Thursday, August 31, 2023

DESPICABLE BIDEN WAS LIVID OVER THE MEDIA COVERAGE OF THE CHAOS AT THE KABUL AIRPORT ..... SEAN HANNITY CALLED BIDEN DISGRACEFUL

Joe Biden's fury at media coverage of chaotic Afghanistan withdrawal is revealed in new book: 'Either the press is losing its mind, or I am!'

'The Last Politician' by Franklin Foer will be published on Sept 5. by Penguin.  It describes Biden's anger at reports that focused on the chaos at Kabul airport 

 

By Rob Crilly

 

Daily Mail

Aug 31, 2023

 

On April 14, 2021, President Joe Biden announced that the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan would be completed by September 11, a political deadline that was later dropped

On April 14, 2021, President Joe Biden announced that the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan would be completed by September 11, a political deadline that was later dropped

 

A new book reveals how President Joe Biden sweated the details of his disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, inserting himself into problem solving discussions and bemoaning newspaper columns that described the chaos at Kabul's airport.

'Either the press is losing its mind, or I am,' he told an aide.

His view was that the shocking images of disarray during the hurried evacuation were the inevitable consequence of a difficult decision, according to an account of the 2021 operation in 'The Last Politician: Inside Joe Biden's White House and the Struggle for America's Future' by Franklin Foer.

It paints a picture of a president who stuck stubbornly to his belief that he had made the right decision despite the way the Taliban were able to sweep through the country and seize the capital as American troops left.

'And amid the crisis, a crisis that taxed his character and managerial acumen, the president revealed himself,' writes Foer in an excerpt published by the Atlantic. 

 

Four months later, Biden was at Dover Air Force Base for the return of 13 U.S. personnel who were killed in a suicide attack during the chaotic evacuation from Kabul airport

Four months later, Biden was at Dover Air Force Base for the return of 13 U.S. personnel who were killed in a suicide attack during the chaotic evacuation from Kabul airport

 

'For a man long caricatured as a political weather vane, Biden exhibited determination, even stubbornness, despite furious criticism from the establishment figures whose approval he usually craved. 

'For a man vaunted for his empathy, he could be detached, even icy, when confronted with the prospect of human suffering.'

This week marks the second anniversary of the U.S. exit from a 20-year war. The last soldier stepped off Afghan soil on Aug. 30, 2021.

But missteps along the way, capped by a suicide attack that killed 13 U.S. personnel and more than 160 Afghans, mean there will be little official fanfare in Washington to honor the date.

In Foer's telling, those missteps started with Biden's April announcement that U.S. troops would be leaving.

'Biden's speech contained a hole that few noted at the time. It scarcely mentioned the Afghan people, with not even an expression of best wishes for the nation that the United States would be leaving behind,' he writes in his book, which will be published on Sept. 5 by Penguin.

'The Afghans were apparently only incidental to his thinking.'

On top of that, he set September 11, the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, as the deadline for the departure, apparently much to the irritation of Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

'Although he never officially complained about it, Milley didn’t understand the decision,' writes Foer. 'How did it honor the dead to admit defeat in a conflict that had been waged on their behalf?'

 

But Biden expressed fury that coverage focused on the chaos of the withdrawal

But Biden expressed fury that coverage focused on the chaos of the withdrawal

The Americans killed in the blast were: (left to right, starting with top row) Cpl. Daegan W. Page - Sgt. Johanny Rosario Pichardo - Staff Sgt. Darin T. Hoover - Lance Cpl. David L. Espinoza - Lance Cpl. Rylee J. McCollum - Lance Cpl. Kareem M. Nikoui - Cpl. Hunter Lopez - Lance Cpl. Jared M. Schmitz - Staff Sgt. Ryan C. Knauss - Cpl. Humberto A. Sanchez - Navy Corpsman Maxton W. Soviak - Lance Cpl. Dylan R. Merola - Sgt. Nicole L. Gee

The Americans killed in the blast were: (left to right, starting with top row) Cpl. Daegan W. Page - Sgt. Johanny Rosario Pichardo - Staff Sgt. Darin T. Hoover - Lance Cpl. David L. Espinoza - Lance Cpl. Rylee J. McCollum - Lance Cpl. Kareem M. Nikoui - Cpl. Hunter Lopez - Lance Cpl. Jared M. Schmitz - Staff Sgt. Ryan C. Knauss - Cpl. Humberto A. Sanchez - Navy Corpsman Maxton W. Soviak - Lance Cpl. Dylan R. Merola - Sgt. Nicole L. Gee

 

That deadline was quietly shelved.

Planners had accounted for 'catastrophic scenarios' using tabletop simulations, but no-one really believed they would be needed.

The White House believed the Afghan government's armed forces could hold off the Taliban for months, allowing a scaled-down U.S. embassy to stay open, running aid programs and issuing visas.

In the event, an army built to an American model needed American air support and American contractors to fight the enemy. Its troops simply melted away as the Americans left.

Taliban fighters arrived in Kabul on Aug. 15, triggering chaotic scenes at Hamid Karzai International Airport as desperate Afghans tried to flee their new masters.

'After seeing the abject desperation on the HKIA tarmac, the president had told the situation room that he wanted all the planes flying thousands of troops into the airport to leave filled with evacuees,' writes Foer. 'Pilots should pile American citizens and Afghans with visas into those planes.'

 

Taliban forces took control of Kabul on August 15, 2021, triggering a haphazard evacuation of foreign nationals and vulnerable Afghans. And it meant US forces had to rely on Taliban help

Taliban forces took control of Kabul on August 15, 2021, triggering a haphazard evacuation of foreign nationals and vulnerable Afghans. And it meant US forces had to rely on Taliban help

Major General Chris Donahue, commander of the US Army 82nd Airborne Division, pictured boarding a C-17 cargo plane at the Hamid Karzai International Airport on August 30, 2021

Major General Chris Donahue, commander of the US Army 82nd Airborne Division, pictured boarding a C-17 cargo plane at the Hamid Karzai International Airport on August 30, 2021

 

During and after the operation, officials talked up the extraordinary operation. Some 387 sorties flew more than 122,000 people out of Kabul by the end of August 30.

But the media coverage focused on chaos, images of people clinging to departing planes in desperation, and the fact that the U.S. failed to predict the rapid advance of the Taliban. 

'Biden didn't have time to voraciously consume the news, but he was well aware of the coverage, and it infuriated him,' writes Foer. 'It did little to change his mind, though. 

'In the caricature version of Joe Biden that had persisted for decades, he was highly sensitive to shifts in opinion, especially when they emerged from columnists at the Post or the Times. 

'The criticism of the withdrawal caused him to justify the chaos as the inevitable consequence of a difficult decision, even though he had never publicly, or privately, predicted it.'

And Biden tried to micromanage key moments.

Foer wrote that 'Biden would pepper' former Ambassador to Afghanistan John Bass with ideas for how to get 'more evacuees through the gates' of the airport.

'The president's instinct was to throw himself into the intricacies of troubleshooting. Why don't we have them meeting in parking lots? Can't we leave the airport and pick them up?' Foer writes.

_________________

 

Fox News anchor Sean Hannity slammed for calling Joe Biden 'disgraceful' over 'botched withdrawal' speech

 

 
meaww 
Aug 31, 2023
 
 
Fox News anchor Sean Hannity slammed for calling Joe Biden 'disgraceful' over 'botched withdrawal' speech Fox News anchor Sean Hannity was slammed for calling Joe Biden 'disgraceful'  
 
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Fox News anchor Sean Hannity recently posted a tweet on Joe Biden’s statement as he marked the 2nd Anniversary of US withdrawal from Afghanistan.
 
