Still Makes No Prosecutorial Sense For Feds To Have Sam Bankman-Fried Arrested On Eve of Congressional Testimony

"The reasons why general citizens should not talk to the police are the flip side of why the feds should have wanted to have Dem Crypto King to testify to congress. There was zero upside for Dem Crypto King, and only upside for the feds. Baffling"

Reality Bites by Broc Smith.

Legal Insurrection  "I’ve been trying to figure out a non-political motive for federal prosecutors to arrange with Bahamian authorities to arrest Democrat Mega-Donor and Crypto King Sam Bankman-Fried  the day before he was to testify to Congress.

"When this first happened, I could think of no good reason, But Why? Democrat Mega-Donor Crypto King Sam Bankman-Fried Arrested In Bahamas Preventing His Congressional Testimony:

Funny that. It goes against everything you would expect prosecutors to do. Why not let him testify under oath. It’s no lose for the feds. “Anything you say can and will be used against you.”

There was no downside. Dem Crypto King may have further implicated himself in criminal conduct. Or he may have lied under oath to Congress, more potential federal charges. His testimony could not help him or hurt the prosecution because even if he did well, you can’t introduce your own prior statements as evidence.

And there was no downside to the feds even if they already had a mountain of evidence against him. Too much evidence of guilt is a prosecutor’s dream. Usually.

So no downside for the feds, no upside for Dem Crypto King, if he testified….

The only potential downside to Dem Crypto King testifying before Congress today was for Democrats if Republicans got to question him about his political donations and ties to Democrats.. . . 

 

The Rise of the DeSantis Democrats

 The Free Press

Like Reagan Democrats once upon a time, these voters have already reshaped the political landscape in Florida. Can they do the same nationally in 2024?

 

"These voters are not all that dissimilar to the Reagan Democrats who fueled the Republican’s 1980 White House victory.

"Like the Reagan Democrats, the DeSantis Democrats feel condescended to, abandoned by the progressive elites who bankroll Democratic candidates and shape the party’s agenda.

Then, like now, inflation was out of control. Then, like now, the leadership in Washington seemed tired, out of ideas. Then, like now, the country seemed adrift. In 1980, America was losing ground to the communists in Afghanistan and Nicaragua, to the mullahs in Iran. In 2022, it is gripped by a polarization and economic stratification that have been building for years, with eight in ten Americans dissatisfied with how things are going, and two in five fearful a second civil war is on the horizon.

"But the DeSantis Democrats, unlike Reagan Democrats, who were mostly white with blue-collar jobs and high school degrees, are not an easily identifiable species. They are not confined to any class, constituency or ethnic category—although Democratic pollsters say Latinos were more likely to flip for DeSantis. They stretch across the city, from Little Havana east to Miami Beach, and south toward Palmetto Bay, and north, to the Cubans and Dominicans and Colombians in Hialeah. DeSantis led the Latino vote by almost 20 points, according to CNN exit polling.

"DeSantis, unlike Ronald Reagan, is a supremely practical man. To the two dozen Floridians interviewed for this story, the governor is more defined by his actions than his ideology: He kept the schools open and taxes low. Period. Even the culture-war bombs he’s tossed—like going head to head with the Magic Kingdom over the so-called Don’t Say Gay bill—served to squeeze tax dollars out of a massive corporation. (This is, in fact, disputable. The showdown, which led Florida to strip Disney World of its independent status, may force nearby county governments to pay for services once covered by Disney.)". . .

Olivia Reingold’s last piece for us was about attacks on pro-life activists. Read it here.

Marines to End Gender Identifiers for Drill Instructors as Jan. 6 Committee Tries to Prosecute Trump

  American Liberty News

"UNBELIEVABLE – GENDER INSANITY INFECTS MARINE CORPS – Why the Marines could nix gender identifiers for drill instructors. Will it be the end of “sir” and “ma’am”?"

. . ."BUT IS IT, REALLY READINESS? OR IS IT CLIMATE POLITICS? – For the Navy and Marines, weather readiness is climate readiness. Recently, Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Energy, Installations, and Environment Meredith Berger claimed that for the Navy and Marines, climate readiness is mission readiness. She made her case by citing this year’s North Atlantic hurricane season and stating that climate change is making the world a more volatile place by bringing extreme weather events, more humanitarian crises and heightened friction around essential natural resources. Her main point was that the Department of the Navy’s Climate Action 2030 addresses these issues by increasing the resilience of the Navy and Marine Corps while reducing the threat.". . .

