The Politicization of the Department of Justice

 It is not just political activists who are subject to DOJ intimidation. Attorney General Garland recently issued a guidance document prohibiting DOJ employees from speaking directly to members of Congress. This was plainly in response to at least 14 FBI whistleblowers reaching out to members of Congress—including Ohio Representative Jim Jordan and Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley—about misconduct within the DOJ. Garland’s action was highly improper, but it pales in comparison to the intimidation of concerned parents at local school board meetings.  

'The FBI Raid On Melania's Closet Was Justified,' Says Merrick Garland
 Wearing Gorgeous New Evening Gown And Sun Hat | Babylon Bee

Harmeet K. Dhillon; Imprimis (hillsdale.edu)   "The seal of the U.S. Department of Justice reads, “Qui Pro Domina Justitia Sequitur”—“Who prosecutes for Lady Justice.” Depictions of Lady Justice are as familiar as they are instructive: she stands blindfolded while holding the scales of justice, representing her unyielding devotion to equal justice under the law. Contrary to this ideal, the DOJ today appears to be increasingly motivated by partisanship. Compounding the problem, it has access to the powers of the modern surveillance state. As someone passionate about the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, I believe there is no higher priority than addressing this danger. 

"The tragic events of 9/11 marked a turning point in our nation’s recent civil rights history. First the terrorists attacked us—and then, in the name of national security, we began to attack ourselves. It has become almost cliché to say that we live in a surveillance state, but we do. Ever since Congress, on a fully bipartisan basis, enacted the Patriot Act six weeks after the attacks on 9/11, the ever-present eye of the government has been searching for new and creative ways to spy on American citizens. The government has the technology to monitor all of our electronic devices, listen to our phone calls, and read our emails and text messages—all under the auspices of national security. 

"This special law designed for an emergency has become a permanent addition to the government’s investigatory toolbox. The unfortunate reality is that the bulk of the actions taken by law enforcement under the Patriot Act have almost nothing to do with combating terrorism. Once-rare applications for surveillance warrants to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court have multiplied many times in relative peacetime. Most of the spying conducted under the Patriot Act is for run-of-the-mill crimes that we’ve long expected law enforcement to address without special surveillance authority.

"Now, it is bad enough to have a politically-neutral surveillance state controlled by the national security crowd and their DOJ cousins. But take that panopticon and put it in the hands of an executive branch willing to weaponize its reams of information against its perceived political enemies, and we’ve got a frightening problem on our hands.". . .

Lightfoot Blames Racism, Sexism for Reelection Defeat

 Townhall

“I don’t think it comes down to race,” Stevens continued. “There are people living in these communities that just want to be safe.”

"Democratic Mayor Lori Lightfoot complained to reporters that sexism and racism were the reasons behind her landslide defeat in Chicago’s mayoral election.

“ 'I’m a black woman in America. Of course,” Lightfoot, 60, said when she was asked by a reporter if she’d been treated unfairly as mayor, according to the New York Post.

“ 'Regardless of tonight’s outcome, we fought the right fights and we put this city on a better path,” Lightfoot also said, though crime skyrocketed under her watch in recent years.

"Earlier this week, Lightfoot said that race was a factor in her reelection campaign. 

“ 'I am a black woman — let’s not forget,” Lightfoot said in an interview with the New Yorker last week. “Certain folks, frankly, don’t support us in leadership roles.”

"In 2021, in an interview with WTTW, Lightfoot claimed that “about 99 percent” of the criticism she got was due to the fact that she’s a black woman. ". . .

Chicago polls close leaving Mayor Lori Lightfoot's future at risk amid soaring crime | Daily Mail Online  . . ." Former Georgia state Rep. Vernon Jones tweeted: 'Chicago's Mayor Lori Lightfoot, just got the FOOT! Other Democrat mayors with run-away crime in your cities, take note. Even liberals are tired of being unsafe.'

"Jonathan Turley, a criminal defense attorney and FOX News contributor added: 'There is hope for my home city yet. Lori Lightfoot is out.". . .

