Each day at just after midnight Eastern, a post like this one is created for contributors and readers of this site to upload news links and video links on the issues that concern this site. Most notably, Islam and its effects on Classical Civilization, and various forms of leftism from Soviet era communism, to postmodernism and all the flavours of galloping statism and totalitarianism such as Nazism and Fascism which are increasingly snuffing out the classical liberalism which created our near, miraculous civilization the West has been building since the time of Socrates.
This document was written around the time this site was created, for those who wish to understand what this site is about. And while our understanding of the world and events has grown since then, the basic ideas remain sound and true to the purpose.
So please post all links, thoughts and ideas that you feel will benefit the readers of this site to the comments under this post each day. And thank you all for your contributions.
This is the new Samizdat. We must use it while we can.
For those interested, please check out https://vladtepesblog.substack.com/ as an another avenue of expression.
https://new.americanprophet.org/capitol-police-commander-j6-was-not-an-insurrection/
A former Capitol Hill police officer debunks the “insurrection” label.
Here a man describes his interaction with his Canadian bank. I have had identical experiences numerous times:
https://youtu.be/YGbAlB5jah4?si=oLztHhgen95apLEX
This is the Religion of Peace
On October 8th, the day after the attack on Israel, Saleh Al-Raqab, a professor of religion at Gaza’s Islamic University, and former Religious Affairs and Endowments in Hamas government, published a paper, titled “Oh Mujahideen in Palestine.”
“Oh Allah, grant victory to the fighters in Palestine, guide their strikes to the throats of the Jews, make their legs steady and let them stab a knife through the hearts of the Jews. Enable them to kill the soldiers of the Jews, destroy the weapons of the Jews and capture Jewish soldiers. Oh Allah, destroy the Jews completely. Paralyze their limbs and freeze the blood in their veins”.
Reliance of the Traveller Islam’s book of sacred laws fl.3
“Someone raised among Muslims who denies…..things that any Muslim would know about if asked……thereby becomes an unbeliever (kafir) and is executed for his unbelief”.
Sahib Al-Bukhara; 4:52:260
Narrated ‘Ikrama: Ali burnt some people and this news reached Ibn’ Abbas, who said, “Had I been in his place I would not have burnt them, as the Prophet said, “Don’t punish (anybody) with Allah’s Punishment. No doubt I would have killed them, for the Prophet said, “If killing somebody (a Muslim) discards his religion, kill him”.
Hamas is the Muslim Brotherhood, the Muslim Brotherhood is Hamas.
The Palestine Scholars Association in Diaspora published a fatwa on October 21 permitting Jihad against the Zionists as “One of the main obligations of our religion”, with the stated goal being to free the the Al-Aqua Mosque and repel Zionists from the Islamic country of Palestine”. The fatwa quotes a Quranic verse: “You will find that most bitter enemies of Muslims are the Jews and the polytheists”.
Confirmed: Biden Admin Sought to Conceal Chinese Spy Balloon from Public As It Crossed Continental United States – Mark Milley Involved
by Jim Hoft Dec. 23, 2023 9:00 am86 Comments
last January the Biden administration knew about the Chinese spy balloon traversing across the continental United States, from Alaska to the Carolinas, but sought to conceal this from the American public.
A newspaper photographer first spotted the balloon over Montana.
The China spy balloon first entered US airspace over Alaska in late January.
Joe Biden and Mark Milley knew the surveillance balloon was over the US, yet Biden chose to stand down.
The balloon soared over nuclear silos and military installations across the US with Joe Biden’s full approval.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/12/confirmed-biden-admin-sought-conceal-chinese-spy-balloon/
Rep. Clay Higgins Introduces Bill to Protect Presidential Ballot Integrity, Proposes Disqualifying State Electors if Major Party Nominee is Removed from Ballots
by Jim H?ft Dec. 23, 2023 8:30 am50 Comments
A new bill was introduced in the United States Congress on Friday to ensure the integrity of presidential ballots.
The Presidential Ballot Integrity Act, introduced by Mr. Higgins of Louisiana, seeks to amend Title 3 of the United States Code, specifically the Electoral Count Act of 1887.
The Electoral Count Act of 1887, or ECA, is a significant United States federal law that introduced procedures specified in the Constitution of the United States for the counting of electoral votes and resolution of related disputes. The ECA details the process by which the Senate and House of Representatives count electoral votes to confirm the election results for President and Vice President. It plays a crucial role in the final determination of the President and Vice President of the United States.
According to the “Presidential Ballot Integrity Act,” electoral votes from any state that fails to include a candidate nominated by a major political party on its presidential ballot would not be counted. This pivotal addition seeks to ensure all major political party nominees are represented on ballots in every state, thereby safeguarding the integrity of the electoral process.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/12/rep-clay-higgins-introduces-bill-protect-presidential-ballot/
INVASION: Illegals Near NYC’s Floyd Bennett Field Going Door to Door Begging for Money, Food (Video)
by Margaret Flavin Dec. 23, 2023 8:15 am369 Comments
Illegals being housed at a tent shelter at Floyd Bennett Field in NYC are going door to door in the neighboring community begging for cash, food, and clothes.
Residents are learning the hard way what it means to be a sanctuary city.
The New York Post reported:
Another resident shared his concerns over safety saying, “I don’t feel safe. I’m paying a lot of taxes from my salary. And I’m completely transparent to the IRS and everything so I think it’s enough, what we are already paying for them to support if we call ourselves a sanctuary city.”
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/12/invasion-illegals-near-nycs-floyd-bennett-field-going/
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Migrants at NYC’s Floyd Bennett Field are begging for money, food at furious locals’ doorsteps: ‘Invasion’
Migrants staying at the Big Apple’s controversial tent shelter at Floyd Bennett Field have started going door to door in nearby neighborhoods begging residents for cash, food and clothes, furious locals told The Post Friday.
David Fitzgerald, 62, said he has noticed an influx of asylum seeker families showing up on his doorstep in Brooklyn’s Marine Park neighborhood in recent weeks asking for spare change — sparking safety fears among some of his neighbors.
“There’s definitely an invasion of immigrants from Floyd Bennett Field in our neighborhood and I see them sitting outside stores … outside the mall and going around to all the houses in the neighborhood, knocking on the door looking for money,” the retiree said.
“I certainly sympathize with their situation, but to have people knocking at your door looking for food that don’t speak English, it’s annoying. I don’t like it. We have never had this before, ever,” he continued.
https://nypost.com/2023/12/22/metro/migrants-at-nycs-floyd-bennett-field-are-begging-nearby-residents-for-money-food/
Migrants are Begging in Brooklyn Neighborhoods That Voted for Trump, Sparking Hostility and Help
Nextdoor and Facebook groups are buzzing with anecdotes and photos from Marine Park depicting encounters with families who live at the Floyd Bennett Field shelter complex. Other neighbors are stepping up with aid.
by Gwynne Hogan Dec. 22, 2023, 5:00 a.m
Families staying at the Floyd Bennett Field shelter at the edge of Brooklyn are showing up at homes four miles away in the Marine Park neighborhood, seeking food, clothes and funds — spurring both online vitriol and real-world help.
Residents are sharing anecdotes and images on Nextdoor and Facebook groups, describing migrant families begging for change near the Kings Plaza Mall, the nearest commercial hub to the shelter, where city buses drop off and pick migrants up. Other residents have described them going door-to-door on residential streets asking for clothing, food or money.
Some, like David Fitzgerald, 62, an Irish immigrant who’s lived for the past two decades in Marine Park, are outraged. He said groups of families had knocked on his door several times over the past few weeks.
https://www.thecity.nyc/2023/12/22/migrants-marine-park-floyd-bennett-begging/
Six men allege ‘rampant, unceasing sexual abuse’ at secluded Northern California nonprofit
They were searching for spiritual awakening and enlightenment. Instead, the six men were subject to “rampant, unceasing sexual abuse” by their spiritual guide, in concert with members of a controversial religious group and workers at an award-winning Northern California winery, the men allege in court documents.
The unnamed plaintiffs filed a lawsuit Friday in Yuba County against the Fellowship of Friends — a nonprofit religious group described by some as a cult — along with its founder and spiritual teacher, Robert Earl Burton, and its Renaissance Vineyard and Winery.
Fellowship of Friends bills itself as an organization that helps members reach their true potential, an upscale throwback to the erstwhile Bay Area communes that separated participants from society so they could pursue self-realization. Former Fellowship members, however, allege the group is really a cult of personality masquerading as a nonprofit, and that its true purpose is to satisfy Burton’s sexual needs. On the side, the Fellowship created a famed winery whose lists of honors and accolades for its Cabernet Sauvignons, Sauvignon Blancs and Riesling span pages.
Their civil complaint seeks damages for 15 alleged violations, including gender violence, human trafficking, sexual assault and battery, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The plaintiffs are also asking for a trial by jury.
Adam Slater, an attorney representing the plaintiffs, said that although male sexual assault survivors experience “the same trauma as women,” stigma hinders the filing of criminal or civil lawsuits.
