Category Archives: Federalist

Shootings broke out across the country during the Juneteenth weekend celebrations, following President Joe Biden declaring it a national holiday.

Biden on Thursday signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act, which commemorates the freeing of Texas slaves on June 19, 1865. The president has not yet commented on the Juneteenth violence but said after he signed the bill that he hope[s] this is the beginning of a change in the way we deal with one another. The way people dealt with one another at the festivities, however, was with violence.

In Clover, South Carolina, three people were shot around 11:30 p.m. Saturday at a Juneteenth celebration, according toABC News. One victim was a 17-year-old who was seriously injured and airlifted to a hospital in Charlotte, North Carolina. Authorities said several cars were also struck during the shooting. No arrests have been made, and the motive is under investigation.

During a Juneteenth celebration in Oakland, California, at least one person was left dead and several others wounded,Fox Newsreported. Bullets struck six victims between the ages of 16 and 27, the Oakland Police said in a statement. Thedepartment also confirmedthat a 22-year-old victim died at the hospital.

Police said two men, allegedly armed with guns, were arrested after running from the scene of the shooting. Tonight, a joyous occasion at our Lake Merritt was marred by a senseless act of gun violence, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaafsaidin a statement.

InAurora, Colorado, an all-night Juneteenth party at a strip mall came to an end at 4 a.m. Sunday when multiple gunmen unleashed up to 114 rounds, leaving one man dead and four other people wounded, according to police. Law enforcement said no arrests were made.

UPDATE: The gathering in the parking lot where the shooting broke out was related to a Juneteenth celebration at a unit in this strip mall. Suspect(s) are at-large. Anyone who witnessed this incident or has information is asked to contact @CrimeStoppersCO.

— Aurora Police Dept (@AuroraPD) June 20, 2021

An emergency responder was shot while working at a Juneteenth rally in Raleigh, North Carolina. The responder was answering a call for a child who was in need of medical assistance, according tolocal news station WRAL.

The first responder was walking back to the ambulance after helping the child when shots were fired. WRAL reported that the responder is in good condition and is expected to make a full recovery. The shooter and motives are unknown.

An officer was working at a Juneteenth parade traffic point in Flint, Michigan, when a car pulled up and open-fired, according to The Detroit News. The officer returned fire, striking the suspect, a 19-year-old female. The woman succumbed to her injuries while at the hospital, police said. The incident is under investigation.

Evita Duffy is an intern at The Federalist and a junior at the University of Chicago, where she studies American History. She loves the Midwest, lumberjack sports, writing, & her family. Follow her on Twitter at @evitaduffy_1

See more here:

Juneteenth 'Celebrations' Repeatedly Turned Violent With Shootings - The Federalist

The Catholic Church benefited enormously from the JFK presidency, pollster Larry Sabato wrote Monday morning. Prejudice against Catholics declined and millions were exposed to church rituals. Church leaders welcomed the JFK effect.'

Now at last there is a second Catholic [president], he continued, and what do some in the hierarchy do? They ruin it.

A little more than 60 years [after President John F. Kennedys speech on accepting Catholics in American politics], a second Catholic president sits in the White House, Washington Post columnist Karen Tumulty wrote Sunday, and the churchs American bishops appear to have forgotten what it took for one of their own to get there.

Its a common take; I remember hearing it from my history teacher in high school. Often compared with then-Sen. Barack Obamas 2007 speech on race relations in America, the basic Kennedy story says that his campaign speech on religious tolerance was a great step for Catholics in America, a death knell for the anti-Catholic bigotry then rampant in the country, and marked a new age for Catholic politicians in national politics. Its a very nice story; too bad it isnt true.

The problems with this civics fairy tale are it is completely ignorant of the real contents of the speech, is built on an elite view of Catholicism in politics, and is bankrupt of any serious religious-minded analysis. In short, as with so many things in American political education, it is a great secular myth.

In the speech, delivered to the Greater Houston Ministerial Association in front of hundreds of Protestant ministers, many of whom were deeply suspicious or openly hostile to a Papist in the White House, the young Massachusetts senator made a series of serious promises that would appease, or at least defuse, the anti-Catholics at the great cost of crippling the moral authority of the Catholic Church in America for decades to come.

First, Kennedy promised that no man of God would advise or even to seek to advise his presidency, saying he believes in an America where no public official either requests or accepts instructions on public policy from the pope, the National Council of Churches, or any other ecclesiastical source.

I believe in an America where separation of church and state, he declared, is absolute.

The power of the office, he insisted, must not limited or conditioned by any religious oath, ritual or obligation. Americas politicians, he loudly decreed, have nothing more to learn of sin and morality.

Second, he promised to continue his stands against American outreach to the Catholic Church and against Catholic education, calling federal aid to Catholic schools unconstitutional and asking the audience to, judge me on the basis of my record of 14 years in Congress on my declared stands against an ambassador to the Vatican, against unconstitutional aid to parochial [religious] schools, and against any boycott of the public schools.

