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Nato partitioning of Ukraine portends visible and invisible events. We now see Viktor Orban’s tour was intentionally frontrunning this. So what are events in Ukraine, in turn, frontrunning? The Russian expansionist narrative cannot be taken seriously when, after more than two years, they’re still fighting on Ukrainian soil. Should the Russians not be, at very least, in Budapest or Vienna by now for this narrative to hold water? If they were the threat we say they are they should be well on their way to Portugal. From what is the Ukraine war distracting us?
Feelings of impending doom absolutely pervade us everywhere we turn. I speak to one buddy almost daily about events, and we are often at a loss to find cohesion beyond any single topic. I usually talk economics while he covers his areas of interest. Fact is, just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they aren’t out to get ya. Ask a Jew.
Information overload frequently comes up as a reason for our mental paralysis. The very fact that I say this, and mean it, means something else is at play and it is intentional. Needing a break from constantly trying to digest loads of information is indicative of battlefield weariness, no? We spend much time checking and rechecking reliable sources to make sure these sources haven’t turned on us.
The known unknown is we see is only a fraction of the forces arrayed against us. The fighting going on in Ukraine distracts from the cognitive warfare machine wearing us down.
What event or goal is so big that a cognitive warfare campaign waged against billions of people becomes necessary? Or is it only being waged against the West? To what end? If I knew the answers to these questions I wouldn’t be in a lonely think tank of one, and maybe wouldn’t have to occasionally recoil into silly poetry.
Basic questions abound. Are there even two sides to the Uke war? If there are two, what truly separates them beyond Russia’s historical need for a Ukrainian buffer zone? Is it true that the neocons endeavor to seize Russia and her natural resources? Is this the stuff of rabbit holes? Is that recent story about the millions of tons of lithium in east Ukraine more disinformation? See? There I go out of breath, again.
What about the galaxy-sized debt we face? Are we being softened up for a coming economic “black swan” event? Regional banks are running out of liquidity, is this it? Will another pandemic virus be released against us to lock us down again? To wear us down some more? To make more alcoholics and drug addicts and divorce? What about the November election? Is this war expansion laying groundwork to impose martial law and cancel the election?
I haven’t said or asked a single thing here that is an original thought. All I know is that if the billionaire class had to put themselves or their kids on the front line tomorrow, world peace would break out by the weekend.
https://youtu.be/SLkIvWIU64s?si=Q0kgGnNndQqD6i_o
You are right, in everything you Russia could have taken Ukraine early in the war if they had plans for a massive expansion, Putin wanted Crimea to have a warm water port for the Russian Fleet. This is the same reason he is backing Assad in Syria, he wants to have a warm water port that isn’t blocked by Turkey. Having achieved those goals he is fighting to keep NATO from coming closer to having members on several sides of Russia.
China is seeking to dominate most of the World and in my opinion is massively over extended militarily and economically, China may make a move on Taiwan but I am not sure about that. That move would bring them a lot of economic pain and I don’t know if their economy could survive the move.
Putin and the enemies of Freedom are waiting to see who is elected President in the coming election and then the question is who will follow that person in 2024? The answer to the latter question is probably answered by it will be whoever Trump chooses to be his VP. Will he make the decision based on bringing in more votes this year or will it be based on choosing someone who will continue his policies for 4 to 8 years after he leaves office?
We have both been predicting an economic black swan event for years, the crisis keeps getting closer and the longer it waits the worse it will be, I don’t see how it can be held off much longer.
I forgot to put in a metaphor. When I go to the fridge to look for butter I can stare at it and miss it even though it’s right in front of me. The reason? –Thinking of too many things so I don’t see anything. A form of mental paralysis.
That can happen
And you are just a man.
I knew you’d say that! Lol!
Start at 7:57 Dmitry Orlov may be a Russian mouthpiece but he says some interesting things from this point:
https://youtu.be/1V6aTW4TXm0?si=e7pfe75vtKW30dVw
It’s a shame. He has a friend in Hungary:
https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/pm-said-seeking-to-visit-czech-republic-hungary-on-way-to-address-us-congress-amid-concern-over-icc-arrest-warrant-request/
JP Morgan seems to have lost a precious metals contest with a well-connected Chinese trader:
I wonder what Andy Beshear, Governor of Kentucky thinks of The Mail-in guy stepping down.
(Richard: It is already too late for 3 states and depending on how hard Biden fights it may be too late for anything besides the 25th Amendment to substitute him on the ballot. If they use the 25th Amendment they are stuck with Kamala and she is more unpopular then Biden.
All of the maneuvering brings out the fact that the Dems were aware of how bad Biden is for years and have been covering for him for political purposes, it also shows how the MSM has been covering for his and brings up the question of “they have been lying about this, what else have they been lying about.”
This mess is destroying the Democrat Party and is going to bring chaos to the streets of all of the US Cities.)
REMINDER: It May Already Be Too Late for Democrats to Replace Joe Biden as ’24 Candidate Without Surrendering Several Battleground States …Document Included
thegatewaypundit.com/2024/07/reminder-it-may-already-be-too-late-democrats/
Jul. 11, 2024 9:00 am
SOURCE: MEGA
It may already be too late for Democrats to replace Joe Biden as their 2024 candidate without conceding several battleground states.
Here is a reminder of what The Gateway Pundit reported on two weeks ago.
SOURCE: MEGA
The Democratic Party is facing a potential crisis. Following Joe Biden’s disastrous debate performance against Donald Trump, concerns about his fitness to serve have intensified.
The debate has left the party in a state of panic, with whispers of Biden stepping down becoming louder.
It has always been the plan from the start, which is why they scheduled the debate for this year unusually early.
Daily Mail reported:
According to Democratic bigwig, Obama campaign guru David Axelrod, the Biden team scheduled one of the earliest presidential debates in history (June 27 on CNN) to prove to naysayers that Joe’s not going anywhere.
But the gambit carries tremendous risk.
While an efficient debate performance by Biden could help rally Democrats behind him – a significant misstep would only stoke more replacement chatter.
Former Clinton advisor and polling expert Mark Penn suggested the CNN debate will be Biden’s last chance to reassure voters he’s fit for the job.
Now DailyMail.com has learned that if Joe stumbles in that first face-off with Trump or if his polling numbers keep falling, it’ll take a united front of the liberal grandees to make Joe throw in the towel.
‘The only people who could force him out would be Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer,’ one Democratic strategist told DailyMail.com. ‘It would have to be the four of them collectively.’
And the process would be high risk.
However, there is another potential complication. Biden could stubbornly refuse to step down and continue his campaign until Election Day.
If Biden refuses to step down, it would put the Democratic Party in a difficult position. They would have to contend not only with a stubborn incumbent but also with potential backlash from leftists if Kamala Harris is passed over for the nomination.
After all, it’s HER turn.
