How Biden Ensured his Trip to the Middle East Would Fail - Caroline Glick

 

by Caroline Glick

Biden’s policy of supporting the PLO at Israel’s expense failed 22 years ago, when the Palestinians rejected the so-called two state solution at the Camp David peace summit. And it has continued to fail ever since.

 

Ahead of U.S. President Joe Biden’s trip to Israel and Saudi Arabia, the President published an op-ed in the Washington Post, where he placed his trip to into the context of his overall Middle East policy. A few days later, Israel’s opposition leader, former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a brief statement on Biden’s then upcoming visit that spoke directly to the claims Biden made in his article. Taken together, the two communications explain why Biden’s visit was a failure before it even began – and what a successful policy looks like.

Biden’s article, “Why I’m going to Saudi Arabia,” was a political communication to his party’s progressive base. It served a twofold purpose. First, it was an apology to progressives, who are hostile to both Saudi Arabia and Israel. Second, Biden assured progressives that he was not changing course. His Middle East policy to date will remain his policy going forward.

That policy had three major pillars: hostility towards Saudi Arabia and particularly Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman (MBS); financial, nuclear and strategic appeasement of Iran; and support for the Palestinians, at Israel’s expense. Biden insisted that he remains true to these positions, but as president, he also has Russia and China to keep at bay.

As he put it, “As president, it is my job to keep our country strong and secure. We have to counter Russia’s aggression, put ourselves in the best possible position to out compete China, and work for greater stability in a consequential region of the world.”

He promised his progressive readers that he would keep the heat on Saudi Arabia (and Israel). As he put it, “My views on human rights are clear and long-standing, and fundamental freedoms are always on the agenda when I travel abroad, as they will be during this trip [to Saudi Arabia], just as they will be in Israel and the West Bank.”

Biden’s policy of supporting the PLO at Israel’s expense failed 22 years ago, when the Palestinians rejected the so-called two state solution at the Camp David peace summit. And it has continued to fail ever since. All the same, Biden slavishly maintains to placate the Israel-bashing progressive base of the Democrat Party.

In contrast, Biden’s policies towards Saudi Arabia and Iran are failing now for the first time. The implications of their failures for the U.S., for U.S. allies and for regional stability and security are catastrophic. And yet, Biden pledged in his article to stay the course in both.

Biden’s decision to allow the 2018 killing of former Saudi intelligence officer and Washington Post contributor Jamal Khashoggi to be the definitive event in U.S.-Saudi ties was irrational from a strategic perspective from the first.  Khashoggi wasn’t a dissident in the traditional sense of the word. MBS assumed the role of Crown Prince, responsible for the day to day governance of the kingdom in 2017. One of the first major efforts MBS undertook was to realign Saudi Arabia away from jihadist terror groups and the Muslim Brotherhood, by among other things, purging Saudi intelligence services of terror supporters and operatives.

Khashoggi, who had warm ties with Osama bin Laden, among other terrorists, was part of the group MBS purged. During his sojourn in Washington, Khashoggi had close ties with Qatar, which serves both as the capital of the Muslim Brotherhood and the lead sponsor of Sunni terror groups.

So while Khashoggi’s murder at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018 was certainly a brutal crime, it is hard to understand why the progressive base of the Democrat party chose to transform Khashoggi into a modern day Solzhenitsyn.

The consequences of Biden’s policy of treating MBS as a pariah have been disastrous — for the U.S. Rather than beg for forgiveness or fire his son, King Salman and MBS have expanded Saudi Arabia’s ties with Russia and China, undermining still further America’s position as the preeminent superpower in the region.

Biden’s decision to demonize MBS for his alleged role in killing Khashoggi, even as MBS embarked Saudi Arabia on a new, anti-jihadist, modernist course made no sense on its merits. But the decision is pure madness when seen in the context of Biden’s decision to implement precisely the opposite policy in relation to Iran. Not only is Iran waging proxy wars through its terror armies against the U.S. and its allies throughout the region. And not only is Iran the developing nuclear weapons. Iran has been working openly, for months to assassinate senior U.S. officials on U.S. soil. Yet whereas Biden took an axe to the U.S.-Saudi alliance, he is pursuing a policy of appeasement towards Iran that has undone the U.S.’s credibility with its regional allies.

Even worse, according to Biden’s envoy for negotiations with Iran Robert Malley, Biden’s Iran policy has transformed Iran into a turnkey nuclear power. In an interview last week with NPR, Malley said that Iran already has sufficient quantities of uranium to develop nuclear weapons and that it will only take Iran three weeks to put together a bomb.

Yet, Biden insisted in his article that his efforts to convince Iran to return to the 2015 nuclear deal, which paved Tehran’s path to the bomb, are rational, and successful, and that he remains fully committed to his course.

This brings us to Netanyahu.

Biden presented his trip to Israel and Saudi Arabia as a major event in the annals of peacemaking in the region. In his words, “On Friday, I will…be the first president to fly from Israel to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. That travel will also be a small symbol of the budding relations and steps towards normalization between Israel and the Arab world, which my administration is working to deepen and expand.”

Netanyahu used Biden’s direct flight to Saudi Arabia from Israel as a launching point for what was effectively his response to Biden’s article, and his policies. Like Biden, Netanyahu’s primary target audience was not international. It was Israeli voters, who will be going to the polls to elect a new Knesset and government in November. Speaking in Hebrew, Netanyahu used his remarks to draw a contrast between himself and caretaker Prime Minister Yair Lapid, who refuses to object to any of Biden’s policies, whether in relation to Iran, Saudi Arabia, Jerusalem or Judea and Samaria. All the same, the message Netanyahu communicated to the Saudis, the Americans and the world was direct and clear.

Netanyahu welcomed Biden’s history making flight from Tel Aviv to Jeddah. But he placed Biden’s trip in historical context. In 2017, then President Donald Trump was the first man to fly openly directly from Riyadh to Israel. And whereas Biden will participate in a routine meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council during his visit in Jeddah, Trump and MBS co-hosted an unprecedented counter-terror conference with Arab leaders where Trump exhorted his audience to “drive out” the Islamic terrorists from their midst.

After recalling Trump’s flight, Netanyahu turned his attention to the spurned Saudi Crown Prince.

“Today I’d like to voice my appreciation for Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia,” Netanyahu began.

“I’d like to express my appreciation for his contribution to the achievement of the four historic peace agreements that we delivered – the Abraham Accords.”

Netanyahu explained that it was MBS’s decision to allow flights to Israel to overfly Saudi airspace, was the beginning of normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia and the wider Arab world.

In other words, Netanyahu explained that MBS is a partner, not a criminal.

Netanyahu then pledged to go beyond normalized relations to formal ties of peace between Israel, Saudi Arabia and other Arab states, if voters return him to office in November. Finally, Netanyahu explained the foundations of the peaceful relations he forged with Arab states.  

“I know that many leaders in the Arab world trust me. They believe that under my leadership, Iran will never have nuclear weapons. This steady position contributed greatly to the achievement of the Abraham Accords. And it will enable me, as your representative, to expand the circle of peace.”