Hannity called Biden ‘disgraceful’ for forgetting service members who died in during the operation.

On Thursday, August 31, Hannity’s tweet featured Biden’s statement on "botched withdrawal" from Afghanistan which was reportedly called a “dark mark” on the POTUS’s presidency.

Just recently, Biden addressed the ongoing Hurricane Idalia, and Hannity did not hold back in reporting on this issue and slamming POTUS.

Hannity spoke about Biden’s kitchen fire incident which the President said was a result of Maui wildfires.

He added in his report that over a year, “Biden has pretty heartlessly compared almost every major disaster to what is an insignificant kitchen fire.”

However, the Fox News host's views backfired brutally and the internet slammed him for his remarks on POTUS. 

Sean Hannity calls Joe Biden ‘disgraceful’

Fox News anchor Sean Hannity tweeted an article on Joe Biden issuing a statement on the 2nd Anniversary of his US withdrawal from Afghanistan.

The tweet had a single word, “Disgraceful.”

The article posted by Hannity was from his official website titled, 'SAY THEIR NAMES: Joe Marks 2nd Anniversary of Botched Withdrawal, Doesn't Mention Service Members Who Died.'

Hannity slammed Biden for failing to acknowledge the thirteen service members who lost their lives in a suicide bombing during the evacuation.

Although Biden portrayed the operation as a success, calling it one of the “largest airlifts in history,” the withdrawal has been a major point of contention in Biden's presidency.

In addition, the matter remains under investigation as GOP ruling party committees continue their investigations to demand accountability and clarify the events surrounding the retreat.

The article also highlighted a tweet from Fox News' official account which read, “Biden marks 2nd anniversary of botched Afghan withdrawal, touts it as ‘one of the largest airlifts in history.”

Internet slams Sean Hannity for ‘lying to viewers’

Many internet users didn’t agree with Sean Hannity’s remark on Joe Biden being "disgraceful" and slammed him brutally for his tweet.

One user wrote, “Oh Sean. The withdrawal was a great success. Biden got every American out who wanted out and over 100,000 of our allies Trump had abandoned.”

Another user pointed out his lies adding, “Running out of lies today? This took place a couple of years ago and you continue to post.”

One user wrote, “You know what is disgraceful? Lying to your viewers on a daily basis.”

A fan took a jab at Hannity and linked him to Donald Trump, “Disgraceful? Did you learn that word from Drumpf himself? You're Nasty Sean!” Another said, “You are far more disgraceful, Sean. Much, much more.”
 
One fan brutally called out the Fox News anchor adding, “Hannity lies for money and he doesn’t care who he hurts. Chaos liar. He stinks.”

DESPICABLE BIDEN IS NOW ENCOURAGING THE USE OF DELETERIOUS WEED

I promise I'm a pro-weed President! Biden asks DEA to downgrade marijuana laws ahead of 2024 election - despite slamming cannabis as a 'gateway drug' as recently as 2019!

 

By Alexa Lardieri 


Daiky Mail

Aug 31, 2023


Biden Confused GIF - Biden Confused GIFs
In 2010 as vice president, Biden told ABC News: 'I still believe it’s a gateway drug. I think it would be a mistake to legalize.' In 2019 Biden made similar comments.
 

America's top health agency has recommended easing restrictions on marijuana, despite rising evidence it can lead to long-term health effects.  

In what could be the biggest change in federal drug policy in decades, the Biden administration's Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has asked the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to downgrade cannabis from a Schedule I substance to a Schedule III substance.

As a Schedule I controlled substance, marijuana is in the same class as heroin, ecstasy and LSD. Drugs in this class are deemed to have a high likelihood of abuse and no medical uses.

A Schedule III designation would put it in the same category as anabolic steroids, testosterone and ketamine, which are considered to have 'moderate to low potential for physical and psychological dependence'.

Despite its classification, 23 states have legalized the drug for recreational use and it is approved for medical use in 38 states, but it is illegal at the federal level no matter its Schedule category. 

In order for cannabis to be made legal on the federal level, the DEA would need to completely deschedule the drug, a much more intense process and one that would require recommendations from multiple government agencies and congressional action. 

 

As a Schedule I drug, trafficking marijuana can land someone in prison for up 40 years. Trafficking a Schedule III drug is subject to no more than 20 years in prison.

As a Schedule I drug, trafficking marijuana can land someone in prison for up 40 years. Trafficking a Schedule III drug is subject to no more than 20 years in prison.

Marijuana is illegal at the federal level, but 23 states have legalized it for recreational use and it is approved for medical use in 38 states (file photo)

Marijuana is illegal at the federal level, but 23 states have legalized it for recreational use and it is approved for medical use in 38 states (file photo)

 

Rescheduling the drug would not make it legal at the federal level, but it could lead to major changes on how the drug is used, regulated and studied.

Downgrading marijuana could potentially allow for more research to be conducted, change the way businesses that sell the drug are taxed and policed and change the way marijuana-related offenses are prosecuted. 

While marijuana legalization has mostly garnered bipartisan support, there are people who speak out about its potentially deleterious effects and the risk of abuse. 

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration reports approximately one-in-10 people who use marijuana will become addicted, and if they begin using it before 18 years old, that rate increases to one-in-six.

In addition to developing an addiction, people who use marijuana can suffer a multitude of health problems, including permanent loss of IQ, depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation and psychotic episodes. 

Marijuana also affects timing, movement and coordination and use during pregnancy may lead to premature birth and problems with a fetus' brain development and cognitive function. 

However, it is still a popular drug in the US. In 2019, marijuana use in people aged 12 years and older increased to 17.5 percent (48 million people) from 11 percent (26 million people) in 2002, SAMHSA reported.

Marijuana use was highest among people aged 18 to 25 years old, with 39 percent reporting they had used the drug in 2019. 

Despite President Joe Biden's recent encouragement to ease marijuana restrictions, he hasn't always been pro-cannabis. In 2010 as vice president, Biden told ABC News: 'I still believe it’s a gateway drug. I’ve spent a lot of my life as chairman of the Judiciary Committee dealing with this. I think it would be a mistake to legalize'.

In 2019, Biden, who has worked during his presidency to reshape US marijuana laws, made similar comments, saying 'there’s not nearly been enough evidence that has been acquired as to whether or not it is a gateway drug'. 

His previous opinions on the matter didn't stop him from pardoning anyone who had been convicted of a federal crime simply for possessing marijuana and directing his administration to expedite a review of the drug's class in October.

On Wednesday, HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said on X: 'I can now share that, following the data and science, HHS has responded to [President Joe Biden's'] directive to me for the department to provide a scheduling recommendation for marijuana to the [Drug Enforcement Agency]. 

'We've worked to ensure that a scientific evaluation be completed and shared expeditiously'. 

The rethink was prompted by a top official at HHS who sent a letter, obtained by Bloomberg News, to the DEA calling for marijuana to be reclassified under the Controlled Substances Act. 

While a review of marijuana's classification was first spurred on by HHS, the DEA will have final authority to make any changes after a rulemaking process that includes a period for public comment. 

There are five types of scheduled drugs under the Controlled Substances Act, ranging from I to V, differentiated by their potential risk for abuse and dependence.

Schedule I drugs are those defined as drugs with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse. 

Schedule III drugs are those with a moderate to low potential for physical and psychological dependence and their abuse risk is lower than Schedule I and II drugs. 

While marijuana laws differ state-by-state, a related offense falls under federal rules and regulations when it occurs across state lines or on federal land, such as a national park or international airport located in the US. 

Additionally, if offenses by Americans take place between US and another country, they may be charged under federal jurisdiction. 

Under federal law, it is a criminal offense for a person to be in possession of any amount of marijuana. 

