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The Courage of Your Convictions: Paul Revere, Lexington, and Concord By Rick Moran

Posted By on April 19th, 2021

https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/rick-moran/2021/04/18/the-courage-of-your-convictions-paul-revere-lexington-and-concord-n1440789

“Too many today reflexively reject anything that doesn’t fit in with the tribal narrative. But all sides could look at what happened in Lexington and Concord and draw inspiration and perhaps — just perhaps — begin to understand just a little bit about what America truly means.”

Two hundred and forty-six years ago this evening, a prominent Boston silversmith set out on a ride that would be immortalized by America’s finest poet. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was looking for a subject to write about that illustrated American virtues and concluded that Paul Revere’s ride on April 18, 1775, to alert Sam Adams and John Hancock that the British regulars were coming to arrest them in Lexington was a perfect allegory.

Longfellow wrote the poem “Paul Revere’s Ride” in 1860 when no one was alive who remembered the actual events. And that was a good thing.  Longfellow took enormous liberties with the subject matter. But he wasn’t trying to achieve historical accuracy. Instead, Longfellow wanted to say something profound about the American character and the entire revolutionary generation: that they were willing to suffer and die for something greater than themselves.

Revere was a fairly wealthy man by standards of the time and could have done quite well for himself if he had stuck with the British during the Revolution. But he was a figure that would become quite common in America’s future. Revere was a man on the make and knew that if allowed the freedom to prosper, he could do better.

Revere became one of the first American industrialists and died a very wealthy man.

But most colonists were like the small group of militiamen who took positions on the green at Lexington the next day. They were simple folk — farmers, tradesmen, nary a wealthy man among them. They weren’t really sure why they were there except they knew they were standing up for what they understood their rights as free-born Englishmen to be. They were bitterly and tragically mistaken.

Imagine you were there. What side would you have been on?

FOREIGN POLICY, WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

The Bay of Pigs 60th Anniversary And the media-Democrat cover-up continues. Humberto Fontova

Posted By on April 19th, 2021

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2021/04/bay-pigs-60th-anniversary-humberto-fontova/

“It was 60 years ago this week that an uncertain new president launched an ill-conceived military venture of astonishing naivety… 1,400 U.S.-trained Cuban exiles would land at the Bay of Pigs… It was an unmitigated disaster… Kennedy had learned the hard way not to blindly trust the advice of his decorated military and intelligence chiefs. (Beltway media stalwart and former Democrat White House official Lawrence Hass writing in The Hill, April, 12.)

And yet again, rather than go through the trouble of concocting their own propaganda, communist Cuba’s KGB-founded and -mentored media simply transcribed the U.S. beltway media. Think I exaggerate?

“It was 60 years ago this week that an uncertain new president (John F. Kennedy, JFK) launched an ill-conceived military venture of astonishing naivety…. 1,400 U.S.-trained Cuban exiles would land at the Bay of Pigs… Lawrence J. Hass, a U.S. expert on international relations, acknowledged on Monday that Washington’s invasion of Cuba in Bay of Pigs was ‘an ill-conceived military venture and an unmitigated disaster.” (Stalinist Cuba’s propaganda organ Prensa Latina, April, 12.)
 

Between snickers 62 years earlier, Che Guevara explained the fascinating process seen so starkly above:

“Much more valuable than rural recruits for our Cuban guerrilla force were American media recruits to export our propaganda.” (Ernesto “Che” Guevara, 1959.)

In fact, in complete refutation of the Media-Democrat-Castroite spin, the lack of naivete started with the invasion’s very begetter and main booster: Vice President Richard Nixon.

Here was the man who bucked the astonishing naivete (and treachery) of the Beltway establishment to see through and call out Alger Hiss. Nixon was also among the first U.S. officials to buck the astonishing naivete (and treachery) of the Beltway establishment by calling out and urging the overthrow of the closet Stalinist and Soviet asset Fidel Castro—and at the very moment Castro was being lionized by the U.S. media, State Dept., and even many in the CIA.

In fact, the military venture was expertly-planned and was anything but naive. The astonishing blunders and naivete were entirely Camelot’s.

EDUCATION Comments turned off

Top Ten Most Racist Colleges and Universities: #10 Brandeis University A return to Jim Crow under the guise of “anti-racism.”