Third, Kennedy promised to disregard his Catholic faith on birth control, divorce, censorship, gambling or any other subject, declaring that no power or threat of punishment could cause me to decide otherwise.Thats no paraphrasing: on birth control, divorce, censorship, gambling orany other subject and no power or threat of punishment could cause me to decide otherwise.

On Friday, California Rep. Ted Lieu publicly challenged the authority of the Catholic Church, writing to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops that he is a Catholic politician who supports contraception, abortion, reproductive technologies, divorce, and gay marriage.

Next time I go to church, he threatened, I dare you to deny me Communion.

Catholic and non-Catholic observers alike gasped at Lieus open heresy. Few remembered that 61 years earlier, the man who would become Americas first Catholic president had taken virtually the same oath against his religion.

Kennedys speech was a major speech in American civic history and can absolutely be credited with going a long way toward ingratiating American Catholics into elite society. But as in the wake of Vatican II, when empowered modernist priests sought American affirmation by looting the gifts of the poor and stripping their churches of the architectural features and artistic treasures that made them uniquely Catholic, in exchange for political authority Kennedy stripped the Catholic Church of its moral authority.

Today, with the Catholic President Joe Biden and Catholic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi in power and using their power to attack the Hyde Amendment against federal funding of abortion, as well as the Mexico City policy against federal money for foreign abortion, that weakness is on full display.

Kennedys example also stands in harsh contrast with those American Catholic heroes who made great sacrifices for their country, and in doing so earned the admiration of their fellows, making great strides for the acceptance of the Catholic faith and faithful alike.

Men like Charles Carroll of Carrolton, known as the first citizen, who in addition to being the wealthiest and highest-educated man to sign the Declaration of Independence, was the only Catholic to do so at a time his religion banned him from holding office in his home state of Maryland.

Men like Carrolls cousin, John, who became a Jesuit at 18 and was ordained a priest 14 years later, who answered the call of the Continental Congress to try to enlist Catholic Quebec in the American Revolution, and later became the bishop of Baltimore, establishing both the first basilica of the United States and Georgetown University.

Men like Johns older brother, Daniel, who with Thomas Fitzsimmons are the only two Catholics to sign the U.S. Constitution.

Or men like Fr. William Corby, second founder of Notre Dame University, who in his Irish Brigade memoirs of the Civil War writes of the Protestant chaplains amazement at the daily religious observance and devotion of the Catholic soldiers.

When on the second day of Gettysburg the orders were given to prepare for imminent battle, Fr. Corby stood on a rock before the men and lifted his hand to grant the the rite of general absolution, earning the admiration and respect of all those present.Maj. Gen. St. Clair Mulholland wrote, As he closed his address, every man, Catholic and non-Catholic, fell on his knees with his bowed down.

The scene was more than impressive; it was awe-inspiring. Near by stood the brilliant throng of officers who had gathered to witness this very unusual occurrence, and while there was a profound silence in the ranks of the Second Corps, yet over the left, out by the peach orchard and Little Round Top, where [Brigadier Gens. Stephen] Weed and [Strong] Vincent and [1st Lt. Charles] Hazlitt were dying, the roar of the battle rose and swelled and re-echoed through the woods, making music more sublime than ever sounded through cathedral aisle. This act seemed to be in harmony with the surroundings. I do not think there was a man in the brigade who did not offer up a heart-felt prayer. For some, it was their last; they knelt there in their grave clothes. In less than half an hour many of them were numbered with the dead of July 2.

Or men like those who knelt in the brigade, who later erected a statue of Corby at the spot of the absolution and whose Catholic faith girded their storied bravery in battle and won the hard-earned respect of even their most vicious detractors.

Far from the examples of these great Americans, Kennedy earned the acceptance of the American political establishment not by celebrating his faith and proudly wearing it in his role as the countrys first Catholic president, but by shedding it and promising all who would listen that neither the faith nor its bishops would have any bearing on his presidency.

In his 1960 speech, Kennedy dreamed of an America where there is no Catholic vote, and with the help of the bishops he helped achieve this. Thereafter there would be no sizeable Catholic vote. It splintered after the public endorsement of his secularism by most of the bishops.

A little more than 60 years later, a second Catholic president sits in the White House, Tumulty wrote in the Post, and the churchs American bishops appear to have forgotten what it took for one of their own to get there.

Or maybe they didnt forget what it took to get there. And maybe as they consider the long-declining influence of God and morality in American public life, and the rising anti-Catholicism that has come with it, theyll discard the secular myth of Kennedys speech and instead address their predecessors terrible mistake head on. Fortunately, they appear poised to do just that.

It wouldnt be the first time. The church has been grievously wounded from both inside the church and from without it over and again in history, but by Gods grace, the gates of Hell will not overpower it.

View original post here:

The Great Lie About JFK, The Bishops, And The Catholic Church - The Federalist

All 50 Republican senators barely managed to block Democrats election overhaul bill on Tuesday night that would have ended voter ID requirements supported by 80 percent of Americans, allowed voting up to two weeks after election day, legalize ballot harvesting, and more.

