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ultra
The Danish television programme Ultra Strips Down has come under fire for having adults parade their nude bodies in front of children, some as young as seven.
The Duke And Duchess Of Sussex Visit Australia - Day 1
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - OCTOBER 16: Meghan, Duchess of Sussex greets members of the crowd at the Sydney Opera House on October 16, 2018 in Sydney, Australia. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are on their official 16-day Autumn tour visiting cities in Australia, Fiji, Tonga and New Zealand. (Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty Images)
BLM protest
GLASGOW, UNITED KINGDOM - JUNE 20: People participate in a Black Lives Matter demonstration in George Square on June 20, 2020 in Glasgow, Scotland. Black Lives Matter protests are continuing across the UK following the death of African American George Floyd at the hands of police officers in Minneapolis on May 25, 2020. The movement has triggered the removal of statues with links to racism and the slave trade and has gained support from many high-profile celebrities and sports stars. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)
The 2020 Emmy Awards show took place this weekend.
If you didnβt watch it, you are far from alone. The show delivered its lowest ratings ever.
Perhaps it had something to do with the constant Trump bashing and attempts to insult half of the country.
FOX News reports:
Jimmy Kimmelβs Emmy Awards telecast plummets to record low ratings
The virtual 72nd Emmy Awards hosted by Jimmy Kimmel on ABC drew 6.1 million viewers, a 20% drop compared to last yearβs host-less version, according to TheWrap.
βA new low for the annual awards show,β TheWrapβs Tony Maglio reported.
Kimmel, who hosted the awards for the third time, used his opening monologue to note how there was no audience at the Emmys this year due to the health and safety procedures in place amid the coronavirus pandemic.
βThis isnβt a MAGA rally, itβs the Emmys. Instead of the live audience, we took a page from baseball and did cardboard cutouts of the nominees,β Kimmel said.
Kimmel hosted a similarly politically charged 2018 Academy Awards, which set an all-time low for the Oscars telecast.
Idiots like Kimmel still think that bashing Trump and his supporters is somehow edgy and brave.
With jokes like these itβs a real wonder how they lost the night.
"Of course I'm here all alone. Of course we don't have an audience," Kimmel said. "This isn't a MAGA rally β it's the Emmys." https://t.co/lSuVCLrxSR
β The Hill (@thehill) September 21, 2020
Wanna see what the end game of social justice looks like? Hereβs pathetic, timid, emasculated Jimmy Kimmel clapping like a seal and repeating phrases on command like a parrot.
β Dave Rubin (@RubinReport) September 21, 2020
Jimmy Kimmel opened the 'pand-Emmys' to a completely empty arena β watch his monologue here pic.twitter.com/FnLZvmcEaT
β NowThis (@nowthisnews) September 21, 2020
How much worse will the ratings have to get for them to cancel the Emmys altogether?
Keep making fun of half of the country Hollywood, and youβll find out.
Cross posted from American Lookout.
The post Trump Bashing 2020 Emmys Show With Jimmy Kimmel Gets Lowest Ratings Ever appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
In response to the Wuhan coronavirus, New Mexico has limited the capacity at which schools are allowed to operate. Public schools are permitted to operate at 50 percent of capacity. Private schools are allowed to operate only at 25 percent.
Given this severe limitation on its ability to operate, one academy decided not to open, but instead to rely on instruction online. The father of a student at that school filed a lawsuit alleging that New Mexico violates the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution by using one rule for public schools and another for private ones.
Today, the Justice Department filed a statement of interest in the case. It argues that under Supreme Court law, parentsβ educational choices for their children are a fundamental constitutional right, and that New Mexico has no grounds for abridging that right by adopting stricter rules for private schools than for public schools.
New Mexico defends the use of different rules apparently on the theory that public schools have greater oversight requirements than private ones. However, the rule seems to preclude private schools from operating at 50 percent capacity even if they adopt the same precautionary practices as public schools.
New Mexico also says that, in practice, very few public school students in grades 7-12 are receiving in-person instruction because state education officials are taking a hyper-cautious approach to reopening. New Mexico is afraid that, by contrast, most private schools would reopen under a 50 percent rule.
But the New Mexico rule assumes that itβs safe for schools to open at 50 percent capacity if certain social distancing practices are maintained. Thus, the state shouldnβt fear the opening of private schools that also practice proper social distancing.
The broader question, albeit not a legal one, is why New Mexico is so reluctant to reopen its schools. The state reportedly has the lowest average positivity rate for coronavirus testing in the western U.S. at roughly 2.1 percent and is among the leaders nationwide in tests administered per capita. Moreover, children and young adults face very little serious health risk from the virus.
Accordingly, a sound cost-benefit analysis would seem strongly to favor opening New Mexicoβs schools β public and private β at 50 percent capacity or more. But the legal issue will be whether the state has sufficient grounds to treat private schools more restrictively than public ones.
ar-bullets-ammo-magazine-getty-images
SPRINGVILLE, UT - JUNE 17: This is 223 ammunition for an AR-15 semi-automatic gun at Action Target on June 17, 2016 in Springville, Utah. Semi-automatics are in the news again after the nightclub shooting in Orlando F;lord last week. (Photo by George Frey/Getty Images)
Elizabethwarrenbillyeichner1
Elizabeth Warren warned that Republican's must not be allowed toΒ "steal a second seat" on the Supreme Court in the process of replacing the late Ruth Bader GinsburgΒ in an interview with comedian and left-wing activist Billy Eichner.
Trump Law Enforcement St Louis
St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson speaks during a news conference Thursday, Aug. 6, 2020, in St. Louis. Officials announced St. Louis has been added to the list of cities that will receive assistance from Operation Legend, a federal anti-crime program launched to help city police in their effort to reduce violent crime. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
Joe Biden (Carolyn Kaster / Associated Press)
Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden speaks at Wisconsin Aluminum Foundry in Manitowoc, Wis., Monday, Sept. 21, 2020. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Joe Biden
Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden speaks to media during a virtual a briefing on COVID-19 from public health experts in Wilmington, Del., Thursday, Aug. 13, 2020, with his running mate Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Watch how this is done: Joe Biden plans to resign after only one year in the White House, according to someone with direct knowledge of the Bidensβ plans.
