Is It Time to Hold a Convention of the States to Address the Debt Bomb?

"What’s even worse than this unconscionable track record is Washington’s devil-may-care attitude about it. Few in Congress (and nobody in the White House) seem to mind. The typical politician cuts nothing and proposes nothing except trillions more in spending and debt."

“ 'We must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt,” warned Thomas Jefferson in 1816. To him, burdening ourselves and future generations with debt should be rare in frequency and minor in magnitude. It may be defensible for long-term capital projects like roads, but for little else.

"Massive, uncontrollable debt to finance current consumption spending was unthinkable to Jefferson. He would undoubtedly see it as a reflection of a nation’s moral and economic decline that could ultimately destroy our liberties.

"One state Jefferson would be proud of is Montana. Though the universities and the housing board carry a small amount of debt, that state’s general obligation bonds, which totaled $215 million in 2016, have all been paid off or otherwise removed as liabilities. Citizens in “progressive” states like New York and California, on the other hand, are on the hook for thousands of dollars of debt per capita.

"If he could pay us a visit today, Jefferson would likely rake those high-debt states over the coals for their fiscal recklessness. But I think no words in the English language would adequately describe his reaction to the federal government’s debt, though apoplectic might come close." . . .

Prepare for the debates...before Joe pulls out.

 

RealityBites by Broc Smith

Trump’s June 27 Debate Strategy In Three Easy Steps – Issues & Insights (issuesinsights.com)    . . ."Moderators aren’t moderate. These days, moderators consider themselves celebrities and do often insert themselves into debates. The classic case: Candy Crowley breaking Mitt Romney’s unmistakable momentum by fact-checking him in the midst of a 2012 contest. But Chris Wallace also memorably, repeatedly, and unfairly shut down Trump in his first debate with Biden in 2020. Trump indeed may find himself with no friends in the room without a studio audience and with CNN’s leftish Jake Tapper and Dana Bash posing the questions.

So here are three (count ‘em!) ways Trump can capitalize on these truisms to create defining moments, set and control the tone, and rein in the moderators.

1. Put the CNNers on the defensive from the word “go.”

"Trump, with the best-known brand in America, can dispense with the customary introductory opening statement and instead establish some ground rules. Specifically, he should leverage the near-universally held expectation that the two CNN anchors will favor Biden and the certainty that the Delawarean will toss an insulting, condescending or rude utterance his way.

"To wit:

“ 'Four years ago, a so-called moderator allowed Joe Biden to get away with telling me, the sitting president of the United States, to ‘shut up’ on national television, and with personal insults like ‘clown’ and ‘racist.’ And moderators in both debates shut down exchanges about Joe’s corrupt son Hunter, which polls show might have changed the election result. 

“ 'So will you allow outrageous behavior and insults like that, and protect him from tough questions, or play it fair? Tell us now – the American people are watching.”

"Then, every time a moderator gives the remotest appearance of taking sides with or shielding Biden, revive the aforementioned Gipper line: “There you go again.” If that approach doesn’t tame the CNNers, it will set The Donald up for an “appeal” to the American public on fairness." . . .

Dementia Joe Circles Back to Racism

 Sloan Oliver - American Thinker 

"Somebody please tell Joe that we’re not in the 1950s or 1960s anymore. For him, he’s remembering fonder times, days when Dems felt free to overtly display their hatred of blacks, but enough is enough." 

  . . ."In the last years of my WWII, Korean War veteran father’s life, he told us (topic #1) that he singlehandedly defeated the Japanese (He was a Marine Corps fighter pilot in the Pacific.) and singlehandedly kept the Chinese hordes from overrunning the Marines at the Chosin Reservoir during the Korean War. Topic #2, he talked about scoring the winning touchdown (in 1938) against the cross-town rivals. Topic #3, he reminded me that I came from his penis. I tell this only to let you know that people with dementia are completely unfiltered. They either don’t know what’s inappropriate or don’t care. But they tell you exactly what they think, such as I came from my father’s penis. All his stories took place decades ago and had a grain of truth (He fought in WWII and Korea, and scored a TD) but they were all embellished and largely concocted in his mentally reduced mind. It’s the same with all who suffer from dementia and Alzheimer’s.

