This Week’s Watchers Council Nominations – Atonement Edition

JoshuaPundit:

Welcome to the Watcher’s Council, a blogging group consisting of some of the most incisive blogs in the ‘sphere, and the longest running group of its kind in existence. Every week, the members nominate two posts each, one written by themselves and one written by someone from outside the group for consideration by the whole Council.Then we vote on the best two posts, with the results appearing on Friday.

This week’s contest is dedicated to the spirit of true atonement and redemption for all men and women of good will. For those of you whom celebrate that virtue tonight, gmar hatima tovah.

Council News:

This week, Right Truth, Ask Marion, The Pirates Cove and Against All Enemies took advantage of my generous offer of linkage and earned honorable mention status with some great articles they sent in.

You can, too! Want to see your work appear on the Watcher’s Council homepage in our weekly contest listing? Didn’t get nominated by a Council member? No worries.

Simply head over to Joshuapundit and post the title a link to the piece you want considered along with an e-mail address (which won’t be published) in the comments section no later than Monday 6PM PST in order to be considered for our honorable mention category. Then just return the favor by creating a post on your site linking to the Watcher’s Council contest for the week when it appears Wednesday morning.

It’s a great way of exposing your best work to Watcher’s Council readers and Council members. while grabbing the increased traffic and notoriety. And how good is that, eh?

So, let’s see what we have this week….

Council Submissions

• Joshuapundit - Shoot The Messenger – US State Dept Blasts CNN For Revealing Its Misrepresentations On Libya Attack
• The Noisy Room – Obama’s Hidden Bread Lines
• Simply Jews – Lying again, Ms Clinton?
• The Political Commentator – Obama: Wartime is the wrong time to be led by a metrosexual President!
• The Independent Sentinel – Obama’s Tax Plan From the Depths of Hell Will Impoverish the Middle Class
• The Mellow Jihadi – Kurds, Kurdish, and Kurdistan
• The Colossus of Rhodey – Boss Obama’s alternate reality
• GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD – Test of Governance
• The Glittering Eye - Curve Fitting
• Bookworm Room – Proof that Obama has lost his love for the little country of Israel
• VA Right! - Normalized Polls Show Romney up by 7 Points!
• Rhymes With Right – Where Obama Got It Wrong At The UN
• The Razor – The Obama You Don’t Know
• The Right Planet – Keep It Classy … Top State Department Official Emails Reporter to Tell Him to ‘F**k Off’
• Gay Patriot – Legacy media attempting to demoralize Republican voters?

Honorable Mentions

• Right Truth – Why does this keep happening to us?
• Ask Marion – Calling All Concerned Americans to Stand-Up
• The Pirates Cove – Obama Speaks At UN, Whines About Video And Stuff
• Against All Enemies – George Washington’s Farewell Address and Where We Are Today

Non-Council Submissions

• Mark Steyn – Bowing To The Mob submitted by Joshuapundit
• Sultan Knish – Muslim Multiculturalism and Western Post-Nationalism submitted by The Noisy Room
• The Texas Scribbler – Obama: the architect of American decline submitted by Simply Jews
• Boker Tov, Boulder - Ew, Jew Noise submitted by The Political Commentator
• Yid With Lid – Obama Calls Israeli Concern Over Iran “Noise” to Be Ignored Ahmadinejad Agrees submitted by The Independent Sentinel
• Gunmart Blog – Remember those “Racist” Stand Your Ground Laws? submitted by The Mellow Jihadi
• Truth Before Dishonor – Binyamin Netanyahu: ‘Do you want these fanatics to have nuclear weapons? submitted by The Colossus of Rhodey
• Pruden And Politics – Why the media spin on Nov. 6 is wrong submitted by GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD
• Noahpinion – EconoTrolls: An Illustrated Bestiary submitted by The Glittering Eye
• National Review -A Woman of Parts submitted by Bookworm Room
• Breitbart.Com – Tech; Meet the New Left, Same As The Old Left submitted by VA Right!
• Big Lizards – Story Wars, Chapter Two submitted by Rhymes with Right
• Michael Totten – Terrorist Veto submitted by The Razor
• Charles Cameron/Zenpundit – Of films, riots and hatred I: Benedict XVI in Lebanon submitted by The Watcher (h/t, Dave at The Glittering Eye)
• Commentary – Peace Means Justice for Jewish Refugees submitted by The Watcher

Enjoy! And don’t forget to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter..’cause we’re cool like that!

