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PODCAST: Far Left Similar to Communist Movement, Former Student Radical Says

Disconcerting similarities exist between the modern progressive left and the communist movement. Take it from someone who knows.

Tony Salinski, once a student radical and now an expert on communist ideology, identified as a communist for several years during the Vietnam War era. Salinski joins the podcast to explain why he was drawn to communism as a youth and to identify similarities between communism and socialism.

Also on today’s show, we read your letters to the editor and share a good news story about a school principal who is using his skill as a barber to mentor his students.

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


How are socialists deluding a whole generation? Learn more now >>


“The Daily Signal Podcast” is available on Ricochet, Apple PodcastsPippaGoogle Play, and Stitcher. All of our podcasts can be found at 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!

Virginia Allen: I am joined by professor Tony Salinski, a former student radical in the communist movement. Tony, thank you so much for being here today.

Tony Salinski: You’re welcome. Thank you for having me.

Allen: The topic of communism and socialism is certainly getting a lot of attention in the current political and social climate. And when you were a student, you were a part of the communist movement. Can you just begin by telling us a little bit of your story? How did you come to identify with the communist movement?

Salinski: Well, I was actually for the war. This was back at the time of the Vietnam War. And I started out for the war and, like everybody, debating whether they wanted to enlist or wait until they got they got called, drafted.

And during that time, [President] Lyndon Johnson did a TV special. They call it a special, but he was on TV. He was arguing against the Republicans, who had wanted to get in and get it over with, and get out.

One of the things he said was, “We’re going to stay in there. We’re not going to invade the North. We’re just going to stay in there until we stop them. And it could take 50 years.” I thought to myself, “Fifty years? Fifty years of guys just getting killed to finally just out-kill these guys.” And that started me to think, “This is not for me. I don’t want to do this.”

Push comes to shove later. I was looking into means of getting out legally of the draft and went to a meeting house, where a number of different groups were present. And one of them was a communist group.

I was interviewed briefly by the people sponsoring the event. And they asked me if I would have fought in World War II, and I said, “Well, yeah. Absolutely.” And they said, “OK, that’s not what we’re looking for. We’re looking for people who wouldn’t fight at all.” And they motioned me over to the communists, and I went over and gathered some information.

Later, I just sort of drifted into them. The resistance was going because there was no other resistance. There was no resistance to what the communists were saying anywhere on the media. There was no Rush Limbaugh. And I was a blue-collar kid and didn’t know anything about “Firing Line” or William F. Buckley or anything like that.

So there was no counter to what the communists were putting out about the war in Vietnam. And I got convinced that it was illegal and that it was immoral. And … one thing led to another. …

I was in a rock band at that time. And that was the big draw that drew the communists to me. We were doing pretty well and getting good audience responses around the city of Pittsburgh. And eventually we started doing some shows for them. And one thing led to another and I was involved.

They asked me, probably on three separate occasions, to join the party. And I told him the same thing every time, I said, “Nixon’s got a list, an enemies list, and I don’t want to be on that list. But I can work with you and help you out, as we go here, without being a member of the party itself.”

And we came to that agreement and they stayed with that. And from then on, it was just a matter of just going to the events that they put on and helping them with this and that, and the other thing, and bringing the band.

Allen: I find that interesting. You didn’t join the party, but you were in the movement for a number of years, in the communist movement. What was so appealing about the communist movement to you, that kept you in it, that kept you saying, “I’ll support you all. And I’ll be a part of what you’re doing”?

Salinski: Basically the idea that they were doing something. They were active. They knew what their motives were. They knew that they wanted out of the war. And I agreed with that, at first.

They were organized. They could bring out a crowd like nobody’s business. It was amazing to see how they were able to put a lot of people together, to come out and make their point.

But I was never fully into the idea of destroying the United States of America. That was a problem for me from Day One. And they got around that by saying, “We don’t want to destroy the United States. We simply want to improve it.” And I bought it. I was 19 years old, 18 years old, at the time, and I bought it.

But that was it. Ideologically, I didn’t get really aware ideologically until near the end. And things started to become clearer and clearer and clearer. And I realized that from the very beginning, everything they had said was in one way or another a lie. And I just finally couldn’t stand that.

I kept confronting them, asking them, “What about this? What about that?” And I kept getting variations on the same answer. “You’re just not ready for the whole story yet.” And I, being 19 years old, I knew everything, anyway. I thought, “Well, yeah, I am ready for the whole story. Why don’t you just tell me?” But it just kept going on and on and on like that. And finally, I just dropped away.

Allen: They were almost kind of teasing you along, giving you little bits of information, but never totally upfront and candid, it sounds like, about, really, what ultimately their mission was.

Salinski: Right. And they did that to everyone, except the people who walked up and said, “I want to join the Communist Party USA.” Those people got moved to the head of the line, so to speak, but the rest of us were just drifting in varying degrees of commitment, varying degrees of understanding. And yeah, they sort of reeled us in gradually.

Allen: So fast-forward to today. And what do you know of the communist movement’s activity today? I mean, some of the unrest that we’re seeing in the streets, can we directly link that back to communism?

Salinski: Well, when I got out of the movement, … I didn’t want any parts of any of it. My wife at the time said, “If you’re drafted, are you going to go to Canada?” I said, “No, if I’m drafted, I’m going to go to Vietnam.” OK? I had just gotten sick of the whole thing. And after getting away from it for a little while, … I got into the Democratic Party.

I was … semi-active as a Democrat and paid attention to all the news and everything like that. And I realized, “Wait a minute, these people are the communists on slow motion. They’re active. It’s the same thing. What they want is the same thing. They just don’t want to do it as fast.”

The communists, they were in the process at that time of switching from Leninist tactics in the street, in-your-face revolution, to Gramsci. And the idea of a gradual movement into a revolutionary pattern that wasn’t in your face wasn’t on the street.

… That really put me off because I just wanted to get it over with and get things straightened out, as they said.

But yeah, from the Democratic Party then, I’m moving on and watching these people. And what happened was, … it took a very short time, a year or so, before I just started watching them, watching everything they were doing.

I felt strange because my dad used to always say, “Oh, that’s communist.” I’d say, “Oh, dad, yeah. I know there’s a communist under your bed.” Well, there was, they were everywhere. And whether they call themselves communists or not, they were, in my estimation, communists because the goals were the same. The tactics were a little different, but the goals were the same.

One of the last things that they did that really pushed me away was they come up to us one day on the street. And this had come down from, not an activist, an agent, actually, a KGB agent, who had been identified to me on the streets several times. He was, I guess, code named Andre.

Andre had passed on this information that we were going to completely change our tactics. And I said, “What are we going to do?” “Well, you’re going to stop calling yourselves communists.” I said, “Really? Well, what are we going to call ourselves?” “We’re going to call ourselves liberals, progressives, socialists, anything but communists.”

Allen: Wow.

Salinski: So from that point on, if you identified yourself as a liberal, I just said, “Okay, check one communist. Progressive, check another as communist.” And what I’m seeing today, in my mind, validates that.

Allen: Wow.

Salinski: Well, Antifa is and Black Lives Matter is more a return to Leninist tactics. They’re out in the street, obviously burning things down, and pushing people around, and so on and so forth.

But the main communist movement is behind them and is still chugging along with their idea of … moving the country gradually over the past, what is now 50 years since this all happened. I’m watching it. Never, never stop moving to the left. It’s always moving left.

Allen: So walk us through how exactly the Communist Party does go about enticing people. I mean, how have they essentially infiltrated the left to where we are seeing this kind of radical takeover and this radical progressivism push forward, that is very different from what I think the left used to look like?

