Trump: Walz Called Me to Dissuade Protesters

From Newsmax.com (Aug. 7):

Former President Donald Trump recounted his only interaction with "liberal" Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who's now the Democratic Party's vice-presidential presumptive nominee.

Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday named Walz to be her running mate on the Democrats' national ticket. He's expected to accept the nomination at the party's Aug. 19-22 convention in Chicago.

In remembering a phone conversation with Walz, Trump appeared to confuse protesters surrounding the riots after George Floyd's death and demonstrators who surrounded the governor's mansion on Jan. 6, 2021.

"I know him a little bit," Trump said of Walz during an interview with Fox News. "I helped him very much during the riots because his house was surrounded by people that were waving an American flag. Doesn't sound like very bad people. And he called me and he was very concerned — very, very concerned that it was going to get out of control.

"They only had one guard, I guess it was at the mansion or had his house in some form, and he called me and I said, 'What do you want me to do about it?' I was in the White House. He said, 'If you would put out the word that I'm a good person,' and I did, I put out the word. I said, 'he's a good person. I hope everything's good.' And everybody put down their flags and took their flags with them. But they took the American flags and their MAGA flags and they left. It was thousands of people."

Trump added that he hung up the phone and said, "Wow, that's very interesting."

"He [Walz] called me back and he thanked me very much," Trump said. "That's my only thing I ever had to do with him. He's a very, very liberal man, and he's a shocking pick. And I'm thrilled. I could not be more thrilled." [source]

So, peaceful patriotic protesters make Tampon Tim nervous, but thugs rioting, setting cars and buildings on fire don't?  Then again, he is a socialist, and his wife likes to smell burning tires. So, there's that.

Other articles about Tampon Tim:

• Governor Tim Walz-Minnesota Radical
• Wacky Walz: The 10 most radical acts of Kamala’s running mate
• Tim Walz, 'Folksy' Socialist
• Walz Praised Chinese Communism as a System Where 'Everyone Shares'
• Tim Walz unleashed a demonic bloodlust after Pelosi told him to ‘tone down’ his pro-abortion stance…
• Tim Walz Paid “Satanic” Drag Performer for Lurid Show
• Tim Walz Believes 10-Year-Olds Can Choose Their Own Gender
• 5 things to know about Tim Walz's faith, church and the ELCA
• 3 important facts Christians need to know about Tim Walz
• Walz Attended Abolish ICE Protest March
• Tim Walz repeatedly hosted Muslim cleric who celebrated Oct. 7 and shared pro-Hitler website link
• Report: Tim Walz Praised Hitler-Supporting Imam as ‘Master Teacher,’ Contradicting Campaign
• Walz administration awarded $2 million to Muslim group fundraising for al Qaeda-linked charity
• Tim Walz Says During Covid He Isolated and Left His 87-Year-Old Mother, Post-Heart Surgery, Alone in Her Home to Fend For Herself [video]
• Tim Walz Asks Guy Guarding Tomb Of Unknown Soldier Why He Doesn’t Just Desert Him

The 7 biggest moments from the Elon Musk-President Trump interview on X

From The Blaze.com (Aug. 14):

Monday night, Elon Musk, the billionaire tech giant and owner of X, conducted a historic virtual interview over his social media platform with former President Donald Trump that his team dubbed “THE INTERVIEW OF THE CENTURY!” Despite being plagued with technical difficulties, including a late start caused by a denial-of-service attack and poor audio quality on President Trump’s end, the two-hour interview garnered a billion views, marking a win for free speech and alternative media.

“Musk’s act of commercial statesmanship by buying a media apparatus enables free political speech at a time when it is being crushed. Conversation with Trump tonight proves the thesis. This is a commercial-cultural movement in the midst of a cold civil war. And this = how to win,” Matthew Peterson, the editor in chief of Blaze Media, posted on X.

Here are the seven most important topics Elon Musk discussed with President Donald Trump:

1. Failed assassination attempt

Right off the bat, Musk and Trump delved into the failed assassination attempt. Trump recalls the moment when he felt the bullet graze his ear and told Musk his escape was “an act of God.”

“For those people that don't believe in God, I think we gotta all start thinking about that. You have to, you know, I'm a believer. Now I'm more of a believer,” Trump said.

While Trump focused on how he was thankful that he survived the assassination attempt, Musk took a jab at the Secret Service’s failure and said, “How on earth does a shooter get on a roof 130 yards away? That seems crazy. I think most people are wondering how on earth could such a thing happen."

Then, after Trump explained the entire situation again, how the shot was “not a long shot” and how it was a miracle that he turned his head toward the illegal immigration graphic at the right moment, Trump made a joke, saying, “Illegal immigration saved my life.”

2. Open borders

Speaking of illegal immigration, Trump’s most important policy issue, Trump and Musk traded jabs at the border czar, Kamala Harris.

Following the Harris campaign’s recent ad portraying her as being tough on immigration and the false claim that she was never the border czar in the first place, Trump argued the Biden-Harris administration has been a disaster for the border.

“[Kamala] could close it up right now. [The Biden administration] could do things right now. It's horrible,” Trump said.

Trump also criticized the current administration for letting “people that are in jail for murder and all sorts of things” into this country.

“She was totally in charge. She could have shut the border down without [Biden]. … She was in charge of the border, and the border was the worst ever,” Trump added.

Musk replied, “And if we have another four more years of open borders, and it's gonna be even worse, with another four more years, it's gonna be even worse than it's been for the past three and a half years. I'm not sure we've got a country.”

3. Interventionism run amok

Not only is America more dangerous under the Biden administration, but so is the rest of the world. The Biden-Harris foreign policy has led to violence across the world, which Trump claimed would never have happened if he were still the commander in chief.

From the Middle East to East Asia and Russia, Trump blames the high tensions across the world on Biden’s frenzied foreign policy.

“All this stuff that you're seeing now, all the horror … look at Israel. They're all waiting for an attack from Iran,” Trump said. He also insisted that if he were still president, “Israel would have never been attacked [by Hamas]” in the first place, “Iran would not be attacking” since it knew "not to mess around,” and Putin would never have [invaded Ukraine] if he was in charge.

Then, Trump told Musk about a conversation he had with Vladimir Putin while he was president, in which he told Putin, “Don't do it. You can't do it, Vladimir. [If] you do it, it's gonna be a bad day. You cannot do it.”

Most importantly, Trump urged a return to a foreign policy that seeks to de-escalate foreign conflicts. He criticized Biden’s incompetence in dealing with Russia and warned that “it can lead to World War III.”

“I think you're right. I think people underrate the risk of World War III. And it's just, when looking at the risk of global thermonuclear warfare, it's game over for humanity,” Musk replied.

4. Cost of living

Perhaps the most important policy issue this election cycle, tied with the border, is inflation and the economy. For the past four years, Americans have lived in a highly inflationary environment due to the left’s radical economic plans.

“It's a disaster with inflation. The inflation, it doesn't matter what you make. The inflation has eaten you alive,” Trump said.

Musk explained why the Biden-Harris administration has been so bad for American’s wallets and urged the next administration to cut spending to reduce inflation.

“Inflation comes from government overspending because the checks never bounce when it's written by the government,” Musk explained. “So if the government spends far more than it brings in, that increases the money supply. And if the money supply increases faster than the rate of goods and services, that's inflation.”

Then, Musk volunteered himself to help solve the inflation and spending problem and said he would “be happy to help out” on “a government efficiency commission that takes a look at these things and just ensures that the taxpayers' hard-earned money is spent in a good way.”

