In 1949, this definition of "terrorism" could be found on page 1346 of
Funk & Wagnall's Standard Dictionary of the English Language.

Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary, 1970, page 911.

Additional pages on similar subjects:

The incident at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021
Zero-Tolerance
The Invasion of the Food Police
The War vs. Liberty and Freedom
Gun Control
Pork Barrel Politics
Carnivore & Echelon
Hate Crime Laws
The Proposed National ID Card

Note:  There is also a page about the January 6 incident at the US Capitol, located here

Arizona Regime Is Investigating Kari Lake For Exposing Election Fraud.  The newly selected regime heading up Arizona's top statewide offices is now targeting Kari Lake with potential felony charges for speaking out against the rigged election in Arizona.  Questionably elected Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, a former lawyer for Mexican drug cartels, sent out a new letter on Monday, asking questionably elected Attorney General Kris Mayes to "investigate and take appropriate enforcement action against Kari Lake" for sounding the alarm about the stolen 2022 Election.

The CIA and Intelligence Community are Very Worried About the House Subcommittee on Federal Government Weaponization.  The website Just Security, author former CIA operative Douglas Johnson, is very concerned about the House Subcommittee on Federal Government Weaponization.  The concern is clouded under the auspices of fearing politicization by questioning the intelligence community about weaponized government.  The article is a mainstream bureaucratic outlook where the professional intelligence apparatus views themselves as beyond being accountable to the elected public officials, specifically the House members of the committee.  The permanent unelected officials have a self-perception above the reach of the elected officials.  In essence, there is no public accountability model within their view of their operation.  There can only be concealment, secret briefings, darkness and 'trust us' type reviews of their authorities.  It's quite a remarkable thing to read.

Who does Represtative Maria Salazar represent?  When a citizen is elected to Congress, they are conferred the title of "representative," with each "representative" elected to a two-year term "serving the people of their specific congressional district."  So it was disconcerting to hear Representative Maria Elvira Salazar, a Republican from Florida's 27th district, address the recently concluded World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, in her official congressional capacity and declare that she "represents" the millions of migrants presently inside the sovereign borders of this nation illegally.  Speaking as part of a bipartisan panel discussing "the reshaped legislative landscape in the United States as it relates to domestic and foreign policy," the crux of her remarks to the attendees was that she wanted to give "dignity" to illegal migrants that are living inside the United States."

Keywords: Slow walking, stonewalling, obstruction of Congress.
Biden Treasury Department Uses Comical Excuse to Block House Request for Hunter's Bank Records.  Almost as bad as the Biden administration's manipulation of federal agencies to do the bidding of the Biden Family Business is the blatant way they do it.  Comical?  Yes, in a way.  Unacceptable, for which there should be consequences?  You betcha.  Will it ever happen?  I seriously doubt it.  In Team Biden's latest example of a "conflict of interest," Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has "delayed" (blocked, at least temporarily) a House Republican request for information on Biden family financial transactions that may have been marked as suspicious, reports The Hill, saying it must first determine whether the disclosure of the records is consistent with "longstanding Executive Branch interests."

Our lawsuit uncovers more shocking evidence Team Biden used Big Tech to censor.  The First Amendment is the bedrock of American liberty.  Our citizens have the right, if not civic duty, to engage in open, dynamic discourse, and no government has the right to limit, suppress, censor or otherwise control it.  Yet as we dig deeper into discovery in our Big Tech censorship case — Missouri and Louisiana v. Biden — we uncover ever-more truly appalling abuses of power that President Joe Biden's director of digital strategy, Rob Flaherty, admitted come from "the highest (and I mean highest) levels of the" White House.  Such evidence proves the Biden administration is leveraging its power to coerce social-media companies to suppress the speech of thousands, if not millions, of Americans who disagree with its political narratives.  Naturally, the First Amendment prohibits censorship.  Yet the Biden team has worked to circumvent this fundamental constitutional protection by inducing, threatening and colluding with private companies to suppress speech.  It's illegal; but when Big Government enters into such a conspiracy with Big Business to violate your rights, it's also known by another name:  fascism.

To Save America, Repeal the 19th Amendment.  With Jacinda Ardern's welcome exit from the ranks of world political leaders, leaving a shambles of constitutional freedom and human rights in her wake, now is perhaps an opportune time to reconsider the passage of the 19th amendment in American politics as part of our ongoing series of "To Save America" modest proposals advocating repeal of the most destructive tamperings with the original Constitution. [...] To take Ardern as an example, her reaction to a single case of the imaginary disease known as "Covid-19" was quintessentially female and maternal: she immediately shut down her entire country, then instituted a breathtaking regime of ruthless totalitarianism involving lockdowns and forcible "vaccinations."  (She had previously displayed these same panicky instincts in the wake of the 2019 mosque shootings, when she almost instantly imposed a draconian anti-gun policy nationwide.)  In other words, she acted according to stereotype, her policies not the product of calm thinking and reasoned judgment but of inflamed emotions absent any rational thought.  After which she walked away from the chaos complaining of burnout.

The American intelligence community has no accountability — so how can it keep us safe?  The revelation that President Biden had stacks of classified documents stashed in his garage — alongside jugs of anti-freeze and piles of cleaning rags — comes as little surprise.  For several years I have been working on a new book, "SpyFail," that examines the collapse of the country's counterintelligence and security operations.  And by far, no administration has had a more disastrous record than those of Barack Obama and Biden.  For years, insiders at the hyper-secret National Security Agency were able to walk out the door with more than half a billion pages of documents classified higher than top secret, some dealing with nuclear weapons and many of which ended up in Russia.  And that was after the supposed crackdown following the million or so documents removed by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, also on Obama and Biden's watch.  Still another NSA insider was able to steal nearly all of the agency's highly dangerous cyberweapons — the tech equivalent of loose nukes — and put them up for auction on the internet in 2016.  Eventually, the weapons ended up in Russia and North Korea, where they were used to cause a worldwide cyber pandemic that shut down hospitals and medical facilities all over the world, including in the US, thus turning our own weapons against us.

From student loans to masks, why does Biden want to keep us in a perpetual 'emergency'?  We've made it to 2023, nearly three years since the pandemic hit the United States in full force.  The virus is less deadly, we have effective vaccines and life is pretty much back to normal for most of us.  If you're President Joe Biden, however, the COVID-19 "emergency" is still front and center.  Don't get me wrong.  I don't think Biden actually believes we are still in a state of emergency.  He admitted as much in September when he declared the pandemic was "over."  Yet the president and his administration have enjoyed the extra powers that have accompanied the national emergency declaration.  And they are working hard to cling to this authority, which has granted the executive branch broader control over our lives.

You Must Assume That All Information Put Out By Our Government Is Corrupt.  Throughout the agencies of our federal government, an important function is to issue data and information about the state of the country.  These data cover a vast array of topics such as population, demographics, income and poverty, the state of the economy, the GDP, employment and unemployment, activities of foreign adversaries, weather and climate, energy production and use, and much, much more.  The Congress and states use this information in making important public policy decisions, and the people use it to make decisions for their everyday lives.  Not the least of those decisions is how to vote.  So is the information issued by the government basically honest and reliable for important decisions?  Or, instead, is the output of official information cynically manipulated and corrupted by a government interested mainly in perpetuating and increasing its own power?  And given that the federal bureaucracy is 90+% Democrat in political orientation, to what extent does that bureaucracy manipulate the information it issues to further the election of Democrats?  The evidence of data manipulation in favor of Democrats is so pervasive that we have to assume that essentially all information put out by the government is corrupt.

The Empress Wears No Clothes.  Catherine E. Lhamon is the current Assistant Secretary at the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights (OCR).  Despite the unassuming title, her position wields enormous power.  The Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, at her sole discretion, can cut off federal funding (and has threatened to do so) from any recipient educational institution she deems unwoke or patriarchal.  Lhamon once quipped about how she enjoys carrying the "big stick of the federal government" to further her agenda.  Lhamon is best known for abusing her authority to create an illiberal ecosystem of administrative law during the Obama administration, eviscerating due-process protections for students accused of sexual harassment.

Like Paul Revere, a Massachusetts Republican Sends Warning.  [Scroll down] How do progressives govern?  During the COVID debacle, we got a good look at progressive blue state governors and then a progressive president in action.  They govern like absolute monarchs, decreeing mask mandates, vaccine mandates, and destructive lockdowns.  They abusively utilize 'emergency powers' that have no end date.  They impose unconstitutional executive orders that bypass legislative approval.  Elon Musk has done the country a great service by releasing the 'Twitter Files'.  We now know that the FBI, the CIA, and the DOJ (among other agencies) have been corrupted by installing progressive leadership.  These agencies are now weaponized against conservatives.  They are now used to defend progressives and their policies.  They have co-opted all mainstream news media and big tech, preventing accurate information from getting to the people.  They've worked to silence conservative voices, suppressing all opposition.  Even the White House is in on it.

America's Animal Farm.  [Scroll down] It is not American for an unelected bureaucracy to create rules out of thin air and enforce them upon the people through agency prerogative and regulation.  It is not American for presidents to legislate through executive order.  It is not American for congresses to conduct show trials against American citizens or to demand that tech companies censor points of view.  It is not American for courts to scribble over the Constitution whenever expedient.  It is not American for the Department of (in)Justice to persecute citizens for their political beliefs or for the FBI to act as a lethal enforcer against the regime's political enemies.  It is not American for there to be so many criminal statutes that no American could possibly know them all, let alone confidently act without fear of sanction.  It is not American for there to be so many government agencies and divisions that no American could capably draw a diagram listing their roles and functions.  It is not American for the government to champion its secular religion over the moral tenets of Americans' spiritual faiths.  It is not American for the government to ignore the will of its citizens and subvert immigration law by leaving its borders unprotected and wide open.  It is not American for an amorphous Intelligence Community to spy on American citizens with neither warrant nor probable cause.  It is not American for the news media to be so co-opted by the State that they almost universally support the government's talking points — no matter how ludicrous and unsupported — while taking aim at dissenting citizens' debate.

Over this weekend, a lot of very important legal happenings have occurred.  [Thread reader]  Last term, a case came before the US Supreme Court, where West Virginia sued the EPA for egregious changes to the clean air act that essentially rewrote the law with much tougher restrictions.  This was done at the Biden admin's direction to directly target the WV Coal industry.  In West Virginia v EPA, the crux of the matter was Exec Branch Agencies abusing Chevron Deference legal standard to exceed their regulatory authority to essentially rewrite laws for political reasons, by changing their regulatory definitions & rules.  In deciding WV v EPA, SCOTUS ruled that EPA exceeded its authority & that chevron deference DOES NOT permit an agency to make rule changes that effectly modifies existing laws or would create new law.  The Supreme Court ruled that in drastically changing the clean air act standards to punish coal & oil industries, the EPA was rewriting the law, which only congress can do.

Liberal media is trying to protect the FBI from hard questions about illegal surveillance.  Besides addressing the crisis at the southern border, there is no more urgent matter for the new Republican House majority to direct its attention to than the conversion of the federal government into a progressive cudgel against civil rights.  And there is nothing less surprising than the media-Democrat complex's determination to strangle the probe in its cradle.  In the left's playbook, everything is either about race or Donald Trump — if not both.  So as night follows day, with House Republicans poised to establish a much needed Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, Democrats and their press accomplices are framing the panel as an adjunct of the 2024 Trump presidential campaign.  They can't be allowed to get away with that.  To make sure they don't, Republicans must take pains not to help.  That means going about it carefully, methodically and in a way that makes clear the weaponization's victims are the American people, not a sinking pol who is unpopular with a solid majority of the American people.

Let's Find Out What The Democrats Have Been Up To.  The 15-round vote to finally elect a speaker of the House was, we were told by the political left, an embarrassment and evidence that the Republicans are untrustworthy.  It was in reality our system in action and it produced at least two important outcomes, both of which will cause discomfort for the Democrats and their communications wing known as the mainstream media.  Over the weekend, we learned that in order for Rep. Kevin McCarthy to earn their votes, the 20 holdout GOP lawmakers got a promise from the California moderate that two special investigative panels would be created.  One would look into "the origins of the COVID-19 virus," the other at the "weaponization" of federal law enforcement agencies, such as the Justice Department and FBI, Just The News reported.  The panels will be select subcommittees, one in the House Judiciary Committee, the other in the House Oversight Committee.  As important as both of those subcommittees will be, there is great need for more probes.  There are decades of Democratic corruption and malfeasance that need to be exposed to the public, untangled and then removed.

Journalist Paul Sperry Has More to Say, as Adam Schiff Starts Acting Nervous.  Journalist Paul Sperry is not going quietly into the night — as we reported, he's been calling out the effort by Rep. Adam Schiff's office to silence him, to get him suspended from Twitter as well as to shut down his reporting about things that Schiff didn't want to be exposed. [...] Then Sperry laid out the timeline of events that led to his suspension and you can see how even though they initially said "no," he was banned shortly after the Schiff people demanded it, and after they upped the game using Jan. 6 and potential "violence" as some sort of justification.  [Tweet]  This is every danger to freedom of speech right there and this is how they were misusing Jan. 6 to shut down speech that exposed them.  That alone is shameful, but as we see from what Schiff has done in the past, he has no shame.  Sperry has indicated that he is looking into what legal options he has regarding what happened and against Schiff.  As we noted, if he does that, he could get all kinds of things in discovery that could open up what Schiff's office had been doing.  But Congress also should be taking action against Schiff for what he did and now that the Republicans have taken over, they can.

Nancy Mace Declares She Is a Purple Republican Who Is "On The Fence Right Now" About Supporting House Rule Changes.  The true enemy of a constitutional republic are the Mitch McConnell's and Nancy Mace's of the professional political class who build systems to undermine the will of the people under the pretense of representing them.  These are the abusers, the professional abusers, the psychologically Machiavellian and inherently evil people within the system of power who operate on false pretense.  They are smiley-faced fascists and liars, period.

Nancy Pelosi calls House Democrats 'The greatest collection of intellect, integrity, and imagination assembled.  Just when one thinks one has heard everything, one is proven wrong.  Outgoing speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi recently wrote her last "Dear Colleague" letter to her Democrat co-conspirators/comrades.  In this missive, she stated, "During the 117th Congress, President Biden and Congressional Democrats have put forth a shining vision of justice for all.  Together, we have worked tirelessly to infuse this value into our legislative efforts.  We can all take immense pride in our achievements toward that goal, which is making a real difference in the lives of the American people."  Justice?  For all?  Tell that to all those still rotting in prison, without conviction or charge, for strolling through the People's House on January 6, 2021.  Tell that to those who were snatched from their homes in the wee hours of the morning by armed feds when a simple summons to appear would have sufficed.  Tell that to all those whose jobs were considered unessential.  Tell that to all those in the military who were discharged because they wouldn't accept an experimental substance into their bodies.  Tell that to all those who have lost loved ones to violent crime, rates of which skyrocketed in the past two years due to Democrat policies — or to those who have lost loved ones to fentanyl because Democrats absolutely refuse to police our southern border.  And tell it to America's rapidly dwindling middle class, beset by historic inflation, supply chain problems, and rising taxes.

How Is The Uniparty Destroying America?  Let Me Count The Ways.  We are seeing the foundations laid for a revolution.  Whether that revolution is peaceful or violent remains to be seen.  In virtually every society, over time, a few elites accumulate most of the power.  Those elites, in turn, run the nation as their personal fiefdom, where they utilize the machinery of the state to enrich themselves, accumulate more power, and use trifles to appease the exponentially larger population of serfs whom they rule.  This reality applies to monarchies, Communist tyrannies, "democracies," theocracies, and even, as we're coming to discover, republics.  It doesn't have anything to do with economics either, as it occurs in capitalist states, socialist states, Communist states, and mercantile states.  The only difference is how long it takes for the structure to collapse.  It took the Roman Republic 500 years to collapse, the French monarchy 1,000 years, the Soviet Union 70 years, and the EU is shaky after just 30 years.  Closer to home, the American Republic finds itself on a precipice of collapse after less than 250 years.  We're seeing it unfold right in front of us.

Rebellion Against the People.  While it's important to justify one's position, to provide proof and evidence of crimes, betrayals and treason, I believe we're past the discovery phase and need to move on to the resolution.  What more do we need to know than the CIA has been involved in some of the most treacherous acts committed against the republic, that they've had their hands in the dirtiest of business?  What more do we need to know than the FBI has worked with social media companies to install a worthless, feckless president, perpetrating a treasonous coup in the guise of an election?  All of this, while recently verified, was information we had long since accepted as true.  Such villainous acts were known in 1992 when Vicki Weaver was shot down by a government sniper while holding her infant at Ruby Ridge.  Does that not speak of the inhumanity with which the government views all of us with dissenting views, those who will not simply obey every outrageous law or dictate?  To domestic enemies, patriots are scum.  This is a division between the people and those entrusted with power that cannot be ignored without the absolute destruction of the republic in all but name.  That is the current state of the union and has been, I would venture, since 1963.

CDC colluded with gun-grabbing groups to "cook the numbers" on defensive use of firearms.  Let's face facts, shall we?  It has become painfully clear that the American people can no longer trust a word that comes out of "official" Washington, DC.  From the FBI to the CIA, the White House to the CDC, it's clear that whatever sewage emanates from the swamp must be taken with a giant grain of salt mixed with an even bigger dose of suspicion and skepticism.  The latest example comes to us courtesy of the Daily Caller News Foundation (DCNF), which reported last month that the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), which we found during the COVID situation has as much credibility as the National Enquirer, "cooked the books" so to speak when it comes to defensive use of firearms.

2022, Perhaps the Apex Year for an Era of Pretending.  History provides reference points, and prolonged pretending never ends up in a good place.  So, there is room for optimism on a couple of points.  First, there is more support than ever for the 'burn it all down' approach.  Whereby we keep the basic U.S. Constitution in place and shred every other institution created that has nothing whatsoever to do with it.  This includes both the DNC and RNC wings of the UniParty apparatus.  I mean, really, at the core of it, what do we have to lose?  Why not just get rid of the dysfunctional systems that abuse us.  Second, in a weird way, we are in a rare space where we can feel the history around us.  Normally we would have to look in retrospect at the events as they unfolded to recognize the inflection point historians would use — not now.  We can look around us right now and have full confidence the most influential voice in the next two decades will be the man, woman or entity that starts openly and publicly calling out this ridiculous pretending.

Government by Gimmick Won't Last.  We are right now in an interim period that might best be called a kind of government by gimmick.  Nothing our "leaders" say is bound by much truth.  Three years of pandemic lockdowns, forced experimental injections, government-sanctioned censorship, and other unconstitutional COVID-1984 measures were moronically justified as necessary because government health bureaucrats and politicians were acting at the "speed of science."  What kind of nonsense is that?  When has real science ever been anything but methodical and slow?  Yet that authoritarian policy directive has justified three years of reckless tyranny across the West, and too many minds squeezed by Marxism's weeds simply complied.  The U.S. Department of Homeland Security habitually lies about America's borders being "secure," even though illegal immigration has never been worse, and so long as corporate media parrot government lies, reality is ridiculously distorted.  Climate change, which is an immutable planetary phenomenon, has been transformed into irrefutable proof that centralized government authority must intervene in all economic activity — the exact policy objective, coincidentally enough, that forms the foundations of Marxist power.  When Elon Musk's recent "Twitter Files" release confirmed that the FBI has been actively directing policies of censorship and speech punishment against the American people, the lawless law enforcement agency accused anybody with eyes and brain sufficient to comprehend the Bureau's constitutional betrayals of being "conspiracy theorists" pushing "misinformation."  Why should federal police confess to crimes when only they, not the people, have the power to make arrests?

Strange Deep State Bedfellows.  Victor Davis Hanson's recent mordant comments about the degree to which the FBI will go to influence elections and its shameless defense of this interference caused me to think about the surveillance state's endgame.  These somber thoughts came, not incidentally, after I had immersed myself in reading about the possible (perhaps likely) CIA involvement in the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy.  As Jim Douglass shows in JFK and the Unspeakable, a work to which Tucker Carlson recently referred in discussing the unwillingness of the Biden Administration to release CIA documents related to the assassination, the Warren Report released in 1964 to explain the killing in Dallas was a cover-up.  Kennedy, it seems, was concerned about the CIA's largely uncontrolled exercise of power and planned to rein it in or possibly even dismantle it.  Plentiful hints lead to the conclusion that the agency knew of the planned assassination and then worked to cover up evidence about its origin and participants.

The Globalist Uniparty Murdered the American Constitutional Republic.  The U.S. government is a corrupt, one-party authoritarian state controlled by a Globalist Uniparty of Democrats and Republicans, who steal from the American people on behalf of rich and powerful multinational interests and use the federal bureaucracy, particularly the national security agencies, to suppress dissent and deny individual rights guaranteed under the Constitution.  The American Constitutional Republic died in Arizona from yet another stolen election, the kill shot being administered by Maricopa County Super Court Judge Peter Thompson, who just dismissed gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake's lawsuit despite overwhelming evidence of election law violations and malicious intent.  The Globalist Uniparty has been injecting lethal poison into the body politic of the American Constitutional Republic ever since the American people defied Globalist Uniparty dictates and practiced actual democracy by electing Donald Trump as President.  Recognizing that democracy was a existential threat to its survival and its iron grip control of the U.S. government, the Globalist Uniparty did everything in its power, to not only undermine the Trump Presidency, but took measures to ensure that the American people would never again pose a threat to its absolute power.

The Omnibus Spending Bill Scam.  The Pew Research Center explains what's supposed to happen:  Per the 1974 Congressional Budget Act, the Senate and House Budget bills are supposed to be voted on by April 15 each year.  They are supposed to pass a series of separate bills funding various federal agencies/activities (e.g., for the past decade, the number of spending bills has been 12, one for each subcommittee of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees, such as Agriculture, Defense, Labor, et al).  If those bills aren't passed by September 30 (end of fiscal year), then Congress uses Continuing Resolutions (CRs) to temporarily fund the government.  If Congress followed its own process, they would avoid this annual "crisis" of having to vote on a bill that nobody has read except the handful of "leaders" like Schumer and his minions, or McConnell and his.  But that's exactly the point, isn't it?  This avoids the open debate needed for each of those appropriations bills, where each would have to stand or fail on its own merits, and our representatives would have to defend their votes to their constituents... you know, how it's supposed to be.  Instead, all those bills are packed into an "omnibus spending bill" that is presented the week before Christmas, usually with only a day (or maybe just hours) for the members to read the bill.  But a flurry of earmarks are doled out to senators and congressmen to secure the necessary votes, then the monstrosity of pork, waste, and woke madness is voted on.

Omnibus Fraud.  The nefarious $1.7 trillion Omnibus spending bill was passed by progressives in both parties.  This bill funds bigger government for fiscal year 2023 through September.  The bad news is that progressives seized on an initiative to eviscerate the incoming Republican House majority for half of their term.  The good news is this bill should not stand because it is unconstitutional.  The best news will be when something is done about that.  The House has authority to initiate spending under the Origination Clause of our Constitution which is Article 1, Section 7, Clause 1.  This clause gives power to the House of Representatives to originate revenue bills and supply government.  Obviously, it is a power revolving in time, coincidental with terms of office.  The House, being elected politicians closest to the people because of their short term of office, has authority and responsibility to tailor government spending to best match the will of voters.  The 117th United States Congress has exceeded their authority past their term limit by usurping the authority of the 118th Congress.  Once the 117th Congress has been succeeded in the New Year, they no longer meet, they no longer legislate, they are history.  The same is true of their bills becoming laws.  Constitutionally, this means appropriations bills can't extend past their time in office.  Otherwise, they are legislating extra officium.

Don't Buy What Democrats Are Selling as Reality.  Under their new pseudo-reality, the Democrats would have us believe there is equal justice under the law, while the truth is that conservative Americans are regularly charged, convicted, and sentenced to maximum penalties.  Conversely, Democrats like the great majority of BLM and Antifa rioters go scot-free after committing felonious crimes.  Democrats like Hunter Biden are not prosecuted at all in the face of overwhelming evidence of significant criminal wrongdoing.  There is no longer equal justice under the law in our country.  It is now an unequal, two-tiered justice system.

How the FBI Used Twitter to Lie to You.  The FBI we know is a creation of Hollywood.  From the beginning, J. Edgar Hoover sought to insert the bureau into movies and TV shows, to portray the agency as grounded in American values, and special agents as righteous competence personified. [...] This image of the FBI fails to highlight an important fact.  The FBI is allowed to lie to you.  They can lie to acquire information or encourage a confession. [...] But the most remarkable thing about the agency is that Theodore Roosevelt created the FBI via executive order after Congress refused his request to create a national police agency.  Now that agency, born in defiance of congressmen who saw no constitutional place for a national police force, is staffed by people who think it's their right to use any means they can find or develop, to override the constitutional procedure for choosing our president.

The pandemic is over, but laziness lasts a lifetime.
The 226 lawmakers who used Pelosi's proxy policy to skip $1.7T spending bill vote.  They shaped the future of America's long-term spending from the comfort of their La-Z-Boy recliners.  More than half the members of the House of Representatives called out sick Friday when the lower chamber passed the massive $1.7 trillion spending bill — instead opting to take advantage of the widely-abused COVID-era proxy voting system.  A bipartisan group of 226 congressional lawmakers filed proxy letters with the House clerk before Friday's vote, giving notice that they will designate a colleague to vote in their place.  The pandemic-era policy allowing lawmakers to choose a representative to vote in their stead was instituted by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) in 2020, ostensibly as a temporary measure to reduce the health risks associated with COVID-19 at the height of the pandemic.

From 'Free Speech' to Elon Musk.  Today, as evident by the treatment of Elon Musk's recent disclosures at Twitter, we have seen the entire Left do a complete 180 regarding Free speech government secrecy and collusions with big business.  Many people who may have been around back in the 60s and 70s, may be confused on this whole Elon Musk/Twitter kerfuffle. [...] What changes have we seen in such people, the ones who proclaimed to stand for integrity and an open governance since those turbulent days?  They have in fact done a compete 180 having turned themselves into a Nixon on steroids like clone of secrecy, vengeance, and retribution.  They have kept information from the public.  They have used the FBI, CIA, and IRS as well as highly partisan congressional "investigations," to punish and go after their enemies.  They have turned fair law into "lawfare."  They told Facebook, Twitter, and Google what information was to be held from the American people.  Those in charge within the high-tech Industry dutifully obeyed state orders and coordinated their efforts with the FBI.  The Left was now revealing its true beliefs:  the people have no right to such information, but only to the information approved by the government authorities who they now control.

House GOP to Investigate Biden's Secretive Order on Voting.  The House's new Republican majority is poised to investigate the Biden administration's secretive, all-of-government effort to get out the vote.  President Joe Biden's executive order of March 2021 calls for every federal agency, in partnership with private organizations, to "consider ways to expand citizens' opportunities to register to vote and to obtain information about, and participate in, the electoral process."  With some exceptions, most federal agencies haven't provided records on implementation of Biden's executive order after requests for public records were made by Congress, news organizations, and government watchdog groups.  In October, the Justice Department invoked "presidential privilege" to shield related documents.  "Our federal agencies should never be utilized for partisan, political purposes," Rep. Bryan Steil, R-Wis., a member of the House Administration Committee, told The Daily Signal in a statement.

The Jan. 6 Committee's Referral Is Unconstitutional.  The Jan. 6 Committee has voted to refer former President Donald Trump to the Justice Department for possible criminal prosecution.  This referral violates both the letter and spirit of the Constitution for at least two reasons.  First, Article 1 of the Constitution grants Congress "all legislative powers" and only "legislative powers."  Under our system of separation of powers, the power to prosecute lies exclusively with the executive branch through the justice department.  Congress has no authority to refer specific individuals for prosecution.  It is beyond the scope of its constitutional authority.  Second, Congress is specifically denied the power to pass any "bill of attainder."  Prior to America's independence, the British parliament enacted such bills that prosecuted named individuals.  Our Constitution prohibited Congress from prosecuting named individuals.  The power of Congress is limited to passing laws of general application that can be applied to specific individuals only by the justice department and a grand jury.  A congressional committee officially voting to refer a named individual for prosecution violates the spirit of the explicit prohibition against congressional bills of attainder.

To Mitigate Risks to the DOJ and FBI Narrative, Special Counsel Lead Andrew Weissmann Snooped on Congress.  In order to present an accurate record of events, it is important to remain focused on specifics.  During the period from May, 2017, through April of 2019, Main Justice in Washington DC was split into two divisions.  In one division there was the Special Counsel Robert Mueller team in control of everything related to DOJ and FBI activity around the 2016 election, with emphasis on the Trump-Russia headlines.  This division handled 100% of everything that was sucking up the oxygen in Washington DC.  Andrew Weissmann was in charge of this division.  In the second division, there was everything else the DOJ was doing, which is to say not much.  Attorney General Jeff Sessions was heading this division.

Fifth Circuit rejects Biden admin's "nearly unlimited authority" claims, blocks vaccine mandate.  Joe Biden's executive orders continue to die on the appellate-court vine, especially in the Fifth Circuit.  Late yesterday, a 2-1 decision kept an injunction in place against Biden's order that all federal contractors get COVID vaccines to enter their workplaces.  It's the latest pandemic mandate struck down by the courts, and a common theme runs through all of these decisions.  Courts aren't buying an imperial presidency untethered from explicit congressional grants of authority: [...] By the way, the court never does get to one of the core issues in this mandate — the fact that the extant vaccines neither stop transmission nor uptake.  They do have a demonstrated positive effect in minimizing acute and severe cases of COVID, but that's not the issue in workplace vaccine requirements.  The only reason to impose such an order would be to stop transmission of an infectious disease, which none of the vaccines actually do.  The only effect is personal and individual, and so the choice should be personal as well — just as with the tobacco analogy the Fifth Circuit wisely uses for demonstration.  The administration is fighting a battle they will lose on multiple fronts, in other words.

DOJ snooped on House Intelligence Committee investigators during Russia probe, subpoenas show.  In an extraordinary intrusion on congressional oversight, the Justice Department used grand jury subpoenas to secretly obtain the personal email and phone data of at least two top House Intelligence Committee investigators back in November 2017 just as they and their boss, then-Chairman Devin Nunes, were assembling bombshell evidence of FBI abuses in the Russia collusion probe, Just the News has learned.  The subpoenas, obtained by Just the News, show the DOJ demanded that Google turn over personal email and phone data from the two senior staffers on Nov. 20, 2017 and that responsive materials were to be returned to DOJ by Dec. 5, 2017.  The subpoenas were delivered during a critical time frame in the committee's effort to expose the Donald Trump-Russia collusion investigation as having been driven by an uncorroborated political opposition dossier funded by Hillary Clinton.  Nunes' committee was locked at the time in a bitter struggle to force the FBI and DOJ to turn over records to the committee.

Why Just Mayorkas?  Leave it to Republicans to fall short, either from nearsightedness, timidity, or both.  Case in point, Homeland Security chief Alejandro Mayorkas.  Twenty House conservatives, led by the quixotic speaker-aspirant Andy Biggs (R-AZ), are calling for Mayorkas' impeachment.  Their intentions are good, but their call is a little like calling for the arrest of Bonnie Parker but letting Clyde Barrow and his gang run free.  Bonnie was nothing without Clyde. [...] It's these elites who must stand accused in the court of public opinion of crimes against the American people... who lend not just their assent to the debauching of the southern border and, since January 2021, the ensuing deluge of an estimated 5.5 million illegals into the country, but whose voices, dollars, and institutional heft weigh heavily in this unprecedented assault on the nation's integrity, security, and welfare.  But, of course, it's outside the scope of the soon-to-be House Republican majority to pursue that extra-governmental supporting cast.

Has American Democracy Been a Hallucination for Nearly 60 Years?  Call it a democracy, call it a democratic republic, call it a constitutional republic, call it anything you want — it doesn't really matter what America is if there is truth to what Tucker Carlson was reporting the other night via a source who had "direct knowledge" of still-hidden documents concerning the Kennedy assassination, implicating the CIA.  If indeed the CIA was in any way involved in the assassination of JFK on Nov. 22, 1963, then anything that has happened in the public sphere in our country since that day has basically been a hallucination created by an intelligence agency far deeper than most of us — certainly me, since I was never much given to conspiracy theories — ever imagined. [...] That former CIA director Mike Pompeo declined to appear on Carlson's show to discuss this is not insignificant.  We all know about 51 intelligence officials — John Brennan and others who fallaciously claimed two years ago the Hunter Biden laptop was Russian disinformation.  They have to have known otherwise.  Now this?

10 Steps to Save America.  Americans distrust the "swamp," administrative state, or deep state.  Call what you will, the Washington nexus of bureaucracies, media, and lobbyists has created a huge, unelected permanent army of auditors, regulators, investigators, and punishers, all mostly exempt from audit and accountability and without fear of their elected overseers.  The easiest solution is to break up concentrations of power.  Transfer out of Washington, in this age of zoom and telecommunications, major cabinet departments like Health and Human Services, Energy, or Agriculture into the hinterland.  Restore the idea that lying to Congress, feigning amnesia, or pleading ignorance under oath to Congress or federal investigators or in depositions is a prosecutable felony with jail time.

Biden-trafficked Minors Provide Child Labor to U.S. Factories.  This isn't the first time PJ Media has reported on the sad fates of the human beings trafficked into our country by cynical globalist-socialists, and it won't be the last.  Still, it's particularly disheartening when minor children, placed in peril by the Biden administration's extralegal immigration and national transformation machine, are taken advantage of.

DHS Redacted Critical Details About 'Anti-Disinformation' Activities: Sens. Grassley, Hawley.  The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has neglected to provide in full certain disclosures requested by members of the U.S. Senate relating to the department's growing role in "counter-disinformation" activities, and this failure is particularly egregious in light of the co-equal roles of the executive and legislative branches of the government, two senators have charged in a Dec. 15 letter to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.  Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, and Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) charge the DHS with ignoring or downplaying their "serious concerns" about the DHS's "growing counter-disinformation efforts" as conveyed previously in a letter of June 7, which formally requested "information necessary to inform our congressional oversight of DHS activities."

Grassley, Hawley slam DHS for redactions of disinfo docs: 'The people's business ought to be public'.  Two Republican senators this week slammed the Department of Homeland Security for what they said were overzealous redaction decisions pursuant to an oversight request made by the senators themselves.  In their letter to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley and Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley criticized the department for its response to a request for documentation the two lodged in June of this year.  Of the two responses the senators received, they wrote, one "did not answer any of the ten questions" they originally posed, while the other consisted of "two documents already in the public domain" and "500 pages of material, approximately half of which are mostly or entirely redacted."  "We remind you that the oversight letters we send to the Executive Branch are signed in our capacity as sitting members of Congress, a separate and co-equal branch of government," the senators wrote.

Biden Justice Department's Vanita Gupta admits to targeting pro-lifers as payback for Supreme Court ruling on Roe.  The Department of Justice's associate attorney general, Vanita Gupta, the number three offical at that agency, loudly vowed at her confirmation hearing to serve an an impartial, non-partisan official, following revelations of a string of vile tweets directed at Republicans. [...] One such example of her 26 scalps is the case of Mark Houck, a pro-life rosary-sayer who got into an altercation with a clinic "escort" in front of an abortion clinic, after the latter began shouting at and intimidating and violating the space of his 12 year-old son.  It happened several years ago, and even Pennsylvania's woke prosecutors declined to prosecute the case because it was so flimsy.  But Vanita Gupta, enraged at the decision on Roe, had a partisan agenda, and instead of prosecute the leftist clinic escort who got in the child's face (turns out he had quite a previous rap sheet), which also would have been applicable under the FACE act, she sent in the SWAT team with 15 squad cars to haul Houck away in front of his terrified kids.

The Democrats' Slow Motion Insurrection.  The Jan. 6 Capitol ruckus is not one of our country's greatest moments.  But if the objective of a few of the protesters was to overthrow the federal government, they planned and executed poorly.  The same can't be said of the Democrats.  Their mostly bloodless coup to suspend constitutional limits and seize unchallenged power has been thoroughly calculated and expertly executed.  For decades Democrats at all levels have been moving the U.S. from the civil society it was designed to be to the political (that is, coercive) society they want to be in control of.  They have waged outright war on the first, second and 10th amendments to the Constitution; robbed us of our economic liberty through punitive taxation and strangling regulation; created environmental policies that have made innocent men criminals for making use of their own property and taken that property whenever possible; and destroyed independence by fostering more dependence on the state.  They spend other people's money as if it were, well, other people's money and there is therefore no governor on their actions.  "The Democrat Party has a long history of ignoring the Constitution when it impedes their government-expansionist objectives.  Which is nigh constantly — as the Constitution is a government-limiting document," says Seton Motley, president of Less Government, who cites some of the more egregious examples in a Heartland Institute essay.

The 'election interference' that Democrats favor.  Our intelligence apparatus — or "the deep state," in former President Donald Trump's words — has meddled in two presidential elections acting on behalf of the Democratic Party.  Instead of reporting on it, the mainstream media have served as willing pawns of these bureaucratic actors to amplify misinformation.  Congress has done nothing about it.  And no one in any federal agency has been held accountable.  How can this happen in a country that prides itself on its "free and fair" elections?  Elon Musk's "Twitter Files," which have been released by independent journalists in a series of tweets, shed light on how pervasively corrupt America's intelligence agencies are — especially when it comes to favoring one political party over another.

DOJ Official Admits Targeting Pro-Lifers Is Response to Overturn of Roe.  The Justice Department has been targeting pro-life activists through the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act as a response to the overturn of Roe v. Wade, according to Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta.  Gupta delivered remarks at the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division's 65th Anniversary earlier this month.  The associate attorney general described the overturn of Roe v. Wade as a "devastating blow to women throughout the country" that took away "the constitutional right to abortion" and increased "the urgency" of the DOJ's work — including the "enforcement of the FACE Act, to ensure continued lawful access to reproductive services."

Controlling the Department of Justice.  The unabashed political persecution and unconscionable years of pre-trial incarceration for some January 6th protestors in direct violation of the Sixth Amendment.  The near-psychotic obsession to indict and convict Donald Trump of any specious federal crime.  The admission by the FBI that they instructed social media companies prior to the 2020 election to censor stories unfavorable to Joe Biden.  These actions, among many others over the years, have confirmed that the Department of Justice is teeming with politicized prosecutors and a federal police force that is allied with one political party and is browbeating the citizenry on their behalf.  No Republican president or Congress will succeed in stopping this nation's relentless march toward one-party tyranny as long as the Department of Justice, which has been systematically weaponized since its formation in 1870, continues to exist as part of the Executive Branch.  The Founders of this nation would never have agreed to the creation of the Department of Justice.  They were extraordinarily skeptical of a large federal government and adamantly opposed to a federal law enforcement role.  Except for treason, the concept of federal crimes was not even mentioned in the Constitution.

The United States of Fascist America.  [Scroll down]  Take for example the recent Twitter File revelations.  The federal government took control of big tech and social media giants to control free speech and dissent.  It was more than simply the Biden campaign pressuring Twitter.  The FBI had weekly meetings with social media corporations to warn them of "Russian interference" or "hack and leak operations," which they knew very well were nothing of the sort.  And despite denials, Biden administration officials may still be meeting with media executives.  Who is on President Biden's guest list during the many weeks he is at one of his Delaware vacation homes?  The result was social media suppression of the Hunter Biden laptop story, which would have likely altered the 2020 presidential election outcome.  Specifically, "16% of Biden voters would have voted differently if Hunter Biden laptop story was not suppressed by media, big tech."  In an election decided by about 50,000 votes in a few swing districts, this was obvious election interference.  And it wasn't only the FBI, but also the Department of Homeland Security.

McCarthy vows subpoenas for 51 intel-agents who signed letter saying Hunter laptop story was Russian collusion.  House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy said that as Speaker of the House, he would issue subpoenas for the 51 intelligence officials who signed a letter weeks before the 2020 election claiming the Hunter Biden laptop story looked like Russian disinformation.  During a Fox interview over the weekend, McCarthy - who will likely become the lower chamber's next leader - said Republicans, under his leadership, will 'bring the (the intelligence agents) before committee' and ask them 'why did they lie to the American public?'  'Those 51 intel agents that signed a letter that said the Hunter Biden information was all wrong - was Russia collusion - many of them have a security clearance,' he said.

Sellin: If Corrupt Tyrants Intend to Govern Illegitimately, Then Stand Up Against the Tyrants.  Despite clear maladministration, if not intentional voter suppression and fraud, the Maricopa County, Arizona Board of Supervisors is expected to soon certify the 2022 Election results.  This will likely take place this morning.  Corruption in government is a solvable problem, but not without free and fair elections.  So, what do you do when rigged elections won't let citizens "vote out" a corrupt tyrannical political aristocracy?

2020: The Year the Ruling Class Took Control.  Manipulation is the key word when it comes to the Democrats.  Calls to pack the Supreme Court and the Senate, eliminate the filibuster, and change the way the Electoral College works all point to the fact the Democrats and the Left never rest in their nonstop efforts to manipulate the political and judicial systems to their advantage.  In a way, they really are geniuses in identifying ways to manipulate the system.  They're not always successful, but they're always trying, and for now they've succeeded in changing the way elections work in many states by making mail-in voting, ballot drop boxes, and ballot harvesting legal.  Democrats can get away with these ongoing shenanigans, especially the coverup of the coverup of the Hunter Biden laptop story, is because nearly every major institution in the country is controlled by progressives in positions of authority at those institutions, most in the corporate mainstream media.

WSJ: Musk's Twitter files shows real "disinformation" threat is America's former intel leaders.  Point of order:  Didn't we learn that in 2013 when James Clapper perjured himself before Congress?  And didn't we learn that the American media enthusiastically facilitated that disinformation potential by hiring Clapper and former FBI executive Andrew McCabe after getting fired for lying to investigators?  Among dozens of others?  We did indeed, but the editors of the Wall Street Journal want to underscore that point in the release of Twitter's files on the Hunter Biden laptop story.  They also note the media's complicity in promoting this "disinformation," even in the face of independent corroboration.

Rogue Virginia ABC Sends Police to Enforce COVID Lockdown.  Virginia has a famous Republican Governor, Glenn Youngkin, who has made his opposition to arbitrary COVID-19 mandates clear.  But his predecessor, Democrat Governor Ralph Northam, although out of office for ten months, apparently still calls the shots at the Virginia Alcohol Beverage Control Board.  He does so through board members he appointed.  Indeed, every one of them, including Board Chair Maria J. K. Everett and Board CEO Travis Hill, are rogue agents bent on enforcing Northam's infamous Executive Order 72 even after it was withdrawn in May of 2021.  For the current members of the Virginia ABC Board, elections appear to be irrelevant.  So long as the Board members have the power to contradict one of Governor Youngkin's key policy positions, they appear intent on doing so.  And so it is that in all their fulsome Democrat glory, they authorized a police raid the early morning of December 2 against an honest, hard-working veteran who owns one of Fredericksburg, Virginia's most popular restaurants, Gourmeltz.  That owner, Matt Strickland, is a prominent Republican, a popular prospective candidate for the Virginia State Senate, and a party opponent of the Board members.

Justin Trudeau praises China's anti-COVID lockdown protestors — but not Canada's truckers.  How's this for hypocrisy?  At a time when celebrities, tech barons, and the White House are laying low about the gargantuan anti-COVID lockdown protests spreading throughout China, Canada's prime minister, Justin Trudeau, is loudly virtue-signalling:  [Tweet]  Trudeau, recall, just last February employed pepper spray, tow trucks, bank account freezes, Bitcoin seizures, child removals from homes, and arrests of protest leaders to end a Canadian truck strike for the exact same group of causes — vaxx mandates and continuous lockdowns, through unprecedented tactics that could only rival what the ChiCom goons and their "big whites" beating protestors into "health" are doing now.

London mayor to impose daily fines on motorists.  Sadiq Khan, current Mayor of London and WEF member, is set to impose £12.50 daily fines to all motorists who enter or commute through the greater city of London.  The Mayor has announced that the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) will be expanded across all London boroughs from August 2023, as per the Greater London Authority website.  London commuters and residents who drive 'non-compliant' vehicles will be dinged daily.  Khan described the decision as "one of the toughest decisions" he's taken as mayor, but insisted millions from the bustling city will benefit from the cleaner air.  The Ultra Low Emission Zone, or ULEZ for short, was introduced in 2019 as a means to ensure that vehicles meet emission standards set for the city, lest their drivers pay a daily surcharge.  Though pollution levels have decreased since the introduction of ULEZ, Khan claims that there is still "far too much toxic air pollution permanently damaging the health of young Londoners and leading to thousands of early deaths every year."

The Editor says...
Is the air in London really that bad, or is this just a way to skim money from nearly everybody?  This decree might be about control, or money, or electric cars, but I doubt if it's really about air quality.

Ohio Cops Decide First Amendment Doesn't Exist, Arrest Newspaper Editor For Committing Journalism.  Ohio cops just can't seem to get their head around First Amendment protections.  A case hopefully en route to a Supreme Court review involves Parma, Ohio cops who decided it was completely legal to arrest a town resident for creating a clearly satirical Facebook page that suggested the Parma PD was offering free abortions in a roaming van and promoting a "pedophile reform" event.  In another case, a cop temporarily managed to obtain an injunction forbidding people from publishing his name while he sued several Cincinnati residents for libel for suggesting he might be a racist.  That cop's name is Ryan Olthaus and he has a long history of use of force complaints.  And, in yet another case, a woman was arrested by Ohio cops for repeating a false rumor that a gun had been found at a school.  She did not originate the rumor.  She just repeated it.  And for that, she was sentenced to 180 days in jail and stripped of access to social media sites for a year.

Apple Turned Off Protest Communication Tool Right Before Anti-Lockdown Uprising in China.  As it mulls kicking Elon Musk's Twitter off the app store, it has now been revealed that Apple restricted the use of AirDrop in China, a move that harmed the organizational efforts of demonstrators protesting against the CCP's lockdowns.  Over the past week, multiple major cities across China have seen massive protests against lockdowns, with the normally compliant Chinese exploding into rage in response to their government's 'zero COVID' policy.  Much of the unrest blew up in response to an incident in Xinjiang's capital Urumqi, where at least 10 people, some say up to 40, were killed during an apartment fire because lockdown rules stopped residents from fleeing the burning building.  Most of the city's residents have been prevented from leaving their homes for over 100 days as a result of the draconian rules, which are still in place nearly three years after the pandemic began.  With Beijing now trying to contain what some are calling the most serious mass uprising since Tiananmen Square, Apple is apparently helping them to crush dissent.

The Bureaucracy's Democrat Majority Made America a One-Party Government.  When former President Trump, Gov. DeSantis, and Senator Ted Cruz, among others, endorsed rolling back the power of bureaucrats and their administrative state, Democrats panicked.  Senator Dianne Feinstein and Hillary's former running mate, Senator Tim Kaine, introduced a countermeasure which they called, "Preventing a Patronage System Act" according to Kaine, to "protect the merit-based hiring system for our federal workforce".  Media editorialists claimed that making it easier to get rid of federal employees would bring back patronage or the spoils system.  The problem is that patronage never left.  We have spent generations living under a permanent patronage system.  The spoils system, as bad as it was, kept one party from permanently packing its supporters into the government.  Removing it just meant that the Democrats have permanently packed the federal bureaucracy.  That's how America became a one-party government at the federal level in Washington D.C.  Politicians of both parties come and go, but it's the Democrat bureaucrats who call the shots.

Language warning!
Four nefariously managed events meant to harm us.  [#2] Government's war on its own citizens.  I'd date this for the sake of simplicity to the DOJ's and FBI's campaign to defenestrate Donald Trump starting in 2016 for the crime of winning an election.  What began as the Russia collusion prank morphed into RussiaGate, another [self-protection] extravaganza in which public officialdom gave itself blanket permission to lie about everything it was doing.  The likes of James Comey, Andrew McCabe and Barack Obama's girl squad in the White House — to name just a few of many participants — also managed to hook in the mainstream news media under the supposition that they were the good guys fighting a disgusting, [...] supervillain, which disposed the news media to go along with all the FBI and DOJ lies, and also stranded the media in an endless loop of [self-protection] they are still locked into.  Bottom line:  all involved came to recognize that there was no accountability for their wicked deeds and lying about them, and that became an all-purpose license for everyone in public life to lie about everything and anything ever after — including Dr. Fauci and his colleagues, who watched RussiaGate roll out for four years before the debut of Covid-19.  This license to act wrongfully and lie about it extends, by the way, to the epic election mischief carried out programmatically by the Democratic Party's Lawfare arm in 2020 and 2022, and the installation of a fake president.

From a Time When Communism Was Taught Right.  We have seen social media platforms ban freedom of speech.  We have seen certain journalists excluded from press conferences in Arizona and then watched the journalists be herded off government property by deputy sheriffs.  Later, these same journalists were tracked by flying drones like what we have seen the Chinese Communist Party employ against its COVID-19 dissidents.  The American news media frequently slant or omit the true news of the day.  The American viewer has been fed a steady diet of propaganda.  We have seen false stories about "Russia, Russia, Russia"; the "Big Lie"; and "J6."  Peaceful American citizens, including many veterans who fought to protect our rights, are being held in the District of Columbia jail in terrible conditions and without being formally charged.  Over two years have passed, and many still have not had a speedy trial.

Turns out Joe Biden was the shadowy hand behind Justin Trudeau's tyrannical acts against Canadian truckers.  When Justin Trudeau shut down Canada's spectacular 3,000-strong convoy of "freedom" truckers opposed to Canada's COVID vaccine mandates, most were appalled at the tyrannical steps taken to stop it.  After all, the country was Canada, not Cuba.  Son-of-Castro invoked Canada's "Emergencies Act," on "Freedom Convoy 2022," on February 14, freezing trucker bank accounts, imprisoning their leaders, shutting down a GoFundMe account for truckers, banning travel to the protests, which had attracted 15,000 people, hauling off and termininating parental rights of truckers to their own children, and expropriating their trucks.  All that, over a peaceful trucker protest over a vaccine mandate.  We know it was outrageous.  We know it was something Castro would do.  But now as Trudeau is called to Canada's parliament to testify about what [...] he thought it was doing, word has gotten out about who was really calling the shots on this lunacy.

Justin Trudeau and Chrystia Freeland have shown themselves to be petty dictators.  Up until the Liberal politicians showed up, the Emergencies Act (EA) hearings were going quite well.  I know, you are shocked to hear that when politicians show up things go awry.  In the first few weeks, it was mainly participants of the Freedom Convoy and law enforcement officials who took the stand.  As was expected, the participants were an earnest, albeit motley crew of normal Canucks who simply attested to their participation in the event based on the principles of personal liberty.  For their part, the law enforcement officials were easy enough to listen to.  Canadian police are well trained in keeping their cool, and they answered the questions they were asked with short replies, keeping things to a simple "yes" or "no" for the most part.  But, as the Liberal Party hacks have entered the arena, we have now witnessed the insane mental gymnastics that seemingly constitute the "logic" that emanates from the top-brass.  It has been revealing, however, especially after watching Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland and the prime minister himself, Justin Trudeau.

Hard Truths and Radical Possibilities.  As a treatise on constitutional government, The Federalist is and will always be a classic work of political science, with many enduring insights.  But in terms of supplying a guide to how our federal government works, The Federalist has become the owner's manual to a car that no longer runs, or was stolen long ago.  What Publius describes about the functions of the legislative, executive, and judicial branches — as well as the countervailing powers of the states — has almost no connection with current reality.  Congress doesn't write, the executive does not enforce, and the judiciary does not interpret the laws.  Power and wealth have become massively centralized in Washington, D.C. Federalism, judicial review, executive authority, the legislative process, appropriations — none of this remains operational in a way James Madison would recognize.  And now, the country's most powerful corporations are in active collusion with the federal security apparatus to enforce the regime's authority.  That's practically the definition of fascism.

Are You Freer than You Were Two Years Ago?  U.S. federal spending (excluding Social Security and Post Office expense) in 1901 was $588 million; it remained at approximately this level until 1917 and especially 1919, when the overhang of wartime spending drove it to $5.13 billion.  Spending cooled under the Republican administrations of Harding and Coolidge but exploded under FDR to a height of $44 billion in 1945.  One might expect that wartime number to decline, but by 1970, it was $159 billion.  It first reached one trillion in 1995 and is $6.27 trillion in 2022.  As these figure show, federal government spending has grown by a factor of nearly 11,000 over the past 120 years, and it continues growing exponentially.  There is only one possible outcome:  government consumption of nearly all income and control of nearly all economic and personal activity.  That is the definition of what Jefferson called "despotism" and what, in our time, is called totalitarianism.  Despotism can be reversed only by a concerted effort to cut government spending substantially at the federal and state levels, but this seems unlikely.

Are You Freer than You Were Two Years Ago?  Make no mistake:  it is despotism that we face in Biden's proposal to double the size of the IRS; in the political weaponization of the FBI, CIA, and DOJ; in the amassing of information by technology giants; in the corporate surrender to woke ideologies; in the takeover of schools by progressive activists; in the proliferation of "hate speech" laws; in the self-censorship that so many Americans practice to appease political correctness; and in the influence of media on our thinking.  We live in an age of fear and conformity, and those who are weak have become enslaved and have willingly relinquished their freedom to the powerful forces of government, media, "expert" opinion, and corporate venality.  The practical effects of this despotism can be seen everywhere.  Rising taxes are used to transfer more and more of an individual's earnings to government, where it is used with little accountability to enrich those who support ever greater government spending and who make campaign donations to ensure this happens.

Fraudulent, Illegal, Unconstitutional, Unconscionable, And False: A Short Tour Of Government In Action.  All governments are bad — always necessary, often useful, occasionally better than most, rarely genuinely helpful to all, but still bad.  From Athens to Zaire, from commune to kingdom, from democracy to dictatorship, when people come together to form a society there will always be those who take advantage, who prey, who scheme, who profit from their position.  Every government ever has violated its own laws, flouted its own rules, changed long-standing practices for immediate gain, side-stepped its foundational concepts and strictures, dismissed societal codes of conduct, and ignored the basic ethical standards of humanity.  Here in the United States — which actually has one of the best governmental systems and surely the best foundational governmental theory — we are not immune to these issues.

Free America: We're already dealing with a fascist regime.  Republicans were talking about inflation, which is important, and the border, which is also important.  But where were the Republicans calling attention to the fact that this is a fascist administration that's against our fundamental freedoms?  This is an administration that is trying to foreclose on legitimate political discourse.  This is an administration that is consciously aping the institution of authoritarian totalitarian regimes in recent historical memory.  Yet no one even mentioned it.  Nonetheless, it's very clear.  They have sicced the FBI on parents protesting at school board meetings.  They keep saying white supremacists are the biggest terror threat that the nation faces, despite the fact that we see very few incidents of white supremacist terror.  What they mean is that MAGA Republicans are white supremacists, and they are going to take away the franchise from those white supremacists and destroy them utterly.  The plan may not work.  One of the reasons why we have had mass migration into the United States was because the Democrats assumed that Hispanics would be completely on board with them, and would give them a reliable voting majority for the foreseeable future.  That has all fallen apart.  And it will continue to fall apart.

Ctrl+Alt+Delete the Totalitarian State.  There are three government narratives pushed today that are not real:  (1) fraud-free elections, (2) a looming climate apocalypse, and (3) a COVID health emergency requiring total government control.  If you see through only one, then you're not looking hard enough.  Or as Bill Engvall might say, "If you now believe COVID is mostly a hoax but are still terrified of global warming, here's your sign."  Conversely, if you do see through them, you're likely being censored for expressing those points of view.  Here's our impasse: when governments claim to have a monopoly on truth, then citizens are expected to accept preposterous fantasies, no matter how much opposing evidence they might see.  The narrative is absolute.  Dissent is forbidden.  Total obedience is the objective.  Last century, free Westerners understood these features as telltale signs of totalitarianism.  Today, much less free Westerners have been taught to embrace — without scrutiny or wisdom — the government's fairy tales as part of our required, if not sacred, deference to the bureaucratic State's cult of expertise.

Is Your Body the Legal Property of Big Pharma?  [Video clip]  In the video above, Glenn Beck interviews investigative journalist Whitney Webb about her book, "One Nation Under Blackmail: The Sordid Union Between Intelligence and Crime That Gave Rise to Jeffrey Epstein," Parts 1 and 2.  These books provide the necessary framework to understand not just Jeffrey Epstein's geopolitical role and function, but also, more broadly, the deep connections between the U.S. intelligence community and organized crime.  The political corruption we see today grew out of this unholy alliance, which has led to blackmail and bribery being two key strategies by which the wealthy self-described "elites" maintain power and influence from behind the scenes. [...] Epstein's pedophilia and sexual blackmail enterprise was a central cog in this network of corruption for decades.  He was also involved in many other questionable and/or criminal enterprises, including financial crimes, but he wasn't necessarily at the top level in any of them.  Webb describes him more as a middle-management-type of character, carrying out orders from higher-ups, including U.S. intelligence.  Overall, these "higher-ups" are people who favor globalism and global governance, and who don't want the United States to have a monopoly on power.  This is part of why the power of the U.S. is now being dismantled before our eyes, but the undermining and infiltration have been going on for decades.

It's Time to Speak the Truth About Ukraine.  Joe Biden, the military-industrial-congressional complex, State Department neocons, the War Party comprised of all Democrats and many corporate Republicans, and Western globalist elites have the United States and NATO in a Ukrainian proxy war against Russia.  The warmongers are obsessed with destroying Russia.  To achieve it, they are determined to fight to the last Ukrainian.  In eight months, Congress has wasted $69 billion of American taxpayer money to fund their proxy war.  That's about $8 billion more than Russia's entire annual military budget.  And to the delight of the American arms industry, there is no end in sight.  Biden is soon expected to request another $50 billion.  Meanwhile, Biden and Congress have betrayed the American people — doing next to nothing to solve the crises of inflation, self-inflicted shortages of fuel and food, an invasion of five-and-a-half million illegal aliens, out-of-control violent crime, and a fentanyl epidemic imported from China and Mexico that is killing 100,000 Americans every year.

Dueling Investigations.  Scott noted earlier that Merrick Garland has appointed a special counsel, Jack Smith, to torment Donald Trump.  Garland said, I assume with a straight face:  ["]It also allows prosecutors and agents to continue their work expeditiously, and to make decisions indisputably guided only by the facts and the law.["]  Indisputably!  Right.  Smith will be returning to Washington from The Hague, where he is "chief prosecutor for the special court."  That will be good training for his role as the Democratic Party's agent in destroying Donald Trump.  The Democrats have been planning on indicting Trump for a long time, and appointing a special counsel is part of their plan.  It allows them to wash their hands of the investigation, pretending that impartial justice is simply taking its course.  For the record, Smith's charge includes both the events of January 6, 2021, and the innocuous documents that Trump stashed in his Mar-a-Lago basement.

Key Takeaways from the FBI Whistleblowers Report.  On November 4, 2022, the Republican staff of the House Judiciary Committee published a report based primarily on whistleblower testimony, describing how the FBI and the Justice Department have become politically weaponized against conservatives. [...] I think we can draw several obvious conclusions from the report.
  [#1]   The FBI and the Justice Department have become hopelessly politically corrupted against conservatives.  The corruption is particularly dangerous because the FBI and the Justice Department have such enormous power.  They can destroy just about anyone they target because they essentially have unlimited resources.  They almost destroyed President Trump and General Flynn.  Think what happens when they come after someone with far fewer resources to fight back.
  [#2]   The scope of the corruption is so great and has lasted for such a long time that Christopher Wray and Merrick Garland had to know about it.  If they knew about it and did nothing to stop it, then they approved it.
  [#3]   The FBI simply cannot be trusted, and anyone who is being questioned by them must use extreme caution.  As the prominent attorney Harmeet Dhillon has recommended, "never speak to the FBI without your attorney present, and never speak to the FBI without making an audio or video recording of the entire conversation."

Humpty Dumpty's government of no consent.  You may say we still have the U.S. Constitution and the consent of the governed through popular elections.  Perhaps we do on the formal surface of things.  Perhaps we do on parchment and paper.  Yet, below the surface and between the lines, America's Humpty Dumpty elite sit on high and make the U.S. Constitution and the "consent of the governed" mean just what they choose it to mean — neither more nor less.  I know I personally have never given my consent for most of what our supposed democracy does every day.  I have never consented to most U.S. government programs (programs often conceived decades before my own conception), yet the government persists in charging me taxes for their administration.  Even when the government doesn't break my bank directly through taxation, it takes out debts in my name and sees fit to counterfeit more and more currency by means of its monopoly on the production of money.

Biden Says He's 'Making Sure' Trump Will Not Become President Again.  Old Joe Biden, the ostensible president of the United States, on Wednesday held one of his Potemkin press conferences before the gathering of sycophants and propagandists known as the White House press corps.  When a reporter said that Trump's movement was "still very strong," Biden laughed derisively and said, "Oh yeah?"  He added, "Well, we just have to demonstrate that he will not take power by — if we — if he does run.  I'm making sure he, under legitimate efforts of our Constitution, does not become the next President again."  How can he make sure of that?  He didn't say, and of course the sycophants didn't ask.

Prepare for even more abuses of power.  Joe Biden has been a serial power abuser.  He has sent the FBI against his political opponents.  He has, in the student loan forgiveness program, implemented a policy he acknowledges is unconstitutional, and he has used his power as head of the administrative state to threaten his political opponents.  In his post-election news conference he explicitly put a target on the back of one of his political enemies:  Elon Musk.  When asked about whether Musk is a national security threat — an absurdity if there ever was one — Biden laughed and said it would be worth looking at.  "There's a lot of ways."  [Tweet]

The Democrats Told Us Who They Were When They Locked Us Down.  The Democrats and their media accomplices keep telling us the Republicans are the fascists and autocrats hungry for power.  But just the opposite is true.  The Democrats themselves made it clear during the pandemic that they are the party of authoritarianism.  In the spring of 2020, this country went into a lockdown.  As Jeffrey Tucker of the Brownstone Institute has noted, government officials canceled public worship services, segregated the large cities, abolished in-person education, foisted masks on all the kids, destroyed millions of businesses, and censored speech "so that we could barely discover facts."  They shut down concerts, imposed limits on house parties, scrapped weddings and funerals, locked the elderly into their homes and blocked visitation, ended dentistry, and imposed travel restrictions across state borders, says Tucker.  Some officials, however, saw that the rules were oppressive and restored liberty in their states.  None of them are Democrats.

House Republicans release a scathing report alleging politicization of the DOJ and the FBI.  On Friday [11/4/2022], the Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee released 1050 page report detailing the claims made by myriad whistleblowers at the Federal Bureau of Investigation about the abuse of power and politicization of the nation's foremost law enforcement authority.  They called it "the first comprehensive accounting of the FBI's problems to date, which undermine the FBI's fundamental law-enforcement mission."  The following are the key details of the report.  The report states that Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray are willing participants in the Biden Administration's weaponization and politicization of law enforcement[.]  The whistleblowers describe the FBI's D.C. leadership as "rotted at its core," with a "systemic culture of unaccountability," and full of "rampant corruption, manipulation, and abuse" and that "the problem lies not with the majority of front-line agents who serve our country, but with the FBI's politicized bureaucracy."

Jim Jordan: The DOJ Is Actively Purging Republican Staffers.  Jim Jordan put out a tweet that was a direct shot across the bow for that memo Merrick Garland gave the DOJ, forbidding contact with Congress one day after Jim Jordan went public on Hannity talking about the work of whistleblowers.  He reminded Merrick Garland's staff that they have every right to speak to Congress.  This tweet also happens to be featured prominently in one of the opening pages of the 1050-page report that came out on Friday. [...] The whistleblowers Jordan was talking about on that show have been debriefed by Congress.  The information they brought to light about how things are being run in the DOJ was enough to generate a 1050-page report detailing how corrupt and politicized many aspects of the DOJ have become.  A report like that sure dovetails with what we've learned about what kind of investigations these people prioritize.  One of the worst examples was when a whistleblower claimed he was pulled off of a child trafficking case that was ["]not a priority so that he could chase down someone in Florida who was present for J6, but after being waved in, did not commit any acts that could be construed as violations of the law.["]

Democrats Declared War on Democracy Through COVID Tyranny.  Some of us were sounding the alarms on COVID tyranny when it was first starting.  Lockdown policies were never about saving lives but a test to see how many liberties and rights the government could take away without much pushback by the population.  Fear is the main path tyrants take in trying to strip freedom from their citizens.  Scare citizens enough and they will enslave themselves to whatever dictates the dear savior will come up with.  This is replaying itself as we approach the November 8 election.  Democrats destroyed entire families through their COVID lockdown policies which eliminated businesses, put stress on homes, and harmed the intellectual development of children.  Those are years that will be hard to recover, if at all.  COVID tyrants are hoping Americans forget their debacle in handling the pandemic and the tyranny that so many experienced because of it.  Families were unable to visit loved ones.  Churches were shut down, some never to reopen.  Businesses, once staples and pillars of the community, suddenly vanished and are now vacant and rotting with overgrown weeds and mold.

Using Emergency Alert System to Remind People to Vote is a Bad Idea.  President Joe Biden and actor Jason Bateman debated the best way to encourage Americans to vote in the upcoming midterm elections.  On the Wednesday edition of the SmartLess podcast, Biden sat down with hosts Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, and Will Arnett to discuss his career and current state of the country. [...] The actor would clarify that the alert would not advocate for either party but serve as a helpful reminder ahead of Election Day.  "Could I ask you to commit to consider over the next few days using your unique power as president to utilize the emergency alert system?" Bateman asked.

Desperate Netflix Star Urges Biden to Activate Emergency Alert System to Encourage People to Vote Democrat.  [Scroll down] First, Republican voters aren't a monolithic group of mindless people who universally believe the 2020 presidential election was "rigged" or "stolen."  Moreover, I suspect a sizeable percentage of objective Republicans don't believe substantive proof has been presented to support the claim, but feel pressured to say they do, fearing retribution from "you know who" and his unchangeable loyalists.  Second, Bateman's "This is what they're saying that their plan is" is a nonsensical [pack of lies].  Bateman did acknowledge the purpose of the Emergency Alert System, but then played the Democrats' go-to "existential threat" card:  ["]It's usually for the weather or killers or kidnapping, whatever.  But I don't think it's an exaggeration to categorize this as, as a light crisis, an existential threat.["]  He then argued that a simple 20-second card flashing on the screen would be enough to encourage voters to "get out and let their voices be heard" (vote Democrat and save the Republic).

The Editor says...
This sounds like a "trial balloon."  The use of the Emergency Alert System for purely political purposes is a revolting misuse of a system that is in place to warn the general public about impending danger — usually tornado warnings.  (EAS is the latest version of CONELRAD, which was a system that was set up in 1951 to warn of incoming enemy invasions or missiles.)  EAS messages can't be muted or ignored on your TV or your cell phone.  (When I'm President, all that will change!)  If a politician had suggested this idea, it would have been politically costly to him and his party.  But if a celebrity brings it up, and for whatever reason there isn't widespread outrage, then the politicians can pick up the ball and run with it.  To anyone with common sense, the election of Republicans — the ones who can overcome Democrat election fraud — is not an emergency.  The poorly-educated leftists act like this whole country is a big toy that the President can play with in any way he chooses.

How the government hid the truth behind Hunter Biden's laptop.  The more we find out about the collusion that has been going on among the Biden administration, the security agencies and Big Tech, the more alarming it is — and the more unrepentant they are.  The latest bombshell from the Intercept, based on communications unveiled in the federal lawsuit Missouri v.  Biden, shows that the Department of Homeland Security has been having monthly meetings with Facebook and Twitter to pressure them to censor social media posts about topics such as the botched withdrawal from Afghanistan, the origins of COVID-19, the efficacy of COVID vaccines, racial justice and US support for the war in Ukraine — in other words, anything that could be detrimental to public support for the Biden administration.  We already know that the FBI was involved in efforts to censor and bury information that might have harmed Joe Biden's candidacy back in 2020, including The Post's exclusive about Hunter Biden's laptop in October 2020. That amounted to election interference, which prevented the American people from doing the necessary due diligence on one of the two candidates for president.  So successful was the strategy that the Biden administration appears to have expanded it.

RCMP top cop considered using military troops disguised as Mounties at Freedom Convoy.  An ongoing inquiry into the merit of the Trudeau government invoking the Emergencies Act has now shown just how far the Trudeau government and certain allied elements are willing to go.  Despite the Canadian government's insistence that the military would not be deployed during the Freedom Convoy protests, Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Commissioner Thomas Carrique and Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Commissioner Brenda Lucki discussed Lucki's clandestine plan to have military troops disguised as Mounties — an underhanded method to manage a protest that was peaceful to begin with.  Trudeau was so mortified by the protests and desperate to shut them down that he lied about police requesting that he invoke the Emergency Measures Act.

True the Vote founder Catherine Engelbrecht, former board member Arrested for not outing informant.  True the Vote leaders Catherine Engelbrecht and Gregg Phillips were taken into custody by US Marshalls on Monday for refusing to identify a confidential informant to a judge.  Federal Judge Kenneth Hoyt found both of them in contempt of court after they declined to out the informant, according to independent journalist Ivory Hecker. [...] The judge ordered that Engelbrecht and Phillips be held in custody for at least 24 hours or until they give up the informant, according to The Post Millennial.

Catherine Englebrecht and Gregg Phillips [have been] Put in Jail for Refusing to Outline Sources Who Revealed Konnech U.S. Election Data Transfer to China.  True the Vote founder Catherine Englebrecht and election data security analyst, Gregg Phillips, have been held in contempt of court and placed in jail for failing to outline the participants in a 2020 hotel discussion that revealed the Konnech election data compromise that was transmitted to Chinese networks.  On October 4th, the CEO of Konnech — a company specializing in proprietary PollChief software to manage election workers — was arrested.  Konnech Corporation Chief Executive Officer Eugene Yu was arrested for exploiting access to U.S. election data, including election worker information, and transferring the files to China.  The information that led to Yu's arrest was the information given to the FBI and first revealed to Englebrecht and Phillips.  However, the Konnech corporation filed a civil lawsuit against Englebrecht and Phillips claiming defamation.  A Texas federal judge allowed the civil lawsuit to continue despite the arrest of Eugene Yu.

The City of Charlottesville's new online speech restrictions for employees is likely unconstitutional.  The City of Charlottesville passed a new policy for city workers that prohibits them from commenting, offline and online, about a wide range of topics.  The policy is a potential violation of employees' First Amendment free speech rights.  The policy was passed in response to how the city handled Allen Groat, an analyst for the fire and police department, for his involvement in the January 6 2021 riot at the US Capitol.  Groat tweeted that he would engage in a "show of force," and posted a photo of himself and former head of the Proud Boys.  [Tweet]  Groat was investigated but was not criminally charged.  Mayor Lloyd Snook said that Groat was not going to be fired because he had not been criminally charged.

DOJ's election plan raises threat of 'selective enforcement' against red states, watchdog warns.  The Justice Department this week outlined the steps it will take on Election Day to ensure a fair election process, but a government watchdog is warning that the plan leaves out critical details that open the door to selective enforcement against red states.  The Foundation for Government Accountability (FGA) said the lack of detail in the DOJ announcement likely means "selective transparency and selective enforcement, something we've come to expect from the Biden administration's two-tiered approach to justice."  The Justice Department released a summary of its "comprehensive" Election Day plan Wednesday and said it is aimed at ensuring that "all qualified voters have the opportunity to cast their ballots and have their votes counted free of discrimination, intimidation or fraud in the election process.

North America Goes South: The Plan To Dismantle USA.  People are starting to realize that the collapse of the American border is not an accident.  It can't be.  When the vice president of the United States says the border is "secure" at the same time that illegal border crossings have surged to more than a million a year, then one of two things must be true. [...] Unfortunately, there was no way to determine what the Biden administration was up to — until now.  Two weeks ago, we learned that Biden's Secretary of State Antony Blinken is actively engaged in a campaign to break down all barriers between the United States and Mexico.  In other words, the huge influx of Mexicans and other foreigners across the U.S. border is just the first stage in a globalist effort to blur the lines between not just the United States and Mexico, but also Canada.

No longer a 'two-tiered' system, there is no justice in America.  Now it is easy to see why people have come to believe that the once-vaunted justice system in the US became two-tiered; one for favored elites and one for those the elites loathe.  There are countless examples of this:  peaceful pro-life demonstrators have been raided and charged with serious crimes that they did not commit, while those who fire-bomb pregnancy centers are not even investigated, let alone charged.  Among the hundreds of violent protesters who burned their own cities down in the wake of the George Floyd debacle, few were charged with the crimes they committed and most of those that were had the charges dropped. [...] Now we must face the fact that there is actually no justice to be had in America in 2022.  Trump Derangement Syndrome has led inexorably to what we now see occurring daily in our once great nation:  The proven guilty go free and the innocent have their homes raided by a pack of armed FBI agents who seem to delight in traumatizing law-abiding citizens.

The Civilization That Knew Too Much.  [Scroll down] A generation ago, public perception of the interior of institutions was low-resolution, almost pixellated.  The average person could not know the details of what went on inside religious, law-enforcement, educational, corporate, or scientific organizations, he simply saw them through the lens of reputation.  Reputation can be thought of as a kind of data compression process that reduces a vast and complex reality into what in some cases is a single number.  People relying on indexes like the US News ranking of the Top Ten universities often need know nothing about an organization other than that it is Number X in a particular category.  But it was enough for many.  In that old world, people thought law enforcement mostly upright, churches mostly holy, educators largely trustworthy, journalists largely truthful and Washington occasionally honest, not because they knew the details, but because they accepted the Number.

Former FBI Official Will Testify About White House Pressure to Inflate Domestic Extremism Numbers.  Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee announced on Thursday that they would be calling a former top FBI official to testify before Congress to address claims that the Biden administration pressured agents to label cases as domestic extremism or a white supremacist threat even if they did not meet that criteria in order to match Joe Biden's rhetoric.  Last month, current and former FBI agents came forward claiming the Biden administration has been deliberately exaggerating the danger posed by white supremacists.  According to the whistleblowers, high-ranking FBI officials were pressuring field agents to fabricate domestic terrorism cases and label people as white supremacists in order to "meet internal metrics."  "The demand for white supremacy" coming from FBI brass "vastly outstrips the supply of white supremacy," one agent told the Washington Times. "We have more people assigned to investigate white supremacists than we can actually find."

Biden Pressured Democrat Border Mayor Not to Declare Emergency over Illegal Immigration.  President Joe Biden's administration reportedly pressured El Paso, Texas, Mayor Oscar Leeser (D) not to declare a state of emergency over illegal immigration, even as thousands arrive in the small city every few days.  According to an exclusive report from the New York Post, El Paso officials privately and publicly say the Biden administration urged Leeser to hold off on calling a state of emergency over the issue of illegal immigration, which has hit historic levels this year.

DOJ Is Hiding How It's Complying with Biden's Voter Registration Drive, Rep. Norman Says.  Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) is demanding answers from the Department of Justice (DOJ) after the agency refused to release all documents regarding how it intended to implement a 2021 executive order on expanding voter access.  Republicans have opposed this order as an unlawful exercise of federal power over elections.  In March 2021, President Joe Biden signed an executive order (EO 14019) directing the head of every federal agency, including the DOJ, to come up with a strategic plan on how to "promote voter registration and voter participation."  Their plans should be submitted to Susan Rice, the president's domestic policy adviser.  The executive order also mandates that these agencies work with "approved" third-party organizations to provide voter registration services on federal agency premises.  Since then, Republican lawmakers have questioned whether the administration has the constitutional and statutory authority to enact such an order.

FBI Whistleblower: Bureau Taking Steps to Ensure that 'Process is the Punishment'.  According to Just The News, FBI Special Agent Steve Friend, who is based out of Florida, said that his security clearance was recently suspended as a result of his whistleblowing efforts, thus leaving him without any pay.  In his formal whistleblower complaint filed to Congress, the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, and the Inspector General of the Department of Justice (DOJ), Friend claims that the FBI is systematically violating the 6th and 8th Amendment rights of all the prisoners who have been arrested for peacefully protesting at the U.S. Capitol on January 6th, 2021.  He also accused the bureau of deliberately inflating the number of alleged acts of "domestic extremism" in the country, in order to make right-wing terrorism seem like a greater threat than it actually is.

Christopher Wray certainly seems to be enjoying the FBI's private jet.  FBI Director Christopher Wray certainly gets around. [...] But then again, he's in charge of the nation's largest federal law enforcement agency, so I'm sure he's got a lot on his plate.  The question surrounding his activities this week, however, has less to do with how often he travels than it does with how he travels.  It seems that Wray has been making very liberal use of the FBI's private jet when he needs to get away from the Beltway.  On at least one occasion he used it to head to his family's vacation home in the Adirondack Mountains.  And another series of trips to the Atlanta area is also under scrutiny.  The problem is that Congress never authorized that jet for personal use.  It's only supposed to be used for counterterrorism purposes.

Eric Swalwell's Spending Report for First Nine Months of Year Is Raising a Lot of Questions.  Rob Pyers is the Research Director for California Target Book, a group that provides information on congressional and state legislative election campaigns in California.  Pyers posted some intriguing information about Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) on Twitter that our friends over at Twitchy picked up.  [Tweets]  "Dem Eric Swalwell, who has submitted the 2nd-highest number of 'I am unable to physically attend proceedings in the House Chamber due to the ongoing public health emergency' proxy letters, spent $250K+ on travel & car service in the 1st 9 months of the year," Pyers said.  Let me explain to those who may not know what the "proxy letters" are.  During the pandemic, the House started offering its members the opportunity to have other members vote for them because of the "ongoing public health emergency."  That might have been understandable when people were freaked out initially in the early days of the pandemic, although I don't think they ever should have done it.  But it's been more than two years now, kids.  Joe Biden has declared the pandemic over.  Why is this still on?  It's an excuse for people not to show up to do their job and skip out if they have other things to do.

Biden Regime Calls for North American Union.  Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, also known by his initials AMLO, recently announced that US Secretary of State Tony Blinken proposed opening all borders between the US, Mexico, and Canada.  President Obrador: "I think that Mr. Blinken spoke about consolidating the region of North America.  And we agree on that."  The plan would open up our borders permanently to the drug cartels running Mexico today.  It is the latest insanity proposed by the Biden regime to permanently destroy the United States.

Absolutely Shameful: Covid Dictators Still Unwilling To Let Go Of Power In Australia.  More than two years of lockdown hell — especially in Melbourne — has taken its toll.  Relationship breakdowns, suicides, drug and alcohol abuse, business collapse, and so on have been the result.  Nobody wants to go through all that again: we are totally fed up with the Big State doing its best to emulate Big Brother.  Thankfully it is more or less over — or so it seems.  But just as a rapacious carnivore wants ever more after having acquired a taste for blood, so too our state leaders have loved the power and control they so easily were able to obtain over the past few years.  They do not want to give it up.  Indeed, they want more!

Arizona AG asks FBI, IRS to investigate election integrity watchdog True the Vote.  Republican Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich has asked the IRS and FBI to review the financials of the conservative nonprofit group True The Vote for allegedly raising money on false statements about widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election.  In a letter obtained Friday by Fox News Digital, Chief Special Agent Reggie Grigsby of the Special Investigations Section for Brnovich's office accused True The Vote (TTV) of repeatedly failing to provide promised information about alleged ballot stuffing and voter fraud to his office while publicly asserting they did so in order to raise funds.

The Democrat Party Is Crumbling.  The Democrats thought they could steal our freedoms away under the guise of COVID-19.  Actually, they did steal them.  Embarrassingly, many Americans were only too happy to lock down, wear the useless Fauci face diaper, and stand on science-free stickers at the grocery store.  You know, to save grandma.  Remember, communism always comes disguised as virtue.  Many of us caught on quickly and recognized that the Democrats were using the Hong Kong Fluey lockdown flapdoodle as a dress rehearsal for communism — and worse.

The federal war on pro-life activists.  The federal government is at war with pro-life activists.  By that I don't mean that Democrat politicians are doing everything they can to extend the so-called "right" to abortion until birth.  That is politics, and for better or worse in the United States political decisions about when life begins and constitutional protections for human beings is afforded to a fetus belong to the states. [...] The federal government is currently exercising powers that legitimately should belong to states, and doing so for the explicit political purpose of intimidating and punishing people for exercising their rights to freely assemble and peacefully protest in favor of saving lives.

How Biden and IRS Unlawfully Expanded Obamacare.  President Joe Biden announced Tuesday that his administration had expanded Obamacare.  Congress didn't legislate the expansion.  The Internal Revenue Service did.  The IRS scrapped an Obama administration regulation that faithfully implemented the Obamacare statute, officially called the Affordable Care Act, which became law in 2010 on a party-line vote.  At issue is whether dependents of a worker with an offer of employer-sponsored coverage can shun that coverage and claim premium tax subsidies for Obamacare policies instead.  The statute and the Obama administration regulation were clear on this point.  Such dependents qualify for tax-subsidized policies only if the cost of self-only employer-sponsored coverage exceeds 9.5% of the worker's household income.  If not, neither the worker nor her dependents could receive Obamacare premium subsidies.

Biden renews COVID "emergency" for another 90 days.  Never let a crisis go to waste, Rahm Emanuel once advised.  Add to that this new axiom:  Never let your emergency powers expire.  As incompetent as Joe Biden might otherwise be, he's proven adept at following both. [...] In his 60 Minutes interview with Scott Pelley less than four weeks ago, Biden walked around the Detroit auto show without a mask, and remarked about how normal it seemed, and how "everybody seems to be in pretty good shape":  [Tweet]  That was just three weeks ago.  What makes this an "emergency" now?  Even with the CDC still reporting correlative data rather than causative, ER visits with COVID diagnoses are near a year-long low and dropping.  Reported cases are bottoming out as well, as are correlated deaths (still no breakout for causation), as are correlated hospital admissions.  Even wastewater surveillance — which would take place regardless of emergency status — shows a decline in prevalence despite the addition of many new sites in the mix.  So why is the pandemic over but not the emergency?  For one thing, Biden still wants emergency cash from Congress.

WSJ: 2,600+ Federal Officials Trade Stock in Companies Their Agencies Oversee -- Especially Big Tech.  More than 2,600 federal officials either own or have traded stock in companies their agencies oversee, according to a damning report by the Wall Street Journal.  The report also found that officials frequently traded stock in companies shortly before their agencies announced enforcement actions that affected the price of those companies.  At the Department of Defense for example, some officials held stock in Chinese companies that the U.S. was considering blacklisting.