A first conviction for possession is punishable by up to one year in jail and a $1,000 fine. A second conviction has a maximum punishment of up to two years in prison and a fine of $2,500. A third is punishable by a maximum of three years in prison and a fine of $5,000. 

Marijuana trafficking laws are much harsher and can land someone in prison from five to 40 years and up to a $1millon fine. 

For trafficking a Schedule III drug, a first offense is subject to no more than 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. A second offense is subject to no more than 20 years in prison and a fine not to exceed $1million.

ONE OF THE NICEST PEOPLE IN THE WORLD IS SENTENCED TO 17 YEARS IN PRISON

Former Proud Boys leader Joe Biggs sobs during sentencing as he's given 17 YEARS in prison over January 6 after begging court not to separate him from his daughter and cancer-stricken mom

Biggs' sentence is one of the harshest handed out in Capitol riot cases, only behind the 18-year sentence for Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes

 

By Germania Rodriguez Poleo 

 

Daily Mail

Aug 31, 20223

 

'I wanted to see what would happen... My curiosity got the best of me,' said Biggs (seen in mugshot). 'I’m not a terrorist… I’m one of the nicest people in the world'

'I wanted to see what would happen... My curiosity got the best of me,' said Biggs (seen in mugshot). 'I’m not a terrorist… I’m one of the nicest people in the world'

 

Former Proud Boys leader Joe Biggs sobbed as he was sentenced to 17 years in prison over his role in the January 6, 2021, riots at the U.S. Capitol.

Biggs, Ethan Nordean, Zachary Rehl and Enrique Tarrio were all found guilty of seditious conspiracy by a Washington D.C. jury after they broke into the Capitol following the 2020 election.

During his sentencing on Thursday, Biggs' lawyers argued he did not assault anyone as they asked for leniency.

Biggs, of Ormond Beach, Florida, was a self-described Proud Boys organizer, but said he is 'not a violent person and I proved that' and was 'seduced by the crowd.'

Waring an orange prison jumpsuit, he pleaded with the judge, saying he wanted to take his daughter to school and be there for his sick mother. 

 

Former Proud Boys leader Joe Biggs sobbed as he was sentenced to 17 years in prison over his role in the January 6 , 2021, riots at the U.S. Capitol

Former Proud Boys leader Joe Biggs sobbed as he was sentenced to 17 years in prison over his role in the January 6 , 2021, riots at the U.S. Capitol 

 

'I know that I have to be punished and I understand,' he said, according to CNN, but added, 'please give me the chance, I beg you, to take my daughter to school and pick her up.'

'I wanted to see what would happen... My curiosity got the best of me,' he claimed. 'I’m not a terrorist… I’m one of the nicest people in the world.'

Judge Timothy Kelly wasn't having it, as he said Americans are the envy of the world and U.S. elections must be respected, telling Biggs: 'You did play a role in riling up the crowd.'

'If you don’t like how an election is being conducted ..you can speak out, call, write or meet with election officials. You can engage in peaceful protest. File a lawsuit.'

The judge ruled that Biggs qualified for a terrorism sentencing enhancement because he teared down a fence that stood between police and rioters.

Former Proud Boys chairman Tarrio, who faces up to 33 years in prison, was supposed to be sentenced on Wednesday but the hearing was suspended after the judge became ill.

Tarrio led the neo-fascist group - known for street fights with left-wing activists - when Trump infamously told the Proud Boys to 'stand back and stand by' during his first debate with Joe Biden. 

Bigg's sentence is one of the harshest handed out in Capitol riot cases, only behind the 18-year sentence for Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes.

Prosecutors had asked for 33 years for Biggs, arguing he was a 'vocal leader and influential proponent of the group’s shift toward political violence.'

 

The judge ruled that Biggs (left) was qualified for a terrorism sentencing enhancement because he teared down of a fence that stood between police and rioters

The judge ruled that Biggs (left) was qualified for a terrorism sentencing enhancement because he teared down of a fence that stood between police and rioters

Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio (pictured with Joseph Biggs) has also been found guilty of seditious conspiracy over January 6 riot in 2021

Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio (pictured with Joseph Biggs) has also been found guilty of seditious conspiracy over January 6 riot in 2021

 

Biggs is a veteran who sustained a head injury while deployed in Iraq, and worked for Alex Jones' conspiracy website Infowars.

Prosecutors argued the Proud Boys were at the front lines of the mob on Capitol grounds and were there when the first barriers were breached.

During the trial, the court heard that hundreds of messages were exchanged between the group leading up to the riot.

The group saw Biden and other left-leaning politicians as a threat to the country and spoke about needing 'war,' 'revolution,' and firing squads for traitors. 

Ahead of the riot, Biggs told followers of his on the social media app Parler to dress in black to resemble the far-left Antifa movement, the affidavit said.

Biggs appeared to be wearing a walkie-talkie during the storming of the Capitol, but he told FBI agents that he had no knowledge about the planning of the destructive riot and didn't know who organized it. 

Prior to the riot he had organized a 2019 rally in Portland, Oregon, in which more than 1,000 far-right protesters and anti-fascist counter-demonstrators faced off. 

In the clip he posted, Biggs is wearing the same black and white American flag face mask as in the video that caught him in the Capitol.

The footage begins with rioters clambering through a window into the federal building and chanting 'Whose house? Our house.'

 

But in an interview with DailyMail.com, Biggs claimed the only reason he went inside the building was because he ¿wanted to take a piss'When asked why he told other rioters in the video that being inside the Capitol was ¿awesome¿, Biggs said he meant 'awe-inspiring', but also ¿awful¿

Biggs claimed the only reason he went inside the building was because he 'wanted to take a piss'. When asked why he told other rioters in the video that being inside the Capitol was 'awesome', Biggs said he meant 'awe-inspiring', but also 'awful'

 

The woman filming shouts '1776 motherf***ers' - a reference to the American Revolutionary War. 

She turns to Biggs, dressed in a grey checked shirt and black beanie, and shouts 'Biggs what you got to say?'

Biggs briefly pulls up his grey US flag bandanna to cover his face, then pulls it down and grins, replying 'this is awesome' before storming forward into the building.

In an interview with DailyMail.com, Biggs claimed the only reason he went inside the building was because he 'wanted to take a piss.' 

'The entire time I was in there I felt bad, I didn't want to be there. I didn't touch anything, I didn't break anything, I didn't steal anything. There was no ill intent other than I really needed a f***ing piss,' he said.

'I went to the bathroom, washed my hands and found another cop and asked him 'how the hell do I get out of here?' He showed me the way out. I left and stayed outside. That's the only thing I did.'

When asked why he told other rioters in the video that being inside the Capitol was 'awesome', Biggs said he meant 'awe-inspiring', but also 'awful'.

The right-wing organization leader told DailyMail.com at the time that he had contacted the FBI of his own accord after the riots and scheduled a meeting with agents in Florida.

'I'm going to turn myself in. I've got nothing to hide. At the most they could get me for trespassing,' he said.

During the month long trial, prosecutors argued that the Proud Boys viewed themselves as foot soldiers fighting for Trump as the Republican spread lies that Democrats stole the election from him.

Attorneys argued that members of the group were prepared to go to war to keep their preferred leader in power.

Defense lawyers denied there was any plot to attack the Capitol or stop Congress' certification of Biden's win. 

The investigation has become the largest for the Justice Department in American history, and it hadn't tried a seditious conspiracy case in over a decade.   

The riots followed months of false claims by Trump and his allies that the election had been rigged against him. 

A select House committee investigated the riots and in its final report accused Trump of a criminal conspiracy to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

The committee estimated that from the election to Jan. 6, the president and aides made hundreds of efforts to pressure officials to overturn the results.

