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NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION

50 STATES AND DC, CONGRESS AND THE PRESIDENT

Joe Biden’s Cabinet Nominees Prove His Unity Claims Are Garbage Unity to the left means playing God and governing like kings and queens. By Gabe Kaminsky

 https://thefederalist.com/2021/02/26/joe-bidens-cabinet-nominees-prove-his-unity-claims-are-a-lie/

In his first address on Nov. 7 to the nation after being prematurely crowned “president-elect” by the legacy media, Joe Biden called for “a time to heal” and urged for “unity.” At his January inauguration, President Biden did the same.

“With unity we can do great things. Important things. We can right wrongs. We can put people to work in good jobs. We can teach our children in safe schools. We can overcome this deadly virus. We can reward work, rebuild the middle class, and make health care secure for all. We can deliver racial justice,” Biden said.

Then Biden signed the most executive orders (15) in his first day than any other U.S. President in history—notably eliminating the Trump administration’s 1776 Commission to properly educate students about America’s founding. His cabinet nominations also do not spell unity. They indicate the opposite.

Throughout this week, the secretary of Health and Human Services nominee Xavier Becerra sat before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions and Senate Finance committees for his confirmation hearings and notably dodged questions on his partial-birth abortion stance, and about suing nuns to force them into abortion coverage in 2017. The California attorney general is a far-left radical with zero public health experience or expertise.

Is BIDEN back in the BASEMENT?

https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/international-news/politics/is-biden-back-in-the-basement/

Joe Biden appears to be the first president to skip doing a State of the Union Address which is typically done by the end of February by tradition. However, it is not uncommon that a president skips the State of the Union Address during the year in which they were inaugurated. Both Washington and John Adams delivered the address but Thomas Jefferson abandoned that practice in 1801, in favor of a written message. It was about 100 years later that the message was delivered by a speech before Congress by President Woodrow Wilson in 1913. That was an important year for it was not just the creation of the Federal Reserve, but also the Income Tax.

Since Franklin D. Roosevelt’s speech in 1934, the annual speech has become a tradition. Before 1934, it used to be more of a year-end speech delivered in December. However, the President would also take office in March rather than January. The 20th Amendment changed the opening time for congress moving the speech to January/February. Pelosi will forever be remembered as the only Speaker of the House to tear up Trump’s State of the Union Address, which was probably the most disrespectful treatment of the office of the president by anyone in history.

The Constitution requires the president to provide an update on the country. It does not specify any precise timing. What normally happens is the House and Senate set the date for the joint session of Congress. What has everyone concerned about is that in fact, Joe Biden said in January that it would be forthcoming. Then White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said on Feb. 16 that Biden’s first appearance before a joint session “was never planned to be in February.” This has led to rumors that he is back in the basement with bouts of dementia since Psaki is clearly trying to revise history. This is only made more plausible when members of the Democratic Party ask for Biden to relinquish his codes to launch nuclear weapons. That in itself raises serious questions about Biden and now no State of the Union after he said he would.

In Defense of Multiracial Americanism By Edward Ring *****

https://amgreatness.com/2021/02/26/in-defense-of-multiracial-americanism/

To broaden its assault on traditional American culture and values, and to account for the large and growing number of conservatives who are not “white,” the Left has now come up with a new concept, “multiracial whiteness.”

This term sprang into prominence with a guest column by Cristina Beltran published in the Washington Post last month. Beltran acknowledged that Trump’s performance with Latino voters actually improved between 2016 and 2020. She also acknowledged the “clearly Latino or African American” faces showing up in the January 6 incident at the U.S. capitol. Everything Beltran claims in her column is designed to further castigate “whiteness,” while acknowledging there are significant percentages of nonwhites who, as she puts it, “fervently backed the MAGA policy agenda, including its delusions and conspiracy theories.”

For example, one of the favored targets of the “antiracist” movement in the United States is the Proud Boys, who Beltran describes as a “neo-fascist” group. Their leader, Enrique Tarrio, is Afro-Cuban, which makes him Beltran’s prime example of so-called toxic “multiracial whiteness.” She claims the appeal of multiracial whiteness to nonwhites is “politics of aggression, exclusion, and domination.”

This sort of message isn’t restricted to leftist academics anymore. Beltran, a professor of “social and cultural analysis” at New York University, and her cohorts throughout academia now have the entire weight of America’s establishment institutions behind them.

Being “Less White”

A notorious and very recent example of institutionalized corporate anti-whiteness is a training seminar Coca-Cola posted for its employees, featuring tips on “how to be less white.” One of the slides (since taken down) stated that to “be less white” Coca-Cola employees (the white ones) should “be less oppressive, be less arrogant, be less certain, be less defensive, be less ignorant, be more humble, listen, believe, break with apathy, break with white solidarity.”