“That person would not be Vice President Kamala Harris, according to sources, who observed that Harris has already had to fend off a push to replace her on the ticket,” Daily Mail reported.
“Strategists theorize that Democrats would have to hold a public event to symbolically transfer power to the new candidate. Biden, Obama, Clinton, Schumer, and Pelosi would publicly introduce and endorse the anointed nominee,” the news outlet added.
The Gateway Pundit reported that former White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany dropped a bombshell report concerning the current state of the Biden campaign.
Trending: Joe Biden Goes Rogue at Union Meeting, Grabs the Mic and Starts Rambling Before Feed Abruptly Cuts! (VIDEO)
McEnany quoted a post from Doug Kass, a hedge fund owner and prominent figure within the Democratic party, who claimed to have insider knowledge about a meeting taking place between President Joe Biden, his former Chief of Staff Ron Klain, and former President Barack Obama.
According to Kass’s post, Jill Biden is insistent about Joe Biden running for re-election, causing tension within his own campaign. Kamala Harris is reportedly “furious” that she is not being considered as a potential replacement candidate.
“What I am hearing regarding Joe Biden. Ron Klain and Barack Obama are having a sit down with the President today. Jill Biden is insistent that Joe runs. Kamala is furious that she is not being considered as a replacement (Whitmer and Newsom are). Interestingly my neighbor in East Hampton is hosting the Bidens tomorrow. It will be an important tell if the fundraiser is cancelled,” Doug Cass wrote on X.
However, it may already be too late to remove Joe Biden from the ballot. The Heritage Foundation’s Oversight Project is gearing up for a counter-fight should Democrats attempt to pull Biden off the top of the ticket, the Daily Mail reported.
“We are monitoring the calls from across the country for President Biden to step aside, either now or before the election, and have concluded that the process for substitution and withdrawal is very complicated. We will remain vigilant that appropriate election integrity procedures are followed,” said Mike Howell, Executive Director of The Heritage Foundation’s Oversight Project.
The Heritage Oversight Project has identified three swing states – Georgia, Nevada and Wisconsin – where they believe removing Biden from the Democratic ticket would prevent anyone else from replacing him.
Wisconsin does not allow withdrawal from the ballot for any reason besides death, while in Nevada, no changes can be made to the ballotafter 5 p.m. on the fourth Friday in June of an election year unless ‘a nominee dies or is adjudicated insane or mentally incompetent.’ In Georgia, if Biden were to withdraw less than 60 days before the election, his name would remain on the ballot but no votes would be counted.
According to a draft from The Heritage Oversight Project obtained by the Daily Mail:
Three of the expected six most contested states have some potential for pre-election litigation aimed at exasperating, with legitimate concerns for election integrity, the withdrawal process for a presidential candidate.
GA, NV, and WI, have specific procedures for withdrawal of a presidential nominee with differing degrees of applicability and timelines.’ WI does not allow withdrawal for any reason besides death.”
Important caveats include the timeline and triggering events. For example, some states allow withdrawal before the 74th day before an election,’ and failure to adhere to these timelines can result in the candidate’s name remaining on the ballot! (which provides its own corollary of post-election litigation). Likewise, the rationale for withdrawal (death, medical, or other) can be outcome determinative. Some states, like South Carolina, do not allow withdrawal for political reasons.’
There is also the possibility that states will be complicit in an improper withdrawal or substitution. The general scenario plays out after an election where the candidate dies, and the electors are left to choose who they are voting for. This circumstance is only applicable at the close of the election year there is greater uncertainty if the withdrawal happens before the election.
Should the Democrats choose to withdraw in June or July, after many states’ withdrawal timelines expire, what happens to those expired ballots? Or if done earlier, in April or May, how would that effect the withdrawal process? The answer is it depends.
Much will come down to when Biden withdraws, what procedures he does or does not follow, and the operating state law timelines and triggering events. However, at least 31 states defer to state or national party rules and committees for nominating in the event of withdrawal. These states circumvent the substitution process highlighted above. There may be some avenues for challenges to these laws on improper delegation grounds, however, these may be marginally beneficial.
There is also the issue of applicability. In some of these states there are no statutes that deal with presidential candidate withdrawal or vacancy in nominations, or the laws only operate at the primary election. Even more, there is little caselaw determining when these statutes apply.
Some of the extant cases do address applying these withdrawal statutes to different fact patterns than those contemplated by the statutory text, such as withdrawal of independent presidential candidates or congressional candidates. Yet, this confusion may be its own source of litigation. Arguing for strict application of a statue, like Wisconsin’s which prohibits withdrawal except in the case of death, would likely bear some fruit.
This memorandum does not address the procedures for presidential elector elections.
Additionally, it is outside the scope of this current research to assess different rules for political parties, national and state. Standing and other jurisdictional considerations, such as cause of action (implied or otherwise), are also outside the scope of this project. Further research can casily shore up these deficiencies.
CONCLUSION
Policymakers and the public should be prepared for all externalities that arise from President Biden not running for President in 2024. The process for substitution and withdrawal presents many election integrity issues. Adherence to the law in some states may result in that process being unsuccessful for the purposes of another candidate being on the ballot.
UPDATE: The Gateway Pundit found the April 2 Heritage Oversight memo on the Democrat Party’s difficult challenges in replacing Joe Biden at this juncture.
Here is the full document.
View Fullscreen
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/wp-content/plugins/pdfjs-viewer-shortcode/pdfjs/web/viewer.php?file=https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/draft-withdrawal-and-substitution-memorandum-mh.pdf&attachment_id=1176117&dButton=true&pButton=true&oButton=false&sButton=true#zoom=auto&pagemode=none&_wpnonce=59869aaa46
And here is the pertinent information on Democrats losing several states if they try this undemocratic ploy at this time.
It’s just too late.
page three
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/heritage-document-biden-withdraw-states.jpg
Again, it’s just too late.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/07/reminder-it-may-already-be-too-late-democrats/
Here’s What Pelosi and Barack Obama Are Reportedly Doing About Joe Biden Behind the Scenes – Details Also Emerge About an Obama Call With George Clooney Before Actor Called on Biden to Drop Out
thegatewaypundit.com/2024/07/heres-what-pelosi-barack-obama-are-reportedly-doing/
Jul. 11, 2024 9:45 am
A report has revealed what Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi are doing behind the scenes regarding Biden as details emerge about a phone call between far-left actor George Clooney and the former president.
Politico reported Thursday that Obama has been serving as a sounding board for concerned Democrats, including Hollywood elitists like George Clooney. As the Gateway Pundit reported, Clooney wrote a column yesterday for the New York Times pleading for Joe Biden to leave the presidential race, despite hosting a major fundraiser for the Biden campaign just last month.
The outlet reported Thursday that Clooney made a call to Obama to give him a heads-up that he would call for Biden to drop out. During their conversation, Obama did not encourage or advise Clooney to say what he said, but he also did not try to stop him.
