Kyle Stanley

Does The Lord of the Rings have Christian themes? First, Tolkien said: “The Lord of the Rings is of course a fundamentally religious and Catholic work” Second, the three main characters reflect the threefold office of Christ; prophet, priest, and king. 1. Gandalf represents The Prophet 2. Frodo Baggins reflects The Priest 3. Aragorn embodies The King Let’s analyze this in more details Gandalf ~ Prophet: Gandalf dies in Moria and is reborn as Gandalf the White. He guides and counsels others, shaping events toward good. Like Christ the prophet, who revealed God’s truth and called people to repentance, Gandalf’s wisdom helps save Middle-earth from Sauron. Frodo ~ Priest: Frodo symbolically “dies” under the Morgul-knife and is healed by Elrond, yet continues to carry the Ring to Mount Doom. Like Christ, the High Priest, he bears suffering and sacrifice for the sake of others, helping to save Middle-earth. Aragorn ~ King: Aragorn walks the Paths of the Dead and reappears in Gondor to restore order and lead his people. Like Christ the King, he rules with justice and courage, securing the victory over. Additionally, The One Ring symbolizes sin and there are several Christian themes as well. I have read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings series twice. It’s a fantastic series that I would highly recommend everyone to read. I also recommend watching the movies. If you don’t watch the movies or read the books then you are really missing out on something special.

Bob Costas supports the IOC's decision to ban men from women's sports in the Olympics. The host of 12 Olympic Games broadcasts might have thought to weigh in before this game was decided!! Thanks a lot Bob.

Breaking: The Connecticut Sun franchise is being sold to the Fertitta family to bring the WNBA back to Houston for a record-breaking price for a WNBA team of $300 million, sources confirmed to ESPN on Friday. This news was first reported by the PaperCity Magazine of Houston.

BREAKING TMZ is asking for pictures of members of Congress on vacation: “If anybody goes to Disney World with their family for spring break or anywhere on vacation and you see 1 of the 535 members of Congress, take a picture & send it to us. We will post that picture on our website, on our social media, & we will put it on our television shows. We want to show what they are doing at your expense.” 👏

Where we are on TSA funding...The Senate unanimously decided to give in to Democrat demands to not fund ICE or CBP. They passed a bill by voice vote (which is why you saw them leaving town last night before the actual vote early this morning). The Senate sent it to the House to fund all of DHS except ICE and the Border Patrol (CBP), the agencies responsible for enforcing our immigration laws and removing criminal illegal aliens from the country. This surrender by Senate Republicans was passed in the middle of the night and then the entire Senate decided to go home for 2.5 weeks. This leaves the House with 3 undesirable options: (1) Pass the bill as is, cutting funding for U.S. immigration enforcement (2) Amend the bill to include funding for ICE and CBP and send it back to the Senate. Unfortunately given the Senate’s decision to take a 2.5-week vacation, the DHS shutdown would continue (3) Reject the bill, continuing the shutdown of DHS Given the Rules of the House, passing this bill as-is also has procedural barriers to overcome If there is bipartisan consensus behind a bill, typically the easiest way to pass the bill is under suspension of the rules. Under suspension of the rules, debate is limited to 40 minutes and it requires a 2/3 majority to pass. Unfortunately, clause 1(a) of Rule XV of the House provides “the Speaker may not entertain a motion that the House suspend the rules except on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays”. Meaning we could not consider the bill under suspension of the rules until Monday. The other way in which to pass bills in the House is by passing a rule providing for consideration of the bill and then moving on to consider the bill under that rule. But, clause 6(a) of Rule XIII provides “a report by the Committee on Rules on a rule, joint rule, or the order of business may not be called up for consideration on the same day it is presented to the House”. This is what’s known as the “same day” rule. Under clause 6(a) of Rule XIII, there are limited exceptions in which a House may consider a rule the same day it is reported to the House by the Rules Committee. This includes when 2/3 of the House vote to do so. This is one way to pass the DHS appropriations bill (without ICE and CBP funding) today. There are also various ways in which the House can waive its own rules, including through unanimous consent, through a resolution, or other mechanism. The House can also adjourn midday and start a new legislative day after the rule is reported, bypassing the same-day rule because it is technically a new legislative day. There are still a lot of challenges ahead, but we are fully committed to getting ALL of DHS reopened for the American people. I am willing to stay in Washington through the weekend or for however long it takes, to get this done.