Connecticut City Rejects Flying ‘Thin Blue Line’ Flag to Honor Fallen Trooper; Flies Pride Flag at Half Staff Instead

  American Greatness (amgreatness.com)  

"Council members in Wethersfield, Connecticut voted against flying a “Thin Blue Line” police flag in honor of Trooper First Class Aaron Pelletier, who was killed last week in a hit and run, opting instead to hoist a gay pride flag at half staff.

"Pelletier was conducting a routine traffic stop in Southington, Connecticut last Thursday, when he was hit outside of his cruiser by Alex Oyola-Sanchez, a Puerto Rican native who had already been convicted of third-degree murder, attempted homicide and other felonies.

SAY HIS NAME: Connecticut State Trooper Aaron Pelletier.

"Oyola-Sanchez faces multiple charges, including “second-degree manslaughter, operating under the influence of alcohol/drugs and failure to move over.”

"Pelletier, who leaves behind a wife and two young boys, was laid to rest on Wednesday.

"During a meeting Monday night, a Wethersfield councilman requested that the Thin Blue Line police flag be raised during his funeral services.

" 'I think it’s the least we can do,” said Rich Bailey, Wethersfield councilman.

"But the town council shot it down in a vote of 5 to 3.

"Wethersfield’s Eyewitness News asked councilman Miki Duric why the police flag was voted down.

"Duric claimed he voted no because it would’ve violated the town’s flag policy, which stipulates that all flag requests must be made at least 30 days in advance." . . .

"Wethersfield’s town council — which flipped from Republican to Democratic in 2023 after four years under GOP control — voted 5-3 along party lines Monday against temporarily hoisting the pro-cop flag in front of Town Hall.

Hostages freed in Gaza: the emotional reunion of Noa Argamani and her father

 (parismatch.com)

Young Noa at her father's side on Saturday, June 8, in a vehicle on her way
 to a hospital in the suburbs of Tel Aviv, Israel. 

Israeli hostages, alive, during a "difficult" military operation in Nusseirat, in the central Gaza Strip. Among these Hamas captives, young Noa was finally able to find her father.

"A huge relief. The Israeli army announced on Saturday (June 8th) that it had freed four Israeli hostages, alive, during a military operation in the central Gaza Strip.

"During "a difficult special daytime operation in Nusseirat, four Israeli hostages were freed," the army said in a statement, all of whom were "kidnapped" by Hamas on October 7 at the site of the electro music festival Nova.

"Almog Meir Jan, 21, Andrey Kozlov, 27, Shlomi Ziv, 40, and Noa Argamani, 25, were released. The latter was spotted in a video finding her father, both in a two-way vehicle on their way to the Tel Hashomer hospital in the Tel Aviv suburbs, according to the Times of Israel newspaper." . . . Full article...

It’s time for Biden to leave

 Don Surber - American Free News Network   "His incompetence, impotence and now incontinence are just too much.

Where is Dandy Don Meredith when we need him? Someone should be singing, “Turn out the lights, the party’s over,” because Joe Biden’s presidency must end. His appearance at the D-Day commemoration at Normandy was certainly the final proof that he cannot continue no matter how hard his staff tries to hold him up.

"The American press gave Biden a pass, but the Brits were under no pressure from a vengeful deep state to toe any line.

"The Mirror reported, “Joe Biden sparks concern as onlookers fear he ‘pooped his pants’ after he ‘can’t figure out’ how to sit down.

" 'The President made a few noticeable gaffes while meeting with the French leader for a D-Day event on Thursday morning.”

The Express reported, “Joe Biden pulled away from D-Day event by wife Jill as viewers ask: ‘What’s going on?’”

"Taking him away to the limo because he could not make it through the ceremony was reminiscent of the time Hillary showed up so hung over that she could not make it through the commemoration of 9/11 in 2016.

Bonchie tweeted, “100-year-old D-Day veterans were able to finish the ceremony in Normandy and stick around to shake hands. Joe Biden had to be rushed away by his wife.

“Never has one stiff-legged shuffle off stage said so much.”

"The media was quick to deny that people saw what they saw." . . .

Douglas Murray: Take off the masks, you anti-Israel cowards!

 Anti-Israel aren't really scared of COVID — they're hiding shame of their prejudice (Douglas Murray: nypost.com)

I consider the attraction of anti-Israelism for many as being nothing deeper than the fashion statement of the really neat scarf. What does Greta Thunberg know about anything but how great she looks in that sheet and the chants? TD

. . . "Well I would like to suggest a reason. And it has nothing to do with CDC data, vaccination rates, COVID or anything similar.