So contrary to Biden, who claims that his policy of bullying and demonizing U.S. allies while appeasing Iran is the path to peace, Netanyahu explained that the foundation of Arab-Israeli peace is Israeli strength and Israel’s willingness to do whatever is necessary to block Iran’s path to a nuclear arsenal.

In an interview with Israel television Channel 12’s anchor Yonit Levy broadcast Wednesday night, perhaps as a rejoinder to Netanyahu, Biden said that as a last resort he is willing to use force to block Iran’s path to the bomb. But given that all of Iran’s major advances in uranium enrichment have happened since Biden came into office, in light of Malley’s claim that Iran is a threshold nuclear state, and Biden’s continued commitment to the irrelevant 2015 nuclear deal, his statement is entirely unconvincing.

Biden and his advisors have tamped down expectations for any major advances in peace between Israel and Saudi Arabia. And they are right to do so. So long as the progressive base of the Democrat Party dictates Biden’s foreign policies, Biden’s policies will continue to fail, to the detriment of regional security and stability, of America’s allies and of and America’s strategic interests and superpower status.

For Biden to succeed, he must follow Netanyahu’s lead and exchange his failed policies with ones predicated on strength, common interests and strategic realities.

Originally published in Jewish News Syndicate.

 

Caroline Glick

Source: https://carolineglick.com/how-biden-ensured-his-trip-to-the-middle-east-would-fail/

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Biden Administration: The Friendliest to Iran's Mullahs? - Majid Rafizadeh

 

by Majid Rafizadeh

The problem is that Iranian leaders keep testing the Biden administration with violations --  and keep witnessing no repercussions.

• Even [Iran's mullahs] probably cannot believe that they have gotten away with so many violations since the Biden administration assumed office.

• Now, in Natanz, the Iranian regime is digging an underground nuclear facility that is reportedly extremely difficult to bomb.

• The problem is that Iranian leaders keep testing the Biden administration with violations -- such as increasing uranium enrichment to near weapon-grade levels, the transfer of weapons and oil to Venezuela, attempting to kill former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, trying to kidnap a US citizen on American soil, targeting US bases in Iraq with barrages of missiles, harassing US Navy ships, smuggling weapons in violation of UN resolutions, and turning off International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) cameras that monitor the regime's nuclear activities -- and keep witnessing no repercussions.

• As a result, the ruling mullahs have become even more emboldened to ramp up their nuclear program.

• Iran's leaders can also see that the Biden administration is not holding accountable those countries that are violating the sanctions on Iran, including China and Venezuela, which continue to buy Iranian oil.

• The Biden administration's appeasement and inaction, sadly, have done nothing but breed terrorism and transgressions. It is to be hoped that the Biden administration will not leave the world an expansionist, terror state, Iran, imminently armed with nuclear weapons.

The Biden administration's appeasement and inaction, sadly, have done nothing but breed terrorism and transgressions from Iran. Now, in Natanz, the Iranian regime is digging an underground nuclear facility that is reportedly extremely difficult to bomb. (Image source: iStock)

Prior to the Biden administration, since the ruling mullahs came to power in 1979, two US administrations -- the Obama and Carter administrations -- appeared soft on the Iranian regime. Now, the Biden administration seems to have perfected the skill of appeasing the ruling mullahs of Iran.

Even they probably cannot believe that they have gotten away with so many violations since the Biden administration assumed office.

Concerning the regime's nuclear program, the clerical establishment has now reached the highest level of advancement. Even The New York Times recently acknowledged:

"By most accounts, Iran is closer to being able to produce a bomb today than at any other point in the two-decade-long saga of its nuclear program — even if it is planning, as many national security officials believe, to stop just short of producing an actual weapon."

Some of the regime's dangerous advancements include enriching a substantial amount of uranium -- of up to 60% purity, a short technical step away from the 90% purity level required to build a nuclear weapon. Uranium enrichment is the main problem: if there were no uranium enrichment, there would be no bomb.

Even America's allies -- France, Germany and the United Kingdom -- recently warned that the Iranian government's latest action is "further reducing the time Iran would take to break out towards a first nuclear weapon and it is fueling distrust as to Iran's intentions."

In addition, the Biden administration's own officials recently acknowledged that Iran is only weeks away from obtaining nuclear breakout capability. Secretary of State Antony Blinken recently issued the warning during a hearing with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Now, in Natanz, the Iranian regime is digging an underground nuclear facility that is reportedly extremely difficult to bomb. Even Israel would not have the military capability to attack this underground nuclear site. In a recent report, David Albright, president of the Institute for Science and International Security, pointed out:

"Fordow is already viewed as so deeply buried that it would be difficult to destroy via aerial attack. The new Natanz site may be even harder to destroy."

Under previous US administrations, any single one of these kinds of nuclear violations would have been considered a major transgression, and would most likely have triggered proportionate actions against Iran's regime.

The problem is that Iranian leaders keep testing the Biden administration with violations -- such as increasing uranium enrichment to near weapon-grade levels, the transfer of weapons and oil to Venezuela, attempting to kill former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, trying to kidnap a US citizen on American soil, targeting US bases in Iraq with barrages of missiles, harassing US Navy ships, smuggling weapons in violation of UN resolutions, and turning off International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) cameras that monitor the regime's nuclear activities -- and keep witnessing no repercussions.

As a result, the ruling mullahs have become even more emboldened to ramp up their nuclear program. As the latest report from the IAEA on Iran's nuclear program has revealed, the Iranian regime is preparing to raise its uranium enrichment at the Fordow plant. According to Reuters:

"Iran is escalating its uranium enrichment further by preparing to use advanced IR-6 centrifuges at its underground Fordow site that can more easily switch between enrichment levels, a United Nations nuclear watchdog report... showed."

Iran's leaders can also see that the Biden administration is not holding accountable those countries that are violating the sanctions on Iran, including China and Venezuela, which continue to buy Iranian oil.

Iran is, in addition, freely harassing US Navy ships and has ramped up smuggling weapons to Yemen's Houthis in violation of the UN Security Council Resolution 2140. The Biden administration removed the Houthis from the terrorist list soon after it assumed office; this is how the Houthis repay the "gesture."

As if that were not sufficient, according to IranWire:

"The [United Nations] Panel of Experts [on Yemen] say there are several critical pieces of evidence that suggest the Islamic Republic has been smuggling weapons to Yemen, in violation of UNSCR 2140. Last year a cargo ship was discovered heading to Yemen from the port of Jask in southern Iran, carrying a variety of rifles and launchers. They in turn had been seized from vessels originating in Iran."

Iran's regime has also been ratcheting up its sponsorship and employment of terror cells in foreign countries.

The Biden administration's appeasement and inaction, sadly, have done nothing but breed terrorism and transgressions. It is to be hoped that the Biden administration will not leave the world an expansionist, terror state, Iran, imminently armed with nuclear weapons.

• Follow Majid Rafizadeh on Twitter

 

Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is a business strategist and advisor, Harvard-educated scholar, political scientist, board member of Harvard International Review, and president of the International American Council on the Middle East. He has authored several books on Islam and US Foreign Policy. He can be reached at Dr.Rafizadeh@Post.Harvard.Edu

Source: https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18706/biden-administration-friendliy-iran

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Biden's Poorly-Timed Visit to the Middle East - Cal Thomas

 

by Cal Thomas

Is it going to be a lose-lose for America and Israel?

