Cracked Icons The corrupt and mediocre heroes of the Left are imploding. By Victor Davis Hanson

https://amgreatness.com/2021/12/12/cracked-icons/

With fits and starts, we are slowly returning to reality after four years of mass hysteria. Our media-deified, progressive icons are finally being exposed as the deceivers they always were.

Jussieopath

From the moment details emerged surrounding Jussie Smollett’s hate-crime hoax, any sane, non-woke person could have recognized he was more than just a pathological liar. Smollett was also a conniving, mean-spirited egoist. He was intent on rescuing his fading acting career by libeling the Chicago police, smearing white Trump supporters as violent racists, and self-servingly advancing the lie of a purported hate crime epidemic against blacks.

To believe Jussie, as so many of the liberal establishment were eager to do, one had to believe from the get-go the utterly unbelievable: MAGA-hatted white racists (and fans of the fading Empire no less) routinely roam liberal Chicago in subfreezing temperatures at 2:00 a.m.. They typically go out, ready for victims, equipped with requisite bleach and representational hangman’s nooses.

You see, before such devils bumped into Jussie Smollett, they had been characteristically on the lookout in their late night and early morning patrols for heroic gay black actors to take out—all unbeknownst to us

The two large white ragers were easily driven off by diminutive Jussie. The black Achilles, sandwich in one hand, cell phone in the other, battled his white Trojan brutes in Homeric fashion. But at a cost: his dueling earned him heroic wounds, real and spiritual. 

The hateful Hectors managed to put a noose around poor Jussie’s neck, as he later showed police. They inflicted a supposedly career-threatening small cut below his eye. And as superhuman demons, they even splattered him with bleach that somehow defied the laws of chemistry and did not freeze in that subzero early morning. 

Once the con unraveled, and given the media myth that there are millions of racist Trump supporters eager to harm black gays, one wonders why Jussie did not, from the outset, just hire on the cheap any two of the supposed millions of available deplorables, rather than unlikely Nigerian Americans, to better fake his crime?

No matter. Would-be candidate Joe Biden immediately leveraged Smollett to virtue signal his racial bona fides. Kamala Harris claimed it was a modern “lynching.” Everyone from Nancy Pelosi to the CNN/MSNBC crowd treated us to performance-art demonstrations of their outrage. No one has apologized, given the virtual truth of the age that, while fake, “it could have happened.” 

Smollett whetted his beak in the overflow of sympathy and adulation. Michelle Obama’s former assistant was a conduit to the highest levels of anguish over Jussie’s victimization. And on and on. 

In the end, there was only the beginning: a fraud and faker, who was as obnoxious on the witness stand as he had been over the last three years in siccing the leftwing victimization industry on America.

Cuomo Duo

Chris Wallace Leaving Fox News By Rick Moran

https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/rick-moran/2021/12/12/chris-wallace-leaving-fox-news-n1541001

https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/rick-moran/2021/12/12/chris-wallace-leaving-fox-news-n1541001

At the end of the Fox News broadcast of Fox News Sunday, veteran reporter Chris Wallace made the startling announcement that he was leaving the network after 18 years.

“It is the last time, and I say this with real sadness, we will meet like this,” Wallace said.

Fox News released a statement, praising Wallace, saying, “We are extremely proud of our journalism and the stellar team that Chris Wallace was a part of for 18 years. The legacy of FOX News Sunday will continue with our star journalists, many of whom will rotate in the position until a permanent host is named.”

Wallace said he wants to “try something new” and to “go beyond” politics. The Los Angeles Times is reporting that Wallace will join the new CNN streaming service.

There is much turmoil on the news side of Fox News as some of the reporters are pushing back against Tucker Carlson’s series on the Jan. 6 riots. Carlson’s controversial and speculative theories have made several Fox editors and reporters uncomfortable. There are also complaints that many of the opinion segments have crossed the line into conspiracy-mongering and fact-free opinion.

The Kamala Conundrum Why Dems are stuck with her. Larry Elder

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2021/12/kamala-conundrum-larry-elder/

A USA Today-Suffolk University poll placed Vice President Kamala Harris’ approval ratings at 28%, 10 points below that of President Joe Biden. The U.K. Telegraph tweeted: “With Kamala Harris looking unelectable, the Democrats are considering the nuclear option. Whispers in Washington suggest Joe Biden’s camp has a plan to find a more popular replacement ahead of the 2024 battle.”

When Harris ran for president, she dropped out before the Iowa caucus, the first contest in the primary. She garnered little support from her home state, California. Harris got called out for hypocrisy during a debate by rival Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, for — among other things — prosecuting marijuana crimes only to make light in an interview about smoking marijuana.

