ISIS Advances 

While Barack Obama is waging war on climate change, ISIS is advancing on all fronts. The key Iraqi city of Ramadi fell over the weekend. Yesterday, the jihadists seized the ancient city of Palmyra, Syria. Ramadi is 80 miles from Baghdad. Palmyra is 130 miles from Damascus.

The Associated Press reports that nearly 17,000 foreigners from 90 countries are reinforcing the jihadi ranks. By some accounts, ISIS -- that "JV team" Obama once dismissed -- may now control more than half of Syria, including most of its gas and oil fields. Combined with its territory in Iraq, the Islamic State is larger than Great Britain. 

A year ago, Obama admitted that he didn't have a strategy for dealing with ISIS. It is increasingly obvious that he still does not have one. Even many on the left now realize it and they are starting to speak up. 

Former CNN commentator Piers Morgan penned a blistering op-ed this week warning that ISIS was winning and that President Obama "only has himself to blame." Here's an excerpt: 
 

"Obama's had plenty of time to devise a successful strategy for dealing with the emerging threat of ISIS, and so far he has spectacularly failed. 

"As they beheaded Americans, he made somber speeches, then played golf minutes literally seven minutes later. . . . The clear message? 'Don't worry, I've got this all under control.' Only he hasn't. Many parts of Iraq and Syria are demonstrably raging OUT of control. Obama's 'lead from behind' military strategy . . . now looks hopelessly misguided. His decision to pull U.S. troops out of Iraq seems even more disastrous. . .

"It's time President Obama stopped talking a good game, and actually played one. Because I don't think it's too big a leap to suggest ISIS currently represents one of the biggest threats to global peace since the Nazis. . . . Sometimes, as the world found with Hitler, the only way to beat such an oppressive, evil enemy is through might. . . .

"President Obama has to stop telling us how well everything's going, admit this is now a very serious and unstable situation, and do something meaningful about it. . . . In short, the President has to show that the golf clubs are back in the bag now, and he's serious. ISIS is winning. They must be stopped. Or we'll all lose."

Scouts Cave 

Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates, also the national president of the Boy Scouts of America, said today that he is urging the BSA to end its ban on homosexual adult leaders. Press reports say the decision was made "in order to avert potentially destructive legal battles." 

I can't say that I am surprised. It was inevitable after the organization liberalized its membership rules two years ago. Many families committed to Judeo-Christian values have since joined Trail Life USA. 

But note the reasoning behind this decision. The tolerant thing to do would have been for gay scouts to form their own group rather than demand that the Boy Scouts of America change its values under threat of "destructive legal battles." 

But the militant left isn't asking for tolerance. It is demanding submission to its agenda. 

The Silencing 

Speaking of the intolerant left, if you're looking for good summer reading material, I recommend Kirsten Powers' new book, "The Silencing: How The Left Is Killing Free Speech." 

Conservatives have long complained about the media's liberal bias. But even some liberals like Powers are disturbed by the left's increasing intolerance and hostility. 

A USA Today columnist and commentator on Fox News, Powers is a recent convert to Christianity and it seems the scales are falling from her eyes in more ways than one. Consider this excerpt from her book:
 

"This intolerance is not a passive matter of opinion. It's an aggressive, illiberal impulse to silence people. This conduct has become an existential threat to those who hold orthodox religious beliefs. But increasingly I hear from people across the political spectrum who are fearful not only of expressing their views, but also as to where all of this is heading. 

"I've followed this trend closely as a columnist with growing concern. It's become clear that the attempts -- too often successful -- to silence dissent from the liberal worldview aren't isolated outbursts. They are part of a bigger story."

Needless to say, Powers is now under incredible attack from the left, which is attempting -- of course -- to silence her! I don't agree with Powers on everything, but she is absolutely right about the left. And I am happy to recommend her book as a way of showing support for free speech and expression. 

Cruz vs. Liberal Media Bias 

Tuesday Senator Ted Cruz did a brief interview with a local reporter in Beaumont, Texas. The reporter repeatedly hectored Cruz with "gotcha" questions such as, "Do you have a personal animosity toward gay Americans?"

Here's what Cruz said:
 

"Is there something about the left -- and I am going to put the media in this category -- that is obsessed with sex? . . . ISIS is executing homosexuals -- you want to talk about gay rights? This week was a very bad week for gay rights because the expansion of ISIS, the expansion of radical, theocratic, Islamic zealots that crucify Christians, that behead children and that murder homosexuals -- that ought to be concerning you far more than asking six questions all on the same topic."

Sticking to his script, the reporter again asked, "Do you have a personal animosity toward gay Americans?" Cruz shot back: 
 

"Do you have a personal animosity against Christians, sir? Your line of questioning is highly curious. You seem fixated on a particular subject. Look, I'm a Christian. Scripture commands us to love everybody. And what I have been talking about, with respect to same-sex marriage, is the Constitution, which is what we should all be focused on. The Constitution gives marriage to elected state legislators. It doesn't give the power of marriage to a president or to unelected judges to tear down the decisions enacted by democratically elected state legislatures."

That is how conservatives should handle hostile media or liberals hostile to our values.