Wife Supremacy.  Monica P. Medina is the new "Special Envoy for Biodiversity and Water Resources," the State Department recently announced, without noting that Medina is also the wife of Ron Klain, chief of staff to Joe Biden.  The Washington Post story, headlined, "In a first, U.S. appoints a diplomat for plants and animals," also failed to note the Klain connection.  This sort of nepotism, coupled with media malpractice, has surrounded Joe Biden for a long time. "Ambassador Cathy Russell has been a trusted and indispensable advisor to Jill and me for nearly 30 years," Biden announced last December, as the UN chose Russell to be executive director of UNICEF.  As Biden proclaimed, Russell had served as "Assistant to the President and Director of the White House Office of Presidential Personnel.  She sat on the Advisory Board of the Biden-Harris Transition Team and served as Vice Chair of the Biden-Harris Campaign."

November Surprise?  Case-in-point: the John Durham Special Counsel Investigation on the origin of the RussiaGate fraud.  It now apparently terminates in the prosecution of the tiniest minnow (Igor Danchenko) in that vast inland sea of corruption.  Some of the figures who carried out the perfidious seditions of RussiaGate are still employed in the Department of Justice and the FBI, and to this day are active in the continued cover-up of the crimes committed to overthrow President Trump, notably: Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta, DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz, FBI Director Christopher Wray, and others.  Mr. Durham is supposedly among the highest officers of the federal courts charged with enforcing a very particular region of criminality.  His staff must be marinated in evidence of the RussiaGate misdeeds — reams of which have been independently documented in the public record, ranging from (just for example) the nefarious activities of figures like Nellie Ohr, wife of DOJ higher-up Bruce Ohr, working as go-between with Christopher Steele and the FBI, to the spectacular failures of Judge James Boasberg and his FISA court, not to mention the well-known machinations of Peter Strzok, Lisa Page, Andrew McCabe, Rod Rosenstein, Dana Boente, James Baker, Andrew Weissmann, Jeannie Rhee, Aaron Zebley, Brandon Van Grack, Robert Mueller, and other top officials who worked sedulously against the public interest.  All these remain apparently off-the-hook for their sketchy activities.

A massive indictment of the Democrat party.  The U.S. Constitution, by limiting federal power, is designed to protect the individual citizen from external coercion. [...] By supporting big government at the expense of the individual, Democrats threaten to transform America into a totalitarian nightmare.  President Biden has declared that the "most lethal elements" in our society are political conservatives.  In true Stalinist fashion, the DoJ, the FBI, and the media are being weaponized to go after Biden's political opponents.  Armed FBI agents raided the homes of Roger Stone, James O'Keefe, Paul Manafort, and dozens of other Trump-supporters, to say nothing of the raid on Mar-a-Lago.  "The FBI is now an organization solely focused on destroying the domestic enemies of the Democratic Party," said radio host Jesse Kelly.  The implication is that if you distrust Biden's government, you are considered a terrorist and must be hunted down.  Democrats will not hesitate to deprive you of your basic rights if it suits their purpose.  In their war on free speech, Democrats have attempted to silence anyone who denies global warming, criticizes Islamic terrorism, advocates a stronger military, or questions the validity of the 2020 election.

Everyone knows what the Republicans SHOULD do.  Don't hold your breath.
The First Thing Republicans Should Do When They Take Back Congress Is Impeach Merrick Garland.  Should Republicans take control of the U.S. House and Senate in November, their first order of business — before tax and spending cuts, abortion restrictions, gun legislation, or anything else in their predictably anodyne agenda — should be to impeach Attorney General Merrick Garland.  Under Garland, the Justice Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation have been thoroughly politicized and weaponized, transformed into instruments of terror aimed at ordinary American citizens who have the temerity to oppose the Biden administration's radical agenda.  Tax cuts for domestic manufacturers, or whatever out-of-touch, boilerplate thing GOP leaders imagine their priority should be once they regain Congress, can wait.  The urgent thing now is to impeach and remove Garland before he causes irreparable harm to the republic.  Everything Garland has done as attorney general has been mendaciously political, from smearing parents who speak out at school board meetings as "domestic terrorists" to targeting peaceful anti-abortion activists while doing nothing about actual pro-abortion vigilantes attacking churches and crisis pregnancy centers.  He has to be stopped, and a determined GOP-led Congress is the only thing that can stop him.

National Archives Scraps 'Transparency' Mission When It Comes to Trump Documents.  The Biden administration has turned what should be the most transparent of government agencies, the National Archives and Records Administration, into one of the least transparent agencies — rivaling even the FBI.  Established in 1934, the National Archives has a mission to identify, protect, preserve, and make publicly available all historically valuable records.  But the National Archives has become politicized by the Biden administration and no longer provides transparency in public records.  Jodi Foor, the National Archives' deputy Freedom of Information Act officer, would not answer a FOIA request from The Heritage Foundation's Oversight Project for records related to the FBI's raid on former President Donald Trump's Florida home within the statutory timeline.  This inaction forced The Heritage Foundation to sue to get a response to our request.

Outsourced censorship: Feds used private entity to target millions of social posts in 2020.  A consortium of four private groups worked with the departments of Homeland Security (DHS) and State to censor massive numbers of social media posts they considered misinformation during the 2020 election, and its members then got rewarded with millions of federal dollars from the Biden administration afterwards, according to interviews and documents obtained by Just the News.  The Election Integrity Partnership is back in action again for the 2022 midterm elections, raising concerns among civil libertarians that a chilling new form of public-private partnership to evade the First Amendment's prohibition of government censorship may be expanding.  The consortium is comprised of four member organizations: Stanford Internet Observatory (SIO), the University of Washington's Center for an Informed Public, the Atlantic Council's Digital Forensic Research Lab, and social media analytics firm Graphika.  It set up a concierge-like service in 2020 that allowed federal agencies like Homeland's Cybersecurity Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and State's Global Engagement Center to file "tickets" requesting that online story links and social media posts be censored or flagged by Big Tech.

How authorities are invoking crises to exercise unprecedented power.  Days after the 2008 election, Rahm Emanuel famously issued what's known today as Rahm's rule.  "You never want a serious crisis to go to waste," said Emanuel, then chief of staff to President-elect Barack Obama. "And what I mean by that is it's an opportunity to do things that you think you could not do before."  Emanuel argued the 2008 financial crisis afforded the Obama administration a window to promptly address problems that had previously been deferred indefinitely pending the long-term ripening of political consensus.  Fourteen years later, Emanuel's now-famous phrase on crises has become standard practice in Washington, D.C., as officials in power regularly use what they deem "emergencies" — from viral pandemics to purported threats to democracy — to push controversial measures and restrictions on civil liberties that otherwise might fail due to pushback.  This trend was recently highlighted by President Biden declaring the COVID-19 pandemic over while still maintaining the national emergency declaration on the pandemic as his administration used COVID-19 to justify major executive action.

Some Helpful Ideas For Biden's Impeachment.  In his conduct while president of the United States, Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. has shown a habitual contempt for the rule of law, on numerous occasions willfully violating his constitutional oath by corrupting and manipulating the power of the executive branch. [...] Let's hope that Republicans don't limit themselves to a presidential impeachment, either.  There might be numerous reasons to investigate Attorney General Merrick Garland, but none deserves more scrutiny than his role in chilling dissent by intimidating parents who opposed critical race theory and Covid mask mandates.

Liberty Wept.  In Federalist 45, Madison noted that the powers delegated by the Constitution to the federal government were "few and defined." Those powers, he said, pertained mostly to "external objects" like war, peace, and foreign commerce.  Somehow, neither climate change nor transgender bathrooms nor "unlawful acts of hate" — the latest wheeze from the executive branch — made the cut when Madison was enumerating the powers of the federal government.  He did, however, have a lot to say about the powers delegated to the individual states.  Those powers, he said, were "numerous and indefinite," extending to "all the objects which, in the ordinary course of affairs, concern the lives, liberties, and properties of the people, and the internal order, improvement, and prosperity of the State."  Is that still the case?

DC Bar Does Democrats' Dirty Work By Tarring Opponents Right Before Midterms.  In an unprecedented move, the D.C. Bar opened an investigation into a former top Justice Department lawyer for advice he gave former President Donald Trump, with documents indicating a Democrat senator prompted the probe.  The timing of the procedures, and the complicity between elected officials and the bar, suggest a concerted attempt to create an October surprise.  Even more troubling than this election interference, however, is how dangerous the threat of punishing executive-branch attorneys for providing a legal opinion is to the country.  The Democrats' ploy also risks irreparably cementing America's partisan divide in the governance of our great country.

Thanks for nothing, John Durham.  [Scroll down] FBI directors Comey, Mueller, and Wray are all sitting down to a nice dinner about now, not a care in the world.  Even though they tried mightily to take down a sitting, duly elected president.  Proven liars and co-conspirators like Andrew McCabe, Peter Strzok, and Lisa Page are probably smiling at this moment as they review their bank statements.  Vile trolls like the CIA's John Brennan and James Clapper, although furiously promoting every rumor, falsehood, and slander under the sun against Pres.  Trump, are no doubt busy scheduling their next high-paying TV gigs.  Barry and Hillary, undoubtedly the prime movers of those seditious and anti-American plots, are surely relaxing in their luxe mansions at this very moment, contemplating their next lucrative podcast or appearance.  All the Democrat pols, their billionaire donors, Big Tech, and our mendacious left-wing media, haven't a care in the world.  They conspired to remove one of the most effective presidents in my lifetime, and they know they've gotten away with it.

Radical DOJ Lawyer Kristen Clarke Targeted Pro-Life Dad and Other Conservatives.  Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), and Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) warned us about Kristen Clarke.  Cruz called the radical lawyer "completely unfit to serve," but serve she does as the Biden Administration's chief of the civil rights division of the Department of Justice (DOJ).  Her department is where equal justice now goes to die.  Clarke considers her calling in Biden's Justice Department one of score-settling for past decisions, holding contemporaries responsible for historical injustices, and chasing ghosts of the past.  She greenlit the federal case against Mark Houck, a Pennsylvania Catholic pro-life author, whose seven children screamed for mercy for their "best friend," their dad, as an estimated 20-25 FBI agents trained their rifles on him after beating on the family's door at seven in the morning last Friday.  According to LifeSiteNews, Houck was already aware that the Feds were after him and had offered to come in and talk with them.  But gun-toting agents dragged him out and took him to a federal facility.

Inflation, Shutdowns, and Trending Authoritarianism — Yes, They Are Connected.  Inflation has been summed up as "too much money chasing too few goods."  Some contend that the recent uptick in price inflation is the result of an expansion of the money supply, and they date the start of that expansion back to the Spring of 2020.  That's when the Federal Reserve began pumping trillions of newly-minted Fed dollars into the economy.  The Fed's money printing continued into 2022.  Our current inflation, it would then seem, might just be due to "too much money."  If you recall, the reason for the Fed's massive money-printing was the government's response to the coronavirus pandemic.  The trillions in new money were for the government shutdowns of the economy.  Keep in mind that it was the states that shut down the economy, not the federal government.  No government can deny people their ability to make a living without giving them the means to survive.  Unlike the federal government, the states don't have a central bank that can create money.  But with the $2.2 trillion Cares Act, Congress rode to the rescue and accommodated the states with the money to pay for their shutdowns.  So, the states shut down their economies, Congress backstopped the states, and the Fed provided the money.

Pritzker Suffocates Free Speech.  Should any powerful elected official in America use his influence to have an opposition newspaper canceled?  Is it allowable for a president or governor to have such a paper literally taken out of print?  Well, it happened.  In Illinois.  At least temporarily.  This sad episode in the heartland speaks to a larger dangerous trend in America.  Increasingly, the permanent political class and corporate elites cooperate to suppress our rights of free speech and a free press.  For example, the Biden White House directly intervened with Big Tech to censor voices like Alex Berenson.  What was the online "crime" of this former New York Times reporter?  Well, Berenson dared to document reasons for skepticism regarding the experimental vaccines produced by Big Pharma that were forced upon millions of Americans via government, employment, and educational mandates.

Analysis: Nord Stream Pipelines Sabotaged, and Only One Country Benefits.  Three deep-water explosions destroyed the Nord Stream pipelines under the Baltic Sea on Monday.  While the MSM and governments reported "leaks" in the pipelines following sudden pressure drops to zero, Swedish seismologists knew better. [...] First, the US became the number one exporter of liquified natural gas to Europe once Russia cut off the flow.  German dependence on US LNG is a carrot to keep German in the sanction alliance.  With winter approaching and German unrest on the rise, the State Department would have been concerned the Germans would go wobbly, reduce sanctions, cut off arms to Ukraine, and beg Putin for energy.  The loss of the Nord Stream pipelines eliminates that path to renewed gas imports to Germany.  Second, the Biden family has long been tangled up in natural gas and Ukraine.  Hunter Biden was on the board of Ukraine's largest natural gas company — a position that provided Ukrainian oligarchs with access to Joe Biden.  Hunter, who has no experience in energy, made millions from the deal, and Ukraine got a bought-and-paid-for President of the United States.  Third, the Democrat Biden needs to stanch the popularity bleeding that threatens to kill Democrat control of Congress come November.  So, only the United States has a compelling reason to destroy Europe's energy lifeline from Russia.  Only the United States has both the means and the motive.

The Pandemic was a Grand Rehearsal for the Great Reset.  Fear is the key to obtaining compliance.  And by obtaining mass compliance during the pandemic, the global elite — operating through political leaders, international bodies, NGOs, and a vast network of "experts" and bureaucrats — audaciously tested ground for the Great Reset.  "Populations have overwhelmingly shown a willingness to make sacrifices," said Klaus Schwab, founder of the World Economic Forum (WEF).  "The changes we have seen in response to COVID-19 prove that a reset of our economic and social foundations is possible."  In his new book The Great Reset: Global Elites and the Permanent Lockdown, Marc Morano lays bare how "15 days to slow the spread" was actually "15 days to begin your conditioning to accept a new level of tyranny."  He shows how the agenda was set decades before the pandemic and was given momentum during the post-9/11 War on Terror.  The signs of long preparation for the Great Reset are now quite evident.

Why The FBI's Raid On A Christian Family Is Its Most Dangerous Abuse Yet.  This isn't easy for conservatives to understand.  Most of us, by disposition, respect hierarchy.  A father at the head of the family, a boss at the head of a company, a president at the head of a country, a pope at the head of a church, and so on.  So it's natural for us to imagine that everyone looks at the world this way.  That's one reason why when we see some new left-wing front open up in the culture war, we try to find the hidden hand controlling it — the George Soros, or the Michael Bloomberg, or Joe Biden.  But most of the time, the left doesn't think this way.  More importantly, the left doesn't act this way.  This phenomenon of ground-up left-wing governance can be seen all around us.  It's happening in corporate America, where far from leading the charge, left-wing CEOs increasingly find themselves held captive to radical employees.  It's true in the federal government, too.

Is DeSantis next on the SWAT list?  Democrat Bennie Thompson, chairman of the Homeland Security committee, sent a letter to the knucklehead Biden appointed as Secretary of Homeland Security, demanding that the department investigate Republican Governor Ron DeSantis over the deportation of illegal aliens to Martha's Vineyard.  This is the latest effort by Democrats to use the Fascist Bureau of Intimidation to criminalize political dissent.  They spied on Trump when he was a candidate.  They turned a peaceful protest at the National Mall into a Fake Insurrection by opening the heavy Capitol doors to protesters.  They confiscated the cellphones of dozens of Trump officials.  They SWAT-ed a pro-lifer for a year-old local charge that was dismissed by the courts.  And of course, they raided Mar-a-Lago over what amounts to an overdue library book that may not have been the library's to begin with.  The excesses of the FBI should force Republicans to end its power to arrest, surveil or execute warrants because the FBI has abused each privilege.  The constitutionality of this agency is at best vague.  Thompson clearly wants the FBI to SWAT DeSantis.

'The most outrageous intimidation effort in history': Mark Levin's electoral deep dive.  In this video, Mark Levin broke down key details that he described as the "most outrageous intimidation effort in history."  Mark covered:
  •   A U.S. attorney's Office in Washington D.C. that issues subpoenas like lollipops on Republican offices
  •   Crushing the Constitution and shredding attorney-client privilege
  •   Casting a broad net trying to get Trump Republicans and Republican state legislatures caught up in a massive criminal conspiracy
While much of the political attention seems to focus on "fake electors," Mark turned to the Constitution to see what the law states about the role of the state legislature's the electoral process, the proper process, and why it could seem to folks that perhaps maybe Democrats either do not understand the law or they are deliberately deceiving the American people ... theoretically, of course.  [Video clip]

There is raw evil in the top levels of power in the USA, using federal agencies to terrify America's best citizens.  [Scroll down] Many FBI, CIA, NSA, Homeland Security and other law enforcement and intelligence agents, other civil servants and military personnel — who still have a conscience, and we should assume most do — have to be encouraged to NEVER participate in any way in these on-going, unconstitutional, criminal actions against the people.  We don't just need them to not obey these unjust orders: we need them to actively help us save the United States from those who are obviously committed to destroying it from within.

All It Takes Is One Hero.  [Scroll down] [M]illions of people are only now awakening to the mounting dangers around them and are left terrified by what they finally see.  Why now?  Perhaps it was the unprecedented COVID lockdowns and school closures that ruined livelihoods and educations. [...] Perhaps it was the ballooning recognition that State-funded schools indoctrinate young students with leftist curricula dipped in racism, sexual libertinism, and outright Marxism.  Perhaps it was the growing disparity between how the IRS, EPA, DOJ, and FBI treat left-leaning political allies and how they treat their conservative opponents.  Perhaps it was the abominable two-tiered criminal justice system giving Black Lives Matter and Antifa foot soldiers slaps on the wrist for years while hunting down J6 political protesters as "domestic terrorists" and abandoning them in due process — free purgatories without trial or prospect of bail.  Perhaps it was the increasingly suffocating blanket of government-directed censorship stifling debate, subverting free speech, and justifying politically animated professional punishments and firings.

New Details In The Biden DOJ Targeting Of Pro-Life Activist, Father Of Seven Mark Houck.  New details are emerging in the Department of Justice targeting of a pro-life activist and Catholic father of seven who was arrested at his home in Pennsylvania on Friday.  Some 25 armed FBI agents in 15 vehicles raided the residence of Mark Houck, who leads a nonprofit group that provides sidewalk counseling at abortion clinics in Philadelphia, over an incident last year involving his then-12-year-old son at a Planned Parenthood abortion facility, the family says.  Houck protected his son from an aggressive Planned Parenthood escort harassing the 12-year-old, Pennsylvania pro-life activist Ashley Garecht told The Daily Wire, noting that the case was dismissed by a federal court in Philadelphia when the escort tried to press charges.

The time has come to reform the FBI.  Friday mornings are usually the cheeriest time of the week, just hours away from the weekend.  Alas for pro-life advocate, Mark Houck, and his family, last Friday was anything but joyous.  At 7 a.m., the father of seven was awakened by a SWAT team of heavily armed FBI agents.  Mark's wife, Ryan-Marie, said she pleaded with the FBI agents to be calm, owing to the presence of the couple's seven young children.  Alas, those pleas fell on deaf ears. [...] The FBI agents said they were there to arrest Mark.  When Ryan-Marie asked for their warrant, "they said that they were going to take him whether they had a warrant or not."  When Ryan-Marie protested, saying: "you can't just come to a person's house and kidnap them at gunpoint," the FBI agreed to get the warrant from one of their vehicles.

Did the FBI Finally Go Too Far?  On reading about the Saturday arrest of pro-life activist Mark Houck, I thought the author at this alternative site had to be exaggerating.  It struck me as beyond belief that two dozen or so armed FBI agents would swarm the house of a Catholic father of seven, rifles drawn, and arrest him in front of his weeping children for anything short of murder.  I have had to recalibrate my belief system.  The "crime" fell quite a bit short of murder.  On October 13, 2021, Houck brought his 12-year-old son with him for his weekly sidewalk counseling outside of a Planned Parenthood abortion clinic in Philadelphia.  A volunteer escort at the abortion clinic reportedly called Houck's son a "fag" among other insults and threatened him.  Houck pushed the man away from his son, and the man fell.  Houck, the founder of an organization that promotes Christian virtue among men, was not charged with a crime.  However petty the incident, U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Pennsylvania, had Houck seized at gunpoint nearly a year later and bragged about the arrest.

In raid on home with seven children, FBI again acts dangerously thuggish.  If the FBI and the Justice Department want critics to stop portraying the bureau as a menace to society, maybe FBI leaders and agents should stop acting like menaces.  Conservative social media is blowing up this weekend about a sickeningly abusive, armed FBI raid on the child-filled home of a pro-life activist in Pennsylvania.  And with good reason.  Once again, the FBI has gone dangerously overboard with an unnecessary show of force.  When faced with orders to participate in such hugely unnecessary armed raids, individual agents should register official protests with their superiors.

FBI Whistleblower: 'Nobody I Know Signed Up' To Investigate Parents Who Vented at Schoolboard Meetings.  An FBI whistleblower who was recently suspended said in an interview this week that he became a whistleblower last November because of Attorney General Merrick Garland's email ordering the FBI to use Patriot Act counterterrorism tools to target parents at school board meetings.  Special Agent Kyle Seraphin, who was indefinitely suspended on June 1 after nearly six years with the Bureau, said that he was so disturbed by the directive, he went to his congresswoman's office in New Mexico, and made a "protected disclosure."  Garland announced the creation of the tag "EDUOFFICIALS" to track school board meeting related threats in an email sent to Justice Department employees in October of 2021.  Investigations were opened on parents based on anonymous tips, and agents had to surveil and interview ordinary moms and dads who got caught up in the dragnet.  In a two-part interview with conservative radio host Dan Bongino, Seraphin said that most of his colleagues didn't appreciate the political nature of these cases, and just did "cursory investigations" before shutting them down.

Democrats move to criminalize opposition.  A hallmark of banana republics is that those who lose power are apt to wind up in prison, or on the wrong end of a firing squad.  Even more advanced countries, like Israel, sometimes have a regrettable tendency to prosecute former political leaders.  It is hard to think of anything more destructive to a democracy, and yet the Democrats are going down that path.  It seems clear that they intend to bring criminal charges against President Trump over his keeping some White House documents at Mar-a-Lago — a trivial offense, as far as anyone knows.  And that's not all.  The Department of Justice has issued subpoenas to a large number of people who were associated in some way with the Trump campaign or administration.  They generally seek information about efforts to challenge the reported election results in several states. [...] Nearly all of the documents relate to activities that are plainly lawful.  Alleging or denying the existence of fraud in the 2020 election, offering evidence of such fraud or the absence of such fraud, planning to have someone serve as a Trump elector, arguing that the vice president has important constitutional powers in the context of certifying a presidential election, discussing strategies whereby Donald Trump might be found, legally, to have won the 2020 election — these are all legal activities that have long been engaged in by members of both parties.  There are also requests relating to the funding of efforts to contest the 2020 election and for the rally that occurred on January 6, 2021.  These, too, were perfectly legal activities.

DOJ Harasses Citizens for Exercising Their First Amendment Rights.  The Justice Department has hit the Eagle Forum of Alabama with a voluminous subpoena that violates the organization's First Amendment rights to speak freely, engage in the political process, and talk to their elected representatives.  It's an intimidation tactic, pure and simple, and shows just how partisan the department has become.  This out-of-control behavior should scare every citizen and volunteer organization, no matter where they stand on the political or social spectrum.  Eagle Forum is a very small non-profit in Alabama.  It only has one full-time employee and a second, part-time employee.  Virtually all of its work on issues of interest to its members is done by volunteers.

FBI hero paying the price for exposing unjust 'persecution' of conservative Americans.  Bombshell allegations by FBI Special Agent Steve Friend contained in a whistleblower complaint filed late Wednesday with the Department of Justice inspector general reveal a politicized Washington, DC, FBI field office cooking the books to exaggerate the threat of domestic terrorism, and using an "overzealous" January 6 investigation to harass conservative Americans and violate their constitutional rights.  Friend, 37, a respected 12-year veteran of the FBI and a SWAT team member, was suspended Monday, stripped of his gun and badge, and escorted out of the FBI field office in Daytona Beach, Fla., after complaining to his supervisors about the violations.  He was declared absent without leave last month for refusing to participate in SWAT raids that he believed violated FBI policy and were a use of excessive force against Jan. 6 subjects accused of misdemeanor offenses.  This American hero, the father of two small children, has blown up his "dream career" because he could not live with his conscience if he continued to be part of what he sees as the unjust persecution of conservative Americans.

DOJ Internal Misconduct Shrouded in Veil of Secrecy.  Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz was busy this week, releasing three separate reports on Monday alone.  Each detailed misconduct by a different assistant United States attorney:  One finds a federal lawyer trying to use his position to avoid a drunk driving charge; another finds a government attorney getting drunk and physically belligerent at a meeting with foreign officials; the third, and most disturbing, finds an assistant U.S. attorney exposing his genitals "in a public place," and sexually assaulting a "civilian" on a date.  Who were these federal prosecutors?  The summary reports don't say.  A spokesperson for the Office of the Inspector General told RealClearPolitics that it could not release their names.  RCP has filed a Freedom of Information Act request asking for their identities.  The Justice Department doesn't hesitate to publicize the names of those it accuses of wrongdoing.  At least when those accused do not work for Justice.

Equal Justice, They Said.  What once distinguished the United States from illiberal regimes following the Orwellian mantra "some are more equal than others" was the hallowed American idea of "equal justice under the law."  The phrase is engraved above the entrance to the United States Supreme Court — an ideal that took centuries to achieve.  Yet it is an ancient concept — what the Greeks called isonomia that distinguished classical democratic Athens from its anti-democratic rivals.  Isonomia later became enshrined as the central criterion of all Western consensual governments.  Does it still exist in Joe Biden's America?  In many ways, no — due both to state and private vendettas as well as state efforts to destroy rather than merely defeat political opponents.  Is the law equally applied at the border?  Ask yourself whether you are more likely to be hounded by the federal government for not being vaccinated if you are a citizen in the U.S. military, or illegally violating federal immigration law as you storm the southern border?  Who needs a passport to leave and enter the United States — a citizen or an illegal alien?

Biden Demands White Supremacy.  FBI whistleblowers — in this case, the term is probably warranted — have come forward to say that the Bureau is pressuring them to come up with "white supremacists" to investigate, in order to advance the Biden administration's agenda: [...] To the best of my knowledge, I have never met a white supremacist, so this doesn't surprise me.  What ought to surprise all of us is that the FBI's politicized hierarchy is so willing to do the corrupt bidding of the Democratic Party.

Leftists are torching the Constitution for conservatives.  Radicals are determined to ignore the Constitution without doing so publicly, thereby destroying it without actually saying that's what they want to do.  And so the left have simply decided to ignore the constitutional protections that Americans enjoy against governmental overreach.  They hate that the Constitution mandates "due process" for those living under it.  Today, due process is vanishing.  It vanished on January 6 of 2021, when almost a thousand people were arrested and thrown in jail, many kept there to this day without being charged, without being allowed attorneys, and under conditions most often reserved for early French prisons.  A year later, the Justice Department and FBI are still working on charging those involved.  That isn't "due process."  What was done and is still being done to these people is the stuff of Russia, not America.  Merrick Garland has no problem with Beria's "show me the man, and I'll find you the crime."  You don't lock people up because you hate them and then try to find a crime.  There was no legal reason to raid Donald Trump's residence and then go hunting for a crime.  This was sheer malignant revanche.  Christopher Wray finds nothing wrong with suiting up his storm troopers in the FBI to conduct the Mar-a-Lago raid without cause.

Why Is the DOJ Trying to Destroy Mike Lindell, the Pillow Guy?  [Scroll down] [Mike] Lindell was tracked down by FBI agents, corralled at a Hardee's of all places, served a subpoena, and ordered to turn over his cell phone. [...] It's impossible to give Merrick Garland's Department of Justice even the slightest benefit of the doubt in this day and age, as they have subpoenaed virtually half the free world and raided former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate on a seemingly endless fishing expedition.  Pillow Guy's story is equally murky; there are a lot of suspicions and dark insinuations thrown about by the FBI, but little in the way of facts that make you go, "oh man! Lindell really crossed the line on that one!"  Without boring the heck out of you, I'll try to sum it up quickly:  Lindell has been an outspoken critic of the 2020 presidential election and has regularly said he believes the outcome was fraudulent.  This would appear to be his worst crime.  But did he breach voting data machines?

Biden Reportedly Pressuring FBI to 'Cook Up' White Supremacy Cases.  The Biden administration has asserted one of the top security threats facing the nation comes from domestic extremists.  Supporting such a claim, however, requires cases, but rank-and-file FBI agents are saying the threat is way overblown.  According to The Washington Times, current and former FBI agents say the bureau is getting pressured to come up with domestic terror cases and find white supremacists in order to meet internal quotas.  "The demand for White supremacy" coming from FBI headquarters "vastly outstrips the supply of White supremacy," said one agent, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.  "We have more people assigned to investigate White supremacists than we can actually find."  The claim comes as President Biden hosted a United We Stand summit at the White House on Thursday where he announced a new initiative on "hate-motivated violence."

Facebook spied on private messages of Americans who questioned 2020 election.  Facebook has been spying on the private messages and data of American users and reporting them to the FBI if they express anti-government or anti-authority sentiments — or question the 2020 election — according to sources within the Department of Justice.  Under the FBI collaboration operation, somebody at Facebook red-flagged these supposedly subversive private messages over the past 19 months and transmitted them in redacted form to the domestic terrorism operational unit at FBI headquarters in Washington, DC, without a subpoena.  "It was done outside the legal process and without probable cause," alleged one of the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity.  "Facebook provides the FBI with private conversations which are protected by the First Amendment without any subpoena."

A Time of Evil.  What we have seen the last two years, and especially the last few months can only be explained in one word.  Evil.  For this is a time of evil. [...] Why would Biden refuse to protect our southern border?  Why would Biden knowingly allow in fentanyl, human trafficking, cartels, and terrorists?  Why would Biden allow child predators and unaccompanied minors to cross our borders?  Why would Biden make it very clear to our enemies in China, Iran, and Russia that we will not fight for our borders and we are not a sovereign country?  Why would the occupier of the White House display our weaknesses to friend and foe?  Why would the placeholder of the White House purposely make America weaker militarily and economically?  Why would Biden's FBI and Department of Justice cover up obvious felony crimes on Hunter Biden's laptop, yet search the bedroom of President Trump's teenage son?  Why would the FBI and DoJ ignore the 4th and 5th Amendments in their illegal raid on President Trump's private home?  Why would the FBI/CIA/NSA disregard all precedents, all laws, all tradition, the Constitution, and all common sense in their illegal attacks on President Trump since he came down the golden escalators?  Why has the FBI/CIA/NSA abused and misused the Patriot Act in their attack on Biden's political enemies?  And why has the ACLU remained totally silent and mute as these Third Reich tactics have been used on the American people?  Why has Biden/FBI/Justice Department carried out Stasi police state raids on many of President Trump's closest supporters?

Election Interference: DOJ/FBI Carpet-Bombed Subpoenas An Attempt To Freeze Political Opposition In Runup To Midterms.  In recent days, the U.S. Department of Justice has served upwards of 40 subpoenas on people affiliated with Donald Trump's 2020 campaign, many of whom continue to associate with or support him. [...] Assume, for the sake of argument only, that such subpoenas were proper and necessary to investigate alleged crimes associated with the January 6, 2021, Capitol Hill riot.  That's a big assumption, but it proves the point, which is why now, some 18 months later?  If these subpoenas were so necessary to the investigation, why did DOJ/FBI wait a year and half until we are in the thick of the runup to the midterms?  These subpoenas are a big freeze not only on Trumpworld, but conservative and Republican worlds.  When people know that dozens are being subpoenaed by the feds regarding hundreds of people or entities, people stop talking to each other and engaging in perfectly lawful political activity out of fear that they will be next.  Lawful political communication with the wrong person could find you on the receiving end of a DOJ subpoena and FBI home visit, or as just happend to Mike Lindell and others, being confronted on the street or in public by FBI agents.  It's a way to shut down a political movement without having to arrest, indict, or prosecute anyone.

The Biden Administration Isn't Interested In Governing But In Criminalizing The Opposition.  It is going to be hard to forget the spectacle of President Joe Biden "celebrating" the passage of his woefully-named Inflation Reduction Act while the stock market plummeted in real time, dropping nearly 1,300 points Tuesday while Biden crowed about his great achievement.  The cable news clips were surreal.  There was old man Biden, shaking his fist and shouting at the sky, while in the corner of the screen the Wall Street tracker kept ticking down, stocks plunging in reaction to persistent and worsening inflation.  Even CNN had to interrupt coverage of Biden's remarks to note that the stock market was tanking.  [Tweet]  It takes a special kind of hubris to throw a White House victory party (with boomer icon James Taylor performing "Fire and Rain," no less) for a bill allegedly meant to curb inflation amid the worst inflation in 40 years and the worst day for the stock market since Biden's presidency began. [...] None of it is real.  It is pure theater — a farce.

Student loans and the decline of Social Security.  Last month, the Biden administration announced that it would wipe out an estimated $1 trillion owed to the county.  No vote, nor authorization from Congress.  The money simply appeared as if by magic.  While the administration's decision is limited to student loans, the existence of magic money is apt to cause problems for the broader government.  Specifically, it is likely going to be a problem for Social Security and those who depend upon the program.  In the case of Social Security, the program's finances have deteriorated over decades primarily because Congress has been unable to build any consensus on a suitable mix of higher taxes and benefits reductions.  As difficult as it has been to find that middle ground in the past, compromise will only become more elusive as voters seek to add more magic and less sacrifice.

Attacking the Rule of Law.  One of the most hallowed traditions of the U.S. republic is a commitment to the ideal of the Rule of Law.  Therefore, one of the most dystopic aspects of our current politics is that this ideal is under deliberate attack.  The list of assaults is long and varied.  Consider:
  •   Biden's cancelation of student loan debt and the EPA rule recently struck down by the Supreme Court, both of which are instances of the habitual efforts of the Executive to seize upon supposed statutory ambiguities to claim vast powers never contemplated by Congress, and to use this to transfer resources to favored constituencies.
  •   The treatment of the January 6 defendants, who are being deprived of constitutional rights; subjected to harsh punishments for trivial offenses; and railroaded by politically motivated prosecutors, judges, and juries.
In these cases, and in a host of others, it is not believable that the contempt for the Rule of Law is an accident or oversight.

Whistleblower Reveals FBI Labeled Veteran-Led Organization as Domestic Terrorist Group.  A whistleblower revealed the FBI labeled a veteran-led organization as a domestic terrorist group.  Ranking member on the House Judiciary Committee Rep. Jim Jordan (OH) in a letter to FBI Director Wray said a whistleblower came forward and revealed a 'woke' analyst labeled American Contingency, a veteran-led group, a "domestic violent extremism" organization.  The veteran-led group was already cleared by the FBI as a 'non-threat' in 2020, but the woke analyst decided to target the group again.  Rep. Jordan's letter referenced Project Veritas' recent report on the FBI's 'domestic terrorism symbols guide' on 'militia violent extremists.'

Mike Lindell Is Suing the FBI and the Government for Violating His Rights.  Pay Attention.  Mike Lindell wants more than just his phone back.  Following the incident in Minnesota during which agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation blocked his vehicle at a Hardee's drive-through and seized his phone, Lindell made an appearance on Steve Bannon's War Room.  He announced that he was filing a lawsuit against the FBI and the government.  You can watch Lindell's conversation with Bannon posted by The Post Millennial below.  [Video clip]

CBP sparks privacy fears after it's revealed that 2,700 of its officers have warrantless access to travelers' confiscated phones.  Thousands of US government officials have unlimited access to as many as 10,000 devices which are seized from travelers moving across the country.  Electronic devices such as cellphones, iPads and laptops taken from those going through airports, seaports and border crossings are being mined for data.  The leader of the Customs and Border Protection told congressional staff that the massive database can be accessed by 2,700 CBP officers without a warrant.  During a briefing, which took place in the summer, officials also said that the data is maintained for 15 years.  It has raised alarms in Congress about what the government is using the information or, with many of the devices taken from people not suspected of any criminal activity.

Facebook Worked With FBI to Spy on Americans Who Questioned 2020 Election.  According to Department of Justice sources, Facebook has been spying on the private messages and data of Americans who questioned the 2020 election results and reporting them to the FBI.  Since the election, Facebook has worked in conjunction with the FBI to report on "subversive" private messages, sending them to the FBI's domestic terrorism operational unit, supposedly in redacted form, a direct violation of Americans' First and Fourth Amendment rights.  "It was done outside the legal process and without probable cause," one of the sources told the New York Post.  "Facebook provides the FBI with private conversations which are protected by the First Amendment without any subpoena."  According to the Post, "These private messages then have been farmed out as 'leads' to FBI field offices around the country, which subsequently requested subpoenas from the partner US Attorney's Office in their district to officially obtain the private conversations that Facebook already had shown them."

COVID Fascism Fizzles Out in New Zealand.  Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern (she/her) held such promise.  In the spring of 2020, the then 39-year-old New Zealand prime minister emerged on the world stage as the COVID drama's anti-Trump.  Ardern was calm, we were told, where Trump was capricious, compassionate where Trump was callous, and disciplined where Trump was improvisational.  She was, in short, the modern major general of the emerging fascist new world order, and the media swooned. [...] After seven weeks into a three-day Lockdown, Ardern finally abandoned her increasingly futile zero-COVID policy, and the virus ran through New Zealand's population in 2021-2022 much as it had done the rest of the world a year earlier.  Despite a vaccination rate of 77 percent and 18 months to prepare for an epidemic, more than one out of three New Zealanders contracted the disease, including Ardern herself.  Nearly 2,000 died.  As the cases mounted, the "swift and decisive" Ardern rotated her nation once more through the various levels of oppression.  To Ardern's seeming surprise, the gratuitous restrictions and mandates caused a major public backlash.

The Regime's 'Operation MAGA Fascist' Gains Ground.  After nearly two years of lies related to the events of January 6, 2021, the regime finally has admitted the truth:  The widening legal dragnet to scoop up Donald Trump, his associates, and his voters has nothing to do with the four-hour disturbance on Capitol Hill that afternoon.  It is, rather, a thus-far successful crusade to criminalize wrongthink about the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.  A barrage of subpoenas issued recently by the Department of Justice — U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Matthew Graves' office specifically — against Trump aides is not seeking information about the Capitol protest but personal communications discussing what happened with the election and plans to fight the results. [...] Of course, this is what the January 6 hysteria has always been about.  As the chaos unfolded on January 6, Joe Biden and his apparatchiks immediately denounced believers of the so-called "Big Lie" — the claim the election had been rigged, if not stolen, by powerful interests who wanted nothing more than to defeat Trump — and vowed revenge would come swiftly.

Why FBI Agents Jumped MyPillow's Mike Lindell at a Hardee's Drive-Thru.  Do you sense that the Biden Department of Justice is getting desperate?  The clock is winding down to getting something significant on any of their ludicrous investigations into Donald Trump and his inner circle.  The FBI's August 8 raid adds more pressure to the charged climate since federal agents found nothing supporting the allegations of criminal intent regarding classified materials.  No evidence backs any justification for the raid.  All the documents the FBI seized aren't smoking guns, as the president of the United States has the indisputable authority to declassify any record.  We're not talking about Hillary Clinton, who is guilty of mishandling classified information, transmitting it through an unapproved and unsecured email server, and deleting 33,000 emails under federal subpoena.  With the special master ruling motion made by the Trump team granted by Judge Aileen Cannon and a Justice Department appeal filed — this Mar-a-Lago theater could last several months.  This story has hit the sandbar, and it's beached until further notice.  In the meantime, the Justice Department has issued at least 40 subpoenas relating to its January 6 investigation.

97 members of Congress or their families bought or sold stock that may have been a conflict of interest.  Nearly 100 members of Congress bought or sold financial assets that intersected with the work of the committees they sit on, according to a New York Times report.  Of the 435 House members, 183 traded stocks through themselves or their immediate family members from 2019 to 2021.  At least 97 bought or sold stocks, bonds or other financial assets through themselves or their spouses that directly intersected with their congressional work.  US lawmakers are not yet banned from making any stock trades, though insider trading is illegal for everyone.

DOJ Conceals Records About Biden's Use Of Federal Agencies To Influence Elections.  The Department of Justice (DOJ) is concealing key documents related to President Joe Biden's March 2021 order that directed executive agencies to develop plans for federal interference in state election administration.  On Sept. 8, the Foundation for Government Accountability (FGA) was scheduled to receive a series of government records from the DOJ that detailed how the agency is complying with Executive Order 14019.  That order mandated all federal departments to "consider ways to expand citizens' opportunities to register to vote and to obtain information about, and participate in, the electoral process."  Among these included the DOJ's 15-page "strategic plan" on how the agency intends to comply with Biden's executive order.  Instead of releasing the documents FGA requested pursuant to federal open records laws, however, the Biden DOJ released only a few records pertaining to the order, most of which were heavily redacted.

Tucker Carlson warns that Biden is actively criminalizing political opposition.  When I started watching Tucker Carlson, one of the things that made him enjoyable was that he always kept a little bit of an ironic distance from what he was covering.  In recent months, though, that has changed.  Tucker's angry, and righteously so.  Monday night's monologue may have been his most fiery yet, because he focused on something we've all seen from the moment Biden swore an oath to "preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States": as all totalitarian regimes do, Biden is using the instruments of government to persecute his political opponents.  We saw it when Biden and his armed bureaucrats characterized a large protest and an accompanying small riot at the United States Capitol (especially compared to past Democrat and BLM riots) as an "insurrection."  We saw it when they imprisoned those people who had entered the Capitol (many under the impression that they were allowed to be there) and proceeded to hold them without bail, charges, or trial.

Tucker Carlson Discusses the Continued DOJ Targeting of Joe Biden Political Opposition.  During his opening monologue today [9/13/2022], Fox News host Tucker Carlson outlined the history of the Biden administration targeting the democrat political opposition by using the Dept of Justice and FBI.  During one part of the lengthy segment, Carlson outlined the recent subpoenas to people within the MAGA movement.  [Video clip]  The technique most often deployed, is for the DOJ/FBI to claim an anonymous source has provided information against the subpoena target, and therefore the target must prove their innocence against the "sources" claims.  Having received one of these DC subpoenas directly, my experience with the construct leads me to believe the DOJ is just making up the "anonymous sources."  However, if you refuse to participate in the bizarre demand to prove your innocence, the lack of cooperation becomes the Lawfare angle used to entrap the target.  The process is something like this:  It is unlawful to rob banks.  We were told you rob banks.  Prove you do not rob banks or be subject to arrest for being unresponsive.

Mainstream Media Finally Admits: DOJ Subpoenaed Over 40 Trump Associates, Seized Two Top Advisors' Phones.  The Justice Department continues to ramp up its war with former President Donald Trump and his associates, issuing over 40 subpoenas to his associates over the last week and seizing the phones of at least two top advisors.  Many outlets are reporting this as breaking news, but RedState's Nick Arama had already reported a lot of it going as back as far as Friday. [...] The newest revelation is that Federal agents took phones from Boris Epshteyn, an in-house counsel for Trump, and Mike Roman, a campaign strategist for the Trump campaign in 2020.  This intensification of the Department of Justice's battle to get Trump would appear unrelated to the recent raid of the former president's residence, Mar-a-Lago, in Palm Beach, Florida, and the subsequent, ongoing legal battles regarding the materials seized there.

The FBI's Apex Bureaucracy Is Dangerous.  Here's a truth that tens of millions of Americans understand:  if the sweeping criminal enforcement arm of the federal Leviathan disappeared tomorrow, life for the vast majority of citizens would go unchanged.  It might even improve.  We are spoon-fed this Big Government fallacy from kindergarten on up that absolute chaos lurks behind every corner if not for the protections provided from our beneficent bureaucratic masters who maintain order and peace.  That's absurd propaganda meant to keep Americans conditioned into accepting total government control.  The infantile dependence on government agents for security and survival is a recent phenomenon that does nothing but legitimize limitless State power.

Never Forget the COVID Fascists.  If ever the American government viewed its authority as "absolute," if even individual Americans were under the notion that they were "only to be conceived of in their relation to the State," it was shortly after COVID-19 entered the U.S.  I submit to you that the COVID policies — shutdowns and lockdowns; "stay home, stay safe;" mandatory masking, social distancing, testing, and vaccines; and so on — perpetuated by the American left and those like-minded were the greatest demonstration of fascism the United States has ever known.  In the nearly 250-year history of the U.S., never before has the American government exercised such power over its citizenry as it did in the name of "slowing the spread," "following the science," and the like.  And never before in the history of the U.S. has the exercise of government power been so misinformed and misguided, with such disastrous results.

The DoJ Argues that the Intelligence Community Overrides the Judiciary.  At this point in time I have no regard for the probity or competence of the Intelligence Community and neither, apparently, does Judge Aileen Cannon, who earlier this week ordered the appointment of a Special Master to review those documents seized in the Mar-a-Lago raid, which it claims are classified.  The Department of Justice appears to have been surprised that it has lost credibility and filed a motion seeking a stay on that portion of the order and a Notice of Appeal to the Eleventh Circuit indicating its intention to file an interlocutory appeal.  I don't think the trial judge who issued a very well-considered order will grant the stay.  I don't think the Eleventh Circuit will, either.  I don't think the Eleventh Circuit will even grant an interlocutory appeal on this matter.  I do think all of these pleadings reveal the weakness of the grounds for a search and seizure of materials at the home Donald J. Trump, the overreach of the warrant, and the expansive search itself.  Worse for the DoJ and FBI, I believe their actions amount to a claim that under no circumstances does the judiciary have a right to question anything the Intelligence committee does as long as it makes a claim of "national security."  Such a claim is scary and should be — and I think will be — denied.

Sen. Hawley Shreds Biden for Criminalizing the Political Opposition.  It wasn't just the DOJ and its attempts to boost Biden by raiding Trump that Hannity discussed on his show yesterday, though he did a good job discussing that with Trump's lawyer.  He also had on Sen. Josh Hawley, who ripped into Biden for wielding law enforcement like a political club and attempting to intimidate the political opposition with it.  Speaking on that, Hawley used examples of the criminal chaos spreading around the country to show that Team Biden and the other leftist hacks running things care not about law and order, but rather just about using LEOs to enforce their political agenda and wield power.

New York AG Twists the Knife Into Steve Bannon.  Steve Bannon was arrested on Thursday on money laundering and conspiracy charges stemming from a fundraising scheme to build a wall on the Southern border.  Bannon, who is the self-proclaimed leader of the "MAGA grassroots movement," surrendered himself in New York City to prosecutors following the indictment.  Apparently, New York AG Letecia James wasn't satisfied, though.  Later in the day, after Bannon had turned himself in, he was put in chains and perp walked down a long line of prepositioned media for his arraignment.  [Tweet]

When Must a Good Citizen Become a Dissident?  Is it when the FBI and other Deep State truth-twisters manufacture crises and manipulate elections?  Is it when free speech comes under attack under the guise of State-labeled "misinformation"?  Perhaps it is when the president-in-name-only reads carefully scripted messages (written by those who control his office from the shadows) attacking half the country's citizens as "fascists."  Or when government and media "elites" falsely frame political protest as "insurrection" in order to justify criminal persecution and imprisonment of opponents of the ruling regime.  Or maybe when the endless declaration of fake "emergencies" is used to justify the steady imposition of extraordinary State power over each citizen's livelihood.  Maybe it's when the Intelligence Community operates a massive domestic surveillance network targeting Americans who have committed no crimes.  Maybe it's when secretly collected information mined from supposedly independent social media conglomerates and too-big-to-fail private banks is used to track and trace unsuspecting citizens.  Maybe it's when the value of the U.S. dollar is intentionally chipped away by central bank authorities enabling tax-and-spend legislators to expand institutional power at current and future Americans' expense.  Perhaps it is when the same federal government that insists on fighting wars all over the world in defense of other nations' borders staunchly refuses to protect America's own borders from invasion.

GOP Attorneys General Demand DOJ Reveal Federal Gov't's Communications With Social Media Giants.  The man who may become Missouri's next GOP senator has targeted President Biden's Department of Justice, asking a court to force the DOJ to reveal communications between high-ranking Biden Administration officials and major social media companies.  Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, the GOP senatorial candidate, joined Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry to file a Joint Statement on Discovery Disputes, to ask the Louisiana District Court to force the communications between officials in the White House and Department of State and major social media companies to be revealed.  "Missouri and Louisiana filed a landmark lawsuit back in May that seeks to expose how top Biden Administration officials allegedly colluded with social media companies to censor freedom of speech on a number of topics, including COVID-19.  We won in court in July, and the Court required the Biden Administration to turn over communications between federal officials and social media companies," Schmitt stated.

These Back-Busting Americans Paid For College Themselves And Think You Should, Too.  Upon news that Joe Biden had decided to completely ignore U.S. laws to attempt to force taxpayers to assume the debts of people who chose to attend college, I reached out to Federalist writers for stories of how other Americans paid their own way.  Calling this particular pile of government handouts for the privileged "forgiveness" is just a way to try to hide the fact that it's fundamentally wrong and unfair.  As the Bible says, he who doesn't work shouldn't eat.  He who takes on obligations should pay them.  Taking something without paying for it is stealing.  Forcing other people to work so you can enjoy luxuries is called enslavement.

Biden's Teetering House of Cards.  Biden has abrogated numerous of our basic liberties guaranteed by the Bill of Rights, the First and Second Amendments to be sure; our speech is censored by big tech, he promises to take our guns.  Migrants are installed in hotels and motels; this seems to violate the Third Amendment.  The raid on Mar-a-Lago certainly violated the Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable searches and seizures.  Judges selected for certain trials violate the Fifth Amendment.  In the recent re-trial of the two remaining defendants in the FBI-concocted Whitmer kidnapping case, their defense lawyers were given a time limit and many of the facts that had been revealed in the first trial were not admitted by the judge, a clear violation of their rights.  These two men, chosen by FBI operatives for their potential for manipulation, were found guilty.  Well of course they were; that was the plan but they were set up by the FBI.

Biden can't decide whether or not we're still in a pandemic.  President Joe Biden made a campaign promise to "shut the virus down."  He made this claim repeatedly because his advisers thought he had stumbled into a clever saying about not shutting down the country again.  Now, almost two full years into his term, Biden is using presidential authority he believes he has under the 2003 HEROES Act to suspend student loan payments once again and, on top of that, attempt unilaterally to waive up to $20,000 in Pell Grant student loans or $10,000 in other loans.  It was on March 13, 2020, that President Donald Trump declared a nationwide emergency pursuant to Sec. 501(b) of the Stafford Act, making the COVID-19 pandemic a national emergency.  Biden, in abusing this power, is going against his own administration's legal arguments concerning the declaration from earlier this year.

Three Signs We're in a Banana Republic.  In the summer before the 2016 presidential election, FBI Director James Comey publicly articulated Hillary Clinton's criminal culpability for storing classified emails on a private, unsecured server kept in a spare bathroom before declaring imperiously that "no reasonable prosecutor" would bring a case against her.  Obama's IRS got caught targeting conservatives for their political beliefs, but the president assured the nation that the obvious scandal revealed "not even a smidgeon of corruption" within his administration.  Attorney General Eric Holder, Obama's self-anointed "wingman," was held in contempt of Congress for refusing to hand over documents relating to the Fast and Furious gun-running conspiracy, yet his Department of Justice unsurprisingly declined to pursue criminal charges.  In contrast, Americans have watched for six years as President Trump and his associates (including Steve Bannon, who was recently convicted for the same crime Eric Holder effortlessly eluded) have been hounded by an irredeemably corrupt DOJ and FBI, malicious state prosecutors, and a petty, Machiavellian Congress running shameless show trials devoid of due process, impartiality, or fairness.

Is Biden even able to bail out student loans?  As almost everyone has heard, Biden announced his plan to spend $360 billion to forgive student loans for up to 43 million Americans.  Groups estimate that the actual cost may be $440 to $600 billion, but who's counting?  Legal experts have reported that although Biden may have some authority to postpone payments, he clearly doesn't have the power to cancel debts. [...] The reaction from many different sides to his plan has been overwhelmingly negative.  People who have already paid off their student loans are angry because they did the right thing and kept to their obligations, and people who didn't get loans, or didn't go to college at all, are even angrier at the idea of paying more taxes to fund doctors, lawyers, and academics who should be able to pay what they owe.  The inflationary aspects of the debt forgiveness mean that the $7,000 Americans are paying extra each year for Biden's high prices will continue to increase, with no end in sight — and this includes the people getting the cash in the first place.

The Lawless Executive.  Biden thinks he can get away with tossing three hundred billion dollars, more or less, on the taxpayer's tab with his "student loan" cancelation order.  He's relying on a post-9/11 law which applies to times of national emergency and attempting to piggyback on the Covid one which was declared in 2020 along with the HEROES act — and of course that "emergency" has not been lifted. [...] I would expect that in any fair hearing this goes up in smoke in the courts.  But — there's a problem:  Standing to sue.  You see, to bring a case before the courts you must have particularized injury.

America Was a Better Place When the FBI Didn't Rig Elections.  Well over a year ago, I wrote in the Briefing that Donald Trump's biggest failure was not doing a thorough housecleaning at the FBI.  No doubt Trump agrees with me, given all that has been going on lately.  Yesterday's news revealed a double-whammy that added more clarity to just how heavy the Bureau's thumb was on the 2020 presidential election scale, and all of it has to do with Joe Biden's sleazebag progeny, Hunter.  It appears that the FBI was working overtime to make sure voters didn't have information about Hunter Biden's cocaine-and-hookers criminal antics.

Zuckerberg Revelation Shows FBI Interfered for Biden in 2020 Election.  Surprise, surprise.  It wasn't the social media platforms alone that censored the Hunter Biden laptop story before the election.  No, the FBI asked Facebook to censor the Hunter Biden laptop story before the 2020 election, calling it Russian disinformation.  Indeed, FBI investigators knew the laptop and its disgusting contents were all too real because they'd held possession of the laptop since 2019.  The laptop contained the disgusting details of Hunter's sex and drug life, business dealings, and evidence of big paydays from Ukraine and China — all of which presented a national security risk to the U.S.  Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg told podcaster Joe Rogan on Thursday that the FBI put Facebook "on high alert" to, wink, censor the Biden laptop story, wink, before the 2020 election.

Biden [Claims] That the "Emergency" Powers He Has Due to Covid Allow Him to Act As a Tyrant, Apparently Forever.  Note that Biden already declared an end to the covid emergency when he canceled Trump's Remain in Mexico policy, and his CDC just announced that we're effectively back to normal.  But Biden won't formally say the "emergency" is over — so he can continue acting as tyrant when he finds it politically useful to do so. [...] [D]idn't this Republic used to require Congress to pass laws?  Didn't NeverTrump used to caution about the "authoritarian" Trump assuming the powers of a tyrant?  And yet... they're all supportive of this, or silent about it.

How To Tame a Bureaucracy? Get Rid of It.  Any serious effort to end the crisis must deal with the problem of the administrative state and the bureaucratic power thereof.  Without that focus, no reform effort can get anywhere.  That is surely a main takeaway from the trauma of our times.  The solution has to be drastic and it has to work.  The reason is simple:  a free and functioning society cannot coexist with an undemocratic beast like this on the loose, making its own laws and running roughshod over rights and liberties with zero oversight from elected leaders.  Until the administrative state is defanged and disempowered, there will be no representative government and no hope for change.

Dems' war on ex-President Donald Trump is without precedent.  When you cross the Rubicon, there is no going back.  Democrats are getting very close to that fateful moment.  Their dream to indict Donald Trump has turned into determination, putting them on a collision course with history.  No president has ever been prosecuted after leaving office, with even Richard Nixon escaping that infamy after Watergate because of how it would tear America apart.  Yet day by day, the evidence shows Dems have liberated themselves from such concerns and are resolved that this time will be different.  The number and fervor of their army of prosecutors reveal a contagious fever, and it often appears they are competing to be the first to file charges.  Will it be Attorney General Merrick Garland, who approved the raid on Mar-a-Lago and also has a separate investigation of Trump regarding events before and after Jan. 6?  Or will the first shot come from Georgia, where the Fulton County district attorney is using a special-purpose grand jury to investigate "election interference" in the state by Trump and his associates after the 2020 election?

The Parasites and the Have-Nots.  In communist societies, people in power act to preserve their best interest and the interests those closest to them, which screws everybody else and gives rise to a bifurcated society of "haves" and "have-nots."  This happens every time socialism/communism is implemented — without exception. [...] The purest form of this in the West today is the U.S.  federal government.  The higher the position, the more its occupant got there as a result of enabling his superiors, benefactors, and family to siphon off as much as they could from the public till.  This has been the case since World War 2, which was the event that precipitated the metastatic expansion of our federal bureaucracy.  After all, who could resist or object to something that was part of the "war effort," even if that something was completely outside the range of authority of the bureaucrat who thought it up?  That's how it was done then and how it's still done today — just like the "temporary expedient" of employer tax withholding, which brings home the bacon and, therefore, has been with us ever since.

Think the FBI Deserves the Benefit of the Doubt?  The presence of Vice President Mike Pence and then-Sen. Kamala Harris at the U.S. Capitol has been the basis for nearly 800 people being charged with at least one count of violating 18 U.S. Code, section 1752, according to Kelly, which indicates that any building or complex hosting the vice president is a restricted area and therefore closed to the public.  "But the Justice Department recently was forced to admit that Harris was not in the building for most of the day on January 6," Kelly reported, highlighting that Harris, at the time, remained a U.S. senator, not vice president.  In the late morning, Harris was moved to the DNC headquarters where a pipe bomb had supposedly been planted.  "Prosecutors have begun amending language in court filings to reflect the fact Harris was not inside the Capitol despite making the assertion in thousands of charging documents," Kelly wrote.

The Justice System Has Gone Beria.  The DOJ's and FBI's recent actions have opened my eyes.  American justice isn't blind.  The system is rigged, no longer along racial (or religious) lines but along political ideology.  The DOJ has a two-tiered justice system — one system that targets and is onerously harsh on Republicans and conservatives while being lax and protective of Democrats and liberals.  This unequal justice has been in place for at least 10 years but has gotten much worse since President Trump's arrival.  A recent survey (last week) by the Trafalgar Group found that 79% of Americans believe we have two tiers of justice — one system for politicians and D.C. insiders and another system for everyone else.  The belief in unequal justice holds true for Democrats (67%), Republicans (88%), and Independents (77%).  Unequal justice is not just in law enforcement, it's everywhere — every major institution is aligned to empower, and keep in power, the Democrat regime.  The entire federal bureaucracy, media, academia, business, Big Tech, Big Pharma, and the military are fully aligned to keep Democrats in power.

The Rule of Law and a Vulnerable Former President.  If by rule of law we mean a principle of governance in which legal standards are clear, are duly enforced by public officials, and are validated and maintained by an impartial and timely judicial system, leading to public trust in fair legal consistency and public order, then we can say that today the rule of law no longer applies, or applies only selectively, in a constitutional republic like the U.S. or a parliamentary democracy like Canada. [...] The U.S. under the Obama and Biden administrations is likely in worse shape than its northern neighbor.  The rule of law has become a figment of the political imagination, a process that has been developing over many administrations but has now reached its nadir.  Those who serve or are affiliated with the political Left, that is, the Democrat party and its outriders, need never fear retribution for crimes, felonies, misdemeanors, or breaches of the Constitution, for ignoring Congressional summonses or destroying potentially incriminating evidence.  Its opponents, on the other hand, have no such immunity or legal redress from arbitrary government-inspired reprisals, vendettas, and raids carried out on the flimsiest of pretexts against its own citizens.  Examples abound, and no savvy individual can be unaware of them.

FBI Raid Warrant Demanded Seizure Of Literally Any Record Trump Ever Saw During 4-Year Presidential Term.  The FBI search warrant authorizing a government raid of former President Donald Trump's Florida residence sought an exhaustive list of any White House records the president ever came in contact with, according to the document obtained by The Federalist.  Outlining the "property to be seized" by the more than 30 agents who rummaged through the former president's Mar-a-Lago mansion, the warrant demanded confiscation of any document Trump ever saw, read, or created for the entirety of his four years as commander-in-chief.  "All physical documents and records constituting evidence, contraband, fruits of crime, or other items illegally possessed in violation" of federal statutes governing records possession, the warrant reads, were to be seized.  Records extended to "Any government and/or Presidential Records created between January 20, 2017, and January 20, 2021."  In other words, had Trump written something down on a napkin, federal officials were authorized to raid the former president's home and capture it.

The Attempt to Prosecute Donald Trump Is Unleashing More Than Our Political System Can Handle.  With the recent FBI raid on Donald Trump's Florida home, the Democrats and the Biden administration have raised the political stakes to a level from which this country as we have known it may never return.  All one can say to those that are demanding a criminal prosecution of the former president is:  Be careful what you wish for; you just might get it.  Although the raid ostensibly was to see if Trump took classified documents from the White House when he left in a chaotic move in January 2021, former federal prosecutor Andrew McCarthy believes the Biden administration was again attempting to find that proverbial "smoking gun" tying Trump to the January 6 Capitol riot.  Whether or not Attorney General Merrick Garland is able to grab the brass ring and prosecute Trump after yet one more fishing expedition is another story, although I doubt that any president has seen as many resources used to investigate him as has Donald Trump, but the Department of Justice has not filed charges yet.  Understand that anyone reading this article has committed a federal crime at some point, perhaps more than once.

Pelosi-Biden's Inflation Bill Passed with 35 Percent of the House Voting Remotely and the CBO Not Finished Scoring Its Impact.  It was a mad rush to pass Biden's "Inflation Reduction Act" and now we know why.  This act from the corrupt and now communist left is named like other bills they manufacture in that it is the opposite of what it claims.  This bill will not reduce inflation and will likely add to it.  The funding will occur by taxing Americans of all classes and increasing the US debt. [...] According to Redstate around 35 percent of those voting, did so remotely.  But the bill charged ahead.  Now you have to wonder what's really in it.

Abuse of the citizenry:  Is it ending or expanding?  It can be validly argued that the present trend toward self-rule was already well underway in 1776, but it never culminated, as would slavery almost ninety years later.  Indeed, after 1865, the idea of self-rule began, in practice, to be reversed, as the powers of the several states gave way to the ever-increasing authority of the victorious central government in Washington, D.C.  That authority is now poised, and this is no exaggeration, at the brink of totalitarian control.  All of this helps to explain the present: the impending climax of that historic struggle is nigh upon us.  The grand experiment in self-government is facing its greatest challenge since (metaphorically speaking) the Battle of Bunker Hill.  As George Washington put it, "the time is near at hand which must determine whether Americans are to be free men or slaves."  Our Founders recognized this struggle, and resolved it — on paper, but their solution soon began to unravel during a series of crises, including the issue of slavery.

FBI, R.I.P?  The FBI interferes with and warps national elections.  It hires complete frauds as informants who are far worse than its targets.  It humiliates or exempts government and elected officials based on their politics.  It violates the civil liberties of individual American citizens.  The FBI's highest officials now routinely mislead Congress.  They have erased or altered court and subpoenaed evidence.  They illegally leak confidential material to the media.  And they have lied under oath to federal investigators.  The agency has become dangerous to Americans and an existential threat to their democracy and rule of law.  The FBI should be dispersing its investigatory responsibilities to other government investigative agencies that have not yet lost the public's trust.

The White House has declared war on its own citizens — and, shockingly, America has never been closer to a police state.  America is spiraling out of control.  From the unprecedented raid on Mar-a-Lago, to the seizure of a congressman's phone, to our doddering commander-in-chief, who increasingly seems like a man who doesn't have the sense or stamina to serve out his term.  And now, America is on the edge of another political nightmare.  We are less than 100 days away from the election of a new Congress to run the country — while the de facto leader of the Republican base delights in stoking his supporters' darkest suspicions under the shadow of a sincerely suspect investigation.

Secret Service detail blocks off handicap parking for 20 minutes while Kamala Harris' husband Doug Emhoff shops at Whole Foods in Los Angeles.  The Secret Service detail protecting Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff has been spotted blocking access to handicap-designated parking outside a Whole Foods in Los Angeles.  Emhoff was running errands on Wednesday in the Westside neighborhood of Brentwood when his two-vehicle motorcade blocked the accessible parking for about 20 minutes, a witness told DailyMail.com.  As Emhoff did some shopping at Whole Foods, the two black Chevrolet Suburbans bearing Department of Homeland Security plates parked diagonally across a parking space designated for people with disabilities, photos of the incident show.

Stop Assuming the Legitimacy of the Corrupt Establishment's Actions.  [Scroll down]  This was an atrocity, a disgraceful, disgusting, and dangerous escalation of the War on the Normals by our enemies designed to frame Trump and send a message to his supporters that we are second class citizens.  There's no hidden, secret Trump crime that the garbage FBI and the garbage DOJ are investigating.  They spent the last six years trying to frame Donald Trump, but right — this time it's for realsies!  It would only be too perfect if it really was over possessing classified info, which apparently is illegal again now.  Here's the truth — it's all a lie designed to make sure President Trump can never be elected again and finish what he started.  I know it.  You know it.  They know it.  But some Republicans refuse to accept it.  Instead, they still fall for this nonsense, pretending that there's no way a government agency could be politicized and weaponized.

Merrick Garland Is A Petty, Vindictive, Little Man.  President Barack Obama nominated Merrick Garland for the United States Supreme Court in 2016.  With the presidential election looming that coming November, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell halted the nomination and refused to allow it to even go to the Judiciary Committee, let alone to the floor of the Senate for a confirmation vote.  This immediately made Garland a major issue in the 2016 presidential campaign.  Donald Trump vowed to personally remove his name as a nominee for the high court should he win the election, and that became part of the reason for his historic and unlikely victory.  Trump won.  Garland's name was withdrawn, and his hopes of landing the lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court and a place in American history were dashed forever.  Fast-forward to last year when Joe Biden became the accidental place-holder president for the Establishment and the Deep State.  He made Garland Attorney General partially as a consolation prize and partially as a symbolic message to Trump and Republicans.

The Federal Government Refuses to Listen.  A mere four years from the 250th anniversary of the thirteen colonies' Declaration of Independence from Great Britain, and much of America now sees history repeating again.  A tyrannical system of government that rules imperiously from its royal city walls has become every bit a threat to human liberty today as it was two and a half centuries ago.  A faceless, unelected, and unaccountable administrative army makes and enforces its own rules and uses its byzantine system of regulation and taxation to intimidate ordinary Americans into compliance and submission.  A nefariously partisan DOJ and FBI hunt political opponents and citizen-dissenters as enemies of the state.  An independent and obscure collection of intelligence agencies use their obscene powers not to keep the United States safe from foreign attacks, but rather to keep the American people under a constant state of surveillance.  With every tool for silencing public debate at its disposal, the United States government seeks to make itself impervious to the will of America's voters.

Schumer Warned In 2017 The FBI Would Have 'Six Ways' Of Getting Back At Trump.  Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer predicted in 2017 that the intelligence community would have "six ways" to get back at former President Donald Trump after Trump pushed back against allegations of Russian interference in the election.  Trump had tweeted that an intelligence briefing over Russia's alleged interference into the 2016 election had been delayed because the agency needed more time "to build a case," according to The Hill.  The tweet came after authorities said Russia tried to interfere in the election.  "You take on the intelligence community, they have six ways from Sunday at getting back at you, so even for a practical, supposedly hard-nosed businessman, he's being really dumb to do this," Schumer said to Rachel Maddow while speaking on MSNBC.

The FBI And DOJ Criminalizing Opposition To The Regime Is How The Republic Ends.  This is the core danger of the administrative state:  Its now open propensity to go rogue.  It is apparently hellbent now on turning the United States into a banana republic.  Democrats called Donald Trump a fascist, authoritarian, and wannabe dictator for chants at his rallies of "Lock her up," referring to his opponent Hillary Clinton.  At the time, leftists pointed out that imprisoning, interrogating, investigating, and otherwise using government resources to harass and prosecute one's political opponents was the mark of tyrannical regimes such as Vladimir Putin's and Adolf Hitler.  "Democracies don't lock up political opponents," the Washington Post editorial board told us in 2016.  That is still true when the ones pushing the interrogations, investigations, entrapments into committing felonies, show trials in unusual venues with no cross-examination or due process, early morning home raids, excessive detainment, and asymmetrical punishments are Democrats.  Democrats are trashing republican institutions, expectations, and guarantees for political purposes, most visibly now in their Jan. 6 effort to destroy the lives of protestors largely charged with misdemeanors and to expand Spygate tactics more broadly.

Steve Bannon calls to Scrap the Federal Reserve saying it has 'Usurped' the power of the people.  Former Trump strategist Steve Bannon demanded the end of the Federal Reserve in a rabble-rousing speech to conservatives on Friday night, saying fat cat bankers had taken too much power[.]  Instead he demanded that control of the bank be handed back to the American people and slammed the way it had freely been printing money through the pandemic.  'We don't need to audit the Fed,' said.  'We need to end the Federal Reserve.  'The Federal Reserve has usurped its power and the power of the American people and our elected representatives.'  He laid down a fiery call to arms at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Dallas, Texas.

Lessons from Ruby Ridge.  For those too young to remember, it was thirty years ago this month that the DOJ entrapped Randy Weaver for his Christian beliefs, issued a death warrant, killed his dog, son, and wife, and shot Weaver and his friend.  Surely, the DOJ doesn't just execute innocent people.  Yet, as we learned at trial:  ["]He had no propensity to commit crimes.  Never even had a traffic ticket.  Never been charged with a crime of any kind and honorably served his country.["]  While living in Iowa, Weaver learned it was illegal to homeschool his children independently, so he moved his family to a cabin in remote Idaho, Ruby Ridge.  Weaver attended Aryan Nation meetings three times, meeting not far from Ruby Ridge, "to exchange ideas, talk to people, I usually ended up arguing."  That's where Gus Magisano befriended Weaver and tried to involve him in illicit activity.  Weaver refused.  But after three years of coaxing, Weaver finally agreed to make two sawed-off shotguns.  Magisano was a fed.

Trust the Artificial Intelligence Part One.  Even before the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, faith in institutions was at an all-time low — and falling.  In 2022, trust in organized religion was more than four times higher than in Congress.  No branch of government was trusted by more than 50% of the public except the military, not even the police.  Yet this loss in institutional trust coincided with unprecedented demands by institutions for a vast increase in power.  These included the power to regulate nearly anything in the name of stopping the climate from changing; the power to redefine society by proclaiming new 'Woke' values; and the power to control mass movement and require mandatory medication to control a pandemic.  Finally, institutions demanded the power to 'check facts' in any speech and 'de-platform' anyone suspected of uttering misinformation, thus insulating themselves against criticism.

A Corrupt and Rigged Government.  Why have so many lost faith in our government to the point that armed rebellion is being considered?  Double standards, that's why.  Americans see them and they're rightfully furious.  They see the despicable treatment afforded President Trump, whose term in office surely seems like the good old days when compared to the turmoil Democrats have unleashed in just a year and a half at the helm.  They watched the press question Trump's mental fitness and acuity while staunchly supporting the corrupt, dried-up turnip currently occupying the Oval Office.  They observed the media constantly demonizing Trump's family and then totally supporting "Dr." Jill and the hapless, hopeless Biden spawn.  They've seen every aspect of the Donald's financial dealings examined with a fine-tooth comb, while the Big Guy (Hunter's nickname for Crusty Joe) gets half of his crack and sex-addled son's ill-gotten millions with impunity.

FBI Whistleblowers Allege FBI Scheme to Protect Hunter Biden and Joe Biden.  Yesterday [7/25/2022], Senator Chuck Grassley sent [a] letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray regarding allegations from "highly credible whistleblowers" about the FBI's "false portrayal" of derogatory Hunter Biden materials as "disinformation."  If these allegations are true, it's a damning depiction of FBI leadership and it proves their efforts to influence the 2020 election.  This is the second (if not third) straight election the FBI has meddled in, given the influence the Trump/Russia investigation — and its unlawful origins with the FBI — had over the 2018 midterms.  Grassley's whistleblowers allege that in August 2020, FBI Headquarters "improperly discredit[ed] negative Hunter Biden information as disinformation and caused investigative activity to cease."  In fact, it was a scheme of top FBI officials.  As Grassley explains:  "the allegations provided to my office appear to indicate that there was a scheme in place among certain FBI officials to undermine derogatory information connected to Hunter Biden by falsely suggesting it was disinformation."  The context and timing is important, as this was leading up to the 2020 election.  Who benefited from this scheme?  Democrat candidate Joe Biden.

Presidential emergency powers are a serious problem.  News is coming out that the Occupier in Chief is planning to use emergency powers to promote abortion and to implement the "Build Back Bankrupt" agenda he cannot get through Congress.  The reason both of these cannot pass Congress is because there are not enough stupid people in the Senate to vote for them.  Further, implementation of the Build Back Bankrupt agenda will distress the country to such a point that chaos will ensue, much like what's happened in Sri Lanka over the past months.  First, let's look at emergency powers in the United States.  There are 123 statutory powers that might be available to a president when he declares a national emergency.  An additional thirteen would require a declaration from Congress.  The most recent emergency power law is the National Emergencies Act, enacted in 1976, which ended all previous national emergencies and formalized the powers of the president.  Under this law, repealing an emergency power would take two thirds of both houses of Congress.

Judge Grants Request for Discovery Phase in Social Media Collusion Lawsuit Against Biden Admin.  A federal court has granted a request by Missouri and Louisiana officials to obtain information and documents from top-ranking officials in the Biden administration over its alleged collusion with social media giants in an effort to censor and suppress free speech.  Eric Schmitt, Missouri's Republican attorney general, announced on social media on July 13 that Terry Doughty, a judge in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana, had ruled in favor of the request for the discovery process.  The ruling paves the way for the attorneys general to collect documents from top-ranking Biden administration officials and social media giants.  In court documents shared by Schmitt, Doughty wrote that there is "good cause" for an expedited preliminary injunction discovery.

Fighting back against COVID and Climate Change tyranny.  The phrase "New World Order" ("NWO") is a loaded term.  For starters, the people who are pushing for a single world government prefer to call it "The Great Reset."  Additionally, NWO sounds like the ultimate conspiracy theory, complete with indivisible dots, imaginary lines, and tin foil hats.  And yet there's no doubt that the self-anointed elites across the world have coalesced around a single vision that involves ending fossil fuel and achieving total control over individuals to "protect" them from COVID.  Still, people across the globe are pushing back and one group has a global vision of what this pushback can look like.  During COVID's first two years, we learned that most First World governments happily embraced tyranny.  Even in the face of mountains of evidence that the lockdowns and mask and vaccine mandates did nothing to improve the situation, governments not only didn't stop, but they also dug in deeper, systematically taking away people's rights.

The Transformed United States Government.  The United States in the 1950s transformed into a non-constitutional form of government, where federal departments collectively hold more authority than elected officials.  The transformation broadened in the 1960s and leveled off during the 1990s.  The ability to transition back to three branches of government as defined in the U.S. Constitution is the intent of the growing citizen majority today.  The increasing friction among all involved parties for restoring the constitutional form of government is heating to a flashpoint by way of strife.  Dwight Eisenhower cautioned against this transformation during his farewell speech with his warning of the military-industrial complex growing beyond manageability.

'Intimidate, humiliate, and embarrass': Growing outcry against DOJ strong-arming of Biden critics.  The FBI and the Justice Department are violating civil liberties and using brutish tactics during politically motivated and highly publicized raids and arrests targeting critics of the Biden administration, according to legal experts.  These displays of force, which some observers have claimed are unnecessary and designed to humiliate those arrested and intimidate others, appear to have at least one thing in common:  the person of interest supported former President Donald Trump.  "Law enforcement seems to be using arrest tactics on Trump supporters that are generally reserved for violent and/or fleeing suspects," said Alan Dershowitz, professor emeritus at Harvard Law School.  "They do not seem justified in many of these cases."  The most recent case occurred late last month, when federal agents searched the Virginia home of former Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey Clark, surprising the one-time Trump administration official in the morning.

Obviously feds:
100 Patriot Front white supremacist group members march along Boston's Freedom Trail on July Fourth Weekend to 'reclaim America'.  A large group of white supremacists marched along Boston's Freedom Trail ahead of the Fourth of July in protest that allegedly turned violent.  Patriot Front led nearly 100 members carrying white nationalist flags and shields through the Massachusetts capital on Saturday as part of their efforts to 'reclaim America.'  Video shows the group walking step with a snare drum, with flags and banners in hand, as they made their way to the Old State House and City Hall Plaza.

Who Are the Real Insurrectionists?  [Scroll down]  Former Obama Administration Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and CIA Director John Brennan both lied under oath — without legal consequences — to the Congress.  The FBI itself has descended into a sort of revolutionary police force rather than a disinterested investigative body focusing mostly on intrastate and federal crimes.  The fired former Director James Comey feigned amnesia or ignorance 245 times in his responses under oath to a House committee.  The subsequent interim director Andrew McCabe admittedly lied three times to federal investigators and likely discussed wearing a wire to entrap the president of the United States.  He was never charged with any federal crime.  An FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith altered a federal affidavit to warp a FISA court hearing.  Former FBI Director Robert Mueller claimed under oath that he had no idea what the Steele dossier or Fusion GPS was, even though, arguably, they were the goads that prompted his own 22-month-long investigation.

Tyranny through Complexity.  Consider how the government's tyranny through complexity makes answering even the simplest questions quite difficult:
[1] Have you broken any laws today?
[2] How many departments or agencies exert power over you?
[3] Is saving money wise?
[4] What does the Constitution say?
In a society governed by reason and rationality, these four questions should be rudimentary for any citizen.  Instead, they are outrageously vexing.

Seattle Police Justify The "Defund the Police" Movement by Arresting a Preacher for Reading His Bible Too Close to a Gay Pride Event.  I'm going to return to a theme that I've harped on in the past.  Too many conservatives have bought into the "back the blue" nonsense in response to the "defund the police" movement and BLM rioting.  This is misguided.  Police aren't guarantors of freedom; they are the enforcers of the administrative state.  Police unions and cliques of senior police officers are one of the major forces against gun rights.  Time and again, you find the police cheerfully enforcing the most shameful regulations.  During the "pandemic," police in (at least) New York and New Jersey broke up funerals and gatherings in private homes.  They arrested people in empty parks and on deserted beaches.  They arrested people for not wearing masks.  Their record on protecting the First Amendment rights of Christians is similarly checkered.  Dearborn, Michigan, had to pay a substantial settlement because the police arrested Christian preachers outside the venue of a Muslim street fair.

Biden: 'I Don't Count Drunk Driving as a Felony' for Illegal Immigrants.  A recently rediscovered video shows Joe Biden as a 2020 presidential candidate inexplicably declaring, "I don't count drunk driving as a felony," to the astonishment of his stunned interviewers.  To put his statement in context, Biden's baffling declaration of the insignificance of DUI for illegal immigrants came during a VICE news town hall on minority issues.  He was asked about his stance on illegal immigration and deportation of immigrants who have been convicted or charged with felony law-breaking while in the United States.  The Democratic candidate promised listeners that if he was elected to the White House in 2020, he would waste no time issuing an executive order (EO) that would prohibit U.S. Immigration and Customs (ICE) agents from deporting any illegal immigrant who had not committed a felony.  In essence, Biden said he would decide the seriousness of a crime, not law enforcement.

The Mighty Gorsuch vs. the Administrative State:  Quotes from West Virginia vs.  EPA.  Dealing with this problem absolutely requires that we get back to fundamentals on what kind of society we want and what is the role of government.  These issues are newly alive, and have come up with a Supreme Court decision in West Virginia vs. Environmental Protection Agency.  The EPA had long imposed an expansive view of its discretion under the Clean Air Act.  The court said no:  the EPA has been acting illegally all along.  This decision echoes a similar federal court decision in Florida concerning the CDC's mask mandate.  The court said the CDC is acting illegally.  Just because the EPA is tasked with certain acts of administration doesn't mean it can do whatever it wants in service of the goal.  "We would not expect the Department of Homeland Security to make trade or foreign policy even though doing so could decrease illegal immigration," said the main opinion.  Clearly we have a problem that cries out for a mighty rethinking of everything.  Just such a statement has been made in the concurring opinion of Justice Neil Gorsuch.

Biden Has Weaponized the FBI and DOJ Against His Political Opponents — The GOP Needs To End It.  On June 23, federal agents stormed the Virginia home of former Department of Justice official and legal scholar Jeffrey Clark in the early morning hours, searching his house and seizing multiple electronic devices in the process.  And on June 27, news broke of the FBI executing a search warrant on June 22 against legal scholar and professor John Eastman for his role in advising the Trump administration on legally contesting the 2020 presidential elections.  (Eastman has filed a motion for return of property, claiming that the federal agent refused to show him their search warrant before seizing his cell phone, as required by the law.)  Clark and Eastman, like tens of millions of other Americans, wanted to determine if voter irregularities may have played a role in the 2020 presidential election.  Clark, as a member of the Justice Department, and Eastman as a Trump advisor, explored legal remedies that involved fielding alternate electors in states with contested elections.  That they should or should not have done this is open to opinion, but it was not at all illegal.

The Invisible Power Controlling the US Government.  I have written extensively on inverted totalitarianism, that being the once nascent, now entrenched form of government that truly controls the levers of federal power in the United States.  This behemoth has turned the USA into a "managed democracy"; a bureaucracy which cannot be held accountable by the elected representatives of the people.  Sometimes called the 4th estate, this monster is also referred to as the "deep state" the civil service, or the administrative state.  Inverted totalitarianism does not have an authoritarian leader, but instead is run by a non-transparent group of bureaucrats.  This unelected, invisible ruling class runs the country from within.  They are easily influenced by corporate interests due to both the lure of powerful jobs after federal employment and the capture of our legislative bodies by the lobbyists serving concealed corporate interests.

