP TO ARRIVE AT PLYMOUTH. The Mayflower arrived in Plymouth in December, 1620. No further ships arrived in Plymouth until immediately after that "First Thanksgiving" -- when the Fortune arrived in November, 1621. One of the passengers on the Fortune, William Hilton, wrote a letter home that November. Although he was not present at that "First Thanksgiving," he mentions turkeys. • Here is the letter of William Hilton, passenger on the Fortune, written in November, 1621, as published in "From Alexander Young's Chronicles of the Pilgrim Fathers." Boston: Charles C. Little and James Brown, 1841 : "Loving Cousin, At our arrival in New Plymouth, in New England, we found all our friends and planters in good health, though they were left sick and weak, with very small means; the Indians round about us peaceable and friendly; the country very pleasant and temperate, yielding naturally, of itself, great store of fruits, as vines of divers sorts in great abundance. There is likewise walnuts, chestnuts, small nuts and plums, with much variety of flowers, roots and herbs, no less pleasant than wholesome and profitable. No place hath more gooseberrries and strawberries, nor better. Timber of all sorts you have in England doth cover the land, that affords beasts of divers sorts, and great flocks of turkey, quails, pigeons and partridges; many great lakes abounding with fish, fowl, beavers, and otters. The sea affords us great plenty of all excellent sorts of sea-fish, as the rivers and isles doth variety of wild fowl of most useful sorts. Mines we find, to our thinking; but neither the goodness nor quality we know. Better grain cannot be than the Indian corn, if we will plant it upon as good ground as a man need desire. We are all freeholders; the rent-day doth not trouble us; and all those good blessings we have, of which and what we list in their seasons for taking. Our company are, for most part, very religious, honest people; the word of God sincerely taught us every Sabbath; so that I know not any thing a contented mind can here want. I desire your friendly care to send my wife and children to me, where I wish all the friends I have in England; and so I rest. Your loving kinsman, William Hilton." • • • THE 53 PILGRIMS PRESENT AT THE FIRST THANKSGIVING. In "Of Plymouth Plantation," William Bradford lists the 102 Mayflower passengers and also tells us who died during the first winter of 1620/1621 and spring of 1621. The Pilgrims at the "First Thanksgiving" are all the Mayflower survivors. We don't often name the Pilgrims who actually attended the First Thanksgiving. There were 53 of them -- 4 Married Women : Eleanor Billington, Mary Brewster, Elizabeth Hopkins, Susanna White Winslow. -- 5 Adolescent Girls : Mary Chilton (14), Constance Hopkins (13 or 14), Priscilla Mullins (19), Elizabeth Tilley (14 or 15) and Dorothy, the Carver's unnamed maidservant, perhaps 18 or 19. -- 9 Adolescent Boys : Francis & John Billington, John Cooke, John Crackston, Samuel Fuller (2d), Giles Hopkins, William Latham, Joseph Rogers, Henry Samson. -- 13 Young Children : Bartholomew, Mary & Remember Allerton, Love & Wrestling Brewster, Humility Cooper, Samuel Eaton, Damaris & Oceanus Hopkins, Desire Minter, Richard More, Resolved & Peregrine White. -- 22 Men : John Alden, Isaac Allerton, John Billington, William Bradford, William Brewster, Peter Brown, Francis Cooke, Edward Doty, Francis Eaton, [first name unknown] Ely, Samuel Fuller, Richard Gardiner, John Goodman, Stephen Hopkins, John Howland, Edward Lester, George Soule, Myles Standish, William Trevor, Richard Warren, Edward Winslow, Gilbert Winslow. • • • THE PILGRIMS REJECTED A "COMMUNIST" SOCIETY -- BECAUSE IT DIDN'T WORK. In "Of Plymouth Plantation," Governor William Bradford wrote the history of the Pilgrim Plymouth colony. In hsi history, Bradford relates how the Pilgrims set up a communist system in which they owned the land in common and would also share the harvests in common. By 1623, it became clear this system was not working out well. The men were not eager to work in the fields, since if they worked hard, they would have to share their produce with everyone else. The colonists faced another year of poor harvests. They held a meeting to decide what to do. As Governor Bradford describes it, "At last after much debate of things, the governor gave way that they should set corn everyman for his own particular...That had very good success for it made all hands very industrious, so much [more] corn was planted than otherwise would have been." The Pilgrims changed their economic system from communism to individual enterprise; the land was still owned in common and could not be sold or inherited, but each family was allotted a portion, and they could keep whatever they grew. The governor "assigned to every family a parcel of land, according to the proportion of their number for that end." Bradford wrote that their experience taught them that for society as a whole, communism, or sharing all the production, was vain and a failure : "The experience that has had in this common course and condition, tried sundrie years, and that amongst Godly and sober men, may well evince the Vanities of the conceit of Plato's and other ancients, applauded by some of later times; that the taking away of propertie, and bringing into commone wealth, would make them happy and flourishing, as if they were wiser than God." • The first vitally important American