Political correctness - Mike Huckabee

Mike Huckabee

Haven’t we all wondered over the years why both the Biden and Obama administrations have taken actions that were much more beneficial to Iran than to the United States? Investigative reporter Lee Smith, writing in TABLET, explains at least part of the mechanism behind this:

“The Biden administration’s now-suspended Iran envoy Robert Malley helped to fund, support and direct an Iranian intelligence operation designed to influence the United States and allied governments, according to a trove of purloined Iranian government emails,” which were “published last week after being extensively verified over a period of several months” by independent news source IRAN INTERNATIONAL and by veteran WALL STREET JOURNAL correspondent Jay Solomon.

We learn from these emails that the Iranian regime used a pool of Iranian academics who had pledged their personal loyalty to that regime. They would meet in foreign countries to “receive instructions” from top regime officials. These operatives, Smith reports, played on their Iranian heritage and Western academic positions to influence U.S. policy towards Iran. Malley reportedly supported the efforts of the members of this circle, both inside and outside of government.

And, yes, Malley served as the U.S. government’s chief interlocutor (defined as “one who is involved in conversation”) with Iran for both the Biden and Obama administrations. It’s all starting to become clearer.

This circle of operatives was, as described in one email from one Iranian official to one of Iran’s lead nuclear negotiators, “a core group of 6-10 second-generation Iranians who have established affiliation with the leading international think-tanks and academic institutions, mainly in Europe and the U.S.”

For when you have time, this article offers much more detail about how our State Department was infiltrated by these operatives. One Malley protege, Ariane Tabatabai, even briefed members of Congress on the Foreign Relations, Armed Services and Intelligence Committees, and apparently it was all in service to Iran. Correspondence shows that she “was an active participant in a covert Iranian influence campaign designed to shape U.S. policy in order to serve the interests of the Iran regime,” taking her guidance from “top Iranian officials.”

Peter Theroux, a veteran Mideast analyst who is now retired from the CIA after 25 years of service and receiving the Career Intelligence Medal, said, “I know what a spy network looks like.” He recognizes this correspondence as “the way recruited assets speak to their handling officers.”

The State Department predictably “rejects the characterization” of this as a spy ring. “Rob Malley remains on leave and we have no further comment due to privacy considerations,” they said. “The Biden-Harris administration appointed Ariane Tabatabai to serve various roles in the U.S. government because of her expertise on nuclear and other foreign policy issues.” But according to Theroux, it seems likely that the Biden administration was well aware of her alleged covert activities on behalf of the Iranian regime. They way he describes the process for a top-level security clearance, they hardly could not have been. “Contacts with any foreign government raise more red flags than a Bernie Sanders honeymoon,” he said. (And that’s saying a lot!)

He went on: “Contacts with senior officials from enemy governments, classified as non-frat governments like Russia, China, Cuba, as well as Iran, are in a different category altogether, what would normally be totally disqualifying.”

Not disqualifying for the Obama and Biden administrations, though. We hate to keep linking to stories that are going to make you very angry, but let’s face it, more and more stories these days are going to do that. They just are.

https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/israel-middle-east/articles/iran-spy-ring-robert-malley-lee-smith

Mike Huckabee

Scott Adams, best known as the (now-canceled) creator of the comic strip DILBERT and also a bestselling author, is also a trained hypnotist and an expert in persuasion. Although the Democrats in Congress were lying their heads off during the first day of the impeachment inquiry --- and no doubt will continue to do so --- he warns that at least some of them were using some very effective persuasion techniques that, unfortunately, work like a charm on uninformed people. That’s what we’re up against. This is excerpted from his Friday podcast:

“Are you watching the impeachment inquiry? [It’s] a little laboratory where you can learn about persuasion and what’s wrong with the government, and you can see every example of everything. Now, AOC had her ‘moment’ where she argued passionately against the impeachment inquiry and the thought that Joe Biden had done anything wrong. (under his breath: ‘Oh my God…’) [Her performance] is a master class in persuasion. So her persuasion game is super-strong…

“...First of all, the whole situation around the Bidens is too complicated for 95 percent of voters. So [they’ll] never know what is actually happening. So in that situation, who is the best persuader wins. They can be completely divorced from reality; they just have to persuade.

