RUTHFULLY YOURS

https://pjmedia.com/columns/david-solway-2/2023/05/14/trust-n1695303

Among the most basic factors in what we may call the “practice of daily life” is one that is most easily forgotten or commonly neglected: trust. I mean, to begin with, trust in what we habitually regard as reliable without giving it a moment’s thought, as something we rarely doubt, let alone conceptualize. We seem to have little idea of the degree to which trust determines our every move, gesture and act. Trust, as James Bowman observes of honor in Honor: A History, is “reflexive” and at its core “inseparable from the human condition.”

Trust is instinctive in every moment of human existence. It is a faculty that we unconsciously exercise or apply to just about everything, irrespective of the unpredictable: that the approaching driver will stay in his lane, that the elevator will not stall between floors, that the manhole cover we walk over will remain solidly in place, that the balcony we sit under while having coffee in a sidewalk café will not collapse upon us (as happened to a couple in Montreal with grisly results) and will not give way under our feet (as happened to my university’s Faculty Club manager, who plunged to his death a few minutes after we exchanged the time of day), that the food we buy will not poison us, that the vaccine we take is not lethal, that our banker will not defraud us, that our doctor knows what she is talking about, that the ferry we board will not sink, that the microwave will not suddenly burst into flames (as happened to my mother-in-law), that the person we pass while jogging will not attack us — ad infinitum. We may be wary or nervous at times; nonetheless, trust goes so deep that it is the psychic motor powering all human action, even the most trivial.

In effect, trust is what philosopher David Hume in An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding called “the apperception of customary conjunction.” If this were not so, the most mundane routines would be put on hold, as in the case of Russian novelist Ivan Goncharov’s Oblomov, who never gets out of bed. We would not dare to cross the street. Every instant would be filled with paranoia. Trust is the cornerstone of sanity.

https://amgreatness.com/2023/05/14/deliver-us-from-reality/

“Because he can.” 

That’s the answer one has to give to those who ask how Alvin Bragg, a local district attorney in office by the slimmest of margins—and then only because of a huge subsidy from the anti-American billionaire George Soros—can get away with antics like indicting Donald Trump, a former (and, possibly, future) president of the United States, and, now, with charging former Marine Daniel Penny with manslaughter because he (along with at least two others) intervened to stop Jordan Neely from attacking fellow passengers on a New York subway. 

Because he can. As a friend remarked when digesting the spectacle of Penny being led away in handcuffs, totalitarian movements often start slowly, almost timidly, but as they gain power, they become more brazen. After a certain point, they do outrageous things just to intimidate the public and demonstrate their power.  

We now know that the FBI, the CIA, and other elements of America’s security apparatus intervened directly in the decision making of Twitter and other social media companies to influence the course of the 2020 election. One part of that intervention had to do with organizing 51 senior former intelligence figures to sign a letter declaring that Hunter Biden’s laptop was “Russian disinformation.” That was a lie. They knew it was a lie. It didn’t matter. They did it because they knew they could get away with it. 

The United States is on the verge of being inundated with thousands upon thousands of illegal aliens. Many are from South or Central America. Hundreds are from China, even though they are crossing that notional line we used to be able to call, without irony, our southern border. Why did the Biden Administration decide to enact a real-life Camp of the Saints invasion of the United States? Because it could. There was no immediate price to pay. 

In her classic study, The Origins of Totalitarianism, Hannah Arendt makes several observations that bear on our current situation. “There is no doubt,” she observes, 

that the elite was pleased whenever the underworld frightened respectable society into accepting it on an equal footing. The members of the elite did not object at all to paying a price, the destruction of civilization, for the fun of seeing how those who had been excluded unjustly in the past forced their way into it. They were not particularly outraged at the monstrous forgeries in historiography of which all totalitarian regimes are guilty and which announce themselves clearly enough and totalitarian propaganda.

