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April 23, 2021
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Good morning!

Blessings on you and your family, and from all the Huckabee staff! 

Today's newsletter includes:

  • Bible Verse Of The Day
  • Even the U.S. POST OFFICE spies on Americans
  • FBI: Congressional Baseball Shooter Wanted "Suicide By Cop"
  • The 51st State
  • Democratic Leadership
  • Biden Gets The "Armenian Genocide" Right
  • A Reader Writes Back...
  • America The Beautiful

Sincerely,

Mike Huckabee

BIBLE VERSE OF THE DAY 

LORD, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches.

Psalm 104:24 KJV


 

Even the U.S. POST OFFICE spies on Americans

By Mike Huckabee

Neither rain nor snow nor heat nor gloom of night stays the United States Postal Service from the swift completion of its appointed task to monitor the social media of American citizens.

That’s not exactly the motto of the USPS, but we’ve just learned that it might as well be. Your snail mail (maybe even your ballot) might be delivered weeks late or end up in a dumpster in Poughkeepsie, but the Post Office knows what you’ve been saying on Twitter and Facebook and, if they find it “inflammatory," are forwarding it to the appropriate agencies. This is yet another example of Big Tech’s cozy relationship with the current administration.

Remember when the date of March 20 was in the news as a possible right-wing “domestic terrorism” follow-up to the January 6 Capitol Hill breach? House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was using reports of social media activity surrounding this date to justify keeping thousands of National Guard troops on duty and the fencing with razor wire around Capitol Hill. Believe it or not, those reports came not from the FBI or the National Security Agency but from a special police force within our own U.S. Postal Service, called the United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS).

The USPIS, which has about 1,200 members, is the oldest continually-operating federal law enforcement agency in our country, with the stated goal of protecting the postal service, its employees and its infrastructure. Their jurisdiction is supposed to be limited to crimes that affect the use of the mail, the postal service or postal employees.

But they’ve expanded operations and are now apparently in the surveillance (SPYING) business. These days, who isn’t?

The POST MILLENNIAL reported about the interception of communications regarding March 20, saying, “The U.S. Postal Service’s law enforcement arm is monitoring the social media activity of Americans to share ‘inflammatory’ content across government agencies. They quoted from this government bulletin: ‘Analysts with the USPIS Internet Covert Operations Program (iCOP) monitored significant activity regarding planned protests occurring internationally and domestically on March 20, 2021. Locations and times have been identified for these protests, which are being distributed online across multiple social media platforms, to include right-wing leaning Parler and Telegram accounts. Mar 20 was set for the World Wide Rally for Freedom and Democracy, an umbrella protest involving many anti-government groups and movements.”

As they reported, the bulletin also included screen shots of people ostensibly planning protests on social media, including Parler and Facebook. (I would add that Parler, said to have a right-wing user base, was hardly used to plan the Capitol Hill breach, while Facebook and Instagram were.) The bulletin justified its surveillance by suggesting that “Parler users have commented about their intent to use the rallies to engage in violence.”

Gosh, that sounds pretty serious. But at the same time, the report included this disclaimer: “[NO] INTELLIGENCE IS AVAILABLE TO SUGGEST THE LEGITIMACY OF THESE THREATS.” (Emphasis mine.) Incidentally, did any sort of violent protest by Trump supporters take place on March 20? NO.

“ICOP analysts are currently monitoring these social media channels for any potential threats stemming from the scheduled protests and will disseminate intelligence updates as needed,” the bulletin said.

In other words, the USPS defends their monitoring of social media by saying there was activity suggesting protests by “anti-government” groups would happen on March 20, even though they had no intelligence to support that such threats were even real. Doesn’t matter, though; they’ll continue monitoring for potential threats!

The USPS, in response to questions about this program, responded with typical bureaucratic boilerplate blah-blah: “The U.S. Postal Inspection Service is the primary law enforcement, crime prevention, and security arm of the U.S. Postal Service. The Internet Covert Operations Program is a function within the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, which assesses threats to the U.S. Postal Service employees and its infrastructure by monitoring publicly available open source information.”

That answers none of our questions. So why is the Post Office monitoring social media posts? Unless mail delivery is going to impacted by a rally on Capitol Hill –- which seems unlikely, considering these are quite common –- this work doesn’t appear to be within their jurisdiction.

