Police officers in partial riot gear stand in protection of businesses during protests over the grand jury’s decision not to indict Officer Darren Wilson.
DEVELOPING: The Obama administration announced that it will no longer allow federal programs to supply local police forces with some military-style equipment.
The decision comes following recommendations made to the president in a new report produced by a White House working group. President Obama created the task force earlier this year via executive order to appease an outcry over police treatment of minority communities and protesters in the wake of the case of 18-year-old Michael Brown. The case that gave rise to a bogus “hands up don’t shoot” mantra, has been followed by a series of others, including the latest in Baltimore involving 25-year-old Freddie Gray that led to widespread riots.
“The idea is to make sure that we strike a balance in providing the equipment, which is appropriate and useful and important for local law enforcement agencies to keep the community safe, while at the same time putting standards in place so that there’s a clear reason for the transfer of that equipment, that there’s clear training and safety procedures in place,” White House Director of Domestic Policy Cecilia Muñoz said in a Sunday call with reporters.
President George W. Bush was the featured speaker at SMU’s 100 May commencement on May 16, 2015. (Photo: SMU)
Former President George W. Bush offered a message of optimism and hope during the 100th Spring Commencement address at Southern Methodist University (SMU). After being introduced by SMU President R. Gerald Turner, the former president preceded to use the keynote speech offer 3 reasons younger generations of Americans — in fact, all Americans — should be optimistic and hopeful about the future.
FULL VIDEO & TRANSCRIPT
Thank you. Thank you very much. President Turner, thanks. Members of the Board of Trustees, Provost Ludden, faculty, staff, distinguished guests, parents, and—most importantly—the Class of 2015. (Applause.) Thank you for your warm welcome, and I appreciate the invitation to be with you.
You know, when I mentioned this speech to some pals, they were surprised I was going to give it. (Laughter.) I haven’t given a commencement address since leaving office. You know, my decision is quite practical. So I got a call from my landlord – (laughter) – Gerald Turner. (Laughter.) Rather than raising the rent or threatening to withhold our security deposit – (laughter) – I was relieved to hear President Turner ask if I believed in free speech. (Applause.) I said yeah. He said, “Perfect. Here’s your chance to give one.” (Laughter and applause.)
As a proud member of the SMU community, I am honored to be here – truly honored – to deliver the 100th Spring Commencement address. I admire President Turner’s persuasiveness – (laughter) – and leadership. He runs a fantastic university. (Applause.) It is dynamic, diverse, and destined for continued excellence. He has assembled a strong administrative team. He is supported by engaged alumni, and he has an outstanding Board of Trustees.
I’m fortunate to know many of the trustees. (Laughter.) Well, for example I’m good friends with the Chairman, Mike Boone. And there’s one trustee I know really well – (laughter) -a proud graduate of the SMU Class of 1968 who went on to become our nation’s greatest First Lady. (Applause.) Do me a favor and don’t tell Mother. (Laughter.) I know how much the trustees love and care for this great university. I see it firsthand when I attend the Bring-Your-Spouse-Night Dinners. (Laughter.)
I also get to drop by classes on occasion. I am really impressed by the intelligence and energy of the SMU faculty. I want to thank you for your dedication and thank you for sharing your knowledge with your students.
To reach this day, the graduates have had the support of loving families. Some of them love you so much they are watching from overflow sites across campus. (Laughter.) I congratulate the parents who have sacrificed to make this moment possible. It is a glorious day when your child graduates from college — and a really great day for your bank account. (Laughter and applause.) I know the members of the Class of 2015 will join me in thanking you for your love and your support. (Applause.)
Most of all, I congratulate the members of the Class of 2015. You worked hard to reach this milestone. You leave with lifelong friends and fond memories. You will always remember how much you enjoyed the right to buy a required campus meal plan. (Laughter.) You’ll remember your frequent battles with the Park ‘N’ Pony Office. (Laughter.) And you may or may not remember those productive nights at the Barley House. (Laughter and applause.)
You were founding members of the mighty SMU Mob, bouncing like mad and watching in wonder as your then-Student Body President, Señor Lobster – (laughter) – danced with joy after all those Pony victories right here in Moody. (Applause.) And you’ll think back to those carefree fall game days on the Boulevard – though I don’t recall seeing too many of you in the football stadium. (Laughter.)
To those of you who are graduating this afternoon with high honors, awards, and distinctions, I say, “well done.” And as I like to tell the “C” students: You, too, can be President. (Laughter and applause.)