In the nearly 900-page For The People Act of 2021, Democrat Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and fellow Democrats would have barred states from protecting themselves against loose voting structures that permeated the 2020 election such as mass vote-by-mail, lax voter ID, and widely inaccurate voting rolls. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris also supported the election bill, which Democrats made their No. 1 priority for their full control of Congress and the presidency this year.

We cant sit idly by while democracy is in peril here, in America. We need to protect the sacred right to vote and ensure We the People choose our leaders, the very foundation on which our democracy rests. We urgently need the For The People Act. Send it to my desk, Biden wrote Tuesday afternoon.

After all of the GOP legislators filibustered the legislation, however, the 60 votes necessary for the bill to pass a procedural vote were not there. Democrats have repeatedly threatened to end this slim protection for minority interests in the Senate, and its existence appears to rest entirely on the good graces of West Virginia Democrat Sen. Joe Manchin since Republicans lost the Senate through runoff elections in Georgia earlier this year.

Our democracy is stronger when everyone participatesand it is weaker when people are denied meaningful access to participation. Today, as Senate Democrats united around the For The People Act, Senate Republicans voted against advancing it, Harris wrote in a statement.

Whichever label Democrats slap on their bill, the substance remains the same, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said. Its always been a plan to rewrite the ground rules of American politics. Today, the Senates going to fulfill our founding purpose, stop this partisan power grab, and reject S. 1.

Both leftist legislators and the corporate media originally claimed, against all evidence, that the unconstitutional bill would protect Americans voting rights, but Republicans were quick to call the proposal what it was: a political ploy to give Democrats ultimate supervisory power over federal elections. That didnt stop the left from trotting out their usual racist smears of Republicans and making evidence-free claims Republicans want to restrict voter access.

Not only would the bill have let the federal government micromanage state elections, a possibly unconstitutional offense, but one report suggests it would open the floodgates for partisan activity within the IRS and the Federal Elections Commission, hijack federal courts away from election criticisms, and violate the First Amendment with respect to a vast range of legal activity.

The attorneys general of 20 states also agreedthat HR 1 would invert that constitutional structure, commandeer state resources, confuse and muddle elections procedures, and erode faith in our elections and systems of governance.

Jordan Davidson is a staff writer at The Federalist. She graduated from Baylor University where she majored in political science and minored in journalism.

Read more:

GOP Senators Barely Block Democrats' Bid To End Honest Elections - The Federalist

Democrat Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, who has often spoken out against racial injustice in the United States, shrugged off questions from a local news outlet about his familys membership in an all-white exclusive beach club in Rhode Island this weekend.

When asked by GoLocalProv whether white-only exclusive clubs such as Baileys Beach Club, which is part of the Spouting Rock Beach Association, should continue to exist, Whitehouse refused to offer a straight answer and merely stated that its a long tradition in the state.

Its a long tradition in Rhode Island and there are many of them, and we just need to work our way through the issues, Whitehouse said.

According to the report, both Whitehouse and his wife Sandra as well as their families have been members of the club for decades where they are now one of the largest shareholders in the all-white club.

I think the people who are running the place are still working on that, and Im sorry it hasnt happened yet, Whitehouse said.

Even after the Democrat was confronted in 2017 over the clubs alleged dedication to keeping the club free of minority groups, he and his family continue to frequent the establishment on most summer days without a hitch.

I think it would be nice if they [Baileys Beach Club] changed a little bit, but its not my position, Whitehouse said in 2017 before offering a loose pledge to take up diversity concerns with the club in private.

Whitehouse is one of the many Democrat legislators who are often quick to jump on the race-driven agenda bandwagon. Not only has he pledged his support to Black Lives Matter via Twitter, but he also claimed he is working with his colleagues on the Senate Judiciary Committee to bring lasting change on racial injustice.

Last summer, Whitehouse promised to bring attention to the injustices that Black Americans still face every day by celebrating Juneteenth, which the Democrats led by President Joe Biden have turned into a political football to forward their race agenda despite Americans hesitancy to make it a federal holiday. He also said the United States needs to root out systemic racism in its many forms and meet Americas full promise of justice for all.

Jordan Davidson is a staff writer at The Federalist. She graduated from Baylor University where she majored in political science and minored in journalism.

More here:

Democrat Sen. Whitehouse Says His All-White Exclusive Beach Club Is 'Tradition' - The Federalist

Two top House Republicans among big techs thorniest adversaries in Washington remain starkly divided on how to rein in Silicon Valleys empire.

Earlier this month, a group of bipartisan lawmakers led by Rhode Island Democrat Rep. David Cicilline and Colorado Republican Ken Buck who serve as chair and ranking member of the House Judiciary Committees Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial, and Administrative Law, respectively unveiled a broad package of antitrust legislation to break up corporate tech monopolies.

Big Tech has abused its dominance in the marketplace to crush competitors, censor speech, and control how we see and understand the world, Buck said in a statement announcing the series of five bills proposed after the subcommittee completed an 18-month bipartisan probe into big tech influence.The nations antitrust laws have not seen significant reform in nearly 100 years, according to Bucks office.

