The language of liberty

  Eric Utter - American Thinker

“The liberty of speaking and writing guards our other liberties.”--Thomas Jefferson

"Indeed.

"Communication is our greatest distinguishing asset as a species. It is our essence. Thought leads to words, which naturally lead to speaking and writing. Yet words lead to thought. Try thinking without using words. Is it even possible? In any case, without these pillars of the human condition we are but large crustaceans with opposable thumbs.

"Yet today, conservatives are routinely prevented from speaking, especially on college campuses, those erstwhile bastions of higher education and competing ideas. No one is allowed to freely and openly challenge the prevailing (leftist) dogma, whether it be pertaining to COVID-19 vaccines, global warming/climate change, the integrity of the 2020 presidential election, the alleged existence of dozens upon dozens of genders, or a host of other topics.

"Social media outlets will block, censor, shadowban, demonetize, or outright permanently kick you off their platforms should you run afoul of the Thought Police. President Trump did just that, and he was kicked off. This is anything but healthy for a supposedly free republic. It is, in fact, a death knell for democracy.

"Freedom of speech is Constitutionally protected via the First Amendment. It was placed first out of the original 10 Amendments (27 now) because it is so essential to a free society and an individual. (In my opinion, the Second Amendment was placed there as the best guarantor of the First Amendment — and all those to follow.)

"The First Amendment is under furious assault. The Second Amendment is, too. There are those on the Left who would like to throw out the entire Bill of Rights and the Constitution along with it. If government, “the elites,” and those in organizations like the World Economic Forum can water down, abridge, or repeal our First and Second Amendment rights, there is clearly no right they intend to leave intact. (A recent survey conducted by the Committee to Unleash Prosperity found that an incredible 47% of elites believe the U.S. government allows its citizens too much freedom! A large majority of them would like to impose “strict rationing of meat, gas, and electricity”…and would ban the use of gas-powered vehicles.)

"Whether in spoken or written form, words can be powerful. They can move us, motivate us, inspire us. And they can inspire thought, which can lead us to change our minds — or question what we have been told." . . .

As 'J6 Praying Grandma' Faces Prison, Trump Shares Support Calling Her 'One of Biden's Hostages' – RedState

. . ."Lavrenz's arrest occurred on December 19, 2022, in Denver, following tips received by the FBI implicating her involvement in the Capitol breach. During her interview with federal authorities, Lavrenz admitted to spending approximately 10 minutes inside the Capitol building. Surveillance footage corroborated her account, showing Lavrenz in a red scarf among the crowd of protestors.

"Lavrenz insists that she was only at the Capitol to pray, telling The Denver Gazette,

The whole reason I went to the Capitol was to pray. I didn’t get into this for myself, I was there to stand up for my country. God led me to go there and into the building to stand up for my First Amendment rights to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

Iranian Hardliners Say Revolutionary Guard Officer Killed in Syria Designed and Implemented Oct 7 Attack

 Jennifer Van Laar – RedState

After an Israeli air strike in Syria on Monday killed Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a senior commander in Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, a hardline Iranian political coalition has seemingly admitted that Iran played a significant role in Hamas' attack on Israel on October 7.

In a statement on Thursday memorializing Zahedi, the Coalition Council of Islamic Revolution Forces (SHANA) said he played a "strategic role in...designing and implementing" the barbaric ambush attack on Israeli civilians:

Major General Mohammad Reza Zahedi with a group of others His warriors received the reward of years of sincere struggle Martyr Zahedi's strategic role in forming and strengthening the resistance front, as well as designing and implementing the Al-Aqsa storm, are great honors that will make the silent efforts of this great commander immortal in the history of the anti-occupation regime.

The deadly blows that are inflicted on the occupiers of Jerusalem these days have pushed the Zionist crime leaders to the border of helplessness and desperation, and the cowardly attack on the consulate of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Damascus is a clear proof of this claim.

Supporters of Tel Aviv should know that the harsh and regretful response of the Islamic Republic of Iran to this bloody crime is on the way.

For those not familiar, Hamas calls the attack the "Al-Aqsa Storm."

A Wall Street Journal exclusive in October reported that senior IRGC officers helped plan the attacks and gave the final green light during a meeting in Beirut the Monday before they were carried out. National security sources in the United States have told RedState on condition of anonymity that the U.S. has found evidence that Iran led a great deal of the intelligence preparation for the attacks, including communications protocols, SIGINT support, and cyber attacks. The Iranian government has officially denied any involvement.