Geoffrey Stone, who has investigated the National Security Agency’s surveillance program, has said he doesn’t think “the Postal Service has the degree of sophistication that you would want if you were dealing with national security issues of this sort.” He wondered why some other federal agency wasn’t carrying out this mission. “There are so many other federal agencies that could do this,” he said, “I don’t understand why the Post Office would be doing it. There is no need...you’ve got FBI, Homeland Security and so on, so...I don’t understand why the government would go to the Postal Service for examining the internet for security issues.”

And, again, monitoring Americans seems beyond the scope of their assigned duties. Rachel Levinson-Waldman, who works at the Brennan Center for Justice, questioned this, too. “Based on the very minimal information that’s available online,” she said, “it appears that [iCOP] is meant to root out misuse of the postal service by online actors, which doesn’t seem to encompass what’s going on here. It’s not at all clear why their mandate would include monitoring of social media that’s unrelated to use of the postal system.”

She added that if this is “lawfully protected” speech, even the kind we might think is objectionable, then monitoring it raises “serious constitutional concerns.”

It appears that even when we find platforms such as Parler that don’t ban us outright for perfectly legitimate speech about vaccines, masks, the election and other largely forbidden topics, we will still be monitored (SPIED ON) by the government. I wish I could tell you more about how, specifically, the Post Office is coordinating with Big Tech to conduct this monitoring; when they started doing it; or if the Internet Covert Operations Program continues its undercover work. Our guess is that it does –- why should the Biden administration stop spying on “insurrectionist” Trump supporters? –- but those details continue to elude.

THE GATEWAY PUNDIT reported on this as well, and they believe the Post Office developed their list of conservatives to spy on from a list of “Build The Wall” donors they obtained a few days before the 2020 Republican Convention. They can’t prove it, but they offer circumstantial evidence. And if you think Post Office cops aren’t as rough as regular cops, check out how a team of 15 USPIS officers conducted the arrest of Trump supporter and wheelchair-bound triple-amputee war hero Brian Kolfage.

FBI: Congressional Baseball Shooter Wanted "Suicide By Cop"

By Mike Huckabee

Just what Americans need: one more reason to lose respect for the FBI. It’s been revealed that when a deranged leftist opened fire on Republicans during a Congressional baseball game practice, nearly killing Rep. Steve Scalise, the FBI ruled that his motivation was “suicide by cop.” Yes, it wasn’t a politically-motivated hate crime. He just wanted the police to shoot him.

Republican Rep. Brad Westrup of Ohio revealed that stunning ruling in a hearing this week, adding that even FBI agents who investigated disagreed with it. Westrup said he was there that day: “We know from [the shooter’s] social media posts that he hated Republicans and that he hated President Trump. He loved Bernie Sanders and he held left-wing beliefs. We know he carried in his pocket that day a target list with names of Republican congressmen…that included their physical descriptions.” He noted that the shooter was carrying 136 rounds, when it only takes one shot at the cops to get them to kill you.

Westrup said the shooter may have believed he could change the balance of power in the House by killing 20 or 30 Republican members, which would mean this was what a real attempted insurrection would look like. Westrup wants an investigation into why top FBI officials ignored the facts and their own agents to arrive at such a preposterous conclusion.

And maybe he’ll get one, since even some Democrats said they supported him. Calling that deliberate, planned assault “suicide by cop” is like claiming that the 9/11 hijackers committed a botched landing.

While we’re on the subject of sweeping armed assaults on Republicans under the rug, Tucker Carlson is getting flak from the left for saying that the Capitol police officer who fatally shot unarmed Republican protester Ashli Babbitt should be held to the same scrutiny as Derek Chavin, instead of having his name kept secret and his job protected. I’m hearing a lot of outrage from the left, but not a lot of rational arguments for why he’s wrong.

The 51st State

By Mike Huckabee

Yesterday, on a 216-208 vote, House Democrats voted to make the District of Columbia the 51st state. It’s wrapped in a lot of rhetoric about taxation without representation (Democrats oppose that?), but it’s really about padding Congress with two more Democrat Senators and at least one more guaranteed House seat.

You can read more about it at Townhall.com, where Spencer Brown gives this naked power grab the respect it deserves. Unless Democrats can eliminate the Senate filibuster, I assume this is as far as it will go. If they do accomplish that, who knows? Although Brown points out that this is expressly forbidden by the Constitution, so they’re trying to amend the Constitution with a party-line vote in Congress. One hopes that even Chief Justice Roberts would recognize that as a constitutional no-no.

