FOREIGN POLICY Comments turned off

Republicans and Democrats See the Iran Deal for What It Is By Carine Hajjar

Posted By on April 7th, 2022

https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/republicans-and-democrats-see-the-iran-deal-for-what-it-is/

“But perhaps the greatest sign of the deal’s weakness is that its own authors have walked away.”

Though President Biden promised a return to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the Iran nuclear deal that currently sits on the table is weaker and more dangerous.

Republicans, who fought against Obama’s JCPOA, are predictably calling for an end to negotiations.

Earlier today, Republicans from the House Foreign Affairs Committee hosted a press conference to denounce Biden’s Iran deal. Congressman Andy Barr (R., Ky.) said Trump’s “maximum pressure” strategy was working, and Biden’s current attempt amounts to a “flawed deal” that cannot go forward. To Barr and his colleagues, the JCPOA-minus is “flawed in process, flawed in substance, and flawed in verification protocols,” according to Barr.

As I wrote yesterday, Obama’s (already weak) Iran deal has always been a partisan issue — that is, until Biden botched it even further. Now even Democrats are speaking out.

Earlier today, Democratic Representatives Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey and Elaine Luria of Virginia led a press conference representing a group of 18 House Democrats in opposing the deal. Luria started off saying, “As a group, we have a variety of concerns; everywhere from concern about the negotiations all the way to . . . outright opposition.”

Congressman Juan Vargas (D., Calif.) criticized Biden for keeping Congress “in the dark” despite “fatal flaws.”

NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Judge Acquits J6 Protester in First Defeat for DOJ By Julie Kelly

Posted By on April 7th, 2022

https://amgreatness.com/2022/04/06/judge-acquits-j6-protester-in-first-defeat-for-doj/

D.C. District Court Judge Trevor McFadden today delivered a major blow to the Justice Department’s aggressive prosecution of January 6 protesters. Following a bench trial this week for Matthew Martin, a New Mexico man charged with the most common misdemeanors related to the Capitol protest, McFadden found Martin not guilty on all counts. It is the first acquittal in a January 6 case; nearly 800 Americans have been arrested and charged, mostly on petty offenses, for their involvement in the four-hour disturbance that day.

Martin was arrested a year ago on four counts: entering and remaining in a restricted building, disorderly conduct in a restricted building, violent entry, and parading in the Capitol building. Prosecutors confirmed he was in the building for roughly 10 minutes.

He pleaded not guilty and opted for a bench trial before McFadden, a Trump appointee. Taking the stand in his own defense, Martin said he was “waved” into the building by Capitol police. According to BuzzFeed’s Zoe Tillman, who is covering the in-person trials in Washington, an official for the U.S. Capitol Police testified that police “were so vastly outnumbered and couldn’t stop people [and] all they could do was observe [and] try to make sure no one got hurt.”

Calling Martin’s conduct “minimal and non-serious,” McFadden found it “plausible” that Martin was allowed into the building and did not realize the grounds were off-limits to the public.

McFadden’s ruling could impact pending cases and plea offers since a government witness confirmed for the first time under oath that police stood by as people entered the Capitol. The next trial for a January 6 defendant facing the same charges is scheduled for April 13 when Russell Dean Alford will appear before Judge Tanya Chutkan, an Obama appointee.

WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

Can Ukraine Ever Win? There is as yet still no deterrent force that can stop Russia’s bombs and missiles and disrupt Vladimir Putin’s nihilist strategy. By Victor Davis Hanson

Posted By on April 7th, 2022

https://amgreatness.com/2022/04/06/can-ukraine-ever-win/

Even a truncated Russian Federation has four times the pre-war population of Ukraine. It enjoys well over 10 times the Ukrainian gross domestic product. Russia covers almost 30 times Ukraine’s area. 

And how does Ukraine expel Russian troops from its borders when its Western allies must put particular restrictions on their life-giving military and financial aid?   

