How long can a country this decadent survive?

 For example, we were told that allowing same-sex marriage wouldn’t destroy marriage. What a homophobic idea! But the reality is that same-sex marriage may well redefine marriage.   Andrea Widburg

Andrea Widburg - American Thinker   . . . "As I said, those are the less obscene sights. If you want to understand what’s happening on the streets of one of America’s major cities, go here or here, but hide it from the children and bring a barf bag for yourself. I have no words for the level of perversion on public display.

"Once, this was a fringe activity. Then it moved to the streets. Now, it’s in the military. As Libs of TikTok regularly documents, it’s moving into the classrooms. And last night, I watched the new Disney/Pixar movie, Elemental, which I’ll write about, too. Of note here is that Disney/Pixar made sure to include a lesbian couple in the movie. Normalize, normalize, normalize…

"But as the Up Your Alley fair and the survey of same-sex couples regarding marriage show, it’s not normal—at least, it’s not normal as that’s been understood in the West for a couple of thousand years. And when the fringe moves to the center, the center most surely cannot hold."

 John Fetterman and the United Slobs of America – Orange County Register   . . ."I understand this is not the most pressing issue facing the nation. Still, allowing United States Senators to dress like they’re making a Walmart beer run.

"The always well-dressed comedic legend, Steve Martin, wrote in his memoir, “Born Standing Up,” “Always dress better than them,” “them” being the audience. It’s a sign of respect; that the performer appreciates his or her fans. If our current crop of United States Senators can’t act the part, and they can’t, the very least they can do is dress the part.

"Corporate America has relaxed workplace dress requirements to attract workers in a tight hiring market. But we are not suffering from a shortage of people who want to be a United States senator.

"At the risk of sounding like a terminal pearl-clutcher, this sop to sloppiness will only further erode civility and professionalism in Congress, which is already on life support. How long before we see a T-shirt emblazoned with slogans for “Black Lives Matter”, “Let’s go Brandon!” or “1-800-Kars4Kids?” We might as well hand out Republican and Democrat hockey jerseys and wait for them to pull them over each other’s heads when the fists start flying.

"Manners and formulaic civility in the Senate may seem old fashioned, yet the traditions and protocols of respect allow the government to function. If we allow legislators to dress for a pie fight, we will get a pie fight. The Senate dress code is not for the senators, it’s for us." . . .

Resistance strikes the Senate over the new dress code, what Mark Steyn calls the United States Senate's embrace of 'Fetterman chic.'

Democrats are destroying America at a fast enough rate. They don’t have to destroy basic decorum in the Senate, too.

HotAir   "Finally. It looks like Democrats realize that changing the rules for one senator out of 100 is not the thing to do. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer tossed out the dress code that has been in place forever and decided senators can wear whatever they want to wear on the Senate floor.

"Schumer instructed the staff of the Sergeant-at-Arms (the Senate’s clothes police) to stop enforcing the dress code. Republicans spoke out right away, saying it was the end of decorum and the lowering of long-held standards. Democrats, though, did what they do best. They held together. The only one speaking out was Senator John Fetterman (D-PA) who mocked critics and said he was pleased with the change.

"Fetterman doesn’t like to wear suits so he doesn’t. He wears gym shorts, hoodies, and sneakers to work in the Senate. He looks completely out of place and slovenly. It is as if he is cosplaying as a teen going to the gym.

"Then, lo and behold, the silence of Democrats began to break. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), the Senate Democrat Majority Whip, spoke out. Durbin speaking out against Schumer is very rare. That means his words will carry weight. Durbin said that the Senate must reverse Schumer’s unilateral decision. “I’m concerned about it. You know, the Senator in question from Pennsylvania is a personal friend,” Durbin told SiriusXM host Steve Scully in a clip from “The Briefing with Steve Scully,” which is set to air in full on Friday." . . .

‘How Many People Coming Into This Country Illegally Is Enough For President Biden?’

  Issues & Insights (issuesinsights.com)

"Questions like that are almost enough to make you feel sorry for White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. Even someone qualified for that job – which she clearly is not – would have trouble coming up with new ways to tell bald-faced lies about the border crisis and what President Joe Biden is doing to stop it.

"Her job got more difficult after U.S. Customs and Border Protection released data Friday showing that 304,162 people entered the country illegally in August – a new record.

"For perspective, it’s as many as crossed illegally in all of 2017, and more than the entire population of Pittsburgh.  

"Just a couple months ago, team Biden was crowing about a dip in the number of illegal border crossers, even issuing a press release claiming that “the administration’s plan is working as intended.”

