Flower Power: Christian florist rejects attorney general’s offer, won’t betray her religious beliefs

Barronelle Stutzman, a Washington State florist who declined to provide flowers for a gay wedding , has rejected a deal by the attorney general’s office that would’ve forced her to betray her religious beliefs – much like Judas betrayed Jesus.
“You are asking me to walk in the way of a well-known betrayer, one who sold something of infinite worth for 30 pieces of silver,” Stutzman wrote in a letter to state Attorney General Bob Ferguson. “That is something I will not do.”

Stutzman said she never imagined the day when what she loved to do would become illegal.

Ferguson had offered to settle the case if she paid a $2,000 penalty for violating the Consumer Protection Act, a $1 payment for costs and fees, and agreed not to discriminate in the future.
“My primary goal has always been to bring about an end to the defendant’s unlawful conduct and to make clear that I will not tolerate discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation,” Ferguson said in a prepared statement.
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On Feb. 18 a judge ruled Stutzman had violated the law by refusing to provide flowers for the same-sex wedding of a longtime customer. The state had not only gone after the flower shop but also Stutzman personally.
Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), the religious liberty law firm representing Stutzman, said legal bills could be as high as seven figures.
“He’s using the full power of his office to personally and professionally destroy her,” ADF attorney Kristen Waggoner told me.
But the 70-year-old Southern Baptist grandmother said she will not violate her religious beliefs – no matter what. If that means losing her house – so be it.
“I certainly don’t relish the idea of losing my business, my homes and everything else that your lawsuit threatens to take from my family, but my freedom to honor God in doing what I do best is more important,” Stutzman wrote in a letter to the attorney general. (You can read my earlier story on Stutzman’s case here.)
She said the attorney general simply does not understand her or what the conflict is all about.
“It’s about freedom, not money,” she said. “You chose to attack my faith and pursue this not simply as a matter of law, but to threaten my very means of working, eating and having a home.”
Stutzman’s attorneys said they plan to appeal the judge’s decision – meaning she won’t have to fork over any money just yet to Washington State.
In the meantime, she said she would continue to gladly serve the customer who filed the lawsuit.
“I truly want the best for my friend,” she wrote. “I’ve also employed and served many members of the LGBT community and I will continue to do so regardless of what happens with this case.”
Stutzman said she never imagined the day when what she loved to do would become illegal. And that in the state of Washington using your God-given talents and abilities would be against the law.
The Seattle Times reported that Judge Ekstrom determined that “while religious beliefs are protected by the First Amendment, actions based on those beliefs aren’t necessarily protected.”
In other words – it’s OK to believe in God – so long as you don’t follow the tenets of your faith.
“Our state would be a better place if we respected each other’s differences, and our leaders protected the freedom to have those differences,” she wrote. “Because I follow the Bible’s teaching that marriage is the union of one man and one woman, I am no longer free to act on my beliefs.”
This is one granny that you don’t want to dig in the dirt with.
Todd Starnes is host of Fox News & Commentary, heard on hundreds of radio stations. Sign up for his American Dispatch newsletter, be sure to join his Facebook page, and follow him on Twitter. His latest book is "God Less America."

