RUTHFULLY YOURS

https://victorhanson.com/how-to-create-conspiracy-theories/

It is easy to birth conspiracy theories.

All that is required is chronic government stonewalling of reasonable requests for transparency. Then add in high officials serially lying under oath, along with the blatantly unequal application of the law. Institutionalize arguments from authority of politicians and bureaucrats who refuse to adjudicate arguments empirically.

Include the weaponization of investigatory and intelligence bureaucracies. Finish with the transformation of an obsequious media into a mouthpiece of the state. And presto, you end up with a skeptical, cynical public that learns to believe the very opposite from what it is told by elites.

January 6th

Curiously. some conservative politicians, media and politicos often remark of their surprise that so many of the Trump base insists that the January 6 riot at the Capitol was in part a federally driven conspiracy, or perhaps just a mere “demonstration” gone awry.

But whether true or not, why would some not believe that—given the efforts of the state to hide and warp facts?

Consider what drives rational people to embrace supposed “conspiracy” theories around the so-called “insurrection?”

One reason, of course, is that there was evidence of FBI informants present on January 6. Do not take the word of conservatives for such suppositions.

Instead, remember what award-winning New York Times’s reporter and keen follower of right-wing political activity, Matthew Rosenberg said of January 6, albeit in an ambush interview conducted by Project Veritas:

The left’s overreaction — the left’s reaction to it in some places was so over the top. They were making it too big a deal … that gave the opening for lunatics in the right to be like, ‘Oh, well, nothing happened here. It was just a peaceful bunch of tourists,’ you know, and it’s like, but nobody wants to hear that.”

Rosenberg then remarked that he spotted numerous FBI informants among the crowd milling around the Capitol. Or as he put it, “There were a ton of FBI informants among the people who attacked the Capitol.” Cannot the FBI refute such allegations?

Apparently not. Given such speculation, one would expect that FBI Director Christopher Wray might at least categorically deny such inflammatory accusations.

Yet in congressional testimony when asked whether the FBI had inserted informants among the protestors, sphinxlike Wray merely shrugged, “So I really need to be careful here talking about where we have or have not used confidential human sources.”

Then there is the mysterious case of Ray Epps, initially sought by FBI “as a person of interest” for allegedly inciting demonstrators to break the law and enter the Capitol.

But then oddly Epps was de facto exempted for some 30 months from arrest—even as hundreds who urged no such action were indicted and convicted of “illegal parading” or unlawfully “demonstrating in front of the Capitol”—misdemeanors that ended up resulting in felony-type sentencing.

In one video clip, as Epps attempts to gin up the stationary crowd to move illegally into the Capitol, he is met with “conspiratorial” accusations from skeptical bystanders calling out: “Fed! Fed! Fed!”

https://victorhanson.com/americas-razors-edge/

We are the most powerful country in civilization’s history but not invulnerable. Even America will finally bleed out if we continue to open our own veins.

Was it $40, $50, or $60 billion in equipment, weapons, supplies, and infrastructure that the U.S. simply abandoned in Afghanistan? That was that—no problem?

We had too much military junk anyway? We can just print the money to buy more replacement stuff?

Our enemies took no notice and instead thought, “Wow, what a powerful adversary just to scram out of Kabul and leave priceless weaponry behind—my God, we don’t wish to tangle with such a formidable power!”

Was that the idea in leaving as we did?

Was that “Flight of the Americans” the fitting epitaph to 20 years of blood-and-treasure nation-building to ensure another Bin Laden did not partner with the Taliban to attack the U.S.? Are we safer in 2020 from Talibanian terrorism than in 2001, given the two decades of costly occupation?

Are we so wealthy in treasure and blood, that Americans can fly pride flags, paint George Floyd murals, and birth gender studies programs in Islamic Kabul, while losing 2,400 lives, and seeing 24,000 wounded—before abandoning a $1 billion new embassy and a $300 million refitted secure airbase to the Taliban?

Is it no big thing that it will take years to resupply our 155mm artillery shell stocks, our Javelin missiles, our short-range missiles, after giving Ukraine $100, $120, or is it $130 billion in weapons, economic aid, training, and supplies?

Is America so internally secure that it can normalize shoplifting in its major cities?

Exempt smash-and-grab destruction of parked cars in San Francisco?

Hector the middle class on their incorrect use of gas water heaters while allowing flumes of feces to stream in the bays of Los Angeles and San Francisco, on the theory that such organic pollution is not pollution if the excrement emanates from the homeless?

https://thespectator.com/topic/hunter-biden-grift-whole-family-business/

The Biden administration has repeatedly told the public that Hunter’s lucrative consulting business doesn’t matter unless it is directly connected to his father. That’s true. Moreover, they add, that connection is not just unproven, it cannot be proved because it didn’t exist. That’s false, although the mainstream media has repeated it faithfully. But even the most feckless are finding it increasingly difficult to sustain this awkward lip-syncing with the White House press office.