Targets included states he lost but that had GOP-led legislatures such as Michigan, Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Arizona.

 

Tarrio wrote 'Do what must be done' on social media as they swarmed the Capitol, and when asked what they should do next, he replied: 'Do it again'

Tarrio wrote 'Do what must be done' on social media as they swarmed the Capitol, and when asked what they should do next, he replied: 'Do it again'

Prosecutors argued the Proud Boys were at the front lines of the mob on Capitol grounds and were there when the first barriers were breached

Prosecutors argued the Proud Boys were at the front lines of the mob on Capitol grounds and were there when the first barriers were breached 

 

One of the bombshell revelations was that key witness, former White House aid Cassidy Hutchinson told investigators that she felt pressure from Trump's circle to stay silent.

According to her testimony, a former Trump White House ethics lawyer told her that 'the less you remember, the better.'

Trump has since been indicted for this role in the riots, with a grand jury indictment accusing him of spreading 'lies' and 'sham' investigations while stoking an 'angry' mob on January 6.

Special Counsel Jack Smith said in a televised public statement following the release of the indictment that the attack on the Capitol was 'fueled by lies' made by Trump 'targeted at obstructing the bedrock function of the U.S. government - the nation's process of collecting, counting and certifying the results of the presidential election.' He pledged that his office will conduct a 'speedy' trial. 

Trump is facing four counts including conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government and obstruct the electoral count for trying to overturn the 2020 election. The 45-page indictment says he was 'determined to remain in power' despite 'having lost.' 

He and his six co-conspirators 'used knowingly false claims of election fraud' to try to 'subvert the legitimate election results and change electoral votes' to take down Joe Biden, according to the indictment. 

He has plead not guilty. 

Oath Keepers' Stewart Rhodes sentenced to 18 years 

 

Color photograph of Stewart Rhodes wearing an Oath Keepers helmetOath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes

 

It is the longest sentence handed down to the hundreds of Donald Trump supporters who ransacked the seat of US democracy on January 6, 2021. Rhodes was found guilty of seditious conspiracy in November and was today found to have committed domestic terrorism.

A Yale-graduate who founded the Oath Keepers in 2009, he has been described as a disturbingly charismatic figure who convinced dozens of members of the far-right group to travel to Washington with the deliberate intention of stoking unrest. 

Rhodes has been in custody since January 2022 when he was denied bail after his estranged wife published images of a network of tunnels he had constructed below his home in Montana. A federal judge ruled that the secret burrows meant he posed a flight risk. 

THE HOSPITAL FOOD MUST HAVE BEEN REALLY BAD

Florida patient wearing medical gown flees hospital in stolen ambulance 

 

August 31, 2023

 

Woman who stole ambulance arrested. Marquisa Allen allegedly stole an ambulance after noticing EMS workers left it unmanned outside a hospital.  

 

Talk about a sick ride.

A Florida hospital patient still in her medical gown was arrested Wednesday after she stole an ambulance, police said.

Marquisa Allen, 25, of Miami allegedly led Port St. Lucie officers on a bizarre chase when she spontaneously decided to steal the unmanned truck.

Officials said she had been sitting on a bench outside the HCA Florida St. Lucie Hospital — dressed in the blue hospital gown — when she noticed EMS personnel leave the ambulance running while they dropped a patient off inside.

 

                                      Woman who stole ambulance arrested.
Allen was still dressed in a blue hospital gown and matching socks when cops tracked her down.

Allen peeled out of the hospital parking lot, but failed to consider one detail: the ambulance was outfitted with a GPS tracker that immediately provided officers with her exact location, the PSLPD said in a statement. 

She was quickly tracked down amid the heavy traffic of the Florida Turnpike.

Allen allegedly jumped out of the vehicle and bolted — despite not wearing any shoes — but was soon outpaced by Florida Highway Patrol troopers.

Photos of the arrest show Allen sitting on the side of the highway dressed in the gown and blue hospital-issued socks.

 The ambulance on the side of the road.Police were able to quickly find Allen thanks to a GPS inside the ambulance.

 

According to a PSLPD spokesperson, Allen was not being held at the hospital and was “free to leave” when she jacked the ambulance.

Officials couldn’t disclose why she was at the hospital in the first place, but pointed out that there is no behavioral unit at the medical center.

Troopers charged her with giving false information to police, driving while with a suspended license and resisting without violence.

The PSLPD anticipates adding additional charges to the list.

THE COW DID NOT COMPLAIN

Man caught having sex with cow after triggering alarm placed by farmer 

 

August 31, 2023

 

Cartoon happy cow isolated on white background

 

It was an udderly despicable act of cowpulation.

A British man snuck into a farm in the middle of the night and had sex with a cow – but was discovered when he triggered an alarm placed by the animal’s wary owner, the Mirror reported.

A DNA sample proved Liam Brown, 25, had intercourse with the animal in Burton, near ​Dorset, on June 12, 2022, according to the outlet.

On Aug. 25, the sicko sobbed at Poole Magistrates Court when he pleaded guilty to sexual penetration with a living animal and causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal.

“The defendant was found by members of the farming family who had concerns regarding the welfare of the young livestock in question and set up alarms in the area,” prosecutor Charles Nightingale said.

 Liam BrownLiam Brown, 25, pleaded guilty to having sex with a cow. 


“On the night in question they were alerted by alarms and equipment they had set up with the result that the defendant was found,” he said. “Subsequently, samples were taken from the animal confirming the intercourse in question.”

Brown had been known to the farmers since he was a child because some of his relatives had been employed there, according to the report.

“The family who own the farm want him nowhere near it,” Nightingale said.

 Farm where cow was violated Brown violated the cow at this farm in Burton, England.BNPS

Farm where cow was violated The owners of the farm caught the perv using surveillance equipment.

 

Bown was released on bail pending sentencing Sept. 22 at a crown court.

“It is going to crown court because the offenses are so serious it is possible you need greater punishment than we can give,” the judge told Brown as he sought to steer him straight.

IT DOES NOT PAY TO PISS OFF OR EMBARRASS THE KING

By Bob Walsh


                                   PR consultant Anthony Bailey turned up in the Royal Enclosure at Ascot last month sporting a badge saying ‘Sir Anthony Bailey’

                                                     Anthony Bailey

 
King Charlie III has removed the OBE (Order of the British Empire) from Anthony Bailey, a former PR guy.  He went thru a very nasty divorce from Princess Marie-Theresa von Hohenberg of Austria and ended up sentenced to 12 months in the slammer for breaching the divorce agreement.  

He got the OBE in 2008 for being an all-around nice guy and helping some charities along.  

He married the young lady in 2007 and went to splitsville in 2019.  Bailey has yet to serve any time as he has remained in the U.K. and not returned to Austria where 12 months as a guest of the people await him.

It is a rare move, but not unique.  Harvey Weinstein was stripped of his OBE after his 2020 conviction on sex offense.
 
Anthony Blunt, the Queen's art curator, lost his when it was discovered he was as Soviet spy.
 
Hasseem Hamed, a professional fighter, lost his after fleeing from a car crash.
 
Rolf Harris, a former TV talking head, lost his MBE, CBE and OBE after being convicted of 12 counts of indecent assault on YOUNG girls.

WILL THE ISRAELI SUPREME COURT OVERTURN THE NOVEMBER 1, 2022 ELECTION?

Will Israeli democracy survive the court?

An unelected group of ethically challenged, self-selected men and women may rule that Netanyahu must be removed from office. 

 

By Caroline Glick

 

JNS

Aug 31, 2023

 

Israeli Supreme Court President Esther Hayut (center) with other justices at court in Jerusalem, May 29, 2022. Photo by Yonatan Sindel/Flash90.

