The Democrats Have Some Serious Problems

 

I long believed—and I still believe it—that the Democratic Party’s main strategy in all the lawfare against Trump was to build sympathy and support for him among the Republican base so that he would win the Republican nomination.   They surmised that Trump had absolutely no chance of ever being elected president again; thus, they helped him get nominated.  In that effort, they succeeded royally.

I suppose if Trump got tossed in jail for some reason, that would all be well and good, too.  Republicans would still support him, but most Americans probably wouldn’t vote for a convicted criminal.  But there are enough lawyers in the Democratic Party to know that the cases against Trump are largely high-cholesterol pig slop.  Only juries in 100 percent Democratic cities would ever find him guilty of anything, and it would be overturned on appeal.  So, the Democrats got what they wanted—Trump at the top of the Republican ticket, a man whom they think (thought) could never win the election.

But they never counted on a few problems arising.  One of them is the backlash against these utterly hateful, totally unjust attacks on Trump.  THAT appears to be building support for Trump in locations the Democrats never dreamed of. Not all Americans are Democrats, thus not all Americans are robots.  And plenty of our countrymen can see the repulsive, smearing politics the Democrats are playing, and are finding it a bit off-putting.  Even Donald Trump doesn’t deserve THIS.  Nobody likes a hater.  And in politics, people want to hear what you are going to do, not just who you hate.   The Democrats, so far, have offered nothing positive to the American people; only loathing of Trump.  I don’t know if they thought that would be enough to win this November, but right now, it doesn’t appear to be.

Of course, another problem the Democrats have is that they don’t HAVE anything positive to offer America.  Joe Biden is the worst president in American history, and every month, he gets worse.   He keeps digging an increasingly deeper hole.  If he continues to do that, he will lose.  And the Democrats are feeling that.  They are falling back onto their strategy of “Look what Trump just said!,” but that is only pleasing their base.  And if Americans truly look at what Trump DID say, they will be repulsed even more by Democratic antics.  But how can anyone defend Biden?  Attacking Trump is all the Democrats have at the moment.

I’ve gone back and forth on whether the Democrats are going to dump Biden or not.   I first thought they wouldn’t because, historically, replacing an incumbent president who wants a second term is virtually impossible.  A president has awesome power, far more than the Founders ever intended.  Thus, countless hangers-on in the Democratic Party owe their cushy, useless jobs to Biden, and are going to stick with him through thick and thin.  It will be difficult to get rid of Biden, even if the Democrats could do it.  It would be...pardon the word...a bloodbath.

Then, for awhile, I thought that the Dems, because of certain problems Biden has, such as his age and obvious mental slippage (not to mention his poll numbers), would be able to gently (or not so much) remove him.  Currently, I really don’t know what they will do, so I’m not even going to speculate.  I’ll just sit and wait and laugh.

I do know that, not only will it be challenging to drop Biden, but the Democrats face the serious conundrum of whom they would replace him with.  Really, who do they have?  Michelle Obama said again recently that she does not want the job, and I think she means it.  She’s said it too many times.   Kamala would certainly take it, but the Democrats aren’t going to give her the top spot.  She’s less popular and more obviously incompetent than Biden is.  Gavin Newsom gets some talk, but I’m not so sure the Democrats want him, either.  How will flyover America—and that includes some very crucial states—react to the possibility of the rest of America, particularly their states, ending up looking like California?  Newsom has been as bad a governor in California as Biden has been president of the United States.  And many Americans know that.  Problem, indeed.  

People may not especially like Trump, but the country didn’t fall apart during his administration. In fact, until the Wuhan virus hit, things were actually going pretty well. Trump is going to look a whole lot better than Kamala or Newsom to a whole lot of Americans.

So, drop Biden?  For whom? Who else do the Democrats have? Yes, they’d nominate somebody, some virtual unknown, and obviously millions of people would vote for him/her/it. I’m reminded of the 1844 election. The Democratic Party was deadlocked for a long time and finally nominated James K. Polk, a near unknown outside of his native Tennessee, just to have somebody on the ticket.  It was reported that when one man heard about the nomination of Polk, he said, “Hurray for...who did you say it was?”  He’d never heard of Polk.  But Polk won the presidency that year.  It could happen to “Unknown Democrat” this year.

But my point here is, the Democrats have some problems.  They are turning a lot of people away with their single-minded hatred and vituperative attacks on Trump. They are out-Trumping Trump, making him look like the nice guy.  They have a serious Biden problem.  If they can’t get rid of him, they are stuck with him, will have to defend him somehow, and will be offering an obviously unpopular, senile president to America for four more years.  If they succeed in ditching Biden, who can they present as a positive alternative?

Right now, their strategy is “Trump is more disgusting than Biden.”  That’s all they’ve got.  Well, and they intend to cheat.  That goes without saying.

Trump Campaign Responds to Biden's Latest Attacks on Easter

 

The Biden White House, as Sarah covered earlier, on Friday issued "A Proclamation on Transgender Day of Visibility" to take place on Sunday, March 31. That's also Easter Sunday. As a further affront to Christians, the White House is even banning "religious symbols" and "overtly religious themes" as part of their criteria for an Easter egg design contest for the children of National Guard members. And to think we're told that Biden is supposedly a "devout Catholic." On Saturday, Donald Trump's campaign responded to the news, as National Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt called on Biden to apologize for such an "appalling and insulting" move.

"It is appalling and insulting that Joe Biden’s White House prohibited children from submitting religious egg designs for their Easter Art Event, and formally proclaimed Easter Sunday as ‘Trans Day of Visibility.’ Sadly, these are just two more examples of the Biden Administration’s years-long assault on the Christian faith," Leavitt said in a statement shared first with Breitbart. "We call on Joe Biden’s failing campaign and White House to issue an apology to the millions of Catholics and Christians across America who believe tomorrow is for one celebration only — the resurrection of Jesus Christ."

Trump also shared the statement to his TruthSocial account.

pic.twitter.com/bsZE1XHNIB

— Donald J. Trump Posts From His Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) March 30, 2024

Of all the proclamations that the president made on Friday, none were about Christians celebrating Good Friday that day, or about the upcoming Easter Sunday holiday. 

The Biden White House has come under criticism before for it emphasis on "A Proclamation on Transgender Day of Visibility," including in 2023, not long after Audrey Hale, who was transgender, shot and killed six people, including three children, at The Covenant School, a private Christian school in Nashville, Tennessee. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre also shrugged off how the shooting was a hate crime against Christians. 

In what looks to be an attempt to justify the proclamation, as well as downplay and denigrate the outrage from concerned Christians, Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates has reposted several accounts trying to excuse the proclamation by pointing out that Easter changes, while this "Transgender Day of Visibility" is consistently on March 31. This includes Brian Stelter. 

Growing up a religious Catholic, who went to church twice weekly I understand that Easter changes every year and transgender visibility day always occurs on the same date.

This is just making stuff up to be outraged about . https://t.co/4VVeLcBlVY

— Andy Kaczynski (@KFILE) March 30, 2024

Trans Day of Visibility falls on March 31 every year, while the liturgical calendar means that Easter is 40 days after the start of Lent— whichever Sunday that is. The White House decision to recognize TDOV in a proclamation does not detract from Easter https://t.co/urlqa5Hm3D pic.twitter.com/nVY7ZtucTT

— DJ Judd (@DJJudd) March 30, 2024

LOTS of misinfo flying around this site today about International Transgender Day of Visibility, which is not a White House thing and not an Easter thing. Maybe this thread can clear it up >>> https://t.co/7oEb0Duv11

— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) March 30, 2024

As the Breitbart report covering the statement highlighted, this isn't the only recent contrast between Biden and Trump. Biden had been in New York City to attend a lavish fundraiser with Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, while Trump spoke at the wake of Jonathan Diller, a murdered NYPD officer, whose accused killer is a career criminal with 21 prior arrests. While discussing the matter during Thursday's White House press briefing, Jean-Pierre didn't even say Diller's name, and made her response about gun control. 

