Obama’s War on Churchgoers

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Evolution of Species: The Neshoba County Fair is like "one big family reunion," says one attendee. That's me in the blue. (Photo: Tim Murphy)More Bros in More Places: The Neshoba County Fair is like “one big family reunion,” says one attendee. That’s me in the blue. (Photo: Tim Murphy)Natchez, Mississippi—I only have a few rules for this trip: never turn down a free meal; don’t use the bar soap at a public shower; and if a political candidate begins her stump speech with the phrase, “What I’ve gotta say is not gonna be politically correct,” always—always—make sure I have plenty of juice left in my Quick-Quotes Quill.

So with that in mind, I present Gail Giaramita, Constitution Party candidate for the House seat currently held by Travis Childers, a Democrat. Ms. Giaramita probably won’t be the next US Represenative for Mississippi, but if she loses in the fall, it won’t be because she ran away from her principles. As her campaign site puts it, “As a nurse, Gail views America as a body with cancer.”

That’s pretty much her stump speech, too. Here’s what she told the crowd at the Neshoba County Fair last week:

“What I’ve gotta say is not gonna be politically correct, but it’s gonna be the truth. Nothing’s gonna save America, unless we turn back to Holy God,” says Gail. “And when I say that, I’m talking about Jesus Christ.”

“There are two reasons why God has blessed America and the first is because we stand by Israel…There’s a book out there that’s interesting, and it shows that when America pressures Israel, catastrophes happen.” And what does that entail exactly? Two words: Hurricane Katrina (gays: you’re off the hook!). Gail is running for Congress to put a stop to the nonsense. Ever since the Supreme Court outlawed school prayer, the nation has been in a precepitous decline falling deeper and deeper as Christians become relegated to second- and then third- and maybe even fourth-class citizens.

Under Obama, things may be worse than they’ve ever been: “I don’t know if we’re gonna be arrested for going to church. I don’t know!”

This may have only been the second most bizaare speech I saw at the Fair, though. First place goes the Honorable Vernon Cotton, an incumbent circuit court judge who began his speech by speaking directly to his challenger, seated a few rows from the front: “You were in my dream last night. I dreamed that you were robbed at gunpoint. Killed. Dead.” Just like the Lincoln-Douglas debates.

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This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

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WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

If you can, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones—that exists to make a difference, not a profit—with a donation of any amount today. We need more donations than normal to come in from this specific blurb to help close our funding gap before it gets any bigger.

payment methods

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