Police State N.J. Sen. Menendez indicted for accepting bribes through halal certifying company with monopoly from Egyptian government

SEE: https://www.jihadwatch.org/2023/09/sen-menendez-indicted-for-accepting-bribes-through-halal-certifying-company-with-monopoly-from-egyptian-government;

Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.

I have no doubt that Menendez is as corrupt as the rest of the political establishment, so why is he being targeted now? It may be because he recently expressed “concerns” about the Biden regime sending six billion dollars to Iran for five hostages. The way the Biden regime operates, the “Justice” Department is a weapon to silence and destroy those who oppose it, however mildly.

That is not to say, however, that Menendez is any less a criminal than the rest of them. The fact that he has apparently been accepting bribes from a halal certification company is interesting. Years ago, Pamela Geller and I appealed to the FDA to require that halal meat be labeled as such, and even got a meeting with officials who assured us they would consider the issue carefully and get back to us. Of course, they never did, and a great deal of the meat sold in the U.S. today is halal but is not so labeled, Is Menendez one of the corruptocrats who is responsible for this?

“Democratic senator charged with bribery over halal meat company,” by J.D. Capelouto, Semafor, September 22, 2023:

U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez, a Democrat from New Jersey, has been indicted alongside his wife on bribery charges over their “corrupt relationship with three New Jersey businessmen,” federal prosecutors in New York announced Friday.

The businessmen allegedly bribed Menendez to benefit themselves and the country of Egypt. The indictment alleges that Menendez and his wife, Nadine Menendez, used the senator’s influence over foreign aid to accept bribes through a halal meat certifying company that scored a monopoly with the Egyptian government to certify imported meat.

After learning that the company was likely to become Egypt’s sole meat certifier, Nadine Menendez texted her husband: “Seems like halal went through. It might be a fantastic 2019 all the way around.”

In a statement, Sen. Menendez denied wrongdoing and said he “will not be distracted by baseless allegations.”…

The bribes allegedly included cash, gold bars, a luxury car, and more. During a search of their home, investigators found over $480,000 in cash stuffed into envelopes in closets and clothing, including jackets bearing Sen. Menendez’s name, according to the indictment….

__________________________________________________________

Senator Menendez Says He Will Be Exonerated From Bribery Charges

UNION CITY, NEW JERSEY - SEPTEMBER 25: Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NY) speaks during a press conference at Hudson County Community College’s North Hudson Campus on September 25, 2023 in Union City, New Jersey. Menendez spoke during a press conference where he stated that he would not resign as senator and would serve out his term. The three-term senator and his wife are accused of taking bribes of gold bars, a luxury car, and cash in exchange for using his position to help the government of Egypt and other corrupt acts according to an indictment from SDNY unsealed on Friday. The indictment is the second in eight years against Menendez. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NY) speaks during a press conference at Hudson County Community College’s North Hudson Campus on September 25, 2023 in Union City, New Jersey. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

OAN’s Sophia Flores
10:11 AM – Monday, September 25, 2023

SEE: https://www.oann.com/newsroom/senator-menendez-says-he-will-be-exonerated-from-bribery-charges/;

Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.

Senator Bob Menendez has spoken out against federal bribery charges he received last week. The senator claimed that he has done nothing wrong and insists he will be exonerated.

During a press conference on Monday, Menendez (D-N.J.) stated that the more than $480,000 found at his house was from his personal savings account.

“I have withdrawn thousands of dollars in cash from my personal savings account, what I have kept for emergencies and because of the history of my family facing confiscation in Cuba,” Menendez said.

“Now this may seem old-fashioned but these were monies drawn from my personal savings account based on the income that I have lawfully derived,” he continued.

In addition to insisting he will be exonerated, the New Jersey senator refuses to resign.

“I recognize this will be the biggest fight yet, but as I have stated throughout this whole process, I firmly believe that when all the facts are presented, not only will I be exonerated, but I still will be New Jersey’s senior senator.”

Last week, both Menendez and his wife were indicted on federal bribery charges. He was accused by prosecutors of accepting “hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes” in exchange for his influence. The sweeping 39-page indictment claimed that the couple accepted bribes in exchange for Menendez using his power as a U.S. senator to protect the interest of three prominent businessmen, while also benefiting Egypt’s government. 

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Trump Urges GOP To Block Funding For Release And Resettlement Of Illegal Immigrants

During a rally in Iowa as reported by FoxNews on September 21, former President Donald Trump issued a strong call to action, urging congressional Republicans to take a decisive step to restrict the use of taxpayer funds for the release or resettlement of illegal aliens into the United States, effective September 30. President Trump's statement reflects his ongoing concerns about immigration policies under the Biden administration and signals his desire to see more stringent measures put in place to address the issue. He has been vocal in his criticism of the handling of immigration at the southern border and has called for stronger border security and immigration enforcement. The September 30 deadline mentioned in Trump's statement appears to be a proposed date by which he believes congressional Republicans should act to restrict funding for the release and resettlement of undocumented immigrants. This date could serve as a point of discussion and negotiation within the Republican Party as it considers its legislative priorities. The issue of immigration has been a divisive and complex one in American politics, with differing opinions on how to address the challenges posed by illegal border crossings, asylum claims, and immigration enforcement. Trump's call to restrict taxpayer dollars for this purpose aligns with his "America First" approach, which emphasizes border security and prioritizing the interests of American citizens. It's important to note that immigration policy is a multifaceted issue, and any proposed changes would have far-reaching consequences. Restricting funding for the release and resettlement of undocumented immigrants could impact the processing of asylum claims, detention facilities, and the overall immigration enforcement process. Trump's call to action also underscores the ongoing debate within the Republican Party about its stance on immigration. While some Republicans support stricter border security and immigration enforcement measures, others advocate for a more compassionate approach, particularly when it comes to addressing the situation of undocumented immigrants already in the country. As the 2022 midterm elections approach and discussions about immigration reform continue, Trump's statement is likely to add fuel to the political discourse surrounding immigration policy. Congressional Republicans will need to consider the potential implications of any actions taken in response to the former president's call and weigh the various perspectives within their party. Overall, Trump's statement highlights his continued influence within the Republican Party and his determination to shape the party's priorities and policies, particularly on issues as contentious as immigration. The response to his call for restricting taxpayer funds for the release and resettlement of undocumented immigrants will be closely watched as it unfolds in the political arena.

Islamic Republic of Pakistan: Police tell Christian churches to ‘hire private guards, we cannot protect you’

SEE: https://www.jihadwatch.org/2023/09/islamic-republic-of-pakistan-police-tell-christian-churches-to-hire-private-guards-we-cannot-protect-you;

Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.

