What Happens to Israel When Democrats Are in the White House?

 Tevi Troy

A history and guide to the coming Biden years

. . . "Harry Truman himself, however, had some sympathy for the position that the Jews had a right to return to their ancestral homeland, and he was willing to put up with some internal strife to hear the other side of the argument. On May 12, 1948, Truman asked his aide Clark Clifford to make the case for recognizing Israel, with Marshall making the case against. Marshall went first and focused on the geostrategic elements of the situation, particularly the likelihood that the Arabs would defeat the outnumbered Israelis. Clifford, a skilled trial lawyer, then made his case—and Marshall could not contain his anger. His response was dismissive and ad hominem. “I don’t even know why Clifford is here,” Marshall complained. “He is a domestic adviser, and this is a foreign-policy matter. The only reason Clifford is here is that he is pressing a political consideration.”

"Truman lashed back: “Well, General, he’s here because I asked him to be.” Marshall then stretched the boundaries of appropriate behavior in a meeting with the president by threatening to vote against Truman if he sided with Clifford. Marshall’s shocking comment effectively ended the meeting. “Well, that was rough as a cob,” Truman said to Clifford.'Marshall lost the argument. The U.S. recognized Israel. According to Clifford, Marshall never spoke to him again and would not even mention Clifford’s name for the remaining 11 years of Marshall’s life. 

"Marshall lost the argument. The U.S. recognized Israel. According to Clifford, Marshall never spoke to him again and would not even mention Clifford’s name for the remaining 11 years of Marshall’s life." . . .

Tevi Troy is a presidential historian and former White House aide. He is the author of Fight House: Rivalries in the White House from Truman to Trump.

Praying for Peace In a Biden-Influenced Middle East   "There is hope that Joe Biden will pause before jettisoning policies that have advanced peace in the Middle East more effectively than anything since Camp David in 1978."

Georgia Dem’s anti-Israel sermon resurfaces amid Senate runoff race  ..."One pro-Israel activist slammed Warnock’s remarks as disturbing and full of lies.

“ 'It’s really vile. Don’t tell me he’s a friend of Israel,” said former Brooklyn Assemblyman Dov Hikind, founder of Americans Against Anti-semitism.

"Hikind critiqued the Warnock sermon on his group’s website while also showing clips of the violent protests in Gaza opposing the embassy move.

"He said he was baffled that the reverend would describe the US Embassy opening in Jerusalem as a “tough week.” . . .

Payback Time: Establishment Dems Ambush AOC, Denying Her Prized Energy Committee Position

Legal Insurrection

“I’m taking into account who works against other members in primaries and who doesn’t,” Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX) reportedly said prior to the vote to award the key committee position to Rep. Kathleen Rice over Ocasio-Cortez." 

"Freshman New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was snubbed Thursday during a private Democrat committee meeting held to decide a key House Energy and Commerce Committee seat, and it wasn’t even a close vote.

"According to Politico, Ocasio-Cortez lost out to fellow NY Rep. Kathleen Rice in a 46-13 vote, and at points during the run-up to the vote, tensions ran high:

Just before the Steering Committee moved to vote on the Energy and Commerce slots, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her leadership team presented a slate of their preferred candidates for four out of the five seats.

But notably, top Democrats did not choose a nominee for the final seat, which is essentially reserved for a New York member — forcing Rice and Ocasio-Cortez into a head-to-head matchup.

The panel launched into an intense round of speeches on each candidate, with several Democrats speaking up to lobby against Ocasio-Cortez, a freshman member and social media star who is seen as a political threat by many of the caucus’s moderates for her far-left policies.

"The piece also noted that some Democrats who took part in the video conference call spoke against AOC by pointing out that she supported primary challengers to their re-election campaigns:

On the video call, several Democrats called out Ocasio-Cortez’s efforts to help liberal challengers take out their own incumbents, as well as her refusal to pay party campaign dues.

“I’m taking into account who works against other members in primaries and who doesn’t,” Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) said on the call, according to multiple sources. Cuellar successfully fended off a primary challenge from Jessica Cisneros, who Ocasio-Cortez supported.

. . .  

Gov. Northam, It’s Not Up to You to Tell People of Faith How They Can Worship

Jake Lambert   "During a press conference Thursday, Gov. Ralph Northam, D-Va., took it upon himself to tell the faithful not only how they should worship, but also shamed them for wanting to worship with fellow believers. 

