There's always going to be much growing up to do.
Friday, December 5, 2025
A Return to Muscular Christianity
In his new book, The Two Swords of Christ: Five Centuries of War Between Islam and the Warrior Monks of Christendom, Raymond Ibrahim sets the record straight about Christian military orders led by great captains of faith and ferocity that understood the need for what he calls “muscular Christianity.”
The Templars and Hospitallers
The title of the book alludes to history’s dominant Christian military orders: The Knights of the Temple and the Hospital, together representing the “Two Swords.”
In reinvigorating the accounts of these two orders, Ibrahim points to a larger theme also represented in the book’s title -- namely, that Christians “are to fight two sorts of evils with two sorts of swords -- a spiritual sword against spiritual enemies, and a physical sword against physical enemies.”
The notion of that Christians should be prepared for both spiritual and physical conflict comes from Luke’s Gospel where Christ instructs His disciples to sell their garments and buy a sword, and upon bringing Him two swords, He tells them, “It is enough.”
From this foundational context, Two Swords launches into a dramatic and captivating arc of history from the genesis of the two military orders through the improbable victories and harrowing defeats that framed their existence and eventual dissolution.
The journey starts in 1119 with the humble beginnings of nine Christian warriors led by a veteran of the First Crusade, Hugh of Payns, who decided to form “a brotherhood of guardians” to serve as a protective detail for Christian pilgrims traveling to and from Jerusalem.
This small band of veterans viewed their solemn enterprise as their own personal Christian ministry, so to speak. Ironically, the warrior monks were given the al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount as their lodge and operational headquarters, giving rise to the names “The Knights of the Temple,” or “Templars.”
A decade later, a forward-thinking and highly influential monk named Bernard of Clairvaux energetically championed the Templars’ cause.
Bernard saw the need for a new kind of soldier, one that “should be a man of God -- half lay, half religious, mighty in war and fervent in prayer.” His efforts led to formal recognition of the Templars as a religious order by the Catholic Church and its rapid growth to the tune of thousands of knights and training centers throughout Europe.Producing similar men who lived the warrior monk ethos was the order of the Knights of the Hospital of St. John.
As the name suggests, this order was founded as a Christian hospital in Jerusalem with the objective of caring for sick and injured Christian pilgrims, eventually opening their doors to the sick and poor in general. While the Hospitallers became a fierce military order on par with the Templars, they maintained their mission of caregiving throughout the order’s entire history.
Notably, Ibrahim brings to life the little-known fact that the Hospitallers transformed into preeminent naval tacticians after being forced to flee Acre and relocate to the island of Rhodes. In many ways, they were like modern Navy SEALs -- feared soldiers, highly skilled in warfare on both sea and land.
By the end of the book, this much about the two orders is quite clear: The Knights of the Temple and the Hospital were both “Christendom’s greatest warriors,” and “they were also among its more sincere and pious.”
The Big Picture of The Two Swords of Christ
Constructed as a series of short chapters, Two Swords has the pace and feel of a dramatic Netflix series.
Ibrahim brings this ancient world into vivid clarity while still telling a cohesive history of the two orders and centuries of clashes with Islamic empires fixated on conquering the West.
To that end, Two Swords features Ibrahim’s strength as a narrator and storyteller who seamlessly weaves in direct quotations and observations collected from eyewitness accounts or writings produced around the time of the events.
By pinning the stories to first-hand accounts written by both Christian and Muslim chroniclers, the book is grounded in the sobering reality that in the face of jihadists bent on Islamic hegemony, there will always be a need for Christians who embrace the pursuit “of those two ancient virtues -- piety and [righteous] militancy.”
This is especially true at a time when woke historians and politicians have spun the myth that Islamic violence is mainly the byproduct of Muslim anger at past Western colonialism.
In the end analysis, Two Swords, along with Ibrahim’s other works, eviscerates this secular revisionist and anti-Western historical rubbish, illustrating that jihad is doctrinal and that the words, deeds, and objectives of its adherents predictably form a pattern that dates back to the 7th century.