A senior official at Northern Virginia Community College confirmed that Jill Biden reached out recently to see if she could resume teaching if her husband was electedβDr. Biden famously taught there while her husband served as vice president and had befriended the official. The College immediately offered her a four-year cycle of classes. She wanted, however, to make only a one-year commitment. βWe wonβt be in Washington for the full term,β Biden reportedly explained. βJoeβll stay in office for a year and work on some signature issues like cancer research, but Kamala will be doing the heavy lifting from day one. Joe will quietly resign and give her plenty of time to make the job her own. Itβs set in stone Iβm afraid. I wouldnβt let him run any other way given his health.β
I made that up. See how easy it is? Start with a known bias, that many people believe Joe Biden wonβt serve his whole term. Play off the fear that heβs a Trojan Horse. Tell people what they already believe: Harris is selected, not elected. Include some truth (Dr. Jill Biden did teach at Northern Virginia Community College during the Obama administration). And then take advantage of the magic of anonymous sources.
This comes in the context of an article in The Atlantic by Jeff Goldberg, where anonymous sources claim the president disrespected Americaβs military. Goldbergβs piece was followed by former Russiagate FBI agent Peter Strzok telling another Atlantic writer that Trump is controlled by the Russians. Then came the return of Alexander Vindman (powered by an anonymous source, er, βwhistleblowerβ) and excerpts from Bob Woodwardβs book Rage claiming without details that Dan Coats and Jim Mattis planned βcollective actionβ against the president.
Those are only a few recent examples. Amid a four year tantrum, the media has recklessly published anything anti-Trump without concern for truth, little better than the minor celebs who take to Twitter to announce #TrumpisaPedo. Journalism has become farce, its purpose not to inform but to advocate. Influence ops. Propaganda.
Itβs worth making an example out of Goldbergβs article because of its exclusive use of anonymous sources in pursuit of advocacy, in this case, trying to chip away at Trumpβs pro-military base. Though Goldberg talks about events from as long as four years ago, the actual article was released alongside a Military Times poll showing Biden gaining some support among service members, and dovetailed with fuzzy reporting that Trump ignored Russian bounties on Americans in Afghanistan.
The questions of timing and motive make the validity of the sources ever more important. How do we know Goldberg didnβt make things up, or at least allow himself to be used for a partisan end as he did in advocating for the whole false narrative of WMDs in Iraq? Unless youβre Goldbergβs mother or the town mayor from Jaws, credibility comes from sources, not a writerβs inner soul. Goldberg is lacking.
As a diplomat, I staffed overseas presidential visits from Reagan to Obama. I sat in on planning meetings and got a pretty close-up view of the Secret Service. The president exists inside a series of bubbles, like Russian nesting dolls (forgive me). The innermost bubble, the one where someone might hear his personal thoughts, is reserved for very, very few people. The universe of those who could have been physically close enough to Trump (or any president) to overhear such sensitive remarks is tiny.
So if we know the names of the sources, it will be easy to place them in that special group, or not. It will be easy to check photos to see if they were where they would have needed to be to overhear. Fact-checkers could determine who else was around to confirm or deny the story (11 Trump officials deny it by name, zero confirm). Knowing the names resolves the risk. Trust but verify.
Goldbergβs sources say Trump remarked to former White House chief of staff and retired Marine General John Kelly, βI donβt get it. What was in it for them?β A real reporter would also provide context (Bob Woodward in Rage is also guilty of this, dropping a turd quote in the public punch bowl and then moving on), asking what was said before and after the damning remarks. It is not uncommon for civilians to respectfully inquire as to what motivates men to run into fires, to sacrifice themselves for a buddy, to stand in harmβs way.
Trump supposedly said this at the Arlington National Cemetery gravesite of Kellyβs son, a Marine killed in Afghanistan. This photo shows who was thereβKelly, two family members, Trump, and Pence. This would have been the moment when Trump would have made his remark, and those are the only five people on earth who would have heard it. Trump and Pence deny it; the Kelly family has been silent. The same photo set shows Trump meeting later with other Gold Star families, none of whom claim he made any disparaging remarks.
There is also a sniff test to be applied. The credibility of journalism should not depend on the readerβs biases; thatβs the domain of late-night Trump Sucks You Guys comedy. Trump mocking Kellyβs son at graveside would be among the most horrible things anyone could do to a parent. Who would say such a thing? There is no record of the worst humans in history, men like Hitler, Stalin, and Pol Pot, saying such things. There is no record of concentration camp guards, men capable of killing children, saying such things. Would Kelly, a blooded Marine, stand silently with his family as accomplices in their humiliation, then release the information only years later while hiding behind the skirt of a journalist to score a glancing political point?
Though it got much less attention, The Atlantic followed up Goldberg with a piece that included a named source and allowed him to list out baseless accusations of treason. Former FBI agent Peter Strzok sees grassy knolls everywhere. The Atlantic helps him along, introducing a back-and-to-the-left theory by saying, βDespite multiple investigations by the FBI, Congress, and Muellerβs team, Americans have still never learned the full story about the Trump campaignβs relationship with Russia.β Like what?
Well, Strzok says he doesnβt really know, but it must be hidden in Trumpβs taxes (which the IRS has reviewed for decades). The writer feels it in her ample gut, too, stating in her best Kevin Costner voice, βStrzok was getting too close to the truth.β Ah, from Strzok: βI do think the president is compromised, that he is unable to put the interests of our nation first, that he acts from hidden motives, because there is leverage over him, held specifically by the Russians but potentially others as well.β That is a straight-up accusation of treason.
And there both the writer and the source leave it, no specifics, no follow-up questions, not even a pee tape. Weβre left to infer that They Are All In On It, everyone who could have blown this wide open is dummied upβFBI, CIA, NSA, DOJ. Remember Mr. X, the character in JFK played by Donald Sutherland? Strzok wants to be him. Problem is heβs not good enough for an Oliver Stone film, so heβs just out there pimping his book.
The Atlantic articles are sucked oranges. Writing this after the hot takes have faded, itβs clear they had little lasting effect and thus werenβt even decent propaganda. Goldbergβs article got far too much attention for how little it had to say. But it has not gotten enough review as a marker, the place we had to end up when the media wholeheartedly advocated for the Iraq war based on lies, literally rewrote history with the 1619 Project for political ends, buried things of concern with Hillary, helped create Russiagate, and used its own freedom of speech to quash dissenting voices as unpatriotic in 2003 and as βuseful idiotsβ and Russian bots since.
In defense of what they call advocacy, crappy journalists often cite Walter Cronkiteβs late opposition to the Vietnam War or Ed Murrowβs shaming of Joe McCarthy. Not only are such gold-standard examples rare enough that the list often ends there, they ignore the negative examples above. They also ignore how Cronkiteβs and Murrowβs advocacy came at the end of dispassionate study and deep introspection. Cronkite and Murrow broke the objectivity wall not for a favored candidate, but over issues of deep national importance. And they understood the difference before acting.
