Why Is Hunter Biden’s Laptop Important?

            My VIP for this week is the Biden crime family and their supporters in the Democrat Party, the mainstream media, and big tech. In October 2020, a laptop belonging to Hunter Biden was left unclaimed at a repair shop and turned over to the FBI. The story was covered in The New York Post one month before the 2020 presidential election.

            Other media sites declared that the Post article was not real news but Russian disinformation. Twitter, Facebook, and other social media blocked any information on Hunter’s laptop from being posted. Two years later, the New York Times confirmed that the information published by the Post was accurate. In another article, the Post reported the situation. 

A comprehensive report about the ongoing federal probe into Hunter Biden’s tax filings published by the New York Times on Wednesday night confirmed the existence of the first son’s infamous laptop.

In October 2020, The Post exclusively reported on the contents of Hunter Biden’s laptop that he ditched at a Delaware repair shop in April 2019.

The laptop’s hard drive contained a trove of emails, text messages, photos and financial documents between Hunter Biden, his family and business associates – detailing how the president’s son used his political leverage in his overseas business dealings.

The repair shop owner reported the laptop to the FBI, which seized the device and its hard drive….

According to the Times, the emails between Hunter Biden, Archer and others regarding their international business activity came from files the publication obtained that “appears to have come from a laptop abandoned by Mr. Biden in a Delaware repair shop.”

People familiar with the emails and investigation confirmed their authenticity to the Times.

            Emails on Hunter Biden’s laptop detail business dealings with several foreign nations, including Ukraine, Russia, and China. One or more emails mentioned money that was going to “the big guy” who was identified as Joe Biden. This means that Biden was aware of Hunter Biden’s business dealings and was reaping benefits from them – all while Joe Biden was Vice President and in charge of dealing those countries for the United States. 

           We have a compromised POTUS who is selling us out to our enemies. The laptop is important because it contains evidence of the corruption. The fact that this information is coming out now could indicate that Joe Biden is being thrown under the bus by his puppet handlers. The bumbling, mumbling Biden has fulfilled his purpose and is being tossed aside because he is no longer effective and will never be re-elected.

What Does Title IX Do for Females?

            The topic of discussion for this Constitution Monday is the equal rights of female athletes. A formal civil rights complaint was filed against the University of Pennsylvania last week for violating Title IX requirements. According to Maggie Hroncich, Concerned Women for America filed the complaint to defend Title IX that was “designed to protect the rights of female student athletes.” Title IX was passed to “provide equal educational opportunities, including athletics, to receive federal funding.” 

            Coincidence or not, the complaint was filed on the same day that Lia Thomas, transgender swimmer at University of Pennsylvania, “won the 500-yard freestyle at the NCAA’s Division 1 Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships in Atlanta.” Thomas, a biological male, was scheduled to later compete in the 100-yard and 200-yard freestyles.

            Concerned Women for America made the following statement: “Thomas is anatomically and biologically a male with physical capacities that are different from anatomically and biologically female athletes, which extends an unfair advantage and strips female student athletes of opportunities afforded to them by law.” He/she is a perfect example to show why Title IX was written.

How Do We Learn to Turn Our Adversities to Something Good?

             My Come, Follow Me studies for this week took me to Genesis 42-50. Last week I wrote about how Joseph’s brothers had sold him into slavery in Egypt. The story for this week’s lesson takes place twenty-two years later when Joseph’s brothers travel to Egypt in search of grain to feed their families.

            The years had not been easy for Joseph, and he suffered many trials. He was only seventeen years old when he became a slave, and he had been falsely accused and imprisoned. However, he obeyed God’s commandments and received revelation from God. As it turned out, he was the governor of all Egypt, second only to the pharaoh, when he finally saw his brothers again after many years.

            Joseph had the ability to turn every experience and circumstance into something good, and he did so as an indentured servant and as an inmate in a prison. Hartman Rector, Jr., taught the following about this ability.

This ability to turn everything into something good appears to be a godly characteristic. Our Heavenly Father always seems able to do this. Everything, no matter how dire, becomes a victory to the Lord. Joseph, although a slave and wholly undeserving of this fate, nevertheless remained faithful to the Lord and continued to live the commandments and made something very good of his degrading circumstances. People like this cannot be defeated, because they will not give up. They have the correct, positive attitude, and Dale Carnegie’s expression seems to apply: If you feel you have a lemon, you can either complain about how sour it is, or you can make a lemonade. It is all up to you.” (“Live above the Law to be Free,” Ensign, Jan. 1973, p. 130.)

            Many people in Joseph’s possession would seek revenge against those who had hurt them. However, Joseph forgave his brothers and helped them to see that there was a divine purpose in his suffering. He told them, “God meant it unto good” (Genesis 50:20). God knew in advance that there would be a famine in all the land – remember He warned pharaoh, and He put a plan in place to save the House of Israel from starvation. He put Joseph in a position to save “all his father’s household” from famine (Genesis 47:12).