Ohio teacher sues school for firing her for not using student's preferred pronouns

Just The News   "An Ohio teacher filed a lawsuit against her former school after she said she was forced to quit for not using a student's preferred pronouns, which would have violated her religious beliefs. 

"Vivian Geraghty was an English teacher at Jackson Memorial Middle School in Massillon until the district forced her to resign in August because she refused to participate in a student's social transition to another sex by using different pronouns and a different name than the student had at birth.

"The lawsuit, filed last week in federal court by the conservative legal nonprofit the Alliance Defending Freedom, said the school "unconstitutionally retaliated" against Geraghty for exercising her free speech and for her Christian beliefs.

"The school forced her to resign although no students filed complaints and education was not disrupted, the lawsuit stated. 

"Vivian treated every student with equality and respect, and it was unlawful for school officials to terminate her employment simply because she wanted to avoid using her voice to validate ideas that violate her faith and jeopardize her students’ wellbeing," said Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Tyson Langhofer.

"Teachers in other states have filed similar lawsuits for not participating in a student's social gender transition.

"In September, a former Kansas middle school teacher received a $95,000 settlement after she was suspended for not using a student's preferred name and pronouns.". . .

On a related note: Instead Of Kryptonite, New LGBTQ+ Superman Will Be Crippled By Anyone Using Wrong Pronouns

"We are so proud to break new ground with this stunning, brave, totally expected, and culturally fashionable change to the Superman character," said writer Tom Taylor. "We look forward to selling dozens and dozens of copies." 

10 Steps to Save America

"Yes, there is a way. But is there the will?"

Being forced to tell the truth would be a powerful deterrent against bureaucratic overreach. 

 Victor Davis Hanson  "Most Americans know something has gone terribly wrong—and very abruptly—with the United States. They are certain that our wounds are almost all self-inflicted. The current pathologies are not a result of a natural disaster, an exhaustion of natural resources, plagues, or an existential war. 

"Crushing national debt and annual deficits, spiraling food and fuel costs amid “normal” seven-percent-plus annual inflation, bread-and-circuses entitlements, a nonexistent border, a resurgence of racial tribalism, pandemic violent criminality, and humiliation abroad—all these pathologies are easily cited as symptoms of a sick patient. Our crises are not as the Left maintains—a nine-person Supreme Court, the Electoral College, or the filibuster—all distractions from existential problems the Left largely created. 

"So, what are the therapies and prognoses for America?

"In the spirit of constructive rather than blanket criticism, here is a partial, 10-point plan of national recovery.

Cut the Debt 

"Americans’ national debt is now $31 trillion. That is about 123 percent of current GDP. The liabilities are unsustainable. We run annual deficits of $1.6 trillion. These financial obligations will eventually ensure that rising interest rates to service the debt crowd out essential spending for national defense and the general welfare. 

"Or in extremis, in the not too distant future, the government will be forced to default on what it owes the “rich” bondholders and foreign debt holders. Or the government will be forced to confiscate private wealth, as for example occasional crazy suggestions to nationalize and absorb 401(k)k retirement plans into the soon-to-be-insolvent Social Security system. Or the state will simply print millions of dollars to pay off obligations, Weimar-style.

"In addict style, the more we come to realize that our binging habit cannot go on, the less we can practice self-restraint. And the more it is the case that those who receive government redistributions outnumber those who pay the majority of federal income taxes, the less hope there remains to avoid insolvency.". . .

Victor Davis Hanson is a distinguished fellow of the Center for American Greatness and the Martin and Illie Anderson Senior Fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution. He is an American military historian, columnist, a former classics professor, and scholar of ancient warfare. He has been a visiting professor at Hillsdale College since 2004. Hanson was awarded the National Humanities Medal in 2007 by President George W. Bush. Hanson is also a farmer (growing raisin grapes on a family farm in Selma, California) and a critic of social trends related to farming and agrarianism. He is the author most recently of The Second World Wars: How the First Global Conflict Was Fought and Won, The Case for Trump and the newly released The Dying Citizen.

‘Page Out Of The Same Book’: CNN’s Lemon Asks If Media Should Treat Musk Like Trump

Daily Caller

"CNN host Don Lemon asked a guest Monday whether reporters should treat Tesla CEO Elon Musk like they treated former President Donald Trump.

“[T]here is a huge place for Twitter. I think that he should be taking it more seriously. I think these polls and the antics is just to — it’s right out of the Trump playbook, which is what I feel. And that he is manipulating the media in order to get attention,” Lemon said to Ben Smith of Semafor. “So can you put this into perspective. Should journalists pull out their Trump playbook in order to deal with what Elon Musk is doing at Twitter? Is it a page out of the same book?” 

