A former director at Montana State University (MSU) allegedly called a student a “stupid fuck” and several other staffers berated the student for starting an anti-mask campaign on campus, according to emails obtained by the Daily Caller.
MSU student Dylan Dean and Young Americans for Liberty (YAL) created a petition to end the university’s mask mandate on campus, garnering more than 1,100 petition signatures, according to data provided by YAL. The university’s mask mandate orders students, faculty and staff to wear a mask indoors.
The petition alleged the university waited until the last minute to implement the mandate and students did not have the opportunity to “make decisions about their schooling accordingly.”
Face masks [Shutterstock/Beton Studio]Dean allegedly tried to present the petition to MSU President Dr. Waded Cruzado, who allegedly shut him out of the office. Several staffers and even a professor also attacked Dean over the petition, emails show.
Dean had sent an email to several staffers on Sep. 15, noting the petition and asking “if you agree that the mask mandate is unnecessary at this point, please sign the petition.”
Rick Winking, who worked at the school’s Alcohol and Drug Assistance Center, sent a brief email to Dean that read “you stupid fuck.”
Winking also told Dean “there was a time when conservatives were respectable and had intellectual arguments that made sense. Now being conservative seems to mean emotionally stunted whiny little victims.”
In a subsequent email, Winking told Dean he retired on Sept. 1 and had plenty of time to “fuck with dumb shit whiners.”
Professor Seth Pincus sent Dean an email calling him “a selfish idiot who cannot even consider the potential suffering [Dean] can cause others.”
“If you behaved as a citizen concerned about others, loved thy neighbor, and believed in the golden rule, we would not need mandates,” the email continued.
YAL criticized the university for allegedly defrauding students by implementing the mask mandate.
“Students at Montana State University are right to be infuriated. Administrators have cheated them with a bait-and-switch, promising a normal school year, then imposing tyrannical mandates once they arrived on campus and their tuition checks had been cashed. President Cruzado thinks she can dodge accountability by locking doors to public buildings and siccing police on student protesters, but this will not end until she reverses these policies,” YAL senior spokesman Eric Brakey said.
Lawmakers in Arkansas advanced a bill on Sept. 29 that would allow workers to opt out of their employer’s COVID-19 vaccine requirement if they can prove that they have natural antibodies against the CCP virus or if they’re tested for the virus weekly.
Arkansas’ House and Senate Public Health committees endorsed identical versions of the legislation, according to lawmakers. The measure also requires the state to pay unemployment benefits to workers who are terminated from their jobs over the vaccine mandate
“This is what we felt we could get through to give employees some protection,” state Sen. Kim Hammer said, reported The Associated Press.
It’s not clear if Gov. Asa Hutchinson, a Republican who has broken with the Republican-led legislature in 2021 over several key issues, will sign the legislation if it’s ultimately approved by state lawmakers. Hutchinson’s office didn’t respond to a request for comment by press time.
Previously, Hutchinson had criticized the vaccine mandates that were announced by President Joe Biden earlier this month, saying that they’re “counterproductive” and will “[harden] the resistance” to vaccines.
Republican lawmakers have filed numerous measures targeting vaccine mandates as the legislature reconvened this week to take up the issue of congressional redistricting. Those proposals came in response to Biden’s announcement that he would target private businesses with 100 employees or more, mandating that those employees get the COVID-19 vaccine or submit to regular testing.
Federal health officials have said that individuals who have recovered from COVID-19 should still receive the vaccine, although studies have suggested that people who have previously contracted the virus display long-lasting and robust protection against the Delta variant. A study from Israel several weeks ago suggested that those with “natural immunity” had better protection against the Delta strain compared to those who had received two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech mRNA vaccine.
The White House hasn’t yet unveiled its plan to mandate testing or vaccinations at private businesses after Biden’s Sept. 9 announcement.
On Sept. 29, when questioned about the mandate, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said there’s no firm timeline on the plan.
“We never gave an exact timeline,” she said. “So—maybe we should have been more specific at the time. Obviously, it takes some time and we want to make sure when we put these out they are clear and they provide the guidance necessary for businesses.”
The Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) is still “working on them,” referring to the plan.
“Hopefully we’ll know more in the coming weeks,” she said.
According to OSHA’s law on an Emergency Temporary Standard to implement the vaccine requirement, the federal agency is “authorized to set emergency temporary standards that take effect immediately and are in effect until superseded by a permanent standard” and “must determine that workers are in grave danger due to exposure to toxic substances or agents determined to be toxic or physically harmful, or to new hazards and that an emergency standard is needed to protect them.”
Ben Shapiro believes President Biden’s taxation plans will be ineffective and the wrong strategy for helping the economy.
The upcoming $3.5 trillion spending and infrastructure bill from President Joe Biden and other Democrats has been a main political talking point for much of this year. Some of the many worrying aspects of the bill are tax increases meant for the rich, with the president asking to “pay your fair share.”
The truth is, most Americans with high income already pay their fair share, with the “top 1% of income earners paying more in federal income tax than the bottom 90% combined.” Additionally, America’s top ten percent of income earners paid more in taxes than the top ten percent in Germany and France. Biden and the Democratic party are pandering towards the middle and lower class with this policy, while providing few details on how exactly they plan to put their tax plan into action without further damaging the economy.
It is no crime to have earned lots of money and live well-off, despite what the left wants Americans to believe. It is impossible for one to better his or her life with the radical socialist policies that so many on the left seek to push on the country.
Read more from Ben Shapiro’s full piece at the Daily Signal.
After one year of anti-police narratives, police academies struggle to recruit new officers.
This spring, Alexandria, Minnesota’s policing college hosted a luncheon to thank new graduates of the police program. In the nearly 60-year history of the policing college, the luncheon was the first of its kind.
Over the last year a dark-cloud has loomed over the subject of policing, especially in the state of Minnesota, where George Floyd died in May of 2020. Police departments have faced recruiting struggles the past several years, however, the last year has proved difficult as defund the police movements gained popularity across the nation.
The implications of recent social movements have paralyzed the rest of the police community. News indicated that all cops were bad, poorly trained, and unable to deal with high-stress situations. These generalizations are untrue, and have caused enrollment drops in law-enforcement programs.
The only way to support the police community is to learn from the experience of current and past officers, who know the value of the work they do. Combatting the anti-police narrative must start from within the police community.
To read more about the police recruitment drought, visit National Review.
President Trump cared about the voices of America’s youngest voters, while the Biden administration seeks to suppress the voices of young dissenters through unfair disciplinary procedures and restrictions.
Free Speech on college campuses is more important than ever as university students across the country make the long-awaited return to in-person learning this fall. Along with this exciting transition, however, is the anxiety that many students feel in expressing their personal beliefs.
Colleges have long been known to promote liberal ideology to students. Conservative student groups such as the College Republicans, Young Americans for Freedom, and conservative women’s groups, are often extracurricular safe-havens for conservative students. These clubs, however, do not mitigate the threat of retribution from peers, professors, and university administration.
The fear of being “cancelled” has stretched across the country, and is now besetting students on both sides of the aisle. According to Forbes, more than half of college students regularly hold back their political views, for fear of consequences. While many schools proclaim their commitment to intellectual diversity and curiosity, self-censorship and fear prevent the expression of free speech and diverse perspectives. Another report from the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, surveyed 37,000 students from 159 colleges. The report found that three-quarters of students who identify as strong Republicans, regularly censor themselves, while less than half of strong Democratic students do so.
Recently, colleges have become increasingly combative against speakers who do not promote the university’s liberal ideology. Campus groups spend months coordinating with speakers and receive funding to host top conservative speakers. Many of these events are ultimately canceled by university administration. Ben Shapiro, one of the most popular speakers among young conservatives, has been barred by several colleges including UC Berkley, Gonzaga University, Grand Canyon University, and others due to his “controversial” opinions. The sited “controversial” opinions all boil down to Shapiro’s unapologetic conservatism which violates liberal groupthink on campuses.
On Sept. 23, Elizabethtown College in Pennsylvania cancelled Turning Point USA speaker, Joe Basrawi’s speech on critical race theory due to an alleged “disruption” at the college. College administration met with the Turning Point chapter leader and directed him that the event should be canceled and moved off campus. The school also requested for its name to not be associated with the event. Elizabethtown claimed that Basrawi was not qualified to speak on the topic of critical race theory because he is not a critical race theorist.
University suppression has led to a renewed commitment to free speech by many campus groups. Counter-protests and national representatives from groups such as YAF and Turning Point USA are more vocal against cancel culture on campuses, but the reality is that the left has become so good at suppressing beliefs, many students have been silenced.
As the new administration seeks to undermine our most basic freedoms, we are reminded of the work of President Donald Trump, who defended the rights of America’s youngest voters.
In March 2019, President Trump signed an executive order protecting freedom of speech on college campuses. President Trump signed this executive order with the support of student leaders who faced suppression at their universities. The executive order supported free inquiry and debate and aimed to promote a culture of understanding on campuses. Colleges that benefit from American tax dollars should not actively limit First Amendment rights.
President Trump cared about the voices of America’s youngest voters, and supported a culture of free inquiry and debate. The Biden administration wants to suppress the voices of young dissenters through unfair disciplinary procedures and restriction. When it comes to free speech, Trump was right, and Biden is wrong. Our President must support and defend the voices of young Americans.
Florida attorney Jeff Childers gave up his for-profit clientele to represent a group of City of Gainesville employees facing termination due to their refusal to take the COVID-19 vaccines.
Now, after a major victory last week in his case representing the 250 Gainesville workers, and a June victory in an appeal in June to end the mask mandate in his county, attorneys across the country are turning to him for help with similar cases.
Childers is harnessing the momentum to form a coalition of attorneys from across the country interested in taking on similar fights over mask and vaccine mandates and whatever else comes next in the fight to preserve freedom, he says.
A few weeks ago, he reached out to two dozen lawyers who showed promise as “freedom fighters.” Those who accepted his invitation to a private chat on an encrypted instant messaging platform started enthusiastically inviting others. The group now includes 40 of “some of the biggest names in the country,” he says.
By midday Sunday, while Childers was celebrating victory with Gainesville police, firefighters, linemen, and more, there was a spirited discussion on the chat, with files flying back and forth between litigators.
That’s the part that excites him. As he and the other attorneys on his conversation thread share ideas, strategies, and files, “it increases the velocity,” he says.
One of the attorneys was planning to file a lawsuit the next day to keep Orange County, Florida, workers from being disciplined for refusing to take the vaccines.
Another had just followed Childers’ lead in a successful case fighting mask mandates, and filed a case in Jacksonville, Florida, opposing mandatory masking in Duval County Public Schools.
Others were polishing a case in Fulton County, Georgia, to take on the local school board’s policy requiring all students and teachers to wear masks.
Yet another in Florida had shared that the Clearwater City Commission had dropped from its upcoming agenda a plan to take up the discussion of mandating COVID-19 vaccines for employees.
As the result of his win against the City of Gainesville, “all municipalities in Florida are recalibrating,” Childers said. “I think we have this beat in Florida.”
Childers knew the win was “history-making.” But it’s not over, he warned the employees, who gathered on Sept. 26 to hear his update before sharing a celebratory dinner at a local restaurant.
Raising a glass in victory was James Hinson, a school resource officer in his 20th year with Gainesville Police Department. He’d planned to stay till he reached 25 years with the force. But the vaccine mandate has good cops retiring or leaving for other jobs, he said. He’s eligible to retire in 10 months. And then, he sighed, “I’m gone.”
He objected to taking the vaccine because he’s already had COVID-19.
The unvaccinated employees in Gainesville don’t know what will be required of them, now that an injunction from a judge means the city can’t fire them on Oct. 1 as planned.
As of Monday, five days after the judge’s ruling to block the vaccinate-or-terminate directive in Gainesville, details hadn’t been determined. City commissioners said they wanted input from employee unions before making a plan.
“The City of Gainesville will continue to strongly encourage its employees to get vaccinated, as we work to improve vaccination rates among our workforce through education and incentives,” city spokeswoman Rossanna Passaniti said.
“We recognize the reality of vaccine hesitancy and vaccine disinformation, but agree with public health experts that vaccination is key in our fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
“City leaders will continue to meet with union leaders before presenting an employee vaccination plan to the commission as directed.”
A meeting between city officials and officials with the Communications Workers of America union was scheduled for Monday, she said. It was unclear when other unions would join the conversation.
But that kind of talk irks Childers. And that’s why he’s determined to use what he’s learned to help other attorneys around the country save time as they take up similar fights.
“It seems to me the employees are being treated like farm animals,” he said. “The city’s treating its employees like its property. A farmer can vaccinate his animals because they really are his property. The city was saying, ‘Do it, or you’re out of the herd.’”
“These employees are free citizens. The city works for them; they’ve got it backwards.”
And it’s not that he’s against vaccines, he says.
“I’m pro-choice when it comes to whether or not to get the shot,” he said. “But I can’t stand to see someone get bullied. I’ve got scars today from getting in between a bully and his target.”
On Sunday, Childers urged City of Gainesville employees to stay organized.
“My first objective was to save your jobs,” he said. “Now, you have momentum.”
He urged employees to launch an initiative to recall Gainesville Mayor Lauren Poe and any other politicians aiming to restrict their freedoms.
“They don’t share our values,” he said. “They’re not going to stop coming after us until we replace them.”
Poe responded in a prepared statement, saying, “I will continue to faithfully execute the duties of my office. The highest of these responsibilities is to protect the health and safety of our community builders and the neighbors they serve. I remain committed to that sacred duty.”
Next, Childers plans to take on the Alachua County School Board, urging members to fire the school superintendent who has defied the Florida governor’s prohibition on forced masking at public schools.
“We (in Alachua County) don’t need to get sideways with the state,” Childers said, alluding to the warning of Gov. Ron DeSantis that school districts that force mask-wearing would face financial penalties. “That’s not helping the children of Alachua.”
As his group grows, Childers hopes attorneys will lock arms to fight—and fix—what he sees as major systemic problems around the country, one lawsuit at a time.
Now, the more attorneys who jump into the fight, the better.
“We need to all be pulling in the same direction,” he said. “We need to stop playing Whac-A-Mole and playing defense, and we need to go on offense. The goal is to save America.”
Border Patrol agents in Texas have apprehended a convicted killer who illegally reentered the United States after his deportation, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said on Tuesday.
The arrest took place on Sept. 27 in CBP’s Rio Grande Valley Sector, which covers 320 miles of border in southeastern Texas. Among a group of six captured illegal immigrants was a Honduran national, who has been convicted in Miami, Florida, of homicide, according to CBP.
The man was sentenced to 18 months in prison and three years of probation for the offense, and was subsequently removed from the United States, CBP said. If convicted of illegal reentry after removal, which is a federal crime, he could face up to 20 years in prison.
Later that day, Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) troopers requested assistance over a suspected stash house operation. CBP agents responded and apprehended 12 illegal immigrants. Those individuals were from Ecuador, Central America, Mexico, and Peru, and DPS troopers took custody of one person to be charged with smuggling and running the stash house.
According to the CBP, Border Patrol agents around the nation so far in fiscal year 2021 have found more than 440 illegal immigrant stash houses just in the Rio Grande Valley Sector. Agents have also arrested 325 gang members, of which more than 150 were arrested in Rio Grande Valley.
The news comes after President Joe Biden said some Border Patrol agents will “pay for” the way they allegedly “whipped” Haitian nationals seeking to evade officers at the Texas-Mexico border, according to media reports which turned out to be untrue. In response, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said his state is willing to hire any agent worried that the Biden administration might fire them.
“I will hire you to help Texas secure our border,” Abbott said on “Fox News Sunday” when asked by the host whether he was “troubled” by photos showing mounted agents trying to detain Haitian immigrants near Del Rio, Texas, on horseback.
“The person who took those pictures said that the characterization that the Democrats have made about the Border Patrol using them as whips, whipping people who were coming across the border, is false,” Abbott said. “They were simply maneuvering horses.”
“I want them to know something: If they are at risk of losing their job at a president who is abandoning his duty to secure the border, you have a job in the state of Texas,” he said.
Martin Luther King Jr. considered this question in his powerful letter from Birmingham Jail (1963). He was responding to fellow members of the clergy who opposed segregation but rejected civil disobedience, which involved breaking the law. His central point was that laws may be just or unjust. We have a duty to obey just laws and to oppose, even defy, unjust laws. We need to recognize that both kinds exist and learn how to tell the difference.
Referring to the examples of Nazi tyranny under Hitler and the 1956 Hungarian revolution against communist tyranny, King writes,
“We should never forget that everything Adolf Hitler did in Germany was ‘legal’ and everything the Hungarian freedom fighters did in Hungary was ‘illegal.’ It was ‘illegal’ to aid and comfort a Jew in Hitler’s Germany. Even so, I am sure that, had I lived in Germany at the time, I would have aided and comforted my Jewish brothers. If today I lived in a Communist country where certain principles dear to the Christian faith are suppressed, I would openly advocate disobeying that country’s antireligious laws.”
King gives examples—from the Bible, the martyrdom of early Christians, and the Boston Tea Party—of the refusal to submit to unjust laws.
Like the American Founders and the Declaration of Independence, King does not seek to abolish the rule of law but to appeal to it. King saw, as Thomas Jefferson did, that it was not enough to define law as whatever the sovereign power declared it to be. He saw, as did the Founders, that law so defined provides no constraint on tyrants who want to reduce it to a matter of their own will and power.
So what distinguishes a just law from an unjust one?
In addressing this question, both King and the Declaration draw on a classical tradition that perceives law as rooted in objective reality, in the way things are. It’s a tradition at least as old as Aristotle. King cites St. Augustine as stating the principle that “an unjust law is no law at all.” He cites St. Thomas Aquinas as teaching that “an unjust law is a human law that is not rooted in eternal law and natural law.”
In a similar way, the Declaration appeals to “the laws of nature and of nature’s God.” It bases itself on truths that it holds to be self-evident and affirms inalienable rights that are endowed by the Creator rather than conferred by the state or sovereign:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident: That all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
No Truth, No Injustice
For some moderns, such appeals to truth or reality seem intrinsically intolerant, since your truth is different from my truth. We see a radical relativism pervading law, education, and media that turns out to be anything but tolerant. It’s not enough to accept that I have the right to proclaim my belief, however absurd or illogical or contrary to the very nature of the human person or species. It’s not enough that you tolerate it, you must now endorse it with all the visible enthusiasm of a Communist Party Central Committee member applauding the statements of the Dear Leader.
Relativism is the ideology of tyrants. For Stalin and Hitler, history was on their side, victory was inevitable, and anyone who questioned their version of truth was objectively an enemy of the state. “Truth” itself was a matter of the will and power of the ruler. If the outcome of their policies and edicts was not what they promised, it was not because they contradicted reality, the givenness and constraints of life. It was because enemies, within and outside the ruling party, conspired to sabotage the program.
In the United States, we see such an unconstrained vision of reality, not in the full-blooded totalitarianism of a Stalin or Hitler, but in the growing denial of reality itself. It’s a rejection of democratic processes, a refusal of argument or debate, the censoring or suppression of speech, even of plain information, in the media and on campuses. Those who bravely speak up for truth and against injustice are more likely to face hateful mobs on Twitter than Red Guards or Brownshirts in the street.
Retired Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy often accompanied his most aggressive judicial activism with rhetorical flourishes about the right to make up our own reality. The rhetoric was a sign that Kennedy was going to ignore the Constitution and impose his own views in place of democratic political and legislative processes.
In the Casey abortion decision of 1992, Kennedy famously declared, “At the heart of liberty is the right to define one’s own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life.” Ed Whelan of the Ethics and Public Policy Center translates: “We justices have the unbounded authority to decide which matters you yahoo citizens should be prohibited from addressing through legislation.” Kennedy’s purple prose signified in practice the inauguration of decades of legalized killing of the vulnerable and innocent on an unprecedented scale, the denial of reality and repudiation of the right to life of a whole class of human beings, the most vulnerable among us.
Transgender identity ideology appears in this light as an extreme case of truth-denying as a requirement for participation in polite society. The absurdity and incoherence of the claims being advanced as scientific by this quasi-religious pseudoscience, along with the catastrophism and zeal of adherents (you must accept my self-diagnosis or you will kill me; saying that is committing genocide) suggests a fringe cult of extremists. The numbers who identify as trans is small, even allowing for the craze among teen girls in the United States and Britain. But the rapid embrace of the ideology in left-liberal parties, professional bodies, media, education, libraries, and the bureaucratic state has been extraordinary, and this despite the irreversible damage done to young people, their bodies, and their family relationships.
Live Not by Lies
Communism and Nazism both accept a relativism that reduces “truth” to a matter of will and power, while seeking to impose their own truth on others. They are obviously tyrannical, if not totalitarian. But we see the same tendencies in ideologies and movements promoted by Western elites that deny objective truth and seek to suppress free speech, open debate, and democratic decision-making.
The tyranny of radical relativism is one of its paradoxes. It denies the very existence of objective reality while insisting on its own truth.
Must we surrender to this bullying out of fear that speaking the truth will elicit enraged Twitter mobs demanding that we be canceled, fired, refused admission to the college or job of our choice, or deplatformed from speaking engagements or denied future employment?
The witness of those who have survived the severest persecution in our times, under Nazis, communists, or Jihadi terrorists of ISIS, offers an answer. Whether the surviving victims were Jews or Christians, victims of slavery or religious persecution, they always insisted on the ultimate importance of telling and hearing the truth about what happened on the ground. The perspectives of concentration camp guards and their victims in the Holocaust were different, as were those of Christians in communist Eastern Europe and the agents of state repression who persecuted them.
To say this is not to assert that there is only one true narrative of an event, or that accusers must always be believed. The ruin of many lives and reputations by a pedophile fantasist, Carl Beech, whose false allegations led British police to conduct a sweeping historical sex abuse investigation (2014–2016), should give us pause before adopting the then fashionable mantra “believe all victims” or junking due process and the assumption of innocence. Years later, in 2019, Beech was convicted on multiple charges of perverting the course of justice and one of fraud. He was sentenced to 18 years in prison. His false allegations against prominent individuals, some no longer living, led to a disastrously flawed investigation and immense damage to those Beech accused and their families, while discouraging true victims of abuse from coming forward.
Truth Matters
Justice can be perverted or denied by false allegations: by the failure to take seriously real victims (as happened notoriously in Rotherham in the UK over several decades where authorities failed to act on reports of actual sex trafficking and organized child sexual abuse); and by victims’ fear of retaliation if they speak the truth—there were an estimated 1,400 victims in Rotherham, many of whom were not believed.
The point is simply that justice depends on recognizing the real, objective nature of truth (beyond what the state or party or leaders says it is at the moment), establishing the truth of the matter, and then telling it (or at least not lying about it) even when the cost of truth-telling is high in terms of job security or, in these days of doxxing, risk to one’s family. It’s the priority of those who have witnessed such horrors as the Russian Gulag or the Nazi concentration camps. It should be ours as well. Without truth there can be no injustice, and hence no justice.
LANSING, Mich.—On Monday, the State Board of Canvassers approved petition language for a citizens’ initiative, which, supporters say, will help stamp out election fraud in this important swing-state.
The initiative requires all voters to present a valid Michigan driver’s license, passport, or state ID card when voting in person. A signed affidavit by a person not having a photo ID will no longer suffice.
It also forbids governmental units from mass-mailing unsolicited absentee ballot applications, and prohibits the funding of any portion of the election process by non-governmental entities.
“We are happy the petition drive is off and rolling,” said Jamie Roe, a spokesperson for SecureMIVote, the grassroots organization that filed the language.
Democrat Governor Gretchen Whitmer has repeatedly vowed to veto any bill that she believes would restrict the right of Michigan residents from voting.
But the SecureMIVote proposal is not a bill, nor does it originate in the state legislature. It is voter-initiated legislation.
That means, if the petition drive garners more than 340,000 valid signatures within six months, under Michigan law, the Republican-controlled state legislature could vote to accept the proposal as the will of the people and it would become law, or they could place it on the ballot as a referendum in the next general election.
A recent public opinion poll commissioned by the Greater Detroit Chamber of Commerce showed 79.7 percent of the 600 Michigan registered voters surveyed support requiring a government-issued photo ID in order to vote.
“Either way,” said Roe, “ Michigan law says our proposal would not be subject to a veto by the governor.”
Just hours after the Board of Canvassers announced their decision to approve the language of the SecureMIVote initiative, Michigan’s Democrat Lieutenant Governor Garlin Gilchrist issued a blistering statement urging Michiganders to join the Governor’s Office in opposing the plan, which he labeled “anti-democracy and anti-American.”
“Every Michigan voter … should be offended and angered by this deceitful effort to change the rules just because some people did not like the results of the 2020 election,” said Gilchrist.
“This is a dishonest effort that is wrong for Michigan. Its purpose is to make voting harder…” he said.
In response, Roe told The Epoch Times, “The Democrats just want to keep the options for voter fraud open.”
Before an election, photo ID cards would be provided at state expense to any qualified Michigan resident desiring one, under the proposed plan.
Under the proposal, if a person shows up to vote without a photo ID, the current option to sign an affidavit attesting, under penalty of perjury, that he is who he says he is, will be done away with.
Instead, the person will be given a provisional ballot, which will be counted only if the person comes back with a valid photo ID within six days of the election.
In the 2020 presidential election, 11,400 individuals signed such affidavits.
Mindful that Donald Trump defeated Hillary Clinton in Michigan in 2016 by just 10,704 votes, Roe and his fellow reformers are taking a zero-tolerance approach to any potential for election fraud.
The proposal would also stiffen Michigan’s present voter ID requirements by eliminating what Roe calls “the subjective process” of election workers matching the signatures on returned absentee ballot envelopes with voter signatures on file with the election officials.
The new plan would require all absentee voters to write their Michigan driver’s license number or the last four digits of their social security number along with their signature on the sleeve containing their sealed ballot.
The names and numbers would not be connectable to the ballot, which would remain secret.
“Because of the pandemic, in 2020, state government mailed out absentee ballot applications to the address of every name on the registered voter list. Many applications went out to people who had not lived at that address for years, or who had died,” said Roe.
Political parties or other advocacy groups may continue to mail out unsolicited absentee ballot applications under the new plan.
The proposal’s provision barring election officials from accepting outside assistance, consisting of cash or in-kind contributions, for any aspect of conducting an election is important to preserving the American system, said Roe.
“Conducting and administering elections is inherently a government function. No outside entities should be funding our elections,” he said.
A week before the Nov. 3 election in 2020, two foundations connected with the National Basketball Association donated a combined $10,000 to help the city put up absentee ballot drop boxes in heavily Democrat Flint, Michigan.
Over 470 Michigan municipalities received grants in 2020 from the Center for Tech & Civic Life, a non-profit organization generously financed by other foundations and corporations, including tech giants Facebook and Google. A large share of the so-called “COVID-19 Relief” grants helped local governments pay for election-related expenses in both Democrat and Republican areas of Michigan.
Roe said he expects vehement opposition to his group’s petition drive financed largely by out-of-state money.
“Some of the organizations opposed to us are openly telling media outlets that they will be out in force to disrupt our signature gatherers as they work in our collection booths,” he said.
Dems promised unionized companies an additional $4,500 credit for their EVs. Coincidence or collusion? [US Patriot]
Ford Motor Co. on Tuesday became the second Detroit automaker to ask salaried employees to reveal their vaccination status against COVID-19 in a bid to comply with wider federal guidelines.
Ford said salaried employees were required to submit their vaccination status against COVID-19 by Oct. 8 but the process was voluntary for its hourly employees represented by the United Auto Workers (UAW) union.
The automaker’s move comes as the Biden administration pursues sweeping measures to increase vaccination coverage in the United States, while pushing large employers to have their workers inoculated or tested weekly.
Separately, Chief Executive Jim Farley said in a CNBC interview that the company’s leadership team was vaccinated against COVID-19 and that Ford was conducting a survey to know how many employees had been vaccinated.
“When it comes to the larger population of Ford, we want people to get vaccinated,” Farley said, adding the company would work with UAW, which had so far resisted the effort to make vaccinations compulsory.
UAW represented about 58,000 hourly employees in the United States, as per the company’s latest annual filing.
Larger rival General Motors Co. in August had asked for vaccination status of its salaried employees.
Chip Shortage
Farley, in the CNBC interview, also said the ongoing semiconductor chip shortage would probably last through the end of next year.
He said things were getting better but Ford was still unable to meet demand for its vehicles.
“We are improving our shipments to dealers now and our inventories are going very fast,” said Farley, who took over the automaker’s reins last year.
Ford’s production was hit in the second quarter due to a fire at a plant owned by automobile chipmaker Renesas Electronics Corp. in March. Farley said the facility was up to speed now.
Pakistan’s support for the Taliban is not surprising. The international community needs to take stock of Pakistan’s moves in the Taliban-led Afghanistan, and to observe how the Pakistan-China nexus will be played out in the war-torn country.
The nexus is already taking root in Afghanistan as witnessed in the coordinated efforts between Islamabad, Beijing, and the Taliban. That is, while Pakistan called the Taliban’s takeover of Kabul “breaking the chains of slavery,” China has endorsed the new “interim government” of the Taliban by calling it a “necessary step” to restore order and “end anarchy.”
Furthermore, on Sept. 8, the Pakistani government led the initiative of organizing a foreign ministers’ meeting on the Afghan issue, which was attended by China, Iran, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. At the meeting, China announced that it would donate 200 million yuan ($31 million) worth of aid, including grains, winter supplies, and COVID-19 vaccines to Afghanistan. Speaking to the G20 foreign ministers via a video link, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi urged for humanitarian assistance to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan without any delay. Besides, Beijing has also expressed its interest in starting investment projects in Afghanistan when the situation becomes conducive.
While China has been quick to make its strategic moves in the war-torn country, it is still too early to gauge how China’s clout will play out in Afghanistan. However, what remains certain is that Afghanistan, under the Taliban, will become the new frontier of the Beijing-Islamabad nexus—further broadening the scope of the ties. This brings the “all-weather friendship” between China and Pakistan into perspective—India’s major concern.
India has always been wary over the “all-weather” ties between China and Pakistan. One of the key factors that bind Beijing and Islamabad is their common interest in the context of sovereignty and territorial dispute with India. This is exemplified by the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the flagship project of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI, as known as “One Belt, One Road”) that connects the port city of Gwadar in the province of Balochistan with the Chinese city of Kashgar in the landlocked Xinjiang region. The CPEC violates India’s territorial sovereignty as it passes through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). However, Beijing dismisses New Delhi’s sovereignty concerns by arguing that the CPEC is an economic project and not aimed at any third country.
With the Taliban back in power in Afghanistan, India will have to face new dimensions of the so-called “two-front” scenario—the Taliban’s ties with China and Pakistan. This situation can be read in three ways. First, the extension of CPEC to Afghanistan will further add to India’s dilemma over Chinese intentions along India’s periphery. Second, China’s increasing affinity with the Taliban will provide a boost to Beijing’s interest to mediate between Afghanistan and Pakistan. And third, if Beijing succeeds in its role, it will try to export the “China model,” which will not be in India’s interest. While Pakistan has always been a concern for India regarding the Taliban, the added China factor will only make matters worse.
Therefore, India’s anxiety over Afghanistan is not just about the Taliban. To quell the risks, India held its first diplomatic talks with the Taliban this month and made it clear that “Afghanistan’s soil should not be used for anti-Indian activities and terrorism in any manner, according to the Ministry of Affairs.
As the uncertainties loom large, New Delhi would have to make difficult and uncomfortable decisions to secure its interests in the Taliban-led Afghanistan. And more specifically, to counter the “all-weather”ties between China and Pakistan as both countries’ interests in Afghanistan have an India quotient.
Chinese state propagandists have wormed their way onto Marxist political NYPD groups.
The New York Police Department’s newly launched hate crime review panel includes Fred Teng, who runs a Chinese Communist Party-linked influence group and has repeatedly praised regime leader Xi Jinping, The National Pulse can reveal.
Teng is one of the five members of the panel, which was inaugurated in April, and will advise the New York Police Department (NYPD) on which crimes should be classified as hate crimes. The group will also advise the District Attorney’s office on the hate crime classification.
Teng, who was born in Shanghai and now resides in New York, has several executives roles at Chinese Communist Party-linked groups including serving as the President of the America China Public Affairs Institute (ACPAI), a visiting professor at the Chinese government-run Sichuan University, and the senior U.S. representative of the China-United States Exchange Foundation (CUSEF).
Teng is also the former CEO of China Newsweek, a regime-controlled propaganda magazine based in Beijing under the control of the State Council. Teng has defended the spread of Chinese state-run media in the U.S. in a 2012 BBC article, insisting:
“I think they abide by journalistic guidelines and report their news according to their accuracy, timeliness, proximity and so forth.”
CUSEF was founded by C.H. Tung, the Vice-Chairman of the “highest-ranking entity overseeing” China’s United Front, which the U.S. government identifies as seeking to “to co-opt and neutralize sources of potential opposition to the policies and authority of its ruling Chinese Communist Party” and “influence foreign governments to take actions or adopt positions supportive of Beijing.”
Tung himself has spoken at a 2016 ACPAI event in addition to CUSEF Governor Ronnie Chan, who has spoken for the group three times. ACPAI has also hosted events featuring several Chinese Communist Party officials, Chinese state-run media hosts, and People’s Liberation Army (PLA) leaders
Teng has also met privately with Chinese Communist Party officials such as Consul General Luo Linquan.
In addition to running ACPAI and advising CUSEF, Teng frequently appears on Chinese state-run media outlets in favor of the Chinese Communist Party. In response to Xi’s removal of term limits, which allowed him to lead for life, Teng told China Global Television Network (CGTN) that “I think they are doing a critically good job right now” in reference to the regime.
“In order to carry out the agenda and the reform, we need a continuous leadership,” he added in defense of Xi’s move.
Teng has expressed similar sentiments on i24 News, where he insisted that “most of the people like it because he’s doing a good job” when asked about the cessation of term limits.
“I mean why change someone when they’re doing a good job?” he added in defense of Xi.
How do the Chinese view the plan for President Xi to stay in power indefinitely, @MichelleMakori asks Fred Teng, the president of the America China Public Affairs Institute pic.twitter.com/Dew7U4vEWm
Since the beginning of September, Senate Democrats have been trying to convince the Senate’s nonpartisan referee, the parliamentarian, to allow them to include amnesty for illegal aliens in their reconciliation bill. The parliamentarian shot down the first effort in mid-September; on Wednesday, Democrats were disappointed again after the parliamentarian denied their second push.
The blessing of the current parliamentarian, Elizabeth MacDonough, will be necessary because of the peculiar track Democrats are using in the hopes of passing their $3.5 trillion budget that has not received any Republican support.
Specifically, they are using the reconciliation process, a parliamentary procedure added to the Senate’s rule in the early 1970s. The process allows some types of budget bills to pass through the deliberative upper chamber with only a simple majority, bypassing filibuster by opponents altogether. Ultimately, what is allowed under this process is up to MacDonough, whose job it is to protect the rights of both parties.
At a press conference before the parliamentarian made her first ruling, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) indicated that Democrats “believe immigration is a critical element in reconciliation.”
“How many years have we all complained that the immigration system in America is broken and needs to be fixed?” he asked, adding that the last comprehensive immigration reform to come from Congress was passed 35 years ago, signed by President Ronald Reagan.
Under the standing rules of the reconciliation process, provisions in reconciliation bills must have an impact on the federal government’s spending and revenues that is more than “merely incidental.” Durbin argued that the immigration reform “does have a cost associated with it” and was applicable under reconciliation rules.
Democrats to Go to ‘Plan C’
The first effort by Democrats would have allowed around 8 million illegal aliens already in the country to be eligible for amnesty. This second effort was less lofty, and simply sought to change the date that illegal immigrants would be eligible for a pathway to citizenship.
This effort was again denied, a move in line with MacDonough’s track record. During her time in the position, MacDonough has not been shy to kill the priorities of either parties that she considered to be outside the scope of reconciliation.
For example, in 2017, Republicans tried to add a provision to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act—passed through the reconciliation process—that would have repealed restrictions on churches, charitable foundations, and universities that forbade such nonprofits from becoming politically involved or endorsing candidates.
After Democrats took back the majority, MacDonough also put restrictions on what they were permitted to do. In February, the parliamentarian ruled against including a $15 minimum wage in a CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus relief package proposed by President Joe Biden.
In both cases, the majority party tried to convince MacDonough that the provisions were budget-related to little avail.
Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), a proponent of using reconciliation to change immigration law, called MacDonough’s decision “unfortunate.” He explained, “I disagree with … the original principle she’s working from,” referencing her no-excuses attitude to reconciliation.
Still, Menendez indicated that despite the failure of their first two efforts, Democrats would still be making a third push and go to “plan C.” The senator was coy discussing the details, telling a reporter, “It’s for me to know and you to find out.”
Menendez did say, however, “if we don’t have any pathway to some form of status adjustment for the undocumented” that he wouldn’t support provisions designed to help businesses. “We’re not gonna take care of businesses and not take care of the 11 million,” Menendez said of groups of illegal immigrants, including former President Barack Obama’s “Dreamers,” temporary protected status (TPS) holders, agricultural laborers, and essential workers, among others..
But without the acquiescence of the parliamentarian, Menendez and his colleagues will have little choice, given MacDonough’s unilateral control over what is and is not acceptable for reconciliation.
A key immigration focus for Democrats in Congress and the president has been the status of so-called “Dreamers.” This group is comprised of people who entered the United States illegally as children and were granted amnesty under Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) a controversial executive order signed by President Barack Obama. Under Democrats’ initial proposal to MacDonough, millions of Dreamers would have received a pathway to citizenship.
The Biden administration has signaled that this is still a key focus.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who runs the department tasked with combatting illegal immigration, said after the ruling, “The Biden-Harris Administration continues to take action to protect Dreamers and recognize their contributions to this country … only Congress can provide permanent protection. I support the inclusion of immigration reform in the reconciliation bill and urge Congress to act swiftly to provide Dreamers the legal status they need and deserve.”
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki also weighed in, saying, “We are committed to getting immigration reform done.” She added, “This, I expect, would renew a look for what the vehicles and options may be.”
Because reconciliation is one of the only ways to get legislation through the Senate on a simple majority, it is for Democrats the only chance to push forward their immigration agenda with no Republican support. Any other piece of legislation is subject to death by filibuster, which can only be ended by the vote of 60 senators.
The bill is currently set for a House vote on Thursday. With this setback, Democrats have mere hours to craft a new proposal if they hope to keep that deadline.
“Well, life is always full of tough choices in the relationship between nations,” saidJohn Kerry, responding to Bloomberg’s David Weston on Sept. 22. Weston had asked him, “What is the process by which one trades off climate against human rights?”
What is wrong with Kerry’s response? For one thing, such a trade-off violates the Genocide Convention of 1948, which requires signatories, such as the United States, to undertake “to prevent and to punish” acts of genocide. China is committing “genocide,” as defined in Article II of the Convention, against Uyghurs, Kazakhs, and other Turkic minorities.
Second, Kerry, the U.S. special presidential envoy for climate, was going back on his word. In January, he said that climate was a “critical standalone issue” and promised that other matters “will never be traded for anything that has to do with climate.”
Third, Kerry should know by now that, as a practical matter, no trade-off is possible with a militant communist regime such as the one run by the Communist Party of China.
So why is Kerry now in favor of trade-offs? For one thing, Beijing had told the Biden administration that relations were all or nothing, that there could be no “stove piping” issues as American diplomats traditionally tried to do with their cooperate-where-we-can-and-oppose-where-we-must approach. Chinese leaders, knowing how much Biden wanted an enhanced climate deal, had said there would be no Chinese cooperation on climate without American cooperation across-the-board.
The critical question now is this: What, in addition to the human rights of China’s minorities, is the Biden administration willing to give up to get a climate deal with Beijing?
Democracies tend to deal with each other as Kerry evidently envisions, where cooperation on one issue can lead to warm relations and warm relations can lead to agreement in other areas.
Unfortunately, that is not the way communist states, especially China’s, operate. Kerry’s immediate predecessor as secretary of state, Hillary Rodham Clinton, found that out the hard way in February 2009. “We have to continue to press them,” she said in Seoul, before journeying to Beijing, referring to a list of disagreements with the Chinese leadership. “But our pressing on those issues can’t interfere with the global economic crisis, the global climate change crisis, and the security crises. We have to have a dialogue that leads to an understanding and cooperation on each of those.”
As Laurence Brahm, a China-watcher with close connections then to Beijing, said at the time, China’s leaders were “ecstatic” when they heard Clinton’s words because they signaled that she would not be talking about human rights. Her concession, he said, was a confirmation that the United States “had finally succumbed to a full kowtow before the celestial emperor.”
China did not return Clinton’s gesture of cooperation. On the contrary, Beijing pressed the advantage and went on a bender. The following month, for instance, Chinese craft harassed the USNS Impeccable, an unarmed U.S. Navy reconnaissance vessel, in international waters in the South China Sea and even attacked it, trying to sever its towed sonar array. The Victorious, Impeccable’s sister ship, was subject to extreme harassment in March and May 2009 in the Yellow Sea.
The lesson is clear. Even if one does not care about human rights, it is not productive to ignore China’s atrocities. Although these rights may not be important to Clinton or Kerry, the issue is critically important to an insecure regime like China’s.
China puts its brightest diplomats to work on human rights issues precisely because it knows it has no defense, especially now when Beijing is committing not only genocide but also other crimes against humanity. Mass rape, slavery, torture, and killing of minorities are impossible to justify. When the Biden administration does not talk about these crimes, it relieves great pressure on the Chinese regime.
Ronald Reagan was right: the nature of these regimes does matter. Cooperation between China and the United States, whether over climate change or anything else, is not possible, especially in light of exceedingly belligerent Chinese behavior. We know from the comments of Renmin University’s Di Dongsheng in late November that, with President Donald Trump gone, China’s leaders now feel they can do whatever they want.
