Can Vivek Ramaswamy fix Washington? CNN and MSNBC will be coming after him immediately

Biden is known for walking stiffly.  His big shtick is touching women inappropriately.  Working diligently to strengthen the hand of credit card firms against consumers for much of his career in the Senate, it's little wonder that credit card giant MBNA was his largest contributor. 

  Harry A. White II   . . ."Ramaswamy is a multimillionaire.  How did Vivek Ramaswamy make his money?  The answer is outside politics and fair and square, apparently.  This bodes well for an honorable career in politics.  More power to him.  

In an editorial, Ramaswamy called for making the border secure, eliminating affirmative action "across the American economy," and establishing economic independence from China, "the greatest external threat to America."

To put America first, we need to rediscover what America is. That's why I am running for president. I am launching not only a political campaign but a cultural movement to create a new American Dream — one that is not only about money but about the unapologetic pursuit of excellence[.] ... [I]t is about reviving a national identity.

He hopes to end ESG and diversity, inclusion, and equity (DIE) and put merit back in America.

Is a revival on a gigantic scale (from Kentucky to the White House) too much to hope for?  Probably.  The only men fit to captain the ship of state — benevolent, powerful men "who have access to the Form of the Good," or God — don't exist in Washington.  There are only men spouting the state-sponsored orthodoxy of wokeism, via protected categories in state and federal "non-discrimination" laws, which include gender self-identification. 

Looking for arguments for and against DIE, I found a bad one "for" online.  Here it is:

Some have said that instituting the principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in the workplace, out of compulsion, results in mediocrity, not meritocracy. However, in the absence of diversity and inclusion, it is exceedingly difficult in most human endeavors to proclaim that someone or something merits designation as 'the best.' In other words, without diversity and inclu­sion, meritocracy itself is a meritless myth, and any merit bestowed cannot be deemed equitable.". . .

 Who is Vivek Ramaswamy, the new GOP presidential candidate?

Another conservative pastor canceled by Big Tech

Google needs to give these well-meaning, patriotic people a break.

 American Thinker  "Recently, a close friend wanted me to hear a spiritual message from a pastor we listen to now and then, Jack Hibbs.  Within a day of receiving the link from her, I clicked on it and got that message that tells you the video you are trying to see has been blocked.  Hmmm.

"A few days later, I decided to go to Jack Hibbs's YouTube channel, "Real Life with Jack Hibbs."  I got the same message of doom, communicating that the whole channel was blocked.  Since I hadn't heard any announcement via email from Hibbs, I thought that maybe it was one of those temporary glitches.

"And then, a few days after the above, I saw Hibbs's headline: "Urgent! Please watch this video: https://vimeo.com/801741601."  I took the few minutes to watch it, thinking it might be something having to do with the Middle East or some other crisis area, of which there are many worldwide.

"No, it was something just as serious: YouTube took down Hibbs's YouTube channel and is keeping all of his material, on the flimsiest of charges, which they will not explain or speak with him about.  He is being stonewalled as well as censored.

"I admit that I am surprised that it took this long for Jack to get it that YouTube is not our friend and, as a part of the Google empire, is particularly hostile to people of faith and of common sense, conservative conviction.

"Another pastor we listen to is J.D. Farag of Calvary Chapel, Kaneohe, Hawaii.  Well over a year ago, Pastor Farag realized that YouTube was no friend, and so he set his church up to "broadcast" his sermons from their own website, bypassing the censorship of Big Tech. Ingeniously, he leaves the first 10–20 minutes of his sermons on YouTube and arranges his content so that the early portion of the sermon doesn't attract the notice of the YouTube censors.  Then he stops the YouTube and Facebook streams and urges the listeners to go to his website, where he is free to speak what is on his mind.

"It outrages me that Google soon took Pastor Farag's app icon out of the play store. ". . .

A Statement of Faith is a written declaration of the ministry's position on matters that pertain to the essentials of historical Christianity. The following statements comprise Real Life with Jack Hibbs' Statement of Faith.