 

In 1988, five years after calling the Soviet Union an "evil empire," President Ronald Reagan visited Moscow where he addressed an audience of students from Moscow State University. At the heart of his speech, Reagan promoted the virtues and success of liberty and his vision that tyranny would ultimately be defeated (recall his other forecast made to the British Parliament in 1982 that the Soviet Union would end up "on the ash heap of history").

Contrast those remarks with the current president and his trip to the Middle East. A headline in the Connecticut Post asks the right question: "Biden once wanted to make Saudi Arabia a 'pariah' - so why is he playing nice with the kingdom's repressive rulers now?"

Biden will meet with Saudi Arabia's Prince Mohammed bin Salman (affectionately known as MBS), who has been accused by U.S. intelligence of sending a hit squad to murder journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Apparently feeling the heat of criticism from people opposed to the trip, Biden felt the need to explain himself in an op-ed for The Washington Post.

In it, Biden makes this ludicrous claim: "The Middle East I'll be visiting is more stable and secure than the one my administration inherited 18 months ago." He must have forgotten the Abraham Accords, which Trump and son-in-law Jared Kushner cobbled together. It normalized relations between Israel and five Arab countries, including Bahrain, the UAE and Morocco, something never before achieved. As usual, Biden gives no credit to Trump.

Speaking of not forgetting, Biden was part of an administration that spent nearly $350,000 supporting a group trying to unseat then-Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to a U.S. Senate investigation. The administration has also been pushing for a nuclear deal with Iran, which has clearly failed and never had a chance of succeeding. That's because Iran's leaders have repeatedly said they are obeying Allah's command to acquire nuclear weapons.

Biden has said he will raise the issue of human rights with MBS. That is unlikely to produce positive results in a nation that has only recently allowed women to drive cars.

Despite the cover-up with noble intentions, this trip is about trying to persuade Saudi Arabia to produce more oil so U.S. gas prices will come down to tolerable levels ahead of the November and 2024 elections. What will the U.S. get in return? Probably no more than Biden and Obama got from opening diplomatic relations with Cuba.

Last February, Biden telephoned MBS to effectively ask him to pump more oil after he had curbed additional domestic oil production, reversing the much lower gas prices during the Trump administration. Biden seemed to be offering him a deal - Biden would provide more so-called "defensive weapons" for the Saudis to fight the Houthis in Yemen in exchange for more Saudi oil. Reading between the lines of reports about the call, it appeared MBS turned him down.

When Reagan visited Moscow, his approval ratings were 53 percent, according to Gallup. He dealt from a position of strength and moral clarity. Biden's approval numbers (if they can be called that) have declined to a record 33 percent, according to a New York Times/Siena College survey with a majority of Democrats wanting him to be replaced in 2024. Ninety percent of young Democrats want another candidate.

The Middle East has been relatively quiet in recent years. Biden's trip is unlikely to enhance stability and more likely to stir things up again. It has the potential of being a lose-lose for America and for Israel, which would be quite an accomplishment.

 

Cal Thomas

Source: https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2022/07/bidens-poorly-timed-visit-middle-east-cal-thomas/

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Life Lessons With Doctor Bob: Project Veritas Founder James O'Keefe - Frontpagemag.com

 

by Frontpagemag.com

Called up Planned Parenthood, posing as a racist doctor.

 

Robert J. Shillman, aka “Doctor Bob,” has been a supporter of The David Horowitz Freedom Center for many years. He has recently started a podcast, Life Lessons with Doctor Bob, and he has agreed to let us share those valuable lessons about achieving success with our readers. His in-depth interviews with interesting and successful people prove that, unlike the MSM’s portrayal of America, this nation has been, and continues to be, a land of opportunity for anyone willing to put in the effort. Make sure to subscribe to the show at Doctor Bob's website: lifelessonswithdoctorbob.com.

In this new episode of Life Lessons with Doctor Bob, Doctor Bob welcomes Project Veritas Founder James O'Keefe for a riveting discussion about what happened next when he called up Planned Parenthood and posed as a RACIST doctor.  

Don't miss it!

Frontpagemag.com

Source: https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2022/07/life-lessons-doctor-bob-project-veritas-founder-frontpagemagcom/

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Media take notice as Hispanics ditch Democratic Party with ‘once in a generation’ political realignment - Nikolas Lanum , Brian Flood

 

by Nikolas Lanum , Brian Flood

Republicans have gained ground in every demographic, besides college-educated women

 

The left-leaning media and powerful Democrats alike have taken notice that Hispanics are ditching the Democratic Party. 

The "biggest political story of our time" is the major shift in the demographics of the two parties, with Republicans gaining major ground among Hispanic voters and becoming increasingly working-class and multiracial, according to a new report by Axios.  

The Thursday article, entitled "The Great Realignment," details a Democratic Party that is becoming more elite and "a little more white," as inroads in a number of ethnic groups for Republicans could turn the tide in numerous Democratic-held swing seats. 

One of the most notable points of data shows that Democrats are "statistically tied" with Republicans in congressional ballots when it comes to the Hispanic vote. The metric becomes more shocking when turning the page back to 2018, when the Democratic Party held a 47-point advantage with Hispanics in the midterms. Also notable is an April NBC News poll, which showed Democrats losing ground in every demographic, besides college-educated women, where they gained 10 points since 2010.  

5 REASONS THE LEFT IS LOSING LATINOS

Axios highlighted statistics showing Hispanics living near the U.S.-Mexico border are in favor of tougher border security, a viewpoint long held by the Republican Party and many conservatives.    ((AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File))

Giancarlo Sopo, a descendent of Cuban exiles, ran the Hispanic advertising and rapid response effort for former President Trump’s 2020 re-election campaign. He called what’s occurring a "once in a generation type of political realignment," saying working-class Hispanic voters simply don’t have anything in common with the modern "woke" Democrat. He explained that it’s critical to consider that the Hispanic poverty rate has declined significantly in recent years, as members of the community create new small businesses in droves. 

"We're aspirational people. We want to work hard. We came to this country to succeed. Also, I think during that same time, it would be fair to say that the Democratic Party's overly educated or miseducated, depending how you look at it, you know, elites have taken over the party, and it's difficult to find groups that are more different than a woke White Democrat and your average Hispanic," Sopo told Fox News Digital. 

"They're economically different. The social and cultural values are very different. Your average Hispanic tends to be far more religious and traditional in their cultural views than your average Democrat. So, I think if you understand the cultural transformation that we've seen on the Democrats, where they've become a lot more radicalized, and at the same time Hispanics… don’t just believe in the American dream. We personify it," Sopo continued. "Hispanics are really succeeding in America, the Democratic message just does not appeal to Hispanics."

Sopo believes the Democratic message is based on "victimhood" and "inequality."

SOROS TAKEOVER: CONSERVATIVE RADIO STAR LOURDES UBIETA QUITS ICONIC RADIO MAMBI AHEAD OF SALE TO LIBERAL GROUP

 

The report by Axios details concerns from Democratic strategists, who assert that the party’s "biggest vulnerability" is assuming the views and priorities of progressives are in alignment with those of working-class voters.  

