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50 STATES AND DC, CONGRESS AND THE PRESIDENT

Enough With Half Measures, Throw All U.S. Code at Trump By Roger Kimball

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.

The regime closes ranks around Biden with another sham indictment By Matthew Boose

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.

Andrew Tate’s Betrayal of the West The social media personality celebrates the Islamization of Britain. by Jason D. Hill

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.

Country Star Challenges America’s Culture of Crime And pro-crime “progressives” explode in rage. by Mark Tapson

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.

The Biden Family Caricatures By Victor Davis Hanson

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.

Still More Evidence That Bidenomics Is ‘Working’

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.

The Hunter Biden Whistleblowers The IRS agents are under oath in public. Will Attorney General Merrick Garland respond?

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.”

The big takeaway from an ‘imminent’ Trump arrest By Michael Letts

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2023/07/the_big_takeaway_from_an_imminent_trump_arrest.html

In an announcement that has sent shockwaves through the nation, former president Donald Trump declared that his arrest is imminent.  This declaration, shocking as it is, should be a cause for concern for anyone who values the principles upon which our nation was built.  As citizens, it is our duty to scrutinize the implications of this ongoing political assault.

In Mr. Trump’s words, this investigation is a “witch hunt,” an attempt to weaponize the law enforcement apparatus against him.  It appears to be an unprecedented attack on a former president, transforming political disagreements into legal battles, an alarming trend that threatens the stability of our constitutional republic.

The legal issues currently surrounding Mr. Trump range from a New York State case involving payments for a nondisclosure agreement to a federal case in Miami related to handling classified documents.  Now he is a target of the special counsel investigation of the January 6 Capitol Free Speech Demonstrations.  This exhaustive pursuit raises questions about the impartiality of our justice system, which should remain free from political biases.

On January 6, a faction of the crowd engaged in illegal activities, leading to a breach of the Capitol by some suspected of being planted provocateurs to discredit the peaceful event.  The justice system responded by indicting over a thousand individuals, with some defendants held for over 800 days before their trials.  Contrast this with the non-arrests or slaps on the wrists of participants of the Antifa and Black Lives Matter riots.

Labeling the actions of a few as an “insurrection” and using it to generalize the entire crowd is a blatant attempt to paint conservatives and Trump-supporters as extremists.  Such a narrative deepens divisions and fosters animosity.  These blanket accusations undermine the constitutional rights of millions of Americans and disregard their legitimate concerns over election irregularities.

Ironically, the same voices that dismiss calls for law and order in the face of destructive riots in our cities now cry foul, alleging an insurrection where there was none.  Law enforcement should never be a tool for political gamesmanship, yet we are witnessing its blatant misuse.

Senate Republicans Despise Their Voters By J.B. Shurk

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2023/07/senate_republicans_despise_their_voters.html

Lisa Murkowski is the perfect mascot for Senate Republicans.  She is a Democrat in all but name, an aristocrat who inherited her office, and a beneficiary of rigged elections.  She has more in common with Nancy Pelosi than the average Republican voter, and every time Alaskan Republicans attempt to throw her out of office, Mitch McConnell’s minions manipulate the rules to save her.  

For McConnell, Murkowski is another beholden senator kept securely in his pocket who will vote how he wants on any given day.  That might not be so bad (except for the good people of Alaska, whom she purportedly represents) if McConnell were not also an aristocrat who routinely betrays Republican voters.  However, because his loyalties lie with President Xi, multinational corporations, the World Economic Forum, and his good friend Joe Biden, China Mitch uses the leash around Murkowski’s neck only when he needs help sticking it to the American people.  And oh, how Senate Republicans love to screw over the American people!

I mention this person because she and other backstabbing Senate Republicans (think John Cornyn, Mitt Romney, John Thune, etc.) got together to do their version of Festivus in July, during which they told The Hill how much they absolutely loathe normal Republican voters.  “[O]ur party is becoming known as a group of kind of extremist, populist, over-the-top [people] where no one is taking us seriously anymore,” Murkowski laments.  

Our party?  Alaskan Republicans tried to cashier your rear years ago, and you thumbed your nose at their wishes, ran as a write-in candidate, and got elected by Democrats.  Instead of stripping you of your ranking position on choice committee assignments, Senate Republicans celebrated your “victory” over the actual Republican nominee (and Tea Party favorite, Joe Miller) by preserving your seniority.  Last year, Republicans again tried to be done with you, and McConnell and his boys rigged the election by implementing ranked-choice voting — an incumbent protection racket that also defeated Sarah Palin and sent a Democrat to the House!  Deep-red Alaska can’t represent conservatives’ interests when Senate Republicans work with Chuck Schumer to benefit Barack Obama’s favorite candidates!

That is the absurdity of the Murkowski position.  She and her ilk believe that the Republican Party should be represented by individuals who adore Barack Obama, voted for Hillary Clinton, and consider child-sniffer Joe Biden a close personal friend.  And because she is too daft to grasp the mood of the country and such a product of venal nepotism as to have scant self-awareness, she thinks the riffraff will eventually see things her way.  If they actually had elections in Alaska, Murkowski’s campaign slogan really could be “Let them eat cake,” and nobody would bat an eye.  It is what abused voters expect when Dirty Mitch McConnell’s election-riggers continue to hand out fortune cookies to the natives advising, “You shall be represented by a Democrat in Republican clothing.”

When Investigators Won’t Investigate Joe Biden by Byron York

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/when-investigators-wont-investigate-joe-biden

One of the murkier aspects of congressional Republicans’ investigation of President Biden’s financial history concerns an allegation that Biden, when he was vice president, accepted a $5 million bribe from the corrupt Ukrainian energy firm Burisma. The alleged scheme also involved Biden’s son Hunter. Burisma, of course, was the company that for a time paid Hunter Biden about $1 million a year to do mostly nothing.

At issue is something called a form FD-1023, an FBI document that is said to “memorialize a confidential human source’s conversations with a foreign national who claimed to have bribed then-Vice President Joe Biden,” in the words of Kentucky Republican Rep. James Comer, chairman of the House Oversight Committee. That FBI confidential human source, Comer continued, was no fly-by-night character. Instead, he was a “trusted” source who has worked with the FBI “for over 10 years” and was paid “over $200,000” for his work during that time. “This is one of our highest-paid, most trusted, most respected, most effective FBI informants in the whole bureau,” Comer told Fox Business’ Maria Bartiromo on June 15.

In other words, it was a serious allegation from a serious source. Yet the FBI, Comer said, “never did one single thing to investigate this.” In a June 28 press release, Comer added, “The FBI has been sitting on allegations for years that Joe Biden solicited and received a bribe while he was vice president of the United States. We have no confidence that the FBI did anything to verify the allegations contained within this record and may have intentionally withheld it during the investigation into Hunter Biden’s tax evasion.”

Here’s the way investigators look at this. Is the bribery allegation true? Who knows? It might be false. It might be a misunderstanding. It might be a political hit job. Or it might be true. In any event, the only way its truth or falsity can be established is by investigation. If you don’t investigate, you’ll never know.

That is why top lawmakers, like Comer and Republican Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa, are pressing the FBI to tell them what the bureau did to investigate the source’s story. That has been the one key question they have asked the FBI and Justice Department all along: Did you investigate this? And that is what the FBI and Justice Department have refused to answer.