Month: May 2024

Most people have at least a vague notion of the virtue of self-sacrifice.

But considering how few people in the developed world face life-or-death situations on a daily basis, how many of us could truly embody that virtue if it came down to it?

How many people would be able to put aside their self-preservation instinct and give up their own life for the people they love?

One North Carolina father, when presented with this situation, was able to rise to that calling, sacrificing his own life when his children fell into a river.

According to local news outlet WGHP, Benny Bowers Jr., a native of Surrey County, North Carolina, was out fishing with his children on April 28 when three of his four sons fell into the Yadkin River.

WGHP reported that, although the family called 911 immediately, the strength of the current forced Bowers to make that fateful, split-second decision.

He jumped in, rescuing his struggling children, but Bowers himself never resurfaced.

Rescue crews quickly came on the scene, The Charlotte Observer noting that they searched the entire day with no success, suspending the search once it grew too dark.

They ended up finding his body around 11 a.m. on April 29, near the juncture of the Yadkin River and the Ararat River in Siloam, where he originally vanished.

Tragic as the loss of this loving father was, Bowers’ children had only glowing praise for the heroic actions of their father, who wen by the name Benji, according to the Observer.

His 10-year-old son, Benny Bowers III, told WGHP “He was a brave man. And if you wanted him to help, he would be there for you.”

Bowers’ sister, Angela Stewart, told WGHP about how much her brother loved the Lord, and Bowers’ son called his father “the greatest dad I could ever have, and he’s a hero. A real-life hero.”

Friends and family shared their own tributes on Facebook, with Bowers’ cousin, Jason Johnson, writing, “I’ve been thinking about all the things I could say about Benji Bowers. If I could put it all in one word it would be Love. To know him was to love him. Always the jokester. The life of the party. God, Family, friends and fishing were what matters most.”

And Bowers truly lived up to the praise of his son, his sister and his cousin.

While too many Christians in the secular culture of the West see their commitment to the Lord as more of a social thing, Bowers clearly took his commitment to God seriously, up to and including sacrificing himself for the sake of his children.

In doing so, Bowers personified the words of Christ, who said in John’s Gospel that “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.”

Every child deserves a father like Bowers, who was devoted to God first, and then put his family before everything else.

Benny Bowers Jr. was, as his son said, a real-life hero, animated by the words of Christ and his love for the Lord.

Bowers had that “greater love,” to “lay down his life” for his children. If America had more fathers like him, maybe that would be enough to turn the nihilistic, atheistic culture of the West back to God.

This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.

The post ‘A Real-Life Hero’: Father Sacrifices His Life to Save Three Children appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

One of the many migrant caravans marching to the open US southern border.

Here we go… House Democrats on Wednesday night voted unanimously to give illegal aliens – including Joe Biden’s 11 million illegal border crossers – representation in Congress and the Electoral College.

Democrats continue to put Americans and American workers in line behind alien invaders.

The House vote was 206 to 202 with 22 representatives 11 Democrats and 11 Republicans abstaining from the vote.

Steven Miller reported: “House Dems just voted UNANIMOUSLY to give illegals representation in Congress AND the Electoral College. House Seats and Electoral College votes WILL BE added to areas with the most illegals (including all Biden illegals) unless Senate passes the bill. Invasion by design.”

ALERT: House Dems just voted UNANIMOUSLY to give illegals representation in Congress AND the Electoral College. House Seats and Electoral College votes WILL BE added to areas with the most illegals (including all Biden illegals) unless Senate passes the bill. Invasion by design. pic.twitter.com/nVjhmsNh34

— Stephen Miller (@StephenM) May 9, 2024

The language of H.R.7109 is as follows: To require a citizenship question on the decennial census, to require reporting on certain census statistics, and to modify apportionment of Representatives to be based on United States citizens instead of all individuals.

Democrats in the Senate will not bring this to a vote thus giving illegals representation in Congress.

The Democrat Party is clearly lawless.

The post Breaking: House Democrats Vote UNANIMOUSLY to Give Illegal Aliens Representation in Congress and the Electoral College appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

President Joe Biden has made a habit of putting the interest of foreign governments before that of the American people. Like the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and its de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. 

Biden took office talking of his commitment to human rights and determination to turn MbS, as the crown prince is known, into a “pariah.” Now the administration is proposing to turn the U.S. military into a modern Janissary corps, a bodyguard for the thousands of royal princes who rule over their countrymen. It is well past time to stop deferring to the KSA.

For years American policymakers justified their fixation on the Mideast on the importance of protecting Israel and importing oil. Israel, however, has become a regional military superpower, threatened more by its brutal mistreatment of Palestinians and bitter internal political struggles than outside attack. The oil market has diversified, and supplies are limited mostly by American sanctions, which could be liberalized or lifted at any time. Terrorism is a problem of endless and disastrous U.S. military intervention. Growing Chinese and Russian activity in the region is a diplomatic challenge, not a threat warranting increased military commitments. Today, as my Cato Institute colleague Jon Hoffman explained, “What Washington needs from the region on” issues traditionally central to the Saudi relationship, most notably oil, stability, and terrorism, “is quite limited and simple to achieve.”

