Judicial Watch’s Campaign for Clean Elections

With the presidential race heating up, election integrity is back in the news. Cheaters gonna cheat and there’s lots of ways to steal an election—dirty voter rolls, mail-in voting, and “ballot harvesting” are three areas ripe for abuse.

Judicial Watch is the national leader in election integrity education and litigation. The very notion of voter fraud is steeped in partisan bickering, but Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton insists electoral abuse is not “a Right-Left issue” at all. The Right may be leading the fight on election fraud, but “if you’re a Leftist Democrat trying to take on an incumbent in a corrupt jurisdiction,” Fitton says, “voter fraud can keep you from gaining traction as well.”

Judicial Watch is cleaning up dirty voter rolls across the nation. States are required by the National Voter Registration Act to remove so-called “inactive voters” from registration rolls if they do not respond to an address confirmation notice and then fail to vote in the next two general federal elections. Many “inactive voters” do this because, well, they’re dead. Or they have moved away.

Why does this matter? Leaving the names of inactive voters on registration rolls creates opportunities for fraud, such as dead people voting or double voting. Critics argue that these concerns are overblown, but sometimes it only takes a few votes to swing an election.

And dirty voter roll numbers are not small. Here’s what we have uncovered:

In North Carolina, a Judicial Watch investigation revealed nearly one million inactive voters on its rolls. That’s about 17% percent of North Carolina’s total voter registration. Earlier this month, we sued North Carolina to clean up its act.

Last week in Maryland, a federal judge ordered Montgomery County to turn over its voter rolls to Judicial Watch for analysis. Judicial Watch asked for the rolls after it determined that county registrations had exceeded 100% of its age-eligible citizenry. Read more about the Maryland case here.

We uncovered 1.6 million inactive voters on California voting rolls. In 2017, we sued California and Los Angeles County to force a cleanup. Our investigation found that Los Angeles County had more voter registrations on its rolls than actual voting age citizens in the county, and that the entire state had a voter registration rate of 101% of age-eligible citizens. Last year, California capitulated, settling our lawsuit and agreeing to remove inactive voters from its rolls.

We’ve been working to clean up Ohio voting rolls since 2012. In 2018, a Supreme Court decision upheld an Ohio voter-roll cleanup that resulted from settlement of a Judicial Watch lawsuit. The lawsuit found that the number of people listed on voter registration rolls in three Ohio counties exceeded 100% of the total voting age population.

We took on Kentucky. Our investigation found that 48 Kentucky counties—40% of the state total—had more registered voters than citizens over the age of 18. Statewide, we noted, the registration rate was higher than 100% of its age-eligible population. We sued and won: a federal court directed Kentucky to clean up its rolls. Indiana also agreed to clean up its rolls after Judicial Watch launched an investigation.

In February, we announced that our investigation in Iowa found 18,000 extra names on voter rolls. Eight Iowa counties had more voter registrations than voting age citizens. “Dirty voting rolls can mean dirty elections,” Tom Fitton noted. Iowa was apoplectic, but offered no evidence that our count was incorrect.

And in a major new development, Judicial Watch announced in January that we found at least another 2.5 million extra names on voter rolls across the country. A Judicial Watch analysis of data released by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission found that there are 378 counties in the U.S. that have more voter registrations than citizens old enough to vote. The 378 counties had a combined 2.5 million extra registrants over the 100%-registered mark. We’ve notified 19 counties in five states—California, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Colorado, and Virginia—that we intended to sue unless they take steps to clean up their voter rolls. Stay tuned.

Meanwhile, for more on our efforts to clean up dirty voter rolls, here’s a discussion with Tom Fitton and Judicial Watch Election Integrity Initiative Director Bob Popper.

 COLUMN BY

MICAH MORRISON

Micah Morrison is chief investigative reporter for Judicial Watch. Follow him on Twitter @micah_morrison. Tips: mmorrison@judicialwatch.org.

Investigative Bulletin is published by Judicial Watch. Reprints and media inquiries: jfarrell@judicialwatch.org.

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

PODCAST: When Democrats Get ‘Handsy,’ Journalists Get Disinterested

In today’s podcast we talk about the bad journalism that led to the reporting by CNN that North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un was clinging to life. We also get into how CNN celebrated Chris Cuomo’s emergence from quarantine while ignoring that he’d broken it a week before when he went to check out a mansion he’s building in the Hamptons and argued with an old guy on a bicycle. Then we talk to the Daily Wire’s Ashe Schow about the difference between how the media covered the sexual assault allegations against Joe Biden and Brett Kavanaugh.

Listen to the show:

Kim Jong Un was reported on the verge of death by CNN, then by MSNBC. The only problem was there was no proof and no one was willing to go on record saying it. Rather than let a crazy little thing like nothing but rumor to go on, those networks ran with the story, retracting some of it quickly. We discuss how the rush to be first has destroyed the necessity to be right when it comes to reporting and why journalists will learn exactly nothing from their latest fumble.

CNN’s Chris Cuomo broadcast the dramatic moment he emerged from quarantine on his show the other day, but it wasn’t really the first time he broke quarantine for coronavirus. A week earlier, while allegedly in the midst of his illness, Cuomo had reportedly gotten into an argument with a man near a new mansion he’s building in the Hamptons. We talk about why CNN would allow him to pretend to be leaving his basement for the first time since his diagnosis on their airwaves.

Then we talk with Ashe Schow from the Daily Wire about how the media covered the sexual assault allegations against Joe Biden compared to how they covered them against Brett Kavanaugh. CNN, for example, has done one story about the charges by former Biden staffer Tara Reade in the 3 weeks since the story broke. In the same time period, during the Kavanaugh hearings, CNN did almost 700 related stories on the future Supreme Court Justice. We get into that and hypocrisy of the “#BelieveAllWomen” movement as well as the destruction of due process rights on college campuses.

Today’s podcast is sponsored by Life Change Tea, check out their website to gain more energy and improve your life! And don’t forget to enter promo code “Derek” at check out to receive free shipping on your order.

Please help spread the word about The Daily Daily Caller Podcast. Please take a minute to rate and review on iTunes, share on social media and be sure to subscribe so you never miss an episode:

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The Daily Daily Caller Podcast is a daily look and mocking of the news from a conservative perspective. Hosted by Derek Hunter, it is available in audio form Monday-Friday and will have a video interview on Fridays.

RELATED ARTICLE: Democrat Who Endorsed Trump Says He’s Stepping Down After Being ‘Harassed’ By Democratic Party

EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller podcast is republished with permission. © All rights reserved.

PODCAST: Democrats Will Leverage Pandemic to Delegitimize a Trump 2020 Win!

GUESTS AND TOPICS:

TOM BASILE

Tom Basile is an Author, columnist, speaker and commentator, Tom Basile has been in the middle of the action on the biggest stories and hottest issues of the two last decades. His work in the worlds of politics, government, media and business have made him a powerful voice in our national conversation and a sought-after lecturer and contributor in the media. Tom is a former Bush Administration official, NYS Republican Party Executive Director and hosted ‘Sunday in America’ on SiriusXM Radio. His new book Let It Sink In: The Decade of Obama and Trump, provides a retrospective on the 2010s to help readers prepare to defend American freedom in the 2020s.

TOPIC: Dems Will Leverage Pandemic to Delegitimize a Trump Win!

MARK WALTERS

Mark Walters is a national board member of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms and a broadcast media spokesman for the Second Amendment Foundation. Recipient of the 2015 Gun Rights Defender of the Year Award, Mark Walters is a weekly national columnist for Ammoland, and author of three books. Mark is the host of two nationally syndicated talk radio programs, Armed American Radio, and Armed American Radio’s Daily Defense heard on hundreds of radio stations across the country and seen on the AUN-TV Network!

TOPIC: Gun Group Sues Georgia County!

Lives and Livelihoods

Helen Freeh: Sooner or later we must restart American commerce, and Catholic leaders need to avoid casting the decision to do so as a choice between God and mammon.


