by dap | Jul 26, 2024 | Fox News
told the American people Wednesday night that he graciously decided to bow out of the 2024 election because he wanted to unite his party and focus on his job as president. It was baloney.
In the most obvious display of pure political muscle, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her disciples forced President Biden into withdrawing from the presidential race.
It was an amazing performance and has no previous example in American history.
There is a good argument that the debate with President Donald Trump proved President Biden was not capable of a nationwide campaign. From a cognitive capability standpoint, there are good reasons to hope President Biden steps down as president, too.
However, the way President Biden was forced out by party bosses has serious implications for the American system.
In some ways, Pelosi’s behavior is nothing new. She has become a sort of Democratic Party super boss. Recall, this is the Democratic leader who told members of Congress that they had to vote for the Affordable Care Act before they could read it. She was a remarkably effective Speaker of the House. Her ability to get her way with a narrow majority was astonishing.
Those years of acquiring power were brought to bear to force President Biden to give up power.
to convince him he had no choice.
President Biden was clearly coerced into withdrawing as a presidential candidate. He had no realistic alternative. Pelosi was going to unveil a wave of additional House and Senate members calling on him to withdraw this week. She had made it clear that he could go easy or go hard – but he was going to go.
One of the challenges left by Biden’s boss-led collapse is that the bosses then defined Vice President Kamala Harris’s almost certain candidacy.
Patrick Basham of the Democracy Institute had a poll in the field while this drama was unfolding. Its results are educational and pose a significant challenge to the Democrats. Among all Americans, 61 percent believe the method used to force President Biden out was undemocratic. Only 29 percent thought it was democratic to force him out.
When the follow-on question of replacing President Biden with Vice President Harris was asked, the results were similar. By 60 percent to 32 percent, Americans felt imposing Harris on the ticket was undemocratic. Interestingly, this feeling was widespread. Among Democrats, 55 percent thought it was undemocratic to have her replace Biden as the presidential candidate. Among independents, that sentiment of unfairness reached 65 percent. Of course, among Republicans, her nomination was seen as rigged by the largest majority, 79 percent. Note, however, that in this survey, majorities of Democrats, independents, and Republicans believed that nominating Harris this way was undemocratic.
Based on this polling, it is clear that
can legitimately be described as the party bosses’ candidate. She has never won a delegate. Even in her 2020 race, she dropped out early. This reinforces the notion that she has no grassroots appeal. She’s attractive only to the elites, who feel she is useful in defeating Trump.
The dramatic changes of the last few days still leave two big challenges for the Democrats.
First, if President Biden is cognitively incapable of campaigning, how can he remain as president? His withdrawal from the presidential campaign strengthens the argument that he poses a national security risk as commander-in-chief.
Democrats will want this issue to go away. But if the cognitive decline is progressive, and there are two or three clear examples in the next few months, the pressure to replace him may increase dramatically. It will certainly be
– and a question about which citizens will increasingly ask their representatives and senators.
Second, Vice President Harris is well to the left of President Biden.
When she was in the Senate, she voted to the left of
.
On illegal immigration, Harris is much more radical than Biden. In April 2015, she told the San Francisco Chronicle that “an undocumented immigrant is not a criminal.” As a presidential candidate she told the Washington Post she would seek the repeal of criminal penalties for people apprehended while crossing the border.” She has been an enthusiastic cheerleader for every major Biden policy which increased the deficit and inflation.
On taxes, Harris favors a corporate rate higher than Venezuela.
However, Harris will turn out to be a much better candidate than Republicans think. As District Attorney and Attorney General of California, she was an effective litigator. In the Senate, she was an aggressive interrogator, especially with
.
She reminds me of some athletes who are great at game time but mediocre in practice. The vice presidency was practice, and she loafed through it, letting her laugh be a primary symbol. Now she will be in the real game. She may be shockingly better than Washington Republicans expect.
Harris will also have the advantage of assembling
. The opportunity to defeat Trump will draw them to the campaign. If she listens to them, she will be formidable.
It has been an amazing stretch from the assassination attempt on
to now. It is not going to get smoother or more predictable.
by dap | Jul 26, 2024 | Fox News
HANNITY – Fox News host analyzes the vice president’s blunders ahead of the 2024 presidential election.
HUGH HEWITT – Kamala Harris is the failed border czar.
BIG RISK – When Secret Service puts DEI first, its protectees are endangered.
GUTFELD – We didn’t get any answers from Biden’s Oval Office address.
PUTIN’S PREFERENCE – Why Putin prefers Harris over Trump in the White House.
RAYMOND ARROYO – Fox News contributor postulates the potential health reasons for President Biden’s absence.
PROCREATION DEFLATION? – Why inflation is making us have fewer babies.