The proclamation has received considerable attention over social media. Our sister site of Twitchy has covered some of the best posts. Another one worth highlighting is how The Daily Beast columnist Matt Lewis pointed out this actually helps Trump win come that rematch in November.

This is how Trump wins https://t.co/e7QXxTVo62

— Matt Lewis (@mattklewis) March 30, 2024

Joe Biden's Re-Election Hopes Shattered: 'We're Never Voting' For Him Again

President Joe Biden’s re-election dreams are becoming nightmares just months before voters cast their ballots in November. 

While former President Donald Trump attended the wake of slain NYPD officer Jonathan Diller, Biden was hosting a glitzy fundraiser with leftist, Hollywood elites as dozens of pro-Palestine protestors cursed his name. 

During the president’s re-election fundraiser where he reportedly raised over $25 million, pro-Palestine activists shouted “We’re never voting for Biden” outside Radio City Music Hall in New York City where tickets to the event where tickets cost as much as $25,000. 

“Enjoy Trump because we’re not voting for Biden ever! Enjoy Trump,” the protestors could be heard shouting. 

Other activists called attendees “fu**ing losers” and “genocide supporters” as they made their way into the swanky event that was crawling with Democrats who gush over Biden. 

Biden’s pro-Israel stance could cost him the 2024 election as a significant number of Democrats abandon him. 

The single-issue campaign for Biden has become increasingly apparent after the Michigan Democratic primary where more than ten percent of the state’s Democrat voters marked “uncommitted” in protest of his stance in the Israel-Hamas war. 

Meanwhile, in Minnesota, organizers made phone calls to voters in support of Palestine just five days before the state’s Super Tuesday primary. The effort secured 46,000 “uncommitted” votes, or 19 percent of the total vote share.

“Joe Biden has not done enough to earn my vote and not done enough to stop the war,” Minnesota voter Sarah Alfaham told PBS. 

According to a recent Fox News poll, Trump leads Biden by five percentage points, 50 to 45 percent in a head-to-head rematch. 

The poll found that 43 percent of registered voters, including third-party voters, said they would support Trump, while only 38 percent said they would vote for Biden.

 

Occupied Gaza

 

Prior to October 7, there were roughly two million Arab citizens of Israel but no Jewish citizens in Gaza. Gazans in 2006 voted in Hamas to rule them. It summarily executed its Palestinian Authority rivals. Hamas canceled all future scheduled elections. It established a dictatorship and diverted hundreds of billions of dollars in international aid to build a vast underground labyrinth of military installations.

"Collateral damage"

Hamas began the war by deliberately targeting civilians. It massacred them on October 7 when it invaded Israel during a time of peace and holidays. It sent more than 7,000 rockets into Israeli cities for the sole purpose of killing noncombatants. It has no vocabulary for the collateral damage of Israeli civilians, since it believes any Jewish death under any circumstances is cause for celebration.

Hamas places its terrorist centers beneath and inside hospitals, schools, and mosques. Why? Israel is assumed to have more reservations about collaterally hitting Gaza civilians than Hamas does exposing them as human shields.

"Disproportionate"

We are told Israel wrongly uses disproportionate force to retaliate in Gaza. But it does so because no nation can win a war without disproportionate violence that hurts the enemy more than it is hurt by the enemy.

The U.S. incinerated German and Japanese cities with disproportionate force to end a war both Axis powers started. The American military in Iraq nearly leveled Fallujah and Mosul by disproportional force to root out Islamic gunmen hiding among innocents. Hamas has objections to disproportionate violence -- but only when it is achieved by Israel and not Hamas.

"Two-state solution"

Prior to October 7, there was a de facto three-state solution, given that Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza were all separate states ruled by their own governments, two of which were illegitimate without scheduled elections.

It was not Israel, but the people of Gaza and the West Bank who institutionalized the "from river to the sea" agenda of destroying its neighbor.

Israel would have been content to live next to an autonomous Arab Gaza and West Bank that did not seek to destroy Israel in their multigenerational efforts to form their own "one-state solution."

"Ceasefire"

The so-called international community is demanding Israel agree to a "ceasefire." But there was already a ceasefire prior to October 7. Hamas broke it by massacring 1,200 Jews and taking over 250 hostages.

Hamas violated that peace because it thought it could gain leverage over Israel by murdering Jews.

Hamas now demands another ceasefire because it thinks it is no longer able to murder more unarmed Jews. Instead, it now fears that Israel will destroy Hamas in the way Hamas sought but failed to destroy Israel.

Did Hamas call for a cease-fire after the first 500 Jews it massacred on October 7?

"Ramadan"

President Joe Biden believes that the Muslim religious holiday of Ramadan requires Israel to agree to a ceasefire.

But did either Hamas or any other Arab military ever respect Jewish -- or even its own -- religious holidays?

The October 7 massacre was timed to catch Israelis unaware while celebrating the Jewish religious holidays of Simchat Torah, Shemini Torah, and Shemini Atzeret on Shabbat.

Moreover, Hamas's surprise attack was deliberately timed to commemorate the earlier sneak Arab attack on Israel some 50 years earlier.

On October 6, 1973, the Israelis were the target of a surprise attack when celebrating the religious holiday of Yom Kippur. Arab armies also assumed they would achieve greater surprise when attacking during their own religious holiday of Ramadan.

So, Arab militaries fight opportunistically both during Jewish and their own Islamic holidays. Egyptians and Syrians still boast of their 1973 surprise attack on Israel as the "Ramadan War."

Only Westerners, not Arabs, believe there should be no war during Ramadan.

"Civilian casualties"

Israel risks the lives of its soldiers to prevent civilian deaths. Hamas risks the lives of its civilians to prevent terrorists' deaths. Israel considers it a failure, and Hamas considers it globally advantageous when more civilians die than its soldiers.

"Foreign aid"

The Biden administration threatens to cut off or slow-walk aid to Israel if it continues to retaliate against Hamas even though they started the war. So the administration promises to give more aid to Gaza after the October 7 Hamas massacres than it gave to Gaza before Hamas's attack.

"Prisoners"

The international community that favors Hamas, nevertheless, knows it would be safer to be a prisoner of Israel than of Hamas. It knows women are not going to be raped in custody by Israelis but are by Hamas. And the unarmed are more likely to be mutilated and decapitated by Hamas than Israelis.

Is the international community more likely to charge Israel than Hamas for war crimes because the Jewish state seeks to avoid civilian deaths that Hamas finds useful?

President Joe ‘Forrest Gump’ Biden

 

Joe Biden can’t help himself, he has to make everything about himself. It’s like he was standing next to someone who said, “Man, that Barack Obama sure is a narcissist” and Joe responded with “Hold my beer.” But Biden is a famous teetotaler, which means he can’t blame any of his stupidity on being drunk of having drank too much in the past, he’s just naturally dumb, which brings us nicely to the Forrest Gump analogy – because, in his mind at least, Joe Biden is the Forrest Gump of modern American history.

I don’t say because the President and the fictional character both have IQs below 70 (more like 50 in Biden’s case, but whatever), I say it because both weave themselves into every significant event in their lifetimes and neither were actually there. In Gump’s case it’s because he’s a fictional character, in Biden’s it’s that he’s just a straight-up liar.

After the collapse of the Frances Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Biden couldn’t just make a statement, he had to insert himself into the story. Biden said, “At about 1:30, a container ship struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge, which I’ve been over many, many times commuting from the state of Delaware either on a train or by car.” (Emphasis added)

There were no train tracks on the bridge, and the only way you’d drive across it on the way from Wilmington to DC is if you wanted that drive to take even longer, like a half hour longer. In other words, nothing Biden said there was remotely true. Even if it were, what would it have possibly mattered? Would grieving families feel some relief from the idea that this senile, corrupt bag of bones unable to walk up the adult steps onto Air Force One had driven over a bridge their loved ones died on? 

