Saturday, June 20, 2015

Obama Confuses White House For Prison

President Barack Obama accidentally compared himself to a prisoner stuck in the White House while speaking at a Beverly Hills fundraiser at filmmaker Tyler Perry’s house Thursday.
What do you think?

“We should be reforming our criminal justice system in such a way that we are not incarcerating nonviolent offenders in ways that renders them incapable of getting a job after they leave office,” Obama said, effectively comparing being in prison to being in office.
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“Little slip of the tongue there. Little Freudian slip,” Obama said after making his gaffe. “Tyler is going to give me a job once I leave.”
What do you think?

It is unclear what kind of job Obama will get from Tyler Perry after he leaves office, but it seems within the realm of possibility that Obama might appear in a Perry film.
Obama also attended a swanky Los Angeles fundraiser Thursday afternoon at the home of “Two and A Half Men” producer Chuck Lorre.

Via: Daily Caller

Obama May Face First Veto Override: Medical Device Tax

(Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call File Photo)
(Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call File Photo)
President Barack Obama has his work cut out for him if he’s going to avoid House Republicans nixing part of the Affordable Care Act with a veto override.
The 2.3 percent tax on medical devices enacted as part of that law passed Thursday in the House 280-140, giving Republicans hope they’ll have the votes for an override, which requires a two-thirds majority. That came with a dozen Republicans absent for the vote. Every Republican present and 46 Democrats voted to nuke the tax.
A nonbinding vote to repeal the medical device tax passed the Senate with a veto-proof majority backed by 34 members of the Democratic caucus as part of the 2013 budget resolution vote-a-rama in the Senate, but never got anywhere with then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., putting the clamps down on the chamber.
But that vote was on a revenue-neutral proposal, while the House-passed bill would simply add about $24 billion to the debt over a decade.
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has made repealing the medical device tax a part of his agenda, so some version seems likely t0 get to Obama’s desk whenever McConnell can find floor time to squeeze it in.

O'Malley: 'I'm Pissed'

Democratic presidential candidate responds to the Charleston shooting with an email saying, "I'm pissed."
"I'm pissed that after an unthinkable tragedy like the one in South Carolina yesterday, instead of jumping to act, we sit back and wait for the appropriate moment to say what we're all thinking: that this is not the America we want to be living in," O'Malley writes.
I'm pissed that we’re actually asking ourselves the horrific question of, what will it take? How many senseless acts of violence in our streets or tragedies in our communities will it take to get our nation to stop caving to special interests like the NRA when people are dying?
I'm pissed that after working hard in the state of Maryland to pass real gun control—laws that banned high-magazine weapons, increased licensing standards, and required fingerprinting for handgun purchasers—Congress continues to drop the ball.
It's time we called this what it is: a national crisis.
I proudly hold an F rating from the NRA, and when I worked to pass gun control in Maryland, the NRA threatened me with legal action, but I never backed down.
So now, I'm doubling down, and I need your help. What we did in Maryland should be the first step of what we do as a nation. The NRA is already blaming the victims of yesterday's shooting for their own deaths, saying they too should have been armed. Let's put an end to this madness and finally stand up to them. Here are some steps we should be taking:
1. A national assault weapons ban.
2. Stricter background checks.
3. Efforts to reduce straw-buying, like fingerprint requirements.
Via: The Weekly Standard

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[VIDEO] ZONATION DELIVERS FANTASTIC MONOLOGUE ON THE RACHEL DOLEZALS AND TRANSJENNERS

ZoNation really hit this one out of the park as he explained how liberals are using Rachel Dolezals to justify the transjenners of the world.
Watch:


Via: The Right Scoop


Dems confront past failures on gun control

DEMS CONFRONT PAST FAILURES ON GUN CONTROL

“When I ran in 2008, I in fact did not say I would fix it. I said we could fix it.” –President Obama at a Beverly Hills fundraiser discussing the mass murder at a Charleston, S.C. church.
The only really clear mandate after President Obama’s 2012 re-election was to not be Mitt Romney. Obama had won more in spite of his policies than because of them, but had successfully convinced voters that Romney was too risky a pick.