"Hispanics want to prosper… they want to figure out, ‘OK, how do we reach the next step on the ladder?’ That's what Hispanics are focused on, not memorizing 74 pronouns. Not relitigating 1492 or Latinx and trying to upend the entire Spanish language," Sopo said. "[They] really just want to focus on living a good life in this country, providing for their families and succeeding."

The piece admits that communities of color have "borne the brunt" of skyrocketing crime in the age of the "Defund the Police" movement, which many progressive activists championed. Furthermore, Axios highlights statistics that show Hispanics living near the U.S.-Mexico border are in favor of tougher border security, a viewpoint long held by the Republican Party and many conservatives.  

"The Democrats are absolutely terrified at what they're seeing among Hispanic voters, and they're going to do everything they can to woke shame Latinos into submission. Unfortunately for them, Hispanics aren't buying it," Sopo said.

"Even on immigration, we have very nuanced views. Yes, I'd say most Hispanics want to find some kind of legislative solution, especially for the DACA kids. But at the same time, Hispanics also like having a strong border, safe communities. They don't like the idea of people crossing over illegally, while many Hispanic families had to wait sometimes over a decade to come into this country the right way," Sopo said. "So even on immigration, Hispanics' views are nuanced. And in fact, when you look at how Hispanics, what they think about even legal immigration, they tend to have more restrictionist views than your average liberal White Democrat. There's just such a misunderstanding. The Democrats have gotten this so terribly wrong with Hispanics."

GEORGE SOROS, JILL BIDEN PUT HISPANIC CONSERVATIVES AT CENTER OF SIMULTANEOUS NEWS CYCLES

October 10, 2020 - Orlando, Florida, United States - People hold placards after U.S. Vice President Mike Pence addressed supporters at a Latinos for Trump campaign rally at Central Christian University on October 10, 2020 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Paul Hennessy/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

A New York Times/Sienna poll, conducted between July 5 and 7, also spells trouble for Democrats when it comes to demographics they have long relied on to push them to victory.  

The poll shows that Hispanic Americans, more so than any other group, are concerned with inflation, the cost of living, and the economy. Eighty-seven percent of Hispanics and Latinos said in the survey they consider inflation and the cost of living "extremely important," in comparison to 81% of Black Americans and 75% of White Americans. Furthermore, 64% of Hispanic and Latino voters said the nation’s economic conditions were "poor," while 48% of Black Americans and 58% of White Americans said the same. The poll also found that Hispanic and Latino voters care more about the economy than other Americans, with 28% noting that it was the most important problem facing America out of a 26-option list.  

The issue of inflation is likely to be a detriment to Democrats and the Biden administration, as past elections have shown dismal economic conditions often reflect poorly on the party in the White House. It doesn’t help Democrats that Republicans have seized on this issue, centering it as a serious voting topic, while Democrats are primarily running on abortion rights and gun control, which does not poll as high on average.  

The media appear to be taking note of these substantial demographics shifts. Last month, CNN journalists warned Democrats that the Republican-won Texas special election, an election held in a historically Democratic district, showed that the party was taking Hispanic voters for granted.  

Citing Donald Trump winning more Hispanic and Latino voters in the 2020 election than he did in 2016, political analyst John Avlon blamed the Democrats’ infatuation with "identity politics" as the big driver. 

SOROS TAKEOVER: NELSON RUBIO EXITS RADIO MAMBI BEFORE ‘EXTREME LEFT’ GROUP PURCHASES CONSERVATIVE STATION

Political commentator Van Jones also sounded the alarm on Hispanic voters trending Republican, arguing that Democrats were losing Hispanics on economic concerns and socially conservative issues. Jones also knocked Democrats for labeling all Republicans as racists and for assuming that all Black and Hispanic voters are liberals. 

The Democrats’ recent forays into Hispanic radio, and the media’s coverage of Republican minority politicians, have also angered a number of Hispanic and Latino figures, with the potential to further negatively impact the party’s ability to retain votes.  

A George-Soros-linked group has recently taken steps to acquire a popular Spanish-language conservative talk radio station in Miami, Florida, in an attempt to reach voters, outraging staffers at the network. A number of prominent anchors subsequently left Radio Mambi, over concerns that the station would shift from the interests of their conservative audience.  

"Latinos are fed up," former Radio Mambi host Dania Alexandrino told Fox News Digital the day before she quit the station. "The Democratic Party prostitutes the vote of the Hispanic population. They use it, they abuse it, and then they discard. They do it every single election cycle."

Meanwhile, some in the media have recently taken to labeling prominent Republican Latinas as "far-right" and warning about a rise in "White Supremacy" among them.  

MAYRA FLORES FIRES BACK AFTER NEW YORK TIMES CALLS HER 'FAR-RIGHT LATINA': PAPER KNOWS 'NOTHING ABOUT ME'

U.S. Rep. Mayra Flores (R-TX) is interviewed by a reporter outside the Capitol Building after being sworn in on June 21, 2022 in Washington, DC. Flores was elected to fill the seat held by Democratic Rep. Filemon Vela, who resigned from office in March. She is the first Mexican-born woman elected to Congress.   (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Last week, The New York Times published a piece headlined "The Rise of the Far-Right Latina," referencing Rep. Mayra Flores, R-Texas, the first female Mexican-born member of the House, and two other Republican Latinas running for office, Monica De La Cruz and Cassy Garcia. 

This week, a CNN column suggested Flores was an inauthentic Latina. Raul Reyes, a regular CNN writer, slammed Flores, De La Cruz and Garcia, in a piece headlined, "These GOP Latina candidates are not the ‘real deal.’"

"I was down there on Election Day with Mayra Flores and Cassy Garcia visiting all these different precincts and talking to voters and people will tell you that they've voted Democrat their entire life or maybe their grandparents were Democrats. But they say, ‘Listen, this is no longer my abuela’s [grandmother's] Democratic Party.' These people have been radicalized. They don't share our values," Sopo said. 

"You really see it on the ground when you go to restaurants in Texas, particularly in south Texas, in the rural areas, you see Hispanic families gathering to eat at a table, and they pray before their meals. You know, these are just very different types of voters and the direction that the Democratic Party is heading in, which tends to be much more secular, much more politically correct," Sopo added. "Hispanics are not particularly preoccupied with political correctness. Many of us, we're like one or two generations removed away from pretty dark places, and we think this country is awesome." 

Speaking with Fox News Digital, Flores herself had similar feelings, suggesting the Hispanic community places a strong emphasis on "God, family and country," as well as "jobs, jobs, and more jobs."

"Liberals have taken our community for granted for too long and think that by pandering to us, with such terms as Latinx, playing Spanish music or seeing us as tacos, it will help them— It is not, and they are just waking up to that reality. Buena suerte [good luck] with that!" she added.

Media Research Center Latino director Jorge Bonilla recently predicted the media will continue to attack Hispanic conservatives ahead of critical elections, hoping to paint non-liberal Latinos as "disinformers," and Sopo feels Democrats need much more than help from the press to win back Hispanic voters.  

