Continuing on from previous posts (2007-8, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012) let us continue surveying the articles within the issues of PCG's Trumpet Weekly.
Among the notable articles here are:
Joel Hilliker declaring that Palestinians children are raised up to be filled with hate. (March 23 issue).
Ron Fraser insinuating that the victory of the Allies in World War II delayed Christ's second coming to allow HWA to preach. (June 15 issue.)
Richard Palmer saying democracy for Egyptians will just create "an Islamist state."
Most Egyptians support a radical Islamic constitution. Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak held radicalism in check only through brute force. Democracy automatically puts Egypt on the path to becoming an Islamist state. (July 20 issue.)
Ron Fraser having "real anger" over the closure of several US diplomatic offices in the Middle East. (August 10 issue.)
Jeremiah Jacques portraying the late Trayvon Martin as a person with "a history of violence" and a user of illegal drugs. (September 7 issue).
Joel Hilliker making the ridiculous and fanciful statement that America is broke. (October 25 issue.)
Joel Hilliker repeating the long standing canard that the US government is out to get people's guns. (November 9 issue.)
PCG's writers seeing their confident prediction that the Muslim Brotherhood would transform Egypt into a radicalized state like Iran fail completely.
PCG's writers see Pope Benedict XVI resigning. For years PCG had vilified him. Now they could not vilify him anymore.
More fear mongering about the Benghazi terrorist attack.
PCG's writers predicting the murderous Assad regime would soon fall.
Let us begin.
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January 5. "Pope Brings English Church To Heel" by Richard Palmer. Here Palmer fear mongers that the Pope is showing his rise to power by persuading some Anglicans to join the Roman Catholic Church.
"French Muslims run riot on New Year's Eve" (TW in brief, p. 5). PCG's writers have a long and shameful history of demonizing and vilifying Muslims presenting them in the worst possible light. This little article of theirs continues this shameful tradition.
French youths celebrated New Year’s by burning 1193 cars. Car burnings at the turn of the year are becoming tradition. Most of the burning took place in France’s poor Muslim districts.
"Ethiopia Breaks Up Islamist Cell" (Reuters). This Reuters article is included in this issue by PCG's writers to advance PCG's dogma that Ethiopia would be conquered by extremist Muslims. PCG's leaders began teaching this in 2011. We are still waiting for this to occur.
"Next Crisis: Debt Ceiling" by Robert Morley. In times past raising the debt ceiling was an act as mundane and routine as turning on the light when you enter the room at night. It was done all the time without hardly any bother. But recently Republican legislators decided to politicize it in an attempt to weaken the Democratic Party's legislators and the Obama Administration. These facts are hidden when PCG's writers fear monger about this artificial crisis created by the will of legislators, not a weak economy.
January 12. "Europe--Key Issue of 2013" by Ron Fraser. Here Fraser praises Stratfor. PCG's leaders have had a long history of consulting with discussing political events with its CEO, George Friedman, since at least 1999.
Our readers would be aware of the esteem in which we have held Stratfor among the motley collection of geopolitical think tanks that comment regularly on the world scene.
Stratfor’s analyses of world events most often reflect deeply-thought-out scenarios that project clear predictive forecasting based on a chain of events currently happening on the world scene, with a particular view to non-revisionist history.
Inevitably this approach may be traced back to the keen mind of Stratfor’s founder and CEO, George Friedman.
Being of Hungarian Jewish descent, it comes as no surprise that Friedman’s appreciation of European history and current events is most acute. Thus it is that we find ourselves currently agreeing with him that the most vital geopolitical events of 2013 will center on Europe.
"New evidence shows Mandela was Communist Party member" (p. 8). I am not going to discuss whether this is true or not but it must be stated that this little article is in line with PCG's constant belittling and condemnation of the current African National Congress (ANC) government ruling South Africa. Even if this is true that does not change the fact that Mandela led a larger and more powerful political party, namely the ANC.
Such documents show that South Africa’s transformation into a one-party, socialist state was planned years in advance.
This is nonsense. South Africa is not a one party state in the sense that only one political party is allowed to operate. There are other political parties in South Africa that operate there freely. However because of the ANC's prominent role in the anti-Apartheid struggle a majority of South African vote for them as is their right as citizens of South Africa.
If PCG's leaders really do not like the ANC ruling South Africa maybe they should go to South Africa, join an opposition party like the Democratic Party or some other party and persuade people to vote for another party.
"Women Storm the Senate" by Joel Hilliker. Here Hilliker moans about female Senators that are elected by their voters.
Do you suppose that they would actually stop “the fight” [to have more elected female Senators] upon reaching 50, considering how much better women senators supposedly are?
January 19. "Croatia to Join EU Though Flouting Rules" by Ron Fraser. Since 1999 PCG's writers have made it habit to portray Croatia in the worst possible light. But they do not do this merely to right wrongs. Instead PCG's condemnation of Croatia is simply a way to demonize Germany and trick people into thinking that Germany will soon conquer America.
"'We Don't Have a Spending Problem'" by Gerald Flurry. Here a Key of David telecast is advertized. Actually America's Federal debt is actually lower per capita then what it was in the 1940s.
"A Major Cause For The Wimpification of Men" by Joel Hilliker. Here Hilliker condemns video games and pornography as having negative effects upon men.
January 26. "America Thrusts Wives and Moms Into Combat" by Joel Hilliker. Here Hilliker condemns women serving as soldiers in the US military. If Hilliker is truly disturbed by this maybe he should become an pacifist in spirit and uses his words to discourage military endeavors.
Strangely he makes no mention of the well documented and most shameful phenomena of female soldiers being sexually harassed and/or raped by "follow" US soldiers.
February 9. "U.S. Vice-President Dotes on Germany, Europe" by Brad MacDonald. MacDonald, it's called diplomacy.
"Lying Wonders" by Joel Hilliker. Here Hilliker insinuates that President Obama or Secretary Clinton somehow did something wrong or covered up some failing connected with the terrorist attack against the US Consulate in Benghazi on September 11, 2012.