“We commend these brave individuals for coming forward and encourage others to do the same,” Slater said in a statement.
Fellowship President Greg Holman told The Times that his organization “has been made aware of the lawsuit” but has yet to be served.
Holman declined to comment when asked about the allegations and his personal interactions with Burton.
The Fellowship of Friends was established in 1970 by Burton, a former schoolteacher.
According to the Fellowship, members are encouraged to “learn both the principles of awakening and practical methods to apply those in their daily life.” Students are aided in this journey by Burton, 84, who is referred to as “The Teacher,” according to court documents.
Burton has told members he is guided by dozens of angels, including Abraham Lincoln, Plato and Jesus Christ.
Read more: Trouble Taints a Cerebral Sanctuary
The organization’s main campus is on a 1,300-acre tract in the Northern California community of Oregon House and is called Apollo. There, members drink fine wine, listen to opera and gaze upon expensive artwork.
Yet the plaintiffs asserted that the organization has a dark and “secret” side.
They allege they were “sexually assaulted, sexually battered, raped, harassed, groomed, and/or otherwise attacked” during their time at Apollo.
Five of the men were members from 1971 to 1986; the last plaintiff joined in 1997 and left in 2008.
Five of the plaintiffs said they suffered some form of sexual abuse or harassment from four to 30 times.
A sixth said he was “sexually harassed, abused, molested and assaulted” between 280 and 300 times over an eight-year period.
Burton and the organization made sure the balance of power was in their favor, the lawsuit alleges, as they maintained control of the men with threats of punishment and insistence on obedience. They quashed rebellion with “isolation, sleep deprivation [and] the creation of inner conflict.”
Read more: The surprising afterlife of a ’70s L.A. cult: How the Source Family became hot IP in 2023
But the lawsuit also alleges that Burton lavished the men with praise and affection — “love bombing” them as a means of seduction and coercion, the lawsuit alleges.
Although Burton maintained that homosexuality was “degenerate” and “wrong,” the lawsuit says, he justified his pursuit of male members by referring to them as “feminine angels in a man’s body.”
A few of those suing were part of a “harem” of men who accompanied Burton throughout the day and were known as “Burton’s Boys.”
Burton told them “they are not sleeping with a man but an angel,” according to the lawsuit.
Between 2002 and 2005, the Fellowship hosted “Lovefests” on Valentine’s Day. On those days, Burton attempted to have sex with 100 men a day, falling short and sexually assaulting “between 70-80” men during these events, the lawsuit states.
He continued to assault members for decades with few repercussions because the handful of sexual abuse allegations made against him were primarily internal and never curtailed his activities, the lawsuit alleges. A female staffer filed complaints with the FBI in 2015 and 2019, and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raided the Fellowship twice as part of an investigation into its use of religious visas.
Members who pressed the organization’s board and Burton about the alleged sexual misconduct were shunned and kicked out, according to the lawsuit.
Samuel Sanders, director of the Fellowship board, was excommunicated after he wrote an internal email to fellow board members in 1981. “Burton has over the years pursued and sodomized young men. He has used his position to seduce these young men,” Sanders wrote, according to the lawsuit. “Our omission, and it is one in the strictest sense, is allowing it to continue.”
The men behind the lawsuit said in court documents that they are suffering from a variety of ailments, such as post-traumatic stress disorder, alcohol abuse and panic attacks.
“Because the abuse here was committed by a so-called spiritual leader and enabled by the organization, it was all the more insidious,” plaintiffs’ attorney Slater said.
The men have also struggled in personal and romantic relationships, according to the lawsuit, and are pushing for the opportunity to tell a jury about their experiences.
https://news.yahoo.com/six-men-allege-rampant-unceasing-213924522.html
3 Out Of 5 Illegal Alien Households Are Supported By Taxpayer-Funded Welfare
Tyler Durden’s Photo
by Tyler Durden
Saturday, Dec 23, 2023 – 09:30 AM
Authored by Eric Lendrum via American Greatness,
A new analysis by the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) reveals that almost 60% of all illegal aliens households in the United States are benefiting from at least one form of taxpayer-funded welfare benefits.
Breitbart reports that the study, written by CIS’ Steven Camarota and Karen Zeigler, found that illegal aliens households, as well as legal immigrants, use “significantly more” welfare than actual American citizens. Of illegal aliens currently occupying land in the U.S., 59% are on welfare that is funded by legal American citizens; 52% of legal immigrants are also using welfare. Meanwhile, less than 40% of American citizens use welfare.
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/3-out-5-illegal-alien-households-are-supported-taxpayer-funded-welfare
Cargo Owners Consider Airfreight Alternative To Red Sea Shipping Delays
Tyler Durden’s Photo
by Tyler Durden
Friday, Dec 22, 2023 – 08:30 PM
By Eric Kullisch of FreightWaves
Global businesses, uncertain how long the shipping crisis in the Red Sea will last and with a looming shortage of vessels for the export rush before China’s New Year celebration, are scrambling to shift some ocean cargo to airlines, according to logistics specialists.
The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Truxtun operates in the Red Sea near a commercial vessel on May 1, 2023.
Major container lines have rerouted vessels around the Horn of Africa or docked them in safe locations to avoid the threat of drone and missile attacks by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. The Houthis say they are targeting vessels with links to Israel in support of Palestinians under siege in the Gaza Strip. Thirty percent of container volumes transit the Red Sea and Suez Canal shortcut between Europe and Asia.
The strikes on commercial shipping come as drought conditions force the Panama Canal, another trade chokepoint, to limit transits because of insufficient water to operate massive locks. Some vessel operators recently shifted services to the Suez route to avoid Panama transit delays and now are in a double bind.
With no end in sight to the Gaza war and tensions rising, air cargo providers could see a surge in business following a prolonged market downturn that only lifted in recent months behind rising e-commerce exports from China for the holidays.
“The e-commerce wave just broke and rates began crashing down this week. We expect the Red Sea shipping crisis will reverse this,” Marc Schlossberg, executive vice president at Unique Logistics International, told FreightWaves. “We are already seeing an impact on airfreight across multiple regions, industries, and supply chains. Some retailers are already flipping cargo bound for the U.S. East Coast from ocean to air from the Indian subcontinent as there are no good options that do not add two weeks. We have other customers assessing their needs to the U.K. and Europe from Asia.”
Shipping experts say diversion around the Cape of Good Hope, which adds seven to 14 days’ sailing time to Europe and five to seven days to the U.S. East Coast, has unleashed a chain reaction that includes knocking vessels off scheduled arrivals, vessel bunching in ports, terminal congestion and difficulty repositioning containers around the world. Transits could be longer in some cases because the tip of Africa often has rough seas and storms.
Vessels returning to reload with factory goods in Asia will now arrive a couple of weeks late for the seasonal pickup before Chinese New Year, which will result in a shortfall of shipping capacity, said Lars Jensen, CEO of consultancy Vespucci Maritime, on a Wednesday webinar presented by freight forwarder Flexport.
Chinese New Year falls on Feb. 10, but factories will begin to slow production in mid-January before completely shutting down for the holiday and then slowly ramping up again — a lull that can last more than a month. Businesses pull forward their shipping requirements each year, which leads to a rush at Chinese ports, transportation delays and increased shipping rates.
About 540 vessels are assigned to Suez services, with 136 currently being diverted around Africa and 42 that have paused their journey, according to a Flexport analysis.
Chicago-based Seko Logistics has had some inquiries about converting ocean shipments to air leading up to the Chinese holiday, “but this could very well extend and expand into 2024,” said Chief Commercial Officer Brian Bourke in an email.
About 97% of total containerized trade by weight moves by sea, so even a slight shift in the mix could have a huge impact on airfreight volumes.
Importers and exporters will likely transition their most critical goods to air carriers to make sure enough arrive on time for production or sales needs, especially since many flights from Asia to Europe are still quite full, Niall van de Wuow, chief airfreight officer at market intelligence firm Xeneta, said on a company webinar.
Widebody freighters could soon be in greater demand if the supply chain disruption in the Red Sea is protracted
“I had a call with a global appliance company with sites around the world. Airfreight is cheaper than lines down. We expect to see an airfreight surge for manufacturing as automotive, electronics and other supply chains assess their inventory needs in the next few days,” said Schlossberg.
“We have customers searching for solutions from Egypt where the ports have been shut down and from Jordan where customers are not comfortable with the cross-border option. And ocean routing via Israel and Aqaba is no longer viable,” he added.
Companies spent the better part of a year bringing down excess pandemic inventories to normal levels and may not have sufficient safety stock if the Red Sea bottleneck continues to disrupt shipping, said Trine Nielsen, Flexport’s head of ocean for Europe, the Middle East and Asia. She encouraged shippers to plan for extra lead times and rate increases, and to book shipments early.
“Most of our fashion apparel retail customers had a strong holiday season. Inventories are in relatively good shape so a disruption like this will drive significant airfreight demand,” echoed Schlossberg.