Full article here.

IRGC has changed their logo to crimson red. In Shi'a that could mean several things, none good. Angry sermons given today in Tehran and Najaf, Iraq to militia.
Coordinated UAV and medium range ballistic missile attacks are looming. Israel is prepping for a Hizbollah, Iraqi… pic.twitter.com/6J9swyfCBA

— Bryan Suits KTTH Seattle (@darksecretplace) April 5, 2024 

Does The New York Times Actually Care About Mass Shootings?

 

Any black person who is more worried about his child being killed by the police than another black is an idiot. But I don't believe any normal black person does believe that. Joy Ann Reid probably believes it. Yamiche Alcindor believes it. And everyone who reads The New York Times believes it. So the killings will go on. And so will the cover-up.

 Ann Coulter (townhall.com)  "Did you know there was a mass shooting in Indianapolis over the weekend? I briefly saw it on a news crawl, but didn't hear another word about it, so, by Monday, I assumed I had dreamt it.

"Nope. There was a real mass shooting, sending seven kids aged 12 to 17 to the hospital, one in critical condition. The gunfire came from a group of juveniles gathered outside a shopping mall in downtown Indianapolis Saturday night.

"The New York Times didn't report the shooting, which I found odd, because the gunmen were almost certainly black, meaning it was the gun's fault.

"I say "almost certainly black" because kids as young as 12 were out on a downtown city street, unsupervised, at 11:36 p.m. the night before Easter; a Google search of "Indianapolis mugshots shootings" looks like Gemini's artificial intelligence version of a Founding Father; and also -- the Times didn't mention it.

"Luckily for the kids, police were on the scene in about 10 seconds. Twenty-five officers happened to be patrolling downtown on account of this being the third consecutive weekend in Indianapolis with a mass shooting.

"The previous weekend's gunplay left one man dead and five wounded; the earlier shooting also killed one and wounded five. The Times didn't report those incidents either.

"By contrast, last August, the Times was all over a shooting at a Jacksonville, Florida, dollar store. I'm not sure why ..."

Trump’s First Job In 2025: Reverse Biden’s EV Mandate

  Issues & Insights (issuesinsights.com)

The EV mandate will also devastate the domestic automobile industry – yes, it would be a bloodbath, or a death spiral – and decrease mobility in an ostensibly free society

"Should Donald Trump be elected this fall, he should waste no time in reversing Joe Biden’s electric vehicle mandate. He not only overstepped his authority, he set the country directly on a course that will bring nothing but trouble.

"Acting like the authoritarian that the Democrats and media claim that Donald Trump is, Biden, with a pen and maybe a phone, has ordered through his Environmental Protection Agency to issue a rule that will require Americans to replace their internal-combustion engine automobiles with battery-powered cars. The rule doesn’t require Americans to buy electric vehicles, nor does it directly outlaw the sale of automobiles that run on gasoline.

"But in effect, it is a mandate and a ban.

"Forcing the country into EVs is an egregious abuse of power by executive edict. Biden’s rule has been referred to, for good reason, as “a “crackdown on cars,” a “bloodbath” for consumers and an example of chutzpah. American Petroleum Institute President and CEO Mike Sommers wisely suggests that “the American people need to rise up against this rule and reject it.”

"Yes, he has a financial interest in making that statement. But he knows, as do many, that the booted regulatory regime we’re living under “has become the government’s primary mode of controlling Americans,” as Philip Hamburger, a Columbia University law professor, wrote in his 2014 book “Is Administrative Law Unlawful?”

"While “administrative law has avoided much rancor because its burdens have been felt mostly by corporations,” says Hamburger, the beast is no longer being contained.

“ 'Increasingly,” Hamburger says, “administrative law has extended its reach to individuals. The entire society therefore now has opportunities to feel its hard edge.” . . .

Sage Steele EXPOSES Woke ESPN For Their PHONY Joe Biden Interview

 Sage Steele EXPOSES Woke ESPN For Their PHONY Joe Biden Interview | Don't @ Me With Dan Dakich (youtube.com)

Ex-ESPN host reveals ‘every single question’ in Biden interview was ‘scripted’ by network execs (msn.com)  "Former ESPN anchor Sage Steele revealed that her interview with President Joe Biden shortly after he took office in March 2021 was “scripted” by executives at the Disney-owned network.