“So given that the public has no idea what really happened with the Biden situation, she, first of all, acts very confident. The confidence itself is part of the persuasion. And I watched her ask a witness questions, and then act as though the answer to the question proved her point, when it didn’t even come close. But because the people watching it can’t tell the difference, she made it look like they proved her point…

“...When you watch her asking questions, the assumption that you have is that those questions ever made sense, or that the answer is in the right context. It was actually just complete blah-blah-blah that her mannerisms sold as proving her point. It was kind of a genius move; it was really good. There was no connection to facts or process. She just got somebody to say ‘yes’ and ‘no,’ and then sold it to the public as though she had just won a case. And none of it was even connected, like, to a case, just the most random bunch of (bleep). It was brilliant, really brilliant.”

Have to say, this is probably the first time we’ve ever seen the words “genius” and “brilliant” applied to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. She obviously had the words in front of her at the table while saying this, and she’s been coached in the art of selling something that’s (bleep) but that she doesn’t even know is (bleep). But, yes, what she did will play well with the uninformed and/or already brainwashed.

We’d also add that to better assess her natural skill at this, it helps to watch those Democrats who were trying the same technique but much less successfully. New York Rep. Dan Goldman’s attempt to feign righteous indignation while trying to rough-up calm-and-cool legal professor Jonathan Turley landed like an anvil and only succeeded in making him look even more ridiculous than he already did. Surely by now his party has trotted him out enough times to know that he NEVER makes his side look better.

Illinois Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi went the furthest of all, misstating and (surely) deliberately lying about Turley’s previous statements in other cases. Trying to discredit one of the most even-handed legal analysts you’ll ever see, he waved around papers like Sen. Joe McCarthy in the 1950s, suggesting that Turley had defended polygamy and had defended Tom Green, a polygamist who was convicted of child rape. (By the way, isn’t it interesting that the party that still talks about the blacklist of the 1950s is making blacklists of its own in the 2020s? They say that those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it, but in this case, the Democrats are remembering the past and STILL repeating it.)

Anyway, when Turley tried to correct this smear and explain why it was untrue, the congressman wouldn’t let him speak. Krishnamoorthi quickly left the floor once his time had ended, leaving Turley to continue as a witness. It took 30 minutes for Turley to be given the chance to correct the record. Later that day, Turley wrote a column about the toxic environment currently dominating our halls of power for the DAILY BEAST (where he most definitely was not preaching to the choir). This was “one more sorry sordid moment in our politics of personal destruction,” he wrote. It’s a definite must-read...

https://jonathanturley.org/2023/09/30/the-green-scare-and-the-new-mccarthyism-a-response-to-rep-raja-krishnamoorthi/#more-210165

So, AOC exhibits “genius” simply because she’s better at lying than the others because she senses or has been advised when she’s approaching a line she’s better off not crossing? They’re ALL lying, and we all better wake up to the tactics, especially when they’re being used more skillfully.

Another tactic pointed out by Adams (also by us, last Friday) was the constant criticism of the hearing over not presenting “fact witnesses.”

“But did that matter?” Adams asked. “No. The right question was, ‘Does it matter…’ And the answer would’ve been, ‘No, not for the inquiry. For the inquiry...we can show you the documents, and the documents serve as the evidence. That’s why we’re here...None of it matters; it’s not relevant to the inquiry.’” [Aside: that’s what we’ve been saying nonstop, both before the hearing and after.]

“It’s just something that sounds good, if you didn’t know anything about how anything works. But it sounded really good...really persuasive.”

And with that, Adams was done with the topic. It would’ve been nice for him to go on to talk about how else Republicans can counter this constant gaslighting. Are we going to let a partisan idiot like AOC (and the media) run over us when we have mounting evidence on our side?

Later in his podcast, Adams addressed the use by Democrats of the term “MAGA extremist.” He thinks this was coined by someone who, if not a hypnotist, is particularly well-versed in persuasion skills. He sees this as “weaponizing the government against ordinary voters.” MAGA is simply make-America-great-again, ordinary conservative thinking, while extremist is...extremist. They are two different things. But by constantly putting them together, he makes them synonymous.

“What would be an appropriate thing that you could do with an extremist?” he asked, given that an extremist is “probably dangerous.” So “the legal system has to deal with extremists.” Now, they’ve found a way to “slime the word MAGA.” Anyone who’s MAGA “is part of the extremist framing,” so that “pretty soon, MAGA and extremist will sound like the same thing.”

“That’s called...hypnosis.” He thinks a professional came up with this, not just a politician. “It’s too good,” he said. He called this weaponized persuasion because “it can get somebody killed.”