Israeli Supreme Court President Esther Hayut (center) with other justices at court in Jerusalem.

 

On Sept. 28, Israel’s Supreme Court is expected to rule in favor of a petition from the far-left Movement for Quality Government to overturn the Nov. 1, 2022 elections.

In January, MQG petitioned the Supreme Court asking the justices to ban newly sworn in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from serving in office. MQG argued that, with all due respect to the 2.4 million Israelis who voted for Netanyahu, as a criminal defendant, Netanyahu is legally “incapacitated” from performing his duties in office and, therefore, the Supreme Court should order Attorney General Gali Baharav Miara to declare Netanyahu “incapacitated” and oust him from power.

MQG’s petition was ridiculous on its face. The Supreme Court ruled in an 11-0 judgment in March 2020 that Netanyahu may serve as prime minister while standing trial.

Israel’s Basic Law: The Government stipulates that a prime minister can only be compelled to leave office if he has been convicted of criminal charges, and even then, only after he has exhausted all appeals.

Until the MQG submitted its petition, the incapacitation clause of the law was understood to refer only to physical or mental incapacitation. Moreover, no law empowers the attorney general to deem the prime minister incapacitated. That power was vested in Israel’s elected leaders in the government and Knesset. All the same, the justices agreed to adjudicate the petition.

Baharav Miara also didn’t reject the notion that she has the power to oust the prime minister. Instead, the attorney general installed by the previous government and still acting on its behalf to paralyze the Netanyahu government claimed that Netanyahu cannot be deemed incapacitated so long as he upholds the conflict-of-interest agreement he signed upon entering office. Baharav Miara insisted the agreement bars Netanyahu from dealing with judicial reform. By implication, Baharav Miara intimated that the converse was also true.

Immediately after Baharav Miara expressed that position, Coalition Leader MK Ofir Katz (Likud), submitted a bill to amend Basic Law: The Government to explicitly prevent Baharav Miara from ousting Netanyahu from power and thus overturning the elections. Katz’s draft bill, which was passed in March, made explicit what until then had merely been understood: The prime minister may only be deemed incapacitated if he is physically or mentally incapable of continuing to fulfill his duties. The power to make such a determination lies not with the unelected attorney general, but with Israel’s elected leaders—the government and the Knesset. The amended law stipulates that three-fourths of the government and two-thirds of the Knesset must support such a determination in order to oust the elected leader of the country from power.

While Katz’s bill made its way through the Knesset, Netanyahu studiously avoided all involvement in his government’s central effort on judicial reform. His absence left a leadership vacuum that arguably doomed the government’s first effort to pass its judicial reform agenda. Without Netanyahu at the helm, a handful of Likud MKs led by Defense Minister Yoav Gallant lost their nerve in the face of the Left’s riots and indicated that they would vote against judicial reform.

Immediately after the Knesset passed the amendment to the Basic Law, Netanyahu reasserted his leadership. His move played a significant role in the coalition’s successful passage of its first judicial reform bill in June.

For its part, MQG quickly submitted a new petition to the Supreme Court asking the justices to abrogate the amendment to Basic Law: The Government and empower Baharav Miara to oust Netanyahu.

If there was any doubt regarding Baharav Miara’s intentions, her reaction to the legislation’s passage dispelled them. Baharav Miara penned a letter to the Court supporting the abrogation of the amendment to the Basic Law. Her behavior showed that if the Court abrogates the amendment, Baharav Miara will either oust Netanyahu by declaring him incapacitated or use her power to unseat him at any time to force Netanyahu to abandon his government’s judicial reform plans. Either way, Baharav Miara obviously plans to nullify the results of the Nov. 1 elections.

Here is the place to note that MQG’s petition has no legal basis. The Supreme Court has no legal authority to abrogate or change Basic Laws. Indeed, there is no law that permits the Supreme Court to abrogate regular laws.

In 1995, then-Supreme Court President Aharon Barak seized the power to overturn duly promulgated laws of the Knesset. Barak argued that the source of the Court’s authority was Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty from 1992. Barak proclaimed in that judgment that the Knesset is not merely a parliament, it is Israel’s “Constitutive Authority.”

Barak asserted that the Knesset’s Basic Laws are actually Israel’s constitution. Every Basic Law is part of that constitution. After inventing a constitution out of whole cloth, Barak declared that the Basic Laws are the source of the Supreme Court’s authority to abrogate laws that are not Basic Laws.

In order to empower Baharav Miara to overturn the elections by ousting Netanyahu from office, the justices now need to figure out how to assert the power to abrogate what they have long insisted is the source of their authority—the Basic Laws.

As he did with his 1995 judgment, this week Barak published an article in an online legal journal in which he provided what he argues is the basis for the Court’s new power to abrogate Basic Laws—that is, to abrogate what he himself proclaimed is the source of the Court’s authority.

Barak predicated his new constitutional hijinks on the introduction of Israel’s Declaration of Independence as the new “super-constitutional,” primordial source of all powers.

As Akiva Bigman noted in an analysis of Barak’s article published in Mida online magazine Wednesday, David Ben-Gurion and his colleagues who signed the Declaration of Independence on May 15, 1948 made clear that the document was political and declarative. Its purpose was to formalize Israel’s transition from colonial status under the British Mandatory government to a newly sovereign and independent state. It was not to determine the constitutional regime under which the new State of Israel would be governed. Notably, while the Declaration declared Israel a Jewish state, the word “democratic” never appeared in the text.

All the same, Barak wrote that the Declaration of Independence set out “the principles on which the expanse of the Knesset’s powers as the constitutive assembly must be interpreted.”

Barak wrote, “Our approach”—that is, the approach of the justices—is to view “the Declaration of Independence as the external source of the Basic Laws and, on its basis, limits can be placed on the expanse of the Knesset’s powers as the primary constitutive assembly.”

According to Barak, the Declaration’s aspirational proclamation, “The State of Israel will provide equal social and political rights to all its citizens without regard to religion, race or sex” is the super-constitutional basis for the Knesset’s constitutive powers. Supreme Court justices have the power to overturn or limit the Knesset’s constitutive powers if they decide that its Basic Laws undermine this declaration.

Barak dispensed with the fact that the Declaration makes no mention of democracy by proclaiming that the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the Declaration “has emphasized over and over Israel’s identity as a Jewish and democratic state.”

As Bigman showed, Barak then moved to the Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty. Barak himself wrote the law, which the Knesset passed with barely a quorum present in 1992. The law, which includes flowery language about rights and dignity, struck most lawmakers as nothing more than verbiage with no substantive implications. That is why barely anyone showed up to vote on it.

Barak had other plans. Beginning in 1992, he used that Basic Law as the basis of his judicial revolution, which saw the Supreme Court seizing the power to legislate and dictate policies from the bench while accepting no limits—aside from Basic Laws—on its powers. 

In his article, Barak insisted that his Basic Law is no mere Basic Law.

“If the Declaration of Independence is the State of Israel’s ‘Birth Certificate’ … then its values as a Jewish and democratic state [as expressed in Basic Law: Human Dignity and Freedom] are its high school diploma. These two certificates determine the rules the Knesset as the primary constitutive authority is prohibited from deviating from.”

Barak then proclaimed that through its interpretation of the Declaration of Independence and Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty, the Court is empowered to abrogate Basic Laws. Indeed, “This is not only the Court’s right, it is its duty. The Court is not permitted to release itself from this obligation. The Court must not permit the People’s Will to turn into a dead letter,” Barak exhorted his disciples on the current Court.

