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Recent Appearances...

Israel-Palestine-Jordan

A diplomatic storm: Self-inflicted PR damage complicates Israel's uphill battle

2025-05-23

[Jpost] How much damage can words do? Israel’s internal rhetoric is intensifying global condemnation and playing into the hands of those fueling anti-Israel sentiment.

“Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats.”
— H.L.Mencken

The barrage this week came fast, hard, and from all directions.

But it wasn’t missiles from Lebanon or drones from Iran that pounded Israel this time. Instead, it was a diplomatic onslaught: waves of condemnation, sanctions, and outrage from capitals across the globe, most notably in Europe.

The trigger: images of hungry children in Gaza flooding the airwaves, a wildly exaggerated claim by a senior UN official that 14,000 babies would die in Gaza if aid did not reach them in 48 hours, and Israel’s vow to intensify the fighting to free hostages and destroy Hamas.

A harsh statement signed by the leaders of Britain, France, and Canada, punitive threats – some already acted upon – and the murder of two Israeli Embassy staffers in Washington all underscored a dangerous reality: Israel is not only fighting the war in Gaza but also a battle for legitimacy on the world stage.

The UK froze trade negotiations, the EU initiated a review of its association agreement with Israel, and foreign ministers queued up to censure. Yet, ironically, some of the sharpest blows came not from Israel’s enemies but from Israelis themselves.

PRIME MINISTER Benjamin Netanyahu tried to project calm at his first press conference since December.

“European countries will not influence us or cause us to abandon our core objectives: securing Israel’s future and safety,” he said. Israel, he asserted, would continue to aggressively pursue its war aims until Hamas is dismantled, the hostages are returned, and Gaza no longer poses a threat.

“We will do what is necessary to complete the war,” he said, adding that, in the end, Israel will have complete security control over the enclave.

Even as he dismissed European pressure, Netanyahu acknowledged the power of another force: images. Specifically, the images of hungry Gazan children and food lines that are dominating global headlines and eroding US political support.

Despite Hamas still holding 58 hostages, 20 of whom Netanyahu said were alive, and even with ongoing concerns about aid being intercepted by terrorists, Netanyahu reversed a policy in effect since March 2 and authorized renewed humanitarian aid into Gaza.

Why the shift? Because the White House requested it –

I would vote for Donald Trump again, but this particular triangulation is shameful. Cowardly. He knows the situation and the ramifications, but chose to put his thumb on the scale for the side that created Elias Rodriguez, refusing to stand up against the lies.

and because, as Netanyahu conveyed, even Israel’s closest allies could not bear the optics.

Cowards.

“Our best friends in the world,” Netanyahu said in a short video Monday explaining the new policy, “senators I have known as unstinting, enthusiastic supporters, who I have known for dozens of years, are coming to me and saying this: We give you all the assistance to complete the victory – arms, support to destroy Hamas, defense in the UN Security Council. There is one thing we cannot stand: We cannot take pictures of starvation, mass starvation. We won’t be able to support you.”

To retain international backing, Israel had to confront the humanitarian crisis; Netanyahu said: “To achieve victory, we have to solve the problem.”

IT’S A SOBERING message. Even in a war started by Hamas with its barbaric October 7 attack, optics and false narratives (such as 14,000 babies dying within 48 hours) are shaping the battlefield.

If the original logic in withholding the aid was to pressure Hamas into freeing hostages, the new approach suggests the opposite: resuming aid is essential to preserving international support needed to sustain military pressure on Hamas.

However, as the statements from some European capitals and Canada made clear – statements issued, ironically, the very day aid resumed – the intensified military campaign does not enjoy international legitimacy. But the move may help temper US criticism.

Critics on Netanyahu’s Right called the reversal capitulation. Critics on his Left said it was yet another example of incoherent policy. Both may have a point. But there’s another way to interpret it: tactical recalibration in a shifting geopolitical landscape.

At the core lies a truth too often ignored abroad: Hamas could end the humanitarian crisis immediately by releasing the hostages. It chooses not to because, for Hamas, the suffering of its own civilians is a weapon, not a liability.

“People have forgotten October 7,” said President Donald Trump during his Mideast tour, which ended last Friday in the UAE. “It was one of the most violent days in world history.” He’s right. And many have also forgotten that Gaza’s agony continues because Hamas refuses to yield, free the hostages, and surrender.

This war isn’t fought only in Rafah’s tunnels and in the alleys of Khan Yunis. It is also being waged in Washington’s corridors, at the UN, and on the world’s television screens.