Durham Resigns as U.S. Attorney, But Will Stay as Special Counsel Katie Pavlich

https://townhall.com/tipsheet/katiepavlich/2021/02/26/breaking-john-durham-is-leaving-his-post-as-us-attorney-n2585424

U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut John Durham has resigned from his post, but will continue his Special Counsel investigation into the origins of the Russia probe and spying on President Trump’s 2016 campaign. His final day as U.S. Attorney is February 28. 

“My career has been as fulfilling as I could ever have imagined when I graduated from law school way back in 1975,” Durham released in a statement Friday. “Much of that fulfillment has come from all the people with whom I’ve been blessed to share this workplace, and in our partner law enforcement agencies.  My love and respect for this Office and the vitally important work done here have never diminished.  It has been a tremendous honor to serve as U.S. Attorney, and as a career prosecutor before that, and I will sorely miss it.”

Durham was appointed Special Counsel in December 2020 by former Attorney General Bill Barr. President Joe Joe Biden has indicated Durham will be able to complete his work. 

“The Special Counsel is authorized to investigate whether any federal official, employee, or any other person or entity violated the law in connection with the intelligence, counter-intelligence, or law-enforcement activities directed at the 2016 presidential campaigns, individuals associated with those campaigns, and individuals associated with the administration of President Donald J. Trump, including but not limited to Crossfire Hurricane and the investigation of Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller,. III,” Barr said at the time. “If the Special Counsel believes it is necessary and appropriate, the Special Counsel is authorized to prosecute federal crimes arising from his investigation of these matters.”

The Censorship Party House Democrats use a hearing to target conservative media.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-censorship-party-11614296803?mod=opinion_lead_pos4

Imagine if a pair of Donald Trump’s allies in Congress had sent a letter to cable company CEOs in 2017 blasting CNN and other progressive media outlets and asking why their content is still broadcast. Then imagine that a GOP-run committee in Congress staged a hearing on the societal menace of fake news and the need for government and business to rein in the hostile press.

The media would have treated that as a five-alarm political fire, an existential threat to a free press, the First Amendment and political norms, and a step toward authoritarian rule. “Democracy dies in darkness,” and all that. Yet that’s exactly what Democrats in Congress did this week, targeting conservative media outlets, but the media reaction has been silence or approval.

On Monday Democrats Anna Eshoo and Jerry McNerney sent letters pressing 12 cable and tech CEOs to drop contracts with right-of-center media outlets including Fox News. Two days later the Energy and Commerce Committee held a hearing about “disinformation and extremism” in conservative media. The only notable extremism on display was the majority party’s appetite for regulating and policing the free press.

Rep. Mike Doyle, chair of the subcommittee on communications and technology, declared in opening remarks that “it is the responsibility of this subcommittee to hold these institutions”—meaning press outlets he doesn’t like—“to a higher standard.” He said later that “more free speech just isn’t winning the day over the kind of speech that we’re concerned about.”

Biden and Allies Stoked Vaccine Fears Seeking to undermine Trump, Democrats, media and scientists made false and alarming claims. By Dr. Joel Zinberg

https://www.wsj.com/articles/biden-and-allies-stoked-vaccine-fears-11614295867

President Biden has proposed an “unprecedented” information campaign to persuade people to get Covid-19 vaccinations. Why, when a pandemic has killed 500,000 Americans, does the public need to be convinced? In part because Mr. Biden and his allies spent 2020 stoking fear for political reasons.

The Biden campaign and scientists allied with it impugned the Food and Drug Administration’s independence and integrity. Kamala Harris maligned President Trump’s claims about the speed of vaccine development and questioned its safety and effectiveness. New York’s Gov. Andrew Cuomo cast doubt on FDA evaluations of Covid-19 vaccines and said states should conduct their own reviews. An Aug. 27 letter from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention asking governors for help setting up vaccine distribution elicited a statement from Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer questioning the safety of the vaccines in development. Media “fact checkers” said rapid vaccine development would take a “miracle.”

Between April 1-14 and Nov. 25-Dec. 8 the share of Americans who told pollsters they were likely to consent to vaccination declined from 74% to 56%, even though Pfizer and Moderna released strong vaccine safety and effectiveness results prior to the second survey. The decline occurred in both sexes and all age groups, education levels and racial groups. Many medical workers, including nursing-home staff, are also hesitant to be vaccinated.

Medical authorities were complicit in stoking these fears. Although June FDA guidance confirmed the agency wouldn’t “cut corners” and that expedited development would proceed “without sacrificing our standards for quality, safety, and efficacy,” a Sept. 10 editorial in the Journal of the American Medical Association claimed that “some” were concerned that political appointees would “insist” on authorizing a vaccine “over the recommendation of FDA career scientists.” The concerned “some” were never named, and no citation was given.