The Astonishing Implications of Schedule F.  The administrative state for the better part of a century, and really dating back to the Pendleton Act of 1883, has designed policy, made policy, structured policy, implemented policy, and interpreted policy while operating outside the control of Congress, the president, and the judiciary. [...] From 2020 and onward, the American people got to know this administrative state well.  They ordered us to wear masks.  They deployed their influence to close small businesses and churches.  They limited how many people we could have in our homes.  They festooned our businesses with plexiglass and told everyone to stay six-feet apart.  They demanded two weeks of quarantine when crossing state borders.  They decided which medical procedures were elective and non-elective.  And they finally demanded compliance with vaccine mandates at the penalty of job loss.  None of this was ordered by legislation.  It was all invented on the spot by the permanent staff of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  We had no idea they had such power.  But they do.  And that same power which allowed those egregious attacks on rights and liberties also belongs to the Food and Drug Administration, the Department of Labor, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Homeland Security, and all the rest.

FBI Raids Target Democrats' Political Foes Instead Of True Criminals.  The only apparent criterion the FBI needs to raid the homes of American citizens is that those citizens have ever supported former President Donald Trump.  Here are the names of some of the political leaders on the right that the FBI has targeted:  Roger Stone, Rudy Giuliani, James O'Keefe, and Jeff Clark.  The FBI is now also engaging in raids on private homes of elderly Americans who peacefully attended the Capitol protest on Jan. 6, 2020.  Compare this treatment to that of actual criminals affiliated with Democrats, such as Hunter Biden, Andy McCabe, Peter Strzok, and Michael Sussmann.  The latter have seen no personal visit from the FBI since their crimes were committed or exposed.

Supreme Court Decides Suing the Feds is Mission: Impossible.  The Supreme Court recently gave the cold shoulder to an American assaulted by a Border Patrol agent.  No matter what party or ideology you ascribe to, this should set off alarm bells.  Too often, conversations about U.S. border policy are swept up into culture war rhetoric and stick firmly to partisan lines.  This pattern plays directly into the hands of bureaucrats who wish to centralize power, shred the Constitution, and build an apparatus that can ultimately inflict more harm on American citizens than on those attempting to cross the border.  The recent Supreme Court 6-3 ruling in Egbert v. Boule is yet another example of this, as it strikes a blow to U.S. citizens seeking recourse when federal agents behave badly.  While law enforcement officials deserve recognition for choosing a job that can put their life on the line, it is also true that the vast majority of Americans favor recourse for citizens wronged when those officials are negligent in their duties to protect and serve.

A mass exodus from the Democrats' America.  As the Washington Examiner reported this week, the end of the COVID-19 pandemic has done nothing to arrest the trend of people fleeing large cities in liberal coastal states for more pleasant and orderly locales, particularly in the Mountain West and the Sun Belt.  A mixture of unreasonable pandemic restrictions, rising crime, lawlessness, and hostility toward employers has forced this continued urban exodus. [...] It is hardly a coincidence that all 15 of the 15 fastest-growing cities and towns between July 2020 and July 2021 are in states that Republicans govern:  Arizona, Texas, Florida, Tennessee, and Idaho.  And 14 out of the 15 fastest-declining cities during the same period were in states that Democrats governed at the time.  What towns and cities gaining population generally have in common both before and during COVID-19 is that they live under laws made by Republicans.  What towns and cities losing population have in common is that they live under laws made by Democrats.  Not all Democratic states and cities are equally anti-business, but COVID-19 helped bring out the totalitarian side of many state and city governments, driving away and keeping away many former and prospective residents.

The Pentagon Announces It Will Refuse to Follow Any State Laws Restricting Abortion Access.  The Pentagon has made the announcement that it will refuse to recognize any abortion laws springing from the Supreme Court's decision that there is no guaranteed right to abortion in the U.S. Constitution.  Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III issued a statement on on Friday regarding the Supreme Court's ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization.  "Nothing is more important to me or to this Department than the health and well-being of our Service members, the civilian workforce and DOD families," the Pentagon chief announced.  "I am committed to taking care of our people and ensuring the readiness and resilience of our Force.  The Department is examining this decision closely and evaluating our policies to ensure we continue to provide seamless access to reproductive health care as permitted by federal law."

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin Makes Ridiculous Pledge in Response to Roe Ruling.  It comes as no surprise that Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has issued a statement all but condemning Friday's overturn of Roe — by pledging that the United States military "be all that it can be" [sarcasm] and will do all it can in support of "seamless access to reproductive health care [on-demand abortion]."  What is a bit of a surprise — Austin's apparent ignorance of federal law — is laughable.  In a statement posted on the Department of Defense website, Austin pledged the U.S. military's "readiness and resilience" to, in effect, "continue to provide access" to abortion.

Lloyd Austin needs to resign as Secretary of Defense.  Since the announcement of the decision in Dobbs on Friday, elected officials and media personalities across the board have been weighing in with their own takes as you would expect.  But one of the last people I would have expected to dive into the public debate was Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.  And yet he somehow made the decision to wade into the Roe v Wade issue up to his hips.  This turned out to be a very poor decision for several reasons, [...] but the question here goes far beyond one retired military officer's personal views.  The spectacle Austin created was simply damaging and Lloyd Austin needs to either resign or be fired, not that Joe Biden will make any such move.

The Editor says...
When was the last time a black employee of the federal government was fired?  As long as Lloyd Austin remains black, he is untouchable.  And he knows it.  He is also immune to criticism.

Finding our Way Through a Wilderness of Mirrors.  [Scroll down]  Attorney General Merrick Garland has diverted FBI resources from fighting organized crime and protecting domestic security to the surveillance of parents who are protesting school boards' choice of school curriculum that promotes Critical Race Theory indoctrination and inappropriate sex and transgender education — a priority that makes no sense and likely violates state and individual constitutional rights.

Five Reasons to Impeach Joe Biden.  [#4] Biden is directing the enforcement branches of the federal government against his political enemies.  Biden believes that "domestic political extremism" is "the most urgent terrorism threat" facing the U.S.  "The Biden administration declared that the 'most lethal elements' of today's domestic terror threat are political conservatives," said Tucker Carlson.  Biden has compared Americans who disagree with him — at least half the country — to racists and terrorists.  Consequently, Biden is empowering the DoJ and FBI to go after Republicans.  "The FBI is now an organization solely focused on destroying the domestic enemies of the Democratic Party," said talk show host Jesse Kelly.  Biden is also enlisting the media in his war against political opponents.  "What Joe Biden is telling media companies to do today is to censor their content so it doesn't contradict his decrees," said Tucker Carlson. "[Biden is calling for] censorship of political opinions.  What you're seeing here is far more dangerous than the domestic terror threat they've been bloviating about.  It contravenes the First Amendment."

Queens DA Melinda Katz uses security detail 'as her personal car service': sources.  Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz used members of her taxpayer-funded security detail to help her move to her new million-dollar digs — potentially running afoul of ethics rules, The [New York] Post has learned.  The borough's top prosecutor was spotted wearing her gold DA's badge on her hip last week as she carried four boxes of belongings to a black Ford Expedition parked outside the Forest Hills house where she's been temporarily living since selling her former childhood home for $1.05 million in February.  She then climbed into the official vehicle and was driven about 1.2 miles by a pair of plainclothes NYPD cops to her new three-bedroom, 2-1/2 bathroom Colonial-style house, which city records show she bought late last month for $1.1 million.  The trip was one of four that The Post saw Katz, 56, and her detail make between her old and new homes Tuesday morning.

Biden May Declare 'National Public Health Emergency' If Roe v Wade Is Overturned.  Joe Biden is considering announcing a "national public health emergency" if Roe v Wade is overturned by the US Supreme Court in the coming days.  This authoritarian move by the Biden regime would allegedly help women in red states obtain abortions despite the court ruling and the laws of the state. [...] Since a draft opinion was leaked last month indicating that the Supreme Court was prepared to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade decision — an action that would prompt at least 20 states to prohibit or severely curtail access to abortion — abortion rights advocates have been lobbying the White House to take extraordinary steps to mitigate the effect.

The Citizenry's Willingness to Surrender their Freedoms Risks a Potential Dissolution or Civil War.  Over the past two decades, far too many citizens of the United States have willingly surrendered their rights and freedoms and now they are on the cusp of being unrestorable.  This erosion and voluntary forfeiture have empowered the ruling elites/radical left.  Ominous societal conditions have been created that risk national dissolution or a civil war.  Three events in the past twenty-one years have been the primary catalysts that have accelerated and exacerbated this seemingly irreversible outcome.  The first: the reaction to the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001; the second: the election of Barack Obama; and the third: the lockdown and medical tyranny of the Chinese Coronavirus Pandemic.  After the events of September 11, 2001, Congress, with no outcry from the populace and near unanimous agreement from both political parties, passed the Patriot Act and other legislation.  These laws expanded the definition of terrorism and the government's ability to define, at their whim, what "terrorism" is.  Further, the government was granted near unlimited power to combat whatever was defined as "terrorism."  Within less than ten years that power was turned against the American people and new catch phrases began to be used by the ruling class: "white supremacy" and "domestic terrorism".  A new era was spawned which allowed the government to use its newly acquired powers to spy on and intimidate innocent Americans at home and abroad.

Biden threatens oil companies with 'emergency powers' if they don't increase their supply while they've 'tripled' profits.  Joe Biden is calling on seven of the top oil companies to do something to help quell surging gas prices after accusing them of intentionally exacerbating the strain on Americans' pocketbooks after the average price per gallon surpassed $5.00.  The president is sending letters Wednesday to Marathon Petroleum Corp., Valero Energy Corp., ExxonMobil, Phillips 66, Chevron, BP, and Shell to demand action on lowering gas prices at the corporate level and account for the surge.  In a letter to Exxon obtained by Axios, Biden wrote that the difference 'of more than 15% at the pump is the result of the historically high profit margins for refining oil into gasoline, diesel and other refined products.'

Biden Is Threatening Oil Companies With Use of Emergency Powers Against Them.  Joe Biden has tried to blame everyone but himself for inflation and skyrocketing gas prices.  His most common excuse for the rise in gas prices has been that it is "Putin's price hike" because of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.  But the gas prices were going up long before Putin invaded in February 2022 — they've been going up ever since Joe Biden came into office.  They've doubled since Biden took office and J.P. Morgan analysts are predicting gas may be $6.00 a gallon by August.  It's over $5.00 now and the experts are predicting that it will continue to be a problem.  It's not hard to understand why, given Biden's attack on the fossil fuel industry.  When he ran, he promised that he would push the country to do away with fossil fuels.  [Video clip]  But now, Biden is trying to place the blame on another source — the oil companies.

The Subordinate Citizen.  We have developed entire classes of American elite citizens who are not subject to the enforcement of the law — at least as it is applied to others either less influential or ideologically incorrect.  Federal prosecutors sought to jail Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn for six months for not telling the truth to federal agents.  They put another Trump subordinate, George Papadopoulos, in jail for two weeks for lying to federal prosecutors.  Recently the FBI stormed into an airport to arrest former Trump adviser Peter Navarro for contempt of a congressional subpoena.  OK, defying federal law has consequences.  Or does it?  Former Obama administration Attorney General Eric Holder brazenly defied congressional subpoenas and was found in contempt — a historic first.  Did the FBI ever arrest Holder, much less as he boarded an airplane?  James Clapper, former director of national intelligence, confessed he flat-out lied under oath to a congressional committee.  So did former Central Intelligence Agency chief John Brennan — twice!  Andrew McCabe repeatedly lied to federal investigators as acting director of the FBI.  Were any of them arrested or tried in the manner of Flynn, Papadopoulos, or Navarro?  If not, what then is left of the foundation of U.S. citizenship — universal equal treatment under the law?

Disinformation Panels, Corrupt FBI Activity, Govt Control over Speech in Social Media, The J6 Propaganda Effort, it is One Long Continuum.  The people who created the Fourth Branch of Government used every tool in their arsenal to outlast and remove Donald Trump; then they turned to the one cognitively challenged candidate who would not be a threat to the construct, Joe Biden, and installed him through fraud and mail-in ballots.  Everything is downstream from this construct. [...] Washington DC created the modern national security apparatus immediately and hurriedly after 9/11/01.  DHS came along in 2002 and within the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 the ODNI was formed.  When Barack Obama and Eric Holder arrived a few years later, those newly formed institutions were viewed as opportunities to create a very specific national security apparatus that would focus almost exclusively against their political opposition.  The preexisting Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Dept of Justice (DOJ) were then repurposed to become two of the four pillars of the domestic national security apparatus.  However, this new construct would have a targeting mechanism based on political ideology.

Homeland Security Issues Another Security Bulletin to Drive Narrative.  Are the threats facing America changing that rapidly, or is the administration using the bulletin as a tool for some other purpose?  Timing is everything in life and especially in Washington, D.C.  To help answer this question about why so many Biden administration advisory bulletins coming out of the Department of Homeland Security, one need only look at what else has been happening the past few weeks as we begin the summer, when the left needs voters energized to vote in the November midterms.  Given the very selective threats and priorities included in the bulletin, set against known and suspected terrorists entering the U.S. through the southern border, numerous mass shootings, and violent pro-abortion supporters firebombing pregnancy centers and protesting at conservative Supreme Court justices' homes and churches, the answer clearly appears to be that the Biden administration is using the terrorism bulletin to advance its chosen narrative:  White supremacy is everywhere (the administration chooses to focus).

Gov Of New York Just Announced A New Bill That Would Make 'Hate Speech' Illegal, Whatever That Means.  New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed a package of gun reform legislation on Monday [6/6/2022] that will increase the age to buy a rifle to 21, restrict the sale of body armor to specific professions, and revise the state's red flag law.  The gun reforms come less than a month after an 18-year-old gunman allegedly used an AR-15 style rifle to murder 10 people at a Buffalo supermarket in what officials called a racist attack.  "In New York, we are taking bold, strong action.  We're tightening the red flag laws to keep guns away from dangerous people," Hochul said a press conference on Monday.  [Video clip]

Progressive America is the Twilight Zone.  Thanks to our scheming, corrupt elites, we can no longer take what any federal government department or agency says at face value.  Ask Peter Navarro about the gross injustice of Biden's Justice Department.  Michael Sussman walked free from a D.C. court presided over by a Democrat-appointed judge (who cut the defendant slack via admissibility of evidence) and a D.C. jury populated with Democrats, including some Hillary Clinton contributors and one or two with casual connections to the defendant.  The nation's leadership class has destroyed trust in government, and when trust vanishes, we're playing a dangerously unpredictable game loaded with wild cards.

Biden's G-men go rogue.  The Biden Justice Department, led by Attorney General Merrick Garland, will not be prosecuting lawbreakers within its ranks.  The Inspector General (IG) for the Department of Justice (DOJ) released its semiannual report to Congress of cases for which the IG recommends prosecutions.  But in case after case, the DOJ is declining to prosecute its own.  The one notable exception is Bureau of Prisons (BOP) personnel, who still have reason to fear repercussions if they break the law.  But if you are in the FBI or DEA, you can be virtually assured you will not be prosecuted, based on the long list of cases DOJ has declined to prosecute.  Apparently, if you work for the right agency, anything goes.

Biden Administration Declare National Emergency for Clean Energy Production.  Joe Biden shut down domestic energy development, cancelled pipelines, cancelled leases, retracted the ability to drill in ANWAR (Alaska), and triggered massive new regulatory approaches from the Commerce, Interior and Energy departments.  The resulting increases in oil, natural gas, gasoline, electricity and energy costs overall — which became fuel on the furnace of inflation, have now created the energy crisis that Joe Biden is declaring a national emergency to solve.  Biden himself has no idea what is happening; he is simply following the instructions of the policy operators who are in control of the administration.  It is the people in the circles of Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders and the climate change activists within the DC bureaucracy that are executing the nuts-and-bolts shifts.  They tell Biden what to do, and he cluelessly does it.  We are the people who end up paying the price for their effort.

Be aware of major attacks on free speech from Democrats.  Democrats own Washington D.C. and should be in hog heaven.  But as Shakespeare wrote, "uneasy lies the head that wears a crown."  Certainly, the Democrats know that, as the country and the world lurch from bad to worse under their aegis, their hold on the country is weakening.  What especially worries them is conservative media's popularity.  Now, Dan Pfeiffer, a former "senior advisor" to Obama, has said it out loud:  Alternative viewpoints are a "problem for democracy."  Expect the Democrats to act to counter that "problem."  Here are three representative news stories showing the Democrats' collapsing control over the political narrative: [...]

Biden [is] finally taking executive action to up domestic energy production — of solar energy.  Whether it be his continued efforts to "deter" Russian President Vladimir Putin after the invasion of Ukraine had already begun or responding to the baby formula shortage after shelves had gone bare, President Joe Biden's reactionary leadership has been putting America last for nearly a year and a half now, and his latest move to ramp up domestic energy production is sure to do the same.  On Monday [6/6/2022], the White House announced that the president will be invoking the Defense Production Act (DPA) along with other executive actions to try to combat the overwhelming reality that the Democratic policy initiatives are crippling the American economy.  With the average price for a gallon of gas more than double since Biden was inaugurated and experts warning of rolling blackouts throughout the summer because the energy grid is not suited to meet the expected demand, the president has decided to double down.  The news broke late Sunday that he would be pushing solar projects stalled by a Commerce Department tariff probe and promoting other clean energy projects.

The Sovietization of American Life.  Entire professions have now nearly been lost to radical progressive ideology.  Do we remember those stellar economists who swore at a time of Biden's vast government borrowing, increases in the monetary supply, incentivizing labor non-participation, and supply chain interruptions that there was no threat of inflation?  Were they adherents of ideological "modern monetary theory"?  Did they ignore their own training and experience in fealty to progressive creeds?  What about the Stanford doctors who signed a groupthink letter attacking their former colleague, Dr. Scott Atlas, because he questioned the orthodoxies of Dr. Anthony Fauci and the state bureaucracies — who we now know hid their own involvement with channeling funding to deadly gain-of-function research in Wuhan?  Did they reject his views on empirical grounds and welcome a give-and-take shared inquiry — or simply wish to silence an ideological outlier and advisor to a despised counterrevolutionary?  Or how about the 50 retired intelligence "experts" who swore that Hunter Biden's laptop was not genuine but likely Russian disinformation?  Did they really rely on hundreds of years of collective expertise to adjudicate the laptop or did they simply wish to be rewarded with something comparable to a "Hero of Woke America" award?

Dismantle the D.C. Company Town.  The real issue here is something I have been harping on for the last couple of years:  the issue of the decaying legitimacy of our institutions.  Increasingly, once-respected institutions like the FBI, Congress, the Justice Department, to say nothing of the educational establishment and corporate culture, have lost their claim on the people's allegiance.  That allegiance is not something that can be repaired by diktat.  It is part of the largely unspoken compact that all social institutions require if they are to remain vital.  The decay of that allegiance, and, consequently, the decay of institutional legitimacy has been evolving since at least since "the Sixties," understanding that term more as an existential than a chronological marker.  The neo-puritanism of political correctness and other manifestations of "woke" intolerance hastened that process.  And it is a curious contingency that the advent of Donald Trump as a political force stripped the camouflaging veils off the process.

FBI opened multiple investigations into protesting parents, GOP lawmakers say.  The FBI has opened multiple investigations into parents protesting education policies, including a father who was upset over mask mandates, according to new whistleblower revelations.  The FBI's activities were publicly revealed in a letter Wednesday from Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee to Attorney General Merrick Garland.  The specifics of the FBI's investigations were disclosed to lawmakers by whistleblowers.  Garland directed the FBI and the Department of Justice to form a joint task force in October 2021 to investigate threats against school board members after the National School Boards Association asked the Biden administration in a September 2021 letter to investigate parents protesting at school board meetings as domestic terrorists under the Patriot Act.  Garland issued the memo forming the task force a week after the NSBA sent its letter.  After public outcry, the association apologized for sending the letter and withdrew it as numerous state school board associations announced they were disassociating with the national organization.

One Way Government.  Whenever the Left consolidates power and creates a new agency, it is immediately staffed with diehard progressive bureaucrats.  In many cases, it is literally required by law that experts be placed in key positions of authority, who are all but guaranteed to be leftwing zealots.  And the vast majority of this staff does not rotate out or get laid off when a Republican administration or legislature comes to power.  Protected by their status as credentialed experts, the ideological foot soldiers of the bureaucracy stay firmly entrenched in the deep state.  That's why things always seem to sprint left when progressives are in charge and at best grind to a halt when the GOP has its turn at the wheel.

The Mafia Tactic that Brought Down CNN.  [Scroll down]  The right thing to do is always what the State is promoting at the current moment, even when radically incompatible with what the State promoted a day earlier.  So one moment, every American is bound to stay home and Save Lives!  The next moment, Americans are not only permitted, but practically obliged to protest in large numbers against Racial Injustice!  Protesting for any other cause, however, rendered one a depraved "freedumb person."  But "freedom" recovers its status as a foundational moral value (and its traditional spelling) in the context of promoting Ukrainian Freedom!  And so it goes.

Deeper in the Coverup, Early 2018 Andrew Weissmann Instructed Everyone on Special Counsel Team to Wipe Their Cell Phones.  In the aftermath of the late summer 2017 Page/Strzok cell phone text messages, which started to identify the DOJ and FBI targeting operation against Donald Trump, the DOJ Office of the Inspector General (OIG) decided he better look at the communications inside the rest of the Mueller-Weissmann team.  Early in 2018 IG Horowitz asked for all of the special counsel cell phones.  Andrew Weissmann knew there would be trouble, the special counsel operation was at a critical juncture so he instructed the team to wipe them clean, quickly.  Eventually records were released in 2020 showing how the Weissmann/Mueller special counsel team "accidentally" wiped 15 iPhones of all data early in 2018 after the phones were requested by the OIG office for review.  Mueller's lead investigator Andrew Weissmann said he "accidentally" wiped two phones himself; through a lengthy process of entering the wrong passcode several times over a period of three hours; removing data to show his activity during the special counsel.

Biden is trampling on separation of powers — courts should rein him in.  Even as a federal appeals court was ruling that the executive branch may not take the place of an independent judiciary, President Joe Biden was trying to rig the game the other way.  He is playing a dangerous anti-democracy game that must be stopped.  On May 18, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in the case of Jarkesy v. Securities and Exchange Commission.  George Jarkesy was accused by the SEC of securities fraud, an SEC administrative law judge, not a real judge but a bureaucrat, found him guilty, and the SEC commissioners affirmed the decision.  Jarkesy was never allowed to present his defense in an actual court of law.  The 5th Circuit ruled that this arrangement violated Jarkesy's right to trial by jury, among other constitutional deficiencies in the system.  And the 5th Circuit is right.  In a speech seven years ago this month, former SEC Chairman Christopher Cox cogently and comprehensively explained why the agency's administrative law system is suspect.  Again, this is a former chairman of the SEC who was saying the agency's powers had grown too great.  "We've seen the development of administrative actions that take the place of trials," Cox said.  "These proceedings bear little resemblance to civil courts and their accustomed rules of civil procedure."

Illinois Gas Station Owners Sue Over Having to Post Democrat Propaganda.  Gas prices are high everywhere.  They've risen so much that several states have suspended their gas tax, while others are considering doing so.  And then there's Illinois.  The Democrat-dominated legislature in Illinois is so magnanimous that they're not suspending their gas tax, but they're delaying increasing it until the end of the year. [...] Not only that but the Democrats also required gas stations to post signs that are "clearly visible" — four by eight inches or larger, with a bold font — reading "As of July 1, 2022, the State of Illinois has suspended the inflation adjustment to the motor fuel tax through December 31, 2022."  No big deal, right?  Well, if a station refuses, the owner faces a fine of $500 a day.  And the signs are clearly meant to be propaganda that screams, "LOOK AT WHAT DEMOCRATS ARE DOING FOR YOU PEONS!"

A Cabinency of Dunces.  In the days before the recent Virginia election, grassroots parent groups challenged critical race theory taught in the schools.  In reaction and under prompts from teachers' unions, Attorney General Merrick Garland directed both the FBI and the Justice Department to establish a special task force apparently to "investigate threats" from parents against school board members.  The FBI recently has been knee-deep in political controversies.  It illegally doctored a FISA application to entrap an American citizen.  Its former directors, under oath before Congress, either claimed faulty memory or admitted lying to federal investigators.  The last thing a scandal-plagued FBI needed was to go undercover at school board meetings to investigate parents worried over their children's education.

Drain The Swamp.  The bureaucratic mire in DC is full of predatory beasts, noxious insects, and other unseen hazards.  Directives from the White House are apt to be ignored because there is no one translating those directives into marching orders for the lower floors of government-owned buildings.  This leaves the denizens of departments to their own devices, none of whom are the slightest bit concerned with anything beyond the office water cooler. [...] If the Secretary of Department X decides to go full MAGA, little or nothing will actually happen, since most of his underlings frankly don't [care].  They are protected by Civil Service rules and can't be fired short of the next millennium.  In other words, it's hopeless.  Yes, I know, Donald Trump claims to know what he did wrong and will do things differently next time.  It all sounds good, but so do all the claims from every politician.  After all, they're "fighting for you!"  But actually, they're mostly trying to baffle you [...] so you'll vote for them again.

5th Circuit Slaps Down Joe Biden's SEC, Liberals Promptly Lose Their Minds.  "Everything I don't like is a threat to democracy" has become the new slogan of the Democrat Party, and it was put on display again this week after the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals slapped down Joe Biden's SEC.  In a ruling that restored constitutional protections and left Democrats screaming bloody murder, the court found that the SEC does not have the power to internally decide to seize assets from those they feel have committed a crime.  [Tweet]  Some might be asking how the SEC ever gained such power in the first place, where an internal, administrative judge can unilaterally steal people's property.  After all, doesn't the Seventh Amendment guarantee the right to a jury trial?

National School Boards Association Admits to Colluding with Biden Administration on 'Domestic Terrorism' Letter.  The National School Boards Association (NSBA) admitted Friday [5/20/2022] to colluding with senior White House officials to develop a letter asking the federal government to investigate concerned parents speaking at school board meetings as "domestic terrorists."  The admission comes after an internal review, which was prompted by significant backlash to the letter that led Attorney General Merrick Garland to sic the FBI on parents and use "counterterrorism tools" to investigate them.

NBC National Security Analyst:  Hey, Everybody, Trump Supporters Are Just Like 'Violent Jihadists'.  The establishment Left seems determined to tar its opponents as "terrorists."  There's the Jan. 6 Committee, which continues to investigate what the Democrats insist was an "insurrection," despite a complete lack of evidence.  There's the repeated claim (that Biden, Garland, and Christopher Wray, among others, have repeated) that "white supremacists," by which is meant "Trump supporters," are the nation's biggest terror threat.  And now a former FBI counterintelligence official has gone the whole way and likened Trump supporters to "violent jihadists."  Frank Figliuzzi is a national security analyst for NBC News, and would seem to have a fine resume for the job, having served as the assistant FBI director for counterintelligence for nearly a year and a half during the Obama administration.  But like so many Obama/Biden appointees, he seems more interested in playing partisan politics and smearing the administration's opposition as terrorists than in assessing actual threats to national security.

Supreme Court's 9-0 flag-flying decision startles, dismays wokesters in Vermont public schools.  National outrage over George Floyd's death was particularly virulent in super-progressive ("woke") Vermont, where schools widely displayed the BLM flag beside the American flag.  Unconcerned that this was a blatantly illegal government endorsement of an overtly partisan organization, proponents donned the "hear no evil from constitutionalists" earmuffs and prided themselves on agitating their neighbors by violating the Constitution.  Many Vermonters have complained publicly that this is obvious abuse by government, but school officials have stonewalled, gaslighted, and suppressed all efforts to assert this axiomatic constitutional truth.  The state's capital city of Montpelier shamelessly painted BLM on the road in front of the Vermont State House and condemned as racist an effort to display "Liberty and Justice For All" beside it.  This is a cohesive, deliberate drive to eliminate basic constitutional guarantees to be replaced with an anti-constitutional ideology:  the BLM flag is elevated as a superior symbol.

'42 National Emergencies': How The WHO And Globalists Are Gaining Control.  [Video clip only.]

Scottsdale parents who discovered secret dossier compiled to silence their speech announce lawsuit.  Three parents in the Scottsdale Unified School District (SUSD) sued the district, former SUSD governing board President Jann-Michael Greenburg, his father and his father's wife over the maintenance of a "dossier" allegedly aimed at intimidating them into silence after they had criticized Greenburg.  The parents — Amanda Wray, Kimberly Stafford, and Edmond Richard — allege in the Marciopa County Superior Court complaint that the Greenburgs and the district conspired "to silence and punish dissenting voices and frighten away other potential speakers who might dare express an opposing point of view."  Greenburg and his father reportedly kept a dossier on 47 parents who dared to speak out against his policies at school board meetings — a dossier complete with Social Security numbers, background checks, a divorce paper, mortgage documents, trade certifications, and screenshots of Facebook posts.  The lawsuit claims that the defendants "misused District resources and what should have been private, protected parent communications to the District to retaliate against Plaintiffs for their protected speech."

The United States Has Committed Numerous Acts of War Against Russia.  The United States has committed numerous Acts of War against Russia this year.  This is not a value judgment.  I make no claim here about whether the United States has acted wisely, or has acted with justification.  I simply note it.  And the world may now be tumbling into an interlocking cycle of escalation beyond control and foreseeable consequences, just as it did in 1914.  That the United States has committed Acts of War in no way justifies Russia's actions; neither is it to say therefore that World War III and nuclear war have become inevitable, though Russian state media are openly speculating about the real risk of these.  Countries often commit Acts of War against other countries, and no war breaks out when the offended party chooses for whatever reason not to respond.  But they can respond, and that is the point here.

Congressman says watchdog found police entered his office for 'criminal' probe, not open door.  Texas Republican Rep. Troy Nehls says a forthcoming Inspector General report will show he was "under criminal investigation" when Capitol Police officers entered his Capitol Hill office and began taking photos in November 2021.  In February, Nehls publicly disclosed that Capitol Police had told him he was not the subject to an investigation after the Nov. 20 and 22 incidents in which officers entering his office.  Nehls said Friday [5/6/2022] on the John Solomon Reports podcast that a "full report" from the Capitol Police Inspector General's Office on the matter will be released to him next week after having recently received an "executive summary" of the report.  He alleges that on Nov. 20, a Capitol Police officer entered his office without his knowledge and photographed "confidential legislative products protected by the Speech and Debate clause" of the Constitution," purportedly on a whiteboard.

Why is the White House Bragging About Conducting Military Operations in Ukraine to Kill Russians?  Does Joe Biden intend to take the U.S. into a direct war with Russia?  Perhaps because the only historic way out of a deep economic recession is a war or housing starts?  Perhaps, because they need a bigger distraction from the political impact of their own policies?  Those questions need to be asked and answered quickly, because the White House is about to flip the switch from a "proxy war" into an actual hot war between the United States and Russia.  How do we know?  Because the Biden administration is openly bragging about their specific military operations inside Ukraine that are killing Russians.

Intelligence Community Claims Responsibility for Killing Russian Generals Because It Didn't Happen Unless You Know They Did It.  Over the weekend, an intriguing rumor bubbled up from several sources that Russia's top military officer, General Valery Gerasimov, had been wounded in a Ukrainian artillery strike on a Russian command post in the Izium salient west of Kharkiv.  Gerasimov was at a frontline command post because Russian President Vladimir Putin had shaken up the command structure of his invasion of Ukraine and made Gerasimov the field commander.  There have been contradictory reports on whether Gerasimov was wounded or if he was even in the command post during the artillery strike, but Gerasimov has not been seen in public since the reports.

Is the left agitating for war with Russia so it can cement domestic tyranny?  It has been odd and alarming watching the powers-that-be relentlessly escalate the proxy war our government is waging against Russia.  It's not just that we're sending billions of dollars of weapons into Ukraine, are calling Vladimir Putin a war criminal and issuing other fightin' words, are training Ukrainian troops, and are trying to effect Moscow's economic destruction.  It's also that, senior American officials have now revealed, via intelligence aid, the U.S. has helped to:
  •   kill Moscow's generals,
  •   down a plane carrying Russian soldiers, and
  •   sink one of Putin's warships.
The kicker:  By revealing this publicly — perhaps as strikingly inappropriate as leaking a Supreme Court draft opinion — Biden administration officials appear to be bragging about these "exploits" and rubbing the Russians' noses in them.  If you wanted to provoke a hot war, this is exactly how you'd do it.

Biden's climate advisor threatens airlines they better comply or 'they're gonna be outta here!'.  White House National Climate Adviser Gina McCarthy openly threatened airlines in true "Godfather" fashion on Friday during a forum at Tufts University, warning that they will no longer exist if they don't follow President Joe Biden's Green New Deal-style rules.  "Who woulda thunk that [airlines would] be all in?" McCarthy remarked.  "But they better be or they're gonna be out of here."  The White House is promoting exceedingly unrealistic policies that claim to increase sustainable jet fuel by three billion gallons and reduce aviation emissions by 20 percent by 2030.  McCarthy boasted that the Biden administration will be issuing over 100 new rules this year to regulate appliances.

The CDC Spied on Americans by Purchasing Location Data for Tens of Millions of Phones.  "I always feel like somebody's watching me," sang Rockwell in his catchy '80s hit.  If you feel the same way, you're probably right.  A Vice Motherboard report published Tuesday claims that the Centers For Disease Control (CDC) bought cell phone data for tens of millions of phones owned by Americans to track compliance with COVID lockdown orders and vaccination efforts.  You know things have jumped the shark when a government organization ostensibly set up to control disease resorts to spying on Americans.

Dick Durbin Mocks Americans, While Schumer Threatens the Supreme Court.  The meltdowns of the Democrats were something to behold on Tuesday over the leaked draft opinion, suggesting that the Supreme Court was going to overturn Roe v. Wade.  But they were also stoking anger against the Court, threatening and trying to intimidate the justices, and undermine another branch of the government.  Never let Democrats ever argue they're "preserving norms" — all they ever are trying to do is preserve their power, and they don't care what they have to do to hold onto that power.

Do We Draw the Line at a US Ministry of Truth?  The whole farce of setting up an all-powerful Department of Disinformation (whose only purpose will be to spread disinformation) would be downright comical if we were given a moment's rest to laugh in between the Biden regime's outrageous daily attacks on what's left of the Constitution.  The First Amendment — right at the top, so no future tyrants could miss it — is obviously meaningless if government censors must first approve acceptable speech.  By far and without equivocation, the most important speech deserving of protection from the treachery of government overreach is that speech which the government decries as disinformation!  The First Amendment isn't there for the protection of cookie recipes and weather reports (although those are protected, too).  It's there to make sure that when officials in the federal government betray their oaths and seize illegitimate power for themselves, there are opposing voices that can beat those usurpers down with words before violence becomes inevitable.

Fauci's worst soundbite of the pandemic.  Ed flagged this earlier but I want to give it more exposure.  It's an amazing insight into how authoritarian the public health bureaucracy has become during the pandemic.  One could dismiss Fauci's reasoning here by saying, "Look, he's a doctor, not a lawyer.  He's not supposed to know the ins-and-outs of how policy is made."  Okay, well, he's been the head of a federal agency for nearly 40 years.  One would hope that he's picked up a passing acquaintance with the niceties of the process during that time.  Besides, you don't need legal training to grasp the problem with the idea that courts shouldn't have power to review the lawfulness of federal policy provided that it's endorsed by scientists.  All you need is a third-grade-level civics education.  If you made it to the day in class where the teacher explained the three branches of government, congratulations, you're equipped to spot the problem here.  [Tweet]

Americans Don't Like Being Told What to Do.  When we say emphatically, "All men are created equal," there is no boilerplate fine print for us down below qualifying, "Except for corrupt politicians, noble leftovers from the days of medieval feudalism, corporate oligarchs, or communist dictators, all of whom are obviously superior to and entitled to rule over the rest of us in perpetuity."  No siree!  We have about as much use for a permanent ruling class as Dr. Fauci has for an introductory ethics textbook — that is to say, none at all!  Ever since COVID-1984 mania was unleashed (intentionally or unintentionally — maybe time will tell) upon the world, the hypnotic drumbeat emanating from the Davos Druids has been steady:  trust the experts.  Obey.  Mandates will set you free.  None in the media dare call it "reprogramming," but that's clearly what it has been.

US congressman reveals seats on committees are 'literally' bought.  In a video that circulated online on Friday, Alabama Representative Mo Brooks told supporters that an entrenched system of corruption prevents Congress from passing legislation that would benefit the average American.  Brooks said that both parties charge their members $1 million and beyond for chairmanships of committees, and that only those taking donations from lobbyists can afford these seats.  "Special interest groups run Washington, and I don't mean that metaphorically.  I mean literally," Brooks told supporters at an event in March, video footage of which was shared on Friday by conservative pundit Lauren Windsor.  [Tweet]  According to Brooks, lawmakers who want to be chairman of a major committee "have to purchase it."  Either the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) or Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) will charge members of Congress a fee to chair a committee for two years.  The fee varies depending on how important the committee is, but bidding for a top-tier chairmanship starts at $1 million, Brooks claimed.

The judge in a January 6 case should be disbarred.  One of the most visible signs of our federal government's corruption is the treatment being meted out to the January 6 prisoners, who have been deprived of their express and inherent rights under the Constitution, one of which is the right to an impartial judge. [...] The Bill of Rights describes rights inherent in the individual; they are not "gifts" from the government.  All Americans enjoy them automatically and the government may override these rights only by showing an overwhelming need to do so.  When it comes to the January 6 martyrs, however, the federal government under Biden and Attorney General Merrick Garland has deprived these martyrs of multiple rights.  Specifically:
  •   the First Amendment (most of the defendants were peaceably assembling because the police let them into the Capitol),
  •   the Fifth Amendment (for they have been deprived of life, liberty, and property for over a year without due process),
  •   the Sixth Amendment (they've been deprived of speedy trials and the right to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusations against them), and
  •   the Eighth Amendment (being denied bail is tantamount to impermissible excessive bail).

Michigan's AG Refuses to Enforce Laws She Doesn't Like.  In anticipation of a possible U.S. Supreme Court reversal of Roe v.  Wade, Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer and the state's radical attorney general, Democrat Dana Nessel, have launched a pre-emptive two-pronged attack on the existing state law that criminalizes most abortions.  Last Thursday, Whitmer filed a lawsuit demanding judicial recognition of abortion as a protected right under the Michigan constitution.  The same day, Planned Parenthood filed a lawsuit to block enforcement of the 1931 law, naming Nessel, in her capacity as attorney general, as defendant.  In transparent coordination with Whitmer and Planned Parenthood, Nessel, the same day, announced in an "impromptu" press conference her refusal to defend against Planned Parenthood's lawsuit.  In a move described as "highly unusual," she also said "she will not even set up a conflict wall in her office to defend the case, not unless or until she is ordered by a court."

One Industry Insider Suggests The U.S. Government Plays A HUGE Role In Twitter.  There aren't a lot of new insights I come across where I sit dumbfounded, but this was one of them.  A huge kudos to Sundance over at Conservative Treehouse for shedding some light on the mostly-unknown world of Big Tech.  As bad as Twitter and the entire tech oligarchy is, it would appear that the situation is worse than even imagned.  Shadow banning of conservatives isn't fair — or legal, if Twitter is indeed the new public square — but things are about to really heat up if Sundance's insights and Elon's recent actions prove meaningful.  In short, Musk either intentionally or unintentionally stumbled upon the fact that Twitter's servers might be, or probably are, owned by several world governments and almost assuredly our own.  The next time you consider the fact that the sitting President of the United States was banned, just imagine THOSE ramifications.

If It Feels Like You're Being Manipulated, It's Because You Are.  If you've got a gut feeling that your rulers are working to control your perception of the war in Ukraine, it is safe to trust that feeling.  If you feel like there's been a concerted effort from the most powerful government and media institutions in the western world to manipulate your understanding of what's going on with this war, it's because that's exactly what has been happening.  If you can't recall ever seeing such intense mass media spin about a war before, it's because you haven't.  If you get the distinct impression that this may be the most aggressively perception-managed and psyop-intensive war in human history, it's because it is.  If it looks like Silicon Valley platforms are controlling the content that people see to give them a perspective on this war that is wildly biased in favor of the US narrative, it's because that is indeed the case.

A regime based on fraud and media collusion.  The unmasking of Dr. Anthony Fauci is the straw that I think will break the back of the camel of an evil cabal.  Everyone in the United States was directly and personally affected by the fraud and cover-up that obscured the origins of COVID-19 in the laboratory of the Wuhan Institute of Virology, imposed unnecessary lockdowns, and denied effective therapies to those infected with the virus.  It brought home to Americans the untrustworthiness of the ruling class and its media servants that have covered up numerous frauds in recent years:
  •   Fast and Furious: [...]
  •   Benghazi: [...]
  •   Pay to Play by Hillary: [...]
  •   The bathroom server: [...]
  •   Comey's presser:  The FBI director indicted Hillary and then said no intent could be shown.  These charges do not require intent [...]
  •   Bill Clinton met on the Phoenix Airport tarmac with A.G. Lynch just before Comey's exoneration of his wife.
  •   Russiagate never was anything other than a domestic disinformation operation run by the CIA with the FBI doing the grunt work.  Comey, Clapper, and Brennan also lied to Congress.  Hillary had to have an excuse for why she lost.  She was a very poor candidate, and Trump ran circles around her. [...]
The election was a full-court press using COVID as an excuse to illegally allow mail-in ballots with no identity verification on ballots to be cast.  Where is Hunter Biden's laptop that was put in the memory hole in the FBI, that the FBI is apparently not doing anything about?  And there's the issue of Ukraine and China with the big guy, Uncle Joe.  And let's not forget that Eric Swalwell and Hunter Biden were both compromised by Chinese honey traps.  How many others are there?

Illinois Dems' Outrageous Strong Arming Of Small Businesses.  Late on Friday night, when most of us were either sound asleep or out kicking off the weekend with some partying, Democrats at the Illinois statehouse in Springfield were busy trying to save their jobs by bullying owners of gas stations.  In the wee hours of Saturday morning, lawmakers in the Land of Lincoln put forth and passed a controversial and probably unconstitutional bill requiring gas stations to post stickers on their gasoline pumps.  The stickers will laud the efforts of the Democrat-controlled legislature by stating the following; [...]

Texas Land Office eyes Big Tech ad buy on public dime as agency head George P. Bush seeks AG nod.  The Texas General Land Office (GLO) is seeking to use taxpayer money to buy Twitter and Facebook ads touting its work just weeks before Land Commissioner George P. Bush squares off in a primary runoff for state attorney general.  The timing raises questions about whether the ad push is politically motivated and meant to boost Bush's campaign for attorney general on the taxpayers' dime.  Last month, the GLO sought to purchase ads on Twitter and Facebook to promote the agency's activities.  According to the notices of intent for the bids, the purpose is for Twitter and Facebook "to provide strategically placed advertisements for the Texas General Land Office on [their] social media platforms.  These advertisements shall focus on the Texas General Land Office's initiatives and missions.  These advertisements will also have a strategic focus on serving the citizens of the State of Texas by promoting the GLO's programs."

Deep State Operatives Are Lying To Americans And The Press About Intelligence Because They Can.  U.S. deep-state operatives are lying about the legitimacy of sensitive national security intelligence to secure political outcomes.  Under President Joe Biden's direction, intelligence officials have begun a declassifying spree that leverages information "even when the confidence in the accuracy of the information wasn't high" to influence foreign and domestic policy.  The Biden administration is using "rarely definitive" intelligence to deal with foreign threats such as Russia and China.  "The administration has done so even when the intelligence wasn't rock solid, officials said, to keep Russian President Vladimir Putin off balance," argues an article penned by Ken Dilanian, NBC's intelligence and national security correspondent, and others.

The Constitution Creates a Republic, not a Democracy.  Leading Democrats advocate rule by their President through executive order without resort to Congress.  They favor elimination of the electoral college as "anti-democratic."  They favor adding to the number of justices on the Supreme Court those preferred by Democrats until they dilute the conservative majority and render the Court reflective of the will of Congress and no longer independent.  They support speech codes on college campuses to eliminate dissenting conservative views.  They support cancel culture and Big Tech censorship as a means of ensuring that voices dissenting from their orthodoxies are suppressed.  They support expansion of administrative state regulation to circumvent Congress so that climate change and social engineering initiatives may proceed at the will of the executive branch beyond the extent palatable to the American people.  In short in the struggle between state power and individual liberty, they favor biased application of state power (supporting it in violation of rights whenever they favor the ends, and opposing it whenever they oppose the ends).

The DOJ is a swamp.  [Thread reader]  Under Obama, the DOJ was fundamentally pushed to the left by Attorney General Eric Holder and then by his successor, Loretta Lynch.  Sally Yates rounded out the Obama appointed DOJ leadership.  Holder came up w/process for doling out settlements from the financial crisis to activist groups.  Holder presided over unlawful investigation of certain members of media.  Under Holder's control, DOJ secretly obtained two months of telephone records of AP reporters & editors.  DOJ also monitored the personal email and phone of Fox News reporter James Rosen.  And it was Holder who refused to prosecute anyone in the IRS targeting of 426 conservative groups during the Obama Administration.  The FBI found Hillary Clinton guilty of essentially every act they investigated.  Despite these findings, Comey cleared Clinton by making a statement that "no reasonable prosecutor would bring such a case".  This allowed Loretta Lynch at DOJ to announce the matter closed.

A concerned mother who questioned NY Mayor Adams on toddler mask mandate fired from city job.  A few days ago the New York Post reported that a New York City mom, Daniela Jampel, who works for the New York City Law Department was fired from her job mere hours after she questioned Mayor Eric Adams about his decision not to unmask toddlers.  Jampel worked for the law department for years as assistant corporation counsel.  It all began when Jampel attended a press conference in the City Hall building in Lower Manhattan. [...] Jampel did not personally or physically attack the mayor, and neither did she use foul language.  She did not interrupt the Mayor's remarks.  She spoke only when questions were allowed.  Any mother overcome with concern for the wellbeing of their child will understandably be emotional and that Jampel was.  She did not profit in any way owing to her office, she did not misuse or abuse her power, and she did not reveal any confidential information.  All she did is question authority.

How many saw it coming?  The new elites seem incapable of rules-based debating.  They abide with their possessions and positions and influence and power and pass or cheerlead the issuance of executive orders, passage of law after law, and sign or cheer the signing of resolutions and edicts that disregard the voices of the people[.]  The newest platforms and small media outlets may not be enough to overcome the continuing strong hands of the elite keeping more and more voices of ordinary people hushed or silent, intimidated by the potential to be punished if they step out of line.  Many people owe their employment or receipt of subsidies to not stepping out of line and can see the risk of being put at the end of the line.  Many communities have long waiting lists for subsidized housing.  More and more programs claim to help all but cannot or do not.  The left-leaning subsidy administrators seem to thrive on maintaining a critical mass of the left out.  And the left out cannot imagine that their left-out status is a political tool.

Tucker Carlson reports spying allegations in Congress.  Fox News host Tucker Carlson reported that two members of Congress are being "spied on" by the U.S. intelligence apparatus.  The top-rated cable news personality, who accused the National Security Agency of spying on him last year, made the comment during an interview Friday with Utah GOP Rep. Chris Stewart.  The congressman has introduced legislation to better protect U.S. citizens from domestic surveillance activities.  Carlson said he's "spoken directly to two sitting members of Congress" tasked with overseeing the intelligence community, and he heard they "were being spied on by the intel agencies, and they didn't do anything about it."

The New Authoritarians.  The TV production of Margaret Atwood's novel The Handmaid's Tale premiered on April 26, 2017, and was widely touted in liberal media outlets as a "prescient" "mirror" of the country under Trump.  Journalists warned that the United States was on the precipice of becoming a Gilead-like dystopia where human rights would be nonexistent.  Yet based on the domineering COVID-era behavior of the show's own target audience, The Handmaid's Tale appears to have been less of a warning to viewers and more of a handbook.  Forced and coercive medical procedures, adoption of mandatory new garbs, censorship, and frozen bank accounts were central to the totalitarian state depicted in the novel and the show.  In the end, this program found its real-world parallel not in autocratic moves from the right, but in liberal-approved measures like vaccine mandates, mask requirements of dubious medical value, restrictions on speech, and seizure of protesters' financial assets — all of which were vocally supported by the affluent laptop class.

What the Forever Crises Are Really About.  Thomas Hobbes wrote that people are willing to surrender their liberties to government out of fear.  Fear is what compels us to flee to the foot "of the mortal god" that is the state for the promises of protection and security.  Free us from the danger of harm is the impetus of the slow growth of authoritarian government that becomes totalitarian government over the course of time: government's totalizing control over all aspects of our lives.  And what has the century of perpetual crisis revealed?  Precisely this.  If we consent to the government solution in all these crises, we will be free from the danger and harm that threatens our lives.  So we are inundated by the media and the rhetoric of our politicians with the constant threats which rely on a sense of fear to surrender our liberties.  If we do not, then they employ the fear of social and moral shaming:  how dare you not have compassion for your neighbor or grandma!

The COVID Hall of Shame — So Far.  Not long ago, we trusted our doctors to advise us in our best interest.  They took the Hippocratic Oath.  They worked for us, the patients.  No longer.  Most are now employed by large corporations funded by the government and answer to them, or it.  They are beholden to the powers that issue their paychecks and licenses.  Their convictions are not their own.  They told us COVID-19 is fatal, even to children, knowing it is 98% survivable overall, and dangerous in proportion to age and comorbidities.  They touted mask mandates, knowing they were of little or no value.  They supported wholesale shutdown of schools, small businesses, churches, and community activities, well aware the dangers to mental health and economic well-being were great, and the risk small.  They advocated coerced administration of untried and dangerous vaccines that have shown disastrous consequences: blood clots, heart attacks and strokes among the young and healthy, miscarriages, and an unprecedented number of outright deaths.  The ill-effects will multiply in the future.

The Democrats' radical, undemocratic agenda.  For all their talk about protecting democracy, Democrats sure are proving quick to abandon it by sidelining Congress and pushing President Joe Biden to enact a far-left agenda unilaterally through executive action.  Last week, the Congressional Progressive Caucus released "Recommendations for Executive Action," a six-page document outlining policies that left-wing Democrats failed to persuade even a Democratic-controlled Congress to pass.  They now want Biden to use presidential power alone to implement what has been rejected by the representatives of the wider public.  Can there be a more crystalline example of elitism over equality?

Will the real US President please stand up?  Presidential Impersonator Biden does not have the authority either to choose a question or to answer it without a script.  Jen Psaki does have both of those authorities.  So it is obvious that Psaki is above Biden in the non Biden white house administration.  It is equally obvious the Joe Biden is not the true President of the US.  It is apparent, from his many senior moments, that he does not have the intellectual capacity to be the commander in chief of the US armed forces.  If he cannot fend off a question from a journalist, then neither can he repel a military adversary.  This is the most obvious democratic fraud I have seen in my life and nobody treats it as such.  I am not talking about the vote rigging fraud of the 2020 US election.  I am talking about a hidden president who did not get one vote.  The true President of the United States, whoever he or she is, is the most obvious electoral fraud in the history of democracy.

From 15 Days to Two Years.  In March 2020, once-free citizens around the world surrendered their liberty and livelihoods in a futile attempt to "stop" a virus.  The most technologically advanced civilization in the history of mankind quickly adopted medieval fixes that bordered on quackery, sold by snake oil salesmen in the credentialied class and news media, codified through executive fiat by elected leaders of both parties.  "Just 15 days," we were told on March 16, 2020, "to slow the spread."  Do your part to promote the "common good" — the historical rallying cry of every wannabe despot — or be branded a heartless heretic.  And it worked, far better than the original architects probably anticipated.

For Whom the Horns Honk.  [Scroll down]  During the two and a half weeks before our dispersal, there was a campaign of fear to dissuade new arrivals and the broadcast of threats to persuade truckers to leave. [...] A list of 92,000 donors to the convoy was published in which names, email addresses, and postal codes were circulated online and amplified through the state press. [...] Two crowdfunding platforms were sanctioned, withholding millions of dollars, under the terrorist financing rules.  Canada's financial intelligence agency FinTRAC was given new permanent powers in monitoring online donations.  The personal bank accounts of organizers and donors were frozen; some are still unable to access their funds.  A class action lawsuit was filed seeking CAD $306 million in damages.  The Ottawa Police, with the help of a crisis management firm called Navigator Limited, began issuing menacing statements over their Twitter page, citing their ability to use cellphone location services, drone surveillance, and facial recognition software to identify protestors for "months to come" with the guarantee of criminal and financial charges.  Parents were warned about the imminent removal of their children by child protection services.  The police apprehended supporters caught furnishing supplies.  Several organizers were arrested, some released without charge, while others continue to be detained for petty infractions.  Every scare tactic failed.  Most backfired.  It is unlikely that Canadian financial institutions will recover anytime soon — reputationally, anyway — because the de-banking of political activists is a new market risk that had previously never existed.

States sue Biden admin over FBI surveillance of parents protesting school boards.  Thirteen states have signed on to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit seeking Biden administration records on any FBI surveillance of parents protesting school boards.  Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita, a former member of Congress, has taken the lead in the lawsuit against President Biden, Attorney General Merrick Garland and Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, citing a failure of U.S. officials to honor FOIA requests.  The Indiana attorney general previously demanded all communications and records relating to the FBI's decision to investigate violent threats against local education officials.  "We just want the facts," Rokita told Fox News Digital.

A School District Spied on Parents and Reported Social Media Activity to Their Employers.  Apparently, we have a school district that spied on parents, compiled a dossier of their social media activity, and reported such activity to the employers of these problematic parents.  And by 'problematic', I mean, they were politically conservative.  This little spy game was conducted by Rochester Schools, which is located outside Detroit.  Elena Dinverno, a parent, filed a lawsuit in 2021.  The Center Square has more, but this operation is straight-up insane.  Dinverno alleges that the school district's harassment led to her employment being terminated.

Rochester Schools collect dossier, call employers on critical parents.  Rochester Community School (RCS) officials were sued for compiling a dossier on parents who commented negatively on the school's virtual learning policy.  One official even called a parent's employer, which possibly resulted in the parent's termination.  Parent Elena Dinverno sued the district in 2021, claiming school officials called her place of work in the fall of 2020, and told her employer Dinverno was part of a group threatening the school district.  She was fired in December 2020.  The Detroit News first reported the story.  A lawsuit filed on May 3, 2021, claims Dinverno advocated on two separate Facebook groups to reopen schools in-person:  "RCS Parents for In-Person Education" and "Conservative Parents for Rochester."  Dinverno asked other parents for video testimony of how virtual school was hurting kids.

Wash. Gov. Jay Inslee Won't Give Up Authoritarian COVID Emergency Powers Because ... Trump.  The Governor of Washington refuses to give up the COVID-19 emergency powers he's clung to for two years despite several appeals by Republicans and, lately, Democrats.  And the reason he refuses to relinquish that extraordinary power is that Donald Trump is living rent-free in his mind.  Republicans and others have demanded he give up his emergency powers and resume regular order with old-fashioned checks and balances.  Even though Democrats dominate both houses, Inslee has refused.

Everything Is Fine.  Some Americans may look north and worry, but they should be reassured.  That can and will never happen here... and it isn't even that bad up there.  Order must be maintained, after all.  No one has a right to block the streets or disrupt traffic.  What might have happened had the trucks prevented emergency vehicles from getting to the scene of some crime or accident?  Granted, that didn't happen, but it might have.  Pointing out the fact that the protesters would likely have just moved — one Canadian police chief called them the most cooperative and reasonable protesters he'd ever encountered — well, that's excusing insurrection.  And pointing out the fact that no one raised this concern about BLM is "whataboutism," which is a rightwing trope.  More to the point, BLM and Antifa have every right to block streets (and to stand cheek-by-jowl in the middle of a pandemic when everyone else is in lockdown) because their cause is noble.  As Mitt Romney helpfully explained, when Antifa beats people and burns cities, that is good, because they are fighting Nazis.  Besides, it's hypocritical to be against BLM looting and burning cities but in favor of truckers blocking streets.  What are you, a hypocrite?

The Plague You Should Be Freaking Out About Is Government Abuse Of Power.  For anyone still naïve, stubborn, or fanatical enough to believe the Covid tyranny we've been suffocating under for the past two years is about a virus, let the events unfolding in Canada disabuse you of that illusion.  Invoking the Emergencies Act to freeze bank accounts, conduct mass arrests of peaceful demonstrators and protest organizers, target reporters and photographers, and establish "red zones" and checkpoints, all in response to a mobilized citizenry that is weary of ineffective, illiberal, and discriminatory Covid restrictions — this all smacks of dictatorship, not democracy.  It certainly has nothing to do with public health. [...] Meanwhile, jurisdictions around the world are hastily rolling back Covid edicts, lamely pointing to the usual fake science.  Behind the scenes, governments understand what their counterparts in places like Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and France seem determined to ignore: the people are no longer buying their narrative.

Did Justin Trudeau Just Destroy "Social Credit System" Logic?  [I]t seems that both working class as well as high net worth people really do not like the threat of having their money stolen or frozen by government bureaucrats on a political crusade.  Who would have guessed?  So, what to do when what you previously thought was a safe harbor turns out to be plagued by arbitrary and capricious currents?  Get out of there, pronto.

Are Canadian Banks About to be Massively Sued?  Here's a segment from one of Viva Frei's recent livestreams.  Cutting to the chase, a curious question has arisen:  The Emergencies Act never legally came into effect.  It was being debated by the Canadian Senate when Dear Leader revoked it.  So, before the Act ever came into effect, Canadian banks reportedly took it upon themselves to investigate the bank accounts of private Canadians citizens and then eventually freeze some of them.  [Video clip]  Under what legal legislation did employees at these banks do what they did?  Given that the forthcoming Emergencies Act invocation, which they believed was coming into effect, but never did, have they not, in fact, committed egregious illegal actions punishable by severe fines and possibly prison sentences?

We won't soon forget Trudeau's affair with totalitarianism.  What in the world is going on in Canada?  Just last night, P.M. Trudeau revoked the Emergencies Act that he'd been using since last Monday to crack down on protesters.  But the Parliament had approved those "emergency" measures, as we saw in news reports.  ["]The Emergencies Act was approved in parliament by 185 to 151, with the minority Liberal government getting support from left-leaning New Democrats.  The special measures, announced by Trudeau a week ago, have been deemed unnecessary and an abuse of power by some opposition politicians.["]  Am I the only person who thinks it's insane to do something this large on a purely party vote?  Furthermore, the precedent set is dangerous by allowing authorities to declare certain areas as "no-go zones," allowing police to freeze truckers' personal and corporate bank accounts, and compelling tow truck companies to haul away vehicles.  Also, some of the leaders were denied bail.

Leftists Want To Control Your Money So They Can Control You.  Last week, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the suspension of Canadians' rights last week in his invocation of the Emergencies Act to stop the Freedom Convoy protests in Ottawa and elsewhere. [...] According to news reports, "credit card processors and fund-raising services will be required to report any blockade-related campaigns to Canada's anti-money laundering agency."  Canadian banks quickly fell in line with the decrees, with Toronto-Dominion Bank freezing two personal bank accounts containing C$1.4 million ($1.1 million) they said was intended to support the truckers.  It bears a striking resemblance to the Biden administration's recent efforts to intensely monitor what goes in and out of Americans' bank accounts.  The president's expected announcement this week of an executive order to explore greater regulation of cryptocurrency is likewise an attempt to stick the state's nose ever deeper into the average citizen's business.

Canada's new dictator condemns authoritarianism.  Canada just demonstrated that, in a technologically sophisticated Western country, it's very easy to become a dictator. [...] On Valentine's Day, Trudeau invoked the Emergencies Act, giving himself complete power because truckers were honking their horns in Ottawa.  At his orders, the entire financial system was used punitively against not just the truckers but against anybody who dared to support them — and mind you, this included making donations to the truckers when there was nothing illegal about doing so.  In addition, Trudeau unleashed police on the truckers and their supporters.  The police reacted enthusiastically, beating peaceful people, trampling an old woman under a horse (and laughing about it), and bullying people whenever and wherever they could.  Then, two days ago, despite the police having brutally stopped the truckers' protest, Canada's leftist-controlled Parliament voted to extend Trudeau's unlimited powers.  They voted mindlessly along straight party lines.

The Gathering Storm in the West.  Liberal Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau last week invoked martial law to arrest and financially destroy truckers on the charge that their largely peaceful protests are "dismantling the Canadian economy" that had already been dismantled for two years under some of the most draconian lockdowns in the world.  The trucker "sect," Trudeau added, is guilty of felonious "unacceptable views."  But his rhetoric still cannot square the circle of demonizing vital workers while conceding he cannot run his country without them.  He has invoked the Emergencies Act for the first time in the law's 34-year history, even as the highly infectious Omicron variant wanes after spreading natural immunity and yet proving relatively mild in its effects.  Trudeau has neither science nor good governance on his side, especially given how civil the protests have been.  The truckers, who more or less work in solitary cabs, are better informed about the "science" and are themselves mostly vaccinated.  Whether by accident or intent, the truckers have now become iconic of far larger issues.  Their resistance to government vaccination mandates transcends them.

Decorated Canadian Veteran And Pastor:  Trudeau Has Declared War On His Own People.  [Scroll down]  The convoy began when the Canadian government started enforcing vaccine passports on truckers and others at its border with the United States.  "We prayed to hold those who have done bad, who need to repent and take account for wrongdoing, that they be held accountable for their sins and receive the mercy of God," [Harold] Ristau told The Federalist.  "We prayed that there be no injuries, that no one here would have a hateful thought in our hearts, that our hearts would be filled with love."  Ristau noted that before police closed in on the protesters, the demonstration had a sort of market fair attitude, with bouncy castles for children, soup kitchens for the hungry, and organized cleanups of public property.  When there were complaints about the truckers' noise and local disruptions, they stopped making noise after 6 p.m., local news accounts confirm.  He also witnessed that the truckers kept emergency lanes open during their protest to protect locals.  For his peaceful participation in this public assembly, Ristau has faced criticism and threats from fellow pastors, fellow citizens, the government-run Canadian media, and the government itself.  On Feb. 14, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked the Emergencies Act, which he claims allows the Canadian government to seize the children and property of anyone who attended the protest, without a court order or even proceeding.

Bitcoin Companies' Response to Canada's Request to Freeze Protester Accounts Is Pure Gold.  We've seen a lot of troubling civil liberties questions regarding the Freedom Convoy, particularly after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked the Emergencies Act.  Among the most concerning: banning of protests at the whim of the government, conscripted labor — the government telling tow truck workers that they would be forced to work for the government against the Convoy — and even the freezing of bank accounts for the grievous sin of being involved in a protest against government mandates.  As we reported, you even had Trudeau's deputy prime minister, Chrystia Freeland laughing about seizing accounts.  She is asked not just about the protesters' accounts being seized but about the accounts of the people who donated to the protesters.  She doesn't give a clear answer about whether the donors' accounts would also be affected.

UN Planes In Ontario, North Bay - Shocked Canadians Believe They Carry The "Green Shirt" Officers In Ottawa.  Who would have thought that Canada would ever be a spark plug for a freedom movement against tyranny?  Everything started when Ottawa's police chief was ousted amid criticism of his inaction against the trucker protests that have paralyzed Canada's capital for over two weeks, while the number of blockades maintained by demonstrators at the U.S. border dropped to just one.  The twin developments came a day after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked Canada's Emergencies Act and threatened to take tough legal and financial measures to end the unrest in Ottawa and beyond by protesters decrying the country's COVID-19 restrictions and Trudeau's government.  Ottawa Police Chief Peter Sloly lost his job after failing to move decisively against the bumper-to-bumper demonstration by hundreds of truck drivers according to the mainstream media.  Local sources alleged that he just didn't want to follow orders that would require stomping on Canada's democracy!

The Reason for the Police Violence in Ottawa is Not What You Think.  The black clad army of mercenaries and police brutalizing a peaceful protest in Ottawa this weekend has been planned for years.  It is overkill for a reason.  It is theatre.  It is an othering, a willful flagrant statement on the future of the working class everywhere.  It instructs them:  you will die.  If not now, then sometime in the next ten years.  Your towns will be gutted, your jobs will evaporate, you will scramble for pennies until you fall over dead and your children will have nothing to look forward to.  You are Tutsi, you are Jew, you are Kulak, you are compromador, you are Othered.  You are headed for the slagheap of history.  Fight back and you will be deemed domestic terrorists and encamped indefinitely.  This week, Canada's intelligentsia unmasked themselves as fully on side of this demonic enterprise, competing to hate on the truckers.

More Leftist Insanity:  About That Trampling Horse In Ottawa... Don't Worry, The Horse Is OK.  There has been no series of events more indicative of government tyranny in the name of COVID than what we've seen with the protest by truckers in Canada over the past several weeks.  Truck drivers who spend the vast majority of their workdays isolated in their vehicles were mandated to receive the controversial COVID vaccines, and they objected.  Since then, the movement has increased in intensity and participants are no longer limited to merely truckdrivers.  Arrests have been made, livelihoods have been lost, and bank accounts have been seized.  And for what purpose?  To force folks to receive a vaccination that doesn't stop the spread of an endemic virus.  Never mind that government authoritarians in Canada appear to be succeeding in destroying basic human freedoms of their citizens.  Pay no attention to the legitimate concerns folks may have about receiving the vaccine, it's what the government believes that matters.  And forget about the permanent damage that's been inflicted on so many of our neighbors, there are more important things to worry about.  Like whether or not a horse was injured during a police crackdown last week.

Decision to put Pelosi's metal fence back up ahead of Biden SOTU prompts hilarious scrutiny.  U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) announced that fencing will once again be installed around the Capitol building ahead of President Biden's first State of the Union address, leaving many wondering, "who cares?"  The USCP released a statement on Friday describing how they are working closely with "local, state and federal law enforcement agencies" like the United States Secret Service and D.C. National Guard and they "are aware of plans for a series of truck convoys arriving in Washington, DC around the time" of Biden's address.  Though the Friday statement said that a decision had not been made for the "temporary inner-perimeter fence," Fox News confirmed Sunday that it would be installed.  Despite the suggestion that an American trucker convoy is on its way, the question remains if anyone is interested in the speech.

Capitol perimeter fence erected after January 6 riot will be reinstalled ahead of Biden's State of the Union address on March 1.  The fencing that surrounded the Capitol complex for much of 2021 will be reinstalled next week as Congress prepares to host President Joe Biden for his first State of the Union address on March 1.  U.S. Capitol Police are preparing for truckers protesting the mask and vaccine mandates as the 'Freedom Convoy' heads to Washington, D.C. after demonstrating in Canada for weeks and causing major blockades.  The protesters were able to block the Ambassador Bridge border crossing between Windsor and Detroit as they expressed their distaste with COVID-19 mandates related to mask wearing and compulsory vaccinations.

Another Day Another Canadian Jackboot Thug Trampling A Peaceful Protester With His Horse.  Just another day in baby Fidel's Canada.  Watch as this woman, whose only crime is holding a sign, gets run over by a cop on a horse in Ottawa.  Rebel News got a hold of text messages between Ottawa police and they clearly show great joy and enthusiasm towards abusing peaceful protesters.  In the chat, RCMP Musical Ride member, Andrew Nixon sends a picture of a pint of beer hoping for his chance to abuse protesters:  "Don't kick all of them out until next weeks group gets our turn"  [Video clip]

Biden Declares 'National Emergency' Ahead of Freedom Convoy Heading Towards Washington D.C..  Joe Biden is extending the declaration of a Covid "national emergency" ahead of an expected People's Convoy heading towards Washington D.C.  The move echoes beleaguered Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's invocation of the Emergencies Act to carry out a police crackdown on Freedom Convoy protesters under the color of martial law. [...] The declaration of national emergency comes amid Justin Trudeau's brutal authoritarian crackdown on the peaceful Freedom Convoy protests in Ottawa, the capitol of Canada.  Police in riot gear with no nametag or unit identification violently suppressed the protest, and arrested over a 100 of the protesters.  Canadian Prime Minister has given the greenlight for the Ottawa Police to compile an "enemies list" to target anyone who was standing up for their basic human rights in the Freedom Convoy protests.

Ottawa: The Charge of the Woke Brigade.  There's a reason why heads of state like the Kaiser and Joe Stalin and Mao Zedong — and even Prime Minister Winston Churchill during WWII — like to dress up in military uniforms.  You'll have noticed that male members of the British Royal Family do the same.  It's because.  So think of poor Justin Trudeau, whose only encounter with warpaint is that blackface photo that we've all sneered about.  What if he could send the Canadian cavalry charging into a crowd of rebels and insurrectionists with sabers drawn and sharpened?  Why, then he could really stand with the great and powerful Oz.  Unfortunately, in another proof of God's existence, all that the fierce masked Canadian Flashmen could manage — I assume they wore traditional cavalry mustaches under their masks — was to knock over a little old lady on a mobility scooter — now identified as an indigenous elder.  Oh dear.

Canada really is turning into a police state before our eyes.  One of the hallmarks of liberty is a reliable legal system.  In totalitarian countries, one of the ways you control people is to keep them perpetually off-balance.  The law and its application are utterly unpredictable.  People become paralyzed and dare not do anything that might offend the regime, lest they get destroyed.  And that's what we're seeing in Canada, where the newly dictatorial government is making no pretense of abiding by the rule of law.  A very specific aspect of the rule of law is that new laws are not applied retroactively.  In a free country, one with a safe, reliable legal system, if it was legal for you to buy a croissant on Monday, the fact that the law changed on Tuesday to make croissants illegal does not mean that the police can come and arrest you for that Monday croissant.  In a police state, of course, the police can arrest you at any time for anything, including engaging in conduct that was legal when you engaged in it.

The Gathering Storm in the West.  Canada is now governed by absurdism, and it is symptomatic of an ailing Western elite.  Liberal Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau last week invoked martial law to arrest and financially destroy truckers on the charge that their largely peaceful protests are "dismantling the Canadian economy" that had already been dismantled for two years under some of the most draconian lockdowns in the world.  The trucker "sect," Trudeau added, is guilty of felonious "unacceptable views."  But his rhetoric still cannot square the circle of demonizing vital workers while conceding he cannot run his country without them.  He has invoked the Emergencies Act for the first time in the law's 34-year history, even as the highly infectious Omicron variant wanes after spreading natural immunity and yet proving relatively mild in its effects.  Trudeau has neither science nor good governance on his side, especially given how civil the protests have been.  The truckers, who more or less work in solitary cabs, are better informed about the "science" and are themselves mostly vaccinated.

Member of the European Parliament Gives Amazing Speech Against Trudeau and For Freedom.  Justin Trudeau has a highly inflated opinion of himself, without cause.  But he's about to get ripped apart on Monday in the vote on the Emergencies Act, and over the horrible actions of both his government and the actions of police in Ottawa [elsew]here.  The evisceration which is coming will all be richly and justifiably deserved.  Trudeau has falsely attacked and demonized the Freedom Convoy, in much the same way that Joe Biden has demonized the unvaccinated.  Then with triggering of the Emergencies Act, Trudeau has even taken away their ability to peacefully object to his tyrannical mandates, and penalized them for daring to do so by going after their bank accounts.  But someone who comes from a country that knows something about Communist dictatorships, Romanian Member of the European Parliament Cristian Terhes, had a few things to say about Trudeau and his crackdown on the Freedom Convoy.

Ottawa Police Get Grilled About 'Bicycle' They Claimed Was Thrown.  We reported the story about the man and a woman on a mobility scooter, who were run over by the police with their horses in Ottawa.  The police complained about "misinformation" going out about the incident, including people spreading the rumor that the woman had died.  [Video clip]  So, now the police say they're going to "monitor" journalists and media reports.  And decide what is misinformation?  Just a little more fascism there.  But, while media certainly shouldn't be claiming someone died if they haven't confirmed it, you know what else is true?  Police shouldn't be lying about a bicycle being thrown at a horse, suggesting it precipitated the incident.  Or claiming that no protesters had been hurt, particularly after not only the horse incident, but multiple videos came out of them beating people.

Here's More on the Ottawa Freedom Convoy Woman Run Over by Police With Their Horses.  We brought you the story of the woman who was run over by the police on their horses at the Freedom Convoy protest in Ottawa.  We wanted to update readers on what happened to her because there had been false rumors about her death, and false statements from the police about the incident that it involved someone throwing a bicycle at the horse.  We saw videos — starting from the moment that they approached the crowd to the woman being knocked to the ground — no bicycle was thrown.  As we noted earlier, the police weren't even able to back up that claim when asked by the CBC about it, even as they decried other reports about the incident being "misinformation."  [Video clip]

Crackdown Sparks Even More Massive Protests Across Canada, Crisis for Trudeau.  The protesters in Ottawa are hoping to make it through the weekend until the Senate convenes.  They want to make it to Monday because the Emergencies Act has to be approved by the Parliament within seven days of it being called for, which was on February 14.  So it has to be approved by tomorrow.  They are hoping that the legislators will not approve it, the police will back off, and the Parliament will address their concerns.  There were still hundreds of protesters out Saturday [2/19/2022] in Ottawa, more even than there were earlier when there was a lot of police action against them.  And some of them may even be the people who were "arrested" earlier.  [Tweets]

The Power of the Powerless Is Real.  Does anyone think the perverse and heavy-handed responses by the American government to the January 6 election protesters is a sign of strength? [...] Western governments are terrified of their people today.  They are terrified of what their people believe, or else they wouldn't feel compelled to criminalize thoughts as "hateful."  They are scared to death of what their people might say to each other, or else they wouldn't engage in mass surveillance and blatant censorship.  They are fearful of free and fair elections, or else they wouldn't work so hard to manipulate and undermine them.  And they are absolutely petrified of a future where cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies free their citizens from the consolidated control imposed by central banks and spendthrift treasuries.

Ottawa's Police Chief Makes a Big Tactical Error.  Things are escalating in Ottawa as the Freedom Convoy protesters continue to fight against Canada's draconian COVID-19 measures.  But while the focus started on the message, it is now firmly on the behavior of the Ottawa Police Department.  As RedState has chronicled, numerous videos of mistreatment and violence perpetrated by police on peaceful protesters have emerged.  Perhaps the most stunning example was the trampling of a disabled woman by officers on horseback.  In response, the police lied, claiming a bike had been thrown at the horses.  That was quickly debunked, showing how valuable it is that people are videoing what's happening.  On Saturday [2/19/2022], Ottawa's chief of police gave a press conference where he dutifully played the role authoritarians assigned to him. [...]

When Fascism Comes To America, It Will Look Like Justin Trudeau's Canada.  If Justin Trudeau had merely removed trucks from blocking a bridge in protest of vaccine mandates, it would be no big deal.  Protesters for various causes routinely get removed from blocking traffic.  But that's not all Justin Trudeau did.  He suspended civil liberties in Canada, targeting peaceful protesters and anyone who supports them.  Not because those supporters committed a crime, but because they supported the political opposition to Trudeau's government.  Trudeau ordered all financial institutions to freeze the assets of his political opposition without court order and with full immunity from liability, and no financial asset was spared.  "The names of both individuals and entities as well as crypto wallets have been shared by the RCMP with financial institutions and accounts have been frozen and more accounts will be frozen."

Time for Trudeau to Concede:  The Truckers Have Won.  Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has embarrassed himself and his government with his response to the Freedom Convoy, and however it ends now, there's no way for him to save face.  From the start, Trudeau has dismissed the truckers' concerns and tried to discredit them by claiming they're a fringe minority with "unacceptable views."  Yet, a recent poll suggested that 46% of Canadians have some sympathy with the truckers, even if most disapprove of their methods.  That's higher than Trudeau's own approval rating.  Rather than meeting with the truckers or even considering some concession or compromise, Trudeau fled Parliament Hill and dug his heels in.  Protecting himself from a peaceful democratic protest while doubling down on mandates and restrictions paints a fitting image of the virtue signaling that has characterized his COVID-19 response.  Trudeau should have realized that, regardless of whether he meets the protestors' demands before or after they disband (or are disbanded), their demands will be met in the near future.

Video Evidence So We Never Forget What Happened To The Canadian Truckers.  [Threat reader]  Here is a thread of footage of Tyrant Trudeau's crackdown on the peaceful Freedom Convoy in Ottawa today:  [Numerous video clips.]

'Freedom Convoy' Exposes Canada's Hollow Liberal Universalism.  Canada has seen its third week of so-called trucker protests that mostly have centered on downtown Ottawa, adjacent to Parliament.  Last weekend, authorities ended the blocking of traffic on the Ambassador Bridge connecting Ontario and Michigan.  And now Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the government will use the tools of its Emergencies Act to end truckers' "Freedom Convoy," or so it hopes.  This effort involves dragooning private parties to assist the government in removing trucks, seizing property and accounts without a court order, and using state coercion beyond the formal channels of due process.  This entire situation, obviously, is a rapidly moving one and it could turn against the key players, depending on how events emerge.  Canadian lawmakers created the Emergencies Act for truly harrowing situations of national security, and it seems ill-fitting to what is a large and peaceful protest in the streets of Ottawa.

Why are the police we revere doing the tyrants' bidding?  The outrageous mismanagement of COVID as an instrument of population control will go down as the second worst political crime against the American people in U.S. history.  The first is the Hillary Clinton-conceived Russia hoax.  She and her cohorts belong in prison as do Fauci, Collins, Birx, and all those who pushed unsafe, ineffective injections on the millions of people who believed their lies about COVID.  Each of those bureaucrats abused his position of power over the people and has blood on his hands. [...] So how do we explain the fact that in countries around the world, Australia, the U.K., the U.S., France, Belgium, Austria, and Canada, the police, those who were not fired for refusing the vaccine, have taken the opportunity to act like tyranny's handmaidens rather than protectors of the people, their essential charge, the reason they signed up for the job?  In Canada, a few have sided with the truck drivers' cause, but the rest seem to enjoy the opportunity to roust good, law-abiding, non-violent protesters.

Justin Cracks Down.  The blockades by Canadian truckers that had completely shut down the U.S.-Canada border crossing at Detroit have been cleared by reopening the Ambassador Bridge, and as of Friday, Ottawa police have begun moving against truckers occupying central Ottawa.  Despite these actions on the part of the Canadian government, the truckers comprising the "Freedom Convoy" hold their ground in defiance of threats of a police crackdown as they continue to disrupt other trade routes and cities, occupying the country's capital for a third week.  The members of the Freedom Convoy appear unyielding despite days of warnings from police and the government — risking arrest and having their rigs seized and bank accounts frozen.  Unfortunately for the truckers, the government crackdown began early in the week of February 13th, when the Canadian Prime Minister invoked Canada's Emergencies Act, enabling law enforcement agencies to declare the blockades illegal, tow away their trucks, arrest the drivers and suspend their licenses.

Police horses trample demonstrators at Freedom Convoy protest in Ottawa.  Turns out the lasting image of the Freedom Convoy protest at Parliament Hill will not be bouncy castles but that of a woman with a walker being trampled by a police horse.  The violence the Prime Minister has expressed concern about during the three-week protest in Ottawa didn't unfold until Justin Trudeau's Emergencies Act police army was sent in to disperse the crowd.  The three major incidents Friday, under a form of martial law, were grotesque.  Video of Toronto Police Mounted Unit officers charging into the crowd and at least one horse trampling multiple people — including an elderly woman with a walker — was disturbing.  [Video clip]

Woman Trampled By Horse in Canada, and Police Have Gall to Say At Least Nobody Died or Was 'Seriously Injured'.  Each new development from what Canada has become as its government tries to stop peaceful demonstrators who are part of the "Freedom Convoy" protesting COVID restrictions is scarier than before.  In this digital age, there's footage to provide proof, too.  This was the case in the instance of a woman being knocked over and trampled by a police horse on Friday night.  The image and video clip below may be upsetting to some and the video clip contains strong language.  Images also show another man having been trampled, who appears to have been trying to help the woman.

Cryptocurrency expert says US should watch what Canadian government is doing to protesters: 'No one is safe'.  A cryptocurrency expert is sounding the alarm on how the Canadian government is freezing the crypto wallets of Freedom Convoy protesters and said that it's something that can "very realistically" happen in the United States.  In an effort to take action against participants of the Freedom Convoy protests in Canada, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked the Emergencies Act on Monday, giving the government power to clear protests by towing vehicles and even more direct measures like freezing personal bank accounts.  Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said during a press conference on Thursday that crypto wallets have been frozen.

Trudeau government to start abducting truckers' pets.  Evil has a new face.  It is the face of an entitled pajama boy and wannabe dictator.  It is a face that once was painted black as part of a costume for an "Arabian Nights" party.  It is the face of Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau.  Trudeau recently invoked the Emergencies Act, the first time it has ever been utilized, to indiscriminately punish the truckers who constitute the Freedom Convoy.  (In 1988, Canada's existing "War Measures Act" was repealed and replaced by the Emergencies Act, which was to be invoked only during similar security emergencies.)  The act will allow Trudeau to direct that truckers be arrested, their trucks seized, and their bank accounts frozen... all without a warrant.  If a protester is detained for more than eight days, that person's dog or other pet could be taken from him.  The same fate could befall those individuals who could no longer care for their pets because they had their bank accounts frozen due to the Trudeau government's tyrannical and unconstitutional actions.

California Prosecutors Attempt To Ban Exculpatory Evidence From Pro-Life Journalist's Criminal Trial.  California prosecutors in the upcoming criminal trial of David Daleiden, who could face jail time for recording conversations with Planned Parenthood employees about baby body part trafficking, filed a pretrial motion requesting specific evidence be barred from the trial.  Friday afternoon, Daleiden and his legal team filed a response to that motion, arguing that prosecutors are attempting to ban exculpatory evidence that proves his undercover videos were indeed legal.  Attorney General Rob Bonta's office is prosecuting Daleiden as if the charges against him include violating National Abortion Federation (NAF) policies when he recorded conversations at their convention.  Daleiden's counsel argues that NAF's policies and procedures are irrelevant because he was seeking evidence of criminal activity, in accordance with California law.