“So, basically,” he said, “it’s giving permission for violence against, and legal action against, ordinary Republicans.” Adams is not one to easily invoke Hitler’s name, but he likened this to what Hitler was doing with the Jews, “where you [gradually] move the country toward that hatred.”

He suggested the MAGA brand be changed to something specific such as “Anti-Corruption.” The reason? “They’re going against a man who’s corrupt.”

We thought of something a little catchier: “MAGA ‘Trumps’ Corruption.” It ties the familiar slogan, as well as Trump’s name, to fighting corruption. And running the rats out of the government has got to be THE key issue in ‘24.

On Sunday, Adams did point out something Trump posted on Truth Social that he thought was really effective: “Crooked Joe Biden has three major problems, and all of them start with the letter ‘I’ --- inflation, immigration and incompetence.”

“Oh, that’s...good,” he said with respect. “Good stuff, persuasion-wise.” It also happens to be true.

Mike Huckabee

Mike Huckabee reviews the events of the week and takes a closer look at the chaos coming out of Washington. Don't miss the interesting approach that some blue states are now taking to combat what AOC calls poverty. Tune in to Huckabee!

Mike Huckabee

As Oversight Committee Chair James Comer of Kentucky anticipated Tuesday, the committees in charge of the House impeachment inquiry of President Biden have released more information that supports allegations of special treatment for Hunter Biden. As it contains personal tax information, it had to be voted out of committee by House Ways & Means (and yes, Hunter’s attorneys, they’re allowed to do that.) Here’s a link to everything that was released on Wednesday.

https://waysandmeans.house.gov/event/meeting-on-documents-protected-under-internal-revenue-code-section-6103-2/

I know, overwhelming. They released 700 pages, the entire testimony of the IRS whistleblowers, after which a number of Democrats came to the mic to say there was still NO DIRECT EVIDENCE implicating President Biden in this. I’m sure they had all read and analyzed every page, just like they read 2,000-page budget bills overnight. When they still insist on repeating this talking point, it’s downright amusing.

In fact, Jessica Tarlov on Fox News’ THE FIVE became quite impassioned on Wednesday afternoon, trying to explain why a $260,000 payment from Chinese business associates showing up at then-presidential candidate Joe Biden’s home is okay. She said James Comer “is misrepresenting this case completely” over the issue of the address, as Comer had acknowledged Hunter used the Delaware home address “during this period.” I like to cut Tarlov a little slack, because she always has her work cut out for her at a table full of non-leftists --- sitting next to Judge Jeanine Pirro, no less, who usually decimates any opponent --- but have to say that this time she got off too easy because of the time constraints of broadcasting.

Just two facts should cancel out her ravings about Republicans “embarrassing themselves”: (1.) Indications are that Hunter was NOT living at his father’s house but in California when the transfers arrived, so he would not have been the one to receive them, and, especially, (2.) the finances of Hunter and Joe Biden are known to have been co-mingled. Their business and political lives were enmeshed --- to what extent? That’s what investigators are trying to determine. Of course, they have the email from Hunter complaining about having to give 50 percent of his earnings to his dad. Meanwhile, the very real arrival of a huge Chinese payment to Hunter showing up at the doorstop of his presidential-candidate father, Hunter’s “asset,” just looks dirty, because it is.

Another thing that’s always good to say when leftists defend the indefensible about the Bidens: I wonder what you would be saying about this right now, given the same scenario, if it involved Don Trump, Jr., and HIS father. And then just walk away. (I guarantee you, WE would not be defending it. That seems to be one of the main differences between Republicans and Democrats.)

Ways and Means Committee Chair Jason Smith spoke at a press conference on Wednesday, saying that if what is in these 700 pages is okay with you, “then we live on two different planets.”

One item Smith released was a text message from June 6, 2017, from Hunter that referred to his father as “my family’s only asset.”

Smith said, “These documents show a clearer connection between Joe Biden, his public office, and Hunter Biden’s global influence peddling scheme that resulted in over $20 million in payments to the Biden family...The evidence shows a pattern of Hunter Biden creating for-profit entities to shield out at least $20 million from foreign sources from taxes and hide the trail of payments that led to members of the Biden family.”

