Tuesday Pile of Prep-The Debbie Schlussel Interview: HannityGate

Mandeville, LA – Today’s Pile of Prep: most of the stories and research used to put together the Mike Church Show on the Veritas Radio Network’s CRUSADE Channel. 2016 is here and WELCOME to the All-New, Mike Church Show on the CRUSADE Channel, listen LIVE for Free (don’t cost nuthin’).

Sapientia et Veritas – “The decisive reason [to refuse the purchase of a smartphone], however, for me to refuse a cellphone is the opposite of everyone else’s reason for having one: I do not want the omnipresent ability to communicate with anyone who is absent. Cellphones put their users constantly on call, constantly available, and as much as that can be liberating or convenient, it can also be an overwhelming burden. The burden comes in the form of feeling an obligation to individuals and events that are physically elsewhere. Anyone who has checked their phone during a face-to-face conversation understands the temptation. And anyone who has been talking to someone who has checked their phone understands what is wrong with it.” – Phillip Reed, Cansius College

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH DEBBIE SCHLUSSEL – Debbie Schlussel, who has been my movie-reviewer since 2007 is embroiled in a controversy over comments she made about Fox News star Sean Hannity, on 1170 am in Detroit. The comments have been turned into “sexual harassment” charges which is not what the transcript reveals. I will ask Debbie about this and much more in my EXCLUSIVE interview this morning at 07:05 a.m. Central available on our FREE app and and FREE on-site feed. Video available on YouTube and on Facebook LIVE!

‘Muricah: It’s All Saint Augustine’s Fault!? – Readers here know that I have spent the better part of the last 3 years developing this space and the Mike Church Show as a portal for like minded thinkers and fellow Christian travelers to try and place the iron of the New Christendom into the forge. The author Rod Dreher comes up a lot in these discussions as does his book The Benedict Option. Today I read Brian patrick Mitchell’s review of Dreher’s “Option and discovered the apparently well-known but known at all to me fact that Orthodox Christians KNOW that today’s moral calamity is all the fault of…wait for it…Saint Augustine. Yessir, that wily old author of Confessions, The City of Man and The City of God, got it wrong: “Orthodox scholars take a very different view of where the West went wrong, faulting the West for a longstanding tendency toward excessive rationalism, beginning with St. Augustine and producing both the rigid edifice of medieval scholasticism and the ideas that were its undoing.” Um, pardon me, but there wouldn’t be a “West” were it not for Augustine’s conversion and subsequent authorship of so much of the “West’s” foundation. No wonder there’s a schism!

The 100 Year Anniversary of The Armenian Genocide And The Groupthink Media That Helped It – Stella Morabito, the great grandchild of Armenian survivors reminds us that what proceeds a genocide is groupthink. The kind of groupthink that say, can be lulled into thinking that discriminate, drone-strike killing of third world Muslims is ok so long as there is an element of “terror” present. To put that in context, is drone-strike killing ok in Detroit or Los Angeles if there is an element of “murder” in a neighborhood? Of course not because we value a “system of law and order” and the strike violates it, but why doesn’t it violate it for the Afghanis? Simply put: Groupthink. Here is Morabito: “Information warfare through a centrally controlled media is key to turning neighbor against neighbor. It plays a huge role in caricaturing perceived enemies and growing an us-versus-them mindset. In short, propaganda that psychologically manipulates a population is key to laying the groundwork for extreme social polarization, and ultimately for genocide.” Think about that next time you learn of “errant drone strikes” in the mid-east, the same drone will work here.

The Revenge Of The Nerds: Your Smartphone – In today’s Veritas et Sapientia, Phillip Reed lays out his case why he refuses to buy a smartphone. In Reed’s confession we find one of those inconvenient truths Christians avoid: how to be IN the material, diabolical world and not be OF that world? Read the excerpt here, link to the whole essay is there as well.