economic lesson had been learned. • • • GOVERNOR BRADFORD'S 1623 THANKSGIVING PROCLAMATION. The new incentive-based economic system was great success. It looked like they would have an abundant harvest this time. But then, during the summer, the rains stopped, threatening the crops. The Pilgrims held a "Day of Humiliation" and prayer. The rains came and the harvest was saved. It is logical to surmise that the Pilgrims saw this as a was a sign that God blessed their new economic system, because Governor Bradford proclaimed November 29, 1623, as a Day of Thanksgiving. This is the first proclamation of "Thanksgiving" found in Bradford's chronicles or any other historical record. The first Thanksgiving Day was therefore in November 1623. Much later, this first Thanksgiving Day became confused and mixed up with the Three-day feast with the Indians of 1621, about which Edward Winslow had written of their blessing : "yet by the goodness of God, we are so farre from want, that we often wish you partakers of our plentie." • Here is Governor Bradford's 1623 First Thanksgiving Proclamation three years after the Pilgrims settled at Plymouth : "Inasmuch as the great Father has given us this year an abundant harvest of Indian corn, wheat, peas, beans, squashes, and garden vegetables, and has made the forests to abound with game and the sea with fish and clams, and inasmuch as He has protected us from the ravages of the savages, has spared us from pestilence and disease, has granted us freedom to worship God according to the dictates of our own conscience. Now I, your magistrate, do proclaim that all ye Pilgrims, with your wives and ye little ones, do gather at ye meeting house, on ye hill, between the hours of 9 and 12 in the daytime, on Thursday, November 29th, of the year of our Lord one thousand six hundred and twenty three and the third year since ye Pilgrims landed on ye Pilgrim Rock, there to listen to ye pastor and render thanksgiving to ye Almighty God for all His blessings. William Bradford, Ye Governor of Ye Colony." • • • BUT, THERE IS NO DOUBT THAT THE PILGRIMS CELEBRATED THEIR FIRST THANKSGIVING IN NOVEMBER 1621. In September 1620, a small ship called the Mayflower left Plymouth, England, carrying 102 passengers -- an assortment of religious separatists seeking a new home where they could freely practice their faith and other individuals lured by the promise of prosperity and land ownership in the New World. After a treacherous and uncomfortable crossing that lasted 66 days, they dropped anchor near the tip of Cape Cod, far north of their intended destination at the mouth of the Hudson River. One month later, the Mayflower crossed Massachusetts Bay, where the Pilgrims, as they are now commonly known, began the work of establishing a village at Plymouth. • Throughout that first brutal winter, most of the colonists remained on board the ship, where they suffered from exposure, scurvy and outbreaks of contagious disease. Only half of the Mayflower’s original passengers and crew lived to see their first New England spring. In March, the remaining settlers moved ashore, where they received an astonishing visit from an Abenaki Indian who greeted them in English. Several days later, he returned with another Native American, Squanto, a member of the Pawtuxet tribe who had been kidnapped by an English sea captain and sold into slavery before escaping to London and returning to his homeland on an exploratory expedition. Squanto taught the Pilgrims, weakened by malnutrition and illness, how to cultivate corn, extract sap from maple trees, catch fish in the rivers and avoid poisonous plants. He also helped the settlers forge an alliance with the Wampanoag, a local tribe, which would endure for more than 50 years. • In November 1621, after the Pilgrims’ first corn harvest proved successful, Governor William Bradford organized a celebratory feast and invited a group of the fledgling colony’s Native American allies, including the Wampanoag chief Massasoit. Now remembered as American’s “first Thanksgiving” -- although the Pilgrims themselves may not have used the term at the time -- the festival lasted for three days. While no record exists of the historic banquet’s exact menu, we have Edward Winslow's account of the "fowling” mission in preparation for the event, and of the Wampanoag guests arriving with five deer. Historians have suggested that many of the dishes were likely prepared using traditional Native American spices and cooking methods. Because the Pilgrims had no oven and the Mayflower’s sugar supply had dwindled by the fall of 1621, the meal did not feature pies, cakes or other desserts, which have become a hallmark of contemporary celebrations. • The Pilgrims held their second Thanksgiving celebration in 1623 to mark the end of a long drought that had threatened the year’s harvest and prompted Governor Bradford to call for a religious fast. Days of fasting and thanksgiving on an annual or occasional basis became common practice in other New England settlements as well. During the American Revolution, the Continental Congress designated one or more days of thanksgiving a year, and in 1789 George Washington issued the first Thanksgiving proclamation by the national government of the United States, calling upon Americans to express their gratitude for the happy conclusion to the country’s war of independence and the successful ratification of the US Constitution.