Senate Dems block GOP effort to tie DHS funding to Obama immigration actions

Senate Democrats blocked legislation Monday that would have rolled back President Obama's executive actions on immigration in exchange for funding the Department of Homeland Security through September.
But soon after the early evening vote -- the fourth Senate attempt to block Obama's controversial decision to grant work permits to millions of illegal immigrants -- Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., suggested separate legislation to combat Obama's executive actions.
"The new bill I described offers another option we can turn to. It's another way to get the Senate unstuck from a Democrat filibuster and move the debate forward," McConnell said on the Senate floor after a vote to advance the House-passed bill failed 47-46, short of the 60 votes needed. Three previous attempts earlier in the month had yielded similar results.
It was not clear whether McConnell's gambit would succeed ahead of Friday's midnight deadline to fund the department or see it shut down. It was far from certain whether it would win any Democratic support, and House conservatives remain firmly opposed to any funding bill for the Homeland Security Department that does not also overturn Obama's executive actions on immigration.
If no funding deal is reached by the deadline, the DHS could partially shut down, resulting in the furloughs of roughly 30,000 DHS employees. About 200,000 others would continue to work, but they would receive no pay until Congress authorizes funding.
It's a reality that was on display during the 16-day government-wide shutdown in the fall of 2013, when national parks and monuments closed but essential government functions kept running, albeit sometimes on reduced staff.
Earlier in the day, Obama again warned that failing to act before Friday increases the risk of a domestic terror act.
At a White House gathering of governors, Obama accused Congress of creating “self-inflicted” wounds and said failing to pass the funding bill within the next several days “will have a direct impact on America’s national security.” Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson appeared on all five Sunday talk shows to make a similar case.
The Tea Party Patriots group is suggesting that Senate Republicans are backing down because they fear Americans will blame them for a partial DHS shutdown.
“Senate Republicans are about to cave in to President Obama,” the group said Monday. “It’s time … to ratchet up the pressure on wobbly Senators.”
A federal district court judge in Texas last week temporarily blocked the administration's plans to carry out an executive action that protects millions of illegal immigrants from deportation.
The Justice Department on Monday asked a federal judge to lift the judge’s temporary block and make a decision by Wednesday. If the judge fails to rule in the administration’s favor, the department is expected to turn to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals.
Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson, who leads the Senate committee that oversees the DHS, was not calling Monday for the immigration provision to be removed from the funding bill, but suggested that the courts, not Congress, will resolve the issue.
“Now that the judiciary branch is involved, the courts ultimately will decide the constitutionality of the administration’s ‘deferred action’ memorandum,” he said.

'NO EXCUSE': VA secretary admits special forces service claim was a lie

Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald has admitted that he lied about serving in the special operations forces in a conversation with a homeless veteran that was caught on camera earlier this year.
McDonald made the claim in January while he was in Los Angeles as part of the VA's effort to locate and house homeless veterans. During the tour, a homeless man told McDonald that he had served in the special operations forces. 
"Special forces? What years?" McDonald responded. "I was in special forces." The exchange was broadcast on "The CBS Evening News" Jan. 30. McDonald's misstatement was first reported by The Huffington Post.
McDonald graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1975 and completed Army Ranger training before being assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division until his retirement in 1980. According to the Huffington Post, while McDonald was formally recognized as a graduate of Ranger School, he never actually served in a Ranger battalion or other special operations unit.
"I have no excuse," the website quoted McDonald as saying in its report. "I was not in special forces."
In a statement released Monday by the VA, McDonald said: "While I was in Los Angeles, engaging a homeless individual to determine his veteran status, I asked the man where he had served in the military. He responded that he had served in special forces. I incorrectly stated that I had been in special forces. That was inaccurate and I apologize to anyone that was offended by my misstatement."
McDonald told the Huffington Post that he had "reacted spontaneously and ... wrongly" in response to the homeless man's claim. 
"As I thought about it later, I knew that this was wrong," McDonald said of his false statement. 
The White House released a statement Monday evening saying that it had accepted McDonald's explanation.
"Secretary McDonald has apologized for the misstatement and noted that he never intended to misrepresent his military service," the statement said. "We take him at his word and expect that this will not impact the important work he’s doing to promote the health and well-being of our nation’s veterans."
After leaving the Army, McDonald went on to a successful corporate career, eventually becoming Chairman, President, and CEO of Proctor & Gamble. He became VA secretary this past July, as the agency was dealing with the fallout from the scandal of long patient wait times at VA hospitals.

Biden Cartoon

John McCain: 'I'm ashamed of my country'

 Sen. John McCain says he's ashamed of the United States, President Obama and himself for how America has failed to help Ukraine defend itself from Russia.
"I'm ashamed of my country, I'm ashamed of my president and I'm ashamed of myself, that I haven't done more to help these people," the Arizona Republican and former presidential nominee, who spent six years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, said on CBS' "Face the Nation." "It is really, really heartbreaking."
McCain, who is chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, decried American and European leaders' unwillingness to provide Ukrainians with weapons they can use to stave off the Russian advance.
The senator predicted that Russian President Vladimir Putin will pull back some, but said Putin's next goal will be to establish a stronger land route into Ukraine, a move that would allow for an easier attack on that country.