Actually, the Biden grifting operation extends well beyond Hunter to include multiple family members. It always centered on Joe’s public position and the political access it ensured, first as the sitting vice president and then as a prospective Democratic nominee after Hillary Clinton’s defeat. 

The clearest indication of the enterprise’s corrupt purpose is its construction of a web of nearly thirty LLCs to hide the distribution of profits from the operation. There is no legitimate business purpose for this tangled web of pass-through entities. The only purpose is to hide the sources and distribution of this outside money. That should be obvious even to the Washington Post, though it doesn’t seem to be. They might want to pay attention to another painful fact: all this money was paid for services that have never been disclosed to the public. You don’t have to be Sherlock Holmes to know the purpose. My dear Watson, all the clues point to political access.

That access hinged on Joe Biden’s political position. His family (and especially Hunter) went to great lengths to hide any direct, criminal connection and, it appears, to pay taxes on all the proceeds. 

Proving a criminal connection to Joe Biden is a difficult, complex task — and it has not yet been done.

The main reason is hasn’t been proved, we now know, is that official investigations were deliberately blocked by higher-level officials at the IRS and, most likely, the Department of Justice. In private meetings at the Internal Revenue Service, those officials acknowledged that there were sufficient legal grounds to pursue those connections to Joe Biden, which emerged from the IRS investigation of Hunter. Then, for reasons that have not been explained, the same higher-level officials reversed themselves and prevented any investigation that would touch on Joe Biden himself.

We need to know the names of people who blocked that inquiry. We need to know if anyone higher up the chain of command ordered this cover-up or if they simply did it themselves to curry favor. We need all that testimony under oath.

And we need to know who disclosed to Hunter and his lawyer that some of Hunter’s documents were about to be searched and some of his associates interviewed. Miraculously, those documents disappeared before the search and the associates were nowhere to be found. Another avenue of inquiry had been successfully blocked.

https://amgreatness.com/2023/07/30/enough-with-half-measures-throw-all-u-s-code-at-trump/

I have a suggestion for Jack Smith, one of Joe Biden’s official Rottweilers in charge of taking out Donald Trump. Throw the book at him. I mean the whole book.

So far, Smith has taken a sort of piecemeal approach to suffocating the former president. His opening gambit was a 37-count felony indictment over Trump’s possession and handling of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach. A couple of days ago, he added three more counts and yet another defendant, Trump employee Carlos De Oliveira, to the list.

But I say: enough with half measures. The obscenely bloated, contradictory, and embarrassing compendium of the laws that supposedly govern this country is known as the U.S. Code. Among other things, it is a monument to the malevolent frivolousness of the people we elect to govern us. The Greek lawgiver Solon believed that a good society should have few laws but that those laws ought to be strictly and impartially enforced.

Our anti-Solons believe in the indiscriminate, rabbit-like multiplication of laws, the more the merrier, in order to increase the potential for obfuscation and partisan deployment. Currently, the U.S. Code contains thousands upon thousands of laws regarding everything from agriculture and the armed forces to telecommunications, space programs, and voting.

Who knows how many of the provisions contained in that Leviathan’s Bible Trump may have violated? For example, chapter 15 of Title 48 (“Territories and Insular Possessions”) concerns “Conveyance Of Submerged Lands To Territories.” Section §1707 of that chapter has this to say about “Payment of rents, royalties, and fees to local government”:

“On and after the date of enactment of this Act, all rents, royalties, or fees from leases, permits, or use rights, issued prior to such date of enactment by the United States with respect to the land conveyed by this Act, or by the amendment made by this Act, and rights of action for damages for trespass occupancies of such lands shall accrue and belong to the appropriate local government under whose jurisdiction the land is located.”

Are we sure that Donald Trump, well known as a New York real estate developer, has strictly abided by all the provisions of the law? Has he snagged any rents, royalties, or fees from any lands covered by this act? If so, has he handed the pelf over to the “appropriate local government under whose jurisdiction the land is located?” How do you know?

In this country, it is a hallowed principle that a person is innocent until indicted. You hear people say that all the time. They say it in jest, or half in jest. But they know that it is true. But they overcome the resulting cognitive dissonance by pretending that it is only half true, that really, “deep down,” we are still a “nation of laws, not men” and that the FBI, for example, actually acts in the service of the public, not as the semi-secret police force of the Democratic party. If they’re on TV they say it with a straight face.

