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Christian College Football Player Comes Out Where NOM Chairman Teaches

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Two weeks ago Mitch Eby told his teammates at Chapman University that he’s gay. He first told his two roommates, then his coach, then his team. He says, in an Outsports interview, that the response from all was supportive.

Eby says his roommates, who are also his teammates, “apologized for what they may have said or done before.”

“They said they fully support me and they’ll stick up for me and have my back no matter what. They were happy that I was able to come out to myself and to them.”

His coach “thought it wouldn’t be a big deal at all to my teammates.”

“He thought they’d say ‘okay’ and move on. It wasn’t a big deal to him whether I told the team or not, but he just said if I wanted to do it, I should do it for myself.”

And then Eby, on the last day of practice before spring break, delivered this speech:

“I came up here today to talk to you guys about something that I’ve been dealing with for quite a while. It’s something personal that I’ve always thought I could just bury away, but I can’t. We live life so worried about how other people view us that we forget about ourselves. I can no longer go on living in fear, repressing myself because of how society may view me. I can no longer lie to my friends, family and teammates. It’s time I lived life for myself for a change.

“With that being said, I am ready to share with you all that I am gay.

“It has taken me years to accept myself for who I truly am, so it’s irrational to expect everybody to unconditionally accept me right away. However, the one thing that I hope that I can count on from each of you, my teammates, is your respect. Your respect as a friend, your respect as a teammate, and your respect as a man.

“Being gay may be something that defines me, but it does not limit me. It is such a small part of who I am. I am the same person you all know, no different than before. I’m still the kid that is obsessed with pretty much anything having to do with sports, I’m still the kid that some of you love to call stupid nicknames like ‘mom’ and ‘hot dog,’ and I’m still someone who will continue to go out there every day and push myself and push my teammates to be the best football team around. I am your teammate, I am your classmate and I am your brother. And I know that my brothers will continue to stand by my side, no matter what.”

Outsports reports that “the team erupted in applause.”

As the team gathered for dinner, various teammates hugged Eby, thanking him for sharing himself and trusting them. One teammate even called Eby his “hero.”

If the name Chapman University rings a bell and you can’t remember why, maybe the name John Eastman does too. John C. Eastman is a law professor at Chapman. He is also the chairman of the board of the the National Organization For Marriage (NOM).

Congratulations to Mitch, to your team and to your university.

 

Image of Mitch Eby via his Facebook page

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‘Concerns From Mar-a-Lago’: Speaker Johnson Boots Pro-Ukraine Intel Chair in ‘Big Shakeup’

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January 15, 2025

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Speaker of the House Mike Johnson has taken the unusual step of removing U.S. Representative Mike Turner (R-OH) as Chair of the House Intelligence Committee. Turner, a center-right lawmaker, is well-regarded on both sides of the aisle for his strong commitment to traditional Republican principles, particularly in matters of national security and defense.

Punchbowl News first reported the move, which CNN’s Annie Grayer is calling a “big shakeup.” Punchbowl’s Andrew Desiderio adds that “Turner is one of the biggest Ukraine supporters among Republicans on the Hill and is also very involved with NATO. Much more hawkish than Trump-aligned R’s would like.”

CBS News’s Margaret Brennan reports Turner told her that Speaker Johnson “cited ‘concerns from Mar a Lago’ as justification for the removal.”

Intelligence Committee Ranking Member Jim Himes (D-CT) weighed in with concern on the removal of his colleague: “I have confidence that Mike Turner would do the right thing. The fact that he may have been removed just sends a shiver down my spine,” he said, as Semafor’s Kadia Goba reported.

READ MORE: Marjorie Taylor Greene Targets Former Biden Official’s Religious Faith in House Hearing

Politico called Turner “an outspoken advocate for Ukraine funding and other hawkish national security stances.”

Axios noted that Turner “has at times broken with party leadership in a way that angered his GOP colleagues.”

“Most notably, he put out a jarring but cryptic statement last February warning of a ‘serious national security threat’ that turned out to be about Russian nuclear anti-satellite weapons.”

Last year, then-Chairman Turner agreed that Russian propaganda was a problem in the GOP, and that some Republican members of Congress had even spread it on the House floor.

“There are members of Congress today, who still incorrectly say that this conflict between Russia and Ukraine is over NATO, which of course it is not,” Turner told CNN’s Jake Tapper.

President-elect Donald Trump has repeatedly made that same false claim.

Turner was one of the few Republicans to oppose then-Congressman Adam Schiff’s censure. He also did not sign Johnson’s U.S. Supreme Court amicus brief challenging the results of the 2020 presidential election.

READ MORE: Pam Bondi Refuses to Say Trump Legitimately Lost the 2020 Election in Confirmation Hearing

In 2022, Turner was one of just 47 House Republicans who voted to pass the Respect for Marriage Act, protecting existing same-sex and interracial marriages.

Heath Mayo, founder of the pro-democracy center-right group Principles First observed, “Demoting some of the few serious and competent people the House GOP conference has to offer. That’s Trumpism, though. Intelligence and expertise are threats. As a result, American leadership gets dumber and weaker.”

Watch the video above or at this link.

READ MORE: Trump Vowed ‘100%’ to End Ukraine War Before Inauguration — Now He Says It’s ‘Up to Putin’

 

This article has been updated to add reporting from CBS News.

Image: U.S. Space Force photo by Tiana Williams via Wikimedia Commons/public domain

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Marjorie Taylor Greene Targets Former Biden Official’s Religious Faith in House Hearing

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8 hours ago

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January 15, 2025

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During a House Oversight Committee hearing on Wednesday, U.S. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) invoked God and religion to harshly question Martin O’Malley, the former Commissioner of the Social Security Administration and a former Governor of Maryland, about his personal views on abortion and his Catholic faith.