After the grindingest grind of an election in presidential political history, Obama had won another term of what, exactly? Endless battles with the GOP House on taxes and spending? Foreign policy headaches? More scorched earth fights protecting ObamaCare? Blech.

But at that very moment, a meteor crashed into American public life: The senseless slaughter of 20 children and six educators at a Connecticut elementary school less than two weeks before Christmas. A fatherless, mentally ill 20-year-old had killed his mother, stolen her guns and laid waste to a group of students at a nearby school, all aged 6 and 7.

Obama wept in private and shed tears in public, as most parents must have. He also found new purpose for the second term of his presidency. Two days after the murders, Obama would make a mighty vow: “In the coming weeks, I will use whatever power this office holds to engage my fellow citizens … in an effort aimed at preventing more tragedies like this.”


Via: Fox News

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NLRB Dings Union for Photo ID Requirements

A top federal labor arbiter ruled against a Michigan union for requiring photo identification to withdraw membership as the state became right to work.
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), which monitors union elections and activity, issued a complaint against International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 58 (IBEW) for hindering the ability of workers to withdraw from the union.
“Respondent (IBEW) has refused to recognize and accept the Charging Party’s revocation of his dues deduction authorizations and has continued to seek dues from the Charging Party’s pay,” the complaint says. “By the conduct described above … Respondent has been restraining and coercing employees in the exercise of the rights.”
Local 58 represents about 4,500 workers in the Detroit metro region and collects about $9.7 million per year in dues, according to federal labor filings. The union adopted new procedures for revoking membership in October 2014, a year after Michigan became the 24th right-to-work state in the nation.
The policy required workers to show up in person at union headquarters and present photo identification in order to terminate membership.
“Any member that desires to opt out of membership or dues deduction must do so in person at the Union Hall of IBEW Local 58 and show picture identification with a corresponding written request specifically indicating the intent of the member,” the policy says.
The charges stem from a complaint filed by Ryan Greene, a Paramount Industries employee, in April.
“These and related acts and omissions violate the [National Labor Relations Act], and threaten, restrain, coerce and discriminate against all of the employees in all bargaining units represented by Respondent Union in the exercise of their section 7 rights to refrain from collective activity,” the complaint said.
The NLRB upheld these charges and ordered the union to stop docking Greene’s paychecks for dues, as well as pay back any money that Greene and other workers paid along with interest.

Shouldn’t We Only Count Voters When Drawing Voting Districts?

Shouldn’t We Only Count Voters When Drawing Voting Districts?
Most people are familiar with the term “one person, one vote.” But what exactly does it mean? Probably the most common understanding is that it requires each voting district to have the same number of people in it. If I live in a town with 10,000 people in it and you live in a town with 100,000, and each town has one representative in the state house, my vote is much more powerful than yours. The concept seems fair and logical enough.
But let’s say we both live in towns with the same total number of people. But in my town half of the people aren’t citizens while in yours everyone is a citizen? Should my town still get to vote for one representative just as yours does? Should non-citizens be counted just as citizens? That is a critical question that has just been taken up by the Supreme Court in a case out of Texas called Evenwel v. Abbott.
The answer seems obvious from the very concept “one person, one vote.” Every citizen gets one vote, not two or one-half. The Supreme Court seems to have made this clear decades ago when it stated in the Hadley case from 1970 that voting districts should be set up “on a basis that will ensure, as far as is practicable, that equal numbers of voters can vote proportionately for equal numbers of officials.” The lower court inEvenwel disagreed, though, and said that equal total population should get equal representation, regardless of how many actual citizen voters are in the district.
In many parts of the country, that’s the status quo. Texas used the total population of areas in order to draw legislative districts for state representatives after the 2010 census. But some areas of Texas have high proportions of the population who are not citizens. Based on the actual numbers, the result is that some districts in Texas have 1.5 times the number of actual voters than in others.

HOUSE REPUBLICANS AIM TO STRIP PLANNED PARENTHOOD’S FUNDING

House Republicans released a budget proposal this week that would eliminate Title X funding — which provides funding to Planned Parenthood for contraceptives and abortion-inducing drugs — an act pro-abortion advocate immediately characterized as an attack against women.