Michael Pakaluk recently argued on this site that the dichotomy between life and money is false.  The Holy Father in his Easter Monday homily, however, set up just that conflict, stating, “in finding solutions to this pandemic, the choice will be between life, the resurrection of the people, and the god of money.” Pope Francis developed this view further along the same line, “If you choose money, you choose the way of hunger, slavery, wars, arms factories, uneducated children. . . . help us to choose the good of the people, without ever falling into the tomb of mammon.”

This is troubling talk even if it is meant sincerely to be pastoral guidance. But Pope Francis’s good intentions here may require further reflection.

I am not an economist or a moral theologian. So, I speak now from Catholic common sense in responding to this.  Certainly, we live in a materialistic culture in which we witness unbridled greed and lust for money, which comes at great cost to authentic human life.  It is right and proper to call people from the false pursuit of happiness through money to the truth of our existence as sons and daughters of God, recipients and caretakers of our Father’s bounty.

To establish, as a general rule, a conflict between the making of money and the respect for life, however, is both false and dangerous.  Extremes exist and sinful pursuits of money are easily found.  But God has established it as part of our human condition that work, even work undertaken for the sake of making money and providing for one’s own needs and those of others, is intimately connected with life and happiness.

Even a cursory knowledge of Catholic teaching on the dignity of work shows that while the economy must serve human life, it also allows human life to be dignified.  As Pope Francis himself stated in Laudato Si, “Work is a necessity, part of the meaning of life on this earth, a path to growth, human development and personal fulfillment. Helping the poor financially must always be a provisional solution in the face of pressing needs. The broader objective should always be to allow them a dignified life through work.”

To suggest, then, that governments, in considering whether and when to re-open economies, are choosing between life and money, as if they are necessarily opposed to each other, severs the connection between the two – a connection that is not by nature evil. It may be good or bad depending on whether the good of human life remains the central focus of the economic endeavor.

The decision is extremely complicated: our government leaders must weigh the harm that is being done and will be done based on their decisions.  Restarting the economy has consequences for human life – so, too, does not restarting the economy.  The choice does not reduce simply to financial matters.

Catholic moral teaching has a term called the “principle of double effect,” which may help us in our current thinking on the coronavirus and our government leaders’ decisions.  The principle states that in a difficult decision, if two effects may result, one bad and one good, the decision is morally permissible if four conditions are met:

  1. the act itself must be morally good or neutral;
  2. the harmful side effect is not the primary aim of the action to bring about good;
  3. the primary good effect must directly come from the act; and
  4. there must be a sufficiently serious reason for permitting the evil that also will result.

Our government suspended most of our civil and religious liberties for the good of preserving life through slowing the spread of a highly infectious coronavirus.  Yet now our leaders must make the decision of when to allow people to leave their homes, to travel, to pray together in our respective houses of worship, and to work.

Currently, we are intentionally doing harm to all out of a fear that death may come to some.  In restarting the economy, more lives may well be at risk from coronavirus and more people may die from this one disease.  And yet, the human cost will also be great in continuing to suppress our economic life.

Consider for example the effects of loss of livelihood on individuals and families; increased child and spousal abuse; increased rates of suicide and substance abuse; lack of treatment and facilities for mental health; postponement of surgeries for cancer, heart disease, joint replacements, et. al.

The list is long and people who study such problems estimate that there are thousands of deaths per year for every 1 percent increase in the unemployment rate. That rate has grown roughly 15 percent since the shutdown – which gives us a rough sense of what it would mean not to begin opening up commerce again.

So the magnitude of this decision is very great and ought not be reduced to a simplistic formula of life versus money.  The political decision is difficult enough and our Catholic leadership, among other voices, exacerbates the problem by making it an either/or moral dynamic.

Far from taking the lead in expressing clearly the Church’s long understanding of the central importance of economic life, the Catholic hierarchy has not even responded very forcefully to the state-designated role of religious worship as non-essential. One hopes the American bishops will not embarrass themselves and the faithful further by adopting this false dichotomy between life and livelihood.

Helen Freeh

Dr. Helen Freeh received her B.A. and M. A. from the University of Dallas and her Ph.D. from Baylor University. She has taught at Hillsdale College, where she met her husband, John. She is now in temporary early retirement, raising and homeschooling their children in Lincoln, Nebraska.

EDITORS NOTE: This Catholic Thing column is republished with permission. © 2020 The Catholic Thing. All rights reserved. For reprint rights, write to: info@frinstitute.org. The Catholic Thing is a forum for intelligent Catholic commentary. Opinions expressed by writers are solely their own.

Trump Announces He Has Hidden 5 Golden Tickets Among Stimulus Checks

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Trump has built up a lot of buzz over the coming stimulus payments, saying he has hidden five golden tickets among the checks heading to Americans this week.

Anyone who gets a golden ticket will win a free tour of Mar-a-Lago. Rumor has it that Trump will be watching them closely to see which of the winners has the qualities he looks for in a manager, with the best candidate getting hired as Mar-a-Lago’s onsite McDonald’s manager.

“Who will win? Nobody knows!” Trump said gleefully as he carefully signed each of the golden tickets before hiding them among the stimulus checks. “I, Donald Trump, have decided to allow five Americans — just five, mind you, and no more — to visit my resort this year. These lucky five will be shown around personally by me, and they will be allowed to see all the secrets and the magic of my hotel and golf resort — the best golf, maybe ever. Then, at the end of the tour, as a special present, all of them will be given Season 1 of The Apprentice on DVD!”

“So watch out for the Golden Tickets! Five Golden Tickets have been printed on golden paper, and these five Golden Tickets have been hidden in your stimulus checks. These five may be anywhere — in any mailbox in the country. And the five lucky finders of these five Golden Tickets are the only ones who will be allowed to visit my Mar-a-Lago during the lockdown. Good luck to you all!”

Unfortunately, he put all five golden tickets in a stimulus envelope addressed to Jim Acosta.

RELATED POLITICAL SATIRE:

Stimulus Delayed As Trump Insists On Personally Delivering Giant Check To Every American

Portland Filled With Unemployed, Masked People Just Like Always

America Prepares For Plagues 2 Through 10

Arkham Asylum Releases All Inmates Amid Coronavirus Fears

American Sports Fans Would Even Watch Soccer At This Point

EDITORS NOTE: This political satire by The Babylon Bee is republished with permission. © All rights reserved.

COVID-19 Recovery Panel Suggests Path for ‘Expeditious’ Return to Work

States should “expeditiously” allow Americans to go back to work in certain areas during the COVID-19 pandemic while proceeding cautiously with targeted mitigation, caring for the vulnerable, and making realistic boosts in testing and contact tracing, The Heritage Foundation’s National Coronavirus Recovery Commission recommends.

The 17-member commission released a host of recommendations Monday designed to guide the private sector and governments at every level in reopening the coronavirus-battered economy.

The panel chaired by Heritage Foundation President Kay C. James also calls for the federal government to relax regulations to speed up innovation in health care.

The 17-page report, with 47 specific recommendations, emphasizes the need for President Donald Trump, Congress, and state and local leaders to exercise bipartisanship to restore public trust.


In these trying times, we must turn to the greatest document in the history of the world to promise freedom and opportunity to its citizens for guidance. Find out more now >>


The recommendations, approved after the group’s second meeting Monday, cover the first two phases of its five-phase plan for reopening America. These two phases are 1) “Return to a more normal level of business activity at the regional level based on scientific data” and 2) “Slow the spread of the coronavirus while expanding testing, reporting, and contact tracing.”

Still to come are the commission’s recommendations for three more phases: 3) “Continue to build the science,” 4) “Establish U.S. leadership in leading the free world in economic recovery,” and 5) “Reduce future risks of pandemics.”

“These initial recommendations for recovery provide governments at every level and the American people with a framework to slow the spread of the virus and to prudently begin getting back to work and to some sense of normal,” James said in a prepared statement.

“The commission is moving quickly to make sure our five-phase plan will save both lives and livelihoods,” she said. “I look forward to bringing these ideas to President Trump’s Great American Economic Revival effort and to the American people.”

The National Coronavirus Recovery Commission assembled by Heritage includes experts with experience in government, public health, disaster response and relief, academia and education, business, and religion.