PCG's writers have often used the Benghazi terrorist attack to bemoan President Obama and portray him in a bad light. It needs to be stated that this terrorist attack was politicized by those opposed to President Obama. There were numerous terrorist attacks on US embassies and consulates during the previous Bush Administration. Why havn't PCG's writers complained about these terrorist attacks?
June 14, 2002, U.S. consulate in Karachi, Pakistan
Suicide bomber kills 12 and injures 51.
February 20, 2003, international diplomatic compound in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Truck bomb kills 17.
February 28, 2003, U.S. consulate in Karachi, Pakistan
Gunmen on motorcycles killed two consulate guards.
July 30, 2004, U.S. embassy in Taskkent [sic], Uzbekistan
Suicide bomber kills two.
December 6, 2004, U.S. consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Militants stormed and occupied perimeter wall. Five killed, 10 wounded.
March 2, 2006, U.S. consulate in Karachi, Pakistan
Suicide car bomber killed four, including a U.S. diplomate [sic] directly targeted by the assailants.
September 12, 2006, U.S. embassy in Damascus, Syria
Gunmen attacked embassy with grenades, automatic weapons, and a car bomb (though second truck bomb failed to detonate). One killed and 13 wounded.
January 12, 2007, U.S. embassy in Athens, Greece
A rocket-propelled grenade was fired at the embassy building. No one was injured.
July 9, 2008, U.S. consulate in Istanbul, Turkey
Armed men attacked consulate with pistols and shotguns. Three policemen killed.
March 18, 2008, U.S. embassy in Sana'a, Yemen
Mortar attack misses embassy, hits nearby girls' school instead.
September 17, 2008, U.S. embassy in Sana'a, Yemen
Militants dressed as policemen attacked the embassy with RPGs, rifles, grenades and car bombs. Six Yemeni soldiers and seven civilians were killed. Sixteen more were injured. (Daily Kos.)
Also note the terrorist attacks that occurred during the Reagan Administration. (Please note the following quote is presented as it was written.)
April 18 1983 Beirut Islamic Jihad car bomb destroys Embassy 63 killed
December 12 1983 Kuwait City al-Dawa truck bomb outside embassy 6 killed.
September 20 1984 Beirut Hezbollah truck bomb outside embassy 24 killed
November 1984 Bogotá Car bomb outside Embassy planted by drug cartel 1 killed
February 1986 Lisbon Popular Forces of 25 April car bomb outside Embassy
May 14 1986 Jakarta Japanese Red Army mortar barrage none
June 9 1987 Rome Japanese Red Army mortar barrage
That's 94 dead. (Source.)
Why is the Benghazi terrorist attack so often talked about by PCG's writers and not any of these other terrorist attacks? What is going on here?
The terrorist attack in Benghazi occurred during a Presidential election. Before when a terrorist attack like this occurred the politicians put aside their differences and rallied together. But Mitt Romney chose to break this tradition and tried to use this terrorist attack against President Obama. Others decided to follow his lead, including PCG's writers, as is seen in this post.
We now return to Hilliker's article, "Lying Wonders".
Here Hilliker discusses Secretary Clinton's "What difference does it make?" statement during a Congressional hearing regarding the terrorist attack in Benghazi.
I couldn’t help but think about that a couple weeks back when watching footage of the congressional hearings about the Benghazi attack. This is a huge scandal, filled with questions that demand answers. Yet over and over we saw congressmen praising Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for her tireless service and dedication, then tiptoeing delicately around the real issues. Finally Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin pressed Clinton on a crucial point: This was clearly a premeditated terrorist strike on America’s consulate—so whydid the administration go public with a bogus story about it erupting out of a spontaneous protest over a YouTube video?
“With all due respect, the fact is we had four dead Americans,” the secretary snapped back. “Was it because of a protest or was it because of guys out for a walk one night decided to go kill some Americans? What difference at this point does it make? It is our job to figure out what happened and do everything we can to prevent it from ever happening again, senator.”
What difference?This is the point of the inquiry! There looks to be a serious cover-up. Administration officials lied publiclyin order to obscure what really happened, and to push a phony, politically correct narrative. WHY? This has yet to be answered. And the secretary gets indignantabout being asked about it? As if Senator Johnson was somehow out of line?
The secretary essentially said, Who are YOU to question ME?And the senator backed down. “Thank you, Madam Secretary.”
WHAT ABOUT THE TRUTH?
It now turns out that Hilliker was wrong. There was no cover up.
Two years later there have been at least seven investigations about the Benghazi terrorist attack and not one of them said that there was any malicious attempt to deceive the American public by the Obama Administration.
The House Intelligence Committee report was released with little fanfare on the Friday before Thanksgiving week. Many of its findings echo those of six previous investigations by various congressional committees and a State Department panel. The eighth Benghazi investigation is being carried out by a House Select Committee appointed in May. (Ken Dilanian, House intel panel debunks many Benghazi theories, Associated Press, November 21, 2014.)
The report by the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence was released on November 21, 2014. It stated that there was no malicious attempt to deceive the American public regarding the nature of the terrorist attack. The intelligence community at first thought the attack was connected to widespread protests against the Innocence of Muslims "film trailer". This was partly because the CIA did not hear the testimonies of the eyewitnesses because the survivors had to be interviewed by the FBI first. It took time for the FBI investigators to gather the testimonies and then deliver them to the CIA on September 22, 2012, eleven days after the attack. After receiving these testimonies it became clear to the CIA that it was a terrorist attack, not a protest gone out of control.
Errors were made but there is no evidence that there was any malicious attempt to deceive the American people by the Obama Administration.
February 16. "Pope Benedict XVI Has Resigned, Now What?" by Brad MacDonald. For many years PCG's writers had made it a sport to vilify and demonize Pope Benedict XVI, the former Joseph Ratzinger.
Now to their complete surprise he has resigned, the first Pope to willingly do so since 1394.
March 3. "Cypriot Elections: Nation Chooses Europe" by Richard Palmer. Here Palmer exploits the result of an election in Cyprus to fear monger that Germany is about to rise to power.
"Republicans: Gay Marriage is a Right" (The Blaze). What must PCG's leaders think when they see right wing Republicans say homosexuality is not sinful? What must they think when they see their simplistic view of world matters lacking? PCG's leaders have often vilified homosexuals in order to distract PCG members from the problems within it.
