Keith Burgess-Jackson, J.D., Ph.D.

I am a retired Presbyterian clergyman, and feel compelled to respond to Marc Thiessen's March 23 commentary ("Why conservative Christians are sticking with Trump"). He characterizes The Cakeshop vs. Colorado case as one of religious liberty. However, if Cakeshop prevails, it would permit discrimination on the basis of a particular religious view. It would give conservative Christians the right to discriminate against the LGBTQ community, racial minorities and minority religions. This is a misinterpretation of scripture.

We as a country need a strong wall separating church and state, and not have the dictates of one single religious viewpoint become part of the law for us all. Freedom of religion also means freedom from any religion's sub-group which wants to speak for all Americans from its own narrow exclusive perspective.

Thiessen also states that President Donald Trump, "may be the most pro-religion president." This ignores Trump's anti-Muslim ban, his sh**hole statement and his breaking of at least five of the Ten Commandments. (See Commandments 6-10).

There are progressive Christians in America who support anti-discrimination laws and women's rights, including the right to an abortion. We vote and will support candidates who share our religious values of justice, inclusion, and peace.

Rev. James P. Freda, Jr., Southeast Portland

Mexico is doing very little, if not NOTHING, at stopping people from flowing into Mexico through their Southern Border, and then into the U.S. They laugh at our dumb immigration laws. They must stop the big drug and people flows, or I will stop their cash cow, NAFTA. NEED WALL!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 1, 2018

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

Aqualung (1971).

Here.

Here.

Happily, the disagreements about whether traits of character and the manifestation of them in action are intrinsically worthwhile do not much affect the questions of what traits are just worthwhile, and what can be done for their encouragement. On this there is almost universal agreement. Roughly, the traits of mind that are desirable are those the exercise of which in living enhances the realization of other goods in life: including courage, self-discipline, wisdom, respect for and thoughtfulness about the welfare of other conscious beings, fairness and impartiality, conscientiousness (concern to fulfill one's obligations), veracity, kindliness, prudence, honesty, reliability, persistence, and tolerance. The importance of these has long been recognized.

(Richard B. Brandt, Ethical Theory: The Problems of Normative and Critical Ethics, Prentice-Hall Philosophy Series, ed. Arthur E. Murphy [Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1959], 345 [italics in original])

Here is a story about CNN. Key paragraph:

CNN’s warped obsession with reporting about supposed adultery demonstrates a larger problem at the once-proud and groundbreaking channel. CNN’s focus is not on news, but on distracting itself and the nation’s news consumers with peripheral and sensation gibberish that fails to enhance the national dialogue. In the run-up and aftermath to the recently passed government spending bill, CNN mentioned McDougal and Daniels more than three times as often as the spending bill. The spending bill, of course, isn’t photogenic, but it impacts citizens way more than a playmate model.

Just remember: This is the cable network that provided nonstop coverage of the crash of the Malaysian airliner, which had (and has) no world-historical significance. It also provided a forum for the agitators and thugs in Ferguson, Missouri, many of whom continue to lie about what happened there. CNN is not a news organization; it is the National Enquirer of the airwaves.

I can't wait until tomorrow's Tour of Flanders.

President Barack Obama instituted a very unusual (in Washington) ethics policy for his administration. If a person were to work for him, he or she could not have been a lobbyist or a congressional staffer or special interest lawyer the year before. The idea was to put people into positions who were less attached to outside money. Some waivers had to be made because of especially rare expertise. Obama signed 70 waivers over his eight years, mostly during the finance fiasco. Each waiver was accompanied by a reason for the need.

One of the first things President Donald Trump did was to sign an executive order weakening the rules. He has already signed 37 waivers without any reason given. That’s not draining the swamp, as he campaigned, but deepening the swamp in Washington. For example, the leaders of the Environmental Protection Agency are gutting our environmental protections in favor of their former bosses. We are heading back to the good old days of freely polluting the air and water, and allowing banks to gamble with depositors’ money.

Trump just wants to throw out anything done during the Obama years—and much done before then. Where is a modern-day Teddy Roosevelt and his efforts to control the rich and big businesses’ trampling of Americans? Maybe somebody like Joe Biden, or John Kasich, or Jon Huntsman?

— Chuck Johnson, Morris

Governor Jerry “Moonbeam” Brown pardoned 5 criminal illegal aliens whose crimes include (1) Kidnapping and Robbery (2) Badly beating wife and threatening a crime with intent to terrorize (3) Dealing drugs. Is this really what the great people of California want? @FoxNews

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 31, 2018

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js