There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true. —Soren Kierkegaard. "…truth is true even if nobody believes it, and falsehood is false even if everybody believes it. That is why truth does not yield to opinion, fashion, numbers, office, or sincerity–it is simply true and that is the end of it" – Os Guinness, Time for Truth, pg.39. “He that takes truth for his guide, and duty for his end, may safely trust to God’s providence to lead him aright.” – Blaise Pascal. "There is but one straight course, and that is to seek truth and pursue it steadily" – George Washington letter to Edmund Randolph — 1795. We live in a “post-truth” world. According to the dictionary, “post-truth” means, “relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief.” Simply put, we now live in a culture that seems to value experience and emotion more than truth. Truth will never go away no matter how hard one might wish. Going beyond the MSM idealogical opinion/bias and their low information tabloid reality show news with a distractional superficial focus on entertainment, sensationalism, emotionalism and activist reporting – this blogs goal is to, in some small way, put a plug in the broken dam of truth and save as many as possible from the consequences—temporal and eternal. "The further a society drifts from truth, the more it will hate those who speak it." – George Orwell “There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true.” ― Soren Kierkegaard
Dr. David Jeremiah is a well-known Christian pastor, author, and speaker who has made significant contributions to the field of Christian ministry. With a passion for sharing the Word of God, he founded Turning Point Ministries, a global organization dedicated to delivering the message of the Gospel to people around the world.
Psalm 119:105 highlights the importance of God’s Word in guiding our lives: “Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.” Through his radio and televisionministry, David Jeremiah continues to shine the light of God’s Word into the lives of people, providing encouragement, hope, and guidance in their spiritual journey.
Dr. David Jeremiah: A Pillar of Christian Ministry
As the senior pastor of Shadow Mountain Community Church in El Cajon, California, Dr. Jeremiah leads a vibrant congregation with a focus on biblical teaching, discipleship, and community outreach. His powerful sermons and insightful teachings inspire and guide believers in their faith journey.
Dr. Jeremiah’s influence extends beyond the walls of his church through his conference speaking engagements. He is sought after as a speaker at various Christian events, where he addresses topics such as Christian living and prophecy. His teachings provide practical guidance and encouragement for believers to apply biblical principles in their daily lives.
With his extensive educational background, including a Doctor of Divinity degree, Dr. Jeremiah combines scholarly knowledge with a genuine passion for helping others understand the scriptures. His bestselling books, such as “The Coming Economic Armageddon” and “Escape the Coming Night,” tackle important themes in Christian theology and offer valuable insights for believers.
Dr. Jeremiah’s commitment to clear and practical Bible teaching is evident in his radio and television ministry, Turning Point. Through Turning Point TV and radio broadcasts, he reaches millions of people worldwide, delivering inspirational messages that resonate with believers seeking to deepen their understanding of God’s Word.
Dr. David Jeremiah’s impact on the Christian community is undeniable. His dedication to biblical truth, his engaging speaking engagements, and his passionate writing have earned him numerous awards and honors, solidifying his place as a respected leader in Christian ministry.
Jeremiah’s Insight on Prophecy and Scripture
Jeremiah’s teachings often reference key Bible verses that are relevant to the topic of prophecy. For instance, in his book “Agents of the Apocalypse,” he explores the prophecies found in the book of Revelation, shedding light on the end-times and the role of various biblical figures. Through his clear and practical approach, he helps believers navigate the complexities of prophecy and encourages them to apply the teachings to their daily lives.
Senior Pastor at Shadow Mountain Community Church
Dr. David Jeremiah serves as the senior pastor at Shadow Mountain Community Church in El Cajon, California. With a congregation of more than 10,000 members, Shadow Mountain is one of the largest churches in the San Diego area.
Under Dr. Jeremiah’s leadership, Shadow Mountain Community Church has experienced significant growth and impact in the local community. His dynamic preaching style, rooted in sound biblical teachings, resonates with people of all ages and backgrounds. Dr. Jeremiah’s sermons are known for their practical application of God’s Word, inspiring individuals to live out their faith in their daily lives.
In his role as the senior pastor, Dr. Jeremiah focuses on creating a church environment that fosters spiritual growth and community. He encourages members to actively participate in small groups, Bible studies, and outreach programs, providing opportunities for individuals to connect with one another and serve the community.
Conference Speaking Engagements
Dr. David Jeremiah is a highly sought-after speaker at conferences around the world, where he imparts wisdom and knowledge on Christian living and prophecy. His engaging and dynamic speaking style captivates audiences and leaves a lasting impact.
At these conferences, Dr. Jeremiah delves into various topics, providing practical advice and biblical insights. He emphasizes the importance of living a life rooted in faith and encourages believers to align their actions with God’s Word.
Drawing from his extensive knowledge of biblical prophecy, Dr. Jeremiah also addresses end-time events and their significance in today’s world. He helps attendees understand the relevance of biblical prophecies and how they relate to current events, offering hope and guidance in uncertain times.
With his profound insights and ability to connect with audiences, Dr. David Jeremiah continues to impact lives through his conference speaking engagements, inspiring individuals to deepen their relationship with Christ and live out their faith boldly.
Books by Dr. David Jeremiah
Jeremiah is not only a renowned pastor and speaker, but also a prolific author. His bestselling books have touched the hearts and minds of countless individuals seeking spiritual growth and guidance. With his unique blend of biblical wisdom and practical insights, Jeremiah’s books have become valuable resources for Christians around the world.
One of his most notable works is “The Jeremiah Study Bible: What It Says. What It Means. What It Means For You.” This comprehensive study Bible offers in-depth explanations and applications of the Scriptures, helping readers gain a deeper understanding of God’s Word. Jeremiah’s commitment to clear and practical Bible teaching shines through in this work, making it a must-have for anyone seeking to grow in their faith.
Another significant book authored by Dr. Jeremiah is “Agents of the Apocalypse: A Riveting Look at the Key Players of the End Times.” In this book, he delves into the prophecies found in the book of Revelation, providing insights into the roles of various biblical characters in the end times. With a balanced approach and a firm foundation in Scripture, Jeremiah brings clarity and understanding to a complex topic.
Through his books, Dr. David Jeremiah continues to impact lives and inspire individuals to deepen their relationship with God. His literary contributions are a testament to his dedication to sharing the gospel and helping believers navigate the challenges of life in a biblically grounded manner.
Overall, Dr. Jeremiah’s books are a valuable resource for Christians seeking spiritual growth, biblical understanding, and practical guidance in their daily lives. His writings reflect his deep love for God’s Word and his desire to equip believers to live out their faith in a meaningful and impactful way.
Peter’s character was molded and shaped after the example he had witnessed in Christ. He had the raw material for becoming a leader, and that was important. His life experiences helped hone and sharpen his natural leadership abilities, and that was also vital. But the real key to everything—the essential foundation upon which true leadership always rises or falls—is character. It was the character qualities Peter developed through his intimate association with Christ that ultimately made him the great leader he became.
I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee. (Acts 18:10)
So long as the Lord had work for Paul to do in Corinth, the fury of the mob was restrained. The Jews opposed themselves and blasphemed; but they could neither stop the preaching of the gospel nor the conversion of the hearers. God has power over the most violent minds. He makes the wrath of man to praise Him when it breaks forth, but He still more displays His goodness when He restrains it; and He can restrain it. “By the greatness of thine arm they shall be as still as a stone, till thy people pass over, O Lord.”
Do not, therefore, feel any fear of man when you know that you are doing your duty. Go straight on, as Jesus would have done, and those who oppose shall be as a bruised reed and as smoking flax. Many a time men have had cause to fear because they were themselves afraid; but a dauntless faith in God brushes fear aside like the cobwebs in a giant’s path. No man can harm us unless the Lord permits. He who makes the devil himself to flee at a word can certainly control the devil’s agents. Maybe they are already more afraid of you than you are of them. Therefore, go forward, and where you looked to meet with foes you will find friends.