This latest news comes despite Obama defending Biden following his disastrous debate performance last month, while several former Obama aides have blasted the current White House occupant.
Pelosi, however, has been involved in more extensive activities, according to Politico.
The outlet reveals that before going on “Morning Joe” and making remarks refusing to back Biden, Pelosi kept fellow Democrat leaders appraised of her intentions. Her comments were meant to serve as a green light to encourage members to ask Biden to reconsider running and speak about him leaving the race.
As Politico notes, the strategy worked to perfection as the debate over Biden’s political viability rose from the dead on the Hill just one day after \where he appeared to have put out the fires.
Moreover, Pelosi has spoken with members regarding the grave danger her party faces. Six people, including lawmakers, told Politico she has suggested to people that Biden will lose to Trump in the fall and should step aside.
Pelosi has also advised Democrats in swing districts to say and do whatever is necessary to save their own skins. This includes telling Biden to throw in the towel.
Pelosi, though, wants these vulnerable members to hold off on any comments until this week’s NATO Summit has concluded, where Biden is scheduled to make important remarks today. According to Politico, some members have already started drafting statements of what they want to say, ready to drop once foreign leaders leave town.
The outlet further notes the former Speaker has told members who aren’t in swing districts to take their pleas for Biden to depart the race to the White House or the campaign to minimize public fighting. However, members who have tried to take her advice have yet to be able to reach Biden.
Obama’s team declined comment to Politico while Pelosi’s spokesperson released a statement claiming the former speaker still supports Biden.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/07/heres-what-pelosi-barack-obama-are-reportedly-doing/
Read more: https://www.ammoland.com/2024/07/dems-desperate-after-bidens-debate-embarrassment-weeks-before-convention/#ixzz8fgufJdjt
Under Creative Commons License: Attribution
Follow us: @Ammoland on Twitter | Ammoland on Facebook
Dems Desperate After Biden’s Debate Embarrassment Weeks Before Convention
Ammoland Inc. Posted on July 10, 2024 by Dave Workman
Joe Biden CNN Public Debate
Joe Biden, seen here during the CNN Public Debate, is a disaster Democrats can’t blame on anyone but themselves.
Six weeks before the Democratic National Convention unfolds in Chicago, Aug. 19-22, the party is a combination of disarray and despair as President Joe Biden steadfastly refuses to step aside despite polling which signals otherwise. Meanwhile, the Windy City is locked in a wave of homicidal violence, providing a stark reminder to all Americans that Democrat gun control policies have failed miserably.
The party that normally does its in-fighting behind closed doors is so desperate they’re bringing this battle into the public arena, and it promises to get ugly. Fox News is doing the best job of covering the crisis, while other networks are trying to figure out a way to do it without admitting they’ve been complicit from the outset. Now the establishment media has another problem, and they’ve got to figure out a way to blame conservatives, gun owners, and the Second Amendment: Chicago’s ongoing bloodbath.
Over the Independence Day weekend,109 people were shot, including 19 who were killed, according to WLS News, the local ABC affiliate. The popular website Heyjackass.com says so far this year, 273 people have been fatally shot and another 1,302 have been wounded. Last year, 576 people were fatally shot, so this year’s numbers appear to be moving in that direction.
That’s bad in the Democrat-controlled city, where many residents still remember the Democratic convention of 1968, which erupted in violent protests over the Vietnam War. Nowadays, protests might take the form of anti-Israel/pro-Palestinian events, and any other cause some group seeking headlines and disruption might use as an excuse for criminal misbehavior.
For Biden, that’s not the worst of it. A new Rasmussen poll shows 57 percent of likely voters say former President Donald Trump won the June 27 debate, and 55 percent of voters “agree that Biden should step aside” to allow another candidate to ascend in an effort to win the November election. This includes 48 percent of Democrats who “at least somewhat agree that Biden should step aside.”
The same survey found that 62 percent of Republicans and 56 percent of Independents think the president should make way for a replacement. While 45 percent of Democrats, 31 percent of Republicans, and 30 percent of Independents think he should stay in the race.
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What those numbers really mean is that Democrats are willing to throw Biden under the nearest Chicago Transit Authority bus in order to retain power. Likewise, Joe and Jill Biden are clinging to the desire to win a second term so they can stay in power. Neither the party, nor the Bidens, will ever admit this, but it boils down to the lust for power.
A separate Rasmussen survey shows 48 percent of likely voters “trust Republicans more to handle the economy, while 41% trust Democrats more and 11% are undecided.” The poll revealed, a whopping 91 percent of voters say the economy will be a major issue during this year’s presidential election.
“More Republicans (78%) than Democrats (62%) or those not affiliated with either major party (66%) think economic issues will be important in this year’s presidential election,” Rasmussen said.
But for the party headed to Chicago next month, where the streets seem to be turning red and the air is filled with gunfire, there is little doubt gun control will also be a high priority, especially if the violence continues. The area around the convention will be strictly controlled with limited entry, according to various reports, but with national attention focused on the convention, any news from the city will become national headlines, especially if it plays into the “gun violence” narrative.
In recent days, First Lady Jill Biden has been on the campaign trail more than her husband, according to Fox News. The president, meanwhile, has reportedly sent “a defiant letter” to Congressional Democrats, and Biden has stated, “I’m more than the presumptive nominee. I’m gonna be the Democratic nominee.”
In a separate report, Fox says certain “Hollywood elites” are “turning on” the president’s re-election campaign after his disastrous debate performance last month. Several top Hollywood figures have called upon the president to leave the race, and there are reports of some threats to withhold much-needed campaign money unless Biden backs out.
The talk is eerily reminiscent of vows by gun owners to withhold contributions while former NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre remained in office. Now that he is gone, it remains to be seen whether those disillusioned gun owners will be writing checks and returning to the fold.
In the midst of it, anti-gun filmmaker Michael Moore reportedly equated Biden’s campaign to “elder abuse,” according to Mediaite.
Meanwhile, Republicans are preparing for their own national convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin July 15-18. The city has also experienced a recent spate of violence, with Alderman Peter Burgelis issuing a public statement condemning the situation. Still, what’s happening in Milwaukee seems to pale in comparison the mayhem unfolding in Chicago.
In a way, the Windy City situation might stand as a lesson to Democrats that their restrictive gun control efforts have only worked against honest citizens—who seem to be increasingly leaning toward Trump—while criminals have blatantly ignored the existing laws.
Joe Biden is a problem for Democrats, but the party has a bigger problem. They cannot go to Chicago and blame the Biden disaster on Trump, gun owners, or the Second Amendment. This is all on them.
…not allow withdrawal for any reason besides death…
uh huh.
A Playful Pillow Fight Upends Our Democracy
“The sudden passing of our beloved POTUS and FLOTUS leaves us devastated…
“In their memory we vow to unite as a Party and heal this entire traumatized Nation…”
That is one of the things I have been worrying about we both know that the Dems are capable of doing this, another possiblity is his handlers giving him too many stimulants and killing him.