"Steele — who was “sidelined” by ESPN later that year after she criticized the company’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate and made controversial comments about former President Barack Obama — told Fox News that she was beholden to a “structured” interview.

“ 'It was very much ‘This is what you will ask. This is how you will say it. No follow-ups, no follow-ups. Next,'” Steele told Fox, adding that each question was “gone over dozens of times by many editors and executives.” . . .

Eyewitness Accounts of Sexual Violence Against Israeli Women on October 7th

Do the women of the "Squad" in Congress know this?  Do Obama and Biden know all this?

The Liberty Loft

Eyewitness Accounts of Sexual Violence Against Israeli Women on October 7th (youtube.com)

Breasts chopped off. Women shot in the groin. Dead bodies of women without underwear. These are just some of the eyewitness accounts of sexual violence against Israeli women on October 7th. Don’t look away.

Israel presses U.N. to investigate charges of sexual violence by Hamas fighters | MPR News.

. ."Simcha Greiniman, a volunteer rescue worker who helped collect bodies on Oct. 7, recounted discovering the body of a woman laying on the floor of her home.

"She was naked. She had nails and different objects in her female organs," he said, visibly emotional and hesitating between words. "She was abused in a way we could not understand and could not deal with."

In another home, Greiniman encountered the body of a woman leaning on a bed, naked from the waist down, shot through the back of her head, he said.

"I'm standing in front of you to make sure that you hear the voices of those women that cannot stand next to us now and be here to scream out what happened to them," Greiniman said.

. . ."It seems one of the reasons they don't want to turn women over that they've been holding hostage, and the reason this pause fell apart, is they don't want those women to be able to talk about what happened to them during their time in custody," said State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller at a press briefing Monday." 

There is such a great evil in those doing this and one must fear that Democrats and Biden are cowering before it. TD

California Businesses Take On Gavin Newsom Over Tax Hikes

 The Wall Street Journal (msn.com) 

Presumptuous Politics

 "A coalition of California companies is going to war with Gov. Gavin Newsom and his Democratic allies over taxes it says have grown out of control in the Golden State.

"The businesses have gathered enough signatures to put a measure on November’s ballot that would require two-thirds of voters to approve most local tax increases and roll back some recently enacted ones. If passed, it would be one of the most significant changes to the way California funds its government since 1978’s Proposition 13, a voter-approved law that severely limited property tax increases.

"Backers say it is necessary to stop continued tax hikes that are making it too expensive to operate in California and pushing companies to leave the state. Real estate businesses in Southern California are among the biggest funders, according to state campaign finance records, partly in response to a surcharge on luxury home sales that Los Angeles voters passed in 2022.

"Newsom, local officials and labor unions say the proposal would decimate funding for basic services such as trash collection and firefighting and would make budgeting decisions near-impossible.

"The companies spent some $16 million to gather signatures to put their proposal before voters and are gearing up for a fight political analysts say could draw tens of millions of dollars in advertising by both sides.

“ 'The business community is fed up, they want to start stepping up to make a positive change. And they recognize that if they don’t do it, nobody will,” said Rob Lapsley, president of the California Business Roundtable, an advocacy group representing some of the state’s biggest businesses and leading the “yes” campaign." . . .

Newsom's Restaurant Pays $16 an Hour Despite Law Crippling Fast Food Chains with $20 Minimum Wage (msn.com)  "Hasn't California Gov. Gavin Newsom had enough problems with restaurants to exercise some caution around the issue of eateries?

"You may remember, back in the heyday of California's brutal COVID-19 lockdown regime -- where most indoor dining was shut down and patrons were forced, by law, to wear masks at almost all times and remain in small groups -- Newsom was photographed maskless and mingling at a large birthday party at a Michelin-starred restaurant called the French Laundry.

"These images should have ended Newsom's political career, but this is California, he's a Democrat and all can be forgiven if that's the case: . . ."