Any support for Riyadh is difficult to justify. Saudi Arabia is one of the world’s worst dictatorships. According to Freedom House, the Kingdom is more repressive than Russia, China, and Iran: “Saudi Arabia’s absolute monarchy restricts almost all political rights and civil liberties. No officials at the national level are elected. The regime relies on pervasive surveillance, the criminalization of dissent, appeals to sectarianism and ethnicity, and public spending supported by oil revenues to maintain power.” MbS’s misrule was highlighted by the gruesome murder and dismemberment of the journalistic critic Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. More than five years later, the official coverup continues. 

Human Rights Watch observed, “Authorities conducted arrests of peaceful dissidents, public intellectuals, and human rights activists and sentenced people to decades-long prison terms for posting on social media. Abusive practices in detention centers, including torture and mistreatment, prolonged arbitrary detention, and asset confiscation without any clear legal process, remain pervasive.” Saudi-Americans also are targeted, suffering lengthy prison terms for opinions expressed while in the U.S. Despite the crown prince’s welcome social reform, activists remain at great risk. In late April 29-year-old Manahel al-Otaibi was sentenced to prison for 11 years for “terrorist offenses,” meaning publicly supporting women’s rights.

However, the president has turned his paeans to democracy into so much hypocritical cant. Who can forget the Biden–MbS fist bump and the president’s ignominious plea for an increase in oil production? Then the crown prince contemptuously dismissed Biden’s embarrassing entreaty, demonstrating who is really in charge.

Now the administration is back with an even worse idea. If MbS would be so kind as to recognize Israel, the US would sell the Saudis nuclear technology and provide a security guarantee, sealed with American money and lives. The Saudi royals are used to farming out their dirty work to others. That, in their minds, includes defending the absolute monarchy with all its privileges and delights.

The much-ballyhooed “Abraham Accords” are highlighted by recognition of Israel by three other monarchical dictatorships, Bahrain, Morocco, and United Arab Emirates, and promised recognition by Sudan’s military regime (which collapsed into civil war before doing so). Bizarrely, Washington had to purchase their assent. For instance, in Morocco’s case the U.S. endorsed Rabat’s seizure of Western Sahara and suppression of the Sahwari people, sacrificing important democratic values to advance Israel’s interests. If the accords were mutually beneficial as claimed, Washington could have promoted better regional relations without selling out American interests.

The agreements, despite their high-sounding rhetoric, are not peace treaties. Israel was not at war with any of these countries. Indeed, Jerusalem has long had clandestine intelligence relationships with several governments, including that in Riyadh. The pacts did encourage commerce on both sides, a modest benefit which accrued to them, not the U.S. Formalizing their governmental relationships was a diplomatic boon for Israel, but a negative for others, especially millions of Palestinians languishing under oppressive military occupation. 

Indeed, Washington asks nothing of the Kingdom other than to recognize Israel. Not that Riyadh respects the lives and dignity of its people. And not that the royal regime adopts a more responsible foreign policy. Before assisting Russia in avoiding allied sanctions, the Saudi government, mostly at MbS’ direction, kidnapped Lebanon’s prime minister, isolated (and even planned to invade) Qatar, intervened militarily on behalf of Bahrain’s repressive minority Sunni monarchy, aided jihadist insurgents in Libya and Syria, and waged war on Yemen and its people.

For his endorsement the killer prince has demanded a high price. Unstated but undoubtedly understood would be the end of criticism over the KSA for being a bottom-dweller when it comes to human rights and democracy. If the result is occasionally a citizen imprisoned for activities in the US, so be it. 

Second is a nuclear deal with few safeguards. Riyadh has threatened to build a nuclear weapon if Iran does so, dismissing American nonproliferation concerns. Hence MbS wants the technology with a minimum of oversight. So much for Washington’s quest to limit the spread of nuclear arms.

Third, and worst of all, the crown prince wants a formal alliance. The exact kind is not yet determined. Apparently, the idea is something short of security agreements with NATO, South Korea, and Japan, but which would nevertheless commit the US to the Saudi royal family’s defense. After the royal regime’s pitiful performance against Yemen, the Middle East’s poorest nation, the Kingdom wants to turn monarchical guard duty over to the Americans, who would be expected to make the Middle East safe for absolute monarchy. Could there be a worse repudiation of the American Revolution, and its rejection of even a king with a democratically elected parliament?