Its suggestions come just days after the Trump administration released a three-phase approach for restarting the nation that will be decided on a state-by-state basis.

“Businesses in counties with low incidence should be allowed to reopen,” the report says, adding:

In some cases, it may be necessary to impose some limitations. For example, restaurants might have to limit the number of patrons they seat at any given time, and staff might be required to wear masks and gloves; grocers may continue  to take steps to ensure that commonly touched items are kept clean. Healthy, low-risk workers should be allowed to return to their jobs immediately, and vulnerable populations (the elderly and people with underlying medical conditions) should remain at home.

The report says states should continue to take steps to protect those at special risk for contracting the disease, such as the elderly, those in nursing homes, and those with preexisting conditions.

Individuals who develop coronavirus symptoms “should immediately notify their employer, remove themselves from the workplace, and self-isolate,” the report states.

The recommendations call for “repeat testing” in 48 hours if a symptomatic person tests negative. The result would determine whether a person returns to work or follows the latest mitigation guidance.

“Governors should also focus on the remaining populations unable to return to work, including individuals who do not feel comfortable returning to work but otherwise can be offered an antibody and an antigen test and then offered the opportunity to return to work,” the report says.

The commission recommends that states gather better data through targeted testing and contact tracing, but specifies that governors should “reject calls for complete testing of every American prior to loosening social distancing.”

States instead should “embrace targeted testing,” the commission says, adding: “We must not keep the economy shut down until universal testing is available.”

The panel also calls for testing asymptomatic Americans and “random-sample” testing” at the state and county levels to “help to determine the prevalence of the virus.”

States should develop contact tracing with privacy protections, the commission recommends. Contact tracing means determining who someone diagnosed with COVID-19 came in contact with in recent days.

“As very large numbers of those who are infected are asymptomatic, they do not know they have the virus and they pose a major threat to older Americans, particularly those that have certain underlying health conditions, such as cardiac and respiratory problems, or who suffer from diabetes and obesity, the report says.

The commission calls for containing virus infection hot spots and those areas where evidence suggests a hot spot is likely to develop, through “targeted mitigation measures.” The panel says public officials “should consider taking more aggressive steps to combat the contagion in these areas.”

On the state level, the commission also recommends that:

  •  Governors take the lead on “pro-business reforms to jump-start the economy and encourage consumer confidence.”
  • States help families return to work by making existing K-12 funding “student-centered and portable.”
  • States remove occupational licensing requirements and reduce regulatory burdens on essential services.

The commission suggests that local public health officials and governments at the county and municipal levels work to protect vulnerable populations, limit the spread of the virus, and ensure the health care system responds effectively. It says local officials should leverage “unique relationships” with community leaders, businesses, nonprofits, and the faith community to address local needs.

At the federal level, the commission calls for Trump to “direct federal agencies to provide additional access to information on the spread of the novel coronavirus, including [computer] modeling and data.”

The commission suggests the president should direct agencies not to enforce a range of regulations against small businesses, which have been hit hard by the pandemic.

“The commission recommends that the president call for a review of all regulations that inhibit economic growth and extend the two-for-one and centralized review requirements to the independent regulatory commissions and agencies,” the report states.

The Trump administration early on implemented a policy of rescinding two government regulations for every new one imposed.

The Department of Health and Human Services should do more to increase innovation in medicine, the commission says. Other relevant agencies should make permanent all “interim guidance and interim final rules streamlining crisis response,” it adds.

The commission says the administration should reduce tariffs to reinvigorate supply chains:

Unsurprisingly, global trade will decrease because of the coronavirus. The World Trade Organization has forecasted global trade to fall between 13% and 32% in 2020. The removal of U.S. tariffs would benefit the economy not only in the long term but would also help speed up recovery.

The commission’s report makes numerous recommendations to Congress, focused on containing the virus and on targeted and temporary economic relief that avoids bailouts. These suggested congressional actions include:

  • Provide funding to facilitate access to testing in coordination with the president.
  • Provide the executive branch the flexibility to suspend costly regulations without an extensive process.
  • Increase the charitable deduction cap for taxes.
  • Make authorized funding “portable” for children from low-income families and children with special needs so that the money could be used to pay for in-home tutors and behavioral therapies, among other uses.
  • Protect civil liberties while creating new programs related to testing, contact tracing, or any other public health measure.

Of civil liberties, the report says:

The erosion of civil liberties in the name of security is never temporary, as we have seen post–September 11. America must not devolve into a surveillance state; such power is always susceptible to abuse and is a distinct danger inherent in the deployment of contact-tracing technologies. Congress should both investigate privacy issues regarding utilization of IT [information technology] solutions and provide incentives for the development and deployment of those technologies consistent with American values and law.

The commission suggested that the private sector and civil society do more to inform and educate young people and minorities about COVID-19.

Faith-based groups and nongovernmental organizations should increase their focus on mental health, the commission says:

Community organizations are already noting mental health challenges for people experiencing social isolation and stress. Communities need programs designed to address mental health problems specifically related to the isolation of pandemic.

For the health care sector, the commission calls for ensuring that vulnerable populations don’t wind up at the bottom of the triage process.

“The elderly, medically fragile, and persons with significant disabilities should always be treated with dignity and a recognition of their inherent and equal worth as a human being, the report states.

When businesses open, it says, they should have a plan for doing so safely and responsibly:

Businesses have learned much about the value of work from home arrangements, and should continue to encourage and facilitate ‘work from home’ wherever possible. Where this is challenging, businesses should encourage and facilitate appropriate public health measures in the workplace, including as appropriate shift-work strategies and minimizing mass gatherings wherever possible.

COLUMN BY

Fred Lucas

Fred Lucas is the White House correspondent for The Daily Signal and co-host of “The Right Side of History” podcast. Lucas is also the author of “Tainted by Suspicion: The Secret Deals and Electoral Chaos of Disputed Presidential Elections.” Send an email to Fred. Twitter: @FredLucasWH.

RELATED ARTICLES:

How and When Should States Reopen? This Congressman Has Answers

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Trump, Advisers Look to Specifics of Reopening Economy in Phases

The Truth About China and the Coronavirus

Free Market Group Calls on California, 4 Other States to Suspend Government Union Dues


A Note for our Readers:

This is a critical year in the history of our country. With the country polarized and divided on a number of issues and with roughly half of the country clamoring for increased government control—over health care, socialism, increased regulations, and open borders—we must turn to America’s founding for the answers on how best to proceed into the future.

The Heritage Foundation has compiled input from more than 100 constitutional scholars and legal experts into the country’s most thorough and compelling review of the freedoms promised to us within the United States Constitution into a free digital guide called Heritage’s Guide to the Constitution.

They’re making this guide available to all readers of The Daily Signal for free today!

GET ACCESS NOW! >>


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

Defending Trump’s “Opening Up America Again”

Perhaps I am a bit edgy due to corona virus house arrest. Just kidding. However, this guy’s email really annoyed me.

We’re in lock down and people are hurting wondering how they will pay their bills. All this was not happening 4 years ago. Over the last 4 years we have continued to see our freedoms erode. Yet, some keep hoping Trump will be our savior. What has he done over the last 4 years? All I’ve seen was more decay.”

Here is my response:

Where do you think we would be had Hillary won? Trump has fought for our freedoms like no Republican since Reagan. He has Republicans, Democrats, never Trump conservatives and 99% of the media fighting against his America first agenda. I give the guy credit.”

Folks, I refuse to dump on the only guy with the guts to fight for us. Trump has accomplished an extraordinary long list of unprecedented achievements for We the People.

Corona virus placed Trump between a rock and a hard place. Upon learning about the corona virus, Trump immediately implemented a travel ban from China. Democrats and fake news media accused Trump of overreacting and racism.

Democrat and conservative media began reporting corona virus as the worst to hit the planet and we’re all gonna die. I stopped watching Tucker Carlson on Fox News because every evening his reporting about the virus became scarier and scarier. Media scared the crap out of Americans on both sides of the political aisle.