The sweeping package includes new powers and funding for the Justice Department (DOJ) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to enhance oversight with greater ability to sue platforms found to dominate online marketplaces. Each agency for example, would designate companies that generate $600 billion in revenue with at least 500,000 U.S. users as covered platforms subject to a new layer of regulations on data, acquisitions, and corporate conduct.

One bill, the Ending Platform Monopolies Act, sponsored by Buck, with Republicans Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina, Lance Gooden of Texas, and Democrat Pramila Jayapal of Washington, prohibits dominant platforms from giving their products preference in their own search engines. That would bar Amazon from promoting Amazon products above all others on its colossal online retail store, for example.

Another bill requires online platforms to establish avenues for consumers to transfer data from one service to another, just as one would carry a cell phone number from Verizon to Sprint.

While Bucks legislative package has drawn endorsements across the political aisle from former House Democrat impeachment managers to Republicans Matt Gaetz of Florida and Burgess Owens of Utah, its also drawn scrutiny from many others on the right, including in GOP leadership and Ohio Republican Jim Jordan.

In an interview with The Federalist, Jordan characterized the legislation as a trap that would empower tech elites to conspire with bureaucrats who share sympathy for a monopoly on truth through conservative censorship.

This is going to let big tech companies collude with big tech companies to do further harm to conservatives, Jordan said. He faulted the legislative package put forward by a staunch ally in the conservative Freedom Caucus for its absence of anything to do with censorship. Out of the five bills proposed, none deal with Twitter or online suppression of dissident views.

Jordan centered on the expansion of the FTCs authority in particular, now led by Lina Khan, who was sworn in Tuesday last week.

These bills give power to the FTC, the new commissioner we all know is radically left, Jordan said, highlighting Khans prior work for congressional Democrats. I dont really think it breaks up big tech and I dont think it gives a remedy to people who are censored.

While branded as big tech sympathizer, however, Khan has been a longtime antagonist of the Silicon Valley elite. Her confirmation was supported by Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley, a chief crusader against big tech influence.

Others in House Republican leadership remain skeptical of Bucks proposals for similar reasons to those Jordan raised, putting too much faith in the un-elected administrative state to effectively regulate without tackling the issue of censorship.

Big Tech censors conservatives and silences views not rubber-stamped by the Washington elite, an unnamed source complained to Fox News. Giving Washington bureaucrats in the Biden Administration this kind of immense power will not fix Big Techs problems.

Mark Bednar, a spokesperson for House Republican Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, aired a similar claim in the Wall Street Journal.

The House Republican plan to confront big tech wont be influenced by anything other than the commitment to free speech and free enterprise, Bednar said.

Jordan pointed to recent revelations from Dr. Anthony Faucis published emails that exposed the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) director working with Facebook to dictate coronavirus information on the platform as reason to be concerned about a forged allyship between the federal bureaucracy and big tech.

Buck rejected the criticisms in a separate interview with The Federalist Monday.

In my view the only way to address censorship is by breaking up monopolies, Buck said, arguing new antitrust regulation is a prerequisite to protecting an open marketplace of ideas. Big government caused this problem. They gave big tech an antitrust amnesty for years and the result is that we have a serious problem with monopolies.

Buck said his proposals seek to provoke a consumer response to increase competition, whereas the absence of government involvement fostered the environment that exists today.

These bills arent big government coming in and causing harm to any company, Buck told The Federalist.

Jordan said any proposals to curb Silicon Valleys accelerating influence have to do both, targeting monopoly market power and online censorship in the 21st-century digital public square.

Buck emphasized hes open to any proposal dealing with big tech censorship that may emerge from the House Energy and Commerce Committee, but maintained the answer is to address the monopoly situation. Then, Buck said, third-party liability protections afforded to todays tech giants under Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act would lose its relevance in the presence of online variety.

The two power-player allies in the House Freedom Caucus have sparred on the solutions to big tech influence before.Last fall, the two Republicans previewed the legislative debate playing out today when each released competing reports at the conclusion of the Judiciary Committees investigation into Silicon Valleys empire.

The Democrats majority report focused on anti-competitive market practices and privacy violations, Jordans report honed in on censorship, and Bucks third-way report prescribed antitrust laws as the priority over new rules to target viewpoint suppression.

More here:

Reps. Jordan, Buck Illustrate Conservative Divide On Tech - The Federalist

Transgender BMX freestyle riderChelsea Wolfesaid last year that he wants to win in the Olympics sohe can burn a US flag on the podium. It appears his dream might actually become a reality, since Wolfe, a biological male, qualified on Monday as an alternatefor Team USAs womens BMX freestyle event at the upcoming Olympic Games in Tokyo.

My goal is to win the Olympics so I can burn a US flag on the podium. This is what they focus on during a pandemic. Hurting trans children, Wolfe wrote on Facebook in March 2020, along with a link to a PinkNews story about the Trump administrations stance on males in female sports.

Wolfe told Fox News that anyone who thinks that I dont care about the United States is sorely mistaken, arguing that his mere presence at the Olympics would prove to the world that the United States has morals and values. He also said his dedication to tak[ing] a stand against fascism proves he cares for the United States. Wolfe did not say, however, whether he still plans to burn the American flag if he makes it to the podium.

