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Ruth King

Beijing Targets American Business The U.S. and China’s Communist Party are strategic and ideological competitors. CEOs have to decide which side they want to help win. By Matt Pottinger

https://www.wsj.com/articles/beijing-targets-american-business-11616783268?mod=opinion_lead_pos5

In the weeks that surrounded President Biden’s inauguration, Chinese leaders waged an information campaign aimed at the U.S. Their flurry of speeches, letters and announcements was not, as the press first assumed, addressed mainly to the new administration. It was an effort to target the U.S. business community.

The Communist Party’s top diplomat, Yang Jiechi, spoke to a virtual audience of American business leaders and former government officials in early February. He painted a rosy picture of investment and trade opportunities in China before warning that Tibet, Xinjiang, Hong Kong and Taiwan are “red lines” that Americans would do well to keep quiet about. Mr. Yang excoriated Trump administration policies toward China and was unsubtle in pressing his audience to lobby the Biden administration to reverse them.

General Secretary Xi Jinping, seated before a mural of the Great Wall of China, beamed himself to business elites in Davos, Switzerland, in late January. He urged them to resist efforts by European and American policy makers to “decouple” segments of their economies from China’s. Mr. Xi also wrote a personal letter to a prominent U.S. businessman exhorting him to “make active efforts to promote China-U.S. economic and trade cooperation.”

To make clear that these were requirements, not suggestions, Beijing announced sanctions on nearly 30 current or former U.S. government officials (me among them). These were in addition to the sanctions Beijing placed on American human-rights activists, pro-democracy foundations and some U.S. senators last year.

Beijing’s message is unmistakable: You must choose. If you want to do business in China, it must be at the expense of American values. You will meticulously ignore the genocide of ethnic and religious minorities inside China’s borders; you must disregard that Beijing has reneged on its major promises—including the international treaty guaranteeing a “high degree of autonomy” for Hong Kong; and you must stop engaging with security-minded officials in your own capital unless it’s to lobby them on Beijing’s behalf.

Europe’s Covid Bill Is Coming Due EU leaders made unforced errors with lockdowns and vaccine debacles. Their parties may pay. By Dominic Green

https://www.wsj.com/articles/europes-covid-bill-is-coming-due-11616795722?mod=opinion_lead_pos8

Europe’s leaders have told citizens that they’re all in the Covid-19 crisis together. But in the U.K., roughly 40% of the population has received at least one Covid-19 shot. Across the water, only about 13% of the European Union’s citizens have received a jab. In France, that number is closer to 10%.

In Britain, case rates and hospitalizations are falling, and the rate of excess deaths from Covid has reached zero. But in Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel has warned of an “exponential” rise in cases. Ms. Merkel floated an Easter lockdown, which she quickly walked back. Italy, where more than one million people over 80 haven’t been vaccinated, has entered another lockdown.

Paris and other major French cities are shut down. Critical-care hospital beds in the Paris region are full, according to Frederic Valletoux, head of France’s hospital network. Mr. Valletoux has reported “exploding” numbers and says that only lockdowns can prevent an “unprecedented violent shock” to France’s healthcare system.

Europe’s third wave will cost thousands of lives and billions of euros. Summer vacationers, essential to the economies of Southern Europe, may have to stay away for a second year. This will increase the gulf in competitiveness and debt between the eurozone’s rich north and poor south. Southern states could require another bailout, a scenario deeply unpopular with German voters, who go to the polls in national elections in September.

Europe’s elected leaders, French President Emmanuel Macron and Ms. Merkel in particular, are responsible for the tragedy of errors that has caused Europe’s vaccine fiasco. They and their parties are starting to pay the political price.

In mid-March regional elections, Merkel’s Christian Democrat Union had its worst-ever showing in two of its historical strongholds. In the southwestern state of Baden-Württemberg, which the CDU ruled for 58 years until 2011, Ms. Merkel’s party won only 23% of the vote. In Rhineland-Palatinate in the West, once the launchpad for the CDU’s Helmut Kohl, the party finished at 26%, far behind the center-left Social Democrats.