Some folks say Trump should not have gone along with Dr Anthony Fauci and other experts’ proven-false prediction of 2 million deaths. Trump could not challenge the “experts”. With nationwide fear so high, members of his base would have joined fake news media and Democrats in crucifying him. Therefore, I do not think Trump screwed up by appearing to listen to Dr Fauci. Trump did what he had to do. He did not willingly risk collapsing the remarkable economy he built via deregulation.

With the exception of Rush Limbaugh, pundits and politicians on both sides of the aisle were afraid to oppose the shutdown. Everyone surrendered to the narrative, “We can not sacrifice lives for money.” Was Trump suppose to stand out there all alone, appearing to endanger lives by refusing to support the shutdown? Fake news media would have eaten him alive with many of his supporters joining them.

Trump is a master deal maker with excellent instincts. He had to go along with the program until more Americans realized that the predictions of catastrophic high deaths was fake news. People realize that the so-called corona virus crisis is Democrats’ dream weapon to unconstitutionally control every aspect of our lives.

I am hearing tons of heartbreaking horror stories about the shutdown destroying lives. Cruelly, Democrats and fake news media are lovin’ it. They plan to blame Trump for the economic suffering to stop his reelection. In realty, their insidious fear-mongering pushed America into this self-induced mess.

A 106 year old woman recovered from corona. Ninety-eight percent of people who catch corona virus recover. Rush Limbaugh pointed out that in 2018, the normal flu season caused 810,000 to be hospitalized and 30 to 60,000 died. Hospitals were not overrun and we did not shutdown the country. We are nowhere near such numbers with corona virus.

Still, a lot of Americans remain petrified of corona and oppose Trump reopening America. At the same time, many Americans are fed up with governors’ draconian edicts.

The swiftly growing nationwide rebellion against the shutdown gave Trump ammo to be the adult in the room. Despite the fears of many, Trump announced “Opening Up America Again” beginning May 1st. Trump said some states will reopen before May 1st. Governors are empowered to tailor the reopening of their state. It is up to residents of each state to aggressively protest to rein in their power-obsessed governor.

Speaking of wacko power-obsessed governors, California Gov Gavin Newsom implemented an extreme lock-down for residents while tent city vagrants and illegals roam free. Newsom’s boot on the neck of residents contributed to creating mile long lines of cars to get to Second Harvest Food Bank. Meanwhile, Newsom proudly announced he will give $125 million in corona relief checks to illegal aliens.

Thomas Jefferson said, “The government you elect is the government you deserve.” How on earth did Gavin Newsom get elected? Californians should start saying no to Newsom’s insanity.

After Trump announced his plan to reopen America, CNN immediately began cranking up more corona virus fear to undermine reopening America. We all know that upon the first death after the reopen, Democrats and fake news media will call Trump a murderer, guilty of crimes against humanity. They’ll say ego-driven Trump selfishly sacrificed lives to save his economy. They will even find a way to absurdly throw racism into the mix.

Who in the political universe would be able to withstand such attacks other than our Superman president, Donald J. Trump? Trump’s leadership, guts and commitment to the American people will make him victorious over their evil smears.

I’m on the Trump Train, folks, riding it all the way through November 2020 and beyond.

© All rights reserved.

SILENT — I Will Not Be Silent Any Longer!

I have been silent.

I have been silent long enough.

I have been silent for too long.

Covid-19 has forced me into silence, so I tell myself.  But that is not the whole truth. The whole truth is I was tired.  I was mentally drained. I was shut down by social media. I almost gave up.

Almost.

You see, there is only so much a human can take.  Even someone who is as experienced in the world body politic as I am.  There comes a point when you think “what’s the point”?

You see people willingly give up their freedom out of fear in order to be safe.  The problem is, they know in their own little minds, they are not safe. But they give up that freedom and real security because everyone else is doing so.

I felt like I was shouting in the face of a category 6 hurricane.  Nobody could or would hear me. I was not alone. A few months out there were shouting the same warning.  But it seemed as if we were not, could not be heard.

But then, events in the states of Michigan and Montana changed everything.  Yes, two small events, as the media would have you believe, could indeed change everything.

Some of my fans would tell me to not give up.  Don’t give in. Your words are being heard. It just takes some time for the majority to process them.  It takes some time for the majority to actually live out what they believe at first to be the “new normal”.

Most folks don’t like this new normal.  By the way, where have we heard that before?  New normal?

Normal is not new.  It is as it has always been.

But, I hear that Social Distancing is the new normal.  This is nothing more than a Millennial construct that means nothing in reality.  Let’s face it, it does not and cannot work. Frankly, the truth is if one violates this “rule” just once, then it is a moot point.

Let me ask you, have you always maintained a safe Social Distance of at least 6 feet ALL the time when you are in public?  Of course not. As soon as you pass by someone in the grocery isle, you have negated this stupid rule.

I love it (not really) when I do my grocery shopping and I freely interact in less than 6 feet with other shoppers in the isles only to end up in the check out line where there are marks on the floor imploring me to stand here and not there.

Then I get to the checkout register and of course, the clerk is not 6 feet away from me.  But they do have a plexiglass partition. As if Covid or any other virus could not find its way around and over that hastily applied barrier.

Oh, and the store emplores shoppers to use their credit or debit card.  I comply with that request only to find that the terminal is covered in plastic wrap.  The problem is, I have to enter a lot of information into that terminal. And so do countless other shoppers before and after me.

Does the store change that plastic barrier after every shopper?  Nope.

My logical brain cannot compute the idiocy in which it is currently living.  I can walk within inches of another customer, but I must stand in line 6 feet from that same customer.  I have to use a terminal touched by that other customer. But, that customer was wearing a mask so I must be safe.

Don’t get me started on those stupid mask.  Every medical professional I have spoken to, (and it has been more than a few) have told me the masks that most are wearing are almost totally useless.

But folks “feel” safe wearing them.  Folks “feel” safe with Social Distancing.  But then if you have ever listened to my program or read any of my articles or blog posts you would know, your feelings don’t count’

Covid-19 and every other virus out there, does not care if you FEEL safe.  Terrorist don’t care if you FEEL safe. (I have often said the people on those jets during 9-11 FELT safe, but were they?  Obviously, they cannot answer you because they are all dead.)

What we have going on now is a vast experiment on how to take away people’s rights and freedoms without a war.  It’s as simple as that. And the majority of us have fallen into line without question.

This is not about Covid-19 and it never has been about Covid-19.  It is about destroying economies that were booming without government intervention.  It was about destroying President Trump in the USA and any leader elected around the world who was like Trump.

It was about the Globalist grasping at their waining power to instill their will upon the people of the free world.  Nothing more and nothing less. And much of the world fell in line out of fear. Not logic.

I was screaming into the wind about this.  And I got tired. But the actions of people in a few states here in the USA has given me a glimmer of hope that all is not lost.

I may be tired, but I am not out of energy.

I will not be silent any longer.

President Trump Invites Heritage’s President to Work With America’s Business Leaders to Develop Ideas for Reopening America

WASHINGTON—Heritage Foundation President Kay C. James joined American industry leaders and CEOs on a White House call with President Donald Trump today to discuss the administration’s Great American Revival efforts.

Trump announced Tuesday that he would consult James as one of America’s thought leaders with ideas for restarting the U.S. economy. James is currently serving as chairman of the National Coronavirus Recovery Commission, which includes 17 top experts and leaders whose mission is to save lives and livelihoods in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic by charting a path through the crisis and determining when and how to best begin to get Americans’ lives “back to normal.”

“I am grateful to work with President Trump alongside economists, scholars, and industry leaders on the Great American Economic Revival,” James said. “We are committed to developing plans to get Americans back to work as soon as it’s safe to do so and helping the nation recover from COVID-19. The president has assembled an amazing team, and I am honored to be a part of it.”

“Heritage recently formed the National Coronavirus Recovery Commission, bringing together experts in medicine, economics, business, government, disaster relief, and education to develop recommendations to save both the lives and livelihoods of Americans from this pandemic and provide our nation’s leaders with a roadmap to reopen America when the time comes to do so safely. I am excited to bring those recommendations to the president’s Great American Economic Revival team.”

