Bryan Fischer
America isn't dead yet
By Bryan Fischer
Follow me on Twitter: @BryanJFischer, on Facebook at "Focal Point"
Host of "Focal Point" on AFR Talk, 1-3pm CT, M-F www.afr.net
I conclude my radio program virtually every day by declaring that we are fighting a winnable war. Every so often, results in the public arena give us reason to believe that there is reason for that optimism.
Yesterday was a notable day in terms of electoral victories for the conservative cause. Each of these is an indication that God's sun has not yet set on America, and that an engaged and informed electorate can change the moral and political direction of this country. Here are just a few examples.
1. The people of Houston defeated the ordinance that put men in girl's bathrooms. Pro-family voters in Houston dumped the privacy-invading bathroom bill by a 61-39 margin. This gender-twisting ordinance did not just go down, it went down in flames.
This bill would have required that transvestites, men who think they are women, be allowed untrammeled access to the bathroom, shower room, and locker room facilities used by the wives and daughters of Houstonians. It was enacted last spring 11-6 by Houston's out, loud and proud lesbian mayor and her fellow pro-homosexual zealots on the city council.
This bill was so bad that if you complained about a beefy linebacker using the same shower at the local gym as your teenager daughter, you'd be the one who got in trouble to the tune of a $5,000 fine.
These bills are falsely advertised as "equality" bills or "non-discrimination bills" when they are the exact opposite. They in fact enshrine systematic and punitive discrimination against people of faith and people who do nothing more than stand for sexual normalcy.
This was the mayor who, as you recall, is so hostile to religious liberty that she subpoenaed the sermons of pastors who opposed this ordinance and took a stand in their pulpits for a time-honored view of gender and human sexuality. This Houston affair is a reminder that America must choose between the homosexual agenda and religious liberty because we cannot have both.
Houston chose wisely.
2. So did Ohio, which overwhelmingly rejected recreational marijuana. Marijuana has been demonstrated to be a brain-damaging drug, and the earlier folks start using it, the more damage it does. Modern marijuana is several times more powerful than the pot that was smoked a generation ago on college campuses, and any number of psychotic episodes, some resulting in murder, have been reported in cases where people got tanked up on modern pot and went nuts.
The voters in Ohio decisively and flatly rejected, by a 65-35 margin, an attempt to legalize the recreational use of pot in the Buckeye State. Voters were intelligent enough to reject this initiative despite its support from boy band star Nick Lachey, basketball great Oscar Robertson, and a harmless looking mascot named "Buddie."
3. Mississippi voters rejected an initiative that would have put public education in the hands of a single low-level judge. Initiative 42 would have taken authority over Mississippi's public education system away from the legislature – you know, the actual elected representatives of the people – and placed it in the hands of a single chancery judge in Hinds County.
Mississippians voted 51-49 to reject this misbegotten initiative, despite the fact that proponents outspent pro-family forces 10-1 and despite a ridiculously confusing ballot.
In addition, the GOP retained control of six of seven statewide offices, with incumbents winning by overwhelming margins, typically garnering 60-70% of the vote. Mississippi is on the verge of becoming a single party state.
4. Kentucky elected a staunch Tea Party conservative as governor. Matt Bevin campaigned as a "Christian conservative," as a candidate who was firmly pro-life, anti-ObamaCare, and pro-choice in education. Despite polling data indicating the race would be close, Bevin won decisively 53-44. In a sign of shifting political fortunes across America, he became just the second Republican Kentucky governor in 44 years.
Republicans now hold five of the seven statewide elective offices in the Bluegrass State, despite holding only one – count 'em, one – before last night. Last night was an electoral bloodbath for the Democratic Party in Kentucky. In a sure sign of desperation, the Democrats actually blamed Donald Trump for their defeat.