Anyone who thinks that I dont care about the United States is sorely mistaken. One of the reasons why I work so hard to represent the United States in international competition is to show the world that this country has morals and values, that its not all of the bad things that were known for.I take a stand against fascism because I care about this country and Im not going to let it fall into the hands of fascists after so many people have fought and sacrificed to prevent fascism from taking hold abroad. As a citizen who wants to be proud of my home country, Im sure as hell not going to let it take hold here.

In addition to fantasizing about burning the U.S. flag in front of the world, Wolfe made comments in the replies of his Facebook post suggesting that then-President Donald Trump should be assassinated, according to Ian Miles Cheong, who first reported on the story.

Wolfe later clarified his comments, writing in the replies, I would never say that someone should explode the head of the president. That would be illegal. But I will say with dynamite. Because thats just a sentence fragment and doesnt actually mean anything. Its not necessarily related to the sentence that came before it.

This year marks the first Olympic Games in which transgender athletes will compete, with Laurel Hubbard, a 43-year-old biological male, representing New Zealand in womens weightlifting.

In 2015, the International Olympic Committee began allowing biological males to compete in womens sports so long as their testosterone level is shown to be 10 nanomoles per liter or less for at least a year before competition. That criteria is 5 to 33 percent higher than the average testosterone levels in biological females, which is considered to be between 0.3 and 2.4 nanomoles per liter, wrote The Federalists Maggie Hroncich. The rules also let males compete without undergoing surgery to remove their testes.

Earlier this month, Wolfe wrote on Instagram that he deserve[s] a place to exist in the world, presumably meaning he deserves to participate in womens sports.

I searched for so long trying to find out if there had ever been a professional trans bmx rider to show me that who I am would be okay and unfortunately I found no one, Wolfe wrote on Instagram on June 12. Eventually I started to meet some amazing women who helped me accept that I am a woman just like any other and that I deserve a place to exist in the world just like everyone else.

Whether Wolfe will indeed burn the American flag on the world stage if he competes in the Olympic Games against women has yet to be seen.

Evita Duffy is an intern at The Federalist and a junior at the University of Chicago, where she studies American History. She loves the Midwest, lumberjack sports, writing, & her family. Follow her on Twitter at @evitaduffy_1

Continue reading here:

Trans Athlete's Goal Is To Win Olympics 'So I Can Burn A US Flag On The Podium' - The Federalist

The first Fathers Day celebrations in the United States were held over 100 years ago in communities on opposite coasts: one for coal miners in West Virginia in 1908, another for a Civil War veteran in Spokane, Washington in 1910. But despite interest from impassioned daughters and compassionate presidents of both parties, the holiday wasnt officially placed on the calendar until 1972, almost 58 years after the creation of Mothers Day.

The celebration in the small town of Monongah, West Virginia followed the worst coal mining disaster in American history. Some 360 men were killed on December 6, 1907, when two mines of the Fairmont Coal Company exploded. The disaster left 1,000 children fatherless and the town in deep mourning. The cause of the explosion was never discovered. In its aftermath, local Grace Golden Clayton urged her pastor to commemorate the miners.

A church organist whose own father had died a few years earlier, Clayton was burdened by the disaster and the loss of so many fathers. She asked her pastor to remember the men of the mine including immigrants from Italy, Poland, Russia, Austria, and Turkey with a special commemoration of fathers who had died providing for their families. The Fathers Day service was held at Williams Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church in Fairmont, West Virginia on July 5, 1908. The altar was decorated with sheaves of ripened wheat, a symbol of resurrection.

It was partly the explosion that set me to think how important and loved most fathers are, Clayton recalled to a newspaper. All those lonely children and the heartbroken wives and mothers made orphans and widows in a matter of a few minutes. Oh, how sad and frightening to have no father, no husband, to turn to at such a sad time.

The celebration may have been influenced by the first Mothers Day service celebrated just two months earlier, at a church less than 20 miles away. Anna Jarvis held the first celebration recognizing mothers at Andrews Methodist Episcopal Church on May 10, 1908, in Grafton, West Virginia.

While the Andrews Methodist church became a shrine to mothers, the church where fathers were first celebrated in 1908 now Central United Methodist just bears a plaque stating, First Fathers Day Service, Williams Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church, South, July 5, 1908.

This West Virginia service didnt immediately cause the holiday to catch on. Instead, Sonora Smart Dodd an impassioned daughter of a widowed Civil War veteran is recognized as the Mother of Fathers Day.

In appreciation of her father William Jackson Smart, who lovingly raised his children alone, Dodd asked the local ministerial association in Spokane, Washington, to honor fathers. A Fathers Day celebration was held on June 19, 1910, at the Spokane YMCA.

Six years later, President Woodrow Wilson who had made Mothers Day official in 1914 joined the Spokane celebration, but failed to get Congress to pass legislation creating a national holiday for dads.