Peter Van Buren, a 24-year State Department veteran, is the author ofΒ We Meant Well: How I Helped Lose the Battle for the Hearts and Minds of the Iraqi People,Β Hooperβs War: A Novel of WWII Japan, andΒ Ghosts of Tom Joad: A Story of the 99 Percent.
The post Trump and the Troops: The Mediaβs Latest Self-Satisfied Grift appeared first on The American Conservative.
Earlier this month, Business Insider reported that a number of Pornhubβs top executives probably donβt exist. For all of the companyβs most-quoted officials, no information, record, or verification can be found outside of scattered press releases and media quotes. Their social media profiles are either non-existent or completely devoid of details. Even official lines of communication are either dead ends or red herrings.
When Business Insider called one phone number listed as a Pornhub VPβs, it connected them somewhere else entirely: 5W PR, a New York firm headed up by Ronn Torossian.Β If those names sound familiar to you, youβre not alone. 5W is the agency of record for Pornhub, yesβbut the pornography monolith is far from their highest-profile client. Youβre more likely to have heard Torossianβs name in any of a number of widely divergent places.
Maybe you remember him from the Mueller probe. Torossian was called to testify about professional conversations he had held with Paul Manafort and Rick Gates in the spring of 2012. These particular talks didnβt develop into a business relationship, but they were far from the PR executiveβs only interactions with Donald Trumpβs inner circle.Β Torossian has represented Jay Sekulowβa member of President Trumpβs personal legal teamβand brushed elbows with a horde of other Trump orbiters, including Rudy Giuliani. As recently as 2017, Torossianβs services were retained by the Eric Trump Foundation after reports that donated funds were not going where the presidentβs son said they were. An assistant to Eric Trump did not respond toΒ The American Conservativeβs inquiries about the PR repβs other clients.
βIt has been revealed that the 5W PR firm and its CEO Ron Torossian have been partnering with, and defending Pornhub and its parent company MindGeek, a mega-corporation publicly exposed for complicity in child trafficking and the monetization of child rape,β Laila Mickelwait, founder of the #TraffickingHub campaign, told TAC. βFor any company to participate in defending those who profit from child exploitation is both debased and unacceptable. Torossian and 5W should be ashamed of their actions.β
Torossian also garnered a good bit of attention for his work with Sinclair Broadcast Group in 2017. Sinclair is a conservative, pro-Trump media conglomerate that came under fire for allegations that it had compelled its local affiliates to broadcast a statement condemning fake news. Torossian got to work quickly, waging a no-holds-barred campaignβhe is renowned for his aggressive approachβagainst the broadcasting companyβs critics. Sinclair is one of the biggest names to the right of center in the media world, and in their moment of need Torossian seems to have come through for them. Sinclair Broadcast Group has not responded toΒ TACβs request for comment.
Jon Schweppe, director of policy and government affairs at the American Principles Project, saw no gray area here. βYou canβt be a conservative and support Pornhub. Itβs that simple,β Schweppe told The American Conservative.Β βFew companies have done more to undermine the American family. Anyone on the Right who cares β or even claims to care β about protecting the family should immediately sever all ties with this individual.β
5W PRβs client list is hardly limited to the rich and powerful of right-wing politics, though. Their catalogue of corporate customers is enormous. A few names jump out. Topps, a decades-old company known mostly for its baseball cards, is touted on 5W PRβs website. Their specialization in sports collectibles and memorabilia means, of course, that Topps markets mostly to children and nostalgics. Likewise, Welchβs, a well-known peddler of grape-based products, makes use of Torossianβs firm. βFarmer owned. Family grown,β their website prominently boasts. Their PR campaigns are almost exclusively targeted towards families, with marketing materials generally featuring and aimed at children. Speaking of childrenβthere are a surprising number of companies who make their money in childcare products on the 5W client list. These include baby bottle company Perry Mackin and nursery furniture firm Delta Children (who 5W has tweeted about this month), among others.Β One wonders if such family-friendly companies might have misgivings about sharing a public relations firm with the world-leader in the pornography industry. But we canβt know for sureβnot one of them responded toΒ TACβs requests for comment.
A glance further back into Ronn Torossianβs history will reveal that he was a longtime contributor to theΒ New York Observer. Over a number of years, Torossianβs writings there focused mainly on Israel-related political concerns,Β but occasionally digressed into culture, economy, and the workings of the PR industry. (The subheading of a January, 2015 article:Β βOdious clients who present a moral hazard should be rejected, no matter how lucrative the contract.β)Β Throughout this period, the now-defunct weekly newspaper was owned and published by one Jared Kushner.
A number of notable Christian televangelists have also hired 5W PR. These include such names as Creflo Dollar and Israeli-born βfaith healerβ Benny Hinn. Dollar, Hinn, and others in Torossianβs orbit are influential peddlers of the βprosperity gospelββthe belief that financial wealth is a sign of Godβs blessingβa doctrine used by its advocates to justify amassing substantial personal fortunes. Trinity Broadcasting Network, also known and criticized for its prosperity gospel advocacy, has made us of Torossianβs services as well. TBN is the largest religious TV network in the entire world. (With the top evangelists and the top pornographers, Torossian really has his bases covered.) The network did not respond toΒ TACβs request for comment.
The prosperity gospel has served Torossian well. TheΒ New York Postβwhere Torossian has also been known to contribute in the pastβreported in 2018 on his acquisition of a condo on NYCβs Park Avenue for just under $17 million.Β On Twitter, Torossian recently posted a picture of himself seated in a vintage Jeepster Commando with the caption βNew hamptons [sic] toy.β (In Torossianβs profile bio, sandwiched between two professional self-praisesββCEO @5W_PR, PR Agency of Year,β and βPR Executive of the Yearββis a different kind of boast: βProud dad.β)Β Just how much of Torossianβs very public prosperity is thanks to a lucrative contract with Pornhub is unclear.
Also unclear is where Pornhubβs own fortune has come from. The general thrust of the industry should be controversial enough, but Pornhubβwhich maintains a near-monopoly on online pornography streamingβis the subject of far more troubling accusations. Many have raised concerns, for instance, about the siteβs platforming of child pornography. (In this area, Torossian has a bit of experience. βGirls Gone Wildβ retained his services after allegedly doing the same thing a few years ago.) Simulated rape is the stock-in-trade of Pornhub and the broader porn industry, but there have been numerous incidents in which the site published videos of actual rape. To make matters worse, the company has even verified the accounts some offenders, welcoming pedophiles, rapists, and human traffickers behind their paywallβallowing both Pornhub and the direct abusers to reap profit from violent sexual crimes. Anti-trafficking activists like Laila Mickelwait have attempted to raise the alarm about Pornhubβs most vicious practices.