Spyin’ Eyes Over ‘Muricah, Courtesy Of The NSA – The NSA is testing new blimp technology (don’t laugh, it’s true) that purportedly can scan the sky for incoming missiles (happens everyday in Jersey, right) and conveniently, any radio transmissions made on the ground. Yay, Raytheon!

Why “The Right Fails”: It Chooses Bread & Circuses Over Intellect Every Time – I have friends and family members who swoon over Tomi Lahren and others over Milo Yiannapoulas for their “telling it like it is” and over how “awesome” they “take it to the man” and the like and this is all well and good for bread and circuses but what does it provide for the intellect? 0.0 but I think that’s the point and its easy to make the association that O’Reilly provided the same intellectual desert for 25 years to the parents of Lahren and Milo, thus the pathetic state of our moral and political affairs: they are informed by a cult of personality instead of by The Cult of personality found in the teachings and contemplative life once cherished in Christendom. David French sums it up well: “Moreover, the pattern is repeating itself with the younger generation of conservative celebrities. The sharp rise and meteoric fall of both Tomi Lauren and Milo Yiannopoulos were driven by much the same dynamic that sustained O’Reilly for years, even in the face of previous sexual-harassment complaints — Lahren and Yiannopoulos were “fighters” who “tell it like it is.” O’Reilly was the master of the “no-spin zone” and seemed fearless in taking on his enemies. What followed was a toxic culture of conservative celebrity, where the public elevated personalities more because of their pugnaciousness than anything else.” The end is not near for the cult of personality but there is a swell building for the cult of intelligibility!

The Non-Interventionist Right Against The Talk Radio Mafia & Fox – The number of us (I count myself and The CRUSADE Channel in this group though we’re not cited) who advocate and defend non-interventionism is actually quite large and packed with some very well studied and at the same time humble people. George O’Neill is of these men and he has produced a stunning “inventory” of these groups and individuals which makes for some great reading and browser bookmarking. O’Neill notes the WHY of why a stable and fruitful relationship with the Russians is a strategic winner for Europe, Russia and yes, ‘Muricah too.

The Non Casus Belli Of Trump’s MissileGate – (NOTE: non casus belli= no cause for war) There is a “community” of former intelligence officers who monitor the war actions (they keep VERY busy) the USA takes and provide some insider perspective on, one of these is Philip Giraldi. Giraldi informs us today that this “community” is llivid over the Trump admins missile salvo into Syria and the continuing beating of war drums that will lead to an open conflict with the Russians. This despite ZERO point ZERO evidence that Assad used or even had possession of the weapons in question. “The insiders note that no evidence has been produced to demonstrate convincingly that Syrian forces dropped a chemical bomb on a civilian area.” Who needs evidence when you have 60% of the population chanting USA! USA! at the sight of “beautiful” missiles being launched toward “terrorists”?

Time For Oliver Stone To Make A Sequel To Greed Called Gov’t Contractor Gold – The more we learn about the staggering amount of $$ that official Mordor sends via rail car to “government contractors” the more the size of the deceit and the real reason for Mordor’s size is revealed. New analysis show that “contractors” to the Federal Government earn well over TWO TIMES what their private sector counterparts make. “For example, the median total compensation for a security guard in the private sector is $32,953, roughly double the minimum wage, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Security guards contracted by the federal government, on the other hand, make more than $68,000 at their annual billing rate, according to POGO.” Read the entire piece for the skinny on the great Cruise Missile Robbery.

Like It Or Not Turkey’s Erdogan Is At War With Us & Making Movies About It – On Friday last, Debbie Schlussel reviewed “The Promise” starring Christian Bale, a film that details the horrors of the Armenian genocide; a Muslim slaughter of the Catholic population of Armenia at the end of the Ottoman Empire’s reign of Mohammedan terror. Now comes news that Turkey’s Erdogan has enlisted a Turkish film company to produce a propaganda flick called The Ottoman Lieutenant and starring Josh Hartnett to provide Muricans with the “aw shucks, war is hell and so was ours with Armenians” propaganda reel. If ‘Muricans weren’t so convinced our own non casus belli were reprehensible, Lieutenant would fall flat as the propaganda fodder it is; don’t hold your breath.