"The reason is that they are bullies. And like all bullies they are at the same time terrible cowards.

"Despite pretending that they are world-beating revolutionaries the protestors who now push people in this city around are trying to keep their identities hidden.

"Perhaps it is because they are professional agitators — drafted in by a range of left-wing “grass-roots” organizations to cause trouble. That is certainly what many people — including the police — believe.

"Perhaps these people want to cover their faces because the media in this country might just notice that the same professional revolutionaries tend to turn up wherever there is trouble, almost as if they are paid to do so.

"Presumably they want to keep their identities hidden as much as possible.

"But what about the students at Columbia and elsewhere who want to sit in their tents and “bravely” protest about something they don’t know anything about?

"Maybe, just maybe, they too are not actually afraid of COVID. What they are afraid of are the opinions they are espousing.

"Because they know, at some level, that bullying other students and shrieking about things they don’t know is not a good look. They want to intimidate people, but they never want to be intimidated themselves.

"So I have a suggestion. At all future protests in New York State let’s have a masks off policy.

"The KKK was the last organization in America that was so proud of their beliefs that their members covered their faces during protests.

"Now “Students for Jihad” are doing the same job. For strangely similar reasons.

So let’s demand they take the hoods off too.

"Sorry — I meant masks." . . .

D-Day Omaha Beach - The First Wave

"Among the 200 young men of Company A, 116th Infantry Regiment, 29th Division, were 30 young men from the small Virginia town of Bedford.

"They are known as the "Bedford Boys" and by that afternoon 19 of them would be dead. "This is the story of what they faced.. We must never forget their sacrifice."

D-Day | With One Landing Craft at Omaha Beach (WW2 Documentary) - YouTube

"Shortly after 6:30am on 6th June 1944 along this stretch of sand, men of the US 1st Infantry Division emerged from their landing craft into a hail of gunfire which in just minutes had killed or wounded hundreds. "In this video, we’ll blend the latest technology, actual footage from that day and the testimony of those who were there, to follow in the footsteps of the men of one landing craft, on that one day, who were amongst the very first to unlock Omaha Beach. "

This is one of the best videos I've seen that describes the events on Omaha Beach. I visited Normandy and Omaha Beach several months ago and even though I have studied the Normandy invasion for years, I was surprised to see the high bluffs behind the beach that this video so well describes. I also visited the cemetery and witnessed the end of day retreat. Very moving ceremony. Those guys truly were the greatest generation!

Teddy Roosevelt Jr.: The Officer Who Stormed Normandy with Nothing but a Cane and a Pistol

 Speaking of Presidential sons: (historynet.com)

A sergeant from the 8th recalled encountering Roosevelt on the beach “with a cane in one hand, a map in the other, walking around as if he was looking over some real estate.”

Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., poses with his jeep in France

“We’ll start the war from right here!” Brigadier General Theodore Roosevelt Jr. purportedly declared as his Higgins landing craft drifted about a mile from its target destination on Utah Beach the morning of the June 6, 1944 invasion of Normandy.

"At the age of 56, Roosevelt, the son of President Theodore Roosevelt, was not only the oldest soldier deployed during Operation Overlord, but the highest-ranking American figure to storm the beaches.

"He did so with only a cane and a pistol.

"A veteran of the First World War, Roosevelt was among the first American doughboys to land in France in 1918, seeing action during the Battle of Cantigny. Reenlisting at the outbreak of World War II, Roosevelt led four amphibious assaults, from Operation Torch—the invasion of North Africa—to fighting on the beaches of Sicily and in the mountains of Italy.

"Well-liked and respected by his men, Roosevelt had to campaign hard, however, to deploy during the invasion of Normandy. His superior officer, Major General Raymond “Tubby” Barton initially rejected Roosevelt’s request to enter the European Theater and lead the 4th Infantry Division, 8th Infantry Regiment into combat. In a personal letter to Barton dated May 26, 1944, Roosevelt pleaded his case in seven succinct bullet points, noting that “I personally know both officers and men of these advance units and believe that it will steady them to know that I am with them.” Barton eventually relented. "Amid withering fire from German coastal installations, machine-gun nests, and densely packed minefields lining Utah Beach, Roosevelt remained a calm figure guiding successive waves of scrambling soldiers to the beachhead." . . .

"Roosevelt’s own son, Quentin II, was among the first wave to land at Omaha Beach, making them the only father-son duo to come ashore on D-Day. Quentin survived the war only to die in a plane crash in China in 1948.