Posted By on April 19th, 2021

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2021/04/top-ten-most-racist-colleges-and-universities-10-toptenracistuniversitiesorg/

The David Horowitz Freedom Center is exposing prestigious American campuses as the “Top Ten Most Racist Colleges and Universities” for enacting policies and programs that are allegedly “anti-racist” but which in reality promote racial discrimination and a return to Jim Crow. 

A report and video on Brandeis University, #10 on our list, follows below.

The full report on the Top Ten Most Racist Colleges and Universities may be read HERE . 

#10: Brandeis University

“Whites-only” spaces are making a comeback—not in the Jim Crow South, but at prestigious American universities. Brandeis University in Massachusetts recently created one such racially segregated program for the ironic purpose of allegedly combatting racism. 

The voluntary six-week anti-racist training program is led by Brandeis’s Office of Diversity Equity and Inclusion. In an Orwellian paradox, the program deliberately segregates white students in order to lead them in “racial sensitivity training” such that they can “come to a deeper understanding of how whiteness moves.”

When questioned as to the wisdom of segregating students by race, Brandeis officials astonishingly declared it a matter of safety not to allow whites and blacks to converse about racial issues until the white students have been sufficiently shamed for their innate racism.

According to Joy von Steiger, a clinical psychologist who serves as a “Racial Justice Educator” at Brandeis, it is essential that white students participate in the sensitivity training so that they do not “case harm.” She added, “It doesn’t have to be kumbaya, but white folks in particular have to have done enough work” to safely exist in shared spaces with non-whites.

NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Kerry Agrees to Cooperate With China in Destroying US Economy Daniel Greenfield

Posted By on April 19th, 2021

https://www.frontpagemag.com/point/2021/04/kerry-agrees-cooperate-china-destroying-us-economy-daniel-greenfield/

No matter how much they hate us, America’s enemies will always agree to help us commit suicide.

That makes John Kerry’s latest diplomatic triumph a little less impressive.

The agreement was reached by U.S. special envoy for climate John Kerry and his Chinese counterpart Xie Zhenhua during two days of talks in Shanghai last week, according to a joint statement.

The two countries “are committed to cooperating with each other and with other countries to tackle the climate crisis, which must be addressed with the seriousness and urgency that it demands,” the statement said.

Absolutely.

So we’ll go on…

1. Outsourcing all our manufacturing to China while allowing it to self-inspect to meet climate goals

2. Buying lots of Chinese solar panels to save the planet

3. Making manufacturing in the United States too expensive to be viable

and soon, no doubt,

4. Hiking energy prices until America from space looks as dark as North Korea and then every day can be Earth Day

 Noting that China is the world’s biggest coal user, Kerry said he and Chinese officials had a lot of discussions on how to accelerate a global energy transition. “I have never shied away from expressing our views shared by many, many people that it is imperative to reduce coal, everywhere,” he said.

And the Chinese have never shied away from expressing their view that anything the Vietnamese did to turn Kerry into a political anti-American mouthpiece, they can do twice as well, and more efficiently, until there’s a Made in China sticker on his forehead.

NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Genius Maxine Waters just made herself a great defense witness in her lawsuit against Trump By Thomas Lifson

Posted By on April 19th, 2021

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2021/04/genius_maxine_waters_just_made_herself_a_great_defense_witness_in_her_lawsuit_against_trump.html

By traveling across state lines to incite the mob in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, Maxine Waters has opened the door on her possible expulsion from Congress, as Andrea Widburg notes today. But she may have shot herself in her other foot when it comes to the lawsuit she and other Democrats have filed against former President Trump over the January 6 Capitol incursion. Jonathan Turley explains:

Waters insists that Trump telling his supporters to go to the Capitol to make their voice heard and “fight” for their votes was actual criminal incitement. Conversely, Waters was speaking after multiple nights of rioting and looting, telling protesters to stay on the streets and get even more confrontational.

Waters has now guaranteed that she could be called as a witness by Trump in his own defense against her own lawsuit.

Waters’ most recent words could well be cited in the ongoing litigation over the Jan. 6 riot on Capitol Hill. As I have previously discussed, the lawsuit by House members and the NAACP may prove a colossal mistake. It is one of a number of lawsuits, including one filed by Rep. Eric. Swalwell, D-Calif., that could ultimately vindicate Trump shortly before the next election.

While it is possible that members could find a trial judge to rule in their favor, these lawsuits should fail on appeal, if they get that far. Moreover, they would fail under a lower standard of proof than the “beyond a reasonable doubt” standard in criminal law. Such a result would eviscerate the claim that Trump was guilty of criminal incitement in his speech.

