RUTHFULLY YOURS

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2021/12/leftist-journalists-float-idea-criticizing-joe-robert-spencer/

The Leftist political and media elites are desperately afraid of Donald Trump, even more than they were when they relentlessly defamed him and tried to run him out of office with a hoax collusion conspiracy and a tempest in a teapot over a routine phone call. A Trump return to the White House on January 20, 2025, would represent a massive repudiation of those who have arrogated to themselves the authority to tell us what to think, and those self-appointed intellectual and moral superiors are doing everything they can think of to try to preserve their crumbling hegemony. The New Republic, one of the flagship publications of the Left before it became completely authoritarian and irrational, on Saturday joined Dana Milbank of the Washington Post in offering one of the most absurd and dangerous recommendations for how to stop Trump and his supporters: stop criticizing Joe Biden.

Yes, that’s right: The New Republic is mulling over destroying our free society in order to save it. concerns mount over the future of free and fair elections, a debate has broken out about whether the media must protect Biden to save the republic. Jason Linkins, a deputy editor at The New Republic, begins his piece by saying: “This week, President Joe Biden hopped onto Zoom in an effort to shepherd the world along the path to stronger global democracy, during a two-day summit with other world leaders. He’ll be making his case, however, amid growing concerns about democracy here at home.”

The concerns about democracy that Linkins is talking about aren’t the lingering questions about election fraud in 2020. On the contrary, Linkins is talking about the supposed destruction of democracy that the Left would have us believe would ensue were Trump to attempt to return to the White House in 2024. “Whether we like it or not,” says Linkins, “there is reason to be gravely concerned. But against this backdrop, an interesting debate has broken out about the press’s role in protecting our too-fragile institutions and raveled civic fabric from a Trumpian assault—and whether the media, in an effort to support democracy, must unflinchingly support Biden, as well.”

https://amgreatness.com/2021/12/16/democrats-promised-an-insurrection-but-all-they-got-was-a-lousy-obstruction-case/

History, it appears, is repeating itself—at least when it comes to the latest crusade to destroy Donald Trump and everyone around him.

For nearly three years, the American people were warned that Donald Trump had been in cahoots with the Kremlin to rig the 2016 presidential election. Trump-Russia election collusion, the original “stop the steal” campaign—that is, until questioning the outcome of American elections was designated a criminal conspiracy after November 2020—dominated the attention of the ruling class and the entirety of the national news media.

Every instrument of power—the FBI, a secret surveillance court, congressional committees, a special counsel—was leveraged to uncover the “truth” about the Trump campaign’s alleged dirty dealings with Mother Russia.

Hyperbolic accusations about the president, his family, and close associates were similar to accusations now levied against those associated with the so-called “insurrection” said to have been incited by Trump: Russia collusion, like the four-hour disturbance at the Capitol on January 6, rendered Trump a traitor, a threat to democracy, a wannabe dictator, a psychotic cult leader, and a menace to global security—to name just a handful of the more outlandish claims.

Democrats sang Christmas carols and lit candles in honor of Special Counsel Robert Mueller; it only was a matter of time before Mueller’s posse of partisan attorneys dragged Trump out of the Oval Office in handcuffs and arrested him for conspiring with Vladimir Putin to defeat Hillary Clinton, they believed.

Then, disaster. Forced by William Barr, Trump’s new attorney general, to conclude his two-year fishing expedition, Mueller finally issued his long-awaited report in April 2019: “[The] investigation did not establish that members of the Trump campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities.”

Mueller never was going to find proof of Trump-Russia election collusion and everyone in Washington knew it. The final confession came as a shock only to the millions of brain-dead Americans deceived by professional liars such as Representative Adam Schiff (D-Calif.). To soften the blow, Mueller’s team instead pivoted to suggestions that Trump likely obstructed justice on numerous occasions, all in situations related to the president’s attempts to stop the destructive witch hunt against both him and his advisors, including former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn.

https://issuesinsights.com/2021/12/17/americas-real-authoritarians/

A particular line from our Thursday editorial reminded us of something we’ve been seeing for some time now: claims by the media that Republicans in general and Donald Trump in specific are authoritarians. It’s a truly malignant form of psychological projection.