“Test me, O Lord, and try me; examine my heart and my mind.” Psalm 26:2
When I read this verse, I shuddered a bit. I don’t want to be tested. I never liked tests in school. I would prefer God just pat me on the head and tell me I am doing a good job.
But the truth is, tests measure our progress. They show what we have learned and how our skills have improved. As Christians, we are to keep growing in Christ, becoming more and more like him in thought, word, and deed in the Spirit’s strength. We need an assessment to be honest before God.
Lately, we have been living through trying times. What was once the norm no longer exists and no one knows if it ever will again. Our ways of working, worshipping, and walking in the Spirit have changed.
And that has brought new challenges. Do you feel more anxious now than you did at the beginning of the year? Or has your faith blossomed and your reliance on Jesus become more consistent? Are you less able to handle the stress or have you embraced it and tried to find the blessings?
Maybe it is time to ask God to examine our minds and hearts and show us if there is anything in us he wants to forgive or change by his grace. The good news is he will keep on patiently teaching us to trust and obey him, whatever the circumstances, as the old hymn ‘Trust and Obey’ says. Especially now, there truly is no other way to be happy in Jesus.
Father, although part of me doesn’t want to invite you to examine my heart and mind right now, I realize it is necessary to my growth as a believer. Thank you for sending your Holy Spirit to be my tutor and my guide, and your Son, Jesus, to be my example and redeemer. Forgive me when I run away from your truth about me rather than embrace it. Help me to see the good behind the examination. Amen.
“Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.” Psalm 20:7
One could not help but admire the sleek black upper end luxury car.
As I pulled up behind it, the tag caught my eye with its tag number of “OWE DEBT.” I thought, “That says it all.”
In the day-to-day trenches of adult life, there is actually no such thing as atheism. There is no such thing as not worshiping. Everybody worships. The only choice we get is what to worship. If you worship money and things, if they are where you tap real meaning in life, then you will never have enough.
Ecclesiastes 5:10 reminds us that “Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income….” The trap is wealth. Scripture tells us that if we are having our basic needs met for food and clothing, we are considered to have riches.
Jesus cautioned us against living a lifestyle that required more than our basic necessities. Jesus continually taught that a dependence on anything other than God was evil. Whenever Jesus determined that money was an issue for an individual, He addressed it and found that the individual could not let go.
Much like the frog in the boiling pot, if we are not careful we gradually begin to acquire and walk the treadmill of material gain. We begin to expect and desire more and more. Soon we begin expanding our lifestyle. Before we know it, we are worrying about how to take care of and pay for what we acquire.
Our emphasis becomes what we own versus our relationship with Jesus and His Kingdom. The greater independence money gives us, the less dependence on God we need. Christ talked much about money in the Kingdom because He knew how much of a problem it was.
The psalmist said it best: Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.
Lord, I choose to trust in You, not in myself and the material world around me. Help me to keep my focus solely on You. Amen.
Question: When we worship wealth and things of material gain we focus on them rather than on God. Where is your focus?
For The First Time Ever, Poll Shows Le Pen Winning French Presidency In The Second Round In an exclusive poll conducted by IFOP, the National Rally (RN) candidate Marine Le Pen is predicted to win the presidency in the second round of voting against Gabriel Attal in 2027. It is the first time any poll has shown her securing victory and becoming president of the nation.
CDC Is Now Retaliating Against Its Own Scientists For ‘Wrong’ Mask Research CDC Director Mandy Cohen kept evading questions on whether she would bring back mask mandates for toddlers. Soon after the pandemic started, the CDC began promoting masks to stop the spread of COVID. And it did so despite CDC publishing a May 2020 policy study in their own journal “Emerging Infectious Diseases” that did not find a “substantial effect” for masks in stopping the transmission of respiratory viruses.
Boris Johnson Has Meltdown After Being Exposed For Sabotaging Ukraine Peace Deal Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson had a mini-meltdown after being exposed during the Tucker Carlson-Vladimir Putin interview for sabotaging the Ukrainian peace deal. David Arahamiya, the leader of Ukraine’s ruling party, revealed that Johnson had scuppered a peace deal that would have put an end to hostilities just a few months after the Russian invasion.
Treasury Dept. Admits Targeting ‘MAGA’ Finances Without Due Process “Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) is requesting a transcribed interview with a former Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) official for allegedly flagging consumer transactions that had the phrases “TRUMP” or “MAGA” in them…
UNRWA Chief Urged to Resign After ‘Absurd’ Pledge of Ignorance Israeli diplomatic leaders called for the resignation of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) Commissioner-General, Philippe Lazzarini, following denial of knowing about a Hamas data center under the agency’s headquarters in Gaza. “Philippe Lazzarini’s claim of unawareness is not only absurd but also an affront to common sense. His prompt resignation is imperative,” Katz concluded.
Former Dutch PM and his wife opt for euthanasia Dries Van Agt, who served as prime minister of the Netherlands from 1977 to 1982, and whom Dutch watchdog groups condemned in recent years as an antisemite, chose to die last Monday with the assistance of a doctor, along with his wife. He was 93. The double-euthanasia was announced on Sunday,
IDF reveals: Al Jazeera ‘journalist’ was Hamas commander According to Adraee, the laptop belonged to Muhammad Washah, a journalist for Al Jazeera. It was found several weeks ago in a Hamas base in northern Gaza. The IDF claims that the journalist also served as a senior commander in Hamas’s antitank missile system,
Iranian President: ‘The Zionist entity will depart the world’ He noted that the war in Gaza has shown the true face of the USA and Israel, and stated that the international community must internalize that the Zionist entity would depart the world and that Palestine was the first order of business for the Islamic world. He likewise insisted that Jerusalem needed to be liberated.
Former White House doctor – Biden ‘not cognitively fit’ to lead the country. The White House doctor during the Obama-Biden administration said Saturday that it is obvious to him that President Joe Biden has declined mentally since his years as vice president and that he is not fit to serve as the country’s leader. “I watched the man every day, you know, in and around the West Wing for eight years when he was vice president. There’s a drastic, drastic difference between then and now,”
Israeli arrested for TikTok incitement to assassinate Netanyahu A 40-year old resident of Beersheba was arrested over posts on the social media platform TikTok that contained “serious incitement to murder” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The cyber branch of Israel Police’s Lahav 433 made the arrest and held the suspect for questioning.
Gallant – IDF intelligence work will lead to ‘realistic’ hostage deal Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Sunday that the intelligence discoveries that the IDF has made in the field in the Gaza Strip over recent days and weeks is what will lead to a “realistic” hostage deal. “We penetrated into the heart of Hamas’s most sensitive places, and are using their intelligence against them,” he said
US obsession with two-state solution is ‘delusional’ It’s “shocking” that a US administration would push for a Palestinian state under ordinary circumstances, let alone after Oct. 7, said former envoy Jason Greenblatt.
Hamas in the Bible – the sequel “Hamas” – in addition to being the Arabic name of this death-worshipping, extremist Islamic terror organization in Gaza – is also a Hebrew word mentioned over 60 times in Scripture. “hamas” – חמס means: “to be violent; by implication to maltreat: – make bare, shake off, violate, do violence, take away violently, wrong, imagine wrongfully.” appearances of “hamas” in the Bible – in Genesis chapter 6, verses 11 and 13. Both refer to the earth being “full of violence,”
Without hostage deal, Israel will attack Rafah in two weeks, Egypt tells Hamas IDF chief of staff: Plans for Rafah operation are ready. When Egypt warned Hamas leaders about the Israeli intentions, the terror group’s officials insisted on their existing demands, rejected the “Israeli threats” and said they were prepared to defend Rafah.
Alberta rejects Trudeau’s ‘unconstitutional’ oil and gas emissions cap Alberta has officially rejected the Liberal government’s oil and gas emission cap, saying it would cripple Canada’s economy. On February 5, Alberta Minister of Environment and Protected Areas Minister Rebecca Schulz published an open letter to Liberal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault, warning him that Alberta will not be enforcing the proposed oil and gas regulations. “This cap is not realistic or effective, will not achieve its grandiose emissions targets, and will not be tolerated in Alberta,” said Schulz.