In her highly confrontational interrogation of O’Malley, a longtime Democrat who also served as Governor of Maryland for eight years and ran for president in 2016, Congresswoman Greene, a self-avowed Christian nationalist, invoked his Catholic faith to attack his beliefs about abortion.

“Since you’re very interested in being DNC chair, you are after all a lifelong Democrat politician — I don’t even know if you had a job in the real world, but you have been an elected politician for years,” Greene accused (video below). “Mr. O’Malley you’re also a Catholic, are you not?”

“I am,” O’Malley confirmed.

READ MORE: Trump Vowed ‘100%’ to End Ukraine War Before Inauguration — Now He Says It’s ‘Up to Putin’

“Do you serve God or do you serve the Democrat Party?” Greene asked.

“I serve God,” O’Malley responded.

An off-camera committee member interjected: “Mr. Chairman, as a Roman Catholic, I take offense at the suggestion that somebody has [inaudible] to God and their service as a Catholic.”

Greene tried to talk over the objection, which went unaddressed by the Republican majority chair.

“Mr. O’Malley, will you be supporting the murder of the unborn up until the day of birth like your party does? As DNC chair, will you be supporting the murder of innocent unborn people? Is that in line with your faith in God and the Catholic Church?” Greene said, appearing to grandstand.

“I trust the judgment of women and doctors over the judgment of government,” O’Malley patiently replied.

“Now, do you trust God’s judgment?” Greene continued. “Do you trust God that he loves and has created every single human being? Do you support the murder of unborn children and are you going to uphold that evil practice that the Democrat Party wants to continue? You see, abortions over 95% of them are unintended pregnancies. They use abortions as birth control. So are you going to continue the birth control practice of murdering the unborn children as chair of the DNC? Will that be, that be a policy?”

READ MORE: Pam Bondi Refuses to Say Trump Legitimately Lost the 2020 Election in Confirmation Hearing

O’Malley, appearing to near the end of his patience, replied, “I am pro-choice, and I trust the judgment of women and their doctors over judgments of government.`

“Well, thank you for letting God know where you stand with the murder of —” Greene snapped back before O’Malley interjected.

“I talk to God every day,” he declared.

“Yeah, well you might want to talk to him a little bit more, Mr. O’Malley, because you’re definitely in the wrong,” Greene charged.

The Republican from Georgia was not finished.

Minutes later she posted a short clip of her attack on O’Malley to social media, and wrote: “WATCH: ‘Catholic’ Martin O’Malley confirms abortion is the sacrament of the Democrat Party.”

O’Malley has been called “a Pope Francis Democrat” and a “a pray-every-morning, church-every-Sunday” believer, according to a 2015 Religion News Service article.

Watch the video below or at this link.

RELATED: ‘Antisemitism Is Wrong, But’: Marjorie Taylor Greene Pilloried for Promoting Antisemitic Claim

 

Image via Shutterstock

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Trump Vowed ‘100%’ to End Ukraine War Before Inauguration — Now He Says It’s ‘Up to Putin’

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12 hours ago

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January 15, 2025

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On the campaign trail last year, candidate Donald Trump, time after time, not only suggested he could swiftly bring an end to Russia’s unlawful war against Ukraine, but at times even insisted he could—and would—do it before being sworn into office. But with Inauguration Day fast approaching, President-elect Donald Trump has washed his hands of a peace settlement, instead declaring that any resolution is now entirely in the hands of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“I would fix that within 24 hours, and if I win, before I get into the office, I will have that war settled. 100% sure,” Trump said on Fox News in March 2024, HuffPost reported.

“Before I even arrive at the Oval Office, shortly after we win the presidency, I will have the horrible war between Russia and Ukraine settled — we’re going to get it settled and stop the death,” Trump adamantly told supporters in June 2024.

READ MORE: Pam Bondi Refuses to Say Trump Legitimately Lost the 2020 Election in Confirmation Hearing

“I would fix that within 24 hours, and, if I win, before I get into the office, I will have that war settled. 100% sure,” Trump vowed as far back as March 2023.

“If I’m president, I will have that war settled in one day, 24 hours,” Trump said again just months later, at a CNN town hall in May 2023, as TIME reported. “It will be over. It will be absolutely over.”

These are just a few of the many times Trump promised to personally end Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Now, he has an entirely different set of promises.

Sunday night, during an interview with Newsmax, Trump was asked, “You’ve said you want the Ukraine war ended in 6 months. What is the strategy to do that?”

“Well, there’s only one strategy,” Trump replied, “and it’s up to Putin. And I can’t imagine he’s too thrilled with the way it’s gone, because it hasn’t got exactly well for him either. And I know he wants to meet and I’m gonna meet very quickly.”

READ MORE: Torture? Shoot Protesters? Greenland? Question After Question, Hegseth Refused to Answer

“I would’ve done it sooner but…you have to get into the office. For some of the things, you do have to be there,” Trump conceded, Reuters reported.

At a press conference last week, Trump went from promising peace before he took office, to six months after.

“I hope to have six months,” Trump told reporters, USA Today reported, before adding, “I hope long before six months.”

Trump has named Keith Kellogg to be his Special Envoy for Ukraine and Russia.

Kellogg, appearing to attempt to split the difference, settled on a timeline for peace of just over three months.

“Let’s set it at 100 days and move all the way back and figure a way we can do this in the near-term to make sure that the solution is solid, it’s sustainable, and that this war ends so that we stop the carnage,” he said, HuffPost reported.

Watch the videos above or at this link.

READ MORE: ‘Loyalty to a Tyrant’: Cheney Invokes Jack Smith’s Report to Warn Senate on Trump Nominees

 

Image via Reuters

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