ISRAEL Comments turned off

Why Palestinian Leaders Ignore Arab Atrocities by Khaled Abu Toameh

Posted By on January 20th, 2022

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18139/palestinian-leaders-arab-atrocities

For now, it seems that the Palestinian leadership is ignoring not only the “tragedies” of its people in Syria, but even the complaints about the failure of the Palestinian officials to raise the issue with the Syrian government.

The Palestinian leadership apparently does not want to assume any responsibility for its people in the Arab world because that would mean spending money on them and providing them with various services. Palestinian leaders would, it seems, rather keep the money for themselves than assist their own people.

The Palestinian leaders appear more concerned about the return of the Assad regime to the Arab League than the return of tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians to their homes in Syria. These leaders know that it is far easier — and far safer — to condemn Israel than to demand that Assad cease committing atrocities against the Palestinians. Spewing hatred against Israel has no price tag attached. Criticizing an Arab dictator, by contrast, can prove costly in the extreme.

Palestinian leaders never miss an opportunity to condemn Israel and accuse it of committing “crimes” against the Palestinians. This is in the context of the ongoing virulent Palestinian campaign of incitement against Israel.

The Palestinian leaders, however, remain oblivious to the suffering of their people in some Arab countries, especially Syria, where more than 4,100 Palestinians have been killed during the fighting between the Syrian army and the opposition or died as a result of torture, starvation and medical negligence over the past decade. These leaders are also most likely afraid that their Arab brothers would punish them if they speak out against the atrocities committed against Palestinians in the Arab countries.

ELECTIONS Comments turned off

Last Ballot for the Brave This year could be the final chance for World War II veterans to cast a vote in a nation they might not recognize. By Lloyd Billingsley

Posted By on January 20th, 2022

https://amgreatness.com/2022/01/18/last-ballot-for-the-brave/

Of the 16 million Americans who served in World War II, some 240,329 remained alive in 2021. Hundreds die every day. This year’s midterm elections could be the last time many of them get to vote. That includes some of the best fighters, who never got the recognition they deserved. 

The First Special Service Force (FSSF) was an elite American-Canadian unit established to handle dangerous missions behind enemy lines. At Fort Harrison in Montana, they trained in stealth combat, parachuting, night missions, and winter warfare in mountainous conditions. Their first major campaign proved a perfect match for the training. 

In the fall of 1943, the Allies had been unable to break through the Germans’ line of fortifications south of Rome. Nazi forces held the high ground on the strategic Monte la Difensa and blocked routes to the summit. The FSSF took the hard way up. 

In the cold, wet conditions in early December 1943, FSSF forces hiked 10 miles to the mountain and the heavily laden troops scaled a 300-foot cliff without alerting German sentries. In a fierce battle, the FSSR swept the entrenched, better-equipped Germans from the summit. 

In the Italian mountains, the FSSF took the fight to the enemy. By the middle of January 1944, the Allied advance could proceed north. The FSSF fought at Anzio, a rehearsal for D-Day, and took part in the liberation of Rome. In southern France, the FSSF conducted daring night raids behind German lines. The FSSF fighters left stickers on enemy gear reading, “the worst is yet to come,” and it was. 

All told, the Force played a major role in taking down Hitler’s National Socialist regime. In 2018, a full 75 years after Monte la Difensa, 72 FSSF soldiers were still alive. Those who remain today would surely find the current scene confusing. 

ELECTIONS Comments turned off

Black Republican Mayor Launches Campaign for Governor of Illinois on Martin Luther King Day By Debra Heine

Posted By on January 20th, 2022

https://amgreatness.com/2022/01/18/black-republican-mayor-launches-campaign-for-governor-of-illinois-on-martin-luther-king-day/

A black Republican mayor launched his campaign for governor of Illinois on Martin Luther King Day with a powerful video acclaiming the dreams of his great grandfather, who was born a slave.

Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin, 51, is the fifth candidate to compete for the nomination to run against billionaire Democrat Gov. J.B. Pritzker in the 2022 gubernatorial election.

“Richard Baxter Irvin was born a slave, but he dreamed of being free,” Irvin said in his campaign launch video. “I don’t just share the name Richard Irvin,” he said. “I share his dream of what Illinois could be: where a growing economy provides ladders of opportunity for anyone willing to work; where families are safe; where kids are educated, not indoctrinated.”

In his campaign video, Irvin describes his own humble beginnings growing up in Section Eight public housing in Aurora.

“Mom had me at 16, a single mother working two jobs. Didn’t have much of a father, but my granddad, son of Richard Baxter Irvin, taught me to believe in myself, to do the best I could in whatever I did,” he said.

After graduating from high school, Irvin joined the Army and fought in Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm. He later attended law school at Northern Illinois University, and following graduation became a prosecutor in the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office. He eventually a “community prosecutor” in his hometown.

