Clarity from Chaos

By: Dave Campbell

Remember the Magna Carta

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The American Freedom Alliance, a think tank and policy network based in Southern California, has announced the convention of an international conference to address the historical consequences of the sealing of the Magna Carta at Runnymede in England on June 15, 1215.

The Magna Carta, sealed by King John, was a means by which English barons sought to check the arbitrary power of the monarch as it related to their own property and personal interests. Yet among its 63 clauses are found the beginnings of representative government, equality before the law, parliamentary rule and many of the liberties enjoyed by individuals throughout the West today.

The Conference, titled Magna Carta: The 800 Year Struggle for Human Liberty, will take place over two days, Sunday evening, June 14 and Monday morning, June 15, 2015 at the Luxe Sunset Blvd Hotel in Bel Air. The Conference will link with ceremonies at Runnymede in the United Kingdom, commemorating the events which took take place there in 1215; it will call on former and current world leaders such as the former prime-minister of Australia John Howard and Hon. Daniel Hannan, to offer their commentary of the fundamental importance of the Magna Carta in the development of the common law and the many protections that arose thereafter to safeguard property and personal rights against encroachment by the government.

“This conference was established as a means of addressing the rapid evaporation of interest by scholars, academics and the general public in the centuries long battle for the achievement of what today we regard as basic human rights, but would not have been possible without the initial bold action of the Magna Carta” said Avi Davis, President of the American Freedom Alliance. “We will also pay homage to and examine the role of the the Anglo sphere, those countries settled by and associated with the United Kingdom who jointly contributed to the spread of liberty and the safeguarding of human rights.”

Details of the conference can be found at the conference website: http://www.americanfreedomalliance.org/microsite/magnacarta/index.htm

The American Freedom Alliance a non-partisan, non-aligned movement which promotes, defends and upholds Western values and ideals. The Alliance sponsors conferences, publishes opinions, distributes information and creates networking groups to identify threats to Western civilization and to motivate, educate and unite citizens in support of that cause.

Avi Davis, is the President of the American Freedom Alliance, the editor of The Intermediate Zone whose work has appeared in hundreds of papers and periodicals throughout the world including the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Philadelphia Inquirer, The Australian and regularly in The American Thinker.

Republican Senators: Hero or Traitor

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“Republican lawmakers warned the leaders of Iran on Monday that any nuclear deal they cut with President Barack Obama could expire the day he leaves office. The White House denounced the GOP’s latest effort to undercut the international negotiations as a “rush to war.”

Monday’s open letter from 47 GOP senators marked an unusually public and aggressive attempt to undermine Obama and five world powers as negotiators try to strike an initial deal by the end of March to limit Iran’s nuclear programs.

Republicans say a deal would be insufficient and unenforceable, and they have made a series of proposals to undercut or block it — from requiring Senate say-so on any agreement to ordering new penalty sanctions against Iran or even making a pre-emptive declaration of war.

Obama, noting that some in Iran also want no part of any deal, said “I think it’s somewhat ironic that some members of Congress want to make common cause with the hardliners in Iran. It’s an unusual coalition.”

The letter was written by freshman Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, who opposes negotiations with Iran. It’s addressed to the “Leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran” and presents itself as a constitutional primer to the government of an American adversary. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky’s signature is on it, as are those of several prospective presidential candidates.

Explaining the difference between a Senate-ratified treaty and a mere agreement between Obama and Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the senators warned: “The next president could revoke such an executive agreement with the stroke of a pen, and future Congresses could modify the terms of the agreement at any time.”

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif responded via state media, dismissing the letter as a “propaganda ploy” and noting that many international deals are “mere executive agreements.” He suggested the senators were undermining not only the prospective deal with Iran but other international agreements as well.

With Cotton presiding over the Senate on Monday, Democratic leader Harry Reid spoke out, saying Republicans were driven by animosity toward Obama and unwilling to recognize that American voters had twice elected him president.

“Let’s be very clear: Republicans are undermining our commander-in-chief while empowering the ayatollahs,” Reid said.”

Avi Davis, is the President of the American Freedom Alliance, the editor of The Intermediate Zone whose work has appeared in hundreds of papers and periodicals throughout the world including the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Philadelphia Inquirer, The Australian and regularly in The American Thinker.

www.americanfreedomalliance.org