Thomas Lifson writes at American Thinker:

Ghoulish exploitation of the deaths and injuries inflicted in Colorado Springs last Friday was always in the cards. What else would you expect from a movement that specializes in death?

Even so, the speed and facility with which Robert Lewis Dear, Jr., a troubled man with many eccentricities (including listing himself as a female on his voter registration and living as a loner in Unabomber-like shacks), has been propagandized as a pro-life activist (a murderous pro-lifer only makes sense in leftist fever swamps) is startling.

"The narrative was already written," Lifson observes, "so that only hours after the shooting before anything at all was known about the shooter, the head of the industry’s trade association was blaming the videos produced by the Center for medical Progress showing Planned Parenthood officials laughing ands joking about all the money they make selling baby parts.

"Subsequently, the words 'no more baby parts' have been attributed to the alleged shooter, although the source of the quote is murky at best, and the public has been cautioned that Dear ranted about many subjects. But the canned narrative blaming the exposure of Planned Parenthood behavior is irresistible to the abortion-loving mass media, so that is what the public is hearing endlessly."

Read more.

Jocko Willink and Leif Babin write:

When American servicemen and women travel the world, they are often exposed to things that most Americans do not have to see. This includes unspeakable atrocities by vicious and brutal oppressors who use torture, rape, and murder to impose fear and intimidation on innocent civilians.

It includes slavery -- not some diminished, modern version -- but sadistic and disgusting enslavement where human beings are owned and treated as property. Many of these slaves are just children, with no hope and no dreams -- only suffering and misery.

Being in the military, deploying around the world, gives American service members insight into how a large part of the rest of the world lives: hungry, abused, uneducated, submissive, fearful, and hopeless.

"If you have seen war and its horrors," Willink and Babin continue, "if you have seen the savagery of evil people against innocents, if you have seen what real class warfare looks like, or what truly unchecked domination from a despotic regime does to its people, then you cannot be anything but immensely thankful and appreciative for the right and privilege to be an American."

Read more.

Breitbart publishes this from Jarrett Stepman:

Although often seen as a day to kick off the Christmas shopping season, Thanksgiving is perhaps the most deeply American holiday and its tradition is connected to the idea of "American exceptionalism."

Here are the concluding remarks: 

Americans today are privileged to live in a country based on timeless principles and aided by the sturdiest men and women who often made great sacrifices to ensure the blessings of liberty for both themselves and future generations.

Americans have much to be thankful for, and as busy as life may be, as occupied with the multitude of distractions that come with unparalleled prosperity, Thanksgiving should provide at least a brief moment to acknowledge the true blessing of living in an exceptional country.

Read more.

Katie Pavlich writes:

The battle over Syrian refugees is raging on as the White House doubles down on their policy to bring 10,000 refugees from terror hot spots to U.S. soil over the coming months. But a new report from Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions details 12 alarming instances of refugees being connected to terrorism just this year.

"There are many more examples of refugees being tied to terrorism since 9/11," Pavlich continues. "Last week President Obama accused Republicans of being afraid of 'widows and orphans' after raising concerns, along with Democrats, about the vetting process for new refugees."

Meanwhile, this just in: "FBI, Homeland Security" have raised concerns about Thanksgiving terror, issuing a "New Warning of Copycat Terror Attacks," Newsmax is reporting this morning. 

These security authorities have released a "bulletin to 18,000 law enforcement agencies across the country warning of copycat attacks, similar to the Paris terrorist strikes that killed 130 people earlier this month," Newsmax reports.

Also, according to a recent Bloomberg poll, a majority of Americans oppose Obama on the question of Syrian refugees.

"Most Americans want the U.S. to stop letting in Syrian refugees amid fears of terrorist infiltrations after the Paris attacks, siding with Republican presidential candidates, governors, and lawmakers who want to freeze the Obama administration’s resettlement program," Bloomberg reports.

Sandy Fitzgerald reports at Newsmax:

Ted Cruz has edged into a virtual tie in Iowa with GOP front-runner Donald Trump in a new Quinnipiac University poll released on Wednesday.