There are several theories for why it took so long to adopt a national Fathers Day. Congress may have been concerned it would become too commercial. Others suggested fathers did not have the same sentimental appeal as mothers, and finally, some fathers apparently protested lavish gifts because they thought they would foot the bill.

Historian Timothy Marr suggested men scoffed at the holidays sentimental attempts to domesticate manliness with flowers and gift-giving, or they derided the proliferation of such holidays as a commercial gimmick to sell more products often paid for by the father himself.

Despite the setbacks, Dodd continued advocating for the holiday, even while studying at the Chicago Art Institute, writing poetry, and publishing a childrens book. Her mother died when she was 16, leaving her father to raise six children as young as six years old. Dodd recalls her father as a great home person, a man who exemplified fatherly love and protection.

I remember everything about him. He was both father and mother to me and my brothers and sisters, she told a Spokane newspaper.

It was the second time Smart had been widowed. His first wife died in 1878, leaving Smart to raise their children alone. Two years later he married Ellen Victoria, a widow who brought three children to the marriage, and together they had six more children. In 1898, they sold their coal farm in Arkansas and moved to the Northwest.

Smart also served in the Civil War, for which he received a Union pension of $12 a month in 1907. Smart is thought to have enlisted in the Confederate Army from Arkansas early in the war. Captured in the Battle of Pea Ridge in 1862, Smart opted to join the northern cause rather than become a prisoner of war. (His daughter was a member of both the United Daughters of the Confederacy and the Daughters of Union Veterans.) Smart served in the 1st Arkansas Volunteer Light Artillery and ended the war as a sergeant.

Sonora Smart Dodd was 90 years old when Fathers Day was made official by presidential proclamation in 1972. Her veteran father was long gone, but her love and appreciation for him never faltered. Her dedication to his memory helped create a day celebrating the exceptional importance of fathers surely seen in the faces of those children who stood at the Monongah mine, waiting for fathers who never came home.

Christine Weerts, author of "Heroes of Faith: Rosa J. Young," is a researcher with the Alabama Black Lutheran Heritage Association. She won a commendation from the Concordia Historical Institute in 2020 for her historical writing on race. A freelance writer, she has degrees in music (BA) and religion (MA).

Continue reading here:

Mining Tragedy And A Civil War Vet: The History Of Father's Day - The Federalist

On the eve of Fathers Day, a young dad named Gyovanni Arzuaga was allegedly executed in the middle of a Chicago city street. He was 24 years old.

According to CBS 2 Chicago, the crime was live-streamed on Facebook by an unidentified individual. The live stream depicts Arzuaga and his girlfriend, Yasmin Perez, being forcibly removed from their vehicle by a group of individuals, during a celebration for Puerto Rican Peoples Day. Arzuaga and Perez had two children together.

In the video, the group of individuals appears to pull Arzuaga and Perez out of their car, before scattering. As Arzuaga and Perez lay on the concrete, a man appears to approach them and [shoot] them at point blank range.

The shooting reportedly occurred at around 9:00 p.m. Saturday in Humboldt Park. Both victims were taken to the hospital, at which point Arzuaga was pronounced dead.

Perez suffered from a shot to the neck and arrived at the hospital in critical condition.

The Daily Caller reports, A police spokeswoman could not confirm whether the [live-streamed] video which has been circulated across social media, shows the shooting. And details concerning the violent exchange remain to be uncovered.

When reflecting on Arzuagas sudden demise, his friend, Jae Pacheco, noted Arzuagas sweet personality: He was just there to have a good time and go back home. He was such an amazing friend. He was really caring. Pacheco continued: He was just about being around good vibes, being around good people.

On Sunday, a memorial in Arzuagas honor was organized at the site of the shooting, with balloons, flowers, and signs saying Happy Fathers Day and RIP Gy0. AGoFundMe for Arzuaga and Perez has already surpassed its initial goal of reaching $10,000. The raised funds will go toward Arzuagas funeral and Perezs medical bills.

Arzuagas death continues to garner media attention and outrage, but the tragedy is sadly one of many. At least 49 individuals were shot in Chicago over the weekend. At least five of these shootings were fatal. As of June 14, 1,587 people have been shot in Chicago this year already. The Chicago Tribune notes that this is 195 more than 2020.

As Chicagoans suffer from increasingly violent crime, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot recently declared racism to be a public health crisis. She is focusing her time and energy on improving anti-racist policies.

No one is in custody yet for the shootings of Arzuaga and Perez.

Read more:

Young Father Allegedly Forced Out Of His Car And Executed In Chicago Street - The Federalist

On Monday, Colorado police officer Gordon Beesley was ambushed and shot by 59-year old Ronald Troyke, who had expressed hatred of police officers, according to Arvada Police Department Chief Link Strate. Forty-year-old John Hurley, who confronted the gunman, was also fatally shot.

According to the department, police were notified of a disturbance near Arvada Library in Olde Town Square around 1:15 p.m. on Monday. About 15 minutes after Beesley responded to the call, the department received reports that multiple shots had been fired and an officer was hit. The gunman was pronounced dead at the scene.

While not much is known about the confirmed gunman, Strate said the shooting was fueled by disdain for police officers.