Youβre unlikely to have heard about any of it, thoughβtheir PR outfit is top-notch. Torossian did not respond to our questions as of press time.
The post Meet the Flack Who Bridges Trumpworld and Big Porn appeared first on The American Conservative.
On May 22, 2018, President Donald J. Trump walked out onto the dais in front of a packed hall at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C. to thunderous applause. He was comfortable and relaxed, and seemed almost taken aback by the enthusiastic reception. βThank you.Β Wow.Β Thank you very much.Β Thank you, Marjorie. Thank you, Marjorie, for that wonderful introduction. All my friends are out here.β
He had just been introduced to the crowd by Marjorie Dannenfelser, the president of Americaβs most powerful and influential pro-life organization, the Susan B. Anthony List. In the 27 years since the SBA List was founded, they have grown from a tiny pro-life organization trying to combat the influence of abortion groups on Capitol Hill to a well-funded juggernaut with access to the halls of power. In 2017, Vice President Mike Pence was SBA Listβs keynote gala speakerβin 2019, it was Mitch McConnell and Nikki Haley.
In Life Is Winning: Inside the Fight for Unborn Children and Their Mothers (published last month with an introduction by Mike Pence and a foreword by former White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders), Dannenfelser tells the fascinating story of how the SBA List, founded with a mere $2,485 in 1993, became the powerhouse that sent out 1,000 canvassers and knocked on a million doors for Trump during the 2016 election. It is the story of how the political pro-life movement not only remained relevant but expanded its influence during a time when the GOP elites assumed that abortion was a losing issue.
Dannenfelser writes that she is sympathetic to politicians changing their minds on abortion because she was once pro-choice herselfβeven when, as a young woman, she campaigned for Reagan in the 1980s. Her mind was changed on the issue by a confluence of deeply personal events, she writesβbecoming Catholic and encountering the teachings of Pope John Paul II, the death of a childhood friend, and extensive personal research. Her involvement in the pro-life movement followed soon after, and she began working for West Virginia Democrat Alan Mollohan, co-chairman of the House Pro-Life caucus, working to organize pro-life Democrats.
The abortion movement had EMILYβS List, a political action committee solely dedicated to electing pro-choice women, but Dannenfelser soon realized that the pro-life movement had no equivalent. Thus, the Susan B. Anthony List was born, named for the pro-life suffragette whose newspaper, the Revolution, had once referred to abortion as βchild murder.β A range of disparate pro-life feminist groups were behind the founding, and Dannenfelser was asked to serve as executive director. The Capitol Hill launch raised $9,000. The first two tasks were simple: Find viable female pro-life candidates and connect them with the donor cash they needed to get across the finish line.Β
During the 1993-94 election cycle, SBA List raised $70,000 for pro-life candidates, while EMILYβs List raised nearly $6 million. Still, eight of the initial fifteen candidates endorsed by the SBA List won, a success rate of 53%. The following year, SBA List switched strategiesβafter an internal struggle within the organization, it was decided that they were a pro-life group rather than exclusively a womenβs group. SBA List would endorse both male and female pro-life candidates. Meanwhile, Dannenfelser fundraised through coffee parties hosted by wealthy and influential supporters (such as Kathleen and Quinton McManus, Joanne Kemp, Susan Baker, Mary Ellen Bork, and others.)Β
An essential first step was teaching GOP candidates how to campaign on being pro-life. Republicans were embarrassed by their pro-life supporters, didnβt know how to address the issue, opposed pitching pro-life policies in political advertising unless the ads were specifically targeted to a religious audience, and generally played awkward defence on the issue when it came up. The GOP saw abortion as an issue that was useful for procuring votes, but had no intention of prioritizing pro-life policy. In 1995, however, pro-lifers flipped the script: A bill banning partial-birth abortion was put forward, with seven female congresswomen endorsed by the SBA List as co-sponsors. It was a bill that drew attention to the horrific nature of late-term abortion, and it put the Democrats in the awkward position of defending something most Americans saw as barbaric. It passed, with some Democrats joining their Republican colleagues in voting for it. Bill Clinton vetoed it in April 1996.
Ironically, the politically savvy Clinton understood the pro-life movementβs strategy better than his opponent in the 1996 presidential election, Bob Dole. Clinton was livid at the bind heβd been forced into, growing red-faced and angry when asked about his veto. Dole, despite having run against an abortionist for the Senate in 1974 and winning narrowly by campaigning as a pro-lifer, refused to take advantage of the opportunity. He backtracked on pro-life commitments, signaled his desire to soften the GOPβs platform on abortion, and avoided talking about the issue. He had a βbasically perfectβ voting record, but like many Republicans of that era, abortion was a matter of political convenience rather than conviction. Many believed that Dole could have used partial-birth abortion as a wedge issue to deprive Clinton of Catholic votesβeven Democratic pollsters were warning that the country was not with Clinton on the issue. He vetoed the ban again in 1997, and many Democrats joined the GOP in an attempt to override the vetoβincluding, for a second time, Senator Joseph R. Biden.
In 2000, the SBA List spent $3 million and won 17 out of 22 races. George W. Bush was a genuinely pro-life president, but spoke vaguely about the issue at firstβinterestingly, Marvin Olasky told me that he met with Bush personally on pro-life policy, but that he suspects Pat Buchananβs entry in the race led Bush to soft-pedal the issue to avoid the perception of being βpulled to the Right.β Dannenfelser lists Bushβs many pro-life accomplishmentsβbut still, she writes, the βconsulting classβ kept the movement out and relegated them to the βback of the political bus.β Similarly, in 2008 John McCain had a nearly 100% pro-life voting record, but βhad never made the issue a priority.β SBA Listβs impact was growing nonethelessβin 2009, Ilyse Hogue of NARAL Pro-Choice America referred to them as βthe NRA of the Anti-Choice Movement.β
During the Obama years, SBA List honed their strategy, going into districts or states and engaging the grassroots by strengthening existing groups and supporting them with resources. When Congressman Bart Stupak and 19 other pro-life Democrats caved on their commitment to insist on an amendment banning abortion funding in Obamacare, SBA List swung into action, launching a campaign to ensure that all politicians who had betrayed the movement would lose their seats. Through radio ads, direct mail, billboards, and even a bus tour, SBA Listβs campaign had a brutally effective outcome. Stupak decided to retire, and twelve other pro-life Democrats were defeatedβincluding Alan Mollohan, Dannenfelserβs old boss. The message was clear: SBA List could help candidates winβand they could also make candidates lose. They were playing to win. Dannenfelser is still convinced that if the pro-life Democrats had held strong, Obama would have buckledβinstead, as of 2020, more than 700 subsidized healthcare plans directly subsidize abortion.
