Month: May 2024

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Khamenei released a letter this week to American college students who staged campus protests against Israel and the United States after the October 7 terrorist attack by Hamas, praising their protests as part of an international “Resistance Front” and encouraging them to “become familiar with the Quran.” The Islamist regime in Tehran is a state sponsor of terrorism and main supporter of Hamas.

The campus protests, held mainly at expensive elite colleges and universities with a large foreign student body, were a joint effort of communist and Islamist groups fomenting hatred of Israel and Jews, and revolution in the United States.

Many of the campus occupation encampments featured daily calls to Islamic prayer sessions and Marxist indoctrination chants.

Khamenei’s letter is a bold effort to by the Iranian government to openly foment revolution within the United States in the face of a weak, appeasing Joe Biden.

Videos from the occupation of George Washington University in Washington, D.C. earlier this spring in which a statue of Washington was desecrated:

JUST NOW: The Palestinian flag is raised over George Washington University at the start of Islamic prayer. pic.twitter.com/yghXZyfgBL

— (@LeighWolf) May 2, 2024

George Washington University gathers for evening prayer pic.twitter.com/iLa4Ksx3Vt

— The Daily Sneed (@Tr00peRR) April 27, 2024

George Washington University suspended students for protesting against Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza. These same students are leading chants at a mass mobilization at the university, just blocks away from the White House. pic.twitter.com/kXIQ9UDrVS

— BreakThrough News (@BTnewsroom) April 27, 2024

The Wretched of the Earth are here at George Washington University in DC at the Liberated Zone Palestine Encampment and they’re fighting back. This young lady has been leading chants for the last two hours without a break. A true rockstar! pic.twitter.com/ZYWIdDxfhZ

— Facts Chaser ‍ (@Factschaser) May 8, 2024

Excerpts of Khamenei’s letter posted online:

“Dear university students in the United States of America, you are standing on the right side of history. You have now formed a branch of the Resistance Front and have begun an honorable struggle in the face of your government’s ruthless pressure – which openly supports Zionists…Dear university students in the US, my advice to you is to become familiar with the Quran.”

You have now formed a branch of the Resistance Front and have begun an honorable struggle in the face of your government’s ruthless pressure – which openly supports Zionists.

— Khamenei.ir (@khamenei_ir) May 29, 2024

Dear university students in the US, my advice to you is to become familiar with the Quran.

— Khamenei.ir (@khamenei_ir) May 30, 2024

Imam Khamenei’s letter addressed to the American university studentshttps://t.co/A9n98vGdT9#LetterFromLeader #United4Palestine pic.twitter.com/c9gnFrWyKc

— Khamenei.ir (@khamenei_ir) May 29, 2024

Text of Khamenei’s letter:

“In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

I am writing this letter to the young people whose awakened conscience has moved them to defend the oppressed women and children of Gaza.

Dear university students in the United States of America, this message is an expression of our empathy and solidarity with you. As the page of history is turning, you are standing on the right side of it.

You have now formed a branch of the Resistance Front and have begun an honorable struggle in the face of your government’s ruthless pressure—a government which openly supports the usurper and brutal Zionist regime.

The greater Resistance Front which shares the same understandings and feelings that you have today, has been engaged in the same struggle for many years in a place far from you. The goal of this struggle is to put an end to the blatant oppression that the brutal Zionist terrorist network has inflicted on the Palestinian nation for many years. After seizing their country, the Zionist regime has subjected them to the harshest of pressures and tortures.

The apartheid Zionist regime’s genocide today is the continuation of extreme oppressive behavior which has been going on for decades. Palestine is an independent land with a long history. It is a nation comprised of Muslims, Christians, and Jews.

After the World War, the capitalist Zionist network gradually imported several thousand terrorists into this land with the help of the British government. These terrorists attacked cities and villages, murdered tens of thousands of people and pushed out multitudes into neighboring countries. They seized their homes, businesses and farmlands, formed a government in the usurped land of Palestine and called it Israel.

After England’s initial help, the United States became the greatest supporter of this usurper regime, ceaselessly providing it with political, economic and military support. In an act of unforgivable recklessness, the United States even opened the way and provided assistance for the regime’s production of nuclear weapons.

The Zionist regime used an iron-fist policy against the defenseless people of Palestine from the very beginning and has, day by day, intensified its brutality, terror and repression in complete disregard of all moral, human and religious values.