After four years of sitting through lectures, I have a feeling you’re not in the mood for another one. (Laughter.) What I have learned about graduation speeches is that they’re too long and rarely remembered. So I’ll keep this short. I just can’t attest to how memorable it will be.
I’ve also learned that it’s important to refer to someone associated with the University. So I picked one, an SMU trustee (who by the way is not here), Reverend Mark Craig. Now, I asked Mark to deliver the sermon at the First United Methodist Church in Austin before my second inauguration as Governor of Texas. I still remember his Fort Worth twang as he talked about Moses. God called Moses to action, and Moses repeatedly found excuses not to act. “Who am I that I should go to Pharoah, and bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt? Oh, my Lord, I pray, send some other person. I have sheep to tend. And the people won’t believe me — I’m not a very good speaker.”
Moses wasn’t the only one who could mangle his language. (Laughter.) [Inaudible.]
Fortunately, Moses recognized the call to serve something greater than himself. He answered the call, led his people, and history was made.
You, too, will be called at some point. The question, as Mark aptly and artfully laid out, is: Will you be optimistic and hopeful, or pessimistic and cynical? Here are three reasons why you should be optimistic and hopeful.
One, you are graduating from a great university. Your SMU degree will open the door to a wide variety of career options. Millions will never have had this opportunity. SMU has laid a foundation so you can reason, and continue to learn throughout your life. It has given you the tools to be productive citizens.
One of the great strengths of America is our active public square. Issues are influenced by the will of the people. That is why an educated citizenry is so important to the success of our country. As SMU graduates, you are well-equipped to participate in these vital debates. My hope is that you speak out on the issues that matter to you. Participate in your Nation’s civic life as citizens, not spectators. You’ll come to learn that who you are is more important than what you have—and that you have responsibilities to your fellow citizens, your country, and your family. By taking part in American democracy, you will make our country stronger.
Secondly, you are blessed to live in the greatest Nation – ever. (Applause.) Here you can strive and succeed as far as you dare to dream. It says something about our country that millions around the world are willing to leave their homes and families and risk everything to come here and realize the American dream. Their pursuit of that dream invigorates our national soul. It renews our country’s character. And it adds vitality to our culture.
You live in a land that is compassionate and decent. Because we believe in the rights and dignity of our own citizenry, we are committed to defending the rights and dignity of people everywhere. America has liberated millions around the world from tyranny and terror. We’ve helped turn the tide against deadly disease in places like Africa. In our hearts we believe all are created equal under God. The liberty we prize is not America’s gift to the world, it is Almighty God’s gift to humanity.
At home, there are thousands of platoons in the Army of compassion working to honor those beliefs. No matter what your career path, enlist. When you help another, you enrich your heart, and you strengthen the fabric of our collective goodness.
Many of you have already made service a priority in your lives by volunteering during winter, spring, and summer breaks; and completing more than one-hundred community projects through Engaged Learning. I thank you for recognizing the timeless truth: of those to whom much is given, much is required.
As you serve others, you can inspire others. I’ve been inspired by the examples of many selfless servants. Winston Churchill, a leader of courage and resolve, inspired me during my Presidency—and, for that matter, in the post-presidency. Like Churchill, I now paint. (Laughter.) Unlike Churchill, the painting isn’t worth much without the signature. (Laughter.)
In 1941, he gave a speech to the students of his old school during Britain’s most trying times in World War II. It wasn’t too long, and it is well-remembered. Prime Minister Churchill urged, “Never give in … in nothing, great or small, large or petty. Never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense.”
I hope you’ll remember this advice. But there’s a lesser-known passage from that speech that I also want to share with you:
“These are not dark days. These are great days. The greatest our country has ever lived; and we must all thank God that we have been allowed, each of us according to our stations, to play a part in making these days memorable in the history of our race.”
When Churchill uttered these words, many had lost hope in Great Britain’s chance for survival against the Nazis. Many doubted the future of freedom. Today, some doubt America’s future, and they say our best days are behind us. I say, given our strengths—one of which is a bright new generation like you—these are not dark days. These are great days.
And finally, you can be hopeful because there is a loving God. Whether you agree with that statement or not is your choice. It is not your government’s choice. It is essential – (applause). It is essential to this nation’s future that we remember that the freedom to worship who we want, and how we want—or not worship at all—is a core belief of our founding.
I have made my choice. I believe that the Almighty’s grace and unconditional love will sustain you. I believe it will bring you joy amidst the trials of life. It will enable you to better see the beauty around you. It will provide a solid foundation amidst a rapidly changing, somewhat impersonal, technologically-driven world. It will show you how to love your neighbor, forgive more easily, and approach success with humility—and failure without fear.