5. Education reform

One of the biggest drivers of government deficits is the federal government's spending billions on federal agencies. The Department of Education, which has faced considerable scrutiny from conservatives over the past half-century for being inefficient and seizing control from states and parents, would be first on the chopping block for President Trump.

“I need somebody that has a lot of strength and courage and smarts. I wanna close up the Department of Education, move education back to the states,” Trump told Musk.

If Trump follows through, state legislators would have more control over their education policies, which could result in more school choice legislation at the state level — a massive victory for families who want to choose where they send their kids to school.

6. Energy, AI, and tech

Americans can’t afford electricity, either. That’s why Trump vows to “bring energy prices down” in his next term.

“Not only gasoline; it's the cost of heating your house and cooling your house. That has to come down. It's gone up 100%, 150%, and 200%, and that has to come down. When that comes down, and we're gonna drill, baby, drill,” Trump promised.

Furthermore, Trump understands the need for efficient energy access to support AI innovation. AI development is driving the swell in energy consumption, which requires immediate reaction from legislators and industry leaders. Some have warned AI’s demand for energy is “pushing the world toward an energy crisis.”

“And I know you're a big fan of AI, and I have to say that AI, and this is shocking to me, but AI requires twice the energy that the country already produces for everything,” Trump told Musk.

“So you're gonna have to build, we're gonna have to build a lot of energy if our country will be competitive with China, because that's our primary competitor for this AI. You're gonna need a lot of electricity. You're gonna need tremendous electricity, almost double what we produce now for the whole country, if you can believe it,” he added.

7. The far left

Trump asked Musk why he is voting for him to cap the interview off. Essentially, Musk, a former “moderate Democrat,” thinks the Democrats are swinging too far left.

“They're rewriting history and making Kamala sound like a moderate when in fact she is far left, like far, far left,” Musk complained.

“Worse than Bernie Sanders. … She's a radical left lunatic,” Trump replied.

Lastly, Musk urged fellow moderates to vote for Trump. “I'm just trying to point out that my track record historically has been moderate; if not moderate, slightly left. And so this is to people out there who are in the moderate camp to say I think you should support Donald Trump for president. And I think it's actually a very important junction in the road. And we're in deep trouble if it goes the other way,” Musk said. [source]

What’s most interesting about the interview is that Trump wants to do away with the Dept. of Education. Great! Though the teachers’ unions will blow a gasket and probably say Trump is against teachers or education or something stupid like that, it is still a good idea. Grade school education should go back to the local level. It’s the teachers’ unions that are against school choice because, after all, it’s harder to indoctrinate the kiddies when big gov doesn’t have control over the curriculum.

Trump Campaign Launches Major Mail-In Ballot Initiative Ahead of 2024 Election

From The Epoch Times.com (June 4):

Former President Donald Trump announced he’s launching a move to increase and encourage Republican early voting as well as the use of mail-in and absentee ballots in the upcoming November presidential election, reversing course on previous comments he’s made about the practice.

Calling the campaign “Swamp the Vote,” the former president said that “Republicans must win, and we will use every appropriate tool to beat the Democrats because they are destroying our country,” according to a news release issued on Tuesday.

“Whether you vote absentee, by mail, early in-person, or on election day, we are going to protect the vote. We make sure your ballot is secure and your voice is heard. We must swamp the radical Democrats with massive turnout,“ he said in the release. ”The way to win is to swamp them, if we swamp them with votes they can’t cheat. You need to make a plan, register, and vote any way possible. We have got to get your vote.”

The program appears to be the successor to the Republican National Committee’s “Bank Your Vote” plan that was started under former Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, who departed the RNC earlier this year.

The former president has long been critical of mail-in ballots and absentee voting, notably during the 2020 presidential election cycle. He has said that the practice leads to an increase in fraudulent votes being cast and wants to have it ended.

“We have to get rid of mail-in ballots because once you have mail-in ballots, you have crooked elections,” President Trump said in his victory speech following the Iowa caucuses in January.

However, President Trump has also recently suggested that Republicans need to embrace early voting and so-called “ballot harvesting” in states that allow it.

“In the states where ballot harvesting is still legal, we have no choice but to beat the Democrats at their own game,” President Trump said last year. “Either we start ballot harvesting or you can just wave goodbye to our country ... we have to get smart.”

And in April 2024, he wrote on Truth Social that “absentee voting, earing voting, and election day voting are all good options” for Republicans, adding GOP voters need to “make a plan, register, and vote” in the forthcoming election.

Other Republicans say they’re not going to risk leaving ballots behind. The co-chair of the Republican National Committee, Lara Trump, has vowed to embrace all sorts of legal election methods to boost turnout, including ballot harvesting, or when people turn in mail ballots on behalf of other voters during a campaign event last month.

“Any way you can vote and as early as you can vote, get your vote banked,” Lara Trump said during a GOP event in North Carolina, according to The Associated Press.

During a Newsmax interview in April, she said the party’s ballot plans are “well underway,” adding that “the plans for that are going to be huge.” She did not elaborate.

Meanwhile, the former president’s announcement on Tuesday comes as his campaign and the RNC announced that they hauled in $141 million in fundraising last month. The Trump campaign also announced they raised tens of millions of dollars in the aftermath of the former president’s conviction for falsifying business records in Manhattan.

“We are moved by the outpouring of support for President Donald J. Trump,“ Trump campaign advisers Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita said in a statement. The campaign ”raised $141 million in small donations alone this month because Americans ... want us to return to prosperity and success when he is re-elected in November,” it added.

A spokesperson for the Biden campaign, Ammar Moussa, was skeptical of the figures and wants to “see how the numbers actually shake out” when they are reported.

“One thing’s for certain: Trump’s billionaire friends are propping up the campaign of a white collar crook because they know the deal—they cut him checks and he cuts their taxes while working people and the middle class pay the tab,” he said in a statement. The Epoch Times has contacted the Biden campaign for comment. [source]

Good to hear!  Especially encouraging people to vote early. Even though ballot harvesting should not be allowed, if states allow it, then Republicans should play the Dems' game and do it too.

Trump and RNC will send 100,000 volunteers to watch polls in election integrity project

From Just the News.com (Apr. 19):

The Republican National Committee (RNC) and former President Donald Trump unveiled a large election integrity project on Friday, that will send more than 100,000 people to watch the polls in swing states this November.

The operation comes after Trump and his allies alleged the 2020 election was stolen through wide-spread voter fraud. The RNC had pledged to send 50,000 poll watchers to the ballot boxes in 2020, according to NBC News.

“Having the right people to count the ballots is just as important as turning out voters on Election Day,” Trump said in a press release. “Republicans are now working together to protect the vote and ensure a big win on November 5th.”

The attorneys and other volunteers will monitor early voting, election day voting, logic and accuracy machine testing, mail ballot processing, and post-election canvasses, recounts, and audits.

“Every ballot. Every precinct. Every processing center. Every county. Every battleground state. We will be there,” RNC chairwoman Lara Trump said in the release. "The RNC is hiring hundreds of election integrity staff across the map – more than ever before because our Party will be recruiting thousands of more observers to protect the vote in 2024. These campaign officials in states are tasked with recruiting, training, and when possible, shifting poll watchers and poll workers day in and day out."

The attorneys will be placed at the processing centers and polling sites in battleground states, and will work with secretaries of state offices, and county boards of elections.

The attorneys and other volunteers will report any irregularities in voting, and can call any questions they have through their designated “Election Integrity Hotline” to a command center where designated lawyers will guide poll watchers through the appropriate processes and “provide clarity on how various issues should be answered, resolved, or escalated.” [source]

Good!  Finally. And don't let the poll workers throw you out of the polling sites.