Of course not. But Biden can’t help himself. He has to make any story about him, even a little, or else he has no interest. The Gold Star families with which he’s met can all recount how this pile of garbage told them he understands their loss because his son, Beau, died in Iraq. Only he didn’t die anywhere near Iraq, he died in a hospital in Bethesda, Maryland.

Their loved ones died unexpectedly and suddenly, he had the ability to say goodbye to his son, who’d served a 9-month tour of duty as a JAG officer in the Green Zone of Iraq, coming away unharmed. But Joe can’t just care about other people’s loss, he has to make it about him to give the impression that he cares. 

Most politicians, and Bill Clinton comes to mind, can fake it with the best of them. Joe can’t. Compassion by fake proxy is not compassion, especially when you have to lie.

So much of Joe’s life is a lie.

To seem like a normal person, rather than a pampered wealthy kid who’s never held a real job in his life, Joe regularly tells the fake story about how he was told he rode a million miles on Amtrack by a conductor who was long dead by the time he was allegedly told this. The whole thing has been proven to be a lie, yet he repeats it all the time.

Joe lies about being involved in the Civil Rights Movement, but only when talking to black audiences. When he’s not, he admits he had nothing to do with it, even though he easily could have. He’s claimed to have grown up in the Jewish community, the black community and the Puerto Rican community, even though everyone knows those are lies. 

He’s told the story of how he was arrested trying to visit Nelson Mandela in prison, even though he only directed to exit the South African airport through a separate “whites only” door, which he did. This happened at an airport more than a thousand miles away from Mandela’s prison island, but Biden was never asked why he didn’t fly to the major city with an international airport right there. 

That’s how he’s able to get away with all of this – because the people with the jobs that are supposed to hold him to account aren’t interested in doing so; they’re his enablers, not honest brokers.

Forrest Gump was always “there,” Joe Biden never was. Gump didn’t bother talking about what he’d seen and been a part of because it was just his life, it wasn’t trying to impress anyone because he was content to be himself. Joe Biden inserts himself into everything, even tangentially, because he needs to feel important. Narcissistic frauds always lie, their egos can’t be satiated by the truth or sharing the spotlight. It’s gross, but it’s more sad. Sad that this decrepit fraud will go to his grave in a bed of lies, hoping he’d fooled everyone while knowing he failed at that as much as he failed at everything else.

Tyson Foods Fires U.S. Workers, Exploits Illegal Aliens for Profits

 

A major U.S. food corporation is retreating to one of the ugliest anti-borders tropes in the book to justify replacing American workers with foreign nationals. 

Tyson Foods, Inc., a multinational corporation based in the U.S, recently shuttered a pork processing factory in Iowa, leading to the loss of 1,200 American jobs. Shortly after, Tyson announced plans to hire tens of thousands of illegal aliens. The food giant already employs roughly 42,000 foreign nationals, and a Tyson human resources rep stated earlier this month that “We would like to employ another 42,000 if we could find them,” and they are trying hard to find them. Tyson has been offering $16.50 per hour wages and free access to immigration lawyers to foreign nationals who have resettled in New York. The company’s explanation for its desire to hire tens of thousands of illegal aliens is that they are “very, very loyal” workers, according to the same human resources rep. 

Another term for “loyal” in this case might be “exploitable.” While American workers are likely to demand good pay and decent working conditions, migrant workers are likely to be much more desperate and much less demanding. This allows major corporations to take advantage of migrants at the expense of American jobs and treasure. Tyson is far from the only or the worst offender when it comes to this, but they are the latest example of how the U.S. asylum system is being abused as a labor-importation system. 

The New York Times published an extensive report last year on the exploitation of migrant children, writing: “In town after town, children scrub dishes late at night. They run milking machines in Vermont and deliver meals in New York City. They harvest coffee and build lava rock walls around vacation homes in Hawaii. Girls as young as 13 wash hotel sheets in Virginia.” 

To be clear, there is no evidence that Tyson is flouting child labor laws, but they are certainly profiting off the U.S. immigration system at the expense of American workers. They are also denigrating the country which has allowed them to attain so much success, by implying that foreign workers are more loyal and harder-working than American workers. The trope that foreign nationals have a stronger work ethic and are willing to do jobs Americans won’t do is a foundational myth of the anti-borders movement. 

In 2019, a Koch Foods’ plant in Mississippi, employing hundreds of illegal aliens, was raided by federal immigration authorities. Days later, roughly 150 local residents attended a job fair seeking employment at the company, laying waste to the pernicious lazy American trope. In reality, there are no jobs corporations can’t find Americans to do if they’re willing to give them a living wage and decent working conditions. 

The notion that there are demanding jobs that Americans aren’t willing to do is not based in reality, but a convenient excuse for corporations to continue to import cheap foreign labor at the expense of Americans. Speaking of loyalty, where is the loyalty from Tyson Foods’ executives towards the country that has allowed them to thrive?

The same suits at Tyson Foods who have lived the American dream are now publicly denigrating the work ethic of Americans trying to live out theirs. It should be no surprise that Tyson’s conduct has led to an intense backlash, including a campaign to boycott the company. Earlier this month, a multimillion-dollar fund manager announced that he was pulling all investments from Tyson Foods. Naturally, the company has retreated into damage control, releasing a statement saying they are “strongly opposed to illegal immigration” and have “led the way in participating in the two major government programs to help employers combat unlawful employment, E-Verify and the Mutual Agreement between Government and Employers (IMAGE) program.”

As always, it’s important to watch what these companies do, not what they say. Tyson recently held a job fair for illegal aliens in New York City, and has partnered with a pro-refugee nonprofit to hire thousands of foreign-born workers. By firing Americans and hiring foreign nationals in rapid succession, Tyson is showing exactly where its loyalty lies, and it’s not with the citizens of the country they were founded and continue to operate in.

The Tyson Foods saga is the latest example of how American workers continue to be victimized by mass immigration. Both the government and corporations have a responsibility to put Americans first, but unfortunately, continue to put them last.

What’s Wrong With America’s ‘Elites’?

 

It is becoming increasingly clear that some of America’s most serious problems can be traced back to our colleges and universities — or at least the ones educating the country’s most powerful people.

The Vietnam War era aside, it has traditionally been uncommon for events at universities to make national headlines. Absent something extraordinary, like a president giving a commencement address, a dramatic scientific breakthrough, or the award of a prominent international prize to faculty, headlines with university names in them have tended to relate more to national championships in sports.

Over the past few years, news items about events on college campuses have come to dominate headlines. The subjects are some of the country’s most fabled institutions. And the stories are often negative, if not outright shocking.

Last December, the congressional testimony of three university presidents — Claudine Gay from Harvard University, Elizabeth Magill from the University of Pennsylvania, and Sally Kornbluth of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology — set off a firestorm. Under questioning by Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) about antisemitic speech and conduct on their campuses, the three women dodged and deflected, unwilling to state definitively that calls for the genocide of Jews violated university policies and codes of conduct.

The response was swift. Within days, Magill resigned. Gay survived the initial maelstrom, but the bad publicity prompted critics to start digging through her professional past, and she resigned less than a month later, following accusations of plagiarism in her research publications. Some of the nation’s largest donors to these universities — many of them Jewish — began announcing that they would cease or pull back donations totaling in the tens and even hundreds of millions of dollars.

The chaos on campuses has only increased since, with pro-Palestine protests and marches at dozens of colleges and universities, and horrific rhetoric bumping up against speech codes and demands for free speech. Across the country, Jewish students describe themselves as “living in a climate of hatred and fear” amid dramatic increases in antisemitic conduct, threats, slurs, and actual violence.

This week, Stanford University sophomore Theo Baker published “The War at Stanford” in The Atlantic, in which he describes how the Israel-Hamas war has affected his campus. One Arab American graduate student told Baker that he thinks President Joe Biden “should be killed” and that Hamas should rule America. Pro-Palestine protesters set up sit-in “camps” for months and shouted for the destruction of Israel, chanting, “We don’t want no two-state; we want all of ’48!” Guest speakers brought in to facilitate campus discussion of the complex issues have been shouted down. Stanford employees have been threatened (“We know where you live!”), the interim president’s home has been vandalized, and his effigy was carried around campus covered in fake blood. The administration, Baker says, seems paralyzed, indecisive, and defeated.