AROUND THE WORLD – Parents resonate with Elon Musk as victims of trans ideology.
BIBI ON THE HILL – Can he rouse the world to the terror crisis it faces?
CARTOON OF THE DAY –
by dap | Jul 26, 2024 | Fox News
Americans proudly celebrate our country as the land of opportunity. Opportunity, peace and prosperity, however, are not birth rights to be taken for granted. They are achievements secured by each generation through its patriotic commitment to freedom, innovation and hard work.
This November, Americans will have the opportunity to
to restore peace and prosperity to our nation.
Following the GOP’s inspiring convention in Milwaukee, Trump’s continued strong polling and the Democrats scramble to
from a punch line into a believable commander-in-chief, it might be easy for Republicans to grow complacent.
But the country cannot afford for us to make that mistake — the same mistake that saw so many expecting a red wave that never happened in 2022.
For all of us who support Trump, we must double down on our commitment, giving our all to ensure his victory this November. We must reach out to our fellow Americans who love this country who are yet undecided.
Republicans have
Americans know the economy thrived under Trump. Inflation was low, as was unemployment, especially in minority communities. Before the pandemic, middle-class income surged by $5,003 — in real dollars. Those are just a few of the reasons a CBS news poll “found that 65% of Americans remember the economy under former President Donald Trump as being good, compared with 38% giving the current economy under President Joe Biden the same positive assessment.”
Americans know that the Trump presidency was a time of peace. As his strength kept foreign adversaries from starting wars, his diplomacy brought peace to the Middle East through the historic Abraham Accords.
As Trump’s ambassador to Spain and Andorra, I saw how he pursued — and embodied — a foreign policy guided by the time-tested concept of “peace through strength.” Donald Trump is the strongest man I have ever known. His courageous defiance in the face of the assassination attempt was extraordinary, and unsurprising to all who know him.
Sadly, much of the peace and prosperity Trump delivered has been undone through the bad policies of the Biden/Harris administration. Their profligate spending, over-regulation, open borders and weakness abroad have battered all Americans and our allies.
The coming election offers an opportunity for renewal. We can reverse the serious errors of Biden/Harris by re-electing Trump. As tireless and committed as Trump is, he cannot do it alone. Republicans should not take the task ahead lightly; we must fully commit to the task at hand.
The issues are favorable to Republicans. Americans oppose the dangerous open border policies that Harris oversaw as the administration’s border czar. Americans want an end to the inflationary policies that have driven up the prices of food, gasoline and healthcare. Americans want everyone to live in peace.
Americans know that Kamala Harris is not up to the job of being president of the United States which is why her approval rating is as low as 35%. They are against Harris’s desire to remove the Senate filibuster and pack the Supreme Court so that Democrats can impose their unpopular agenda. They are concerned that she did not earn her nomination but was anointed by party bosses and donors, reminding voters of her long history of coddling the powerful while paying lip service to the people.
Republicans may have the wind in our sails, but we would be wise to remember how it failed to push us to big victories in the 2022 midterms.
We know that the Red State/Blue State divide means that fewer states are truly in play this fall — and the deeply partisan corporate media will continue to twist facts in an attempt to defeat Trump.
The difficulty of a task, however, makes it more worthy. In the face of these obstacles, we must redouble our efforts to preserve the republic.
Vince Lombardi, the iconic football coach whose greatest triumphs came just outside the RNC Convention in Milwaukee, once said that: “I firmly believe that any man’s finest hours – his greatest fulfillment of all that he holds dear – is that moment when he has worked his heart out in good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle – victorious.”
While growing up in small-town North Carolina, I remember my local pastor teaching us a similar lesson when he said that, in life, “it’s not about how much you give, but it’s about how much you sacrifice.”
No one can doubt that Trump will “work his heart out.” That is how he is built. The question for his supporters is: will you do the same? Will you match his commitment and dedication not just to a campaign but to our country?
As Trump has said: America is the story of “big dreams” and if Trump has taught us anything, it is to “be passionate — it’s the only way to move mountains.”
America, it is time for us to dream again and step up. It is time for us to climb mountains to reach and rebuild that shining city that is America.
Please join me this fall in making the needed sacrifice. Like generations of Americans before us, let’s rise to the occasion and give our all to re-elect Donald Trump President of the United States.
by dap | Jul 26, 2024 | Fox News
Two weeks ago, a U.S. intelligence official — commenting on the recent Election Security Update issued by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) — suggested that Russia prefers former President Trump to win the presidency in November.
As a former Defense Intelligence Agency officer who specializes in Russia and Putin, I totally disagree. Like many other pronouncements made by spy agencies, this one is also dead wrong. But now that Biden is out of the race, whom would
favor, Trump or Vice President Kamala Harris?