“ 'The holidays are typically times of joy and community. We gather together, we celebrate our faith, and we celebrate with family,” Northam said during the press conference. 

"The Democrat governor of Virginia went on to say that people of faith don’t need to be in a church to worship God. 

“ 'But this year we need to think about what is truly the most important thing. Is it the worship or the building? For me, God is wherever you are. You don’t have to sit in the church pew for God to hear your prayers. Worship with a mask on is still worship,” he said. “Worship outside or worship online is still worship.”

"Here’s the thing—it’s more than OK for Northam to share how he chooses to worship. 

"But, the governor of Virginia, or any other politician for that matter, has no business telling others how to worship. " . . .   Source material can be found at this site.

Human Rights Campaign Wants Christian Schools to Abandon Beliefs or Lose Accreditation

"The Human Rights Campaign—a large, influential LGBTQ advocacy group— recently released a policy brief with recommendations for a Biden administration, and the suggestions are alarming."

Russian truther Swalwell steps in it big time with attempted dig at Trump, GOP: ‘Fang Fang says what?’

Tony Branco

BPR  "Rep. Eric Swalwell was mocked online earlier this week for criticizing Republicans and President Donald Trump in the wake of reports that Russian hackers had penetrated key U.S. government systems, likely for some time.

“ 'While Republicans are losing their minds on Trump Island, the United States Government is being hacked. Anyone want to tell the President? Maybe, I don’t know, protect our country and the businesses affected?” the California Democrat wrote on Thursday." . . .

"As for Swalwell, his comment comes amid a scandal of his own involving a Chinese spy known as Fang Fang, a.k.a. Christine Fang, with who he is suspected of also having had a romantic relationship. Republicans have grown increasingly concerned about it because the California Democrat who frequently pushed the baseless Trump-Russia collusion conspiracy is a member of the House Intelligence Committee.

"Following a briefing on the matter by the FBI, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said flatly, “Swalwell should no longer be on the Intel Committee.”

"But it was his focus on the Russian hacking that earned Swalwell mocking scorn from several users online." . . .   Full article.

Kayleigh McEnany says she’ll ‘never forget’ life-changing day cops showed at her door

" White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said in an exclusive interview with the Daily Caller News Foundation that she was doxxed earlier this year during the riots.

"McEnany discussed with the DCNF’s Mary Margaret Olohan at the White House on Wednesday how her life has changed since she entered her role as press secretary in April 2020. The press secretary said she would “never forget” a day when she was at home, shortly after assuming her role in President Donald Trump’s White House, and a policeman showed up at her door.

"The policeman reportedly told her, “Hey, I need to check in on you, we heard there were some rioters that were targeting your home,” McEnany told Olohan. She added that she then found out that her “address had been put up on social media.”

'“I had been targeted in that way,” she said.

" 'I lately get three a.m. phone calls from unknown numbers, and listen to the voicemails, and they are targeting, harassing messages,” the press secretary added. “It’s really unfortunate. I don’t think anyone deserves that whether you are on the right, whether you are on the left, we should have civility in this country, and it’s unfortunate that just wanting to serve your country means that you’re targeted with threats of that nature.” . . .

Ghislaine Maxwell And Her Husband Offer $28.5M Bail Package

 Noisy Room

"NYP: Jeffrey Epstein’s accused madam Ghislaine Maxwell has proposed a $28.5 million bail package — that represents all of her and her husband’s assets — in a desperate bid to spring her from federal lockup, according to a new motion unsealed Monday.

"The suggested package is “exceptional in its scope and puts at risk everything that Ms. Maxwell has — all of her and her spouse’s assets, her family’s livelihood, and the financial security of her closest friends and family — if she were to flee, which she has no intention of doing,” wrote her lawyer Mark Cohen.

"Although her spouse’s name is redacted from the documents, his identity has been widely reported as tech CEO Scott Borgerson.

"The package is composed of a $22.5 million bond co-signed by her and her husband, according to the motion that was filed under seal on Dec. 4." . . .

Laughable: Joe Biden plans to lecture Venezuela's Nicolás Maduro about the virtues of free and fair elections

Monica Showalter  "Free and fair elections?  From a guy whose presidential "victory" was sealed with Venezuelan Smartmatic technology?  Oh, this is going to be a good one, hearing Maduro's response.