Israel may have the upper hand militarily, but in Europe’s halls of power and in the court of global opinion, it is faltering. Some are arguing – with no small degree of justification – that Israel’s minimal public diplomacy suggests it has all but abandoned that front.

Adding to the public diplomacy challenge is that some of the damage is self-inflicted.

On the Left, Yair Golan, a former IDF deputy chief of staff and head of the Democrats Party, accused his own country this week of “killing babies as a hobby.”

On the Right, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich spoke at a conference earlier this month of postwar Gaza where its “desperate” civilians will all be in the south, “understanding there is no future, no purpose, and nothing left for them in Gaza” but to seek relocation and start new lives elsewhere.

These voices may lie on the ideological fringes, but their words shape how the world sees the conflict.

Link

Home Front: Politix

Racist Democrats Suddenly Oppose Immigration When Refugees Are White

2025-05-23

[Federalist] Democrats continue to mindlessly oppose everything President Donald Trump does, even policies they have rabidly supported for years.

Normally extreme supporters of open borders and immigration without limitation, Democrats suddenly oppose Trump’s executive order giving Afrikaners refugee status.

Their bigoted objection? The color of the refugees’ skin. Afrikaners, a persecuted minority ethnic group, are white South Africans with Dutch ancestry and an old European culture.

The government of South Africa has made it legal to take Afrikaners’ farmland without compensation. Trump’s order offers "Afrikaners in South Africa who are victims of unjust racial discrimination" refugee resettlement in the United States.

Link

Home Front: Politix

Sparks fly between Education Secretary Linda McMahon and Dem Rep. Watson Coleman: 'You should feel shameful'

2025-05-23

Balance.

[FoxNews] Linda McMahon faces fierce criticism from Democrats while outlining plan to return education control to states

Sparks flew on Capitol Hill Wednesday as Education Secretary Linda McMahon faced off with Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, D-N.J., in a fiery exchange during a House Appropriations subcommittee hearing in the latest clash over the Trump administration’s efforts to dismantle the Department of Education.

The war of words began when Watson Coleman asked, "Do you believe that there is illegal discrimination against people who are Black or brown, and other types of discrimination in jobs and education in this country?"

"I think it still exists in some areas," McMahon replied.

Watson Coleman pressed further: "Then can you tell me why the Office of Civil Rights and the Department of Education is being decimated?"

"I am the secretary of Education who has been approved to run this agency by Congress. And I was appointed by the president. And I serve at his pleasure under his mandate. So, therefore, the direction of his administration is what I will follow."
— Education Secretary Linda McMahon

McMahon responded, "Well, it isn’t being decimated. We have reduced the size of it. However, we are taking on a backlog of cases that were left over from the Biden administration."

Watson Coleman grew visibly frustrated and accused the administration of racial bias in immigration and education policies, saying its actions amounted to "favoritism and prioritization of white over color."

In a blistering rebuke, Watson Coleman said, "Your rhetoric means nothing to me. What means something to me is the actions of this administration. I’m telling you, the Department of Education is one of the most important departments in this country. And you should feel shameful to be engaged with an administration that doesn’t give a damn."

McMahon, remaining composed, replied, "I am the secretary of Education who has been approved to run this agency by Congress. And I was appointed by the president. And I serve at his pleasure under his mandate. So, therefore, the direction of his administration is what I will follow."

The exchange came as part of a larger hearing in which McMahon laid out President Donald Trump’s 2026 education budget proposal, which calls for a $12 billion cut to the Education Department, a 15% reduction.

McMahon described her work as the department’s "final mission": to wind it down and restore education oversight to states, parents and local educators.

"Let’s focus on literacy. What we’re seeing in those scores is a failure of our students to learn to read," McMahon said. "We’ve lost the fundamentals."

Chairman Rep. Robert Aderholt, R-Ala., praised McMahon’s approach, noting, "Despite $3 trillion in federal education spending since 1980, student achievement has not improved. The answer is not more money. It’s more accountability and local control."

The plan consolidates 18 federal programs into a single $2 billion block grant to states. Democrats labeled the proposal as a backdoor effort to gut federal support for public schools.

On student loans, McMahon said the department has begun recovering repayments after years of Biden-era pauses and confusion.

"Since we restarted collections in May, we have recovered nearly $100 million," she said.

She also defended staffing cuts and administrative restructuring, stating, "We’re delivering on all of our statutory requirements with fewer people and lower overhead."

Republicans on the subcommittee shared their support for charter schools and school choice. McMahon, in agreement, pointed to a proposed $60 million increase in charter school funding.

"We’ve got about a million students on charter school waiting lists," she said. "Parents should be deciding where their children can go to school and get the best education."

