Reparations Are a Drag on Reality

 Jim Thompson – RedState 

 Juneteenth is again behind us, but the call for reparations is not. In fact, it seems that June 19th is now a demarcation for silly people to make silly demands – like this woman:

      Tiktoker calls on White people to give money to Black people as a form of       reparations in honor of Juneteenth pic.twitter.com/JYXltsP98i

— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) June 19, 2024

"California used to be known for its majestic coastline and the movie industry. Now it seems, that every stupid idea has its genesis in California, or metastasizes into a greater cancer in Gavin Newsom’s state. 

"Another reparations bill has now moved through the California State Assembly. Because Democrats hold a supermajority, there is nothing to stop whatever absurdity Democrats invent. The latest reparation iteration would create an “agency” to help track black family lineage in preparation for reparations. Although California is swimming in red ink, it’s barreling toward reparations for Californians who were never slaves and who are several generations removed from a slave ancestor. 

"Senator Steven Bradford championed the agency idea. Although California wasn’t a slave state, Bradford thinks its citizens should pay for a sin they never committed.

“If you can inherit generational wealth, you can inherit generational debt,” Bradford said. “Reparations is a debt that’s owed to descendants of slavery.”  

"No one “inherits” the sins of their long-since-dead ancestors. I don’t owe anyone alive or dead for slaves my ancestors never owned. 

"Two years ago I wrote about my ancestor, Robert Thompson. He volunteered in 1861 to fight in the Civil War. During the Battle of Kinston, he was wounded and left on the battlefield. He was captured by Confederates and spent the rest of the war as a POW. He ended up at the infamous Andersonville prison. 

"Robert was the direct and actual victim of the injury he suffered. He left Andersonville weighing less than 100lbs. Crippled for life, he was awarded a pension. $12 a month. The demand for reparation for ancestors of slaves has never made sense to me. FDR sent thousands of Americans to internment camps because their ancestors were Japanese. They were proud Americans and suffered direct injury. Japanese Americans who suffered deserved every cent of reparation they got, and more. They suffered an injury." . . . 

US Tank Destroyers | From Defunct to Dominant 1942-1945

National Museum of Military Vehicles   "The development of World War II tank destroyers commenced with the introduction of the M3 37mm towed anti-tank gun. Continuing to bide time until the military could develop better alternatives, the US initially integrated existing armaments with vehicle platforms such as the M6 ¾-ton truck and the M3-75 Half-Track. This progression led to the production of the Sherman-based M10 tank destroyer. Eventually, the United States designed and manufactured the M18 Hellcat almost entirely anew, though tank destroyer design culminated in the adaptation of a 90mm gun mounted on another variant of the Sherman tank, dubbed the M36 Jackson."

The "Deep Fake" strategy rolled out by Democrats

 Internet agrees as Greg Gutfeld slams left-leaning media for peddling 'cheap fakes' hoax to protect President Joe Biden - MEAWW News  . . ."During a press conference, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, "It tells you everything that we need to know about how desperate Republicans are here," describing the videos, which show the president appearing unresponsive or wandering, as "cheap fakes." . . . 

. . .One expressed, "Cheap fakes = Painful truth," and another said, "If these videos are cheap fakes, why doesn't CNN and MSNBC show the unedited versions?"

"A person pointed out, "If the videos are fake, where are the real ones for comparisons???" One more shared, "So now they are now complaining about exactly what they have been doing to President Trump for the last decade."

"Used to be the news told us what to talk about. Now the news is what the public is talking about. No more legacy media," remarked an individual. 

"Another person echoed Gutfeld's views and wrote, "Why would anyone make a cheap fake? These clips cannot be made up. All we have to do is wait and they magically appear," while a follower elaborated, "Their favorite tool is gaslighting- and it works on an awful lot of people who are just casual onlookers..."

White House Demands Big Tech Censor Video Clips Of Joe Biden Behaving Like A Dementia Patient, Claiming Such Videos Are “Fakes” ⋆   "Joe Biden’s displays of mental incompetence have become so egregious that his team is now calling on Big Tech firms to censor video clips in which his confusion is on full display.