The United States government and its allies refused to even frown upon this state terrorism and ongoing oppression. And today, some remarks by the US government regarding the horrific crimes taking place in Gaza are more hypocritical than real.

The Resistance Front emerged from this dark environment of despair, and the establishment of the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran expanded and fortified it.

The global Zionist elite – who owns most US and European media corporations or influences them through funding and bribery – has labeled this courageous, humane resistance movement as “terrorism”.

Can one call a people a terrorist nation for defending themselves on their own land against the crimes of the occupying Zionists? And is helping such a nation and strengthening it, an act of terrorism?

The oppressive leaders of global hegemony mercilessly distort even the most basic human concepts. They portray the ruthless, terrorist Israeli regime as acting in self-defense ­– yet they portray the Palestinian Resistance which defends its freedom, security and the right to self-determination, as terrorists!

I would like to assure you that today the circumstances are changing. A different fate awaits the important region of West Asia. The people’s conscience has awakened on a global scale, and the truth is coming to light.

Moreover, the Resistance Front has grown in strength and will become even stronger.

And history is turning a page.

Besides you students from dozens of American universities, there have also been uprisings in other countries among academics and the general public.

The support and solidarity of your professors is a significant and consequential development. This can offer some measure of comfort in the face of your government’s police brutality and the pressures it is exerting on you. I too am among those who empathize with you young people, and value your perseverance.

The Quran’s lesson for us Muslims and all of humanity, is to stand up for that which is right: “So be steadfast as you have been commanded” (11:112).

The Quran’s lesson for human relations is: “Do not oppress and do not be oppressed” (2:279).

The Resistance Front advances by a comprehensive understanding and the practice of these and hundreds of other such commands – and will attain victory with the permission of God.

My advice to you is to become familiar with the Quran.”

Sayyid Ali Khamenei
May 25, 2024

The post Iranian Leader Ayatollah Khamenei Foments Revolution in US with Praise of College Protests Against Israel and America; Tells Students, “My Advice to You Is to Become Familiar With the Quran” appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Guest post by Joe Hoft at JoeHoft.com – republished with permission

The left downplays the FBI’s Mar-a-Lago raid claiming it was a standard raid. They also claim that President Trump wasn’t even supposed to be there. Breaking news confirms that this is not true.

We learned a week ago that the FBI was authorized to use deadly force at Mar-a-Lago when agents raided the President’s home in an uncalled for and unprecedented raid.

Julie Kelly Reports New Revelations about the Mar-A Lago Raid

In a nutshell..

• The FBI authorized the use of deadly force

• Agents were prepared to engage in with Trump and his Secret Service team

• they had an onsite medical team available in case it got deadly

The FBI risked the lives of Donald Trump, his family, his staff, and MAL guests for a publicity stunt to make it look like Trump stole national security files.

People need to be arrested for this.

Julie Kelly Reports New Revelations about the Mar-A Lago Raid

In a nutshell..

• The FBI authorized the use of deadly force

• Agents were prepared to engage in with Trump and his Secret Service team

• they had an onsite medical team available in case it got deadly

The FBI… https://t.co/DJm14f21Pk pic.twitter.com/I4vVbEP0zE

— MJTruthUltra (@MJTruthUltra) May 21, 2024

Merrick Garland personally approved the raid.

Garland: “I personally approved” the Mar-a-Lago raid. pic.twitter.com/qw8HJOcsGZ

— Greg Price (@greg_price11) August 11, 2022

The far-left communists who are using corrupt courts to put President Trump in prison, say that it was standard practice to use lethal force against the President of the United States when the FBI raids his home and steals documents from the President. However, Dan Bongino, a former Secret Service Agent, shared that nothing about the raid on Mar-a-Lago was standard.

If there is anyone more qualified to comment on this I do not know about them.

“There was nothing standard about the raid on Mar a Lago.

These people do not get to do anything they want.”

Credit:@dbongino pic.twitter.com/zJpAzwBObf

— Big Fish (@BigFish3000) May 22, 2024

President Trump shared that the Democrats were authorized to use deadly force and that he and his family may have been in the line of fire if something broke out. The Libs countered to say he wasn’t supposed to be at home that day.

Libturds are saying that they knew Trump was not home at the time. That doesn’t matter . He could have come home during the raid . They obviously were expecting something or they would not have had medics there. Were they expecting a shootout with Secret Service ? The… pic.twitter.com/KPtJbc3gMF

— Ames (@Ames2420) May 23, 2024

Per a discussion with Liz Harrington today on the Joe Hoft Show, Liz shared that she believes that President Trump was supposed to be there that day.