"Tragically, five weeks after the D-Day landings the beloved general died suddenly from a heart attack.

"Three months later, for his cool valor under fire, Roosevelt was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. His citation reads:" . . .Full article...

Teddy Roosevelt, Jr. Led At Utah Beach - Warfare History Network  

. . ."Ted Roosevelt and his immediate superior, the hard-drinking “Terrible Terry” Allen, led the Big Red One in an unorthodox manner. Devoted to their men, they strove from the foxhole level to build the division into a first-rate fighting organization. Allen fretted over shortages of dry socks at the front, and Roosevelt pestered mess sergeants to make sure they had enough baking powder. A soldier, Pfc. Louis Newman, recalled standing near the general one day as weary, sweating GIs were returning to camp after a long march. Their officers were riding in jeeps, but Ted ordered them out of the vehicles. Gesturing toward the enlisted men, he said, “They walk, you walk.”

"The two generals, neither of them disciplinarians, felt comfortable among the lowest ranks, placed little value on spit-and-polish, and were seldom seen in regulation uniforms. Ted usually wore a knit cap because he hated the heavy Army helmets. Ted’s aide, Lieutenant Marcus O. Stevenson, reported later, “He was the most disreputable-looking general I have ever met…He looked like the most beat-up GI you ever saw.' ” . . .

"Ted distinguished himself when detached on a special mission to Sardinia, where an Italian parachute division was holding out and refusing to surrender to the Allies. Unarmed, Ted went from unit to unit convincing the “good, plug-ugly roughneck” Italians to help drive the Germans out of their homeland. Lt. Col. Serge Obolensky of the Office of Strategic Services said of General Roosevelt, “By the sheer force and charm of his personality, and an exhibition of the coolest gallantry, he won the wavering troops to a wild personal ovation.” Six of the Italian paratroops had been assigned to kill Ted and Obolensky. Shortly before Christmas 1943, Ted accompanied French troops into the line during the bitter Monte Cassino campaign in Italy. He was at the front every day with General Juin, whom he described as a “front-fighting general.” Juin later wrote to Ted, “There is no one in the (French) Corps from the lowliest private to the most bestarred general who does not know and love you.”

Biden makes a mess of D-Day commemoration

 Monica Showalter - American Thinker

After that, Jill seemingly whispered something to the out-of-it president trying to sit down, and then slowly escorted him off stage, leaving the president of France to greet the American troops, which he did with grace and elan, looking quite presidential.

"Sure as the sun comes up, Joe Biden is making a mess somewhere.

This time he was doing it with the world watching at the 80th D-Day commemoration, held today in Normandy, France.

In a piece headlined "Awkward Moment," the New York Post writes,

President Biden was spotted awkwardly fumbling for his seat as other dignitaries remained standing during a poignant D-Day commemoration ceremony in France on Thursday." . . .

Jill, Ed.D., escorts Joe Biden out as French President Macron stays behind to greet veterans pic.twitter.com/n4rpRgdbv5

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) June 6, 2024

. . ."In a very public way, it came to show that Joe Biden is fading in his faculties and embarrassing America on the world stage, acting inappropriately at every step. He's been in politics long enough to know that you don't sit down for an occasion like that, nor do you leave your host to do the reception job when you are supposed to be part of it.

"What's that guy doing there? As everyone could see, he needed to be off that stage fast. So it goes with his claim to the presidency, as well. Everything he does makes a mess and in the end, the American people are stuck with cleaning up after him." 

Did some medication make this a different Joe Biden from him of the State of the Union night?

Flashback: Barack Obama Offered Jeremiah Wright Hush Money During 2008 Campaign

  PJ Media  (reprise)

"If Obama’s actions didn’t warrant criminal charges, why was Trump charged? Either both men broke the law or neither did. Which is it? If Obama violated the law, he should be put on trial and found guilty; otherwise, it only proves that we do have a two-tiered justice system.

"According to the radical left, a payment to silence someone from making potentially damaging statements to influence the outcome of a presidential election is a serious crime. A felony at that. That’s the entirely hocus-pocus legal theory behind Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s case against Donald Trump that resulted in a conviction.

"In that case, Barack Obama ought to be charged with a similar crime.

That's right, Obama also offered hush money to someone specifically to influence the 2008 election. The media never talked about it, and you can bet they’d have some amusing and laughable explanation for why what Obama did was “different.” But the fact is that Obama has been accused of offering money to his former pastor, Jeremiah Wright, to buy his silence during the 2008 presidential election.