The interests of Europe and the United States are not quite the same as those of a beleaguered Ukraine. NATO also wants Vladimir Putin humiliated, but only if the war can be confined within the borders of Ukraine. 

The West seeks a resounding reaffirmation for the supposed “rules-based international order” that prevents aggressive invasions across national borders—but not at the price of a nuclear exchange. 

So to accomplish those grand agendas, the West restricts some of its generous supplies to Ukraine. It sends plenty of lethal weapons—as long as some of them will not provoke a losing Russia into doing something stupid, like resorting to tactical nuclear weapons to save face. 

There are other complications. Time is fickle. In theory, it should favor a resilient Ukraine. 

The longer the war goes on, the more sanctions will hurt the Russian economy and insidiously undermine Russian public support for the war. 

On the other hand, the longer the war continues, the greater the Russian losses, and the fewer acceptable off-ramps for Putin, all the more likely he will grow desperate and escalate to Götterdӓmmerung levels. 

Admittedly, Putin is no longer fighting to win over Ukraine and force it back intact into the Russian federation. He is no longer wary of eradicating infrastructure that he once felt would once again become valuable Russian assets. 

Instead, Russia is going full Carthaginian peace in Eastern Ukraine—leveling cities, murdering civilians, and destroying an entire modern society for generations. 

IMMIGRATION Comments turned off

Report: Bipartisan Group of Lawmakers Takes on Biden Over Border Crisis By Cameron Arcand

Posted By on April 7th, 2022

https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/cameronarcand/2022/04/06/report-bipartisan-group-of-lawmakers-takes-on-biden-over-border-crisis-n1587755

Axios reports that a bipartisan group of lawmakers will be introducing a bill Thursday to stop the Biden administration from lifting Title 42 on May 23, which would worsen the border crisis.

Sen. Krysten Sinema (D-Ariz.) is leading the effort, along with Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.). Sens. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.),  Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Jon Tester (D-Mont.), John Thune (R-S.D.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Thom Tillis (R-N.C), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W. Va.) and Rob Portman (R-Ohio) are acting as co-sponsors, the outlet added.

More specifically, the bill will require a 60-day waiting period after the surgeon general tells Congress that the COVID-19 emergency is over. This would presumably give law enforcement more time to prepare for a surge of migrants at the border.

BOOKS Comments turned off

Alice Walker Disinvited From Book Festival Can you guess what the organizers discovered? Hugh Fitzgerald

Posted By on April 7th, 2022

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2022/04/alice-walker-disinvited-book-festival-hugh-fitzgerald/

Alice Walker, the author of The Color Purple, has been disinvited from a book festival when the organizers discovered her long history of antisemitic remarks about Jews and Israel, the Jewish state that she often compares to Nazi Germany. A report on the reasons for her being uninvited is here: “California Book Festival Rescinds Invitation to Author Alice Walker Over Past Antisemitic Comments,” by Shiryn Ghermezian, Algemeiner, March 29, 2022:

A book festival in California has disinvited Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist and poet Alice Walker from its event due to the author’s history of making antisemitic remarks about Jews and Israel, The Jewish News of Northern California reported on Friday.

Walker, 78, was scheduled to interview writer Honorée Fanonne Jeffers, at the latter’s request, at the headlining event of the annual Bay Area Book Festival, which will take place May 7-8 in downtown Berkeley and is set to feature over 250 authors. The festival is the main project of the Foundation for the Future of Literature and Literacy, a California non-profit organization.

Organizers cancelled Walker’s participation in the festival on Thursday after being informed about her past hateful comments, according to The Jewish News of Northern California. Jeffers subsequently pulled out of the festival in response, the festival’s publicist Julia Drake told the outlet.…

Walker, who was the first Black woman to win a Pulitzer Prize for fiction for “The Color Purple” in 1983, has repeatedly compared Israel to Nazi Germany and is an avid supporter of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement. In 2011, she claimed, “I think Israel is the greatest terrorist in that part of the world. And I think in general, the United States and Israel are great terrorist organizations themselves.” That same year she said Israel is “as frightening to many of us as Germany used to be.” Walker has also made antisemitic claims about Jews and Israel in her poetry.

