Facebook Is Watching Your Friends

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Does the social media giant have any business evaluating your friends’ political views? 

Suppose you went to a party with a group of friends, one of whom is a rather outspoken person we’ll call Ms A. After an hour or so, someone you never met before comes up to you and says, “I couldn’t help noticing that you came here with Ms A. Aren’t you concerned that her views are a little extreme? I can give you the number of somebody who can help her.”

How would you react?

I don’t know about you, but my first thought would be, “Who the — are you to be judging my friend?”

The whole thing smacks of authoritarian control and monitoring on the part of the snoop who expressed concern about Ms A. Yet in early July, Facebook announced that it was going to do a trial of a system that essentially does that very thing. And I know someone it’s already happened to.

Here is the way Facebook explains what it’s doing, as reported by Reuters on July 1: “This test is part of our larger work to assess ways to provide resources and support to people on Facebook who may have engaged with or were exposed to extremist content, or may know someone who is at risk.”

That sounds reasonable—after all, groups such as Al Qaeda used platforms like Facebook to recruit US citizens to their cause, and if there’s something Facebook can do to keep that from happening again, it sounds like it’s worth doing.

I’m involved in a group that meets monthly to discuss an article from the journal of religion and public life called First Things. Most of us are over 50, and a more harmless group of non-radicals is hard to imagine. For a time, a woman attended who later joined the Roman Catholic Church. From my limited interactions with her, I would say she was conservative, but not radically so, and unusually articulate about various social problems, including abortion. She no longer attends our discussion group, but some of us still follow her on Facebook.

Her Facebook followers were surprised the other day when Facebook asked them if they thought the Catholic woman was becoming an extremist.

I don’t use Facebook and so I can’t say what material she might have posted which inspired Facebook to ask this question. But based on what I know about the woman, at the very least Facebook is wasting its time. And more seriously, this anonymous action on the part of a powerful corporation exerts a chilling effect on the tattered, bedraggled thing we once called free speech.

The fly in this otherwise admirable-sounding ointment of extremism prevention is the question of just what counts as “extremist.” One person’s extremist is another’s enthusiast.

Also on July 1, Fox News reported the comments of several people who had received such warnings, which typically read “Are you concerned that someone you know is becoming an extremist?” followed by an option to “Get Help” which leads to an organization called “Life After Hate.” One user who received this type of notice neatly summed up the dilemma that Facebook faces: “‘Confidential help is available?’ Who do they think they are? Either they’re a publisher and a political platform legally liable for every bit of content they host, or they need to STAY OUT OF THE WAY.”

The reason Facebook isn’t liable for every bit of content they host, as a conventional newspaper publisher would be, is Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which exempts platform hosts from being liable for what third parties place on their platforms.

Perhaps in the early days of the Internet, this protection was needed in order to encourage investment in the young, struggling things that were Google and Facebook. But now that social media constitute a major, if not the primary, source of political and cultural news in the US, the pretence that they are insignificant people-connectors who just barely make enough money from ads to stay in business and need special protection from the government is looking more ridiculous every day.

Not only is Facebook deciding who is an extremist, it’s getting help deciding what truth is from the White House. Biden Administration press secretary Jen Psaki said on July 15 that they are “identifying ‘problematic’ posts for Facebook to censor because they contain ‘misinformation’ about COVID-19.”

Again, this sounds reasonable at first glance. Some things that people are saying on Facebook about COVID-19 and vaccinations for it are ludicrous and harmful. But what happened to the old saying “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it”? According to Wikipedia, this quotation comes from a biography of Voltaire by one Evelyn Beatrice Hall, writing as S. G. Tallentyre.

Hall was trying to illustrate one of Voltaire’s principles, which was a radical (there’s that word again) belief in free speech, which is one of the pillars of what should now be called classical liberalism, along with democratic governance and freedom of religion.

The American Civil Liberties Union adhered to radical free-speech principles until a few decades ago, even defending such scurrilous extremists as a neo-Nazi group that wanted to stage a march in a Chicago suburb where many Holocaust survivors lived.  This was in 1978, and although the ACLU itself has a page on its website describing this episode, I think it’s fair to say that the current ACLU is finding other things to do with its time.

Facebook wants to have things both ways. They want to receive plaudits as the platform for the little guy where a thousand free-speech flowers bloom, and they also want to avoid opprobrium (and lawsuits, and fines) for hosting material that is illegal, libellous, or harmful in someone’s eyes.

But as the gentleman quoted above implied, you can’t have freedom without responsibility. Editing or censoring one thing on Facebook means the whole thing is now an edited entity. You can’t be just a little bit pregnant, and you can’t pretend a platform is free if parts of it aren’t—especially when the parts that aren’t change from day to day, or from White House instruction to embarrassing news report.

Karl D. Stephan

Karl D. Stephan received the B. S. in Engineering from the California Institute of Technology in 1976. Following a year of graduate study at Cornell, he received the Master of Engineering degree in 1977… More by Karl D. Stephan

EDITORS NOTE: This MercatorNet column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Stealing An Election

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“We are, rather, haunted by the evidence that something wasn’t right about the election, even if that evidence isn’t legally conclusive or dispositive.”

We conspiracists, we happy few

One thing we won’t stand for is usurpation. Fixing an election is not a good idea

By: Peter Wood, The Spectator, July 23, 2021

What makes America America? An answer available to most of us is our shared dedication to the principles of liberty and equality. We are ‘the land of the free’. Or at least we were until five minutes ago. Our freedom these days seems a little shaky. And in the world of higher education, those simple declarations are especially faint. By the time they arrive as freshmen (or ‘first years’ in today’s man-phobic argot) students are generally well-versed in all the ways we aren’t ‘free’ and most of the reasons why ‘liberty’ and ‘equality’ are doubtful propositions. ‘America’ is increasingly defined for this generation as a place where some really bad things happened and continue to happen.

To follow that thread would to lead us into critical race theory, the 1619 Project, DEI and a host of other attempts to unsettle the American founding, uproot American capitalism, redefine relations between the sexes, de-carbonize the economy and embrace a new vision of a utopian future. I have been spending a lot of time for the last several years following those important controversies, which are sometimes bundled together as ‘successor ideology’.

Successor ideology, however, isn’t the only form of antipathy to the American founding on the shelves today of intellectual supermarket. If you ask, ‘What makes America America?’ you can find ardent supporters of many views: our geographic expanse, our multi-cultural origins, our Scots-Irish heritage, our English law heritage, our prevailing Christianity, our Enlightenment heritage, our inventiveness and more. The debates on these matters sometimes get heated but in the Walt Whitman spirit of ‘I contain multitudes,’ we should welcome both the variety of views and the contentions among them. They bring forward aspects of our exceptional country worth considering.

One of these areas of contention, however, has recently jumped what I think of as the guardrails. It does so by depicting its chosen opponents as mad or evil, or both. The primary voice of this view is a scholar named Laura K. Field, who is a senior fellow at the Niskanen Center, ‘a nonpartisan 501(c)(3) think tank that works to promote an open society’. How closely the Niskanen Center matches her views, I do not know. The center is best known for its support of the liberal-left power structure in DC and its advocacy of anti-global warming environmentalist measures.

Conspiracism

Field has emerged into public visibility through a series of articles — eight so far —  posted to the NeverTrumper website the Bulwark, and one very notable article posted by the Niskanen Center, titled ‘The Highbrow Conspiracism of the New Intellectual Right: A Sampling from the Trump Years. All nine articles are, in various forms, denunciations of Trump and his supporters. Not long after Field published ‘Highbrow Conspiracism’, Peggy Noonan published an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, ‘What Drives Conspiracism’. Noonan didn’t cite Field and it is possible they were both drawing from the same well, but the word is sufficiently unusual that a debt seems likely.

A few words of explanation. Field says in her essay that she took the concept from Russell Muirhead and Nancy Rosenblum’s 2019 book, A Lot of People Are Saying: The New Conspiracism and the Assault on Democracy. ‘Conspiracism’ appears to have been coined around 1981, according to Googles’s Ngram generator, but didn’t gain any broader usage until the late 1990s, and spikes during the Trump years. Its meaning shifts a bit over that 40-year career, starting our as way of talking about the willingness of people to believe conspiracy theories, evolving into the notion that all of history is an unfolding conspiracy, before arriving at Muirhead and Rosenblum’s idea that ‘conspiracism’ is ‘conspiracy without the theory’, made up of a tissue of  — Field’s words — ‘assertion and fabrication’. Old fashioned conspiracy theories involved ‘sleuthing and a scrupulous attention to logic and detail’. Conspiracism goes straight to the construction of a fantasy world of ‘pure contrivance and fabulism’. To this category, Field adds ‘intellectual conspiracism’, in which the ‘New Right’ fills in the gaps with ‘hyper-abstraction’, as ‘bad arguments and scant evidence’.