Many of the police share the faith and outlook of the attackers and are more sympathetic to them than they are to the victims of these attacks.

“Pakistan, Police to Christian Churches: ‘Hire Private Guards, We Cannot Protect You,'” by Massimo Introvigne, Bitter Winter, September 15, 2023:

August was one of the worst months in recent years for the number of assaults to Christian churches in Pakistan, with dozens of places of worship burned or demolished.

Besides arresting Christians for having allegedly provoked the rioters, the Pakistani police has now found a solution for this crisis, and a simple one.

Having inspected an area of Karachi notorious for sectarian conflict, and visited places of worship of different religions, the police issued on September 10, 2023,  “Security Directions for Churches” (mosques are not mentioned).

The police recommends (or rather orders, since “strict compliance” is required), that

“Private security guards be deployed outside the main gate of the church along with metal detector equipment.” Details are as follows: “Private security guard will be deployed on the roof bunker especially made as the backup for gate security. Walk through gates to be installed on the entrances of church. All the windows of churches to be covered with iron grill. CCTVs to be installed inside and outside the premises of churches and must be of great quality such as 6 MP / Night Vision with 15 days minimum back up. Walls of the churches must be fenced properly to avoid any untoward incident.”…

What the document says, in so many words, is that the Pakistani police is not capable or perhaps not willing to protect Christian churches. Christian taxpayers should hire and pay private guards. The police would check who these guards are—perhaps to make sure they are not “too” effective.

James O’Keefe Exposes Hawaii Gov’s Ban on Public Photography in Lahaina

James O'Keefe goes undercover in Lahaina, Hawaii, to reveal a shocking directive from Governor Josh Green: a prohibition on photography on public land. Local law enforcement is enforcing this outrageous order, but even members of the Hawaii National Guard have criticized these actions. But O'Keefe Media Group (OMG) isn't just reporting; we're taking action. We are suing Governor Josh Green for this blatant infringement on our 1st Amendment rights. This isn't merely about the freedom to take photos; it's about the freedom of the press and the right to hold our leaders accountable.

Pope Francis Weighing Removal of Conservative Texas Bishop

Pope Francis Weighing Removal of Conservative Texas Bishop
AP Photo/Andrew Medichini
Pope Francis is considering a request for the resignation of an outspoken conservative bishop in northeast Texas.

According to a report by Catholic news outlet The Pillar, Bishop Joseph Strickland of the archdiocese of Tyler was the subject of a Sept. 9 meeting between the Holy Father and cardinals-elect Robert Prevost and Christophe Pierre. Prevost is the prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, the body responsible for recommending the appointment of new bishops, and Pierre is the Vatican’s apostolic nuncio — or national ambassador — to the United States.

“The situation of Bishop Strickland is the agenda, and the expectation is that the Holy Father will be requesting his resignation,” an unnamed source told the publication.

Strickland has gained notoriety in recent years for his opposition to abortion, vaccine mandates, and LGBTQ ideology.

In January, Strickland criticized President Joe Biden for his support of taxpayer funding for abortions, arguing, “It is time to denounce Biden’s fake Catholicism.”

In May, he accused Pope Francis of “undermining the Deposit of Faith,” a term for the divine authority Catholics believe has been vested in the presumed successor to the Apostle Peter. Although Strickland’s statement was an attempt to clarify that he disagrees with the assertion by a conservative Catholic podcaster that Francis is not the legitimate pope, he implicitly endorsed the podcaster’s criticism of the pontiff for embracing lockdowns and the COVID-19 vaccines while failing to defend the church’s traditional views on issues like abortion, divorce and remarriage, and homosexuality.

And in June, Strickland led a prayer rally outside Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles during the team’s “Pride Night” event featuring a group of drag queens known as the “Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence,” one of whose members was recently arrested for “indulging” himself in public. Although the local archdiocese urged Catholics to pray for their community in response to the event, they stopped short of endorsing the rally held outside the stadium, fearing it could lead to confrontation and paint Catholics in a negative light.

Later that month, Strickland was visited in Tyler by emissaries from the Vatican. During his weekly podcast, he compared the visit to “being called to the principal’s office,” saying he was being investigated for “simply preaching the truth.”

However, the Vatican has had eyes on Strickland for at least the last two years.

At the 2021 annual meeting for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Strickland was confronted by Archbishop Christophe Pierre, who warned him to tone down his rhetoric because “we’re watching you.”

When contacted by Religion News Service for comment on the report of the pope’s meeting, Strickland said he had not heard anything about it from the Vatican. He also indicated he would not resign if asked to do so.

“As a basic principle I cannot resign the mandate given to me by Pope Benedict the XVI,” he wrote in an email. “Of course, that mandate can be rescinded by Pope Francis, but I cannot voluntarily abandon the flock that I have been given charge of as a successor of the apostles.”

If Strickland is removed by Francis, some critics worry conservative Catholics would view him as a political martyr.

Massimo Faggioli, a professor of theology and religious studies at Villanova University, expressed this concern to Religion News Service in May when the aforementioned incident between Strickland and Pierre was first disclosed.

“I believe that the fear is that, if he’s removed, his visibility will be amplified,” Faggioli said.

However, Strickland insists his priority is the gospel of Christ, and he isn’t trying to make a name for himself.

These recent remarks echo what he said during a July episode of his podcast.

“Really, it isn’t about me, but it’s about the truth of our faith,” Strickland explained.

Exclusively for our VIPs: Pope Francis Skewers U.S. Catholic Church for Being ‘Reactionary’

Nevertheless, he indicated nothing would deter him from this mission, saying, “I’m willing to go through anything [that] I have to, to continue to proclaim that message because love for God’s people means we share the good news of Jesus Christ.”

“They won’t stop me,” he continued. “When we’re speaking the truth of Jesus Christ, there is no politically correct. And the world can try to shut us down, but it won’t work.”

Pope Francis and the Vatican might have something to say about that, but it doesn’t appear Bishop Strickland will be riding off into the sunset anytime soon.

‘Equitable Weeding’ in School Libraries and Replacing History With Perversion

'Equitable Weeding' in School Libraries and Replacing History With Perversion
(AP Photo/Max Black)
It’s easy to get weary with the liberal left. They clearly have an agenda and their prey is obviously our children. The left can’t win an argument on merit, they don’t follow science, they hate tradition, and they live in an altered state of reality. They have abandoned life as we know it, and are choosing instead to poison societal structure and morals, all for the sake of power.