March 9. "Syria: the inevitability of collapse" (p. 3). Here PCG's writers claim that the Assad regime would soon fall and join a pro-EU alliance of Middle Eastern nations, what PCG calls the Psalm 83 nations, a changed doctrine that Gerald Flurry presented to PCG members in 2011.
The latest U.S. policy shift to send direct aid to Syria is yet another game changer that will ultimately help topple Assad’s government and most likely trigger the switch in Syria’s allegiance from Iran to another alliance comprised of “moderate” Arab states and Germany.
Although I would have loved to have the murderous Assad regime brought to justice nearly two years later the Assad regime has not yet fallen.
"Dow Jones Sets New Record: Now What?" by Robert Morley. So the Dow Jones breaks the record and goes higher then it ever has. Morley has constantly insisted that the American economy is on the brink of collapse. So he goes into denial and insists it is not a sign that America is recovering from the crash of 2007-8.
The Dow Jones set a new record on Tuesday. Market commentators say this new record high is a big sign the economy is on the mend.
But is it possible that it signals something much more ominous?
The Dow Jones got even higher.
"Venezuela: What's Ahead After the Death of Hugo Chávez?" by Jeremiah Jacques. For years PCG's writers had vilified Hugo Chávez, even accusing him of allying with Iran and conspiring to bring terrorists into Venezuela. But now he died and PCG's writers can't use him as a boogeyman anymore. So what does PCG's writers do?
Jacques exploits the death of President Chavez to fear monger that Latin America is preparing to join forces with the Papacy.
The Trumpetand our forerunner magazine the Plain Truthhave long pointed out Bible prophecies indicating that Europe and Latin America will likely draw near each other in the time just before Christ’s return—cemented together by the Roman Catholic religion and the Spanish language. The death of Hugo Chávez could open the way for these two sides to draw much closer.
And so we see how even when things occur which one would think might make PCG's writers happy they just twist it around to make people scared. PCG's writers spent a lot of time vilifying President Chavez and making their readers scared of him. Now they cannot use him as a boogeyman anymore. (Not that Chavez even noticed PCG's existence.)
March 23. This issue devotes a lot of attention to the financial troubles in Cyprus. A major reason why Cyprus was forced to be bailed out is because it lacks its own currency and instead uses the Euro. The crisis in Eurozone countries is a terrible problem but it is not a sign that Germany is on the verge of rising up as a military power which will conquer America and Britain as PCG's writers insinuates.
"Obama in Israel" by Joel Hilliker. Here Hilliker portrays President Obama as hopelessly naive and idealistic regarding peace between Israelis and Palestinians.
“The Palestinian people’s right to self determination, their right to justice, must also be recognized.” Applause.“And put yourself in their shoes. Look at the world through their eyes. It is not fair that a Palestinian child cannot grow up in a state of their own.” Applause.
So President Obama says the Palestinians need peace. Just think of the children. That sounds reasonable.
What will Hilliker say to this?
His words characterized the Palestinians as yearning for peace through negotiations with Israel, if only Israel would cooperate. They ignore several pressing realities: that the Palestinian children of which the president speaks are being raised on virulent Jew hatred...
Even Palestinian children, many of whom happen to be Christians by the way, are portrayed in a bad way. Even the Palestinians' children scare Hilliker. Hilliker cannot show compassion even for little Palestinian children. Hilliker is scared of little kids.
Just goes to show that Hilliker will say anything to get those tithe paying members thinking World War III is near.
And he is not the only one among PCG's leaders to say such a thing. Gerald Flurry, in his 2014 book, The Former Prophets, (which was edited by Joel Hilliker) also said similar things.
March 30. "Obamacare to Hit Your Pocket Book" by Robert Morley. In this particularly badly informed article Morley tries make readers scared of health care reform. He complains that some study states that medical insurance companies will pay 32 percent more money in insurance claims.
But that is a major reason why health care reform was needed. Many people were unable to get health insurance and would die as a direct result of this. Many Americans died because they were unable to get health insurance. This is why health care reform was necessary. The health care reform would make sure more people got insured. And in fact that is what has been happening.
Now some may think this will mean one's own health care will become more expensive because health insurance companies are now paying more claims. And that is precisely why the Affordable Care Act ordered every American to get health insurance or pay a penalty. Now there are many more Americans paying the health insurance companies and this added income allows the insurance companies to pay more claims.
But none of this is mentioned or explained in Morley's article.
Having said that it must be said that the Affordible Care Act is imperfect, mainly because not everyone is insured. May the day soon come when every American has health insurance.
April 6. "German Domination--Accidental Empire?" by James Brandon.
April 20. "Obama Admin. Snubs Thatcher Funeral" by Anthony Chibarirwe.
This issue contains advertising for Gerald Flurry's booklet, America Under Attack, which insinuates that America will be destroyed by 2017.
Are you concerned about where the current administration is leading this country? Whether the nation can survive the next four years? It's worst then you think, and there is only one solution to this gigantic problem.
The solution offered is join PCG, pay their leaders three tithes for the rest of your life and wait for PCG's God to whisk you away to the place of safety.
April 27. "Why Germany is Staying in Afghanistan" by Ron Fraser. Here Fraser fear mongers that Germany's military presence in Afghanistan is a sign it is about to rise to power and soon destroy America.
May 4. "Israel, Palestinians turning to a new peace broker" (p. 4). Here PCG's writers once again fear monger that the Papacy is about to rise to power by citing Shimon Peres and Mahmoud Abbas meeting together with the Pope to revive peace negotiations.
"Threatened Benghazi Whistle-Blowers" (Fox News). This non-PCG article contains allegations that persons were told not to testify to Congressional investigators. There is no evidence that anyone has been forced to be silenced in this matter to investigators or that anyone was prevented from testifying to Congressional investigators.
May 11. "Our Homophilia Fascination" by Ron Fraser. Here Fraser moans that people outside of PCG do not think the way PCG's leaders do.
Quotes Washington Times. How appropriate.
May 18. "Japanese Defense--Going Nuclear?" by Ron Fraser. Here Fraser once again fear mongers that Japan is plotting to become a militaristic power and plotting to gain nuclear weapons. PCG has constantly demonized Japan since 1993 at least as was seen in a previous post.