Democrats also criticized McMahon for not defending early childhood education, particularly Head Start, even though the program technically falls under the Department of Health and Human Services.

"Every Head Start program in the country has three days of funding. That’s not someone else’s problem. It’s America’s children," said Rep. Josh Harder, D-Calif.

McMahon responded, "The earlier we can start education, the better, but I don’t believe the federal government is responsible for everything. That’s where states can lead."

The Trump administration also defended its position forcefully outside the hearing room.

"On the topic of corruption, let’s not forget that the Department of Education was created by President Carter in an attempt to win voters," Savannah Newhouse, Education Department press secretary, said in a statement to Fox News Digital following the exchange.

"Since then, we have spent over $3 trillion pretending the department is necessary as student learning outcomes have not improved," she continued. "While the congresswoman from New Jersey basks in her five minutes of fame, the Trump administration is working to improve student outcomes and ensure American families have access to the quality education that they deserve."

Link

Home Front: Politix

Interesting Coincidence - The Last 8 Members of Congress Who Died Were All Democrats

2025-05-23

[BusinessInsider] No coincidence at all. While the Republicans started replacing their country club Republicans like Mitt Romney in 2007 with first TEA Partiers and then MAGA Trumpsters, the Democrat Old Guard were holding tight to power — leaving only when carried out by six, including a state funeral attended by all the former presidents except Donald Trump, who was openly told his presence wasn’t wanted.

Eight sitting members of Congress have died since November 2022.

Every single one of them was a Democrat.

The party has been wrestling with age and gerontocracy for years.

In the last two and a half years, eight sitting members of the House or Senate have died in office. Every time, it's been a Democrat.

Rep. Gerry Connolly of Virginia, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, died on Wednesday at 75, after a battle with esophageal cancer.

He's the third House Democrat to die in the last three months. If Democrats had gained a narrow 1 or 2-seat majority in 2024, they would have lost it by now.

The streak of Democratic deaths could just be something of a coincidence. After all, there are plenty of elderly and diminished Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill, including former Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

But Democrats do tend to be older than Republicans, on average. A report from FiscalNote found that in the last Congress, the average House Democrat was six years older than the average House Republican, while the gap was seven years in he upper chamber.

There are some potential structural reasons for this as well, including the seniority system, which Democrats tend to employ more than Republicans.

The deaths are just another data point in a long-running conversation that's been raging within the Democratic Party for years about age and gerontocracy, which culminated last year in President Joe Biden's decision to drop out of the presidential race after a disastrous debate performance.

Since then, Democrats in particular have been taking age more seriously, including when it comes to who's serving in important committee positions. Connolly notably beat back a challenge from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York in December for the Oversight position he's now vacated.

Here's the full list of Democratic lawmakers who have died in office since November 2022:

Rep. Gerry Connolly of Virginia

Rep. Raúl Grijalva of Arizona

Rep. Sylvester Turner of Texas

Rep. Bill Pascrell of New Jersey

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas

Rep. Donald Payne of New Jersey

Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California

Rep. Donald McEachin of Virginia

Link

-Short Attention Span Theater-

Fury as more lawmakers fall asleep during early morning vote on Trump's big bill

2025-05-21

[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] Lawmakers on Capitol Hill are still having trouble staying awake through their overnight sessions negotiating President Donald Trump's 'big beautiful bill.'

In the middle of a session that spanned into the early hours of Wednesday morning, it was 71-year-old Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) who was caught on camera dozing off this time.

Making Congressional work hard work again, which will encourage those who no longer have the drive and energy choose to make way for young MAGA Republicans eager to enact the agenda. Brilliant.

The 1:00 a.m. vote on the multi-trillion-dollar bill includes $4.5 trillion in tax cuts, but is widely criticized by Democrats for gutting social programs like Medicaid and food assistance.

Critics claim that Republicans are being bullied by Trump into holding the vote that's forced members of Congress to stay in session overnight on more than one occasion.

No doubt. And right he is to do so, if they won’t on their own.

Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M.) tore into Norman in an X post exposing him for falling asleep around 2:15 a.m. during the consequential session.

Link

Government Corruption

Trump calls for Colorado clerk Tina Peters to be released from prison Peters is serving 9 years in the Colorado Department of Corrections in a voting data scheme

2025-05-21

[Denver7] President Donald Trump on Monday called for former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters to be released from prison, where she is serving a nine-year sentence for a voting data scheme related to the 2020 presidential election.

Peters is a “political prisoner” and “hostage,” Trump said in a Monday night post on Truth Social, describing her case as “communist persecution by the radical left Democrats.”