REVEALED: Biden Campaign Assessing Viability of Kamala Harris’s Candidacy Against President Trump
thegatewaypundit.com/2024/07/revealed-biden-campaign-assessing-viability-kamala-harriss-candidacy/
Jul. 11, 2024 2:20 pm
Credit: Getty Images
Credit: Getty Images
Facing continued political heat and falling poll numbers, Joe Biden’s presidential campaign is calling a bit of an audible.
The New York Times exclusively reported Thursday that the Biden campaign is assessing how Kamala Harris would fare in a potential matchup against President Trump in a head-to-head survey.
They refused to explain what made them decide to conduct the poll or whether Biden himself approved the move.
From the New York Times:
Under siege from fellow Democrats, President Biden’s campaign is quietly testing the strength of Vice President Kamala Harris against former President Donald J. Trump in a head-to-head survey of voters, as Mr. Biden fights for his political future with a high-stakes news conference on Thursday.
The survey, which is being conducted this week and was commissioned by the Biden campaign’s analytics team, is believed to be the first time since the debate that Mr. Biden’s aides have sought to measure how the vice president would fare at the top of the ticket. It was described by three people who are informed about it and insisted on anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the information.
They did not specify why the survey was being conducted or what the campaign planned to do with the results. It could be read as the team gathering information to present a case to the president that his path forward is slim, or to argue that Mr. Biden is still the strongest standard-bearer for his party.
The Times notes that Biden’s top aides are split on whether Harris can knock off Trump in a general election. However, major donors and other outside supporters of Harris think she is in a stronger position following Biden’s historically awful debate and may prove a better con artist than Dementia Joe.
MSNBC revealed that NBC News has confirmed the New York Times reporting.
WATCH:
BREAKING: Biden campaign quietly assessing the viability of Harris’ candidacy against Trump in a new head-to-head poll, a source familiar with the decision tells NBC News. pic.twitter.com/PlBvskfROY
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) July 11, 2024
The future of Biden’s candidacy is expected to be determined in part by how he performs in his “Big Boy” NATO press performance Thursday at 6:30 p.m. Democrat lawmakers and big-money donors have vowed to monitor whether Biden embarrasses himself further.
If he does falter, expect the calls for Harris to reach a fever pitch, including from Biden’s own campaign.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/07/revealed-biden-campaign-assessing-viability-kamala-harriss-candidacy/
Forbidden Fruit and the Classroom: The Huge American Sex-Abuse Scandal That Educators Scandalously Suppress
thegatewaypundit.com/2024/07/forbidden-fruit-classroom-huge-american-sex-abuse-scandal/
Jul. 11, 2024 10:30 am
This story originally was published by Real Clear Wire
By James Varney
Real Clear Wire
Every day millions of parents put their children under the care of public school teachers, administrators, and support staff. Their trust, however, is frequently broken by predators in authority in what appears to be the largest ongoing sexual abuse scandal in our nation’s history.
Given the roughly 50 million students in U.S. K-12 schools each year, the number of students who have been victims of sexual misconduct by school employees is probably in the millions each decade, according to multiple studies. Such numbers would far exceed the high-profile abuse scandals that rocked the Roman Catholic Church and the Boy Scouts of America.
For a variety of reasons, ranging from embarrassment to eagerness to avoid liability, elected or appointed officials, along with unions or lobbying groups representing school employees, have fought to keep the truth hidden from the public.
“In any given year they have failed to report thousands of these situations, and instead they’ve papered them over, acted like it’s not an issue,” former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos told RealClearInvestigations. Stunned by a 2018 Chicago Tribune investigation that found 523 incident reports of sexual misconduct by employees of the city’s schools during the past decade, DeVos during the Trump administration launched the process of including specific questions about such cases in the Department’s Civil Rights Data Collection, a process it undertakes every two years. Previously, the Office for Civil Rights asked only general questions about sexual misconduct incidents, without a breakdown of alleged perpetrators.
The Biden administration initially sought to remove those questions, saying it wanted to avoid data duplication, but it backtracked after fierce criticism it was doing so as a sop to teachers unions. Consequently, the question will be included on future questionnaires, but, as of today, the Department of Education “has no data,” a spokesperson told RCI. These days, from Portland, Maine, to Portland, Oregon, even a cursory review of local news reporting brings disquieting revelations of teachers accused of or arrested for alleged sexual relations with a student. In just the past month:
In California, multiple students filed a lawsuit against a male music teacher who had taught at three different schools in the San Jose area. The teacher is already serving prison time for previous convictions in sexual misconduct cases with students.
In New Jersey, a female middle school teacher was arrested for an alleged ongoing sexual relationship with a student.
In Texas, a male teacher was arrested for allegedly having a sexual affair with a 12-year-old student.
In Illinois, a female substitute teacher faces charges of “grooming and predatory criminal sexual assault” for an alleged relationship with a sixth-grader.
In Washington, the arrest of a male high school teacher on charges of sexual misconduct with a minor represented a repeat nightmare for a school district that previously had a psychologist convicted on the same charges.
Just last weekend, a 36-year-old New Jersey teacher was arrested on multiple assault charges involving a sexual relationship with a teenage student.
These stories hold a lurid appeal to some. Sensational accounts of seductions of students by teachers, typically by high school female teachers, are tabloid catnip. The topic has provided material for standup comics, Hollywood writers, and pop tunes that didn’t begin or end with Van Halen’s 1984 hit “Hot For Teacher.”
But experts who track the problem don’t take the problem lightly. Pointing to research from Hofstra University that found roughly 1 in 10 students in K-12 schools have suffered “some form of sexual misconduct by an educator,” Terri Miller, head of the advocacy group SESAME (Stop Educator Sexual Abuse, Misconduct and Exploitation), said the number of victims is staggering.
“The rate of educator sexual misconduct is 10 times higher in one year’s time than in five decades of abuse by clergy,” Miller said, noting that in 2021 the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops reported it had received nearly 4,300 sexual abuse allegations. “Another striking contrast is we are not mandated to send our children to church; we are mandated to send them to school.”
The extent of the problem may shock many Americans. The topic has long been shrouded by a curtain held by various actors in the drama: schools reluctant to go public with embarrassing and possibly criminal activity, unions fighting for members’ privacy and sometimes state laws that protect it, and a government reluctant to ask hard questions that would gather reliable data.
But the cases and tactics often used to cover them up have become common enough to earn an ugly nickname: “passing the trash.”
“DOE does not and never has tracked sexual misconduct committed by adults against students,” said Billie-Jo Grant, a professor at California Poly State University who is one of the nation’s top researchers on the topic.
“DOE has never aggressively worked to stop teachers’ unions and administrators from passing the trash,” she told RCI. “DOE does not hold accountable the many enablers who have created a pool of mobile molesters in our schools nationwide. Your questions should include why? Why? Why?”