Election Night 2010, Dannenfelser writes, βwas a turning point for SBA List.β They spent $11 million in 90 races, and won 62 of them. β[A] pro-life Republican majority took control of the House of Representatives,β she notesβand she wept with gratitude and relief at the results. But immediately afterwards, the GOP appeared to be up to the same old tricks, with Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels suggesting a βtruce on the so-called social issues.β SBA List showed up at the Republican National Convention, and all GOP leaders recommitted to the pro-life plank. Still, Mitt Romney was a lukewarm supporter of the movement at best, especially as the infamous comments by Todd Akin and Richard Mourdock seemed to confirm his belief that the abortion issue was a losing one. At the 2012 RNC, it was made clear to the pro-lifers that they were on the outside looking in. At the DNC, on the other hand, NARAL and Planned Parenthood were front and center. Ludicrously, the conclusion of the GOP elites after Romneyβs defeat was that he had spent too much time talking about social issues.
The 2016 election changed everything. As the primaries heated up, the SBA List took the same position held by nearly every pro-life leader in the country: Anybody but Trump. Dannenfelser writes that the race was packed with pro-lifers: Jeb Bush was βa true believerβ; Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz had long committed to pro-life policies, and Carly Fiorina was pushing for an SBA List endorsement. Dannenfelser watched with mounting dismay as Trump, a Manhattan outsider with a long pro-abortion record, demolished the opposition. Trump was the nominee, and SBA List would have to play ballβespecially when Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia died, raising the stakes. Dannenfelser began talking with Kellyanne Conway, who had done polling for SBA List, about what an endorsement might look like. SBA List sent a pledge to the Trump campaign committing to a series of pro-life policies, and promised that if he signed the letter, they would campaign for him.
Trump not only agreed to sign the SBA Listβs pledge, but Conway wanted changes: βIβve talked to Mr. Trump, and he wants to sign. But he thinks the letter should be stronger and begin with a description of how terrible Hillary is on life.β The SBA List was happy to oblige, and with the selection of Mike Penceβa long-time favorite of the pro-life movementβthe campaign was underway. But it was Trumpβs brutal description of late-term abortion at the presidential debates that persuaded Dannenfelser and other pro-life leaders that Trump might actually be for real: βBased on what sheβs sayingβ¦you can take the baby and rip the baby out of the womb in the ninth month, on the final day. And thatβs not acceptable.β It was a defining moment: For years pro-lifers had been begging GOP politicians to force their opponents to defend the barbarism of abortion. Finally, one wasβand it was Donald J. Trump.
For four years, Dannenfelser writes, Trump has defied skepticism and governed like a pro-life president. He became the first president to speak at the March for Life. Behind closed doors, several sources tell me, he actually pushes pro-life policies. In response, many pro-life leaders feel that for the first time, they have a president who understands their strategy and knows what needs to be done. It may just be Trumpβs characterβgoing on the offensive, after all, is his modus operandi. But many pro-life leaders believe they finally have a president who is willing to do what it takesβand treating them like loyal allies to boot. With the Trump administration, at long last, pro-lifers find themselves walking through open doors and taking a seat at the table after years of political betrayals and lukewarm support. They are at the pinnacle of power, where the air is thin. It is heady stuff.
With the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the stakes are higher than ever for the pro-life movement. The SBA List is returning Trumpβs loyalty by ignoring his character flaws and campaigning hard for him across the nation. Marjorie Dannenfelser, for one, believes that his convictions are genuineβas she stood behind him while he spoke at the March for Life, she writes that she was convinced that he was βtruly speaking from the heart.β And who knowsβshe may be right. For better or for worse, many believe that the fate of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court, and the abortion debate in America seems, for the moment, to be tied up with that of Donald J. Trump.
Jonathon Van Maren is a public speaker, writer, and pro-life activist. His commentary has appeared in National Review, The European Conservative, the National Post, and elsewhere. Jonathon is the author of The Culture War and Seeing Is Believing: Why Our Culture Must Face the Victims of Abortion as well as the co-author with Blaise Alleyne of A Guide to Discussing Assisted Suicide.
The post Trumpβs Place in Pro-Life History appeared first on The American Conservative.
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Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden speaks at the United Auto Workers (UAW) Union Headquarters in Warren, Michigan, on September 9, 2020. (Photo by JIM WATSON / AFP) (Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden speaks at the United Auto Workers (UAW) Union Headquarters in Warren, Michigan, on September 9, 2020. (Photo by JIM WATSON / AFP) (Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)
AZPD
One of two suspects accused of ambushing ArizonaΒ Department of Public Safety (DPS) detectives is an illegal alien, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency confirmed.
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Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) joined Sean Hannity on Monday night.
During their discussion Graham said the Republicans have 50 votes to confirm the next Supreme Court Justice on the floor of the US Senate before the November election!
Senator Cory Gardner (R-CO) announced Monday he would vote for a GOP nominee before the election. Senator Grassley from Iowa also said he would vote for a Trump nominee for the highest court.
Senator Graham: βWeβve got the votes to confirm the Justice on the floor of the Senate BEFORE the election & thatβs what is coming.β
Via The Columbia Bugle:
Senator Lindsey Graham Announcing On Hannity That They Have The Votes For Trump's SCOTUS Pick
"We've got the votes to confirm the Justice on the floor of the Senate BEFORE the election & that's what is coming." pic.twitter.com/L1Nwr1wBjd
β The Columbia Bugle
More from Charlie Kirk:
BREAKING:
According to Lindsey Graham, Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee "We've got the votes to confirm Justice Ginsburg's replacement before the election. That's what's coming."
FILL. THE. SEAT.
β Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) September 22, 2020
The post Senator Lindsey Graham: βWeβve Got the Votes to Confirm the Justice on the Floor of the Senate BEFORE the Electionβ (VIDEO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
THIS WAS INCREDIBLE!
WHAT A WINNER!
Colby Covington: βLadies and gentleman, the silent majority is ready to make some noise. If you thought that was a beating wait until November 3rd, when Donald Trump gets his hands on Sleepy Joe. Thatβs gonna be a landslide.β
Then he went on to SLAM spineless coward LeBron James!