Barak has long insisted that he and his disciples are the custodians of Israel’s “enlightened” values. Far from mere judges, they are Platonic Guardians. But how enlightened are they really?

Supreme Court President Esther Hayut is set to retire on Oct. 15. According to the Court’s “seniority rule” for selection of its presidents, Hayut’s successor is supposed to be Justice Yitzhak Amit. Last Friday, Maariv investigative reporter Kalman Liebskind reported that, in breach of Amit’s conflict of interest agreement, Amit has repeatedly adjudicated court cases involving Israel’s International Bank, of which his brother Dov Goldfreund is a director. He has also adjudicated a major case directly impacting Dor Alon Energy, of which his brother-in-law Israel Yaniv serves as chairman.

Amit’s behavior bespeaks contempt for the ethical rules that apply to all public servants. Amit is not alone. Hayut was also found to have repeatedly adjudicated cases that involved insurance companies her husband represented. Barak himself has been credibly accused of exploiting his position during his tenure as Supreme Court president to advance his family’s financial interests.

In other words, the justices Barak insists are the guardians of the “People’s Will” believe the ethical standards politicians are held to don’t apply to them.

All the same, if everything goes as expected, in the coming weeks, acting on Barak’s new orders, these ethically challenged, self-selected men and women will seize what is left of the Knesset’s sovereign powers and empower an unelected attorney general hostile to Netanyahu and his government to effectively cancel the votes of 2.4 million Israelis by ousting Netanyahu from power.

How events will proceed is unknowable. Levin penned a letter to Baharav Miara Wednesday exposing her incompetence and failure to carry out any of her statutory duties. Many commentators speculated that his letter may form the basis of a government decision to fire her.

Also Wednesday, Associate Justice Yosef Elron stunned his colleagues by challenging the seniority rule by presenting himself as a candidate to succeed Hayut instead of Amit. These events or others that have yet to happen may shake Hayut’s belief in her own invincibility and force her and her colleagues to step away from the brink. Or things may go on as expected and she and her underlings may formally destroy the last vestiges of Israeli democracy.

BIDEN'S MORALLY BANKRUPT STATE DEPARTMENT

The US State Department's double standard against Israel

The DOS wrongly condemns Israeli officials' statements while ignoring Palestinian leaders' racist and inflammatory remarks. 

 

By  Morton A. Klein 


Israel Hayom

Aug 31, 2023

 

The morally bankrupt current US State Department told the Times of Israel that Ben Gvir's Jewish-life-preserving comments were "inflammatory" and compared Ben Gvir's comments to racist rhetoric.  


The US State Department and left-wing Jewish organizations' moral compass is backward. They remain silent about the Palestinian Authority's top leaders inciting and incentivizing anti-Jewish terror – but wrongly condemn Israel's National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir's statements about the need to protect Jews from the ongoing wave of Arab terror attacks. 

It is evident to anyone with a shred of compassion and decency that innocent Jews have a right to be protected from Arab terrorism, even if Arabs are inconvenienced. To put it succinctly, Jewish lives matter. 

Saying this moral truth is neither racist nor inflammatory. But what is racist and inflammatory is paying Arabs to murder Jews, inciting the murder of Jews with antisemitic blood libels, teaching Arab children to hate and murder Jews, honoring and celebrating terrorists who killed Jews – all of which is done by the PA and its top leaders.

Ben-Gvir was right to say, "My right, the right of my wife and my children to move around Judea and Samaria is more important than freedom of movement for the Arabs. The right to life comes before freedom of movement." 

 Jewish lives matter. It matters when a Jewish child sees her mother gunned down and murdered by Arab terrorists shooting at cars carrying Jews on the road – as happened just last week, and has been happening too often in recent months and years.  

Stopping the murder of innocent Jewish lives must outweigh convenience to Palestinian Arabs.

Yet, the morally bankrupt current US State Department told the Times of Israel that Ben Gvir's Jewish-life-preserving comments were "inflammatory" and compared Ben Gvir's comments to racist rhetoric.  

In addition, the American Jewish Committee blasted Ben-Gvir's comments, and shamefully, the far-left Israel Policy Forum and the Democratic Majority for Israel called his life-saving statements "racist." 

Moreover, Ben-Gvir's critics dishonestly distorted his comments and omitted that he was comparing the Jews' right to be free from terror attacks to inconveniences to Palestinian Arabs' freedom of movement. The critics deceptively portrayed Ben-Gvir as elevating Jewish freedom of movement above Palestinian Arab freedom of movement. 

In stark contrast to these attacks on Ben-Gvir for trying to save lives at a time when Jews face daily Arab terror attacks, the State Department and left-wing Jewish groups said nothing about the latest antisemitic horrors from the PA. 

 For instance, just two weeks ago – on August 9, 2023 – Palestinian minister Mohammed Shtayyeh honored so-called "martyrs," that is terrorists, in a ceremony for Arab high school students. 

Shtayyeh told the impressionable students: "It is our right to resist [i.e., commit terror against] this criminal occupation [i.e., Israel]."

Shtayyeh also insisted that all of Israel was Palestinian Arab land ("every grain of soil of the motherland"); and insisted that the PA "will not change even one letter" of its school curriculum that teaches Palestinian Arabs to hate and murder Jews.

Official Palestinian media has repeatedly rebroadcasted its leader Mahmoud Abbas' infamous 2015 statement urging Arabs to "spill blood" to prevent Jews from "defiling" Al Aqsa with their "filthy feet," and to obtain Jerusalem, and urging that Allah will reward the "martyrs" who and are wounded or killed while spilling Jewish blood.

 Abbas blood-libeled Israel and openly called for the murder of Israelis in broadcasts again last year. He falsely accused the "Zionist occupier" of committing "premeditated murder . . . against our sons" and "We must dish out to them twice as much as we've received."  

 PA leadership makes sure that every Arab receives a constant drumbeat of incitement. For instance, around the same time that Abbas called for Arabs to "dish out" murder against Jews, the PA-controlled Nablus Fatah branch called for "invading towns and central junctions" of "the Zionist enemy and its settler herds." 

Official PA television rebroadcasts music videos and song and dance numbers teaching that life is insignificant; urging Arabs to commit suicide bombings in Haifa and other Israeli cities and to achieve bloody "sweet martyrdom," and glorifying suicide bombers who murdered or wounded scores of Israelis, including Jewish children. 


Courtesy
A Palestinian summer camp where high schoolers are taught to kill Jews
 

 At the PA ruling party Fatah's summer camp this summer, Arab high-school campers were taught to attack Israelis, handle Kalashnikov rifles, and sing about "revolution and a rifle."

Where are the State Department and left-wing Jewish groups' statements condemning Shtayyeh and Abbas' vicious incitement against Jews as racist and inflammatory?  

 Where are the statements condemning Shtayyeh for again refusing to stop teaching Arab schoolchildren to hate and kill Jews? Or condemning the ruling PA party for running terrorists-in-training summer camps?Where are the statements condemning the PA for continuing its racist, heinous policy of paying $400 million per year of "pay to slay" rewards to Arabs to murder Jews? 

 Nowhere. It's long past time for the US State Department and leftwing Jewish groups to start caring about Jewish lives, to stop condemning Israeli officials who want to save Jewish lives and to start condemning the PA and its leaders who are bent on murdering innocent Jewish people.

ISRAEL DESTROYED AN IRANIAN MILITARY SHIPMENT CONTAINING SENSITIVE EQUIPMENT

Iran says it will retaliate against Israel for Syrian airport strike

There is growing concern that Iran and its proxies will launch a major attack before Israel’s next-gen missile shield goes operational.

 

Israel Today 

 

Israeli missiles hit Aleppo airport in Syria, March 7, 2023.