Strong winter storm over the Southern Plains to evolve into a Nor’easter on February 12 Forecasters at the National Weather Service (NWS) issued a warning on February 11, 2024, about a significant winter storm impacting the Southern Rockies and High Plains, moving northeast towards the Northern Mid-Atlantic, New York, and New England. Expected heavy snowfall, powerful winds, and potential coastal flooding are set to disrupt travel and cause power outages across affected regions.
After Military Takeover, Country Activates Conscription Law for First Time Myanmar’s military government on Saturday activated for the first time a decade-old conscription law that makes young men and women subject to at least two years of military service if called up, effective immediately. The announcement of the measure on state television amounts to a major, though tacit, admission that the army is struggling to contain the nationwide armed resistance against its rule.
Fire Erupts at Montana Oil Refinery Firefighters responded to a fire that erupted at the Phillips 66 oil refinery in Billings, Montana. “Currently, multiple firefighters are on the scene dealing with a fire at the Phillips 66 refinery in Billings, Montana. Thick plumes of black smoke can be seen for miles coming from the refinery,” Rawsalerts wrote.
“The Great Reset” Is Here: Follow the Money. “Insane Lockdown” of the Global Economy, “The Green Agenda” “The top-down reorganization of the world economy by a cabal of technocratic corporativists, led by the group around the Davos World Economic Forum– the so-called Great Reset or UN Agenda 2030– is no future proposal. It is well into actualization as the world remains in insane lockdown for a virus. The hottest investment area since the onset of the coronavirus global lockdowns is something called ESG investing.” according to strategic risk consultant and lecturer, F. William Engdahl.
The Plot Thickens: Uncovering the CIA & Rockefeller Foundation’s Role in the 2025 Depopulation Forecast released by Deagel In a world where reality often seems stranger than fiction, the machinations behind global events can be an enigma wrapped in mystery. One such intrigue revolves around Deagel, an obscure online entity known for its exhaustive data on military capabilities and eyebrow-raising depopulation forecasts for 2025. We can reveal that recent findings appear to link Deagel directly to significant players on the world stage: The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD)/ The Pentagon, and The Rockefeller Foundation.
UK Steps Up War on Whistleblower Journalism with New National Security Act “Under a repressive new act, British nationals could face prison for undermining London’s national security line. Intended to destroy WikiLeaks and others exposing war crimes, the law is a direct threat to critical national security journalism.“
WHO’s Pandemic Treaty negotiations are failing; they are blaming it on vaccine patents Maybe 5% of the negotiations regarding the World Health Organization’s Pandemic Treaty and amendments to the International Health Regulations (“IHR”) are about a trade agreement. The other 95% are about global control of information, pandemics and medicine through the World Health Organization (“WHO”), says Dr. Meryl Nass.
None Dare Call It Conspiracy: United Nations is the first major successful step on the road to a World Superstate More than fifty years ago, a short book was written and within a few years it sold more than 6 million copies… In the book, the authors focus on the activities of a network of “Insiders,” in particular, members of the “illuminist-socialist” Council on Foreign Relations, who hold powerful positions in American government, business, finance and media, and who have strongly influenced government policies from the Wilson era to modern times.
The Explosive Link Between COVID Vaccines and Increased Cancer Rates in Children & Young Adults A report quietly published by the UK Government department known as the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shockingly reveals people aged 18 to 49 who have received four doses of the COVID-19 vaccine are up to 318% more likely to die of any cause than unvaccinated people aged 18 to 49.
“On every question of construction carry ourselves back to the time when the Constitution was adopted, recollect the spirit manifested in the debates and instead of trying what meaning may be squeezed out of the text or invented against it, conform to the probable one in which it was passed.” —Thomas Jefferson (1823)
Fellow Patriots, on this day in 1809, Abraham Lincoln was born. He became the 16th U.S. president, and his legacy is far more complicated than most people may appreciate. —Mark Alexander
The tone and direction of the justices’ questions during last Thursday’s oral arguments in the Trump-Colorado case were telling.
Douglas Andrews
What gives Colorado the right to decide the presidency for the rest of the nation?
That seemed to be the sentiment last Thursday not only of the Supreme Court’s conservatives but also its liberals, as the Court heard oral arguments on whether Colorado could invoke the 14th Amendment’s Civil War-era “disqualification” clause to bar Donald Trump from its presidential primary ballot.
Indeed, some of the toughest questions came from Obama appointee Elena Kagan and Biden appointee Ketanji Brown Jackson. Only the dimmest bulb among the justices, Sonia Sotomayor, seemed inclined to rule in favor of Colorado.
“The question you have to confront,” said Kagan to Jason Murray, who gamely but unconvincingly defended Colorado’s decision to ban Trump, “is why a single state should decide who gets to be president of the United States.”
Jackson, meanwhile, drilled down into the specific language of the 14th Amendment, whose Section 3 lists certain officeholders but oddly omits one in particular. “Why didn’t they put the word ‘president’ in the very enumerated list in section three?” she asked. “Doesn’t that at least suggest ambiguity?”
These questions and others like them were as clear a sign as you’ll ever see that the justices are seeking a resounding consensus rather than a contentious 6-3 or 5-4 ruling.
At issue is the December 19 decision by Colorado’s Supreme Court — a 4-3 decision by an all-Democrat court — which said that Donald Trump was ineligible for the state’s upcoming GOP primary because he’d incited an insurrection on January 6, 2021. (Hey, nothing screams “incitement” more loudly than a president encouraging his supporters to “peacefully and patriotically make [their] voices heard.”)
Asked whether the events of January 6 met the Constitution’s disqualification standard, Trump lawyer Jonathan Mitchell answered, “For an insurrection, there needs to be an organized, concerted effort to overthrow the government of the United States through violence.” Apparently, Mitchell thinks a relatively small and unarmed mob of rioters spurred on by a still mysterious number of undercover FBI agents falls somewhat short of that ancient and obscure “insurrectionist” standard.
Chief Justice John Roberts seems to understand the Pandora’s box that will no doubt be opened if he and his fellow justices get this one wrong. “If Colorado’s position is upheld,” he suggested to Murray, “surely there will be disqualification proceedings on the other side. A goodly number of states will say, whoever the Democratic candidate is, ‘You’re off the ballot.’ And others for the Republican candidate, ‘You’re off the ballot.’”
It’s hard to argue with that assessment. And it’s hard to take the all-Democrat Colorado Supreme Court seriously when it purports to defend democracy by denying the American people their right to elect the president of their choosing.
Roberts isn’t the only one who sees a tit-for-tat future if “insurrection” is allowed such an expansive definition. As former Attorneys General Ed Meese, Bill Barr, and Michael Mukasey argue in a friend-of-the-court brief, “Without a clear statutory definition, the types of presidential actions that might be deemed an ‘insurrection’ are virtually limitless.”
On the other hand, as The Wall Street Journal reports, “A ruling in favor of Trump likely would extinguish similar efforts playing out in a variety of states, including in Maine, where a December decision from Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, a Democrat, barring Trump from the ballot is on hold until the Supreme Court decides the Colorado dispute.”
Indeed, the Maine decision, which was carried out unilaterally by Bellows, a partisan bureaucrat and the former executive director of the Maine branch of the American Civil Liberties Union, seems especially egregious. Think of the power being exercised here by a single partisan official within a single state.
Not surprisingly, the former president liked what he saw from his home in Florida last week. “In watching the Supreme Court today,” Trump remarked on Thursday, “I thought it was a very beautiful process. I thought the presentation today was a very good one. I think it was well received. I hope it was well received.”
The Wall Street Journal editorial board suggests one possible outcome: “The best course for the country would be for the Justices to settle this case on the narrow legal issues, and not to enter the political fight over whether Jan. 6 was an insurrection. The Justices don’t need to go there if they find that Section 3 doesn’t cover the President. A 9-0 decision would send a unified message to the country that Colorado is wrong on the law.”
With Colorado’s GOP primary scheduled for March 5, the Roberts Court is on the clock. Which is why a narrowly tailored decision like the one outlined above seems more likely than not.