“I was trying to remember, and I may be wrong, but I am pretty sure he was supposed to be there.”

Here is what Harrington shared.

Biden’s DOJ and FBI Thought President Trump Would Be at MAL on the Day of the Raid! pic.twitter.com/6XFGtEYwdb

— Joe Hoft (@realJoeHoft) May 30, 2024

Did they want President Trump dead?

The post EXCLUSIVE: “I’m Pretty Sure” President Trump Was Supposed to be at Mar-a-Lago on Day of Raid (VIDEO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

State Senator Susan Talamantes Eggman, a Democrat, sharply criticized her own party during a debate on Senate Bill 1414. (Screenshot: Digital Democracy)

California State Senator Susan Talamantes Eggman (D-Stockton) publicly criticized her own Democratic party for their stance on legislation designed to combat child sex trafficking.

The controversy centers on Senate Bill 1414 (SB 1414), which was debated in the California Senate last Thursday, May 23rd.

SB 1414, introduced by Senator Shannon Grove (R-Bakersfield), aims to make soliciting sex from a minor a felony.

This measure aims to address the issue of child sex trafficking by imposing harsher penalties on those who purchase sex from minors.

Currently, solicitation of a minor for sex is classified as a misdemeanor, which can result in a maximum penalty of one year in county jail and a fine of up to $10,000.

SB 1414 proposes upgrading this crime to a felony, with penalties including a prison sentence of 2 to 4 years and a fine of up to $25,000. The bill also mandates registration as a sex offender for those convicted of this offense.

However, the Senate Public Safety Committee’s amendments have diluted the bill’s original intent. The committee proposed reducing the severity of penalties for offenders soliciting older minors (16- and 17-year-olds), an action that has been met with strong disapproval from advocates of the bill who believe it undermines efforts to protect all minors from exploitation.

“Selling sex has been within human cultures for millennia. It is a very difficult area of law to get into,” said Senator Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley).

During the hearing, Democrat State Senator Susan Talamantes Eggman delivered an explosive rebuke of her own party’s stance.

“I’d like to say, as a progressive, proud member of this body for the last 12 years, I’m done. I’m done with us protecting people who would buy and abuse our children,” she said.

“I don’t want more people in prison, but I don’t want people buying girls. I don’t want people buying little girls anymore.”

Eggman, who is also a mental health professional and social worker, spoke about her experiences working with individuals deeply wounded by abuse.

“I can tell you, I’ve spent my entire career working with people who have been wounded… by the abuse that’s been heaped on them, oftentimes by those that they love and look to protect them,” she said. “If their parents won’t do it, then by God, we should.”

Eggman continued her explosive speech by affirming the need for a moral stand against child exploitation.

“Again, I am not arguing that we open the gates to flood our prisons with people, but I am arguing that we have a moral responsibility to say, enough, enough. We have given away enough on this area, and we’ve got to move back into the center, or we all look like fools and laughing stocks, and what do we stand for?”

She concluded her explosive speech by urging her colleagues to prioritize child protection and reject the status quo.

“But the rest of you who are going to be here for a while, let’s get our stuff together and really start focusing on some of the important things. We talk about learning, and we talk about being safe. This is like at the core of it. And a lot of these kids can be throwaway kids,” she said.

“They’re poor kids, they’re kids of color, but they shouldn’t have to live a life determined by what happens to them by others at a very young age and by having the Democratic Party of California say, it’s okay. It’s not okay. And I’m not doing it anymore. And I hope none of you do, too. We have to be able to draw a line. And for me, I’m drawing a line. I urge your aye vote.”

Hat Tip Cramer Sez.

WATCH:

HOLY SH*T!!!

Susan Talamantes walks away from the Democrat party in California after 12 years !!

“I’m done. I’m done with us protecting people who would buy and abuse our children.”

“I don’t want people buying little girls anymore. And I’m tired of saying it’s okay… pic.twitter.com/G28gJAVpwc

— TONY (@TONYxTWO) May 30, 2024

Several prominent far-left ‘social justice’ organizations have positioned themselves against the bill designed to escalate penalties for those convicted of purchasing or soliciting sex from minors.

These groups, often advocating for broad criminal justice reform and reduced incarceration, argue that the bill might disproportionately impact marginalized communities and lead to increased prison populations.