Something else that emerges from these pages, as reported in REDSTATE, is that James Biden, Joe Biden’s brother, tried to help Chinese energy company CEFC buy key U.S. energy assets while knowing the firm’s leader had direct ties to Chinese President Xi Jinping. Specifically, they were trying to buy a liquid natural gas facility on Monkey Island off the coast of Louisiana.

https://redstate.com/wardclark/2023/09/27/released-interview-with-james-biden-reveals-attempts-to-arrange-sale-of-us-energy-assets-to-china

Here’s the entire interview the FBI had with James…

https://justthenews.com/sites/default/files/2023-09/T19%20Exhibit%20401-Memo

According to FBI notes, “James B noted (Hunter) portrayed CEFC to him as Chairman Ye was a protege of President Xi.”

As Georgia Rep. Austin Scott said Wednesday, “It just means that it’s even worse than even I thought it was, that they would go that far. If you look at some of those ports in Louisiana...like Port Fourchon, that area of Louisiana, just a tremendous portion of the energy that we use inside the United States comes through those hubs. And the idea that you would help the Chinese acquire assets in that area to give, you know, an adversary the ability to control the energy supply inside the United States, I don’t understand how much more of a traitor you could be than to do such a thing.”

https://slaynews.com/news/joe-bidens-brother-james-admitted-to-fbi-the-biden-family-tried-to-help-chinese-firm-tied-to-xi-jinping-buy-key-us-energy-assets/

During Smith’s press conference, he showed a map with 23 countries that were allegedly involved in Hunter’s business enterprise. (This in itself is not evidence, but it points to how wide the investigation needs to be.) Also, to demonstrate how the IRS investigation had been interfered with, he displayed an email from Delaware Assistant U.S. Attorney Lesley Wolf instructing the investigators to remove references to Joe Biden (“Political figure 1”) from a search warrant. And there’s an investigators’ memo saying a CNN producer had received a memo from Hunter saying he expected that when his father became President, all this “stuff” (his tax investigation) would “go away.” Good detail here; a must-read...

https://redstate.com/nick-arama/2023/09/27/new-evidence-confirms-investigation-into-evidence-about-joe-biden-was-cut-off-in-hunter-probe-n2164384

Smith also showed a text Hunter allegedly sent a business associate describing the family “brand” as an asset.

https://dailycaller.com/2023/09/27/house-investigators-documents-supporting-irs-whistleblower-testimony/

Finally, Ways and Means also released a very interesting 2016 memo from the board of Ukrainian energy company Burisma to Yuri Lutsenko, the new prosecutor who replaced Viktor Shokin after Joe Biden apparently got Shokin fired. This was at the time Hunter was on Burisma’s board.

“As Members of the Board of Directors,” it says in part, “we respectfully request that allegations of criminal activity made by you and/or members of your office cease…”

It appears Burisma was getting its money’s worth in terms of influence. Much more here…

https://redstate.com/jeffc/2023/09/27/bombshell-hunter-biden-signed-off-on-burisma-memo-to-ukrainian-prosecutor-warning-against-investigation-n2164389

Mike Huckabee

He actually went to a section of the border that’s one of the worst for illegal crossings, and he livestreamed what he saw to give Americans a look at what Biden hath wrought.

https://www.foxnews.com/us/elon-musk-livestreams-border-give-people-firsthand-account-migrant-crisis

Musk said previously that the border needs to be secured and “we actually do need a wall and we need to require people to have some shred of evidence to claim asylum to enter, as everyone is doing that. It’s a hack that you can literally Google to know exactly what to say!” He also said that as an immigrant himself, he’s “extremely pro-immigrant” and wants expanded immigration for “hard-working and honest people,” but not those who are going to break the law.

https://www.westernjournal.com/musk-cant-take-anymore-declares-going-border-need-wall/

Meanwhile, someone other than Musk captured video of a border patrol agent cutting the razor wire barrier put up by Texas authorities so that more illegal entrants could come into the US. One even gave the agent a fist bump in thanks as they passed by.

https://www.westernjournal.com/illegal-alien-fist-bumps-border-patrol-agent-cuts-border-wire/

On the other hand, who are you gonna believe when it comes to the border: Your lying eyes or “Squad” member Ayanna Pressley? She assured CNN’s Jake Tapper, “No doubt about it, our border is secure!” That was so jaw-droppingly stupid that even Jake Tapper had a hard time swallowing it.

https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/rick-moran/2023/09/28/squad-member-rep-pressley-no-doubt-about-it-our-border-is-secure-n1730690