In that way, Ibrahim is much like Bernard of Clairvaux -- vigorously urging Christians to recognize the historical patterns of Islamic violence and awaken the warrior ethos that lies dangerously dormant on the pillow of 21st-century prosperity.
Socialism Is Antithetical to the Genuine American Dream
As life becomes more unaffordable for young people, socialism becomes more appealing.
According to a new set of polls exclusively targeting young likely voters, nearly three-in-four Americans aged 18 to 39 think the cost of housing has reached a crisis level, only about two-in-10 think they will be better off than their parents, and approximately six-in-10 want a nationwide rent freeze and government-run grocery stores in every town.
The polls, conducted by Rasmussen Reports and The Heartland Institute, also found that a solid majority of young likely voters want a democratic socialist to win the White House in 2028, including more than four-in-10 self-identified conservatives and two-thirds of those earning more than $200,000 per year.
Clearly, young people are very disillusioned.
Before you dismiss the disenchantment expressed by a large portion of America’s youth, it is vital to understand why such a big chunk of young people feel that the American dream is unreachable.
Although people have different definitions of the American dream, it generally refers to the concept that if you put your nose to the grindstone, you should reap the reward of being able to afford a comfortable place to live, along with the bare necessities like groceries, while also having the capacity to save for the future.
For some, the American dream is synonymous with home ownership. For others, it is about upward economic mobility and the notion that every generation should enjoy a better life than the previous one.
However you portray it, the common denominator of the American dream has been that if you work hard and play by the rules, you should prosper.
For more than two centuries, the American dream has been alive and well. It has inspired millions to come to the United States so that they can pursue happiness on their terms.
Since the dawn of the 21st century, the ability to pursue one’s happiness and the likelihood of achieving the American dream have dwindled primarily due to increased government meddling in core economic fields.
As we’ve seen government intervene more in areas like housing, education, health care, and energy, we’ve also witnessed the end of the invisible hand and the abandonment of free-market principles. We now live in an economy sick from decades of crony capitalist infiltration.
Never forget, crony capitalism breeds corruption, which fosters resentment among those who believe they cannot fully participate in the rigged system.
Unsurprisingly, we’ve also seen the cost of these essential items exceed the rate of inflation. The housing situation is particularly problematic. Consider these statistics: “Home prices have increased twice as much as overall inflation since 2013,” and “Millennials pay nearly twice as much as baby boomers did for homes in 1985.”
Amid this turmoil and frustration, young people are increasingly vulnerable to a socialist-infused American dream because they feel that the system has been rigged against them.
Unlike the traditional American dream, which emphasized personal responsibility and hard work, a new American dream is taking shape that puts government and the collective, not the individual, front and center.
Under the democratic socialist American dream, the government will ensure that all needs are met. Instead of promoting an equal playing field, the government will promote equal outcomes.
This is highly dangerous because it is anathema to the very principles that made America the land of opportunity, the world’s beacon of freedom, and the most prosperous nation in human history.
Young Americans need to learn that every time the government has tried to engineer equal outcomes, it has led to more poverty, envy, dependence, and many more awful consequences. Inevitably, it requires repression, coercion, and brute force because nearly all humans would rather be left to their own devices than become mere automatons in a socialist system.
The American dream is precious and unique because it puts the onus of responsibility on the individual, not the government. If young people really want to revive the American dream and make life affordable, they should reject big government socialism and demand a return to the free-market principles that made the American dream generally attainable for hard-working young people not that long ago.
J6 Pipe Bomb Suspect is Mentally Simple, His Father Worked with Civil Rights Lawyer Ben Crump
As the kids say, “this crazy”
If the story surrounding the J6 pipe bomber, Brian Cole, seemed suspicious this set of coincidences takes that suspicion to new levels of interesting.