‘Jim Eagle’ and Georgia’s Voting Law Biden compares state voting bills to Jim Crow, never mind the facts.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/jim-eagle-and-georgias-voting-law-11616799451?mod=opinion_lead_pos1

“No election rules are perfect. Ballot access, integrity and administration are all important. Mr. Biden knows this. Democrats aren’t smearing Georgia because they believe their “Jim Crow” nonsense. Their strategy is to play the race card to justify breaking the Senate filibuster, so they can jam through their election reform known as H.R.1 and overrule 50 state voting laws.”

Georgia passed its over-hyped voting law on Thursday, and the news was met with more of the same. President Biden said at his news conference that the voting bills percolating in GOP state Legislatures are “un-American,” “sick,” “pernicious,” and worse: “This makes Jim Crow look like Jim Eagle. ”

C’mon, man, as Mr. Biden likes to say. The comparison is grotesque, and seeing that only requires swimming sideways for a minute to escape the rip current of the media narrative. Take a look at what’s actually in the legislation—and what isn’t.

Georgia’s new law leaves in place Sunday voting, a point of contention with earlier proposals, given that black churches have a “souls to the polls” tradition after services. The Legislature, rather, decided to expand weekend early voting statewide, by requiring two Saturdays instead of only one under current law. In total, Georgia offers three weeks of early voting, which began last year on Oct. 12. This is not exactly restrictive: Compare that with early voting that started Oct. 24 last year in New York.

The new law also leaves in place no-excuses absentee voting. Every eligible Georgia voter will continue to be allowed to request a mail ballot for the sake of simple convenience—or for no reason at all. Again, this is hardly restrictive: More than a dozen states, including Connecticut and Delaware, require mail voters to give a valid excuse.

So what does the Georgia law do? First, it gets rid of signature matching, so election workers aren’t trying to verify mail ballots by comparing John Hancocks. This subjective process should concern both sides. It creates avenues for contested outcomes, with fighting over ambiguous signatures. In 2018 about 2,400 ballots in Georgia were rejected for issues with the signature or oath, according to a recent paper in Political Research Quarterly. Those voters were 54% black.

“Crisis of the Two Constitutions The Rise, Decline, and Recovery of American Greatness” by Charles R. Kesler

House Divided Charles R. Kesler’s new book brings together the classical beginnings of the study of politics with the story of our nation in thought and deed.

American politics grows embittered because it is increasingly torn between two rival constitutions, two opposed cultures, two contrary ways of life. American conservatives rally around the founders’ Constitution, as amended, and as grounded in the natural and divine rights and duties of the Declaration of Independence. American liberals herald their “living Constitution,” a term that implies the original is dead or superseded, and that the fundamental political imperative is constant change or “transformation” (as President Obama called it) toward a more and more perfect social democracy, made possible by man’s increasingly god-like control of his own moral evolution. 

Crisis of the Two Constitutions details how we got to and what is at stake in our increasingly divided America.

Congress, in a Five-Hour Hearing, Demands Tech CEOs Censor the Internet Even More Aggressively Glenn Greenwald

https://greenwald.substack.com/p/congress-in-a-five-hour-hearing-demands-0cf?token=

“Words cannot convey how chilling and authoritarian this all is: watching government officials, hour after hour, demand censorship of political speech and threaten punishment for failures to obey.”

The repressive objective of the Democratic-controlled Congress is to transfer the power to police and censor political discourse from these tech giants to themselves.

Republican members largely confined their grievances to the opposite concern: that these social media giants were excessively silencing conservative voices in order to promote a liberal political agenda (that complaint is only partially true: a good amount of online censorship, like growing law enforcement domestic monitoring generally, focuses on all anti-establishment ideologies, not just the right-wing variant). This editorial censoring, many Republicans insisted, rendered the tech companies’ Section 230 immunity obsolete, since they are now acting as publishers rather than mere neutral transmitters of information. Some Republicans did join with Democrats in demanding greater censorship, though typically in the name of protecting children from mental health disorders and predators rather than ideological conformity.