Trump retains a narrow lead of 25 percent of the vote, followed by Cruz with 23 percent, doubling his support from four weeks ago. The difference falls within the poll's 4 percent margin of error.

Here are the results:

Donald Trump: 25%

Ted Cruz: 23%

Ben Carson: 18%

Marco Rubio: 13%

Rand Paul: 5%

Jeb Bush: 4%

Carly Fiorina: 3%

Chris Christie: 2%

Mike Huckabee: 2%

Rick Santorum: 2%

John Kasich: 1%

Jim Gilmore, Lindsey Graham, George Pataki: 0%

Elliot Smilowitz reports at The Hill: 

Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump says he would "absolutely" use a database to track Muslims in the U.S. "I would certainly implement that," Trump said Thursday, according to MSNBC.

Asked whether Muslims would be legally required to sign up for such a database, the businessman said, "They have to be -- they have to be."

"[The database] would stop people from coming in illegally. We have to stop people from coming into our country illegally," he added.

"Trump had said earlier Wednesday that he believes that the war on terror will require unprecedented surveillance of America's Muslims. 'Certain things will be done that we never thought would happen in this country in terms of information and learning about the enemy,' he said in a Yahoo interview," The Hill reports.

"We’re going to have to do things that were frankly unthinkable a year ago," Trump said, according to The Hill.

CNN reports:

Ted Cruz challenged President Barack Obama on Wednesday to a debate on Syrian refugees and said that if the president is going to insult him, he should do it to his face.

"I would encourage you, Mr. President, if you want to insult me, come back and insult me to my face," Cruz said of Obama, who is in the Philippines.

"'Let's have a debate on Syrian refugees right now,' he added.

"'We can do it anywhere you want. I'd prefer it in the United States and not overseas where you're making the insults. It's easy to toss a cheap insult when no one can respond'."

"The atrocious Paris attacks shows that [the] scourge of terrorism can strike anywhere and anytime," Jordan King Abdullah II said while visiting Kosovo, Breitbart reports.

In contrast to Barack Obama, who mocked Republicans who warn about terrorists disguised as refugees crossing borders, the king of Jordan said, "Groups such as Daesh (ISIS) expose themselves daily as savage outlaws of religion devoid of humanity respecting no laws and no boundaries."

Obama has castigated GOP candidates for U.S. president, saying they are "scared of widows and orphans."

King Abdullah said, "We must act fast and holistically to tackle and respond to the interconnected threats whether it is in this region, Africa, Asia, or in Europe," Breitbart reports.

"The atrocious Paris attacks shows that scourge of terrorism can strike anywhere and anytime," the Jordanian king said.

CNSNews.com reports:

Speaking [yesterday] at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C., Central Intelligence Agency Director John Brennan said that CIA analysts see "climate change" as a "deeper cause" of the instability seen in places like Syria, Iraq, Ukraine, Yemen and Libya.

I'm not so sure about "climate change." But we might want to look at brainfreeze.

The following statement was released November 15 by the office of Alabama governor Robert Bentley:

Governor Robert Bentley on Sunday announced he is refusing Syrian refugees relocating to Alabama.

"After full consideration of this weekend's attacks of terror on innocent citizens in Paris, I will oppose any attempt to relocate Syrian refugees to Alabama through the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program. As your Governor, I will not stand complicit to a policy that places the citizens of Alabama in harm's way," Governor Robert Bentley said.

The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency is working diligently with the FBI, DHS and federal intelligence partners to monitor any possible threats. Law enforcement presence has been increased at major gathering events in Alabama to further insure the safety of citizens. To date, there has been no credible intelligence of any terrorist threats in Alabama.

Alabama currently has one U.S. State Department approved refugee processing center in Mobile. There have been no Syrian refugees relocated in Alabama to date, though neighboring states have processed a number of refugees.

“The acts of terror committed over the weekend are a tragic reminder to the world that evil exists and takes the form of terrorists who seek to destroy the basic freedoms we will always fight to preserve. I will not place Alabamians at even the slightest, possible risk of an attack on our people. Please continue to join me in praying for those who have suffered loss and for those who will never allow freedom to fade at the hands of terrorists," Governor Bentley added.

