Biden Threatens “Transformational” Change at UN Summit - Daniel Greenfield

 

by Daniel Greenfield

It's transforming us from a prosperous nation to a poor one.

 

World leaders, activists and organization leaders jetted over to Egypt, a fantastically polluted county, for the COP27 United Nations summit, to save the planet.

If only someone would save the planet from them.

“My friends, I came to the presidency determined to make … transformational changes that are needed, that America needs to make and we have to do for the rest of the world, to overcome decades of opposition and obstacles of progress on this issue alone,” Biden threatened

With high fuel prices at the pump, runaway inflationary spending, like using the Inflation Increase Act to finance corrupt green energy policies, we can see those “transformational” policies underway.

With American energy production dropping sharply due to Biden policies, he touted new plans to depress our energy economy even further by allowing anti-energy leftist activists to partner with the EPA to go after oil and gas companies over so-called ‘methane leaks’.

Additionally Biden intends to further redefine our economy around carbon metrics by forcing federal contractors to adopt carbon targets. This further embeds ESG into our economy and forces us to live by the rationing of the carbon footprint.

This is transformational. It’s transforming us from a prosperous nation to a poor one and from a nation of free people to a cult of ESG slaves.

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

Source: https://www.frontpagemag.com/biden-threatens-transformational-change-at-un-summit/

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Biden Wants Talks While China's Xi Prepares for War - Gordon G. Chang

 

by Gordon G. Chang

It is long past time for America to stop talking with the Chinese regime and start imposing costs for dangerous and other unacceptable behavior.

• The meeting, as crucial as everyone believes it will be, should not occur. It is long past time for America to stop talking with the Chinese regime and start imposing costs for dangerous and other unacceptable behavior.

• Talking sounds as if it should work but in fact has produced horrible results, for more than three decades. In short, dialogue enables China to buy time and often run out the clock.

• Biden as president has already had five phone or video calls with Xi, so by now it should be clear what his red lines are. Moreover, on any day, People's Daily lists them.

• [T]he Chinese are not real believers in the importance of dialogue; they break it off whenever they feel it is to their advantage.

• [D]uring summits presidents often convey warnings, seek understanding, or propose joint action. "There is no reason to think Xi Jinping is prepared to seek understanding or would take constructive joint action," he said. "It also is extremely unlikely that he believes or respects words of warning from the Biden administration. Given that, a side meeting on the margins of the G20 is pointless or counterproductive." — Steve Yates, chairman of the China Policy Initiative of the America First Policy Institute, to Gatestone, November 2022.

• It is time... for America to get ready for the war that is coming. That means, among other things, bolstering those defending free societies, not emboldening those intent on attacking them.

• "Refusing to speak is what children do when they are angry," the Economist states. No, refusing to speak is what leaders do when speaking for decades has created one of the most dangerous moments in history.

It is long past time for America to stop talking with the Chinese regime and start imposing costs for dangerous and other unacceptable behavior. Pictured: U.S. President Joe Biden participates in a video meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on November 15, 2021. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

President Joe Biden will meet with Chinese ruler Xi Jinping on November 14 in Bali, Indonesia, on the sidelines of the G20 Summit. The talks will be, as Gideon Rachman wrote, "the first global summit of the second cold war."

The meeting, as crucial as everyone believes it will be, should not occur. It is long past time for America to stop talking with the Chinese regime and start imposing costs for dangerous and other unacceptable behavior.

Yes, China is crucial to the resolution of every major problem in the world — in large part because it has caused or aggravated them — yet China's central role does not, as Americans believe, automatically require them to talk to Chinese leaders. Talking at this time, unfortunately, is making problems even harder to resolve.

So why does Biden want to meet Xi?

"What I want to do with him when we talk is lay out what the—what kind of—what each of our red lines are, understand what he believes to be in the critical national interests of China, what I know to be the critical interests of the United States, and to determine whether or not they conflict with one another," Biden said on November 9 at his press conference, about the upcoming meeting. "And if they do, how to resolve it and how to work it out."

Biden as president has already had five phone or video calls with Xi, so by now it should be clear what his red lines are. Moreover, on any day, People's Daily lists them.

A "senior administration official" on November 10 said "the president believes it is critical to build a floor for the relationship and ensure that there are rules of the road that bound our competition." Biden and his predecessors have spent decades trying to do precisely that, so America should acknowledge that it cannot by dialogue change Beijing's views or constrain Chinese actions.

Nonetheless, the Economist tells us that "America and China must talk."