Bulletproof Glass to Be Added to Trump Rallies

From Newsmax.com (Aug. 15):

Former President Donald Trump will now be encased behind bulletproof glass during outdoor campaign rallies, ABC News first reported.

The enhanced security measure comes after the attempted assassination on Trump at a July 13 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

"They'd prefer that we be in an arena. I don't know why. But we're not giving up the outdoor rallies. You know, all those people that we had to turn away today, at an outdoor rally you can have," Trump said last month at a campaign event.

A Secret Service spokesperson told The Hill that while they could not comment on "specific protective means and methods," ensuring "the safety of our protectees is our highest priority."

Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe said the agency would work to accommodate Trump's desire to host outdoor rallies.

"It's a campaign season, right? Candidates want to be out there. ... Whether it's an indoor site or an outdoor site, it's on the Secret Service to make sure that we create a secure environment," Rowe told reporters during a press conference.

"And listen, we identify challenges, we identify concerns and then it's on us to figure out what we need to do to mitigate that. So if there are going to be future campaign rallies outside it – it's going to be on us to make sure that we are providing all the assets and resources to make sure that those sites are indeed secure." [source]

I was wondering when this would happen. Probably a good idea since Iran has been threatening his life, not to mention possible assassination attempts from other deranged individuals.

What the Constitutions of the Soviet Union and North Korea Can Teach Us about Rights—and the Purpose of a Constitution

From FEE.org (Oct. 1, 2022):

On December 5, 1936, history was made in Moscow when the Eighth Congress of Soviets approved and Joseph Stalin signed the Soviet Constitution of 1936.

Also known as the “Stalin Constitution,” the document was hailed by Soviet leaders as “the most democratic in the world.” It was indeed a revolutionary document — and not even primarily because of its openly socialist ideology. What made it so striking was that it granted more rights — civic, political, and personal — than almost any Western constitution did (or does today, for that matter). Forget the universal right to vote, the five freedoms granted in the First Amendment of the US Constitution, or the right to privacy; the Soviet Constitution guaranteed all of that and more. There was the right to “rest and leisure,” “the right to maintenance in old age and also in the case of sickness or loss of capacity to work,” and the ”right to employment and payment for their work in accordance with its quantity and quality.”

Despite this new, egalitarian Constitution, the next two years were notable for its escalation of terror and Stalin’s campaign “to eliminate dissenting members of the Communist Party and anyone else he considered a threat.” Over 750,000 people were executed and more than a million were put in the Gulag (a system of forced labor camps). This period became known as the Great Purge. In subsequent decades, many more millions of people were killed in famines caused by an utterly inefficient state-run economy, while others were killed for expressing dissenting views. Citizens had no right to protest the government, join a union that was not controlled by the state, or even leave the state without express permission from the government.

All of this was done in the name of creating a better society; and it was done despite the lofty, rights-centered language of their new Constitution. In other words, despite enshrining utopia into law, the USSR ended up being one of the worst and most repressive countries in history.

The question, therefore, must be asked: how could this happen? How could the terror and brutality of the Soviet Union happen under such a seemingly progressive and forward-looking Constitution?

The answer is surprisingly simple — and also instructive for our own times.

The Purpose of a Constitution

The horrors of the USSR were able to take place, despite all of the rights included in their Constitution, for two reasons.

The first reason is that the framework the USSR Constitution outlined — and the structures it put in place — did not prevent the centralization of power. In fact, it actually did the opposite by maintaining the absolute power of the Communist Party, while also granting the government jurisdiction over basically every area of life.

However, the creation of systems designed to keep total power out of the hands of any group is both the purpose and the sign of a strong constitution. It ensures that even if some people would like to violate the rights of others — whether it be for personal gain or ideological reasons — they will not be able to because there are checks on the amount of power any individual or body can accumulate.

The second reason is that the USSR Constitution enshrined a utopian vision into law. The issue, of course, is that it is impossible to achieve utopia — even if one includes it in a constitution.

But what actually makes a constitution utopian?

In order to answer this question, we must make a distinction between two very different ideas about where our rights come from and what government’s role in society actually is.

Many believe, including America’s Founding Fathers, that our rights pre-exist government — that they are either granted by God or simply a fact of nature, depending on your perspective. The government’s role is to protect these rights, which are traditionally termed “negative” rights and protect individuals from being subjected to an action by another person or group (such as a government). This approach’s most prominent example is the US Constitution.

Others believe that rights are granted by governments and that, as circumstances change over time, governments should grant more rights to people. This group believes that the government’s role is to go beyond protecting individual rights and actually guarantee things to its citizens — those “things” traditionally being termed “positive” rights. This is the “utopian” vision.

In a 2019 essay, FEE’s President Emeritus, Lawrence W. Reed, sought to explain the core difference between the two by first writing out a list of things that — from his perspective — are rights and things that are not rights. The former list included things such as one’s life, thoughts, and speech; the latter list included things such as internet access, taxpayer-funded education, and another person’s car.

He explains the key distinction between the two lists.

“In the case of the first list, nothing is required of other people except that they leave you alone,” Reed explained. “For you to have a right to something in the second list, however, requires that other people be compelled to provide that something to you. That’s a monumental difference!”

It certainly is a monumental difference, and it illuminates the reason why positive rights cannot really be termed “rights” at all: they can only be granted to citizens if force is used against another person. But, by terming things that would be really nice to have as rights, it gives the state more power, as well as more legitimacy, to pursue this utopian vision by any means necessary. When taken to an extreme, violating another person’s actual rights can easily be justified as a necessary, short-term evil that will eventually allow utopia to flourish: a true path to tyranny.

In summary, constitutions should 1) provide a stable framework of government by setting up structures to prevent the centralization of power; 2) not be used to promise utopia (i.e. confer positive rights to people that require aggressing against person A in order to secure something for person B.

A polity that ignores one of those facts is doomed to fail; a polity that ignores both is headed for disaster. [read more]

The Left definitely don’t want a negative rights constitution (since they are aligned with the big government socialists and communists) but a utopian one which turns eventually into a dystopia.

How radical is Kamala Harris? Here are 13 things she personally endorsed

From The Blaze.com (June 24):

Vice President Kamala Harris has spent the last three and a half years in Joe Biden’s shadow spinning word salads and pretending to know what she’s talking about. In many ways, she’s been an afterthought – someone to roll our eyes at and poke fun at.

But now that she’s in the running for the Democratic presidential nomination, we’re obligated to take her more seriously. What exactly are Kamala Harris’ policies?

Glenn Beck delves into the VP’s political history to give you an accurate picture of what a presidency under Kamala would look like.

Here are 13 things about Kamala Harris that everyone should know.

1. “She was one of only 14 people that endorsed the Green New Deal,” says Glenn. Among those who signed it were Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, placing Kamala with “the radical of the radical.”

2. Harris “co-sponsored single-payer health care” (i.e. universal health care).

3. She advocated for “a complete transition away from fossil fuels in ten years” – which would have led to the “collapse of our economy,” says Glenn.

4. She supported a “universal government jobs guarantee.”

5. “She was also for government programs promising universal access to healthy foods.”

6. “She wanted to upgrade every single home and business building in the country for energy efficiency.”

7-13. Harris also supported “UBI – Universal Basic Income,” “new national living wage standards,” “more power for labor unions,” “free college,” “a whole new electric grid,” “the end of gasoline cars by 2030,” “and the transformation of U.S. agriculture, including the end of much of the cattle industry.”

