Biden repeats Obama’s mistakes by dissing Israel: By Michael Goodwin

https://nypost.com/2021/02/16/biden-repeats-obamas-mistakes-by-dissing-israel-goodwin/?utm_campaign=iphone_nyp&utm_source=mail_app

Israel can exhale. Yes, the Biden Administration does consider the Jewish state an American “ally,” the White House said Tuesday.

If that sounds like restating the obvious, you haven’t been watching the tortured briefings by press secretary Jen Psaki. Last week, she couldn’t bring herself to answer the ally question directly, instead veering into mumbo jumbo about an “interagency process” and a nonspecific “relationship” between Israel and the United States.

Finally, Tuesday, she got to yes, but only after a reporter reminded her that she had declined to say the magic word last week.

“Israel is of course an ally. Israel is a country where we have an important strategic security relationship, and our team is fully engaged,” Psaki said.

Black Lives Matter leader openly supports the Israel-haters By Andrea Widburg

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2021/02/black_lives_matter_leader_openly_supporters_the_israel_haters.html

One of the constants with leftism is anti-Semitism.  Before Israel’s existence, the anti-Semites associated Jews with using capitalism to secretly control the world.  After Israel came into being, the socialists added a new sin: Israel was a colonial occupying power.  It should therefore come as no surprise that activist groups associated with the increasingly socialist Democrat party are anti-Semitic Israel-haters.  A few years ago, the Women’s March become openly anti-Semitic now, a leader in the Black Lives Matter movement is doing the same.

Hatred for the Jews is nothing new.  In pagan times, they were hated for refusing to bow down to the pagan gods.  During pre-Enlightenment Christianity, they were hated for their role in convicting Christ, for refusing to recognize His divinity, and for the fact that a handful of them were moneylenders.  This last was because Catholic Church officials selectively criminalized the sin of usury among Christians while tolerating it among Jews, leading to jealousy among the Christian faithful when Jews accumulated wealth in ways forbidden to Christians.

With socialism, a new hatred for Jews developed.  Christianity had gone by the wayside.  However, the Marxist obsession with capital meant that the Jews’ age-old association with capital made them a target for leftist hatred.  Additionally, Karl Marx, a self-loathing Jew (his father converted to Christianity for business reasons when Marx was a child), spouted anti-Semitic venom that would have made Hitler proud.

Speaking of Hitler, it’s important to remember that his hatred for Jews was also a byproduct of his socialism.  After all, he was the leader of the National Socialist Party.  It was leftist hatred for Jews that justified slaughtering six million Jews, most of them desperately poor, merely poor, working-class, or middle-class.

With Israel’s emergence, the left got a new reason to hate Jews: now they’re accused of being colonial occupiers, stealing land from the indigenous Arabs.  This version of events is a historic lie.  Jews are the region’s indigenous people with the Arabs coming in as recent interlopers.  Truth, however, has never stopped leftists.

Trump Says GOP Won’t Win With McConnell, Plans to Back MAGA Primary Candidates By Jack Phillips  

https://www.wsj.com/articles/joe-biden-gets-tested-in-iraq-11613497028?mod=opinion_lead_pos2

Former President Donald Trump, in a strongly-worded statement, criticized Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-Ky.) leadership and said the Republican Party won’t be successful in the future with McConnell at the helm.

The former president’s statement, which was released through his Save America PAC on Feb. 15, blamed McConnell for the GOP’s 2020 loss of the Senate majority. He asserted that McConnell’s move not to support calls from Democrats and Trump for $2,000 stimulus payments was weaponized by Democrats, who promised the checks to voters if they won the Jan. 5 runoff elections in Georgia.

“He will never do what needs to be done, or what is right for our Country. Where necessary and appropriate, I will back primary rivals who espouse Making America Great Again and our policy of America First. We want brilliant, strong, thoughtful, and compassionate leadership,” Trump said.

“Then came the Georgia disaster, where we should have won both U.S. Senate seats, but McConnell matched the Democrat offer of $2,000 stimulus checks with $600. How does that work?” the former president added. “It became the Democrats’ principal advertisement, and a big winner for them it was.”

Trump added that the GOP under McConnell’s leadership “will never do what needs to be done in order to secure a free and fair electoral system in the future,” adding that the Republican from Kentucky “has no credibility on China because of his family’s substantial Chinese business holdings.”

Joe Biden Gets Tested in Iraq The world is watching how he responds to an attack on U.S. forces.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/joe-biden-gets-tested-in-iraq-11613497028?mod=opinion_lead_pos2

Joe Biden has said his Presidency won’t be a third Obama term, and he’ll have plenty of opportunities to prove it. The latest comes after a rocket attack against the U.S.-led coalition in Erbil, Iraq.

“Initial reports indicate that the attacks killed one civilian contractor and injured several members of the Coalition, including one American service member and several American contractors,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Monday. He added that he had told the leader of Kurdistan’s regional government that Washington would help “to investigate and hold accountable those responsible.” America’s adversaries will be watching, especially in Tehran.