Walker has been obsessed with Jews and Israel for years. She frequently compares Israel to Nazi Germany, and attacks the Talmud as an evil and racist document. 

EDUCATION Comments turned off

Yale Law School Recruits and Trains Social Justice Warriors Mission: wage lawfare to effect change across every sector of society. Michael Cutler

Posted By on April 7th, 2022

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2022/04/yale-law-school-recruits-and-trains-social-justice-michael-cutler/

If practitioners of any profession would be expected to understand and honor the notion of Free Speech it would be lawyers.  In years past this would be a reasonable conclusion.  However, in so many ways traditional American values have been turned upside down and inside out!

Consider that on March 17, 2022 Fox News reported, Liberal Yale Law students derail bipartisan ‘free speech’ event in chaotic protest; police called to scene.

 The report began with the following:

A bipartisan panel on civil liberties at Yale Law School was disrupted last week when more than 100 law students tried to drown out and intimidate the speakers, who eventually needed police to escort them out of the building, according to reports.

The school’s Federalist Society hosted the March 10 panel, which featured Monica Miller, of the progressive American Humanist Association, and Kristen Waggoner, of the conservative Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF). About 120 student protesters showed up with signs attacking the ADF to shout down the speakers, with one reportedly recorded on audio telling a member of the conservative group that she would “literally fight you, b——.”

“It was disturbing to witness law students whipped into a mindless frenzy. I did not feel it was safe to get out of the room without security,” Waggoner told the Washington Free Beacon.

FOREIGN POLICY Comments turned off

Robert Malley: Appeaser Extraordinaire The long disturbing record of Biden’s Special Envoy for Iran. John Perazzo

Posted By on April 7th, 2022

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2022/04/robert-malley-appeaser-extraordinaire-john-perazzo/

During his first few days as President, Joe Biden named Robert Malley as his U.S. Special Envoy for Iran. Malley has a long history of antipathy toward Israel, as well as a profoundly deep reserve of patience with Iran and other enemies of the Jewish state. Most notably, he helped negotiate the Iran nuclear deal of 2015 — known officially as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) — and he subsequently opposed the Trump Administration’s “maximum pressure” sanctions against Tehran. From the start of his tenure with the Biden Administration, Malley called for the U.S. to return to the JCPOA as swiftly as possible, and to fully dismantle the sanctions that Trump had reimposed on Iran.   

Talks between the Biden Administration and Iran began formally in Vienna in April 2021, but were paused shortly before Iran’s presidential elections in June. Then, in late November, Tehran dispatched to Vienna a new negotiating team whose diplomats made more demands and offered fewer concessions than had their predecessors. By December 3, the talks had stalled. Six days later, Malley, conveying the Biden Administration’s desperate desire to strike some sort of agreement, stated that U.S. negotiators would be willing to sit down with their Iranian counterparts “at any time and any place” – preferably “face-to-face.” America, said Malley, was “prepared to get back into the deal as soon as possible – as soon as Iran is.” “Then,” he added, “we would lift all of the sanctions that are inconsistent with the JCPOA.”

But as of today, no deal with Iran seems to be on the horizon. As recently as March 27, Malley admitted to having little faith that the JCPOA could be revived anytime soon. “I can’t be confident it is imminent,” he lamented, noting how hard it is to bridge the gap.”

Americans can only hope and pray that Malley and his cohorts are not successful at reviving the JCPOA – or anything even remotely resembling it.

