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Oklahoma Attorney General Ignores Federal Court Rulings, Tells Schools Handing Out Bibles Is A-OK!

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Despite several federal court rulings that state schools cannot hand out bibles to students, Oklahoma’s Attorney General is advising them how they can get around the law.

Scott Pruitt doesn’t have much national name recognition, but the Oklahoma Republican Attorney General is working hard to change that. One of his first acts after taking office in January of 2011, according to a recent New York Times investigation, was having his staff take a three-page letter “written by lawyers for Devon Energy, one of Oklahoma’s biggest oil and gas companies,” then copying it “onto state government stationery with only a few word changes,” and sending it to the EPA in “Washington with the attorney general’s signature.”

That letter “carried a blunt accusation: Federal regulators were grossly overestimating the amount of air pollution caused by energy companies drilling new natural gas wells in his state.”

Aside from being a shill for oil companies, and also suing the EPA, Pruitt has sued the federal government over Obamacare, criticized the U.S. Supreme Court for failing to take up his state’s same-sex marriage case, claimed the Supreme Court’s DOMA ruling somehow just didn’t apply to Oklahoma, but supported the Supreme Court’s decision favoring his friends, the owners of Hobby Lobby.

LOOK: Tennessee House Passes Bill Declaring Christian Bible The ‘Official State Book’

Now, Attorney General Pruitt is striking out in favor of “religious freedom,” by sending a letter he also posted to his Facebook page, to school superintendents across his state, in response to this story about a local school teacher, yes, handing out bibles to students.

Despite federal court rulings that are very clear about the distribution of bibles in public schools, AG Pruitt writes that he is only too happy to work with schools to craft policies that will allow private citizens access to Oklahoma’s innocent children, whom he would love to see indoctrinated into the interpreted beliefs of Christian activists.

Pruitt even issued a press release, with this stunning title: “AG Pruitt to Offer Training & Assistance to Schools to Defend Religious Freedom.”

“Few things are as sacred and as fundamental to Oklahomans as the constitutional rights of free speech and the free exercise of religion,” Pruitt’s statement reads. “It is a challenging time in our country for those who believe in religious liberty. Our religious freedoms are under constant attack from a variety of groups who seek to undermine our constitutional rights and threaten our founding principles.”

AG Pruitt seems to have forgotten to mention the freedoms of those who are non-believers, or non-Christians, or who actually believe in the separation of church and state.

The Oklahoma Attorney General also seems to be ignoring federal court rulings, and statements by several knowledgeable organizations, like these:

“Bible Distribution in Public Schools Is Illegal”: Freedom From Religion Foundation

“Court Agrees Public Schools Cannot Hand Out Bibles To Students”: ACLU

And this quote published by Americans United For Separation of Church And State: “As Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy said in a June 1992 opinion, ‘No holding of this Court suggests that a school can persuade or compel a student to participate in a religious exercise…. The First Amendment’s Religion Clauses mean that religious beliefs and religious expressions are too precious to be either proscribed or prescribed by the State.'”

Of course, given the photos AG Pruitt proudly posts to his Facebook page, like these, it wouldn’t be surprising if he’s looking to expand his national brand with a journey to the U.S. Supreme Court, to defend his interesting interpretation of the law.

Screen_Shot_2015-04-15_at_6.48.40_PM.jpg Screen_Shot_2015-04-15_at_6.49.03_PM.jpg

 

Related:

Prayer-Pushing Huckabee: If Kids Don’t Bring A Bible To School They’ll Bring A Gun (Video)

 

All images via Facebook
Hat tip: Talking Points Memo

 

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‘War Is Peace’: White House’s Navarro Mocked Over Claim Tariffs Are ‘Tax Cuts’

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July 17, 2025

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Peter Navarro, Senior Counselor to the President for Trade and Manufacturing, says the White House likes “where we’re at” with tariffs—which he insists are “tax cuts,” despite broad disagreement from economists. Navarro also says President Trump’s tariffs have brought in $100 billion in six months, but he also insists that that money is paid by foreign countries. Ultimately, tariffs are generally paid—at least in part—by consumers, as higher prices for imported goods or for domestic products that rely on imported components.

Speaking to Fox News on Thursday (videos below), Navarro said, “when we put tariffs on the foreign countries, particularly the ones that depend on us the most, they have to eat the tariffs.”

“So tariffs, they’re not tax hikes, they’re tax cuts,” Navarro insisted.

“We’ve had $100 billion so far we raised in six months. We’re gonna have trillions over the ten years, and that’s going to pay for the big, beautiful bill. Tax cuts and debt reduction by the tune of about $2 trillion.”

READ MORE: ‘Trust in Trump’: White House Touts ‘Incredible’ Economy as Inflation Jumps

“We like where we’re at,” he claimed.

Navarro also insisted that “the reason why tariffs don’t cause negative impacts like inflation is because these countries, they depend so heavily on us. Europe, China, go around the world. They just live, they feast off us with unfair trade practices.”

“When we say, ‘No, you can’t come in unless you pay this tariff,’ they got to eat the tariff,” he again insisted, neglecting to state that the importer, and, ultimately, the consumer, pays most or all of the cost of the tariffs.