All this to get the KSA to formally recognize Israel, with which it long has had a cooperative security relationship, with the largely undemocratic effect of bolstering Riyadh and the other Gulf monarchies. What would the US get for underwriting the brutally authoritarian Saudi regime and the ruthlessly ethno-nationalist Netanyahu coalition? The requirement to fight even more foolish wars in the Mideast.

Unsurprisingly, the New York Times’ Thomas Friedman, perhaps journalism’s most fanatical and slavish MbS groupie, exulted: “The U.S. and Saudi Arabia are now putting the finishing touches on a formal alliance that could isolate Iran, curb China’s influence in the Middle East and peacefully inspire more positive change in this region than the U.S. invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan ever did militarily.” Yet what does the U.S. have to do with this policy potpourri? The Kingdom long has informally allied with Israel against Tehran and could do so officially if it wished, the killer prince already has loosened onetime totalitarian social controls over his people, and China is far too important to be excluded from the Middle East. Anyway, the region is big enough for the U.S. and PRC.

So far the chief stumbling block to the deal has been the Palestinians, or, more accurately, Israel’s mistreatment of the Palestinians. Although King Salman has always been committed to statehood for them, MbS is thought ready to leave them in history’s trashcan so long as his personal objectives are met, making him and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu kindred spirits. The war in Gaza and mass killing of civilians, however, makes such an agreement difficult. Although the KSA is a dictatorship, even the crown prince hesitates acting when 96 percent of Saudis want to cut all ties with Israel, so he has demanded “irreversible steps” toward creation of a Palestinian state. The likelihood of Netanyahu agreeing to that is between zero and zero squared.

The war in Gaza has further deepened the divide. The Saudi government has just issued a statement affirming its “categorical rejection of the occupation forces’ continued blatant violations of all international resolutions calling for the cessation of these massacres and their violation of international law and international humanitarian law without deterrence, which exacerbates the humanitarian crisis and limits international peace efforts.”

Thus, according to Saudi diplomats, Biden is now pushing security guarantees without requiring recognition of Israel. Friedman imagined a workaround to Israeli intransigence: “the U.S. and the Saudis are considering finalizing the deal and taking it to Congress with the stated proviso that Saudi Arabia will normalize relations with Israel the minute Israel has a government ready to meet the Saudi-U.S. terms.” However, the politics remains extremely complicated on all sides, and administration officials subsequently said no. Secretary of State Tony Blinken indicated that while agreement between Washington and Riyadh was nearly complete, necessary were “calm in Gaza” and a “credible pathway to a Palestinian state.” National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan also emphasized that the latter remained to achieve. 

Foreign policy is sometimes messy, but Riyadh’s security is not a vital American interest. For decades the US implicitly guaranteed the Kingdom’s security. MbS was unpleasantly surprised when President Donald Trump refused to make war on Iran after the drone attack by Yemen’s Houthis on Saudi oil facilities, which encouraged Riyadh to normalize relations with Iran. Official Washington was unhappy, but this was a welcome step toward regional peace. The Biden administration prefers the Saudi royal family put its trust in the American military. 

The Abraham Accords have always been essentially a fraud. They were never about peace. Rather, they were always about putting Israel first, encouraging Arab governments to abandon the Palestinian cause. Now Biden is genuflecting to the killer prince as well.

If the plan goes forward—Netanyahu’s unwillingness to even fake concern for Palestinian lives remains an enormous barrier—those who join the US military will have to act as bodyguards for MbS and his fellow princes. Yet defending Saudi Arabia is not in America’s interest. President Biden took his oath of office to serve the American people, not Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Biden’s foreign policy record has little to be proud of. Subordinating American interests to those of the Saudi ruling family is certainly not a positive. The administration should stop making the Middle East safe for autocracy and disengage militarily. And Washington should stop paying other nations to make agreements that supposedly are in their own interests. Let the Kingdom and Israel make their own deals.

The post Biden Offers to Turn U.S. Military Personnel Into Saudi Royal Bodyguards appeared first on The American Conservative.

In the two weeks since the passage of the Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan aid packages, the contours of an emerging split within the Republican Party have become too obvious to ignore.

On one side are the usual suspects like Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, who have never met a war they were not eager to fund, enflame, and send young Americans to fight in. In a ludicrous (even by his standards) floor speech prior to the April 23rd aid package vote, Graham, flanked by an oversized photo of the Twin Towers engulfed in flames, attempted to portray a vote for billions to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan as the surest way to prevent, yes, another 9/11.  

The Graham-Cotton wing of the GOP can fairly be said to have the wind at its back, racking up recent legislative victories with enthusiastic bipartisan support. And the wing’s newest convert to the cause of perpetual war for perpetual defense contracts is no less a personage than House Speaker Mike Johnson. As a backbencher, Johnson could have reasonably been described as America First–friendly—but no more. Johnson now finds himself only the most recent elected official to be seduced by the siren song of politicized intelligence, remarking after the House vote, 

I really do believe the intel and the briefings that we got…. I think Vladimir Putin would continue to march through Europe if he were allowed.