The 2020 election and its aftermath

This sounds very sinister indeed. Who are these New Right purveyors of intellectual conspiracism? They are pretty much anyone who harbors doubts about the integrity of the 2020 presidential election.

As someone who harbors such doubts, perhaps I can speak with the authority of an insider in the world of New Right conspiracism. In fact I know quite a few people who also harbor such doubts. Some believe that the election was swung by a combination of phony ballots and dishonest counting. Others see the mischief in the interventions of states’ attorneys general who usurped the powers of state legislatures and changed voting procedures to enable ballot harvesting, late voting and other electoral dodges. And a fair number blame Trump himself for ignoring the numerous warning signs that the Democrats were planning to game the election. Among the conspiracists stand a contingent who didn’t vote for Trump but were appalled by the election and another contingent who voted for Trump only after a great deal of hesitation.

From what I know of the ‘community’ of us co-conspiracists, we aren’t especially attracted to ‘pure contrivance and fabulism’. We are, rather, haunted by the evidence that something wasn’t right about the election, even if that evidence isn’t legally conclusive or dispositive.

The odd and near simultaneous interruptions of vote counts in swing states followed by massive influxes of Biden votes; the blockading of poll watchers; the supposedly mail-in ballots that had never been folded to fit into an envelope; the absence of down-ballot victories for Democratic candidates; the numerous bellwether districts that went for Trump; and dozens of other such details lead rational people — some rational people, not all rational people — to entertain the idea that something rotten happened on Tuesday November 3, 2020, and that it may have been part of a larger organized effort to swing the election against a candidate who was very popular with a majority of voters but intensely disliked by a minority.

I know from the few occasions when I have alluded to my own views among acquaintances and friends who in the intensely anti-Trump category, they have responded with hot indignation. Where is your evidence? they demand, as if an opinion based on the assessment of the kind of circumstances I have just mentioned has no possible validity. Let me admit at once: I have not attempted my own audit of the balloting in any state. And I have watched the efforts of other better positioned to demand such accountability, and watched how the Democratic party has sought to thwart such efforts.

When I hear the line the line that ‘the courts have rejected all the challenges’, I usually fall silent. It is a dishonest claim in that courts that have rejected hearing a case or that have denied standing to the people who have raised a challenge, have not weighed a complaint on its merits.

And besides, none of this bears on that initial sense of the sheer implausibility of an election in which the incumbent garners almost five million more votes than he did four years before, while his challenger, without campaigning, bested him by more than seven million votes. Biden also outperformed the enormously popular Obama by more than 11 million votes. Trump lost the election by about 44,000 votes in three key states, out of the supposed 155 million votes cast. Biden’s victory in that sense was achieved by 0.002 percent of the vote. It doesn’t seem at all crazy to imagine that electoral mischief could have tilted the playing field by that much.

One can conjure reasons for these implausible figures: population growth, broader enfranchisement, massive dissatisfaction with Trump, etc. But we conspiracists tend to think that those who see nothing amiss are rather credulous. The words ‘contrivance and fabulism’ come to mind, as do ‘bad arguments and scant evidence’.wish to call down thunder and lightning on my friends, neighbors, and colleagues who disagree with me. And most of my fellow conspiracists are likewise not eager to deride the intelligence or moral character of those on the other side. We realize that a workable country requires some accommodation. The only thing is that we see little of that spirit coming from the Biden administration, which acts as though it has a mandate to turn anyone who has qualms about the 2020 election into an outcast. The continued imprisonment of some of the participants in the January 6 Capitol riot and their description as ‘insurrectionists’ is disquieting, especially since most of them seem to be facing trivial charges such as ‘trespassing’.

Even taking note of these developments seems a little perilous. My forthcoming book, Wrath: Enraged America, suggests that such repressive measures may well spark more serious pushback than we have seen so far.

Let me acknowledge that those of us who credit the idea that the 2020 election was compromised in various ways are acting on suspicion not fully sifted evidence. Outside a court of law, there need not be a presumption of innocence. If you see a stranger going out your front door carrying your flat-screen TV, you are perfectly in the right to suspect he is a thief, though it is possible there is another explanation. You regard the burden of proof as resting on the fellow with TV, who had better have a good explanation. For us conspiracists, the suspicious circumstances have multiplied to the point where we believe we are owed an explanation. ‘Shut up or we will shut you up,’ does not suffice. There is a deeply-rooted level of apprehension in the English/republican tradition based on the understanding that liberty is fragile and once lost is often gone forever. The left, however, sees such fears as an obstacle to the humanity achieving its natural state of utopia, and thus disdains as ‘conspiracy’ what for the rest us is common sense and prudence.

Claremont

I imagine that Laura Field and her associates at the Niskanen Center and the Bulwark have heard all this before and discounted it entirely as the ravings of the ‘intellectual conspiracists’. Field’s latest essay, ‘What the Hell Happened to the Claremont Institute?’ is a 12,000-word scorched-earth denunciation of an intellectually conservative organization some of whose officials and associates have expressed doubts about the 2020 election, and before that, for Trump’s candidacy. I’m not affiliated with the Claremont Institute and certainly don’t speak for it, but I have friends and associates who are affiliated with it, including the chairman of its board, Tom Klingenstein, who also sits on my board. So when the Claremont Institute is held up for 12,000 words of ridicule, I read them.

And if the reader of this essay would like to learn about the alleged flaws in Professor John Eastman’s judgment, Michael Anton’s ‘cheerleading’ for Trump, Professor Charles Kesler’s ‘dodgy apologetics’ and Glenn Ellmers, the ‘full-on fanatic’, Laura Field has the dope.

Claremont, we learn, is the center of ‘West Coast Straussianism’, which as Field sees it, uncritically idolizes the American founding and Abraham Lincoln, and is to be sharply distinguished from the more respectable ‘East Coast Straussianism’, which stands philosophically above the political fray and with which she associates herself. How far above the political fray seems in question in light of her nine (so far) essays of anathematizing intellectual conservatives for their susceptibility to Trump’s charms.

Whether Field has been tasked with shooting the varmints or she has found her true calling as the scourge of wrong-think among conservatives I can’t say, but I do find her essay extraordinary in its vehemence. It is something to watch a well-educated and quite capable writer take a swan-dive into the volcano of the partisan hatred. Field has no reservations — not the least cavil — about the party line on the 2020 election:

‘There is evidence of a very small amount of voter fraud in our massive democracy. But the claims and elaborate theories of widespread electoral fraud in 2020 are still rightly called baseless. They are baseless because no credible evidence has been found for anything close to the amount of fraud that it would take to influence election outcomes. They are baseless because officials in Trump’s own administration charged with election security issued a joint statement on November 12 declaring the 2020 election to be “the most secure in American history”.’

They are baseless because Trump’s 60-plus legal efforts to prove the contrary were thrown out of court. They are baseless because thousands of election officials and state legislators, from both parties and everywhere in the country, stood by the election results — many in the face of extraordinary political pressure and, in some instances, threats to themselves and their families. They are baseless because common sense dictates that election officials of both parties will be hyper-attentive and receptive to legitimate claims of fraud; when partisans stand by the election results, it makes good sense to trust them.

Well, OK. Thus we consign all those who do have doubts to the outer darkness where the delusional and dishonest do their unending dance conspiratorial. Presumably, the 74 million deplorables who voted for Trump should dry their tears and make the best of their benighted lives.

What I do have is my long-standing interest as an anthropologist in American culture, especially in what makes us proud, what makes us indignant, what grieves us, and what makes us angry. What makes America America? A sense of fairness. It is embedded in those ideals of liberty and equality. We are a nation in love with the idea of charting our own destiny and throwing off the unjust impositions of others. That’s why movements such as Black Lives Matter make such headway even when they are, on closer inspection, not so worthy. Our founding principles can be turned to account for showmen, charlatans and crooks, as well as for statesmen, and we can cultivate the judgment to tell the difference. But one thing we won’t stand for — at least not for long — is usurpation. Fixing an election is not a good idea. We don’t know what happened in the 2020 election. Demanding that we silence our doubts on pain of being written out of the national conversation, however, is an extremely bad idea.I really don’t think this is how matters will play out, but I lack any Straussian credentials, East or West, that give me special authority on the matter.

