SelwynDuke.com

Attacking America: Columbus Day Being Replaced With “Indigenous Peoples Day”

By Selwyn Duke

In 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue. In 2015 he’s thought quite mean — at least by some people. And as a result, a movement to replace his holiday with a politically correct one is picking up steam.

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Seeing Red: Will Communists Take Over Spain?

By Selwyn Duke

“What’s so bad about communism?” a teenager once naively asked me. It was an illustration of how freedom can be lost in one generation because knowledge of history can be. And one nation perhaps poised to repeat the Marxist mistake of the past is Spain, where a new political party — described by many as communist — may take control of the country in the December general election. As American Thinker’s Rick Moran writes:

Europe's debtor nations are rapidly being radicalized as communists and other left wing radicals run on promises that they will ditch responsible governance and return to the days of massive welfare spending.

The latest example is Spain, where radicals have taken over municipal administrations in almost all of the major cities. The Spanish version of Syriza — the radical left Greek party that is running that country into the ground — is called Podemos, and it's led by Pablo Iglesias — a pupil of Venezuela's late dictator Hugo Chávez. With national elections six months away, and both the center right parties and socialists hugely unpopular, it seems very possible that Podemos will become the first communist government in Western Europe freely elected by the people.

Podemos has perhaps taken a leaf out of Barack Obama’s book as its name translates into “We Can.” But what can they — and, more importantly, will they — do?

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Obama’s History ?01: “Islam Has Been Woven Into the Fabric of Our Country Since Its Founding”

By Selwyn Duke

You’ve probably never heard of Founding Fathers named Gamal bin Washington and Thamar Jefferson, and neither has Barack Obama. But this didn’t stop him from making the claim that “Islam has been woven into the fabric of our country since its founding.”

While speaking in the White House’s South Court Auditorium during a conference on “countering violent extremism” last week, Obama said that we need to “stay true to the values that define us” and “show that we welcome people of all faiths.” The president then made the following claim:

Here in America, Islam has been woven into the fabric of our country since its founding. Generations of Muslim immigrants came here and went to work as farmers and merchants and factory workers, helped to lay railroads and build up America. The first Islamic center in New York City was founded in the 1890s. America’s first mosque [founded in 1929] — this was an interesting fact — was in North Dakota.

Of course, both these events occurred long after our country’s founding; in fact, 1890 was the year of the 11^th U.S. census, which led to official recognition that there was no longer even a Western frontier in the nation. And there were no sheikhs or mullahs at the Constitutional Convention more than a century before.

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The Modern Crusaders Fighting ISIS

By Selwyn Duke

You might have heard about those people hailing from Western countries going off to fight where ISIS reigns.

Or maybe not.

No, these aren’t the jihadists who speak flawless French or English and leave the comfort of their Occidental cocoon to aid the Islamic State terrorists. Rather, they’re driven by a desire to be defenders of the innocent who, like Lawrence of Arabia fighting the last great caliphate (the Ottomans) a century ago, are waging war against a savage force aiming to be the next great caliphate.

Twenty-eight-year-old Jordan Matson (shown) is a long way from his home town of Sturtevant, Wisconsin. Sporting a tactical vest bearing the words “Christ is Lord,” the ex-US Army serviceman is now in Iraq helping the Syria-based Kurdish “Popular Protection Units” (YPG) in their fight against ISIS. And he’s determined to prevail.

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Terrible Deeds in Christ’s Name? Obama Displays Ignorance of History

By Selwyn Duke

Barack Obama (shown at National Prayer Breakfast) certainly makes his share of mistakes, from believing there’s a language called “Austrian” to claiming to have been to “57 states” to pronouncing “corpsman” “corpse-man” three times in the space of one minute. But while many of his displays of ignorance hurt mainly his own credibility, this was not the case during his speech at yesterday’s National Prayer Breakfast.

Talking about “faith being twisted and distorted,” Obama condemned the Islamic State jihadists as a “brutal, vicious death cult” and cited various Muslim terrorist acts as examples of using “religion” for nefarious ends. He then also said, however, “And lest we get on our high horse and think this is unique to some other place, remember that during the Crusades and the Inquisition, people committed terrible deeds in the name of Christ.”

It was entirely predictable. Political correctness demands we portray all religions as morally equal, and, when seeking to balance criticism of Islam with that of Christianity, the Crusades and the Inquisition are obvious whipping boys.

Of course, it is true that during the Crusades and the Inquisition (some) people committed terrible deeds, just as during WWII (some) Americans committed terrible deeds. Yet what’s implied, and certainly what will be inferred by most, is not that even during a justifiable event unjustifiable acts will occur. Obama was instead displaying — and trading upon — common misunderstandings of history.