Islamophobia, Cancel Culture and the Silencing of the Lambs Diane Bederman

https://dianebederman.com/islamophobia-cancel-culture-and-the-silencing-of-the-lambs/

We are living in a time when many of us are being censored – silenced for making statements or asking questions that may offend some. At a time when we have social media – an opportunity to learn from others all over the world, expand our horizons, ask more questions of people we would never have had the opportunity to meet in person, we are being bullied into silence; on social media! Not only bullied into silence but erased; literally canceled. Cancel culture, today, reminds me of Islamophobia. Both of them operate on the same level. They try to shame and bully us into silence. And they use fear, especially the fear of being called a racist, to suppress opposition to their ideologies. RACIST – the one word that enforces silence.

The terms Islamophobia and cancel culture are left wing ideologies working hand in hand to undermine and destroy the West by vilifying critical thinking.

Let’s start with the amazing success of Islamophobia.

First the definition.

This is from Canada:

“Islamophobia – Includes racism, stereotypes, prejudice, fear or acts of hostility directed towards individual Muslims or followers of Islam in general. In addition to individual acts of intolerance and racial profiling, Islamophobia can lead to viewing and treating Muslims as a greater security threat on an institutional, systemic and societal level.”

Gov. Cuomo and the Science of Political Decay John Kass

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2021/02/25/_gov_cuomo_and_the_science_of_political_decay_145304.html

“Follow the science” is what progressive Democrats demand when the science suits them.

And yet, like Pavlov’s salivating dog and the meat powder, a whiff of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo prompts a predictable, conditioned response: a barking chorus of “whatabout whatabout” Ted Cruz or other Republicans.

There are plenty of Republicans to choose from, but as Cuomo began to publicly dissolve, it was Cruz, the conservative senator of Texas, who served up an awkward feast of himself. Cruz flew to sunny Cancun while his constituents were suffering and dying without power during a killer cold snap. He made it worse with a weasel trick, shifting the blame to his family for his jetting off to Mexico. His sin was about optics. And he deserves to pay for it.

But it wasn’t Cruz who ordered senior citizens infected with COVID-19 back into nursing homes. Cuomo did that. It wasn’t Cruz who allegedly manipulated the numbers of nursing home deaths, now under federal investigation, while writing a book about his admirable handling of the health pandemic. Cuomo did that.

Cuomo’s decisions regarding COVID-19 patients allegedly harmed thousands of seniors. Letitia James, Democrat and New York attorney general, issued a report on the undercounting of deaths. The New York Post reported on an admission of a cover-up, and investigations began amid Democrat vs. Democrat bullying and shrieking.

Is the Senate Racist?

The idea that the Senate is racist is the latest brainstorm of the Democrats. It was marked by the leading headline on WashingtonPost.com Wednesday: “Many of Biden’s nominees of color run into turbulence in the Senate.” The story reports that activists for a diverse Cabinet reckon that “Black, Latino, Asian and Native American nominees are encountering more political turbulence than their White counterparts.”

If that were true, we, too, would be up in arms. There’s scant evidence for it in the dispatch in the Post, though. The controversy, it reckons, centers on Neera Tanden, who would be the first Indian American to lead the budget office. Our guess is that there’s not a single American senator — not one — who will vote against Ms. Tanden because her parents came here from India.

Ms. Tanden’s chances for confirmation dimmed this week, when Senator Manchin, the West Virginia Democrat, declared his opposition. That means she’d have to win at least one Republican. Mr. Manchin and other opponents are complaining about the cataract of insults that has gushed from Ms. Tanden’s twitter account over the years. She might as well have an advanced degree in tweeting from Trump University.

Kavanaugh and Barrett: John Roberts Retreads? By Rabbi Aryeh Spero

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2021/02/kavanaugh_and_barrett_john_roberts_retreads.html

All that work for, and faith in, Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett! As with John Roberts before, we are once again the victims of unrequited affection and lost labor. Like other Republicans, I expended lots of hours and effort to do my part in getting all three confirmed. I wrote articles, did radio and TV interviews, gave speeches, called Senators and asked my friends to do so, and spoke to countless people. 

I even attended the Senate Hearings for two of them; and in the case of Kavanaugh went face-to-face against a wild group of “feminists” blocking my way to the Senate hearing room, was bad-mouthed by them while in waiting-lines, and harassed in the office taken over by these “non-insurrection” protestors while trying to get my pre-arranged ticket which they had dumped. (Interestingly, when complaining to police how the “progressive” protestors had taken over Senator Grassley’s office, the Capitol Police replied: “This is a public space, open to the people, and we cannot stop them from exercising their right of speech and assembly”).

I have traveled over 800 miles, paid for motels, and over the years took off work so as to help these nominees become confirmed justices. Like so many others on our side, we believed in them. Finally, strong justices, conservative like us. The Court was finally ours… a dream come true.

Well, the dream has died and our hopes for the Great Cause have not been respected by those in whose behalf we so tirelessly worked.