Related: The same Democrat leaders of New York City who once self-righteously declared it a “sanctuary city” for “undocumented immigrants” (i.e., illegal aliens) are now passing out flyers to the hordes of illegal immigrants overrunning the city. The flyers tell them they’ve been misinformed and that New York City is not a good place for them to be. They are told that the city is unable to help them obtain work visas, shelter stay limits are being reduced from 60 to 30 days, social service resources have been exhausted, and New York is “one of the most expensive cities in the world; you are better off going to a more affordable city."

https://www.theblaze.com/news/better-off-going-to-a-more-affordable-city-new-york-city-to-hand-out-flyers-advising-migrants-to-seek-shelter-elsewhere

Nice of them to try to palm off their self-created problem on cities with less money. But at least the migrants can take solace in knowing that if they do get out of New York City for someplace more livable and affordable, they can consider themselves “Americans.”

Mike Huckabee

BY MIKE HUCKABEE

Blessings on you and your family from all the Huckabee team!

Mike Huckabee

DAILY BIBLE VERSE

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Romans, 12:2

Certain Internet “gatekeepers” have decided my newsletter's fate...

I wrote recently about an investigation into all the liberal groups that fund and feed “information” to the A.P., and how that helps to explain why so many “news stories” on subjects like “climate change” read like activist group press releases. From those stories, you’d think there is no other viewpoint other than turned-up-to-11 hysteria. But that’s not at all true, as this story shows.

https://tinyurl.com/45rjrvwm

Unfortunately, if I summarize that story for you, it would possibly result in this newsletter being demonetized or blocked or having our ads removed by certain Internet “gatekeepers” who have decided that their views are the only objective truths allowed to be aired in public. This is why, if you’d like to help pay my staffers so that we can keep bringing you the real stories every American needs to know, you should subscribe to the Substack version. Just click here:

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You’ll find subscription plans as low as $3 a month for the full newsletter with exclusive subscriber-only content, no gatekeeper censorship, and no ads. Plus, you get a 20% discount on “Huckabee” merchandise, so unlike an electric car, it really does pay for itself! But sorry, no government subsidies.

I email daily and my politics newsletters usually take 10-15 minutes to read. I cover the news of the day and the liberal media. I write about the upcoming elections and dive deep on the Biden scandals. I will also share my opinion of the Trump indictments. I don’t think you will regret supporting a reporting of the facts, not the liberal bias the mainstream media gives you these days!

With gratitude,

Mike Huckabee

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Today’s Huckabee Video Link

If you missed it, or would like to share it, here is my interview from this weekend’s “Huckabee” on TBN with the Romeike family.

https://www.huckabee.tv/guests/the-romeike-family

They are apparently the only people the Biden Administration wants to deport. After 15 years of being exemplary American residents, they’re being threatened with expulsion back to Germany, where they face punishment and persecution for being Christians who homeschooled their children. If deported, their younger children who are American citizens could be taken from them and put into foster care. I’ve also heard reports that their adult children who were homeschooled could be classified as “uneducated” in Germany, making it impossible for them to get decent jobs.

This is one of the most outrageous miscarriages of justice I’ve seen in a long time, especially in an age when we have millions of unvetted illegal immigrants, some with criminal records, streaming into the US with no fears of deportation. I hope you will join me in praying for them and in taking direct action to express your support.

You can learn more about their case and sign a petition to the Biden Administration here: https://hslda.org/post/romeike

And contact your Congress member here to voice your support for a bill to extend them permanent resident status. Thank you for your aid and support.

https://hslda.org/post/congress-can-stop-deportation-for-romeikes-but-we-need-your-help

Newsom chooses Laphonza Butler

California Gov. Gavin Newsom picked an interim replacement to fill the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s seat until the 2024 election. He kept his promise to ignore qualifications and nondiscrimination laws and consider only black females (not the way he’d put it, but more accurate), which should be considered an EEOC violation, but he’s a Democrat so the laws don’t apply. To nobody’s surprise, he chose Laphonza Butler, who has no experience as an elected representative, but she checks off more Democrat boxes than a Bingo champion, being LGBTQ+, a former government workers’ union president who pushed for higher taxes on the rich, and most importantly, president of Emily’s List, the PAC that funds pro-abortion political candidates.

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/newsom-names-laphonza-butler-former-kamala-harris-adviser-replace-feinsteins-senate-seat

In short, whenever she drives, she’d rather make three left turns than one right turn.