Talk? Dialogue, unfortunately, has great costs. First, as evident during decades of fruitless conversations with China, American presidents regularly postpone taking needed action while talking with Chinese counterparts. Talking sounds as if it should work but in fact has produced horrible results, for more than three decades. In short, dialogue enables China to buy time and often run out the clock.

Second, talks just feed the already inflated sense of self-importance of Chinese officials.

Americans, since the early 1970s, have believed it was in their interest, as well as in the interest of the international community, to establish and maintain regular dialogue with the Communist Party. Therefore, U.S. diplomats have figuratively — and literally — chased after their Chinese counterparts to begin conversations.

American neediness has not escaped the attention of Chinese policymakers. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian publicly noted on November 10 that the Bali discussions are being held at the request of the American side. Beijing always announces that Washington initiates dialogue, to put American negotiators in inferior bargaining positions.

"There is a negative impact of the president signaling weakness by running after dictator Xi, something that significantly erodes America's alliance system," said James Fanell of the Geneva Centre for Security Policy to Gatestone in connection with the G20 meeting.

Third, the Chinese are not real believers in the importance of dialogue; they break it off whenever they feel it is to their advantage. They did so in September, for instance, after Michelle Bachelet, then the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, issued her August 31 report on Beijing's inhuman treatment of Uighurs and other Turkic minorities.

The ending of the human rights dialogue followed China's August 5 announcement of the cancellation of phone and in-person meetings with American military leaders and of annual naval meetings conducted under the U.S.-China military maritime consultation mechanism. At the same time, Beijing suspended cooperation on repatriation of illegal immigrants, legal assistance on criminal matters, assistance on transnational criminal matters, cooperation on drug enforcement, and climate change talks.

Steve Yates, the chair of the China Policy Initiative of the America First Policy Institute, tells Gatestone that during summits presidents often convey warnings, seek understanding, or propose joint action. "There is no reason to think Xi Jinping is prepared to seek understanding or would take constructive joint action," he said. "It also is extremely unlikely that he believes or respects words of warning from the Biden administration. Given that, a side meeting on the margins of the G20 is pointless or counterproductive."

On the sidelines of multilateral meetings like the G20, the time of an American president is precious. Instead of wasting hours chatting with Xi, Biden should be building or reinforcing relations with allies, friends, and partners as well as potential allies, friends, and partners.

Xi is increasingly sounding bellicose and, worse, unhinged, especially his comments of November 8. Then, he not only talked about preparing for war — we have heard those words before — but he also proclaimed that China's external situation was "increasingly unstable and uncertain." Given that no nation threatens China, the comments betray a disturbed state of mind.

It is time, therefore, for America to get ready for the war that is coming. That means, among other things, bolstering those defending free societies, not emboldening those intent on attacking them.

"Refusing to speak is what children do when they are angry," the Economist states. No, refusing to speak is what leaders do when speaking for decades has created one of the most dangerous moments in history.

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Gordon G. Chang is the author of The Coming Collapse of China, a Gatestone Institute distinguished senior fellow, and a member of its Advisory Board.

Source: https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/19110/biden-talks-china-prepares-war

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Why green energy is not green at all - Viv Forbes

by Viv Forbes

The whole thing is a scam.

 

"Green" policies are destroying the natural environment and changing local weather.  This is part of a futile U.N. scheme claiming to improve the climate of the world.

All green energy degrades its environment.

Take wind power.  Wind turbines steal energy from the atmosphere and must affect local weather.  Turbines are always placed on the highest ground and along ridges to catch more wind.  Natural hills already affect local weather by causing more rain along the ridge and a rain shadow farther downwind.  Wind turbines enhance this rain shadow effect by robbing the wind of its ability to take moisture and rain into the drier interior.  Promoting more inland desertification is not green.

Climatists also plan to defend Australia with offshore wind turbines — using bird-slicers to protect Australia from hang gliders, cruising pelicans, seagulls, eagles, and the occasional albatross.

Solar "farms" prefer large areas of flattish ground.  They steal solar energy from all plant life in their solar shadow.  This deprives wild and domestic herbivores of sustenance.  Neither kangaroos, cattle, emus, parrots, nor sheep thrive in solar energy deserts.

Green energy is very dilute — thus, large areas of land are needed to collect wind and solar energy.  Even more land is cleared for the ugly spider webs of power lines and roads needed to collect green energy in dribs and drabs and conduct it to cities, where it is needed.  But for most of the time, every day, these expensive assets produce nothing useful.