There is less urgency to make mode-conversion decisions because the industry is past the Christmas shopping rush, but that will quickly change without a resolution of the Middle East conflict, according to logistics managers.
The airfreight market could get heated by mid-January as importers place new orders with Asia suppliers, especially since many airlines reduced freighter schedules in anticipation of a lull in transport demand, said Christos Spyrou, founder and CEO of wholesale network Neutral Air Partner.
He predicted an increase in charter flights to meet demand, especially for time-critical and valuable goods, as well as more use of sea-air services via Dubai to Europe. Flexport, which helps companies place orders with overseas manufacturers and then manages shipment delivery, has also fielded inquiries about deferred airfreight and sea-air options through Dubai and Doha, Qatar, said Zeid Houssami, global head of airfreight, in an email.
The hybrid services are less expensive than airfreight but faster than ocean.
Air capacity on the trans-Pacific might get tighter after Chinese New Year if ocean carriers divert vessels to Asia-eastbound lanes to provide more reliability, Houssami observed.
Open-ended risk to ocean shipping
The Suez route attracts a high proportion of the world’s largest vessels. Peter Sand, Xeneta’s chief data analyst, said shipping lines need 50 more ultralarge container ships on the eastbound corridor. Ship broker Clarksons estimates that 19% of global shipping capacity will be diverted from the Suez route.
Carriers have idle capacity at the moment, but not all vessels are suitable or can easily be restarted.
In addition to dealing with heightened supply chain uncertainty, shippers will face higher transportation costs because of the diversion of shipping away from the Red Sea.
For starters, adding ships to move the same amount of containers means spending for extra crews, fuel, supplies, port charges and other expenses. If smaller ships are deployed they will have higher unit costs per nautical mile.
Carriers will save $400,000 to $700,000 in Suez Canal tolls, but the 3,000 extra nautical miles to go around Africa to Europe will add $1 million in fuel costs per vessel, which will be passed on to customers, Sand explained.
Liner companies ZIM, Hapag-Lloyd and Maersk are now charging a war risk surcharge of between $20 and $100 per container and ZIM is charging more for the longer route around Africa.
Shipping line CMA CGM this week declared force majeure and implemented surcharges of up to $1,550 per container unit, depending on the origin and destination. Invoking a force majeure clause tells customers the carrier may not be able to fulfill contractual obligations due to circumstances beyond its control.
The formation of a multinational task force, led by the U.S., to protect commercial shipping is unlikely to alleviate the risk of attacks, prolonging the disruptive effects on supply chains, maritime experts say.
Partner nations have previously escorted convoys to defend vessels against hijacking by Somali pirates, but air attacks present another level of danger for commercial operators. Participating navies may not have the right kind of anti-missile technology and no system is foolproof.
Vespucci Maritime’s Jensen said small drones may not seem like a major threat to massive container ships but noted the danger from an explosion is fire that could quickly spread.
“Are you going to risk life and limb of your seafarers and a billion dollars worth of cargo on the ship in the hope that they will shoot down all of those missiles? … Unless there is also a solution whereby the attacks themselves from land stop, or at least are eliminated drastically, I have a hard time seeing the carriers resume sending supersized post Panamax vessels through that region,” he said.
The biggest shipping problem will be in the Mediterranean Sea because carriers that used to call on ports such as Genoa in Italy, on their way to major gateways in Northern Europe, will bypass the smaller destinations, said Jensen.
Shippers should also brace for Med-bound containers to get stuck for up to a week in unfamiliar transshipment ports such as Tangiers in Morocco or Algeciras in Spain, where carriers will offload them to avoid lengthy detours from the main route.
Jensen also warned that some consumer goods may swing back to the Panama Canal, pricing out Chilean and Peruvian agriculture growers who are less able to pay the reservation fees for priority access.
Shippers that bring products to the East Coast through the Suez Canal also have the option of using the trans-Pacific route and then moving inland by rail or truck.
Jensen said the combination of strong Chinese New Year demand and the effective decrease in global container capacity because of the extra ships necessary to sustain diversion around Africa could lead ocean rates to triple. Interviewed on CNBC on Friday, Jensen predicted the average global rate would double to about $3,000.
Ocean rates are already spiraling upward. The rate for a forty-foot equivalent unit reached $1,875 between Asia and the Mediterranean on Dec. 14, according to the Xeneta platform – a 25% increase from the previous week. But shippers are being quoted more than $6,500 for high priority shipments on Mediterranean Shipping Company’s Diamond Tier service. And MSC implemented peak season surcharges of $2,000 for Asia-Mediterranean cargo.
And, Jensen noted, a new European emissions trading scheme for maritime that is scheduled to go into effect on Jan. 1 will be much for expensive as carriers have to pay carbon tax on emissions for going all the way around Africa.
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/cargo-owners-consider-airfreight-alternative-red-sea-shipping-delays
December 23, 2023
FBI warns of terrorist ‘threats’…and that’s about it
By Michael Letts
You have to love it when someone reassures you of some threat, then says he’ll do something about it…and never does.
And by love it, I mean absolutely loathe it.
That’s exactly the position that the DHS and the FBI have put themselves in. They’ve warned Americans that there could be some kind of terror threat due to the ongoing Israel/Hamas war, and said they would be monitoring the situation, but they’re doing little else to actually secure our borders or keep our street safe.
“But we got your back, guys!” Sure.
In a statement made a little while back, the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security announced potential “heightened” threats to public safety this holiday season, believing there are some extremists out there in the United States who could do harm due to what’s happening with the war.
“We take all potential threats seriously and will work closely with our law enforcement partners to determine their credibility, share information, and take appropriate action,” the bureau noted.
That’s great. But…is that enough?
Over the last few months, I’ve seen a disturbing trend that’s still going on, and while the FBI and DHS insist that the matter’s in good hands, I’m not so sure.
That’s because, over the past few months, neither department has really done anything in terms of securing our borders. There hasn’t been any talk about hiring additional Border Patrol agents to keep migrants out, nor has there been any discussion — aside from a quick promise by President Joe Biden — about fortifying it.
Not only that, but Biden has flat-out refused to visit the border in any capacity to see what’s going on firsthand. His administration has also gone as far as to condemn the Republicans who actually cared enough to go down there and seeing what was going on, dismissing them as political stunts.
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2023/12/fbi_warns_of_terrorist_threatsand_thats_about_it.html
A Glaring Sign of Rot Within the CIA
If there’s a new administration in January 2025, it will have its work cut out for it
By Fred Fleitz
December 22, 2023
In his powerful new book, Neutering the CIA: Why Us Intelligence Versus Trump Has Long-term Consequences, former CIA analyst John Gentry discusses how the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) agenda has harmed national security by elevating the goals of left-wing identity politics as paramount in the selection and promotion of officers. For example, late last month, the Financial Times revealed that a CIA officer posted pro-Palestinian images on her Facebook page and a selfie photo with the caption “Free Palestine.”
The agency officer, later identified as Amy McFadden, reportedly posted at least one of these images to the Internet after the horrific October 7, Hamas attack on Israel in which more than 1,300 Jews were killed by Hamas terrorists, many of them raped and mutilated, and more than 250 taken hostage.
According to the New York Post, two weeks after the Hamas terrorist attack, the senior CIA official “changed her cover photo to an image of a man waving a Palestinian flag in a keffiyeh-patterned shirt — a design euphemistically referred to as a symbol of Palestinian ‘solidarity’ popularized by the late Palestine Liberation Organization terrorist-in-chief Yasser Arafat.”
But McFadden is hardly the only example. A State Department employee publicly accused President Biden of being “complicit in genocide” by providing military assistance to our ally Israel. Sylvia Yacoub, a foreign affairs officer in the Bureau of Middle East Affairs, tweeted directly at the President with his handle “@POTUS,” and also tweeted directly at the Vice President, “Embarrassingly out of touch @VP,” after Vice President Kamala Harris met with the Prime Minister of the U.K., our closest ally.
https://amgreatness.com/2023/12/22/a-glaring-sign-of-rot-within-the-cia/
ughLouisiana Gov. Bel Edwards pardons 56 inmates, 40 of whom are convicted murderers
Twenty-three of the pardons were finalized Dec. 13 and Dec. 19.
Louisiana Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards has pardoned dozens of inmates since October of this year, with many being convicted murderers.
Over the past few months, Edwards has pardoned 56 prisoners with 40 of them being convicted murderers, according to Fox News. This month alone, Edwards pardoned five prisoners convicted of first-degree murder and 11 convicted of second-degree murder.
Twenty-three of the pardons were finalized Dec. 13 and Dec. 19, according to a Fox 8 report.
“For as long as I can remember, Louisiana reflexively responded to an increase in crime by putting more people in prison and keeping them there longer,” he told a local Louisiana news outlet referring to a package of prison reform laws he helped pass in 2017.
“We’ve never been made safer as a result of that,” he added. “There is no data to suggest that an increase in crime here was because of the reforms.”