Kerry is reinforcing that dangerous Chinese mindset by not talking about human rights. He is surrendering the most important leverage the United States has over China. Even if he thinks he should try to obtain China’s cooperation on climate—a debatable goal—he is going about it the wrong way.
If you want to get Chinese communists to do something, you have to impose great costs. That gives them an incentive to do something to relieve the pain. Offers of cooperation never work for long. Unfortunately, Beijing believes signals of friendship show American weakness.
What makes the Chinese regime such a human rights abuser at home makes it an irresponsible power abroad. By defending the human rights of the Chinese people, Americans are, in a very real sense, also defending their national security.
Virginia’s Democratic gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe argued that parents should not tell schools what to teach, during the final debate before the upcoming Nov. 2 election.
The remark by McAuliffe, who served as governor of Virginia from 2014 to 2018, came after Republican candidate Glenn Youngkins said he believes that parents should be given more say in the decisions of local school districts, including what kind of books their children are exposed to at school.
“What we’ve seen over the course of this last 20 months is our school systems refusing to engage with parents,” Youngkin said. “In fact, in Fairfax County this past week, we watched parents so upset because there was such sexually explicit material in the library they had never seen, it was shocking.”
He then pointed out that McAuliffe in 2016 put down what was known as the “Beloved” bill, a measure that would have made Virginia the first state to require schools to warn parents of sexually explicit content in books, and allow parents to block their children from reading those books.
“You vetoed the bill that would have informed parents that they were there,” Youngkins said to the former governor. “You believe school systems should tell children what to do. I believe parents should be in charge of their kids’ education.”
In response, McAuliffe said that parents would have had the power to remove books from library shelves if the 2016 bill passed.
“It was not that the parents had the right to veto books … also take them off the shelves,” he said. “I’m not going to let parents come into schools and actually take books out and make their own decisions.”
“I stopped the bill and I don’t think parents should be telling schools what they should teach,” McAuliffe added.
The candidates’ comments comes amid ongoing controversies around public education in Virginia, including the incorporation of critical race theory (CRT) in schools, and the Commonwealth’s new model policies encouraging school districts to allow transgender students to use restrooms and locker rooms that align with their gender identity.
McAuliffe during the first gubernatorial debate on Sept. 16 said individual school boards should be making their own decisions on whether to implement the model policies. Youngkin on Tuesday agreed with McAuliffe’s response, but added that parents should be included in the conversation, and that schools must consider “concepts of safety, privacy, and respect” when making decisions.
When it comes to CRT, McAuliffe reportedly dismissed the concerns as a “right-wing conspiracy” that was “totally made up by Donald Trump.” By contrast, Youngkin said the CRT is a real issue.
“Virginia schools are in a state of chaos because of the left-liberal, progressive agenda that is being ramrodded across the Commonwealth of Virginia,” Youngkin told The Epoch Times earlier this summer. “We kept our schools closed so unnecessarily, and damaged kids across Virginia. We have infused a political agenda of critical race theory into the curriculum, and we are seeing parents stand up across Virginia, and acutely in Loudon County.”
So happy someone else sees the Orwell and Animal Farm in The Woke Joke Making Us Broke [US Patriot]
“Twelve voices were shouting in anger, and they were all alike. No question, now, what had happened to the faces of the pigs. The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.” — George Orwell, “Animal Farm”
What were we to make of multimillionaire Barack Obama’s 60th birthday bash at his Martha’s Vineyard estate, and the throng of the woke wealthy and their masked helot attendants?
Was socialist Representative Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) suffering for the people when she wore a designer dress to the more than $30,000-a-ticket Met gala? Her entourage needs were certainly well-attended to by masked Morlock servants.
Did the leftist celebrities at the recent Emmy awards gather to discuss opening Malibu beaches to the homeless when the (unmasked) stars virtue-signaled their wokeness?
For answers about these hypocritical wokists, always turn first to George Orwell. In his brief allegorical novella, “Animal Farm,” an array of animal characters—led by the thinking pigs of the farm—staged a revolution, driving out their human overseers.
The anti-human animal comrades started out sounding like zealous Russian Bolsheviks (“four legs good, two legs bad”). But soon they ended up conned by a murderous cult of pigs under a Joseph Stalin-like leader. And so, the revolution became what it once had opposed (“four legs good, two legs better”).
Our own woke, year-zero revolution is now in its second year. Yet last year’s four-legged revolutionaries are already strutting on two legs. They are not just hobnobbing with the “white supremacists” and “capitalists,” but outdoing them in their revolutionary zeal for the rarified privileges of the material good life.
The Marxist co-founder of BLM, Patrisse Cullors, is now on her fourth woke home. She has moved on from the barricades to the security fences of her Topanga Canyon digs in a mostly all-white, all-rich rural paradise—the rewards for revolutionary service.
Professor Ibram X. Kendi has evolved from the edgy revolutionary work of flying all over the country, hawking his Orwellian message of “All racism bad! But some racism good!” Now he has mastered the art of zooming the wannabe woke for his $20,000 an hour avant-garde hectoring.
What of Colin Kaepernick, the mediocre second-string quarterback turned sudden firebrand? He refused to stand for the national anthem and spread his “take a knee” kitsch throughout professional sports.
Kaepernick became a boutique revolutionary multimillionaire. For $12 million a year, he pitches Nike sneakers, often made in Chinese forced-labor camps.
Woke NBA star LeBron James, from his $23 million Brentwood mansion, blasts America for its endless unfairness—in service to his totalitarian Chinese paymasters who will ensure his good life with an eventual lifetime $1 billion payout for hawking their goods.
Our other elite wokists navigating around the revolution are even more cynical. The corporate and Wall Street capitalists feel that a little virtue signaling, showy diversity coordinators, and woke advertising will more or less buy off the latest version of Al-Sharpton-like shake-down artists.
Then there are the trimmers and enablers. These are the wealthy, rich, and the professional classes. They feel—in abstract—absolutely terrible about inequality, but hardly enough in the concrete to mix with the unwashed.
For them, wokism is like party membership in the late ethically bankrupt Soviet Union. It is necessary for peace of mind and good income, but otherwise not an obstacle for the continuance of the privileged, comfortable life.
The more TV news hosts rant about “systemic” this and “supremacy” that, and the more college presidents write stern penance memos to their faculty about “that’s not who we are,” the more they feel not just good about themselves, but relieved of any real obligation to live and socialize with the Other.
As for the self-declared non-white Other, wokism is also a top-down revolution of celebrities, intellectuals, actors, activists, academics, grifters, lawyers, and the upper-middle class and rich. And they are not calling for a Marshall Plan to bring classical education to the inner city. They themselves have little desire to move in or spread their wealth. They rarely mentor others on their shrewd capitalist expertise that made themselves rich.
They are far more cynical than that. The regrettable violence of the street, the 120 days of 2020 looting, death and arson, are the levers of the woke professionals. They fight with the various tribes of the same class and mindset over the slices of the same coveted elite pies. But they bring to the scrap the unspoken cudgel that without greater non-white de facto quotas in comic books, TV commercials, Ivy League faculties and students, symphonies, and sit-coms, then “systemic racism” could once again ignite downtown Portland or Seattle or Baltimore.
Orwell would say of the woke Obamas, Nancy Pelosi, AOC, Bernie Sanders, LeBron James, or Ibram Kendi—and their supposedly unwoke, but similarly rich and privileged enemies—“It was impossible to say which was which.”
A week after Sept. 11, 2001, I spoke with a disaster-response expert about terrorist targets in Texas. The Houston Ship Channel, “with all those refineries,” was his first reply. How to protect it? He said: “You tell me.”
In December 2020 Forbes magazine published an article by David Blackmon addressing the vulnerability of offshore oil and gas infrastructure to criminal and terrorist attack.
Worldwide pirates and terrorists routinely attack tankers and oil facilities. Nigeria is an example. Drug cartels have seized platforms in Mexican waters. Their thugs demand ransom to return the platforms to production and free the crews.
Blackmon is an expert in offshore vulnerabilities. “For Americans,” he wrote, “ … tankers and facilities being damaged or coming under attack seem like someone else’s problems … the fact is that these key assets and infrastructure are vulnerable to water-borne and airborne assault.” Airborne includes drone strikes.
The 2010 Deepwater Horizon offshore platform debacle cost BP around $70 billion and threatened the entire Louisiana coast. Terrorists and crooks could intentionally cause a Deepwater Horizon disaster.
So could an enemy nation-state. My 2001 Houston Ship Channel expert made that point.
In 2020, despite pandemic production drops, Corpus Christi, Texas, handled 55 percent of market share of U.S. crude exports. The canal from Corpus to Port Aransas to the Gulf of Mexico can be blocked in several places. Close Houston’s or Corpus Christi’s connecting channel and American energy and chemical supplies suffer an instant blockade, without the enemy risking naval forces. The entire U.S. economy suffers. The May 2021 Colonial Pipeline cyberhack’s economic costs would pale in comparison.
Who perceives our vulnerability? Communist China does. China doesn’t need an Atlantic navy to conduct the operation, just saboteurs with position.
So, what do we do?
Some American leaders have real answers. At the moment, the most demonstrable reside in Texas.
This is legislative and executive fact, not Hollywood Texan brag: Texas has begun shouldering a defense burden that Biden Administration Beltway Washington (BABWA) has refused to bear.
Exhibit 1: The Lone Star Infrastructure Protection Act, SB 2116, authored by Republican Sen. Donna Campbell (mother of four and M.D. physician, of Texas Senate District 25) and Rep. Tan Parker (R-Flower Mound). The bill became law June 18.
Bureaucrat lingo: “Relating to prohibiting contracts or other agreements with certain foreign-owned companies in connection with critical infrastructure in this state.”
Beyond jargon, there’s serious national defense energy. About three years ago a Chinese energy company purchased around 130,000 acres near Laughlin Air Force Base, located near Del Rio, Texas. Thanks to the Biden administration’s Haitian migrant border fiasco, Del Rio has national visibility. Laughlin is a U.S. Air Force Air Training Command field. That makes nearby land an intelligence-gathering site.
But there’s more! The Chinese company, fronted by billionaire Sun Guangxin (with close ties to the Chinese Communist Party), also wanted to build a wind farm. War bingo: The wind farm would have access to the U.S. power grid.
Would the CCP hack the Texas electrical grid? I ask you.
When the bill became law, Parker said it sent “a clear message that we will not allow hostile foreign actors to access these vital elements of our great state.”
I read recently that mainland Chinese actors are trying to acquire land near Yuma, Arizona. That’s land in the vicinity of both weapons-testing and big-league intelligence training sites.
Exhibit 2: Gov. Greg Abbot’s Operation Lone Star. The official description: “directing state military and police resources to the border to aid local and federal authorities in fighting the smuggling of people and drugs across the border.”
Texas has a 1,254-mile border with Mexico.
On Sept. 17 Abbott secured $2 billion more in state border defense funding.
After signing the bill Abbott said: “It is the federal government’s job to secure our border, but the Biden administration has failed to do its job, so Texas is stepping up to do what the federal government is supposed to do.”
For the record, Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) has written a national bill very similar to the Campbell-Parker bill. Good on you, Congressman Roy.
Democrats are pushing to pass a multitrillion-dollar spending bill called the Build Back Better Act. It ought to be called the Political Scam Bill.
Buried in the 2,465 pages are numerous billion-dollar grants to unnamed community organizations for vague purposes such as promoting “community engagement” and “creating equitable civic infrastructure.”
Translation: Your taxpayer dollars will fund the payrolls of left-wing advocacy groups between elections. In return, they become the campaign army staffing phone banks, harvesting ballots and escorting people to the polls on Election Day.
The Build Back Better bill is pouring tens of billions of dollars—an unprecedented amount—into community organizations. That’s because the stakes are high. Congressional Democrats have failed to ram through the two voting bills that would change election rules to favor their party: H.R. 1 and H.R. 4. Build Back Better is the party’s best shot at gaining an electoral advantage.
The bill not only bankrolls nonprofit community organizations but also adds to their clout by allowing them to hand out billions of dollars in seed money for local business startups.
In a new twist, the Small Business Administration is distributing huge sums to nonprofits that will serve as “incubators,” disbursing funding to startup businesses in “underserved” areas. Curiously, the SBA has regional offices across the United States to help startups and could distribute the funds itself. But instead, it is empowering nonprofits by making them the middlemen.
Ninety percent of startups fail. There is no riskier place to put taxpayer money. Yet the bill establishes no standards for which businesses get the funding except that they have to be majority-owned by members of “underrepresented communities,” including residents of high poverty areas and the formerly incarcerated. One thing they can’t have is a track record. If they’ve been in business five years, they’re ineligible.
From an economic point of view, it’s taxpayer money down a rathole. Clearly, the goal is political. It’s vote buying.
All in all, nonprofits are eligible for as much as $90 billion to support their own activities or disseminate to pals under this bill. That’s equivalent of the entire 2020 budget of the state of Florida.
Historically, political machines that doled out benefits in exchange for votes were local, as in nineteenth century Boston, New York and Kansas City. “All there is to it,” explained Kansas City political boss James Pendergast, is “doing things for people, then later on they’ll do things for you.”
Barack Obama, the community organizer who became president, was a master at machine politics. The Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) outsourced the important job of health plan enrollment to community organizations, handsomely funding them and entrusting them to register people to vote at the same time. Obamacare turned community organizations into a fifth estate with government funding but without government rules.
Now, Build Back Better is funding an even wider array of organizations. It allocates a whopping $5.7 billion “for community-led projects to stabilize neighborhoods.” Translation: rallies and legal action to stop gentrification and “displacement.”
There’s also $5 billion for climate justice block grants to pay community organizations for, among other things, “facilitating engagement of disadvantaged communities in State and Federal processes.” Translation: organizing protests and demanding seats on zoning boards.
Hundreds of millions of dollars target the higher mortality rates for black women giving birth, but even on such a serious issue, the bill requires community-based organizations get priority over accredited medical centers, teaching hospitals and schools of nursing. Politics first.
For every left-wing community organization, there’s a grant in Build Back Better. The causes range from Growing and Diversifying the Doula Workforce to Anti-Discrimination and Bias Training.
Republicans used to laugh about Obama’s work experience as a community organizer. But if Build Back Better is passed, Democrats will have the last laugh, shoveling big money into leftist community organizations to tilt the scale against a fair two-party system.
Connecticut received the dubious honor Wednesday of moving ahead of New Jersey with the highest taxpayer burden among the 50 states, according to a new “Financial State of the States” report from Truth-in-Accounting (TIA).
Illinois, Massachusetts, and Hawaii follow in the 48th, 47th and 46th positions among the nation’s 50 states, as calculated by the Chicago-based non-profit that tracks government spending and debt at the metropolitan, state, and federal levels.
Each Connecticut resident’s share of the Nutmeg State’s total outstanding debt is $62,500, compared to $58,300 for New Jersey, $57,000 for Illinois, $38,100 for Massachusetts, and $37,000 for Hawaii.
“Connecticut’s money needed to pay bills increased by more than $10 billion to $79.6 billion mostly because the state’s pension and retiree health care plans’ actuaries determined future state contributions will need to increase because estimated future investment income will be less than previously expected,” according to the report.
Despite being passed by Connecticut, New Jersey still faces a serious financial condition, said the report, because the state “had no money set aside to weather the current or any future crisis.”
At the other end of the ranking, the five states with the best financial condition register surpluses, led by Alaska with a surplus of $55,100 per taxpayer, North Dakota at $39,200, Wyoming with $19,500, Utah with $6,500 and South Dakota at $5,200.
The report pointed out that Alaska “had plenty of money to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic yet received federal aid.”
The report singled out Utah for its financial management practices. “Utah has the best record among the 50 states in keeping expenses below revenues. In fact, Utah has done that every year since 2005, even during the Great Recession and now during the onset of a global pandemic.”
The states with the healthiest financial condition are referred to by the TIA report as “Sunshine States,” while those at the bottom of the ranking are “Sinkhole States.”
To determine its rankings, TIA divides how much a state needs to pay its bills by the number of state taxpayers in order to calculate comparison data. States with money available after all bills are paid rank highest.
The overall financial condition of the states remained mostly negative in 2020 despite the federal government’s providing massive amounts of money to help state officials cope with the COVID-19 pandemic that has to date killed more than 660,000 Americans. The disease originated in China and reached the U.S. in January 2020.
“At the end of the fiscal year 2020, 39 states did not have enough money to pay all of their bills. This means that to balance the budget—as is required by law in 49 states—elected officials have not included the true costs of the government in their budget calculations and have pushed costs onto future taxpayers,” the report said.
“State governments, in general, did not have enough money to pay all of their bills. The total debt of the 50 states amounted to $1.5 trillion. Our analysis does not include debt related to capital assets,” the report continued.
Like the federal government, which faces more than $100 trillion in unfunded pension and other mandated benefits, state pension costs are mounting rapidly.
“Most of the states’ debt came from unfunded retirement benefit promises, such as pension and retiree healthcare liabilities. For 2020, pension debt was $926.3 billion, and other post-employment benefits (OPEB), mainly retiree health care, totaled $638.7 billion,” the report calculated.
Sheila Weinberg, TIA’s President, told The Epoch Times Wednesday that “if the federal government hadn’t bailed out the states during the current crisis, things would be much worse,” but she worries, asking “should states be counting on money from an entity that has to print or borrow money to give to them?”
Some of the states that received the most federal assistance, notably including California, “are now declaring surpluses even though they have tens of billions of dollars of outstanding bills. California has the most unfunded debt at more than $200 billion,” she said.
Weinberg decried the result of state officials misrepresenting their jurisdictions’ true financial condition, saying “it is horrible that citizens can’t knowledgeably participate in their state’s tax and spending policies, because they are not told the truth. Our representative form of government is being harmed because people vote for elected officials based upon the wrong numbers and assuming that the current elected officials have been living within the state’s means.”
The Pennsylvania Senate Education Committee Tuesday approved a plan that provides parental control over masking decisions in school. Senate Bill 846 next goes before the full Senate for consideration.
Republican senators Doug Mastriano and Judy Ward cosponsored the bill which would allow parents or legal guardians to opt their child out of wearing a face mask due to a rule that is imposed by the state secretary of health or the school board.
The bill also provides that a child who has been opted-out of wearing a mask will not be subject to any harassment or discriminatory treatment, for example isolating that child or forcing him to work in the hallway.
This summer, Governor Tom Wolf’s administration told schools to make local decisions about masking. But just as schools were starting this fall, the Department of Health issued an order requiring masking of students and children at schools and daycare centers. Because Pennsylvania is no longer classified as being in a state of emergency, it is unclear if schools must follow the mandate.
“Unfortunately, this legislation is especially necessary following a statewide mandate from the Department of Health,” Mastriano said in a statement. “It is worth noting that over 90 percent of school districts rejected mask mandates in their health and safety plans prior to the issuance of the mandate.”
“Parents of school age children gather information and do their utmost to make informed decisions that are in the best interest of their child,” Mastriano said. “They know the children’s strengths and weaknesses best, and love their kids more than any bureaucrat or elected official does. Oftentimes, parents are the only ones who can notice the day-to-day changes of their child and the effect that all day mask wearing can have on them.”
This bill allows parents to consider the personalized needs of each unique child, he said.
Ward said her office has been overwhelmed with calls and emails from parents upset with masking mandates from the Wolf administration and from their school districts.
“Parents throughout our districts have echoed their concerns about the negative impacts of mask-wearing on their children,” Ward said.” Issues such as difficulty breathing, decreased communication among students, learning impairments, and anxiety are common.”
“Parents know what their children are going through and can decide whether a mask is necessary for their children’s health and success in school,” Ward said. “Passage of this bill will give rights back to the parents and legal guardians to do what they know is best for their children.”
Having a dissenting view within the prevailing orthodoxies of many universities today can lead to “a death by a thousand cuts,” according to a lawyer who specializes in constitutional law.
Samantha Harris, with Allen Harris Law in Connecticut, represents Stephen Porter, a professor at North Carolina State University (NCSU). Porter filed a lawsuit on Sept. 14, alleging that faculty members in his department were discriminating against him, violating both his First and Fourteenth Amendment rights by retaliating against his free speech.
“In some ways, it’s nothing new,” Harris told The Epoch Times, “but what I’ve observed in recent years is these institutions have gotten smarter in knowing that they can’t just fire someone.”
Over the last 20 years, Harris said she’s seen multiple strategies on how universities censor unpopular speech of faculty and students.
Death by a Thousand Cuts
Rather than termination or direct punishment, Harris said the latest is the adoption of an incremental strategy, in which the institution subjects the dissenter to investigations, removal from committees, and accusations of professionalism violations.
This subtle death by a thousand cuts can complicate the livelihood for someone who expresses an unpopular belief, Harris said, and blur the line between First Amendment rights and the institution’s overreach.
“It can make it difficult for people to advance their careers, as well as to get justice for what’s happening to them,” Harris said.
Race-Focused Worldviews
On the predominant social justice ideologies being debated—such as what Porter said he was contesting at NCSU—Harris said she avoids using phrases like Critical Race Theory (CRT), the Marxist philosophy that suggests society is a class struggle between oppressors and the oppressed, labeling white people as the oppressors and all other races as the oppressed.
“That’s become shorthand for what I would call this very race-focused view looking at how we should as a country deal with issues of race and identity,” Harris said. “As a result, people who ascribe to what I would call a more traditional civil rights view of treating people equally and viewing each person as an individual has fallen out of favor on many campuses and is often the accused of being racist itself.”
Color blindness, which used to be the standard for not being racist, is now considered in many circles to be racist, she said.
“Critical Race Theory is a school of thought that evolved out of the universities, and that has informed a lot of thinking, but what I really call it is this very race-focused view of the world, the way humans interact with one another, and the way policies should be made,” Harris said.
Opinions Targeted
Most of her clients are people who have landed on the “wrong side” of these views by expressing opinions not in line with “this very race-focused world view.”
“The same goes for gender identity,” Harris said. “Interestingly, I’ve had clients who are feminist who do not ascribe to the current views on gender identity and have found themselves targeted for that.”
Most frequently, Harris said what she’s observed is the suppression of traditional, conservative views at liberal universities.
Before setting up her own firm, Harris worked for 15 years at the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), a nonprofit academic and individual rights advocacy center set up to be a resource for students and faculty members who have had their freedom of speech infringed upon.
“FIRE is a faculty rights organization that does some targeted First Amendment litigation at public universities, but they also advocate on behalf of the students and faculty at private universities who are facing censorship,” Harris said.
On her transition from “big-picture advocacy” at FIRE to “getting into the trenches” to represent individual clients at her law firm, Harris said her focus is primarily on freedom of speech and due process, ensuring those who are accused of misconduct can go through an impartial investigation before facing disciplinary action.
Freedom of Conscience
The firm also defends freedom of conscience, or the freedom to hold one’s own thoughts and beliefs free from governmental interference.
“The seminal freedom of conscience case was when a court held that Jehovah’s Witness students could not be forced to salute the flag in class,” Harris said. “That violated their freedom of conscience, the right to be free from compelled speech and compelled beliefs.”
In the 1943 case of West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette, the board adopted a directive requiring all public-school students to salute the flag and recite the Pledge of Allegiance or be expelled.
A group of Jehovah’s Witness students challenged the directive on the pretense that saluting the flag conflicted with their religious beliefs prohibiting idol worship, therefore violating their freedom of religion and speech, and the Supreme Court concurred.
Similarly, the freedom of conscience comes into play with what Harris said are “intrusive training” methodologies in which world views and theories aren’t shared, but required.
In North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson’s Fairness and Accountability in the Classroom for Teachers and Students task force report, teachers and parents anonymously provided testimony and examples of curriculums of what they were seeing in North Carolina classrooms.
One teacher alleged in the report that white staff members were told that they were unaware of their racism and required to attend “professional development” sessions related to “microaggression” and “equity” as it relates to race and gender.
Porter’s Case
What brought Harris’ client, Stephen Porter, to the attention of his faculty members at NCSU was his blog posts challenging the social justice ideologies of his department.
“Faculty at public universities have the right to speak as private citizens on matters of public concern,” Harris said. “When a faculty member or public employee has a private blog in which they express their opinions about important societal issues, they have the right to free speech to do that.”
Porter told The Epoch Times that for three years his own department has been attempting to isolate and drain him of resources in retaliation for opposing “the broader push for social justice ideologies within our college.”
After writing a blog criticizing the Association for the Study of Higher Education research conference, which he said had become a “woke joke,” the president of the conference, during her keynote speech, had a picture of Porter behind her at the conference, where he said, “she spent 10 minutes castigating me and my blog posts, accusing me of white fragility.”
In addition, Porter said the department had engaged in untested research methodologies to inquire about diversity being taught in the classroom.
“My background is in survey methodology, so, not realizing this would start a furor, I began asking simple questions,” Porter said.
In the lawsuit, Porter alleged that he had been “systematically excluded” from meetings and activities related to higher education programs and the advising of students, which Porter said prevented him from getting new advisees.
As Porter experienced his own “death by a thousand cuts,” he said he slipped into depression, concerned that he was going to lose his job and the means to provide for his family.
After meeting with Harris and filing the lawsuit, he said he’s in “a much better place, particularly since we filed.”
“I feel like I’m fighting back for my rights, and quite honestly, I’m doing this to restore my job to what it was a few years ago,” he said.
Another reason he filed the lawsuit was to give others the courage to take a stand.
“This is happening in universities around the country,” Porter said. “People are afraid to speak up, and I’d like to provide an example that says, ‘It’s possible to stand up for yourself and fight for your rights. It’s OK to be a conservative in academia, although my colleagues would obviously disagree.’”
When reached for comment, a spokesperson for NCSU said the university does not comment on pending litigation.
It is now Halloween season, so as parents you must be on alert for threats to your children. This year, make sure to carefully check your kids’ candy before they eat it, being especially on the lookout for vaccination needles.
The COVID-19 vaccine has not been approved for children, but some deranged individuals may try to vaccinate kids anyway by hiding needles inside the candy. If your children receive candy from anyone wearing a mask—like the paper ones, not werewolf masks—or if they have a “Hate Has No Home Here” sign in their yard, you need to be very cautious of the candy they receive.
Signs of a vaccine would be a needle sticking out of a candy bar. Also, there could be a label on it, such as “Pfizer Edible.” You may also find some Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups in your children’s candy; these aren’t a threat, but take a few for yourself, because checking candy is hard work.
Authorities say to be particularly suspicious if your kids trick-or-treat in Dr. Fauci’s neighborhood. He’s attracting kids to his house by giving out full-sized candy bars, but you want to check those carefully.
Watch our latest video on how to make sure your kids are absolutely terrified of COVID:
The Texas Secretary of State’s office is carrying out a forensic audit of 2020 election results in four large counties, including Dallas and Harris counties.
The office announced the audit last week but declined to provide more details until Sept. 28.
Phase one of the review is already underway, the office says. This phase involves verifying the accuracy of voting machines, assessing cybersecurity, and pinpointing and removing from voter rolls any people who cast votes illegally in 2020.
State officials have received reports from the Electronic Registration Information Center regarding voters who may have voted twice or who illegally voted in Texas despite living in another state. In addition, officials have identified votes they say were potentially cast by non-U.S. citizens and alerted counties to review each case. Once that’s done, any instances of possible illegal voting will be referred to the state Attorney General’s Office for investigation.
Phase two of the audit, estimated to take place in the spring of next year, is centered on examining the election records from various counties, including Tarrant and Collins counties.
The Secretary of State’s office plans to examine all chain-of-custody forms concerning equipment and all logic and accuracy-testing records for voting machines.
Depending on the results of the examination, there could be a full manual recount in the affected precincts or polling locations.
“The purpose of this audit is to ensure all Texas voters can have confidence in the elections systems in our state, and to address any outstanding issues county election officials may face that undermines the integrity of our elections,” the office said in a statement.
A spokesman said in an email that the office won’t be hiring or contracting with any outside firms to conduct the audits. The position of Texas secretary of state is currently vacant.
Election offices in the four counties didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, a Democrat, told reporters last week that “the sensational announcement of an audit by the state is nothing more than a political ploy by a former president and someone who’s trying to curry favor.”
“I’m working to do everything in my power to stop this not only because complying with a sham audit will take us away from serious work we have to do but also, and most importantly, because it will take trust away from our election systems here in Harris County and here in Texas,” she said.
Trump won Texas in the 2020 election by about 630,000 votes but said in a letter to Abbott that he heard Texans want an audit.
“Your citizens don’t trust the election system,” he wrote. “Texans know voting fraud occurred in some of their counties.”
Abbott defended the audit over the weekend.
“There are audits of every aspect of government. We have a state auditor. There’s a federal auditor for the way that government operations work. Businesses that are public companies are subject to an annual audit,” he said on “Fox News Sunday.” “Why do we audit everything in this world, but people raise their hands in concern when we audit elections, which is fundamental to our democracy?”
He also said the audit began months ago, although that hadn’t been previously disclosed.
LOUDOUN COUNTY, Va.—Hundreds of protesters rallied in Loudoun County to voice their objection over a recently adopted pro-transgender policy. The event occurred outside the Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) administration building on Sept. 28, an hour before the school board meeting.
The policy, also known as policy 8040 (pdf), requires LCPS staff to address students with their preferred pronouns and allows transgender students access to bathrooms and locker rooms according to their self-identified gender. It also requires all LCPS staff to “complete training on topics relating to LGBTQ+ students” and schools to create more single-user restrooms within the next five years. It was adopted on Aug. 11, before the start of the current school year.
For the county parents, the pro-transgender policy was just one out of many issues they had with the Loudoun County School Board (LCSB). “Trust,” or instead, the loss of trust, was often mentioned in rally speeches and during public comment at LCSB meetings since June 22, at which two LCPS residents were arrested after the superintendent Scott Ziegler declared the meeting an “unlawful assembly.”
“I’m even thinking about sending my kids to school with a body cam. When they get into the class, start recording. Because we’re not in the classroom,” said an LCPS parent at the rally. Another LCPS parent said during public comment of the LCSB meeting, “The parents of Loudoun trusted that the members of the board would have our children’s best interests in mind when making decisions; that trust is lost.”
Ian Prior, executive director of Fight for Schools, said that the LCSB needed to act like elected officials and “stop acting like a politburo” that wants to take away parents’ responsibility of raising their children. “If you want to take that responsibility from me, you’re going to have to pry it from my cold, dead hands,” warned Prior. On Aug. 25, Fight for Schools filed a petition in the Loudoun County Circuit Court to recall LCSB member Beth Barts. The next court hearing is scheduled for Oct. 5.
A woman holding a sign at a rally outside the Loudoun County Public Schools administration building in Ashburn, Va., on Sept. 28, 2021. (Terri Wu/The Epoch Times)
On Sept. 23, the LCPS changed the rules of public participation at LCSB meetings, again. It asked registered speakers to show proof of residence in the county, following changes that took away public viewing during public comment in August. Public participation didn’t dwindle as a result. Instead, the number of registered in-person speakers at the Sept. 28 meeting was 82, more than the 70 at the previous session on Sept. 14.
Andrea Weiskopf, an LCPS teacher, was the only in-person speaker supporting the LCSB. “Will you fight so that it will be pretty clear that they will benefit, that all children of Loudoun will feel like they belong? Cui bono [for whom it benefits]?” she asked. She wrote in a tweet about her plan to “incorporate critical race theory into my lessons” during the summer. On Aug. 24, Weiskopf posted another tweet asking for lesson plans “designed to indoctrinate students.” The LCPS has repeatedly said that it doesn’t teach critical race theory.
The following is an installment in a weekly series of commentary articles by Cameron Arcand, founder of the conservative commentary website Young Not Stupid and a contributor to The Western Journal.
From the moment I arrived at Arizona State University last month, the faculty stressed the importance of diversity and inclusion in the college community.
In fact, ASU’s charter says the school is “measured not by whom we exclude, but rather by whom we include and how they succeed.”
One of the oft-mentioned tenets of this creed is the need to respect others’ political affiliations, and the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education has given ASU a green light for its First Amendment policies.
But a recent incident shows that although the university promotes ideological diversity on paper, the student body still has work to do when it comes to political tolerance.
A viral video from the “multicultural space” on ASU’s Tempe campus features liberal students arguing with two conservative students.
A woman confronts the conservative men over a laptop sticker that says “Police Lives Matter.”
“What did I do wrong?” the student with the pro-police sticker asks.
“You’re offensive. Police lives matter?” the woman recording the scene says.
WARNING: The following video contains graphic language that some viewers will find offensive.
The argument continues, with the woman saying the men are “making the space uncomfortable.”
“But you’re white!” the woman says. “Do you understand what a multicultural space [is]? It means you’re not being centered.”
“White’s not a culture?” says one of the men, who is wearing a “Did Not Vote For Biden” T-shirt.
“No, it’s not a culture. White is not a culture,” the woman says. “This is the violence that ASU does and this is the type of people that they protect. OK? This white man thinks he can take up our space.”
When one of the students says he’s not racist, the woman responds, “You are racist. Your sticker’s racist.” When he apologizes and says he didn’t mean to offend anyone, another woman says, “But this offends us automatically because these people kill people like me and like us, right? So you’re promoting our murderers.”
In the full video, the two men eventually leave as the situation escalates.
ASU’s dean of students released a statement condemning the altercation.Does the left really value ideological diversity?Yes No Completing this poll entitles you to The Western Journal news updates free of charge. You may opt out at anytime. You also agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
“The Dean of Students Office is aware of the incident between a handful of students that was captured in a video circulated on social media. The Dean of Students Office will be discussing it with all involved,” the statement said.
“ASU is a community of more than 100,000 people from all 50 states and more than 150 countries. Differences of opinion are part of the university experience. The university expects respectful dialogue between students in all engagements.”
It’s clear that ASU’s administration is trying to attract and appease left-wing students and faculty, and will likely sweep this incident under the rug.
With that being said, it is undeniable that the university has a significant conservative plurality, making it more reflective of the nature of American politics than many schools.
Let’s be honest: ASU is no University of California, Berkeley, when it comes to leftist hostility.
But this video shows that its political climate leaves a lot to be desired. All students must do a better job respecting the ideological diversity the school claims to value.
The Department of Homeland Security is reportedly preparing for what could be the largest surge of migrants in the nation’s history if Title 42 COVID-19 restrictions are lifted.
DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas asked whether the department was ready for a worst-case scenario of 350,000 to 400,000 immigrants crossing the southern border in October, according to two DHS officials familiar with the conversation, NBC News reported on Thursday.
The number would be up to twice as high as the 200,000-plus illegal immigrants who crossed the southern border in both July and August.
The preparations are underway as a Trump-era policy called Title 42 faces a possible end this week. The rule has allowed Border Patrol to turn away illegal immigrants at the border due to their threat of spreading COVID-19.
On Sept. 16, U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan ruled the policy did not give the Biden administration authority to stop migrants from crossing the nation’s southern border. The policy was set to go into effect in 14 days on Sept. 30.
The ruling is under appeal and it is uncertain if it ruling will go into effect.
Concerns have grown as up to 15,000 mostly Haitian migrants gathered under a bridge in Del Rio, Texas, drawing a national spotlight on migrant caravans traveling to America.
In July, a charity in the border town of La Joya, Texas, reportedly rented an entire hotel to house illegal immigrants who tested positive for COVID-19, giving no notification to the local community.
Fox News State Department correspondent Rich Edson tweeted at the time, “Police in La Joya, TX, a Border town, announce a charity has rented an entire hotel here for COVID-positive migrants. They say they only found out when a family, showing symptoms and staying there, ate at a restaurant next door. A customer flagged down a police officer.”
Police in La Joya, TX, a Border town, announce a charity has rented an entire hotel here for COVID-positive migrants. They say they only found out when a family, showing symptoms and staying there, ate at a restaurant next door. A customer flagged down a police officer.
The Securing the Homeland from International Entrants with Life-threatening Diseases, or SHIELD, Act would continue the public health protections enacted in March 2020, according to Fox News.Does the Biden administration care about COVID-19 spreading among migrants?Yes No Completing this poll entitles you to The Western Journal news updates free of charge. You may opt out at anytime. You also agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Cruz said, “Title 42 has been an integral and extremely successful measure to protect America’s borders and our people during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
“If the Biden-Harris policy for open borders is intended to reverse the Trump administration’s success in securing our border, encourage illegal immigration and create an unprecedented crisis, it’s certainly working,” he added.
According to a June Axios report, the Biden administration originally wanted to eliminate Title 42 by the end of July.
The parents of a Marine who has been jailed for calling out senior military leaders through a series of social media posts and videos say the rules their son broke are nowhere near as serious as the level of trust shattered by those above him.
In the aftermath of the Aug. 26 terrorist attack in Kabul, Afghanistan, that killed 13 service members and almost 200 Afghans, Lt. Col. Stuart Scheller released a video saying “People are upset because their senior leaders let them down, and none of them are raising their hands and accepting accountability or saying, ‘We messed this up,’” according to Task & Purpose.
Scheller is in the brig at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, Marine Corps spokesman Capt. Sam Stephenson said, according to The Washington Post.
“The allegations against Lt. Col. Scheller are merely accusations. He is presumed innocent until proven guilty,” he said.
Scheller is accused of showing contempt toward officials, willfully disobeying a superior officer, failing to obey lawful orders and committing conduct unbecoming of an officer.
In addition to speaking out and naming names, Scheller posted on social media in violation of an order not to do so.
“They are trying to bury our son,” his mother, Cathy, said during a Wednesday appearance on “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” according to Fox News.
Tucker Carlson talks to the parents of imprisoned Marine Lt. Col. Stuart Scheller: “His crime was speaking truth to power, and power couldn’t handle it.” pic.twitter.com/Ad92GMIhXM
Cathy Scheller asked Americans “to pray, to contact your congressmen, and to donate.”
Carlson commiserated with the Marine’s parents.
“This is one of the worst stories I’ve ever seen in 30 years of covering this stuff,” he said.
Scheller’s father, Stuart Scheller Sr., said his son acted deliberately on his convictions. What he did, Scheller Sr. said, was far better than the actions of Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Army Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, or Marine Gen. Frank McKenzie, commander of U.S. Central Command.
“He knew this weekend when he posted again and he broke his silence that they were probably going to arrest him. He is a very intelligent man. He understands what’s going to happen to him,” Scheller Sr. said.
“He broke chain of command … his crime was speaking truth to power, and power couldn’t handle it … While he broke chain of command – Austin, Milley, McKenzie – they broke the chain of trust and confidence in the American people. We’re mad, we’re mad as hell,” he said.
On Tuesday, Scheller Sr. told Fox News host Laura Ingraham that their son’s superiors “broke the chain of trust and confidence of the American people. For that, they should be embarrassed. They should resign for that,” in comments quoted by the U.K.-based Independent.
“He could not stand by and could not fathom the botched withdrawal from Afghanistan. He was asking for accountability, honest answers, and confessions of mistakes that were made,” his father said.
“They have turned their backs on him. They have tried to shut him up with a gag order, and when that didn’t work, they have put him in jail. It’s shameful.”
Cathy Scheller said the family wants more than the resignations of top military officials.
“We want them to resign and we want Stuart released. We would like him to have his pension reinstated and his hard-earned medical benefits that he will need after his many deployments. If they won’t do that, at least release him and let him out of the Marines.”
According to Task & Purpose, Scheller’s service record includes stints in Lebanon, evacuating Americans in 2006 during Israeli-Hamas fighting, time in Iraq as a company executive officer in 2007, and postings in Afghanistan.
His personal awards include a “Bronze Star Medal, a Combat Action Ribbon, an Army Commendation Medal with combat ‘V,’ and three Navy and Marine Corps Commendation medals, according to his service record,” Task & Purpose reported.
“I’m not saying we’ve got to be in Afghanistan forever, but I am saying: Did any of you throw your rank on the table and say ‘hey, it’s a bad idea to evacuate Bagram Airfield, a strategic airbase, before we evacuate everyone,’” he said.
Scheller said he thought risking his future in the Marines was worth it.
“I thought through ‘if I post this video, what might happen to me?’ especially if the video picks up traction, if I have the courage to post it. But I think what you believe in, can only be defined by what you’re willing to risk. So if I’m willing to risk my current battalion commander seat, my retirement, my family’s stability to say some of the things I want to say. I think it gives me some moral high ground to demand the same honesty, integrity, accountability from my senior leaders,” he said.
Scheller also issued a defiant Facebook post on Saturday, noting he expected to be arrested.
“Fear cannot exist in the pursuit of love and truth. I believe in love. I believe in America. I believe in strength. I believe in honesty. I believe I am ready to go to jail based on these beliefs,” he wrote.
Calling the proposed Democratic budget package of progressive sugar plums “fiscal insanity,” Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia on Wednesday said he has not budged in his opposition to the mammoth spending bill.
Manchin and Democratic Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona have long been holdouts in the Senate and have indicated opposition to a bill that totals $3.5 trillion, a sum Democratic Sen. Bernie Sanders has already said is “not enough” for what should be doled out to social programs.
This week, they were courted by President Joe Biden in an effort to get them on board, as CBS News reported. The two votes matter to Democrats because without them – and with continued united Republican opposition – the spending bill cannot pass a Senate that’s divided between the parties 50-50.
That makes Manchin’s announcement a huge roadblock to progressive plans.
Manchin explained his stand in a statement on his website.
“I can’t support $3.5 trillion more in spending when we have already spent $5.4 trillion since last March. At some point, all of us, regardless of party must ask the simple question – how much is enough?” he wrote.
“What I have made clear to the President and Democratic leaders is that spending trillions more on new and expanded government programs, when we can’t even pay for the essential social programs, like Social Security and Medicare, is the definition of fiscal insanity,” he wrote.
Manchin wrote that claims that spending will not fuel increased inflation are pipe dreams.
“Suggesting that spending trillions more will not have an impact on inflation ignores the everyday reality that America’s families continue [to] pay an unavoidable inflation tax,” he wrote.