As for the Claremont Institute, it stands for the centrality of the American founding. That’s a position that the vast majority of Americans — at least those not on college campuses — share and respect. I can see why those who wish to proclaim the validity of the 2020 election would go out of their way to defame Claremont. Reassuring a nervous regime of its legitimacy can be a good short-term play. But it is perhaps not the best long-term strategy.

EDITORS NOTE: This Geller Report column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

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Ashli Babbitt’s Mom: Nancy Pelosi Orchestrated The Killing Of My Daughter

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Ashli Babbit was murdered by a hijacked USG staging an election coup against the we the people. Murdered. And then Democrat party is shielding the murder and creating an fictional, alternative narrative in order to persecute those we stand in defense of our freedoms.

Ashli Babbitt’s mom: Nancy Pelosi orchestrated the killing of my daughter

After nearly eight months of questions and controversy surrounding the events of Jan. 6, the most prominent question remains unanswered: Who killed Ashli Babbitt?

By Tarra Snyder, Western Journalism, July 25, 2021: July 26, 2021:

Michelle Witthoeft, Babbitt’s mother, says Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is responsible for her daughter’s death.

“My daughter was a California constituent, and Nancy Pelosi not only, I feel like, orchestrated the death of my daughter.”

“I’ve reached out to Nancy Pelosi’s office several times, and she has yet to call me back because she’s too busy playing in her clubhouse with all of her elite people,” Witthoeft said.

She also reminded Nancy of her place in the government.
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“You know, it’s the people’s house. It’s not your house, Nancy. It’s the people’s house. That’s my message to Nancy Pelosi,” Witthoeft said.

Despite the many claims of violence that occurred on Jan. 6, evidence has yet to surface suggesting Babbitt herself was reckless or threatening.

An earlier report from The Western Journal found that there had been no documented reports of Babbitt starting fires or attacking police officers.

Her mother wants to know who is responsible for her death.

“The Capitol Police should be held accountable like every other police department in the country.”

Witthoeft isn’t the only one fighting for Babbitt.

In a July 1 statement, former President Donald Trump asked only the following question: “Who shot Ashli Babbitt?”
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Trump’s statement brought national awareness to the issue, causing Babbitt’s name to trend on Twitter.

Back in April, Babbitt’s family announced that they were suing the Capitol Police for “at least $10 million” in damages.
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For the suit to be successful, the family would have to prove that the officer responsible had used “constitutionally unreasonable” force against Babbitt.

On April 14, after conducting an investigation, the Department of Justice released a statement on the matter.

“Prosecutors would have to prove not only that the officer used force that was constitutionally unreasonable, but that the officer did so ‘willfully,’ which the Supreme Court has interpreted to mean that the officer acted with a bad purpose to disregard the law,” the DOJ said.

“As this requirement has been interpreted by the courts, evidence that an officer acted out of fear, mistake, panic, misperception, negligence, or even poor judgment cannot establish the high level of intent required under Section 242.”

RELATED ARTICLE: Banks: Pelosi Booted Me from January 6 Probe to Cover Up Her Responsibility for Breakdown of Security

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EDITORS NOTE: This Geller Report is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Quick note: Tech giants are shutting us down. You know this. Twitter, LinkedIn, Google Adsense, Pinterest permanently banned us. Facebook, Google search et al have shadow-banned, suspended and deleted us from your news feeds. They are disappearing us. But we are here. We will not waver. We will not tire. We will not falter, and we will not fail. Freedom will prevail.

Subscribe to Geller Report newsletter here — it’s free and it’s critical NOW when informed decision making and opinion is essential to America’s survival. Share our posts on your social channels and with your email contacts. Fight the great fight.

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Enemies of The State

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The Biden Administration, Big Tech, and other organizations will go to almost any extreme, including propaganda, to promote their priorities. Their efforts on COVID vaccines may be a trial run for what we may see for the next three years on a range of issues. With vaccines, we have already seen social media censor those who have raised legitimate concerns or objections to various COVID vaccines.

“Now we need to go to community by community, neighborhood by neighborhood, and oftentimes, door to door — literally knocking on doors — to get help to the remaining people protected from the virus,” President Biden said.

“Trusted” local leaders could be going door-to-door to discuss getting vaccinated. The administration also may enlist Big Tech companies to manage our views countless issues, by controlling our access to information.

Make no mistake about it, this is a huge propaganda effort, and it is troubling. A campaign that “suppresses the conversation; the man opposite is no longer an interlocutor but an enemy,” French philosopher Jacques Ellul wrote in his book Propaganda: The Formation of Men’s Attitudes. Taken together, the administration’s efforts paint a picture of an emerging, out-of-control police state. Those of us who disagree with the administration are no longer citizens, it seems we have become enemies of the state.

How America is changing. In my 18 years as a Congressman, I frequently met with constituents who voiced opinions on policies. Our views differed many times, but even then, we were able to discuss our differences in a constructive and civil manner. Contrast that with how the current administration treats those who disagree with them on their key priorities, including COVID vaccines.

Skeptics have been vilified, which the administration apparently now believes necessitates and justifies retaliatory action. Just in the last few days, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said the administration was working with Big Tech on correcting “misinformation.” This is censorship. They are doing this with increasing frequency, banning President Trump, originally banning discussion of the origins of the COVID virus (reversing their wrong decision a year later), and shadow banning conservative writers and groups. They are setting themselves up as the arbiters of truth. Americans used to be in the position where they could decide for themselves.

The Biden Administration, however, appears ready to go further. They will enlist “trusted messengers who are part of the community” to go “door-to-door,” Dr. Anthony Fauci said. Do not come to my door! Americans do not want so-called community messengers — picked by who knows who — knocking on our doors asking personal questions about health or much else.

I have knocked on plenty of doors during my political career and experienced quite personally how strongly people feel about the sanctity of their home. Mr. President, this is a really bad idea that should be cancelled.

Click HERE to read more.

Originally published by The Gatestone Institute

COLUMN BY

Pete Hoekstra

Chairman of the Center for Security Policy Board of Advisors.

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EDITORS NOTE: This Center for Security Policy column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Schiff Praises RINOs on Committee Investigating Jan. 6 ‘Attack’

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Monday on MSNBC’s Hallie Jackson Reports, Rep. Adam Schiff weighed in on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi adding Reps. Liz Cheney (R-WY) and Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) to the January 6 select committee.

Pelosi previously vetoed two of House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s committee appointees because they might have brought a balanced perspective to the left’s kangaroo court. Instead, she added Cheney and Kinzinger, who both voted to impeach former President Trump following the protests at the U.S. Capitol on January 6.

“I think both Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger are serious about getting to the truth of January 6,” Schiff stated. “In that respect that we all share the same mission, we want to bring out the facts.”

No, the committee’s mission is to establish the Capitol Hill incident as a domestic terror event and to demonize Trump and his supporters as traitors and terrorists.

“We want to know what led to that deadly attack. We want to know what we need to do to protect the country going forward. So it’s — it’s well-composed already, but if there are other Republicans that are serious about the mission, we should be open to that possibility as well,” he added.

First, there was no attack at the Capitol, unless you count the violence from Antifa instigators whom Trump supporters tried to stop. Second, the only person who died as a direct result of the Capitol breach was an unarmed female protester shot by Capitol Hill police. Third, the only Republicans Schiff considers “serious about the mission” are anti-Trump RINOs who can be counted on to back the Democrats’ agenda, which is to make sure history records January 6 as a date that will live in infamy.

Adam Schiff

25 Known Connections

Schiff’s Positions on Key Political Issues

As matters of principle, Schiff believes that:

  • all women should have an unrestricted right to abortion-on-demand at any stage of pregnancy – subsidized by taxpayers, in cases of economic hardship;
  • public and private employers alike should be legally required to implement affirmative-action hiring and promotion policies that give preference to African Americans and women, as compensation for historical injustices;
  • the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) is an excellent statute that can serve a strategic stepping stone toward the eventual implementation of a government-run, single-payer healthcare system;
  • the principle of church-state separation is inviolable and should preclude permitting prayer in the public schools, or the posting of the Ten Commandments in public places;
  • the death penalty is applied in a racially discriminatory manner, constitutes cruel and unusual punishment, and should be abolished;
  • more guns in the hands of private citizens inevitably result in higher levels of crime, thus the availability of firearms should be restricted by whatever means are effective;
  • wealthy people should be required to pay much higher tax rates than those who earn less;
  • restrictions on immigration are basically racist because they tend to prevent Hispanics and other non-whites from entering the United States;
  • voter ID laws are, by and large, racially motivated attempts to suppress minority voting and should be eliminated;

To learn more about Adam Schiff, click here.