The comment referenced in our observation that dissent is no longer the highest form of patriotism that struck us is from Northeastern University journalism professor and public radio panelist Dan Kennedy. He said, with zero supporting evidence, that the Republican Party “has embraced authoritarianism and voter suppression.”

The only “proof” he offers is a report from a European think tank that says in 2020 “the United States, the bastion of global democracy, fell victim to authoritarian tendencies itself, and was knocked down a significant number of steps on the democratic scale.”

Well, let’s see what happened in the U.S. in 2020. A pandemic arrived and policymakers all across the country quickly began violating rights by shutting down businesses; outlawing the people’s right to freely assemble (unless they were rioting for the right reasons, that is reasons approved by Democrats and the media); trapping people in their homes; arresting those who dared to move about without government permission; requiring masks in public and private settings; forcing kids to muzzle themselves for entire school days; and in some cases demanding proof of immunization to carry on as normal.

In the beginning officials from both parties were guilty of the excesses. But in 2021, it’s the Republican red states that have returned lost liberties while Democrat blue states, and Democrats in Washington, continue to violate freedom with the cheerleading of the press.

But the report doesn’t say the panicked and irrational pandemic response was the fuel driving the U.S. toward authoritarianism. It blames Trump’s questioning of “the legitimacy of the 2020 election results,” as well as “baseless allegations of electoral fraud and related disinformation,” which “undermined fundamental trust in the electoral process.”

https://issuesinsights.com/2021/12/16/looks-like-dissent-is-no-longer-the-highest-form-of-patriotism/

Remember how, when Donald Trump was president, writing bogus attack pieces and talking endlessly about how he stole the 2016 election were all good for the country. Because, you know, dissent is the highest form of patriotism.

Now, reporting undisputed facts that happen to be unflattering to the current president poses a grave threat to the survival of the nation. That’s what journalists are saying.

As President Joe Biden’s approval numbers continue to collapse, and polls – including the latest I&I/TIPP poll – find that Trump is more popular than Biden these days, some of the “truth to power” crowd are using their platforms to attack their fellow scribes for being “too negative” on Biden.

The argument is that hurting Biden increases the chances that Trump, if he runs, could reclaim the White House in 2024, and that will be the end of democracy as we know it.

Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank, for example, makes the (ludicrous and thoroughly debunked) claim that the media coverage of Biden has been more negative than it was in Trump’s last year in office, and then delivers this message:

“My colleagues in the media are serving as accessories to the murder of democracy.”

Yikes! Milbank works for the paper, by the way, that adopted the motto “Democracy Dies in Darkness” in 2017 as a thumb in the eye of Trump.

Milbank’s anti-journalist diatribe didn’t raise a peep of protest from his colleagues. It did, however, warm hearts in the Biden administration. Biden’s chief of staff, Ron Klain, promoted the column on Twitter, with the caption “submitted for your consideration.” Other White House officials also touted the piece.

Dan Kennedy makes the same argument on WGBH.org: “Large swaths of the media simply cannot or will not move beyond both-sides journalism, equating the frustratingly hapless Democrats with a Republican Party that has embraced authoritarianism and voter suppression.”

https://spectatorworld.com/topic/democrats-whistle-past-crime-wave/

This past weekend, twenty CEOs from big box retailers sent a letter to Congress, asking for help in combatting the rampant theft that is plaguing their stores.

While it’s refreshing to finally see these companies speaking up, it’s hard to ignore the irony of their circumstances. After all, a little over a year ago many of these retailers were sending out emails to their customers that echoed the far-left rallying cries of progressives. No one asked for Best Buy or Ulta to weigh in on social issues, but they were more than happy to virtue-signal anyway.