Manchin also expressed doubts that an unprecedented deluge of taxpayer dollars will create the version of nirvana its supporters claim will take place.
“Proposing a historic expansion of social programs while ignoring the fact we are not in a recession and that millions of jobs remain open will only feed a dysfunction that could weaken our economic recovery,” he wrote.
Manchin noted he supports tax code changes to address fairness concerns, but that there is a limit.
“Overall, the amount we spend now must be balanced with what we need and can afford – not designed to reengineer the social and economic fabric of this nation or vengefully tax for the sake of wishful spending,” he wrote.
Manchin did not rule out further conversations about an appropriate amount of spending, but wrote that “I cannot – and will not — support trillions in spending or an all or nothing approach that ignores the brutal fiscal reality our nation faces.”
Manchin also hinted that the final solution may not be a one-party bill, as the $3.5 trillion package was designed to be.
“If there is one final lesson that will continue to guide me in this difficult debate ahead it is this: America is a great nation but great nations throughout history have been weakened by careless spending and bad policies,” he wrote. “Now, more than ever, we must work together to avoid these fatal mistakes so that we may fulfill our greatest responsibility as elected leaders and pass on a better America to the next generation.”
Sinema is doing her negotiating directly with the WH and Schumer. She’s been at the WH for meetings 10 times since the summer. Durbin, No. 2, himself acknowledged being in the dark about her and Manchin’s demands. Sanders: “I don’t want to talk about Sinema and Manchin.” https://t.co/GvnwyQ8oYs
Progressives in the House of Representatives say they want to move forward regardless of what Manchin does.
“Progressives won’t back down on delivering paid leave, education, health care, child care, and climate action because of an arbitrary deadline,” said Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington, according to Fox Business. “We’re sticking to our deal and delivering for the people.”
Radical Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota indicated disgust with Manchin and Sinema.
“It is saddening to see them use Republican talking points. We obviously didn’t envision having Republicans as part of our party,” she said, according to The Hill.
The number of those apprehended crossing the southern border illegally during fiscal year 2021 that ends today exceeds the population of 11 American states.
According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, so far there have been over 1.5 million encounters of people crossing the southwest border through August.
That number will go up by 200,000 or more when September’s encounters are included, if recent trends continue.
The current tally already exceeds the total populations of 11 states, according to 2019 figures, including Hawaii (population: about 1,416,000), New Hampshire, Maine, Montana, Rhode Island, Delaware, South Dakota, North Dakota, Alaska, Vermont and Wyoming (population: about 579,000).
By comparison, there were just 458,000 encounters in 2020.
CBP Encounters, Southwest Land Border. (Check out those 2021 ‘single adult’ numbers.)
No need to travel to see it ‘first hand’… It’s right there on the freaking website! pic.twitter.com/7G7q1sbaOn
Last week, 26 Republican governors — including border governors Doug Ducey of Arizona and Greg Abbott of Texas — sent an urgent letter to President Joe Biden seeking a meeting to discuss the border crisis within 15 days.
“As chief executives of our states, we request a meeting with you at The White House to bring an end to the national security crisis created by eight months of unenforced borders,” they wrote.Do you think Biden is derelict in his duty to secure the border?Yes No Completing this poll entitles you to The Western Journal news updates free of charge. You may opt out at anytime. You also agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
“The months-long surge in illegal crossings has instigated an international humanitarian crisis, spurred a spike in international criminal activity, and opened the floodgates to human traffickers and drug smugglers endangering public health and safety in our states. A crisis that began at our southern border now extends beyond to every state and requires immediate action before the situation worsens,” the governors added.
NEW 🚨 26 GOP Governors Demand Biden End The Border Crisis
“More fentanyl has been seized this fiscal year than the last three years combined—almost 10,500 pounds of fentanyl when only 2 milligrams prove fatal. This is enough to kill seven times the U.S. population,” they further noted.
The governors argued they are doing what they can to mitigate the situation, but that in the end, it is a federal issue.
‘[O]ur Constitution requires that the President must faithfully execute the immigration laws passed by Congress,” they wrote. “Not only has the federal government created a crisis, it has left our states to deal with challenges that only the federal government has a duty to solve.”
Last week, White House press secretary Jen Psakiaccused Republicans of being more interested in making speeches than solving the border crisis.
“There are a lot of Republicans out there giving speeches about how outraged they are about the situation at the border,” she said at Friday’s news briefing, according to a White House transcript. “Not many who are putting forward solutions or steps that we could take. So we’re a little tired of the speeches,” she said.
.@PressSec Jen Psaki: “There are a lot of Republicans out there giving speeches about how outraged they are about the situation at the border. Not many who are putting forward solutions or steps that we could take. So we’re a little tired of the speeches.” pic.twitter.com/ujqfcJOrOX
On Biden’s first day in office, he suspended construction of the border wall and ended former President Donald Trump’s “remain in Mexico” policy for those seeking asylum in the United States, which Republicans have argued triggered the 21-year high surge in border crossings.
In a Newsmax interview this week, James Carafano, a national security expert with the Heritage Foundation who rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel during a 25-year Army career, argued that what happened in Del Rio, Texas, this month with a massing of migrants on the border, has now become part of the playbook for illegal entry into the U.S.
“They’ll just throw a camp up on the border, put thousands of people there and then the Biden team will be so anxious to get it off of the news cycle, they’ll just take those people and ship them right into the interior,” Carafano said.
“Look, we’re going to wind up with not millions, but if we keep this up, ten of millions of people coming in,” he predicted.
Carafano argued that the Biden administration really wants open borders, despite anything officials might say to the contrary.
“They’d like to hide that fact as much as possible from the American people, but at the end of the day, when the open-borders people say, ‘Do this,’ they jump,” he said.
The former West Point professor contended that having an open border, in addition to the unsustainable flow of migrants into the U.S., imperils national security.
“The other key thing is, we have a wide open border. It’s more wide open than it was on 9/11,” he said near the end of the interview, pointing out that the terrorist group al Qaida is reconstituting in Afghanistan and looking to hit the U.S. again.
“So it’s all fun and games, my friends,” Carafano said. “It’s all a big laugh until more people die than died on 9/11, and that’s going to happen, if we don’t do something.”
WESLACO, Texas (ValleyCentral) — The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) held a briefing on Operation Lone Star Thursday morning.
At the briefing, DPS Regional Director Victor Escalon and TMD Lt. Colonel Rodney Kelley will provide an overview of last week`s migrant numbers in Del Rio and the operations that were used to secure the area.
Operation Lone Star was put in place by Gov. Greg Abbott in March, and it allows Texas DPS and the Texas National Guard to team up and patrol high-risk areas along the southern border, including the Rio Grande Valley.‘
“Troopers that work along the border they deal with this day in and day out,” said Lieutenant Christopher Olivarez. “But the numbers that we are seeing this year have been historic, just the surge of migrants that have been coming across, the criminal activity, the increase in vehicle pursuits, we have never seen that before in prior years.”
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki has a habit of responding to difficult questions with sarcasm, condescension or downright snark. Earlier this week, she appeared to get so miffed by a press query that she forgot to mask up.
At the end of her Monday media briefing, Psaki was gathering up her notes to exit the White House briefing room when a reporter — as they are wont to do — shouted a parting question to her about President Joe Biden’s poll numbers.
“The president’s polling continues to collapse–” the reporter began, but Psaki quickly spoke over her.
“I know you like to shout at the end. Next time we’ll do it during the briefing,” she replied in a sarcastic, condescending tone.
Psaki then put on an artificial smile, walked off the stage, and in a voice still dripping with snark, repeated “thanks everyone,” and “thank you so much” before finally leaving the briefing room.
Psaki often appears to work hard to convey the kind of cool and in-control demeanor that made Trump supporters such big fans of White House press secretaries Sarah Sanders and Kayleigh McEnany, who expertly thwarted the attacks of the activist media on a routine basis without batting an eye.
Yet Psaki was clearly bothered by this comment, as she left the stage without obediently remasking as she was finished speaking, as per White House guidelines.
Lately, Psaki has typically paused when she is finished with her briefing to put her mask back on, during which time it is normal for reporters to shout out last-minute questions they’re hoping she’ll answer.Is this another case of Democrats’ double standards?Yes No Completing this poll entitles you to The Western Journal news updates free of charge. You may opt out at anytime. You also agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Reporters, of course, remain masked during the whole of the briefings as the White House requires. The guidelines were reimposed over the summer after a brief pause in the practice before the delta variant prompted a fresh wave of COVID scares.
At the time, as The New York Times reported, Psaki said she was prepared to wear masks again, although she does not appear to be required to do so while giving briefings.
When President Donald Trump was in office, he was roundly criticized both for his treatment of the establishment media and his own failure to wear a mask in public.
The Biden administration, for which Psaki is the chief spokeswoman, promised to be the administration that was going to play by the rules and respect our nation’s free press.
And here Psaki is, throwing shade at reporters and forsaking masks that she herself has insisted are necessary to save lives.
The Democrats seem to genuinely believe that what they expect of everyone else — particularly us plebs in the American public — doesn’t apply to them.
After all, during Monday’s briefing, Psaki had been pressed on a comment that Biden made Friday while meeting with Indian Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in which he’d disparaged the American press on a hot mic and suggested the Indian media was “better behaved.”
As the New York Post reported, several reporters had taken their grievances to Psaki immediately after Biden’s Oval Office meeting with Modi, and Psaki was then grilled about the incident on Monday.
Maybe this was why she was feeling so annoyed with the press pool and distracted to the point that she forgot to dutifully swath her face before leaving the podium.
She’d already fielded a question on why Biden would suggest that the American media is worse than the Indian media when the latter nation ranks 142nd in the world for press freedoms, so perhaps a question on the president’s dropping polling numbers was just too much for her to handle.
Yes, it certainly can’t be easy being the press secretary for the disastrous Biden administration and being expected to live up to all those lofty goals it set for itself by slandering and smearing the unwashed, unmasked masses who criticize the media.
Over the weekend, House Democrats reportedly snuck a provision into the controversial $3.5 trillion “reconciliation” bill that could raise the fines for violating the Biden administration’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate from $14,000 per violation to $70,000 per violation, and “willful” and “repeat” violations of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulations could cost some businesses a shocking $700,000 per incident.
“Buried on page 168 of the House Democrats’ 2,465-page mega bill is a tenfold increase in fines for employers that ‘willfully,’ ‘repeatedly,’ or even seriously violate a section of labor law that deals with hazards, death, or serious physical harm to their employees,” Forbes reported Tuesday.
“The increased fines on employers could run as high as $70,000 for serious infractions, and $700,000 for willful or repeated violations—almost three-quarters of a million dollars for each fine,” the outlet noted, adding that if the provision is “enacted into law, vax enforcement could bankrupt non-compliant companies even more quickly than the $14,000 OSHA fine anticipated under Biden’s announced mandate.”
The Biden administration may have begun laying the groundwork for this change over the summer when OSHA “published an emergency Covid-19 rule in the Federal Register taking jurisdiction over and providing justification for Covid-19 being a workplace hazard for healthcare employment.” That jurisdiction currently covers “encouraging” vaccines.
Early in September, Biden announced his 100-or-more employee Covid-19 vaccine mandate and tasked OSHA with drafting an enforcement rule to exert emergency vaccine compliance authority over companies with 100 or more employees.
The legislative provision that passed the Budget Committee raises the OSHA fines for non-compliance 10 times higher – and up to $700,000 for each “willful” or “repeated” violation. Speaker Nancy Pelosi has not announced when the House will vote on the reconciliation bill that includes the new OSHA fines.
If the legislation is enacted, OSHA could levy draconian fines to enforce Biden’s vaccine mandate, a move that could rapidly bankrupt non-compliant companies. The Biden mandate affects employers collectively employing an estimated 80 millionworkers.
The new OSHA regulations are expected to build on the existing “general duty” requirements, which currently demand health care workplaces implement an “infection-control plan developed with worker participation” and mandate “the wearing of masks and respirators,” as well as “Covid-19 screenings at entry points. The current regulation “compels paid time off for employees to get vaccinated or recover from a shot’s side effects.”
OSHA has shown a willingness, particularly in the Biden administration to pursue “willful” violations of this clause. According to Bloomberg Law, “President Joe Biden‘s OSHA, which June 10 released an emergency rule limited to health-care employers, has used the general duty clause against several types of workplaces, from a mobile phone repair shop to a medical clinic. It twice has alleged willful violations, which carry a maximum fine of $136,532.”
The prosecutable “illful” violations included a workplace that specifically did not allow employees to wear masks, and one workplace where a health care provider allegedly continued to work after becoming infected with COVID-19, “passing the virus to co-workers.”
Congress has also been tasked with increasing OSHA’s capacity for enforcing its COVID-19 regulations: the administration’s Biden fiscal 2022 budget requests that “OSHA’s enforcement staff…grow to 1,545 positions in 2022, a 15% increase.”
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) seemed to mock the far-left-wing of the Democrat Party, as well as a reporter’s question on Wednesday when asked about where she stood on the Democrats’ massive $3.5 trillion social spending bill.
“Sinema, a onetime school social worker and Green Party-aligned activist, vaulted through the ranks of Arizona politics by running as a zealous bipartisan willing to break with her fellow Democrats,” The New York Times reported. “She counts John McCain, the Republican senator who died in 2018, as a hero, and has found support from independent voters and moderate suburban women in a state where Maverick is practically its own party.”
Frank Thorp, a reporter with NBC News, highlighted an exchange that happened with Sinema today when she was confronted about where she stood on the multi-trillion dollar package:
Q: What do you say to progressives who are frustrated they don’t know where you are?
SINEMA: “I’m in the Senate.”
Q: There are progressives in the Senate that are also frustrated they don’t know where your are either.
SINEMA: “I’m clearly right in front of the elevator.”
Q: What do you say to progressives who are frustrated they don’t know where you are?
SINEMA: “I’m in the Senate.”
Q: There are progressives in the Senate that are also frustrated they don’t know where your are either.
SINEMA: “I’m clearly right in front of the elevator.”
Sinema’s opposition to the $3.5 trillion bill, which the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget has estimated could actually cost over $5 trillion, comes at a time when inflation has skyrocketed under the Biden administration.
Sinema has faced intense criticism for standing her ground against her party’s attempt to ram through the multi-trillion package.
Sinema was even threatened by the Arizona Democrat Party that they would give her a vote of “NO CONFIDENCE” if she did not give into to Democrats’ demands:
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED: The Arizona Democratic Party will closely watch Senator Sinema’s votes in the coming weeks and if Senator Sinema does not vote in favor of Filibuster reform to change the Senate rules in order to allow the passage of The For The People Act – voting rights bill, the John Lewis Voting Rights Bill, and other urgent legislation, for example the PRO ACT, that has already passed by the House and if she votes against the Senate Reconciliation Budget Bill, also referred to as the Human Infrastructure Package and the American Families Plan supported by President Biden and the vast majority of Democrats in both the House and the Senate, and if she continues to delay, disrupt, or votes to gut the Reconciliation Package of its necessary funding, then the Arizona Democratic Party State Committee will go officially on record and will give Senate Sinema a vote of NO CONFIDENCE.
AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED – that before the next State Committee Meeting (Jan. 2022) the ADP State Committee gives the ADP Chair and the Executive Board the authority and power, if the conditions of the preceding paragraph are met, to issues a formal letter of CENSURE to Senator Sinema with the clear understanding she could potentially lose the support of the ADP in 2024.
Former President Barack Obama is getting sick of the Biden administration’s border crisis, even though he will not admit his former vice president is at fault.
In an interview with ABC’s “Good Morning America,” Obama called for the reform of the “dysfunctional” system that allows serious incidents like the one in Del Rio, Texas, to occur.
“It’s no secret that we don’t have that. It’s the reason I proposed comprehensive immigration reform. It’s the reason [President] Joe Biden proposed it during his administration, and it’s something that is long overdue,” he told anchor Robin Roberts on Tuesday.
Of course, he gave credit to Biden for his nearly nonexistent efforts to mitigate the crisis at the border, adding that it “is a painful reminder that we don’t have this right yet and we’ve got more work to do.”
“As big-hearted as he is, nobody understands that better than Joe Biden,” the former president said.
“And the question is now: Are we gonna get serious about dealing with this problem in a systemic way, as opposed to these one-offs where we’re constantly reacting to emergencies? And I think that that’s something that every American should wanna put an end to.”
“It is heartbreaking,” he continued, “and it is, I think, one of those situations in which if you have a system that overall is dysfunctional, you are going to get episodes in which what’s happening right in front of you is something that nobody wants.”
Obama said that the reason immigration reform is difficult to discuss is due to Americans’ predisposed compassion towards immigrants.
“Immigration is tough,” he said. “It always has been. Because, on the one hand, I think we are naturally a people that wants to help others.”
The most notable quote from the interview, and one that is sure to frustrate the far-left, was when Obama admitted a nation needs borders.
“At the same time, we’re a nation-state. We have borders. The idea that we can just have open borders is something that, I think, as a practical matter, is unsustainable. The way we solve this problem is to have a smarter, more efficient, more effective immigration system.”
Obama got a mix of issues right and wrong in the interview, and it’s all a result of partisan politics.
He was correct that the United States cannot have open borders, and that humane immigration reform is necessary.
What he got wrong, however, was his conviction that Biden is the right leader to be in charge as the border crisis rages on.
Biden repealed most Trump administration policies and efforts that were effective in deterring migrants from coming across the border illegally, including “Remain in Mexico” and the construction of the border wall.
Obama will never admit it has been the Biden White House’s poor leadership that has perpetuated the border crisis for several months.
Migrants interested in coming to the United States deserve better information and a clear-cut system to make a safe decision for themselves, and Americans are entitled to be in a country with a secure border.
They say when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade. When it comes to Vice President Kamala Harris, she can count on energetic admirers in the press who take on the task of making lemonade out of her lemons.
Take Washington Post White House reporter Cleve Wootson Jr., who accentuated the positive in a Sunday story headlined “Handed a pile of no-win issues, Harris builds a network: Gains credit with liberals focused on migration, abortion and the vote.”
One would think that being handed “volatile social issues” such as illegal immigration, abortion and voting rights may be very damaging for Harris. But no! Wootson touted that, “behind the scenes, Harris has been quietly seizing the opportunity to build a liberal national network of dedicated activists that is convinced she embraces its causes.”
Wootson found delighted leftists who appreciate the allyship of Harris. “Advocates invited to the White House, or to Harris’s ceremonial office in the adjacent Eisenhower Executive Office Building, often express appreciation that their opinions and standing are being amplified by a political star.”
Is this reporting? Or merely advertising? Cuddly Cleve has a way with sweet talk.
The story began with Harris meeting with abortion advocate Amy Hagstrom Miller, founder of Whole Women’s Health in Austin, Texas. Miller said she appreciated how Harris would “talk straight to the extreme politicians in this country,” and she meant Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.
That’s fascinating. The House of Representatives just passed a bill called the “Women’s Health Protection Act” with 218 of 219 Democrats that is so extreme on untrammeled abortion that it would require states to allow abortions of an unborn baby viable outside the womb if one physician can proclaim that an abortion would protect the woman’s health. An army of Gov. Ralph Northams could make post-birth abortions happen across America.
But sure, tag the anti-abortion Republicans as the “extreme politicians in this country.”
Liberal extremism is no vice in the pursuit of the presidency. Wootson added, “If Harris has a path to the presidency, it is likely to run through an energized liberal base — not, as it did for Biden, through blocs of centrist Democrats and moderate Republicans.”
Political scientist Matthew Wilson argued that Harris doesn’t need to be broadly popular to win the presidency, but can triumph as the “champion of a base cause.”
The Washington Post story noted Harris was “dogged” by Republicans on the issue of “irregular migration.” She was hounded as the “border czar” who wouldn’t go to the border. But when she (sort of) went there in June, to El Paso, it was a triumph with her base.
Fernando Garcia of the left-wing Border Network for Human Rights, a group bearing hashtags such as “#HugsNotWalls,” told Wootson, “I made remarks in regard to not forgetting our history — this border, the U.S.-Mexico border, is the new Ellis Island. And then when she went over and had a press conference at the hangar, she said the same thing.”
Wootson concluded the story by telling readers that an audience with Harris gives activists the proverbial “seat at the table,” and then they will feel they are heard and this will make them more open to “bring about a Harris administration,” whenever Joe Biden isn’t going to be president anymore.
“She’s breaking ground, and Black women will keep fighting and keep supporting her,” said Melanie Campbell of the Black Women’s Roundtable, another leftist collective.
Harris is not exactly holding a pile of press conferences, so almost no one can name her press secretary. But keep an eye out for Wootson. He’s making a good case for himself.
The CEO of Pfizer (market cap: $240.5 billion) is Albert Bourla (2020 compensation package: $21 million). Bourla and his colleagues want your kids to start getting jabbed with his company’s COVID vaccine by Thanksgiving. Triumphant after the Biden administration last week approved Pfizer’s COVID booster shots (estimated global sales: $26 billion), the company is touting study results (preliminary and non-peer-reviewed), which purportedly show “robust” antibody response and “favorable” safety outcomes for children ages 5-11 who received a two-dose combo in clinical trials.
Now, here are some facts all moms and dads must know about Pfizer before they allow their young daughters and sons to be guinea pigs of a profit-maximizing multinational corporation.
Twenty five years ago, Pfizer sent a team to Kano, Nigeria during a meningococcal meningitis outbreak. They conducted an “open label” (unblinded) clinical trial involving 200 children, half of whom were given Pfizer’s new antibiotic Trovan and half of whom received the gold standard treatment, ceftriaxone. Watchdogs noted that Pfizer used substantially lower doses of ceftriaxone to rig the trials in favor of Trovan.
At the time of the Kano trial, Pfizer was pushing for FDA approval of their latest potential billion-dollar cash cow for pediatric use. Eleven Nigerian children died: five after receiving Pfizer’s product and six after receiving lower-than-normal doses of the older drug.
Pay close attention, parents. A Washington Post investigation reported that one 10-year-old girl suffering from meningitis was not taken off experimental Trovan and given standard, proven treatments by Pfizer’s clinical trial operators–when it was clear that her condition was deteriorating. One of her eyes froze. She lost strength, then died. A Nigerian doctor who supervised the studies for Pfizer admitted that his office had “backdated an approval letter” for the human trials, which “may have been written a year after the study had taken place.” Informed consent was undermined by language and education barriers.
One outraged African newspaper demanded that the government “tell us whether our children were used as guinea pigs and, if so, who committed such criminality and who is liable.” After years of protracted litigation with the pharmaceutical behemoth, Nigerian families reached a $75 million out-of-court settlement sealed with a confidentiality clause.
A separate whistleblower lawsuit filed by Pfizer’s former associate medical director for central research and Yale pediatric infectious disease specialist, Juan Walterspiel, alleged that the company fired him in retaliation for warning before and after the deadly Kano fiasco that the study methods were “improper and unsafe.” Walterspiel further claimed that Pfizer had bribed Nigerian officials to continue the study and cut safety corners because “stock options and bonuses were at stake.”
Pfizer tried to suppress Walterspiel’s allegations, but was forced into a settlement after Wikileaks published diplomatic cables showing that Pfizer had attempted to dig up dirt on a Nigerian prosecutor to bully him into dropping lawsuits by state and federal authorities in Africa.
A secret internal Nigerian government report, leaked years after it had been written, concluded that Pfizer violated international law by conducting an “illegal trial of an unregistered drug” and failing to inform children’s parents that the meningitis treatment was experimental. The government panel called the Trovan tragedy a “clear case of exploitation of the ignorant.”
If you think this corruption was all an anomaly, or misunderstood altriuism, or “misinformation,” I encourage you to start doing your own homework before your child’s health and life become just another cost of doing Big Pharma Business.
Search the Internet and PubMed (while you still can) for “Pfizer,” “Celebrex,” “Bextra,” “Geodon,” “Zyvox,” “Lyrica,” and “Neurontin.”
Find out more about why Pfizer paid the largest fine for health care fraud in American history ($2.3 billion) in 2009 to resolve allegations that it illegally caused false claims to be submitted to the government and paid kickbacks to health care providers to induce them to prescribe their products.
Learn more about the nearly 3,000 people who developed suicidal thoughts and severe psychological disorders after taking Pfizer’s smoking cessation drug, Chantix. Pfizer paid out nearly $300 million to settle those cases. Or the nearly 10,000 women who won claims of nearly $1 billion after developing breast cancer linked to Pfizer’s Prempro hormone replacement therapy.
And just remember, parents, that the pandemic profiteers who stand to gain unprecedented, multi-billion-dollar windfalls from endless vaccine boosters administered cradle to grave around the world have the most terrifying man-made immunity ever created: immunity from liability for their corner-cutting, life-endangering business model.
Parents: Protect your children at all costs from Big Pharma so your children’s lives don’t become costs of Big Pharma doing business.
Isolation & Quarantine Team Consultants (PS2) – Non-Permanent – DOH5814
APPLYSalary $3,294.00 – $4,286.00 MonthlyLocation Lewis County – Centralia, WAJob TypeFull Time – Non-PermanentDepartmentDept. of HealthJob NumberDOH5814ClosingContinuous
Update 9/20/2021 – 4:45 pm: Additional information regarding the Isolation and Quarantine facility has been included.
Important Note: As stated in Governor’s Proclamation 21-14, all employees engaging in work for the Department of Health are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 on or before October 18, 2021. Proof of vaccination will be verified by the Office of Human Resources after an employment offer has been extended and accepted. See vaccine requirement timeline. Please reach out to the Office of Human Resources at HR@doh.wa.gov if you need information on a medical or religious accommodation.Apply early! Application review will be ongoing. Initial review begins September 21, 2021. This recruitment is open and continuous. The hiring authority reserves the right to make a hiring decision and/or to close the recruitment at any time. The mission of the Department of Health (DOH) is to protect and improve the health of people in Washington. The division of Emergency Preparedness and Response (EPR) ensures the agency and its local health, tribal, and medical partners are better prepared to respond to and recover from public health emergencies, major disasters, and terrorist activities that affect the health of the people of Washington State.
The Isolation and Quarantine (I&Q) Section works to decompress hospitals by supporting local and state isolation and quarantine, Alternate Care Facility (ACF), and patient transport (EMS) by partnering with local governments (Tribes, Counties, Cities) and communities, state agencies, and other entities in the event of an emergency.
People who test positive for COVID-19 or who are exposed to someone who tests positive are asked to isolate or quarantine (I & Q) away from other people for 10 to 14 days in order to reduce risk of transmitting the virus to others. Most people are able to isolate or quarantine in their own homes. In Washington State, providing for I & Q is the responsibility of local jurisdictions.
The state Isolation and Quarantine facility was created for individuals who are not Washington residents but are traveling in our state and test positive for COVID-19 or who have been exposed to someone who tests positive and do not have a residence or other location in which to spend their 10-14 day isolation or quarantine period.
Our state facility operates from within a motel in Lewis County. Our team provide a number of different services for our guests. Team members provide transportation to and from the facility in vans that have been altered to separate air flow to protect the driver. There is a nurse on staff who checks guest vitals multiple times per day to ensure that guests whose condition worsens get timely transport to a medical facility for care. Another team member will accompany the nurse on their rounds and take notes for the nurse. Team members provide for all aspects of the guest’s stay to include providing laundry services, delivering hygiene products, delivering ready-made foods or microwaveable foods to the guests. Team members also answer phones, check inventory and keep track of supplies needed to safely operate the facility. Team members receive training in fit and use of personal protection equipment (PPE). In addition, team members may be asked to provide technical assistance to local health jurisdictions or tribal nations on facility operation and performance.
Learn more about Isolation and Quarantine for COVID-19 Under the direction of the Team Lead, these Program Specialist 2 (PS 2) positions are responsible for participating in program planning and evaluation of health service delivery products and identifying needs for personnel, supplies, and activities to support community and state response activities. These positions implement policies and procedures that guide the work of the team. This recruitment will be used to fill three (3) non-permanent full-time Program Specialist 2 positions located within the Division of Emergency Preparedness & Response. These Program Specialist 2 positions are anticipated to last twelve (12) months from date of hire. The duty station for this position is in Centralia, WA at our State Isolation and Quarantine Facility. The facility is staffed 24 hours per day and 7 days per week. Staff may work any or all of the three shifts and may work overtime as needed to ensure adequate staffing of the facility.
About the Department of Health The vision of the Washington State Department of Health (DOH) is equity and optimal health for all. Our mission is to work with others to protect and improve the health of all people in Washington state.
Our Values Good organizations know what they do and how they do it. Great organizations also understand why they do it. Our values are:
Human-centered: We see others as people who matter like we do and take into account their needs, challenges, contributions, and objectives.
Equity: We are committed to fairness and justice to ensure access to services, programs, opportunities, and information for all.
Collaboration: We seek partnership and collaboration to maximize our collective impact. We cannot achieve our vision alone.
Seven Generations: Inspired by Native American culture, we seek wisdom from those who came before us to ensure our current work protects those who will come after us.
Excellence: We strive to demonstrate best practices, high performance, and compelling value in our work every day.
Benefits of Working for DOH Washington is America’s Top State, according to U.S. News (2021), and provides one of the most competitive benefits packages in the nation.
We also offer:
Ahealthy life/work balance by offering flexible schedules and telework options for many positions.
Growth and development opportunities.
A wellness program that offers education, access to healthy food, and fitness classes.
Opportunities to serve your community through meaningful work.
A commitment to diversity and inclusion fosters an inclusive environment that encourages all employees to bring their authentic selves to work.
An Infant at Work Program based on the long-term health values of breastfeeding newborns and infant-parent bonding.
A modernized workplace.
Duties Include
Maintaining the readiness of the facility and equipment which includes ensuring contractors have cleaned the facility adequately. Staff may also be responsible for making beds, doing laundry, and restocking supplies.
Providing direct services to guests of the facility to include check-in, purchasing groceries and supplies for the site and guests, distributing microwavable/readymade meals and or sandwich fix and other resources, and ensuring all guests receive excellent customer service.
Assisting with inventory of resources: tracking PPE, food, and hygiene supplies. Notifying leadership of the need to order more supplies.
Assisting nurses on performing rounds by taking notes.
Maintaining facility cleanliness and processing guest laundry.
Providing guest transport to and from the facility.
Prepping the facility to receive guests, ensuring rooms are stocked and have been properly cleaned.
Providing outreach, education, and training to internal and external stakeholders.
What we’re looking for Our ideal candidate has a driving passion for the work, brings humility to their job and interactions, and understands how their actions affect others. They see the needs and objectives of others and take them into account while achieving their objectives, and they adapt their approach and expectations accordingly. Our ideal candidate is outward even when confronted with others that are not open or collaborative. They demonstrate resilience to model outward behaviors even when stressed or tired.
Required Qualifications
Option 1: Three (3) or more years of demonstrated experience working in public health, healthcare, hospitality, customer service, or a closely related field.
OR
Option 2: An Associate’s degree or higher in public health, healthcare, hospitality, customer service, or closely related field; AND one (1) or more years of experience working in public health, healthcare, hospitality, customer service, or closely related field.
OR
Option 3: A Bachelor’s Degree or higher in public health, healthcare, hospitality, customer service, or related field.
Desired Qualifications
Demonstrated experience dealing with institutional and jurisdictional problems and making independent decisions, as needed.
Knowledge of and experience with working in Emergency Operations Centers and under an ICS structure during actual emergencies, disasters and/or functional/full-scale exercises.
Community health experience.
Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) certification.
Experience as a Home Care Aide.
Application Process Intrigued? Click “Apply” to submit your detailed application profile along with the following:
A cover letter, describing how you meet the qualifications and why you are interested in this position.
A current resume.
Three (3) or more professional references, to be included in your profile. Please include at least one supervisor, peer, and (if you have supervised staff) someone you have supervised or led.
Important Note: Do not attach documents that contain a photo or private information (social security number, year of birth, transcripts, etc.) or documents that are password protected. These documents will not be reviewed and may cause errors within your application when downloaded.
Applicants wishing to claim Veterans Preference should attach a copy of their DD-214 (Member 4 copy), NGB 22, or signed verification of service letter from the United States Department of Veterans Affairs to their application. Please remove or cover any personally identifiable data such as social security numbers and year of birth.
The Washington State Department of Health (DOH) is an equal opportunity employer. DOH strives to create a working environment that is inclusive and respectful. We prohibit discrimination based on race, sex, color, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, veteran status, political affiliation, genetics, or disability.
This is a position covered by a bargaining unit for which the Washington Federation of State Employees (WFSE) is the exclusive representative.
Conditions of Employment/Working Conditions With or without an accommodation, I am willing and able to:
Under the Governor’s Proclamation (21-14), agency employees are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 on or before October 18, 2021. Proof of vaccination will be verified by the Office of Human Resources after an employment offer has been extended and accepted. Please reach out to the Office of Human Resources at HR@doh.wa.gov if you need information on a medical or religious accommodation.
Legally operate a state owned vehicle in a variety of weather conditions.
Work Sunday – Saturday (days off will vary).
Work weekends and shift work to include days, evenings, and night shift.
Occasionally work more than 40 hours per week and/or to adjust normally scheduled hours, which may include evening and weekends.
Travel as needed to transport guests to and from the facility.
Drive in heavy traffic, on interstate, highways, and within major metropolitan areas anywhere in Western Washington.
Work in a climate controlled I & Q facility office setting.
Work remaining stationary for extended periods of time, with repetitive motions.
Move and/or transport objects weighing up to 40 pounds.
Participate in emergency response activities and when the Agency Activation Center is activated.
Fit tested on N95 masks and wear Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) at all times while in the facility.
The duty station for this position is in Centralia, WA at our State Isolation and Quarantine Facility. The facility is staffed 24 hours per day and 7 days per week. Staff may work any or all of the three shifts and may work overtime as needed to ensure adequate staffing of the facility.
If you have questions, need alternative formats or other assistance please contact Recruitment@doh.wa.gov, or TDD Relay at 1-800-833-6384 or 7-1-1. Technical support is provided by NEOGOV, 855-524-5627 (can’t log in, password or email issues, error messages).
This recruitment may be used to fill other positions of the same job classification across the agency. Once all the position(s) from the recruitment are filled, the recruitment may only be used to fill additional open positions for the next sixty (60) days.
Only applicants who follow the directions and complete the Application Process in-full will have their responses reviewed for consideration.
Texas mayor Pete Saenz: ‘It was working under Trump, call it whatever you want to call it, but it was working’
The Democratic mayor of Laredo, Texas, slammed President Joe Biden’s immigration policy, alleging that his party has no plan to fix the southern border and has abandoned local communities in favor of massive spending proposals for other interest groups.
Mayor Pete Saenz says that for months many of his city’s public services have been forced to focus on providing humanitarian aid, medical services, and transportation for thousands of migrants who pass through Laredo. Those are jobs, he says, the federal government should handle—particularly as the Biden administration loosens immigration restrictions. The added threat of COVID-19 has led Saenz to admit reluctantly that former president Donald Trump’s policies benefited Laredo residents.
“We need to truly secure the border,” Saenz told the Washington Free Beacon in an exclusive interview. “It was working under Trump, call it whatever you want to call it, but it was working.”
As Democrats scramble to pass $3.5 trillion in federal spending on programs ranging from free community college to “achieving a carbon pollution-free power sector,” Saenz notes how little of that money will be used to support Customs and Border Protection. The president’s budget allocates virtually no additional funds to the agency, which since is dealing not only with inflation but also with record numbers of illegal immigrants since Biden took office.
“We’re spending billions of dollars on alternative things but immigration isn’t given priority. Border Patrol isn’t being funded to the extent that Border Patrol has to be funded,” Saenz said. “Their workload has increased to three times or four, and yet they’re not funded. So, that kind of leads me to think the Democrats have the same mentality [toward the Border Patrol] as defunding law enforcement generally.”
Laredo, which has a population of 260,000, is 95-percent Hispanic, making it one of the least diverse cities in the country. The city’s concerns over Democrats’ immigration politics challenge the conventional wisdom that strong border policies serve the anxieties of a dwindling white population. Republicans in 2020 doubled their turnout in the county in which Laredo sits, a pattern that continued in districts throughout southern Texas.
Biden’s immigration policy, Saenz contends, serves neither Americans nor migrants well. He pointed to the squalid Del Rio bridge under which thousands of Haitian migrants lived and the outbreaks of COVID-19 and other diseases in Laredo as evidence that a de facto open borders policy is far from the humanitarian solution. Instead, he said, the Biden administration should work on processing overseas asylum claims—the principle that guided the Trump administration’s “Remain in Mexico” policy.
“The key, ultimately, is removing the incentive to come to the border and file for asylum. I believe in the asylum process. It needs to be followed or changed. If we don’t like the way people are attempting to come, we can have them apply remotely or from either the country of origin or some other place that is close to the country of origin,” Saenz said. “No person wants to spend their last penny giving it to the cartels, then risking life and limb travel to try and get all the way to the border. And then there’s still the uncertainty that they may not even be granted asylum. At some point, they’ll be fugitives.”
The border crisis has caused Saenz to reevaluate his own politics. The mayor in 2015 told then-candidate Donald Trump that a large wall across the southern border was not practical. He told NPR in 2019 that Trump’s proposal to order the Pentagon to construct fencing in Laredo would be less effective than the “virtual wall” backed by Biden. But, Saenz says, Laredo residents are growing tired of empty promises from Democrats, particularly as the city’s fire department is forced to serve as shuttle service for migrants who get dropped off by charities and federal agencies. Saenz has not heard from the Biden administration on any plans for a “virtual wall” or any other measure to stem the tide of illegal immigrants.
“If Biden doesn’t come out with implementing a virtual wall, people here will be begging for a wall, a physical structure, simply because of his lack of attention to the border and especially the size of these surges,” he said. A wall would “deter or at least buy time, so to speak, for law enforcement.”
The Biden administration did not return a request for comment.
A Federal Emergency Management Agency grant for Laredo has eased the burden of paying city employees overtime to relocate migrants. That money came only after the city filed a federal lawsuit that accused the administration of negligence. Customs and Border Protection began transferring hundreds of migrants to the city after processing stations in other parts of Texas reached capacity. The number of migrants who have tested positive for COVID-19 led to targeted shutdowns in Laredo and a lack of hospital beds for city residents—in other words, a government-caused health catastrophe.
For now, the federal government has spared Laredo from facing the ongoing brunt of the migrant crisis. The city’s policy of busing out migrants has proven a temporary salve, but no community withstand the constant influx Laredo has seen.
“The border’s not secure and hasn’t been for a while,” he said. “We can’t continue this way, and I really haven’t seen any measures yet from Washington to remedy this.”
Federal immigration authorities are trying to alleviate the pressure on Laredo by redirecting the surge of migrants to other Texas towns. Customs and Border Protection announced the opening of a temporary processing facility 15 miles south of Laredo. Twenty-four hours earlier Saenz had to dispatch local police to assist federal authorities to break up a pair of stash houses in which smugglers had crammed dozens of people. Authorities were shocked to find that one of the locations was allegedly run by a teenager.
Situations like these, Saenz said, are entirely avoidable. “It’s really an embarrassment for us as a country now. You know we can do so much better.”
Sen. Hagerty slams Biden for ignoring sanctions meant to halt pipeline
Sen. Bill Hagerty (R., Tenn.) said that a classified briefing on Wednesday about the contested Nord Stream 2 Russian energy pipeline renewed concerns that the Biden administration is bowing to Russia, which is completing a massive energy project that Republicans worry will solidify Moscow’s grip on Europe’s energy needs.
Hagerty, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told the Washington Free Beacon that information provided by U.S. officials in a classified setting confirmed the Biden administration will continue to ignore congressionally mandated sanctions meant to stymie the completion of Nord Stream 2. Congress, he said, will not sit by as the administration bucks the law.
“The Biden administration continues to ignore mandatory congressional sanctions that would significantly delay and even halt the Nord Stream 2 pipeline,” Hagerty said. “If the Biden administration will not enforce the law in good faith, Congress will need to act very soon to counter Vladimir Putin’s malign influence energy project.”
The Trump administration and Congress held up completion of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline with sanctions on the companies that were building it. The Biden administration has stopped enforcing the economic penalties, effectively allowing Russia to make the pipeline operational.
“If Putin’s pipeline ever goes online, Russia will further weaponize the flow of energy in Europe in order to coerce Ukraine and other European nations and reduce their sovereignty, and ultimately damage the security and prosperity of the United States and our partners,” Hagerty said, echoing concerns from many other Republicans in the Senate.
Reports indicate that Russia is taking advantage of a massive gas shortage in Europe to force the European Union to expedite approvals for Nord Stream 2. If the pipeline becomes fully active, Russia will essentially control a large portion of Europe’s energy, allowing it to hold supplies hostage to advance its foreign policy goals.
Hagerty also said that Wednesday’s classified briefing left him “with far more questions than answers about the Biden administration’s weak and submissive policy toward Vladimir Putin’s malign influence energy project.”
Nourhan Mesbah faces calls to resign from student Democrats across the country
A College Democrats of America leader is facing pressure to resign after her anti-Semitic tweets resurfaced.
Just one day before Nourhan Mesbah was elected vice president of the College Democrats’ executive board, the national student club’s Jewish Caucus released a screenshot of a 2016 tweet where she blamed Jews for sabotaging Hillary Clinton in a debate against Donald Trump.
“I blame this debate on the yahood,” Mesbah tweeted. “Yahood” is the Arabic word for Jews.
In her tweet, Mesbah tagged Dima Jubara, an acquaintance with a long history of anti-Semitic statements—including one 2016 tweet where she prayed that “God will kill the Jews.” The College Democrats of America Jewish Caucus called on Mesbah to drop out of the race and resign from the organization. College Democrats chapters at George Washington University and American University echoed calls for Mesbah’s resignation and threatened to withdraw from the national organization if it fails to address anti-Semitism within its ranks.