Lori Lightfoot's critics sound off on Chicago mayor losing re-election: 'Crime doesn’t pay' | Fox News

Darren Beattie’s 2-word advice to Tucker’s team reviewing 40K hours of J6 footage: “Western perimeter”…

 "Brief note: Soros-funded harridans are still trying to cancel Revolver. We are extremely grateful and fortunate to be supported by our generous readership.". . .

Revolver News  "After a long and contentious battle for the Speakership, Kevin McCarthy is understandably eager to prove his bona fides to the America First constituency. In perhaps one of his most encouraging displays yet, McCarthy has agreed to give Tucker Carlson access to over 41 thousand — yes, thousand — hours of Capitol Police surveillance footage.

Axios:

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has given Fox News’ Tucker Carlson exclusive access to 41,000 hours of Capitol surveillance footage from the Jan. 6 riot, McCarthy sources tell me.

Carlson TV producers were on Capitol Hill last week to begin digging through the trove, which includes multiple camera angles from all over Capitol grounds. Excerpts will begin airing in the coming weeks.

Why it matters: Carlson has repeatedly questioned official accounts of 1/6, downplaying the insurrection as “vandalism.”

Now his shows — “Tucker Carlson Tonight” on Fox News, and “Tucker Carlson Today” and “Tucker Carlson Originals” on the streaming service Fox Nation — have a massive trove of raw material.

Carlson told me: “[T]here was never any legitimate reason for this footage to remain secret.”

California attorney suspended for calling a male convicted child-molester...a male -

Wikipedia: Deadnaming is the act of referring to someone by a name they used prior to changing it, such as their birth name, but is not dependent on a legal name change - calling someone any name they used to go by but have informed you they no longer do will generally qualify as Deadnaming. 

 American Thinker  "The attorney who prosecuted a 26-year-old child-molester has been suspended by Los Angeles D.A. George Gascon.  "Hannah" Tubbs, the convicted child-molester, started calling himself a woman only after DNA evidence linked him to a previous crime, according to law enforcement sources. 

"Shea Sanna, who had been the lead prosecutor for part of the case, was suspended after being accused of misgendering and "deadnaming" Tubbs, who, speaking of deadnaming, is now also accused of beating Michael Clark to death with a rock in a wooded area in Kern County.

"Unbelievable.  At least I wish it were.

"Perhaps if the Unabomber had identified as a female and a prosecutor had subsequently "misgendered" or "deadnamed" him, his case would have been thrown out and the guilty prosecutor disbarred.

"Sanna claims that jailhouse phone calls show that Tubbs was attempting to use gender identity to game the justice system.  This accusation apparently made others in Gascon's office uncomfortable, which led to Sanna's suspension.

"Sanna, however, stated: "I was suspended for speaking out against the Gascón Administration.  Misgendering Tubbs while informing them that they were being played is just their excuse for the suspension."

"Tubbs has a lengthy criminal history in California — and Idaho — under his given name, James Tubbs, and allegedly began identifying as female after being arrested in connection with a 2014 child molestation case in which he pleaded guilty to attacking a 10-year-old girl in a Denny's bathroom stall.  Gascon's office sought to have Tubbs, now 27, placed in a juvenile facility because he had committed that crime prior to his 18th birthday.". .  .

China Warns Elon Musk Not to Address Coronavirus Lab Leak Theory

 Breitbart

"Communist China warned Elon Musk against addressing the coronavirus lab leak theory in case it impinges on his future business prospects in the country.

"The Twitter CEO commented over the weekend on a post from “Kanekoa The Great” that questioned if the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Dr. Anthony Fauci, had a role in creating the coronavirus.

“Dr. Anthony Fauci funded gain-of-function research at the Wuhan lab, lied to Congress about it, and now both the FBI & the Department of Energy have concluded that the coronavirus originated at the Wuhan lab. Does that mean Dr. Anthony Fauci funded the development of COVID-19?” asked the account.

“ 'He did it via a pass-through organization (EcoHealth),” Musk responded, referencing the nonprofit group that Fauci’s institute gave $8 million in federal research grants to study bat coronaviruses in China.". . .