Plenty of the stores that signed on to this letter have openly supported the Black Lives Matter movement. To understand what that means, you have to understand the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation. One of the founders of BLM described the group’s creators as “trained Marxists.” In June 2020, Alicia Garza, one of the three founders, excused the violence and destruction caused by the riots. 

“We don’t have time to finger-wag at protesters about property,” Garza said. “That can be rebuilt. Target will reopen. The stores will reopen.” 

The socially aware CEOs didn’t let the red flags stop them. Instead, they appeased the alligator with empty woke statements. Now that the “undocumented shopping” is affecting these companies’ bottom lines, they are fed up. So they are asking the same people who fanned the flames to help them put out the fire.

Unfortunately for these companies, many Democratic politicians aren’t concerned about crime. Instead, prominent voices on the left are still promoting asinine ideas like defunding the police and bail reform.

In San Francisco, thanks to Proposition 47, thefts under $950 are labeled misdemeanors rather than felonies. In November, after a Louis Vuitton in Union Square was ransacked, Mayor London Breed offered her solution: “We’re going to be making some changes to Union Square and how cars are able to access. There will be limited access in terms of when you come to this area.” Why focus on prosecuting criminals when you can focus on parking? 

While some leaders offer pathetic band-aid solutions, others prefer to deny, deny, deny.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18033/president-privilege

A former spouse, a lawyer’s former client, and a penitent’s former priest can claim privilege — and so could a former member of Congress and a former judge. The relevant issue is whether the communication was privileged at the time it was made. If so, it should be an enduring privilege that encourages confidential communications during their incumbency.

According to The New York Times, this is what [the House’s lawyer] said: “The Constitution does draw a clear line between a president and an ex-president. An ex-president is somebody who rejoins the great unwashed” — by which he apparently means you and me, who never had any executive privilege.

The issue is an open one that will likely be decided by the Supreme Court. I doubt that justices who are now retired or intend someday to retire — and join the “unwashed” — would be thrilled if Congress were to subpoena their former law clerks to disclose their confidential discussions about decisions they wrote while they were still among the washed.

They [the January 6th Committee] should seek to have the courts rule first on the constitutional issue, and if Meadows then refuses to comply with a judicial order, they can seek criminal penalties. This chronology is especially required because Meadows has said that he would comply with court orders.

Seeking a court order first is also required by the constitutionally mandated separation of powers.

Finally, criminal indictments should never be used to determine what the law is. It should only be used against individuals who know that they are violating existing law that is already clear.

The Constitution provides no clear answer to whether a former president can claim executive privilege over communications that occurred while he was president. Both policy and analogy to other privileges would suggest an affirmative answer. A former spouse, a lawyer’s former client, and a penitent’s former priest can claim privilege — and so could a former member of Congress and a former judge. The relevant issue is whether the communication was privileged at the time it was made. If so, it should be an enduring privilege that encourages confidential communications during their incumbency.

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2021/12/the_show_trial_taking_place_in_dc.html

Tucker Carlson was on fire Tuesday night, for he launched a scathing attack on the grotesque show trial taking place in the House of Representatives, ostensibly to expose the “truth” about the “insurrection” on January 6 but, in reality, to destroy political enemies and preempt Trump’s effort to regain the White House in 2024. To frame the attack, Tucker lit into Liz Cheney, and a more deserving target it’s hard to imagine.

The monologue opens with Tucker pointing out that, for unexplained reasons, Liz Cheney showed up in Manchester, New Hampshire, last month. Well, unexplained only if you don’t know that it’s the place people go when they’re investigating running for president.

To normal people, Liz Cheney’s constituency for a presidential run is a bit of a mystery. Trump supporters despise her and Democrats do too—although they’re perfectly happy to use her to attack Trump.