Holy Smokes this was AWESOME!
CHAOS
βLadies and gentleman, the silent majority is ready to make some noise. If you thought that was a beating wait until November 3rd, when Donald Trump gets his hands on Sleepy Joe. Thatβs gonna be a landslide.β β @ColbyCovMMA pic.twitter.com/0b518NdgV2
β Andrew Surabian (@Surabees) September 20, 2020
On Monday Colby Covington doubled-down and challenged LeBron James to a bout saying, βHe wouldnβt last 10 seconds with me!β
Now that would be a sell-out!
LOL at the snowflakes that believe @KingJames could even last 10 seconds with me! If that coward had the balls or the ability to kick anyoneβs ass, Delonte West wouldβve lost his teeth long before his meth habit! pic.twitter.com/TQZ56FBnt1
β Colby Covington (@ColbyCovMMA) September 22, 2020
The post King James Couldnβt βLast 10 Seconds with Meβ β MMA Champ Colby Covington Doubles Down β Challenges βSpineless Cowardβ LeBron James to Bout appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
I believe that President Trump will be re-elected in November, if only legal ballots cast by eligible voters are counted. What I donβt know is how many millions of fraudulent votes will be cast for Joe Biden.
My state, Minnesota, has made a point of facilitating voter fraud. Every registered voter in the state, of whom there must be several million, has received an application for an absentee ballot that promotes βvoting from home.β Actually showing up at the polls is portrayed as a second-best alternative for βthose who need or want to vote in person.β
If you receive this invitation, as I did, no identification is required to obtain an absentee ballot. You may have a Minnesota driverβs license, or maybe a Social Security number. (Who doesnβt?) But failing that, or if fraud is your object, you can check the third box. In that case, βYour identification number will be compared to the one on your absentee ballot envelope.β
βYour identification numberβ is not explained in the enclosed materials, but it can only refer to a bar code on the Business Reply Mail envelope that is included with each absentee ballot application. This obviously affords no ballot security. It merely will document that an application for an absentee ballot was submitted, and a ballot corresponding to that application was later cast. It provides no assurance as to who filled out that ballot.
This crude system has many flaws, the most obvious of which is that voter registration rolls are notoriously inaccurate. Earlier today I got a text from a friend with photographs of three absentee ballot applications that came to his residence. One was addressed to him. The other two were addressed to a couple who formerly owned his home, but moved to Arizona in 2017. There is literally nothing standing in the way of his checking the third alternative on question number 4, and obtaining absentee ballots in the names of those former residents, which he could then cast, thus voting three times instead of once. He wonβt do this, because he is honest. He is also a Republican. I have gotten the same reports of erroneous ballot applications from several other friends.
How many Democrats will take advantage of the millions of invitations to absentee ballot applications that are now flooding the state, to vote more than once? I have no idea, and neither does anyone else. But the Democratic Party, having promoted βvoting from homeβ and having eliminated the requirement of a witness signature (via a βsettlementβ with left-wing groups entered into by Secretary of State Steve Simon, who does everything possible to facilitate voter fraud), is obviously counting on voter fraud to help swing Minnesota into Joe Bidenβs column.
Who knows? In a hotly contested election, it might work.
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Bubba Wallace
Lindsey Graham News Conference
On Monday's broadcast of the Fox News Channel's "Hannity," Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-SC) stated that Senate Republicans have "the votes to confirm Justice Ginsburg's replacement before the election."
Trump, High School Football Players
Trump welcomed two Ohio High School students who were suspended for carrying a pro-law enforcement flag onto their football field. "They're good looking kids. I want to congratulate you," Trump said as the two students joined him on stage. "You've become famous."
Diversity in the Suburbs
Despite claims that President Trump wants to keep suburbia white, diversity in those neighborhoods has increased under his administration.
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Tucker Carlson opened his show on the leftβs latest threats against Republicans, the US President and America.
Democrats are determined to prevent the Republican President and Republican Senate to nominate and confirm the next Supreme Court Justice to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The 87-year-old Ginsburg passed away at home on Friday.
Democrats are threatening impeachment of President Trump and Attorney General Bill Barr.
And Democrats are even threatening to block access to the Republican senators from entering the US Senate Chamber in the US Capitol Building.
Gavin Newsomβs Chief of Staff Ann OβLeary tweeted out that sheβs ready to lie down and block GOP senators from entering the US Capitol to vote on the next SCOTUS justice.
The Democrats are out of control. In fact, they are dangerous.
The post Democrats Threaten to Fly to Washington and Prevent Senate Vote on SCOTUS Nominee β Lay Down on Floor to Block Entry to Senate β Tucker Carlson Open appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
President Donald Trump signaled Saturday night that he expects federal judges to play a key role in achieving a definitive result within hours of the polls closing on Election Day.
βWeβre going to have a victory on November 3rd the likes of which youβve never seen,β Trump told a rally in Fayetteville, N.C. βNow, weβre counting on the federal court system to make it so that we can actually have an evening where we know who wins. Not where the votes are going to be counted a week later or two weeks later.β
It wasnβt entirely clear whether Trump was urging or anticipating a more prominent role for the courts in election issues in the wake of Ginsburgβs death. He has been immersed in discussions about the judiciary recently as he released a list of possible Supreme Court nominees last week and after the liberal icon passed away Friday evening.
The Presidentβs words are freaking Democrats out:
I mean https://t.co/zWrGNsjJbh pic.twitter.com/2kHQTcGkDx
β Hamilton Nolan (@hamiltonnolan) September 20, 2020
Of course the 2020 election all comes down to the courts.Β The Democrats felt they had the upper hand in the 2020 election before Ginsburgβs death.Β Chief Justice Roberts turned into a lunatic after his opinions on Obamacare.Β The Democrats felt they had their four liberal votes and Chief Robertsβ vote.Β The liberal judges like Ginsburg always argued based on their position, not the Constitution.Β But with a new judge, the courts will be four lunatics against five conservative votes.
The post President Trumpβs Comments About βCounting on the Federal Court Systemβ on November 3rd Are Freaking Democrats Out Especially Since Ginsburgβs Death appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) went on with Tucker Carlson on Monday to discuss the crisis in the US Supreme Court with the passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Republican Senators Susan Collins (R-MN) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AL) say they do not believe their should be a vote on the next SCOTUS nominee until after the election.
Matt Gaetz says the two senators are refusing to do their job and should be defunded by the party in their reelection campaigns.