The organizations opposing the bill include:

ACLU California Action
California Public Defenders Association
Californians for Safety and Justice
Californians United for a Responsible Budget
Ella Baker Center for Human Rights
Initiate Justice
Initiate Justice Action
Pacific Juvenile Defender Center
Rubicon Programs
San Francisco Public Defender’s Office
Santa Cruz Barrios Unidos
Young Women’s Freedom Center

We are finding out what evil is really like. It can be recalled that Governor Gavin Newsom signed a law that protects sex offenders who have sex with minors of the same sex.

California Senate Bill 145 was signed into law in 2020 and addresses the state’s sex offender registry laws, specifically regarding young LGBTQ+ individuals.

The bill, authored by State Senator Scott Wiener, aims to eliminate discrimination against LGBTQ+ youth by allowing judges to have the same discretion in cases of oral and anal sex as they do with vaginal intercourse involving minors aged 14 to 17 and adults within a 10-year age range.

In other words, Scott Wiener is arguing that a 14-year-old boy can actually consent to sex with a 24-year-old grown man (predator).

Democrats truly are perverted. They love criminals and crime!

The post California Democrat State Senator Blasts Her Own Party for Protecting Child Predators in Explosive Speech (VIDEO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

A new poll from Roanoke College finds Donald Trump tied with Joe Biden in Virginia.

This is the real reason that Democrats and the media are so desperate to put Trump in jail. He is outperforming recent Republican candidates in places where Democrats believe they have locked the population into voting blue forever.

The truth is that although Virginia has not voted Republican in a presidential race since 2004, prior to that, the state voted red in every presidential election going back to 1968.

Trump could definitely flip Virginia back to red in November.

The Washington Examiner reports:

Donald Trump may have a shot at winning Virginia

The last time the Commonwealth of Virginia supported a Republican presidential candidate was in 2004, when then-President George W. Bush capped off 10 consecutive wins for the GOP in the Old Dominion, but former President Donald Trump has a shot at reversing that trend this November.

Once considered a perennial swing state, Virginia has tilted ever so slightly toward the Democratic Party in recent elections. Former President Barack Obama won the state in 2008 and in 2012, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton carried the state in her losing campaign in 2016, and President Joe Biden won the state in 2020 by a 10-point margin. In statewide elections, Republicans have fared slightly better, winning races for governor, lieutenant governor, and attorney general in 2009 and 2021, while Democrats won the same positions in 2013 and 2017. Democrats have held both Senate seats since 2006…

It is amid this backdrop that a new poll from Roanoke College shows the presidential election in the state tied. Biden and Trump both registered 42% support in the new poll, while the president opens up a slim 2-point advantage when third-party candidates such as Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Cornel West, and Jill Stein are included.

For a state that has hardly been competitive for Republicans in recent cycles, the poll results are nothing short of astounding. If Biden fails to carry Virginia in November, his path to 270 electoral votes and a second term in the White House is practically nonexistent, given his polling in other swing states.

See the full poll results here.

According to Decision Desk, Trump has a better chance of winning Virginia than Biden has of winning Florida
https://t.co/KQ8wutGEaS

— Ryan James Girdusky (@RyanGirdusky) May 29, 2024

If Trump flips Virginia red in November, Biden is toast. And it’s entirely possible.

The post BIG NEWS: New Poll Finds Trump Tied With Biden in Virginia appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Far left author John Grisham fantasized about the writing a new book about assassinating Supreme Court Justices with the devils on The View on Wednesday morning.

The crowd thought this was hilarious!

This comes a year after a young leftist attempted an assassination of Justice Kavanaugh and his family at his home.

Police captured the man outside of the Kavanaugh home before he could commit the mass murder.

And, just a year later, this show is still targeting conservative justices and fantasizing about assassinations!

Man With Gun Arrested Near Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s Home; Told Police He Was There to Kill Kavanaugh

Here is the transcript from this segment.

Joy Behar: There’s some scandals plaguing the Supreme Court. Do you have any thoughts on that? And maybe write a book or ever make a movie out of that?

John Grisham: I wrote a great book called The Pelican Brief. (audience cheers) In which two Supreme Court justices were assassinated.

Joy Behar: I know. Yes.

John Grisham: And I thought about doing it again.

(Audience laughs)

Whoopi Goldberg: He’s talking about writing part two. It’s all fiction.

Joy Behar: It’s just fiction, it’s made-up stories.

Again, this was a year after the last assassination attempt on a conservative justice!