Libraries, both public and those found in schools, have been a global source of education for centuries. School libraries in particular are sacred because all of the searchers of knowledge in those are either children or young adults. The books found in those libraries must evoke interest and provide knowledge. Ideally, the information should be geared to match the study criteria of the student and any interests that they may have, such as sports, hobbies, history, etc. Very importantly, the information must always be age-appropriate.

The saying “let kids be kids” isn’t just some old knock-about cliché. It is steeped in reality. Every one of us goes through a childhood phase, adolescence, and then adulthood. Each one of those phases is unique and necessary, which is in direct contradiction to what the left is trying to do. Young minds, when properly guided, are inquisitive and full of promise. They’re playful, gregarious, and at times perhaps a little cantankerous. They are also inevitably naïve, innocent, impressionable, and vulnerable — traits that just come with the territory of being young.

It’s those latter traits that the left seizes on. Instead of nurturing these young blossoming minds and feeding them knowledge that will enable them to live healthy, happy, and productive lives, they burden them with concerns that are overwhelming for a child. In far too many cases, teachers have become activists. Instead of educating, they are preaching the gospel of the left. A gospel that is not based in any type of reality. A gospel that the left is using to turn children into tools of anarchy.

These activists are a despicable breed. Self-righteous to the core, they smugly spew out their agenda daily to these young, impressionable minds. Can you imagine being a child and instead of just dealing with normal childhood issues, you are burdened with the thought that you may not be what you are? It’s a dilemma that no child should have to consider. It’s the fabrication of a cruel and wicked part of society that is not looking out for the child’s welfare; they simply want another notch in their woke belts.

What better way to reinforce the agenda you’re preaching than to back it up with the written word? So these radicals are infiltrating school libraries with smut containing very explicit sexual acts, sexual deviance, and transgenderism. As they force these handbooks of perversion into libraries and children’s lives, parents and those with a moral compass push back and protest. Which of course results in the left screaming that books are being banned. These claims are obviously invalid, but they are still exploited by a complicit media.

The result is a battle that leaves bewildered children in the middle. All they want to do is go to school, learn, and enjoy their classmates. Instead, the left uses them as chess pieces, hoping to eliminate their parents from all decisions concerning their sex and gender, thus creating a mentally imbalanced social warrior.

In one of the most egregious acts of deliberate grooming, the Peel District School Board in Ontario has removed all books that were not published within the last 15 years. So, all books published before 2008 have been removed. The board also removed any books that they deemed to have “racist content,” stereotypes, or didn’t affirm students identities [sic].” Even books such as Harry Potter and The Hunger Games were removed.

The district refers to this mind-numbing purge of history as “equitable weeding.” A group of fascists that sit on the board gets to decide what is offensive and then remove it. They claim that removing these outdated books will limit “the harm caused by outdated and oppressive resources that remain in circulation.”

In an internal memo, the board directed the staff to “affirm identities,” stating that using “anti-racist, anti-oppressive, and anti-colonial texts is crucial.”

There are several steps involved in this decimation of the past, which includes in many cases not just removing the books but throwing them away. Step number one was referred to as the “equitable curation cycle.” This included removing any damaged, outdated, and uncirculated books. The group then moved on to step two, which allowed the board to conduct what in their minds was an “anti-racist and inclusive audit.” The misguided attempt here was to ensure that books didn’t “perpetuate or reinforce racist content, stereotypes or promote deficit-thinking.”

Step three encompassed what the board determined would “intentionally affirm students” identities, such as “Black, Indigenous, 2SLGBTQ+, Muslim, Latinx, Jewish, and South Asian identities.”

In defense of the book culling, PDSB released the following statement: “Books published prior to 2008 that are damaged, inaccurate, or do not have strong circulation data (are not being checked out by students) are removed.”

The statement went on to say that if damaged books have strong circulation, they may be replaced regardless of the publication date, and older titles can stay in the collection if they are “accurate, serve the curriculum, align with board initiatives and are responsive to student interest and engagement.”

“The Peel District School Board works to ensure that the books available in our school libraries are culturally responsive, relevant, inclusive, and reflective of the diversity of our school communities and the broader society,”

Following widespread media attention, Ontario’s Education Minister Stephen Lecce wrote a letter to the school board instructing them to immediately cease the practice.

“Ontario is committed to ensuring that the addition of new books better reflects the rich diversity of our communities. It is offensive, illogical and counterintuitive to remove books from years past that educate students on Canada’s history, antisemitism, or celebrated literary classics.”

Exclusively for our VIPs: Portland School District Institutes ‘Equitable’ Grading Policies

In a memo received and reviewed by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), the entire book purge apparently originated from something called Directive 18 from the Minister of Education. The directive was based upon a Ministry review in 2020 that documented widespread cases of systematic discrimination within PDSB.

Directive 18 instructs the board to complete a diversity audit of schools, including libraries.

“The Board shall evaluate books, media, and all other resources currently in use for teaching and learning English, History, and Social Sciences for the purpose of utilizing resources that are inclusive and culturally responsive, relevant and reflective of students, and the Board’s broader school communities.”

The equitable weeding process begins with teachers and librarians focusing on books published before 2008. The librarians then go through each book and consider the acronym MUSTIE as a criteria guideline for which books can stay and which must go.  MUSTIE stands for:

  • Misleading – information may be factually inaccurate or obsolete.
  • Unpleasant – refers to the physical condition of the book, and may require replacement.
  • Superseded – A book has been overtaken by a new edition or a more current resource.
  • Trivial – of no discernible literary or scientific merit; poorly written or presented.
  • Irrelevant – doesn’t meet the needs and interests of the library’s community.
  • Elsewhere – the book or the material in it may be better obtained from other sources.

When the time comes, the books that are weeded are disposed of because they are causing harm, either as a health hazard because of the condition of the book or because “they are not inclusive, culturally responsive, relevant or accurate.”

For those reasons, the documents say the books cannot be donated, as “they are not suitable for any learners.”

 Removing history is fine. Replacing it with perverse smut — that’s okay, too. However, the PDSB wants to make sure that the discarded history doesn’t anger any tree huggers. So, a PDSB spokesperson said the board supports its schools “in the disposal of books in a responsible manner by following Peel Region’s recycling guidelines.” Peel Region allows for the recycling of book paper, as long as hardcovers and any plastics are removed first and put in the garbage.

It’s been reported that in some of the district schools, over half of the books have been removed.

Those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it, goes the old saying.

Those who attempt to destroy history and replace it with fallacy are eternally damned.

McCarthy launches Biden impeachment inquiry~THEN: Matt Gaetz Launches An All-Out Assault On Kevin McCarthy’s Time As Speaker

Matt Gaetz Launches An All-Out Assault On Kevin McCarthy's Time As Speaker

In remarks from the House floor, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) ripped into Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) moments after the latter announced an impeachment inquiry into President Biden. Gaetz excoriated the Speaker for not upholding his agreement that won him the chair in a chaotic bid for the speakership.