Tactical nuclear weapons have been stolen form the Soviet arsenal and sold to nations in the Middle East. Soon Germany and Japan will also have nuclear weapons. (Gerald Flurry, Jeremiah: Prophet of Doom--or Hope?, 1993, p. 31.)
(Incidentally, what nonsense Flurry says when he asserts that Soviet nuclear weapons have been stolen and sold in the Middle East. This assertion is complete nonsense.)
"Obamastan" (Melanie Phillips). This non-PCG article makes mention of the controversy surrounding the terrorist attack in Benghazi as right wing operatives tried to find a way to make the terrorist attack look bad for the Obama Administration.
May 25. Only Brad MacDonald and Ron Fraser appear in this issue.
Here MacDonald advertises Gerald Flurry's new booklet, America Under Attack. I wrote about this article in a previous post not knowing of Gerald Flurry's bizarre teaching that President Obama is a Man of Sin just like Tkach.
June 8. "From Croatia to the Whirlwind" by Ron Fraser. Here Fraser exploits Croatia getting ready to join the EU on July 1, 2013, to fear monger that Croatia's establishment as an independent state is a sign that Germany is about to arise as a military power to destroy America and Britain. One would be more sympathetic to PCG's demonization of Croatia if it was a sincere attempt to right wrongs. But it is not. Instead it is just a cheap way PCG can insist that Germany is on the rise and about to destroy America.
The fact that it has taken 22 years for Croatia to advance from recognition as a sovereign nation to being officially recognized as a member of the European Union is of no real consequence in the grand scheme of things. Why hasten the application of the rules of officialdom when culturally, socially and more importantly, religiously, Croatia was already at the beck and call of the Berlin/Rome axis since 1991?
Reading this I cannot help but wonder if what Fraser really meant here is, Don't dare complain that Croatia joining the EU took longer then PCG's leaders said it would.
He would be an ignorant person indeed who would assume the habits of the Holy Roman Empire, extending over a 1,500-year period of repetitive resurrections, will have changed as we watch the seventh and final resurrection of that iron empire now leaping into focus as each week goes by.
PCG has already been waiting twenty-two years by the time this article was written. And still Fraser expects PCG members to be continually stunned and amazed that their "prophecies" are coming to pass. What nonsense.
Very shortly we shall see how Germany’s action in recognizing Croatian nationalism a little less than 20 years ago will consummate in devastation in Iran.
Armstrongism has been waiting for Europe to arise since 1934. PCG has been waiting to see Iran arise to power in the Middle East since at least 1994. PCG's members will be waiting a long time for these are false prophecies.
"Egypt Considers Action Against Ethiopia" by Callum Wood. Here Wood once again presents PCG's dogma that Ethiopia would fall to "radical Islam" and ally itself with Iran and Egypt.
Despite animosity raging now, Bible prophecy says that Ethiopia will eventually be in an alliance with Egypt and Iran (Daniel 11:43). That suggests a radical reorientation in Ethiopian governance. And Egypt will play a critical role in that reorientation, as Gerald Flurry stated last year.
Of course, PCG's writers had no idea that later that year the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt would fall and be suppressed at the cost of 638 lives.
June 15. "Time to Learn Mandarin?" by Jeremiah Jacques. Here Jacques exploits a purchase of an American company by a Chinese company to fear monger that America is about to collapse.
"D-Day, June 6--Last of the Heroes?" by Ron Fraser. Here Fraser insists that the victory of the Allies in World War II introduced a "time of delay" allowing HWA to preach "the truth".
The hiatus of the Cold War created a certain scenario—a “time of delay” in the fulfillment of the prophecies leading to Jesus Christ’s return (verse 3)—which permitted a latter- day apostle of God to travel the world unfettered as an “ambassador for peace without portfolio,” as he came to be known.
Fraser then boasts how only PCG knows the truth and tries to lure people into joining PCG.
Yet there is still a small band of heroes and heroines who have vowed to their God to give over their lives to His great cause. They are literally prepared to lay their lives on the line to get God’s work done in final preparation for Jesus Christ’s promised return to rule this Earth (John 14:1-3).
This happy band of people, scattered across the globe like a pinch of salt scattered across a plate, are behind the work that produces the Key of David television program and the Trumpet magazine. Theirs is a sacrifice of love— love to God and to fellow man.
Of course there is no mention of how PCG requires members to pay three tithes, (that's how PCG got an income of $19.5 million in 2012) and indoctrinates members into believing that the Great Tribulation and the Lake of Fire awaits you if you leave PCG.
"The Valuable Lesson Form Benghazi" by Brad MacDonald. Here MacDonald uses the terrorist attack in Benghazi to accuse the Obama Administration of being "an indirect ally" of Al Qaeda.
Benghazi marks a tragic and historic moment in U.S. history: America’s enemies can now consider the U.S. government—thanks to its immoral character and lawless behavior, manifested in its propensity for lies and deceit— an indirect ally.
MacDonald cites several accusations regarding the terrorist attack to claim that the Obama Administration is hiding something. Unfortunately for MacDonald most of these accusations are unfounded and nonsensical.
No doubt you’ve heard how the White House and State Department deliberately refusedto dispatch military assistance upon hearing the fearful shrieks of American officials violently ambushed the night of Sept. 11, 2012.
Hilliker is wrong. There was no stand down order.
The House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence released a report on November 21, 2014. It concluded that there was no stand down order.
How high-ranking government officials then edited intelligence documents, removing terms and phrases that identified al Qaeda’s central role in the attacks.
Which "high-ranking government officials"? It was the intelligence community, not the White House or the State Department, that chose to hide suspicions that Al Qaeda like terrorists were behind the attack. This was partly because they did not want the terrorists to know they were on their trail. And also because the intelligence community was not sure it was a deliberate terrorist attack because they had not yet heard from the eyewitnesses whose testimonies were still being processed by the FBI.