These are NOT good people.

The post DISGUSTING! Author John Grisham Fantasizes About Assassinating Supreme Court Justices with Ladies of The View – AUDIENCE LAUGHS (VIDEO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

The Russo–Ukrainian conflict rages on. As Moscow’s forces gain ground, Kiev and its backers increasingly betray desperation. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky is urging the allies to deploy airpower, while France’s President Emmanuel Macron talks of sending NATO troops into combat. 

The allies also are moving to seize Russian assets to pay for weapons their peoples have tired of providing to Kiev. Doing so would both offer only minimal support for Ukraine’s faltering defense and be a direct attack on the West’s rule of law and liberal democratic order. 

From the start, Ukraine became a moral cause as much as a foreign policy issue. That is understandable, since Russia’s invasion triggered a horrific conflict that has unleashed enormous death and destruction. Yet the humanitarian focus is convenient. Washington and its European partners share blame for the war, having violated multiple assurances of not expanding NATO and ignored a flurry of deadly warnings from Moscow. Many of the moralizing American elites so fervently behind Kiev previously backed U.S. military action—a potpourri of illegal wars, fraudulent crusades, misguided missions, drone bombardments, and other interventions—costing hundreds of thousands of lives in Iraq, Yemen, Afghanistan, Libya, and elsewhere. 

After Russia’s invasion, allied governments froze assets of Moscow on deposits and property of some so-called oligarchs located in the West. Proposals soon emerged to use this wealth for Ukraine, both in the ongoing conflict and for reconstruction afterwards. Unsurprisingly, the strongest supporter of turning Moscow’s cash over to Kiev is Kiev. Earlier this year, Zelensky advocated 

a “strong” decision this year for the frozen assets in Western banks to “be directed towards defense against the Russian war and for reconstruction” of Ukraine. “Putin loves money above all,” he said. “The more billions he and his oligarchs, friends and accomplices lose, the more likely he will regret starting this war.”

The Biden administration backed seizure legislation that recently passed Congress, but is meant to act in unison with Europe. European governments vary in their enthusiasm for confiscation. Belgium hosts the bulk of Russian state holdings and proposed to use some of the resources “to buy military equipment, humanitarian aid and help with the rebuilding of the war-torn country.” 

Although most advocates would devote the money to Kiev, Robert Zoellick proposed treating Russia’s money as a cornucopia for all, “setting aside some of the Russian reserves to assist developing countries that have been demonstrably hurt by higher food and energy prices. In addition, some amount could be allocated for claims by companies that suffered Russian retaliation.” 

After months of wrangling, the European Union agreed on a compromise: to use the income from frozen Russian state assets, about $3.25 billion annually, for Ukraine, mostly for weapons purchases and infrastructure development. Yet seizing profits but not principle is like pretending to be only a little bit pregnant. Per the noted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, “even the smaller option is to us nothing less than expropriation.” Pressure to grab the rest will inevitably increase.

Nevertheless, not everyone backs taking money from a state with which the West is not at war, indeed, one which has amassed its wealth by trading with the very same governments and peoples. However convincing the case for Moscow’s culpability, the charge remains an accusation, not a judgment. No legal proceeding has imposed damages on the Russian government or people. If punishment is based on the claim du jour, the innocent will be as vulnerable as the guilty. 

Assets are commonly frozen in international disputes but only rarely confiscated. Precedents typically involve United Nations Security Council approval or international treaties, neither of which is present or likely to occur. Other justifications also fail. For instance, confiscation cannot be vindicated as a “countermeasure” to aggression because that action belongs to the victim alone, not to bystanders. 

Moreover, lawlessly seizing assets makes a mockery of the “rules-based international order” that Western officials routinely hype. Allied conduct already reflects ostentatious hypocrisy, as the very nations which write the rules routinely break them. Indeed, the Western accusers, most notably the U.S., have committed similarly costly crimes. Lawlessly seizing another nation’s assets while criticizing it for undermining international law would fuel cynicism toward Western claims.

Some European governments, such as those in France and Germany, recognize the danger of the abandonment—or, worse, tearing down—of legal safeguards, which would affect their own citizens as well as Russians. If passion replaces reason as the basis for legal policy, no property holder will be safe. Christine Lagarde, president of the European Central Bank, observed that such a process would “start breaking the international legal order that you want to protect, that you would want Russia and all countries around the world to respect.” 

