Stephen Bannon Declares War Against Republican Establishment

Although he opened his 2017 Value Voters Summit speech by echoing Ecclesiastes about the time of the season, former Trump Senior Adviser Stephen K. Bannon kept true to his street fighting instincts by declaring political war in a bombastic address to Evangelical voters in Washington DC.

Bannon voiced frustration that many Republicans in the Senate were either Janus faced or openly hostile to their President Donald Trump.  Bannon particularly took aim at Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Senate Foreign Policy Chairman Bob Corker (R-TN).



To wit, Bannon declared war on the GOP Establishment.  As Bannon is no longer shackled as a White House West Wing advisor, Bannon is free to support the Trump nationalist populist agenda from the outside.  Bannon intimated that he is working hard to primary many RINOs who do not support the Trump agenda.

Bannon claimed that there is time for Establishment sinners to repent, but otherwise he insisted that Deplorables will come after those not supporting Trump during the 2018 primaries.  

FRC President Tony Perkins at VVS17

This message was well received by the Values Voters Summit crowd.  A constant theme during the three day conference of politically active Evangelicals was "Drain to Swamp."  To underline that sentiment, Family Research Council President Tony Perkins honored his Louisiana roots and jocularly dressed in muck wear to open the Value Voters Summit. 

Considering the Consequences of SCOTUS Holding on Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt

Despite the statistics which Family Research Council President Tony Perkins recites regarding womens' health and abortion, the United States Supreme Court ruled 5 to 3 threw out a two provisions of a Texas law which imposed health regulations which put "an undue burden" on abortion providers that have resulted in clinics shutting down.

In the majority opinion for Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt, Justice Steven Breyer wrote:

There was no significant health-related problem that the new law helped to cure.  We agree with the District Court that the surgical-center requirement, like the admitting-privileges requirement, provides few, if any, health benefits for women, poses a substantial obstacle to women seeking abortions, and constitutes an "undue burden" on their constitutional right to do so.

Per the SCOTUS majority, requiring an abortionist to have admitting privileges to local medical facilities in case something goes awry and to maintain surgical standards in abortuaries is an undue burden.  Using this logic, it seems the only reason Dr. Gosnell could be convicted is for illicitly writing drug prescriptions.

Prima facia, the ironically named Whole Womens' Health decision drops the veil on so called reproductive rights being a womens' health issue and points towards abortion on demand, despite the medical circumstances. 

Last year in Obergefell, the Supreme Court usurped the rights of states to contract marriages as they saw fit.  Now, the Supremes have essentially mooted the role of states to regulate for health concerns.  Between the burgeoning bureaucratic state and a Supreme Court which is acting more like a legislative body than an impartial arbiter of law, elites may cynically question why we need states anyways.

So we should stop using the politically correct euphemism of "Womens' Health" when referring to Abortion Rights. It will be interesting to learn where presumptive Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump stands on the issue.  While Trump has promised to only nominate  pro-life justices to the Supreme Court, Trump also repeatedly echoes accolades to Planned Parenthood for all that they supposedly do for womens' health. 

Recognizing Heroic Virtue at the Value Voters Summit

Leo Johnson [C] is lionized for heroism at the FRC terror attack by FRC head Tony Perkins  [photo: BD Matt]

While there were many poignant presentations made at the 2012 Value Voters Summit, the rest paled in comparison to when Leo Johnson took the stage on the first night of the Summit.   Only a month before, Johnson thwarted a mass casualty terror attack on the Family Research Council.

On August 15th, 2012 a  28 year old man disgruntled at  traditional marriage advocacy tried to enter  the FRC headquarters.  The visitor had a backpack with 15 day old Chick-fil-A sandwiches and he pulled out a gun.  Building Operations Manager Johnson ducked as a bullet flew above his head.  A second shot struck Johnson in the arm.  The third shot missed and hit a wall.  Even in his injured state, Johnson was able to wrestle the gun away from the assailant. As FRC President Tony Perkins awarded Leo Johnson the organizations highest award for his heroics, there was a long, loud, sustained and sincere applause from the assembled Value Voters Summit audience.

 

Other speakers, such as Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli (R-VA), Arizona Governor Jan Brewer and former Republican Presidential candidate Senator Rick Santorum gave more substantive speeches.  But the rawness of the incident, the real peril posed by this domestic terrorist and the stakes which this incident put on Value Voters exercising their free speech supporting their faith made Leo Johnson's rightful lionization most memorable.

SEE MORE from the Value Voters Summit at DCBarroco.com