Some other inmates pardoned by Edwards were convicted of arson, aggravated kidnapping and armed robbery.
This is Edwards’ last term as governor. Current GOP Attorney General Jeff Landry was elected as his replacement.
https://justthenews.com/nation/states/democrat-gov-bel-edwards-pardons-56-inmates-40-them-being-convicted-murderers?callback=in&code=YZBLOWE4ZJETM2NJNY0ZYZEXLTKYOWETYMU2OTNHNDC5NTGY&state=41d7b707e7f2467c92aafa83a0b03ed1
Biden’s marijuana pardons mark latest round of rule by executive fiat instead of legislation
President Obama once famously boasted that “I have a pen and I have a phone” when asked about his use of Executive Orders to roll back many of his predecessor’s policies. Biden is taking the same use of executive authority to pursue policy goals that would otherwise be unlikely to clear one or both chambers of Congress.
President Joe Biden commuted sentences for 11 non-violent drug offenders and issued a sweeping pardon for simple possession and marijuana use under D.C. and federal law.
While the President has the constitutional authority to pardon convicts of federal crimes and crimes committed in the District of Columbia, the pardons underscore an effort by the White House to enact substantial policy reforms via executive fiat rather than negotiating with the divided Congress.
The past three administrations saw relatively few periods of unified government and presidents have often had to deal with at least one chamber of Congress under the control of the opposition, a situation that has often caused frustrations in the Oval Office and motivated expansive unilateral action by the White House.
Biden, like presidents before him, has made extensive use of his executive authority to pursue policy goals that would otherwise be unlikely to clear one or both chambers of Congress and therefore not make it to his desk for signature.
Here are some of the more significant instances:
The drug pardons
In Friday’s announcement, Biden acknowledged his extensive use of the executive pardon, saying “I have exercised my clemency power more than any recent predecessor has at this point in their presidency.”
While the power to pardon is not under question, Biden asserted that he aimed to use his executive authority as an example to drive policy reform at the state level, saying “It’s time that we right these wrongs. Just as no one should be in a federal prison solely due to the use or possession of marijuana, no one should be in a local jail or state prison for that reason, either. That’s why I continue to urge Governors to do the same with regard to state offenses and applaud those who have since taken action.”
Similarly, in October 2022, Biden announced a blanket pardon for thousands of individuals convicted of federal marijuana charges. The drug remains illegal at the federal level and is listed as a Schedule 1 substance, meaning it has “a high potential for abuse, no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States, and a lack of accepted safety for use under medical supervision,” according to the Drug Enforcement Agency.
Student loan debt
In mid-2022, Biden announced a sweeping student loan debt cancellation plan that would have cancelled up to $10,00 for most borrowers and up to $20,000 for Pell Grant recipients. Biden announced the plan without securing the support of Congress and both the House and Senate voted this year to block the plan, though Biden vetoed its cancellation.
In Biden v. Nebraska, the Supreme Court in June struck down Biden’s debt cancellation scheme, holding that the Education Department had “no authorization for the Secretary’s plan when examined using the ordinary tools of statutory interpretation—let alone ‘clear congressional authorization’ for such a program.”
Biden continues to pursue debt cancellation with or without legislative approval. The Education Department announced a revised plan a month after the Supreme Court’s ruling. Biden has since announced multiple rounds of unilaterally-decided student debt cancellation, including instances in October and December without congressional approval.
Gun Control
The Biden White House has consistently lobbied for stricter gun control measures, including a nationwide so-called “assault weapons” ban. Though the legislature did agree to some concessions in the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, Republicans conceded far less on the issue than the White House wanted and Biden has pursued executive actions on the matter.
For example, in March, Biden issued an Executive Order aimed at reducing gun violence, which directed executive branch agencies to heighten scrutiny of federal firearms licensees, called “FFL’s”, to ensure compliance with existing legislation and thereby expand the number of background checks. He further directed agencies to work to raise awareness about “red flag laws” and safe storage of firearms. “[W]e must together insist that we have had enough, and that we will no longer allow the interests of the gun manufacturers to win out over the safety of our children and Nation,” the president said in the Executive Order.
The whole first month of his term
Upon taking office, Biden quickly set about upending as much of former President Donald Trump’s own executive actions as he could, cancelling the 2017 Executive Order that banned travel to the United States for 90 days from seven predominantly Muslim countries, recommitting to the Paris Climate Accord, imposing a COVID-19 mask mandate in federal buildings, promoting “racial equity” in health care, reversing environmental deregulation, to name a few.
The flurry of executive orders to erase Trump’s own prompted even the Biden-supporting New York Times to publish an editorial asserting that Biden was unduly exercising executive authority to the extent that it risked causing instability.
In a 2021 Op-Ed titled “Ease Up on the Executive Actions, Joe,” the editorial board wrote that, though “executive actions are far more ephemeral and easily discarded than legislation, which can set up a whipsaw effect, as each president scrambles to undo the work of his predecessor.”
“Just as Mr. Trump set about reversing as many of President Barack Obama’s directives as possible, Mr. Biden is now working to reverse many of Mr. Trump’s reversals,” they said at the time. “With executive orders, there is always another presidential election just a few years off, threatening to upend everything. This creates instability and uncertainty that can carry significant economic as well as human costs.”
https://justthenews.com/government/white-house/holdbidens-marijuana-pardons-mark-latest-round-wh-rule-executive-fiat
WaPo Discovers a Group of Acceptable Gun Owners
By Cam Edwards | 8:29 AM on December 23, 2023
WaPo Discovers a Group of Acceptable Gun Owners
(AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
In the Virginia Citizens Defense League’s latest alert to members, president Philip Van Cleave shared a link to a Newsweek story about “liberal America embracing gun ownership“. While it’s a common trope among gun control activists that the best way to get conservatives to embrace their anti-gun agenda is for the Left to start exercising their own right to keep and bear arms, Van Cleave was pleased to share the story, telling VCDL members that “[t]he more diverse groups that are embracing gun ownership, the harder it will be for the gun controllers to disarm us.”
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He’s not wrong, and I too am glad to see Americans of all stripes and political ideologies are discovering that the Second Amendment applies to them as well. You don’t have to be a middle-aged, big-bearded, well-padded conservative dude who lives in the country to keep and bear arms. It’s a right of We the People, not a right of the Right, after all.
Still, I’ve noticed that most media outlets bemoan gun ownership for the masses, though every so often they’ll grant an exception for some of us. The Washington Post, for example, is routinely hostile towards gun ownership in general in its coverage, but the paper was surprisingly even-handed and fairly positive in its recent portrayal of LGBTQ+ gun owners.
Sociologist Thatcher Combs researched LGBTQ+ gun ownership at the University of Texas at Austin. He said queer gun organizations have seen an uptick of people interested in gun ownership. He believes the increase is directly linked to the trans community feeling threatened.
“When you don’t feel like you have a place that feels safe, then you’re going to find a way to make yourself feel safe. And a lot of times that comes with gun ownership,” said Combs.
Erin Palette, national coordinator for the Pink Pistols, the largest LGBTQ+ gun club in the country, confirmed that their membership has been increasing. She attributed the rise to mass shootings that targeted gay clubs and anti-LGBTQ+ legislation.
…
A trans man living near Boston, who spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear of violence, decided to become a gun owner and instructor in 2022 for self-defense. “I don’t carry a firearm because it puts my mind at ease. It’s not a comfort thing. It’s an emergency tool of absolute last resort,” he said. As a licensed firearm instructor in Massachusetts, he has taught trans people who have been followed and assaulted. He’s also instructed a mother of a trans child who wanted to be able to protect her family. He said most of his students have found him through word-of-mouth.
In his research, Combs noticed that many queer people are worried about being identified as LGBTQ+ while in public and attracting violence. “There’s this atmosphere of fear of walking around in public, wondering if you’re going to be noticed,” he said.
According to Smith, Rainbow Reload allows LGBTQ+ gun owners to be themselves, given that many progressive groups are more anti-gun. “I have seen a lot of resistance in certain queer spaces to getting armed,” said Smith. “What I’m doing is a rejection of both sides.”
Smith said she believes that for queer people, learning to use a firearm is important for self-protection. “Our goal is keeping people safe,” she said. “I’m not pro-gun in the sense that I think everybody should always have a gun,” Smith added. “But I can absolutely see there are universes where I would die if I didn’t have access to one, and so would people I care about.”
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That’s about as close to an anti-gun comment as you’ll find in the WaPo story. Reporter Hadley Green didn’t include any quotes from gun control groups (or pro-2A organizations, for that matter), and I can’t help but wonder if that was by design. Gun control advocates can’t acknowledge that there’s ever a legitimate reason to own a firearm, but it’s not a great look for them to accuse these gun owners of being tools of the gun lobby or worse. It would also go against the media’s preferred narrative to highlight any positive response from Second Amendment activists, given that we’re supposed to be a bunch of intolerant jackasses who only care about our own right to keep and bear arms, and not anyone else’s. In fact, Green’s piece begins by quoting Tucker Carlson in March of this year reacting to Rainbow Reload by declaring, “You can’t have guns, but faithful servants of the Democratic Party can.”