EDITORS NOTE: This Discover the Networks column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

‘Nasty’ Nancy Pelosi Ensuring Her January 6th Narrative Continues…

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We all know, well, my informed readers know, that the January 6th commission being put together now to “investigate” the so called horrendous and violent “insurrection” by violent Trumpers ordered into battle by President Donald Trump, is going to be a typical Democrat anti Trump, anti patriot and anti freedom hate fest. It will be a scam, lie and totally corrupted from beginning to end.

How do we know this. Easy! She refused two Republican candidates who were pro Trump and placed on the commission anti Trump so called GOP members! Now, we know that there is no love lost between these two ‘republicans’ and Trump and they have zero incentive to be honest and factual. This will be a witch hunt with one result. Trump will be blamed along with the Oath Keepers of which I am a proud founding member and other patriotic groups. No blame will be placed anywhere near a Democrat.

RINO Rep. Adam Kinzinger will join another anti Trumper, RINO Rep. Liz Cheney on the panel investigating the so called insurrection. Both voted to impeach President Trump along with 222 Democrats. BOTH are traitors to their oaths and to we, the 75,000,000 plus who voted for President Trump.

Along with Rep. Jim Banks of Indiana, I too personally believe the responsibility for the January 6th protest and its outcome lies with the Speaker of the House, Nasty Nancy Pelosi. He was rejected by her to be on the January 6th investigative panel. In a recent Fox interview he made the following statement which I have copied verbatim.

“Due to the rules of the United States Capitol, the power structure of the Capitol, Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the House, has more control and authority and responsibility over the leadership of the Capitol police than anyone else in the United States Capitol,” Banks said. “So she doesn’t want us to ask these questions because at the end of the day, she’s ultimately responsible for the breakdown of security at the Capitol that happened on Jan. 6.”

He further claimed that Pelosi knows this and does not want to talk about it but fully intends to steer this investigation her way to come up with the final result she has already predetermined.

She has handpicked those members to serve on this investigative panel to ensure the outcome.

If you remember apparently 140 Capitol Police were “ injured” that day, ( I question that ) two others committed suicide days later ( I question that or did they know what they did violated their oaths? ) and one succumbed to what was decided by the Medical Examiner to natural causes. In the same protest by unarmed American citizens, patriots all, justly protesting the election results, 4 Trump supporters died. Three from medical conditions unknown and one, a former Air Force veteran, unarmed and slight of build, Ashli Babbitt, was shot, I believe unlawfully, and killed by an as yet undisclosed black Capitol Police Officer who has been cleared of that murder. Apparently it is acceptable for black police officers to shoot an unarmed white woman who couldn’t have presented a threat of bodily harm or of any type to the trained, armed and protected officer.

Since that date approximately 500 good people, patriots true, have been rounded up around the country for their part in that protest. Just like the roundups in Nazi Germany, Russia, China, Cuba, Venezuela, Zimbabwe and other communist countries, they have been jailed, some without bond or a reasonable bond, and are now being unfairly tried or pressurized to take wrong pleas to get the results wanted by this illegal and anti America administration run by traitors, cheats, crooks, thieves, corruption, nepotism, mentally challenged, immoral, lying, communists, socialists and Marxists.

How much more America ?

When do we as a Nation of patriots stand up and say NO?

When do we stand up for our freedoms, liberties, constitution, rights and those that have given all like President Trump?

There are a lot of things we can do. Readers of mine have heard me talk of them multiple times but it comes down to one thing. Do we remain a bunch of arm chair warriors or do we stand up for what we believe in?

One man cannot do it but the right man can begin the movement, just like the you witnessed with that brave Chinese student facing the in Tiananmen Square or Lech Walesa, the Polish dissident who took on the communist government from a humble ship yard in Gdańsk.

Who will our Lech Walesa be? You? Me? As Thomas Jefferson stated so clearly “the tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots & tyrants.”

It is almost too late America.

©Fred Brownbill. All rights reserved.

Biden Dept. of Justice Drops Criminal Charges Lodged Against Five Chinese Spies

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Most news coverage about immigration focuses on aliens who seek to enter the United States by running to the southern border of the United States.  Make no mistake, that dangerous border must be secured, but the Biden administration has refused to accomplish that vital goal.

However, as I have noted on many occasions, including when I have testified before Congressional hearings, our nation has fifty border states, not just the four that lie along the U.S./Mexican border.

Additionally, aliens who enter the United States through ports of entry by lying in their visa applications are committing a serious crime, visa fraud, a crime that is defined in 18 U.S. Code § 1546.

On July 24, 2021 the New York Times reported, U.S. Moves to Drop Cases Against Chinese Researchers Accused of Hiding Military Ties. The subtitle of that report noted, The arrests were part of a Trump-era initiative aimed at curbing Beijing’s efforts to steal intellectual property, corporate secrets, and military intelligence.

 Here is how the New York Times article began:

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department moved this week to drop cases that it brought last year against five visiting researchers accused of hiding their ties to China’s military, prompting questions about the department’s efforts to combat Chinese national security threats.

 The department filed motions on Thursday and Friday to dismiss visa fraud and other charges it brought last summer against the researchers as the Biden administration grapples with holding Beijing accountable for its cyberattacks and its harsh crackdowns in Hong Kong and in the far western region of Xinjiang. The dismissals also come as the State De­part­ment’s No. 2 of­fi­cial, Wendy R. Sher­man, is to meet in the coming days with Chinese officials in Tianjin, China.

The article also included this excerpt:

The arrests were part of a spate of cases last summer involving researchers and academics who had ties to China as the Trump administration aggressively sought to curb Beijing’s efforts to steal intellectual property, corporate secrets, military intelligence and other information it could use to expand its global influence. At the time, the United States ordered China to close its Hous­ton con­sulate, accusing it of being a hub for “massive illegal spying and influence operations.” China denied the allegations and retaliated by forcing a U.S. consulate in Chengdu to close.

 It is noteworthy that the New York Times would question why the Biden Justice Department would drop criminal charges concerning visa fraud against alleged Chinese spies who were charged by the Trump Justice Department.

It is disheartening and, indeed, disconcerting that the Biden administration is adding this action to other wide-spread actions that undermine the integrity of the entire immigration system, thus undermining national security, public safety, and public health.

According to the NY Times article, the Biden administration has claimed that among the reasons for dropping visa fraud charges in this case is the supposed fact that visa fraud carries a penalty of one year in prison and that the defendants had already been held for nearly one year.

That statement is a demonstrable huge lie.

Under the provisions of 18 U.S. Code § 1546, an alien who lies on a visa application faces a maximum of five years in prison unless that individual commits that fraud in conjunction with terrorism, drug trafficking, or other crimes. In such cases the alien may face up to 25 years in prison.

Perhaps the Biden administration will next issue a press release claiming that the visa fraud charges against the alleged spies were dropped because China has promised to return America’s stolen secrets!

©Michael Cutler. All rights reserved.

Facebook, Twitter, Microsoft, YouTube, Paypal Creating Shared Counterterrorism ‘Key Database’ Against Patriots, Constitutionalists, Free Speech Activists

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Tech giants are lining up to aid and abet the persecution of patriotic Americans and anyone who opposes the Democrat’s communist crackdown on freedom. Lest we forget, these same companies who fought and refused to work with LE and share their data on jihadis who mass murdered innocent Americans in the cause of Islam.

From CNN 2016:

Apple is opposing a judge’s order to help the FBI break into the iPhone of one of the San Bernardino, California, shooters, calling the directive “an overreach by the U.S. government.”

A public letter, signed by Apple CEO Tim Cook and published Tuesday, warns that complying with the order would entail …….. – “something we consider too dangerous to create.”

Reuters: Facebook and tech giants to target attacker manifestos, far-right militias in database

By: Elizabeth Culliford, Reuters, July 26, 2021:

A militia member with body armor and a Three Percenters militia patch stands in Stone Mountain as various militia groups stage rallies at Stone Mountain, Georgia, U.S. August 15, 2020. REUTERS/Dustin Chambers/File Photo

July 26 (Reuters) – A counterterrorism organization formed by some of the biggest U.S. tech companies including Facebook (FB.O) and Microsoft (MSFT.O) is significantly expanding the types of extremist content shared between firms in a key database, aiming to crack down on material from white supremacists and far-right militias, the group told Reuters.