Salinski: Well, their motive has been all along to identify areas that certain groups, certain constituencies, and when it gets down to it, certain individuals, like myself, are interested in.

They had a gold mine there during Vietnam because they had a war that nobody wanted to get into. And they used that to pull people in. But whatever it is, housing, jobs, anything that they can name that a group is interested in, they will use, even if they’re counter to each other. …

They’re promising one group this, promising the other group that, and this and that cancel each other out. But as long as those two groups don’t figure that out, they’re drawing people in.

Allen: In your own experience, how open and honest are communists actually about their goals?

Salinski: Depends on where you are in the program. Up at the top, yeah, they’re free and easy with talking about what they want to do, destroying the United States, as we know it. And then ultimately destroying all nations, and all boundaries and borders. But below the top level, it’s just what you’re given to know, what you’re supposed to know, and you move on from there.

But the word “honest” and the word “communist” should never be used together in a sentence because they’re not honest.

Allen: Interesting. You have explained, during previous presentations, that the Communist Party really sees themselves as being at war when they’re spreading their ideology. Can you just explain that a little bit more, what you mean by that?

Salinski: Well, yeah. And this was early on too, I didn’t get this late in the program, this was upfront. “We are at war.” Now, I didn’t tumble to all that that meant, but the phraseology was, “We’re at war. And that means anything goes.”

Marx said that the definition of morality is that which advances the revolution. And I found that to be true with them. That’s what morality is. …

One of the things that really frustrates me, when I’m dealing with people who are not real knowledgeable about this stuff, is that idea that they think we’re playing by the same rules that we’ve always played by.

There’s a Democratic Party, there’s a Republican Party, everybody’s agreed on the fundamental principles of right and wrong, but that’s not where the communists are.

They are at war. They are going to do anything, anything it takes to win. There’s no ground for agreement or crossing the aisle or any of that stuff. It’s just, they’re going to take advantage of every situation that offers itself. And they’re going to use that situation to win. It’s the end justifies the means, in every case.

Allen: Well, I find it fascinating that you say that because I think increasingly in the nation, that’s what we’re seeing. You’ve been through things like cancel culture, that there’s no room for disagreement or difference.

Salinski: Right.

Allen: And we’ve seen, sadly, this real interest among young people in socialism. In your opinion, what separates socialism and communism? Does one naturally kind of deteriorate into the other?

Salinski: Well, I agree with Lenin, the end, the result of all socialism is communism. There are arbitrary demarcations drawn along the historical line, but they’re arbitrary and … the moment they can be pushed aside, the moment they can be disposed with, they’re going to be disposed with.

This is an argument I have with so many people in our own movement, “Oh, well, he’s not really a communist.” No, not yet, but he’s headed there.

There’s a difference between their conception of economics, and communism is an economic system in the end. They believe in what’s called a closed economic system. There’s X amount of dollars, or whatever we want to refer to the resources as, and that’s it. You have to move that around to people in the fairest possible way, ideally, absolute equality.

But capitalism is based on an open economic system. You don’t have enough wealth? Well, go create some. And that’s what we do. … I learned that in college, that was long, long, past the communist phase of my life.

But when I learned that, it became crystal clear to me why some people are drawn to communism or socialism or any ism that says it’s going to share the money. Well, yeah, because there’s only so much, and if you have too much, then I have too little. But that’s not reality. I mean, wealth is always being created.

Allen: You mentioned in college, that was where your capitalist views kind of were cemented. And that’s wonderful, that for you that was your experience. But I do find that sad, that today, we see the exact opposite, that young people go to college and they are somewhat radicalized. They are introduced to socialist and communist ideas. And maybe that capitalist background that they grew up with is kind of lost to the wayside.

What do you think is the responsibility of educators, parents, mentors, to actually be speaking to the younger generation, honestly, about the realities of socialism and communism?

Salinski: Well, I think that their responsibility is to go there and do that and open up that conversation. But at this point, you’re going to lose … Well, even back then, it was the case. But now, it’s even more the case. You’re going to risk losing your sons and daughters because they’re bought into it.

And I should add that I was not educated in capitalism in college. I drew that from the opposite of … Everything they said was bad, I thought, “Well, that sounds pretty good to me. That actually doesn’t sound bad at all.”

So it was not that they were out there promoting capitalism at that time. I just drew that from what they were promoting. Because I had already been there, I had seen the whole communist thing up close, and thought, “Yeah, yeah, yeah. That’s not true. What you’re saying there won’t work out.”

And certain times you could speak that out and say, “Well, my experience is this,” and you’d get support. And other times, you just learn to keep your mouth shut, if you want to get that grade and get out, where you can do some real damage, which I did.

Allen: Yeah.

Salinski: I ended up teaching college, and in my classroom they got the truth. You know when I say they got the truth, they got both sides, they got a fair treatment of communism and a fair treatment of capitalism.

I have to tell you, once it’s laid out like that, I used to finish the course with just a little … Well, other things that they had to do. But one of their tasks at the end of the course was to write me a two-page paper on what they thought of the material in the course, regarding communism and capitalism, and 90% of them plus went for capitalism when they realized what the difference was.

Allen: Well, I think, unfortunately, few college students today have a professor like you that will clearly lay out both sides.

So are there any resources that you would recommend for young people who, they’re in college, they’re facing, essentially, being indoctrinated with these ideas and they just want to hear both sides of the argument. Are there certain books that you would recommend or individuals, maybe, to look up on YouTube?

Salinski: … First of all, the Constitution, including the Bill of Rights, the Declaration of Independence, they should become familiar with that. And the history behind it, that in itself is quite a task, but they need to do that. But writing’s more directly concerned with it.

What started me off was W. Graham Sumner. I don’t know if you ever heard of Sumner, but he was an anti-socialist back in, I think he died in 1910 or something like that, in 1912. So he was in the Progressive Era and he was noted as an anti-progressive, but he frequently got onto outing socialism and just laid out the differences.

Salinski: Let’s see, [Antonio] Gramsci, or not Gramsci. Well, they should read Gramsci. They should read something of Gramsci because that tells them what they’re hooked up in now. They should read “Rules for Radicals,” if they haven’t already. Which is, again, a Marxist source, but it lays out what they’re being asked to do and why.

Any of the writings from [The Heritage Foundation]. OK? Any of the writings from people like Pat Buchanan, back in the ’90s, especially. There’s a lot of material out there. They have to look it up though.

Allen: Absolutely. How can our listeners follow your work?

Salinski: Through ACAT, mostly. And I do some things around here. I’m doing a speech on the 29th about communism. Well, it was originally in a library, but then this coronavirus came along and shut the library thing down. So they’ve moved it across the alleyway to a church over there.

You could look me up online. I’m trying to think of whether most of my talks are still up there. I know we took a lot of them down, but they have a way of getting back up there. So you could just look up my name and see what comes out in that, but always through ACAT, Anticommunist Action Team. That’s where I’ll be.

Allen: Great. Thank you. So that’s the Anticommunist Action Team.

Salinski: Yeah.

Allen: We’ll be sure to link that in the show notes today. Tony, thank you. We just really appreciate your time and you coming on and talking about your own personal experience, really fascinating.

Salinski: Well, thank you very much for having me.

COLUMN 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

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A Note for our Readers:

Democratic Socialists say, “America should be more like socialist countries such as Sweden and Denmark.” And millions of young people believe them…

For years, “Democratic Socialists” have been growing a crop of followers that include students and young professionals. America’s future will be in their hands.