Green could just as easily have reached out to someone like Tony Simon, who hosts Diversity Shoots at multiple ranges in New Jersey and Pennsylvania and would have provided a very different perspective than Carlson, but that would have undercut the implied message of the story: liberal gun owners are only embracing their Second Amendment rights to protect themselves against right-wing gun owners; nothing for the left to celebrate, necessarily, but perhaps the only acceptable reason for owning a gun for many Post staffers and readers.
Ironically, Green’s use of the Tucker Carlson quote in the story actually buttresses his point. Would the paper ever run a story covering gun ownership among middle-aged heterosexual men without talking to an Everytown activist or another gun control supporter eager to criticize their decision? I highly doubt it. Far too many media outlets start with the point of view that gun ownership is bad, but they’ll make an exception for the left side of the political spectrum.
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Are there gun-owning bigots around? Of course, along with bigots who would never own a gun. But I’d say that generally speaking, even conservative Second Amendment advocates (or at least the crowd I run with) don’t believe that the right to keep and bear arms only applies to those who look like us or think like us, any more than the First Amendment only applies to people we agree with. We’re happy to see Americans of all walks of life and ideologies embrace gun ownership, even if outlets like the Washington Post refuse to acknowledge that reality.
https://bearingarms.com/camedwards/2023/12/23/wapo-discovers-a-group-of-acceptable-gun-owners-n78727#google_vignette
Armed Citizens Fight Back in Home Invasions
By Cam Edwards | 7:01 PM on December 22, 2023
Armed Citizens Fight Back in Home Invasions
paulsbarlow7 / Pixabay
Armed citizens defended themselves from violent intruders on at least two occasions in Georgia this week, leading to the death of one armed suspect and the arrest of two others.
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The first incident took place in LaGrange, Georgia on Wednesday evening, when a homeowner shot and killed a suspect identified by police as 22-year-old Jonathan Daniel.
The investigation by detectives revealed that Daniel and another suspect, Antonio Stephens, tried to rob a man at gunpoint. Police said Daniel pointed his gun at the victim, which is when the victim pulled out a gun and shot Daniel, killing him.
Stephens was arrested on Thursday and charged with felony murder in the death of Daniel, police said.
Less than 24 hours later, police in Statesboro, Georgia responded to reports of a shooting at an apartment complex, where they quickly determined that the shots were fired after a man wearing a mask and two female accomplices forcibly entered an occupied apartment and assaulted at least one of the tenants. The victim was able to draw his firearm and fired, sending the assailants scrambling out the door.
SPD dispatchers called around to local hospitals trying to locate the injured suspect. They identified 21-year-old Zion Cornelius, of Savannah, who was being treated for a non-life-threatening gunshot wound at a hospital in Claxton. His girlfriend, Antania Sanders, of Savannah, had accompanied him.
SPD said that based on evidence gathered from the scene, Flock camera footage and interviews, Cornelius and Sanders were both arrested and charged with first-degree home invasion and aggravated assault.
The suspects were transported to the Bulloch County Jail where they remain pending further judicial action.
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It doesn’t appear that the armed citizens are facing any charges in connection with either home invasion, though both incidents remain under investigation.
We don’t have a lot of information on either incident at this point, and there a number of unanswered questions including whether the victims of the home invasions knew their attackers beforehand, or if these were random encounters with violent predators.
The same is true of another violent encounter this week in the state of Connecticut, where police say an “elderly, handicapped person” in Bridgeport shot his attacker, though we have even less information about this case than either of the Georgia incidents.
Akeim Thomas is charged with criminal attempt of first-degree assault of an elderly/disabled person, illegal discharge of a firearm, second-degree threatening, first-degree reckless endangerment, risk of injury to a child, disorderly conduct and second-degree criminal mischief, Bridgeport police Capt. Kevin Gilleran said in a news release.
Thomas’ bail was set at $750,000, and he will be arraigned in state Superior Court in Bridgeport at a later date, according to Gilleran.
Though details regarding the circumstances of the shooting were not immediately available, Gilleran said there was more than one shooter in the Sunday incident and that a 67-year-old person shot Thomas in self-defense.
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Thomas was apparently able to leave the scene of the crime and make his way to a local hospital, where healthcare workers notified police that they were treating a man with a gunshot wound to his abdomen. As of the latest report, Thomas is still hospitalized and under police watch, while the senior citizen and the child who was present during the assault were unharmed.
While there are still a lot of unknown details in each of these incidents, the most important fact is crystal clear: the lawful gun owners in question managed to get through their run-ins with violent attackers without suffering harm themselves, and without the ability to access and use their firearms in self-defense, the outcomes of these encounters could have been very different and far more tragic.
https://bearingarms.com/camedwards/2023/12/22/armed-citizens-fight-back-in-home-invasions-n78725
Hunter Biden is Exactly The Kind of Gun Criminal Joe Biden Has Said He Wants to Find and Prosecute
By
Grace Stevens –
December 22, 2023 51
During his season with addiction, Hunter Biden ran the risk of being the type of person his dad wanted to throw in jail until recently in his political career. In October 2018, Hunter Biden allegedly bought a revolver while being addicted to crack cocaine, NBC News reported. A court filing states the first son was in possession of a gun for 11 days while “he purchased and used crack cocaine regularly.”
Hunter Biden was indicted in September on three felony gun charges for allegedly providing false statements and knowingly possessing the gun while being addicted to drugs. The first son filled out a federally mandated form at the time of purchasing a gun and noted he was not using illegal narcotics despite being a “user of and addicted to crack cocaine at the time,” court filings said, according to NBC News.
Hunter Biden’s charges for illegal gun possession come after his father railed against the illegal sale of guns. Throughout his administration, the president has targeted gun ownership and the possession of illegal guns, branding his actions as gun-violence prevention.
https://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/hunter-biden-is-exactly-the-kind-of-gun-criminal-joe-biden-has-said-he-wants-to-find-and-prosecute/
Turley: January 6 Wasn’t Insurrection or Rebellion — 14th Amendment Doesn’t Apply
Thursday on FNC’s “The Story,” network contributor Jonathan Turley questioned the merits of the Colorado Supreme Court’s decision to bar former President Donald Trump from the 2024 primary election ballot.
According to Turley, the 14th Amendment didn’t apply because January 6 was a riot, not an insurrection.
“It’s nonsense,” he said. “I mean, first of all, there’s really interesting analogies to go to Bush v. Gore, you know, a little over 20 years ago, they had another 4-3 decision by another state Supreme Court. And what the court did is they were uncomfortable with the ambiguous standards being used by Florida. This is even more so. When I read the 14th Amendment, I see the words insurrection or rebellion. This was neither. This was a riot. Most people in the public can see it that way. But it’s also not clear that this applies to the office of the presidency. They go through and they enumerate offices that notably does not include the presidency. So there’s a number of elements here that could result in this being overturned, as I expected, will be.”
“In order to get to this spot, these four justices had to adopt the most sweeping interpretations at every point in order to make this actually work,” he continued. “But I think it’s going to collapse in from the Supreme Court. And many of us are hoping that they do speak with one voice, that they speak with a voice for all of us, with the exception of what the people that you’ve just played, that you hear, particularly on other networks. Very few citizens are celebrating this, it’s the same core that has always celebrated every effort to bag Trump. And I’m not saying that they’re wrong in their criticism of Trump. What I’m saying is they’re wrong in their means. If you want to defend democracy, practice democracy, and that’s what’s the disconnect that’s happening here.”
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2023/12/22/turley-january-6-wasnt-insurrection-or-rebellion-14th-amendment-doesnt-apply/
(Richard: When the Politicians and the Judges don’t follow the original intent of the Constitution or the laws in the US and State Codes they are destroying the idea of written laws that everyone must follow. The idea that there are special laws for the “elite” and other laws for the little people are what causes massive bloody rebellions with “Revolutionary Courts” that order incarceration or execution at the whims of a self appointed Judge. The lefts actions are showing that they are emotionally immature wanna be tyrants who enjoy bullying other people.)
California Sheriff Praises Judge for Blocking ‘Unconstitutional’ Gun Control
Shasta County Sheriff Michael Johnson praised District Judge Cormac Carney’s issuance of a preliminary injunction against California’s “sensitive places” law, describing the gun control as “unconstitutional.”
Breitbart News reported that Carney issued the preliminary injunction on Wednesday of this week, in a case brought by a number of California concealed carry permit holders, the Second Amendment Foundation, and Gun Owners of America.
The case was against California’s SB2, which Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed in September of this year, creating new “sensitive places” in which licensed concealed carriers could not carry firearms.
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2023/12/22/california-sheriff-praises-judge-blocking-unconstitutional-gun-control/
Biden’s Parole Pipeline Frees Over 670K Foreign Nationals into U.S. in 11 Months
President Joe Biden’s parole pipeline at the United States-Mexico border has released a foreign population into American communities larger than Las Vegas, Nevada’s, population in less than a year.