If GOP leaders think they can cut 4.6 m Americans' access to care without one hell of a fight, they've got another thing coming.

The House Appropriations Committee’s draft of its fiscal year 2016 Labor, Health and Human Services (LHHS) funding bill “eliminates all funding for the controversial Family Planning Program, saving taxpayers nearly $300 million.” The bill would also substantially cut so-called “comprehensive teen pregnancy prevention programs,” but double funding for abstinence-centered or Sexual Risk Avoidance (SRA) programs.
The National Abstinence Education Association (NAEA) found that the SRA approach is effective, supported by both parents and an increasing number of teens, and consistent with other public health initiatives for teens such as anti-smoking, anti-drinking, anti-drug, and anti-violence programs that have also been effective.
“Largely misrepresented, SRA education is more than just about saying ‘no,’” says NAEA. “Abstinence-centered and holistic, the SRA strategy offers skill-building topics such as goal setting and future orientation, healthy decision making, building assets, avoiding negative peer pressure, and human development.”
The sexual risk reduction (SRR) model, however, NAEA states, “is built on the premise that teens either cannot, or will not, abstain from sex; therefore they must learn to take ‘precautions’ that will decrease their risk of becoming pregnant,” or becoming infected with an STD.

Obama to donors: You twits are unworthy of me



After delivering his diatribe statement on the Charleston, SC shootings, Obama jetted off to take care of the real business of the nation. He went to to a pair of Hollywood fundraisers. The first was at the home at the Pacific Palisades home of television producer Chuck Lorre (in fairness, the man did fire Charlie Sheen so he can’t be all bad). Then it was off to Beverly Hills mansion of celebrity Tyler Perry (full disclosure, I never heard of the man before today). It was at the Perry event that the good stuff happened. Obama blamed the 250 people shelling out from $2500 to $33,400 each for screwing up:
“When I ran in 2008, I in fact did not say I would fix it. I said we could fix it,” Obama told an audience of about 250 at a fundraising event here at the stately hillside home of film mogul Tyler Perry. “I didn’t say, ‘Yes, I can.’ I said, ‘Yes, we can.'”
The president continued: “If you’re dissatisfied that every few months we have a mass shooting in this country killing innocent people, then I need you to mobilize and organize a constituency that says this is not normal and we are going to change it.”
Okay. Fair enough. But if you’ve given tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of dollars to this grifter you’d have the right to say, “I did my part, what did you do?” Now his fat cat donors have joined the rest of us in being blamed for everything that goes wrong. This is a great list of things Obama is not to blame for, unfortunately, ends in 2014:
  • Obama Blames Arab Spring and Japan’s Earthquake on Struggling Economy and Job Situation, August 5th, 2011.
  • Obama Blames Messy Democracy for His Failed Policies, August 3rd, 2011; remarks by the president at a DNC event.
  • Obama Blames Congress for US Debt Mess; Obama news conference, June 29th, 2011.
  • Obama Blames Republicans for Slow Pace on Immigration Reform, July 25th, 2011.
  • Obama Blames Media for Lack of Compromise in Washington; remarks by Obama at a town hall meeting July 22nd, 2011.
  • Obama Blames Technology for Struggling Economy; June 14th, 2011, NBC Today interview.
  • Obama Blames Oil Spectators for High Oil Prices; April 19th, 2011, remarks by Obama at a town hall meeting.
  • Obama Blames Reagan for America’s Out of Control Debt and Spending; remarks by President Obama April 13th, 2011, Federal News Service.
  • Obama Blames Bush and Congress for Lack of Fiscal Discipline, April 13th, 2011; remarks by Obama, Federal News Service.
  • Obama Blames Bush-Congress for Putting Off Tough Decisions, August 17th, 2010; remarks at a fundraiser for Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) 0%.
  • Obama Blames Bush for Tax Cuts, Deficits; Obama town hall meeting on the economy in Racine, Wisconsin, June 30th, 2010.
  • Obama Blames Bush for Deficits, June 8th, 2010; remarks by Obama at a second fundraising reception for Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) 0%.
  • Obama Blames GOP for Events that Led to Gulf Oil Spill; remarks by President Obama June 3rd, 2010, Federal News Service.
  • Obama Blames Republicans for America Not Being Able to Solve Problems; remarks by President Obama June 3rd, 2010, Federal News Service.