Meanwhile, Johnson’s colleague over in the Capitol’s north wing, Tom Cotton, continues find new and inventive ways to promote Israeli interests, this week threatening members of the International Criminal Court (a body whose jurisdiction the U.S. does not recognize) with sanctions should they have the temerity to issue arrest warrants for Israeli officials. He wrote, in the manner of Rambo, “Target Israel and we will target you.”

All of which raises the question: Can one be America First, Ukraine First, and Israel First all at once?  That seems implausible—and, anyway, the Graham-Cotton wing of the GOP has shown where its true priorities lie. 

On the other side of the debate, Ohio’s Sen. J.D. Vance has taken on the unpleasant but entirely necessary job of taking on neocons like Graham. And Vance’s principled opposition to funding the disastrous war in Ukraine points the way forward in an age when the Democratic establishment is even more irresponsibly hawkish than the Republicans.

In this context it may be worth recalling that the last time the GOP was so divided over America’s role in the world coincided with a presidential election year. Nineteen fifty-two saw a clash for the nomination between another Republican son of Ohio, Sen. Robert Taft, and General Dwight D. Eisenhower. Then as now, the Democratic establishment accused Taft and fellow Ohio Republican Senator John Bricker, a leading opponent of the Truman-Acheson policy of stationing ever more troops in Europe, of “isolationism.” The Nation magazine fretted over the specter of a “widespread revival of blind isolationism,” while Arthur M. Schlesinger, the Harvard historian and adviser to the Democratic standard bearer Adlai Stevenson, decried the emergence of “a New Isolationism, bent upon what promises to be a fundamental attack on the foreign policy to which the United States and the free world are presently committed.” 

Taft, an early backer of the America First Committee, opposed the creation of NATO and criticized the scope of the Marshall Plan and Truman Doctrine. But Eisenhower rode to the nomination and ultimately the presidency with the support of the postwar internationalist establishment—that nexus of Wall Street, the Pentagon, and the burgeoning intelligence apparatus that included, among others, Allen and John Foster Dulles. 

Eisenhower’s farewell address, eight years after his triumph over Taft (and, in the general election, over Stevenson) warned of the dangers such a nexus posed to the welfare of the country—indeed, it might reasonably be viewed as Ike’s tacit acknowledgment that Taft might have been right after all.

Fast forward 70 years and we seem to be right back where we started. But the question now is: Where does the current Republican standard bearer fit into all this?

It is a question that, alas, lacks a good answer, because Trump seems intent on keeping both sides of the divide placated—and his critics guessing. The other, extremely plausible, possibility is that he doesn’t quite know himself.

Yet when considering where Trump fits into all this, it might be helpful to keep in mind that he has always been something of a political shape-shifter.

This is certainly true if one looks at who is advising him on foreign policy. Numerous reports indicate that Trump’s inner sanctum consists of people representing a wide spectrum of views, from America First champions like Steve Bannon and Richard Grenell, to mainstream Republicans like the former National Security Advisor Robert C. O’Brien, to uber-hawkish hard-liners like the retired General Keith Kellogg and the former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

So where does the former and perhaps future president stand on issues like Israel and Ukraine?

In a tedious interview with TIME magazine in early April, Trump confined his criticism of the IDF rampage: “I think that Israel has done one thing very badly: public relations.” 

When asked if he would back Israel if a war broke out between Israel and Iran, he answered,

I have been very loyal to Israel, more loyal than any other president. I’ve done more for Israel than any other president. Yeah, I will protect Israel.

Did it not seem to take him a beat to get to ‘yes’?

On the issue of Ukraine funding, Trump was, well, Trump. Asked by TIME’s Eric Cortellessa if he would continue to provide aid to Ukraine Trump answered,

I’m going to try and help Ukraine but Europe has to get there also and do their job. They’re not doing their job. Europe is not paying their fair share.

The upcoming Republican National Convention in July will provide Trump with an opportunity passed up in his interview with TIME—to spell out which side of the GOP foreign policy debate he is really on.

The post Which Way, GOP? appeared first on The American Conservative.

Newly enacted tariffs on China would hurt the U.S. economy, experts warned in 2018, right before the economy grew by 2.1 million jobs. It’s not surprising the “experts” got it wrong; they often are these days. What’s surprising is that, six years later, people are still listening to them.

This time around, the Washington establishment is fretting about former President Donald Trump’s plan to raise tariffs on all Chinese goods. The legacy media has responded to this proposal by running “explainers” on how Trump’s plan “could kill jobs and worsen inflation.” They cite economists who simplistically declare: “The policy is very bad. Tariffs make consumers poorer. They shrink the economy.”