“She’s a democratic socialist,” warns Glenn. “And incompetent.” [source]

So, Commie Harris picked drunk driver Minn. Governor Tim Walz for VP. Makes sense. She's a neo-Marxist and he's a big government socialist. So, much for the Cackler faking to the center as if she would anyway, but the lame-stream-press is going to portray her as a moderate anyway. Plus, Walz is not Jewish. So, that pleases her anti-Semitic base. It's a perfect political ticket made in hell which America is going to be in if those two get elected.

More articles on border czarina Harris:

• Dan Bongino: 9 Reasons to Vote for Kamala Harris
• Kamala Harris Had Hard-Left Voting Record
• Sen. Kamala Harris Heritage Action voting score
• Kamala Harris The New American lifetime freedom score
• Kamala Harris: A Berkeley radical
• Don’t Believe The Media's Lies: 5 Reasons Why Kamala Harris Is A RADICAL Leftist
• The Ministry Of Truth Is Proud To Present: ‘Kamala Harris’ For President
• The Real Kamala Harris
• The Myriad Projections of the 2024 Campaign
  
• The Stakes
• The Truth About Candidate Harris
• California Values
  
• Part 1: Everything you need to know about Kamala Harris.
• How Kamala Climbed the Peaks of DEI
• By the Way, Kamala Harris Is a Dangerous Authoritarian
• Kamala the extremist
• Rock solid proof that Harris/Walz is the pro crime ticket…
• Kamala Harris supported group that bailed violent rioters out of jail in 2020, but media now obscuring that fact
• Before She Was Border Czar, Kamala Misappropriated Millions in Federal Grants Meant To Combat Border Crimes
• The Harris-Walz Immigration Fantasy
  
• Kamalanomics
• ‘Kamalanomics’ is just ‘Bidenomics’ but dumber
  
• VICTOR DAVIS HANSON: Harris Is Recycling The 2020 Democrat Campaign
• Unearthed clip of Kamala Harris scolds people for saying “Merry Christmas” because illegals might not get to celebrate: “HOW DARE WE SPEAK MERRY CHRISTMAS?” [video]
• Kamala Bravely Fields Hard-Hitting Questions From Reporters About Where She Got That Adorable Blouse
• White House Assures Journalists They Only Have To Pretend Kamala Is Likable For A Couple More Months
• Meet the Al-Qaeda Lawyers Advising Team Harris
  
• Harris campaign's Google ads rewrite news headlines
  
• Harris campaign ID requirement at Arizona rally draws calls of hypocrisy
  
• Kamala Harris Hires Disgraced Russia Hoaxer Marc Elias for Election Legal Team
  
• Harris Shifts on Marijuana, Death Penalty, Fracking
  
• Kamala Proposes $6K Aborted Baby Tax Credit
  
• Kamala Agrees To Two-Hour X Spaces Conversation With Elmo
  

Trump: I Will End Taxes on Social Security

From Newsmax.com (July 31):

Former President Donald Trump pushed the idea of axing the tax that seniors pay on their Social Security checks in a Truth Social post on Wednesday.

"SENIORS SHOULD NOT PAY TAX ON SOCIAL SECURITY!" the Republican presidential nominee wrote.

The bipartisan reform measure that established taxation on Social Security was signed into law by former President Ronald Reagan in 1983. It was intended to strengthen the financial solvencyof the program's trust fund.

According to the Social Security Administration, up to 50% of one's Social Security benefits can be taxed if total income is between $25,000 and $34,000. When income is more than $34,000, up to 85% of Social Security benefits can be taxed.

Earlier this year, Trump, 78, caused a stir within the GOP when he pledged to end taxation on tips, after a conversation with a waitress in Nevada. During the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee this month, he recounted the story of how he came up with the proposal.

Trump considered reducing payroll taxes — which help fund Social Security — during his administration, but opted instead to allow for deferrals. He recently said he may revisit that idea if elected to a second White House term.

The Republican Party platform prohibits cuts to Medicare or Social Security, and also rules out raising the retirement age. It was approved earlier this month and written in part by Trump, who has called on Republicans to not cut "a single penny" from the entitlement programs.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and other groups have estimated that the Social Security and Medicare trust funds will dry up by the mid-2030s, which would trigger an automatic 21% cut to Social Security benefits and an 11% cut to Medicare Part A benefits, barring a congressional remedy.

In addition to his proposals for no taxes on tips and Social Security benefits, Trump has also floated lowering the corporate tax rate from 21% to 15%, something he originally mentioned while campaigning in 2016.

During his first administration, one of Trump's distinguishing legislative accomplishments was corporate tax reform.

Additional tax cuts are likely to encounter some resistance, however, as the CBO has projected the national deficit for fiscal year 2024 to be $1.9 trillion. [source]

Great idea. Nice.  The Republicans in Congress need to have the bill ready for President Trump to sign if he gets re-elected.

Ted Cruz Puts Trump’s Tax Idea Into Bill Form, Quickly Gets Support from Fellow Republicans

From The Gateway Pundit.com (June 22):

Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas is not waiting until after the presidential election to launch a bid to put one of former President Donald Trump’s ideas into effect.

Cruz has introduced the No Tax on Tips Act that would keep the Internal Revenue Service from taking a slice of the income service workers gain through tips,  according to a news release on Cruz’s website.

During a recent rally in Las Vegas, Trump indicated he opposes taxes on tips, according to The Hill.

“For those hotel workers and people that get tips, you’re going to be very happy. Because when I get to office, we are going to not charge taxes on tips,” Trump said.

“We’re not going to do it, and we’re going to do that right away, first thing in office, because it’s been a point of contention for years and years and years. And you do a great job of service, you take care of people and I think it’s going to be something that really is deserved,” he said.

Cruz said that the National Restaurant Association and other groups support his bill.

“American workers in dozens of industries depend on tipped wages to support themselves. Today, I am introducing pro-worker legislation, the No Tax on Tips Act, to ensure they get to keep all of those tips. This legislation is a common-sense pro-worker bill that will help families deal with the historic inflation caused by the Biden administration,” he said.

The bill is co-sponsored by Republican Sens. Steve Daines of Montana, Rick Scott of Florida and Kevin Cramer of North Dakota.

“President Trump is right: tips are earned by providing good service. It is simpler and more fair to let these workers keep the reward they earned rather than send it to D.C. bureaucrats,” Cramer said.

Daines said the bill is an antidote to the inflation created by President Joe Biden.

“Providing a much-needed tax cut for working families will help offset Biden’s high prices,” he said.

Sean Kennedy, executive vice president of public affairs for the National Restaurant Association, said Cruz’s bill “would provide immediate tax relief for more than 2.2 million restaurant employees and their families, putting more money in their pockets at a time when we’re all feeling the squeeze of higher prices.”

Myra Reddy, director of government affairs for the Professional Beauty Association, noted that 1.3 million licensed beauty professionals would also be impacted by the bill.

“Restaurant servers, bartenders, and other tip-earning employees give so much to the local businesses and communities they serve—delivering the essential service of food with hospitality that creates lasting memories,” Emily Williams Knight, president and CEO of the Texas Restaurant Association said.

“It’s wonderful to create an opportunity to give back to them by helping them keep more of their hard-earned tips that they can invest in their families and our local economy,” Knight said.

The bill would allow Americans to deduct 100 percent of their tipped wages when they file their taxes. [source]

Good idea! I like it.  It will probably be stalled or killed in the Senate, and Crooked Joe will veto it even if the Senate passes it anyway. But if Republicans get control of the Congress, and Trump becomes president, then he can sign the bill into law. Cruz could also exempt these from taxes too: unemployment income, jury duty pay, alimony, and Olympic and Paralympic medals.

