Biden Calls for Lifting Sanctions and Providing ‘Humanitarian Relief’ for Iran Amid Coronavirus Pandemic

/in , , , , /by

Joe Biden has called for the American government to lift sanctions on Iran so that the Islamic Republic might be able to cope better with the coronavirus outbreak, by having enough money to buy masks, gowns, gloves, testing equipment, ventilators, and other medical equipment. Biden does not go as far as his rival Bernie Sanders, who has called for a much broader sanctions relief that would last not only during the entire time of the outbreak but continue even after the coronavirus had ended.

Here’s the story:

Former Vice President Joe Biden, the overwhelming favorite to become the Democratic presidential nominee, came out in favor of humanitarian sanctions relief for Iran to help the embattled country cope with the coronavirus pandemic.

“There are already humanitarian exceptions in place for sanctions, but in practice, most governments and organizations are too concerned about running afoul of US sanctions to offer assistance,” Biden said in a statement. “As a result, our sanctions are limiting Iran’s access to medical supplies and needed equipment. The [Donald Trump] administration should take immediate steps to address this problem and streamline channels for banking and public health assistance from other countries in response to the health emergency in Iran.”

The Iranian regime has been using the coronavirus outbreak – and its own failure to deal adequately with it – as a way to pressure the American government to lift sanctions. It wishes to deflect attention from its own failings, and to ascribe its difficulties to American malevolence in refusing to again lift those sanctions on the regime that Trump had reimposed. We are supposed to believe that it’s not the Supreme Leader, with his crazy conspiracy theories that blame America for creating the coronavirus that “targets a genome possessed by Iranians,” who is to blame And we should pay no attention to the failure of the regime to promptly close down Mahan Airlines flights between Iran and China, flights that allowed the virus to spread from Wuhan to Qom. And we should overlook the failure of the Islamic Republic to impose a quarantine on the city of Qom, which might have prevented students and pilgrims returning home from Qom to spread the virus — as it is now known they did — to Kuwait, Bahrain, the UAE, Iraq, Syria, Qatar, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. No, none of that matters; the Supreme Leader is right — the epidemic in Iran is entirely the fault of the Americans.

Biden’s statement comes after his one remaining primary opponent, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., called for even broader Iran sanctions relief amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Sanders joined Reps. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and 31 other Democratic lawmakers in a letter to the Trump administration this week urging the president to undo the crippling sanctions he has implemented since withdrawing from the nuclear deal.

Sanders and his colleagues urged Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin to relieve sanctions on “major sectors of the Iranian economy, including those impacting civilian industries, Iran’s banking sector and exports of oil,” adding that the relief “should last for at least as long as health experts believe the crisis will continue.”

For now, Biden is only calling for humanitarian exemptions to Trump’s current sanctions regime such as “broad license to pharmaceutical and medical device companies” and “creating a dedicated channel for international banks, transportation companies, insurers and other service firms to help Iranians access life-saving medical treatment.” He also called for new sanctions guidelines and letters for international aid organizations to reassure them that they will not run afoul of US sanctions for supplying humanitarian relief to Iran.

“Looking more closely at Biden’s statement, some of the things he mentioned, such as licenses, are already in place,” said Behnam Ben Taleblu, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. “A general license is how the Treasury Department helped work with the Swiss to approve a humanitarian channel that touches even the Central Bank of Iran.”

Joe Biden has apparently overlooked the American offer that has already been made to send humanitarian aid to Iran, which the Supreme Leader at once rejected. According to AP, Khamenei claimed that “ I do not know how real this accusation is [that America was behind the coronavirus epidemic] but when it exists, who in their right mind would trust you to bring them medication? Possibly your medicine is a way to spread the virus more. You might send people as doctors and therapists, maybe they would want to come here and see the effect of the poison they have produced in person.” Khamenei also alleged, having attained the farthest shores of absurdity, that the virus “is specifically built for Iran using the genetic data of Iranians which they [the Americans] have obtained through different means.”

Khamenei was also unwilling to accept the offer of help from Doctors Without Borders, to treat patients at a field hospital the group had brought with it and that it had hoped to install in the most heavily affected region of Iran. Instead, the group was expelled from Iran. The regime apparently wanted to show it can handle the coronavirus outbreak without any foreign help; that is manifestly untrue, and many Iranians have died unnecessarily because of the regime’s refusal to accept such aid from abroad.

Like others demanding that the Administration lift sanctions on Iran, Joe Biden misses the main point. Iran doesn’t need to have sanctions lifted to obtain the money it needs to combat the coronavirus spread. It need only change its priorities. It needs to make a choice: will it continue to send between $10 and $15 billion a year to support proxies and allies in Yemen (Houthi rebels), Iraq (Shi’ite Militias), Lebanon (Hezbollah), and Syria (the Assad regime), or will it decrease, or even end altogether, the funding for this foreign adventurism, and instead apply the billions saved thereby to dealing with the unprecedented coronavirus epidemic? Biden knows all about Tehran’s support for the Houthis, Hezbollah, the Shia militias in Iraq, and Assad’s military in Syria. None of that is secret. And he also surely knows — or he could find out in two minutes of searching the Internet — just how much that costs the Islamic Republic. So why does he fail to mention those sums that Iran might save and use on PPE, ventilators, hospital beds? Does he think it illegitimate to bring up this matter of Iran’s spending priorities? Why?

If Biden were sensible, and also wanted to distinguish himself from Bernie Sanders, Ilhan Omar et al., he would ask Iran’s leaders something like this:

“Please explain to the American people, and to many others, why it is wrong to expect Iran to concentrate its available resources fully on the coronavirus outbreak, instead of spending upwards of $10 billion a year on supporting proxies and allies in Yemen, Iraq, Lebanon, and Syria, in these foreign campaigns. And think of the amounts spent, too, on the nuclear program. That has been Iran’s choice, and for the well-being of the people of Iran, it has been the wrong one. As for lifting sanctions, that should be discussed, if at all, only after Iran has shown that it has made a different choice, and now will prioritize the health of its own people over supporting military adventurism abroad.”

Yes, “if Biden were sensible…he would ask….”

But he isn’t. So he won’t.

COLUMN BY

RELATED ARTICLES:

The Impact of the Coronavirus Pandemic on the Iranian Economy

U.S. Created Coronavirus to Target Islamic Nations! (And Other Conspiracy Theories)

Malaysia: 40,000 now likely infected with coronavirus from Islamic event attended by 16,000

Newsweek uses the coronavirus pandemic to promote Islam

Islamic scholar, invoking Qur’an, says Muslims should rejoice when unbelievers “died because of the coronavirus”

France: Muslim who stabbed two random people to death was screaming “Allahu akbar,” knelt in prayer after murders

Finland: Muslim rape gang that repeatedly sexually assaulted 12-year-old girl gets short sentences

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

PODCAST: DHS Chief Chad Wolf Hopes to Have 450 Miles of Border Wall Built by End of Year

/in , , , , /by

Chad Wolf, acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, joined The Daily Signal Podcast at the Conservative Political Action Conference earlier this year to detail progress on President Donald Trump’s wall at the U.S. border with Mexico. Read a lightly edited transcript of the interview, posted below, or listen to the podcast:

Plus: Andy Ngo, the journalist who was attacked by Antifa last June, joins the podcast to reflect on socialism versus the American dream. We also cover these stories:

  • American hospitals struggle to keep up amid the coronavirus pandemic.
  • New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo shares reasons for hope as New York faces COVID-19.
  • California loans 500 ventilators to the national stockpile.

The Daily Signal Podcast is available on Ricochet, Apple Podcasts, Pippa, Google Play, or Stitcher. All of our podcasts can be foundat DailySignal.com/podcasts. If you like what you hear, please leave a review. You can also leave us a message at 202-608-6205 or write us at letters@dailysignal.com. Enjoy the show!

Rachel del Guidice: We are joined today on The Daily Signal Podcast by Chad Wolf. He’s the acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. Chad, thank you so much for being with us today.

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 >>

Chad Wolf: I appreciate it. Thank you for having me.

Del Guidice: So Chief Rodney Scott, who works at the U.S. Border Patrol, he recently announced that 126 miles of the border has been completed. There are 213 miles under construction and 414 miles on pre-construction. Can you tell us about those landmarks that have been reached?

Wolf: Yeah, it’s very exciting. At the end of this calendar year we hope to have 450 miles built. So that’s [a] new wall system, border wall system. That’s new capability for the Border Patrol agents that they’ve never had before.

So we’re replacing 6-, 7-, 8-foot-high 1970s-era landing mat fence with bollard fencing that’s 8- to 30-feet-high. But it’s not only that physical infrastructure, it’s the cameras, the roads, the lighting, the fiber optic cables. It’s that whole border wall system that gives them capabilities that they’d never had before.

And again, as I go down to the border and I talked to the Border Patrol agents, first thing I asked them was, “What do you need to secure the border?” It’s an effective border wall system is the first thing that they tell me.

Del Guidice: Can you tell us a little bit about all the work that went [into] reaching those landmarks? You all have been busy making this happen. Can you give a little bit of a sneak peek into everything that went into this whole project?

Wolf: Sure. It starts with our operators. So the requirements of where that border wall system will be placed along the southwest border. In what manner? What are the heights, what are the features of it? It all starts with our operators.

So CBP, Customs and Border Protection, takes the operators, takes their input, puts it into what we call our Border Security Improvement Plan, our BSIP. We share that with Congress and then we fund that.

We work with Congress to fund that and I think what’s been actually remarkable from President [Donald] Trump is, as Congress would not fund that or choose to fund it in very small slices, he used the authority that Congress had given him to find additional funding.

So we have about $15 billion today that we continue to build border wall funding. It’s going to include over 700 miles, as I indicated, [we] hope to have 450 [miles] done at the end of this calendar year and we’ll continue to build and continue to work with Congress and others to make sure that that capability and system is where it needs to be along the southwest boarder.

Del Guidce: In your travels to the border as well as throughout the country and all the work that you do, is there a particular story or incident that really captures the severity of the situation and why we need to work on our southern border?

Wolf: Yeah. I was in Tucson on the hundredth mile that we put in, I believe that was in January, and we were in an area that we were replacing what we call Normandy barriers, they’re vehicle barriers.

It’s basically an X, it’s about 4 and a half feet tall. You can jump over it, you can go under it, you go around it very easy. We were replacing that with 30-foot-high bollard wall.

I was talking to the chief there and asking what type of traffic … came through. And that was one of their busiest areas because it was just right across the river. The river is not very large there. And they were saying that individuals would just come over in droves.

What that would require them to do is to surge Border Patrol agents there. And as they did … the adversary would do that for particular reason and then they would sneak in other individuals further down the line.

So we want to make sure that we’re able to make sure we get Border Patrol agents where they need to be. We put up physical infrastructure to funnel them to certain places that are easier to patrol, easier to apprehend individuals. And so that story really hit home to me.