Heritage announced the formation of the National Coronavirus Recovery Commission on April 6. At its first meeting last Thursday, the commission announced a five-phase plan for reopening America. The plan calls for returning to a more normal level of business activity regionally, based on scientific data, as a first step. The commission is currently working on a set of recommendations for policymakers and the American people.

The commission’s next meeting will take place April 20. The commission will provide continual updates on the crisis response and recovery and publish its recommendations on its website, www.coronaviruscommission.com.

© All rights reserved.

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Soros-funded Muslim group associated with Muslim Brotherhood – linked defenders of jihad terror – endorses Biden

If Biden said he was honored to receive the endorsement of a group that is opposed to jihad violence and Sharia oppression, he would pay a huge political price. But no one will take any particular notice of this.

“Soros-Funded Muslim Group Associated With Homophobia, Terrorist Defenders Endorses Biden,” by Joe Schoffstall, Washington Free Beacon, April 18, 2020 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):” Joe Schoffstall  

A George Soros-backed Muslim group, which cohosts a conference that in recent years drew speakers who called homosexuality a “disease” and defended terrorist groups, announced its endorsement of Joe Biden for president.

Emgage, which bills itself as the largest Muslim PAC in the country, on Thursday announced it would switch its endorsement from Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) to Biden. The group cited Biden’s promises to end President Donald Trump’s travel bans, increase the refugee admissions cap, and overhaul the immigration system. Biden said he was “honored” to receive the endorsement.

Emgage has collaborated with a Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated group on events that in recent years attracted speakers who openly opposed LGBT rights and supported terror groups. Last year, Emgage became an official cohost of Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) conferences. ISNA was previously revealed to be part of the Muslim Brotherhood network—though it claims it is no longer associated with the group.

The 2018 ISNA conference featured an array of homophobic speakers. One was Omar Suleiman, an imam who has called homosexuality a “disease” that will “destroy your children.” Another, former ISNA president Muzammil Siddiqi, said he “supported laws in countries where homosexuality is punishable by death.” Imam Shamsi Ali, an attendee who was described as a “moderate” on ISNA’s website, has stated that homosexuality is an “unbearable plague.”

Meanwhile, ISNA has disinvited pro-LGBT groups Muslims for Progressive Values and the Human Rights Campaign, because they “don’t fit in.”

The 2018 conference also featured individuals who have come to the defense of terrorist organizations. One speaker, Council on American-Islamic Relations executive Zahra Billoo, has regularly defended Hamas and refers to Israel as an “apartheid state.”

Khalid Griggs, who spoke on a panel with Billoo, has referred to al Qaeda as the “presumed perpetrators” of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and said the U.S. government used the tragedy to wage war on “legitimate resistance fighters” in the Middle East. Griggs previously launched a petition calling on the Obama administration to pardon former Black Panther Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin, better known as H. Rap Brown. Brown is serving a life sentence as a convicted cop killer.

Also included in that year’s speaker lineup was Suhaib Webb, a Boston-based imam who held a fundraiser for Brown’s criminal defense fund. Webb hosted the event with Anwar al-Awlaki, an imam who preached to two of the 9/11 hijackers, joined al Qaeda, and was eventually killed in a drone strike.

Anti-Israel activist Linda Sarsour, who in 2004 called for a violent “intifada” in the United States, also spoke on a panel at the conference. During the panel Sarsour warned against “humanizing” Israelis, according to audio published by the Algemeiner. Hatem Bazian, head of American Muslims for Palestine, the agent of which has defended terrorists in court, was on the panel with Sarsour….

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

How China’s Coronavirus Cover-Up Happened

As the coronavirus pandemic continues to kill thousands a day and bring the global economy to its knees, the origins of the virus are still being investigated and debated.

A recent Fox News report said that the virus came from a lab in the Chinese province of Wuhan, contradicting earlier reports that it originated in one of China’s infamously unsanitary wet markets.

The Wall Street Journal reported last month that coronavirus “Patient Zero” may have been Wei Guixian, a 57-year-old seafood merchant who felt like she was coming down with a cold on Dec. 10, and found herself unconscious in a hospital just eight days later.

From there, the situation spiraled as the number of cases climbed. Wuhan doctor Li Wenliang attempted to sound the alarms in late December, but was threatened and admonished by China’s totalitarian government. The government forced Wienlang to write a self-criticism letter, where he said that his decision to blow the whistle had a “negative impact” on China’s ability to investigate and control the virus. Wienlang himself succumbed to the virus in early February at the age of 34.

Chinese Communist Party Dictator Xi Jinping ordered Wuhan to get things under control on Jan. 7, and locked down the city on Jan. 23. During that time period, China was covering up the extent of the virus, with the help of the World Health Organization (WHO). Millions of people were still allowed to leave the country in January, and Dr. Anthony Fauci later said the devastating outbreak in Italy occurred largely as a result of Chinese tourists. President Donald Trump banned travel to the U.S. from China at the end of January, but over 40,000 people have arrived from there since then, taking advantage of exceptions. Experts have suggested that 95% of the outbreak could have been avoided if China had not attempted to cover up the virus.

The WHO wrote on Jan. 14 that ” based on the available information there is no clear evidence of human-to-human transmission,” which turned out to be gravely wrong, and severely tarnished the organization’s credibility. Later analysis found deep ties between the WHO’s leadership and China, leading President Donald Trump to suspend U.S. funding for the organization. China has relied on organizations like the WHO to provide cover for its campaign of censorship and disinformation.

As the official coronavirus death toll in the U.S. nears 40,000, China continues to report less than 5,000 deaths. U.S. intelligence later confirmed that China has been under-reporting its numbers. Even as the effects of the virus became evident, the Chinese Communist Party continued to go to great lengths to cover it up. China announced in mid March that they were expelling U.S. journalists from the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and The Washington Post. The regime previously expelled three Wall Street Journal reporters from the country in February. Despite the communist country’s repeated missteps, China has not taken responsibility or demonstrated any remorse for the havoc the virus has wreaked on the world. Chinese government officials have continued to underreport their numbers, and have promoted conspiracy theories that the U.S. Army injected the virus into China.

The coronavirus spread and China’s attempts to cover it up have thrown the future of their relationship with the U.S. into doubt. President Donald Trump has stated that China will face consequences if it is proven that they knowingly covered up the virus, while members of Congress have vowed to make China pay. The future of the U.S.-China relationship will also play a significant role in the upcoming presidential campaign. Trump and presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden have already run advertisements accusing the other of being weak on China. Republicans have highlighted Biden’s family ties to China, as well as his past praise for the communist regime. A Pro-Trump Super PAC recently labeled the former vice president as “Beijing Biden,” in a campaign commercial being run in the crucial swing states of Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania.

China hawks have spent years warning about the communist nation’s deception, which has now been exposed for the whole world to see. While the origins of the virus and the extent of China’s cover-up are not yet known, there seems to be a consensus that they must be held accountable for the damage inflicted upon the world.

COLUMN BY

WILLIAM DAVIS

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

ISRAEL: Imbecilic, Iniquitous, Inimical . . .

By its unflagging support of the establishment of a homophobic, misogynistic Muslim-majority tyranny (a.k.a. a Palestinian state), America’s allegedly “progressive” Jewry reveals that it is, in fact, profoundly regressive

Benjamin Netanyahu is a failed leader. He has led the State of Israel, once a proud example of a tenacious and highly developed democracy, to the threshold of third-world status. He has failed in his domestic policy and his foreign policy. And a substantial percentage of Israel’s citizens refuse to believe a single word that he says—Eric Yoffie, former president of the Union for Reform Judaism, in Netanyahu is a colossal failure. But against the coronavirus, he is all Israel has, Haaretz, April 2, 2020.

In the midst of this unprecedented health and financial crisis for Israel, we respectfully urge you not to use the need for unity in the face of emergency to create a different crisis for Israel by moving forward on unilateral annexation—From a letter initiated by the Israel Policy Forum (IPF) to Blue & White leaders, Benny Gantz and Gabi Ashkenazi, signed by over 130 left leaning US Jewish leaders, April 6, 2020.