As they have done in prior hearings, both Zuckerberg and Pichai spoke like the super-scripted, programmed automatons that they are, eager to please their Congressional overseers (though they did periodically issue what should have been unnecessary warnings that excessive “content moderation” can cripple free political discourse). Dorsey, by contrast, seemed at the end of his line of patience and tolerance for vapid, moronic censorship demands, and — sitting in a kitchen in front of a pile of plates and glasses — he, refreshingly, barely bothered to hide that indifference. At one point, he flatly stated in response to demands that Twitter do more to remove “disinformation”: “I don’t think we should be the arbiters of truth and I don’t think the government should be either.”

MORE HEADLINE MARCH 26, 2021

Watch Live: Joe Biden Hosts His First Press Conference as President https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2021/03/25/watch-live-joe-biden-hosts-his-first-press-conference-as-president/

GOP Makes ‘Jim Crow Look Like Jim Eagle’: Biden’s First Press Conference Draws Sharp Reaction https://www.faithwire.com/2021/03/25/gop-makes-jim-crow-look-like-jim-eagle-bidens-first-press-conference-draws-sharp-reaction/

Biden’s open borders policy generates $14 million a DAY for human traffickers https://www.newstarget.com/2021-03-25-biden-open-borders-14million-day-human-traffickers.html

 
Five Leftist Statements by Kamala Harris on Overhauling Southern Border Crisis https://www.breitbart.com/immigration/2021/03/25/five-leftist-statements-kamala-harris-overhauling-southern-border-crisis/

 
CNN’s Van Jones: Biden Stuck Up for America’s ‘Humanity’ on Border Surge https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2021/03/25/cnns-van-jones-biden-stuck-up-for-americas-humanity-on-border-surge/

Ted Cruz, Who Is Vaccinated, Refuses Reporter’s Request to Put Mask On: ‘You’re Welcome to Step Away’ https://www.faithwire.com/2021/03/25/ted-cruz-who-is-vaccinated-refuses-reporters-request-to-put-mask-on-youre-welcome-to-step-away/

Two Weeks After Texas Lifted Its Mask Mandate, COVID Cases Are Spiraling Downward https://thefederalist.com/2021/03/25/its-been-two-weeks-since-texas-lifted-its-mask-mandate-and-covid-cases-are-spiraling-downward/

 
 
China Must Come Clean on COVID https://townhall.com/columnists/betsymccaughey/2021/03/24/china-must-come-clean-on-covid-n2586774?
Elon Musk’s China Ass-Kissing Tour Continues https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/elon-musks-china-ass-kissing-tour-continues

 
Could dimming the sun help to cool the Earth? Bill Gates wants to spray millions of tonnes of CHALK into the stratosphere to reflect sunlight and slow global warming – but critics fear it could be disastrous https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-9392641/Bill-Gates-wants-spray-millions-tonnes-CHALK-stratosphere.html

WATCH: Iran-backed Terrorists Shoot Down American Drone https://unitedwithisrael.org/watch-iran-backed-terrorists-shoot-down-american-drone/?

Covering Up Ahmad Al Issa’s Islamic Yearnings https://www.jihadwatch.org/2021/03/covering-up-ahmad-al-issas-islamic-yearnings?

The Courts and the Election of 2020 by Chris Farrell

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/17192/courts-2020-election

[Judge] Benson did not go through the proper rule-making process when issuing the guidance…. That is precisely how elections are stolen.

U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts scrupulously ignored every 2020 election legal challenge raised by former President Trump in order to assure a legally uncontested Biden victory. Irregularities in six states could not get the attention of the highest court….