How are socialists deluding a whole generation? One of their most effective arguments is that “democratic socialism” is working in Scandinavian countries like Sweden and Norway. They claim these countries are “proof” that socialism will work for America. But they’re wrong. And it’s easy to explain why.

Our friends at The Heritage Foundation just published a new guide that provides three irrefutable facts that debunks these myths. For a limited time, they’re offering it to readers of The Daily Signal for free.

Get your free copy of “Why Democratic Socialists Can’t Legitimately Claim Sweden and Denmark as Success Stories” today and equip yourself with the facts you need to debunk these myths once and for all.

GET YOUR FREE COPY NOW »


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

‘Refuse Fascism’ Calls for 60 Days of Protests to Oust ‘Demented Bully’ Trump

Hundreds of marchers, many of whom held up signs that read, “Flush the turd,” gathered in downtown Chicago on Saturday as part of protests against President Trump in 23 cities across the country, organized by the leftwing radicals of Refuse Fascism.

On its website, Refuse Fascism called for “60 Days of Struggle” against “this illegitimate regime”: “By October there needs to be a situation in this country where protests happen day after day. Protests that make visceral the demand that Trump and Pence Must Go.”

“No one can say that this can’t lead to a situation where Trump is driven out before the elections,” the website statement continued, “but short of that, sustained protests in October can and must lead to a situation where on Election Day people don’t just vote against Trump in big numbers but there are mobilized people/forces prepared to oppose – with massive, sustained non-violent protest – the fascist forces we know the Trump regime is planning to unleash.

Speaking at the Los Angeles protest on Saturday, group member Sunsara Taylor (pictured above) called Trump a “demented bully” and accused him of building concentration camps, brandishing nuclear weapons, and denying science. “All this will get far worse if this fascist regime is allowed a second term,” she ranted.


Refuse Fascism (RF)

6 Known Connections

In an effort to prevent a Trump presidency from even getting off the ground, the RF manifesto exhorted leftist agitators nationwide to pour into the streets by “the tens of millions,” so as to “create … a profound political crisis” that would stop “the fascist regime” from being “able to take the reins of government.”

But when Trump’s January 2017 inauguration ultimately proceeded on schedule, RF shifted its objective to “driving from office” Trump and his “Legion of Doom” cabinet of “white supremacists, woman haters, science deniers, religious fundamentalist zealots, and war mongers.”[1]

Toward that end, RF drafted a petition titled Refuse Fascism Call to Action, which charged that the Trump “regime,” in its quest “to establish a fascist order under the signboard of ‘America First,’” had already “begun subverting the separation of powers [and] the separation of Church and State, called for a new nuclear arms race, demonized the press, [and] dismissed the very concept of truth [by] substituting their own fabricated ‘alternative facts.’” Asserting, further, that “there is method to Trump’s madness” that “echoes Hitler” and is “more dangerous to the world than even Hitler,” the RF petition claims that President Trump’s brand of fascism promotes “xenophobic nationalism, racism, misogyny, and the aggressive re-institution of oppressive ‘traditional values.’”

To learn more about Refuse Fascism, click on the profile link click here.

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

AOC: ‘Freeing People’ From ‘Existential Havoc’ of Capitalism

In a conversation with the online Interview Magazine published Tuesday, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) promoted fellow Democratic Socialist Jabari Brisport from New York as another candidate who hopes to fundamentally transform the country.

AOC asked the openly gay, black nominee for the New York State Senate what Democratic Socialist means to him, Brisport replied, “For me, it’s really about getting people out from underneath the thumb of capitalism, and freeing them from the very small group of people that manage—or I should say mismanage—our economy and our society for their own wealth and benefit. It’s about freeing up people to truly experience all the joys in life by making sure they don’t have to worry about whether or not they’ll be able to keep their home from month to month, or whether or not they’ll be able to pay for health care when they get sick.

“It’s about freeing people from all the existential havoc that capitalism wreaks on us, and allowing them to truly thrive,” Brisport added.

The duo didn’t offer any examples of where and when in history people have truly thrived under socialism.


Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

27 Known Connections

Lauding the Protesters and Rioters in America’s Streets

In an August 2020 photo essay in which Vanity Fair magazine “celebrat[ed] the founders of Black Lives Matter [BLM] … and more on the forefront of change,” Ocasio-Cortez called it “profoundly exciting” that the Marxist/anarchist revolutionaries of BLM and Antifa were “discovering their own power” by participating in the massive wave of protests and violent riots that had swept the country since late May. Some excerpts:

  • “I believe that people are really discovering their own power in a broader sense that we have not seen in a very long time. So, yes, we’re starting to see some of this emerging power at the ballot box and at the polls, but we’re also starting to see it in the streets, and people standing up for themselves in the workplace, in organizing themselves and their labor, and it’s profoundly exciting. And it’s really incredible to see how people are really taking the reins for themselves in the direction of systemic change.”
  • “I think that all these people in the streets that are educating others, that are engaging in this elevated and amplified way, have really emboldened me, and it’s given me a lot of courage and encouragement to try to match the energy of everyone else right now who’s really fighting for progressive change.”

To learn more about Ocasio-Cortez, click on her profile click here.

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

Bin Laden’s niece: ‘It’s very worrying that the left has aligned itself with people who share’ jihad ideology

The main story here is interesting enough, but there is something else going on here that is just as interesting. The New York Post says: “‘You look at all the terrorist attacks that have happened in Europe over the past 19 years. They have completely shaken us to the core … [Radical Islam] has completely infiltrated our society,’ bin Ladin continued. ‘In the US it’s very worrying that the left has aligned itself completely with the people who share that ideology.’”

What did Noor bin Ladin really say in the place where the New York Post has “Radical Islam” in brackets? It may be possible, since there is an ellipsis right before this, that Noor bin Ladin identified what she was talking about in a part that the Post didn’t quote and just said “It has completely infiltrated our society.” However, if she had said the words “Radical Islam,” with something else in between, the Jon Levine could easily have quoted her as saying “Radical Islam…has completely infiltrated our society.” So what did she say? “Jihad”? “Islam”? With Sohrab Ahmari and John Podhoretz on their staff, it’s highly likely that the New York Post is engaged in a cowardly sanitizing of Ms. bin Ladin’s language that they consider “Islamophobic.”

“Osama bin Laden’s niece says only Trump can prevent another 9/11,” by Jon Levine, New York Post, September 5, 2020:

Another 9/11-style attack may be just around the corner if Joe Biden is elected president, warns Noor bin Ladin, the niece of Sept. 11 terror mastermind Osama bin Laden.

“ISIS proliferated under the Obama/Biden administration, leading to them coming to Europe. Trump has shown he protects America and us by extension from foreign threats by obliterating terrorists at the root and before they get a chance to strike,” bin Ladin, 33, told The Post in her first-ever interview.

Bin Ladin (whose branch of the family has always spelled their name differently than her infamous uncle) lives in Switzerland but said she considers herself “an American at heart.” A full size US flag hung in her childhood room at age 12 and her dream vacation is an RV trip across America.

The stunning, Swiss-born bin Ladin says she is all in for Trump in 2020, calling the election the most important in a generation.

“I have been a supporter of President Trump since he announced he was running in the early days in 2015. I have watched from afar and I admire this man’s resolve,” she said. “He must be reelected … It’s vital for the future of not only America, but western civilization as a whole.”

“You look at all the terrorist attacks that have happened in Europe over the past 19 years. They have completely shaken us to the core … [Radical Islam] has completely infiltrated our society,” bin Ladin continued. “In the US it’s very worrying that the left has aligned itself completely with the people who share that ideology.”