When Harris quit the race, she said: “I’ve taken stock and I’ve looked at this from every angle, and over the last few days I have come to one of the hardest decisions of my life. My campaign for president simply doesn’t have the financial resources we need to continue.”

But the party’s presidential nominee picked her as his running mate. When Harris became vice president, Biden announced her role as a border czar and also asked her to be his point person to push the passage of a proposed “voting rights” law. The border remains a mess, and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act was stalled in the Senate. Her staff grumbled off the record, calling these two jobs lose-lose, and even suggested “racism” at play given the growing stature of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. And then there is the cackle. Critics say Harris resorts to this kind of phony, uncomfortable laughter when she struggles to answer questions for which she is not prepared.

All of this raises the question: Why did Biden choose her in the first place?

The answer is simple. The woke/identity Democratic Party could not and would not abide another presidential and vice-presidential ticket with two white males.

Schumer, Who Accused Trump of Russian Collusion, is Getting Paid by Putin So is every top Democrat who accused President Trump of Russian collusion. Daniel Greenfield

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2021/12/schumer-who-accused-trump-russian-collusion-daniel-greenfield/

“A single, ominous question now hangs over the White House: What could possibly cause President Trump to put the interests of Russia over those of the United States?” Senator Schumer insinuated in 2018.

Why is Schumer putting Russia’s interests ahead of those of the United States by blocking Nord Stream 2 sanctions on Putin’s pet pipeline into Europe?

Schumer, along with a number of other top Democrats, is a beneficiary of campaign contributions from top Democrat fundraiser Vincent Roberti whose lobbying firm was paid over $8.5 million by Nord Stream 2 which is owned by Putin’s state-run Gazprom energy monopoly.

Roberti, a former Dem politician, has maxed out his donations to Schumer and to Rep. Eric Swalwell, who may have been cheating on Fang Fang with Vladimir, and threw in a generous $171,000 to the DCCC, as part of the over $545,000 donated to the Democrat political machine.

The top Dem bundler is reportedly lobbying on “issues related to the U.S. position toward the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, including potential financial sanctions affecting the project.”

Suddenly, Schumer, who was accusing the GOP and Trump of being in bed with Putin, and demanding that they vote on sanctions, was refusing to hold a floor vote on Russia sanctions.

Ilhan Omar Bill to Require State Department to Monitor ‘Islamophobia’ Moves Forward A spurious concept designed to inhibit criticism of jihad terror could soon be funded by your tax dollars. Robert Spencer

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2021/12/ilhan-omar-bill-require-state-department-monitor-robert-spencer/

Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-Mogadishu) and Jan Schakowsky (D-Lightfootland) have determined to take action against “Islamophobia,” and their initiative is gaining traction. The House Foreign Affairs Committee on Friday approved their bill calling for a State Department “Islamophobia monitor,” and now it will go to the full House for further consideration. The idea that Pelosi’s House would reject such a bill is virtually inconceivable.

This all started back in October, when Omar and Schakowsky introduced the Combating International Islamophobia Act, which would, according to a press release posted on Omar’s website, “require the State Department to create a Special Envoy for monitoring and combating Islamophobia, and include state-sponsored Islamophobic violence and impunity in the Department’s annual human rights reports.”

This would supposedly “help policymakers better understand the interconnected, global problem of anti-Muslim bigotry. It will also establish a comprehensive strategy for establishing U.S. leadership in combatting Islamophobia worldwide.”

The press release said nothing whatsoever about combating jihad terror or about how suspicion of Islam may be created by the all too common spectacle of Muslims committing acts of violence while screaming “Allahu akbar” and justifying their actions by reference to Islamic texts.

Omar and Schakowsky claimed that “this year, the United States has seen over 500 documented complaints of anti-Muslim hate and bias.” Their link went to another press release, this one from the Hamas-linked Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), claiming that these documented complaints include “hate crimes, harassment, school bullying, discrimination, hate speech, and anti-mosque incidents.”

“Hate speech”: this means that trivial incidents in which someone who is rude to a Muslim gets counted in as a hate crime, inflating the numbers of those crimes and contributing to the false impression that Muslims are victims of widespread discrimination and harassment in America today. With that low a bar, it’s no surprise that the press release at Omar’s site goes on to note that “in March, the United Nations Human Rights Council cited discrimination and hatred towards Muslims has risen to ‘epidemic proportions.”