Matt Gaetz: Here we have Murkowski and Collins rejecting the duties they have as senators and if they do that their voters should reject them. Trump supporters should not be taken for granted in Maine, Alaska or anywhere else. And if they are unwilling to do their job and take a vote on who the president nominates they should not have the privilege of continuing to serve in the senate⦠Mitch McConnell should put pressure on fellow senators. They should lose funding for their campaigns. They should lose committee assignments if they are unwilling to fulfill their duty⦠Susan Collins herself said the senate should take a vote on Merrick Garland. So the Susan Collins of 2020 should certainly agree with the Susan Collins of 2016.
Gaetz is right.
These RINOβs need to be defunded if they refuse to do their job.
Enough is enough!
The post Matt Gaetz: If GOP Senators Murkowski and Collins Refuse to Vote for SCOTUS Nominee They Should Lose Funding from the GOP (VIDEO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
Jeanine Pirro on FNC, 10/11/2019
Jeanine Pirro on FNC, 10/11/2019
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Judge Andrew Napolitano
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A Biden for President sign in a lawn of suburban Dublin, Ohio, on Friday, Sept. 18, 2020. In the campaign for House control, some districts are seeing a fight between Democrats saying they'll protect voters from Republicans willing to take their health coverage away, while GOP candidates are raising specters of rioters imperiling neighborhoods if Democrats win. (AP Photo/Julie Carr Smyth)
Andrew Cuomo 414
Andrew Cuomo on MSNBC 4/14/20
In this undated file photo provided on Sunday, May 24, 2020, by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un speaks during a meeting of the Seventh Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea in North Korea. Kim suspended his military's plans to take unspecified retaliatory action against South Korea, state media said Wednesday, June 24, possibly slowing a pressure campaign against its rival amid stalled nuclear negotiations with the Trump administration. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP, File)
In this undated file photo provided on Sunday, May 24, 2020, by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un speaks during a meeting of the Seventh Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea in North Korea. Kim suspended his military's plans to take unspecified retaliatory action against South Korea, state media said Wednesday, June 24, possibly slowing a pressure campaign against its rival amid stalled nuclear negotiations with the Trump administration. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP, File)
A housekeeper
A housekeeper prepares a room for customers at a hotel in Prague, Czech Republic, Monday, May 25, 2020. The bars, restaurants and cafes are returning to full service in the Czech Republic as the government is taking further steps to ease its restrictive measures adopted to contain the coronavirus pandemic. The hotels and tourist camps are also reopening on Monday together with public swimming pools, aquatic centers, wellness centers and saunas. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
Valero Energy Corp. Halts Purchasing Of Venezuelan Oil After U.S. Imposed Sanctions On The Country
LOS ANGELES, CA - FEBRUARY 01: A sign is displayed at a Valero gas station on February 1, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. Valero Energy Corp, formerly one of the largest buyers of Venezuelan crude, has halted purchasing oil from the country following U.S. sanctions. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
Barack Obama, Dmitry Medvedev
U.S. President Barack Obama, left, and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev chat during a bilateral meeting at the Nuclear Security Summit in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, March, 26, 2012. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
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Cory Gardner on FNC 2/13/20
Democrats Celebrate Impeachment
Trump spoke about House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is refusing to rule out impeachment again. "Go ahead. I want them to do that," Trump said during a rally with supporters in Ohio on Monday night.
tylerperrymexico1
Actor and director Tyler Perry attends his Hollywod Walk of Fame Star ceremony on October 1, 2019 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Frederic J. BROWN / AFP) (Photo by FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images)
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We noted in April, 2020 that while at Covington, lawyers from HolderβsΒ firm represented General Mike Flynn and requested dirt on President Trump while withholding important information from General Flynn.
After working for President Obama for six years, Attorney General Eric Holder returned to the law firm where he had previously worked, Covington, where he became a partner in 2015.
Many, including the Heritage Foundation in 2014, identified how corrupt Holder was as AG [emphasis added]:
β¦ the American people recognize that Mr. Holder is an ideologue who considers himself part of Mr. Obamaβs political team first and the attorney general a very distant second. His first loyalty has been to helping the president break, bend, ignore or fail to enforce the law, doing untold damage to our constitutional system and the rule of law.
As former Justice Department prosecutor Andy McCarthy has said, the Justice Department under Mr. Holder has become βa sort of full-employment program for progressive activists, race-obsessed bean counters and lawyers who volunteered their services during the Bush years to help al Qaeda operatives file lawsuits against the United States.β
There is no way to know how long it will take to repair the damage that Mr. Holder has done to the management and operation of the Justice Department. One thing we do know for sure β it will take a great deal of work by a new attorney general who is willing to take on the activists that Mr. Holder will leave embedded within the career civil service ranks of the department. And it will take political willpower and steadfastness of a kind that is rarely seen in Washington.
Through his numerous actions as Obamaβs AG, Mr. Holder proved that he was not concerned with law and the constitution, he was concerned with power.
General Michael Flynn obtained attorneys from Covington to represent him in the filing of a FARA form in December of 2016, shortly after the 2016 election. A few months later, General Flynnβs life was turned upside down and he hired Covington to represent him in charges being leveled by the Mueller gang. Eventually, the Covington lawyers working for the General coerced him to sign a guilty plea on charges he did not believe he was guilty of performing.Β He agreed to the plea in part because the Mueller gang was threatening his son.
After millions in legal fees, and untold negative stories in the MSM, General Flynn obtained new lawyers and the government finally released Brady documents showing he committed no crimes.
In General Flynnβs tweet, he shared a number of devastating points where it becomes clear that his attorneys at Covington, in spite of taking millions in legal fees, were not working in the Generalβs best interest.
In one of the first meetings with Covington, Holderβs firm, Flynnβs lawyers asked if he had any dirt on President Trump:
Covington attorneys never explained to the General that there were any problems with his FARA filings which Flynn initially hired Covington to address. Covington lawyers said that they were willing to represent the General in any upcoming legal issues and he agreed:
Then over the 2017 Thanksgiving holiday, after months in the news, Covington attorneys called the General to tell him that the Mueller Special Counsel was planning on bringing charges against the General, and advised him that if he did not plead guilty, that he would be indicted on multiple counts and his son would be indicted as well. Covingtonβs lawyers told him that he could be looking at 15 years in prison and he could receive the βManafort treatmentβ [where he would likely be abused in solitary confinement]:
Still at at this time, General Flynn did not believe that he had lied to FBI agents in January 2017.