Such a move would make a two-state solution harder — if not impossible to achieve — and would likely have far-reaching negative consequences for the US-Israel alliance…We cannot overstate the long-term damage such a move would have on the US-Israel alliance…The repercussions would be extremely serious and long-lasting. Most Americans will only support that so long as they believe Israel is committed to pursuing peaceA letter from Mark Mellman and Anne Lewis, president and co-chairwoman of the Democratic Majority for Israel (DMFI) to Benjamin Netanyahu, Benny Gantz and Yair Lapid, warning against unilateral annexation in Judea-Samaria, circa April 13, 2020.


April was a bad month for common sense—at least as far as declarations from representatives of allegedly “progressive” US Jewry and purportedly pro-Israel organizations associated with the Democratic Party are concerned.

Appalling, asinine & absurd

Arguably, one of the most appallingly asinine instances of the torrent of pompous and pretentiously pious pontification directed at Israel and Israelis was a recent opinion piece in Haaretz by Eric Yoffie (see introductory excerpt), berating Netanyahu as a “colossal failure”. Indeed, virtually every sentence in the article “elevates” the absurd to heights rarely attained in he past.

Yoffie begins his venomous brew of self-contradictions, non-sequiturs and flights of fancy with a toxic tirade against Benjamin Netanyahu and indirectly against Israeli society as a whole.

According to Yoffie: “Benjamin Netanyahu is a failed leader [who] has led the State of Israel, [from being] a proud example of a tenacious and highly developed democracy, to the threshold of third-world status.

Yoffie rails on: “He has failed in his domestic policy and his foreign policy. And a substantial percentage of Israel’s citizens refuse to believe a single word that he says.

However, despite this, Yoffie concedes: “And yet, not only does he remain Israel’s prime minister, but at the moment he is widely seen as the only figure who can lead Israel through the coronavirus crisis… Bibi, after all, is the man who has governed Israel for the past 11 years, (Israel’s longest-serving premier, Bibi was also in office for three years in the 1990s).

Yet despite this, he depicts Netanyahu’s long incumbency as “a period of dramatic and disastrous decline in Israel’s economic and social well-being.”

Disdainful and derogatory

This, of course, is a grave indictment of Israel and Israelis and by unavoidable implication, displays utter disdain for the Israeli electorate—and for the Israeli population in general.

After all, if Yoffie was right in his assessment (i.e. that “Israel’s citizens refuse to believe a single word that he says” and Netanyahu has been responsible for “a period of dramatic and disastrous decline in Israel’s economic and social well-being”), then surely the Israeli voters must be both masochistic and moronic. For what other reason could there be for them to keep reelecting a leader so “unequivocally” mendacious and incompetent.

Curiously, it was well into Netanyahu’s second incumbency that Israel acceded to the prestigious organization of the world’s most developed countries, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and, despite stiff, opposition the country became a significant energy exporter.

Under his stewardship, Israel has become one of the best performing economies in the world — with GDP per capita breaching the $40,000 mark for the first time ever in 2017, up sharply by over 45% since 2009, when he was first re-elected after losing power in 1999. Indeed, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), today Israel has overtaken France, Britain and Japan in terms of GDP per capita—something unimaginable not many  years ago

This is a “dramatic and disastrous decline in Israel’s economic …well-being”?  Really?

The pot calling the kettle black?

In stark contrast to Yoffie’s glum assessment of Israel’s socio-economic progress after almost a decade under the allegedly “inept” Netanyahu-led governments, the OECD itself describes Israel’s development, in glowing terms: “Israel’s economy continues to register remarkable macroeconomic and fiscal performance. Growth is strong and unemployment low and falling. With low interest rates and price stability, financial policy is prudent, and public debt is comparatively low and declining.”

According to the OECD’s report: “[Israel’s] external position is solid, thanks to a dynamic high-tech sector. The average standard of living is improving, mainly due to higher employment rates. Continued accommodative macro policies and planned investments in the offshore gas fields in the coming years will spur further growth.”

Of course, the dimwitted Israelis, who, by Yoffie’s account are teetering on the brink of a third-world tyranny, are far too dumb to realize in what a perilous situation they are in. Thus, the OECD report concluded: “Against this backdrop, Israelis remain on average more satisfied with their lives than residents of most other OECD countries.”

Significantly, in this regard, Israel was slated number eleven in the 2018 Happiness Survey, released every year by the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network, coming in just below the top ten, which included (in descending order): Finland Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Canada, New Zealand, Sweden and Australia—none of which are facing the harrowing existential challenges faced by Israel.

Thus, Israel easily outpaced Yoffie’s own country, the United States, which was in 18th place. Likewise, he berates Israel’s health services as being “near collapse”. However, if one assumes the life expectancy is largely determined by the level of medical services and social support, it is interesting to note the 2019 UN Development Report ranked Israel 9th out of over 200 countries, well above a host of Western European countries and almost thirty (!) places above the United States, in the 38th place.

Could the pot be calling the kettle black??

A truly transformative leader?

Of course, Netanyahu—like every mortal on the planet—is not irreplaceable or unblemished, but his record indicates that he is by far the most capable candidate to lead Israel in these challenging times—as even Yoffie is compelled to concede.

Indeed, in many ways, he has been a truly transformative leader.

This is clearly the case not only in the economic sphere, but in security and diplomacy as well.

He has drastically reduced Palestinian terror from the horrific levels he “inherited” from the Rabin-Peres era — and, despite occasional flare-ups, he has largely managed to contain it to hardly perceptible proportions — certainly nowhere near the grisly scale that prevailed under his predecessors.

In terms of foreign policy, he has produced remarkable success. He managed to wait out the inclement incumbency of Barack Obama, emerging largely unscathed — despite the undisguised antipathy between the two men.

His views on Iran and its perilous nuclear ambitions have been embraced by the Trump administration. He has managed to initiate far-reaching changes in Middle East politics, with increasingly amicable — albeit, as yet, only semi-overt — relations with important Arab states, inconceivable several years ago, while sidelining — or at least, significantly reducing — the centrality of the intractable “Palestinian problem”.

He has overseen Israel’s “pivot” eastwards, and burgeoning relationships with the ascendant economies of India and China, increasingly offsetting Israel’s commercial dependence on the oft less-than-benign EU. He also has scored remarkable diplomatic successes in Africa and South America.

Moreover, notwithstanding difficulties with western European countries, he has fostered increasingly warm relations and understanding with those in central and eastern Europe, driving a wedge into the otherwise widespread European animus towards Israel.

Small minded endeavor to diminish achievements

Yet despite Netanyahu’s impressive record of achievement, Yoffie embarks on a smallminded and meanspirited endeavor to dismiss them. Belittling his warm relations with world leaders, his success in getting the US to adopt his perspective on the Iran nuclear issue, his success in reducing the once horrific levels of terror and his developing contacts with the Arab-Sunni worlds, Yoffie sneers: “Bibi has produced a record that is, by any measure, a miserable one.

Significantly, Yoffie is at a loss to explain why a country, that is on the cutting edge of almost all fields of human endeavor, repeatedly “shoots itself in the foot” by time and again voting into power a leader, whose record is “by any measure, a miserable one”.

He produces a motley mélange of unpersuasive excuses for a lack of realistic competitors from both Right ([Bibi] has destroyed potential rivals on the right by his ruthless control of… the right-wing bloc)  and Left (Barak was “…politically inept”, Herzog “…insufficiently tough ; Gantz… weak and indecisive…)

Of course, the real reason for Yoffie’s chronic Bibiphobia is only thinly disguised, something he gives away about halfway through the article: The “Palestinians”.

He laments: “Deal of the Century’ practically forgotten, Bibi has shown no interest in any alternative arrangement—if not peace, then at least separation that would offer the Palestinians a degree of stability and dignity.

This leaves us to puzzle over just how much “stability and dignity” separation has provided the “Palestinians” in Gaza—with many awash in a untreated sewage, with polluted water supplies, with perennial power outages and under the yoke of the oppressive, dysfunctional Islamist tyranny of Hamas.