"It’s obvious; Joe Biden has reached dementia stage where he only talks about five or six topics before reverting back to topic #1. For Joe, topics #3 through #5 are some kind of tale beginning with “No joke” or “I’m not kidding”. . .

. . ."Adam B. Coleman best summarized Biden’s speech. “Imagine working hard for years to graduate from college and Joe Biden shows up to remind you that you’re a victim and America doesn’t love you because you’re black.”

"Final Thought: No wonder Biden is so unpopular. His message to Morehouse grads was depressing, demoralizing, unpatriotic and that white America hates blacks. Then again, Joe does have dementia and circles back to racism."

Has Gavin Newsom’s Brain Always Been Mush?

  Issues & Insights (issuesinsights.com)

"No, Newsom’s head isn’t filled with mush. He’s just a typical Democrat."

"California’s health is vital to this country. It’s too important to be run by political cranks. Unfortunately, it has become a True Blue state, setting much of the agenda for progressive politics everywhere. At the top is Gov. Gavin Newsom, who at one time seemed almost a happy warrior. Now it’s clear he’s an impulsive leftist hack who’ll say and do anything in the service of seeking ever greater power.

"His most recent descent into Democratic madness was obvious a couple of weeks ago, when he blamed California’s $45 billion deficit on climate change.

“ 'We anticipated that shortfall,” Newsom said at a news conference in which he outlined his plan to close the budget gap. “What we didn’t anticipate is these rain bombs … these atmospheric rivers that led to a federal declaration that led to FEMA and the IRS moving in a direction where we couldn’t collect our taxes until, I believe Nov. 16, as opposed to April 15.” 

"He went on to say he considered “our financial delays as just another example of why we need to tackle” climate change, which “has impacts well beyond those that are often promoted.”

"It’s a fact that California has had some heavy weather. To blame it on man’s combustion of fossil fuels is irresponsible. Actually it’s worse, it’s a sign of instability and desperation. As our friends at the Committee to Unleash Prosperity said, “This man has a serious case of climate change derangement syndrome.”

" 'But the governor said what Democrats want to hear and he is happy to give it to them.

"Newsom’s ongoing breakdown became obvious in his now infamous August 2021 “damn” interview with editorial and opinion writers from the McClatchy chain’s California newspapers.

"Just weeks from a recall election that he won, Newsom was described as “unhinged,” “odd,” “testy,” and “angry.” He said “damn” nine times, at one point screeched that he loves “this damn state.” Those who had the patience to watch the video in its entirety said he smacked his desk with his hand and fist 59 times.

"At least he wasn’t rolling around a couple steel balls in his hands." . . .

Hamas Sympathizers Try to Discredit Newly Released Video of Female Hostages

 “We’ll never know everything that has happened to them,” Elkayam-Levy told CNN in November. “We know that most women who were raped and who were sexually assaulted were also murdered.” CNN

Twitchy From a pro-Hamas site which will be used by the scarf-wearing people in the streets.

(6) Suppressed News. on X: "@hoaxvstruths 3- Rape Claims because of blood stains. I will remind you that till this day israel has not provided any evidence to back any rape claim however let’s examine the video. In this screenshot from the actual footage you can clearly see the blood stains are cause from the https://t.co/R9Pmn0bBOF" / X

If you’re going to cry about your woman being treated like soldiers and call them little girls or teenage girls then DON’T ALLOW WOMEN TO JOIN THE ISRAELI FORCES.

If they join the ‘ARMY’ they are combatants so they will be treated like ones. Period. pic.twitter.com/DbH9awvjrg

— Suppressed News. (@SuppressedNws) May 23, 2024

But there is this!   Attackers laughed as they raped and murdered a woman in Israel on October 7, witness says | CNN

Cohen had gone to the Nova music festival in the desert of southern Israel to be with his girlfriend of two months, Maya. She tried to flee with another friend and was killed, he said. Cohen saw another young woman shot in the head as he ran to hide in a bush – the spot where he witnessed the rape, he told CNN.