"During a parachute display and skydiving demonstration at the G7 summit in Southern Italy last week, he can be seen wandering off from a group of world leaders during a planned photo opportunity, appearing to completely miss the presentation taking place in front of him and turning in the other direction to talk to an officer who was packing up a parachute. He had to be guided back to his place by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who had to walk toward him backward so she could continue to face her fellow leaders.

"Video footage of this “senior moment” quickly circulated online as people wonder how someone who is so mentally unfit could run our country for another four years. This prompted a number of “fact check” labels and accusations from the media that the clip is being shared without providing context and that somehow the aging president isn’t nearly as senile as the clip would imply." . . .  

As his condition continues to decline, he is going to need an entire team of censors to try to discredit the growing evidence of his unsuitability for office.

Liberal media outlets 'running cover' for Biden by calling viral clips 'cheap fakes,' critics say (msn.com)

Karine Jean-Pierre claims awkward viral Biden videos are 'cheap fakes' (msn.com)

Vietnamese Community Furious Over L.A.'s 'Jane Fonda Day'

 Warner Todd Huston (breitbart.com) 

  "She has also said she often apologizes to American Vietnam veterans whenever she meets them."

"Vietnamese activists in L.A. are furious over the county’s declaration of April 30 as “Jane Fonda Day.”

"Only days after county officials announced the homage to the 86-year-old actress, members of the Vietnamese community were outraged.

"Activists immediately retaliated against the celebration by dubbing the month as “Black April,” referring the fall of Saigon, according to the Los Angeles Times.

"Fonda, who has been denigrated as “Hanoi Jane” for decades, is notorious not just for opposing the U.S. war effort but for actually traveling into North Vietnamese territory and giving aid and comfort to the Chinese-backed enemy.

“ 'She may be a very strong activist for climate change, but besides that, we also view her as being a person who was very cruel to the rights of the South Vietnamese people during the antiwar protests,” said L.A. resident Phat Bui, chairman of the Vietnamese American Federation of Southern California.

"Bui also sent a letter to county officials to change the date and added that choosing “such a date can inflict so much pain to our community and to the Vietnam War veterans.”

"U.S. forces fled the South Vietnamese Capitol on April 30, 1975. Members of L.A.’s Vietnamese community gather every April 30 to memorialize that dark day.

"Republican State Sen. Janet Nguyen blasted the county, saying Fonda Day was “alarming and profoundly disrespectful to over half a million Vietnamese Americans in California.”

" 'Rep. Michelle Steel, also a Republican, also blasted the county.

“To elevate Hanoi Jane over the Vietnamese Community, Americans who sacrificed their lives, and the loved ones they lost to communism, is deeply offensive to the freedom-loving Vietnamese Americans who bear such tragic and painful memories of the Vietnam War,” Steel said." . . .

Netanyahu Confronts Biden on Weapons Betrayal

Like Obama; a cowardly Democrat administration turns on our most faithful ally. TD

Caroline Glick In-Focus - YouTube  "Netanyahu calls out the Biden administration for withholding weapons, Thomas Friedman wants Sinwar in power and Bibi overthrown and the UN panel finds no conclusive evidence that a famine exists in Gaza."

Meanwhile, US college students learn to chant "Death to Israel! Death to America!"

Daily Mail Reveals Secret Democrat Plot to Replace Biden

PJ Media Never mind Biden's cognitive decline; Joe has always been the dimmest bulb in Congress. Joe Biden's Growing List of Failures | Opinion - Newsweek

"There is a secret plan to replace President Joe Biden as the Democrat incumbent for the 2024 presidential election, according to The Daily Mail. 

"There is fear among Democrat insiders that Biden's rapidly declining health may take the entire party down with him in November, according to a June 17 article. 

"Questions about Biden's fitness have been growing in recent weeks due to his several widely publicized gaffes, while his poll numbers continue to tank behind the presumed Republican nominee, former President Donald Trump.

"One of the more recent incidents concerning the 81-year-old president's health was on the 80th anniversary of D-Day when Biden froze up as President Emmanuel Macron of France came over to greet him.

"Then, on June 15, former president Barack Obama appeared to be guiding a zombie-like Biden off the stage at a Los Angeles fundraiser. 

"Only two days later, Biden stood frozen with a blank stare at a Juneteenth celebration at the White House, while dancers and singers moved about him before he was guided off the podium again.