In reality, tariffs are good for the economy insofar as they counteract market inefficiencies created by adversarial trade practices. China’s anticompetitive tactics in particular give Chinese companies an unfair cost advantage over American companies, which unnaturally shifts business, production, and jobs out of the United States. Tariffs that respond to these tactics prevent or reverse offshoring, preserving America’s economic might and promoting domestic investment.

With tariffs, we can prompt companies to think twice before pouring money into cutting-edge technology and advanced manufacturing equipment in China. Without tariffs, we remain vulnerable to adversarial manipulation. Tariffs skeptics ignore the catastrophic cost of that vulnerability.

Just look at China’s plan to destroy our automotive industry. The Chinese government already subsidizes its auto industry with handouts, tax breaks, financing incentives, stolen intellectual property, and even slave labor. Now Chinese auto companies are trying to bypass all our trade rules, including Trump-era tariffs, by setting up factories in Mexico to take advantage of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement. If this predatory strategy is successful, the result will be, as Trump put it, a “bloodbath” for the American worker.

That is a far cry from free-market competition, and it isn’t limited to cars, either. China is also trying to flood the U.S. economy with cheap solar panels, lithium-ion batteries, wind turbines, steel, aluminum, textiles, and more. In short, China is intentionally producing more than its struggling domestic market can absorb and inundating the international market with steeply discounted goods.

Beijing’s goal in all this isn’t to turn a profit; it’s to create and reinforce dependencies. That spells trouble for the United States, because dependence on Chinese goods gives power to our chief geopolitical adversary. Remember, Beijing is also using U.S. capital, technology, data, and talent to dominate emerging technologies at the cost of our national security.

Chinese genomics companies, for example, many of which the United States has sanctioned for ties to the Chinese military or the ongoing Uyghur genocide, are infiltrating U.S. hospital systems and buying U.S. genomics companies to stockpile our genetic data. They could be exploiting that data to acquire intelligence or even to design bioweapons. And Beijing is committing similar abuses to gain the edge in artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and semiconductors.

Part of the answer to this problem is stricter U.S. capital and export controls. As chair and vice chair of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Senator Mark Warner or Virginia and I have officially called for such controls. As we wrote in a recent letter to the U.S. Department of Commerce, the United States must “take a comprehensive approach to protecting American technology, investment, data, and talent in critical technology sectors.”

Targeted controls won’t work, though, unless we change our broader economic relationship with China. Even the simplest modern products require many inputs to assemble, and it doesn’t matter that the United States may control 10 percent of those inputs if our adversaries control the other 90 percent. They can and will use that control to choke us off, leaving us poorer and more helpless.

In response, we cannot and should not seek to re-shore every supply chain, but we should change the bad laws and incentives that created our $280 billion trade deficit with China. This means making America’s business environment more competitive and directly incentivizing re-shoring. It means cutting off China’s access to critical technologies. It means deepening our trading relationship with allied and partner countries whose products we can trust. And yes, it means raising tariffs on Chinese goods.

Will greater trade barriers raise some prices at the department store? Perhaps, but American producers will step up to fill the gap. We also need to remember why those prices are so low to begin with. It’s not because Chinese industry is more efficient, and it certainly isn’t because Chinese industry is better. It’s because the Chinese government subsidizes its industry with slave labor and massive market distortions.

We lose a great deal in exchange for those cheap products. Domestic industries fall apart, jobs die, shortages emerge in times of crisis, and Beijing gains the power to hold America hostage. Trump is right: we need strong measures to level this economic playing field and protect American workers.

The post Trump Is Right: We Should Raise Tariffs on China appeared first on The American Conservative.

Pro-Palestinian protesters were spray-painted by a contractor at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio early Tuesday morning as they stood in front of a campus Spirit Wall that had been hijacked by Hamas supporters who had painted it over with anti-Israel messages. The protesters, who wore clear plastic face shields, stood directly in front of the wall in an effort to prevent the contractors from doing their job. A pro-Hamas encampment at CWRU is now in its second week.

Video posted by the school’s Students for Justice in Palestine group shows one of the contractors spray-painting the protesters, with one covered in white paint. The group posted the video to Instagram with the message in nearly all caps, “AROUND 5 AM THIS MORNING, STUDENTS WERE SPRAYED WITH PAINT WHILE CONTRACTORS CALLED BY CWRU ATTEMPTED TO COVER THE SPIRIT WALL. THEY LATER CAME CLOSER TO NOON AND COVERED THE ENTIRE WALL WITH PAINT. THE STUDENTS FOLLOWED THE SPIRIT WALL POSTING POLICY, AND ADMIN STILL HAD A PROBLEM. The lengths this university goes to defend Zionist Genocidal interests is insane.”