What does Kamala Harris think about eliminating taxes on tips? Not only does she like it but she steals it. She could put a bug in the ear of Crooked Joe since he is still the president if she really likes the idea. I wonder how many more ideas she will steal from President Trump. Hmmm.

Trump-Reagan Fusion Can Win the New Cold War

From Real Clear Politics.com (Mar. 24):

Since Donald Trump’s rise within Republican ranks, conservatives have divided into two competing foreign policy camps. One contends that Trump’s approach suits the world in which we live and supersedes previous GOP national security and foreign affairs outlooks. A smaller contingent contends that Ronald Reagan’s understanding of America and his conduct of diplomacy remain the gold standard for U.S. foreign policy.

Atlantic Council colleagues Matthew Kroenig (also a Georgetown professor of government and international relations) and Dan Negrea contend that considerably more agreement about foreign affairs prevails among conservatives than they themselves realize. When fleshed out, a Trump-Reagan fusion represents, they persuasively maintain in their new book, “the foreign policy synthesis around which the Republican Party can coalesce.”

Taking their title from Ronald Reagan’s succinct 1977 statement of his stance toward the Cold War, Kroenig and Negrea argue in “We Win, They Lose: Republican Foreign Policy and the New Cold War” (the acknowledgements thank me although I contributed at most encouragement), that the United States has been thrust into the New Cold War by the People’s Republic of China. Trump administration veterans – Kroenig in the Defense Department and Negrea in the State Department – the authors maintain that Trump’s 2017 National Security Strategy rightly recognized that America had already entered an era of great-power competition with Russia as well as with China.

Notwithstanding “real divisions within the party,” argue Kroenig and Negrea, recognition of “[t]he existential threat posed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)” provides conservatives “a central, unifying theme.” By combining Reagan’s characteristic “commitment to individual liberty, free markets, and a strong national defense” with Trump’s emphasis “on the interests of all Americans and confronting countries, such as China, whose economic policies harm American interests,” Kroenig and Negrea contend, conservatives can fashion a strategy for winning the New Cold War.

………….

The Trump-Reagan fusion promises much better by respecting America’s founding principles and by concentrating on advancing America’s interests in an increasingly volatile world. The fusion, according to the authors, comprises three chief elements.

First, the Trump-Reagan fusion seeks peace through strength. In the absence of world government – agreed upon international authorities with the power to make and enforce laws and adjudicate the controversies that arise under them – the United States must maintain the world’s most powerful and adroit military and make clear its readiness to use it to secure the nation’s vital interests. Reagan’s defense build-up, which hastened the Soviet Union’s demise, is a classic case of achieving peace by preparing for war.

Second, the Trump-Reagan fusion upholds free and fair trade. Reagan championed free-market and free-trade policies that sparked an economic turnaround in the 1980s and set the stage for dramatic innovation, entrepreneurship, and growth in the 1990s. But the freedom in free trade must be reciprocal, Reagan explained: “If trade is not fair for all, then trade is free in name only.” Trump applied this principle, write the authors, “countering countries like the PRC that systematically violate the rules of international trade.”

Third, the Trump-Reagan fusion takes pride in American exceptionalism. The United States is the world’s only rights-protecting and democratic superpower. Its constitutional system furnishes “an unending source of economic, diplomatic, and military strength that helps the United States excel in geopolitics.” Since the construction of the U.S.-led international order following World War II, the authors observe, democracy has proliferated, poverty has fallen dramatically, and the world has become, by any objective measure, “much safer, richer, and freer.”

To deal with America’s principal national security threats, the authors advance a “conservative deterrence and diplomacy strategy.” China is the foremost threat, and “getting to a point where the Chinese government no longer has the will or the capacity to threaten core U.S. interests” is the chief objective. The United States must operate simultaneously on two tracks, imposing costs on China’s malign conduct – in the economic, diplomatic, and military realms – in regions around the world while building “a pro-freedom, anti-CCP coalition” – which will include friendly authoritarian nations – in hopes of cooperating “with a future, reasonable government in Beijing.” This two-track approach applies also to Russia, Iran, and North Korea – authoritarian powers bent on undermining the U.S.-led global order. [read more]

This fusion triad will never be part of the mindset of Crooked Joe or any of the crazy Marxist Left. But this America First mindset is what we need to win the new cold war. Good article.

Object and Meaning

We need to know four things:

what there is,

what to do about what there is,

that there is a difference between knowing what there is, and

knowing what to do about what there is and what that difference is.

………….

Myth is not primitive proto-science. It is a qualitatively different phenomenon. Science might be considered “description of the world with regards to those aspects that are consensually apprehensible” or “specification of the most effective mode of reaching an end (given a defined end).” Myth can be more accurately regarded as “description of the world as it signifies (for action).” The mythic universe is a place to act, not a place to perceive. Myth describes things in terms of their unique or shared affective valence, their value, their motivational significance.

Source: Maps of Meaning: The Architecture of Belief (2018) by Jordan B. Peterson.

Media Mistakes in the Trump Era: The Definitive List

From Sharyl Attkisson.com (July 14):

161. Sat. July 13, 2024

In the immediate aftermath of Donald Trump getting shot at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania, numerous left-leaning news organizations posted headlines that obviously did not match what had clearly been observed and recorded on video. The headlines seemed designed to make Trump seem weak or minimize the seriousness of the event.

For example, CNN claimed Trump was rushed off the stage after he “fell.” At no point did it reasonably appear as though Trump had “fallen.”

Although it was immediately clear there may have been shots fired, some outlets chose to skip mentioning the possibility and instead implied that Trump had reacted to scary, loud pops or noises.

The Washington Post and AP claimed Trump had been escorted away after “loud noises.”

And a grammatically incorrect headline from left-leaning USA Today stated that “loud noises startles [sic] former president.”

While it’s difficult to know what’s occurring during a breaking news event, the reports of gunfire were immediate, and Trump was seen immediately grabbing his ear and with blood on it. Reasonable headlines stated that there were reports of gunshots that had yet to be definitively verified.

160. Aug. 15, 2017

This is another belated add. On Aug. 15, 2017, at a news conference, President Trump gave an initial response to protests in Charlottesville, Va. The media falsely reported that Trump referred to Nazis and white supremacists as “very fine people.”

In fact, Trump explicitly, repeatedly condemned any white supremacists. He stated, for example, “we condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry, and violence. It has no place in America.”

Trump also stated, “I’ve condemned neo-Nazis. I’ve condemned many different groups. But not all of those people were neo-Nazis, believe me. Not all of those people were white supremacists by any stretch. Those people were also there because they wanted to protest the taking down of a statue of Robert E. Lee.” And Trump added, “you had some very bad people in that group, but you also had people that were very fine people, on both sides.

Trump was condemning Nazis and white supremacists, and made the explicit distinction that not everyone who was protesting fell into that category.

159. April 3, 2020

This is a belated add because it was an oversight when it originally happened. Multiple media outlets claimed President Trump told people to “drink” or “inject” bleach.

Trump never said this. The fabrications were spread after Trump alluded to research and studies on bleach-like disinfectant to treat Covid.

Indeed, in December of 2021, one such study compared two bleach-like disinfectants and concluded that  “Chlorine dioxide is a more potent antiviral agent against SARS-CoV-2 than sodium hypochlorite.”

According to published information, “Chlorine dioxide is a gas used in very small quantities to disinfect water…Chlorine dioxide kills bacteria, viruses, and fungi. Very small amounts are used in public water treatment facilities.”