FactCheck.org, analyzing some of Navarro’s claims on tariffs back in April, reported that “tariffs, also known as customs duties, are a tax increase on the U.S. importers who pay the tariffs – not foreign countries. And because those importers often pass at least some of those costs on to U.S. consumers through price hikes, tariffs are considered to be regressive taxes that affect lower-income households more than others as a percentage of income.”

READ MORE: ‘Total Nonsense’: Stephen Miller Blasted Over ‘Wonders’ of Life ‘When Illegals Are Gone’

Responding to Navarro’s claim that tariffs are tax cuts, journalist Aaron Rupar, founder of Public Notice, wrote: “War is peace.”

Professor of Law Joseph Mastrosimone wrote: “Good lord this man is insanely stupid. And he is a senior White House Counselor. Right on brand.”

Joe Walsh, the former GOP congressman turned political commentator and a Democrat, called Navarro’s claim: “Utter b——-.”

Watch the videos below or at this link.

READ MORE: ‘Go Home’: Noem Tells Farmers to Help Their Undocumented Workers ‘Self Deport’

 

Image via Reuters 

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‘Trust in Trump’: White House Touts ‘Incredible’ Economy as Inflation Jumps

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9 hours ago

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July 17, 2025

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White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt is crediting President Donald Trump with what she described as an “incredible economic turnaround in just six months.” However, inflation continues to rise under his administration, and the data she cited highlighted only a selective set of favorable economic indicators.

Americans “saw prices for new and used vehicles and airfares dropped last month,” Leavitt enthusiastically declared on Thursday during a press briefing.

“In addition, prices for gas, fuel oil, energy commodities, hotels, airfare, public transportation, and fresh vegetables are all down over last year,” she claimed.

“As we said all along, trust in President Trump. The American dream is back and everyday families are already reaping the benefits of this incredible economic turnaround in just six months.”

READ MORE: ‘Total Nonsense’: Stephen Miller Blasted Over ‘Wonders’ of Life ‘When Illegals Are Gone’

Her statements highlighted positive data while leaving out ongoing inflation concerns.

Prices for new and used vehicles did drop last month, but both are up over the past 12 months: 0.2% for new vehicles and a hefty 2.8% for used cars and trucks, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, which tracks all these items and publishes the monthly inflation rate.

Overall, inflation last month rose to an annual rate of 2.7%, the highest level in months.

The cost of food is up 3% over last year. Electricity is up 5.8% over last year, and utility (piped) gas service is up a massive 14.2% over last year.

READ MORE: ‘Go Home’: Noem Tells Farmers to Help Their Undocumented Workers ‘Self Deport’

Shelter is up 3.8%, and medical and transportation services are both up 3.4% over last year.

Economists cite the President’s tariffs, now beginning to take effect, along with rising costs for food, energy, and rent as the reasons for the increase in inflation.

The White House appears to be attempting to head off public concern.

“Worsening inflation poses a political challenge for President Donald Trump, who promised during last year’s presidential campaign to immediately lower costs,” the Associated Press reported Tuesday.

Watch the video below or at this link.

READ MORE: Republican Says Trump on Immigration Could Be Like Lincoln Was for Slavery

Image via Reuters

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‘Fear Is the Tool of the Tyrant’: Maurene Comey, Fired by Trump DOJ, Sounds Alarm

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11 hours ago

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July 17, 2025

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Maurene Comey, the veteran federal prosecutor who led the cases against Jeffrey Epstein and his associate, Ghislaine Maxwell, was fired Wednesday by the U.S. Department of Justice amid a sweeping Trump administration scandal over its refusal to release the so-called Epstein files. Now, she has a few words of advice for her former colleagues at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan.

“If a career prosecutor can be fired without reason, fear may seep into the decisions of those who remain,” wrote Comey, in a letter obtained by Politico. “Do not let that happen.”

Maurene Comey served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney and is the daughter of the also-fired former FBI Director James Comey, who reportedly is under investigation by the Trump DOJ.

READ MORE: ‘Total Nonsense’: Stephen Miller Blasted Over ‘Wonders’ of Life ‘When Illegals Are Gone’

“Fear is the tool of a tyrant, wielded to suppress independent thought. Instead of fear, let this moment fuel the fire that already burns at the heart of this place. A fire of righteous indignation at abuses of power. Of commitment to seek justice for victims. Of dedication to truth above all else.”

Also in her letter, which Politico’s Kyle Cheney posted (below), Comey wrote: “Yesterday was unexpectedly my last day in the Office. I was summarily fired via memo from Main Justice that did not give a reason for my termination. Every person lucky enough to work in this office constantly hears four words to describe our ethos: Without Fear or Favor. Do the right thing, the right way, for the right reasons without fear of retribution and without favor to the powerful.”

“For the majority of my nearly ten years in SDNY, the hard part seemed to be acting ‘without favor.’ That is, making sure people with access, money, and power were not treated differently than anyone else; and making sure this office remained separate from politics and focused only on the facts and the law,” she explained. “Fear was never really conceivable. We don’t fear bad press; we have the luxury of exceptional security keeping us physically safe; and, so long as we did our work with integrity, we would get to keep serving the public in this office.”

She lamented, “we have entered a new phase where ‘without fear’ may be the challenge.”

Read Comey’s letter below or at this link.

READ MORE: Republican Says Trump on Immigration Could Be Like Lincoln Was for Slavery

 

Image via Reuters

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