"Maduro, like Biden, insists that all was free and fair with the elections in his country.  He's in there despite the shambles he's made of his country, yet somehow Venezuelans can't get enough of him, electing him and his party for six consecutive terms.

"That's garbage.  Venezuela's elections since 2004 have all been plagued by allegations of and considerable proof of fraud.  The fraud is forensic, it's statistical, it's in total ballots cast, and it's in the declarations of disinterested international observers.  It's also visible in the behavior of Venezuela's voters, huge numbers of whom don't bother to vote anymore.

"Now Joe Biden's going to fix things in Venezuela by offering Maduro a deal — an end to U.S. sanctions in exchange for free and fair elections? 

"Maduro is going to be laughing up his sleeve.

"We all know what Biden thinks of free and fair elections, yelling about "threats to democracy" with every successive challenge to his "presidency" and making his first big post–Electoral College vote speech arguing that he somehow legitimately "won."

"Can you imagine Biden, whose coming "presidency" is going to be asterisked forever with allegations of election fraud, telling a guy like Maduro that he's got to hold "free and fair" elections?

"Maduro would laugh in his face." . . .

Must We Respect a Fraudulent President?   . . . "In the long months leading up to the election there was little doubt as to whom the people preferred.  Donald Trump’s rallies drew tens of thousands, while  Biden’s mustered up a few dozen, if that many.

"And then came the election itself.

"By now the allegations of voter fraud -- and accompanying evidence -- are well known.  There are the statistical impossibilities arising from late-night ballot dumps.  The official observers who were prevented from watching.  The corruption was made possible by mail-in balloting.  And then there is the matter of Dominion Voting Systems machines. " . . .

Must We Respect a Fraudulent President?  . . . "In the long months leading up to the election there was little doubt as to whom the people preferred.  Donald Trump’s rallies drew tens of thousands, while  Biden’s mustered up a few dozen, if that many.

"And then came the election itself." . . .

The real Biden speaks

Anony Mee ''During the campaign season, it was something of a game to see what would happen when Joe Biden went off script.  The joke becomes less funny when we realize that, off-script, Biden's default setting is mean — and that this mean man will be America's representative in important, stressful situations both at home and abroad.

"If he really is president-elect, the whole world will hang on Joe Biden's words.  If President Trump is unable to secure an immediate second term, in about a month, Biden will occupy the most powerful position in the most exceptional country in the world.  Every utterance will be dissected, parsed, scrutinized, imbued with meaning, and probably cause the occasional bar fight.  But as Andrea Widburg reminds us, Joe Biden is weird, racist, disconnected, and drooling.  He's all that, and it all comes out of his mouth. 

"Reading from the teleprompter, as long as it moves at the correct speed for him at that moment, he sometimes sounds okay — a bit robotic, totally scripted, but okay.  Trying to recite from memory or engage in a logical train of thought on his own, though, Biden often falls into the argy-bargy.  It's awful listening to him trying to claw his way from there into rationality." . . .

The Perilous State of America’s Republic

 

Conrad Black

If the United States cannot, in Lincoln's words, “bind up the nation’s wounds,” and re-emerge as a strong democracy, the end of Western Civilization is in sight.

"Americans should know how perilous their democracy has become. The majority of Donald Trump’s voters already believe the presidential election was rigged, and there is no doubt that suspect voting changes, attributed to the requirements of voting in a pandemic, have created large anomalies in five states that made a great many such votes impossible to authenticate. Untold numbers of ballots arrived at a time and in a manner that incites the inference that they were substantially fraudulent. The numbers of votes involved in Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin are undoubtedly adequately numerous to have influenced the election. 

"The courts have failed to address the questions raised by this disturbing pattern of votes confined to only five states. Some of the responsibility rests with President Trump’s counsel, who often have demanded remedies out of all proportion to the complaints alleged. They seem only now to be getting around to an attack on the constitutionality of unverifiable voting on a large scale in the four or five suspect states, which stand out like pike-staffs among the others where all went smoothly.    

"The refusal of the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the appeal from the state of Texas, joined by 18 other states, is an outright abdication. Of course, Texas and its co-petitioners have perfectly adequate standing to demand that all states, in choosing a president, conduct their elections credibly enough to assure the whole country that the Constitution has been followed in filling the nation’s highest offices. For the Supreme Court to take the position, as it did, that it could not hear the election challenge case because Texas and the others did not have the standing to challenge how another state conducts its presidential election is completely spurious in the circumstances. Where the courts don’t exercise their jurisdiction, a vacuum arises which is likely to be filled by lawlessness, and potentially, even violent lawlessness. " . . .