"Two weeks ago, Jean-Pierre declared that “The president has done more to secure the border and to deal with this issue of immigration than anybody else. He really has.”

"Normally, the press would swallow such lies without blinking. But now Democratic politicians are rising up in protest around the country against the devastation Biden’s “secure the border” policies have brought to their cities and states.

"The Daily Signal recently reported that “Democratic leaders in Colorado, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York, Texas, and Washington, D.C., have declared states of emergency in response to the border crisis that occurred after President Joe Biden took office.”. . .

Ex-Intel Officials Who Signed The Infamous Hunter Biden Laptop Letter Keep Landing Gigs With The Biden Admin

  The Daily Caller

"Several of the 51 former intelligence officials who signed a letter casting doubt on the authenticity of Hunter Biden’s laptop before the 2020 presidential election have ended up serving in roles with President Joe Biden’s administration.

"In less than three years, the Biden administration has brought on six out of the 51 former intelligence official signatories of the October 2020 letter arguing that the leak of emails from Hunter Biden’s laptop had “all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation.” Earlier this week, Biden’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) selected three signatories of the letter to join a federal “intelligence experts” national security group, according to an announcement on Tuesday. (RELATED: Hunter Biden Admits Laptop Data Is Real After White House, Media Insisted For Months That It Wasn’t)

"Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, former CIA Director John Brennan and former CIA Operations Officer Paul Kolbe will be members of the new group, which will advise DHS on intelligence and national security matters including “terrorism, fentanyl, transborder issues, and emerging technology,” according to the DHS announcement. All of them signed onto the October 2020 letter casting doubt on the legitimacy of the Hunter Biden laptop before the presidential election.

"The Daily Caller News Foundation verified the authenticity of Hunter Biden’s laptop contents in October 2020.

"Moreover, Biden’s DHS previously designated Hunter Biden laptop letter signatory Nicholas Rasmussen to be Counterterrorism Coordinator in November 2022. Rasmussen was one of three DHS officials who announced the membership of Clapper, Brennan and Kolbe in the new DHS group, which will meet four times per year." . . .

Why are We Going Back to Masks and Vaxes? -

  American Thinker   "Masks are making a return, now over 3 years since COVID upended life in most of the world. For those past three years, we were constantly told to “follow the science”.

"What science were we following, medical science or political science? Which category did masks fall into? We had to wear masks everywhere in public. In private, too. These past mask recommendations laughingly passed for “science”.

"CNN pushed its audience to wear a mask while having sex. How romantic. And impractical. Canada’s top doctor scolded, “Skip kissing and consider wearing a mask when having sex to protect yourself from catching the coronavirus.”

"As if a mask will stop two intertwined naked bodies from transmitting a highly contagious respiratory virus. That would be like using an umbrella to keep dry during a hurricane.

"On Reddit, someone asked if one should swim with a mask. Dr Anthony Fauci, calling himself “the science”, took masks a step further, “Double-masking makes ‘common sense’ and is likely more effective.” Using his logic, why not wear 17 masks?

"Dr Fauci must have memory troubles, forgetting what he said in the early days of the pandemic. Both Dr. Fauci and Surgeon General Jerome Adams said masking was unnecessary and potentially harmful. That was until COVID mutated from a respiratory virus into a political and electoral weapon." . . .

Who Would Have Believed The Singularity Would Be So Stupid?: The Anti-Vax Movement Is Now a Massive Political Force In This Country (ibloga.blogspot.com)

Randi Weingarten Gets Fact-Checked for Misrepresenting Story About a Fired Texas School Teacher

 Legal Insurrection

“Hey Randi, you forgot to turn off comments and you’re getting fact-checked & exposed for the shameless liar on which you base your entire platform.”

"Among her critics, American Federation of Teachers (AFT) President Randi Weingarten is not exactly known for being truthful.

"It’s not uncommon to see her get Community Noted on the Twitter machine for playing fast and loose with the facts, as was the case after her incredible claim in April during a House Select Subcommittee hearing on the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic that she fought to reopen schools.

"It was, of course, untrue.

"Fast forward a few months, and Weingarten is at it again. This time around, her insinuations revolve around alleged book banning and anti-Semitism.

"She saw a story from the Houston Chronicle about a Texas teacher fired for presenting a controversial illustrated version of Anne Frank’s diary to her 8th-grade classroom and posted the link to Twitter.

"The problem, however, came in Weingarten’s sensationalistic description of what happened:" . . .