Until now, the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism’s (GIFCT) database has focused on videos and images from terrorist groups on a United Nations list and so has largely consisted of content from Islamist extremist organizations such as Islamic State, al Qaeda and the Taliban.

Over the next few months, the group will add attacker manifestos — often shared by sympathizers after white supremacist violence — and other publications and links flagged by U.N. initiative Tech Against Terrorism. It will use lists from intelligence-sharing group Five Eyes, adding URLs and PDFs from more groups, including the Proud Boys, the Three Percenters and neo-Nazis.

The firms, which include Twitter (TWTR.N) and Alphabet Inc’s (GOOGL.O) YouTube, share “hashes,” unique numerical representations of original pieces of content that have been removed from their services. Other platforms use these to identify the same content on their own sites in order to review or remove it……

EDITORS NOTE: This Geller Report column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Quick note: Tech giants are shutting us down. You know this. Twitter, LinkedIn, Google Adsense, Pinterest permanently banned us. Facebook, Google search et al have shadow-banned, suspended and deleted us from your news feeds. They are disappearing us. But we are here. We will not waver. We will not tire. We will not falter, and we will not fail. Freedom will prevail.

Subscribe to Geller Report newsletter here — it’s free and it’s critical NOW when informed decision making and opinion is essential to America’s survival. Share our posts on your social channels and with your email contacts. Fight the great fight.

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Remember, YOU make the work possible. If you can, please contribute to Geller Report.

Democrats: ‘We’re F**ked’ with Election Integrity Laws in 18 States

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The coup party of treason, hatred, election fraud, oppression, political persecution and censorship must be defeated. It’s the only way to save the Republic.

Free and fair elections is where we plant our flag.

Democrats: ‘We’re F***ed’ with Election Integrity Laws in 18 States

Democrats are worried about winning the 2022 midterm elections after Republican state legislatures reformed 30 election integrity laws in 18 states and additional legislation may come.
By: Wendell Husebø Breitbart News, January 25, 2021:CEO of the Stacey Abrams-founded New Georgia Project, Nsé Ufot, told Politico, “If there isn’t a way for us to repeat what happened in November 2020, we’re f—ed.”Latosha Brown, cofounder of Black Voters Matter, told Politico that“hope is quickly turning into frustration.” She then asked, “When in the hell are those who claim that they are committed to democracy going to show up to protect those that protect democracy?”Along with the multitude of states that have successfully passed new election integrity measures, such as voting ID. and early voting requirements, more than 400 bills with election integrity provisions have “been introduced in 49 states in the 2021 legislative sessions.”Other states with pending legislative sessions, such as California, Massachusetts, Michigan, North Carolina, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Maine, still have election integrity measures waiting to be passed.The Republicans’ successful approach has caused President Joe Biden and his congressional allies to push legislation to federalize state and local elections, putting more power in Washington via wresting control from local communities where accountability is greatest.

But Senate Republicans defeated Biden’s so-called “For the People Act” by a filibuster in June. The defeat has thrown the battle over election integrity back to the states, where “the restrictions advanced by Republicans affect so many facets of voting that Democrats cannot agree on which provisions are the most problematic.”

Democrat chaos has resulted in smiling, maskless Texas House Democrats on a plane fleeing Texas to stunt election integrity efforts in the state, which would have placed additional restrictions on voting by mail, creating new ID requirements, and expanding the freedoms for partisan poll watchers.

“As soon as they come back in the state of Texas, they will be arrested, they will be cabined inside the Texas Capitol until they get their job done,” Gov. Greg Abbott (R) responded to the stunt.

“Texas Democrats were out of moves, and the only thing they could do to deny quorum was to take their families and leave the state in the middle of the night,” Ufot stated. “That’s the kind of response and leadership that this moment requires, and I am waiting for the administration to match the energy of state and local Democrats across the country who are fighting these fights.”

EDITORS NOTE: This Geller Report column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Quick note: Tech giants are shutting us down. You know this. Twitter, LinkedIn, Google Adsense, Pinterest permanently banned us. Facebook, Google search et al have shadow-banned, suspended and deleted us from your news feeds. They are disappearing us. But we are here. We will not waver. We will not tire. We will not falter, and we will not fail. Freedom will prevail.

Subscribe to Geller Report newsletter here — it’s free and it’s critical NOW when informed decision making and opinion is essential to America’s survival. Share our posts on your social channels and with your email contacts. Fight the great fight.

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The FBI’s Whitmer Kidnapping Case Looks Like A Potemkin Terror Plot

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This should propel every American into action.

The FBI, through informants and undercover agents, hatched the kidnapping plot, served in the key leadership positions of the militia group, trained the militia members in military tactics, actively recruited participants, and funded much of the militia’s activities. Then, when various members of the Watchman militia became uncomfortable with the kidnapping plot, with several quitting, the FBI’s primary informant pushed the plot along, eventually becoming the militia group’s leader.

The FBI’s Whitmer Kidnapping Case Looks Like A Potemkin Terror Plot

By: Max Morton, The Federalist, July 25, 2021:

With the help of snitches, the FBI rounded up some unemployed, homeless, mostly alone and angry loudmouths to build a fantasy football-style display of domestic terrorism fear-porn.

Over the past few weeks, there has been a slew of reporting on the alleged plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, specifically, the fact that the FBI seems to have played a far more considerable role in it than had previously been reported. BuzzFeed News produced an exposé on the case detailing how the FBI used 12 informants and undercover FBI agents to infiltrate the Wolverine Watchmen militia group, which prosecutors allege planned to kidnap Whitmer in the run-up to the 2020 national elections.

The problem with the case is that it appears the FBI, through informants and undercover agents, hatched the kidnapping plot, served in the key leadership positions of the militia group, trained the militia members in military tactics, actively recruited participants, and funded much of the militia’s activities. Then, when various members of the Watchman militia became uncomfortable with the kidnapping plot, with several quitting, the FBI’s primary informant pushed the plot along, eventually becoming the militia group’s leader.

The Primary Informant’s Story Doesn’t Add Up

The primary informant, known only as Dan, has been identified in court documents as a former U.S. Army Iraq War veteran. Dan reportedly volunteered to the FBI after stumbling across the Wolverine Watchman group on Facebook.

Dan, whom court documents say earned a college degree in criminal justice after his stint in the Army, stated he had previously worked as an executive protection agent and a National Rifle Association firearms instructor, and was a current employee of the U.S. Postal Service (the exact nature of his duties at USPS is not publicly released).

He testified in court that he had been searching for Second Amendment-related Facebook posts to find tactical training opportunities to retain the perishable combat skills he acquired during his tour of duty in Iraq. After viewing the Watchman’s page, he applied for acceptance to their private Facebook group and was admitted after answering a series of vetting questions.

At the time Dan applied for membership with the Watchman militia, in March 2020, the Watchman militia had only a single member with military experience: Joe Morrison, a reserve U.S. Marines mechanic serving part-time with a reserve logistics support group (according to court documents, a second military veteran, Daniel Harris, was recruited into the group five months later, in July 2020). Morrison had no combat arms training beyond boot camp and zero combat experience.

It is puzzling exactly what kind of “tactical training opportunities” Dan, an Iraq War combat veteran, hoped to gain from a ragtag group of largely untrained and inexperienced civilian militia. According to Dan’s testimony, he participated in extensive, months-long, house-to-house warfare in Sadr City during his 14-month rotation in Iraq. The question of why someone with Dan’s combat experience would seek to join the Watchman militia to receive training went unasked and unexamined during depositions and court hearings.

This ‘Plot’ and These ‘Conspirators’ Are a Joke

Federal and state prosecutors in this case have indicted 14 defendants from across the country; not just from Michigan, but from states as far as away as Virginia, Delaware, and South Carolina. Some of the defendants are less than sympathetic characters and have made inflammatory statements in text messages, social media posts, and in front of wired FBI informants who dutifully recorded their every word. Prosecutors repeatedly claimed the defendants are dangerous threats to the public, but they have presented no actual evidence of this beyond the defendants’ inflammatory speech.

