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NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION

50 STATES AND DC, CONGRESS AND THE PRESIDENT

A Tsunami of Hate There is one party that seeks to demonize, criminalize and extinguish dissent. David Horowitz

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2021/02/tsunami-hate-david-horowitz/

“America will not be healed until the Democrat Party returns to its senses, repudiates its current racist attitudes, and stops demonizing its opponents as what Speaker Nancy Pelosi has called “enemies of the state.”

Everybody agrees that our country is in crisis –  and agrees that it is the worst crisis since the Civil War. But at the same time, we tell ourselves a comforting tale about the source of the crisis that perpetuates the problem instead of providing a path to ending it. We say our politics are “divisive” and talk about “unity and healing” as though that would miraculously be achieved if everybody stopped … what? Disagreeing? All politics is divisive. That’s the healthy basis of our constitutional order: the freedom to disagree. To suppress disagreement, to outlaw it – as many Democrats and their Big Tech and media allies are demanding these days – is to end democracy as we know it.

The problem is not that we disagree. We are not suffering as a nation from healthy disagreement. We are suffering from a Tsunami of Hate emanating from the Democrat Party that seeks to demonize, criminalize and extinguish dissent from the 75 million supporters of Donald Trump. It is now official Washington dogma that to question an election result – something the congressional Democrats have done in the face of every Republican presidential victory since 2000 – is now “insurrection” and “domestic terrorism,” or the incitement thereto, and needs to be prosecuted and suppressed.

Dismiss all The Populist GameStop Hype: Short-Sellers Are Heroes John Tamny

https://www.realclearmarkets.com/articles/2021/01/28/dismiss_all_the_populist_gamestop_hype_short_sellers_are_heroes_658260.html

Back around 2007, investor John Paulson began to feel skeptical about the viability of mortgage securities. Though demand for them was much greater than supply, Paulson sensed that lending standards had plummeted so far that loan delinquencies were set to surge. The “third rate” hedge fund manager (that’s what those who covered him at top investment banks felt) proceeded to very inexpensively purchase insurance on mortgages. He was able to because the consensus in the marketplace was that he was very wrong.

As readers know, Paulson was subsequently vindicated in 2008. Funny about the billions he made on his bet was that all-too-many looked askance at his remarkable gains. Paulson was said to be profiting from the pain experienced by borrowers and lenders. In truth, Paulson was a hero.

His major investment gains sent a crucial signal that lenders should shrink their exposure to home loans. Realistically billions were diverted from a form of lending that, at the time, was no longer viable. Translated, Paulson’s billions helped avert what would have been a much bigger economic crash if the faulty lending had continued.

Bare-Knuckle Brawl Over GameStop Pits America’s Elites Vs. ‘Deplorables’

https://issuesinsights.com/2021/02/01/bare-knuckle-brawl-over-gamestop-pits-americas-elites-vs-deplorables/

Only someone living under a rock hasn’t heard about the GameStop stock market shorting scandal. While the mechanics of the stock market battle are interesting, they’re nothing new. What’s new is this: The battle this time is being waged by Deplorable America vs. Elite America. And Elite America isn’t at all happy about it.

It’s well known that the stock market isn’t controlled by small investors, but by massive financial institutions. Recent data show that mutual funds, pension funds, hedge funds, Wall Street investment banks, public pensions and the like control more than 80% of all shares traded. They are always the elephant in the room.

The little guys with trading portfolios of less than $100,000 or so, often operating online at lightning speed on no-commission trading sites – such as Robinhood – have a small piece of all the trading. They win only by exploiting cracks in a system dominated by big firms.

Which makes it all the more amazing that they were able to take out a major hedge fund with a short position in GameStop, a troubled chain of computer gaming stores that still has a big following on Reddit.

First, in case you don’t know what “shorting” a stock is, it’s basically borrowing a number of shares of a given stock to sell at the current price. The borrower sells the shares, then promises to pay back the lender the same number of shares at a later date.

Trump Names New Lead Lawyers for Impeachment Defense Team By Janita Kan

https://www.theepochtimes.com/trump-names-new-lead-lawyers-for-impeachment-defense-team_3678854.html?utm_source=news&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=breaking-2021-01-31-4

Former President Donald Trump on Sunday named two attorneys who will lead his impeachment defense legal team.

The two lawyers who will represent the former president in the upcoming Senate trial are David Schoen, an attorney from Alabama, and Bruce Castor Jr., a former prosecutor in Pennsylvania.

This comes a day after media reports, citing anonymous sources, said an earlier group of attorneys from South Carolina were no longer participating in the defense.