158. Oct. 5, 2023

Citing anonymous sources, ABC, The New York Times, CBS, and other media report Trump allegedly discussed US nuclear subs with a foreigner from Australia after Trump was president. Trump called the story “false and ridiculous and “almost all of Australia’s living former prime ministers have denied receiving top-secret information.” CBS later reported, “Sources tell CBS News there is no indication former President Trump shared sensitive records with an Australian billionaire + no charges have been filed by the Special Counsel through their alleged discussion about US Nuclear subs was investigated.”

157.  March 17, 2022

The New York Times, CNN, MSNBC and many others falsely reported that the Hunter Biden laptop scandal story was “unsubstantiated” and/or “Russian disinformation.” In September, 2021, the New York Times quietly deleted its false “unsubstantiated” claim. In March 2022, the newspaper acknowledged that the FBI did have a laptop belonging to Hunter Biden, which contained scandalous material and possible alleged evidence of criminal activity.

Along with the false reporting by the Times and others, social media giants censored the story, incorrectly calling it “false” and “disinformation.” Polling later revealed that a large number of Biden voters would not have voted for Biden in 2020 if they had known about the censored Hunter Biden laptop story.

156. June 9, 2021

The Inspector General found that, contrary to false media reports by NPR and others, and implications by NBC and others, the Secret Service did not clear Lafayette Park in May of 2020 for the purposes of allowing Trump to have a photo op posing with a Bible. The crowd was cleared for a contractor to install a fence and because protesters were breaking the law.

155. June 2, 2021

The Washington Post joins a cacophony of other media in finally correcting their reporting that falsely claimed, early and often, that the Covid-19 “lab theory” was a “debunked” “conspiracy theory.”

154.  April 27, 2021

A New York Times report one year ago this week was wildly incorrect in projecting the first Covid-19 vaccine would not be ready until November of 2033.

They were only off a little bit: instead of taking more than 13 years, it took about seven months. The Times also said if a SARS vaccine were able to be “repurposed” that could be ready as early as “late 2021.”

Also, nearly every expert quoted in the Times article was also far off the mark, including vaccine industry propagandist Peter Hotez, who discussed a fast-tracked 18-month time frame. [read more]

The drive-by-media will do anything to make President Trump look bad even after he got shot at. That’s sad.

'Five Eyes': Stunning revelation of Obama using foreign agencies to spy on Trump

From WND.com (Feb. 14):

A new report unleashed by investigative reporters Michael Shellenberg, Matt Taibbi and Alex Gutentag charges that Barack Obama's administration "targeted 26 Trump advisers for foreign spy agencies to 'reverse target' and 'bump.'"

The allegations, in an article behind a paywall at Substack, charges, "Multiple credible sources tell Public and Racket that the United States Intelligence Community (IC), including the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), illegally mobilized foreign intelligence agencies to target Trump advisors long before the summer of 2016."

The revelations are huge.

"The new information fills many gaps in our understanding of the Russia collusion hoax and is supported by testimony already in the public record," the report said, "Until now, the official story has been that the FBI's investigation began after Australian intelligence officials told US officials that a Trump aide had boasted to an Australian diplomat that Russia had damning material about Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton."

However, what actually happened, the report said, under Obama "The U.S. IC asked the 'Five Eyes' intelligence alliance to surveil Trump's associates and share the intelligence they acquired with U.S. agencies, say sources close to a House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HSPCI) investigation."

The "Five Eyes" include U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

The stunning report continues, "After Public and Racket had been told that President Barack Obama's CIA Director, John Brennan, had identified 26 Trump associates for the Five Eyes to target, a source confirmed that the IC had 'identified [them] as people to 'bump,' or make contact with or manipulate. They were targets of our own IC and law enforcement — targets for collection and misinformation.'"

It was special prosecutor John Durham who investigated, for years, and ruled that the FBI never should have opened its investigation of alleged collusion by Trump's campaign and Russia in 2016, because there was no evidence.

The Substack report continued, "Unknown details about the FBI's investigation of the Trump campaign and raw intelligence related to the IC's surveillance of the Trump campaign are in a 10-inch binder that Trump ordered to be declassified at the very end of his term, sources told Public and Racket."

That could, the report said, be "proof that multiple U.S. intelligence officials broke laws against spying and election interference.

According to a report at the Federalist, the report's claim was that Obama's s administration might have been spying on Trump as early as 2015, and the British Guardian claimed those multiple individuals were "targeted" because "suspicious 'interactions'" were noted during the course of ordinary investigations.

Those details then were delivered to Obama's henchmen.

"Not so, according to Shellenberger, Taibbi, and Gutentag's sources, who were familiar with the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence's investigation," the Federalist explained.

"In truth, the U.S. IC asked the 'Five Eyes' intelligence alliance to surveil Trump's associates and share the intelligence they acquired with U.S. agencies," the Substack article said.

In fact, the report notes, "Barack Obama's CIA Director, John Brennan, had identified 26 Trump associates for the Five Eyes to target."

The instructions from Obama's administration to foreigners were to "manipulate" those targets.

Further, the report said details of Obama's scheming and other "raw intelligence" was included in that binder that Trump had ordered declassified at the end of his germ.

The Federalist noted it earlier had raised questions about Brennan, writing several years ago that, "The evidence suggests, however, that Brennan's CIA and the intelligence community did much more than merely pass on details about 'contacts and interactions between Russian officials and U.S. persons involved in the Trump campaign' to the FBI. The evidence suggests that the CIA and intelligence community — including potentially the intelligence communities of the U.K., Italy, and Australia — created the contacts and interactions that they then reported to the FBI as suspicious."

The Federalist noted, "Should the raw intelligence reports exist, as those sources claim, there will be concrete confirmation that foreign intelligence services targeted the Trump campaign, which in turn will confirm many of the theories posited about the real start of the Russia-collusion hoax."

The report noted that details about what that binder may contain also "raises the specter" that the FBI raid on Trump's Florida home, under the direction of Joe Biden, "wasn't to protect classified materials but to protect intelligence agencies — American and foreign." [source]

Disgraceful. With friends like these countries who needs enemies. It's bad enough when America's intelligence agencies spy on us but our allies? Then again they are all part of the establishment groupthink. So, not unsurprising.

Archbishop Vigano's letter to Donald Trump

From Glenn Beck.com:

Archbishop Vigano sent a letter to President Trump warning of the 'Deep State' both within government as well the Church. Read the entire letter below:

 

Sunday, October 25, 2020  Solemnity of Christ the King 

 

Mister President,

Allow me to address you at this hour in which the fate of the whole  world is being threatened by a global conspiracy against God and humanity. I  write to you as an Archbishop, as a Successor of the Apostles, as the former  Apostolic Nuncio to the United States of America. I am writing to you in the  midst of the silence of both civil and religious authorities. May you accept  these words of mine as the “voice of one crying out in the desert” (Jn 1:23). 

As I said when I wrote my letter to you in June, this historical moment  sees the forces of Evil aligned in a battle without quarter against the forces of Good; forces of Evil that appear powerful and organized as they oppose the  children of Light, who are disoriented and disorganized, abandoned by their temporal and spiritual leaders. 

Daily we sense the attacks multiplying of those who want to destroy  the very basis of society: the natural family, respect for human life, love of  country, freedom of education and business. We see heads of nations and  religious leaders pandering to this suicide of Western culture and its Christian soul, while the fundamental rights of citizens and believers are denied in the name of a health emergency that is revealing itself more and more fully as  instrumental to the establishment of an inhuman faceless tyranny. 

A global plan called the Great Reset is underway. Its architect is a global elite that wants to subdue all of humanity, imposing coercive measures with which to drastically limit individual freedoms and those of entire populations. In several nations this plan has already been approved and  financed; in others it is still in an early stage. Behind the world leaders who  are the accomplices and executors of this infernal project, there are unscrupulous characters who finance the World Economic Forum and Event 201, promoting their agenda.