This isn’t an isolated incident at Stanford, and the Israel-Hamas war hasn’t caused it. Last March — months before the Oct. 7 attack on Israel — Stanford Law School students shut down a talk being given by federal judge Kyle Duncan, shouting at him every time he attempted to speak or engage the audience, screaming epithets, and holding up signs with vulgar accusations and calls for violence against Duncan’s daughters.

Similar behavior has been displayed at other schools, having nothing to do with claims of colonialism in the Middle East. Swimmer and activist Riley Gaines was cornered and forced to hide in a classroom at San Francisco State University last year, prevented from giving her talk about limiting participation in women’s sports to biological women. In 2017, author Charles Murray’s scheduled talk at Middlebury College was interrupted by a mob that later physically attacked him and his faculty host Allison Stanger. Stanger’s hair was pulled so hard by a protester that she suffered a concussion.

The poisonous rhetoric, intolerance, and violence are just the tip of the iceberg.

In an interview with The Daily Signal podcast host Rob Bluey last week, national pollster Scott Rasmussen described what he called “the most terrifying poll result I’ve ever seen.” A recent Rasmussen poll asked Americans “to suppose there was an election and it was close but your candidate lost. And if their campaign team knew they could win by cheating and not get caught, would you want them to do so?”

According to Rasmussen, only 7% of American voters overall said they’d rather cheat to win. But among the group that he calls “the elite,” that number jumped to 35%. Among the “politically obsessed elite” (those who “talk politics daily”), it was a staggering 69%!

So who are these “elite”?

Rasmussen explains that they are the top 1% of the population. They make more than $150,000 a year. They live in densely populated urban areas. They have not only college but also postgraduate degrees. And large numbers of them “went to one of 12 elite schools.”

He doesn’t name them, but we can hazard a pretty good guess which schools they are.

“The reason I bring that up,” he continues, “is about half the policy positions in government, half the corporate board positions in America, are held by people who went to one of these dozen schools.” And, he says, they also shape “the mainstream media narrative.”

Not only does this group think it’s acceptable to cheat to win an election, but 70% believe there is too much individual freedom in the United States, and an equal number trusts the government — which, of course, they control. “They really believe,” Rasmussen says, “that if they could just make the decisions and get us out of the way, we would be a lot better off.”

What’s going on at our most prestigious and exclusive universities? How have they produced generations of amoral, condescending authoritarians? And how do we put a stop to it?

Those are questions Americans need answers to.

We Must Return to a ‘Peace Through Strength’ Foreign Policy

 

Radical Islamic terrorism reared its ugly head once again in the horrific attack outside of Moscow with a death toll of 139 lives and counting. Many would argue these lives would not have been taken had there been stronger leadership in Washington. 

While some may ignore an attack on an adversary, we must understand that the resurgence of ISIS, a terror organization once eliminated under President Trump, is a severe threat to the United States. As terrorist groups are constantly proliferating and radicalized illegal immigrants from all over the world invade our wide-open borders, all Americans should be highly concerned that somewhere between our beautiful mountains and prairies, the next attack could come to our home sweet home. 

ISIS was quick to claim responsibility in the aftermath of the attack on the popular concert hall outside of Moscow. Radical Islamic terrorists know too well that with the current regime in Washington, there will be no backlash, no consequences, and the opportunities for future acts of aggression will continue to grow. 

The rising threat of terrorism is yet another example of President Joe Biden’s failed foreign policy. It is abundantly clear that the Biden Administration is more focused on reversing successful policies designed by Donald Trump rather than the most important mission: keeping Americans safe. 

Under the Trump Administration, ISIS was crushed geographically and within four weeks, the evil organization and their control of contiguous land assets and growing population of fighters was completely eliminated.

When the United States is weak, terrorism prospers. Where there is no stability – stability obtained through strength, there can be no peace.

Senator Tom Cotton described the Moscow attack as a “very dangerous echo” of Biden’s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan. As also highlighted by US military leadership, the poor planning and evacuation has created a power vacuum in the Middle East that our adversaries see as an opportunity to create chaos in the region.

With the signing of the Abraham Accords, Saudi Arabia was close to normalizing relations with Israel which would have created a new path to stability in the region. As a longtime board member of the Republican’s Jewish Coalition who lost family members in the Holocaust, one thing is very clear: when there is peace in Israel, there is peace in the Middle East. 

Alarmingly, it appears that the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan was the genesis, horror in Israel and Moscow followed and without a swift reversal of this dangerous pattern – there will undoubtedly be another target.

I served as President Trump’s Ambassador to Iceland. From day one, my team and I were tasked with the mission to create strength, and more importantly, stability in the High North amidst a growing power struggle. 

Leading the United States mission in the High North, we knew that to create and foster stability we must work with our allies to improve communication and coordinate strength. This included improving our relationship with NATO. We took a peace through strength approach and the completion of the new American Embassy in Reykjavik served as a symbolic and indispensable platform to build the U.S.-Icelandic relations and strengthen the United States’ position in the High North. 

The art of diplomacy has been shattered, and our allies and adversaries have a front row seat to the United States foreign policy failures on the international stage.

The solution is simple: we must return to a peace through strength approach in our foreign policy. The policy of appeasement and cowering to our adversaries puts every single American at risk.

Peace prospers where stability is present, and the world looks to the United States to lead this effort. It is time we end the trench warfare, crush radical Islamic terrorists, and solidify a lasting peace on the world stage once again. 

In less than ten months, we can only hope that President Donald J. Trump will be inaugurated as President of The United States and as someone that has worked alongside him, and on day one, President Trump will make sure one message is received loud and clear on the world stage: The reign of terror is once again over and American prosperity is back.

And this time, it’s here to stay.

CNN: Embarrassing for Biden If ISIS Did Attack Russia

 NN National Security Analyst Peter Bergen is laying the responsibility of one of the deadliest terror attacks in Moscow at President Joe Biden’s feet. 

During a segment on CNN’s “AC360,” Bergen stated that it would be embarrassing for Biden if ISIS did attack a Russian concert hall that killed at least 113 civilians. 

“That would be very embarrassing for the Biden administration if it turned out that ISIS-K has sort of re-grouped to the extent that they can reach out to other countries [and] carry out major attacks,” he said, citing the Biden Administration’s botched withdrawal from Afghanistan. 

Bergen admitted that he was skeptical at first about ISIS carrying out the attack. However, he said that Americans and Russians must have had intelligence in their system about ISIS's presence in Moscow. 

More from Bergen’s comments: 

I was a little skeptical, because, typically, if you’re an ISIS fighter, you don’t care about getting killed at the scene of the crime. You don’t — you’re not looking for a getaway, you’re looking to martyr yourself. So, in this case, it looks like the people did get away, according to the Russians. And that isn’t sort of typical for an ISIS-type attack. So, — however, the fact that it’s not just the Americans who had intelligence in their system about ISIS presence in Moscow, it turns out that the Russians did, too. Otherwise, why would Russian state television report on March 7 about a plan to attack a Moscow synagogue by ISIS? So, I don’t know. It isn’t absolutely typical of their M.O. But, certainly, ISIS has attacked concert venues in the past. In, Paris, you recall in 2015, they killed 130 people, most — many of them were attending a concert. And, obviously, this work could well be — it could be just what it — as this group says. I’m still looking for evidence, and, hopefully, we’ll identify who these people are relatively quickly. Are they Tajiks? Are they Chechens? If they’re part of ISIS. Did they train in Afghanistan? That’s a very big question here. Obviously, that would be very embarrassing for the Biden administration if it turned out that ISIS-K has sort of re-grouped to the extent that they can reach out to other countries [and] carry out major attacks at a time when they’re responsible for the withdrawal from — of U.S. troops from Afghanistan.