On Friday, Biden’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released illegal immigration figures for November. The data shows that since the start of the year, more than 670,000 foreign nationals have been released into the U.S. interior through the administration’s parole pipeline.
The parole pipeline is made up of so-called “humanitarian parole” that Biden’s DHS offers to Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans as well as the “CBP One” migrant mobile app whereby foreign nationals in Mexico can schedule appointments at the border for release into the U.S. interior.
From January through November, nearly 300,000 foreign nationals have arrived in the U.S. via Biden’s humanitarian parole program.
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2023/12/22/bidens-parole-pipeline-frees-over-670k-foreign-nationals-into-u-s-in-11-months/
Exclusive: Republicans Drafting Bills to Remove Joe Biden from Ballots in Georgia, Arizona, Pennsylvania
Three Republican state lawmakers are drafting legislation to remove President Joe Biden from ballots in Georgia, Arizona, and Pennsylvania, Breitbart News exclusively learned Friday.
If Biden is removed from the ballots, the president will have difficulty winning the Democrat primary and presidential election. Georgia, Arizona, and Pennsylvania are vital swing states.
The three state representatives who are drafting the three bills are:
Pennsylvania Rep. Aaron Bernstine (R)
Georgia Rep. Charlice Byrd (R)
Arizona Rep. Cory Mcgarr (R)
The state representatives’ aim is to fight back against the Democrats’ so-called “lawfare” used to attack former President Donald Trump. The Colorado Supreme Court ruled Tuesday in a 4-3 opinion that the United States Constitution’s “Insurrection Clause” blocks Trump from appearing on the state’s presidential ballot.
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2023/12/22/exclusive-republicans-drafting-bills-to-remove-joe-biden-from-ballots-in-georgia-arizona-pennsylvania/
Is Journalism Ready?
The press has repeatedly fallen into Donald Trump’s traps. A second term could render it irrelevant.
By George Packer
The relationship between Donald Trump and the news media has always been a little disingenuous, like a pair of fighters trading insults and throwing air punches at a weigh-in. The hostility is real, but the performance benefits both sides.
Trump claims to despise the journalists who cover him, calling them “the enemy of the American people,” suing them, and threatening unspecified reprisals for their transgressions against him. But his narcissism craves their constant attention, and as president he gave reporters far more access than his successor has, taking their late-night phone calls, then framing their cover stories in gold. Media organizations, including this one, have warned for years that Trump is a danger to the democracy that makes journalism possible, and that a vigorous press is essential to a free society. At the same time, the media became dependent on his vile words and scandalous deeds for their financial health, squeezing droplets of news from his every tweet even if the public had nothing to learn. Leslie Moonves, the disgraced former TV-network chair, said of Trump’s first candidacy: “It may not be good for America, but it’s damn good for CBS.”
As soon as Trump left office, readers and viewers disappeared—within a month, The Washington Post lost a quarter of its unique visitors, and CNN lost 45 percent of its prime-time audience. From exile, Trump summoned one reporter after another to Mar-a-Lago and gave interviews for books that both sides knew would attack his presidency and become best sellers. When he returned as a presidential candidate and criminal defendant, cable-news-network ratings climbed again.
It’s impossible not to feel that Trump has gotten the better of this codependent clench. His endless stream of grievance and invective eroded his supporters’ trust in the news media to the point where 58 percent of Republicans now say they have none. If half the country believes most of what the mainstream media report and the other half thinks it’s mostly lies, this isn’t a partial win for journalists, whose purpose isn’t to strengthen the opposition but to give the public information it needs to exercise democratic power. Trump’s purpose is to destroy the very notion of objective truth. The match was rigged in his favor, and being compelled to fight it has not been good for journalism.
Though reporters did excellent work covering Trump’s presidency, his effect was to make the American media a little more like him: solipsistic (foreign reporting nearly disappeared), divisive, and self-righteous. Trump corrupts everyone who gets near him—spouses, children, followers, accomplices, flunkies. He corrupts the press by obsessing it; by flooding it with so much shit that news becomes almost indistinguishable from fluff and lies; by baiting it into abandoning independence for activism; by demoralizing it with the recognition that much of the public doesn’t care.
Trump wants power again for two reasons, and a policy agenda isn’t one of them: to remove the humiliating stain of defeat, including the prospect of prison, and to exact revenge on his enemies. In a speech in Michigan last June, he named them one by one and promised to destroy them all: “the deep state”; “the warmongers”; “the globalists”; “the communists, Marxists, and fascists”; “the sick political class that hates our country”; and finally—he pointed at reporters in the room—“the fake-news media.”
The first time around, Trump’s attempts to use presidential power against the media were desultory. He was accused of trying to deny a large Pentagon contract to Amazon in order to damage Jeff Bezos, the owner of the Post. To hurt CNN, he pushed his Justice Department to block the merger of AT&T and Time Warner, which owned the network. He talked about weakening journalists’ legal protections and even having them arrested. He created a threatening atmosphere by singling out individuals and organizations. All of it put the media under constant pressure and made their work more difficult. None of it was very effective.
From the November 2023 issue: Martin Baron on how we got ‘Democracy dies in darkness’
Last April, Trump’s campaign website posted a video on deregulation in which the candidate vowed to bring the Federal Communications Commission “back under presidential authority as the Constitution demands”—giving himself direct control over broadcast licenses and other regulatory matters. It’s hard to imagine that at the start of his presidency, he knew what the initials FCC stood for. “One general nightmare is he will be more competent at undermining a free press in a second term, either through advisers or lessons learned,” John Langford, a counsel at Protect Democracy, a nonpartisan nonprofit dedicated to combatting authoritarianism, told me.
“People who actually believe are going to do a better job,” a conservative who served in the Trump administration and is now involved in efforts by the Heritage Foundation to build a loyal cadre of political appointees for a second term told me. In its approach to the media, he said, the biggest mistake of Trump’s presidency was appointing officials who wanted to be liked by journalists. Second-term hires would welcome being the subject of a hit piece in Politico.
A second Trump White House would give important policy scoops to friendly publications such as The Federalist and The Washington Free Beacon rather than to supposedly unfair outlets like The New York Times, which would report them unfavorably. “The White House press corps could be shaken up,” the former Trump official said, explaining that the administration’s director of communications could say to the White House press corps, “I know you have your rules, but we’re not going to play by those rules. Give these people”—administration allies—“press credentials, or we’ll have briefings with only people we invite, in a different room.”
It’s not hard to imagine Trump breaking laws to go after journalists, seeking embarrassing personal information on his most effective pursuers. At the start of his term, he floated to James Comey, the FBI director, the possibility of jailing journalists who published classified information. Comey laughed off the idea; with fanatic loyalists in the bureau, a second-term Trump could carry it out. In a 900-page manual on how to bring the administrative state under the president’s complete control, Heritage advises that “the Department of Justice should use all of the tools at its disposal to investigate leaks,” including seizing reporters’ email and phone records, a practice that Attorney General Merrick Garland ruled out in 2021. The conservative supermajority on the Supreme Court might be less likely to defend press freedom during a second Trump term than the Court has been in the past. Joel Simon, the founding director of the Journalism Protection Initiative at CUNY’s Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism, has urged colleagues to prepare, practically and psychologically, for legal assaults, economic pressure, “a toxic online environment,” and dangerous streets with violence from both police and demonstrators.
President Richard Nixon put his critics in the press on an enemies list, illegally wiretapped and surveilled them, discussed siccing his IRS on them. Nixon’s henchmen even proposed various ways to kill the columnist Jack Anderson (they postponed the plot, instead bugging the Democratic National Committee at the Watergate, and never got back to it). Trump doesn’t need to have journalists poisoned. He doesn’t even need to have them investigated. His most powerful weapon is his ability to convince large numbers of Americans that the press has no particular value for democracy and deserves no special protection; that it’s just another racket of corrupt, self-serving elites; that its hard-won exposés and running fact-checks are all fake news; that the evidence of the senses can be vaporized by a Truth Social post. His epistemological nihilism drives journalists half-mad, unable to counter him or escape his hall of mirrors.
The worst fate for the press in a second Trump term would be neither legal jeopardy nor financial ruin. It would be irrelevance.
Other democracies have reached this point. “Political leaders discredit the press and plant in the minds of the public that they’re just another political actor,” Simon told me. “The public doesn’t see attacks on the press as threats to their own interests, and that opens the door to consolidation of power.” Szabolcs Panyi, an investigative journalist in Budapest, worries that Americans haven’t paid enough attention to the decline of freedom in other countries to prevent it from happening here. “The American public doesn’t recognize that the same could happen to them,” he told me. “They’re not even aware that democracies can be turned in just a matter of years—two election cycles—into hybrid regimes.”