Left proves Dilbert's point

 Don Surber

Adams should have couched his preference as encouraging blacks for their own protection to avoid whites because to say it the other way — as he did — is considered a hate crime. Wording matters.

"Chris Quinn, editor of the Plain Dealer, dropped the Dilbert comic strip this week, drawing cheers from the all-whites-are-racist crowd. He cited a podcast of Dilbert creator Scott Adams.

"Quinn wrote, “Adams said Black people are a hate group, citing a recent Rasmussen survey which, he said, shows nearly half of all Black people do not agree with the phrase ‘It’s okay to be white.’”

"The poll actually said 53% agree, 26% disagree and 21% were not sure. One-quarter of black people saying it is not okay to be white shows way too much racism.

"Adams said, “I would say, based on the current way things are going, the best advice I would give to white people is to get the hell away from black people.” (If MSNBC's Joy Reid said that, her face contorted by anger, I dare say she would still be on the air.TD)

"Segregation is making a comeback, long after America achieved racial equality, thanks to race hustlers like Al Sharpton, Joy Reid and Barack “If I Had A Son He’d Look Like Trayvon” Obama.

"Harvard’s hometown is a leader in advocating the separation of races. The city of Cambridge, Massachusetts, published on August 9, 2018, “Why People of Color Need Spaces Without White People,” written by Kelsey Blackwell. She said:

“If your community is mostly white, it is not by accident. Do your work, get real, look at the places you’ve been avoiding. Ask another white person the question you’ve been unsure about asking. See how you’re perpetuating the system of institutional racism; we all are. Become intimately familiar with your role. Explore the places within yourself that you hold back. Can you be yourself a little more? You do this work and people of color will naturally want to engage with you. Why? Because through feeling and exploring your ignorance you’ve created a genuine opening for my reality.". . 

Biden Can't Remember If He's Talked to East Palestine Mayor Amid Toxic Train Derailment

 Biden Can't Remember If He's Talked to East Palestine Mayor Amid Toxic Train Derailment  "President Joe Biden's mental health is declining; that's no secret. However, it is alarming when he can't make it through an interview without stumbling over his words or being unable to recall whether he's already talked to someone. 

"During an interview with ABC on the toxic train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, Biden said that he has "talked to everyone that there is to talk to" but can't remember who he has spoken to. 

"Host David Muir asked Biden if he plans to travel to Ohio and has talked to the mayor. 

" 'I can't recall whether I've — I don't think I've talked to the mayor. I've talked to everyone else there multiple times. I've talked to both the senators, both governors, I've talked to everyone there is to talk to, and we've made it clear that everything is available," Biden said in response. 

"This comes the same day the president stumbled through answering reporter's questions about the incident. ". . .

Health Concerns Rise in East Palestine, Resident Sounds 'Like Mickey Mouse'

NYT Debunks Dem Claim: Trump’s Rollback of a Rail Safety Rule Had ‘No Impact’ on Ohio Derailment

. . ."PolitiFact reported on February 15 that Democrats’ claims that Trump repealed a safety rule was “Mostly True,” but noted that it had no effect on the train derailment.

"As PolitiFact reported:

During former President Barack Obama’s administration, the Department of Transportation enacted a rule requiring high-hazard cargo trains to be equipped with electronically controlled pneumatic brakes by 2023, allowing them to brake faster.

The Trump administration repealed this rule, citing government reports that found the cost of requiring these kinds of brakes was not economically justified.

Even if this safety rule had still been in effect, it would not have applied to the Norfolk Southern train that derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, because it was not categorized as a high-hazard cargo train.

"Despite this debunking that the Trump administration was at fault for the Ohio derailment more than a week ago, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg perpetuated the lie while he visited Ohio a day after Trump.". . .

WATCH: NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy says the brake rule Buttigieg and Joy Behar blamed President Trump for repealing 'would not have prevented' the East Palestine derailment.

"The wheel bearing failed on car number 23. So even with ECP brakes, the derailment would have occurred." pic.twitter.com/AECPta0T5F

— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) February 24, 2023 

. . .Even if this safety rule had still been in effect, it would not have applied to the Norfolk Southern train that derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, because it was not categorized as a high-hazard cargo train.

