BALTIMORE, Maryland December 9, 2013 - One public figure who I have come to respect a gread deal if Mark Levin. He almost seems a reluctant radio host and yet anyone who listens to him knows the tremendous passion he brings to his work. These days he is almost strident in his objections about the conduct and behind the scenes scheming, not of President Obama, but of John Beiner and Mitch McConnell, the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the incoming Senate President. Levin has charged that they are scheming to fund Obama Care, Obama's bald grab at power known, in the vernacular, as his executive order on immigration. As most Americans know, the promise of many Republicans on the campaign trail this summer and fall was to repeal Obama Care. In promising to do so, everyone realized that the chances of success now is not great since Obama will certainly veto any such legislation. But the hope is that even Democrats will be tempted to break ranks and vote for such legislation since so many of those who voted for Obama Care were voted out of office in the November elections, and public opinion polls continue to show a majority of all Americans want the law repealed altogether. Despite this, and despite McConnell's promises during his campaign, he has said that it is fruitless to attempt something that will not succeed. Levin believes it is more than that. He believes the two men are sympathetic to the legislation and to Obama's executive order on immigration, an order that purports to grant amnesty to over 5 million persons who came to the United States illegally. Not all of Mr. Levin's ire during his radio broadcast tonight was showered on Beiner and McConnell, however. He blasted Obama for the latest revelations on the scandal at the IRS. It now appears certain that thousands of documents, including income tax information about private citizens, were sent by the IRS to the White House. Apparently, another effort by Obama to discredit the Koch Brothers was the reason that some of the documents were sent to the White House.
Levin decried the lack of anger expressed by the media and even elected Republicans about such gross violations of the law. I would join with him on all of these counts. When elected officials so quickly act exactly contrary to the promises made during their campaigns is a gross violation of the voters' trust. It is also reprehensible to promise something and then not stick to your word. Shame on these men for doing what they did. And shame, again, on Obama, for what his office has done with the IRS in direct violation of American Federal Law.
In this most Holy Season of Advent, the cloistered sisters of Ephesus have recorded music for Advent through the auspices of the De Montfort Music company. De Montfort, a very small company that works with Catholic orders who regularly sing sacred music on their own. Visit their web page at http://www.demontfortmusic.com/ to learn of their offerings.
Maryland's basketball team actually moved up in the AP Top 25 in the latest poll released Monday. The poll, which has Kentucky at No. 1 and Duke at No. 2, moved the Terps up from 21 to 19 despite the fact that Maryland suffered its first setback of the season last Wednesday when they were defeated by Virginia, now ranked No. 6. Virginia beat Maryland in a hard fought game by 11 points, even though the Terps were without their leading scorer and best player, Dez Wells, and fellow starter Evan Smotrycz. Wells broke his wrist during the Terps victory over then No. 13 Iowa State, while Smotrycz reinjured the same foot that he broke during the offseason. Maryland rebounded from the loss to rout Winthrop on Saturday. They return to the Court on Wednesday for a game with North Carolina A & T. The game will be televised nationally on the BTN network, beginning at 7 pm Eastern Standard Time.
The Ravens' dominating performance against the Dolphins in Miami on Sunday caught many pundits by surprise. The feeling was that the "loss" to San Diego the week before - a second game literally stolen from the Ravens by NFL Officials - and the loss of All-Pro Defensive Lineman Hloti Ngata for the last four games of the regular season was the death knell to their playoff hopes for this season. Ngata was suspended by the NFL for substance violations. He would be eligible for the playoffs so long as the Ravens qualify. If you look at the standings today you will notice that the Ravens are technically not one of the playoff teams following this weekend's play. They are the first "team out," while the Steelers are the last team in because they have a slightly better division record than the Ravens. Both teams have identical 8-5 records, exactly one-half game behind the Bengals, who are 8-4-1. But hold on. The Ravens do control their own destiny. If the Ravens can win their remaining three games - home this Sunday against Jacksonville, at Houston and home against the Browns - they will qualify for the playoffs regardless of what the other teams in the conference do in their remaining games. Why? The Bengals and Steelers play each other again (they played each other this past weekend in Cincinatti) on the final week of the regular season. Even if both of those teams win their two games before that final weekend, something will have to give in that game. And the Ravens are so close to both of them that even if that is their only stumble, it will be enough to allow the Ravens to pass them. And if they tie? The Ravens would be 11-5 (.6875), the Steelers would be 10-5-1 (.667) and the Bengals would be 10-4-2 (.7142). But wait, the Bengals play Denver the week before they play Pittsburgh, and the Bengals are in Cleveland this weekend. I believe the Ravens will finish 11-5, the Steelers 10-6, and the Bengals 9-7-1. If the NFL officials hadn't stolen those two games from the Ravens, they would finiah at 13-3. If they finish at 11-5, they will be going into the playoffs as a 13-3 team. Watch out Patriots.
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