America needs Day of Atonement

Exclusive: Joseph Farah urges Christians to commemorate the Feasts of Yahweh

WND:

They call it a Jewish holiday – Yom Kippur.

It’s the Day of Atonement, all right, but it’s not just for Jews. As Leviticus 23 makes clear, today is not a Jewish holiday, it’s one of the Feasts of the Lord, or, more precisely, one of the Feasts of Yahweh.

In other words, it’s for everyone who believes in the One True God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Christians should especially find it appealing, since they believe in the forgiveness of sins by the one they consider to be the Jewish Messiah.

What has become increasingly clear to be in my study of the Bible over the years is that Jesus – or Yeshua, as He was known to his brethren – did not come to Earth in human form as the Son of God to start a new religion called Christianity, which, after all simply means followers of the Messiah.

Yeshua came to fulfill the promises of the Hebrew prophets. Neither he nor anyone else in the Bible ever suggested we should celebrate His birthday on Dec. 25 – the traditional birthday of the pagan deities Tammuz and Mithra. Neither He nor anyone else in the Bible ever suggested we should celebrate the Babylonian holiday of Ishtar, or Easter. In fact, neither He nor anyone else in the Bible ever suggested we should observe Sunday as the Sabbath.

These were all traditions of men trying to blend pagan cultures with a touch of Christianity.

But the God of the Bible doesn’t like mixing pagan mythology with His commandments or pagan holidays with his appointed feasts.

That’s why it may surprise some of you that this Christian, this follower of Yeshua Ha’Maschiach, is observing Yom Kippur today – the Day of Atonement. My family will fast and pray just like Jews around the world and more and more Christians who are rediscovering the Hebrew roots of their faith.

The Day of Atonement is a high holiday – a Sabbath. I’m not working today until sundown. And I stopped working yesterday at sundown. That’s because by God’s reckoning of time, the day begins at sundown, not sun up and not midnight.

What I am saying to Bible believers is that God doesn’t want us celebrating our pagan holidays. He expects us, however, to observe His divine appointments. Those come weekly at sundown Friday from sundown Saturday. And there are additional spring and fall feasts, or appointed times, like Yom Kippur, in which we are called out to meet Him.

Some modern American Christians might arrogantly suggest they don’t have to atone for any sins because Jesus already did that for them. While it’s true that Yeshua died for the sins of those who make Him Lord of their life, that atonement doesn’t come without sincere repentance.

And repentance is not a one-time act. It’s not a collection of magic words we say one time in our lives so that we have license to sin some more. Repentance is a continual process, because we all fall short of the mark.

It’s not just individuals who need a Day of Atonement.

In ancient Israel the high priests prayed for the sins of the nation, too.

America could take a lesson from that experience.

We are a nation in moral free fall.

We’ve lost our ability to discern right from wrong.

We don’t even accept that there is such a thing as sin anymore. Sinners are just those practicing alternate lifestyles.

But this can’t go on forever – just as it couldn’t go on forever in ancient Israel when the nation went adrift.

God is longsuffering because He loves us. But like any good parent, He will not enable His children forever. He will discipline them in an attempt to bring them back to His authority – not wishing any should perish.

So if you think today is just another Jewish holiday, think again.

Today is one of your God’s feasts, one of His appointed times. He wants to meet with you. He wants to bring you back into covenant with Him.

Yom Kippur in Israel: Immense quiet

Technorati Tags: Day of Atonement,atonement,Watcher's Council,collection of articles,alternative media,bloggers,blogosphere,news,news nuggetts,educate yourself,holidays,Yom Kippur

DNC Platform Still Guts Pro-Israel Language

Right Truth:

After DNC delegates denying God (and Israel) three times, they still got their way in the end. Breitbart reports that full pro-Israel language from the 2008 platform has not been and will not be restored...

The current Democratic platform regarding Israel had a couple sentences restored yesterday:

Jerusalem is and will remain the capital of Israel. The parties have agreed that Jerusalem is a matter for final status negotiations. It should remain an undivided city accessible to people of all faiths.