Rather than admit that the emperor’s “invisible” clothes aren’t there at all, Democrats are changing the narrative.
Nate Jackson
The report on Joe Biden’s mishandling of classified documents and then Biden’s press conference in response illustrated what everyone already knows: The emperor has no memory. In Hans Christian Andersen’s folktale about the emperor’s new clothes, everyone knows the emperor is naked, but most are dedicated to maintaining the fiction rather than being thought of as fools. Democrats ought to read that story and learn something.
We say that because two narratives have been distilled in the aftermath of a truly disastrous day for Biden: One, Special Counsel Robert Hur was wrong to highlight the president’s memory and age issues. Democrats and their media allies complain that Hur’s analysis of Biden as “a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory” is a disgraceful thing for the special counsel to write down. Two, Republicans are just being mean to “pounce” on the story and make political hay out of it.
In other words, the story isn’t that Biden is unfit for office; it’s that people shouldn’t point it out.
Why circle the wagons like this and pretend? Democrat strategist James Carville got right to the point by saying, “The most damaging thing that can happen to a politician is to have an existing negative suspicion confirmed.” Indeed, 86% of voters think Biden is “too old” to serve a second term.
Like the people in the fable who don’t want to be considered fools for not seeing the emperor’s invisible clothes, doubling down is the only answer.
Our Jordan Candler compiles Short Cuts daily, and today’s entry is full of essential quotes that tell the story of leftist spin.
Biden’s 25th Amendment insurance policy, otherwise known as Kamala Harris, led the charge. Hur’s report “could not be more wrong on the facts and [was] clearly politically motivated,” she said, and his assessment of Biden’s cognitive decline was “gratuitous, inaccurate, and inappropriate.”
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, who, other than being a black lesbian, was chosen for the job because she so ably captures Biden’s typical eloquence, said, “Look, as it relates to his age, as it relates to, uh, what has been said, uh, by, you know, by, uh, in this report, it is something that we don’t believe lives in reality in the sense of, this is, this is a president, I have spent, I’ve known this president since 2009, I’ve known this president…” You get the idea. Besides, she said, “elected officials … misspeak sometimes.”
Ian Sams, spokesman for the White House Counsel’s office, emphasized the “Republicans are mean” narrative. He accused Republicans of “made up claims of a two-tiered system of justice,” which he says created the pressure under which the special counsel “spends time making gratuitous and inappropriate criticisms of the president.”
Various Democrats laughably asserted that Biden is “completely mentally sharp” and “on top of his game.”
Democrat strategist Jon Reinish also complained about the double standard … against Joe Biden: “The scrutiny and the coverage on whatever Biden’s gaffes are is 10,000 times what the scrutiny and the toughness and calling out are when Donald Trump rambles incoherently, mashes facts and comes across as if he has no grasp on reality.”
As Biden would yell: “Come on, man! Give me a break! That’s a bunch of malarkey!”
In fact, because the mainstream media is effectively a Democrat super PAC, “journalists” did the same job as White House spinmeisters. When they weren’t almost literally pounding the table about how very different this classified documents case is from Jack Smith’s probe of Donald Trump, they were rhetorically hammering Hur for using unkind “adjectives and adverbs that are not the province of the Department of Justice.”
NBC News frets, “Democratic allies raised concern that Republicans will grow emboldened now to use the Hur report as a political cudgel and try to keep its damaging statements in public discussion during oversight hearings, and potentially even use it to revive their impeachment inquiry into Biden.” As if the fact that the president is non compos mentis is a made-up problem and the real story is that Republicans would dare point it out.
NBC concludes its story with an unintentionally hilarious quote from a Biden “ally”: “They have to relax and put him out there. The more people see him, the better they will feel.”
Yeah, that worked about as well Thursday night as it did for the fable’s emperor parading through the streets totally naked.
Mayorkas blame-shifts on border crisis, Biden plays Americans for suckers, Air Force stretches the age bar, and more.
Douglas Andrews, Thomas Gallatin, & Jordan Candler
Cross-Examination
Eighteen Senate Republicans vote with Dems to advance $95 billion foreign aid bill: Thomas Jefferson, in his first inaugural address, wisely warned his fellow Americans against “entangling alliances” with other nations. Unfortunately for our federal fisc, 18 Republican senators decided yesterday to ignore his advice, instead voting with Democrats to advance a $95 billion foreign aid bill for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan, as well as civilians in Gaza and the West Bank. And this without having prioritized the far more urgent matter of securing our southern border. The 18 Republicans who voted for the bill no doubt did so against the wishes of many of their constituents. “I know it’s become quite fashionable in some circles to disregard the global interests we have as a global power, to bemoan the responsibilities of global leadership,” said a condescending Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, adding, “This is idle work for idle minds.” On Saturday, a day before the Senate vote, Donald Trump suggested a different approach: “From this point forward, are you listening U.S. Senate(?), no money in the form of foreign aid should be given to any country unless it is done as a loan, not just a giveaway. It can be loaned on extraordinarily good terms, like no interest and an unlimited life, but a loan nevertheless.” Sounds like a sensible idea for a nation racing toward insolvency. In 1794, six years after helping to secure the ratification of the Constitution, then-U.S. congressman and future president James Madison wrote sardonically of a $15,000 congressional appropriation for French refugees, “I cannot undertake to lay my finger on that article of the Constitution which granted a right to Congress of expending, on objects of benevolence, the money of their constituents.” Madison, who’s recognized as “the Father of the Constitution,” knew of what he spoke. And our nation would be in infinitely better shape had we heeded his age-old wisdom.
Interest payments on national debt will exceed defense and Medicare spending: In a story that bears directly on the Senate’s passage yesterday of a $95 billion foreign aid bill, a new analysis by the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget says that interest payments on the U.S. national debt are on pace to become the second-largest federal government expenditure this year. The CRFB says interest on our $34 trillion national debt is the fastest-growing part of the federal government’s annual budget. You don’t say. And just think: This year, we’ll spend more money on interest payments than we will on national defense or Medicare or Medicaid. And soon enough, our interest payments will outstrip our funding for Social Security. As the report adds: “Such high levels of debt carry significant risks and threats to the economy and the nation as a whole. High debt levels put upward pressure on interest rates, discourage investment, slow economic growth, threaten economic vitality, place a strain on the budget through rising interest payments, create geopolitical challenges and risks, make responding to new emergencies more challenging, and impose intergenerational unfairness between current and future generations.”
Mayorkas blame-shifts on border crisis: In an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press” yesterday, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas claimed that the border crisis that has been unfolding and escalating — by design — during the entirety of Joe Biden’s time in office is not his fault. Mayorkas effectively denied the Biden administration’s policy of open borders by saying that claims he was “willfully” avoiding enforcing immigration laws were “baseless.” Yet he did not explain why, even as record numbers of illegal aliens have crossed into the U.S. under his watch. Interviewer Kristen Welker pressed Mayorkas on his recent acknowledgment that more than 85% of migrants caught crossing the border have been released into the U.S. and pointedly asked, “Why do you deserve to keep your job, Mr. Secretary?” He had no answer. What Mayorkas did do was blame shift, claiming that Congress’s failure to pass new immigration legislation was the problem and that the Biden administration doesn’t “bear responsibility for a broken system, and we’re doing a tremendous amount within that broken system.” If the system was so broken, how come Donald Trump had significant success in culling the number of illegal immigrants crossing into the U.S.?
Sanctuary cities are “inherently unsafe”: Speaking of the border crisis, the Biden administration has repeatedly argued that “root causes” such as crime and high poverty rates in Central American countries need to be addressed to stop the problem of mass illegal migration. It’s an excuse used in leu of the Biden administration’s refusal to secure the southern border. However, more significant than push factors are pull factors within the U.S., known as “sanctuary cities,” that act as magnets for illegal aliens. As U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Patrick Lechleitner recently observed, “Sanctuary jurisdictions are inherently more unsafe because they’re letting these individuals out who have serious convictions.” And Joe Biden has only contributed to the problem. After assuming office, he reversed a federal order barring sanctuary cities from receiving Justice Department funding. To make matters worse, under Biden’s watch, deportations of criminal illegal aliens have fallen 67% while at the same time arrests of criminal aliens have dropped by 57%. That is a recipe for higher crime.