Israeli police are documenting cases of rape and sexual violence committed as Hamas fighters burst into Israel from Gaza, attacking the music festival and kibbutz communities near the border. About 1,200 people were killed and more than 200 taken hostage in the attacks that were condemned globally and led to a massive Israeli military response. Israel’s subsequent war on Hamas in Gaza has claimed the lives of more than 22,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health.

“They catch a girl and they started to pull her clothes off,” he said. “After they pulled the clothes off, one of them started to rape her. It was something like 40 seconds. After he raped her, he take a knife and kill her, murder her. After he did it, he continued to rape the dead body.”

"The other men around the victim did not seem angry, Cohen said.

“They always laugh. I think it was for fun. They murdered a lot of people for fun.”

"Along with the sounds of apparent mirth, Cohen previously told The New York Times he could recall the terror of the woman he saw killed. “I still remember her voice, screams without words,” he said." . . .

Amit Soussana: Israeli woman who was held hostage by Hamas speaks out on her abduction and sexual assault in Gaza | CNN

. . ."She said what happened to Amit “is the same nightmare so many other hostages, women and men, are facing every day in captivity. Maybe even at this very moment. We are begging – their lives hang in the balance. Bring our daughters and all our loved ones back to us now – before it is too late”.

"Earlier in March, the United Nations published a report indicating that rape and gang rape, among other acts of sexual violence, likely occurred during the October 7 Hamas attack and said there was “clear and convincing” evidence that hostages were raped while being held in Gaza, and that those currently held captive are still facing such abuse.

"Hamas official Basem Naim denied the UN report of sexual assaults in an interview with CNN earlier this month.

"On Tuesday, Israeli President Isaac Herzog said that Soussana “speaks for all those who cannot speak. She speaks for all the victims of Hamas’ despicable sexual crimes and abuse. She speaks for all women everywhere,” according to a post on his X account commenting on The New York Times’ article."

Their bodies tell their stories. They’re not alive to speak for themselves. (nbcnews.com)   

“Reports of women raped — repeatedly raped — and their bodies being mutilated while still alive, of women’s corpses being desecrated, Hamas terrorists inflicting as much pain and suffering on women and girls as possible and then murdering them. It is appalling,” the president said.

In footage, Hamas terrorist describes the terrified, bloodied soldiers as ‘women who can get pregnant’; father of Liri Albag asks: ‘What else can we do to wake the nation up?’

Hamas has many videos of campus scarf people chanting on Western campuses to taunt these young Israelis. 

 Hostage families release clip of 5 female troops’ abduction to push for their freedom | The Times of Israel  "Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was “horrified” by the footage and vowed to do all he could to return the hostages home.

“The cruelty of the Hamas terrorists only strengthens my determination to fight with all my might until Hamas is eliminated in order to ensure that what we saw this evening doesn’t happen ever again,” he wrote on X.

"Many family members of the hostages have blamed Netanyahu and the government for foot-dragging that has prevented a deal to release their loved ones from being reached."

"The Hostages and Missing Families Forum released harrowing footage on Wednesday showing the abduction of five female soldiers from the Nahal Oz base by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023, describing the video as a “damning testament to the nation’s failure to bring home the hostages.”

"The video was taken by body cameras worn by Hamas terrorists that day, as they attacked the base near the Gaza border, and it shows Liri Albag, Karina Ariev, Agam Berger, Daniella Gilboa, and Naama Levy, in the footage, filmed 229 days ago. All five are still held hostage by Hamas in Gaza." . . .

"The three-minute video cleared for release begins inside a shelter on the base at around 9 a.m., when terrorists are tying the hands of the five, surveillance soldiers whose job is to monitor activity at the border, who appear shocked, horrified, wounded, and bloodied.

"One of the terrorists yells at them, “You dogs — we will step on you!”

Full article here

Retiring early due to antisemitism, a professor paints a dire picture of US academia

 The Times of Israel

Barbara J. Risman felt that the atmosphere among University of Illinois faculty after October 7 was too much for her to bear as a Jew. Her colleagues secretly tell her she’s right

"Prof. Barbara J. Risman never expected to retire early from the University of Illinois at Chicago, a place she’s called her “beloved academic home” for the past 17 years.