Anti-Semitism is on the rise in the Democratic Party. Reps. Ilhan Omar (Minn.), Rashida Tlaib (Mich.), and other left-wing members of the Democratic Party are quick to address instances of hatred toward minority groups but have largely ignored hate crimes against Jews, which far exceeded those against Asians, Muslims, and transgender people combined in 2020, according to FBI crime statistics released Sept. 27. House progressives earlier this month successfully lobbied to strip funding from Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system from a defense spending bill.
Mesbah issued an apology but denied her tweets stemmed from hatred toward Jews. She quickly turned to discussing her own experience with bigotry as a “Muslim, immigrant, woman of color.”
“While I take responsibility for my actions, I am hurt by the Islamophobia and xenophobia that continues to unfold,” Mesbah’s statement reads. “The harassment I have faced is never acceptable but unfortunately all too common for Muslim, immigrant women of color who often face bigoted targeting unique to our experience.”
Prior to her election, Mesbah served as College Democrats’ director of inclusivity, diversity, equity, and accountability. Mesbah would have been the first person alerted at the national level if anti-Semitic tweets from College Democrats leadership surfaced.
Mesbah’s predecessor, former College Democrats of America vice president Tasneem Ahmad Al-Michael, also tweeted racial slurs and anti-Semitic comments. In May, he tweeted, “I’m part of the ‘From the river to the sea’ group,” referencing an anti-Semitic phrase that calls for the elimination of the Jewish state.
Two members of College Democrats of America who spoke to the Washington Free Beacon on condition of anonymity said they believe the elected officials will pass anti-Israel resolutions and Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions measures.
“If we insist on zero tolerance for bigotry we have to mean it in every instance, not just when it’s convenient for our own political sensibilities,” one of those members told the Free Beacon. “As a party, Democrats must be clear in our opposition to anti-Semitism and our commitment to the State of Israel.”
League hopes to build ‘baseball ecosystem’ in China
Major League Baseball is expanding its partnership with the Chinese Communist Party, coming at the expense of U.S. jobs and growing Chinese influence over America’s pastime.
The country’s leading propaganda outlet China Daily on Aug. 20 touted the MLB’s attempts to build a “baseball ecosystem” within the country. The league has grown its network to more than 100 Chinese baseball teams in 20 cities, with a growing fanbase of millions. The league’s operations in cahoots with Beijing are not just limited to play—quality U.S. jobs are also at stake. Miken Sports, a baseball equipment brand that provides business to the league, folded a Minnesota production plant and moved its nearly 70 jobs to China.
The league’s interest in exporting jobs and resources to China is drawing fierce rebukes from lawmakers. Rep. Jim Hagedorn (R., Minn.), whose district includes the Miken plant, introduced a resolution on Wednesday obtained by the Washington Free Beacon blasting the MLB for taking away American jobs.
”Baseball is considered to be America’s national pastime, so it is completely outrageous that the MLB has decided to shut down the Miken Sports plant in Caledonia and outsource American jobs to communist China—directly defying the MLB’s position as an American sports league,” Hagedorn said. “Miken has been one of the largest employers in Caledonia for decades, and this community will face major hardships and job losses due to this closure. We are urging the MLB to reverse this decision, purchase products that are made in America, and work to keep these jobs at home.”
The MLB has also tapped savvy business professionals with deep ties to Chinese industry to oversee production. Tony Qi, the managing director of MLB China, leads the league’s operations in China. The MLB tapped Qi to grow activities in China in 2019, citing his work with Chinese state media, tech supergiant Tencent, and other Chinese conglomerates. In an August interview, Qi praised the Chinese government for its cooperation and assistance in establishing the MLB brand in China.
“Government policy is also a huge help,” Qi said. “China is now aiming to let the next generation enjoy various sports, and has implemented a series of preferential policies. So more and more baseball clubs are growing in China. … The baseball environment has changed dramatically since MLB entered the Chinese market.”
The MLB did not return a request for comment. The MLB Players Association did not return a request for comment.
Ambitious efforts from the league come shortly after the MLB appealed to Chinese tech giant Tencent—noted for its surveillance activities, human rights abuses, and ties to the military—to grow its brand. The league signed a three-year contract with the Chinese company in 2021 to stream games across Asia. Chinese state media framed the agreement as a step forward for Sino-American relations, even as the two countries feud over issues such as the genocide of Uyghur Muslims, economic espionage, and military buildup.
The MLB’s cooperation with the Chinese regime also comes amid Beijing’s criticism of American domestic political figures for alleged civil rights abuses. The league moved its All-Star Game from Atlanta to Denver in protest of a voting law signed by Gov. Brian Kemp (R., Ga.), citing the need for the league to express its “values.”
Michael Sobolik, a fellow at the American Foreign Policy Council, said the values expressed by the league more resemble a “cynical PR campaign” than a stand on principle.
“It’s telling that Major League Baseball pulled out of Georgia for the All-Star Game over concerns with voting legislation, but is entirely comfortable with operating in a nation with an ongoing genocide,” Sobolik said. “If your corporate values abroad don’t match your corporate values at home, you aren’t standing on principle; you’re just running a cynical PR campaign. The CCP routinely exploits this inconsistency in U.S. companies eager to access China’s market. Every time American businesses choose their own economic wealth over human rights, they write the Party’s propaganda for them.”
Rep. Drew Ferguson (R., Ga.) told the Free Beacon the MLB is another example of big business “playing politics” and caving to the “woke mob.”
“This year, the MLB along with CEOs from several Fortune 500 companies have decided to start playing politics, picking and choosing where they’ll do business according to the whims of the woke mob,” Ferguson said. “Unfortunately, when it comes to issues of real human rights and genocide, they fall silent. It’s time to hold American organizations and companies accountable for their roles in propping up communist China on the global stage. Congress must set aside partisan politics and stand united against the CCP’s malign influence and activities at home and abroad.”
Mandela Barnes hobnobs in Bay Area with liberal prosecutor Chesa Boudin, state lawmaker who wants to abolish ICE
A Wisconsin Democratic Senate frontrunner held a San Francisco fundraiser with the son of left-wing terrorists and a California state lawmaker who wants to abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Mandela Barnes traveled to the Bay Area on Tuesday to hobnob with San Francisco district attorney Chesa Boudin and California state senator Scott Wiener, a photo shared by California Democratic Party vice chair David Campos shows. Boudin—the son of two Weather Underground terrorists who has ended cash bail and repeatedly declined to prosecute serial offenders—faces a recall effort sparked by a murder surge in his city. Wiener, meanwhile, has called for the abolition of ICE, because it is a “force of oppression” that makes “communities less safe.”
Barnes is running to succeed incumbent GOP senator Ron Johnson. While the San Francisco soirée may have helped his coffers, the guest list may not play well with local voters who have helped make him the frontrunner in a crowded primary. In an August Remington Research Group poll, Milwaukee County Democratic primary voters identified “lowering crime and increasing neighborhood safety” as their top issue. That same poll showed Barnes with a 24-point lead in the primary.
Republicans in the swing state have accused Barnes and the rest of the party of being soft on crime. Barnes referenced “overpoliced communities” and refused to distance himself from the “idea behind ‘defund the police'” in a TV Interview. Wisconsin Republicans have pointed to the clip to accuse Barnes of caring “more about appeasing the far left and violent criminals than standing up for public safety.”
Barnes did not return a request for comment.
In addition to Wiener’s efforts to abolish ICE, the Democrat in 2016 called for “[California] & other states to become sanctuary states.” Boudin also campaigned on his intention to hold “zero cooperation with ICE” and prosecute ICE agents. In 2019, he bragged he “helped pioneer San Francisco’s sanctuary city policy.”
Boudin, who served as a translator for the late Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez before taking office, has faced criticism for his failure to charge serial offenders who have gone on to commit heinous crimes.
In January, for example, police arrested 45-year-old Troy McAllister after the San Francisco resident hit and killed two women while drunkenly driving a stolen vehicle through a red light. Months before the tragedy, Boudin’s office offered McAllister a plea agreement for a robbery charge that kept him out of jail. Police went on to arrest McAllister on multiple occasions for drug and theft crimes, but prosecutors did not charge the career criminal.
After the January arrest, assistant district attorney Ryan Kao wrote in a court filing that McAllister’s “pattern of criminality has done nothing but increase over the years” and acknowledged Boudin’s office “missed defendant’s out-of-control spiral while on parole.” San Francisco police admonished Boudin over his role in the incident.
“Had the DA done their job, Mr. McAllister would’ve been in custody and you would not have grieving families,” San Francisco Police Officers Association president Tony Montoya said at the time.
Boudin in 2020 lobbied disgraced former New York governor Andrew Cuomo (D.) to grant clemency to his father, David Gilbert, who faced a 75-year sentence for second-degree murder over his role in a 1981 Brinks truck robbery, which left two police officers and a security guard dead. Boudin’s mother, Kathy Boudin, also participated in the deadly heist. Cuomo granted Gilbert clemency before resigning from office in August.
Barnes became lieutenant governor of Wisconsin in 2019 after serving as a state legislator for four years. While a September poll released by Barnes’s campaign shows him in a tie with Johnson, the Republican has not yet decided to run for reelection.
Republican gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin should rally Virginia parents over Terry McAuliffe’s statement that teachers’ unions – not parents — have the final say on children’s education.
I think Terry McAuliffe made a huge error in last night’s debate when he asserted that parents really should have no influence on what is taught to their children. This race can break wide open if Glenn Youngkin can focus, in a disciplined way, on rallying every parent and grandparent in the state who believes that parents should have a role in their children’s education. Employing this tactic will drive home the point that the teachers’ unions own McAuliffe. For the Democrats, it is about control and power, not freedom and personal choice.
James O’Neill, previously tapped by Bill de Blasio for Police Commissioner of New York City and his current COVID-19 Senior Advisor, has repeatedly spoken at the America China Public Affairs Institute (ACPAI), which is closely tied to top Chinese Communist Party-linked influence groups seeking to “co-opt and neutralize opposition” to the regime.
O’Neill, who served as the 43rd Police Commissioner from 2016 to 2019, addressed the America China Public Affairs Institute (ACPAI) three times during his tenure, speaking at the “Police Commissioner Luncheon” in August 2016, September 2017, and November2018.
O’NEILL 2018 TWEET.
The ACPAI website reveals the group “strongly supports a Security Partnership between the United States of America and the People’s Republic of China” on areas including “law enforcement cooperation”, “military consultation”, and “pandemic disease control.” Similarly, ACPAI “strongly supports a Mutual Visa Waiver Program between the United States of America and the People’s Republic of China” along with free trade agreements between the two counties.
Fred Teng, the president of ACPAI, doubles as the senior U.S. representative of the China-United States Exchange Foundation (CUSEF).
CUSEF was founded by C.H. Tung, the Vice-Chairman of the “highest-ranking entity overseeing” China’s United Front, which the U.S. government identifies as seeking to “to co-opt and neutralize sources of potential opposition to the policies and authority of its ruling Chinese Communist Party” and “influence foreign governments to take actions or adopt positions supportive of Beijing.”
TUNG SPEAKING AT ACPAI.
Tung himself has spoken at a 2016 ACPAI event in addition to CUSEF Governor Ronnie Chan, who has spoken for the group three times. ACPAI has also hosted events featuring several Chinese Communist Party officials including United Nations Ambassadors, Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation Vice Ministers, and the Consul General along with Chinese state-run media hosts.
The group has also hosted a “private breakfast forum with Dr. Yao Yunzhu,” who is a retired Major General of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) along with a “Security Partnership Symposium” hosted by the PLA Academy of Military Science.With the help of the aforementioned Chinese Communist Party apparatchiks, ACPAI seeks to “gather our expertise and our network of friends to facilitate a transformational United States-China relation,” according to its mission statement.
“For the twenty-first century, a cooperative partnership with the People’s Republic of China is important and necessary for the United States of America,” it continues.
Despite O’Neill affiliating with the group, de Blasio rehired the former Police Commissioner to serve as a COVID-19 Senior Advisor in April 2020.
“In this role, O’Neill will oversee the supply and distribution of personal protective and medical equipment within New York City hospitals as demand continues to surge due to the COVID-19 crisis. O’Neill will create, operationalize and manage a supply inspection regime within the hospitals to ensure the rapid turnaround of new supplies and verify each hospital is pushing needed equipment to frontline health care workers,” explained the Mayor’s office.
Three of the U.S. military’s top officials have told Congress that they realized within hours that a botched Aug. 29 drone strike had killed innocent civilians—contradicting earlier military statements about what the government knew in the aftermath of the incident.
“We knew the strike hit civilians within four to five hours after the strike occurred, and U.S. Central Command issued a press release saying that,” Central Command (CENTCOM) Commander Gen. Kenneth “Frank” McKenzie told members of the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) on Sept. 29, in responding to questions from Rep. Trent Kelly (R-Miss.).
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin also said the Pentagon knew about civilian deaths within “several hours” of the strike, as did Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
However, the latter part of McKenzie’s statement is false. CENTCOM statements following the drone strike don’t note civilian deaths.
The first Aug. 29 CENTCOM release regarding the incident said CENTCOM was “assessing the possibilities of civilian casualties, though we have no indications at this time.”
When media reports trickled out later that day about civilian deaths, CENTCOM issued a follow-up statement also failing to acknowledge the deaths.
“We are aware of reports of civilian casualties following our strike on a vehicle in Kabul today,” the second release reads. “It is unclear what may have happened, and we are investigating further.”
The same statements from CENTCOM also note that the drone strike eliminated an “imminent ISIS-K threat” to the airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, and that secondary explosions may have occurred—both of which also proved to be untrue.
McKenzie also told HASC members on Sept. 29 that the Pentagon learned “a few days later” that the strike didn’t hit its intended target. But the Pentagon didn’t admit that until Sept. 17.
For weeks, U.S. military leaders repeatedly portrayed the strike as a successful attack, even as family members of the deceased insisted there was no connection between them and the ISIS offshoot.
“At this point, we think that the procedures were correctly followed and it was a righteous strike,” Milley said on Sept. 1, painting the strike as a proper course of action to retaliate against a suicide bombing at the airport in Kabul that killed 13 U.S. service members.
Journalists take photos of a vehicle damaged by a rocket attack in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Aug. 30, 2021. (Khwaja Tawfiq Sediqi/AP Photo)
But after a Sept. 10 New York Times investigation raised doubts about the veracity of the military’s claims, the Department of Defense admitted that the drone strike killed 10 civilians, seven of which were children—and no terrorists.
“We now assess that it is unlikely that the vehicle and those who died were associated with ISIS-K or were a direct threat to U.S. forces,” Milley said Sept. 17. “I offer my profound condolences to the family and friends of those who were killed. This strike was taken in the earnest belief that it would prevent an imminent threat to our forces and the evacuees at the airport.”
Secretary Austin made similar remarks on the same day.
“I offer my deepest condolences to surviving family members of those who were killed, including Mr. Ahmadi, and to the staff of Nutrition and Education International, Mr. Ahmadi’s employer,” he said, referring to Emal Ahmady, who said he translated for a U.S. company for three years starting in 2011.
“We now know that there was no connection between Mr. Ahmadi and ISIS-Khorasan, that his activities on that day were completely harmless and not at all related to the imminent threat we believed we faced, and that Mr. Ahmadi was just as innocent a victim as were the others tragically killed.
“We apologize, and we will endeavor to learn from this horrible mistake.”
CENTCOM didn’t respond by press time to emailed requests for comment on the contradiction between what McKenzie told Congress and what the releases stated. When reached by phone, a public affairs officer told The Epoch Times that no one was available to answer the inquiry.
CENTCOM is conducting an internal investigation of the incident.
McKenzie and the other generals declined to answer other HASC questions about the incident—such as whether they knew a U.S.-registered NGO was in the target area—citing the investigation.
Rep. Trent Kelly (R-Miss.) at a Make America Great Again rally in Southaven, Miss., on Oct. 2, 2018. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)
“There’s a lot of questions I have that have to be in a classified environment, but I hope that you guys know that I also sit on a different committee that has different insight on this, and I think it’s important that we know who authorized this, at what level—and that we hold the right people accountable,” Kelly said.
How can we use technology to build and preserve a parallel Christian society on the internet for generations to come?
This is the question that keeps me up at night.
I’ve recently been writing extensively about what I call a Parallel Society. This led one of my close friends to point out a book to me by Rod Dreher called The Benedict Option: A Strategy for Christians in a Post-Christian Nation. It’s a fantastic read and brilliantly captures the spirit of what I have been trying to do with Gab for over five years now.
Rod Dreher argues that the way forward is actually the way back—all the way to St. Benedict of Nursia. This sixth-century monk, horrified by the moral chaos following Rome’s fall, retreated to the forest and created a new way of life for Christians. He built enduring communities based on principles of order, hospitality, stability, and prayer. His spiritual centers of hope were strongholds of light throughout the Dark Ages, and saved not just Christianity but Western civilization.
Many of you don’t know that I lived and worked in Silicon Valley as a Christian entrepreneur before starting Gab in 2016. Few Christians can truly understand what it means to live in the nihilistic hellhole of a post-truth, post-morality, and post-Christian world until they have lived in San Francisco among the most narcissistic, empty, and sociopathic people in Silicon Valley.
Like St. Benedict of Nursia I was horrified by the moral chaos of America’s fall as demonstrated by the city of San Francisco. So I too retreated to the forest in Pennsylvania to create a new way of life for Christians on the internet. Together and by the Grace of God we built an enduring online community grounded in the uniquely Christian value of freedom of speech.
My greatest fear after witnessing the erosion of free speech and Christian values by this group of wicked people in Silicon Valley was that eventually there wouldn’t be a place for people to discuss and learn about the Gospel on the internet. They would label it “hate speech,” and indeed many already have.
I couldn’t stand by and watch that happen.
Laying the groundwork of infrastructure for a parallel society.
This week we installed a giant 600 terabyte storage machine in one of Gab’s data centers. Few people realize all of the work and time that goes into making Gab possible behind the scenes. We do not have the luxury of being hosted in the cloud by Amazon, Microsoft, or Google web services. We had no choice but to build our own and invest millions of dollars in time and hardware to maintain and grow our servers.
It’s all worth the extra money and effort though because on Gab Christians are thriving and the Gospel is being shared. Gabbers are starting businesses, holding virtual Bible studies, starting groups to connect and fellowship with one another, praying for one another, and many are even embracing the love and saving grace of Jesus Christ for the first time in their lives.
Gabbers are discovering and supporting Christian business owners, Christian writers, Christian news organizations, and Christian entertainment. It’s really amazing to see. A parallel Christian society is forming–and it’s growing quickly.
One such Christian entertainment production company that has been having phenomenal success with Gab Ads is Revelation Media. Their mission is to “produce and license culturally relevant and engaging media that leads people into a relationship with our Creator.”
I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know the folks at Revelation Media behind the scenes over the past few weeks and I can’t tell you how impressed I am with their work.
Their upcoming movie The 7 Churches of Revelation: Times of Fire, is going to be in theaters nationwide on October 11th and October 12th, as well as online beginning October 26th. You can click here for an exclusive 22 minute early look at the film before it hits theaters.
For full disclosure: yes they are advertising on Gab, but I am genuinely excited for this film. My pastor is currently working through a series in Church on the book of Revelation so this movie instantly caught my attention. What impressed me even more was the high quality production value and fascinating story.
Many Christians know and will openly admit that the production value on Christian content can often be lackluster and dare I say it–cringe. That isn’t the case with this movie and the other work that Revelation Media is producing. If you don’t believe me go watch the early preview for yourself. It’s a very encouraging thing to see.
They are building a viable, high quality entertainment and education alternative for Christian families that will be essential for a parallel Christian society.
It’s easy to say that we should all cancel Netflix and stop watching the media outlets and entertainment produced by the Enemy, but what fills that void? I believe Revelation Media is one of the many Christian alternatives working to do so and we are glad to have them as part of the Gab community.
This is why Gab’s infrastructure must be preserved and expanded at all costs. Not only is it powering the real time flow of information, but it’s also powering the creation of a parallel Christian economy where Christians can discover parallel goods, services, and entertainment being provided or sold by other Christians.
One day our great grandchildren will learn what really happened during the greatest Spiritual war of our time and how we laid the foundations for a new parallel Christian society.
A federal district court judge in Texas who was appointed by former President Barack Obama has repeatedly violated ethics standards, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.
Judge Rodney Gilstrap of Marshall, Texas, in the Eastern District of Texas, failed to disqualify himself in 138 cases over eight years in which he or a family member had a financial interest in a company involved in the case before him, according to the Journal.
The Journal recently published the results of an investigation into judicial flouting of a 1974 federal law that bans judges from ruling in cases where they or a family member have an interest, even when assets are held in a trust.
Although Gilstrap is one of 131 judges the Journal said broke the rules, his 138 cases make up about 20 percent of the 685 cases between 2010 and 2018 in which the Journal found the law was violated.
Gilstrap told the Journal via email he did nothing wrong, but would not be interviewed.
Some corporate giants were in the judge’s docket and in his portfolio, the Journal found, including Microsoft Corp., in which he made 53 rulings; Walmart, with 36 cases and Target Corp. with 25 cases. The Journal noted that he ruled in favor of Disney in a patent-infringement case, despite having between $100,001 and $250,000 of Disney stock held by either him or his wife.
The Journal noted that in patent infringement cases, judges have a lot of power.
“The more important questions in any given patent case are the small discretionary, often procedural questions that the judge resolves before trial,” Paul Gugliuzza, a law professor at Temple University, said.
The Journal said that 85 percent of the cases Gilstrap heard that were in conflict with the law were in the area of patent litigation.
Gilstrap said he sees no conflict in ruling in cases involving corporations with stocks held in a trust created for his wife and her descendants.
The Journal found some who said that’s wrong.
“The judge must recuse if the trust for the spouse has even one share of stock in a party,” said Stephen Gillers, a New York University law professor who the Journal said wrote a judicial ethics casebook, and reviewed the filings. “It does not matter that the spouse or child have no say in the investment choices.”
Ben Johnson, a law professor at Pennsylvania State University, agreed.
The Journal said Gilstrap shared with it a ruling from the federal judiciary’s ethics committee that said his past conduct was not, after all, following the rules.
The opinion said the Code of Conduct for U.S. Judges “requires recusal when a judge has a financial conflict, regardless of the substance of the judge’s actual involvement in the case,” and “encompasses a situation where the Clerk’s Office assigns you a case, even where you do not act.”
Gilstrap promised to change some of his ways.
“In hindsight and considering the attached opinion from the Committee, I now understand that, despite my lack of any involvement or action, such cases result in a need for me to recuse,” he said.
However, the Journal noted that unlike many judges who, after the Journal’s investigation, issued notices to those in cases before them they needed to recuse themselves due to a disqualifying interest, Gilstrap had not done so.
The Journal said that based on data provided to it by Lex Machina, a legal analytics provider, 83 percent of the 6,929 patent cases Gilstrap faced were settled before trial, which is above the 69 percent average.
In trials, he has found defendants infringed upon patents in 34 cases and did not do so in 35 cases. That’s a different ratio from the nation as a whole, in which infringement was found in 277 cases and not in 204 cases, the Journal reported.
There’s the “War on Terror” and the “War on Drugs” but the real war our leaders fight with any perspicacity is the “War on Truth,” second only to that even older, perhaps oldest and most crucial of all, wars known colloquially as CYA.
The latter is fought to the bitter end and takes precedence.
We find this on display frequently in Washington, D.C. and Sept 28 was no exception.
During testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee, both Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mark Milley and U.S. Central Command Gen. Kenneth McKenzie insisted, under oath, they had advised against President Biden’s precipitous and, to be as polite as humanly possible, ill-conceived exit plan from Afghanistan.
Milley said he urged Biden to leave 2,500 troops in place. This would have left enough military to guard Bagram air base and prevent it becoming the staging area for the Chinese air force it likely will become.
They also would have been able to arrange for either the destruction or the recovering of the 80+ billion dollars of U.S. weaponry, much of it high-tech, now in Taliban (and therefore Chinese, Russian and Iranian) hands.
It goes without saying too, most importantly, an operable Bagram could have saved myriad lives, American and Afghan, and would continue to do so.
President Biden denied hearing any of this. Or, more precisely, he didn’t recall hearing this.
The real question is—was he lying? Most likely, yes. From law school onwards he has plagiarized and lied multiple times. Falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus, as they say.
But there are other possibilities.
One is that President Biden’s cognitive issues are so severe that he couldn’t understand or actually allow himself to hear what the generals were advising. He had been so completely locked into an idée fixe of getting out of Afghanistan on whatever schedule he thought politically useful (Sept. 11?) nothing permeated.
A yet more disturbing alternative is that he was counseled against the generals’ view by some of his own advisors. Normally, that would make little sense, considering the disaster that occurred, but many actions of the Biden administration can be read as being against the long-term interests of the United States, actually weakening it deliberately, and in favor of the globalists or the Chinese communists, assuming they are not, in reality, one and the same.
The recent indictments and leaks from the Durham investigation lend credence to this possibility. Many of the officials in the Biden administration, in the State Department and elsewhere, are holdovers from the Obama administration, just in different positions as if reseated in a game of musical chairs.
How many of these people really want a strong U.S. military in a position to be guardians of the free world as it has been for decades? Wouldn’t they prefer it to fall apart? It’s worth thinking about.
But enough “paranoid” speculation. What about the head man in this CYA fiesta, General Milley?
When Sen. Tom Cotton, among others, asked Milley why he didn’t resign after the Afghanistan debacle, he replied as follows:
“Senator, as a senior military officer, resigning is a really serious thing—it’s a political act—if I’m resigning in protest. My job is to provide advice—my statutory responsibility is to provide legal advice or best military advice to the president, and that’s my legal requirement.”
Perhaps the general has short-term memory loss.
No American general in this century has been more overtly “political” than he.
Has he forgotten that for some time he has been referred to as the “woke” general?
Nothing is more political than “woke.” Indeed, that is its intention, to turn everything in our lives into politics—the food we eat, the air we breath, our educational system, our entertainment, our press, who gets a job, who gets promoted, who appears in a commercial, who goes to a restaurant, what we can say on social media, who’s skin color is best, who’s the biggest victim, what sex we declare ourselves to be, our pronouns and on and on.
Not very long ago, General Milley made a speech sympathetic to that flagship of “woke”—critical race theory. That the chairman of the joint chiefs would do that is astonishing and, in a sense, revolutionary.
He has, in effect, politicized the military that is supposed, for very good reason, including winning wars, to be neutral.
Also with good reason, we could dub him General “Woke.”
But now, of all a sudden, in Senate testimony, he self-righteously claims the military should not be politicized. He would never do such a thing.
Actually his vision of politicization is, in itself, completely politicized. He wouldn’t resign from Biden, no matter what the issue, and the current one is unbelievably extreme, but could well have resigned from Trump.
It wasn’t that long ago that he made a public apology for merely accompanying the then president to the torched St. John’s Church:
“I should not have been there. My presence in that moment and in that environment created a perception of the military involved in domestic politics. As a commissioned uniformed officer, it was a mistake that I have learned from, and I sincerely hope we all can learn from it.”
Learn what exactly? That the chairman of the joint chiefs is a hypocrite? We certainly learned that.
During his questioning by Sen. Marsha Blackburn we also learned Milley is a kind of creepy gossip who likes to make sure the likes of Bob Woodward know the general’s side of the story for the journalist’s forthcoming—is it fiction or non-fiction— best seller. After all, General “Woke’s” legacy is in play.
I’m not going to go into the telephone calls to the Chinese general, interesting as that may be, because I suspect more facts will be coming out.
What I will say is that, as usual “woke”—or in this case General “Woke”—is the opposite of really woke. What business was it of his to supersede the commander-in-chief and telegraph our intentions to the enemy?
Milley seemed to think that was his job, that he was just being internationally “woke.” Many would disagree.
Yes, CYA trumped the War on Truth, as it almost always does, in Washington Tuesday.
If rich Americans and large corporations foot the bill, does a tax plan really cost “zero dollars” to the average American?
Recent comments suggest the Democratic Party believes this to be the case.
In promoting the forthcoming $3.5 trillion, 2,465-page “Build Back Better” bill, President Joe Biden, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Washington Democrats have forwarded claims that the bill — because it is paid for by the wealthy and large corporations — comes at “zero” cost to Americans.
My Build Back Better Agenda costs zero dollars.
Instead of wasting money on tax breaks, loopholes, and tax evasion for big corporations and the wealthy, we can make a once-in-a-generation investment in working America.
Implicit in this assumption is the idea that such economic disruptions are isolated, with no rippling effects on America’s free-market economy.
However, as many economists have pointed out time and time again, high tax rates on the rich often only serve as disincentives for growth. In other words, using taxes to punish the groups most responsible for economic investment and growth often leads to less of both.
Instead, high earners will choose to move their investments to other countries with lower taxes and fewer restrictions, countries that go on to receive the subsequent benefits that would have been reaped by their American counterpart.
In comments sent exclusively to The Western Journal, Walter E. Block — professor of Economics at Loyola University New Orleans and senior fellow at the Mises Institute — explained as much through the use of two examples.
“Bjorn Borg, a Swedish tennis champion of a generation ago, was faced with a marginal tax rate of 110%. This means if he earned $1 million in a tennis tournament, he would have had to pay $1.1 million in taxes. That is, he would LOSE $100,000 on the deal,” Block wrote. “He moved to Monaco.”
“Gerard Depardieu, a French actor, also faced punitive taxes. He moved to Russia.”
“The wealthy in the US need not move to another country, although many of them will. But they will spend a lot of time and effort on tax avoidance: reducing their tax bill legally. They will hire lots of very bright tax attorneys and economists to hide their earnings. This will reduce the GDP, because, in the absence of these punitive taxes, these people would have been creating goods and services which will not come into existence.”
A cap on the creation of goods and services then leads to a cap on the number of jobs created for middle- to low-income Americans.
An additional problem caused by taxing the rich excessively is “tax shifting,” Block explained.
“Just because the tax is placed on a given firm or person, does not mean that entity pays the taxes. Rather, this depends upon the elasticity of demand for the goods and services. Biden is targeting the rich, but all sort of people will end up paying the tax, not only his targets,” he wrote.
So, the “costs” of such taxes will be felt even by Americans who are not paying them directly.
This appears to be part of an already evident pattern of behavior repeatedly exhibited by the Biden administration.
Despite often touting its refusal to raise direct taxes on the average American, experts agree — many of the administration’s policies come with trade-offs that cost Americans as much or more anyway.
For example, the administration’s high level of spending has resulted in a massive spike in inflation — a phenomenon which American economist Milton Friedman famously described as “taxation without representation.”
The effects of inflation can be seen in drastic rising prices that outpace similar spikes in wages, resulting in the average American’s savings becoming less and less valuable over time.
Republican Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana recently warned that tacking the $3.5 trillion bill on top of the already skyrocketing rate of inflation will only serve to make life worse for everyday Americans.
“President Biden’s agenda has dramatically increased inflation, and they’re trying to pour gasoline on that fire,” Scalise said, according to Fox Business.
“[Democrats are] seeing how families have tied the increase in spending in Washington to higher inflation, and if you add trillions in new spending as well as trillions in new taxes, you’re only going to make inflation worse.”
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) says that many of the provisions in the Democrats’ $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation bill will reward U.S. adversaries by increasing energy dependence on countries such as China and Russia.
“So, Democrats’ plans would have American families hurting badly. But it’s not even like all the sacrifice would buy some big national advantage. It’s just the opposite. Their proposals would be a huge gift, a huge gift, to adversaries like Russia and China,” McConnell said on the Senate floor on Sept. 28.
The Democrats are in the process of passing trillions of dollars of legislation to fund their climate change and green energy mandates, which would allocate billions for electric vehicles, refitting homes and offices with solar panels, and ending the use of U.S. fossil fuels.
“To give just one example, the Democrats are drafting blunt mandates for more solar panels. Somebody should tell our colleagues that China currently supplies about three-quarters of the world’s solar panels. They’ve also largely cornered the market on some of the necessary raw materials and critical minerals. So, look, if we’re going to borrow money from China to send a windfall right back to Chinese miners and manufacturers? Is that the master plan?”
Chinese coal-fired factories supply more than three-quarters of the world’s polysilicon, which is a key component in most solar panels. The Chinese regime has thousands of coal-burning power plants to meet the demands of the clean energy industries and demands for solar panels.
Chinese workers examine solar panels at a manufacturer of photovoltaic products in Huaibei in China’s Anhui Province, on March 21, 2012. (AP Photo/File)
Supporters of clean energy sources such as solar panels argue that even though panels are produced through the use of coal, emissions are reduced over time because solar panels don’t emit carbon and last almost 30 years.
According to a memorandum (pdf) sent to Democratic senators in August, the Senate Budget Committee recommended an allocation of $67 billion to the House Environment and Public Works Committee as their portion of the $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation package, to be used for the Clean Energy Technology Accelerator “that would fund low-income solar and other climate-friendly technologies.”
In addition, the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s portion of the budget is $198 billion and will help Democrats reach their climate goals, reaching net-zero emissions economy-wide by no later than 2050.
The $3.5 trillion package will invest “$27.5 billion in a Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund to support the rapid deployment of low- and zero-emission technologies. We also invest in electric vehicles, appliances, and building efficiency rebates, electric transmission, and low-income solar,” said Committee on Energy and Commerce Chairman Frank Pallone Jr. (pdf) during a markup of the bill.
“Also, on the environmental front, we provide $30 billion in funding to fulfill the President’s commitment to replace all lead service lines in drinking water systems, as well as $10 billion for Superfund cleanups, and $5 billion for environmental and climate justice block grants,” Pallone said.
“I’m thrilled by the historic investments we made to fight the climate crisis and create millions of new, good-paying clean energy and manufacturing jobs right here at home,” Pallone said in a statement after the passage of the bill in his committee.
However, Republicans don’t share the Democrats’ desire to replace fossil fuel sources, because they say it will kill U.S. energy independence and lead to higher energy costs for average Americans. They also argue that the United States has reduced its emissions significantly and continues to be a leader in producing clean energy, while countries such as China are one of the biggest carbon emitters.
Smoke billows from smokestacks and a coal-fired generator at a steel factory in China’s Hebei Province, on Nov. 19, 2015. (Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)
Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), the ranking Republican member on the Senate Energy and Natural Resource Committee (ENRC), opposes the Democrats’ $3.5 trillion budget and abrupt shift away from fossil fuels.
“Democrats are trying to jam through a scheme that would impose new costs on the natural gas and electricity that nearly every American family uses to heat and power their homes. This is a tax on all Americans. The House Democrats’ bill will wreak havoc on the nation’s economy, make energy less reliable, and cost thousands of workers—especially those in energy-producing states—their jobs. Congress should reject this dangerous proposal,” Barrasso said in a statement.
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), chairman of the ENRC, is one of the only Democrats to argue that ending the use of fossil fuels in the United States will not solve climate problems, as most of the carbon emissions come from countries such as China.
“My concern [about the environment] is basically being realistic and being practical about what’s going on in the world. Within the next 10 years, 90 percent of pollution is going to come from one continent, Asia. And China is going to have 3,500 coal-fired plants. In America, they make you believe we only have 504. There’s 6,600 operating and they’re building another 1,063—none in America,” Manchin said in an August interview on “Face the Nation.”
The West Virginia senator argued that research and development is a more realistic and U.S.-friendly solution to lowering emissions and saving the environment.
“We have $12 billion for carbon capture sequestration. If you don’t do that, you’re not going to save the climate.”
Meanwhile, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) told reporters during a Sept. 28 press briefing that there is broad public support and advocacy for the climate change provisions within the budget reconciliation package and President Joe Biden understands the urgency of the matter.
“It is clear the climate crisis is here, and it’s taking its toll. The recent IPCC [Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change] made clear we’ve faced code red for humanity because of the climate crisis. And that is why, inspired by the American people led by our climate champions and President Biden, our Democratic majorities in Congress are taking action,” said Pelosi.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) announce the Green New Deal outside the U.S. Capitol, on Feb. 7, 2019. (Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images)
Pelosi said the legislation will create jobs in the green technology sector.
“The president has made this very special to his agenda. He will go to Glasgow wanting to do so with legislation that has passed, that again confirms our commitment to the Paris Accords by honoring our commitment to first emission standards, and then the president, again, has the bill—this is today we’re telling you they’ll build back better for climate.”
However, McConnell said China will be glad the United States is relying on its energy.
“They’ll go roaring by, increasing their prosperity and emissions, no matter what we do. Hurt families helps China. A war on American energy just as the rest of the world is stealing for shortages. This is just one piece of the Democrats’ reckless taxing and spending spree, along with historic tax hikes,” McConnell said.
US Vice President Kamala Harris applauded a student who accused Israel of “ethnic genocide,” saying “your truth cannot be suppressed.”
During a discussion with students about National Voter Registration Day on Tuesday, US Vice President Kamala Harris did not challenge a comment by a student at George Mason University in Virginia who accused Israel of “ethnic genocide” and defended her right to say it.
The student, who identified herself as part-Yemeni, part-Iranian and “not an American,” also expressed outrage at US funding of the Iron Dome.
She said America affects her life “every day” due to military funding it gives to Saudi Arabia and Israel.
“You brought up how the power of the people and demonstrations and organizing is very valuable in America,” she said. “But I see that over the summer there have been protests and demonstrations in astronomical numbers standing with Palestine. But then just a few days ago, there were funds allocated to continue backing Israel, which hurts my heart because it’s ethnic genocide and displacement of people, the same that happened in America, and I’m sure you’re aware of this.”
The student questioned why money was going to Israel and Saudi Arabia instead of to social issues in America.“
The people have spoken very often of what they do need, and I feel like there’s a lack of listening, and I just feel like I need to bring this up because it affects my life and people I really care about’s [sic] life,” she said.
In response, Harris said she was “glad” the student spoke up.
“Your voice, your perspective, your experience, your truth cannot be suppressed, and it must be heard,” she said.
Harris said democracy is strongest when everyone participates and is weakest when anyone is left out.“
That’s not only about being physically present but that your voice is present,” she said. “Our goal should be unity, but not uniformity. Unity should never be at the expense of telling any one person, ‘For the sake of unity, oh you be quiet about that thing.’ That’s not unity. Then we see where that ends up in a healthy debate about the issue.”
Regarding the student’s reference to Middle East policy, Harris said: “We still have healthy debates in our country about what is the right path, and nobody’s voice should be suppressed on that.”
Former US ambassador to Israel David Friedman expressed outrage at Harris’s statements, tweeting: “Shameful. There is truth and there are lies. No one is entitled to their personal truth. This attack on Israel is simply a lie and VPOTUS should have called that out.”
Shameful. There is truth and their are lies. No one is entitled to their personal truth. This attack on Israel is simply a lie and VPOTUS should have called that out.
Harris has consistently expressed support for Israel, telling former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu the US is against the International Criminal Court’s investigation into alleged war crimes by Israel and supporting Israel’s right to defend itself against rockets from the Gaza Strip.In a call with President Isaac Herzog in August, Harris expressed a “strong commitment” to Israel’s security.
Governor Greg Abbott today announced that the State of Texas will appeal the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) denial of Texas’ Federal Emergency Declaration request as a result of the escalating crisis at the Texas-Mexico border. Earlier today, the Biden Administration denied the state’s emergency declaration request related to the border crisis. Specifically, the Biden Administration denied Texas’s request for supplemental federal assistance to respond to the thousands of illegal crossings along the border.
The Governor sent a letter to President Biden on September 20 requesting this declaration, noting that the federal government’s failure to enforce immigration laws, and in particular, its failure to halt illegal crossings on federal property, which is the sole jurisdiction of the federal government, led to substantial burdens on local and state resources. The failure of the federal government to intervene led to a surge of more than 16,000 migrants at the Del Rio International Bridge for several days.
“President Biden has turned his back on Texans living along the border, and FEMA’s refusal to declare a federal emergency at the border puts their health, safety, and property at risk,” said Governor Abbott. “The State of Texas is appealing this detrimental decision by FEMA because the Biden Administration’s refusal to solve the crisis at our border has led to a strain on local, state, and federal resources. The surge of over 16,000 migrants at the Del Rio International Bridge is just one of the most recent examples of the federal government’s failure to take action. A member of the United States Customs and Border Protection said that order was only maintained thanks to the Texas Department of Public Safety, the Texas National Guard, and local stakeholders, and the President of the National Border Patrol Council estimated that troopers outnumbered federal agents by three to one.
“This crisis has not ended and will only get worse if the Biden Administration continues to turn a blind eye to the reality at the border. Texas will continue to step up and address this crisis in full force, but supplemental federal assistance should be granted to further protect Texans and halt the influx of drugs, people, and contraband into our state. I respectfully urge FEMA to reconsider this decision and provide the crucial support the State of Texas needs to secure the border and keep our communities safe.”
Governor Abbott made border security funding a priority for the first and second special legislative sessions. The Governor launched Operation Lone Star in early March to help secure the border and combat the smuggling of people and drugs in Texas. There are currently thousands of state personnel, including DPS troopers, agents, and Rangers, and National Guard soldiers who are engaged in the mission and working with local law enforcement. The Governor expanded the mission shortly after its launch to include anti-human trafficking efforts. Governor Abbott’s plan to secure the border also includes the construction of a border wall, in addition to the use of strategic fencing and other barriers. A project manager for the initial stage of building the wall was announced September 16. Earlier this month, the Governor signed House Bill 9 which appropriated $1.8 billion to Texas border security efforts. Among other things, the funding will add more National Guard and additional resources to better secure the border.
But for sheer disassociation from reality, for Biden-level oblivion to the obvious, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas has proved again that she’s difficult to beat.
Jackson, a Houston Democrat who’s spent a quarter-century in Congress — God help us — has a well-deserved reputation for spewing nonsense.