Omar claimed that “we are seeing a rise in Islamophobia in nearly every corner of the globe. In my home state of Minnesota, vandals spray-painted hate messages and a Nazi swastika on and near the Moorhead Fargo Islamic Center. These types of incidents are all too common for Muslims in the United States and beyond. As part of our commitment to international religious freedom and human rights, we must recognize Islamophobia and do all we can to eradicate it. That’s why I’m proud to partner with Rep. Jan Schakowsky to create a special envoy to put an end to this bigotry.”

Corrupt Politicians Beware: Adam Andrzejewski

https://openthebooks.us20.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=2cf2a73e6220e59e3c1c4a60c&id=e2b29384a0
OpenTheBooks is on a mission to post every single dollar of public spending online, and in real time.

And government bureaucrats haven’t made our job easy.

After painstaking efforts, we’ve successfully posted 85% of funds taxed and spent by every single substantial unit of government across America.

Today, the Transparency Revolution marches forward!

Here are three highlights from 2021:
We’ve filed 40,500 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests.
We’ve captured 25 million public employee pension and salary records.
We’ve made significant progress on our lawsuit to open up the California state checkbook. CA is the lone holdout and the third state we have sued. We’ve never lost.

These are the first steps in a much larger battle.

Imagine… how will voters feel when they’re able to see and show corruption under a white-hot spotlight?

No media spin to cover dirty politicians. Just cold, hard facts.

OpenTheBooks is on a war footing and we have huge plans for 2022.

We will publish 500+ investigations (up from 290+ in 2021) with one single goal: to capture government spending and expose to the American public how your tax dollars are being “invested.”

We are working hard.

But right now, we need to raise $25,000 before midnight on December 31st to fuel our progress.

Will you consider joining us as a partner with a gift of $25, $50, or $100?

RENEWABLE? SUSTAINABLE? GREEN BUZZ WORDS: WILL COGGIN

https://issuesinsights.com/2021/12/13/renewable-sustainable-dissecting-green-buzzwords/

Remember when Humpty Dumpty lectured Alice, “When I use a word, it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less”? With talk of climate change constantly in the news, marketing departments are increasingly getting in on that game. One in every six consumer products touts sustainability claims. So should you trust what is on the label? 

Some terms like “organic,” for farming practices, have been around long enough to have their own third-party certification programs. While not perfect, it’s at least a layer of scrutiny that is missing from newer buzzword claims.

One of those newer terms is “renewable.” The word invokes thoughts of clean energy and boundless resources. 

Reality check: “Renewable” only means a product has been sourced from something that cannot be depleted. Paper is often labeled renewable since trees and forests regrow and are replanted. But that doesn’t make products made from renewable resources automatically better than other products. 

Water cartons, for example, have been touted as a “renewable” alternative to plastic bottles. Alaska Airlines recently announced it would be getting rid of plastic water bottles and replacing them with boxed water. But there’s a catch.

The paper in cartons is renewable, but the cartons are not merely paper. After all, paper’s not waterproof. As any kid knows after taking a juice box apart, there are glued layers of plastic and aluminum needed to waterproof the product. 

Crucially, that means while the paper part of the carton is “renewable”, the cartons themselves are difficult to recycle. Cartons cannot be recycled in areas where 40% of the country lives. Carton production releases roughly the same amount of greenhouse gases as the production of a recycled plastic bottle. A carton is better off being incinerated, according to a study by the Danish Environmental Protection Agency. 

Does the “renewable” label mean the product is better for the environment? Not necessarily. 

Almost Anybody Can Now Vote in New York Democrats on the City Council give 800,000 noncitizens the franchise, as others dissent.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/almost-anybody-can-now-vote-in-new-york-noncitizen-illegal-alien-election-interference-11639331608?mod=opinion_lead_pos3

The New York City Council approved a bill last week to let about 800,000 noncitizens vote in local elections, and Mayor Bill de Blasio has said he won’t veto it. The measure passed 33-14, over some strong dissents, including from Democrats.

“It’s unconstitutional under state law. It’s very clear,” said Councilman Kalman Yeger, a Brooklyn Democrat, during Thursday’s debate. That was seconded by Councilman James Gennaro, a Queens Democrat. “I and everyone in this body took an oath—an oath!—to uphold the constitution of the state of New York.”

New York’s constitution guarantees citizens the right to vote, “provided that such citizen is eighteen years of age” and has been a resident for 30 days. The progressive argument is that this language doesn’t explicitly exclude noncitizens, so New York City can grant them the franchise.

But think what else this implies. The constitution only specifically says that a “citizen” must be 18 to vote. So could the city expand local elections to 12-year-old noncitizens? Ditto for the constitution’s 30-day residency rule. Could the city let noncitizens cross the Hudson River declare residency, and vote the next day? As legal analysis, this isn’t what New York’s constitution means.