BOOKS, ENVIRONMENT AND JUNK SCIENCE Comments turned off

Who Broke Climate Science? There is a complete disconnect between the reality of climate science and the authoritarian designs of many climate agitators. by Steven F. Hayward

Posted By on April 7th, 2022

https://claremontreviewofbooks.com/who-broke-climate-science/

In 2021, the American Political Science Review generated a storm of controversy by publishing Ross Mittiga’s “Political Legitimacy, Authoritarianism, and Climate Change.” A political science professor at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and former Democratic candidate for the Virginia House of Delegates, Mittaga raises a problem he does not solve: must we sacrifice democracy to save the planet? (I posed the same question in these pages 13 years ago: “All the Leaves Are Brown,” Winter 2008/09).

The most overwrought, assertive climate change activists have a “transformative” agenda to halt and reverse global warming. The problem is that there’s no evidence voting majorities in any modern democracy are willing to be transformed by Green New Deals or other, even wilder schemes. And if the people reject the climate agenda? There must be ways to enact it despite them. There may even be ways to insist that this thwarting of the popular will is, in fact, a more noble rendering of democracy than mere government by consent of the governed.

Mittiga denies, strenuously yet unconvincingly, that he advocates authoritarian governance. Democratic governments that fail to take vigorous measures to solve the “climate crisis,” he argues, will lose their legitimacy by failing to protect the health and safety of their citizens (the same citizens who at the ballot box resist such measures as carbon taxes). Democracies can only retain legitimacy by enacting climate policies that may require suspending civil liberties and other democratic procedures while taking direct command of the economy—in other words, authoritarianism. Heads-I-win, tails-you-lose.

NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Key GOP senator blasts Biden family as ‘grifters,’ ‘influence peddlers’ who jeopardize security “They were using Vice President Biden’s position and his name to peddle influence, and rake in, vacuum in millions of dollars from all over the world,” said the Wisconsin Republican senator. John Solomon

Posted By on April 7th, 2022

https://justthenews.com/government/congress/ron-johnson-calls-biden-family-grifters-and-influence-peddlers

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.) on Wednesday derided the Biden family as “grifters” and “influence peddlers,” as more evidence emerges of questionable business deals involving President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter, and brother, James.

“They knew exactly what they were doing,” Johnson told “Just the News — Not Noise.” “They were using Vice President Biden’s position and his name to peddle influence, and rake in, vacuum in millions of dollars from all over the world

“The Bidens are grifters. They’re influence peddlers. They’ve made millions. They’ve compromised themselves, and they’ve compromised America’s national security.” 

Johnson spoke on the Senate floor Tuesday with Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) about their ongoing investigation into the Biden family’s shady financial connections, including partners tied to communist China and Russian oligarchs.

NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

IS THE “BIG GUY” IN BIG TROUBLE?

Posted By on April 7th, 2022

https://issuesinsights.com/2022/04/07/is-the-big-guy-in-big-trouble/

So far, the lurid news reports of global influence peddling, sex and drugs emanating from Hunter Biden’s abandoned laptop and its thousands upon thousands of damning emails have been treated solely as the risqué escapades of President Joe Biden’s ne’er-do-well son. However sad this episode might be, we’ve been told it has nothing to do with the president himself. Oh, really?

In fact, based on what we know so far, President Biden could be in a world of legal trouble.

Ordinarily, influence peddling involves a middleman with access to someone powerful. The middleman uses his access to a powerful politician or official to obtain money and/or favors from a third party, who in turn wants favors or access from the powerful official.

Strangely enough, the Supreme Court in recent years has actually softened its treatment of this behavior, in essence saying that what we normally call influence peddling is a part of our democracy, unsavory though it may be.

This allows such curious practices as political lobbying to occur. Essentially, lobbyists are well connected people who sell their access to others. It’s legal.

Legal, except that is, when the politician himself benefits financially. Then it’s garden-variety corruption, a bribe.

The Justice Department has made it clear in recent years that “it is a violation of federal law for any federal, state, or local government official to ask for or receive anything of value in exchange for, or because of, any official act. Public corruption is a federal crime.”