I can tell you that Gordon was targeted because he was wearing an Arvada police uniform and a badge, he said.

Communities need to understand and know what they ask of their police officers the sacrifices they make, the cost to them to protect your safety. This was a deliberate act of violence, Strate said.

Strate identified the second victim John Hurley as a good Samaritan who likely disrupted what could have been a larger loss of life.

Hurley was shopping at the Arvada Army Navy Surplus store where eyewitness Bill Troyanos works, Denver7 reported. Troyanos said when gunshots rang from outside, Hurley pulled his concealed carry-on gun from its holster and ran toward them.

He did not hesitate; he didnt stand there and think about it. He totally heard the gunfire, went to the door, saw the shooter, and immediately ran in that direction, Troyanos said. I just want to make sure his family knows how heroic he was.

According to more eyewitness reports, Hurley urged bystanders to safety. Although police have not released information on who shot Hurley or the gunman, Troyanos said he witnessed Hurley confront and shoot the gunman.

According to Hurleys friend Brian Romero, who organized a GoFundMe for the Hurley family, Hurley is survived by his loving parents and sister.

[Johns] story is not making national news as the officer involved was a 19 year veteran and beloved community member, Romero wrote. Johnny was also a victim of senseless violence all too prevalent in todays society.

The APD is conducting an ongoing criminal investigation to monitor the case, but authorities said the shooting appears to be an isolated incident.

My thoughts are with the family and friends of the officer who was tragically killed in the line of duty while swiftly and bravely responding to protect civilians in the area, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis said in a statement.

Haley Strack is an intern at The Federalist and a student at Hillsdale College studying politics and journalism.

Read the rest here:

Colorado Police Officer Killed 'Because He Was Wearing A Uniform And A Badge' - The Federalist

President Joe Biden continued to follow through on his campaign pledge to enact leftist environmentalism this month when he suspended oil and gas leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).

The decision was cheered by leftist environmental groups as a victory for wildlife and social justice, supposedly protecting indigenous tribes from the alleged devastation of oil and gas drilling hundreds of miles from their homes.Biden Climate Adviser Gina McCarthy celebrated the move as an important step forward fulfilling President Bidens promise to protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

The Trump administration had opened the door to drill on the Refuges coastal plain, a nearly 1.6 million-acre stretch on Alaskas north coast. The 1.6 million-acre patch along the north slope is less than 10 percent of the total refuge that stretches 19.6 million acres across northeast Alaska, a total about the size of South Carolina.

The U.S. Geological Survey estimates that below the surface of the north slopes 1.6 million acres temporarily opened for leasing, known as the 1002 Area, lie between 4.3 and 11.8 billion barrels of recoverable oil. If opened for operations, it could become the most productive oil field in the country at a time gas prices are soaring to seven-year highs under the new administration.

Yet on June 1, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland signed an order to bring leases to a halt, claiming inadequate study of the drillings impact by the prior administration.The Secretary shall review the program and, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, conduct a new, comprehensive analysis of the potential environmental impacts of the oil and gas program, the order reads.

The Gwichin Tribe, who live south of the massive wildlife refuge, claimed Bidens decision to reverse course was a win for their tribal sovereignty by protecting the primary caribou herd in the region, a key regional food source.

The Gwichin Nation is grateful and heartened by the news that the Biden administration has acted again on its commitment to protecting sacred lands and the Gwichin way of life, said Gwichin Steering Committee Executive Director Bernadette Demientieff on the heels of Haalands order. After fighting so hard to protect these lands and the Porcupine caribou herd, trusting the guidance of our ancestors and elders, and the allyship of people around the world, we can now look for further action by the administration and to Congress to repeal the leasing program.

The Gwichin have played a prominent role in keeping ANWR free of development, partnering with leftist groups to keep these millions of acres of U.S. land unused indefinitely.Writing in The Hill, Finis Dunaway, a history professor at Trent University and author of Defending the Arctic Refuge, summed up the Gwichins more than four-decade crusade to ensure the absence of development on one of the nations last known major reserves of oil and natural gas.

The Gwichin Steering Committee founded by Gwichin from Alaska and Canada in 1988 reframed public perceptions of the refuge, helping grassroots audiences to see the Arctic coastal plain as vital to Indigenous food security and cultural survival. Their leadership and advocacy widened support for protection of the refuge, encouraging religious and faith organization, humans rights groups and many others to fight for Indigenous rights and environmental justice. These unlikely alliances fostered grassroots involvement that proved critical to the numerous close calls and impossibly narrow victories that followed.

In other words, the Gwichin have been fundamental to preventing of any sort of development on the nearly 20 million acres of pristine wilderness in the name of environmental justice since 1988.Yet only four years earlier, that the same tribe, which in fact lives outside the refuge, tried to lease their own lands within the habitat of the Porcupine caribou for oil exploration.

In the early 1980s, the Gwichin tribe sought to lease the last inch of every acre it owned in the Alaskan Venetie Reserve to oil companies seeking to drill for potentially lucrative reserves.