Watch As Trudeau's Jack Boot Thugs Beat A Freedom Convoy Protester With The Butt Of A Rifle.  A disturbing video shared on social media shows a protester behind a police line repeatedly being smashed with an officer's rifle.  Convoy organizer Benjamin Dichter also told the Toronto Sun "one of drivers had his truck windows smashed by Ottawa Police (with) guns drawn and (he was) dragged out of his vehicle by force."  [Video clip]

Cowardly Canadian Police Target Senior Citizens to Arrest in Freedom Convoy Protests.  As if these police listening to their wannabe dictator can't look anymore pathetic, watch as they throw down senior citizens, including war vets, into the snow while arresting peaceful protesters.  This is tyranny.  This is what life in communist nations look like.  [Video clip]

Canada Goes Tyrannical.  This week, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, the lightweight, unpopular elected leader of a country with a 93% vaccination rate for those over 60 and a total vaccination rate of 84%, announced that he would invoke the Emergencies Act in order to crack down on the Freedom Convoy — a group of protesters opposed to government vaccination mandates for truckers.  Trudeau breathily announced that invocation of the law was in fact "reasonable and proportionate."  His public safety minister, Marco Mendicino, said that the actions were required thanks to "intimidation, harassment, and expressions of hate."  Why the government would need to invoke emergency powers in order to move some trucks remains beyond understanding; after all, the police had just removed trucks from the Ambassador Bridge, reopening that trade artery with the United States.  Meanwhile, provinces across Canada have already begun alleviating their COVID-19 restrictions, from vaccine passports to masking.

Seven of Canada's 10 provinces now oppose Trudeau's Emergencies Act declaration.  Seven Canadian provinces now oppose an Emergencies Act declaration made Monday by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who claims it is needed to stop the peaceful Freedom Convoy protesters in Ottawa.  The Premiers of Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Quebec were the first to oppose the extreme measures made by Trudeau.  Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe said Monday that his government does "not support the Trudeau government invoking the Emergencies Act."  Alberta Premier Jason Kenney said Monday that he told "Prime Minister Trudeau that Alberta's Government is opposed to the invocation of the federal Emergencies Act."  Manitoba Premier Heather Stefanson said Trudeau's declaration of the Emergencies Act was an "unnecessary" thing to do.

'A new low!' Ottawa police reamed for warning dissenters what will happen to their pets.  Ottawa, Ontario, authorities, who already have warned peaceful, anti-COVID-mandate Freedom Convoy protesters to leave the downtown area or face severe penalties, appear to be threatening to hold the dissidents' dogs hostage and then schedule them for a fast-track adoption.  Or maybe something worse. [...] For supporters of anti-mandate demonstrations, which includes many truckers and others who are fully COVID vaccinated, these developments suggest that authoritarian regimes have vitiated police-community relations in the context of civil liberties during the pandemic era.  Canada, Australia, Hong Kong, and various European cities are unfortunate examples.

Doxing Day in Canada.  This week, one of the most popular small-donor fundraising sites for the Canadian truckers protesting the COVID vaccine mandates, GiveSendGo, was hacked.  The names of donors were shared with the public.  We know about this mostly because erstwhile news organizations, such as Reuters, have showered attention on the breach as if they were providing a public service.  Indeed, many of the same outlets that refused to report specifics about the Hunter Biden email scoop in 2020 (though the story was obtained in a completely ethical journalistic manner) or share specifics from the Democratic National Committee email hacks in 2016 (illegally obtained, but with high news value) have no compunction highlighting a site that takes aim at ordinary people who have done nothing but engage in political dissent.  In Canada, the doxing has already begun.

Canada Police to Send Names of Trucker Protesters to Financial Institutions.  Canadian banks will receive the names of people involved in "Freedom Convoy" protests that have descended on the nation's capital, a first step in a promised financial crackdown on demonstrators being instituted by the far-left government of Justin Trudeau.  Bloomberg reports the Canadian Bankers Association confirmed the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) has alerted banks to a list of names and made it available.  The institutions are reportedly still seeking clarity from law enforcement on how to handle the alleged protesters' accounts, according to people familiar with the matter.  But Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said some accounts have already been frozen, the news outlet reported.

Canadian Martial Law:  Trudeau Redux.  [Scroll down]  It's rich that the ethically challenged Justin Trudeau has warned the truckers and their supporters that they were breaking the law and would be punished accordingly.  Early on he asked the army to clear the convoy out but at least for now they have refused to do so.  Of course, they were breaking the law, a law based on emergency powers that had particularly been promulgated to target, control and punish them.  So too had Gandhi and his followers been breaking the law when they went to the sea to make salt.  So too had the legendary freedom riders of the American civil rights movement broken the law when they refused to sit in the back of the bus and insisted on being served at lunch counters.  That's what civil disobedience is all about, breaking unjust Jim Crow type laws, but breaking them in a non-violent, peaceful manner.  As it turns out, recent polls show that the truckers have more support among Canadians than does Trudeau's Liberal Party.

Trudeau Dreams Of Being A Dictator On Camera — This Is The Last Video Trudeau Wants You To See After He Invoked The Emergencies Act.  Justin Trudeau (who is definitely not Fidel Castro's son!) cannot explain the legal basis for invoking the Emergencies Act, but he's got his finance minister out there announcing that banks can freeze your account without a court order anyway if you donate to the truckers.  After Trudeau authorized the Canadian government's use of the Emergencies Act, giving the government much broader powers to deal with anti-vaccine mandate protests in his country, it might be useful to recall that in 2013, asked what country he most admired besides Canada, he selected communist China, even while admitting they had a "basic dictatorship."

Trudeau Authorizes Bank Accounts Frozen for Social Media Posts in Support of Freedom Protests.  The triggering of an official invocation of the Canadian Emergency Measures Act to eliminate protests is stunning.  Using the Emergency Act to target individual citizens in Canada, and their bank accounts, is yet again another level of astonishing. [...] I am carefully reviewing the details of the authorization because according to the public statements by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, they have authorized banks, financial institutions and insurance carriers to suspend the accounts of Canadian citizens based on their social media postings.

Canada Begins Using Military and Armored Police Cars against Seniors to Stop them from Peacefully Protesting for Freedom.  The Canadian government controlled by leftists are doing all they can to stop the peaceful protests from happening.  The same government that allowed BLM to destroy cities across the country due to something that happened in a completely different country is suddenly concerned about protests.  Look as military members and heavily armed police using military vehicles roll in and arrest senior citizens who dared to help the protesters.  [Video clip]

Trudeau Goes Nuclear:  Invokes Never-Before-Used Emergencies Act to Crush Freedom Convoy.  Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, in an unprecedented action, announced on Monday [2/14/2022] that he is invoking the never-before-used Emergencies Act to try and put a stop to the Freedom Convoys that have shut down traffic — and much of the commerce — in Canada.  The truckers, protesting vaccine mandates, have clogged roads, leading to chaos on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border.  Among other actions, the Canadian government will freeze the assets of truck owners participating in the protests and suspend their insurance policies.  In addition, the prime minister said that, under the Emergencies Act, the government will have the power to "compel" tow-truck drivers to remove rigs blocking roads, which sounds an awful lot like forced labor, i.e. slavery. [...] The protests were prompted by a requirement that all truckers be fully vaccinated against COVID-19, or quarantine for 14 days, after crossing into Canada from the U.S.

Pelosi's Watergate.  There has been much written lately about the similarity of Watergate and Special Counsel John Durham's revelations about the Clinton campaign and others spying on Donald Trump, both as a candidate and a sitting president.  There is also the entry into the offices of Rep. Troy Nehls by the Capitol Police.  They are under the control of Nancy Pelosi, of whom Rep. Nehls has been critical regarding her so-called J-6 investigation.  The Capitol Police allegedly entered the congressman's office without his knowledge or permission and photographed sensitive documents.  They then allegedly returned a few days later dressed as construction workers and began grilling a staffer about the contents of the illegally photographed documents.  This, of course, rivals Watergate, but it may also open the door for a means of bringing these Gestapo tactics before the public where they belong.  The actions of the Capitol Police may well have violated the rights protected under the provisions of 42 U.S.C. §1983.  It is also conceivable that the civil provisions of the RICO Act could have been triggered.

1984 is Somewhat Here, The Left Has Just Cleverly Disguised Government Control as Private Actors.  Conservatives have sat in paralysis for a good part of the past 25 years now not knowing how to address the left's radical transformation of society that is canceling conservatives and forcing the left's rules on everyone.  Amazon bans our books and only a few people who are ridiculed compare it to George Orwell's 1984.  It's because we think the takeover is being done by private corporations and actors in a free society, so we don't know how to react.  Most of us aren't ready to call it communism or socialism; it doesn't seem to violate the Constitution.  The reality is, while on the surface the new situation may appear to involve private actors, the truth is much more sinister.  And it's been done deliberately this way, in order to sneak it past the scrutiny of half of society that believes in a free society and the Constitution.  We're basically being ruled by a hybrid oligarchy of government and large corporations.

The ruling elites of the western nations are now heading for political suicide.  They seized upon the unknown consequences of the new and fast-spreading Wuhan virus for political gain.  They used it to exceed their constitutional powers — locked down their citizens and demanded compliance with various vaccine mandates and treatment protocols and then clung on to those powers long after the deleterious effect of those mandates exceeded the virus's harm.  Never, to my knowledge, has any country before this quarantined the healthy along with the sick.  Never.  (And I remind you that while locking down the young, the robust, and the otherwise healthy New Yorkers, Governor Andrew Cuomo went so far as to quarantine the stricken with the healthy but most vulnerable elderly — the result was thousands of deaths of oldsters otherwise far less likely to have become infected.)  Never to my knowledge has the public health establishment so ruined its own credibility.  Doubt me?  Look to our own country for a prime and early example:  The CDC endorsing lockdowns while cheering on the BLM protests.

The Surveillance and Political Spying Operations Highlighted by John Durham are the Tip of the Iceberg.  Barack Obama and Eric Holder did not create a weaponized DOJ and FBI; instead, what they did was take the preexisting system and retool it, so the weapons only targeted one side of the political continuum.  Together they recalibrated the domestic surveillance capabilities, the internal spying systems, so that only their political opposition would be targeted.  This point is where many people understandably get confused.  In the era shortly after 9/11, the DC national security apparatus was constructed to preserve continuity of government and simultaneously view all Americans as potential threats.  The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) were created specifically for this purpose.  What Barack Obama and Eric Holder did with that new construct was refine the internal targeting mechanisms so that only their ideological opposition became the target of the new national security system.

The Great International Convoy Fiasco.  [Scroll down]  Now that the "Freedom Convoy" is inspiring similar protests not just in the United States but in France, Belgium, Australia, New Zealand, and other places, it's clear every Western leader from Biden to Emmanuel Macron on down wants Trudeau, rather than any of them, to take the political hit that would ensue from any use-of-force resolution to this crisis.  All of these leaders seem equally to be laboring under the delusion that a decisive enough [defeat] in the Great White North will make this all go away.  Until then, there seems to be no plan in any country that doesn't involve tear gas, truncheons, or getting Facebook to blame troll farms in Bangladesh for stirring up the "discord":  [Video clip]

French Riot Police Resort to Gas Attacks, Smashing Windows and Random Beatings of 'Freedom Convoy' Protesters.  Here is a 5 minute compilation Vidmax has put together in order to show France riot police acting like Hitler's goons, the crime you ask?  They dare hold a freedom convoy that is protesting the vaccine mandates as tyrannical overreach of government.  The Macron governments response to that?  Act like Communist China and brutally crackdown on the protesters so they become more irate against the riot police.  [Video clip]

Oligarchy's Response to the Freedom Convoy Bodes Ill for Them.  As I write, Canadian police, many dressed in military garb and supported by armored vehicles and snipers(!), are moving in to enforce several court orders and demands of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Ontario Premier Doug Ford, and others that the "Freedom Convoy" of Canadian truckers stop blocking the Ambassador Bridge, the major artery between the United States and Canada, and disperse.  Some of the protestors are leaving while many others are standing their ground.  Will the heavy hand of the state succeed in crushing the protest?  In the short term, perhaps. [...] But impotence comes in long-term and short-term varieties.  Long-term, I think [Tucker] Carlson is right.  Officialdom's response to the Freedom Convey is a desperate effort to put the genie of liberty back in the bottle.  Ultimately, it will not work.  But on the way to that failure there will be plenty of opportunities for the coercive power of the state to manifest itself.

We Are All Truckers Now.  As momentum from the Freedom Convoy in Canada mounts and works its way into the US, and similar convoys spring up in Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, people are collectively standing up to two years of COVID restrictions, lies, misery, and abuse at the hands of our government masters.  And we owe it all to Canada's truckers. [...] And what's the reaction of the officials both in Canada and the US?  To pressure GoFundMe to cancel the $10 million raised for the Freedom Convoy; freeze out truckers and their children by having police remove their fuel cans in sub-freezing weather; arrest an old man for honking his horn; and starve out truckers and their families by threatening to arrest people who bring them food and drink.  Meanwhile, the Biden administration and Pete Buttigieg plot to find alternate routes around bridges facing long delays because of the truck convoy and the state of Michigan brandishes the possibility of forcibly removing the big rigs and their supporters from the Ambassador Bridge.

They're Coming For You.  You Know That, Right?  [Scroll down]  But the Democrats' destructive war on the country isn't simply limited to COVID.  Last month they tried to take over the way we conduct elections from the states while threatening some of their own party who wouldn't go along.  George Soros-funded Democrat district attorneys refuse to prosecute theft and violence in major American cities.  Homicides are through the roof.  Retail and auto theft is through the roof.  Homeless, drug-addicted zombies lay waste to city streets.  Worse, the Democrats who run these cities have gone to war with and called to defund and strip authority from the police officers that remain the single thin, blue line between anarchy and their residents.  Joe Biden's Department of Justice has conspired to frame Americans for wild, politically motivated schemes.  They currently hold many in federal custody without formal charges related to undefined law breaking on January 6th, 2021.  Two Republican members of Congress have accused the DOJ of going through their constituent mail and interrogating their staff.  They've threatened to deploy resources to school board meetings to keep an eye on parents who get too uppity.  Democrats want a peek into your bank accounts if you have $600 bucks or more.

Is This Proof Capitol Police Lied About Why They Entered Rep. Nehls's Office?  Earlier this week, U.S. Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger released a statement in response to a complaint from Rep. Troy Nehls (R-Texas), who says the USCP illegally entered his office, took photos, and later interrogated his staff.  According to Manger, "The weekend before Thanksgiving, one of our vigilant officers spotted the Congressman's door was wide open."  As such, Manger said it is the responsibility of the USCP to document the incident and secure the office.  There's just one problem with this explanation:  [Video clip]  As the video above makes clear, the door to Nehls' congressional office suite has an automatic closer on it.  Is it possible the door was propped open by Nehl or his staff?  This is unlikely, as the sign on the door states it is not for public use, but for the member and his staff only.

The United States Government Is "Desperate to Hide the Truth".  How are Americans going to respond when Washington D.C, the Fourth Branch of the security and surveillance state, and all the institutions of the United States government, officially declare that Donald John Trump will not be permitted to run for office? If you have not thought about that question, we had better hurry up and get that conversation front and center.  It's about to happen, and President Trump knows it.

Inspector General Opens Investigation Into U.S. Capitol Police Following Allegations Of Spying On Members Of Congress, Staff.  The inspector general for the U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) has opened a formal investigation into whether the law enforcement agency tasked with securing the Capitol has been inappropriately surveilling elected members of Congress, their staff, and visitors to their offices, The Federalist has learned.  The opening of the investigation follows news reports and accusations from lawmakers that USCP has overstepped its bounds as it tries to recover from the January 6 riots that tarnished both the Capitol and the reputation of the law enforcement agency that was supposed to keep it safe.  USCP Chief J. Thomas Manger confirmed the opening of the inspector general investigation in his response to congressional inquiries about USCP police tactics, reported in a January 24 article published by Politico, including surveilling and compiling intelligence dossiers on members of Congress, their staff, and visitors.

Capitol Police Issue an Unbelievable Statement After Accusations of Spying on Congress.  We have previously reported on the troubling stories of the Capitol Police surveilling Republican members of Congress, their staff, and even people with whom they are meeting.  Republicans are now calling on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Chairwoman on House Administration Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) to investigate, noting that this raises serious constitutional concerns. [...] Now, unfortunately, asking Pelosi to look into this is probably not the best idea, because not only can't you believe anything she says, but one has to ask why the Capitol Police were doing this, to begin with — and who might be behind it.  The Capitol Police didn't deny it, they just tried to justify it in a statement as necessary for security reasons.  "The more public information we have, the better we can understand what kind and how much security is necessary," the statement said.  Uh, yeah, no.  None of what they are allegedly doing sounds justifiable by trying to ensure security.

Fuming GOP rep accuses Capitol Police of 'illegally' investigating his office, says staffer 'caught them in the act'.  Rep. Troy Nehls (R-TX) claimed Tuesday [2/8/2022] that the United States Capitol Police "illegally" entered his office twice during Thanksgiving week while conducting an alleged investigation and one of his staffers caught them in the act.  While the officers were there they reportedly photographed sensitive legislative items according to The Daily Caller.  Nehl characterized the entries as "illegally" executed and unconstitutional.  "Upon discovering a member of my staff, special agents dressed like construction workers began to question him as to the contents of a photograph taken illegally two days earlier," he asserted, adding that Capitol Police "never informed myself or senior-level staff of their investigation."

Fed Scandal Bigger Than Watergate?  Fed Chair Powell — who is supposed to serve in the public interest and avoid even the appearance of conflicts — traded millions in personal stocks and bonds while obstructing required public disclosures about those trades for years.  Yet, the information that has slipped out is [bad].  It shows Powell made trades during the restricted blackout period for pivotal Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meetings.  This is a shocking revelation and constitutes grave and inexcusable misconduct by a high-ranking U.S. government official.  Moreover, Powell directed policy decisions that directly advantaged his personal bond holdings despite longstanding federal conflicts of interest law, 18 U.S.C. § 208.  And then he apparently told a brazen lie about it to the press by suggesting the Office of Government Ethics (OGE) said his holdings posed no conflict.  FOIA requests confirm that OGE provided no such guidance in writing.

Capitol Police Surveillance Operation Is Really a Full-Blown Spy Operation.  In January, we discussed how the Capitol Police were going to do background checks on certain visitors who visited Congress.  It's the post-January 6 regime.  Is it spying?  They claim that they will only use public information.  The punchline was that they likened these reviews to journalists doing background research.  They may not call it spying, but almost everyone will feel like their privacy has been violated.  It's meant to chill constituents meeting with their elected leaders.  Period.  Now, we find out that this little operation may go way beyond just a simple social media review.  GOP Congressman Troy Nehls (R-TX) had a lengthy Twitter thread about how his office was illegally spied on by the Capitol Police.  They accessed his office when Congress was in recess last year and took photographs of confidential legislative documents illegally.  Days later, Capitol Police officers dressed as construction workers tried to enter his office again but were caught by a member of his staff.  Neither Congressman Nehls nor his senior staff was informed that they were the subjects of an investigation.

Capitol Police Caught Spying in Republican Congressional Office, Investigation Launched.  In late January, news broke of multiple instances of the Capitol Police appearing to spy on Republican congressional members.  Those actions followed the rank politicization of the force that took place after January 6th, including the expansion of its intelligence-gathering mission in areas that are, at best, questionable. [...] While vetting of contacts is not necessarily nefarious, it is supposed to be done out in the open and in conjunction with lawmakers.  Instead, the Capitol Police have instituted a system that remains in shadows, conveniently only seeming to target Republicans.  Another disturbing example of that has emerged via The Federalist, this time involving Rep. Troy Nehls (R-TX).  According to a police report filed by a USCP officer, Nehls' office was entered without permission and his work materials were photographed because they appeared "suspicious."

Inspector General Opens Investigation Into U.S. Capitol Police Following Allegations Of Spying On Members Of Congress, Staff.  The inspector general for the U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) has opened a formal investigation into whether the law enforcement agency tasked with securing the Capitol has been inappropriately surveilling elected members of Congress, their staff, and visitors to their offices, The Federalist has learned.  The opening of the investigation follows news reports and accusations from lawmakers that USCP has overstepped its bounds as it tries to recover from the January 6 riots that tarnished both the Capitol and the reputation of the law enforcement agency that was supposed to keep it safe.  USCP Chief J. Thomas Manger confirmed the opening of the inspector general investigation in his response to congressional inquiries about USCP police tactics, reported in a January 24 article published by Politico, including surveilling and compiling intelligence dossiers on members of Congress, their staff, and visitors.

Pelosi's Capitol Cops Tried to Sneak Into GOP Congressman's Office Dressed as Construction Workers, Illegally Took Photos of Legislative Documents.  Speaker Nancy Pelosi's Capitol Police are alleged to have illegally entered the office of Congressman Troy Nehls (R-TX), photographing confidential legislative products and grilling staff, according to reports.  The police — now under formal investigation — stand accused of dressing up as construction workers and attempting another entry just two days later.  The stunning, Watergate-style scandal comes after almost a year of warnings that Speaker Pelosi and Democrats in Congress were politicizing the Capitol Police, using them as a Stasi-style enforcement unit against GOP opponents.  Reports suggest Capitol Police have built intelligence dossiers on those illegally investigated.  The documents photographed, says Nehls, are "protected by the Speech and Debate clause enshrined in the Constitution, Article 1 Section 6".

Justin goes Castro on Canada's truck protestors.  For a while there, the far-left Canadian government contented itself with deplatforming and defunding the striking Canadian truckers who are in Ottawa protesting the country's vaccine mandate.  That didn't work, so now they've gotten worse. [...] Peaceful protests?  Freedom of assembly?  Canada must have some version of these but not with this kind of talk.  Someone taking sides here?  It calls to mind that the bulk of the strike is centered in Ottawa, the Canadian capital, and Canada's prime minister has disappeared, supposedly after a diagnosis of COVID, (a disease which didn't seem to pay much attention to his triple-vaxxing), but has put out hateful dispatches insulting the overwhelmingly peaceful protestors bringing their petitions to the capital as "fringe" and "extremist" and unrepresentative of Canada.

Bannon Accuses the Feds of Snooping on One of His Lawyers in Explosive Court Filing.  Former Breitbart head and Trump advisor Steve Bannon is under investigation by the feds and it looks like his already unenviable situation might be even worse than it looks on its face.  Now, according to a recently filed court document, the very feds that are charging him are also attacking his ability to defend himself by snooping on one of his lawyers.  That document, a motion to compel discovery on the issue of whether his lawyer is, in fact, being spied upon by the government includes numerous shocking claims, which, if true, shine a light on just how far Team Brandon will go to attack political dissidents.

Do You Trust the U.S. Government?  o you trust the U.S. government?  I don't recommend it.  Consider what John Kirby, a spokesman for the Pentagon, said a couple of days ago at a press briefing.  "We believe," Kirby said, that Russia is planning to stage a fake attack by Ukrainian military or intelligence forces against Russian sovereign territory, or against Russian speaking people," in order to justify an invasion of Ukraine.  Kirby had lots of details:  "We believe that Russia would produce a very graphic propaganda video, which would include corpses and actors that would be depicting mourners, and images of destroyed locations, as well as military equipment, at the hands of Ukraine or the West." [...] Should we be worried?  Yes.  But not necessarily for the reasons that Kirby and his puppet masters want you to be worried.  The United States is sending troops and arms to aid Ukraine, so of course there needs to be an emergency to justify that action.  John Kirby just outlined a scary scenario.  But inquiring minds want to know:  What's his evidence for this dramatic claim?  That was the burden of the remarkable exchange between State Department spokesman (and former CIA operative) Ned Price and veteran AP reporter Matt Lee.

Victory for Freedom in Some Areas in Canada, but Ottawa Official Has Ominous Words for Truckers.  [Scroll down]  Unfortunately, Justin Trudeau is not one of those with common sense, and some of the officials in Ottawa are — in a word — insane.  The Ottawa city council police board met today.  The chair of the board, Diane Deans, was completely out to lunch, calling it a "threat to democracy" and "nationwide insurrection."  She said it "must end," and she wanted more police force brought to bear, which would not end well.

Is the Coronavirus the Greatest Crime Against Humanity?  China hid the outbreak of Covid-19 from the world for months. [...] Possibly as a reward for their efforts to conceal the true origin of SARS-CoV-2, the scientists who shaped the "natural origins" narrative received over $50 million in NIAD funding in 2020 - 2021.  Remarkably, one of the scientists had told the group of scientists who participated in Fauci's teleconference, "I just can't figure out how this gets accomplished in nature."  He recently admitted that he had been advised not to mention the possibility of a lab origin.  As we enter the third year of the pandemic, a cover-up seems more and more certain.  It is entirely plausible that American taxpayers ended up funding a dangerous gain-of-function project in conjunction with the CCP. In the words of Reiner Füllmich, founder of the German Corona Investigative Committee that's suing the CDC, WHO and the World Economic Forum for violating the Nuremberg Code, the corona scandal is "the greatest crime against humanity ever committed."

Justin Trudeau Shows How Manipulative and Pathetic the Global Elites Are.  When thousands of truckers drove toward Ottawa in protest against the vaccine mandates, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau described them as "the small fringe minority" holding "unacceptable views."  As the movement gained momentum and the truckers were joined and cheered on by scores of their compatriots objecting to Canada's regime of Covid oppression, Trudeau implied that they were racists and Nazis.  This he added on top of his earlier characterization of those who object to his policies as misogynists, science deniers, purveyors of misinformation, and conspiracy theorists.  By doing this he followed the standard line of the woke elites when dealing with those who do not want to go along with their dehumanizing and exploitative agendas.  Rather than meeting the other side in rational discussion, they simply hurl insults that are void of any substance.  "Racist," "Nazi," "conspiracy theorist," and "misogynist" are their slurs of choice.  It does not matter to them that such characterizations are baseless.  Their wanton abuse of language and truth shows just how pathetic and detached from reality the elitists really are.

Quebec City Canada Officially Proclaims, The Peasants are Revolting.  It really does seem like something out of a modern-day Monty Python skit.  Officials in the city of Quebec City, Canada were fearful the pesky unwashed peasants might make their way to the parliament buildings, so they blocked the passages and sent guards to ensure no one could traverse the ramparts.  Good grief, if the politicians only had a drawbridge, you could be sure they would have pulled it up to keep the peasants away and survive the siege.  In an effort to retain their tenuous grip on power, Canadian officials have become a modern parody of medieval times.

Symbols of Shame.  [Scroll down]  What our government and the sycophantic corporations are asking of us is not only dangerous but totally silly.  It's not like we don't know that these drastic measures do nothing to combat the disease.  It's not like this is still an emergency; emergencies are sudden, require instant, often uninformed decisions.  But it's been two years.  There has never been a two-year emergency — a two-year recovery period, sure, but the predicament is, should be, short-lived and any government worthy of being called a government shouldn't take this long to figure things out.  It's time we called foul on this one.

From 1984 to 2022.  [Scroll down]  In 2022, embattled Americans are beginning to understand the parallels.  America's liberty and prosperity have drawn immigrants from around the world.  When liberty and prosperity were thriving as never before, Governor Andrew Cuomo countered that America was "never that great," but for the political class there was more to it.  From the start, they contend, America was nothing more than a bastion of racist oppression, founded to preserve and expand slavery.  Like the Party's take on capitalism, America had never produced anything of value.  So down came the statues, inscriptions and "anything that might throw light on the past."  As in 1984, America's founding documents are pure crimethink.  Teacher unions now force feed this propaganda in the schools and when parents object, the Department of Justice calls them domestic terrorists.  The January 6 protesters are held without bail and without trial.  Embattled Americans now face shortages of basic goods, surging energy prices, and rampant inflation.

This Is Not America, Part II.  A little more than a year ago, about nine months into the pandemic, we expressed concern about what had become of our country.  Had it become a nation of elitists vs. the rest?  A culture that had given up on itself?  A land of censorship?  A nation in which policies and political orientation are not merely matters of disagreement but causes of internal and irreconcilable turmoil? [...] The pandemic turned out to be the ideal opportunity for the authoritarians and smug self-appointed superiors among us to continue to split us apart, accrue more power unto themselves, marginalize dissenters, force compliance with a narrative of the deranged, crack down on speech, and use fear as a means of control.  No longer does the U.S. reflect the founders' vision of a nation of free people.  It more closely resembles a junior high school, where status is craved, and the unpopular kids are bullied and cast aside.

The Greatest Government Failure in American History.  The tally for how much the federal government spent to combat COVID-19 is now estimated to be $5 trillion.  It is more than the combined costs of World Wars I and II.  The left is celebrating that politicians in Washington saved us.  Really?  From what exactly?  Two years later, it is time for an honest assessment.  Could things have worsened for the country if the government had spent nothing and done nothing?  What would have happened if we had not shut down our businesses?  Our churches, schools and restaurants.  Our parks, basketball courts and playgrounds.  Would the public have made worse decisions regarding protecting its health and the health of its families and its employees than the politicians have made?

Meet the Capitol Police's New Spy Chief.  When most Americans hear the term "Capitol Police," they likely conjure visions of uniformed officers manning metal detectors at the numerous congressional buildings or helping tourists navigate the sprawling Capitol grounds:  a D.C. version of a mall cop.  That imagery, however, is in stark contrast to reality as Democrats have weaponized yet another federal agency to target their political enemies on the Right.  After January 6, 2021, Capitol Police officials announced plans to expand beyond the legislatively authorized purview of the agency and open offices in Florida and California, as well as in other states.  Congress overwhelmingly supported a bill last year to fork over $2.1 billion in new funding to the Capitol Police.  Now flush with cash and immune from any serious public oversight, the agency is returning the favor by spying on dissidents of the Biden regime.  According to Politico, Capitol Police investigators are preparing secret dossiers on lawmakers, congressional staff, donors, and even constituents who visit their representatives in public or in private.

Department of Homeland Security Warns That Domestic Terrorists With Hammers and Power Saws Are Plotting to Destroy the Power Grid.  [The] Department of Homeland Security is a joke.  It exists solely as a jobs program for paranoids specializing in manufacturing [specious] threats while ignoring real ones. [...] According to the FBI toad, domestic violent extremists have two things in common.  They are driven by racial hate... and they are Donald Trump supporters.  These alerts exist for one purpose.  They create a patina of proof for the fear-and-smear campaign the Biden junta is carrying out on its domestic opponents.  Relentlessly tying real people and real patriots who are concerned about the erosion of civil liberties under the illegal and unnecessary Wuhan virus regulations to potential terrorist acts is not only dishonest, it sets a predicate for treating them like terrorists and incarcerating them for long periods of time without any real intention of trying them for a crime... sort of like the January 6 political prisoners.

Congress's 1/6 Committee Claims Absolute Power as it Investigates Citizens With No Judicial Limits.  In its ongoing attempt to investigate and gather information about private U.S. citizens, the Congressional 1/6 Committee is claiming virtually absolute powers that not even the FBI or other law enforcement agencies enjoy.  Indeed, lawyers for the committee have been explicitly arguing that nothing proscribes or limits their authority to obtain data regarding whichever citizens they target and, even more radically, that the checks imposed on the FBI (such as the requirement to obtain judicial authorization for secret subpoenas) do not apply to the committee.  As we have previously reported and as civil liberties groups have warned, there are serious constitutional doubts about the existence of the committee itself.  Under the Constitution and McCarthy-era Supreme Court cases interpreting it, the power to investigate crimes lies with the executive branch, supervised by the judiciary, and not with Congress.  Congress does have the power to conduct investigations, but that power is limited to two narrow categories:  1) when doing so is designed to assist in its law-making duties (e.g., directing executives of oil companies to testify when considering new environmental laws) and 2) in order to exert oversight over the executive branch.  What Congress is barred from doing, as two McCarthy-era Supreme Court cases ruled, is exactly what the 1/6 committee is now doing: conducting a separate, parallel criminal investigation in order to uncover political crimes committed by private citizens. [...] This abuse of power is not merely abstract.  The Congressional 1/6 Committee has been secretly obtaining private information about American citizens en masse:  telephone records, email logs, internet and browsing history, and banking transactions.  And it has done so without any limitations or safeguards:  no judicial oversight, no need for warrants, no legal limitations of any kind.

My Time in the Tank.  With Paul Manafort's explosive new book, Political Prisoner, we finally have a full and honest detailed account of how the U.S. government, the not-so-special Special Counsel Robert Mueller, and particularly the FBI treated anyone and everyone connected to Donald Trump.  The plain truth is they were after him — and would stop at nothing in their quest of subversion.  I would know, because I, too, was in their sights.  Detained at Boston's Logan Airport, the FBI grilled me about the 2016 campaign, specific persons involved, Wikileaks, Roger Stone, Nigel Farage, and Russia.  It was evident that while they had a very thick file on me, and two warrants to confiscate my iPhone and laptop — which meant they had been surveilling me for some time — they knew I knew nothing of real value.  This was an act of intimidation of a patriotic U.S. citizen, one with a former Top Secret and Codeword security clearance, who had held senior positions in the government and served informally and without payment on the Trump presidential election campaign.

Second Democrat, Rep. Jamaal Bowman, Arrested within a Day for Speaking Out Against Joe Biden's Failures.  Two Democrats have been arrested within a day of speaking out against wannabe Dictator Joe Biden.  This time black NY Democrat Rep. Jamaal Bowman.  Bownman was one of the dozen or so leftists Democrats who are staging a hunger strike outfront of the White House against Joe Biden after Biden once again failed to get a bill Democrats need to pass to steal elections indefinitely.  [Video clip]

FBI raid jeopardizes Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar's reelection bid.  House Republicans are spying a surprise opportunity to flip another Democratic-held district after the Laredo, Texas, home and campaign office of Texas Rep. Henry Cuellar were raided by the Federal Bureau of Investigation Wednesday.  Cuellar, 66, a centrist and frequent target of Republicans and the Left, has been impossible to dislodge since winning a seat in Congress in 2004. But Cuellar could be unexpectedly vulnerable beginning March 1, when he stands for renomination against a liberal challenger in the Democratic primary — or this fall, against a Republican, if it turns out the congressman is the target of a federal investigation and the inquiry extends deep into the election year.

Prominent Democrat, Publicly Critical of Joe Biden Border Policy, Gets a Visit from FBI Jackboots.  The political motives behind this FBI effort are, yet again, brutally transparent.  The FBI are for Joe Biden what the Russian FSB is for Vladimir Putin.  That's what they are.  That's all they are.  That's what they do.  How many dozens of examples does it take before people realize the FBI are criminal enforcers targeting any voices who rise in opposition to the DC system?  Seriously, when is enough, enough?  This should be a bipartisan issue.  Democrat Representative Henry Cuellar represents Texas' 28th Congressional District, which extends to the U.S.- Mexico border, and has been in Congress since 2005.  Cuellar has been very public and very critical of how Joe Biden has collapsed the U.S-Mexico border enforcement.  Suddenly, Cuellar becomes the target of the FBI.

The FBI goes after a Democrat who opposes Biden's border policies.  Ask any Democrat or other leftist whether the FBI was corrupt under J. Edgar Hoover and he or she will eagerly agree.  Hoover, an ardent Republican, not only used the agency to capture genuine criminals, but he also turned it into a spy agency tracking anyone he thought might be a communist.  Now, though, it appears that the FBI, with help from the DOJ, is going Hoover one better, and using all the old powers plus modern technology to investigate and arrest people who fail to support the Biden administration.  The FBI's latest target is Texas Representative Henry Cuellar, a Democrat, who spoke out against Biden's illegal acts erasing America's southern border.  It's likely that most Americans, and especially most conservative Americans, had no idea who Henry Cuellar was before Biden entered the White House.  However, things changed when Biden issued a series of orders that effectively erased the southern border.

Biden's FBI Gestapo Raid the Home of a Fellow Democrat Days After he Turned on Biden's Border Policies.  More than two dozen FBI agents descended on Democrat Rep. Henry Cuellar's Laredo, Texas home on Wednesday, just a day after he spoke out against Biden's border policy failures. [...] Democrats are quickly realizing that fellow Democrats care less about them once they're in power and will do absolutely anything to ensure they stay subservient, even if it means having the FBI raid your house to keep you quiet.  [Video clip]

The authoritarians must be stopped.  Since time immemorial, The Left has been about one thing and one thing only: power.  To wit:  does anybody truly believe those that want to ostracize the unvaccinated, tax them, fine them, take away their livelihoods, and confine them to "camps" really wish to do so out of concern for the unvaccinated?  Or for anybody — or anything — else but their own power?  Is this why people in need of life-saving organ transplants are being sent away if they haven't acquiesced to the jab?  Is this why those that so loudly profess deep concern for their fellow man so often make comments about those with whom they disagree like, "let them die?"  Democrats and "progressives," and authoritarians of all stripes, have imposed their will on the rest of us for two years now, in the form of mask and vaccine mandates.  At times they have told us we can't go to work or leave our homes, have our family over for Christmas, attend church, go to weddings, visit dying relatives, or even allow more than a handful of people to grieve with us at their funerals.

After COVID, Never Again.  Two years ago, how many people would have predicted that tennis's number one ranked player would be banned from competing in Australia and France for refusing to allow their governments to decide what is injected into his body?  How many people would have predicted the construction of internment camps to house citizens who similarly refuse to comply?  How many would have predicted that national leaders of "democratic" countries would demand censorship of dissenting points of view?  How many would have predicted that tech and media companies would eagerly jump at those calls for censorship by actively deleting from the public square any voices contrary to the official narratives sanctioned by those in power?  Whatever threat to human health the China Virus poses, it has been dwarfed by the threats to peace, stability, and freedom caused by two years of government tyranny run amok. [...] All of this leads to a [condemnatory] question:  why have so few people with power stood up during these last two years to call out this COVID-1984 madness for what it is — the greatest and most organized attack on human freedom in nearly a century?

Covid: A Collision of Historical and Scientific Illiteracy.  [Scroll down]  How has the public's willful ignorance been established so easily?  The Covid crimes were carefully practiced beforehand through a series of exercises conducted by governments and corporations since 9/11.  And the operation builds upon elements utilized in all the previous government crimes against humanity.  Here are three primary components.
  [#1]   As has been demonstrated through all of history, the most effective way to dumb down a population is through fear.  Communism, terrorism, WMDs, virus... it all works the same way.  This basic feature of the Covid scare is one of many features and outcomes that it shares with previous psychological operations.
  [#2]   Censorship is another hallmark of authoritarian tyranny and we are seeing it raised to a new level in the media today.  Any doctor or scientist who has spoken out about the obvious lack of scientific scrutiny applied to the Covid scare has been blocked on social media and ignored or smeared on television, radio, and in print.
  [#3]   In America the most useful tool driving willful ignorance has been the narrative behind the phony 2-party system in politics.  The Covid scare works in part because many Americans are easily controlled through the farcical theater of "right-left" identity politics.  Today if you want "the left" to take a position, all that is needed is to frame it as opposition to Trump.  Control of "the right" is just as easy.  This works despite the fact that we are ruled by an oligarchy that does the same things no matter who is in office.

Judge fines cancer patient, 72, for overgrown lawn: 'I'd give jail time if I could'.  A hardline judge has fined and ridiculed a 72-year-old Michigan man with lymphoma, ruling that he "should be ashamed" of being too weak to mow his overgrown lawn.  Burhan Chowdhury of Hamtramck, a community about six miles north of Detroit, admittedly fell behind in yard maintenance after he was diagnosed with cancer of the lymph nodes in 2019.  His overgrown property prompted local officials to subpoena Chowdhury.  In now-viral footage of the Zoom court hearing on Jan. 10, Chowdhury's breathing appeared labored as Judge Alexis G. Krot of the 31st District Court berated him.  "You should be ashamed of yourself," says Krot, in a video shared Jan. 12 on social media, and viewed more than 37,500 times as of Thursday morning.  "If I could give you jail time on this, I would."

The FBI's Broken Relationship with Us.  All large organizations suffer from the occasional presence of bad actors.  The FBI is no exception.  But it managed to retain a good relationship with the public in spite of its flaws, because it was still solving rather than creating crimes.  But something fundamentally changed in the last five years. [...] This would have been the thinking of lunatic conspiracy theorists just a few years ago.  With the targeting of protesting parents and Trump-supporters we've seen in recent years, it is entirely plausible.  The FBI will cease being the "plumbers" (the nickname for Nixon's henchmen) for the Democrats and become the enemy of both parties.  Then either it or America will die.  A free people cannot coexist with a secret police force, using investigations for purposes other than law enforcement.  The contest will be epic.

Wrongly Imprisoned Real Estate Broker Demands Investigation of Ohio Prosecutors.  The Obama administration targeted sole proprietors and small businesses in the real estate industry after the crash of 2008, while letting the big banks off the hook with bailouts.  One of most horrific cases involved Republican real estate broker Tony Viola, who served nine and a half years in prison as a juicy target of Ohio Democratic prosecutor Dan Kasaris.  He was convicted of supposedly tricking banks into offering mortgages with no money down.  But in reality, the banks were knowingly offering those loans — evidence the prosecution withheld from him.  Viola only got out of prison due to an employee of the prosecution, Dawn Pasela, becoming so disgusted with the suppression of evidence showing the banks weren't tricked and other corruption such as missing computers full of evidence that she changed sides, helping Viola conduct a successful appeal pro se from prison.

The Federal Government Has Become Pablo Escobar.  In reflecting upon the crises collectivists and globalists have unleashed on civilization, Brandon Smith over at Alt-Market asks an important question:  "Is there a way to prevent psychopaths from getting into positions of power?"  He rightly sees free societies as being under sustained attack by a collection of narcissists, sociopaths, and psychopaths who have effectively taken over government and today conspire for "mutual gain" at the expense of those governed, "much like a pack of wolves" hunting and tearing apart their prey.  He sagely notes that our current situation is ironic because the construction of democratic institutions over the last three centuries was intended, among other things, to liberate populations living under daily threats of death and turmoil brought by the rule of royal dynasties genetically predisposed to psychopathy and self-grandeur.  Democratic institutions, in contrast, were supposed to provide strong mechanisms for "weed[ing] out aberrant individuals" through transparent elections.  Looking around today at who runs for office and holds power, though, it would seem that having an "aberrant" personality is more of a requirement than a disqualification.

The real insurrection began on Jan. 5 ... 2017.  Merriam-Webster defines "insurrection" as "an act or instance of revolting against civil authority or an established government."  This being so, the one real insurrection within anyone's memory was hatched on Jan. 5, 2017.  The conspirators met in the White House on that day to plot a quiet coup against President-elect Donald Trump.  Presiding was President Barack Obama.  Joining him was his national security team including all the usual suspects: the FBI's Jim Comey, the CIA's John Brennan, Vice President Joe Biden, National Security Adviser Susan Rice, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and Acting Attorney General Sally Yates.  Following the meeting, Obama asked Yates and Comey to stick around along with Rice, his trusted scribe and factotum.  Obama had a reason for singling out Comey and Yates.  Unlike the others, they were staying on in their jobs.

The FTC's rebellion against the judiciary.  The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) must be held accountable for its open defiance of the Supreme Court's directives.  For decades, the FTC relied on a statute authorizing "permanent injunctions" to obtain monetary fines.  That always seemed strange.  After all, neighboring sections of the law allow the commission to seek limited monetary penalties, while injunctions normally only prevent future action and do not entail an award of any damages.  Yet "disgorgement" awards — the return payment of supposedly illegal gains — became so pervasive that in 2019, for example, courts ordered that $723.2 million be paid to the government in such awards.  The Supreme Court seemingly put that practice to an end in April, in AMG Capital Management, LLC v. FTC, when it unanimously held that the statute never allowed the "Commission to seek, and a court to award, equitable monetary relief such as restitution or disgorgement."  Disgorgement was just an illegal power grab.

Pastor Artur Pawlowski and his Brother Dawid [have been] Arrested after Peaceful Protest.  Artur Pawlowski, the Pastor of the Cave of Adullam Church in Calgary, Alberta, Canada was swarmed by police and arrested in May 2021 after holding an "illegal" church service on that Saturday.  You may remember Pawlowski was the brave Canadian Christian Pastor who shouted down police officers who interrupted his church service during Holy Week.

Pentagon Issues Guidelines to Crack Down on Domestic and Patriotic "Extremism" Within Military Ranks.  As our nation's greatest enemies build their military might and actively threaten to launch attacks, US Military and Defense leaders are focusing on the important things — mainly, purging the ranks of all dissenters and pushing the Left's radical ideology.  On Monday [12/20/2021], as over 28,000 world-class men and women await their dishonorable discharge for refusing to take the experimental vaccine, the Pentagon issued detailed new guidelines that prohibit service members from engaging in a wide range of activities, citing concerns of increased "domestic violent extremism" within the military over the past few months.

Tapper Calls Out Pelosi's Opposition to Making Congress More Ethical.  Subverting the expectations of some of his critics and going back to how he used to do things, CNN's Jake Tapper spent over eight minutes on Thursday's edition of The Lead going after Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) for her opposition to measures that would make Congress more ethical and crackdown on insider trading.  He even brought on the former director of the Office of Government Ethics, Walter Shaub to take her to task.  Immediately after returning from a commercial break, Tapper announced it was time for a "conflict of interest watch."  He then likely made her fan base unhappy by warning that "Ethics experts" were "sounding the alarm today after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she would not support a ban on members of Congress and their spouses from trading stocks while in office."  Chief congressional correspondent Manu Raju joined him and noted the Business Insider investigation that found "found that 49 Members of Congress and 182 senior-level congressional staffers" were in direct violation of the 2012 STOCK Act that was passed in an attempt to keep insider trading from occurring.

America Is Much More than Its Government.  An honest politician, as if any existed, would tell you politicians are in the business of creating problems where none exists, so that they can solve them, declare victory, and parade around as heroes.  While they are fast to proclaim poverty, their vocation is entirely about pecuniary gain.  They engage in the kind of insider trading and quid pro quo that would send anybody else in America straight to prison.  Many of them enter office with lint in their pockets, and many retire as millionaires.  Taxpayers, in effect, pay criminals to represent their interests, and to nobody's surprise, the criminals fleece the taxpayers silly and drop new problems at their doorsteps along the way.  It's all grift and gripe for personal glory.

The Rule of Law Has Been Replaced by One Set of Rules for the Left and Another for the Right.  One of the founding ideals of the United States was that the same system of laws would apply to everyone equally.  Two people convicted of the same or similar offense, all things being equal, should receive approximately the same punishment.  It doesn't always work that way; wealth and fame do have a way of making crimes, like murder, go away, but those instances are anomalies.  Over the last four years, though, things have started to come unglued.  The courts willingly cooperated with the obscene persecution of Michael Flynn.  Department of Justice functionary Andrew Weissmann was able to weaponize the judicial apparatus to carry out his personal vendetta against Paul Manafort and President Trump.  Since the summer of 2020, though, it has become blatantly obvious that we have a two-tiered justice system in this country, and your personal politics determines how the courts treat you.

Nancy Pelosi defends members of Congress trading stocks after report said 49 have violated conflict of interest law.  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi continues to face blowback for her comments defending lawmakers who trade in stocks even while having access to potentially market-moving information.  'We are a free-market economy.  They should be able to participate in that,' Pelosi responded Wednesday when asked whether Members of Congress and their spouses should be banned from trading individual stocks.  She was responding to questions about a Business Insider report on dozens of lawmakers who have failed to meet requirements of the STOCK Act by failing turn in timely reports on their asset sales and purchases.

Why Nancy Pelosi is wrong about lawmakers trading in stocks.  A few days back, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that lawmakers should not be prevented from trading stocks.  "We are a free market economy.  They should be able to participate in that," Pelosi said.  Her remarks are probably owing to the fact that Pelosi's husband holds stocks and options worth tens of millions of dollars. [...] Pelosi insisted that she had no involvement or prior knowledge of her husband's stock investments.  She also stated that she had no stock on her name.  However, the fact that Pelosi's husband made millions from various big tech firms that she is supposed to regulate, at the very least is a huge conflict of interest.  But Pelosi is not the only one.  Back in April, a study by the Campaign Legal Center discovered that both Republican and Democratic lawmakers bought and sold stocks hundreds of times throughout the coronavirus pandemic.  Many lawmakers had invested in industries whose importance and relevance were elevated owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.  They also sold their stocks from the hospitality industry, restaurants, and other sectors that were adversely affected by the pandemic.

Pelosi On Why Congress Should Be Allowed To Trade Stock After Dozens Broke Law:  We 'Should Be Able To'.  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi brushed off questions on Wednesday about why Members of Congress should be allowed to trade stock when a recent report found that dozens allegedly broke insider trading laws.  "Madam Speaker, Insider just completed a five-month investigation finding that 49 Members of Congress and 182 senior Congressional staffers have violated the STOCK Act, the insider trading law," a reporter said.  "I'm wondering if you have any reaction to that." [...] "Why shouldn't they be banned?" the reporter asked.  "Because this is a free market and people — we are a free market economy," Pelosi responded.  "They should be able to participate in that."  Pelosi's husband, investor Paul Pelosi, reportedly trades large volumes of stocks on a regular basis, according to Business Insider.  Pelosi has a net worth of nearly $50 million, according to a separate report from Business Insider.

Congress and top Capitol Hill staff have violated the STOCK Act hundreds of times.  But the consequences are minimal.  Congress has a spotty and inconsistent method for collecting fines from members and top staffers who break a federal law designed to stop insider trading and conflicts of interest, an Insider investigation found.  Insider's investigation of financial disclosures found that 49 members of Congress and at least 182 of the highest-paid Capitol Hill staffers were late in filing their stock trades during 2020 and 2021.  Lawmakers and senior congressional staffers who blow past the deadlines established by the 2012 Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act are supposed to pay a late fee of $200 the first time.  Increasingly higher fines follow if they continue to be late — potentially costing tens of thousands of dollars in extreme cases.  But accountability and transparency are decidedly lacking.

Do Not Doubt Me.  [Scroll down]  So remember:  if you heard it from the head of one of our Deep State alphabet bureaucracies it is most likely not true.  The primary reason these agencies exist anymore is to propagate the Left's Big Lies. e.g.
  •   CDC: COVID
  •   DOJ: January 6 Insurrection
  •   FBI: Russian Collusion
  •   FEMA: Climate Change
  •   IRS: Targeting Political Enemies
The Left will remain in perpetual crisis mode not just because it's good for the Legacy Media's bottom line but because its the truest, shortest path to power and control.

The Account That Posted The Viral Patriot Front Video Yesterday Was Fake Created Days Ago.  This viral video of the Patriot Front marchers from the now-suspended "@SherylLewellen" account, which was created just days ago, had over 1 million views!  [Video clip]  Now, if you saw this video earlier on Twitter, the account might have looked a little different.  And that's because the profile photo used to be of an attractive blonde woman whose bio claimed she was a digital/print journo with a love of avocados:  [Tweets]

"Patriot Front" FEDS Dressed As A "Radical White Supremacy" Group March On Washington DC — Police Helps Them To Get Into Their U-Hauls And Illegally Drive Away.  Raws Alerts, "a fast and accurate nonprofit news outlet" with 31,000 followers, is reporting that a group of 150 to 200 people calling themselves the Patriot Front are currently marching on the National Mall on their way to the US Capitol.  [Tweet with video clip]  A group of alleged white supremacists stormed through downtown Washington, D.C. on Saturday evening, bearing American flags and mildly menacing plastic shields while marching to the beat of a snare drum down the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.  But after chanting aggressively about their plans to "reclaim America," their intended show of force stalled spectacularly when they lost their ride.  While the group had marched through the city with threatening chants about their plan to "reclaim America," by the end of the night it was not even clear how they intended to reclaim their U-Haul. [...] However more videos surfaced and people accused the alleged hate group of being full of undercover federal agents:  [More tweets]  Watch DC Police direct traffic around a Uhaul so that definitely not Feds the "Patriot Front" can load 30 deep and then totally-not-illegally drive away.  Apparently, this happened with multiple U-Hauls.

A 'Right-Wing' Group Marches on the Capitol — and Leaves a Lot of Questions.  Last night, videos began to circulate of a largely unheard of "right-wing" group called the "Patriot Front" marching in costume toward the US Capitol Building.  Reports put their numbers at around 100-200 people. [...] The entire thing was just weird.  Typically, when these white supremacist groups demonstrate, they make a big deal about it, advertise it, etc. because the entire point is to put eyes on their grotesque ideology.  They also don't typically hide their identities.  In this case, a group of masked individuals show up to march with fake shields and then quickly retreat to box trucks?  It's actually illegal to ride in the back of a truck like that in DC.  Why didn't the USCP give out tickets?  Or arrest anyone?

The Editor says...
This is the worst kind of astroturf.

Domestic Travel Ban for Unvaccinated 'Not Off the Table' Says Psaki.  Even though Biden suspended his vaccine mandate for federal workers to save himself a few approval points, he's nevertheless looking for alternative ways to "force" people to get vaccinated, and a domestic travel ban is one such possibility. [...] However, like his vaccine mandate, a ban on domestic travel is also unconstitutional, as it is guaranteed under the Fourteenth Amendment.  Unfortunately, the Biden administration doesn't even consider the Constitution as a guideline, let alone a set of rules.

Consequences Needed for Rittenhouse Prosecutors.  Prosecutors, especially those with political ambitions, will latch on to socially popular issues such as fear of witches in the seventeenth century or sex crimes and racially-charged controversies today.  [Examples omitted for brevity.]  If they can do this to Rittenhouse, the Amiraults, Grant Snowden, the Duke Lacrosse players, and countless others, then they can do it to you and me.  This is why there needs to be social consequences for prosecutorial overreach even if the overreach does not violate the ABA's Rules of Professional Conduct.

How Judicial Misbehavior Skates in America.  We have a serious problem within the federal Judiciary in how it protects itself from malfeasance issues when people file judicial misconduct complaints against judges.  The Judicial Conduct and Disability Act allows "[a]ny person alleging that a judge has engaged in conduct prejudicial to the effective and expeditious administration of the business of the courts" to file a complaint against the judge.  And then when a complaint is filed, everything simply goes out the window in terms of transparency and accountability — and yes, even the ultimate goal of justice, due to built-in rules designed to muzzle the public and prevent an actual meaningful proceeding.  First, there is a law dictating that with a few exceptions, all papers, documents, and records of proceedings relating to judicial misconduct complaints shall be confidential and shall not be disclosed by any person in any proceeding.  In other words, when a person has information about judicial corruption done by a federal judge, once that person files a complaint against that judge, that person cannot make any public statements about the judicial malfeasance.

Lawsuits challenge agency courts that issue ruinous fines, flout separation of powers.  an the U.S. compel a business to pay more than half a million dollars in fines just because a government agency says so?  A lawsuit on behalf of a New Jersey family farm aims to whittle down the powers of administrative courts, whose judges are employed by federal agencies and answer to their leaders, and force the feds to prove their case "in a real court."  Joe and Russell Marino lost five years of challenges before Labor Department employees who acted as "prosecutor, judge and jury," according to the Institute for Justice (IJ), which is representing the brothers and their Sun Valley Orchards.  Trial and appellate administrative law judges (ALJs) upheld $550,000 in fines, most of that based on a "single paperwork violation."  Just $10,000 concerned "actual working conditions," mostly from workers driving farm vehicles without U.S. driver's licenses, IJ said.  The agency classified $200,000 as a penalty and $350,000 as "back wages" that are not actually owed to employees but largely stem from the farm's failure to disclose its "meal plan" on its H-2A visa program application in 2015, when it first sought migrant workers.

Republicans point to number of times Garland has politicized the Justice Department.  Attorney General Merrick Garland is under fire from Republican lawmakers for allegedly politicizing the Justice Department. [...] Garland said the department continues to stand by the findings of the DOJ watchdog that concluded fired FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe lied under oath to investigators during a leak investigation — despite Garland reversing his firing and settling McCabe's lawsuit against the DOJ with a payout.  DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz's report in 2018 detailed multiple instances in which McCabe "lacked candor" with FBI Director James Comey, FBI investigators, and inspector general investigators about his authorization to leak sensitive information to the media.  Yet, Garland allowed McCabe to win back his full pension last month as part of the settlement in his wrongful termination lawsuit.  The agreement allowed McCabe to retire and receive an estimated $200,000 in missed pension payments and $539,000 in attorney's fees for his lawyers.

Alan Dershowitz's stark warning:  Justice system becoming infected by critical race theory.  lan Dershowitz, the famed law scholar and appellate lawyer, has a stark warning for judges, prosecutors and defense lawyers:  America's justice system is being corrupted by identity politics and critical race theory.  In an interview with Just the News, Dershowitz deplored the growing trend in recent criminal cases toward political agendas supplanting the neutral consideration of evidence and law that has been the lifeblood of U.S. jurisprudence for more than two centuries.  "It's becoming much more responsive, unfortunately, to critical race theory, basically, everything's about race," Dershowitz told the John Solomon Reports podcast in an interview aired this week.  "Everything's about race or politics.["]

California School Presses Kidnapping, Burglary Charges Against a Mom Who Legally Signed Her Child Out of School.  Brittany Sheehan escaped an abusive relationship and played by the rules regarding custody of her daughter and for protection against domestic violence and abuse.  For that, she's being rewarded with criminal charges for kidnapping and burglary after signing her daughter out of school.

Onward Into Darkness.  [Scroll down]  Next was the FBI's invasion of Project Veritas chief James O'Keefe's home in a case involving "Joe Biden's" daughter Ashley Biden's personal diary, which Project Veritas was alleged to be holding, and which supposedly contained some entries about sketchy father-and-daughter showers together.  Bad optics for a floundering president already suspected of being a bit free with his touch, shall we say, around the little ones (not to mention the florid pornographic exploits self-documented by son Hunter).  Instead of defending Mr. O'Keefe's first amendment rights, the legacy news media piled on him as "not a real journalist."  More to the point, though, within hours of the FBI confiscating Mr. O'Keefe's cell phones and other devices, Mr. O'Keefe's private communications with his attorneys turned up in the hands of The New York Times, which published some of the material.  Of course, James O'Keefe is in the middle of a defamation lawsuit against The New York Times.  And wasn't it a fortuitous coincidence that the newspaper came into possession of their adversary's privileged information?  The thing is (of course), that the info could have only been provided to The Times by one possible source:  the FBI, investigative arm of the DOJ.  Days later, Judge Analisa Torres from the Southern District of New York ordered the FBI to stop extracting data from the phones — as if they hadn't already downloaded every last shred and made a zillion copies.  Where is the DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz?  Where is the DOJ's ethics office?  Why has the leaker not been outed and arraigned?

Police arrest two moms opposing mask mandates at Georgia school board meeting.  Two mothers who oppose school mask mandates and the teaching of Critical Race Theory to children have been arrested by police at a school board meeting after one failed to wear a mask and the other was found in possession of a pair of scissors.  The arrests took place Thursday [11/18/2021] at the Gwinnett County Public Schools district headquarters near Atlanta, Georgia, as the two moms were passing through a security checkpoint with metal detectors.

Americans are enduring a Biden reign of terror.  Prisoners with no criminal history are being held without bail or due process in the D.C. jail where they are regularly abused by guards.  Parents who show up at school board meetings to address their concerns about COVID mandates or the CRT curriculum are being tagged as domestic terrorists.  Moms who have become active in election integrity campaigns have had their front doors broken down with battering rams by an FBI SWAT team, their homes searched, their electronics confiscated, all without an explanation or civil attempt to contact their legal representation.  Journalist James O'Keefe of Project Veritas had his home raided by the FBI, his home searched for hours, his personal property confiscated and leaked to the NYT.  Many people who were merely present at the January 6 rally in DC have endured police state tactics.

School Board Calls Police Over Lawyer's Maskless Lollipop Eating.  The Lodi School District official who asked police to respond to an orderly school board meeting earlier this month said police presence would make a board member "feel better."  "We would like to have a Lodi officer up at the district office," Maureen Palmer, administrative assistant to District Administrator Vince Breunig says in a 911 call November 8 to the Columbia County Sheriff's Department.  The audio was obtained by Empower Wisconsin.  "He does not have to come lights and sirens, we just want to have him present at our board meeting the way it's going," Palmer says.  "Is it becoming disorderly?  Do you feel like it might?" the dispatcher asks.  It wasn't, but district officials felt like it could, according to Palmer.  "We would just like his presence here, just come and be present for a while," Palmer added.

How Did Ordinary American People Become Domestic Terrorists in The Eyes of The Deep State.  Barack Obama and Eric Holder did not create a weaponized DOJ and FBI; the institutions were already weaponized by the Patriot Act.  Instead, what Obama and Holder did was to take the preexisting system and retool it so the weapons of government only targeted one side of the political continuum. [...] What Barack Obama and Eric Holder did with that new construct was refine the internal targeting mechanisms so that only their ideological opposition became the target of the new national security system.  This is very important to understand as you dig deeper into this research outline.  Washington DC created the modern national security apparatus immediately and hurriedly after 9/11/01.  DHS came along in 2002, and within the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 the ODNI was formed.  When Barack Obama and Eric Holder arrived a few years later, those newly formed institutions were viewed as opportunities to create a very specific national security apparatus that would focus almost exclusively against their political opposition.

Rand Paul Urges Whistleblowers to Expose Biden Administration Abuses of Civil Liberties.  Sen. Rand Paul sharply criticized the "politicized" FBI and the Department of Justice, calling for more whistleblowers to expose government trampling of American liberties.  "I think anytime someone is breaking the law in government, it's a good idea to hear about it," the Kentucky Republican said in a Thursday interview with The Daily Signal.  "And so, frankly, yes, I think it is a good idea for people to reveal when the government's breaking the rules."  Paul's remarks follow news that the head of the FBI's Criminal and Counterterrorism divisions reportedly ordered agents Oct. 20 to identify threats against school board members and teachers with a "threat tag" — although Attorney General Merrick Garland told lawmakers the next day that the FBI was not using counterintelligence tools to target parents.

First Mom Raided By FBI Since October 4th DOJ Memorandum?  An FBI SWAT team raided the home of an activist mother of three in Colorado on Tuesday, Nov. 16, knocking down her door, bursting into the house and handcuffing her while she was homeschooling her children.  This is the first known case of the federal government making good on its promise to not only intimidate but actually carry out a raid on a mom who was involved in her local school board politics, said Brannon Howse, who interviewed Sheronna Bishop on his live broadcast at Lindell TV Wednesday night. [...] The U.S. Department of Justice and Attorney General Merrick Garland issued an Oct. 4 memorandum directing federal, state and local law enforcement to look for parents to prosecute nationwide who may have made "threats" and made "harassing" phone calls to school board members nationwide, equating such parents to domestic terrorists.  Now a mother, Sheronna Bishop of Grand Junction, Colorado, has felt the brute force of the FBI's heavily armed SWAT unit used against her family.

The Rittenhouse trial:  Our corporate media and big tech are truly sinister.  Under the radar, several of our law-enforcement and other institutions, like the IRS, were weaponized during the Obama administration.  Obama used the DOJ, the FBI, the CIA, the IRS, the Departments of Education and Agriculture, the FEC and the rest of our alphabet bureaus to torment his administration's opposition in various ways.  Duly weaponized, those institutions took their cues from Obama and Hillary Clinton, a veteran of vicious political opposition, and doubled down to destroy President Trump using the dirtiest tricks in their kit bags.  And now that the wretched Joe Biden is their front man, the snakes who make their nests in those alphabet syndicates no longer feel any need to conduct their shady operations in secret.  Now they carry out their Stalinist machinations right out in the open.  Parents who show up to speak at school board meetings?  Domestic terrorists.  Question the 2020 election results?  Crazed conspiracy theorist.  Be a known Trump supporter in DC on January 6?  Lock them up and throw away the key.  How is it possible that these agencies entrusted to enforce the law and uphold the Constitution are getting away with all this thuggery?

Merrick Garland Must Go.  A new memo shows that Attorney General Merrick Garland lied to Congress about the FBI snooping on parent groups upset with local school boards for their use of Critical Race Theory in the classroom.  If so, it doesn't warrant a slap on the hand, but swift removal from office.  Presidents deserve to have the people they nominate serve their entire term.  But that's not the case when that person lies under oath to Congress and, by extension, the American people.  That's a criminal offense.  This allegation comes from an official letter sent to the Justice Department by Rep. Jim Jordan, ranking GOP member of the House Judiciary Committee, in response to an email from a whistleblower.  If you'll recall, on Oct. 21, Garland appeared before Congress and said he couldn't "imagine any circumstances in which the Patriot Act would be used in the circumstances of parents complaining about their children, nor ... a circumstance where they would be labeled as domestic terrorists."  He went on to say, "I do not think that parents getting angry at school boards for whatever reason constitute domestic terrorism.  It's not even a close question."  The only problem is, neither statement is true.

DOJ Inspector General Says Department Must Address Concerns About Politicization.  The Department of Justice (DOJ) must address deepening concerns that it's not insulated from political influence, the agency's watchdog stated in a new report.  The DOJ failed to follow policies and procedures designed to protect it from accusations that it's politicized or partially applying the law in a number of cases, including while investigating Donald Trump's campaign during the 2016 election and in leaks to the media, Inspector General Michael Horowitz noted.  "Numerous national events in the past year have crystalized the urgency for the department to address this challenge in a meaningful way," he wrote, including the discovery that the DOJ under the Trump administration obtained communications to and from members of Congress and accusations that protesters were cleared from Lafayette Square in Washington on June 1, 2020, for political purposes.  Such events "have all raised questions about the department's objectivity and impartiality" and "negatively impacted the perception of the department as a fair administrator of justice," Horowitz said.

FBI's Damage Control on Investigation of Parents Makes Things Even Worse.  We reported yesterday that an FBI whistleblower had leaked some disturbing information to Congress.  The information was an email showing that, contrary to Attorney General Merrick Garland's testimony before Congress that the DOJ/FBI wasn't treating parents objecting to school board actions as "domestic terrorists," their Counterterrorism unit was in fact involved in looking into the issue, and putting "threat tags" on all "investigations and assessments of threats specifically directed against school board administrations, board members, teachers, and staff."  Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) demanded that Garland answer why this was different from Garland's prior testimony, and asked that he come back before Congress to explain all this.

Whistleblower revealed FBI used counter-terrorism tactics to investigate parents complaining about CRT.  House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy slammed Joe Biden's Justice Department for an 'egregious abuse of power' on Tuesday and demanded Attorney General Merrick Garland testify before Congress about the counterterrorism tactics the FBI is using to investigate parents.  'In an egregious abuse of power with the potential to unfairly track Americans' activities, President Biden's Department of Justice is using FBI criminal and counterterrorism resources to target parents,' McCarthy said in a statement.  'Attorney General Garland must return to Congress to address, under oath, in detail, the discrepancies regarding the directives he issued involving investigating America's parents,' he demanded.

Whistleblower Delivers Documents Showing AG Merrick Garland Lied to Congress.  Rarely does anything in the news surprise me anymore, but consider today's happenings an exception.  In an explosive development, a whistleblower has delivered an email to Congress proving that Attorney General Merrick Garland lied under oath while testifying on Capitol Hill some weeks ago.  As RedState reported at the time, Garland's statements surrounding the targeting of parents as "domestic terrorists" simply did not add up, with his mix of denialism and unwillingness to address the issue only adding to the suspicion that the DOJ had and continued to act improperly.  Now, these new documents deliver a decisive blow to Garland's previous assertion that the DOJ/FBI was not using the counterterrorism apparatus to target parents.  In fact, they show the opposite, i.e. that the counterterrorism division was not only involved (and presumably still is) but that it was being used to "tag" parents as potential threats.

FBI Whistleblower Claims DOJ Used Counterterrorism Tools against Parents in Response to School-Board Memo.  Citing an internal email provided by an FBI whistleblower, Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee revealed Tuesday [11/16/2021] that the Bureau has created a system to track threats against school board officials and administrators, and accused Attorney General Merrick Garland of misleading lawmakers when he was asked about the subject during his previous testimony before the committee.  The FBI's "Counterterrorism and Criminal Divisions created a threat tag, EDUOFFICIALS, to track instances of related threats," according to the email.  "The purpose of the threat tag is to help scope this threat on a national level and provide an opportunity for comprehensive analysis of the threat picture for effective engagement with law enforcement."  The email was signed by Counterterrorism Division assistant director Timothy Langan, and former Criminal Division assistant director Calvin Shivers, who retired earlier this month.

FBI counterterrorism officials set up a special 'threat tag' to track school boards threats.  In October a group called the National School Board Association (NSBA) sent a letter to President Biden suggesting that parents were becoming such a threat to school boards that the FBI needed to get involved and might even need to treat some of them as domestic terrorists under the Patriot Act.  Just days after the White House received this letter, AG Merrick Garland sent out a memo ordering the FBI to communicate with every school board in the country over the following 30 days to assess the threat.

GOP Blasts AG Garland After FBI Whistleblower Exposes 'Counterterrorism Tools' Used Against Parents: 'Disgrace'.  Following a whistleblower's revelation that the FBI is utilizing counterterrorism tactics to investigate parents considered to be potential "domestic terrorists" for voicing concerns about education in their local school districts, Republicans blasted the "disgrace[ful]" move as well as Attorney General Merrick Garland, with many calling for his immediate resignation.  The alarming allegations, which state the FBI is adding "threat tags" to parents, appear to contradict Garland's testimony on October 21 during a House Judiciary Committee hearing in which he claimed the Department of Justice and the FBI were not using counterterrorism tools to investigate parents at school board meetings.

House Judiciary Committee Receives Whistleblower Documents Showing DOJ and FBI are Using Domestic Terrorism Taskforce to Monitor Parents.  Despite the obvious instructions to the FBI, Attorney General Merrick Garland previously gave testimony before congress denying that parents who attended school board meetings were being targeted by an FBI Counterterrorism task force.  However, today the House Judiciary Committee has received a 'whistleblower complaint' showing the FBI is indeed using the Counterterrorism Division as the tool to target parents.  The day before AG Merrick Garland testified to congress, the FBI instructed all national heads of the Counterterrorism Division to begin using internal tags to create a notification list containing the names of parents they considered to be domestic extremists.

Rep. Jim Jordan:  Email Shows FBI Using 'Counterterrorism Tools' Against 'Concerned Parents'.  The top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee is asking Attorney General Merrick Garland about his October testimony to that same committee, citing a document unearthed by a whistleblower that shows the FBI started using a specific tag to track threats related to schools.  "We are now in receipt of a protected disclosure from a [Justice] Department whistleblower showing that the FBI's counterterrorism division is compiling and categorizing threat assessments related to parents, including a document directing FBI personnel to use a specific 'threat tag' to track potential investigations," writes Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, in a Nov. 16 letter to Garland.  "This disclosure provides specific evidence that federal law enforcement operationalized counterterrorism tools at the behest of a left-wing special-interest group against concerned parents," Jordan adds, referring to the National School Boards Association.

DOJ says it will 'vigorously defend' Biden OSHA COVID-19 vaccine mandate in court.  The Department of Justice (DOJ) says it will "vigorously defend" the guidelines laid out by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), which seek to enforce vaccine requirements on all businesses with 100 employees or more by Jan. 4, 2022.  Following the Friday [11/12/2021] decision by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals to uphold a stay on the OSHA order a DOJ spokesperson said the Biden administration would fight back.  "This decision is just the beginning of the process for review of this important OSHA standard," a spokesperson told Fox News.  "The Department will continue to vigorously defend the standard and looks forward to obtaining a definitive resolution following consolidation of all of the pending cases for further review."

Fifth Circuit Slams Zhou Regime's Mandate.  While much of the attention of the nation remains on the Kyle Rittenhouse trial, there is good news from the frontline of the battle against the Covid Regime.  The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has reaffirmed it's stay on the Mandate.  Such stays are issued when it appears that the petitioners are likely to succeed on the merits of their case.  In the 21 page opinion — which you can read [elsew]here — the Court explains exactly why they think the petitioners will succeed.  What I've done below is provide excerpts from the opinion, basically from the introduction to the detailed legal analysis.  In this limited selection an overall picture of the reasoning to come is sketched out.  I've deleted most citations for the sake of readability.  I've retained the footnotes (sans citations) on one page because they're substantive to the argument.  The rest of the editing should be pretty obvious pagination.  What's notable, and gratifying, about this opinion is that to my eyes it is dripping with contempt for this regime and its figurehead who fronts for it.  The Court is clearly highly offended at the openly proclaimed intent of the regime to find a "work-around" for, basically, the rule of law as we know it.  Seen in this light — as it should be — this case is fundamentally important to the preservation of a free nation under law.

School Board Memo Reveals Timeline of White House 'Domestic Terrorism' Letter.  Newly publicized documents revealed more details about how the National School Boards Association (NSBA) communicated with the White House before sending out a letter likening concerned parents to domestic terrorists.  In the widely criticized Sept. 29 letter to President Joe Biden, the NSBA characterized disruptions at school board meetings across the nation as "a form of domestic terrorism and hate crime."  It also urged the federal government to invoke counter-terrorism laws to handle "angry mobs" of parents seeking to hold school officials accountable for teaching the Marxist-inspired critical race theory and for imposing COVID-19 restrictions such as mask mandates on their children.  Just five days later, Attorney General Merrick Garland issued a memo directing federal law enforcement to help address the alleged "disturbing spike in harassment, intimidation, and threats of violence" against teachers and school leaders.  Garland's rather swift response has raised suspicions among some Republican members of Congress, who are looking into the role the Biden administration played in the crafting and release of the NSBA letter.

More comes out about role White House played in NSBA 'domestic terror' letter.  A memo made public Thursday by Parents Defending Education raises new questions about whether or not the White House ordered Attorney General Merrick Garland to have the FBI investigate reported confrontations and incidents at local school board meetings across the country — directly contradicting what the AG previously told Congress.  The National School Boards Association memo from NSBA President Viola Garcia on October 12 proves that the White House was working with the NSBA before it sent its now-infamous letter to the Biden administration requesting federal law enforcement to investigate parents who have been vocal at local meetings, alleging that their actions may constitute "a form of domestic terrorism."

NSBA coordinated with White House, DOJ before sending notorious 'domestic terrorists' letter: emails.  Newly released internal emails reveal that the National School Boards Association coordinated with the White House and the Department of Justice before sending President Biden the notorious letter that compared concerned parents to domestic terrorists.  Emails provided to Fox News show that NSBA had coordinated with the White House for weeks beforehand.  Viola Garcia, the NSBA president whom the Department of Education later named to a federal board, sent a memo to NSBA members on Oct. 11 (but dated Oct. 12), providing a timeline of the NSBA's interaction with the White House ahead of the letter to Biden, which the NSBA sent on Sept. 29.  Five days later, on Oct. 4, the DOJ issued a memo directing law enforcement to investigate threats to school boards.  On Oct. 22, the NSBA issued an apology for the letter.

Arizona School Board Officials Kept Secret Dossier on Dissident Parents and Employed a Private Investigator to Gather Oppo Research on Them.  Over the last six months or so, it has become more and more common to read stories about school boards that have essentially gone to war with the parents of the children in the school system they oversee.  Ground zero of the war zone was Loudoun County, Virginia.  Loudoun County is one of those Virginia counties that used to be reliably Republican but now has been overrun by leftist scum working for federal contractors and the federal government and has turned hard left.  I hope Ron DeSantis and Greg Abbott keep this in mind when trying to entice Silicon Valley and Wall Street companies to relocate to their states.  The flashpoint was the efforts by the Loudoun County school board, without any debate or input from parents, to mainstream transgenderism.  Along with this dangerous nonsense, the school board adopted outright racism tarted up in pseudo-academic language, obscured from view as "critical race theory," and imposed by "diversity, inclusion, and equity" mandates, the standard operating philosophy for the county schools.

Arizona school board member had 'dossier' of private information on 'wacko' parents.  The president of the Scottsdale, Arizona, school board had a Google Drive full of private information, including Social Security numbers, of parents who had expressed their opposition to school mask mandates.  The drive, which the Washington Examiner reviewed, contains numerous financial records from several of the parents involved in the group, including mortgage statements, bankruptcy filings, and divorce filings.  Included on those forms are portions of Social Security numbers, addresses, and phone numbers of parents who had expressed opposition to school mask mandates and critical race theory.

Scottsdale Unified Assures Parents Of Privacy In Aftermath Of Secret Dossier Discovery, Parents Call For Greenburg Resignation.  The Scottsdale Unified School District's administration is scrambling to do damage control after a group of mothers discovered Governing Board President Jann-Michael Greenburg had access to a Google Drive full of personal information, documents, and photos of about 47 people, including children.  An email sent out Wednesday evening by the SUSD's Communications Office sought to assure families that their personal and educational data is safe.  However, the district also solely blamed the discovered digital dossier* site on Mark Greenburg, the father of Jann-Michael Greenburg.  The damage control appears to be too little too late for many parents in the Scottsdale Unified School District, including Amy Carney, a mother of six, who is among those calling for Greenburg to step down.

The Rittenhouse case highlights tyrannical prosecutors.  America is suffering from a rash of prosecutors who are petty tyrants bent on fundamentally changing America by nullifying our duly enacted laws.  That is as unconstitutional at the county and state level as it is at the federal level.  Nothing illustrates this more clearly than the conduct of the prosecutors in the Kyle Rittenhouse trial.  Prosecutors are part of the executive branch and it is their sworn duty to uphold all laws.  They have no power to nullify laws they don't like, whether it be bail, property crimes, or the laws governing illegal aliens and immigration.  A particularly damaging example of this is occurring in Wisconsin, where the fundamental right to keep and bear arms in self-defense is under attack by an outrageously abusive district attorney's office.

With help from the DOJ, the National Archives enters the political fray.  The Select Committee investigating the events on January 6, when Donald Trump was still president, is asking the White House to produce documents relating to that day.  Trump has filed a motion asking the court to issue a preliminary injunction on the ground that these documents are both private and privileged and should not be produced.  Then, on October 30, 2021, something peculiar happened: the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), acting through the DOJ, filed a brief opposing Trump's motion.  NARA should never have done this, and the court should rightfully ignore it.  "Non-partisan" government entities should not be writing and submitting opposition briefs in politically fraught lawsuits.  Doing so only leads to the further politicization of every aspect of our government. [...] To clarify, NARA has one job:  to be the custodian of records.  Simply put, the statute does not give it any other function.

Purposeful Crisis Keeps Unfolding as Biden's Irrelevant Polling Keeps Collapsing.  We are witnessing a very specific type of electoral frustration caused by officials within a system attempting to stop a communist style fundamental change by taking action within the same system simultaneously collapsing through the actions of the communists. [...] The Obama plan to use Biden as a disposable figure was designed for one specific four year term of maximum damage.  The polling is irrelevant.  Evidence of this purpose is found in the White House telling businesses to continue operating as if the vaccine mandate is legally authorized, despite a court ordered injunction against it.  We are in a post-constitutional system now where the traditional checks and balances are ignored.  This is a very Machiavellian approach being deployed against the American people.

Merrick Garland Abuses His Authority to Suppress Dissent.  Why did Attorney General Merrick Garland form a law enforcement task force and threaten to use the FBI and several other divisions of the Department of Justice against parents protesting COVID-19 mandates and racist indoctrination in public schools?  At a recent Senate oversight hearing, Garland insisted it was news reports of violence at school board meetings — and not simply a letter from two officials at the National School Boards Association — that prompted him to do it.  The letter smeared protesting parents as potential domestic terrorists.  And yes, Garland said he would use his National Security Division — the unit within the Department of Justice that goes after jihadists — to crack down on parents.  But where are the news reports supposedly supporting the terrorism accusation?  Surprisingly, the Justice Department didn't produce them.

The Pentagon investigates itself, finds no crime.  Fresh off their recent success in fleeing Afghanistan with their tails between their legs, leaving hundreds of Americans and billions of dollars in arms and munitions behind, the Pentagon was in a celebratory mood and decided to drone some ISIS-K terrorists. [...] So, the best and brightest among us decided to rain hellfire on a car in Kabul, reducing the occupants to greasy spots and causing the world to sit up and take notice of America's righteous wrath.  General Mark Milley, the beribboned chairman on the Joint Chiefs, declared the attack a "righteous strike" that probably saved U.S. troops from another terrorist attack.  Like the one at Kabul airport that Milley and his pals in "intelligence" failed to stop.  Sadly, it turns out Gen. Milley and his drone operators were too busy worrying about climate change and white supremacists in the military to properly verify their target.  He and his boys had in fact obliterated a car containing Afghan aid workers and seven children.

One Minute Before Midnight.  No one gets to tell you what your job is worth.  No one gets to tell you what you must allow into your body.  No one gets to tell you that you have no right to interfere with what they wish to "teach" your kids.  Period.  The Founders would alternately laugh and cry at this madness.  No one should be allowed to abridge your right to free speech, to defend yourself, or to believe and worship as you wish, and your conscience dictates.  No faceless, unelected bureaucrat should be allowed to essentially make laws that seriously impact your life.  And no one in power should be able to ignore, overturn or otherwise negate your vote.  (Those who preposterously pretend that there was absolutely no malfeasance in the 2020 presidential election are either complicit, ignorant, hiding behind a wall of deception, or insane.)

Who Eventually Won the Cold War?  Pause for a minute to recall the recent past:  Did the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff unlawfully intervene in the chain of command to reroute decisions of nuclear weapon readiness through himself?  Did he really contact his Chinese Communist counterpart to promise him that China would be warned of possible U.S. aggression?  Did the lead medical authority on America's COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Anthony Fauci, deny under oath the fact that he routed U.S. aid money, through a third party, to the ground-zero Wuhan virology lab to enhance gain-of-function viral research?  Did Attorney General Merrick Garland sic the FBI on parents complaining about critical race theory — on the concocted accusation from a school board group, in part cooked up with White House staffer help, that the parents were likely "domestic terrorists"?  Did we really spend 22 months and $40 million chasing the "Russian collusion" hoax, a myth ginned up by the left-wing media and its enablers in the FBI and CIA?  Does the public really believe our current ministry of information that the "border is closed"?  Or that high gas prices are good?  Or that empty shelves reflect strong demand and will result in a more mature public no longer needing to buy superfluous goods?  Or that spiraling inflation is proof of a strong economy?  Or that the road to the Kabul airport was open to anyone with a U.S. passport who wished to leave?  Or that the accidental U.S. drone killing of a family in Kabul was a "righteous strike"?

AG Merrick Garland's outrageous Senate testimony sparked ringing denunciations from GOP senators.  Attorney General Merrick Garland yesterday demonstrated that he is unfit for office as the nation's chief law enforcement officer, much less as a justice of the Supreme Court.  Whatever reservations you may have about Mitch McConnell, be grateful that he kept this hack off the Supreme Court.  Garland basically stonewalled on all the difficult questions he faced.  He defended his now notorious memo to the FBI, written in response (in four days!) to a letter from the National School Boards Association, even as GOP senators repeatedly pointed out that the NSBA now has apologized for it.  No apologies were forthcoming from Garland.  Nor were yes or no answers to questions posed to him by Republicans who wanted them.  A number of times, he used the "I can't remember" or "I didn't know" dodge.