An investigation is under way, but it’s hard to believe a Shiite militia allied with Iran isn’t behind the attack. The group Awliya Al Dam, or Guardians of Blood, has claimed responsibility. U.S. and Iraqi officials say smaller organizations like this have been linked to better known Iranian proxies such as Kataib Hezbollah. SITE Intelligence Group, which tracks extremist groups’ online activity, reports that Awliya Al Dam has vowed more violence after the latest incident.

Iranian proxies launched several rocket attacks on U.S. and allied forces in 2019 and 2020. Their goal is to drive out the roughly 2,500 U.S. troops that assist the Iraqi military, provide intelligence against a return of Islamic State, and limit malign Iranian influence in the country. Retaliatory strikes won’t put a complete stop to such aggression, but the right retaliation can degrade the militias’ abilities. Inaction could invite more brazen attacks.

Before Donald Trump ordered the retaliatory attack on Iranian terror chief Qasem Soleimani in January 2020, many warned such a response would lead to a full-scale war. Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei tweeted that Mr. Trump “can’t do anything.” Mr. Biden doesn’t need to escalate to Mr. Trump’s level, but it’s worth reminding Tehran that he isn’t Barack Obama —and the U.S. can do something.

Turley: One of Raskin’s Claims About Trump Was ‘Breathtaking’ and ‘Chilling’ Cortney O’Brien

https://townhall.com/tipsheet/cortneyobrien/2021/02/16/turley-one-of-raskins-claims-about-trump-was-breathtaking-and-chilling-n2584741

George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley followed last week’s impeachment trial against former President Trump very closely. Turley was the only witness called by Republicans to participate in the first trial against Trump in 2019, when the president faced charges after discussing the Bidens and corruption on a phone call with Ukrainian President Zelensky. At the time, Turley explained that “impeachment has to be based on proof, not presumptions.”

Turley found several more glaring holes in the Democrats’ arguments last week as they tried to convict him on inciting an insurrection. One argument in particular Turley found to be “breathtaking” and “chilling” – when lead impeachment manager Jamie Raskin (MD) suggested that Trump was guilty because he refused to show up and testify. 

“If you decline this invitation, we reserve any and all rights, including the right to establish at trial that your refusal to testify supports a strong adverse inference regarding your actions (and inaction) on January 6, 2021,” Rep. Raskin wrote to Trump, essentially arguing that the former president needed to testify or his silence equals guilt.

On his blog, Turley explained that Raskin was misleading senators because Trump’s decision is not unprecedented:

“Presidents have historically not testified at impeachment trials.  One reason is that, until now, only sitting presidents have been impeached and presidents balked at the prospect of being examined as head of the Executive Branch by the Legislative Branch. Moreover, it was likely viewed as undignified and frankly too risky.  Indeed, most defense attorneys routinely discourage their clients from testifying in actual criminal cases because the risks outweigh any benefits. Finally, Trump is arguing that this trial is unconstitutional and thus he would be even less likely to depart from tradition and appear as a witness.”

Turley said that Raskin’s statement “conflicts with one of the most precious and revered principles in American law that a refusal to testify should not be used against an accused party.”

As Border Crisis Worsens, White House Announces New Asylum Processing Program Katie Pavlich

https://townhall.com/tipsheet/katiepavlich/2021/02/16/white-house-announces-new-asylum-processing-program-n2584823

The Biden administration announced a new asylum processing program Tuesday as the illegal immigration crisis on the U.S. southern border continues to get worse. 

Starting February 19, the United States will begin to process eligible individuals in the Migration Protection Protocols (MPP) program to pursue their asylum cases in the US, working closely with the Government of Mexico, as well as international and non-governmental organizations. Individuals should not take any action at this time and should remain where they are to await further instructions. We will soon announce a virtual registration process that will be accessible from any location,” White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and Deputy National Security Advisor Liz Sherwood-Randall released in a joint statement. “Once registered, eligible individuals will be provided additional information about where and when to present themselves.  Individuals should not approach the border until instructed to do so.”

 Two weeks ago, President Biden gutted a series of Trump Administration policies that cut down on asylum fraud.

“We caution people seeking to immigrate to the United States that our borders are not open, and that this is just the first phase in the administration’s work to reopen access to an orderly asylum process. This new process applies to individuals who were returned to Mexico under the MPP program and have cases pending before the Executive Office for Immigration Review,” the statement continues. “Individuals outside of the United States who were not returned to Mexico under MPP or who do not have active immigration court cases will not be considered for participation in this first phase of this program and should await further instructions. If you seek entry into the US and do not have an active MPP case, you will be immediately expelled and will not be permitted to remain in the United States.”

Suicide Of The Humanities-Rod Dreher

https://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/suicide-of-the-humanities-dan-el-padilla-peralta-classics/

This NYT profile of Dan-el Padilla Peralta, a radical Princeton Classics scholar, epitomizes what is wrong with the academic humanities in this radical era, and how dangerous the radicalization is to all of us.