"Despite this debunking that the Trump administration was at fault for the Ohio derailment more than a week ago, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg perpetuated the lie while he visited Ohio a day after Trump.

. . ."The Biden administration is reeling after criticism that it acted too slowly after the derailment on February 3 and the subsequent release of toxic chemicals that forced residents to evacuate their homes.

"As Breitbart News reported Friday, President Joe Biden only tweeted about the derailment a day before Trump was set to arrive in East Palestine, Ohio, on February 22.

"Biden also chose to take a logistically-difficult surprise trip to Ukraine to commemorate one year of war before visiting East Palestine. Buttigieg visited East Palestine instead, a day after Trump arrived, distributing supplies and comforting residents."

'Oddball' Trump grand jury foreperson Emily Kohrs dealt a 'terrible blow' to prosecution, Andrew McCarthy says

'She basically flouted the secrecy rules of the grand jury,' McCarthy told Fox News Digital

Author Douglas Murray says the "bizarreness" of a Georgia grand jury foreperson's comments about former US president Donald Trump was "terrifying".

Refers to the woke generation as scolds and "prigs".

 Fox News  "Attorney Andrew McCarthy said Emily Kohrs, the forewoman of a special grand jury as part of the Georgia criminal probe into former President Trump, may have dealt "a terrible blow" to prosecutors with her unusual media tour this week.

"In a pair of appearances on CNN and NBC News, Kohrs appeared to strongly hint that Trump was among those recommended for criminal charges while laughing, joking and making animated facial expressions that seemed to provide answers she knew she shouldn't be offering. McCarthy, a senior fellow at the National Review Institute, believes any "fair-mind lawyer" would object to her behavior. 

" 'This is a terrible thing. She basically flouted the secrecy rules of the grand jury. She flouted the judge's order, and she makes the whole enterprise down there in Georgia look like it's a, you know – Trump called it a kangaroo court," McCarthy said. 

" 'Whether it really is a kangaroo court or not, in that colorful sense, we'll have to see as the proceedings go by. But it's absolutely true that it's a terrible blow for their legal system and for this particular investigation, which has already had problems, because, you know, the [Fulton County] District Attorney [Fani Willis] is an elected Democrat who had a lot to say publicly about Trump even before this investigation opened," he continued. "This doesn’t help them present the impression that they’re running a tight, ethical, professional investigation.' " . . .

Why wealth matters in the free speech debate

The trans movement is the most obvious example of something that causes ‘self-cancellation’. But wokery is a broad church, and you dare question the religion at your peril. Even at the top level, those who are not famous and those not spectacularly loaded dare not speak their minds

 UK Spectator   "The divide between the rich and the poor is obvious in Britain today. Whether in terms of income, geography or political outlook, the cleavage between the haves and have-nots widens conspicuously. It has become a source of much snobbery and resentment. But there is another field in which this division can be witnessed, yet all too often goes ignored: free speech. Increasingly, the freedom to express your political opinions has become the privilege of the rich, while the poor – or even those on middle incomes – now fear to say what they like. This is especially the case when it comes to talking about gender, race and Brexit.

So fearful of speaking their minds on these touchy subjects, and scared of questioning liberal orthodoxies, many folk are now ‘self-cancelling’. This is the view of Tom Stoppard, who on Newsnight the other day spoke of this sinister etiquette that many conservatives – consciously or not – already know: that you don’t voice any anti-EU, anti-woke opinions in polite society, among most of your friends from school and university, even among relatives, and certainly not in the workplace. You will lose face, or possibly even your livelihood. ‘People tread warily, they’re careful of what they say,’ said the playwright. ‘I’m way behind the curve as to what is sayable and what is thinkable’.