Israel-Iran Shadow War: Iran Tells US to Step Aside Amid Tensions With Israel -

Joe is molded in the image of Obama and Iran must know that. TD

 Iran's contempt toward Biden and the U.S.; Bloomberg

The Islamic Republic has said it will deliver a “slap” to Israel, its arch enemy. Still, it’s unclear when that would happen or whether Iran would try to attack Israel directly or through one of its proxy groups such as Hezbollah, based in Lebanon.

Iran Tells US to Step Aside as It Readies Response to Israel (msn.com)   Bloomberg) -- "Iran said it asked the US to “step aside” as the country prepares a response to a suspected Israeli attack on its consulate in Syria while Hezbollah, its main proxy in the Middle East, warned the Jewish state it’s ready for war. 

"In a written message to Washington, Iran “warned the US not to get dragged into Netanyahu’s trap,” Mohammad Jamshidi, the Iranian president’s deputy chief of staff for political affairs, wrote on X, referring to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The US should “step aside so that you don’t get hit.”

“ 'In response, the US asked Iran not to hit American targets,” Jamshidi said. 

"The US hasn’t commented on the alleged message Iran had sent.

"CNN reported that the US is on high alert and is preparing for a “significant” response from Iran against Israeli or American targets in the region.

"NBC, citing two unnamed US officials, said President Joe Biden’s administration is concerned any attack could be inside Israel, specifically against “military or intelligence targets, rather than civilians.” . . .

Iran’s ‘Axis of Resistance’ | A network of armed groups working against the US and Israel© Bloomberg  .Don’t say you weren’t warned - American Thinker   So, when liberal media outlets express shock over the likely imminent bloodshed  on U.S. soil, remind them that Joe Biden rolled out the welcome mat for terrorists to enter through our southern border. Oh, and lest we forget, Obama gave billions of dollars to Iran to finance their heinous acts of mass murder and mayhem.
Biden won't let Israel finish off Hamas because of political pressure: Gen. Jack Keane | Watch (msn.com)   "Fox News senior strategic analyst Gen. Jack Keane reacts to Biden calling for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza on 'Varney & Co" . . 

 

About That Inevitable Transition to Electric Vehicles...

 Stephen Green – PJ Media

"Markets work when we let them, and sometimes even when we try very hard not to."

"A funny thing happened on the way to our all-electric future: reality.

"I've written at length in recent weeks about Presidentish Joe Biden's hamfisted and wrongheaded EPA rules meant to force everybody into electric vehicles, whether EVs suit their needs or not. But maybe nothing compares to Oliver Price's headline on Wednesday, asking, "Is this the end of the EV?"

"Well, no. But we're still far, far away from the end of dino-burning engines — and likely to stay that way for far longer than the grifters in the EV industry and the autocrats in Washington (and several states, too) would have you believe. 

"After reading tens of thousands of words about our "necessary transition" to EVs and writing a few thousand of my own, I thought maybe I'd do some even deeper digging. Turns out, I was shocked by what I found.

"In a good way. 

"That Price headline I mentioned above goes on a bit longer. The rest of it reads, "As Tesla and BYD's car sales plummet and Apple pulls the plug on its e-car project, has the boom in electric vehicles finally short-circuited?" 

"But there's a big difference between "slower growth," which is where EV sales have been for the last year or so, and "the end of the EV," which seems unlikely in the extreme. 

"So what is the truth? What happens to EV sales in a market as big and as varied as the United States, with our widely different needs and wants, complicated by various federal and state mandates and incentives?

"Would you believe that, even with Presidentish Joe Biden's Green New Deal Lite money and EPA mandates, EV adoption might top out at less than 30% of the new car market? Or that it could be as low as just 13%?" . . .

For six months, huge swaths of the press have painted Israel in the worst possible light.

 What we've learned from six months of war.  (Excerpted from Biden Loses the Plot on Israel)

 Few have put the matter as plainly as Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, a Democrat who recently has been making more sense than most of his colleagues. "Hamas is confident we’re going to capitulate—but it's never going to be me," he posted Wednesday on X. "Hamas only deserves elimination." 

. . ."Which is why a sense of moral clarity in this conflict is so important. Hamas is evil. Hamas could end the war it started by surrendering its cadres and releasing its prisoners. Hamas refuses. Hamas would rather sacrifice the civilian population of Gaza on the altar of its genocidal ambition and suicidal desires. Hamas brutalizes children, abuses captives, steals food, fires its rockets indiscriminately, wears no uniforms, and hides behind schools, hospitals, and mosques. Hamas does not just commit war crimes. It is a war crime.