  • Obama Blames Corporations for Everybody’s Problems, June 3rd, 2010, Federal News Service. He said, “If you’re a Wall Street Journal bank or an insurance company or oil company, you pretty much get to play by your own rules regardless of the consequences for everybody else.”
  • Obama Blames Bush for Overall Standing of American Economy, April 19th, 2010, at a fundraising reception for Senator Boxer.
  • Obama Blames Bush, Congress for Deficits, February 1, 2010, delivering remarks on the budget.
  • Obama Blames Bush for Regulatory Policies; January 17th, 2010, remarks by the president at an event with attorney general Martha Coakley in Massachusetts.
  • Obama Blames Bush for Overall Standing of Economy and American Standing, April 19th of 2010. Obama delivering remarks at a fundraising reception for Senator Boxer and the DNC.
  • Obama Blames Bush and Congress for Deficits, February 1st, 2010, in remarks delivered on the budget.
  • Obama Blames Bush for Regulatory Policies, January 17th, 2010, remarks by the president at an event with Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley.
  • Obama Blames Wall Street Fat Cats for Economic Disaster, December 13th, 2009, CBS News’ 60 Minutes.
  • Obama Blames Bush for Overall Economy, September 27th, 2009, remarks by the president at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s annual dinner.
  • Obama Blames Bush for Stifling Unions, September 7th, 2009; remarks by the president at the AFL-CIO Labor Day picnic.
  • Obama Blames Bush for Prescription Drug Bill; remarks by the president, health insurance reform town hall, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, August 11th, 2009.
  • Obama Blames Bush for Jobs, July 22nd, 2009; news conferences by the president.
  • Obama Blames Bush for Failure to Recognize Europe’s Leading Role in the World, April 3rd, 2009; remarks by President Obama at a Strasbourg [France] town hall, and in those remarks he said this: “So we must be honest with ourselves. In recent years we’ve allowed our alliance to drift. I know that there have been honest disagreements over policy, but we also know that there’s something more that has crept into our relationship.” “In America there’s a failure to appreciate Europe’s leading role in the world, instead of celebrating your dynamic union and seeking to partner with you to meet common challenges, there have been times where America has shown arrogance and been dismissive, even derisive of you.” That’s Barack Obama, speaking in Europe at Strasbourg, blaming Bush for a failure to recognize Europe’s leading role in the world, April 3rd, 2009.
  • Obama Blames Bush for Deficits, February 23rd, 2009; Obama delivering opening remarks at fiscal responsibility summit.
  • Candidate Obama Blames Fox News for his Elitist Label, New York Times, October 2008.
  • Candidate Obama Blames Fox News for Likely Loss in Kentucky Primary, May 2008.
  • Candidate Obama Blames Washington for High Gas Prices, April 25th, 2008; remarks of Senator Barack Obama, press availability on energy plan, 25 April 2008.
With those words ringing in their ears, the Lightworker hopped in his motorcade to continue taking care of the nation’s business:
Obama arrived here Thursday afternoon to kick off a four-day California trip during which he will attend four Democratic fundraisers in Los Angeles and San Francisco, speak to the U.S. Conference of Mayors and play golf in Palm Springs.
Via: Red State

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Feds: Ending Obamacare Would Cost $137 Billion

Repealing President Barack Obama’s healthcare overhaul would increase the federal budget deficit by $353 billion over the next decade, the Congressional Budget Office said.

Ending the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act would increase spending on Medicare while reducing outlays for health- insurance subsidies, Medicaid and coverage for poor children, the agency said in a report Friday. Repealing the law would probably boost the economy as more people sought work to get health insurance, reducing the net cost to $137 billion, the CBO said.

The report is a blow for Republican lawmakers who have sought to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act ever since its passage in 2010. If the law were undone, about 19 million more people would become uninsured in 2016, rising to 24 million by 2025, the CBO said.

“An end to the ACA’s subsidies for health insurance coverage would generate gross savings,” the CBO said in its report. “The net savings from repealing the law’s coverage provisions would increase more slowly than the net costs of repealing the act’s other provisions.”