"Whenever Democrats think that in order to win Hispanic voters, all they have to do is maybe, you know, play a little salsa music, talk about tacos and promise amnesty. That message no longer works with Hispanics," Sopo said. 

Nikolas Lanum , Brian Flood

Nikolas Lanum is an associate editor for Fox News Digital.

Source: https://www.foxnews.com/media/media-take-notice-hispanics-ditch-democratic-party-generation-political-realignment

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Biden Gave TikTok a Pass. American Kids Died - Daniel Greenfield

 

by Daniel Greenfield

Children died so Biden could recruit an “army of influencers”.

 

In the summer of 2020, President Trump imposed sanctions on TikTok, and in the next summer, Biden lifted them in his own executive order. While the Biden administration claimed that it would scrutinize the Chinese Communist company, there was an obvious ulterior motive.

Biden revoked Trump’s TikTok executive order in June 2021. That same month, the Biden administration began reaching out to TikTok influencers to build an “influencer army”.

It’s impossible to believe that the two White House decisions to revoke the TikTok order and to mobilize TikTok influencers made in the same month were unrelated.

Once again, Biden’s political interests trumped national security. As it did for the Democrats.

While the White House doesn’t have a TikTok account, “Building Back Together”, a Biden allied non-profit, has a TikTok account trying to boost his popularity among Latinos.

During the presidential campaign, the DNC warned staffers against "using TikTok on personal devices" and urged them to use a "separate phone and account" instead. This year, the DNC officially joined TikTok. The DNC's account features videos of Biden and Kamala, along with attacks on Republicans. The RNC’s refusal to join TikTok has turned it into a Democrat platform.

Albeit one controlled by Chinese Communists.

A BuzzFeed report in June 2022 revealed that, just as the Trump administration had warned, American user data was being accessed from China. “Everything is seen in China,” the report revealed. One consultant observed that, “there’s some backdoor to access user data in almost all of them”.

Biden’s failure to enforce Trump’s order forcing TikTok’s Chinese parent company to divest from its American business had allowed China to spy on American kids.

And worse.

Part of the true cost of China's ongoing ownership can be seen in a lawsuit filed by the Social Media Victims Law Center which described how an 8-year-old and a 9-year-old girl died of "self-strangulation" after being encouraged to take part "in TikTok’s Blackout Challenge, which encourages users to choke themselves with belts, purse strings or other similar items until passing out."

The lawsuit alleges that "TikTok’s dangerous algorithm intentionally and repeatedly pushed the deadly 'Blackout Challenge' into both Lalani and Arriani’s TikTok 'For You Page'" That means, according to the lawsuit, that TikTok had “specifically curated and determined that these Blackout Challenge videos – videos featuring users who purposefully strangulate themselves until losing consciousness – are appropriate and fitting for small children”.

Arriani, the 9-year-old girl, was found "hanging by her dog’s leash which she had affixed to the door to her room. She had been in this condition for at least a half-hour in front of her 5-year-old brother." Lalani, the 8-year-old girl, was found "hanging from her bed with a rope around her neck still warm to the touch. Lalani had laid out her bathing suit in anticipation of going swimming."

The two girls are one of seven children to have died as a result of the "blackout challenge".

Five of the children, including 12-year-olds in Colorado and Oklahoma, and a 10-year-old in Pennsylvania, are Americans.

These are only some of the dozens of deaths linked back to various TikTok challenges.

While China’s Communist party closely regulates its own domestic social media, companies are encouraged to abuse and take advantage of foreign nations, especially enemies, with everything from shipping fentanyl precursors to encouraging child mutilation and suicide.

TikTok is part of China’s war against America.

While Douyin, TikTok's version in China, closely regulates content, limiting children to 40 minutes a day and banning, "licentiousness, vulgarity" and the “subversion of traditional moral values", TikTok does everything possible to destroy America's children while buying politicians.

ByteDance, TikTok's Chinese owner, has increased its lobbying outlays "tenfold". TikTok's director of global policy, Michael Hacker, is a former senior adviser to Rep. Clyburn, who is not only the third highest ranking House Democrat in the leadership, but also helped put Biden in the White House and commands his ear. ByteDance has even helped fund a scholarship for the James E. Clyburn Scholarship & Research Foundation. The Clyburn Foundation claims that it helps children and builds “healthy communities”. Perhaps Rep. Clyburn can explain how the dead children of TikTok, at least one of whom was black, were helped by his blood money.

Another public policy figure at TikTok, Michael Bloom, had spent a decade working for Nancy Pelosi, including as her senior adviser until 2017. While the TikTok team also includes plenty of vets from the GOP side of the aisle, it’s the Democrats who have given TikTok a pass.

And American children have paid the price with their mental health and their lives.

It’s not only elected officials who are to blame. Google, Apple, and Amazon rapidly purged Parler, a conservative social media app, in order to silence conservatives, but have refused to take action against TikTok. Indeed searches for the term on Google quickly fill with TikTok videos. Including at least one direct link to a blackout challenge video hosted on TikTok.

Michael Beckerman, the former president and CEO of the Internet Association, an industry lobby whose members include Google, Amazon and Twitter, now heads TikTok's policy operation. A number of other IA vets are also working for the Chinese spy operation now.

Beckerman had assured Senate members that, "We do not share information with the Chinese government" and "We have a world-renowned U.S. based security team that handles access."

Big Tech companies have been very eager to deplatform conservative voices and apps to “fight misinformation”, yet are uninterested in removing an app which violates their own terms of service by spying on users, especially minors, and which has killed 7 children.

The Biden administration has convened task forces to fight speech in this country it considers “misinformation”, yet has refused to stop a Chinese company from causing child suicides.

Biden chose to give TikTok a pass at the same time that his advisers decided that it would be politically useful. American children died so Biden could recruit an “army of influencers”.

 

Daniel Greenfield, a Shillman Journalism Fellow at the Freedom Center, is an investigative journalist and writer focusing on the radical Left and Islamic terrorism.

Source: https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2022/07/biden-gave-tiktok-pass-american-kids-died-daniel-greenfield/

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Midwest truckers group warns of catastrophe if California environmental, labor regulations spread - The Center Square Staff

 

by The Center Square Staff

“It’s across the board, the state economy would suffer immeasurably if we were to adopt some of these California regulations in Illinois,” said Don Schaefer of the Mid-West Truckers Association

Illinois truckers are worried California trucking regulations could spread to the Land of Lincoln.

The trucking industry is fragile enough now as is, said Don Schaefer, executive vice president of the Mid-West Truckers Association, and following California’s lead would be “catastrophic.”

With high fuel prices and labor shortages, some trucks are already parked, Schaefer said.

The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) alongside the Union of Concerned Scientists commissioned a report supporting a move to no- and low-emission trucks and buses in Illinois.

“Freight is a major part of the Chicago area economy, but air pollution caused by diesel emissions disproportionately harms Black and Latino communities in the region,” Jose Acosta Cordova of the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization said. “This report shows how the Advanced Clean Truck (ACT) rule and the NOx Omnibus rule will set Illinois on the path towards achieving zero-emission freight and mitigating the negative impacts of diesel-powered vehicles.”

The report evaluated three policy scenarios Illinois could adopt. Two resemble California regulations like requiring increased numbers of new trucks to be zero-emission vehicles.