The death toll has reached at least 113, with Russian officials announcing that they have apprehended 11 suspects, with four of them being directly involved in the attack.

ISIS claimed responsibility for the onslaught. However, Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky may have been involved. 

Zelensky has denied such allegations. 

On Saturday, Putin declared March 24 as a day of mourning, adding that additional security measures have been put into place.

House Oversight Committee Witnesses Makes Clear: The Bidens Lied

 

The House Oversight Committee Hearing on "Influence Peddling: Examining Joe Biden’s Abuse of Public Office" from Wednesday was dominated by key moments, especially when it comes to witness Tony Bobulinski. In his opening statement, Bobulinski testified that Hunter Biden perjured himself. He also mentioned repeatedly throughout the hearing how the Bidens lied. 

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It wasn't just Hunter who perjured himself, Bobulinski said, but so did President Joe Biden's brother, Jim Biden, when it comes to involvement with Chinese-linked company CEFC. 

Bobulinski said he had "met with Joe Biden, Hunter Biden and Jim Biden at the Beverly Hilton in May 2017," which Hunter acknowledged but Jim denied took place. With passion, Bobulinski emphasized that "Hunter Biden, in his own transcribed interview, confirmed that that meeting took place," adding "Hunter confirmed his uncle perjured himself in front of this Committee."

"The Committee was so shocked by his perjury that they asked him the same question multiple times," Bobulinski also shared. "Each time he denied meeting with me and Joe Biden, after the Committee showed him text messages confirming that." Matt Margolis at our sister site of PJ Media highlighted how Bobulinski "has receipts."

Bobulinski also noted that James Biden "lied extensively throughout his transcribed interview on February 21, and perjured himself." The New York Post has put out an explainer of remarks made by the president's brother and Bobulinski. 

Tony Bobulinski says Hunter Biden PERJURED himself during his deposition. pic.twitter.com/fkEGECQPeP

— Oversight Committee (@GOPoversight) March 20, 2024

Jason Galanis, another one of Hunter's former business partners, who is serving prison time and was testifying via Zoom, also addressed such lies. 

Hunter could not address these claims in real time, as he was not there, despite how he had asked for such a public hearing. When announcing he intended to have a public hearing, not long after Hunter gave testimony, Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) spoke of an interest in such a hearing because of "some contradictory statements" from other witnesses that the chairman said "I think need further review." 

Bobulinski's accusations about Hunter lying also came up when he was questioned by Rep. Lisa McClain (R-MI). When answering as to why he thought Hunter didn't show up despite saying he wanted a public hearing, Bobulinski offered "I don't think he wanted to sit next to me, because obviously I've emphatically stated he perjured himself in his transcribed interview with the committee as did his uncle, Jim Biden. And for every fact he claims or wants to say 'I was high on drugs' or obfuscate, I can show a document, a text message, a recording, that has cross confirmed that he's lying."

He and the congresswoman agreed it was "highly disappointing" that Hunter didn't show up. 

The Biden corruption playbook is simple.

1) Foreign oligarch needs access to the US gov
2) Hunter Biden sells that access via "the brand"
3) Foreign oligarch pays Hunter, then Hunter pays his family

Those are the FACTS. It's pretty clear, the Biden corruption scheme runs deep. pic.twitter.com/UNVZr4ZfUJ

— Representative Lisa McClain (@RepLisaMcClain) March 20, 2024

Another lie was brought up during Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's (R-GA) turn to ask questions, as the congresswoman reminded that Biden has continuously lied about his son's business dealings, including as a candidate on the debate stage in 2020 when he said his family didn't take money from China. 

"Not only was it a lie, he knew it was a lie. He knew it because he met with his son Hunter Biden's Chinese business associates," Greene reminded, which is when she discussed CEFC with Bobulinski.

Although WhatsApp messages showed that Hunter had tried to refer to Chinese businessmen as "chairman," Bobulinski was emphatic that that was not the case. Rather "the chairman" referred to Joe Biden. Another message did not refer to any of the Chinese businessmen as the "chairman;" it just said "the Chinese."

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Greene also tellingly pointed out that it was 2016 when Biden said he was going to run for president in 2020, and that he went on to have such shady involvement in 2017, "when everybody knew he was planning to be President of the United States." Bobulinski responded that was indeed "a serious problem," and expressed he wished the Committee would investigate further.

Tony Bobulinski says Hunter Biden lied to our committee. Joe Biden is the chairman. pic.twitter.com/s2P3AuOxi8

— Oversight Committee (@GOPoversight) March 20, 2024

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) questioned Galanis and Bobulinski to confirm that Joe Biden indeed "participate[d] in phone conversations and meetings with Hunter Biden, his business associates, and foreign interests."

She also confirmed from Galanis that Biden was a "certain relation" that Hunter spoke of to other business members, with Galanis and Bobulinski also both confirming they were not to bring up Joe Biden's name in communications. 

The congresswoman reminded that during his deposition, Hunter said he did not involve his father in his business, receiving answers in the affirmative from Bobulinski that "Hunter Biden lie[d] under oath," as well as that "Joe Biden [is] lying when he says he did not interact with Hunter Biden, Jim Biden, their business partners or foreign interests."

Mace also brought up the same debate moment that Greene did, with Biden claiming his family did not make money from the Chinese, though Bobulinski and Galanis answered that he did. 

"Joe Biden has repeatedly claimed that he was not involved in Hunter Biden, Jim Biden or any other Biden family business deals," Mace summarized. "Today our witnesses have proved otherwise. Today we've established Joe Biden lied about interacting with Hunter Biden's business associates. It is my belief Joe Biden is the closer for Hunter Biden, Jim Biden, and their business associates in foreign interests. Good luck to the left proving otherwise," she said before yielding. 

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🚨 EMAIL SHOWS HUNTER DISCUSSING BOARD SEAT FOR THEN VP-JOE BIDEN IN 2014

MACE: Did Henry Zhao, a Chinese businessman, want assurances Joe Biden would join the board, Yes or no?

GALANIS: Yes, he did.

…

MACE: Did Hunter Biden draft an email stating ‘please also remind Henry… pic.twitter.com/vYh1LlzX8n

— Oversight Committee (@GOPoversight) March 20, 2024

Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) also received some telling answers from Bobulinski and Galanis. 

When questioning Bobulinski, Boebert brought up the idea of Joe Biden being the chairman, with the witness offering that Biden played "a more active role," especially as "he acted sort of like a chairman" in that "he showed up and shook hands," with the congresswoman interjecting to remind "he's been called the chairman." Bobulinski pointed out "that's all the Chinese Ukrainians, Romanians, Russians" needed, which is not what "the Canadians, the Australians and Americans need, but in those parts of the world, that's what they need."

Galanis also reaffirmed to Boebert that Biden indeed lied while running for president when he said his family did not make any money from China.  

Joe Biden has leveraged his elected position to enable the Biden family, their business associates, and their shell companies to receive over $24 million dollars from China and other entities. Biden is compromised and a threat to our national security. It is far past time… pic.twitter.com/ocRkcN02x2

— Rep. Lauren Boebert (@RepBoebert) March 20, 2024

Rep. Russell Fry (R-SC) also highlighted Hunter and James Biden's lies, as he and Bobulinski fact-checked key points from each of the Biden family member's transcribed testimony.

Hunter couldn't even get correct when he worked for CEFC, Bobulinski explained, since he tried to "parse words" when referring to his "official" capacity. While Hunter gave the year 2017, Bobulinski offered that Hunter started working for CEFC in the fall of 2015 and worked for them throughout 2016 as well, which was confirmed by Hunter himself as well as other conversations with other former associates. 

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Fry also brought up how Hunter was asked about his father never interacting with his business associates, which Bobulinski confirmed "was a lie."

"Hunter lied to the committee about important details concerning his money demands and threats and CEFC, based on this WhatsApp message," as Fry reminded, which Bobulinski confirmed, as well as how Joe Biden had no awareness of the business he was doing, as Hunter tried to claim. 