The city’s bill at least requires 30-day residency by noncitizen voters. But Councilman Mark Gjonaj, a Bronx Democrat, said that would cover “a transient,” who’s “coming in for the duration of that job or that project and going back to their home country.” He warned it would make New York “vulnerable to outside influence,” including from Russia, suggesting a one-year residency requirement instead.

Because noncitizens can’t participate in federal or state races, a practical problem is that the city’s Board of Elections, which is legendary for ineptitude, would have to manage a second voting list and set of ballots. What about people who don’t speak the basic English required by the citizenship test? Councilman Mark Treyger, a Brooklyn Democrat who abstained on the bill, said he once asked for a law requiring interpreters at polling sites, and “I was told that we didn’t have the authority.”

Green-card holders pay taxes, yet so might second homeowners, international students, and illegal aliens. For voting, citizenship is a clear place to draw a bright line. Mr. Gennaro, the Queens Democrat, said noncitizens can’t hold office, so under the city’s bill “they’re good enough to vote for Mayor but not be Mayor.” Cynics, he added, would say “we’re looking for permanent residents to vote for us, but you don’t get a chance to, like, run against us.”

Other arguments were less, well, philosophical. Councilwoman Laurie Cumbo, a Brooklyn Democrat, said she worried the bill wouldn’t “amplify” black voices. “The top three ethnic groups that will benefit from this,” she said, are “the Dominican Republic, China, as well as Mexico.” She added that although it’s “not politically correct,” she is concerned that “many of our Latino brothers and sisters voted Republican, for President Trump.” So she opposed the bill.

These dissenting Democrats didn’t win the day, but let’s hope the courts say the whole thing is unconstitutional.

The Six Most Disastrous Members Of The Biden Administration

https://thebluestateconservative.com/2021/12/12/the-six-most-disastrous-members-of-the-biden-administration/?utm_source=mailpoet&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=today-s-posts-from-the-blue-state-conservative_1

In this installment of our weekly Sunday Six conversation, PF Whalen and Parker Beauregard of The Blue State Conservative discuss their choices for the six most disastrous members of President Joe Biden’s Administration, not counting Mr. Biden himself.

#6: Vice President of the United States – Kamala Harris

#5: Secretary of the Treasury – Janet Yellen

#4: Attorney General – Merrick Garland

#3: Secretary of Defense – Lloyd Austin

#2: Director of the NAIAD – Anthony Fauci

#1: White House Chief of Staff – Ron Klain

Biden’s catastrophic collapse of American leadership The Biden administration is hell-bent on reversing many of President Trump’s achievements: Monica Crowley

https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/biden-collapse-american-leadership-monica-crowley

It turns out that going from America First to America Last has real world consequences.

President Joe Biden’s rejection of President Donald Trump’s approach to national security and foreign policy has created devastating harm to American interests abroad and our security at home.

Trump’s main goal was to prioritize our interests, thereby leveraging American power to deliver greater global stability, certainty and relative peace. Biden prioritizes multilateralism and globalism, reversing Trump-era gains and introducing increasing chaos, instability, uncertainty and conflict.

President Trump’s critics often complained his America First policies were damaging our alliances and rewarding our enemies. The exact opposite was true: like President Ronald Reagan before him, Trump delivered peace through strength. Biden has diluted American power, and as a result, our allies no longer trust us and our enemies no longer fear us. American weakness always invites the wolves, and the wolves have returned.

Let’s recall where we were just one year ago.

The Trump administration had provided unwavering support to Israel and achieved historic peace agreements in the Middle East, agreements which cultivated economic and other cooperation that, in turn, is delivering enduring peace.
It had successfully pushed back on China’s economic aggression, human rights abuses, and geopolitical adventurism in the South China Sea and Pacific Rim.
It had successfully contained Russia’s expansionism and slowed the progress of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.
It had productive diplomacy underway to contain North Korea’s nuclear ambitions.
It had withdrawn from the catastrophic Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and was using its extensive sanctions authority to restrict Iran’s nuclear program.
It had negotiated a plan for a managed, conditional exit from Afghanistan that would have secured us a continuing intelligence capability.
It had realigned our relationship with our NATO allies, holding them to their promises of the alliance.
It had successfully negotiated fairer, more reciprocal trade deals with China, Canada, Mexico, South Korea and Japan, among others.
It had begun to modernize and rebuild our military, left hollowed out by the Obama-Biden administration.
It had largely solved the immigration issue through a more secure border and commonsense diplomatic agreements.