Biden plays Americans for suckers: For the second year in a row, Joe Biden avoided doing a pregame interview before the Super Bowl, a tradition begun by George W. Bush back in 2004, which both Barack Obama and Donald Trump continued. Instead, Biden dropped a public service announcement during the game in which he gaslighted the American public over the problem of high inflation that has been a feature of his tenure and instead blamed American snack companies for effectively cheating consumers. In the prerecorded PSA, Biden notes how snack companies are giving consumers smaller quantities of their products while still charging the same prices. He rightly called it shrinkflation, but used his bully pulpit to demand that companies stop doing it. Worse, Biden avoided the reason behind this legal practice — inflation that he caused. Thanks to Biden’s massive government spending, inflation spiked to 40-year highs, causing the value of the dollar to decrease, which in turn caused the price of everything Americans purchase to increase. Shrinkflation is simply businesses’ effort to keep prices the same while also not going bankrupt to do so. Meanwhile, under Biden, the national debt has ballooned to over $34 trillion.
U.S. Air Force stretches the age bar: In an effort to tackle the problem of poor recruiting numbers, the U.S. Air Force will be implementing a new rule. The maximum number of years an enlisted service member may stay at a given rank will be automatically raised by two years. In other words, the Air Force is effectively tackling low recruiting with retention, keeping current service members in longer. Furthermore, the Air Force is also considering reintroducing warrant officers, a program it ended 65 years ago. Finally, the Air Force will be reaching out to recent service retirees with the implementation of the Voluntary Retired Return to Active Duty Program. The program aims to allow up to 1,000 retired officers or enlisted to join up for activity duty for no more than 48 months.
Public transportation languishes in post-pandemic America: There’s a death spiral currently at work among our urban transportation systems: These rail and bus entities have lost riders who are now working from home, who are fearful of catching the next COVID-like contagion, or who don’t want to risk being the next victim of rampant crime. In response, they’ve raised their rates to remain solvent, and the higher costs are pushing away still more riders and causing them to look for other transportation options. “That’s why public transportation systems from Washington to San Francisco raised fares and lobbied for more government subsidies last year as ridership plateaued at 71% of pre-pandemic levels,” The Washington Times reports. “The argument goes that if someone doesn’t pay to keep the emptier vehicles running frequently, more commuters will turn to their cars, rideshares, bicycling or other modes of transit.” No worries, though. Joe Biden’s beloved Amtrak is as financially sound as our federal fisc.
GOP rising star abruptly announces he’s leaving Congress: The future seemed exceedingly bright for Wisconsin Republican Mike Gallagher. And it might still be bright — just not as a U.S. congressman. As The Washington Times reports: “The 39-year-old lawmaker was considered a rising star in the Republican Party, building a brand as a top national security and foreign policy hawk. Last year, he was tapped to chair the high-profile Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party.” And yet he says he’s not running for reelection in November. This is weird stuff. In the space of a week, the youngest committee chairman in recent history casts one of three GOP votes against impeaching Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and announces he won’t run again. Gallagher, a retired Marine officer and a highly regarded China hawk, tried to justify his vote to save Mayorkas as a protest against not impeaching Joe Biden — as if the two are mutually exclusive. “Electoral politics was never supposed to be a career and, trust me, Congress is no place to grow old,” Gallagher said. “And so, with a heavy heart, I have decided not to run for reelection.” We wouldn’t want to grow old in Washington, either, but he’s just 39. Again, this is weird stuff. Gallagher hails from a solidly red district, so reelection would have been a foregone conclusion. For whatever reason, we can’t afford to chase away our best and brightest young lawmakers.
Headlines
Defense Secretary Austin transferred to critical care unit after hospitalization for apparent bladder issue (Fox News)
Putin discusses Ukraine war, Nord Stream pipeline, future relations with U.S. in interview with Tucker Carlson (RealClearPolitics)
Biden’s climate agenda will cost taxpayers nearly $800 billion (Townhall)
2.34 billion metric tons of rare earth minerals discovered in Wyoming that could make U.S. world leader (Daily Mail)
Feds discover Chinese hackers embedded in American infrastructure for at least five years (The Washington Times)
Instagram and Threads will not recommend political posts (Washington Examiner)
Police take down active shooter at Joel Osteen’s church in Houston (Not the Bee)
Nearly 20 states are weighing legislation that would make assisted suicide legal (Daily Caller)
IDF rescues two hostages from south Gaza’s Rafah in daring nighttime operation (Times of Israel)
IDF uncovers secret Hamas data center directly beneath UNRWA’s Gaza HQ (RedState)
Humor: San Franciscans continue crapping in the street in honor of 49ers crapping the bed (Babylon Bee)
A DC jury finds in climate scientist Michael Mann’s favor in his defamation suit against conservative commentator Mark Steyn.
Thomas Gallatin
Vindictiveness scored a victory over free speech last week in a high-profile jury trial in Washington, DC. For 12 long years, climate scientist Michael Mann has dubiously pursued critics of his infamous “hockey stick” graph, which he used to argue in support of anthropogenic global warming.
Two of those critics whom he said had defamed him were conservative pundit Mark Steyn and Competitive Enterprise Institute science writer Rand Simberg. Mann sued the two primarily for daring to criticize his graph, claiming that he’d suffered harm.
The case should have been thrown out on its face, but it was allowed to continue, likely because of the narrative supported by many on the Left that labels all who challenge the claims of anthropogenic climate change as “climate deniers.” Indeed, given any other context, it would be difficult to imagine Mann’s assertions would have been taken seriously by any court.
But here we are, as a six-person jury handed down a verdict in Mann’s favor, with Steyn ordered to pay him $1 million in punitive damages and Simberg $1,000.
The obvious objection this entire case raised is one of First Amendment protection. Freedom of speech and freedom of the press, both foundational rights that undergird our Liberty, were infringed by this verdict. As Simberg’s attorney Victoria Weatherford observed, “Professor Mann is a public figure, and our First Amendment makes sure that each of us is free to comment on the most important issues of public concern without fear of being censored or silenced or bullied into submission.”
While this trial was ostensibly over the claim of defamation, the real issue was one of free speech, as evidenced ironically by arguments made by Mann’s attorney, John Williams. Williams contended that the jury should award punitive damages so as to prevent people from engaging in “climate denialism,” and he compared it to the danger of Donald Trump’s “election denialism.”
Wow. So holding an opinion on climate change that doesn’t comport with the current mainstream narrative and daring to voice that opinion should be grounds for legal liability? Talk about an absolute violation of not only the letter of the First Amendment but the spirit of it as well.
Speech is thought, and freedom to speak is freedom to think. Evidently, Mann would like nothing better than to have people prevented from being allowed to disagree with, let alone challenge, his theories on climate change. Indeed, that is the sentiment expressed by Kate Cell, a senior climate campaign manager for the Union of Concerned Scientists, who said that to believe a verdict in Mann’s favor would serve to “reduce the comfort and regularity with which those who do not accept climate change science speak, and speak very nastily, about climate scientists.”
Further cementing the notion that this case had everything to do with protecting the climate change narrative rather than defamation is Mann’s own history of false, inflammatory, and misleading statements. He has referred to Steyn as a “pathetic excuse for a human being,” as well as calling National Review, whom he initially also sued, a “filthy organization” and a “threat to children” that is doing the bidding of “greedy fat cat corporate masters.”
In other words, Mann has said far worse things about those he’s sued than they have regarding his dubious climate change claims. As our Nate Jackson said during the trial, “Mann is arguably the one guilty of actual malice.” And he’s not done, either, vowing to target National Review again after his victory. “They’re next,” Mann said.
The jury should have taken a line from that cult classic, “The Big Lebowski,” regarding his complaint and said, “Yeah, well, you know, that’s just like your opinion, Mann.”