Bevin's victory gives the GOP control of 33 gubernatorial chairs to just 17 for the Democrats, with just one of those (Virginia) in the South. Democrats now have control of the state legislature and the governor's mansion in just seven states, while Republicans now control the entire government in 24 states. Barack Obama is engineering the implosion of the Democratic Party.
Bevin was openly supportive of Kim Davis, the county clerk who was incarcerated for standing on religious principle, while his opponent, Jack Conway, was the state's attorney general and did everything in his power to put Kim Davis behind bars and keep her there.
This was a grassroots victory from stem to stern. Bevin had to buck the GOP establishment in his own state, was outspent by Conway $8.57 million to just $5.5 million, and got no help from the Republican establishment at the national level until very late in the game. This was a win for ordinary conservatives over liberal Democrats and the moderate and feckless leaders of the Republican party.
To make things even sweeter for conservatives, the Lt. Gov. is also a Tea Party Republican, Jenean Hampton, and has the distinction of being the first African American ever to be elected to statewide office in Kentucky. Tell me again who the racist party is? I keep forgetting.
5. In Virginia, the GOP retained control of the General Assembly in election results that represented a resounding defeat for gun control as prominent candidates who ran on anti-Second Amendment platforms had their hats handed to them.
6. The sanctuary city movement took it on the chin in San Francisco. Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi for years had vigorously refused to cooperate with immigration authorities to deport criminal illegal aliens.This in turn led last summer to the tragic and entirely preventable murder of Kate Steinle, who was killed by an illegal alien who had been deported seven times and kept coming back to the City By The Bay because he knew the sheriff had his back. Mirkarimi was soundly defeated for re-election in an astonishing 62-31 blowout. Maybe not even San Francisco is as liberal on amnesty and open borders as people think.
Bottom line: Today is a good day to be a conservative in America. Ladies and gentlemen, we are indeed fighting a winnable war.
(Unless otherwise noted, the opinions expressed are the author's and do not necessarily reflect the views of the American Family Association or American Family Radio.)
© Bryan Fischer
November 5, 2015
Follow me on Twitter: @BryanJFischer, on Facebook at "Focal Point"
Host of "Focal Point" on AFR Talk, 1-3pm CT, M-F www.afr.net
I conclude my radio program virtually every day by declaring that we are fighting a winnable war. Every so often, results in the public arena give us reason to believe that there is reason for that optimism.
Yesterday was a notable day in terms of electoral victories for the conservative cause. Each of these is an indication that God's sun has not yet set on America, and that an engaged and informed electorate can change the moral and political direction of this country. Here are just a few examples.
1. The people of Houston defeated the ordinance that put men in girl's bathrooms. Pro-family voters in Houston dumped the privacy-invading bathroom bill by a 61-39 margin. This gender-twisting ordinance did not just go down, it went down in flames.
This bill would have required that transvestites, men who think they are women, be allowed untrammeled access to the bathroom, shower room, and locker room facilities used by the wives and daughters of Houstonians. It was enacted last spring 11-6 by Houston's out, loud and proud lesbian mayor and her fellow pro-homosexual zealots on the city council.
This bill was so bad that if you complained about a beefy linebacker using the same shower at the local gym as your teenager daughter, you'd be the one who got in trouble to the tune of a $5,000 fine.
These bills are falsely advertised as "equality" bills or "non-discrimination bills" when they are the exact opposite. They in fact enshrine systematic and punitive discrimination against people of faith and people who do nothing more than stand for sexual normalcy.
This was the mayor who, as you recall, is so hostile to religious liberty that she subpoenaed the sermons of pastors who opposed this ordinance and took a stand in their pulpits for a time-honored view of gender and human sexuality. This Houston affair is a reminder that America must choose between the homosexual agenda and religious liberty because we cannot have both.
Houston chose wisely.
2. So did Ohio, which overwhelmingly rejected recreational marijuana. Marijuana has been demonstrated to be a brain-damaging drug, and the earlier folks start using it, the more damage it does. Modern marijuana is several times more powerful than the pot that was smoked a generation ago on college campuses, and any number of psychotic episodes, some resulting in murder, have been reported in cases where people got tanked up on modern pot and went nuts.