Israeli missiles hit Aleppo airport in Syria

 

Iran on Wednesday threatened revenge for an alleged Israeli attack on Syrian territory earlier in the week that put Aleppo’s main airport out of service, the Associated Press reported.

Speaking at a press conference in Damascus, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said, “The criminal practices by the Zionist entity in the region will not remain without retaliation.”

The strike on Aleppo International Airport on Monday was attributed to Israel by Syrian state media.

Ynet cited a Saudi network as reporting hours after the attack that Israel had destroyed an “Iranian military shipment containing sensitive equipment.”

Israel has allegedly struck hundreds of targets in Syria in recent years as part of an effort to prevent Iranian military entrenchment in the country. However, it rarely acknowledges these incidents.

Meanwhile, there is growing concern that Iran and its proxies, in particular Lebanon’s Hezbollah, will soon launch a major attack on the Jewish state.

While earlier reports suggested Iran does not feel now is the opportune time for war with Israel, preferring to wait until the Jewish state weakens itself further through internal turmoil, recent technological developments might be influencing a shift in Tehran’s timetable.

Israeli arms developer Rafael announced this week that its new missile shield system dubbed “Iron Beam,” but known in Hebrew as Magen Or – Light Shield, will be operational in about one year. In two years’ time, the laser-based system is expected to make all of Israel nearly impervious to missile attacks of any kind.

Hezbollah’s primary threat to the Jewish state is its massive arsenal of short- and medium-range missiles deployed across southern Lebanon. The Iron Beam threatens to make this arsenal almost entirely irrelevant.

BIDEN FUNDED TERRORISTS ATTACK SCHOOL

Palestinian terrorists shoot up Arab school for teaching Israeli curriculum

Gunmen connected to Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas claimed credit for the outrageous attack.

 

Israel Today 

The Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades are designated as terrorists by the US, while Washington continues to give money to their boss, Mahmoud Abbas. Photo by Nasser Ishtayeh/Flash90

The Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades are designated as terrorists by the US, while the Biden administration continues to give money to their boss, Mahmoud Abbas. 

 

Palestinian attacks on Israeli Jews are by now expected, and are often explained away as “natural resistance.” But yesterday an incident occurred that verified the Palestinians don’t want peaceful coexistence. They want the Jews gone.

And it’s very important to pay close attention to who exactly carried out this attack.

Terrorists affiliated with the Palestinian Authority opened fire at a new Arab school in the Kafr Aqab neighborhood of northeastern Jerusalem on Wednesday because it will be teaching the curriculum of Israeli Arab schools.

In a letter that was reportedly left at the site, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an armed “militia” of PA leader Mahmoud Abbas’s own Fatah faction, claimed responsibility for the shooting.

“We will cripple with an iron first anyone who helps establish the school,” wrote the US-designated terrorist group, claiming that the Israeli curriculum “falsifies and targets the ancient and contemporary history of Palestine.”

[Editor’s Note: One might ask how the US can at the same time designate an armed branch of the PA as terrorists, while also providing US taxpayers’ dollars to the PA.]

Moreover, the attackers left graffiti reading, “The school year cannot be opened,” Kan News reported. The Israel Police is investigating the attack in cooperation with the IDF and the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet).

The targeted school is one of four new educational institutions in Kafr Aqab, funded by the Jerusalem Municipality, that will prepare students for an Israeli bagrut (high school matriculation) diploma. The school was supposed to open later this week.

Of roughly 110,000 Arab students in eastern Jerusalem, 85% follow the Palestinian Authority curriculum, Lach Yerushalayim, an NGO that focuses on Jerusalem-related issues, told JNS earlier this year.

“The Palestinian Authority, which is frankly the enemy of Israel, pushes the Palestinian narrative. Israel tries to fight this through a type of censorship, but it’s not succeeding within the schools,” Lach Yerushalayim Chairman Maor Tzemach said at the time.

Kafr Aqab is within the Israeli capital’s municipal boundaries. However, security forces rarely enter the neighborhood since it is situated on the far side of the security barrier. Most of Kafr Aqab’s residents have Israeli residency status, allowing free movement within the country.

THE GROWING ISOLATIONISM AMONG REPUBLICANS

GOP tension over Israel

For those of us who care about the strength and reliability of the US-Israel relationship, the result was unsettling.

 

By Dan Schnur 

 

Businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, left, and former UN ambassador Nikki Haley, right, speak during a Republican presidential primary debate hosted by FOX News Channel in Milwaukee, August 23, 2022. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
Nikki Haley challenges Vivek Ramaswamy during the Republican debate

It is widely agreed that Donald Trump won last week’s Republican primary debate by not showing up. But his absence also allowed us to hear more from the other candidates and therefore get a glimpse of how the GOP might approach its post-Trump future. For those of us who care about the strength and reliability of the US-Israel relationship, the result was unsettling.

Over the course of the evening, two possibilities emerged as a potential Republican foreign policy after Trump leaves the building. The first, personified most visibly by former Vice President Mike Pence and former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, sounded like a restoration of the pre-Trump GOP’s vision for America on a world stage, an assertive and interventionist global presence that supports our allies and protects them against potentially harmful foreign aggression.

The alternative, represented by technology entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and Florida governor Ron DeSantis, echoed a populist and isolationist brand of conservatism that had been largely dormant until Trump’s election in 2016 and has been building support within the party ever since.

The two sides clashed on Ukraine and China, but their most notable dispute was over Israel, where Haley attacked Ramaswamy for his proposal to end US aid to the Jewish state by 2028. Ramaswamy tried to change the subject by proclaiming his admiration for Israeli immigration and crime policy and his opposition to Iran’s nuclear aspirations. But Haley was relentless, blasting him for what she characterized as the abandonment of a loyal friend.

Ramaswamy exhibited a similar hands-off attitude toward Ukraine and Taiwan, reflecting a growing sentiment in the Republican Party that is more suspicious of an American global presence than at any time since shortly after World War II. But the grassroots conservative shift away from US international engagement has always exempted Israel, primarily because of the influential bloc of evangelical Christians within the GOP. DeSantis is an apt example of this dynamic, combining vocal support for Israel with a more ambivalent attitude toward Ukraine and other global hotspots.

But Ramaswamy, who like Trump possesses unusually acute instincts as to the passions of the most ardent Republican activists, appears to be willing to include Israel as a part of his broader disregard for the United States’ obligations to longtime allies. His argument is that expanding the Abraham Accords will provide such economic and security benefits that US financial support will no longer be necessary, an analysis which is either breathtakingly optimistic, hopelessly naive or intentionally oblivious. But Ramaswamy would not be taking such a position if he did not believe there would be a sizable audience for it.

For most of the last 30 years, the bipartisan threats toward Jews and the Jewish state came from predictable places on the furthest points of the political spectrum. The ultra-conservative extremists who surfaced in Charlottesville and elsewhere voice an ugly nationalism that gave voice to “Jews will not replace us” epithets. Equally extreme activists on the far left have asserted a “river to the sea” anti-Zionism so virulent that it oozes into antisemitism. This has left American Jews to balance an uncomfortable equilibrium, recognizing that Republicans may be more ardent in their support for Israel but that Democrats are more natural allies in domestic politics and culture.

But suppose that Ramaswamy’s sense of rank and file Republicans is accurate? What if he is correct in believing that the growing isolationism among conservatives no longer automatically exempts Israel? If he is right, then Israel and its supporters will soon be facing bastions of anti-Zionism at the ideological far left and right, with pockets of anti-Israel votes on both sides of the aisle in Congress.