Dr. Carol Swain of Vanderbilt University has "committed the ultimate hate crime. She has been insensitive to idiots," Daniel Greenfield writes at Frontpagemag.

According to Greenfield, Dr. Swain . . .

. . .  was born in segregated Virginia. The second of twelve children, she grew up sharing a bed with her sisters in a shack that had no running water. Her family was so poor that she had no shoes and had to stay home from school when the weather was bad. She never did make it to high school.

And now 1,400 leftist fascists have signed a petition to Vanderbilt University demanding that one of the most respected African-American scholars in this country take diversity training or be "terminated."

"The students targeting Dr. Swain claim to be 'fighting oppression'," Greenfield observes. "But true resistance to oppression is in fighting oppressors.

"Fighting oppression by destroying free speech and silencing dissent is just oppression no matter how much hypocritical self-righteous makeup it wears to the dance.

Here's what is really happening. "The left is taking off its masks. It has given up pretending that it believes in rights and freedoms. Now, in its final stage, it imposes oppression in the name of tolerance and sensitivity. It claims that eliminating the opposition is the only way to make its oppressed oppressors feel safe and welcomed," Greenfield argues.

"The fight for Dr. Swain’s academic freedom and her freedom of speech is the true fight against oppression," Greenfield concludes.

"Dr. Swain has been fighting against real oppression generations before her attackers were even old enough to complain that gluten in their light beers is oppression.

"She lived under segregation. She rose up from crushing poverty. And she is still standing strong against her oppressors today."

"In an ironic development, to say the least, protesters at the University of Missouri (MU) segregated themselves by race Wednesday night, having white students leave a gathering in order to create a 'black-only healing space'," Blake Neff writes at The Daily Caller. 

"Republican presidential contender Ted Cruz struck gold with his comments on immigration at Tuesday night's debate, delivering remarks that resonated well with a Fox News focus group composed of New Hampshire primary voters," Oliver Darcy reports at The Blaze.

I transcribed his remarks, and here is what Cruz said:

What was said was right. The Democrats are laughing. Because if Republicans join Democrats as the party of amnesty, we will lose.

And, you know, I understand that when the mainstream media covers immigration, it doesn't often see it as an economic issue.

But I can tell you for millions of Americans at home watching this, it is a very personal economic issue.

And I will say the politics of it would be very, very different if a bunch of lawyers or bankers were crossing the Rio Grande.

Or if a bunch of people with journalism degrees were coming over and driving down the wages in the press.

Then we would see stories about the economic calamity that is befalling our nation.

And I will say, for those of us who believe people ought to come to this country legally, and we should enforce the law, we're tired of being told it's anti-immigrant.

It's offensive.

I am the son of an immigrant who came legally from Cuba to seek the American Dream. And we can embrace legal immigration while believing in the rule of law.

And I would note, try going illegally to another country. Try going to China or Japan. Try going to Mexico. See what they do.

Every sovereign nation secures its borders.

And it is not compassionate to say we're not going to enforce the laws, and we're going to drive down the wages for millions of hard-working men and women.

"That is abandoning the working man," Cruz said.

You can watch these remarks by Cruz on this Youtube video, beginning at the 1:01 mark.

Many of my columns speak highly of the wisdom of our nation's founders," writes economist and author Walter E. Williams.

"Every once in a while, I receive an ugly letter sarcastically asking what do I think of their wisdom declaring blacks 'three-fifths of a human.'

"It's difficult to tell whether such a question is prompted by ignorance or is the fruit of an ongoing agenda to undermine American greatness. Let's examine some facts about our founders and slavery."

Here are two important paragraphs from Williams:  

At the time of the 1787 Constitutional Convention, slaves were 40 percent of the population of southern colonies. Apportionment in the House of Representatives and the number of electoral votes each state would have in presidential elections would be based upon population. Southern colonies wanted slaves to be counted as one person. Northern delegates to the convention, and those opposed to slavery, wanted to count only free persons of each state for the purposes of apportionment in the House of Representatives and the Electoral College. The compromise reached was that each slave would be counted as only three-fifths of a person. 