Biden and the Democrats are Undermining the Rule of Law.  An intriguing and distressing feature of the Biden administration and congressional Democrats is both having a propensity for law breaking and lawmaking.  They're different sides of the same coin. [...] Now let's take a quick look at Democrats' lawbreaking.  It accelerated in 2016 with Hillary Clinton's collusion with the DoJ, FBI, and CIA, principally, in trying to smear Donald Trump and derail his presidential campaign.  This criminal effort continued and doubled down during Trump's presidency — an effort replete with a special counsel (led by Robert Mueller), relentless harassment, and culminating in two unwarranted impeachments.  Whereas blue America may take smug satisfaction from their politicians conspiring with top federal appointees and bureaucrats to try to destroy a duly elected president, half or better of America took notes.  If the system can be weaponized to attempt to down a blameless president, what says that the feds can't waylay ordinary citizens — like parents whose "crime" is objecting to curriculum at local school board meetings?  Aren't those folk domestic terrorists, Merrick Garland?

Governments Love Inflation, and They Won't Do Anything to Stop It.  No government looking to massively expand its size in the economy and monetize a soaring deficit is going to act against rising prices, despite claiming the opposite.  One of the things that surprises citizens in Argentina or Turkey is that their populist governments always talk about the middle classes and helping the poor, yet inflation still soars, making everyone poorer.  Inflation is the gradual erosion of the purchasing power of the currency.  Governments will always use different excuses to justify inflation:  soaring demand, "supply chain disruptions," or evil corporations' greed.  However, most of the times these are excuses.  Inflation is always a monetary phenomenon.  Prices soar because money supply rises massively above real output and real money demand.

Meet Ray Epps:  The Fed-Protected Provocateur Who Appears To Have Led The Very First 1/6 Attack On The U.S. Capitol.  In a House hearing on Thursday [10/21/2021], Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) questioned AG Merrick Garland about a mysterious man, Ray Epps, instructing protesters to enter the US Capitol building on January 5, and who later shepherded crowds towards the Capitol on January 6.  [Tweet with video clip]  The story of the mystery man, Ray Epps, featured in Rep. Massie's video above is in fact far more shocking than even the good Congressman implies in the hearing.  It's a story so strange, and so scandalous at every turn, that it threatens to shatter the entire official narrative of the "Capitol Breach" and expose yet another dimension of proactive federal involvement in the so-called "insurrection" of January 6th.  If Revolver News's previous reporting points to a proactive role of the federal government in relation to the conspiracy cases against Oath Keepers and Proud Boys, the Ray Epps story that follows suggests a similar, yet more egregious, explicit, direct and immediate degree of federal involvement in the breach of the Capitol itself.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell sold up to $5 million worth of stock options just before Dow Jones tanked last year.  Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell sold between $1 million and $5 million worth of stock options that he owned just before the stock market tanked last year because the government failed to pass a stimulus measure, it has been reported.  Powell's stock sale was reported just weeks after two top officials with the central bank resigned and a third came under fire for making multi-million dollar stock trades during the COVID-19 pandemic.  He made the stock sales on October 1, 2020 — just as talks between Congress and the Trump White House over a new stimulus package broke down while COVID case counts, deaths, and hospitalizations were spiking, according to Prospect.

Yes, Virginia, There is a Deep State.  Six or seven years ago, "Deep State" was a term you would only see in left-leaning media.  Bill Moyers explored the theme on his site from time to time, and when The Nation asked Edward Snowden about it, he said, "There's definitely a deep state.  Trust me, I've been there."  The "deep state" was on the liberal left's front burner then because a spate of horrendously ugly revelations put it there.  We learned via Snowden that the NSA was collecting the communications of people all around the world in secret (Carollo might want to mark down that congress wasn't informed) in a program the U.S. Court of Appeals just last year declared illegal.  We found out top intelligence officials like CIA chief John Brennan and Director of National Intelligence James Clapper lied to congress, among other things about the warrantless surveillance program, and got away without perjury charges despite a furious outcry from legislators (another useful factoid for [Ben] Carollo, on the oversight front).  We learned about the CIA's systematic use of torture techniques, ranging from anal feeding to threatening to rape and murder relatives to induced hypothermia, another fun set of pastimes the agency decided not to burden congress with knowledge of.

The EPA head shows who's really in charge in America.  When our Founders drafted the Constitution, they were excessively concerned lest one branch of government gain disproportionate power, turning into a tyranny.  The Constitution, therefore, spreads out power among othe Executive, the Legislative, and the Judicial Branches, with each institution checking the power of the two others.  However, in the ensuing 240 years, America gained something the Founders never imagined:  an administrative state that, while ostensibly part of the Executive Branch, has also taken on the legislative powers of a lazy Congress that is big on showboating and small on doing the hard work of actually governing.  Most of the rules that burden Americans, whether individually or through their businesses, come from the uncontrolled, permanent, hard-left regulatory state.

The Traits of the Authoritarians Among Us.  There are two irrefutable and intertwined realities of authoritarianism that the citizens of any democratic nation must recognize and understand.  First, any political party that espouses ever greater power for the central government, socialist-centric economic policies and continual erosion of individual freedom is an existential threat to the nation.  Second, the leaders of these political parties and their disciples will lie incessantly and, under no circumstances, will they alter their policies or tactics, as they can never be wrong in their pursuit of unbridled political power.  Perhaps nothing better defines this mindset of infallibility and pathological lying than the deliberate mismanagement of the Chinese Coronavirus pandemic.  Since March of 2020, the governing/professional class and its accomplices in the medical establishment have regurgitated innumerable falsehoods and have been responsible for a variety of catastrophic mistakes.  Not only has there been no acknowledgment that errors were made but they were compounded by abject refusals to change course.

Keywords:  Police state, jackboots, gunpoint, nose rape.
Massachusetts Governor Activates National Guard to Test School Children For Covid.  Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker (R) on Tuesday announced he activated the National Guard to help test school children for Covid.  Baker activated 450 members of the Massachusetts National Guard for two missions:  200 members will support Covid testing in K-12 schools and up to 250 member will be used to offset staffing shortages at the Department of Correction (DOC), the governor's office said. [...] Last month Governor Baker activated the National Guard to take children to school amid a massive shortage of bus drivers.  Up to 250 Guard troops were activated mid-September to fill the shortage.  Dozens of state trooper have also resigned because of Governor Baker's mandatory vaccine mandate.

The Rise of Weak Men is Killing American Innovation and Prosperity.  The Competitive Enterprise Institute estimates that federal regulation alone costs the US almost $2 trillion per year in lost productivity. [...] And it's directly related to regulation.  The Code of Federal Regulations contains every law and rule of the federal government.  In 1938 it was 18,193 pages.  After dropping down to 9,745 pages in 1950 it shot up to 56,720 pages in 1972 and by 2019 it stood at 185,984 pages.  On every one of those pages are rules that govern Americans' lives.  From what goes into their food to the employment conditions of every person who manufactured or transported or sold every single product they buy.  From reporting rules for companies to bank deposit info to what's printed on the side of a can of corn or a box of cereal.  Then there's who you can or must rent your home to, how much energy your computer monitor uses, what you pay for gas and, now, what you have to put into your body.

Officials in all three branches of government [have been] implicated in breaking stock laws.  The Fed revelations caught the attention of Senators Elizabeth Warren and Sherrod Brown, who separately called for a ban on Fed officials from owning individual stocks.  Brown's call came with the promise of new legislation which, while not yet published, will presumably focus on the Fed, a quasi-private institution in the federal government that governs US monetary policy, including setting interest rates and managing the money supply.  Senator Warren insisted the Fed take direct action to bar its senior officials from making those kinds of trades.  But history suggests she has much more ambitious reforms in mind.  In the wake of allegations of potential COVID-19 related insider trading by several Senators from both parties, including Richard Burr from North Carolina and Diane Feinstein from California, Warren reintroduced a bill, the Anti-Corruption and Public Integrity Act, to capitalize on the political fallout.

'Arrest Me!': Mom Challenges Attorney General's Call for Probing Threats to School Boards.  Rhode Island mom Nicole Solas says she is just one of many parents "with legitimate concerns about our kids' education."  Solas drew national attention earlier this year when her local school board in South Kingstown, Rhode Island, threatened to sue her over public record requests she made to learn what her local school district was teaching students.  The school board ultimately opted against taking legal action against her.  But Solas made headlines again in August when a teachers union, the National Education Association Rhode Island, filed a lawsuit against her over the records requests.  Solas made the requests to determine whether her child would be taught about gender identity and critical race theory ideology, two controversial issues that have led to an increase in parental attendance at school board meetings across the country this year.

American fascism?  [A] broad working definition of fascism can be found by going to the source — Benito Mussolini, the father of 20th-century fascism.  Mussolini said:  "Fascism should more appropriately be called corporatism because it is a merger of state and corporate power."  Looking out over the American landscape, isn't this almost exactly what we see today, an unholy marriage between the state and big business?  To understand the scope of this, understand that the state is far more than just elected officials.  It also includes the massive unelected and mostly unaccountable government bureaucracies which are permanently in place.  As for corporations, it includes the mainstream media which could properly be called the corporate media.  In the U.S. today, six media behemoths control a whopping 90% of what Americans read, watch, and listen to.  They are GE, News-Corp, Disney, Viacom, Timer-Warner, and CBS.  Other corporate players include the tech companies, the big banks, and international corporations which are too numerous to mention.

Tucker Carlson Outlines How the DOJ-NSD Has Morphed Into a Political Targeting Operation.  Some CTH readers may remember how the DOJ-NSD refused to accept inspector general oversight as led by AG Eric Holder and DAG Sally Yates.  More readers will remember the DOJ-NSD is the epicenter of FISA abuses.  It is the DOJ-NSD where Main Justice can operate in the shadows, because they use the shield of national security; a key strategy of the Fourth Branch of government.  The DOJ-NSD is the targeting center of Main Justice where folks like John Carlin, Mary McCord, Bruce Ohr, Andrew Weissmann, David Laufmann, George Toscas (and later Dana Boente) were operating against the incoming Trump administration and later the Trump presidency.  The DOJ-NSD is where selective Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA) violations are used against political enemies like Michael Flynn, while people like the Podesta brothers are ignored.

How is Tucker Carlson still alive?  Let's look at some very recent history.  How about Seth Rich, Vince Foster, and Jeffrey Epstein?  How about the five-year coup against President Trump, from his candidacy through his last days in office?  How about treasonous General Milley telling China he would give them a heads-up if an attack were coming?  How about the bugging and wire-tapping of Trump Tower when Trump was president-elect?  How about the Supreme Court's refusal to hear any 2020 election cases — just plain refused to hear anything?  How about the J-6 MAGA protesters still in jail, in solitary confinement, for trespassing?  What of a China COVID virus that Washington, D.C. unexplainably refuses to say came from China?  What of a vaccine, which really isn't a vaccine, but more of a therapeutic?  How about vaccine mandates that are clearly unconstitutional?  What about the Biden cabal completely leaving open our borders, which violates the U.S. Constitution? [...] Patriots remember how Fox treated President Trump on Election Night and then the next day.  Patriots still do not trust Fox and thus have not returned to Fox.  But the exception on Fox is Tucker.  Without Tucker Carlson, FOX would look a lot like CNN lite.

The Government Is Not Your Friend, No Matter What Politicians Tell You.  The dirty little secret about government is that its purpose is not really to make the lives of citizens better but, rather, to accumulate power at the expense of citizens.  Not sure about that?  Ask yourself, how many government agencies have put themselves out of a job because they succeeded?  There're a few that technology left behind, like the Steamboat Inspection Service; others that served their purpose, like the Defense Homes Corporation; while others were merged into other agencies like the General Land Office, subsumed into the Department of Interior.  In our history, there have been fewer than 100 federal agencies that have actually been shuttered, and most of those existed in the early 20th century to deal with the Depression or the two world wars.

The COVID Caste System.  [Scroll down]  Nowhere, however, is the new American caste system more evident than with COVID-19.  Did you see Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) at the Met Gala?  The publicity focused on her "Tax the Rich" dress, but just as notable was the video, released by Vogue magazine, of AOC in full Cinderella mode, flanked by multiple attendants, straightening her hair, fixing her dress, holding up the long train, adjusting her heels.  They were all masked; she was not.  This was hardly an isolated case.  Shortly before the Met Gala, the Obamas held a massive party to celebrate Barack Obama's 60th birthday.  Again, the guests that included political leaders, business moguls, and Hollywood celebrities were all unmasked.  The chefs, the servers, the valets, and the other staff were all masked.  An upper caste and a lower caste, both playing their roles in Obama's large tent.  Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, also just had a birthday, and video showed a small, unventilated room in which Jayapal and her maskless friends all partied together.  It was the same story with San Francisco Mayor London Breed, who violated her own mask mandate while partying at a club.  The Emmys, too, featured clip after clip of unmasked actors, producers, and directors walking the press photo line, and only when they crossed over to the other side could you see all the staff and attendants, masked, of course, taking them back to their seats.

Is America Heading Towards Authoritarianism?  The occupant of the White House is possibly senile and certainly incompetent.  He cluelessly wades from one crisis to another.  It began with the illegal immigration crisis on the Southern border where there was a mass influx of illegal immigrants.  They were then surreptitiously transferred to other states. [...] COVID-19 is being used as an excuse to infringe upon civil liberties, restrict movement, mandate masks, and mandate vaccines.  Employees in government and beyond being compelled to be vaccinated to retain employment.  School children are compelled to wear masks.  Landlords were prevented from the eviction of tenants during the pandemic. [...] There are civilians in jail for the Jan. 6 demonstrations on Capitol Hill with reports that they are in Gitmo-like conditions. [...] To summarize, the governing class now believes that they are the ruling class who own the power.  They look at the public as subjects who need to be permanently controlled.  They see freedom as a luxury they grant to obedient citizens rather than the right of every citizen.  They look at their opposition among the citizenry with disdain as pests who need to be crushed.

Our 'Boy Who Cried Wolf' Government.  A 74-year-old woman lies on her back, writhing in pain and clearly in distress on a blacktop road in Melbourne, Australia.  Two police officers stand over her.  Are they coming to her rescue and bringing her to her feet?  No, they're dousing her with two separate streams of pepper-spray while keeping their free hands on military batons in case the tortured septuagenarian somehow springs up in attack mode to wrestle down the pair of twenty-something jackboots "just following orders."  The woman had been participating in a freedom march against Australia's COVID-1984 insanity, but the government proved that Grandma was no match for goon squad brute force.  Forget chivalry and common sense. [...] You can't scare schoolchildren into wearing face masks for the next ten years in order to "save Granny" while getting caught clubbing and macing Granny in the street.  That contradiction just won't do.  Yet contradictions abound, and normal people are opening their eyes long enough to notice.  That's no good for the powers that be. [...] An avalanche of mendacity and treachery landing on them all at once, and the narrative engineers have real problems on their hands.  You knock Granny on the pavement and nearly kill her for "her own good," however, and the jig is up.

FNC's Melugin:  New FAA Rule Keeps Us from Filming Del Rio Situation with Drone, We've Used It at Border for Seven Months Without Issue.  On Thursday's [9/16/2021] broadcast of the Fox News Channel's "Tucker Carlson Tonight," Fox News National Correspondent Bill Melugin reported that the FAA has imposed a temporary flight restriction for the area around the bridge where thousands of migrants are congregating near Del Rio, TX, and as a result, Fox can't use its drone to capture aerial footage of the situation around the bridge.  Melugin also said they've used the drone around the border for seven months and it hasn't been a problem until now.  Melugin said, "We've been using our drone to show everybody these remarkable pictures. ... We just learned that the FAA has put out a temporary flight restriction, a TFR, in the area immediately around the port of entry where that bridge is.  What does that mean?  It means our drone can no longer fly and show those images. [...]"

No Fly Zone:  FAA Shuts Down Fox News Drone Exposing Border Crisis.  In an apparent attempt to cover up the border crisis, the Biden administration has shut down Fox News's ability to fly their drone over the U.S.-Mexico border to report on the border crisis, which swelled in August and again in the last 24 hours.  On Thursday's [9/16/2021] Special Report, national correspondent Bill Melugin showed the over 9,000-person crowd of illegals under the international bridge.  But on Tucker Carlson Tonight, two hours later, he was forced to report that the FAA had issued a temporary flight restriction or TFR over the entire area.  "Stunning footage out of Del Rio, Texas on Thursday.  As our Fox Flight Team drone shows thousands of migrants crammed under the international bridge waiting to be processed after crossing illegally into the United States," he reported on Special Report.

Members of Congress [are] exempt from Biden's vaccine mandate, [but] average Americans [are] expected to comply.  There is one sure way to get around President Joe Biden's vaccine mandate:  Be part of either the legislative or judicial branches of the federal government.  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said the mandate does not apply to members of the House, according to Newsweek.  "She's saying she cannot force Members to be vaccinated, which is true," a statement from Pelosi's office said.  The New York Times reported that the vaccine edict issued by Biden does not apply to the federal court system either.  The vaccine mandate has triggered howls of protest.  Republican Rep. Nicole Malliotakis of New York said Biden exceeded his executive authority with the mandate, which relies upon a liberal interpretation of the rule-making powers of the Department of Labor.

Tyrannizing The Common Good.  President Biden has lost patience.  After months of telling Americans that vaccine mandates aren't necessary, Biden announced on Thursday a federal vaccination mandate affecting 100 million Americans.  Not only did he not bother to provide citizens with a coherent rationale, but the rationale he did provide seemed to suggest that the mandate was necessary because vaccinated people need to be protected from unvaccinated people — a rationale that implies that the vaccine being mandated doesn't work!  Biden's patience has worn too thin.  Rather than make a clear case for the necessity of a mandate with his legitimate executive power, constrained by law, Biden has chosen to utilize ideologically aligned corporate power and OSHA safety regulations as political "work-arounds" to achieve by executive dictat that which had proved too difficult: to demonstrate that the mandate is reasonable, legal, and necessary.  As with his remarks this summer on his novel use of the CDC to place a moratorium on evictions — "maybe it's illegal, but it's worth it" — the key to Mr. Biden's political strategy seems to be rooted neither in reason nor justice, but in the sheer will to power in the name of "the common good," immediately revealing how the very notion of the common good can be abused.  Some red-state attorneys general have announced that they intend to use their own powers to resist federal overreach.  Are they then against the common good?  Partisans will answer that question differently.

Open Letter to the Tyrant.  Some of the people may have voted for Joe Biden.  No one voted for mandatory vaccines.  No representative of the people so voted.  It was never put up for a vote.  It was ordered.  That is not America, anymore.  Americans are thus relieved of any obligation to obey.  The time has come to resist.  Not with violence.  With something more powerful.  Refusal.  We will not submit to this.  It is not negotiable.  You have neither the authority nor the right to order people to submit to any medical procedure, to take any drug.  To force people to submit their children for medical procedures and to take drugs of dubious palliative value that are known to cause harm.  We are not livestock, to be ear-tagged and injected at your pleasure.  And America is not a hospital.  The tyrant who now occupies the White House believes he can force his will upon you by threatening to remove your livelihood, using threats of financial ruin applied to employers by his regulatory apparat.

Biden Declares Himself Medical Dictator, Threatens to Nullify States' Rights and Coerce the Entire Population into Taking Deadly Vaccine Jabs Against Their Will.  We should be celebrating this moment of clarity, for Biden's audacious actions have just turned half of America into a powerful new vaccine resistance movement.  As the following map shows, state leaders in about half the states have openly declared their resistance against Biden's authoritarian power grab.  Many states have announced their intent to file lawsuits, and Texas Governor Abbott has already issued an executive order protecting medical choice for Texans. [...] As part of his dictatorial decree, fake president Joe Biden declared that he would remove governors from power if they don't comply with his vaccine mandates.  This is, of course, an act of treason and war against the United States of America, and it opens the window for the white hats in the US military to remove Biden from office and declare his "rule" to be an unconstitutional occupation.  From Biden:  "If they'll not help — if these governors won't help us beat the pandemic, I'll use my power as President to get them out of the way."  Of course, "get them out of the way" means Biden plans to try to arrest and remove the governors, then rule of America as a dictatorial tyrant.

Travis County DA Garza, Austin Acting Police Chief Accused of Retaliation in High-Profile Shooting Case.  Retaliation.  Witness tampering.  Felony criminal conduct.  These charges are being aimed at the man Travis County, Texas, voters elected to prosecute criminals in November 2020.  And the charges stem from one of José Garza's highest-profile and most controversial cases.

Fauci's entire dishonest house of cards just collapsed.  [Scroll down]  Assuming America survives as a democratic republic operating under our Constitution, Americans must take stock of everything they've assumed since the Cold War's end.  Here are some of those lessons:
  •   Cultural Marxism is the road to totalitarianism.
  •   Democrats are fascists under Mussolini's ultimate definition of fascism:  "All within the state, nothing outside the state, nothing against the state."
  •   The tech tyrants must be reined in for they are the primary vehicle through which Democrats implement fascism.
  •   The mainstream media, which collaborates with the tech outlets, is another fascism facilitator.  Ditto Hollywood.
  •   Almost all American schools, whether K-12 or colleges and universities, do not educate, they indoctrinate.
  •   Borders matter.
  •   Scientism, which is a form of blind worship, is entirely different from science, which is a methodology using reproducible experiments to prove theories that are never immune to challenges.
  •   Government must be radically downsized to preserve liberty.
And one more thing: Dr. Fauci needs to go to jail for the rest of his life because, through his funding illegal gain-of-function research, followed by his non-stop stream of dangerous lies, he has the blood of hundreds of thousands of Americans on his hands.

Biden Weaponizes Dept. of Education to Become the COVID Mask Gestapo.  They get creepier by the hour.  Seriously, these people need to be rounded up and put in some sort of leper colony for fascists.  They will be free to keep the masks on their enraged faces all they want.  They're empowered by a government that is now in the hands of people who are all too casual about using its might against any citizens who don't agree with them.  I'm not talking about criminals, I'm talking about law-abiding Americans who are merely running afoul of the liberal narrative du jour.  We saw it happen when Barack Obama was president and he sent the IRS after conservative tea party groups.  Now, President Sniffsakid has directed the Dept. of Education — the most useless of all the Cabinet agencies — to legally harass the states that aren't trying to suffocate school children with masks.

Democrats' Jan. 6 subpoena-palooza sets dangerous precedent.  "We have quite an exhaustive list of people.  I won't tell you who they are."  With those words, House Select Committee Chair Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) confirmed that a subpoena storm was about to be unleashed in the investigation of the Jan. 6 riot in Congress.  The targets would include Republican members, including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), who have already been told to preserve their phone records to be surrendered to the committee.  The Democrats are reportedly trying to prove their prior claims that Republicans conspired or assisted "insurrectionists," even though the FBI reportedly found no evidence of a planned insurrection.  The Democrats' move to investigate members of the opposing party is a dangerous precedent in an institution that has always protected the privacy and confidentiality of phone and office records.

FBI show up at mans property over Facebook group.  [Three video clips]

The Masked Ball of Cowardice.  [Scroll down]  Likewise, in October 2020, the WHO's peer-reviewed bulletin showed COVID-19's overall IFR across all age groups to be about 0.23%.  John Ioannidis, the world's most-cited physician, believes the IFR (infection fatality rate) to be lower and published his own peer-reviewed study showing the overall IFR to be about 0.15%.  But in a poll conducted by the Menzies Research Centre, by June 2021 Australians on average estimated their chance of dying if they contracted the virus to be 38%, an overestimation of more than 160-fold.  For the public to be so egregiously misinformed about their actual risk from COVID-19 renders democratic accountability for lockdown measures impossible.  Even more so because, as a study by Cardiff University demonstrated, the primary factor by which citizens judge the threat of COVID-19 is their own government's decision to employ drastic lockdown measures.  "We found that people judge the severity of the COVID-19 threat based on the fact the government imposed a lockdown — in other words, they thought, 'it must be bad if government's taking such drastic measures.'  We also found that the more they judged the risk in this way, the more they supported lockdown."  The policies thus create a feedback loop in which the measures themselves sow the fear that makes citizens to believe their risk of dying from COVID-19 is hundreds of times greater than it really is, which in turn causes them to support more lockdown measures.

Cook County judge strips mother of parental rights over vaccination status.  A Chicago mother says a Cook County judge has taken away her parental rights after learning that she is not vaccinated against COVID-19.  In what all parties agree is a very unusual and perhaps unprecedented step, a judge at Chicago's Daley Center has stripped Rebecca Firlit of custody because she refuses to get a vaccination shot.

Representative Madison Cawthorn Warned by House Chair Not To Insult Dear Leader.  Representative Madison Cawthorn (R-NC) delivered a very strong speech on the House floor against Joe Biden's Afghanistan withdrawal and the subsequent crisis he has created.  After his remarks, Mr. Cawthorn was warned by the House Chair, not to insult Dear Leader.  [Video clip]

Boosters? I Don't Want Your Stinkin' Boosters!  Our government — the current administration and its president — is now announcing those who took COVID-19 vaccines must take a booster.  But who can trust the opinion of our government — any part of it, all those self-perpetuating enclaves of moribund bureaucrats — given what's going on in Afghanistan?  It's laughable.  It's not just the "gang who couldn't shoot straight."  It's the "gang that shoots its own people" and leaves millions of women to suffer the most brutal oppression on the planet.  Trust them?  That this booster announcement was made now, in the face of the monstrous Afghanistan debacle, is an all-too-transparent attempt to say don't look there, look here — here being, as always, COVID, the ever-ready pandemic that has been used to manipulate and prevent the American people from living anything close to normal lives for going on two years.

The U.S. Government Lied For Two Decades About Afghanistan.  "The Taliban regime is coming to an end," announced President George W. Bush at the National Museum of Women in the Arts on December 12, 2001 — almost twenty years ago today.  Five months later, Bush vowed:  "In the United States of America, the terrorists have chosen a foe unlike they have faced before. ... We will stay until the mission is done."  Four years after that, in August of 2006, Bush announced:  "Al Qaeda and the Taliban lost a coveted base in Afghanistan and they know they will never reclaim it when democracy succeeds. ... The days of the Taliban are over.  The future of Afghanistan belongs to the people of Afghanistan."  For two decades, the message Americans heard from their political and military leaders about the country's longest war was the same.  America is winning.  The Taliban is on the verge of permanent obliteration.  The U.S. is fortifying the Afghan security forces, which are close to being able to stand on their own and defend the government and the country. [...] Similar assurances have been given by the U.S. Government and military leadership to the American people since the start of the war.

Is the federal government torturing Brian Kolfage?  Brian Kolfage, an airman who survived losing both legs and an arm in Iraq, started a fundraiser to build a wall on our Southern border.  The project took off, a lot of money flowed in, and the federal government promptly went after Kolfage, accusing him of defrauding those who donated money.  This post is not about Kolfage's guilt or innocence on the charges against him.  It is, instead, about allegations that the government is effectively torturing him by denying him access to a medicine that controls the nerve pain resulting from his leg amputations.  We know that the government has been exceptionally vicious in its prosecution against Kolfage.  It started when based federal agents operating out of the Southern District of New York arrested this family man, who lives in a Florida home with his wife and two young children.  On August 20, 2020, the United States Postal Inspection Service sent 15 people to arrest Kolfage.  Think about that for a moment:  This is a triple amputee in a wheelchair, and they sent 15 armed officers to take him down.  They then dragged Kolfage into a car that was not ADA compliant, leaving behind his wheelchair and his prosthetic limbs.

Family Court Corruption Scandal Explodes in Hollywood.  [Scroll down]  How long can this injustice continue to be completely ignored by the elected bodies whose job it is to check the overreaching power of the judiciary?  Instead of a system of checks and balances, the legislatures have abdicated their checking power to panels of other judges and lawyers, who are all members of the same club of bar associations, and tasked them with the vital job of balancing our government.  It's the definition of the fox guarding the henhouse.

On DOJ's Election-Integrity-Suppression Efforts.  The DOJ would appear to be seeking to dissuade states from doing more audits like Arizona's.  Recent actions rare positively goonish: threatening states if they do independent audits?  Treating the petition of government for redress of grievance (by rallying in support of audits, for example) might be prosecuted as voter intimidation?  That's nuts.

Time to impeach Biden.  After having appointed a special counsel, or in place of it, under 5 U.S. Code §1212 — Powers and functions of the Office of Special Counsel, specifically under (a) (aB), (a3), Congress must act to impeach this president for high crimes and misdemeanors, gross mismanagement, violating the nation's laws, and endangering the public health and safety of citizens. [...] Congress must begin impeachment proceedings against President Joe Biden, V.P. Kamala Harris, Attorney General Merrick B. Garland, and his deputies, who likely have knowledge of the events that squashed investigations into the nation's murderous governors.  The investigations should include the governors, secretaries of state, and attorneys general of New York and Michigan.  Charges include, but are not limited to, obstruction of justice, abuse of authority, abuse of power, abuse of office, covering up criminal activity, conspiracy, and criminal self-dealing.  Considering allegations of potential collusion among these individuals and associates to cover up crimes that resulted in the deaths of citizens, provisions of the RICO Act for fraud and conspiracy to commit fraud shall be attached.  Investigative subpoenas to the staffs of these politicians must be prepared immediately to protect the integrity of the nation's justice and political systems, primarily its national security to protect America's citizens from harm.

America R.I.P..  In my days as a Wall Street Journal editor, I reviewed a book by a historian who said the sack of Rome by barbarians occurred because the Roman citizens feared the terrors of the barbarians less than they feared the terrors of their own government and opened the gates of the city to the barbarians.  With all its talk of domestic terrorists, this seems what Washington fears.  Patriots see Washington as the enemy and are now the danger that Washington faces.  New York Democrats have confiscated Rudy Giuliani's law license because he defended President Trump and presented signed affidavits of electoral fraud in the 2020 election.  New York Democrats are framing Donald Trump by building a false case against Trump's business manager, which will be dropped when Trump's business manager turns false witness against Trump.  535 Trump supporters are rotting in jail despite habeas corpus awaiting their frame ups for being "Trump insurrectionists" and entering Congress under the tutelage of FBI agents pretending to be "insurrectionists."  What real American can support a government this corrupt?  If the moronic zionist neoconservatives who populate the illegitimate Biden Regime get us into a war with Russia or China or even Iran, we are done for.

Texas Rangers May Be Investigating Witness Tampering Allegation Against Travis County's DA in Austin Protest Shooting Case.  On Wednesday, after PJ Media exclusively reported that Austin police detective David Fugitt accused Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza's office of felony witness tampering in the Sgt. Daniel Perry case, a hearing was held in the 147th Criminal District Court.  Fugitt made the allegation in a sworn affidavit.  Sgt. Perry's defense attorneys filed a motion to hold a hearing on Garza's conduct as alleged in Fugitt's affidavit.  In that filing, Perry's defense attorneys say Det.  Fugitt found that Perry shot Foster on the night of July 25, 2020, in self-defense and that Foster "was a criminal killed in commission of a crime."  District Attorney Garza nevertheless took the case to an Austin grand jury, which indicted Perry.  Perry is an Army sergeant serving at Ft. Hood.  Austin is a Democrat stronghold.

A Ministry of Fear Rules America.  In just a few short months since the mysterious elevation of Joseph Robinette Biden, Jr., inexplicably elected the 46th president of the United States, our country has undergone a stunning rapid devolution from a confident, economic powerhouse to a shabby debtor nation afraid of its own shadow.  The American Ministry of Fear, however, is not located in the Chancellery of the National Socialist German Workers Party in Berlin, but in every petty federal, state, and local bureaucracy, doctor's office, TV news station, big-city newspaper, college and university in the country.  From the start of the COVID-19 manufactured panic, these agents of influence have waged a relentless war on the American psyche.  And now, despite their miniscule majorities in Congress, they rule with an iron fist that brooks no demurral.

Aussie Government Sends Military Helicopter To Chase Away Kids Playing Basketball.  Whenever you think it can't get any worse, it gets much worse.  Australia has deployed hundreds of soldiers to Sydney to help enforce a Covid lockdown.  This is on top of hundreds of police in vehicles and paddy wagons that were filmed Friday getting ready to arrest those Aussies who dare venture outside of their homes or [...] stop and visit each other for a coffee.  [Video clip]

Senate Votes to Advance Unwritten Infrastructure Bill as Biden Hints HR-3684 Will Include Amnesty in Reconciliation Process.  As the nation is distracted by various COVID-centered discussion and media debate amid headlines of forced vaccinations, mask mandates and various other COVID compliance fiats, there is something rather troubling happening in congress.  Earlier today [7/30/2021], the UniParty Senate (Democrats and Republicans) voted to approve cloture on HR-3684 the Senate version of the House infrastructure bill.  The cloture vote now means the bill will be debated and opens the Senate floor for amendments to the bill.  However, this cloture vote is odd because the [...] Senate bill isn't even written yet!

The Military Plays No Part in the Constitution's 'Checks and Balances'.  Recent reports demonstrate a frightening willingness by Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mark Milley and other high-ranking generals to undermine President Trump during the final year of his administration.  These efforts began with some grumbling about the use of the military to enforce law and order during the Black Lives Matter riots of last summer.  They reached a fever pitch during the uncertain period between the election of 2020 and the inauguration of Joe Biden.  Milley expressed contempt for protesters supporting President Trump, comparing them to "Brownshirts" and "Nazis." He described Trump's challenges to election results as a "Reichstag moment."  He even tried to say something profound:  "Everything's going to be OK.  We're going to have a peaceful transfer of power.  We're going to land this plane safely.  This is America.  It's strong.  The institutions are bending, but it won't break."  It is apparent top military officers conceive of the military as a critical part of the Constitution's checks and balances, with a duty to review, rank, or resist the president's orders as they deem appropriate. [...] While Milley and others wrap their power grab in the rhetoric of upholding constitutional principles, a cursory review of the Constitution and the founders' writings shows that this is just a pose.

Nancy Pelosi Orders the Arrest of Those Without Masks and the Capitol Police Play Along.  Throughout the "back the blue" craze of the Trump era, one thing became abundantly clear that largely quelled it — police follow orders.  That includes orders that are patently absurd and violate the basic freedoms of individuals.  Yes, law enforcement officers generally do good work and are to be respected for that, but if you are expecting them to stand up to their authorities to protect the rights of individuals, they are almost always going to disappoint you.  Take that revelation and do with it what you will. [...] Another example of that has emerged within the Capitol of the United States.  Nancy Pelosi has ordered the Capitol Police to arrest people who aren't wearing masks.  [Tweet]  If the USCP weren't such a ridiculously politicized department, they'd scoff at the notion of using manpower to arrest people for not wearing masks, especially when the edict is coming from a purely political place.  There is no science behind the idea of further mask-mandates anywhere.  That's especially true regarding the Capitol Building, where almost every person in attendance is vaccinated and has lasting protection from the effects of COVID.  Pelosi put this mask-mandate back into place for one reason — to poke at Republicans.  No data exists to actually supports the mandating of masks, much less in the Capitol.

Complaint Filed Against Gretchen Whitmer Over Charter Jet Trip to Florida Last March.  The 49th Governor of the State of Michigan, Gretchen Whitmer, had to know this was coming.  You can't try to sneak away on a chartered jet during a pandemic that you are crying wolf about and expect no one to notice. [...] Now comes word that a group by the name of Michigan Rising Action has filed a complaint with the Michigan Bureau of Elections for a violation of campaign finance laws.

How Intelligent Is Our Intelligence Community, Really?  The Conservative Treehouse began a series on "The Fourth Branch of Government, the Intelligence Community."  That series, along with Tucker Carlson's revelation that the NSA possibly spied on him and at the very least illegally unmasked him, has brought the Intelligence Community center stage.  I usually do not think too much about the various security and intelligence functions of the government, other than to marvel that they have managed to prevent a second 9/11.  In doing a bit of research, however, I have come to realize that the security function of our country is a tangled web of bureaucracy.  Is that really what it takes to protect U.S. citizens, or is this a turf-building and protection operation?

House Republicans accuse Joe Biden of behaving like a 'Cuban dictator' with efforts to control social media spread of public health 'misinformation'.  Joe Biden has been accused of acting like 'a Cuban dictator' in a letter signed by 190 House Republicans, after his administration moved to force tech companies to clamp down on coronavirus misinformation.  A letter to the president was written on Thursday by Cathy McMorris Rodgers, the top Republican on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and the three top Republicans in the House — Leader Kevin McCarthy, Whip Steve Scalise and Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik.  'The federal government's ongoing efforts to pressure private companies to censor speech that it disagrees with is alarming and an affront to the First Amendment,' they wrote, in a letter obtained by Fox News.

Baltimore's attorney attempts, and fails, to get FCC to silence and censor local Fox radio station.  Blacklists are back and the Democrats got 'em!  On May 5, 2021 the office of Baltimore's state attorney, Democrat Marilyn Mosby, filed a formal complaint with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) against a local Fox news station, demanding that the FCC censor and shut down the station because it has repeatedly published stories that were critical of Mosby and her policies. [...] The blatent oppressive nature of this demand — in utter violation of the first amendment of the Constitution and all that America has stood for during its first two hundred plus years — should be somewhat shocking, but sadly it has become so common from Democratic Party politicians and many of their supporters in the past five years that it hardly made the news when it happened in early May.  Think about it however.  The office of an elected state's attorney for Baltimore wishes to use the power of government to silence a specific news outlet because that attorney does not like the outlet's news reporting.  Only dictators like Stalin, Hitler, and Mussolini would celebrate such actions.  And Americans once in mass would have been horrified, and risen up to get Mosby removed from office immediately.  No more.  Her office's actions barely made the news, which is why I post this story again.

White House Communications Director Admits They're Trying to Censor Conservative News Sites.  During an interview with CNN this week, White House Communications Director Kate Bedingfield admitted the Biden administration's censorship efforts are specifically targeting conservative news sites for publishing "misinformation."  "You've heard the president speak very aggressively about this.  He understands this is an important piece of the ecosystem but its also the other thing, the president has pointed out and spoke to when he was asked about this yesterday, it is also the responsibility of the people creating the content and again I would go back to, there are conservative news outlets who are creating irresponsible content that's sharing misinformation about the virus," Bedingfield said.

Hunter Biden's Prosecutor Rejected Legal Actions That Would've Revealed Investigation During Election.  Delaware U.S. Attorney David Weiss decided against taking certain legal actions — like issuing search warrants and grand jury subpoenas — that would have alerted the American public to the fact that then-Democrat presidential candidate Joe Biden's son, Hunter Biden, was under federal criminal investigation during the 2020 presidential election campaign.  Politico reports that the investigation reached a point last summer, months before Election Day, where investigators could have made moves that would have ultimately alerted the public to the fact that Joe Biden's son was under criminal investigation, but Weiss decided against that.

Anaheim officials have a very peculiar notion about free speech.  Anaheim, California, home to Disneyland, has an ugly, fantasy view of the First Amendment.  How else can one explain why Anaheim, after boasting about its respect for free speech, canceled an America First rally at which Marjorie Taylor Greene and Matt Gaetz were appearing because of the town's "duty" to oppose speech it doesn't like?  To date, Southern California has been hostile to America First.  On July 9, an American First rally set for an event center in Laguna Hills, at which Gaetz and Greene were to appear, had been canceled.  The news reported that the hotel's general manager wanted to avoid any controversies.

Hunter Biden prosecutor paused investigation before election: report.  The top federal prosecutor in Delaware decided to pause a criminal investigation of Hunter Biden months before the 2020 election to prevent the public from learning about it, according to a report.  US Attorney David Weiss, appointed by former President Donald Trump, decided not to seek search warrants or issue grand jury subpoenas so as not to "alert the public to the existence of the case in the middle of a presidential election," Politico reports.  The prosecutor's office reportedly was torn over whether to continue its probe or pause it due to the election, and Weiss, who remains in his job leading the case, sided with those who wanted to wait.  "To his credit, he listened," an unnamed source told the publication.

Federal Prosecutor Deliberately Delayed Hunter Biden Probe To Shield 2020 Election.  U.S. Department of Justice officials deliberately delayed an investigation into Hunter Biden's potential tax law violations and sketchy overseas business dealings because of the effect it could have on the presidential election, according to a Politico report.  Delaware's U.S. Attorney David Weiss allegedly postponed allowing prosecutors to obtain search warrants and issue grand jury subpoenas last summer, after facing pressure from other officials who feared the investigation's influence on the 2020 presidential election and now-President Joe Biden's campaign.

Michigan Attorney General is Now Using State Police to Go After Those Who Allege Election Fraud in 2020.  Michigan's Attorney General Dana Nessel is once again finding herself at the center of an abuse of power controversy.  Gretchen Whitmer's right-hand woman is deploying the Michigan State Police to assist with finding those who are asserting election fraud in the 2020 election.  "The Michigan Attorney General's office said Thursday it will investigate allegations that people are profiting off of false claims that the November 2020 presidential election was stolen," News Channel 3 reported.  The draconian persecution of political dissidents comes at the behest of the Republican majority state senate, according to the office's announcement.

Georgia SOS Raffensperger Investigating All Key 2020 Election Whistle Blowers.  For the past several months the office of Georgia Secretary of State (SOS) Brad Raffensperger has been quietly investigating whistle blowers who believe they detected potential fraud in the November 2020 election.  That's right.  The Raffensperger's Inspector General office has an active investigation into the key witnesses who testified before the Georgia General Assembly and signed affidavits for the exhibits of the Fulton County ballot inspection lawsuit!  These witnesses swore they detected potentially counterfeit ballots in the Fulton County hand count audit that occurred on November 14th and 15th.  They also observed a variety of other anomalies.  The November 2020 election was certified by December 11th and Raffensperger told the Wall Street Journal on December 12th, 2020 that:  "November's election was the most secure in history.  In Georgia, there is no evidence of widespread voter fraud and no significant issues with absentee ballots."  Of course, none of that is true.  Reports of many counterfeit mail-in ballots, thousands of missing test ballots, several Dominion voting system malfunctions, numerous missing chain of custody forms, major hand count audit errors and even foreign interference into Georgia county election servers have dominated the news.

Nobody Ever Expects Authoritarian Imposition!  Consider how our D.C. despots, with their stern expressions of disapproval and general sense of entitlement, have responded to 75 million Trump voters who insist on auditing the 2020 election.  Have they done so with transparency, calm reason, compassion for those governed, and steadfast respect for the rule of law?  Nope.  They've decided to defend tyranny in the name of liberty and protect self-government by denying the people their chance to consent.  They've embraced Monty Python levels of absurdity by pretending free people can be free only if the authorities say so.  Questioning the legitimacy of an election is treason! (fear)  To "protect democracy," some people must be imprisoned for their political beliefs! (surprise)  In order to protect freedom, the Intelligence Community must work with Silicon Valley to label defenders of the Bill of Rights as "domestic extremists"!  (ruthless efficiency)  Patriotic Americans are enemies of the state because Antifa and BLM say so!  (fanatical devotion to the woke)

Biden Does Not Need A Domestic "Terrorism" Agenda Unless He Is About To Violate American Rights.  The federal government is a kind of self perpetuating blob; a cannibalistic creature that must continue to feed on the public and the systems around it in order to survive, but it also must create reasons for its existence so that it may go on feeding uninterrupted. [...] There are only two real mandates for the government, only two reasons for its existence in our republic:  To secure America's borders from invasion and to protect the freedoms of the citizenry.  That's it.  It is not the job of the government to compel you to take an experimental and questionable covid vaccine over a virus that 99.7% of people will easily survive.  It is not the job of the government to create artificial "social equity" by favoring one group or ethnicity over another.  It is not the job of the government to spy on millions of Americans because they do not agree with the leftist ideology.  It is not the job of government to make war on the very people it is mandated to protect.  Yet, this is exactly what the government is doing today while its totalitarianism is disguised as "humanitarianism".  In other words, they are essentially arguing that they must make war on the people in order to protect the people from themselves.

The NSA Leaked Details of Their Tucker Carlson Surveillance to Allied Deep State Media.  This is a great example of how the Intelligence Branch of the U.S. government now operates.  Not only did the NSA conduct surveillance of Tucker Carlson's electronic communication, but the NSA also leaked Carlson's emails to allied intelligence media (Axios, CNN, New York Times, Washington Post) who operate as PR firms on behalf of the Intelligence Branch.  [Video clip]

Durkan administration rejected requests to pay for improving Seattle's handling, archiving of officials' texts.  At least twice in recent years, Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan's administration rejected budget proposals to improve the city's handling and preservation of text messages, shooting down detailed plans that staff said could help employees comply with state law and save the city from costly penalties for destroying public records.  Now the mayor and other high-ranking officials are embroiled in controversy over months' worth of texts that have been deleted, including messages exchanged during the tumultuous weeks last June when Seattle police tear-gassed racial justice demonstrators and abandoned the city's East Precinct station.  For Seattle's 2019 and 2020 budgets, Durkan's budget office rejected proposals by the city's Finance and Administrative Services and IT departments to fund text-archiving projects, budget records show.

Rudy Giuliani's Law License in Washington Suspended.  A U.S. appeals court ruled on July 7 that Rudy Giuliani can't practice law in Washington, a move that follows the suspension of Giuliani's New York law license two weeks ago.  The order from the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals comes after Giuliani, who served as the personal attorney for former President Donald Trump, had his law license revoked for making what the New York Supreme Court described as "false and misleading" statements following the Nov. 3 presidential election.  Giuliani is "suspended from the practice of law in the District of Columbia pending final disposition of this proceeding, effective on the date of entry of this order," the July 7 order states.  The filing cites the suspension of Giuliani's New York law license and says that his Washington license is revoked pending the result of disciplinary proceedings in New York.

After a False Abuse Allegation, Child Services Took This Mom's 3 Children Away.  Patti Krueger is a stay-at-home mom in Decatur, Illinois.  Her husband is a house painter.  The couple's second son, Wyatt, was born in 2017 with severe breathing difficulties.  "He was blue," says Krueger.  Wyatt spent nine days in neonatal intensive care.  Over the next two years his breathing problems necessitated oxygen treatments, tubes in his ears, and four surgeries, according to Krueger.  Some of his treatments were at a nearby hospital in Peoria.  Many hospitals today have a Child Abuse Pediatrician (CAP), a doctor on contract with child protective services.  Their job is to be on the lookout for child abuse, including abuse other doctors may have missed.  While the CAP at this hospital never met Krueger or worked directly with Wyatt, she reviewed his file and accused the mother of Munchausen syndrome by proxy — in other words, causing or faking a child's illness to get attention.  This CAP's report was all it took for Illinois' Department of Child and Family Services to put into place a "safety plan" to remove the Kruegers' kids.  These plans do not require any kind of court order because ostensibly the family "agrees" to it, on pain of potentially having no say over what happens next to their kids.

Noem: Biden Refused to Issue Mount Rushmore Fireworks Permits, Provided no Explanation Why.  During a Thursday [7/1/2021] interview on FNC's "Fox & Friends," South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) revealed that President Joe Biden refused to issue the permits this year for the Mount Rushmore Fourth of July celebration.  Noem said the celebration was brought back by President Donald Trump after President Barack Obama took it away for environmental concerns, and now Biden is canceling it again without providing an explanation.

The Fourth Branch of Government, The Intelligence Branch.  Factually, the modern intelligence apparatus uses checks and balances in their favor.  The checks create silos of proprietary information that works around oversight issues.  That's part of the problem.  Ironically the Office of the Director of National Intelligence was created in the aftermath of 9/11/01 expressly to eliminate the silos of information which they felt led to a domestic terrorist attack that could have been prevented.  The ODNI was created specifically upon the recommendation of the 9/11 commission.  The intent was to create a central hub of intelligence information, inside the executive branch, where the CIA, NSA, DoD, DoS, and DIA could deposit their unique intelligence products and a repository would be created so that domestic intelligence operations, like the DOJ and FBI could access them when needed to analyze threats to the U.S.  This, they hoped, would ensure the obvious flags missed in the 9/11 attacks would not be missed again.  The DNI office created a problem for those who operate in the shadows of proprietary information.

The War on Reality.  On March 13, 2020, the public school district where I teach announced that all classrooms and buildings would be closed for two weeks.  Then two weeks turned into two months, and two months turned into over a full year without in-person instruction. [...] "Public health" and "the safety of our children" came to mean students Zooming from homeless encampments, experiencing severe abuse, regressing academically, falling into depression, going hungry, struggling through catastrophic learning loss, and, in the saddest cases, not making it through the year alive.  Despite consistent evidence that schools were not sites of high transmission for COVID-19, many teachers failed to put aside baseless fears about classroom superspreading and rampant infection.  As a result, many of the most vulnerable children in our society suffered outrageous hardships, while their affluent peers attended private schools in person.  We've all been told that school closures and lockdowns were mandated by science, but what if these mandates were immoral?  What if they were based on a series of lies?  In fact, what if the entire rationale for most restrictions was actually rotten to the core?

Are US Spy Services Monitoring the Opposition's Communications?  Fox News host Tucker Carlson has reported during the last week about a whistleblower who told him that the National Security Agency (NSA) has been monitoring his electronic communications with the intention of leaking them to get his show taken off the air.  While most of the prestige press has dismissed Carlson's claims, the whistleblower may have struck just the tip of the iceberg — it's possible that along with Carlson much of the leadership of the American opposition movement is also under surveillance.  The NSA denied that Carlson is "an intelligence target of the Agency."  It explained on its Twitter account that the "NSA has a foreign intelligence mission.  We target foreign powers to generate insights on foreign activities that may harm the United States.  With limited exceptions ... NSA may not target US citizens without a court order that explicitly authorizes the targeting."  As absurd as it sounds, it's not hard to imagine U.S. officials presenting phony evidence to a secret court to try to show that an American TV star is actually a foreign spy.  They did it when the former host of "Celebrity Apprentice" ran for president in 2016.

Capitol, symbol of democracy, off-limits on Independence Day.  As it has been for nearly 16 months, longer than any time in the nation's history, the U.S. Capitol is closed to most public visitors.  The one-two punch of the coronavirus pandemic that shuttered the Capitol's doors in the spring of 2020 and the deadly insurrection by then-President Donald Trump's supporters on Jan. 6 has left the icon of American democracy unopen to all but a select few.

The Power and Paranoia of the Left.  As of June 2021, the DOJ has charged more than 450 people with taking part in the 01/06/21 Capitol riot.  In D.C., 1,500 inmates have been confined to prison cells 22 hours a day for months.  Most have been placed in maximum security conditions.  Many have not been tried in court.  Biden's repression of the political opposition is unprecedented (with one exception) in American history, as is the Biden regime's systematic contravention of due process and constitutional rights. [...] Neo-Marxist American political culture has used media and social media to neutralize and destroy political opposition in a more effective, flexible manner than could have been achieved solely by the "legal power" of the Deep State and now the federal government.  Police state tactics like FBI home invasions have been widely reported.  The DOJ and FBI publicize these grotesque constitutional violations for the desired effect: general fear and political intimidation.

Cy Vance's Trump case is straight from a banana republic — punish your political enemies.  Donald Trump has long claimed that investigations of him are a partisan "witch hunt." Manhattan DA Cy Vance seems determined to make Trump's point for him by indicting the Trump Organization along with its chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg.  The 15-count indictment throws a kitchen sink of charges, including grand larceny, conspiracy, scheme to defraud,and tax fraud.  But the whole thing comes down to paying perks to Weisselberg — such as his parking garage fees, tuition for family members and reimbursement of holiday gratuities — and not reporting them as taxable income, or reporting that the wrong Trump entity paid them.  For this they slapped Weisselberg in handcuffs Thursday and paraded him in front of the media — a stage-managed political show trial.

Giuliani's Suspension:  Questionable Statements, But Not by Him.  On motion by an Attorney Grievance Committee, a New York Appellate Court suspended Rudy Giuliani, a member of President Donald Trump's personal legal team, from the practice of law for making supposedly false claims about the 2020 U.S. presidential election.  Most of the public will read headlines and short articles about the foregoing and assume that Giuliani was proven to a court's satisfaction to have knowingly lied.  But upon closer examination of the ruling by the New York appellate court, we see clearly questionable statements — not by Giuliani, but about him.  What was bizarre about this ruling, especially to any experienced lawyer, is that Giuliani was suspended before it was even determined preliminarily that an investigation of him should be opened.  The court disqualified Giuliani on an emergency ad hoc basis, implicating Trump's Sixth Amendment right to counsel and Giuliani's First Amendment right to free speech.

Gov. Lujan Grisham killed 40% of New Mexico small businesses with her lockdowns.  According to the "Economic Recovery Dashboard" on the New Mexico Tourism Department website, embattled Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham's harsh lockdown during the pandemic resulted in an economic catastrophe, including the closure of 40% of New Mexico's small businesses, a devastating figure.  The figures show that in the food service and accommodations industry, nearly 60% of small businesses in that sector have been killed by Lujan Grisham's lockdowns.

Trump tears into 'radical left New York prosecutors' who have 'Failed' to find a crime against him and wasted 'millions in taxpayer funds'.  Donald Trump won't be personally charged in the Manhattan district attorney's case against the former president's business organization when the first indictment comes down, his attorney claimed.  Trump, in a lengthy and rambling statement issued on Monday, called the DA's investigation 'a continuation of the greatest Witch Hunt of all time' and claimed prosecutors 'failed' to find a crime even as 'millions of dollars of taxpayer funds wasted.'  His words came as an indictment against the business that made his fame and fortune, The Trump Organization, grows closer.

'They Leak, They Lie': Trump Says Opponents Are Committing 'Prosecutorial Misconduct' At 'Levels Rarely Seen Before'.  Former President Donald Trump slammed New York state and city prosecutors in a statement Monday, alleging that prosecutors are "in search of a crime" to charge him with.  Trump made the claim as Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance and New York State Attorney General Leticia James continue to weigh criminal charges against top executives from the Trump Organization.  A grand jury was convened in May by Vance's office as part of their criminal probe into the Trump Organization.

Tucker Carlson Announces Whistleblower Confirmed the NSA is Plotting to Leak Info and Get His Show Pulled Off Air.  Tucker Carlson has revealed that a whistleblower told his show that the National Security Agency is spying on him and plotting to leak information in an effort to have him pulled off the air.  Carlson announced the shocking news on Monday evening's episode of Tucker Carlson Tonight.  "The NSA is monitoring our electronic communications and is planning to leak them in an attempt to take this show off air," Carlson said, admitting that it is a shocking claim and normally he would be skeptical of it, as it is illegal for the NSA to spy on American citizens.  However, Carlson explained that the whistleblower even provided details about a story that the show was working on, which someone would only know from looking at his personal texts and emails.

Justice Department's Lawsuit Against Georgia Is Completely Partisan.  The Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, headed by new, radical Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke, filed a lawsuit on June 25 against Georgia.  The Justice Department claimed the state's recently enacted election reform law, SB 202, violates the 1965 Voting Rights Act because it discriminates against black Georgia voters.  The complaint reads like a press release drafted by the Democratic National Committee instead of a serious lawsuit by an apolitical Justice Department.  Clarke claims the new law has a discriminatory effect and that Georgia legislators "intended to deny or abridge the right of black Georgians to vote."  These claims are without merit and appear to be driven by the Biden administration's disagreements with Georgia's policy choices.  The law does not discriminate under the Voting Rights Act.  For example, contrary to the Justice Department's claim, there is nothing remotely discriminatory about requiring individuals to request an absentee ballot at least 11 days before Election Day instead of the prior deadline of only four days.

Politics by other means?  Giuliani suspension should worry all lawyers.  This week, New York's Supreme Court took the extraordinary step of suspending Rudy Giuliani, former federal prosecutor and counsel to former President Trump, from practicing law. [...] However, the fluid standard applied in Giuliani's case raises serious concerns over how and when such suspensions will be imposed against lawyers in public controversies.  Indeed, the Giuliani standard would seem to implicate a wide array of attorneys who straddle the line of legal and political advocacy.  The 33-page opinion is [...] deeply concerning in its heavy reliance on Giuliani's statements out of court.  While lawyers have been disciplined for out-of-court statements in some cases, this suspension seems primarily a judgment on Giuliani's public advocacy.  The court states that when he uses "his large megaphone, the harm is magnified. ... One only has to look at the ongoing present public discord over the 2020 election, which erupted into violence, insurrection and death on January 6, 2021, at the U.S. Capitol, to understand the extent of the damage that can be done when the public is misled by false information about the elections. [...]"

Loudoun County School Board Meeting Goes Full Fascist When Over 200 Parents Confront Them Over Critical Race Theory.  The embattled school board of Virginia's Loudoun County cut off public comment during a fiery meeting Tuesday as residents traded barbs over new transgender policy proposals Tuesday following weeks of protests from district parents opposed to some of the measures, which they have criticized as potential left-wing indoctrination and a violation of parental rights.  The policies affect transgender student rights, privacy and restroom accommodations and would require Loudoun County Public Schools employees to use students' preferred names or pronouns.  An official school board vote on the proposal is not expected until at least Aug. 10.  [Video clip]

Concerned Parents Protesting CRT Arrested After Virginia School Board Meeting Declared Unlawful Assembly.  Parents were arrested while protesting against Critical Race Theory (CRT) and a transgender policy at a Virginia school board meeting Tuesday [6/22/2021].  The meeting in Loudoun County, Virginia abruptly ended after the crowd became too rowdy and was later declared an unlawful assembly, footage posted to Twitter showed.  Two arrests were reportedly made for trespassing after some parents refused to leave.  [Video clip]

Things Explode at School Board Meeting Over CRT, Arrests Are Made.  Things are popping off in Loudon County, VA tonight as the debates over critical race theory and transgender issues in schools heat up.  Over 200 parents signed up to give public comments at a local school board meeting, and things just got crazier from there.  Eventually, an unlawful assembly was declared and several arrests were made. [...] All the crowd did was clap in support of someone's comment.  That's literally the extent of their "eruption," but that was enough for the little tyrants on the school board to shut down the meeting and get the cops involved.

Democrats Are Turning 'Homeland Security' Into A Political Weapon.  When a former FBI assistant director for counterintelligence says directly into a camera that fighting terror may now mean arresting members of Congress, the blood sport of politics has been taken to a new and more dangerous level.  Speaking on MSNBC recently, Frank Figliuzzi opined to Chuck Todd that:  "Arresting low-level operatives is merely a speed bump, not a road block.  In order to really tackle terrorism ... and this time domestically ... you've got to attack and dismantle the command-and-control element of the terrorist group, and unfortunately, and I know this is painful to hear ... that may mean people sitting in Congress right now, people in and around the former president."

Malibu Man Fined $4.2 Million Over Disputed Beachfront Gate.  When Warren and Henny Lent bought their Malibu beach house in 2002, it was the realization of a lifelong goal. [...] It was "a dream come true which lasted about two months," Lent says.  That was when the Lents learned, via a casual conversation with a neighbor, that their house had a five-foot-wide public access easement along its eastern side that people could use to get down to the water.  These easements aren't uncommon, and at first, the Lents didn't think much about the fact that their home had one too. [...] Nevertheless, this easement put the Lents on a collision course with one of the most powerful agencies in the state, and one with a history of antagonizing property owners: the California Coastal Commission (CCC).

Never Ever "Cooperate" With a Federal Law Enforcement Agent.  I have said it before and I will say it again.  You never, ever "cooperate" (talk) to any Federal or state law enforcement agent, period.  You also do not cooperate with any but benign and obvious local police requests, on the order of kids breaking into cars in the driveways of your neighborhood.  You may think you are being a good citizen and, maybe, their questions are legitimate and for a worthy purpose.  Maybe.  But you do not know that.  That professional agent may be a good, patriotic American doing noble work, like catching Chinese spies.  Maybe.  But you do not know that.  I have been involved in two extremely serious "investigations" at the Federal level.  I had done nothing at all wrong but one was politically driven (from the White House) and one was driven by ambitious bureaucrats.  In the first instance I got (expensive) legal help before I hanged myself.  If I had not, I would have lost my job at the very least.  In the second my wife and I were being set up for a totally false obstruction of justice charge.

White House encourages July 4 celebrations, except at Mount Rushmore.  South Dakota Republican Gov. Kristi Noem tweeted out a letter Tuesday from the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs which read in part:  "Thanks to the Biden administration's whole of government pandemic response, the United States has made incredible progress in vaccinating Americans and getting our country back on track [...] On July 4, because of our strong response, America will mark independence from the virus by celebrating with events across the country ...," the letter continued.  "We welcome you to join us by hosting your own events to honor our freedom, salute those who have been serving on the frontlines, and celebrate our progress in fighting this pandemic."  "What a hypocrite," Noem tweeted.  "President @JoeBiden wants 'a summer of freedom' where we 'mark independence from the virus by celebrating with events across the country.' Translation:  fireworks are fine at the White House, but not at Mount Rushmore."

Joe Biden's Most Terrifying Move Is One No One Is Talking About.  Elected officials are often just weak quasi-celebrities with little ability to propagate any real change.  Meanwhile, a determined group of bureaucrats can make regulations, target their political enemies with state power, and generally enact massive societal change — and you won't even know their names.  The Founders never intended for such a corrupt system to become the country's standard procedure, but here we are, and Democrats are keen to take advantage of it.  We saw what the often-called "deep state" was capable of during the Donald Trump era.  Now, Biden is looking to super-size that effort, and it should terrify you.

The Tradition of Lamentable Attorneys General Worsens.  What is it about the office of Attorney General of the United States that makes otherwise intelligent occupants of that position behave in unsettling, or worse, manners?  For some years our AG's have been an instrument of political bias and/or political blunders in a country that supposedly prides itself on the "rule of law."  Who can forget Eric Holder — who described himself as Obama's "wingman," speaking of bias (extreme division) — being held in contempt of Congress, including by 17 Democrats, for his bungling prevarications regarding the "Fast and Furious" affair?  Other attorney's general of recent years weren't much better.  What was Loretta Lynch doing meeting, putatively ad hoc, on an airfield with Bill Clinton in the midst of the (still completely unresolved) Hillary Clinton email affair?  Why did Jeff Sessions so quickly recuse himself from the likely treasonous Russiagate/Spygate calumny that was so obviously fake from the outset?  Even Alberto Gonzales has run into trouble.  And that's just an abbreviated list.

Gov. Newsom won't lift virus 'state of emergency'.  While California will end most of its coronavirus restrictions on June 15, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Friday he will not lift the statewide "state of emergency" that gives him broad powers to either suspend or declare new rules and regulations.  California has been under a state of emergency since March 4, 2020.  Since then, Newsom has authorized billions of dollars in emergency spending and issued at least 47 executive orders to alter or suspend 200 state laws and regulations because of the virus, according to a resolution authored by Republican state senators.

Is a "Climate Lockdown" on the horizon?  If and when the powers-that-be decide to move on from their pandemic narrative, lockdowns won't be going anywhere.  Instead it looks like they'll be rebranded as "climate lockdowns", and either enforced or simply held threateningly over the public's head.  At least, according to an article written by an employee of the WHO, and published by a mega-coporate think-tank.  The report, titled "Avoiding a climate lockdown", was written by Mariana Mazzucato, a professor of economics at University College London, and head of something called the Council on the Economics of Health for All, a division of the World Health Organization.  It was first published in October 2020 by Project Syndicate, a non-profit media organization that is (predictably) funded through grants from the Open society Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and many, many others.

Emergency!.  The Covid war is over, but Minnesota Governor Tim Walz carries on the fight.  Tomorrow he will continue his one-man rule of the state by declaring another "emergency."  He will accordingly extend his emergency powers for another 30 days.  Doing the arithmetic, Alpha News reports that this makes it the fifteenth month in a row that Governor Walz has ruled with emergency powers.  The relevant statute limits the circumstances under which the governor is delegated the power to declare an emergency:  "A peacetime declaration of emergency may be declared only when an act of nature, a technological failure or malfunction, a terrorist incident, an industrial accident, a hazardous materials accident, or a civil disturbance endangers life and property and local government resources are inadequate to handle the situation."  The circumstances that might justify the declaration of an emergency have not obtained for a long time, if ever.  The continued "emergency" is utterly lawless.

Braun Questions Why DNI Identified 'Abortion-Related Violent Extremists' As Principal Threat, But Not BLM And Antifa.  Republican Indiana Sen. Mike Braun suggested to Attorney General Merrick Garland Wednesday that a report on domestic violence extremism placed disproportionate interest on the pro-life movement in a "wild attack" that identified "abortion-related violent extremists" as a principal threat.  Garland testified before a Senate subcommittee Wednesday where Braun brought up a declassified intelligence report on domestic violence extremism released by the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) in March.  That report, Braun said, identified abortion-related violent extremists as a principal threat.

When the State Comes for Your Kids.  [Scroll down]  Here, for instance, are the powers granted to a 13-year-old child by the state of Washington.  Minors age 13 and up are entitled to admit themselves for inpatient and outpatient mental health treatment without parental consent.  Health insurers are forbidden from disclosing to the insured parents' sensitive medical information of minor children — such as that regarding "gender dysphoria [and] gender affirming care."  Minors aged 13 to 18 can withhold mental health records from parents for "sensitive" conditions, which include both "gender dysphoria" and "gender-affirming care."  Insurers in Washington must cover a wide array of "gender-affirming treatments" from tracheal shaves to double mastectomies.  Put these together, and a seventh grader could be entitled to embark on "gender affirming care" — which may include anything from a provider using the child's name and pronouns to the kid preparing to receive a course of hormones — without her parents' permission, against her parents' wishes, covered by her parents' insurance, and with the parents kept in the dark by insurance companies and medical providers.  Lest you wonder whether there is some madcap elixir polluting the groundwater of Washington State alone, in 2015, Oregon passed a law permitting minors 15 and older to obtain puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgeries at taxpayers' expense — all without parental consent.

Why Are All the Experts Such Dopes?  We normals are now expected to defer and submit to the commands of unelected functionaries bossing us around for our own good, though this is only good for those said experts and their fellow travelers in the ruling class.  Over about 250 years, America has gone from its leaders being selected on the basis of the divine right of kings to its leaders being selected by on the basis of the divine right of nerds with advanced degrees from Yale.

Are our federal intelligence agencies compromised?  A lot of people have been wondering why, suddenly, the leftist establishment is embracing the idea that COVID came from the Wuhan Institute of Virology (which is tied to the Chinese military) after denying the possibility for so long.  The answer may lie in the fact that the Defense Intelligence Agency has for months been debriefing a high-level Chinese Communist Party defector — but withheld the information from other agencies until recently because of fears that those agencies are compromised.  In other words, it's a twofer:  China did create and release the virus, and our federal government cannot be trusted.

The New Domestic War on Terror Has Already Begun — Even Without the New Laws Biden Wants.  The Department of Homeland Security on Friday [5/28/2021] issued a new warning bulletin, alerting Americans that domestic extremists may well use violence on the 100th Anniversary of the Tulsa race massacre.  This was at least the fourth such bulletin issued this year by Homeland Security (DHS) warning of the same danger and, thus far, none of the fears it is trying to instill into the American population has materialized. [...] Just like the first War on Terror, these threats are issued with virtually no specificity.  They are just generalized warnings designed to put people in fear about their fellow citizens and to justify aggressive deployment of military and law enforcement officers in Washington, D.C. and throughout the country.

The New Secession Crisis: The Democrats have already left the Union.  The Democrats have already seceded from America's historic conception of nationhood in many respects: [...] THEY have used instruments of the state such as the IRS (under Lois Lerner) the FBI (Russiagate) and the Department of Defense (attacking Tucker Carlson) and numerous other agencies to attack political opponents.  Political allies of President Trump were investigated and prosecuted by the government in ways that were transparently focused on taking down the duly elected president.

Time for a Coalition of Free American States.  Although America's constitutional form of limited government was designed specifically to maximize the liberty of citizens and maximize the power of states at the expense of the federal government, the accumulation of power has flowed only in one direction — away from individual states and individual citizens and toward the national government in D.C.  This phenomenon is so natural throughout history that it was a chief concern of the Founding Fathers themselves.  Thomas Jefferson, a shrewd student of human nature, was blunt:  "Experience hath shewn [sic], that even under the best forms of government those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny."  Let's be honest:  the federal government hasn't looked in tip-top shape for a long time, and now it's a train wreck waiting to happen.  It's made up of millions of petty bureaucrats who couldn't care less about "serving the public."

Child Welfare Caught Stealing Social Security Checks From Disabled and Orphaned Foster Kids.  NPR has done an in-depth investigative series exposing a child-welfare money-making scheme that targets children receiving Social Security benefits for the enrichment of social services.  This is a pattern that I've seen repeat during my years investigating CPS/DSS and other child-welfare offices around the country. [...] Not only do they target children who are receiving benefits but in some of the cases I've covered, the employees of the county encouraged the parent to sign up for the benefits while pretending to "help" the family.  Once the benefits are secured, the child welfare agency takes the children — and the Social Security checks — with trumped-up charges like "Munchausen syndrome by proxy" or nebulous charges of "neglect."  This exact scenario happened to a mom in Colorado who must remain anonymous because of pending litigation.

Michigan Prosecutors Determined to Destroy Young Conservative's Entire Life After Posting a "Snowflake" Joke in Private Snapchat Group.  Lucas Gerhard is a 21-year-old man.  Instead of celebrating his graduation from Lake Superior State University in Sault St. Marie, MI, in the criminal justice field and looking for a job in law enforcement, Lucas is locked down in his father's home, wearing an ankle bracelet. [...] The story we are about to tell you is truly one of the most remarkable cases of injustice you will ever read.  It's a story of how easily two intolerant, liberal students, with the help of the police, school administrators, and an overly zealous prosecutor, can cancel the life of a young man, all while trampling on his First and Second Amendment Rights.

What Trump Meant to Millions.  I loved President Trump because he stood up for the ordinary people of America, those who for so long had been kept in cultural servitude by the political elite.  Trump endowed ordinary Americans with a sense of possibilities by returning manufacturing jobs to America, restoring our sovereignty as a nation free of global institutions, and, above all, ending the atmosphere of political correctness that had choked free expression for decades.  Then, when the elite saw everyday Americans rising above their station, it decided to put them back in their servitude by depriving Trump of a second term, by whatever means necessary.  Now the high-paying jobs are disappearing, we are bowing to the UN, IPCC, and WHO once again, and every word that comes out of the White House has to do with "social and racial justice."  The Capitol riot of Jan. 6 gave them an excuse, and now ordinary Americans are back on the cultural plantation.

Scott Atlas:  Lockdowns Not Only a 'Heinous Abuse' of Power, They Also Failed to Protect the Elderly.  The lockdowns implemented to curb the transmission of COVID-19 in the United States and across the globe have not only been a "heinous abuse of power," but they have also failed to protect the elderly and vulnerable, according to former White House COVID-19 adviser Dr. Scott Atlas.  In an interview for Epoch TV's "American Thought Leaders," Atlas, a public health policy expert, suggested that the consequences of lockdowns, which he believes have been largely fear-driven, will be felt in the country for decades to come.  "We will have a massive price to pay for what was done in the United States," said Atlas.  "The consequences of the lockdowns have been enormously harmful and they will last for decades after this pandemic is completely finished."

12 Lessons Learned from Covid-19.  [#6] The government will use any crisis to disregard the Constitution.  Freedom of religion, speech, press, or assembly anyone?  How about depriving citizens of life, liberty, or property without due process of law?  [#7] Politicians will use crises to spend money on things that have nothing to do with the instigating event, rewarding their campaign contributors in the process.  Very little of the trillions spent on the Covid "stimulus" packages has went to individuals or Covid-related medical costs.  The vast majority went to big business "bailouts."  [#8] Government should be kept as far away as possible from our health care system as possible.  Have you ever seen such incompetence in simply distributing personal protection equipment and test kits?  Do you think anyone in the private sector could have done it more cheaply and efficiently?  Half the Covid official deaths are related to incompetent governor mandates related to nursing homes.

Biden's Department of Homeland Security Posts $500,000 Grant for Company to Hunt Down 'Extremists' in Law Enforcement.  The Biden administration is posting a reward for anyone who can tell it how to find violent extremists in law enforcement.  The Department of Homeland Security has put $500,000 on the table to fund research projects aimed at determining how violent extremists are infiltrating the police.  "The goal of this solicitation is to contribute to a comprehensive and extensive understanding of insider threats facing domestic law enforcement agencies," the request for proposals posted on grants.gov reads.

California overkill.  The F-15C Eagle, a jet fighter of the U.S. Air Force, can hit speeds of 1,875 mph (Mach 2.4) and boasts a range of 3,450 miles.  With its M-16AI cannon and Sidewinder missiles, the Eagle is designed for air-to-air combat.  But somebody thought the fighter might prove more versatile.  According to the Los Angeles Times, the California National Guard put an F-15C fighter on standby to "buzz" any crowds daring to resist stay-at-home orders at the outset of the pandemic last year.  Four National Guard members, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told the Times the orders were allegedly handed down orally or through text messages rather than in the official manner.  "We do not use our planes to frighten or intimidate civilians," National Guard Lt. Col. Jonathan Shiroma told the Times, but there was more to the story.

How a confederate flag painted on a rock could cost a mom her kid.  A New York mom is caught between a rock and an appellate court.  The upstate woman has been told she needs to ditch a driveway decoration painted with a confederate flag or risk losing custody of her mixed race child — even though a family court judge didn't consider it to be an issue when it was raised during trial.  "Given that the child is of mixed race, it would seem apparent that the presence of the flag is not in the child's best interests, as the mother must encourage and teach the child to embrace her mixed race identity, rather than thrust her into a world that only makes sense through the tortured lens of cognitive dissonance," judges with the Appellate Division's Third Department in Albany wrote in a ruling released Thursday.

Governor Gretchen Whitmer Reportedly Borrowed A Private Jet For Secret Florida Trip During Lockdown.  A spokesman for Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer confirmed in April that Whitmer flew to Florida while instructing Michiganders to stay home while under COVID-19 lockdown orders.  Now, a new report indicates Whitmer contacted wealthy Detroit businessmen to lend a private plane.  Spokesman Bobby Leddy said the governor traveled on three occasions to Florida to visit her elderly father.  The governor's office claimed taxpayer money was not used for travel.  Deadline Detroit reports Whitmer avoided a private plane fee in the range of $10,000 to $20,000 by asking billionaires to provide a charter.  The jet she took would have allegedly ran her a fee of $40,000, an estimated 25 percent of Whitmer's salary before taxes.

Michigan Gov Sneaked off to Florida in a Billionaires' Jet and No One Seems to Care.  [Michigan] is lagging behind almost all other states around us in the Great Lakes region in how we have been dealing with the COVID-19 situation. [...] Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, for over a year, has beseeched the citizens of the Mitten State to follow the rules she has laid out, and together we will defeat this.  If we just wear our masks and social distance and wear our masks in a car alone, we will whip this thing.  Really, this is based on science — or something that they still will not release.  Oh and don't travel to one of those southern states that her good pal Joe Biden said had "Neanderthal thinking" for deciding to open up their states and ditching the fear-driven drivel of despair.  Unless, of course, it is the Governor going on a secret visit to see her Dad.  In Florida.  On a gaggle of billionaires' jet.  Without alerting Florida authorities as a courtesy to let them know one of the 50 state governors was visiting in case something happened while she was there.  Without having had one of the COVID-19 "vaccine" shots given to her.

Parents Have Had Enough — South Salt Lake City School Board Shuts Down Parents During Meeting.  School boards are where mini-dictators are grown.  Thus the latest exhibit comes from South Salt Lake, Utah and the Granite School District Board of Education meeting.  The board was going to hear proposals of removing the mask mandate for K-12 students.  However, they would only allow one parent to speak during "citizen participation time", a control method for keeping the pesky proles from expressing their opinion of board policy.  After the board allowed a mask advocate from the state to speak, the School board said that's it, no more discussion.  Parents became infuriated, things got ugly.  The board ended the meeting and escaped out the back-door of the building.  [Video clip]

Whitmer Mooches Billionaires' Plane As Father Makes Miraculous Recovery.  When Gov. Gretchen Whitmer was outed last month for a secretive trip to Florida in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, her office claimed Michigan taxpayers did not foot the bill.  What they did not tell us, however, is that Whitmer asked a group of wealthy Detroit businessmen to provide a private plane they share.  Those businessmen have major dealings in and with the state of Michigan.  "We wondered why she reached out to us instead of booking a private charter," said one of the plane's owners, who exchanged his candor for confidentiality.  "You can't tell a governor no.  Who needs that kind of trouble?"

Oligarchy, and Remedies.  What are hundreds of America's biggest corporations doing as they browbeat the public to abolish the requirement of identification for voting?  What are Twitter, Facebook, et al. doing when they prohibit people from sharing facts that are inconvenient to government policy or (and) the Democratic Party?  What did banks do when they turned over to the FBI the records of persons who happened to have traveled to D.C. near January 6?  And what about all those big retail stores — you know, the ones that the government designated "essential," the ones that thrived under the lockdowns — what are they doing when they continue to demand that you wear masks on their property regardless of vaccination?  What are colleges and universities, even K-12 schools doing when they deprive of opportunities young people who do not fit woke profiles?  And what do all of them do when they dismiss complaints that they are violating your Constitutional rights by telling you that they are exercising their own private rights?  Are they simply fronting for the government or, specifically, for the Democratic Party?

Our Quasi-Soviet States of America.  The federal Department of Justice and state-level law enforcement in jurisdictions taken over by the left are lenient with common criminals but savagely oppressive against political protesters when an excuse can be found, or manufactured, to charge them with a crime.  That fate fell on many allies of Trump.  Rudy Giuliani was visited by a gang of FBI agents at 6 A.M. equipped with dubious search warrants.  Vote-stealing activities during the last election were ignored and not even investigated because they helped the left.  In San Francisco, thefts of less than $950 are not prosecuted, giving criminals a free pass to terrorize small businesses and respectable people. [...] Abolishing or neutering the police allows the dregs of society to form political enforcement gangs to terrorize individuals considered political enemies.  These gangs are instruments of the regime but officially are low-level criminals not under the control of the regime.

The Never-ending Hunt for a Trump Crime.  Was this an off-the-book operation by rogue agents?  I mean, if these people feel free to constantly leak to the press sensitive material, how far off the reservation have FBI agents gone?  Or was this shoved under the carpet as a national security matter and the DNI was responsible and kept Barr in the dark?  A mystery of significant importance.  Did they have a FISA warrant to do this?  If so, ever more reason to scrap this monstrosity.  If you are not yet concerned about the FBI's counterintelligence operations, its incompetency and KGB-type operations, you just aren't paying attention.

The Real Reasons Behind the Rudy Giuliani Raid.  Expectations that the FBI was investigating possible crimes documented on Hunter Biden's laptop were laid to rest earlier this week when agents raided the home and office of Rudolph Giuliani, the man who made news of the laptop public.  According to reports, federal investigators are looking for evidence that the former Mayor of New York City violated the foreign agents registration act (FARA) by illegally lobbying on behalf of Ukrainian officials.  But that's just a pretext to search his communications and records to find something with which to take revenge against a man who helped uncover the corruption of America's first family.  The compromising photos, emails, and texts found on Hunter's laptop include accounts of financial arrangements with a Chinese businessman he called the "spy chief of China."  The documents, confirmed by a former Biden associate, implicate other members of the Biden clan, including it seems the president.  And so to hunt Giuliani, the commander-in-chief has deployed federal law enforcement authorities, which have their own reason to retaliate against one of the Department of Justice's most famous former prosecutors.  Giuliani helped thwart the FBI and DOJ's plot to topple an American president.

FBI raid on innocent couple shows lawlessness at Department of Justice.  Wednesday's rogue FBI raid on an innocent couple in Homer is an example of what happens when a lawless and completely illegitimate political party and administration come to power.  The Democrats are utilizing the proven techniques of communism and fascism, and weaponizing federal law enforcement for political purposes.  They are now reaping the fruits of the November's fake election.  Its aftermath spells the end of freedom in America.  It is no longer a threat.  It is here, and none of us are safe.  Paul and Marilyn Hueper went to DC on Jan. 6 to listen to Donald Trump's speech.  Like other Alaskans, they were at the very foot of the stage and in front of a million people in the Washington Mall, but when they were dismissed by Trump to "Peacefully and patriotically protest", they suddenly found themselves at the back of a very long line.  They got lost, they bought a hot dog, they started up the steps, but they never got within a hundred yards of entering the capitol building.

DOJ Targets Journalist Investigating Biden Family Ukraine Scandals.  As part of an investigation into former President Donald Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, the Biden Justice Department is seizing communications between the former mayor and a journalist investigating President Joe Biden's business dealings with Ukraine.  Agents from the Manhattan U.S. attorney's office and the FBI raided the New York residence of Giuliani early Wednesday morning.  The investigation stems from at least a two-year-old probe into potential crimes of federal lobbying laws.  Federal investigators seized Giuliani's electronic devices.  The warrant presented, however, according to Giuliani's lawyer, Robert Costello, raises questions surrounding the scope and motivation behind the investigation, where prosecutors began issuing subpoenas around the same time of Trump's first impeachment inquiry launched by Democrats centered on conduct in Ukraine in 2019.

Biden's DOJ Plotted Political Stunt Courthouse Arrest of George Floyd Cop.  The Obama DOJ is back and that means pushing black supremacist politics and going after the police.  But even by Obama standards, a political stunt like a courthouse arrest of the cop who was on the scene when George Floyd died of a drug overdose is really something. [...] Arresting Chauvin at the courthouse was a publicity stunt.  Chauvin wasn't going to fly to Brazil even if he were exonerated.  But you just know the Obama DOJ people plotting this had been coordinating with CNN to have the cameras running on the scene.

Not a single person of honor or integrity can survive inside the DC institutions.  [Thread reader]  I still held the belief there were three branches of government, and there were "checks and balances", and there had to be some way for a good person to expose corruption.  He quickly dispatched those beliefs (with examples).  He explained the "checks and balances" I spoke of did exist at a time when there were three branches of government.  However, that time has long passed.  There is only one overarching DC eco-system now.  The three branch concept is gone.  Doesn't exist.  As he explained, the levers of power are all controlled by the same system, and behind that system are positions — not people.  "Positions."  People are evaluated based on their ability to support and protect the system.  Their skill level is what moves them into position.  Position.  Evaluation.  Next Position.  Evaluation.  Etc.  The system more like an institution.  Within the institution there are divisions.  The divisions are what we used to call "branches".  The divisions (branches) are not independent from the institution of DC.  The divisions are operated by people in power who hold positions.  He identified the timeline of this institutional creation as a slow build (over decades), but most visibly increasing in publicity after 9/11/01 and the patriot act.  Once the patriot act made the government responsible for total safety; the previously embedded bad actors took full control.  One office of particular note was the creation of the ODNI.  As he noted the amassing of surveillance power.  [O]nce that Rubicon was crossed, everything after was downstream and unstoppable.  The institution of the total intelligence apparatus now had full control...