The prosecutors’ main claim that the defendants had demonstrated their ability and intent to use explosives in the plot was derived from their laughable attempts to ignite uncompressed black powder during a group training event sponsored by one of the FBI informants—which in itself proved how unskilled and incapable the defendants were in the handling or use of explosives. In fact, the group’s only actual planning with regard to explosives was done by an undercover FBI agent who posed as an explosives expert and black market broker for military-type explosives.

Reading through the court documents, text messages, and transcripts for this case is like listening to the David Allen Coe country song about pickup trucks, single-wide trailers, prison, and being drunk and down and out—in the rain. To the nation’s elite class, the defendants in this case are a collection of flyover America’s pile of broken toys: the surplus population who were left behind in globalization’s destruction of working-class America.

With the help of a strong supply of snitches, the FBI rounded up some unemployed, homeless, mostly alone, and angry loudmouths to build a fantasy football-style display of domestic terrorism fear-porn. The only thing more depressing than realizing middle America is now just a bunch of NPCs in the latest version of “Call of Duty: Rogue National Security State” is that there are likely more of these manufactured cases coming to an America near you.

How Powerlessness Affects a People

In a republic like America, there is a designed tension between the citizen and the state. The citizen, as the individual, is protective of his natural rights, privacy, and liberty, while the state, as the establishment, is ostensibly concerned with the prosperity, safety, and security of the republic as a whole.

Our Constitution was designed to balance the friction between Alexander Hamilton’s “The vigor of government is essential to the security of liberty” and John O’ Sullivan’s “The best government is that which governs least.” When that balance is disrupted, there is political conflict.

The elite and powerful can express their political concerns with big-money donations to politicians and pithy outrage from their blue-check Twitter accounts. The little people, the working-class flotsam and jetsam of America, have to just suck it down. They can vent their frustrations on social media, but no one is listening to them—except for people like Dan and the army of informants employed by the government.

The powerless often cope with their powerlessness through what can only be called LARPing, or live-action role-playing. This and ill-advised braggadocio is a way to feel like they have some control over their lives.

RELATED ARTICLE: SUB ROSA: WATCH Suspected Federal Operative Clandestinely Coordinates Breach of Capitol, Crowd Sees Through It, Chants “FED! FED! FED!”

EDITORS NOTE: This Geller Report column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Quick note: Tech giants are shutting us down. You know this. Twitter, LinkedIn, Google Adsense, Pinterest permanently banned us. Facebook, Google search et al have shadow-banned, suspended and deleted us from your news feeds. They are disappearing us. But we are here. We will not waver. We will not tire. We will not falter, and we will not fail. Freedom will prevail.

Subscribe to Geller Report newsletter here — it’s free and it’s critical NOW when informed decision making and opinion is essential to America’s survival. Share our posts on your social channels and with your email contacts. Fight the great fight.

Follow me on Gettr. I am there, click here. It’s open and free.

Remember, YOU make the work possible. If you can, please contribute to Geller Report.

Human Rights Campaign Not Interested in Rights of Biologically Female Athletes

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There was a time when almost all of us held at least one truth to be self-evident: the biological reality that boys and girls are different. But today, statements like that are “controversial.”

The controversy is no coincidence. Groups like the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) (2.00) have worked hard to make commonsense, ancient concepts into something contentious. HRC claims to be fighting for people’s rights, but it is actually rejecting the right of other Americans to express support for traditional understandings of marriage or gender. Now, HRC is taking aim at Florida, filing a lawsuit to force the state to allow biological boys to compete as transgender girls in school sports, and they’re threatening similar litigation in Arkansas, Mississippi, and Tennessee.

HRC’s lawsuit asserts it’s “unfair” to ensure only girls play girls’ sports. They refuse to consider what’s fair for girls. As any kid in gym class knows, a moderately athletic boy can run faster, do more push-ups, and lift heavier weights than most every girl. And research shows that no amount of testosterone suppression or supplemental estrogen closes that gap.

Creating a level playing field is both scientific and constitutional. Giving girls equal protection and equal opportunity necessitates a protected space where girls aren’t at extra risk of injury and aren’t forced to share locker rooms and hotel rooms with males. HRC’s lawsuit undermines the protections that have allowed women to become some of the world’s best athletes.

Some people are fighting back. One female athlete lost out on her scholarship and a spot on a university team, so she sued. Unfortunately, HRC is supported by powerful interests, with a pocketbook lined by “platinum partners” like Apple, Google, and Coca-Cola, all of which have earned 1.00 scores from 2ndVote. While corporations are powerful, we the people weaken them by spending money based on our values. If HRC is going to fight against the Judeo-Christian and Constitutional principles on which America was founded, they should at least have to fight alone. Tell these corporations that donating to HRC means you’ll take your business elsewhere.

EDITORS NOTE: This 2ndVote column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

U.S. borders open to any and all, including jihad terrorists — but not Cubans fleeing Communism

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Recently the Cuban people did an almost unheard-of thing. Risking life and limb, they took to the streets to protest their horrific treatment under the Communist regime that has kept the nation in slavery since the putsch that put the Castro brothers in power in 1959. Today, the Cuban people have had enough as the failed Communist economy denies them even life’s most basic necessities. “There’s no food, no medicine, there is no freedom. They do not let us live,” one protester told the BBC.

While this was happening, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas made a stunning statement. Directly addressing the Cuban people, he said, “Allow me to be clear: If you take to the sea, you will not come to the United States.”

What makes this even more amazing is that Mayorkas himself is a Cuban immigrant. He knows, or should know, just how bad the Cuban people have it. And while he overtly denies entry to Cubans that may consider fleeing that nation for their own survival, the Biden administration has flung the borders wide open to all but those with a clearly legitimate reason to seek asylum in the U.S.

In another astonishing statement to the House Homeland Security Committee earlier this year, Mayorkas claimed that “the border is secure and the border is not open.” Meanwhile, we have learned that not only is the border surge unprecedented in numbers, with the administration doing nothing to stop it, but Tucker Carlson recently cited irrefutable evidence that, with the explicit complicity of the U.S. military, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is utilizing Laughlin Air Force base in Texas to covertly fly illegal aliens to communities throughout the U.S. in the dead of night.

Most, if not all of these illegals are not legitimate asylum seekers; they are economic migrants. In an interview with Dinesh D’Souza, TV commentator Steve Cortes stated, “They are coming from troubled countries, yes. Places like Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras; but those countries, while they are tough neighborhoods, they are not places of systemic political persecution.”

He is exactly right. Refugees and asylum seekers fit under a very specific definition that requires “a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.” Few, if any, Central American migrants meet this standard. The government’s own statistics prove it. For the first nine months of Fiscal Year 2021 (which started October 1, 2020), a total of 191 refugees have been admitted from Latin America and the Caribbean under the State Department’s refugee admittance program.

Even that doesn’t tell the whole story. The State Department no longer provides access to its daily refugee tracking statistics, which provided up-to-the-minute resettlement statistics, including refugee religion and other useful information. Why did they stop?

The Trump administration reduced annual refugee numbers to a trickle. In FY 2020, that total was 11,814, the lowest in the program’s history. Yet despite the Trump ban on immigration from countries of terrorism concern, 25 percent of all refugees came from Islamic countries known to harbor terrorists, as shown in the table below.

Refugee Resettlement
Muslim Nations 2020
Afghanistan        604
Eritrea        475
Ethiopia        116
Iran        137
Iraq        537
Pakistan        169
Somalia        149
Sudan        254
Syria        481
Subtotal     2,922
Total Refugees   11,814
Muslim Nations 25%

The table may not paint a complete picture. A portion of the 2,115 refugees from Burma (Myanmar) resettled in 2020 were likely Rohingya Muslims. While they represent less than two percent of Burma’s population, they comprise 42.7 percent of the population of Myanmar’s Rakhine State. They are considered pariahs throughout the nation and are not recognized by the government. The Rohingya joined the pan-Islamic movement in the 1970s, but have engaged in an insurgency since Myanmar declared independence in 1948.

Increasing numbers of Rohingya Muslims have been resettled to the United States in recent years — about 15,000 since 2009. The State Department formerly banned resettlement of Rohingya Muslims, but today, State seems intent on resettling the most problematic populations throughout the world. And because State no longer provides real-time tracking statistics, it is impossible to know the demographic breakdown of Burmese refugees — there is little doubt, however, that it is substantial number.