The Supreme Court Is At The Heart Of America’s Racial Division

Bookworm Room

                                                    Society needs defamation law to function

"If you are trying to make sense of how our nation has become so toxic, a good starting point is the Supreme Court’s  1964 decision in New York Times v. Sullivan. That case radically altered existing law so that, for the first time in our history, it was, as a practical matter, impossible for any “public figure” to bring a successful defamation suit. There can be no better example of the horrid effect of that decision than a recent race-based defamation against Governor Ron DeSantis.

"Recently, the DeSantis administration sent a letter to the College Board informing it that the State of Florida would not allow a proposed AP African-American Studies curriculum to be taught within the state. The rationale was that much of the course was nothing more than a highly politicized and radical ideology dressed up as a history course, something illegal in Florida. 

"Factually, nothing DeSantis did was “racist”—that is, he did not treat Blacks differently because of their skin color. Nor did anything DeSantis say or do support “White supremacy”—that is, he did not promote White Americans as being inherently superior to Black Americans. And yet, the race hustlers instantly went on the attack:

"Since the 1960s, progressives have been using the race card to demonize and defame their ideological opponents.

"In that vein, it would be hard to imagine a more classically defamatory article than that penned the other day by Renée Graham, an associate editor of the Boston Globe: “Ron DeSantis’s Fear of American History.” Graham outrageously slanders DeSantis by claiming that racism motivated him. She compares DeSantis’s refusal to allow the wildly ideological African American Studies AP Course to be taught in Florida to the actions of a slave owner who refused to allow his slaves to learn to read. It is, she says, an act of “white supremacy.”... 

Democrats are drooling over the possibility of criminalizing any speech with which they disagree — and they’ll do it, too, if voters don’t deal them a stunning political loss.

"Rep. Sheila Jackson (D-TX; Yale BA; University of Virginia Law School JD) has floated a bill controlling speech with which she disagrees. It’s called the “Leading Against White Supremacy Act” and is intended to make expressions of “white supremacy” a federal crime. Usefully (for her purposes), Jackson Lee does not define “white supremacy.” Instead, the act opens with at Tautology:

A person engages in a white supremacy inspired hate crime when white supremacy ideology has motivated the planning, development, preparation, or perpetration of actions that constituted a crime or were undertaken in furtherance of activity that, if effectuated, would have constituted a crime.

"You got that, right? You will be charged for having engaged in a white supremacy hate crime if you were thinking white supremacist thoughts when you engaged in that hate crime.". . .

Even the left leaning Daily Beast says: Biden’s Befuddled Response to the Ohio Train Disaster Is Unacceptable

 

“East Palestine is overwhelmingly white, and it’s politically conservative,” my old boss Tucker Carlson said on his Fox News show. “That shouldn’t be relevant, but it very much is.”

Biden’s Befuddled Response to the Ohio Train Disaster Is Unacceptable (msn.com)

"Woody Allen might have been wrong about a lot of things, but I think he nailed it when he said, “Showing up is 80 percent of life.” President Joe Biden seems to have missed this particular memo. He has yet to visit East Palestine, Ohio, site of that horrible train derailment that spilled toxic chemicals, which residents claim is making them sick (though he is “keeping very close tabs on it.”). . .

. . ."But there’s another reason why failing to show up in East Palestine was a crucial mistake: In not doing so, Biden has inadvertently enabled what The Bulwark’s Tim Miller described as a “reverse Katrina situation.” In other words, Biden’s opponents have seized on this opportunity and used it to say, “You don’t care about rural white people.”

"Just as in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, there was a narrative that said George W. Bush didn’t “care about Black people,” there are those who suggest (fair or not) that Biden would have responded more swiftly if the derailment had occurred in a more racially diverse or progressive town.

Legacy media baffled that President Trump beat Biden and troupe to East Palestine

 Jack Hellner  . . ."The author says Trump is desperate to return to the White House. (News flash: we’re desperate for his return to the White House.) Yet, here are some things that show which party is actually desperate to occupy the White House:

"When Hillary and the DNC couldn’t run on her corrupt record and on their unpopular leftist policies, they paid a foreign national over $10 million to create a fictitious dossier to destroy Trump. They must have had trouble finding true dirt with which to destroy him.