South Carolina-based lawyer Butch Bowers had previously been tapped to lead the president’s legal team but parted ways over differing opinions on the direction of the defense arguments, the reports said. Other lawyers on the team who also left were Deborah Barbier and former federal prosecutors Greg Harris, Johnny Gasser, and Josh Howard.

The Epoch Times reached out to the lawyers for confirmation about their departure.

Jason Miller, a Trump adviser, confirmed the reports of a reshuffle on Saturday evening, saying that the “final decision on our legal team” had not yet been made.

On Sunday, Trump’s office released a statement saying that Schoen and Castor would now lead the team, and that Schoen had already been working with Trump and other advisors in preparing for the upcoming trial.

“It is an honor to represent the 45th President, Donald J. Trump, and the United States Constitution,” Schoen said in the statement.

Corrupti-looza: Biden family wastes no time profiting from public office By Monica Showalter

The question is, why are they doing it so early?

In one-party states such as the old PRI-ruled Mexico, the stealing tended to start late. Before a Mexican president was escorted out for the next, he and his would sweep the presidential palace for everything not nailed down — the lightbulbs, the toilet seats, the doorknobs and more. There were exceptions, but it was generally the known narrative. In more than one Latin American country, the last-minute asset grab on the way out actually had a name — “La Pinata.” After all, as former PRI mayor of Mexico City, Carlos Hank Gonzalez, used to say: “A politician who’s poor is a poor politician.” 

Which brings us to Joe Biden, and his family’s unusually fast scramble to profit from his public office right out the gate.

Son Hunter still has his 10% China equity fund stake, contrary to what had been reported, and a new art gig just perfect for bringing in money from non-transparent sources, as the New York Post, in this excellent report notes, all because his blow-pipe ‘art’ done as his personal art therapy is somehow so very valuable. 

Brother Frank, meanwhile, is advertising his connections to old Joe for Florida law firm he’s connected with, using Joe’s name in a bid to drum up business. As New York Post columnist Michael Goodwin reported:

Democrats get ready to unleash the IRS for selective enforcement on political opponents By Monica Showalter

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2021/01/democrats_get_ready_to_unleash_the_irs_for_selective_enforcement_on_political_opponents.html

Democrats have an amazing array of third-world dictator tricks targeting their Republican opponents.

Item A is their bid to use the IRS to cut off Republican freedom of assembly.

According to Judicial Watch:

Reminiscent of the Obama Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) witch hunt of conservative groups, a U.S. Senator who sits on the committee that oversees the tax agency is pushing it to revoke a student charity’s nonprofit status. The veteran lawmaker, Rhode Island Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse, says the conservative student organization, Turning Point USA, should lose its nonprofit rating because it held large events that could help spread COVID-19. In a letter to IRS Commissioner Charles P. Rettig the senator describes the gatherings as “superspreader” events. He specifically mentions a Palm Beach, Florida winter gala at the Mar-a-Lago Club famously owned by former President Donald Trump.

“According to press reports and social media posts, many participants gathered and mingled indoors without wearing masks, in violation of Palm Beach County’s COVID-19 regulations,” Whitehouse, a member of the Senate Finance Committee, writes to the IRS chief. The powerful chamber has oversight over the IRS, among many other government agencies. “In holding these ‘superspreader’ events, Turning Point USA knowingly exposed hundreds of young people and staff working at the events to serious risk of infection,” the letter continues. The legislator asks the IRS to review whether the group, which has more than 250,000 student members, should continue to enjoy its tax-exempt nonprofit status. “Established law has long held that an organization is not eligible for tax exemption under section 501(c)(3) if a purpose of the organization is contrary to public policy or is illegal,” the letter states, reminding the IRS commissioner of a three-part test established to determine whether an organization’s activities are consistent with tax exemption under the code.

Which is a pretty impressive way of shutting conservative groups down. They’re so concerned about superspreader events, they want to permanently shut down conservative groups themselves for thier events so that conservatives can’t assemble at all. Sounds pretty convenient for their purposes.

He Took an Envelope by: Diana West

https://dianawest.net/Home/tabid/36/EntryId/4177/He-Took-an-Envelope.aspx

” He looted Nancy Pelosi’s Office and Bragged About It???”

No, Richard Barnett took an empty envelope, but more on that later.

For now, the following excerpt from the charging documents has caught my eye and fancy both. It describes the scene of the federal crimes Barnett has been charged with —   

Video surveillance from a camera positioned outside of the Speaker’s main office door captures individuals entering and exiting the office. At approximately 2:30 p.m., several unidentified individuals appear to try the door to the office however the door is locked.