Giuliani claims materials seized by FBI are 'exculpatory' evidence.  Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani said Thursday he "never ever represented any foreign national" after the FBI raided his apartment and seized his electronic devices earlier this week.  Giuliani, who served as former President Donald Trump's personal attorney, has reportedly been eyed by federal authorities over whether he illegally lobbied the previous administration in 2019 on behalf of Ukrainian officials and oligarchs while searching for damaging information on Trump's political rivals, including President Joe Biden, then the leading candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination.  He told Fox News host Tucker Carlson on Thursday that seven FBI agents knocked on his door at 6 a.m. on Wednesday serving a warrant for electronics, adding he told federal agents:  "This is extraordinary because I've offered to give these to the government and talk it over them for two years."  "I could have destroyed the evidence years ago," Giuliani said, but he claimed that he didn't because the evidence is "exculpatory" and proves himself, Trump, and "all of us are innocent."

Rudy Giuliani responds to FBI search warrant raid and goes on the offensive.  The highly publicized early morning raid on the apartment and office of Rudy Giuliani, the personal lawyer of the 45th President of the United States, was an outrage.  Thanks to a 10+ minute interview last night on Tucker Carlson Tonight, the nation's highest-rated cable news program, we have a better grasp of the dimensions of the scandalous behavior of the Department of Justice.  [Video clip]  I urge readers to view the entire interview if they did not see it on the broadcast.  It is embedded below.  Keep in mind that before he was Mayor of New York, he was the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, the very office that is now conducting the investigation targeting him.  He therefore knows the ins and outs of all aspects of federal prosecution, including the execution of search warrants.

The dark night of fascism has finally landed in the United States.  On Wednesday [4/28/2021], Federal agents flashing open-ended warrants conducted a 6 a.m. raid on former New York mayor current Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani to seize his electronics.  The ostensible reason was that Giuliani violated a law requiring Americans who represent foreign nationals to register as foreign agents.  This is a law that is enforced only against Republicans close to Trump — and Giuliani is adamant that he's never represented foreign nationals.  The agents ostentatiously refused to seize copies of Hunter Biden's hard drives, which Giuliani possessed, even though they were obvious electronic devices.  Giuliani contends that the hard drives' contents establish not only that Hunter and Joe Biden acted as unregistered foreign agents, but also that Joe Biden and his family took millions in bribes over the years and that Hunter Biden was engaged in child pornography.  Since Giuliani still has the hard drives, perhaps he should make all the information on the drives public. [...] On the evidence available, what's happening to Giuliani looks like typical fascism:  an incoming regime uses unequally applied law and a complete absence of due process to purge all political opposition.

Feds search Giuliani apartment in Ukraine investigation: report.  Federal investigators have executed a search warrant on former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, seizing electronic devices, sources confirmed to Fox News.  The raid on Giuliani, which was first reported by the New York Times, comes as federal authorities were investigating whether he violated the law by lobbying the Trump administration on behalf of Ukrainian officials in 2019. Giuliani has served as former President Donald Trump's personal attorney on a number of high-profile matters.  According to Giuliani's attorney Robert Costello, seven FBI agents arrived at the apartment at 6 a.m. on Wednesday, and remained for roughly two hours.  The agents seized several electronic devices including laptops and cell phones.

Federal agents raid Rudy Giuliani's NYC apartment.  The moves were tied to an investigation into Giuliani's dealings in Ukraine, according to reports.  A resident of Giuliani's Upper East Side building on East 66th Street said the doorman described greeting the agents at 6 a.m. and letting them pass when they displayed a search warrant.  The raid marked an escalation in the feds' probe of the former mayor, who is being investigated over whether he illegally lobbied former President Donald Trump on behalf of officials and oligarchs in Ukraine, according to the New York Times.  The Ukrainian officials were also reportedly helping Giuliani dig up dirt on Trump's political rivals, including then-Democratic candidate Joe Biden and his son Hunter.

Furious Andrew Giuliani slams DOJ's 'political' raids on his father's NYC home and office as part of Ukraine probe.  Rudy Giuliani's son Andrew has accused the Department of Justice of raiding his father's New York apartment and office for political reasons — and claims agents didn't want to take allegedly incriminating evidence involving Hunter Biden.  'Any American, whether you are red or blue, should be extremely disturbed by what happened here today, by the continued politicization,' furious Andrew, 35, told reporters in the Upper East Side on Wednesday [4/28/2021].  'The only piece of evidence that they did not take up there today was the only piece of incriminating evidence that is in there — and it does not belong to my father, it belongs to the current president's son,' he added.

Rudy Giuliani responds to the feds raiding his NYC apartment.  Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani on Wednesday accused federal agents of ignoring copies of Hunter Biden's computer hard drives when they raided his apartment — and blamed the investigation into his dealings in Ukraine on "Trump Derangement Syndrome."  In a statement released by his lawyer, Giuliani said the FBI "steadfastly declined" to take the hard drives when he "offered them on several occasions."  "Keep in mind that the agents could not read the physical hard drives without plugging them in, but they took Mr. Giuliani's word that the hard drives were copies of Hunter Biden's hard drive and did not contain anything pertaining to Mr. Giuliani," the statement said.  "Their reliance on Mr. Giuliani's credibility tells you everything you need to know about this case."

FBI Abused Secretive Surveillance Program, Court Finds.  The FBI continued abusing the secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act program, including searching for information on people who had gone to the bureau to report they were victims of a crime, a newly declassified document shows.  One FBI information specialist between April 11, 2019, and July 8, 2019, conducted approximately 124 queries of information obtained through secretive methods under the act, or FISA, which permits warrantless surveillance of foreigners outside of the United States.  The surveillance can and has been used to ultimately obtain information on Americans.  The searches included looking at information for people who had requested to participate in a bureau-run citizens academy, a program for local leaders designed to foster greater understanding of the role of law enforcement, and people who needed to enter the field office the FBI worker was based in to conduct work, such as a repair, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court reported in the newly released document.  In other cases, people who entered the field office, which was not named, to report they were victims of the crime were subjected to the background search.

The Editor says...
As I have said before, when you go to the cops for help, the first thing they investigate is YOU.

The FISA Court is Compromised — Presiding Judge James Boasberg Hires Former DOJ-NSD Head, Mary McCord, as Amici Curiae to Advise The Court.  I hate to write this, but there is just no good way to look at this.  The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, specifically Presiding Judge James Boasberg, has hired former DOJ National Security Division head, Mary McCord, as amici curiae advisor to the court.  The placement was first noted by an announcement from Georgetown Law ICAP.  Presiding Judge James Boasberg, is the decision-maker in the appointment of Amici Curiae to the FISA court.  There is no way, NO WAY, Judge Boasberg does not know Mary McCord was at the epicenter of the fraudulent FISA application used against Carter Page.

Agency underground.  Since last year, the department tasked with overseeing foster care and child welfare in New Mexico has been encrypting and routinely deleting its communications, making much of its work essentially untraceable.  The leadership of the Children, Youth and Families Department (CYFD) has directed staff to use Signal, a secure communication app, and has set chats to automatically delete.  In contrast to standard text messages or emails — which could be accessed by attorneys, reporters and members of the public under the state's open records laws — messages sent via Signal are all but impossible to retrieve.  Once deleted, virtually no trace of a Signal conversation remains, even on the company's server.  Attorneys and child advocates say the practice likely violates state open-records laws and could hamper any investigation into the department, which has been subject to lawsuits and massive criticism for its management of the foster-care system.

Biden's 100-Day Rampage.  Not since 1932, when Franklin Delano Roosevelt's first 100 days as president set a benchmark for presidential performance, has any president done so much so quickly as Joe Biden.  In fact, Biden is surpassing Roosevelt significantly in imposing massive damaging changes on America that may not be reversible.  Unlike Roosevelt, Biden isn't only relying on Congress to pass legislation.  Biden is achieving his goals by making international agreements, imposing executive orders and policy decisions, and working hard to undo everything his predecessor did.  Biden will brag about his accomplishments later this week in a speech to a joint session of Congress.  We can expect to hear about his rejoining the Paris Climate Accord and his promise last week to cut U.S. carbon emissions by 50 percent by 2030. [...] If we analyze what these "successes" mean to us, our national security, and our economy, it's quite clear that Biden defines success in terms of his ability to diminish our economy and national security.

Gretchen Whitmer and Other Michigan Lunatics Tell 2-Year-Olds To Mask Up.  Starting today across the state of Michigan, two-year-olds at daycare facilities will be required to mask up, thanks to an order from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.  Kids from ages 2 [to] 4 will now be subjected to mask requirements just like the rest of Michigan citizens, according to MDHHS representative Bob Wheaton, who told MLive.com that two-year-olds will be required to wear a mask at a park just like 18-year-old senior in high school.  The new rules will require daycare workers to keep masks on two-year-olds.  One daycare worker told Mid-Michigan Now that she's concerned for the two-year-olds who are learning from teacher facial expressions and expressions from classmates.  "Something might be super exciting and fun, but they can't see that so they don't know how to react," Nicole Bellanger from Lady Di Daycare told the news channel.  Bellanger added that three-year-olds at the facility are speaking less since they started wearing face masks.

Biden Threatens To Cancel 4th Of July If Americans Don't Get "The Jab".  Whoever is writing Joe Biden's material doesn't appear to have a working knowledge of why it is that Americans celebrate the Fourth Of July, or as it is otherwise known Independence Day.  On Wednesday [4/21/2021], the nation's 46th president reiterated his tired threat:  If people don't march down to their local vaccination site and roll up their sleeves, that they would not be able to celebrate July 4th.  Even to get together in "small gatherings" to commemorate the day when our forefathers broke free of the tyranny of a king.  Biden's mass vaccination push has gotten stuck in the mud now that those who were eager to take "the jab" have done so.  That leaves tens of millions of Americans who are understandably wary of being injected with vaccines that were rushed into distribution under emergency use approval.  Without the standard years of clinical and animal trials that show safety and effectiveness long-term.

Roger Stone:  Why Am I Being Treated Differently than Hunter Biden and the Rev. Al Sharpton?  Call it Witch Hunt 3.0 The civil suit for $2 Million (!) in back taxes announced by the Biden Department of Justice against me and my wife when we have neither under-reported income nor hidden any assets and they know we have no assets.  This is a politically motivated harassment fueled by the partisan prosecutors' fury and liberal hysteria over the fact that President Trump saw the clear corruption of my trial and had the strength and the courage to correct this injustice by issuing me a grant of clemency and a full and unconditional pardon.  Now, Robert Mueller, I am not a convicted felon nor did you have any evidence against me as you were forced to admit by the court in the long-hidden sections of your report.  That was Witch Hunt 1.0.  Please recognize the Justice Department filed their civil suit at 6 PM on a Friday with no notice whatsoever to my tax attorneys with whom they have been in regular contact.  This demonstrates the political motivation of these highly contrived charges.  In fact, months of ongoing good-faith negotiations between my tax attorney and the IRS to settle this debt went silent the day after the Inauguration of Joe Biden and after we submitted a MOUNTAIN of updated financial information in ongoing settlement negotiations.  The claim in the lawsuit that the IRS terminated my settlement agreement is false and a fraud upon the Court.  My tax attorney formally informed them when I was simply unable to pay.

Americans Exiled within America.  [Scroll down]  A corrupt voting process has deprived millions of meaningful participation within their republic.  Meanwhile, integrity of citizenship itself is imperiled by the erasure of the nation's boundaries and the granting of privileges to non-citizens.  Second, Americans have been deprived of their property, which has essentially been confiscated by the State in the interest of public "health."  Businesses have been shut down and, when partly opened, managed by bureaucrats who dictate how a business such as a restaurant may be run. [...] But most importantly, like individuals who are removed from their country, exiled Americans have experienced loss of community and communication.  The forced isolation of Americans and the shutdown of nearly all institutions have deprived Americans of supportive communities.  Churches, schools, museums, concert halls, political groups, and even family gatherings such as funerals and weddings have become tightly regulated.  Many communities have either disappeared altogether or retreated into cyberspace.

Meet Kimberly Gardner, the Rogue Prosecutor Whose Policies Are Wreaking Havoc in St. Louis.  Kimberly Gardner, the beleaguered rogue prosecutor (called the "circuit attorney") for the city of St. Louis, Missouri, has made a national name for herself.  Unfortunately, as we demonstrate below, her national reputation comes from her radical pro-criminal, anti-victim policies and a series of high-profile missteps she has made.  Like many other rogue prosecutors around the country, she was swept into office by winning her 2016 election with a wave of money from George Soros and tech billionaire-funded entities, who again contributed heavily to help her win reelection in 2020.

Who Is Freer These Days?  Putin has his enemies jailed, but that's now official policy in America.  In the case of Putin, he does not relish in the torment of his opponents.  There is some hint of shame there.  In America, members of the regime take pleasure in tormenting those who speak out against them.  Take, for example, the case of Alexey Navalny, the CIA-sponsored critic of Putin who is now in jail.  He claims poor treatment at the hands of the government, but he is able to speak to the media about it.  In contrast, there are an unknown number of people in jail right now over the January protests.  One was beaten by guards to the point where he lost sight in one eye.  Unlike with Alexey Navalny, The New York Times and The Washington Post are not demanding Ronald Sandlin be set free.  The great and the good are not calling him a political prisoner, despite the fact he is literally in jail for politics.  The folks who tell us "democracy dies in darkness" are happy that Ronald Sandlin now lives in darkness at the hands of the state.  The political prisoners being held by the Biden regime envy Alexey Navalny.

Due process is no more in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota.  [Scroll down]  Due process is the underpinning of the rule of law:  Those in power cannot treat people in an arbitrary and capricious manner.  Instead, there are rules for dealing with problematic situations, whether criminal accusations or workplace wrongdoing, especially in the context of government employment.  Due process is a double-sided shield that, in addition to protecting Americans from those in power, also protects them from the passions of the mob[.]  A man like this, who can stand for the rule of law when the mob is baying for blood, is a treasure and should be cherished.  In a fraught situation, he placed profoundly important principles ahead of any personal feelings he might have had regarding the events that just put his city on the map.  It turned out that the City Council would have liked to cherish him but the members were too frightened to do so.  Immediately after the conference, the Council convened in an emergency session and promptly fired [City Manager Curt] Boganey.  As one council member stated explicitly, the council's decision was made entirely to appease the mob.

Daunte Wright shooting:  Brooklyn Center city manager fired after call for due process for police officer.  Brooklyn Center City Manager Curt Boganey was fired on Monday evening, hours after he publicly disagreed with Mayor Mike Elliott's assertion that the police officer who fatally shot a Black man in the Minneapolis suburb should be immediately fired in response to the incident.  "Effective immediately our city manager has been relieved of his duties, and the deputy city manager will be assuming his duties moving forward," Elliott wrote on Twitter.  "I will continue to work my hardest to ensure good leadership at all levels of our city government."

California city erects fence outside COVID mandate-defying restaurant.  A California city erected a fence outside a restaurant that has repeatedly flouted coronavirus health orders, a report said.  The fencing was put up Saturday outside Tinhorn Flats Saloon & Grill in Burbank after a court ordered the establishment's electricity be shut off, according to an NBC Los Angeles report.  The eatery has racked up nearly $50,000 in fines since the start of the pandemic for violating public health orders, allowing outdoor dining at a time when the practice was banned by the county, according to the Los Angeles Times.  A judge on Friday ruled the restaurant cannot reopen without new permits.  The city had previously placed sandbags outside the business in a bid to keep it closed.

January 6 Is the New Russiagate Lie.  The manufactured deception about the events of January 6 quickly is approaching Russiagate levels.  The formula is familiar:  Find a catchy phrase — in this case it's "insurrection" instead of "collusion" — then fertilize the information ecosystem with the term and watch it grow like a weed.  Get political leaders including former presidents and top lawmakers of both parties to use the description, giving it immediate legitimacy.  Issue dire warnings about the "threat to democracy" and "rule of law." Identify the villain — Donald Trump, of course — and make solemn pledges to hunt down every perpetrator until justice is done.  Sympathy-inducing optics are helpful but not always necessary.  Critical cogs in this sort of performative outrage are government authorities who use their offices to convince the public the whole thing is on the square.  This is precisely what happened with the now discredited trope that five people died as a result of the chaos on January 6.  A brief report issued Wednesday by the office of the D.C. medical examiner confirmed only one person, Ashli Babbitt, was killed that day.

John Ratcliffe Discusses Severe Political Compromise Within U.S. Intelligence Community.  Former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe appears with Maria Bartiromo [4/11/2021] to discuss the issues with Hunter Biden's laptop and the severity of political compromise within the U.S. intelligence apparatus.  Ratcliffe notes how politicized the intelligence community and national security have become specifically in defense of lies being perpetrated by those behind the Biden administration.  Misinformation and disinformation is rampant as the Nat Sec community and Intel Community use their political ideology to advance false assertions.  [Video clip]

Letting Hunter Biden Off Is A Message To Us Peasants.  [Scroll down]  It has a deeper and more cynical purpose — to show us that our overlords are unaccountable and that the law is now merely another implement in the regime's toolkit of oppression.  They are telling us that they and their scumbag progeny can do whatever they want, but that we can't.  In the short term, this is infuriating.  In the long term, it could bring down the system our garbage ruling caste inherited.  They are throwing it in our faces, thinking it's a good plan to force us to submit.  Right now, hundreds of Americans are being prosecuted for trespassing inside their own Capitol building, and eager agents of the American Stasi are salivating at the idea of charging them with "sedition" for doing exactly what hordes of leftist dirtbags did in the past.  Of course, none of the leftist dirtbags were shot dead while unarmed by some cop whose name we still don't know.  That's another message.

The FBI / DOJ is MIA on Hunter Biden, Seth Rich, Anthony Weiner laptops.  The FBI and DOJ have been missing in action for years.  Failing in disclosing and acting on the information in the Hunter Biden, Seth Rich, and Anthony Weiner laptops.  The two-tiered system of American justice has never been more hypocritical on display.  Democrats and the deep state lie, cover-up and protect the likes of Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Hunter Biden, and the Biden crime family.  Yet the full weight and power of the government are brought against any Republican connected to Donald Trump.  The story of the Hunter Biden, Seth Rich, and Anthony Weiner laptops is a tale of just how debased and corrupt our Government institutions and modern media have become.

Police Officers Pay Visit to Home of Anti-War Activist Over Harmless Tweet Criticizing AOC.  Two plainclothes California police officers showed up to the home of an anti-war activist over a harmless tweet criticizing Democrat Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.  The police officers were sent to the Los Angeles home of Ryan Wentz, an anti-war activist on April 8 on behalf of the Capitol Police.  AOC denies any involvement, however many are asking who initiated the phone call to the Capitol Police.

9 Things You Need to Know About Biden's 'Infrastructure' Spending Plan.  [#6] $700 billion in corporate welfare and tax credits.  While the stated top-line goal of the spending plan is "jobs," an alternate way of describing it would be "some jobs are more equal than others."  The broad corporate tax hike would necessarily shrink the private sector relative to what it would otherwise be.  In a classic "take with one hand, give with the other" maneuver, the spending plan would shower hundreds of billions of dollars on favored sectors, including "green" energy, politically selected manufacturing, and thinly disguised slush funds.  Rather than learning from Obama administration failures like the Solyndra scandal, the Biden administration seems determined to repeat the same mistakes on a larger scale.

D.C. Statehood? How About A Declaration Of Independence From Washington Instead.  The Democrats are agitating for a 51st state that would be the District of Columbia, not for reasons of fairness but to build their party into an unchallengeable political power.  America would be better off declaring its independence from the capital.  As it says in this nation's founding document, the Declaration of Independence, we believe our Creator endowed us with certain unalienable rights:  life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.  But the ruling class in Washington does not believe as we do. [...]
  •   America's ruling class has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers to harass and tax out their substance.
  •   It co-opted the military to gaslight the nation with the ultimate goal being the crushing of dissent.
  •   It has endeavored to foment civil war by enabling and encouraging racial division, riots, wokeness, and the relentless cancel culture.
  •   It has plundered our future with unnecessary aid in the present.
  •   It has constrained our fellow citizens through counterproductive, falsely premised lockdowns.
  •   It has excited domestic insurrections among us in service of its objectives.
  •   It has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving its assent to acts of pretended legislation.
  •   It wishes to abolish our most valuable election laws, and alter fundamentally the forms of our governments.
  •   It wishes to suspend our Constitution, and declare itself invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
  •   It has repeatedly attempted to dissolve elections legitimately won by political rivals.

New York Prosecutors Subpoena the Personal Bank Records of Trump Organization Chief Financial Officer.  Let's be clear about the motives of a fully weaponized DOJ here.  The DOJ is looking for any way to destroy Donald J Trump.  As long as he exists in the sphere of political influence, he represents a risk to their objectives.  Direct targeting of Donald Trump has not succeeded.  Direct attacks against Donald Trump and his organization and personal finances have not succeeded.  The DOJ is not getting the results they need.  So now they need a backdoor, some leverage, from somewhere, anywhere, where they can use that leverage to destroy their enemy.  THAT is what's going on.

The 10 Radical New Rules That Are Changing America.  There are 10 new ideas that are changing America, maybe permanently.  [#1] Money is a construct.  It can be created from thin air.  Annual deficits and aggregate national debt no longer matter much.  Prior presidents ran up huge annual deficits, but at least there were some concessions that the money was real and had to be paid back.  Not now.  As we near $30 trillion in national debt and 110 percent of annual GDP, our elites either believe permanent zero interest rates make the cascading obligation irrelevant, or the larger the debt, the more likely we will be forced to address needed income redistribution.

Let's Celebrate the Federal Government on April Fools' Day.  Let's celebrate the federal government every April Fools' Day.  How fitting a holiday to toast a byzantine, irresponsible, and largely untouchable system of red-tape rule-makers and above-the-law actors who do little for the American people other than overpromise, underperform, and charge a hundred times more than they're worth for the service.  This is a bureaucratic leviathan so corrupt that it requires a cottage industry of lobbyists to enrich the "public servants," so unserious in its missions that it can't finish one war before starting the next, so anti-American in its sentiments that it routinely proclaims its citizens the most villainous racists and rubes on Earth, and so incompetent in executing its long-term strategies that its reckless spending of borrowed monies has pushed the dollar to the brink of collapse.

Nick Searcy's Viral Video Shows City of Burbank Padlocking Tinhorn Flats Restaurant:  "This Is What Totalitarianism Looks Like".  Actor-Director-Producer Nick Searcy is at Tinhorn Flats Burbank videoing the fascistic actions by Los Angeles County and the City of Burbank against this family-owned business.  Searcy posted to Twitter his viral video of a locksmith padlocking the doors of Tinhorn Flats in Burbank, California.  Two police officers stand to the side watching the locksmith and looking around.  According to Searcy, they are here to arrest owner Lucas Lepejian because he continues to operate his family restaurant despite temporary restraining orders issued by the Superior Court of Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Department of Health pulling the restaurant's health permit, and the City of Burbank revoking its conditional-use permit, while cutting off the building's electricity.  Lepejian has been operating with generators supplied by patrons and supporters, and has kept the business open, despite the City's insistence on shutting it down.

Pelosi-Backed Push to Steal Iowa House Seat Fails, and the Reason Why Should Be Heeded by the GOP.  The dispute in Congress over Iowa's 2nd Congressional District race is now officially over.  Democrat nominee Rita Hart, who took her case to the Democrat-controlled House in December, instead of the courts, after losing the election by 6 votes to her Republican opponent, Mariannette Miller-Meeks, released a statement on Twitter just minutes ago declaring that she was withdrawing her petition to the House Administration Committee because she couldn't effectively combat the wave of negative PR she and her fellow Democrats brought on themselves over the issue.

An FBI so corrupt it lets mass shooters rampage needs to go.  [Scroll down]  While the FBI has been failing to stop terrorist attacks by known threats like these, it has conducted numerous political operations on behalf of Democrats.  The ones we know about include Crossfire Hurricane's use of federal spy power to affect election outcomes and prevent effective governance by elected Republicans.  That operation included spying on Fox News.  In 2020, the FBI sent 15 agents to investigate a rope tied in a loop that hysterical people alleged was a "noose" after a black NASCAR driver was assigned a garage with the rope as its door pull.  The FBI investigation determined the rope had been in the same shape and spot since at least 2019.  In 2019, the FBI executed operation "Varsity Blues" to shame rich people who attempted to buy their children entry into ruling class universities by means other than gobsmackingly expensive prep schools and SAT tutors.  The FBI also appears to have entrapped people into a ridiculous plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in 2020, by inserting agents into their social group who presented the plan and got them to appear to go along, at least on FBI recordings.  The same appears to be happening with Democrats using the Jan. 6 riot to have the FBI investigate and prosecute their political opponents among the hoi polloi.

The Dawn of a New Age of Tyranny Is Upon Us.  If you're bewildered by the breakneck pace of "change" since the inauguration of Joseph Robinette Biden, Jr., back on Jan. 20, you're not alone.  Average Americans have been puzzled and, in many case, chagrined by the flurry of executive orders, ukases, policy prescriptions, social proscriptions, vengeful rollbacks, and other government meddling in the lives of our citizens.  Conservatives, meanwhile, understand that all this activity has one overarching purpose:  to punish the bad Orange Man and the country that voted for him.  And make sure he never happens again.  To that end, the string of top-down bossiness has been designed to look, and be, punitive.  Every major Donald Trump initiative or accomplishment must be negated and anathematized.  His supporters who unwisely marched on the Capitol on Jan. 6 — what did they hope to accomplish? — should not just be deplored but hunted down by the FBI for "sedition"; there's even a tip line for junior Stasis-in-training to rat out their friends and neighbors.

Joe Biden's Rule By Decree:  How Far Can He Go?  President Joe Biden's candidacy was built on the idea that he was an old, experienced, centrist in Washington, someone who could bring two sides together.  So far, with his penchant for issuing "executive orders" to fundamentally change America, he's governing precisely as a socialist dictator would.  Is that what Americans voted for? [...] He has power, and he plans to use it.  He's already issued more than 50 executive orders, including 22 reversals of previous Trump policies.  Even his aides have gotten in on the imperious act:  Last weekend one of Biden's public relations people physically interfered with Texas Sen. Ted Cruz's efforts to film the conditions of migrants at the U.S. border.  Is this the Soviet Union?  Biden's ready to do more — a lot more.

The vaccine passport idiocy.  [Thread reader] [F]or the past year, Justice Roberts has allowed the fed courts to turn away hundreds of Constitutional & legal challenges to COVID government overreach in the name of emergency powers.  This is the civil right crisis of our time.  In the last year, I appeared before federal judges in several states from HI to CA to VA to NJ.  One after the other they gaveled down challenges to the blocking of prayer, protect, small business, schools, outdoor sports — even beaches! — despite the dearth of science to back it.  At @Liberty_Ctr my year and that of many other attorneys was an extended triage to determine which of thousands of civil rights violations was the worst.  Was it the violations of the constitutional requirements for how we make voting laws?  Or was it governors telling hundreds of millions they could only pray by video conference, forget about getting married baptized or burying your loved ones?  Was it telling poor and disabled children, "no school for you — the teacher's union said it's unsafe"?  Was it praising a 100,000-person BLM march in Los Angeles while telling 100 anti-shutdown protestors in Sacramento they would be arrested if they exercised their First Amendment rights peacefully and safely?

No Storm, No Reckoning, No Nothing.  For years we have been hearing about a coming storm.  It was to be biblical and would bring pain to members of the deep state ruling class who, after exposure, would not be able to walk down the streets.  The storm was to begin with spygate, a coordinated effort among top officials in the nation's justice and intelligence agencies, to prevent Donald Trump's election; then after failing, to undermine his transition, cripple his presidency, then stop his reelection, the latter goals achieved.  Then there were crimes against humanity:  child abuse, trafficking, and the like, all to be exposed via the Anthony Weiner laptop or the Jeffrey Epstein cabal.  Both seem distant memories now.  In fact, we are now going in the opposite direction with the Biden administration suspending FBI background checks for migrant children caregivers.  We have lived in the "calm before the storm" for years and to this day it remains calm.  There are no storm clouds building, nothing on the horizon.

States are trying to get Biden to enforce the 'public charge rule'.  Under the Constitution, Congress passes the laws, which reside in the United States Code, and it's the President's job to oversee their enforcement.  Federal agencies, which are the vehicles by which the president enforces the laws that Congress enacts, can create rules describing the details of enforcing the laws.  These rules are published in the Code of Federal Regulations or CFR.  The CFR is an obscenely huge document (as of 2014, it had 175,268 [pages]) that exists as a trap for the unwary.  In theory, the CFR is merely a how-to manual for enforcing the laws.  It's the laws behind the manual that matter.  Unfortunately, in reality, Congressional laziness has resulted in barebones laws, with regulatory agencies filling in the blanks.  As often as not, regulations that have nothing to do with Congress, have the force of law.  That's not quite the issue here, but every American should understand that most of the "laws" that control them are in fact regulations of dubious constitutional validity.

Can the GOP stop Democrats from trashing the country?  After having brazenly installed a feeble, geriatric president through a dubious (at best) election process, and almost three months after that mostly peaceful demonstration on January 6, the Democrats still surround the Capitol grounds with thousands of troops and razor wire fencing.  Are those props — befitting the palace grounds of a tinpot dictatorship — evidence of the Democrats' insecurity, of their need to reinforce the notion that they are in charge?

President Trump Asks a Question.  [Scroll down]  The staff of the legislative bodies have/had no intent to actually facilitate any sunlight upon the FISA, DOJ-FBI corruption that took place over three years.  How do I know that?  Well, first having sat in a room with the legislative staff, top people who actually write the briefs and inform both congressional representatives on House Committees and Senate Committees, including the chiefs-of-staff for the chairs, it was clear they did not even know the information from within their own research when spread over time.  Accepting this reality leads one to a natural conclusion... they don't know, because they choose not to know... & they choose not to know, because everything is a pantomime for public display.  The system of DC is based on a series of unwritten rules:  "You don't out me, and I will not out you... and that will protect us both."  These rules cross over both parties to the extent they usually have a common enemy, us.  The staff of Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, Homeland Security Chair Ron Johnson and even the staff of House Oversight Ranking Member Jim Jordan are purposefully and willfully blind.  They choose not to know things; or at least they claim not to know and do an exceptional job of purposeful pretend.

The U.S. Intelligence Community, Flouting Laws, is Increasingly Involving Itself in Domestic Politics.  A report declassified last Wednesday [3/17/2021(?)] by the Department of Homeland Security is raising serious concerns about the possibly illegal involvement by the intelligence community in U.S. domestic political affairs.  Entitled "Domestic Violent Extremism Poses Heightened Threat in 2021," the March 1 Report from the Director of National Intelligence states that it was prepared "in consultation with the Attorney General and Secretary of Homeland Security — and was drafted by the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and Department of Homeland Security (DHS), with contributions from the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA)."  Its primary point is this:  "The IC [intelligence community] assesses that domestic violent extremists (DVEs) who are motivated by a range of ideologies and galvanized by recent political and societal events in the United States pose an elevated threat to the Homeland in 2021."

Marine Corps Officer Warns Congress Against Classifying Christians in Military as 'Religious Extremists'.  A slide used in a Department of Defense (DOD) training manual identifies Catholics and evangelical Christians as "religious extremists," along with members of the Ku Klux Klan, al-Qaeda, and Hamas, according to a Marine Corps officer.  "First Liberty also obtained a screenshot of an unclassified slide from a U.S. Army training manual.  The slide is entitled 'Religious Extremism' and it purports to identify religious extremists," Michael Berry told the House Armed Services Committee, during a hearing on March 24 titled "Extremism in the Military."  Berry is general counsel to the First Liberty Institute (FLI), a Plano, Texas-based public interest law firm that specializes in First Amendment and religious freedom cases.  Berry is also an officer in the Marine Corps Reserves, although he presented his testimony in his capacity as a civilian.

The Iowa steal:  To Democrats, 'democracy' means unbridled majority power.  Democratic candidate Rita Hart is trying to steal a U.S. House seat in Iowa.  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is helping her do it.  Pelosi wants to overturn Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks's very narrow win in Iowa's 2nd Congressional District.  Her efforts are so blatantly partisan, dishonest, and anti-democratic that a few members of Pelosi's own party caucus have come out against her.  "Losing a House election by six votes is painful for Democrats," wrote Minnesota Rep. Dean Phillips, the first congressional Democrat to voice firm opposition to this scheme.  "But overturning it in the House would be even more painful for America.  Just because a majority can, does not mean a majority should."

The Social Cost of Carbon and Climate Sensitivity Is Model Manipulation at Its Finest.  The "social cost of carbon" is a calculation that the Biden administration is looking to use to justify stringent regulation of carbon dioxide emissions.  Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt — joined by Arkansas, Arizona, Indiana, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Utah — have now filed a lawsuit, arguing that the use of this metric in policy would constitute an overreach of government power.  Carbon dioxide is an odorless gas that is the basis for almost all plant life on earth.  Of course, carbon dioxide emissions have slightly warmed the surface temperature of the planet, but on the other hand, access to plentiful energy has been accompanied by a doubling of life expectancy in the developed world and an elevenfold growth in personal wealth, as noted in the 2016 book "Lukewarming."

The Editor says...
The warming effect of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is far less than the warming effect of water vapor in the atmosphere.  So much less, that it is all but completely futile to even try eliminate carbon dioxide from the air — which (even if it were possible) would kill all plant life, and us with it.

Read the Shocking Pentagon Training Materials Targeting Conservatives in the Military.  I have obtained a copy of all the materials regarding the sudden new threat of "Extremism" used for training in the United States military.  Throughout the services, service members have been shocked at the Biden blitz to root out ideas and people who stand in the way of the administration's transformative agenda.  One individual in the training told me, "The military is one of the last institutions left that hasn't been radicalized by the progressives.  That's why it is being targeted now."  All personnel are being subjected to a PowerPoint presentation packed with progressive ideology and misstatements of the Constitution.  Designated officers are conducting the training on bases, stations, and ships at sea.  The slides contain misstatements of the law and warped characterizations of fellow citizens who believe in constitutional principles.

Dem lawmaker breaks from Pelosi, voices concern over possible bid to steal Iowa GOP seat.  A moderate California Democrat and member of the shrinking "Blue Dog Coalition" has broken with his party and is expressing concerns over a review by the House Administration Committee of a very close Iowa election won by a GOP candidate and certified by state officials.  Rep. Lou Correa, a member of the House Judiciary Committee, has said he wants to "look at the facts" regarding Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks' six-vote win in Iowa's 2nd Congressional District, though a majority of his party is supportive of the panel's investigation.  Correa's concerns center on "what motivates Congress to look at something that should be a state issue," CNN reported on Thursday [3/18/2021].

Biden giving media 'zero access' to border operations: photojournalist.  Award-winning photojournalist John Moore blasted the Biden administration for giving "zero access" to the media to observe Customs and Border Protection operations at the southern border.  Moore took to Twitter to lament the lack of transparency as a surge of migrants trying to enter the country has put a strain on resources.  "I respectfully ask US Customs and Border Protection to stop blocking media access to their border operations," Moore tweeted Friday.  "I have photographed CBP under Bush, Obama and Trump but now - zero access is granted to media.  These long lens images taken from the Mexican side."  Moore, a Getty Images correspondent, won the World Press Photo Foundation's 2019 photo of the year for his image of a Honduran toddler crying while her mother is detained by Border Patrol agents.

The Battle of Burbank.  Tinhorn Flats is a family-operated bar and restaurant in Burbank.  Burbank has had a death rate from the Wuhan virus of 2.8 percent of which 80 percent were of those over 65 who had, on average three co-morbidities.  Despite this, and disregarding the substantial sums restaurant and bar owners had shelled out to keep outdoor patrons safe, on December 6 the city council ordered all restaurants closed.  Tinhorn refused and continued to serve patrons outdoors.  Six days later their health permit was revoked.  Tinhorn continued its outdoor service, ignoring the city's revocation of its permit.  In response, the L.A. County Department of Health cited the restaurant 13 times for operating without a permit.  Tinhorn stayed open.  The L.A. County Attorney filed a cease and desist order.  Tinhorn stayed open.  After a few more legal forays the Burbank City Council filed suit against the restaurant and obtained a temporary restraining order.  Tinhorn stayed open.  The city cut power to the restaurant and patrons and fans donated generators and equipment so the restaurant could continue operations.  The city council padlocked the front doors.  Tinhorn removed the doors and stayed open.  When the padlocked doors were somehow reinstalled, the restaurant posted on Facebook a picture showing a side door open.  Tinhorn stayed open.  Another L.A. County judge required the county to prove that the ban on outdoor dining was necessary.  The county failed to do so, but inexplicably the judge refused to lift the ban.

Since the cops in New York have nothing else to do...
De Blasio Wants NYPD Cops To Confront People Who Hurt Others' Feelings.  New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio on Thursday said that New York Police Department (NYPD) officers should confront people who say mean or offensive things even if their conduct isn't criminal.  De Blasio made the remarks during a press conference on March 18 when the subject of hate crimes and a discrimination against Asian Americans in New York City was brought up, WLNY reported.  The mayor encouraged those who felt they were victims of discrimination or hate speech to report it to the police.

Who Is Our Military's Enemy?  The U.S. military has now turned its wrath inward on Fox News host Tucker Carlson.  The new secretary of defense relayed his "revulsion" for Carlson's questioning the role of women in combat — a position that had been the military's centuries-long orthodoxy until about seven years ago.  Pentagon spokesman John Kirby even compared Carlson to the Communist Chinese military:  "What we absolutely won't do is take personnel advice from a talk show host, or the Chinese military."  The now-cocky Department of Defense website further boasted, "Press Secretary Smites Fox Host."  So what was the biblically "smitten" Carlson's crime?  He objected to the military's fixation on race and gender in high-profile appointments — and questioned whether standards were relaxed to permit women in combat units.  He objected to the military's fixation on race and gender in high-profile appointments — and questioned whether standards were relaxed to permit women in combat units.  Carlson objected that the Capitol is currently domestically militarized.  More troops are on guard against purported American "insurrectionists" than are currently serving in war zones in Afghanistan.

Tucker Carlson-Military Spat Shows Left's Long March Reaching Dangerous Apex.  Is the military more focused on winning wars, or Wokeism?  Americans should not have to ask this question.  But on account of doings of the Biden-led Department of Defense (DoD), Fox News' Tucker Carlson was rightly compelled to proffer it.  That he received any DoD response — and no less an almost parodic scolding, rather than an assurance that the military is singularly focused on crushing our enemies — demonstrates an existential problem for our country.  It shows that the progressives' Long March through our institutions is reaching its dangerous apex.

Until Lambs Become Lions.  [Scroll down]  We arrived in our current situation because our ruling elites painstakingly prepared the battleground in advance.  In 2012, they amended the 1948 Smith-Mundt Act to permit the domestic dissemination of government propaganda into American newsfeeds.  In 2015, they passed the Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) Act, which created a cottage industry of government-funded, progressive-leaning CVE consultants and think tanks dedicated to pushing the myth of right-wing "domestic extremism" and "white supremacy."  Employing teachers, healthcare professionals, first responders, and community leaders, the Obama-era CVE mania built a federally controlled and funded local surveillance and intelligence collection apparatus that spans from grade schools to the workplace to the doctor's office.  An apparatus that still uses debunked pseudoscience to classify ordinary Americans' constitutionally protected speech and activities as "pre-terrorism indicators."  Under the pretext of keeping us safe, they passed multiple counterterrorism laws such as the 2001 USA Patriot Act, the 2015 USA Freedom Act, and the various FISA Amendment Acts (2008, 2017, 2018, 2020), which, taken together, authorize warrantless mass surveillance of all American's communications, activities, associations, and business transactions.  In addition to these legislative actions, Americans became apathetic and lost the will to hold their government leaders accountable.  The multi-tier justice system under which we now suffer has been years in the making.

The Dangers of Direct Checks From the Government.  Over the past year, the U.S. government has sent out three waves of direct checks to the vast majority of Americans.  So far, most Americans (89 percent of adults according to the Tax Foundation) will have received up to $3,200 in "free money" from Uncle Sam.  There are many reasons this could be very dangerous to the future of the republic.  First, it's akin to buying votes.  Now that the precedent has been set and Americans realize that politicians are willing and able to send them money, we're almost assured that in the future politicians will run on the promise of "free money."  In fact, we're already seeing this take place.  Many on the far left are calling for recurring direct checks.

The Editor says...
Social Security payments are another form of direct payments to individuals.  The difference is that nearly everybody pays more into the Social Security system than they get out of it.

Why Did The Guam National Guard Visit Marjorie Taylor Greene's Office At The Capitol Yesterday?  I can't understand how anyone involved in this thought it was a good idea but it's not the first time lately that the military has bent the rules against service members playing politics while in uniform in order to embarrass a populist Republican.  The Marine Corps had to apologize for unprofessional behavior a few days ago when one of its social-media accounts started snarking at Tucker Carlson for wondering why pregnant women are allowed to serve.  The Pentagon went so far as to issue a press release responding to Carlson with the clickbait-y headline, "Press Secretary Smites Fox Host That Dissed Diversity in U.S. Military."  A Twitter pal recently observed that the U.S. military has received withering criticism in the post-9/11 age about life-and-death matters like the occupation of Iraq and counterterrorist drone strikes in remote lands and they've endured it (mostly) in silence, which is proper in a country where civilians are in charge.  Cross certain lines of wokeness, though, and it turns out that even the Marines have their breaking point.  When did owning the cons become part of the defense department's mission?

Friendly 'diplomacy' or intimidation?  Guam Nat'l guard visits MTG's office after calling them foreign.  At the Conservative Political Action Conference, Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene mistakenly referred to Guam, which is a U.S. territory, as a foreign land and that earned her a visit from the Guam National Guard, replete with cookies.  "I'm a regular person.  And I wanted to take my regular-person, normal, everyday American values, which is, we love our country.  We believe our hard-earned tax dollars should just go for America, not for what?  China, Russia, the Middle East, Guam, whatever, wherever," Greene stated in February at CPAC.  "If we want to build roads, if we want to put money into schools, if we want to build border walls, we want it right here at home.  This is easy to me; it's easy to us, but it's not easy to Washington."  In response, Guam Rep. Michael San Nicolas and a whole contingent of the Guam National Guard were recorded traipsing towards Greene's office on Monday where, unfortunately for them, she was not in attendance.  That did not stop them from leaving cookies as a reminder that they are part of the U.S.  They called it "cookie diplomacy."

US Military:  Social Justice Warriors.  I still struggle to process the meaning of the Pentagon's propaganda blitzkrieg against Tucker Carlson.  Even if you think Carlson is wrong in his criticism of the woke military (see here for some of it), the fact that the Defense Department has reacted so aggressively is extraordinarily troubling.  I would have been troubled by it had the DoD hit out at left-wing media critics like this.  But to my knowledge, they never have.  They reserved this kind of response for a conservative media figure who questioned the military's new wokeness.  This tells us something.

A politicized US military should horrify all Americans.  We expect politicians with partisan agendas to spar with journalists.  Not so much members of the armed forces speaking in their official capacity, which is what happened last week after Tucker Carlson of Fox News dared to comment about the role of women in the military.  The Second Marine Expeditionary Force responded with a snotty, childish tweet, telling Carlson:  "Come back when you've served and been pregnant."  Generals, other currently serving officers and the Pentagon's press secretary joined in the ensuing sortie.  The implication was clear:  Civilians who dare to criticize military policy should expect to be harshly rebuked, not by their fellow citizens or even by elected politicians, but by members of the armed forces in their official capacity.

Understanding the military's attack on Tucker Carlson.  There are limits to how far leftward our elites can push this country without buy-in, or at least acquiescence, from the military.  And the military is limited in this regard by the extent to which those who fill its ranks buy in or at at least acquiesce.  The woke left can never firmly control America if there is a disconnect between its agenda and that of the military.  It can never confidently control America if there is a disconnect between its agenda and the views and attitudes of the military rank-and-file.  Hence, the imperative that the rank-and-file be made woke through indoctrination and, if necessary, purging.  Hence, the indoctrination.

Democrat congressman marches National Guard troops to GOP representative's office.  Democrat Congressman San Nicolas, of Guam, marched National Guard troops from his home territory through the halls of Congress, leading them straight to the office door of an opposing party congressperson.  [Quoting tweet:]  ["]Interesting timing, considering all weekend we were talking about the politicization of the military.  They don't [care] how it looks.["]  Rep. Nicolas stopped his 20 or so troops to office door of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.  As majestic music plays, since this was all done with pride on the part of Rep. Nicolas, he stands in the hallway outside Rep. Greene's office with a gift basket, flanked by troops in camo fatigues.  Nicolas approached the door, and an aide knocks briefly before entering the office unannounced.

The Editor says...
What remarkably poor judgment!  What was to be gained from this stunt?  The politicization of the military is unwise, to say the least.  How did that work out in Venezuela, or Zimbabwe, or Burma?

The Sovereign Crime of Industrial Scale Vote Fraud.  [Scroll down]  Sovereign crime means your government was a participant, active or passive, enabling vote fraud.  Governors and secretaries of state refusing to cleanse voter rolls, refusing to check signatures for mail-in ballots — even during recounts, changing the voting rules weeks before an election, qualifies as your government messing with your vote.  The national government refusing to investigate the most egregious examples of voter fraud like hundreds of thousands of more ballots than voters in several states, that is a pretty good indicator that they are passive participants in industrial level vote fraud.  The refusal of the FBI to fully investigate Jesse Morgan's truck with the hundreds of thousands of ballots going from New York to Pennsylvania — yet dispatching agents to a NASCAR location to investigate a garage pull-down they hoped was a noose — well, that's a good indicator, too.  Wait, we're not done here.  The United States Postal Service managers telling employees to backdate ballots so they could be counted illegally.  Does that sound like your government — sovereign government — participating in vote fraud?

The U.S. Military Just Became A Political Attack Machine Against Joe Biden's Opponents.  Last week, Fox cable host Tucker Carlson called out DoD for introducing a flight suit for visibly pregnant women.  Flight suits are worn by pilots to wage our nation's wars.  It seemed incongruous that the military would issue flight suits to pregnant women, who most assuredly do not fight our nation's wars.  When the unit I served with in Iraq learned that two of our female soldiers were pregnant, the U.S. military put them on the highest priority to be evacuated back to the United States.  Within 24 hours, they were sent home.  They wanted to stay — God bless them! — but the DoD would not hear of having pregnant women in a war zone.  Whether Carlson was right or wrong or presented his views in a strident manner is immaterial.  He had an absolute right to say it.  The Department of Defense's leaders disagreed.  What should have been a one-line refutation in a run-of-the-mill daily press briefing became an all-hands public affairs campaign to destroy Carlson.

Did Biden Establish the Military's First 'Virtue Signal' Corps?  [Scroll down]  The social media airstrikes on [Tucker] Carlson over the past several days disturbed me quite a bit.  It was public affairs that initiated the attack on Tucker Carlson, straight from the Pentagon.  That's the top of command information on the public-facing side. [...] What we saw over the weekend appears to represent a new species of the military:  the volunteer Virtue Signal Corps.  It combines SigInt with command information, both trained on U.S. citizens.  This is not a positive development in my opinion, having served in the command information component of the United States Air Force.

Will FBI 'Chats' Send Conservatives to Prison?  Across the nation, FBI agents are swooping down upon conservative activists, Trump supporters, and anyone suspected of any tie to the January 6 clash at the Capitol.  Conservative author Candace Owens tweeted on March 3:  "About 10 of my friends who attended Trump's speech but DID NOT go to Capitol building thereafter have had the FBI turn up at their door to ask them why they went to D.C. ... Our FBI is trying to scare conservatives against ever gathering in the future."  Actually, the potential problem is far worse for people targeted by the feds.  FBI chief Christopher Wray, who is scrambling to deliver the indictments that will please his congressional overlords, says the agency is conducting 2,000 domestic terrorism investigations.  Few Americans recognize how badly the legal playing field is tilted against them.  When FBI agents knock on their doors, many Americans won't hesitate to open up because they assume "those who have nothing to hide have nothing to fear."  But along with Bureau procedures that are a travesty of due process, the FBI is exploiting a sweeping law that criminalizes casual comments.  Federal agents have the right to lie to you and to put you in prison if you lie to them.  Any citizen who makes even a single-word ("no" or "yes") false utterance to a federal agent faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

The Official Outrage Over Tucker Carlson's Critique of Joe Biden's Military Shows Just How Lost Our Military Is.  Friday [3/12/2021], Tucker Carlson kicked off a firestorm.  His monologue focused n the barking shambles that Joe Biden has made of the Department of Defense in less than two months.  His theme was the degree to which the Biden bunch is focusing on making the military a test bed for woke orthodoxy and putting combat readiness, particularly readiness to confront Joe Biden's paymasters in Beijing, in its rearview mirror.  He took, as a point of departure, Biden's mumblings on the occasion of "International Women's Day."  Carlson's strongest point was directed at Biden's decision to appoint a secretary of defense who is not only beholden to the defense industry but a rabid partisan[.]

Now Tucker Carlson Has Angered the U.S. Space Command.  [A]t this point I barely pay attention to the outrage du jour Tucker has kicked up.  That's his job, and there's nobody better.  Making libs mad is his business, and business is good.  But this latest one is flabbergasting.  Now he's actually got Democrats defending... the military? [...] So far, this has been just another phony outrage.  But here's where my eyebrows went up:  a uniformed Space Command guy just called out Tucker.  Ladies and gentlemen:  U.S. Marine Corps Master Gunnery Sergeant Scott H. Stalker.  [Video clip] [...] And doesn't the military have regulations about uniformed personnel making political statements?  Isn't that one of the things you give up when you join?  Isn't that the whole point of having civilian oversight of the military?

Sen. Cruz:  US Military 'Launching Political Attacks' Against Tucker Carlson, Requests Meeting.  Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said he requested a meeting with the head of the U.S. Marine Corps after one of its units tweeted statements insulting Tucker Carlson, along with unusually bellicose comments about the Fox News host.  "Under Biden, the military is launching political attacks to intimidate Tucker Carlson & other civilians who criticize their policy decisions," Cruz wrote on Twitter, saying he requested a meeting with the commandant of the Marines.  "Officials in uniform are being used for the campaign.  I've demanded a meeting with the Commandant of the USMC to put a stop to it."  Over the weekend, a U.S. Marine Corps unit's Twitter account — the II Marine Expeditionary Force Information Group — stated it "messed up" in its comments when responding to Carlson after the Fox host said the military should be focused more on adversaries like China rather than social issues.

Varieties of Legal Corruption.  PJ Media's Megan Fox has a very disturbing six-part series on alleged judicial corruption in St. Louis, Missouri.  The first five detail how family court guardians and psychologists are misusing their positions to siphon off money from parents in custody disputes while the St.  Louis judges ignore the fraud and collude with them, by, for example, ordering children's visits with sexual molesters and/or otherwise abusive parents in order to compel the other parent to keep paying lawyers to appeal the decisions and change the arrangements.  One might expect that bar examiners, judicial conduct boards, the state attorney general, the Department of Justice, the FBI, the IRS would register some interest in what appears to be appalling legal violations by officers of the court and the judges , but I don't see anything happening yet to check these outrages.  In many ways this alleged corruption is as bad if not worse than the case a few years ago of two Pennsylvania judges, Mark Ciavarella and Michael T. Conahan, who routinely sent poor kids who had committed minor offenses to private detention centers in return for kickbacks from the owners of those jails.  They were finally sentenced for their kids for cash scheme.

More evidence that Obama is in charge again:
Biden Admin Brings Back Operation Rushbo Against Tucker Carlson.  One of the dumber campaigns by the Obama administration was Operation Rushbo.  Operation Rushbo was a campaign by Obama's people to target Rush Limbaugh personally, as the most outspoken voice in the conservative movement, and to, seemingly 'destroy' the conservative movement by making Limbaugh into its public face.  As I said, it was the kind of dumb idea by urban lefties who lived in a social echo chamber and had no idea why anyone might want to listen to Rush.  Now, the Biden administration has decided to relaunch Operation Rushbo to target Tucker Carlson:  the most prominent figure on FOX News.

Pelosi Hit With Lawsuit Over Phone Call To General Trying To Prevent Trump From Accessing Nuclear Codes.  Government watchdog group Judicial Watch announced a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit for access to a telephone call between House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and General Mark Milley shortly after the Capitol riots.  The call was revealed in a letter from Pelosi to Democrat lawmakers in which she described an attempt to prevent an "unhinged" President Trump from accessing the nuclear codes at the time.  Judicial Watch alleges that the Department of Defense has not provided any response to their FOIA request, which was filed on January 11th.

Regarding Democrats Stealing the House Seat in Iowa — It's Not Like the Democrats Haven't Stolen An Election This Same Way Before.  [Scroll down]  The Democrat challenger, Rita Hart, made a deliberate decision after the recount of ballots to NOT file any election contest in the Iowa courts as was authorized by Iowa law.  Instead, she filed the petition with the House that is now pending to have the "winning" candidate — as identified by Iowa election officials — Mariannette Miller-Meeks, disqualified from holding the seat on the basis that she did not receive a greater number of votes than Hart received.  The House has the final say under the Constitution with respect to the qualifications of any individual to serve as a member.  Under the statute authorizing the petition filed by Hart, the Committee conducts an investigation.  It can hear from witnesses, accept documentary evidence, conduct interviews in Iowa, and even conduct a recount of all the ballots on its own to come up with its own final vote tally.  Remarkably, if the Committee chooses to recount the ballots itself, the standards for what constitutes a "valid" ballot under Iowa law do not apply to such a recount by the House.  Democrats who have majority control of the committee can fashion their own standards as to what should be deemed a "valid" vote, and may freely choose to ignore any limitations on the process established by Iowa law and court precedent.

Pelosi: House could unseat Iowa Republican who narrowly won race.  Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the House could ultimately vote to unseat Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, who won Iowa's 2nd Congressional District seat by just six votes out of more than 394,000 cast.  Pelosi told reporters that the Democratic-led House Administration Committee "is following the law," in its review of the election, and it could ultimately result in a move to force out the first-term Iowa Republican.  "We will see where that takes us, but there could be a scenario to that extent," Pelosi said.  Democratic candidate Rita Hart has contested her narrow loss to Miller-Meeks, leaving the House Administration Committee to decide her case.  Hart believes 22 ballots were wrongfully discarded, and if they were counted, she would have a nine-vote victory.  House Administration Republicans want Democrats to dismiss Hart's case, but the committee voted Wednesday [3/10/2021] to table a motion to dismiss Hart's claim.

Rule by Left-Wing Lunatics.  A governing principle of the Democratic Party is to ask, "Who is in the dock?" before deciding whether to enforce the law.  As we have seen throughout the last year of antifa/BLM riots, in blue states, it's now legal to commit arson, attempted murder, assault on a law enforcement officer and destruction of property — provided the perp is antifa or antifa-friendly.  Andy Ngo's smash bestseller "Unmasked" gives chapter and verse on antifa's shocking violence untouched by criminal penalty.  On the other hand, if you're a conservative, don't commit a misdemeanor in a blue state.  Proud Boys, Capitol Hill protesters, police and other presumed Trump supporters are getting more prison time than actual murderers for minor infractions.  Even a couple of personal injury lawyers (liberals) are being criminally prosecuted in St. Louis for brandishing guns at violent looters coming toward their home.  The rioters, you see, were BLM protesters.  In all these cases, local Democratic officials gleefully announce that they are locking up "white supremacists."

Masks Are Just Part of the Socialists' Uniform.  [Scroll down]  In a sense, mask mandates have become nothing more than dress code loyalty oaths to the same state and local governments that have claimed for themselves the extraconstitutional powers to restrict free speech, religious liberty, personal commerce, and voluntary movement beyond the home in the name of a virus.  They represent Americans' symbolic acquiescence to government's mass lockdowns and economic shutdowns and their tacit acceptance that government's unconstitutional power grabs are somehow legitimate.  This symbolism, not the statistically insignificant decrease in infection and death rates in areas with strict mask mandates, is what actually animates those Americans who insist on controlling what covers other Americans' faces.  An American who refuses to participate in virus virtue-signaling is an American who refuses to believe that the economic, educational, and social carnage of the last year was justified.  And that repudiation is just too much for proponents of bigger and more intrusive government to take in stride.

The #BlueAnon Dossier:  The Conspiracies Promoted by the Conspiracy-Hating Press.  This past Thursday, on March 4, Washington was paralyzed.  The National Guard troops were placed on high-alert with their unloaded weapons, the security fencing surrounding the Capitol was fortified, and Congress suspended its daily schedule.  This was all done in preparation for a renewed assault on our nation's capital and our democracy.  The reason?  The devotees of Qanon — that amorphous and overhyped cabal of political zealotry — were supposedly claiming that is the true inaugural date and that a failure of a Trump swearing-in ceremony would lead to renewed violence. [...] This non-episode reveals two details on the whole Qanon issue.  One is that the press is intent to use this group as a political tool to attack conservatives, presenting their crackpot theories as mainstream thought within the movement.  This attempt however exposes the other issue.  In order to wield this weapon, the media needs to both pay close attention to Q theories, and then they need to broadcast them.  What takes place then is the press taking these conspiracies far more seriously than anyone on the right; almost anytime I have heard of a Q talking point it is being promoted by someone in the press[.]

For Much Public Spending:  Everything's Coming Up COVID.  For some special interests, a fading coronavirus pandemic poses a problem, but not always an insurmountable one.  Big Labor and its acolytes cite the virus as a compelling reason for doubling the minimum wage and forcing businesses to provide more paid sick leave, while the Biden administration is using the pandemic as part of its justification for overhauling immigration toward eventual amnesty for undocumented migrants.  Meanwhile, the left-leaning Brookings Institution has successfully persuaded the federal government to allocate more money to child-care programs in the name of pandemic safety.  These changes have long been on the policy wish lists of advocates, but in a time of pandemic they evoke words widely attributed to Winston Churchill:  "Never let a good crisis go to waste."  Or as a headline this week might sum up a new urgency:  "The U.S. Is Edging Toward Normal, Alarming Some Officials."

Jill Biden, the Meghan Markle in the WH, is egregiously guilty of elder abuse.  [Scroll down]  And what of the ridiculous transformation of our Capitol?  DC now resembles the Green Zone the Americans built in Iraq to keep out terrorists.  Nancy Pelosi feels no qualms about abusing all those patriotic National Guard troops who are being fed virtually inedible food and are being asked to stand around and freeze as props for her farcical fear of "right-wing extremists" like QAnon, a shadowy online "group" of two or three people that no conservative ever took seriously.  So invested in that inane conspiracy theory she and her fellow fearmongers have made even bigger fools of themselves.

Retired Purple Heart Veteran in Arizona Who Dove In Dumpster and Found Shredded Ballots Is Now Being Threatened.  A retired Purple Heart veteran who took a dive in a dumpster on Saturday and found illegally shredded ballots in Maricopa County is now reportedly a wanted man.  Yesterday [3/7/2021] it was reported that a man by the name of Earl S, who found shredded ballots in a dumpster backed up to the loading dock outside of the Maricopa County Tabulation Center, is now a wanted man.

Gaslighting, Unending Lockdowns And Climate Change.  [Video clip]

The Imaginary Government.  We have long been in a post-constitutional democracy, one that recognizes no individual rights, but simply who has the most votes, or, more accurately, the most ballots.  It is as destructive to the United States as it was to France, minus the guillotines, for now.  Driving home the fact of the stolen election is pointless.  Everyone knows it was stolen, especially those who benefitted from the steal.  They also understand the value of keeping up the illusion of legitimacy.  Equal to that value is the importance of never conceding that point.  The larger question, the most important question, is how do we expose the fraud in a real way?  Recognizing it is good, pushing back on the legitimacy narrative is good, but it's just filed away as two competing political voices urging the middle to move their way.  Lost is the importance of the stolen election.  The inability of the federal government to faithfully prosecute a free and fair election destroys its authority.  They gloss over this fact, because it suits both political parties to pretend that the election was legitimate, knowing that if it was not.  They no longer hold authority until a free and fair election can be held.  In essence, they are actors on a stage and as long as the people suspend disbelief, they can continue in that role. [...] A government that no longer needs the actual votes of the people is free to unleash all manner of unlawful assaults upon them.

Angry at Trump, Liberals Propose Unconstitutional Bill to Punish Him.  Democrats have twice impeached Donald Trump in the House and twice failed to convict him in the Senate.  They're angry about failing, and double angry about failing twice.  That's understandable.  Nobody likes to fail.  But they've now fallen into the trap of letting their anger get the better of their reason and their oaths to uphold the Constitution.  The result is a legislative temper tantrum in a bill dubbed the No Glory for Hate Act.  The act is petty and petulant, and it inspires a strong temptation to laugh and mock.  It is, however, an unconstitutional abuse of power, and that transforms an amusing little fit into a worrisome precedent.  The bill targets "any former President that has been twice impeached" — excuse me while I take a moment to figure out all the presidents that it applies to — and says that no federal funds may be used to commemorate all those presidents.

10 Big Warning Signs Biden is the 'Missing' President.  [#6] Biden is an executive order-signing machine:  President Biden entered office and immediately issued a record-setting flurry of executive orders, which he signed as if he were a human auto-pen.  Those orders were reportedly drafted and fast-tracked with the aid of a DOJ office under the supervision of former Attorney General William Barr, according to former Trump adviser Peter Navarro.  "Trump's last Attorney General actually also turns out to be Joe Biden's first Attorney General," Navarro said.  "Because here is what was happening.  We had over 30 executive orders queued after election day, ready to go.  But we kept running into all of these roadblocks and roadblocks and hurdles.  It turns out that Bill Barr's office of legal counsel was fast-tracking all of these Biden EOs."  [Video clip]  Of course, President Biden could not have had all of these executive orders ready to go by himself on day one.  They were drafted for him and merely handed to him to sign.

Left toasts Merrick Garland, the Swamp elitist who served as Bloody Janet Reno's henchman.  At his Senate confirmation hearing on Feb. 22, Joe Biden's choice to be attorney general transparently sought to equate former President Donald Trump and his America First movement with Timothy McVeigh and the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing: [...] Unstated yet readily apparent is the salute to a return to Janet Reno, the bloodstained Bill Clinton attorney general who presided over a Justice Department that covered up the FBI murders of a young mother holding a baby in her arms and a 14-year-old boy at Ruby Ridge, Idaho in 1992 and actively slaughtered 76 Branch Davidians at Waco one year later.  It is rather astonishing that given Garland's public vow to aggressively treat Trump supporters as domestic terrorists more attention isn't given to his prominent role serving Reno.  Garland was Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General to Jamie Gorelick, Reno's Deputy AG.  Reno referred to Gorelick as her Justice Department's "chief operating officer" and Gorelick has described Garland as her "wingman."  So that would make it:
  [#1]   Janet Reno
  [#2]   Jamie Gorelick
  [#3]   Merrick Garland
This was the hierarchy of a Justice Department that burned American citizens to death in the name of fighting "domestic terror."

The Progressives are the extremists.  The Progressives, in their extreme denial of the First Amendment's freedom of religion clause, shut down churches, synagogues, and choirs.  And if not totally shut down, they limited church attendance in most of these.  Totalitarian governments do not like large groups of people assembled together, whether it is at church or at a Trump MAGA rally.  Hypocritically, they did not have any problems with Antifa nor Black Lives Matter riots.

House Democrats' Attempt to Pressure TV Carriers Could Trigger Lawsuit:  Dershowitz.  The attempt by several House Democrats to pressure television carriers to deplatform certain news organizations could trigger a lawsuit, law professor Alan Dershowitz said Saturday [2/27/2021].  "When the First Amendment says Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech, it's been interpreted to mean, take no action, it doesn't have to be law.  The First Amendment applies to presidents to governors to mayors to anybody who can abridge the freedom of speech.  And I think these letters abridge the freedom of speech," Dershowitz said during an appearance on Newsmax TV.  Reps.  Jerry McNerney (D-Calif.) and Anna G. Eshoo (D-Calif.) sent a dozen letters to 12 different carriers this week urging them to deplatform or otherwise take action against Fox News, Newsmax, and One America News for allegedly spreading misleading information about the Jan. 6 Capitol breach and the COVID-19 pandemic.  They pointedly asked the carriers if they were planning on carrying the networks "both now and beyond any contract renewal date."  "That's not a question.  That's a threat," Dershowitz said.

The Biden administration is systematically erasing Trump.  Biden is undoing every single executive order Trump signed, regardless of whether a given order made sense or not.  The goal isn't to benefit America or Americans, it's to destroy any vestige of Trump in the American government (and, as a pleasant byproduct, to replace the American population which a more malleable one).  The Victory Girls blog caught up with the seven executive orders that Biden signed on Wednesday [2/24/2021].  What's noteworthy is how innocuous or pro-American the Trump executive orders were.  It's clear that, for the Democrats now in power, the substance of Trump's executive orders is irrelevant.  The only thing that matters is getting rid of them.  This is the executive order equivalent of fumigation.  Or to put Biden's conduct in its proper historical context, we are witnessing the American version of the damnatio memoriae — or condemnation of memory.  It's how a successor government erases the predecessor from every official record.  It's a very primitive action, as well as being one that totalitarians embrace.  (Stalin was famous for it.)  You may draw your own conclusions about the Biden administration's motives.

The Lies Aren't Secret.  Secrecy is the ultimateentitlement program for the Deep State.  The federal government is creating trillions of pages of new secrets every year.  The more documents bureaucrats classify, the more lies politicians and government officials can tell.  In Washington, deniability is prized far more than truth.  At the end of the Trump era, the Deep State is triumphant at home and abroad.  Trump's epic clashes with federal intelligence and law enforcement agencies helped cripple his administration, and they illustrate the continued danger of Deep State secrecy.  If all of the FBI's shenanigans on Russiagate came to light, it would be far more difficult for the FBI to manipulate American politics and presidents in the future.  If CIA records on Syrian rebels were exposed, the Biden administration would have far more difficulty dragging America back into the Syrian civil war.  But both seem unlikely.  Recent court rulings make clear how badly Trump failed to drain the swamp.

A short primer on the importance of our Second Amendment rights.  Without the Second Amendment, there is no Bill of Rights.  As we're learning, the Bill of Rights is a leash on the government and has meaning only if the government accepts that leash.  If it throws off the leash and flexes its police power, the only recourse is to yield or fight — and you can't fight without weapons.  Incidentally, let me be clear:  We have not reached the physical fighting point.  Thankfully, we are still a civil society with multiple civil, legal, and non-violent means for asserting our rights.  Resisting now through these lawful mechanisms will ensure continued peace in America.  Still, an armed society is a society respected by its own government.

More than 35% of US Dollars Ever Printed [were] Made in 2020.  The Federal Reserve system printed more than 35% of the dollars ever printed in the year 2020 alone.  A graphic from the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve reveals the severe increase in printing, with dollar printed dramatically exceeding the number produced in previous years.  The increase in printing and spending was spurred by the coronavirus, with the federal government moving to deliver two financial stimulus packages in the year which relieved the American taxpayer.  Leaders of both political parties agreed the stimulus spending was necessary, with the virus spurring an unprecedented recession.  However, the inflationary effects on the dollar from the print and spend approach are unavoidable.  The volume of US dollars circulating throughout the economy went from just over $15 trillion to over $19 trillion in one year alone.

Democrats take first steps to censor conservative TV channels OANN, Newsmax and Fox News.  In a shocking development in the ongoing censorship debate, two influential Democrat members of the House of Representatives have taken the first steps to challenge the continued availability of conservative channels Newsmax, OANN, and Fox News on mainstream cable, satellite, and streaming television platforms. [...] Among other things, the letter to the companies by [Rep. Anna] Eshoo and [Rep. Jerry] McNerney attacked the three conservative news channels as "misinformation rumor mills and conspiracy theory hotbeds that produce content that leads to real harm."

House Democrats are Going After Cable Providers and Streaming Services for Hosting Channels Like Fox News and OANN.  When going after advertisers wasn't enough to sink channels that hold conservative opinions, Democrats began shifting their attention to other methods of fascistically silencing their ideological opposition.  According to The Hill, Democrats are now going after streaming services and cable providers for playing host to what they call "misinformation" and for breeding "radicalized individuals."  The companies they're going after include Comcast and Verizon, as well as streaming companies like Hulu and Roku to question their "ethical principles".

Donations 'Requested' by Newsom Exploded as His Emergency Powers Ballooned.  In 2020, California Gov. Gavin Newsom's office reported that individuals or organizations made $226 million in private donations to organizations at Newsom's request.  These "behested payments" were a record-setting haul eclipsing all prior donations on record by nearly $100 million.  While most donations supported COVID-19 relief efforts, a closer look suggests Newsom's fundraising was supercharged not just by the pandemic, but also by the broad emergency powers the Democratic governor has assumed because of it.  Behested payments are a unique feature of California politics.  State law defines a behested payment as a donation to a government program or charity made "at the request, suggestion, or solicitation of, or made in cooperation, consultation, coordination or concert" with a public official.  While payments of $5,000 or more are disclosed to the public, they remain an overlooked portion of politicians' finances, even though contributions often come from businesses with interests in the state government.  Last year, Newsom raised a combined $45 million from insurance giants Blue Shield of California and Kaiser Permanente for Project Homekey, his housing initiative.  Newsom had selected Blue Shield CEO Paul Markovich to co-chair California's task force on COVID-19 testing.  In January, the governor again tapped Blue Shield, with assistance from Kaiser Permanente, to manage vaccine distribution across the state.

How to Push Back Against a Bully.  Did a Minneapolis policeman's decision to sit on the neck of George Floyd on May 25 really "cause" the summer of violence, namely the one that Antifa, BLM, and their Democratic sponsors unleashed in every major American city?  Did a single killing in Minneapolis cause organized wars against "systemic racism" here and in Canada and then in Western Europe, with accompanying looting and burning?  Were people cancelled and fired, statues toppled, streets and buildings renamed according to quickly ratcheted-up standards of political correctness all because of an event in Minneapolis last spring?  The obvious answer is no.  Crises are generated when those in power decide to generate them.  The media can throw oil on the flames whenever they decide it is in their interest to do so.  Universities and other "institutions of learning" will then join the fray, together with their comrades in the deep state, who are always eager to fight "prejudice."  The fact is, we are dealing with a power complex that can turn even minor incidents into violent demonstrations and calls for government action to end "discrimination" and to ferret out and punish "white supremacists."

2020 made it really hard to take Washington seriously.  One is hard pressed to imagine how a former president can be impeached.  The term doesn't even make sense, as the whole idea of impeachment is to remove a president from office.  If said president isn't even in office, there's no squaring the circle.  The notion seems to be to close any avenue Donald Trump may use to re-establish himself in national politics.  Not a thing constitutional about it.  That Pelosi & Company fear Trump even out of office is beyond dispute.  He is a threat to their crooked lives because America is no longer blind to the extraordinary criminality that has Washington by the throat.  The hope that was America for centuries was predicated on sincere efforts to hamstring the corruption that otherwise ran rampant across the world.  Now the whole world has seen that not even America can stand honestly in the sunshine.

Power Crazed:  Inspector Dances with Glee While Shutting Down Los Angeles County Brewery Restaurant.  Moments after shutting down the Bravery Brewing Company for allowing customers to pick up prior to the Super Bowl rather than delivering, the LA County Health Inspector does a little happy dance.  Surveillance footage shows Los Angeles County inspector Jatinder Chhabra entering the building just over half an hour after they opened.  They had to shut down right now, she informed the employee, who was ringing up two customers at that moment.  Why?  No food truck.  [Video clip]

The Grand Illusion.  The federal government is illegitimate.  I can unwind that all you want, but it's a fact.  It's a fact to such an extent that they have put up a twelve-foot-high fence around the capitol with razor wire crowning the structure.  They've posted twenty-thousand troops near at hand in case too many of us figure it out.  They are afraid of us and they should be.  If I had defied the will of the people and installed a mentally deficient old man instead of the people's choice, I'd be worried about the anger of the American people, too.

A Freedom-Loving People Needs to Call the Bluff of Those Instilling Fear.  While it took the combined elements of the New Deal and American mobilization during World War II, the land of the free and the home of the brave eventually reasserted itself and America won through to victory — over straitened economic circumstances and the combined military might of National Socialist Germany and Imperial Japan.  What followed was two decades of prosperity, social harmony, and relative peace.  Today, that country has nearly vanished into history, defeated by a combination of "progressive" assaults on the nation-as-founded, and a concomitant loss of self-confidence and even legitimacy.  Worst of all, the fear that FDR warned of has now inculcated itself as the new American default mode: everything terrifies us, and sends us scurrying for the imagined security of "safe spaces."  Which are, of course, really prisons for a people no longer capable of governing themselves.  Exhibit A is COVID-19, China's gift to the world, the overreaction to which has elevated "civil servants" to the status of dictators, abrogated the Constitution, destroyed the economy, and encouraged the citizenry to shun their fellow men as if they were radioactive.  It has terrified a country grown ever more effeminate in its mannerisms and speech patterns, and fearful of engagement with everyday life.  It has created the absurd spectacle of once-free citizens habitually masked and shuffling along like the captive residents of a communist country, tethered to their iPhones, bombarded daily with government and Google propaganda, and accepting the notion that this is somehow the New Normal — and ought to be.

Free Thy Mind.  The federal government is a body of dictators.  They recognize no higher authority than themselves.  It isn't much better at the state, county or city levels.  The stolen election was just one more way to sideline the people, take them out of the equation for anything other than tax assets.  That's why a lot of Republicans failed to seek an audit of the election, or even individual state elections.  They didn't want to upset the process of removing your voice from future elections as well.  They have a nifty little game going on up there and they don't want principle to stand in the way of their power.  That power is to operate a money-laundering scheme wherein contributors to their "re-election" provide the slush fund from which the individual candidate is allowed to draw and return that cash to their donors through favorable legislation with a crumb or two aimed at the citizens.  This was most obviously the case with every "Covid relief" bill they have or will pass.  A few pennies to the people, a few billion to their global partners.

Lee Smith Nails It, The Elites "Want Us To Know" They Hold all Power and Control.  Adam Townsend had a great podcast interview with journalist Lee Smith last week, and for the first time Smith eloquently hit on something CTH has discussed for several years.  The "elites" writ large are so open in their current proclamations of being beyond reach, because they want us to know their power removes them from any accountability.  Often we see people ask 'why are they so openly admitting to their wrongdoing'?  Within the answer I have written frequently 'they simply do not care'...  It is not a sense of boundless hypocrisy that drives them to showcase their disconnect, the disconnect is purposefully part of the ideological advancement of their goal.

How Your Government Really Works.  [Scroll down]  It is almost impossible for prominent people to conceal their behavior.  The late Senator John McCain's wife Cindy claimed, "Epstein was hiding in plain sight.  We all knew about him.  We all knew what he was doing, but we had no one that was — no legal aspect that would go after him.  They were afraid of him.  For whatever reason, they were afraid of him."  The important part of this statement is:  "We all knew about him."  Jeffrey Epstein was prostituting young girls and Cindy McCain knew about it.  She did not report it.  What was she afraid of?  Vladimir Bukovsky pointed out one of the problems with exposing people:  "The movers and shakers of today have little interest in digging for the truth.  Who knows what one may come up with?  You may start out with the communists and end up with yourself."

ABC Now Looks to State and Federal Prosecutors to Get Trump in Court.  Only after former President Trump was acquitted for the second time in an impeachment trial did ABC finally give any form of credence to the Republican argument that the Senate was not the right place to hold a former president accountable.  And during Valentine's Day Sunday, Good Morning America was trying to count the ways and charges Trump could face and the federal and state levels to bar him from running for office ever again.  "In his speech after the vote to acquit, after he, in fact, voted to acquit, [Minority Leader] Mitch McConnell [R-KY] said, Trump, and I'm quoting here, 'didn't get away with anything, yet,'" co-anchor Dan Harris noted to legal analyst Dan Abrams.  "So, what legal consequences could Trump still face?  Could there be state charges, federal charges?  What do you think?"  According to Abrams, federal prosecutors would be too intimidated by the "political imagery" to prosecute Trump for inciting the Capitol insurrection.  So, he looked to the states: [...]

Trump Acquittal Shows Congress Is Not Exempt From The Constitution.  House impeachment managers argued Saturday, as throughout former President Donald Trump's impeachment trial, that Congress is exempt from the Constitution.  Lead manager Rep. Raskin (D-MD) said that because this was not a criminal trial, the legal requirements for "incitement" did not apply, the right to due process did not apply, and even the cherished First Amendment did not apply.  In effect, Raskin argued, Congress was exempt from following constitutional principles. [...] Raskin, Schiff, and the Democrats told the Senate that they should ignore the principles of the Bill of Rights.  As Trump's lawyers noted in their rebuttal Friday, the House managers were effectively asking the Senators to violate their own oaths of office.  That may or may not have been the reason the Senate ultimately acquitted Trump, both times.

Worshipping At The Altar Of Power.  On Wednesday, January 6th, a mob of aggrieved voters from across the political spectrum stormed the Capitol, [...] But more important than the unfortunate event itself was the way our political and cultural leaders described it.  Both former First Lady Michelle Obama and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, among others, described the storming of the capitol as a desecration, meaning that that mob had defiled a sacred place.  Obama and Pelosi, it is assumed, believe that the capitol building is hallowed ground; that it is a sacred representation of our democracy.  While we might agree that it represents our democracy, it would be foolish and dangerous to consider it sacred.  Yes, our country was founded on sacred principles and transcendent truths, but these truths are not to be found in the seat of power, but rather where the founding fathers knew they resided, in our Creator.  Our Leadership class does not believe in the God of our founders.  They do not fear God the Creator nor kneel for his forgiveness and blessing.  Instead, they kneel and bow their heads for BLM or, rather, they supplicate themselves to the power it represents.  Power is what they crave, strive for, and worship.

Public Servants or Parasites?  When did politicians and federal employees start calling themselves "public servants"?  Even more importantly, why are we letting them?  It's almost as if they're trying to claim the mantle of nobility for making a sacrifice in the public interest.  But I don't understand what that sacrifice is.  They're paid better and have better benefits than most private-sector employees.  They're rarely held accountable for their performance.  Why do we treat them as if they're serving a higher calling than any other profession in the country?

Why are Democrats Pushing Impeachment?  Nancy Pelosi is one of the snidest and most petty representatives in Congress.  I have personally heard from several Democratic representatives their beliefs that Pelosi held up critical immigration and COVID legislation that they privately supported, for no other reason than that it might help Trump look good.  They supported the holdups because they feared retribution from Pelosi.  If you want to hear Pelosi's partisanship, listen for yourself to her opening comments during the beginning of the House debate on Arizona's electoral votes.  Pelosi is sufficiently petty to demand impeachment as a final boot out the door.  This is my personally favored reason and stands as a testament to the characters of Chuck Schumer, Adam Kinzinger, Liz Cheney and others who have joined them.  While several junior Democrats may have done so out of fear, Democratic leaders and Republicans had no good excuses.  But there could be another reason; one that fits well with Democrats' recent militarization of D.C. and gross violations of our 1st Amendment rights to speech and to assemble and the redress of grievances. [...]

Lawyers Are Facing Reprisal for Representing Trump.  This Is Un-American.  "So... you represented Trump?" That question is unfairly haunting a number of the former president's lawyers.  Because of his legal counsel to former President Donald Trump, constitutional scholar and law professor John Eastman — the former dean of the law school no less — was pushed out of Chapman University, where he spent his entire, very distinguished academic career.  The same thing happened to Cleta Mitchell, a well-known and highly respected Washington, D.C. lawyer who had practiced with Foley and Lardner for decades.  Now, Michigan lawyers Greg Rohl, Scott Hagerstrom, and Stefanie Junttila, who represented the Trump campaign in election litigation in the state, are being unfairly and unjustly targeted for disbarment by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and state Attorney General Dana Nessel.

Biden's Banana Republic.  [Scroll down]  [Under the Biden] administration, this country is shaping up as a banana republic.  Think about:
  •   How the Democrats want to turn the economy into one that's "operated as a private commercial enterprise for the exclusive profit of the ruling class."
  •   The Democrats' retribution-filled, Reichstag-fire response to the breach of the U.S. Capitol by a group made up mostly of odd characters and some everyday Americans who got overheated and were shocked by their own behavior, all of them apparently unarmed.
  •   How a summer of real riots was tacitly, and at times, overtly supported by Biden's party.
  •   The second impeachment of Trump that is not an attempt to seek justice but a campaign to prevent him from running again for president and marginalizing his supporters.
  •   The lies about the promise of unity.
  •   Phony charges against political opponents designed to dehumanize them. [...]
  •   Government by executive command rather than through proper legislative channels.
  •   Shutting down politically unfavorable businesses. [...]
  •   The leader of a national government deciding alone what the property role of that government is. [...]
From any reasonable point of view, it's clear America is in a decline that might not be as steep as Biden's cognitive fade, but is just as real.

The FBI's Campaign Against Some Rightwing Groups Looks Exactly Like J. Edgar Hoover's COINTELPRO Scandal.  [Scroll down]  For the past four years, we've been appalled by the FBI and the Intelligence Community working hand-in-glove to insert informers into a presidential campaign and transition team.  We saw an obviously faked dossier laundered by the CIA and FBI through press leaks to create the pretext for a special counsel.  Over the past month, I've posted about the alarming pattern of "militia" and "extremist" arrests with a common thread.  A group meets.  Someone in the group brings up the bright idea to commit a federal felony.  Discussion ensues.  An outsider with the means to carry out the felony is introduced to the group.  Some inciting act is taken, like purchasing an illegal device, and the FBI descends on the group.  There is a press conference and indictments and much blathering about the enemy within and the danger of extremists. [...] You have groups opposed in some fundamental way to the direction the elites want the nation to go.  They are targeted for no other reason than their dissent.  From there, it is a short jump to creating facts that enable law enforcement to suppress that dissent. [...] If federal law enforcement continues to push informants and provocateurs into otherwise peaceful organizations and engage in what a layperson would characterize as entrapment, then they build a case for having entire groups labeled as violent extremists.  As we saw in the aftermath of the Capitol riot, that kind of labeling can be used to prevent people from traveling (the 'no-fly" list).  It can keep them from renting housing (AirBNB canceling reservations).  It can get financial institutions to make it impossible to use a credit card or other payment system.  And on and on.