It will inspire you to honor your parents and eventually be a better spouse and parent yourself. It will help you fully grasp the value of life—all life. It will remind you that money, power, and fame are false idols. And I hope and believe that God’s love will inspire you to serve others.
I want to thank you for letting me share this special day with you. I wish you all the very best. Stay in touch with your friends. Love your family. Treat this day as a step toward a lifetime of learning. And go forth with confidence. May God bless you.
Waco police Sgt. W. Patrick Swanton confirmed that nine people are dead after the shooting at Central Texas Marketplace, which started around 12:15 p.m. local time Sunday afternoon. Several outside law enforcement agencies have been called and have responded to assist local police. Meanwhile, medical personnel and other first responders have come from as far away as Limestone County.
The severity of the injuries was not immediately clear and it’s unknown if bystanders at Twin Peaks restaurant were among the injured. However, Waco police and assisting agencies recovered chains, knives, bats, clubs and firearms.
Nearby restaurants Don Carlos and Twin Peaks were locked down for a time and later cleared. Police are not letting people into the area at this time because it is not safe, according to Swanton, who said authorities are concerned that gang members are moving to other parts of the city to continue the confrontation elsewhere.
McLennan County District Attorney Abel Reyna told KWTX earlier this month that law enforcement was aware of simmering conflicts between gangs that gathered at the restaurant.
The FNS Panel, including Brit Hume, Kirsten Powers, Karl Rove, and Juan Williams discusses the possible long term effects of Jeb Bush’s responses to the Iraq War, George Stephanopoulos posing as an independent journalist, and the Democrats’ attempts to pin Amtrak tragedy on funding.
(Please Note: Total delegates include 10 at-large, 21 from 7 congressional districts, 3 party, and 16 bonus. Read below table for more on allocation.)
[election_2016_polls]
Polling Data
[wpdatatable id=17]
Latest 2016 South Carolina Republican primary polls and aggregate PPD polling average for the second in the nation and first in the South primary. 21 district delegates are to be allocated to presidential contenders based on the primary results in each of the state’s 7 congressional districts: each congressional district is assigned 3 National Convention delegates and the presidential contender receiving the greatest number of votes in that district will receive all 3 of that district’s National Convention delegates.
Twenty-six (26)–including 10 base at-large delegates plus 16 bonus at-large delegates– are to be allocated to the presidential contender receiving the greatest number of votes in the primary statewide. In addition, 3 party leaders, the National Committeeman, the National Committeewoman, and the chairman of the South Carolina’s Republican Party, will attend the convention as pledged delegates by virtue of their position.
US national debt piles up next to the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., where no one has the political courage to rise to the challenge of staving off the coming crisis.
Since I’m an advocate of smaller government, you might imagine I’m perpetually depressed. After all, I work in Washington where I’m vastly outnumbered by people who specialize in looting and mooching. At times, I feel like a missionary in a house of ill repute.
But I always look for the silver lining when there’s a dark cloud overhead. So while it’s true that government squanders our money and violates our rights, at least we sometimes get some semi-amusing stories about sheer incompetence and staggering stupidity.
Like Detroit spending $32 to issue $30 parking tickets.
Yes, I realize I also should be outraged about these examples. But I can’t help being amused as well.
So let’s add to our collection of bizarre, foolish, and wasteful behavior by government.
Here are some passages from a Washington Post exposé on mismanagement and waste at the federal department that is infamous for secret waiting lists that resulted in denied health care (and in some cases needless deaths) for America’s veterans.
The Department of Veterans Affairs has been spending at least $6 billion a year in violation of federal contracting rules to pay for medical care and supplies, wasting taxpayer money and putting veterans at risk, according to an internal memo written by the agency’s senior official for procurement. In a 35-page document addressed to VA Secretary Robert McDonald, the official accuses other agency leaders of “gross mismanagement” and making a “mockery” of federal acquisition laws that require competitive bidding and proper contracts. Jan R. Frye, deputy assistant secretary for acquisition and logistics, describes a culture of “lawlessness and chaos” at the Veterans Health Administration.
I confess that it’s hard to find anything amusing about this story, but I’m worried that I might go crazy if I simply focus on how a bureaucracy gets more and more money every year, yet also manages to waste money with no negative consequences.
Or maybe I just enjoy the fact that I have a new reason to mock a wasteful government department (sorry to be redundant).