Johnson warns about Congress not funding homeland security, gets support from GOP senators

A top Obama administration official warned several times Sunday about the potential, far-reaching perils of Congress allowing the Department of Homeland Security to run out of funding in several days and got some Republican support in the Capitol Hill stalemate.
Congressional Democrats and Republicans are in a standoff over legislation that will fund the agency through late September but also roll back President Obama's executive action on immigration.
Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said allowing the agency to lose its federal funding after Friday could jeopardize the U.S efforts to thwart a domestic terror attack by the Islamic State and will result in 30,000 employees being furloughed.
“It including people I depend on every day to stay one step ahead of" the Islamic State, he told NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
He also appeared on “Fox News Sunday” and the three other major Sunday shows, arguing that failing to reach a deal would go beyond cutting off funding for the president’s efforts to defer deportation for millions of illegal immigrants to include cuts to the Federal Emergency Management Agency while parts of the country are still dealing with severe winter weather.
The legislation has already been passed by the GOP-controlled House but is stalled in the Senate.
Johnson disagreed with the argument that Senate Democrats have blocked the bill by filibustering, saying the problem is the legislation should be presented “clean” of any immigration language.
“I’m talking to every member of Congress who will listen,” Johnson told NBC. "It's absurd that we're even having this conversation about Congress' inability to fund Homeland Security in these challenging times."  
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has suggested that the House pass a bill on which Senate Democrats can agree.
However, the leaders of the lower chamber have been steadfast for weeks about having already done their job.
Kevin Smith, a spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner, repeated that message Sunday by saying in an email: "The House has acted to fund the Homeland Security Department. Now it's time for Senate Democrats to stop blocking legislation that would do the same."
GOP Sens. Lindsey Graham, South Carolina, and John McCain, Arizona, said Sunday they would oppose linking the two issues in one bill.
Graham told ABC’s “This Week” that he was “willing and ready” to pass a funding bill, then let the immigration issue play out in court.
Last week, a federal district court judge in Texas temporarily blocked the administration's plans to protect immigrant parents of U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents from deportation. The decision came as part of a lawsuit filed by 26 states claiming Obama had overstepping his authority in taking the executive action.
Johnson repeated Sunday that the administration will appeal the ruling.
Even if Congress fails to fund their agency, the remain roughly 200,000 Homeland Security employees would continue to work.
However, they would receive no pay until Congress authorizes funding.
It's a reality that was on display during the 16-day government-wide shutdown in the fall of 2013, when national parks and monuments closed but essential government functions kept running, albeit sometimes on reduced staff.
Johnson on Sunday also linked the purported Mall of America warning from the Africa-based al-Shabaab terror group and other recent terror alerts to what he described as a "new phase" of challenges by extremist groups abroad that have used alarming Internet videos and social media to gain adherents in the U.S. and potentially prod some to action.
"This new phase is more complex, less centralized, more diffuse," he said, adding: "It encourages independent actors who strike with very little notice."

Homeland Secretary Johnson suggests term 'violent extremism' used at behest of Muslim leaders