Starting in 2014, Hungary’s leading media companies were acquired by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s cronies and turned into regime mouthpieces or shut down. (For seven months in 2019, Panyi’s phone was surveilled.) Journalists haven’t disappeared into Hungarian prisons. Orbán has crushed independent media with a combination of economic pressure, Kremlin-inspired disinformation, and the “fake news” label. “They killed the news outlets—they don’t have to kill the journalists,” Panyi said. But the key to Orbán’s success has been public opinion. As he neutralized the press, Hungarian voters gave him four election victories in a row. Power creates more power; once the process starts, it can be unstoppable. “Probably the job that we journalists were doing was not good enough,” Panyi said, “or we didn’t make enough efforts to describe to our readers why it’s important what we’re doing.”
Sheila Coronel, an acclaimed Philippine journalist and a professor at Columbia Journalism School, began her career on the eve of the “People Power” revolt that overthrew Ferdinand Marcos in 1986. “We took our freedom for granted,” she told me. “Looking back, maybe we weren’t such good caretakers of that freedom to really serve the public good, as opposed to building profitable media businesses.” As the country’s elected leaders became more corrupt, Coronel said, media companies made fortunes from “entertainment and sensationalism, feeding off political scandals without looking at the underlying causes.”
When the demagogic President Rodrigo Duterte came to power in 2016, he was able to “emasculate” the media, Coronel said. His successor, Bongbong Marcos, the dictator’s son, feeds the public an information diet of “sheer inanity,” undiluted by a critical press. “It’s death by cotton candy.” Like Panyi, Coronel watched her profession lose popular trust, partly through state pressure, partly through its own isolation and carelessness. “We contributed to the erosion of the allure and attraction of democracy,” she said.
Read: Maria Ressa on how to fight fascism before it’s too late
How can the American media prevent their own irrelevance in a second Trump term? First, by getting rid of a few illusions. The press can do little, if anything, to drain the sea of disinformation in which Americans are drowning. The Washington Post’s running tally of Trump’s false statements in office—there were 30,573, or about 21 a day—was a worthy project, but did the recording of all those lies change a single mind? Political beliefs are rarely based on demonstrable facts. Information of any kind only reinforces voters’ views and deepens polarization. The Post and other outlets should continue to hold public figures accountable for their lies, but none of us should expect it to make much difference.
Nor will there be any Watergate for Trump. Nixon was brought down by the work of aggressive journalists, along with a federal judge, a unanimous Supreme Court, and a bipartisan Congress—by strong democratic institutions. But they worked only because Americans still believed in them—because two-thirds of the public, which had just given Nixon a landslide victory, could not abide a criminal in office. That was a different public. Today, almost half the country is prepared to reelect Trump in spite of his two impeachments and 91 criminal charges. What scandal could investigative reporters possibly uncover that would reduce Trump’s support to Nixon’s 24 percent?
In a second Trump presidency, the press would be torn between what’s good for its narrow interests and what’s good for its broader mission of “public interest or public service,” in Joel Simon’s words—that is, democracy. For 25 years, journalists have been scrambling to survive the damage done to their business model by the internet. Venerable outlets perish or self-mutilate; newer ones come and go in a flash; mountains of bait are thrown into the water to see what rises to the surface, producing trillions of bits of data to be collected and examined for financial clues. This exhausting effort consumes so much time and talent that it’s difficult to face the obvious truth: The for-profit model of journalism shows signs of being broken.
And here lies the dilemma: that model works better with Trump. Covering him brought CNN, the Times, the Post, The Atlantic, and other outlets larger audiences. But much of that profitable coverage takes place in a glass booth that seals out a hostile or indifferent public. Claiming a higher purpose, the media flood the zone with their own shit—talking heads, hot takes, angry jeremiads—to stay afloat, and in doing so, they trade long-term credibility for short-term gain. Social-media platforms, far richer and more powerful than the mainstream press, don’t even have to feign a higher purpose. “This is the existential question that we have to ask ourselves,” Simon told me: Carry out a public service at the risk of economic ruin, or give in to incentives to cover Trump in ways that serve him better than the public?
Panyi, the Hungarian journalist, who has lived through what might await us here, spoke of “the tragedy of real journalism,” by which he meant the imperative to “stick to the good old rules of free, fair journalism even if we’re taking the punches and it’s a battle we’re about to lose.” That would be my hope for the press in a second Trump term: to investigate his presidency relentlessly, burrowing deep into every obscure corner where power might be abused, for the record and the future if not for now, and leave the cotton candy aside. Journalists can give the public what it needs to govern itself, but they can’t save democracy. That will be up to the American people.
https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:WiSm-tyllG0J:https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2024/01/trump-reelection-media-coverage-journalism/676126/&hl=en&gl=us
I disagree with the Hungarian journalist, to a degree. Power usually wanes in the second term of Western governments because the people get sick and tires of their Prime Minister or President. Also, media outlets waned in Hungary primarily for the same reason newsprint, magazines and TV reporting has been going belly-up for years: the internet. The left has tried to portray Orban as killing opposition media in Hungary. Well, maybe he has I don’t know, but give the internet the same due it gets here for the same thing, and then go looking for opposition news in Hungary. You will find it.
Breaking Down the 10 Possible Choices for Trump’s 2024 VP: Who Should He Pick
https://rumble.com/v42t2qt-breaking-down-the-10-possible-choices-for-trumps-2024-vp-who-should-he-pick.html
An exceptional 10 minutes from a man I don’t know, stating with great clarity the war we are in:
https://youtu.be/NJh_IYrOeD8?si=xzHSHrqTUEMu4S91
Irrefutable Proof: It’s Clear that Wisconsin Democrats are Cheating and Stealing Races
by Jim Hoft Dec. 23, 2023 3:00 pm
Are there any honest mathematicians left in America today?
Are there any honest actuaries left in America today?
Do any of these experts have a spine?
It is obvious when comparing Wisconsin and Missouri, two similar states with similar results, that Wisconsin is rife with voter fraud.
Missouri–
Six of the eight US House districts are represented by Republicans.
** Republicans hold a 24 to 10 advantage in the Missouri Senate.
** Republicans hold a 111 to 51 advantage in the Missouri House of Representatives.
Trump won the state by 15 points.
President Trump won the 2020 election by 15 points.
Only four of 114 counties went to Joe Biden.
Missouri, once a battleground state, today is a solid red state.
Democrats have a tough climb in Missouri today.
Now look at…
Wisconsin–
Six of eight US House districts are represented by Republicans.
** Republicans hold a 22 to 11 supermajority in the Wisconsin Senate.
** Republicans hold a 64 to 35 advantage in the Wisconsin State Assembly.
But for some strange reason, President Trump lost his lead late at night on Election Day 2020, and Joe Biden eked out a win in the 2020 election.
In Wisconsin, Democrats somehow won the Governor’s race, the Attorney General’s race, the Secretary of State’s race in 2022, and a recent Supreme Court race.
Senator Ron Johnson barely won his race over a radical Marxist in 2022.
So, what is going on in Wisconsin? Can it be stopped in 2024?
The Gateway Pundit will be following the race in Wisconsin. We hope and pray that the good people of Wisconsin figure out how to stop the obvious Democrat voter fraud in the state.
We can’t let them steal Wisconsin in 2024!
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/12/irrefutable-proof-its-clear-that-wisconsin-democrats-are/
Dr. Campbell goes over excess deaths by country. The U.S. has lost 10xs more people than in Vietnam. The doctor wonders why the radio silence.
https://youtu.be/Y7vTqEmlkvw?si=plZXwTEaPFA0nzZR
Iran threatens to shut Strait of Gibraltar as tensions ramp up
Jorg Luyken
Sat, December 23, 2023 at 11:22 a.m. CST·4 min read
Armed men stand on the beach as the Galaxy Leader commercial ship, seized by Houthi rebels last month, is anchored off Yemen
Armed men stand on the beach as the Galaxy Leader commercial ship, seized by Houthi rebels last month, is anchored off Yemen – KHALED ABDULLAH/REUTERS
Iran has threatened to close the Strait of Gibraltar and the Mediterranean Sea unless Israel stops bombing Gaza, as the US warned Tehran was “deeply involved” in attacks on shipping.
“They shall soon await the closure of the Mediterranean Sea, [the Strait of] Gibraltar and other waterways,” Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Naqdi, a senior member of the country’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said today.
The general did not explain how Iran, which does not border the Mediterranean, intended to make good on its threat.
Iran’s proxy militias in southern Lebanon and Syria do have access to the sea, through which about a fifth of global maritime trade passes.
The Houthis in Yemen, which are backed by Iran, have already forced several major shipping companies to reroute their vessels to avoid the Red Sea by targeting merchant craft with drones and missiles.
On Saturday, a Liberian-flagged tanker was struck by a drone while it was sailing in the Arabian Sea off the coast of India, setting it on fire.
Yemen’s Houthis have warned they ae ready to attack ships in the region
Yemen’s Houthis have warned they are ready to attack ships in the region – MOHAMMED HAMOUD/GETTY
“Some structural damage was also reported and some water was taken onboard. The vessel was Israel-affiliated. She had last called at Saudi Arabia and was destined for India at the time,” British maritime security firm Ambrey said.