It wasn't just Hunter who lied, but Jim Biden as well, which Bobulinski was particularly passionate about when discussing. In response to Jim Biden claiming in his own testimony that he had "absolutely not" remembered a meeting with Hunter, Bobulinski, and Joe Biden, Bobulinski insisted "that is a lie." 

"I'm shocked that his lawyers sitting next to him, a former US Attorney allowed him to say that like three different times in that transcribed interview," he added, with Fry also reminding "when pressed, [James] continued to double down on" that point.

KEY TAKEAWAY FROM TODAY'S @GOPoversight HEARING —

James and Hunter Biden lied about Joe Biden's involvement in their business.

No wonder Hunter refused to show up today. He knew he'd be called out for his lies. pic.twitter.com/4Q095E2arw

— Congressman Russell Fry (@RepRussellFry) March 20, 2024

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), who serves as a member of the House Judiciary Committee, which is also investigating the Bidens, was allowed to appear at the hearing and ask questions as well. 

The congressman read testimony from Hunter claiming that his business associates, including Galanis, had no expectation from him that his father would get involved in their business dealings. Hunter even claimed "there was never a single time" he could remember indicating as much.

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In reaction, Galanis, in light of his explanations of what the "the Biden lift" was, during as well as before the hearing, called it "patently false" and "an untruthful statement."

Gaetz also spoke with Galanis about how he is a living example of how "the Biden Justice Department retaliates against people who speak out against the Bidens and their crimes." Galanis also added "there is unquestionably a pattern of two tiers of justice."

🚨 Jason Galanis says that Hunter Biden’s deposition claims of not involving Joe Biden are “patently false.”

GAETZ (reading from Hunter Biden’s deposition):

“Do you think some of your business associates we've spoken about today, Mr. Archer, Mr. Bobulinski, Mr. Galanis, do you… pic.twitter.com/EO20nf6ntd

— Oversight Committee (@GOPoversight) March 20, 2024

Such moments are just some takeaways from the nearly eight hour hearing, yet as NewsBusters' Tim Graham highlighted, the mainstream media hardly paid the hearing any mind.

Fox News notes that ABC and CBS skipped the Hunter hearing on their evening "news" shows last night. They're not the "mainstream" media. pic.twitter.com/iXYcQbQxWG

— Tim Graham (@TimJGraham) March 21, 2024

As the hearing came to a close, Comer announced that he would be inviting the president himself, especially to square away the contradictions. 

The committees do not look to be done investigating the Biden crime family, though. House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) and Comer are looking for more information as to how the CIA stonewalled an interview with Kevin Morris, an associate of Hunter Biden. Jordan has also subpoenaed Joe Biden's ghostwriter to appear before his Committee.

The Jury Didn't Buy a Wisconsin Election Official's Defense in Election Fraud Case

 

A Wisconsin election official tried to say she was a whistleblower pointing out flaws in our voting systems, but the jury felt otherwise. Kimberly Zapata, a former deputy director for the Milwaukee Election Commission, was found guilty on March 20 of misconduct in office and election fraud after ordering fake military ballots. However, she says it was never her intention for them to be processed. She was indicted last November. The trial lasted three days, where Zapata didn’t testify. The election cycle where Zapata pursued this fake military ballot scheme was during the 2022 midterms (via Milwaukee Journal Sentinel):

🚨🚨And here is,

ANOTHER DEMOCRAT,
Wisconsin Election Commission director Kimberly Zapata found guilty on all felony counts for falsifying military ballot

Zapata told investigators she was trying to prove there is fraud in our elections.That’s because the Democrat got caught, pic.twitter.com/pFpZTog6vK

— 🇺🇸RealRobert🇺🇸 (@Real_RobN) March 21, 2024

A former top Milwaukee election official was convicted at trial Wednesday in a case in which she was criminally charged for creating fake names to order three military absentee ballots ahead of the 2022 midterm elections and having them sent to a state legislator. 

The Milwaukee County jury took about five hours to deliver its verdict in the trial of former Milwaukee Election Commission deputy director Kimberly Zapata, 47, of Milwaukee.

 She was found guilty on a felony charge of misconduct in public office and guilty on three misdemeanor counts of making a false statement to obtain an absentee ballot. Zapata was charged in November 2022. Sentencing is scheduled for May 2. 

[…] 

In a recording of a police interview with Zapata that was played again for the jury before the verdict, she is heard saying she acted without a plan and in a high-stress moment. 

"I did not think it through," she said. "I didn't have some manipulative plan." 

She said she made up the three people so no individual would be harmed. 

Zapata said she sent the ballots to Republican state Rep. Janel Brandtjen because she knew she would not cast the ballots and because of her history with election fraud claims. 

"She is the most vocal election fraud politician that I know of, and I thought that maybe this would make her stop and think and redirect her focus away from these outrageous conspiracy theories to something that's actually real," Zapata said. 

Zapata said she originally had a "glimmer of hope" that one of the three clerks who received the ballot requests would raise questions and not issue it. That's not how it unfolded, however, and all three military absentee ballots were sent to Brandtjen's Menomonee Falls home.

Zapata did report her self-inflicted election wound, and the ballots were not counted. She faces up to five years in jail and a $13,000 fine.

Whatever the case, it shows that election integrity issues are alive. Every system needs maintenance and guardrails; Democrats assume everything is kosher with our election system. It’s not. The 2020 no doubt made it easier for shenanigans to occur with the tweaks to in-person voting that some secretaries of state enacted, changes that the courts retroactively ruled as illegal as some didn’t have the state legislature's approval.

It's peculiar that her party registration isn’t mentioned in most news reports, which is a tip-off that Zapata is likely a Democrat.

What if Totalitarianism Comes to America?

 

We are all familiar with Lord Acton’s dictum “power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”  It also eventually destroys.  It’s happening in China right now, and it will happen in America if the Democratic Party obtains the totalitarian power it craves.  And neither Xi Jinping nor the leaders of the Democratic Party could care less how much suffering and death they cause their people because power is their only object.  

I still keep in touch with people in China and study closely its internal affairs.  It isn’t easy because the CCP has such a tight grip on media and communications that getting accurate information can be difficult. But it dribbles out, bit by bit.   To the best of my analysis, here is what is going on in China, and what might happen there.  And, then, let me make the future comparison with the United States under a totalitarian Democratic Party.

Xi Jinping is a megalomaniac.  Make absolutely no mistake about that.  He is Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, and Mao Zedong all rolled into one.  After the total disaster of Mao’s rule, China had to open up somewhat (which it did under Deng Xiaoping) to avert the collapse that happened in the Soviet Union.  China became wealthy borrowing from, stealing from, and deceiving stupid Western capitalists who think only in terms of money.  But to do that, China had to be a little more flexible (“two steps forward, one step back,” Lenin said).  Yet, a totalitarian regime can only abide that for a limited period of time.  Freedom is dangerous to totalitarianism.  And, in China, a new Mao has come to power.  

Governmental laws and policies are becoming increasingly strict under Xi. He wants total control.  For one example, there is a 60-year-old retirement age for men in China. Though not absolute (it obviously doesn’t apply to Xi), it is becoming progressively enforced, especially in Beijing and Shanghai where Xi’s power is dominant.  There is still some elasticity in the provinces, but bureaucrats are more and more wary of trying to be flexible because Xi’s tentacles are increasingly spreading throughout the country.  This policy, of course, robs China of its most experienced and qualified workers; it’s that country’s version of DEI, and obviously when less-qualified workers are in place, quality will suffer.

The policy also puts a horrible strain on the economy, especially after years of the “one child only policy.”  The young workers must support an ever-aging population, which they cannot do.  But it’s Xi’s policy.  Bureaucrats realize it’s a stupid, idiotic program that is hurting the country, but they risk their own positions if they oppose Xi.  Only Xi can make the decision, and giving greater freedom to his people is the one thing a totalitarian dictator will not do.   He’d rather destroy his country.  