Copy of the Instagram video:

Contractors hired to paint at Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) in Cleveland, Ohio decided the protesters wouldn’t stop them from doing their job today pic.twitter.com/QuF6tsJnj4

— Dixie (@OSiiNT) May 7, 2024

Video posted by Cleveland.com

Case Western Reserve University President Eric Kaler issued a statement Wednesday denouncing the spray-painting of the protesters:

An update on an overnight incident at the Spirit Wall
To the Case Western Reserve community:

Earlier today, I wrote to you noting that the university was investigating an incident in which an individual who was painting over protesters’ writings on the Spirit Wall hit student protesters with paint. I have reviewed video footage, which depicts students blocking the wall as a third-party contractor spray painted directly onto protesters as he attempted to finish painting the wall, and I am disturbed by what occurred.

Let me be clear: No students—or any individuals—should ever be treated this way, especially on a campus where our core values center on providing a safe, welcoming environment. This is not who we are as an institution, and I am deeply sorry this ever occurred.

The university will continue to fully investigate these actions and hold individuals responsible for this behavior, including the failure of our own officers to intervene.

Again, I want to reiterate my sincere regret for this incident. As with any violation of our codes of conduct, we will take action to hold them accountable.

Sincerely,

Eric W. Kaler
President

Kaler previously issued a statement criticizing the protesters for painting “threatening, intimidating and antisemitic” messages on campus walls.

Addressing intimidating speech on university property: May 7, 2024
To the Case Western Reserve community,

I fully support individuals’ rights to share their viewpoints in accordance with our freedom of expression policy. However, that policy—and the core values that define our university—have been continually violated over the past eight days, including yesterday afternoon when protesters at the non-sanctioned encampment on Kelvin Smith Library Oval painted an advocacy wall near Eldred Hall with language the university administration and many members of our community view as threatening, intimidating and antisemitic.

As I have repeatedly noted, constructive, meaningful exchanges should never involve harassment, incitement, or behavior that threatens and is intimidating to our community. I strongly condemn the language posted yesterday on the advocacy wall, and want to reiterate to our entire community that such language—no matter to whom it is directed—will not be tolerated on our campus.

After defacing the advocacy wall, later in the evening, the protesters painted the spirit wall near Thwing Center with language that was less threatening but still intimidating to some in our community. The university has painted over the advocacy wall and will complete painting over the spirit wall this morning. The university is investigating an incident in which one or more protesters blocking the spirit wall were hit by paint.

The students involved in yesterday’s advocacy wall painting and those who continue to break university policy by remaining in an unapproved encampment on private property will be held fully accountable for their actions through the conduct process. Any faculty and staff members who take part in activities that violate the freedom of expression policy—which this encampment does—also will be required to go through a conduct process. The actions of all participants, whether within or outside the CWRU community, may also be in violation of criminal or civil law.

I understand and appreciate the importance of advocating for a cause that is deeply personal and undeniably tragic, as the Israel-Hamas war and the resulting loss of lives are in Israel and Gaza. But advocacy for a cause is most persuasive when it goes back to those core values upon which Case Western Reserve operates, with responsibility, civility and ethical behavior among them. I urge the student protesters to remove the encampment and begin the student conduct process.

Sincerely,

Eric W. Kaler

Cleveland’s mayor and chief of police issued a joint statement, reported WOIO-TV:

Mayor Justin Bibb and Chief Annie Todd Respond to Recent Incidents on the CWRU Campus

In light of the recent video that surfaced from the CWRU campus, which displays individuals being painted over with spray paint, it is crucial that we express our stance unambiguously.

Cleveland is a city for everyone, and we must respect the thoughts, feelings, and voices of those who come from various backgrounds. These diverse perspectives are what makes us special, and ultimately stronger, as a city. Our community deserves venues where they have the ability to constitutionally-express their opinions openly without fear of criminal interference. We support 1st Amendment rights and implore CWRU leadership to consider this and think about how the decisions they make and the actions they take – especially against those who are abiding by the law – will influence some of the progress we have collectively made as a city. At the same time, we urge individuals to demonstrate peacefully.

We want to be clear in that we condemn all forms of violence and the Division of Police stands ready to offer support should that occur. Public safety has been and always will be our number one priority.

Mayor Bibb & Chief Todd

WOIO also reported a student protester named Raissa complaining about the incident:

“It was a pressurized paint gun spraying harmful chemicals with carcinogens and toxins directly with no concern for health or the well-being of an individual who is paying to be here,” said Raissa.

“We had some students talking to the police like how can they do this. The painters were like were following orders. The police said we’re following orders from higher administrative and I guess they didn’t think of the morality of what they were doing,” said Raissa.