Here’s an example of spending that is so silly that it’s okay for all of us to laugh. Enjoy this blurb on how tax dollars are being wasted by the foreign aid bureaucracy.
American taxpayers might come down with a case of the blues when they hear about how the State Department is spending their tax dollars. According to ForeignAssistance.gov, India has requested $88,439,000 in U.S. foreign aid for the year 2015, but the State Department plans to spend additional funds on diplomacy: music diplomacy. The U.S. Mission to India is offering a $100,000 grant opportunity titled “Strengthening US-India Relations Through Jazz.” Eligible applicants include public and private universities as well as non-profit organizations. …Another grant available to universities and non-profit groups is for a “Visual Exhibit on Indian Faith and Traditions in America.” For $75,000, U.S. taxpayers will fund a “photographic exhibit that showcases both the ways that Indian-Americans practice their faith traditions in the United States, and the ways that Indian faith traditions have been adopted by American communities.” According to the offering, “The images will capture the diversity of the Indian-American community, so that a broad range of religious traditions are depicted.
These numbers are small compared to, say, the malfeasance and waste at the Department of Veterans Affairs. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t get upset in addition to being amused.
Think about it from this perspective. The amounts being wasted in this example are equal to the entire federal tax burden for several American families.
Do any of us think it’s okay to confiscate so much of their income and then have it squandered so pointlessly and irresponsibly?
But remember that the federal government doesn’t have a monopoly on foolish and stupid behavior.
Here’s another example of inane government behavior. And you won’t be surprised that it took place in California because, as Reasonreports, it involved a raid against an establishment serving probiotic tea.
Last Friday, an undercover officer from the state’s Alcohol Beverage Control (ABC) “infiltrated the temple,” Vice reports, “clearing the way for a 9 PM incursion by five officers.” What manner of crazy bootlegged hooch were the agents there to confiscate? Kombucha. Blueberry kombucha. For the uninitiated, kombucha is a type of carbonated, probiotic tea, popular among hipsters and health foodies. It’s made by mixing regular tea, sugar, and a “symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast” known as the “mother” and letting the whole business ferment for a few days. The end result is a somewhat vinegar-like beverage that’s packed with good bacteria (à la yogurt) and ever-so-slightly alcoholic….But because the tea contains slightly above 0.5 percent alcohol, it requires a special license to sell say ABC agents, who cited a Full Circle rep for misdemeanor selling alcohol without a license.
Greg Gutfeld, who will host the new FOX News Channel program “The Greg Gutfeld Show,” during a segment on “The Five.” (Photo: FOX News)
Greg Gutfeld will host the new one-hour FOX News Channel program “The Greg Gutfeld Show,” which debuts Sunday, May 31 at 10 PM/ET. However, Gutfeld will continue to appear on “The Five” as he starts his new solo show.
“Every host of a new show likes to say they’re breaking new ground,” Gutfeld said in a press release. “So why should I be any different. This show will forever change the way you watch television, plus guests provide their own transportation.”
As evident in his tweet, Gutfeld offers FOX viewers an almost-unheard of style of comedy and libertarian-leaning analysis.
According to FOX, the new show will consist of “parodies of current events and feature interviews with newsmakers, media personalities and culture critics.” In a regular repeating segment, FOX News contributor Joanne Nosuchinsky will appear as Gutfeld’s guest for “offbeat reports” and commentary.
Gutfeld got his FOX News on-air start as the host the late night show “Red Eye,” which airs at 3:00 AM ET, from 2007 until Feb. 2015. However, he took on the project “The Five” that replaced Glenn Beck after he left FOX News to begin The Blaze.
On The McLaughlin Group panel, including Pat Buchanan, Eleanor Clift, Mort Zuckerman, and Tom Rogan discuss the latest in U.S. news and world news.
The McLaughlin Group panelists this week discuss the Democrat trade bill revolt, and the Democrats’ attempts to blame the Amtrak train crash near Philadelphia on the GOP. President Obama suffered a lame duck-like defeat at the hands of Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio.
With Democrats divided, intense lobbying on both sides of the issue resulted in the failure of the upper chamber to agree to start debate on expanding the president’s authority to negotiate trade deals. The motion failed on a 52-45 vote, which was not very close considering it needed 60 votes — or, 6 Democrats — to move forward.
In another segment, The McLaughlin Group panelists discuss the Democrats’ attempts to pin the tragic Amtrak train crash on a lack of funding by a Republican-controlled Congress. In truth, spending on Amtrak has increased under the Republican leadership in the House and Senate, and the safety technology installations have been funded. Amtrak has said they simply haven’t had enough time to install them yet.