One of three things will happen in China. One—and the most likely in the immediate future—Xi will remain in power until he dies, continually tightening his grip, and China will continue to suffer economically as Western companies depart and the Chinese people aren’t given the flexibility and freedom to develop their economy based upon market needs. Xi controls the military, so what can the people do?  Two, there could be a coup d’etat to overthrow Xi.  Many, many people in that country absolutely despise him, but it will take military leaders especially to oust him.  But masses of Chinese would be very happy to see him go.  Or three, China will eventually, and in the not-to-distant future, crumble like the Soviet Union did.  An overly rigid, state-controlled economy will not survive for long, and that is what Xi is returning China to.  Only a market-based economy can save any country, and Xi is progressively controlling everything.  He will destroy China if China doesn’t destroy him first.

What are the lessons for America?  The Democratic Party is following in the footsteps of China in the sense that it craves totalitarian power—all Leftists do.  And if it gets it, it will do the same thing to America that totalitarian power always does—eventually stifle necessary freedoms and crush the country.  

First of all, in order to secure that power, Democrats, if necessary, would cause a civil war.  There was a civil war in China before Mao Zedong came to power, as many Chinese did not want communist/totalitarian rule.  Those who opposed Mao lost that war and fled to Taiwan.  There was also a civil war in Russia during the communist takeover of 197-21.  American patriots will not tolerate a total takeover by Democratic Party totalitarian megalomaniacs, and Joe Biden has already threatened to use F16s against those who oppose him.  Democrats are currently doing all they can to drive out, or discourage, American patriots from joining the military, hoping to turn it into a Leftist entity that will obey any orders.  Obviously, freedom-loving Americans will fight to save their country.  Who would win such a war is a subject for interesting analysis.  I’ll leave it to readers to do that.

If the Democrats do conquer, they would attempt, as quickly as possible, to solidify as much power in their hands as they can get.  The courts and Congress would rubber stamp anything the party does. They might even abolish the Republican Party as one-party states always do, but it would take some time—as it is with Xi’s policies in Chinese provinces—for the Democrats’ policies the filter down to the local level.  Those who still oppose would end up in “re-education camps” (Hillary Clinton has already said we need to “deprogram” Trump supporters), or have their guts ripped out like China is doing.  But, like all freedom-denying totalitarian regimes, it won’t last for long.

“It could never happen in America!” you say?  Why not?  Every sign in the Democratic Party now is pointing in that direction.  The only questions are, can it be stopped?  And how?

Biden's Border Blowup

 

Some 8 to 10 million illegal aliens from all over the world, as expected, have flooded across the border since President Joe Biden took office.

A demagogic candidate Biden, remember, in 2019 invited those massing at the southern border to "surge" into the United States without specifying that they first needed legal sanction: "We immediately surge to the border all those seeking asylum."

In contrast, we know legal immigration is America's great strength, but it has always depended on a few key prerequisites.

Immigration must be legal and measured.

Why? Because only the host nation can adjudicate how many immigrants it can successfully accept and assimilate. It has no desire to encourage Balkanized tribalism so common in nations abroad torn apart by ethnic conflict.

America must have some knowledge of the background of immigrants, especially whether they have criminal records, belong to gangs, are importing drugs, carry infectious diseases, or can be self-supporting.

By contrast, if the first thing immigrants do is illegally cross the American border, and the second is to reside illegally in America, and the third is to obtain fraudulent identification to mask that illegality, then they will establish long patterns of illegal behavior and disrespect for their hosts.

In addition, immigration should be diverse so that large ethnic groups do not form permanent tribal sects in the fashion of the Balkans, the Middle East, or Latin America.

Ideally, the host should prefer immigrants who have some knowledge of the language and customs of the United States. And they should have some ability to be self-supporting so as not to burden American taxpayers or overtax and deprive social services from poorer U.S. citizens.

As for the host?

America must be confident enough in and knowledgeable enough about its values, customs, and traditions to demand immigrants integrate rapidly into the body politic of the United States.

Both the host and immigrants must agree on the basic facts of immigration.

Immigrants, not the host, have chosen to leave their native land to risk a new life and identity in America.

Therefore, the relationship is, by nature, asymmetrical. The host has a perfect right, indeed a responsibility, to impose its own values upon newcomers -- not vice versa.

Otherwise, if immigrants do not absorb their newly adopted culture, why would they have left and, in some sense, rejected their homeland in the first place?

To replicate in the United States the very conditions and environment that they so eagerly fled from back home?

So the host must remind immigrants that they chose a completely different paradigm from their native country. And therefore, they must be helped to embrace an entirely new national identity.

Unfortunately, in the last four years, the Biden administration has violated every historical canon critical to ensuring legal immigration enriches the United States.

They have encouraged 8-10 million of the world's poorest to flood the border and to enter and reside in America without legal sanction.

Most have no prior experience with American traditions, and few speak English.

Host Americans have no idea whether hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of the millions entering illegally have committed crimes in their native countries, or have any record of employment, or are sick, or are here to foment gangs and to import lethal, foreign-made drugs that kill some 100,000 Americans a year.

Worse, we, the hosts, no longer believe in the melting pot that once made America the world's only successful multiracial democracy, united by the laws of the Constitution and the unique values that emanate from it.

The combination of mass illegal immigration, without audit, into a country beset with $35 trillion in national debt, an existing 50 million residents not born in the United States, and without confidence in rapid assimilation certainly explains the disaster of illegal immigration that now manifests daily.

Biden may think nullifying federal immigration law is a smart political trick that, in the past, may have flipped southwestern states from red to blue or warped the census to give blue states more congressional districts.

Or he may assume that with 70 percent of the electorate now voting through poorly audited mail-in balloting, there is no real way to prevent foreign nationals from voting for those who neutered the law to let them in.

But in truth, Biden is unfortunately undermining support for all immigration, legal or otherwise. He is guaranteeing that more imported drugs and gang members will kill more Americans.

Ironically, Biden is also alienating from the Democratic Party its once loyal Black and Latino voters. They, not the party elite, must deal concretely with the consequences of Biden's callous and cynical, ideologically driven policies.

Perhaps the Left will only cease destroying immigration law when it realizes that for each illegal alien it invites in, it will lose one or more once loyal Democratic voters.

Rave Culture in Minneapolis

 

Flashes of green and purple outline the slacken faces in the crowd. They bob their heads off-rhythm and stare into the distance. Blue light cracks across the stage as a man taps my shoulder and gargles, “You know honey, it’s okay to smile”. It’s in this moment that I feel as though this decision was a mistake.

The idea of going to a rave had been bounced around in our friend group for a couple weeks. To us, raves were an essential bucket list item. They seemed revelous. A night filled with exhilarating music and entrancing lights. When given the opportunity to finally check that box, we jumped.

The night before the event, we ventured to the Mall of America to pick out our outfits. This was the most exciting part and ramped up the anticipation for the event. Surrounded by neons and metallics, with only 40 minutes to decide, I picked out a combination of fishnets, holistic tulle, and silver. 

The quintessential rave item is kandi. These beaded bracelets come in every color and design and symbolize the rave culture, PLURR (peace, love, unity, respect, and responsibility). After hearing about my rave intentions, one of my close friends made me five beautiful kandi bracelets to complete my dream. 

Kandi trading comes with meaning. It commemorates a connection made with someone at a rave. Going into the Skyway Theater in downtown Minneapolis, this was my idea of what a rave would be: a place filled with loud music and a special atmosphere of unity.

The reality was very much not what I had idealized. Walking onto the floor was a deafening experience, literally. The first five minutes were the most euphoric of my life — then took an exponential nose-dive. 

After breaking trance from the electric music, I realized how boring it was. The DJ playing had an evident god complex taller than the skyscraper surrounding us, yet somehow only knew how to blast the base. After subsequently blowing out our eardrums, the only relief was when the main performer, Mitis, came on stage. The room was still too small to find reprieve from the loudness. Even standing in the back felt like my brain was being hijacked by the beat.