Slowing Killing The American Frog.  [Scroll down]  By harassing President Trump from the start of his term, Democrats kept him, and us, just enough off balance to keep on moving the pieces into place.  A big part of that was forcing us to accept, incrementally, things we knew to be wrong.  We knew to be untrue the Russian and Ukrainian plots Trump supposedly perpetrated.  By contrast, we had irrefutable proof that Biden plotted with Ukraine, but our institutions ignored that.  We were force-fed a 'new reality.'  Watching General Flynn, Carter Page and Roger Stone (among others) accused as criminals and destroyed financially added to the unease.  None of the accusations were credible.  A 5 a.m. raid on Stone with a SWAT team and a TV crew was chilling.  Why was it done?  To undermine our belief in reality!  We had to swallow each indignity.  We never knew what or who might be sacrificed next.  We thought the Democrat actors in Congress were evil fools but watched in horror as they got away with every outrageous ploy.  We will never see indictments for the plotters.

10 Years in Prison for a Meme?  The Department of Justice is showing that it has become a political weapon in the earliest days of the Biden Presidency.  The F.B.I. has arrested a pro-Trump meme maker (artist), who now faces a 10-year sentence for posting a comical image four years earlier.  They are outright beginning to arrest people for political speech.  [Video clip]

After Vetting 25,000 Guardsmen, No Extremists Were Found.  In the wake of the storming of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, an unprecedented step was taken:  placing 25,000 National Guardsmen to protect the Capitol.  Democratic Rep. Steve Cohen expressed concerned that with so many white Trump voters in the guard, there could be violent extremists among them.  Politico shared these concerns in a piece arguing the military has a hate-group problem.  The piece used entirely anecdotal evidence, so is there any real data?  It turns out that thanks to concerns from people like Cohen, the National Guard and the FBI vetted the 25,000 grunts from across the nation to assure no extremists were among them.  It was widely reported that 12 guardsmen were removed from the force as a result of the vetting.  But now, The Federalist's Jordan Davidson has gotten clarification from the National Guard about these 12 people.  According to the Guard: [...] None of these individuals were flagged for extremist, criminal or threat association. [...] Thus far, Cohen has not apologized for besmirching the honor and morals of so many military service members, nor has the media done any kind of about-face on the nature of the threat.  This is because the idea that Trump-supporting boogiemen are lurking in our ranks serves their political purposes.

Unite and Heal With Show Trials and Fascist Purges.  When asked how he defines unity, Joe Biden, with the help of three teleprompters and a small staff communicating with him through his earpiece and a series of frantic signals and hoots, explained that, "If you pass a piece of legislation that breaks down on party lines but it get passed, it doesn't means there wasn't unity — it just means it wasn't bipartisan." [...] How do you unify?  The same way every great democratic people's regime did from France to Russia to China to San Francisco — with show trials and purges of the enemies of the people.  Nothing says unity like a city full of barbed wire and soldiers.  Not to mention a one-party system that is obsessed with criminalizing its political opposition using a fake state of emergency. [...] The show trial of President Trump and the city full of soldiers is just the opening act to the Great Purge of a domestic terrorism crackdown on anyone who ever retweeted the wrong meme.

Understanding the Institutional Protection Racket Via Congress, Main Justice DOJ, FBI and FISA Court.  Many people are now becoming aware of the severity of self-serving corruption in/around the institutions that frame our government.  Considering that Sundance has a target on his back; and considering that it is only a matter of time before that targeting gets ugly; let me remind everyone of just how severe the issues are confronting our nation. [...] The staff of Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, Homeland Security Chair Ron Johnson and even the staff of House Oversight Ranking Member Jim Jordan are purposefully and willfully blind.  They choose not to know things; or at least they claim not to know and do an exceptional job of purposeful pretend.  The investigative information that makes up the news cycles amid the investigative right-side of the spectrum is generally compartmented or silo'd.  Within DC all branches and people within them keep information isolated from each-other in order to create and retain plausible deniability.  This permits their leadership to talk a good game on television while nothing is actually accomplished.  It is all part of the game.

Funny how the party that claims to be for the little guy always supports the billionaires.  [Scroll down]  I have never seen anyone as dangerous in the White House as Joe Biden in his first nine days as he signs executive order after executive order, some 40 now at last count.  He has stacked his cabinet with radical leftists pushing the green agenda to destroy America.  He sends out John Kerry, with multiple mansions, a yacht and a private jet, to tell the public that is good for them that he is destroying their jobs.  After all, he drove a Tesla from Massachusetts to D.C.  On Fox News, I heard left-wing Juan Williams say he didn't really care about Kerry's or anyone else's lifestyle, even as they are dictating how all of us should live our lives.  [...] And no matter how often all these supposedly smart cabinet members, as well as Biden himself, his vice president, Kamala Harris, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and others repeat that we have to get rid of oil and coal to control temperatures and the climate, not one sock puppet at the Washington Post or any other journalist, including at Fox, ask for scientific evidence to support their theory and destructive policies.  There is no scientific evidence, so they never ask.  They just go along.

Thermonuclear Option:  The Explicit Danger in Eliminating the Filibuster.  As Americans send a 50-50 Senate and 221-211 House to Washington, many of our friends on the Left are pushing for dramatic policy swings reflective of the dramatic march leftward of the Democratic party every year since Obama's departure from office. [...] The very thing we can not afford as a nation is for dramatic and one-sided federal action on the issues we've been divided over for so many years.  Lowering the degree of consensus necessary for dramatic swings in policy, enacting them absent broad national support, will raise the political stakes beyond comprehension and make the fervor of the 2020 election an unremarkable footnote.  A big reason that the Affordable Care Act was so embittered, caused such rancor, was because the president at the time chose to pass the legislation without having first established a national consensus for it.  That lack of support was evidenced in polls, the organic movements that rose up against it, and the need for Democrats to resort to budget reconciliation to pass it.

"80 Million Votes".  [Commentary on the sparsely-attended Biden inauguration ceremony.]  [Video clip]

Don't Fire Until You See The Whites.  [Scroll down]  We would never have thought that a picture of the American flag could make us sick to our stomach, but we were wrong.  This is that picture.  [Left]  This is the national mall, where 200,000 American flags have been planted to symbolically represent all of the people who would like to show up and kneel before the new king, but can't because A) no one really [cares] about Biden's inauguration and if they did B) the National Guard might shoot them out of an abundance of caution.  So now we've got an imaginary crowd of "supporters," which is actually a beautifully ironic depiction of the imaginary voters who made this day possible.  So yeah... looking at this picture makes us want to hurl.

I Watched Biden's Inauguration First-Hand:  Haunted and numb in a horribly sanitized city.  As I grabbed some coffee before heading to the Capitol Building to watch the 46th President of the United States of America take his title, the lovely lady behind the counter told me she had never seen anything like this in D.C. in her life.  And all I can say as I stand here now in the freezing cold with a handful of others is that I hope America never has to see anything like this again.  Nothing is as it seems.  It is just horrible, in every sense.  There is no one here.  And I am not saying that in the weird competitive way people talk about crowd sizes as a measure of popularity.  Remember the endless quarrel over the size of Trump's inauguration crowd versus Obama's?  What I mean is that there is literally no one here.  Even pressed up to the gates within sight of the Capitol Building there is barely a handful of Biden supporters — alongside a small gaggle of media, scratching about, trying to find something to film.

The Trial Of Citizen Trump Would Raise Serious Constitutional Questions.  With the second impeachment of President Donald Trump, the Congress is set for one of the most bizarre moments in constitutional history: the removal of someone who has already left office.  The retroactive removal would be a testament to the timeliness of rage.  While it is not without precedent, it is without logic. [...] Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Democrats have stated that their primary interest is in the possible disqualification of Trump from holding future federal office.  Disqualification however is an optional penalty that follows a conviction and removal.  It may be added to the primary purpose of removal referenced in the Constitution.  The Trump trial would convert this supplemental punishment into the primary purpose of the trial.

DPS Abruptly Closes Texas State Capitol Out Of An Abundance Of Caution, Threats Of Violence.  It was just a few days ago that the Texas State Capitol opened up for the new session of the Texas legislature.  The top concern at that time was protecting lawmakers, staff, and visitors from the coronavirus.  Now the capitol building and grounds have been closed and it has nothing to do with COVID-19.  Threats of violent protests that have come into all 50 states, including Texas, caused the Texas Department of Public Safety to abruptly close the capitol Friday night.  The building and the Capitol grounds were closed due to new intelligence coming in that intensified safety concerns, causing DPS to tighten security.  The building and grounds were closed due to the pandemic and also due to damage done by protesters last May and June during the Summer of Love.  The closures begin today and last through Wednesday.  The Texas legislature gaveled in on Tuesday to begin its work.  The Texas legislature meets every two years, not annually.  This is the first week of the 87th Legislature.

Goya Foods CEO Robert Unanue:  The Left 'Weaponized' Pandemic To 'Shutdown Economy' For 'Political Gain'.  Goya Foods CEO Robert Unanue came out swinging at the political Left during a Friday interview on Fox News, saying that the political Left "weaponized" the pandemic to shutdown the economy for political reasons. [...] "The worst thing we can do is shutdown our economy, kill our spirit," Unanue continued.  "You know, we need a reason to get up in the morning:  God, family, work.  And they're taking away our spirit.  They're taking away our ability to work.  They essentially declared martial law, I believe, in this country, shutting everything down.  It's the worst thing we could have done just for political gain.  I think it's criminal.  I think it's immoral.  To shutdown this economy for this basically political reasons and, you know, we're one nation under God.  We're not one nation under Twitter.  We're not one nation under big media, or under central government."

An L.A. councilman lied to the FBI. Probation officials say he deserves no jail time.  It was the first blockbuster case to surface in the federal corruption probe of Los Angeles City Hall — a multi-count indictment accusing former Councilman Mitchell Englander of taking envelopes of cash, lying to the FBI about that money and obstructing its investigation.  Englander, while serving in office, made false statements to FBI agents during three separate interviews, prosecutors said, providing untrue information about his dealings with a businessman who gave him $15,000 in two casino bathrooms.  The case was resolved quickly, with Englander pleading guilty to a single count of scheming to falsify material facts.  But now, prosecutors are voicing objections to the sentence recommended by federal probation officials: three years' probation, a $9,500 fine and no jail time or community service.

The U.S. Government is Hopelessly Corrupt.  [Scroll down]  Today, in addition to maximizing profits, the oligarchy wants to control what you read, what you think and what you are permitted to express.  There is an unholy and dangerous alliance combining the media and Big Tech with the national security state, that is, the intelligence services, the military-industrial complex and law enforcement.  It is, quite literally, an effort to abrogate the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and eliminate free speech.  The United States government has gone beyond authoritarianism towards the Chinese Communist Party model of state capitalism and totalitarianism.  And what better candidate to carry that model forward than Joe Biden, who is already compromised by his close connections with the Chinese government?  Make no mistake, Donald Trump won the 2020 Presidential election.  It was stolen, not only from him, but, more importantly, it was stolen from the American people by the well-organized and well-financed application of massive electoral fraud.

We Desperately Need SOME Institution to Execute as Constitutionally Designed.  Trump supporters' frustration is predicated in large part upon decades' worth of America's institutions not doing what they are Constitutionally mandated to do.  Our government is supposed to be limited — and subservient to We the People.  It's been more than a century since any of that was true.  The examples of this ever-worsening situation are more numerous than the stars in the sky.  But generally speaking, the Executive Branch and all its very many agencies don't do what they're supposed to do — and do all sorts of things they are not supposed to do.  The Legislative Branch doesn't do what the Legislative Branch is supposed to do — and does all sorts of things it is not supposed to do.  And the Judicial Branch doesn't do what the Judicial Branch is supposed to do — and does all sorts of things it is not supposed to do.

Waving Goodbye to the America We All Knew and Loved.  The worst shortcoming of our government is its failure to maintain election integrity. [...] The 2020 presidential election has brought us even lower on the ladder.  We have more than a thousand sworn affidavits attesting to massive voter fraud:  suspension of signature verification, violation of state election rules, non-verification of mail-in ballots, backdating of ballots, double-voting, dead people voting, hiding ballots under the table, refusal to allow poll-watching, and vote-switching by machine systems.  "People are going on the record under oath and risking being canceled, doxed, and even accosted, to tell what they have seen about this election process," said Rep. Michael Cloud.  "The apparent lack of action from the Justice Department regarding a number of anomalies, statistical improbabilities, and sworn accusations of fraud is troubling."  It may be troubling, but it is consistent with partisan activities of the DOJ, the FBI, and the IRS.  FBI Director James Comey's refusal to indict Hillary Clinton, Obama's weaponization of the IRS against conservative groups, and inaction from the Durham investigation have destroyed the public's confidence in our justice system.

We Were Laughed Out of Court because the Courts Have Become Ridiculous.  Conservatives who object to election fraud have found that liberals' favorite retort is "your claims have been laughed out of court."  This argument is authoritarian in its reasoning.  It defers to a juridical priesthood and allows one guild, the attorneys, to override what average people can see in front of them.  Such an argument should not stagger wise conservatives. [...] People who have been granted juridical authority can indeed err en masse by an enormous margin, for long periods of time, on matters that should be obvious. [...] It was bad enough that the United States courts rejected civil rights cases from the mid-nineteenth to the mid-twentieth century out of hand.  By the twenty-first century, American courts were on course to affirm some of the most preposterous claims about sex and gender ever asserted in all human history.  The erosion of commonsense language that arguably began with Roe v. Wade moved quickly in forty-two years to the insanity of Obergefell v. Hodges and even to the madness of the supposedly conservative-dominated Supreme Court in 2020's Bostock and Henderson v. Box.

Without Our Constitution, We're Under Occupation.  I don't know if fed up Americans will rise up in the near future and defend their liberties against an ever more abusive and oppressive system of government, but I do know that 2020 has revealed vividly the post-constitutional wilderness the nation has entered.  Not since the days of slavery or internment have federal and local governments attacked the natural rights and freedoms of individual Americans so concertedly as they have this past year.  Arbitrary house arrests; the denial of religious freedoms; the closing of private businesses without any equitable measures of compensation; the intentional disregard for the destruction of private property while anarchists are given general grants of immunity; and the absolute refusal by governors, secretaries of state, attorneys general, and judges to provide for and ensure free and fair elections have combined to produce a lawless year in the United States.

A Call to Arms for All Patriots to Come to the Aid of Their Country.  Nov. 3, 2020, a new day of infamy, a devious covert attack shook the United States of America to its core.  This attack was worse than Pearl Harbor or 9/11.  The perpetrators were our elitist aristocracy and political class that reject the concept of self-governing by We the People.  Complicit were our unelected administrative state, the Deep State, the mainstream media (MSM), Big Tech, The New World Order (Globalists — The Great Reset), and hostile foreign governments, specifically China.  This evil coalition seeks to subvert the People's will by undermining our core beliefs, sovereignty, and overthrowing our government as created by our founders. [...] This action was yet another coup to conceal the many past criminal acts of these perpetrators, e.g., treason, misprision of treason, rebellion or insurrection, and advocating the government's overthrow.  Including violating the People's civil rights under the First, Second, Fourth, and Fifth Amendments and many other serious federal felonies that so far have gone unpunished.

Steadfast Doesn't Mean When It's Easy.  [Scroll down]  It was during one of those briefing trips to DC when I recognized a serious disconnect between what the people within those institutions of government viewed as their role, and what We The People expected of them.  It was also the first time when I realized that internal corrective action was unlikely to succeed because the scale of corrupt activity was not simply based on intent, but also present because the absence of morality was metastatic throughout the system.  I'm certain there are good people in DC, but the systems surrounding them have lost their originating purpose.  The central function of U.S. government is now so corrupt the institutions regard 'We The People' as the problem the people within the system must protect themselves from.  I quickly recognized the solutions to our national issues were never going to come from our requests to those who operate within the institutions.  However, even worse was the impact we were having on each other due to our national frustration.  It was evident within our frustration — as a nation we are losing a sense of identity, unity and fellowship.

The "Republican Democratic party" defines corruption:  They stole our money and gave it back to us.  The latest Republican democratic party garbage bill is just that, GARBAGE.  I started reading it yesterday, and by 7 am this morning I had a strange urge to pick up a pitchfork and drive to DC.  I expected it to be bad, but not this bad.  The first question I have for grifters on Capital Hill is "How can you give us money that's already ours?  Sure, it's our tax money so you can say it's already ours, but that's not what I mean.  What I'm saying is that they stole our money and gave it back to us.  How?  If you have paying close attention you would know that we have $450 billion left over from the first round of stimulus checks and the CARES ACT.  The money had already been approved and is already ours.  We didn't have to wait for a new round of funding to be approved.  It was just a simple matter of distribution.  What they did was steal our money, our 450 billion, called it "repurpose", and gave it back to us, as if it was theirs to give.

The Abominable 'America Last' Porkulus Bill.  This country is not governed by a "Republican Party" and a "Democratic Party."  It is governed by an establishment "uniparty" that betrays our citizens at every turn.  Exhibit A:  The joint annual ritual of fiscal vulgarity known as the omnibus spending bill. [...] The juxtaposition of measly COVID-19 relief for U.S. citizens against the backdrop of lavish aid for illegal immigrants, the military-industrial complex, Big Pharma, overseas social justice warriors, nongovernmental organizations and foreign countries is just too brazen to ignore.  Americans will receive $600 COVID-19 relief checks and $300 unemployment payments as part of the consolidated federal government funding package.  The $900 billion in COVID-related aid is folded into the massive, 5,600-page legislation encompassing 12 fiscal 2021 spending bills worth $1.4 trillion. [...] We've had enough.  A manufactured public health crisis, post-George Floyd anarchotyranny, and the wholesale hijacking of our election system are pushing citizens to the brink of revolt.

Yet another Democrat leader tells people to stay home for Christmas, then announces she will travel to visit her relatives.  Democrat leaders like Governors Gavin Newsom, Andrew CVuomo, Gretchen Whitmer, and J.B. Pritzker, Mayors Lauri [sic] Lightfoot and London Breed, and now Mecklenburg (Charlotte), North Carolina County Executive Dena Diorio, have all exposed themselves as outright hypocrites and elitists by telling ordinary people to obey restrictions on their personal freedoms while flaunting those same limitations themselves.  It is as if some madness has gripped Democrat elected officials, compelling them to flaunt their contempt for those they are supposed to lead and their belief that they alone are capable of making rational decisions about which risks to take, while the ignorant sheep must be told what to do and contrained.  Yesterday [12/23/2020], in a virtual news conference, County Executive Dena Diorio made a fool of herself by telling county residents to stay home for Christmas, and then under questioning admitting that she would be traveling by car to Durham (142 miles) to spend Christmas with her family.

Weissmann Lashes Out at Trump Over Manafort, Stone Pardons — Cooks Up New Plot to Prosecute Them for Perjury and Obstruction.  President Trump on Wednesday evening [12/23/2020] asserted his authority and announced 26 new Christmas pardons including ones to Paul Manafort and Roger Stone.  Trump's 2016 campaign manager Paul Manafort was hunted down by Mueller's goons after he helped President Trump win the 2016 election.  Manafort was sentenced to 7 years in prison for tax evasion and other crimes stemming from his Ukrainian lobbying.  Andrew Weissmann, the real prosecutor in charge of Mueller's witch hunt lashed out at President Trump on Wednesday night following his pardon of Manafort and Stone.

Stimulus Bill Stimulates Congress's Lust for Power.  And so once again the mountain has labored mightily and brought forth a mouse.  Our dysfunctional Congress has just passed another "stimulus" bill designed to stimulate nothing but their own lust for power and determination to hang on to their seats at all costs — in this case, some $900 billion of our money, of which they have just doled out to the peons the grand sum of six hundred simoleons to help ease the pain of the Dreaded Corona Virus and their devastation of our livelihoods.  Thanks, Mitch McConnell (78) and Nancy Pelosi (80).  Fat-cat elderly millionaires both, these lifetime swamp creatures and selfless public servants have just pulled off an astounding feet of federal beneficence:  sending pittances to many Americans to "ameliorate" the effects of the CCP virus panic that they themselves — and "servants" at every level of government — have caused.

Will we go quietly into the night?  We've watched the rise of totalitarianism in disbelief as it has taken hold in the form of lockdowns, riots, censorship, and election fraud.  We have, for the most part, been obedient as a handful of "experts" told us what we can and cannot do after the coronavirus swept in.  We've tolerated demands to close our businesses, schools, and churches, not leave our house or have contact with aging loved ones, among other demonic edicts.  We've stood silently by as a "reimagined" police force issued citations, forcibly removed people from public spaces, padlocked doors, and made arrests because someone dared to live as a free American.  We've even been physically attacked while expressing support for the police, as the police stood by and did nothing.  On the heels of coronavirus lockdowns, came riots across the country as law enforcement was told to stand down.  And they obeyed.  Then the left pulled a poison arrow from their quiver and stole the election in their final coup attempt to deny a duly elected President his second term.  And nary a soul went to jail for any of it.  We're living in a world gone mad.  Lawlessness and criminal behavior has become a norm and no one does a thing to stop it.

The Left Redefines Resistance as 'Sedition'.  It was inevitable that the Democrats would overreact to legal challenges by President Trump and other Republicans to corrupt election practices in swing states, but some responses have been unhinged even by their standards.  One recurring refrain is particularly disturbing — that lawyers, members of Congress, and state attorneys general who supported post-election litigation are guilty of sedition.  At least one Democratic congressman insists that attorneys representing the president in such challenges should be disbarred and that House members who supported Texas v. Pennsylvania in the Supreme Court shouldn't be seated in Congress.  One of the defendants in that ill-fated lawsuit described it as a "seditious abuse of the judicial process."  This dangerous view of dissent has a long, sordid history among progressives.  Democratic President Woodrow Wilson, for example, was the driving force behind the notorious Sedition Act of 1918, passed by his fellow Democrats at a time when they controlled both houses of Congress.  This anti-democratic outrage made it a felony crime to criticize the government and, by extension, Wilson himself.

Joe Biden's niece Caroline gets no jail time after DUI guilty plea.  Another Biden walks free.  Joe Biden's niece Caroline Biden pleaded guilty to DUI on Dec. 3 — and was sentenced to 20 days to six months of "confinement," Pennsylvania court records said.  But the small print shows Biden, 33, won't see a day behind bars after she negotiated a plea deal with the Montgomery County district attorney.  Instead of jail, she got five-plus months of probation, with 20 days of rehab in January counted toward her sentence.  The walk-free plea continues a long Biden family tradition of avoiding jail time.  A [New York] Post investigation in July found at least eight other busts of Bidens resulted in wrist slaps.

Rhode Island Governor Tells Citizens To 'Stay Home' Before Heading To Wine Bar.  Democratic Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo was seen drinking at a wine bar just four days after reminding citizens to comply with coronavirus restrictions and stay home except for essential activities.  Photos published by Turtleboy Sports and the libertarian group Liberty Rhode Island reportedly show Raimondo sitting in a local restaurant for a "wine and paint" night without a mask.  The photo was taken by Erica Oliveras, who said she was also at the event at Barnaby's Public House in Providence, Rhode Island, according to ABC 6 News.

Democratic governor tells people to 'stay home except for essential activities,' then is spotted at a wine bar without a mask.  Democratic politicians have been caught openly disobeying their own COVID-19 lockdown orders for months:  The latest hypocritical offender is the governor of Rhode Island.  Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo, a Democrat, was reportedly photographed at a wine bar.  The photo shows Raimondo, who is not wearing a face mask, enjoying a glass of wine at Barnaby's Public House in Providence.  The photo was taken during a "wine and paint" event last Friday [12/11/2020], according to Erica Oliveras, who took the photo.  However, only days earlier, Raimondo instructed her constituents to "stay home except for essential activities."

Rogue US Attorneys Coming to a City Near You?  Rachael Rollins, the rogue prosecutor in Boston, may want to be the United States attorney for the District of Massachusetts.  According to news reports, Rollins says people working on the Biden transition team have approached her about the position.  It is irrelevant whether she is just playing the "look at me, I'm important" political game or is serious about wanting the job.  She could be the nation's first rogue U.S. attorney.  The more disturbing thought is the possibility that we might end up with several rogue U.S. attorneys in key areas around the country.  If you thought things were bad in cities with elected rogue prosecutors — and they are — just imagine how crime rates will explode across the country if a President Joe Biden nominates, and the Senate confirms, rogue U.S. attorneys.

Republicans, Learn How to Fight Dirty or Keep Being Losers.  As long as Republicans allow unreciprocated decency to stand in the way of victory, they will be losers forever.  And, right now, the leader of the losers is Attorney General William Barr.  In the weeks before Election Day, Barr reportedly instructed prosecutors and senior colleagues to prevent the Department of Justice's (DoJ) investigation into Hunter Biden's brand of corruption and crony capitalism from leaking to the public.  His goal was to "keep the Justice Department out of campaign politics," although Biden's transgressions are directly relevant to a presidential election featuring his father.  Ultimately, Barr sat silent as the left-leaning mainstream media disregarded the Hunter story and labeled Trump supporters as kooks, while social media's "woke" elites censored it.  Even as President-elect Joe Biden lied to defend his son, Barr refused to speak up.

Supreme Court sides with Colorado church over COVID attendance caps.  The Supreme Court on Tuesday [12/15/2020] sided with a Colorado church challenging the state's capacity restrictions on houses of worship during the coronavirus pandemic, the latest order from the high court, now with a 6-3 conservative majority, in favor of churches and synagogues seeking to hold worship services during the ongoing crisis.  In an order with three dissents, the high court tossed out an August decision from the federal district court in Colorado that kept the attendance limits in place and sent the dispute back to the lower courts for further consideration in light of its November order barring New York from enforcing capacity restrictions at houses of worship.

Now we know for sure that our judges and justices are abject cowards.  The vote fraud that took place in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Georgia, Arizona and Nevada was monstrous and long planned.  Election laws were surreptitiously weakened by secret consent decrees (GA), mass mail-in ballots, Dominion vote machines programmed to flip votes, the creation of tens of thousands of fake ballots, illegal alien voting, illegal drop boxes, get-out-the-vote campaigns in Democrat-heavy districts paid for by the execrable Zuckerberg of Facebook infamy, the refusal to allow GOP observers, ballots trucked from one state to another.  The judges dismissed lawsuits in every court where one was filed by the Trump campaign or other plaintiffs, seemingly without even considering the details.  The Supreme Court justices surely all know what took place; they can't have missed all the hearings at which witnesses to fraud testified and signed affidavits as to the truth of what they observed.  But the judges and justices were afraid.  Now that the left seems to have successfully stolen the election, they will certainly do it again.  They have the permission of the SCOTUS.

Defense attorney in Floyd case says prosecutors shared disorganized, duplicate evidence.  A defense attorney for the ex-Minneapolis police officer charged with murder in the death of George Floyd accused prosecutors of mishandling how they share evidence with the defense — including burying important information in between irrelevant material, providing duplicates of the same item and turning over thousands of pages of unrelated documents.  Eric Nelson, who represents Derek Chauvin, filed a motion and affidavit Monday [12/14/2020] accusing Attorney General Keith Ellison's office of delaying his progress in Chauvin's case.  "With every single round of discovery that has been disclosed there have been numerous problems and issues involving the manner in which the state disclosed it," Nelson wrote.  "...Substantive evidence is often 'hay stacked' between other information."

Also posted under obstructionism.

Cuomo releasing private personnel documents of the woman who accused him of sexual harassment.  [Thread reader]  This is the man who opened a corruption commission then closed it when the evidence led to him, he has a lot hide.  Cuomo is a man who renamed a bridge after his father with the intent to use it as a campaign boost with his name, even as his own CNN host brother told the world he shouldn't because his dad would have hated it.  Cuomo is a man who is sitting on billions in funds meant for our starving public schools, ignoring a court order to distribute it to schools while handing tax cuts to his Trump donors.  Even COVID didn't change his mind.  When Trump decided not to provide PPE, Cuomo chose twitter and CNN cameras in a tough guy act and got nothing while other governors worked quietly to create a buyers coalition and cornered the market to purchase PPE from under Trump successfully.

The 'kraken' is the sleeping giant now awakened within the GOP.  [Scroll down]  We're censored by big tech, smeared in the media, mocked in popular culture, and endure malicious political prosecution, as in the cases of Michael Flynn and Kyle Rittenhouse.  On the other side, Hillary Clinton destroyed 30,000 emails, federal bureaucrats broke countless laws in the Russian Collusion hoax, leftist radicals burned cities and attacked police, Obama weaponized the IRS against Republicans, and illegally imposed DACA.  The rules are clear:  Democrats can break the law whenever they want. [...] Can you imagine a country where Democrats can commit blatantly unconstitutional actions to enable voter fraud while simultaneously using the same Constitution to insist Republicans have no legal grounds to challenge them?  This is the America we're living in.

Courts to Voters:  Democrat Election Fraud Is 'Too Big to Fail'.  The courts have spoken, one after another.  Some 74 million Americans have been denied our day in court.  The Democrats' crime of stealing a presidential election is too big to fail.  Our play-it-safe judges don't want to venture into these enormous seas, full of sharks, without precedent.  They want to say in the safe spaces of the familiar.  Stealing an election for city council is familiar enough to be overturned by law.  Stealing a presidential election by wholesale fraud is above the law.  One might think that somehow our laws are written too narrowly to catch the whale of Democrat fraud in the election, but for one thing:  the declarations from the bench that it is unthinkable to "upend an election."  Our judges tell us that ruling fraudulent ballots invalid would "disenfranchise" millions of voters.  These are political statements.  They are pusillanimous statements.  They are not legal statements.

Bill Barr directly intervened to keep the Hunter Biden probe secret before the election.  Attorney General Bill Barr used the force of his office to instruct prosecutors investigating Hunter Biden not to take any steps that might cause the probe to be publicly revealed in the run-up to the election.  The directive, reported in the Wall Street Journal, was in keeping with existing Justice Department policy against taking investigatory steps close to an election that might interfere with it.  Barr and his team took steps to 'insulate' the investigations, according to the report, even as President Donald Trump repeatedly demanded a probe of his political rival's son.

Report: Bill Barr Knew of Criminal Investigations into Biden Family in Spring and Worked to Keep It Quiet.  A report within the Wall Street Journal does not necessarily come as a surprise; however, it also does little to provide solace for the lack of action by Attorney General Bill "Bondo" Barr.  According to the article AG Barr has known about at least two investigations related to the Biden family since early spring 2020, and he worked to keep them quiet.

The Honor of the Legal Profession.  [Scroll down]  Anyone who reads the complaint filed by Texas (and rejected by the Supreme Court) must conclude that there are serious reasons to believe that this election was characterized by massive fraud in certain swing states and that this fraud was prepared and executed by partisan party operatives who used litigation to erode mechanisms of ballot security and control of the counting to consummate the win.  Note that I do not claim that the evidence is conclusive, though I personally think it overwhelming.  I use the softer "reason to believe", which means only that it needs investigation.  A legal establishment dedicated to upholding process values would regard itself as honor-bound to demand an investigation of these charges. [...] This is not the reaction of the real legal establishment, which is demanding not just that the charges not be investigated, but that any lawyer who represents the president be damned.

AG William Barr reportedly hid two federal probes into Hunter Biden for months.  Attorney General William Barr knew about two contemporaneous federal investigations into Hunter Biden for months — and worked to keep them from the public ahead of the election, according to a new report.  The nation's top law enforcement official avoided providing information about the probes to Republicans in Congress without explanation, a person familiar with the matter told the Wall Street Journal.  One of the investigations was made public this week, when the 50-year-old son of President-elect Joe Biden disclosed on Wednesday that he was being probed for possible tax fraud.

Congressional Republicans Are Furious With Bill Barr, and They Are Right to Be.  A new report is out detailing just how furious Congressional Republicans are over Bill Barr hiding the Hunter Biden investigation.  According to The Daily Caller, Barr knew about the investigation months ago (which also leaves the question open as to why he didn't know years ago).  Instead of allowing the voters to be made aware of such a monumental development prior to the election, the DOJ paused the investigation and refused to confirm it existed. [...] Barr knew about this in the spring but didn't tell the President, nor any members of Congress that would usually be kept abreast of such a high profile investigation into the son of a presidential candidate.  Further, Barr allowed the investigation to cease during the election season despite the fact that such steps were not taken for the Hillary Clinton, nor Donald Trump investigations during 2016.  Why did Joe Biden deserve this kind of protection?  And how was it fair to the electorate to not give them all the facts?

Confirmed: Barr kept Hunter Biden probe a secret until after Election Day.  Someone on Twitter said last night that this is the most ethical thing Barr has done as Attorney General and he's probably going to get fired for it.  Which would make this administration two for two in dispatching AGs for the crime of behaving ethically.  I'll be a little surprised if he survives the day.  Trump was already thinking of firing him.  Now he has confirmation from the WSJ that Barr could have revealed that Hunter Biden was under federal investigation at any time before the election — and chose not to.

The Governmental Accounting Standards Board:  Fraud Hidden in Plain Sight.  All 50 states are experiencing revenue shortfalls due to declines in sales taxes, gas taxes, and licensing fees, not to mention the myriad other ways the government gleans revenue on a daily basis.  For many states, actual revenue will fall short of revenue projections, which were made before the pandemic.  In fact, 22 states will end the current year with deficits exceeding 10 percent of total revenue.  However, despite these alarming figures, many states are claiming they will end the year with a budget surplus.  A budget surplus in a year when almost every American not named Jeff Bezos or Elon Musk has had to tighten their belts more than a starving artist.  How is this possible?  The answer is in plain sight but clouded by a dense fog of fuzzy math.  It is called the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) and is the single worst display of accounting practices since the Enron debacle.

As Lockdowns Kill Businesses in California and New York the Politicians Ensure that Hollywood Is Thriving.  Recently entertainer Seth MacFarlane made a quiet announcement that his sci-fi space satire television show "The Orville" was going back into production.  This is a somewhat unsettling announcement for a couple of reasons.  For one, over the past months Seth had been a loud proponent of shutdowns, quarantines, and basically any limitations done in the name of safety.  We can guess that the virus has been scientifically shown to avoid television productions.  The other issue is that as Seth's show ramps back up California's Governor Gavin Newsom has imposed tougher lockdown standards on citizens and businesses, as well as instilling a curfew.  However, for this new round of clamps placed on the public, Newsom has seen fit to grant Hollywood an exemption from his lockdown, declaring that industry as "essential."  It becomes another example of politicians freeing up the studios from restrictions; one class of elites favoring another class of elites.

When Whistleblowers Are Treated Like Criminals.  [Bradley] Birkenfeld is a whistleblower, someone who exposes corruption in either government or the business world that cost taxpayers a fortune.  Through information from Birkenfeld, a former wealth manager at UBS in Switzerland, the federal government was able to recover "$780 million dollars in civil fines and penalties paid by UBS bank, and over $25 billion dollars in collections from U.S. taxpayers who had illegally held 'undeclared" offshore accounts in Switzerland and other countries," according to the National Whistleblower Center.  That's a lot of money, so you'd think the federal government would've been very grateful to Mr. Birkenfeld.

Biden:  The China Candidate.  There's a buzz going round about a lecture delivered by a Chinese economics professor, Di Dongsheng, at Renmin University in Beijing.  Tucker Carlson did a monologue with some clips from a video of Professor Di's presentation.  [Followed by (apparently) the complete transcript of the Professor's speech.]

Video Of Chinese Economics Prof With Ties To Gov Explains Why They Had To Get Rid Of Trump, Chinese Media Deleted Video!  Tucker Carlson just blew the lid off of the disturbing ties between top levels of the US government, Wall Street, and China.  Excerpts of remarks by Di Dongsheng, associate dean, School of International Relations at Renmin University of China on Nov 28, 2020 in Shanghai on the television program "The Answers."  The topic for a panel discussion was "Will China's Opening Up in the Financial Sector Attract Wall Street Wolves?"  The Chinese government deleted the video but not before Inconvenient Truths by Jennifer Zeng was able to capture it.  [Video clip]

Tucker Carlson's Monologue on a Chinese Professor's Recent Speech Should Terrify You.  In case you missed it, Tucker Carlson opened his show last night [12/7/2020] with a shocking video showing a Chinese professor of economics giving a speech about the country's decades-old activities in the United States.  He followed up with commentary from China expert Gordon Chang and current Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe.  The complete segment on Tucker Carlson tonight is about eight minutes long, but it is well worth a watch. [...] According to Carlson, the talk included references to a Chinese agent working as a vice president in a top Wall Street firm that was not named for fear of creating political trouble.  The professor also went on at length about an American who now has dual citizenship in China.  The professor asserts this agent helped the CCP with a propaganda operation in Washington, D.C., in 2015.

Justin Amash Says Members Of Congress Have 'No Idea' Who Is Writing Legislation.  Outgoing Michigan Rep. Justin Amash claimed on Sunday evening that members of Congress are not aware of who is writing the legislation that they vote on.  "Legislation used to be crafted by legislators, not 'negotiators,'" he tweeted.  "The public needs to know that members of Congress have no idea who the hell is writing our legislation.  It's certainly not us."

Oregon OSHA Can't Prove Salon Owner Is an Employer, Proceeds With $14k Fine Anyway.  In an exclusive interview with PJ Media, salon owner Lindsey Graham, of Salem, Ore., said that she had a hearing with Oregon's Occupational Safety and Health Agency (OSHA) in her ongoing fight against fines for reopening Glamour Salon.  OSHA fined her $14,000 for creating an unsafe work environment, despite being unable to prove that she has employees.  As a salon owner, she leases stations to hairdressers who qualify as independent contractors.  Despite having no proof, OSHA said they would fine her anyway.

Government officials' coronavirus hypocrisy has created another public crisis.  Multiple reports in just the past week have revealed blatant acts of hypocrisy committed by leaders who would like to live by a different set of rules than their constituents.  In California, for example, Gov. Gavin Newsom was caught attending an indoor birthday party at a fancy French restaurant in the Bay Area after discouraging Californians from gathering with groups of more than 10 people.  A few days later, it was reported that San Francisco Mayor London Breed attended a similar event at the same restaurant, even though she had urged city residents not to mingle with people outside their immediate household.  And, perhaps worst of all, Steve Adler, the mayor of Austin, Texas, posted a video last month urging residents to "stay home if you can" to prevent the spread of the virus.  He conveniently failed to mention that he filmed the video from his timeshare in Cabo, Mexico, where he was vacationing with several members of his immediate and extended family — having traveled there with a large group on a private jet.

Trump campaign charges 'not a single' witness interviewed by DOJ.  President Donald Trump's campaign on Dec. 1 fired back at Attorney General William Barr after the nation's top law enforcement official reportedly claimed that officials haven't seen evidence of widespread election fraud.  "With all due respect to the Attorney General, there hasn't been any semblance of a Department of Justice investigation," Rudy Giuliani, a Trump lawyer, and Jenna Ellis, a Trump campaign attorney, said in a joint statement.  "We have gathered ample evidence of illegal voting in at least six states, which they have not examined.  We have many witnesses swearing under oath they saw crimes being committed in connection with voter fraud.  "As far as we know, not a single one has been interviewed by the DOJ.  The Justice Department also hasn't audited any voting machines or used their subpoena powers to determine the truth.

Democrat hypocrites are undermining COVID with 'Do as I say, not as I do' attitude.  As the nation tires of quarantines, boredom and loneliness, the same politicians who find glee in slapping wrists and dooming small businesses regularly break the rules, in letter and in spirit, when they want to.  California Gov. Gavin Newsom dining maskless and indoors with lobbyists at the tony French Laundry restaurant the same week he warned against Thanksgiving gatherings.  Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot having her hair done and joining in a riotous Joe Biden victory celebration in violation of her own restrictions — then having the gall to call her actions "essential activities."  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi unmasked at a hair salon that wasn't even supposed to be open, even as she decried President Trump's reluctance to wear a mask — then claiming she'd been entrapped.

Rules for thee not for me:  Chicago mayor's security team gets traffic fines dismissed.  We already knew Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot doesn't like her own rules.  She was one of the first elected officials to fall victim to lockdown hypocrisy after getting her hair done shortly after she recorded a PSA urging Chicagoans to follow Illinois' restrictions on nonessential businesses, including not getting their hair done. [...] It turns out it's not just lockdown rules she thinks are worth breaking, either.  According to a Monday report in the Chicago Tribune, Lightfoot's security detail got a pass on multiple traffic violations, with city officials dismissing them.  Lightfoot became mayor of Chicago in May 2019.  Since then, her security detail has been issued 13 citations.  Ten of those tickets, all involving speed and red-light camera infractions, were dismissed by city officials.

L.A. Supervisor Sheila Kuehl Dines at Outdoor Restaurant After Voting to Ban Outdoor Dining.  Los Angeles County Suprevisor Sheila Kuehl reportedly dined at an outdoor restaurant in Santa Monica, hours after casting a decisive vote to ban outdoor dining in the county. [...] Los Angeles County has shut down outdoor dining for three weeks, effective Nov. 25.  The county, and the state, are experiencing a coronavirus spike.  Fellow supervisor Janice Hahn, who voted against the outdoor dining ban, told KTTV's Elex Michaelson that the danger of public officials doing what they have told constituents not to do means that they are "beginning to lose the trust of the public."  She said there was not sufficient scientific evidence to support the ban on outdoor dining, given the economic cost before the holidays.

The Editor says...
It seems a little like insider trading, when a politician goes out for a nice sit-down meal in a restaurant, knowing there is about to be a county-wide ban on such activities.

Hypocritical dining-out LA County supervisor Sheila Kuehl is also part of federal corruption investigation.  By now, you probably are familiar with the hypocrisy of Los Angeles County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl, who went out for a meal at her favorite restaurant hours after voting to ban outdoor dining at restaurants, after stating that outdoor dining is: "...a most dangerous situation" over what she described as a risk of tables of unmasked patrons potentially exposing their servers to the coronavirus.  "This is a serious health emergency and we must take it seriously," Kuehl said. [...] Obviously, she doesn't really believe she was exposing herself or anyone else to danger.  Supervisor Kuehl is 78 years old and obese, placing herself at high risk for Covid 19, so if "appropriate precautions" are good enough to allow her to dine outside at a restaurant, why shouldn't the vast majority of the population at less risk than she be allowed to do so?  But to get a sense of the character of Supervisor Kuehl, take a brief look at another scandal, currently under federal investigation, in which she played an apparently central role.

Another Democrat is caught violating the rules she imposes on others.  Every closed restaurant represents several people's lives going down the drain.  The owner who sank all of his money in the restaurant, the employees who worked there, the suppliers who were dependent on its custom, and the surrounding stores who counted on the foot traffic it brought — all of it's gone.  And I might add, there's no reason to believe that these horrific losses made a damned bit of difference to the course of a virus that is relentlessly working its way through the population.  While the people have suffered, the politicians imposing this suffering, like European royalty of old, have flaunted their special status.  Denver's mayor, Michael Hancock, flew to his family within 30 minutes of telling Denver citizens to stay home for Thanksgiving.  Andrew Cuomo, having reinstated the lockdown across New York, boasted about his family coming home for Thanksgiving.  Illinois's Governor J.B. Pritzker, another Democrat millionaire, was happy to see his family travel during the height of the spring lockdown.  Pennsylvania's health secretary, "Rachel" Levine, who leftists pretend is not a mentally ill man telling people he's a woman, forced sick people into nursing homes in May, even as he secretly removed his own mother.

Fellow Republicans file articles of impeachment against Ohio governor.  Several GOP state lawmakers have filed 12 articles of impeachment against Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, over their fellow Republican's handling of the coronavirus pandemic.  The articles, which were filed by Rep. John Becker, accuse Mr. DeWine of numerous abuses of power in the past several months, including threats to veto a bill to limit the governor's emergency powers.  "Governor DeWine's mismanagement, malfeasance, misfeasance, abuse of power, and other crimes include, but are not limited to, meddling in the conduct of a presidential primary election, arbitrarily closing and placing curfews on certain businesses, while allowing other businesses to remain open.  He weaponized the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation to bully and harass businesses and the people; to enforce a statewide mask mandate and other controversial measures of dubious 'value,' making Ohio a hostile work environment," Mr. Becker said in a statement reported by WTVG-13, the Toledo ABC affiliate.

Poll watcher witness says feds showed up at door, made her feel like a criminal after fraud testimony.  Amid all the inquiries into where Attorney General Bill Barr has been in the face of voter fraud allegations, there has been a sighting of federal agents — the question is, what were they investigating?  Leah Hoopes, a Republican poll watcher on Election Day in the state of Pennsylvania, dropped what's being reported as a "bombshell," which is that special agents from the Justice Department paid her a visit at home after she testified before the Senate last week.  Hoopes testified that massive voter fraud may have taken place in Delaware County, Pa., and she appeared on Steve Bannon's podcast "War Room:  Pandemic" on Monday to talk about "special agents from the Attorney General's office showing up at my front door just for speaking the truth."

Thankful for the Rights That Democrats Want to Take Away.  This ungodly Chinese Bat Flu has brought out the worst in a lot of people, most of them Democrat elected officials.  There have been some Republican transgressors as well, but the majority of the bad actors have been liberal leaders in traditionally liberal states and cities.  Basic rights have been getting trampled upon in the name of public health.  Yesterday [11/25/2020], Stacey wrote about the latest egregious overreach:  New York Mayor Bill de Blasio is placing law-enforcement COVID checkpoints around the city, giving it a Cold War East Berlin feeling just in time for the holidays.  Here in Arizona, we haven't been subjected to a third job-killing, pointless lockdown... yet.  For that I am most grateful.

Go Ahead and Celebrate Thanksgiving.  Minnesota is one of a number of states that are living under what amounts to martial law.  Our proto-fascist dictator Tim Walz, in his latest edict, purports to ban traditional Thanksgiving get-togethers:
["]Saturday, Nov. 21 through Friday, Dec. 18, Executive Order 20-99 requires all Minnesotans to:
  •   Limit social gatherings to one household.
  •   Not gather outside of your household.
  •   Postpone all celebrations, events, receptions, and parties, including any social gatherings for weddings and funerals.["]
So it is "illegal" for me to invite any of my four kids to Thanksgiving dinner.  Better send the heat, Timmy, because I have no intention of complying with your grotesque order.  For a while, Governor Walz told us he was "following the science," and his dictatorial orders were required by "the data." That pretense has been abandoned, as Scott reported, with Walz now saying, pathetically:  "It's not about numbers.  It's not about data.  It's about neighborliness."  So one naturally wonders:  is there any rational basis for Walz, and like-minded governors, to purport to ban Thanksgiving dinners?

I am having a nightmare, and I can't wake up.  There is some good news today, but the nightmarish dimensions of the problems facing the American Republic are also coming into horrifying focus. [...] The most important United States attorney is the one heading the Washington, D.C. district.  That important post is currently occupied by an acting U.S. attorney named Michael R. Sherwin, not confirmed by the Senate.  And he is declining to investigate an outrageous, murderous attack on a sitting United States senator.

What's Our 'Stamp Act'? When Will It Be Enough?  What is it going to be for us?  Which right is the one that finally becomes intolerable for us?  What will we finally take a stand to protect?  Is it the right to self-defense?  Is it the right to raise our own children?  To choose our own medical care?  To own our own homes?  What will our Stamp Act be?

Black Female Police Chief in Virginia Fired After Aggressively Investigating and Prosecuting Mob Violence.  This story out of Virginia is really quite something.  If I'm understanding it correctly, it very much appears as though the city's (Black, female) police chief was placed on administrative leave and then fired as retaliation for her investigation and attempted prosecution of criminal activity related to "Black Lives Matter" protests in the wake of George Floyd's killing.  The only attempt at a justification for the firing I've found is that perhaps she was overzealous in the charges she pursued, and even that critique is disputable.  There is also "an unspecified conflict of interest" that has not been established or expounded upon.  Her real supposed transgression, it would appear, is that she sought to hold prominent people accountable for illegal acts — resulting in punishment for her because said prominent people believe, apparently correctly, that they're above the law.

Michigan Republicans Introduce Resolution To Impeach Gov. Whitmer.  Three GOP House members in Michigan have introduced House Resolution 324, which call for the impeachment of their tyrannical governor, Gretchen Whitmer, a woman who has made it clear she will usurp power from the constituents she's supposed to serve and use it to oppress them with reckless abandon.  Folks, this is exactly why our system of government works the way it does.  We have the right to decide who governs over us, and if they go against our wishes and violate our God-given rights, it's our duty to toss these folks out on the street.

The Right to Worship Even in a Pandemic.  New York's dictatorial governor, Andrew Cuomo, may have met his match.  The Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn is asking the Supreme Court of the United States to strike down Cuomo's Oct. 6 executive order shutting down "houses of worship" in areas of Brooklyn and Queens, while allowing "essential" businesses, like pet stores, groceries and big-box stores to stay open.  Cuomo insists he's battling COVID-19.  The Diocese says Cuomo's making a value judgment that going to Target is "essential" but taking communion isn't.  Truth is, for devout communicants who are already suffering social isolation during the pandemic, finding the church doors closed can be soul crushing.  Before Cuomo's executive order, churches were already following safety precautions including roping off every other pew, requiring masks and urging social distancing.  The executive order disregarded that and capped attendance at 10 people — even for large churches with a capacity of 1,200.  Sounds arbitrary.  Where's the science here?

Have too many people over for Thanksgiving in Oregon go to jail, but no sweat if you riot.  Some lawmakers are criticizing Oregon's limits on group activities so close to the Thanksgiving holiday while proponents of the measures stay quiet on the nightly riots in Portland involving hundreds of people.  Gov. Kate Brown, a Democrat, ordered a two-week freeze that includes limiting indoor and outdoor gatherings to no more than six people from no more than two households in an effort to curb the spread of the coronavirus.  "For the last eight months I have been asking Oregonians to follow the letter and the spirit of the law and we have not chosen to engage law enforcement," Brown said Friday.  "At this point in time, unfortunately, we have no other option."

Black Virginia police chief fired for charging prominent BLM vandals and public officials.  Back on June 10th in Portsmouth, Virginia, a large group of protesters decided to tear down and destroy a Confederate monument located in that city.  An investigation was launched, led by Portsmouth Police Chief Angela Greene.  After collecting video from the event and conducting interviews for two months, Greene announced in August that charges were being filed against 19 people who had been involved in the destruction. [...] You might think that would be pretty much the end of the story, but it wasn't.  Among those arrested was State Sen. Louise Lucas, several leaders of the local Black Lives Matter movement, officials from the NAACP, and a member of the local school board.  Since several crimes had obviously been committed, you might think that Chief Greene (who is Black, by the way) would be lauded for holding all citizens, regardless of their status accountable.  You would be wrong, however.  Howls of protest emerged not only from the community but from elected officials.  Yesterday the situation came to a head and Chief Greene was unceremoniously fired.

Virginia Police Chief Fired After Charging Democrat Leaders with Felonies!.  Portsmouth Police Chief Angela Greene was fired Monday morning after being suspended from her position as Police Chief two months ago.  Chief Green was suspended on September 4th by the former city manager just weeks after she brought felony charges against Democrat State Senator Louise Lucas and others in relation to protests and monument destruction that occurred June 8th.  Senator Lucas was caught on video instructing Portsmouth Police officers to stand down during the protests.

Pennsylvania Democrat AG sparks outrage for saying Trump may have already lost [...] before the votes have even been counted.  The Attorney General of Pennsylvania Josh Shapiro, who is a Democrat, has sparked outrage after suggesting on Twitter that President Trump may have lost the ability to win the crucial swing state, with 20 electoral votes, more than 24 hours before the polls even close.  'If all the votes are added up in PA, Trump is going to lose,' Shapiro wrote on Twitter on Monday evening.  'That's why he's working overtime to subtract as many votes as possible from this process.'  'For the record, he's 0-6 against us in court,' the attorney general continued. 'We've protected voting rights.  Now, ignore the noise — vote!'

The Bidens: A Delaware mafia.  [Scroll down]  Hunter was a principal in pay-to-play on a global scale.  Recent electronic and documented evidence confirms years of scuttlebutt that suggested that Hunter Biden, and Uncle Jim, were trading and profiting on the name and office of the "big guy."  Throughout, Joe claims he knew nothing of any family pay-to-play hustles in Oman, Luxembourg, Romania, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Russia, Guatemala, and China.  The ignorance defense is an instant replay of Clinton family tactics; deny, deny, deny, and when denials are no longer plausible, depend on Deep State Democrat Party Beltway hacks to cover or come to the rescue. [...] Withal, the Biden exposé is, by any metric, a day late and a billion dollars short — at best a pyrrhic victory for critics.  The Justice Department and the FBI have had the goods on Biden for some time, yet official Washington is still mute and inert.  Inertia at justice is a symptom of a much larger problem:  institutionalized federal double standards.  A Republican might be indicted by an ambiguous phone call while Democrats, like the Clintons and Bidens, get a pass on obvious felonies.

Why Democrats must be kept out of power for at least a generation.  California governor Gavin Newsom's recent ridiculous Thanksgiving edicts call for gatherings to be restricted to only three households and held outside.  Masks are to be worn before and after eating and between bites.  No singing or chanting is allowed and the meal is to last no longer than two hours.  These are just a few of the restrictions dreamed up to slow the spread of the Wuhan virus.  What these arbitrary proclamations illustrate is the mind of a power-hungry dictator.  Under the pretense of keeping people safe, governors like Newsom, Andrew Cuomo, J.B. Pritzker, Jay Inslee, Kate Brown, Gretchen Whitmer, and Tom Wolf have curtailed the freedoms of Americans — and not just Americans, but the voters who elected these hack politicians in good faith to serve the people.  Democrat governors and mayors have taken the Wuhan virus, along with the rioting and looting, and leveraged it into power that they will not easily relinquish if their behavior up to now is any indication.  They are long past fooling people with their faux compassion.  You can pull the wool over Americans' eyes for only so long before they become wise to you.

Keith Ellison Wields Power to Restrict Freedom of Assembly of Political Opponents at Minnesota Trump Rally.  The venue for President Donald Trump's political rally in Minnesota scheduled for Friday will be restricted to only 250 people after Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison put pressure on the business owners of multiple locations.  The rally was initially planned at the Rochester airport, but Ellison's office demanded a "COVID preparedness plan" from officials from the City of Rochester, Olmsted County, and the Rochester airport, as well as the Republican National Committee to ensure the event was safe.

President Trump Blasts Minnesota Governor and AG for Blocking Rally and Undermining First Amendment.  President Trump blasted Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and State AG Keith Ellison for their transparent political scheme to block his campaign event.  The same state officials who allowed Black Lives Matter to organize and march without restrictions under the guise of political protest, are the same officials now limiting attendance to 250 people at Trump's rally in the state.  Meanwhile just outside the venue thousands of supporters defied the arbitrary state rule and gathered together near the entrance.  So President Trump stopped to talk to the media, blast the state officials, and then went to talk to the assembled crowd that could not attend the rally.  [Three video clips]

Even so, that's ten times the size of a Biden crowd.
Desperate Dems limit attendance at Trump rally in Minnesota today to 250.  Minnesota's 10 Electoral votes are up for grabs, remarkable in a state that has not supported a GOP presidential candidate for almost half a century.  So desperate are the state's governor Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison (a former Black Muslim spokesman) — both Democrats — that they have imposed an attendance cap of 250 people (how is this constitutional?) on today's planned Trump rally at Rochester International Airport. [...] Officially, the campaign will admit only the first 250 people who show up, but does anyone expect that thousands of other people who arrive will simply turn around and drive home?

Meet Larry Krasner, the Rogue Prosecutor Wreaking Havoc in Philadelphia.  "F--- the FOP [the Fraternal Order of Police]" and "No good cops in a racist system!"  Those are the sayings that supporters of Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner chanted at his election-night victory party two years ago.  Did he tell them to stop?  No.  Instead, he smiled approvingly.  Krasner, a career criminal defense and civil rights attorney, who had sued the Philadelphia Police Department dozens of times over the decades, ran to be Philadelphia's district attorney and received almost $1.45 million in campaign spending from George Soros in the process.  Unfortunately, Krasner is one of many elected rogue prosecutors around the country who have usurped the legislative power by refusing to prosecute large categories of crimes.  By refusing to hold criminals to account, Krasner and his ilk abuse the power of their offices and harm victims and their communities as a result.

L.A. County Sends Health Department Workers To Fine Church That Sued Newsom.  A Catholic church in Los Angeles County is alleging that the local government dispatched two health department officials to harass them in retaliation for their priest suing Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom and other state officials.  On Oct. 15, two health officials showed up at Our Lady of the Angels Church in Arcadia, California, a congregation affiliated with the dissident Society of St. Pius X.  The officials watched approximately 11 parishioners leave the building from the sidewalk and then cited them for holding indoor worship services in violation of COVID-19 restrictions, according to a copy of the citation forwarded to The Daily Wire.  The citation carried with it a $1,000 fine.

School Threatens 12-Year-Old With Arrest for Allegedly Missing 90 Minutes of Zoom Class.  The parents of a seventh-grade boy received a letter from his school in Lafayette, California, warning of possible truancy charges if he missed any more virtual class sessions.  "Out of the blue, we got this letter," Mark Mastrov, the boy's father, told the East Bay Times.  "It said my son had missed classes and at the bottom, it referenced a state law which said truants can go to jail for missing 90 minutes of class."  Mastrov assumed the school had been sent in error, so he called the school.  He was shocked to learn that the authorities meant business:  The law says any kid who misses three full days of school or is tardy for a 30-minute class period on three separate occasions can face jail time.

'Banana Republic of America'.  We are living in times in which our leaders have intentionally cast doubt on the court.  Members of Congress have managed to earn the doubt of nearly 90% of America simply through childish partisan behavior.  They have intentionally cast doubt on the presidency through the abuse of the impeachment process.  Elected officials and the media have both cast doubt on law enforcement.  It seems nearly everyone even tangentially involved in politics now says or does whatever they think can win the moment regardless of the long-term consequences.  Bureaucrats in the state of Virginia have decided to ignore the law on the books regarding ballot postmarks.  The state legislature didn't change the law.  No.  Virginia administrative officials have simply made the choice to do something different.  On whose authority?  No one has that authority under the law, yet they insist anyway. [...] Stability no longer exists.  The rules change day to day.  The laws only apply sometimes and only to certain people.  Election results, the courts, the police and elected officials themselves are under a constant shadow of doubt.

Governor Gretchen Whitmer:  If You're Tired of Masks And Wish You Could Go Back to Church, Vote for Biden.  Are you sick of watching family-owned stores and businesses in your neighborhood fold because of reopening restrictions?  Are you saddened as you watch your favorite watering holes and restaurants close their doors for good, as unconstitutional lockdowns drag past the 200-day mark of "15 days to slow the spread"?  Have you had to move your family out of your state just to find a school your child can attend?  Do you find yourself wondering just when all this madness will end, and how?  Well, look no further.  There's a solution on the horizon and it's a mere 15 days away.  If you want COVID and the ensuing restrictions to disappear forever, all you have to do is... Vote for Biden/Harris 2020.  Don't shoot the messenger.  This logic came straight from the horse's mouth this past Sunday [10/18/2020] on "Meet the Press" — the horse being Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, and the mouth being one adorned with bright red lipstick and frothing with Trump Derangement Syndrome.

Is this another reason the FBI hid the Hunter Biden Laptop?  It didn't surprise the informed, and understandably a bit cynical, to hear that the FBI sat on Hunter Biden's laptop instead of seeking justice.  The bureau was previously involved in an illegal plot to take down Donald Trump, after all, and its Deep State elements would assuredly love to see Joe Biden succeed him in January.  So why would they reveal damning information on their establishment hope?  Yet suppressing Huntergate perhaps provided a secondary benefit:  The information could be used against Biden once he was in office.  This wouldn't be anything new.  It's believed that longtime, legendary FBI director J. Edgar Hoover used "dirt files" on politicians for leverage; for one thing, it's said, this enabled him to remain bureau head for as long as he wished.

The Gordian Knot Protecting Obamagate Secrets.  Donald Trump and Republicans are furious that U.S. Attorney John Durham has not brought indictments against senior people who spied on the president's campaign, lied repeatedly to judges in order to do it, and based their intrusions on specious evidence, which they knew to be false — and had been commissioned by the opposition political party.  We know the broad outlines of this coordinated operation, but we still don't know its full extent, all those involved, and what precise roles they played.  Attorney General William Barr promised major developments in this probe by late spring, then mid-summer, then Labor Day, and now sometime after the election.  If, as Republicans say (and the evidence seems to show), there was a systematic effort to weaponize federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies for political purposes, the public has a compelling right to know.  This need-to-know is urgent because the Democrats' presidential nominee, Joe Biden, served as the second-highest ranking member of the administration that conducted these acts.

Tyranny in Texas.  Some people go to jail because they break the law.  Sylvia Gonzalez landed in a Texas slammer because she criticized her local government.  Now the 74-year-old retiree is fighting back, trying to bring accountability to a system that too often lets public officials off the hook when they violate people's civil rights.  Gonzalez's ordeal started with a simple desire to help her community by serving on the Castle Hills City Council near San Antonio.  She knocked on doors and talked to more than 500 neighbors during her campaign, and what she heard strengthened her resolve to make a difference.  "They complained bitterly about the city," Gonzalez says.  After winning her 2019 election and becoming the first Hispanic councilwoman in city history, Gonzalez went to work.  Her first act in office was to champion a nonbinding citizens petition calling for the city manager's removal.  Rather than taking notice of the public discontent, however, the mayor and other political insiders attacked the messenger.  They had Gonzalez arrested, handcuffed, and jailed as part of a prolonged intimidation campaign.

9 Warning Signs of Democrat Radicalization.  If you threaten strangers and destroy property in the name of Black Lives Matter or Antifa, then local Democrat prosecutors will make sure you never answer for your crimes.  If you exercise your Second Amendment right to protect the lives of your family and secure your property, those same Democrat prosecutors will threaten your liberty and future.  If you riot in the name of "justice," then you are performing a public service.  If you seek spiritual salvation by attending church or synagogue, then you are a public health threat.  When Democrats are in office, there are two tiers of justice in America, one for protecting Democrats and one for harassing Republicans.  Former attorney general Eric Holder aptly articulated this reality when he argued that the fight against Republicans is "not about principle" but about the "acquisition and use of power."

Russiagate Hoax Mastermind Must Be Exposed.  In the bureaucratic struggle to declassify Russiagate-related documents before the Nov. 3 elections and help ensure they aren't buried forever, some valuable nuggets have just been partially unearthed by the Director of National Intelligence, John Ratcliffe.  Like handwritten notes by then-CIA Director John Brennan.  During the summer of 2016, he briefed President Obama and top advisers that the agency learned of startling intelligence about the Clinton campaign and Russia. [...] Yet many questions remain — such as who was the Russiagate Hoax Mastermind alluded to by Brennan?  Americans need to know.  The smear campaign wasn't just a political dirty trick.  Nor was it proportionate to combat Trump supporters chanting "lock her up."  No, the malicious lie was the acorn from which the mighty oak grew — one that launched the crime wave of the century.  Unprecedented and wrongful surveillance of a presidential campaign.  Then a prolonged stealth coup to overturn the election.  President Trump and over 50 associates were subjected to seemingly limitless investigations, Privacy Act violations, criminal leaks, defamation and ruthlessly pursued by overzealous prosecutors, including numerous Obama and Clinton political donors.

State Dept. officials [were] told they broke [the] law by monitoring Americans during [the] Ukraine scandal.  State Department officials were explicitly ordered in spring 2019 to stop tracking 13 prominent Americans' social media accounts for information about the Joe Biden-Ukraine scandal because the monitoring violated federal law, according to emails that were originally redacted to hide the concerns from the American public.  "We are barred by law from actively monitoring the accounts of American citizens in aggregate — and particularly from identifying and monitoring individual, selected accounts," a State Department official wrote in an April 1, 2019 email to officials in Washington and the U.S. embassy in Kiev[.]  The unredacted emails, obtained by Just the News, raise new questions about the accuracy of State Department officials' testimony during President Trump's impeachment proceedings.  They also provide a window into how the department used redactions in a Freedom of Information Act case to hide the potentially explosive information just weeks before Election Day 2020.

Yet Another Grand Jury Defies the Fake News Narrative.  The rules of a grand jury are not like those of a regular courtroom.  Only the prosecutor is allowed to put on a case.  No defense attorney is allowed in the room.  One witness after another is brought in and grilled by the prosecutor in front of the jury.  There is no judge to protect the witness from being abused.  The witness has nowhere to turn for legal assistance.  The prosecutor pummels him or her with tough questions, sometimes insults and nasty remarks.  The only brakes that prevent even worse abuse is that the experienced prosecutor knows the limits, that if he or she gets too vicious then the grand jury may shift its sympathies to the battered witness.  So the prosecutor plays the grand jury, using tricks of the trade, ploys and psychological maneuvers that never would be allowed in open court.  But, again, there is no judge in the room to rein in the prosecutor.  As day after day ensues, the prosecutor becomes increasingly chummy with the members of the grand jury.

Tish James' endless anti-Trump suits betray the AG's mission.  As the chief legal officers of our states, attorneys general possess a tremendous power to shape public opinion and make official decisions that can affect the outcomes of cases.  Regardless of party affiliation, when it comes to exercising the prosecutorial function of our offices, there are certain rules that every attorney general agrees to — and certain lines that should never be crossed.  We should never weaponize our office for political gain, regardless of the situation, even when the sitting president of the United States is a citizen of the state we serve.  Unfortunately, some of my colleagues across the aisle have done just that.  During her campaign, New York Attorney General Letitia James threw out numerous vague and baseless allegations, promising to harass and investigate President Trump's family and businesses that "may be engaged in illegal conduct." Although Trump was duly elected, she claims he is an illegitimate president.  This is nothing less than a gross abuse of her office.

Catherine Engelbrect and the Prestigious True The Vote Organization Release Powerful Warning on the Marxist Coup in 2020.  Catherine Engelbrecht is the Founder and President of True The Vote the nation's largest voters' rights group. [...] The voter rights organization was so successful that True the Vote and its founder Catherine Engelbrecht, were targeted by top federal government agencies including the IRS, DOJ, FBI, ATF, OSHA.  Under the Obama Administration, those agencies launched 23 audits, investigations, and inquiries, persistently attacking the patriotic group.  Engelbrecht and her organization were harassed by the Obama IRS for months.  The Obama IRS wanted to know Facebook posts, tweets and where Catherine intended to speak.

Pelosi doesn't rule out using impeachment as option to stop Trump Supreme Court pick.  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Sunday would not rule out impeachment as an option to stop President Trump's U.S. Supreme Court pick from being confirmed to the bench, saying Democrats will "use every arrow in our quiver" to block the eventual nominee.  Just hours after it was announced that Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg had passed away on Friday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., vowed that a Trump nominee to the Supreme Court to fill her vacancy "will receive a vote on the floor of the United States Senate."

Politicians on the Take?  Politicians shut down businesses because of COVID-19.  But the rules don't apply to everyone.  In San Francisco, gyms were forced to close, but government gyms stayed open.  In my new video, we see a Dallas woman being jailed for keeping her salon open and a New Jersey man getting arrested after working out indoors.  Ordinary people who break the rules get punished.  But not House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.  Politicians are special.  Now, politicians have allowed more businesses to open.  Dallas relaxed its rules for most businesses a few months ago.  But not for Dale Davenport's car wash.  Dallas won't allow Dale to reopen because, shortly before the epidemic, they decreed his car wash a "hub for drug sales and crime."  His car wash is indeed in the middle of a high-crime neighborhood, and many cities have laws that let them close a business if the owners conceal crime.

Michigan residents get enough signatures to repeal Governor Whitmer's emergency powers, if certified.  More than 400,000 Michigan residents have signed a petition that would trigger a statewide referendum on lockdown-loving Democrat Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's draconian emergency powers provided that state authorities determine that at least 340,000 of the signatures turn out to be legitimate.  During the pandemic, Gov. Whitmer has relied on a 1945 law to enforce open-ended COVID-related restrictions, and the referendum outcome could mean the repeal of that mandate.

The left isn't fighting against fascism, they are fighting FOR authoritarianism.  [Thread reader]  Leftist-run cities have shown what happens when police and federal law enforcement are demonized and unsupported by elected leaders; when local leadership can seize "emergency powers" — then pick and choose who to punish:  rioters are exempt from lockdowns; you can sing in the streets but not in churches; masks are required, but not for them.  They can tell you what counts as a substantive meal, essentially holding businesses hostage to their arbitrary and incoherent edicts:  pot dispensaries and large warehouse stores can open; gyms and restaurants cannot.

Senate Intel Committee Refuses to Give GOP Senators Documents From Russia Investigation.  Of all the tells that have surfaced in the past four years, this is the biggest.  This is the one that reveals just how corrupt and duplicitous the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence really is.  Do not pass over this information without pausing and evaluating just how explosive this refusal is amid the largest, most corrupt scheme in political history.  The republican led Senate Intelligence Committee (SSCI) is refusing to provide documents to republican senators from their Russia investigation.  Citing archaic justification within senate parliamentary rules current Chairman Marco Rubio (R) and Vice-Chairman Mark Warner are refusing to allow Senator Johnson and Senator Grassley to review the evidence the SSCI assembled to create their report on Russian election interference.  The reason and motives for the denial are simple, yet the majority of Americans have no idea.  The SSCI was the legislative entity, both republicans and democrats, who participated in the unlawful effort to remove President Trump from office.  The risk of exposure is exactly why Mitch McConnell put Senator Marco Rubio on the committee as chairman to replace Richard Burr.  The Senate was participating in the soft-coup.

The CDC blatantly violates a Trump order regarding Critical Race Theory.  At the beginning of September, the director of the Office of Management and Budget announced that, at President Trump's direction, all federal agencies would be banned from imposing Critical Race Theory (CRT) on their employees.  This was the right thing to do.  CRT is pure racism.  While the KKK was obsessed with blacks and the Nazis were obsessed with Jews, CRT is obsessed with white people.  Teaching it at federal agencies is a shocking violation of the Constitution and the Civil Rights Act of 1964.  Despite its unconstitutionality and the president's order, though, the CDC is planning to continue CRT training.  Christopher Rufo, who has become the point man for all of these stories about CRT training in the federal government, discovered what he aptly called a "Bombshell."  The CDC is going ahead with its plan — paid for with your money — to impose a thirteen-week-long CRT training program on its employees.  This an important story because it is a nexus of the issues that brought Trump into the White House in 2016.  It's the story of an out-of-control federal agency that feels that no one — and certainly not the constitutional executive of the United States — has any authority over it.

You Will Be Re-Educated.  On September 4, 2020, Russell Vought, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, sent a brief memo to the heads of the executive departments and agencies of the federal government.  Its purpose was straightforward: to end the practice by any federal government agency of using training materials that promote "critical race theory" or "white privilege" or that "teaches or suggests either (1) that the United States is either an inherently evil or racist country or (2) that any race or ethnicity is inherently racist or evil."  The memo advised that further guidance would be forthcoming but for the time being, agencies should cease spending taxpayer dollars on such "propaganda training sessions."  They have a difficult challenge ahead of them.  Critical race theory, often under the guise of bland "diversity training," has led to such taxpayer-sponsored efforts as the U.S. Treasury Department's June 2020 training seminar "Difficult Conversations About Race in Troubling Times." Attendees learned that "virtually all White people contribute to racism," and those who were white were told they needed to acknowledge their "unconscious bias, White privilege, and White fragility."  At Sandia National Laboratories, one of the nation's premier nuclear-research facilities, the federal government paid a company called White Men as Full Diversity Partners to "train" white male employees at Sandia in the damaging effects of "white male culture."

Border-wall critic Gretchen Whitmer builds electrified fence around governor's mansion, hands taxpayers $1.1 million bill.  Controversial Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, once considered a frontrunner to become Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden's running mate, has authorized construction of a large fence around the governor's mansion in Lansing as part of a $1.1 million security upgrade.  The 8-foot-tall electrified fence is especially galling to Whitmer critics because she has routinely criticized President Donald Trump's construction of a border wall along the U.S.-Mexico border as a way to help reduce illegal immigration and human trafficking.  She has also questioned the effectiveness of security walls but is nevertheless billing taxpayers for the expensive upgrade that will include electrified fencing because, according to local media, Whitmer is fearful of threats.

Michigan Supreme Court justice pushes back on Whitmer's emergency powers.  A justice of the Michigan Supreme Court raised pointed and repeated questions Wednesday [9/9/2020] about whether the 1945 emergency law relied on by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer was ever intended to deal with a health pandemic.  Justice David Viviano pressed the issue during oral arguments, pointing out that the Emergency Powers of Governor Act was enacted in the wake of Detroit's 1943 race riot, as it is known, and was referenced in news reports at the time as providing the governor with the police powers needed to respond to such events without having to declare martial law.  The 1945 law says it is intended to "invest the governor with sufficiently broad power of action in the exercise of the police power of the state."

'This Investigation is a Sham': Judicial Watch President Slams John Durham for Going Easy on the Deep State.  Trump supporters are waiting with baited [sic] breath for U.S. Attorney John Durham to come out with his explosive findings in regards to his investigation into the origins of the Russian collusion probe against President Trump.  Fitton said that he is inclined to believe disgraced former CIA Director John Brennan when he says that he is not a person of interest in Durham's investigation.  "I don't see grand juries operating.  I don't see a bunch of witnesses coming in.  I don't see lawyers complaining about their clients being brought in before Durham," Fitton said.  He said that the Mueller investigation was run much more thoroughly than Durham's so-called investigation, the goal of which appears to be protecting the deep state.

Growing numbers of district attorneys are out to undermine the law.  One reason for the surging, often protracted violence in US cities is the rise of a host of progressive prosecutors who actually tilt against law and order.  The trend is most glaring in places known for their kooky left-wing politics, like Portland and San Francisco, but extreme leftists have also taken over as district attorneys in cities like Chicago and Boston.  Many owe big thanks for their elections to funding from far-left fatcat George Soros.  In Portland, violent "protests" have dragged on for months, thanks to the idiocy of Mayor Ted Wheeler, who let hoodlums drive him out of his own condo — but also to Multnomah County DA Mike Schmidt, who dropped charges against hundreds of people arrested for offenses like interfering with cops, disorderly conduct, criminal trespass and rioting.  Schmidt also made it harder to prosecute assaults on cops.

Macomb County's Hackel, a Democrat, backs petition to limit Whitmer's emergency power.  Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel, the top Democrat in Michigan's third largest county, says he supports repealing the 1945 law that gives Gov. Gretchen Whitmer the ability to declare a state of emergency and keep the declaration in place without input from the GOP-controlled Legislature.  The 1945 Emergency Powers of Governor Act gives one person, the governor, "endless ability to create law," Hackel said in a Wednesday night interview.  He said he was surprised there wasn't more resistance to the Democratic governor's use of the 75-yer-old law to declare emergencies, which give her the ability act unilaterally to shutter businesses or require masks be worn.

Democrats Mistake Orwell's 'Animal Farm' for Instruction Manual.  [Scroll down]  However this worldwide hysteria was launched, its effects are now clearly observable all around us.  Just last night I was horrified to see a video of a young girl in Australia being choked by a police officer during her arrest for the crime of not wearing a mask in public.  We have all been treated for the past several months to the videos of police officers and sheriffs, or city employees sent by these Democratic politicians to
  [#1]   Arrest a solitary man jogging on a beach, or surfing in the ocean.
  [#2]   Arrest a mother pushing her child on a swing set in a park
  [#3]   Weld shut the gates of a park so no one could enter
  [#4]   Arrest hairdressers and other business owners who defied shut down orders.
None of these radical Democratic mayors and governors campaigned on engaging in this kind of behavior. [...] They all hid their true nature until they were established in office.  Had they revealed they would engage in this kind of tyrannical behavior while they were candidates, none of them would have been elected.

Portland Police, FBI and U.S. DOJ Refuse to Arrest Antifa Murder Suspect Because He Supports Joe Biden and Black Lives Matter.  It's time to be brutally honest and face the enemy as a united nation.  Trump supporter Aaron "Jay" Danielson was murdered on the streets of Portland Oregon.  Danielson's murder was caught on camera, and everyone, including thousands of people who watch social media, know exactly who killed him, [...].  However, despite everyone knowing exactly who carried out a politically motivated assassination, [the suspect] has not been arrested.  The Portland police, the FBI and the United States Department of Justice have not arrested him; and the only logical conclusion to be gained from that reluctance is that [the] Antifa supporter [...] is also a supporter of Black Lives Matter and Joe Biden.  Therefore no-one does anything.  When you accept this reality, it is only then that we can start to fathom just how seriously screwed up the U.S. system of justice has become.  If you support Trump you are a disposable statistic; however, if you support the mob all efforts will be undertaken to protect you from the consequences of your own violent action.

Americans Must Oppose the Tyranny That Is Rapidly Spreading Across US.  As Adolf Hitler rose to power, he took control of churches, shut down businesses, encouraged neighbors to report each other, and created a public surveillance operation system.  If these actions sound familiar, they should.  Public officials and bureaucrats are now putting their own tyranny on full display, using the COVID-19 crisis to impose similar draconian tactics in the United States.  While Maryland officials keep the state in lockdown, they are encouraging citizens not only to snitch on one another for breaking "prevention guidelines," but they are allowed to do so anonymously!  The Maryland Emergency Management Agency, State Police, and Department of Health announced a "COVID Prevention Line" available 24 hours a day as well as an email address where citizens can "report situations of concern where prevention guidelines are being ignored and the potential for the spread of COVID-19 is high."  Reports will be followed up with a visit from the health department or law enforcement.  Since July 2, nearly 40 Anne Arundel County businesses and restaurants have received citations, including my church.  After an anonymous reporting on August 11, a female employee from the Anne Arundel County Department of Health showed up at our Sunday morning service.  The health official presented our associate pastor with a citation and an "Order for Immediate Compliance."

Democrats Have Proven They are Unworthy of Power.  If a person or entity has proven to be abusive or irresponsible with power, then it is the duty of the people, while freedom still prevails, to resist and to ensure that such a person or entity is never entrusted with such power ever again or, at least until they have regained the confidence of the people.  Such is the case with today's Democrat party. [...] In six months, with the pandemic and nationwide riots, Democrat leaders have revealed that their natural penchant is not for freedom, but tyranny.  The past six months have shown that we are long past the days of mere policy differences between the two political parties.  Now our battle is against Democrats, a party that has been usurped by the radical left, is literally for the preservation of America as founded.  This election is about whether America will remain a light of liberty or descend into the darkness of Soviet-style communism with elements of Nazism.  This is not hyperbole.

When are Local and State Governments Illegitimate?  This descent into hell is enabled by so-called progressive Democrats in the aforesaid cities and Minneapolis, Chicago, New York, and wherever next.  The progressives have names:  Ted Wheeler, Jenny Durkan, and Jacob Frey — all mayors — along with numerous council members.  And governors, Kate Brown, Jay Inslee, and Tim Walz.  Add Lori Lightfoot, J.B. Pritzker, Bill de Blasio, and Andrew Cuomo to the roster.  All — all — have taken oaths of office to uphold the law and attend to the public safety.  They are glaringly derelict in their duties.  These elected leaders aren't simply craven, they're complicit in the violence and destruction that bedevils their cities.  They see the mobs in the streets.  They witness the destruction.  They are apprised of the violence.  They know innocents are being harmed.  They know citizens cower behind locked doors. [...] Yet they permit the mayhem.  They let the mobs roam.  They fiddle as their cities burn.  These elected leaders are, in fact, aiding and abetting insurrections.

This New York Diner's Response to Snitches and the Overzealous Health Department Will Make Your Day.  The effects of coronavirus mandates on small businesses, and especially restaurants, have been catastrophic.  New York, outside of New York City, went into "Phase 3" in July, and restaurants were able to open back up under severe restrictions, including reduced capacity.  Very few of them are doing well under this arrangement. [...] One diner in Seneca County, N.Y., has had enough and took to social media to tell the public what the county is doing to them.  The trouble started when a snitch ate a meal at A.J.'s Family Diner and then called the health department to report too many people in the establishment.  This prompted the restaurant to post a notice telling people who are uncomfortable and living in fear to stay out of their business.  But the harassment had only just begun.  The snitch prompted a full-scale inspection by the health department that sent an inspector to rearrange all the tables and threaten a fine of $1000.

Arizona Child Welfare Workers Caught Wearing 'Professional Kidnapper' T-Shirts.  The Prescott Arizona Department of Child Safety (DCS) is down to only one child-abuse investigator after having to fire at least eight others for wearing t-shirts that say "Professional Kidnapper" on them and posting the photos on Facebook.  The terminated child-welfare employees had these shirts made up with the phrase "Do you know where your children are?" in bright pink as a "joke" that no one who has battled DCS for custody of their children thought was funny.

New DA in Portland admits he is 'old buddies' with an Antifa militant.  Newly-elected District Attorney Mike Schmidt, who refuses to prosecute Portland rioters, admits he is "old buddies" with an Antifa militant campaigning to defund the police, abolish prisons, and demand reparations. [...] The hour-long July 21 interview with Schmidt is a first in the series of "social justice leaders" features conducted by a self-described "Anti-Fascist" and "old time buddy" of Schmidt's, social media personality Awkword.  Awkword leads the Ten Demands for Justice movement, "a roadmap for the defunding and then full abolition of police and prisons."

Despite Constant Libel of Trump, I Trust the People.  Ms. Harris has many critics among the 98% of Democrats who did not support her candidacy for president.  The Left is displeased with her performance as San Francisco's district attorney and as attorney general of California: she always called for maximum sentences and condoned the widespread American practice of prosecutors extorting or suborning inculpatory false evidence by threats of indictment if that evidence is not forthcoming, and promises of immunity from prosecution for perjury if it is.  Loyola law professor Lara Bazelon recently accused Ms. Harris in the New York Times of having "fought tooth and nail to uphold wrongful convictions that had been secured through official misconduct that included evidence tampering, false testimony, and the suppression of crucial information."  President Trump has made serious efforts at penal reform and sentence reduction for nonviolent offenders.  By contrast, Ms. Harris sent over 1,000 marijuana users to prison but acknowledged having tried it herself.  Ms. Harris's performance as a prosecutor clashes with the general current Democratic enthusiasm for defunding and discouraging the police and turning a blind eye to urban vandalism, arson, and looting.