"As you may recall, Wright’s inflammatory, anti-American rhetoric was a huge problem for Obama during his first presidential campaign, and he tried to shut Wright up to save his campaign — which the prominent leftist legal scholars of the day call corruptly influencing an election.

Edward Klein broke the story in the New York Post on May 13, 2012, revealing that Obama's camp made a hush offer to Wright during the 2008 campaign. The deal involved a hefty sum of $150,000 and was made through an intermediary who was a close friend of Obama’s — and Obama himself even stepped in, urging Wright to keep quiet for the sake of his presidential campaign.

"Man, the media ate me alive,” Wright told Klein. “After the media went ballistic on me, I received an e-mail offering me money not to preach at all until the November presidential election.”

“Who sent the e-mail?” Klein asked him.

“It was from one of Barack’s closest friends.”

GOP Senators to Judge Merchan: Don’t Sentence Trump to Prison

 

AfterMath - Home (terrellaftermath.com)

Will Judge Merchan sentence Trump to prison? (thehill.com)   "In attempting to predict the sentence Judge Juan Merchan will impose on Donald Trump, we are certain of one conclusion: If the past is prologue, the sentence will not be motivated by fairness or justice; it will be the harshest sentence Merchan can impose without risking reversal or the possibility that it will help Trump’s electoral prospects.

"Such a vindictive sentence could take many forms, excluding actual prison time. Sentencing Trump, a first-time offender, to a prison term for a minor bookkeeping crime would virtually assure a reversal and an outcry from independent voters. 

"But one possibility would be for the judge to impose a significant prison sentence — say two years — and then suspend it. A suspended sentence would send the message that the judge regarded the crime as serious and warranting imprisonment, but, because of the special circumstances of the case, making a presidential candidate actually serve time would be inappropriate.

"A harsher alternative would be to impose a prison sentence and merely delay its imposition until after the election. Since this is a state and not a federal case, even if Trump were to be elected, he could not pardon himself or commute the sentence; only New York State authorities could bring about that result.

"The third option would be to impose a steep fine and a probationary sentence that allowed Trump to remain free with certain conditions. The legality of such a sentence would depend on the conditions and their impact on the campaign." . . .

Merchan Will Jail Trump Unless SCOTUS Intervenes - The American Spectator | USA News and Politics   "If he thinks it will stop Trump from winning the election, prison seems likely".  Sadly, the rest of this post is behind a pay wall. TD

GOP senators warn judge against sentencing Trump to prison (msn.com)  "Senate Republicans are warning New York judge Juan Merchan not to sentence former President Donald Trump to prison or house arrest or take any other action that could disrupt the likely GOP nominee’s ability to campaign ahead of the November election.

"It could take months for Trump to appeal his conviction on 34 felony counts related to the falsification of business documents and legal experts don’t expect the conservative-leaning U.S. Supreme Court to intervene to help him.

"That means that Trump’s fate rests largely with Merchan, who could choose punishments ranging from prison and house arrest to probation and community service.

"Merchan, who earned favorable reviews from legal experts for his careful handling of the case, will sentence Trump on July 11, a few days before the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.

"Republican senators acknowledge that legal experts say it would be highly unusual for Trump to receive a prison sentence for a class E felony and that he would most likely be allowed to remain free pending his appeal to higher state courts.

"But they’re nervous about what may happen because Merchan wields a lot of discretion over the terms of the sentence and they felt he tilted the trial against Trump’s team.

"Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), a senior member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said it would be a “further abuse of power” to incarcerate Trump or sentence him to home confinement." . . .

Think of the glee from MSNBC, late-night shows (I'll not call them "comedians), and The View over the thought of Donald Trump in an orange jump suit, picking up trash along roadways!

Taking the hush money trial to the Supreme Court - American Thinker   "There is a growing call, largely led by conservative broadcaster Mark Levin, to appeal the so-called “Trump hush money trial” directly and immediately to the Supreme Court.  Normally, attorneys would follow the prolonged appeals process to the next highest court and on up the ladder.  Such appeals usually aim to reverse a verdict.  But in this case, the verdict is not the problem.  The problem is the trial itself — specifically, the un-constitutionality of the trial." . . .

The myth that Biden had nothing to do with the prosecutions of Trump

 Victor Davis Hanson (jewishworldreview.com)   

"So, it is past time for the media and Democrats to drop this ridiculous ruse of Biden's White House "neutrality." Instead, they should admit that they are terrified of the will of the people in November and so are conniving to silence them." 

"The five criminal and civil prosecutions of former President Donald Trump all prompt heated denials from Democrats that President Joe Biden and Democrat operatives had a role in any of them.