Congressional Republicans replaced the former director of the CBO, Douglas Elmendorf, earlier this year with Keith Hall, a former official under President George W. Bush. Elmendorf, who had been appointed to the budget office by Democrats, estimated in July 2012 that repealing Obamacare would cost about $109 billion through 2022, without including broader effects on the economy.

Via: Newsmax

Trump Thinks ‘Pathetic’ Hillary Blamed Him for Charleston Shooting

Hillary Clinton spoke to Jon Ralston on Ralston Live Thursday night. Trade agreements, ISIS and many other likely “hot button” topics for the coming 2016 election came up, but considering Wednesday’s horrible events in Charleston, South Carolina, Ralston brought up President Barack Obama‘s comments about gun violence.
Everyone from Fox News to MSNBC has already chimed in on the matter, but Clinton wasn’t about to miss her opportunity. She criticized the possible role that “hotter and more negative” public discourse plays in such events, pinpointing comments made by none other than Donald Trump as an example:
A recent entry into the Republican presidential campaign said some very inflammatory things about Mexico.
Clinton didn’t name Trump, of course, but “The Donald” wasn’t just going to sit idly by. He took to his#TrumpVlog (yes, that’s a thing) on Friday to chastise Clinton, saying “Wow, it’s pretty pathetic that Hillary Clinton just blamed me for the horrendous attack that took place in South Carolina.”
Check out the clip below, courtesy of Donald Trump’s Instagram account:
[h/t ABC NewsRalston Live and Donald Trump/Instagram]
[Image via Donald Trump/Instagram]

Friday, June 19, 2015

CALIFORNIA: Are Republicans on Right Path to Take Back Governor’s Office in 2018?

Photo courtesy Franco Folini, flickrRepublicans will have a serious, competitive candidate for governor in 2018, Republican consultant Kevin Spillane told a conference sponsored by the Civil Justice Association of California last week. Spillane was a member of a panel that discussed California’s Changing Electorate.
Spillane’s certainty that Republicans will field a top candidate was summed up in one name – and that was not the name of any prospective candidate. The consultant said that wealthy Republican donor Charles Munger will make an effort to see that a strong Republican candidate is in the field.
Munger’s name has been floated in political circles from time to time as a possible candidate for high office but Munger has dismissed the notion.
When pressed which Republican might be that competitive candidate, Spillane mentioned first San Diego mayor Kevin Faulconer. He also suggested that Fresno mayor Ashley Swearengin and former Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner could fit the role.
The distant gubernatorial race was also evident in CJAC’s choice of the luncheon keynote speaker. Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom has announced his intention to run for the office. Newsom agreed that the discussion about the 2018 governor’s race has already gone mainstream even before the 2016 presidential election has been contested.
Other notes from the panel discussion:
Democratic Assembly consultant and former labor staffer Charu Khopkar said that labor was concerned with the Top-Two primary proposal because organized labor would have to spend much more money engaging in the Top-Two contests picking favorites among same party candidates. He admitted that the prediction has come true.

Meanwhile, Back In Chicago, 20 People Shot On Thursday Night, 3 Killed…

School lunch program scans student thumbprints for ‘tracking purposes’

fingerprint-scanner 337x244
TOWNSHIP, Pa. – A Pennsylvania school district is scanning students’ thumbprints, tracking all of their lunch purchases, and turning the data over to the federal government.
The Hazleton Area School District recently announced it would be providing free meals to all students, regardless of need.
The move comes after the federal government began incentivizing school districts to provide more meals to more students.
As The Citizens’ Voice reports:
While it would seem that providing all children with lunch would cost districts more, the pilot federal initiative turns that assumption on its ear. The initiative encourages school districts to move toward full participation by providing districts with reimbursements that will in fact absorb the cost of providing lunch to students of all income levels, whether they walk to school — or if a chauffeur drives them.
“We will at least break even, if not come out ahead because of federal reimbursement,” according to district superintendent Craig Butler.
The conclusion comes after the Hazleton district purchased biometric software to track students who receive free or reduced-cost lunches.
The student’s thumbprint was scanned each time he or she received a meal.
“This data provided by the biometrics was made available to the district and federal government for tracking purposes,” the paper reports.
Administrators are “unsure” whether they will continue the tracking scheme now that they have bountiful federal cash.
They didn’t indicate how the data was being protected, if it was identifiable to an individual student or how long the federal government would retain it. (Who cares when there’s Michelle O cash to be had??)