The Daily Wire’s “Lady Ballers” meets real-life volleyball.
Emmy Griffin
We officially live in a clown world, and Canada, of course, is leading the charge. Canada has garnered a reputation for putting into practice all the worst elements of leftism, such as “free” healthcare, in which no one better get really sick or you won’t get help; assisted suicide for the elderly, poor, and mentally ill; and all the worst tropes about the transgender ideology.
A year ago, Canada allowed a gender-confused teacher with a bizarre fetish to teach high school shop class. A few weeks ago, there was this disgusting story about how a swim league was allowing a 40-year-old man to compete with young teen girls and even share their dressing room. Now, the cherry on top has occurred.
Canadian women’s college volleyball had a game featuring the talents of five gender-confused biological males. The teams competing were Seneca Polytechnic and Centennial College. Three men were playing for one team; two were playing for the other. The men played every minute of every game. For those who are unfamiliar with volleyball, there are only 12 players on the court at a time. That means almost half of the actual women who could be playing had to sit out during the game.
The men, of course, dominated. How is this safe, considering that some of the women reportedly had suffered concussions at the hands of the men? How is this not taking scholarship money from women? How is this fair at all? Frankly, it’s an insult to anyone with a modicum of intelligence at this point to try to tell them that men won’t completely kick women out of their own sports leagues.
This story was covered by a conservative outlet called Rebel News, which arrived after tip-off. While RN was there, many approached and asked it to stop filming and even to leave. RN posted the video on social media, and it shows just how egregious and ridiculous this volleyball match was.
What makes it even more absurd is that The Daily Wire recently made a movie called “Lady Ballers” — which our excellent Pop Culture Contrarian podcast crew covers — with a similar comedic plotline. The difference is that DW was banking on people recognizing how absolutely ridiculous and clearly wrong having men playing women’s sports is. Memo to Canada: DW didn’t intend it to be an instruction manual.
And memo to women: Leftists don’t care about you. They don’t care about your rights to a fair and safe women’s league, privacy in your dressing rooms, or allowing you the opportunities to excel in your chosen sport. You are no longer enough of a victim, according to them. You are an easy sacrifice to prop up mediocre or poor male athletes’ egos and warped identity. You shouldn’t take this lying down. It’s not kindness to enable this and it’s certainly not equitable toward your fellow women athletes.
This latest story from America’s top hat leaves one conflicted about whether to laugh or cry. It’s a tragic comedy with serious consequences for all involved.
A bit of compare and contrast highlights why DEI is so destructive.
Brent Ramsey
The largest U.S. sports attract 200+ million fans, generating roughly $83 billion in revenue. It’s fair to say that sports are wildly popular and a big part of American culture. In contrast, only 3% of Americans say foreign policy (including the military) is a top priority. Only 0.7% of the population are currently serving in the military, and only 7% have served in their lifetimes. It appears the defense of America and the military in general generate scant interest for most people. Considering the threats worldwide, this is perplexing. The few carry the burden of military service for the many — so they can enjoy their sports and other pursuits.
What makes one successful in sports? Individuals with innate talent train to become experts. The best move on to the highest levels, and they consistently win. Athletic merit is supreme. Success in sports comes down to a combination of innate athletic talents and the investment of practice time and effort to become great. How much one practices to develop innate potential is up to the individual. No one can do it for you. Those who rise to the top make extreme efforts to develop their God-given potential. They merit their success because they work for it.
Sports is the quintessential test of merit. Societies around the world attach immense importance to sports and to winners, who can become fabulously wealthy, renowned, and even influential in things beyond their sport. Athletic icons are elevated onto a high pedestal and showered with honor and riches. The very best of the best are memorialized in a Hall of Fame where their memory will be known and celebrated throughout history. Sports are at once trivial — the playing of games with no intrinsic value — and important. It is important for cultures to have heroes and entertainment in the form of sports to enrich life. Following a given athlete or team is enjoyable and provides relaxation away from life’s challenges. Sports are a blessing and benefit to all of society for the joy they can bring, the rewards for the few who are good enough to make a living in their sport, and the whole industry with millions of people who make their living from sports. Signal events like the Super Bowl, the Olympics, and the World Cup uplift society. The world is a better place because of sports.
In the decades I have followed sports, I have rarely heard any call for diversity, equity, or inclusion on the playing field. After the color barrier was eradicated during the Civil Rights era, the floodgates were opened and merit reigned. Athletes and teams with the best skills win. Some have called for coaches to be more diverse. In a recent football press conference, a reporter asked the black coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers if there should be more black coaches. His reply was that it was irrelevant and that he would rather talk about football.
What is the priority for today’s military, the sole institution with the responsibility for keeping us safe from enemies? Is it skills, qualifications, bravery, teamwork, or talent — in other words, aspects of merit? No, the constant drumbeat now is diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Does that help you sleep at night?
The president pointedly selected his secretary of defense based on his being black and did the same for the new Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman. The new CNO was selected because she was female. The service academies use racial quotas to decide appointments. Blacks and Hispanics are admitted based on their skin color or ethnicity, even if their test scores and grade point averages are lower than whites or Asians. The services stress DEI up and down the chain of command. Merit has been shuffled aside in favor of the politics of DEI. The quality of the military is being sacrificed to satisfy a political agenda.
It takes rare talents, hard work, and motivation to become the best in sports. The same is true for the military. It takes intelligence, toughness, teamwork, unity, dedication, and cohesion to function effectively in any of our military services. It also takes a desire to serve. That DEI is driving people out of the military and discouraging young people from serving is without question. The evidence is overwhelming. By admitting the less qualified over the more qualified, we are diluting the overall quality of the military, putting lives at risk, and increasing the possibility of losing in war.
Sports evolved from war as a means for man to peacefully strive for victory. Sport is a peaceful, vicarious metaphor for war. Sport, an essentially trivial thing, demands merit. That our leaders choose to elevate superficial characteristics such as skin color and ethnicity over merit for military service, promotions, and command selection is not only illegal and morally wrong but dangerous as well. Nothing is more critical to the defense of the nation than merit. Our very lives depend on it!
Biden’s Senior Moment of the Week (Vol. 80) — After a bombshell report from Special Counsel Robert Hur, Biden attempted to reassure the American people during a hastily scheduled press conference.
Illinois Mayor Accuses Black Critics of Racism — Tiffany Henyard, the corrupt mayor of Dolton, Illinois, accused her detractors and naysayers of racism in a fiery meeting with city officials.
Who Owns the News? — Unfortunately, but not unsurprisingly, many mainstream journalists believe that they do … and therein lies much mischief.