Schaefer said the trucking industry supports moving toward cleaner energy, but it’s not there yet.

“Sooner or later we’re going to get to that point, but it’s not going to be overnight,” Schaefer said. “We’ve made great steps in the last couple of years, and it’s going to take a couple of years more to get to the point where we can have a zero-emissions fleet.”

The NRDC report claims more environmental regulations will create more clean energy jobs.

“The strongest scenario would add over 14,000 new jobs by 2045,” NRDC said in a news release. “The largest number of added jobs are in electrical component manufacturing and charging infrastructure construction, requiring many well-paid electricians and electrical engineers.”

Schaefer said adding more regulations similar to heavily regulated California, as the NRDC report suggests, would do the opposite.

“It’s across the board, the state economy would suffer immeasurably if we were to adopt some of these California regulations in Illinois,” he said.

Another regulation Schaefer said California is implementing deals with labor.

Independent trucking contractors are able to haul, work in construction, and do other things mid- to heavy-duty trucks can do. Schaefer said California aims to get rid of that independence, forcing truckers to work in larger, union operations.

“It’s gonna be bad for California, but it’s also going to be something that every other state is going to look at and say, ‘If we do this, then the total trucking industry from the independent contractor standpoint will be in turmoil,’” Schaefer said.

 

The Center Square Staff

Source: https://justthenews.com/nation/states/center-square/midwest-truckers-group-warns-catastrophe-if-california-environmental

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How Angela Merkel's Green Agenda Caused the Economic Collapse of Germany - Stephen Moore

 

by Stephen Moore

It turns out that peace through weakness is a failed national and economic security strategy.

 

Remember how the world, especially the American media, fawned over former German Chancellor Angela Merkel?

The adoration was so over the top that in 2015 Time magazine named Merkel its "Person of the Year." It described her as the "Chancellor of the Free World."

Time owes whatever readers it has left a solemn apology. Today, Germans are suffering the bitter fruits of nearly every major economic and geopolitical decision Merkel made as chancellor.

Start with the German economy that she attempted to reset for the 21st century, which is reminiscent of how President Joe Biden explains to inflation-weary voters that we are going through "an incredible transition."

But Merkel's Germany was ahead of us in its "transition." Today, the German economy is in tatters. A recent headline from Business Insider summarized the chaos: "German Industries Could Collapse Due to Russia Natural Gas Supply Cutbacks." The Daily Telegraph recently described Germany as "the sick man of Europe." Things are getting so desperate that the Germans are now considering rationing gas for their major industries to keep the lights on.

How did one of the five wealthiest countries in the world so quickly careen into this economic ditch?

It was Merkel's vision of a new Germany. Merkel was the one who made the decision a decade ago to move Germany away from fossil fuels and nuclear power and instead "go green." Her green energy crusade, which environmentalists heralded as a model for the world, nearly bankrupted the German manufacturing economy until the entire solar and wind energy debacle was scuttled. (Sadly, Biden apparently never got that memo.)

It was Merkel's decision, against the advice of then-President Donald Trump, to build the Nord Stream pipeline. When Trump sagely warned in 2018 that Germans would rue the day they became overly reliant on Russian President Vladimir Putin's energy, Merkel's administration openly scoffed.

Putin isn't the only one getting rich from Merkel's blunders. She negotiated trade deals with China, blatantly undermining Trump's strategy of economically isolating the Beijing menace. She chose to align Germany with rogue and militaristic regimes in Russia, China and Iran. This helped undermine NATO and Germany's post-World War II close ties with the United States.

She refused to pony up the 2% of GDP that Germany owed NATO for Europe's defenses, and she bristled when Trump demanded that be raised to 4%. Perhaps if the Germans and Europeans had heeded Trump's advice, the debacle of Ukraine wouldn't have happened.

The American media, during all this time that Merkel was steering Germany over a green energy cliff, took Merkel's side in her open dispute with Trump. Susan Glasser of the New Yorker snorted in 2018 that Trump had "made war on Angela Merkel and Europe" and the NATO countries were "run(ning) out of patience with the President."

That statement is foolish today, given the collapse of the euro and the economic downturn throughout the continent.

Even as an environmentalist, Europe's savior was a flop. Merkel hogtied German industries to expensive and unreliable "renewable" energy by spurning natural gas and closing nuclear plants. The experiment failed miserably, and now Germany is vastly increasing the share of its power that comes from burning coal. That's no strategy to stop climate change.

Under Merkel's weak leadership, the euro was supposed to replace the dollar as the world currency soon. Instead, the euro is a currency in collapse. Even the Russian ruble is stronger.

Merkelism can be summarized as a strategy of patronizing enemies and alienating allies. Now with 20/20 hindsight, it is clear that the legacy of Merkelism is a chaotic world and a diminished Germany.

It turns out that peace through weakness is a failed national and economic security strategy. If Merkel was the "Chancellor of the Free World," why is it that today's world is not safer?

It is not cleaner.

It is not freer.

And it is not a more prosperous place.

In short, every major decision she made regarding global affairs made the world more dangerous, less free and less prosperous. She was to Germany what Biden has been to the U.S. -- a complete and dismal failure.

Let's hope we figure this out more quickly than the Germans did.

 

Stephen Moore

Source: https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2022/07/how-angela-merkels-green-agenda-caused-economic-stephen-moore/

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NCAA nominates controversial transgender athlete for 'Woman of the Year' award - Just the News Staff

 

by Just the News Staff

Lia Thomas drew criticism for participating in women's sports despite being born male.

A controversial transgender swimmer is receiving a nomination for "female athlete of the year" in college athletics despite having been born male.

Lia Thomas, who identifies as a woman, is among the nearly 600 athletes up for the NCAA's Woman of the Year award. 

The award, "established in 1991," is meant to recognize "female student-athletes who have exhausted their eligibility and distinguished themselves in their community, in athletics and in academics throughout their college careers," the NCAA says on its website. 

Thomas, who was born male, has drawn criticism for participating in women's competitions for the University of Pennsylvania, having dominated many events by significant margins ahead of female competitors. 

Both Penn and the NCAA have defended their decisions to allow transgender athletes to compete on teams that align with their "gender identity," with advocates regularly claiming that male bodies confer no innate advantages upon the athletes who inhabit them.

 

Just the News Staff

Source: https://justthenews.com/nation/ncaa-nominates-controversial-transgender-identifying-athlete-woman-year-award

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How Can Western Civilization Survive with Reviled Institutions? - J. B. Shurk

 

by J. B. Shurk

Westerners increasingly do not trust their governments or their major news media to report accurate and reliable information. They increasingly view government actors as perpetuating two standards of justice and economic security — one for those at the very top of society's pyramid of wealth and power and one for everyone else.

• A Monmouth University poll released on July 5 reveals that 57% of Americans believe that U.S. federal government actions over the last six months have directly hurt their families. In that same poll, Monmouth compiles the 22 most important priorities of the American people. Neither Russia's war in Ukraine nor Congress's January 6 Committee hearings appear anywhere on the list; instead, the top four issues all deal with skyrocketing inflation and economic uncertainty.