"White House spokesperson Andrew Bates told the Daily Mail that nothing was wrong with the president's health at the Juneteenth event, while a spokesman for Nancy Pelosi said that the former House speaker still has "full confidence in President Biden.'"

"Meanwhile, several officials who had recently attended meetings at the White House, told The Wall Street Journal that Biden's mental capacities were in poor shape, sparking more speculation about his future as a presidential candidate.

"A Democrat strategist told the Daily Mail that if Biden did poorly with his first debate with Trump or he continues to see falling poll numbers, the top four leaders of his own party may come together to force him to step down.

" 'The only people who could force him out would be Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer," the strategist told the Daily Mail, adding, "It would have to be the four of them collectively."

"Biden is expected to fight back against any suggestion to step down since he remains the leader of his party and may insist on continuing to campaign through Election Day." . . .

The 10 Worst Things Joe Biden Has Done in His Political Career - Paste Magazine

         

The burden of a 40-year career: Some of Joe Biden’s record doesn’t age well - Los Angeles Times

There Will Be a Price to Pay: Consequences Are Coming for Universities That Allowed Pro-Hamas Mobs

 Guy Benson (townhall.com)

"An Israeli peace activist who was seized from her home on 7 October and held hostage for 53 days in Gaza has told the BBC how her ordeal destroyed her belief that peace is possible between Palestinians and Israelis."

"Let's pause, right out of the gate, to reflect on how demented it is that the "woke" have taken up the cause of a theocratic, authoritarian, genocidal, bigoted, homophobic, misogynistic terrorist organization -- while endlessly criticizing the pluralistic democracy, in which women and minorities enjoy equal rights, that was brutally attacked by said terrorists.  Nearly everything that these fraudulent "progressives" purport to care about is exemplified by Israel, especially by Middle Eastern standards, yet they side with the medieval savages who represent virtually everything they claim to oppose.  In their broken and amoral oppressor/oppressed mindset, they gravitate toward the barbarians of Hamas, despite or even because of their heinous predations.  The terrorists are the (overall) darker-skinned, less successful, "colonization" victims, they believe, so they embrace their evil.  Hamas is also aligned with Iran and other anti-Western civilization forces, whereas Israel is successful and largely capitalistic, and generally allied with Western values, so the regressive "woke" legions see kindred spirits among the terrorists.  Then, of course, there's also quite a lot of Jew hatred running rampant throughout these sick circles."

"Western college campuses have been epicenters of this twisted, incoherent madness.  Far too many of these institutions have caved to loud, depraved voices, prompting backlash, investigations, and lawsuits.  The financial pain that will be deservedly visited upon schools like UCLA, over mind-boggling violations like this.  They have one of the best litigators in the country coming after them.  There will be a price to pay.  Columbia is also going to have to answer for astounding revelations such as these, likely through litigation.  Truly appalling:

This is wild. https://t.co/dptH4QtNGl pic.twitter.com/34pRZxPus9

— Laura E. Adkins (@Laura_E_Adkins) June 17, 2024

. . .  

 

After This Failed Program, Does Anything *Work* in Joe Biden's America?

 Matt Vespa (townhall.com)

"Three years ago, Biden rolled out the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD), allocating $42.5 billion to bring high-speed internet access to rural America. And not a single home has been connected to the network. It’s a hodgepodge of government bureaucracy, red tape, and other aspects of Washington that perfectly illustrates why this is a classic tale of government action (via Washington Times): " . . .

. . ."Lawmakers and internet companies blame the slow rollout on burdensome requirements for obtaining the funds, including climate change mandates, preferences for hiring union workers and the requirement that eligible companies prioritize the employment of “justice-impacted” people with criminal records to install broadband equipment. 

[…] Federal Communications Commissioner Brendan Carr said the program’s goal of providing high-speed internet to most underserved areas will not be fully realized until 2030, nine years after its enactment. . . .

. . ."Nothing will be shovel-ready until 2025-2026. Still, US Senators have wondered about all the extraneous provisions in the law regarding the funding requirements: 

• Preference for hiring union workers, who are scarce in some rural areas. 
• Requiring providers to prioritize “certain segments of the workforce, such as individuals with past criminal records,” when building broadband networks.
• Requiring eligible entities to “account not only for current [climate-related] risks but also for how the frequency, severity, and nature of these extreme events may plausibly evolve as our climate continues to change over the coming decades.” 