Already there is a petition circulating in Australia calling for ugly, destructive power lines to be put underground to save farms, forests, wildlife, and scenery.

What a good idea.

Let's bury the noisy, bird-chopping wind turbines, too.

Wind turbines and solar panels soon wear out and have to be replaced.  Some have already reached their use-by date.  Most of this "green" debris cannot be recycled.  To calmly bury that complex toxic waste of plastics, metals, steel, and concrete is not green at all.  Soon chemicals will be leaking into the groundwater and water supply dams.

Manufacture, erection, and final disposal of green energy generators uses more energy than they can produce over their short lives.  Their whole-of-life net energy production is negative, and their net emissions are also negative.

Greens also worship biomass energy like wood.  This is the fuel that cavemen used for warmth, cooking meat, and repelling wild animals.  Primitive people like the British still burn wood for power generation, but too much of the energy is consumed in collecting, drying, chipping, and transporting this low-energy fuel from distant forests to power station boilers.  Germans are now showing confidence that their massive wind-solar apparatus will cope with the coming winter without Russian gas — by gathering firewood.  And anti-fracking, anti-coal Britain is forced to plan for week-long winter blackouts and shortages of gas.

Greens also promote world hunger by promoting ethanol made from plant foods to replace better motor fuels such as petrol and diesel.  The hillbillies of Tennessee were specialists in distilling corn whiskey, which had many uses for recreation and medicine.  Others found that ethanol could be produced from most plant material, especially grains, beets, and sugarcane.  So Greens pollute good whiskey with a touch of gasoline to make it unfit for human consumption and then subsidize it and mandate its use in motor vehicles.  While some people starve, food is used for motor fuel.

U.S. government biofuel mandates have also made the refining of diesel and other fuels more expensive.

Reliable electricity generators produce electricity when it is needed.  But green energy needs batteries to keep the lights on when wind and solar fail (as they do every day).  To charge those batteries while also serving consumers requires a very large increase in generator capacity.  This increases the need for more spider webs of landscape-destroying power lines and roads between wind towers, solar farms, "Big Batteries," pumped hydro, and electricity-consumers.

Not green at all.

Compare for a moment this ugly green energy mess with tidy, concentrated, reliable energy from long-life coal, gas, hydro, or nuclear power stations.

Of course Big Miners love Green Energy and electric cars because that consumes heaps of metals like copper, nickel, lithium, rare earths, cobalt, silicon, aluminum, molybdenum, silver, and steel as well as limestone and gas for producing cement.  But every lithium battery in every electric car or bicycle is a spontaneous fire hazard — park them far away from anything flammable.

Finally, we have maybe the biggest green scam of all: Carbon Capture and Burial.  Big coal and gas companies love this trick — it will consume far more coal or gas to produce the same usable energy, and the rest is wasted in gas capture, compression, pumping, piping, and disposal.  And the whole silly scheme relies on the assumption that the buried gas will stay where it was put.  In rare places, pumped CO2 can be used to increase the yield from depleting oil or gas reservoirs, but in general, this green hoax wastes energy, deprives the biosphere of plant food, increases electricity cost, and reduces the life of coal and gas reserves.

And what about the COP27 climate jamboree?  Four hundred private jets attended.  Even Saint Greta thinks it is a scam.

Pictorial Comment. "NOT GREEN AT ALL":
https://saltbushclub.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/cop27.jpeg
Feel free to use this cartoon with no alterations.

Green energy costs are large, obvious, and measureable.  The climate benefits are illusory.

Not green at all.

Food for Thought:

Four Hundred private Jets attended the COP 27 Conference:
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2022/11/12/four-hundred-private-jets-attended-the-cop27-climate-conference/
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11416209/FOUR-private-jets-arrived-Egypt-COP27-climate-delegates-accused-hypocrisy.html

Democracy Dies in Climate Panic:
https://climatechangedispatch.com/democracy-dies-in-climate-panic/

How to create a diesel shortage:
https://climatechangedispatch.com/how-anti-fossil-fuel-politicians-created-our-dangerous-diesel-shortage/

American Farmers fight back against Green energy invaders:
https://stopthesethings.com/2022/11/10/battle-lines-american-farmers-winning-war-against-lying-greedy-wind-solar-outfits/

Poisoning People to Save the Planet:
https://saltbushclub.com/2022/10/15/poisoning-people-to-save-the-planet/#:

Fire risks of Electric Vehicles:
https://www.winknews.com/2022/11/02/ian-exposed-potential-fire-risk-posed-by-electric-vehicles/

Image: max_gloin via Pixabay, Pixabay License.