Similar fingerprint and tracking initiatives have been hit with stiff resistance from parents — when they knew about them.
Massachusetts’ North Adams Public Schools deployed a lunch payment program using scanners.
“It’s definitely going to streamline the system and make the transactions more accurate,” Nicholas says, iBerkshires.com reports. “Those that participate are able to see all those little transactions … we want to make sure those transactions are as transparent as possible.”

Fearing Another Lawsuit, Christian Business Owners Stopped Hosting All Weddings. Now Their Business Is Dead.

Betty and Richard Odgaard, owners of Görtz Haus Gallery in Grimes, Iowa. (Photo: Odgaards)
Betty and Richard Odgaard, owners of Görtz Haus Gallery in Grimes, Iowa. (Photo: Odgaards)
Charged with discriminating against a gay couple, the owners of another Christian family-run business are being forced to shut their doors.
“We can’t pretend it’s going to get better,” Betty Odgaard told The Daily Signal in an exclusive interview. “There wasn’t enough business.”
Betty and her husband, Richard, are the owners of Görtz Haus Gallery in Grimes, Iowa. In 2002, they purchased the 77-year-old stone church and transformed it into a bistro, flower shop, art gallery and wedding venue.
On August 3, 2013, a gay couple from Des Moines asked to rent Görtz Haus for their wedding.
Because of their Mennonite faith, the Odgaards told the couple they could not host their wedding.
Within 24 hours, the couple filed a discrimination complaint through the Iowa Civil Rights Commission.
“We knew that the business was going to be in trouble almost immediately,” Richard, 69, said. “We had to get rid of the wedding business to avoid another complaint and possibly a higher penalty.”
The Odgaards never admitted to any discrimination, but agreed to a $5,000 settlement.
They also returned two non-refundable deposits for couples who, after hearing media reports, didn’t want to use their space for their weddings anymore.
“It was just the right thing to do,” Richard said.

[COMMENTARY] How Obama screwed up Hillary’s ‘mommy party’ strategy by Monica Crowley

For those trying to identify one accomplishment of Hillary Clinton‘s, here it is: She has put the “Mommy party” on pantsuited steroids.

For decades, the Democratic Party has been considered the “mommy party,” stressing expansive government as a provider of safety and social welfare. The “mommy issues,” therefore, consisted of health care, the environment, welfare and other poverty programs, education, and Medicare and other programs for the elderly.
The Republican Party, by contrast, has been viewed as the “daddy party,” emphasizing limited government as a force for order and restraint, a mechanism to ensure rights, not engage in social engineering. The “daddy issues,” therefore, consisted of national security, illegal immigration, terrorism, law and order, and familial and societal breakdown.
If the “daddy party” is the enforcer, making individuals live up to their responsibilities and face tough realities, the “mommy party” is the overbearing, suffocating and invasive busybody.
In other words, Hillary Clinton. But now she’s not just a mother but a grandmother who freely admits to coloring her hair, presumably to cover the gray. Running to be “America’s grandmother” fits in nicely with the longstanding “maternal” sensibility of her party.
Or does it?
The problem for her now is that President Obama turned the maternal imagery on its head when he positioned himself as a coldly detached father, using the wooden spoon on the noggin of anyone who dared to disobey him.
To Mr. Obama, anyone voicing public disapproval of his plans needs to be removed or crushed. Campaigning as a unifying transcendent figure and governing as a radical redistributionist involved two different skill sets. Once he became president, the unifying, jovial guy disappeared and was replaced by Big Daddy.
Every president assumes a somewhat paternalistic role as he leads the nation, even if he comes from the “mommy party.” He’s the guy in charge, shaping the country, leading us in war, making or keeping the peace, herding Congress and presiding over some 300 million citizens who look to him for protection, reassurance and guidance.

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