According to the November 21, 2014 report by the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence the eyewitnesses were first interviewed by the FBI as part of the FBI's criminal investigation to determine who had committed the murderous terrorist attack. It took about eleven days for their testimonies to be received by the CIA. Until then the intelligence community thought the attack might have had some connection to the wave of protests in the Muslim world against the Innocence of Muslims "film trailer". It was only after receiving these testimonies that the intelligence community could be confident that it was a terrorist attack, not a protest gone out of control.
But even before these testimonies were sent to the CIA there were indications that terrorists were behind the attack but at the time the consensus of the intelligence community was to assume it was connected to the protests against the Innocence of Muslims "film trailer".
We return to Hilliker's article.
How Susan Rice, America’s ambassador to the United Nations, fluttered between the Sunday news shows blaming the attack on a YouTube video few had ever heard of.
Again it was the consensus of the intelligence community at first that the attack was connected to the wave of protests in the Muslim world against the Innocence of Muslims "film trailer". It was only after the CIA got the testimonies of the eyewitnesses afterwards that the intelligence community knew confidently that it was a terrorist attack, not a protest gone out of control. But this change in consensus happened too late for Susan Rice. Some pounced on her interviews to say the Obama Administration was hiding something. There is no evidence that there was any kind of attempt to maliciously misinform the American people in regards to the terrorist attack.
June 22. "Will This Man Change Iranian Politics" by Anthony Chibarirwe. Here Chibarirwe desperately tries to distract PCG members from noticing that Ahmadinejad's departure proves that PCG's leaders have once again made a false prophecy.
For so long PCG's leaders loved to use Ahmadinejad as a boogeyman to get their followers horrified that he would plunge the world into a catastrophic war. But he lost the favor of Supreme Leader Khamenei and got duly replaced by another man. So inevitably PCG's writers have to minimize yet another prophetic prediction failing spectacularly.
"Shinzo Abe's Japanese Economic Renaissance" by Ron Fraser. Here Fraser once again fear mongers that Japan is rising up to become a fearsome military power. PCG has often made this assertion since at least 1993.
June 29. "Victory at the Supreme Court for Same-sex 'Marriage'" by Dennis Leap. Here Leap condemns a decision of the Supreme Court in order to fear monger about homosexuals. PCG's leaders vilify homosexuals in order to distract PCG members from the problems within PCG.
"Germany--Return of National Pride" by Ron Frsaer. Here Fraser insists that Germans are becoming more nationalistic and any minute now Nazism will return and Germany will destroy America. What evidence does he have for this? The release of postage stamps honoring the Bundeswehr.
My word! PCG's leaders will use anything to make this ridiculous claim that the Germans are getting ready to destroy America.
"Melanie Phillips Exposes Britain's Stupor" by Brad MacDonald. Here MacDonald uses a statement by Melanie Phillips, a British columnist PCG's leaders like to read a lot, to say that Britain is falling apart. Why? Because they are not as fearful of Iran as he is.
July 6. "What's Next for Egypt" by Richard Palmer. For years PCG's leaders had insisted that the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt would seize power and radicalize Egypt like Iran and ally with Iran. As the Muslim Brotherhood assumed power following the fall of Mubarak PCG's leaders constantly cited their political advances to prove that they knew what was really happening.
Here are some examples from their writings.
It’s time we looked at the facts about Egypt! The Muslim Brotherhood has the political momentum inside Egypt, and it has the backing of Egypt’s ruling military council, Hamas, Iran and the United States! No other political party can compete with this, especially considering parliamentary elections are less than three months away. It’s a hard reality to swallow, especially with Libya, Afghanistan and Iraq demanding so much attention, but we could be months away from the world’s largest Arab nation being dominated by radical Islam. (Brad MacDonald, March of the Brotherhood, July 7, 2011. Source.)
There may be a few delays along the way, but do you really think any individual or group will be able to turn back the Muslim Brotherhood takeover of Egypt? As the Trumpet has been reporting for YEARS, the changes in Egypt are leading to an Islamic-led regional power that will soon align itself with the forces of radical Islam, headed by Iran. (Stephen Flurry, Washington Embraces Egypt's Brotherhood, July 11, 2012. Source.)
Egypt is already the radical Islamist country that the Trumpet forecast it would become, years ago. (Egypt's Islamists Control Both Houses of Parliament, February 28, 2012. Source.)
But then President Morsi got arrested by the military. So PCG had to explain their miserable prophetic failure away. Palmer fear mongers that Egypt will collapse due to lack of foreign currency. (Wrong, Palmer.) He cites an article speculating that Egypt will attack the State of Israel to rally the nation together. (Wrong again, Palmer.)
Palmer ends this article insisting that Egypt will still ally with Iran eventually.
Even now, Egypt is much closer to that destination than it was under Mubarak.
There are a number of paths Egypt could take to reach that destination. If Iran found a way to bail out Egypt, it would be richly rewarded. Not only would doing so put Tehran right on the border with its archenemy Israel, but it would also give it control of the Suez Canal and smooth the way for it to influence radical Islam throughout Africa.
There may be other twists and turns as this journey unfolds. But you can be sure of the final outcome.
Wrong, Palmer. There is no hiding that PCG's prophecy that the Muslim Brotherhood would take over Egypt failed miserably.
"Germany Strengthens African Military Presence" by Ron Fraser. Here Fraser once again fear mongers that Germany is preparing to destroy America military and citing some meeting held by the Bundeswehr.
"Germany's conquest of the Balkans continue" (pp. 5-6). Here PCG's writers exploit Croatia joining the European Union to fear monger that World War III will soon occur.
"God, the Radical Agenda and the Constitution" by Ron Fraser. Here Fraser moans that America is forgetting its God conveniently forgetting to state that he teaches PCG's dogma that Protestant Christianity worships a false God and that true Christianity can only be found within PCG's fold.
July 13. "Brazil--Riots, World Youth Day and Pope Francis" by Ron Fraser. Here Fraser exploits the mass protests in Brazil to fear monger that the Papacy will somehow seize power in Brazil and the rest of Latin America to turn them against the United States.
As we have long declared, Bible prophecy indicates that the Roman Catholic religion is the only force that will bind the final collective of 10 regional kingships in Europe together as an imperial force in the very near future in its form as the seventh and final resurrection of the Holy Ro - man Empire (Revelation 13, 17).