Among the most amusing video clips I have seen recently was Jack Smith’s first announcement of his indictment of Trump. “We have one set of laws in this country,” Smith said, face straight as a meter stick, “and they apply to everyone.” I’m not sure when I have laughed so hard.

https://amgreatness.com/2023/07/20/the-regime-closes-ranks-around-biden-with-another-sham-indictment/

After the shock of 2016, Democrats vowed to do everything in their power to preordain elections going forward. Never again would they leave the voters to their own devices. Instead, the people of “our democracy” would be guided through propaganda, censorship, and, if needed, a good old-fashioned show trial. (Or two, or three).

The news this week that Trump is facing yet another sham indictment is further evidence that the Biden regime, rather than abandoning its puppet, is closing ranks around him. While the details of this remarkably audacious “case” are yet unclear, its general outlines are already known from a relentless propaganda blitz that began even before Biden illegitimately seized power in 2020. The conceit is that Trump, by challenging the most questionable election in American history, is some kind of domestic terrorist who disrupted the “peaceful transfer of power.” It cannot be a coincidence that the Marxist attorney general of Michigan, Dana Nessel, announced charges against 16 “fake electors” (fake according to whom?) on the same day that Trump broke this troubling news.

This dramatic escalation in authoritarian shock-and-awe tactics suggests Biden is going nowhere fast. There has been lots of speculation recently that Democrats will replace Biden with another candidate, but this theory underestimates the cynicism and profound caution of the political machine that Biden represents. Democrats control the media, and to an alarming degree, the justice system as well. Why should they tempt disaster by betting on an unknown when they can just tip the scales?

Biden’s “victory” in 2020 was the result of unprecedented manipulation of the process at every stage, from the information voters received to the way they cast their ballots. The left abolished Election Day at a stroke and systematically defrauded voters of information about Biden’s influence peddling. The former CIA director who organized the notorious, bogus “Russian disinformation” letter admitted that the plan was to weaken Trump and provide Joe Biden with a “talking point” about his son’s laptop. The Biden campaign called the letter’s organizer after the debate to say thank you.

The tepid gossip that is now bubbling in the communist media about Biden’s scandals is feigned opposition. The regime is releasing pressure, so to speak, but there is no palace coup underway against “the big guy.” If that were the case, the news coverage would look very different. Whatever happened to Biden’s classified documents? Despite all the damning information that continues to surface about his family’s corrupt money laundering scheme, including text messages that clearly reference Joe Biden, the mainstream media continue to ignore all of the evidence. Who brought cocaine to the White House? That is already yesterday’s news.

https://www.frontpagemag.com/andrew-tates-betrayal-of-the-west/

The first time I heard the controversial social media personality Andrew Tate speak on women, Western society, and masculinity, I immediately thought that he was a radical Islamic extremist. A defector from the Taliban, perhaps? Over the next few months I would hear Tate make outlandish remarks such as, “Women should shut the f**k up, have kids, sit at home, be quiet and make coffee.” And more: speaking of women in general, Tate said, “If I have a degree of responsibility over her, then I must have a degree of authority… You can’t be responsible for a dog if it doesn’t obey you.”

So, when we learned on July 18, 2023, that Tate, who last year converted to Islam, was hoping for, and celebrating the fact of the imminent Islamization of Britain, I cannot say that I was surprised.

In response to the news of a Muslim billionaire winning the right to turn the Trocadero, one of London’s most famous landmarks, into a mosque, Tate (Quran in hand in the photo above) expressed his delight. Here is what he had to say on Twitter:

This building is literally dead centre in the middle of London’s historic centre. Amazing news. The only alternative to Islam for the brits are pride flags as they no longer have any innate culture or patriotisim [sic]. Allah is the best of planners and I look forward to seeing The Islamic republic of Great Britistan in her final form. Alhamdulillah Britain will be fully Islamic soon.

Tate has always had a knack for diagnosing many of the legitimate maladies plaguing Western civilization, which explains his appeal to many conservatives. He is also known for delivering what often seem to be out-of-context solutions to some of these maladies. He understands the crisis in masculinity well and has, at times, offered commonsense advice to young men who are without a sense of purpose or direction in their lives.

https://www.frontpagemag.com/country-star-challenges-americas-culture-of-crime/

For decades, gangsta rappers have raked in money, fame, and recording industry awards hand-over-fist by promoting a culture of violence, drugs, crime, misogyny, hedonism, and greed. There has been not a peep of an objection from the Progressive Left to the damage this has done and continues to do to generations of young people, especially in poor inner-city communities, where rappers, gang members, and drug dealers are idolized and emulated by far too many. But let one country music star complain that American cities have degenerated into a wasteland of lawlessness and chaos, and triggered leftists leap to smear him publicly as a violent racist.

Quadruple-platinum-selling country artist Jason Aldean has found himself the target of a wave of leftist condemnation over the new video of a song (which was actually released months ago) titled, “Try That in a Small Town.” The video intersperses actual footage of rioting, looting, and confrontations with police in cities, with shots of Aldean and his band performing before a courthouse in a public square in Columbia, Tennessee.