• A new Gallup poll documents a precipitous drop in Americans' confidence across 16 major institutions, including historic lows for confidence in newspapers, the criminal justice system, big business, police, and all three branches of the federal government. The survey's results represent the lowest overall institutional confidence ever recorded in its decades-long survey history, and not a single institution reflected an increase in confidence over last year's measures. Only 7% of Americans have a "Great deal / Quite a lot" of confidence in Congress, while only 11% feel similarly about television news.

• Only adding to Westerners' perception of widespread institutional corruption, an investigation by the British Medical Journal recently documented pervasive conflicts of interest within Western drug and health regulatory agencies whose budgets are funded primarily by monetary gifts from major pharmaceutical companies, the very industry players whose products the government agencies are charged with regulating.

• Westerners increasingly do not trust their governments or their major news media to report accurate and reliable information. They increasingly view government actors as perpetuating two standards of justice and economic security — one for those at the very top of society's pyramid of wealth and power and one for everyone else.

• Westerners increasingly do not trust their governments or their major news media to report accurate and reliable information. They increasingly view government actors as perpetuating two standards of justice and economic security — one for those at the very top of society's pyramid of wealth and power, and one for everyone else.

• Surely Western authorities cannot expect to maintain long-term legitimacy if their populations judge governing institutions as irredeemably marred by corruption and political leaders as indifferent, if not downright hostile, to ordinary citizens' wants and needs.

• It has become fashionable for Western politicians to divide up the global chessboard between virtuous "democracies" struggling for world peace and threatening "dictatorships" causing hardship and chaos. Whatever the West's "democracies" are today, however, they are not bastions for representing honestly their peoples' most dire concerns, nor are they above doling out to their citizenries hefty portions of hardship and chaos.

• Institutions can be broadly categorized as those that are created and maintained through human cooperation and consent and those that require force and coercion to endure. In a "democratic" society, cooperation and consent are the principal building blocks, as well as tools, for fashioning strong institutions capable of surviving unknown threats and unexpected emergencies.

• What happens when consent is replaced by government force and coercion? Laws lose legitimacy. News sources are reduced to pure propaganda. Political disagreement turns to bloodshed and murder. It is as if society's cement has instead been replaced by strongmen trying to squeeze humanity's discrete blocks together with sheer muscle...

What happens when consent is replaced by government force and coercion? Laws lose legitimacy. News sources are reduced to pure propaganda. Political disagreement turns to bloodshed and murder. It is as if society's cement has instead been replaced by strongmen trying to squeeze humanity's discrete blocks together with sheer muscle... (Image source: iStock)

Western authorities cannot expect to maintain long-term legitimacy if their populations judge governing institutions as irredeemably marred by corruption and political leaders as indifferent, if not downright hostile, to ordinary citizens' wants and needs.

Across the West, there is a sharp divergence between the needs of normal citizens and the worldview articulated and pushed by their "representatives" in government. Faith in the institutions staffed by those "representatives" is plummeting. Shouldn't this disconnect be setting off alarm bells from D.C. to Brussels? Are we not approaching a Rubicon where the West's future survival is at stake?

With regard to nearly every contentious issue, the fissure separating the expressed preferences of ordinary citizens and those of their governments is expanding.

Last month the European Parliament voted overwhelmingly to renew the EU Digital COVID-19 Certificate infrastructure for another year, despite near unanimous rejection from European citizens responding to a months-long public consultation on the use of mandatory digital health passports.

For decades, both European and American citizens have expressed overwhelming opposition to illegal immigration, yet leaders have done little on either side of the Atlantic to stem the persistent problem. As inflation and social unrest rise in Europe, nearly 60% of EU citizens are "not ready" to defend Ukraine's sovereignty against Russia's invasion if doing so necessarily triggers higher fuel and food costs. Still, Germany and France have warned their populations to "prepare for a total cut-off of Russian gas."

Likewise, the World Economic Forum just released a position paper arguing that "protecting democracy" requires Westerners to endure much higher gas and oil prices. Without bountiful supplies of hydrocarbon energy, however, some analysts argue that global famine and Western economic collapse become inevitable.

A Monmouth University poll released on July 5 reveals that 57% of Americans believe that U.S. federal government actions over the last six months have directly hurt their families. In that same poll, Monmouth compiles the 22 most important priorities of the American people. Neither Russia's war in Ukraine nor Congress's January 6 Committee hearings appear anywhere on the list; instead, the top four issues all deal with skyrocketing inflation and economic uncertainty. That said, the U.S. House recently passed the "Federal Reserve Racial and Economic Equity Act" that would require the Federal Reserve to pursue "woke" socialism over financial growth, and President Joe Biden and a willing Congress have already spent more on the Ukraine conflict than the U.S. did during the first five years of war in Afghanistan. Recent polling shows a whopping 78% of American voters judge the United States to be on the wrong track today, jumping 27 points since Biden assumed office. And nearly 40% of Americans now believe the U.S. government is "not sound at all."

Institutional confidence is cratering.

A new Gallup poll documents a precipitous drop in Americans' confidence across 16 major institutions, including historic lows for confidence in newspapers, the criminal justice system, big business, police, and all three branches of the federal government. The survey's results represent the lowest overall institutional confidence ever recorded in its decades-long survey history, and not a single institution reflected an increase in confidence over last year's measures. Only 7% of Americans have a "Great deal / Quite a lot" of confidence in Congress, while only 11% feel similarly about television news.

Only adding to Westerners' perception of widespread institutional corruption, an investigation by the British Medical Journal recently documented pervasive conflicts of interest within Western drug and health regulatory agencies whose budgets are funded primarily by monetary gifts from major pharmaceutical companies, the very industry players whose products the government agencies are charged with regulating.

Westerners increasingly do not trust their governments or their major news media to report accurate and reliable information. They increasingly view government actors as perpetuating two standards of justice and economic security — one for those at the very top of society's pyramid of wealth and power, and one for everyone else. And as British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's early forced retirement shows, public tolerance for turning a blind eye to the propagation of this dual and conflicting set of realities is rapidly waning.

Surely this situation is untenable. Surely Western authorities cannot expect to maintain long-term legitimacy if their populations judge governing institutions as irredeemably marred by corruption and political leaders as indifferent, if not downright hostile, to ordinary citizens' wants and needs. It has become fashionable for Western politicians to divide up the global chessboard between virtuous "democracies" struggling for world peace and threatening "dictatorships" causing hardship and chaos. Whatever the West's "democracies" are today, however, they are not bastions for representing honestly their peoples' most dire concerns, nor are they above doling out to their citizenries hefty portions of hardship and chaos.

Institutions can be broadly categorized as those that are created and maintained through human cooperation and consent and those that require force and coercion to endure. In a "democratic" society, cooperation and consent are the principal building blocks, as well as tools, for fashioning strong institutions capable of surviving unknown threats and unexpected emergencies. Representative governments are formed reflecting the democratic votes of citizens and the public's general will.

When representative bodies create laws that reflect the public's preferences, citizens generally respect the criminal codes and regulations that restrict their freedoms. When the news media are judged to produce truthful information, they are relied upon as a worthy check against unjust government power. When people who represent a minority viewpoint in society are nonetheless permitted to express their thoughts, seek change, and accrue power, then a multitude of groups with conflicting points of view can coexist without factionalism necessarily leading to political violence.