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said on Sunday that President Obama’s decision not to say the actions of the Islamic State is a form of “radical Islam” is at the behest of the Muslim community.
“The thing I hear from leaders in the Muslim community in this country is ISIL is attempting to hijack my religion,” Johnson told “Fox News Sunday,” referring to the terror group also known as Islamic State, or ISIS.
Johnson said the leaders argue their religion is about peace and brotherhood and “resent” that Islamic State is “attempting to hijack that from us.”
Obama is facing sharp criticism, even from within his own party, for instead using the term “violent extremism” to describe the actions of ISIS and other terror groups that are based on a form of Islam.
“If we don’t identify our enemies, we cannot defeat them,” Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, told Fox News on Wednesday. “Unless you accurately identify who your enemy is, then you can’t come up with an effective strategy, a winning strategy to defeat that enemy.”
Obama on the same day defended his choice of words by saying the term "radical Islam" gives such groups religious legitimacy they don't deserve.
“I want to be very clear about how I see it: Al Qaeda and ISIL and groups like it are desperate for legitimacy. They try to portray themselves as religious leaders, holy warriors in defense of Islam,” he said. “We must never accept the premise they put forward.”
Johnson, who appeared on all of the major Sunday talk shows, also made a similar argument.
“To refer to ISIL as occupying any part of the Islamic theology is playing on a battlefield that they would like us to be on,” he said. “I think that to call them some form of Islam gives the group more dignity than it deserves frankly. It is a terrorist organization.”
Johnson also said he was more focused on the potential for Islamic State, with an estimated 30,000 fighters in Iraq and Syria, to recruit Americans and inspire them to carry out terror acts.
“Whether it's referred to as Islamic extremism or violent extremism, what it comes down to is ISIL is a terrorist organization that represents a serious potential threat to our homeland, which has to be addressed,” he said. “I’m more concerned about that frankly than I am about what two words we use to refer to them.”
Johnson also supported some of the arguments put forth last week at a White House summit on terror extremism including ones about having to defeat Islamic State and other groups through social media.
In addition, State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said, “We can't kill our way out of this war. We need to go after the root causes that lead people to join these groups -- the lack of opportunity and jobs among them.''
Johnson said Sunday the U.S. is attempting to defeat terror groups “militarily” through an international coalition.
However, the U.S. must also use social media and get involved in Muslim communities to thwart such groups' successful efforts to use the Internet to recruit foreign fighters, he said.
“We need to be involved in the relevant communities in this country to thwart their recruitment efforts and to help build the counter-narrative to the one that is being put out by ISIL right now," Johnson said. ... "It does involve a whole of government approach.”

Disney Cartoon

US considering slowing down troop withdrawal from Afghanistan

During his first visit to Afghanistan, U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said the U.S. is considering slowing its military exit from the embattled country by keeping a larger troop presence in the country than previously planned because the new Afghan government is proving to be a more reliable partner.
President Obama plans to discuss a range of options for U.S. military withdrawal when Afghan president Ashraf Ghani visits the White House in March, Carter said at a news conference with Ghani. The two presidents plan to “rethink” the counterterrorism right in Afghanistan, he said.
There are 10,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, down from 100,000 from 2011. Carter did not say Obama was considering keeping troops in the country beyond 2016, but was only considering the pace of troop withdrawal for the next two years.
While the White House recently acknowledged it was reconsidering the exit plan, Carter's remarks were the most direct explanation by a Pentagon official amid criticism from opposition Republicans that the Democratic commander in chief is beating a hasty and risky retreat.
Ghani shad requested “some flexibility in the troop drawdown timeline” in February. The day after the request, Gen. John Campbell, a top U.S. commander in Afghanistan told the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee he had presented U.S. leaders with options that would allow him to continue training and advising Afghan forces through the summer.
Carter said the new thinking about the mission in Afghanistan has to do with the stabilized government in Afghanistan between Ashraf and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah. The unity offers new promise for a more effective partnership in stabilizing the country, Carter said.
Ghani has made it clear he thinks a slowdown of troop withdrawal would offer better support for Afghan forces battling the Taliban. Obama’s current plan calls for troop levels to cut in half from 10,000 by the end of the year.
Carter lauded the progress that Afghanistan has made during the 13 years since U.S. forces invaded and toppled the Taliban rule. Obama's goal, he said, is to "make sure this progress sticks" so that Afghanistan does not again become a launching pad for terrorist attacks on the U.S.
Carter also met in the Afghan capital with Campbell and Gen. Lloyd Austin, the commander of U.S. Central Command, which has responsibility for U.S. operations in Afghanistan and across the Middle East.