Democratic Leadership

By Mike Huckabee

If you’re attempting to make any logical sense out of the current Democratic “leadership” of America, try to wrap your head around this:

It’s an unconstitutional imposition of government on the right of physicians to practice medicine when states bar them from giving unproven drugs and hormones or irreversible body-altering surgery to minors who think they’re transgender. But it’s perfectly okay for President Biden to force religious hospitals and medical practitioners to perform those exact same procedures against their consciences and their Hippocratic Oath.



Biden Gets The "Armenian Genocide" Right

By Mike Huckabee

For those who think I’m only critical of President Biden, please note that when he gets something right, I acknowledge it. And here’s an example: after a century, Biden will reportedly risk the wrath of Turkey’s dictator by calling the Ottoman Turks’ murder of 1.5 million Christian Armenians the “Armenian genocide.”

I hope it won’t take another hundred years before some people in Washington have the spine to call other genocides by their correct name as well.

A Reader Writes Back... 

At this time of national strife I am reminded of the courageous work you did, as Governor, equalizing the sentencing of black Arkansans to correspond to the sentencing of whites. I am not aware of any comparable effort elsewhere in the nation. I wish that your strength on that issue was better known.

I was glad to have it confirmed that Officer Sicknick's death was likely natural, and not a consequence of the previous day's riot. That said, I have too much respect for those who daily put themselves at risk to keep the peace in our cities and Capitol building to feel anything but disgust for those who would blast him in the face with bear spray.

America The Beautiful 

God's creation is all around us. To learn more about Yellowstone National Park, visit its website here.

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Comments 1-15 of 15

  • Brenda Minter

    04/24/2021 09:32 PM

    I believe without a doubt the story of the USPS spying on conservatives. Our mail carrier who was also our neighbor in Iowa was not to be trusted. My husband and I had questions about him during the 2020 election, but never inquired about the things that he was doing. For example, he had the mail truck at his house after hours and then he would take it back to the post office and come right home on his bicycle. It was not a regular practice of his before or after the election. He despised bringing our conservative mail to us, I could tell. We have since relocated to Wisconsin and pray that we can make a difference here. (Lord willing) Keep up the great job of keeping us informed!

  • Robin Rebhan

    04/24/2021 07:46 AM

    Regards to " 51st State ". If this goes through, expect "Blue" cities in Red states to ask for statehood also.

  • Jeanice Crowley

    04/23/2021 07:28 PM

    Dear Senator;
    1. Please do not use a picture of "Resident" Biden in the opening of your newsletter. Yuck
    2. USPS doing surveillance of our social media - WOW. The US post office can barely deliver our mail and packages on time but now they are surveilling our social media?? Is that legal??? And who is giving the USPS access to our social media????? I pray that you and your staff will be investigating this situation for the American people. Your's is the only sane voice I can trust.

  • Pat J Green

    04/23/2021 05:39 PM

    There is a TV show rerun out there called "signed, sealed and delivered" were the postal inspector cops play a duffis roll. Now think about this most people think of post office cops in this manner. Now if you wanted to get by with spying on Americans who better would you use.

  • Paul Kern

    04/23/2021 04:26 PM

    More drama!
    Why am I not surprised the USPS now doing the foot work for the Deep State. It now is apparent the Marxists have taken control of all but the SCOTUS. And it is on shaky grounds based on some of its recent rulings supporting the left.
    Even Obama warned people when he pointed out that sleepy Joe could not get any thing right.
    We must be honest. I used evidence truth based counseling to be effective in a field ruled by pagans. Our enemy is Satan and his " useful fools" are Marxists. Even France and other nations have rejected Biden and his insanity. You need to know your enemy and his tactics. Few on the right accept and understand this. It is a new cold war now. Externally and a hot one internally. Too many church leaders are convincing the sheeple to accept slavery. Just like the German church did by accepting Hitler!
    Unless the right, with God's help, stops the left, I don't foresee any more legitimate elections
    We are basically one nation with " rabid dog" states attempting to assert their power.

  • KATHIE STIMAC

    04/23/2021 03:59 PM

    I wish you would put photographs of DECENT (conservative, patriotic) people at the top of your morning newsletter. I see these leftist/liberal/facist mugs too much already without you throwing them in my face.

  • LAVON WALKER

    04/23/2021 02:42 PM

    I paid USPS $7.10 to deliver a "certified - return receipt" envelope - check enclosed - to a bank connected to a major US financial services company ....... it took them 30 days to deliver the envelope .......................

    USP and FED EX deliver packages in two days

    IF I am sending anything that I want delivered - I pay $7.10 - otherwise it may not be delivered at all.

    SAD that GOVT employees are now working for the Democrats - not US TAX PAYERS.

    Thankfully we can pay most bills on the internet !!!