Irvin ran for mayor of Aurora in 2005 and 2009, and lost both races. He later became a local GOP precinct committeeman. Irvin was elected as the first black mayor of Aurora in 2017, and takes credit for lowering the city’s crime rates. If elected, he would be the first black governor of Illinois.

NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Is America Heading for a Systems Collapse? As the 2022 midterm elections approach, who will stop our descent into collective poverty, division—and self-inflicted madness? By Victor Davis Hanson

Posted By on January 20th, 2022

https://amgreatness.com/2022/01/19/is-america-heading-for-a-systems-collapse/

In modern times, as in ancient Rome, several nations have suffered a “systems collapse.” The term describes the sudden inability of once prosperous populations to continue with what had ensured the good life as they knew it. 

Abruptly, the population cannot buy, or even find, once plentiful necessities. They feel their streets are unsafe. Laws go unenforced or are enforced inequitably. Everyday things stop working. The government turns from reliable to capricious if not hostile. 

Consider contemporary Venezuela. By 2010, the once well-off oil-exporting country was mired in a self-created mess. Food became scarce, crime ubiquitous. 

Radical socialism, nationalization, corruption, jailing opponents, and the destruction of constitutional norms were the culprits. 

Between 2009 and 2016, a once relatively stable Greece nearly became a Third World country. So did Great Britain in its socialist days of the 1970s. 

Joe Biden’s young presidency may already be leading the United States into a similar meltdown. 

Hard Left “woke” ideology has all but obliterated the idea of a border. Millions of impoverished foreigners are entering the United States illegally—and during a pandemic without either COVID-19 tests or vaccinations. 

The health bureaucracies have lost credibility as official communiques on masks, herd and acquired immunity, vaccinations, and comorbidities apparently change and adjust to perceived political realities. 

IMMIGRATION Comments turned off

TSA Says It Will Accept Arrest Warrants as ID for Illegal Aliens at Airports By Rick Moran

Posted By on January 20th, 2022

https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/rick-moran/2022/01/19/tsa-says-it-will-accept-arrest-warrants-as-id-for-illegal-aliens-at-airports-n1550866

What sort of identification do you need to fly from a U.S. airport? According to the Transporation Security Agency (TSA), there are 16 forms of ID you can use to board an airplane. Generally, they include any government-issued ID like a driver’s license or a passport as well as military IDs, transportation worker cards, and a border crossing card.

And, if you’re an illegal alien and can’t manufacture your own ID or buy it, you can use your government-issued arrest warrant.

Daily Caller:

Responding to Republican Texas Rep. Lance Gooden’s Dec. 15 inquiry about illegal migrants flying across the country, TSA Administrator David Pekoske explained that certain Department of Homeland Security (DHS) documents may be considered acceptable forms of alternate identification for non-citizens, including a “Warrant for Arrest of Alien” and a “Warrant of Removal/Deportation.”

“TSA’s response confirms the Biden Administration is knowingly putting our national security at risk,” Gooden told the DCNF. “Unknown and unvetted immigrants shouldn’t even be in the country, much less flying without proper identification.”

ELECTIONS Comments turned off

Voter ID Requirements Make Sense But not to the Democrats. Terence P. Jeffrey

Posted By on January 20th, 2022

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2022/01/voter-id-requirements-make-sense-terence-p-jeffrey/
“It is not unreasonable in the 21st century to require people who want to vote to demonstrate that they are legally eligible to do so by presenting a valid form of identification.”

A young man who looks like a teenager walks into a liquor store and pulls a bottle of cheap whiskey off a shelf.

He puts it down at the checkout counter and pulls out his wallet.

The clerk at the counter looks at him skeptically. “Can I see your ID?” he asks.

“Yes,” says the young man, who instantly takes his driver’s license out of his wallet and hands it to the clerk.

The driver’s license indicates to the clerk that the customer in front of him had turned 21 two months ago. He sells him the cheap whiskey.

Then another young man walks into the store. He grabs a bottle of very expensive champagne and puts it on the counter.

Once again, the clerk asks the young man if he has an ID.

“No,” says the young man.

“Then I can’t sell you this champagne,” says the clerk.

“You have got to be kidding me,” says the young man. “I am 22 years old.”

“Then prove it,” says the clerk.

“I left my driver’s license at home,” says the young man.

“Then go get it,” says the clerk.

“No, I’ll go buy my champagne somewhere else,” says the young man, who leaves the store in disgust.

This second hypothetical young man, however, was only 19, which made him old enough to vote but not old enough to buy champagne.

EDUCATION Comments turned off

Money for Indoctrination How consultants spread Critical Race Theory. John Stossel

Posted By on January 20th, 2022

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2022/01/money-indoctrination-john-stossel/

Glenn Youngkin recently was elected Virginia’s governor partly because he promised to ban teaching of CRT.

CRT stands for critical race theory, which argues that every American institution upholds white supremacy.

Before Youngkin’s surprise victory, the media mocked him for complaining about CRT.