            Joseph’s life parallels that of Jesus Christ in many ways. Jesus Christ was sinless, but He suffered greatly to pay for our sins. Jesus Christ offers forgiveness to us and has made it possible for us to be delivered from fate far worse than famine. Joseph’s example points us to the Savior, who is the true source of healing and reconciliation, whether we need forgiveness or to extend it to others.

What Should We Do When We Feel Like We Are Failing?

            Parents can strengthen their family, community, and nation by not giving up when the going gets tough. Difficulties may arise financially, socially, individually, and in other ways. However, the family was created to be a laboratory for learning and growing.

As much as parents want to create an ideal situation for their children, it does not always work out that way. Sometimes, parents feel like they failed, and they want to give up. It has happened to me, and it will happen to you. Sometimes we have to face the same difficulty more than one time, and we get so tired of dealing with it. There have been many times when I have wanted to quit and run far away, but I knew in my heart that it would not work.

How does one run away from God? In the Bible we learn about Jonah who was called on a mission by God, but Jonah did not want to go on that mission. He thought that he could run from God, so he tried. He learned from experience that there is no place where God cannot reach. When God gives us a mission, He expects us to fulfill it even though it is difficult. Creating an eternal family is a God-given mission that includes many difficulties. God will help us to complete that mission if we do not quit.

President Gordon B. Hinckley taught that we have not failed until we stop trying. As long as we continue to work at the difficulty, we have not failed. When asked about his failures, Thomas Edison said, “I have not failed 10,000 times – I’ve successfully found 10,000 ways that will not work.”

Parenting is a different situation than science, and it is not always easy to discover how to solve problems within a family. What works in one family does not work in another because we are all individuals with our own quirky ways. It is immensely helpful if all family members are working together to solve a problem, but often times, an individual or more does not want to find an answer.

We never know when success will come, but we must not quit. Whether we are dealing with small problems or large ones, we have not failed unless we stop trying to solve the problem. Parents can strengthen their family, community, and nation by never giving up on their family.

 

Don’t Quit by Edgar Albert Guest

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,

When the road you’re trudging seems all uphill,

When the funds are low and the debts are high,

And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,

When care is pressing you down a bit,

Rest, if you must, but don’t you quit.

 

Life is queer with its twists and turns,

As every one of us sometimes learns,

And many a failure turns about,

When he might have won had he stuck it out.

Don’t give up though the pace seems slow.

You may succeed with another blow.

 

Often the goal is nearer than,

It seems to a faint and faltering man,

Often the struggler has given up,

When he might have captured the victor’s cup,

And he learned too late when the night slipped down,

How close he was to the golden crown.

 

Success is failure turned inside out.

The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,

And you never can tell how close you are,

It may be near when it seems so far,

So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit.

It’s when things seem worst that you must not quit

What Is the Cost for Freedom?

             The liberty principle for this freedom Friday is the simple fact that freedom is not free. Americans are free today because preceding generations considered liberty to be worth the fight.

            President Ronald Reagan made a statement that has become famous over the years: “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same.” 

            The “Greatest Generation” fought Hitler and the Nazis to save the world, and they came home as heroes. My generation fought in Vietnam in the name of freedom and came home to jeers and insults. An important question is, “Is the next generation willing to fight to protect freedom?”

            As Cal Thomas said, “Probably every generation thinks the succeeding ones could never be as good as theirs.” My parents’ generation thought my generation was being corrupted by rock and roll. Elvis Presley was considered to be an evil influence with all his hip swinging. We may have reason to be concerned about the next generation as shown by the results of a recent Quinnipiac University survey. 

            In the survey, people were asked if they would fight for their country if America was invaded by a foreign power, much like the people of Ukraine are. “Would they stand and fight, or would they cut and run?” Thomas described it thus:

To some, the breakdown along party lines might seem predictable: Fifty-two percent of Democrats said they would flee if America were attacked by invaders. Only 40% said they would stay and fight.

While Republican respondents scored better – 68% said they would stand their ground – that still leaves 1 in 4 members of the GOP who said they would flee.

Writing about that in The Wall Street Journal, Matthew Hennessey, the newspaper’s deputy editorial direction, asks, “What in the hell has happened to this country?” His question should not be seen as rhetorical. The answer has been coming for many years, but few have done much to try and stop it.

One must have a reason to fight, to put their lives on the line for an ideal.

            This is where America has a huge problem. Our public schools and major universities are full of liberal teachers and professors who teach that America is a terrible place founded to preserve slavery. Besides, America is wealthy, and “record wealth is an embarrassment.” Why should we expect the rising generations to be willing to pledge their life and liberty to protect and preserve such a place? Thomas quoted the late Secretary of State George Shultz who said, “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance and a willingness to act in its defense” and then wrote:

If the Quinnipiac survey is accurate – and given the current cultural condition, why wouldn’t it be? – the willingness to act seems to be shrinking. Inertia can only last for so long before the power that launched it expires.