Video of the encampment posted early Monday:

Case Western Reserve University issued a disperse order on Thursday. The Protesters have seemed to have doubled down by taking over the entire mall. Tensions are rising as I was met for the first time by about 10 non-hostile protesters asking me for identification. pic.twitter.com/272W90wM84

— Dan Stamness (@DStamness) May 6, 2024

The campus protest continued Wednesday evening:

On day 11 of their encampment, Case Western Reserve students to stage a sit in outside university administration building. pic.twitter.com/kwpbTvw66v

— Samer Badawi (@readsamerbadawi) May 9, 2024

The post Pro-Palestinian Protesters Attempt to Block Painter from Covering Up Their Graffiti – Then Find Out What Happens – MUST SEE VIDEO appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Rep. Andy Ogles, a Republican from Tennessee, has introduced a new bill that would send anti-Israel/pro-Hamas campus protesters to Gaza for six months if they’re found guilty of illegal activity.

It’s about time someone suggested this. It could be a real learning experience for some of these radical students and professional agitators.

This bill would get tremendous support from people across the country who are sickened by what’s unfolding at our supposed institutions of higher education.

FOX News reports:

College anti-Israel agitators could be sent to Gaza under new House GOP bill

A new House Republican bill would send any person charged and convicted for illegal activity on a college campus to Gaza for at least six months.

Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., introduced the bill on Wednesday alongside Reps. Randy Weber, R-Texas, and Jeff Duncan, R-S.C., in response to the ongoing anti-Israel demonstrations on college campuses across the country.

Several of those protests have turned violent, with clashes between police and activists, as well as hundreds of activists being arrested across multiple campuses.

While Ogles’ bill text does not mention Israel or the anti-Israel groups, it specifically targets unlawful activity on college campuses after Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas militants invaded Israel in a surprise attack that killed over 1,000 people…

“Students have abandoned their classes to harass other students and disrupt campus-wide activities, including university commencement ceremonies nationwide. Enough is enough,” Ogles told Fox News Digital.

Three cheers for Rep. Andy Ogles?

New: Andy Ogles has introduced a bill that would send people convicted for unlawful activity on college campuses to Gaza for at least six months

The bill would force those arrested on campuses after Oct. 7 to “provide community service in Gaza,” per bill text pic.twitter.com/s9LRAUu9pI

— Liz Elkind (@liz_elkind) May 8, 2024

Proud to join @RepOgles to introduce a bill that would send any person charged & convicted for illegal activity on a college campus in Gaza for at least six months.

I am going to bet that these pro-Hamas supporters wouldn’t last a day, but let’s give them the opportunity https://t.co/xUdYee4VqM

— Randy Weber (@TXRandy14) May 8, 2024

My message is clear: if you’re a student visa holder rioting AGAINST American values and FOR Hamas terrorists, you can go study abroad in Gaza.

Read more about my latest bill. https://t.co/UekRTahnEY

— Rep. Andy Ogles (@RepOgles) May 8, 2024

More Republicans need to get on board with this.

The post Republican Introduces Bill That Would Send Anti-Israel Campus Protesters to Gaza for Six Months if Found Guilty of Illegal Activity appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Some top Democrat strategists are sweating Joe Biden’s chances in Michigan in November, a state they agree is a must-win for Democrats.

Trump won Michigan in 2016 and he can certainly win there again. A recent poll has Trump ahead of Biden in the state by a whopping 15 points.

Biden has multiple problems in Michigan, including people who are angry about his (weak) support for Israel and union workers who are rightly, very concerned about the economy.

Townhall reports:

Dem Strategists Agree That Biden Is Totally Screwed If He Loses This State in 2024

The three states Democrats appear to be moving into the must-win category are Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin—the old blue wall. It was predictable, though what wasn’t on the agenda was how poorly Biden was polling in Michigan. Independents cannot stand him, which even Democrats admit will be a project regarding mounting some turnaround with that demographic.

Ron Brownstein had more about the electoral math facing Biden, and if he loses Michigan, even James Carville is quoted as saying it could be a rough night for a president who no one seems to like, but they’re forced to vote for now.

Townhall point to this piece in the Atlantic:

At this point, former President Donald Trump’s gains have provided him with more plausible alternatives to cross the last mile to 270. Trump’s personal vulnerabilities, Biden’s edge in building a campaign organization, and abortion rights’ prominence in several key swing states could erase that advantage. But for now, Biden looks to have less margin for error than the former president…

Biden’s odds may particularly diminish if he cannot hold all three of the former “blue wall” states across the Rust Belt that he recaptured in 2020 after Trump had taken them four years earlier: Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin…

As James Carville, the veteran Democratic strategist told me, if Biden can recover to win Michigan along with Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, “you are not going to lose.” But, Carville added, if Biden can’t hold all three, “you are going to have to catch an inside straight to win.”

The ‘Blue Wall’ that Democrats depend on every four years is no longer the guarantee that it used to be.

Trump has shown that he can win in these states and it has the Democrats terrified.

The post Dem Strategists Agree Biden is TOAST in November if He Loses in Michigan appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Joe Biden sat down for a one-on-one interview with CNN’s Erin Burnett to discuss his dumpster fire economy and 2024 strategy.