Marjorie Taylor Greene: A 'corrupt criminal' is leading the government

NYC Cutting Police Overtime Pay To Better Accommodate Migrant Crisis

NYC Cutting Police Overtime Pay To Better Accommodate Migrant Crisis

Law enforcement officers stand at the 9/11 memorial pool. (Photo by KENA BETANCUR/AFP via Getty Images)

OAN’s Brooke Mallory
6:03 PM – Monday, September 11, 2023

SEE: https://www.oann.com/newsroom/nyc-cutting-police-overtime-pay-to-better-accommodate-migrant-crisis/;

Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.

Despite official reports that show the New York City police force is already understaffed, the city will begin reducing overtime pay for its officers in an effort to compensate for the city’s growing migrant issues.

City Hall confirmed to the press that Democrat Mayor Eric Adams’ administration has instructed the city’s police, fire, prisons, and sanitation agencies to submit an overtime pay reduction plan and start measuring progress each month.

According to police unions, the proposal will decrease the number of officers on patrol and increase city risk.

“It is going to be impossible for the NYPD to significantly reduce overtime unless it fixes its staffing crisis. We are still thousands of cops short, and we’re struggling to drive crime back to pre-2020 levels without adequate personnel,” said Patrick Hendry, head of the Police Benevolent Association.

“If City Hall wants to save money without jeopardizing public safety, it needs to invest in keeping experienced cops on the job,” he continued.

The strategy put forward by the Adams administration also includes a hiring freeze.

City Hall acknowledged sending a letter that would inform several departments of the change, but it would not make the memo available to the press.

After Adams referred to the influx of migrants into NYC as a “financial tsunami” on Sunday, a cost-cutting initiative was implemented. He has previously stated that the immigration problem will “destroy” the city.

“We are about to experience a financial tsunami that I don’t think the city has ever experienced,” Adams said in an interview with local media. “Every service in this city is going to be impacted, from child service to our seniors to housing. Everything will be impacted.”

Numerous resources have been used to house the migrants in NYC, and some of them have praised the accommodations.

Just days after Adams declared a state of emergency due to the growing migrant problem, a Venezuelan immigrant told the local press that he was enjoying his stay in a “migrant hotel” at the McCarren Play Center in New York City.

“I brought my wife and children to the pool on Sunday, and there was no problem,” Mujica said. “We all swam between 12 p.m. and 5 p.m.,” Mujica said, adding, “It’s a very nice pool.”

Adams had referenced a fight that broke out at a migrant shelter in Brooklyn last week when concerns were expressed regarding women and children sharing facilities with single males. Many felt that public safety could be at risk.

“This is not a utopia. New York City cannot manage 10,000 people a month with no end in sight,” the mayor asserted. “That can’t happen, and that is going to undermine this entire city.”

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Conservative Event Cancelled Due To Payment Processor HALTING Funds

John Sabal, the founder and President of The Patriot Voice, is a disabled, Navy veteran who has filed a $18M lawsuit against the payment processing giant Total System Services Inc. (TSYS) after they withdrew their services claiming The Patriot Voice Events were racist. [https://thepatriotvoice.us/](https://thepatriotvoice.us/) Paul Davis, Managing Attorney at Paul M. Davis & Associates, P.C. is representing John Sabal and The Patriot Voice. Find John Sabal on X - @TPV_John, Truth - @ThePatriotVoice and on Instagram @tpvjohn Find Paul Davis at @fireduptxlawyer

SEE: https://www.tsys.com/

 

Biden Admin Quietly Moves To Ban Natural Gas Transport Via Rail Systems

Biden Admin Quietly Moves To Ban Natural Gas Transport Via Rail Systems

EAST PALESTINE, OH - FEBRUARY 23: U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg (C) visits with Department of Transportation Investigators at the site of the derailment on February 23 2023 in East Palestine, Ohio. On February 3rd, a Norfolk Southern Railways train carrying toxic chemicals derailed causing an environmental disaster. Thousands of residents were ordered to evacuate after the area was placed under a state of emergency and temporary evacuation orders (Photo by Brooke LaValley-Pool/Getty Images)
U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg (C) visits with Department of Transportation Investigators at the site of the derailment on February 23 2023 in East Palestine, Ohio. (Photo by Brooke LaValley-Pool/Getty Images)

OAN’s James Meyers
1:09 PM – Wednesday, September 6, 2023

SEE: https://www.oann.com/newsroom/biden-admin-quietly-moves-to-ban-natural-gas-transport-via-rail-systems/;

Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.

The Biden Administration quietly reversed a Trump-era regulation by moving to ban the transport of liquefied natural gas (LNG) by rail system. 

In a federal filing on Friday, ahead of Labor Day weekend, the Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), moved to suspend a Trump-era rule allowing the transport of LNG via train cars.

However, the rule will remain in effect until a permanent rule regarding a new LNG rail tank car transportation is proposed and put into place, which could take several months or until June 30, 2025. 

“We are encouraged by the decision to suspend the dangerous practice of transporting highly flammable LNG by rail through communities,” said Patrick Grenter, the director of eco group Sierra Club’s Beyond Dirty Fuels Campaign.

“We have seen the destruction that an accident can cause to communities bordering the railway route, often communities most impacted by pollution and we support any step that will keep it from happening again,” he added. “We urge PHMSA to make the only reasonable decision available to them: make the suspension permanent and ban LNG by rail once and for all.” 

This news comes after Democrat lawmakers had written to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg earlier this year, pleading for a permanent ban on LNG transportation by a rail system, citing safety risks pointed out by a handful of environmental groups. 

The PHMSA claimed that the new rule would help the federal government limit public health risks and environmental consequences.

The agency also stated that the new regulation will allow enough time to complete ongoing testing and evaluation for LNG rail transportation, which can help create mitigation measures to limit risks during transportation. 

“This suspension will give time for PHMSA, in conjunction with the National Academies of Sciences and Engineering as well as its Canadian regular counterparts, to complete critical research on transporting cryogenic liquids like LNG (and hydrogen) by rail more safely,” said PHMSA Deputy Administrator Tristan Brown. “This research is expected to conclude in the next year or so and will inform future federal safety regulations from PHMSA and the FRA.”

Republican Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas), the ranking member of the Senate Commerce Committee, said that the move by the Biden administration was the latest example of its war on energy. 

“Today the Biden administration has fired another salvo in its war on American energy by essentially prohibiting the movement of LNG by rail,” Cruz said. “America is a leader in reducing carbon emissions largely because of the United States development and use of natural gas. The energy renaissance we are seeing in this country is producing enormous environmental benefits.”