The Biden administration lifted President Trump’s FY 2021 refugee cap from 15,000 to 62,500 and promises to raise that number to 125,000 in the next fiscal year, but so far has been unable to replicate the massive refugee program pushed by President Obama. Through June 30, 2021, a total of 4,780 refugees have been admitted for FY 2021. This, however, excludes the Special Immigrant Visa program (SIV), which provides resettlement to Iraqi and Afghan interpreters and others who worked with the U.S. military and other agencies during the conflicts in those nations.

On its face, the SIV program would seem appropriate. Those who assist the U.S. military risk death at the hands of our enemies. During the Vietnam War, we left millions to fend for themselves after we abandoned South Vietnam in 1975. The Vietnamese Communists persecuted many and continue persecuting Vietnam’s indigenous Montagnards because of their assistance to U.S. forces during that war.

Following the Biden administration’s abrupt exit from Afghanistan in the middle of the night, fears mounted, justifiably, that Biden would leave many behind to face firing squads or worse at the hands of the Taliban. Biden has now promised to resettle Afghans (and their families) who worked for the U.S. military — as many as 50,000 or more.

Refugee resettlement expert Ann Corcoran has pointed out however, that 70,000 SIVs have already been admitted to the U.S. “How many interpreters can there be?” she asks.

Over the past four years alone, 43,523 Afghanis have been come to the U.S. under the SIV program.

According to Mary Doetsch, a former State Department employee who worked the refugee program for many years, much of the refugee resettlement program, including the SIV program, is fraught with fraud. Authorities are currently reviewing over 104,000 cases of possible Iraqi refugee and SIV fraud.

Never mind the question of how many actually qualify as “interpreters,” it is impossible to know how many of these may have terrorist intentions, or pose some other security risk. In 2011, two Iraqi nationals granted refugee status were discovered trying to supply terrorists. They were also implicated in IED explosions in Iraq that claimed American lives. That discovery slowed down the SIV program until vetting was improved.

But more generally, European nations have begun to discover the problem with the large Afghan populations now living there. Rampant crime and especially rape have become epidemic, forcing some municipalities to stop accepting any refugees. The mayor of the Austrian city of Tulln, who initially supported the influx of refugees, said, “We’ve had it.”

In 2020, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service processed 706,000 naturalization applications of 970,900 received. This was down from 2019 due to COVID, but the U.S. has been granting legal permanent residence to approximately one million people every year. So our nation is being inundated with refugees and immigrants, some of whom have questionable motives at best.

Yet it is still not enough. The Biden administration wants to import as many illegals as possible. In a little-reported development on this front, the Democrats intend to insert an amnesty provision in the latest budget reconciliation proposal that would fund government operations for the coming year. If successful, that change would provide a path to citizenship and voting for 22 million or more illegal aliens currently residing in the U.S. This is twice the number touted by the Census Bureau for the past decade. Because most would likely vote Democrat, this would guarantee Democrats a monopoly of political power for the foreseeable future. If you think what is happening in Cuba is bad, just wait to see how bad it will become here.

The Democrats earlier attempted to pass H.R. 1, the horribly misnamed “For the People Act,” which would have federalized elections and outlawed most efforts, like voter ID, to prevent vote fraud. Because current Senate rules require a 60/40 vote to overcome a filibuster, this bill fortunately did not pass. But never to be discouraged, Democrats are now proposing H.R. 4, the John Lewis Voting Rights Act. This proposal, named after civil rights icon John Lewis, is yet another example of the Democrats misleading use of language.

The kind of support it is receiving tells you all you need to know about what they hope to achieve. It was recently touted on the Indivisible website. Indivisible is the extremist group initiated with a manual written by Democrat Congressional staffers calling for people to resist the newly elected Trump administration. Indivisible personified the #RESIST movement during President Trump’s term. Like most overtly partisan leftist groups, Indivisible was granted tax-exempt status by the IRS in 2017 and received millions from the radical Left Tides Foundation and others.

Democrats continue to raise the specter of abolishing the filibuster — which is one of the few arrows in our quiver preventing Democrats from ramming through such unethical, and clearly self-serving legislation. Without a clear path forward for this legislation as long as the filibuster remains in place, Democrats are now looking to amnesty to deliver them the totalitarian power they seek. This is the primary reason Biden has flung the borders open, and why despite almost universal opposition to this nationwide crisis, they will not lift a finger to stem the flow.

Budget reconciliation only requires a simple majority vote. However, it also has some stops that can prevent amnesty from sneaking through. The current Parliamentarian issued a restrictive ruling before, keeping a federal minimum wage out of a previous reconciliation bill. The Byrd Rule prohibits extraneous matters from being included in reconciliation bills. Senators can raise a point of order to enforce the Byrd Rule. It’s up to us to make sure they do. The reconciliation bill includes $126 billion to create a pathway to citizenship for certain categories of illegal aliens. We need to make sure the GOP Senate does its job by preventing this from getting through.

The endless trickery, lies and misinformation peddled by the Biden administration, Democratic legislators and their media propagandists, coupled with their radically destructive agenda, are enough to make one’s head explode. But as I explained in my latest book, Who Was Karl Marx?, this is their intention. The Left has pulled out the stops in its latest power grab. Part of the strategy is to make life intolerable, while at the same time marginalizing anyone who expresses any kind of opposition. The purpose is to push citizens to two extremes, revolt or submit. Neither are acceptable.

Revolt, as the Cubans have now found, will result in a crushing response. Yes, even here in the U.S. The January 6 “insurrection” which was almost certainly set up by the Democrats, as Rep. Louie Gohmert claimed at CPAC Texas this week, is the canary in the coal mine. It demonstrates how viciously the institutional Left are willing to treat opponents under the thinnest of pretexts. Hundreds remain jailed without charge, almost all of whom did little more than enter the Capitol once the doors were open.

A Daily Mail report listed the abuses faced, including solitary confinement, assaults and degrading treatment by jail guards and other abuse. One attorney was quoted as saying, “The DC Central Detention Facility has become Guantanamo Bay for American citizens.”

One claimed to have been “savagely beaten” by guards.

Violence has never been an option. To suspect Trump supporters of engaging in it defies reality. The only organized violence witnessed in this country over the past year has been instigated by the Left, often with the concurrence of Democrat leaders. Submission, however, is not an option either. It would simply grant Democrats the absolute power they seek. And that would not end the pressure. Americans would find that the pressure only increases, as the Left used its newfound power to fleece our nation of every resource we have and ruthlessly punish anyone who objects.

While our eyes are averted, this theft has already been occurring. Much of the trillions in spending already authorized for COVID has actually gone to bail out Democrat spendthrift states and line the pockets of Democrat allies. But other sleazy maneuvers have accomplished similar outcomes.

As of June, 23 states have joined a law suit targeting Biden’s cancellation of the Keystone pipeline. Biden did this as part of the effort to reverse the Trump administration’s success in making America energy independent. It has cost thousands of jobs. Most people are unaware, however, that Biden did not cancel the competing “Line 3” pipeline being constructed by Canadian oil and gas firm Enbridge that traverses indigenous lands in Minnesota. Domestic policy advisor Susan Rice owns millions in shares of Enbridge and convinced Biden to keep that one open, despite broad opposition from the Left. This kind of bottomless corruption and hypocrisy is endemic within the Democrat Party.

Democrats seek absolute power and the wealth that goes with it. The only viable alternative to this overt power grab is overwhelming victory at the polls in 2022 and 2024. We are already seeing a building momentum as citizens across the nation respond to public education’s efforts to indoctrinate our children to the divisive Critical Race Theory and horrifically destructive transgender agenda. Governors in Florida, South Dakota, Texas and other red states are taking action, offering attractive alternatives.

Citizens are voting with their feet to find these islands of sanity, and as this has shown, the Left’s destructive agenda is wildly unpopular. Yet with most media, the education establishment and other institutions of culture in their grip, too many people remain ignorant. Our only option is to fight at every level to maintain the freedom that has made America a lantern to the world for centuries. We cannot go silent into this good night.

COLUMN BY

JAMES SIMPSON

James Simpson is a bestselling author, investigative journalist, businessman and economist. His latest book is Who Was Karl Marx? The Men, the Motives and the Menace Behind Today’s Rampaging American Left.

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EDITORS NOTE: This Jihad Watch column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Where I Come From We Judge People by the Content of Their Characters

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“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Character: The mental and moral qualities distinctive to an individual.

After having served in the U.S. Army for 23-years I have learned to judge individuals by the content of their character, not by the color of their skin.