"But Stoppard is rich and old. He can say what he likes. He doesn’t need to work again. The same goes for J.K. Rowling, who can literally afford to say unfashionable things about the transgender movement. So can Germaine Greer. And, I suspect, so can transgender-sceptics like Julie Burchill, Janice Turner and Suzanne Moore, who do so from a position of relative security (voicing truths and controversial opinions is their living, after all). But even Moore paid the price by being denounced by her colleagues on the Guardian, causing the two to part company.". . .

MSNBC's Joy Reid faces backlash for criticizing media's coverage of Ukraine with more compassion because the victims are 'white and largely Christian'  

Antisemitic ‘Day of Hate’ Across America Deemed an Abject Failure

Perhaps Jew-haters should have called Antifa for help; no current group but they could match their 2020-2021 Kristallnacht. The Tunnel Dweller

 Breitbart

"A “National Day of Hate” against “vermin” Jews organized by white supremacist and neo-Nazi groups across America to coincide with the Jewish Sabbath was deemed a failure and instead turned into a “Shabbat of peace, not hate,” according to the Anti-Defamation League.

"Demonstrations of solidarity with the Jewish people were held several cities in the U.S., including Washington D.C.

"The Anti-Defamation League tweeted Saturday evening that “Increased law enforcement presence as well as heightened community awareness helped to ensure this was a Shabbat of peace, not hate.”

"The effort began with an Iowa-based neo-Nazi group and spread to other groups all over the U.S., the ADL said.". . .

Joe and Jill Went Up the Hill

She is a beneficiary of our culture as it is today; destined to make America a second-tier nation. TD

PJ Media

"Joe and Jill went up the hill, and who knows when they’ll come tumbling down. The nation may careen well before they do. Much has already been said about the devastating policies and tenure of Joe Biden. Simply put, he is unarguably the worst president the U.S. has ever suffered, Jimmy Carter and Barack Obama notwithstanding. Here I will focus on the other half of the Biden tandem, a woman of scholarly pretensions without foundation, the ineffable Dr. Jill.

"The adulation Jill Biden has received for so flimsy a dubious accomplishment as a paper doctorate in a derelict field like Education Studies is utterly misplaced, whether it is the mentally impregnable Whoopi Goldberg thinking that Jill Biden was a medical doctor and should be considered for Surgeon General or a sports announcer for an NFL game, as Megyn Kelly notes, ingratiatingly remarking that “Dr. Jill Biden” was in attendance. I watched that game between the Eagles and the 49ers and nearly turned off the set when the fawning announcer asserted his bona fides.

"The title of Dr. linked to Jill Biden certainly seems inappropriate. Recently, my wife Janice Fiamengo posted a Substack article critical of the First Lady’s doctoral thesis from the University of Delaware, Student Retention in the Community College: Meeting Students’ Needs, a document running to a risible 80 pages, not counting reference pages and appendices. Additionally, the Literature Review does not identify disagreements and contrary viewpoints in the education literature, as is standard practice, nor does her Methodology section indicate the limits of her analytical procedure, also standard practice. These, as well as thin citation, inadequate research, and generally poor writing, as Wall Street Journal film critic Kyle Smith has shown, are crucial problems.". . .

. . ."More worrisome, as Samantha Chang at The Western Journal points out, “The first lady, who has never held elected office, is her husband’s ‘closest and most protective confidante’ and is influencing every major decision he makes, according to Bloomberg’s Nancy Cook. This is frightening because no one voted for Jill Biden, an English teacher who has no background in politics or public policy.” Ms. Chang alludes in this context to the secret presidency of Edith Wilson, one of the strangely implausible episodes in American history of a First Lady managing her infirm husband’s duties.

"Ultimately, this is the Biden trademark: a corrupt and geriatric incompetent in the White House, and a vain First Lady devoid of intellectual substance who passes herself off as a scholar. Everything about such people is meretricious, or in popular parlance, “fake.” Such is current American leadership in both politics and education, a tale of broken crowns and failed policies hurtling down the historical gradient."

Stairlift company mocks Biden falling up the stairs in their latest advertisement

Rajan Laad  "The mention of stairlifts reminds me of Billy Wilder’s celebrated legal mystery thriller Witness for the Prosecution which was released in 1957.