 

Viv Forbes

Source: https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2022/11/why_green_energy_is_not_green_at_all.html

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From Bahrain to Azerbaijan, Iran is obsessed with ‘Zionist’ threats - Seth J. Frantzman

 

by Seth J. Frantzman

As Israel successfully upgraded its relationship with Azerbaijan and Bahrain, Iran is trying to counter Israel's diplomatic success with threats to its neighbors.

 

A drone is launched during a military exercise in an undisclosed location in Iran, in this handout image obtained on August 25, 2022.

(photo credit: IRANIAN ARMY/WANA (WEST ASIA NEWS AGENCY)/HANDOUT VIA REUTERS)

Iran has spent the last two decades trying to bring its forces to Israel’s borders. This was  manifested through support for Hamas, Hezbollah and the Hashd al-Shaabi group in Iraq. Now though, Tehran is worried about Israel’s role in the Gulf as well as Israel’s warming relations with Azerbaijan and Turkey.

Israel and Azerbaijan are strategic partners and Israel’s Defense Minister Benny Gantz recently visited Baku. Israeli defense companies have also taken part in the Bahrain Air International Show and Israeli Air Force commander General Eyal Grinboim visited Bahrain last week.

Iran is increasingly concerned about Israel’s connections to both Bahrain and Azerbaijan. It is important to Tehran because it reverses the usual role of Iran in the region, expanding its influence and attacking other countries via proxy groups. Now it is Iran who is facing protests at home and is worried that countries closer to it.

With Hezbollah, the Iranian connection goes back decades, but it was in the wake of Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon in 2000 that Iran and Hezbollah began planning to increase tensions with Israel.

Hezbollah had a chance to lay down its arms and work within Lebanon’s system. Instead, it expanded its rocket and missile arsenal with Iranian support and began to threaten Israel, leading to the 2006 war.

Missiles of the kind used during Iran's retaliatory strike on the U.S Ayn al-Asad military base in 2020 are seen on display at Imam Khomeini Grand Mosalla in Tehran, Iran January 7, 2022. (credit: MAJID ASGARIPOUR/WANA (WEST ASIA NEWS AGENCY) VIA REUTERS)

After the war, Hezbollah stockpiled another 100,000 missiles, moving them through Syria during the Syrian civil war.

Iran expanded its role in Syria during the civil war, focusing on specific areas after 2017. Iran’s goal was to be able to create another military front against Israel in Syria, using the Golan Heights border area.

Iran then moved ballistic missiles to Iraq in 2018 and 2019 and also moved drones to Iraq and Syria.

Israel, meanwhile, has carried out a war-between-war campaign, known in Hebrew as MABAM, to thwart Iran’s threats in Syria. Iran hasn’t remained quiet in the Gulf either, transferring weapons to Yemen and threatening ships in the Gulf of Oman, seeking to expand its influence to the Red Sea.

Israel's presence in the Caucasus and in the Gulf

Nowadays, Iran is worried about Israel’s role in the Caucasus and the Gulf. A report in Iran’s Fars News on Sunday included a long critique of Azerbaijan’s recent posture. The report says that Iran will not tolerate any Israeli presence in Azerbaijan near the border.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran will not tolerate the presence and activities of the Zionist regime against its national security and will take any necessary measures in this regard.”

Defense Minister Benny Gantz and Azerbaijani Defense Minister Zakir Hasanov, during Gantz's visit to Azerbeijan, October 3, 2022. (credit: NICOLE LASKVI/DEFENSE MINISTRY)

TEHRAN IS URGING Baku not to enable any foreign countries to influence its policy. This is a response to Azerbaijan’s close ties with Turkey and Israel.

“Azerbaijan has been sponsoring pro-Israel movements and even the direct presence of Zionism in the region for years. This country has forgotten that in the serious and historical crises of this region, it was Iran that supported the territorial integrity of this country and did not allow extra-regional powers to disrupt the strategic order of this region,” the report reads.

Iran’s Tasnim news quoted opposition activists in Bahrain. The overall trend of these two articles is designed to warn both Bahrain and Azerbaijan.

Iran's response to the Israeli upgraded presence in Azerbaijan and Bahrain

It is likely not a coincidence that Iran has been talking up new weapons, such as “hypersonic” missiles, in an attempt to strike fear into the region. Iran has said that its new missiles will soon be able to evade air defense systems, knowing that Israel possesses some of the most advanced air defense systems in the region.