"FBI director James Comey listed all of Hillary’s crimes and then falsely claimed no one would be prosecuted for those crimes.

"Corrupt FBI bureaucrats, who were so desperate for Hillary to win, continuously peddled the fake dossier as legitimate when they lied to the FISA court so they could illegally spy on associates of Trump as they sought to destroy him.

"For four years, the media and other Democrats intentionally lied, asserting that Trump had colluded with Russia; they challenged the legitimacy of the election and labeled him an illegitimate president.

"When Trump did his job and asked Ukraine to investigate the known corruption and kickbacks to the Biden family, the media and other Democrats colluded to push for Trump’s impeachment. The media and other Democrats have never cared about all the kickbacks to the Clintons or the Bidens.

"When a true story about a laptop came out before the 2020 election that showed how corrupt Joe and his family were, a cabal of journalists, government officials, former intelligence officials, and other Democrats engaged in a calculated campaign to knowingly censor the truth from the public. That shows pure desperation by a party so consumed with power that they were willing to intentionally interfere in a presidential election. They clearly didn’t care about democracy or election integrity.". . .

The audacity of Mr. Rogers

 Youtube

Why J6 Transparency Frightens the Democrats; Publicizing the Capital surveillance video will finally destroy their “insurrection” narrative.

 The American Spectator   "For two years, the Democrats have insisted that, on Jan. 6, 2021, the republic was shaken to its foundations by an “insurrection” mounted by wild-eyed MAGA extremists. They attempted to reinforce this claim with a series of hyper-partisan hearings, complete with video edited for dramatic effect by a professional television producer. This left most of the footage captured by Capitol surveillance cameras on the cutting room floor, and the Democrats refused to release any of the unused video to the public. Thus, after the midterms, Kevin McCarthy pledged to make it public if elected speaker of the House. He kept his word, and the Democrats are clearly alarmed.

"Indeed, their response to the news that McCarthy had allowed Fox News’ Tucker Carlson access to the surveillance tapes was nearly as hysterical as their reaction to the Jan. 6 affray itself. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), for example, circulated a Dear Colleague letter containing this melodramatic nonsense: “MAGA Republicans in the House have provided tens of thousands of hours of sensitive Capitol security footage to a FOX News personality who regularly peddles in conspiracy theories and Pro-Putin rhetoric.” The Putin angle was parroted by Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.): “Kevin McCarthy turned over Jan. 6 videos to right-wing propagandist Tucker Carlson. A man who spews Kremlin talking points.”

"These claims are not merely unhinged; they are patently false. McCarthy hasn’t turned over a trove of Jan. 6 tapes to Carlson or to anyone else. As Politico’s Kyle Cheney notes: “Carlson doesn’t appear to actually *possess* any of the video footage. His team is reviewing it via government-controlled terminals at the Capitol.” Cheney goes on to point out, “That’s exactly how the Jan. 6 select committee reviewed security footage too.” But that didn’t prevent Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) from penning a preposterous letter to his fellow Democrats contending that Carlson’s access to the surveillance tapes creates a security risk comparable to that which existed prior to the 9/11 terrorist attacks:

"The speaker is needlessly exposing the Capitol complex to one of the worst security risks since 9/11. The footage Speaker McCarthy is making available to Fox News is a treasure trove of closely held information about how the Capitol complex is protected and its public release would compromise the safety of the Legislative Branch and allow those who want to commit another attack to learn how Congress is safeguarded.… 

It also risks exposing the carefully laid out and highly guarded plans for the continuity of government, intended to preserve our democracy in the event of an attack.