When I started to look around, I uneasily began to notice the ratio of men to women. Throngs of men stood in the back silently observing while much fewer girls danced seemingly disembodied. A feeling of fear began to tighten my chest as I realized how outnumbered we were.

I was approached numerous times by older men asking me incoherent questions. When I didn’t respond, they’d drift over to the next group of girls and start the cycle over. They treated us like fruit in a grocery store, eyeing us over, trying to feel our ripeness. I’d never felt my gender and age as such vulnerabilities before. 

After an hour, all four of us jammed ourselves in a dilapidated 4×3 bathroom stall and made an exit plan. We were far too sober for the chaos around us and the rave was not at all the movie-moment we desired. We needed to binge Insomnia Cookies and sleep.

While I’m not warded off of raves completely, I don’t think I’ll be attending another one in the Twin Cities. The rave life in Minneapolis is nothing like the traditional EDM festivals like Mysteryland and Tomorrowland. There are a lot fewer people, with the attendees being mostly in their 30s. No one wore kandi, which was the most disappointing part, and there wasn’t any unity in the experience. 

Above anything else, it made me realize my place in the world that I live in. It seems unjust that I had to fear so much for my safety in a crowd of 500 people simply because of my gender. The lack of security provided increased the anxiety-inducing factors. The fashion, the getting ready process, and the people made the night wonderful, but I could have done without the rave.

Bought a few (7) Dungeons and Dragons books and going to the Dork Den for battle

 I can’t get into paper books unless it’s PDF off archive.org. Mom says no. My certification books are outdated. Still have all my college books. I have some novels like those ones on goodreads.com. Now I collect Dungeons and Dragons books now like the Players manual, monster manual, Xanathar book of everything, Waterdeep: Dragon Heist (Dungeons & Dragons, 5th Edition, Eberron: Rising from the Last War. and Streams of Silver. and the famous Icewind Dale Crystal Shard. There is the Dork Den in Mankato, Minnesota. I go there for D&D groups, but the books there cost $50 new so I find second hand D&D books at $11 to $27. Saving for visitors. This better make me friends. In the 2000s, Game Quest and D&D books, but during that era I was collecting N64, Genesis, Super Nintendo, Playstation 2, and Gamecube. And I’m 8 months away from age 40.  On okcupid, Amanda who superliked me told me to get into Dungeons and Dragons. i was a member of okcupid for decades.

Is Anime 'Cool' Now?

 

n my senior year of high school, I became a fan of anime. I was not uncool as a suburban teen—which is to say that I wasn’t a loser, but also everyone thought (half-correctly) that I was a witch who did BDSM spells in my basement and approached me with a sense of general trepidation as a result. Because I was not uncool, I did not advertise my interest in the oft-maligned medium; I would come home from school and watch literal hours of Naruto, a show about adolescent ninjas primarily targeted at boys age 13 to 18, and set my AIM away message to something like “outtttt, hit my cell.”

It has come to my attention in recent days that anime is cool now. I first began to suspect this stunning reversal of fortune a few weeks ago, when I saw several clips of Michael B. Jordan professing his love for the highly stylized form of animated entertainment, and then did a search for every time he had tweeted “Naruto,” as any diligent reporter would. His stance on the genre could not be any clearer: In March of 2011, he tweeted, “Yea I’m into anime I love this shit!”

For the next two years, the Black Panther actor would periodically post updates on the Naruto manga series, mostly reacting with shocked faces—a sentiment I can relate to, as someone who never expected Gaara of the Sand to ascend to the illustrious position of Kazekage. “Sooo Naruto 627,” he tweeted in 2013, which would indicate that he has read literally 627 volumes of a comic book that follows the exploits of a young and impulsive warrior attempting to prove himself to his ninja peers, despite having a demon sealed in his torso. Jordan posted another update shortly afterwards: “Naruto 631,” he wrote, with a thumbs-up. Hell yeah. Still, one could not help but notice the utter paucity of Naruto-related tweets after May of 2013. “He became a heartthrob and had to stop tweeting about anime,” I mused, feeling sympathetic, to a friend.

But I was wrong to be so cynical. A mere week later, Jordan professed his love openly. In response to a tweet accusing him of being 5’9”, living with his parents, and watching anime, he issued a stunning correction: “First of All I’m 6ft and they live with ME, put some respeck on my name. LOL,” he wrote, adding, “aaaand goku & naruto are real ones.” (Facing a subsequent accusation of only liking “mainstream anime,” he nobly replied, “Nah that was a softball for the anime uneducated.”)

As notable as this development may have been, it wouldn’t necessarily make anime cool for the layperson, the same way that normcore didn’t make sweatpants and Tevas fashionable unless you look exactly like a model and are already invited to all the cool parties. Michael B. Jordan liking anime is cool because Michael B. Jordan is extremely cool; as Miles Klee at Mel Magazine put it, “Become not only rich and famous, but one of the most popular stars in Hollywood, all while remaining grounded and humble, but also really good-looking, and you, too, could be a cool anime fan who lives with their parents.”

Jordan’s response to the allegations of loving anime pleased the internet, which promptly settled back into its daily routine of being roiled by fleeting, all-consuming passions and soothed by a procession of memes in turn. Then the unthinkable happened. On Februray 28, 2018, Kim Kardashian proclaimed, “I am obsessed with anime,” sending the anime fans of the world into a frantic state of existential crisis. (“First Michael B. Jordan and now Kim Kardashian.. you can’t take anime from us like this,” one user lamented. “Now that Kim Kardashian and Michael B. Jordan have confirmed that they love anime, normies will try to take it from us,” another warned.)

On her app, Kardashian elaborated on her newfound object of fascination: “The inspo for my pink hair is Japanese anime. I always thought that look was super cute,” she effused in her typical, brightly flat affect. A few days later, she took it to Instagram, writing, “My hair inspo” beneath an extremely sexy image of the character Zero Two from the 2018 series Darling in the Franxx, which comicbook.com describes as “a deep cut.” (This particular show, which follows a boy fighting rapacious beasts by piloting a woman-shaped mecha, was reportedly banned in China for “suggestive situations,” including the fact that “in order to pilot the series' titular Franxx mechs, a boy must grab his female partner's rear end to use the controls.”)

These two are far from the first celebrities to enjoy anime—Kanye West, for instance, once famously tweeted, “No way Spirited Away is better than Akira…NOOO WAY… sorry was just looking through a youtube of top 10 anime films”—but the Kardashian family occupies an unusual place within the matrix of influencers who teach us, as consumers, what to desire, or conversely exasperate and infuriate us by nibbling away at our identities to nourish their own brands like the vultures eternally besieging Prometheus in the days of old. Whenever a Kardashian expresses public interest in something, it’s always for a strategic brand reason; Kim is not the type to update her app just because she believes Goku is a real one. I had to wonder: Now that everyone is suddenly extremely into those tiny Matrix glasses previously beloved by men who wear fedoras when they’re feeling flirty, is liking anime the next big thing?

Confused and tormented, I reached out to a trend forecaster for insight. Is anime cool now? I demanded over email of Kristin Castillo, the VP of strategy at Trendera. “Despite it being around for decades, anime is beginning to gain relevance stateside—although it is still somewhat niche,” she breezily explained. She further characterized “anime culture” as “a bit quirky, but definitely getting cooler.”

With influencers like Kim Kardashian latching onto the trend, she continued, it’s likely that it will spread quickly—especially since Trendera’s 2018 forecast sees “a shift away from subdued minimalist fashion and towards over-the-top maximalism styles” as well as the widespread embrace of “louder, statement-making, globally-inspired fashion.” But Castillo’s prediction came with a caveat: “A possible consequence is that anime may become a less exotic/interesting hobby for long-term fans.”

This would be an obvious and unfortunate tragedy. For now, however, the two camps—Kardashian and anime fan—seem to have reached an uneasy peace. “Whoa,” one user, who goes by hamilton_anime, commented on her photo. “I didn’t know famous people like her actually take the time of day to look at anime.” “It’s almost as if they were normal human beings,” another replied sagely.