According to the grandmother of suspected J6 pipe bomber Brian Cole Jr, he is a simple-minded man; an “autistic-like” 30-year-old who lived with his parents. “He would wear shorts all winter long, no matter how cold it was, he would be outside in shorts, walking — and he would wear red Crocs,” one longtime neighbor recalled. {SOURCE}
Brian Cole’s father is Brian Cole Sr. As noted by the Daily Wire, “Brian Cole, Jr. worked for a bail bonds company run by his father that worked to free illegal immigrants from ICE facilities and sued the Trump administration’s Department of Homeland Security.” {SOURCE} “Weeks before 30-year-old Cole Jr. allegedly planted pipe bombs at the headquarters of the Democrat and Republican parties on January 5, 2021, a court ruled against the company in its lawsuit attacking the Trump administration on immigration issues.”
Brian Cole Sr, operated bail bond companies in various states. Brian Cole Sr. accused a Rutherford County, Tennessee, Assistant District Attorney named John Zimmerman of racial persecution and asked the Biden DOJ to investigate after Zimmerman questioned the bail bond company’s business practice after the county suspended Cole from operating in a nearby district. Brian Cole Sr then hired, wait for it, Benjamin Crump to represent his interests.
Benjamin Crump is well known to this audience as the lawyer who represented the family of Trayvon Martin and the lawyer who fabricated a fake witness against George Zimmerman (unrelated to the Asst DA). Benjamin Crump has a history of manufacturing false witnesses based on racial cases.
In the Florida case, Ben Crump worked with Pam Bondi to advance the false witness claims [Rachel Jeantel, sold as Trayvon Martin’s girlfriend and ear-witness. She never was neither.] As Florida AG, Pam Bondi knewRachel Jeantel was a false witness but supported her friend Benjamin Crump in selling that story. [Evidence Here]
Now the legal representation of Ben Crump reappears in the DC pipe bomber story, having represented the father of the accused again using racial lawfare.
In the DC case, Pam Bondi is in charge of prosecuting Brian Cole Jr., who is claimed to be of easily manipulated simple mind, that seemingly carries a background motive of racial injustice against the interests of the father, Brian Cole Sr.
Put another way, Florida AG Pam Bondi previously helped her friend Ben Crump, a man of notorious racial manipulation, and now as U.S. AG Pam Bondi is prosecuting the son of Ben Crump client, Brian Cole Jr.
Above left is Pam Bondi working with Ben Crump in the Martin Lee Anderson case in Florida. On the right is Ben Crump with Brian Cole Sr, father of the accused J6 pipe bomber, Brian Cole Jr
Let's not Forget the Poor Narco-Terrorists
In the “old days,” proud leftists mocked Christians for their social concerns by theatrically asking, “Won’t somebody please think of the children?” The rhetorical barb was meant to portray non-leftists as being easily duped rubes who are always hyperventilating over some imaginary “moral panic.” These days, it is leftists who are constantly overreacting to Trump administration policies as if each one guarantees that the world will end.
Before President Trump even entered office back in 2017, the leftist press corps blob ran a glut of stories promising Americans that the outsider politician would start WWIII. After Trump used his time in office to avoid new military engagements and draw others to a close, that “moral panic” disappeared. Today leftist “journalists” are extremely worried that Trump will end the war in Ukraine. That proxy war between Russia and U.S.-NATO has always represented a real risk of runaway conflict between the world’s preeminent nuclear powers, yet the president’s earnest attempts to keep the matter from expanding into an apocalyptic nightmare now bother the same leftists who once pretended to fear WWIII.
For the first six months of Trump’s second term, leftist politicians and pundits screeched about the scourge of tariffs and how they would destroy the economy. Every night, the “best and brightest” pontificators in the land promised Americans that inflation would soon bury them. Instead, Trump and his economic team have successfully used tariffs to reorient global trade to Americans’ benefit. The story of Trump’s first year back in office is that Biden’s four years of double-digit inflation has finally been tamed. Where are all the political prognosticators who once promised economic doom? They are largely silent. When they do mention inflation, they usually try to pretend that all the economic carnage that occurred on Biden’s watch is now somehow Trump’s fault. People with functioning brains just see liars spreading more lies.