Lawmakers also protested provisions in the BEAD program giving preference to government-owned networks, which critics say put taxpayers at risk and have sustained financial losses around the country. 

“Time and time again, such networks have squandered public dollars and left taxpayers holding the bag,” the National Taxpayers Union said in a letter to Sen. John Thune, South Dakota Republican. 

"And yes, there’s DEI nonsense in a bill trying to boost internet access for the rural poor. It’s no wonder why Biden isn’t touting this on this already thin sheet of legislative accomplishments. It’s in purgatory. Does anything in Biden’s America work? Planes are nearly crashing in airports nationwide; trains are derailing, there are no EV charging stations, and now no Internet."

Joe Biden's presidency: All crises and no solutions (msn.com)   "Among his many self-inflicted crises, inflation and immigration perfectly embody Joe Biden’s failing, flailing presidency. Confronted with catastrophes of his own creation, Biden shows himself not just unable to solve them but even to deviate from the errors that produced them. Two crises, one cause, no solution — and even less leadership. Increasingly, it is clear that Biden’s approach is to search for others to save him from himself.

"There is no end to Biden’s self-inflicted wounds. There is also no Biden solution for them except more of the same. Abroad, they began with his disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, which has kept his administration backpedaling ever since. In the Middle East, he was played by Iran, first over the hopeless nuclear deal and most recently over a swap of hostages for $6 billion, which has since been temporarily paused. And when Iran thought Biden played out, it unleashed its client Hamas on Israel." . . .

Europe: Nazis' 'Do Not Buy from Jews' 2.0

  Gatestone Institute

• Never mind that John Spencer, Chair of Urban Warfare Studies at the Modern War Institute at West Point, determined that Israel has consistently implemented more measures to prevent civilian casualties than any military in the history of warfare.

   

• Since October 7, when Iranian proxies Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad committed unspeakable atrocities against men, women, children and babies in Israel, large parts of the international community have been in a frenzy over the Jews' puzzling inclination to defend themselves.

• This is the same French government [which banned Israel from participating in Eurosatory 2024 defense industry trade fair] so obsessed with appearing inclusive and non-discriminatory that it recently supported a bill that outlaws discrimination based on hair texture, length, color or style.

• Meanwhile, the French government did not think it necessary to ban the participation of China, presently indulging in two genocides – against Tibetans and against Uyghurs – from participating in Eurosatory. China's representation at the trade fair counts around 61 defense companies.

• The French government also did not ban... Turkey, which has been taken to the International Criminal Court for committing crimes against humanity against hundreds of thousands of opponents of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruthless regime...

• When there are no Jews to blame, evidently, crimes against humanity, genocide and human rights abuses are perfectly acceptable.

• Since October 7, more than 19,000 rockets have been launched into Israel, a country smaller than New Jersey, primarily by the terrorist groups ruling Gaza, as well as from another of Iran's terrorist proxies, Hezbollah in Lebanon." . . . Full article here.

Biden’s Immigration Policy: Disaster By Design, Not By Accident

  Issues & Insights (issuesinsights.com)

"Biden and his Democratic supporters have chosen unassailable political power over the integrity of their nation’s borders, its Constitution, and the clearly expressed will of the American people, as reflected in numerous polls."

"Joe Biden is very clearly in the running to be the worst U.S. president ever. To understand why that’s true, you need only look at the Democrat’s refusal to protect the integrity of our borders. It’s almost as if he wants America to disappear.

"As we’ve noted here before, we do not oppose immigration. But, as with everything else, immigration is governed by laws, rules and principles. Unfortunately, when it comes to immigration, Biden simply ignores the law and instead uses presidential command in its place.

"The result: chaos on our border and, increasingly, on our streets as city after city suffers from rising illegal immigrant crime. And it’s going to get worse.

"Already, an estimated 7.4 million illegal immigrants have made their way into the U.S. during Biden’s presidency. That doesn’t include the nearly 2 million “gotaways” who were spotted by border officials crossing the border, but didn’t get nabbed.