"In that film, the great thespian Charles Laughton plays the eccentric and acerbic senior barrister Sir Wilfrid Robarts, who is recovering from a heart attack. Laughton plays him hilariously as if he were doing an impression of Winston Churchill. 

"The barrister’s condition prevents him from activities such as ascending stairs, hence he has a stairlift installed at his home.

"The scene of a portly and very reluctant Laughton perched in a tiny chair being steered up and down the staircase at the insistence of his nurse and butler was perhaps the most hilarious moment in that must-watch picture."  https://youtu.be/T-ELiRFK_v0

"Stairlifts are back in the news because a prominent stairlift maker is gently mocking Joe Biden for stumbling down the stairs.

Tired of stumbling up the stairs? We strive to help all of those in need across our nation.

Whether you live in small town USA or on Pennsylvania Avenue, we are ready to help you regain your independence.

Contact us for your free, no-obligation quote today! pic.twitter.com/C205tEgcZO

— Acorn Stairlifts Inc (@Acorn_Stairlift) February 23, 2023

"We look at Biden’s record with the Air Force One staircase.

"In March 2021, Joe Biden tripped while ascending the stairs of Air Force One, not once or twice, but thrice. Biden was on his way to Atlanta to meet with Asian community leaders following the massage parlor shootings.

"What was worse was the White House’s laughable attempts to even spin this fall, the reasons of which are obvious to all. Karine Jean-Pierre blamed a gust of wind for causing the stumble:"

Biden stumbled several times and fell while climbing the steps to the presidential plane ahead of his trip to Georgia. White House officials said Biden, who eventually regained and entered the plane unaided, was unhurt. "It's pretty windy outside, it's very windy. I almost fell coming up the steps myself. He is doing 100% fine," White House principal deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters following the stumble, according to reports. Fox 

Is The Kavanaugh Confirmation Hearings The First Public Display Of Christian Persecution At The Hands Of The U.S. Government?

 Sarah Watching  . . .But don’t be betrayed. Inside the Senate Judiciary Committee Room, the war for the soul of America raged. Voices agitated. Hands waved. The insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared juxtaposed consciences that were appalled. Papers rattled. Questions unsettled. Humanity weakened. Injustice roared victorious. The room contained about 50% dignity while the rest hissed like vipers in a pit. This was not another civil war—it was a civil vs. uncivil war.

"U.S. Christians have been told for years that government persecution would eventually come to this country. Cages of people thrown into water, churches burned, icons destroyed, blatant ostracization from society, and orange jumpsuits kneeling on a beach represent only a few images conjured up by this thought.". . .

. . .From the culture, demeaning references are peppered throughout television shows, movies, books, media, and especially in the reprobate world of politics. All of these bear a faint glimpse of the maltreatment of people of faith.

From the U.S government, not so subtle were the anti-Christian and anti-Jewish tirades of the hellish Obama administration. This demonic abyss in American history carried out its persecution in legislation, healthcare, IRS corruption, and many other devilish ways.". . .

. . ."Judge Kavanaugh has served America for thirty years. A Yale Law graduate, a Harvard Law professor, he currently sits on the second highest court in the land, the D.C. federal court. He is by all accounts a brilliant jurist. The Judge’s job philosophy embodies making decisions based on the law as written. An originalist view of the Constitution guides careful interpretation, like great SCOTUS Judges before him—Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, and William Rehnquist, to name only a few.

"In addition to Kavanaugh’s stellar legal record, he is a devout Catholic and a well-rounded family man. In short, he is everything that the Democrat/Socialists/Liberals despise about American Christians.

Democrat Preference For Activist Judges

"During the horrific Obama years, the leader paving the way, the Democrats used the courts to get agendas passed. Case in point—Obamacare. Even up to the present day, activist Democrat judges attempt to legislate from the bench—blocking the President’s executive orders, blocking DHS mandates, even blocking laws that have been on the books for years yet relaxed during the lawless years, that are now being enforced.  You read that correctly—activist judges are blocking U.S. federal laws. It is not clear if they even know the law or are doing their master’s bidding.