The pick was bad news for California’s top Democratic Senate candidates, Reps. Barbara Lee, Katie Porter and Adam Schiff, because if Butler decides she likes the job and enters the race, they’ll be running against an incumbent instead of for an open seat. It’s also bad news for America because with the state of insanity prevailing in California, no matter what happens, one of those four horsemen/women of the loony leftist apocalypse is going to be the state’s next Senator.

One problem that might prevent Butler from running: she was immediately hit with a scandal when it was reported she’s a resident of Maryland, not California. I find it hard to believe that California didn’t have any black socialist lesbian abortion activists of its own.

https://redstate.com/bonchie/2023/10/02/newsoms-first-black-lesbian-senate-appointment-hit-with-scandal-immediately-cover-up-underway-n2164566

Spending deal reached

It's telling that after hearing for days about the cataclysm that would ensue if Congress didn’t pass a stopgap government funding bill, they did pass one just before the midnight Saturday deadline, and President Biden signed it…

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/09/30/government-shutdown-live-updates-congress-faces-funding-deadline.html

…Yet all anyone is talking about is the side drama among the Representatives.

On the Democrat side, there’s male “Squad” member Rep. Jamaal Bowman, who caused an interruption and building evacuation during the rushed negotiations by pulling a fire alarm.

https://www.westernjournal.com/critical-detail-seen-alcove-rep-bowman-pulled-fire-alarm-no-way-didnt-notice/

Bowman first offered a rambling, incoherent explanation with more “homina-homina’s” than Ralph Kramdon, followed by a written statement claiming he mistakenly thought the fire alarm would open the doors. He claimed he was just trying to rush back to the Chamber to vote and found the doors marked “emergency exit only,” and was not by any means trying to delay the vote. Unfortunately for him, the whole thing was caught on video, and it doesn’t seem to match that story very closely. He apparently pulled signs off the doors warning that they were emergency exits only and threw them on the floor before pulling the clearly-labeled "FIRE alarm."

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2023/09/30/exclusive-capitol-sources-jamaal-bowman-threw-signs-warning-door-was-emergency-only-on-floor-before-pulling-fire-alarm/

Critics pointed out that this requires us to believe either that Bowman is blind and didn’t see the signs, or he’s a former school principal who never saw a fire alarm before, or that he just can’t read, which I could maybe believe of a Squad member. AOC was even willing to vouch for how easy it is to get confused by things like “fire alarms” and “exit” signs, have a moment of panic when you can’t find your way out of a vestibule, and do something stupid.

https://redstate.com/nick-arama/2023/10/01/aoc-ridiculous-defense-of-jamaal-bowman-on-cnn-even-jake-tapper-isnt-buying-it-n2164555

Republicans suspect he was trying to delay the vote to buy Democrats more time or even to force a government shutdown that could be blamed on them. Matt Margolis of PJ Media even questioned the narrative that the bill’s passage was a win for Democrats, because they repeatedly tried to delay or stall the vote, signaling that they really wanted a shutdown.

https://www.westernjournal.com/new-low-kevin-mccarthy-appalled-dems-obstruction-democratic-process/

Donald Trump tweeted that Bowman’s act was “a very dangerous ‘Obstruction of an Official Proceeding,’ the same as used against our J-6 prisoners. Actually, his act may have been worse. HE MUST SUFFER THEIR SAME FATE. WHEN WILL HIS TRIAL BEGIN???” This being DC, where laws only apply to Republicans, that likely won’t happen. But the incident is under investigation and a lot of Republicans are demanding some action against Bowman, even as harsh as expelling him.

https://nypost.com/2023/10/01/bowman-draws-skepticism-with-claims-that-fire-alarm-was-inadvertent/

FYI: Here’s why pulling that fire alarm might be a crime three times over.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/jamaal-bowmans-obstruction-of-congress-is-a-crime-perhaps-three-times-over

Meanwhile, there’s also post-deal drama on the GOP side, with Rep. Matt Gaetz so angry at Speaker Kevin McCarthy for shepherding the bill that didn’t include any conservative priorities (but it didn’t include any more funds for Ukraine) that he’s launching another effort to remove him as Speaker. McCarthy responded, “Bring it on.”

https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2023/10/01/mccarthy-to-gaetz-bring-it-on-ill-survive-as-speaker/

Other Republicans are privately complaining about all this intra-party warfare when they have such a small majority. There was even a report that Gaetz was offering Democrats on the Biden impeachment inquiry committee subpoena power to help them shut it down in return for their support in ousting McCarthy, which Gaetz denied. As he should, because it would spell the end of his career in GOP politics.