I honestly relish the thought of Waters testifying under oath before a lawyer hired by Trump. It would be glorious if this took place at the same time as Congress was vettng her continued membership.

NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Republicans try to get tough with Maxine Waters By Andrea Widburg

Posted By on April 19th, 2021

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2021/04/republicans_try_to_get_tough_with_maxine_waters.html

Rep. Maxine Waters (D.CA) is a reprehensible person. In 2018, she demanded that her supporters harass Republicans over the “kids in cages” uproar – a demand she has not repeated now that Biden is imprisoning more illegal alien kids than ever before. Last week, she told Rep. Jim Jordan to “shut your mouth.” And those are just two examples of her bullying, crudeness, and stupidity. Emboldened by the invariable lack of pushback against her excesses, Waters was caught on tape in Minneapolis inciting violence. Her behavior was so blatant that Republicans are currently making noises about punishing her.

Minneapolis is a Democrat-run disaster. After convicted felon George Floyd, while high on Fentanyl and a cocktail of other illegal drugs, died while the Minneapolis police were restraining him, BLM encouraged the city’s black residents to destroy their communities and convinced the city government to cut back on policing.

Derek Chauvin, the scapegoat for Floyd’s drug-induced death, is currently being tried. Not quite two weeks ago, while the trial was ongoing, Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old violent felon, was killed while resisting arrest in Brooklyn Center, a Minneapolis suburb.

The ultimate cause of Wright’s death was the fact that a police officer meant to taser him but, in the heat of the moment, used her gun instead. That’s a terrible thing to have happened but it’s important to remember that the but-for cause of Wright’s death was that he was violently resisting the arrest because he faced a potentially long prison term related to his assaulting and robbing a woman.

WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

Prison for Hong Kong Democrats Nine are sentenced, including Martin Lee and Jimmy Lai.

Posted By on April 19th, 2021

https://www.wsj.com/articles/prison-for-hong-kong-democrats-11618612068?mod=opinion_major_pos2

A Hong Kong court confirmed this week what everyone has known for months: If you publicly challenge Beijing, you will be sent to prison. On Friday nine people charged with organizing or joining an unauthorized protest received prison sentences ranging from eight to 18 months. Four of them, including 82-year-old Martin Lee, founder of Hong Kong’s democracy movement, received suspended sentences.

The most prominent “convict” is Jimmy Lai, owner, publisher and writer for Apple Daily, which is frequently critical of China. Mr. Lai also has a following overseas, which especially rankles Communist Party leaders. Two months ago Beiing’s point man for Hong Kong affairs, Xia Baolong, gave a speech mentioning Mr. Lai by name, accusing him of “extremely notorious acts” and making clear that, in Beijing’s view, he needed “to be punished severely in accordance with the law.” It’s no surprise that the judge in the case obliged by giving Mr. Lai a long sentence of 12 months.

Most of the charges against those on trial related to an Aug. 18, 2019 peaceful, pro-democracy march that drew as many as 1.7 million Hong Kong people. The punishment is part of Beijing’s campaign to crush Hong Kong’s democracy movement. As Mr. Xia put it, “only patriots” must govern Hong Kong—i.e., only those who are willing to do Beijing’s bidding.

Mr. Lai’s trials aren’t over. Denied bail, he faces other charges related to the unpopular National Security Law that China demanded Hong Kong implement last year. On Friday the government added new security charges that could mean a life sentence for the 72-year-old publisher.

In his first call with Chinese President Xi Jinping in February, President Biden raised China’s crackdown on Hong Kong as one of many areas where the U.S. takes issue with Chinese behavior. But the truth is that China has paid little international price for breaking its treaty with Britain that guaranteed autonomy for Hong Kong through 2047.

WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

The Castros Still Run Cuba Raúl’s resignation as head of the ruling Communist Party changes nothing.By Marcell Felipe

Posted By on April 19th, 2021

https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-castros-still-run-cuba-11618783289?mod=opinion_lead_pos10

Raúl Castro announced his resignation as chief of Cuba’s Communist Party on Friday. Many U.S. media outlets characterized the move as the “end of an era” of communist rule on the Caribbean island. This is false. For many years Cuba has not really operated as a communist or socialist state. Instead it has been ruled by a military dictatorship that concentrates its power within a cartel-like chain of command of hard-line Castro family members and loyalists and generals who fiercely shield their wealth and status—as well as each other.