… I’m sure we can show you some photos, as you look at the 4-foot-high wall and then the 30-foot-high, it’s that impedance and denial.

So a lot of individuals talk to me about how walls could be defeated, and I don’t disagree, although this wall was very difficult to defeat. This is all about impedance and denial.

It may take someone seven minutes, eight minutes, 10 minutes, 12 minutes to get above and around that wall. What that allows us to do is [place] the Border Patrol agents waiting for him.

There’s no more hopping the fence in 30 seconds and then getting away into the interior of the country. We have a number of capabilities there that allows that Border Patrol agent be waiting on those individuals that are trying to, again, illegally enter the country.

Del Guidice: I actually was in Tucson about two weeks ago and we met with Sheriff [Mark] Lamb, Pinal County, and he does a lot of work with drug trafficking there.

Something he mentioned when we were talking with him is how a lot of times when Border Patrol is out working, if an illegal immigrant is caught in the desert, they don’t have enough food or water. They call 911, Border Patrol is called. And he said a lot of Americans don’t realize the amount of humanitarian work the Border Patrol does. Can you talk a little bit about that?

Wolf: It’s actually fascinating and, as you said, … humanitarians are what our Border Patrol agents end up being. They do a number of rescues every single day, rescuing individuals that are making this very dangerous journey.

And we have to think about the individuals that are coming across the border. They’re likely being smuggled from a transnational criminal organization that they’ve paid thousands of dollars. They’ve probably been on a very dangerous journey for many, many weeks, maybe even a month.

They come to our southwest border. Those individuals just turn them over. And so you’re in the middle of the desert, and most cases are in the wilderness, … most cases [are] not near a city. And you’re not sure what to do. So you … get lost, you run out of water, you do a number of things. And Border Patrol are out there saving individuals, again, with local law enforcement.

I will say that our local law enforcement, our sheriffs along the southwest border are also on the front lines of this. It’s their communities that these individuals are coming into either legally or illegally that they have to deal with.

But Border Patrol agents every day are rescuing individuals crossing the river, in the desert, running out of water and the like. So it’s an incredible mission that they do.

[They’re] not only protecting the border, protecting the communities along the border, and protecting the American men and women, but also rescuing migrants that perhaps didn’t really know what they were signing up for as they come into the country.

Del Guidice: On the topic of the humanitarian crisis, I know you do a lot of response with human trafficking issues like that. Can you talk a little bit about the response of Border Patrol when it comes to human trafficking?

Wolf: Sure. What we saw last year is a number of growing incidents of human trafficking. And I think where this really hit home for me is [with] an operation that we discovered. Our ICE Homeland Security investigators discovered along with Border Patrol what we call child recycling.

And these were individuals, again, South of the border, that would use a child to come into the country because, the way our law is written, if you come into the country with a child at that time, you were released into the interior of the country.

So what we saw is an individual coming in with a child, we would see that same child perhaps several weeks later with another adult claiming to be their parent. And then a couple of weeks later, same child.

After time we started investigating and looking at this and it was a ring where they would come in and the child would be sent back to central America, Mexico, and again, using that. So it’s very, very disturbing. Obviously, it’s very, very dangerous for that child. And again, it’s exploiting our immigration system.

So ICE, HSI [Homeland Security Investigations], Border Patrol, they deal with that every day. Human trafficking overall is a very big issue for the department. We released our first ever human trafficking strategies two months ago. We continue to look at that and we continue to do more ICE Homeland Security Investigation. That’s what they do. They investigate human trafficking.

I will say some of the laws that we see across this country, particularly in New York, [are] very troubling where we’ve talked about sanctuary policies or the lack of information sharing with DHS and it impacts enforcing criminal laws like human trafficking, where our law enforcement agents don’t have the information they need to do their job. And it’s very dangerous.

Del Guidice: Well, Secretary Wolf, thank you so much for joining us today on The Daily Signal Podcast.

Wolf: Thank you.

PODCAST BY

Rachel del Guidice

Rachel del Guidice is a congressional reporter for The Daily Signal. She is a graduate of Franciscan University of Steubenville, Forge Leadership Network, and The Heritage Foundation’s Young Leaders Program. Send an email to Rachel. Twitter: @LRacheldG.

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.

5 Things to Know About This Anti-Malaria Drug’s Effect on COVID-19

/in , , , , , , /by

The federal government has stockpiled 29 million pills of the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine as the best known way to treat active cases of COVID-19, and thousands of patients in New York will take it.

But using the Food and Drug Administration-approved drug to treat COVID-19 has sparked an intense political controversy.

President Donald Trump, who has publicly touted hydroxychloroquine since March 19, said of the drug Sunday: “If it does work, it would be a shame if we didn’t do it early. I’ve seen things I sort of like; so what do I know, I’m not a doctor.”

Axios first reported on an internal dispute between White House trade adviser Peter Navarro, who is bullish on the drug, and Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases, who is concerned that only “anecdotal evidence” suggests the drug is effective against COVID-19.

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 >>

Ohio state Rep. Tavia Galonski, a Democrat who represents parts of Akron, said she would make a complaint to The Hague that Trump is guilty of crimes against humanity for promoting a drug before all the facts are known.

“I can’t take it anymore. I’ve been to The Hague. I’m making a referral for crimes against humanity tomorrow,” Galonski tweeted Sunday. “Today’s press conference was the last straw. I know the need for a prosecution referral when I see one.”

The Ohio Democrat’s tweet was in response to one from Go-Blue-44, who has fewer than 600 followers, saying: “And an invitation to The Hague for crimes against humanity for pushing a drug that hasn’t been tested for coronavirus patients.”

The Food and Drug Administration has expedited use of hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19 patients; most other countries also allow the drug to be used to treat the new disease.

Aside from political musings, here are some facts to know about hydroxychloroquine.

1. What Do Studies Say?

Studies so far have shown varying degrees of promise in using hydroxychloroquine against the coronavirus, said Dr. Kevin Pham, a medical doctor and contributor to The Daily Signal.

Pham told The Daily Signal that existing studies are “small or poorly controlled.”

“The results are promising, but leave lots of questions,” he said.

One French study found that COVID-19 patients treated with a combination of hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin recovered more quickly than others.

However, that study involved only 36 patients, and just 20 took the medicine, considered a small sample.

The French study also didn’t look at patients in intensive care units. Most patients who took the drug improved. However, one patient from the group tested positive after taking the medicine.

A more recent study out of China used a larger but still fairly limited sample of 62 people. Half took the anti-malaria drug, the other half did not.

The 62 patients were treated for five days, their fevers and cough monitored. The study found 25 of the 31 patients who were given the drug improved, versus 17 patients in the control group of 31.

The study’s authors determined that additional research should be done.

Another study out of France, with a larger sample of 80 coronavirus patients, found improvements in all but one patient who used the drug.

2. When Will We Know More?

New York, the hardest hit state in the country, will provide hydroxychloroquine to 4,000 COVID-19 patients. The University of Albany School of Public Health is observing the patients who take the drug.

New York University, meanwhile, is setting up clinical trials, enrolling 2,000 adults at six sites, The New York Post reported.

“Thousands are taking it in New York, and we should know if hydroxychloroquine is effective within about two weeks,” Dr. Lee Gross, a family doctor in Florida, told The Daily Signal. “It doesn’t mean we throw caution to the wind. But we should have a relatively good idea based on New York.”

Gross noted that so far the “data is very limited.”

“In a perfect world, we would do more controlled studies, but you go to war with the army you have, not the army you want,” Gross said. “We are facing a pandemic now. To have all the information we want could take six to eight weeks.”

3. How Do You Take the Drug?

Hydroxychloroquine has been around to fight malaria since the 1950s. It is also used to treat rheumatoid arthritis and lupus. So it’s not new on the market.

Individuals usually take a total of 10 pills as part of a four- to 10-day regimen. Typically, the dose is two pills for five days.

This would be followed by taking azithromycin for three days, Gross said.

Gross said he anticipates that one day the drug, if effective against the coronavirus, could become like Tamiflu, an antiviral medicine taken at the earliest signs of the flu for prevention.

“There have been recent articles that this is not effective for the critically ill,” Gross said of hydroxychloroquine. “That might be the case. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t explore this when it’s in the early stages.”

“In India, health care workers take hydroxychloroquine as a preventative measure. I’m assuming, if the data pans out, this may be like Tamiflu, which you have to take 24 to 48 hours after the first symptoms, or it’s useless.”

4. What Are the Side Effects?

“What do we have to lose?” Trump has asked.

For one thing, hydroxychloroquine does have some quite serious side effects.

Those side effects reportedly include fatal heart arrhythmia, vision loss, ear ringing and vomiting, headaches, dizziness, stomach pain, weight loss, and mood changes.

But the medication can be obtained only through prescription, so patients can’t legally access it without medical supervision.

Given that use of hydroxychloroquine is under medical control, the side effects aren’t a major concern. Disappointing the public is a potentially larger problem, Pham said.

“The main downside would be giving people false hope,” Pham said.

5. What Do Respiratory Specialists Say?

Respiratory specialists recommend the use of hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19, but with caveats.

The American Thoracic Society, a medical society specializing in respiratory diseases, led an international task force researching treatments for COVID-19 that released guidelines Monday.

One guideline was to prescribe hydroxychloroquine to hospitalized patients who have COVID-19.

This only applies, the report says, when “shared decision-making is possible,” “data can be collected for interim comparisons of patients who received hydroxychloroquine … versus those who did not,” “the illness is sufficiently severe to warrant investigational therapy,” and “the drug is not in short supply.”

Dr. Kevin C. Wilson, chief of guidelines and documents at the American Thoracic Society, said existing research is flawed, but nevertheless worthwhile.

“We suggest that, if the drug is prescribed, that it be done in the context of data collection for research,” Wilson said. “We believe that in urgent situations like a pandemic, we can learn while treating by collecting real-world data. … Thus, the bottom line is, whether hydroxychloroquine …  confer benefits to patients with COVID-19 are unanswered questions.”

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:

With These Headlines, It Sure Seems The Anti-Trump Media Lusts For More Wuhan Coronavirus Deaths

Dispatches of Hope: DOWNWARD Trends on Infections and Deaths

Heritage Foundation Launches National Coronavirus Recovery Commission

Trump Critical of IG Report on Hospitals

One Millennial’s Guide to COVID-19: 8 Ways to Embrace Our New Normal

The Importance of Optimism Amid COVID-19 Crisis

In Hiding COVID-19 at First, China Chose Reputation Over Saving Lives

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.

Mona Eltahawy and the New Feminist Extremism

/in , , , , , /by

For months, I’ve been wanting to have a conversation about Mona Eltahawy and the new feminist extremism she embodies. There were a number of women’s platforms I could have published this piece on that all cater to women’s issues.