I served in a military where men of all colors swore an oath to protect and defend the U.S. Constitution. Those with whom I served, and all those who have served honorably, are my brothers for he who sheds his blood with me is forever my brother.

As an officer, and commander of multiple units, I was responsible to judge the characters of those who served under me. I had the authority, under Article 15 of the Uniformed Code of Military Justice, to be the judge, jury and punisher of those soldiers who broke military laws and regulations. Just as I was subject to the same codes, laws and regulations.

Having served in combat I know about the content of others, and my own, characters. There is nothing like the heat of battle to bring out both the best and worst in men, and now women, in our military.

Understanding the character of individuals is a fundamental key to effective leadership.

Sadly today, character has taken a backseat to the color of one’s skin.

Today:

  • If you are white you are automatically labeled a racist.
  • If you are black you are automatically given a free pass on the content of your character.
  • If you are neither white or black, you are considered to be irrelevant or marginalized.

In a column titled “The Vague Grounds of ‘Systemic’ Racism” David Carlin asks:

Is “systemic racism” real?  Or is it an abuse of language, stretching the meaning of the word “racism” beyond its legitimate bounds?

The Oxford English Dictionary‘s first recorded utterance of the word racism was by a man named Richard Henry Pratt in 1902. Pratt was railing against the evils of racial segregation.

Segregating any class or race of people apart from the rest of the people kills the progress of the segregated people or makes their growth very slow. Association of races and classes is necessary to destroy racism and classism.

Racism has become a construct that has been turned into an effective weapon used by some to create racial division both in America and globally.

Their goal isn’t to unite Americans but to divide us. Their goal isn’t to unite the world it’s to divide it.

A divided people are easily manipulated and controlled.

It is an easily used word to win an argument with someone whom you disagree with. If you want to shut down any discussion with a white, black, Hispanic, oriental or American Indian then just call him or her a “racist.”

Racism is the ultimate political club.

When we judge people by what they do, by their character, then we are judging outcomes, not the color of one’s skin. Do good, do well and you are contributing to yourself, your family, your community, your state and the nation.

Do badly and you harm yourself and others.

You see, character has a moral basis. It is a religious construct.

1 Corinthians 15:33 warns,

Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.”

Character is a choice between doing good or doing evil.

Without character what are we but mere animals?

How do you judge people?

Where I Come From by Alan Jackson

©Dr. Rich Swier. All rights reserved.

America – A Criminals Utopia!

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“A pessimist is one who makes difficulties of his opportunities and an optimist is one who makes opportunities of his difficulties.” – Harry S. Truman.

Law enforcement as we know it, in many large cities run by the leftist elitists and Defund the Police proponents like in Chicago, Minneapolis, Portland, New York, Las Angeles etc. is in trouble. Forces are losing members at an extremely high rate, we are seeing that officers hands are tied by politicians and communist style organizations. Their police leaders are politicians and not law enforcement professionals. Many top cops are breaking their oaths daily. The average tax paying citizen apparently has no part in the decision making.

In Minneapolis the city council received a petition signed by only 20,000 out of 440,000 citizens asking for the disbandment of the police department to be replaced by a “community-focused safety initiative.”

What is that? Well, here it is! It will be a department that has some ‘licensed’ peace officers, mental health responders, substance abuse specialists, violence interrupters and violence prevention professionals! There you have it! A criminals utopia.

It will be called the Department of Public Safety!

So, as you are being raped, robbed, assaulted, murdered, car jacked, kidnapped or being victimized any way the criminals choose, you will have a regular smorgasbord of options as you dial 911! Imagine if you can. Hit 1 for a peace officer, hit 2 for a substance abuse expert, hit 3 for a mental health professional!! You get the picture!

This will be on the ballot in the next Nov 2nd Minneapolis general election. Bless them all. They are a lost population.

Then let’s look at other libtard leftist run major city. I know!! San Francisco in the incredible state of California! You know, the land of fruits and nuts!

Here we see daily pictures of shoplifters emboldened by the $950 limit to become a crime worthy of being even stopped. Loss prevention officers in stores stand by as thieves and looters walk in and brazenly walk out with huge bags filled with stolen swag to be met by ‘professional’ purchasers of stolen merchandise!! Very organized!

According to the National Retail Federation two of the top 5 cities with organized theft are in California, Los Angeles and San Francisco! They must be so proud to be in the top 5!!!

Store employees and store security staff are told to just let them come and go. Some have died trying to stop shoplifters, like Miguel Penaloza of Rite Aid who tried to stop a couple of thieves walking out with arm loads of beer! He was shot dead just for doing his job.

The result is stores are closing down or closing early. Target in San Francisco closes at 5:00pm in some locations and 6:00pm in others. Walgreens have been forced to shutter several locations. Everything worth over a few dollars is under lock and key. Try finding staff to help you!!

If these thieves need anything they just pop out to the local stores and take whatever they need or want. It’s easy. Nobody stops you. As one fine upstanding citizen, Cassie, an addiction and mother of 2, recently said, “If my babies need diapers or formula, who is going to get that for me? No one. I have to do it,” she said. “They ain’t out here arresting people for shoplifting and everyone knows it.”

What a country! Shop owners in San Diego tell stories of their inventory being stolen hour by hour, daily. There is evidence that people are crossing state lines to shoplift in certain counties and states, well equipped with lists and calculators to ensure they stop at the $950 limit. They will work in pairs. One will go in with a backpack or similar and fill it and go out to his/her buddy, unload the bag and go back in. Professional fences will be waiting at appointed places to buy the goods.

Police are unable to do anything. In California they are told not to make arrests for misdemeanors, hence the limit of $950 the thieves carefully adhere to. Little did those thieves know how much those silly math classes would help them!

©Fred Brownbill. All rights reserved.

Exclusive Audio: Listen to January 6 Detainees Sing the National Anthem

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Cruel and excessive. All those BLM/Antifa terrorists who looted, rioted and burned our cities are walking free and these patriots who were entrapped in Pelosi’s putsch are rotting in illegal incarceration.

AMID REPORTS OF JANUARY 6 DETAINEES BEING SUBJECT TO TORTUROUS INHUMANE ABUSE INCLUDING BEATINGS, SOLITARY CONFINEMENT, AND COVID-19 VACCINATION COERCION IN THE D.C. DETENTION CENTER, AUDIO RELEASED BY AMERICAN GREATNESS REVEALS THE PRISONERS SINGING THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER IN ORDER TO LIFT SPIRITS AND BOOST MORALE WHILE THEY AWAIT THEIR TRIALS.

Exclusive audio released by American Greatness reveals the January 6 political prisoners sing the National Anthem to lift their spirits up and boost morale as they await their trials scheduled for sometime next year. “Detainees include Americans not accused of committing any violent crimes. Current detainees are a few members of the Oath Keepers; the alleged ‘attackers’ of Officer Brian Sicknick, and nonviolent offenders such as Timothy Hale-Cusanelli. The defendants have been transported to a special portion of the D.C. prison system used to house those charged with offenses related to January 6. Most were held in solitary confinement conditions, only allowed one hour out of a single-man cell one hour a day, for months until restrictions were recently loosened somewhat,” reads the report by American Greatness Senior Contributor Julie Kelly.

Biden’s Gulag | Exclusive Audio: Listen to January 6 Detainees Sing the National Anthem

By Dozens of Americans held in a Washington D.C. jail have been incarcerated for months awaiting trials that aren’t scheduled to begin until next year. Joe Biden’s Justice Department has repeatedly sought pre-trial detention for Americans who, on January 6, protested Biden’s election.Detainees include Americans not accused of committing any violent crimes. Current detainees are a few members of the Oath Keepers; the alleged “attackers” of Officer Brian Sicknick, and nonviolent offenders such as Timothy Hale-Cusanelli.The defendants have been transported to a special portion of the D.C. prison system used to house those charged with offenses related to January 6. Most were held in solitary confinement conditions, only allowed one hour out of a single-man cell one hour a day, for months until restrictions were recently loosened somewhat.

Defense lawyers complain about lack of access to their clients and access to video evidence captured by the U.S Capitol’s extensive security system, now under protective seal in January 6 cases.

American Greatness has reported on the harsh conditions in the D.C jail, including incidents of abuse and unconstitutional violations of due process.

Every night at 9 p.m., according to a relative of one of the detainees, they sing the national anthem. This is a way to keep spirits up among men who have been in jail for months and may not have their day in court until sometime next year.

Listen to the audio here.

EDITORS NOTE: This Geller Report column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

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