Further, the train was speeding along at over 100 mph around a curve in a 50-mph zone.
Mark Henkel, the established, National Polygamy Advocate ™, makes a keynote speech at Yale University.
On Apr 28, 2015, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments on four same-sex marriage cases collectively referred to as Obergefell v. Hodges. The SCOTUS gay marriage ruling, which is expected to be handed down sometime in June, will essentially contribute to a national debate over an issue found nowhere in the U.S. Constitution — marriage.
Though we often simplistically break down the case to whether or not the Supreme Court will legalize same-sex marriage, the following two questions were before the court.
1) Does the Fourteenth Amendment require a state to license a marriage between two people of the same sex?
2) Does the Fourteenth Amendment require a state to recognize a marriage between two people of the same sex when their marriage was lawfully licensed and performed out-of-state?
But, in fact, even analyzing the issue and applying the case in terms of same-sex marriage alone, is inaccurate. The Obergefell v. Hodges ruling could not only change the definition of marriage, as most conservatives dread it will, but also alter the more fundamental relationship between the individual and the State (federal). The former often receives attention in the media, but the latter is blatantly ignored by all sides in this debate.
These are the two distinctions we will make in this article, which will address whether a Supreme Court ruling in favor of same-sex marriage could inadvertently legalize or de-criminalize polygamy, and whether or not Americans, particularly conservative Americans, should even care if it does.
Recently, I twice had the chance to speak with Mark Henkel, the established National Polygamy Advocate™ to discuss the upcoming Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v Hodges and what it could mean for polygamists in America. Henkel, who is no Mormon, considers himself a limited government conservative and makes a legal case in favor of polygamy. In fact, in what might fairly be considered a more conservative argument than the Tenth Amendment-based argument made by proponents of tradition marriage, he makes the case marriage between consenting adults should be absent of government control outside of the necessary municipal level.
“The Right calls it marriage protection, but to call it marriage protection is as ridiculous as calling gun control gun protection,” Henkel says. “”The LGBT movement claims to be about marriage equality, but what the Left is calling marriage equality is really an Orwellian Animal Farm ‘form of equality where some people are more equal than others.'”
“What both sides are really doing is marriage control.”
To be sure, what lawyers arguing in favor of same-sex marriage asked the Supreme Court to do during oral arguments was to give same-sex couples preferential status over others. Justice Samuel Alito, a conservative on the court, was clearly concerned that legalizing same-sex marriage would also legalize polygamy.
Mary Bonauto, of the Massachusetts-based Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) who argued for same-sex marriage, replied that a state has justifiable concerns regarding consent and coercion in a polygamist union that isn’t present in gay marriage unions. She also argued that with polygamy there are concerns about who would make medical decisions, and other complicated decisions.
In other words, polygamist unions aren’t between consenting adults and, because they entered into polygamy, one or more of those individuals must necessarily be of lower intelligence and have less decision-making skills than gays and lesbians. As far as a “justifiable state interest” in legal contracts between multiple consenting adults, shared custody battles could and would play out the same in court depending upon the best interest of the child(ren), employer benefits could easily be extended with a simple and fair premium, while inheritance would likely be outlined in a will. If not, again, a court would determine the wishes of the deceased just as it is with ex-spouses, family members or other divided parties.
It’s a ridiculous argument, but one Bonauto was forced to make. Regardless of the concerted effort by same-sex marriage activists and Ms. Bonauto to regurgitate these themes, none of the aforementioned considerations have anything to do with the Fifth and Fifteenth Amendment concerns, as Henkel notes. And he isn’t the only one to think as much.
“The Court’s disposition today suggests that these provisions are unconstitutional,” Justice Antonin Scalia wrote in his dissenting opinion to Romer v. Evans (1996). He added “that polygamy must be permitted in these States on a state-legislated, or perhaps even local-option, basis — unless, of course, polygamists for some reason have fewer constitutional rights than homosexuals.”
The decision in Romer v. Evans set the precedent for the ruling in Lawrence v. Texas (2003), the case used by the Supreme Court to overrule its prior decision in Bowers v. Hardwick (1986), when the Supreme Court had held that laws criminalizing sodomy were constitutional. It, ultimately, set the stage for the Supreme Court ruling in United States v. Windsor (2013), which struck down Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act sign by Democratic President Bill Clinton.