My advice: This bill is just for 45 days. Spend the next month-and-a-half working on a better funding bill instead of forming circular firing squads.

Between all the back-biting, pulling fire alarms and violating the dress code, our Congress seems to be a collection of the oldest high school students since “Beverly Hills 90210.”

A new White House ban

Fox News Digital revealed that the Biden White House has banned senior officials from traveling to international conferences that promote “carbon-intensive fuels,” including oil, gas and coal. The document reads, "This guidance sets out a presumption that agencies and departments will pursue international energy engagement that advances clean energy projects," and anything else must be approved by the NSC.

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/white-house-prohibiting-official-travel-fossil-fuel-conferences-internal-memo-shows

I wonder, does this mean that President Biden will have to ask the NSC’s permission before he travels to the Middle East again to beg OPEC nations to pump more oil because he’s killing our domestic fossil fuel industry and making gasoline and heating oil unaffordable? Or is that yet another regulation that he’s exempt from?

Trump trial starts today

Donald Trump’s civil trial for fraud for allegedly overvaluing his properties to lenders started today in New York. We'll have a recap tomorrow, but Fox News has a page that will be continually updated:

https://www.foxnews.com/live-news/donald-trump-new-york-ag-letitia-james-civil-trial

Trump’s attorneys called the judge’s rulings so far “fundamentally flawed at every level,” so after he finishes finding Trump guilty and assessing ridiculous levels of punishment, perhaps we can move on to an appeals court where the judge isn’t so blinded by Trump Derangement Syndrome that he thinks Mar-A-Lago could be picked up for fire sale prices. Personally, I don't know how anyone can live in New York and give such low estimates of property prices.

Judge orders New York to pay the NRA’s legal fees

While New York is struggling financially due to taxpayers fleeing and illegal immigrants let in by Joe Biden bankrupting their social programs, they have a new bill to worry about, and this one’s gotta hurt: a New York judge ordered the state to pay $447,000 in legal fees to the National Rifle Association.

https://www.foxnews.com/us/judge-orders-new-york-dole-out-nearly-half-million-legal-fees-nra-supreme-court-victory

This came after the Supreme Court struck down as unconstitutional a New York law that required citizens to show “proper cause” for seeking a gun carry license, with the state deciding subjectively whether they’d shown a good enough reason to be allowed to exercise their Second Amendment rights. They should’ve realized that was unconstitutional before passing it, but it took the NRA challenging it to get it thrown out, and now the state gets to pay their legal bills.

According to the NRA, this is only about a third of what it cost to litigate this issue because “New York refuses to fully compensate.” But at least they can take solace in knowing that writing a $447,000 check to the NRA may be the most painful duty Gov. Hochul faces all week.

Related: Blue states just never learn that the Second Amendment actually means what it says.

https://www.westernjournal.com/federal-judge-sides-gun-advocates-halts-parts-marylands-strict-carry-ban-national-implications/

Why?

Why are Democrat women so hostile to girls’ rights? To deal with the invasion of girls’ private spaces by males claiming to “identify” as female, the Arizona Legislature passed a bill requiring schools to have a private bathroom available for students of either sex unwilling or unable to use a group bathroom. In opposing the bill, Democratic Sen. Christine Marsh declared that “we could have just passed a law that schools have to have shower curtains and it could’ve solved this whole thing.”

https://www.westernjournal.com/dem-senator-tells-schoolgirls-fearful-showering-boys-simply-use-shower-curtains/

The idea that girls who feel unsafe and violated at having naked males in their locker room showers should just hang up a shower curtain was described by critics as “sick and demeaning.” But it was all for naught anyway, since female Democrat “Governor” Katie Hobbs vetoed the bill. Bear in mind, it wasn't even a bill banning males from girls' bathrooms; it was just a bill giving anyone the option of using a private bathroom, and she VETOED it.

And yet, as 2024 approaches, we will hear a steady drumbeat from Democrats and the media (but I repeat myself), telling women that they must vote Democrat to “protect women’s rights.” That is apparently now defined solely as the right to kill your baby up to the ninth month of pregnancy. For every other right, they want women to shut up and get in line behind the trans people.

Another angle on the first Biden impeachment inquiry hearing