At approximately 2:33 p.m. an unidentified individual pushes in the door to the office.

Got that? At around 2:30 p.m., several people tried the door to the Speaker’s main office and it was locked, according to the complaint. At 2:33 p.m., someone just pushes the door open. As written, it does not sound as this someone entered the main office.

What happened in those three minutes? It’s possible that the first several people unsuccessfully “to try the door” were too timid or otherwise unable to open what may have been a stiff or heavy unlocked door. But it’s also possible somebody unlocked the door in that brief interval. 

If so, the trap was set and waiting for a mouse. If not, a trap was waiting anyway. 

Seventeen minutes pass.

Enter mouse:

At 2:50 p.m. BARNETT is captured on surveillance video carrying an American flag and a cellular phone while entering the doors which lead to the Speaker’s conference room adjoining the main office space.

As he is entering it, he is following behind the unidentified individual in the brown jacket. At 2:56 p.m. BARNETT is captured leaving the main office doors of the Speaker’s office space with only a phone in his hand. 

Glazov Gang: The Real Story of Anthony Fauci. The disturbing track record of Biden’s new top dog in fighting the “pandemic”.

https://jamieglazov.com/2021/01/31/glazov-gang-the-real-story-of-anthony-fauci/

This new Glazov Gang episode features Investigative Reporter Peter Barry Chowka.

Peter discusses The Real Story of Anthony Fauci, unveiling The disturbing track record of Biden’s new top dog in fighting the “pandemic”.

Don’t miss it!

The billionaire takeover of civil society Wealthy ‘progressives’ are shaping political life through a dense web of interconnected NGOs. Roslyn Fyuller

https://www.spiked-online.com/2021/01/29/the-billionaire-takeover-of-civil-society/

As the founder and operator of a pro-democracy civil-society organization, I’ve often been astounded at calls to give NGOs a greater say in rule-making, more visibility during negotiations and privileged access to decision-makers. Because I know what few people do – that small, member-driven, self-funded NGOs are relatively rare.

Instead, the kind of organization that tends to drive the political agenda is generally billionaire (or at least multimillionaire) funded. The most well-known examples here are groups funded by conservatives like the Koch brothers and large companies like ExxonMobil. I had naively assumed that others criticized these organizations for the same reasons I did – because their actions undermined the principle of democratic equality by giving the impression that their ideas enjoyed far more backing than they did.

However, I stand corrected.

A few months ago, I suffered a rare relapse into naivety and decided that it was about time I got on to the NGO ‘funding’ gravy train. Apparently, floods of money were out there waiting for me in the democracy world. Meanwhile, for incomprehensible reasons, I was stubbornly insisting on behaving like some old-fashioned grandmother, cackling things like, ‘In my day, we used to go around with a tin can collecting for Amnesty International at Christmas! We met in the basement of a pub and everyone paid for their own beer!’

People were so baffled at this attitude that I began to doubt myself and look into how to get funding for projects in the democracy space. And because I thought it would be a good idea to be organized about it, I made a database.

That turned out to be a good idea, because it revealed the influence exerted by a wealthy few over civil society. To illustrate this, I am going to show how just a tiny fraction of a small slice of one funding network starts, but definitely does not end, with eBay billionaire Pierre Omidyar.

Biden brood already cashing in on Joe’s presidency: Michael Goodwin

https://nypost.com/2021/01/30/biden-brood-already-cashing-in-on-joes-presidency-goodwin/

They can’t quit the grift. No sooner had Joe Biden won the White House than his family went back to trying to make a buck off his name. 

The latest sordid example involves one of Joe’s younger brothers, Frank Biden, appearing in a Florida law firm’s ad — on Inauguration Day no less. The ad used the president’s name to draw attention to the Berman Law Group’s class-action suit against sugar cane growers.

“The two Biden brothers have long held a commitment to pushing environmental issues to the forefront,” says the ad. “The president-elect has vowed to rejoin the Paris Agreement and wants to set ambitious greenhouse gas reduction targets.”

The ad, first reported by CNBC, appeared in the Daily Business Review and carried a picture of Frank Biden and quotes him saying, “My brother is a model for how to go about doing this work.”

How touching. And shameless. 

After the enormous political trouble Hunter Biden’s shady business ties caused during the campaign, Frank’s bid to piggy-back on Joe’s election sounds especially reckless. But here’s another way to look at it.

Biden family members are oblivious to conflicts and criticism because they’ve been swimming in swamp corruption for decades. The two brothers, Frank and Jim, and Hunter have made millions and millions based on selling the perception of access to Joe’s power.