Her remarks can be merely stupid — like when she called for gun control while displaying her utter ignorance about what Democrats love to call “assault weapons.” They can be stupidly dangerous – like when she spread an unfounded story that a white man had murdered a young black girl in Houston two years ago.
But on Wednesday she veered into the land of lunacy during a House Judiciary Committee hearing, making a statement about the Biden administration’s border crisis that literally any thinking American knows to be flat false.
“Let me pronounce to my friends that the border is both sovereign and secure,” Jackson Lee said. “It is obviously subjected to biased and unfair narratives for political purposes.”
Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee says that the southern border is actually “sovereign and secure,” claiming that it is “subjected to biased and unfair narratives for political purposes.” pic.twitter.com/QSVLccryFj
If Jackson Lee considers the southern border secure, it’s difficult to imagine what insecure would look like.Will the border disaster hurt Democrats in the 2022 midterms?Yes No Completing this poll entitles you to The Western Journal news updates free of charge. You may opt out at anytime. You also agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Would a secure border be witnessing month after month of record numbers of illegal crossings? (The year’s total is projected to be about 1.85 million, according to the Washington Examiner, eclipsing a 20-year record set in 2000.)
Would a secure border require a state government to begin building a wall to defend its own territory because the Democrat in the White House has abdicated his responsibility to the country?
Would a secure border see thousands of illegal immigrants camping out under a bridge until a politically impotent administration allows them into the country — with a wink and a nod and the legal fig leaf of a future court hearing that all parties know will likely be ignored?
More importantly, just about any American with a modicum of interest in the matter would be well aware of the conditions at the border. Just as any American interested in the truth of the matter would be well aware that if there’s anyone using the illegal immigration crisis for political purposes, it’s Jackson Lee’s own Democrats.
(Just ask the Border Patrol agents being railroaded for doing their jobs on spurious accusations of “racism.”)
Jackson Lee clearly doesn’t have much interest in the truth. But it’s entirely possible, given her long record of dubious statements, that she simply lacks the ability to grasp what the rest of the country is seeing.
Regardless, her comments were met with a blizzard of scorn on social media. Rarely has that kind of scorn been so well deserved.
It would be easy to just brand Jackson Lee a liar. After all, she’s a prominent member of a political party that has spent the entirety of the 21st century building its power on lies.
But her brand of untruth goes far beyond the usual Democratic dissembling to nearly being divorced from reality.
Baselessly accusing Border Patrol agents of “racism” is garden-variety leftist lying. It’s doubtful anyone truly believes it, but Democrats keep spitting it out and the establishment media keeps lapping it up. If some innocents happen to get hurt in the process, well, there’s a news cycle to “win.”
Claiming that a border plagued by chaos thanks to Biden’s embrace of illegal immigration is actually “sovereign and secure” is a distortion worthy of the doddering president himself.
A Democrat is going to be in the White House for the next three years. Fortunately, voters have a chance to kick Jackson Lee’s party out of power on Capitol Hill in next November’s midterms.
The entire border debacle — and Democratic lies and delusions about it — should be near the top of the list of targets for Republicans trying to retake Congress.
Jackson Lee’s seat is almost certainly safe, of course. She won re-election in 2020 with 73 percent of the vote. But it shouldn’t be.
Most of her Democratic colleagues aren’t nearly as safe. And they shouldn’t be, either.
Wikipedia has in recent years drifted away from neutrality and slid into “leftist propaganda,” according to its co-founder Larry Sanger.
Sanger, who parted ways with Wikipedia almost two decades ago over the project’s direction, told EpochTV’s “American Thought Leaders” that the online encyclopedia, which turned 20 years old earlier this year, has gradually shifted to follow the narrative of “the news media.”
“Wikipedia made a real effort at neutrality for, I would say, its first five years or so,” said Sanger. “And then … it began a long, slow slide into what I would call leftist propaganda.”
Wikipedia has around 125,000 active volunteer editors who work on crowdsourced articles, and more than 1,000 “administrators” who can take actions such as blocking accounts or restricting edits on certain pages.
Sanger told EpochTV that particularly in the past five years, any individual who is “on the right,” or “even contrarian,” often finds themselves with an article on Wikipedia that “grossly misrepresents their achievements, often just leaves out important bits of their work, and misrepresents their motives.”
Wikipedia “casts them as conspiracy theorists, are far right or whatever, when they and their friends and people who know them well would never describe them in that way,” Sanger said.
Sanger criticized Wikipedia, suggesting that it has recently moved to “follow the news media.”
“More recently, they’ve gotten rid of almost all conservative news sources as sources for their articles,” he explained. “And so as the news media has shifted, and as the establishment, frankly, has shifted more to the left or to the left, the content of Wikipedia has followed suit.”
He previously noted that Wikipedia has banned Fox News’s political reporting, the New York Post, and the Daily Mail from being used as sources.
Sanger said he is now working on creating a new decentralized network, a “superset of all encyclopedias.”
“We’re going to be putting all of the encyclopedic content and the world in a single network. That’s an extremely compelling vision,” he said.
He first announced in March that he was working on developing technical standards that could strip power over social media from giant companies and give users more control over the content they produce and see.
Sanger created Wikipedia with Jimmy Wales in 2001, but left the project the following year and has subsequently criticized the website.
Wikipedia officials didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday announced his state has obtained its own supply of monoclonal antibodies, a type of treatment for COVID-19, in a move that bypasses the Biden administration’s limits.
“Texas has obtained its own separate allocation of these monoclonal antibody treatments working around the limitations that President Biden has put on us so that we will be able to ensure that anybody in the state of Texas that wants access to these special treatments, that they will be able to get it,” Abbott, a Republican, said during an interview with radio host Dana Loesch.
Earlier this month, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) moved to ration COVID-19 treatment via monoclonal antibodies. Monoclonal antibodies distribution sites previously could order the treatment directly from manufacturers.
The federal government-directed change now requires states to use HHS as a middleman to obtain the antibody treatments and places caps on how many each state can obtain.
The Texas Department of State Health Services told news outlets this week that it obtained some 4,700 doses from drug manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline. The Epoch Times has contacted the agency for comment.
Previously, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, announced he ordered thousands of doses of the treatment from GlaxoSmithKline after HHS’s rule change. The governor then called on the Biden administration to restore Florida’s supply of the drug.
“We should be doing everything we can to get patients monoclonal antibody treatments, not cutting allocations of treatment like the Biden Administration has done,” he said in a statement issued last week. “Despite the cuts by the federal government, we want any Floridians that could benefit from this treatment to have access to it. Florida is going to leave no stone unturned when finding treatment for our state, and we are encouraged to have secured a shipment of monoclonal antibody treatments from GlaxoSmithKline.”
Meanwhile, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) proposed legislation that would prevent HHS from creating rules to block health care providers and hospitals from purchasing monoclonal antibody treatments.
But the White House said that the change is necessary to make sure states all across the country get access to the treatment.
“Just seven states are making up 70 percent of the orders. Our supply is not unlimited, and we believe it should be equitable across states across the country,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said earlier in September.
Tesla Inc. Chief Executive Elon Musk said on Tuesday U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration was not the friendliest and its electric vehicle policy appeared to be controlled by labor unions.
Speaking at a tech conference in California, Musk was critical of a White House summit on electric vehicles in August to which automakers other than Tesla were invited.
“(They) didn’t mention Tesla once and praised GM and Ford for leading the EV revolution. Does that sound maybe a little biased?,” Musk said during a panel discussion at the Code Conference in Beverly Hills.
“Not the friendliest administration, seems to be controlled by unions,” he added.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Biden in August signed an executive order aimed at making half of all new vehicles sold in 2030 electric, and was joined by executives of General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co., and Stellantis.
The so-called Big Three U.S. automakers are the largest employers of the United Auto Workers (UAW) labor union, accounting for about 150,000 members.
Asked in August whether the White House did not invite Musk because workers at Tesla are not unionized, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said: “I’ll let you draw your own conclusion.”
Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives have also proposed to give union-made, U.S.–built electric vehicles an additional $4,500 tax incentive, setting up a clash between Tesla and Toyota Motor Corp. on one side and the UAW-affiliated automakers in Detroit on the other.
The proposal would boost the maximum tax credit for these electric vehicles to $12,500 from the current $7,500.
Responding to Musk’s comments, UAW Vice President Cindy Estrada wrote on Twitter that he should stop whining: “Good leaders aren’t afraid of smart workers but embrace them!”
House Democrats blocked a measure on Wednesday by Iowa Republican Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks that would have required a negative COVID-19 test before migrants are released from Customs and Border Protection custody.
“Today, I offered my REACT Act on the House floor, which would require DHS to give a COVID test to everyone crossing our border illegally,” Meeks tweeted.
“The majority chose to block this commonsense bill that would ensure the health and safety of border patrol and border communities,” she added.
Today, I offered my REACT Act on the House floor, which would require DHS to give a COVID test to everyone crossing our border illegally.
The majority chose to block this commonsense bill that would ensure the health and safety of border patrol and border communities. #IA02pic.twitter.com/Qwbc2ZjH04
More than 12,000 mostly Haitian migrants were released into the U.S. last week. No negative COVID-19 test was required before release.
FLOOR ALERT: @HouseDemocrats blocked @HouseGOP requests to consider @RepMMM‘s commonsense bill that simply requires illegal immigrants are tested for COVID-19 before their release into the U.S., unlike the 12,000 Haitian migrants admitted by @POTUS last week. pic.twitter.com/mj4r9LmXWH
In both July and August, more than 200,000 illegal immigrants crossed the southern border. No COVID-19 tests were required unless symptoms were shown.
Miller-Meeks first proposed the REACT Act in March (Requiring Every Alien Receive a COVID-19 Test). “This legislation would require the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to test all migrants illegally crossing our border for COVID-19 who DHS plans to release into our communities,” according to a news release by the congresswoman.
“This week, I traveled to El Paso, Texas, to meet with CBP agents and officers. I saw firsthand the crisis they are facing, and I believe it is our job in Congress to address it and assist them. Approximately 50% of agents have tested positive for COVID-19, and very few migrants are being tested,” Miller-Meeks said in March.
“My REACT Act would require that every migrant released from CBP or ICE custody is tested and receives a negative test. Border security and immigration is not an issue that only affects border states, it affects every community across the country. By ensuring that individuals entering the country are negative for COVID-19, we can help keep our communities safe and healthy,” she added. https://www.youtube.com/embed/gC9IQzeidDA?feature=oembed
The number of COVID-19 cases has reportedly also spiked in illegal immigrant detention centers, according to information from Immigration and Customs Enforcement.Should illegal immigrants be required to take a COVID-19 test?Yes No Completing this poll entitles you to The Western Journal news updates free of charge. You may opt out at anytime. You also agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
The data, first cited by The New York Times in July, revealed more than 7,500 coronavirus cases were reported from April to July. During the same time, the number of people held reportedly rose from 14,000 to more than 26,000.
According to the data, the number of positive cases since April account “for more than 40 percent of all cases reported in ICE facilities since the pandemic began, according to a New York Times analysis of ICE data.”
Part of the new surge is related to increased testing. “Paige Hughes, an ICE spokeswoman, said that all new detainees were tested for the coronavirus and are held in quarantine for 14 days on arrival,” according to the report.
In addition, a very low percentage of illegal immigrants who enter the country are already vaccinated.
The low vaccination rate, combined with a lack of social distancing protocols and crowded locations, has provided many opportunities for the spread of the coronavirus.
Disgraced R&B artist faces life in prison for federal sex crimes
Rep. Danny Davis (D., Ill.) said on Tuesday that disgraced R&B artist R. Kelly, who faces 10 years to life in prison for federal sex crimes, deserves a “second chance” after serving his prison sentence.
“I think he’ll be welcomed back into Chicago as a person who can be redeemed,” Davis told TMZ. “I’m a big believer in what is called second chances.” Kelly was convicted on nine counts of federal racketeering and sex trafficking charges for recruiting women and underage girls for sex.
A Democratic primary challenger to Davis, Kina Collins, accused Davis of “undermining the broader fight for justice” by advocating for Kelly. She called the Illinois Democrat’s words “thoughtless, distasteful, and incredibly disappointing for a man charged with representing thousands of black women and girls in our district.”
Davis later clarified his comments to the Hill and said “Kelly has been accused of criminal acts, gone through a court of law, been convicted, and must serve whatever time the court decides.”
Davis has faced criticism for praising controversial figures before. In 2018, a pro-Israel group reconsidered its endorsement of Davis after the congressman said anti-Semitic Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan was an “outstanding human being.”
The congressman also urged Kelly to “find peace with his Maker and peace with himself” in prison and to “reconcile with the universe for the acts that he may have committed.”
Prince William County limits public comment amid debate over COVID, woke curricula
Parents are criticizing Virginia’s Prince William County School Board over a rule limiting public comment, a move community members say is an attempt to stifle debate around hot-button issues.
The school board approved changes to its “Citizen Participation” rule during a tumultuous Sept. 15 meeting. The updated rule limits time for public comment to one hour and prohibits attendees from bringing posters or signs into meetings without prior approval from the board.
The rule comes as Prince William County parents and teachers debate COVID-19 policies and “woke” curricula. The changes demonstrate the board’s apathy toward concerned parents and taxpayers, several attendees and concerned community members told the Washington Free Beacon.
“They don’t want to hear from the citizens. They don’t care what we have to say,” Carol Fox, a former Prince William County Public Schools teacher who attended the Sept. 15 meeting, said. “They’re going to run the school how they want to run it, and they don’t care.”
Prince William County is one of several Virginia counties where school board meetings grew contentious throughout the pandemic. Parents in some districts have organized to oust school board members who promote critical race theory or refuse to reopen schools. Fairfax County Public Schools officials cut off one mother from speaking after she began reading graphic material from a novel offered to high school students.
The Prince William County School Board was set to vote on a swath of measures during the Sept. 15 meeting, including changes to guidelines for public comment. While the board was in private session, parents on either side of the critical race theory debate began loudly taunting each other, one attendee told the Free Beacon. Security ended the meeting after local Democratic leader Tonya James began shouting “fuck you” at attendees.
William Deutsch, a former school board member who attended the meeting, said a select few attendees were allowed back into the meeting space for the board to vote on its agenda.
The newly passed rule only allows for one hour of public comment at school board meetings. Half of that time is dedicated to agenda items, leaving only 30 minutes for parents to discuss other issues. During that 30-minute period, only 10 attendees are permitted to speak for three minutes each.
The school board implemented the rule “in order to conduct its business in a timely and orderly fashion,” the final draft of the updated measure states. Those who are not able to speak at meetings due to the time limitation are encouraged to submit their concerns via video message or email.
Deutsch told the Free Beacon he thinks the rule change could give board members the opportunity to tee up a slate of friendly speakers and exclude dissenting voices.
Several attendees at the Sept. 15 meeting said they had gone to debate the district’s coronavirus mitigation strategies and its embrace of critical race theory. Though the school board denies using critical race theory in its curriculum, the district has adopted the Virginia Department of Education’s equity plan. The state’s “Road Map to Equity” cites controversial “antiracist” scholar Ibram X. Kendi and the educational arm of the left-wing Southern Poverty Law Center.
Prince William County Public Schools’ equity statement commits district employees to “examine and interrupt beliefs, implicit and explicit biases, policies and/or practices that perpetuate systemic racism and discrimination.”
According to Deutsch, now is not the time for the school board to stifle public comment.
“We’re at a time when there is increasing polarization and division within our school system and it’s up to our leaders to lead by example and listen to the public,” Deutsch told the Free Beacon. “Sadly, the school board has made it clear that they are not willing to listen to the public and shut down viewpoints they disagree with.”
Psychological warfare. Public opinion warfare. Legal warfare.
Known as the “three warfares” doctrine and relatively unknown in the West, these concepts serve as key strategies guiding the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in its quest to win a war against the free world without firing a single shot.
Psychological warfare seeks to demoralize the enemy; public opinion warfare seeks to shape the hearts and minds of the masses; legal warfare seeks to use systems of law to deter enemy attacks.
This explanation was set out in a recently released 650-page report that provides a comprehensive illustration of the Chinese communist regime’s global influence operations. The French-language report was published by the Institute for Strategic Studies of Military Schools (IRSEM), an independent agency affiliated with the French Ministry of Armed Forces.
Combined with another key CCP doctrine called “United Front” work, these principles have undergirded a breathtaking campaign by the Chinese regime to expand its influence and infiltration into Western democracies, the report stated.
United Front, described by the CCP’s first leader Mao Zedong as a “magic weapon,” is a policy that, according to the report, involves the regime “eliminating its internal and external enemies, controlling groups that may challenge its authority, building a coalition around the Party to serve its interests, and projecting its influence abroad.”
The report comes amid rising pushback from the West against CCP aggressions, including its severe human rights abuses, rampant theft of intellectual property, economic coercion, and military assertiveness.
Sweeping Effort
Guided by such strategies, the Chinese regime has built a sprawling infrastructure with global reach consisting of a broad network of state and non-state actors to execute its plans.
According to IRSEM, Beijing’s influence operations abroad have two main objectives: “to seduce and subjugate foreign audiences by creating a positive narrative of China,” and “above all, to infiltrate and coerce.”
“Infiltration aims to slowly penetrate opposing societies in order to hinder any inclination to act against the interests of the Party,” the report stated.
“Coercion corresponds to the gradual expansion of ‘punitive’ or ‘coercive’ diplomacy to become a policy of systematic sanction against any state, organization, enterprise or individual threatening the interests of the Party.”
Targets of the CCP’s campaigns span the whole spectrum of society. Key battleground areas include education, media, politics, culture, and social media.
United Front Work in Action
Much of Beijing’s overseas United Front efforts are carried out through a “nebulous network of intermediaries” loosely coordinated by CCP bodies, including Chinese embassies and consulates, and the Party’s United Front Work Department, the report stated.
In a 2020 speech, then-Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific affairs David Stilwell said the CCP leverages thousands of overseas groups that carry out political influence operations, suppress dissident movements, gather intelligence, and facilitate the transfer of technology to China.
While some United Front organizations publicly state their affiliation with Beijing, “most try to present themselves as independent, grassroots-type NGOs, cultural-exchange forums, ‘friendship’ associations, chambers of commerce, media outlets, or academic groups,” Stilwell said at the time.
A 2020 investigation by Newsweek found about 600 such groups in the United States.
One of those groups highlighted in the report is the China-United States Exchange Foundation (CUSEF).
CUSEF is a Hong Kong-based nonprofit headed by billionaire and Chinese regime official Tung Chee-hwa that bills itself as an independent group working to provide U.S.–China dialogues and exchanges. But in reality, it “functions as a de facto front organization for the PRC [People’s Republic of China] government,” the report stated, citing the findings from a 2020 study by Jamestown Foundation, a Washington-based think tank. The group is also registered under the U.S. Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA).
The group has entered into a range of partnerships with a range of prestigious American think tanks and universities, which IRSEM characterized as a bid to “launder” its influence activities. Partners include Johns Hopkins University, the East-West Institute, the Carnegie Endowment for Peace, the Atlantic Council, and the Brookings Institution.
Earlier this year, CUSEF’s ties to the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace came under the spotlight during the nomination hearing for CIA Director William Burns. Prior to his nomination, Burns served as president of the think tank. Facing criticism from Republican lawmakers, Burns told the Senate hearing that he had “inherited” Carnegie’s relationship with CUSEF but cut ties with the group “not long after” he began his tenure in 2015. Burns further said he was “increasingly worried about the expansion of Chinese influence operations.”
The group also sponsors many high-level dialogues between CCP officials and U.S. military and political figures, the report stated.
U.S. media have also been targeted by CUSEF. It has organized trips to China for more than 120 journalists from almost 50 U.S. media outlets since 2009, The Epoch Times previously reported.
From 2009 to 2017, CUSEF also hosted a range of dinners and meetings with executives and editors from 35 outlets, including Time magazine, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, The New York Times, The Associated Press, and Reuters. The group’s FARA filings described the dinners, hosted by CUSEF founder Tung, as “invaluable for their effectiveness in engaging support from the leaders of the news industry.”
The Epoch Times has reached out to CUSEF for comment.
Repression
Overseas ethnic Chinese populations, even those who aren’t Chinese citizens, find themselves as “priority targets” of Beijing’s influence operations, according to the report. One objective, according to IRSEM, is to control the diaspora such that “they do not represent a threat to power;” the other is to “mobilize them to serve its interests.”
Described by Freedom House as the world’s largest perpetrator of transnational repression, Beijing has targeted a range of overseas-based dissident groups, including Uyghur Muslims, rights activists, Hong Kong democracy proponents, and Falun Gong practitioners.
Victims face physical attacks, threats, surveillance, harassment, and intimidation by Chinese agents or their proxies, in person or online, the advocacy group stated in a February report.
In one extreme example, Freedom House noted the case of Sun Yi, a Falun Gong practitioner who survived imprisonment in the notorious Chinese labor camp Masanjia. Falun Gong is a spiritual practice that has been brutally persecuted by the CCP for more than two decades.
While he was detained, Sun snuck an SOS letter into a Halloween decoration for export. It was later found by an American woman in 2012. He filmed a documentary with undercover footage detailing his experiences and escaped to Indonesia.
In 2017, Sun died of sudden kidney failure. His family said Sun never had kidney problems, and the hospital didn’t give concrete details of his death and rushed to have his body cremated. No autopsy was performed. These circumstances have caused Sun’s supporters to suspect foul play.
Democratic leadership in the House blocked a GOP-led measure to sanction trade between the Taliban and China, with the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee citing opposition to any move that could anger the Afghan terror group, according to congressional sources briefed on the matter.
House Republicans tried to attach an amendment to the recently passed National Defense Authorization Act, the sprawling annual defense-funding bill, that would sanction any person or business that attempts to work with the Taliban to purchase rare earth minerals, a lucrative natural resource coveted by China and used to power most modern electronics. The Communist regime has used the American exit from Afghanistan to boost its presence in the war-torn country, in part to gain access to its natural resources, which are valued at anywhere from $1 to $3 trillion.
The GOP measure was rejected last week by Democrats on the House Rules Committee and by House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Gregory Meeks (D., N.Y.). According to congressional sources briefed on the matter, Meeks’s staff cited concerns about any legislation that could provoke the Taliban. Meeks’s office said it is concerned that any additional sanctions that target the Taliban could complicate ongoing efforts to rescue Americans still stranded in war-torn Afghanistan. Meeks aides also said that sanctioning the Taliban will push them to sell illegal drugs, which GOP sources say the terror group will do and is doing anyway.
Republicans will reintroduce the measure on Tuesday as a standalone bill in a bid to force Democrats into voting on a measure that will increase pressure on the Taliban, according to congressional sources familiar with the matter. GOP leaders say China’s increased focus on Afghanistan poses a national security risk, particularly as it seeks to work with Taliban leaders to export precious materials that U.S. companies will end up buying.
“House Democrats proved once again that they are unwilling to compromise with Republicans by blocking my amendments to the [National Defense Authorization Act],” Rep. Greg Steube (R., Fla.), who is spearheading the measure, told the Washington Free Beacon. “It’s outrageous that Democrats would not even allow a vote on something so commonsense as banning the Taliban and China from profiting off of rare earth minerals. Pretty soon Americans will be carrying around products with rare earth minerals sourced from the Taliban due to the reckless policies of the left.”
The measure is part of a larger effort by the Republican Study Committee, the largest GOP caucus in Congress, to block the Taliban’s access to cash resources and stop the group from aligning itself with malign regimes, such as China, Russia, and Iran.
“The Taliban’s control of these minerals likely now makes it the wealthiest terrorist organization in the world,” the Republican Study Committee wrote Tuesday in a private memorandum sent to 154 GOP offices, according to a copy obtained by the Free Beacon. “Unless conservatives in Congress act quickly to limit the damage done by the Biden administration, it is likely that soon products as varied as iPhones to laptops to the electric vehicles championed in Democrats’ reconciliation package will contain raw earth minerals sourced from Taliban-run Afghanistan and developed by communist China. This would allow both the Taliban and China to profit and put American national security in jeopardy.”
Rare earth minerals have become an increasingly hot button topic. China controls around 35 percent of all rare earth minerals reserves in the world and exports a large portion to the United States for use in a range of consumer products. Around 80 percent of the United States’ rare earth mineral imports come from China.
China has prioritized an expansion in this market, injecting itself into a range of countries known for their stockpiles.
Since the United States withdrew its forces from Afghanistan, China has inked business deals with the Taliban that will expand its footprint in the country and also provide the Communist regime with billions in revenue. China inked a 30-year contract worth $3 billion dollars with Afghanistan’s former government and has expressed its willingness to follow through on the deal with the Taliban leadership.
While the Taliban is subject to many American and international sanctions, the Biden administration and Democrats have expressed a willingness to work with the terror group and recognize it as Afghanistan’s official government. Republican leaders in Congress want current sanctions enforced and additional ones implemented to prevent partnerships like the budding one between Beijing and the Taliban.
“It’s not enough that we left Afghanistan vulnerable to a Taliban takeover and let them seize $85 billion worth of our military equipment,” Rep. Jim Banks (R., Ind.), a member of the House Armed Services Committee and the chairman of the Republican Study Committee, told the Free Beacon. “We’ve also left them access to $1 to $3 trillion worth of rare earth minerals, which they plan to develop and sell with China. Instead of working to stop them, House Democrats are enabling them. Is this part of a new strategy to reward the Taliban that they’re not telling us?”
$3.5 trillion spending bill hits American tobacco users and those trying to quit
The Democrats’ $3.5 trillion budget proposal relies on a $100 billion tax hike that disproportionately targets the poor, lines the pockets of organized crime, and increases inequality.
The plan doubles the federal tax on cigarettes, which would break President Joe Biden’s promise to raise taxes only on those earning more than $400,000. Households with an income of $35,000 or less smoke at three times the rate of households with incomes of more than $100,000. Richard Marianos, a 27-year veteran of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives who worked on gang violence, said a tobacco tax increase will punish vulnerable communities.
“You’re punishing lower-income people, which the administration promised it wouldn’t do,” Marianos told the Washington Free Beacon. “You’re punishing the police departments that want to push towards reform. You’re punishing the states or organizations that truly have the tobacco harm reduction strategy to keep it out of the hands of kids and criminals. You cannot have a healthy community that is not safe.”
A tobacco tax hike would also put a dent in state economies that rely on tobacco production. Democratic Kentucky governor Andy Beshear, for example, told Biden last week that he opposes the proposed tax increases, which he said would cost the state $50 million in revenue.
The tax plan establishes the first-ever federal tax on vapor products, which have been consistently cited by medical experts as a safer smoking option than cigarettes. The proposal aims to raise $100 billion in government revenue by raising the tax rate on all tobacco and nicotine products to equal that of traditional cigarettes. It would increase taxes by 2,000 percent on chewing tobacco and 1,600 percent on pipe tobacco and snuff. Ulrik Boesen, a senior policy analyst at the Tax Foundation, said the Democratic proposal sacrifices low-income individuals’ and the overall public’s health for the sake of budget concerns.
“People of lower income are still consuming tobacco—it’s obviously not a financial decision—so I don’t think taxes are a good final solution to end cigarette smoking,” Boesen told the Free Beacon. “If you really want to get at the issue here, which is smoking cigarettes, you should be encouraging people to switch to less harmful products.”
A pack-a-day smoker who makes $35,000 would go from spending 4 percent to spending 5 percent of his income on cigarettes under the proposed tax plan, according to Boesen. This tax rate would be worse in the majority of states that set tobacco taxes on cumulative price of a product after federal taxes. Boesen noted that the plan may fail to reach its revenue goals in the long run as more consumers turn to the black market. More than half of cigarettes in New York City are smuggled, according to a study this year from the Tax Foundation in response to tax hikes on cigarettes.
Marianos said cigarettes have become the “new face of organized crime.” Local gangs have cigarettes imported from organized crime groups overseas then sell them on the streets. Gangs that prefer to do business on their own buy cigarettes in low tax areas then sell them in high tax areas for profit. Marianos said this could put local corner stores out of business, which rely heavily on tobacco sales—leaving no option for low-income smokers but gangs.
“When you can’t afford cigarettes, where do you go? You go to the black market. You go to the crooks,” he told the Free Beacon.
The nation’s largest tobacco companies oppose the tax plan, citing concerns with the equal tax rate on all tobacco and nicotine products. Philip Morris International, for example, has spent billions of dollars to develop iQOS, a smoking alternative that allows users to heat up, rather than burn, tobacco. The FDA in recent years approved iQOS as a reduced risk product because of its lower chemical levels, but the product could find itself facing the same tax hikes as the cigarettes it seeks to replace.
“Tax policy is a powerful tool for incentivizing consumer behavior and can help make innovations more accessible to adults who smoke across income levels,” Philip Morris spokesman Corey Henry told the Free Beacon. “We encourage governments to utilize this tool to accelerate switching to smoke-free products that are a better choice for adults who would otherwise continue smoking.”
Tobacco companies have increasingly poured money into products that are less harmful. RJ Reynolds owns Snus, a smoke-free form of dip that has been heralded for its relative safety compared with cigarettes. RJ Reynolds spokeswoman Kaelan Hollon said lawmakers could do more harm than good by making FDA-approved reduced risk products less affordable.
“Taxation should be based on the relative risk of products so that potentially less harmful products can compete more effectively with cigarettes, encouraging adult smokers uninterested in quitting to consider and choose lower-risk options,” Hollon told the Free Beacon.
Boesen and Marianos agreed that lower taxes on vapor products are in the best interest of public health. Marianos said the most effective and safe way to stop smoking is through education, which helps people make choices for themselves as opposed to financial pressure.
“Give them a choice, educate them, but don’t create a prohibition or increase taxes so they have to go to other means,” Marianos told the Free Beacon.
The COVID-19 vaccine should not be mandated for children since it does not “necessarily benefit” them like the vaccines required for school and child care, according to former White House COVID-19 adviser Dr. Scott Atlas.
“Those vaccines that are mandated for children, even if you believe they should be mandated, are for diseases that are highly dangerous to children and highly communicable to other children, who therefore have a high danger from that virus,” Atlas said in an interview with EpochTV’s “American Thought Leaders.”
“That is not the case with this disease. Children do not have a high risk from this disease. Children do not necessarily benefit themselves from the vaccination of this,” he added.
Atlas, a senior fellow for the Hoover Institute at Stanford University, said that kids whose immune system is extremely compromised should consider getting vaccinated, but to require healthy children to receive the COVID-19 vaccines would violate the Declaration of Helsinki, a set of ethical principles developed by the World Medical Association to guide physicians and scientists conducting experiments involving humans.
“In fact, the forced vaccines, particularly for children, violate several of the codes outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki from 1964,” Atlas said. “And I think, when you start having a society that violates some of the most basic codes of ethics, I think we’re in trouble.”
Pfizer said that it had submitted preliminary data of its COVID-19 vaccine trial for children aged 5 to 11 to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Tuesday. This comes only two days after the vaccine manufacturer’s Chief Executive Officer Albert Bourla told ABC’s “This Week” that the company will soon request authorization of its vaccine.
A five-dose vial of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine is held in Los Angeles, Calif., on Sept. 21, 2021. (Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images)
Pfizer and its German partner, BioNTech, said that the data on the 2,268 children aged 5 to 11, who were given a 10-microgram dose of a two-dose regime, showed that the vaccine was safe and triggered an antibody response similar to that observed in those aged 16 to 25 from a previous trial, who had received 30-microgram doses. But whether the vaccine was effective in preventing disease in kids is still unknown as the companies did not release this data in their press release last week.
Pfizer’s vaccine is the only one granted emergency use in adolescents aged 12 to 15 and approved for people 16 and older.
Although kids are at extremely low risk from COVID-19 and do not significantly spread the disease, there is still a push to get them inoculated. One of the reasons for the push is that it could help protect society, which is a big concern for Atlas.
“Are we a society, a civilization, where we are using our children, even if they did spread, as shields? We’re going to inject our children with an experimental drug that they don’t have a significant benefit from, to shield ourselves,” Atlas said.
He added: “I will never use my children as shields to somehow protect me. That’s really just a heinous violation of all moral principles in my view.”
Opponents of vaccinating children say that the vaccine uses “experimental technology” and lacks long-term safety data. Pfizer states in its press releases that the vaccine may cause adverse events including heart inflammation and other “serious and unexpected side effects” that have not been reported yet, since “the possible side effects of the vaccine are still being studied in clinical trials.”
The vaccines have shown that they do not protect fully vaccinated people from getting infected or transmitting COVID-19, the disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, after several months.
Students line up before classes start on the first day of the school year, in Montreal on Aug. 31, 2021. (The Canadian Press/Graham Hughes)
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), around 544 children aged 0 to 18 had died from confirmed or presumed COVID-19 between Jan. 4, 2020 and Sept. 18, 2021, out of a total of 672,020 deaths from all ages.
However, comprehensive studies from the United Kingdom that are still waiting to be peer-reviewed, found that the overall risk of dying or getting severely ill from COVID-19 was extremely low in children. The studies also found that COVID-19 caused 25 deaths in kids younger than 18 between March 2020 and February 2021.
Federal health authorities are likely to authorize the vaccine for children soon. The FDA said that it was “prepared to complete its review as quickly as possible, likely in a matter of weeks rather than months” and will “carefully, thoroughly, and independently examine the data to evaluate benefits and risks.”
CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said the health agency will urgently review the data for children once they’ve been reviewed by the FDA.
“As soon as they get submitted to the FDA, I know the FDA is urgently planning to review these data, it will go from the FDA to the CDC, and we will review it with similar urgency,” Walensky told Good Morning America on Monday.
Pfizer said that it will submit a formal request for emergency use of its vaccine for children to the FDA “in the coming weeks,” including to other regulatory authorities around the world.
Some medical experts are also questioning the need to inoculate children without long-term safety data.
“Why would an EUA [emergency use authorization] for C19 vax for 5-11 yo be given, w/o any efficacy and long-term safety studies? Why is it OK to accept efficacy based on seroconversion, when Ab [antibody] status for naturally immune are not accepted?” Dr. Mahesh Shenai, a neurosurgeon, asked on Twitter.
Dr. Aaron Kheriaty, professor of psychiatry at the University of California Irvine School of Medicine replied: “Exactly. And we have not just antibody (or even T-cell) lab data for natural immunity, but also robust clinical evidence of protection against reinfection, hospitalization, and death. Vaccines for 5-11 yo receive approval without this yet NI [natural immunity] is ignored with this data?”
Natural immunity from people who have recovered from COVID-19 continues to not be recognized by the federal government and businesses mandating vaccines and passports in the United States.
Atlas said that Americans should have the choice to decide whether they want to be vaccinated or not.
The CDC says that more than 183 million Americans are fully vaccinated as of Sept. 28.
PUNTA GORDA, Fla.—To address what Governor Ron DeSantis called a “brazen disregard for federal immigration law” an executive order was signed and a new public safety czar announced on Tuesday.
DeSantis addressed what he called the “Biden border crisis” with his executive order that prohibits state agencies from providing support for the “resettlement of illegal aliens” in Florida.
The governor initiated the order because he says that illegal immigration is taking its toll on taxpayer dollars and overwhelming state agencies.
“This executive order makes it clear that Florida resources will not be used to prop up the failed open border agenda enacted by this administration,” he said.
The executive order (21-223) addresses several things including directing the Department of Children and Families to refuse to renew licenses to facilities that house unaccompanied minors. Then it asks that the Florida Department of Law Enforcement conduct audits of companies in Florida to verify they do not employ illegal aliens.
The second half of the order requires the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to “lawfully gather information on the number and identities of illegal aliens being transported from the border to Florida.” It also encourages state law enforcement to “detain any vehicle transporting illegal aliens if there is reason, suspicions, it is being used for human or drug trafficking.”
The order additionally requests information from state officials “on the number of illegal aliens who are pending criminal prosecution or have been convicted of a crime.”
To ensure that the executive order is followed, DeSantis named Larry Keefe as public safety czar.
“Larry Keefe was nominated by President Trump in 2018 to serve as the United States attorney for the Northern District of Florida,” wrote DeSantis’ press secretary Christina Punshaw in a statement.
“He resigned in February 2021 after Biden took office. Mr. Keefe was a trial lawyer for more than 30 years, during which he has tried criminal and civil cases in federal and state courts.”
DeSantis told reporters during a press conference that Keefe’s appointment is part of the state’s efforts “to protect Florida taxpayers from bearing the burden of reckless immigration policies.”
“We will continue to hold the federal government accountable for refusing to enforce the immigration laws of this country,” he said.
Keefe will serve to ensure the actions directed by the executive order “are carried out.”
The former U.S. Attorney told the press conference that: “I saw illegal aliens that would get deported and come back, and then get deported and come back in an endless cycle.”
“The states, including Florida, bear the brunt of this cycle. Over the coming weeks and months, our state agencies will be addressing the impacts illegal immigration has had on our state,” he said.
Keefe said if “people are illegally in the state, and they have broken (state) laws” they will be punished.
He also made a promise to law enforcement.
“We will support them (law enforcement) when they are attacked,” Keefe said. “And they will be attacked for trying to do their jobs.”
Lee County Sheriff Carmine Mancino said that people come to Florida for the sun as well as other things.
“But they also know that this is a law-and-order state, we will deliver on our end,” he said.
This all follows a letter that DeSantis sent to the Biden administration on Aug. 26, as was reported by The Epoch Times, asking for a meeting seeking more transparency regarding illegals being resettled in Florida. That letter went unanswered, according to DeSantis, which prompted him to act.
Former President Donald Trump held a rally in Perry, Georgia, over the weekend, continuing his claims challenging the 2020 presidential election results and hinting at a potential run for 2024.
Trump called on his supporters to “save America” which he says begins with an “earth-shattering” victory in 2022 “to be followed by an even more glorious victory in November of 2024.”
Trump also used the roughly hour-and-a-half speech at the Georgia National Fairgrounds to talk statewide politics, voicing support for his three picks in the upcoming Georgia elections. Trump is backing U.S. Senate candidate and football icon Herschel Walker, who’s running against Democratic incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock; Rep. Jody Hice (R-Ga.), who’s running for Georgia secretary of state; and state Sen. Burt Jones running for lieutenant governor.
Trump had disparaging words for the state’s incumbent Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, and Gov. Brian Kemp—all Republicans who have been vocal in opposing Trump’s claims of a fraudulent 2020 presidential election which declared President Joe Biden the winner.
Trump told the crowd he would have rather seen Democrat Stacey Abrams win the Georgia gubernatorial race in 2018.
“Stacey, would you like to take his place?” he said. “It’s OK with me.”
Trump also referenced a recently released forensic audit of the 2020 presidential election results in Maricopa County, Arizona, which he says backs his claims of widespread election fraud.
The final, certified election results have Biden winning that county, which includes Phoenix, by 45,000 votes—key to Biden’s 10,500-vote win in the state. The audit, which was backed by state Republicans and conducted by the cyber security firm Cyber Ninjas, included a hand count of votes tallying 360 more votes for Biden than the official results.
“It confirmed what we have all known for some time,” said White House press secretary Jen Psaki following its release Friday.
But the report also questions the legality of about 50,000 of the ballots cast. It claims 23,344 mail-in ballots were voted from an individual’s former address, 9,041 mail-in ballots were returned than were mailed out to voters, and 5,295 voters that potentially voted in multiple counties. It also questions the validity of thousands of more votes saying they did not match who voted, were duplicate ballots, or were cast by voters who moved out of Maricopa County.
Trump sees this as evidence of his victory in the county and more broadly the national election, urging further investigation into the matter.
“If we don’t think about the past you’ll never win again in the future because it’s all rigged,” he said at the rally.
The report’s findings have been contested by local officials. Members of the Republican-led Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, which oversees elections, wrote on Twitter: “The #azaudit draft report from Cyber Ninjas confirms the county’s canvass of the 2020 General Election was accurate and the candidates certified as the winners did, in fact, win.”
And again: “Unfortunately, the report is also littered with errors & faulty conclusions about how Maricopa County conducted the 2020 General Election.”
Trump also brought up the recent indictment of a cyber security lawyer involved in Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign. The indictment alleges Michael Sussmann lied to the FBI about his involvement with the campaign when he provided the agency with data alleging a mysterious computer backchannel between the Trump Organization and a Russian bank. An FBI investigation later found no evidence of a secret backchannel.
“They made up a hoax and we had to live with it for three years,” said Trump at the rally.
Trump also slammed Biden for his management of the U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan and the recent flood of illegal immigrants at the U.S. southern border calling it “the worst border situation in history of the world.”
Mary Gordon-Judge and Michelle Orfanos, registered nurses from Massachusetts, felt they were “discarded like trash” as hospitals in the state announced plans to discipline employees who would not comply with their vaccine requirements.
The nurses said their colleagues could easily get an exemption from flu shots in past years, but now only “a percentage of them” were able to be exempted from COVID-19 vaccines.
“Either you get this vaccine, or you don’t have a job, and that’s not right,” Orfanos said.
The two were among those who rallied in front of the Massachusetts State House on Sept. 26. Thousands of people filled the street with signs like “my body, my choice,” “no mandates, yes to freedom” and “freedom is the only mandate,” voicing their opposition to vaccine and mask mandates issued by Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker.
In an executive order issued last month, Baker has required 45,000 state employees and contractors to be vaccinated by Oct. 17. Otherwise, they risk discipline and termination. The order points out that the state is the largest employer in Massachusetts, and argues that the mandate is the best way to protect the health of both workers and residents.
Last week, the Massachusetts State Police Union sued over the state’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate. After a Superior Court judge denied their bid for an injunction on the policy, the union announced that dozens of the troopers have submitted their resignation paperwork, and some of them plan to return to other departments “offering reasonable alternatives such as mask-wearing and regular testing.”
Meanwhile, many local governments, hospitals, and other organizations also issued their own vaccine mandates, which were regarded by the protesters as “modern-day segregation.”