Moscow likely would retaliate by seizing the property of American and European firms. The latter is estimated to be worth about $288 billion in 2022, roughly comparable to the West’s holdings of Russian state accounts. European institutions hold the bulk of Russian assets, which means they would be top targets for retaliation by Moscow and its friends. Although Western companies are not responsible for allied government policy, Moscow is not likely to let such details get in the way. Although the Russian economy loses when foreign capital disappears, many firms and individuals gain, acquiring cheap foreign assets. Indeed, for Putin, confiscation simultaneously minimizes foreign influences and benefits government supporters—a twofer.

Russian officials have also threatened to break diplomatic relations, which would further diminish communication between the world’s two most powerful nuclear states. The wider the political gulf becomes, the harder it will be to rebuild a relationship after the war ends. Yet the U.S. has much at stake in changing Moscow’s behavior involving a range of issues, including policy toward China, North Korea, and Iran.

If Western governments ostentatiously steal Russian assets because they can, their economies will suffer a “seizure risk premium.” Governments of foes and friends alike—authoritarian Mideast dictatorships would be at as much risk as Putin’s autocracy—would likely look for alternative locations to stash their money. They also would tend to avoid dollar-denominated assets. The U.S. still enjoys strong economic advantages, with the world’s largest, deepest, and safest capital markets, but that value is based in part on the legal protections afforded property owners. Washington’s increasing propensity to treat other people’s assets as weapons encourages the search for new, better national repositories.

Ultimately other countries might decide to seize allied, and even American, assets to punish Washington for its promiscuous war-making. That might be unlikely as long as the U.S. possesses the globe’s dominant military, but international power is shifting. Promiscuous war-making makes Washington a prime target. Imagine members of the Global South grabbing American properties and deposits in response to the invasion of Iraq, which wrecked a nation, unleashed al-Qaeda in Iraq and the Islamic State, killed hundreds of thousands of civilians, and destroyed multiple minority religious communities. Today’s purported masters of the universe might eventually regret setting a precedent of foreign governments grabbing whatever they want from whoever they want whenever they want.

In the end, destroying today’s legal order is a dangerous strategy. The effort reminds one of Sir Thomas More in A Man for All Seasons: 

Oh? And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned ’round on you, where would you hide, Roper, the laws all being flat? This country is planted thick with laws, from coast to coast, Man’s laws, not God’s! And if you cut them down, and you’re just the man to do it, do you really think you could stand upright in the winds that would blow then? Yes, I’d give the Devil benefit of law, for my own safety’s sake!

William Hague, a failed British politician turned columnist, responds with what he views as the killer argument: “We have passed the point at which those assets will ever be returned. They would be better used to support Ukraine and to impose an escalating penalty on Putin.” Hague is profoundly mistaken. Appropriating the property would offer Moscow another reason to continue fighting for victory. Better to leave the final status of Russian assets a matter for negotiation, an inducement for the Putin government to agree to a reasonable peace. With Kiev’s leverage steadily falling as it loses more territory, the allies should be discreetly chatting with Russian interlocutors about what kind of peace might be possible. 

Vladimir Putin is the perfect stereotypical villain, a seeming heaven-sent target for asset forfeitures. Yet he should be joined by the gaggle of allied officials who violated their promises and ignored his warnings, who also bear responsibility for the carnage occurring in Ukraine. Even in the best case, seizure of Russian assets would reflect rank hypocrisy and crass self-interest.

Yet the most dangerous consequence of allied confiscation might be to make it even harder to end a war that should never have started. No doubt, Ukrainians want justice. Nevertheless, that looks ever less likely as death and destruction mount. Today Ukrainians most need peace and frozen funds could be used as part of a settlement. For that reason alone, the U.S. and its European allies should eschew the temptation to illegally plunder the invader’s property.

The post Allies Begin the Reckless Seizure of Russian Assets appeared first on The American Conservative.

As recently as a generation ago, the U.S. foreign policy establishment seemed to take seriously Halford Mackinder’s theory of the Heartland, which posits that control of the Eurasian “World-Island” ultimately means control of the world. As such, an alliance between the two Eurasian giants, China and Russia, was something a generation of American strategists and diplomats worked to prevent. The strategic imperative to cleave apart Russia and China was given perhaps its most (in)famous expression by Gore Vidal, who worried that if the U.S. and Russia didn’t band together, we Americans would “end up as farmers—or, worse, mere entertainment—for more than one billion grimly efficient Asiatics.”