Iran has tried to threaten Israel in the past with precision-guided munitions – or PGMs. Therefore, the context here is that Iran is seeking to broadcast a message to Azerbaijan and Bahrain, whom it sees now as frontline states, bordering Iran at sea and land on two flanks; the message is that Iran can threaten the region.

For decades, Iran sought to move its proxies closer to Israel. It views the region like a chessboard and it is now lashing out in rhetoric because it believes Israel has been successful in its counter-moves.

From Tehran’s perspective, the high-level visits of Israeli officials to Bahrain and Azerbaijan represent a major regional shift. Iran knew that Bahrain and Azerbaijan had warm ties with Israel, but recent months have brought more rhetoric from Iran against Baku, Manama and Riyadh.

Seth J. Frantzman

Source: https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/article-722234

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Jordan's King Abdullah calls for Palestinian state with Jerusalem as capital - Jerusalem Post Staff

 

by Jerusalem Post Staff

While 70%-80% of Jordanians are "Palestinian"

King Abdullah II of Jordan called for the establishment of a Palestinian state with east Jerusalem as its capital on Sunday, in a speech at the inauguration of the 19th Parliament’s second ordinary session, according to Roya News.

King Abdullah stated in his speech that the conflict can only be resolved by "reaching a just and comprehensive solution that begins with ending the Israeli occupation and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state on the 4 June 1967 lines, with east Jerusalem as its capital," according to the report.

Jerusalem Post Staff

Source: https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-722236

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Watch: Ukrainians rejoice as army retakes key town - Israel National News

 

by Israel National News

While residents are ecstatic with their army's successes, drinking water and electricity remain scarce in the liberated city.

 

 

Israel National News

Source: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/362715

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Good election news flying under the radar - James Arlandson

 

by James Arlandson

Don't lose hope, Republicans.

 

Here are two stories that conservatives care about.  They have one thing in common: children.

Nowadays, school board elections are extremely important, since they guide our future.  The Christian Post is reporting that over a hundred school board seats flipped from blue to red since 2021, especially during the 2022 election.

The 1776 Project PAC announced Wednesday that "from November 2021 to November 2022, the 1776 Project PAC has flipped 100 school board seats across the country." The political action committee is dedicated to "electing school board members nationwide who want to reform our public education system by promoting patriotism and pride in American history."

The 1776 Project opposes the 1619 Project, which is a movement as deceptive and race-obsessed as they come.  Let's hope school boards with newly elected members also cancel drag queen story hour and awful policies that allow children to "transition" without their parents' knowledge.  Schools should not even be involved in the discussion; it's between the parents and their (temporarily) confused children.  Restricting this diabolical nonsense and these damaging lies positively impacts our children and therefore our future. 

You have heard that abortion was an issue for voters in 2022, particularly for women between 18 and 30 years old.  Maybe it was, and maybe it was not.  But was it a losing issue for our side of the vote?  This report, also from the Christian Post, says the Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America endorsed winners:

Candidates endorsed by a leading national grassroots pro-life advocacy group for U.S. Senate and gubernatorial elections won a strong majority of their races in the midterms this week, with the group praising candidates who took a clear stance on the abortion issue.

Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America spent upwards of $78 million this election cycle to mobilize voters behind pro-life candidates. 

In Senate races, 12 out of 15 SBA-endorsed candidates have won while one is projected to lose. ... In gubernatorial races, 11 of 12 SBA-endorsed candidates won their races.

It is true that we will need to formulate a more coherent abortion message across the U.S., and compromises may have to be made, like the heartbeat law in Texas, which permits abortion through seven weeks.  I believe that allowing abortion up to fifteen weeks (three months plus three weeks!) in Florida is too much.  But eventually, we will have to let the states decide.  We cannot become one-issue voters.  So regardless of what the MSM say, promoting life over abortion was not a loser.

James Arlandson's website has recently posted Women in Ministry: Replies to Objections and updated Postmodern Roots of Leftist Policies, which indicates we are trying to take down an entire worldview by voting, which is very difficult.

Image via Max Pixel.

James Arlandson 

Source: https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2022/11/good_election_news_flying_under_the_radar.html

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Who's Running this Ship of Fools? - Dennis Lund

 

by Dennis Lund

The puzzle as to who is really running the country,has been with us for some time.

 

The puzzle as to who is really running the country, has been with us for some time. Certainly, all logic points to the fact the Joe Biden is an example of a man who has risen to his level of incompetence. His age, reflecting the early stages of dementia, makes him a prime target for manipulation.