25 Years Ago Today, On A Dreary, Cold, Rainy Morning, The Mike Church Show Debuted! – On Monday morning, the 21st of April, 1992, a date which will live in broadcasting infamy, the Mike Church Show began in Slidell, Louisiana on 1560 WSLA. My producer’s name was Jim Summers, a radio vet and the station manager’s name was George Mayoral said of me after that first show “here, here is the man with the golden voice” and it has been cold, dreary and downhill ever since! There have been moments of great joy and of course great sadness but to be blessed with the privilege of working the same trade for a quarter century is humbling. “I’d like to thank The Academy and…”, seriously, there are too many people to thank, nearly as many to curse and an even greater number yelling “c’mon Mike, get back to bashing Obama!” Thanks be to God for vocations and the Grace to toil and enjoy them, and to you fair reader and listener. I am most humbled and bound to say as this vocation continues by God’s Grace, kiddies who year to broadcast: “quaerite primum regnum Dei”. 25 years of talk radio broadcasting?! Mirabile dictu!

Democracy: It Cannot Be “The Future of Mankind” – Patrick J. Buchanan gives us a nice rundown of the recent failings of “democracy” that all of you are familiar with but what Buchanan doesn’t get into is what replaces democracy. Put another way, what did Democracy replace? The short answer is The Church and her singular teaching and leadership authority. The long answer is, I think, a largely peaceful era where man was not daily consumed with what was being done to him by those who he had entrusted to NOT do things to him but FOR him. No King or Earl could have possibly marshaled the resources or time to bedevil his charges, steal from them and simultaneously undermine through ecclesial insult his real future: eternity; but democracy has succeeded where Kings and Earls failed. Thus, instead of wasting our remaining years trying to fix what isn’t broken – democracy – let’s spend it in recreating what Democracy vanquished: Christendom or rather the New Christendom.

The Problem With O’Reilly’s Reign Isn’t Money It’s The Death Of Ethics – The “RSTLNE” answer to why Fox News finally decided that Bill O’Reilly had to go is that his upkeep became too expensive i.e. Fox was no longer making money from him. The boilerplate media reaction to Fox axing O’Reilly is crystallized in Jeff Spross’s essay at The Week: Fox News dumped Bill O’Reilly over money. It’s that simple. Well no, Jeff, its not that simple because what came before the money being THE issue was the jettisoning of Christian ethics in business and trade. In reviewing a book on business ethics Christine M Fletcher noted “The section “Moral Dilemmas in Business” makes it clear that profit cannot take precedence over morality and that, at times, significant sacrifices may be demanded of the faithful Christian.” How then can Rupert Murdoch, allegedly a practicing Catholic and Bill O’Reilly also alleging The Faith, have cooperated in profiting from O’Reilly while women were being degraded, harassed and coerced into mortally sinful relationships? They can’t, but they did because the presence of The Church (you could say Christ)  in our financial/business affairs has completely disappeared. As Andreas Widmer points out on the Legatus site this is because today’s Catholics in business have no knowledge whatsoever of the Church’s teaching on industry.

The Spin Stopped 1,200 Miles From Actual War For “War-Reporter” Bill O’Reilly – Michael Fumento reminds those mourning the end of Fox News’ O’Reilly Factor that O’Reilly claimed for years that he was a “war-reporter” but could never actually prove that he covered war. This fits right in with the rest of the Factor “reporting” which delivered up sensationalized doses of what Fox News viewers crave: fantasy. A mythical “shining city on the hill”, triumphant battles to “save Christmas” from “political correctness” and of course to restore ‘Muricha’s undefeated streak in waging wars across the planet. As Fumento points out, what O’Reilly did affects how other war journalists are regarded and creates this video-game like attitude about the all-too-real casualties of war, never shown on Fox. “See if you can get through my article on SEAL Michael Monsoor, who won the Medal of Honor by throwing himself on a grenade when he was the only person in position to save himself, without weeping. I can’t. That’s what war is about. It’s what war reporting is about. Or supposed to be.” The “Spin” has stopped for now, until a suitable war cheerleading charlatan like O’Reilly can be found.