Voluntary cooperation creates remarkably powerful institutions because individual citizens have a personal stake in their continued existence. Discrete blocks of humanity are hermetically cemented together, so that civilization can rise to towering heights.

What happens when consent is replaced by government force and coercion? Laws lose legitimacy. News sources are reduced to pure propaganda. Political disagreement turns to bloodshed and murder. It is as if society's cement has instead been replaced by strongmen trying to squeeze humanity's discrete blocks together with sheer muscle, straining and sweating under the pressure of keeping everything being held up from collapsing on those doing the heavy lifting.

The Soviet Union may have lasted 70 years, but its institutions were built with disintegrating bricks and soupy mortar and held together by a series of obstinate strongmen. That was the most important lesson of its collapse.

For civilizations to prosper, the people must never be ignored. For Western leaders to have missed that monumental lesson, or even worse, for them to ignore that enduring truth today, they put nothing less than the future of Western Civilization at risk.

 

J. B. Shurk writes about politics and society.

Source: https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18711/reviled-institutions

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'Intimidate, humiliate, and embarrass': Growing outcry against DOJ strong-arming of Biden critics - Aaron Kliegman

 

by Aaron Kliegman

"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.

 

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.

Last week, CNN obtained and aired bodycam footage of the raid, which took place one day before a public hearing by the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot that examined Clark's role in supporting Trump's efforts to challenge the results of the 2020 presidential election.

The video shows federal agents forcing Clark to step outside his home in just a dress shirt and underwear, not allowing him to put on his pants first despite multiple requests to do so.

The feds also reportedly seized electronic devices from Clark's home. According to Clark, 12 agents and two local police officers were there and searched his home for three hours.

"Any sane person should be able to see that the government has been particularly overzealous in exercising its authority in these politically-charged cases," said attorney John Irving, a former federal prosecutor. "A lack of good judgment damages the credibility of the Justice Department and people's faith in our institutions."

Irving is the lawyer for another recipient of alleged Justice Department overzealousness, former Trump White House trade official Peter Navarro.

Navarro was publicly arrested by FBI agents at Reagan National Airport just outside Washington, D.C. last month on misdemeanor charges that he acted in contempt of Congress by defying a subpoena from House Democrats' Jan. 6 committee.

According to Navarro, the FBI put him in handcuffs, leg irons, strip-searched him, denied him a chance to call his lawyer, and deprived him of food and water. The Justice Department has said those claims are false.

"Why would you put a 72-year-old man with no criminal record in leg irons in a public arrest at an airport over a misdemeanor offense, especially when he literally lives across the street from the FBI headquarters building and had been in contact with an FBI agent two days earlier to be cooperative?" asked Irving. "This obviously is the kind of case where a defendant would be allowed to voluntarily surrender in court, rather than being the object of a public spectacle."

Such operations haven't just targeted former government officials — they've also targeted journalists and media organizations critical of the Biden administration.

In November, federal prosecutors obtained and executed warrants to raid the home of investigative journalist James O'Keefe, founder of Project Veritas, and the homes of two of his colleagues. Agents seized their electronic devices.

In the case of O'Keefe, FBI agents handcuffed him and required him to stand in the public hallway of his apartment building dressed in his underwear, according to court documents.

The government is investigating whether Project Veritas stole a diary belonging to then-presidential candidate Joe Biden's 40-year-old daughter, Ashley Biden. According to O'Keefe and others knowledgeable about the situation, Biden left behind the diary along with other belongings when she moved out of a Delray Beach, Fla. house subsequently occupied by a source who gave the diary to Project Veritas.

Journalists are legally protected by the First Amendment for receiving materials from sources — regardless of how the sources obtained the materials themselves before handing them over to the media.

"These raids are executed by prosecutors and agents to intimidate, humiliate, and embarrass the victim of the government's thuggery and the victim's family, friends, and colleagues," said O'Keefe's lawyer, Paul Calli.

Calli decried how in the case of O'Keefe and others prosecutors "desperately try to keep sealed, as long as possible if not forever, what they secretly submit to the judge in an effort to obtain search warrants."

In other words, a prosecutor "can write anything she wishes to convince the court to sign the warrant," he explained, "and the judge reviewing it has to assume the prosecutor is telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Sadly, that is not always the case, and thus it is really the prosecutor who secretly controls the basis on which a warrant is issued."

The American Civil Liberties Union and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press have asked a federal judge to unseal the warrants used to raid O'Keefe's home. The government has fought to keep them sealed.

Calli also criticized prosecutors and federal agents who "routinely leak information" to journalists "as to when the warrant will be served and the nature of the investigation, so the cameras are rolling for the humiliation."

In December and March, the New York Times published several reports revealing details of the government's sweeping probe targeting O'Keefe and Project Veritas. Critics have suggested the FBI and Justice Department leaked details of their probe to the Times in an unethical way.

Calli chastised journalists who are in coordination with federal law enforcement and "able to double-down on the harassment and intimidation by contacting the victim of the government thuggery during or immediately after the raid seeking comment."

Beyond the cases of Clark and O'Keefe, another person subjected to a raid that was caught on tape by the media was longtime political consultant and ex-Trump adviser Roger Stone.

CNN, which was conveniently staking out Stone's Florida home at the time of the FBI's pre-dawn raid, captured video of the arrest. Stone, 66 at the time, was taken into custody in January 2019 after being indicted by a grand jury as part of former Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian meddling and now-debunked allegations of collusion with the Trump campaign during the 2016 presidential election.

More than a dozen FBI agents raided Stone's home donning tactical gear.

"A SWAT team, searching the house, scaring his wife, scaring his dogs — it was completely unnecessary," Stone's attorney said at the time. "A telephone call would have done the job, and he would have appeared. Mr. Stone has nothing to hide."

Federal law enforcement officials have previously described such operations, early in the morning with agents in protective gear, as standard for home arrests.

Other prominent Trump supporters — such as former Trump Campaign Chairman Paul Manafort, former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen, and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani — have also been the target of home raids by federal agents. Dershowitz has said some of these raids violated the U.S. Constitution and described others as political revenge, comparing the conduct of federal agents to that of security forces in authoritarian countries.

"None of this nonsense is necessary," said Calli. "The victims have lawyers who are in communication with the prosecutors, who can informally request the material or serve a formal subpoena. These militaristic tactics are designed to break the will of people that prosecutors and agents have already presumed guilty."

Some of the defendants taken into custody by the Justice Department for their alleged role in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot have also been targets of heavy-handed home raids.

In total, more than 750 people have been imprisoned for Jan. 6-related crimes without a trial. Several have said the FBI, Justice Department, and federal prison officials under the Biden administration violated their civil and constitutional rights. The vast majority weren't accused of carrying a weapon, assaulting law enforcement, or destroying property. Many didn't even enter the Capitol building.

The FBI and the Justice Department didn't respond to requests for comment for this story.

 

Aaron Kliegman

Source: https://justthenews.com/government/federal-agencies/doj-overreach-intensifies-triggering-increased-scrutiny

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