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Most everybody watched James Comey testify in front of the Senate Intelligence Committee yesterday---or at least heard about it or saw soundbites.
But the headlines from the conservative right and the secular progressive left-leaning news organizations tell contrasting stories.
What is the truth?
What really happened yesterday?
Personal Note: I am taking two days off next week. We will not publish this column Monday or Tuesday, but will resume on Wednesday. Have a great weekend.
AXIOS reported dozens and dozens of news stories yesterday, each with a particular biased regarding the Comey hearings.
The following is a sample of headlines following the hearing----from the right and from the left:
From the Right:
Breitbart: JAMES COMEY CORROBORATES TRUMP NOT UNDER INVESTIGATION, DID NOT PRESSURE HIM TO DROP RUSSIA PROBE
National Review: Again, Pressure is not Obstruction
Daily Caller: Comey: 'No' Trump didn't ask me to stop investigation
The Blaze: Comey: Lynch directed me to downplay Clinton email probe
From the Left:
Huffington Post: Lying Trump W.H. 'defamed' me
Buzzfeed: "Lies, plain and simple"
ThinkProgress: Comey suggests there's some truth to allegations in the explosive Trump dossier
As I listened and read the comments from both sides of the "Comey Show," I was reminded of a quote by theologian A.W. Tozer:
"So skilled is error at imitating truth, that the two are constantly being mistaken for each other. It takes a sharp eye these days to know which brother is Cain and which is Abel."
An uninformed citizenry is often misled.
I think we saw some clarification on "Cain and Abel" yesterday
The far Left New York Times featured this:
“Those were lies, plain and simple,” Mr. Comey said in brief opening remarks.
Mr. Trump made that claim when he fired Mr. Comey last month. Mr. Comey said he was confused and concerned by Mr. Trump’s changing explanation for why he fired him.
Mr. Comey learned of his firing from the news media. He offered a heartfelt farewell to his former employees.
“I am so sorry I didn’t get to say goodbye to you publicly,” Mr. Comey said.
Sarah Huckabee Sanders, a White House spokeswoman, said that Mr. Trump watched some of the hearing but was also focusing on other matters. Asked to respond to Mr. Comey’s assertion that the president had lied, she said, “I can definitively say the president is not a liar, and frankly I’m insulted by that question.”
Interestingly, Alan Dershowitz, a professor of law---not a conservative--wrote yesterday that Comey confirmed what he, Dershowitz, has been saying all along: "Under our Constitution the president has the authority to direct the FBI to stop investigating any individual...our history shows that many presidents---from Adams, to Jefferson, to Roosevelt, to Kennedy, to Bush I, to Obama, presidents have directed the Justice Department with regard to investigations."
"Yet," he says, "virtually every Democratic pundit, in their haste to 'get' President Trump, has willingly ignored these realities. In doing so they have endangered our civil liberties and constitutional rights."
Well, they don't really care about civil liberties or constitutional rights in this matter. As Dershowitz rightly pointed out---it's all about "getting Trump."
And the Left is very skilled in using error to imitate truth.
Fox News featured stories like--"Comey: Trump didn't order me to drop Flynn Probe," "Lynch-Clinton Meeting was why email probe went public," and "Rubio To Comey: Only thing not Leaked is that POTUS Was Not Under Investigation."
So we learned yesterday, that the president did not obstruct the law, the Russians did not influence a single vote in our last election---try as they might---there was no collusion between Trump and the Russians and Trump did not direct Comey to stop any investigations---although a president can constitutionally do so, and have.
And we learned that Comey doesn't like Trump and accused him of being a liar. Potentially.
Millions of Americans will be trying to make sense of all they heard last night on the news. I doubt few minds will be changed.
What is the truth?
Perhaps the most poignant comments of the day were actually being made by the president himself while the Comey hearing was in progress.
Yesterday, President Trump attended a Faith and Freedom Coalition meeting in DC, while the Comey hearing was under way.
He told the gathering of evangelicals, "We will not back down from doing what is right because as the Bible tells us, we know that the truth will prevail."
He said, "The entrenched interests and failed bitter voices in Washington will do anything in their power to try and stop us from this righteous cause," pointing out that enemies of his agenda would continue to "lie and obstruct" and "spread their hatred and prejudice."
The president said, "As you know, we are under siege. You understand that. But we will come out bigger and better and stronger than ever, you watch."
Yes, we conservative Christians do know we are under siege. The press, the far Left, including the religious Left, and the institutions they unfortunately control, are trying to stop the righteous cause of freedom of religion and freedom of religious expression in America. And they are trying to erase our borders in the name of social justice.
Then the president said this: "As long as I'm president, nobody is going to stop you from practicing your faith or from preaching what is in your heart."
I believe him.
I believe we have a friend in the White House.
I believe, with God's help, I can distinguish between Cain and Abel.
And I believe you can too.
Be Informed. Be Discerning. Be Vigilant. Be Encouraged. Be Bold. Be Prayerful.