While Trump has long been a polarizing figure in the United States, he is even more toxic in Europe, where views of US leadership have often plummeted since he took office. A 2018 Gallup poll found just 18% of Swiss citizens approved of his job performance.

Noor, who said she regularly wears a “Make America Great Again” hat (and occasionally a Trump bedtime onesie), has had to confront many Trump-haters on her side of the Atlantic. During a recent trip to the grocery store while wearing the iconic red cap, Noor was accosted.

“I am minding my own business and this woman in her late 50s charges toward me and starts speaking very loudly and aggressively to me,” she recalled. “She’s yelling at me and saying how can I be wearing this and Trump is the worst president ever and she’s basically dumping on my beloved president … She told me three times, ‘You’re stupid.’ I kept my cool, and needless to say I kept my hat!”…

“You do have a situation now in America where you have people like Ilhan Omar who actively hate your country,” bin Ladin said, noting how Omar had urged “compassionate” sentences for 13 ISIS recruits busted in her home state of Minnesota.

“It’s an honor to be able to go and live in the United States and make the most out of all the opportunities,” bin Ladin said, choking up. “If she hates it so much why doesn’t she leave.”…

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

Antifa/BLM Rioters Now Screaming ‘Death to America’

My latest in PJ Media, written before they did it again in New York City:

Well, at least now we know where everyone stands. Journalist Andy Ngo reported that last Wednesday night, “around 700 black bloc militants and their supporters rampaged through Oakland, Cal. They chanted ‘death to America’ while starting fires and smashing cars and buildings.” The week before that, according to Townhall’s Julio Rosas, “An American flag was just burned outside the Kenosha County Courthouse. One woman screams, ‘Death to America!’ and kicks the fence.”

Understandably, this has delighted some Iranians. Iranian Ayatollah Lotfollah Dezhkam, Supreme Leader Khamenei’s representative in Iran’s Fars province, stated in a Friday sermon: “The shout of the Iranian nation [is] being heard from the mouths of the Americans themselves: Death to America!”

Dezhkam gloated over what he believed were signs of the imminent demise of the United States: “The entire world has seen with its very eyes that today, America cannot be the main decision-maker when it comes to strategic matters in the world. We are unequivocally informing the American administration, Republicans and Democrats alike: If you’ve shut your ears with cotton balls, remove them [so you can hear]. The sound of America being shattered and of its collapse, is being heard all over the world. The shout of the Iranian nation, which has been leading the fight against America for 40 years, is being heard from mouths of the Americans themselves: Death to America!”…

If we are going to restore some semblance of peace and sanity to the republic, we must make a thorough housecleaning of the educational system from top to bottom, so that students learn what is great about America, not just about what is evil or what the Left represents as being evil.

It won’t be easy. Rating America’s Presidents: An America-First Look at Who Is Best, Who Is Overrated, and Who Was An Absolute Disaster is one small attempt to begin to do this, to restore historical study to a sane, accurate, patriotic basis. If we do not now study and learn what once made America great, we will have no opportunity to make it great again.

There is much more. Read the rest here.

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

Study: America Hit By Roughly 550 Violent Demonstrations In Three Months


Data gathered in a Thursday study suggested that the U.S. experienced nearly 550 violent demonstrations since May 26, the day after the death of George Floyd.

The vast majority of U.S. states have experienced riots in the past three months with Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, Mississippi, West Virginia, Hawaii and Alaska being the only ones unscathed by violence, according to data gathered by The Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED).

There were a total of 7,750 Black Lives Matter-linked demonstrations in the U.S. in 2,440 locations across all 50 states, according to ACLED’s data.

Ninety-three percent of these demonstrations were peaceful, but that indicated that approximately 543 events were violent, according to ACLED’s statistics.

Violent demonstrations have largely been contained to 220 locations with Portland being the hardest hit location, the data show.

There have been 38 incidents where riots damaged or brought down historical statues. Law enforcement deployed non-lethal munitions in 54% of the demonstrations where they were present, ACLED reported. A total of 5% of BLM protests have been met with force from officers, data showed.

ACLED also claimed that 50 incidents across the country in the past three months have featured armed individuals, and BLM protests have been recorded in South America, Africa, Asia and several violent demonstrations have been reported in Europe.

COLUMN BY

JAKE DIMA

Contributor.

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved. Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

Will Our Votes Be Counted?

How big of a concern is mail-in voter fraud in the November election? In a CNN interview yesterday, U.S. Attorney General William Barr pointed out the very serious problems with proposed state-wide, or “universal” mail-in ballot systems because of the pandemic: “We are playing with fire.”

Just how big of a fire? As FRC’s second episode of Pray Vote Stand 2020 made clear, not only is the potential for voter fraud massive in a proposed state-wide mail-in scenario, but voter fraud has already happened time and time again in past elections.

The Left likes to say that voter fraud is a “myth,” but the facts beg to differ. The Heritage Foundation has tracked 1,296 cases of voter fraud in the last four years, which they say is almost certainly not all of them. In the last four national elections, 28 million mail-in ballots went missing. How big of an impact could this have? Consider this: the last presidential election was decided by less than 80,000 votes across a handful of states. In addition, things have gotten so bad with inaccurate mail-in voter lists that dogs and cats are now receiving mail-in ballots.

Right now, there are only four states that have used the state-wide mail-in ballot method, but because of the pandemic, more states are considering using this method, which is ripe for fraud. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton knows all about this type of fraud happening in his home state. “Two thirds of voter fraud cases deal with mail-in ballot fraud,” he said during the webcast. “We know for a fact that mail-in ballots create a higher risk of fraud and do go at the credibility of elections.” As one woman in Hawaii pointed out during the webcast, there is also the problem of people like her who have lived in different states receiving multiple ballots from those states. It seems that the old sarcastic adage to “vote often” may not be that hard to do after all in a state-wide mail-in scenario.

So what can concerned voters do about election integrity and to ensure their vote counts? General Paxton was clear: “Voting in person is the safest thing to do” and is best way to “ensure that our elections are fair.”

We’ve made it easy for you to register to vote in your state if you have not done so already. Simply go to PrayVoteStand.org/register to register and to access resources on how to host a registration drive at your church as well as the legal dos and don’ts for churches. It’s particularly important to encourage everyone in our spheres of influence to register and to vote, since four out of 10 Christians do not vote in presidential elections.

The broadcast also featured words of encouragement and conviction for believers. World Missions President for Church of God in Christ, Bishop Vincent Mathews made it clear that Christians must not waver in their knowledge of the truth: “We say that God must be supreme. Truth is objective. It is not subjective and relative.” Pastor Jack Graham of Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas echoed a similar message, emphasizing how much elections matter for believers, particularly with the issue of liberal state officials shutting down churches during the pandemic while keeping bars and abortion facilities open. As Graham pointed out, the tumultuous and divisive times we live in demand that all believers take a stand in the public square: “Vote your conscience. Vote your convictions. We say vote your faith. Vote your Bible, and then stand. We cannot be silent and we cannot run away.”

SBC Executive Committee President Ronnie Floyd reiterated the need for repentance and for deep and prayerful examination or our consciences based on the Book of Haggai: “I believe this is the call to the American church today from our Lord and our God. He is saying, church, think carefully about your ways … America, think carefully about your ways.”

And be sure to watch the entire second episode of our Pray Vote Stand 2020 webcast.