“As a former prosecutor, the comments that were made by that prosecutor [were] gratuitous, inaccurate, and inappropriate.” —Kamala Harris regarding Special Counsel Robert Hur
“The way that the president’s demeanor in that report was characterized could not be more wrong on the facts and clearly politically motivated.” —Kamala Harris
“Comments were made in that report … about his memory that we don’t believe lives in reality.” —White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre
“[Republicans] have made up claims of a two-tiered system of justice between Republicans and Democrats. They have denigrated the rule of law for political purposes. That reality creates a ton of pressure. And in that pressurized political environment, when the inevitable conclusion is that the facts and the evidence don’t support any charges, you’re left to wonder why this report spends time making gratuitous and inappropriate criticisms of the president.” —White House Counsel’s Office spokesman Ian Sams
“I think the public is smart. And I think that they can see what’s going on. … I think they see a president who did the right thing.” —Ian Sams
The BIG Lies
“The report lays out how the president did not share classified documents with anyone.” —Ian Sams
“The president takes classified information seriously. He always has. He did not intentionally take classified documents.” —Ian Sams
Baghdad Bob
“Elected officials … they can … misspeak sometimes. Right? … It happens to all of us, and it is common.” —Karine Jean-Pierre regarding Joe Biden’s perpetual mix-ups
For the Record
“Too old and senile to prosecute, apparently, and yet Democrats will spend the next year arguing that Biden has the physical stamina and mental acuity to serve another four years as president.” —Philip Klein
“Now we know why his staff has kept Biden under wraps. Why he won’t do a Super Bowl pregame interview — reaching the massive NFL audience on an unofficial holiday — for the second straight year. It’s not just that his aides worry he’ll confuse Travis and Taylor. They’re petrified he might cause a national security crisis.” —Matthew Continetti
“Biden’s wife Jill, the rest of the Biden family and the Democrat Party people who supposedly love and care for him ought to be ashamed of themselves. They are allowing the whole world — including the leaders of countries that do not like us — to watch the daily deterioration of our president.” —Michael Reagan
“You’ve heard a lot of statistics about Biden’s age, but here’s a really revealing one: The day Biden was sworn in as vice president in 2009, he was already the sixth-oldest vice president in U.S. history. By the time Biden left the role in 2017, he was the second oldest, behind Harry Truman’s veep, Alben Barkley.” —Jim Geraghty
Friendly Fire
“The most damaging thing that can happen to a politician is to have an existing negative suspicion confirmed. This is why this is challenging.” —Democrat strategist James Carville
“[Biden] does not have the normal strength to go out there and campaign.” —Congressman Adam Smith (D-WA)
Braying Jenny
“I support the Second Amendment, but it’s reasonable to say we need an assault weapons ban. It’s reasonable to say we need universal background checks. That we need red flag laws.” —Kamala Harris
Non Compos Mentis
“I still believe in reparations, by the way, so y’all can stop texting me and emailing me and saying that I’m a white girl and that I don’t deserve reparations.” —”The View” co-host Sunny Hostin, whose ancestors were slaveholders
“Attempts by @HousGOP to impeach Secretary Mayorkas are animated by antisemitic, white supremacist conspiracy theories.” —Jewish Democratic Council of America
More Baghdad Bob
“No executive action, no matter how aggressive, can deliver the significant [immigration] policy reforms and additional resources Congress can provide … that Republicans have rejected. … That is just a fact. There is no executive action that the president can take.” —Karine Jean-Pierre (“What about reversing the 94 executive actions he took in his first 100 days to dismantle border security and enforcing existing law?” —RNC)
Another BIG Lie
“We don’t bear responsibility for a broken [immigration] system, and we’re doing a tremendous amount within that broken system.” —Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas
Observations
“Democrats, in lunatic fashion, claim that anyone who did not sign on to codify and regulate illegal immigration was responsible for their own deliberate open border policies in the first place!” —Victor Davis Hanson
“President Joe Biden promised to veto any stand-alone aid bill for Israel. … Does anyone believe that the president would veto a stand-alone bill for Ukrainian aid? Or what about a stand-alone bill for ‘humanitarian’ aid to Palestinians? Color me skeptical. Now, a stand-alone border security bill? That he’d definitely veto. Priorities, you see.” —David Harsanyi
“Biden is free to play games with Israeli aid because there will be no political repercussions. Most Democrats don’t really care anymore. … I suspect Democrats are probably a couple of presidential cycles away from turning entirely against Israel.” —David Harsanyi
“Oppression means having no choice. Choosing to live in squalor because of refusal to take responsibility for one’s life is not oppression. … Despite endless attacks and war, Israelis have shown what taking responsibility for one’s life means. They built from nothing a modern country that today has per capita GDP higher than most European nations. Saying no and choosing war, as the Palestinians have done, is not oppression. It is stupidity and irresponsibility.” —Star Parker
Campus Crusade a campus ministry that works with students across 2,088 college campuses has seen a massive increase in Generation Z college students turning to Christ over the last three years.
President Joe Biden’s personal attorney repeatedly attacked special counsel Robert Hur’s report on Sunday but did not immediately support releasing the transcripts of Biden’s interviews with Hur.
Democrats are outraged that Hur described Biden as an “elderly man with a poor memory” in his report. Specifically, Hur’s critics assert that the special counsel included superfluous and gratuitous details in the report, such as Biden forgetting when his son Beau died and forgetting when he was vice president.
On CBS’ “Face the Nation,” Biden’s personal attorney, Bob Bauer — whose wife is senior Biden adviser Anita Dunn — attacked Hur’s report as a “shabby work product” that contains “factual misstatements” and “pejorative comments” that Bauer claimed “are inconsistent with DOJ policy and norms.”
The strong comments may be compelling because Bauer attended Biden’s interviews with Hur. But his commentary immediately began to crumble when host Margaret Brennan started asking questions.
At first, Brennan asked Bauer if the president had “problems recalling details” in the interviews with Hur. Bauer, however, did not directly answer the question, instead saying that Biden “gave his best recollection” to the questions.
After Bauer then confirmed that transcripts of Biden’s interviews do exist, Brennan asked an important question that undercut Bauer’s narrative.
“Do you favor releasing them?” she asked of the transcripts.
“Well, it’s really a decision that has to take place within the government. It’s a classified document,” Bauer responded.
“Would you recommend that these be made public if they indeed back up your personal recollection?” Brennan followed up.
“Again, there’s a process under way. I’m not a specialist in that process. And so I really have to defer to those who have to work through those issues,” Bauer deflected.
If, as the president’s defenders claim, the details about Biden’s memory were unfair and unethical, why not demand that the transcripts be released?
It’s true that the interviews contain classified information. But those details can easily be redacted from the transcripts.
Appealing to classified information within the transcripts, then, is a deflection. Either the transcripts show that Biden could not recall basic details about his life or they don’t. And if the transcripts confirm what Hur reported, then his report is not a “shabby work product,” as Bauer claimed, but a truth-telling document that shows Hur refused to bow to political pressure.
In fact, Bauer does not dispute the truthfulness of Hur’s report. Rather, he is upset that Hur included details about Biden’s memory in the report. That’s an important distinction.
But as former U.S. Attorney Chuck Rosenberg explained, details about Biden’s memory were critical to Hur’s report because the special counsel needed to explain why he is not prosecuting Biden despite finding ample evidence that Biden broke the law.
“It doesn’t make sense to me that if I’m telling the attorney general of the United States why someone ought not to be prosecuted that I wouldn’t also tell him exactly why I came to that conclusion,” Rosenberg said last Friday.
White House spokesman Ian Sams said on Friday that officials would consider seeking the release of a redacted version of the Biden transcripts.
Patrick Mahomes is surrounded by other believers at the Kansas City Chiefs — the team that won this year’s Super Bowl.
Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes gave glory to God after leading his team to a second straight Super Bowl title on Sunday night against the San Francisco 49ers.
“I just gotta give God the glory,” Mahomes told millions of viewers during a live TV interview, just moments after throwing the touchdown pass that secured the Chiefs’ thrilling 25-22 victory.
Mahomes was named the Super Bowl MVP (Most Valuable Player) for a second year in a row, following last year’s win over the Philadelphia Eagles.
In total, it was the third such accolade for Mahomes, who also led the Chiefs to defeat the 49ers in 2020, and is widely regarded as one of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history.
The Chiefs overcame a 10-point deficit at Sunday’s closely contested game, ultimately winning in overtime with just 13 seconds left on the clock.
They are the first team in 19 years to win the Super Bowl back-to-back.
“He [God] challenged us to make us better,” Mahomes told cameras during the impromptu sideline interview. “And I’m proud of the guys, man. This is awesome. It’s legendary.”
Mahomes has regularly spoken publicly about his faith, explaining in an interview before last year’s Super Bowl, “My Christian faith plays a role in everything that I do.”
Chiefs’ CEO Also a Believer
The owner and CEO of the Kansas City Chiefs is another outspoken Christian, Clark Hunt, who likewise used the weekend’s victory to point to God.
“I want to thank the Lord for giving us this opportunity,” Hunt said after being handed the Vince Lombardi Trophy.
Sadly, some spectators could be heard booing Hunt’s remarks.
However, Hunt is not one to hide his faith to avoid criticism. Two weeks ago at the AFC playoffs — the game the Chiefs won to advance to the Super Bowl — Hunt and his family prayed on-field before the game began.