The voters in Ohio decisively and flatly rejected, by a 65-35 margin, an attempt to legalize the recreational use of pot in the Buckeye State. Voters were intelligent enough to reject this initiative despite its support from boy band star Nick Lachey, basketball great Oscar Robertson, and a harmless looking mascot named "Buddie."
3. Mississippi voters rejected an initiative that would have put public education in the hands of a single low-level judge. Initiative 42 would have taken authority over Mississippi's public education system away from the legislature – you know, the actual elected representatives of the people – and placed it in the hands of a single chancery judge in Hinds County.
Mississippians voted 51-49 to reject this misbegotten initiative, despite the fact that proponents outspent pro-family forces 10-1 and despite a ridiculously confusing ballot.
In addition, the GOP retained control of six of seven statewide offices, with incumbents winning by overwhelming margins, typically garnering 60-70% of the vote. Mississippi is on the verge of becoming a single party state.
4. Kentucky elected a staunch Tea Party conservative as governor. Matt Bevin campaigned as a "Christian conservative," as a candidate who was firmly pro-life, anti-ObamaCare, and pro-choice in education. Despite polling data indicating the race would be close, Bevin won decisively 53-44. In a sign of shifting political fortunes across America, he became just the second Republican Kentucky governor in 44 years.
Republicans now hold five of the seven statewide elective offices in the Bluegrass State, despite holding only one – count 'em, one – before last night. Last night was an electoral bloodbath for the Democratic Party in Kentucky. In a sure sign of desperation, the Democrats actually blamed Donald Trump for their defeat.
Bevin's victory gives the GOP control of 33 gubernatorial chairs to just 17 for the Democrats, with just one of those (Virginia) in the South. Democrats now have control of the state legislature and the governor's mansion in just seven states, while Republicans now control the entire government in 24 states. Barack Obama is engineering the implosion of the Democratic Party.
Bevin was openly supportive of Kim Davis, the county clerk who was incarcerated for standing on religious principle, while his opponent, Jack Conway, was the state's attorney general and did everything in his power to put Kim Davis behind bars and keep her there.
This was a grassroots victory from stem to stern. Bevin had to buck the GOP establishment in his own state, was outspent by Conway $8.57 million to just $5.5 million, and got no help from the Republican establishment at the national level until very late in the game. This was a win for ordinary conservatives over liberal Democrats and the moderate and feckless leaders of the Republican party.
To make things even sweeter for conservatives, the Lt. Gov. is also a Tea Party Republican, Jenean Hampton, and has the distinction of being the first African American ever to be elected to statewide office in Kentucky. Tell me again who the racist party is? I keep forgetting.
5. In Virginia, the GOP retained control of the General Assembly in election results that represented a resounding defeat for gun control as prominent candidates who ran on anti-Second Amendment platforms had their hats handed to them.
6. The sanctuary city movement took it on the chin in San Francisco. Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi for years had vigorously refused to cooperate with immigration authorities to deport criminal illegal aliens.This in turn led last summer to the tragic and entirely preventable murder of Kate Steinle, who was killed by an illegal alien who had been deported seven times and kept coming back to the City By The Bay because he knew the sheriff had his back. Mirkarimi was soundly defeated for re-election in an astonishing 62-31 blowout. Maybe not even San Francisco is as liberal on amnesty and open borders as people think.
Bottom line: Today is a good day to be a conservative in America. Ladies and gentlemen, we are indeed fighting a winnable war.
(Unless otherwise noted, the opinions expressed are the author's and do not necessarily reflect the views of the American Family Association or American Family Radio.)
© Bryan Fischer
The views expressed by RenewAmerica columnists are their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of RenewAmerica or its affiliates.
(See RenewAmerica's publishing standards.)