COLUMN BY

Dan Hart

Managing Editor

Dan Hart is the Managing Editor for Publications at Family Research Council. His writing has appeared in such outlets as National ReviewThe FederalistFirst ThingsThe StreamThe Christian Post, the National Catholic Register, and others. Before joining FRC, he served with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, where he worked to promote vocations to the clergy and religious life. His previous endeavors included serving as Associate Editor of iPhone Life Magazine and also in conference implementation at the Food and Drug Law Institute. Dan received a B.A. in English from Franciscan University of Steubenville. He enjoys spending time with his wife and two sons, freelance writing about music and culture, reading, golf, and playing guitar.

EDITORS NOTE: This FRC-Action column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Voter Fraud has Become a Staple of the Modern Democratic Party

As reported in the WSJ article “Heed Jimmy Carter on the Danger of Mail-In Voting,” a bi-2005 partisan commission co-chaired by former president Jimmy Carter determined that mail-in ballots are the greatest source of potential voter fraud.

Opposition to voter ID laws facilitates voter fraud. Despite feigned protests to the contrary, voter ID laws are not racist, nor do they suppress minority voting. How does requiring voters to present a photo ID suppress the ability of any adult citizen to vote? Government-issued photo IDs are easily obtainable by every legitimate voter in America, including those who don’t drive. Virtually every voting-age citizen already has photo identification, yet Democrats aggressively oppose laws that require presenting photo IDs to vote.

Partial list of things that require photo identification

  • Driving a vehicle
  • Airport check-in
  • Hotel check-in
  • Hospitals & outpatient testing
  • Doctors’ offices
  • Social Security office
  • Medicare/Medicaid
  • Pawn shop transactions
  • Federal, state & local courts
  • Military bases
  • Donating blood
  • Volunteering at charities
  • Professional applications
  • College applications
  • Job applications
  • Buying a house
  • Boarding a cruise ship
  • Boarding a train
  • Getting a license to hunt or fish
  • Buying cigarettes & alcohol
  • Opening a bank account
  • Applying for credit
  • Cashing a check
  • Getting a tattoo or body piercing
  • Getting a library card
    Visiting Congress

And here’s a list of things that don’t require photo ID (in many Democrat-run jurisdictions):

  • Voting

Democrat election official admits rampant absentee ballot fraud

As reported by The New York Post, Manhattan Board of Elections commissioner Alan Shulkin was caught on a Project Veritas undercover video slamming Mayor Bill de Blasio’s municipal ID program as contributing to “all kinds of fraud,” including voter fraud. Here’s more of what Commissioner Shulkin had to say:

  • “I think there’s a lot of voter fraud.”
  • “There’s thousands of absentee ballots and I don’t know where they came from.”
  • “In some neighborhoods they bus people around to vote, they take them from poll to poll.”
  • “De Blasio’s municipal IDs can be used for anything, including voting.”
  • “The city doesn’t vet people who get ID cards to see who they really are.”
  • “Anybody can go in there and say I am John Smith and I want an ID card.”

When Shulkin’s comments were made public, he was told by Democratic Party officials to hit the road.

NYC Democratic Election Commissioner, “They Bus People Around to Vote”

EXPOSED: Nationwide voter fraud operation funded by the DNC

As Bernie Sanders can attest, his 2016 run for the presidency was rigged out of existence by collusion between the Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee, both of which were implicated in a nationwide voter fraud operation. Three weeks prior to the election, investigative journalist James O’Keefe’s Project Veritas released two videos of an undercover sting in which high-level Democrat operatives bragged about running a nationwide voter fraud operation financed by the DNC and the Clinton campaign:

● “We’ve been busing in people [illegal voters] for 50 years and we’re not going to stop now.”
●”[We know] this is illegal.”
● “I think backward from how they would prosecute us, and then try to build out a method to avoid [getting caught].”
● “We implement the plan across every Republican-held state.”
● “[Our operation] causes massive changes in state legislatures and Congress.”
● “Hillary knows what’s going on.”

One of the covert operatives caught in the Project Veritas sting is a longtime Democrat named Bob Creamer. Found guilty in 2005 of tax violations and bank fraud, Creamer has been a highly respected player in Democratic Party politics for more than 30 years. Official visitor logs show the convicted felon visited the Obama White House 342 times, including 47 personal meetings with President Obama, a fact that was buried by the mainstream media when O’Keefe’s explosive exposé was released less than a month before the election Hillary Clinton was heavily favored to win.

Voter fraud has become a staple of the modern Democratic Party

Democrats say voter fraud is a myth, and that voter ID laws are nothing more than a racist effort by Republicans to suppress minority voting. In fact, voter fraud is a pervasive, nationwide problem that’s given a wink and a nod at the highest levels of the Democratic Party.

In 2013, a Cincinnati Democrat activist named Melowese Richardson was convicted of multiple counts of voter fraud. When released early from a 5-year prison sentence, Richardson was hailed by Al Sharpton as a conquering hero at a “Welcome Home” party held in her honor by Ohio Democrats. That Sharpton publicly hailed Richardson as a hero shows that acceptance of voter fraud extends to the highest level of the Democratic Party. Invited to the Obama White House 61 times, Sharpton was (and still is) one of Barack Obama’s most trusted confidants on race, and his public honoring of a convicted voter fraud felon would not have occurred without the knowledge of President Obama.

In the early 1970s, the post-JFK Democratic Party adopted Saul Alinsky as its most revered political strategist. A Marxist community organizer in Chicago, Alinsky believed that socialists are so morally and intellectually superior that their ideas must prevail at all costs. That ends-justify-the-means-mentality is why Democrats are furiously demanding mail-in voting for the November elections.

©John Edison. All rights reserved.

Here’s How Democrats And The Media Have Responded To The Months Of Civil Unrest Following George Floyd’s Death

The United States is engulfed in ongoing civil unrest as major cities across the country have faced protests and riots following the death of George Floyd while in Minneapolis police custody May 25.

The majority of demonstrations have been peaceful but waves of violence and looting have generated mass chaos.

Some Democrats have inflamed and encouraged the riots in many cases with statements either denying the violence or shifting the blame to President Donald Trump and his supporters. Here is a timeline of major riots that have taken place in American cities and how Democrats have responded to them.

May

A Facebook video uploaded May 26 depicted Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin placing his knee onto Floyd’s neck during an encounter that took place one day prior and led to Floyd’s death.

Civil unrest began to grow May 27 as protestors took to the streets of Minneapolis. Democratic Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey requested National Guard support May 28 after violence and looting destroyed parts of the city. A police precinct was set on fire and by mid-June the Twin Cities had seen at least two deaths, 619 arrests and $500 million in damage to 1,500 properties according to the Star Tribune.

Left-wing commentators almost immediately offered their support. Filmmaker Michael Moore called the rioters “good citizens” and said police headquarters “must be demolished” in a tweet May 28.

MSNBC commentator Zerlina Maxwell demanded that the media stop calling the situation a “riot” in a tweet May 29.

Frey said Trump “knows nothing about the strength of Minneapolis” in a statement May 29 after the president slammed the mayor for not controlling the riots. Democratic Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren accused Trump of “calling for violence” in a tweet May 29 after the president said he would deploy the National Guard.

A peaceful demonstration in front of the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C. turned violent May 30 as rioters gathered at Lafayette Square Park in front of the White House. Several monuments on the National Mall, including the World War II memorial and the Lincoln Memorial, were vandalized May 30 and the historic St. John’s Church was set on fire May 31.

Democratic Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser suggested that Trump was hiding and said he was afraid of a handful of “peaceful protesters” after the White House went into a lockdown May 29.

June

Clashes occurred between protesters and police June 1 in the Seattle neighborhood of Capitol Hill. Democratic Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan said the unrest was “instigated and perpetuated by white men.” The Seattle Police Department withdrew from the East Precinct building June 8, paving the way for demonstrators to declare the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ) June 11.