Jeff Kuhner, a well-known radio host, spoke at the rally in front of the Massachusetts State House on Sept. 26. (Learner Liu/The Epoch Times)
“How this is not a form of modern-day apartheid, except this time they are discriminating and persecuting us, not based on the color of our skin, but based on our vaccination status,” said Jeff Kuhner, a well-known radio host, and keynote speaker at the Sunday rally.
According to the Boston Broadside, organizer of the rally, the energized crowd included nurses, firefighters, police officers, first responders, workers, teachers, small business owners, veterans, and parents, who are “the backbone of America.”
The rally started with the national anthem, Pledge of Allegiance, and a prayer for the 13 U.S. service members killed in Afghanistan.
Other speakers included Jim Lyons, chair of the Massachusetts Republican Party, and Geoff Diehl, a Republican candidate for governor of Massachusetts.
Geoff Diehl, a Republican candidate for governor of Massachusetts, spoke at the rally in front of the Massachusetts State House on Sept. 26. (Learner Liu/The Epoch Times)Jim Lyons, chair of the Massachusetts Republican Party, spoke at the rally in front of the Massachusetts State House on Sept. 26. (Learner Liu/The Epoch Times)
Citing speeches of Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Ronald Reagan, Lyons emphasized the need to protect liberty and restrict the power of the “big government.”
“Freedom matters. And what they’re doing to us is hijacking our freedom,” he said.
Donnie Palmer, a public school teacher, attended the rally in front of the Massachusetts State House on Sept. 26. (Learner Liu/The Epoch Times)
Donnie Palmer, a public school teacher who presented at the rally, believed that being forced to get vaccines and wear masks infringes on his freedom.
“We want to be freed. We don’t want to be governed by a tyrannical government. We don’t want communism. We don’t want socialism. We want Americanism, freedom,” he said.
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers apprehended nearly 100 illegal aliens inside two stash houses in Laredo, Texas, during a 24-hour span last week, the agency announced on Tuesday.
Officers nabbed more than 50 illegal aliens from Guatemala, Mexico, El Salvador, and Honduras in a stash house discovered on Ligarde Street on Sept. 23. The next evening, CBP officers followed a tip about illegals being housed on Philadelphia Street to discover another stash house. Inside, the authorities found more than 40 illegal aliens from Honduras, Guatemala, and Mexico.
CBP noted that all of the illegals were given face masks prior to being processed.
“The substandard conditions typically encountered when stash houses are found can foster a breeding ground for illnesses or other communicable diseases,” the CBP said in a press release on Sept. 28.
Border patrol agents have discovered and dismantled 400 stash houses this fiscal year, resulting in the apprehensions of 7,400 illegal aliens in the Rio Grande Valley. The illegals tend to be from Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala. A stash house disrupted in August was run by two U.S. citizens with extensive criminal records, the CBP said at the time.
In late May and June, CBP dismantled six stash houses over the course of less than a week, leading to the capture of 173 illegal aliens.
U.S. authorities have apprehended more than 1.2 million illegal border crossers this year, a number unseen in years. Many more evade capture.
Border Patrol agents have arrested 8,691 criminal aliens coming across the southern border in the past 10 months. Between them, the aliens have committed 12,685 crimes.
On Aug. 14, border agents in south Texas arrested two MS-13 gang members. One, a convicted murderer from El Salvador, was apprehended after illegally crossing into the United States with a group near Mission, Texas. The 44-year-old man spent three years in prison for a murder in California in the late ’90s and was imprisoned again in 2005 for “re-entry of a deported alien,” according to CBP.
Many criminal aliens are arrested while trying to evade Border Patrol, or as they attempt to blend into large groups crossing the border. While Border Patrol agents are tied up dealing with large groups, the cartels and criminal organizations smuggle contraband and people through unpatrolled areas nearby.
Several Border Patrol agents told The Epoch Times that agents estimate they’re apprehending between 10 percent and 20 percent of all illegal border crossers, although it’s impossible to estimate how many have avoided detection and capture.
Rep. Dan Bishop (R-N.C.) has introduced legislation to allow students to change schools if mask mandates or critical race theory curriculum are implemented.
Bishop introduced the Masks Off Act and the No Corrupt Racist Training (No CRT) Act. The measures would allow parents to demand federal education dollars be redirected to a private school, homeschool, or other education expenses if a school enacts the mask and race theory policies.
“Federal education dollars should follow America’s students, not the system,” Bishop said in a statement. “This should be true in all cases, but especially if a school is forcing masks on children or teaching divisive Critical Race Theory. If such mandates or indoctrinating curricula are in place, then families should be able to do what is best for their own kids and have the freedom to pursue alternative education options.”
The Masks Off Act would allow students in school districts with mask mandates to be eligible for “opportunity grants” to seek other education options. The No CRT Act would provide the grants to students who attend schools promoting critical race theory. The federal government would redirect 10 percent of appropriated funding from Title 1 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.
Bishop’s office said the amount of the grants would be based on annual income.
Critical race theory is centered around the idea that race is a social construct used to oppress people of color. It was developed by legal scholars in the late 1970s and 1980s and concludes racism in America is systemic. The theory gained new notoriety in response to the 1619 Project, a New York Times multimedia piece that connects slavery to capitalism.
Critics say critical race theory employs heavy use of the Marxist “struggle” ideology and tactic that advocates for the destruction of history, traditions, and culture of a society.
The Republican-led North Carolina General Assembly approved a bill Sept. 1 that would have banned some critical race theory concepts from being taught in public schools. It was later vetoed by Gov. Roy Cooper.
North Carolina students and staff are not currently required to wear masks, but it is recommended under the state’s public health guidance. Cooper has allowed local school leaders to dictate protocols in their schools.
The number of children homeschooled in North Carolina jumped nearly 21 percent during the pandemic, a recent North Carolina Department of Administration report shows.
According to a John Locke Foundation and Civitas poll released from January, a majority of North Carolinians support school choice. The survey results showed 82 percent of 950 bipartisan voters believed parents should have the ability to select the school their child attends. Critics argue private schools promote religious agendas. Others say opportunity scholarships absorb funds that should be used for traditional schools.
“These bills will reallocate a small percentage of federal K-12 dollars to give families in need greater educational freedom and opportunity,” the American Federation for Children said.
According to the most-recent data from the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, 6,132 COVID-19 cases were reported among school-aged children the week of Sept. 12.
The agency’s dashboard shows 21,005—or 6 percent—of the 350,086 North Carolinians who have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine are between 12 years old and 17 years old. The cohort accounts for 8 percent of the state’s total population.
Tucked deep into the massive $3.5 trillion spending bill that progressive Democrats hope to ram through Congress is a new plan to put what one writer calls “crippling” fines on businesses that fail to enforce vaccine mandates to the extent the Biden administration wants.
The spending proposal before Congress has the support of a majority of House Democrats, but has so far not won over enough Senate Democrats to allow for passage there, even under a procedural gimmick that would allow the bill to pass with all Republicans opposed.
Although most of the bill is focused on doling out dollars to social programs, on Saturday, a provision was added in a version of the bill that cleared the Budget Committee and went to the House floor, according to Forbes.
The bill now features, on page 168 of its more than 2,400 pages, a change in the schedule of “crippling” fines for employers who are adjudged to have put employees at risk jacks up financial penalties by up to 10 times the level in current law, Forbes’ Adam Andrzejewski wrote.
Instead of fines of up to $7,000 for a serious infraction, an employer could be hit with a fine of up to $70,000.
What the Occupational Health and Safety Administration concludes is a willful or repeated violation could now cost $700,000, up from $70,000.
Over the summer, OSHA issued an “emergency temporary standard” that classified COVID-19 as a workplace hazard for the health care sector, setting the stage for a similar ruling in all workplaces.
Some, like Texas Republican Rep. Chip Roy, have already called for pushback against Biden’s rules.
Andrzejewski, a Forbes senior contributor, explained the bottom line.
“If the legislation is enacted, OSHA could levy draconian fines to enforce Biden’s vaccine mandate, a move that could rapidly bankrupt non-compliant companies,” he wrote.
‘The crippling change described on page 168 of the Democrats’ bill isn’t a typo or a clerical error. It was inserted by design and, likely, with the hope that no one would notice before Democrats ram the bill through Congress,” he wrote.
“If this OSHA change becomes law, the Biden administration will force American businesses to choose between vaccinating their employees, testing them weekly for Covid-19, or going bankrupt under crippling OSHA fines.”https://t.co/BFA8sf3bm5
“If enacted, it could bankrupt a whole host of companies that do not believe they should have to comply with the Biden administration’s mandate or harbor the cost of intrusive, weekly tests.”
He said if that provision becomes law, “the Biden administration may force American businesses to choose between vaccinating their employees, testing them weekly for Covid-19, or going bankrupt under crippling OSHA fines.”
President Joe Biden’s “Build Back Better” agenda is supposed to tax the wealthy to help the middle class. If you don’t believe me, just ask Biden, who’s more than willing to tell you about it on his Twitter account.
To be fair, I’m assuming the messages aren’t written by Biden himself, a man who seems like his relationship with technology involves yelling at his phone, either asking Siri to find his slippers or telling Scotty to beam him up. However, whoever tweets for him stays on message when it comes to the president’s tax-and-spend plan.
“We’re going to pass a historic middle class tax cut — and we’ll do it by making those at the top pay their fair share,” one tweet from Sunday read. “I know the crowd on Park Ave might not like it, but it’s time we give people in towns like Scranton — the folks I grew up with — a break for a change.”
“From health care to child care, my Build Back Better Agenda will lower everyday costs for middle class Americans,” a tweet from this Monday read.
“I’m not looking to punish anyone, I just think it’s only fair that the wealthiest Americans pay their fair share once again. Then, we’ll use that money to invest in the middle class,” a tweet from last week reads.
“For me it’s pretty simple: It’s about time working people got the tax breaks in this country,” a tweet from the day before that read. “That’s the Build Back Better Agenda.”
We’re going to pass a historic middle class tax cut — and we’ll do it by making those at the top pay their fair share.
I know the crowd on Park Ave might not like it, but it’s time we give people in towns like Scranton — the folks I grew up with — a break for a change.
I’m not looking to punish anyone, I just think it’s only fair that the wealthiest Americans pay their fair share once again. Then, we’ll use that money to invest in the middle class. pic.twitter.com/xZYMMUo5yi
If someone has to repeat themselves this much, it’s usually because they’re lying — and, lo and behold, the Joint Committee on Taxation seems to have confirmed that.
According to a media release from the Republicans on the House Ways and Means Committee on Tuesday, the Joint Committee on Taxation — a non-partisan congressional tax scorekeeper — found that almost every income level below the threshold the Biden administration said would be immune would take a hit.
Furthermore, the committee’s analysis found the vast majority of taxpayers would see no benefit from the plan in its current form.
According to the analysis, by the calendar year 2023, nearly 5 percent of those making between $40,000 and $50,000 would see a tax increase. Nine percent of those making between $50,000 and $75,000 would see an increase, 18 percent earning between $75,000 and $100,000 would see their taxes go up and 35 percent of those earning between $100,000 and $200,000 would be subject to a hike.
The media release also noted that the benefit most people see will pretty much be nil.
In 2023, two-thirds of all taxpayers won’t get see any kind of real benefit from the legislation, either seeing their tax bill changed by less than $100 or getting a tax increase.
By 2027, this number would balloon to 85.5 percent, with huge swaths of the middle class seeing a sizable tax increase; these numbers are projected to stay mostly steady until 2031.
Meanwhile, the Joint Committee on Taxation also found that hiking corporate taxes would hit middle-class Americans hard, too.
“Within 10 years of a corporate tax increase from 21 percent to 25 percent, 66.3 percent of the corporate tax burden would be borne by lower- and middle-income taxpayers with income well below $500,000,” an August media release from the Republicans on the House Ways and Means Committee read.
“This statistic becomes only more striking in absolute number of taxpayers. Of the more than 172 million taxpayers who would bear the burden of the increased corporate tax rate, 98.4 percent, or about 169 million, have incomes under $500,000.”
Of course, the charge from the left would be that this doesn’t take into account what the spending these tax hikes will pay for is going to buy for the middle class. Beyond the fact these “investments” never bring back the kind of returns that are promised, Biden promised a middle-class tax cut. At least in the plan’s current form, it doesn’t look like it’ll end up delivering — no matter what the president says.
Do you know who did lower taxes on the middle class? Former President Donald Trump.
Joe Biden may have spent much of the campaign whining about Trump’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, which slashed taxes across the board. Most of the outrage focused on the fact he didn’t soak the rich: “Tax experts estimate that over the long run, 83% of Trump’s tax giveaway will flow to the top 1% of earners in this country,” Biden’s campaign website read.
And yet, in March of 2020, MarketWatch reported that “Americans paid almost $64 billion less in federal income taxes during the first year under the Republican tax overhaul signed into law in late 2017 by President Donald Trump, with some of the sharpest drops clustered among taxpayers earning between $25,000 and $100,000 a year, even as the overall number of refunds dropped during a turbulent tax season” in 2019.
Biden plans on taking that away. In return, he’s offered nothing of substance — except, as promised, he’s soaking the rich. And the upper-middle class. And some people in the middle class, too. But mainly the rich. See, priorities!
Biden may not be giving people in towns like Scranton — the folks he grew up with — a break the same way Trump did. But at least they can watch as his administration takes (and then squanders) Park Avenue’s money. He’ll be squandering Scranton’s money, too, but at least they get the joy of class-based schadenfreude out of the deal.
If the Democrats in Washington, D.C., have their way, Sen. Rand Paul is going to be a busy man this holiday season.
The Kentucky Republican is famous for his “Festivus Report” every December in which the spending hawk airs his grievances regarding the most ridiculous items the federal government spent money on that year. Last year’s report included lizards on treadmills, studies on whether hot tubs lower stress and yacht subsidies.
Unfortunately, this year will find us with a Democratic president as well as Democratic majorities in both the House and Senate. We’ve already burned through trillions in spending and, if moderate Democrats don’t derail it, we’re about to sign on for $3.5 trillion more via this year’s bloated budget.
And, believe you me, there are some whopping grievances in there that need to be aired, at least if the bill passes in its current form.
It’d be difficult to go through all of the waste in the budget. Paste each sheet of paper from the 2,465-page bill on a wall, throw a dart at it and you’re more likely than not to hit some item of proposed governmental profligacy.
However, if you want some of the most ridiculous provisions of the bill, there are four preposterous uses of taxpayer money hidden in the budget that need to be seen to be believed.
1. “Tree equity”: $3 billion
Equity is every liberal’s favorite word these days. It’s a way of saying “equality of outcome” without the stigma attached to the concept. Any spending item with the term attached should raise a red flag, particularly if it involves trees.
According to Fox Business, the Agriculture Committee earmarked $3 billion to plant trees — but not just anywhere. Instead, the program promises “a priority for projects that increase tree equity.”
The term “tree equity” isn’t defined in the bill, because of course it isn’t. However, Fox Business noted the definition from conservation group American Forests, which says the concept “identifies the cities that can gain the most significant health, economic and climate benefits by increasing tree canopy in places of high need.”
Spending $3B on “tree equity” is the perfect encapsulation of Democrats in 2021. https://t.co/FWPDbd6z8F
There’s plenty of other wasteful environmental spending where that came from; for instance, there’s also a “Civilian Climate Corps” ($7.5 billion) and money for “climate justice” block grants ($5 billion). However, “tree equity” is a fair representation of how much woke spending we can expect.
2. Bias training in health care: $25 million
While not necessarily up there with “tree equity” in terms of the amount of money spent, the $25 million for “anti-discrimination and bias training” in health care is another sign of how misplaced the bill’s priorities are.
According to the New York Post, the budget calls for the Treasury to give the money to nonprofits in order “to develop, disseminate, review, research, and evaluate training for health professionals and all staff who interact with patients to reduce discrimination and bias in the provision of health care, with a focus on maternal health care.”
Wait, maternal? Maternity sounds like a loaded concept when it comes to gender. After all, not all mothers are women, according to the left. Shouldn’t it have been “a focus on health care for birthing persons?” Check your privilege, Democrats. Maybe you can cut off another $25 million to spend on bias training for members of the House of Representatives, because you clearly need it.
3. “High-performance green buildings”: $1 billion
When I first read reports about the budget and the pork that was squeezed into it, I had a strange image in my head of what constituted a “high-performance green building.” I was picturing a house with a huge biodiesel-powered V-8 out back. This, unsurprisingly, turned out to be incorrect.
A so-called high-performance green building is what it sounds like — a building designed to reduce energy consumption. The General Services Administration is getting $1 billion to convert its facilities to this standard, according to the U.K.’s Daily Mail. The process will reportedly take 10 years.
4. Tax enforcement: $78.94 billion
But remember, this whole thing is supposed to cost us nothing. President Joe Biden told us so, after all:
My Build Back Better Agenda costs zero dollars.
Instead of wasting money on tax breaks, loopholes, and tax evasion for big corporations and the wealthy, we can make a once-in-a-generation investment in working America.
So, how’s he going to do this? Not only does it involve raising taxes, it involves giving the Internal Revenue Service $78.94 billion to shake American taxpayers down.
According to Fox Business, among the most controversial outlays would be the nearly $80 billion the IRS would receive for tax enforcement. Because what every American said was that we needed the IRS to be more aggressive when it came to taking our tax dollars.
“Tree equity” is already a cinch for Paul’s Festivus list, assuming it becomes law. Everything else deserves to be, particularly the nearly $80 billion for America’s least-loved federal agency in order to make itself even less lovable. And these are just the worst offenders we’ve found so far. Considering the size of this bill, who knows what else is lurking in there?
YouTube is removing the channels of prominent anti-vaccine activists as part of its new policies to ban videos that claim approved vaccines are “ineffective or dangerous,” according to a new report.
“As part of a new set of policies aimed at cutting down on anti-vaccine content on the Google-owned site, YouTube will ban any videos that claim that commonly used vaccines approved by health authorities are ineffective or dangerous,” the Post reported.
“The company previously blocked videos that made those claims about coronavirus vaccines, but not ones for other vaccines like those for measles or chickenpox,” it added.
YouTube and other social media platforms banned “misinformation” related to COVID-19 during the early months of the coronavirus pandemic. The YouTube ban now extends to other vaccines, seeking to remove content that would increase vaccine hesitancy.
According to Axios, YouTube vice president of global trust and safety Matt Halprin said the video platform would allow personal testimony, such as parents describing their children’s experiences with vaccines, but there would be restrictions.
“If the speaker then goes on to generalize and make calls for all parents not to vaccinate or makes broad claims about vaccines not being safe or effective, that would be removed,” Halprin told Axios.Should Big Tech censor vaccine information?Yes No Completing this poll entitles you to The Western Journal news updates free of charge. You may opt out at anytime. You also agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
“In the weeks and months that followed the launch of the COVID-19 vaccine misinformation policy, we observed content and realized that there appeared to be an interaction between general vaccine hesitancy that was being promoted on the platform, and COVID-19 vaccine misinformation,” Halprin said. “We felt like we need to address both.”
YouTube, Facebook and Twitter initially banned certain videos that criticized the coronavirus vaccines in 2020 and YouTube pulled more than 130,000 videos with what it considered misinformation, according to the Post.
Wednesday’s report comes as vaccine requirements are causing widespread controversies across the nation. In the National Basketball Association, for instance, a debate continues regarding whether to impose a league-wide vaccine mandate.
Although league officials reportedly hope to ensure every member of the league receives a COVID vaccine, a strong coalition of NBA players — including many high-profile stars — are opposing any such mandatory requirements.
Among the stars leading the charge are Bradley Beal of the Washington Wizards, Andrew Wiggins of the Golden State Warriors, Jonathan Isaac of the Orlando Magic and, most notably, Kyrie Irving of the Brooklyn Nets.
According to Rolling Stone, many more professional athletes voiced their opinions during a recent annual players’ union summer meeting. The meeting was held to assess the upcoming season’s agenda. High on the list of items to be discussed was a “proposed mandate from the league office that 100 percent of players get vaccinated against COVID-19.”
For numerous players, the idea prompted one simple answer: “Non-starter.”
In addition, dozens of Massachusetts state troopers submitted their resignations to protest Republican Gov. Charlie Baker’s coronavirus vaccine mandate.
Michael Cherven is the president of the State Police Association of Massachusetts, a union that represents 1,800 members of the state police.
On Friday, his union issued a news release expressing disappointment after a judge denied the union’s request to delay the vaccine mandate until it can negotiate for reasonable accommodations, such as a weekly testing option or wearing a mask on the job.
“To date, dozens of troopers have already submitted their resignation paperwork, some of whom plan to return to other departments offering reasonable alternatives such as mask wearing and regular testing,” Cherven said.
“The State Police are already critically short-staffed and acknowledged this by the unprecedented moves which took troopers from specialty units that investigate homicides, terrorism, computer crimes, arsons, gangs, narcotics, and human trafficking, and returned them to uniformed patrol,” he wrote.
The Department of Homeland Security is not allowing an evacuation flight of 117 Americans and Afghan allies to land in the United States, according to Project Dynamo.
Project Dynamo founder Bryan Stern told Reuters that 117 people, including 59 children are waiting at an Abu Dhabi airport to travel to the U.S.
“They will not allow a charter on an international flight into a U.S. port of entry,” Stern said, according to Reuters.
The 117 travelers at the United Arab Emirates capital include 28 American citizens, 83 green card holders and six holding Special Immigration Visas, according to the report.
Among the travelers are 59 children, including 16 under 3 years old.
“Right now we have 59 children sleeping on airport chairs and cold airport floors – not the warm bed with a hot meal that we’d arranged for all of them stateside – because the US Government denied our flight clearance into ALL US ports of entry. All of them. For a plane load of Americans,” the organization posted on Twitter Tuesday night.
“They escaped the regime they were running from only to have the government they were running HOME TO, turn them away. This cannot be what America does to Americans. Bring Dynamo 01 home. Now. Today,” the post added.
The delay was apparently an unforeseen development.
In a news release published only Tuesday, Stern’s organization was praising the State Department.
“We would like to thank the U.S. State Department and the United Arab Emirates’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs for their cooperation in challenging circumstances to secure the safe return of these U.S. citizens, U.S. Legal Permanent Residents, and Afghan allies,” the news release stated.
“We would also like to acknowledge the Taliban for facilitating the departure of the aircraft by allowing those who want to depart Afghanistan to do so peacefully,” it added.
According to Reuters, an administration official interviewed was unfamiliar with the specific situation, but said the typical practice is for the U.S. government to verify the passenger manifest of charter planes before allowing them to land in the U.S.
According to a CNN report, “A State Department official said they ‘are not going to detail our involvement with any specific groups at this time.’
“The evacuation effort has been a monumental task and the U.S. government understands the need to coordinate across agencies, as we have done, but we also appreciate the desire of NGOs and private citizens to assist and have identified a greater need for coordination there,” the official said.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki displayed a surprising level of naïveté on Monday that apparently is representative of President Joe Biden and much of the Democratic Party regarding taxing companies.
They seemingly believe that businesses do not pass their tax costs on to their customers.
What world are the Democrats living in?
Psaki was asked about the impact of the proposed tax increases on businesses and the “wealthy” contained in the Democrats’ $3.5 trillion so-called human infrastructure bill.
“Obviously, the president’s commitment remains not raising taxes for anyone making less than $400,000 a year,” Psaki responded.
“There are some — and I’m not sure if this is the case in this report — who argue that, in the past, companies have passed on these costs to consumers. I’m not sure if that’s the argument being made in this report. We feel that that’s unfair and absurd, and the American people would not stand for that.”
Jen Psaki: It’s “unfair and absurd” that companies would increase costs for consumers in response to us taxing them more. 😳 pic.twitter.com/rHilrYdj4j
“Unfair and absurd.” Wow. Does she not understand that companies are in business to make money? That’s how business owners keep the lights on and the doors open, not to mention make a living, pay their workers and pay back those who invested in the business.
A tax is a cost of production: The higher you raise the price, the more the business owner charges the consumer or chooses to relocate to where the tax burden is lower in order to remain competitive.
Then-President Ronald Reagan explained so clearly that it is the consumer who ultimately pays for taxes placed on companies.
“Some say shift the tax burden to business and industry, but business doesn’t pay taxes,” Reagan said in an Oval Office address to the nation in February 1981.
“Oh, don’t get the wrong idea. Business is being taxed, so much so that we’re being priced out of the world market. But business must pass its costs of operations — and that includes taxes — on to the customer in the price of the product. Only people pay taxes, all the taxes,” he continued.
“Government just uses business in a kind of sneaky way to help collect the taxes. They’re hidden in the price; we aren’t aware of how much tax we actually pay.”
Under the Trump tax cuts, the federal corporate rate came down from 35 percent, the highest in the industrialized world, to 21 percent, which is slightly below average among the countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
When combined with state corporate taxes, however, the U.S. current rate is above average at 25.7 percent and higher than China’s 25 percent rate, according to the Tax Foundation.
Former Vice President Mike Pence noted in an opinion piece for Fox News in May that following the Trump tax cuts, factories and jobs began returning to the United States from overseas following years of the reverse happening.
“After losing 60,000 factories under the previous two administrations, America gained 12,000 new factories, because employers were no longer driven away by an exorbitant tax burden,” he wrote.Do you think the corporate tax rate should stay the same?Yes No Completing this poll entitles you to The Western Journal news updates free of charge. You may opt out at anytime. You also agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
The Tax Foundation reported that under the legislation being considered by the Democrats in the House Ways and Means Committee the federal corporate tax rate would increase from 21 percent to 26.5 percent.
When combined with state corporate taxes, the U.S. would have an average combined rate of 30.9 percent, the third-highest among OECD countries.
Such a move would put our nation at a significant disadvantage compared to the rest of the world.
In August 1962, then-President John F. Kennedy, recognizing the U.S. had become uncompetitive on the world stage, proposed across-the-board tax cuts on individuals and corporations.
“The billions of dollars this bill will place in the hands of the consumer and our businessmen will have both immediate and permanent benefits to our economy,” he said.
“Every dollar released from taxation that is spent or invested will help create a new job and a new salary,” Kennedy continued. “And these new jobs and new salaries can create other jobs and other salaries and more customers and more growth for an expanding American economy.”
“Our goal must be full capacity and full employment and the budgetary surpluses that that kind of employment and capacity can produce,” he said.
Kennedy’s prediction about the efficacy of tax cuts proved true. After his plan was adopted in 1964, tax revenues to the federal treasury increased by over 60 percent by the end of the decade, unemployment fell to under 5 percent and the nation enjoyed a budget surplus by the end of the 1960s.
Similarly, after Reagan signed the first in a series of tax cuts into law in August 1981, the American economy took off.
The unemployment rate dropped to 5 percent and the economy grew a third larger, which was like adding the entire economy of West Germany at the time. Additionally, due to the incredible economic growth, revenues to the federal treasury nearly doubled during the 1980s.
Increasing taxes on corporations is a losing proposition not only for American businesses but also for consumers who ultimately pay the price. You would think the Democrats could have figured that out by now.
For those who think that election audits and integrity investigations are just for conspiracy theorists who still buy into the “big lie,” consider the situation in DeKalb County, Georgia.
DeKalb is the fourth-most populous county in the state and part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. It’s a Democratic stronghold that saw 83 percent of its voters go for Democrat Joe Biden in November. It also could have a serious chain-of-custody issue regarding mail-in ballots put in drop boxes — serious enough that Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s office has opened an investigation.
Journalist John Solomon, founder of the website Just the News, confirmed the probe on Tuesday, almost a month after the issue was first reported in the Georgia Star News, a local conservative publication. Earlier in September, the county’s elections director was put on an extended leave of absence from her job with no reason given, as The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
“The Secretary of State’s office has opened an investigation into the drop box chain of custody documentation for DeKalb County,” Raffensperger’s office said in a statement, Solomon reported.
“The investigation includes not only whether DeKalb County properly complied with the documentation required by the State Election Board but also whether the actual procedures used by DeKalb adequately protected chain of custody for ballots returned to drop boxes.”
Raffensperger told the Washington Examiner last week that he had opened an investigation into DeKalb County’s election integrity practices because “some information came to us that there was a question about chain of custody,” although this wouldn’t invalidate the votes from DeKalb.
In June, a similar investigation had been launched into Fulton County, home to Atlanta and the state’s most populous county.
On Aug. 30, the Georgia Star News first reported that nearly three-quarters of the absentee ballots retrieved from drop boxes during the 2020 election — 43,907 out of 61,731 — were counted despite violations of the state’s chain of custody rules.
“That rule states absentee ballots placed in drop boxes, ‘shall be immediately transported to the county registrar’ by the two person collection team, which is required to sign a ballot transfer form indicating the number of ballots picked up, the time the ballots were picked up, and the location of the drop box, and that, ‘The county registrar or a designee thereof shall sign the ballot transfer form upon receipt of the ballots from the collection team,’” the Georgia Star’s Laura Baigert reported. [Emphasis in the original.]Do you support election audits?Yes No Completing this poll entitles you to The Western Journal news updates free of charge. You may opt out at anytime. You also agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
According to records obtained by the publication, 46 percent of the ballots, totaling 28,194 votes, weren’t documented as being received by the elections registrar until the day after they were collected.
Another 26 percent of ballots, totaling 15,713 votes, had no timestamp at all, the Star News reported.
Raffensperger’s office said most Georgia counties didn’t submit their chain of custody forms for ballots put into drop boxes until January or February, Solomon reported. While it’s found issues with chain of custody documents in other counties, these were mostly rural.
“As we announced earlier this year, Coffee, Grady, and Taylor counties all failed to complete any ballot transfer documents,” Raffensperger’s office said, Solomon reported.
“They were referred for investigation. In Stephens County, the elections director emptied an absentee ballot drop box on her own instead of with the two people that the State Election Board rule required. Stephens County was referred to the Attorney General’s office by the State Election Board.”
Coffee, Grady, Stephens and Taylor counties combined have a little over 100,000 residents, according to demographic data compiled by Cubit. DeKalb, meanwhile, is home to almost 765,000.
There’s also the mysterious case of DeKalb elections director Erica Hamilton’s extended leave of absence. When Atlanta’s WXIA-TV reported on it Sept. 9, it claimed that DeKalb had “mostly avoided the kinds of missteps that made Fulton [County] the epicenter of election contests last year.”
At the time, however, Raffensperger wasn’t publicly investigating the county and the Georgia Star’s report had stayed under the radar.
Furthermore, if you either haven’t been paying attention or forgot about it, Raffensperger isn’t a close ally of former President Donald Trump; the two have attacked each other since the 2020 election, Trump over Raffensperger’s decision to certify the results and Raffensperger over Trump’s stance that the results were illegitimate.
During a rally in Georgia on Saturday, Trump attacked Raffensperger as “incompetent and strange” and said “there’s something wrong with this guy,” according to WXIA. Raffensperger, for his part, told the Washington Examiner Trump had “continued to promote the big lie” and said the former president “knows in his heart that he lost the election.”
In short, this is hardly about the “big lie.” Rather, it’s the fact that, from all appearances, two of Georgia’s biggest counties — Democrat strongholds both — apparently played fast and loose with Georgia law when it came to absentee ballots during the 2020 election.
This isn’t a smoking gun that says Trump won Georgia or that the two Senate seats the Democrats picked up in the state in January runoff elections were the result of election fraud. There’s no evidence that’s the case.
Instead, it’s yet another sign Democrats treat urban boards of election like their own private fiefdoms, playing by their own rules and expecting state officials to shrug off the sloppiness.
In a swing state that could have decided the presidency and definitely decided the balance of power in the Senate, that’s utterly unacceptable — and it’s why election integrity is so crucial.
America’s security agencies under President Joe Biden are opposing the blacklisting of a spin-off firm of the Chinese Communist Party-linked telecommunications firm Huawei.
‘Honor’ – which was sold by Huawei last November to skirt Trump-era sanctions – still retains links to the Chinese Communist Party, as the Shenzhen city government was one of several involved in the consortium that purchased the firm.
The primary purchaser in the $15 billion deal, Digital China, retains ties to Huawei through its partnerships with programs such as cloud computing.
Despite these ties, “key security agencies are divided over whether to place Huawei’s former smartphone company on an export blacklist,” reportsThe Washington Post.
The rift is between the Pentagon and Department of Energy, which support blacklisting the company, and the Commerce and State Department, which oppose it.
“They couldn’t agree on whether a business that Huawei sold last year posed a significant threat to U.S. national security.
Staff members at the Pentagon and Energy Department supported placing the company on the blacklist, while their counterparts at the Commerce Department and State Department opposed it, according to several people familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the confidential process.”
Honor’s fate now rests in the hands of political appointees in the Biden regime and may reach the Cabinet level, according to The Washington Post:
“The issue has been appealed to the political-appointee level at the four agencies, according to people familiar with the matter. If they deadlock, the issue can be escalated to the Cabinet level. In the event of a tie there, President Biden would make the final decision.”
The Biden regime’s approach to Huawei is at odds with the Trump administration, which labeled the firm a “national security threat” and Chinese military collaborator. Trump’s State Department also noted Huawei is used as an “instrument not only for making money but also for pursuing the Party-State’s agenda and fulfilling its strategic objectives […] deeply enmeshed in Beijing’s system of oppression at home and its increasingly assertive strategic ambitions globally.”
DEL RIO, Texas—The largest caravan of illegal immigrants to date was, for them, successful. At its height, around Sept. 18, nearly 15,000 mostly Haitian nationals who had primarily been living in Chile or Brazil, were camped under an international bridge in Del Rio, Texas, that had been closed to legitimate trade and travel.
More than 12,400 of the aliens were ultimately released into the United States as the primitive camp was cleared and dismantled, according to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
The majority were given either a notice to appear, which is a date to appear in immigration court, or a notice to report, which is a request to check in with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) within 60 days. None were tested for COVID-19.
About 2,000 Haitians were flown back to Haiti during the week, Mayorkas said on Sept. 24. He also said that Border Patrol had apprehended almost 30,000 illegal immigrants in Del Rio during the previous two weeks.
News spread swiftly among the Haitians in Del Rio, and when the first deportation flights landed in Haiti, many of those left under the bridge fled back across the Rio Grande to Acuña, Mexico, to wait out the uncertainty.
All of the Haitians that The Epoch Times spoke to had been living in Chile or Brazil for years before deciding to come to the United States. They all said it wasn’t an option for them to return to Haiti and that they were determined to get into the United States one way or another.
Illegal immigrants take supplies back and forth between Acuna, Mexico, and the United States (far side) across the Rio Grande, the international boundary with Mexico, in Acuna, Mexico, on Sept. 20, 2021. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)
The southwest Mexican city of Tapachula is the common entry point of the well-worn route for Haitians making the trek north.
After passing through the treacherous Darien jungle from Colombia to Panama, they get help from the United Nations’ International Organization for Migration. Then, they make their way through Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, and Guatemala, before entering Mexico near Tapachula.
Haitians and African nationals have been gathering in Tapachula for years to wait for transit permits or to apply for asylum in Mexico.
In 2019, The Epoch Times reported that more than 5,000 Haitians and Africans were bottlenecked in Tapachula’s immigration center. At the time, it took more than one month to get the required documents, but no one wanted to be caught without legal documents and risk deportation at that stage, so they waited.
However, in mid-September this year, thousands of Haitians left Tapachula, some without legal documentation, and started making their way to the U.S. border, mostly by bus.
“The Mexican government has been very helpful,” Phanel, a Haitian national, told The Epoch Times on Sept. 21 in Acuña, Mexico.
“Legally, they are issuing permits, but some of us didn’t wait for it [in Tapachula]. But still they provided guidance on how to get here.”
Phanel said he had been living in Chile for three years before deciding to come to the United States. He had spent five nights under the bridge in Del Rio with his wife, son, and daughter, before crossing back to Mexico to retrieve groceries.
Another Haitian man who had been living in Chile for several years was looking for a hotel to stay at in Acuña to avoid deportation from the United States.
“I thought I was going to be let in [to the United States], be handed the notice to appear, and right away, look for a job so I can send money back to my family,” he said.
Traditionally, Haitians first made it to Puerto Rico, rather than take the overland route through Latin America. The second-busiest crossing point for Haitians had been the northern U.S. border (604 arrests in 12 years) and the southern border was third, with 473 arrests in 12 years.
But, in 2019, Border Patrol agents in Del Rio started apprehending upward of 1,000 Haitians within a few weeks.
This year, the number of Haitians crossing illegally into Del Rio has been on a sharp upward trend, especially since April, when agents apprehended 514 Haitians. The number grew tenfold to 5,196 in August. September is set to break all records.
Haitians, and others, who crossed the U.S. border illegally have been processed by Border Patrol and are dropped at local NGO Border Humanitarian Coalition to catch a bus to San Antonio or Houston, in Del Rio, Texas, on Sept. 22, 2021. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)
Policy Incentives
On a policy level, the Biden administration has been lenient on illegal immigrants, including through policy changes that allow most to be released into the United States.
Mayorkas announced on May 22 an extension for Haitians currently eligible under the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program that was put in place after the 2010 earthquake. That allowed Haitians who were already in the United States before the earthquake to stay, as their country was deemed unsafe to return. TPS holders get work permits and are shielded from deportation.
The original 2010 designation was extended several times until the Trump administration announced in January 2018 that Haiti’s designation would end, effective July 22, 2019. Subsequent lawsuits allowed the designation to remain in effect.
On Aug. 3, Mayorkas dramatically increased the number of Haitians eligible for the program by announcing that all Haitians who had made it into the United States by July 29 this year, would now be eligible to apply for TPS.
Former President Barack Obama started the practice of redesignating TPS so people who arrived after the original designation were also covered, said Jessica Vaughan, director of policy studies at the Center for Immigration Studies, a D.C.-based think tank that promotes legal immigration.
“Redesignating … does provide an incentive to get here and then take advantage. You can never be sure that that’s going to happen, but I think it was a reasonable expectation for people that if they got here, the Biden administration would eventually do it again,” Vaughan told The Epoch Times.
“I don’t think the migrants themselves always know the specific policies and what the eligibility criteria are … they just know that people are being allowed to enter and stay here for an indefinite period of time.”
Social media such as Facebook and messaging platforms such as WhatsApp contribute greatly to the rapid spread of information and organizing capacity of large groups of would-be illegal immigrants.
As many as 30,000 Haitians are currently on their way to the border, according to reports received by Del Rio Mayor Bruno Lozano last week.
Thousands of illegal immigrants, mostly Haitians, live in a primitive, makeshift camp under the international bridge that spans the Rio Grande between the U.S. and Mexico while waiting to be detained and processed by Border Patrol, in Del Rio, Texas, on Sept. 21, 2021. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)
A Warning
Three months before the Haitian crisis, Jon Anfinsen, a Border Patrol agent and national union representative for Del Rio, said he warned the administration to prepare for an overwhelming influx of illegal immigrants. It was a warning cry he said was ignored.
“It was basically recommended that they should start building some kind of facility down here,” Anfinsen told The Epoch Times on Sept. 21.
Brandon Judd, president of the National Border Patrol Council said, “Not only did they ignore him, they came back and said, ‘We have more efficient ways to handle it.’”
“Now we’re in this situation,” Judd said as he pointed to the squalid conditions under the bridge in Del Rio.
Judd said “there’s no way in the world” that the Department of Homeland Security didn’t know 15,000 Haitians were on their way to the U.S. border.
“We have a very robust intel department. There is no way in the world they could not have prepared. They just didn’t do it,” he said.
Speaking to the media at the White House on Sept. 24, Mayorkas said the situation in Del Rio was unprecedented.
“It is unprecedented for us to see that number of people arrive in one discrete point along the border in such a compacted period of time,” he said.
He reiterated that the criteria for asylum don’t include “economic need, flight from generalized violence” but rather “credible fear of persecution by reason of one’s membership in a particular social group.”
It’s unclear if Haitians who have safely lived in Chile or Brazil for years will be eligible for asylum.
Vice President Kamala Harris was tapped in March to address the border issue and has said her focus is on the “root causes” of illegal immigration.
Mayorkas’s three-part plan is to invest in the countries that people are leaving, to build “safe, orderly, and humane pathways” for migration, and rebuild the asylum system and refugee program.
Vaughan said Congress has been unable to address border security and immigration issues for years.
“Immigration law and policy has been abdicated by Congress, and is now in the hands of the courts and the executive branch,” she said.
The effects of huge numbers of illegal immigrants being released across America will put a “huge burden” on communities, she said.
“[The communities] are going to have to pick up the tab for it—to have these kids in school, for health care. They’re going to be occupying a lot of the affordable housing, they’re going to be trying to work off the books because they don’t have work permits. And they will eventually be accessing all kinds of public welfare programs.”
Haitians who crossed the U.S. border illegally have been processed by Border Patrol and are dropped at local NGO Border Humanitarian Coalition to catch a bus to San Antonio or Houston, in Del Rio, Texas, on Sept. 22, 2021. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)
Off the Border
As the Haitian nationals poured across the border, Border Patrol was forced to close several highway checkpoints for more than a week in order to send agents to deal with the influx. That left Highway 90—a direct shot from Del Rio to San Antonio—open, as Texas state troopers also left the highways to guard the border.
On Sept. 24, before the checkpoint reopened, Highway 90 kept troopers and local law enforcement tied up with vehicle pursuits and smuggling arrests.
The driver of a stolen pickup truck out of Houston took state troopers and Kinney County deputies on a high-speed chase for several miles, before he careened off the road and smashed through a high game fence. Five illegal aliens were arrested near the truck and the remaining three were located and arrested with the help of the DPS helicopter. Border Patrol took all eight into custody.
The closed Border Patrol highway checkpoint on Highway 90 near Uvalde, Texas, on Sept. 17, 2021. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)
Within hours of that stop, Kinney County Sheriff’s Deputy Danny Molinar stopped a vehicle suspected of carrying illegal aliens. The driver, a 15-year-old boy, had stolen the car from his father in Cedar Creek, Texas, and was smuggling four Mexican nationals.