With the return of President Trump came renewed border security and an all-of-government approach to tackling illegal immigration. The country is desperate for solutions after the Biden administration dropped some twenty million foreigners into communities across the country. If “journalists” paid any attention to real Americans’ concerns, they would know that local school districts are struggling to teach an influx of children who speak no English. They would know that counties are struggling to overcome immigration-related property thefts and spikes in violent crimes. They would know that urban, suburban, and rural Americans feel much less safe after the Biden administration flooded the country with unvetted illegal aliens.
“Journalists” have stuck their heads so far up their derriΓ¨res, however, that they know none of these things. Instead, they spend all their time pleading for activist judges such as James Boasberg to save Afghan terrorists, human traffickers, and cartel members from deportation. They give foreigners who break our laws affectionate but misleading monikers such as “Maryland man” or “undocumented citizen.” They ignore the illegal alien truck drivers who were unlawfully provided commercial licenses before going on to kill Americans on the road. They ignore the homicidal illegal aliens who hunt, rape, and murder American women. They ignore the economic hardships that low-income Americans endure when illegal aliens compete for their jobs and push up the monthly rent. While leftist “journalists” portray ICE agents as Gestapo thugs and pretend that every illegal alien is a saint, citizens are desperately asking why leftists can’t be bothered to care about actual Americans who pay the deadly price of open borders.
Now the leftist press corps blob is throwing tantrums over Secretary of War Pete Hegseth’s unapologetic campaign against narco-terrorists attempting to transport poison into the United States. Every time the War Department uploads video of the U.S. military destroying speedboats loaded down with drugs, regular Americans cheer. They know firsthand what the cost of losing the war on drugs has been these last three decades: Family members are dead. Small towns have been destroyed. Organized crime thrives not only in cities but also across rural states with limited law enforcement. The drug cartels are a clear and present danger to the United States precisely because they deliver only one thing to America: death. Still, every night some leftist news anchor or Democrat politician cries crocodile tears for the forgotten due process rights of the drug runners whose bodies continue to sink in international waters. “Won’t somebody please think of the narco-terrorists?” our morally obtuse “moral panickers” in the press cry from the comfort of their corporate news safe spaces. Once again, the leftist Fourth Estate proves itself as America’s unofficial Fifth Column.
Leftist “journalists” and politicians will likely never get their “moral panic” under control. As psychologists are all too aware, “Trump Derangement Syndrome” is real. A lot of sufferers who struggle with their Trump-related anxieties too often turn to drugs. Now that President Trump and Secretary of War Hegseth are tossing drug traffickers into Davy Jones’ Locker, it’s harder for leftists to lean on that chemical crutch. Unless leftists can learn to love Americans more than they love narco-terrorists, Democrats’ collective case of “moral panic” is going nowhere. Normal people should recognize the signs, avoid the crazies, and use the mute button whenever possible.
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Watch Out: 2026 FISA 702 Reauthorization
The authority for the United States government to capture the electronic records of all Americans without warrant falls under the auspices of FISA-702. The current authority expires in April of 2026.
Some administrative state defenders will argue this issue with me. However, having researched almost every aspect to the construct, and the argument, I am confident FISA-702 authority underpins the much bigger, quasi-constitutional justification for the wholesale collection of U.S. citizen metadata. Without the 702 authority, the legal justification for the apparatus of surveillance no longer exists. It really is that simple.
That said, there remains ZERO justification for the wholesale capture of U.S. citizen data by the government. It is not the searching of the database that presents the issue; the capture itself violates the Fourth Amendment.
The only way the government can justify the capture of U.S. Citizen data is if there is some quasi-constitutional or national security reason for it. That’s where FISA-702 comes in.
Take away “702” search authority, and the data collection argument collapses; ANY “incidental” search of the database then loses any plausible legal justification. 702 is the camel’s nose under the tent that forms the baseline for all data records to be intercepted, stored and ultimately available for review.