Grant and Miller attended a Department of Education conference on the topic in D.C. in October 2019, and it was out of that meeting that its Office for Civil Rights decided to ask more specific questions in its Civil Rights Data Collection, according to Miller.
And while the government may be groping toward more clarity, as a DOE official acknowledged having “no data” the Department would make public, he insisted the matter is viewed with concern.
In 2004, then-Hofstra professor Carol Shakeshaft did a report for the DOE that assessed the data available on the topic. From a handful of regional studies and media reports, Shakeshaft’s report found some broad parameters of the problem.
For example, while stories involving female teachers may be more titillating and gain more media attention, about two-thirds of the predators in schools are male. While no region seems to be immune from the problem, about half of the reported incidents occurred in southern states, Shakeshaft’s report found. Most of the victims are female (56%), and the majority of incidents involve high schools (62%).
Trending: Joe Biden Goes Rogue at Union Meeting, Grabs the Mic and Starts Rambling Before Feed Abruptly Cuts! (VIDEO)
The problem is not confined to public schools, although the public school student population dwarfs that of private and parochial schools. Incidents of sexual misconduct at tony schools like New York’s Horace Mann, or at St. George’s in Rhode Island are but two of the most publicized examples of the problem.
Protecting kids in school from inappropriate or criminal sexual activity involving employees and students would seem a surefire winner, but instead DeVos and her team found it was a political football. Union contracts and in many cases state law protect the privacy of employees. What that meant, DeVos explained, is that even if credible allegations of sexual misconduct were leveled against an employee, unless authorities were called in or an arrest made the alleged perpetrator was often free to leave one school and work in another.
The definitions of what constitutes sexual misconduct could be broadly construed, and the proliferation of social media has not only loosened the boundaries of contact between school employees and students, but provided more opportunities for wrongdoers.
Still, for the most severe conduct, the Trump administration finally introduced on the 2020-21 school year questionnaire specific questions regarding “a school staff member and rape or attempted rape.” Answers for the initial year were optional, as is common with new reporting requirements, and the DOE declined to make the results public. But, in any case, those figures would be hopelessly incomplete because of the widespread school closures that were part of the COVID response.
Even with the new questions, Miller wondered how clear the picture provided might be, because for now OCR is asking only about incidents that occurred on school grounds.
“That means incidents that happen in a car, or an apartment, or anywhere off-campus, won’t be included, and that’s where the majority of these attacks happen,” she said.
The same problem had confronted one of DeVos’ top lieutenants, Kimberly Richey, when she served as chief counsel to the school system in Oklahoma. Even in a deeply conservative state, Richey found few supporters when, surprised by how many complaints were reaching her desk, she approached lawmakers in Norman about changes.
“I met with resistance from the very beginning,” she said. “And I had complaints, 95 percent of the time coming from parents, about a school or a teacher, and when I contacted them the teacher would immediately resign, travel five miles to the next district and start working there.”
Several people who spoke with RCI said teachers unions’ contracts were a major obstacle to both moving forward with credible allegations of sexual misconduct and blocking future school employment for alleged perpetrators. Neither the American Federation of Teachers nor the National Education Association responded to questions from RCI about this topic.
Teachers aren’t the only obstacles to reform. While Superintendent of Public Education in Oklahoma from 2011-2015, Janet Barresi said, state groups lobbying on behalf of school administrators and board members were much more vociferous opponents than teachers unions of laws that would force schools to disclose information about prior allegations and cases involving school employees.
“If the system would be more open and honest about all this, then parents would feel more relieved and it would get rid of a great deal of rumor and conjecture,” Barresi said.
It is those employee protections that produce the pattern known as “passing the trash,” several experts told RCI. This is particularly relevant in cases where state or local law enforcement agencies are never notified of allegations. A school may launch an investigation after a parent or student files a complaint, but that investigation would cease when the employee resigned, and then state law or bargaining agreements often prohibit officials administrators from relaying such information to any new school where the alleged perpetrator applied or began working.
Miller said SESAME has model legislation states could pass to confront the problem, but thus far the group has found limited success.
The Enough Abuse Campaign, which did not respond to RCI’s questions, notes that age-of-consent laws and the definitions of what constitutes sexual misconduct have created a complicated legal and regulatory map. Still, the campaign seems more optimistic about legislative progress than SESAME, declaring that “over 75 percent of states have now passed legislation specifically outlawing educator sexual misconduct,” in recognition of the power imbalance that exists in a teacher/student relationship.
And there are some signs lawmakers are grasping the enormity of the issue.
On July 1, an Oklahoma law went into effect mandating any verbal or social media contact between school employees and students be done on platforms the school controls, which state Rep. Sherrie Conley called a “long overdue” regulation.
Similarly, in Michigan, state Rep. Brad Paquette, himself a teacher, has proposed legislation appointing a state ombudsman to deal with sexual misconduct complaints.
“It’s just a beginning but we have to start somewhere,” Paquette told RCI. “I first heard back in 2012 or 2013, when I started teaching, that I had to join the union because I might have an accusation filed against me. But I thought, ‘No, I should be fired if I did something wrong.’”
“I think we need to be engaged aggressively to root out the problem,” he said. “There’s no good reason for us to take a lax approach. You see these headlines all over the place and it’s unacceptable. People need to start asking questions.”
While Richey said she did not recall any credible allegations crossing her desk during a brief stint as an attorney with Virginia schools, Paquette’s “everywhere” assessment seems on the mark.
In Texas, for example, the online site Texas Scorecard started looking at the issue in 2022 after administrators in Prosper, a swanky Dallas suburb, attempted to cover up alleged repeated sexual offenses by a school bus driver. Since then, Texas Scorecard has kept an unofficial tally of such incidents, and the Lone Star State has had more than 100 cases every year since.
The Prosper superintendent is currently under investigation by Texas agencies, in part for the 2022 coverup, as Texas law requires officials to report any credible allegations of child abuse within 48 hours. In May, two Prosper high school coaches were arrested for allegedly covering up another sexual assault that involved students.
Separating student-on-student sexual misconduct is key to understanding how deep the problem may run with school employees, according to Grant and other experts. For example, in the more general questions DOE’s OCR would ask regarding improper incidents that fall under Title IX, troubling trends emerged. For 2015-2016, there were 9,649 incidents of sexual violence, and of that figure 394 cases were categorized as rape or attempted rape. In 2017-2018, those numbers skyrocketed, with overall incidents rising by 43% to 13,799 and the most serious category 74% to 685.
As alarming as that trend may be, there is no way of knowing how many of those cases involved school employees, and Richey suspects that, given how the questionnaire was traditionally perceived, the majority of them are student-on-student.
Nevertheless, Grant pointed to multiple studies that came to similar conclusions to that reached in the 2004 Hofstra report. That study found that 9.6% of the U.S. student body fall victim to educator sexual misconduct.