As to why separation is likely to produce anything more “stable and dignified” in Judea-Samaria, Yoffie offers nary a clue.

Pursing a pipedream

Significantly, the Trump Plan and the Palestinians constitute the link that brings us to the other “progressive” caveats directed at the Israeli leadership.

The first is a letter (April 6, 2020) initiated by the Israel Policy Forum (IPF), an organization that aims to shape the discourse and mobilize support among American Jewish leaders and U.S. policymakers for the realization of a viable two-state solution.

Addressed to Blue & White leaders, Benny Gantz and Gabi Ashkenazi, and signed by over 130 left leaning US Jewish leaders, it proclaims: “We have strongly objected to Israel unilaterally annexing West Bank territory and applying sovereignty to Jewish settlements, whether according to the parameters of the Trump plan or any other similar proposal, at any point in time.”

The IPF letter warns “To unilaterally move forward with such a plan now would be particularly damaging. It will call into question the Israeli government’s priorities during a global and national emergency, shine a spotlight on controversial Israeli policies… and could create a rupture inside of Congress and in the upcoming presidential campaign….”

According to the IPF signatories, such a unilateral initiative “will be viewed as political opportunism by proponents of annexation during the worst possible moment and will make it more challenging for American Jewish leaders as they seek to maintain strong support for Israel and pro-Israel policies at this time.

The second is a letter (circa April 13, 2020) from the president and co-chairwoman of the Democratic Majority for Israel, whose goal is to “Promote a Two-State Solution and Arab-Israeli Peace through Diplomacy and Partnership.

Addressed to Benjamin Netanyahu, Benny Gantz and Yair Lapid, it warns against unilateral annexation in Judea-Samaria: “Such a move would make a two-state solution harder — if not impossible to achieve — and would likely have far-reaching negative consequences for the US-Israel alliance… We cannot overstate the long-term damage such a move would have on the US-Israel alliance…The repercussions would be extremely serious and long-lasting. Most Americans will only support that so long as they believe Israel is committed to pursuing peace .”

When “progressive” means “regressive”

It is of course, a long-standing conundrum why so called “progressives”, who purportedly cherish liberal values of societal pluralism and individual freedoms would cling to support for a Palestinian state. After all, such a state, if it were to emerge, would almost certainly be yet another homophobic misogynistic Muslim-majority tyranny and the utter antithesis of all to which they claim to subscribe. Yet impervious to factual precedents and future probabilities they adhere doggedly to their flawed dogma.

This was aptly described by Jonathan Tobin in a recent opinion piece, A disingenuous debate about annexation. He ends it with these words: Living in the past and clinging to the false hopes of the 1990s won’t build support for Israel or nurture the alliance between the two democracies. It’s long past time for liberal American Jews, even the old Oslo-cheering squad, to accept the reality of Palestinian rejectionism and the permanence of the West Bank settlements, whether or not they believed that they were a good idea in the first place.

He points out: Trying to undermine the new Israeli government or setting the stage for a conflict with the Democrats should Trump lose in the fall isn’t consistent with their claim of being ardent supporters of the Jewish state. Nostalgia for the illusions of the past should never be confused with activism that actually helps Israel.

He is of course, quite right. By its unflagging support of the establishment of a homophobic, misogynistic tyrannical political entity (a.k.a.  a Palestinian state), America’s allegedly “progressive” Jewry reveals that it is, in fact, profoundly regressive.

That is the real paradox that Eric Yoffie should set about resolving.

© All rights reserved.

PODCAST: When Is Opening Day?

Good question. After two months, a lot of people are itching to lose the masks and gloves, return to work, and get their lives back to normal. Believe it or not, others want to see the country stay in paralysis until the election making it a sore political subject. We obviously cannot do the latter as the United States would become a burned out shell by then. The question though is when to re-open the country, and that will be the toughest question President Trump will face as he knows the clock is ticking on our ability to recover from this mess.

Whatever day President Trump picks, the press will, of course, ridicule his decision and the Democrats will turn it into a political football. In other words, they do not want him to win on this one which is why they are trying to undermine him every step of the way. Frankly, we do not have time for such hi-jinks; the show must go on.

The decision to open back up will be shared between the president, and the state governors. The Republicans will, of course, side with the president, and the Democrats will not. Nonetheless, if the Republican led states begin to open up, the liberal news media will criticize them, but they will still open up, thereby applying pressure on Democrat states to do likewise. Please keep in mind there are more Republican-led states than there are Democrat-led. It will be interesting to see how the larger Democrat-led states will react, particularly New York, Michigan, Illinois, Washington, Oregon, and California.

The one Democrat-led state to pay particular attention to is Nevada where the gambling and tourist trade has been crippled by the coronavirus. Gov. Steve Sisolak (D) will be pressured to open the state, not just by the casinos and resorts, but by members of his own party who desperately want to go back to work. If Nevada opens, this will put pressure on West Coast Democrat-led states to do likewise, particularly California who has been struggling financially for quite some time.

The opening of states like Nevada and Florida will not only pressure tourist attractions to open, but will also push sports venues to reopen, particularly Major League Baseball. As for basketball and hockey, they may go into tournament play, but I believe their seasons are essentially over. Interestingly, the NFL will be untouched by the virus, but will instigate precautions for safeguarding attendance at their games.

Following this, watch the transportation industry begin to rebound.

The “anti-open” people will rebel loudly, but this is to be expected. By doing so, they run the risk of becoming an annoyance and losing votes in November. In other words, they will be coerced into accepting the reopening of the country.

So, when exactly should we re-open? This too has been a tricky question, one the president has been shrewd to avoid. During the presidential virus news conferences, reporters have repeatedly tried to pin him down to a date, so they can spread false alarms and insist the commander-in-chief is incompetent to remain in office (sound familiar?). Fortunately, the president has a lot of data available for his team to analyze and make a recommendation. Whatever date is picked, it will remain an educated guess, but it will be better than simply picking a date out of the air. Again, whichever date is picked, the president’s opponents will seize on the moment and politicize it.

The point is, we obviously have to re-open sooner or later; otherwise we will go into a death spiral. Whatever day Mr. Trump picks, it will be ridiculed by his opponents. This is all inevitable. However, if the American people truly want to return to work, as I suspect they do, they will support the president’s decision and move on with their lives.

Let’s be clear on one point, regardless of the day picked to re-open, life will not be quite the same anymore. For example, masks and gloves will not disappear any time soon, particularly at sporting events, and people will keep their social distance from each other in general.

As to an exact date, I will leave it the president’s team, but we typically like to marry it to a well known holiday. The betting is on a date in May, of which we have plenty of choices:

Tue, May 5th – Cinco de Mayo – Yea, let’s get drunk one last time before going back to work.

Sun, May 10th – Mother’s Day – Not a bad time to return back to work in support of Moms everywhere.

Sat, May 16th – Armed Forces Day – Also a good day to return to work following a patriotic day.

Mon, May 25th – Memorial Day – This will be the favorite as it is a three day weekend. However, it is far away.

Actually, I think it would be more appropriate to use Monday, May 11th, as this is Twilight Zone Day. It makes sense to me.

Keep the Faith!

EDITORS NOTE: This Bryce is Right podcast is republished with permission. © All rights reserved.

The Evidence Is Coming In: Virus Experts May Have Been Badly Wrong

It’s looking more like the experts got the handling of COVID-19 wrong. Maybe really wrong.

In analyzing the data from countries who took dramatically different measures in response to COVID-19, from the most severe restrictions to very few restrictions (countries that keep and share good data, not China or Iran) it appears they are all showing essentially the same spread, spikes, flattening and decline. This includes Sweden and others that did not shutdown.

The same phenomenon is playing out among individual states in the U.S. Some went into Stalinist lockdowns (Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer) while others never locked down at all and only encouraged social distancing (South Dakota Gov. Krist Noem.) Florida technically did a lockdown, very “late” as Gov. Ron DeSantis is constantly lectured, but even then DeSantis exempted so much it was really not much different than the voluntary social distancing. And Florida’s numbers, which were supposed to be the next hotspot after New York, are tracking ballpark with those that took the most draconian measures.