    Did they hold up my "check" trying to figure out "how to cash it" ??????

  • Frank Chavez

    04/23/2021 02:33 PM

    I can understand if Puerto Rico wants to become a state, but DC?? Its a city that becomes a state?? Anyway, I liken this to a city that wants an airport. They go through all the studies and they build one outside of the city limits. Then hotels say, "hey we need rooms for travelers", then workers need to move closer to work, then houses start going up. Then the residents start complaining about the noise airplanes make and make the airport move. Then the cycle starts again. Those folks who moved into DC knew it was not represented, didn't they?? I agree with some suggestions of giving property back to the surrounding states except the where the capitol and White House are. Let the others offices deal with the state governments . Get rid of the DC mayorship and council. Joe could be mayor, strike that AOC or Pelosi would want that. of the

  • Judy Radley

    04/23/2021 02:16 PM

    Regarding my previous comment, I think it is time that private companies take over all federal govt. funded entities, like electric company, USPS, heating/AC companies, television, internet, etc., any thing that the federal government in charge of in 2021, should be defunded and private, non-govt. companies should take over. Call it 'outsourcing' the federal govt. so that we can at least have some privacy and get our Constitutional Rights back, and go ' underground' meaning not allowing Biden's dictatorship to control us at all. Anything the federal govt.controls, private companies can control too. Otherwise, China will take over. This is the only chance it seems now to save America's existence. The most severe endangered species is American Conservative Thinking. We are smarter than they are and we can solve problems while they continue to create more chaos, which is their intention. Conservative thrive better without govt. interference, as we don't need the govt. to tell us what to do or how to think, so lets get the Conservative entrepreneurs together and fix this nation without any govt. help. We are the ones who survived the depression by relying on ourselves and not the federal or state (blue ones) govt. The USPS is too old, non-secure, and becoming obsolete, so it is time we, Conservatives, innovate a new way to get communications to others without dictatorship Biden's interference.

  • William Fuhrer

    04/23/2021 02:09 PM

    What does it say about American educational system that in the 1950's J. Edgar Hoover wrote Masters of Deceit so Americans could see through Communists and Socialist charades but today Marxists who want to take away Liberty and Freedom announce themselves as Marxists ENEMIES OF AMERICA

  • Judy Radley

    04/23/2021 01:50 PM

    The post office article you mentioned reminds me of when private correspondence was interrupted by the 'third Reich' in the movie, "The Sound of Music" where Capt. Von Trap's telegram was intervened by Hilter's henchmen and Von Trap stated in the movie, "I thought telegrams were private, at least in the Austria I used to know." Is this where we are at now? In the USA? Our private correspondences will always be intervened and read by the present day communist henchmen, masked as the USPS and dictated to do this by Biden and Pelosi? If so, we are done as a free nation. Only God can help us now. The interference of private correspondence is violation of the First Amendment, 'Freedom of Speech', and of our Bill of Rights, "the pursuit of happiness", etc. How can we defend ourselves now? As the USPS is also an enemy of America now too. We are not a free nation anymore. We have to prepare ourselves now as 2022 will be too late.

  • Mary McCauley

    04/23/2021 01:12 PM

    Thank you, Governor Huckabee, this is always a great read. We know they--spy on us through the mail (which is new to me), our computers, and our phones, etc. I don't care anymore. I tell them Jesus loves you and other such messages. I almost left Facebook but I stayed where I try to post my Bible verses, beautiful photos of my state of Oklahoma, share information about my Jack Russells with other JRT lovers, my fellow rose gardeners, my friends, and family- which with some is my only contact. I also maintain a group page for the Republicans of McIntosh County in Oklahoma. Let them listen in on our prayer calls or calls between my other female friends about girly stuff. MAGA

  • Greg Dawson

    04/23/2021 12:21 PM

    Mike,
    I have to wonder what an agency that is not just broke, but IMHO owes the American taxpayers BILLIONS for yearly bailouts, is doing playing games on the Internet anyway. That is not their uh... domain... They need to focus their energy on getting the damn mail delivered to the right address and on time. If they're not careful, they'll have Jerk Dorkski and Mr. Zuckerbot doxing them for exceeding their bandwidth.

  • Stephen Russell

    04/23/2021 11:46 AM

    USPS spying:
    Side Income for USPS?
    Must make data public
    FOI.
    Or run away loose with Big Tech?
    Very scary

  • Renee Kendrick

    04/23/2021 11:33 AM

    Defund the police? Eliminate (defund) the USPIS first!!!