Either the Supreme Court rules there is a specific right to marriage for gay couples — and, consequently discriminates against other consenting adults — or it finds a general right to marriage that would apply to all consenting adults. Such a ruling, and only such a ruling, would satisfy the Fifth- and Fourteenth-Amendment concerns cited by Justice Anthony Kennedy in his Windsor opinion.
“DOMA is unconstitutional as a deprivation of the liberty of the person protected by the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution,” Justice Kennedy wrote in the majority opinion. “By seeking to displace this protection and treating those persons as living in marriages less respected than others, the federal statute is in violation of the Fifth Amendment. This opinion and its holding are confined to those lawful marriages.”
Of course, it is entirely possible that the Supreme Court skirts the issue of polygamy and makes some obscure attempt to temporarily dismiss the issue, altogether. However, given Kennedy’s position on the Tenth Amendment, Henkel and many legal experts find it difficult to imagine a ruling that declares a specific right to marriage only for same-sex and traditional couples.
“The one good thing about a Supreme Court decision is that they can be overturned by future precedent, and a decision like that would give a legitimate legal basis to be overturned by future precedent,” Henkel said. “But I don’t believe the court will rule that way. It will give the argument to conservatives, who criticize justices for legislating from the bench.”
Proponents of traditional marriage are banking on Kennedy’s allegiance to the Tenth Amendment. Where Henkel differs from the traditional conservative argument on marriage is in the interpretation of the Tenth Amendment, itself.
The Tenth Amendment reads as follows:
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
Considering that the issue of marriage is not explicitly mentioned anywhere in the U.S. Constitution, the Tenth Amendment requires it to be “reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” Of course, traditional marriage proponents hope Kennedy comes down on the side of the states as a “collective” of the people, rather than interpret “to the people” as an implicit general right of the individual. If not, Henkel will be ready with a conservative-based response.
“Conservatives are going to go spastic,” he said. “I am going to say come home to your values. abolish marriage control at the state level. The only level of government needed to keep a public record is at the municipal level.”
However, it is true that Henkel may not get the ruling he hopes for, but the same is true for proponents of traditional and gay marriage. Despite what we’ve heard from the media following the DOMA and Proposition 8 cases, there is no reason to believe any side should be overconfident.
“But those positive rulings make it easy to miss signals that the Court is not yet ready to announce a constitutional right to same-sex marriage before the states fully consider the issue,” says Tom Goldstein of SCOTUS Blog. “Presented with the perfect chance to issue a sweeping ruling in the California case, the Justices ducked and instead dismissed it on procedural grounds.”
Pundit’s Take
While I endorse no side of any of the arguments made by the interested parties above, it is my intention to highlight that media coverage and their partisan, pundit-based legal analysis have done a serious injustice to the American people. Debate over the potential outcomes in Obergefell v. Hodges has been shallow and intellectually dishonest. When debating an inevitable ruling that has the potential to not only impact the culture of today and tomorrow but also fundamental principles to American political philosophy, Americans deserve more.
Cultural norms and public opinions evolve over time, swinging back-and-forth like a political pendulum. They are often the opposite of a grounded, guiding moral compass. Founding principles are, should be and must remain, absolute.
Lori Riley Whitley, 38, and Gary Nelson Whitley, 41, both of Zebulon, North Carolina. (Photo: AP/PD)
Lori Whitley, 38, a third-grade teacher at Wendell Elementary in N.C., and her husband Gary Whitley, 41, were arrested for having a meth lab in their house. Police say the couple faces charges of manufacturing methamphetamine and child abuse, the latter of which because their eight year old son was in the home doubling as a meth lab.
Neighbors were oblivious to what was going on right next door to them. The neighbors expressed that they did not notice any suspicious activity and, in fact, one neighbor described Lori as a very “sweet person” and a friendly neighbor. However,, her husband Gary was characterized as her polar opposite — rude and “disrespectful.
Johnston County deputies said that known and obvious equipment used to make dangerous and harmful methamphetamine was found in the morning when officers served a search warrant on the Zebulan home.
Lori Whitley had been a third grade teacher for Wendell Elementary School for thirteen years. The Wake County Board of Education, which just approved a nearly $1.5 billion budget, said Lori Whitley was suspended with pay starting Friday. It isn’t the only controversy making headlines for the board recently, as a county school bus driver was accused of hitting a 7-year-old boy on a bus on May 1. Further, as recently as May 14, parents were outraged over a lackluster response to a bomb threat at Athens Drive High School.
The threat turned out to be bogus, but parents say their was no sense of urgency by administrators to contact law enforcement and first responders.
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