I chose Clarion Project because what I’m about to discuss is not just a niche women’s rights or feminist issue; it’s an issue of extremism.

Since 2018, I’ve broadened the subjects I cover from Islamist extremism, which wants to crush the West, to other types of extremism, including:

  • Neo-Nazis, who want to crush non-Eurocentric races
  • Antifa, which wants to crush White Supremacists (and seemingly a lot of others)
  • And now, feminists, who want to crush men

I can’t ignore that a serious branch of feminism has devolved into another form of extremism.

I can’t ignore that feminism, as it’s represented today, is both psychologically (and sometimes physically) violent.

Feminist extremism isn’t just contempt of men, it’s annihilation

The new feminist extremism didn’t pop out of a vacuum. It’s been here for a while, and it’s been building. It found footing over the arc of time across movements in the last century, including most recently when both well-meaning men and women celebrated phrases like, “The future is female.”

What space is there for men in a future paradigm where the notion of equality and freedom for one demographic is rooted in the annihilation of another? When society embraces phrases like this, they’re unconsciously drafting a blueprint that wipes out the reality of another gender altogether.

Just as I and many others have long advocated for the rights of emerging women — little girls — so too will I now speak about what kind of chaotic, gender-oppressive world we’re creating for our boys.

Half the time, depending on where you’re situated, you’re not even allowed to talk about gender anymore. But let’s talk about gender anyway — briefly.

Much of today’s feminism has abandoned the inherent nature of the feminine. Feminist extremism, specifically, has taken the strengths of what it means to be a woman — our ability to connect, create community, our intuition, our ability to nurture  — and distorted it.

The best way to summarize the new feminist extremism is something I overheard today by a liberal woman who described this type of feminism as a “Hulk Smash.” I couldn’t have said it better.

And this brings me to Mona Eltahawy.

Mona is not some flaming-haired goddess of women’s rights. She is brutality embodied

In December 2019, Vice News featured an article titled, “Mona Eltahawy Would Like You to Fuck Right Off With Your Civility Politics.” The subheading quoting Mona, read, “I refuse to allow those who don’t recognize my full humanity to expect politeness of me.”

OK, we’ve heard this before from folks like Linda Sarsour, who happily dehumanizes Israelis in order to champion Palestinians. This is supremacy; a theme that keeps popping up when one group demands a space at the expense of another.

Yet, the opposite of the opposite is still a mirror reflection of the original — meaning, hyper-aggression, rage and hostility toward men (or one’s ideological opponents) is no different than the brutality shown to women throughout history.

True power rests in creating a new paradigm, not just a foil of a broken, old one. True leadership is inclusivity, creating community and  truth … but also grace. These are inherent female strengths, and yet none of these are characteristics of extreme feminists.

Flipping someone off is neither powerful, nor is it leadership.

As much as I’ve tried to ignore all this, I finally couldn’t. Recently I saw Mona’s brand of feminist extremism featured on Fuuse, a publication belonging to Deeyah Khan.

Deeyah has produced documentaries reaching out to white supremacists and neo-Nazis, so clearly she understands extremism. And that is exactly why it’s so baffling to see Fuuse  — an Emmy-winning and twice BAFTA-nominated media company — glorify another form of extremism.

If we’re going to be leaders in preventing or countering extremism, we need to be able to spot patterns.

The world is rapidly evolving, and it’s not going to spell things out for us

The extremism of tomorrow is not necessarily going to be the neatly packaged extremism of yesterday. It is our duty to spot the patterns and connect the dots, to recognize there is an undeniable new form of extremism rooted in gender identities.

Extremism is often rooted in trauma, and feminist extremism is no different. Mona admitted it herself when in her Vice interview above, she shares, “I always say I was traumatized into feminism.”

As we see with Islamists, neo-Nazis, Antifa  members and other extremists, rather than work through their traumas, these people attach themselves to an ideology, often gain platforms and tend to scream louder than everyone else in the room.

Given that in our current media climate the loudest voices get heard, it’s no surprise that the most psychologically violent, hyper-dominant personalities are framed as icons.

We can do better. We need to do better. I don’t expect Mona to change, but we need to get better at seeing what we’re looking at.

COLUMN BY

Shireen Qudosi

Shireen Qudosi is Clarion Project’s National Correspondent.

RELATED STORIES

Linda Sarsour Uses Nazi Tactics to Dehumanize Israelis

Mona Eltahawy Has An Interesting Definition of Free Expression

Feminism, Hijab and Hypocrisy

EDITORS NOTE: This Clarion Project video is republished with permission. © All rights reserved.

OVERKILL: The Purposeful Destruction of America’s Economy

/in , , , , , /by

“So, there are 535 members of Congress. Many of us want what’s best for the American worker and the American economy. Others want what is best in their goals to take down President Trump.” – Congressman Lee Zeldin

“We cannot improve the condition of the people or reform human nature by intruding the Nation into the affairs of the States or despoiling the people of their business.” – President Calvin Coolidge

“I think there’s way too much concern given with potential danger of coronavirus, and very little concern and a serious understanding of why we’re in a real bad economic mess.” –  Former Congressman Ron Paul

“Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom.  It is the argument of tyrants.  It is the creed of slaves.” – William Pitt (speech in British House of Commons – 18 November 1783)

Covid-19 appears to be an engineered, weaponized virus and its peculiar spread is suspect, but that in no wise diminishes the threat.  Some folks haven’t even known they had the virus, and others are so ill that their lives are extinguished.  Drugs that have been around for years are showing great promise in helping the very sick to recover, even though Dr. Fauci is pooh-poohing them.  Michigan Governor Whitmer has changed her mind about denying Hydroxychloroquine and Azithromycin in her state and is now begging for more of the drug to be sent to them, some politicians are slow learners. Trump was apparently right about these two drugs, and now even the commie New York Times has admitted these drugs are life savers.

Our president is handling so much more than possibly any other president in our history, yet he multi-tasks very easily.  He’s dealing with the dangers of this virus, the economic destruction from same, the drug cartels who are capitalizing on Covid-19, and he’s spoken with the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia and Russian President Vladimir Putin regarding their oil production being cut by 10 million barrels to save our own oil producers.  Oil rose 25 percent after the president’s calls.

The Lock Down

Economists are telling us there will be unemployment as high as 32 percent…that’s 47 million unemployed Americans, far worse than the worst year of the Great Depression.  Here’s what Anthony Fauci said on January 21, on Newsmax.  “Obviously you need to take it seriously and do the kinds of things the CDC and DHS are doing, but this is not a major threat to the people of the United States and this is not something the citizens of the United States should be worried about.”

Two days later China quarantined a city of 11 million people.  Then on February 17th when the virus was appearing all over the world, Fauci told us we could go to the Superbowl, but we shouldn’t travel to Wuhan, China.  Florida Governor DeSantis now believes the Superbowl was a breeding ground for the spread of Covid-19.

When talking to Anderson Cooper on April 3rd, Fauci was then promoting a national “stay at home” edict and the entire country lock down.  He says every state should do it, that we should remain under quarantine and we need a national federally mandated shutdown until no more viruses appear and there are no more deaths.  VA Governor Northam has shuttered his state until June 10th.   Andrew Cuomo has privately discussed shutting down the state of New York until fall.  Epidemiologists want the nation on a year of cycled shutdowns.  Talk about the economic destruction and loss of trillions of dollars to American business…

The predictions by the experts’ “models” were overkill. None of them were even close to needing the amount of beds forecast.  These models have caused this massive shutdown and have driven massive disruptive policy. Fear was the main factor pushed by the so-called “experts” and media.  Those experts are intrinsically tied to globalists, China and the United Nations.

Over 10 million Americans have lost their jobs…can you imagine another year of this?  That would be national suicide and we’d definitely see more people taking their own lives.  This is what Fauci is suggesting and he’s not an economist or one who fears being unemployed himself.  He believes the shutdown is just an inconvenience…but it’s more than that…the country has lost trillions in sales and merchandise…and so many businesses will never be revived.  Anthony Fauci has impoverished this nation.

The Real Lethality of Covid-19

America took drastic mitigation because the “experts” told us millions and millions would die.  But other experts think we went too far and the projected “models” are off by many multiples.  Stanford’s Jayanta Bhattacharya expressed doubt in his article, Is the Coronavirus as Deadly as They Say?

Jayanta Bhattacharya is a Professor of Medicine at Stanford University. He holds an MD and PhD in economics from Stanford University and he spoke recently with Peter Robinson of the Hoover Institution.  Robinson was shocked that the government shut down the entire economy without really knowing what they were doing.  Dr. Bhattacharya said, “They took the absolute worst-case scenarios, media picks up the two to four million deaths, politicians respond and the scientific basis for that projection is completely wrong…there isn’t a study underlying the projection.  The denominator of their study doesn’t exist! If you want to know in the population how many people have had it and recovered from it, you need both in the denominator and you have to have the antibody test.  With the antibody test, you can get the fatality rate for the population.

Watch the 32-minute interview with Dr. Bhattacharya.

Of course, Dr. Anthony Fauci says antibody testing is not the first priority. He says that right now that’s not our immediate problem.

Millions are out of work and we have vulnerable health care workers and first responders, we need an antibody test now.  Dr. Birx believes it is of importance to get the antibody test for peace of mind for healthcare workers.

We need to know how many have been infected and the true mortality rate.  If we were to find that many more have been infected and have the antibodies, that would be good news and actually could get America back to work a lot sooner.  Yes, there are over 5,000 who have died (far more die of flu each year) but crashing our economy has taken a toll that will take much longer to overcome.

Dr. Bhattacharya says the universal quarantine is incredibly costly, not just dollars to lives, but actual lives to lives.  People are committing suicide over this economic collapse.  As a matter of fact, right here in Knoxville we had eight suicides last week, and that is unheard of.  The global collapse will cost the lives of millions more.

Governor Cuomo is saying we’ll end up with a “new normal,” but we don’t want a “new normal.”  We want the old normal; no “sheltering in place,” no more containment or quarantine, no masks, no travel bans, no closed schools, restaurants, stores, sporting events, tracking of Americans to make sure they’re six feet apart and an end to the media propaganda and brainwashing.

The “new normal” should be that we no longer buy drugs or medical supplies from China, and that we stay home when we’re sick and we even wash our hands more…but if the “new normal” of Cuomo and his socialist comrades in Congress means abandoning the life we loved before the virus and using this crisis as a left wing freedom killing agenda as was done after 9/11, we don’t want it!

Antibody Testing Would End Lock Down

Thirty-six states are now on lock down, which means fourteen states can still travel freely. Hopefully we’ll hit the peak of the Wuhan virus and start to decline.  We need to get Americans out of lock down as soon as possible.

Many experts now estimate that more than half of Covid-19 infected individuals show mild or no symptoms, although it could be higher, which means they will have developed antibodies to it.  As many as three-quarters of Americans infected with seasonal flu viruses show little or no symptoms, and they develop antibodies.