“This is yet another example of why the Biden administration cannot be trusted to implement pro-domestic energy policies,” he added.

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Europe Is Beginning to EXPEL Islam!!!

UK government vows to stop giving taxpayer money to mosques that host antisemitic preachers, four got millions

SEE: https://www.jihadwatch.org/2023/09/uk-government-vows-to-stop-giving-taxpayer-money-to-mosques-that-host-antisemitic-preachers-four-got-millions;

Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.

Imagine the embarrassment of British authorities when they discover that Islamic antisemitism is deeply embedded in the Qur’an and Sunnah, and so antisemitic preachers are not “extremists,” but are completely within the Islamic mainstream. But by the time they find that out, it will be far too late for shattered, staggering, dhimmi Britain, and likely is already.

The Jews in the Qur’an are called the strongest of all people in enmity toward the Muslims (5:82); they fabricate things and falsely ascribe them to Allah (2:79; 3:75, 3:181); they claim that Allah’s power is limited (5:64); they love to listen to lies (5:41); they disobey Allah and never observe his commands (5:13). They are disputing and quarreling (2:247); hiding the truth and misleading people (3:78); staging rebellion against the prophets and rejecting their guidance (2:55); being hypocritical (2:14, 2:44); giving preference to their own interests over the teachings of Muhammad (2:87); wishing evil for people and trying to mislead them (2:109); feeling pain when others are happy or fortunate (3:120); being arrogant about their being Allah’s beloved people (5:18); devouring people’s wealth by subterfuge (4:161); slandering the true religion and being cursed by Allah (4:46); killing the prophets (2:61); being merciless and heartless (2:74); never keeping their promises or fulfilling their words (2:100); being unrestrained in committing sins (5:79); being cowardly (59:13-14); being miserly (4:53); being transformed into apes and pigs for breaking the Sabbath (2:63-65; 5:59-60; 7:166); and more. They are under Allah’s curse (9:30), and Muslims should wage war against them and subjugate them under Islamic hegemony (9:29).

“Taxpayers fund mosques that host hate preachers,” by David Rose, The Jewish Chronicle, August 31, 2023 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):

The Government has vowed to stop giving taxpayers’ money to mosques that host antisemitic hate preachers after a JC investigation revealed that at least four had received grants totalling millions of pounds.

The largest grant was a £2.2 million award to a Birmingham mosque which has hosted a speaker who has described Jews as “people of envy” who “killed the prophets and the messengers”.

In a viral video, its leading imam was filmed teaching how adulterous women should be stoned to death. The money has now been “paused” pending official inquiries.

Three other Muslim centres with a history of offering pulpits to extremist speakers have also received large sums, the JC can reveal.

Finsbury Park Mosque in north London, which hosted an Egyptian imam who pledged to “liberate” Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem from the “filth of the Jews”, received almost £300,000 from the Labour-controlled Islington Council between 2017 and 2022.

The mosque’s general secretary, Mohammed Kozbar, praised Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, the wheelchair-bound founder of Hamas who was killed by Israeli missiles in 2004, as a “martyr” on a visit to Gaza in 2015.

Lewisham Islamic Centre in south London, whose chief imam Shakeel Begg once called on young Muslims to “go to Palestine and fight the Zionists”, was given £540,000 between 2015 and 2020, in what its accounts describe as “local authority grants”.

Following the revelations, Communities Secretary Michael Gove and Home Secretary Suella Braverman are demanding tighter “due diligence” checks by both central and local government, the JC understands.

A government source said: “All parts of government including councils are responsible for spending public money appropriately, so they must be far more careful about the organisations they support.

“It’s appalling that mosques and other religious organisations in receipt of taxpayer funding have provided platforms for extremist preachers to spread vile messages of hate.

“We will be taking action to improve due diligence and seek to exclude organisations that fail to deliver their responsibilities effectively.”

The measures that are being considered include a requirement that before granting public funds, both central and local government agencies must check with the Home Office and Levelling-Up departments for evidence that the recipient has sponsored extremism.

A High Court judge found that Begg, who has been imam of the Lewisham Islamic Centre since 1998, promoted “violence in support of Islam” during his failed libel action against the BBC in 2016.

Michael Adebolajo, who murdered Private Lee Rigby in a London street in 2013, was a member of his congregation, although Begg said the killing left him “appalled” and went against Islamic teaching.

In 2021, Begg attended an event at the Lewisham mosque where a speaker expressed support for rocket attacks on Israel, and was praised by the imam as “inspiring”.

Lewisham Council, which is Labour-controlled, claims to have no record of the £539,418 shown as being given to Begg’s mosque in its accounts.

Lewisham Islamic Centre’s 2022 annual report includes an endorsement by local Labour MP Ellie Reeves saying it does “absolutely brilliant work for the Lewisham community” and another by the borough’s mayor, Damian Egan, who described it as “a source of guidance, community and friendship”.

In early August the Department of Media, Culture and Sport (DCMS) was reported to have given £2.2 million towards a scheme run by the Green Lane Masjid in the Small Heath area of Birmingham….

________________________________________________________

SEE ALSO: https://www.jihadwatch.org/2023/09/uk-government-withholds-funds

Minnesota Prison On Lockdown After Nearly 100 Inmates Refused To Return To Cells

Minnesota Prison On Lockdown After Nearly 100 Inmates Refused To Return To Cells

Stock Image. (Photo by Ian Waldie/Getty Images)

OAN’s Brooke Mallory
12:58 PM – Sunday, September 3, 2023

SEE: https://www.oann.com/newsroom/minnesota-prison-on-lockdown-after-nearly-100-inmates-refused-to-return-to-cells/;

Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.

After around 100 convicts in one housing unit refused to return to their cells, a Minnesota prison has been placed on emergency lockdown, and members of a crisis negotiation team have been activated, according to the state Department of Corrections on Sunday.

The situation is “currently stable,” and the reason convicts “are refusing to return to their cells remains unclear.” The Special Operations Response Team was also sent in “out of an abundance of caution,” according to a spokesperson for the facility.

However, Communities United Against Police Brutality (CUAPB) spokesman Michelle Gross claimed in an interview that the incident was brought on by the fact that jailers had been without access to fresh water, ice, and even showers for many days due to understaffing.

“They’re saying it’s hotter than hell in there, and the water in the cells is brown,” Gross said. “The inmates have been melting ice for drinking water, but with short staffing, there’s not enough to go around.”

Sunday’s “incident is endemic and highlights the truth behind the operations of the [Minnesota] Department of Corrections with chronic understaffing,” said the head of the union representing staffers and corrections officers at Stillwater.