Clark Hunt and family with a prayer before the game as the Chiefs look to retain the trophy named in his father’s honor. #Chiefspic.twitter.com/wbluuZcDHz
According to Sports Spectrum, Hunt leads his football team with his Christian faith front-and-centre:
He has built a Chiefs culture centered around faith in Christ, and he makes it a top priority for his staff. He’s even helped organize pregame chapel services for fans and contributed to projects that proclaim Christ in Kansas City and around the country.
“We want our employees to develop spiritually,” Hunt said in October 2019, according to the Tyler Morning Telegraph. “In the National Football League, Christ is really glorified. My identity is my faith in Christ.”
Before last year’s Super Bowl… Sports Spectrum briefly caught up with Hunt to ask him about his faith.
“In our family, it’s faith, family and football, and in that order,” Hunt said. “That’s a challenge, but it’s something we really focus on as a family and it’s the No. 1 thing in our lives.”
Chiefs’ Pro-Life Kicker
Another man of faith at the Kansas City Chiefs is the team’s kicker, Harrison Butker, who contributed an impressive 13 points to the team’s scoresheet on Sunday night.
In addition to his touchdown conversion, Butker kicked four field goals, one of which sailed 57 yards to set a new record for the longest field goal kicked in the Super Bowl.
Butker is a devout Catholic and an outspoken advocate of life.
Following the Chiefs’ Super Bowl victory last year, the team was invited to visit the White House. Butker used the opportunity to speak up for the unborn.
“I want to give the most vulnerable, the unborn, a voice at a place where every effort has been made to allow and normalize the tragic termination of their lives,” Butker said in a statement following the visit.
“As a father who has experienced three miscarriages, my wife and I understand the hardships that come with losing a child. Every life is precious and should be valued whether outside or inside the womb.”
One Super Bowl, Two Christian Quarterbacks
While it is uncommon for a Super Bowl quarterback to be a vocal Christian, this year’s big game featured two of them.
Brock Purdy is the San Francisco 49ers’ quarterback and has given several interviews about his faith since his debut with the team in 2022.
“I believe that Jesus Christ did come down and die for my sins and rose again.” – San Francisco 49ers QB Brock Purdy pic.twitter.com/74iHXeE872
During his “My Take,” Monday, “Varney & Co.” host Stuart Varney reacted to a special counsel report questioning Biden’s mental ability to do his job, arguing the vast majority of voters and some members of the Democrat Party believe the president cannot serve a second term.
STUART VARNEY: What a weekend of furious political activity as the Democrats respond to the report questioning the president’s mental ability to do his job.
That is the New York Times, the bible of the Democratic Party.
On the Sunday talk shows, the Democrats rolled out their defense.
Sen. Chris Coons and Jen Psaki both blamed the media for piling on about the president’s age.
Then came the president’s lawyer, who says the special counsel’s report “went off the rails” but would not release transcripts of the president’s 5 hours of interviews that had revealed his memory loss.
Oh, no. You can’t see the evidence.
Then came the furor over Donald Trump’s comment that if the Europeans didn’t pay up for their defense.
After his team won its 3rd Super Bowl in 5 years, Chiefs Owner Clark Hunt said, “I want to thank the Lord for giving us this opportunity.” The post appeared first on Sports Spectrum .
You’ve got to give credit to Visa, Mastercard, Discover and Amex. They’ve managed to build one heck of a booming economy.
Despite surging price inflation, “resilient” American consumers have managed to keep spending money, driving “strong” economic growth – thanks to their credit cards.
But there’s a problem. Americans are having an increasingly hard time keeping up with the bills.
Household debt rose by another $212 billion in the fourth quarter of 2023, surging to a record $17.5 trillion, according to the latest data from the New York Fed.
Total household debt has increased by $3.4 trillion since the end of 2019.
Ballooning credit card balances led the way, increasing by 4.6 percent to $1.13 trillion.
On an annual basis, credit card balances rose by $143 billion.
The bigger problem is the double whammy of rising debt and rising interest rates. Average credit card interest rates eclipsed the previous record high of 17.87 percent months ago. The average annual percentage rate (APR) currently stands at 20.75 percent.
It’s clear that Americans have used credit cards to keep up with the bills as price inflation ate up their real earnings.
During the pandemic, consumers used stimulus money and generous unemployment benefits to pay down debt and bulk up savings.
Credit card balances stood at over $1 trillion when the pandemic began. They fell below that level in 2020, charting an 11.2 percent drop. There were small upticks in credit card balances in February and March of 2021 as the recovery began, but another round of stimulus checks rolled out in April driving another sharp drop in credit card debt. However, Americans started borrowing in earnest again in May 2021 and have added billions to their credit card balances month after month ever since.
Meanwhile, unable to leave their houses due to government lockdowns, but with money still flowing thanks to government stimulus Americans filled up their piggy banks. Aggregate savings peaked at $2.1 trillion in August 2021.
It didn’t take long for consumers stressed by inflation-driven price hikes to blow through that savings.
As of June, the San Francisco Fed estimated that aggregate savings had dropped to $190 billion. In other words, Americans ran through $1.9 trillion in savings in just two years.
“People have to deal with this somehow. After blowing through savings to buy essentials, they do what’s next: Find sources to borrow,” Villanova University finance professor John Sedunov told ABC News earlier this year.
On top of borrowing on credit cards, Americans are pulling equity from their homes to make ends meet. Balances on home equity lines of credit (HELOC) increased by $11 billion in Q4. It was the seventh consecutive quarterly increase since Q1 2022. According to the New York Fed, there is now $360 billion in outstanding HELOC loans.
Americans haven’t just been borrowing using credit cards. Every debt category increased in the fourth quarter.
Mortgage balances increased by $112 billion and stood at $12.25 trillion at the end of the year.
Auto loan debt rose by $12 billion to $1.61 trillion in Q4 and stands at $1.61 trillion.
Other consumer debt balances, including department store credit cards and other consumer loans, grew by $25 billion.
Student loan balances were comparatively flat in Q4, rising by $2 billion.
In a single sentence, the economy is nowhere near as strong as the soft landing crowd thinks. Other than mortgages, this data is very recessionary. Consumers are struggling to maintain lifestyles and using credit cards to do so.
Rising Debt Is Putting Strain on American Consumers
The problem with financing economic growth with borrowing is that it’s expensive and credit cards have an inconvenient thing called a limit.
And Americans are clearly starting to feel the strain.
According to the New York Fed, delinquencies increased in every debt category during the fourth quarter.
Credit card and auto loan transitions into delinquency are still rising above pre-pandemic levels,” said Wilbert van der Klaauw, economic research advisor at the New York Fed. “This signals increased financial stress, especially among younger and lower-income households.
Aggregate delinquency rates rose by 3.5 percent, with approximately 8.5 percent of credit card balances and 7.7 percent of auto loans transitioning into delinquency.
Serious delinquencies (more than 90 days past due) are the highest since 2011.
According to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, nearly one-tenth of credit card users find themselves in “persistent debt.” This means they rack up more interest and fees each year than they pay toward the principal.
“In the case of credit cards, it looks like things have reverted to a level that is worse than pre-pandemic,” New York Fed analysts told reporters on a conference call.
Trouble in Paradise?
There are signs that Americans are reaching their limit.
Credit card borrowing suddenly fell off a cliff in December, according to the latest consumer debt data released by the Federal Reserve.
Revolving credit, primarily credit card debt, only rose by 1 percent in December, following on the heels of a massive 16.6 percent increase in November.
Non-revolving credit, including auto loans, student loans, and borrowing for other big-ticket items has been slowing for months, indicating Americans buried in debt are feeling the strain. In December, non-revolving credit rose by just 0.2 percent. On average, non-revolving debt has increased by 5 percent on an annual basis.
The plunge in non-revolving credit indicates consumers have cut back spending on big-ticket items. And now it appears they might be close to maxing out the credit cards.
If Americans can’t borrow anymore, how will the economy continue to “grow?”
The ugly truth is debt is creating an illusion of prosperity and economic growth.
Nothing to see here, just Taylor Swifts guest Ice Spice throwing up demonic signs while wearing a upside down cross making sure the world sees it on the big screen.
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