Peters’ case was prosecuted by a Republican district attorney and she was convicted of several felonies related to unauthorized access to state voting machines, including giving a security badge to a man associated with MyPillow chief executive Mike Lindell so the man could access Mesa County’s election system in an unsuccessful search for voter fraud.

The U.S. Department of Justice is already reviewing Colorado’s prosecution of Peters, and Mesa County District Attorney Dan Rubinstein has repeatedly denied that her case was politically motivated, citing her conviction by a jury of her peers in a majority-Republican county.

In his Truth Social post, Trump wrote he was ordering the Department of Justice to take all necessary action to secure Peters’ release.

Link

Government Corruption

Gov't Abuse Against the Maude Ranchers Should Stun America

2025-05-21

[Breitbart] Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins on Tuesday pointed out the Trump administration was able to undo an egregious instance of government weaponization against the Maude family of ranchers in South Dakota during a policy event hosted by Breitbart News.

Rollins lamented how the “government has weaponized itself against families like the Maudes,” noting that they are fifth generation farmers and ranchers.

During the Biden administration, the United States Forest Service alerted the Maude family that their property allegedly blocked access to the Buffalo Gap National Grasslands and in good faith agreed to a survey of the property lines. However, after the survey was completed, the Biden administration transformed a simple civil dispute into a “costly, invasive, and unnecessary criminal prosecution.”

Rollins noted that the “fence that was put up in 1910 by Charles’s great-great grandad that no one ever thought there was a problem.”

She added, “Fast forward one hundred and ten years, and someone from the Forest Service shows up, says your fence might not be in the right place.”

“That’s they hear of it until agents in SWAT gear show up at their front door and say that they are being criminally charged for theft of government property that they need to find guardians for their young children because they are likely going to jail,” the Agriculture Secretary continued.

Rollins charged, “The fact that this happened in America should absolutely stun everyone in this room today, everyone on the livestream, every media representative that’s here.”

She asked rhetorically, “This is America. You’re going to put people in jail over a fence line?”

Contrasting it with the Democrats, she said, “We have members of the other party going to El Salvador going to get a gang member out prison, that’s who they are fighting for.”

Rollins remarked, “So, thankful to the White House, thankful to President Trump. We got all of the criminal charges dropped. We had the Maudes in town a week ago.”

Rollins noted that they had set up a hotline to blow the whistle about other instances of government weaponization to stop more outrages like this.

Link

-Lurid Crime Tales-

ICE captures illegal immigrant wanted for allegedly killing mother in DUI crash

2025-05-21

[FoxNews] Ecuadorian suspect was released twice by local authorities despite ICE detainer requests

Immigration and Customs Enforcement captured an Ecuadorian illegal immigrant who is facing vehicular homicide charges in Minnesota on Friday.

The August crash, in which German Adriano Llangari Inga allegedly had a blood alcohol content "twice the legal limit," killed mother Victoria Eileen Harwell, and hurt her teenage daughter and sister, according to DHS and local media outlets.

"Despite a lack of cooperation from local Minnesota authorities, ICE arrested criminal illegal alien German Llangari Inga. This criminal illegal alien has been evading prosecution for vehicular homicide that resulted in the death of Minnesota mom, Victoria Eileen Harwell," Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement on Tuesday.

He was arrested by Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office on May 10 "on an outstanding warrant," but then released on May 13 without notifying ICE despite the detainer request placed by the agency on that day, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

There was another detainer placed by ICE in August when the crash occurred, but Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office told Fox News Digital that because of the state Attorney General’s guidance, they "cannot lawfully hold individuals in custody based solely on an administrative detainer issued by the Department of Homeland Security or Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)."

"If a judicially-signed warrant is presented to HCSO, ICE will be notified when it becomes the holding agency. In the absence of such a warrant, individuals must be released once all criminal charges or holds have been resolved. HCSO is committed to working with federal and local partners and honoring the constitutional rights of all individuals," HCSO’s statement at the time added.

In August, he was in county jail for two days.

"Despite Hennepin County refusing to honor this criminal illegal alien’s detainer TWICE, ICE officers tracked him down and removed this criminal from Minnesota’s streets. Tim Walz should be thanking ICE not using despicable rhetoric. Remember sanctuary politicians are fighting for criminal illegal aliens. President Trump and Secretary Noem are fighting for the victims of illegal alien crime, like Eileen Harwell," McLaughlin continued.

Earlier this month, the Trump White House took aim at Minnesota leaders because the man was still at large. According to ICE, he first came to the United States in June 2016 and "was detained by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, issued an order of expedited removal and placed into removal proceedings."