Kamala, of course. Here’s why.
Putin is almost certainly terrified of another Trump presidency, but Kamala not so much. The Russians have assessed her to be vapid, unintelligent and incompetent, and can be unbalanced and manipulated in Moscow’s view.
The Russian media, which is almost exclusively under state control, speculated on Monday whether Harris’s “cackling and giggling,” “nervous, out-of-place clapping,” “exaggerated gesticulation,” nonsensical statements like “the passage of time,” and “strange” facial expressions are a result of a psychiatric disorder or being constantly “inebriated.”
Russian analysts expect Harris to continue Biden’s policies seeking to transform America from a society that’s based on meritocracy and competence to the one that is hyper-focused on forced equality and government regulation, typical of a socialist system. Since socialism destroyed the USSR, Moscow believes that someone like Harris leading America on the path of destruction is a good thing for Russia, which views the U.S. as its top security threat.
Harris, like Biden, who called Putin all sorts of derogatory names such as “war criminal”, “killer,” a “murderous dictator” and a “pure thug” — a sign that Putin’s actions got under his skin – also can be rattled by the former KGB operative, the Russians believe. Harris previously slammed Putin, accusing him of brutality and being responsible for the death of Alexei Navalny, his political opponent.
To the contrary, a talented statesman and astute businessman,
, always acted respectfully to Putin, realizing the Russian isn’t afraid of words. Instead, Trump pursued the most formidable anti-Russia policy since former President Reagan, having taken actions to counter Moscow’s anti-U.S. strategy.
Trump founded in December 2019 America’s first entirely new armed service since 1947, the U.S. Space Force. This was 18 years after Putin established Russia’s space force, whose mission is to attack U.S. satellites, on which our military depends for every aspect of war fighting — missile warning, navigation, reconnaissance, targeting, command-and-control and precision strike efforts.
The key mission of the U.S. Space Force is to safeguard our spacecraft and target enemies’ space assets with offensive operations.
In September 2018, Trump authorized offensive cyber operations against adversaries, enabling the U.S. military to ramp-up cyber operations targeting Russia’s power grid. This was direct retaliation against Russia, which had been hacking American networks for more than two decades and had compromised every major federal agency, including the electrical grid and nuclear facilities.
In 2018, as part of the modernization of the U.S.’ nuclear arsenal, Trump ordered the development of a low-yield, nuclear-armed, sea-launched cruise missile. This was a direct counter to Putin’s “escalate-to-de-escalate” atomic strategy, which seeks to detonate a low-yield tactical nuclear warhead in the theater of combat operations — such as in Ukraine — to deter the U.S. from intervening.
administration canceled Trump’s program. Now, Washington goes into a frenzy every time Putin issues a nuclear threat.
Putin is acutely aware that Trump wouldn’t hesitate to spill Russian blood to protect U.S. forces. In 2018, a small group of U.S. forces stationed in Syria were attacked by hundreds of Bashar al-Assad loyalists, which included Russian members of the Wagner group. Some 300, including Wagnerites, were killed as a small force of some 30-40 U.S. special forces heroically fought off the attack with the help of local allies.
There was no direct retaliation by Putin.
Similarly, Trump didn’t blink before directing U.S. forces to eliminate
, the murderous commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, who was killed on Jan. 3, 2020, outside Baghdad International Airport. For this, the Ayatollahs placed Trump on the target list for assassination, on which he remains today.
Putin knows that Trump isn’t easily fooled.
In 2017, the then-president signed into law the U.S. government’s ban on Kaspersky Lab, a Moscow-based anti-virus software firm owned by Eugene Kaspersky, a former KGB intelligence officer-turned-cybersecurity expert.
This was a Russian cyber espionage platform that U.S. federal agencies — who famously award contracts to the lowest bidder — voluntarily installed on civilian and military networks, having paid the Russian “businessman” for “protection” against malware. It takes a street-smart New York real estate mogul to understand how shysters like Putin operate.
Contrast this with Team Biden-Harris, who begged Iran to halt its nuclear program — having gifted the ayatollahs billions which they almost certainly re-directed toward anti-U.S. campaigns.
When it comes to Ukraine, Trump has claimed that if elected president, he would settle the Ukraine war “in 24 hours,” sparking concerns that he would give Putin everything he wants. The Russians are in a strong bargaining position, having prepared its military and economy for a multi-year war, while the U.S. and Europe are not postured to support Ukraine in a protracted conflict against Russia, having no industrial capacity to replenish the rapidly depleting weapons arsenal.