Thanksgiving 2017 : God's Blessings for Us and for America and Liberty-loving People Everywhere

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO EVERYONE. Enjoy the Day and reflect on the blessings bestowed by God on you and your families and loved ones, and on the United States of America and all freedom-loving peoples of the world. • Take a moment to read President Trump's 2017 Thanksgiving Proclamation. • • • "President Donald J. Trump Proclaims Thursday, November 23, 2017, as a National Day of Thanksgiving .THANKSGIVING DAY, 2017." • "BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. A PROCLAMATION. On Thanksgiving Day, as we have for nearly four centuries, Americans give thanks to Almighty God for our abundant blessings. We gather with the people we love to show gratitude for our freedom, for our friends and families, and for the prosperous Nation we call home. In July 1620, more than 100 Pilgrims boarded the Mayflower, fleeing religious persecution and seeking freedom and opportunity in a new and unfamiliar place. These dauntless souls arrived in Plymouth, Massachusetts, in the freezing cold of December 1620. They were greeted by sickness and severe weather, and quickly lost 46 of their fellow travelers. Those who endured the incredible hardship of their first year in America, however, had many reasons for gratitude. They had survived. They were free. And, with the help of the Wampanoag tribe, and a bountiful harvest, they were regaining their health and strength. In thanks to God for these blessings, the new governor of the Plymouth Colony, William Bradford, proclaimed a day of thanksgiving and gathered with the Wampanoag tribe for three days of celebration. For the next two centuries, many individual colonies and states, primarily in the Northeast, carried on the tradition of fall Thanksgiving festivities. But each state celebrated it on a different day, and sometime on an occasional basis. It was not until 1863 that the holiday was celebrated on one day, nationwide. In the aftermath of the Battle of Gettysburg, of one of the bloodiest battles of our Nation's Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed that the country would set aside one day to remember its many blessings. "In the midst of a civil war of unequalled magnitude and severity," President Lincoln proclaimed, we recall the "bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come." As President Lincoln recognized : "No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy." Today, we continue to celebrate Thanksgiving with a grateful and charitable spirit. When we open our hearts and extend our hands to those in need, we show humility for the bountiful gifts we have received. In the aftermath of a succession of tragedies that have stunned and shocked our Nation -- Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria; the wildfires that ravaged the West; and, the horrific acts of violence and terror in Las Vegas, New York City, and Sutherland Springs -- we have witnessed the generous nature of the American people. In the midst of heartache and turmoil, we are grateful for the swift action of the first responders, law enforcement personnel, military and medical professionals, volunteers, and everyday heroes who embodied our infinite capacity to extend compassion and humanity to our fellow man. As we mourn these painful events, we are ever confident that the perseverance and optimism of the American people will prevail. We can see, in the courageous Pilgrims who stood on Plymouth Rock in new land, the intrepidness that lies at the core of our American spirit. Just as the Pilgrims did, today Americans stand strong, willing to fight for their families and their futures, to uphold our values, and to confront any challenge. This Thanksgiving, in addition to rejoicing in precious time spent with loved ones, let us find ways to serve and encourage each other in both word and deed. We also offer a special word of thanks for the brave men and women of our Armed Forces, many of whom must celebrate this holiday separated from the ones for whom they are most thankful. As one people, we seek God's protection, guidance, and wisdom, as we stand humbled by the abundance of our great Nation and the blessings of freedom, family, and faith. NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim Thursday, November 23, 2017, as a National Day of Thanksgiving. I encourage all Americans to gather, in homes and places of worship, to offer a prayer of thanks to God for our many blessings. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this seventeenth day of November, in the year of our Lord two thousand seventeen, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-second. DONALD J. TRUMP." • • • • • • And, for those of us who will never forget, as well as for those of us who need to be reminded, here is the first American presidential Thanksgiving Proclamation, made by George Washington. • • "Thanksgiving Proclamation, 3 October 1789 Thanksgiving Proclamation. By the President of the United States of America. a Proclamation. Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor -- and whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me “to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.” Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be --That we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks -- for his kind care and protection of the People of this Country previous to their becoming a Nation -- for the signal and manifold mercies, and the favorable interpositions of his Providence which we experienced in the course and conclusion of the late war -- for the great degree of tranquillity, union, and plenty, which we have since enjoyed -- for the peaceable and rational manner, in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national One now lately instituted -- for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed; and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and in general for all the great and various favors which he hath been pleased to confer upon us. and also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech him to pardon our national and other transgressions -- to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually -- to render our national government a blessing to all the people, by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed -- to protect and guide all Sovereigns and Nations (especially such as have shewn kindness unto us) and to bless them with good government, peace, and concord -- To promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the encrease of science among them and us -- and generally to grant unto all Mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as he alone knows to be best. Given under my hand at the City of New-York the third day of October in the year of our Lord 1789. Go: Washington." • • • DEAR READERS, consider the phrase "IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this seventeenth day of November, in the year of our Lord two thousand seventeen, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-second." • These words on any presidential proclamation always leap from the page for me. They are eternal and fragile at the same time, recalling to all Americans, beginning with every President who has used them, that all that we are and have and hope to be come from God, and that His Son, Our Lord, has been with us in the American Republic for 242 years -- "of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-second" in 2017. We are the children of Patriots and Founders who saw the hand of God in the creation and sustenance of America. May He open our hearts to the mission before us, may He continue to guide and help us in the work of protecting human liberty, and may He help us always to be aware of the responsibilities that liberty brings with it.