But first look at the so-called Anne Frank book that Texas teacher fired for reading Diary of Anne Frank to class (chron.com)    "But the point is that Weingarten’s claim that the teacher was fired for merely reading the commonly known version of Anne Frank’s diary is utterly false, and that she also left out what the adaptation in question contained:" . . .

The COVID is back again illustrated edition

 Bookworm Beat 9/1/23: The COVID is back again illustrated edition - Bookworm Room

"When I looked at my image collection, I was surprised to see that COVID’s alleged return topped the meme chart, even above the Gadsden kid, Biden, Trump, gender, or other perennial topics — all of which you’ll find here.

"Also, my apologies for the paucity of substantive posts. We’ve had some staffing issues at American Thinker, so I’ve had to put my day off on hold…and that’s the day I usually write things or, when I’m in the mood, record podcasts. But enough about me. Here are the memes." . . .

Dove Soap Hires BLM Thug

 Why can't we have more Candice Owens, Ben Carsons and way fewer Joy Reids along with whatever that is on "The View"?  TD

Diane L. Gruber (substack.com)

"Did I read that correctly? Did the Unilever Company just hire a morbidly obese (black) Black Lives Matter thug to promote their product, Dove soap? I don’t care about her weight nor her skin hue; but, why is a “beauty product” business normalizing hate & violence? How can this nasty brute improve sales of Dove soap? I have been using Dove soap for so long I can’t remember when I first discovered it. No more. I will find another soap to caresse by gorgeous skin. Americans need to send a signal to Big Business that we do not support political violence, hatred & bigotry.

DOVE BULLY DESTROYED A WHITE STUDENT

"You may ask why I call Dove’s spokeswoman, Zyanha Bryant, a bully. First, she calls herself a Black Lives Matter activist. THAT alone puts her into the bully category and the domestic terrorist category. As a student at the University of Virginia she participated in the BLM riots in Charlottesville Summer 2020. On July 17th Bryant focused her hatred on one person, a fellow student at UVA, Morgan Bettinger, who made the mistake of unwittingly driving down the wrong street which the BLM mob had taken over. As Bettinger was trying to find a way to back out, she expressed support for the rioters.

"Not letting the facts get in her way, Bryant spent months harassing & maligning Bettinger online and trying to get her expelled from UVA. Indeed, the day after Bettinger’s car was blocked by the rioters, Bryant began an online campaign to send mass complaints to school administrators demanding Bettinger's expulsion: "EMAIL these UVA deans now to demand that Morgan face consequences for her actions and that UVA stop graduating racists," she tweeted.

"Bryant herself filed a complaint with the University Judiciary Committee, a student-run disciplinary system, alleging that Bettinger had threatened students' health and safety. Ha! Like most “social justice” haters, she bastardized the English language. “Students’ health and safety” was threatened by the violent BLM brutes, not by the victims of BLM violence.

It took almost a year for school investigators to exonerate Bettinger. The video of the incident proved Bryant to be a liar. After making Bettinger’s life miserable just because she is “white,” Bryant finally admitted that she was “mistaken.” THIS is why I call Bryant a bully. She is worse. She is a racist bully. NOTE: UVA did not expel her for filing a false complaint. After all, she is a member of a protected class, a black female bully." . . .

The Destruction of the United States Is Intentional. Here's What Will Happen Next

 The Destruction of the United States Is Intentional. Here's What Will Happen Next. – PJ Media   "For just over two and a half years, Joe Biden and/or his puppet masters (see Barack Obama, Susan [Rice] Price, Klaus Schwab, etc.) have been successfully driving the United States to destruction. The plan took a four-year detour when President Trump was at the helm. Now, thanks to what many believe was a stolen election, the plan to enslave our comfy pants-clad bottoms is back on.

"The commies began the operation decades ago. As Soviet defector Yuri Bezmenov warned, the college professors and civil rights leaders indoctrinated — or as Bezmenov calls it, demoralized — generations of Americans and convinced them to hate their nation and, frequently, themselves. The Soviets successfully infiltrated the black communities, convinced them they were less than, and let the anger seethe into subsequent generations. That is why we see highly educated and successful black folks like the Obamas, MSNBC’s  Joy Reid, and the deranged Cori Bush screaming about racism, even though they are one-percenters. If systemic racism were real, how did these poor, indentured serfs get so far?" . . .

This four-part skulduggery somewhat mirrors what Bezmenov warned us about. Its steps are:

• Overload the welfare system (the illegal immigrants are doing that as you read this);
• Cause panic and chaos;
• Watch the system get destroyed;
• Replace it with socialism.