The fire was extinguished without any casualties being suffered by the crew.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but the attack came amid a wave of drone and missile attacks carried out by the Houthis.
“Yesterday, the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz became a nightmare for them, and today they are trapped … in the Red Sea,” Brig Gen Naqdi said, describing “the birth of new powers of resistance”.
The Houthis have been fighting Yemen’s government since 2014
The Houthis have been fighting Yemen’s government since 2014 – MOHAMMED HAMOUD/GETTY
The Houthi leadership have described the attacks as retribution for Israel’s invasion of Gaza, which was run by another Tehran ally, Hamas.
They claim that the attacks are targeted against shipping headed for Israel; however, several ships which have been struck have no connection with Israel or the war.
On Friday, US intelligence accused Tehran of being “deeply involved” in the operational planning of the Red Sea attacks.
US intelligence suggests that Iran has been providing a monitoring system which is essential for the attacks, the National Security Council spokesman Adrienne Watson told US broadcaster CNN.
“Iran has the choice to provide or withhold this support, without which the Houthis would struggle to effectively track and strike commercial vessels navigating shipping lanes through the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden,” Ms Watson said.
Houthi attacks
“Iranian-provided tactical intelligence has been critical in enabling Houthi targeting of maritime vessels since the group commenced attacks in November,” she added.
Iran’s deputy foreign minister rejected the accusations that the country was involved in the Houthi attacks, saying the group was acting on its own.
“The resistance (Huthis) has its own tools… and acts in accordance with its own decisions and capabilities,” Iran’s deputy foreign minister Ali Bagheri told the country’s Mehr news agency.
“The fact that certain powers, such as the Americans and the Israelis, suffer strikes from the resistance movement… should in no way call into question the reality of the strength of the resistance in the region,” he added.
War on Israel
The Houthis, who have been fighting against Yemen’s government in a civil war since 2014, are part of an Iran-led “axis of resistance” against Israel, the US and the West.
The group’s leaders declared war on Israel last month, launching a salvo of drones and ballistic missiles at the southern Israeli city of Eilat more than 1,000 miles away.
Iran has repeatedly warned of a widening conflict, and last month, its foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said the intensity of the war has rendered its expansion “inevitable”.
Iran’s president Ebrahim Raisi has said Iran sees it as “its duty to support the resistance groups” but insisted that they “are independent in their opinion, decision and action”.
Last month, Tehran dismissed as “invalid” Israel’s accusations that Houthi rebels were acting on Tehran’s “guidance” when they seized a Red Sea ship owned by an Israeli businessman
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/iran-threatens-shut-strait-gibraltar-172232802.html
Bad look, USA.
Israel-Hamas war: Merchant ship linked to Israel struck by drone off coast of India
Abbie Cheeseman
Sat, December 23, 2023 at 11:35 AM CST·19 min read
5
This handout picture released by the Israeli army on December 22, 2023 shows soldiers operating in the Gaza Strip, amid continuing battles between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
This handout picture released by the Israeli army on December 22, 2023 shows soldiers operating in the Gaza Strip, amid continuing battles between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas. – AFP PHOTO/Handout /Israeli Army
A merchant vessel that has been described as “Israel-affiliated” has been hit by a drone in the Arabian Sea, amid a spate of attacks on global shipping since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war.
British maritime security firm Ambrey said on Saturday morning that a Liberian-flagged chemical products tanker was struck 120 miles southwest of Veraval, India. The fire was extinguished by the crew without any casualties.
“Some structural damage was also reported and some water was taken onboard. The vessel was Israel-affiliated. She had last called Saudi Arabia and was destined for India at the time,” Ambrey said on its website.
While no group has yet to take responsibility for the attack, the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen have been carrying out a series of attacks targeted at Israel-affiliated ships in the Red and Arabian Seas in solidarity with Gaza that has caused serious disruptions to major global shipping routes
https://news.yahoo.com/israel-hamas-war-merchant-ship-173538932.html
I was hearing this really incredible chain of mental gymnastics in Vancouver this week between one man who decided two shots was enough, he didn’t want the second but needed it for family visits so I’ll call him DoneWithVaxs. Second one was adamant all boosters are a must.
DoneWithVaxs said his doctor had warned that each shot increases side effects, and he’s known nurses who turned it down they are fine, he’s started to feel it’s a big sham, people who’ve had the shots still got covid, and the unvaccinated aren’t bad people, he sees both sides to this people do want to do what’s best with the info they have.
He said Trudeaus war time actions against the convoy really woke him up to what an arrest of free movement this had been.
Adamant guy said all anti vax are dumbas*es, everyone who lost their job across Canada for not following the science deserves it, the convoy mrasyres Trudeau took were justified. That it’s always best to boost soon as you can, after all these hypocrites will take a boost for hiv or tetanus this is no different and it’s very safe. Mandatory vaccines are part of what keeps people free, he doesn’t want to be anywhere by the unvaxed who decided it’s their right to spread viral load and contaminate the air. His metaphor of why mandatory vax are part of our freedoms was this absolute gem: suppose we’re on a cruise ship , again we will have our rights to our own cabins but what if you want to dig a hole down into the floor? Then your selfish act of freedom endangers everyone on the ship.
Nikki Haley Buys $2.4 Million Waterfront Property in South Carolina Five Months After Joining Boeing’s Board of Directors
by Jim H?ft Dec. 23, 2023 4:40 pm79 Comments
Nikki Haley, the former governor of South Carolina and Republican presidential candidate, has made headlines with the purchase of a grand waterfront estate on Kiawah Island, a wealthy beach community known for its seclusion, golf courses, and high-profile guests.
This purchase occurred in October 2019, comes approximately five months after she accepted a position on the board of directors for Boeing, the aerospace giant, the New York Post reported.
The property, a 5,700 square foot Mediterranean-style mansion that commands vistas of the Kiawah River, is fringed by centuries-old oaks and palmettos and was secured for 2.4 million — a figure markedly lower than the initial 3.3 million asking price.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/12/nikki-haley-buys-2-4-million-waterfront-property/
17 Illegal Aliens on FBI’s Terror Watch List Encountered at Southern Border in November: Border Patrol
by David Greyson Dec. 23, 2023 4:00 pm67 Comments
Joe Biden’s America.
According to data from Customs and Border Protection, there were 17 illegals encountered in November that were on the FBI’s terror watchlist.
This is just what we know of. The number of terrorists flooding into the US on Joe Biden’s watch is much worse than we know.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/12/17-illegal-aliens-fbis-terror-watch-list-encountered/
Mich. Satanist Capitol Display Condemned by only 9 of 54 House Republicans, no Democrats
by Benjamin Wetmore Dec. 23, 2023 6:20 pm13 Comments
In mid-December, the Michigan Temple of Satan set up a ‘Christmas Display’ on the lawn of the Michigan State Capitol in order to mock Christians during their holy time of year as they celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ as the Gateway Pundit’s Cassandra Fairbanks reported yesterday.
Within a day, a Democrat legislator Samantha Skorka was pictured kissing the display. Her tweet mocked Christians: “In the name of Satan, I claim the sexy satanic baphomet goat altar at OUR Michigan Capitol. Amen.”
Now nine legislators sent a letter to the Michigan Capitol Commission, which oversees the Capitol grounds, protesting the permission granted to Satanists to use the grounds. All nine legislators are Republicans, and the protest letter was led by Rep. Neil Friske (R). There are 54 Republicans in the Michigan House, so 45 of them refused to sign onto Rep. Friske’s letter.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/12/mich-satanist-capitol-display-condemned-only-9-54/
DEVELOPING: Police Launch Manhunt After Shooting at Paddock Mall in Florida, Multiple People Injured (VIDEO)
Multiple individuals were shot and injured at Paddock Mall in Ocala, Florida, on Saturday. Authorities reported that the suspect fled the scene and is currently the target of an intensive search.
“OPD is responding to an active shooting situation that occurred at the Paddock Mall. There is a heavy police presence on scene and we will provide more information as it becomes available. Please avoid the area at this time,” the police department wrote on X.
The incident occurred before 4 p.m. Eastern Time, casting a shadow over the holiday shopping rush as the area became a nexus of emergency response. The Ocala Police Department (OPD) is leading the investigation and has evacuated the mall while they pursue leads on the suspect’s whereabouts.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/12/developing-police-launch-manhunt-after-shooting-paddock-mall/
Black Chicago Resident EXPLODES at City Council Meeting over Migrant Crisis: “Trump, come in here and clean this mess up!”
Benny Johnson – December 21, 2023
https://twitter.com/bennyjohnson/status/1738048169395540375
Black Chicago Resident EXPLODES at City Council Meeting over Migrant Crisis: “Trump, come in here and clean this mess up!”
Benny Johnson – December 21, 2023
https://twitter.com/bennyjohnson/status/1738048169395540375