The antibodies circulate in our bloodstream for months protecting us from another onslaught.  Testing for antibodies will allow those on the front lines to continue to work with the sick.  Governments could ease restrictions for those with immunity and they could go back to work.

The UK is way ahead of us on this one; they’ve already ordered 3.5 million antibody testing kits in order to allow more people back to work.  Researchers and hospitals are eager to accelerate testing.  However, Mers and Sars and other viruses can mess up the tests, so we have to have those specific to testing for antibodies on Covid-19…they must be validated for accuracy.  Once they are…this is a huge opportunity to spur our economy out of this depressive state much earlier.

Covid-19 Statistics

To put this pandemic in perspective, look at the stats.  They will change daily until we reach the top of the graph’s increase and start down the other side.  The numbers will increase but are actually not nearly as devastating as past pandemics in America. As previously mentioned, deaths other than coronavirus are being counted if they test for corona which skews the actual figures.

Data from: https://covid19info.live/ as of April 5, 2020 has been supplied by a friend.

American population 330 million

311,940 have the virus… that is 0.0945% of the population (1 out of 1,055)

8,813 have died……that is 0.00267% of the population (1 out of 37,445)

Global population 7,700,000,000

1,217,792 have the virus… that is 0.0158% of the population (1 out of 6,323)

66,284 have died……that is 0.00086% of the population (1 out of 116,167)

Other Causes of death:

  • Seasonal flu : 2019-2020 Winter – In the U.S. – deaths: 41,000; contaminations: 45 million; in the world: deaths: 468,500;
  • Pneumonia: 2017 – In the U.S. – deaths: 14,600; in the world, deaths: 2.56 million;
  • Cancer: 2017 – In the US – deaths: 606,520 or 1,660 each day in 2020; in the world – deaths: 9.6 million or 20,000 each day;
  • AIDS: 2018 – In the U.S. – deaths: 16,350; in the world – deaths: 770,000; contaminations: 1.7 million; since its beginning AIDS has killed 32 million and contaminated 75 million;
  • Car accident: In the U.S. – deaths: 40,000 a year; in the world – deaths: 1.3 million per year or 3,287 per day; injured or disabled: 30 million;
  • Criminality: In the U.S. – Deaths by homicides: 19,500 per year; by suicides: 47,000 per year. In the world – Deaths by homicides: 400,000 per year; violent criminal deaths: 1.6 million.

And as Selwyn Duke asked in his recent New American article, What Percent of Covid-19 Patients/Deaths Are Accounted for by Homeless?  One need only look at Los Angeles and San Francisco, where diseases such as typhus, typhoid fever, hepatitis A, tuberculosis, and staph have re-emerged because of the filth and lack of hygiene in homeless encampments.

A few days ago the news surfaced that only 12% of the cases reported in Italy are sound, because Italy is including in these numbers not only those who died from the Coronavirus, but also those who died from other causes but were contaminated with the virus.  This information completely changes the objectivity of the data, since the primary cause of death of an elderly person who contracted Covid-19 can be pneumonia or the flu; in this case Covid-19 would not be the cause of his death. So, if we project this percentage of 12% to the global number of deaths, the reported number of 18,919 becomes 2,270. This fraudulent inflation of the victims reveals a clear intention to scare the population.

The Gateway Pundit reported this from the CDC website: Hospitals to List COVID-19 as Cause of Death Even if It’s “Assumed to Have Caused Or Contributed to Death” – Lab Tests Not Required.  Global fear is the number one factor.

Conclusion

Like Dr. Fauci, Bill Gates is calling for a nationwide shutdown citing communist Red China as the nation to follow.  Gates is like so many other socialists, he avidly supports coercive government and population control.  Is it any wonder he and Dr. Fauci are aligned with WHO Director Tedros Adhanom and his cover-up of China’s coronavirus statistics?

Obama appointee Dr. Deborah Birx is in charge of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).  They allocate their donations to the Global Fund which was founded by communists.  Dr. Birx is on the board of the Global Fund with Kieran Daly of the Gates Foundation along with the former minister to Rwanda who also is on the Rockefeller Board of Trustees.

The two people advising President Trump and America were brought to the fore by VP Michael Pence who is in charge of the Coronavirus Task Force.  Pence was also in charge of the transition team, and only one person is still in the administration…Betsy DeVos, who previously served on Jeb Bush’s Foundation for Excellence in Education known for promoting common core.  She is a long-time supporter of Bush and continues to speak at his education summits along with Melinda Gates.

Betsy DeVos and her husband Dick have funded Mike Pence since the beginning of his political career.

Are these “experts” truly desirous of saving lives, or do they have another agenda?

© All rights reserved.

RELATED ARTICLES:

As Unemployment Nears 10%, Here’s How Congress Can Soften the Blow

Small Business Loans to Expand for COVID-19 Relief

Coronavirus Shows Our Need for God

Congresswoman Ilhan Omar’s ‘Hijabi Slip’

/in , , , , , /by

A Freudian slip is embarrassing because for an instant something we hide is revealed to others. Maybe it’s suppressing bigoted and prejudiced feelings that we know are unacceptable in the wider society, but in a moment of stress and thoughtlessness, this dark side of who we are pops out.

Recently, Congresswoman Ilhan Omar (MN-D) had her own Freudian slip. I’m calling it her “Hijabi Slip,” because it relates to her confessions of deep Islamic religious piety. The slip appeared on her Twitter feed reacting to one from a Retawa Agnihotri, who quoted from the Qur’an.

Agnihotri tweeted, “Nor come nigh to fornication/adultery: for it is a shameful (deed) and an evil, opening the road (to other evils).” (Quran 17: 32)

She was apparently alluding to accusations of marital and sexual improprieties against Congresswoman Omar that she had denied.  This is the history. In October, 2019, Omar filed for divorce from Ahmed Hirsi, the father of her three children. They had been separated since 2008. While separated, she married Ahmed Nur Said Elmi, but got a divorce later through their Islamic traditions. There were allegations that Omar married Elmi, “her brother,” in order to grant him an immigration status.

Last month, Omar announced her new marriage to Tim Mynett, a political consultant who worked for her. Prior to this the couple was accused of having an affair.

Those matters imply a division between Omar’s reality and appearance. The congresswoman’s response to the Islamic accusation from Agnihotri is her Freudian slip. Omar, like most Muslim politicians in the U.S, poses as thoroughly modern, secular, and politically progressive.

She is so adept at this game that “the Democratic Party has become the party of Ilhan Omar.” Even House Speaker Nancy Pelosi could not chastise her for her anti-Semitic tropes.

However, a different image appears in her tweeted response to Agnihotri. She did not reply with a secular western defense based on American cultural norms. Instead, Omar shot back what sounded more like a Salafi jurist in an Islamic state.

She tweeted, “And those who accuse chaste women, and produce not four witnesses, flog them with eighty stripes, and reject their testimony forever. They indeed are the Faasiqoon (liars, rebellious, disobedient to Allah).” (Quran 24:4)

This drives to the heart of the issue: To what degree is a person, like congresswoman Omar, hiding deeply held religious beliefs for her political expediency?

Imagine if a Jewish Congressperson, when in a conflict regarding the Sabbath, chastising by using the scriptural injunction that those violating the Sabbath should be stoned to death (Numbers 15: 32- 36).

I am not in any way endorsing a “McCarthyite” Muslim scare that alleges loyalties to foreign powers in Congresswoman Omar or in Muslim politicians. I am, however, pointing out that some Muslim politicians have double-sided thinking and personalities. One side presents a secular Western persona when it is expedient. The other side harbors convictions that are hostile to American values and social norms. Omar’s Hijabi Slip exposes a deeper truth about how she thinks, and what she really believes.

It is fair to say that Congresswoman Omar has disappointed many American Muslims who want a better image of Islam in the American public. Her duplicitous behavior reveals U.S. Islamists at work to radicalize American Muslim communities and normalize Sharia law in America.

COLUMN BY

DARRELL PACK

Darrell Pack is an Arabist and a member of the Islamic Reform Forum is Illinois.

RELATED ARTICLES:

Former Houston-based imam says non-Muslims are “worst of Allah’s creations. Treat them like that.”

UK: “Bleating about ‘Muslim grooming gangs’ is being used to shut down important discussions about Islamophobia”

Sweden: Demonstrators supporting “stateless Palestinian migrants” defy coronavirus restrictions

Germany: Leftist officials push to bring in more Muslim migrants amid coronavirus pandemic

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

PODCAST: Second Amendment Rights During Coronavirus Pandemic

/in , , , , , /by

States all over America are mandating that nonessential businesses close, which is forcing lawmakers to decide which businesses should be deemed “essential.” In states such as New York and Massachusetts, gun stores already have been told to close their doors. In Texas, on the other hand, the attorney general has said gun stores may remain open during the pandemic.

Cam Edwards, editor of the news and information site Bearing Arms, joins The Daily Signal podcast to explain why gun shops should be considered essential businesses and how the coronavirus has affected firearms sales.

Plus: We share an interview with Maj Toure, founder of Black Guns Matter, who explains the mission of his organization and how communities can combat gun violence without restricting Second Amendment rights.

Listen to the podcast below or read the lightly edited transcript.

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 >>

Virginia Allen: I am joined by Cam Edwards, the editor of Bearingarms.com. Cam, thanks so much for joining me.

Cam Edwards: Oh, thanks so much, Virginia. I really appreciate it.

Allen: Now, you are super passionate about the Second Amendment, and right now, we’re obviously seeing a lot of debate over whether or not gun shops should be allowed to stay open during the coronavirus pandemic.

We’re going to get a little bit more into talking about what states are doing and the nitty-gritty of all that in a moment. But I want it to begin just by asking you how, historically, have crisis situations affected gun sales?

Edwards: It’s great question. We really are in uncharted territory right now. We’ve never really gone through anything like this, at least for a hundred years or more in the United States, but … you can go back to 2005 and Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.

What we saw after Hurricane Katrina on the ground were police officers going door to door confiscating legally-owned firearms in the name of public safety.

As a result of that, the National Rifle Association went state by state, and in about a half of the states around the country, they were able to get emergency powers legislation on the books that prevents governors from infringing on the right to keep and bear arms during the state of emergency.

That’s been a huge help and a big protection for gun owners around the country right now. But unfortunately, we’ve seen in states like New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, California, Washington state, and a handful of others, governors have either left it up to counties to decide whether or not gun stores are essential businesses or they simply ordered these stores to close.

Allen: Interesting. Did we see an increase in sales at the beginning of March?

Edwards: Well, we did. Absolutely. Yeah. The FBI released the NICS background check numbers—the National Instant [Criminal Background] Check System numbers—on Wednesday of this week, and it’s a new record. More than 3.7 million background checks were conducted.

Now, not all of those were for gun sales. Some states will check firearm ID cards every day.