We have long predicted that Latin America, given the bonds of two common European languages (Spanish in the main and Portuguese in Brazil) and most particularly the spiritual influence of the Catholic religion, will be attached to that empire. The empire needs the raw materials and custom of Latin America to drive its economy forward in addition to giving it access to North America’s back door to aid in fulfilling its future prophesied takeover of that region.
How sad this is to fear monger about so many people who live so close to America.
July 20. "Germany's Rising Global Naval Power" by Ron Fraser. Here Fraser once again insists that Germany is building up its military and trying to make readers scared that this will lead to catastrophe.
"Egypt's New Constitution More Radical Than the Last" by Richard Palmer. Here Palmer denounces democracy for Egyptians saying it will make Egypt "an Islamist state."
Most Egyptians support a radical Islamic constitution. Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak held radicalism in check only through brute force. Democracy automatically puts Egypt on the path to becoming an Islamist state.
Also Palmer insists that the interim Constitution then adopted is even more Islamist then the Constitution in force under Mubarak.
"The Media--Getting It Wrong" by Ron Fraser. Here Fraser boasts that only PCG's writers really know what is going on and insists that PCG's writers have no agenda.
Filled with bias, financial interests and political agendas, much of today’s media is unreliable and untrustworthy.
Fraser, among other things, wants to make sure no one notices that PCG's long heralded prediction that the Muslim Brotherhood would rule Egypt had just collapsed miserably.
July 27. "An Heir to the Throne of the World is Born" by Jeremiah Jacques. Here Jacques exploits the birth of Prince George to restate various false dogmas inherited from British Israelism.
"Let Boys Be Girls. Or Goys or Birls." by Joel Hilliker. Here Hilliker condemns attempts to redefines gender concepts.
August 3. "Was Iran Behind the Benghazi Attack?" by Richard Palmer. PCG's writers constantly demonize Iran as the source of whatever they do not like in the Middle East simply to "prove" to their readers that Gerald Flurry is a prophet. They have been doing this since at least 1994. Of course PCG's writers would try to blame Iran for that.
"New Radical South African Party". Once again PCG's writers use Julius Malema as a boogeyman to scare PCG members.
"Carney: Benghazi, IRS Scandals Are Phony" (Real Clear Politics Video). What if Carney's right?
August 10. "America The Fearful" by Ron Fraser. Here Fraser continues to moan that America's standing in the world is falling apart and that America is constantly being bested by its various rivals. PCG's writers always say this regardless of the actual facts.
In this instance Fraser condemns the temporary closure of US Embassies in the Middle East due to fears of a terrorist attack. He says he was so angry he had to stop and calm himself down.
Over the weekend I started to pen this article motivated by a mixture of indignation, shame and real anger. I stopped writing halfway through as I thought my mood might unduly affect my writing. Then I noticed that at least one commentator had the fortitude to observe the overarching truth about the American administration’s reaction to current fears of terrorist attacks on its embassies and consulates.
(Fraser talks of having "real anger" hearing of this news. Does this mean that Fraser was just play acting the rest of the time he expressed his anger in his articles?)
He then cites a speech by Representative Louie Gohmert. It should be pointed out that Representative Gohmert has a reputation for saying bombastic things.
Having noted the congressman’s courageous words, I decided, in a calmer—yet no less indignant—mood, to proceed to highlight Washington’s shameful reaction to this threat, and its profound prophetic connection as propounded by our editor in chief, Gerald Flurry.
He then claims then is a cowardly action. What does Fraser want the US government to do? Keep Embassies open even if someone might die? That is a terrible idea.
In better days under a far, far better administration than that of today, President Teddy Roosevelt proclaimed: “The things that will destroy America are prosperity-at-any- price, peace-at-any-price, safety-first instead of duty-first, the love of soft living, and the get-rich-quick theory of life.”
The current American administration has shown that it has descended to a cowardly “safety-first instead of duty-first” diplomacy by its closure of the offices of its overseas representatives under the mere “threat” of attack.
Fraser, you teach your followers that serving in the armed forces is forbidden. What does Fraser know of life threatening duty? He just lets the unenlightened and uncalled to fight on his behalf. How hypocritical.
"Islam--the Radicalization of Central Asia" by Ron Fraser. As if Fraser knows what's going on over there from his perch in Edmond.
"The fiction of Japan's self-defense force" (pp. 6-7). And so PCG's writers continue their shameful tradition of demonizing Japan. They always accuse Japan of plotting to become a military power regardless of what actually happens.
"Australia's Security Challenge" by Ron Fraser. Here Fraser fear mongers that Australia is about to be somehow taken over by its Asian neighbors. This is just a paranoid, xenophobic delusion.
"Will the federal government be the next Detroit" (p. 11). Despite the US economy improving PCG's writers desperate try to deny the recovery and point to the woes of Detroit to fancifully insist the US is about to go bankrupt. This ignores the fact that the US federal debt was actually higher in the 1940s because of World War II.
August 17. "Washington--Paying the Wages of Appeasement" by Ron Fraser. Here Fraser once again moans about the closure of US Embassies in the Middle East. He says the jihadis are joyous at this move. He also accuse President Obama of somehow sparking off the Arab Spring. (Don't you think the protesters on the street just might be more important then President Obama in doing this, Fraser?) He also quotes a US "retired colonel" to insinuate that President Obama is somehow disloyal to America. He also quotes his boss, Gerald Flurry, and claim he prophetically foretold that America would suffer setbacks because President Obama is somehow appeasing terrorists.
"Death Toll in Egypt Climbs to 525 Deaths" (New York Times). As seen above PCG's writers had constantly demonized the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and prophesied that they would seize control of Egypt. PCG's would be prophets had no idea that the Muslim Brotherhood would so quickly lose control of the situation and be overthrown and violently suppressed.
"The Democracy Delusion" by Callum Wood. Here Wood belittles democracy as only causing trouble when the peoples of the Middle East try to have it for themselves. Every now and then PCG's writers will praise the US Constitution and pretend to dearly love but in fact PCG is stridently anti-democractic. Often Gerald Flurry insists that "one-man rule" must be imposed upon PCG in order, he claims, to get (PCG's) God's good favor.