The lyrics and imagery capture the kind of random violence that has become endemic in Democrat-run urban hellholes all across America – carjackings, the knockout game, and armed robbery – as well as open contempt for law enforcement and the American flag in a country whose children have been taught by decades of leftist educators that their homeland is a uniquely oppressive and evil nation in world history. Aldean warns in the song that that attitude wouldn’t be tolerated in small-town America, and he issues a sort of “molon labe” warning to the anti-Second Amendment activists who aim (pun intended) to disarm law-abiding gun owners.

https://amgreatness.com/2023/07/20/the-biden-family-caricatures/

The Biden first family seems determined to confirm every stereotype of their antisocial behavior—to the point of dysfunctionality.

During the 2020 campaign at least eight women alleged that then presidential candidate Joe Biden in the past had serially and improperly touched, kissed or grabbed them.

One, Tara Reade alleged she was sexually assaulted by Biden, who denied the charge.

Yet Biden himself finally was forced to apologize for some of his behavior. Or as he said at the time, “I get it.”

He claimed that he would no longer improperly invade the “private space” of women and had meant no harm.

But Biden’s obnoxious conduct extended well beyond the eight accusers.

Women as diverse as former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, and Biden’s own daughter-in-law Kathleen Buhle, have both alleged in their memoirs that Biden made them feel uncomfortable through his intrusive touching and embraces.

On several occasions, Biden developed a strange tic of becoming too physical with young girls. He habitually attempted to hug them while blowing in their hair.

His daughter Ashley wrote in her diary that she feared her past adolescent showers with her father had been inappropriate. Even as president, Biden has weirdly called out young girls in his audiences to note their attractiveness.

On one occasion, the president interrupted his speech to address a female acquaintance—enlightening the crowd that, “We go back a long way. She was 12 and I was 30, but anyway…”

As a result, Biden has likely been warned repeatedly to forgo intimate references to young women.

He has no doubt also been advised by his handlers to stop all close, supposedly innocent contact with young girls and children—if for no other reason than to prevent his political opponents from charging that Joe is “creepy,” “perverse,” or “sick.”

And yet like some addict, Biden cannot stop—regardless of the eerie image he projects around the world.

Last week, the president jumped the proverbial shark by embracing a young child in a crowd while on the tarmac of the Helsinki, Finland airport.

In his strangest act yet, Biden kept moving his mouth near the face of the young girl. He was apparently trying to nibble the youngster, almost in turkey-gobbling fashion.

She recoiled.

No matter—Biden continued at her shoulder.

Again, she flinched.

Biden then reverted to form, and sought with a second try to smell her hair and nestle closer.

https://issuesinsights.com/2023/07/20/still-more-evidence-that-bidenomics-is-working/

Thirteen days after President Joe Biden told the nation that “Bidenomics is working,” the Congressional Budget Office released a report showing just how well it’s working – bankrupting the country far faster than anyone expected.

The report looks at spending and revenues for the first nine months of this fiscal year, which started in October. What it reveals is remarkable, both because it shows how reckless the Biden administration has been with spending and how it’s sapped the economy of strength.

The topline number is that the federal deficit so far this fiscal year has already topped $1.4 trillion, which is $875 billion higher than the same months last year and bigger than the deficit for all of fiscal year 2022.

The CBO finds that overall spending this year is running 10% higher than last year. At the same time, revenues are down 11% compared with last year, which defies claims by the administration that the economy is strong.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/irs-whistleblowers-hunter-biden-joseph-ziegler-gary-shapley-merrick-garland-david-weiss-e052e714?mod=opinion_lead_pos3

With each day it’s getting harder to believe Attorney General Merrick Garland’s insistence that there was no interference in the Hunter Biden case. A month ago President Biden’s son was given a deal on tax and gun charges that probably means no prison time. Now comes Wednesday’s testimony by two IRS whistleblowers, who say their attempt to investigate Hunter faced unprecedented meddling.

The two IRS agents are Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler. Two months back, each had spoken behind closed doors to the House Ways and Means Committee, but Wednesday was their first in the spotlight and the first time that Mr. Ziegler’s name was released.

They say the Justice Department interfered in their investigation, for example, by tipping off Hunter’s legal team to a planned search and preventing questions related to Joe Biden. They also said the IRS team didn’t have access to Hunter’s laptop and or the FD-1023 document in which an FBI informant alleged that Joe and Hunter each accepted a $5 million bribe from Ukrainian energy giant Burisma.

Some Democrats, such as Maryland’s Jamie Raskin, tried to dismiss this all as normal disagreement between investigators and prosecutors. But Mr. Shapley testified that Justice’s “handling of the Hunter Biden tax investigation was very different from any other case in my 14 years at the IRS.”