If that’s where we’re headed, then many of the 70 Republican votes against increased aid to Ukraine this summer could manifest themselves against Israel as well, joining with a comparable number of Democrats in opposition to funding, military support and other expressions of American solidarity for Israel.

Ramswamy’s assertive debate performance means he is about to receive his media moment; we’ll see if he uses it to revise, deny or stand by his pronouncements on Israel.

Wednesday, August 30, 2023

REGARDLESS OF WHETHER THE STORY IS TRUE OR NOT, TUCKER WILL NOW BE CERTIFIED AS A BONAFIDE RAACIST ..... WILL ANY REPUTABLE NEWS OUTLET HIRE TUCKER NOW?

Tucker Carlson claims Barack Obama enjoyed smoking CRACK and having gay sex - but that nobody reported it ahead of 2008 election

The former Fox News host, 54, pointed to the accusation of Larry Sinclair who alleged that Obama bought and smoked cocaine before they had sex in 1999

 

by Kamal Sultan

 

Daily Mail

Aug 30, 2023

 

 

Tucker Carlson has claimed Barack Obama was smoking crack and having sex with men - but the media refused to report it ahead of the 2008 presidential election.

The former Fox News host insisted it was 'really clear' that Obama had gay relations but that the media chose not to report on it.

He accused the former president's team of threatening to ban anyone who reported on it from access to the campaign at the time. 

Carlson, 54, pointed to the accusation of Larry Sinclair who alleged that Obama bought and smoked cocaine before they had sex in 1999. 

He made the claims during an interview on popular podcast The Adam Carolla Show which aired on Wednesday. 

 

Tucker Carlson has claimed Barack Obama was smoking crack and having sex with men ahead of the 2008 presidential election

Tucker Carlson has claimed Barack Obama was smoking crack and having sex with men ahead of the 2008 presidential election

The former Fox News host insisted it was 'really clear' that Obama had gay relations but that the media chose not to report on it

The former Fox News host insisted it was 'really clear' that Obama had gay relations but that the media chose not to report on it

 

'In 2008, it became really clear that Barack Obama had been having sex with men and smoking crack,' Carlson told comedian Adam Carolla.

'A guy came forward, Larry Sinclair, and said "I'll sign an affidavit" and he did, "I'll do a lie detector" and he did.

'I smoked crack with Barack Obama and had sex with him", that was obviously true.'

Carlson was referencing the claims made by convicted felon Sinclair at the National Press Club in 2008 while Obama was running for president. 

He said nobody reported on it due to threats from the Obama campaign.  

'Nobody reported it not because they were squeamish about sex or drugs but because the Obama campaign said anyone who reports on this gets no access to the Obama campaign,' he said. 'So, they didn't report on it.'

'The amount of lying in the media about it was unbelievable.

'This happens all the time up and down government.'

Sinclair, who has spent time in prison for forgery, fraud and larceny, alleged that Obama, who was then a Senator, bought and smoked cocaine before having sex with him. 

He also made another claim that the former president had another male lover and was connected to his death. These were detailed in Sinclair's self-published 2009 book 'Barack Obama & Larry Sinclair: Cocaine, Sex, Lies & Murder?'.

 

Carlson, 54, pointed to the accusation of Larry Sinclair (pictured) who alleged that Obama bought and smoked cocaine before they had sex in 1999

Carlson, 54, pointed to the accusation of Larry Sinclair (pictured) who alleged that Obama bought and smoked cocaine before they had sex in 1999

Carlson accused the former president's team of threatening to ban anyone who reported on it from access to the campaign

Carlson accused the former president's team of threatening to ban anyone who reported on it from access to the campaign

Obama has been married to his wife Michelle, 59, since 1992 and share daughters Malia, 25, and Sasha, 22

Obama has been married to his wife Michelle, 59, since 1992 and share daughters Malia, 25, and Sasha, 22

 

At the time, Sinclair was dismissed by the media as a man with an extensive criminal record 'with a specialty in crimes involving deceit'. 

But Carlson insisted the allegations were true. He said: 'The Larry Sinclair thing, that definitely happened.

'I talked to Larry Sinclair about it. Definitely it happened.

'Larry Sinclair has been in and out of prison 40 years ago, he's got a criminal record by definition and he's poor, he's got a disordered life, he's missing a tooth.

'I think he has a record of deception but this story if you listen to it in detail, is clearly true.'

He added: 'It's not going to change the world that Barack Obama likes dudes, I think this was well-known.'

Carlson also pointed to a redacted 1982 letter Obama sent to his ex girlfriend in which he detailed his gay sex fantasy. 

'Barack Obama said so himself in a letter to his girlfriend. That's Barack Obama's business. I am not attacking him for liking dudes,' the former Fox News host said. 

Obama, then 21, wrote to Alex McNear in November 1982, with whom he had been in a relationship during his time at Occidental College in Los Angeles.

He delved into the topic of homosexuality and confessed that he 'loves making love to men daily, but in the imagination,' according to the previously-redacted portion of the letter, which was obtained by the New York Post.

Obama described homosexuality as a way to detach from the present and potentially evade the recurring theatrics of earthly existence.

'In regard to homosexuality, I must say that I believe this is an attempt to remove oneself from the present, a refusal perhaps to perpetuate the endless farce of earthly life.'

 

Former President Barack Obama's gay sex fantasy was revealed in a newly obtained 1982 letter to his ex girlfriend

Former President Barack Obama's gay sex fantasy was revealed in a newly obtained 1982 letter to his ex girlfriend

Obama, then 21, wrote to Alex McNear in November 1982, with whom he had been in a relationship during his time at Occidental College in Los Angeles

Obama, then 21, wrote to Alex McNear in November 1982, with whom he had been in a relationship during his time at Occidental College in Los Angeles

He delved into the topic of homosexuality and confessed that he 'loves making love to men daily, but in the imagination,' according to the redacted portion of the letter

He delved into the topic of homosexuality and confessed that he 'loves making love to men daily, but in the imagination,' according to the redacted portion of the letter

 

He admitted to a daily intellectual connection with men, but claims it was solely within the realms of imagination.

'You see, I make love to men daily, but in the imagination,' he said in the letter reported by the Post.

The letter, over 40 years old, was addressed to a former girlfriend and has resurfaced due to the extensive interview conducted by biographer David Garrow.

Obama explored the concept of an androgynous mindset, expressing his desire for a perspective that encompasses people as a whole, rather than segregating them into gender categories.

'My mind is androgynous to a great extent and I hope to make it more so until I can think in terms of people, not women as opposed to men,' he said.

Despite these confessions, Obama admitted in the letter that he has accepted his identity as a male and chooses to live by it.

'But, in returning to the body, I see that I have been made a man, and physically in life, I choose to accept that contingency,' he added.

Obama has been married to his wife Michelle, 59, since 1992 and share daughters Malia, 25, and Sasha, 22.

He has also come out in the past against homosexual marriage.

In 2004, Obama declared: 'I don't think marriage is a civil right,' and said he believed that homosexuality is 'not a choice.'

He changed his view while in the White House, and helped celebrate the federal legalization of same-sex marriage in 2015. DailyMail.com has contacted Obama's representatives for comment. 

Carlson also hit out at the Biden Administration on The Adam Carolla Show and said they would do anything to win the election, including go to war with Russia. 

'They are going to go to war with Russia, that’s what they are going to do,' he claimed. 

'There will be a hot war between the United States and Russia in the next year.

'It’s a political matter, they need to declare war footing in order to assume war powers, in order to win.'

He added: 'I think we could Tonkin Gulf our way into it where all of a sudden missiles land in Poland and the Russians did it, our NATO ally has been attacked. We’re going to war.

'If you are worried about that you have to put as much pressure as you can on the Republican House senate to force a peace which can be done.'