But the National Shooting Sports Foundation, which is the firearms manufacturers trade association, they’re able to look at these numbers and decipher, “This was for a gun sale, this was for an ID check.” And what they say is that about 2.5 million firearm background checks were conducted during the month of March. That, again, would be a new record.

What we’re hearing anecdotally from gun stores around the country is that, in many stores, at least half of their customers are new gun owners. Not … people who’ve never owned a firearm in their life, [but] people who don’t currently own a firearm now, but they’re concerned about what the future might hold, and so they are becoming gun owners in the past month.

Allen: Yeah, yeah. No, I know. A lot of people are … concerned where we are. Like you say, these are unprecedented times, and people want to make sure that they have the means to defend themselves and their loved ones.

But like you said, we’re seeing mixed messages from different states. You have states like Texas who are saying, “Absolutely, we’re going to make sure that our gun shops stay open and that Second Amendment rights are protected.” Like you said, very different story in places like New York and Massachusetts.

How is it that states can just kind of pick and choose? Shouldn’t it be across the board they’re allowed to stay open because it’s kind of part of the Second Amendment rights?

Edwards: It’s a great question. I think it comes down to what we’re seeing really around the country and that the Ninth and 10th Amendments are implicated here, not just the Second Amendment. We don’t have a federal lockdown that’s been put in place. President [Donald] Trump is saying, “I’m leaving a lot of this up to the states. The states are the ones that have the authority to do this.”

Under emergency declarations, governors do have broad leeway to do all kinds of things in the name of the public health. What they don’t have the right to do, in my opinion, is to circumvent or infringe on individuals’ constitutional rights.

Even in the state of Virginia, for example, where Gov. [Ralph] Northam has limited public and private gatherings to no more than 10 people, that doesn’t shut down, let’s say, church services. Churches can still offer their services online. If they have the space available, they could put nine people in a Sunday school classroom and nine people in the next one.

They’re allowed to regulate. They’re allowed to try to mitigate the spread of this disease, but they’re not allowed to simply prevent people from exercising their constitutional rights. Your rights don’t disappear during a state of emergency.

And, thankfully, Virginia, what we’re now seeing is a number of Second Amendment organizations are filing lawsuits. They’re taking these cases to court, and we have already seen a number of governors back down in the face of these legal challenges and allow gun stores to reopen.

Allen: Yeah. That’s happened in New York, correct? Gov. [Andrew] Cuomo is being sued.

Edwards: He is being sued. He has not backed down as of yet. But Pennsylvania, we saw that with Gov. Tom Wolf, in New Jersey, Gov. Phil Murphy.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva also reversed course. Now we have a lawsuit that’s just been filed in Northern California against eight separate jurisdictions in the Bay Area. Hopefully, we’ll see those jurisdictions back down as well.

But we saw on Thursday, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker had reopened gun stores for about an hour before his office then suddenly changed its mind and declared them nonessential again.

We’ve seen a lot of success. Unfortunately, it’s been unprecedented 100% success. I suspect that some of these anti-gun governors are going to try to continue to prevent people from acquiring a firearm and ammunition so that they can exercise their Second Amendment rights during this national emergency.

Allen: Yeah. In your opinion, why should gun shops be deemed as essential businesses?

Edwards: I think, again, just look at the number of guns that were sold last month and the number of Americans who went out to purchase a firearm. It is clear that Americans are concerned about their future …

Gun control advocates, their snarky response to this is, “Well, you can’t shoot a virus.” Well, we know this. That’s not why we’re buying firearms. I’m sheltering in place. I’ve put my a home on lockdown. I have a wife who has a compromised immune system. That’s what I’m doing to protect her from the coronavirus.

But I also own firearms because in case somebody were to try to violate these social distancing norms and break into my house and try to get within 6 feet of me, I’m prepared to defend myself and my family. There are a lot of Americans who really are concerned about that.

Look, we have 10 million people over the past two weeks that have all of a sudden lost their jobs. They’re filing for unemployment. We have a stimulus package that will hopefully get these folks the money that they need to survive over the next couple of months, but these are really unprecedented and unparalleled times. It is not unreasonable for people to be concerned about the fraying of the social fabric and an increase in violent crime.

… I think it’s human nature to want to protect yourself and the people that you love in times of uncertainty, and so for that reason, alongside the fact that the Constitution specifically points out that the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed, in my mind, makes it an easy call that, yes, these gun stores are essential, not only to the personal safety of Americans, but frankly, at this moment in time to their peace of mind as well.

Allen: Yeah. What would you say to the other side of the argument that individuals who are worried that this surge in gun sales in such a time of crisis could actually lead to more violence?

Edwards: I would tell them to put their money where their mouth is. I mean, these are groups that build themselves as gun safety organizations, and yet, they are doing nothing to ensure that any of these new gun owners have basic gun safety advice and training. A lot of these folks can’t get to a range right now.

But it’s been groups like the National Rifle Association, the U.S. Concealed Carry Association, National Shooting Sports Foundation, as well as individuals who have really done a great job of putting these resources out online so that if you are a new gun owner, you can’t get to the range, you can’t take your basic pistol course or a concealed carry course, you can at least still get the knowledge of “here’s how I safely load my firearm, here’s how I unload my firearm, here’s how I store my firearm safely.”

That, to me, is the key. We know that Americans want to keep and bear arms, and more Americans than ever before are doing so. To try deny them their ability to keep and bear arms, I think it is completely unconstitutional and downright un-American.

I think the right thing to do is ensure that the folks who are new gun owners have that education and training that they need to be safe and responsible.

Allen: Yeah. For anyone who has recently purchased a firearm or is thinking about doing so, what are just a few of those tips that you can give us for correctly handling and safely handling a firearm?

Edwards: The big one is treat every gun that you own as if it is loaded at all times, even if you don’t have a magazine in your firearm, even if you haven’t loaded a bullet in your firearm, treat it as if it is loaded.

Always keep that muzzle pointed in a safe direction. Don’t point it at anything that you’re not prepared to shoot at. Make sure that you are aware of what is behind your target. Look, you never want to mix alcohol and firearms. You always want to be safe there.

These are some of the basic tips, but there’s also a fantastic resource online called Gun University. If you go in there, gununiversity.com, Ryan Cleckner, who’s a veteran, he’s a firearms attorney, he’s a firearms instructor, has a ton of videos there under [the] section Guns 101.

This is really devoted and designed for new gun owners. It won’t take you a lot of time. But if you’re sitting around the house, you got nothing to do, watch a couple of these videos over a half-hour or so and familiarize yourself with the firearm that you’ve just purchased.

Allen: That’s really helpful. Thank you. Tell us a little bit about your site, Bearingarms.com and what our listeners can find there.

Edwards: Sure, so Bearingarms.com, as the name suggests, is all about the Second Amendment.

We are covering a lot of the political and legal news as well as some of the cultural news where we’re talking a lot right now about the fact that it’s not just conservatives who are buying firearms—we have people on, really, the entirety of the political spectrum who are now becoming gun owners—and what this could mean to the gun control debate in the months and the years ahead.

We’re talking and updating the site constantly. We also have a program, Bearing Arms’ Cam & Co. That is a daily show that’s focused on Second Amendment news and information. You can find that on YouTube at Townhall Media. You can also find that on Apple Podcasts at Bearing Arms’ Cam & Co.

Allen: Great. Cam, thank you so much. We just really appreciate your time today.

Edwards: Absolutely, Virginia. Thanks so much for the invite.

PODCAST BY

Virginia Allen

Virginia Allen is a news producer for The Daily Signal. She is the co-host of The Daily Signal Podcast and Problematic Women. Send an email to Virginia. Twitter: @Virginia_Allen5.

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 podcast is republished with permission. © All rights reserved.

Ahead of COVID-19 ‘Peak,’ Trump Touts ‘Light at the End of the Tunnel’

/in , , , , , , /by

President Donald Trump has warned the week ahead could be the worst yet in the COVID-19 crisis, but he and other administration officials also shared a positive note on Sunday, using terms such as “glimmers of progress” and “light at the end of the tunnel.”

“In the days ahead America will endure the peak of this terrible pandemic,” Trump said. “Our warriors in this life and death battle are the incredible doctors and nurses and healthcare workers on the front line of the fight.”

Last week Trump announced that peak death toll is expected to be reached in the next two weeks.

“Things are happening. We’re starting to see light at the end of the tunnel,” Trump said at the press briefing. “And hopefully in the not-too-distant future, we’ll be very proud of the job we all did.”

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 >>

Dr. Deborah Birx, the coordinator for the White House coronavirus task force, noted data coming from two of the hardest hit countries.

“As you can see from the hopeful signs in Italy and Spain, where we see finally new cases and deaths declining, it’s giving us hope of what our future could be,” Birx said.

She turned to charts showing the number of state cases per 100,000 citizens. Washington, D.C. and Pennsylvania are new to jurisdictions where 10% or more are testing positive for the coronavirus.

New York, the hardest hit state, has actually seen a decrease among those testing positive for coronavirus. However, New Jersey is seeing an increase, Birx said.

Other states with high number of cases are Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Connecticut, Washington state, Illinois, and Colorado.

Vice President Mike Pence spoke to governors from New Jersey, Michigan, Illinois, and Louisiana earlier Sunday, and had some positive news.

“We are seeing a trend of some leveling [from] all the governors I spoke to today,” Pence said, later adding:

We are beginning to see the glimmers of progress. The experts will tell me not to jump to any conclusions, and I’m not. But, like your president, I’m an optimistic person and I’m hopeful.

The truth is we’re starting to see cases, most importantly losses, and hospitalizations beginning to stabilize. But, make no mistake about it, I want to say to the American people, if that holds, if that is happening, it’s because what all of you are doing.

During the press briefing, Trump said the government has purchased and stockpiled 29 million pills of the hydroxychloroquine, a malaria drug that has been used in other countries to treat coronavirus, while waiting for a vaccine.

“I’m not looking at it one way or another, but we want to get out of this. If it does work, it would be a shame if we didn’t do it early,” Trump said.

“I’ve seen things I sort of like so what do I know, I’m not a doctor,” he added. But I have common sense. The FDA feels good about it. As you know, they approved it, they gave it a rapid approval.”

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 Capitalism Is Helping US Defeat COVID-19

For Mike Lindell, the Battle Against COVID-19 Is No Pillow Fight

Free People Take Responsibility and Solve Problems

Second Amendment Rights During Coronavirus Pandemic

RELATED VIDEO: Ballmer Says U.S. Virus Data Show ‘Light at the End of the Tunnel’

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.

How Capitalism Is Helping US Defeat COVID-19

/in , , , , , /by

In times of crisis, Americans don’t look just to the government to save the day.

In certain intellectual circles in the United States it’s become fashionable to decry free markets, laying every economic woe of any American at the feet of “late stage capitalism,” the buzzword used to decry any business practice that seems designed to promote big business over the little guy.