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Whither Islam? Religion of Peace or Religion of War?

By Selwyn Duke

"I will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve. Therefore strike off their heads and strike off every fingertip of them.”

— Koran (8:15)

Every holy book contains some very unholy words, they say. If you presented certain select verses from the Bible in isolation, it would seem equally violent, they say. The problem with Islam is a few misled miscreants and misinterpretation, they say.

The question is, do misinterpretations of the Islamic canon explain the extremist Muslims?

Or do they explain the “moderate Muslims"?

Turkish journalist Uzay Bulut certainly has a very definite opinion. Writing a piece entitled “Islamic Terrorism: The Taboo Topic” at the Gatestone Institute recently, she states bluntly, “Why should anyone be afraid of a 'religion of peace'? Because some of its supporters threaten to kill you, and often do.”

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Michelle Obama in 1954

By Selwyn Duke

Tony Bennett left his heart in San Francisco — and Michelle Obama left her brain in 1954.

Addressing graduating high-school students the other day in the Topeka, Kansas, school district, the federal lunch lady said, referring to the Brown v. Board of Education decision, “[Y]our experience here in Topeka would have been unimaginable back in 1954….” And perhaps this is true.

It also would have been unimaginable back in 1554 or 954. After all, the institutions making that experience possible hadn’t been birthed yet.

You know, those institutions created by European/ European-descent civilization.

That civilization that Darth Vegan is tacitly impugning with her racial agitation.

Twisting Children’s Minds with School Textbooks

By Selwyn Duke

If you saw a book stating that America was not a republic but a democracy, that a role of our government was to “socialize the young,” and with a picture labeled “Muslim scholars studying with the Greek philosopher Aristotle,” you might think it was a work of bad fiction, not an American school textbook. But even though the United States is a republic, socializing the young isn’t a role of American government, and Aristotle died 900 years before Mohammed’s birth, textbooks are exactly where the above misinformation is from.

These are just a few of the shocking facts brought to light after comedienne and actress turned political aspirant Victoria Jackson reported on a review of Tennessee’s school textbooks by the group Textbook Advocates (TA). Writes Jackson, “During August of 2013, scores of TN volunteers reviewed the 72 books on the State textbook list – 39% were declared acceptable for TN classrooms, 12% need major revisions to meet acceptable standards, many more need minor fixes.” Jackson’s characterization is even more damning. She opines that many school textbooks are “inaccurate, revisionist, anti-American, racist ... anti-Christian, anti-Semitic, pro-Islam, Marxist, globalist, pro-Socialism/Communism, pro-homosexuality, pro-abortion, and sexually explicit.” Is this hyperbole?

Decide for yourself. Aside from socializing the young, Government in America (Pearson Education, 9-12) tells students that something else government “should” do is “Preserve order” and then explains, “When people protest in large numbers government may resort to extreme measures to restore order.” In China, yes — but in the United States people actually have to violate the law first.

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We Might be Muslim Today if….

By Selwyn Duke

The year is 632 A.D., and Muslim hordes have set their sights on the Mideast and North Africa — the old Christian world. And the Caliphate, as the Islamic realm is called, will not be denied. Syria and Iraq fall in 636. Palestine is next in 638. And Byzantine Egypt and North Africa, not even Arab lands, are conquered by 642 and 709, respectively. Then, just two years later, the Muslims cross the Strait of Gibraltar and enter Iberia (now Spain and Portugal). The invasion of Europe has begun.

And the new continent seems no impediment to Islam. After vanquishing much of Visigothic Iberia by 718, the Muslims cross the Pyrenees Mountains into Gaul (now France) and move northward. Now it is 732, and they are approaching Tours, a mere 126 miles from Paris. The Western world — what’s left of Christendom — could very well be on its way to extinction.

The Left Shows Its True, Violent Colors

By Selwyn Duke

It isn’t entirely true that, as Lord Acton said, “Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” It’s often the case that power simply allows people the luxury of lowering façades and showing their true colors.

A good example is the recent behavior of many on the Left. Commentator Donald Kaul just wrote that he had no problem with guns being pried from their owners’ “cold, dead hands” and that Republican leaders should be dragged around a parking lot with a pick-up truck. A European college professor recommended the execution of “Climate Change Deniers” and the Pope. Closer to home, an American academic called for NRA president Wayne LaPierre’s “head on a stick” in some profanity laden tweets. And then there was voice of moderation Harry Belafonte; he didn’t ask for blood — only that Barack Obama arrest political opponents (prompting me to spoof a song in his honor).  

Ah, it’s a long way from Woodstock and peace and love, isn’t it?

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