Correctional facilities, according to the union, “cannot have transformational offender programming without sufficient facility security.”

“Without more staffing in our correctional facilities with talented people, we will continue down this unacceptable road of staff assaults, offenders controlling sections of our prisons, and more,” said Bart Andersen, interim executive director of AFSCME Council 5.

Two officers at the Stillwater Correctional Facility who spoke to the press assured that they were safe in a secure control room and in contact with facility personnel. No recorded injuries have been reported.

Additionally, aerial footage from a FOX helicopter revealed a sizable emergency response, including police, ambulances, and firefighters, waiting outside the facility.

Seven residential units are located inside the building, while a minimum-security unit is located outside the main perimeter.

Department data reported that there are over 1,200 convicts altogether at the institution, which is southeast of Stillwater.

According to its website, the Stillwater Correctional Facility was founded in 1914 and is the largest male close-security facility in the state of Minnesota.

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Democrats Defund Firearm Education Nationwide

SEE: https://www.ammoland.com/2023/08/democrats-defund-firearm-education-nationwide/;Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.

In what seems to be another attempt at discouraging firearm activities, the Department of Education has decided to withhold the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) funds from hunting and archery education programs nationwide.

Due to the attack at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, the Department of Education decided to pass the 2022 Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. This new policy required the department to withhold certain grant funds from school archery and hunting programs.

The specific provision in the act was an amendment to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, which prohibits federal funds from going to programs that “provide to any person a dangerous weapon or training in the use of a dangerous weapon.”

Logical-thinking people would understand that more training would increase responsible gun ownership, but the anti-gun segment of our population sees this topic differently. We understand that when people think like this, they usually project their own thoughts about what they think “they” might do with a gun. Some cannot see that the thoughts in their own mind are not necessarily those of others. Many within the anti-gun circles have been conditioned to believe that guns are used only for killing, so they have a hard time seeing the topic rationally. This results from decades of anti-gun mind manipulation perpetuated on people who can’t think for themselves.

Democrats play the long game in disarming their fellow citizens and convincing the weak-minded to go along in their pursuit.

We’ve seen their attempts to tax ammo in what would appear to be an attempt at shutting down gun ranges by making it overly expensive to practice. They understand that if ammo is expensive enough, parents won’t be spending time at the range, and this would certainly reduce the amount of time they spend training their children. If the next generation of children grow up without guns in the household and without any familiarity or interest, they will likely be non-gun-owners in their adult lives. The anti-gun strategy is generational, and they seem to be determined to do anything they can to reverse the naturally instinctive desire for gun ownership in America. In this case, removing all opportunities for kids to learn about guns only helps their agenda.

Under this new defunding scheme, millions of students will be denied the ability to learn firearm safety and will be unable to participate in recreational shooting sports. It would seem that is the idea.

In response to this new attempt by the Government to discourage American gun ownership, Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, from New York’s District 21, said:

“This is the most recent example of a series of far-left pushes by the Biden administration and education secretary Cardona in the name of their partisan political agenda. Despite long-standing, bipartisan congressional support, the Department of Education has decided to eliminate the opportunity for millions of American students to exercise their Second Amendment right by safely learning to use firearms and participate in recreational, shooting sports.”

The left is very strategic in the way they attack the 2nd Amendment. This is just another attempt at their goal of a government-controlled citizenry. However, they can’t seem to get rid of that pesky 2nd Amendment.


About Dan Wos, Author – Good Gun Bad Guy

Dan Wos is available for Press Commentary. For more information contact PR HERE

Dan Wos is a nationally recognized 2nd Amendment advocate, Host of The Loaded Mic, and Author of the “GOOD GUN BAD GUY” book series. He speaks at events, is a contributing writer for many publications, and can be found on radio stations across the country. Dan has been a guest on Newsmax, the Sean Hannity Show, Real America’s Voice, and several others. Speaking on behalf of gun rights, Dan exposes the strategies of the anti-gun crowd and explains their mission to disarm law-abiding American gun owners.

Dan Wos
Dan Wos

Tearful Gold Star Mom Wanted Comfort From Biden; Here’s What She Got Instead

Tearful Gold Star Mom Wanted Comfort From Biden; Here's What She Got Instead

Tearful Gold Star Mom Wanted Comfort From Biden; Here's What She Got Instead
AP Photo/Andrew Harnik
A Gold Star mom who met with President Joe Biden on Memorial Day following the death of her son during the troop withdrawal debacle from Afghanistan stated that he responded to her pain and agony by suggesting she take a picture with him while she bawled her eyes out during their meeting. And this, ladies and gentlemen, is supposed to be our example of compassion? Seriously? A leather shoe has more compassion than the president.

Instead of offering this woman words of comfort, apologizing for the mess that led to his death, and embracing her, he sees the weeping woman as a photo opportunity. How much more despicable can you get?

According to the Daily Wire:

Army Staff Sgt. Ryan Christian Knauss was killed when a bomber detonated a bomb at Kabul’s international airport on August 26, 2021, killing 13 American soldiers. His mother, Paula Knauss Selph, the executive director of the Respect and Remember Foundation, met Biden in the Oval Office at an event for Gold Star families in Washington, D.C. on Memorial Day 2022.

“There’s been a lot of grief, a lot of grief,” the mother went on to say during an interview with The Daily Mail. “There’s nothing like watching your child die in front of you, in front of the world.”

She then recalled the meeting with Biden, revealing that he said, “I can understand if you’re angry.”

“I stood face-to-face with him, eyeball-to-eyeball. I began to weep,” she stated, adding that she told him, “It should have never happened this way.”

“He stood there stoically,” she recounted. “Nothing out of his mouth except — well would you like to get a photo with me?”

Selph told Biden that the only picture she would take with him was if he stood with her at her son’s tombstone at Arlington National Cemetery. She said Biden answered, “I can’t do that because Secret Service won’t let me do that.”

“It’s a moral disgrace for a president not to have mercy on the people that he serves. It is a moral disgrace,” Selph continued, stating that the president thought the “sad occasion” was a “photo op’” instead of an opportunity to provide comfort to a heartbroken mother grieving the death of her child.

“He had the chance to make a difference for my child. On not making decisions and indecisions that cost him his life. And I do hold him accountable,” she finished.

Sleph then went on to speak of her son, who served as a member of the JROTC cadet program before he decided to sign up for the military and serve his country, saying, “Ryan, all of his life was quite certain he wanted to go in the armed forces. And it is a pleasing thing to me. But throughout his life, he kept that focus. He was so disciplined. He was so smart… He was protecting and giving us the opportunity for many people to live out the American dream. That’s what will long outlive all of us.”