"Musk closed the deal to purchase Twitter on Oct. 27, and said he sought to restore free speech to the site, the Wall Street Journal reported. Journalists Matt Taibbi, Bari Weiss and Michael Shellenberger reported on the extent of how Twitter censored conservatives, including at the behest of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in a series of releases initially posted on the social media site starting Dec. 2, prompting multiple media outlets and figures to attack the release of the documents.

"Since Musk acquired Twitter, he laid off a large percentage of the workforce while also making multiple policy changes that drew criticism from the media, including a new policy on doxxing that led to the suspension of multiple journalists. Following backlash from a proposed policy to ban linking to competing social networks, Musk posted a poll asking whether he should step down as CEO of Twitter, with 57% of respondents saying he should leave.". . .

Where's our progressive hero now? Migrant shelters are overflowing and a border crisis is about to explode - but AOC and her Democratic cohorts are AWOL

 UK Daily Mail

It's lights, camera, action on America's southern border. But progressive hero, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez is nowhere to be seen.  That's curious. Usually, she can't resist a close-up.

More here: aoc photos crying - Bing images

Our President, the Pathological Liar

Jeff Crouere

It is too dangerous for the United States to be saddled with such a president. If he does not resign, Republicans must begin impeachment proceedings when they take control of the U.S. House of Representatives in January. 

"The sad reality is that the President of the United States, Joe Biden, is a pathological liar. This is not a new personality trait for our Commander-in-Chief, but a characteristic that has been apparent throughout his 52-year political career. 

"Biden has been telling lies, including massive untruths, for decades. It is a major reason he had to exit the 1988 presidential campaign. He lied about his law school grades and plagiarized speeches from United Kingdom Labor Party leader Neil Kinnock. 

"Regularly, Biden lies about his childhood, his family, his academic career, and his record as a politician. 

Does anyone really believe that, as a young lifeguard, he faced off with a “bad dude” named “Corn Pop” who had a “bunch of bad boys” armed with “straight razors?” Biden claimed he used a six-foot chain to force the gang to leave. 

"Biden pretends he was a tough guy and has boasted that in high school, he would have taken Donald Trump “behind the gym and beat the hell out of him.” 

"He likes to embellish his career as a college football player and lied about being on the University of Delaware team that beat the Ohio Bearcats. He said he quit the team to date the woman who would become his first wife, but, instead, he was forced to leave due to bad grades.

"This week, Biden told a series of lies that are impossible to reconcile. At a town hall meeting with U.S. veterans in Delaware, Biden told a story of awarding a Purple Heart to his uncle, Frank Biden. He said that his uncle had served heroically in the Battle of the Bulge in World War II, and had earned the Purple Heart, but never received it.". . . 

The Elites’ War On Cars

 Issues & Insights

While the elites aggressively guard their freedom to move about the world as they please, such as flying private jets to conferences where they grouse about the carbon footprints of those they believe to be beneath them, they want the rest of us to have more restrictions on our travel. 

"No human invention has expanded liberty like the automobile. That’s one of the reasons that the Western ruling class wants to end private ownership of cars. The other reason is just as insidious.

"The main theater in the war on cars being waged by the elites is in California – of course. There, Gov. Gavin Newsom, with the support of the unelected state Air Resources Board, has outlawed the sale of new cars that run on fossil fuel. Beginning in 2035, all new automobile sales in the state will have to be powered by batteries.

"This is unsustainable for a number of reasons, including the likelihood that there will not be enough energy for all the charging that will be needed, particularly as the state makes a foolish transition to an all-renewables electric grid. EVs are expensive, as well, out of the reach of many.

"California has also put its drivers on a “road diet,” a shameless and “aggressive push to herd as many Californians as possible into mass transit,” and continues to move forward with its “vanity high-speed rail project” that is hopelessly behind schedule, far over budget, and quickly becoming a monument to the state’s can’t-do-won’t-do backward-looking mindset. 

"California policymakers have not been shy about trying to “make it easier and faster to build sustainable transportation projects that help get people out of their cars,” even though there has been no upswell of pleas from drivers asking for the government for any such help. Street parking is being reduced, lanes closed and entire streets have been shut down, and fuel tax revenues are routinely diverted to projects with no relation to car travel.". . .

If this world is the Titanic, we are all locked in steerage, watching greenies in tuxedos reserve the lifeboats for themselves. TD

Christmas in Hollywoke ; There aren’t too many Candace Cameron Bures to be found in Hollywood.