"Germany--Preparing for Worldwide War" by Ron Fraser. Here Fraser exploits news of some restructuring of the Bundeswehr to fear monger that Germany is getting ready to destroy America.
"Putin Vs. the Global Homosexual Juggernaut" by Brad MacDonald. Here MacDonald demonizes homosexuals by insinuate that even President Putin is scared of them. Does this "Global Homosexual Juggernaut" have its own armed army like President Putin? It's own agency of spies? Of course not. This is bizarre demagoguery.
"Obama Ignores History" (Betsy McCaughey, Investor's Business Daily). This person is notorious for vilifying President Obama's health care reform.
"400 Missiles 'Stolen' During Benghazi" (Daily Mail). This non-PCG article cites Joe DiGenova, a lawyer notorious for trying to work against President Clinton.
"Muhammad is London's most popular boys' name" (p. 10). Armstrongism has a long history of exploiting xenophobic fears of ethnic minorities to convince their followers that America will soon collapse. This little article continues that shameful tradition.
I remember hearing this news when it first came out, and then I learned that the Muslim population of Britain happens to be very small. This just shows that people among the small minorities of Muslims within Britain very often use this name. It is not a sign that Muslims are somehow taking over Britain.
Also this assertion appears to be largely exaggerated.
August 24. "Iran to Co-Opt Muslim Brotherhood" (Courcy's Intelligence Digest). PCG's writers exploit this non-PCG article to insinuate that the Muslim Brotherhood will return to power. This is done to minimize and obscure the spectacular failure of PCG's prophecy that the Muslim Brotherhood would gain power.
"Has anyone seen 400 surface-to-air missiles?" (pp. 3-4). Here PCG's writers insinuate there was a sinister motive behind early statements saying the terrorist attack in Benghazi was a protest gone out of control. This is no evidence that there was any attempt to maliciously deceive the American people on this matter.
"Al Jazeera America Hits Airwaves" (Washington Post). PCG's writers do not seem to like Al Jazeera.
"Oklahoma Race Tragedy" by Ron Fraser. Here Fraser exploits the murder of an Australian man in Oklahoma to insinuate that African Americans are terribly violent and sometimes their violence affects European descended people.
The selection of Lane as the black youths’ victim in a drive-by shooting had obviously nothing to do with him being Australian. That fact was an unknown to his killers.
It had everything to do with Lane being white-skinned.
This would be Fraser's last article for The Trumpet Weekly. He died on October 4, 2013.
"Battle Cry for a Race War" by Joel Hilliker. Here Hilliker fear mongers that African Americans are getting ready to go on a rampage against "white" people. He cites just one man saying silly and reprehensible things. Hilliker somehow ignores the very real problem of violence by right wing extremists which has led to numerous armed attacks. This article is simply crude race baiting against African Americans. I wrote a post about this article when it came out.
August 31. "Syria Exposes Hypocrisy in Washington" by Stephen Flurry. Here Stephen Flurry condemns President Obama preparing to go to war against the murderous Assad regime after the mass gassing at Ghouta by the Assad regime. Stephen Flurry condemns this move as a hypocritical turn around from (he alleges) previous sympathy and support for Assad by Obama, Clinton and Kerry.
"Germany supports war in Syria" (pp. 5-6). Here PCG's writers insist that Germany is plotting to force Syria into becoming its ally.
it ... suits German strategic interests to get rid of Syrian President Bashar Assad. So Germany’s position is to cheer from the sidelines and give moral support, while hoping that America, British and French troops will do the hard work. ...
The Trumpethas long forecast that Syria would emerge from this crisis a German ally. If Germany can make this happen while providing nothing more than moral support, it will.
And so Germany is once again demonized for no good reason as conspiring to work against America.
"One Man's Admirable Attempt to Save UK and the World" by Joel Hilliker. Here Hilliker relates the story of how Ferrar Fenton translated the Bible over fifty years (1853-1903) and praises the idealism behind this act. Hilliker ends the article with these words.
Astonishing what singular devotion to an important task can yield. How critical it is that we prune out those life-frittering details—and make the very most of the brief time we possess. For today, too, there is a great work to be done, in the shadow of looming catastrophe and calamity.
Hilliker conveniently ignores how he is praising a man who would have vehemently disagreed with PCG's heretical doctrines such as the heretical God Family doctrine.
September 7. "Could Britain and America Be Weaker?" by Richard Palmer. Here Palmer condemns what he views as dithering by the American and British government over whether or not to launch air strikes against Syria.
"Crossing the 'Red Line'" by Callum Wood. Here Wood exploits the heightened tension over the murderous Assad regime to insinuate that America is on the verge of catastrophe.
"Has Martin Luther King Jr.'s Dream Come True?" by Jeremiah Jacques. Here Jacques accuses activists advocating for a full investigation of the armed slaying of Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman of (somehow) exploiting this murder case for making European descended Americans feel guilty about the problem of racism.
Even though Trayvon Martin had been shot and died while he was out one night, unarmed, returning home from picking up some sweets, Jacques vilifies him, a 16 year old minor, as a person with a "history of violence" and an illegal drug user.
The case was about whether or not the evidence proved that Zimmerman had acted in self-defense. But activists, columnists, bloggers and politicians— including the U.S. president—were uninterested in the evidence. Most focused instead on another trial still underway today. In this ongoing trial, the culprit is white racism, the offense is harming black people, and the verdict is always the same: guilty.
That’s the unyielding narrative pushed by modern activists. Anything that contradicts it is ignored or labeled as racist.
In Florida v. Zimmerman, there was no shortage of evidence shining light on what Dr. King would have called “the content of Trayvon Martin’s character”: A text message record showed that he picked fights often and wanted a rematch with a certain opponent because he “hadn’t bled enough” the first time Trayvon overpowered him; a Facebook post showed Trayvon’s half-brother acknowledging his fighting expertise and asking Trayvon to teach him how to brawl; another Facebook post showed that Trayvon used an illegal codeine-based drug.
Zimmerman’s attorneys wanted this evidence presented to jurors because it could help determine questions about Martin’s character—primarily if it was possible that he was the aggressor in the confrontation. But the judge disagreed and the jurors were not allowed to know about Trayvon’s history of violence.