How tragic that this woman had to look the man who was responsible for the mess that led to her son’s death right in the eye, and instead of getting words of succor for her wounded heart, received an offer for a photo. Is Biden really this clueless? Is it the possible dementia he suffers from that is causing this sort of callousness? Or is it possible he’s a sociopath of sorts?

Either way, there’s no excuse for treating the families of deceased military members with such a massive lack of compassion. Biden should be absolutely ashamed of himself.

Lawsuit Against Pharmacies That Refused to Fill Ivermectin Prescriptions Tossed Out

Lawsuit Against Pharmacies That Refused to Fill Ivermectin Prescriptions Tossed Out
AP Photo/Mike Stewart
As my colleague, Kevin Downey, Jr., reported last week at PJ Media, the FDA quietly performed an astonishing about-face regarding its position on ivermectin, declaring doctors can now prescribe it for the treatment of COVID-19.

(Certainly, the demonization of ivermectin following the COVID-19 “vaccines” hitting market had nothing to do with the fact that the COVID-19 emergency use authorization required that there be no other effective treatments available. That would be a “conspiracy theory” – evil and wrong.)

This is quite a dramatic divergence from the FDA’s previous position, the lie that ivermectin is a “horse medicine.”

I have previously chronicled elsewhere the various lies perpetrated by the corporate state media and Public Health™ authorities over the past several years against ivermectin, as it might have competed with Pfizer and Moderna’s mRNA shots’ uptake in the general population. After all, no one in their right mind would gamble with an unproven, experimental treatment using novel technology when an actual safe and effective (not to mention cheap) prophylactic measure was available to them.

This week, a federal court in Missouri threw out a lawsuit filed on behalf of COVID-19 patients against pharmacies that refused to fill ivermectin prescriptions legally written by their doctors.

Via KIMT3 News (emphasis added):

A federal appeals court has sided with pharmacies in Albert Lea that refused to fill prescriptions for medications that would be used to treat COVID-19.

Court documents state that in 2021, William and Karla Salier had gotten prescriptions from a doctor in Missouri for ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine to treat their infection with COVID-19.  William Salier had become seriously ill from the virus.  Pharmacists at Walmart and Hy-Vee refused to fill those prescriptions.  Karla Salier says the Walmart pharmacist rudely lectured her about the dangers of treating COVID-19 with ivermectin and the Hy-Vee pharmacist said it was against corporate policy to prescribe the drugs for COVID-19.

William and Karla Salier obtained and used a veterinary version of ivermectin meant for horses and other large animals and quickly recovered. The Saliers then sued Walmart and Hy-vee for violating their “common-law right to self-determination.”

A district court dismissed the Salier’s lawsuit and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eight Circuit has done the same.  It ruled that Minnesota law allows pharmacists to exercise independent judgment in filling prescriptions and notes that “the FDA and every government agency and major medical authority addressing the issued had denounced and recommended against using ivermectin to treat COVID-19,” and the FDA had revoked its initial emergency-use authorization to use hydroxychloroquine to treat patients hospitalized with COVID-19.

One question remains: how many people suffering from COVID-19 and desperate for help, whose stories may never surface inside of a courtroom, were denied their legal ivermectin prescriptions, went home, and died quietly so they could become another statistic to use to propagandize the public into catatonic fear?

It’s certainly, it appears the court agrees, within any pharmacy’s purview to deny therapeutic medication with a decades-long history of safe use to its customers, but let’s make sure the public knows who’s doing it: Walmart and Hyvee.

If you appreciate the independent journalism we offer at PJ Media, free or corporate slant or state censorship, consider lending financial support to our heavily censored operation. Use the code SAVEAMERICA to get 50% off your annual membership. Click here to sign up. Thank you for your support.

Secret Service Protection DENIED to Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Outrageous: Biden Regime Denies RFK Secret Service Protection

BY ROBERT SPENCER

SEE: https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/robert-spencer/2023/07/28/outrageous-biden-regime-denies-rfk-secret-service-protection-n1714253;

Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made the announcement on Friday morning: despite the fact that he is a candidate for the presidency of the United States, the Biden regime has denied him Secret Service protection:

Since the assassination of my father in 1968, candidates for president are provided Secret Service protection.  But not me.

Typical turnaround time for pro forma protection requests from presidential candidates is 14-days.  After 88-days of no response and after several follow-ups by our campaign, the Biden Administration just denied our request.  Secretary Mayorkas: “I have determined that Secret Service protection for Robert F Kennedy Jr is not warranted at this time.”  Our campaign’s request included a 67-page report from the world’s leading protection firm, detailing unique and well established security and safety risks aside from commonplace death threats.

The Secret Service says that “by law” it is “authorized to protect,” among others, “Major presidential and vice presidential candidates, and their spouses within 120 days of a general presidential election.” Thus, RFK is legally entitled to Secret Service protection only beginning on July 5, 2024, if he is still in the race and Mayorkas deems him a “major candidate” at that time. In practice, however, how soon Secret Service protection is afforded to candidates can be based at least in part on how many death threats the candidate is receiving and how serious these threats are.

That’s why Kennedy’s mention of his campaign’s “67-page report from the world’s leading protection firm, detailing unique and well-established security and safety risks” is relevant. Besides presidential candidates, the Secret Service is obliged to offer protection to various people, including former presidents, children of former presidents until they turn sixteen, and “other individuals as designated per Executive Order of the President.”

What might be some of the reasons to offer “other individuals” Secret Service protection? Consider, for example, the case of a presidential candidate from America’s most prominent political family, a man whose uncle and father were both assassinated, one while he was president of the United States and the other while he was running for president. The assassinations of John F. Kennedy, the present candidate’s uncle, and Robert F. Kennedy, his father, are two of the defining moments in the history of the United States for the past six decades. It is terrible but true: the words “Kennedy” and “assassination” are forever linked in American history and culture — and now Alejandro Mayorkas says that Secret Service protection for RFK Jr is “not warranted.”

If we had any actual journalists, one of them should drop by Jimmy Carter in hospice care and ask him what he thinks of this. When another one of the uncles of RFK Jr., Ted Kennedy, was running for president in 1980, Carter didn’t hesitate. The Washington Post reported on Sept. 21, 1979: “President Carter ordered the Secret Service yesterday to provide immediate protection for Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D.Mass.), whose consideration of a presidential campaign has raised the fear of an assassination attempt such as those that struck down two of his brothers.”

Even before that, in May 1972, President Richard Nixon ordered Secret Service protection for Ted Kennedy, as well as Reps. Shirley Chisholm of New York and Wilbur Mills of Arkansas, after Gov. George Wallace of Alabama, who was at the time a serious contender for the Democratic presidential nomination, was shot and paralyzed for life at a campaign rally.