The boy is currently in juvenile detention facing four felony counts of human smuggling. A recent law change in Texas has made it easier to prosecute human smugglers by removing the requirement to prove pecuniary gain, or payment, to the smuggler.
“When you look at the resources that are being pulled to the bridge to deal with this, it’s completely and totally depleted the field resources of not just DPS but the Border Patrol,” Judd said.
“And Del Rio, you’ve got close to 240 miles that just is being patrolled by an absolute skeleton crew. And, of course, the cartels are going to exploit that.”
WASHINGTON–A group of Republican lawmakers threw their support behind doctors who advocate for the right to use ivermectin, an inexpensive antiparasitic drug, for treating COVID-19.
Ivermectin is the latest drug caught in controversy after demand surged dramatically in August. Physician and pharmacist groups, including the American Medical Association “strongly oppose” the prescribing of ivermectin to treat COVID-19 patients. Federal health agencies also issued warnings recently to prevent the use of the drug, stating that “adverse effects associated with ivermectin misuse and overdose are increasing.”
Critical care physician Pierre Kory, however, describes correctly administered ivermectin as “a gift” in the fight against COVID-19.
“I know ivermectin works. I’ve been using it to treat patients for 10 months now,” Kory told The Epoch Times.
During the pandemic, Kory led intensive care units in several hotspots, including New York City. He is one of the founding members of the Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance, which “strongly recommends” the use of ivermectin in both the prevention and treatment of the virus.
Kory briefed more than 20 members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus on Sept. 27 about the efficacy of the drug.
During the briefing, Kory claimed that ivermectin has helped reduce COVID-19 deaths by 88 percent with early treatment and by about 75 percent in cases of hospitalization, based on data from Mexico City and Misiones, a province in Argentina where a large number of patients were treated with ivermectin.
Kory also said COVID cases significantly dropped in Uttar Pradesh, which was the first state in India to introduce large-scale use of ivermectin during the peak of the delta surge in the country.
Dr. Pierre Kory (C) speaks to members of the House Freedom Caucus about the efficacy of ivermectin against COVID-19 at the Conservative Partnership Institute in Washington on Sept. 27, 2021. (Emel Akan/The Epoch Times)
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), who joined the briefing, criticized the efforts to quash access to the drug as a treatment for COVID-19. Johnson has been a vocal advocate for COVID-19 treatments beyond vaccines, including ivermectin. A possible explanation for the resistance “has to do with money,” he told The Epoch Times.
“The vaccine has been worth billions to these companies. Is that what’s driving this? I would like to think that’s not the case,” he said. “How many lives could have been saved had our federal health agencies robustly explored all these generic drugs?”
Ivermectin is an FDA-approved antiparasitic drug that has been used safely for more than three decades in the treatment of certain worm infections. The two doctors who developed ivermectin received the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 2015 “for improving the health and wellbeing of millions of individuals with River Blindness and Lymphatic Filariasis, primarily in the poorest regions of the world.”
While ivermectin was not developed to treat viruses, an increasing number of doctors around the world believe in the efficacy of the drug against the COVID-19.
Over 88,000 ivermectin prescriptions were reported in the United States in the second week of August, which is 24 times higher than the pre-pandemic level, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) published an article warning against use of the drug, stating that many have been taking the one intended for animals.
“You are not a horse. You are not a cow. Seriously, y’all. Stop it,” the agency posted on Twitter on Aug. 21.
Louie Gohmert (R-Texas), a member of the Freedom Caucus and one of the supporters of allowing people the right to try ivermectin, criticized federal agencies and the media for smearing the drug as “horse treatment.”
In an interview with The Epoch Times, Gohmert called the efforts to suppress the use of ivermectin as “dishonesty,” which is preventing people from having access to an FDA-approved drug that is inexpensive and widely available. He likened these efforts to the disinformation tactics used for decades by the tobacco industry to dismiss the health risks of smoking.
“It goes beyond being wrong. It gets virtually to being criminal,” Gohmert said.
The FDA warned that it has not yet approved ivermectin “for use in preventing or treating COVID-19.” The agency said that the “currently available data do not show ivermectin is effective” against the virus, adding that the clinical trials are ongoing.
According to Kory, FDA approval for ivermectin use to treat COVID-19 is not required for off-label prescriptions. Off-label use refers to using an approved drug to treat a different type of disease that the drug is not approved to treat. Nearly 20 percent of all prescriptions written in the United States are off-label.
There are now threats from medical boards to take away licenses from doctors who prescribe ivermectin, Kory said.
“I cannot describe the harm, and the tragedy, and the actual humanitarian crisis that this is causing,” he said.
Take all of the imagery you have seen of the over 14,000 Haitian migrants camped under an international bridge in the small Texas border town of Del Rio and add the complications of disease, public excrement, unbearable heat, and heightened frustrations. It has led to violence that has injured Border Patrol officers.
Now close your eyes and imagine it is 100 times worse.
Because that’s what it is, said Texas Rep. Tony Gonzales, the freshman Republican who represents 42 percent of the border. The overwhelmed city of Del Rio had been in a rapidly deteriorating crisis situation when illegal immigrants first began surging into the community in January, but Gonzales now says the situation here is a “Category 5” and that the environment is unlike anything he has ever seen before.
“I arrived here today to pure chaos,” he said. “I’ve never seen it in this environment. There literally is no border left.”
Gonzales said Del Rio is in dire straits. “There’s no doubt there’s COVID here, there’s measles, tuberculosis, all kinds of diseases,” he said. “You’ve got kids running around in nothing but diapers. A handful of port-a-potties—my God, the stench is terrible. This is not good for the migrants. It is not good for the residents. It’s not good for wherever our government is sending them in the interior of the country.”
Despite the Department of Homeland Security insisting repeatedly the Haitians would be deported, as of Tuesday, it had only removed 1,000 of the estimated 15,000 under the bridge. Multiple news organizations including CNN reported that buses have been escorting them to a nonprofit organization in town where they purchase bus or plane tickets. They are then moved to a gas station where buses pick them up and take them to other parts of the country.
The Washington Post reported that the number is in the thousands of those released to parts unknown in the interior of the country.
“My takeaway after I walked through it all, I look over at the sector chief, and I go, ‘Man, I just feel sad.’ He goes, ‘I know. Everyone just feels beaten here,’” Gonzales said.
Migrants, many from Haiti, encamped along the Del Rio International Bridge in Del Rio, Texas. (Tony Gonzales)
Del Rio residents have seen their lives turned upside down. The international bridge has been closed—a lifeline bringing tens of millions of dollars to the local economy. If you’re a small-business owner and your business has somehow survived COVID-19, something like this could easily wipe you out.
Everybody has been sucked into this chaos.
“The worst thing is that we are not even talking about the other places where this is happening,” Gonzales said. “Today, we’re talking about Del Rio, but tomorrow, it’ll be Laredo or Brownsville or Eagle Pass or El Paso. This problem is not going away.”
Gonzales said he asked the chief of Border Patrol, Raul Ortiz, at a Homeland Security Committee hearing about its surge of agents to Del Rio. “Those agents are coming from somewhere,” he said. “And my worry is other sectors are going to be weakened, thus creating a national security crisis, putting us at risk in other sectors, because everyone is focusing on Del Rio.”
Ortiz agreed. He also confirmed that reports were true that migrants had assaulted Border Patrol agents—five of them, to be exact.
It is hard to imagine that this scene is playing out in America. It is also hard to imagine that our government has failed to secure the border or address this crisis with the seriousness it deserves.
Which is what makes the other part of this crisis political: Until a photo of a Border Patrol agent on horseback herding migrants back over the Rio Grande to Mexico was circulated on Twitter, Democrats, journalists and the White House had almost completely ignored or downplayed the 15,000 people who had been living in squalor under the bridge.
Blue-check Twitter cried foul, claiming that the agent’s long reins were whips and absurdly likening the image to that of a white overseer whipping a slave. Suddenly, not only did press secretary Jen Psaki and the vice president notice, but they along with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the White House press corps fabricated a story about Del Rio—not about the appalling migrant crisis, but about how racist the Border Patrol is.
That story has been debunked, and to date, there are no reports that any migrant was ever “whipped” by agents.
It irks Gonzales that Border Patrol agents, who risk their lives and are coming under immense pressure right now, are having their actions and motives unfairly impugned. “They see their jobs as patriotic,” the former Navy cryptologist said. “They know they are both protecting their community as well as their country.”
The Biden administration and Washington Democrats’ blind eye to this crisis have already had an impact politically. Hints of the future may have cropped up in last year’s election, when majority-Hispanic areas rejected the Biden campaign’s rhetoric that former President Donald Trump’s handling of the border was racist.
Texans pummeled President Joe Biden in several border counties, with large numbers of Hispanic voters going for Trump. That shift away from Democrats may grow given the handling of the border. Already this summer, Republicans unexpectedly won two big mayoral elections in border towns that are overwhelmingly Hispanic and historically Democratic.
And it is not just South Texas Hispanics who are running away from Biden and by default from the Democrats. It is all Texas Hispanics. Last week, a Dallas Morning News/University of Texas-Tyler poll showed that Biden’s approval rating with Hispanics in Texas is 19 points underwater, with only 35 percent approving of the job he is doing and a whopping 54 percent disapproving. There may be a realignment in the works.
In short, while white liberals in Washington think that using words like “Latinx” matters to the Hispanic community or connects them with its values, they are ignoring a crisis that deeply affects middle-class Hispanic families. They justifiably worry about their safety and their ability to pursue prosperity. The Democrats’ oblivious lack of concern for their real-world concerns is already backfiring.
Maybe if one of them, any of them, spent a few days living in a border town, the party would understand just how dire and dangerous life there has become.
41 percent of Democrats believe there is a 50 percent chance of being hospitalized for CCP virus, survey finds
Parrots don’t think; they just repeat what they hear [US Patriot]
A Gallup poll released this week found that Americans, by in large, overestimate COVID-19 hospitalization or death rates.
Survey results suggest “most Americans overstate the risk of hospitalization” for both unvaccinated and vaccinated individuals. Some 92 percent “overstate the risk that unvaccinated people will be hospitalized” while 62 percent overstated the risk for vaccinated individuals, Gallup said in a blog post.
The poll found that 41 percent of registered Democrats believe there is a 50 percent chance that an unvaccinated individual will go the hospital for COVID-19, whereas 21 percent of Republicans and 26 percent of independents believe the same. The correct answer is fewer than 1 percent of unvaccinated COVID-19 cases result in hospital stays, said Gallup, which cited data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for what it said is the accurate hospitalization rate.
“Democrats are more likely to overstate hospitalization risks for unvaccinated people, which may fuel efforts, often led by Democratic Party leaders, to enforce both mask and vaccine mandates,” the pollster concluded. “At the same time, Republicans overstate risks to vaccinated people, leading to very low vaccine efficacy estimates. This may be one of the reasons that so many Republicans have been reluctant to get the COVID-19 vaccine.”
Meanwhile, data provided by Johns Hopkins University, shows the United States has a 1.6 percent case-fatality ratio, meaning that more than 98 percent of those who contract COVID-19, the illness caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, survive.
Health officials early on in the pandemic would often warn that elderly individuals and those with compromised immune systems are at the most risk from COVID-19. A recent Food and Drug Administration (FDA) slide presented earlier this month during a panel discussion on whether approve Pfizer’s booster shot suggested that a healthy 30-year-old American has a 1 in 250,000 chance of dying from the CCP virus, or just 0.0004 percent.
“For both vaccinated and unvaccinated populations, very few adults reported a correct answer,” Gallup said of its recent poll. “For unvaccinated hospitalization risk, 2 percent of Democrats responded correctly, compared with 16 percent of Republicans,” it found.
Overall, “Only 8 percent of U.S. adults gave correct answers for the unvaccinated population and 38 percent for the vaccinated population,” the pollster also wrote.
Democrats, Gallup added, were “more likely to estimate hospitalization risk for the vaccinated population correctly,” saying that 42 percent correctly stated that “less than one percent of vaccinated people have been hospitalized.” About 33 percent “of Republicans correctly reported that less than one percent of vaccinated people have been hospitalized,” it continued.
According to Gallup’s appendix, citing HHS and CDC data, some 0.005 percent of the vaccinated population was hospitalized for COVID-19, whereas the hospitalization rate for the unvaccinated population was 1.6 percent. However, the organization issued a caveat.
“But those numbers exaggerate the benefits of the vaccine because the unvaccinated population confronted many more days of risk, since vaccination was gradually rolled out starting in December of 2020,” the pollster said. The first COVID-19 cases in the United States were reported in February 2020 before the virus spread across the country in the ensuing months.
“For that reason, we take the average population totals over the relevant periods for each population (March 1, 2020-Aug. 9, 2021 for the unvaccinated population and Dec. 15, 2020,-Aug. 9, 2021, for the vaccinated population),” said Gallup. “The adjusted population of vaccinated people comes to 83 million and 295 million for the vaccinated population, since the entire U.S. population was unvaccinated—except a small number of participants in clinical trials—up until December of 2020.”
Gallup then said it calculated the hospitalization rate for unvaccinated individuals to be 0.89 percent, whereas the vaccinated population is 0.01 percent.
For the findings, Gallup pollsters surveyed more than 3,000 Americans in August. It did not provide the margin of error for the poll findings.
With so many geriatric politicians shuffling around Washington, D.C., verbal slipups sometimes happen that reveal things they shouldn’t.
Usually, it’s something like President Joe Biden’s admission that his handlers don’t want him taking questions from the press or when the 78-year-old is spinning one of his tall tales that’s easily debunked.
But now House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, 81, accidentally attributed the jewel of the Biden agenda to former President Barack Obama that left us wondering whether it was a sober revelation or just another “senior moment” from an elderly politician?
“Keep government open — we intend, we have to do those imminently, more imminently even to address the full Obama agenda of building back better,” Pelosi said to reporters during a House Democratic Leaders news conference Tuesday.
To be fair, Pelosi had just been comparing the fight with Republicans over raising the debt ceiling during the Obama administration to the one about to happen now under Biden.
Moreover, Pelosi is an elderly woman who could easily find herself muddling facts as her brain just can’t keep up and orient her to the proper date.
But it’s also true that Biden’s Build Back Better agenda is a tax-and-spend bonanza like his former boss’, complete with language about “making the tax code fairer and making the wealthiest and large corporations pay their fair share.”
Then there’s the way Obama famously admitted he would increase capital gains taxes for the sake of fairness regardless of any economic benefit to doing so, and Biden’s historic tax hike on the wealthy echoes the same class warfare game.
There are the overlapping promises to reduce health care premiums and costs in Biden’s agenda that sound similar to the promises made about Obamacare, though predictably it remains a problem to be solved even after Obama “fixed” it (funny how that works).
On a broader scale, the two are twinning when it comes to their handling of race relations, though Biden has taken the mask of civility off to stoke the flames of the dumpster fire that the issue has turned into.
Like Obama, the current president never misses the chance to divide along racial lines and attribute whatever he can to racism, though it doesn’t pack the same punch coming from an old white guy.
But they even handle racially charged fake news stories the same. When the easily debunked narrative about Border Patrol agents whipping migrants made the rounds, Biden was out in front of the facts and threatened that “those people will pay.”
That self-righteous and ill-informed stance echoed the way Obama handled a situation during his presidency where police responded to a neighbor’s call of a possible burglary only to find a black professor trying to break into his own property.
Though the police were simply trying to ascertain whether the man did indeed own the home, accusations of racial profiling were flying and Obama ran with the narrative, declaring those police officers involved “acted stupidly” without regard to the facts of the case.
It seems that having Biden in office is akin to a third term for Obama, though he’s the older and clunkier model in many ways.
Pelosi probably didn’t have all of this in mind when she said they were working toward Obama’s agenda and likely used the wrong name because she’s old and has been in politics forever — but she was onto something.
It seems that stopped clocks and memory-challenged octogenarians occasionally get things right, even if it’s only by accident.
Republican members of the House Intelligence Committee are formally demanding that President Joe Biden end the “stonewalling” of the investigation of the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“COVID-19 has now claimed the lives of nearly 700,000 Americans since its emergence in Wuhan, China, in 2019, while the Chinese government remains uncooperative and deceptive about the virus’s origins,” the 10 Republicans wrote in a letter to Biden, which was dated Friday.
They called the intelligence community’s handling of its investigation into COVID-19’s origins “appalling.”
“The Committee has reviewed the resulting IC report and received a briefing from Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) personnel. Based on the IC’s appalling lack of transparency and the ODNI staff’s hostile response to simple questions, we have little confidence in the DNI’s report,” the letter stated.
In a Twitter post Tuesday, GOP Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York, a member of the committee, put it bluntly:
“Why is the Biden Administration stonewalling the investigation into COVID origins?” she wrote.
“The American people deserve ANSWERS – not more lies!” the congresswoman added.
Why is the Biden Administration stonewalling the investigation into COVID origins?
The letter also addressed the Biden administration’s ongoing “stonewalling” of the investigation.
“Outside doctors and scientists who were consulted for their technical analyses of COVID’s potential origins are not clandestine sources or spies,” the letter said.
“They are consultants and there is no basis for stonewalling the Committee about their identities. Without this information, we cannot find the IC’s report remotely credible,” it added.
The letter concluded with a call to immediately disclose a list of the outside doctors and scientists involved in the investigation.
Following the initial release of the investigation’s results, Stefanik addressed the issue in a Fox News interview as well as in a commentary piece with Virginia Republican Rep. Rob Wittman that was published by Fox.
“The world deserves to know the truth,” the GOP House members wrote.
“Right now, it is nearly impossible to have all the facts because the Chinese Communist Party has blocked critical information and failed to cooperate with the global community. It leaves all of us asking: ‘What is China hiding?’” they added.
They called on the president to take action on the report.
“It is time for President Biden to move past empty threats and commit to decisive action necessary to uncover the pandemic’s origins,” they wrote.
“We are urging him to lend his support to our bill. Until then, China will continue to keep the world in the dark, even as time to discover the truth begins to run out.”
The progressive left has, for too long, dismissed conservative claims that the LGBT agenda normalizes the sexualization of children as “homophobic” or “bigoted.”
Yeah … about that.
An NBC contributor and vocal proponent of the LGBT movement has been slated as the spokesman for an organization with uncomfortably close ties to the sexualization of children.
Activist Noah Berlatsky is an ideal choice for this organization, as it happens, as he himself also has a long history of promoting the very same thing.
What’s incredibly stunning, however, is that he isn’t just some fringe liberal arts college academic no one’s ever heard of. He’s a contributor to one of the nation’s major news outlets as well as several other huge platforms, and his appointment to this position will no doubt only further legitimize the faction of LGBT Americans who vocally support the acceptance of pedophilia, child prostitution, child pornography and child sexuality.
And yes — Berlatsky and the organization, Prostasia, appear to be supportive of all of these things, however shrouded with seemingly conflicting claims to be interested in protecting children from sexual abuse.
Berlatsky is a writer and editor who, according to his LinkedIn profile, has contributed to, among other outlets, The Atlantic, The Guardian, NPR, The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, Salon, Slate, Media Matters, and of course, NBC News.
It appears that he is now the communications director for the non-profit organization Prostasia, which as The Post Millennial recently detailed at length, gives off the very conspicuous impression of working to normalize pedophilia.
This is fitting — he seems to have worked with the organization for some time and has shared tweets from one Dr. James Cantor, also affiliated with Prostasia, who, in a now-deleted tweet captured in a screenshot by Post Millenial, argued that a “P” for pedophiles should be included under the extensive LGBT+ banner.
Prostasia has a support group for “Minor Attracted Persons” for adults and teens over the age of 13, which is described as a “peer support chat for minor attracted people who are fundamentally against child sexual abuse and committed to never harm children, and is a safe space to have peer support in times of trouble.”
“Prostasia bills itself as ‘a new kind of child protection organization’ that has a different approach to protecting children than the current methods of social work and law enforcement, saying that these approaches ‘are less effective than they should be, because they are driven by emotion rather than evidence,’” the Post Millennial explains.
One of these novel approaches is validating the desires of “minor attracted persons” who they believe can be “committed to never offending.”
Despite this apparent commitment to supporting those who are attracted to children but do not want to harm them or view child pornography, however, Anna Slatz recently wrote for the feminist website 4W that they nonetheless “have dedicated themselves to crusades against child pornography bans, letter-writing campaigns to state representatives demanding child-likeness sex dolls be kept legal, and funding research into ‘fantasy sexual outlets‘ for pedophiles.”
“In Prostasia’s blog entries, ‘child protection’ routinely ends up in the same sentences as ‘free speech,’ ‘kink,’ or ‘sex positivity.’ The topics of age play, furries, hentai [anime or manga pornography], and prostitution are spoken about no differently as, and often with no barrier between, child sexuality and child sexual abuse,” Slatz noted.
You can see for yourself by visiting the organization’s website — but you have most certainly been warned … it’s nauseating, horrifying and infuriating.
One stunning example of Prostatsia and Berlatsky’s openness to accepting and promoting child sexuality is an interview he conducted for the group with a porn star who glowingly promoted the idea of exposing children to pornography, recalling a wonderful experience she had as a child discovering nude photographs and developing an insatiable appetite for smut — at the age of 8.
“The anti-porn crusaders fear that children being exposed to sex is going to lead them to some kind of ultimate demoralization,” Mireille Miller-Young told an apparently entirely supportive Berlatsky in a July interview for Prostatsia.
“And, of course, the socialization that pornographic materials can provide at that age can be interpreted in different ways. And my experience was of it being joyful and fun. It was an image of beauty and sexiness that influenced my ideas about sexuality through life,” she declared.
Another example is an article he wrote for The New Republic in 2016 headlined, “Child Sex Workers’ Biggest Threat: The Police,” which sympathetically president a professor arguing for the decriminalization of minors engaging in sex work.
(Cops and the criminal justice system are worse for the kids than their pimps, the article essentially argues.)
So, Belatsky is full of empathy — though it might not be a surprise that there’s one group he has no empathy for: supporters of former President Donald Trump.
In a YouTube video from 2019, in fact, he spent the better part of an hour bashing any idea of trying to understand Trump’s backers. https://www.youtube.com/embed/5_sdX3uzsp8?feature=oembed
Referring to trafficked children as “young people trading in sex,” according to Twitter posts captured in screenshots by the Post Millennial, he has argued that child sex trafficking laws somehow victimize children rather than help them escape a sick and disgusting cycle of abuse and exploitation.
He’s also written that “Pedophiles are essentially a stigmatized group” and that people “love accusing people of pedophilia” as it’s apparently “an explosive accusation linked historically to queer people and Jewish people and sex workers.” (The quotes are again from Twitter posts captured in screenshots by the Post Millennial.)
Or perhaps people accuse people of pedophilia when they actively oppose laws restricting the production of child pornographic images, fight to get pedophiles recognized under the banner of LGBT, and support the idea of exposing children to pornography.
As far as such outrageous ideas go, Berlatsky is in good (well, abhorrently immoral) company in today’s “sex-positive” culture that seems to serve only as a very, very thinly veiled push to normalize child sexuality.
There was the Manhattan prep school teacher who taught kindergartners about masturbation and gave high school students a “porn literacy” seminar.
There was the blue-check writer Flora Gill, who has been published by GQ, The Telegraph, Evening Standard, The Sunday Times, among other outlets, who wrote in a since-deleted tweet earlier this year that “Someone needs to create porn for children.”
“Young teens are already watching porn but they’re finding hardcore, aggressive videos that give a terrible view of sex. They need entry level porn! A soft core site where everyone asks for consent and no one gets choked,” she argued.
Maybe Prostasia has an opening for Gill, too.
There is also the trans activist Alok Vaid-Menon, himself a blue checkmark on Twitter, who once wrote that fears that transgender bathroom laws could little girls being sexually assaulted by adult men were misplaced as there are “no innocent victims” because “little girls are also kinky.”
Vaid-Menon also appeared on self-identified non-binary pop star Demi Lovato’s YouTube channel earlier this year and was the subject of an HBO Max documentary in 2020:
Meanwhile, across the nation, schools have been using sex-ed curricula under the umbrella of so-called “Comprehensive Sexuality Education” backed by the abortion provider Planned Parenthood and entirely centered around the ideology of “sex-positive” yet is more accurately described as “Grooming 101.”
The push to normalize child sexuality has been burgeoning over the last few decades, but only in the last few years has it gotten this far into legitimacy, and suddenly we find it is at the heart of mainstream media and parts of public education.
There is no longer any basis whatsoever to dismiss the opposition to this dangerous and disgusting ideology as hysterical, homophobic, or bigoted.
It’s never been more clear that, as the San Francisco Gay Men’s Choir so gleefully celebrated earlier this year, they are, indeed, coming for our children.
Several days after the fall of Kabul on Aug. 15, President Joe Biden sat for an interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos. He insisted he had not been advised by his military to leave a small number of troops in Afghanistan to keep the country from falling to the Taliban.
“Your top military advisers warned against withdrawing on this timeline. They wanted you to keep about 2,500 troops,” Stephanopoulos said.
Biden abruptly cut him off. “No they didn’t. It was split. That wasn’t true. That wasn’t true.”
“They didn’t tell you that they wanted troops to stay?” Stephanopoulos asked.
“No, not in terms of whether we were going to get out — in a time frame — all troops. They didn’t argue against that,” the president said.
Stephanopoulos tried again. “Your military advisers did not tell you, ‘No, we should just keep 2,500 troops. It’s been a stable situation for the last several years. We can do that. We can continue to do that’?”
Biden answered: “No. No one said that to me that I can recall.”
FLASHBACK: In August, Biden insisted that “no, no one” advised against his withdrawal timeline.
Today under oath, Generals Milley & McKenzie confirmed they recommended against Biden’s withdrawal timeline and warned him about the impending collapse of the Afghan government. pic.twitter.com/HejzUb5FIf
In addition to the fact that Biden’s remarks didn’t sound particularly convincing, two of his top military advisers contradicted him in testimony before Senate lawmakers on Tuesday morning. And a third testified he was sure the president had “received this input.”
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley and Gen. Frank McKenzie, head of U.S. Central Command, addressed members of the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday.
Both Milley and McKenzie said they had recommended leaving 2,500 troops in Afghanistan to prevent the Taliban from taking over the country, according to CNN.
Milley told lawmakers: “In the fall of 2020, my analysis was that an accelerated withdrawal without meeting specific and necessary conditions risks losing the substantial gains made in Afghanistan, damaging US worldwide credibility, and could precipitate a general collapse of the Afghan government, resulting in a complete Taliban takeover or general civil war.”
The Joint Chiefs Chair said his view all along was “that we should keep a steady state of 2,500 and it could bounce up to 3,500, maybe, something like that, in order to move toward a negotiated solution.”
McKenzie echoed Milley. According to Fox News, McKenzie told the committee, “I won’t share my personal recommendation to the president, but I will give you my honest opinion and my honest opinion and view shaped my recommendation. And I recommended that we maintain 2,500 troops in Afghanistan.”
“I also have a view that the withdrawal of those forces would lead inevitably to the collapse of the Afghan military forces and eventually the Afghan government,” he added.
To make things worse for the president, Austin was asked if he was certain Biden “received the input” from Milley and McKenzie. Austin replied, “Their input was received by the president and considered by the president for sure.”
It’s abundantly clear: Joe Biden and Kamala Harris ignored the advice from the military and mislead the American people.
Biden’s botched Afghan withdrawal could have been prevented and American lives could have been saved. https://t.co/wUCd3C0xt0
Milley also told the senators, “I think that our credibility with allies and partners around the world, and with adversaries, is being intensely reviewed by them to see which way this is going to go. And I think that ‘damage’ is one word that could be used.”
I think so too.
Notably, both Milley and Austin blamed the Doha agreement negotiated by the Trump administration with the Taliban in February 2020 for a precipitous drop in the morale and the performance of Afghan troops.
This issue was raised when senators questioned why the Biden administration didn’t have a better sense of the limitations of the Afghan forces, according to CNN.
“It’s my judgment that the Doha Agreement did negatively affect the performance of the Afghan forces in particular by some of the actions the government of Afghanistan was required to take as part of that agreement,” McKenzie said. “[The Doha deal] did affect the morale of the Afghan security forces.”
This is more an excuse for poor judgment than a cause of the debacle. Biden has repeatedly blamed the chaotic U.S. exit on the Trump administration’s peace deal with the Taliban.
In fact, The Associated Press explored the veracity of that claim days after the fall of Kabul and found it lacking in substance. Its fact check determined that Biden was not bound by the Doha, Qatar, agreement. The deal contained an “escape clause.”Do you believe that Biden is responsible for the disaster in Afghanistan?Yes No Completing this poll entitles you to The Western Journal news updates free of charge. You may opt out at anytime. You also agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
“The U.S. could have withdrawn from the accord if Afghan peace talks failed,” the AP wrote. “They did, but Biden chose to stay in it, although he delayed the complete pullout from May to September.”
Former President Donald Trump and his officials were realistic. In defense of the Trump administration’s efforts, it must be said that they were well aware of the forces they were dealing with. They were always clear that the Taliban would be monitored and “conditions on the ground” would determine the path forward.
All along, Trump warned of significant military retaliation if the Taliban reneged on its obligations.
His administration was criticized for giving legitimacy to a terrorist group, but the Taliban is such a dominant force in the country, how could it have been otherwise? The U.S. and the Afghan government could ignore the group at their peril.
Biden was so determined to get out of Afghanistan that he ignored the most important words in the Doha agreement: “conditions on the ground.”
The Doha deal had not been ratified by Congress and it could and should have been changed as conditions changed. Biden had no problem with changing any other policy and program implemented by the Trump administration.
Milley says putting a specific date on withdrawal went against his advice, says conditions-based approaches are superior.
The other excuse offered by the generals was that the collapse happened so quickly. What they believed would take months occurred over 11 days, they claimed.
The report lists the key events since U.S. Central Command began its formal military drawdown on May 1.
Here are the most relevant developments.
June 22: “Taliban seize Sher Khan border crossing to Tajikistan.”
June 23: “General Milley says 81 district centers are under Taliban control.”
Jun 25: “President Biden meets with President Ghani and High Council for National Reconciliation Chairman Abdullah in Washington, DC.”
July 8: “Taliban capture Islam Qala border crossing in Herat Province, key trade route to Iran.”
July 12: “General Austin Miller relinquishes command of U.S. Forces-Afghanistan and NATO Resolute Support Mission.”
July 12 – 15: “Four media outlets publish maps indicating Taliban control majority of Afghan districts, with many taken since May 1.”
July 14: “Taliban capture border crossing at Kandahar Province’s Spin Boldak, connecting Afghanistan and Pakistan.”
July 17: “High-level Afghan delegation meets with Taliban in Doha to expedite stalled peace talks.”
July 21: “General Milley says Taliban control more than 210 districts [out of a total of approximately 400].”
The report indicates the Taliban was executing a preplanned, systematic takeover of the country, that U.S. military leaders were well aware of it and allowed it to continue.
By June 23, 20 percent of the districts in the country were under Taliban control. Milley told Congress about it.
Exactly four weeks later, on July 21, 50 percent of the districts were held by the Taliban. They had also captured at least three border crossings.
It’s likely the Biden administration knew long before June 23 that the takeover had begun. I would be willing to bet the administration was aware of it in real-time.
But even giving them the benefit of the doubt, officials knew about it for nearly two months rather than the 11 days Milley referred to at the Senate hearing.
The bottom line is that contrary to what Biden told Stephanopoulos, his military advisers recommended that he leave 2,500 troops in Afghanistan. The Biden administration could have torn up the Doha agreement at any time. And Biden officials were aware that the Taliban was sweeping through the country, swallowing up districts for far longer than 11 days.
There have been two constants in Gallup’s polling on President Joe Biden: Democrats are enamored, Republicans are appalled. Independents, meanwhile, are where the president’s fortunes will rise and fall.
And fall they have.
For the first time in Biden’s administration, the president’s disapproval rating is higher than his approval — and by a 10-point margin, at that.
The poll, taken Sept. 1-17 via a phone panel of 1,005 U.S. adults and released Wednesday, found 43 percent approved of the job Biden was doing compared with 53 percent who disapproved. Vice President Kamala Harris was even at 49-49 approval/disapproval.
The September poll was the first conducted since the fall of Afghanistan, with over 120,000 people airlifted out of the country. America has also seen increased COVID-19 infection rates and virus-related restrictions after Biden promised to “shut down the virus.”
Perhaps the most onerous restriction was the Biden administration’s vaccine mandate, introduced on Sept. 9, while the poll was being conducted.
During the August poll, conducted between Aug. 2-17, Biden held a slight approval surplus, with 49 percent approval, 48 percent disapproval. His high point was in January, when 57 percent approved and 37 percent disapproved — a 20-point margin.
The poll didn’t even take the full brunt of the Haitian migrant crisis at the Del Rio International Bridge in Texas into account. That portion of the border crisis didn’t begin to manifest fully until Sept. 15, and it wasn’t until Sept. 16 when Fox News’ Bill Melugin reported the numbers in the camp had doubled nearly overnight from over 4,000 to over 8,000 individuals.
BREAKING: Our drone is currently over the international bridge in Del Rio, TX, where Border Patrol & law enforcement sources tell us over 4,200 migrants are waiting to be apprehended after crossing into US. Local BP holding facilities are overwhelmed and over capacity. @FoxNewspic.twitter.com/h62omhK1Xq
BREAKING: Our drone is back over the international bridge in Del Rio, TX. Per source, the number of migrants waiting to be processed has now swelled to approx 8,200. It was 4,000 yesterday AM. Doubled in one day. BP overwhelmed, & I’m told situation is “out of control” @FoxNewspic.twitter.com/ThJJJ0JWCT
All of which is to say that September’s poll could have been a lot worse — and October’s could end up feeling the hangover from this month.
Biden’s approval is at an all-time low in all three categories — Democrat, Republican and independent — since the first poll was taken in January. Among Democrats and Republicans, however, that drop was modest.
In January, 98 percent of Democrats approved of the president compared to 90 in September. Eleven percent of Republicans thought Biden was doing a good job in January; only 6 percent did in the September poll.
Where Biden is hemorrhaging support is among independents.
“Independents have shown the greatest variation in their opinions of how Biden is doing. Biden’s current 37% approval rating among independents is his lowest to date and 24 points below his personal high of 61%,” Gallup said.
“Two-thirds of Biden’s slide among independents since he took office has occurred in the past three months.”
That’s not a good look, particularly given the fact the Biden administration was supposed to be bridging the gap to the middle. Remember, the current president is the kind of guy who could reach out to Americans in the middle or those fed up with politics. He’d make Washington work. He’d beat that virus, spend tons of money on good ol’ grade-A U.S. infrastructure and bring America back to the world table.
He’s done none of that. He’s alienated all but his base. He’s created numerous crises, not the least of which was the fall of Afghanistan. The border is a mess. The Democrats don’t seem to have the votes at the moment to pass a debt ceiling hike the way they want to, get their $3.5 trillion spending plan through Congress and also enact the bipartisan infrastructure bill they negotiated.
As Gallup pointed out, all presidents enjoy honeymoon periods before things sink back to reality. The difference is that Biden’s honeymoon period should have lasted longer. He was handed vaccines to the COVID crisis that had paralyzed our nation’s economy. He was left with a small troop imprint in Afghanistan that still seemed to be providing enough protection to keep the ruling government in power. If he managed all that correctly, which shouldn’t have been difficult, the honeymoon period could have gone on indefinitely.
And now we’re here with a deeply divided electorate where independents can’t trust a radical administration. It’s not just that Biden is down 24 points among independents in nine months. It’s that the 37 percent number is likely to go even lower, and at a breakneck pace at that. He’s well on his way to being a one-term president — and Democrats are doubtlessly despairing at the ineptitude.
The Washington Post on Tuesday fact-checked U.S. President Joe Biden over his claims that he can accomplish his spending goals with a price tag of “zero” dollars.
While speaking to reporters on Friday, Biden claimed that his spending plan for the country has a “zero price tag on the debt. We’re paying — we’re going to pay for everything we spend,” according to footage and a transcript of the news conference obtained by Factbase.
The following day, the President wrote in a Twitter post: “My Build Back Better Agenda costs zero dollars.”
My Build Back Better Agenda costs zero dollars.
Instead of wasting money on tax breaks, loopholes, and tax evasion for big corporations and the wealthy, we can make a once-in-a-generation investment in working America.
“Instead of wasting money on tax breaks, loopholes, and tax evasion for big corporations and the wealthy, we can make a once-in-a-generation investment in working America. And it adds zero dollars to the national debt,” Biden’s tweet further stated.
According to the Biden administration, the Build Back Better Agenda is an “ambitious plan to create jobs, cut taxes, and lower costs for working families,” which among other things seeks to lower the cost of child care, higher education, prescription drugs, health care and housing, as well as institute tax cuts for low-wage workers and families with children.
The agenda also seeks job creation through workforce training, clean-energy jobs, and investing in teachers and schools.
The Biden Administration plans to fund such lofty goals “by making the tax code fairer and making the wealthiest and large corporations pay their fair share,” which is Democrat-speak for raising corporate and other taxes that Americans have to pay to the government.
Despite Biden’s belief that the Build Back Better Agenda would cost “zero dollars” and his optimistic claims that his plan will not increase the nation’s already high deficit, the plan would require around $3.5 trillion through a reconciliation bill for it to be implemented according to the New York Post.
On Tuesday, Washington Post fact-checkers gave Biden’s comments two “Pinnochios.” By the Post’s fact-check rating scale, a Pinnochio count of two means that the statements by Biden had “[s]ignificant omissions and/or exaggerations.”
“Some factual error may be involved but not necessarily,” according to the Posts’ rating description. “A politician can create a false, misleading impression by playing with words and using legalistic language that means little to ordinary people. (Similar to ‘half true.’)”
Regarding Biden’s zero-cost budget claim, the Post wrote that, “given our long experience in writing about the federal budget, we’re pretty certain a deficit score of zero would only be accomplished with some dubious gimmicks that help disguise the true cost of Biden’s agenda.”
“Even if the reconciliation bill lands with a calculated deficit impact of zero, the president will still be in a deficit hole because of the bipartisan infrastructure bill.”
“Originally the two bills were supposed to work in tandem, but now the White House claims only the reconciliation bill represents the president’s ‘Build Back Better’ plan. That wasn’t the story in the spring,” the Post’s fact-check report stated.
In addition to the Post — a major, left-leaning legacy news outlet — several Republicans slammed Biden for his claims that his plan will have a price tag of zero dollars.
GOP Congresswoman Mary Miller of Illinois called Biden’s claims “a lie.”
“This is completely false. The largest spending spree in government history will cost ‘zero dollars’? That defies logic and basic math. Alongside massive tax increases, it will add trillions to the debt. Peddling false narratives won’t change those facts,” said Rep. Steve Womack of Arkansas.
A lawsuit brought by bartender Dustin Hice alleging CNN anchor Don Lemon inappropriately touched him in a sexually charged assault more than three years ago is expected to make it to a courtroom early next year, according to a Fox News report.
It is the latest such headache for the network, as last week veteran television news producer Shelley Ross accused CNN host Chris Cuomo of sexually harassing her in 2005 when both worked for ABC News. The host of “Cuomo Prime Time” apologized at the time, according to Shelley, and reiterated his apology to The New York Times last week.
The assault and battery suit against Lemon, 55, who is openly gay, hasn’t made it before a judge due to a lengthy discovery process and the coronavirus pandemic, but Hice’s legal team told Fox News Digital it expects the suit to end up in court around January 2022.
Hice, 40, claims Lemon, anchor of “CNN Tonight,” rubbed his own genitals and then put his fingers into Hice’s face at Murf’s Backstreet Tavern in Sag Harbor, New York, in July 2018.
“At such time, Mr. Lemon, who was wearing a pair of shorts, sandals, and a t-shirt, put his hand down the front of his own shorts, and vigorously rubbed his genitalia, removed his hand and shoved his index and middle fingers into Plaintiff’s moustache under Plaintiff’s nose,” the complaint, filed in Suffolk County Court on Aug. 11, 2019, stated.
“Mr. Lemon intensely pushed his fingers against Plaintiff’s face under Plaintiff’s nose, forcing Plaintiff’s head to thrust backward as Defendant repeatedly asked Plaintiff ‘Do you like p**** or d***?’ While saying this, Mr. Lemon continued to shove his fingers into Plaintiff’s face with aggression and hostility.”
George Gounelas, Hice’s former boss, told Fox News last year he witnessed the incident, corroborating his onetime employee’s account of his encounter with Lemon.
“Dustin worked for me as a bartender [and] we went out after work one night. We were standing there and he said, ‘Hey, that’s Don Lemon,’” Gounelas said at the time.
After Lemon allegedly refused Hice’s attempt to get his attention and buy him a drink, Lemon approached Hice and Gounelas sometime later.Is CNN right to stand behind Don Lemon over this allegation?Yes No Completing this poll entitles you to The Western Journal news updates free of charge. You may opt out at anytime. You also agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
“Don Lemon has now come around the corner and is standing face to face with us. There is a beam, a pole, in the place. Don’s standing up against the pole, face to face with Dustin, I turn around and I’m standing right there between the two of them,” Gounelas said, noting the alleged incident occurred shortly after.
The complaint went on to note Hice stepped outside the bar after being “emotionally devasted by Mr. Lemon’s demeaning unprovoked and offensive assault. Plaintiff and Mr. Gounelas remained outside for approximately 5 to 10 minutes before Plaintiff was able to collect himself and return to Murf’s,” as the incident left Hice “shocked and humiliated.”
According to Hice, a proposed six-figure payment was offered by Lemon before talks broke down, resulting in the lodging of the formal complaint, the Daily Mail reported.
For his part, Lemon has been adamant he did nothing wrong.