Looking at California data from 2010-2021, Grant of Cal-Poly found 2,497 “school employees disciplined, reprimanded or arrested for sexually abusing K-12 students.” Between 2012 and 2018, the DOE received 280 complaints of adult-on-student sexual harassment in Chicago Public Schools. A Texas study from 2008 to 2016 found 1,415 Lone Star State educators “sanctioned for sexual misconduct.”
These academic papers and sometimes salacious news accounts of teacher/student relationships do send up flares from time to time. In 2007, the Associated Press declared that “sexual misconduct plagues U.S. schools,” after its investigation “found more than 2,500 cases over five years in which educators were punished for actions from bizarre to sadistic.” In December 2023, Business Insider looked at the issue and concluded “shoddy investigations, quiet resignations, and a culture of secrecy have protected predators, not students.”
Last year, the Defense of Freedom Institute released a report titled “catching the trash” that concluded sexual misconduct by school employees has raged in the school system for decades.
“Various actors – school and district personnel, teacher unions, and the federal department charged with enforcing laws against sexual assault in public schools – bear responsibility for a systemic failure in preventing, and responding to, sexual assaults in public schools,” the report said.
Pointing to the Biden administration’s attempt to remove specific questions about the issue from the OCR questionnaire, report author Paul Zimmerman told RCI the public should not expect much daylight on the topic in the near future.
“The Biden administration has gone dark on this, they’re not interested in pressing this issue as evidenced by trying to discontinue the efforts made on this front by the previous administration,” he said.
These political bumps, and the wreckage the COVID shutdowns unleashed on education in America, means there is no way of tackling the problem’s dimensions, let alone the problem itself. “It takes so long to get these numbers that in the end they’re not that helpful,” he said.
The best way to block the passage of trash is through the SESAME Act, which DOE has cited as “model legislation” for states. To date, only a handful of states have passed the act, most recently Illinois in 2023. It requires the prohibition of non-disclosure agreements in personal or collectively bargained contracts, as well as deep background checks on all applicants.
Only such thorough steps will break what Amos Guiora, a law professor at the University of Utah who has worked with Miller and SESAME, calls “the complicity of silence.” While the parameters of the problem may be hard to find, Guiora said he was stunned when he recently published what he acknowledged is a niche book on a West Virginia teacher exposed years late as a pedophile murderer. The limited book sold out on Amazon and his podcast has now topped 1 million views.
“That tells you that what’s happening is something that is touching a chord,” he said. “It is so goddamn egregious what they have done to protect people who do this. Lawmakers will have to break the institutional complicity that surrounds this or they’ll just be protecting the perpetrators.”
This article was originally published by RealClearInvestigations and made available via RealClearWire.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/07/forbidden-fruit-classroom-huge-american-sex-abuse-scandal/
Read more: https://www.nraila.org/articles/20240708/new-orleans-tries-an-end-run-around-constitutional-carry#ixzz8fgtW7AfN
Under Creative Commons License: Attribution
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In One Sneaky Move New Orleans Tries To Block Armed Self Defense
Ammoland Inc. Posted on July 11, 2024 by NRAHQ
Opinion
Second Amendment But Liars Democrats Fake Lies
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Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry (R) assumed office on January 8th. 2024 this year, and wasted no time working to protect the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding Louisianans.
In February, Gov. Landry opened a special legislative session to address crime in the Pelican State. As part of this effort, Gov. Landry prioritized empowering law-abiding citizens to defend themselves, their families, and communities from criminal violence by signing Constitutional Carry legislation (SB1) into law on March 5.
Now, some New Orleans officials are seeking to undermine Louisianans’ Right-to-Carry through political gamesmanship. According to a report from the Associated Press, New Orleans Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick intends to designate a police station in the heart of the French Quarter a “school” to curtail the Right-to-Carry within 1,000 feet of the building and frustrate the ability to carry in the popular downtown area.
Explaining the officials’ dubious strategy, the AP reported that when the legislature enacted Constitutional Carry, “Lawmakers rejected repeated pleas from police and city officials to exempt New Orleans entirely or to carve out the French Quarter and other areas well-known for alcohol-fueled revelry.”
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According to the outlet,
Their refusal set city officials to work finding ways to deal with a possible proliferation of guns in high-traffic areas, said City Council President Helena Moreno.
“Ultimately what we realized was, ‘You know what? What we need is a school,’” Moreno said.
Reading that suggests that it is New Orleans officials’ intent to thwart the will of the state legislature by enacting firearm restrictions the legislature repeatedly rejected.
This is important, because Louisiana has a strong, and getting stronger, state firearm preemption statute that prohibits political subdivisions from enacting their own carry restrictions. Adding to the brazenness of this conduct is the fact that this year the legislature did address actual illegal carry in the French Quarter by other means.
On June 10, Gov. Landry signed SB507, which reiterated that it is illegal to carry and conceal a handgun with “a blood alcohol reading of .05 percent or greater,” whether that person is carrying pursuant to a concealed handgun permit or exercising their Right-to-Carry without a permit. That .05 BAC level is stricter than the .08 BAC limit for operating a motor vehicle in the state.
SB507 also increased the penalty for a violation of this intoxicated carry prohibition that takes place within the boundaries of the French Quarter Management District. Further, the legislation tweaked Louisiana’s “Negligent carrying of a concealed handgun” statute (R.S. 40:1382) to increase the penalties for negligent carry within the boundaries of the French Quarter Management District. The new language provides that a violation may also result in forfeiture of the individual’s handgun.
As for New Orleans’ dubious “school” prohibition, Louisiana law (R.S. 14:95.6) provides,
A. A “firearm-free zone” is an area inclusive of any school campus and within one thousand feet of any such school campus, and within a school bus, wherein the possession of firearms is prohibited.
…
(1) “School” means any public or private elementary, secondary, high school, or vocational-technical school, college, or university in this state.
However, the statute does make clear that there are exemptions for the following (R.S. 14:95.2(C)),
(4) The possession of a firearm occurring within one thousand feet of school property and entirely on private property, or entirely within a private residence.
(5) Any constitutionally protected activity which cannot be regulated by the state, such as a firearm contained entirely within a motor vehicle. …
(9) Any person who has a valid concealed handgun permit issued pursuant to R.S. 40:1379.1 or 1379.3 and who carries a concealed handgun within one thousand feet of any school campus.
Therefore, the New Orleans “firearm-free zone” is aimed at frustrating Louisiana’s Constitutional Carry legislation and those newly enjoying their Right-to-Carry without a permit.
Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill wasn’t amused by New Orleans’ attempted end-run of state law. Murrill issued the following statement on the matter,
I’m working hard to help keep New Orleans safe, but the City cannot avoid state law by unilaterally designating police stations ‘vo-tech locations.’ You cannot just “designate” yourself a vo-tech school. Among other implications, if it was one (it’s not) the police department would be under the jurisdiction of a board of supervisors for higher education, and it would be subject to other oversight requirements. I have no specific plans yet, but would caution the NOPD that it will likely be subject to civil rights lawsuits under Section 1983 of the Civil Rights Act if it arrests people pursuant to its made-up designation, which is clearly not legal or effective. I certainly hope the NOPD isn’t violating people’s rights by making up their own rules, which is why the Department is under a federal consent decree,
Given New Orleans’ notorious history of undermining Second Amendment rights, NRA-ILA will continue to monitor the unfolding situation in the Crescent City and explore taking action as necessary.
Sotomayor’s Body Guard’s Shooting Raising Eyebrows Among Opponents
By Tom Knighton | 2:29 PM | July 10, 2024
Erin Schaff/The New York Times via AP, Pool
As Ranjit noted on Tuesday, one of Supreme Court Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s bodyguards discharged his weapon in an effort to stop a carjacking. While it appears that Sotomayor wasn’t a target of anything, it’s still amusing that an anti-gun justice has armed bodyguards, one of whom was involved in a defensive gun use.
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I won’t get into what happened because, as I said, Ranjit already covered that and he covered it quite well. There’s no reason to repeat those basic facts and I have nothing really to add.
However, a lot of other people had thoughts about it as well.
Several conservatives highlighted Sotomayor’s perspective on the Second Amendment in light of the arrest. The justice, who was appointed to the bench by former President Barack Obama, has drawn scowls from gun rights activists in the past over her interpretation of the right to bear arms.
Some accounts on X, formerly Twitter, pointed out that Sotomayor joined the dissenting opinion in the 2010 ruling on McDonald v. Chicago, which ultimately found that the Second Amendment applied to state and local governments as well as those at the federal level. Former Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer wrote in the dissent, “In sum, the Framers did not write the Second Amendment in order to protect a private right of armed self-defense. There has been, and is, no consensus that the right is, or was, ‘fundamental.'”
“In 2010, Justice Sotomayor joined a dissenting opinion in McDonald v. Chicago … Meanwhile, Sotomayor’s armed security team just sh*t a would-be carjacker outside her house,” posted conservative X account Libs of TikTok. “Yet, regular citizens don’t have the right to private armed self defense in her view. Rules for thee and not for me.”
School safety activist Ryan Petty—whose daughter was killed during the February 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida—also reacted to reports of the shooting near Sotomayor’s home, writing on X, “Defensive gun use.” Petty has spoken out against gun control measures while pushing to keep students safer from gun violence.
Another X user, who was responding to the New York Post’s report, wrote: “‘Guns for me, not for thee.’ – Sotomayor.”
“Thank God for the second amendment,” quipped a different X poster, also responding to the Post report.
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Now, in fairness, the US marshal who serves as a bodyguard is a law enforcement officer and the Supreme Court has never held that police shouldn’t have guns, even in a dissenting opinion. Breyer’s dissent in McDonald was about you and me, not whether law enforcement officers should have firearms.
As such, it’s not quite as hypocritical as it looks.
But I also find it odd that Sotomayor has a bodyguard while siding with Breyer in a decision that would have ultimately left people like you and me–the common folks who don’t get protection from the US Marshals Service–unable to defend themselves. To me, that is the hypocrisy in this. A law enforcement officer acting in what is arguably a law enforcement capacity doesn’t faze me in the least. A justice who thinks you and I have no right to defend ourselves having armed bodyguards to defend her, however, is a different matter entirely.
Yeah, a lot of people are dunking on Sotomayor and they’re not without cause. It’s clear she thinks there are bad forces in this world who mean harm on others. If she didn’t, she wouldn’t have bodyguards.
But she thinks that we peons are undeserving of that ability. That’s where we have a problem.
https://bearingarms.com/tomknighton/2024/07/10/sotomayors-body-guards-shooting-raising-eyebrows-among-opponents-n1225543#google_vignette
Alec Baldwin’s Odd Defense: Gun Safety Rules Don’t Apply on Sets
By Cam Edwards | 7:31 PM | July 10, 2024
AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File
During the first day of Alec Baldwin’s trial on involuntary manslaughter charges in the shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, the prosecution wasted little time in bringing up Baldwin’s handling of the revolver that was in his hand when it was discharged. Erlinda Ocampo Johnson argued that Baldwin should have checked the revolver to make sure it wasn’t loaded before handling it, but Baldwin’s defense attorney claimed during his opening statement that actors like Baldwin have no duty or responsibility to ensure that the firearms they use on set are disabled or unloaded.
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In his opening statement, defense attorney Alex Spiro argued that it was not Baldwin’s responsibility to check the gun, and that he relied on others – Gutierrez Reed and first assistant director Dave Halls – to make sure the gun was safe.
“The actor’s job is to act,” he said. “He’s Harland Rust. He’s an outlaw. In the incident in question, he’s pulling a six-shooter to defend himself. His mind is somewhere else: in the being of another, a century away. He’s an outlaw protecting himself.”
I’m pretty sure that even Wild West outlaws knew not to pull the trigger of a gun unless they were willing to destroy whatever it was pointed at, and to always treat firearms as if they were loaded. Even if they didn’t, Baldwin arguably should have known that, especially since prosecutors have previously established that the prop guns used on the set of “Rust” had also been used for some plinking by crew members during the filming.
While there’s been a lot of discussion about whether the gun malfunctioned and fired without Baldwin actually pulling the trigger (something the prosecution disputes), Spiro told the jurors it doesn’t matter if Baldwin pulled the trigger or not.
“On a movie set, you’re allowed to pull the trigger,” Spiro said.
The two sides disagreed on what rules actually apply on set. Johnson noted that Safety Bulletin #1 requires treating guns as if they are loaded, and forbids pointing a gun at anyone.
But Spiro pointed out that actors in Westerns routinely point guns at others while filming scenes.
“These cardinal rules, they’re not cardinal rules on a movie set… People point guns on movie sets,” Spiro said. “For acting to work, you have to be so close to the barrier of real and imagined that the viewer feels that it’s real.”
Spiro also argued that the investigators had failed to figure out the source of the live bullet. So at a certain point, he argued, they turned their attention to proving that Baldwin fired the gun.
“They weren’t really investigating anymore,” Spiro said. “They were trying to disprove Alec, to get Alec, to have this day.”
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Spiro’s argument would be stronger were it not for the fact that Baldwin wasn’t the only cast or crew member to face criminal charges in Hutchins’ death. Assistant director David Hall pleaded guilty to a charge of unsafe handling of a firearm, while armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to 18 months in prison for allegedly loading the live round into the revolver.
Spiro’s defense, at least during the opening statements, is essentially that Baldwin, as an actor, bears no responsibility for his own actions. But prosecutors will be reminding jurors that Baldwin may have had to handle the firearm during the scene that was being filmed when Hutchins was shot, but he didn’t need to have his finger on the trigger.