Dan-el Padilla Peralta is a black Dominican Classics scholar at Princeton. He is also the leading figure in a move to tear down the field of Classics, which is the study of Ancient Greece and Rome. He came to this country as a small child when his mother required medical treatment in New York for complications related to the impending birth of his younger brother. After the brother was born, the family decided to stay in the US illegally. Eventually the father went back to the Dominican Republic; the mother and the children remained in the US, trying to regularize their immigration status.

As a nine-year-old boy living in a Chinatown homeless shelter, Padilla started reading about history. A child’s textbook about the Classical world lit a fire in his mind. An older New Yorker saw the child reading a big book about Napoleon Bonaparte, and decided to help him get a good education. Padilla went to an excellent school in New York, on scholarship, and excelled. Then:

Years passed before Padilla started to question the way the textbook had presented the classical world to him. He was accepted on a full scholarship to Princeton, where he was often the only Black person in his Latin and Greek courses. “The hardest thing for me as I was making my way into the discipline as a college student was appreciating how lonely I might be,” Padilla told me. In his sophomore year, when it came time to select a major, the most forceful resistance to his choice came from his close friends, many of whom were also immigrants or the children of immigrants. They asked Padilla questions he felt unprepared to answer. What are you doing with this blanquito stuff? How is this going to help us? Padilla argued that he and others shouldn’t shun certain pursuits just because the world said they weren’t for Black and brown people. There was a special joy and vindication in upending their expectations, but he found he wasn’t completely satisfied by his own arguments. The question of classics’ utility was not a trivial one. How could he take his education in Latin and Greek and make it into something liberatory? “That became the most urgent question that guided me through my undergraduate years and beyond,” Padilla said.

Life in DeSantis’s Florida: Time Travel to America Biden and Democrat governors’ approach couldn’t be more different than the one this Republican governor has taken. George Parry

https://spectator.org/desantis-florida-covid/

At the end of January I watched a video message from the commissioners of the suburban Philadelphia county where my wife and I reside. According to them, it may take Pennsylvania up to a year to administer COVID vaccinations to all persons over the age of 65. We oldsters (my wife and I are 76) were told to register with the county and prepare for a long wait.

This information decided the issue of whether or not we should take up residence in Florida for the remaining winter months. Not only would the weather be more congenial, according to our Florida friends, but our chances of receiving the COVID vaccine in a timely manner also would increase exponentially.

And, in fact, within 11 days of our arrival in Florida, we received our first jabs of the Moderna vaccine and will receive our second doses in mid-March. We are now among the 2,355,792 persons who have been vaccinated in Florida as of February 13, 2021.

The comparison between Florida’s efficient handling of COVID vaccinations, under the leadership of Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, and that of Pennsylvania, under Democrat Gov. Tom Wolf, could not be more telling. And the favorable comparisons don’t end there.

Study finds CDC inflated COVID numbers by 1,600% Concludes health authorities violated federal law By Art Moore

https://www.wnd.com/2021/02/study-finds-cdc-inflated-covid-numbers-1600/

A peer-reviewed study contends the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention violated federal law by inflating Coronavirus fatality numbers.

The figures were inflated by at least 1,600%, according to the Public Health Initiative of the Institute for Pure and Applied Knowledge, which published the study, titled “COVID-19 Data Collection, Comorbidity & Federal Law: A Historical Retrospective.”

The study asserts that the CDC willfully violated multiple federal laws, including the Information Quality Act, Paperwork Reduction Act and Administrative Procedures Act, reported the National File.

In January, as WND reported, the World Health Organization admitted the “gold-standard” PCR tests used to determine whether or not a person is infected with COVID-19 are not reliable on the first try and a second test might be needed.

That fact, the National File notes, corresponds with the CDC’s “quiet admission that it blended viral and antibody test results for its case numbers and that people can test positive on an antibody test if they have antibodies from a family of viruses that cause the common cold.”

Among the notable findings in the study is the conclusion that the CDC “illegally enacted new rules for data collection and reporting exclusively for COVID-19 that resulted in a 1,600% inflation of current COVID-19 fatality totals,” the watchdog group All Concerned Citizens said in a statement provided to National File.

When abundance breeds contempt By Ruthie Blum

https://www.jns.org/opinion/when-abundance-breeds-contempt/

 In a recent phone call, a friend complained about the pressure that the Israeli government, media and much of the public have been applying to citizens who refuse to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
As someone who felt that she had been virtually “bullied” into getting inoculated, she was protesting in particular the latest carrot-and-stick element of the campaign to rid the country of coronavirus: a proposal to grant certain privileges to those possessing the Health Ministry double-dose certificate.

Among the epidemiological benefits being discussed—aside from the existing exemption from quarantine after exposure to infection—are unhindered entrance into malls, theaters, stadiums and other venues when they reopen.

“Why does it matter whether everyone complies?” she asked, pointing to the warning by officialdom that even after full vaccination, the virus can still strike and be spread. As a result, we’ve been told, mask-wearing and social distancing will continue to be required for a long time.

She clearly hadn’t heard the more encouraging research revealing a serious drop in viral load after a single shot—indicating not only a less severe reaction to infection, but a lower chance of transmitting the virus to others. Nevertheless, she is not alone in her resentment on behalf of the anti-coronavirus-vaxxers.