But right now, as our nation struggles to deal with the coronavirus, we’re seeing proof our American companies are stepping up and helping. Businesses, big and small, are trying to do their part to help the U.S. defeat COVID-19. Just consider these examples:

  • MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell announced last week that 75% of his company’s production will be converted to making face masks.

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 >>

  • AK Wet Works in Seabrook, Texas, a small business that makes industrial painting and coating products, is now using its specialty to sanitize public places and other businesses. “We actually came to the idea of, why can’t we take our blast pots and actually create a vapor that can be mixed with a disinfectant, so we can actually sterilize things around us,” operations manager Dennis Hotz told KTRK-TV, Houston’s ABC affiliate.
  • The Young & Yonder distillery in Healdsburg, California, is now making hand sanitizer and giving it to customers who come in for to-go pickups. “The community has been incredible. Most people who came in also picked up a bottle or two of spirits,” said Sarah Opatz, who founded Young & Yonder with her husband in 2013, according to The Press Democrat newspaper of Santa, Rosa, California. “It’s kept our business alive and growing. … We just wanted everybody to stay clean. We had the supply and ingredients.”
  • General Motors, Ford, and Tesla are ramping up production of much-needed ventilators.

Helen Raleigh at The Federalist compiled an excellent rundown of some of the other businesses that have stepped up during this crisis, including fashion companies that will switch over to making masks by the millions and drugstore chains, among them CVS and Walgreens, that are opening up mobile COVID-19 testing sites.

A coalition of CEOs launched the “Stop the Spread” initiative to organize businesses to address the specific needs of society during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Brooks Brothers, which normally makes suits and clothing, will produce masks and gowns. Flex Ltd., a supply chain and manufacturing company, is ramping up production of ventilators and protective equipment. Many other companies are joining in.

Parkdale Mills Inc. has joined efforts with a team of textile manufacturers to ramp up production of face masks and other similar materials.

“This is … a time of crisis that many people have not seen since the time of the world wars, Vietnam, you know, situations like that,” a Parkdale Mills spokesman said in an interview with The Daily Signal on Wednesday. “And [in] these times, there is a call to action. Who is going to step up and supply a need and do the right thing? We are trying to do the best we can to do what we can for the country.”

Perhaps just as importantly in this time of stress and deep uncertainty, innumerable businesses are doing what they can to give additional aid to employees, many of whom are facing the prospect of losing their jobs and salaries.

The owner of Federico’s Pizzeria & Restaurant in Belmar, New Jersey, is dealing with a lockdown in the state by opening up a $50,000 line of credit to continue paying employees.

“It just seemed like the right thing to do,” Bryan Morin, the owner of the pizzeria, said on “Tucker Carlson Tonight” on the Fox News Channel. “I didn’t want them to worry about me paying my mortgage. I didn’t want these guys … [to] have to worry about paying their rent, their utilities, and insurance, and other stuff.”

The restaurant can still do deliveries, but the potential for employees to get sick and end up in quarantine remains high.

“I just took this [line of credit] out to guarantee that my employees, no matter what, they’ll continue to be able to pay their bills. You’ve got to take care of your employees,” Morin said. “Without your employees, you don’t have a business.”

Smuttynose Brewing in Hampton, New Hampshire, has been forced to close and only do deliveries, but it’s decided to retain and pay all of its full- and part-time staff through the pandemic.

“We feel this was an extremely important decision,” Andrew Hart, Smuttynose director of hospitality, said, according to Seacoastonline. “There is a lot of uncertainty here, and we are in a unique and fortunate position where we are able to financially take care of our employees the best we can.”

There are numerous other stories like this around the country as businesses and employees are doing their best to weather the storm.

The total shutdown of the American economy has few—if any—precedents. If anything, the closest comparison is to World War II, where practically the entire economy was devoted to the war effort in one way or another.

During that war, the power of American government was certainly expanded, as it is now during the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. But America’s strength in war, or at any other time, is not in the power of its government.

The genius of the U.S. war effort was that, rather than relying on the government to fulfill the needs of the nation, the government merely acted to marshal resources to the front lines. Otherwise, the country relied on the surge of private production and the natural inclination of Americans in a crisis to devote all of their energy to tackle the challenge.

As they did in the 1940s, countless businesses, large and small, are now stepping up to aid both in combating the invisible enemy and in helping Americans who are hurting physically and financially at this time.

This is in part the genius of a free market system and why it’s ultimately more successful than, say, socialism. Businesses and free people can quickly respond to the needs of society.

When the need is great, their response is greater and far more efficient than a government-controlled system could ever be. In moments of national crisis, that great and good American system shines through.

During World War II, the auto industry switched production from cars to tanks, planes, and other weapons of war. The results were remarkable.

Edsel Ford, who ran the Ford Motor Co. at the time, vowed that the automaker could produce a bomber an hour at the Willow Run production facility in Michigan, which it did in 1944. It was an incredible achievement.

Today, Ford is making a similar switch in production—not to bombers, but to ventilators to care for COVID-19 patients. Ford is partnering with General Electric to produce 50,000 ventilators in 100 days, according to The New York Times.

“Just as Ford in the last century moved its manufacturing might seamlessly from auto to tank production during World War II, the Ford team is working with GE Healthcare to use its awesome engineering and manufacturing capabilities to voluntarily help this nation solve one of its most pressing problems,” the White House’s Defense Production Act coordinator, Peter Navarro, said in a statement.

There will be plenty in this time of crisis who claim that socialism or other radical solutions are the answer to what ails us in this moment. Some, like Jacobin Magazine, are calling for the nationalization and government takeover of Amazon and other companies.

But Amazon and Walmart, truckers and grocers, and the countless hard-working people who comprise our remarkable supply chain have been keeping the nation fed as the government struggles to meet its basic requirements in this pandemic.

Though many may take this time to attack our generally free market economy, the reality is that even as businesses and industries are decimated, our eventual turnaround will rely on the ingenuity of Americans across the country to reboot when the coronavirus pandemic passes.

It’s time to ignore the haters. Defeating COVID-19 requires joint efforts from both government and businesses—as well as communities and individuals. Private enterprise, as was the case in crises of the past, will play an essential role in getting America back on its feet.

COMMENTARY BY

Jarrett Stepman

Jarrett Stepman is a contributor to The Daily Signal and co-host of The Right Side of History podcast. Send an email to Jarrett. He is also the author of the new book, “The War on History: The Conspiracy to Rewrite America’s Past.”Twitter: .

RELATED ARTICLES:

For Mike Lindell, the Battle Against COVID-19 Is No Pillow Fight

Kowtowing to China on Taiwan and the Coronavirus

Free People Take Responsibility and Solve Problems

Asymptomatic Cases Complicate the Containment of Coronavirus

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.

Controversy Over Days of Prayer

/in , , , , , /by

President Trump, who is doing everything he can to fight the coronavirus, called for a Day of Prayer recently. He proclaimed, “We are a Country that, throughout our history, has looked to God for protection and strength in times like these.”

But David Hogg, a Parkland shooting survivor, tweeted: “Don’t let this administration address COVID-19 like our national gun violence. [Expletive] a National day of prayer, we need immediate comprehensive action.”

  1. S. Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, famous for her declaration to “impeach the [expletive]” even retweeted Hogg’s message. Dr. William Donohue, the president of the Catholic League, notes: Tlaib, as a U.S. Representative, should be censured for her “obscene assault on people of faith.”

Meanwhile, an honest survey of American history shows that Trump is much closer to America’s true history by calling for days of prayer than are Hogg and Tlaib.

David Barton, a walking encyclopedia on the spiritual heritage of America, once told me, “Between 1633 and 1812, there were over 1700 prayer proclamations issued in the colonies, where the governor would call the state to an annual day of prayer and fasting, annual day of prayer of and thanksgiving.”

Bill Federer’s book, America’s God and Country, documents such historic practices.

For example, on May 31, 1775, one American colonist, Samuel Langdon, spoke before the Massachusetts Provincial Congress, calling on them to pray because of the ongoing crisis with Great Britain.

He lamented, “We have rebelled against God. We have lost the true spirit of Christianity, though we retain the outward profession and form of it. We have neglected…the glorious Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ and His holy commands and institutions.”

Who was this Langdon? Some backwoods rube? No. This was the president of Harvard, where Hogg attends school now.

During the American War for Independence, on at least fifteen separate occasions, Congress called for national days of prayer, humiliation, and fasting. These were not namby-pamby, “To Whom It May Concern”-type prayers.

Here are two examples of Days of Prayer called by the Continental Congress—which, by the way, opened in prayer on its first day ever (in 1774), and Congress has opened in prayer ever since.

Example One: On June 12, 1775, the Continental Congress called for “a day of public humiliation, fasting and prayer; that we may, with united hearts and voices, unfeignedly confess and deplore our many sins; and offer up our joint supplications to the all-wise, omnipotent, and merciful Disposer of all events; humbly beseeching him to forgive our iniquities, to remove our present calamities, to avert those desolating judgments, with which we are threatened….And it is recommended to Christians, of all denominations, to assemble for public worship, and to abstain from servile labour and recreations on said day.”

At the end of the day, God answered the spirit of the prayer—that the crisis would be resolved. They could assemble physically in those days. With the coronavirus, at best we can “assemble” “virtually” for the moment. Yet thank God for these modern tools in our internet age.

Example Two: On March 16, 1776, the Continental Congress proclaimed another day of “humiliation, fasting, and prayer”: “that that we may, with united hearts, confess and bewail our manifold sins and transgressions, and, by a sincere repentance and amendment of life, appease his righteous displeasure, and, through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ, obtain his pardon and forgiveness; humbly imploring his assistance to frustrate the cruel purposes of our unnatural enemies; and by inclining their hearts to justice and benevolence, prevent the further effusion of kindred blood.”

They continued to pray, recognizing that more suffering may yet come, as they worked toward their noble goal: “But if, continuing deaf to the voice of reason and humanity, and inflexibly bent, on desolation and war, they constrain us to repel their hostile invasions by open resistance, that it may please the Lord of Hosts, the God of Armies, to animate our officers and soldiers with invincible fortitude, to guard and protect them in the day of battle, and to crown the continental arms, by sea and land, with victory and success.”

This is quite an astounding prayer for an upstart, fledgling new “nation,” which for all practical purposes lacked a national army and navy.

But ultimately God answered their prayers—so much so that George Washington said that one would be “worse than an infidel” to not recognize the Lord’s help in our becoming an independent nation.

Earlier I quoted Harvard President Samuel Langdon in his 1775 speech, asking for God’s help. In that same speech, he made this petition—one that seems appropriate in our day, in our fight against the coronavirus: “May the Lord hear us in this day of trouble….We will rejoice in His salvation.” Well, maybe not all of us.

© All rights reserved.