"An illegal immigrant drove drunk, killed an innocent mother, and is now on the run because Democrats didn't do their most important job: protect their constituents," Alex Pfeiffer, White House Principal Deputy Communications Director, told Fox News Digital in an exclusive statement at the time.

Fox News Digital reached out to Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office on Tuesday.

Link

Home Front: Politix

US Rep McIver charged, Mayor Baraka gets charges dropped in NJ ICE case

2025-05-20

[X]

🚨 Today my office has charged Congresswoman McIver with violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 111(a)(1) for assaulting, impeding and interfering with law enforcement. pic.twitter.com/TV00uwRtKq
— US Attorney Habba (@USAttyHabba) May 19, 2025

Link

Home Front: Politix

Rep. Jeffries says it's ''inappropriate to look backwards'' and ask questions about the coverup of Biden's health problems

2025-05-20

[X]It’s about the most American thing ever to be cynical about, and mock, our political leaders, a tradition that predates the formation of this great nation by going on two centuries.

WATCH: Rep. Jeffries says it's "inappropriate to look backwards" & ask questions about the coverup of Biden's health problems.

"House Democrats are going to look forward!" pic.twitter.com/CItVKKyP02
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) May 19, 2025

Link

Government Corruption

'President Trump asks a Looming Question, Who Was Behind the Biden Auto-Pen?

2025-05-18

[Last Refuge] At first blush the question seems curious, but when you further think about it the question becomes rather important. If Joe Biden was not cognitively aware of what was happening around the office of the president, then who exactly was controlling the use of his signature via the auto-pen?

In a functioning democracy with a purposefully curious media, the fourth estate would be demanding a congressional investigation to get the answers and context for who was really carrying out the agenda of the Biden administration. Unfortunately, as a nation we lost that ’fourth estate’ a long time ago, and congress is of no help. President Trump:

..."Whoever had control of the "AUTOPEN" is looking to be a bigger and bigger scandal by the moment. It is a major part of the real crime, THAT THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 2020 WAS RIGGED AND STOLEN! Millions and millions of people knew that, but the Radical Left Democrats waged a campaign of inoculation and innocence like none that had ever been waged before. THIS IS WHY THE UNSELECT COMMITTEE OF POLITICAL THUGS, WHO WERE GIVEN A FULL AND COMPLETE PARDON BY THE PERSON WHO WIELDED THE NOW ILLEGALLY USED AUTOPEN, DELETED AND DESTROYED ALL EVIDENCE AND INFORMATION FROM THEIR CORRUPT AND VICIOUS WITCH HUNT AGAINST ME, AND MANY OTHER PEOPLE, WHOSE LIVES WERE COMPLETELY SHATTERED AND DESTROYED BY THIS HISTORICALLY CRIMINAL EVENT. Remember, it all began with DIRTY COP James Comey, Obama, a hapless and cognitively impaired Sleepy Joe Biden, and my now very famous ACCUSATION that,"THEY SPIED ON MY CAMPAIGN!" Whoever had control of the Autopen is just the beginning. The biggest crime of all is that THE 2020 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION WAS RIGGED! I (MAGA!) WON THE ELECTION BY MILLIONS OF VOTES, AND EVERYONE KNOWS IT. GOD BLESS AMERICA, FOR THE FIGHT HAS JUST BEGUN!!!" (source)

Link

-Lurid Crime Tales-

Illegal alien accused of attempted murder

2025-05-18

[DESOTOCOUNTYNEWS] The DeSoto County District Attorney's Office has announced that an illegal alien, Jiver Alejandro Melo Dominguez, of Mexico has been indicted by a DeSoto County Grand Jury for attempted murder. Dominguez, age 19, was indicted by a grand jury on Thursday, May 16.

''This is yet another troubling example of wide-open border policies,'' said District Attorney Matthew Barton. ''This criminal should never have been here. But don't worry — we're going to secure a swift conviction and immediately turn him over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, where I hope Secretary Kristi Noem and Tom Homan can make room for him in El Salvador Prison.''

Charging documents allege that on March 5, during a construction project in Hernando, Dominguez allegedly attempted to kill another man by slicing his neck with an Orcon box knife. The indictment also notes that Dominguez had recently traveled from reliably Democrat Chicago, aka The Windy City or Mobtown

reliably Democrat Chicago, aka The Windy City or Mobtown

...home of Al Capone, the Chicago Black Sox, a succession of Daleys, Barak Obama, and Rahm Emmanuel...
to Memphis prior to the attack.

Dominguez was arrested by Hernando Police Department and remains in DeSoto County Adult Detention Center.

Link

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