A College of Arts & Sciences distinguished professor of sociology, Risman was committed to the university’s social justice mission. But after the October 7 Hamas onslaught on southern Israel, both subtle and overt displays of anti-Israel and antisemitic behavior have gripped the campus to the point that Risman finds she no longer recognizes the institution.

"Risman, who spent more than 10 years co-chairing the university-wide committee on faculty equity and once enjoyed a longstanding affiliation with the Department of Women and Gender Studies, recently penned an opinion piece for The Chicago Tribune about her experience.

“UIC is no longer an institution comfortable for me, as a Jew who believes Israel has a right to exist,” Risman said, adding that according to the American Jewish Committee, more than 80 percent of Jews in America share her belief. “When university departments and programs publish statements implying support for the destruction of the state where more than half of all Jews alive today live, they have crossed the line from simple micro-aggressions against Jewish students and faculty to outright institutional antisemitism,” Risman wrote in her op-ed." . . .

"There was no mention of antisemitism, the terrorist killings, or the 252 hostages taken, she said.

“When it comes to Jews, they do not care. Antisemitism is not considered one of those ‘isms’ the university has to be concerned about,” Risman said"

Morehouse revised

 Power Line (powerlineblog.com)

"This past Sunday at Morehouse College President Biden gave a campaign speech in the guise of a commencement address. In substance Biden’s speech was a demagogic disgrace. What would an honest address have sounded like? Speaking in my own voice, I think it would have sounded about like this.

* * * * *

I am grateful for the privilege of speaking to you this afternoon. Morehouse is our only historically black private liberal arts college for men. Not all distinctions based on immutable characteristics are invidious. Morehouse has the courage to stand apart. There is a lesson there.

"Today is a day that should fill you with gratitude — to parents, to family, to teachers, to all those who have helped you reach this day. I hope you will thank all those who are still around for you to thank.

"I know you are grateful for your education. It will serve you well in a time of unrivaled and unlimited opportunity. You are on your way to acquiring the skills and the knowledge that you need to succeed in the life and the work that you choose.

"And I hope that you will continue to think frequently about the gratitude you owe to others after today. Along with your education, it is a habit that will serve you well. Try to avoid thinking of yourself as a victim. It is a crippling attitude and debilitating habit.

"As you move on to pursue your further education and to make a living in the world that awaits you, you are likely to find teachers, co-workers, and employers who will want you to succeed and will take pride in your success. Today you leave Morehouse behind, but you will continue to find friends and supporters in seemingly unlikely places. Morehouse has prepared you to hone the skills that will vindicate their best wishes for you.

"There is no door that is closed to you by law or custom. Every door you seek to enter is open to you." . . .

Opinion | Biden’s Demoralizing Speech to Morehouse Grads (msn.com)  . . ."Given that Mr. Biden lacks Mr. Obama’s unique standing among blacks, let’s concede that these comparisons aren’t entirely fair. They do, however, offer insights into what Mr. Biden believes black people want to hear from their president in an election year. Mr. Biden’s speech revealed someone who doesn’t believe that black people can or should be held to the same standards as other groups. He believes they want to be told constantly that racial inequality is entirely the fault of others and the responsibility of others to address. He believes they need lectures from him about racism.

"If the president’s slipping support among black voters is any indication, he’s wrong on all counts. And if Morehouse College can’t do better in choosing a commencement speaker next year, just replay Mr. Obama’s address."

Let's count Biden lies from HBCU commencement speech: Eric Bolling The Balance (msn.com)

“I Gave Up Shame Years Ago”: Clinton Denounces Trump for Doing What She Did in 2016

 Jonathan Turley 

Famous philosopher and mathematician Blaise Pascal once declared that “the only shame is to have none.” Hillary has finally achieved that ignoble status. She appears now to have lost even the capacity for shame.

I gave up shame years ago.” Those words from actor John Lithgow appear to have been taken to heart by Hillary Clinton who has severed any sense of self-awareness or shame in her public comments. Lithgow, who played Bill Clinton in Broadway production of Hillary and Clinton, appears to have inspired the subject of his play. In a recent interview, Hillary Clinton heralded the prosecution of former president Donald Trump in Manhattan as “election interference” by keeping “relevant information” from voters before an election. For those of us who criticized Clinton for the funding of the infamous Steele dossier, it was a perfectly otherworldly moment.

