The FaithWalker's Daily -- Dec. 31: Hate Crime For Subway Pusher, Obama Goes For Guns, Failed Fiscal Cliffs

The FaithWalker’s Daily is a quick review of key news stories of the day from the perspective of a conservative Christ-follower living in, but not of, the world.

Original source Haptoon.com Christian Comics

NY Subway Pusher Charged with Hate Crime

The Basics —

The 31-year-old woman who allegedly pushed an immigrant into the path of an oncoming subway train in New York told the judge that she hates Muslims and Hindus and thought the victim was one.

Dig Deeper:

Via FoxNews: “She had told police she has hated Muslims since Sept. 11 and thought the victim was one.” As it turns out, he was not, though he had been raised as a Hindu.
Via ABC News, Puerto Rico toughens Hate Crime Laws. You can see where this is headed with this key quote: “‘A lot of church people are not teaching peace and to love thy neighbor,’ Gonzalez said. ‘They are teaching to hate gays.'”
From HuffPo: “I pushed a Muslim off the train tracks because I hate Hindus and Muslims,” she allegedly told police, according to charges filed by District Attorney Robert Johnson. “Ever since 2001 when they put down the Twin Towers, I’ve been beating them up.”

A Few Thoughts…

If God hates hands that shed innocent blood, how can one’s motives for committing murder make the crime any worse? We step onto dangerous ground as a culture when we attempt to discern the intents of someone’s heart. Only God can do that. What difference does it make why someone killed another person? It is only because we have watered down the consequences for committing murder that we feel compelled to somehow increase them when faced with what we think are more egregious motives. Not sure God sees it that way at all. Note also the quote above claiming churches as the source of the hate.

Every murder is a hate crime in God’s eyes.

Obama Tells Gregory He’ll Make Gun Control a Priority in Second Term

The Basics —

President Obama told NBC’s David Gregory, who is under investigation for violating DC gun laws, that he would make gun control a top priority by supporting increased background checks and bans on assault weapons and high-capacity bullet magazines.

Dig Deeper:

Via FoxNews, the rest of the story.
Via Howard Nemerov at PJ News, an excellent peek at the actual data about gun control. Demonostrates that gun controls fail. “Surprisingly (to me, at the time), I found no dataset proving civilian disarmament made anybody safer.”
Via The Hill, Obama sets up NRA straw man to knock down: “I am skeptical that the only answer is putting more guns in schools. “
You may have seen this video montage mocking celebrities who are now demanding gun control and their love for violence in films and media. [Warning: Graphic violence and language]
Facebook suspends Natural News site for daring to post this Ghandi quote: “Among the many misdeeds of British rule in India, history will look upon the Act depriving a whole nation of arms as the blackest.”

A Few Thoughts…

First, the three things Obama listed as needing to increase had nothing — nothing — to do with what happened in Newtown. That’s all we need to know to see the political demagoguery going on here. Second, he offers a straw man in place of the NRA by dismissing their suggestion of armed guards in school as the “only” option offered. Finally, both the data and the American people are not behind the President on this one. I agree that Scripture is not clear on this issue, except as it pertains to defending life, although that argument can be made in both directions. The facts will matter on this one. Or at least they should.

Careful, Mr. President, your hubris is showing.

Last-Minute Leadership and Fiscal Cliff Lunacy

The Basics —

On the eve of the fiscal cliff, no one seems sure what is going on as negotiations break down once again and rumours surface of a late Senate vote on Obama’s proposal to blame the GOP as the ones who caused the problem.

Dig Deeper:

Via FoxNews, more on the inside baseball behind last minute maneuvering.
Hugh Hewitt shakes his head at Obama’s disconnect: “He refuses to care about the deficit and thus the debt and the nation’s defenses and is betting that he can get out of Dodge in four years without the roof having fallen in him thanks to Ben Bernanke and perhaps the theory that the world’s reserve currency can be printed in endless amounts.”
Of all people, Sen. Lindsey Graham says Obama has won, then inadvertently explains why: “‘I want to vote for it even though I won’t like it,’ he said.”
Don’t forget the $1 Trillion in Obamacare tax hikes that kick in tomorrow either way.
Sen. Manchin (D-WV) has legislation ready and waiting to “soften the blow” of the tax increases should negotiations fail. Key graph quote from Manchin: “Something has gone terribly wrong when the biggest threat to the American economy is our American Congress.”
The best visual of both the scale of the problem and the insanity of the solutions being offered:

* U.S. Tax revenue: $2,170,000,000,000

* Fed budget: $3,820,000,000,000

* New debt: $ 1,650,000,000,000

* National debt: $14,271,000,000,000

* Recent budget cuts: $ 38,500,000,000

Let’s now remove 8 zeros and pretend it’s a household budget:

* Annual family income: $21,700

* Money the family spent: $38,200

* New debt on the credit card: $16,500

* Outstanding balance on the credit card: $142,710

* Total budget cuts so far: $38.50

A Few Thoughts…

It’s exactly Graham’s sort of feckless leadership that has gotten us into this mess. Too few leaders have had the courage to do what must be done — get spending under control. We could course through the Biblical warning against debt all over again, but it is familiar ground to most here. In a day or two, middle class — and all other — Americans will get hit by tax increases no matter what our leaders do at this point, and we will go further in debt. I think Sen. Manchin said it best:

“Something has gone terribly wrong when the biggest threat to the American economy is our American Congress.”

A Few More Stories You Might Hear About Today

Iranian Pastor re-arrested on Christmas Day to serve the final 45-days on probation. Just to make a point?
Paul DeVries call for a year of Education Emancipation to end the slavery that is our failed educational system.
US Senate releases scathing report on State Department security failure in Benghazi: “The report said it was ‘widely understood’ that the Libyan government could not adequately protect U.S. personnel, yet the State Department did not move to fill the ‘security gap.'”