It’s not only the compact between the elite and the underclass that is relevant to our experience in the United States today. There is also the incontinent deployment of the word “democracy,” not as a term describing a specific form of political organization but rather as a cognitively empty but talismanic vocable around which political animus can be nurtured and set to work. The latest variation is Our DemocracyTM, dragged out whenever the process of political demonization needs a boost. 

https://amgreatness.com/2023/05/14/time-for-republicans-to-confront-january-6-lead-prosecutor/

During the 2020 presidential election cycle, Matthew M. Graves donated $2,000 to the Biden-Harris campaign. The modest contribution was a no-brainer for Graves. Not only was he a domestic policy advisor for the campaign, he worked at the time for the same white-shoe law firm as Douglas Emhoff, Kamala Harris’ husband.

Graves’ kowtowing paid off. In November 2021, Graves took the helm of one of the most politically-charged U.S. attorneys office’s in the country: the District of Columbia. 

Since then, Graves has escalated the pace and nature of the ongoing investigation into the events of January 6. His fixation on a four-hour disturbance that occurred more than 28 months ago has nothing to do with law and order and everything to do with using the full weight of the federal government to punish Americans who protested Biden’s election that afternoon.

At the same time, Graves, who is in the unique position of prosecuting both local and federal crimes in the nation’s capital, has allowed D.C. to descend into violent chaos.

Gun crimes and carjackings are skyrocketing: homicides are up nine percent over last year. Graves is under fire from community groups, police, and government leaders.

The House Oversight Committee will hear from Graves on Tuesday morning. Finally. Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) threatened to issue a subpoena after the Justice Department first refused to make Graves available for questions. D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, departing D.C. Metropolitan Police Chief Robert Contee, and city administrator Kevin Donahue also are expected to testify.

But rather than press D.C. officials responsible for the lawlessness rampant in their city—important as that is—Republicans should instead use their time to confront Graves about his selective prosecution of January 6 defendants and force him to account for his actions publicly. The Biden regime’s double standard of justice runs directly through Graves’ office.

Here is a partial list of questions for committee members to consider:

1) Mr. Graves, the Washington Post recently reported that you have one of the highest, if not the highest, declination rates in the country. According to one site that tracks crime data in D.C., you have refused to prosecute two-thirds of all criminal cases brought to you by police—double what it was in 2015. You blame a lack of resources for refusing to prosecute repeat, violent offenders who threaten the security of the nation’s capital.

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2023/05/the_federal_governments_catch22_strategy_to_cover_up_its_spying_on_sharyl_attkisson.html

We’ve been covering the incredible story of Sharyl Attkisson, the award-winning journalist, who discovered that her computer was being not just spied-upon but remotely taken over by the federal government. This was ten years ago, as she was reporting on the Fast & Furious Scandal for CBS News. She recorded video of her computer screen being remotely controlled, among other evidence.

The feds had no interest in pursuing their own wrongdoing, so Sharyl was forced to launch a civil suit, which has been in process for years now. We’ve publicized her GoFundMe appeal for help in the very expensive process of documenting the crimes and pursing justice in civil court.

Now, via her GoFundMe page, Sharyl reveals the way the feds have used the law to put her in a no-win Catch-22 situation. In an update written by Mark Fitzgibbons, who has organized the GoFundMe appeal, we learn the incredible, unassailable power the feds have:

You cannot make this up:
+The government’s computer intrusion is forensically confirmed and undeniable, with forensic proof that the govt. is the source.
+But since DOJ won’t hold their own accountable or prosecute them, my only recourse is to seek justice through this civil lawsuit.
+Forensic proof isn’t enough to get the case to a jury. The courts require me to somehow play detective and, in advance, identify the names of the govt. people responsible for the intrusions, and supply the proof of their direct involvement… but without the power to access the evidence.
+That’s because the law gives DOJ (guilty party in this case) the authority to grant or deny our to access to the crucial documents and govt. witnesses that are needed to produce specific names and evidence required by the court. We literally have to ask DOJ’s permission to interview the guilty DOJ agents or those with information, and access the evidence.
+So we ask, but, naturally, DOJ stalls, denies permission for us to get the documents and interviews, then asks court to dismiss case for lack of evidence and the court says “ok.”
+This is akin to a prosecutor having to get permission from a murderer to obtain the evidence against him and to interview witnesses. The murderer would just say no.
+Obviously, the law giving the guilty party authority over access to the evidence against it should be changed. 
+However, Congress won’t change law because there is no powerful interest that is lobbying, paying members, or writing the bill to do so– and that’s pretty much the main way laws gets changed or considered today.
+At the same time, CBS improperly withheld computer evidence in my case. They stalled and delayed while our deadlines ticked on. 
+We finally got that issue before a judge, who ordered CBS to turn over the computer evidence– but with little to no time left for us to get it forensically examined before court-imposed deadlines. And, even then, CBS stalled.
+In the end, there is no legal recourse for people like me, Carter Page and Gen. Flynn who are wronged by bad actors in govt. They have impunity. 
+This is why these issues are important not to just those of us impacted today, but to everyone who could be victimized in ways you can’t imagine until it happens to you.
We haven’t quite reached the end of our rope. Our case continues, thanks to you. But I thought you should be aware and let others know how broken our justice system it. This is a good example.

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2023/05/stay_faithful_because_history_starts_today.html

What if, hidden behind the censorship, propaganda, and surveillance, a real movement for change is taking hold?

If you’re like me, the news cycle is one smack to the face after the next.  It’s not even a “cycle” at this point; it feels more like crawling out of bed under relentless machine-gun fire of bad news and trying to survive the day without getting hit.  

In this sense, getting “hit” is letting the bastards get you down (excuse my French).  It’s not easy, and it’s not for the faint of heart.  I look at it as a special challenge that all normal, non-woke, patriotic Americans must accept as part of living through this period of great change.

Can you witness all the cultural chaos and national hara-kiri, take a deep breath, give an affirmative nod to the Almighty, and say, “Lay it on me; let’s have it; I can take more”?  Because, at the end of the day, this spiritual contest for the West’s future will not be won by those with the most money, power, or spy toys at their disposal.  It will be won by those who take everything in stride and continue to stand.  In a battle of wills, strength of character alone determines who will prevail.

Now, that’s a pretty simple truth that we all often ignore, is it not?  It is easy to look at the vast array of forces set against us — a corrupt central government dedicated to censorship, political persecution, and open borders; a corporate oligarchy intent on eliminating private property for all but the reigning few; a new world order where Marxist globalism trades freedom for servitude — and conclude that there is little else to do but grab the nearest cardboard sign and scrawl a final, lamentable warning: “The End Is Nigh.”

https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2023/05/a-compromised-president.php

I called Peter Schweizer this past Wednesday to ask for help in understanding the Chinese connection to the Biden family business. Peter cited his most recent book, Red-Handed, published last year by Harper Collins. Peter also pointed me to his contemporaneous New York Post column “Chinese elite have paid some $31 million to Hunter and the Bidens.” The headline is a bit misleading. For “Chinese elite” read “Chinese intelligence establishment,” as Peter states in the opening paragraph:

For those wondering why Joe Biden is soft on China, consider this never-before-reported revelation: The Biden family has done five deals in China totaling some $31 million arranged by individuals with direct ties to Chinese intelligence — some reaching the very top of China’s spy agency.

Peter appeared on Mark Levin’s weekly Fox News show to discuss Red-Handed. He pointed me to the Fox News story by Charles Creitz based on his appearance. Meet Che Fung, “the Superchairman” (as Hunter Biden called him in emails found on his laptop). I have posted video of the segment that Creitz reported on below.

Former TCF Financial Corporation general counsel Greg Pulles reviewed the House Oversight Committee report on the Biden family business released this week. I posted Greg’s comments here on Wednesday.

Greg’s comments reminded me of the heroic exploration of the Biden family business by Senators Grassley and Johnson. Their October 26, 2022 letter to United States Attorney David Weiss is the most recent summary of their work (and a potent reminder of the corruption of the Biden Department of Justice).