Related: Dirty Tricks: Democrat PAC Reportedly Trying to Get RFK Jr. Kicked Off Ballot

Ted Kennedy was trying to subject Carter to the humiliation of being dropped by his own party and denied the chance to run again after his undeniably disastrous single term as president. Nixon counted Kennedy, as well as Chisholm, among his political enemies. But these considerations did not stop either Carter or Nixon from having the basic decency to realize that there would be all sorts of psychopaths and assorted nuts looking to be the next Kennedy assassin and taking action accordingly.

Old Joe Biden and his henchmen do not have that basic decency. This gang of Marxists, opportunists, deviants, and hacks has made it abundantly clear, with its Disinformation Governance Board and its ongoing efforts to silence dissent on social media, that it hates opposition and is determined to crush it. And where they cannot yet silence opponents, they can intimidate and endanger them. That’s what Mayorkas’ decision was all about, and it is yet one more among innumerable reasons why Americans, whomever they support, must repudiate this repulsive and criminal regime decisively at the ballot box in 2024.

THE JOHN BIRCH SOCIETY: Satan’s Socialist Scheme FOR AMERICA~How To Defeat Communism~YouTube Bans The New American

VISIT THE JOHN BIRCH SOCIETY'S YOUTUBE CHANNEL HERE:

https://www.youtube.com/@TheJohnBirchSociety/videos

We are in a spiritual war between good and evil. Satan’s goal is the destruction of lives. Join Art Thompson as he discusses the satanic thread that is being woven throughout society. Find out how socialism and women play a major role in the overall plan.

How To Defeat Communism

The Communist Manifesto has a 10-point plan to Communize countries. To defeat this plan, The John Birch Society has an agenda that combats the Communist plan at every turn. We have agenda items that fight on a global level, like Get US Out! of the UN, to local level issues like Support Your Local Police. Learn more about The John Birch Society Agenda in this episode of Activate America.

YouTube Bans The New American

The publishing arm of The John Birch Society, The New American, has been permanently banned from YouTube. Big Tech is digging deep to censor those it doesn’t agree with. They had to go back three years to find something they wanted to hold against us.

 

Left Now Pushing Biden to Ignore Supreme Court Decisions

Left Now Pushing Biden to Ignore Supreme Court Decisions He Disagrees With

Left Now Pushing Biden to Ignore Supreme Court Decisions He Disagrees With

BY RICK MORAN

SEE: https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/rick-moran/2023/07/21/left-now-pushing-biden-to-ignore-supreme-court-decisions-he-disagrees-with-n1712471;

Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.

Two radical left “scholars” have crawled from underneath the rocks where they were hiding and are now openly advocating the end of “judicial review.” That’s the theory that the Supreme Court has the last word on constitutional issues and that all must obey their decisions—including, and especially, presidents.

The doctrine dates back to the 1803 Marbury v. Madison decision, where Chief Justice John Marshall decided the ultimate question of power: is an act of Congress or the Constitution the supreme law of the land?

But now, Harvard law Prof. Mark Tushnet and political scientist Aaron Belkin are advocating for something they’re calling “Popular Constitutionalism” to give Joe Biden the dubious authority to ignore or disobey Supreme Court decisions.

Professor Tushnet suggested in “An Open Letter to the Biden Administration on Popular Constitutionalism” that sometimes a radical-left nincompoop has to do what a radical-left nincompoop has to do.

“We urge President Biden to restrain MAGA justices immediately by announcing that if and when they issue rulings that are based on gravely mistaken interpretations of the Constitution that undermine our most fundamental commitments, the Administration will be guided by its own constitutional interpretations.”

If you think about this for more than two seconds, you’ll realize the incredible power Tushnet and Belkin want to place in the hands of the chief executive. Executive power plus the ability to interpret the Constitution as he/she sees fit? If the radical left could only dream of having such power.

Related: Supreme Court Stymies the Left’s Radical Agenda — and the American People Love It
Popular Constitutionalism would make the Supreme Court just another federal court. And premier constitutional scholar Ilya Somin points out some serious flaws in the concept.

Reason.com:

In any event, the flaws in Tushnet and Belkin’s argument go far beyond their take on this particular ruling. The course of action they advocate would effectively destroy judicial review. While they urge Biden to disobey Supreme Court decisions only when it comes to  “high-stakes rulings that are based on gravely mistaken constitutional interpretations,” political partisans will predictably make such claims about every decision they strongly disapprove of. And if one president successfully gets away with defying court decisions, he and his successors are likely to use this tactic whenever they think it politically advantageous to do so. The net effect will be the gutting of judicial review, at least on issues important to the party in power.

Even if you trust Biden to scrupulously differentiate “high-stakes” cases from ordinary ones, and “grave” errors from normal mistakes, I suspect you do not have similar confidence in Donald Trump, or whoever the next GOP president might be.

Another flaw in Tushnet’s theory is that it would give a president the power to overrule any decision — not just “extreme” decisions.

The Tushnet-Belkin theory, therefore, is not confined to distinctively MAGA rulings. It implies that presidents should be able to ignore a wide range of right-of-center judicial decisions, including those rooted in longstanding mainstream constitutional theories. And, obviously, presidents with a right-wing ideological orientation can use similar reasoning to justify defying even the most mainstream left-wing judicial decisions.

As NRO’s Jeffrey Blehar points out, Tushnet is a leader of the “critical legal studies” movement (CLS). If that movement sounds suspiciously familiar, you would be correct. CLS birthed the “critical race theory,” which is now firmly entrenched in American schools, despite efforts to dislodge it.

The Harvard professor proved in 2016 to have radical Stalinist tendencies. What he wanted to do with Hillary Clinton’s “enemies” could hardly be considered anything else, as he explained in an article he wrote that appeared on the blog Balkanization after Hillary Clinton’s unexpected loss:

The culture wars are over; they lost, we won. Remember, they were the ones who characterized constitutional disputes as culture wars. [. . .] For liberals, the question now is how to deal with the losers in the culture wars. That’s mostly a question of tactics. My own judgment is that taking a hard line (“You lost, live with it”) is better than trying to accommodate the losers, who – remember – defended, and are defending, positions that liberals regard as having no normative pull at all. Trying to be nice to the losers didn’t work well after the Civil War, nor after Brown. (And taking a hard line seemed to work reasonably well in Germany and Japan after 1945.)

For those who don’t think there’s a choice in 2024, these are the kinds of people who have Joe Biden’s ear. We can’t say we weren’t warned.

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