Many analysts are focused on whether Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel will inherit Mr. Castro’s leadership position as party secretary, which—on paper, at least—is the highest office in the land. This is a distraction, as is Mr. Díaz-Canel, who was installed by Mr. Castro in 2018 as part of a faux transition of power. In Cuba, the Castro family leads with an iron fist, and the party and government follow suit. Even the Communist Party’s online motto, #SomosContinuidad—“we are continuity”—implies the regime is determined not to change.

The key figure of Cuba’s silent elite is Gen. Luis López Callejas, Mr. Castro’s former son-in-law and the father of his grandchildren. Mr. López Callejas leads Gaesa, a military-run conglomerate that controls about 75% of the Cuban economy, including hotels, construction companies, shipping companies, hard-currency transmitters and currency exchanges. In 2018, a former State Department official told a Senate subcommittee that Cuban military personnel under Mr. López Callejas’s command were “directly involved” in trafficking cocaine from Venezuela.

Another key figure is Mr. Castro’s son, Col. Alejandro Castro Espín, a powerful member of the Cuban intelligence apparatus. He maintains a close relationship with the Kremlin and was directing Cuba’s spy agencies at the time of the 2019 sonic attacks against U.S. and Canadian diplomats in Cuba, which are still unexplained.

WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

The Fate of Alexei Navalny The Putin critic may be close to death in a Russian prison.

Posted By on April 19th, 2021

https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-fate-of-alexei-navalny-11618780971?mod=opinion_lead_pos2

The contest between freedom and dictatorship continues on many fronts, and the most stirring is the courage of individuals risking their lives by resisting oppression. Jimmy Lai and other Hong Kong democrats have been jailed at China’s insistence, while the Kremlin is slowly squeezing the life out of Alexei Navalny in prison.

The 44-year-old critic of Vladimir Putin has been languishing in Russia’s notorious IK-2 prison since March 11 on trumped up charges of violating his parole on a previous phony charge. He dared to recover in Germany after nearly dying after he was poisoned by government agents. But he bravely returned to Russia, where he was arrested and imprisoned.

Mr. Navalny has been on a hunger strike after being denied treatment for other ailments. “Alexey is dying now. Given his condition, it’s a matter of days,” Mr. Navalny’s spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh said on Facebook.

The White House warned Sunday that there would be “consequences” if Mr. Navalny dies, and President Biden said Saturday that his treatment is “totally, totally unfair.” But Mr. Biden sent Mr. Putin mixed signals last week by inviting the autocrat he has called a “killer” for a leader-to-leader summit even as Mr. Navalny’s health was weakening in prison.

The free world—if we can still use that locution in the Age of Woke—needs to find its voice again on behalf of courageous dissenters like Alexei Navalny and Jimmy Lai. They should become global household names, as Alexander Solzhenitsyn and Andrei Sakharov were during the Cold War. And let’s hope the White House is serious about “consequences.”

HISTORY Comments turned off

Remembering The Patriot With The Most Thorough Understanding Of Liberty Gary M. Galles

Posted By on April 19th, 2021

https://issuesinsights.com/2021/04/19/remembering-the-patriot-with-the-most-thorough-understanding-of-liberty/

Today is patriot’s day, marking the Revolutionary War’s opening shots at Lexington and Concord. An excellent way to commemorate it is by remembering Samuel Adams, who Murray Rothbard called “the premier leader of the revolutionary movement,” as far more than a name on a beer bottle.

Adams helped organize the Committees of Correspondence, authored “The Rights of Colonists,” founded The Sons of Liberty, and was the principal organizer of the Boston Tea Party. The British government wanted him for treason a year before the Declaration of Independence. He inspired the battle cry “no taxation without representation,” signed the Declaration of Independence and was a representative to both Continental Congresses. Even Paul Revere’s famous ride was to warn Adams. 

Samuel Adams’ most important contribution to America’s cause, however, was that, in his cousin John Adams’ words, he had “the most thorough understanding of liberty,” which was the central spark in America’s creation. The threats liberty faces today, including a host of government actions that treat the trampling of liberty as non-issues, make recalling his ideas particularly important. 

Among the natural rights of the colonists are these: first, a right to life; secondly, to liberty; thirdly to property; together with the right to support and defend them.