At the end of the article Jacques then tries to insist that he does not sympathize with George Zimmerman, even though Jacques did not subject Zimmerman to the criticism he gave to the late Trayvon Martin.
Trayvon’s Facebook posts don’t prove what happened the night of the tragic killing and they certainly don’t prove that anyone’s death was justified, but the way they were ignored as all emphasis was given to skin color is the diametric opposite of King’s dream.
PCG's writers have a long history of demonizing African Americans as hating white Americans and waiting to go on a riotous rampage against European descended Americans. They have done this since at least 1992 as may be seen in Gerald Flurry's booklet, The Ezekiel Watchman. Jacques' article continues this shameful tradition of theirs.
September 14. "Should America Listen to Vladimir Putin" by Joel Hilliker. Here Hilliker moans that President Putin wrote an op-ed for the New York Times. Hilliker accuses the New York Times and President Obama as somehow agreeing with President Putin.
Putin also took a sanctimonious shot at President Obama referring to America as “exceptional”: ... Apparently the Timeseditors agree that America is unexceptional. For that matter, even Barack Obama said as much on his first trip abroad as president: ... America’s about as “exceptional” as every other nation in the world, it appears. This passes for enlightened thought today.
Then Hilliker talks about he has been reading The Gulag Archipelago by Alexander Solzhenitsyn to say that the terrible mass enslavement of people within the unfathomably brutal gulag prison system shows how great America is. (And what does that have to do with the violent situation in Syria?)
Hilliker ends the article by insisting that somehow letting President Putin write an article in the New York Times is somehow like adopting some of the ideas that led to the horrors that occurred within the Soviet Union.
Americans today, having forgotten even the very recentpast, are ignorantly discarding the freedoms that our wise founders devoted their lives to establish. With mystifying exuberance, they are embracing some of the very principles that led to the disaster of communism.
What a silly article that was. It did not help anyone in solving problems. Hilliker just engaged in attacking the messenger not the message and weird red baiting.
"Bombing the former embassy U.S. in Libya" (p. 3). Here PCG's writers fantasize (with no evidence) that a car bomb attack against the Libyan Foreign Office was in response to that building serving as the US Embassy decades ago.
In situations of chaos, radical Islam takes the opportunity to move in. It happened in Egypt with the Muslim Brotherhood, and it’s happening in Syria with the opposition groups. It is happening today in Libya with the fall of Benghazi. So how much longer will it be before the militias come knocking at the door of the embassy in Tripoli?
Does it never occur to PCG's writers that maybe the terrorists were more focused on destabilizing Libya instead? Maybe they attacked it because it was the Libyan Foreign Office?
Also this little article ignores the fact that the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt had just been violently suppressed with the loss of at least 638 lives.
"Syria's Use of Chemical Weapons was Prophesied" (p. 4). In this particularly silly article it is insinuated that Saddam Hussein did have weapons of mass destruction and it is insinuated that they were moved into Syria. (Actually Iraq and Syria were bitter adversaries to each other during Saddam Hussein's time.)
But where did Syria get all of those deadly chemical and biological weapons? It has never been known as a creator of chemical weapons. ...
If you remember, Saddam Hussein confessed in 1995 that he had plenty of WMD, and there hasn’t been one shred of evidence ever found that he destroyed them. America went into Iraq for the express purpose of getting rid of Saddam’s weapons of mass destruction, but didn’t find any. Where did they go?
There is powerful evidence suggesting they were moved into Syria.
But no such evidence is presented here. Just one sentence of speculation from a British columnist is presented here.
Just go to show PCG's writers are willing to say anything regardless of any contrary evidence.
[Incorrectly observed Feast of Tabernacles break.]
On October 4, 2013, Ron Fraser died.
October 5. "French Laborers: 'We Want to Work Sundays!'" by Jeremiah Jacques. Here Jacques exploits a labor dispute regarding whether to allow certain stores to open on Sunday to vilify the Roman Catholic Church for worshipping on Sunday and fear mongering that they are plotting to impose Sunday worship upon the peoples of Europe.
"Tweeting Tehran" (p. 4). So President Rowhani wishes Jews a happy Rosh Hashana on Twitter and PCG's writers condemn it and uses this mundane incident to vilify a media supposedly too eager to make peace with Iran. Even simple greetings by the Iranian President are presented by PCG's writers in the worst possible light. Do PCG's writers not see how foolishly hateful and petty they look responding to that tweet in this way?
Incidentally, PCG also observes their Armstrongified version of Rosh Hashana which they call the Feast of Trumpets.
"Did Germany Support Syria's Chemical Weapons Program?" Here PCG's writers use a report that some precursors of deadly chemicals were sold to Syria by a German company. This detail is presented in a sensationalistic manner to insinuate that Germany will soon destroy America and Britain.
"Warship Woes" by Callum Wood. Here Wood exploits the financial constraints of the sequester upon the construction of US Navy ships to insinuate that America will soon collapse.
October 11. "How the U.S. Government Shutdown is Affecting Asia" by Joel Hilliker. Here Hilliker fear mongers that the sequester crisis will cause the Asian nations to lose respect for America and turn against the US.
"Syria invites German envoys" (pp. 4-5). Here PCG's writers exploit an offer by the infamous Assad for Germany to send envoys into Syria. Even though this little article notes that Germany refused PCG's writers use this rejected offer to speculate that Germany is about to be a peace broker in the Middle East at America's expense.
"France prepares for war in the Central African Republic" (p. 5). Here PCG's writers exploit the turbulent situation in the Central African Republic as Seleka rebels were on the verge of overthrowing the government to insist in a paranoid way that it is part of a war between Europe and Iran.
"Far-right support continues to grow" (p. 5). Here PCG's writers fear monger that Europe is turning to right wing extremism to insinuate that Europe will soon destroy America.
"Tokyo and Washington Update Military Pact" by Jeremiah Jacques. Here Jacques exploits diplomatic negotiations between America and Japan to insinuate that Japan is plotting to built up its military and turn against America. PCG has a long history of demonizing Japan.
October 18. "President Obama and the Phone Call That Endangered America" by Brad MacDonald. Here MacDon