“ 'These numbers are further proof of President Biden and (Department of Homeland Security) Secretary Mayorkas’ radical commitment to open borders, and the secretary’s high crimes and misdemeanors committed to make them a reality,” House Committee on Homeland Security Chairman Mark Green said in a statement on Monday.

"Among the “gotaways” this month making crime news were a 24-year-old Guatemalan male who allegedly raped a minor in Massachusetts and another from El Salvador charged with rape and murder a mother of five in Maryland. A 24-year-old Ecuadorian arrested for raping a 13-year-old girl in New York was caught crossing the border but released into the U.S.

"Open-border advocates claim this proves nothing. But that’s not true. None of those crimes would have taken place if our border controls had been enforced.

"And an even greater threat, sooner or later, will be terrorists with ties to ISIS, such as those who earlier this month were arrested, and cartel members like those that, as NBC News put it in a story three years ago, “capture, extort and torture” those trying to cross the border.

"It’s getting uglier by the minute. Britain’s Daily Mail recently ran a map purportedly showing “America’s Migrant Gang Invasion,” including cartel members, gang-bangers, ISIS followers, sex traffickers and other unsavory types. All from Biden’s open border." . . .

Border Patrol Encountered 932 Afghans at Southwest Border In 156 Days (townhall.com)   . . ."In addition," said the report, "U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) encountered 68 Afghan 'inadmissible non-citizens' at the U.S. Southwest Border in FY 2022 and 342 in FY 2023.

"As of March 5," it said, "CBP had encountered 932 in FY 2024."

"How many "inadmissible non-citizen" Afghans made it across the southwest border in those first 156 days of this fiscal year without being encountered by the Border Patrol?

"It only took 19 al-Qaeda terrorists to carry out the 9/11 attack."

Fewer than half of the hostages in Gaza are still alive

  US officials - The Jerusalem Post (jpost.com)

"Of the approximately 250 people Hamas took hostage on October 7, only 120 are believed to still be held by Hamas in Gaza, some of which died during their captivity." (Or were killed by Arabs)

"Only 50 out of the remaining 120 hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza are believed to still be alive, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on Thursday morning, citing US officials.

"According to the report, following the rescue mission of four Israeli hostages in Gaza, many more were returned to Israel dead, which led to growing concerns regarding the remaining hostages' return home and the government's objective to dismantle the terrorist organization Hamas in Gaza.

"At the beginning of the war, the report noted that people were hoping for a phone call from the IDF saying that their loved ones were expected to return safely.

"However, “what is happening now is that the families have the opposite feeling,” said Gili Roman, whose sister, Yarden Roman Gat, was released from Hamas captivity. Roman has another relative, Carmel Gat, who is among the remaining hostages still held in Gaza.

“ 'It’s about who will get a phone call saying the body of your family member has been found or he has been declared dead,” she added."

To trans or not to trans....

 

Fox News host claims that Democrats want to "trans our kids" - LGBTQ Nation "Fox News host Jeanine Pirro has claimed that teachers nationwide want to turn kids transgender, an increasingly common right-wing claim that has set parents and anti-LGBTQ activists against public educators.

"In a recent installment of the Fox News talk program The Five, Pirro said that the midterm elections would continue a Democrat-led downward slide against free speech, aided by “Big Tech.”

"She then added, “If the Republicans don’t win, then it will be a threat to democracy because it will be the end of education, where teachers believe they should be able to trans our kids and talk about 1619 without our knowing about it.”

She also said that Democrats apparently want “one-party rule” because of their “continued degradation of anyone who isn’t a Democrat.” . . .

3 teens who thought they were transgender explain why they detransitioned (newsnationnow.com)   . . ."An October survey found about 8% of responding transgender and gender-diverse adults have detransitioned, though most (62%) say they went back to being trans. However, there are virtually no studies or data on the detransition rates among teens. 

"Though it’s a small group, those who have chosen to detransition — reversing or stopping medical treatments or socially/legally reverting to their gender assigned at birth — are starting to voice concerns. NewsNation spoke with three young people who chose a different path after transitioning in their teen years. 

“ 'Every single part of my transition was a mistake, and I didn’t want to be going down that path anymore,” said 18-year-old Chloe Cole, whose medical transition began when she was 13. 

"Cole told NewsNation she always felt like a tomboy, but she really started thinking about transitioning to a boy after she created an Instagram account." . . .