But the full language of the 2008 platform is still gone:

The United States and its Quartet partners should continue to isolate Hamas until it renounces terrorism, recognizes Israel’s right to exist, and abides by past agreements. Sustained American leadership for peace and security will require patient efforts and the personal commitment of the President of the United States. The creation of a Palestinian state through final status negotiations, together with an international compensation mechanism, should resolve the issue of Palestinian refugees by allowing them to settle there, rather than in Israel. All understand that it is unrealistic to expect the outcome of final status negotiations to be a full and complete return to the armistice lines of 1949.

Each and every sentence of this is important. If the Democratic Party no longer believes that the United States and its partners should isolate Hamas, refuses to acknowledge that return to 1949 armistice lines is disastrous, and doesn’t think that the so-called “right of return” which would destroy Israel as a Jewish state is a non-starter, there’s nothing to talk about: the Party has excised virtually every important element from its Israel plank.

President Obama saw this platform before it was approved. He did not object. He still does not object to the excision of anti-Hamas language and preconditions to negotiations that would actually make a lasting peace possible. The Democratic Party platform is still dramatically more anti-Israel than its past platforms. And yesterday’s fiasco was only the start of the problem. (Breitbart, hat tip 1389 Blog)

Both Charles Krauthammer and Dick Morris warned that people should not be confused. There is still quite a bit missing about Israel and America’s commitment to them that was previously in the Democrat platform that was removed and was not put back as part of today’s amended platform. This was an obvious political move since the content of the platform had been spotlighted, something Team Obama didn’t expect nor was prepared for. That was obvious yesterday when Senator Durbin went crazy after Bret Bair merely asked him why God and the other references to Israel had been removed.

Other Reading:

Intelligence Committee Chair Describes Explosive Confrontation Between Netanyahu and American Ambassador - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro allegedly argued over the Obama's administration's Iran policy. (The Atlantic)

Survey Shows 74 Percent Increase in U.S. Mosques in Past Decade (CNS News)

Related:

The Dilemma Of Jewish Democrats And This Year’s Anti-Israel Party Platform

Yes, There Is a God, and the DNC is EVIDENCE 

PREDETERMINED: Photo proves DNC teleprompter loaded to affirm 2/3rds vote regardless outcome and Perhaps the End of Villaraigosa Presidential Aspirations…

Krauthammer: Democrats’ ‘Jerusalem’ platform omission ‘extremely significant’ [VIDEO]

Dems rewrite their platform (again) after fallout… Delegates vote ‘NO’ 3-times, Villaraigosa declares it passed anyway to boos… without roll call vote

Durbin Attacks Fox News Bair: God Is Not A Franchise Of Republican Party

Romney vs. Obama vis-à-vis Israel

Israel: Time’s Up

Obama DNC Acceptance Speech 2012

The Real War on Women… WoW

The DNC Embraces Radical Islam

Israel – Barbarians at the Gate

Romney Tells Israel: “You Built That!”

Anderson Cooper ripped Debbie Wasserman-Schultz again… and she tried to walk back the God and Israel thing (but was still lying) CNN HERE

Technorati Tags: DNC,Democrat Platform,God,Jews,Israel,American Jews,Democrat Party,wake-up America,wake-American Jews,allies,Obamaland,truth,watch the other hand,Election 2012,2012 Election,Romney-Ryan 2012,Charles Krauthammer

Romney Tells Israel: “You Built That!”

By: Terresa Monroe-Hamilton – the NoisyRoom – Cross-Posted at AskMarion

Mitt Romney’s speech in Jerusalem today was simply Reaganesque. I caught it by accident and could not tear myself away. It was like waking from a horrible 4-year long nightmare to find that the sun still shines on the city on the hill. It brought tears to my eyes and joy to my heart. This man will be the next president of the United States. He will have his work cut out for him… undoing all the evil that has been wrought. But he is a good and moral man – a man of God – and I believe he is up to the task. He certainly has a spine and he loves America, Israel and God. Which is way more than you can say for the current Marxist in the White House.