In the immediate aftermath of the overthrow of the Soviet government in December 1991, expectations were that Russia would return to the Western fold. Writing in 1993, the historian John Lukacs observed that “once Uzbeks, Turkmens, Mongols, the advance guard of ‘les Chinois,’ begin surging westward, it will be the Russians whose historic task will be to hold them up. Russia, the new frontier of what remains of Western civilization.”

Over the course of the three decades that have followed, such expectations have been dashed—perhaps permanently— thanks to the American establishment’s bipartisan project of isolating and ultimately anathematizing Russia. Indeed, among the most consequential geopolitical ramifications of the new Cold War and the NATO–Russia proxy war in Ukraine has been Russia’s turn away from the Occident toward the Orient.

Rarely has the picture been clearer.

On May 16, Russian president Vladimir Putin traveled to Beijing for a state visit, which resulted in a joint statement from Putin and his counterpart, China’s President Xi Jinping, that noted Russia and China’s concern over “the expansion of military alliances and creation of military bridgeheads close to the borders of other nuclear powers.” For his part, Putin, in an interview with Xinhua, the official state media outlet of China, portrayed the burgeoning China-Russia combine in glowing terms, noting that the partnership

has always relied on the principles of equality and trust, mutual respect for the sovereignty and consideration of each other’s interests. A special and prominent role in the development of our relations has belonged to wise and shrewd politicians and state leaders, such as Xi Jinping, President of the People’s Republic of China.

Upon his return to Moscow, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov gave a remarkably frank public read-out of the Putin-Xi meeting. According to Lavrov, the meetings “reaffirmed that our comprehensive partnership and strategic interaction surpass traditional alliances of the past era.”

And a little over a week later, on May 27, China’s Vice Foreign Minister Deng Li announced that the forthcoming Ministerial Conference of the China–Arab States Cooperation Forum will, according to Deng, “issue a common voice between China and Arab countries on the Palestinian cause.”

China’s emerging role as a diplomatic power broker has not gone unnoticed in Washington. Last week, amidst an unusual amount of pomp and ceremony for an African head of state, President Biden—that stalwart friend of segregationists back in his Senate days—feted the Kenyan President William Ruto at a state dinner.

Speaking with CNN last week, the U.S. ambassador to Kenya, the former eBay executive Meg Whitman, noted that “for many, many years, it was really the Chinese who showed up in Africa and in Kenya,” but today Washington has a new, specific “message to Kenya and to the continent, which is: America wants to be your partner.”

Underscoring the foreign policy establishment’s newfound commitment to waging a new Cold War in Africa, the White House announced plans to designate Kenya as a “major non-NATO ally”—meaning it will join the ranks of 18 other so-designated nations, including Israel, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand, whose militaries benefit from expanded access to American military technology and equipment. 

Yet, so far, the contest over Africa has yielded decidedly mixed results.

At home, the consequences of this new Cold War are both predictable and lamentable—further empowering, enriching and entrenching the defense industry and its many offshoots, without making us any safer. Indeed, the Chinese-Russian combine will not be an inconsiderable opponent. If we continue down the current path Biden and co. have put us on, the outcome may turn out quite differently from that of Cold War I.  

The post China Is Eating the United States’ Diplomatic Lunch appeared first on The American Conservative.

CNN’s data analyst Harry Enten examined Trump’s approval numbers with regard to the sham NYC trial and found that the Democrat circus is not affecting Trump with the public at all.

Democrats were hoping that the trial would make Trump look toxic to the public. They have failed.

The problem for Democrats and the media is that everyone knows this trial is purely political and all about the 2024 election.

Breitbart News reports:

CNN’s Enten: ‘No Change’ In Public Opinion About Trump During New York Trial, People ‘Don’t Really Care’

CNN poll analyst Harry Enten said Wednesday on “News Central” that polling shows most voters don’t care about the New York business records case against former President Donald Trump.

Enten said, “It feels like only yesterday to me, John, that it began, but apparently, it is 44 days. You crack the numbers, you’ve run the numbers. All right, let’s take a look here…

He added, “Simply put, they have not. Pre-opening statements think Trump did something illegal, 46%. After the direct examination of Michael Cohen by the prosecution, look at where we are now, 46%. The percentage of Americans who think that the charges are very serious, in fact, dropped from 40% to a little bit more than and 35% during the course of this trial. So, yes, perhaps things might have changed with those 12 jurors, but when it comes to the larger American public, there has been no change.”