So again, as with nations, the states are at different timeframes on the graphs, but all looking very similar in a timeframe to timeframe comparison — similar to each other and, this is critical, similar to previous coronavirus outbreaks. That’s a head-scratcher.

Another data set is adding to the suspicions.

Denmark, Scotland and Germany have done thorough antibody testing in specific locals and found infection rates between 12 and 27 times higher than they thought and models had projected. And a majority of the people were either asymptomatic or had very mild symptoms. This means that the death rate might be wildly lower than is currently suggested, as low as 0.2 percent — which would be very near to the normal flu. It could be close to 1 percent, but that is seeming less likely now, and still way below the 3.4 percent the World Health Organization put out that was used in the Imperial College projections of death totals.

“Many magnitudes more people have been infected with it than we realized,” Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, professor of medicine at Stanford university, said on Tucker Carlson’s Fox News show. “That means the death rate is lower than we thought, by orders of magnitude.”

It’s important to remember that because it is so contagious, the overall numbers may be higher, but then they may not be because of how quickly the peak is reached and the downside starts — much faster than anticipated even with the full lockdowns. Again, that is according to the models.

None of this was jibing with what the experts had said.

And then journalist John Solomon interviewed Dr. Knut Wittkowski, a biomedical researcher, statistician and modeler at Rockefeller University in New York, on his Just The News podcast. And a lot of bewilderment came into clarity. The numbers began making sense if, IF, Wittkowski is right.

First off, he is obviously an expert, but he also is a major outlier among the expert class. However, he mentions in the interview that more and more of his colleagues are agreeing with him and his bottom line, to wit: We not only did not need to shut down economies, we should not have. We may have made it worse by creating a second wave — which coronaviruses in the past did not have.

Wittkkowski said the first big mistake was closing the schools. If they had been left open, it would have gone through the children, who are least affected by the virus, and their parents, who also have low impacts from it. That’s a big way towards herd immunity of 60-70 percent. And the people who are vulnerable to it should stay away from children for the duration, which is a few months.

He said the threat continues to be for the elderly and those with underlying health conditions — something we’ve known almost from the beginning. In that way, he said it is just like all of the previous respiratory viruses such as MERS and SARS. They all differ some in both contagiousness and fatality rate, but the similarities are strong.

Here’s the key: Wittkowski said the shut down probably did not slow the spread because herd immunity would have started kicking in now, or soon, as has been the case in the previous coronavirus outbreaks. However, by truncating the opportunity for herd immunity, we have set ourselves up for the feared “second wave” — something that did not happen in previous coronaviruses because we did not prevent herd immunity with the shutdown.

If Wittkowski is right, at least to some degree, these shutdowns may well have destroyed the strongest economy in history and ultimately made the virus impact worse. That would be a failing of the expert class in truly epic fashion.

Now I do not blame politicians from either party without more information. They relied on experts and did what they were told they should do. DeSantis and some other governors pushed back, but the pressure was great. However, I do blame the experts and the media’s near idolatry of the expert class. Just do what they say!

In reality, we will know by probably mid fall if the expert class made a colossal mistake. And if so, a lot of heads should roll, because mistakes of this magnitude cannot be tolerated.

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

Rep. Ilhan Omar’s Democratic Primary Challenger Antone Melton-Meaux Calls for Explanation on Continued Payments to Her Chief Fundraiser and Now Husband

MINNEAPOLISApril 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Antone Melton-Meaux today called on Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) to defend her ongoing payments to E Street Group, a political consulting firm co-owned by her husband and chief fundraiser, Tim Mynett.

According to yesterday’s Federal Election Commission (FEC) quarterly filing, Rep. Omar’s campaign paid her husband’s firm $292,000, a significant majority of the total $460,000 her campaign raised in the same time period. At this pace, Rep. Omar’s campaign will pay E Street Group well over $1 million this year.

“Another quarter, another staggering payment. Although these payments are not illegal, that doesn’t make them right. Rep. Omar’s decision to keep working with E Street Group without full-disclosure continues to raise legitimate questions about her transparency, integrity, and accountability,” said Melton-Meaux.

Months

Quarter

Year

E Street
Disbursements

Total Funds

Raised

%

Of Total

Oct-Dec

Q4

2018

$62,673.78

$475,572.71

15%

Jan-March

Q1

2019

$69,064.04

$280,110.30

25%

Apr-June

Q2

2019

$91,100.56

$279,051.57

33%

July-Sept

Q3

2019

$146,712.61

$491,274.39

30%

Oct-Dec

Q4

2019

$216,564.64

$403,773.28

54%

Jan-March

Q1

2020

$292,814.99

$460,455.76

63%

Publicly available data from the Federal Election Commission website www.fec.gov.

To date, Rep. Omar has not disclosed when her relationship with Mr. Mynett began. Her first acknowledgment of a relationship was an Instagram post during President Trump’s historic prime time coronavirus address to the nation, when she announced their marriage.

In an interview with WCCO-TV’s Esme Murphy in August 2019, Rep. Omar was asked directly if she was involved with Mr. Mynett. She categorically denied a relationship. Yet, just a few weeks later, Mr. Mynett’s former wife stated in her divorce filing that he and Rep. Omar were in a relationship.

“Like all of us, Rep. Omar and Mr. Mynett are entitled to their private life. That’s not the issue. But how a candidate manages both their public life and political campaign are important metrics for voters to assess their fitness for office,” said Melton-Meaux.

Over the past year, payments to Mr. Mynett’s firm went from 15% to over 63% compared to total funds raised. Additionally, Rep. Omar’s payments are a majority of E Street Group’s total lifetime revenue.

“This concerning trend is unacceptable. Why have the payments increased and why are they increasing with no end in sight? Have Rep. Omar and Mr. Mynett taken appropriate steps to avoid any conflict of interest? And why does she refuse to answer questions about this matter? The residents of the Fifth Congressional District deserve answers,” said Melton-Meaux. “I call on Rep. Omar to answer these questions and agree to public debates,” continued Melton-Meaux.

He continued, “Misleading voters is a serious breach of the public’s trust, whether it be the President of the United States or a Member of Congress. Rep. Omar’s refusal to give an explanation is simply another indicator that she’s out of touch with this district and is apparently not concerned with ethics.”

“A fundamental pillar of the progressive platform is accountability and transparency in how candidates raise and spend their money. Preserving the integrity of our democracy is inherently tied to seriously reforming campaign finance laws. Particularly for such a visible member of the progressive movement, Rep. Omar’s actions undermine her credibility and effectiveness on this critical issue. This does great harm to what we are trying to accomplish,” added Melton-Meaux.

In Congress, Melton-Meaux will be a staunch advocate for campaign finance reform that ensures voters and donors no longer have to wonder if a campaign’s contributions are being used for their intended purpose.

A progressive, lifelong Democrat, Melton-Meaux owns a small business—a mediation practice—that helps people come together and find solutions when they can’t find common ground on their own. He has a long track record of public service with a strong commitment to the community.

Active in the Fifth Congressional District , Melton-Meaux serves as a volunteer minister at Salem English Lutheran Church and has served on the boards of the Page Education Foundation, College Possible, the Guthrie Theater, the Conflict Resolution Center, Northrop at the University of Minnesota, and the Children’s Law Center.

Melton-Meaux was an All-American track star and Academic All-American at Washington University in St. Louis. At the University of Virginia School of Law, he served on the board of the Journal of Social Policy and the Law and was a recipient of the prestigious Congressional Black Caucus Fellowship. At Union Theological Seminary, he was a Union Scholar and chaplain at a senior center on the Upper West Side of New York City.

Melton-Meaux and his wife, Dr. Genevieve Melton-Meaux, were college sweethearts and have been together for 27 years. They live with their two school-age children in the Uptown neighborhood of Minneapolis.

To learn more, please visit www.AntoneForCongress.com. Follow Antone on Twitter @antone_mn  Instagram @antone_mn and on Facebook at Antone For Congress.

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