Durkan told CNN host Chris Cuomo in an interview June 11 that the CHAZ had “more like a block party atmosphere” and likened it to the “summer of love.” A resident living in the area told the Daily Caller in an interview June 13 that he heard “gunshots every single night.” Four shootings were reported between June 20 and June 29 with two people killed and four injured.

WATCH:

Mostly peaceful demonstrations in Portland in early June led to escalating civil unrest throughout the month. The Portland Business Alliance estimated that riots and violence in Portland by late June had cost small businesses $23.2 million and the Portland Police Department lost $6.2 million in related costs.

July

Durkan ordered the Capitol Hill neighborhood to be cleared out July 1 and CHAZ was officially brought to an end.

Rioters in Portland reportedly lit fires inside a police union building and swarmed the Mark O. Hatfield federal courthouse in the first week of July as unrest in the city escalated.

Democratic Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler initially told the Trump administration that he did “not need or want their help,” according to Oregon Public Broadcasting. Federal officers arrived anyways in order to protect federal property and engaged with rioters over the next week with tear gas and other riot dispersion tactics.

Democratic Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden downplayed the risk of violence and instead turned attention to the Trump administration, stating that federal officers were “acting like an occupying army” in a tweet July 12.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi referred to federal officers as “stormtroopers” and accused them of “kidnapping protesters” in a tweet July 17. Pelosi also downplayed the riots by claiming that federal involvement was “in response to graffiti.”

Democratic New York Rep. Jerry Nadler minimized the violence in Portland and told political commentator Austen Fletcher that antifa violence was a myth in a video released July 27.

WATCH:

Democratic Washington Rep. Pramila Jayapal minimized the riots during a CNN appearance July 29 where she referred to the riots as “some protesters at some building in Portland.”

WATCH:

Police data compiled by The Oregonian found that 15 people had been killed in Portland in July, with a total of 24 people killed since the demonstrations kicked off in the city in late May and early June.

August

Hundreds of people rioted and looted stores in Chicago between August 9 and August 10 after a man was reportedly shot by police.

Democratic Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot refused federal assistance and said she would not allow “Donald Trump’s troops” to “terrorize our residents.”

More than 100 people were arrested and 13 officers were injured in Chicago during multiple days of rioting. Lightfoot later changed her tune and defended banning protests near her residence, telling reporters she had a right to make sure her “home is secure” during a press conference August 20.

A wave of unrest in Seattle led to six police officers injured and 18 people arrested as demonstrators hurled explosives at law enforcement outside a police building August 18. Rioters reportedly tried to seal off the East Precinct building and light a fire outside August 24, according to the Seattle Police Officers Guild.

The Trump administration negotiated a withdrawal of federal troops in Portland by late August but the violence continued in the city even after federal forces pulled back. 15 riots were declared in the month of August according to the Portland Police Department.

Wheeler repeatedly said “no thanks” to recurring offers from the Trump administration to send federal officers back into Portland, KGW8 reported. The mayor also blamed the president for inciting violence and told him to “stay away” one day before a Trump supporter was shot and killed August 29.

Kenosha experienced riots and fires August 24 after footage emerged of a police officer shooting Jacob Blake seven times in the back August 23. A resident cleaning up after the riots called the city a “complete war zone” after businesses were looted and a number of buildings were destroyed.

September

Seattle continued to see unrest as members of a crowd threw Molotov cocktails at the East Precinct building September 1.

Rioters in Kenosha damaged more than 100 buildings, 40 of which were destroyed, and caused up to $50 million in damage through September 2, according to ABC 7. Democratic Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers told Trump not to come to the city and accused him of creating “divisiveness” in a letter.

Michael Forest Reinoehl, a self-identified Antifa supporter, was identified as a suspect in the fatal shooting of Trump supporter Aaron Danielson in Portland August 29. He told Vice in an interview set to air September 3 that he “had no choice.” Reinoehl was later killed during a shootout with federal forces that same day.

COLUMN BY

VARUN HUKERI

Reporter.

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

VIDEO: After Demanding She Open, Pelosi Throws Salon Owner Under Bus, “It Was a Set-Up” “Apologize”

WATCH:

The selfish ogre said, “I take responsibility for trusting the word of the neighborhood salon that I’ve been to…many times…It was a setup, and I take responsibility for falling for a setup.”

Backgrounder: Maskless Nancy ‘Antoinette’ Pelosi forces shutdown San Fran hair salon to open to do her hair, in violation of despotic COVID rules, owner calls it ‘slap in the face’

Pelosi: I Was ‘Set Up’ For Embarrassing Salon Visit Violating COVID Orders

By: Jordan Davidson, The Federalist, September 3, 2020:

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi demanded an apology from her “neighborhood salon” on Wednesday after claiming she was “set up” during a visit to get her hair done despite COVID-19 lockdown mandates ordering salons closed.

“I take responsibility for trusting the word of the neighborhood salon that I’ve been to…many times…It was a setup, and I take responsibility for falling for a setup,” Pelosi said.

“I think that this salon owes me an apology, for setting me up,” she added.


HAVE A TIP WE SHOULD KNOW? YOUR ANONYMITY IS NEVER COMPROMISED. EMAIL TIPS@THEGELLERREPORT.COM


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

VIDEO: It’s No Longer Just Left vs. Right

My father always liked to tell me: “Politics, a truly filthy business. But my, is it interesting.”

And he was right.

For those of us who live and work in the “swamp,” we get daily reminders of that reality. It’s easy to fall into a belief that politics is just a cycle.

For four or eight years, one side is in ascendance. One side influences the course of the nation and American lives, and then it’s the other side’s turn.


How are socialists deluding a whole generation? Learn more now >>


Not anymore.

To understand how things have changed, you need to understand what real life and death issues beneath the surface of American life compelled many Americans, for the first time since the Revolutionary War, to check the box in 2016 for someone who had nothing to do with Washington, D.C., or our political class.

The choice seemed unusual at the time—instead of a governor, general, senator, or congressman, a construction magnate with 14 seasons of a reality TV show behind him somehow had garnered 304 votes in the Electoral College, not to mention almost 63 million votes, in his first run for the White House.

But why?

To answer that, you need to read the autobiography of a man whose experience is crucial to understanding why voters felt compelled to make that kind of choice.

That man is J.D. Vance and the book is “Hillbilly Elegy.”

I don’t read biographies, auto- or otherwise, as I just don’t have the patience. But thanks to the recommendation of someone in the White House, I made an exception and read Vance’s story over one Thanksgiving weekend and it changed everything.

Why? Because Vance’s book fully explained the life and death issues that made such a choice even possible.

Ostensibly, the work was about Vance’s growing up in Ohio, a member of a working-class family from the Appalachian region of Kentucky in an environment of dashed dreams, drug abuse, and broken human beings.

For the full story, read Vance’s book. The deeper conclusion is that America became a land of opportunity and the world’s sole superpower because a promise was made and kept between its citizens and the political class. That promise was based upon a common belief: America is the freest and greatest nation on God’s Earth.

Both groups—citizens and the political class—believed in our being the “great experiment in democracy.” That if you worked hard, you would prosper. That you would be represented by a political class that would protect that prosperity and keep your family safe.

But then the compact was broken. Year after year, those who had built America were systematically betrayed. Jobs disappeared. Factories closed.

Our enemies and competitors—namely China—were given favorable deals. Drugs like fentanyl were “imported,” ravaging our communities. In exchange, more and more of the “elite” in Washington subscribed to an inexorable “managed decline” for America.