A global movement sympathetic to Hamas is fighting an information war with the objective of isolating Israel diplomatically and undermining its right to exist. We have learned that the United States, our universities, and our social media platforms are fronts in this campaign. And we have learned that anti-Semitism has returned with shocking power to demonize, harass, intimidate, and assault Jews throughout the diaspora. What Jewish immigrants to America in the beginning of the 20th century called the "Golden Land" is no exception.

"The political heroes of this moment are the men and women who have retained the ability to make clear distinctions between Israel and Hamas, between freedom, equality, and the rule of law and violence, terror, and fear. Few have put the matter as plainly as Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, a Democrat who recently has been making more sense than most of his colleagues. "Hamas is confident we’re going to capitulate—but it's never going to be me," he posted Wednesday on X. "Hamas only deserves elimination."

Scathing Our Allies to the Benefit of Jihadists: Andy McCarthy WRECKS Biden's Weakness on Hamas – Twitchy  "Yesterday, we told you about the rather insane demands Biden is making of Israel and Netanyahu, including an immediate ceasefire (even though Hamas keeps rejecting ceasefire offers), and Secretary of State Blinken said Israel is becoming 'indistinguishable' from Hamas (thank goodness John Fetterman has the spine to speak his mind on this).

"Andrew McCarthy, from National Review and Fox News, has a question about all this."

There remain 8 American hostages held by Hamas, a designated terrorist organization under U.S. law for nearly 30 years. When did it become the job of the president of the United States to scathe our allies trying to get our Americans back, to the benefit of jihadist terrorists?

— Andy McCarthy (@AndrewCMcCarthy) April 5, 2024

Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson Withdraws Political Support for Joe Biden in 2024, Says He Regrets Endorsing Biden in 2020

 The Gateway Pundit | by Jim Hᴏft

"In a recent interview with FOX News’ Will Cain, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, once an avid supporter of Joe Biden, has expressed regret over his 2020 endorsement and stated he will not be endorsing Biden for the upcoming 2024 presidential election.

"Johnson, along with everyone who supported Joe Biden, is complicit in the destruction of the US today.

"Johnson has been a vocal critic of former President Donald Trump and was seen as part of the broader Hollywood contingent that supported Democratic candidates.

"In 2020, Johnson posted a video on Instagram criticizing then-President Donald Trump‘s response to the protests after George Floyd’s death.

"He demanded “change” in America and expressed solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement, which was responsible for the looting and destruction of cities.

" 'Our country is crippled and on its knees, begging to be heard and pleading for change. Where is our compassionate leader? The leader who unifies and inspires our country at our most painful time when we need it the most. The leader who steps up and takes full accountability for our country and embraces every color in it. The leader who picks our country up off its knees and says you have my word – we got this – and together, change will happen. Where are you? Because we’re all here. Maybe one day that galvanizing leader will emerge. Either way, the process to change has already begun,” Johnson wrote in his caption.

"Fast forward to 2024, and The Rock is now taking a step back from his previous political stance." . . .

WATCH: The Moment Dr. Phil Became All of Us While Demolishing a Pro-Hamas Lunatic

 Bonchie – RedState

"On Thursday, RedState reported on one of the best takedowns of a pro-Hamas activist I've ever seen. During the exchange, Mosab Yousef, the son of Hamas co-founder Hassan Yousef, battled an American-accented representative of Students Allied for Freedom and Equality. He went so far as to accuse her of cosplaying her culture by wearing a keffiyeh. It was glorious.

" Here's a bit of the transcript."

Holy hell, I just yelled “AMEN!!!!“ at my phone.

Thank you, thank you, thank you, @DrPhil.

I am forever indebted to you! The Jewish people are forever indebted to you.

A bright light of truth in a dark world of deception!! pic.twitter.com/sPCBhH9p2u

— Hillel Fuld (@HilzFuld) April 4, 2024

"An extended clip of the segment has now emerged, and unbeknownst to me during my initial write-up, Dr. Phil himself also got into the action. The show host lit into the two pro-Hamas activists on the panel as they refused to condemn the terrorist group's barbarism on October 7th. 

"His facial expressions while listening to them speak were absolute gold." . . .