Pandemic or not, the last-minute rule changes imposed by judicial and executive branch officials were irregular and perhaps outright illegal. State legislatures govern elections. Changing the rules to extend deadlines, dropping signature requirements for mail-in ballots and other sketchy practices that saw huge voting total swings are all indications of election manipulation.

“We failed to settle this dispute before the election,” [Justice] Thomas wrote, “and thus provide clear rules. Now we again fail to provide clear rules for future elections. The decision to leave election law hidden beneath a shroud of doubt is baffling. By doing nothing, we invite further confusion and erosion of voter confidence.” He then reviewed the documented risks presented by mail-in balloting, which offers “simpler and more effective alternatives to commit fraud.”

The further we get from the November 2020 election, the more we will see documented evidence of voting irregularities, manipulations and gamesmanship. There remain unresolved issues in Georgia, Wisconsin and Maricopa County, Arizona.

We must use every legal tool available to us… to ensure free and fair elections that the American people can trust. That means cleaning up voter registration rolls; having and election DAY (not a “season”); voter ID; enforced rules for absentee and mail-in ballots; paper ballots for audit purposes; and banking-quality cyber security on all electronic voting systems. Those measures are just a start, but should be a minimum standard achievable by the 2022 mid-term elections.

While the mainstream news media continues to shout down anyone raising even the slightest penumbral emanations of possible 2020 election irregularities, and social media giants suspend, and even erase, people for similar “violations of community standards” (whatever that means) — a Supreme Court justice and a Michigan Secretary of State have issued written opinions that refute what every sensible MSNBC viewer desperately wants to believe is true.

State Court of Claims Judge Christopher Murray ruled that Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson’s guidance to Michigan clerks in early October was invalid. Benson instructed the clerks to presume the accuracy of absentee ballot signatures. Benson did not go through the proper rule-making process when issuing the guidance. Murray has ruled Benson’s actions unlawful, stating that Benson’s orders went, “beyond the realm of mere advice and direction, and instead is a substantive directive that adds to the pertinent signature-matching standards.”

That is precisely how elections are stolen.

Where is GOP Outrage Over Justice Department’s Capitol Probe?By Julie Kelly

https://amgreatness.com/2021/03/25/where-is-gop-outrage-over-justice-departments-capitol-probe/
The U.S. government now holds political prisoners in jail in the nation’s capital, and the party that purports to stand for freedom, liberty, and rule of law refuses to defend them.

A federal judge this week blasted a top Justice Department official for publicly bragging about the agency’s sprawling investigation into the January 6 Capitol melee. In an emergency hearing, U.S. District Court Judge Amit Mehta warned government prosecutors to keep quiet or face a gag order.

Mehta fumed over comments made in a television interview by former acting U.S. Attorney Michael Sherwin—he led the first two months of the nationwide manhunt for suspected “insurrectionists”—that could imperil the already shaky case against ten alleged members of the Oath Keepers. The lawyers of the defendants facing several charges including conspiracy, attended the virtual hearing on Tuesday.

“The Justice Department needs to understand that these types of public statements can jeopardize the integrity of a criminal case and affect the rights of the defendants,” Mehta said. (Sherwin reportedly is under internal investigation himself for giving the “60 Minutes” interview last week.) “No matter how much press attention this matter gets, it will be clear these defendants are entitled to a fair trial. The government, quite frankly in my view, should know better.”

The Obama-appointed judge, with those few sentences, said more to defend the rights of Trump-supporting protesters than the totality of Republican leadership in Washington, D.C.. Top Biden officials are accelerating the weaponization of powerful federal agencies against regular Americans who dared, not just to vote for Donald Trump, but also to doubt the legitimacy of the 2020 presidential election. The Justice Department’s Capitol breach probe, its official name, gives cover to inflict severe punishment for those verboten acts and beliefs.

The same cabal that wielded its authority against the former president and his associates for more than four years has aimed its arsenal at hundreds of Trump supporters—yet the GOP remains silent.