Those closest to him in the West Wing are making the day-to-day decisions, but where are they getting their direction? In a strong Presidency, that would be the President, the is the captain of the ship, as was the case with President Trump. Obviously, Biden is not the one articulating a cohesive strategy.

So, who is actually directing the massive bureaucracy of the nation? Is it possible that numerous, well-entrenched bureaucrats and appointees’ function, to a large degree, much like a beehive, an ant colony, or a ship on automatic pilot?

Plato likened governance to a ship at sea. Is it possible that we have a ship of state running virtually on automatic pilot?  Of course, Biden is the titular head, but the controls were all set before he officially came on board. This then represents a far worse scenario than the failures of a temporary leader like Biden.

With the surprising rise of President Trump, the ship was taken off of automatic pilot, the resultant was tantamount to a mutiny by the crew. But the ship sailed on, the course was steady, but not without rough seas as the crew fought the new leadership.

New leaders at the top give direction, but that direction may be resisted by those well residing deep in the bowels of the District of Columbia.

Depending on the policy selected, and more importantly who the policy maker is, instructions may be delayed or outright circumvented. This has never been more evident than during the Trump Presidency.

President Trump struggled not only to get his appointments through Congress, but also with the slow response from various bureaucrats within the numerous government agencies. Not being an approved member of the elitist club running the nation, made President Trump’s battle against the establishment far more difficult than anticipated. Additionally, no one ever imagined just how far outside the law the various people at the top of those agencies, were willing to go to thwart him at every opportunity.

The fact that his Presidency was as successful as it was is testimony to his foresight, his fresh approach, as well as to the incompetence of those resisting his efforts.

One such example of the failings within the bureaucracy is the DoJ Civil Rights Division. Three women are at the top rungs of the ladder leading that group: Kristen Clarke, Vanita Gupta, and Pam Karlen. All three are Ivy League educated, (or should I say indoctrinated?).  All three have long histories of radical leftists' politics. Clarke initiated spearheading the round-ups, complete with SWAT teams or heavily armed agents, of anti-abortion protestors like Mark Houck in Philadelphia She is also the one who has made the decision not to vigorously enforce the law against far-left terrorist groups such as Jane's Revenge.

It is entirely possible that these people are not being ordered to take (or not take) these actions by others. They have been put into position without specific instructions from above. They have been working with a nod and a wink, from people such as AG Merrick Garland. By not offering direct input Garland can deny culpability. For him, this represents a perfect case of plausible deniability.

There should be no doubt that these appointments, made by Obama and Biden (many of them being the same people), represent a collection of radical leftists, educated at the same several Universities, all engrained with an unnecessary need to ‘Fundamentally change America.’

We saw these actions during the Obama Presidency. Today, we are seeing an acceleration unlike we have not seen previously.

A second example we see is the Director of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, a graduate of UC Berkeley, who flat-out lied to Congress regarding the infamous ‘whipping of illegal aliens’ incident. The man is not doing the job he was sworn to do, but his reprehensible inaction regarding the border apparently meets with the full approval of the powers that be. Mayorkas was likely not told to open the doors to illegal aliens; he was picked because it was known that was exactly what he wanted to do.

President Trump courageously battled these bureaucrats, as well as those in elected office, be they Republicans in the Romney-McCain-Cheney mold, or virtually all Democrats. Trump has not lost that fight, but has been forced out of office by those who aligned against him. His battle is not over and others are now standing up to join the fight both on a national and state level.

It was Robespierre, during the French revolution, who coined a phrase, later made more famous by Stalin: “You can’t make an omelet without breaking a few eggs.”

These people are diehard leftists who sincerely believe in what they see as a just cause, no matter the cost in human lives, destruction to the nation or how many eggs they need to break.

Rising stars like Kari Lake in Arizona, Tiffany Smiley in Washington State, Don Buldoc in New Hampshire, Tudor Dixon in Michigan, Ron Desantis in Florida, as well as many others, are all continuing the fight that President Trump willingly and needfully started.

Image: Bosch

Dennis Lund

Source: https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2022/11/whos_running_this_ship_of_fools.html

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A Big Difference between Israel and the Palestinians - Alan M. Dershowitz

 

by Alan M. Dershowitz

Part of the reason for the Palestinian Authority's unwillingness to let the people decide is their understandable concern that Hamas will once again prevail.

• Part of the reason for the Palestinian Authority's unwillingness to let the people decide [in elections] is their understandable concern that Hamas will once again prevail.