 "What is actually at risk, of course, is the carefully crafted Democratic narrative about what really happened at the Capitol on the afternoon of Jan. 6, 2021. They have invested an enormous amount of taxpayer money and political capital in an attempt to convince the public that it was an insurrection perpetrated by MAGA extremists who have taken over the GOP and are likely to launch another attack on “our democracy” in the future. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) intimated that last week in this ridiculous tweet: “McCarthy giving 40,000 hrs of Jan. 6 tape to a pro-Putin journalist is an astounding ethical collapse. What security precautions were taken to keep this from becoming a roadmap for a 2024 insurrection?' ”. . .

Mayor Pete Keeps Failing Upward

 Cautious, ambitious, “well-rounded,” and soulless, Pete and his ilk are the dominant human type in charge of the world today—the managerial class.

American Greatness  "While most of Joe Biden’s demerits can be chalked up to dementia, the train derailment and environmental disaster in East Palestine, Ohio exposes the phoniness and overhyped political skill of Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg. 

"As I wrote in an earlier piece, Buttigieg is the “organization kid” who grew up; the man with the golden resume. Alas, people like this frequently do not go as far as they and their parents hope. They peak early. Social intelligence, leadership, perseverance—as well as a little luck—matter a lot, especially in politics. 

"Some of these principles are pretty basic. No one is going to want to help someone who is only out for himself. You never hear people bragging about how Mayor Pete helped them out or achieved something tangible for the community. His record in South Bend was full of failures and faddish bad judgment. He’s just been checking boxes all the way: Ivy League, Rhodes Scholar, McKinsey Consulting, combat tourism with the Navy, small town mayor, and now the latest rung, a cabinet position.

"A narcissistic social climber, he’s bored by the normal demands of most jobs. He also lacks the instincts and guts to make the most of challenges and crises. He instinctively runs away from anything that is not rehearsed, planned, and perfect. That’s why he ignored the port crisis last year, instead secretly taking a few months off when he and his gay partner adopted a child. 

"I am intimately familiar with this type of person. They make up a solid plurality of the legal profession. They are cautious, ambitious, “well-rounded,” and soulless. This is the dominant human type in charge of the world today, the managerial class, entry to which is controlled by a mania for credentialism and conformity. ". . . 

In conclusion: "There is, however, a silver lining: since Buttigieg and his party’s ultimate plans are so destructive, you love to see them screw up so badly." 

Can Vivek Ramaswamy fix Washington? CNN and MSNBC will be coming after him immediately

Biden is known for walking stiffly.  His big shtick is touching women inappropriately.  Working diligently to strengthen the hand of credit card firms against consumers for much of his career in the Senate, it's little wonder that credit card giant MBNA was his largest contributor. 

  Harry A. White II   . . ."Ramaswamy is a multimillionaire.  How did Vivek Ramaswamy make his money?  The answer is outside politics and fair and square, apparently.  This bodes well for an honorable career in politics.  More power to him.  

In an editorial, Ramaswamy called for making the border secure, eliminating affirmative action "across the American economy," and establishing economic independence from China, "the greatest external threat to America."

To put America first, we need to rediscover what America is. That's why I am running for president. I am launching not only a political campaign but a cultural movement to create a new American Dream — one that is not only about money but about the unapologetic pursuit of excellence[.] ... [I]t is about reviving a national identity.

He hopes to end ESG and diversity, inclusion, and equity (DIE) and put merit back in America.

Is a revival on a gigantic scale (from Kentucky to the White House) too much to hope for?  Probably.  The only men fit to captain the ship of state — benevolent, powerful men "who have access to the Form of the Good," or God — don't exist in Washington.  There are only men spouting the state-sponsored orthodoxy of wokeism, via protected categories in state and federal "non-discrimination" laws, which include gender self-identification. 

Looking for arguments for and against DIE, I found a bad one "for" online.  Here it is:

Some have said that instituting the principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in the workplace, out of compulsion, results in mediocrity, not meritocracy. However, in the absence of diversity and inclusion, it is exceedingly difficult in most human endeavors to proclaim that someone or something merits designation as 'the best.' In other words, without diversity and inclu­sion, meritocracy itself is a meritless myth, and any merit bestowed cannot be deemed equitable.". . .

 Who is Vivek Ramaswamy, the new GOP presidential candidate?