The letter below dated April 1984 shows the tribe authorizing oil leases on the Venetie Indian Reservation, located just outside ANWR boundaries, 400 miles south of the area on Alaskas north slope where developers have more recently sought to drill.

The Native Village of Venetie Tribal Government hereby gives formal notice of intention to offer lands for competitive oil and gas sales, the letter reads. This request for proposals involves any or all of the lands and waters of the Venetie Indian Reservation Bidders awarded leases at this sale will acquire the right to explore for, develop and produce the oil and gas that may be discovered within the leased area.

According to a 1991 article in the Christian Science Monitor, however, Exxons exploration came up short in finding any lucrative reserves under the surface of Gwichin land.

Much to the dismay of the villagers, I was the poor guy who had to go around and tell them we werent going to drill a well, Stuart Gustafson, an exploration representative, told the paper at the time.

By 1985, the tribe had changed their tune on Alaskan drilling, and had become vehemently opposed to oil and gas exploration at all costs after their own lands turned up no profitable deposits. By the end of the decade, as Dunaway outlined, the tribe had teamed with leftist environmental groups to prohibit drilling in ANWR just to the north.

The ensuing decades-long struggle is yet another clear-cut illustration in whats become routine among leftists: the left finds a group they declare oppressed, then amplify and exploit their alleged grievances for political objectives.

At the heart of Gwichin objections to drilling in ANWR are claims development could decimate the coastal plains caribou herd area that tribes rely on, including the Gwichin and the Iupiat. The Iupiat are the only Alaskan tribe with communities residing entirely in the refuge, and they have lobbied in favor of oil and gas extraction in conflict with the Gwichin for years.

According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), an estimated 219,000 caribou between the Porcupine Herd and the Central Arctic Herd migrate in and around ANWR and provide sustenance for the local tribes. The FWS map of the herd territory is below.

Oil and gas production in Prudhoe Bay has shown no adverse effects on the Central Arctic Herd in the area.In fact, the herds numbers have continued to rise and fall within its natural cycle, reaching 70,000 in 2010, according to FWS, and back to 22,000 in 2016. The caribou in the region were estimated at fewer than 20,000 in 1997. Drilling operations were active at Prudhoe Bay for decades prior.

The map below from ANWR.org, edited to include a red oval where the Venetie village is located, shows the bays proximity to ANWR, just 60 miles west, located squarely within where the Central Arctic Herd calls home.

The Gwichin-offered leases offered scant provisions for the protection of the caribou shared by the Iupiat tribe hundreds of miles north. According to the Christian Science Monitor, leases with the Venetie Gwichin offered two sentences dealing with the animals welfare in the 20-page lease agreement signed.

The Gwichin claim drilling hundreds of miles north of where they live is an infringement on their way of life. Yet the Iupiat tribe is the only tribal nation with land claims within the nearly 20 million-acre ANWR itself, let alone inside the 1.6 million-acre stretch where drilling has been proposed.

The Iupiat locate home on Kaktovik Island, otherwise known as Barter Island for its trade significance in the early days of European exploration and migration. The island resides in the 1002 area in the map shown again below, also edited to highlight its location with a green oval east of Pt. Thompson. The red oval again shows where the Gwichin reside, far outside of the refuge in which the tribe demands no development. The dotted blue line represents an entire mountain range between the two Indian nations.

The Iupiat has fought a losing battle for years to lease its own lands for oil and gas exploration, only to be hampered by the Gwichin tribes campaign allied with big-megaphoned progressive environmentalists. The Gwichin went as far as the submit testimony to allege human rights abuses at the United Nations (UN) last year.

The fact the Gwichin Steering Committee finds itself speaking at the U.N., in corporate boardrooms and other high-profile locations is only due to the fact theyve been co-opted by ENGOs and eco-ideologues to portray victims in a narrative of fear, Rick Whitbeck, the Alaska state director for the non-profit energy group Power the Future, told The Federalist.

To reclaim their voice, representatives of the Iupiat have testified before Congress to advocate opening the refuge for drilling and have sent letters to Capitol Hill demanding it reclaim the rights to issue leases.In 2019, the Iupiat tribe sent a letter to California Democrat Jared Huffman, who has repeatedly introduced legislation to keep the refuge off-limits to development at the Gwichins behest.

The views of the Iupiat who call ANWR home are frequently ignored, and your bill reinforces the perception that the wishes of people who live in and around the Coastal Plain are less important than those who live hundreds and thousands of miles away, the tribe wrote.

Still, Huffman has remained one of Washingtons staunchest opponents to drilling in ANWR, reintroducing legislation again in February to permanently ban the region from oil and gas development, citing Gwichin concerns.

The Gwichin Nation, living in Alaska and Canada and 9,000 strong, make their home on or near the migratory route of the Porcupine caribou herd, Huffman wrote, and have depended on this herd for their subsistence and culture for thousands of years.

So too have the Iupiat, however, and their wishes to lease their tribal lands for drilling have been hampered by a rival tribe partnered with leftist interests for political purposes.

Originally posted here:

How The Left Is Exploiting Tribal Hypocrisy On Oil Leases In ANWR - The Federalist