May 15, 2009 - Washington, DC

We won: Napolitano withdraws the "rightwing report" / Obama's Notre Dame / Saving Chrysler to give it to Fiat? / The Pelosi Clown Costume / More on America's Religious Heritage Resolution / Gallup says most Americans now pro-life / Media finally reports on Iraqi Christian persecution / New Chairman's Report available

PETITION TO HILLARY CLINTON ON IRAQI CHRISTIANS - Read and sign the new Internet petition to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The petition urges Clinton to direct our embassies to assist Christians who have fled Islamic terror in Iraq. The petition is located at www.iraqichristianrefugees.org.

THE PRESIDENCY

BEATING NAPOLITANO'S RIGHTWING REPORT - When the Department of Homeland Security released it's now infamous "Rightwing Extremist Report" to law enforcement officials around the country, Janet Napolitano said she stood 100% behind it. Then she apologized to the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) for a portion of the report that identified veterans returning from Afghanistan and Iraq. At that time she said she stood behind the rest of the report. At Congressional hearings this week, she said the report was not authorized by her, not properly "vetted" and had been "withdrawn," and is "no longer available." She told Congress, ''Some things in my initial days have gone very well at the department, some things have not. And that was probably the worst thing. It was not authorized to be distributed. It had not even completed its vetting process within the department. It has been taken off of the intel websites and the lexicon that went along with it was similarly withdrawn. Neither were authorized products, and we have now put in place processes. And it turned out there were really no procedures to govern what went out and what didn't before, and now there are.'' Either Napolitano (1) does not have control of the Department of Homeland Security or (2) she lied when the report came out or (3) she is lying now. Regardless of whichever is the truth, she should be forced to resign. Read more

This is the first victory against the radical left Obama Administration since they took office in January. The victory was won my social conservatives who would not give and went as far as to run color ads in newspapers to make the point that the Department of Homeland Security should not be calling those of us who are pro-life and for traditional marriage terrorists.

OBAMA'S NOTRE DAME - A lot of people are being arrested for "trespassing" on the Notre Dame campus to protest an honorary degree that will be given by the Catholic University to Barack Obama. One pro-life group has hired an airplane to fly over the campus during the day with a pro-life banner. The protesters, almost all of them Catholic, have gotten even louder since the wording on the honorary law degree was leaked in advance to one pro-life group. The degree is being awarded to Obama in part because, "...he is inspiring this nation to heal its divisions of religion, culture, race and politics in the audacious hope for a brighter tomorrow." What is "audacious" is the inscription on the degree. Far from bringing people together, he has excluded whole classes of people and has chosen staff based on his biases toward people of faith. Obama is more of a bigot than any redneck who ever drove a pickup truck. The degree is a sham. Shame on you Notre Dame.

YOUR TAX DOLLARS TO ITALY? - Italy is one of the wealthiest capitalist nations in the world. The nation has a strong manufacturing base that includes famous auto makers such as Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, Maserati and Lamborghini. Why then, are the tax dollars of Americans being used to take Chrysler, an American car company, and give control of it to the Italian company Fiat for not a single dollar in return? Most Americans were willing to "save" American jobs with tax dollars, but to give the assets of Chrysler to a European company goes one step too far. Meanwhile the Obama Administration has asked for nothing from the wealthy hedge fund that owned Chrysler when it went into bankruptcy, but has given approval to moving the plant that makes Chrysler motors to Mexico! What circus was hired to run this show for the Obama Administration?

THE CONGRESS

THE PELOSI CLOWN COSTUME? - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is making such a fool of herself that I actually believe that this fall manufacturers will offer a Pelosi clown costume for Halloween. Pelosi, who claims to be a Catholic, wants abortion to be legal even if a woman is in labor and changes her mind about giving birth. She also wants homosexual marriage. Aside from that she wants a "truth commission" to try members of the Bush Administration for "torture." There is just one problem: As a member of the Intelligence Committee, Nancy Pelosi actually knew about and approved of the intelligence gathering techniques of the the CIA. Her "truth commission" would be investigating her role in the "torture." After a press conference on the issue this week, even CNN made fun of her vacillating answers about what she knew, when she knew it and why she said nothing at the time but wants retribution now. What is torturous is watching Pelosi talking fast from both sides of her mouth at the same time.

MORE ON AMERICA'S RELIGIOUS HERITAGE - Congressman Randy Forbes' HR 397, a resolution reaffirming America's Religious heritage has picked up new momentum. Congressman Tom Price, the chairman of the very powerful Republican Study Committee, has signed on as a co-sponsor and he is urging the entire congressional membership of the committee to co-sponsor as well. I urge you to read and distribute the resolution which clearly outlines the true religious heritage of our nation. The Religious Freedom Coalition is an integral part of the movement to pass HR 307. Read more

You must watch Congressman Forbes' impassioned plea for the Judeo-Christian heritage of our nation. The video of Congressman Forbes is just four minutes long. but it is power packed. Watch here

CULTURE AND RELIGION

GALLUP: MOST AMERICANS PRO-LIFE - A new Gallup Poll conducted in May finds that 51% of Americans consider themselves "pro-life" on the issue of abortion, with just 42% being "pro-choice." Gallup began asking the question in 1995, and this is the first time that the majority has responded as pro-life. The results validate a PEW poll that shows a big swing in the last year. One year ago, in May 2008, the majority of people declared themselves "pro-choice." Now, a majority of Americans believe that abortion should either be outlawed completely or limited in some way. See poll

ALL NEW MAY 14th CHAIRMAN'S REPORT - The all new May 14th, 2009 Chairman's Report is now available to read in PDF format. This issue contains more information about our work on Capitol Hill with the new 111th Congress, and also about our work on international issues. THIS IS A NEW CR SINCE LAST WEEK! Help your Sunday School class understand these issues better. Print out and distribute to your class or fellowship this Sunday! Click here to view!

INTERNATIONAL

FINALLY THE MEDIA TELLS THE TRUTH - For the last eight years the mass media, particularly in the United States, has refused to face the reality of the persecution of Christians in the Middle East. The media's failure to report the Christian exodus from Iraq has allowed American administrations to do nothing in the face of the persecution. Finally that is changing. Last week the Associated Press (AP) issued a long story to its member newspapers on the exodus of Christians from Iraq. See story. Network TV news is also beginning to report the persecution. However, the situation is even worse than what is now being reported. A five year old Christian boy was kidnapped and murdered just last week and Christians are fearful to talk to media about their persecution for fear of reprisals. Read more

IRAQI CHRISTIANS NEED HELP - The Religious Freedom Coalition is receiving virtually no funds for our Iraqi Christian Refugee Project from Internet sources. Just a few hundred dollars have been generated at our Facebook page. Virtually no funds are being received from the publication of this email update, even though thousands of people subscribe. Your help is genuinely needed. Please help. Donation link

CLINTON PETITION DRIVE - The Religious Freedom Coalition is conducting a petition drive asking Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to formulate a policy to stop the persecution of Christians in Iraq and to aid those Iraqi Christians who have been forced to flee. More than 100,000 paper copies of the petition have been distributed, and an online version is now available. Click here to see petition! NOTE: This is part of a large petition drive and you may receive a copy in the mail.

FACEBOOK FOR IRAQI CHRISTIANS - The Religious Freedom Coalition has a new Facebook page to expose the crisis faced by Iraqi Christians. If you have a Facebook account, please become our friend at this link. You can help Iraqi Christians directly by making a donation at the Facebook cause page!

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Contributions to the work of the Religious Freedom Coalition can be made at www.rfcnet.org.