Putin knows this, and he will almost certainly drive a hard bargain on Ukraine, no matter who sits on the other side of the negotiating table. This being said, if there is a U.S. politician who could possibly intimidate and outsmart the Russian dictator, Trump has the best chance to do so.
Putin is not afraid of hysterical declarations made about him. What he fears is a truly strong NATO, whose military might was hollowed out during
. Unlike Biden, who has made America carry the burden of funding Ukraine – the policy that Harris will almost certainly continue – Trump will likely compel every NATO member to cough up some euros to pay for their security. Ask an ordinary American if Germany, the richest country in Europe but who fails to pitch in 2% of its GDP toward NATO, deserves to be protected by U.S. taxpayers.
When it comes to gangsters like Putin, the choice between Teflon Don and cackling Kamala is an easy one.
by dap | Jul 26, 2024 | Fox News
The victims of trans ideology are many. As
Monday in an interview with Dr. Jordan Peterson showed, the harms inflicted spread even beyond the children who, cruelly convinced they were born “wrong,” mutilate their bodies and risk permanent infertility.
The
as christened by Musk, has a horrific impact on the family members strewn apart in collateral damage. The wives who lose husbands due to self-indulgent auto-gynephilia. The children who lose fathers. The parents who lose their sons or daughters as they reinvent themselves into a different identity altogether.
Opening up about his grief following his son Xavier’s attempted “transition,” Musk said:
“I lost my son, essentially. They call it deadnaming for a reason.
“The reason it’s called deadnaming is because your son is dead. My son Xavier is dead, killed by the woke mind virus.”
Musk was convinced to
under the threat that preventing him would make him likely to commit suicide – a manipulative myth pedaled by gender ideologues, which has now been dispelled. Musk said it wasn’t explained to him that puberty blockers are “actually just sterilization drugs” when he gave his consent for his son to undergo the treatment. He called the term “gender affirming care” a “terrible euphemism.”
In a culture where self-identification has become the dogma of our day, children have been given the autonomy of adults in demanding permanent, life-altering changes to their body – while parents’ concerns are infantilized and demonized.
Even in countries where toxic
– such as England and Scotland – “conversion therapy” bills are looming, threatening to criminalize parents who prevent “social transition” – in other words, who don’t allow their 11-year-old son to attend school in sparkly heels and lipstick.
Meanwhile, in California, last week, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law a new bill preventing school districts from requiring staff members to disclose students’ “sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression” to their parents.
Musk has previously blamed his son Xavier’s
him into believing he was born in the wrong body.
Where kids need reassurance and affirmation, teachers guide them down a path to bodily harm. Where parents could step in with concerns and guidance, they are brushed aside as bigots. Encouraging kids to mutilate their bodies just to “be themselves” is surely the greatest crime of the 21st century.
Musk reacted to California’s new law with a simple but foreboding response: “The state will take away your kids in California.” Alarmist? Not really.
One need only look to what is happening in Switzerland – the “transgender capital of the world” – to see the end result of these policies that
.
The teenage daughter of parents living in Geneva, Switzerland, has been separated from her family for over a year by court order after they objected to her gender “transition.”
Concerned that their daughter was being pushed to make hasty and potentially irreversible decisions, the parents declined “puberty blockers” and explicitly rejected her school’s attempt to “socially transition” her.
The parents wanted to support her to feel loved and confident in her own body. In clear violation of parental rights, the school set her on the path to identify as a boy anyway, and have collaborated with state authorities to remove her from the care of her family.
Now, for seeking to protect the health and well-being of their daughter, they face a legal standoff over their fundamental rights as parents to care for their child who, residing in a government shelter since April 2023, is being encouraged to pursue dangerous medical interventions.
After all, the Cass Review made clear that social transition is not a “neutral act.” In fact, most children who are encouraged to socially transition head down a one-track pathway to
.
The tragedy of this family, torn apart by the state, has sent shock waves across the Twittersphere. If it can happen in Switzerland, it can happen anywhere. This is a timely warning against “conversion therapy” bills, such as the one posed in the King Charles III’s speech last week.
Parents, not schools nor the state, have the primary
. At a time when she needed her parents the most, Swiss authorities cooperated to block this girl from the love of her family.
Any ideology that operates in the shadows, unbeknownst to parents, should trigger massive alarm bells. The Swiss case shows how even actively involved parents can be completely shut out when powerful actors coalesce around the rabid promotion of gender ideology.
From Elon Musk, to parents in “human rights capital” Geneva, to those fearfully observing the future of the U.K. – gender ideology is claiming countless victims. While the
– which are being banned for children in Britain, Finland, Denmark, Norway and elsewhere – we mustn’t compromise on opposing policies that stand between loving parents and their children.
Our kids’ future – and that of their families – is at stake.