Success! Trumpzilla Delivers On ONE Campaign Promise – Last Thursday a bill escaped the imperial Congress and landed on President Trump’s desk and has been signed into law. The law was signed into existence by Dear Leader Chariman MaObama via executive order but that has now been undone. This means that states can remove funding for Planned Parenthood clinics without “violating” Title X of the civil rights act.

Easter Reminder: The Gates Of Hell Have Not Prevailed-AGAIN – Joseph Pearce shows you why he is a regular contributor to this site and the Mike Church Show in “The Son Has Risen In The West”. Pearce reminds us that by the very fact that another Easter has come and gone is God’s proof for us that “the gates of Hell” have not prevailed on “the West” nor the rest of the secular world either. Pearce: “It’s not that secularism is dead as a political force. It isn’t (like the poor it is always with us). It is simply that it does not have the power to defeat the forces of Christendom. Although it is always proclaiming the Christian Faith to be dead or dying, secularism does not have the power to kill it; or, rather, if it does have the power to kill it, as it indubitably has the power to kill its disciples, it does not have the power to keep it killed.” Think of that next time a “conservative” friend or relative tells you that the end is near and evil is bringing it about: it CAN’T.

It’s April 2017 And The Immodesty Is About To Go Nuclear Because It WENT Nuclear – Venerable Bishop Sheen called out ‘Muricah back in the 1960’s while speaking to a group of young Catholics on “Youth and Sex”: “8:15 in the morning, the 6th of August, 1945, when we flew a military plane over this city, when we dropped that atomic bomb on it; that bomb on blotted out boundaries. There was no longer a boundary between the military and the civilian, between the helper and the helped, between the wounded and the nurse and the doctor, between the living and the dead. For even the living who escaped the bomb were already half dead. So we broke down boundaries and limits and from that time on the world has said we want no one limiting me. … You want no restraint, no boundaries, no limitsI have to do what I want to do. Now let’s analyze that for a moment, is that happiness?”

The Tragedy of Post Christian, Philosophia Perennis Devoid Thinking – Read this piece from AmConMag writer Noah Millman to get a closeup view of why Philosophia Perennis is so desperately needed to corral the erroneous thinking Men are sure to engage in when NOT grounded in the eternal quest for True Wisdom i.s. Sapientia. The issue Noah, is not whether “only the Saints” can live by the Magisterial code, it is that by God’s Grace the Saints DID live the Tradition WHILE receiving the Graces needed to do so. You cannot approach Grace as zero sum, mathematics, as in if I do ______ I will receive ______ “Grace credits” but if I do ______I will have deducted ______ Grace Credits. Grace is present in the world and we are given the supply needed at Baptism, the suffering of the Christian Faithful is simply to maintain the state you enter at Baptism, using the Gospels and the Traditional Teaching as MEANS to that END. As Padré Gaetano tells us in Humility of Heart: “And has not a saint abundant reasons, from the thought of his own weakness, to live always in a state of great humility, when he knows that from one hour to another he may lose the grace of God and the kingdom of heaven which he has merited by years of laboriously-acquired virtues? “Unless the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it.”

For an audio version of Jefferson’s [r]epublicanism via Project ’76 Webisode, click here

TheKingDude

Host of the Mike Church Show on The Veritas Radio Network's CRUSADE Channel & Founder of the Veritas Radio Network. Formerly, of Sirius/XM's Patriot channel 125. The show began in March of 2003 exclusively on Sirius and remains "the longest running radio talk show in satellite radio history".

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