We have been living off the bravery and sacrifice of “the Greatest Generation” for some time. It must be renewed if freedom is to be extended for us and for other nations.

Why Did Americans Elect Such a Weak President?

            Many Americans had their eyes wide open before the 2020 presidential election and saw that Joe Biden would be a weak president. Some dared to speak the truth aloud and were chastised for saying it. Now all the world can see that he is a weak president, and America’s enemies are taking advantage of his weakness.

Ben Shapiro quoted Vladimir Lenin as supposedly saying that he preferred to “probe with bayonets: If you find mush, you push. If you find steel, you withdraw.” According to Shapiro, it is obvious that Russian President Vladimir Putin has the same strategy. 

This week, as his forces shell Kyiv and batter Kharkiv, Putin has been upping the ante. He has unleashed strikes against Ukrainian targets near the Polish border, tacitly threatening to attack a NATO member. He continues to leverage his natural gas and oil supply to hold Europe hostage. His foreign policy apparatus continues to threaten the possibility of wider war should the West send in further armaments, including MIGs sufficient to repel the Russian invasion. He has reached out to China for support. And he has utilized America’s overweening desire for some sort of Iranian nuclear deal to press for American concessions on evading sanctions.

All of Putin’s pressure has met with mixed response. The West has continued shipments of certain types of materiel, including Javelin and Stinger missiles. But this week, the Biden administration signaled first that it would allow shipment of MIGs to Ukraine, then backed off, claiming that such shipments might amount to escalation.

Meanwhile, the West’s economic sanctions are being maintained – but Russia announced this week that the United States had made written concessions that would exempt Russia’s ability to trade with Iran, despite Iran firing missiles at a U.S. consulate in Erbil, Iraq.

What’s the chief message from all of this waffling? That the West’s threats are, at best, sporadically credible. Russia believes that if it ramps up the pressure harshly enough on Ukraine and threatens the West enough with nuclear war, it will be able to pry out of Ukraine diplomatically what it has been unable to pry out of Ukraine militarily – and Russia may well succeed. After all, Germans can’t continue to pay $8.25 per gallon for gas forever.

            Shapiro reminded his readers that Russia is not the only tough man on the block because China is flexing its muscles. China “has been playing both sides against the middle” and “is watching.” In fact, “China has been offering itself out as a ‘neutral mediator’ between Russia and the West, despite the fact that China is an out-and-out Putin ally.”

            China wants Taiwan and is watching what happens with Russia. Besides, it is becoming stronger by “buying up troubled Russian assets at bargain-basement prices, strengthening both its connections with Russia and its portfolio.”

            Today the Ukrainian President told Biden that the world needs him (Biden) to be strong and to act like the leader of the free world. Joe Biden is weak, and all the world knows it. We need a strong POTUS to stand up to the bullies of the world to protect the freedoms and safety of Americans and people all over the world.

Has Biden Burned Too Many Bridges?

            President Joe Biden refuses to accept the blame for the high price of gasoline, and he blames Putin’s invasion of Ukraine for exorbitant prices. However, most Americans are aware that the high oil prices are the result of Biden administration policies to kill the energy industry.

We have not forgotten that Biden shut down the Keystone XL pipeline on his first day in office. Yet, Biden’s blunders have happened in numerous areas, and they have caused both allies and enemies to doubt his leadership capabilities. James Phillips is concerned about Biden’s burned bridges with allies and how his blunders will divide the Middle East. 

Although Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has helped to unify Europe against Russia, it has had a divisive effect in the Middle East, where many countries recently have hedged their bets by boosting ties to Moscow to offset declining confidence in U.S. leadership.

Even before the Biden administration’s Afghanistan withdrawal debacle last August, U.S. allies and partners in the Middle East were dismayed by a downsizing of the U.S. military presence in the region, incessant talk of an American “pivot” to Asia, and the administration’s commitment to restoring the flawed 2015 Iran nuclear agreement.

They rightfully fear that another weak nuclear deal will allow Tehran to pocket billions of dollars and escalate its military and terrorist threats against its neighbors.

These reservations about U.S. policy also have hampered cooperation with regional allies and partners on mitigating the economic impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the resulting U.S. sanctions on Russia, the world’s second-largest oil exporter after Saudi Arabia.

            Phillips noted that Biden announced a ban on Russian oil imports to the U.S. last Tuesday and has gone begging other enemies of the United States for oil. Yet, Biden’s requests have brought adequate alternatives to Putin’s oil. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates see no need to produce more oil. In fact, they have refused to take Biden’s phone calls.