On June 3, 2020, Lemon’s attorney, Caroline Polisi, wrote in a court document that her client is “often subjected to racist and homophobic harassment” and “strangers” often approach him in public, at “times intrusively and repeatedly,” as reported last year by Fox News.
She called Hice’s allegations “speculative, hypothetical, unsupported by any reasonably methodology” and “not cognizable as a matter of law.”
“The plaintiff in this lawsuit has previously displayed a pattern of contempt for CNN on his social media accounts,” a CNN spokesperson told Mediaite in 2019.
“This claim follows his unsuccessful threats and demands for an exorbitant amount of money from Don Lemon. Don categorically denies these claims and this matter does not merit any further comment at this time.”
An Instagram post from January 2017 allegedly posted by Hice and obtained by the news website showed him posing in front of CNN’s Atlanta headquarters with the caption, “touring the #CNN center today … or as #Trump would say ‘the home of Fake News’ lol.”
The allegations against Lemon and Cuomo follow on the heels of CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin returning to the network this summer, eight months after being suspended for exposing himself during a Zoom call with colleagues at The New Yorker, where he also worked.
The Biden administration’s repeated release of illegal immigrants has drawn a legal challenge from the state of Florida.
Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody, a Republican, sued the federal government over its “catch-and-release” policy, which has led to the freeing of over 225,000 illegal immigrants this year.
The lawsuit primarily concerns the treatment of immigrants seeking asylum, which is granted in cases where authorities rule they have a legitimate fear of persecution based on their race, religion, or several other reasons.
Federal law requires the government to detain the asylum seekers until authorities rule on their case. But under President Joe Biden, it has released at least 225,000 illegal immigrants, including asylum seekers, so far, according to Customs and Border Protection data.
“Releasing this many arriving aliens into the interior necessarily means that the government is violating congressional commands in the immigration laws,” the 23-page suit, filed in federal court in Pensacola, states.
“We are seeing dramatic effects at our border. It is an unmitigated crisis based on this president’s refusal to follow federal law. It’s in black and white folks, and it’s not a president’s responsibility to decide whether he agrees with the law. In fact, the head of an executive branch must follow the law,” Moody told reporters during a briefing in Lee County.
Florida has been negatively affected through elevated costs to hold illegal immigrants, officials say.
Florida is asking the court to find the Biden administration’s “catch-and-release” policy unlawful and require defendants to stop enforcing the policy while coming into alignment with requirements set by federal law.
The Biden administration did not respond to a request for comment.
Officials have defended the widespread release of illegal immigrants, claiming the law is being followed because they’re being given notices to appear in court or at an immigration office.
“We remain in touch with them. We monitor them to ensure their appearance in court at the designated time of appearance,” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told reporters in Washington last week after the administration released over 12,000 illegal immigrants who were clustered in Del Rio, Texas.
But fewer than 6 in 10 illegal immigrant asylum seekers show up in court, according to Department of Justice data.
Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody is seen in a file photograph. (Patrick Semansky/AP Photo)
Florida officials say the Biden administration’s policies are designed to boost immigration numbers and illegal immigration has skyrocketed since the Democrat took office.
Todd Bensman, a senior national security fellow for the Center for Immigration Studies, said the Biden administration has been bypassing what previous administrations did, which was only releasing illegal immigrants when detention facilities were full.
One way the administration is doing that is by using its parole power, which was designed to be used for a small number of cases and only for “urgent humanitarian or significant public benefit.”
“The policy of releasing immigrants into the country on parole is vast, widespread, and historic in its scope,” Bensman told The Epoch Times.
The new suit asks the judge to stop the Biden administration from paroling immigrants without engaging in a case-by-case review.
Also on Tuesday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, announced an executive order that bars all Florida agencies under his purview from facilitating illegal immigration and requires state officials to collect information on the costs and scope of illegal immigration in the state.
“Since President Biden took office—which has been less than one year—the Border Patrol has released nearly a quarter-million illegal aliens into the United States,” DeSantis said in a statement. “This executive order makes it clear that Florida resources will not be used to prop up the failed open border agenda enacted by this administration.”
I cannot resist the setup, so…Karma is a b!tch- and so were you (and now you’ve Croaked!)! [US Patriot]
ORLANDO, FLORIDA — A 67-year-old former Notre Dame professor is dead, in what is fast-becoming a pattern of quick deaths after “booster” shots.
Mrs. Karen Croake Heisler received her first dose of Pfizer experimental mRNA on January 13, according to her Twitter account. Her age allowed her to be one of the first to receive the injections in December and January. It’s unclear when she received the second injection. But Mrs. Heisler declared on April 9 that she and her husband suffered only sore arms after their second injections.
Mrs. Heisler was a passionate, hardcore supporter of anything related to masks and COVID-19 mandates. She also displayed consistent animosity towards those who refuse to receive mRNA and viral vector DNA injections. She called non-vaxxed people “selfish” and ordered them to stay home “until you come to your senses.”
Ms. Heisler loved masks so much that she even made her dog wear them.
For reasons unknown, Mrs. Heisler received a third Pfizer mRNA injection on September 7.
Her health apparently deteriorated very quickly thereafter. Mrs. Heisler tweeted from Orlando Regional Medical Center on September 14. She was there to see a cardiologist. Mrs. Heisler tweeted three times that day, with all of them blaming the “unvaccinated” for her deteriorating health. She went out swinging, telling everyone to “get the damn vaccine” and “damn the unvaccinated.”
Mrs. Heisler was well-respected by the Notre Dame community. She worked in the university’s Film, Television and Theater (FTT) department from 1993 until she retired in 2018.
Mrs. Heisler authored the book Fighting Irish: Legends, Lists and Lore in 2006. The FTT Television Studies Award is named after Mrs. Heisler and given to one graduating FTT student annually for outstanding academic performance.
Mrs. Heisler is survived by her husband and two sons.
Two dubious lists for Karen Croake Heisler
An advisory panel spoke today at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to debate who should receive third Pfizer mRNA injections and when. They recommended that only senior citizens and “those at high risk from the virus” receive third injections. A Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory panel rejected the Biden Administration’s wish to inject everyone with third Pfizer shots last week. The bureaucratic tug-of-war will continue for weeks. Meanwhile many vaxxed people are receiving third injections without FDA approval.
We’ve covered three stories thus far about people receiving third Pfizer mRNA injections. Michael Mitchell received a Pfizer injection after already receiving two Sinovac injections. He died six days later. James Cooper Sawyer died eight days after his third Pfizer mRNA injection. Now Mrs. Heisler is dead 12 days after her third Pfizer injection.
These three individuals were ages 65, 77 and 67, respectively. The average time it took for them to die after the third injection was about nine days. Yet the aforementioned CDC panel is recommending third injections for all seniors. Note that mainstream media are also pushing for Johnson & Johnson “booster shots” after the company touted its own studies on its own product. The original product was marketed as “one-and-done.”
If you love your parents and grandparents, you will not allow them to get viral vector DNA and mRNA injections. You most certainly will not allow them to receive the third, guaranteed-lethal injection. Stay vigilant and protect your friends and loved ones. S/O to commenter “dddd” for the news lead.
Witch hunts carried out by frightened mobs never end well
An experiment without controls teaches us nothing. God bless the unvaccinated pioneers! [US Patriot]
Society loves a scapegoat. It’s comforting to be part of a majority that can point at a minority to blame for their ills.
The scapegoats that we are ostracizing today are those who are choosing not to get vaccinated.
As an exhausted population deals with the fourth wave of COVID-19, they want to see a way out. They want to blame somebody for this prolonged state of living in fear of infection and rolling lockdowns. They just want it all to end and they have decided to point their collective, judgmental fingers at the unvaccinated.
Witch hunts carried out by frightened mobs never end well. We could be driving some people to extremes.
For those who feel that vaccination is an essential component to breaking free from the pandemic, it is frustrating to watch vaccine uptake stalling. In most regions, vaccination rates seem to pause at around the 80 percent rate.
Governments initially began trying the carrot method in order to encourage vaccine participation. We saw everything from lotteries to gift cards offered as enticements for getting the jab. The carrot method had little success. Spurred on by an increasingly hysteric population, governments are now moving on to using the stick.
There are a number of reasons why people choose not to get vaccinated. Many are within an apathetic group who simply never got around to it. With access to nightclubs and sporting events being limited, I suspect that many of them will suddenly find the time and motivation to get the jab.
There are a number of people who are truly just vaccine-hesitant. They are concerned about side effects and want to see more data before injecting something into their bodies. These people can be convinced to take part in vaccination over time if they are approached with reason and respect. We aren’t seeing much of either of those traits from increasingly shrill vaccination advocates, though.
Shaming and threatening the hesitant will only make them dig their heels in. Vaccine advocates need to temper their approach or they will achieve the opposite effect of what they want to see.
The final, and likely smallest group of unvaccinated people are the true “anti-vaxxers.” These are people who are convinced that vaccines are going to harm or possibly kill them. They will never willingly submit to being vaccinated, or allow their children to be vaccinated.
Try to put yourself into the shoes of somebody who views vaccines as a toxin. If you believed that a vaccine would kill you or change your DNA, would anything ever convince you to put it in your body? Of course not.
We need to accept and make accommodations for the reality that a sizable segment of the population will never be vaccinated. Whether it’s through rapid testing schemes, separate schools, or segregated workplaces, we can’t let these people get cut off from all aspects of society.
If even only six percent of the population is deeply opposed to vaccination, that makes up millions of people. Many of these people work in the health-care system by the way, and drumming them out of employment won’t ease the burden on hospitals.
Right now, those who are terrified of vaccinations are feeling pretty cornered. They are losing their jobs, their friends, and their ability to travel. They are being pushed into a miserable existence where they may end up virtually locked within their homes for the foreseeable future.
I can’t think of a better recipe for taking somebody who has challenges with mental stability and pushing them into actions that may harm themselves or others.
This feeling of fearful helplessness has now been exacerbated with the end of the federal election. Many people hoped that a strong electoral showing from Maxime Bernier’s PPC would protect them from coerced vaccination. The heightened tension was evident at PPC rallies and in some protests. Those people have now lost hope of protection through the electoral system and feel that they have no voice within government.
There are few people more dangerous than those who feel that they have nothing to lose and nowhere to go.
We can’t stop encouraging vaccination for fear of triggering an extremist. We can, however, work to change our tone and approach with those who are choosing not to get vaccinated. We are creating a caste of dejected, desperate people. We may not understand their point of view but we have to try to sympathize with it.
If we keep blaming, shaming, and marginalizing this minority, I fear that we may push somebody over the edge. The next act of aggression may be something much worse than a frustrated fool tossing a handful of gravel at the prime minister.
Earlier this month, a 21-foot-tall bronze statue of Robert E. Lee—perhaps the most famous monument to the Confederate general—was removed from Monument Avenue in Richmond, Virginia. Supporters of the statue’s removal, including Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D), hailed the event as a triumph for racial justice.
The left has decided that Lee, the most recognized and celebrated figure of the Confederacy, is intolerable, a man who should be erased from American history. This maelstrom surrounding Lee has reached a fever pitch in recent years, as the woke movement has grown.
In short, anyone who dares mention Lee at all better demonize him as pure evil or else face the wrath of the progressive mob. This is retroactively imposing cancel culture on the past, while silencing free speech today.
In this context, Allen Guelzo’s newly released biography on the Confederate general, “Robert E. Lee: A Life,” is especially welcome and important.
We need to be able to study history in a mature and unsentimental manner, examining the past honestly and insightfully regardless of the subject matter. Guelzo does this with remarkable success in his new and engaging book.
Guelzo, an award-winning historian and best-selling author, is director of the James Madison Program Initiative on Politics and Statesmanship and senior research scholar in the Council of the Humanities at Princeton University. I had the pleasure to discuss Lee with him on the latest episode of my podcast, “Newt’s World.”
In his book, Guelzo has the audacity to look at Lee objectively, as a man of great consequence who is worth remembering. Yes, Lee committed treason and fought for the Confederacy, which wanted to uphold the institution of slavery. But it would be childish—and the height of folly—to use that as a reason not to study him. Yet, this is precisely what many people are advocating today.
Indeed, we’re witnessing an attack on history from the woke left. In recent years, we’ve seen a relentless effort by progressives not to reexamine America’s history honestly but instead to rewrite and even erase it. This is wrong.
Standing up for history doesn’t mean standing up for the values of Lee or any other flawed person. It means standing up for the fact that they are a significant part of American history and deserve to be studied as part of our nation’s past. And, in the case of Lee, studying the role of slavery and the Civil War helps us better understand America—our scars, where we come from, the ongoing fight for freedom, and how to learn from the past to create a better future.
As Guelzo explains, Lee was a complex figure who had to make tough decisions in situations not of his making. For example, his decision not to accept command of the American Army just before the outbreak of the Civil War was motivated by multiple complicated factors. And Lee didn’t just proceed to join the Confederacy overnight. In fact, he initially remained neutral and wanted to broker a peace settlement to reunite the country over time. He didn’t want secession.
These are important and fascinating bits of history that get lost amid the zealous attempts of the left to erase select aspects of our past.
Lee was also a brilliant military general, a master tactician on the battlefield and the only Confederate commander with a true strategic vision for victory. He’s certainly worth studying for this reason as well.
If we wish to unite as a country and alleviate some of the damaging political polarization that has taken hold, we need to understand who we are. That means Americans must be able to study, confront, and embrace our nation’s history—scars and all—not erase it. A good place to start would be to read Guelzo’s new biography on Robert E. Lee—not to endorse what Lee did, but to recognize he’s more than some caricature and worth remembering.
Unions: A license to be lazy and still keep your job. Gov’t jobs: Expenses without benefits. Gov’t unions: Protection for the useless. [US Patriot].
President Joe Biden keeps boasting that all the new jobs his programs will supposedly create will be “good-paying union jobs.” But, Joe, what about the 93 percent of private sector workers who are not members of unions? Does he care about them?
The Labor Department reports that in America today, 6.3 percent of all private sector workers are union members. So more than 10 of 11 private workers aren’t.
The only area where unions are growing in America is in government. Nearly half of government workers, led by teachers, are unionized. And they are radicalized.
Meanwhile, nearly every policy coming out of the White House gives special-interest privileges for the labor bosses.
Some of these acts are just pure giveaways to big labor as a payback for the hundreds of millions of dollars organized labor spent to get Biden elected.
Here are some of the sweetheart kisses for the unions with taxpayers picking up the tab:
First, a new law requiring union workforces on nearly every federal project. Nonunion contractors need not apply. By the way, these rules add up to 20 percent to the cost of every construction and service contract.
In the Green New Deal bill that has already passed in the Senate, there are tax breaks for renewable energy—but only if these projects are unionized.
Another absurdity is the creation of a new provision to make union dues tax-deductible. This will put millions of dollars into coffers of the unions.
The granddaddy of them all is a provision in the so-called jobs bill that would end “right-to-work” laws in 27 states, which emphasize a worker’s choice to join a union and prevent them from being forced to do so.
This is an audacious power grab by the federal government that would, for the first time in American history, force potentially tens of millions of U.S. workers to join a union against their will. This overturns almost 75 years of labor law that left workers’ rights up to the states.
This will force workers to have money snatched from their paychecks and rerouted to union bank accounts. Workers would also have to contribute to political advocacy efforts by big labor whether they support the causes and candidates or not. This is anything but “pro-choice.”
Why do Democrats genuflect at the altar of the unions? Because the unions fund Democratic campaigns. For example, in 2020, the public sector unions donated $93 million to candidates, parties, and political groups. More than 90 percent of candidate contributions went to Democrats.
So what we have here is a legal form of Democrats rewarding their donors with federal favors. That’s called “pay to play.” Or graft.
I should make it clear that I am not against workers’ rights to form and join a union for collective bargaining. The right to associate is a basic First Amendment right in America. What I am against is the government forcing people to join unions.
There are good reasons why Americans may not want to join a union. They may not agree with union policies or positions. The highest performers may want to negotiate their own wages and benefits and be paid by their performance.
Or they may be turned off by the rampant corruption in union labor halls, as in embezzlement, racketeering, inflated salaries, and theft. The indispensable website UnionFacts.com has counted 2,100 criminal cases and $156 million in penalties from 2000 to 2019. These bosses aren’t saints.
The combination of big government and big labor is a witch’s brew of misbehavior and corruption. Who ultimately pays the tab? The 93 percent of American private workers who aren’t part of the club.
It would be difficult for the media to be more obsequious toward President Joe Biden, but he’d certainly like them to try.
On Friday, Biden met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the White House. As they sat down to face questions, the American president was caught on a hot mic giving his opinion of their respective countries’ media.
“I think what we’re going to do is bring in the press. The Indian press is much better behaved than the American press,” Biden said.
“I think, with your permission, you could not answer questions because they won’t ask any questions on point.”
WATCH: President Biden, during meeting with Indian PM Modi:
“The Indian press is much better behaved than the American press…I think, with your permission, you could not answer questions because they won’t ask any questions on point.” pic.twitter.com/VppL7973ma
The hot mic moment took place days after White House staff ordered journalists to leave a joint appearance between Biden and United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson despite the fact Johnson had agreed to take questions.
During a meeting between Biden and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, staff abruptly order journalists to leave. pic.twitter.com/kJ4itX2kU4
As Indian media watchdog Newslaundry pointed out, this probably wasn’t the kind of compliment he wanted to give.Does the media go easy on Biden?Yes No Completing this poll entitles you to The Western Journal news updates free of charge. You may opt out at anytime. You also agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
“Modi replied saying that he ‘completely agreed’ with Biden,” Newslaundry reported on Saturday. “It’s worth pointing out here that issues plaguing the freedom of the press under Modi have been well-documented. Since Modi came to power in 2014, he hasn’t held a single press conference except one in 2019 where he refused to answer any questions.”
Not well behaved enough for Modi, but just about right for Biden.
And keep in mind, this is a theme for Biden. Remember back in July, right before Independence Day, when the president was asked at a media briefing about Afghanistan? He literally told a reporter, “I want to talk about happy things, man!”
“Look, it’s Fourth of July. I’m concerned that you guys are asking me questions that I will answer next week, but it’s the holiday weekend,” Biden went on to say. “I’m going to celebrate it. Great things happening.”
Don’t ask Sloppy Joe about Afghanistan. “I want to talk about happy things, man. I’m not going to answer anymore on Afghanistan. It’s the Fourth of July.” pic.twitter.com/NaRhybwyVL
The next month, less-terrific things started happening — namely, the implosion of the Afghan government and the return of Taliban rule in Afghanistan.
On Monday, during a media briefing, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the issue is the media isn’t willing to talk about what Joe wants to talk about.
No, seriously.
Psaki was just confronted by two reporters about Biden asking Indian Prime Minister Modi to not take questions from the American press.
Psaki then embarrassingly justifies the remark by saying sometimes the Press doesn’t ask about what Biden wants to talk about.
“Well, I would note first that he took questions on Friday and he took questions again today. And I think what he said is that they’re not always on point,” Psaki said.
“Now I know that isn’t something that anyone wants to hear in here, but what I think he was conveying is, you know, today he might want to talk about COVID vaccines, some of the questions were about that … Some of the questions are not always about the topic he’s talking about in that day. I don’t think it was meant to be a hard cut at the members of the media, people he’s taken questions from today and on Friday as well.”
The problem is the on-point questions are the important ones, as evidenced by this exchange when Biden walked away from a question about Afghanistan in late August.
Following his remarks on Hurricane Ida, President Joe Biden refused to answer a Bloomberg reporter’s questions on the Afghanistan crisis after saying he would take questions. pic.twitter.com/TXFjedI6Ni
What’s an “on point” question supposed to look like? “Mr. President, what’s your favorite ice cream flavor?” “That’s better. Today, it’s chocolate-chocolate chip.”
But remember the words of White House communications director Kate Bedingfield after the Afghanistan debacle: “The president never shies away from taking questions.”
WH Comms Director Kate Bedingfield: “The president never shies away from taking questions.” pic.twitter.com/KNkSqyCgtU
Except if those questions aren’t “on point” or if you’re not talking “about happy things, man.”
So, media of America, heed Joe Biden’s call. Sure, you may have been scoring a 10-out-of-10 on obsequiousness so far. Remember, though, that Spinal Tap’s amps went up to 11. It’s time to step your game up.
After all, you don’t want to get beat out by India, do you?
Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed an executive order on Tuesday to protect Floridians from the “dangerous” impact of the Biden border crisis.
Executive Order 21-223 prohibits all Florida agencies from “facilitating illegal immigration into Florida, unless otherwise required by federal or state law, and require the collection of information from state officials on the scope and costs of illegal immigration in Florida.”
Live Now: Governor DeSantis is in Lee County to sign the Biden Border Crisis Executive Order.https://t.co/SBVH0clNJ6
“Since President Biden took office – which has been less than one year – the Border Patrol has released nearly a quarter million illegal aliens into the United States,” DeSantis said in a statement.
“This executive order makes it clear that Florida resources will not be used to prop up the failed open border agenda enacted by this administration.”
The order also appointed Larry Keefe, former U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Florida, as public safety czar to ensure the actions in the executive order are implemented.
“Attorney General Ashley Moody has also filed a lawsuit against the Biden Administration challenging its policy of catching and releasing the staggering number of illegal aliens apprehended at the border into the United States,” DeSantis said.
The state attorney general addressed the need for the executive order due to the Biden administration’s “brazen disregard” for immigration laws.
“The Biden Administration’s brazen disregard for federal immigration law is jeopardizing the safety and security of our state and nation, all while costing Florida taxpayers,” Moody said in the statement.
“Biden’s lax border policy is an open invitation to dangerous criminals, human traffickers and drugs traffickers to enter the United States — creating a crisis at the Southern Border like we have never seen.”
Keefe noted the state of Florida has often been impacted more directly during times of increased illegal immigration.
“As a former U.S. Attorney, I saw illegal aliens that would get deported and come back, and then get deported and come back in an endless cycle,” Keefe said in the statement.
“The states, including Florida, bear the brunt of this cycle. Over the coming weeks and months, our state agencies will be addressing the impacts illegal immigration has had on our state. I want to thank Governor DeSantis for appointing me to lead these efforts.”
In July, DeSantis visited the southern border of Texas where Florida law enforcement assisted with the apprehension of over 2,800 undocumented immigrants in 23 days and over 100 criminal arrests, according to a news release.
“They’ve made over 2,000 apprehensions, over 100 felony arrests, and they say that almost 70 percent of everybody that they have interdicted said their ultimate destination was the state of Florida,” the governor said at a media briefing, Fox News reported.
“If you think that having a wide-open border 1,000 miles, however far it was, away doesn’t affect here, you’re wrong.”
Democrats are opening their bag of dirty tricks in a desperate effort to torpedo the candidacy of the Republican running for governor of Virginia, according to a new report.
Axios reported that a group that appears to be attacking Republican Glenn Youngkin from the right is actually bankrolled by Democrats.
Recent ads targeting conservative sections of the western part of the state claim that Youngkin is not a true champion of the Second Amendment.
Although ads from Democrat Terry McAuliffe portray Youngkin as too pro-gun, the ads taken out by the Accountability Virginia PAC use the fact that the National Rifle Association did not endorse Youngkin as fodder for criticism.
Axios found that ActBlue, a Democratic fundraising platform, actually hosts Accountability Virginia’s donation page.
From its bank to the company that makes its advertising buys, Axios found the common thread was that all parts of the PAC have Democratic connections.
The ads are “an attempt to undermine Youngkin’s support in western rural areas, where gun ownership is sacred and the Republican has a big lead — as all Republicans do these days,” said Larry Sabato, the director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia.
Currently, the Real Clear Politics average of polls shows McAuliffe with a 2.9 percentage point lead over Youngkin.
A month ago, however, McAuliffe had a 6 percentage point lead, according to the polling average.
Youngkin was endorsed by former President Donald Trump but has soft-pedaled that support in a state where he will need moderate votes to win.
Trump has said that Youngkin must stop walking that tightrope if he wants to win, according to The Washington Post.
“The only guys that win are the guys that embrace the MAGA movement,” Trump said on the “John Fredericks Radio Show” when speaking of Youngkin.
“When they try to go down a railroad track, you know, ‘Hey, oh yeah, sure, love it, love it. Oh, yeah, love Trump. Love Trump. OK, let’s go, next subject.’ When they do that, nobody, they don’t — they never win. They never win. They have to embrace it,” he said.
Career politician Joe Biden is an epic failure as U.S. president who has made the world a more dangerous place, as evidenced by the numerous domestic and international crises he has unleashed so far in his tenure.
That’s the somber assessment of Republican Rep. Chris Stewart of Utah, who enumerated eight major ways Biden has damaged the United States.
“Among America’s most important allies, there is no longer any trust that President Biden can be relied on as a serious partner,” Stewart wrote in a grim piece published Sunday by The Hill.
“Among America’s most competitive rivals, there is no longer any belief that President Biden can protect our interests. And among the American people, there is no longer any faith that President Biden can defend our most fundamental ideals.”
The 14-year Air Force veteran said Biden has emboldened America’s enemies, betrayed our allies and sold out the American people.
This multi-pronged collapse is a direct result of the 78-year-old Democrat’s toxic policies, which have done the following, according to Stewart:
Energized the Taliban and the terrorist group known ISIS-K.
Emboldened foreign adversaries to take advantage of Biden’s weakness.
Empowered communist China to begin assault drills near Taiwan.
Enabled Russia to ramp up cyberattacks against the U.S.
Obliterated American energy independence.
Ignited soaring inflation, hurting consumers and the economy.
Blamed fellow Americans for the ongoing COVID crisis.
Because of Biden’s botched troop withdrawal from Afghanistan, Stewart wrote, “the Taliban and ISIS-K are unnecessarily emboldened, enriched and energized.”
He continued: “Right now, they are arresting, torturing and killing Afghans who fought alongside American troops for years. The Biden administration has responded by calling these terrorists a ‘strategic partner.’”Should Biden be impeached for failing America?Yes No Completing this poll entitles you to The Western Journal news updates free of charge. You may opt out at anytime. You also agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
The congressman wrote that Biden’s Afghanistan debacle set in motion a dangerous cascade of other threats around the world.
“In the immediate wake of the disastrous withdrawal, China began performing assault drills near Taiwan,” Stewart noted. “Every indication is that China will only accelerate its efforts to reclaim the country.”
Stewart also pointed out that Russia increased its cyberattacks on the U.S. “the moment Biden stepped into office.”
“And how did President Biden respond? He cleared the way for a Russian pipeline that will boost our rival’s economy and enhance their ability to manipulate our partners in Western Europe,” Stewart wrote. “This is the type of decision-making that is hamstringing our own interests, both abroad and here at home.”
In contrast, Biden “began his term by going to war against American energy,” Stewart wrote. “He sabotaged the Keystone pipeline, canceled domestic oil and gas leases, rolled back restrictions on Iranian oil sales and more.
“Then, when the price of energy began to rise, as it inevitably would, he even went to our foreign competitors and asked them to increase their production to help cover his mistakes. These decisions destroyed American jobs and empowered our enemies,” Stewart added.
Biden’s reckless economic policies have also ignited “levels of inflation that we haven’t seen in decades,” Stewart wrote.
“The costs of housing, fuel, food and just about every other necessity in your life are all on the rise. This is effectively an additional tax on every American.”
As if that weren’t enough, Biden’s vaccine mandates and oppressive coronavirus restrictions have simply further divided the country.
“He inherited a ready-to-go vaccine program and an economy that was primed to take off,” Stewart wrote. “Still, he has lost the confidence of the American people with arbitrary, baseless, inconsistent guidance.”
The congressman pointed out that shortly before being installed in the White House, Biden insisted that he would not mandate vaccines.
“Now, he’s blaming his fellow Americans and political opponents for the surge of COVID-19 this summer and ordering them to be vaccinated or risk losing their jobs,” Stewart wrote. “President Biden has come a long way from his pledges to unify the country and defeat COVID-19.”
The disastrous past year confirms that Biden is simply not fit for office. He is failing America, damaging her alliances and empowering her enemies. And when the world’s most powerful country is damaged, the world becomes a more dangerous place.
Can the United States endure three more years of this chaos and devastation?
The suggestion that anyone simply weigh the risks of getting the COVID-19 vaccine in light of the potential for adverse reactions is one of the worst infractions you can commit in the eyes of the establishment media’s pandemic cult.
Just ask rapper Nicki Minaj.
The fact remains that adverse reactions can happen and while Minaj caused a category 5 media meltdown when she shared that she was hesitant to get the jab due to an incident she’d reportedly heard of involving her cousin’s friend, when public figures have adverse reactions themselves, there’s very little coverage.
Such is the case with French tennis player Jeremy Chardy, who just bowed out of his 2021 season over what he said was a reaction to the COVID-19 vaccine, which he now says he regrets receiving.
“Since I had my vaccine (between the Olympics and the US Open), I have had a problem, I’ve had a series of struggles. Suddenly, I cannot train, I cannot play,” the 34-year-old player told French news agency AFP last week.
Chardy, who once ranked 25 in the ATP Tour and has beaten a few tennis greats like U.S. Open Champion Daniil Medvedev, said that he began experiencing violent pains all over his body whenever he began to train.
Yikes.
“Now I have been to see two doctors, I have done some tests so I know what I have and the most important thing is to take care of myself,” the elite athlete explained.
So now, Chardy has been forced to end his season early and drop out of the ATP Tour.
“At the moment, my season is stopped and I don’t know when I’ll start again,” he said, according to Tennis World. “So now I regret having taken the vaccine, but I couldn’t have known.”
While the Tour does not require vaccination to compete, a separate Tennis World article explained Chardy had decided to go ahead with it for the “common good for humanity.”
“I don’t know what to do,” he explained. “The problem is that we have no hindsight on the vaccine. There are people who had similar [side-effects], but the durations [of the issues] were really different.”
This is exactly the sort of thing that has the ATP’s number 3 player, Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece, hesitant about getting the vaccine himself.
“The COVID-19 vaccine has not been tested enough because it is new and has some side effects. I know some people who’ve had them. I’m not against it, I just see no reason for someone in my age group to be vaccinated [yet],” Tsitsipas reportedly said last month.
“For us young people I think it’s good to pass the virus because we’ll build immunity. I don’t see it as something bad. As I said, it isn’t obligatory, everyone has freedom to decide for themselves what’s right & what’s not,” he stated.
Imagine that — everyone has the freedom to decide for themselves what’s right and what’s not. That’s sort of the whole point that Nicki Manaj was making when she committed the thought crime of publicly stating she was a bit hesitant, and the point that concerned millions of Americans whose jaws dropped when President Joe Biden issued his vaccine requirement for businesses last month.
The media is near-unanimous in its ostracization of vaccine hesitancy and the vaccine-hesitant — CNN’s Don Lemon has openly called for Minaj and Tsitsipas’ American counterparts to be shunned and shamed for opting to skip the jab so far (and of course, there was MCNBC host Joy Reid’s tantrum over Minaj’s statements).
Such one-sided coverage of the vaccine may be excused as being for the sake of public health in the midst of a pandemic — but it is flat-out dishonest and has the potential to threaten public health by obscuring and manipulating the appearance of the vaccine’s supposedly unquestionable safety.
If we hadn’t long ago given up the idea that we could expect simple journalistic integrity from our media, we would be able to expect us to simply give us both sides of the story.
Tell us about the public figures who are hesitant or experience adverse effects as well as the members of the scientific community and public health officials who have substantial and well-supported arguments as to why we should get the jab.
How hard is that?
Very, apparently. And it’s this resistance to simply reporting the facts as they come that likely still has so many Americans still, despite all the propaganda, belittlement and shame, still so very hesitant to get the vaccine.
The Western Journal has published this article in the interest of shedding light on stories about the COVID-19 vaccine that are largely unreported by the establishment media. In that same spirit, according to the most recent statistics from the CDC’s Vaccine Adverse Effect Reporting System, 8,164 deaths have been reported among those who received a vaccine, or 21 out of every 1,000,000. By contrast, 680,688 deaths from COVID-19 have been reported by the CDC, or 17,913 out of every 1,000,000. In addition, it must be noted that VAERS reports can be filed by anyone and are unverified by the CDC. Thus, as the agency notes, “Reports of adverse events to VAERS following vaccination, including deaths, do not necessarily mean that a vaccine caused a health problem.” The decision of whether to receive a COVID vaccine is a personal one, but it is important to consider context when making that decision. — Ed. note
Arkansas Republican Sen. Tom Cotton said during an interview on Tuesday that the Democrats’ “reckless” spending bill is going to “cost all Americans,” in contrast with President Joe Biden’s promises to only tax the rich.
“This bill is going to cost all Americans,” Cotton said during a “Fox & Friends” interview regarding the Democrats’ plans to pass $5 trillion in legislation in two new bills.
“They’re going to raise taxes on all kinds of businesses, they’re going to raise taxes on savings, retirement.
“That means that people are going to have fewer jobs, they’re not going to get pay increases. They may not have enough money to put kids in college or to save for retirement,” Cotton added.
The increased costs will not only be for the wealthy but will impact many areas of American life.
“They’re even going to tax cigarettes, Dana, so if you want to pick up a pack of smokes on the way home from the job, you’re going to pay higher taxes on that as well,” Cotton said.
These increases are in addition to increased costs and inflation that have already taken place since Biden has entered office.Should Congress pass the Build Back Better spending bill?Yes No Completing this poll entitles you to The Western Journal news updates free of charge. You may opt out at anytime. You also agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
“The American people are already paying every day when they go to the grocery store or the gas pump for the rampant inflation that the reckless Democrats’ spending plans have caused,” Cotton added.
The senator also explained these increased costs are why Democrats are struggling to get the votes needed to pass the legislation.
“So that’s one reason why they’re struggling to find the votes is that they understand just how reckless these spending bills are and how much they’re going to pay for it in the election next year if they go forward with it,” Cotton said.
During the interview, the Arkansas senator also addressed the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing that began Tuesday and will examine Biden’s failed withdrawal from Afghanistan. Gen. Mark Milley and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin are slated to testify.
“We also want to explore that terrible drone strike in which 10 innocent civilians were killed, because that reflects going forward in the future exactly how limited our options are for what President Biden calls a so-called over-the-horizon terrorist capability,” Cotton said.
“It should be called more along the lines of over-the-rainbow because our actions are so limited in Afghanistan to protect this country,” he added.
The hearing will address some of the controversies surrounding the departure from Afghanistan, especially regarding the 13 U.S. military personnel who died during a Kabul suicide bombing.
The panel will also more fully discuss the controversial drone strike Cotton mentioned that killed 10 civilians, including seven children.
On Jan. 24, just days after President Joe Biden took office, official CNN Democrat brown-noser Brian Stelter shared a chyron from his television show on Twitter.
“Psaki Promises to Share ‘Accurate Info’ (How Refreshing),” it read. The insinuation, of course, is that there wasn’t any accurate info from the Trump administration — but don’t worry, help was on the way!
Now, as it turns out, there’s a caveat to that refreshing promise: Psaki will be sharing “accurate info” (if often incomplete or misleading), but if President Joe Biden is going to be sharing information, your questions had better be “on point.”
If they’re on a topic he doesn’t like, he’s not going to answer. (Psaki herself will probably promise to “circle back” to whatever the question was at a later date.)
On Friday, Biden met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Before their meeting, however, the president badmouthed the U.S. media and counseled Modi not to take any questions.
“The Indian press is much better behaved than the American press,” Biden told Modi. “I think, with your permission, you could not answer questions because they won’t ask any questions on point.”
WATCH: President Biden, during meeting with Indian PM Modi:
“The Indian press is much better behaved than the American press…I think, with your permission, you could not answer questions because they won’t ask any questions on point.” pic.twitter.com/VppL7973ma
That didn’t seem quite so refreshing, particularly after an incident with U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson earlier in the week when Biden’s staff shooed away reporters in the Oval Office.
During a meeting between Biden and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, staff abruptly order journalists to leave. pic.twitter.com/kJ4itX2kU4
Psaki was called on the carpet by the Washington press corps on Monday, given that reporters weren’t happy at the president telling the Indian prime minister to avoid taking questions. The White House press secretary tried to recontextualize — and made the problem worse in the process.
“I think what he said is that they’re not always on point,” Psaki said.
“Now I know that isn’t something that anyone wants to hear in here, but what I think he was conveying is, today he might want to talk about COVID vaccines, some of the questions were about that,” she continued.
Psaki was just confronted by two reporters about Biden asking Indian Prime Minister Modi to not take questions from the American press.
Psaki then embarrassingly justifies the remark by saying sometimes the Press doesn’t ask about what Biden wants to talk about.
“Some of the questions are not always about the topic he’s talking about in that day. I don’t think it was meant to be a hard cut at the members of the media, people he’s taken questions from today and on Friday as well,” she added.
Another reporter — CBS News Radio’s Steven Portnoy — followed up, saying, “It happened that he was sitting next to prime minister of India, the world’s largest democracy, when he said that. It also followed the incident on Wednesday when he was sitting next to the prime minister of Great Britain. Is the president reticent to take questions when he’s sitting next to a foreign leader in the Oval Office? Can we expect him to do that in the future?”
“Steve, he took questions earlier that day on Friday. He’d already taken questions that day. I think that was the context of his comments,” Psaki said. “And he’s taken questions standing next to a foreign leader many, many times in the past, and will continue to.”
Good on @WSJ‘s @Catherine_Lucey & @CBSNewsRadio‘s @StevenPortnoy for repeatedly pressing Jen Psaki on the fact that Biden blew off the press last week with U.K. PM Boris Johnson & took a swipe at them last week behind their backs, telling Indian reporters not to ask questions. pic.twitter.com/dUS24W8X90
There was also one other problem with Biden’s remark, as Fox’s Jacqui Heinrich noted.
“The president said that the Indian press was better behaved than the U.S. press, but the Indian press is ranked 142nd in the world, according to Reporters Without Borders, for press freedoms,” she asked.
“How does he say that about the U.S. press compared to the Indian press?” she asked.
“Well, I would just say to you that, having now worked for the president, serving in this role for nine months, having seen that he’s taken questions from the press more than 140 times, including today and Friday, that he certainly respects the role of the press, the role of the freedom of free press,” Psaki said.
“We ensure that we have press with us, of course, when we travel, that we have press with us for sprays in foreign capitals, and we will continue to. I think that should speak to his commitment to freedom of press around the world.”
FTR, Fox’s @JacquiHeinrich also asked: “The President said that the Indian press was better behaved than the U.S. press, but the Indian presence ranked 142nd in the world, according to Reporters Without Borders for press freedoms. How does he say that about the U.S. press[?]” pic.twitter.com/mhNwt4OwSD
It’s worth noting that Psaki had all weekend to work on her answer to this. She knew full well this was going to be one of the things she had to answer when she walked into the Brady Press Briefing Room in the West Wing of the White House.
The best the press secretary and her team could come up with: You guys need to start asking the kinds of questions the president wants to hear. Talk about what he’s talking about. See, this is why he never takes questions from the press. Focus, people!
It was an embarrassment — to Psaki and the president. And even the shamelessly pro-Biden press corps had to know it.
For whatever reason, Brian Stelter hasn’t weighed in on how refreshing that answer was. Perhaps he missed it.
There are forces that wish to destroy America. Some of them are visible and some are stealth.
The visible forces include terrorists and certain nation states like Iran. Radical Islamic preachers cry “death to America” in their sermons, encouraging martyrdom through suicide bombings. Sept. 11 was their crowning achievement, so far. There will likely be other attacks. Some of our military leaders have so predicted. China might also make the list, if not as a destroyer, then as a nation that wants to supplant America as the world’s top economic and military power.
Those who would destroy by stealth include undocumented immigrants flowing across our southern border. Their intention may not be to destroy America, but that will be the effect if we don’t quickly stop the influx and discourage others from coming. It’s almost laughable to hear some in the liberal media claim we have a “moral obligation” to help immigrants when we are ignoring the plight of women in Afghanistan and so many other areas to which the word “moral” might rightly be attached.
Reaction to the open border has been as predictable as the coming of the fall season. Some Democrat progressives shout racism because the latest flood includes Haitians. Signs rapidly appear. Some say, “stop deportation now!” Where did the signs come from? Who are the people carrying them and where do they come from? Is someone paying them? The media never ask these questions.
Undocumented immigrants are not only attracted by low-paying jobs but by lots of free stuff, like access to healthcare and public schools, all paid for by American taxpayers. If a pregnant non-citizen gives birth on U.S. soil, her child instantly becomes a U.S. citizen with all the benefits of full citizenship.
One of the few political leaders responding to this crisis is Gov. Greg Abbott (R-Texas). Abbott has ordered state police to close off parts of the border because the migrants are violating Texas law. For this he is being pilloried and even sued by the Biden administration, though the White House announced just recently that it would swiftly begin to deport Haitian migrants flooding into Del Rio, Texas. But where’s Vice President Kamala Harris who was assigned to fix our border crisis?
In public schools and too many universities of what I would describe as “lower learning,” America’s history is being re-written to shame young people and load them aboard the progressive train wreck. There are many stories of students returning home and accusing their parents of racism, and worse. The stain of racism can never go away despite the money that has been spent and the programs enacted to help lift descendants of slaves out of poverty and into better lives.
Once more or less united, Americans are now fragmented into groups and those groups are pitted against each other as gladiators once were in the Roman Coliseum. Caesar, we who are about to die, salute you!
Seriously, can we go on like this and think we will pass down anything to succeeding generations that remotely resembles what we received from previous ones, especially those we have honored by calling them “the greatest generation”? What made them great and what makes us a small shadow standing in their historic presence?
Values, morals, and economic principles that transformed this nation from an agrarian society to an industrial powerhouse to now a leader in technology, are all threatened by those who breach our borders.
If we don’t find the national political leadership to do something about our steady decline and defend ourselves, as in warfare (because war is what it is, though it is being fought with different weapons), we are at risk of oblivion. Will we follow the path of other nations that no longer exist or have become shadows of their former selves?
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