• [T]here is an added reason for why Israelis who used to vote for the left have moved rightward: Hamas rockets, Hezbollah tunnels, Palestinian terrorism, and the unwillingness of the Palestinian Authority to accept generous peace offers in 2000, 2001 and 2008.

• It is not enough to remind the world that most Arab and Muslim countries have anti-gay, anti-female and anti-freedom-of-religion policies. More must be said and done.

• The same may be true of the United States. But only Israel is condemned....

• For many long-term Israel-bashers, the recent election merely provides a new excuse for an old bigotry.

Part of the reason for the Palestinian Authority's unwillingness to let the people decide in elections is their understandable concern that Hamas will once again prevail. Pictured: Senior Hamas politburo members Fathi Hammad (center) and Mahmoud al-Zahar (second from left) take part in a rally marking Hamas's 29th anniversary, on December 14, 2016, in Gaza City. (Photo by Mahmud Hams/AFP via Getty Images)

Israel has too many elections. The Palestinians have too few. In the last four years, Israel has had five elections. Since 2006 -- when Hamas won 74 of the 132 seats in the Palestinian Legislative Council -- the Palestinians have had none. Mahmoud Abbas has been serving his "four-year term" as president of the Palestinian Authority since 2005, and there is little evidence that he -- or anyone else -- will be up for election anytime soon. Part of the reason for the Palestinian Authority's unwillingness to let the people decide is their understandable concern that Hamas will once again prevail.

The recent Israeli elections have been raucous and until now inconclusive, but they represent the deeply divided views of their citizens, both Jews and Arabs (with a few others as well). They also reflect the complex parliamentary democracy with multiple parties and minimum thresholds that make it difficult to form a stable government. But considering the alternatives, Israel does pretty well , if reflecting the will of the people is the primary goal of elections.

I'm reminded of a dinner party conversation with then President Bill Clinton and a handful of guests. Benjamin Netanyahu had just been elected to his first term as Israel's prime minister and one of guests was complaining that he was too conservative. I began to defend my old friend Bibi when Clinton said: "Let me take this." He continued by describing the complex Israeli electoral system and then he said: "the only problem with Israel, is that it's a democracy – damn it!" He explained that if he wanted Egypt or Jordan to take any actions, he could simply call the king or the president, because they are the decision-makers. But if he wants Israel to do something, and he calls the prime minister, the response is always "I have to check with the small cabinet, the big cabinet, the Knesset, and public opinion." He then said "Israel is like our country in that way. No single person makes the important decisions."

I then joined the conversation and reminded the guests that Israel had moved from the left to the right only after nearly a million refugees from the Soviet Union became citizens. Because of their experiences under Communism, they tended to vote against the left -- as did most Cubans who emigrated to America from the Castro regime. Moreover, the percentage of very Orthodox Jews, who tend to vote for the right, has increased, because of different birth rates. I asked Netanyahu's critic: "What would you do about these changing demographics?"

In a democracy, demographics matter. Citizens cannot be told for whom to vote. Perhaps the children of Soviet refugees may become more centrist, as some Cuban-Americans have, but at the moment these voters will continue to vote against the left and in favor of the right. Many fled the false promises and left-wing policies of South American dictators and want nothing more to do with them. Some of us may not like the outcome of recent elections, but we cannot interfere with the democratic process.

If I were to have the same conversation today, I would make the same points. Now, however, there is an added reason for why Israelis who used to vote for the left have moved rightward: Hamas rockets, Hezbollah tunnels, Palestinian terrorism, and the unwillingness of the Palestinian Authority to accept generous peace offers in 2000, 2001 and 2008.

Several other Western democracies have also tended to move rightward.

It is not enough to remind the world that most Arab and Muslim countries have anti-gay, anti-female and anti-freedom-of-religion policies. More must be said and done.

The same may be true of the United States. But only Israel is condemned, and threatened with delegitimization, because it is a democracy and its voters, for the understandable reasons above, have grown to distrust the left.

For many long-term Israel-bashers, the recent election merely provides a new excuse for an old bigotry. There are some moderate supporters of Israel, however, who have expressed legitimate concerns about extreme right-wingers who may become part of Israel's new government. There are such extremists today in the United States Congress and in its governors' mansions. But the Netanyahu government should do everything in its power to distance Israel, as a nation of all of its citizens, from any form of bigotry. Netanyahu has already begun to do this, but it will be a difficult task, because centrist parties have refused to join his government, thus requiring him to make alliances with people and groups with whom he would prefer not to deal.