If the convention delegates had not reached this compromise, the Constitution would have not been ratified and there would not have been a Union. My questions to those who criticize the three-fifths clause are twofold. Would it have been preferable for the southern states to be able to count slaves as whole persons, thereby giving southern states more political power? Would blacks have been better off without constitutional ratification and a Union made possible by the three-fifths compromise? In other words, would blacks have been better off with northern states having gone their way and southern states having gone theirs and, as a consequence, no U.S. Constitution and no Union? Abolitionist Frederick Douglass understood the compromise, saying that the three-fifths clause was "a downright disability laid upon the slaveholding states" that deprived them of "two-fifths of their natural basis of representation."

In other words, the three-fifths clause was an attack on the power base of the slaveholding states, not an attack on the humanity of black people.

"With union," Williams writes, "Congress at least had the power to abolish slave trade in 1808. According to delegate James Wilson, many believed the anti-slave-trade clause laid 'the foundation for banishing slavery out of this country'."

Read the entire column here.

Media outlets such as the Washington Post have opened to the door to the "demand that President Barack Obama release his Columbia University records immediately," Wayne Root writes. "How nice of them! Thank you!"

Root explains:

If the media thinks Dr. Carson's claims about his college experience 40 years ago are relevant, then clearly Obama's college claims are relevant too.

It's time for all of us to demand Obama release his Columbia college records. It's time for the media to scrutinize Obama the same way they are scrutinizing Ben Carson, Donald Trump, and every other GOP Presidential candidate.

"Dr. Carson's claims haven't cost taxpayers a dime," Root concludes. "But Obama's presidency has cost all of us dearly. If it was all built on a lie, on fraud, we have a right to know."

Lana Shadwick reports at Breitbart:

Two daycare workers have been fired for refusing to go along with the center's transgender agenda. Madeline Kirksey, one of the workers who is an author of a Christian book, says her religious liberty rights have been violated. The two were fired after refusing to call a little girl a boy.

The two male parents of a six-year-old little girl told employees at the school to refer to their daughter as a boy, and to call her by a new masculine name. The little girl's hair had also been cut like a boy's.

Kirksey, "and another worker who does not want to be identified, were fired from the Childrens' Lighthouse Learning Center in Katy, Texas, a city just west of Houston," Breitbart reports.

Will someone please rise up to protect this 6-year-old girl from these abusive "male parents"?

And, by the way, loving parents might want to think twice about putting their children in the hands of any unenlightened school or center that fails to respect the wonder and diversity of the male-female distinction and its grounding as a biological fact of life.

You can contact the Children's Lighthouse Learning Center in Katy, Texas, by calling 281-395-4466.

Related
Transgender Politics vs. the Facts of Life
The Revolt of Intelligence Against "Marriage Equality"

Yesterday "on his radio program, Conservative Review Editor in Chief [and nationally syndicated radio host] Mark Levin interviewed Kentucky Governor Elect Matt Bevin."

As CR Wire continues: 

Levin and Bevin talked about a wide range of subjects including how Bevin outwitted the establishment of two parties to win his election. 

Bevin also went through the uplifting history of the Lieutenant Governor elect of Kentucky, an African American Female Tea Party leader named Jenean Hampton, a 57 year old native of Detroit, who rose through the ranks of corporate America to run a manufacturing plant for a Fortune 500 company. Hampton is the first African American statewide elected official in the history of Kentucky, a former slave state.

To listen to Levin's interview with Bevin, go here.

"I'll put it in the shredder," says Colleen Cohen of Vassar.

Mike Flynn writes at Breitbart:

A new poll of New Hampshire Republicans by Monmouth University confirms the fading fortunes of the Jeb Bush campaign.

Despite spending more on TV than all other candidates combined, Jeb has dropped to sixth place in nation’s first primary state, a must-win for his Presidential ambitions. In July, Jeb Bush was second in New Hampshire.