Crickets from Congressional Republicans

Early on, Republicans joined Democrats in overhyping the events of January 6. “This failed insurrection only underscores how crucial the task before us is for our republic,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) preached in a statement released that evening. “They tried to disrupt our democracy. They failed. They failed to attempt to obstruct the Congress.”

Senator Ben Sasse (R-Neb.), in a typically dramatic speech the next day, claimed the Capitol “has been desecrated. Blood has been spilled in the hallways.” (He also warned we should not tell our children that American institutions “can’t be trusted,” despite all evidence to the contrary.)

The Self-Parody of Joe Biden’s Press Conference A “transcript” of the first Biden press conference. By Charles Lipson

https://amgreatness.com/2021/03/25/the-self-parody-of-joe-bidens-press-conference/

There is absolutely no crisis at the southern border, and Trump caused it. Also Trump wanted small children to die at the border. I don’t. That’s just another reason people say I’m a good person.

Despite what you’ve heard, there is no surge of immigration. There’s just springtime, man. The fact that we need to open up military facilities to house this influx, well, that just shows what a fine job we are doing correcting Trump’s problems.

By the way, those immigrants aren’t streaming across our border because I’m a good guy and Trump is a bad guy, although that’s 100 percent true. They aren’t coming because of anything I said as a candidate, either, like telling the world I would suspend deportations for 100 days and stop construction of the border wall. No, it’s just springtime, plus bad conditions in Central America. C’mon, man, nobody can do anything about springtime. But we can do something about Central America. We can fix it. My suggestion is street lamps. Trump didn’t think of that. I did.

I am a man of the Senate and deeply respect that body. That’s why we have to change it in fundamental ways. Take the filibuster. It’s a relic of Jim Crow. If you support it, then you must be a vicious racist. Now, just because the filibuster is a malicious relic of America’s racist history doesn’t mean we should abolish it. No. We should just modify it. That way, we’ll dilute the racism a little bit.

I believe in comity and bipartisanship. That’s why I say that the Republican position on the voting-rights bill is the most racist thing since the Confederates fired on Fort Sumter. That was not a good thing, either. It led to a lot of testiness. Republicans don’t know that.

I believe in government transparency. That’s why we really want to let journalists see the border facilities . . . at some undetermined future date. I say, “There’s no rush.” Let’s wait ‘til we’ve fixed things up a bit. When will that be? It’s kinda hard to say, but I’m guessing sometime in the future.

Biden Sends $15 Million in COVID Aid to “Palestinians” Who Have Half Of US Fatality Rate Fri Daniel Greenfield

https://www.frontpagemag.com/point/2021/03/biden-sends-15-million-covid-aid-palestinians-who-daniel-greenfield/

Last spring, Senate Democrats were obsessed with saving Hamas from the coronavirus.

Eight Senate Democrats, including Bernie Sanders, and Elizabeth Warren, dispatched a four-page letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, demanding to know what America was doing about the coronavirus.

Not in America. In Gaza.

According to the Senate letter, “as of March 24, the first two cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in the Gaza Strip.”

That’s two cases. Two. The United States has over 200,000 as of now.

The letter quotes an article claiming that in Gaza, “health ministry officials” whined “that just one person infected with the deadly virus would end in ‘complete disaster’”

Fast forward to this year and some 500 Gazan residents in Hamas territory have died of the virus. That’s not exactly a major crisis.

So the Biden administration is directing $15 million in aid.

The United States said Thursday it is giving $15 million to vulnerable Palestinian communities in the West Bank and Gaza Strip to help fight the COVID-19 pandemic, a sharp reversal from the Trump administration which cut off almost all aid to the Palestinians.

Thomas-Greenfield said the $15 million in aid is “consistent with our interests and our values, and it aligns with our efforts to stamp our the pandemic and food insecurity worldwide.”

Food insecurity? Because we’re also funding food aid programs. Food isn’t a bomb, but as a practical matter foreign aid is fungible and non-profits on the ground in areas controlled by terrorists tend to either use local contractors associated with the terrorist leadership or make payoffs to them.