But politics is the art of the possible, and if Netanyahu is to govern effectively, he must strike an appropriate balance. That balance cannot include tolerance of racism, homophobia or other forms of bigotry. If anyone can pull off this difficult task, it is the longest serving prime minister in Israel's history.

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Alan M. Dershowitz is the Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law, Emeritus at Harvard Law School, and the author most recently of The Price of Principle: Why Integrity Is Worth The Consequences. He is the Jack Roth Charitable Foundation Fellow at Gatestone Institute, and is also the host of "The Dershow" podcast.

Source: https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/19108/israel-palestinians-difference

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Watch: Benjamin Netanyahu receives mandate to form Israel's government - Israel National News

 

by Israel National News

 

Ceremony takes place at the Presidential Residence.

 

 

At noon on Sunday, Israeli President Isaac Herzog met privately with Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu, after Netanyahu received the recommendations of 64 Knesset members. He now has 28 days to form a government. If he fails to do so within this time-frame, Pres. Herzog has the discretionary power to give him another 14 days.

Immediately following the meeting, Herzog and Netanyahu headed to an official ceremony at which Herzog accorded Netanyahu the mandate to form Israel's next government.

"From the consultations I held, the following picture emerges," began Pres. Herzog. "64 Knesset members recommended MK Benjamin Netanyahu. 28 Knesset members recommended MK Yair Lapid. And 28 Knesset members chose not to recommend any Knesset member to form a government.

"Therefore, in accordance with the law and the tradition instituted by my predecessors, regarding the greatest amount of support for a certain candidate and in terms of the largest party in the Knesset, it is clear that the task of forming the next government should be assigned to Knesset member Benjamin Netanyahu," he continued.

Herzog also referred to the ongoing corruption trial against Netanyahu, expressing his dissatisfaction with the state of affairs, but noting that the Supreme Court has already ruled on the matter of an indicted Knesset member forming a government in a number of decisions.

He then addressed Netanyahu directly, saying, "The weight of responsibility on your shoulders as you move to head the new Israel government is immense, and perhaps even the weightiest and most complex responsibility in the world. Israeli citizens need a stable and functioning government, a government that will serve all citizens - those who voted for you and those who did not, as well. What is needed is a government that will work to benefit the entirety of Israeli society - all communities, all races, all faiths and religions, all ways of life, and all world-views - a government that is sensitive to the needs of all.

"The State of Israel also needs a government that, even if it does not express the views of all parts of society in its composition, will still know how to lead a unifying process within society and will foster collaboration and discourse in a responsible, cautious manner, being attentive to the needs of all. It is vital that we remember that as a nation, we do not have the luxury of making mistakes on critical issues. All our governments must behave responsibly, cautiously on matters that are of vital importance to our existence in terms of security and heeding the red lines that underscore our commitment to being a Jewish and democratic state.

"Knesset member Benjamin Netanyahu, as a veteran public servant who has occupied many senior positions including the position of premier itself, several times, you are familiar already with the urgent challenges we face today, with threats within and without, alongside valuable opportunities ... You know that elections are not a zero-sum game, and you also know how to approach your task of forming a government with the requisite sense of responsibility.

"Your success will be our success, the success of the entire nation," Herzog concluded.

Prime Minister-designate Netanyahu then spoke, saying, "After a series of elections, the people decided clearly in favor of forming a government headed by myself. We are making progress toward the formation of the 37th government of the State of Israel, and I would like to thank all the 64 Knesset members who recommended me. We will do everything we can to form a stable and successful government with G-d's help, a responsible and dedicated government which will work for the benefit of all the residents of this country, without exception.

"Over the last decade," he continued, "we have led Israel to become a greater power among the family of nations, and this is a process that we will continue to lead. Today, I am no less emotional at being accorded the task of forming a government than I was 26 years ago when I was accorded that privilege for the first time."

Netanyahu added that, "I am resolved to be the prime minister of everyone - of those who voted for me, and those who did not. This resolve guides my beliefs and my actions. I stand here with a deep sense of mission, in the face of the considerable challenges facing us. And I say that despite the issues that divide us, we can unite around the vast majority of issues that affect our lives. We are all brothers.

"Alongside the many people who welcome the results of the elections, there are also those who express great fear and seek to panic the general public," Netanyahu continued. "This is not the first time there has been such a phenomenon. Similar things were said about [former Prime Minister Menachem] Begin. It was not true then and it is not true now."

 Netanyahu and Herzog                                                                                                    Arutz 7

 

Israel National News

Source: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/362713

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