This is a very key component to fully understand. Most practical applications of surveillance are contingent upon the capture of electronic records for tracking. Ex. – if domestic travel records are considered private papers (never argued yet), then government agencies have no right to exploit them without a valid search warrant underpinned by a national security justification. The government, not private sector – government, tracking people becomes more difficult if privacy rules are applied.
The legal aspect runs through the 4th Amendment, which -while historically undefined in the modern era- likely stirs in the background of the recent TSA decision to provide a $45 opt-out, for the use of REAL ID in domestic transit (interstate commerce application notwithstanding).
The Fourth Amendment aspect to the ‘warrantless’ government capture of American citizen records has never been fully argued in court; the modern definitions are opaque, and the govt has a vested interest in retaining the untested status quo.
The Intelligence Community (IC) has told Congress, particularly the House and Senate Intelligence Committees, that all hell will break loose if they don’t reauthorize full electronic surveillance of Americans.
Congress has historically been scared of the “seven ways from Sunday” IC. However, now Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard is attempting to change things; specifically change things as they pertain to the domestic use of the intelligence agencies.
As the counterargument is made, House Speaker Mike Johnson, and all of the key participants, are siloed from understanding that 702 has nothing to do with incidental collection of American data, whilst the honorable IC were doing foreign intercepts.
According to intelligence experts, Speaker Johnson and most Republicans believe the IC justification, and perhaps many of them pretend not to know the alternatives. I do not buy this argument, because too much recent evidence exists to sell the story that Congress is unknowing of how this metadata capture is being continually exploited.
The only way to really test congressional knowledge is to question them. No one is questioning them.
In my opinion, the politicians and their key staff pretend they cannot fathom how the FBI, DOJ, NSD, DHS and contractors use this database to conduct political and “other” (think corporate espionage for sale) surveillance. When you engage with them, you realize they really do put on a great show proclaiming the IC is full of honorable rank-and-file, trying to walk a fine line between the 4th Amendment and exploitation. The counter position is akin to them living in a DC bubble.
The IC argument is now something akin to how we have let thousands of terrorists into the country through the southern border crisis. They say: “My god, we need to monitor the terrorists, and if you take away the 702, the foreign terror cells will activate and start killing us all. Do you want that blood on your hands?” You cannot take away surveillance tools.
Then you overlay the FISA 702 reauthorization argument, as used as a bargaining chip by the same people who don’t want to get caught up in the surveillance.
The DC conversations end up like, “Ok, we’ll reauthorize it, but you cannot use it against us – and all the sex parties and perverted stuff we do when no one is around; you must promise to keep our secrets hidden“… Then, just like the 2024 reauthorization change, they exempt themselves.
The IC agree to accept a reauthorization that exempts Congress. The IC keep the process – just promise not to use it against Congress. This outlook is what we see visible in the CR bill extension that included forbidding the FBI from seeking search warrants against Senator’s telecommunications, and this outlook is highlighted by Elise Stefanik demanding that Congress be notified if any federal candidate for office is under investigation. The Big Club protects the Big Club.
Unfortunately, ‘We The People’ do not have many friends in DC on this issue, other than a very small group in/around Tulsi Gabbard’s office, and they are constantly under attack.
The DC UniParty will attempt to reauthorize 702 to continue exploiting their surveillance authority. Do not forget, now we have over 10,000 log-in portals with access to the NSA database exist, including the workstation at Perkins Coie that tied into the NSA database {GO DEEP}.
♦ Here’s where we need to stay elevated, as the DC manipulation toward their 2026 end goal starts to become visible.
The Intelligence Authorization Act (IAA) and the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) are currently being worked and updated within the legislature. As we saw with Elise Stefanik’s amendment, the IAA/NDAA votes are being purchased right now.
The NDAA secures funding for the industrial war machine and members of the Senate Armed Services Committee (via lobbyist spending) [Republicans love Money]. The IAA secures funding for the Fourth Branch of government, and the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (via deep state control) [Democrats love Control].
In January 2026, the short-term Continuing Resolution that reopened government will end.