RELATED ARTICLE: Palm Sunday Without Palms

Is The Corona Virus ‘A Crystal Ball’ Into Socialism and Bigger Government?

/in , , , , , , /by

This time in history demonstrates that the government has too much power…it can completely control our lives…it can shut down businesses indiscriminately…it can keep us in our homes…it can shut down gas stations to keep us in place…it can do anything it wants because it has too much power….and then, there are those who want to take our weapons from us too…wake up America! Those that want government to have more and more power are fools. We the people are losing power over our own lives. We need to protect our rights guaranteed us by the Constitution, especially the 1st and 2nd amendments.

For those who want more government in the from of socialism, please take note…

The Corona virus has given government the ability to pick winners and losers. Governor Phil Murphy (D-NJ) has closed all gun shops and stopped all gun background checks but has allowed medical marijuana shops and liquor stores to stay open. This is the same governor who has banned the use of plastic bags. That ban will start very shortly. It is going to be a real comedy to watch all the shoppers leaving grocery stores trying to carry out their groceries as well as their kids!! Abortion is not life saving. Quite the contrary, abortion kills! Yet Gov. Murphy, along with his wife Tammy, insist that abortion clinics remain open. Closings are indiscriminate depending on who is doing the closing! They can even close churches and use Corona as an excuse. Who is to say that closures will not be permanent? After all, they have the police and military at their disposal.

For example, Mayor Deborah Frank Feinen (D) of Champaign, Illinois, signed an executive order to give herself the power to ban the sale of guns, ammo and alcohol after declaring a citywide emergency to address the Corona Virus. In addition, she has the power to cut off access to natural gas, water, and electricity and the ability to “take possession of private property” and order the temporary closing of businesses.

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot (D) said she is considering shutting down public areas and made it clear that anyone breaking this new measure will be fined or possibly arrested So, I guess it will be a violation even to go out to exercise. Has any one told her that sunshine and fresh air kill the virus?

Some liberal politicians have had some very novel ideas about how to handle the Corona Virus. Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) said “I think now would be the time to commute some sentences, to exact clemency and to take care of our most vulnerable. Ten percent of those incarcerated are over the age of 60 and already have an underlying condition. We should be using compassionate release” said Pressley.

And then there are the liberal politicians who can only complain about republicans who are doing what democrats are also doing. Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) attacked republicans over the stimulus bill. Would someone please tell her that every democrat voted for the bill including herself!

The power grab actually did not start with the outbreak of the Corona Virus. It was not very long ago that former Mayor of New York City, Michael Bloomberg (D) banned the sale of sugary drinks over 12 oz.

And how is it that government has gotten all this power? We can only blame ourselves! Government has the right to do the things We the People have allowed! It did not start over night or with the outbreak of the Corona Virus. It has been a steady erosion of our rights and freedoms, very much as the example of boiling a frog… put it in cold water and slowly turn up the heat. If you tried to place it in hot water, it would jump out.

Our economy has been one of the biggest victims of the Corona Virus. Tens of thousands of businesses have been forced by government to close. Millions of people have been thrown out of work. We have been told what we can buy and the quantity limited. And now mayors and governors around the country are mandating that we are not allowed to leave our homes! Not saying that the Corona Virus outbreak is not serious but every year we go through a flu and virus season. The Center for Disease Control estimates that up to 42.9 million people got sick during the 2018-19 flu season…647,000 people were hospitalized and 61,200 died. That’s fairly on par with a typical season, and well below the CDC’s 2017-18 estimates of 48.8 million illnesses…959,000 hospitalizations and 79,400 deaths. But even though tens of thousands died last year do to the flu, not a single school or business was closed and no one was put out of work or ordered to stay home.

Is it a mere coincidence that this is a presidential election year? It is no secret the media hates Donald Trump. Maybe it is the media and their friends on the left that have created this panic. Again I am not saying this is not serious, it is. But can this all be seen as an attempt to destroy our once booming economy, to destroy the Trump Presidency and for the left and the Democrat party to regain power?

Corona virus is just the latest example of how liberal politicians “never let a crisis go to waste”. It will be very interesting how these “temporary powers” become permanent laws that will burden us forever!

And speaking of never letting a crisis go to waste, expect to hear the cry from towns, municipalities, cities, counties and states that the Corona Virus has stripped their resources and insist on state and federal bailouts and tax increases! This would add more insult to injury to the American worker and taxpayer who are already victims of poor government financial oversight! It would be no surprise to me if the politicians that are getting us into this mess are already salivating over these prospects!

We must ask ourselves this question. Are we setting up a very dangerous precedent? Again we must go back to history to see how other epidemics have ended. Even the Spanish flu epidemic of 1918 that killed several million people worldwide ended with the summer season. I can guarantee you this, come next winter there will be another flu epidemic. It may not be the Corona Virus strain but millions of people will get sick, thousands will die, and not a single school or business will be closed, not a single person thrown out of work, or population quarantine. And why will that be? Our 2020 presidential election will be over.

We Americans also need to be asking ourselves another question. Who are we going to trust to rebuild our economy? Who has the knowledge and the proven track record? Is it Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton or even Michelle Obama? NO. Donald Trump is the only one with the knowledge of economics and the proven track record to bring us back to the robust economy his policies created before the corona virus. We are fortunate to have a Donald Trump who knows how to create a booming economy and again the only one with the track record who has
proven it.

Never should we give government absolute power over our lives…that just makes us all slaves to the government. We the people must be vigilant and hold our politicians accountable to protect our freedoms guaranteed to us by our Constitution. Apathy allows the few to take control of us all.

Liberalism, progressive, communism and socialism are synonymous. It kills the American Dream. One day we will wake up and be a socialist country and ask how did this happen? Remember the frog in the cool water that gradually heats up. Wake up America! The water is all around us and it is heating up.

For all who want more Government control of every facet of our lives, let this media created crisis be a Crystal Ball to look into socialism and bigger government. We have been warned about this before, “If government is big enough to give you everything you want, it is big enough to take it all away.”

© All rights reserved.

COLUMN BY

RICK TRADER

Rick Trader is the host, executive producer, and founder of the Conservative Commandos Radio Show. His diverse background in everything from aviation to starting a non-profit educational foundation, to public speaking, gives him a unique perspective to the issues that Americans face today. Rick has worked in the video, television, and radio production industry, as well as hosting of television and radio programs. Rick created the Conservative Commandos Radio Show because he wanted to have a place to voice his conservative opinions, and give other conservatives the opportunity to return our country to the constitutional, Judeo-Christian roots our Founding Fathers envisioned. The Conservative Commandos Radio Show has become a place where conservative ideas, opinions, principles, values, and voices can be heard and shared with rest of the country.

RELATED ARTICLE: Why Socialism Is the Failed Idea That Never Dies

Netanyahu and the “Art of the Possible”

/in , , , /by

Otto von Bismarck, (1815-1898) the German statesman, credited with the unification of Germany (1871,) and who served as its first Chancellor until 1890, famously defined “politics” as “the art of the possible”

This is certainly true in the dizzyingly volatile kaleidoscope realities of Israeli politics.

Indeed, only few days ago, Israeli PM, Benjamin Netanyahu, was facing the grim prospect of being dispatched to the Opposition and the looming specter of a minority government, led by his then-major rival, Blue & White’s Benny Gantz, and totally dependent on the dominantly anti-Zionist Joint List.

However, the dramatic events at the end of last month, when Gantz, together with just over half the MKs of the Blue & White faction, unexpectedly decided to join Netanyahu in an emergency coalition, radically changed the political landscape—and with it, the possibilities open to Netanyahu.

After all, Netanyahu has now effectively neutralized his two major political adversaries, Gantz and Yair Lapid—paradoxically because the former opted to join him, and because the latter opted not to—leaving each with an emasculated political following and a multitude of disappointed and embittered erstwhile supporters. Moreover, these developments left his third, implacable foe, the recalcitrant Avigdor Liberman, essentially irrelevant, having been deprived of his previous extortionary power.

Now, with new surveys showing a Netanyahu-led Likud surging, outstripping his nearest rivals by a staggering margin of over 20 mandates, what once seemed his best option—partnering with Gantz—may, in fact, be his worst.

Indeed, given Gantz’s reluctance to seize the moment provided by the Trump Plan for extending Israeli sovereignty over the Jordan Valley and portions of Judea-Samaria, and the number of important portfolios necessary to cede to him to entice him into joint coalition, other options may be far more attractive.

These might include setting up a narrow, Right-wing coalition with the former Right-of-Center Blue & White MKs, Yoaz Hendel and Zvi Hauser—in addition to Oly Levy, who broke away from the Left-wing Labor-Meretz alliance, giving it a 61 seat majority in the Knesset.

However, if Netanyahu should be loath to entrust his political fate to vagaries of recent rivals, another possibility would be, despite pubic fatigue, going for a fourth election—with polls predicting a clear victory for a Netanyahu-led Likud—and his political rivals, divided, disheartened and in disarray—considerably weakened.

After all, politics is the art of the possible!

Will Trump Betray Us After Corona?

/in , , , , , /by

Some people are stunned that government using computer models to predict high corona virus deaths has many Americans willing to gift Democrats/fake news media their lifelong dream of ending the U.S. Constitution. Panic-stricken citizens want everyone non-compliant to immediate dictatorial government demands thrown into jail.

Consequently, Democrats are behaving like power-drunk pirates, raping and pillaging our God given and constitutional freedoms. Incredibly, New York mayor de Blasio has threatened to close places of worship forever. Virginia Gov (supreme dictator) Northam decreed that residents stay at home until June 10th, after the June 9th Republican primary. 

Despite practicing CDC guidelines, a pastor was arrested for opening his church while the nearby Home Depot was packed with people. Planned Parenthood dead-baby-body-parts-chop-shops deemed essential are allowed to remain open.

Across America thousands of inmates are being released from prison because of corona virus. Disease infested tent city vagrants ignore corona restrictions while violators of stay-at-home orders are arrested. Democrats always handle illegal aliens, criminals and those who are irresponsible with velvet gloves while bludgeoning law abiding citizens with an iron-fist.

Drunk with corona-power, Barrack Obama, Andrew Cuomo and Nancy Pelosi are exploiting the virus to pressure Trump to fund a laundry list of unrelated extreme leftist pet projects.

The big question which concerns many is will our constitutional rights be restored after corona? Can the Democrat/deep state evil-genie be put back into the bottle? Will president Trump betray us by rubber-stamping the Deep States’ illegal extreme power grab as the “new normal”?

Candidate Trump was a non-ideological “Mr Smith Goes to Washington” kind of guy, expecting bipartisan support to do whatever is best for America and We the People. His agenda has not changed. President Trump will fight to restore our God given and constitutional freedoms.

Like you, I did not enjoy hearing that America will not reopen before April 30th. However, I understand the situation. Fear is a powerful thing. Due to 24/7 apocalyptic corona virus reporting, fake news media pretty much holds the emotions of millions of Americans in the palm of its sleazy, evil, anti-Trump hand.