We have been able to surmount some of these issues in the time since then with a roaring economy until COVID-19 hit, jobs returning to America, and foreign policy successes such as smashing the ISIS caliphate.

But our political clashes now go much deeper and are more existential. They are rooted in issues that those who occupy the commanding heights of our media and our traditional political class have no interest in addressing.

These issues strike deeply at our social compact—the shared commitment to Anglo-American values, norms, customs, and traditions, available to Americans of any background—that give us common ground and make a modicum of a free, orderly, decent, and healthy political order even possible.

These same panjandrums of our media and political class, and the street thugs they have enabled, the rabble-rousers performing this dangerous political street theater in tearing down our statues and history, no longer are practicing politics as usual. They have been captured by the radicalism that has been bubbling under the surface of left-wing politics for decades.

That is how a rising generation of Americans subscribes to the most extreme policies, including:

  • Amnesty and citizenship for 11 million illegal aliens.
  • An aggressively unconstitutional and anti-Second Amendment confiscatory gun platform.
  • Open borders.
  • Nationalization of medicine and abolition of private health insurance.
  • Destruction not only of statues, but America’s history, customs, norms, and tradition.
  • Sanctioned harassment of fellow citizens until they publicly manifest agreement.
  • Erasure of America’s history as a force for good in the world, replacing it with a civics education mired in the 1619 Project narrative of America as founded on slavery.
  • Defunding our police or doing away with the idea of law enforcement altogether.

These policies will lead to anarchy and further loss of liberty in the freest country the world has ever seen.

We should keep this in mind if America is to remain America.

COMMENTARY BY

Sebastian Gorka, Ph.D., is former deputy assistant for strategy to President Trump, host of the nationally syndicated “America First,” and senior fellow for strategic affairs with Liberty University’s Falkirk Center. His latest book is “The War for America’s Soul.” Twitter: .

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A Note for our Readers:

Democratic Socialists say, “America should be more like socialist countries such as Sweden and Denmark.” And millions of young people believe them…

For years, “Democratic Socialists” have been growing a crop of followers that include students and young professionals. America’s future will be in their hands.

How are socialists deluding a whole generation? One of their most effective arguments is that “democratic socialism” is working in Scandinavian countries like Sweden and Norway. They claim these countries are “proof” that socialism will work for America. But they’re wrong. And it’s easy to explain why.

Our friends at The Heritage Foundation just published a new guide that provides three irrefutable facts that debunks these myths. For a limited time, they’re offering it to readers of The Daily Signal for free.

Get your free copy of “Why Democratic Socialists Can’t Legitimately Claim Sweden and Denmark as Success Stories” today and equip yourself with the facts you need to debunk these myths once and for all.

GET YOUR FREE COPY NOW »


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

When Democrats Say ‘the People,’ They Mean ‘the Government’

In his inaugural address, Donald Trump announced that,

“today we are not merely transferring power from one Administration to another, or from one party to another — but we are transferring power from Washington, D.C., and giving it back to you, the American People. For too long, a small group in our nation’s Capital has reaped the rewards of government while the people have borne the cost. Washington flourished — but the people did not share in its wealth. Politicians prospered — but the jobs left, and the factories closed. The establishment protected itself, but not the citizens of our country…. That all changes — starting right here, and right now, because this moment is your moment: it belongs to you.”

These were stirring words, but they were the sort of thing presidents have said for ages. Back in his first inaugural address in 1913, Woodrow Wilson decried the fact that “the great Government we loved has too often been made use of for private and selfish purposes, and those who used it had forgotten the people.” In his first inaugural address in 1953, Dwight D. Eisenhower asserted that “we, the people, elect leaders not to rule but to serve.” And in his January 1996 state of the union address, Bill Clinton declared: “We know big government does not have all the answers. We know there’s not a program for every problem. We have worked to give the American people a smaller, less bureaucratic government in Washington. And we have to give the American people one that lives within its means. The era of big government is over… Our goal must be to enable all our people to make the most of their own lives — with stronger families, more educational opportunity, economic security, safer streets, a cleaner environment in a safer world.”

However, as Rating America’s Presidents: An America-First Look at Who Is Best, Who Is Overrated, and Who Was An Absolute Disaster explains, Trump’s declaration that he was transferring power back to the people actually heralded a move away from big government, not toward it. Trump’s words didn’t herald a push to expand government power under the guise of working for the people. On the contrary, he was determined to expand the freedom Americans enjoyed and roll back government power. A new era had begun in American politics: for the first time in over a century, the rule of “the people” did not mean the rule of the government.

This equation has been taken for granted since the election of 1896, when a key issue was currency. The Republican platform committed the party to the gold standard, which prevented the production of so much currency as to lead to inflation. A minority of Republicans and a significant majority of Democrats, however, supported the free coinage of silver, which would lead to inflation and thereby make it easier for farmers to pay off their debts. That rapidly rising prices were rendering the life savings of Americans essentially worthless did not trouble the silver advocates, who cloaked their case for what was essentially the government’s assumption of the debts of private citizens in the language of support for the plight of the common man. Forgotten in all the controversy was that when the government does something, it is the taxpayers who pay for it.

President Grover Cleveland supported the gold standard, but toward the end of his second term, he was deeply unpopular, and the silver forces among the Democrats were restive. At the Democratic National Convention, a handsome and vigorous thirty-six-year-old congressman from Nebraska named William Jennings Bryan electrified the delegates with a speech in favor of the free coinage of silver that is one of the most celebrated pieces of oratory in American history. “You come to us,” Bryan declared, “and tell us that the great cities are in favor of the gold standard; we reply that the great cities rest upon our broad and fertile prairies. Burn down your cities and leave our farms, and your cities will spring up again as if by magic; but destroy our farms and the grass will grow in the streets of every city in the country.”

Rating America’s Presidents explains that Bryan sounded notes of class warfare that would become ever more common in American politics: “We do not come as aggressors. Our war is not a war of conquest; we are fighting in the defense of our homes, our families, and posterity. We have petitioned, and our petitions have been scorned; we have entreated, and our entreaties have been disregarded; we have begged, and they have mocked when our calamity came. We beg no longer; we entreat no more; we petition no more. We defy them!” In conclusion, he thundered: “You shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns, you shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold.”

In a frenzy of enthusiasm over this populist appeal, the Democrats nominated Bryan for president. This marked a sea change for the Democratic Party, as the party that had always favored a limited central government now began to advocate for a massive increase of federal control over the economy, under the cloak of a concern for the common man.

Bryan lost, and lost two more times, but his ideas took hold. By the time of the presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the Democratic Party, and a significant and growing portion of the American public, took it for granted that taking an industry or sector of the economy out of private hands and placing it under government control was tantamount to giving it to “the people.” It is such a compelling sleight of hand that Communist regimes also used it for decades.

But then came Trump, who actually meant “the people” when he said “the people.” And that’s one principal reason why the statists who hitherto championed themselves as guardians of the interests of “the people” hate him with such incandescent intensity.

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“The Devil and Karl Marx”: A Review

Robert Orlando: In his new book, Paul Kengor plunges a stake into the heart of the devil and Karl Marx. But as we know, such vampires are not so easily killed.


Paul Kengor is a teacher and writer who has always had an eye for the spiritual dimension in history, politics, and economics. (He was the perfect partner for me in our book and documentary film, The Divine Plan: John Paul II, Ronald Reagan, and the Dramatic End of the Cold War.)

Prof. Kengor’s new book, The Devil and Karl Marx: Communism’s Long March of Death, Deception, and Infiltration, is a hammer and sickle dismantling of the diabolical character of Karl Marx (1818-1883). As Michael Knowles writes in the book’s foreword, “Kengor knows, like few others writing today, that terms such as collectivism and individualism only take the debate so far. . . .Ultimately the fight comes down to spiritual warfare: good versus evil.”