One of the key witnesses at the trial will be Joel Souza, the film’s director, who was wounded in the shoulder. In her opening statement, Johnson said that Souza would testify that Baldwin often went off-script.
“You will hear the director tell you, many times the defendant did his own thing,” Johnson said.
She argued that in the fatal incident, Baldwin was supposed to draw his gun from the holster, but was not supposed to fire. She said that witnesses saw him repeatedly put his finger on the trigger, in violation of the rules, and that he would sometimes cock the gun for no reason.
“The evidence will show that like in many workplaces, there are people who act in a reckless manner and place other individuals in danger and act without due regard for the safety of others,” she said. “That, you will hear, was the defendant, Alexander Baldwin.”
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Was Baldwin alone responsible for Hutchins’ death and the injury to Souza? Absolutely not. But if the crew members who were in charge of overseeing the firearms have been convicted or taken a plea deal, it’s hard to see why Baldwin should get a pass for his own behavior on the set… including ignoring the basic rules of gun safety.
https://bearingarms.com/camedwards/2024/07/10/alec-baldwins-odd-defense-gun-safety-rules-dont-apply-on-sets-n1225554
Revolving Door of Justice Nearly Gets Two Chicago Cops Killed
By
Mark Chesnut –
July 11, 2024 1
Chicago Shooting crime scene
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A shooting attack on two Chicago police officers last month marked the 19th time already this year that a suspect turned loose on pretrial release attempted to kill or killed someone while awaiting their court date, according to a report at CWBChicago.com.
Derrien Johnson was on pretrial release for two felony gun cases when he fired several shots at a passing police car on June 3. After reviewing surveillance footage, police recognized Johnson and arrested him. He has been charged with two counts of aggravated discharge of a firearm toward an occupied vehicle and manufacture-delivery of marijuana.
Liberal Chicago prosecutors have been turning dangerous criminals loose instead of holding them until their trial date for several years. And in September of last year, Illinois eliminated cash bail entirely, resulting in dangerous criminals like Johnson being turned back onto the streets.
CWBChicago.com has been reporting on the trend since back in 2019 when Cook County Chief Judge Timothy Evans publicly stated concerning the city’s catch-and-release initiative, “We haven’t had any horrible incidents occur.” Following that statement, the news site has kept track of killings and attempted killings by suspects while on pretrial release.
What the media outlet has found should be concerning to all Chicago residents—even police and prosecutors. Here are just a few of the incidents reported over the past five years.
In May 2019, Kyrell Pittmon shot Mutasam Sulieman in the back of the head in a contract hit that was arranged through recorded jailhouse phone calls by one of the men Sulieman was prepared to testify against. At the time, Pittmon was on electronic monitoring for a gun case, and he was one of at least 13 people charged with first-degree murder in 2019 while on bail for a felony.
Just before Christmas 2020, James Armstrong shot three women, killing one. Armstrong was the 55th person accused of killing or shooting—or trying to kill or shoot—someone in Chicago while awaiting trial for a felony in 2020. The crimes involved at least 70 victims, 36 of whom died.
According to further records, in 2021 at least 73 criminals out on bail were accused of killing or trying to kill someone in Chicago. In 2022, the number topped 79, and in 2023 the total was more than 36.
As the news site points out, the actual numbers are much higher. According to city data, since 2017 Cook County prosecutors have approved charges in less than 5% of non-fatal shooting and 33% of murders.
While these murders and attempted murders might not seem like “horrible incidents” to Judge Evans and city prosecutors, it’s unlikely those living in Chicago’s besieged neighborhoods see it that way. I’m sure the families of the at least 119 citizens murdered since 2019 by those flaunting the city’s catch-and-release justice system since don’t see it that way either.
https://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/revolving-door-of-justice-nearly-gets-two-chicago-cops-killed/
Joe Biden “Big Boy ” press Conference – 6:30pm
by Sundance – July 11, 2024
https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2024/07/11/joe-biden-big-boy-press-conference-630pm-livestream-and-discussion-thread/
President Biden Holds a Press Conference
The White House – Livestream
Press Conference @ 7:00pm EDT
CNN Now Admits Joe Biden’s Entire Presidency Is a Carefully Staged Sham
thegatewaypundit.com/2024/07/cnn-now-admits-joe-bidens-entire-presidency-is/
Jul. 11, 2024 4:40 pm
This is hilarious.
Fake News CNN is now admitting what The Gateway Pundit has been reporting on for years: Joe Biden’s entire presidency is a carefully staged sham.
The left-wing media immediately came out and called for Joe Biden to drop out of the 2024 presidential race after his poor debate performance late last month.
Democrat lawmakers have also called for Biden to step aside following the presidential debate.
On Wednesday George Clooney came forward and called for Biden to step down.
In his op-ed, Clooney calls for Biden to “voluntarily step aside,” saying, “I Love Joe Biden. But We Need a New Nominee.”
This is after he attended the fundraiser where Obama led Biden off the stage:
That’s a wrap on record-setting Democratic fundraiser for Joe Biden’s reelection campaign (netting $28M). Former President Barack Obama and President Joe Biden offer final waves to Peacock Theater crowd as Obama then grabs Biden’s hand to lead him offstage following 40-minute… pic.twitter.com/xbE2jf3jdz
— Chris Gardner (@chrissgardner) June 16, 2024
CNN on Thursday rehashed the George Clooney – Biden fundraiser drama and used it to attack Joe Biden.
“At a star-studded fundraiser for President Joe Biden in Los Angeles last month, George Clooney wasn’t the only one who came away concerned about the president,” CNN reported.
“He was less cogent than usual,” said one attendee, according to CNN.
“Back in Washington, there have been clear signs throughout his term of Biden being increasingly stage-managed, with lists of talking points, names of questioners and drawings of where he should walk presented to him by aides. Ahead of closed-door Cabinet meetings that Biden attends, it is customary for Cabinet officials to submit questions and key talking points that they plan to present in front of Biden ahead of time to White House aides, two sources with direct knowledge told CNN.” – CNN reported on Thursday.
CNN continued: “The entire display is kind of an act,” one of those sources told CNN. “They would come and say, ‘Hey, the president is going to call on you about 25 minutes in, and ask this question. What are the bullet points you’ll respond with?’”
“The second source, who echoed that same description, said when Biden attends Cabinet meetings, they are “not free-wheeling, and pretty well-orchestrated.” And the meetings themselves are infrequent, with one Cabinet secretary telling CNN they are uncertain of Biden’s condition because they so rarely see him.” the outlet reported.
CNN — yes, CNN — is now reporting that Joe Biden’s entire presidency is a carefully stage-managed sham. Where Biden walks, what questions he takes from reporters, and even how he interacts with Cabinet members coordinated in advance to hide the state of Biden’s decline.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/07/cnn-now-admits-joe-bidens-entire-presidency-is/