Romney spoke to the Jerusalem Foundation today in a speech that showed what true leadership looks like. He spoke with confidence and certainty. He did not equivocate. His delivery was measured and eloquent. He was, in a word, erudite. There was no hint of the careless arrogance and condescension so frequently seen and heard from our Elitist-In-Chief. Instead, Mitt was clarity and reality.

I mean, really, when have you ever heard Obama, at any podium anywhere, speak the words, “I love this country.”

His intent and words were so far removed from the tripe Obama pushes, it was staggering. In the opening statement alone, Romney makes it clear that Israel is God’s land and it is the fulfilled promise of a miracle, not a tragedy. He also made it very clear that Jerusalem is Israel’s capital.

Not only does Romney say that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel, he infers that the US Embassy should be moved there. From Yahoo! News via Atlas Shrugs:

JERUSALEM (AP) — Standing on Israeli soil, U.S. presidential candidate Mitt Romney on Sunday declared Jerusalem to be the capital of the Jewish state and said the United States has “a solemn duty and a moral imperative” to block Iran from achieving nuclear weapons capability.

“Make no mistake, the ayatollahs in Iran are testing our moral defenses. They want to know who will object and who will look the other way,” he said. “We will not look away nor will our country ever look away from our passion and commitment to Israel.”

The presidential election hovered over the speech. The Old City formed a made-for-television backdrop behind Romney, while some of his campaign donors listened in the audience.

Romney’s declaration that Jerusalem is Israel’s capital was matter-of-fact and in keeping with claims made by Israeli governments for decades, even though the United States, like other nations, maintains its embassy in Tel Aviv.

He did not say if he would order the embassy moved if he wins the White House, but strongly suggested so in a CNN interview.

“My understanding is the policy of our nation has been a desire to move our embassy ultimately to the capital (Jerusalem),” he said, adding, “I would only want to do so and to select the timing in accordance with the government of Israel.”

His remarks on the subject during his speech drew a standing ovation from his audience, which included Sheldon Adelson, the American businessman who has said he will donate millions to help elect Romney to the White House.

Romney’s embrace of Israel was on display earlier in the day when he met with Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu and other leaders. He also visited the Western Wall, Judaism’s holiest site, where he was mobbed by worshipers.

[...]

“We recognize Israel’s right to defend itself,” he told the audience. Earlier, the aide, Dan Senor, previewed the speech for reporters, saying that “if Israel has to take action on its own, in order to stop Iran from developing the capability, the governor would respect that decision.”

[..]

In his speech, Romney said Syrian President Bashar Assad “desperately clings to power” in Damascus in the face of an attempted overthrow, but he did not call for his removal.

He noted that Egypt is now headed by an “Islamist president, chosen in a Democratic election. … The international community must use its considerable influence to insure that the new government honors the peace agreement with Israel that was signed by the government of Anwar Sadat” more than three decades ago, he said.

A goal of Romney’s overseas trip is to demonstrate his confidence on the world stage, but his stop in Israel also was designed to appeal to evangelical voters at home and to cut into Obama’s support among Jewish voters and donors. A Gallup survey of Jewish voters released Friday showed Obama with a 68-25 edge over Romney.

Romney and other Republicans have said Obama is insufficiently supportive of Israel, noting statements the president has made about settlements and his handling of evident Iranian attempt to develop nuclear weapons.

Tehran is closer to developing nuclear weapons capability than before, Romney said. “Preventing that outcome must be our highest national security priority.”

In a March speech before a pro-Israel lobby in Washington, Obama warned of “loose talk of war” that serves only to drive up oil prices. “Now is not the time to bluster,” he said then. “Now is the time to let our increased pressure sink in and sustain the broad international coalition we have built.”
[...]

Even so, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said before the speech that “all the sanctions and diplomacy so far have not set back the Iranian program by one iota.”

Iran and every other radical Islamist theocrat, especially the Muslim Brotherhood, have been put on notice. Our next president wants them at the top of his dance card. Cha, cha, cha! I adore the fact that Romney and Netanyahu have been buds since the early 70s. You are known by your friends, isn’t that right Comrade Obama? And you are equally known by your enemies.