Indeed, Kengor’s book is all about the clash of the modern, devilish forces of socialism and communism – the key Marxist systems – against the eternally divine force of faith.

The book opens with a portrait of Marx’s formative early years, an approach similar to Paul Johnson’s in Intellectuals: From Marx and Tolstoy to Sartre and Chomsky (1988). Johnson was accused of being moralistic for judging Marx’s ideas through the lens of his character. Of Marx’s writings, Johnson says their “actual content can be related to four aspects of his character: his taste for violence, his appetite for power, his inability to handle money and, above all, his tendency to exploit those around him.”

Professor Kengor goes even further, depicting Marx as possibly under the Devil’s spell. The young Marx wrote some very dark poems filled with the sort of anti-religious sentiments that would inspire his Communist Manifesto. “It is in part, a tragic portrait of a man,” Kengor writes, “but still more broadly so, an ideology, a chilling retrospective on an unclean spirit that should have never been let out of its pit.”

Here’s an example from Marx’s poem, “The Pale Maiden” (1837):

Thus Heaven I’ve forfeited,
I know it full well.
My soul, once true to God,
Is chosen for Hell.

Kengor (like Johnson) makes the case that Marx, a self-absorbed intellectual, never lived out his own convictions when it came either to money or the redistribution thereof, evidenced by his dismissive attitude towards providing for those under his care. For instance, Marx exhausted the resources and goodwill of his parents, and instead of becoming remorseful or apologetic, he defiantly disowned them once they were no longer of value to him.

When it came to money, everything Marx touched turned to straw. His combustible life was filled with tragedy, debts, and, with the exception of the death of his wife Jenny, an apparent lack of regret in the face of his greatest losses. Family suicides, sexual exploits (including the possible abuse of a family maid) enflamed his life with bloody anger and fueled his revolutionary spirit. In this troubled background are the origins of his communist worldview – a complete rebellion against anything traditional or sacred. Thus the title of Kengor’s book.

Although I agree with the inescapable connection Kengor makes between Marx’s life and his philosophy, I might not place so much emphasis on the man’s early life. Many historical figures were wayward in youth, even some of our saints. Paul the Apostle aided and abetted murder as he tried to violently eradicate the Early Church. We don’t define Augustine by the reckless years prior to his conversion. In fact, these men are saints precisely because they changed.

In Marx’s case, of course, he never changed. He drank the nectar of the devil (my words), and it poisoned him – just as communism poisoned so much of the world.

The middle sections of the book track the rise and fall of the Left’s great messiah and his closest apostle, Friedrich Engels. It continues with a history of Marx’s disciples, from Vladimir Lenin in Russia to Saul Alinsky in the United States.

Kengor also explains how these and other henchmen have assaulted the Catholic faith. Although vigorously opposed by Catholic leadership, Marxism would nonetheless gain a foothold in parts of the Church. Kengor highlights Pope John Paul II’s success in his confrontation with Marxism and communism. Having lived much of his life in a communist regime, St. John Paul knew well Marxist ideas, which enabled him to deal effectively with the liberation theologians in South America.

I think of Kengor as plunging a stake into the heart of the devil and Karl Marx. But as we know, vampires are not so easily killed. Marxism in the 20th century used class warfare, and that was mostly a failure. In the 21st century, Marxists are employing identity politics, lately with some success. But the aim is the same: to sow cultural destruction. If this doesn’t make you angry, you’re not breathing.

Bizarrely romantic revolutions – from Mao’s China to Seattle’s Capitol Hill Organized Protest zone – Marx’s ill-conceived utopias aren’t just destructive, they’re murderous. The death toll of communism worldwide exceeds 100-million! Kengor calls it “nothing short of diabolical – truly a satanic scourge, a killing machine.”

Without question, America has had its share of betrayals and unrealized ideals, but what other country has made such progress with the rule of law, individual freedom, and shared prosperity?

Marx believed religion was a drug (the opium of the people) used by the wealthy to maintain disproportionate power. In retrospect, of course, communism peddles its own drug: an idealized global world, in which inequality disappears in the obliteration of all human distinctions. Kengor sees the seeds of our current flirtation with Marxism in the promotion of sexual freedom, “that plagues us to this today.”

Scripture teaches that, after the Resurrection, Lucifer was left only with the power to accuse, with rhetoric his only weapon. This is why Satan and Marxists prey on the most vulnerable: those least sure of their own identity. Satan comes as “an angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:1), but he and his disciples, Marxist groups such as Antifa and the founders of the Black Lives Matter organization, bring only darkness.

Paul Kengor shows us the light.

COLUMN BY

Robert Orlando

Robert Orlando is a filmmaker, author, and entrepreneur. He’s the founder Nexus Media, and his latest films include The Divine Plan, and Citizen Trump. He also has a new book, The Tragedy of Patton: A Soldier’s Date with Destiny, forthcoming in November. His work has been published in HuffPost, Patheos, Newsmax, and Daily Caller. As a scholar, he specializes in biography, religion, and military history.

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

PODCAST: Marxism Matters — The Real Agenda of BLM

What’s really driving the chaos on the streets of America? It’s not Black Lives Matter, Larry Taunton insists. At its core, it’s Marxism, a dangerous plot that could destroy society as we know it. Don’t miss Larry and Tony Perkins as they take a deep dive into the philosophy that could send our country down the oppressive path of the failed revolutionaries across eastern Europe and the Soviet Union. It’s an eye-opening conversation you won’t want to miss.

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Biden’s Polling Lead Has Collapsed


Joe Biden is collapsing. And it’s going to get worse for Biden in the coming weeks. Trump is riding high on an incredibly strong convention, an economy that is roaring back, and an energized voting base. In addition, Joe Biden will no longer be able to run his “prevent defense” campaign. Now that the race is essentially tied, Joe Biden is going to have to leave his basement and campaign outside. He is going to have to step onto the debate stage with President Trump, were his cognitive impairment will be further exposed. And don’t forget about the Durham Report that will likely be released to the public sometime after Labour Day. We have a long way to go, but it’s looking good for Team Trump.

Biden’s Polling Lead Has Collapsed

By Dan Bongino, August 26, 2020

Just a month and a half ago, Rasmussen Reports had Joe Biden 10-points ahead of President Donald Trump in the polls. Now he’s only ahead by one point, within the margin of error.

Even if Biden’s now-slim lead in the polls were to remain frozen as of today, Trump would still have a clear path to an electoral college victory, as Hillary Clinton lead Trump in the popular vote by just over two points in the 2016 election.

While it is impossible to know the exact reason (or reasons) for Biden’s polling collapse, it comes as the economy continues to rebound from the coronavirus, riots continue to ravage liberal run cities longer than anyone expected (to no condemnation from Joe Biden and Kamala Harris), and a Democrat National Convention widely viewed to be a snoozefest was held.

It’s hard to imagine how anyone could’ve had their mind changed by the extended Zoom meeting that was the DNC, but the RNC is changing hearts and minds – or at least some.

Of note, Rasmussen was among the closest mainstream pollster in approximating the popular vote in the 2016 election. Rasmussen had Hillary Clinton up 1.7 points over Trump on election day 2016, while she ended up winning the popular vote by 2.1 points above him (48.2% vs. 46.1%). The Real Clear Politics average of polls had Hillary up for six points. Unlike the other polls, Rasmussen correctly saw Trump had a path to victory in the electoral college.

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