"In the interview, Clinton went after the Supreme Court for delaying a trial of Trump despite the push by Special Counsel Jack Smith for a verdict before the election. She then left many in disbelief with the following statement:

“And the one going on now currently in New York is really about election interference. It is about trying to prevent the people of our country from having relevant information that may have influenced how they could have voted in 2016 or whether they would have voted.”

 "In the same election, it was Hillary Clinton’s campaign that lied about funding the Steele dossier and then hiding the funding as a legal expense through then Clinton General Counsel Marc Elias.

"The Clinton campaign staff has never been known for transparency. Buried in the detailed account is a  footnote stating that Elias “declined to be voluntarily interviewed by the Office.” Likewise, John Durham noted that “no one at Fusion GPS … would agree to voluntarily speak with the Office” while both the DNC and Clinton campaign invoked privileges to refuse to answer certain questions."

Trump and the Judge

 Justice Merchan's gagged witness goes public with what he would have told the jury and it's a doozy - Monica Showalter     "After Michael Cohen's disastrous testimony, it would seem that the case against President Trump over the bookkeeping entry in a hush-money payment case would be in tatters as it goes to the jury. Many legal eagles have said as much.

"But the politically partisan New York justice in this case, Juan Merchan, doesn't give up that fast and clearly wants to salvage the case. He's instructing the jury to ignore the detail about the 'underlying crime' and treat the case the same way a burglary case is treated." . . .

"The laws against election influence by foreign actors are suddenly being called into service in this case because hiding one's dirty personal laundry while trying to get elected is unthinkable, a felony, as the prosecution argues, as if no pol had ever done such a thing in the past. Right, John Edwards? Right, Bill Clinton? Grover Cleveland was unavailable for comment.

"What Smith demonstrates is just how valuable his testimony would have been to that jury about what the law is and how regulators enforce it, which instead has to take Michael Cohen's word for it that Trump, who didn't even know about the hush money paid according to another witness, somehow broke the law.

"Sound like a fair trial we have here? Only in a banana republic."

Judge Merchan’s tell-tale heart seems to be coming for him - Andrea Widburg

Merchan grows irate, begins EXCORIATING Robert Costello on the stand for making a few off-handed remarks and rolling his eyes during the testimony.

Merchan: Are you staring me down right now?

Costello: I'm not.

Merchan: GET OUT OF THE COURTROOM, NOW! GET OUT OF THE COURTROOM!… 

"Judge Merchan is hearing that tell-tale heart, and it’s no coincidence that it was triggered by catching someone’s eye. Merchan knows that he’s done something terribly wrong, and his long-dormant conscience is catching up with him. Thump-thump. Thump-thump. Thump-thump. Thump-thump."

I was inside the court when the judge closed the Trump trial, what I saw shocked me: Alan Dershowitz | Fox News   "I have observed and participated in trials throughout the world. I have seen justice and injustice in China, Russia, Ukraine, England, France, Italy, Israel, as well as in nearly 40 of our 50 states.

"But in my 60 years as a lawyer and law professor, I have never seen a spectacle such as the one I observed sitting in the front row of the courthouse yesterday.

"The judge in Donald Trump’s trial was an absolute tyrant, though he appeared to the jury to be a benevolent despot. He seemed automatically to be ruling against the defendant at every turn.

"Many experienced lawyers raised their eyebrows when the judge excluded obviously relevant evidence when offered by the defense, while including irrelevant evidence offered by the prosecution." . . .

Ex-Elections Official Lays Out How Trump Trial Judge Who Restricted His Planned Testimony Gave Alvin Bragg A Leg Up | The Daily Caller   "Former commissioner on the Federal Election Commission Brad Smith said Monday night that the judge overseeing Trump’s trial has shown “very evident” bias in favor of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.