Christmas in Hollywoke  The American Spectator

is the week before Christmas and on TCM,
Yuletide movies are playing AM to PM.
Hallmark Channel and Lifetime are doing the same,
but with made-for-TV films, most of them lame.
Full of leftwing inclusion so blatantly woke,
They seek to make Christmas a liberal joke.
When what to conservative eyes should appear?
Great American Family for traditional cheer.

"Perusing the weeklong Christmas movie marathon on Turner Classic Movies, which has the best film library on television, I noted that for all its history of screen magic, Hollywood made surprisingly few great Christmas pictures over a hundred-plus years. True, the four finest — It’s a Wonderful Life (1946), Miracle on 34^th Street (1947), A Christmas Carol (1951), and A Christmas Story (1983) — aren’t owned by TCM, but four more doesn’t add much to the ratio.". . .

. . ."Nonetheless, wokeness has polluted this year’s movie batch. Ceaseless progressive criticism about non-inclusive content intimidated the Hallmark Channel into producing its first Christmas gay romance, The Holiday Sitters, two Chinese-American ones (A Big Fat Family Christmas, Christmas at the Golden Dragon), two Jewish ones (Hanukkah on Rye, Love, Lights, Hanukkah!) which somewhat obscure the Christmas spirit. As for feminist-heavy Lifetime, in what seems like every other Christmas movie, a supporting female character introduces another woman as her wife.

"In fact, other than the royal-themed fare, none of the recent films have the least dose of spiritual value, and rather seem to exploit the holiday for mercenary purposes. The trend proved too much for two conservative former Hallmark Channel heavyweights, ex-honcho Bill Abbott and Christmas-movie darling Candace Cameron Bure. Abbott became CEO of the new Great American Family network, and Cameron Bure joined him there as chief creative officer and continuing movie star (A Christmas … Present).

"The actress gave an unequivocal reason for leaving Hallmark and joining GAF — traditional values closer aligned to the true meaning of Christmas, the birth of Christ. “My heart wants to tell stories that have more meaning and purpose and depth behind them,” Bure said. “I knew that the people behind Great American Family were Christians that love the Lord and wanted to promote faith programming and good family entertainment.”

"But it was another Bure remark that sent Hollywoke into a feeding frenzy. Responding to a Wall Street Journal question about LGBTQ storylines at her new channel, Bure said, “I think that Great American Family will keep traditional marriage at the core.” To no one’s surprise, the blowback for her not kneeling to the rainbow militia was instantaneous and fierce.". . .

And this: Hallmark Researchers Say They Are Close To Developing A Second Movie Plot

"Emerging from deep within the lower levels of a high-security Hollywood laboratory, Hallmark researchers have surfaced to announce they are finally nearing the development of a second movie plot.

"This second movie plot is reported to be vastly different from the original plot which has been utilized in 1,437 Hallmark movies.". . .

CNN CEO Speaks Up Against the Misinformed Left

Not the Beast; The Daily Beat

Left’s absurd amount of baseless vitriol leaves CNN chief stunned

"CNN’s newest CEO, Chris Licht, claims he’s been shocked by the amount of what he describes as “uninformed vitriol” the left-leaning crowd directed at him for trying to shift the network’s editorial direction. 

Licht has been the target of more than a dozen liberal rants ever since he took the company over in May this year.

"He’s made more than a few changes to the network’s staffing and programmatic measures, earning him a lot of buzz for taking on a centrist stance.

"Licht shook up the snowflakes from the very start.

"He decided to change CNN’s morning lineup, pushing Don Lemon, an avid Trump critic, out of his primetime slot and into the “CNN This Morning” show, alongside Kaitlyn Collins and Poppy Harlow.

"Any reasonable person will see that this is both due to the chemistry of the hosts, as well as the fact anti-Trump content has become so unoriginal that critics like Lemon and Colbert were recycling stories just to stay relevant.

"Aside from putting Lemon in a more fitting spot on the channel, Licht also let go of several other Trump critics from the network; those being Chris Cillizza and Brian Stelter, whose content never had any substance, to begin with.". . .

This needs to be said

 

Biden Made Unacceptable Compromises to Release Griner From Russia Joe didn't get the senior discount on this, apparently.   . . ."Many Republicans have also questioned the terms of the prisoner swap deal under which Griner is freed.

"For instance, Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene noted the flawed prisoner swap deal is another reason to impeach Biden. Likewise, potential upcoming House Speaker Kevin McCarthy slammed Biden for releasing Bout without taking Whelan back.

"McCarthy stated Bout remained involved in the murder of numerous American law enforcement officials, adding he should have been released only if Russia was ready to release Whelan."