Wisely, Trump is allowing another month for Americans to become fed up with house arrest, realize that computer models are not gospel and the sky is not falling. We are Americans. We overcome everything. God is with us.

Due to the extreme unprecedented situation, I am fine with the $2 trillion bailout. The American people did not irresponsibly put themselves into this predicament. We give billions to countries and people who hate our guts. Why not lend a hand to our own.

Democrats are salivating over the possibility of the bailout being the first taste of addicting Americans to the deceptive unfulfilling drug of socialism/communism. Because of who Trump is and who we are, America will not become a socialist/communist country.

Treasonous fake news media corona virus reporting is intended to generate fear, panic and hatred for Trump. Fake news media tried to shame “My Pillow Guy”, Mike Lindell, for expressing his faith in God during a White House briefing. A majority of Americans respect and appreciate our patriot brother Mike for his contribution to fight the virus. We are a Christian nation. God promises that no weapon formed against us shall prosper.

Folks, I do not fear corona virus nor the loss of America as we know it.

Some will say, Lloyd, you’re an idiot for not worrying. Alcoholics Anonymous warns against imagining, when something negative happens, that it will cause a chain reaction of other negative things to happen. Suddenly, that person is foolishly jumping off a bridge based solely on his imagined coming catastrophe. The Bible says worrying about something which you cannot change is unwise.

Trust in the Lord with all thy heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your path.” (Proverbs 3:5-6) Please do not misunderstand me. Trusting God does not mean we should passively allow out-of-control-fear to flush our economy down the toilet. President Trump must get Americans back to work ASAP.

Meanwhile, my wife Mary and I are frequently washing our hands, using sanitizer, limiting our shopping and catching up on long overdue projects around our house. After much research on Youtube, I painted our bedroom dark gray. It looks awesome!

Romans 8:28 promises that as Christians, God is working all things for our good. So I feel great, enjoying my lovely wife of 40 years and enjoying my creative projects.

Our hope for a greater, stronger and restored America rest in trusting God and our president.

© All rights reserved.

RELATED ARTICLES:

A Bigger Government Wouldn’t Have Prevented Coronavirus. It Would Have Made Things Worse.

NY Governor Cuomo -Does he have blood on his hands?

COVID-19 and Second Amendment: 3 Things to Know

Fauci: Trump Took Coronavirus Seriously ‘From the Beginning’

Iran, Hezbollah Use Mexican Drug Cartels to Infiltrate U.S.

/in , , , , , , , , /by

Iran and its terror proxy Hezbollah are financing Mexican drug cartels, smuggling people into America and recruiting them (for pay) as sleeper jihadist cells.

The recruits are mainly immigrants to Mexico from the Middle East, mostly from Lebanon where Hezbollah is based.

The coordinated operation is part of Iran’s war on America.

While Iran and Hezbollah are known to be active in the drug trade further south in Latin America, many are unaware that Iran, through its proxy Hezbollah, finances money laundering operations and human smuggling through the Mexican drug cartels at the U.S. border.

The operation is founded on the known fact that the U.S.-Mexican border is easy to penetrate, with tens of thousands of illegal immigrants and asylum seekers from Mexico and other Latin American countries coming into the U.S. from Mexico every month.

In southern Chiapas in Mexico, there are Muslim communities. These communities are made up of Syrians and Lebanese who migrated to Mexico decades ago as well as recent Mexican converts to Islam. In addition, Islam is gaining a foothold and in southern Mexico, with indigenous Mayans converting by the hundreds.

These communities are funded in the Diaspora and all contain sleeper cells. With the help of Mexican drug cartels, they finance and traffic extremists to the United States.

Canada has also become their target after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau lifted the visa requirement for Mexican citizens.

For example, Ayman Juma, a Lebanese citizen linked to Mexican drug cartels and involved in the drug trade in Latin America and Mexico, is a member of the Hezbollah. He is also associated with al-Qaeda.

Juma has smuggled tons of drugs from Mexico to the United States. The money made is partially used to fund terrorism, especially to prepare terrorist attacks against Israel as well as Hezbollah’s activities in America.

Hezbollah also managed to smuggle 200 illegal Lebanese immigrants through Mexico to America. All of them are part of a network of Iranian and Hezbollah supporters.

After his arrest, Mahmoud Youssef Kourani, a Lebanese citizen who infiltrated the United States through the Lebanese-Mexican smuggling network, admitted to the FBI that he spent part of his time in the United States to raise funds to support Hezbollah’s activities. His efforts netted $40,000 for the terror group.

According to what Korani also told the FBI, his brother is the head of Hezbollah’s military division.

The smuggling network is a clear example of the symbiotic relationship between the Mexican drug cartels and Hezbollah. Salim Bougader, for example, ran a Lebanese smuggling network in Mexico where he successfully brought in many enemies of the U.S. into the country.

For example, one of the many smuggled in by Bougader worked for a Hezbollah-funded television station that glorified suicide bombers and was part of an anti-American propaganda machine during the time when U.S. soldiers were dying while serving in the Middle East.

Hezbollah, in cooperation with Mexican drug cartels, also smuggles drugs to Europe and the Middle East, as well as to the United States. According to the U.S. Justice Department, it is obvious that Hezbollah views America as a source of funds for its operations.

Due to their partnership, it would be reasonable to assume that Hezbollah is also complicit with the Mexican drug cartels that are responsible for killing tens of thousands in Mexico every year in drug-related violence.

Although the United States has one of the most powerful intelligence services in the world and is not located in the Middle East, radical Islamic terrorism continues to threaten America — especially through Mexico, which has the largest border with America and one that is relatively easily to penetrate.

This leads one to the conclusion that, at the very least, a border wall is needed to protect the U.S.’ national security interests from the likes of Iran and Hezbollah.

COLUMN BY

RELATED ARTICLES:

Bernie Sanders Demands That Israel “Lift Its Restrictions on Humanitarian Aid,” But There Are No Such Restrictions

The book Ilhan Omar doesn’t want you to read

Hamas top dog: “If ventilators are not brought into Gaza, we’ll stop the breathing of six million Israelis”

Saudi Arabia accused of weaponizing mobile technologies against its citizens in the US

Turkey vows to continue forcing more migrants across the Greek border after coronavirus ends

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

VIDEO: Mike Lindell, Not the Media, Is the Hero

/in , , , , , /by

VIDEO: President Trump’s White House coronavirus briefing to promote corporate allies.

MyPillow CEO Michael Lindell, a self-made former crack addict, is going to transform 75% of his manufacturing capacity to make 10,000 cotton face masks per day by the end of the week, ramping up production to 50,000 a day in a month.

That sounds like a patriotic act to me, especially given that Lindell is undertaking the effort without being forced to do so by a federal agency. I hope the guy becomes a billionaire after this is all over.

NBC? Not so much. The headline on its “analysis” of Lindell’s remarks was “Trump fluffs MyPillow in Rose Garden.”

This matched the basic tone taken by a large faction within the political press. Why? Presumably because, at the end of his remarks, Lindell claimed that the Lord Almighty had helped elect Donald Trump president to save our once-beleaguered nation from its alleged depravations.

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 >>

Listen, if there is a God, I hope He refrains from tipping the scales of presidential contests. But it’s not surprising to hear an evangelical Christian talking about the world this way—unless, that is, you’ve never met one.

Of course, anyone who shows anything less than hostility toward the president is immediately cast as a reactionary and their actions dismissed as questionable and self-serving.

Many of the CEOs who have stood with Trump at his press conferences—this week, or in weeks prior—hold varying religious and partisan beliefs. The press didn’t have similar qualms about the CEOs of CVS or Walgreens, because they kept their views to themselves.

Lindell is a villain for speaking his truth, as the kids say. Yet the real heroes of our age—White House political correspondents—are applauded for speaking theirs.

Yesterday, PBS’ Yamiche Alcindor, one of the many pundits masquerading as a dispassionate journalist, was chided by Trump during his presser.

Immediately, journalists, who are perhaps the most tribalistic group in American political life, rallied around her with fawning tributes to her bravery and victimhood (because Trump only lashes out at black women, apparently). #WeLoveYamiche is the hashtag, if you’re interested.

Philip Rucker of The Washington Post noted that Alcindor “routinely gets under his skin with probing questions,” as if rattling our irascible president was a noteworthy accomplishment, or an act of heroism, or, in and of itself, a reliable indication that a reporter is doing a good job.

The Post’s media critic, Erik Wemple, meanwhile, was forced to reimagine what Alcindor’s question might have sounded like had it been more coherent. And, simply because Trump had been rude to her, he claimed that Alcindor has now become “the symbol of American journalism.”

Yes, that’s the problem.

It’s Alcindor’s prerogative to try and bait the president, as she has done on numerous occasions over the past weeks, and it’s PBS’ prerogative to send her to ask questions that do absolutely nothing to help the public gain a better understanding of the government’s efforts to fight the coronavirus. But we should not forget that most of her narcissistic defenders are really talking about themselves.

Some journalists are indeed on the front lines of “war zones, refugee crises, genocides,” as CNN’s S. E. Cupp put it recently. But Alcindor, whose Twitter feed is littered with all kinds of absurdity, is not.

She risks absolutely nothing by asking the president questions. Like Jim Acosta, who titled his book, “Enemy of the People: A Dangerous Time to Tell the Truth in America,” she is stealing valor.

The overall breadth and intensity of the anti-Trump press demonstrates there are few inhibitions and zero limitations on free press (though many in the media do advocate to limit your free speech). No one has been stopped from engaging, investigating, writing, or sharing their antagonism toward Trump. Nor should they.

Some lucky Americans, such as Alcindor, are afforded the benefit of challenging the president personally. That’s fine. I wish the press had exhibited the same level of reflexive antagonism toward every president. They don’t.

But Lindell’s political and religious views do not diminish his patriotic act, just as Alcindor’s ability to make the president mad does not transform her into a hero. It doesn’t even make her good at her job.

Perhaps our media culture has spent so much time politicizing the world that they’ve confused patriotism with victimhood. Or maybe they’re so obsessed with fighting the president that they can’t recognize that his fans might be capable of a good deed.

But if where you stand on Trump is your guiding definition of patriotism and heroism, your moral compass might be broken.

COPYRIGHT 2020 CREATORS.COM

COMMENTARY BY

David Harsanyi

David Harsanyi is a senior writer at National Review and the author of “First Freedom: A Ride through America’s Enduring History With the Gun, From the Revolution to Today.” Twitter: .

RELATED ARTICLES:

COVID-19 Rocks Hospitality Industry as Economy Sheds 701,000 Jobs

CDC Now Recommending Face Masks, Trump Says

Textile Industry Aims to Manufacture 10 Million Face Masks a Week

RELATED VIDEO: Dershowitz – Demonized by the Left for Defending Trump.

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.