NBC’s Nicolle Wallace said it isn’t even taught in public schools. “That is like us banning the ghosts!” she laughed.

She is wrong.

In my new video, journalist Asra Nomani reveals some rather creepy CRT lessons that are taught in many schools.

Nomani filed Freedom of Information Act requests that forced school districts to reveal how they pay consultants to spread critical race theory.

NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

The Dems’ Media Turn on Biden But keep his failing bad ideas. Bruce Thornton

Posted By on January 20th, 2022

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2022/01/dems-media-turn-biden-bruce-thornton/

The Biden Administrations’ failures are so numerous and egregious, as Jim Geraghty catalogues, that court-scribes like the New York Times, Washington Post, and CNN are turning on him. Even DNC heartthrob Stacey Abrams, chronic denier of election results, snubbed Biden when he came to Georgia.

The media’s new-found willingness to fulfill their self-proclaimed sacred charge to “afflict the comfortable” and “speak truth to power,” however, is driven not by a recovered fidelity to fact, evidence-based argument, and objectivity, but by Biden’s record-setting disapproval numbers, especially the declines among Latinos, independents, and young people––constituencies critical for the Democrats’ longed-for “permanent majority.”

So don’t expect the current criticism to signal the media’s return to fact and coherent argument. They’ve just been spooked by the specter of a red midterm tsunami come November. They’re still slaves to the anti-constitutional Leviathan technocracy, growth-killing regulate-tax-redistribute economics,  illiberal racialist identity politics, naïve globalism, and preposterous narratives of “white supremacists,” “systemic racism,” “voter suppression,” and the Trump-led “insurrection” against “our democracy.”

A column from the Washington Post’s Megan McArdle illustrates this reflexive fidelity to ideology and lies in the face of the media’s patent contribution to Biden’s failures. The bulk of her piece chides the Democrats for not taking seriously the possibility of a Republican return to power, because Dems stereotype conservatives as the party of “reactionary whites” condemned by demographic change to wander forever in the political wilderness. This misperception has pushed the current Democrat control of all three branches of government too far to the left, and hence alienates the party’s moderates and white working-class voters, as well as Asians and Hispanics whom Republicans have been siphoning from the Democrat coalition.

NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Biden’s first year of epic failures By Rajan Laad

Posted By on January 20th, 2022

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2022/01/bidens_first_year_of_epic_failures.html

Whatever he touches turns to disaster; sadly it is likely there will be three more years of this mess.

It has been exactly a year since Biden entered the White House and it is time to take stock of his record thus far.

The economy is failing with Inflation at a 39-year high causing essential items to be more expensive. This has hurt all Americans especially those from lower-income groups who are already suffering following prolonged lockdowns.

For those affluent Americans not affected by high inflation, the supply chain crisis has caused a shortage of essential commodities all over the country.

The influx of around 1.7 million illegal aliens places an enormous burden on taxpayers. The fact that these migrants are not vetted causes them to be a considerable safety risk.

Covid-19 and Omicron cases continue to surge, the impact is much worse than it was under President Trump. Despite a promise to “shut down” the virus, Biden has no strategy to combat the virus. He called it the “pandemic of the unvaccinated,” attempting to blame citizens. He also claimed there is no federal solution to combat Covid-19.

Beyond America, the hasty and ill-planned withdrawal from Afghanistan has left that country unstable, and has undone all development in that region. The Taliban has banned teenage girls from attending school. Harsh winters have caused Afghans to plunge into abject poverty and hunger. American citizens still remain in Afghanistan.

The Afghanistan disaster has emboldened China and Russia, who continue to display brazen aggression towards their respective neighbors of Taiwan and Ukraine.

NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

The authoritarians must be stopped By Eric Utter

Posted By on January 20th, 2022

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2022/01/the_authoritarians_must_be_stopped.html

Democrats and “progressives,” and authoritarians of all stripes, have imposed their will on the rest of us for two years now, in the form of mask and vaccine mandates.

There can’t be a worse, more dangerous, and outright evil class of people than those who want to tell others how to think and what to do. Those who would rule you and take away your liberty do not do it “for your own good.” Ever. The Founders knew this. That is why they pushed back hard against “The Intolerable Acts. It is why they tossed tea into the harbor. It is why they eventually fought the world’s mightiest military. And it is why they so valued the Right to Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness granted to us by our Creator.

It led Patrick Henry to proclaim, “Give me liberty or give me death.”

George Washington could have been king. He declined. He also declined to serve a third term as president, desperately wanting to return to domestic life at Mount Vernon rather than continue as the most powerful man in the nation. When England’s King George III, America’s implacable enemy, heard of this he exclaimed, “If he does that, he will be the greatest man in the world.”

More than 600,000 Americans died in the Civil War that others may be free.

This is our heritage as citizens of the United States of America. And I, for one, am getting damned sick of that heritage being bastardized, twisted, denied, denigrated and mocked.