"But Biden has long let it be known that he was frustrated with his own Department of Justice's federal prosecutors for their tardiness in indicting Trump.

"Biden was upset because any delay might mean that his rival Trump would not be in federal court during the 2024 election cycle. And that would mean he could not be tagged as a "convicted felon" by the November election while being kept off the campaign trail.

"Politico has long prided itself on its supposed insider knowledge of the workings of the Biden administration. Note that it was reported earlier this February that a frustrated Joe Biden "has grumbled to aides and advisers that had (Attorney General Merrick) Garland moved sooner in his investigation into former President Donald Trump's election interference, a trial may already be underway or even have concluded…"

"If there was any doubt about the Biden administration's effort to force Trump into court before November, Politico further dispelled it — even as it blamed Trump for Biden's anger at Garland: "That trial still could take place before the election and much of the delay is owed not to Garland but to deliberate resistance put up by the former president and his team."

"Note in passing how a presidential candidate's legal right to oppose a politicized indictment months before an election by his opponent's federal attorneys is smeared by Politico as "deliberate resistance."

"Given Politico was publicly reporting six months ago about Biden's anger at the pace of his DOJ's prosecution of Trump, does anyone believe his special counsel, Jack Smith, was not aware of such presidential displeasure and pressure?

"Note Smith had petitioned and was denied an unusual request to the court to speed up the course of his Trump indictment.

"And why would Biden's own Attorney General, Garland, select such an obvious partisan as Smith? Remember, in his last tenure as special counsel, Smith had previously gone after popular Republican and conservative Virginia governor Bob MacDonald." . . .

Subverting democracy and the fate of the Jews

  Jonathan Tobin (jewishworldreview.com)

"Any discussion of which side is worse in this debate can be attributed to the type of "whataboutism" that involves justifying things that shouldn't be justified. But suffice it to say that when he took office in 2017, he rejected the idea of having his administration pursue criminal charges against his opponents, in particular, his 2016 Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton."

"The last eight months have shaken the faith of many American Jews in the future of their community. The surge in antisemitism, especially on college campuses, has shattered any illusions we might have had about ensuring that Jew-hatred would be confined to the fever swamps of the far right and left in U.S. society. But as grievous as that threat to their safety may be — and the gravity of that peril cannot be overestimated — the Jewish community should also be pondering just how secure they can be in an America whose democratic norms and the rule of law can no longer be relied upon.

"The prosecution and now the conviction of former President Donald Trump in a New York City courtroom on dubious charges and via a judicial process that is, at best, questionable, forces us to ask that question.

Breaking norms and precedents

"To broach this topic and consider the consequences of a partisan prosecution of both a former president and the choice of the Republican Party for the 2024 election, one needn't be an admirer of Trump or even be planning to vote for him in November. Trump is a singular figure in American political history and has broken all sorts of precedents with his behavior and speech — before, during and after his presidency. But at this point, the same can be said of his opponents, who seem to believe that his allegedly unique awfulness not merely permits but obligates them to break rules and precedents in their efforts to stop him from governing while he was president, to prevent his re-election, and now, to thwart him from gaining a second term in 2024." . . .

Day 4 of Hunter Biden's Gun Trial

 "When discussing a drug dealer she dealt with in Hunter's absence, the prosecutor asked, "What kind?" She said, "Samoan." He meant what kind of drugs."

LIVE: Day 4 of Hunter Biden's Gun Trial (townhall.com)  "Wednesday was a very bad day for the Bidens.

"On Day 3 of the first son's federal gun trial, two of Hunter Biden's exes testified against him while his wife watched from the gallery, and his 73-year-old stepmother, first lady Jill Biden, saw his nudes flash across the projector screen, enlarged as trial exhibits. Thankfully, the family jewels were censored and cropped, sparing the jury.

"Many in the media mistakenly thought the ex-stripper set to testify Wednesday, identified only as Witness #2 in the trial brief, was Lunden Roberts, Hunter's baby mama with whom he fathered his 5-year-old love child, Navy Joans. Little Navy, the seventh grandchild of President Joe Biden, has been repeatedly snubbed by both her deadbeat dad and the greater Biden family.

"No, it wasn't that ex-stripper Hunter hooked up with. Hunter's other ex, Zoe Kestan, an online "cam girl" whose social media handle is "weed_slut_420," took the stand. As lovers, Kestan and Hunter starred in an amateur porn film made on his MacBook, according to former Trump White House aide Garrett Ziegler's non-profit, Marco Polo." . . .