Watch the clip below:

CNN: ‘No Change’ in Public Opinion About Trump During Trial

HOST: Why?

ENTEN: Because most Americans don’t care that much. They care about the economy, inflation, immigration, and election legitimacy. pic.twitter.com/2n2yNwNwCk

— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) May 29, 2024

It could not be more obvious that this trial is just being used to try to damage Trump.

Not only do people not care about this, they see that Democrats care more about this than their real concerns, such as the economy and the border.

The post CNN Data Analyst Points Out NYC Trial Not Affecting Public Opinion About Trump: ‘No Change’ (VIDEO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Over a dozen law enforcement departments in Colorado are planning to dispatch drones instead of officers to respond to specific 911 calls.

The Denver Police Department and several other law enforcement agencies in Colorado plan to dispatch drones instead of officers in situations where drones can provide information about the incident before officers are called to the scene.

The Denver Post reported that in some cases, the drone would be the only response to some incidents if an operator can determine from the air that officers don’t need to respond.

Sgt. Jeremiah Gates, who is in charge of the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s office, stated, “This really is the future of law enforcement at some point, whether we like it or not.”

Picture this: You call 911 and a drone comes whirring to your door instead of a police officer.

That could soon be a reality along parts of Colorado’s Front Range. https://t.co/rAFGJ5tIG2

— The Denver Post (@denverpost) May 29, 2024

Per The New York Post:

Several local law enforcement agencies in Colorado, including the Denver Police Department (DPD), are planning to start dispatching drones instead of officers to respond to 911 calls.

“This really is the future of law enforcement at some point, whether we like it or not,” Sgt. Jeremiah Gates, who leads the drone unit at the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office, told The Denver Post.

At least 20 agencies in Colorado’s Front Range already use drone technology for certain tasks, like searching for missing people, tracking fleeing suspects, mapping crime scenes or overhead surveillance during SWAT operations.

Now the sheriff’s office is considering using them to respond to some 911 calls in situations where the drones might be able to provide useful information from the location of an incident before officers are deployed.

Police departments are not the only ones using drones; criminals are using them too.

The Gateway Pundit reported in March that Georgia Law Enforcement authorities arrested 150 people for operating a drone-based operation that smuggled guns, drugs, and cell phones into Georgia prisons.

READ:

Georgia Authorities Arrest 150 for Allegedly Using Drones to Transport Guns, Drugs, and Cellphones into Prison

The post Colorado Police Plan to Dispatch Drones Instead of Officers for Certain 911 Calls appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Corrupt prosecutor Andrew Weissmann on Wednesday gushed over Judge Juan Merchan as the jury deliberated in the lawfare trial against President Trump.

Recall that Andrew Weissmann was Robert Mueller’s “pit bull” during the Russian collusion inquisition. Weissmann was unable to take out Trump during the 2+ year Russian collusion hoax so he has been chomping at the bit ever since.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg indicted Trump in April 2023 on 34 felony counts related to ‘hush payments’ he made to Stormy Daniels.

Trump was accused of paying porn star Stormy Daniels, AKA, Stephanie Clifford, ‘hush payments’ through his then-attorney Michael Cohen in a scheme to silence her and stop the story about their alleged affair from being published in the National Enquirer.

The jury deliberations began on Wednesday after Judge Merchan instructed them to choose among the three predicate crimes Trump supposedly committed.

Judge Merchan is allowing the jurors to choose ONE of the three predicate crimes. Jurors do NOT have to unanimously agree on which of the three predicate crimes Trump committed.

Trump DOJ official Jeffrey Clark said mixing and matching crimes violates every principle of the Due Process Clause.

Weissmann celebrated the lawfare trial against Trump and said he has a “man crush” on Judge Merchan.

“With respect to Judge Merchan, I am like now, I have like a man crush on him,” Weissmann said.

Pathetic.

WATCH:

MSNBC legal analyst has orgasm on live TV while discussing Judge in Trump trial pic.twitter.com/LJe1VuLag4

— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) May 30, 2024

Judge Merchan Wednesday afternoon dismissed the courtroom for the day in Alvin Bragg’s ‘hush money’ lawfare trial against Trump.

There was no verdict.

The deliberations will reconvene Thursday morning at 9:30 ET.

The post Corrupt Prosecutor Andrew Weissmann Celebrates Lawfare Trial Against Trump, Says He Has a “Man Crush” on Judge Merchan (VIDEO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.