• Bezemenov laid out the Soviet plan in four parts:

  1. Demoralize people until they can’t tell fact from fiction.
  2. Destabilize the target nation’s economy, defense systems, and foreign relations. (Bidenomics is a joke, the military is woke and suffering from a lack of volunteers, and our foreign relations are about to start WWIII.)
  3. Crisis: foment a major event that causes our system to implode (such as seven million immigrants crashing our welfare system and economy, or a sudden lack of gas/energy, as we have seen in Sri Lanka and Nigeria).
  4. Normalization: the government implements socialism to make it all “better.”

  Then there’s the Cloward-Piven Strategy. . . .

God-Hating Group Threatens Auburn University With Lawsuit Over Student Baptisms –

  RedState   North Carolina-based Stacey Matthews, a former liberal who also writes under the name "Sister Toldjah," has been writing about media bias, social issues, and the culture wars since 2003. Follow her on Twitter here.

The revival at Auburn is the latest in a series of campus revivals that began with Asbury University in Kentucky and grew to include Texas A&M and Baylor.

. . ."About 200 students chose to be baptized from a crowd of over 5,000.

"According to the godless twits at FFRF, the First Amendment requires public universities to suppress all religious activity.

University-sponsored religious activities violate the U.S. Constitution, FFRF emphasizes.

“Auburn University is a public university, not a religious one. It is inappropriate and unconstitutional for university employees to use their university position to organize, promote or participate in a religious worship event,” FFRF Staff Attorney Chris Line writes to Auburn University President Christopher B. Roberts. “These ongoing and repeated constitutional violations at the university create a coercive environment that excludes those students who don’t subscribe to the Christian views being pushed onto players by their coaches.”

 

John Fetterman Dunked and Fact Checked After His Own ‘$78 Meal’ Tweet Lands With a Thud

 Senate Relaxes Rules To Allow Fetterman To Take Baths In Reflecting Pool | Babylon Bee    "Jabba The Fetterman"?

"WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a gracious move of bipartisanship, the Senate voted to relax rules to allow their freshman Senator Jabba The Fetterman to take a bath in the reflecting pool.

"The rules were immediately relaxed after the Senator from Transylvania described how he would fall into a deep depression were he to not be allowed to bathe naked in the reflecting pool." . . .

Sister Toldjah – RedState    "After New York Times columnist David Brooks' "$78 meal" tweet went viral Wednesday for all the wrong reasons, many Twitter users joined in on the backlash by posting humorous stories/memes about their own alleged "$78 meal" experiences and how they, too, were examples of why "Americans think the economy is terrible."

"Though it was a slightly different version, this is one of the funnier ones I came across:

But while most people who took part in sharing their "meal" pictures did so to make light of Brooks' tone-deaf photo and comments, Sen. John Fetterman, like most humorless scolds, participated for the sole purpose of taking cheap shots at Fox News and Americans who are suffering under Joe Biden's economy - and to wind up people who are upset over Sen. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer's dress code change.

The Hidden Factors Driving up Gas Prices in California –

  RedState

"An open letter to California Governor Gavin Newsom:

I am writing to address the concerns raised in a recent letter from your "Oil Czar," Tai Milder, regarding gas price fluctuations in the state. While it is commendable that you are taking steps to better understand these issues, I believe it is imperative to highlight the significant role that local, state, and federal gas taxes, as well as California’s stringent environmental regulatory regime, play in driving up the retail price of gasoline sold in California.

Let's start by acknowledging the inconvenient truth about gas prices in the Golden State—they are not solely determined by global supply and demand. Something more insidious is at play—the exorbitant taxes piled on at every level of government. 

While it might be politically useful to focus on recent gas price fluctuations, California currently, and for a long time, imposes some of the highest gas taxes in the country. This burdens hardworking Californians with an unfair and disproportionate financial strain. We must not overlook the impact of these taxes in understanding why we pay so much at the pump.

And let's not forget about the environmental mandates imposed on the gasoline industry in California. 

While it is admirable to prioritize the environment, we cannot turn a blind eye to the fact that these mandates come at a steep cost. California refineries are forced to make costly adjustments to their processes and fuel formulations to comply with these so-called green mandates. 

With all due respect, Governor, who do you suppose bears the burden for these external costs? It's the consumers, the very people you were elected to protect. These environmental mandates directly translate into higher gasoline prices, causing retail and producer prices across the board to also rise, pushing families and small businesses to their financial limits." . . .