Propagandists replace journalists at the Washington Post

 Washington Times

"The Washington Post has steadily evolved from being a newspaper edited and written by journalists to being something else. Sean Hannity has said that journalism is dead in America, and so I would think he would say that it is written by dead journalists. 

"I would agree with that except that dead journalists cannot write. So what has the newspaper’s staff evolved into? Propagandists? Possibly. Advertising hacks? That takes talent.

"I think this weekend I hit upon precisely what The Washington Post has evolved into. It is the newspaper of the American Federation of Teachers. It is a newspaper edited and written by schoolmarms. It is intent on teaching its childlike readership something elevated every time its writers are let loose on a topic." . . .

The New England Journal of Medicine is now fully woke

 Andrea Widburg  . . . "Reality is not a construct. We can quibble about our approaches to reality (I say the fabric’s color is puce, you say it’s eggplant), but the real world exists. Gravity is a thing and even if you tell yourself you’re a bird, when you step off that roof and flap your arms, you’re not going anywhere but down.

"When a society abandons reality – when it pretends that the genetic coding that dictates our body’s sex – is meaningless, that society is headed for a disastrous landing. Mentally ill men who think they’re women do not need to go to a gynecologist like Dr. Adashi because they do not have a uterus, ovaries, fallopian tubes, or any of the other organs associated with a female animal’s prime function, which is to incubate babies.

"Likewise, mentally ill women who think they’re men do need to go to that same gynecologist because their reproductive organs can fall prey to all sorts of unpleasant diseases and conditions that are best treated by someone trained in the area – something like Dr. Adashi, for example. When we start pretending that boys are girls and girls are boys, the pretend girls waste gynecologists’ time, while the real girls pretending to be boys dangerously ignore their biological needs.

"Once doctors start playing along with these anti-science, anti-reality fantasies, these same doctors lose the trust of the 95% or so of Americans who inhabit a fact-based world in which human animals with penises are boys and human animals with vaginas are girls. And what sane person would trust a doctor, of all people, who can’t tell the two apart?" . . .

Kamala (That's 'Comma' to you, man) Harris: The big buildup begins

 Monica Showalter  "Is it time for Joe Biden to start hiring a food taster?

"Seems the buildup is out there for Kamala Harris to become the Democrats' next president.

"Take the word of professional bloviator, Tom Friedman, President Obama's past and maybe present golf buddy, who wrote a particularly ridiculous New York Times column, headlined:

Kamala Harris Deserves a More Important Job

"In this column, he lays out the proposal that Harris become Biden's rural ambassador, winning back the rural vote for the Democrats, as if she were the perfect fit:

Harris is too smart and energetic to be just the vice president, a position with few official responsibilities. I’d love to see President-elect Joe Biden give her a more important job: his de facto secretary of rural development, in charge of closing the opportunity gap, the connectivity gap, the learning gap, the start-up gap — and the anger and alienation gap — between rural America and the rest of the country.

President Trump feasted off those gaps in our last two presidential elections to dominate Democrats in rural America. Putting Harris in charge of fixing them would be a real statement by the Biden team.

"Too smart? This person who couldn't get into a top tier university even with a dad who taught at Stanford? Who flunked the California bar? Who giggled like this when asked if she was a socialist? 'Smart' isn't the word that comes to mind.

"Friedman then goes on to propose her for something she is likely to flunk out at even more than mere academics -- making her the Biden rural czar. 

"Harris, recall, washed out bigtime in Iowa, a state with a significant rural population. She grumbled about moving to and living in Iowa as she pursued votes during the Democrat primaries, but nobody jumped on. Rural voters there read her as a phony and went instead for either Bernie Sanders, Pete Buttigieg, or Biden. Fatcat donors weren't impressed either. Harris dropped out of the presidential race shortly after that, failing to win a single delegate. She was viewed as a phony elsewhere, too." . . .

“Don’t get us wrong, we believe newborn babies are very precious,” said Senator Kamala Harris. “We just don’t believe they’re quite as precious as your constitutional right to snuff out their innocent little lives.” Babylon Bee parody

Smug Kamala Harris to Mike Pence: “I’m Talking!” … Mike Pence to Smug Kamala Harris: “Then Tell the Truth!”