Why this aspect matters. Fiscal year 2026 needs to be fully funded at the same time legislation for the IAA/NDAA is more than likely to be updated.
My suspicion is that all of the required funding, along with the passage of the IAA/NDAA, will be wrapped into one legislative package so that all of the ugly is hidden by all of the mandatory, and that’s where the FISA-702 angle comes into play.
We need to keep an eye open for the 702-reauthorization getting pulled into this pending legislative mess.
After spending several years asking every representative of consequence why they support the FISA-702 process, I can tell you every one of them says they believe it is needed, because the IC tells them there are just too many domestic terror threats that need to be monitored.
It is almost impossible to find a person in DC who will forcefully try to stop FISA-702 reauthorization.
If you ask me why in hindsight, I now take the position that FISA-702 is the gateway to the massive surveillance system currently being put into place using Real ID and the AI facial recognition software provided by Palantir (CIA exploit). In essence, the gateway that allows the full-scale surveillance state, is opened by the prior authorization of FISA-702 that negates any 4th Amendment protection.
BIG Why? Because all of the surveillance mechanisms within the network being updated and enhanced by AI search and capture, comes from the IC being allowed to exploit the NSA database. That same database access allowance is the targeting mechanism for FISA-702. If warrantless searches of the NSA database were stopped, the Palantir/IC and Tech Bro collaboration could hit a brick wall.
The significance of this FISA-702 issue is much bigger than most can appreciate.
This surveillance underpinning also reconciles many of the puzzled faces when it comes to who is permitted nomination and who is not. The DC Deep State confirmed both Kash Patel to be Donald Trump’s FBI Director (SSCI), and Pam Bondi to be U.S. Attorney General (SJC). Both Bondi and Patel are expressed believers in the value of FISA-702.
You might even remember this odd question from October of this year that came out of nowhere. Attorney General Bondi literally read a script on the issue that was prepared for her. WATCH:
Additionally, the nomination of Tulsi Gabbard to be Director of National Intelligence was initially opposed by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI), until she acquiesced and agreed there was value in the FISA-702 process.
To explain how serious this issue underpins the control elements of Washington DC, watch this next clip as Senator Lindsey Graham starts foaming at the mouth and yelling about something that doesn’t even exist.
FISA-702 ONLY pertains to the private conversations of AMERICANS, not – I repeat – not any intercept or communication method that has to do with a foreigner or foreign adversary.
The only time FISA-702 applies is when an American person is captured in an intercept that has targeted a foreign person. Surveillance of foreign actors, foreign persons and intercepting communication of foreign entities, does not require any FISA authority at all. Foreign actors do not have constitutional protection.
FISA-702 only applies when the intercept of a foreign person is connected to communication with an American person. In that specific scenario, FISA-702 gives the U.S. government the authority to query the database of the American person.
However, the database search queries of Americans, people who have no contact with any foreign person, is the privacy aspect that has been abused by the intelligence apparatus. Senator Lindsey Graham comes unglued as he starts gaslighting on this issue. WATCH (prompted):
Everything you have just read emphasizes how important this FISA-702 reauthorization is to the worst elements of those within Congress who control the levers of power and use it for affluence.
Secret courts, secret justifications, warrantless surveillance and ultimately control. That’s what is at stake.
We have a few weeks before things get really ugly, but they will get ugly.
Deals will be cut. Offers will be made. Corruption throughout this argument will run amok.
In the background of every headline, that will surface over the next two months, this issue will enmesh.
We need to watch closely how National Security Advisor Marco Rubio, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and Vice President JD Vance respond to the surfacing issues.
All of the modern surveillance mechanisms, within the U.S. government network currently being updated and enhanced by AI search and capture, come from the gateway of 702; ie. govt being allowed to exploit the NSA database against Americans.
If warrantless searches of the NSA database are legally stopped, or no longer authorized, the gate closes and the DHS, Palantir/IC and Tech Bro surveillance collaboration hit a brick wall.
This is my hill!