"Why would Democrats use the courts to make law? Why would they do this when we have a perfectly good, however slow, process prescribed by the Constitution? Simple. Because their socialist policies are extremely unpopular with a large swath of American people.

"Leftist policies include out-of-control immigration, unvetted refugees, crippling welfare, one-sided trade deals that force companies to leave the U.S. (less jobs, more welfare, more crime, more drug dependency), smothering regulations on businesses, exerting fear based on the climate which no one can predict or control, and more—all designed to cripple the United States’ economy, force people into poverty, and voila! Have them turn to the government for help which equals bigger government—socialism’s goal. And the goal of socialism is communism.". . .

Amtrak Joe Couldn’t Be Bothered To Visit A Train Wreck

 Issues & Insights

Issues & Insights is run by the seasoned journalists behind the legendary IBD Editorials page. Our goal is to bring our decades of combined journalism experience to help readers understand the top issues of the day. We’re doing this on a voluntary basis, because we believe the nation needs the kind of cogent, rational, data-driven, fact-based commentary that we can provide. 

"A freight train derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, three weeks ago. Residents were ordered to evacuate and the cargo of toxic chemicals from five tanker cars was eventually released and set on fire. So far, Joe Biden hasn’t visited the scene, as is tradition for presidents when large-scale disasters strike. Instead, Biden officials have blamed Donald Trump, who hasn’t been president in more than two years, for the wreck. But even some media outlets are admitting it wasn’t his fault.

"Official word from the White House accuses “congressional Republicans and former Trump administration officials” for selling out “to rail industry lobbyists when they dismantled the Obama-Biden rail safety protections as well as EPA powers to rapidly contain spills.” The administration believes Trump, who beat Biden Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg (who is utterly useless) to the site, and GOP lawmakers, owe “East Palestine an apology.” 

“ 'Congressional Republicans laid the groundwork for the Trump administration to tear up requirements for more effective train brakes,” Andrew Bates, a deputy White House press secretary, ranted on Wednesday, “and last year most House Republicans wanted to defund our ability to protect drinking water.”

"That last point must really eat at the White House. Bates issued the statement on the same day Trump showed up with 13 pallets of bottled water, nine of which he donated (and delivered by two moving companies based in Red States), for the East Palestine residents who are understandably fearful of their water supply. Seems the former president was doing the work of the federal agency that has “emergency management” in its name but had not arrived in the city until this past weekend.

"While the Biden administration is in full blame-Trump mode, it’s not yet clear why the Norfolk Southern train derailed. One National Transportation Safety Board has said that video of the wreck suggests that “mechanical issues on one of the rail car axles” are a possibility. Another report refers to “an overheated axle.” We’ve seen, as well, a report that a wheel bearing overheated and failed.". . .

Who first used the term ‘racist’? Correct it was a Communist!

 Dr. Rich Swier   "It seems that the term “racist” has been used to denigrate those who disagree with another’s politics. But who first used the term “racist”?

"The first use of the term “racist”, or “расист” in Russian, was Leon Trotsky in Volume 1 of his book Especially Development of Russia. Trotsky wrote,

Slavicophilism, the messianism of backwardness, built its philosophy on, that the Russian people and their church are still democratic, and the official Russia is a German bureaucracy planted by Peter. Marx noticed by this: “After all, in the same way, the Teutonic donkeys dump despotism Frederick II, etc., on the French, as if backward slaves do not need always in civilized slaves to go through the right training”. This is short the remark is completely exhausted not only by the old philosophy of Slavophiles, but also the latest revelations of the “racists”.

 "From March 1918 to January 1925, Trotsky headed the Red Army as People’s Commissar for Military and Naval Affairs and played a vital role in the Bolshevik victory in the Russian Civil War of 1917–1922. He became one of the seven members of the first Bolshevik Politburo in 1919.

"According to the World Socialist Web Site, Leon Trotsky (1879-1940) was, alongside Vladimir Lenin, the greatest revolutionary leader of the 20th century.". . .