Related
Jeb's Tough Guy Persona Falls Flat

I am happy to announce that The Pearcey Report editor at large and Houston Baptist University Professof of Apologetics Nancy Pearcey is writing a new book for publisher David C. Cook. The new book will address life and sexuality issues and is the second volume of the two-book contract that she signed with the Colorado publisher.

The book will be based on plenary addresses Nancy has delivered in several venues, including L’Abri, Denver Seminary, New Orleans Baptist Seminary, Apologetics Canada, Southern Adventist University, Southern Evangelical Seminary, Evangelical Ministries to New Religions, and Igreja Batista da Lagoinha, reputed to be the largest church in South America.

Nancy has has also published on the subject of human sexuality in the Christian Post, and in national media outlets such as The Daily Caller ("CPAC, Homosexuality, and the Crack-Up of Conservatism) and The American Thinker ("Facts, Values, and the Redefinition of "Marriage").

She delivered the annual lecture for Denver Seminary's Gordon Lewis Center, speaking Oct. 2, 2015, on "Finding Truth: How the Bible Teaches Critical Thinking." For a luncheon the following day, she addressed to topic of "Arguing for Sexual Truth in a Secular Age." That evening she spoke at Horizon Christian Fellowship in Denver.

In addition, The Pearcey Report editor at large published two articles on John Piper’s website, Desiring God, each of which attracted several thousand hits: "One Strategy to Rule Them All: How to Answer Skeptics from Romans 1" (published Aug. 30) and "The Bait-and-Switch over Same-Sex 'Marriage'" (published Oct. 1).

In media, Pearcey was invited to appear on Breitbart News (Sept. 26) during the recent Values Voter Summit broadcast, and on various Christian programs: Gino Geraci on Crosswalk, John Clemens on the Clemens Report, David Wheaton on The Christian Worldview, and a podcast interview with Michael Easley, former president of Moody Bible Institute.

Nancy did print interviews that appeared in Apologetics for Parents and in ByFaith, in both the online and the print versions, which was titled "Man -- the Master Idol Maker: Pearcey Shares Principles from Romans 1." ByFaith is the "online magazine of the Presbyterian Church in America."

It was last March that Nancy published her new book, Finding Truth: 5 Principles for Unmasking Atheism, Secularism & Other God Substitutes. The book was endorsed by leading Christian philosophers and apologists, including J.P. Moreland, Doug Groothuis, and Paul Copan; by popular apologists Lee Strobel, Ravi Zacharias, Greg Koukl, J. Warner Wallace, and Sean McDowell; by writers and artists such as John Erickson (Hank the Cowdog) and Doug TenNapel (Veggie Tales), and even entertainer Phil Robertson (Duck Dynasty). 

Publicity for the book has included some 50 media interviews, including radio interviews on the Janet Parshall Show, the Janet Mefford Show, the Frank Sontag Show, Stand to Reason, Campus Crusade (Cru), American Family Radio, and Family Talk hosted by Meg Meeker and Ryan Dobson. Print interviews have appeared in World magazine, the Christian Post (Napp Nazworth), Jonathan Merritt’s On Faith & Culture, ByFaith, the Gospel Coalition, and HBU's The Pillars. 

Nancy was featured in a cover story in Today’s Christian Living and over the past months was invited to give plenary talks on Finding Truth at several conferences, including Faith & Law (an organization of Capitol staffers in Washington, D.C.), Apologetics Canada, the Newport Foundation, New St. Andrews College, and the Association of Christian Classical Schools. She also addressed the apologetics class at Second Baptist Church in Houston. 

Reviews of Finding Truth have appeared, among other places, in Patheos, Challies.com, and Christianity Today. 

The apologetics organization Stand to Reason has led reading groups on Finding Truth, a Ratio Christi group has led a women's group through the book, churches report using it in their youth groups, a businessmen's group in Atlanta is currently studying the book, and Christian school teachers have contacted Nancy about using the book in their classes.

For additional information on Nancy and her work, please see the official Nancy Pearcey website.