However, it seems that Cheney is raking in millions of dollars, so someone supports her. Tucker suggests that her supporters are political “dynamos” such as Mitt Romney, Lindsey Graham, and Jeb Bush. To Tucker, these are all neocons who live to get Americans involved in wars that kill and maim our sons and daughters without conferring any benefit on America. Looking back on the last 20 years, I must agree.

https://www.nationalreview.com/2021/12/the-latest-theories-of-criminally-prosecuting-donald-trump-remain-flimsy/

No, it is still not likely that Donald Trump can be indicted for January 6.

L ike Captain Ahab, the full-time Trump haters have fixated yet again on an idea for criminally prosecuting our 45th president. By “full-time Trump haters” I do not mean those of us who have remained consistently critical of Donald Trump, want him out of our politics, and have called for him to be held properly accountable, but rather the left-leaning Resistance and the former conservatives who have let the Never Trump slogan consume their entire political identity. Neither group can let Trump go, even for a little while, even at the cost of neglecting many of the other serious domestic and foreign issues facing the nation.

The obsessives have yet again been issuing flurries of “the walls are closing in” tweets and cable-news segments eagerly anticipating a criminal indictment of Trump. But tweets are no substitute for reading the law.

In a televised hearing on Monday, the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol was reviewing a set of text messages produced by White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, mainly detailing his communications on January 6 with people outside the Trump administration. The text messages underline the case for Trump’s political and moral responsibility for the January 6 Capitol riot. But where is the crime?

Liz Cheney, homing in on Trump’s failure during the critical hours to talk down the rioters or take more vigorous action to enforce the law, asked:

These texts leave no doubt: The White House knew exactly what was happening at the Capitol. Members of Congress, the press, and others wrote to Mark Meadows as the attack was under way. . . . Did Donald Trump, through action or inaction, corruptly seek to obstruct or impede Congress’s proceedings?

If it sounds as if Cheney was quoting or paraphrasing a legal standard, it’s because she was. A number of commentators, including Harvard Law professor Lawrence Tribe, CNN legal analyst Elie Honig, and Daily Beast political-investigations reporter Jose Pagiery, have suggested that Cheney was making a case for prosecuting Trump under 18 U.S.C. § 1505.

If so, that’s a very difficult charge to make stick. There are two problems: It’s unclear whether that charge even applies and, if it did, it’s unclear whether Trump did anything that could violate it.

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2021/12/denial-river-runs-through-left-don-feder/

What do the following have in common: tornadoes which wreaked havoc in the Midwest, the Smollett and Rittenhouse verdicts, the crime wave inundating our cities, chaos at the border and the highest inflation rate in 39 years? Each is relevant only if it serves the left’s worldview.

Biden says the twisters which devastated parts of four states are further evidence of what he calls the ‘climate crisis.” Tornadoes in the Midwest? What’s next, hurricanes in Louisiana, blizzards in North Dakota and a heat wave in July?

As her Kansas farmhouse was swept up in a dust cloud, Dorothy Gale was heard to remark: “Damn those Republicans for opposing the Green New Deal!”

Jussie Smollett concocted a hate crime story so preposterous that it strained credulity –white men in MAGA hats wandering around Chicago at 2 AM in the dead of winter looking for minorities to victimize.

But Biden, Harris and most of the left swallowed it to the last absurd detail. Last week, Smollett was convicted on five charges related to the hoax, including lying to the police.

When Kyle Rittenhouse was charged with fatally shooting two people and wounding a third in the course of a 2020 riot in Kenosha, Wisconsin, Biden said it was because of Trump’s alleged refusal to “disavow white supremacy.” At trial, Rittenhouse was found not guilty on all charges.

The difference? Rittenhouse was a white man with a gun protecting property and himself during a BLM riot, so he had to be guilty. Smollett is a gay, black actor, (and a friend of Maxine Waters), so his allegations had to be believable, no matter how fantastic.

A few days ago, Larry Krasner, Philadelphia’s radical DA said there’s no crime crisis in the City of Cain and Able — no crisis of “crime,” “lawlessness” or “violence.”