Biden thought he was going to have a softball interview with CNN but he completely crumbled when Erin Burnett fact-checked him to his face.

Burnett pointed out that the economy is the most important issue for voters.

“It’s also true, Mr. President that voters, by a wide margin, trust Trump more on the economy. They say that in polls,” Erin Burnett said.

She continued, “The cost of buying a home in the United States is double – if you look at what it was, the monthly costs before the pandemic.”

“Real income, when you account for inflation is actually down since you took office,” Burnett said. “Economic growth last week, far short of expectations.”

“Consumer confidence, maybe no surprise, is near a two-year a low. With less than 6 months until Election Day, are you worried that you are running out of time to turn that around?” Erin Burnett asked Biden.

Biden snapped and immediately rattled off his talking points. Of course, all he did was lie.

Erin Burnett asked Biden why people should believe he will create jobs.

“Why should people here believe that you will succeed at creating jobs where Trump failed?” Erin Burnett asked Biden.

Biden absurdly claimed Trump has “never succeeded” at creating jobs. Times were good under Trump. Unemployment was low, inflation was low, gas prices were low and mortgage rates were low.

“I’ve never failed! I’ve created over 15 million jobs!” Biden said referring to people going back to work after Democrats forcefully closed businesses during the Covid pandemic.

WATCH:

“Why should people here believe that you will succeed at creating jobs?”

BIDEN: “I’ve never failed! I’ve created over 15 million jobs!”

(UNMENTIONED: The vast majority of those jobs were simply recovered from the pandemic) pic.twitter.com/XQlNz6tdZk

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) May 8, 2024

Biden hasn’t created a single job.

Bidenomics: Screw Americans at all costs.

Per the Center for Immigration Studies: All employment growth has gone to the foreign-born. 183,000 fewer U.S.-born Americans are working than in 2019, before Covid. Yet, the number of immigrants (legal and illegal) working is up 2.9 million over 2019.

“Comparing the fourth quarter of 2019 to the fourth quarter of 2023 shows 2.7 million more people working in the United States — 2.9 million more immigrants (legal and illegal) and 183,000 fewer U.S.-born Americans. Since the depths of the Covid Recession in 2020 employment has increased for both groups. But the number of U.S.-born workers has not made it back to the 2019 pre-Covid level. Equally important, the share of working-age, U.S.-born men without a bachelor’s not in the labor force deteriorated in the decades prior to 2019, and the rate in the fourth quarter of 2023 was lower still. These individuals do not show up as unemployed because they have not looked for a job in the four weeks prior to the survey. The long-term decline in the labor force participation rate of less-educated men is linked to serious social problems, from suicide and crime to drug overdoses and social isolation.” CIS reported.

The post “I Have Never Failed!” – Unhinged Joe Biden in Dumpster Fire Interview with CNN’s Erin Burnett (VIDEO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Illegal immigrants living in an encampment in Denver have sent the city a list of demands. Where do you suppose they got that idea? Does anyone find it rather coincidental that these people are following the behavior of the campus protesters? Do you think that’s a coincidence?

And talk about chutzpah. Where do these folks get off making demands when they’re in the country illegally?

If the leaders of Denver had any sense, they’d deport these people immediately.

FOX News reports:

Denver migrants refuse to leave encampment, send mayor list of demands

A group of illegal immigrants in Denver is refusing to leave encampments until the city meets its demands.

The migrants published a document with 13 specific demands before they acquiesce to Denver Human Services’ request to leave the encampments and move to more permanent shelters funded by the city.

“At the end of the day, what we do not want is families on the streets of Denver,” Jon Ewing, a spokesman for Denver Human Services, told Fox 31.

The list sent to Mayor Mike Johnston included requests for provisions of “fresh, culturally appropriate” food, no time limits on showers and free immigration lawyers, the outlet reported…

Further details of the demands read, “Migrants will cook their own food with fresh, culturally appropriate ingredients provided by the City instead of premade meals – rice, chicken, flour, oil, butter, tomatoes, onions, etc… Shower access will be available without time limits & can be accessed whenever… Medical professional visits will happen regularly & referrals/connections for specialty care will be made as needed.”

Has the whole world gone insane?

Denver’s illegal migrants have now built an encampment to protest the city’s shelter system…

The city wants these illegals to get off this property. The encampment responded to officials with a list of 13 demands.

One of encampment demands is for the taxpayers provide better… pic.twitter.com/CF9sXkMwEk

— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) May 8, 2024

Migrants in Denver have a list of demands for @CityofDenver before they accept city shelter: pic.twitter.com/rja2FfhHm4

— Chris Parente (@chrisparente) May 8, 2024

Can you even imagine crossing a country’s border illegally and then issuing demands?

The post Illegal Immigrants in Denver Send the City A LIST OF DEMANDS appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.