[read more]

The Archbishop pretty much nailed the Great Reset.

The Seven Keys to President Trump’s Triumph

From Gingrich360.com (Mar. 7):

President Donald Trump had a remarkable showing on Super Tuesday. He won 11 of the first 12 contests. This is all the proof you need that the Republican Party is now the Trump Party.

No non-incumbent has so decisively dominated and shaped his party since Andrew Jackson. President Jackson reacted to what his supporters regarded as the theft of the presidency by John Quincy Adams in 1824. As Robert Remini outlined in his classic work, “The Election of Andrew Jackson,” the Jacksonian movement was determined to defeat the oligarchy which had been dominating American politics and the economy, through the Bank of the United States. (This book is such a clear study of an effective insurgency that we used it in planning the Republican Contract with America campaign in 1994.)

Like President Jackson, President Trump is far more than a candidate. He is the leader of a national movement. As the movement’s champion, he can survive attacks and legal assassination attempts that would destroy normal candidates.

Winning 24 of the first 26 primaries and caucuses is an historic achievement.

How has a businessman from New York come to dominate the GOP so thoroughly?

There are some obvious answers. However, they involve practical, common-sense analysis which Trump Derangement Syndrome seems to block most reporters and analysts from recognizing. There are at least seven unique personal characteristics that have led to President Trump’s Triumph.

President Trump is smart.

Many people are put off by President Trump’s tweets and his occasional angry outbursts. They can’t admit that he is a deeply smart man. Look at the facts. He is a billionaire. He beat 15 other Republicans to become the GOP nominee in 2016 – and Hillary Clinton – when all the so-called experts said this was impossible. President Trump survived eight years of unending lies against him by the deep state and the elite media. He has endured the greatest effort of legal assassination in American history. And during all this, he increased his control of the GOP. Analysts ought to read President Trump’s remarkable book, “The Art of the Comeback” to get a sense of how he recovers when times get tough.

President Trump works.

President Trump believes in – and has spent a lifetime focusing on – principles and approaches that work. Because he is an entrepreneur, he understood how to relaunch the American economy. His life before politics was all about negotiating successfully. So, he was able to deal with foreign countries effectively to achieve his goals. Sometimes his tactics are tough. Many of the European nations who had been hiding behind America’s strength disliked being lectured by President Trump. But they have now increased their defense spending.

President Trump is deeply strategic.

President Trump thinks strategically all the time. Part of his mind is always focused on the immediate – whether it is speechmaking, golfing, or chatting with people – but part of his mind is constantly analyzing data and thinking about what it means for the long run.

President Trump loves what he is doing.

President Trump gains energy from people. He is amazingly existential and focused on the present in a way which gives him authenticity and allows him to focus his energy and his efforts on the immediate. This ability to compartmentalize and focus on the immediate is part of the secret of his surviving eight years of endless news media, bureaucratic and legal assaults. Analysts can’t bring themselves to think through the implications of President Trump knowing people in all 50 states. But that is one of the keys to his enormous grip on the Republican Party. He combines President Ronald Reagan’s charismatic appeal with President Richard Nixon’s detailed knowledge of every state. It is an awesome combination.

President Trump is tough.

I don’t know of any other American leader who could have taken the beating he has taken and still be standing. Yet he is always enthusiastic and ready to fight through another day. He sees himself as engaged in an historic mission to save America – and he accepts that the leader who wants to save the country must be prepared to pay the price for patriotism.

President Trump is not a traditional conservative.

President Trump did not grow up reading National Review or studying Friedrich Hayek. However, he is the most effective anti-left politician of my lifetime (and that includes President Reagan). The simple act of waking up every day, thinking like an entrepreneurial businessman, and applying common sense is devastating to leftwing ideology. Leftwing ideology exists in a fantasy world. It is built on principles that simply don’t work and can’t produce acceptable results. President Trump understands this and rejects it every day to the rage of his critics and the joy of his supporters.

President Trump focuses on achievements.

President Trump’s mind moves from achievement to achievement. This focus on getting things done has been true for his business, political, and governmental experiences. When he has a moment of downtime, he starts thinking “what else can I get done.” He doesn’t focus on personalities or building circles of friends. Those occur because of his work to achieve things. His focus on achievement and accomplishment during his four years in the White House clearly impressed the American people. It is clear how much better things were under President Trump than President Joe Biden.

Because of all these qualities, President Trump has assembled a campaign team led by Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita, which may be running the most thoughtful and competent campaign seen in decades.

Super Tuesday was President Trump’s triumph. His election in November will be the American people’s triumph. [source]

A good analysis of President Trump.

Living as Earthly and Heavenly Citizens

From Breakpoint.org (Oct. 7, 2022):

Though Italian politics does not typically dominate English-speaking Twitter, a speech by Giorgia Meloni, expected to soon become Italy’s first female prime minister, recently caught the attention of a great many around the world.

The speech was from 2019. In it, Meloni decried the practice of commercial surrogacy, rebuked the heedless rush to chemically castrate teens with gender dysphoria, praised the natural family as the basis of society, called out the evils of euthanasia and abortion, and defended her identity as not just a citizen of the world but as someone both Italian and Christian. She closed with a quote from G.K. Chesterton, one of many predictions he made that has come true: “Fires will be kindled to testify that two and two make four. Swords will be drawn to prove that leaves are green in the summer.”

It was refreshing to hear classical truths of Western civilization defended with such passion. Many political and cultural conservatives, both in America and around the world, praised her, holding up her words as a model of what it means to resist progressivism’s continued march across institutions. Many media outlets, on the other hand, quickly labeled her “far right,” “nationalist,” and even “fascist.”

Most of these critiques can be dismissed with ease. After all, it’s not uncommon for journalists to describe anything or anyone not fully on board with progressive ideologies as “far right,” the mildest expressions of patriotism as “nationalist,” and any conservative ideal as “fascist.” Multiple news agencies have noted that Meloni’s political party has roots in the remnants of Italy’s Mussolini era, a level of scrutiny most political parties would not survive.

Other critiques, however, were more substantial. Italian politics is notoriously unpredictable, averaging a new administration every 13 months since 1945. So, it is not unheard of for radical parties, both left and right, to hold seats in the Italian parliament. Nor is it hard to find examples of Christian jargon and imagery employed to support policies and actions that are unhealthy, unchristian, and immoral.

Meloni’s example is even more interesting in light of Queen Elizabeth II’s openly Christian and openly national faith. How can these dual loyalties, to Christ and to nation, blend? How does our earthly citizenship interact with our heavenly citizenship?

Wrestling with these questions, the late Richard John Neuhaus once said, “When I meet God, I expect to meet him as an American.” You can imagine the response his remark elicited, but Neuhaus was not claiming that being an American was the only or most important thing about his identity. Only that it mattered, because it does. As he put it, “Among all the things I am or have been or hope to be, I am undeniably an American. It is not the most important thing, but it is an inescapable thing.”

God did not create generic people with shapeless identities. Just as our personalities, hair color, families, and other characteristics make up who we are, so does our time and place. While there is not biblical warrant to call any nation “Christian” since the days of ancient Israel, there’s plenty for living fully as Christians as citizens of our nations. Our cultural and national identities are part of that great train of treasures which the kings of the Earth will bring into the heavenly New Jerusalem. Until that time, just as we strive, in God’s power, to rid ourselves of sin, leaving only the best of us for God’s service, so too we should work to strip from our nations all corruption and evil, through love of neighbor and repentance, until only the best of being American (or Egyptian, or Japanese, or whatever nation to which God has called us) is left to present to the King of all the nations. [source]

Yes, good for her! She seems like a decent leader. We need more decent God-fearing leaders in the world.