"Smith, who Trump’s defense team intended to call as a witness, announced that Merchan’s heavy restrictions on his planned testimony caused the defense to decide not to call him to the stand at all. Merchan ruled that Smith could not interpret campaign finance law or testify to whether or not the $130,000 payment Michael Cohen made to porn star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election was a violation.

“ 'While judge wouldn’t let me testify on meaning of law, he allowed Michael Cohen to go on at length about whether and how his activity violated FECA,” Smith said. “So effectively, the jury got its instructions on FECA from Michael Cohen!” . . .

Judge In Alvin Bragg Trial Seems To Have A Not-So Subtle Habit Of Putting His Thumb On The Scale For The Prosecution   

Along with everything else, Merchan imposed a gag order that restricts Trump from speaking about witnesses like Cohen and Daniels, who have publicly attacked him. It also prevented Trump from responding to President Joe Biden’s remarks about the trial, his attorney noted during a hearing last week.

Fed Up With Anti-Israel Demonstrations On College Campuses? 60% Of All Voters Agree

  I&I/TIPP Poll – Issues & Insights

Mindless, chanting, clueless sheep

. . .“ 'Jewish students across the United States have expressed concern for their safety and suggested school faculty, as well as Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives, are promoting antisemitic viewpoints that ratchet up the political temperature on campus,” according to a Fox News report.

"They’re not alone in believing so.

“DEI, CRT (critical race theory), and other ‘academic acronyms’ typically hinge on this idea of people falling into two categories — either the oppressors or the oppressed,” writes Tom Knighton in his Tilting At Windmills substack column. “This stems from Marxism itself, where Marx wrote of the bourgeoise and the proletariat as essentially the same thing only in terms of class.”

"How serious are the powers that be taking this threat to free speech and academic freedom?

"A number of campuses across the nation have started to dismantle their DEI departments, which many legal scholars believe are little more than tools for discriminating against white, Jewish and Asian students in both college admissions and jobs. Florida Gov. DeSantis has taken the anti-DEI action a step further, banning DEI in all state schools.

"As I&I/TIPP’s poll shows, a backlash has formed against this campus antisemitism that has torn entire learning communities apart, and possibly ruined the future job and career prospects for some of the participants.

"Americans are fed up with it, and overwhelmingly oppose the campus activism supporting it. It doesn’t at all seem unlikely that this is yet another thing that registered voters will have on their minds when they step into the voting booth in November." . . .

WOW: Biden May Already Be Plotting to Back Out of Debating Trump

 Matt Margolis – PJ Media

    If the Biden campaign is truly having second, third, and fourth thoughts about the agreed-upon rules, which his campaign proposed, that tells me the debate challenge was a bluff they never expected Trump to agree to, and now they're fishing for reasons Biden can back out and potentially save face. 

"Last week, after months of uncertainty and conjecture, the Biden campaign finally broke its silence on the issue of participating in presidential debates. However, rather than going through the Presidential Debates Commission, Biden's team proposed direct negotiations with the Trump campaign for two debates: one slated for June and another for September, under terms that were transparently designed to benefit Joe Biden.

"The funniest thing about the debate challenge was that Biden tried to flip the script by accusing Trump of ducking debates and acting all macho about it. 

" 'Now he is acting like he wants to debate me again,” Biden said. "Well, make my day, pal. I’ll even do it twice. So let’s pick the dates, Donald. I hear you’re free on Wednesdays.”

"Despite the challenge, I was skeptical. Think about it: Why would the Biden campaign, after months of indecision, now push for debates and act like it was their idea in the first place? Biden’s public appearances have been disastrous. Even with a teleprompter, he struggles to deliver a speech without embarrassing himself. When he strays from the script, it’s a spectacle of blunders. His video challenge to Trump was a debacle as well, requiring a jump cut roughly every two seconds for a video that was just 13 seconds long.

"It's certainly possible it was a bluff because the conditions the Biden campaign proposed were ridiculously absurd. Unfortunately for the Biden campaign, Trump called their bluff and agreed to the debates.

"My skepticism appears to have been well founded because, according to Cindy Adams of the New York Post, Joe Biden is already trying to avoid debating Trump. 

" 'I’m filled with messages about a maybe floppola failure," she writes. "Mouths kvetch that the debate won’t debate." . . .