Slow start for program to reduce vets' waits at Veterans Affairs facilities, offer private medical care

Far fewer veterans than expected are taking advantage of a new law aimed at making it easier for them to get private health care and avoid the long waits that have plagued Department of Veterans Affairs facilities nationwide.
Only 27,000 veterans have made appointments for private medical care since the VA started mailing out "Choice Cards" in November, the VA said in a report to Congress this month. The number is so small, compared to the 8.6 million cards that have been mailed out, that VA Secretary Robert McDonald wants authority to redirect some of the $10 billion Congress allocated for the program to boost care for veterans at the VA's 970 hospitals and clinics.
Republicans and Democrats insist the problem is the department and that it needs to do a better job promoting the choice program. They also want to change a quirk in the law that makes it hard for some veterans in rural areas to prove they live at least 40 miles from a VA health site.
The government measures the distance as the crow flies, rather than by driving miles, leaving thousands of veterans ineligible.
"Veterans put their lives on the line to defend this country. The very least we can do is ensure they don't have to jump through hoops to receive the care they need and have earned," said Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., whose vast state has just one VA hospital.
The choice program was a key component of last year's sweeping law approved in response to reports that dozens of veterans died while waiting for appointments at a VA hospital in Phoenix, and that appointment records were manipulated to hide the delays. A series of government reports said workers throughout the country falsified wait lists while supervisors looked the other way, resulting in chronic delays for veterans seeking care and bonuses for managers who falsely appeared to meet on-time goals.
The law, signed by President Barack Obama in August, allows veterans who have waited more than 30 days for an appointment to get VA-paid care from a local doctor. It also allows veterans who live at least 40 miles from a VA hospital or clinic to get private care and makes it easier to fire VA employees accused of wrongdoing.
The choice program expands an existing program that allows veterans to get outside care for emergencies or procedures not available at the VA. Veterans have long complained about waiting months or even years to be reimbursed for private care, and many are skeptical the choice card will alleviate those problems, despite promises by the VA.
"I don't believe any of us thought that there would be a wholesale rush to leave the VA system at all, but we are still early in the program," Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, told reporters during a recent tour of the VA.
McDonald's bid to shift the money has met a bipartisan wall of opposition in Congress, where leaders said the landmark law they adopted last summer to overhaul VA has not been fully implemented. Taking money away from the choice program just three months after it was launched is premature, even irresponsible, lawmakers and veterans advocates said.
Miller called the plan a complete nonstarter. His Senate counterpart, Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., called it unacceptable. And Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., one of the law's chief authors, said Congress not only would reject the idea "but refuse to even consider" it.
Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal, the senior Democrat on the Senate veterans panel, said in an interview he would oppose any reallocation of funds "so long as there are delays and issues with quality of care" at VA.
McDonald counters that the proposal, which has not been formally submitted to Congress, would help ensure that "every veteran receives the care they have earned and deserve regardless of where they choose to get it from."
McDonald, who took over as VA secretary in July, said he never intended to "gut the choice program or somehow eliminate" it. Instead, he said, he simply seeks the kind of budget flexibility he enjoyed as Procter & Gamble CEO.
"Imagine your household. You are hungry, but you can't move the money from the gasoline account to the food account. Well, that is the situation I face," he said at a Feb. 11 budget hearing before the House Veterans Affairs Committee.
Louis Celli, director of veterans affairs and rehabilitation at The American Legion, the largest veterans service organization, called McDonald's explanation disingenuous.
"Draining funds from the bill short-circuits the program and ultimately hurts vets," Celli said, noting that VA officials had pushed for the choice program as a short-term way to expand patient access to care.
Rep. Tim Huelskamp, R-Kan., said a veteran in his rural district drives 340 miles one-way for cardiology treatment at a VA hospital in Kansas City.
"If the VA choice program can't provide something closer for him, then we need to relook at how we are implementing that," Huelskamp told McDonald at the Feb. 11 hearing.
McDonald said VA officials are willing to look at the 40-mile rule to see if it needs to be changed. The VA is committed to doing all it can to "make sure the program is robust," he said.