DESSERT-ING THE RACE Joe Biden drops out of 2024 election on National Ice Cream Day as Americans joke ‘I don’t believe in coincidences’

From The-Sun.com (July 21):

On Sunday afternoon, Biden released a statement confirming he would no longer be pursuing a second term in the White House.

Americans were left shocked by the timing of the announcement, with many pointing to the president's love for the summer treat.

"Of all the days," one X user wrote.

"I don’t believe in coincidences," another posted.

"Biden dropping out on national ice cream day is so on brand actually. iconic," a third said.

"Joe Biden dropped out on National Ice Cream Day. Fate loves irony," a fourth said.

Meanwhile, another wrote, "How fitting that Joe Biden drops out of the race on National Ice Cream Day."

Throughout his presidency and campaign, Biden has regularly been spotted at ice cream parlors and stores, indulging in the sweet treat with voters and supporters.

The president's love for ice cream has also been featured on his official X account and late-night shows.

While Biden has been seen eating a variety of flavors, his favorite is officially Graeter’s chocolate chip, his granddaughter Naomi Biden told Vogue in 2022.

SPLIT FROM THE RACE

Absent of bananas, Biden announced his split from the presidential race in a lengthy statement.

He reflected on his presidency thus far and his intention to pursue re-election come November.

"And while it has been my intention to seek reelection, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term," Biden wrote.

He said he plans to speak in greater detail on the decision later in the week.

The decision came after weeks of pressure from within the Democratic party.

Calls to step down dramatically increased following Biden's disastrous June 27 debate performance, where his cognitive decline was highlighted.

Top members of the House and Senate, including West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin publically called on Biden to drop out of the race.

"He will go down with a legacy unlike many people," Manchin said while appearing on This Week with co-anchor Martha Raddatz on Sunday morning.

"He's one of the finest and truly a patriot American.

"So with that, I come with a heavy heart and think that the time has come for him to pass the torch to a younger generation," Manchin said.

Dozens of former national security officials also urged Biden to step down in a letter reportedly sent to the White House.

"With the deepest appreciation for your many decades of inspired leadership, we strongly believe that ongoing concerns surrounding your continued candidacy," the letter obtained by CNN read.

"And the growing likelihood of an electoral college victory for Donald Trump put your national security accomplishments — and our country and your legacy — at an unacceptable level of risk."

"Donald Trump’s vision, approach, and expressed intentions concerning our nation’s security are in fundamental conflict with the values and principles for which you have stood."

“We strongly believe that now is the time to pass the mantle of leadership, and we respectfully urge you to do so,” the letter concluded.

The letter was signed by at least 56 individuals who had served across multiple administrations including former US ambassador to the Czech Republic John Shattuck and former Clinton National Security Council official Eric Shultz. [read more]

It is ironic, but I doubt Briben knew it was Ice Cream Day. I didn't know it either. It seems like America is celebrating way too many days. What's odd is that his staff was told by his chief of staff about Crooked Joe leaving the presidential race. What's with that?  Doesn't seem right.

So, Briben is too mentally unfit to run for re-election but not too mentally unfit to continue being president? Where have I heard that before? Oh, yeah the Robert Hur report. Since Briben is running again how about releasing the audio version of the transcript?

It would be better if Crooked Joe remained president otherwise Commie Harris would be president which might even be worse and might be harder to run against her if she was president. Just keep the lying demented pedophile from the nuclear football.

About Briben leaving the race:

• Did Biden’s Aides Force Him Out Of The Race?
• Coup Upon Coup Upon Coup
• Joe Biden Drops Out [video]
• O'Reilly Reacts to Biden's Oval Office Address on NewsNation [video]

Here’s your life Joe Briben:

• Joe Biden Is A Good Man? Please Don’t Insult Our Intelligence
• The Greatest Biden Lies Of All Time
• Bidengate and the Doom Loop
• Biden, Lenin, and Immigration Language
• Biden White House facilitated DOJ's criminal probe against Trump, scuttled privilege claims: memos
• Joe and Hunter Biden Staying in $20 Million South Carolina Beachfront Mansion *For Free*
• The SHOCKING theory of why the Bidens keep on refinancing their home
• Biden's ECONOMIC END GAME part 1: The nominee who would RADICALLY TRANSFORM our economy FOREVER [video]
• Biden's ECONOMIC END GAME part 2: These three things CANNOT PASS Congress [video]
• Biden’s HHS Secretary: Cutting Off Kids’ Genitals Is ‘Health Care’ And Taxpayers Should Pay For It
• 15 States Sue to Block HHS' New Gender Identity Rule
• Joe Biden Revokes Trump Executive Order, Opens the Door For MORE Censorship
• 8 Times Our Federal Government Ran A Protect-Biden Racket
• CIA Blocked Probe Into Hunter Biden’s ‘Sugar Brother’ Kevin Morris, Docs Show
• Fix is in: FBI bungling case against Biden over top-secret documents
• Book: Joe Biden Doesn’t Trust His Secret Service, Fears ‘MAGA Sympathizers’ in Ranks
• 25 states sue Biden administration over federal ESG policy
• Biden Restricts Oil & Gas Leases in Alaska Federal Reserve
• Joe Biden Releases Executive Order Promoting Woke AI
• President Biden Signs Bill Package With Ban on Mask Mandates Tucked Inside
• Eight States Plan to Ban the Sale of Gas-Powered Vehicles as Joe Biden Issues New Rules to Begin Killing Them Off
• Biden’s student loan debt ‘forgiveness’ plan faces another lawsuit: ‘Embarrassing attempt to buy the 2024 election’
• ‘Bidenbucks’ Make ‘Zuckbucks’ Look Like Chump Change
• Here are the massive tax increases coming your way in a second Biden term
• Illegal alien attempts to infiltrate military base: Report
• Biden Admin Gives 'Mass Amnesty,' NY Post Reports
• Biden Admin Launching App to Allow Migrants to Bypass ICE Check-Ins
• DOJ Threatens to Sue Iowa if It Acts on Immigration Law
• Border Patrol Seizes 25 ‘AK-47 Style Rifles’ Headed To ‘Transnational Criminal Organizations’
• DOJ targets pro-life activists with new lawsuit, but two GOP lawmakers are fighting back: 'Biden's two-tiered justice system'
• Former Agent: FBI Taught Agents Pro-Lifers Are More Dangerous Than Islamic Terrorists
• Report: DOJ Tracked Moms for Liberty as Hate Group
• Trans activists get a free pass for targeting churches while the Biden DOJ goes after Christians
• Law Enforcement Spies on Thousands of Americans' Mail
• Biden Witnessed His Dog Attack Multiple Secret Service Members: Document
• EXCLUSIVE Secret Service destroyed video of Biden's dog Commander biting agent in brutal attack that forced White House to stop tours so blood could be wiped off the floor
• Biden repeatedly watched his dog attack Secret Service as staff wished each other ‘safe shift’: docs
• Biden gives away Commander after dog drew blood with attacks on Secret Service at White House, vacation home: documents
• Ex-Stripper: My iCloud Was Hacked And Content Deleted When I Learned I Was Having Hunter Biden’s Child
• Biden's Doctor Met With Parkinson's Specialist at White House

Will the Border Czarina Kamala Harris, if she gets elected president, continue Crooked Joe’s legacy? Definitely yes. Expect the End of Days.