In a hit deep into the bleacher seats that will leave an eternal mark, Romney took solid aim at Obama by pointing out what Israel has built:

We both believe that our rights are universal, granted not by government but by our Creator.

We both believe in free enterprise, because it is the only economic system that has lifted people from poverty, created a large and enduring middle class, and inaugurated incomparable achievements and human flourishing.

As someone who has spent most of his life in business, I am particularly impressed with Israel’s cutting edge technologies and thriving economy. We recognize yours as the “start-up nation” – and the evidence is all around us.

You have embraced economic liberty. You export technology, not tyranny or terrorism. And today, your innovators and entrepreneurs have made the desert bloom and have made for a better world. The citizens of our countries are fortunate to share in the rewards of economic freedom and in the creativity of our entrepreneurs. What you have built here, with your own hands, is a tribute to your people, and a model for others.

Clarity. No equivocation. No suggestion that some vague bureaucracy made it all possible. Rights from God, not government. And who built it? “[Y]ou … with your own hands.”

Daniel Pipes highlights the many statements of Romney that are paeans to the Jewish state and its extraordinary ties to the United States:

• Our two nations are separated by more than 5,000 miles. But for an American abroad, you can’t get much closer to the ideals and convictions of my own country than you do in Israel.
• It is my firm conviction that the security of Israel is in the vital national security interest of the United States.
• We have seen the horrors of history. We will not stand by. We will not watch them play out again. It would be foolish not to take Iran’s leaders at their word. They are, after all, the product of a radical theocracy. … We have a solemn duty and a moral imperative to deny Iran’s leaders the means to follow through on their malevolent intentions.
• Our alliance runs deeper than the designs of strategy or the weighing of interests. The story of how America – a nation still so new to the world by the standards of this ancient region – rose up to become the dear friend of the people of Israel is among the finest and most hopeful in our nation’s history. Different as our paths have been, we see the same qualities in one another. Israel and America are in many respects reflections of one another.
• the enduring alliance between the State of Israel and the United States of America is more than a strategic alliance: it is a force for good in the world. America’s support of Israel should make every American proud. We should not allow the inevitable complexities of modern geopolitics to obscure fundamental touchstones. … A free and strong America will always stand with a free and strong Israel.
• By history and by conviction, our two countries are bound together. No individual, no nation, no world organization, will pry us apart. And as long as we stay together and stand together, there is no threat we cannot overcome and very little that we cannot achieve.

At the end of the speech, Romney asked that God bless Israel as well as America. May it be so always. When was the last time that we heard a leader ask for a blessing on another country besides his own? It’s been a long time. America is turning back to God and it will be our salvation. Greatness is not found on a podium or in a spotlight, but on your knees in prayer.

Read the entire transcript of Romney’s speech here.

Related:

The 5 Obama gaffes Romney is exploiting in Israel and Poland

Newsweek Recycles 'Wimp' Label to Attack Romney

Progressive NBC Media Anchorman Brian Williams Evokes Romney’s Sense of Humor

Should Mitt Romney Release Additional Tax Returns Beyond the Last Two Years? – Watcher’s Forum

The Real Story on Obama’s Claim: ‘Romney’s A Felon’

Fact Check: Romney’s worked mostly without salary

About Mitt Romney

Multiple Sclerosis-Afflicted Neil Cavuto Slams MSNBC’s Attacks on Ann Romney: ‘Horse’s Asses’…

Pro-Mitt Argument of the Day

The Choice: Mitt Romney or Barack Obama

2012 Election Game On: Class vs. Crass… Hope vs. Nope

Is It Time for Conservatives, Moderates, Independents and the GOP to Come Together?  Especially After Super Tuesday? – NOW?!?

Mitt Romney Kicked-Off His Presidential Campaign

Technorati Tags: speeches,Romney leadership,Israel,Mitt Romney,Mitt Romney 2012,Middle East,You Built That,allies,Reaganesque,Jerusalem,man of God,loyalty,standing with our friends,enduring alliances,alliances,leadership,shining city on the hill,standing with Israel,standing with our allies,Western Wall,God,Sheldon Adelson,BiBi Netanyahu,Benyamin Netanyahu,Jerusalem Foundation,God Bless America,God Bless Israel,foreign policy,American foreign policy,Israeli American relations

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