A few days later, General Flynn was advised by his Covington attorneys that if he did not plead guilty, he would be indicted the next day. His attorneys also told him and his wife that the FBI Agents stood by what their statements were after their interview with General Flynn in the White House in early 2017:
Β
General Flynn says that he would not have pleaded guilty if his Covington lawyers had told him that the FBI agents believed he was telling the truth in their interview and at no time did his Covington lawyers tell him this was the statement of the FBI agents:
Every time General Flynn said that he didnβt lie after making his original plea, his Covington attorneys told him to stick with his plea:
You can read the 12-page declaration here:
Flynn Declaration by Techno Fog on Scribd
There have been numerous reports in the news of late, since General Flynn obtained former US Attorney Sidney Powell to represent him, that his Covington lawyers had numerous conflicts of interest in his case.
Not only this, but Powell tweeted that the Mueller gang had a secret deal with Flynnβs Covington attorneys that was not shared with General Flynn:
In addition to the numerous conflicts, we reported in January 2020 that the DOJβs Trisha Anderson went to work for Covington while they represented General Flynn. To this day we have no evidence that Covington notified General Flynn about hiring one of the individuals at the DOJ involved in the Russia collusion sham.
Today found more evidence on the connection between Holder and the Russia collusion scam.Β The calendar for January 2017 for former Obama DAG Sally Yates was released per a FOIA request.Β The calendar shows the meeting in the White House on January 5, 2017 where the top members of the Obama team connived on their efforts to set up, spy on and remove the incoming President from office. It also shows something else.Β Techno Fog shares:
New FOIA β Calendar of Sally Yates (January 2017)
β Time of 1/5/17 Obama White House meeting
β Dates of FISA meetings
β Lunch w/ Eric Holder former Chief of Staff the day after Flynn interview (day before meeting with WH Counsel McGahn)
Full doc:https://t.co/PrkC0QTkjm pic.twitter.com/X0saOAkdrb
β Techno Fog (@Techno_Fog) September 21, 2020
The day after Obamaβs Deep State actors set up General Flynn in the White House, Yates met up with Holderβs former Chief of staff for lunch, Gary Grindler.Β Do you think they just talked about grand kids and golf?
Covington had numerous conflicts of interest related to their biggest case ever, representing General Michael Flynn in his unjust indictment by the Mueller gang. His attorneys withheld evidence from their client. They asked for dirt on President Trump. They hired individuals that were involved in the criminal Spygate scandal.
The post BREAKING: The Chief of Staff for Obamaβs Former AG Eric Holder Met With Sally Yates the Day After General Flynn Was Set Up in the White House appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
Collin Peterson is the closest thing to a conservative Democrat in Congress. He has represented Minnesotaβs 7th District, the Northwestern and West Central portion of the state, since 1991. He is currently Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee. At one time Peterson was an icon in the district, but his enthusiasm for campaigning has waned and in recent cycles, as his district moved farther away from the Democratic Party, his margin of victory has steadily declined. In 2016, the 7th District went for Donald Trump by 30 points. Peterson is one of the last Democrats in the House, possibly the last, to represent a rural district.
Last week, Peterson tried to distance himself from fellow Minnesota Representative Ilhan Omar:
βDo you have any comment as to why you defended Ilhan Omar?β an employee with the National Republican Congressional Committee asked Peterson on Capitol Hill on Thursday.
βI donβt defend her. She doesnβt belong in our party,β the 16-term lawmaker responded.
When asked to clarify himself, a COVID-19-masked Peterson repeated, βShe doesnβt belong in our party,β as he walked away.
But in this yearβs primary, Omar easily defeated a well-financed, more moderate Democratic opponent. Her Republican opponent in the general election is Lacy Johnson, an excellent candidate who deserves your support. But in an overwhelmingly Democratic, and remarkably left-wing, district, Omar is the overwhelming favorite to be re-elected.
Collin Peterson, on the other hand, is likely closing out his political career. He has a credible opponent in Michelle Fischbach and, in a district where President Trump is wildly popular, Republican turnout should be huge. So most likely, Ilhan Omar will be returning to Washington after November 3, and Collin Peterson wonβt be.
Peterson says that Omar βdoesnβt belong in our party,β but in reality, it is Collin Peterson who doesnβt belong in the Democratic Party. It is Ilhan Omarβs party now.
Trump famously boasted in 2016 that thereβd be so much winning that weβd get tired of all the winning. The last week has seen so much winning that not even the most extravagant NFL end zone celebration can express it.
First, last Thursday, Constitution Day, Trump took direct aim at the pernicious 1619 Project, and announced his plan to have a 1776 Commission to confront the 1619 Project directly. The left naturally freaked out, but amazingly the NY Times is suddenly backtracking from a few of the more egregious claims the 1619 Project contained. (More on this in a separate post.)
Then on Friday we got Secretary Betsy DeVosβs letter to Princeton that Paul is covering, saying that if Princeton is serious about its complicity in racism then it may well be in violation of civil rights laws and risks forfeiting its federal aid. More of this please! I hope and expect that the general counsels of a great many virtue-signaling universities will receive similar letters soon.
Then today the Justice Department designated New York City, Portland, and Seattle to be βanarchist citiesβ that, because they fail systematically to protect the civil rights of their citizens, may have to forfeit federal aid:
βThe U.S. Department of Justice today identified the following three jurisdictions that have permitted violence and destruction of property to persist and have refused to undertake reasonable measures to counteract criminal activities: New York City; Portland, Oregon; and Seattle, Washington. The Department of Justice is continuing to work to identify jurisdictions that meet the criteria set out in the Presidentβs Memorandum and will periodically update the list of selected jurisdictions as required therein. . . The list was published on DOJβs website today in response to President Trumpβs memorandum of September 2, 2020, entitled βMemorandum on Reviewing Funding to State and Local Government Recipients That Are Permitting Anarchy, Violence, and Destruction in American Cities.'β
Finally, since screaming hysterically in your car is now a thing on the left, I think it is worth passing along this entry from Ron Coleman:
And this leaves out all of the leftist rage weβre sure to see on display over Trumpβs forthcoming Supreme Court nomination.
UPDATE: Gad Saad is out with this preview of coming attractions and important news relevant to the next nominee to the Supreme Court:
Biden Toasts Xi
US Vice President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping toast during a State Luncheon for China hosted by US Secretary of State John Kerry on September 25, 2015 at the Department of State in Washington, DC. AFP PHOTO/PAUL J. RICHARDS (Photo credit should read PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP via Getty Images)
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Donald Trump Angry at Republicans
"Does anything happen? Nothing happens," Trump continued. "I'm so angry at Republicans. I am. I'm so angry."
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