No Need for a Conspiracy Theory.  [Scroll down]  There are two types of lobbyists.  The first group are often lawyers who act as "hired guns" for corporations.  Their incomes depend on doing what the corporation wants, and they have become rather good at it:  Steven Brill made their activities one of his principal concerns in Tailspin.  "Retired" bureaucrats often find high-paying jobs in this sector.  The second group includes lobbies established to promote "causes": they have to set up an organization, get the word out, and raise funds.  Once that's done, the insiders have a vested interest in maintaining the organization; the organization may die if its supporters conclude that its mission has been accomplished, so they can't ever admit that has happened.  Exhibit A for this process on race:  Al Sharpton.  The self-serving triangle is completed by members of Congress, who depend on these issues to garner votes.

Russia Hoax:  Are We All Being Played?  Put Up or Shut Up.  [Scroll down]  I never realized how terrible the deterioration inside the system had become until four years ago when I stumbled onto what was happening inside the FBI.  Those concerns were brought to my attention by former and current FBI agents, as well as numerous U.S. intelligence officials aware of the failures inside their own agencies.  But it never occurred to me when I first started looking into fired FBI Director James Comey and his former side kick Deputy Director Andrew McCabe that the cultural corruption of these once trusted American institutions was so vast.  I've watched as Washington D.C. elites make promises to get to the bottom of it and bring people to justice.  They appear to make promises to the American people they never intended to keep.  Who will be held accountable for one of the most egregious abuses of power by bureaucrats in modern American political history?  Now I fear those who perpetuated this culture of corruption won't ever really be held accountable.  These elite bureaucrats will, however, throw the American people a bone.  It's how they operate.  They expect us to accept it and then move on.

Selective enforcement:
Evidence Is Mounting That Governor Cuomo Is Targeting Bars That Criticize Him for Suspension.  A week after starting a petition calling for Governor Andrew Cuomo to reverse New York's mandate requiring that a substantial amount of food must be served with any alcohol purchase, Abby Ehmann, the owner of East Village dive bar Lucky, found out her liquor license was suspended.  "Ehmann says that two State Liquor Authority representatives visited the bar on Monday night at 8 p.m. to observe if the bar's eight customers had ordered food with their drinks," according to Eater New York.  "After the visit, Ehmann received her first warning from the SLA on a piece of paper that did not list out the specific violations, she says.  Shortly afterward, and with no further warnings, Lucky's liquor license was suspended."

Outrage as Manhattan's district attorney drops the felony charge against BLM leader.  The Manhattan District Attorney has dropped felony charges against the Black Lives Matter leader who was accused of assaulting a police officer, after an angry crowd chased off an NYPD team sent to arrest the man.  DA Cyrus Vance personally ordered the charges against Derrick Ingram, 28, dropped from felony assault in the second degree to misdemeanor assault, a law enforcement source told the New York Post.  Ingram is accused of injuring a female cop by shouting directly in her ear with a bullhorn on June 14, resulting in the officer being hospitalized with temporary hearing damage.

Trump urges churches to reopen, despite Dems who 'want to put churches out of business'.  President Trump urged governors to reopen churches and schools, saying they're "essential" services and should not remain shut down indefinitely.  "I think they should open the churches.  It's up to the governors.  But I'm recommending it, you open the churches," Trump told the Catholic Telegraph.  The President said churches can safely reopen as long as attendees wear masks and social-distance.  Trump said it's unfair to Christians that they're banned from going to church, but Black Lives Matter protesters and left-wing rioters can gather by the tens of thousands — and Democrats say nothing about the public-health dangers they pose.

Federal Judge Rules Cuomo, De Blasio Exceeded Authority by Restricting Religious Services While Condoning Protests.  A federal judge on Friday [7/31/2020] ruled that New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and Governor Andrew Cuomo violated the Constitution by restricting religious services to stem the spread of the coronavirus while simultaneously condoning mass protests that took place across the state.  U.S. District Judge Gary Sharpe granted a preliminary injunction blocking New York from enforcing its stringent coronavirus restrictions on religious services.  The state's current restrictions require houses of worship to operate at 25 percent capacity and later at 33 percent capacity when New York enters Phase Four of its re-opening plan.

Who deserves a funeral?  No one would argue that Rep. John Lewis doesn't deserve a proper memorial.  He was a civil rights icon and a long-serving member of Congress who was beloved by his colleagues.  In the middle of a pandemic, however, how do we decide who gets the pomp and circumstance of a traditional burial and who has to watch their loved one go six feet under via Zoom call?  Funerals are important: they acknowledge the sanctity of life and allow friends and family to come together to grieve their loss. [...] Yet politicians have decided that celebrity affords them the right to override the onerous restrictions on funerals that so many average Americans have been forced to accept.  Yes, Georgia is unique in that it allows anyone to have a funeral.  However, the governor's executive order prohibits gatherings of more than 50 people if social distancing cannot be maintained.  Photos of Lewis's funeral in Atlanta showed that many more than 50 people attended and that social distancing was not maintained in parts of the church, nor during the burial outside.

Four Months of Unprecedented Government Malfeasance.  Over the last four months, Americans have lived through what is arguably the most consequential period of government malfeasance in U.S. history.  Public officials' overreaction to the novel coronavirus put American cities into a coma; those same officials' passivity in the face of widespread rioting threatens to deliver the coup de grâce.  Together, these back-to-back governmental failures will transform the American polity and cripple urban life for decades.  Before store windows started shattering in the name of racial justice, urban existence was already on life support, thanks to the coronavirus lockdowns.

No Holds Barred at the House Lynch Session.  [Scroll down]  Most Americans do not know this, but by law a congressional representative is permitted to say anything at a hearing, no matter how false, no matter how defamatory, and they cannot be sued for perjury or defamation.  It is like when former Sen. Harry Reid stood in the U.S. Senate chamber during the height of the 2012 presidential race and falsely accused Mitt Romney of tax evasion.  It was a lie, a slander — and Reid knew it.  But Reid also knew that, as long as he spoke his slander within the Senate chamber, he never could be sued for the defamation.  This unique protection is called the "Legislative Privilege," rooted in the Speech and Debate Clause of the United States Constitution (Art.  I, § 6, Cl. 1). By law, legislators may say absolutely anything they want, and by law they cannot be sued or prosecuted for any of it, as long as they say it within the chamber or otherwise as part of the legislative process.  As an attorney of 26 years and a law professor of 16, who practices and teaches this, I know about the legislative privilege.  But few other Americans do.

Partisan politics permeates AG Maura Healey's office.  Attorney General Maura Healey has turned her office into a virtual nonstop onslaught against President Trump, in the process elevating her own political aspirations on the backs of taxpayers.  Partisan politics has permeated the office of the state's top cop to an unprecedented level — whether it's the scores of lawsuits she's filed against Trump or the pro-Democrat tweets put out by her press aides.  Healey has dropped any illusion of being fair and objective to the point of whether it's unclear she'd be an effective advocate for a Republican looking for legal protections.  Voters look at Healey now not as a tough prosecutor against white collar crime but as an aspirant for higher office who can spout off Democratic talking points.

St. Louis prosecutor Kim Gardner is engaged in a political prosecution.  [Thread reader]  The right to defend one's person, family, home and property has deep roots in Missouri law.  Self-defense is the central component of the right to keep & bear arms, which receives the highest protection from the MO Constitution.  MO statutes specifically authorize citizens to use firearms to deter assailants & protect themselves, their families & homes from threatening or violent intruders.  A highly publicized criminal prosecution of citizens for exercising these fundamental freedoms threatens to intimidate & deter law-abiding citizens from exercising their constitutional right of self defense.  My job as AG is to protect the fundamental rights of all Missourians, including the right to keep & bear arm in self defense of one's person and home.  This case casts an ominous shadow over those fundamental rights.  The prosecution sends a powerful message to all Missourians that they exercise their fundamental right to self defense at their peril.  Missourians should not fear exposure to criminal prosecution, even prison time, when they use firearms to defend themselves and their homes.

St Louis prosecutor tampered with evidence to charge Mrs. McCloskey.  St.  Louis homeowners Mark and Patricia McCloskey were charged with felony misuse of a firearm and a misdemeanor assault charge after waving guns at an unruly mob of 'protesters' who stormed through their private community.  The couple said they were frightened and feared for their safety.  Assistant Circuit Attorney Chris Hinckley stated in charging documents that the gun was "readily capable of lethal use," referencing Mrs. McCloskey's handgun.  However, her handgun was NOT "readily capable of lethal use" at the time she used it to discourage the protesters.  It was disabled by the couple so it could be used as a prop.  The corrupt prosecutor had it fixed so Mrs. McCloskey could be charged.  Seriously, that's what they did.

'Equal Justice': The Politicization of Prosecution.  As she announced felony charges against the McCloskeys, St. Louis prosecutor Kim Gardner noted something that most people missed:  that she was elected to pursue "equal justice."  What exactly is "equal justice," and how is it distinguished from justice?  "Equal justice" is a term used by neoleftist politicians to alert their base of racial disparities in the criminal justice system, with the implication that "racial equity" must be actively pursued.  It is most commonly used by Soros-sponsored wolves in prosecutors' clothing.  It is a political movement to interject a race consideration component into the criminal justice system.  There is even an Equal Justice Initiative organization, a Soros-sponsored group that advertises itself as "committed to ending mass incarceration and excessive punishment in the United States, to challenging racial and economic injustice, and to protecting basic human rights for the most vulnerable people in American society."  But what does race and "ending mass incarceration" have to do with charging a White suburban couple, the McCloskeys?  Why was the term "equal justice" relevant in this particular prosecution?

Democrat Prosecutor Charges McCloskeys With Felonies After Using Guns To Defend Private Property.  St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner, a Democrat, announced on Monday [7/20/2020] that she is charging the St. Louis couple who defended their private property using firearms last month with felony unlawful use of a weapon.  The couple is also reportedly facing a fourth-degree misdemeanor assault charge.  "Mark and Patricia McCloskey each are facing a single felony count of unlawful use of a weapon — exhibiting," The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.  "Charging documents say he pointed an AR-15 rifle at protesters and she wielded a semiautomatic handgun, placing those protesters in fear of injury."

The Editor says...
Violent protesters and rioters only respond to fear of injury.  That's the language they use, and that's what they understand.  They don't listen.  They don't reason.  They don't have any regard for private property.  But they do recognize firearms.

Missouri AG Files To Dismiss Charges Against McCloskeys: 'I Won't Stand By While Missouri Law Is Being Ignored'.  On Monday, following the news that St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner, the city's top prosecutor, announced that Mark and Patricia McCloskey, the couple who pointed guns at a crowd in front of their home, would be charged with felony unlawful use of a weapon, Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt filed a brief that would dismiss the charges.  The brief stated that Schmitt "respectfully requests that the Court dismiss this case at the earlier possible opportunity."  "The right to keep and bear arms is given the highest level of protection in our constitution and our laws, including the Castle Doctrine, which provides broad rights to Missourians who are protecting their property and lives from those who wish to do them harm," Schmitt told Fox News, adding, "Despite this, Circuit Attorney Gardner filed suit against the McCloskeys, who, according to published reports, were defending their property and safety.  As Missouri's Chief law enforcement officer, I won't stand by while Missouri law is being ignored."

The Prosecution Never Rests.  In our constitutional system of checks and balances, ambition counteracts ambition.  But what happens when prosecutors are the most ambitious of all? [...] Of course, there are many kinds of prosecutorial ambition.  Some might be ambitious for lucrative law-firm partnership seats, or judicial appointments; others might simply like sending a message to criminals that they are the toughest guy on the block.  And others — surely the vast majority — are simply ambitious to do the best possible job they can, using all the legal tools at their disposal.  But here is the problem: there are many tools — and few practical limits upon their use.  While a prosecutor can't put a defendant in jail without a judge, or a jury, or the defendant's own guilty plea, there remains much that he or she can do to secure such convictions or plea bargains, or at least to make the defendant feel the pain of the criminal process.

Hawley calls for civil rights probe of prosecutor investigating gun-wielding St. Louis couple.  Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) called on the Justice Department to launch a civil rights investigation into St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kimberly Gardner and her office after Gardner announced an investigation into a white couple who were seen on video threatening Black Lives Matter protesters at gunpoint.  In a letter to the Justice Department obtained by The Washington Post, Hawley said that Gardner had established "a pattern of politically motivated prosecutorial decisions" during her time as St. Louis's top city prosecutor.  "The Second Amendment is not a second-class right.  No family should face the threat of harassment or malicious prosecution for exercising that right," he wrote to Attorney General William Barr.

De Blasio Says BLM Protests Can Continue While Canceling All Other Large Events.  New York City's Mayor Bill de Blasio made some stunning remarks on CNN, declaring protests in the streets were perfectly acceptable while canceling other large events through September.  De Blasio joined CNN's Wolf Blitzer on Thursday evening [7/9/2020], discussing the evolving pandemic and policy response by City Hall to mitigate the spread in the city.  He said social justice warriors were too important after months of protests have yet produced an outbreak in cases.  "This is a historic moment of change.  We have to respect that but also say to people the kinds of gatherings we're used to, the parades, the fairs — we just can't have that while we're focusing on health right now," de Blasio told Blitzer.  Blitzer then asks:  What about protests?  De Blasio responds:  "This is a historic moment.  We have to respect that."

Missouri AG calls out St. Louis prosecutor, reveals history of politically motivated decisions.  Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt suggested Friday that St. Louis attorneys Mark and Patricia McCloskey, the couple who went viral for defending their property from an encroaching mob, are being politically targeted.  On Friday, law enforcement executed a warrant against the McCloskeys and confiscated their firearms.  Speaking on Fox News, Schmitt alleged that St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner, the prosecutor handling the case, has a history of making politically motivated decisions.  "Under Missouri law, under the Castle Doctrine, an individual has really expansive authority to protect their own lives, their home, and their property.  I think the story here to watch here is the local prosecutor, Kim Gardner," Schmitt said.

Tyranny Without a Tyrant:  The Deep State's Divide-and-Conquer Strategy Is Working.  It must be said: the Black Lives Matter protests have not helped.  Inadvertently or intentionally, these protests — tinged with mob violence, rampant incivility, intolerance, and an arrogant disdain for how an open marketplace of ideas can advance freedom — have politicized what should never have been politicized:  police brutality and the government's ongoing assaults on our freedoms. [...] We may be worse off now than we were before.  Suddenly, no one seems to be talking about any of the egregious governmental abuses that are still wreaking havoc on our freedoms:  police shootings of unarmed individuals, invasive surveillance, roadside blood draws, roadside strip searches, SWAT team raids gone awry, the military industrial complex's costly wars, pork barrel spending, pre-crime laws, civil asset forfeiture, fusion centers, militarization, armed drones, smart policing carried out by AI robots, courts that march in lockstep with the police state, schools that function as indoctrination centers, bureaucrats that keep the Deep State in power.

George Soros-backed DA Charges Couple with 'Hate Crime' for Painting Over 'Black Lives Matter'.  Contra Costa County, California, District Attorney Diana Becton, who was backed by left-wing billionaire George Soros in 2018, has charged a couple with a "hate crime" for painting over a "Black Lives Matter" mural on the road.  In a press release Tuesday afternoon, Becton's office announced that Martinez, California, residents Nichole Anderson and David Nelson were being charged with three misdemeanors for their actions, including "violation of civil rights."

Opposing Black Lives Matter Now Means Hate Crime Charges.  America is going to a bad totalitarian place at an incredible speed.  ["]A California duo was charged with a hate crime for defacing a newly painted Black Lives Matter mural outside of a courthouse, officials announced Tuesday.["]  Painting over a political message you oppose is not a hate crime.  Authorities who support that message using hate crime regulations to suppress protests are blatantly using the law to enforce their political affiliation. [...] This might at most be vandalism.  It's not a hate crime.  There's no expression of hatred or hostility for black people.  There is a rejection of Black Lives Matter, a political movement.  Conflating the political movement with black people and then treating hostility to BLM as a hate crime makes opposition to a political movement into a crime.  Treating it as one, while members of the racist Black Lives Matter movement tear down statues and terrorize people, is enlisting local authorities in that same campaign of political terror, punishing people for the political content of the vandalism, rather than for the act itself.

California duo charged with hate crime for defacing Black Lives Matter mural.  A California duo was charged with a hate crime for defacing a newly painted Black Lives Matter mural outside of a courthouse, officials announced Tuesday [7/7/2020].  Nichole Anderson, 42, was filmed using a roller to cover part of the yellow letters with black paint on Saturday as her cohort, 53-year-old David Nelson, stood guard near the Wakefield Taylor Courthouse in Martinez, the Contra Costa District Attorney's said.  As Anderson painted within the lines, allowing the letters "B" and "L" to remain visible, Nelson told onlookers:  "we're sick of this narrative."  "The narrative of police brutality, the narrative of oppression, the narrative of racism," Nelson declared.  "It's a lie."  "I said no one wants Black Lives Matter here!" he added.  "That's what I said.  All Lives Matter, you punk."  The temporary mural, which a Martinez resident received a permit for, was completed the same day the alleged vandals struck, authorities said.

The Editor says...
The whole premise of "black lives matter" is that black lives matter more than any others.  That's racism.  And now we see that any attempt to combat this racism will be met with hate crime prosecution.  This is what lawyers are for.  This is why we have trial by jury available to all criminal defendants.

Gov Newsom orders closing of Calif restaurants, wineries — but HIS remains open.  In what is seen as a major rollback, Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom has ordered the closures of numerous businesses across 19 counties in California to counter a surge in coronavirus cases.  The order will be enforced for at least three weeks, and includes restaurants, wineries and tasting rooms, movie theaters, family entertainment centers, zoos and museums, cardrooms, and bars, Fox 26 reported.  While a number of Central Valley counties are included, Napa County, where Gov. Newsom owns a winery and tasting room is not among the counties affected and the business remains open as of the July 1, 2020 order, according to the Fox affiliate.

The Huge Law Enforcement Scandal that Cries Out for Justice.  In the American Thinker (June 30), Jack Cashill offers an eloquent plea for an Atticus Finch to take up the cause of George Zimmerman in suing those responsible for perpetrating the Trayvon Hoax.  There is another case, also in Florida, awaiting its Atticus Finch, the product of an earlier moral panic, the now largely forgotten "mass sex abuse in daycare" hysteria.  These cases, replete with lurid charges the media mindlessly and breathlessly disseminated in the 1980s and '90s, are today widely recognized as a modern version of the Salem witch trials of the 1690s, down to allegations of Satanic rituals by caregivers.  Despite this, one victim remains incarcerated.  Frank Fuster has now served thirty-five years in prison for a crime not only that he did not commit, but that never happened.  His first parole hearing is scheduled an unbelievable 114 years from now — in March 2134.

Soros Funded St. Louis Circuit Attorney Threatens Legal Action Against Property Owners Who Defended Themselves Against Rampaging Mob.  This is a great example why law-abiding citizens need to be very involved in local elections.  The husband and wife who defended themselves and protected their property from looters/protestors are now being threatened by a Soros funded STL Circuit Attorney.  Ms. Kimberly M Gardner is an activist within the legal profession who has an expressed purpose to destroy property rights, advance the cause of a socialist society, and collapse the legal system that allows citizens to protect themselves from the rampaging mob.

In Re:  Michael T. Flynn, Petitioner.  For five decades as a courtroom lawyer, I have devoted an inordinate amount of time to humbling myself and stroking the egos of federal and state judges while catering to their every whim and belief, no matter how mistaken, unfounded, or unjustified.  It's part of the job.  The more successful you are at sucking up to the robed potentates on the bench, the better it is for your clients.  Although many times I have been tempted to tell a judge to shove it, my duty to my client has held me back.  While on occasion I have been held in contempt, fined, and — most memorably — placed under arrest for speaking the truth, for the most part and my clients' welfare, I have kept my mouth shut.  It's never a fair fight.  The judge holds the power and knows that lawyer and client are at his mercy.  In my experience, the more egocentric and mediocre the judge, the more inclined he is to be the courtroom bully and to arbitrarily exercise his power free from the constraints of the substantive law and established procedure.  And when one of these mediocrities arrives at a patently illegal result, he will dismiss your pleas and objections with an impatient wave of the hand or bang of the gavel.

New York Governor Threatens Reopening Rollback over Street Drinking.  New York's governor threatened to roll back phased reopening plans Sunday after large crowds gathered outside bars in New York City in violation of coronavirus lockdown guidelines.  Andrew Cuomo said his office had received 25,000 complaints of reopening violations by businesses as New Yorkers flocked to streets to enjoy a weekend of late spring sunshine.

Liberals Still Think Obama Was the 'Best President Ever,' Here Are 14 Reasons Why That's Ridiculous.  [#1] Unprecedented abuse of power.  Amazingly, liberals still pretend the IRS didn't improperly target conservative and tea party groups, even though Lois Lerner, the former director of the IRS Exempt Organizations division at the time, admitted it happened!  Not only were tea party groups improperly targeted, according to documents obtained by Judicial Watch, but the whole scheme was orchestrated out of Washington, D.C.  There was also evidence of White House involvement.  IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman was at the White House at least 157 times while the IRS was targeting tea party groups.  Even Obama's cabinet members didn't visit the White House that often.  Some IRS employees even claimed that Obama himself requested the crackdown on tea party groups.  There was certainly ample reason to suspect coordination with the White House.  The IRS was also exchanging confidential taxpayer information with the White House the year Obama and Biden were reelected.  According to a scholarly study conducted by the American Enterprise Institute, suppression of the Tea Party movement by Obama's IRS helped him get reelected.

Gathering Is Essential — Unless You're Republican.  Gov. Whitmer's tune on the right to assemble has transformed, too.  She was appalled to see people without masks and parents "handing things to children, bare-handed" six weeks ago.  The horror.  "This kind of activity flies in the face of all of the best science," she scoffed, threatening to punish the protesting plebeians with a shutdown extension.  She expected their obedience.  The supposed science took a back seat last week when Whitmer kneeled in the street, shoulder to shoulder with activists, in violation of her own rules.  But that's nothing new.  Her husband can non-essentially travel to their second home, and name-drop his wife to try to cut to the front of the line and get their boat launched before Memorial Day weekend.  The Democratic mayor of Chicago can get a haircut, but you can't — you're not on TV.  The Democratic governor of Virginia can go to the beach without his mask, not even painted on.  It's "dangerous" to protest, Nancy Pelosi says, until she joins in.

Democrats, Not Republicans, Protect Dirty Cops.  Abuse and inequality — at the hands of American law enforcement — comes in all forms. [...] Calls for police reform and accountability are happening on a bipartisan basis.  That has not been the case, however, when it comes to Obamagate.  Democrats, led by the forked-tongue Schiff, have spent the past three years defending, even justifying, unprecedented abuses by the nation's top law enforcement chiefs related to their targeting of Donald Trump, his associates, and his family members.  The Trump-related victims of James Comey's FBI may not be black, they were unfairly targeted nevertheless.  It was not race that motivated their persecutors, nor was it any actual suspected wrongdoing.  They were targeted because of their political views.

In the History of Congress, the House Democrats' New Proxy Voting Is Radical.  Much of Congress' work takes place off the House or Senate floor.  Committees even hold field hearings around the country, and members spend time in their states or districts.  But since the House and Senate were established in 1789, their members have shown up to take official votes.  No crisis ever has changed that commitment.  Not when the Capitol was burned to the ground during the War of 1812, not the Civil War, not the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918, or even the 9/11 terrorist attacks.  Nonetheless, on May 15, the House voted 217-189 to adopt House Resolution 965, which authorizes the speaker to designate a period during which one member may cast a vote for, and even "record the presence of," up to 10 other members.

Stopping Petty Tyrannies Is How We Beat the Serious Ones.  [Scroll down]  Americans are unlikely to tolerate, for long, nonsensical rules or enforcement policies that impede their day-to-day lives.  It was, after all, a long chain of large and small abuses by governmental authorities that led to the creation of this country.  And given the Constitution and remarkable political system created from it, we have a great deal of power to end abusive laws quickly.  Certainly, some of the coronavirus lockdown measures have had more serious implications for civil liberties than simple park closures.  While our federal system gives broad power to states and local authorities to act in the way that best serves their communities, it is still essential that Americans be wary of violations of the Constitution and their fundamental rights.  This important point was made by U.S. Attorney General William Barr, who directed U.S. attorneys in late April to be on the lookout for violations of civil liberties by state and local governments.

Gretchen Whitmer slips state money to leftist political operatives to spy on Michiganders, then lies about it.  It's pretty amazing how many negative activities gather around Michigan's hard-faced and ambitious Democratic governor, Gretchen Whitmer.  Besides her outrageous performance on the coronavirus crisis — banning sales of garden seeds, seeding nursing homes with COVID-19 patients, forcing private dam operators to overfill their reservoir for greenie purposes, causing two of them to burst — she's also a liar.  We saw that clearly enough when her husband tried to put himself at the front of the boating queue by citing his marriage to her — cronyism at its worst — and she claimed that it was a joke.  It was a story so egregiously bad that the only reason we didn't comment about it here at American Thinker earlier is that we mistakenly thought the story was fake.  Now there's the matter of Whitmer's political corruption — succoring her political cronies at state expense to spy on Michiganders to beef up the Democratic Party operation, which she's also lying about.

Comrade Crazy — Governor Gretchen Whitmer Claims She is Being Victimized By Citizens of Michigan.  Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer addressed the issue of her husband attempting to use his position to get their personal boat prepped and in the water prior to Memorial day so they could enjoy the holiday.  The Michigan governor said her husband was joking when he told the boat storage operator he was the husband of the governor and asked if that would move him up in the line of requests.  Additionally Governor Whitmer highlights how the citizens of Michigan are victimizing her; including scary men who have surrounded her home while carrying "automatic weapons."  Whitmer says the COVID-19 virus has created an undue hardship on her and her family, and she is burdened by hurt feelings and wounded sensibilities.  Whitmer personifies what happens when left-wing moonbats are allowed to gain political power.

Whitmer says husband's boat launch request was 'failed attempt at humor'.  Gov. Gretchen Whitmer confirmed her husband made "a failed attempt at humor" over the weekend after a comment he made to a docking company drew criticism from conservatives.  In a now-deleted Facebook post, Tad Dowker, owner of NorthShore Dock LLC, said a man called the company a few days before Memorial Day weekend asking if he could put his boat in the water.  According to Dowker's post, when office staff said the company started working three weeks late so that was not going to happen, staff told him the caller said, "I am the husband to the governor, will this make a difference?" The post said they were moved to the back of the waiting list.

The Editor says...
This is a very common Democrat tactic:  They will say or do something outrageous, and if there are any objections, follow up a few days later with, "Can't you take a joke?"  Examples abound:

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] [30]

A Plague of Monsters.  Criminal terrorists attacked us on 9/11, and nations of the world united to treat us all like criminals and turn the fun and exciting world of air travel into an experience redolent of herding livestock to market.  Nineteen years later, a virus outbreak happens, and governments of the world — upon advice of the experts — treat us like infected patients, demanding we quarantine ourselves and cease all economic and social activities.  Is this the first time democratic governments have quarantined people who were not sick?

I Am Criminal.  Okay, what we really need to do and more of us should recognize it, is to put an end to this nonsense.  This government has bankrupted us by their inability to set and abide by a budget.  They have ensnared us in rules and regulations that bind us and has built a governmental structure that had they passed the $3 Trillion dollar monstrosity that the Democrats called a "Stimulus bill" that passed out of the House, ostensibly to provide relief from the coronavirus lockdown, the combined governments would have been bigger than all of the private sector.  Think about that for just one second.  I had the occasion to meet an Eastern European who had no bones about it, he proclaimed proudly "I am criminal."  What he meant was that he was willing to endure the penalty of disobedience to outlandish and often irrational laws.  One must recognize that under rule of an outlaw government, one willing to use terrorist tactics on its own people, tactics that create fear for a political gain, disobedience is the ultimate declaration of freedom.

Gov. Gretchen 'Karen' Whitmer in Hot Water Over Husband's Vacation Hypocrisy.  Michigan's Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has epitomized the political, draconian response to coronavirus imposed by some states.  Just recently, she extended the stay at home for Michigan until June 12th, forcing businesses to remain closed and people to not travel.  This wasn't in response to any scientific data, but appeared to just be retaliatory against recent protests of her actions.  But now, she's in a bit of hot water after it was revealed that not only was her husband looking to get their boat in the water for Memorial Day, but that he asked for special treatment in the process.

It's Over.  The Resistance Has Won.  [Scroll down]  But ah! — conservatives exclaim:  OBAMAGATE! Perjury traps.  Withheld evidence.  Oval Office conspiracy meetings.  Unmasking.  Edited 302s.  Leaks, lies and more lies.  And John Durham poised to blow things open and indict everyone in sight.  Any day now.  Really.  Get real.  The deck is so stacked for The Resistance that Bill Barr still can't even get the demonstrably wronged Michael Flynn off the hook.  There's a reason no one's heard from Durham yet:  corruption cases are hard to make, and harder to win.  Ask insufferable James Comey, insolent Andy McCabe and smug Peter Stzrok — all indictment-free amid Everests of evidence.  Tara Reade?  Three words:  Not.  Going.  Anywhere.  Listen carefully:  nothing — nada, nix, zilch, zero, zip — will turn the tide on the "scandal" front between now and November.  The wheels of injustice grind too slowly.

Obamagate: Of Course It Comes Back to Obama's Narcissism.  For three years, the Trump administration attempted to find their sea legs while actively being harassed and harried by Obama holdovers and self-dealing Republicans in the House and Senate.  None of this could have happened so easily had Congress provided oversight.  Why would they want oversight, though?  It would expose themselves.  It wasn't just Joe Biden's crackhead kid in Ukraine, after all.  Sens. John Kerry, John McCain, and, yes, Lindsey Graham, also had strange relationships there, too.  It's like Ukraine was one big money laundering scheme for political insiders.  A lot of pols have a lot to hide, and that's why this fiasco has gone on as long as it has. [...] The American system isn't equipped to handle this level of injustice.  Those who wait on justice likely wait in futility.

It Won't Matter What Obama Knew (or When He Knew It).  Even if we uncovered irrefutable evidence that Obama personally hatched the conspiracy to undermine either the Trump campaign or his presidency, Obama will not be held to account.  From the perspective of justice, what Obama knew and when he knew it is totally irrelevant because nothing will be done about it.  The reason nothing will be done is that the elites of our society have decided how Obama must be understood.  His presidency has unique importance due to his status as the first nonwhite person to attain the office.  Symbolically, then, Obama is supposed to represent the decency of the American people and the moral progress that we have made since the abolition of Jim Crow.

Clear and absent danger: why proxy voting violates the American system.  When House Democrats passed their $3 trillion coronavirus 'relief' package late last week, they also jammed through a rules change on proxy voting that fundamentally transforms the nature of the House of Representatives and junks centuries of tradition.  Because of a change to House rules, members will now be able to submit their votes from afar.  They will not have to travel back to DC to vote:  they can instead send their 'yea' or 'nay' to a colleague, who will submit it on their behalf.  One member can submit up to 10 votes at a time, meaning that the will of the House, which normally takes 218 members in the chamber, could be determined with only 21 members physically present.  The new rule allows this distance voting for up to 45 days for any coronavirus-related emergency.  It can be extended.  Now that the precedent has been set, expect it to be trotted out repeatedly as the House finds other reasons for members to execute their constitutional responsibilities from their couches.

Brooklyn Park Paints Circles on Grass to Force Public Into Social Distancing.  I don't know if this is worse than the pool noodle hats that a restaurant in Germany is asking people to wear, but it's close.  A park in Brooklyn has painted what looks like parking spots for humans on the grass six feet apart from one another to force the public to behave.  And they're doing it. [...] If this is the "new normal" I want nothing to do with it.  I've adopted Ron Swanson's attitude.  I'll do what I want.  And if the government tries to stop me, I'm calling my lawyer.  This is out of control.  Are you going to sit in a little circle on the grass like a good social distancing sheep?

Forget About Seeing Any Justice For Obamagate.  Allow me to disabuse you of your naïve delusion that we still live in a country with a justice system and break it to you that no one is going to jail for what was done to Flynn, or for the unmasking business, or for the Russia hoax or, for that matter, for any of the corrupt Dem/foreigner collaborations exemplified by the payoffs received by stripperphile and Bolivian folk medicine enthusiast Hoover Biden.  No one.  Well, maybe Mike Flynn himself will.  Since his judge is now making up the law as he goes along [...]

Requests for N.J. public records rejected during coronavirus crisis as Murphy administration uses little-known law.  In 2005, New Jersey enacted a sweeping law called the Emergency Health Powers Act, giving the governor greater authority to take actions to protect Garden State residents during a health crisis.  Gov. Phil Murphy has cited the statute frequently the last two months as he's issued a series of orders to place the state in near-lockdown to fight the coronavirus pandemic.  But in an unexpected development, some government agencies in Murphy's administration have also cited the law to reject requests from media outlets seeking public records related to how the state has responded to an outbreak that has killed more than 10,000 residents and caused widespread unemployment.  The ability to obtain records is one of the key tools journalists, advocates, and everyday citizens wield to examine the inner workings of government and discover how your taxpayer dollars are being spent (or misspent).

News Flash:  DOJ Targeted Other Conservatives.  A friend emailed me recently to say that on May 1st, in his opening monologue, Tucker Carlson made the statement, "You don't want to live in a society where the most powerful agency in government imprisons people it doesn't like.  That is horrifying."  Our friend lamented that he wishes there is someone who could "get Steve's story to Tucker" because what happened to Flynn is so similar to what happened to Steve, my husband — former pit bull Republican congressman from Texas.  Numerous reports verify that Rep. Stockman was quite a fierce critic of and whistle-blower on the Obama administration.  As a result, he was pursued for four years by the Public Integrity Section of the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the nonprofit division of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) — the very same corrupted team that went after Tea Party and other conservative nonprofit organizations around 2012.  The DOD took their story before four grand juries before they were even able to obtain an indictment.

Liberals always lie.  As covered in this blog earlier this week the Mayor of Chicago thinks the coronavirus is so incredibly dangerous that people in her city should be locked in their homes against their will and businesses ordered closed.  In announcing her restrictions she actually cited haircuts as something she would not allow Chicagoans to do because they might get the virus and die.  Of course, we all know the mayor herself went out and got her hair cut and then lashed out at her citizens for pointing out her hypocrisy.  The main point here is she knew she wouldn't actually get coronavirus if she got her haircut.  That's just a BS story she told the people.  Illinois governor J. B. Pritzker has also taken heat for his own family heading off to Florida while he has ordinary citizens in his state locked in their homes.  He knew it wasn't dangerous for his family to leave the house or he wouldn't have let them, presuming he loves his wife and children.  That's just a lie to control everyone else.

Don't Expect Losers of Shutdown to Sit Idly by Forever.  Obedience to the law is bottomed on one of three motives.  First, people believe that the law is proper and just, and therefore it is their civic duty to follow its dictates.  Second, people expect that obedience to the law will provide them benefits that they cannot otherwise enjoy.  Third, people fear that disobedience to the law will impose costs upon them that they can avoid if they follow the rules.  These three motives often reinforce one another. [...] Far and away, the most important motive for obedience to the law is a conviction that it is just, or at least the regime that promulgated it is just.  This is what makes the law, for the most part, self-enforcing.  It keeps the government from having to impose draconian restrictions upon violations, as well as creating a massive police state to monitor public behavior.  This is one of the main differences between the United States and communist dictatorships.

I Helped Write FISA. Let's Destroy It.  Circa March 2016, as it appeared that Donald Trump would be the Republican Party's presidential nominee in the forthcoming election, someone with White House authority — we do not yet know who or through what channel — directed the National Security Agency electronically to surveil communications in and out of Trump's campaign headquarters in New York's Trump Tower.  At the same time, the CIA and FBI were vectoring longstanding CIA assets, including Stefan Halper in Britain and Joseph Mifsud in Italy as well as Australia's Alexander Downer not so much to gather information about low-level Trump advisers' contacts with the Russians, but to provide pretexts for further surveillance of Trump and, above all, for press stories implicating Trump with Russia.  By July 2016, the FBI and CIA had encompassed the Trump campaign in formal counterintelligence and criminal investigations, while shopping suggestive allegations to the press.  The so-called Steele dossier, alleging a host of details, some lurid, all false, was part of this classic political agitprop.  This effort was the product of a homogeneous mixture of persons official and officious, including John Brennan and James Comey, directors of the CIA and FBI, respectively, James Clapper, director of National Intelligence, along with some of the highest officials of these agencies, of the Department of Justice and of State.  These people are related to one another socially, politically, financially, professionally, maritally and extra-maritally.  They served Democratic President Barack Obama while furthering the election of his chosen Democrat successor, Hillary Clinton.  The notion that they acted without at least his tacit approval is not worth a second thought.

Legally Conflicted Senate Intel Committee Presents Another Defense of Intelligence Corruption.  Foolishness and betrayal of our country have served to reveal dangers within our present condition.  Misplaced corrective action, regardless of intent, is neither safe nor wise.  The intelligence apparatus was weaponized against our candidate by those who controlled the levers of government.  That said, today's SSCI defense of political corruption is infuriating.

Pennsylvania Business Owner Says They Are Being 'Unconstitutionally Closed Down'.  A business owner attending the protest at the Pennsylvania State Capitol on Monday [4/20/2020] told Breitbart News that businesses are "unjustifiably" and "unconstitutionally" closed down as a result of the drastic measures taken by local officials to combat the Chinese coronavirus.  Pennsylvania resident Chris Miller, owner of the Scranton Golf Center, told Breitbart News on Monday that his business has been closed for four weeks as a result of the shutdown.  [Video clip]

Easter wouldn't do it but...
Will Ramadan force an end to the lockdown?  As the Muslim celebration of Ramadan arrives (April 23 to May 23), many of the faithful will expect to attend worship services at their local mosques.  Will local and state governments treat Muslim worshipers at Ramadan the same as they treated Christian worshipers at Easter?  Will officials arrest imams for holding services as they did to a Christian pastor in Tampa?  How likely is it that Kentucky officials will sprinkle nails in mosque parking lots and take license plate numbers of worshipers?  Will NYC mayor Bill de Blasio threaten to permanently shut down mosques as he did Christian churches and Jewish synagogues if they dare to hold services?  And then there is the case of "the worst governor in America," Gretchen Whitmer. [...] How will she deal with the huge Muslim enclaves in Dearborn and Ann Arbor as Ramadan arrives?

Why Politicians Focus on Trivia in the Midst of Disaster.  You've probably heard:
  •   The municipal government of San Clemente, CA trucked in 37 tons of sand, at a cost of at least $100,000 when you count removal, to forcibly close a skateboard park that was being used by no more than a few dozen people per day.
  •   Governor Christine Whitmer of Michigan required that all stores over 50,000 sq. feet close their garden centers, eliminating access to plants, seeds, and other supplies.  The Governor admonished:  "If you're not buying food or medicine or other essential items, you should not be going to the store."
  •   The mayor of Greenville, MS outlawed public gatherings, including religious ceremonies, and sent city police to issue $500 tickets to worshippers who were sitting in the parking lot, windows closed, listening to a "drive-in" sermon on Easter.  The order was later reversed, but the mayor remains unapologetic.
  •   In Rhode Island, National Guard troops have been used at roadblocks, and in some cases for actual house-to-house searches, to find people who have "escaped" from New York to second homes or houses of relatives in the Granite State.

The Governors' Mutiny.  [Scroll down]  Mr. Trump and all other officers and legislators and judges of the federal and state governments are bound by oath to the Constitution.  Yet that same parchment absolutely forbids the states, without the consent of Congress, from entering into "any agreement or compact with another state[.]"  That is American bedrock.  It's right up there with the prohibition on states granting titles of nobility, say, or keeping ships of war in time of peace.  One doesn't have to be a Civil War buff to see that states forming compacts or agreements with other states smacks of a challenge to federal authority, no matter how un-total a president's authority might be.  Yet a bloom of stories in the press suggests states have begun doing just what the Constitution says they can't.

A populace kept fearful is ripe for abuse.  Along the way, the Protectors of our Well-Being began to give edicts more feverishly and more randomly.  "Wear a seat belt!"  "Quit eating so much grain!"  "Don't use those light bulbs!"  "Never drink from the hose!"  "Get a safer gas can (at an exorbitant government-inflicted price)."  "Stay out of the sun!"  "Don't eat butter!"  "Eat butter!"  On and on, the contradictory government edicts have been handed down from above.  And we dutifully fell in line. [...] Out of fear for personal safety, we bow down to their random and often senseless edicts.  Maybe by doing so, we will add a few more days to our lives?  Maybe.  I suppose it is possible.  But those few more days will also be government-controlled, highly taxed days.

The FISA Scandal Is about Corruption, Not 'Sloppiness'.  Consider this scenario:  A federal lawyer is filling out applications requesting FISA warrants to spy on American citizens who work for a major presidential campaign to determine whether the campaign staffers are collaborating with a foreign power to steal the presidency of the United States.  They must know that such a conspiracy, should it be exposed, would be the most explosive in the history of the nation — towering over the piddling criminality of Watergate or the Teapot Dome scandal.  And any genuine effort to ferret out criminality and sedition within one of the nation's major parties — perhaps going a high as the future president himself — would be supported by unimpeachable underlying evidence and undertaken with abundant care and meticulous oversight.  So what are the chances that a good-faith investigation would botch nearly every request to spy on the campaign when the FISA court is already signing off on over 99 percent of applications?

Ohio uses smoke and mirrors on voters.  The primary election in OH was set for March 10, 2020.  Then someone in Columbus, without explanation, changed the date to March 17, St. Patrick's Day.  The cynical among us believe that the hope was that fewer voters would turn out that day, with the Cleveland parade and all, which of course was cancelled for the first time in 178 years.  Except that lifelong politician and Governor Mike DeWine cancelled elections at 3:30 a.m. on the 17th itself.  He had gone to court earlier that day to try to stop the primary.  DeWine said he would go along with the judge's decision.  The judge said "no" and all of a sudden the judge's decision was unimportant.  It took DeWine's cronies until 3:30 a.m. to get four Ohio Supreme Court judges to agree by phone to call off voting.  (Was that even legal?)  DeWine set the new date as June 2.  Then on March 25, the General Assembly passed H.B. 197, resetting the date to April 28, 2020.

Why Does 'Sunscreen' Appear 49 Times In The $2 Trillion Coronavirus Relief Package?  The $2  trillion coronavirus relief package passed by Congress and signed by President Donald Trump mentions the word sunscreen 49 times, but why is that?  How could that help fight the coronavirus as the deadly disease continues to spread throughout the U.S.?  The Treatment of Sunscreen Innovation Act, which benefits large manufacturers in Kentucky — where Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is up for re-election in November — was placed into the coronavirus stimulus package.

Empire State Building Debuts Dystopian Red "Siren" Light.  The Empire State Building debuted what appeared to be a spinning red 'siren' light atop the iconic structure in what many observers saw as a dystopian sign of the times.

Turning the Empire State Building into a massive flashing siren.  The top of the Empire State Building in New York City was lit up tonight to look like an emergency flashing siren, in honor of healthcare workers and first responders risking their lives in the new epicenter of the Chinese Corona Virus.

The Editor says...
It would have been less confusing and far less alarming if the purpose of this display had been publicized in advance.  (I've only seen the Empire State Building once, back in 1969, but I've always admired it as a national treasure.)

New Yorkers baffled over 'unsettling' Empire State Building siren display.  New Yorkers were left spooked Monday night by a glaring Empire State Building light display intended to honor emergency workers fighting coronavirus.  The iconic Midtown skyscraper announced the debut of a display that began at 9 p.m. Monday [3/30/2020], and will continue on through the course of the ongoing pandemic.  "Starting tonight through the COVID-19 battle, our signature white lights will be replaced by the heartbeat of America with a white and red siren in the mast for heroic emergency workers on the front line of the fight," read a tweet from the building's official Twitter account.  But to some, in addition to solidarity, the siren induced anxiety, as it spun for the first time surrounded by low clouds.  [Video clip]

The Editor says...
Such a signal could be used for tornado warnings, or to warn of an imminent military attack, but not if the general public is trained to ignore it, which is what happened last night.  Sounding a previously-unknown alarm in a time of national emergency is an indication of monumentally poor judgement on the part of the city leadership.

Kelly Loeffler Among Corrupt Senate Virus Profiteers.  If you ever wondered how public servants get so rich serving the public, or why the Senate and House are filled with so many millionaires, part of the answer is that they are often privy to knowledge not available to the rest of us.  Knowledge is power and it can also be very profitable if you are among the legislators who can take advantage of it before any of us common folk hear about it.  Just ask Sen. Kelly Loeffler, R-Ga., who exploited knowledge provided in a private briefing about the Wuhan virus and its possible impact and along with her husband sold stock worth millions just before the Chinese Wuhan virus spread worldwide and tanked global markets.

Insider Trading Scandal Is Just Latest Reason Burr Should Be Removed As Intel Chair.  Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr is being criticized by liberals and conservatives due to the news he sold up to $1.6 million in stock after receiving private briefings about the coronavirus but before the stock market began its sharp decline.  Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., tweeted of the North Carolina Republican:  "Burr knew how bad it would be.  He told the truth to his wealthy donors, while assuring the public that we were fine.  THEN he sold off $1.6 million in stock before the fall.  He needs to resign."  Tucker Carlson told his audience Burr needs to resign and await prosecution if he's unable to explain his actions.  He said if the allegations are true, that Burr has betrayed his country in a time of crisis.

Senators Must Be Investigated:  Dumping Stocks After COVID-19 Classified Briefing Is Insider Trading.  Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr, along with three other Senate colleagues, should be ashamed and investigated for insider trading if reports alleging they dumped their stock after receiving a classified briefing on coronavirus Jan. 24 are true.  If it is true, which it appears to be, Burr should also be removed as the Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee.  According to reports he sold $1.6 million of his stock after receiving the closed door briefing.

Even if legal, politicians profiting off inside information amid coronavirus crisis is outrageous.  As the novel coronavirus works it way through the United States, many Americans have seen their savings dwindle as the stock market continues its unprecedented free fall.  But for a handful US senators, the crisis was cause for a windfall.  That's because Richard Burr and Kelly Loeffler, both of whom were briefed for weeks as the coronavirus approached America, decided it was a good idea to use their inside information to dump over a million dollar in stocks.  Sens. Diane Feinstein and Jim Inhofe also sold significant amounts of stock.  To make matters worse for Burr, at the same time that he was shedding doomed paper, he was assuring the American people that our nation was "better prepared than ever for coronavirus." Oh?  Really?  So is that why Burr engaged in dozens of transactions to protect his own portfolio while his fellow citizens lost billions?

Dianne Feinstein, 3 more senators accused of dumping major holdings before stock market plunge.  Sen. Dianne Feinstein is reportedly part of a small group of senators who sold off millions of dollars worth of personal stock days before the market crashed due to the coronavirus crisis.  The California Democrat and three of her Senate colleagues sold major holdings in February just before the stock market plunge, according to U.S. Senate disclosure records.

For Jeff Sessions, inside-trading stock scandal is his golden moment.  Jeff Sessions, President Trump's former Attorney General, who went out with rancor from Trump for opening the gates to the Mueller investigation and impeachment, is now running for his old Senate seat in Alabama.  President Trump has endorsed his GOP rival.  Sessions, with admirable restraint, has stated over and over that he nevertheless supports Trump and his agenda — which is perfectly credible, given that he was Trump's earliest high-profile supporter.  All the same, it's pretty impressive, given Trump's refusal to forgive.  While that issue may be understandable on both sides — fundamentally, Sessions wanted to be ethical, but, unlike Trump, he misunderstood the nature of the enemy he was appeasing, the new insider-trading stock scandal in the news, apparently involving Senators Richard Burr, Kelly Loeffler, and now Dianne Feinstein, gives his campaign some powerful impetus.

In the Face of Pandemic, the U.S. Senate Sells Stocks and Plays Politics With Our Lives.  On Thursday night [3/19/2020], news broke of two Republican Senators, Richard Burr of North Carolina and Kelly Loeffler of Georgia, dropping some serious stock after an all-Senators meeting where they received a briefing on the Wuhan coronavirus.  We're talking stock sales in the millions.  It's an egregious abuse of power, if this is a case of insider trading, and there are calls from all over for both of them to resign.  Tucker Carlson even lit Burr up on his show and demanded he resign.  It's a bi-partisan thing right now, because we're in the middle of a pandemic and American citizens are terrified.  What do these two do when they catch wind of how bad it's going to be?  They get rich off of the crisis.  For Loeffler's part, she says the transactions were made by a third party broker, and she was not aware of the sale until weeks after.

Richard Burr, Kelly Loeffler urged to resign for selling stocks after coronavirus briefing.  Two more senators made hefty stock sales before the coronavirus pandemic tanked global markets, records revealed as two other lawmakers who dumped millions in shares faced mounting calls to resign.  Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Jim Inhofe sold as much as $6.4 million worth of stock in the weeks before panic about the coronavirus sparked a worldwide selloff, according to disclosure filings first reported by the New York Times.  The additional revelations came amid widespread outrage toward GOP Sens. Richard Burr and Kelly Loeffler, who reportedly sold shares after getting briefings on the coronavirus threat.

Senator Kelly Loeffler dumped $3.1m in stock and Senate Intel chairman Richard Burr sold $1.5m while getting classified briefings on coronavirus.  Four senators dumped millions of dollars worth of stock while Capitol Hill was being briefed on the threat of coronavirus but before the markets tanked as infections soared, disclosure records have revealed.  Republicans Richard Burr, Kelly Loeffler and James Inhofe and Democrat Dianne Feinstein collectively offloaded up to $11 million in stock between late January and early February, according to records seen by The Daily Beast and New York Times.  Burr, chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee that was directly briefed on coronavirus, sold up to $1.7 million in stock including in hotels; Feinstein, a member of the same committee, sold up to $6 million in stock including in a biotech firm.

Senators Loeffler And Burr Caught Dumping Their Stocks After Private Meeting On Coronavirus Impact.  Two Republican senators were caught selling off millions of dollars worth of stocks shortly after a closed-door Senate-only meeting forecasting the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, the Daily Beast reported Thursday [3/19/2020].  Republican Georgia Senator Kelly Loeffler sold roughly $3.1 million in stocks she jointly held with her husband between January 24 and February 14, just before the disease put the stock market into freefall.  Her colleague and fellow Republican North Carolina Senator Richard Burr sold off roughly $1.5 million of his own stocks in February as well, shortly before hosting a private meeting with wealthy constituents where he detailed to them the potential impacts of the virus, according to NPR.

On the other hand...
4 Senators Dump Stock After Wuhan Virus Briefing Leaving Reporters Breathless; Here's What They're Missing.  [Scroll down]  Here's what reporters are missing:  (Let me preface this by saying that Sen. Burr is one of my least favorite Republicans, and Sen. Feinstein, one of my least favorite Democrats.  I am neutral on Sens. Loeffler and Inhofe.)  [#1] The stock market was extremely overbought at the time and professionals, in addition to most Americans who follow the financial markets, were waiting for at least a ten percent correction.  It had come a long way in a short period of time and everyone knows markets never go straight up.  This market was screaming for a shakeout from at least mid-January on.  If you were to indict every investor who sold stock during this period, the number would be into the millions.  [#2] Burr didn't sell his stock until three weeks after the briefing.  Why would he wait 21 days?  That's an eternity in the stock market.  [#3] Burr addresses the accusations in a lengthy text message thread which can be viewed [elsew]here.  The gist of it is that the lunch which NPR portrays as "secret" was anything but.

Sources: Lindsey Graham Uses China's Disease Crisis to Deliver Green Cards to Wealthy Chinese.  Sen. Lindsey Graham is using the coronavirus recovery bills to dramatically expand the award of EB-5 green cards to wealthy Chinese if they lend money to U.S. real estate investors and other companies, according to several activists and Politico magazine.  "How can people pushing this not see how politically explosive this is?" said Mark Krikorian, director of the Center for Immigration Studies.  "An EB-5 increase would almost exclusively benefit Chinese:  It is hard to imagine what they are thinking."

House Lawyers for Adam Schiff Assert Privilege over Schiff Subpoenas of Impeachment Phone Records.  Judicial Watch announced today [3/19/2020] that Representative Adam Schiff (D-CA) and the U.S. House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence asked the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to dismiss the lawsuit against them for the controversial impeachment-related subpoenas for phone records, including those of Rudy Giuliani, President Trump's lawyer.  Schiff and the Committee are being represented by the Office of General Counsel for the House of Representatives.  The phone records led to the publication of the private phone records of Giuliani, Congressman Devon Nunes, journalist John Solomon, Trump attorney Jay Sekulow, attorney Victoria Toensing, and other American citizens.

The FISA States of America.  The Justice Department brazenly disregards the Constitution when it comes to spying.  Does FISA help prevent terrorism?  As I noted here, the government obtained more than 1,000 warrants in a one-year timeframe to spy on Americans.  That's a lot of spying on a lot of Americans.  The Justice Department's lying to obtain these warrants has become so brazen that the court now questions whether it can trust any of the affidavits the FBI submits to justify its domestic surveillance.  The fact that none of these lies are ever criminally punished further reinforces a cycle of dishonesty within the process.

Will Elizabeth Warren Release Her Own NDA's?  NDA's are back in the news, at least when those NDA's concern Mike Bloomberg.  But what about Elizabeth Warren's NDAs?  Oh she may not have one for herself, but her colleagues do, there are over 250 of them!  What if I told you that Congressmen settled over 250 sexual harassment lawsuits using taxpayer money, and there was no way to find out who these Congressmen were?  Would you believe me?  The truth is that the situation is as described in the question.  For decades members of Congress would use your taxpayer dollars to buy their way out of bad publicity.  When a member of Congress was accused of sexual harassment, the case went to a secret court known as the Office of Compliance.  Hidden from public view, Congress's Office of Compliance paid out over $17 million for 264 settlements involving misconduct and sexual harassment.

Wisconsin parents suing school district for letting students switch genders without notice.  Parents are suing a Wisconsin school district for adopting a policy that allows students of any age to transition to a different gender and use a different name while at school without parental notice or consent.  The policy, according to the religious-liberty law firm Alliance Defending Freedom, prevents school officials from communicating about the child's choice to transition with parents if the student does not consent.  The parents charge that the school's policy violates their parental rights, usurping the upbringing of their children under Wisconsin law.

Revealed: How the government keeps its UFO information secret.  [Scroll down]  Essentially, the DIA's UFO program was set up to circumvent FOIA requests and avoid having to discuss UFOs publicly.  Let that sink in for a moment.  This was a massive program that almost no one knew anything about and it was explicitly crafted in a way that would allow them to keep all of the information from the public.  And it worked.

Constitutional law expert reacts to Trump impeachment:  The legislative branch can abuse its power.  On this week's episode of "Life, Liberty & Levin," Constitutional law expert Randy Barnett told host Mark Levin that the president is not the only elected official who can abuse their power.  Barnett, the director of the Georgetown Center for the Constitution, said the House of Representatives "misbehaved" in its inquiry and ensuing vote to impeach President Trump last year.  "The legislature can abuse power," Barnett said.  "That is one of the reasons we have judicial review — is to ensure that the legislature has not exceeded its proper powers — as it did, for example, when it passed the Affordable Care Act pursuant to its Commerce Clause power."

It's time for Trump to fight fire with fire.  We should all recoil in horror that the Intelligence Community and the DoJ could be weaponized against a sitting president.  Spying, planting informants, the use of purely partisan Democrats' oppo research to create a fake criminal narrative; how could decent Americans allow the rule of law to be bent in such an unlawful fashion?  And these plotters used scorched-earth tactics; surprising Trump supporters with unannounced interviews to create perjury traps, threatening their children with jail time, sending SWAT teams to kick in their doors at 3 a.m., raiding his lawyers' offices to search for dirt, and placing a defendant for a nonviolent white-collar crime in solitary confinement.  How could this happen in the Land of the Free?

How Democrats' Get-Trump Crusade Has Irreparably Damaged The Nation.  For more than three years, Democrats, Never Trump Republicans, and the left-leaning media proved themselves willing to destroy the country to destroy one man:  Donald J. Trump.  From foreign affairs to counterintelligence to law enforcement, from domestic governance to congressional oversight to separation of powers, Trump's enemies manipulated and misused our government powers because Americans dared to elect the wrong leader.  The Senate's acquittal yesterday [2/5/2020] of the president on the two spurious articles of impeachment concluded (for now) the years-long coordinated efforts at a coup.  But while Trump escaped the onslaught, the damage inflicted on our country will not be easily abated.

Preventing Another 'Crossfire Hurricane'.  Sometime this year, the U.S. Attorney for Connecticut, John Durham, will probably have a grand jury issue indictments of some of the "Crossfire Hurricane" leaders.  Among them will likely be former FBI agent Peter Strzok, former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe, and former FBI director James Comey.  He may also indict some of the CIA's current and former leaders including Obama's CIA director John Brennan and current CIA Director Gina Haspel (Brennan's protégé) who ran the overseas elements of "Crossfire Hurricane."  However many of the "Crossfire Hurricane" team are indicted, and whether or not they are convicted, their indictment will shake the FBI (and, we hope, the CIA) to their cores.  The indictments will have the effect of dissuading further secret investigations of presidential campaigns but even that effect will not be permanent, nor will they prevent another "Crossfire Hurricane" from ever happening again.

Why the Senate Passed on Witnesses.  [Reason #2] In the House, a pathological liar like Adam Schiff actually could end up chairing the Intelligence Committee.  A Schiff and a Nadler actually could be hand-picked to run a sloppy and minor-league Grade C impeachment.  They could ram through votes as they like, hold secret sessions barred to the public, deny the President basic rules of due process.  They could run a kangaroo court and decide not to bother subpoenaing witnesses they want to hear, leaving it instead to Schiff to fill in any blanks with lies, fabricated phone conversations, assertions about "whistleblowers" that are not actually whistleblowers.  They can get away with it because they have just enough clowns and barkers in the arena to make it a circus, if they like.  With an assemblage of Lying Adam Schiff, Doddering Nancy Pelosi, Maxine Waters, Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, and a whole tent-full of such cartoon characters, there is no holding them back when they have the majority.

Impeach Pelosi/Schiff/Nadler for Abuse of Power.  For three years, Democrats accused the president of having stolen the 2016 election.  Now, they maintain, he is trying to steal the 2020 election.  In reality, it was Hillary and members of the Obama administration (and probably Obama himself) who tried to steal the 2016 election and it is Pelosi, Schiff, and Nadler who are trying to steal 2020.  Pelosi, Schiff, and Nadler are using the power of their offices to erase the 2016 election, steal the 2020 Presidential Election, and damage Republican senators in purple states enough to flip the upper chamber to Democratic Party control.  Running on the issues against the successful Trump administration does not appeal to them.  Instead, they are using impeachment as the means to rig the election to get control of the presidency and the Senate.

Fake Investigations — Designed To Fool You.  Many government officials with long entrenched power are unwilling to give up any of that power. [...] Most of the big 'investigations' in the news in recent years have not been at all what they pretended to be.  The sham investigations of Hillary's email, or the Clinton Foundation, or Weiner's laptop, or Uranium One, or Mueller's witch hunt, or Huber's big nothing, or the IG's whitewash, or the Schiff-Pelosi charades, have all been premeditated deceptions.  There are three types of investigations that call for different deceptions by the Deep State.  The first type is the rare honest investigation.  Examples would be the attempt to find the truth about Fast and Furious (Obama's gunrunning operation), or the IRS scandal (Obama's weaponizing of government).  In response to real investigations, the criminals do two things:  lie and hide evidence.  Key evidence, even if it is under subpoena, just disappears.  In the IRS case, Lois Lerner's relevant email and the email of 6 others involved in the scheme was just "lost".  The IRS "worked tirelessly" to find the email, but hard drives had been destroyed and back-up drives were missing, so the subpoenaed evidence could not be provided.  For the Deep State, hiding and destroying evidence of guilt is standard operating procedure.  They simply report a "glitch" that destroyed the key evidence and that's the end of it.  Or, they simply redact the portions of the record that would expose the truth.  To my memory, no one ever suffers any consequences for this.

When public business is done behind closed doors.  Nothing puts a journalistr's [sic] antenna up faster than when it appears some public official is trying to hide something.  That's exactly what was going on last winter, when the Connecticut Port Authority, we now know, was hatching a grand plan, in secret, to drastically remake the historic port of New London, filling in seven acres of the river between the two existing piers, one a stone 19th Century structure on the National Register of Historic Places.  The extensive $93 million project, to be done at the behest of Danish wind power giant Orsted and Connecticut utility Eversource, with the state contributing $35 million, would potentially close the port to traditional cargo for the better part of a generation.

Torquemada Reborn:  The Swamp's Dept. of Labor Inquisitions.  During the turbulent tenure of former Secretary Alex Acosta, a Jeffrey Epstein apologist and Billionaire Democratic Party donor enabler, the Department of Labor (DOL), through the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP), acted to further the Obama Administration's socialist agenda by harassing and vexing businesses engaged in federal contracting.  Astoundingly, even though Acosta's resigned amid the Epstein scandal and the Trump Administration is pushing to expand economic growth via streamlined labor laws, the OFCCP remains the feared torturer of American Industry.  Before resigning, Acosta acted like an Obama holdover in the Trump Administration.  Bizarrely, Acosta's replacement, erstwhile conservative Eugene Scalia, son of the revered conservative jurist Antonin Scalia, effectively perpetuates the Deep State Liberal hijacking of the DOL by failing to halt the OFCCP Obama Labor Inquisitions.

Unequal Justice And The Persecution Of Steve Stockman, Proud Boys, Andy Ngo.  If the hallmark of a Third World country is arbitrary law enforcement, we are already there.  Former Congressman Steve Stockman, an immigration patriot and a stalwart of the conservative movement, is serving a ten-year sentence for fundraising crimes, that, even if committed, would typically be punished by far less.  The extensive investigation was spearheaded by the same people Stockman exposed for weaponizing the IRS against conservative organizations.  In contrast, Democratic officials accused of crimes receive kid gloves treatment — even with the supposedly "authoritarian" Trump in the White House.  The Trump Administration's Department of Justice is being slammed for supposedly being "far-Right," but it's not even upholding equal justice against Leftist Deep State bureaucrats.  Stockman has been a thorn in the side of the Republican Establishment but a hero to many grassroots conservatives for years.

Watchdog Group Suing Adam Schiff Over Release Of Private Phone Records.  The conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch announced Wednesday [1/8/2020] that it has filed a lawsuit against Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and the House Intelligence Committee for information relating to the acquirement and release of the phone records from Rudy Giuliani, Devin Nunes, and others.  "We are seeking records about [Schiff's] controversial subpoenas that led to his publishing the private phone records of President Trump's lawyers and other innocent Americans including:  President Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani, Congressman Devin Nunes, and journalist John Solomon," the group said in a video announcing the lawsuit.  "The lawsuit seeks all subpoenas by the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence to telephone providers, including, but not limited to, AT&T."

The Schiff Effect.  [Scroll down]  As [Trey] Gowdy noted, time after time after time, Schiff and other House Democrats leaked — in partisan fashion — confidential information that should never have been slipped to their buddies in the media.  All targeted to attack the president.  And in so doing, what could be called "the Schiff Effect" created for the Democrats in both the House and Senate a seriously bad reputation for not being trustworthy with the handling of confidential information.  It is, as D'Souza was alluding, almost the same as leaking the information directly to the Iranians themselves.  Add to this image the rabid Trump Derangement Syndrome among Democrats, which has them literally siding with the murderous Iranian regime over the president.

Financing Big Government with the Printing Press.  Back in January, I wrote about the $42 trillion price tag of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's Green New Deal.  To pay for this massive expansion in the burden of government spending, some advocates have embraced "Modern Monetary Theory," which basically assumes the Federal Reserve can finance new boondoggles by printing money. [...] Wow, this Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) reminds me of the old joke about "I can't be out of money.  I still have checks in my checkbook."

The FISA Court Is Just As Guilty, Knew About Lies and Omissions Years Ago.  In the wake of the IG report, most of the blame for the Carter Page FISA abuse has rightly landed at the feet of the FBI and its leadership.  There is no doubt they actively chose to lie to the court in order to target someone they had insufficient evidence to target.  As part of the unfolding of the saga in the wake of Horowitz's report, the FISA court itself released a denunciation of FBI procedures and asked for an audit of other warrant request to see if the problems were systematic.  The tone of the letter was indignant but also smacked of trying to pass the buck.  No one held a gun to the head of these FISA judges and forced them to approve 99% of warrants placed before them, including the woefully lacking Page warrant.  In fact, it's now clear that the FISA court itself knew about these lies and omissions years ago and chose to essentially do nothing about them, perhaps even actively covering them up.

Against all Odds — Three FBI Officials Quietly Working to Reveal the Truth.  I'm not sure exactly who they are, and there's a possibility they might just be one person; however, it appears there are three distinct FBI officials engaged in an overall investigative capacity, attempting to break the truth through the corrupt machinery.  Each individual is noted within a specific event or outcome.  Hopefully AG Bill Barr has tasked his deputy James Rosen to hold an honest 'climate assessment' discussion with these individuals.  The first honorable FBI Agent is the FBI official who enhanced the DOJ sentencing memo for James Wolfe.  The DOJ prosecution, namely DC U.S. Attorney Jessie K Liu — possibly following instructions from Rod Rosenstein — was trying to cover-up the classified intelligence leak of SSCI Security Director James Wolfe in order to protect powerful Senators.

Blind man's bluff:  The curse of secret investigation.  The FBI had pursued an investigation of a presidential campaign on the basis of a dossier bought and paid for by the rival candidate with incalculable results:  "This is the FBI's darkest hour."  The most disquieting aspect of the whole affair was pointed out by the NY Post editorial board.  Could more abuses have been committed against the general public?  If the FBI could fabricate pretexts against prominent individuals who could afford the best lawyers, how safe were ordinary individuals from the secret inquisitors?

Two Possibilities in Trump Wiretapping, and Neither Is Good.  The report of the I.G.'s findings on the use of FISA in the FBI Crossfire Hurricane investigation is an outrage.  As a 22 year FBI Agent, I have personally conducted multiple investigations using both Title III "wiretaps" and FISA authorized intercepts.  From this perspective, I can only see two possible interpretations of the actions of the FBI and DOJ.  Either scenario should anger and frighten every fair minded citizen who takes the time to read the report and understand its implications.

If The FBI's Contempt For The Law Is Not Reined In, Its Abuses Will Get Worse.  In 2018, the U.S. government filed 1,117 final applications to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act court for authority for the FBI to conduct electronic surveillance and physical searches.  One application was withdrawn.  One other was denied.  The remaining 1,115 were granted. [...] The legitimacy of the FBI is in free fall.  But not its terrifying power.  The biggest lie about the latest Office of Inspector General report is that it reveals "mistakes" made by the FBI.  These weren't mistakes.  The FISA court used more accurate terminology, like "misconduct."

FBI is investigating former Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin who issued more than 400 pardons in the weeks after he lost his reelection bid.  The FBI is investigating former Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin who controversially issued more than 400 pardons in the weeks after he lost his reelection bid.  Among those who were granted clemency after Bevin lost his seat on November 5 was murderer Patrick Baker, who had served two years of a 19-year sentence for killing a man during a home invasion.  Bevin also pardoned Micah Schoettle who was sentenced in 2018 to 23 years in prison for multiple sexual offences involving children.

The only guilty party during impeachment is Adam Schiff.  [Scroll down]  But to Mr. Schiff, California Democrat, and the Democratic leadership, President Trump had to be impeached by Christmas — at all costs.  Laws and the foregoing principles fairness of that interfere with this edict must be cut down.  Why?  The Articles of Impeachment charge:  (1) obstruction of Congress; and (2) abuse of power.  But Mr. Schiff has so biased and twisted the impeachment proceedings that, in the height of irony, he stands condemned by his own mouth of the same transgressions for which he will prosecute the president.  On this record it is Mr. Schiff, who has obstructed Congress and abused his power — not the president.

Former AG Mike Mukasey:  Adam Schiff Broke the Law in Subpeonaeing Phone Records from Verizon and AT&T.  [Scroll down]  [Quoting Mr. Mukasey:] ["]That is the stunner, not just that he had them, but where he got them, from the phone company providing the service.  There are statutes, part of the criminal code that restrict the ability of anybody to get those records and they list who can get them under what circumstances and that doesn't include Congress.  It is for law enforcement, for law enforcement purposes, or if the company wants to disclose them to save somebody's life or prevent serious injury they can do that.  Those are the only circumstances.  A Congressional committee, as far as I know, has no authority to subpoena that information.["]

Judicial Watch Files a Lawsuit Against Adam Schiff and the House Intelligence Committee Over Phone Records.  Government watchdog group Judicial Watch on Friday filed a lawsuit against Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and the House Intelligence Committee for failing to respond to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.  Specifically, Judicial Watch wanted information about private phone records that were released as part of the Democrats' partisan impeachment push against President Donald Trump.  The revelation came about on page 153 of the House Intelligence Committee's report on its investigation into Ukraine.

Adam Schiff:  Psychopath, or guilty conscience?  Fresh from his impeachment stunt, House Intelligence committee chairman Adam Schiff comes off as an amazing creep in the aftermath.  Asked about the recent Horowitz report's findings on Carter Page, a young Trump advisor who was illegally spied upon, Schiff said he had no sympathy. [...] What happened to Page was an outrage, an unmistakeably grave abuse of government power as mendacious FISA warrants were enacted to spy on innocent and cooperative person.  Even people who dislike President Trump can pretty naturally recognize that Page's constitutional rights on unreasonable searches and seizures was violated.  Not Schiff, though.  All he could emit was stone heartlessness for the man whose good name was ruined by abuses of government power, revealing an utter absence of empathy.

Corrupt Democrats Pushing America toward the Abyss.  The rabid rogues who spat out this incomplete impeachment effort are corrupt to the core, all sense of sanity and restraint long gone.  The roots of this outrage were planted in 2008, when Democrats achieved near absolute power with the election of President Barack Obama.  For the first two years of Obama's administration, Democrats controlled Congress, to include having enough seats in the Senate to override a filibuster.  Democrats and their supporters ultimately had control of the Executive Branch, Congress, the vast majority of the federal courts, the media, academia, the entertainment industry, the federal bureaucracy, and the babbling women of The View.  They had a stranglehold on almost every lever of power and influence the likes of which had not been seen in generations.  Not only were Democrats not shy about using these levers, but under President Obama, they turned them into weapons.  They believed themselves to be ascendant, and they expected it to last forever.

DOJ's High Crimes and Misdemeanors.  Conservative talk show hosts frequently say corruption in federal law enforcement is "just at the top; we're not talking about the rank and file of these agencies."  But Representative Adam Schiff, Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, was a low level a federal prosecutor in the late 80s and early 90s.  Robert Mueller was with DOJ during the same period.  Peter Strozk joined the FBI in the 90s.  Do we really believe members of the law enforcement community arrive at the top and then become corrupt?  No.  Skills of tampering with evidence to hide or alter it, fabricating false narratives, and controlling what information comes out in trials — or House hearings — are well-honed at lower levels of these agencies.

Schiff May Have Broken the Law with His Subpoena of Nunes' Phone Records.  Former Attorney General Michael Mukasey has questioned the legality of Rep. Adam Schiff's (D-Calif.) recent acquisition of phone records for five individuals, one of whom is House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.).  Schiff is already facing criticism of his actions as Democratic members of Congress pursue the impeachment of President Donald Trump.  But, in what's being called a "stunning abuse of congressional power," Schiff divulged the phone records of Nunes, attorney Rudy Guiliani, and others during a recent session of the impeachment inquiry.

IG report suggests FBI might cheat on all its FISA wiretap requests.  Former FBI Director James Comey initially portrayed last week's damning report on the bureau's probe of Russiagate as a vindication.  This week, Comey admitted that Inspector General Michael Horowitz discovered "real sloppiness," which is "concerning."  That characterization does not begin to cover the problems described by Horowitz, which this week prompted a highly unusual public rebuke from the court that reviews secret warrant applications under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).  The FISA court called the FBI's conduct "antithetical to the heightened duty of candor" that applies in such cases.  Comey may take comfort in the fact that Horowitz didn't find political bias.  The rest of us can hardly be reassured by the implication that the FBI is inept rather than corrupt.

Devin Nunes:  The FISA Court and FBI "Dirty Cops" are Working Together to Harm Americans.  As you listen to this please keep in mind that Devin Nunes is the Ranking Member, former Chairman, of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.  Devin Nunes is increasing his warning tone and signals to Americans.  All nuance, pretense and subtlety is now being dropped.  Rep. Nunes is openly stating that FBI officials and FISA judges are working together with the *intent* to conspire against the American people.  [Video clip]

Exxon's big court win exposes major malpractice in the New York Attorney General's Office.  Exxon's win Tuesday against New York state's climate-change lawsuit couldn't have been more complete:  Not only did the judge find the Attorney General's Office failed to prove fraud, he also blasted the case as "hyperbolic" — and praised Exxon.  State Supreme Court Judge Barry Ostrager said the state's lawyers failed to show the company ever "made any material misstatements or omissions" that could mislead any "reasonable" observer.  The AG's Office had claimed Exxon defrauded investors in violation of the Martin Act and other laws.  But Ostrager flagged the "politically motivated statements by former New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman," who launched the Exxon probe — which show that the litigation was political from the start.

Rand Paul to reporters:  Why aren't you making a bigger deal about Schiff's "immoral, unfair" seizure of phone records?  The seizure of phone records by Adam Schiff might have angered some Republicans even more than the impeachment process it was supposed to advance.  GOP members in both the House and Senate have been expressing outrage for days over Schiff's actions, perhaps none more than Sen. Rand Paul.  He wrote a blistering op-ed over Schiff's actions on Friday [12/6/2019], calling the seizure of records from fellow members of Congress and journalists "brazen and shameful."

Schiff's release of phone records is absolutely outrageous.  Sometimes the hypocrisy in Washington is so bad it is almost laughable.  The House impeachment witch hunt reached that level this week with the revelations that Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., had acquired and published personal phone records of Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., (the ranking member on the Intelligence Committee), two of President Trump's personal attorneys, and an investigative journalist Schiff doesn't like.  This act was brazen and shameful.  While it may not have been illegal (because Congress writes its own rules on investigations) it certainly was wrong.  It certainly tramples on rights normally held dear by the left.  But most of all what it did was expose that Schiff, for all of his pompous bluster, is doing exactly what he has accused President Trump of doing: using his power to investigate his political opponents.

Adam Schiff Better Have a Warrant.  As chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, U.S. Representative Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) is supposed to be the lawmaker in charge of protecting Americans from the government snooping on our phone records.  He's not supposed to be using his position to snoop around in the phone records of Americans.  We have no oversight committee to protect Americans from Schiff's spying.  But, in his recent report on the inquiry into President Trump's interactions with the Ukrainian government, Schiff disclosed that he has indeed been spying on Americans.

The Shakespearean Grandeur of Trump Derangement Syndrome.  [Scroll down]  To put it into even simpler language, the impeachment of the president, for the Framers, was not conceived of as a tool for easy removal of that official whenever Congress may have political or policy differences with him.  It was to be reserved for occasions when there was a clear, convincing, and undeniable mistake made by those who selected the president when the president turned out to be something other than represented.  Impeachment, in other words, is not a game of "Gotcha!"  It is not about finding one or two things that can be spun to be self-serving acts, it is not about whether this president may have sought to use another country in ferreting out corruption in that country or at home, and may have used the powers of the presidency to seek to do just that.

Adam Schiff Has Jumped the Shark.  Many Americans remain nonplussed over revelations in the House Intelligence Committee's Impeachment Inquiry Report that its chairman, Adam Schiff, not only secretly subpoenaed telephone records from President Trump's attorney, Rudy Giuliani, but also obtained responses that detailed dates and lengths of phone calls to Trump attorney Jay Sekulow, ranking committee member Devin Nunes, and Hill reporter John Solomon.  That Schiff self-disclosed this action as a rightful part of his committee's information gathering is equally stunning.  Every bit as bad, it appears that national telephone carriers AT&T and Verizon, who so tout their corporate concerns about subscriber privacy, responded to such obviously politicized demands without a whimper.  Schiff's actions, and indeed those of everyone involved in secretly demanding and producing these phone records, while perhaps not outright illegal, are simply beyond the pale and reminiscent of Big Brother, from George Orwell's 1984.

Hold the Phone, Call Records Released by Adam Schiff.  It was bad enough for House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA) to subpoena the phone records of businessman Lev Parnas and President Donald Trump's attorney Rudy Giuliani and other political opponents, but when he released them in his impeachment report it was a stunning abuse of power.  In the view of columnist Kimberly Strassel, Schiff's move "trampled law and responsibility... it was a disgraceful breach of ethical and legal propriety."  Not surprisingly, Trump hating members of the news media trumpeted the release of the call records as a major step toward the President's impeachment.  Their desire to destroy the President is so all-consuming that they missed the bigger picture.  Instead, journalists should have been outraged by this invasion of privacy and misuse of power.  These records should have never been released to Schiff or any politician and should have never been included in his impeachment report.

Why Is Our Society Degrading So Badly, So Fast?  In Washington, the Democrats are attempting to subvert the will of the majority of the American people, as expressed by the election results in 2016, by executing and plotting orchestrated campaigns to remove President Trump from office before the next election.  These efforts range from the recently unsuccessfully perpetrated Russia collusion hoax, which is now being followed up by an illegitimate impeachment drive by the House.  These operations also revealed the mostly clandestine activities of a permanent and extensive Deep State, also labeled "the swamp," actively working with the Democrats to subvert President Trump.  A broken environment exists in Washington that contributes to the perception that too many of our elected officials feel free to participate in and to tolerate corruption without being held accountable for their actions.  It is highly discouraging for many Americans that up to this point, there have been no legal consequences or viable restraints in place to curb these types of actions that are so fundamentally dangerous to the very foundations of our country.

What Impeachment Tells Us A Democrat-Controlled America Would Look Like.  That Democrats would seek to impeach President Trump was apparently foreordained, but the Democrats' attempts to invent justifications for what can only be described as a coup have told us much more about them, than they have revealed about Donald Trump's alleged misdeeds.  What we have learned most recently is that a Democrat Congress can conduct secret warrantless searches against private citizens, against journalists and against attorneys in a completely extra-judicial attempt to pierce the attorney-client privilege.  But that should really not have surprised us — it is merely an extension of what Democrats did during the Obama years when they surveilled journalist Sharyl Attkisson and others, and used the NSA to sweep up the phone calls of an unknown number of Americans who may or may not have been associated with the Trump campaign.

Obtaining phone logs of political rivals is a stunning abuse of congressional power.  Fanatics can justify any action, and House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff this week demonstrated where that mindset leads.  In his rush to paint Donald Trump as a lawbreaker, Mr. Schiff has himself trampled law and responsibility.  That's the bottom line in Mr. Schiff's stunning decision to subpoena the phone records of Rudy Giuliani and others.  Mr. Schiff divulged the phone logs this week in his Ukraine report, thereby revealing details about the communications of Trump attorneys Jay Sekulow and Mr. Giuliani, [...]

WSJ Columnist:  Adam Schiff's Secret Subpoena Adventure Could End with Legal Buckshot in His Face.  This isn't about the Constitution, or the framers, or the rule of law.  It's not about upholding the integrity of our institutions; Democrats have already perverted those with their deep state antics against this administration.  It's about the Democratic Party's inability to grasp that it lost the 2016 election.  Democrats wanted to boot Trump since day one of his presidency.  The ironic twist is that their impeachment fetish could very well be what secures him a second term.  This is not popular in swing states.  No one cares.  And the liberal media has been so wrong, so stupid, and so corrupt in their coverage of this White House, even Democrats in these states cannot believe what they hear. [...] In the crusade to impeach Trump, [Adam] Schiff also appears to have abused his power — and it's all in plain sight.  It's meant to be that way.  It's to show off that he can get away with it.

Devin Nunes Discusses Impeachment and Schiff's New Found Authority — Congressional Subpoenas for Private Phone Records.  Devin Nunes appeared on Tucker Carlson to discuss the impeachment events of the day.  However, thankfully they also discussed the revelation that HPSCI Chairman Adam Schiff randomly started issuing subpoenas for telephone information.  That's the part I find very troubling.  Notice how the media simply ignores it?  This is a pretty big [...] deal.  Under what authority can congress arbitrarily send subpoenas for the private phone records of citizens, journalists, and fellow politicians?  Can Nunes now start sending subpoenas for the phone records of Michael Isikoff around the time of the Flynn phone call leak?  [A]nd can congress publish those call records as a part of some possibly inquiry into the leak[,] and we can cross reference to identify the FBI leaker?

Adam Schiff Abused His Power to Dig up Dirt on Opponents.  House Intelligence Committee chairman Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) has done almost exactly what he and fellow Democrats accuse President Donald Trump (falsely) of doing: he abused his power to ask an outside entity to investigate political opponents.  Schiff subpoenaed phone records from AT&T that he then used to claim his Republican counterpart, Ranking Member Rep. Devin Nunes (D-CA), was part of a plot to smear a U.S. ambassador.

Strassel, Attkisson would like to know when Schiff will be held accountable by media for 'snooping' on free press.  With all eyes on the latest on Democrats' impeachment circus show, it seems that attention turned away from House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff "snooping" on members of the press.  The California Democrat came under fire after the release of the House Intelligence Committee's impeachment inquiry report which included phone records for Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani and others, including the committee's ranking member, Rep. Devin Nunes and members of the press like John Solomon.

Nunes Not Aware of Any Previous Time HPSCI Subpoenaed Phone Records; Calls it a 'Gross Abuse of Power'.  Rep Devin Nunes (R-CA) explained on Fox News Wednesday night how House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA) obtained the phone records of President Trump's attorney Rudy Giuliani.  Nunes told host Tucker Carlson that as far as he knew, the action the Democrats took to spy on the president's allies was unprecedented and that he was considering "legal remedies" to protect his civil rights.  Democrats obtained the phone records as part of their impeachment inquiry and according to critics, in possible violation of basic civil liberties.